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Abstract Background Salmonella, an important foodborne pathogen, was estimated to be responsible for 95.1 million cases and 50,771 deaths worldwide. Sixteen serovars were responsible for approximately 80% of Salmonella infections in humans in China, and infections caused by a few uncommon serovars have been reported in recent years, though not with S. Welikade. This study reports the first clinical case caused by S. Welikade in China and places Chinese S. Welikade isolates in the context of global isolates via genomic analysis. For comparison, S. Welikade isolates were also screened in the Chinese Local Surveillance System for Salmonella (CLSSS). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 28 antimicrobial agents were determined using the broth microdilution method. The isolates were sequenced on an Illumina platform to identify antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence genes, and phylogenetic relationships. Results The S. Welikade isolate (Sal097) was isolated from a two-year-old boy with acute gastroenteritis in 2021. Along with the other two isolates found in CLSSS, the three Chinese isolates were susceptible to all the examined antimicrobial agents, and their sequence types (STs) were ST5123 (n = 2) and ST3774 (n = 1). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based phylogenetic analysis revealed that global S. Welikade strains can be divided into four groups, and these three Chinese isolates were assigned to B (n = 2; Sal097 and XXB1016) and C (n = 1; XXB700). In Group B, the two Chinese ST5123 isolates were closely clustered with three UK ST5123 isolates. In Group C, the Chinese isolate was closely related to the other 12 ST3774 isolates. The number of virulence genes in the S. Welikade isolates ranged from 59 to 152. The galF gene was only present in Group A, the pipB2 gene was only absent from Group A, the avrA gene was only absent from Group B, and the allB, sseK1, sspH2, STM0287, and tlde1 were found only within Group C and D isolates. There were 15 loci unique to the Sal097 isolate. Conclusion This study is the first to characterize and investigate clinical S. Welikade isolates in China. Responsible for a pediatric case of gastroenteritis in 2021, the clinical isolate harbored no antimicrobial resistance and belonged to phylogenetic Group B of global S. Welikade genomes.

E-commerce platforms generally provide consumers with the function of virtual shopping carts to help them store interested products. Although about 80% of online consumers intends to purchase after adding products to their shopping cart, the abandonment rate of cart products has been up to 70%. It is important to understand how to improve consumer attitude toward product both before and after cart use. Building on the relevant literature and the consumer shopping goal stages theory, this study aims to examine the effects of product price, as one of the most indispensable and important information in online shopping, on consumer attitudes toward product at different decision-making stages in online shopping (i.e., add-to-cart stage and place-an-order stage), and the mediating roles of perceived product quality and monetary sacrifice. The findings from behavioral experiment suggest that high price leads to a more positive attitude toward product at add-to-cart stage by strengthened perception of high product quality, while results in a less positive product attitude at place-an-order stage because of the enhanced perception of monetary sacrifice. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Background: Anemia and thyroid disease, both prevalent health conditions, often co-occur and may be easily overlooked, collectively imposing a significant burden on society. This study specifically investigated the prevalence and temporal trends of anemia among individuals with thyroid disease in the US population, shedding light on a critical intersection in public health. Methods: Utilizing National Health and Nutrition Examination data from 10 survey cycles (1999–2018), this study included participants aged 20–85 years who self-reported a diagnosis of thyroid disease. Anemia was defined with a cutoff of 12 g/dL for women and 13 g/dL for men. The chi-square test compared prevalence across different categories and survey cycles. Data analysis employed R 4.3.2, with P

Nitrogen mustard (NM) is a chemotherapeutic agent capable of alkylating nucleophilic proteins and DNA, causing severe cell damage. However, no reports have been on the dynamic changes in proteomics induced by NM. In this study, we established a model of acute exposure to NM for 1 h and a continuous cultured model for 24 h after NM removal (repair stage) using 16HBE cells. The nuclear protein spectrum and nuclear proteins crosslinked with DNA were analyzed, and the function of p97 during NM damage was examined. An hour of NM exposure resulted in severe changes in the nuclear protein spectrum and protein into the cell nucleus, which is mainly involved in nuclear acid-related issues. After 24 h, the return to normal process of the types and amounts of differentially expressed proteins was inhibited by si-p97. The main processes involved in si-p97 intervention were nucleocytoplasmic transport, processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, metabolic abnormalities, and DNA-response; however. An hour of exposure to NM increased DNA-protein crosslinking (DPC), total-H2AX, and p-H2AX. In contrast, si-p97 only further increased or maintained their levels at 24 h yet not at 1 h. The effect of the proteasome inhibitor, MG132, was similar to that of si-p97. The siRNA of DVC1, a partner of p97, also increased the DPC content. Both si-p97 and si-DVC1 increased the cytoplasmic levels of the proteasome (PSMD2). These results suggest acute NM exposure induces severe nuclear protein spectral changes, rapid protein influx into the nucleus, DPC formation, and DNA double-strand breaks. Furthermore, our data indicated that p97 is involved in normal protein spectrum maintenance and DPC removal after NM withdrawal, requiring the participation of DVC1 and the proteasome.

Objective To reveal the deformation evolution of the Xinhua landslide in Luding County, Sichuan Province under the comprehensive effects of reservoir impoundment, reservoir water level fluctuations and seasonal rainfall, and to explore the progressive cumulative effect of the strength degradation of the landslide rock and soil mass under the coupling of multiple factors. Methods In this paper, based on a field investigation and multisource long sequence monitoring data analysis of the Xinhua landslide in the reservoir area of the hydropower project, combined with the three-stage evolution characteristics of the landslide cumulative deformation-time (S-t) curve and the measured S-t curve of the Xinhua landslide, the evolution stages of the three-step deformation cycles of the Xinhua landslide are identified and divided. At the same time, the improved tangent angle method is used for calculation and analysis, and a quantitative classification standard for Xinhua landslide classification early warning based on the improved displacement tangent angle early warning threshold is constructed. Results The results show that the short-term large increase of water level during the initial impoundment period, the rapid decrease of water level during the reservoir operation period and the influence of seasonal heavy rainfall are the main factors to accelerate the deformation of the Xinhua landslide. Conclusion According to the analysis and discussion, the improved displacement tangent angle early warning threshold can provide guidance for identifying the current stability state and potential risks of the Xinhua landslide to a certain extent, but multiple early warning indicators should still be considered, and the signs of macroscopic deformation and failure of landslides should be integrated for judgement.

Abstract Background 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is conventionally used in chemotherapy for colon adenocarcinomas. Acquired resistance of 5-FU remains a clinical challenge in colon cancer, and efforts to develop targeted agents to reduce resistance have not yielded success. Protosappanin B (PSB), the main component of Lignum Sappan extract, is known to exhibit anti-tumor effects. However, whether and how PSB could improve 5-FU resistance in colon cancer have not yet been established. In this study, we aimed to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of PSB in 5-FU-induced chemoresistance in colon adenocarcinoma. Methods Forty-seven paired colon cancer tissue samples from patients who received 5-FU chemotherapy were collected as clinical samples. Two 5-FU resistant colon cancer cell lines were established for in vitro experiments. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed to determine the mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) expression levels in colon adenocarcinoma tissues and cell lines. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and flow cytometry assays were performed to evaluate cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Results LINC00612 was highly expressed in colon adenocarcinoma samples and 5-FU resistant colon cancer cells. LINC00612 knockdown enhances 5-FU chemosensitivity in 5-FU resistant cells. Notably, PSB treatment attenuated LINC00612 expression in 5-FU resistant colon adenocarcinoma cells. Moreover, PSB treatment reversed the increase in LINC00612-induced 5-FU resistance. Mechanistically, LINC00612 specifically bound to miR-590-3p, which promoted 5-FU resistance in colon adenocarcinoma cells and attenuated the inhibitory effect of LINC00612 on GOLPH3 expression. Conclusion PSB attenuates 5-FU chemoresistance in colon adenocarcinoma by regulating the LINC00612/miRNA-590-3p/GOLPH3 axis. Graphical Abstract

The emergence of advanced biotechnologies has intensified in recent years. The rapid development of these biotechnologies has had a wide and profound impact globally, with the majority on the frontier of biosecurity technologies. The global biosecurity situation is currently highly challenging, with the characteristics of internationalization, extremely serious harm, and complex development. The misuse and abuse of biotechnologies are common, which thereby endanger biosecurity. The international community and governments have attached great importance to cutting-edge biotechnologies and are implementing laws and regulations to control and prevent biosecurity-related influences. By tracking the frontier progress of the new technologies generated from gene editing, gene drives, synthetic biology, and related cross-disciplines as applied in the biosecurity field, we analyzed the development trends in biotechnologies and their potential influence. On the one hand, this paper proposes that there is an urgent need for global cooperation to formulate management, control strategies, and measures for cutting-edge technologies in biosecurity to jointly promote their sound development. On the other hand, the international community should jointly shoulder the responsibility for safeguarding biosecurity and restrict the biotechnologies to rational applications within legal and ethical frameworks. This paper aims to provide a reference for the prevention of misuse and abuse of biotechnologies and support global cooperation in biosecurity governance.

Background Previous observational studies have hinted at a potential correlation between aplastic anemia (AA) and the gut microbiome. However, the precise nature of this bidirectional causal relationship remains uncertain.Methods We conducted a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the potential causal link between the gut microbiome and AA. Statistical analysis of the gut microbiome was based on data from an extensive meta-analysis (genome-wide association study) conducted by the MiBioGen Alliance, involving 18,340 samples. Summary statistical data for AA were obtained from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit database. Single –nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were estimated and summarized using inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR Egger, and weighted median methods in the bidirectional MR analysis. Cochran’s Q test, MR Egger intercept test, and sensitivity analysis were employed to assess SNP heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, and stability.Results The IVW analysis revealed a significant correlation between AA and 10 bacterial taxa. However, there is currently insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between AA and the composition of gut microbiome.Conclusion This study suggests a causal connection between the prevalence of specific gut microbiome and AA. Further investigation into the interaction between particular bacterial communities and AA could enhance efforts in prevention, monitoring, and treatment of the condition.

Background: Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Triphenyl phosphate (TPP) is a prevalent flame retardant, but its health implications remain to be thoroughly understood. Objective: To explore the link between TPP exposure and gastric cancer by examining gene expression patterns and developing a predictive model. Methods: Gene expression data were sourced from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways were employed for analysis. Single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) was used to obtain phosphate flame retardant-related scores. A predictive model was constructed through differential analysis, univariate COX regression, and LASSO regression. Molecular docking was performed to assess protein interactions with TPP. Results: ssGSEA identified scores related to phosphate flame retardants in gastric cancer, which had a strong association with immune-related traits. Several genes associated with TPP were identified and used to develop a prognostic model that has clinical significance. Molecular docking showed a high binding affinity of TPP with MTTP, a gene related to lipid metabolism. Pathway analysis indicated that TPP exposure contributes to gastric cancer through lipid metabolic processes. Conclusion: The study establishes a potential correlation between TPP exposure and gastric cancer onset, pinpointing key genes and pathways involved. This underscores the significance of environmental factors in gastric cancer research and presents a potential diagnostic tool for clinical application.

ObjectiveTo report a survey on an outbreak of Pontiac fever associated with history of exposure to a bath center in Shanghai in 2020 for providing a reference to investigation of relevant epidemics. MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted among 139 cases of fever of unknown origin (all with the history of exposure to a bath center) reported by fever clinics during 18 – 21 December, 2020 in Fengxian district of Shanghai. A subsequent case- control study was carried out among 74 cases with explicit information on activities in the bath center and 44 healthy controls ever exposed to the bath center during the same period. Deep throat sputum samples were collected from 15 cases for nucleic acid detections of multiple pathogens with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Legionella culture with buffered charcoal yeast-extract (BCYE) plate. Residual chlorine detector was used in field study to measure residual chlorine in water of various pools in the bath center. Logistic regression analysis was adopted to explore factors correlated with the incidence of the fever of unknown origin. ResultsThe most common observed symptoms among the 139 fever cases were weakness (proportion: 51.08%, case number: 71), headache (41.73%, 58), and myalgia (41.73%, 58). The median incubation period for the symptom incidence was 36 hours, with an range of 12 – 68 hours. In the case-control study, univariate analysis revealed that bathing in pools of the bath center was a risk factor for fever incidence (odds ratio [OR] = 9.036, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 3.521 – 23.189); multivariate logistic regression analysis also showed that the cases ever bathing in a special pool for body beatification was at a significantly increased risk of fever incidence (OR = 5.456, 95%CI: 3.521 – 23.189). Legionella nucleic acid was detected in 4 cases. Legionella strains were cultured in 4 environment swab samples collected in the bath center. The residual chlorine of water in two of bathing pools (0.2 mg/L and 0.09 mg/L) were lower than that of the national standard. ConclusionBased on epidemiologic evidence, clinical symptom of the cases, and laboratory test results, the outbreak of fever of unknown origin was a Pontiac fever caused by Legionella associated with the exposure to a bath center.

High resolution imaging is achieved using increasingly larger apertures and successively shorter wavelengths. Optical aperture synthesis is an important high-resolution imaging technology used in astronomy. Conventional long baseline amplitude interferometry is susceptible to uncontrollable phase fluctuations, and the technical difficulty increases rapidly as the wavelength decreases. The intensity interferometry inspired by HBT experiment is essentially insensitive to phase fluctuations, but suffers from a narrow spectral bandwidth which results in a lack of effective photons. In this study, we propose optical synthetic aperture imaging based on spatial intensity interferometry. This not only realizes diffraction-limited optical aperture synthesis in a single shot, but also enables imaging with a wide spectral bandwidth, which greatly improves the optical energy efficiency of intensity interferometry. And this method is insensitive to the optical path difference between the sub-apertures. Simulations and experiments present optical aperture synthesis diffraction-limited imaging through spatial intensity interferometry in a 100 nm spectral width of visible light, whose maximum optical path difference between the sub-apertures reaches 69λ. This technique is expected to provide a solution for optical aperture synthesis over kilometer-long baselines at optical wavelengths.

BackgroundThe interaction between environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as Bisphenol A (BPA), and their influence on cancer progression, particularly regarding the GOLPH3 gene in colorectal cancer, remains unclear.MethodsWe performed an integrated analysis of transcriptional profiling, clinical data, and bioinformatics analyses utilizing data from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database and The Cancer Genome Atlas. The study employed ClueGO, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, and Gene Set Variation Analysis for functional enrichment analysis, alongside experimental assays to examine the effects of BPA exposure on colorectal cancer cell lines, focusing on GOLPH3 expression and its implications for cancer progression.ResultsOur findings demonstrated that BPA exposure significantly promoted the progression of colorectal cancer by upregulating GOLPH3, which in turn enhanced the malignant phenotype of colorectal cancer cells. Comparative analysis revealed elevated GOLPH3 protein levels in cancerous tissues versus normal tissues, with single-cell analysis indicating widespread GOLPH3 presence across various cell types in the cancer microenvironment. GOLPH3 was also associated with multiple carcinogenic pathways, including the G2M checkpoint. Furthermore, our investigation into the colorectal cancer microenvironment and genomic mutation signature underscored the oncogenic potential of GOLPH3, exacerbated by BPA exposure.ConclusionThis study provides novel insights into the complex interactions between BPA exposure and GOLPH3 in the context of colorectal cancer, emphasizing the need for heightened awareness and measures to mitigate BPA exposure risks. Our findings advocate for further research to validate these observations in clinical and epidemiological settings and explore potential therapeutic targets within these pathways.

BackgroundThe incidence of Legionnaires' disease is increasing globally and artificial water environment is becoming a common source of outbreaks. Molecular typing techniques can help prevent and control Legionella. ObjectiveTo understand the molecular epidemiological characteristics of Legionella pneumophila in artificial water environment of Shanghai hospitals, and provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of Legionnaires' disease. MethodsWater samples were collected from artificial water environment in 14 hospitals from May to October each year from 2019 to 2020 in Shanghai. A total of 984 water samples were collected from 8 Grade-A tertiary hospitals and 6 non-Grade-A tertiary hospitals, including 312 samples of cooling water, 72 samples of chilled water, and 600 samples of tap water. The water samples were isolated and serotyped for Legionella pneumophila and preserved, and the positive rate of Legionella pneumophila in the samples was used as an indicator of contamination. The preserved strains were resuscitated and 81 surviving strains were obtained for pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing analysis. ResultsA total of 124 Legionella pneumophila positive water samples were detected, with a positive rate of 12.60%. The positive rate was higher in the Grade-A tertiary hospitals (16.54%, 87/526) than in the non-Grade-A tertiary hospitals (8.08%, 37/458) (χ2=15.91, P

Trimodal grain structure was effective to balance the strength-ductility trade-off in ultrafine-grained metals, but the relationship between microstructures and mechanical performance is unclear. Here the dimension of coarse grain (CG) domains was elaborately tuned in the trimodal CNT/2024Al composites, and an excellent strength-ductility combination (Tensile strength: 716 ± 5 MPa, Elongation: 9.1 ± 0.3%) was achieved by optimizing the CG bands (∼4.4 µm in width). We found that the size of CG bands hardly affected strain hardening rate, but caused different crack-blunting behaviors, which was responsible for the superior strength-ductility synergy. This work highlights the importance of CG domains design in heterostructured materials.Trimodal grain structured CNT/2024Al composites with different coarse-grained (CG) bands

Background Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is the preferable surgery for difficult -to-treat basal cell carcinoma (BCC) but is an expensive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming technique. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy combined with surgery(S-PDT) versus Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) for the treatment of difficult-to-treat BCC. Methods This was a retrospective, comparative study. A total of 32 patients, 16 patients with 48 lesions, were treated with S-PDT, and the other 16 patients with 17 lesions treated by MMS were enrolled in this study. Follow-up was at least 36 months posttreatment. Results The recurrence rate was no statistical difference between the S-PDT and MMS (p = 1.000, Fishers exact test). The median follow-up was 42.5 months (range 36–63 months). The mean healing time in the S-PDT [17.9 d (SD 9.8)] is longer than in MMS [7.5 d (SD 1.5)] during follow-up (p＜.001, Independent T-test). On the whole, the cosmetic outcome of patients in S-PDT was statistically no significant difference with that in MMS according to a 4-point scale (p = .719, chi-squared test). Conclusions S-PDT is a safe, effective, and novel cosmetic treatment, which holds the potential to be an alternative treatment to MMS for some cases.

Abstract Background Vestimentifera (Polychaeta, Siboglinidae) is a taxon of deep-sea worm-like animals living in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and organic falls. The morphology and lifespan of Ridgeia piscesae, which is the only vestimentiferan tubeworm species found in the hydrothermal vents on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, vary greatly according to endemic environment. Recent analyses have revealed the genomic basis of adaptation in three vent- and seep-dwelling vestimentiferan tubeworms. However, the evolutionary history and mechanism of adaptation in R. piscesae, a unique species in the family Siboglinidae, remain to be investigated. Result We assembled a draft genome of R. piscesae collected at the Cathedral vent of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Comparative genomic analysis showed that vent-dwelling tubeworms with a higher growth rate had smaller genome sizes than seep-dwelling tubeworms that grew much slower. A strong positive correlation between repeat content and genome size but not intron size and the number of protein-coding genes was identified in these deep-sea tubeworm species. Evolutionary analysis revealed that Ridgeia pachyptila and R. piscesae, the two tubeworm species that are endemic to hydrothermal vents of the eastern Pacific, started to diverge between 28.5 and 35 million years ago. Four genes involved in cell proliferation were found to be subject to positive selection in the genome of R. piscesae. Conclusion Ridgeia pachyptila and R. piscesae started to diverge after the formation of the Gorda/Juan de Fuca/Explorer ridge systems and the East Pacific Rise. The high growth rates of vent-dwelling tubeworms might be derived from their small genome sizes. Cell proliferation is important for regulating the growth rate in R. piscesae.

Water-induced landslides in hydropower reservoirs pose a great threat to both project operation and human life. This paper examines three large reservoirs in Sichuan Province, China. Field surveys, site monitoring data analyses and numerical simulations are used to analyze the spatial distribution and failure mechanisms of water-induced landslides in reservoir areas. First, the general rules of landslide development in the reservoir area are summarized. The first rule is that most of the landslides have rear edge elevations of 100–500 m above the normal water level of the reservoir, with volumes in the range of 106–107 m3. When the volume exceeds a certain amount, the number of sites at which the landscape can withstand landslides is greatly reduced. Landslide hazards mainly occur in the middle section of the reservoir and less in the annex of the dam site and the latter half of the reservoir area. The second rule is that sedimentary rocks such as sandstone are more prone to landslide hazards than other lithologies. Then, the failure mechanism of changes in the water level that reduces the stability of the slope composed of different geomaterials is analyzed by a proposed slope stability framework that considers displacement and is discussed with the monitoring results. Permeability is an essential parameter for understanding the diametrically opposed deformation behavior of landslides experiencing filling-drawdown cycles during operation. This study seeks to provide inspiration to subsequent researchers, as well as guidance to technicians, on landslide prevention and control in reservoir areas.

Objective The dual mobility cup (DMC) is designed to extend the longevity of the prosthesis by improving stability, enhancing the range of motion, and decreasing impingement without increasing wear. We hypothesized that DMC would reduce the risk of dislocation in elderly patients. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of DMC‐total hip arthroplasty (THA) in elderly patients at high risk of dislocation. Methods From June 2016 to March 2020, 94 patients with a mean age of 77.7 years (97 hips) who underwent a posterolateral approach for DMC‐THA in our department were followed up for at least one year. Preoperative and postoperative pelvic tilt angles (PTA) and DMC orientation were prospectively collected for all patients. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded. A parametric test was used for normal distribution, and a non‐parametric test was used for non‐normal distribution. Results Abduction and anteversion angles of the cup were 42.4 and 18.0° in the supine position immediately postoperative. The average PTA for patients in the supine and standing positions were 26.5 and 34.5°, respectively. When moving from the supine to the standing position, patients experienced a mean posterior pelvic tilt of 9°. No intraoperative acetabular‐related complications were recorded. Postoperative complications included early infection in one patient (1.0%) and dislocation in one patient (1.0%). Conclusion Our study demonstrates that DMC‐THA provides satisfactory short‐term outcomes in elderly patients at a high risk of dislocation, regardless of the change in PTA resulting from postural transition.

Clonal complex 4821 (CC4821) Neisseria meningitidis, usually resistant to quinolones but susceptible to penicillin and third-generation cephalosporins, is increasing worldwide. To characterize the penicillin-nonsusceptible (PenNS) meningococci, we analyzed 491 meningococci and 724 commensal Neisseria isolates in Shanghai, China, during 1965–2020. The PenNS proportion increased from 0.3% in 1965–1985 to 7.0% in 2005–2014 and to 33.3% in 2015–2020. Of the 26 PenNS meningococci, 11 (42.3%) belonged to the CC4821 cluster; all possessed mutations in penicillin-binding protein 2, mostly from commensal Neisseria. Genetic analyses and transformation identified potential donors of 6 penA alleles. Three PenNS meningococci were resistant to cefotaxime, 2 within the CC4821 cluster. With 96% of the PenNS meningococci beyond the coverage of scheduled vaccination and the cefotaxime-resistant isolates all from toddlers, quinolone-resistant CC4821 has acquired penicillin and cefotaxime resistance closely related to the internationally disseminated ceftriaxone-resistant gonococcal FC428 clone, posing a greater threat especially to young children.

Abstract Background The arthroscopic Broström–Gould procedure (ABG) gained particular attention among clinicians and researchers due to its high rate of satisfactory results. There is a lack of evidence regarding the differences in clinical outcomes for the various suture techniques. The purpose of this study was to compare the differences in clinical effect in patients treated with one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture or two-anchor horizontal mattress suture for chronic ankle instability (CAI). Methods This retrospective cohort study examined CAI patients who underwent either one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture or two-anchor horizontal mattress suture ABG between January 2018 and January 2020. Patients were divided into two groups based on the suture knot type used and the associated number of anchors. The operative time, surgical cost, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) Score, Karlsson Ankle Functional Score (KAFS), the rate of return to sports, complications, and measured biomechanical strength using standardized equipment were compared between groups. Results Sixty-four CAI patients were included (one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture group n = 30, two-anchor horizontal mattress suture group n = 34). Compared to the two-anchor horizontal mattress suture group, the one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture group had significantly shorter operative time (p .05) between the one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture and two-anchor horizontal mattress suture at 2 years after surgery. Conclusion ABG using a one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture showed comparable clinical results to a two-anchor horizontal mattress suture in the treatment of CAI at intermediate-term follow-up time. However, one-anchor modified Mason–Allen suture may be a faster, simpler, cost-effective substitute technology. Level of evidence Level III, comparative study.

Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection‐caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a global crisis with no satisfactory therapies. Vitamin D3 (VD3) is considered a potential candidate for COVID‐19 treatment; however, little information is available regarding the exact effects of VD3 on SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and the underlying mechanism. Herein, we confirmed that VD3 reduced SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleocapsid (N) protein‐caused hyperinflammation in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells. Meanwhile, VD3 inhibited the NOD‐like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation in N protein‐overexpressed HBE (HBE‐N) cells. Notably, the inhibitors of caspase‐1, NLRP3, and NLRP3 or caspase‐1 small interference RNA (siRNA) enhanced VD3‐induced NLRP3 inflammasome inactivation, with subsequent suppression of interleukin‐6 (IL6) and IL1β release in HBE‐N cells, which were abolished by the NLRP3 agonist. Moreover, VD3 increased NLRP3 ubiquitination (Ub‐NLRP3) expression and the binding of the VDR with NLRP3, with decreased BRCA1/BRCA2‐containing complex subunit 3 (BRCC3) expression and NLRP3‐BRCC3 association. VD3‐induced Ub‐NLRP3 expression, NLRP3 inflammasome inactivation, and hyperinflammation inhibition were improved by the BRCC3 inhibitor or BRCC3 siRNA, which were attenuated by the vitamin D receptor (VDR) antagonist or VDR siRNA in HBE‐N cells. Finally, the results of the in vivo study in AAV‐Lung‐enhanced green fluorescent protein‐N‐infected lungs were consistent with the findings of the in vitro experiment. In conclusion, VD3 attenuated N protein‐caused hyperinflammation by inactivating the NLRP3 inflammasome partially through the VDR‐BRCC3 signaling pathway.

Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is widely used for the chemical cleaning of fouled ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Various studies performed on polymeric membranes demonstrate that long-term (>100 h) exposure to NaClO deteriorates the physicochemical properties of the membranes, leading to reduced performance and service life. However, the effect of NaClO cleaning on ceramic membranes, particularly the number of cleaning cycles they can undergo to alleviate irreversible fouling, remains poorly understood. Silicon carbide (SiC) membranes have garnered widespread attention for water and wastewater treatment, but their chemical stability in NaClO has not been studied. Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LP-CVD) provides a simple and economical route to prepare/modify ceramic membranes. As such, LP-CVD facilitates the preparation of SiC membranes: (a) in a single step; and (b) at much lower temperatures (700–900 °C) in comparison with sol-gel methods (ca. 2000 °C). In this work, SiC ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared via LP-CVD at two different deposition temperatures and pressures. Subsequently, their chemical stability in NaClO was investigated over 200 h of aging. Afterward, the properties and performance of as-prepared SiC UF membranes were evaluated before and after aging to determine the optimal deposition conditions. Our results indicate that the SiC UF membrane prepared via LP-CVD at 860 °C and 100 mTorr exhibited excellent resistance to NaClO aging, while the membrane prepared at 750 °C and 600 mTorr significantly deteriorated. These findings not only highlight a novel preparation route for SiC membranes in a single step via LP-CVD, but also provide new insights about the careful selection of LP-CVD conditions for SiC membranes to ensure their long-term performance and robustness under harsh chemical cleaning conditions.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is known for its unparalleled control over layer thickness and 3D conformality and could be the future technique of choice to tailor the pore size of ceramic nanofiltration membranes. However, a major challenge in tuning and functionalizing a multichannel ceramic membrane is posed by its large internal pore volume, which needs to be evacuated during ALD cycling. This may require significant energy and processing time. This study presents a new reactor design, operating at atmospheric pressure, that is able to deposit thin layers in the pores of ceramic membranes. In this design, the reactor wall is formed by the industrial tubular ceramic membrane itself, and carrier gas flows are employed to transport the precursor and co-reactant vapors to the reactive surface groups present on the membrane surface. The layer growth for atmospheric-pressure ALD in this case proceeds similarly to that for state-of-the-art vacuum-based ALD. Moreover, for membrane preparation, this new reactor design has three advantages: (i) monolayers are deposited only at the outer pore mouths rather than in the entire bulk of the porous membrane substrate, resulting in reduced flow resistances for liquid permeation; (ii) an in-line gas permeation method was developed to follow the layer growth in the pores during the deposition process, allowing more precise control over the finished membrane; and (iii) expensive vacuum components and cleanroom environment are eliminated. This opens up a new avenue for ceramic membrane development with nano-scale precision using ALD at atmospheric pressure.

Primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder is indolent clinical behaviour and uncertain malignant potential. Histologically, these lesions show a predominance of small to medium-size CD4+ pleomorphic T-cell expressing follicular helper T-cell markers. We report the case of a 59-year-old female who presented with nodules on the left chest for 3 years. Dermatological examination showed four red nodules localized on the left chest with angiotelectasis without tenderness. The histopathological manifestation was consistent with the diagnosis of primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. We focus on the clinical appearance, histopathological features, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis of primary cutaneous CD4+ small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder.

Campylobacter species are zoonotic pathogens, as well as the prevalent cause of foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis. The spread of antimicrobial-resistant strains poses a serious threat to global public health and attracts attention worldwide, but information about clinical Campylobacter is relatively limited compared to isolates from food and animals. The current study illustrated the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates collected from a consecutive surveillance program between 2012 and 2019 in Shanghai, China, using antimicrobial susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing. Among the 891 Campylobacter strains (761 C. jejuni and 130 C. coli) isolates collected, high portions above 90% of resistance to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and tetracycline were observed for both C. jejuni and C. coli. The most common MDR profiles represented by C. jejuni and C. coli were combination of ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, florfenicol and nalidixic acid (5.39%), and azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, tetracycline, clindamycin, nalidixic acid (28.46%), respectively. The erythromycin resistance of C. coli (59.23%) is higher than C. jejuni (2.50%). A total of 76 erythromycin resistant isolates (16 C. jejuni and 60 C. coli) were sequenced using Illumina platform for determining the genotypes, antimicrobial resistance patterns and phylogeny analysis. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis showed a high genetic diversity with 47 sequence types (STs), including 4 novel alleles and 12 new STs. The most abundant clonal complexes (CCs) were CC-403 (31.25%) and CC-828 (88.33%) for C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. Among the 76 erythromycin-resistant isolates, mutation A2075G in 23S rRNA and erm(B) gene were detected in 53.95 and 39.47%, respectively. The erm(B) gene was identified exclusively in 30 C. coli isolates. All these erm(B) positive isolates were multi-drug resistant. Furthermore, comparison of the erm(B)-carrying isolates of multiple sources worldwide demonstrated the possibility of zoonotic transmission of erm(B) in Campylobacter. These findings highlight the importance of continuous surveillance of erythromycin resistance dissemination in Campylobacter which may compromise the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapy.

BackgroundPsoriasis is one of the most frequent inflammatory skin conditions and could be treated via tele-dermatology, provided that the current lack of reliable tools for objective severity assessments is overcome. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) has a prominent level of subjectivity and is rarely used in real practice, although it is the most widely accepted metric for measuring psoriasis severity currently. ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop an image–artificial intelligence (AI)–based validated system for severity assessment with the explicit intention of facilitating long-term management of patients with psoriasis. MethodsA deep learning system was trained to estimate the PASI score by using 14,096 images from 2367 patients with psoriasis. We used 1962 patients from January 2015 to April 2021 to train the model and the other 405 patients from May 2021 to July 2021 to validate it. A multiview feature enhancement block was designed to combine vision features from different perspectives to better simulate the visual diagnostic method in clinical practice. A classification header along with a regression header was simultaneously applied to generate PASI scores, and an extra cross-teacher header after these 2 headers was designed to revise their output. The mean average error (MAE) was used as the metric to evaluate the accuracy of the predicted PASI score. By making the model minimize the MAE value, the model becomes closer to the target value. Then, the proposed model was compared with 43 experienced dermatologists. Finally, the proposed model was deployed into an app named SkinTeller on the WeChat platform. ResultsThe proposed image-AI–based PASI-estimating model outperformed the average performance of 43 experienced dermatologists with a 33.2% performance gain in the overall PASI score. The model achieved the smallest MAE of 2.05 at 3 input images by the ablation experiment. In other words, for the task of psoriasis severity assessment, the severity score predicted by our model was close to the PASI score diagnosed by experienced dermatologists. The SkinTeller app has been used 3369 times for PASI scoring in 1497 patients from 18 hospitals, and its excellent performance was confirmed by a feedback survey of 43 dermatologist users. ConclusionsAn image-AI–based psoriasis severity assessment model has been proposed to automatically calculate PASI scores in an efficient, objective, and accurate manner. The SkinTeller app may be a promising alternative for dermatologists’ accurate assessment in the real world and chronic disease self-management in patients with psoriasis.

Abstract Condyloma acuminatum is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by human papillomavirus. Its prevalence and recurrence rates are high. While there are multiple treatment options for condyloma acuminatum, no single therapy form is effective in achieving complete remission. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) was shown to be very promising as a treatment option for condyloma acuminatum. However, for some patients the therapeutic result after a single PDT session is not satisfactory. Thus, it is necessary to develop an effective treatment method for recalcitrant condyloma acuminatum. We hypothesize that suboptimal therapeutic results after a single PDT may be caused by an insufficient penetration of the photosensitizer into the tissue. Here, we applied a combination of superficial shaving and PDT to address this issue. All patients were satisfied with the effect of the treatment, and their quality of life improved significantly. Pain was the major adverse event during treatment but was acceptable to all patients. Therefore, superficial shaving in combination with PDT is safe and effective.

Mammalian autophagy-related gene 13 (ATG13) is a vital component of the ATG1 autophagy initiation complex which plays an essential role in autophagy. However, the molecular function of ATG13 in pathogen defense in invertebrates is still poorly understood. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of blood clam Tegillarca granosa ATG13 (TgATG13) was obtained, which was 1,918 bp in length, including 283 bp 5' UTR, 252 bp 3' UTR and 1,383 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 460 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that TgATG13 had the closest relationship with that of Crassostrea Virginica. Quantitative real-time PCR results showed that the transcript of TgATG13 was universally expressed in various tissues of blood clam, with the highest expression level in hemocytes. The expression level of TgATG13 was robustly increased after exposure of both Vibrio alginolyticus and LPS. Fluorescence confocal microscopy further showed that TgATG13 promoted the production of autophagosome. In summary, our study demonstrated that TgATG13 was involved in the immune regulation of blood clam during pathogen invasion, deepening our understanding of the innate immune mechanism of blood clam.

Abstract Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of oral malignancy, and metastasis accounts for the poor prognosis of OSCC. Autophagy is considered to facilitate OSCC development by mitigating various cellular stresses; nevertheless, the mechanisms of autophagy in OSCC cell proliferation and metastasis remain unknown. In our study, high-sensitivity label-free quantitative proteomics analysis revealed nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1) as the most significantly upregulated protein in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour samples derived from OSCC patients with or without lymphatic metastasis. Moreover, NUPR1 is aberrantly expressed in the OSCC tissues and predicts low overall survival rates for OSCC patients. Notably, based on tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomic analysis between stable NUPR1 knockdown OSCC cells and scrambled control OSCC cells, we confirmed that NUPR1 maintained autophagic flux and lysosomal functions by directly increasing transcription factor E3 (TFE3) activity, which promoted OSCC cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our data revealed that the NUPR1–TFE3 axis is a critical regulator of the autophagic machinery in OSCC progression, and this study may provide a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of OSCC.

Abstract Background It is known that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) PTCSC3 is involved in thyroid cancer and glioma, but its function in osteoporosis is unknown. The aim of our study was to investigate the role of lncRNA PTCSC3 in osteoporosis. Methods A total of 80 patients with osteoporosis (4 clinical stages) and four corresponding groups of healthy controls were enrolled. Plasma PTCSC3 levels in the 80 osteoporosis patients and 80 healthy volunteers were measured using RT-qPCR. The diagnostic potential of plasma PTCSC3 for osteoporosis was evaluated by ROC curve analysis with healthy volunteers as the true negative cases and corresponding osteoporosis patients as the true positive cases. Results PTCSC3 was upregulated in osteoporosis patients compared with healthy controls. PTCSC3 levels increased with osteoporosis stages increasing, but not with healthy controls aging. PTCSC3 overexpression separated each stage of osteoporosis from corresponding controls. PTCSC3 overexpression promoted while PTCSC3 silencing inhibited osteoblast apoptosis. However, PTCSC3 overexpression and silencing showed no significant effect on osteoclast apoptosis. LncRNA PTCSC3 was upregulated in osteoporosis and negatively regulated osteoblast apoptosis. Conclusion LncRNA PTCSC3 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for osteoporosis.

Abstract Ghost imaging (GI) facilitates image acquisition under low-light conditions by single-pixel measurements and thus has great potential in applications in various fields ranging from biomedical imaging to remote sensing. However, GI usually requires a large amount of single-pixel samplings in order to reconstruct a high-resolution image, imposing a practical limit for its applications. Here we propose a far-field super-resolution GI technique that incorporates the physical model for GI image formation into a deep neural network. The resulting hybrid neural network does not need to pre-train on any dataset, and allows the reconstruction of a far-field image with the resolution beyond the diffraction limit. Furthermore, the physical model imposes a constraint to the network output, making it effectively interpretable. We experimentally demonstrate the proposed GI technique by imaging a flying drone, and show that it outperforms some other widespread GI techniques in terms of both spatial resolution and sampling ratio. We believe that this study provides a new framework for GI, and paves a way for its practical applications.

Infrared thermographs (IRTs, also called thermal cameras) have been used to remotely measure elevated body temperature (BT) and respiratory rate (RR) during infectious disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19. To facilitate the fast measurement of BT and RR using IRTs in densely populated venues, it is desirable to have IRT algorithms that can automatically identify the best facial locations in thermal images to extract these vital signs. The IEC 80601-2-59:2017 standard suggests that the regions medially adjacent to the inner canthi of the eyes are robust BT measurement sites. The nostril regions, on the other hand, are often used for RR estimation. However, it is more difficult to automatically identify inner canthi and nostrils in thermal images than in visible-light images, which are rich with exploitable features. In this paper, a unique system that can detect inner canthi and outer nostril edges directly in thermal images in two phases is introduced. In Phase I, original thermal images were processed in four different ways to enhance facial features to facilitate inner canthus and nostril detection. In Phase II, landmarks of the inner canthi and outer nostril edges were detected in two steps: (1) face detection using the Single Shot Multibox Detector (SSD) and (2) facial landmark detection to locate the inner canthi and outer nostril edges. The face detection, facial landmark detection, and overall system accuracies were evaluated using the intersection over union, normalized Euclidean distance, and success detection rate metrics on a set of 36 thermal images collected from 12 subjects using three different IRTs. Additional validation was performed on a subset of 40 random thermal images from the publicly available Tufts Face Database. The results revealed that the processed images—referred to as ICLIP images—yielded the highest landmark localization accuracy from the four types of processed thermal images, verifying that the system can automatically and accurately estimate the inner canthus and nostril locations in thermal images. The proposed system can be applied in IRT algorithms to provide reliable temperature measurements and RR estimates during infectious disease outbreaks.

This study investigates how the endorsements of Internet celebrities (ICs) may drive consumer trust in their marketing campaigns, and subsequently affect impulse buying in relation to luxury fashion brands. Drawing on the framework of persuasion with a particular emphasis on the role of receivers, this study identifies five main characteristics, namely, the popularity of ICs, identification, IC adoration, social distance, and the perceived fit that may contribute to promoting impulse buying. A survey was conducted with 585 followers of IC in China. The findings reveal that trust is an essential factor that affects impulse buying. Identification and perceived fit both significantly contribute to increasing impulse buying through trust. Alternatively, large social distance may impair the relationship between trust and impulse buying. We conclude with implications for marketers that luxury fashion brands should seek cooperation not only with the most popular, but also with the most relevant ICs. An IC with a humble and relatable image can earn consumers’ trust and lead to an enhanced endorsement effect.

Ceramic membranes have been increasingly employed in water treatment owing to their merits such as high-stability, anti-oxidation, long lifespan and environmental friendliness. The application of ceramic membranes mainly focuses on microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes, and some precise separation can be achieved by introducing novel porous materials with superior selectivity. Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have developed a wide spectrum of applications in the fields of the environment, energy, water treatment and gas separation due to the diversity and tunable advantages of metal clusters and organic ligands. Although the issue of water stability in MOF materials inhibits the development of MOF membranes in water treatment, researchers still overcome many obstacles to advance the application of MOF membranes in water treatment processes. To the best of our knowledge, there is still a lack of a reviews on the development process and prospects of ceramic-based MOF membranes for water treatment. Therefore, in this review, we mainly summarize the fabrication method for ceramic-based MOF membranes and their application in water treatment, such as water/salt separation, pollutant separation, heavy metal separation, etc. Following this, based on the high structural, thermal and chemical stability of ceramic substrates, and the high controllability of MOF materials, the superiority and insufficient use of ceramic-based MOF membranes in the field of water treatment are critically discussed.

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are alternatives to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and have recently gained wide acceptance in various materials. For the treatment and prevention of diseases, it is also important to clarify the relationship between OPFRs and tumors, despite the fact that OPFRs are less toxic than BFRs. This research used the TCGA and CTD databases for transcriptome profiling and identifying OPFRs-related genes. GO and KEGG analyses suggested that OPFRs may be closely related to colorectal cancer (CRC), and genes correlated with OPFRs were significantly and differently expressed between tumor and normal group. Further, OPFRs-related genes were associated with a good prognosis in CRC patients. The deeper research demonstrated that one of the OPFRs—triphenyl phosphate could significantly increased the viability and proliferation of CRC cell lines compared with the control group. In addition, Our research also found that melatonin at 50 μM could significantly impact CRC cell proliferation and migration ability induced by TPP.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe the economic burden of Chinese patients with melanoma in Hunan province of China, and to investigate the factors for hospitalization spending and length of stay (LOS) in patients undergoing melanoma surgery.MethodsData was extracted from the Chinese National Health Statistics Network Reporting System database in Hunan province during 2017–2019. Population and individual statistics were presented, and nonparametric tests and quantile regression were used to analyze the factors for spending and LOS.ResultA total of 2,644 hospitalized patients with melanoma in Hunan were identified. During 2017–2019, the total hospitalization spending was $5,247,972, and out-of-pocket payment (OOP) was $1,817,869, accounting for 34.6% of the total expenditure. The median spending was $1,123 [interquartile range (IQR): $555–2,411] per capita, and the median LOS was 10 days (IQR: 5–18). A total of 1,104 patients who underwent surgery were further analyzed. The non-parametric tests and quantile regression showed that women were associated with less spending and LOS than men. In general, patients aged 46–65 and those with lesions on the limbs had higher hospitalization costs and LOS than other subgroups.ConclusionMelanoma causes heavy economic burdens on patients in Hunan, such that the median spending is close to 60% of the averagely annual disposable income. Middle-aged men patients with melanoma on the limbs present the highest financial burden of melanoma.

Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort (Ligusticum; Apiaceae) (accepted name, Ligusticum striatum DC, on “The Plant List” for the latest version) is a Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) which mainly distributed in Sichuan Basin, China. Chuanxiong is the dried rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. Ligustrazine, also known as tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), is a main active fraction of chuanxiong. The aim of this study was to clarify the underlying mechanisms by which TMP protect against psoriasis-like inflammation in keratinocytes. Here, we demonstrated that TMP alleviated the severity and PASI scores of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesion in vivo. For the histopathology level, TMP inhibited the over-proliferation of keratinocytes in the epidermis and the substantial immune cells influx in dermis. For the mechanism of the ability of TMP on regulating inflammation, we confirmed that TMP regulate the TRAF6/c-JUN/NFκB signaling pathway through analyzing the proteomics profiling and verifying the expression of TRAF6, pho-c-Jun, pho-NFκB, so that the downstream psoriasis-relevant genes transcribed by c-JUN or NFκB were down-regulated. Furthermore, we predicted TRAF6 as the potential binding point of TMP. Accordingly, our study demonstrated that TMP regulated psoriasis-like inflammation through inhibiting TRAF6/c-JUN/NFκB signaling pathway in keratinocytes, which potentially provides evidence of the mechanism of TMP in the treatment and prevention of psoriasis.

Expansion of quinolone-resistant Neisseria meningitidis clone ChinaCC4821-R1-C/B from sequence type (ST) 4821 clonal complex (CC4821) caused a serogroup shift from serogroup A to serogroup C invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in China. To determine the relationship among globally distributed CC4821 meningococci, we analyzed whole-genome sequence data from 173 CC4821 meningococci isolated from 4 continents during 1972–2019. These meningococci clustered into 4 sublineages (1–4); sublineage 1 primarily comprised of IMD isolates (41/50, 82%). Most isolates from outside China (40/49, 81.6%) formed a distinct sublineage, the Europe–USA cluster, with the typical strain designation B:P1.17-6,23:F3-36:ST-3200(CC4821), harboring mutations in penicillin-binding protein 2. These data show that the quinolone-resistant clone ChinaCC4821-R1-C/B has expanded to other countries. The increasing distribution worldwide of serogroup B CC4821 raises the concern that CC4821 has the potential to cause a pandemic that would be challenging to control, despite indirect evidence that the Trumenba vaccine might afford some protection.

Cemented polished tapered femoral stems (PTS) made of cobalt–chrome alloy (CoCr) are a known risk factor for periprosthetic fracture (PPF). The mechanical differences between CoCr-PTS and stainless-steel (SUS) PTS were investigated. CoCr stems having the same shape and surface roughness as the SUS Exeter® stem were manufactured and dynamic loading tests were performed on three each. Stem subsidence and the compressive force at the bone–cement interface were recorded. Tantalum balls were injected into the cement, and their movement was tracked to indicate cement movement. Stem motions in the cement were greater for the CoCr stems than for the SUS stems. In addition, although we found a significant positive correlation between stem subsidence and compressive force in all stems, CoCr stems generated a compressive force over three times higher than SUS stems at the bone–cement interface with the same stem subsidence (p < 0.01). The final stem subsidence amount and final force were greater in the CoCr group (p < 0.01), and the ratio of tantalum ball vertical distance to stem subsidence was significantly smaller for CoCr than for SUS (p < 0.01). CoCr stems appear to move more easily in cement than SUS stems, which might contribute to the increased occurrence of PPF with the use of CoCr-PTS.

In order to capture the spatial-spectral (x,y,λ) information of the scene, various techniques have been proposed. Different from the widely used scanning-based methods, spectral snapshot compressive imaging (SCI) utilizes the idea of compressive sensing to compressively capture the 3D spatial-spectral data-cube in a single-shot 2D measurement and thus it is efficient, enjoying the advantages of high-speed and low bandwidth. However, the reconstruction process, i.e., to retrieve the 3D cube from the 2D measurement, is an ill-posed problem and it is challenging to reconstruct high quality images. Previous works usually use 2D convolutions and preliminary attention to address this challenge. However, these networks and attention do not exactly extract spectral features. On the other hand, 3D convolutions can extract more features in a 3D cube, but increase computational cost significantly. To balance this trade-off, in this paper, we propose a hybrid multi-dimensional attention U-Net (HMDAU-Net) to reconstruct hyperspectral images from the 2D measurement in an end-to-end manner. HMDAU-Net integrates 3D and 2D convolutions in an encoder–decoder structure to fully utilize the abundant spectral information of hyperspectral images with a trade-off between performance and computational cost. Furthermore, attention gates are employed to highlight salient features and suppress the noise carried by the skip connections. Our proposed HMDAU-Net achieves superior performance over previous state-of-the-art reconstruction algorithms.

Immunoglobulin new antigen receptor (IgNAR) is a naturally occurring antibody that consists of only two heavy chains with two independent variable domains. The variable binding domain of IgNAR, called variable new antigen receptor (VNAR), is attractive due to its solubility, thermal stability, and small size. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is a viral capsid protein found on the surface of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). It appears in the blood of an individual infected with HBV and is widely used as a diagnostic marker for HBV infection. In this study, the whitespotted bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium plagiosum) were immunized with the recombinant HBsAg protein. Peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) of immunized bamboo sharks were further isolated and used to construct a VNAR-targeted HBsAg phage display library. The 20 specific VNARs against HBsAg were then isolated by bio-panning and phage ELISA. The 50% of maximal effect (EC50) of three nanobodies, including HB14, HB17, and HB18, were 4.864 nM, 4.260 nM, and 8.979 nM, respectively. The Sandwich ELISA assay further showed that these three nanobodies interacted with different epitopes of HBsAg protein. When taken together, our results provide a new possibility for the application of VNAR in HBV diagnosis and also demonstrate the feasibility of using VNAR for medical testing.

Abstract Nitrogen mustard (NM) causes severe vesicating skin injury, which lacks effective targeted therapies. The major limitation is that the specific mechanism of NM-induced skin injury is not well understood. Recently, autophagy has been found to play important roles in physical and chemical exposure-caused cutaneous injuries. However, whether autophagy contributes to NM-induced dermal toxicity is unclear. Herein, we initially confirmed that NM dose-dependently caused cell death and induced autophagy in keratinocytes. Suppression of autophagy by 3-methyladenine, chloroquine, and bafilomycin A1 or ATG5 siRNA attenuated NM-induced keratinocyte cell death. Furthermore, NM increased transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) expression, intracellular Ca2+ content, and the activities of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase β (CaMKKβ), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). NM-induced autophagy in keratinocytes was abolished by treatment with inhibitors of TRPV1 (capsazepine), CaMKKβ (STO-609), AMPK (compound C), and ULK1 (SBI-0206965) as well as TRPV1, CaMKKβ, and AMPK siRNA transfection. In addition, an mTOR inhibitor (rapamycin) had no significant effect on NM-stimulated autophagy or cell death of keratinocytes. Finally, the results of the in vivo experiment in NM-treated skin tissues were consistent with the findings of the in vitro experiment. In conclusion, NM-caused dermal toxicity by overactivating autophagy partially through the activation of TRPV1-Ca2+-CaMKKβ-AMPK-ULK1 signaling pathway. These results suggest that blocking TRPV1-dependent autophagy could be a potential treatment strategy for NM-caused cutaneous injury.

Objective: Scarlet fever epidemics caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS) have been ongoing in China since 2011. However, limited data are available on the dynamic molecular characterizations of the epidemic strains. Method: Epidemiological data of scarlet fever in Shanghai were obtained from the National Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance System. Throat swabs of patients with scarlet fever and asymptomatic school-age children were cultured. Illumina sequencing was performed on 39emm1 isolates. Results: The annual incidence of scarlet fever was 7.5–19.4/100,000 persons in Shanghai during 2011–2015, with an average GAS carriage rate being 7.6% in school-age children. The proportion ofemm1 GAS strains increased from 3.8% in 2011 to 48.6% in 2014; they harbored a superantigen profile similar to emm12 isolates, except for the speA gene. Two predominant clones, SH001-emm12, and SH002-emm1, circulated in 66.9% of scarlet fever cases and 44.8% of carriers. Genomic analysis showed emm1 isolates throughout China constituted distinct clades, enriched by the presence of mobile genetic elements carrying the multidrug-resistant determinants ermB and tetM and virulence genes speA, speC, and spd1. Conclusion: A significant increase in the proportion ofemm1 strains occurred in the GAS population, causing scarlet fever in China. Ongoing surveillance is warranted to monitor the dynamic changes of GAS clones.

Abstract Background Horseshoe crabs are ancient marine arthropods with a long evolutionary history extending back approximately 450 million years, which may benefit from their innate immune systems. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying their abilities of distinguishing and defending against invading microbes are still unclear. Results Here, we describe the 2.06 Gbp genome assembly of Tachypleus tridentatus with 24,222 predicted protein-coding genes. Comparative genomics shows that T. tridentatus and the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus have the most orthologues shared among two species, including genes involved in the immune-related JAK-STAT signalling pathway. Divergence time dating results show that the last common ancestor of Asian horseshoe crabs (including T. tridentatus and C. rotundicauda) and L. polyphemus appeared approximately 130 Mya (121–141), and the split of the two Asian horseshoe crabs was dated to approximately 63 Mya (57–69). Hox gene analysis suggests two clusters in both horseshoe crab assemblies. Surprisingly, selective analysis of immune-related gene families revealed the high expansion of conserved pattern recognition receptors. Genes involved in the IMD and JAK-STAT signal transduction pathways also exhibited a certain degree of expansion in both genomes. Intact coagulation cascade-related genes were present in the T. tridentatus genome with a higher number of coagulation factor genes. Moreover, most reported antibacterial peptides have been identified in T. tridentatus with their potentially effective antimicrobial sites. Conclusions The draft genome of T. tridentatus would provide important evidence for further clarifying the taxonomy and evolutionary relationship of Chelicerata. The expansion of conserved immune signalling pathway genes, coagulation factors and intact antimicrobial peptides in T. tridentatus constitutes its robust and effective innate immunity for self-defence in marine environments with an enormous number of invading pathogens and may affect the quality of the adaptive properties with regard to complicated marine environments.

As a new technology to improve transportation capacity by compressing train tracking interval, virtual coupling (VC) has attracted significant attention from both industry and academia. The traditional overspeed protection mechanism cannot guarantee the safe running for a train fleet. Therefore, in this article, we study two key problems of the overspeed protection mechanism: the limit speed calculation and the safe control for the protection of train in the formation when overspeed occurs. This article describes the calculation methods of limit speed difference (LSD) based on relative coordinates and a collision mitigation approach by minimizing the relative kinetic energy, respectively. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through numerical analysis. The proposed calculation method of limit speed can realize large headway at low speed and small headway at high speed, which can meet the time requirement of switch and route arrangement in station areas. The performance of the model predictive control (MPC) based approach is compared with other two control strategies, i.e. basic adaptive cruise control (ACC) and directly maximum braking control (DBC). The simulation results show that the MPC strategy has the best performance among these three strategies in reducing the total relative kinetic energy of virtually-coupled train formation, followed by the DBC control strategy, and the basic ACC control strategy needs to be improved.

Background: Cutaneous lymphangioma circumscriptum is characterized by clusters of deep-seated, vesicle-like papules. Cutaneous lymphangioma circumscriptum (CLC) is not a tumor but rather a congenital malformation of superficial lymphatics.Objectives: The study aimed to describe the dermoscopic features of CLC and investigate the reason why marked blood components in CLC. Moreover, this study sought to increase awareness of the clinical characteristics of CLC and provide insights into CLC diagnosis.Methods: A representative sample of patients with CLC with demographic information and pathological and dermoscopical results was analyzed. The immunohistochemistry of lymphangioma specimens with CD31 and D2-40 was performed. The clinical manifestations of CLC, demographic information, and the results of immunohistochemistry were statistically analyzed to validate the correlation.Results: Besides the pattern of frog spawn-like blisters, lymphangioma also presented as either transparent or pigmented with dark-red to whitish/yellowish shades. Moreover, lymphangioma manifested as a pattern of dermatofibroma. Furthermore, CD31 was detected in the flattened endothelium and only present in dilated spaces containing enough blood or lymph components.Limitations: This study is limited by its retrospective nature and statistical power.Conclusion: Dermoscopy is useful for the diagnosis of CLC. CD31 positive staining and cystic-dilated spaces showed flattened inner and outer endothelia are the diagnostic features in hypopyon-like shape and blisters resembling frog spawn patterns in CLC. These features can assist in the diagnosis of CLC.

BackgroundSkin and subcutaneous disease is the fourth-leading cause of the nonfatal disease burden worldwide and constitutes one of the most common burdens in primary care. However, there is a severe lack of dermatologists, particularly in rural Chinese areas. Furthermore, although artificial intelligence (AI) tools can assist in diagnosing skin disorders from images, the database for the Chinese population is limited. ObjectiveThis study aims to establish a database for AI based on the Chinese population and presents an initial study on six common skin diseases. MethodsEach image was captured with either a digital camera or a smartphone, verified by at least three experienced dermatologists and corresponding pathology information, and finally added to the Xiangya-Derm database. Based on this database, we conducted AI-assisted classification research on six common skin diseases and then proposed a network called Xy-SkinNet. Xy-SkinNet applies a two-step strategy to identify skin diseases. First, given an input image, we segmented the regions of the skin lesion. Second, we introduced an information fusion block to combine the output of all segmented regions. We compared the performance with 31 dermatologists of varied experiences. ResultsXiangya-Derm, as a new database that consists of over 150,000 clinical images of 571 different skin diseases in the Chinese population, is the largest and most diverse dermatological data set of the Chinese population. The AI-based six-category classification achieved a top 3 accuracy of 84.77%, which exceeded the average accuracy of dermatologists (78.15%). ConclusionsXiangya-Derm, the largest database for the Chinese population, was created. The classification of six common skin conditions was conducted based on Xiangya-Derm to lay a foundation for product research.