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Understanding the hydrochemical characteristics and genesis mechanisms of strontium-rich groundwater is pivotal for supporting the exploitation and utilization of natural strontium-rich groundwater. In this research, 27 groundwater samples were collected. By analyzing major ion chemistry and strontium isotope data, and considering the hydrogeological context, various analytical approaches, including multivariate statistics, ion ratios, and isotopes, were used to reveal the characteristics and genesis mechanisms of strontium-rich groundwater in the study area. The findings indicate that the predominant hydrochemical type of groundwater is HCO3-Ca, with Ca2+ and HCO3− as the primary cations and anions. The hydrochemistry of the strontium-rich groundwater is predominantly influenced by rock weathering processes. A combination of factors, including ion exchange, and anthropogenic activities, shapes the compositional characteristics of the groundwater in the region. The dissolution of calcite due to weathering emerges as the principal source of strontium in the groundwater. While ion exchange processes are not conducive to strontium enrichment in groundwater, their effect is relatively limited. The impact of human activities on the groundwater is minor.

This article summarized the postoperative nursing of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine for an elderly patient undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. Comprehensive nursing interventions such as basic nursing, acupuncture massage, dietary nursing, exercise guidance and psychological care were carried out. A comprehensive nursing plan of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine had been made to relieve the negative emotion and pain of the patient, and improve the sleep quality and quality of life during rehabilitation. (本文总结1例老年甲状腺癌患者术后中西医结合护理经验。根据患者术后症状, 完善基础护理, 中西医联合用药, 并采用针灸按摩、饮食调护、运动指导、心理干预等护理方法, 内外结合, 提升患者治疗信心, 缓解其负性情绪, 减轻疼痛, 改善睡眠质量, 提高患者的生活质量。)

Abstract Background A malignancy might be found at surgery in cases of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) diagnosed via US-guided core needle biopsy (CNB). The objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in predicting ADH diagnosed by US-guided CNB that was upgraded to malignancy after surgery. Methods In this retrospective study, 110 CNB-diagnosed ADH lesions in 109 consecutive women who underwent US, CEUS, and surgery between June 2018 and June 2023 were included. CEUS was incorporated into US BI-RADS and yielded a CEUS-adjusted BI-RADS. The diagnostic performance of US BI-RADS and CEUS-adjusted BI-RADS for ADH were analyzed and compared. Results The mean age of the 109 women was 49.7 years ± 11.6 (SD). The upgrade rate of ADH at CNB was 48.2% (53 of 110). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of CEUS for identification of malignant upgrading were 96.2%, 66.7%,72.9%, and 95.0%, respectively, based on BI-RADS category 4B threshold. The two false-negative cases were low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ. Compared with the US, CEUS-adjusted BI-RADS had better specificity for lesions smaller than 2 cm (76.7% vs. 96.7%, P = 0.031). After CEUS, 16 (10 malignant and 6 nonmalignant) of the 45 original US BI-RADS category 4A lesions were up-classified to BI-RADS 4B, and 3 (1 malignant and 2 nonmalignant) of the 41 original US BI-RADS category 4B lesions were down-classified to BI-RADS 4A. Conclusions CEUS is helpful in predicting malignant upgrading of ADH, especially for lesions smaller than 2 cm and those classified as BI-RADS 4A and 4B on ultrasound.

Abstract As a naturally occurring cytolytic peptide, melittin (MLT) not only exhibits a potent direct tumor cell-killing effect but also possesses various immunomodulatory functions. MLT shows minimal chances for developing resistance and has been recognized as a promising broad-spectrum antitumor drug because of this unique dual mechanism of action. However, MLT still displays obvious toxic side effects during treatment, such as nonspecific cytolytic activity, hemolytic toxicity, coagulation disorders, and allergic reactions, seriously hampering its broad clinical applications. With thorough research on antitumor mechanisms and the rapid development of nanotechnology, significant effort has been devoted to shielding against toxicity and achieving tumor-directed drug delivery to improve the therapeutic efficacy of MLT. Herein, we mainly summarize the potential antitumor mechanisms of MLT and recent progress in the targeted delivery strategies for tumor therapy, such as passive targeting, active targeting and stimulus-responsive targeting. Additionally, we also highlight the prospects and challenges of realizing the full potential of MLT in the field of tumor therapy. By exploring the antitumor molecular mechanisms and delivery strategies of MLT, this comprehensive review may inspire new ideas for tumor multimechanism synergistic therapy.

Stable isotopes in natural water bodies serve as hydrologic tracers, with a history of extensive application in karst groundwater research. The present paper is a systematic review of previous research results, with the objective of sorting out and summarizing the stable isotopic characteristics of karst groundwater in southwest China, which is the most typical karst region worldwide. Comprehensive analysis reveals that the deuterium and oxygen isotope values of most karst groundwater are characterized temporally as ‘enriched in the rainy season and depleted in the dry season’, which is the opposite of the pattern of precipitation. While the spatial distribution feature is basically consistent with the spatial variation pattern of precipitation, which is characterized as ‘depleted from the coast to the interior’. Additionally, the main applications of stable isotopes to karst groundwater are discussed, including karst groundwater recharge source and recharge elevation identification, research on karst groundwater in the hydrological cycle, the hydrological process of karst groundwater, and karst groundwater contamination tracking. Finally, we looked forward to future research on karst groundwater based on deuterium and oxygen isotopes. It is our hope that this review may provide insight into the study of karst groundwater.

In this study, the hydrochemistry-runoff method and remote sensing estimation method were used to calculate the karst carbon sink flux (KCSF) and the forest vegetation carbon sequestration flux (FVCSF) in Darongjiang (DRJ) and Lingqu (LQ) watersheds. The results show the following: (1) The KCSF in DRJ and LQ watersheds is 238.43 × 105 t·y−1 and 353.44 × 105 t·y−1, respectively. Influenced by changes in flow rate, the two watersheds both show that their KCSF is higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. (2) The FVCSF in DRJ and LQ watersheds was 680.78 × 107 t·y−1 and 229.63 × 107 t·y−1, respectively. Through comparison, it can be seen that the FVCSF is much higher than the KCSF in both watersheds, but the FVCSF and the KCSF are at the same order of magnitude. (3) Through further analysis of the influence factors on the FVCSF and the KCSF, we found that the highest values of FVCSF are mainly distributed around Kitten Mountain on the upper reach and along the LQ watershed. That may be because most of the upper reach areas are mountainous forestland, and the strong weathering of rocks in the LQ watershed promotes the development of forest vegetation carbon sequestration. Therefore, it can be inferred that there is a certain synergistic effect between the karst carbon sink (KCS) and the forest vegetation carbon sequestration (FVCS) in the study area, and such a synergistic effect is caused by rock weathering.

Until now, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most important candidates for calcified tissue regeneration and injury repair, showing broad clinical application prospects. Therefore, the mechanism of fate determination and differentiation regulation has been the fundamental question in the field. However, due to many reasons, such as the heterogeneity and limited knowledge of regulatory mechanisms, the further investigation and clinical application of MSCs are restricted. In recent years, emerging studies have proved that epigenetic modification plays an important regulatory role in the process of osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Abnormal epigenetic regulation is associated with the development of osteoporosis, and small molecules that interfere with epigenetic modifications have the potential to improve osteoporosis. On the other hand, nutrient metabolism, especially glucose metabolism, is a necessary energy source for cell physiological activities and a regulatory factor for stem cell proliferation and differentiation. They are closely related and play a crucial role in the biological characteristics and fate determination of MSCs. In this paper, we briefly describe the research progress of glucose metabolism and epigenetic modifications in regulating osteogenic differentiation of MSCs and the prospect of clinical application of epigenetics in osteoporosis.

This paper focuses on the network equipment fault monitoring and diagnosis software, and studies the fault diagnosis of the monitored AFDX network based on the network algorithm. Firstly, the range fault characteristic parameters are designed to identify the fault type, and the correlation between the detection results and the fault characteristic parameters at each location can be obtained. Secondly, the data storage management scheme of the first level filtering and the second level caching mechanism is designed for the data collected in the detection. Then, according to the designed fault classification, fault diagnosis methods are given respectively, and the occasional anomalies are identified and suppressed. Finally, the network fault diagnosis verification module is designed, and the experimental verification is carried out from the perspectives of real-time and concurrency. The verification results prove the effectiveness of the method.

The COVID pandemic fueled by emerging SARS-CoV-2 new variants of concern remains a major global health concern, and the constantly emerging mutations present challenges to current therapeutics. The spike glycoprotein is not only essential for the initial viral entry, but is also responsible for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 components via syncytia formation. Spike-mediated cell-cell transmission is strongly resistant to extracellular therapeutic and convalescent antibodies via an unknown mechanism. Here, we describe the antibody-mediated spike activation and syncytia formation on cells displaying the viral spike. We found that soluble antibodies against receptor binding motif (RBM) are capable of inducing the proteolytic processing of spike at both the S1/S2 and S2' cleavage sites, hence triggering ACE2-independent cell-cell fusion. Mechanistically, antibody-induced cell-cell fusion requires the shedding of S1 and exposure of the fusion peptide at the cell surface. By inhibiting S1/S2 proteolysis, we demonstrated that cell-cell fusion mediated by spike can be re-sensitized towards antibody neutralization in vitro. Lastly, we showed that cytopathic effect mediated by authentic SARS-CoV-2 infection remain unaffected by the addition of extracellular neutralization antibodies. Hence, these results unveil a novel mode of antibody evasion and provide insights for antibody selection and drug design strategies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 infected cells.

We show that a circularly polarized electric dipole harbors a near-field concentrated wave which orbits around with an energy flux significantly larger (five orders of magnitudes at ∼1 nm radial distance) than far-field radiation. This near-field wave is found to carry transverse spins and reveal skyrmion spin texture (Néel-type). By performing electromagnetic analysis and numerical simulation, we demonstrate chiral extraction of a near-field rotational energy flux: the confined energy flow is out-coupled to surface plasmons on metal surface, whose curvature is designed to provide orbital angular momentum matched to spin angular momentum of dipole field, that is, to facilitate spin–orbit interaction. Strong coupling occurs with high chiral selectivity (∼113) and Purcell enhancement (∼17) when both linear and angular momenta are matched between dipole field and surface plasmons. Existence of a high-intensity energy flux in the deep-bottom near-field region (r ∼ 1 nm) opens up an interesting avenue in altering fundamental properties of dipole emission. For example, extracting ∼1% of this flux would result in enhancing spontaneous emission rate by ∼1000 times.

Abstract Macrophage polarization determines the production of cytokines that fuel the initiation and evolution of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thus, modulation of macrophage polarization might represent a potential therapeutic strategy for RA. However, coordinated modulation of macrophages in the synovium and synovial fluid has not been achieved thus far. Herein, we develop a biomimetic ApoA-I mimetic peptide-modified neutrophil membrane-wrapped F127 polymer (R4F-NM@F127) for targeted drug delivery during RA treatment. Due to the high expression of adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors on neutrophils, the neutrophil membrane coating can endow the nanocarrier with synovitis-targeting ability, with subsequent recruitment to the synovial fluid under the chemotactic effects of IL-8. Moreover, R4F peptide modification further endows the nanocarrier with the ability to target the SR-B1 receptor, which is highly expressed on macrophages in the synovium and synovial fluid. Long-term in vivo imaging shows that R4F-NM@F127 preferentially accumulates in inflamed joints and is engulfed by macrophages. After loading of the anti-inflammatory drug celastrol (Cel), R4F-NM@F127-Cel shows a significant reduction in hepatotoxicity, and effectively inhibits synovial inflammation and alleviates joint damage by reprogramming macrophage polarization. Thus, our results highlight the potential of the coordinated targeted modulation of macrophages as a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of RA.

In crowded fluids, polymer segments can exhibit anomalous subdiffusion due to the viscoelasticity of the surrounding environment. Previous single-particle tracking experiments revealed that such anomalous diffusion in complex fluids (e.g., in bacterial cytoplasm) can be described by fractional Brownian motion (fBm). To investigate how the viscoelastic media affects the diffusive behaviors of polymer segments without resolving single crowders, we developed a novel fractional Brownian dynamics method to simulate the dynamics of polymers under confinement. In this work, instead of using Gaussian random numbers (“white Gaussian noise”) to model the Brownian force as in the standard Brownian dynamics simulations, we introduce fractional Gaussian noise (fGn) in our homemade fractional Brownian dynamics simulation code to investigate the anomalous diffusion of polymer segments by using a simple “bottle-brush”-type polymer model. The experimental results of the velocity autocorrelation function and the exponent that characterizes the subdiffusion of the confined polymer segments can be reproduced by this simple polymer model in combination with fractional Gaussian noise (fGn), which mimics the viscoelastic media.

The forward single hadron production process is an important benchmark process for investigating the emergent properties of gluon saturation or the dense gluon system. We present our recent work [1] in which we improve the prediction accuracy of the next-to-leading order calculation of forward single hadron productions in high-p⊥ regions by implementing the threshold resummations in the Color Glass Condensate framework. Our resummed formula provides accurate descriptions of all related data across a range of energies from RHIC to the LHC. This work sheds light on the path for precision study of Color Glass Condensate based on experimental data.

The torrefaction process is one of the mild pyrolysisor the low-temperature carbonization, which is a thermochemical conversion in which biomass is heated in an inert or nitrogen atmosphere, and the temperature ranges from 200°C to 300°C. It is considered to be an effective pretreatment method to make solid fuels. This study utilizes low-temperature carbonization technology to improve the combustion efficiency of solid-derived fuel (RDF-5) made from biomass. In this experiment, a tubular furnace was used to feed nitrogen gas for 15 min, and four raw materials of pennisetum, rice straw, wood chips and Camellia seed cakes were fed. The analysis was carried out, and the effects of temperature and residence time on the calorific value, energy yield and energy density of the four raw materials were explored using response surface methodology (RSM). It can be seen from the experimental results that among the four raw materials, the carbon content and calorific value of Camellia seed cakes are the highest. Elemental analysis showed that the proportions of nitrogen and sulfur in these four raw materials are very low. These four substances were understood to be suitable to be refuse-derived fuels (RDF-5). Comparing the calorific value of the four kinds of biomass after torrefaction process, the calorific value of pennisetum, Camellia seed cakes, wood chips and rice straw increased by 42.5%, 38.7%, 52.7%, and 18.6%, respectively. These findings revealed that the higher temperature and the longer residence time, the smaller energy yield and the higher energy density.

BackgroundChronic pruritus of unknown origin (CPUO) is poorly understood and lacks effective treatment options.ObjectivesWe aimed to elucidate abnormalities in the sweat apparatus of patients with CPUO, and to assess efficacy and safety of treatment with systemic retinoids.MethodsAn initial case–control study included 20 affected patients and five healthy controls, for whom heat and sweating were induced, either through a standardized exercise protocol or ingestion of hot water. In vivo high-definition optical coherence tomography, whole-body starch-iodine testing, and skin biopsy for immunofluorescence staining were done to evaluate for sweat duct obstruction. A subsequent retrospective cohort analysis included 56 patients with CPUO, seen at an Itch subspecialty clinic of a single tertiary referral centre, who failed conventional treatments and were treated with isotretinoin and/or acitretin from May 2014 to November 2020. Treatment response to retinoids was defined as a sustained reduction in itch score of ≥2/10. Safety was assessed by proportion stopping treatment due to side effects.ResultsIn vivo imaging in 19 (95%) patients revealed features of partial keratinaceous sweat duct obstruction with statistically significant luminal dilatation compared to controls. Immunofluorescence studies of three patients’ paired lesional/non-lesional biopsies revealed dermcidin accumulation within sweat glands coupled with dermcidin leakage in itchy skin. Fifty-six patients (mean [SD] age 55.2 [17.5] years, 69.6% male) were treated with systemic retinoids. Mean (SD) duration of itch was 116.3 (140.4) months and mean (SD) itch score was 8.2 (1.8). Forty-one (73.2%) initially received isotretinoin, and 15 (26.8%) acitretin. At three months, mean itch score reduced by 2.38 (95% CI -3.2 to −1.6, p

Cortical thickness reductions differ between individuals with psychotic disorders and comparison subjects even in early stages of illness. Whether these reductions covary as expected by functional network membership or simply by spatial proximity has not been fully elucidated. Through orthonormal projective non-negative matrix factorization, cortical thickness measurements in functionally-annotated regions from MRI scans of early-stage psychosis and matched healthy controls were reduced in dimensionality into features capturing positive covariance. Rather than matching the functional networks, the covarying regions in each feature displayed a more localized spatial organization. With Bayesian belief networks, the covarying regions per feature were arranged into a network topology to visualize the dependency structure and identify key driving regions. The features demonstrated diagnosis-specific differences in cortical thickness distributions per feature, identifying reduction-vulnerable spatial regions. Differences in key cortical thickness features between psychosis and control groups were delineated, as well as those between affective and non-affective psychosis. Clustering of the participants, stratified by diagnosis and clinical variables, characterized the clinical traits that define the cortical thickness patterns. Longitudinal follow-up revealed that in select clusters with low baseline cortical thickness, clinical traits improved over time. Our study represents a novel effort to characterize brain structure in relation to functional networks in healthy and clinical populations and to map patterns of cortical thickness alterations among ESP patients onto clinical variables for a better understanding of brain pathophysiology.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of shared decision-making (SDM) interventions to improve the quality of dialysis decision-making in patients with end-stage renal disease. Methods A randomized controlled was carried out in 72 patients with end-stage renal disease recruited between October 2021 and December 2021. The patients were randomly assigned into the intervention group (n=36) or the control group (n=36). The intervention group was given SDM interventions in which the nurses used patient decision aids (PDA) for decision-making counseling, while the control group was given routine pre-dialysis education. All patients received the surveys of Decision Conflict Scale, Treatment Choice Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Decision Readiness Scale in 1 week after the intervention, and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Decision Regret Scale in 3 months after dialysis. The primary endpoint indicator was the score of Decision Conflict Scale, and the secondary ones were treatment choice, and scores of anxiety and depression, decision readiness, quality of life, and decision regret. Results After 1 week of intervention, the scores of decision conflict (P < 0.01) and anxiety (P=0.005) were significantly lower, while that of decision preparation (P < 0.01) was obviously higher in the intervention group than the control group. The proportion of uncertainty to dialysis in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (15.15% vs 34.29%, P=0.026). In 3 months after dialysis, the intervention group obtained statistically higher total physiological score (P=0.004) and lower decision regret score (P=0.002) when compared with the control group. Conclusion SDM interventions can effectively reduce decision conflict and decision regret, reduce anxiety level, and improve decision preparation and physiological health for the patients with end-stage renal disease.

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore whether collagen fiber features and collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1) are related to the stiffness of breast lesions and whether COL1A1 can predict axillary lymph node metastasis (LNM). Methods Ninety-four patients with breast lesions were consecutively enrolled in the study. Amongst the 94 lesions, 30 were benign, and 64 were malignant (25 were accompanied by axillary lymph node metastasis). Ultrasound (US) and shear wave elastography (SWE) were performed for each breast lesion before surgery. Sirius red and immunohistochemical staining were used to examine the shape and arrangement of collagen fibers and COL1A1 expression in the included tissue samples. We analyzed the correlation between the staining results and SWE parameters and investigated the effectiveness of COL1A1 expression levels in predicting axillary LNM. Results The optimal cut-off values for Emax, Emean, and Eratio for diagnosing the benign and malignant groups, were 58.70 kPa, 52.50 kPa, and 3.05, respectively. The optimal cutoff for predicting axillary LNM were 107.5 kPa, 85.15 kPa, and 3.90, respectively. Herein, the collagen fiber shape and arrangement features in breast lesions were classified into three categories. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that Emax, Emean, and Eratio differed between categories 0, 1, and 2 (P 0.145 was considered the cut-off value, and its efficacy in benign and malignant breast lesions was 0.808, with a sensitivity of 66% and a specificity of 90%. Furthermore, when the COL1A1 expression level > 0.150 was considered the cut-off, its efficacy in predicting axillary LNM was 0.796, with sensitivity and specificity of 96% and 59%, respectively. Conclusions The collagen fiber features and expression levels of COL1A1 positively correlated with the elastic parameters of breast lesions. The expression of COL1A1 may help diagnose benign and malignant breast lesions and predict axillary LNM.

With the substantial increase in karst groundwater pollution, the pollution caused by heavy metal migration has become one of the hottest topics. The migration characteristics of heavy metals in karst groundwater are closely related to the geological environment in which they are found. Therefore, this review focuses on the migration characteristics of heavy metals in karst groundwater in southern and northern China and highlights the effect of different environmental contexts such as atmosphere (precipitation), vegetation, soil, rock, and aquifers on the behavior of heavy metals. It also summarizes existing research methods on heavy metal migration in karst groundwater. Meanwhile, current advances and the future perspectives on karst groundwater heavy metal migration will be presented. It is hoped that this review may shed light on the study of heavy metal migration in karst areas.

Purpose. To evaluate the prognosis of patients with benign phyllodes tumors (PTs) treated by different surgical methods and to explore the influencing factors of local recurrence. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed 215 benign PTs from 193 patients who underwent surgery at Chinese PLA General Hospital between October 2008 and December 2020. We stratified our analysis according to surgical factors and explored the clinicopathological factors to influence local recurrence. Results. Among 193 patients, a total of 17 (8.8%, 17/193) recurred during follow-up. There were 89 patients in the US-VAE group, of whom 6 (6.7%) recurred; 8 of 57 patients (14%) in the local lumpectomy group recurred, while 3 of 47 patients (6.4%) in the extended lumpectomy group recurred (P=0.252). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that tumor diameter, mitosis, and history of breast myoma were independent risk factors for tumor recurrence (P=0.005, P=0.006, and P=0.004, respectively). The intraoperative blood loss, operation time, and scar length of the US-VAE group were shorter than those of the other two groups (P10 mm. Therefore, we recommend that a follow-up observation policy be adopted for patients with unexpected benign PTs, rather than unnecessary open surgical resection. Patients’ maximum tumor diameter, mitosis, and fibroadenoma history were independent predictors for recurrence of benign PTs.

Background: Childhood depression is a highly distinct and prevalent condition with an unknown neurobiological basis. We wish to explore the resting state fMRI data in children for potential associations between neural connectivity and childhood depressive symptoms. Methods: A longitudinal birth cohort study with neuroimaging data obtained at 4.5, 6.0 and 7.5 years of age and the Children Depression Inventory 2 (CDI) administered between 8.5 and 10.5 years was used. The CDI score was used as the dependent variable and tested for correlation, both simple Pearson and network based statistic, with the functional connectivity values obtained from the resting state fMRI. Cross-validated permutation testing with a general linear model was used to validate that the identified functional connections were indeed implicated in childhood depression. Results: Ten functional connections and four brain regions (Somatomotor Area B, Temporoparietal Junction, Orbitofrontal Cortex and Insula) were identified as significantly associated with childhood depressive symptoms for girls at 6.0 and 7.5 years. No significant functional connections were found in girls at 4.5 years or for boys at any timepoint. Network based statistic and permutation testing confirmed these findings. Conclusions: This study revealed significant sex-dependent associations of neural connectivity and childhood depressive symptoms. The regions identified are implicated in speech/language, social cognition and information integration and suggest unique pathways to childhood depressive symptoms.

Conversational question generation (CQG) is different from the question generation task of generating single-round questions based on paragraphs and answers.CQG additionally considers the conversational information composed of historical question and answer pairs,and the generated questions inherit the historical content of the conversation and maintain high consistency.In response to this feature,the article proposes word-level and sentence-level attention mechanism modules to enhance the ability to extract conversation history information,ensuring that the current round of questions integrates the characteristics of each word and sentence in the conversation history,thereby generating a coherent,high-quality question.The accuracy of the question word is more important.The generated question needs to match the answer type corresponding to the original question in the data set.An additional loss function is constructed in the question word prediction module as a limitation of the question word type.The conversational comprehension network (CCNet) model is obtained by synthesizing each module.Experiments show that this model is higher than the baseline model in most evaluation indicators.On the CoQA dataset,Bleu1 and Bleu2 reach 39.70 and 23.76,respectively,and the quality of the generated questions is higher.The model is proved to be effective in ablation experiments and cross-dataset experiments,indicating that the CCNet model has strong general capabilities.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the application effect of endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation (EPBD) with different balloon dilatation duration for biliary duct calculi, and find the most appropriate dilatation duration for EPBD using a network meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published up to August 2020. Node split, consistency and inconsistency models analysis were all conducted in network meta-analysis. Results: Eighteen RCTs with 2256 participants were finally analysed. EPBD was divided into four categories based on balloon dilatation duration, including EPBD (P0.5), EPBD (>0.5, ≤1), EPBD (1, ≤2) and EPBD (>2, ≤5). Compared with EPBD (>0.5, ≤1), EPBD (>2, ≤5) had a lower risk of early complications (odds ratio [OR] = 0.23, 95% credible interval [CI] = 0.05–0.96) and post-endoscopic procedure pancreatitis (PEP) (OR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.03–0.72). Endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) tended to have less need for mechanical lithotripsy (OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.16–0.88) and PEP (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.08–0.71) than EPBD (>0.5, ≤1). EPBD (>2, ≤5) was the safest endoscopic procedure with respect to early complications (surface area under cumulative ranking curves [SUCRA] = 79.0) and PEP (SUCRA = 85.3). In addition, EPBD (>2, ≤5) and EST had the highest probability of being the best (SUCRA = 82.6) and the worst (SUCRA = 10.8), respectively, regarding late complications. Conclusion: EPBD and EST are two methods used to treat uncomplicated choledocholithiasis (stone diameter

Objective To observe the effect of Baduanjin exercise on bed (abdominal acupoint massage with Shuangtong Qihai technique) in relief of constipation among patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI). Methods Totally 80 AMI patients with constipation were randomly divided into control group and intervention group, with 40 cases in each group. All patients received routine care and dietary instruction. Routine abdominal massage was carried out in the control group, while abdominal acupoint massage with Shuangtong Qihai technique of Baduanjin exercise was performed in the intervention group. To assess the constipation symptom and bowel sounds before intervention, 3 days and 7 days after intervention, and to compare the effect of intervention between two groups. Results The total score of constipation symptom assessment in the intervention group was lower than that in the control group at 3 days and 7 days after intervention (P＜0. 01). the frequency of bowel sounds in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group at 3 days and 7 days after intervention(P＜0. 01). The overall effective rate in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group (87. 50% vs, 67. 50%, P＜0. 05). Conclusion The abdominal acupoint massage with Shuangtong Qihai technique of Baduanjin exercise is potentially effective in in relief of constipation among AMI patients. (目的 观察床上八段锦中双通气海手法腹部穴位按摩改善急性心肌梗死患者便秘的效果。方法 选取科室收治的急性心肌梗死患者80例为研究对象, 均伴有不同程度便秘。随机分为对照组和干预组, 各40例。2组均给予常规护理和饮食指导, 对照组给予常规腹部按摩, 干预组采用床上八段锦中双通气海手法进行腹部穴位按摩。干预前、干预后3 d、7 d评估患者便秘症状总积分、肠鸣音等指标, 评价临床疗效。结果 干预后3 d和干预后7 d天, 干预组便秘症状总积分低于对照组, 肠鸣音次数高于对照组, 差异有统计学意义(P＜0. 01)。干预组总有效率87. 50%(35/40), 高于对照组的67. 50%(27/40), 差异有统计学意义(P＜0. 05)。结论 运用床上八段锦中双通气海手法进行自主腹部穴位按摩能, 有效改善急性心肌梗死患者便秘。)

Abstract Background Shear wave elastography can evaluate tissue stiffness. Previous studies showed that the elasticity characteristics of breast lesions were related to the components of extracellular matrix which was regulated by transforming growth factor beta 1(TGF-β1) directly or indirectly. However, the correlation of the expression level of TGF-β1, its signal molecules and elasticity characteristics of breast lesions have rarely been reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the expression level of TGF-β1, its signal molecules, and the elasticity characteristics of breast lesions. Methods 135 breast lesions in 130 patients were included. Elasticity parameters, including elasticity modulus, the elasticity ratio, the “stiff rim sign”, were recorded before biopsy and surgical excision. The expression levels of TGF-β1 and its signal molecules, including Smad2/3, Erk1/2, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 (JNK2), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and protein kinase B (PKB/AKT) were detected by immunohistochemistry. The diagnostic performance of the expression level of those molecules and their correlation with the elasticity characteristics were analyzed. Results Elasticity parameters and the expression levels of TGF- β1 and its signal molecules of benign lesions were lower than those of malignant lesions (P

In the 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System (fifth edition), the term "circumscribed" was used to classify astrocytic gliomas with localized growth characteristics. So far, the descriptions of "diffuse" and "circumscribed", which define the growth mode, have been applied to the classification of gliomas. This paper interprets the content of circumscribed astrocytic gliomas in the new edition tumors classification, introduces the definitions and clinical characteristics of high ⁃ grade astrocytoma with piloid features and astroblastoma, MN1⁃altered, and analyzes the value and significance of molecular markers and gene changes in the diagnosis and treatment of circumscribed astrocytic gliomas.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a skin inflammatory disease in which the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is prevalent and abundant. S. aureus harbors several secreted virulence factors that have well-studied functions in infection models, but it is unclear whether these extracellular microbial factors are relevant in the context of AD. To address this question, we designed a culture-independent method to detect and quantify S. aureus virulence factors expressed at the skin sites. We utilized RNase-H‒dependent multiplex PCR for preamplification of reverse-transcribed RNA extracted from tape strips of patients with AD sampled at skin sites with differing severity and assessed the expression of a panel of S. aureus virulence factors using qPCR. We observed an increase in viable S. aureus abundance on sites with increased severity of disease, and many virulence factors were expressed at the AD skin sites. Surprisingly, we did not observe any significant upregulation of the virulence factors at the lesional sites compared with those at the nonlesional control. Overall, we utilized a robust assay to directly detect and quantify viable S. aureus and its associated virulence factors at the site of AD skin lesions. This method can be extended to study the expression of skin microbial genes at the sites of various dermatological conditions.

Abstract With the development of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, hand gesture recognition techniques have attracted great attention owing to their excellent applications in developing human‐machine interaction (HMI). Here, the authors propose a non‐contact hand gesture recognition method based on intelligent metasurface. Owing to the advantage of dynamically controlling the electromagnetic (EM) focusing in the wavefront engineering, a transmissive programmable metasurface is presented to illuminate the forearm with more focusing spots and obtain comprehensive echo data, which can be processed under the machine learning technology to reach the non‐contact gesture recognition with high accuracy. Compared with the traditional passive antennas, unique variations of echo coefficients resulted from near fields perturbed by finger and wrist agonist muscles can be aquired through the programmable metasurface by switching the positions of EM focusing. The authors realize the gesture recognition using support vector machine algorithm based on five individual focusing spots data and all‐five‐spot data. The influences of the focusing spots on the gesture recognition are analyzed through linear discriminant analysis algorithm and Fisher score. Experimental verifications prove that the proposed metasurface‐based non‐contact wireless design can realize the classification of hand gesture recognition with higher accuracy than traditional passive antennas, and give an HMI solution.

This work provides mesoscale models for the anomalous diffusion of a polymer chain on a heterogeneous surface with rearranging randomly distributed adsorption sites. Both the “bead-spring” model and oxDNA model were simulated on supported lipid bilayer membranes with various molar fractions of charged lipids, using Brownian dynamics method. Our simulation results demonstrate that “bead-spring” chains exhibit sub-diffusion on charged lipid bilayers which agrees with previous experimental observations for short-time dynamics of DNA segments on membranes. In addition, the non-Gaussian diffusive behaviors of DNA segments have not been observed in our simulations. However, a simulated 17 base pairs double stranded DNA, using oxDNA model, performs normal diffusion on supported cationic lipid bilayers. Due to the number of positively charged lipids attracted by short DNA is small, the energy landscape that the short DNA experiences during diffusion is not as heterogeneous as that experienced by long DNA chains, which results in normal diffusion rather than sub-diffusion for short DNA.

The biological scaffolds of tissue engineering are required to have good biocompatibility, matched mechanical properties, as well as morphology and microstructure for cell growth and reproduction. Although a large number of biomaterials have been developed to prepare tissue-engineering scaffolds, the forming problems and poor mechanical properties of the scaffolds still seriously limit the development of tissue engineering. The sodium alginate was used as raw material, and its mechanical properties were enhanced by agarose. The structure and morphology of sodium alginate/agarose composite hydrogels with different ratios were studied,the mechanical properties were tested. In addition, the composite hydrogel scaffold was formed by direct ink writing, and the size of the microscopic pores in composite hydrogels were designed and observed. The results show that the composite hydrogels with different ratios have little difference in water content, all around 90%. Apart from the pure agarose gel and the composite gel with a volume ratio of 1：2, the surface and cross section of the composite gel in other ratios are relatively rough. Agarose can enhance the composite gel to a certain extent, and the composite gel with the volume ratio of sodium alginate to agarose of 2：1 has the highest compression modulus, which can reach 0.353 MPa. The decomposition of calcium carbonate created submicron pores in the composite hydrogel,therefore the prepared composite hydrogel has rough surface and micro-pores,which is conducive for cell growth and reproduction.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of solid beverage with vine tea combined with and cassia on alcoholic liver injury in rats. Methods: SD rats were given 43%vol aging by gavage to establish model of alcoholic liver injury. The model was fed with low, medium and high doses of solid beverage. The appropriate ratio of solid beverages was detected by cell test, the physiological and biochemical indicators of rats were detected by using kits, and the expression of related differential genes was studied by transcriptomic analysis to assessing the effect of vine tea extract combined with cassia extract solid beverage on alcoholic liver injury in rats and revealing the mechanism of action. Results: Compared with the model group, the activities of ALT, AST and LDH in the solid beverage group were significantly decreased; the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α was significantly reduced; the activities of GSH and SOD in the liver were significantly increased, while the contents of MDA and TG were significantly decreased; finally the oxidative stress and inflammatory response in rat liver were significantly improved. Compared to the model group, the inflammatory cell infiltration and vacuolar degeneration of liver cells in the liver pathological sections of the solid beverage group were significantly reduced; transcriptomic analysis speculated that the regulation of genes such as spermidine synthase, Sirt7, RT1-A2, RT1-CE1 and other pathways and amino acid metabolism are related to vine tea extract combined with cassia extract solid beverage to alleviate alcoholic liver injury. Conclusion: Vine tea extract combined with cassia extract solid beverage can alleviate alcohol-induced liver injury by improving liver function, reducing liver inflammation and oxidative stress.

Early differences in reward behavior have been linked to executive functioning development. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are activated by reward-related tasks and identified as key nodes of the brain circuit that underlie reward processing. We aimed to investigate the relation between NAc-OFC structural and functional connectivity in preschool children, as well as associations with future reward sensitivity and executive function. We showed that NAc-OFC structural and functional connectivity were not significantly associated in preschool children, but both independently predicted sensitivity to reward in males in a left-lateralized manner. Moreover, significant NAc-OFC structure-function coupling was only found in individuals who performed poorly on executive function tasks in later childhood, but not in the middle- and high-performing groups. As structure-function coupling is proposed to measure functional specialization, this finding suggests premature functional specialization within the reward network, which may impede dynamic communication with other regions, affects executive function development. Our study also highlights the utility of multimodal imaging data integration when studying the effects of reward network functional flexibility in the preschool age, a critical period in brain and executive function development.

Abstract Hydrochemistry and Sr isotope compositions were measured in water samples collected during high- and low-water periods from the main stream and tributaries of the Xijiang River Basin in southern China. The primary weathering end-members were analyzed and calculated using the multi-model combination and classic hydrogeochemical method. During the high-water period, structural factors were found to be the main factors controlling chemical weathering in the basin, whereas anthropogenic activity and other random factors had a negligible influence. During the low-water period, both structural and random factors controlled chemical weathering. Through path-model and semi-variance analyses, we determined and quantified the relationship between the main weathering sources, whose results were stable; this is consistent with the inversion model. The total dissolved substances were mainly derived from carbonate weathering, which was approximately 76% (0–96%) while silicate weathering accounted for only 14% (5–19%). The inversion model results showed that the optimum silicate weathering rate was 7.264–35.551 × 103 mol/km2/year, where carbonic acid was the main factor that induces weathering. The CO2 flux consumed by rock weathering in the basin during the study period was 150.69 × 109 mol/year, while the CO2 flux consumed by carbonic acid weathering of carbonate (CCW) and silicate rocks (CSW) was 144.47 and 29.45 × 109 mol/year, respectively. The CO2 flux produced by H2SO4 weathered carbonate (SCW) was 23.23 × 109 mol/year.

Objective: To remove blood from an incision and find the incision spot is a key task during surgery, or else over discharge of blood will endanger a patient’s life. However, the repetitive manual blood removal involves plenty of workload contributing fatigue of surgeons. Thus, it is valuable to design a robotic system which can automatically remove blood on the incision surface. Methods: In this paper, we design a robotic system to fulfill the surgical task of the blood removal. The system consists of a pair of dual cameras, a 6-DoF robotic arm, an aspirator whose handle is fixed to a robotic arm, and a pump connected to the aspirator. Further, a path-planning algorithm is designed to generate a path, which the aspirator tip should follow to remove blood. Results: In a group of simulating bleeding experiments on ex vivo porcine tissue, the contour of the blood region is detected, and the reconstructed spatial coordinates of the detected blood contour is obtained afterward. The BRR robot cleans thoroughly the blood running out the incision. Conclusions: This study contributes the first result on designing an autonomous blood removal medical robot. The skill of the surgical blood removal operation, which is manually operated by surgeons nowadays, is alternatively grasped by the proposed BRR medical robot.

The constantly evolving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOC) fuel the worldwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The spike protein is essential for the SARS-CoV-2 viral entry and thus has been extensively targeted by therapeutic antibodies. However, mutations along the spike in SARS-CoV-2 VOC and Omicron subvariants have caused more rapid spread and strong antigenic drifts, rendering most of the current antibodies ineffective. Hence, understanding and targeting the molecular mechanism of spike activation is of great interest in curbing the spread and development of new therapeutic approaches. In this review, we summarize the conserved features of spike-mediated viral entry in various SARS-CoV-2 VOC and highlight the converging proteolytic processes involved in priming and activating the spike. We also summarize the roles of innate immune factors in preventing spike-driven membrane fusion and provide outlines for the identification of novel therapeutics against coronavirus infections.

With a high percentage of new energy scenarios, it has become a trend for flexible resources such as energy storage systems to participate in long-term planning. In this context, it is important to explore how energy storage systems are configured. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the economics of energy storage and other resources to ensure that investments in energy storage and other resources are economically valuable under different future models. This paper firstly analyses the current situation of a high percentage of new energy in China, and secondly constructs a model for analysing the economics of flexible regulation resources such as energy storage. Under partial data based on the scenery storage project, the economic analysis under four models is derived, including cost and benefit analysis, investment benefit analysis, and break-even point analysis. Finally, the economic evaluation of investment in energy storage projects under different models is summarized based on the calculation results.It is concluded that different scenario models have different economic benefits, and the operation capacity of the four scenarios is higher than that of the existing models.

Using a sample of A-share listed companies in China for the period of 2007-2018, this paper empirically tests the impact of the geographical distance of the audit committee chair (ACC) on the company’s cost of equity capital. The study found that there is a significant positive correlation between the geographical distance of ACC and the company’s cost of equity capital, and the regulatory strength will weaken the positive relationship between the two. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. The research conclusion of this paper not only enriches the research on the characteristics of audit committee chairs, expands the research extension of geographical economics in the field of financial accounting, but also provides certain theoretical support and test evidence for listed companies to select ACC and reduce the cost of equity capital. It is of great significance to improve the performance level of the audit committee and protect the interests of investors.

In order to study the lightning damage characteristics of CFRP with fastener, this paper established a three-dimensional finite element model of CFRP with fastener and CFRP without fastener, and analyzed the lightning damage morphology of CFRP through electrothermal coupling simulation by finite element software. The lightning current damage test was carried out and the damage characteristics of the two kinds of CFRP under different lightning current peaks were compared. The results show that when the peak value of lightning current is low, the surface damage degree of CFRP with fastener is lower than that of CFRP without fastener. As the peak value of the lightning current increases, the longitudinal damage of the CFRP with fasteners gradually increases along the carbon fiber, and eventually exceeds the CFRP without fasteners. In the experimental, when CFRP without fastener is struck by lightning, linear damage is appeared on the surface perpendicular to the direction of carbon fiber, but the linear damage of CFRP with fastener perpendicular to the direction of carbon fiber is not obvious.

Effect of serum calcium levels on prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is not well evaluated. We aimed to assess the associations of baseline serum calcium levels with both short-term and long-term outcomes in CAD patients.

Abstract Post-inflammatory behaviours in rodents are widely used to model human depression and to test the efficacy of novel anti-depressants. Mice injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) display a depressive-like phenotype twenty-four hours after endotoxin administration. Despite the widespread use of this model, the mechanisms that underlie the persistent behavioural changes after the transient peripheral inflammatory response remain elusive. The study of the metabolome, the collection of all the small molecule metabolites in a sample, combined with multivariate statistical techniques provides a way of studying biochemical pathways influenced by an LPS challenge. Adult male CD-1 mice received an intraperitoneal injection of either LPS (0.83 mg/kg) or saline, and were assessed for depressive-like behaviour 24 h later. In a separate mouse cohort, pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics measurements were made in brain tissue and blood. Statistical analyses included Independent Sample t-tests for gene expression data, and supervised multi-variate analysis using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis for metabolomics. Both plasma and brain metabolites in male mice were altered following a single peripheral LPS challenge that led to depressive-like behaviour in the forced swim test. The plasma metabolites altered by LPS are involved in energy metabolism, including lipoproteins, glucose, creatine, and isoleucine. In the brain, glutamate, serine, and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) were reduced after LPS, whereas glutamine was increased. Serine-modulated glutamatergic signalling and changes in bioenergetics may mediate the behavioural phenotype induced by LPS. In light of other data supporting a central imbalance of glutamate-glutamine cycling in depression, our results suggest that aberrant central glutaminergic signalling may underpin the depressive-like behaviours that result from both inflammation and non-immune pathophysiology. Normalising glutaminergic signalling, rather than seeking to increase serotonergic signalling, might prove to be a more coherent approach to the development of new treatments for mood disorder.