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Abstract In the healing process of myocardial infarction, cardiac fibroblasts are activated to produce collagen, leading to adverse remodeling and heart failure. Our previous study showed that ASPP1 promotes cardiomyocyte apoptosis by enhancing the nuclear trafficking of p53. We thus explored the influence of ASPP1 on myocardial fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms. Here, we observed that ASPP1 was increased after 4 weeks of MI. Both global and myofibroblast knockout of ASPP1 in mice mitigated cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis after MI. Strikingly, ASPP1 produced the opposite influence on p53 level and cell fate in cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes. Knockdown of ASPP1 increased p53 levels and inhibited the activity of cardiac fibroblasts. ASPP1 accumulated in the cytoplasm of fibroblasts while the level of p53 was reduced following TGF-β1 stimulation; however, inhibition of ASPP1 increased the p53 level and promoted p53 nuclear translocation. Mechanistically, ASPP1 is directly bound to deubiquitinase OTUB1, thereby promoting the ubiquitination and degradation of p53, attenuating myofibroblast activity and cardiac fibrosis, and improving heart function after MI.

Abstract Objective This study is aimed to investigate the causal relationship between plasma proteins and oral cancer risk using two-sample MR (Mendelian randomization). Methods Summary-level GWAS (genome-wide association study) data on plasma protein levels (4,907 proteins) and oral cancer (6,034 cases, 6,585 controls) of European ancestry were utilized. SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) associated with proteins at genome-wide significance were selected as instrumental variables. Multiple MR methods including IVW (inverse-variance weighted), MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode and weighted mode were applied to estimate causal effects. Sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results Eight plasma proteins (CCDC167, MID2, NDRG4, PEAR1, PIAS4, RCAN1, SAMHD1 and TNMD) were identified to have significant causal associations with oral cancer risk. NDRG4, RCAN1, SAMHD1 and TNMD were associated with increased oral cancer risk while PEAR1 was associated with decreased risk. The causal estimates were consistent across different methods. Sensitivity analyses indicated the results were robust without significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy. Multivariable MR adjusting for smoking, alcohol intake and periodontal disease showed CCDC167, MID2, NDRG4, PEAR1, PIAS4 and SAMHD1 still had direct effects on oral cancer. Conclusion This two-sample MR study provides evidence for potentially causal effects of several plasma proteins on oral cancer risk. The identified proteins may serve as biomarkers and shed light on biological mechanisms underlying oral carcinogenesis. Further research is warranted to validate and extend these findings.

Abstract Abdominal adhesions manifests following abdominal infections triggered by intestinal fistulas. The severity of such adhesions depends on the extent of fiber deposition and peritoneal fibrinolysis following peritoneal injury, which may be influenced by sustained inflammation within the abdominal cavity. In this regard, the visceral-to-subcutaneous fat area (VFA/SFA) ratio has been implicated as a potential marker of inflammation. This study aimed to explore the relationship between VFA/SFA and abdominal adhesions. This multicenter study was conducted across four tertiary institutions and involved patients who had undergone definitive surgery (DS) for intestinal fistula from January 2009 and October 2023. The presence of abdominal adhesions was determined intraoperatively. VFA/SFA was investigated as a potential risk factor for severe adhesions. The study comprised 414 patients with a median age of 50 [interquartile range (IQR) 35–66] years and a median body mass index of 20.0 (IQR 19.2–22.4) kg/m2, including 231 males with a median VFA/SFA of 1.0 (IQR 0.7–1.2) and 183 females a median VFA/SFA of 0.8 (0.6–1.1). VFA/SFA was associated with severe abdominal adhesions in males [odds ratio (OR) = 3.34, 95% CI 1.14–9.80, p = 0.03] and females (OR = 2.99, 95% CI 1.05–8.53, p = 0.04). J-shaped association between VFA/SFA ratio and severe adhesions was revealed in both sex. The increasing trend can be revealed when OR more than 0.8, and 0.6 in males and females respectively. Preoperative VFA/SFA demonstrates predictive value for statues of severe abdominal adhesions in DS for anastomotic fistula after small intestine resection.

Abstract Background The prevalence of oral diseases is subject to change over time. In 2021, Guangdong Province conducted its fourth survey assessing the oral health status of individuals aged 65–74. Materials and methods Evaluation criteria and potential influencing factors were identified. A sample of residents aged 65–74 from 13 designated monitoring sites in Guangdong Province was randomly selected for the study. Spearman correlation analysis was employed to investigate the clinical correlation between influencing factors and evaluation criteria. Negative binomial and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were utilized to examine the factors influencing caries prevalence. In contrast, logistic regression was employed to identify the risk factors for caries occurrence. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The prevalence of caries rate of crowns, roots, and teeth were 76.36%, 52.25%, and 79.2%, respectively. Individuals with periodontal pockets exhibited a significantly higher risk of root caries. The presence of dental calculus significantly exacerbated the occurrence of crown, root, and dental caries, and increased the risk of crown and dental caries. Consuming sweet foods once or more a week notably increased the average root decayed score (D of roots), the prevalence rate of root caries, and the D score of the Decayed, Missing, and Filled teeth [DMFT] index in individuals already afflicted with this condition. Similarly, the consumption of sweetened drinks significantly elevated the risk of crown and root caries, exacerbating overall caries progression. Frequencies of manual toothbrush and toothpick cleaning showed a negative correlation with average tooth missing score (MT). In contrast, the frequency of manual/electric toothbrush and toothpick cleaning was negatively correlated with the DMFT index. Engaging in dental diagnosis and treatment behaviors significantly increased the number of filled crowns (F), MT, and DMFT scores while reducing the prevalence of dental caries. Conclusions In Guangdong Province, caries prevalence among older individuals aged 65–74 remains substantial. Relevant professionals and institutions must provide comprehensive guidance and assistance to the older population, emphasizing the importance of reducing the consumption of sweets and sweetened beverages, adopting correct tooth brushing techniques and frequency (at least twice daily), timely treatment of periodontal diseases, conducting regular epidemiological caries surveys, and addressing economic barriers to accessing caries diagnosis and treatment services.

Abstract 3-dB couplers, which are commonly used in photonic integrated circuits for on-chip information processing, precision measurement, and quantum computing, face challenges in achieving robust performance due to their limited 3-dB bandwidths and sensitivity to fabrication errors. To address this, we introduce topological physics to nanophotonics, developing a framework for topological 3-dB couplers. These couplers exhibit broad working wavelength range and robustness against fabrication dimensional errors. By leveraging valley-Hall topology and mirror symmetry, the photonic-crystal-slab couplers achieve ideal 3-dB splitting characterized by a wavelength-insensitive scattering matrix. Tolerance analysis confirms the superiority on broad bandwidth of 48 nm and robust splitting against dimensional errors of 20 nm. We further propose a topological interferometer for on-chip distance measurement, which also exhibits robustness against dimensional errors. This extension of topological principles to the fields of interferometers, may open up new possibilities for constructing robust wavelength division multiplexing, temperature-drift-insensitive sensing, and optical coherence tomography applications.

Introduction The controversial relationship between smoking and prostate cancer (PCa) risk prompted us to conduct a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database and apply Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses in order to clarify the possible causal effect of smoking on PCa risk. Methods Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods, a secondary analysis of the pooled 2003–2018 NHANES dataset was performed to explore the association between smoking and PCa risk. Propensity-score matching was used to reduce selection bias. Then, we conducted subsequent MR analysis study to investigate the potential causal effect of smoking on PCa risk, with genetic variants of four exposure factors including the lifetime smoking index, light smoking, smoking initiation, and the amount of smoking per day obtained from genomewide association studies, and PCa summary statistics obtained from three database populations. Inverse-variance weighting was the primary analytical method, and weighted median and MR-Egger regression were used for sensitivity analyses. The MR results for the three PCa databases were combined using meta-analysis. Results The study included 16073 NHANES subjects, comprising 554 with PCa and 15519 without PCa. Logistic regression before and after matching did not reveal any significant association. Meta-analysis of the MR results also did not support an association of PCa risk with lifetime smoking index (OR=0.95; 95% CI: 0.83–1.09), light smoking (OR=1.00; 95% CI: 0.95–1.06), smoking initiation (OR=0.99, 95% CI=0.99–1.00), or the amount of smoking per day (OR=1.00; 95% CI: 0.99–1.00) and PCa risk. Conclusions There was no evidence for an association between smoking and the risk of PCa. Further studies are needed to determine if there are any associations of other forms of smoking with the risk of PCa at different stages.

Background Congenital absence of the pericardium (CAP) is a rare cardiac abnormality. As pericardial defects are usually asymptomatic, most cases are diagnosed during surgery or on autopsy. The patient in this case was found to have CAP during thoracoscope. Case We present the unusual case of a 69-year-old patient with CAP who experienced sudden ventricular arrhythmia and developed ventricular fibrillation during left upper lobectomy. Surgical operations, the lateral decubitus position, and other external stimuli may be important risk factors for ventricular fibrillation. The patient regained sinus rhythm soon after intrathoracic cardiac compression and pharmacological treatment, including lidocaine spray (2%, 10 ml) administered to the heart surface. The surgery was then completed without any additional instances of ventricular arrhythmia. Conclusions Patients with CAP are more susceptible to cardiac-related adverse events during thoracotomy or thoracoscopy. Treatment of ventricular arrhythmias that occur during lung resection in patients with CAP should be emphasized.

Combined with the validations of the nonlinear material models, this study addresses the nonlinear dynamic response, damage mechanisms and failure modes of reinforced concrete frame structures under rockfall impacts, utilizing explicit dynamic analysis software for detailed model of structures. The findings indicate that the peak impact force is primarily influenced by the impact velocity and subsequently by the impact mass, while the impact location exerts the least influence; A linear relationship is observed between the maximum impact force and rockfall diameter, whereas a nonlinear association exists with rockfall velocity; Predominant failure modes include global and local failures, with damage and failure predominantly concentrated on the impacted columns and their surrounding components; Notably, similar damage levels were observed for corner and edge middle columns of structures under rockfall impacts; The column base, mid-column and column top primarily exhibit flexural-shear failure, flexural failure and flexural-shear failure, respectively; Given the higher rate of plastic energy absorption during mid-column impacts compared to column base and top impacts, a rockfall striking mid-column results in higher dynamic response and greater structural damage. This study can provide useful reference in design and restoration of low-rise reinforced concrete frame structures located in areas prone to frequent geological disasters.

Background: The present study aimed to develop and validate a prediction nomogram model for 5-year all-cause mortality in diabetic patients with hypertension. Methods: Data were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). A total of 3291 diabetic patients with hypertension in the NHANES cycles for 1999–2014 were selected and randomly assigned at a ratio of 8:2 to the training cohort (n = 2633) and validation cohort (n = 658). Multivariable Cox regression was conducted to establish a visual nomogram model for predicting the risk of 5-year all-cause mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curves and C-indexes were used to evaluate the discriminant ability of the prediction nomogram model for all-cause mortality. Survival curves were created using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Results: The nomogram model included eight independent predictors: age, sex, education status, marital status, smoking, serum albumin, blood urea nitrogen, and previous cardiovascular disease. The C-indexes for the model in the training and validation cohorts were 0.76 (95% confidence interval: 0.73–0.79, p

To enhance the rock-crushing efficiency and drilling life of impregnated diamond drill bits，a strategy was proposed for the localized heterogenization of the drill bit matrix through composite electroplating reinforcement of diamond particles，separating the protrusion effect of diamonds in the drill bit matrix from their encapsulation strength.Diamond particles were strengthened by electroless plating and composite electroplating.Subsequently，the diamond drill head body was prepared through hot pressing sintering.Studies were conducted on the performance changes of the composite electroplating strengthened diamond particles，the friction and wear characteristics of the drill head body，and the protrusion state and binding interface of the diamonds within the drill head body.Results showed that a modified metal coating was obtained on the surface of diamond particles strengthened by composite electroplating.The morphology of the coating was dense and uniform，with good bonding with diamond.The composite electroplating strengthened diamond particles effectively improved the surface wettability and impact resistance of diamond.The heterogeneous matrix structure ensured the slow protrusion process and the protrusion height of the diamond.The composite electroplating strengthened diamond particles effectively improved the comprehensive performance of the diamond bit.

Abstract Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a viral pathogen with substantial economic implications for the global swine industry. The existing vaccination strategies and antiviral drugs offer limited protection. Replication of the viral RNA genome encompasses a complex series of steps, wherein a replication complex is assembled from various components derived from both viral and cellular sources, as well as from the viral genomic RNA template. In this study, we found that ZNF283, a Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) containing zinc finger protein, was upregulated in PRRSV-infected Marc-145 cells and porcine alveolar macrophages and that ZNF283 inhibited PRRSV replication and RNA synthesis. We also found that ZNF283 interacts with the viral proteins Nsp9, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and Nsp10, a helicase. The main regions involved in the interaction between ZNF283 and Nsp9 were determined to be the KRAB domain of ZNF283 and amino acids 178–449 of Nsp9. The KRAB domain of ZNF283 plays a role in facilitating Nsp10 binding. In addition, ZNF283 may have an affinity for the 3' untranslated region of PRRSV. These findings suggest that ZNF283 is an antiviral factor that inhibits PRRSV infection and extend our understanding of the interactions between KRAB-containing zinc finger proteins and viruses.

Aeroelastic divergence analysis of a stable wing structure was performed using a coupled aerodynamic/structural method and validated using wind tunnel tests. To ensure the accuracy of numerical analysis, CFD method was used for aerodynamic force calculation and finite element method was used for structural deformation calculation. The wind tunnel test used a sidewall insertion mechanism for support and measured the static aeroelastic divergence characteristics through strain measurement and high-speed photography. The stable wing model was used as the research object for studying the static aeroelastic divergence characteristics in supersonic state. The results of numerical calculation and wind tunnel test showed that the CFD/CSD coupling method can accurately predict the static aeroelastic divergence boundary. Static aeroelastic divergence presents an explosive form of destruction. The static aeroelastic unstable structure first suffers from elastic loading exceeding the structural strength limit and the damage occurs with the dynamic pressure not reaching the divergence boundary. Accurate prediction of the static aeroelastic divergence boundary of the aircraft is necessary for aircraft structural design.

An analytical method was established for the simultaneous detection of five saccharides in tea by multi-plug filtration cleanup (m-PFC) combined with high performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD). An m-PFC cartridge with polyamide powder as sorbent was developed for sample pretreatment. Tea samples were extracted with water while shaking, and then back-extracted with dichloromethane for the removal of impurities. The upper phase was purified using the m-PFC column and detected by HPLC. Quantification was performed by the external standard method. The results showed that the logarithm of the peak areas was linearly related to the logarithm of the concentrations of rhamnose, fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose within the linear ranges tested, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. The limits of detection (LOD) were in the range of 0.04–0.1 g/100 g, and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.10–0.20 g/100 g. The average recoveries at three spiked levels were in the range of 91.0%–103%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 1.0%–4.6%. This method has the advantages of simple operation and good purification effect, and is suitable for the quantitation of these five saccharides in tea.

Methods based on deep learning have achieved great success in the field of video action recognition. When these methods are applied to real-world scenarios that require fine-grained analysis of actions, such as being tested on a tea ceremony, limitations may arise. To promote the development of fine-grained action recognition, a fine-grained video action dataset is constructed by collecting videos of tea ceremony actions. This dataset includes 2745 video clips. By using a hierarchical fine-grained action classification approach, these clips are divided into 9 basic action classes and 31 fine-grained action subclasses. To better establish a fine-grained temporal model for tea ceremony actions, a method named TSM-ConvNeXt is proposed that integrates a TSM into the high-performance convolutional neural network ConvNeXt. Compared to a baseline method using ResNet50, the experimental performance of TSM-ConvNeXt is improved by 7.31%. Furthermore, compared with the state-of-the-art methods for action recognition on the FineTea and Diving48 datasets, the proposed approach achieves the best experimental results. The FineTea dataset is publicly available.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the effects of platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on the STING/IFN pathway and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as clinicopathological factors affecting patient survival.Materials and methodsA total of 68 patients aged 34-77 years with NSCLC who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical treatment from March 2012 to February 2019 were reviewed, and the clinical pathological data and paired tissue specimens before and after NACT were collected. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to detect the protein levels of STING, PD-L1 and IFN-β, and the infiltration density of CD3+ TILs and CD8+TILs. The correlation between the expression of STING, PD-L1, IFN-β and the infiltration density of CD3+ TILs and CD8+ TILs as well as the clinicopathological characteristics before and after NACT was analyzed. The relationship between the related indexes, clinicopathological features and prognosis was also discussed.ResultsNACT increased the expression of STING, IFN-β and PD-L1 in tumor cells, and the infiltration of CD3+ and CD8+ TILs. In addition, ypTNM stage, ypN stage, changes in CD3+ TILs and in PD-L1 were associated with DFS (disease-free survival). CD3+ TILs changes and ypN stage were associated with OS (overall survival). Notably, ypN stage and CD3+ TILs changes were independent prognostic factors for DFS and OS.ConclusionNACT stimulates STING/IFN-β pathway, promotes infiltration of CD3+ and CD8+ TILs, triggers innate and adaptive immunity, and also upregulates PD-L1, which complemented the rationale for neoadjuvant chemotherapy in combination with immunotherapy. In addition, DFS was longer in patients with ypTNM I, ypN0-1, and elevated CD3+TILs after NACT. Patients with ypN0 and elevated CD3+ TILs after NACT had better OS benefits.

This study assessed the impact of an acoustic stimulus on the behavioral responses and physiological states of the large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea). The test fish, with an average body weight of approximately 352.81 ± 70.99 g, were exposed to one hour of acoustic stimulation at seven different frequencies: 100 Hz, 125 Hz, 160 Hz, 200 Hz, 500 Hz, 630 Hz, and 800 Hz. The aim was to delineate the specific effects of acoustic stimulation on the behavior and physiological indices. The results show that acoustic stimulation significantly altered the behavioral patterns of the large yellow croaker, predominantly manifested as avoidance behavior towards the sound source. At a stimulus frequency of 630 Hz, the test fish exhibited continuous irregular motion and erratic swimming. Physiologically, one hour of exposure to acoustic stimulation notably affected the endocrine system. The levels of Epinephrine and thyroxine were significantly elevated at 200 Hz, while the cortisol levels did not show significant differences. Additionally, the lactic acid content significantly increased at 800 Hz, and the blood glucose content peaked at 630 Hz. This study discovered that sound frequencies of 200 Hz, 630 Hz, and 800 Hz led to a significant increase in the levels of Epinephrine, glucose, thyroid hormones, and lactate in large yellow croaker, consequently affecting their behavior. The changes in these physiological indicators reflect the stress response of the large yellow croaker in specific sonic environments, providing crucial insights into the physiological and behavioral responses of fish to acoustic stimuli.

To investigate the establishment process of opposing jet and its transient influence on the spiked blunt body in hypersonic flows, an in-house code which employs high-resolution numerical schemes was developed to solve the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. At first, classical experiments were applied to validate the code in simulating complex flow field including shock interactions. Then, the establishment process of opposing jet was thoroughly investigated. The obtained results show that establishment process of opposing jet and complex shock wave evolutions are clearly presented. The flow features change dramatically during the whole process. Besides, the pressure and heat flux along the blunt body change rapidly and the aerodynamic drag firstly drops to a minimum value and then increases to a relatively larger stable value. Furthermore, increasing the total pressure ratio of opposing jet would lead to more severe fluctuation in aerodynamic drag after it drops.

Background With the growing incidence of metabolic diseases, there has been increasing attention given to the prevention and control of metabolic syndrome (MS) . As important screening markers of MS, the relationship between lipid ratios and MS has become a hot research topic. Objective To analyse the association and predictive value of triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio, total cholesterol/HDL-C (TC/HDL-C) ratio, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/ HDL-C (LDL-C/HDL-C) ratio and non-HDL-C to the risk of MS in populations included in a multistage cross-sectional study in Guizhou Province. Methods This study retrospectively selected natural populations (totally 21 727 cases) from Guizhou who attended the National Survey of Chronic Diseases and Risk Factors in Surveillance Regions 2010, China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance 2013, and two waves of China Adult Chronic Disease and Nutrition Surveillance (2015 and 2018) . Baseline data were collected, and according to MS prevalence included in which, subjects were divided into MS group (n=4 981) and non-MS group (n=16 746) . The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of TG/HDL-C ratio, TC/HDL-C ratio, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and non-HDL-C for MS in males and females, respectively. The Delong test was used to compare the values of area under the ROC curve (AUC) of lipid ratios in predicting MS. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the association of lipid ratios with MS measured using odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) , and to identify factors associated with MS among subjects stratified by survey time, age, sex, body mass index (BMI) , smoking and alcohol consumption. Results There were statistically significant differences in mean age, sex ratio, distribution of ethnicities, education level and marital status, prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption, and mean BMI, TG/HDL-C ratio, TC/HDL-C ratio, LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and non-HDL-C between MS group and non-MS group (P

Abstract Background Patients with malignancy are at a higher risk of developing nosocomial infections. However, limited studies investigated the clinical features and prognostic factors of nosocomial infections due to fungi in cancer patients. Herein, this study aims to investigate the clinical characteristics of in-hospital fungal infections and develop a nomogram to predict the risk of in-hospital death during fungal infection of hospitalized cancer patients. Methods This retrospective observational study enrolled cancer patients who experienced in-hospital fungal infections between September 2013 and September 2021. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Variables demonstrating significant statistical differences in the multivariate analysis were utilized to construct a nomogram for personalized prediction of in-hospital death risk associated with nosocomial fungal infections. The predictive performance of the nomogram was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis. Results A total of 216 participants were included in the study, of which 57 experienced in-hospital death. C.albicans was identified as the most prevalent fungal species (68.0%). Respiratory infection accounted for the highest proportion of fungal infections (59.0%), followed by intra-abdominal infection (8.8%). The multivariate regression analysis revealed that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) 3–4 (odds ratio [OR] = 6.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.04–18.12), pulmonary metastases (OR = 2.76, 95%CI: 1.11–6.85), thrombocytopenia (OR = 2.58, 95%CI: 1.21–5.47), hypoalbuminemia (OR = 2.44, 95%CI: 1.22–4.90), and mechanical ventilation (OR = 2.64, 95%CI: 1.03–6.73) were independent risk factors of in-hospital death. A nomogram based on the identified risk factors was developed to predict the individual probability of in-hospital mortality. The nomogram demonstrated satisfactory performance in terms of classification ability (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.759), calibration ability, and net clinical benefit. Conclusions Fungi-related nosocomial infections are prevalent among cancer patients and are associated with poor prognosis. The constructed nomogram provides an invaluable tool for oncologists, enabling them to make timely and informed clinical decisions that offer substantial net clinical benefit to patients.

Abstract Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the most important cause of death among cardiovascular diseases. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been widely implicated in the regulation of AMI progression. Discrimination antagonizing nonprotein coding RNA (DANCR) alleviated hypoxia‐caused cardiomyocyte damages, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated the function and mechanism of DANCR in hypoxia‐induced cardiomyocytes and AMI model by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, reactive oxygen species and adenosine triphosphate measurement, and mitochondrial activity determination. Additionally, luciferase reporter assay, immunoblotting, and qRT‐PCR were performed to validate the interactions between DANCR/miR‐509‐5p and miR‐509‐5p/Kruppel‐like factor 13 (KLF13). The role of DANCR was also verified in AMI model by overexpression. Our results showed that DANCR expression was significantly downregulated in hypoxia‐induced cardiomyocytes or AMI model. Overexpression of DANCR significantly alleviated mitochondrial damages, reduced inflammation, and improved cardiac function in the AMI model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR‐509‐5p/KLF13 axis mediated the protective effect of DANCR. The current study highlighted the critical role of DANCR in alleviating AMI progression through targeting the miR‐509‐5p/KLF13 signaling axis, suggesting that DANCR may serve as a potential diagnostic marker or therapeutic target for AMI.

AIM: To explore the relationship between the changes of serum circFTO and microRNA-141-3p(miR-141-3p)levels and the different disease stages of diabetes retinopathy.METHODS: A total of 198 patients with type 2 diabetes admitted to our hospital from October 2019 to November 2022 were collected as the study subjects, the patients were grouped into non diabetes retinopathy(NDR)group(70 cases), non proliferative diabetes retinopathy(NPDR)group(66 cases)and proliferative diabetes retinopathy(PDR)group(62 cases)according to different stages; meantime, 67 volunteers with normal physical examination results were collected as the control group. The levels of serum circFTO and miR-141-3p were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR); Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between the serum circFTO, miR-141-3p and various indicators in patients with diabetes retinopathy; multivariate Logistic regression analysis was applied to explore the influencing factors of diabetes retinopathy.RESULTS: CircFTO, systolic blood pressure(SBP), and diastolic blood pressure(DBP)in PDR group were higher than those in control group, NDR group and NPDR group, while miR-141-3p and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C)were lower than those in control group, NDR group and NPDR group(P

AIM: To explore the clinical efficacy of different anti-vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)drugs in the treatment of diabetic macular edema(DME), and analyze their relationship with optical coherence tomography(OCT)classification.METHODS: A total of 45 DME patients treated with ranibizumab(admitted to our hospital from February 2020 to February 2022)were selected as the ranibizumab group, and 45 DME patients treated with conbercept during the same period were selected as the conbercept group. The ranibizumab group was treated with retinal photocoagulation combined with ranibizumab, and the conbercept group was treated with retinal photocoagulation combined with conbercept. The improvement of symptoms(improvement time of macular edema, time of retinal thickness returning to normal, disappearance time of neovascularization and absorption time of fundus hemorrhage), levels of serum interleukin-6(IL-6)and VEGF, central macular thickness(CMT), best corrected visual acuity(BCVA), and complications were compared between the two groups, and the relationship between their clinical efficacy and different OCT types were analyzed.RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the improvement time of macular edema, time of retinal thickness returning to normal, disappearance time of neovascularization and absorption time of fundus hemorrhage between the two groups(P>0.05); After treatment, the values of IL-6, VEGF and BCVA in the two groups were significantly lower than those before treatment(P0.05); compared with before treatment, CMT was significantly decreased in both groups after treatment(P0.05); there were significant differences in the total effective rate among patients with serous retinal detachment(SRD), cystoid macular edema(CME)and diffuse retinal thickening(DRT; P

Summary: Few models exist for predicting severe ischemic complications (SIC) in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA). We conducted a retrospective analysis of 703 patients with TA from January 2010 to December 2019 to establish an SIC prediction model for TA. SIC was defined as ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction. SIC was present in 97 of 703 (13.8%) patients with TA. Common iliac artery, coronary artery, internal carotid artery, subclavian artery, vertebral artery, renal artery involvement, chest pain, hyperlipidemia, absent pulse, higher BMI, vascular occlusion, asymmetric blood pressure in both upper limbs, visual disturbance, and older age were selected as predictive risk factors. Considering both discrimination and calibration performance, the Weighted Subspace Random Forest model was the most optimal model, boasting an area under the curve of 0.773 (95% confidence interval [0.652, 0.894]) in the validation cohort. Effective models for predicting SIC in TA may help clinicians identify high-risk patients and make targeted interventions.

Tar-rich coal is a special coal resource with the property of oil and gas resources. Developing the oil and gas resources contained in the tar-rich coal is of great significance for ensuring energy security and realizing the goal of "dual carbon". In-situ pyrolysis of tar-rich coal is a new coal resource development technology. Through some artificial cracks in coal seams, multiple wells can be connected. The coal seam is then heated using some technologies such as electric heating or fluid heating to generate oil and gas resources from the pyrolysis of tar-rich coal. At present, some problems such as coal seam heating mode, optimal pyrolysis temperature, reservoir reconstruction technology and efficient extraction of pyrolysis oil and gas need to be urgently solved. ① There are some defects in the application of reaction heating, conduction heating, and radiation heating in the underground in-situ heating of tar-rich coal. Convection heating based on injection fluid heating is more suitable for the in-situ heating of tar-rich coal. According to different geological conditions, it is still necessary to carry out targeted research work for optimizing the economical and safe heat carrying fluid and creating an efficient pyrolysis atmosphere. The combination of various heating methods is expected to be the breakthrough direction of the underground in-situ heating method of tar-rich coal. ② At present, 350−450 ℃ is generally recognized as the efficient pyrolysis temperature. With different coal characteristics and different pyrolysis atmospheres, the corresponding dominant pyrolysis temperature range is slightly different. The methods of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics for the pyrolysis of tar-rich coal are effective means to predict pyrolysis temperature scientifically. ③ Hydraulic fracturing, supercritical CO2 fracturing, and liquid nitrogen fracturing have some limitations for the in-situ pyrolysis of tar-rich coal. For different geological conditions, it is necessary to select the appropriate reservoir reconstruction scheme through specific objective evaluation. Controllable shock wave technology has the advantage of high efficiency and control in rock fracturing and is expected to be widely used in the in-situ pyrolysis process in the future. ④ The combustible gases produced by the pyrolysis of tar-rich coal are mainly CH4, H2, and CO, accompanied by a high content of CO2, which is easy to be directly extracted. The oil produced by pyrolysis is coal tar with high density and high viscosity, which will condense in large quantities below 180 ℃. There is a risk of wellbore clogging and the key to improving the extraction efficiency of pyrolysis products is to formulate the temperature and pressure maintenance scheme of the extraction well. In addition, the systematic issues such as integrated geological engineering evaluation, in-situ pyrolysis reaction process monitoring, and the whole-process numerical simulation of tar-rich coal should also be focused on in the future research work.

Abstract Background The addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors to perioperative chemotherapy in operable gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer has become one of the research hotspots, while reliable biomarkers for efficacy are lacking. We conducted a phase 1 trial to assess the safety and efficacy of LP002, an anti‐PD‐L1 antibody, plus chemotherapy as perioperative treatment in patients with gastric or GEJ cancer. Methods We enrolled patients with resectable and PD‐L1 positive gastric or GEJ cancers. Eligible patients received three preoperative and six postoperative cycles of intravenous LP002 with cisplatin and 5‐fluorouracil, repeated every 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was safety. Secondary endpoints included rate of margin‐free (R0) resection and pathological complete response (pCR). We also characterized changes in the tumor immune microenvironment using multiplex immunofluorescence (MIF) staining and next‐generation sequencing (NGS) with pre‐ and post‐treatment tumor samples. Results Thirty patients were enrolled, of whom 28 had GEJ cancer. With a median follow‐up of 7.9 months, all patients completed preoperative treatment, and 27 patients underwent surgery. Twenty‐four patients underwent R0 resection. Six patients (20.0%) had Mandard tumor regression grade (TRG) 1–3, including one achieving pCR. Twenty‐seven patients had treatment‐related adverse events (TRAEs), while grade 3–4 TRAEs were observed in 11 patients. No treatment‐related deaths occurred. MIF staining revealed that TRG 1–3 group was associated with a higher density of PD‐L1+/CD68+ cells in the pre‐treatment tumor parenchyma than TRG 4–5 group (p = 0.048). NGS studies with paired pre‐ and post‐treatment tumor samples revealed the disappearance of pre‐existing mutations, the emergence of new mutations, and variations in the abundance of mutations after preoperative LP002 and chemotherapy. Meanwhile, tumor mutational burden decreased in patients with TRG 1–3 (p = 0.0313). Conclusions LP002 plus cisplatin and 5‐fluorouracil are safe in patients with gastric or GEJ cancer, and patient selection via appropriate biomarkers is needed in the future.

Due to its designable nanostructure and simple and inexpensive preparation process, electrospun nanofibers have important applications in energy collection, wearable sports health detection, environmental pollutant detection, pollutant filtration and degradation, and other fields. In recent years, a series of polymer-based fiber materials have been prepared using this method, and detailed research and discussion have been conducted on the material structure and performance factors. This article summarizes the effects of preparation parameters, environmental factors, a combination of other methods, and surface modification of electrospinning on the properties of composite nanofibers. Meanwhile, the effects of different collection devices and electrospinning preparation parameters on material properties were compared. Subsequently, it summarized the material structure design and specific applications in wearable device power supply, energy collection, environmental pollutant sensing, air quality detection, air pollution particle filtration, and environmental pollutant degradation. We aim to review the latest developments in electrospinning applications to inspire new energy collection, detection, and pollutant treatment equipment, and achieve the commercial promotion of polymer fibers in the fields of energy and environment. Finally, we have identified some unresolved issues in the detection and treatment of environmental issues with electrospun polymer fibers and proposed some suggestions and new ideas for these issues.

In recent years, the combination of recreational fishery and marine ranching has been gradually developed as an emerging fishery industry model. Meanwhile, as an important carrier for the integrated development of three industries, the development of recreational fishery based on the construction of marine ranching is also an important direction of fishery development. Under the background of ecological environment degradation and the continuous decline of offshore fishery resources, the fishery development model based on marine ranching construction and driven by recreational fishery and tourism has been developing continuously. China has a large number of offshore islands, which have the natural advantage of building island-type marine ranching around island. Therefore, it can be predicted that building a development model of marine ranching centered on islands and based on island ecological development will be one of the important directions for the construction and development of offshore marine ranching. Based on the analysis of the current situation of island tourism development and the existing development model of marine ranching, this paper proposed the concept and development model framework of island marine ranching. At the same time, based on the field investigation of Mopanshan marine ranching and the analysis of relevant design cases, this paper summarized, analyzed and innovated the construction and development mode of island marine ranching more appropriate to local characteristics. Combined with the construction status and planning scheme, the landscape reconstruction scheme of Mopanshan marine ranching was proposed, which could be used as an example for the integration of multi-industry development of marine ranching in the future, especially the coordinated construction of land and sea, and the development chain of the tertiary industry.

Background Chronic heart failure is a syndrome occurring at the end-stage of multiple cardiovascular diseases. In the condition, nutritional and metabolic problems such as loss of appetite, diarrhea, abdominal distension, and constipation are highly prevalent, which in turn affect the prognosis of heart failure. The relationship of nutritional assessment results with prognosis in chronic heart failure has been studied extensively, while nutritional assessment for older adults with chronic heart failure has been rarely studied, and there is no clinically recognized assessment method. Objective To perform a comparative analysis of four nutritional assessment methods in terms of clinical prognosis prediction in elderly patients with chronic heart failure. Methods Eligible older inpatients with chronic heart failure (n=199) were recruited from Department of Cardiology, ICU, and Department of Geriatrics, Linyi People's Hospital from June 2018 to June 2020. Data were collected via reviewing the medical records and telephone-based follow-ups, including sex, age, height, weight, serum albumin (ALB) level, BMI, Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) , and result of Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) , as well as prognosis〔containing three classifications: in-hospital deaths (n=43) and in-hospital survivors (n=156) ; one-year deaths (n=51) and one-year survivors (n=148) ; readmission within half a year (n=69) and readmission after half a year (n=130) 〕. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the prognostic factors of chronic heart failure. The analysis of ROC curve with AUC value was carried out to comparatively estimate prognosis predictive values of the nutritional assessment methods. Results There were significant differences in mean age, serum ALB, GNRI and NRS2002 score between in-hospital deaths and survivors (P

BackgroundElderly cancer patients are more predisposed to developing nosocomial infections during anti-neoplastic treatment, and are associated with a bleaker prognosis. This study aimed to develop a novel risk classifier to predict the in-hospital death risk of nosocomial infections in this population.MethodsRetrospective clinical data were collected from a National Cancer Regional Center in Northwest China. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) algorithm was utilized to filter the optimal variables for model development and avoid model overfitting. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of the in-hospital death risk. A nomogram was then developed to predict the in-hospital death risk of each participant. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA).ResultsA total of 569 elderly cancer patients were included in this study, and the estimated in-hospital mortality rate was 13.9%. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that ECOG-PS (odds ratio [OR]: 4.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.95-9.99), surgery type (OR: 0.18, 95%CI: 0.04-0.85), septic shock (OR: 5.92, 95%CI: 2.43-14.44), length of antibiotics treatment (OR: 0.21, 95%CI: 0.09-0.50), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) (OR: 0.14, 95%CI: 0.06-0.33) were independent predictors of the in-hospital death risk of nosocomial infections in elderly cancer patients. A nomogram was then constructed to achieve personalized in-hospital death risk prediction. ROC curves yield excellent discrimination ability in the training (area under the curve [AUC]=0.882) and validation (AUC=0.825) cohorts. Additionally, the nomogram showed good calibration ability and net clinical benefit in both cohorts.ConclusionNosocomial infections are a common and potentially fatal complication in elderly cancer patients. Clinical characteristics and infection types can vary among different age groups. The risk classifier developed in this study could accurately predict the in-hospital death risk for these patients, providing an important tool for personalized risk assessment and clinical decision-making.

With the wide application of mobile robots, mobile robot path planning (MRPP) has attracted the attention of scholars, and many metaheuristic algorithms have been used to solve MRPP. Swarm-based algorithms are suitable for solving MRPP due to their population-based computational approach. Hence, this paper utilizes the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) to address the problem, aiming to improve the solution accuracy. Whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is an algorithm that imitates whale foraging behavior, and the firefly algorithm (FA) is an algorithm that imitates firefly behavior. This paper proposes a hybrid firefly-whale optimization algorithm (FWOA) based on multi-population and opposite-based learning using the above algorithms. This algorithm can quickly find the optimal path in the complex mobile robot working environment and can balance exploitation and exploration. In order to verify the FWOA’s performance, 23 benchmark functions have been used to test the FWOA, and they are used to optimize the MRPP. The FWOA is compared with ten other classical metaheuristic algorithms. The results clearly highlight the remarkable performance of the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) in terms of convergence speed and exploration capability, surpassing other algorithms. Consequently, when compared to the most advanced metaheuristic algorithm, FWOA proves to be a strong competitor.

Visible-light-enhanced TiO2 nanocatalysts doped with Cu and Fe were synthesized using the sol–gel method to investigate their performance in degrading gaseous benzene. The structure and morphology of mono- and co-doped TiO2 (i.e., Cu/Fe-TiO2, Cu-Fe-TiO2) were characterized using SEM, EDS, XRD, BET, Raman, UV-vis-DRS, and XPS techniques. The results indicated that the presence of Cu/Fe mono- and co-doped TiO2 leads to the formation of an anatase phase similar to pure TiO2. Furthermore, the introduction of Cu/Fe enhanced the presence of lattice defects and increased the specific surface area of TiO2. This enhancement can be attributed to the increase in oxygen vacancies, especially in the case of Cu-Fe-TiO2. Additionally, Cu-Fe-TiO2 showed a higher concentration of surface-bound hydroxyl groups/chemically adsorbed oxygen and a narrower bandgap than pure TiO2. Consequently, Cu-Fe-TiO2 exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance of 658.33 μgC6H6/(g·h), achieving a benzene degradation rate of 88.87%, surpassing that of pure TiO2 (5.09%), Cu-TiO2 (66.92%), and Fe-TiO2 (59.99%). Reusability tests demonstrated that Cu-Fe-TiO2 maintained a high benzene degradation efficiency of 71.4%, even after five experimental cycles, highlighting its exceptional stability and reusability. In summary, the addition of Cu/Fe to TiO2 enhances its ability to degrade gaseous benzene by prolonging the catalyst’s lifespan and expanding its photoresponse range to include visible light.

As a new ecological marine fishery production method, marine ranching is also an important source to obtain high-quality protein. It has been developed rapidly in recent years and has now formed a multiplication, conservation, and recreational marine ranching construction model. With the accelerated implementation of the maritime power strategy, marine ranching has gradually advanced into the "deep blue". At the same time as its rapid development, there are also problems such as single construction mode, prominent homogeneity, and limited ecological carrying capacity, which has limited the innovative development of marine ranching to a certain extent. As a part of the marine ecosystem, the whale fall ecosystem will play a significant role in promoting the development of marine ranching. Based on systematically combing the development history of marine ranching and the principles of whale fall ecosystems, this paper combined the two organically, fully applied the ecological principles of whale fall formation to the construction of marine ranching, and built an artificial whale fall marine ranching technology system and the construction model, through artificial means to give full play to the large-scale input effects of exogenous nutrients from large animals such as whale falls, and enhance the regional productivity of marine ranching, thereby improving resource conservation and output capacity, in order to provide new ideas and direction reference for the construction and development of marine ranching in China.