Search

Abstract Oral corticosteroids represents the most prevalent treatment for idiopathic granulomatous mastitis. Ductal lavage with triamcinolone acetonide and antibiotics followed by observation (DL-OBS) has emerged as a novel strategy, but a comparison of them remains lacking. Here in this multicenter, open-label, non-inferiority, randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03724903), we assigned 140 patients to oral corticosteroids (N = 71) and DL-OBS (N = 69), stratified by baseline M-score. The primary outcome is complete Clinical Response rate at 1 year. The non-inferiority margin is −15%. The primary outcome is 85.5% in DL-OBS and 87.3% in oral corticosteroids (difference: −1.8%; 95%CI, 13.2 to 9.5; Pnon-inferiority = .01) in intention-to-treat population, and 92.6% vs 98.2% (difference −5.6%; 95%CI −13.4 to 2.2; Pnon-inferiority = .01) in per-protocol population, respectively. The most common (>15%) adverse events were Cushingoid, epigastric pain and arthralgia in oral corticosteroids, and irregular menstruation in DL-OBS, respectively. Here, we report that DL-OBS shows similar efficacy to oral corticosteroids but with better safety profile.

Abstract The identification effector targets and characterization of their functions are crucial for understanding pathogen infection mechanisms and components of plant immunity. Here, we identify the effector UgsL, a ustilaginoidin synthetase with a key role in regulating virulence of the rice false smut fungus Ustilaginoidea virens. Heterologous expression of UgsL in rice (Oryza sativa) enhances plant susceptibility to multiple pathogens, and host-induced gene silencing of UgsL enhances plant resistance to U. virens, indicating that UgsL inhibits rice immunity. UgsL interacts with STRUBBELIG RECEPTOR KINASE 3 (OsSRF3). Genome editing and overexpression of OsSRF3 demonstrate that OsSRF3 plays a pivotal role in the resistance of rice to multiple pathogens. Remarkably, overexpressing OsSRF3 enhances resistance without adversely affecting plant growth or yield. We show that BRASSINOSTEROID RECEPTOR-ASSOCIATED KINASE 1 (OsBAK1) interacts with and phosphorylates OsSRF3 to activate pathogen-triggered immunity, inducing the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade, a reactive oxygen species burst, callose deposition, and expression of defense-related genes. UgsL interferes with the phosphorylation of OsSRF3 by OsBAK1. Furthermore, UgsL mediates OsSRF3 degradation by facilitating its association with the ubiquitin-26S proteasome. Our results reveal that OsSRF3 positively regulates immunity in rice and that UgsL mediates its degradation, thereby inhibiting the activation of OsBAK1–OsSRF3-mediated immune pathways.

Fluid intelligence is an individual's innate ability to cope with complex situations and is gradually reduced across adults aging. The realization of fluid intelligence requires the simultaneous activity of multiple brain regions and depends on the structural connection of distributed brain regions. Uncovering the structural features of brain connections associated with fluid intelligence decline will provide reference for the development of intervention and treatment programs for cognitive decline. Using structural magnetic resonance imaging data of 454 healthy participants (18–87 years) from the Cam-CAN dataset, we constructed structural similarity network for each participant and calculated the node degree. Spearman correlation analysis showed that age was positively correlated with degree centrality in the cingulate cortex, left insula and subcortical regions, while negatively correlated with that in the orbito-frontal cortex, right middle temporal and precentral regions. Partial least squares (PLS) regression showed that the first PLS components explained 32 % (second PLS component: 20 %, pperm < 0.001) of the variance in fluid intelligence. Additionally, the degree centralities of anterior insula, supplementary motor area, prefrontal, orbito-frontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which are critical nodes of the multiple-demand network (MDN), were linked to fluid intelligence. Increased degree centrality in anterior cingulate cortex and left insula partially mediated age-related decline in fluid intelligence. Collectively, these findings suggest that the structural stability of MDN might contribute to the maintenance of fluid intelligence.

Abstract Background To identify the cut-off values for the number of metastatic lymph nodes (nMLN) and lymph node ratio (LNR) that can predict outcomes in patients with FIGO 2018 IIICp cervical cancer (CC). Methods Patients with CC who underwent radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy were identified for a propensity score-matched (PSM) cohort study. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the critical nMLN and LNR values. Five-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were compared using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. Results This study included 3,135 CC patients with stage FIGO 2018 IIICp from 47 Chinese hospitals between 2004 and 2018. Based on ROC curve analysis, the cut-off values for nMLN and LNR were 3.5 and 0.11, respectively. The final cohort consisted of nMLN ≤ 3 (n = 2,378) and nMLN > 3 (n = 757) groups and LNR ≤ 0.11 (n = 1,748) and LNR > 0.11 (n = 1,387) groups. Significant differences were found in survival between the nMLN ≤ 3 vs the nMLN > 3 (post-PSM, OS: 76.8% vs 67.9%, P = 0.003; hazard ratio [HR]: 1.411, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.108–1.798, P = 0.005; DFS: 65.5% vs 55.3%, P 0.11 (post-PSM, OS: 82.5% vs 76.9%, P = 0.010; HR: 1.407, 95% CI: 1.103–1.794, P = 0.006; DFS: 72.8% vs 65.1%, P = 0.002; HR: 1.347, 95% CI: 1.110–1.633, P = 0.002) groups. Conclusions This study found that nMLN > 3 and LNR > 0.11 were associated with poor prognosis in CC patients.

Abstract Purpose Oncostatin M (OSM) is involved in the regulation of osteogenic differentiation and has a major role in the development of heterotopic ossification. The role of OSM in osteogenic differentiation of tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) and its mechanism have not been reported. This study aim to investigate the role of OSM in osteogenic differentiation of TDSCs and study the mechanism. Methods TDSCs were differentiated in osteogenic differentiation medium for 7 days. Recombinant OSM was added to the osteogenic differentiation medium for 7 and 14 days. The effect of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitor AZD1480 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitor stattic in the presence of recombinant OSM on osteogenic differentiation of TDSCs was examined after differentiation for 7 and 14 days. Alkaline phosphatase and alizarin red staining were used to assess the effects on early and mid-stage osteogenic differentiation, respectively. Western blotting and qPCR were used to assess the expression of receptor and signalling pathway-related proteins and osteogenic marker genes, respectively. Results TDSCs were successfully induced to differentiate into osteoblasts. Recombinant OSM promoted osteogenic differentiation of TDSCs to early and mid-stages. After addition of AZD1480 or stattic, decreased alkaline phosphatase and alizarin red staining were observed in the early and mid-stages of osteogenic differentiation. Additionally, decreased expression of receptor and pathway-related proteins, and osteogenic genes was found by western blotting and qPCR, respectively. Conclusion OSM promotes osteogenic differentiation of TDSCs and the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway plays an important role.

Abstract Background Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a life-threatening neurosurgical emergency with a high mortality rate. Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) and cerebral vasospasm (CVS) are delayed products of early brain injury (EBI), which may constitute the principal determinant of an unfavorable patient prognosis. Consequently, the mitigation of DCI and CVS assumes paramount significance in the pursuit of enhanced patient outcomes. However, except for oral nimodipine, there is no effective therapy available in the current guideline. Hence, the exigency arises to proffer novel treatment paradigms. The diversity of hydrogen therapeutic targets has been largely reported in basic research, unveiling its latent capacity to ameliorate EBI in aSAH patients. Methods Early Hydrogen–Oxygen Gas Mixture Inhalation in Patients with Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (HOMA), a single-center, prospective, open-labeled, randomized controlled clinical trial, endeavors to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydrogen–oxygen gas mixture inhalation therapy in aSAH patients. A cohort of 206 patients will be randomized to either hydrogen–oxygen gas mixture inhalation group (8 h per day, 3 L/min, hydrogen concentration of 67%, oxygen concentration of 33%) or oxygen inhalation group (8 h per day, 3 L/min, oxygen concentration of 33%) within 72 h after aSAH and treated for 7 days in the ICU ward. The primary outcomes are the incidence of DCI and CVS during hospitalization. Discussion The HOMA aims to evaluate the effectiveness of hydrogen–oxygen gas mixture inhalation therapy in preventing DCI or CVS and improving outcomes in aSAH patients. Notably, this is the first large-scale trial of hydrogen therapy in aSAH patients. Given that the Chinese population represents a significant portion of the global population and the increasing incidence of stroke due to aging, optimizing patient care is vital. Given the current challenges in aSAH patient outcomes, initiating more prospective clinical trials is essential. Recent research has shown hydrogen’s therapeutic potential, aligning with EBI in aSAH, driving our exploration of hydrogen therapy’s mechanisms in post-aneurysm rupture damage. Ethics and dissemination The protocol for the HOMA study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University (KY 2022–020-02). All results of the present study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05282836. Registered on March 16, 2022.

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate six novel lymphocyte‐based inflammatory markers (neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio, monocyte‐lymphocyte ratio, platelet‐lymphocyte ratio [PLR], systemic immune inflammation index [SII], systemic inflammatory response index, and systemic immune inflammation response index [SIIRI]) in patients with newly diagnosed coronary artery disease [CAD]. Methods A total of 959 patients newly diagnosed with CAD and underwent diagnostic coronary angiography were enrolled in this study and followed for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), including cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke. The best cutoff value was used to compare the six indicators. Cox risk regression analysis evaluated the relationship between novel lymphocyte‐based inflammatory markers and MACEs in newly diagnosed CAD patients. Results During a mean follow‐up period of 33.3 ± 9.9 months, 229 (23.9%) MACEs were identified. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that only SIIRI (hazard ratio [HR]: 5.853; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.092–8.371; p

Objective: This investigation explored the association between postoperative/preoperative platelet ratio (PPR) and the incidence of unfavorable outcomes within 90 days in individuals with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods: This investigation, utilizing data from 2015 to 2022, concentrated on patients diagnosed with aSAH, categorizing them into four groups based on PPR quartiles. The association between PPR levels and clinical outcomes—comprising in-hospital complications, mortality, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at discharge and 90 days after that—was evaluated through logistic regression analyses. To explore potential non-linear associations between PPR levels and outcomes, restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression was applied. Further, mediation analysis was performed to elucidate the role of in-hospital complications in modulating the impact of PPR levels on 90-day outcomes. Results: This study analyzed data from 948 patients. Upon adjustment for confounding variables, it was observed that patients in the higher quartiles showed reduced incidences of anemia, hypoproteinemia, and pneumonia, alongside a decreased frequency of unfavorable outcomes within a 90-day follow-up period. The RCS analysis indicated a linear association of PPR with pneumonia, hypoproteinemia, and adverse 90-day outcomes (p for nonlinear = 0.61, 0.52, and 0.96, respectively). Moreover, the association of PPR with anemia was found to be nonlinear (p for nonlinear = 0.01). Mediation analysis further indicated that anemia and pneumonia significantly influenced the association between PPR and unfavorable outcomes at 90 days, accounting for 15.49 % and 27.61 % of the effect, respectively. Conclusions: This study establishes a significant correlation between decreased PPR levels and 90-day adverse outcomes following aSAH, potentially relating to pneumonia and anemia.

Abstract The epiphytic and endophytic bacteria play an important role in the healthy growth of plants. Both plant species and growth environmental influence the bacterial population diversity, yet it is inconclusive whether it is the former or the latter that has a greater impact. To explore the communities of the epiphytic and endophytic microbes in Camellia oleifera, this study assessed three representative C. oleifera cultivars from three areas in Hunan, China by Illumina high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that the diversity and species richness of endophytic microbial community in leaves were significantly higher than those of microbial community in the epiphytic. The diversity and species richness of epiphytic and endophytic microbes are complex when the same cultivar was grown in different areas. The C. oleifera cultivars grown in Youxian had the highest diversity of epiphytic microbial community, but the lowest abundance, while the cultivars grown in Changsha had the highest diversity and species richness of endophytic microbes in leaves. It was concluded that the dominant phylum mainly included Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota and Firmicutes through the analysis of the epiphytic and endophytic microbial communities of C. oleifera. The species and relative abundances of epiphytic and endophytic microbial community were extremely different at the genus level. The analysis of NMDS map and PERMANOVA shows that the species richness and diversity of microbial communities in epiphytes are greatly influenced by region. However, the community structure of endophytic microorganisms in leaves is influenced by region and cultivated varieties, but the influence of cultivars is more significant. Molecular ecological network analysis showed that the symbiotic interaction of epiphytic microbial community was more complex.

Abstract Background Due to the high mortality and disability rate of intracranial hemorrhage, headache is not the main focus of research on cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM), so research on headaches in AVM is still scarce, and the clinical understanding is shallow. This study aims to delineate the risk factors associated with headaches in AVM and to compare the effectiveness of various intervention treatments versus conservative treatment in alleviating headache symptoms. Methods This study conducted a retrospective analysis of AVMs who were treated in our institution from August 2011 to December 2021. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the risk factors for headaches in AVMs with unruptured, non-epileptic. Additionally, the effectiveness of different intervention treatments compared to conservative management in alleviating headaches was evaluated through propensity score matching (PSM). Results A total of 946 patients were included in the analysis of risk factors for headaches. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that female (OR 1.532, 95% CI 1.173–2.001, p = 0.002), supply artery dilatation (OR 1.423, 95% CI 1.082–1.872, p = 0.012), and occipital lobe (OR 1.785, 95% CI 1.307–2.439, p

Abstract Background Tumor cells exhibit a heightened susceptibility to lysosomal-dependent cell death (LCD) compared to normal cells. However, the role of LCD-related genes (LCD-RGs) in Osteosarcoma (OS) remains unelucidated. This study aimed to elucidate the role of LCD-RGs and their mechanisms in OS using several existing OS related datasets, including TCGA-OS, GSE16088, GSE14359, GSE21257 and GSE162454. Results Analysis identified a total of 8,629 DEGs1, 2,777 DEGs2 and 21 intersection genes. Importantly, two biomarkers (ATP6V0D1 and HDAC6) linked to OS prognosis were identified to establish the prognostic model. Significant differences in risk scores for OS survival were observed between high and low-risk cohorts. Additionally, scores of dendritic cells (DC), immature DCs and γδT cells differed significantly between the two risk cohorts. Cell annotations from GSE162454 encompassed eight types (myeloid cells, osteoblastic OS cells and plasma cells). ATP6V0D1 was found to be significantly over-expressed in myeloid cells and osteoclasts, while HDAC6 was under-expressed across all cell types. Moreover, single-cell trajectory mapping revealed that myeloid cells and osteoclasts differentiated first, underscoring their pivotal role in patients with OS. Furthermore, ATP6V0D1 expression progressively decreased with time. Conclusions A new prognostic model for OS, associated with LCD-RGs, was developed and validated, offering a fresh perspective for exploring the association between LCD and OS.

Abstract Background Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) orchestrate a supportive niche that fuels cancer metastatic development in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Due to the heterogeneity and plasticity of CAFs, manipulating the activated phenotype of fibroblasts is a promising strategy for cancer therapy. However, the underlying mechanisms of fibroblast activation and phenotype switching that drive metastasis remain elusive. Methods The clinical implications of fibroblast activation protein (FAP)-positive CAFs (FAP+CAFs) were evaluated based on tumor specimens from NSCLC patients and bioinformatic analysis of online databases. CAF-specific circular RNAs (circRNAs) were screened by circRNA microarrays of primary human CAFs and matched normal fibroblasts (NFs). Survival analyses were performed to assess the prognostic value of circNOX4 in NSCLC clinical samples. The biological effects of circNOX4 were investigated by gain- and loss-of-function experiments in vitro and in vivo. Fluorescence in situ hybridization, luciferase reporter assays, RNA immunoprecipitation, and miRNA rescue experiments were conducted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of fibroblast activation. Cytokine antibody array, transwell coculture system, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to investigate the downstream effectors that promote cancer metastasis. Results FAP+CAFs were significantly enriched in metastatic cancer samples, and their higher abundance was correlated with the worse overall survival in NSCLC patients. A novel CAF-specific circRNA, circNOX4 (hsa_circ_0023988), evoked the phenotypic transition from NFs into CAFs and promoted the migration and invasion of NSCLC in vitro and in vivo. Clinically, circNOX4 correlated with the poor prognosis of advanced NSCLC patients. Mechanistically, circNOX4 upregulated FAP by sponging miR-329-5p, which led to fibroblast activation. Furthermore, the circNOX4/miR-329-5p/FAP axis activated an inflammatory fibroblast niche by preferentially inducing interleukin-6 (IL-6) and eventually promoting NSCLC progression. Disruption of the intercellular circNOX4/IL-6 axis significantly suppressed tumor growth and metastatic colonization in vivo. Conclusions Our study reveals a role of the circRNA-induced fibroblast niche in tumor metastasis and highlights that targeting the circNOX4/FAP/IL-6 axis is a promising strategy for the intervention of NSCLC metastasis.

Abstract The denoising of images is an important research direction in computer vision. We consider the image denoising task as an estimation problem of the filtering policy related to image features, which is different from end‐to‐end image mapping. Commonly used simple filters such as gaussian filtering and bilateral filtering have fixed global denoising policies. However, the denoising policies of different filters can only adapt to limited image features. To solve this problem, we propose a method that applies different filters to different spatial ranges and adjusts the parameters of these filters simultaneously. Since not all filters can be easily transformed into differentiable forms and it is difficult to obtain paired datasets of filter action areas, we use reinforcement learning (RL) methods to estimate the spatial domain action range and adjustable parameters of filters, respectively. Furthermore, for removing higher intensity noise, simple filters can iteratively approximate higher‐order denoising policies and obtain more accurate and stable denoising results with the increase of iteration steps. Experimental results show that our proposed method can not only generate intuitive and interpretable denoising policies but also achieve comparable or better visual effects and computational efficiency than baseline methods.

ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of radiomic features based on 18F-FDG PET/CT images within (intranodular) and around (perinodular) lung nodules/masses in distinguishing between lung adenocarcinoma and pulmonary granulomas.MethodsFor this retrospective study, 18F-FDG PET/CT images were collected for 228 patients. Patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma (n = 156) or granulomas (n = 72) were randomly assigned to a training (n = 159) and validation (n = 69) groups. The volume of interest (VOI) of intranodular, perinodular (1–5 voxels, termed Lesion_margin1 to Lesion_margin5) and total area (intra- plus perinodular region, termed Lesion_total1 to Lesion_total5) on PET/CT images were delineated using PETtumor and Marge tool of segmentation editor. A total of 1,037 radiomic features were extracted separately from PET and CT images, and the optimal features were selected to develop radiomic models. Model performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).ResultsGood and acceptable performance was, respectively, observed in the training (AUC = 0.868, p < 0.001) and validation (AUC = 0.715, p = 0.004) sets for the intranodular radiomic model. Among the perinodular models, the Lesion_margin2 model demonstrated the highest AUC in both sets (0.883 and 0.616, p < 0.001 and p = 0.122). Similarly, in terms of total models, Lesion_total2 model was found to outperform others in the training (AUC = 0.879, p < 0.001) and validation (AUC = 0.742, p = 0.001) sets, slightly surpassing the intranodular model.ConclusionWhen intra- and perinodular radiomic features extracted from the immediate vicinity of the nodule/mass up to 2 voxels distance on 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging are combined, improved differential diagnostic performance in distinguishing between lung adenocarcinomas and granulomas is achieved compared to the intra- and perinodular radiomic features alone.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a serious cardiovascular illness, for which an elevated uric acid (UA) level presents as a considerable risk factor. This can be treated with UA-lowering drugs such as allopurinol and benzbromarone, which can reduce UA levels by the inhibition of UA production or by promoting its excretion. Such drugs can also be beneficial to CHD in other ways, such as reducing the degree of coronary arteriosclerosis, improving myocardial blood supply and alleviating ventricular remodeling. Different UA-lowering drugs are used in different ways: allopurinol is preferred as a single agent in clinical application, but in absence of the desired response, a combination of drugs such as benzbromarone with ACE inhibitors may be used. Patients must be monitored regularly to adjust the medication regimen. Appropriate use of UA-lowering drugs has great significance for the prevention and treatment of CHD. However, the specific mechanisms of the drugs and individualized drug use need further research. This review article expounds the mechanisms of UA-lowering drugs on CHD and their clinical application strategy, thereby providing a reference for further optimization of treatment.

Summary: Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder, where renal cell carcinoma (RCC) serves as a significant cause of mortality. We collected peripheral blood from 61 VHL-RCC patients and 31 healthy individuals, along with 19 paired RCC tumor and adjacent non-malignant samples. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we identified 238 plasma and 241 tissue differentially abundant metabolites (DAMs), highlighting key pathways such as arginine and proline metabolism. The top 10 of the 23 DAMs, common to both plasma and tissue, were instrumental in constructing a high-performance diagnostic model. These DAMs demonstrated significant correlations with VHL gene mutation types. Cox regression analysis revealed that plasma levels of N2,N2-dimethylguanosine were associated with the timing of RCC onset in VHL patients, acting as an independent predictive factor. This study enhances diagnostic accuracy for this rare condition and opens new avenues for exploring metabolic mechanisms of the disease and potential therapeutic directions.

In the tumor microenvironment, transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) contributes to neutrophil development toward a pro-tumor phenotype; however, the molecular mechanism by which this occurs remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the role of TGF-β in N2 neutrophil polarization and the subsequent effect on oral leukoplakia/oral squamous cell carcinoma (OL/OSCC) cells. The TGF-β-stimulated N2 culture supernatant promoted the proliferation of OL/OSCC cells. Analysis of the N2 supernatant using a cytokine array revealed significantly upregulated expression of soluble forms of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). TGF-β was found to induce the expression of RAGE and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) in neutrophils. Additionally, MMP9 treatment could cleave RAGE and promote its secretion by neutrophils, thereby promoting cancer cell proliferation. In an established mouse model of oral cancer using 4NQO, RAGE were found to be highly expressed. Importantly, neutralizing antibodies against RAGE significantly inhibited oral cancer progression in mice. Analysis of clinical data from the TCGA database revealed that RAGE and MMP9 are highly expressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and that RAGE expression is significantly positively correlated with neutrophil infiltration. In conclusion, our results indicate that TGF-β promotes N2 neutrophil polarization through upregulation of soluble RAGE (sRAGE) secretion, leading to OSCC cell proliferation. Our findings also suggest that the sRAGE formed during N2 polarization may be a potential therapeutic target in OL/OSCC.

Objective Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious intestinal inflammatory disease. We investigated intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP), I-FABP mRNA, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as potential diagnostic biomarkers in NEC. Methods Forty mice were subjected to hypoxic-ischemic intestinal injury, and then serum I-FABP protein and mRNA levels were quantified. Ileal tissue pathological scores were determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. I-FABP expression levels and translocation in these tissues were detected using western blotting and immunofluorescence, respectively. Samples from 30 human neonates with NEC and 30 healthy neonates had serum I-FABP protein/mRNA and IL-6 levels measured. Results The mouse ileal tissue pathological score and I-FABP levels, as well as serum I-FABP and I-FABP mRNA levels, were significantly higher in the model group than in the control group. Serum I-FABP, I-FABP mRNA, and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in human neonates with NEC than in the healthy group. Logistic regression and receiver operating curve analyses revealed that I-FABP protein/mRNA and IL-6 levels could be diagnostic biomarkers for NEC. Conclusions I-FABP protein/mRNA and IL-6 levels are useful biomarkers of intestinal ischemic injury in neonates with NEC. The combined detection of I-FABP protein/mRNA and IL-6 is recommended rather than using a single biomarker.

Abstract Objective Surgical quality plays a vital role in the treatment of malignant tumors. We investigated the classification of intraoperative adverse events (iAE) (ClassIntra) in relation to the surgical quality control of laparoscopic radical hysterectomies. Methods A prospective cohort of 195 patients who had undergone laparoscopic radical hysterectomies for early stage cervical cancer between July 2019 and July 2021 was enrolled. Participants were classified into either an iAE or non-iAE groups in accordance with their intraoperative status. Surgical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and quality of life were compared between the two groups. Results Overall, 48 (24.6%) patients experienced 71 iAE. The iAE group was associated with significantly longer operative times (mean: 270 vs. 245 min, P

Abstract Objectives A genome sequence of a threatened species can provide valuable genetic information that is important for improving the conservation strategies. The white-eared night heron (Gorsachius magnificus) is an endangered and poorly known ardeid bird. In order to support future studies on conservation genetics and evolutionary adaptation of this species, we have reported a de novo assembled and annotated whole-genome sequence of the G. magnificus. Data description The final draft genome assembly of the G. magnificus was 1.19 Gb in size, with a contig N50 of 187.69 kb and a scaffold N50 of 7,338.28 kb. According to BUSCO analysis, the genome assembly contained 97.49% of the 8,338 genes in the Aves (odb10) dataset. Approximately 10.52% of the genome assembly was composed of repetitive sequences. A total of 14,613 protein-coding genes were predicted in the genome assembly, with functional annotations available for 14,611 genes. The genome assembly exhibited a heterozygosity rate of 0.49 heterozygosity per kilobase pair. This draft genome of G. magnificus provides valuable genomic resources for future studies on conservation and evolution.

Abstract Background To explore the underlying causality between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and four gastrointestinal diseases, we designed a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. Methods Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to explore genetic causality between LTL and four gastrointestinal diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastrointestinal ulcers disease (GUD), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We utilized inverse-variance weighted (IVW) as the primary method for MR analysis. Supplementary analyses were conducted using methods such as MR-Egger regression, weighted-median, Maximum Likelihood (MaxLik), Robust adjusted profile score (MR-RAPS), Contamination mixture (ConMix), and MR-mix. Cochran’s Q was calculated to check for heterogeneity. The MR-Egger regression and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) were detected for pleiotropy. Results The IVW analysis suggests that there may be a potential causal relationship between LTL and two diseases (odds ratio (OR): 1.062; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.003, 1.124; p = 0.038 for IBS and OR: 0.889; 95% CI: 0.798, 0.990; p = 0.032 for GERD). However, other methods do not entirely align with the results of the IVW analysis. In the reverse MR analysis, we did not find statistically significant associations between LTL and these four diseases. Conclusion The current evidence does not definitively rule out a causal relationship between LTL and these four gastrointestinal diseases but suggests a potential association between LTL and IBS, or LTL and GERD. Exploring the relationship between gastrointestinal diseases and LTL may offer new insights into the onset, progression, and treatment of these diseases.

Abstract Objective Our study aims to investigate the association between the Hounsfield unit (Hu) value of the insular cortex (IC) during emergency admission and the subsequent occurrence of post‐operative neurocardiogenic injury (NCI) among patients afflicted with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods Patients baseline characteristics were juxtaposed between those with and without NCI. The significant variables were incorporated into a multivariable stepwise logistic regression model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drafted for each significant variable, yielding cutoff values and the area under the curve (AUC). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the predictive performance across various cohorts and ascertain result stability. Propensity score matching (PSM) was ultimately employed to redress any baseline characteristic disparities. Results Patients displaying a right IC Hu value surpassing 28.65 exhibited an escalated risk of postoperative NCI upon confounder adjustment (p

ABSTRACTEarthquakes will significantly impact the economic development of earthquake-affected areas and the regional post-earthquake economic recovery trajectory. We presented an explorative analysis of disaster resilience and introduced a quantitative framework to model recovery patterns of earthquake disasters. Four resilience metrics, namely instant disturbance, recovery rate, recovery time, and accumulated loss, were calculated to measure resilience as a dynamic process. Furthermore, we applied random forests to explore the potential factors influencing recovery patterns. The selected factors fell into three categories: 1) disaster factors, 2) environmental factors, and 3) socioeconomic factors. The framework’s utility was demonstrated in a retrospective study of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which uncovered the differences in the long-term recovery trajectory of earthquake-affected areas and their influencing factors. The county-level analyses indicated a substantial spatial and temporal variation in the recovery patterns. Earthquake disaster resilience was related to socioeconomic factors and had an association with environmental and disaster factors. Our study not only helped to enrich the understanding of earthquake disaster resilience but also provided a basis for disaster mitigation strategies.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) represents the largest carbon reservoir in terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, understanding how to enhance SOC is crucial for the global carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 removal. While there has been reported on SOC accumulation following forest restoration efforts, changes in plant lignin and microbial necromass across soil fractions and depths remain unclear. To address this gap, we investigated the SOC-standardized concentrations of lignin phenols and amino sugars in bulk soil and soil fractions (particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM)) during subtropical forest restoration, as tracers for change in plant lignin components and microbial necromass respectively. Our findings indicate that forest restoration does not affect SOC concentrations, but does result in changes in plant lignin and microbial necromass. Specifically, in the subsoil, lignin phenols and amino sugars concentrations in bulk soil and soil fractions rise significantly with restoration time, with lignin phenols and amino sugars concentrations in bulk soil rising by 29.6% and 53.0%, respectively. This suggests that as forests recover, lignin and microbial necromass have a higher contribution to SOC accumulation in the subsoil, while the contribution of low-molecular plant-derived organic matter decreases. The relative change rate of lignin phenols (relative to SOC) is greater than that of amino sugars in POM in the topsoil, while in the subsoil, the relative change rate of amino sugars in MAOM is greater than that of lignin phenols. These results indicate that lignin in POM declines more rapidly than amino sugars during restoration, whereas in MAOM, amino sugars accumulate faster than lignin. Overall, these findings provide important insights into the regulation of SOC accumulation during forest restoration by the combination of plant lignin and microbial necromass in various stabilization pathways.

IntroductionNon-stereotypical gender role endorsement is becoming more common in e-commerce live broadcasting. However, there is relatively little research on this topic, and the mechanism of its impact on purchase intention is not yet clear. Based on schema theory and experimental methods, this study explores the impact of non-stereotypical gender role endorsement (compared to stereotypical gender role endorsement) on purchase intention in e-commerce live broadcasting. Besides, we take traditional gender ideology as the moderating variable.MethodsWe first selected experimental materials available for formal experiments through two pre-experiments. Secondly, this study conducted experiments on male/female product groups, respectively. Participants were recruited through the Credamo platform for both experiments.ResultsExperiment 1 indicates that for female product, stereotypical gender role endorsement triggers higher consumer purchase intention compared to non-stereotypical gender role endorsement. The subsequent moderating effect test results manifest that traditional gender ideology plays a moderating role in this effect. Experiment 2 shows that for male product, there is no significant difference in the impact of the two types of endorsement on consumers’ purchase intention. In other words, non-stereotypical gender role endorsement does affect consumers’ purchase intention, but this effect exists only in female product, and is more significant for consumers with a high level of traditional gender ideology.DiscussionThis study not only has certain theoretical significance for expanding the application boundaries of schema theory and congruence between celebrities and products endorsed, but also has practical significance for brand owners and streamers to effectively adopt non-stereotypical gender role endorsement to enhance purchase intention.

Abstract Optothermal nanotweezers have emerged as an innovative optical manipulation technique in the past decade, which revolutionized classical optical manipulation by efficiently capturing a broader range of nanoparticles. However, the optothermal temperature field was merely employed for in-situ manipulation of nanoparticles, its potential for identifying bio-nanoparticles remains largely untapped. Hence, based on the synergistic effect of optothermal manipulation and CRIPSR-based bio-detection, we developed CRISPR-powered optothermal nanotweezers (CRONT). Specifically, by harnessing diffusiophoresis and thermo-osmotic flows near the substrate upon optothermal excitation, we successfully trapped and enriched DNA functionalized gold nanoparticles, CRISPR-associated proteins, as well as DNA strands. Remarkably, we built an optothermal scheme for enhancing CRISPR-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection at single molecule level, while also introducing a novel CRISPR methodology for observing nucleotide cleavage. Therefore, this innovative approach has endowed optical tweezers with DNA identification ability in aqueous solution which was unattainable before. With its high specificity and feasibility for in-situ bio-nanoparticle manipulation and identification, CRONT will become a universal tool in point-of-care diagnosis, biophotonics, and bio-nanotechnology.

In this study, the mechanical properties and strengthening mechanisms resulting from the evolution of microstructure in an Al-4.39Mg-2.78Zn-0.42Cu (wt%) alloy were investigated through various heat treatment processes. Compared with the conventional T6 process, both the final thermomechanical treatment (FTMT) and the T6+deformation (T6D) process were found to significantly increase the strength of the alloy. In FTMT and T6D treated alloys, the distribution of nano-sized T-Mg32(Al, Zn, Cu)49 phase and dislocations were observed throughout the microstructure. Furthermore, the FTMT process led to a decrease in the solid solution amount of Mg atoms in the alloy, resulting in an improvement of the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) effect. The increase in yield strength of the FTMT-treated and T6D-treated alloys was attributed to the combined effects of enhanced precipitation strengthening and introduced dislocation strengthening. However, the contributions of grain boundary strengthening and solid solution strengthening remained relatively unchanged. This study presents a strategy for producing Al–Mg–Zn–Cu alloys with excellent mechanical performance by manipulating their microstructure and strengthening mechanisms.

【Objective】The study aims to investigate the impact of ginseng cultivation on soil quality improvement and plant growth and development of subsequent maize planting.【Method】Field experiments were conducted at four experimental sites of Beigang, Dafang, Choushui and Jingyu in Fusong County of Baishan City, Jilin Province. The13 physicochemical properties of the topsoil layer, dry matter accumulation of maize plants, as well as nitrogen uptake and utilization were investigated under two different farmland utilization methods, namely normal farmland (NF, as control) and improved farmland by ginseng planting (IFGP).【Result】The soil bulk density under soil depth layer of 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm under treatment of IFGP was ranged from 1.25 to 1.43 g/cm3, which was significantly lower than that of the control(NF). The averaged thickness topsoil layer in the position of the ridge and furrow was 31.4 cm and 16.94 cm, which were 89.6%-93.55% and 39.59%-56.52% higher than the NF, respectively. For the nutrients content in the topsoil, the organic matter, total nitrogen, alkali hydrolyzable nitrogen, and available potassium content in the four experimental sites were increased by 6.18%-38.99%, 2.68%-12.64%, 6.62%-42.90%, and 6.39%-40.54% under treatment of IFGP, respectively, compared to NF. In addition, the range of soil pH in the treatment of IFGP was 4.8-6.82, which significantly improved the trend of soil acidification compared to NF. Compared with NF, except for the result of Jingyu, the dry matter accumulation of maize plants in the other three experimental sites were increased by 14.70%, 11.19%, and 10.32%, respectively. The increase in maize grain yield was ranged from 8.56% to 14.08%, and the increase mainly due to the increase in effective ears per unit area. The nitrogen (N) content in organs such as leaves and grains in maize plants at harvesting stage under treatment of IFGP was significantly higher than that of NF, resulting in 13.60%-26.08% increase of total N absorption of whole maize in IFGP as compared to the NF. Correlation and regression analysis showed that the dry matter accumulation in maize plants was positively correlated with soil available nitrogen and organic matter content, and a significant linear relationship between soil total nitrogen content and grain N concentration were also observed.【Conclusion】IFGP treatment can significantly improve the nutrient status, increase the thickness of the topsoil layer, reduce the soil compaction, which is benefit to the growth and development of post maize. In addition, the increase in N levels in farmland after ginseng cultivation is conducive to the increase in maize yield and soil N absorption and utilization

Abstract Background Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in adults. Standard treatment includes chemoimmunotherapy with R-CHOP or similar regimens. Despite treatment advancements, many patients with DLBCL experience refractory disease or relapse. While baseline 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) parameters have shown promise in predicting survival, they may not fully capture lesion heterogeneity. This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of baseline 18F-FDG PET radiomics features in comparison with clinical factors and metabolic parameters for assessing 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and 5-year overall survival (OS) in patients with DLBCL. Results A total of 201 patients with DLBCL were enrolled in this study, and 1328 radiomics features were extracted. The radiomics signatures, clinical factors, and metabolic parameters showed significant prognostic value for individualized prognosis prediction in patients with DLBCL. Radiomics signatures showed the lowest Akaike information criterion (AIC) value and highest Harrell’s concordance index (C-index) value in comparison with clinical factors and metabolic parameters for both PFS (AIC: 571.688 vs. 596.040 vs. 576.481; C-index: 0.732 vs. 0.658 vs. 0.702, respectively) and OS (AIC: 339.843 vs. 363.671 vs. 358.412; C-index: 0.759 vs. 0.667 vs. 0.659, respectively). Statistically significant differences were observed in the area under the curve (AUC) values between the radiomics signatures and clinical factors for both PFS (AUC: 0.768 vs. 0.681, P = 0.017) and OS (AUC: 0.767 vs. 0.667, P = 0.023). For OS, the AUC of the radiomics signatures were significantly higher than those of metabolic parameters (AUC: 0.767 vs. 0.688, P = 0.007). However, for PFS, no significant difference was observed between the radiomics signatures and metabolic parameters (AUC: 0.768 vs. 0.756, P = 0.654). The combined model and the best-performing individual model (radiomics signatures) alone showed no significant difference for both PFS (AUC: 0.784 vs. 0.768, P = 0.163) or OS (AUC: 0.772 vs. 0.767, P = 0.403). Conclusions Radiomics signatures derived from PET images showed the high predictive power for progression in patients with DLBCL. The combination of radiomics signatures, clinical factors, and metabolic parameters may not significantly improve predictive value beyond that of radiomics signatures alone.

Abstract Background To compare the oncological outcomes of radical chemotherapy (R‐CT), abdominal radical hysterectomy (ARH), and neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical surgery (NACT) for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2018 stage IIIC cervical cancer, according to histological types: squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC)/adenosquamous cell carcinoma (ASC). Methods A comparison of 5‐year overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) was performed for the SCC and AC/ASC subgroups for the three initial treatments, assessed using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and validated using propensity score matching (PSM). Results The study included 4086 patients: R‐CT, n = 1913; ARH, n = 1529; and NACT, n = 644. AC/ASC had a lower survival rate (63.7%) than SCC (73.6%) and a higher recurrence and mortality rate (36.3% and 26.4%, respectively). The 5‐year OS and DFS rates were different in the SCC group for R‐CT, ARH, and NACT (OS: 69.8% vs. 80.8% vs. 73.0%, p

Abstract Background Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) has the worst prognosis among all head-and-neck cancers, and treatment options are limited. Tumor microenvironment (TME) analysis can help identify new therapeutic targets and combined treatment strategies. Methods Six primary HPSCC tissues and two adjacent normal mucosae from six treatment-naïve patients with HPSCC were analyzed using scRNA-seq. Cell types were curated in detail, ecosystemic landscapes were mapped, and cell–cell interactions were inferred. Key results were validated with The Cancer Genome Atlas and cell biology experiments. Results Malignant HPSCC epithelial cells showed significant intratumor heterogeneity. Different subtypes exhibited distinct histological features, biological behaviors, and spatial localization, all affecting treatment selection and prognosis. Extracellular matrix cancer-associated fibroblasts (mCAFs) expressing fibroblast activation protein were the dominant CAFs in HPSCC tumors. mCAFs, constituting an aggressive CAF subset, promoted tumor cell invasion, activated endothelial cells to trigger angiogenesis, and synergized with SPP1+ tumor associated macrophages to induce tumor progression, ultimately decreasing the overall survival of patients with HPSCC. Moreover, the LAMP3+ dendritic cell subset was identified in HPSCC and formed an immunosuppressive TME by recruiting Tregs and suppressing CD8+ T cell function. Conclusions mCAFs, acting as the communication center of the HPSCC TME, enhance the invasion ability of HPSCC cells, mobilizing surrounding cells to construct a tumor-favorable microenvironment. Inhibiting mCAF activation offers a new anti-HPSCC therapeutic strategy. Graphical Abstract Video Abstract

To adapt to the scenario characteristics of vertical federated learning (VFL) applications regarding high communication cost, fast model iteration, and decentralized data storage, a generalized adversarial sample generation algorithm named VFL-GASG was proposed.Specifically, an adversarial sample generation framework was constructed for the VFL architecture.A white-box adversarial attack in the VFL was implemented by extending the centralized machine learning adversarial sample generation algorithm with different policies such as L-BFGS, FGSM, and C＆amp;W.By introducing deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN), an adversarial sample generation algorithm named VFL-GASG was designed to address the problem of universality in the generation of adversarial perturbations.Hidden layer vectors were utilized as local prior knowledge to train the adversarial perturbation generation model, and through a series of convolution-deconvolution network layers, finely crafted adversarial perturbations were produced.Experiments show that VFL-GASG can maintain a high attack success while achieving a higher generation efficiency, robustness, and generalization ability than the baseline algorithm, and further verify the impact of relevant settings for adversarial attacks.

Abstract High-temperature hydrothermal systems are mainly distributed in the north–south graben systems of southern Tibet as an important part of the Mediterranean–Tethys Himalayan geothermal belt in mainland China. As the largest unit capacity and second stable operating geothermal power station in China, Yangyi is the fracture-controlled type geothermal field in the center of Yadong–Gulu Graben. In this paper, hydrogeological and hydrochemical characteristics, isotope composition (δD and δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr and δ11B) of borehole water, hot springs, and surface river samples were analyzed. From the conservative elements (such as Cl− and Li+) and δD and δ18O values, the geothermal water of the Yangyi high-temperature geothermal field is estimated to be of meteoric origin with the contributions of chemical components of the magmatic fluid, which is provided by partially molten granite as a shallow magmatic heat source. According to logging data, the geothermal gradient and terrestrial heat flow value of the Yangyi high-temperature geothermal field are 6.48 ℃/100 m and 158.37 mW m−2, respectively. Combining the hydrothermal tracer experiment, 87Sr/86Sr and δ11B ratios obtained with gradually decreasing reservoir temperatures from the Bujiemu stream geothermal zone to Qialagai stream geothermal zone, we suggested the deep geothermal waters were mixed with local cold groundwater and then flow northeastward, forming the shallow reservoir within the crushed zone and intersect spot of faults in the Himalayan granitoid. Furthermore, in the process of ascent, the geothermal water is enriched in K+, Na+, and HCO3 − during the interaction with underlying Himalayan granitoid and pyroclastic rocks that occur as wall rocks. The detailed description and extensive discussion are of great significance for the further exploitation and utilization of north–south trending geothermal belts in Tibet.

BackgroundCurrently, there is a lack of intuitive analysis regarding the development trend, main authors, and research hotspots in the field of cerebral arteriovenous malformation treatment, as well as a detailed elaboration of possible research hotspots.MethodsA bibliometric analysis was conducted on data retrieved from the Web of Science core collection database between 2000 and 2022. The analysis was performed using R, VOSviewer, CiteSpace software, and an online bibliometric platform.ResultsA total of 1,356 articles were collected, and the number of publications has increased over time. The United States and the University of Pittsburgh are the most prolific countries and institutions in the field. The top three cited authors are Kondziolka D, Sheehan JP, and Lunsford LD. The Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosurgery are two of the most influential journals in the field of brain arteriovenous malformation treatment research, with higher H-index, total citations, and number of publications. Furthermore, the analysis of keywords indicates that “aruba trial,” “randomised trial,” “microsurgery,” “onyx embolization,” and “Spetzler-Martin grade” may become research focal points. Additionally, this paper discusses the current research status, existing issues, and potential future research directions for the treatment of brain arteriovenous malformations.ConclusionThis bibliometric study comprehensively analyses the publication trend of cerebral arteriovenous malformation treatment in the past 20 years. It covers the trend of international cooperation, publications, and research hotspots. This information provides an important reference for scholars to further study cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

The safety of battery energy storage systems (BES) is of paramount importance for societal development and the wellbeing of the people. This is particularly true for retired batteries, as their performance degradation increases the likelihood of thermal runaway occurrences. Existing early warning methods for BES thermal runaway face two main challenges: mechanism-based research methods only consider a single operating state, making their application and promotion difficult; while data-driven methods based on supervised learning struggle with limited sample sizes. To address these issues, this paper proposes a data-driven early warning method for BES thermal runaway. The method utilizes unsupervised learning to create a framework that measures BES differences through reconstruction errors, enabling effective handling of limited samples. Additionally, ensemble learning is employed to enhance the method’s stability and quantify the probability of BES experiencing thermal runaway. To accurately capture the time-varying behaviors of BES, such as voltage, temperature, current, and state of charge (SOC), and detect performance differences in BES before and after thermal runaway, a bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) network with an attention mechanism is utilized. This approach effectively extracts features from training data. Subsequently, a Case study was conducted using the actual operation data of retired lithium batteries to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Mechanosensitive ion channels are a class of membrane-integrated proteins that convert externalmechanical forces, including stretching, pressure, gravity, and osmotic pressure changes, some of which can be caused by pathogen invasion, into electrical and chemical signals transmitted to the cytoplasm. In recent years, with the identification of many of these channels, their roles in the initiation and progression of many diseases have been gradually revealed. Multiple studies have shown that mechanosensitive ion channels regulate the proliferation, activation, and inflammatory responses of immune cells by being expressed on the surface of immune cells and further responding to mechanical forces. Nonetheless, further clarification is required regarding the signaling pathways of immune-cell pattern-recognition receptors and on the impact of microenvironmental changes and mechanical forces on immune cells. This review summarizes the roles of mechanosensitive ion channels in immune cells.

Abstract Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a complex disease affecting an increasing number of young women. Traditional treatments are limited in low efficacy and side effects. Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) therapy holds promise in the treatment of POF. However, the clinical application of WJMSCs is hindered by challenges such as low cell viability, significant loss, and poor survival rates. In this study, we prepared three‐dimensional chitosan microspheres (CSM). CSM loading substantial improved the proliferative ability and cell viability of WJMSCs. Furthermore, transplantation of CSM loaded with WJMSCs into ovaries of POF mice increased serum levels of Estradiol (E2) and Anti‐Müllerian hormone (AMH), alongside decreased levels of follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH). CSM+WJMSCs transplantation enhanced the number of growth follicles while reduced atresia follicles, and effective alleviated the ovarian fibrosis and apoptosis within the ovarian cortex. CSM also prolonged the residence time of WJMSCs in the ovarian capsule. Moreover, superovulation experiments illustrated that CSM+WJMSCs transplantation enhanced the total number of oocytes and reduced oocyte abnormality rates. Overall, CSM+WJMSCs transplantation promotes follicle development and regeneration, restoring ovarian function by inhibiting ovarian cell apoptosis and reducing levels of fibrosis. This study presents a novel therapeutic strategy that combines biomaterial and mesenchymal stem cells for the clinical treatment of premature ovarian failure.

Chinese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) is a nutritionally and economically important stone fruit widely grown around the world. Anthracnose, caused by Collectotrichum spp., is one of the primary biotic stress factors limiting plum production. Medicinal plants may harbor rhizospheric or endophytic microorganisms that produce bioactive metabolites that can be used as anthracnose biocontrol agents. Here, 27 bacterial isolates from the medicinal plant A. conyzoides with diverse antagonistic activities against C. fructicola were screened. Based on morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular characterization, 25 of these isolates belong to different species of genus Bacillus, one to Pseudomonas monsensis, and one more to Microbacterium phyllosphaerae. Eight representative strains showed high biocontrol efficacy against plum anthracnose in a pot experiment. In addition, several Bacillus isolates showed a broad spectrum of inhibitory activity against a variety of fungal phytopathogens. Analysis of the volatile organic compound profile of these eight representative strains revealed a total of 47 compounds, most of which were ketones, while the others included alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, pyrazines, and phenols. Overall, this study confirmed the potential value of eight bacterial isolates for development as anthracnose biocontrol agents.

Al–Cu–Mg–Fe–Ni alloys are widely used in high temperature structural materials such as automobile engine cylinders and pistons, owning to their good high temperature mechanical properties. In this work, the effect of Fe and Ni content, solution treated, and aged process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Fe–Ni alloys were investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hardness and tensile tests. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high–resolution TEM were used to determine the existence of S phase and Al9FeNi precipitates. The solution treatment followed by aged process is found to be of significant benefit in improving the tensile properties both at room– and elevated temperature.

Single-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been a research focus in recent years owing to its extensive potential applications. However, how to model the mechanical properties of MoS2 is an open question. In this study, we investigate the nonlinear static bending and forced vibrations of MoS2, subjected to boundary axial and thermal stresses using modified plate theory with independent in-plane and out-of-plane stiffnesses. First, two nonlinear ordinary differential equations are obtained using the Galerkin method to represent the nonlinear vibrations of the first two symmetrical modes. Second, we analyze nonlinear static bending by neglecting the inertial and damping terms of the two equations. Finally, we explore nonlinear forced vibrations using the method of multiple scales for the first- and third-order modes, and their 1:3 internal resonance. The main results are as follows: (1) The thermal stress and the axial compressive stress reduce the MoS2 stiffness significantly. (2) The bifurcation points of the load at the low-frequency primary resonance are much smaller than those at high frequency under single-mode vibrations. (3) Temperature has a more remarkable influence on the higher-order mode than the lower-order mode under the 1:3 internal resonance.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) health challenge worldwide. Many studies showed that circadian rhythms play a critical role in tumor development. This study aimed to investigate the role of the circadian gene period2 (PER2) in HCC development and explore the possible mechanisms involved.Methods: From fresh HCC tissues and paired paracancerous tissues, we measured PER2 mRNA and protein expression levels and calculated the correlations between PER2 expression and clinicopathological parameters in patients with HCC. We used transcriptome data from The Cancer Genome Atlas to mine the PER2 gene, including single gene difference analysis, single gene co-expression analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, immune infiltration analysis, and methylation analysis to explore its role and mechanism in HCC occurrence and development.Results: PER2 expression levels were significantly lower in HCC tissues than in the paired paracancerous tissues. PER2 expression in HCC significantly correlated with neural invasion, Child-Pugh classification, and China liver cancer staging stage in HCC patients. The differentially expressed genes associated with PER2 were significantly enriched in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, transcriptional translation, amino acid metabolism, and other related pathways. PER2 expression levels significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint genes and positively correlated with TP53 expression in HCC tissues. The DNA methylation status in eight CpG islands of the PER2 gene was associated with HCC outcomes.Conclusion: PER2 is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic target in HCC.

BackgroundStress-related gastrointestinal bleeding (SRGB) is one of the major complications after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), and it can present challenges in patient care and treatment. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical significance of the caudate Hounsfield unit (HU) value in the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT (ASPECT) score for predicting SRGB in patients with aSAH.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the data of 531 aSAH patients admitted to our institution between 2019 and 2022. Potential predictors of SRGB were identified using multivariate Cox regression analysis. We used a restricted cubic spline (RCS) to evaluate whether there is a nonlinear relationship between the right caudate HU value and SRGB. MaxStat analysis (titled as maximally selected rank statistics) was performed to identify the optimal cutoff point for the right caudate HU value. Another Kaplan–Meier method with the log-rank test was used to analyze the right caudate HU value in predicting the occurrence of SRGB.ResultsThe incidence rate of SRGB was 17.9%. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, the right caudate HU value was an independent predictor of SRGB [Hazard ratio (HR) = 0.913; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.847–0.983, and p = 0.016]. The RCS indicated that the incidence of developing SRGB reduces with increasing right caudate HU values (nonlinear p = 0.78). The optimal cut-off value of the right caudate HU was 25.1.ConclusionAmong aSAH patients, lower right caudate HU values indicated a higher risk of developing SRGB. Our findings provide further evidence for the relationship between the gastrointestinal system and the brain.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a critical role in supporting key ecosystem functions and services for humanity. Despite the widespread conversion of primary forests to plantations and secondary forests, it remains uncertain how it affects the content and distribution of SOC. We evaluated SOC content, its components in two fractions, particulate organic carbon (a mean residence time shorter than decades) and mineral-associated organic carbon (a mean residence time of multiple decades to centuries), and the fine root characteristics (biomass, necromass, and C: N of dead fine roots) across Chinese fir plantations and secondary forests during stand development (5–41 years old) in subtropical China, employing primary forests as a reference. We found that SOC content differed significantly between forest types and soil depths, but not with stand age within plantations or secondary forests. In the topsoil (0–10 cm), the SOC content of primary and secondary forests was 47 % and 25 % higher than that of Chinese fir plantations, respectively. The SOC content in the subsoil (40–60 cm) was approximately 6 ± 1.7 mg C g−1 and did not change significantly with forest types or stand ages. The higher SOC contents in primary forests and secondary forests in topsoil resulted primarily from particulate organic carbon accumulation caused by higher fine root biomass and dead root C: N. The fraction of mineral-associated organic carbon to SOC increased with soil depth and was higher in Chinese fir plantations than in secondary forests, suggesting that more SOC is composed of mineral-associated organic carbon that was associated with a higher amount of fine root necromass. Contrary to our expectations, we found SOC content or its fractions did not increase with 40 years of plantation and secondary forest development. Our results reveal persistent SOC deficits from converting primary forests to plantations and secondary forests and highlight the urgent need to conserve the remaining primary forests and protect secondary forests and plantations from disturbances, allowing them to evolve towards older-aged primary forests.

With the increasing scale of energy storage batteries, the number of retired energy storage batteries is also rapidly increasing, and the energy storage life, as an important indicator for evaluating the safety of retired energy storage, has received widespread attention. The existing methods for estimating the life of retired energy storage have the problem of considering attenuation characteristics (AC) that do not fully reflect the actual operating characteristics of batteries, which can affect the estimation accuracy. Therefore, this article proposes a precise estimation method for the life of retired energy storage batteries to improve the accuracy of estimating the life of retired energy storage. Firstly, an AC extraction method was proposed to fully explore the potential relationship between various feature data and the operational status of retired energy storage. Then, a method was proposed to screen and optimize ACs that are highly correlated with the life of retired energy storage batteries, selecting ACs that are highly correlated with the life of retired energy storage batteries. Finally, an accurate method for estimating the life of retired energy storage batteries was proposed, which effectively improved the accuracy of estimating the life. The proposed method was validated on the NASA dataset with an accuracy of no less than 99.784% for estimating life.

In photography, accurate exposure is the key to taking high-quality photos, particularly images with uneven exposure levels. Global exposure operations are usually difficult to effectively strengthen the various regions of the image. To achieve a balanced exposure level in different regions of the image, we propose a novel algorithm inspired by the luminance masking frequently employed by professional photographers. We use reinforcement learning to adaptively generate guiding regions and adjusting parameters as a basis for multi-step exposure fusion, to enhance the overall quality of the image. Firstly, reinforcement learning is employed to automatically segment the single image to be enhanced into multiple sub-images, with corresponding appropriate adjusting parameters for each sub-image generated. Then, the input image is enhanced using the local adjusting parameters, yielding a set of images with varying enhancing degrees. Finally, these images are fused in an exposure process to obtain the final result. Experimental results show that our method not only generates intuitive and interpretable guiding regions, but also its performance is comparable to that of other contemporaneous methods.

Abstract Background Myocardial fibrosis is a common pathophysiological process involved in many cardiovascular diseases. However, limited prior studies suggested no association between focal myocardial fibrosis detected by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and disease severity in Eisenmenger syndrome (ES). This study aimed to explore potential associations between myocardial fibrosis evaluated by the CMR LGE and T1 mapping and risk stratification profiles including exercise tolerance, serum biomarkers, hemodynamics, and right ventricular (RV) function in these patients. Methods Forty-five adults with ES and 30 healthy subjects were included. All subjects underwent a contrast-enhanced 3T CMR. Focal replacement fibrosis was visualized on LGE images. The locations of LGE were recorded. After excluding LGE in ventricular insertion point (VIP), ES patients were divided into myocardial LGE-positive (LGE+) and LGE-negative (LGE−) subgroups. Regions of interest in the septal myocardium were manually contoured in the T1 mapping images to determine the diffuse myocardial fibrosis. The relationships between myocardial fibrosis and 6-min walk test (6MWT), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP), hematocrit, mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI), RV/left ventricular end-systolic volume (RV/LV ESV), RV ejection fraction (RVEF), and risk stratification were analyzed. Results Myocardial LGE (excluding VIP) was common in ES (16/45, 35.6%), and often located in the septum (12/45, 26.7%). The clinical characteristics, hemodynamics, CMR morphology and function, and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) were similar in the LGE+ and LGE− groups (all P > 0.05). ECV was significantly higher in ES patients (28.6 ± 5.9% vs. 25.6 ± 2.2%, P

Abstract Introduction Stellate ganglion block has been reported to expand cerebral vessels and alleviate vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, the causal relationship between early stellate ganglion block and cerebral vasospasm prevention has not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness and safety of early stellate ganglion block as a preventive treatment for cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. Methods/design This is a single-center, prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded endpoint assessment superiority trial. A total of 228 patients will be randomized within 48 h of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage onset in a 1:1 ratio into two groups, one group receiving an additional e-SGB and the other group receiving only a camouflaging action before anesthesia induction in the operating room. The primary outcome is the incidence of symptomatic vasospasm within 14 days after aSAH. Further safety and efficacy parameters include the incidence of radiographic vasospasm, new cerebral infarction, postoperative delirium, and complications up to 90 days after surgery; postoperative cerebral hemodynamics; Mini-Mental State Examination score; modified Rankin scale score; and all-cause mortality up to 90 days after surgery. Discussion This is a randomized controlled trial to explore the effectiveness and safety of early stellate ganglion block as a preventive treatment to reduce cerebral vasospasm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. If the results are positive, it may provide a new direction for the prevention and treatment of cerebral vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. Trial registration The study was registered on Clincaltrials.gov on December 13, 2020 (NCT04691271).

Abstract Background The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) is an ardeid bird successfully adapted to the nocturnal environment. Previous studies had indicated that the eyes of the night herons have evolved several specialized morphological traits favoring nocturnal vision. However, the molecular mechanisms of the nocturnal vision adaptation of night herons remained inattentions. In this study, the whole genome of N. nycticorax was sequenced and comparative analyses were performed on the vision-related and olfactory receptor (OR) genes to understand the molecular mechanisms of the visual and olfactory adaptation of night herons. Results The results indicated that a number of vision genes were under positive or relaxed selection in N. nycticorax, whereas a number of other vision genes were under relaxed or intensified selection in the boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius), which suggested that the two species adapt to nocturnality with different genetic mechanisms. The different selections acting on vision genes are probably associated with the enlargement of eye size and the enhancement of visual sensitivity in night herons. The analyses on olfactory receptor (OR) genes indicated that the total number of OR genes in the genomes of N. nycticorax and C. cochlearius were about half those in the little egret (Egretta garzetta), whereas the diversity of their OR genes was not remarkably different. Additionally, the number of expressed OR genes in the transcriptomes of N. nycticorax was also fewer than that in E. garzetta. These results suggest a reduced olfactory capability in night herons compared with E. garzetta. Conclusions Our results provided evidence that several vision genes of the night herons were subjected to different natural selections, which can contribute to a better understanding of the genetic mechanisms of visual adaptions of the night heron. In addition, the finding of the reduced number of total and expressed OR genes in night herons may reflect a trade-off between olfaction and vision.

Abstract Background Brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is an important cause of hemorrhagic stroke in young adults, which can lead to severe neurological impairment. The registry of Multimodality treatment for brain ArTeriovenous malformation in mainland CHina (MATCH) is a national prospective registry to identify the natural history of AVMs in Asian population; to investigate traditional and emerging hemorrhagic predictors; and to explore the superiority of the multidisciplinary assessment in improving the long-term outcomes. Methods Consecutive AVM patients will be enrolled from 52 participating hospitals in mainland China. Baseline demographic, clinical and imaging data will be collected prospectively. Conservation, microsurgery, embolization, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and multimodal strategies are all included in this study. Patients will be divided into experimental and control group according to whether the treatment protocols are formulated by multidisciplinary team. Neurofunctional status, subsequent hemorrhage, seizure, and novel neurofunctional deficit will be queried at 3 months, annually (1 and 2 years), 3 years, and 10 years follow-up. Results Between August 2011 and April 2021, 3241 AVMs were enrolled in 11 participating sites. Among them, 59.0% were male with an average age of 28.4 ± 14.6 years, 61.2% had rupture history and 2268 hemorrhagic events occurred before admission. The median Spetzler-Martin grade and Lawton-Young grade was 3 and 5, respectively. Microsurgery is the dominant strategy (35.7%), with a similar proportion of embolization, SRS, and a combination of both (12.7%; 14.8%; 11.8%; respectively). Among them, 15.43% underwent multidisciplinary assessment and received standardized treatment. At the most recent follow-up, 7.8% were lost and the median follow-up duration was 5.6 years. Conclusions The MATCH study is a large-sample nationwide prospective registry to investigate multimodality management strategy for AVMs. Data from this registry may also provide the opportunity for individualized risk assessment and the development of optimal individual management strategies. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Registry ( NCT04572568 ).