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Infections with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) have been increasingly reported, especially in immunocompromised patients. Bacteriophages (phages) are often considered as potential therapeutic candidates in treating infectious diseases. To search for therapeutic phages as antimicrobial agents for the treatment of Enterococcus faecium infections, eight E. faecium phages were isolated from the environments. One of these, phage φEc-ZZ2, which was capable of eliciting efficient lysis of E. faecium, was selected for analysis. Transmission electron microscopy revealed its resemblance to members of the family Siphoviridae, with a tail 200 nm long and an icosahedral head 45 nm in diameter. Phage φEc-ZZ2 exhibited rapid adsorption (> 99% adsorbed in 10 min), a short latency period of 20 min and a large burst size of 180 PFU/cell. Host range determination shows that φEc-ZZ2 has a relatively broader host range (specificity for 54.5% of tested E. faecium strains). Furthermore, when φEc-ZZ2 alone was incubated at different pH, the phage was stable over a wide pH range (5 to 9). These characteristics of φEc-ZZ2 will provide useful information for further research on the interaction between Enterococcus phages and their hosts. Moreover, in consideration of its pH stability and broader host range, φEc-ZZ2 may be a good candidate as a therapeutic/disinfectant agent to control nosocomial infections caused by E. faecium.

Abstract Background Mothers of children with autism reported higher levels of anxiety than mothers of typical children. This study revealed the relationship between parent-child conflict, children’s problem behavior, parenting stress, and maternal anxiety from the perspective of the relationship within the family. Methods The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) were used to measure maternal anxiety and parenting stress respectively from 102 mothers of children with autism. We also collected information on parent-child relationships and children’s problem behaviors by using the Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) and Conners Parent Symptom Questionnaire (PSQ). Results Parent-child conflict positively predicted state and trait anxiety in mothers of children with autism. The severity of children’s psychosomatic disorders fully mediated the positive association between parent-child conflict and state-trait anxiety in mothers of children with autism. Parenting stress significantly moderated the impact of parent-child conflict on maternal state anxiety and trait anxiety. Conclusion In the case of children with autism spectrum disorders, parent-child conflict can directly affect maternal anxiety levels, especially when mothers have low levels of parenting stress. Parent-child conflict can also affect children’s problem behaviors and thus indirectly affect maternal anxiety. Therefore, this study is of great significance for the alleviation of anxiety of mothers of autistic children and the family intervention for the early rehabilitation of autistic children.

Abstract Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, but the molecular mechanisms underlying IBD are incompletely understood. In this study, we explored the role and regulating mechanism of otubain 2 (OTUB2), a deubiquitinating enzyme, in IBD. Methods To study the function of OTUB2 in IBD, we generated Otub2–/– mice and treated them with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to induce experimental colitis. Bone marrow transplantation was performed to identify the cell populations that were affected by OTUB2 in colitis. The molecular mechanism of OTUB2 in signal transduction was studied by various biochemical methods. Results OTUB2 was highly expressed in colon‐infiltrating macrophages in both humans with IBD and mice with DSS‐induced experimental colitis. Colitis was significantly aggravated in Otub2–/– mice and bone marrow chimeric mice receiving Otub2–/– bone marrow. OTUB2‐deficiency impaired the production of cytokines and chemokines in macrophages in response to the NOD2 agonist muramyl dipeptide (MDP). Upon MDP stimulation, OTUB2 promoted NOD2 signaling by stabilizing RIPK2. Mechanistically, OTUB2 inhibited the proteasomal degradation of RIPK2 by removing K48‐linked polyubiquitination on RIPK2, which was mediated by the active C51 residue in OTUB2. In mice, OTUB2 ablation abolished the protective effects of MDP administration in colitis. Conclusion This study identified OTUB2 as a novel regulator of intestinal inflammation.

BackgroundNear-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is an emerging cancer treatment technology that combines the advantages of optical technology and immunotherapy to provide a highly effective, precise, and low side-effect treatment approach. The aim of this study is to visualize the scientific results and research trends of NIR-PIT based on bibliometric analysis methods.MethodsThe Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database was searched in August 2024 for relevant publications in the field of NIR-PIT. Data were analyzed using mainly CiteSpace and R software for bibliometric and visual analysis of the country/region, authors, journals, references and keywords of the publications in the field.ResultsA total of 245 publications were retrieved, including articles (n = 173, 70.61%) and reviews (n = 72, 29.39%). The annual and cumulative number of publications increased every year. The highest number of publications was from the United States (149, 60.82%), followed by Japan (70, 28.57%) and China (33, 13.47%). The research institution with the highest number of publications was National Institutes of Health (NIH)-USA (114, 46.53%). Kobayashi H (109) was involved in the highest number of publications, Mitsunaga M (211) was the most frequently cited in total. CANCERS (17) was the most frequently published journal, and NAT MED (220) was the most frequently co-cited journal. The top 10 keywords include near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (166), photodynamic therapy (61), monoclonal antibody (58), in vivo (50), cancer (46), expression (31), breast cancer (27), enhanced permeability (24), antibody (23), growth factor receptor (16). Cluster analysis based on the co-occurrence of keywords resulted in 13 clusters, which identified the current research hotspots and future trends of NIR-PIT in cancer treatment.ConclusionThis study systematically investigated the research hotspots and development trends of NIR-PIT in cancer treatment through bibliometric and visual analysis. As an emerging strategy, the research on the application of NIR-PIT in cancer treatment has significantly increased in recent years, mainly focusing on the targeting, immune activation mechanism, and treatment efficacy in solid tumors has received extensive attention. Future studies may focus on improving the efficacy and safety of NIR-PIT in cancer treatment, as well as developing novel photosensitizers and combination therapeutic regimens, and exploring the efficacy of its application in a wide range of solid tumors, which will provide an important reference and guidance for the application of NIR-PIT in clinical translation.

IntroductionDeaf students have more difficulties with emotion regulation due to their hearing loss. They are suffering higher socio-emotional risk than the hearing person. But there are few studies explored the neural mechanisms of impaired emotion regulation in the deaf college students.MethodsThirty hearing college students and 27 deaf college students completed the emotion regulation task while recording ERP data and subjective emotion intensity.ResultsBehavioral results found that deaf college students had higher emotional experience intensity compared to healthy controls. The ERP results showed the deaf college students had lower LPP amplitudes both using reappraisal and suppression strategies. Moreover, the LPP of expression suppression was associated with the increase of depression scores among deaf college students.DiscussionDeaf college students may have impaired emotion regulation so that they are more accustomed to using expression suppression strategies to regulate their negative emotions which lead to high risk to be depression.

BackgroundGlioblastoma (GBM) is one of the common malignant tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by rapid proliferation, heterogeneity, aggressiveness, proneness to recurrence after surgery, and poor prognosis. There is increasing evidence that tumorigenesis is inextricably linked to immune escape, and immunotherapy is undoubtedly an important complement to clinical treatment options for GBM, and will be a focus and hot topic in GBM treatment research. The purpose of this study was to visualize and analyze the scientific results and research trends of immunotherapy for GBM.MethodsPublications concerning immunotherapy for GBM were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOScc) database. Bibliometric and visual analysis was performed mainly using CiteSpace and R software, and the Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology (https://bibliometric.com/app) for countries/regions, authors, journals, references and keywords related to publications in the field.ResultsAmong totally 3491 publications retrieved in this field, 1613 publications were finally obtained according to the screening criteria, including 1007 articles (62.43%) and 606 reviews (37.57%). The number of publications increased year by year, with an average growth rate (AGR) of 17.41%. Such a number was the largest in the USA (717, 44.45%), followed by China (283, 17.55%), and the USA showed the strongest international collaboration. Among the research institutions, Duke Univ (94, 5.83%) was the largest publisher in the field, followed by Harvard Med Sch (70, 4.34%). In addition, the most prolific authors in this field were OHN H SAMPSON (51) and MICHAEL LIM (43), and the degree of collaboration (DC) between authors was 98.26%. Among the co-cited authors, STUPP R (805) was the most cited author, followed by REARDON DA (448). The journal with the most published publications was FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY (75), and the most cited journal in terms of co-citation was CLIN CANCER RES (1322), followed by CANCER RES (1230). The high-frequency keyword included glioblastoma (672) and immunotherapy (377). Cluster analysis was performed on the basis of keyword co-occurrence analysis, yielding 17 clusters, based on which the current research status and future trends in the field of immunotherapy for GBM were identified.ConclusionImmunotherapy is currently a novel treatment strategy for GBM that has attracted much attention. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between countries and institutions towards relevant research to promote the development of this field. Immunotherapy is expected to be an important part of the future treatment strategy for GBM, and it has already become a hot spot of current research and will be the key focus of future research.

Intrinsic family dynamics are an important factor in the development of children with special needs, and mothers' emotion regulation ability influences children's development to some extent. This study examined the intrinsic mechanism of cognitive reappraisal of emotion regulation strategies affecting the emotion recognition ability of mothers of children with special needs. Results indicated that mothers of children with special needs recognized negative emotions significantly faster than typically developing child mothers. After receiving cognitive reappraisal emotion regulation strategies, they significantly improved emotional recognition of surprise and reduced attention bias towards anger. Overall, mothers of children with special needs may have obvious attention bias towards negative emotions, and cognitive reappraisal can target negative emotions to help them to better improve emotional resilience.

ABSTRACT: The earlobe is a featherless, exposed thickening located beneath the ear canal of chickens, which plays a visual signaling role in age, performance, mental vitality, reproduction, and other aspects. However, despite its importance, there have been few studies on the color differences and formation mechanisms of chicken earlobes, particularly the structurally blue earlobes characteristic of the Jiangshan black-bone chicken. In this study, we explored the physiological mechanisms that may influence the formation of differently colored earlobes using 3 types of earlobes from Jiangshan black-bone chickens: light peacock green (Green group), dark peacock green (Blue group), and dark reddish purple (Black group). All 3 earlobe colors exhibited positive melanin Masson-Fontana staining, and the thickness of collagen fibers in the dermis decreased in the order of Green, Blue, and Black groups. A total of 1,953 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the 3 earlobes through mRNA sequencing, among which the GO term “collagen trimer” was significantly enriched in DEGs between groups. Additionally, 716 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified in the 3 earlobes using 4D-DIA proteomics, with the term “collagen fibril organization” being significantly enriched in DEPs between the Green and Black groups. Integrated analysis of transcriptome and proteome data revealed that 12 DEGs and DEPs were commonly differentially expressed between the Green and Black groups, including the gene LUM (corneal keratan sulfate proteoglycan), which was significantly enriched in the ''collagen fibril organization'' GO term. In conclusion, our study suggests that LUM plays a crucial role in the formation of peacock green earlobes in Jiangshan black-bone chickens. The high level of LUM in peacock green (Green and Blue groups) may affect collagen nanostructures, leading to a stronger effect of melanin-supported dermal collagen on the production of non-iridescent structural colors through coherent scattering, resulting in a bright structural blue color in Jiangshan black-bone chickens. In contrast, the low expression of LUM in dark reddish purple (Black group) reduces the reflection of non-iridescent structural colors, making the earlobe color appear almost black, similar to melanin.

ABSTRACT: The circadian clock is crucial for maintaining lipid metabolism homeostasis in mammals. Despite the economic importance of fat content in poultry, research on the regulatory effects and molecular mechanisms of the circadian clock on avian hepatic lipid metabolism has been limited. In this study, we observed significant diurnal variations (P

ABSTRACT: The earlobes of chickens exhibit a range of colors, but there has been relatively little research on the formation of structural blue earlobes. Previous results showed that the structural color earlobes were related to the interplay between melanin and collagen in light reflection. To investigate the metabolic differences in these earlobe colors, we conducted nontargeted liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer (LC-MS) for metabolomic sequencing on structural blue (Green and Blue groups) and nonstructural color (Black group) earlobes tissue of Jiangshan black-bone chickens. The content detection in earlobe tissues of different groups shows that there were significant differences in melanin and collagen content between the Black and Green group. The metabolome identified a total of 6,102 mass spectroscopic peaks and ultimately identified 919 annotated metabolites. Variable importance in the projection (VIP) analysis identified the common differential expressed metabolites (DMs) “Tyr Thr Ala Glu” among the 3 groups. By combining those DMs with differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in our previous transcriptome data from the same sample, and associated with KEGG pathway analysis, multiple pathways related to melanogenesis and collagen metabolism were enriched across the 3 groups. By analyzing the metabolites and genes in these pathways, as well as the interaction network diagram of DEGs, we identified some key genes, Wnt Family Member 6 (WNT6), Transcription Factor 7 (TCF7), Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and Calcium/Calmodulin Dependent Protein Kinase II Alpha (CAMK2A), and some key DMs like DG (11M3/9M5/0:0) and gentisic acid. The differential gene expression and metabolic levels affect the production of melanin and collagen, leading to differences in the content in melanin and the thickness of the collagen layer between earlobe colors, while the thickness of the collagen layer could affect light scattering, ultimately resulting in different colored earlobes in Jiangshan black-bone chickens.

Background: Deaf college students have been found to experience more difficulties in emotion regulation due to their hearing loss. However, few studies have used neurological measures to assess the characteristics of implicit emotion regulation among deaf college students. Methods: 30 typical hearing college students and 27 deaf college students completed the implicit emotion regulation task while recording ERP data. Results: The behavioral results indicated that deaf college students exhibited higher emotional experience intensity compared to typical hearing control. The ERP results showed that deaf college students had lower LPP amplitudes when using reappraisal and suppression strategies. Furthermore, the LPP of cognitive reappraisal was associated with an increase in depression scores among deaf students. Conclusions: Deaf college students may have deficits in implicit emotion regulation, which can effectively predict depression.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by fluctuating muscle weakness. Severe patients may develop life-threatening respiratory failure and experience crisis. Plasma exchange or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is the first-line treatment option for myasthenia crisis, but some patients still poorly respond to them. Here, we first reported a generalized MG patient from China who was in a state of impending myasthenic crisis and did not respond effectively to IVIg but was successfully rescued by add-on efgartigimod. Especially, we also detected meaningful changes in T-cell and B-cell subsets after efgartigimod, promoting a potential role of efgartigimod in re-establishing immune homeostasis.

Lake microbiota play a crucial role in geochemical cycles, influencing both energy flow and material production. However, the distribution patterns of bacterial communities in lake sediments remain largely unclear. In this study, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology to investigate the bacterial structure and diversity in sediments across different locations (six independent lakes) within Lianhuan Lake and analyzed their relationship with environmental factors. Our findings revealed that both the alpha and beta diversity of sediment bacterial communities varied significantly among the six independent lakes. Furthermore, changes between lakes had a significant impact on the relative abundance of bacterial phyla, such as Pseudomonadota and Chloroflexota. The relative abundance of Pseudomonadota was highest in Habuta Lake and lowest in Xihulu Lake, while Chloroflexota abundance was lowest in Habuta Lake and highest in Tiehala Lake. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Luteitalea was highest in Xihulu Lake compared to the other five lakes, whereas the relative abundances of Clostridium, Thiobacillus, and Ilumatobacter were highest in Habuta Lake. Mantel tests and heatmaps revealed that the relative abundance of Pseudomonadota was significantly negatively correlated with pH, while the abundance of Chloroflexota was significantly positively correlated with total phosphorus and total nitrogen in water, and negatively correlated with electrical conductivity. In conclusion, this study significantly enhances our understanding of bacterial communities in the different lakes within the Lianhuan Lake watershed.

To better understand the individual differences in fairness, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the fairness characteristics of deaf college students through the ultimatum game task. Behaviorally, the significant main effect of the proposal type was found, which meant both deaf and hearing college students showed a lower acceptance rate for the more unfair proposal. Interestingly, we found a significant interaction between group and proposal type in the early stage (N1). Moreover, in the deaf college group, N1 (induced by moderately and very unfair proposals) was significantly larger than that of fair proposals. However, we found that deaf college students had smaller amplitudes on P2 and P3 than hearing college students. These results suggested that deaf college students might pursue more equity strongly so they are more sensitive to unfair information in the early stage. In a word, we should provide more fair allocations for deaf college students in our harmonious society.

Fiber length (FL) and strength (FS) are the core indicators for evaluating cotton fiber quality. The corresponding stages of fiber elongation and secondary wall thickening are of great significance in determining FL and FS formation, respectively. QTL mapping and high-throughput sequencing technology have been applied to dissect the molecular mechanism of fiber development. In this study, 15 cotton chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) with significant differences in FL and FS, together with their recurrent parental Gossypium hirsutum line CCRI45 and donor parent G. barbadense line Hai1, were chosen to conduct RNA-seq on developing fiber samples at 10 days post anthesis (DPA) and 20 DPA. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained via pairwise comparisons among all 24 samples (each one with three biological repeats). A total of 969 DEGs related to FL-high, 1285 DEGs to FS-high, and 997 DEGs to FQ-high were identified. The functional enrichment analyses of them indicated that the GO terms of cell wall structure and ROS, carbohydrate, and phenylpropanoid metabolism were significantly enriched, while the GO terms of glucose and polysaccharide biosynthesis, and brassinosteroid and glycosylphosphatidylinositol metabolism could make great contributions to FL and FS formation, respectively. Weighted gene co-expressed network analyses (WGCNA) were separately conducted for analyzing FL and FS traits, and their corresponding hub DEGs were screened in significantly correlated expression modules, such as EXPA8, XTH, and HMA in the fiber elongation and WRKY, TDT, and RAC-like 2 during secondary wall thickening. An integrated analysis of these hub DEGs with previous QTL identification results successfully identified a total of 33 candidate introgressive DEGs with non-synonymous mutations between the Gh and Gb species. A common DEG encoding receptor-like protein kinase 1 was reported to likely participate in fiber secondary cell thickening regulation by brassionsteroid signaling. Such valuable information was conducive to enlightening the developing mechanism of cotton fiber and also provided an abundant gene pool for further molecular breeding.

Objective We explored whether changes in clinical parameters and inflammatory markers can facilitate early identification of positive blood culture in adult patients with COVID-19 and clinically suspected bloodstream infection (BSI). Methods This single-center retrospective study enrolled 20 adult patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit who underwent blood culture for clinically suspected BSI (February 2020–November 2021). We divided patients into positive (Pos) and negative blood culture groups. Clinical parameters and inflammatory markers were obtained from medical records between blood culture collection and the first positive or negative result and compared between groups on different days. Results Patients in the positive culture group had significantly older age and higher D-dimer, immunoglobulin 6 (IL-6), and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score as well as lower albumin (ALB). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.865 for IL-6, D-dimer and ALB on the first day after blood culture collection; the AUC was 0.979 for IL-6, IL-10, D-dimer, and C-reactive protein on the second day after blood culture collection. Conclusion Changes in clinical parameters and inflammatory markers after blood culture collection may facilitate early identification of positive culture in adult patients with COVID-19 and clinically suspected BSI.

The retina is part of the central nervous system specialized for vision. Inherited retinal diseases (IRD) are a group of clinically and genetically heterogenous disorders that lead to progressive vision impairment or blindness. Although each disorder is rare, IRD accumulatively cause blindness in up to 5.5 million individuals worldwide. Currently, the pathophysiological mechanisms of IRD are not fully understood and there are limited treatment options available. Most IRD are caused by degeneration of light-sensitive photoreceptors. Genetic mutations that abrogate the structure and/or function of photoreceptors lead to visual impairment followed by blindness caused by loss of photoreceptors. In healthy retina, photoreceptors structurally and functionally interact with retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Müller glia (MG) to maintain retinal homeostasis. Multiple IRD with photoreceptor degeneration as a major phenotype are caused by mutations of RPE- and/or MG-associated genes. Recent studies also reveal compromised MG and RPE caused by mutations in ubiquitously expressed ciliary genes. Therefore, photoreceptor degeneration could be a direct consequence of gene mutations and/or could be secondary to the dysfunction of their interaction partners in the retina. This review summarizes the mechanisms of photoreceptor-RPE/MG interaction in supporting retinal functions and discusses how the disruption of these processes could lead to photoreceptor degeneration, with an aim to provide a unique perspective of IRD pathogenesis and treatment paradigm. We will first describe the biology of retina and IRD and then discuss the interaction between photoreceptors and MG/RPE as well as their implications in disease pathogenesis. Finally, we will summarize the recent advances in IRD therapeutics targeting MG and/or RPE.

Abstract Background Mental health conditions are known to increase susceptibility to infectious diseases, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Health behaviors play a crucial role in mitigating this susceptibility. We aim to examine the differential effectiveness of COVID‐19 preventive health behaviors among individuals, considering the presence or absence of specific mental health disorders. Methods Multivariable logistic regression with interaction terms was performed to examine whether associations between adherence to health behaviors and COVID‐19 infection were conditional on depression, anxiety, or eating disorders in a national sample of adults (N = 61,891) from 140 US universities, 2020–2021. Results Adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and gender/sex, the effectiveness of mask‐wearing was significant and comparable among individuals with and without depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. Social distancing provided significantly less protection among individuals with depression, anxiety, or eating disorders. Hygiene practice provided significantly less protection among individuals with anxiety. Conclusion Mask‐wearing is robustly effective in the prevention of COVID‐19 among individuals. However, social distancing and hygiene practice provide less significant protection among individuals with certain mental health conditions, suggesting the importance of prioritizing these individuals for additional preventive measures (e.g., vaccines targeting variants) and mitigation strategies (e.g., financial assistance, targeted mental health care, health education).

Abstract Hyperuricemia (HUA) makes a chronic inflammation status, which affects immune cells. The association between HUA and immune cells, such as monocytes and neutrophils, has been extensively studied. However, studies on HUA and lymphocytes are still limited. We selected 1543 healthy participants and 258 individuals with HUA to analyze the correlation between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and immune cells, and 98 healthy participants and 16 individuals with HUA were used to study the relationship between SUA levels and cytokine levels. Then, we used soluble UA to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro and examined lymphocyte subset counts and activation by flow cytometry. The results revealed that the number of lymphocytes in the HUA group was significantly increased, particularly CD4+ T cell numbers, which were higher than those in the total population (P = 0.0019), females (P = 0.0142), and males (P = 0.0199) of the healthy control group. Concomitantly, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 levels significantly increased in people with HUA (P = 0.0254; P = 0.0019). In vitro, soluble UA promoted the proliferation and activation of CD4+ T and CD19+ B cells. Thus, HUA is accompanied by elevated peripheral CD4+ T cells and may cause a Th2-dominant immune status.

Climate change and forest management are recognized as pivotal factors influencing forest ecosystem services and thus multifunctionality. However, the magnitude and the relative importance of climate change and forest management effects on the multifunctionality remain unclear, especially for natural mixed forests. In this study, our objective is to address this gap by utilizing simulations of climate-sensitive transition matrix growth models based on national forest inventory plot data. We evaluated the effects of seven management scenarios (combinations of various cutting methods and intensities) on the future provision of ecosystem services and multifunctionality in mixed conifer-broad-leaved forests in northeastern China, under four climate scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP5-8.5, and constant climate). Provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services were described by timber production, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, tree species diversity, deadwood volume, and the number of large living trees. Our findings indicated that timber production was significantly influenced by management scenarios, while tree species diversity, deadwood volume, and large living trees were impacted by both climate and management separately. Carbon storage and sequestration were notably influenced by both management and the interaction of climate and management. These findings emphasized the profound impact of forest management on ecosystem services, outweighing that of climate scenarios alone. We found no single management scenario maximized all six ecosystem service indicators. The upper story thinning by 5% intensity with 5-year interval (UST5) management strategy emerged with the highest multifunctionality, surpassing the lowest values by more than 20% across all climate scenarios. In conclusion, our results underlined the potential of climate-sensitive transition matrix growth models as a decision support tool and provided recommendations for long-term strategies for multifunctional forest management under future climate change context. Ecosystem services and multifunctionality of forests could be enhanced by implementing appropriate management measures amidst a changing climate.

The coordinated development of regional logistics and the economy is crucial for regional economic progress and for reducing regional development disparities. This study applies regional coordinated development theory and coupling theory, utilizing the Coupling Coordination Degree Model (CCDM) to analyze data from 31 provinces and cities in China in 2021, with the analysis results serving as the outcome variable. Additionally, we use data from four dimensions: infrastructure investment (II), technological innovation (TI), industrial structure (IS), and human capital (HC), as the conditional variables, conducting a multi-factor configurational analysis using fsQCA. Three paths with high coupling coordination and one path with non-high coupling coordination are identified, and the reasons for each path are analyzed. The results indicate that: 1) there are significant regional disparities in China regarding economic development, logistics development, and the degree of their coupling and coordination, with the eastern regions exhibiting higher levels and the western regions and other remote areas exhibiting lower levels. 2) The three paths with high coupling coordination are: "Infrastructure Investment-Technological Innovation", "Technological Innovation-Industrial Structure-Human Capital", and "Infrastructure Investment-Fundamental Innovation-Industrial Structure". These three types facilitate the well-coordinated progress of regional logistics and the economy. The article concludes by highlighting policy suggestions that underscore the significance of fortifying the bond between the logistics industry and the economy, alongside earnest efforts to enhance regional logistics standards. This will foster a mutually reinforcing and co-developing situation, further promoting coordinated development among regions, achieving high-quality regional development, and reducing the imbalances in logistics and economic development among different regions.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of meniscal cell lysate (MCL) in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) and osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Meniscus and synovial tissue were collected from 14 patients with and without OA. MCL and FLS proteins were extracted and analyzed by liquid chromatography‒mass spectrometry (LC‒MS). The roles of MCL and adenine nucleotide translocase 3 (ANT3) in FLSs were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy. Histological analysis was performed to determine ANT3 expression levels in a male mouse model. Results: We discovered for the first time that MCL was substantially enriched in the synovial fluid of OA patients and promoted the release of inflammatory cytokines from FLSs through MCL phagocytosis. Through LC‒MS, ANT3 was identified and determined to be significantly upregulated in MCL and OA-FLSs, corresponding to impaired mitochondrial function and cell viability in OA-FLSs. Mitochondrial homeostasis was restored by ANT3 suppression, thereby alleviating synovial inflammation. Furthermore, elevated ANT3 levels inhibited ERK phosphorylation. Specifically, silencing ANT3 prevented inhibition of ERK phosphorylation and significantly reduced the elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and JC1 membrane potential in MCL-induced synovial inflammation. Conclusion: This study revealed the important roles of MCL and ANT3 in FLS mitochondria. Silencing ANT3 rescued ERK phosphorylation, thereby restoring mitochondrial homeostasis in FLSs and alleviating synovitis and OA development, offering a potential target for treating synovitis and preventing early-stage OA. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2023;12(4):274–284.

Duck egg production, like that of laying hens, follows a typical low–peak–low cycle, reflecting the dynamics of the reproductive system. Post-peak, some ducks undergo a cessation of egg laying, indicative of a regression process in the oviduct. Notably, the magnum, being the longest segment of the oviduct, plays a crucial role in protein secretion. Despite its significance, few studies have investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying oviduct regression in ducks that have ceased laying eggs. In this study, we conducted single-cell transcriptome sequencing on the magnum tissue of Shaoxing ducks at 467 days of age, utilizing the 10× Genomics platform. This approach allowed us to generate a detailed magnum transcriptome map of both egg-laying and ceased-laying ducks. We collected transcriptome data from 13,708 individual cells, which were then subjected to computational analysis, resulting in the identification of 27 distinct cell clusters. Marker genes were subsequently employed to categorize these clusters into specific cell types. Our analysis revealed notable heterogeneity in magnum cells between the egg-laying and ceased-laying ducks, primarily characterized by variations in cells involved in protein secretion and extracellular matrix (ECM)-producing fibroblasts. Specifically, cells engaged in protein secretion were predominantly observed in the egg-laying ducks, indicative of their role in functional albumen deposition within the magnum, a phenomenon not observed in the ceased-laying ducks. Moreover, the proportion of THY1+ cells within the ECM-producing fibroblasts was found to be significantly higher in the egg-laying ducks (59%) compared to the ceased-laying ducks (24%). Similarly, TIMP4+ fibroblasts constituted a greater proportion of the ECM-producing fibroblasts in the egg-laying ducks (83%) compared to the ceased-laying ducks (58%). These findings suggest a potential correlation between the expression of THY1 and TIMP4 in ECM-producing fibroblasts and oviduct activity during functional reproduction. Our study provides valuable single-cell insights that warrant further investigation into the biological implications of fibroblast subsets in the degeneration of the reproductive tract. Moreover, these insights hold promise for enhancing the production efficiency of laying ducks.

Background: Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was successfully performed for the rescue of an adult patient with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) induced by fulminant psittacosis, and then a near-fatal pulmonary embolism (PE) and cardiac arrest (CA) of the same patient was cured through catheter-directed thrombolysis. Case presentation: A 51-year-old female patient was admitted to the hospital on September 10, 2021 due to slurred speech, weakness in lower limbs, dizziness, and nausea. Subsequently, she developed confusion and was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), where she received anti-shock, antibiotics, invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and veno-venous ECMO due to the diagnosis of severe pneumonia, severe ARDS, and septic shock based on comprehensive physical examination, laboratory tests, and imaging findings. The metagenomic next-gengeration sequencing (m-NGS) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) suggested that the pathogen was chlamydia psittaci, so the antibiotics were adjusted to doxycycline combined with azithromycin. After withdrawal from ECMO, ultrasound (US) re-examination of the left lower limb revealed inter-muscular vein thrombosis, following which heparin was replaced by subcutaneous injection of 0.4ml enoxaparin sodium twice daily for anti-coagulation therapy. After withdrawal from IMV, the patient suffered sudden CA and successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and emergency pulmonary angiography (PA) was performed to show bilateral main pulmonary artery embolism. After immediate catheter-directed thrombolysis and placement of an inferior vena cava filter, the patient's condition gradually stabilized. Conclusions: Veno-venous ECMO can be successfully performed as an emergency life-saving treatment for patients with severe ARDS induced by fulminant psittacosis, and during ECMO regular examinations should be conducted to detect and manage thrombosis in time, thereby avoiding the occurrence of near-fatal PE and CA.

Abstract Cerebral ischemic stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. However, the mechanisms underlying ischemic stroke injury remain poorly understood. Here, it is found that deficiency of the ubiquitin‐specific protease USP25 significantly aggravate ischemic stroke injury in mice. USP25 has no impact on neuronal death under hypoxic conditions, but reduced ischemic stroke‐induced neuronal loss and neurological deficits by inhibiting microglia‐mediated neuroinflammation. Mechanistically, USP25 restricts the activation of NF‐κB and MAPK signaling by regulating TAB2. As a deubiquitinating enzyme, USP25 removeds K63‐specific polyubiquitin chains from TAB2. AAV9‐mediated TAB2 knockdown ameliorates ischemic stroke injury and abolishes the effect of USP25 deletion. In both mouse and human brains, USP25 is markedly upregulated in microglia in the ischemic penumbra, implying a clinical relevance of USP25 in ischemic stroke. Collectively, USP25 is identified as a critical inhibitor of ischemic stroke injury and this data suggest USP25 may serve as a therapeutic target for ischemic stroke.

ABSTRACT: The colonization and development of gut microbiota are essential for the health and growth of chicks after hatching. However, the colonization and prevalence of gut microbiota have not been well characterized, and knowledge of which microbes and their relationship with average daily gain in chicks is still limited. This study characterized the dynamic succession of microbiota in the intestinal tract of chicks and investigated its relationship with daily weight gain. A total of 121 fecal samples across 7 time points from d 0 to 10 posthatching were collected from 19 chicks randomly selected from 1,950 chicks. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing examined microbial composition of fecal samples. The observed species index of alpha diversity increased with age, gradually achieving stability at 3 d of age. The microbiota of chicks after hatching was primarily Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 (34.49%), and its relative abundance diminishes with age. In contrast, Lactobacillus had a low relative abundance in the first 2 d after hatching and gradually increased with age. Predicted functional capacities found that the microbiota of early-stage posthatching (d 0 and 1 after hatching) was involved in metabolism, including amino acid metabolism, metabolism of cofactors and vitamins, and nitrogen metabolism. However, at the later stage posthatching (from d 3–10 after hatching), the intestinal microbial function was involved in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, cell growth and death, and methane metabolism. It was identified that 47 operational taxonomic units were associated with average daily gain of chicks, 12 of which were annotated with Lactobacillus and significantly positive associated with average daily gain. In addition, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 was significantly negatively associated with average daily gain. Taken together, we characterized the dynamic successions of intestinal microbiota in hatching chicks. The intestinal microbiota of chicks has an impact on the host average daily gain. Our findings should be instrumental in improving local chick production.

BackgroundWith the continuous development of medical imaging informatics technology, radiomics has become a new and evolving field in medical applications. Radiomics aims to be an aid to support clinical decision making by extracting quantitative features from medical images and has a very wide range of applications. The purpose of this study was to perform a bibliometric and visual analysis of scientific results and research trends in the research application of radiomics in glioma.MethodsWe searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WOScc) for publications related to glioma radiomics. A bibliometric and visual analysis of online publications in this field related to countries/regions, authors, journals, references and keywords was performed using CiteSpace and R software.ResultsA total of 587 relevant literature published from 2012 to September 2022 were retrieved in WOScc, and finally a total of 484 publications were obtained according to the filtering criteria, including 393 (81.20%) articles and 91 (18.80%) reviews. The number of relevant publications increases year by year. The highest number of publications was from the USA (171 articles, 35.33%) and China (170 articles, 35.12%). The research institution with the highest number of publications was Chinese Acad Sci (24), followed by Univ Penn (22) and Fudan Univ (21). WANG Y (27) had the most publications, followed by LI Y (22), and WANG J (20). Among the 555 co-cited authors, LOUIS DN (207) and KICKINGEREDER P (207) were the most cited authors. FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY (42) was the most published journal and NEURO-ONCOLOGY (412) was the most co-cited journal. The most frequent keywords in all publications included glioblastoma (187), survival (136), classification (131), magnetic resonance imaging (113), machine learning (100), tumor (82), and feature (79), central nervous system (66), IDH (57), and radiomics (55). Cluster analysis was performed on the basis of keyword co-occurrence, and a total of 16 clusters were formed, indicating that these directions are the current hotspots of radiomics research applications in glioma and may be the future directions of continuous development.ConclusionIn the past decade, radiomics has received much attention in the medical field and has been widely used in clinical research applications. Cooperation and communication between countries/regions need to be enhanced in future research to promote the development of radiomics in the field of medicine. In addition, the application of radiomics has improved the accuracy of pre-treatment diagnosis, efficacy prediction and prognosis assessment of glioma and helped to promote the development into precision medicine, the future still faces many challenges.

The processing of dairy products currently generates significant amounts of waste, particularly in the form of liquid whey. The disposal of whey poses a challenge to the environment due to its high organic content and biological oxygen demand. Whey contains lactose, soluble proteins, lipids, and minerals. While Saccharomyces cerevisiae can efficiently utilize glucose, they are unable to metabolize lactose. In contrast, Kluyveromyces spp. encode two genes, Lac12 and Lac4 that enable conversion of lactose to other by-products such as ethanol. Here, we selected five Kluyveromyces yeast inoculated into three different types of whey substrates, cheddar sweet whey, cream cheese acid whey, and yogurt acid whey that could be used to convert lactose into ethanol. We demonstrate that differences exist in ethanol production across different whey substrates inoculated with Kluyveromyces yeast. In sweet whey, K. lactis, K. lactis Y-1205 and K. lactis Y-1564 were the highest ethanol producing strains. The highest amount of ethanol produced was 24.85 ± 3.5 g/L achieved by Y-1564 in sweet whey (96.8% efficiency). K. lactis Y-1205 produced 22.39 ± 5.6 g/L ethanol in yogurt acid whey. In cream cheese acid whey, K. lactis strains produced significantly higher ethanol levels compared to S. cerevisiae and K. marxianus (p < 0.05). Outcomes from this study could provide a simple and cheap solution for small-to medium-sized dairy processing facilities to ferment lactose in whey into ethanol using lactose-consuming yeasts.

Highlights 1. The epidemiology of A. baumannii in Jilin Province showed distinctive local characteristic. 2. Newly discovered sequence types (STs), the results of genetic relatedness and geographical distribution of all STs showed epidemiological research by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) in single hospital is helpful to monitor and control nosocomial infection of A. baumannii. 3. The rate of carbapenems resistance among A. baumannii is about 94% in Jilin province (northeast China). Carbapenems resistance is a helpful factor for predominant STs spreading.

Abstract Background In the late phase of production, ducks untimely cease laying, leading to a lower feed conversion. Liver plays a vital role in the synthesis and transport of yolk materials during egg formation in birds. However, the molecular mechanism of liver in ceased-laying duck is far from clear, higher resolution and deeper analysis is needed. Sing-cell RNA-sequencing of 10 × Genomics platform can help to map the liver single cell gene expression atlas of Shaoxing duck and provide new insights into the liver between egg-laying and ceased-laying ducks. Results About 20,000 single cells were profiled and 22 clusters were identified. All the clusters were identified as 6 cell types. The dominant cell type is hepatocyte, accounted for about 60% of all the cells. Of note, the heterogeneity of cells between egg-laying duck and ceased-laying duck mainly occurred in hepatocytes. Cells of cluster 3 and 12 were the unique hepatocyte states of egg-laying ducks, while cells of cluster 0 and 15 were the unique hepatocyte states of ceased-laying ducks. The expression mode of yolk precursor transporters, lipid metabolizing enzymes and fibrinogens were different in hepatocytes between egg-laying duck and ceased-laying duck. APOV1, VTG2, VTG1, APOB, RBP, VTDB and SCD might be activated in egg-laying ducks, while APOA1, APOA4, APOC3, FGB and FGG might be activated in ceased-laying ducks. Conclusions Our study further proofs that APOV1 and APOB play key roles in egg production, rather than APOA1 and APOA4. It is also the first to detect a correlation between the higher expression of APOC3, FGB, FGG and ceased-laying in duck.

This study investigated the zooplankton community structure in Ulungur Lake, located in the arid region of Northwest China, which has been slightly polluted by exogeneous sources. A total of 44 zooplankton species were identified in Ulungur Lake, which were sorted into seven functional groups: protozoan filter feeders (PF), rotifer filter feeders (RF), rotifer carnivores (RC), small copepod and cladoceran filter feeders (SCF), mid-sized copepod and cladoceran filter feeders (MCF), mid-sized copepod and cladoceran carnivores (MCC), and large copepod and cladoceran filter feeders (LCF). The dominant zooplankton functional group varied according to seasonal change. The RF group was dominant in the spring, comprising 87.77% of the total biomass. In the summer, the dominant group was SCF, comprising 90.72% of the total biomass, while the RF group accounted for only 7.24%. In the autumn, the biomass was mainly distributed between the RC (36.38%), SCF (30.62%), and RF (30.06%) groups. This seasonal difference in zooplankton community structure is related to fish production in Ulungur Lake, as well as to the competition and predation relationship among zooplankton species. This study showed a significant positive correlation between the PF and LCF groups, and between the RC, MCC, and MCF groups. This positive correlation was found to be related to the competition and predatory relationships between these functional groups. The predation pressure within the zooplankton functional groups in Ulungur Lake was not as significant as the pressure of food competition. The zooplankton biomass showed no significant difference between spring (0.0615 mg/L) and summer (0.0621 mg/L), but the biomass in autumn (0.3051 mg/L) was significantly increased. Nitrite-nitrogen (NO2-N) and Secchi Depth (SD) had significant correlations between species and functional groups, and were the major driving factors affecting the community structure of Ulungur Lake. In this study, the seasonal variations in the biomass of zooplankton were strongly influenced by environmental factors, which played an important driving role in structuring the ecological communities of zooplankton.

With the improvement in survival of patients with tumors, and continuous advancement of diagnostic technology and treatment modalities, instances of multiple primary malignancies (MPMs) are becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. The occurrence of esophageal-relevant MPMs increases the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment, and the overall prognosis is poor. Esophageal cancer related-MPMs tend to occur in areas such as the head, neck, stomach, and lungs. “Field cancerization” is one theoretical basis for the disease, and chemoradiotherapy, environmental life factors, and gene polymorphism are etiological factors. However, the influence of new therapeutic methods on MPM is still unclear, and the relationship between gene polymorphism and MPMs related to esophageal cancer needs further elucidation. Additionally, there is a lack of unified standards for diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to review the causes, clinical features, and prognostic factors of MPMs related to esophageal cancer.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate whether CT angiography (CTA) manifestations in anterior cerebral artery a1 segment (A1) were related to the hemodynamics in patients with internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS).MethodsA total of 97 cases were selected. The degree of ICAS and symmetry of A1 were evaluated by CTA examination. Hemodynamic indexes were detected by transcranial Doppler (TCD). The differences in CTA presentations of A1 and hemodynamics between the vessels on the stenotic and contralateral sides were analyzed according to the different degrees of stenosis. The degree of ICAS according to the different manifestations of A1 and the hemodynamics of A1’s adjacent vessels were also analyzed.ResultsIn the case of unilateral ICAS, the difference in Vm of A1 between the stenotic and the contralateral side was the most significant relative to the stenosis degree. When unilateral ICAS was ≥70%, the presentation of A1 on the stenotic side was more slender or non-visualized compared to that on the contralateral side, while in cases with unilateral stenosis

Background The application of PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) helps to treat non-small cell lung cancer, but acquired resistance has emerged in clinical practice. We tested the hypothesis that acquired resistance of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy is linked to death and exhaustion of activated T and NK cell. Methods The co-culture system of HCC827 cells and peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was established to evaluate the effect of PD-1 mAb on the death rate and exhaustion of T and NK cell. The predisposing role of CD69 for death and exhaustion was validated by using PHA-activated PBMCs of CD69low NSCLC patients. The 10-colour/three laser flow cytometer was used to test related markers for cell activation, death and exhaustion. Results We found that PD-1 mAb increase the death and exhaustion of T cells and NK cells in a dose-dependent way when PBMCs from NSCLC patients whose the percentages of CD69+ cells in peripheral blood T cells were greater than 5% (CD69high NSCLC patients). By analyzing PBMCs from healthy volunteers and CD69low NSCLC patients, we found that T cells and NK cells can be induced to die by PD-1 mAb after PHA activation, and had a tendency to raise the rate of cell exhaustion. Conclusions Our findings imply that increased death and exhaustion of CD69high T cells and NK cells are associated with ineffective anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in lung cancer. The CD69 expression of T cells and NK cells may be developed as a potential predictor for acquired resistance of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. These data may provide ideas to guide individualized medication of PD-1 mAb in NSCLC patients.

As one of the first experimentally found and naturally stable two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic materials, the monolayer Cr2Ge2Te6 has garnered great interest due to its potential hires in electronics and spintronics. Yet, the Curie temperature of monolayer Cr2Ge2Te6 is lower than the ambient temperature, severely restricting the creation of valuable devices. Using the first-principle calculations, we explored how the adsorption of 3d transition metals affects the electronic and magnetic properties of the monolayer Cr2Ge2Te6 (from Sc to Zn). Our findings indicate that depending on the 3d transition metals to be adsorbed, the electronic properties of the Cr2Ge2Te6 adsorption system may be adjusted from semiconductor to metal/half-metal. We found that the adsorption of Ti and Fe leads to a transformation from semiconductor to metal. While in Cr2Ge2Te6@Sc, V, Co, Ni, and Cu, the absorption realizes the changes from semiconductor to half metal. Moreover, adsorption may modify the magnetic moment and Curie temperature of the adsorbed system to enhance the ferromagnetic stability of the monolayer Cr2Ge2Te6. Furthermore, we are able to modulate the half-metallic of Cr2Ge2Te6@Mn by means of electric fields. Hence, adsorption is a viable method for modulating the ferromagnetic half-metallic of 2D ferromagnets, paving the door for the future development of nano-electronic and spintronic devices with enhanced performance for 2D ferromagnetic materials.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has brought social injustice and inequalities to the forefront of global public health. Members of marginalised communities, such as racial/ethnic and sexual minorities, and persons with disabilities, have been shown to be more vulnerable to certain consequences of the pandemic. Research suggests a protective role of social support in health and wellness promotion, yet little is known about the disparities in specific social support sources (i.e., family, friends, and a significant other) between marginalised populations and their counterparts. Also unclear is the role of intersections of these marginalised identities in social support structures affected by the pandemic. Hence, it is crucial to capture and characterise such differences and intersectionality in order to address social inequalities in a time of global crisis. To that end, we surveyed U.S. adults across 45 states to examine their social support from family, friends, and a significant other. Results revealed the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on social support among racial/ethnic and sexual minorities and persons with disabilities. Additionally, we found that White individuals with a marginalised identity received less social support than their White counterparts but received a similar level of social support when compared with racial/ethnic minorities without additional marginalised identities. This article seeks to elucidate the social support disparities associated with disproportionately increased social isolation for marginalised populations due to socioeconomic disadvantages. Specific recommendations are provided for addressing issues around social disparities and inequalities. With the experience and awareness attained working with marginalised populations, mental health professionals, public health officials, and community stakeholders should be poised to attend to social capital inequalities for diversity, equity, and inclusion now and in the post-pandemic era.

Abstract Background This study aimed to systematically review the literature to better understand the efficacy of electrical stimulation (ES) for the treatment of patients with diabetes-related ulcers. Methods We searched the Embase, Medline, and Cochrane Library databases through July 31, 2021. Original trials for ES treatment of patients with diabetes-related ulcers with placebo or standard care as the control group were included. The primary outcomes were ulcer area reduction and healing rates. Meta-analyses were performed to compare the standardized mean difference (SMD) in the percentage of ulcer reduction and risk ratio of non-healing rates between ES treatment and placebo or standard care. We used the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials to assess the risk of bias for each included article. Funnel plots and Egger’s test were used to assess publication bias. Results Compared to placebo or standard care, ES had a significant benefit for the treatment of patients with diabetes-related ulcers in terms of percentage of ulcer reduction (SMD = 2.56, 95% CI: 1.43–3.69; P

Particle size distribution (PSD) of sediment by sheet erosion not only indicates erosion behaviors, but also provides a basis for potential nutrient losses. PSDs are significantly influenced by topographic, rainfall, and associate runoff characteristics, such as rainfall intensity (I), rainfall kinetic energy (KE), slope gradient (S), runoff velocity (v), and stream power (Ω), while their effects have not been fully understood so far. To fill this research gap, in this study, simulated rainfall experiments were conducted to investigate the characteristics of effective and ultimate PSDs of sediments, as well as their responses to related parameters, under five levels of I and S. The results showed that (1) for effective PSDs, there was a significant enrichment of clay-sized and silt-sized fractions (P250μm increased correspondingly. The contribution rates (PCs) of the effect of I on clay-, silt-, fine-sand-, and coarse-sand-sized fractions in sediment were 23.44, 35.45, 29.09, and 56.82%, respectively, whereas the PCs of that of S were 56.54, 24.42, 59.89, and 31.47%, respectively, indicating that S plays a more pivotal role in influencing P250μm were more sensitive to I than to S. (3) The aggregation ratio (AR) for the fractions of different sizes indicated that clay-sized particles tend to be transported as aggregates, while silt-sized particles tend to be transported as primary particles. A higher I or steeper S leads to a larger proportion of particles being transported as aggregates. (4) KE, Ω, and unit stream power (U) were the most correlated parameters influencing effective PSDs. Equations were finally established using KE, Ω, and U to predict the effective PSDs of sediment by sheet erosion. This study can further the understanding of the sheet erosion process and provide a scientific basis for the establishment of a sheet erosion model. HIGHLIGHTS The effective PSD of sediment by sheet erosion was more sensitive to external conditions than ultimate PSD.; The contribution rates of the effect of rainfall intensity and slope gradient on the effective PSDs of sediment were quantified.; An equation set was established to predict the effective PSDs of sediment by sheet erosion using rainfall kinetic energy, stream power, and unit stream power.;

Abstract Currently, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in invasive breast cancers are assessed solely on the basis of their number, whereas their spatial distribution is rarely investigated. Therefore, we evaluated TILs in 579 patients with invasive breast cancer of no special type (IBC-NST) with a focus on their spatial distributions in tumor center (TC) and invasive margin (IM). We also assessed a new factor, namely para-tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (PILs) in the para-tumor lobular area (Para). Five immunoarchitectural patterns (IPs) were observed, which were significantly associated with clinicopathological features, especially molecular subtypes, histological grades, clinical stages, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. High-TIL density (IP1/2) correlated with favorable disease-free survival (DFS) in TNBC patients (p = 0.04), but opposite results were observed for luminal B subtype patients (both the lowest TIL and PIL densities (IP5) correlated with good DFS, p = 0.013). Luminal B patients with high TILs in the IM and low TILs in the TC (IP3) exhibited the worst DFS, whereas those with low TILs (similar to IP5) and high PILs (IP4) exhibited poor DFS. We also identified TIL subpopulations with significantly different IPs. Our findings suggest that IP can be a potential prognostic factor for tumor immunity in IBC.

Researchers build growth models to predict the growth of forest stands and propose management measures to improve the overall quality of these stands. In this study, data collected from 91 sample plots from the eighth (2010) and ninth (2015) Chinese National Forest Inventories in Jiangxi Province were used to establish a transition-matrix growth model. Then, 12 potential equilibrium curves were set to guide forest management, and a transition-matrix growth model was used to predict stand growth in Jiangxi Province. In each 10-year management period, trees with diameters that exceeded the equilibrium curve were cut down. The results show that species diversity (H1), size diversity (H2), and basal area (B) have statistically significant influences on growth, mortality, and recruitment. Moreover, the high accuracy of the transition-matrix growth model is demonstrated. According to the simulation results, B = 35 m2/ha, the maximum diameter of retained trees Dmax = 45 cm and the adjacent diameter ratio q = 1.7 constitute the optimal equilibrium curve to guide forest management. The diameter distribution guided by the equilibrium curve is reverse J-shaped and is associated with significant increases in the hardwood stock volume and current annual growth. Under the guidance of the equilibrium curve, the forests in Jiangxi Province can be reasonably managed, produce more high-economic-value timber, and achieve a more stable species composition. This study will help maximize the ecological and economic benefits of forests and provide a reference for the realization of the sustainable development of forestry. Furthermore, the results can be used to improve the facility and accuracy of natural forest harvesting.

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by eutrophication, which causes persistent and harmful algal blooms. Filter-feeding bivalve mollusks and submerged macrophytes (SMs) alleviate the eutrophication effects by inhibiting phytoplankton biomass blooms. However, very little is known about whether and how the combined manipulation of filter-feeding bivalves and SMs control eutrophication and influence phytoplankton assemblages. Here, we performed a nutrient-enriched freshwater mesocosm experiment to assess the combined effects of the filter-feeding bivalve Cristaria plicata, a cockscomb pearl mussel, and the macrophyte Hydrilla verticillate on the biomass and composition of phytoplankton assemblages. We found that addition of C. plicata and H. verticillate decreased the water nutrient concentrations and suppressed overall phytoplankton biomass. Further, distinct differences in taxa between restoration and control treatments were observed and noticeably competitive exclusion of cyanobacteria in the restoration treatments occurred. An antagonistic interaction between filter-feeding bivalves and SMs was only detected for total cyanobacteria biomass demonstrating that a larger magnitude of SM restoration may override the effect of filter-feeding bivalves. Our results suggest that manipulation, through the addition of bivalves as grazers, associated with the restoration of SMs, is an efficient approach for reducing cyanobacterial blooms and alleviating eutrophication.

IntroductionDelayed neurocognitive recovery (DNR) is a common post-surgical complication among the elderly. Cognitive frailty (CF) is also an age-related medical syndrome. However, little is known about the association between CF and DNR. Therefore, this study aimed to study whether CF is associated with DNR in elderly patients undergoing elective noncardiac surgery, as well as to explore the potential risk factors for DNR in frail elderly individuals and construct a prediction model.MethodsThis prospective cohort study administered a battery of cognitive and frailty screening instruments for 146 individuals (≥65 years old) scheduled for elective noncardiac surgery. Screening for CF was performed at least one day before surgery, and tests for the presence of DNR were performed seven days after surgery. The association between CF and DNR was investigated. Moreover, the study subjects were randomly divided into a modeling group (70%) and a validation group (30%). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze the modeling group data and identify the independent risk factors for DNR. The R software was used to construct DNR's nomogram model, verifying the model.ResultsIn total, 138 individuals were eligible. Thirty-three cases were diagnosed with DNR (23.9%). No significant difference in the number of patients with CF was observed between the DNR and non-DNR groups (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis after adjusting relevant risk factors showed that only the judgment of line orientation (JLOT) test score significantly affected the incidence of DNR. After internal validation of the constructed DNR prediction model, the area under the curve (AUC) of the forecast probability for the modeling population (n = 97) for DNR was 0.801, and the AUC for the validation set (n = 41) was 0.797. The calibration curves of both the modeling and validation groups indicate that the prediction model has good stability.ConclusionCognitive frailty is not an independent risk factor in predicting DNR after noncardiac surgery in frail elderly individuals. The preoperative JLOT score is an independent risk factor for DNR in frail elderly individuals. The prediction model has a good degree of discrimination and calibration, which means that it can individually predict the risk probability of DNR in frail elderly individuals.

BackgroundGlioblastoma, one of the common tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), is prone to recurrence even after standard treatment protocols. As an innovative physiotherapy method emerging in recent years, the tumor treating fields (TTFields) technique has been approved for the treatment of glioblastoma due to its non-invasive and portable features. The purpose of this study is to visualize and analyze the scientific results and research trends in TTFields therapy for glioblastoma.MethodsPublications related to TTFields therapy for glioblastoma were searched in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database in September 2022. A bibliometric and visual analysis of publications in this field was performed mainly using CiteSpace and R software for country/region, author, journal, reference and keyword.ResultsA total of 618 publications in this field were retrieved, and 248 were finally obtained according to the search criteria, including 159 articles (64.11%) and 89 reviews (37.89%). The cumulative number of publications increased year by year, with an average growth rate (AGR) of 28.50%. The test results of Pearson correlation coefficient showed a high positive correlation between publications and citations (r=0.937, p

Abstract Background detection of anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase gene (ALK) rearrangements in patients with non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become a routine pathological diagnosis worldwide. Methods there are three major conventional diagnostic methods for ALK fusions: fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH); immunohistochemistry (Ventana IHC (D5F3)); and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Next‐generation sequencing (NGS) technology as is a new tool for ALK status detection with great potential. These four methods are highly consistent in detecting ALK status (coincidence rate >96%). However, discrepancies in ALK status have been found in some patients among these methods, which causes confusion for clinicians. Results and conclusion in this study, we analyzed two patients whose ALK statuses were not consistent using these four methods. We explored the potential reasons for deviation of the test results and found a novel EML4‐ALK break site, which had been not described previously.

Objective: We aimed to combine inflammatory response-related genes (IRRGs) and angiogenesis-associated genes (AAGs) to build a prognostic classifier and to predict immune landscapes and immunosuppressive molecules in gliomas. Introduction: Gliomas, the commonest primary brain tumors, account for about 80% of cancerous tumors in the central nervous system (CNS), featuring rapid progression, high malignancy, and extremely poor prognosis. The induction of inflammatory responses and angiogenesis have been considered to be closely related to tumors. However, there are little publications systematically elaborating on their impacts on gliomas. Methods: We downloaded the data of IRRGs and AAGs from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) databases, and retrieved 68 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), of which 13 DEGs pertained to the prognosis of glioma cases. Next, 9 DEGs were screened from the 13 major DEGs with predictive significance and utilized to build a 9-gene signature as a prognostic risk score model (PRSM) with the aid of univariate Cox regression analyses (CRA) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)-CRA. On this basis, glioma patients fell into high-risk (HR) group and low-risk (LR) group. Later, we implemented Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA, Gene Set: WP_ANGIOGENESIS) and calculate the scores of cell infiltration and immune-associated function by harnessing single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA). Results: The prognosis was compared between the two groups by introducing Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis, which yielded that HR group exhibited poorer prognosis. Additionally, the predictive capacity and independent characteristics were proven by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and multivariate CRA. Further, We took an evaluation of immune profiles, which unraveled that immunosuppressive cell count was distinctively larger in HS group. Finally, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was built, and 10 hub genes were obtained, of which epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was closely related to poor prognosis. Conclusion: A 9-gene signature was established on the strength of IRRGs and AAGs for predicting glioma prognosis, tumor microenvironment (TME), immune landscapes and immunosuppressive molecules. However, the molecular mechanism developed by this signature to function in tumor immunity needs further experimental research in the future and is expected to be a research target for glioma immunotherapy strategies.

ImportanceThe number of infections and deaths caused by the global epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invasion is steadily increasing daily. In the early stages of outbreak, approximately 15%–20% of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inevitably developed severe and critically ill forms of the disease, especially elderly patients and those with several or serious comorbidities. These more severe forms of disease mainly manifest as dyspnea, reduced blood oxygen saturation, severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), thus requiring prolonged advanced respiratory support, including high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV), and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).ObjectiveThis study aimed to propose a safer and more practical tracheotomy in invasive mechanical ventilated patients with COVID-19.DesignThis is a single center quality improvement study.ParticipantsTracheotomy is a necessary and important step in airway management for COVID-19 patients with prolonged endotracheal intubation, IMV, failed extubation, and ventilator dependence. Standardized third-level protection measures and bulky personal protective equipment (PPE) may hugely impede the implementation of tracheotomy, especially when determining the optimal pre-surgical positioning for COVID-19 patients with ambiguous surface position, obesity, short neck or limited neck extension, due to vision impairment, reduced tactile sensation and motility associated with PPE. Consequently, the aim of this study was to propose a safer and more practical tracheotomy, namely percutaneous dilated tracheotomy (PDT) with delayed endotracheal intubation withdrawal under the guidance of bedside ultrasonography without the conventional use of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB), which can accurately determine the optimal pre-surgical positioning, as well as avoid intraoperative damage of the posterior tracheal wall and prevent the occurrence of tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF).

Summary Fear and uncertainty have worsened mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 testing is essential yet underutilised, and many people may experience difficulties accessing testing if the US federal government fails to sustain the testing capacity. To date, limited evidence exists about the role of COVID-19 testing in mental health. We examined the associations of COVID-19 testing uptake with certain mental disorders, through a nationally representative cohort of adults in US post-secondary education (N = 65 360). Adults with test-confirmed COVID-19 were at significantly lower risk than those with unconfirmed COVID-19 for severe depression, severe anxiety, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation. Findings suggest another potential benefit of public health efforts to encourage COVID-19 testing, namely promoting mental health.

Anthropogenic pressures are the main drivers of freshwater biodiversity loss. Lakes can act as sentinels of both local and regional changes and experience increased anthropogenic disturbances. Functional traits have been developed to elucidate the consequential functional progression of community changes, yet only a few studies on rotifer functional approaches exist compared with other biotic community attributes. Here, we investigate the responses of rotifer taxonomic and functional diversity metrics to an environmental gradient representing changing lake morphology, land use and physicochemical conditions in 30 lakes along the Yangtze River, China. Based on the distinct lake morphological gradient, land use patterns and environmental conditions, the 30 lakes were clustered into three groups with decreasing anthropogenic stress from Group 1 to Group 3. Our findings indicated that both species and functional richness decreased from Group 1 to Group 3 and that functional richness exhibited better correspondence with multiple stressors than did taxonomic richness. Moreover, we found that the rotifer assemblages varied significantly among the three lake groups along land use and environmental gradients, and the community-weighted means (CWM) of trait expression of the corresponding communities changed simultaneously. Types of trophi and corona were considered as the most variable traits among the three lake groups. We highlight that trait-based approaches are more sensitive, responsive and informative than taxonomic approaches in indicating human-induced environmental alterations in freshwater ecosystems.

Objective To establish an effective cuproptosis-related long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) (CRL) prognostic risk score (RS) model (CRLPRSM) for the prediction of the outcomes of patients with gastric cancer (GC). Introduction Cuproptosis is an up-to-date mode of cell death, and its action mechanism is different from all other known mechanisms that regulate cell death. LncRNAs are RNA species that are over 200 nt long and do not encode proteins. They have prominent actions in tumor onset and development, and their involvement in a variety of intracellular regulatory processes is vital for cell proliferation and differentiation, so they may serve as prognostic biomarkers in tumor patients. Methods We retrieved cuproptosis-associated clinical and lncRNA expression data of GC cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas Stomach Adenocarcinoma (TCGA-STAD). Then a CRLPRSM was built based on univariate and multivariate Cox regression (UCR and MCR) analyses. As per the RS, the patients fell into high- and low-risk group. Later, the predictive efficacy of the CRLPRSM was confirmed with the aid of Kaplan-Meier (KM) analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Next, combining independent prognostic factors in clinical characteristics, we plotted a prognosis-related nomogram to predict one-year, three-year and five-year overall survival (OS) in GC patients. Finally, we implemented Gene Ontology enrichment analysis (GOEA) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis (KEGGEA) for clarifying the possible biological actions and molecular mechanisms. Results The constructed CRLPRSM consisted of 3 CRLs, namely, AC092574.1, MAGI2-AS3, AC090204.1. It was found that the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.911 (1.337–2.731) ( p < 0.001) in UCR analysis and 1.852 (1.286–1.668) ( p < 0.001) in MCR analysis, and the AUC of the CRLPRSM was 0.649. Moreover, the KM analysis showed a pronounced intergroup difference in survival, and the nomogram illustrated some clinical benefits of CRLPRSM. Furthermore, GO terms and KEGG pathways were unveiled to be significantly enriched. Conclusion The constructed CRLPRSM has a significant predicted value for GC patient prognosis, and CRLs may become novel hallmarks for clinical treatment of GC.

In this study, we aimed to explore whether lymphocyte–C-reactive protein ratio (LCR) can differentiate disease severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and its value as an assistant screening tool for admission to hospital and intensive care unit (ICU). A total of 184 adult COVID-19 patients from the COVID-19 Treatment Center in Heilongjiang Province at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University between January 2020 and March 2021 were included in this study. Patients were divided into asymptomatic infection group, mild group, moderate group, severe group, and critical group according to the Diagnosis and Treatment of New Coronavirus Pneumonia (ninth edition). Demographic and clinical data including gender, age, comorbidities, severity of COVID-19, white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil proportion (NEUT%), lymphocyte count (LYMPH), lymphocyte percentage (LYM%), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), platelet (PLT), C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum creatinine (SCr), albumin (ALB), total bilirubin (TB), direct bilirubin (DBIL), indirect bilirubin (IBIL), and D-dimer were obtained and collated from medical records at admission, from which sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score and LCR were calculated, and all the above indicators were compared among the groups. Multiple clinical parameters, including LYMPH, CRP, and LCR, showed significant differences among the groups. The related factors to classify COVID-19 patients into moderate, severe, and critical groups included age, number of comorbidities, WBC, LCR, and AST. Among these factors, the number of comorbidities showed the greatest effect, and only WBC and LCR were protective factors. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of LCR to classify COVID-19 patients into moderate, severe, and critical groups was 0.176. The cutoff value of LCR and the sensitivity and specificity of the ROC curve were 1,780.7050 and 84.6% and 66.2%, respectively. The related factors to classify COVID-19 patients into severe and critical groups included the number of comorbidities, PLT, LCR, and SOFA score. Among these factors, SOFA score showed the greatest effect, and LCR was the only protective factor. The area under the ROC curve of LCR to classify COVID-19 patients into severe and critical groups was 0.106. The cutoff value of LCR and the sensitivity and specificity of the ROC curve were 571.2200 and 81.3% and 90.0%, respectively. In summary, LCR can differentiate disease severity of COVID-19 patients and serve as a simple and objective assistant screening tool for hospital and ICU admission.