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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common clinical arrhythmias. As the population ages, there is an upward trend in its prevalence. The risk factors associated with increased risk of AF include old age, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. Studies have shown that in all age groups, the risk of death, hospitalization expenses, and hospitalization time of cancer patients with AF were higher than that without AF. Thus, increased systemic inflammation, electrolyte abnormalities, and neurohormonal changes in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) lead to a significantly higher incidence of AF than other cancers. However, the treatment of prostate cancer, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may also increase the risk of AF. In this review, relevant literatures are collected to understand the mechanism of AF in patients with PCa, determine the relationship between PCa and AF and its effect on hospitalized prognosis, and provide strategies for the prevention and treatment of AF in patients with PCa.

Quantum computation, as part of the broader field of quantum information, represents an assembly of concepts and techniques that concern the nature and processing of information based on quantum mechanics. Quantum computation utilizes unique resources such as quantum superposition and quantum entanglement to encode and process information and has been proved to be dominantly advantageous over classical computation on certain important scientific and engineering problems. Potential applications of quantum computation are expected to influence future information technology and many other related fields deeply and significantly. In this article, we briefly review the history of quantum computation, including how its fundamental ideas and concepts came into being and the development of its significant theories and algorithms. We also discuss the status and outlook of several representative technical routes in this field, including superconducting quantum computation, distributed superconducting quantum computation, photonic quantum computation, trapped-ion quantum computation, silicon-based quantum computation, as well as other systems. Furthermore, by analyzing certain common issues faced by all routes, we propose some thoughts and suggestions for future development of quantum computation in China. We particularly emphasize the following: reinforcement of strategic planning at a national level, establishment of a research team of high caliber, and boost of relevant fundamental research and development of core techniques and critical instruments.

Delay/disruption tolerant networking (DTN) technology is considered a new solution to highly stressed communications in space environments. To date, little work has been done in evaluating the effectiveness and performance of the available DTN protocols when they are applied to an interplanetary Internet, especially in presence of a long link disruption. In this paper, we present an experimental investigation of the DTN architecture with a Bundle Protocol (BP) running over TCP-based convergence layer (TCPCL) protocol in a simulated cislunar communication environment characterized by a long link disruption. The intent of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of the TCPCL-based DTN protocol in coping with long link disruptions, through realistic file transfer experiments using a PC-based test-bed. The experiment results show that the DTN protocol is effective in handling a long link disruption experienced in data transmission accompanied by a cislunar link delay and a high BER. The performance of the DTN is most adversely affected by link disruption time in comparison to the effect of link delay and BER. For the transmissions with a very long link disruption of hours, the variations in goodput are nominal with respect to the change in cislunar link delay.

Background: N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) is a conserved and abundant mRNA modification that controls protein expression by affecting translation efficiency and mRNA stability. Whether the ac4C modification of mRNA regulates hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development or affects the immunotherapy of HCC is unknown. Methods: By constructing an orthotopic transplantation mouse HCC model and isolating tumour-infiltrated immunocytes, we evaluated the ac4C modification intensity using flow cytometry. Remodelin hydrobromide (REM), an ac4C modification inhibitor, was systematically used to understand the extensive role of ac4C modification in immunocyte phenotypes. Single-cell RNA-seq was performed to comprehensively evaluate the changes in the tumour-infiltrating immunocytes and identify targeted cell clusters. RNA-seq and RIP-seq analyses were performed to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Tyramide Signal Amplification (TSA) analysis on the HCC tissue microarray was performed to explore the clinical relatedness of our findings. Results: Ac4C modification promoted M1 macrophage infiltration and reduced myeloid-derived suppressor cell MDSCs infiltration in HCC. The inhibition of ac4C modification induces PDL1 expression by stabilising mRNA in the myeloid cells, thereby attenuating the CTL-mediated tumour cell-killing ability. High infiltration of ac4C+CD11b+ cells is positively related to a better prognosis in patients with HCC. Conclusions: Ac4C modification of myeloid cells enhanced the HCC immunotherapy by suppressing PDL1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]