Search

ABSTRACT: A deep understanding of the dynamics and mechanisms of male reproductive tract development is necessary for adoption of either genetic techniques or environmental management practices for improving fertility and hatchability in poultry. However, compared with other poultry such as chickens and ducks, less is known about the age- and breed-related changes in the reproductive tract development of domestic goose ganders exhibiting relatively poor reproductive performance as well as the regulatory mechanisms. In the present study, by taking 2 Chinese domestic goose breeds (Sichuan White goose, SW and Gang goose, GE; Anser cygnoides) and one European goose breed (Landes goose, LD; Anser anser) as the experimental objects, we comprehensive analyzed the morphological, histological, and genome-wide transcriptomic variations in their testicular and external genital development during the period from hatching to sexual maturity. Results from histomorphological analysis demonstrated that the reproductive tract of all goose breeds developed in both age- and breed-dependent manners, and the left and right testis developed asymmetrically throughout posthatch development. The tenth week posthatch was a critical developmental stage for all goose ganders, because both the testicular and external genital histomorphological parameters significantly changed before and after this period. During the first 10 wk posthatch, the weight, organ index, or size of male reproductive organs developed more rapidly in SW than in LD, and so were the testicular parenchymal-to-interstitial ratio and the external genital lymphatic lumen diameter. However, the testicular seminiferous epithelium thickness, seminiferous tubule diameter, and Leydig cell number, as well as the external genital keratinized epithelium thickness were significantly higher in LD than in SW at 10 wk of age. Through comparative transcriptomics analysis and RT-qPCR validation, several pathways related to germ and somatic cell function, organ remodeling, and energy metabolism were thought to be responsible for the developmental variations in the early testicular development between Chinese and European domestic ganders, where 10 hub genes involved in the cell cycle, RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription, and mitotic cell division pathways might play essential roles. These data shed new light on the interbreed differences in the male goose reproductive tract development and the molecular mechanisms regulating male goose testicular functions and fertility.

Abstract Background The accelerated growth of older individuals worldwide has increased the number of patients presenting with fragility hip fractures. Having a hip fracture can cause excess mortality, and patients with hip fracture have a higher risk of death than those without hip fracture. Most studies have treated hip fracture as a single, homogeneous condition, but hip fracture includes two major anatomic types: intertrochanteric fracture and femoral neck fracture. Few studies have specifically evaluated 1-year mortality risk in older individuals with femoral intertrochanteric fracture. The aim of this study was to evaluate 1-year mortality and factors associated with mortality in older individuals with femoral intertrochanteric fracture. Methods A retrospective review was conducted of 563 patients ≥ 65 years old who underwent surgery for femoral intertrochanteric fractures at our institution between January 2010 and August 2018. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and treatment were collected by retrospective chart review. Age, sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) fracture classification, haemoglobin value at admission, time to surgery, operation time, and intraoperative blood loss were risk factors to be tested. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between variables and death. Results Among the 563 patients, 49 died within 1 year after surgery, and the 1-year mortality rate was 8.7%. Multivariate analysis identified age > 80 years (OR = 4.038, P = 0.011), haemoglobin 14 d (OR = 3.907, P = 0.030) as independent risk factors for 1-year mortality. Comorbidities such as myocardial infarction and chronic pulmonary disease were associated with 1-year mortality after adjusting for age > 80 years and time to surgery > 14 days. Conclusions Patients over 80 years old with haemoglobin

BackgroundPrevious observational studies have suggested associations between high-level educational attainment (EA) and a lower risk of sarcopenia. However, the causality inferred from those studies was subjected to residual confounding and reverse causation. The protective effect of EA on sarcopenia may be mediated via changes in brain cortical structure. The aim of this study was to use a two-step Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to illustrate the causal relationship between EA, brain cortical structure, and sarcopenia.MethodsInstrumental variables at the genome-wide significance level were obtained from publicly available datasets, and inverse variance weighted as the primary method was used for MR analysis. We perform several sensitivity analyses, including Cochran Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, leave-one-out analyses, and MR Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier to evaluate the reliability of the results.ResultsEA was causally associated with increased appendicular lean mass (β = 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.19 to 0.31, p = 2.25 × 10−15), hand grip strength (left: β = 0.042, 95% CI: 0.013 to 0.071, p = 4.77 × 10−3 and right: β = 0.050, 95% CI: 0.022 to 0.079, p = 5.17 × 10−4), and usual walking pace (β = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.18 to 0.22, p = 6.16 × 10−83). In addition, EA was associated with increased brain cortical surface area (β = 4082.36, 95% CI: 2513.35 to 5681.38, p = 3.40 × 10−7) and cortical thickness (TH) (β = 0.014, 95% CI: 0.0045 to 0.023, p = 3.45 × 10−3). Regarding the causal effect of EA on usual walking pace, the mediatory effect of TH was 0.0069 and the proportion of mediation by TH was 3.43%.ConclusionThe study will have revealed the protective causal effect of EA on sarcopenia, which provides a reference for the prevention of sarcopenia at the public health level. We also will have found EA could affect the brain cortical structure, and the brain cortical structure could mediate the protective effect of EA against sarcopenia risk.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound changes in adolescent lives, including school closures, social isolation, family economic hardship, and sleep schedule. We aimed to assess the risk and protective factors of sufficient sleep among adolescents during COVID-19.MethodsWe conducted secondary analysis based on the cross-sectional school-based Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey in 2021 (n = 7,705). The ABES collected information on health-related experiences and behaviors during COVID-19. The outcome was sufficient sleep (eight and more hours of sleep on the average school night). The contributing factors included demographic, mental health, and adverse experiences indicators. We estimated the prevalence of sufficient sleep within each factor, and examined their associations using Chi-square test. We further investigated the contributing factors of sufficient sleep using multivariate logistic regression and reported the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsDuring January–June 2021, 23.5% of the U.S. high school students reported getting sufficient sleep. The multivariate logistic regression indicated that younger age (AOR, 2.04; 95%CI, 1.59–2.62), heterosexual identity (AOR, 1.61; 95%CI, 1.19–2.18), no poor mental health during the past 30 days (AOR, 1.37; 95%CI, 1.03–1.82), no persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (AOR, 1.34; 95%CI, 1.09–1.66), no food and nutrition insecurity (AOR, 1.47; 95%CI, 1.17–1.85), never been abused by a parent emotionally (AOR, 1.38; 95%CI, 1.16–1.64), and no schoolwork difficulty (AOR, 1.24; 95%CI, 1.01–1.51) were associated with sufficient sleep.ConclusionWe estimated the national prevalence of adolescent sufficient sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that younger students, sexual heterosexual students, and students without certain mental health conditions or adverse experiences are at higher likelihood of sufficient sleep. These findings can help develop effective interventions on sleep duration in the response to a possible future pandemic caused by Disease X.

Abstract Background Extended reality (XR), including virtual reality, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality, has been used to help achieve accurate acetabular cup placement in total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aimed to compare the differences between XR-assisted and conventional THA. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for studies from inception to September 10, 2023. The outcomes were accuracy of inclination and anteversion, duration of surgery, and intraoperative blood loss. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 software. Results A total of five studies with 396 patients were included in our study. The pooled results indicated AR-assisted THA had better accuracy of inclination and anteversion than conventional THA (SMD = − 0.51, 95% CI [− 0.96 to − 0.07], P = 0.02; SMD = − 0.96, 95% CI [− 1.19 to − 0.72], P

Introduction: This paper presents a spatial effect model to examine the impact of industrial agglomeration and international R&D capital technology spillover on air pollution.Methods: The study utilizes spatial panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China spanning the period 2008 to 2022, allowing for the decomposition of both direct and indirect spillover effects.Results: Additionally, the research investigates the threshold effect of industrial agglomeration and international research and development capital and technology spillover on air pollution, considering independent research and development as the threshold variable. The findings reveal evident spatial autocorrelation and spatial dependence between industrial agglomeration, international R&D capital, and air pollution. Importantly, both international R&D capital technology spillover and industrial agglomeration exhibit a single threshold effect. This implies that surpassing the threshold value leads to a more pronounced positive impact of international R&D capital technology spillover on reducing air pollution, while the impact of industrial agglomeration on air pollution tends to be positive.Discussion: The findings of this study have significant theoretical and practical implications for the promotion of sustainable economic development, particularly in China.

Abstract Drug development based on target proteins has been a successful approach in recent decades. However, the conventional structure-based drug design (SBDD) pipeline is a complex, human-engineered process with multiple independently optimized steps. Here, we propose a sequence-to-drug concept for computational drug design based on protein sequence information by end-to-end differentiable learning. We validate this concept in three stages. First, we design TransformerCPI2.0 as a core tool for the concept, which demonstrates generalization ability across proteins and compounds. Second, we interpret the binding knowledge that TransformerCPI2.0 learned. Finally, we use TransformerCPI2.0 to discover new hits for challenging drug targets, and identify new target for an existing drug based on an inverse application of the concept. Overall, this proof-of-concept study shows that the sequence-to-drug concept adds a perspective on drug design. It can serve as an alternative method to SBDD, particularly for proteins that do not yet have high-quality 3D structures available.

Abstract Background Blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) disruption is a key event after spinal cord injury (SCI), which permits unfavorable blood-derived substances to enter the neural tissue and exacerbates secondary injury. However, limited mechanical impact is usually followed by a large-scale BSCB disruption in SCI. How the BSCB disruption is propagated along the spinal cord in the acute period of SCI remains unclear. Thus, strategies for appropriate clinical treatment are lacking. Methods A SCI contusion mouse model was established in wild-type and LysM-YFP transgenic mice. In vivo two-photon imaging and complementary studies, including immunostaining, capillary western blotting, and whole-tissue clearing, were performed to monitor BSCB disruption and verify relevant injury mechanisms. Clinically applied target temperature management (TTM) to reduce the core body temperature was tested for the efficacy of attenuating BSCB disruption. Results Barrier leakage was detected in the contusion epicenter within several minutes and then gradually spread to more distant regions. Membrane expression of the main tight junction proteins remained unaltered at four hours post-injury. Many junctional gaps emerged in paracellular tight junctions at the small vessels from multiple spinal cord segments at 15 min post-injury. A previously unnoticed pathological hemodynamic change was observed in the venous system, which likely facilitated gap formation and barrier leakage by exerting abnormal physical force on the BSCB. Leukocytes were quickly initiated to transverse through the BSCB within 30 min post-SCI, actively facilitating gap formation and barrier leakage. Inducing leukocyte transmigration generated gap formation and barrier leakage. Furthermore, pharmacological alleviation of pathological hemodynamic changes or leukocyte transmigration reduced gap formation and barrier leakage. TTM had very little protective effects on the BSCB in the early period of SCI other than partially alleviating leukocyte infiltration. Conclusions Our data show that BSCB disruption in the early period of SCI is a secondary change, which is indicated by widespread gap formation in tight junctions. Pathological hemodynamic changes and leukocyte transmigration contribute to gap formation, which could advance our understanding of BSCB disruption and provide new clues for potential treatment strategies. Ultimately, TTM is inadequate to protect the BSCB in early SCI.

Abstract Background Extended reality (XR), including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), has been used in the training of total hip arthroplasty (THA). This study aims to examine the effectiveness of XR training in THA. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE (OVID), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, and clinicaltrials.gov from inception to September 2022 for eligible studies. The Review Manager 5.4 software was applied to compare accuracy of inclination and anteversion, and surgical duration between XR training and conventional methods. Results We identified 213 articles, of which 4 randomized clinical trials and 1 prospective controlled study including 106 participants met inclusion criteria. The pooled data indicated the XR training had better accuracy of inclination and shorter surgical duration than conventional methods (MD = −2.07, 95% CI [− 4.02 to −0.11], P = 0.04; SMD = −1.30, 95% CI [− 2.01 to −0.60], P = 0.0003), but the accuracy of anteversion was similar in the two groups. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis found XR training had better accuracy of inclination and shorter surgical duration than conventional methods in THA, but the accuracy of anteversion was similar. Based on the pooled results, we suggested that XR training can better improve trainees’ surgical skills than conventional methods in THA.

Summary: During a molt or eclosion, insects shed their cuticle, an extracellular matrix made by underlying epidermal cells, by cleavage along a defined line. This means that the “cut here line” is pre-formed on the cuticle, and its formation is indispensable for insect life. Here, we show that the proper formation of the operculum ridge (OR), which is the “cut here line” on the puparium (pupal case) of Drosophila melanogaster, involves Notch signaling activation in the epidermal cells just beneath the future OR region (OR-forming cells). The inhibition of Notch signaling causes defects in eclosion due to failure in OR cleavage, the chitin organization and several cuticular proteins localization, glucose dehydrogenase (Gld) activity, and OR-forming cell shape. Our findings provide the first insight into the molecular basis of the structure and formation of the “cut here line” on the cuticle.

Este trabajo presenta un análisis contrastivo de dos elementos lingüísticos: el gerundio del español y la partícula aspectual 着 (zhe) del chino. Para abordar la problemática de la comprensión y el uso del gerundio en español, los estudiantes chinos suelen recurrir a categorías de palabras semejantes al gerundio de su lengua materna o del inglés. En su aprendizaje de español, el equivalente natural para la comprensión del gerundio lo protagoniza la partícula aspectual 着 (zhe), ya que comparte el significado aspectual imperfectivo. De esta forma, en el presente estudio nos proponemos contrastar estos dos elementos lingüísticos a través de sus características morfológicas, sintácticas y semánticas, con el propósito de alcanzar un resultado práctico que asista a los alumnos chinos en su adquisición del español como segunda lengua extranjera.

Blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) disruption is a pivotal event in spinal cord injury (SCI) that aggravates secondary injury but has no specific treatment. Previous reports have shown that systemic therapeutic hypothermia (TH) can protect the blood–brain barrier after brain injury. To verify whether a similar effect exists on the BSCB after SCI, moderate systemic TH at 32°C was induced for 4 h on the mice with contusion-SCI. In vivo two-photon microscopy was utilized to dynamically monitor the BSCB leakage 1 h after SCI, combined with immunohistochemistry to detect BSCB leakage at 1 and 4 h after SCI. The BSCB leakage was not different between the normothermia (NT) and TH groups at both the in vivo and postmortem levels. The expression of endothelial tight junctions was not significantly different between the NT and TH groups 4 h after SCI, as detected by capillary western blotting. The structural damage of the BSCB was examined with immunofluorescence, but the occurrence of junctional gaps was not changed by TH 4 h after SCI. Our results have shown that moderate systemic TH induced for 4 h does not have a protective effect on the disrupted BSCB in early SCI. This treatment method has a low value and is not recommended for BSCB disruption therapy in early SCI.

It is been over 100 years since glial cells were discovered by Virchow. Since then, a great deal of research was carried out to specify these further roles and properties of glial cells in central nervous system (CNS). As it is well-known that glial cells, such as astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes (OLs), and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) play an important role in supporting and enabling the effective nervous system function in CNS. After spinal cord injury (SCI), these glial cells play different roles in SCI and repair. In this review, we will discuss in detail about the role of glial cells in the healthy CNS and how they respond to SCI.

The numerical simulation of casting process can calculate casting filling process, solidification process, and obtain change and coupling information of temperature field, velocity field, pressure field, stress field and microstructure. At present, numerical simulation of casting process has been quite mature at the macro level, and is developing towards the direction of micro level. The coupling and integration of different fields between temperature, flow, stress, and microstructure, is the shape of things for numerical simulation research of casting process. This paper reviews and summarizes the research history and current situation of numerical simulation of casting process. The progress in numerical simulation from five aspects of casting solidification, casting filling, stress field, microstructure, commercial software, is presented.

Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate changes in the ultrastructure, apoptosis, cycle progression, and migration ability of human MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cells under simulated microgravity conditions. Methods MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cells were cultured in a rotary cell culture system bioreactor to simulate microgravity for 7 days. The cells were randomly divided into a simulated microgravity (SMG) group and normal gravity control (NG) group. Changes in apoptosis, ultrastructure, cell cycle, and migration ability were evaluated. Results Transmission electron microscopy showed that cells in the SMG group had more secondary lysosomes than the NG groups. The flow cytometry assay showed that the proportion of apoptotic cells in the SMG group was significantly increased compared with the NG group; additionally, the median and interquartile spacing of the proportion of cells in the G0/G1 phase in the SMG group was lower than in the NG group, but the proportion of cells in the S phase was increased in the SMG group compared with the NG group. The transwell migration assay showed that cell migration in the SMG group was significantly reduced compared with the NG group. The expression of BCL‐2 and MMP9 in the SMG group was decreased compared with the NG group, whereas the expression of cyclin D3 in the SMG group was increased. Conclusion Simulated microgravity through rotary cell culture system had significant effects on human MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cells: the cell cycle and ultrastructure were impaired, apoptosis increased, migration ability decreased, and the expression of BCL‐2, cyclin D3, and MMP9 were affected.

Vascular interventional surgery is a typical method for diagnosing and treating cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. However, a surgeon is exposed to significant X-radiation exposure when the operation is conducted for a long period of time. A vascular intervention surgical robotic system for assisting the surgeon is a promising approach to address the aforementioned issue. When developing the robotic system, a high displacement accuracy is crucial, and this can aid in enhancing operating efficiency and safety. In this study, a novel kinetics analysis and active disturbance rejection control (ADRC)-based controller is proposed to provide high accuracy for a string-driven robotic system. In this controller, kinetics analysis is initially used to improve the accuracy affected by the inner factors of the slave manipulator. Then, the ADRC controller is used to further improve the operating accuracy of the robotic system. Finally, the proposed controller is evaluated by conducting experiments on a vascular model. The results indicate maximum steady errors of 0.45 mm and 6.67°. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed controller can satisfy the safety requirements of the string-driven robotic system.

In vascular interventional surgery, surgeons operate guidewires and catheters to diagnose and treat patients with the assistance of the digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Therefore, the surgeon will be exposed to X-rays for extended periods. To protect the surgeon, the development of a robot-assisted surgical system is of great significance. The displacement tracking accuracy is the most important issue to be considered in the development of the system. In this study, the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) method is applied to guarantee displacement tracking accuracy. First, the core contents of the proportional–integral–derivative (PID) and ADRC methods are analyzed. Second, comparative evaluation experiments for incremental PID and ADRC methods are presented. The results show that the ADRC method has better performance of than that of the incremental PID method. Finally, the calibration experiments for the ADRC control method are implemented using the master–slave robotic system. These experiments demonstrate that the maximum tracking error is 0.87 mm using the ADRC method, effectively guaranteeing surgical safety.

Submerged floating tunnel (SFT) is an innovative underwater structure for crossing long straits, which withstands the effects of water wave and current throughout its lifecycle. This paper proposes a theoretical approach to investigate the nonlinear dynamic response of the SFT tube-cable system under combined parametric excitation and hydrodynamic forcing excitations (i.e., wave and vortex-induced loading). Firstly, the governing equations of the SFT system considering the coupled degrees of freedom in the tube and cable are established based on the Hamilton principle and are solved numerically. Then, several representative cases are analyzed to reveal the dynamic characteristics of the SFT. Finally, some key parameters are discussed, such as the wave and current conditions and the structural parameters. The results show that when the flow velocity reaches a certain value, the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of the anchor-cables will excite a strong resonance in the structure. The displacement amplitude of the SFT increases with the increase of the wave height. Gravity-buoyance ratio (GBR) of the tube and the inclined mooring angle (IMA) of the cables jointly determine the natural vibration frequency of the SFT. The influence of the wave force on the tube is limited when the installation depth of SFT is more than 40 m.