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Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for capsular-located papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) in a large cohort and to compare its outcomes with those of noncapsular-located PTMC. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent RFA for solitary capsular-located and noncapsular-located low-risk PTMC (n = 1095) from June 2014 to October 2020. To balance confounding variables between capsular and noncapsular groups, we employed the 1:1 propensity score matching approach. We evaluated and compared tumor changes, disease progression, and complications in both groups. Furthermore, we analyzed the association between capsular location and disease progression using multivariable Cox regression. Results: During a mean follow-up time of 29.86 ± 16.14 months and 29.73 ± 15.69 months, no substantial difference was observed between capsular and noncapsular groups in the latest volume (0.83 ± 3.66 mm3 vs. 0.85 ± 3.67 mm3, p = 0.44) and volume reduction ratio (99.29 ± 4.04% vs. 99.43 ± 3.03%, p = 0.43), and cumulative disappearance rate (87.87% vs. 86.07%, p = 0.31). In addition, no significant differences were observed in complication incidence (1.35% vs. 1.12%, p = 0.76) and progression-free survival (p = 0.53). Based on adjusted multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis, the association between capsular location and disease progression was nonsignificant (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that the short-term outcomes of RFA for capsular-located PTMCs are comparable to those of noncapsular-located PTMCs. These findings indicate that RFA may be a viable and effective alternative for eligible patients with solitary capsular-located PTMC. Clinical relevance statement: Radiofrequency ablation may serve as a safe and effective alternative treatment method for eligible patients with capsular-located and noncapsular-located papillary thyroid microcarcinoma. Key Points: • The safety and efficacy of radiofrequency ablation for capsular-located and noncapsular-located papillary thyroid microcarcinomas were comparable. • Disease progression did not differ significantly between capsular-located and noncapsular-located papillary thyroid microcarcinomas. • The incidence of complications for capsular-located papillary thyroid microcarcinoma was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel and efficient method is employed to fabricate tin dioxide films through the thermal decomposition of Sn(OH)4 in a glove box environment. Initially, SnCl2 was dissolved in ethanol at various concentrations and then annealed in glove box, very little Sn(OH)4 was obtained due to the easy decomposition of ethanol at room temperature, and none of the SnO2 was observed. The formation of SnO2 appeared on the films after SnCl2 in ethanol treatment and annealed in air, but this process leads to the decomposition of perovskite. Therefore, a new method need to be proposed so as to prepare SnO2 in glove box. To address this issue, SnCl2 was then dissolved in isopropanol and annealed inside the glove box. The SnO2 films processed with isopropanol as a solvent exhibited better crystallinity, higher purity, improved conductivity, and fewer defects. Furthermore, devices fabricated using SnO2 films prepared with isopropanol also show good efficiency and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To predict the efficacy of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation for uterine leiomyomas based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indicators and imaging features. Methods: Sixty-two patients with 85 uterine leiomyomas were consecutively enrolled in this retrospective study and underwent DTI scanning before HIFU treatment. Based on whether the non-perfused volume ratio (NPVR) was greater than 70%, all patients were assigned to sufficient ablation (NPVR ≥ 70%) or insufficient ablation (NPVR < 70%) groups. The selected DTI indicators and imaging features were incorporated to construct a combined model. The predictive performance of DTI indicators and the combined model were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: There were 42 leiomyomas in the sufficient ablation group (NPVR ≥ 70%) and 43 leiomyomas in the insufficient ablation group (NPVR < 70%). The fractional anisotropy (FA) and relative anisotropy (RA) values were higher in the sufficient ablation group than in the insufficient ablation group (p < 0.05). Conversely, the volume ratio (VR) and mean diffusivity (MD) values were lower in the sufficient ablation group than those in the insufficient ablation group (p < 0.05). Notably, the combined model composed of the RA and enhancement degree values had high predictive efficiency, with an AUC of 0.915. The combined model demonstrated higher predictive performance than FA and MD alone (p = 0.032 and p < 0.001, respectively) but showed no significant improvement compared with RA and VR (p > 0.05). Conclusion: DTI indicators, especially the combined model incorporating DTI indicators and imaging features, can be a promising imaging tool to assist clinicians in predicting HIFU efficacy for uterine leiomyomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) usually leads to quadriceps femoris atrophy, which in turn can further aggravate the progression of KOA. Curcumin (CUR) has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and has been shown to be a protective agent for skeletal muscle. CUR has been shown to have a protective effect on skeletal muscle. However, there are no studies related to whether CUR improves KOA-induced quadriceps femoris muscle atrophy. We established a model of KOA in rats. Rats in the experimental group were fed CUR for 5 weeks. Changes in autophagy levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and changes in the expression of the Sirutin3 (SIRT3)-superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) pathway were detected in the quadriceps femoris muscle of rats. KOA led to quadriceps femoris muscle atrophy, in which autophagy was induced and ROS levels were increased. CUR increased SIRT3 expression, decreased SOD2 acetylation and ROS levels, inhibited the over-activation of autophagy, thereby alleviating quadriceps femoris muscle atrophy and improving KOA. CUR has a protective effect against quadriceps femoris muscle atrophy, and KOA is alleviated after improvement of quadriceps femoris muscle atrophy, with the possible mechanism being the reduction of ROS-induced autophagy via the SIRT3-SOD2 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the effect of the interval between bilateral cochlear implantation on the development of bilateral peripheral auditory pathways as revealed by the electrically evoked auditory brainstem response (EABR). Methods: Fifty-eight children with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss were recruited. Among them, 33 children received sequential bilateral cochlear implants (CIs), and 25 children received simultaneous bilateral CIs. The bilateral EABRs evoked by electrical stimulation from the CI electrode were recorded on the day of second-side CI activation. Results: The latencies of wave III (eIII) and wave V (eV) were significantly shorter on the first CI side than on the second CI side in children with sequential bilateral CIs but were similar between the two sides in children with simultaneous bilateral CIs. Furthermore, the latencies were prolonged from apical to basal channels along the cochlea in the two groups. In children with sequential CIs, the inter-implant interval was negatively correlated with the eV latency on the first CI side and was positively correlated with bilateral differences in the eIII and eV latencies. Conclusions: Unilateral CI use promotes the maturation of ipsilateral auditory conduction function. However, a longer inter-implant interval results in more unbalanced development of bilateral auditory brainstem pathways. Bilateral cochlear implantation with no or a short interval is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two new kaurane diterpenes (16, 17), together with 12 lignans (1–12), a triterpene (15), and two other compounds (13, 14) were isolated from the woods of Agathisdammara. The structure of the new compound was determined by HR ESIMS and 1D/2D NMR spectroscopy, and its absolute configuration was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) exciton chirality method. Compounds 5, 11, 14 exhibit significant hypoglycaemic activity in zebrafish, and their mechanism of action is to enhance glucose uptake in zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: By radiomic analysis of the postcontrast CT images, this study aimed to predict locoregional recurrence (LR) of locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) and hypopharyngeal cancer (HPC). Methods: A total of 192 patients with stage III–IV OPC or HPC from two independent cohort were randomly split into a training cohort with 153 cases and a testing cohort with 39 cases. Only primary tumor mass was manually segmented. Radiomic features were extracted using PyRadiomics, and then the support vector machine was used to build the radiomic model with fivefold cross-validation process in the training data set. For each case, a radiomics score was generated to indicate the probability of LR. Results: There were 94 patients with LR assigned in the progression group and 98 patients without LR assigned in the stable group. There was no significant difference of TNM staging, treatment strategies and common risk factors between these two groups. For the training data set, the radiomics model to predict LR showed 83.7% accuracy and 0.832 (95% CI 0.72, 0.87) area under the ROC curve (AUC). For the test data set, the accuracy and AUC slightly declined to 79.5% and 0.770 (95% CI 0.64, 0.80), respectively. The sensitivity/specificity of training and test data set for LR prediction were 77.6%/89.6%, and 66.7%/90.5%, respectively. Conclusions: The image-based radiomic approach could provide a reliable LR prediction model in locally advanced OPC and HPC. Early identification of those prone to post-treatment recurrence would be helpful for appropriate adjustments to treatment strategies and post-treatment surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To define a response-to-ablation system based on dynamic risk stratification proposed by the 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines for predicting clinical outcomes and guiding follow-up strategies for patients with low-risk papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) who underwent radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Methods: This retrospective study reviewed patients with low-risk PTMC who underwent RFA between 2014 and 2018. We classified patients into three groups based on their response to therapy at the 1-year follow-up: complete, indeterminate, and incomplete. The primary endpoints were local tumor progression (LTP) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: Among the 748 patients (mean age, 43.7 years ± 9.8; 586 women), 4.0% (30/748) had LTP during a median follow-up of 5 years. The response was complete in 80.2% (600/748) of the patients, indeterminate in 18.1% (135/748), and incomplete in 1.7% (13/748). The LTP rate in the final follow-up was 1% (6/600), 8.1% (11/135), and 100% (13/13), respectively. The risk of LTP was significantly different in the incomplete response group (HR, 1825.82; 95% CI: 458.27, 7274.36; p < 0.001) and indeterminate response group (HR, 8.12; 95% CI: 2.99, 22.09; p < 0.001) than in the complete response group. There were significant differences in DFS among groups (p < 0.001). The proportion of variation explained and C-index of the system was high (27.66% and 0.79, respectively). Conclusions: We defined a response-to-ablation system that provides a new paradigm for the management of patients with PTMC who underwent RFA. Our data confirm that the system can effectively predict the risk of LTP and guide ongoing follow-up recommendations. Key Points: • The response-to-ablation system can classify patients with low-risk PTMC who underwent RFA into complete, indeterminate, or incomplete response categories. • Results suggest that, in this population, this system can identify three separate cohorts of patients who have significantly different clinical outcomes. • The response-to-ablation system will help better tailor the ongoing follow-up recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postoperative scar formation remains a morbidity for patients even with the advent of minimally invasive techniques. Furthermore, the significant difference between the Asian and Caucasian skin results in poorer postoperative scar outcomes in Asians, supporting the need for an evidence-based scar management protocol. Methods: Following a literature review of the PubMed and the Cochrane databases over the past 10 years, we constructed a novel postoperative scar management protocol for the Asian skin, utilized in a Singaporean tertiary healthcare institution. Results: We describe a timeline-based scar protocol from the point of skin closure to a minimum of 1 year of follow-up. We support the use of intraoperative botulinum toxin for selected high-risk individuals upon skin closure with a follow-up regimen in the postoperative setting. For recalcitrant keloids, we have described a multimodal therapy comprising elements of intralesional steroids, botulinum toxin, lasers, surgery, and radiotherapy. Conclusions: A consolidated postoperative scar management protocol provides the necessary guidance for improved scar outcomes in the Asian skin. There is inherent potential in expanding the protocol to include post-traumatic and burn wounds or support other skin types including the Caucasian skin. No Level Assigned: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each submission to which Evidence-Based Medicine rankings are applicable. This excludes Review Articles, Book Reviews, and manuscripts that concern Basic Science, Animal Studies, Cadaver Studies, and Experimental Studies. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different concentrations of glutamine on host performance are important in the context of aquaculture. Here, four diets were fed to Xenocypris davidi Bleeker young fish (initial mean weight of 2.94 ± 0.14 g , N=240), with 0, 3, 6, and 9 g/kg of glutamine supplementation, for a period of 8 weeks (The protein content and lipid content in the basal diet were 32.84 % and 5.41 %).The fish were randomly divided into 4 groups with 3 replicates per group and 20 per replicate. Water temperature, dissoloved oxygen and pH in this trial were 26 ± 1 °C, 6 ± 0.5 mg/L and 7.9 ± 0.3, respectively. The results showed that supplementation with 6 and 9 g/kg of glutamine significantly increased the final body weight (FBW), weight gain rate (WGR), and specific growth rate (SGR) of the fish (P < 0.05), and there was a positive linear and quadratic correlation in the FBW, WGR and SGR. Conversely, there was a decreasing trend observed in the condition factor (CF), viscerosomatic index (VSI), hepatosomatic index (HSI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) with increased glutamine supplementation. HSI and FCR decreased linearly and quadratically, VSI is only linearly correlated. Dietary glutamine was found to improve the intestinal structure and function of X. davidi. This was achieved through an increase in the digestive and antioxidant enzyme activities in the intestine, as well as an increase in the muscle layer thickness (MT), villus height (VH), and villus width (VW) of the intestine. These effects were particularly evident in the 6 and 9 g/kg glutamine supplementation groups. This finding was further corroborated by oil red O staining and the relative areas of lipid droplets. A gradual increase in plasma total protein (TP) concentrations with increasing glutamine supplementation was observed linearly and quadratically, and was considerably higher in the 9 g/kg group than in the control group (P < 0.05). In contrast, plasma total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) concentrations were significantly decreased linearly and quadratically after fish were fed with diets with appropriate glutamine supplementation levels (P < 0.05). Notably, we further constructed the correlation analysis and the important factors that affect the growth performance of host after feeding glutamine were found and verified. In the present study, we observed that pepsin (PEP) and amylase (AMS) (belong to digestive enzymes), MT, VH and VW (belong to intestinal morphology), crude protein (belong to proximate composition) showed significant positive correlation with FBW, WGR, SGR (belong to growth performance, P < 0.05). Overall, these findings suggest that dietary glutamine can enhance host performance in X. davidi, particularly when supplemented at 9 g/kg. This may have important implications for the aquaculture industry, as it can improve the health and growth of farmed fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cognitive dysfunction are highly prevalent disorders worldwide. Although visual network (VN) alteration and functional-structural coupling are potential warning factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in T2DM patients, the relationship between the three in T2DM without MCI is unclear. Thirty T2DM patients without MCI and twenty-nine healthy controls (HC) were prospectively enrolled. Visual components (VC) were estimated by independent component analysis (ICA). Degree centrality (DC), amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were established to reflect functional and structural characteristics in these VCs respectively. Functional-structural coupling coefficients were further evaluated using combined FA and DC or ALFF. Partial correlations were performed among neuroimaging indicators and neuropsychological scores and clinical variables. Three VCs were selected using group ICA. Deteriorated DC, ALFF and DC-FA coefficients in the VC1 were observed in the T2DM group compared with the HC group, while FA and ALFF-FA coefficients in these three VCs showed no significant differences. In the T2DM group, DC in the VC1 positively correlated with 2 dimensions in the California Verbal Learning Test, including Trial 4 and Total trial 1–5. The impaired DC-FA coefficients in the VC1 markedly affected the Total perseverative responses % of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. These findings indicate that DC and DC-FA coefficients in VN may be potential imaging biomarkers revealing early cognitive deficits in T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although stapled α-helical peptides can address challenging targets, their advancement is impeded by poor understandings for making them cell permeable while avoiding off-target toxicities. By synthesizing >350 molecules, we present workflows for identifying stapled peptides against Mdm2(X) with in vivo activity and no off-target effects. Key insights include a clear correlation between lipophilicity and permeability, removal of positive charge to avoid off-target toxicities, judicious anionic residue placement to enhance solubility/behavior, optimization of C-terminal length/helicity to enhance potency, and optimization of staple type/number to avoid polypharmacology. Workflow application gives peptides with >292x improved cell proliferation potencies and no off-target cell proliferation effects (> 3800x on-target index). Application of these 'design rules' to a distinct Mdm2(X) peptide series improves (> 150x) cellular potencies and removes off-target toxicities. The outlined workflow should facilitate therapeutic impacts, especially for those targets such as Mdm2(X) that have hydrophobic interfaces and are targetable with a helical motif. Stapled α-helical peptides are promising for targeting challenging targets such as transcription factors, but achieving sufficient cell permeability while avoiding off-target cleavage is difficult. Here, the authors present workflows for identifying stapled peptides against Mdm2(X) with in vivo activity and no off-target effects based on comprehensive investigations of their properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effects of foot reflexology massage on anxiety, pain, duration of labor, labor satisfaction, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate in pregnant women. We systematically searched eight databases for randomized controlled studies on the effects of foot reflexology massage on pregnant women. The inclusion criteria were as follow: participants were pregnant woman; the intervention is foot reflexology or foot massage; the control intervention is placebo, usual care, or no intervention; outcome indicators included pain, anxiety, birth satisfaction, duration of labor, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration; and study type was randomized controlled study. Studies that did not meet the above requirements were excluded. We assessed the quality of the included studies using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale, the risk of bias using the Risk of Bias 2.0 tool, and the level of evidence for the outcomes using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation. We used Review Manager 5.3 for data analysis and generated funnel plots to assess publication bias. In addition, sensitivity analysis was used to test the stability of the results. A total of 13 randomized controlled studies with 1189 participants were included in this study. Compared to the control group, foot reflexology massage reduced anxiety and pain in pregnant women, shortened the three stages of labor, and increased birth satisfaction. In addition, it also reduced the pulse rate and respiratory rate of pregnant women, but not for blood pressure. Foot reflexology massage can significantly reduce anxiety and pain, shorten the duration of labor, increase birth satisfaction, and stabilize vital signs in pregnant women. It is a safe and non-invasive form of complementary therapy. PROSPERO registered number: CRD42022359641. URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=359641. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of rapeseed oil on body composition, blood glucose and lipid metabolism in people with overweight and obesity compared to other cooking oils. We searched eight databases for randomized controlled studies (including randomized crossover trials). The risk of bias for the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria were used to evaluate the quality of the outcomes. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Sensitivity analysis was used to check the stability of the pooled results. Statistical analysis was carried out using Review Manager 5.3 software. As a result, fifteen randomized controlled studies (including six parallel studies and nine crossover studies) were included in this study. Compared to other edible oils, rapeseed oil significantly reduced low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (MD = −0.14 mmol/L, 95% CI: −0.21, −0.08, I2 = 0%, P < 0.0001), apolipoprotein B (ApoB) (MD = −0.03 g/L, 95% CI: −0.05, −0.01, I2 = 0%, P = 0.0003), ApoB/ApoA1 (MD = −0.02, 95% CI: −0.04, −0.00, I2 = 0%, P = 0.02) and insulin (MD = −12.45 pmol/L, 95% CI: −19.61, −5.29, I2 = 37%, P = 0.0007) levels, and increased fasting glucose (MD = 0.16 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.27, I2 = 27%, P = 0.003) levels. However, the differences in body weight and body composition between rapeseed oil and control oils were not significant. In a word, rapeseed oil is effective in reducing LDL-C, ApoB and ApoB/ApoA1 levels in people with overweight and obesity, which is helpful in preventing and reducing the risk of atherosclerosis. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022333436. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Muscone is a chemical monomer derived from musk. Although many studies have confirmed the cardioprotective effects of muscone, the effects of muscone on cardiac hypertrophy and its potential mechanisms are unclear.The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of muscone on angiotensin (Ang) II-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Methods and results: In the present study, we found for the first time that muscone exerted inhibitory effects on Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac injury in mice. Cardiac function was analyzed by echocardiography measurement, and the degree of cardiac fibrosis was determined by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Masson trichrome staining and western blot assay. Secondly, qRT-PCR experiment showed that muscone attenuated cardiac injury by reducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoting the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, western blot analysis found that muscone exerted cardio-protective effects by inhibiting phosphorylation of key proteins in the STAT3, MAPK and TGF-β/SMAD pathways. In addition, CCK-8 and determination of serum biochemical indexes showed that no significant toxicity or side effects of muscone on normal cells and organs. Conclusions: Muscone could attenuate Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy, in part, by inhibiting the STAT3, MAPK, and TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Muscone is a chemical monomer derived from musk. Although many studies have confirmed the cardioprotective effects of muscone, the effects of muscone on cardiac hypertrophy and its potential mechanisms are unclear.The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of muscone on angiotensin (Ang) II-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Methods and results: In the present study, we found for the first time that muscone exerted inhibitory effects on Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac injury in mice. Cardiac function was analyzed by echocardiography measurement, and the degree of cardiac fibrosis was determined by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Masson trichrome staining and western blot assay. Secondly, qRT-PCR experiment showed that muscone attenuated cardiac injury by reducing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoting the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, western blot analysis found that muscone exerted cardio-protective effects by inhibiting phosphorylation of key proteins in the STAT3, MAPK and TGF-β/SMAD pathways. In addition, CCK-8 and determination of serum biochemical indexes showed that no significant toxicity or side effects of muscone on normal cells and organs. Conclusions: Muscone could attenuate Ang II-induced cardiac hypertrophy, in part, by inhibiting the STAT3, MAPK, and TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercise is an effective non-pharmacological strategy for ameliorating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the underlying mechanism needs further investigation. Cysteine dioxygenase type 1 (Cdo1) is a key enzyme for cysteine catabolism that is enriched in liver, whose role in NAFLD remains poorly understood. Here, we show that exercise induces the expression of hepatic Cdo1 via the cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway. Hepatocyte-specific knockout of Cdo1 (Cdo1LKO) decreases basal metabolic rate of the mice and impairs the effect of exercise against NAFLD, whereas hepatocyte-specific overexpression of Cdo1 (Cdo1LTG) increases basal metabolic rate of the mice and synergizes with exercise to ameliorate NAFLD. Mechanistically, Cdo1 tethers Camkk2 to AMPK by interacting with both of them, thereby activating AMPK signaling. This promotes fatty acid oxidation and mitochondrial biogenesis in hepatocytes to attenuate hepatosteatosis. Therefore, by promoting hepatic Camkk2-AMPK signaling pathway, Cdo1 acts as an important downstream effector of exercise to combat against NAFLD. The role of Cdo1 in exercise-mediated metabolic health and NAFLD is not clear. Here, the authors show that hepatic Cdo1 tethers Camkk2 to AMPK by interacting with both of them, thereby activating AMPK signaling to blunt hepatosteatosis and to promote exercise-mediated alleviation of NAFLD in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyoscyamine and scopolamine (HS), two valuable tropane alkaloids of significant medicinal importance, are found in multiple distantly related lineages within the Solanaceae family. Here we sequence the genomes of three representative species that produce HS from these lineages, and one species that does not produce HS. Our analysis reveals a shared biosynthetic pathway responsible for HS production in the three HS-producing species. We observe a high level of gene collinearity related to HS synthesis across the family in both types of species. By introducing gain-of-function and loss-of-function mutations at key sites, we confirm the reduced/lost or re-activated functions of critical genes involved in HS synthesis in both types of species, respectively. These findings indicate independent and repeated losses of the HS biosynthesis pathway since its origin in the ancestral lineage. Our results hold promise for potential future applications in the artificial engineering of HS biosynthesis in Solanaceae crops. Hyoscyamine and scopolamine (HS) are two tropane alkaloids with medicinal significance produced by distantly related lineages in the Solanaceae family. Here, the authors assemble the genome of three HS-producing and one non-HS-producing species within Solanaceae, and reveal the evolution of the biosynthetic pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series analysis is the process of exploring and analyzing past trends to predict future events for any given time interval. Powered by recent advances in convolutional, recurrent and self-attention mechanisms, many deep learning methods have facilitated the investigation of time series forecasting. However, despite their effectiveness, it is doubtful that future trends can be accurately predicted due to the intricate temporal irregularities. Plus, time series frequently exhibit features at various time scales, but existing approaches do not adequately take this into account. To address above issues, this paper offers a new Multi-scale Adaptive attention-based Time-Variant neural Networks (MATVN) for multi-step ahead time series forecasting. Specifically, we contribute a novel framework capable of capturing irregular dynamic behaviors observed in temporal data over time with a Time-Variant architecture. Furthermore, a newly proposed Multi-scale Multi-head Adaptive attention module is introduced into the Time-Variant architecture to encode temporal dependencies from various pre-defined scale-aware ranges. Additionally, we endow the proposed module with more flexible individual representation learning and scale-aware attention scopes for each token to better capture multi-scale temporal patterns by designing a new Adaptive Window-aware Mask strategy. Experimental results on the vast majority of application scenarios, including climatology and energy consumption, demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms a lot of recent state-of-the-art methods in multi-step time series forecasting tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question-asking is essential for reasoning, understanding, and investigating scientific problems within and beyond traditional classrooms. Nevertheless, questions generated in formal and informal learning environments can be infrequent and unsophisticated. This study explores museum visitors' question-asking quality by considering their interactions with two different modes of a question-asking mobile app (Ask or Game Mode) in two different museum environments (linear non-interactive or non-linear interactive exhibits). Results showed that visitors' question-asking quality was influenced by app modes and by museum environments. Specifically, we found that visitors' question-asking quality was significantly higher when using the gamified version of the app (Game Mode) compared to a non-gamified version (Ask Mode) in a linear non-interactive exhibit. Findings also revealed that question-asking performance could be significantly influenced by instrumental factors (such as app performance in answering questions) and socio-contextual factors (such as visitor group inquiry frequency). The study provides fundamental and comprehensive insights for designing active learning environments by considering the influential factors of question-asking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessment of the patient's respiratory effort is essential during assisted ventilation. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of airway pressure (Paw)-based indices to detect potential injurious inspiratory effort during pressure support (PS) ventilation. Methods: In this prospective diagnostic accuracy study conducted in four ICUs in two academic hospitals, 28 adult acute respiratory failure patients undergoing PS ventilation were enrolled. A downward PS titration was conducted from 20 cmH2O to 2 cmH2O at a 2 cmH2O interval. By performing an end-expiratory airway occlusion maneuver, the negative Paw generated during the first 100 ms (P0.1) and the maximal negative swing of Paw (∆Pocc) were measured. After an end-inspiratory airway occlusion, Paw reached a plateau, and the magnitude of change in plateau from peak Paw was measured as pressure muscle index (PMI). Esophageal pressure was monitored and inspiratory muscle pressure (Pmus) and Pmus–time product per minute (PTPmus/min) were used as the reference standard for the patient's effort. High and low effort was defined as Pmus > 10 and < 5 cmH2O, or PTPmus/min > 200 and < 50 cmH2O s min−1, respectively. Results: A total of 246 levels of PS were tested. The low inspiratory effort was diagnosed in 145 (59.0%) and 136 (55.3%) PS levels using respective Pmus and PTPmus/min criterion. The receiver operating characteristic area of the three Paw-based indices by the respective two criteria ranged from 0.87 to 0.95, and balanced sensitivity (0.83–0.96), specificity (0.74–0.88), and positive (0.80–0.91) and negative predictive values (0.78–0.94) were obtained. The high effort was diagnosed in 34 (13.8%) and 17 (6.9%) support levels using Pmus and PTPmus/min criterion, respectively. High receiver operating characteristic areas of the three Paw-based indices by the two criteria were found (0.93–0.95). A high sensitivity (0.80–1.00) and negative predictive value (0.97–1.00) were found with a low positive predictive value (0.23–0.64). Conclusions: By performing simple airway occlusion maneuvers, the Paw-based indices could be reliably used to detect low inspiratory efforts. Non-invasive and easily accessible characteristics support their potential bedside use for avoiding over-assistance. More evaluation of their performance is required in cohorts with high effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hyperhomocysteinemia is a common metabolic disorder that imposes major adverse health consequences. Reducing homocysteine levels, however, is not always effective against hyperhomocysteinemia‐associated pathologies. Herein, we report the potential roles of methionyl‐tRNA synthetase (MARS)‐generated homocysteine signals in neural tube defects (NTDs) and congenital heart defects (CHDs). Increased copy numbers of MARS and/or MARS2 were detected in NTD and CHD patients. MARSs sense homocysteine and transmit its signal by inducing protein lysine (N)‐homocysteinylation. Here, we identified hundreds of novel N‐homocysteinylated proteins. N‐homocysteinylation of superoxide dismutases (SOD1/2) provided new mechanistic insights for homocysteine‐induced oxidative stress, apoptosis and Wnt signalling deregulation. Elevated MARS expression in developing and proliferating cells sensitizes them to the effects of homocysteine. Targeting MARSs using the homocysteine analogue acetyl homocysteine thioether (AHT) reversed MARS efficacy. AHT lowered NTD and CHD onsets in retinoic acid‐induced and hyperhomocysteinemia‐induced animal models without affecting homocysteine levels. We provide genetic and biochemical evidence to show that MARSs are previously overlooked genetic determinants and key pathological factors of hyperhomocysteinemia, and suggest that MARS inhibition represents an important medicinal approach for controlling hyperhomocysteinemia‐associated diseases.

The impact of weather variability and air pollutants on tuberculosis (TB) has been a research hotspot. Previous studies have mostly been limited to a certain area or with a small sample size of cases, and multi-scale systematic studies are lacking. In this study, 14,816,329 TB cases were collected from 31 provinces in China between 2004 and 2018 to estimate the association between TB risk and meteorological factors and air pollutants using a two-stage time-series analysis. The impact and lagged time of meteorological factors and air pollutants on TB risk varied greatly in different provinces and regions. Overall cumulative exposure–response summary associations across 31 provinces suggested that high monthly mean relative humidity (RH) (66.8–82.4%, percentile56-100 (P56–100)), rainfall (316.5–331.1 mm, P96–100), PM2.5 exposure concentration (93.3–145.0 μg/m3, P58–100), and low monthly mean wind speed (1.6–2.1 m/s, P0–38) increased the risk of TB incidence, with a relative risk (RR) of 1.10 (95% CI: 1.04–1.16), 1.10 (95% CI: 1.03–1.16), 2.08 (95% CI: 1.18–3.65), and 2.06 (95% CI: 1.27–3.33), and attributable risk percent (AR%) of 9%, 9%, 52%, and 51%, respectively. Conversely, high monthly average wind speed (2.3–2.9 m/s, P54–100) and mean temperature (20.2–25.3 °C, P79–96), and low monthly average rainfall (2.4–25.2 mm, P0–7) and concentration of SO2 (8.1–21.2 μg/m3, P0-16) exposure decreased the risk of TB incidence, with an overall cumulative RR of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87–0.98), 0.74 (95% CI: 0.59–0.94), 0.87 (95% CI: 0.79–0.95), and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.56–0.93), respectively. Our study provided insights into future planning of public health interventions for TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniform and well-aligned organic semiconductor single crystals (OSSCs) are critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic device applications due to their long-range order and low defect density. However, it is still challenging to fabricate uniform and well-aligned OSSCs by an efficient and facile method. Here, we report a vapor-induced coating method to prepare uniform organic semiconductor stripe single crystals with well-aligned orientation. The coating velocity and solution concentration are important to control the stripe crystals' morphology, which influence the triple-phase contact line dewetting behavior and then change the mass transport of the meniscus. Insufficient solute supply causes the generation of dendritic crystals. Uniform stripe single crystals of high quality and pure orientation are prepared in the condition of a sufficient and suitable solute supply. Moreover, the electronic and optoelectronic properties are evaluated. Notably, the polarization-sensitive photodetectors based on the uniform stripe crystals exhibit high polarization sensitivity and its dichroic ratio of photocurrent is 1.98. This method is efficient for the preparation of various high-quality and uniform organic semiconductor stripe single crystals, opening an opportunity for high-performance organic functional devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four molecular electrocatalysts based on cobalt complexes, CoT(X)PP (X = H (1), OH (2), CN (3), COOH (4)), were prepared from meso-tetra-p-X-phenylporphin (H2T(X)PP, X = H, OH, CN, COOH) by reaction with cobalt acetate to be used for electrolytic proton or water reduction. The electrochemical properties and the corresponding catalytic activities of these four catalysts were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Controlled potential electrolysis with gas chromatography analysis confirmed that the turn-over frequencies (TOF) per mol of catalyst per hour were 42.4, 38.6, 55.5, and 70.1 mol H2 at an overpotential of 941.6 mV (in DMF) in the acetic acid solution containing catalyst. In neutral buffered aqueous solution (pH 7.0), these four molecular catalysts had TOF per mol of catalyst per hour of 352.53, 313.7, 473.4, and 714.6 mol H2, respectively, with an overpotential of 837.6 mV, indicating that complex 4 had better activity than complexes 1, 2, and 3. The Faraday efficiencies of complexes 1-4 were 99.1, 99.6, 100.4, and 99.0% at 72 h of consecutive reduction on a glassy carbon electrode, respectively. These results indicate that the electronic properties of the ligands play a crucial role in determining the catalytic activity of the cobalt complex and are consistent with the phenomenon that the catalytic activity of the benzene porphyrins is significantly increased in the presence of electron-withdrawing groups, and the CoT(COOH)PP is the most active catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the safety and efficacy of ultrasound-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of refractory non-nodular hyperthyroidism. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study in 9 patients with refractory non-nodular hyperthyroidism (2 males, 7 females; median age, range, 36 years, 14–55 years) who underwent RFA between August 2018 and September 2020. The incidence of post-procedural complications, changes in thyroid volume, thyroid function and the use and dosages of anti-thyroid drugs, were compared pre- and post-RFA. Results: All patients completed the procedure successfully, and no serious complications occurred. Three months after ablation, thyroid volumes were significantly decreased with the mean volumes of the right and left lobes reduced to 45.6% (10.9 ± 2.2 ml/23.9 ± 7.2 ml, p < 0.001) and 50.2% (10.8 ± 7.4 ml/21.5 ± 11.4 ml, p = 0.001) of the volumes within 1 week after ablation. The thyroid function was gradually improved in all patients. At 3 months post-ablation, the levels of FT3 and FT4 were returned to the normal range (FT3, 4.9 ± 1.6 pmol/L vs. 8.7 ± 4.2 pmol/L, p = 0.009; FT4, 13.1 ± 7.2 pmol/L vs. 25.9 ± 12.6 pmol/L, p = 0.038), the TR-Ab level was significantly lower (4.8 ± 3.9 vs. 16.5 ± 16.4 IU/L, p = 0.027), and the TSH level was significantly higher (0.76 ± 0.88 vs. 0.03 ± 0.06, p = 0.031) than that before-ablation. Additionally, three months after RFA, the anti-thyroid medication dosages were reduced to 31.25% compared to baseline (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided RFA in the treatment of refractory non-nodular hyperthyroidism was safe and effective in this small group of patients with limited follow-up. Further studies with larger cohorts and longer follow-up are needed to validate this potential new application of thyroid thermal ablation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) is a demersal economic species widely distributed in China's coastal regions. In order to determine the differences between wild (wild group) and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS)-farmed (RAS group) black rockfish, several parameters affecting quality were evaluated, such as proximal, texture, amino acids, fatty acids, muscle cellularity, and the expression of muscle growth-related genes. The results showed that the crude lipid, amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and monosaturated fatty acids (MUFA) contents of RAS group were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than of wild group. Hardness, springiness, chewiness, muscle fiber diameter, cross-sectional area, crude protein, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contents of wild group were significantly higher than of RAS group (P < 0.05). The muscle fiber density showed a positive and significant correlation with hardness, gumminess, springiness, and chewiness, whereas muscle fiber diameter showed a negative correlation. Expression of muscle growth-related genes including myogenic differentiation antigen (MyoD) and myosin heavy chain (MYH) in wild group was significantly higher than in RAS group. Moreover, MyoD and MYH expression was positively correlated with both muscle fiber density and cross-sectional area, and negatively correlated with fiber diameter, which could be a useful indicator for predicting flesh textural properties. It can be concluded that the exogenous and endogenous factors may determine variations of nutrient composition, flesh quality parameters, and muscle growth patterns of wild and RAS-farmed black rockfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Postoperative adjuvant trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is regarded as a common strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients at a high risk of recurrence. However, there are currently no clinically available biomarkers to predict adjuvant TACE response. Vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters (VETC) can be used as an independent predictor of HCC prognosis. In this study, we aimed to explore whether the VETC pattern could predict adjuvant TACE benefit. Methods: Vascular pattern and HIF-1α expression were detected in immunohistochemistry. The survival benefit of adjuvant TACE therapy for patients with or without VETC pattern (VETC+ /VETC−) was evaluated. Results: The adjuvant TACE therapy obviously improved the TTR and OS in VETC+ patients, while adjuvant TACE therapy could not benefit from VETC− patients. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that adjuvant TACE therapy significantly improved the TTR and OS in VETC+ patients, but not in VETC- patients. In addition, the VETC+ , but not VETC− , patients could benefit from adjuvant TACE therapy in patients with high-risk factors of vascular invasion, larger tumor or multiple tumor. The mechanistic investigations revealed that the favorable efficacy of adjuvant TACE on VETC+ patients, but not VETC− ones, may be not due to the activation of HIF-1α pathway. Conclusion: The VETC pattern may represent a novel and reliable factor for selecting HCC patients who may benefit from adjuvant TACE therapy, and the combination of VETC pattern and tumor characteristics may help stratify patients' outcomes and responses to adjuvant TACE therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a commercial artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted ultrasonography (US) for thyroid nodules and to validate its value in real-world medical practice. Materials and methods: From March 2021 to July 2021, 236 consecutive patients with 312 suspicious thyroid nodules were prospectively enrolled in this study. One experienced radiologist performed US examinations with a real-time AI system (S-Detect). US images and AI reports of the nodules were recorded. Nine residents and three senior radiologists were invited to make a "benign" or "malignant" diagnosis based on recorded US images without knowing the AI reports. After referring to AI reports, the diagnosis was made again. The diagnostic performance of AI, residents, and senior radiologists with and without AI reports were analyzed. Results: The sensitivity, accuracy, and AUC of the AI system were 0.95, 0.84, and 0.753, respectively, and were not statistically different from those of the experienced radiologists, but were superior to those of the residents (all p < 0.01). The AI-assisted resident strategy significantly improved the accuracy and sensitivity for nodules ≤ 1.5 cm (all p < 0.01), while reducing the unnecessary biopsy rate by up to 27.7% for nodules > 1.5 cm (p = 0.034). Conclusions: The AI system achieved performance, for cancer diagnosis, comparable to that of an average senior thyroid radiologist. The AI-assisted strategy can significantly improve the overall diagnostic performance for less-experienced radiologists, while increasing the discovery of thyroid cancer ≤ 1.5 cm and reducing unnecessary biopsies for nodules > 1.5 cm in real-world medical practice. Key Points: • The AI system reached a senior radiologist-like level in the evaluation of thyroid cancer and could significantly improve the overall diagnostic performance of residents. • The AI-assisted strategy significantly improved ≤ 1.5 cm thyroid cancer screening AUC, accuracy, and sensitivity of the residents, leading to an increased detection of thyroid cancer while maintaining a comparable specificity to that of radiologists alone. • The AI-assisted strategy significantly reduced the unnecessary biopsy rate for thyroid nodules > 1.5 cm by the residents, while maintaining a comparable sensitivity to that of radiologists alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Minimally invasive therapies are gaining interest because of the indolence and excellent prognosis of low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for low-risk PTC and to determine the effects of ablation on subsequent surgical management. Methods: A medical record review was conducted including patients with low-risk PTC who underwent surgery after RFA from July 2015 to July 2021. Demographic characteristics, tumor characteristics, ablation procedures, surgical findings, and pathological changes were reviewed for all patients. The primary outcomes were surgical and pathological changes in post-ablation patients. Results: Of the 10 patients with 11 PTCs, 9 (90%) were women; the median (SD) patient age was 41.5 (8.2) years. The maximum diameter range of PTCs was 3.0−12.0 mm. All 10 patients underwent rigorous RFA procedure involving a four-step approach, and had received surgical management. Intraoperatively, no patients had muscle and nerve injuries, and mild adhesion of the post-ablation lesions with the anterior cervical muscle was observed in two cases. Histopathologically, no residual PTCs were observed in the ablated areas in all patients. Central lymph node metastasis (LNM) was found in three (30.0%, pN1a). Occult PTCs were observed in three cases (30.0%). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that low-risk small PTCs can be completely treated with rigorous RFA, which does not affect subsequent surgical management, if necessary. RFA may be a treatment option, but occult PTCs and clinically negative LNMs may be overlooked. Long-term follow-up data are necessary to further identify its efficacy. Key points: • RFA can completely treat low-risk small PTC. • RFA does not affect the subsequent surgical management if necessary. • Because occult PTCs and clinically negative LNMs may be overlooked by RFA, long-term follow-up data are necessary to further identify its efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the beneficial dietary effects of mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) on sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) and the optimum dietary level of MOS. Juvenile sea cucumbers (initial mean weight of 1.50 ± 0.00 g, N = 225) were fed once daily for 60 days in tanks with aerated seawater (3 tanks/diet; 15 inds/tank) on feeds supplemented with 0 g/kg (M0), 4 g/kg (M1), 8 g/kg (M2), 12 g/kg (M3), and 16 g/kg (M4) MOS. The results showed that 4 g/kg of MOS in feeds significantly improved the growth performance of sea cucumber. There was a positive linear and quadratic correlation between the total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity and dietary MOS level (linear, P = 0.043, R2 = 0.279; quadratic, P = 0.009, R2 = 0.545). Compared with the control group, 8 g/kg MOS significantly increased the protease (PRO) and amylase (AMS) activities (P < 0.05). Quadratic regression was observed between PRO and dietary MOS level (P = 0.022, R2 = 0.470). Moreover, M2 diets significantly increased the muscular thickness and width of mucosal folds of sea cucumber than in the M0 group (P < 0.05). Base on the quadratic regression between muscular thickness and dietary MOS level was also observed , the optimal level of MOS for intestinal muscular thickness 8 g/kg. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the diversity and relative abundance of microorganisms. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes represented the most abundant phyla in each sample. There was a positive correlation between the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) (P = 0.015, R2 = 0.503) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) (HSP90a: P = 0.016, R2 = 0.496; HSP90b (linear, P = 0.049, R2 = 0.266; quadratic, P = 0.015, R2 = 0.505)) with dietary MOS levels. However, a negative correlation was observed for the expression of major yolk protein (MYP) and proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin 9 (PCSK9) and dietary MOS levels. The present results showed that dietary MOS supplementation enhanced the antioxidant capacity and immunity, increased the abundance and diversity of intestinal microbiota, improved intestinal morphology, and enhanced thermal stress tolerance of sea cucumber. The optimal dietary MOS concentration was 4−8 g/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wireless power transfer system for targeted therapy microrobots has been received more attention recently. However, it usually fails to work due to weak coupling caused by misalignment in position and angle between the transmitting coil and the receiving coil. It will not be tolerated even if it occurs at certain angles. To address this issue, a three-dimensional hybrid transmitting coil, combining a fixed Helmholtz coil pair and an adjustable curved rectangular coil pair, is proposed. Based on the novel structure, the proposed hybrid transmitting coil could produce a three-dimensional magnetic field, realizing well coupled with the receiving coil embedded on the microrobot at any posture. To verify the efficiency and practical applicability of the transmitting coil proposed in this paper, we build the coil model via both analytical calculation and simulation analysis. Finally, the designed hybrid transmitting coil is also implemented in the wireless power transfer system with a receiving coil. The magnetic field distribution indicates that a large and uniform magnetic field could be obtained. The experimental results demonstrate that in the central zone of the transmitting coil, 300 × 200 mm, the magnetic field distribution is uniform, which can meet the requirements of the microrobot system working area. And the maximum output efficiency and power can be reached at 5% and 1001 mW, respectively. What's more, the proposed hybrid transmitting coil has solved the weak coupling problem due to misalignment in position and angle with which the electromagnetic energy decays quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Z-scheme TiO2/Bi2O3-g-C3N4 ternary heterojunction photocatalyst was successfully constructed by sol–gel method and solvothermal method. The structure, morphology, chemical composition, optical properties of photocatalyst were characterized by XRD, TEM(HRTEM), SAED, XPS, EDX, UV–vis, FTIR, PL, EIS. And the photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst was studied by using RhB as a simulated organic pollutant. The results show that the prepared ternary heterojunction photocatalyst has high photocatalytic activity under both ultraviolet light and visible light, and the degradation rate reaches 100% in 100 min. This paper also proposes a possible Z-scheme mechanism of a ternary heterojunction photocatalyst to explain the increased photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the clean and efficient resource utilization of sewage sludge (SS) and coal slime (CS), single-component and coupled fuels were analyzed. The micro-characteristics of combustion products were analyzed using multiple characterization means. The structure–activity relationship between the physicochemical properties and the mercury emission characteristics of SS and CS during the complex and changeable co-combustion process was established. The influence of coupling multiparameter conditions on the mercury emission process was revealed along with the combustion characteristics and evolution process using a distributed activation energy model. The results showed that α-HgS, HgSO4 and HgO with α-type hexagonal structures are the main forms of inorganic mercury compounds contained in SS and CS. The pyrolysis and combustion process of the sample can be divided into three stages. In the SS combustion process, the activation energy increases first and then decreases with increasing conversion rate α, and the activation energy of CS shows a U shaped trend distribution. For the influence of O2 on the combustion and mercury emission process, a critical concentration exists between O2 concentrations of 5% and 7%, which dominates the pyrolysis and heterogeneous combustion of carbonaceous substances and volatiles. When the temperature is above 750 °C, the Boudouard gasification reaction occurs directly between CO2 and the sample in the semicoke state, promoting combustion and mercury emission processes. Due to the strong interaction between the SS and CS, the mercury emission during the co-combustion process of the coupled fuel is inhibited and promoted at 400–500 °C and 500–600 °C, respectively. The iron mineral components and fixed carbon in the sample play a catalytic role during the decomposition process of mercury-containing compounds that are difficult to decompose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the value of a questionnaire as a screening tool for benign paroxysmal position vertigo (BPPV). Study design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Tertiary care centers. Methods: A total of 520 vertigo adults completed the questionnaire before the diagnosis was confirmed. After vestibular function examination and other diagnostic examination, the diagnosis of all participants was confirmed by experts. By validating valuable items from the questionnaire with 47 items, a new questionnaire of 5 items was formed to quickly diagnose BPPV. The internal consistency of the new questionnaire and validity were evaluated. The correlation between the score obtained from the new questionnaire and diagnosis was investigated. The mean score was also compared between groups with and without BPPV and diagnostic precision measures were calculated. Results: 520 vertigo participants answered all the question completely and BPPV was identified in 138 participants (26.5%). The responses to questionnaire revealed preferable reproducibility (r = 0.898, P < 0.05) and internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.702) as well as the validity (Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin, KMO = 0.731). The higher the individual score, the more likely to be BPPV (B = 2.082; P < 0.05). The mean score of answers was greater in the group with a clinical diagnosis of BPPV compared to those without BPPV (F = 58.459, P < 0.05). The sensitivity of the screening tool was 92.8% and specificity was 88.5%, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.946 (95% confidence interval 0.926–0.965; P < 0.05). Conclusion: The questionnaire proved to be of great value to screen for individuals with possible BPPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To build three prognostic models using radiomics analysis of the hemorrhagic lesions, clinical variables, and their combination, to predict the outcome of stroke patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH). Materials and methods: Eighty-three sICH patients were included. Among them, 40 patients (48.2%) had poor prognosis with modified Rankin scale (mRS) of 5 and 6 at discharge, and the prognostic model was built to differentiate mRS ≤ 4 vs. 5 + 6. The region of interest (ROI) of intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH) and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were separately segmented. Features were extracted using PyRadiomics, and the support vector machine was applied to select features and build radiomics models based on IPH and IPH + IVH. The clinical models were built using multivariate logistic regression, and then the radiomics scores were combined with clinical variables to build the combined model. Results: When using IPH, the AUC for radiomics, clinical, and combined model was 0.78, 0.82, and 0.87, respectively. When using IPH + IVH, the AUC was increased to 0.80, 0.84, and 0.90, respectively. The combined model had a significantly improved AUC compared to the radiomics by DeLong test. A clinical prognostic model based on the ICH score of 0–1 only achieved AUC of 0.71. Conclusions: The combined model using the radiomics score derived from IPH + IVH and the clinical factors could achieve a high accuracy in prediction of sICH patients with poor outcome, which may be used to assist in making the decision about the optimal care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The osteonecrotic area of steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (SANFH) is a hypoxic microenvironment that leads to apoptosis of transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we explore the mechanism of hypoxic-induced apoptosis of BMSCs, and use the mechanism to improve the transplantation efficacy of BMSCs. Our results show that the long non-coding RNA AABR07053481 (LncAABR07053481) is downregulated in BMSCs and closely related to the degree of hypoxia. Overexpression of LncAABR07053481 could increase the survival rate of BMSCs. Further exploration of the downstream target gene indicates that LncAABR07053481 acts as a molecular "sponge" of miR-664-2-5p to relieve the silencing effect of miR-664-2-5p on the target gene Notch1. Importantly, the survival rate of BMSCs overexpressing LncAABR07053481 is significantly improved after transplantation, and the repair effect of BMSCs in the osteonecrotic area is also improved. This study reveal the mechanism by which LncAABR07053481 inhibits hypoxia-induced apoptosis of BMSCs by regulating the miR-664-2-5p/Notch1 pathway and its therapeutic effect on SANFH. Long non-coding RNA AABR07053481 is shown to inhibit hypoxia-induced apoptosis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in rats by regulating the miR-664-2-5p/Notch1 pathway, promote the repair efficacy of BMSCs on early steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to rapidly and nondestructively detect fruit quality has always been a hot topic in fruit agriculture. In this paper, the quality detection of cream strawberry (CS) and rabbit-eye blueberry (RB) was studied by using visible-near infrared spectroscopy. The preprocessing methods such as de-trending, moving average smoothing, standard normal variable and baseline correction are used to reduce spectral data errors. The competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), successive projection algorithm (SPA) and the combination of the two algorithms (CARS+SPA) were used to reduce the data dimension. A partial least squares regression was used to establish the prediction model. The results showed that the characteristic wavelength extracted by CARS+SPA algorithm was the most suitable for predicting the contents of soluble solids content (SSC), total acid (TA), and vitamin C (VC) in CS and RB, and the determination coefficients were 0.96, 0.91, 0.91 and 0.93, 0.91, respectively. The relative percent deviation values of the prediction set were 4.47, 3.28, 3.69 and 3.74, 3.57, respectively. The correlation coefficients between the predicted value and the measured value of SSC, TA and VC content were 0.97, 0.92, 0.97 and 0.96, 0.95, respectively, which indicates that the established prediction model is very stable and reliable. This study can provide a theoretical basis for effectively solving the problem of rapid quality detection of multi-variety fruits and the development of multi-variety fruits quality detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical role of epigenetic modification of histones in maintaining the normal function of the nervous system has attracted increasing attention. Among these modifications, the level of histone acetylation, modulated by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), is essential in regulating gene expression. In recent years, the research progress on the function of HDACs in retinal development and disease has advanced remarkably, while that regarding HATs remains to be investigated. Here, we overview the roles of HATs and HDACs in regulating the development of diverse retinal cells, including retinal progenitor cells, photoreceptor cells, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, and Müller glial cells. The effects of HATs and HDACs on the progression of various retinal diseases are also discussed with the highlight of the proof-of-concept research regarding the application of available HDAC inhibitors in treating retinal diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) is routinely included in the prostate MRI protocol for a long time; its role has been questioned. It provides rich spatial and temporal information. However, the contained information cannot be fully extracted in radiologists' visual evaluation. More sophisticated computer algorithms are needed to extract the higher-order information. The purpose of this study was to apply a new deep learning algorithm, the bi-directional convolutional long short-term memory (CLSTM) network, and the radiomics analysis for differential diagnosis of PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). To systematically investigate the optimal amount of peritumoral tissue for improving diagnosis, a total of 9 ROIs were delineated by using 3 different methods. The results showed that bi-directional CLSTM with ± 20% region growing peritumoral ROI achieved the mean AUC of 0.89, better than the mean AUC of 0.84 by using the tumor alone without any peritumoral tissue (p = 0.25, not significant). For all 9 ROIs, deep learning had higher AUC than radiomics, but only reaching the significant difference for ± 20% region growing peritumoral ROI (0.89 vs. 0.79, p = 0.04). In conclusion, the kinetic information extracted from DCE-MRI using bi-directional CLSTM may provide helpful supplementary information for diagnosis of PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme learning machine has become a significant learning methodology due to its efficiency. However, extreme learning machine may lead to overfitting since it is highly sensitive to outliers. In this paper, a novel extreme learning machine called the C-loss-based doubly regularized extreme learning machine is presented to handle dimensionality reduction and overfitting problems. The proposed algorithm benefits from both L1 norm and L2 norm and replaces the square loss function with a C-loss function. And the C-loss-based doubly regularized extreme learning machine can complete the feature selection and the training processes simultaneously. Additionally, it can also decrease noise or irrelevant information of data to reduce dimensionality. To show the efficiency in dimension reduction, we test it on the Swiss Roll dataset and obtain high efficiency and stable performance. The experimental results on different types of artificial datasets and benchmark datasets show that the proposed method achieves much better regression results and faster training speed than other compared methods. Performance analysis also shows it significantly decreases the training time, solves the problem of overfitting, and improves generalization ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]