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Background and Aim: Clinical work has revealed that hepatectomy for resectable ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) has a relatively high percentage of positive resection margins found in postoperative pathology. It is necessary to evaluate the risk factors associated with R1 resection in patients undergoing hepatectomy for rHCC. Methods: A total of 408 patients with resectable rHCC originating from three centers undergoing surgery from January 2012 to January 2020 were consecutively enrolled in the study to study the prognostic impact of R1 resection using Kaplan–Meier plotting of survival curves. One center with 280 served as the training group, and the other two centers served as the validation group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis screened for variables affecting R1 and developed prediction models, and the models were tested in the validation cohort using the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and calibration curves. Results: The prognosis of rHCC patients with positive cut margins was worse than that of patients with R0 resection. Risk factors for R1 resection were tumor max length (OR = 2.668 [1.161–6.131]), microvascular invasion (MVI) (OR = 3.655 [1.766–7.566]), times of hepatic inflow occlusion (1/0:OR = 2.213 [1.113–4.399]; 2/0:OR = 5.723 [2.010–8.289]) and timing of hepatectomy (OR = 5.284 [2.394–9.661]), using tumor max length, times of HIO, and timing of hepatectomy to construct the nomogram, the area under the curve of the model was 0.810 (0.781–0.842) and 0.782 (0.752–0.805) in the training and validation groups, respectively, and the calibration curve of the model was basically on the 45° line. Conclusions: This study constructs a clinical model to predict R1 resection after hepatectomy for resectable rHCC, which can be used to better plan perioperative strategies for the incidence of R1 resection during hepatectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of currently clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) for patients with early-stage HCC after surgery remains controversial. The purpose of this study is to understand the specific effect of CSPH on patients with early-stage (BCLC A stage) HCC after surgery. We collected data from 386 HCC patients treated at two centers from December 2009 to January 2017.224 patients (all treated by hepatectomy) were in BCLC stage A, of which, 122 had no CSPH, and 102 had CSPH. There were 162 patients in BCLC stage B (who underwent surgery, TACE, and conservative treatment). The prognosis of the CSPH and non-CSPH groups in BCLC stage A was compared using the Kaplan-Meier method. We used multivariate Cox regression to analyze prognostic factors in patients in BCLC stage A and compared the prognosis of the two groups with the BCLC stage B group. Among the 224 BCLC stage A patients after surgery, the overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of the CSPH group were worse than those of the non-CSPH group (P < 0.001, HR = 2.340[1.554–3.523]; P < 0.001, HR = 2.577[1.676–3.812]) The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model indicated that CSPH was an independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS in BCLC stage A patients. BCLC stage A patients with CSPH treated by hepatectomy had a comparable prognosis to BCLC B stage patients (P = 0.378), and the OS and RFS (P = 0.229; P = 0.077) in the CSPH (BCLC A) group were also comparable to BCLC stage B patients treated with surgery alone. CSPH can affect the surgical prognosis of early-stage (BCLC stage A) HCC. BCLC stage A patients with CSPH have a prognosis comparable to patients with BCLC stage B. An additional stage, such as the BCLC stage A-B, can be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) in patients undergoing low or ultra-low anterior resection (LAR) is a common problem and significantly impacts the quality of life. Patients with an ileostomy after LAR are more likely to develop LARS. However, there hasn't been a model predicting LARS occurrence in these patients. This study aims to construct a nomogram to predict the probability of LARS occurrence in patients with temporary ileostomy and guide preventive strategies before reversal. 168 patients undergoing LAR with ileostomy from one center were enrolled as the training cohort, and 134 patients of the same inclusion criteria from another center were enrolled as the validation cohort. The training cohort was screened for risk factors for major LARS using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. The nomogram was constructed using the filtered variables, the ROC curve was used to describe the model's discrimination, and the calibration was used to describe the accuracy. The optimal cut-off value for stoma closure time was 128 days. Three risk factors were identified using logistic regression analysis: preoperative radiotherapy (OR = 3.038, [95%CI 1.75–5.015], P = 0.005), stoma closure time (OR = 2.298, [95%CI 1.088–4.858], P = 0.029) and pN stage (OR = 1.739, [95%CI 1.235–3.980], P = 0.001). A nomogram was constructed based on these three variables and showed good performance predicting major LARS after stoma reversal. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.827 in the training group and 0.821 in the validation group; The calibration curve suggested good precision in both groups. This novel nomogram can accurately predict the probability of major LARS occurrence after ileostomy reversal for rectal cancer patients. This model can help screen ileostomy patients with high risks and guide individualized preventive strategies before stoma reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edwardsiella piscicida is an acute marine pathogen that causes severe damage to the aquaculture industry worldwide. The pathogenesis of E. piscicida is dependent mainly on the type III secretion system (T3SS) and type VI secretion system (T6SS), both of which are critically regulated by EsrB and EsrC. In this study, we revealed that fatty acids influence T3SS expression. Unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), but not saturated fatty acids (SFAs), directly interact with EsrC, which abolishes the function of EsrC and results in the turn-off of T3/T6SS. Moreover, during the in vivo colonization of E. piscicida , host fatty acids were observed to be transported into E. piscicida through FadL and to modulate the expression of T3/T6SS. Furthermore, the esrC R38G mutant blocked the interaction between EsrC and UFAs, leading to dramatic growth defects in DMEM and impaired colonization in HeLa cells and zebrafish. In conclusion, this study revealed that the interaction between UFAs and EsrC to turn off T3/T6SS expression is essential for E. piscicida infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) generally has a very poor prognosis and is currently classified as T4 in the tumor–node–metastasis (TNM) staging system. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the actual impact of rHCC, as well as the positive effect of hepatectomy in patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0/A rHCC. We enrolled 86 patients with rHCC after surgery and 526 patients with non-rHCC after surgery or transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan–Meier method to compare the postoperative prognosis of patients with rHCC with that of patients with non-rHCC. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify the risk factors affecting patient survival. BCLC stage 0/A rHCC treated with surgery had a worse prognosis than BCLC stage 0/A non-rHCC treated with surgery (overall survival [OS]: hazard ratio [HR] = 3.12 [2.24–4.34], P < 0.001; recurrence-free survival [RFS]: HR = 2.26 [1.65–3.09], P < 0.001). Rupture was an independent prognostic factor in patients with BCLC stage 0/A rHCC (OS: HR = 1.685 [1.416–2.006], P < 0.001; RFS: HR = 1.484 [1.267–1.737], P < 0.001), and patients with BCLC stage 0/A rHCC who underwent surgery had a comparable prognosis to patients with BCLC stage B HCC who underwent surgery or TACE (OS: P = 0.78). Patients classified as having BCLC stage 0/A rHCC can achieve comparable outcomes to patients with BCLC stage B HCC after hepatectomy. However, not all patients with rHCC should be classified as T4 in the TNM staging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine the association of atrial fibrillation (AF) with incident dementia in older veterans and the effect of anticoagulation on that association.Methods: Around 407,871 veterans aged ≥55 years receiving care from US Veterans Health Administration between August 2003 and September 2015 were included in our retrospective study. AF and incident dementia were determined according to ICD-9-CM codes. Logistic regressions with veterans grouped into high-dimensional propensity scores deciles were used, and a mediation analysis was employed to examine the extent of cardio/cerebrovascular diseases that may also account for that association.Results: AF was associated with greater dementia risk (odds ratio = 1.14; 95% confidence interval 1.07-1.22), partially mediated by cardio/cerebrovascular disease. Among veterans with AF taking anticoagulants, the risk of dementia was 44% higher (odds ratio =1.44; 95% CI 1.27-1.63) compared to those without anticoagulants, likely related to AF severity.Conclusion: Our findings underscore the importance of considering cognitive function in the management of AF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structured measurements have been widely used to measure the impact of scholarly entities based on scholarly networks. Existing methods use heterogeneous scholarly networks and the PageRank algorithm to quantify the impact of scientific collaboration. However, by ignoring important higher-order relationships in citation networks, the impact of scientific collaboration is quantified by relying on first-order relationships, which leads to indistinguishable self-citations. In this paper, to address these shortcomings, we propose a Motif-based Scientific Collaboration Impact Rank framework, named as MSCIRank, which leverages the triangular motifs from the reconstructed collaboration-citation networks and integrates the first-order and higher-order relationships in the PageRank algorithm to quantify the impact of scientific collaboration and scholarly papers. MSCIRank consists of two models, i,e, linear and non-linear. Extensive experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of MSCIRank. The experimental results show that MSCIRank is better than SCIRank in identifying Nobel Prize papers in terms of Recall. The MSCIRank model can weaken or strengthen the impact of self-citation. Linear MSCIRank is consistent with Pareto's principle, while non-linear MSCIRank is inconsistent. In addition, the average impact of pairs of co-authors with high impact in the linear MSCIRank is much higher than that in the non-linear MSCIRank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, anisotropy in stress relaxation aging (SRA) behavior and yield strength of AA2195 alloy has been investigated in solution heat treatment (ST), pre-deformation after solution heat treatment (PS),and artificial aging after pre-deformation (APS). It is found that the three different pre-treatments methods have significant effects on the anisotropic behavior of SRA, and the in planar anisotropy (IPA) value of the total relaxed stress from small to large is APS < PS < ST. We find that the T 1 phase hinders the anisotropy of relaxed stress, and the earlier and the faster the T 1 phase precipitates, the greater the hindering effect. Under the ST and PS pre-treatments, the yield strength anisotropy decreased after SRA, from 13.8% and 13.2% to 8.9% and 7.5%, the difference between the two pre-treatments may be due to the dislocation produced during PS pre-treatment promoting the precipitation of T 1 phase. Under the APS pre-treatment, the yield strength anisotropy increases from 6.2% to 6.5% after SRA, indicating that the T 1 phase produced by APS pre-treatment plays a role in reducing the yield strength anisotropy. The different pre-treatments lead to different initial structure states, which should be responsible for the difference in the anisotropy of SRA behavior, as is the yield strength. • • The different anisotropy in SRA behavior under differ ent pre-treatments is related to the T 1 phase. • The different pre-treatments lead to different initial structure states, causing the different anisotropy in SRA behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A fine-grained collaborative team recognition method is proposed. • Collaborative teams are formulated with "core+extension" structure. • The underlying relationship between team output and collaboration intensity is found. • It is found that core members have broad collaboration relationships and fixed collaboration patterns. Scientific collaboration is a significant behavior in knowledge creation and idea exchange. To tackle large and complex research questions, a trend of team formation has been observed in recent decades. In this study, we focus on recognizing collaborative teams and exploring inner patterns using scholarly big graph data. We propose a collaborative team recognition (CORE) model with a "core + extension" team structure to recognize collaborative teams in large academic networks. In CORE, we combine an effective evaluation index called the collaboration intensity index with a series of structural features to recognize collaborative teams in which members are in close collaboration relationships. Then, CORE is used to guide the core team members to their extension members. CORE can also serve as the foundation for team-based research. The simulation results indicate that CORE reveals inner patterns of scientific collaboration: senior scholars have broad collaborative relationships and fixed collaboration patterns, which are the underlying mechanisms of team assembly. The experimental results demonstrate that CORE is promising compared with state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The efficacy of chemoradiotherapy regimen in the treatment of stage Ⅳ nasopharyngeal carcinoma (Ⅳ NPC) is not clear. This retrospective study aimed to reveal the benefit of chemoradiotherapy in Ⅳ-NPC and to develop a survival prognostic model for the disease prediction.Materials and Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database at https://seer.cancer.gov was retrieved for stage Ⅳ NPC patients between 2004 and 2016. The patients were divided into two groups of radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy according to the treatment method. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) between the groups were compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test, and propensity matching score (PSM). Cox proportional hazards model, nomogram, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were employed to establish the prognostic model.Results: A total of 729 patients with Ⅳ NPC were introduced, of whom 44 received radiotherapy and 685 received chemoradiotherapy. Results of statistical tests demonstrated that chemoradiotherapy was associated with improved OS and CSS, especially in the patients with ⅣA NPC (P < 0.05); further multivariate analysis with PSM confirmed that chemoradiotherapy benefited the patients' OS (HR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.12-0.50; P < 0.001). Moreover, the efficacy of chemoradiotherapy was found significantly correlated to metastasis. Even though chemoradiotherapy had an obvious survival benefit in patients without metastasis, it only helped to improve the CSS in those with metastases.Conclusion: This study indicated that chemoradiotherapy could improve the survival of NPC patients at stage ⅣA and non-metastasis. The nomogram we established may provide reference for clinical treatment of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel sandwich-like structure design of the grain boundaries was proposed. • The coercivity temperature coefficient and the irreversible loss of magnetic flux for Ce magnets added with Pr-Nd-Al alloy are enhanced. • The thermal stability analyses from various perspectives provide sufficient evidence for the proposed design concept. • The self-compensation effect of thermal stability is experimentally verified in Pr-Nd-Al Ce magnet. A novel design concept was proposed for optimizing the grain boundaries from the theoretical aspect, which could play the self-compensation effect on the thermal stability of the coercivity. The Pr-Nd-Al Ce magnet without critical elements was investigated that experimentally verified the self-compensation effect of grain boundaries structure on the thermal stability of the coercivity. As a result, the Pr-Nd-Al Ce magnet with 3 wt% (Pr 0.25 Nd 0.75) 80 Al 20 as the additive inside the grain boundaries had better thermal stability than that of Nd-Fe-B magnet. The coercivity temperature coefficient β of Pr-Nd-Al Ce magnet was improved by 5.7%, and the irreversible loss of magnetic flux h irr was enhanced by 58% at the temperature of 100 ℃ compared with the Nd-Fe-B magnet. The improvement of thermal stability was attributed to the special sandwich-like structure consisting of two amorphous nonmagnetic phases sandwiching a layer of Re 6 (Fe, TM) 11 Al 3 tetragonal phase, that compensated the coercivity of Ce magnets without critical elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dopamine antagonists, 5-HT 3 antagonists, and dexamethasone are frequently used in obstetrics to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). However, the superiority of any drug class is yet to be established. This network meta-analysis aimed to compare the efficacy of these antiemetics for PONV prophylaxis in women receiving neuraxial morphine for Caesarean delivery. We searched PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, Web of Science, and Wanfang Data for eligible randomised controlled trials. Primary outcomes were the incidences of postoperative nausea (PON) and postoperative vomiting (POV) within 24 h after surgery. We used a Bayesian random-effects model and calculated odds ratios with 95% credible intervals for dichotomous data. We performed sensitivity and subgroup analyses for primary outcomes. A total of 33 studies with 4238 women were included. In the primary analyses of all women, 5-HT 3 antagonists, dopamine antagonists, dexamethasone, and 5-HT 3 antagonists plus dexamethasone significantly reduced PON and POV compared with placebo, and 5-HT 3 antagonists plus dexamethasone were more effective than monotherapy. In the subgroup analyses, similar results were seen in women receiving epidural morphine or intrathecal morphine alone but not in women receiving intrathecal morphine with fentanyl or sufentanil. However, most included studies had some concerns or a high risk of bias, and the overall certainty of the evidence was low or very low. Combined 5-HT 3 antagonists plus dexamethasone are more effective than monotherapy in preventing PONV associated with neuraxial morphine after Caesarean delivery. Future studies are needed to determine the role of prophylactic antiemetics in women receiving intrathecal morphine and lipophilic opioids. PROSPERO CRD42023454602. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advancements in deep convolutional neural networks have significantly improved the performance of saliency prediction. However, the manual configuration of the neural network architectures requires domain knowledge expertise and can still be time-consuming and error-prone. To solve this, we propose a new Neural Architecture Search (NAS) framework for saliency prediction with two contributions. Firstly, a supernet for saliency prediction is built with a weight-sharing network containing all candidate architectures, by integrating a dynamic convolution into the encoder–decoder in the supernet, termed SalNAS. Secondly, despite the fact that SalNAS is highly efficient (20.98 million parameters), it can suffer from the lack of generalization. To solve this, we propose a self-knowledge distillation approach, termed Self-KD, that trains the student SalNAS with the weighted average information between the ground truth and the prediction from the teacher model. The teacher model, while sharing the same architecture, contains the best-performing weights chosen by cross-validation. Self-KD can generalize well without the need to compute the gradient in the teacher model, enabling an efficient training system. By utilizing Self-KD, SalNAS outperforms other state-of-the-art saliency prediction models in most evaluation rubrics across seven benchmark datasets while being a lightweight model. The code will be available at https://github.com/chakkritte/SalNAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ⚫Peptide α-connexin carboxyl terminal peptide (ACT1) protects graft livers during cold storage by steadying cell junctions. • ⚫ACT1 reduces hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury following transplantation. • ⚫ACT1 inhibits acute and chronic inflammation after transplantation. • ⚫The effect of ACT1 on cell junctions is long term. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is an inevitable process that the liver must go through after liver transplantation. Because of the worldwide shortage of grafts, reliable intervention strategies should be explored to protect grafts. α-Connexin carboxyl terminal peptide (ACT1), which is a synthetic peptide containing 25 amino acids, has the effect of stabilizing cell junctions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of ACT1 on ischemia-reperfusion injury after liver transplantation in mice. Experimental results showed that injury to livers that underwent extended cold preservation was reduced by ACT1. After 6 hours of reperfusion, ACT1-treated livers showed less necrosis and acute inflammation and the cell junctions were strengthened. Moreover, after 28 days of reperfusion, the application of ACT1 distinctly alleviated hepatic damage and later cholangiopathy as well as conspicuously consolidated the cell junctions. This study indicated that ACT1 produced affirmative effects in suppressing hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in liver transplantation with extended cold preservation in mice by protecting cell junctions and may be a potential strategy to extend the cold preservation time of grafts for liver transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Both HF-NMR and LF-NMR methods were used to analyze edible bird's nests. • Forty-one components were identified and quantified and the nutrients were analyzed. • The geographical markers of each origin were accurately identified by using pattern recognition. • Adulteration was effectively identified through the LF-NMR method. Edible bird's nest (EBN) is a high-value health food with various nutrients and bioactive components. With increasing demand for EBN, they are often adulterated with cheaper ingredients or falsely labeled by the origin information, thus harming consumer interests. In this study, high- and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (HF/LF-NMR) technology combined with multivariate statistical analysis was used to identify the geographical marker of EBN from different origins and authenticate the adulterated EBN with various adulterants at different adulteration rates. Authentic EBN samples from Malaysia were used to simulate adulteration using gelatin (GL), agar (AG) and starch (ST) at 10 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % w/w, respectively. The results showed significant differences in composition among EBN from different origins, with isocaproate and citric acid serving as geographical markers for Malaysia and Vietnam, respectively. Leucine, glutamic acid, and N-acetylglycoprotein serving as geographical markers for Indonesia. In addition, PLS model further verified the accuracy of origin identification of EBN. The LF-NMR results of adulteration EBN showed a linear correlation between the transverse relaxation (T 2 , S 2) and the adulterated ratio. The OPLS-DA based on T 2 spectra could accurately identify authentic EBN from adulterated with GL, AG and ST at 40 %, 20 %, and 20 %, respectively. Fisher discrimination model was able to differentiate at 20 %, 20 %, and 40 %, respectively. These results show that the 1H NMR combined with multivariate statistical analysis method could be a potential tool for the detection of origin and adulteration of EBN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet oranges with distinguished origin label have been becoming a fraud target by confusing or hiding origins. In this study, high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics was used to discriminate the geographical origins of China's sweet oranges from four main producing regions (Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guangxi). Sixty-two components, including various saccharides, amino acids, organic acids, alcohols, ketone, flavanones and other compounds, were identified and quantified via their 1H NMR spectra, and the producing region-specific geographical indication components of China's sweet orange were further screened out. The sweet oranges in Hubei show favorable antioxidant properties due to their rich phenolic compounds, and those in Sichuan show rich and fresh flavors due to their wealthy amino acids. Our results are readily available for nutritional recommendation in human consumption, and helpful to distinguish the geographical origin of sweet oranges based on their nutritional characteristics especially geographical indication markers. • A rapid and inexpensive NMR method was used to analyze sweet orange. • 62 nutritional components in China's sweet oranges were identified and quantified. • The geographical indication markers of each geographical origin were screened out. • The results are available for nutritional recommendation in human consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]