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Abstract Background Robotic‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) can achieve traditional clinical outcomes comparable to those of video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). However, patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) during the early period after RATS and VATS remain unclear. This study aimed to utilize longitudinal electronic PRO (ePRO) assessments to evaluate symptom burden and functional status between these approaches from patients' perspective. Methods This study comprised patients who underwent lobectomy via RATS or VATS for non‐small cell lung cancer. We collected multiple‐time‐point PROs data from the prospective longitudinal study via an ePRO system. Symptom severity and function status were assessed using the perioperative symptom assessment for patients undergoing lung surgery and were analyzed between groups using linear mixed‐effects models. Results Of the 164 patients, 42 underwent RATS and 122 underwent VATS. After propensity score matching (PSM), 42 RATS and 84 VATS exhibited similar baseline characteristics. During the 7‐day postoperative period, participants underwent RATS reported milder pain (p = 0.014), coughing (p

Abstract Background The Rh blood group system is characterized by its complexity and polymorphism, encompassing 56 different antigens. Accurately predicting the presence of the C antigen using genotyping methods has been challenging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of various genotyping methods for predicting the Rh C and to identify a suitable method for the Chinese Han population. Methods In total, 317 donors, consisting 223 D+ (including 20 with the Del phenotype) and 94 D− were randomly selected. For RHC genotyping, 48C and 109bp insertion were detected on the Real-time PCR platform and −292 substitution was analyzed via restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Moreover, the promoter region of the RHCE gene was sequenced to search for other nucleotide substitutions between RHC and RHc. Agreement between prediction methods was evaluated using the Kappa statistic, and comparisons between methods were conducted via the χ2 test. Results The analysis revealed that the 48C allele, 109bp insertion, a specific pattern observed in RFLP results, and wild-type alleles of seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were in strong agreement with the Rh C, with Kappa coefficients exceeding 0.8. However, there were instances of false positives or false negatives (0.6% false negative rate for 109bp insertion and 5.4-8.2% false positive rates for other methods). The 109bp insertion method exhibited the highest accuracy in predicting the Rh C, at 99.4%, compared to other methods (P values≤0.001). Although no statistical differences were found among other methods for predicting Rh C (P values>0.05), the accuracies in descending order were 48C (94.6%) > rs586178 (92.7%) > rs4649082, rs2375313, rs2281179, rs2072933, rs2072932, and RFLP (92.4%) > rs2072931 (91.8%). Conclusions None of the methods examined can independently and accurately predict the Rh C. However, the 109bp insertion test demonstrated the highest accuracy for predicting the Rh C in the Chinese Han population. Utilizing the 109bp insertion test in combination with other methods may enhance the accuracy of Rh C prediction.

Abstract Background Few studies have examined the otologic symptoms of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective of this study was to identify the effect of COVID-19 on the characteristics and outcomes of patients who have otitis media with effusion (OME). Methods This case-control study compared the characteristics and outcomes of OME patients who did or did not have COVID-19. A total of 65 patients with previous COVID-19 and 40 patients who did not have COVID-19 (controls) were enrolled from October 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023 at a single institution in China. Demographics, medical histories, morbidities, hearing test results, treatments, and outcomes of the two groups were compared. Results The COVID-19 group had significantly better outcomes from OME than the control group, with higher rates of complete resolution (64.6% vs. 30%) and improvement (30.8% vs. 17.5%), and a lower rate of persistent OME (4.6% vs. 52.5%). Previous COVID-19 was independently associated with a more favorable OME outcome in three multivariate logistic regression models. The COVID-19 group also had a greater improvement in hearing threshold based on air-bone gap measurements. Conclusion The outcomes of OME patients who had previous COVID-19 were generally good, in that most patients responded well to treatment and achieved complete resolution or improvement within one month.

Abstract Background Solanum aculeatissimum and Solanum torvum belong to the Solanum species, and they are essential plants known for their high resistance to diseases and adverse conditions. They are frequently used as rootstocks for grafting and are often crossbred with other Solanum species to leverage their resistance traits. However, the phylogenetic relationship between S. aculeatissimum and S. torvum within the Solanum genus remains unclear. Therefore, this paper aims to sequence the complete chloroplast genomes of S. aculeatissimum and S. torvum and analyze them in comparison with 29 other previously published chloroplast genomes of Solanum species. Results We observed that the chloroplast genomes of S. aculeatissimum and S. torvum possess typical tetrameric structures, consisting of one Large Single Copy (LSC) region, two reverse-symmetric Inverted Repeats (IRs), and one Small Single Copy (SSC) region. The total length of these chloroplast genomes ranged from 154,942 to 156,004 bp, with minimal variation. The highest GC content was found in the IR region, while the lowest was in the SSC region. Regarding gene content, the total number of chloroplast genes and CDS genes remained relatively consistent, ranging from 128 to 134 and 83 to 91, respectively. Nevertheless, there was notable variability in the number of tRNA genes and rRNAs. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis revealed that both S. aculeatissimum and S. torvum preferred codons that utilized A and U bases. Analysis of the IR boundary regions indicated that contraction and expansion primarily occurred at the junction between SSC and IR regions. Nucleotide polymorphism analysis and structural variation analysis demonstrated that chloroplast variation in Solanum species mainly occurred in the LSC and SSC regions. Repeat sequence analysis revealed that A/T was the most frequent base pair in simple repeat sequences (SSR), while Palindromic and Forward repeats were more common in long sequence repeats (LSR), with Reverse and Complement repeats being less frequent. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. aculeatissimum and S. torvum belonged to the same meristem and were more closely related to Cultivated Eggplant. Conclusion These findings enhance our comprehension of chloroplast genomes within the Solanum genus, offering valuable insights for plant classification, evolutionary studies, and potential molecular markers for species identification.

Abstract Background The use of handgrip strength (HGS) in clinical cancer research is surging. The association between HGS and outcomes in patients with cancer varied across studies, which might be due to the different measurement protocols for HGS. We aimed to answer three questions: (1) Did the use of various protocols for HGS, along with different numbers of repetitions, lead to significant differences in maximum HGS values? (2) If yes, were these differences clinically significant? (3) Did the differences in HGS protocols and repetitions affect the identification of HGS weakness or HGS asymmetry? Methods We continuously recruited adult patients with solid tumours. Two protocols were used to measure HGS: Method A, following the American Society of Hand Therapists guidelines, and Method B, following the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey guidelines. To analyse HGS, we used the maximal value obtained from either two or three repetitions of the dominant hand or four or six repetitions of both hands. Results We included 497 patients (326 men and 171 women, median age: 58 years). The maximal HGS values, measured with Method B, were significantly higher than those measured by Method A in both men and women, despite repetitions (all P

At present, multi-device collaborative navigation is popular in some projects. Most existing collaborative navigation algorithms depend on point clouds or 3D maps. However, ordinary users may encounter challenges in accessing raw data due to the security and privacy of spatial data. As a solution, this article introduces the algorithm of multi-device navigation result alignment and repairing at the trajectory level. This work faces three main challenges: (1) it is hard to ensure the availability and overall accuracy of global alignment without point clouds; (2) in a complex campus environment, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) inertial odometer (LIO) results are bound to gradually diverge due to the absence of precise absolute position data for correction, leading to error accumulation in the local trajectory; (3) in LiDAR challenging environments, such as rapid turns, LIO trajectories may exhibit outliers. In response to these three challenges, this article proposes a multi-level (global-local-detail) multi-device localization trajectory alignment and repairing idea and designs the corresponding methods. Specifically, (1) at the global-trajectory level, the reliable GNSS points are used for multi-device trajectory alignment; (2) at the local-trajectory level, a segmented forward–backward smoothing algorithm is applied to enhance local trajectory accuracy; (3) at the detailed-trajectory level, outlier detection and repairing algorithm based on motion mode is employed to ensure the reliability of detailed trajectories. The experiments were conducted in different environments, and the results validated the high accuracy and reliability of the proposed algorithm.

To solve the problems of noise coverage defect and low contrast between the defect and the background of ZrO2 ceramic bearing balls, a surface defect extraction algorithm based on shearlet transform image enhancement for ZrO2 ceramic bearing balls is proposed. According to the shape characteristics of ceramic bearing balls, the surface defect image acquisition platform is built to collect and analyze surface defect images. Gaussian filtering weakens the scatter-particle noise in the image, and the threshold corrects the coefficient generated by the shearlet transform. After shearlet transform, the relatively low-frequency and high-frequency parts appear. The low-frequency part reflects the edge information of defects, and the high-frequency part reflects the edge and texture information of defects. Thus, the integrity of the defect is ensured, and an enhanced surface defect image is obtained. The gray histogram of the enhanced image is observed. The optimal threshold is selected by the histogram threshold segmentation method, and the process of defects being completely extracted from the background is realized. Experimental results showed that the extraction rates of pits, scratches, and cracks in ZrO2 ceramic bearing balls’ surface images are 95.00%, 92.50%, and 92.50%, respectively.

The operating environment greatly influences the accuracy of power metering devices, resulting in variations and inconsistencies in measurement results across different working situations. A calibration model for power metering devices is proposed in this study, considering a range of environmental circumstances. The first step involves investigating the environmental conditions that impact the accuracy of power metering devices. The mutual information approach is utilized to identify environmental disturbances affecting device accuracy. A machine learning-driven symmetry attention Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network addresses measurement errors, capitalizing on the network’s symmetry data knowledge. Ultimately, the efficacy of the suggested approach is substantiated through the utilization of performance indicators, namely, Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the errors of the power measurement device in all quarters, and the error reduction effect is over 10% in the spring, which is better than other models, demonstrating exemplary performance in correcting the calibration errors of the power measurement device.

Abstract In nature, spider web is an interwoven network with high stability and elasticity from silk threads secreted by spider. Inspired by the structure of spider webs, light‐driven liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) active yarn is designed with super‐contractile and robust weavability. Herein, a novel biomimetic gold nanorods (AuNRs) @LCE yarn soft actuator with hierarchical structure is fabricated by a facile electrospinning and subsequent photocrosslinking strategies. Meanwhile, the inherent mechanism and actuation performances of the as‐prepared yarn actuator with interleaving network are systematically analyzed. Results demonstrate that thanks to the unique “like‐spider webs” structure between fibers, high molecular orientation within the LCE microfibers and good flexibility, they can generate super actuation strain (≈81%) and stable actuation performances. Importantly, benefit from the robust covalent bonding at the organic–inorganic interface, photopolymerizable AuNRs molecules are uniformly introduced into the polymer backbone of electrospun LCE yarn to achieve tailorable shape‐morphing under different light intensity stimulation. As a proof‐of‐concept illustration, light‐driven artificial muscles, micro swimmers, and hemostatic bandages are successfully constructed. The research disclosed herein can offer new insights into continuous production and development of LCE‐derived yarn actuator that are of paramount significance for many applications from smart fabrics to flexible wearable devices.

Purpose: Verteporfin is a benzoporphyrin derivative which is Food and Drug Administration-approved for treatment of choroidal neovascularization in conjunction with photodynamic therapy. It has been shown to prevent fibrosis and scar formation in several organs and represents a promising novel antifibrotic agent for glaucoma surgery. The goal of this study is to determine the effect of verteporfin on wound healing after glaucoma filtration surgery. Design: Preclinical study using a rabbit model of glaucoma filtration surgery. Subjects: Eight New Zealand white rabbits underwent glaucoma filtration surgery in both eyes. Methods: Eyes were randomized into 4 study groups to receive a postoperative subconjunctival injection of 1 mg/mL verteporfin (n = 4), 0.4 mg/mL mitomycin C (MMC; n = 4), 0.4 mg/mL MMC + 1 mg/mL verteporfin (n = 4), or balanced salt solution (BSS) control (n = 4). Bleb survival, vascularity, and morphology were graded using a standard scale over a 30-day period, and intraocular pressure (IOP) was monitored. At 30 days postoperative or surgical failure, histology was performed to evaluate for inflammation, local toxicity, and scarring. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measure was bleb survival. Secondary outcome measures were IOP, bleb morphology, and bleb histology. Results: Compared to BSS control blebs, verteporfin-treated blebs demonstrated a trend toward increased surgical survival (mean 9.8 vs. 7.3 days, log rank P = 0.08). Mitomycin C-treated blebs survived significantly longer than verteporfin-treated blebs (log rank P = 0.009), with all but 1 MMC-treated bleb still surviving at postoperative day 30. There were no significant differences in survival between blebs treated with combination verteporfin + MMC and MMC alone. Mitomycin C-treated blebs were less vascular than verteporfin-treated blebs (mean vascularity score 0.3 ± 0.5 for MMC vs. 1.0 ± 0.0 for verteporfin, P

Glaucomatous optic neuropathy(GON)is the difficulty of glaucoma treatment. In recent years, a variety of theories have been put forward about the pathogenesis of GON, but none of them can explain the principle of optic neuropathy caused by all types of glaucoma, which makes the disease difficult to treat in clinical treatment and is not conducive to early intervention. The latest research found that the transient receptor potential channel vanillic acid subfamily 4(TRPV4)in the retina plays an important role in various pathogenesis of GON. This article will review TRPV4 and its role in the occurrence and development of GON in order to find a common “connection point” for the multiple mechanism theories of GON, which will contribute to further understanding and clinical treatment of the disease.

The utility-scale deployment of photovoltaic (PV) power plants is critical for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and mitigating climate change. However, the impact of a PV power plant project on the microclimate is unclear for different underlying surfaces. Therefore, PV power plants in deserts and lakes were selected to assess and compare the impact of PV array deployment on the environment by the observation. The results indicate that the PV array affected the wind pattern, the wind direction makes simple (from 10 m to 2 m), and wind speed in the PV site under two types of underlying surfaces was less than the reference site. For the PV power plant in desert, the delta (PV - REF) is increased from 0.12 m s−1 at 10 m to 0.27 m s−1 at 2 m. The counterpart in the lake is increased from 0.14 m s−1 at 10 m to 0.55 m s−1 at 2 m. However, the PV arrays had no effect on the air temperature at the center of the PV array gap. The difference in air temperature for two observation sites under two type of underlying surfaces was less than the resolution of instrument MaxiMet (0.1 °C). Instead, the heat from the PV panels is transmitted down to the land surface, causing a temperature effect in the desert and lakes. For the PV power plant in land, the arrays have heating effect on air temperature (The air temperature was 33.43 °C in the PV_land site, and 28.03 °C in the REF_land site in July, respectively). But the arrays have cooling effect on air temperature for the PV power plant in lake in the same month (PV_lake site, 28.58 °C; REF_lake site, 29.97 °C). Furthermore, evaporation is lower in the PV power plant owing to the physical shielding of PV arrays (For the land, the peak of hour evaporation (PV_land – REF_land) was 0.12 mm; for the lake, the peak of hour evaporation (PV_lake – REF_lake) was 0.32 mm). This study provides new evidence of the microclimate impact of photovoltaic array deployment on different underlying surfaces.

ObjectivesReconstruction is always required for tracheal defects and sleeve resection with end-to-end anastomosis is the most common used. The aim of the study was to present surgical techniques and evaluate the outcomes of sleeve resection with end-to-end anastomosis in the reconstruction of tracheal defects exceeding six rings.MethodsThe study included patients with primary or secondary malignancies and tracheal stenosis from 2014 to 2019, who were treated with sleeve resection exceeding six tracheal rings, and reconstructed with end-to-end anastomosis. Airway status and patient outcomes were the principal follow-up measures.ResultsA total of 16 patients were enrolled in the study including three primary tracheal malignancies, 12 invasive thyroid carcinomas and one with tracheal stenosis. The extent of tracheal resection ranged from seven to nine rings, and the primary end-to-end anastomosis was performed in all 16 patients. Performance of tracheostomy or cricothyroidotomy was done in 6 patients with decannulation at a median of 42 days (range, 28–56). No anastomotic dehiscence, infection or bleeding occurred postoperatively, and all 16 patients maintained an unobstructed airway through the end of follow-up.ConclusionsSleeve resection reconstructed with end-to-end anastomosis can serve as an appropriate therapeutic strategy for the tracheal defects even exceeding six rings. Adequate laryngeal release is the key to surgical success.

Objectives The association between sarcopenia severity and fall history remains under-researched at present. Accordingly, this study was developed to evaluate the relationship between sarcopenic status and prior fall events in a multiethnic group of older community-dwelling adults in Western China.Design A retrospective survey study, the data comes from the West China Health and Aging Trend study.Setting The study was based in Western China.Participants In total, this retrospective analysis incorporated data from 2719 older adults (59.2% women).Primary and secondary outcome measures Grip strength, gait speed and skeletal muscle mass index values were analysed for all participants, and the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2014 and 2019 consensus criteria were leveraged to assess sarcopenia status in these individuals. Prior fall history was defined by any incidents in which an individual unintentionally came to rest on the floor within the past year. The association between sarcopenia status and fall history was examined through a binary logistic regression approach, with p

Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) is a crucial decision in the internationalization strategy of firms and they confront diversified environmental policies and practices of host countries, when engaging in cross-border investments. However, there is a lack of research to investigate whether foreign direct investment (OFDI) is an important factor affecting the environmental commitment of firms. This study aims to empirically analyze the impact and mechanism by which firm outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) influences pro-environmental commitments, utilizing data collected from Chinese listed companies between 2010 and 2020. The results show: 1) there is a significant positive relationship between firm OFDI and pro-environmental commitments; 2) mechanistic tests show that the OFDI can promote pro-environmental commitments through two channels: public attention and technological learning capacity; 3) heterogeneity analysis reveals that the green effects of OFDI are more pronounced firms with institutional investors and state ownership, as well as in firms situated in host countries with more stringent environmental regulations; 4) further analysis reveals OFDI-induced greater green commitments generated real environmental and economic outcomes: firms invested more in environmental protection and reduced CO2 emissions. In the meantime, they experienced lower excessive debt risk and higher innovative performance. The findings have positive implications for the promotion of firms’ pro-environmental behavior and sustainable development.

Abstract Background The gut microbiome and fecal metabolites have been found to influence sarcopenia, but whether there are potential bacteria that can alleviate sarcopenia has been under‐investigated, and the molecular mechanism remains unclear. Methods To investigate the relationships between the gut microbiome, fecal metabolites and sarcopenia, subjects were selected from observational multi‐ethnic study conducted in Western China. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2014. The gut microbiome was profiled by shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Untargeted metabolomic analysis was performed to analyse the differences in fecal metabolites. We investigated bacterium with the greatest relative abundance difference between healthy individuals and sarcopenia patients, and the differences in metabolites associated with the bacteria, to verify its effects on muscle mass and function in a mouse model. Results The study included 283 participants (68.90% females, mean age: 66.66 years old) with and without sarcopenia (141 and 142 participants, respectively) and from the Han (98 participants), Zang (88 participants) and Qiang (97 participants) ethnic groups. This showed an overall reduction (15.03% vs. 20.77%, P = 0.01) of Prevotella copri between the sarcopenia and non‐sarcopenia subjects across the three ethnic groups. Functional characterization of the differential bacteria showed enrichment (odds ratio = 15.97, P = 0.0068) in branched chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism in non‐sarcopenia group. A total of 13 BCAA and their derivatives have relatively low levels in sarcopenia. In the in vivo experiment, we found that the blood BCAA level was higher in the mice gavaged with live P. copri (LPC) (P