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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a double-lumen biliary-enteric tube (DBET) for enteral nutrition (EN) in individuals with malignant obstructive jaundice (MOJ). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from a prospectively maintained single-center database, including patients with MOJ. In the intervention group, DBET placement was performed concurrently with percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage and biliary stenting, followed by postoperative EN (DBET-EN). In the control group, deep vein catheterization was undertaken after endoscopic biliary stenting, and parenteral nutrition (PN) was provided. A multivariable generalized linear model was used to assess the association between DBET-EN and 6-month mortality. Results: A total of 74 patients were included in this study, comprising 28 patients in the intervention group (DBET-EN group) and 46 patients in the control group (PN group). Within the 6-month follow-up, 5 patients (17.9%) in the DBET-EN group and 20 (43.5%) in the PN group died. The multivariable generalized linear model demonstrated a significantly reduced 6-month mortality in the DBET-EN group compared to the PN group (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08–0.81, P = 0.020). Secondary outcomes indicated that patients in the DBET-EN group had lower 9-month mortality rates and longer tube retention durations compared to the PN group (all adjusted P < 0.05). Postoperative liver function improved similarly in both groups. At 3, 6, and 9 months postoperatively, patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) scores and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) scores were significantly higher in the DBET-EN group than in the PN group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The implementation of DBET for EN in patients in the advanced stage of MOJ proved to be a minimally invasive and safe intervention. It significantly improved patients' nutritional status and quality of life while reducing mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tourism employment, the participation of farmers is closely linked to the development of ethnic villages. Existing literature often overlooks the role of farmers' non-economic rationality factors in their employment behavior. This study investigated the mechanism of farmers' livelihood capital, place attachment, and family care on their local tourism employment behavior. The research found: First, livelihood capital facilitates farmers' participation in local tourism employment, with place attachment mediating the correlation between livelihood capital and participation of farmers in local tourism employment, and family care positively moderating their participation in local tourism employment. Second, three distinct configurations drive farmers' participation in local tourism employment. Third, complementary and substitution effects exist between livelihood capitals. Fourth, place attachment and family care demonstrate a masking effect. The government should actively maintain farmers' place attachment, address farmers' family care difficulties, guide farmers to utilize the substitution and complementary influences of livelihood capital and select appropriate paths to promote farmers' participation in local tourism employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing scale and complexity of high-performance computing systems, the rising failure rate poses significant challenges for RDMA networks that aim for high bandwidth and low latency. RDMA networks require hardware-level end-to-end reliable data transmission services to avoid the high cost of software failure recovery. Tianhe HPC interconnection network adopts a NIC-based RDMA reliable connection protocol, RCP. RCP establishes a connection for each message that enters the NIC and releases it after the transmission is complete. However, this introduces an additional round-trip time RTT connection overhead for each message, which severely impacts the performance of networks dominated by short messages in high-performance computing systems. We have found that utilization of receiver-side connection resources has been consistently low because maintaining message-grained connections on the NIC results in rapid release of connections. Therefore, we propose a lightweight RDMA connection protocol based on post-hoc confirmation, PCP. PCP assumes the receiver has connection resources by default and eliminates the need for confirmation from the receiver before sending a message, thus reducing the connection overhead of almost all messages by one RTT. At the same time, PCP also includes mechanisms to address the special case where the receiver lacks connection resources. Evaluation results demonstrate that PCP significantly optimizes short messages and applications dominated by short messages. Moreover, PCP further reduces the usage of receiver-side connection resources. Additionally, PCP does not experience performance degradation even under large-scale heavy loads and severe endpoint congestion. • The RDMA NIC architecture and RDMA connection protocol (RCP) of Tianhe are introduced in detail. • The load characteristics in the HPC interconnection network and the challenges of RCP are analyzed. • The Post-hoc Connection Protocol is proposed, and its implementation details on NIC are introduced. • The evaluation results show that PCP has a significant acceleration on HPC network load dominated by short messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clostridium perfringens , as a foodborne pathogen, can cause various intestinal diseases in both humans and animals according to its repertoire of toxins. In recent years, a multitude of studies have highlighted its threat to infants and young children. C. perfringens carries numerous toxins, with the newly identified BEC toxin confirmed as the second toxin to cause diarrheal illness, after CPE. However, the global dissemination of C. perfringens strains carrying becAB genes, which encode BEC toxins, has not been extensively studied. Following epidemiological surveillance of the prevalence of C. perfringens from different sources in various provinces of China, we identified two becAB -carrying strains and one strain carrying a sequence similar to becAB from distinct provinces and sources. When combined with genomic analysis of other becAB -carrying C. perfringens strains from public databases, we found that becAB was present in strains from different lineages. Our analysis of the plasmid and genetic environment corroborates previous findings on becAB -carrying strains, confirming that it currently achieves horizontal transmission through one type of evolutionarily conserved Pcp plasmid. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the prevalence and transmission patterns of the newly emerged toxin gene locus, becAB , in C. perfringens. Despite the relatively low identification rate of becAB -carrying strains, their potential impact requires ongoing surveillance and investigation of their features, particularly their antimicrobial resistance. • We identified becAB -carrying C. perfringens in China for the first time. • There are only minimal SNPs among becAB -carrying C. perfringens from different host sources in different countries. • BecAB -carrying C. perfringens were found in different lineages. • BecAB achieves horizontal transmission through Pcp plasmid. • BecAB -positive plasmids displayed a pairwise identity close to 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-inspired superhydrophobic materials have attracted considerable interest in blood-contacting biomedical applications due to their remarkable water-repellent and self-cleaning properties. However, the interaction mechanism between blood components and superhydrophobic surfaces remains unclear. To explore the effect of trapped air on platelet adhesion, we designed four distinct hydrophobic titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanostructures with different fractions of trapped air. Ultrasonication was used to remove trapped air, allowing for direct comparison between hydrophobic surfaces with and without observable trapped air. The results demonstrate that all four kinds of hydrophobic materials significantly reduce platelet adhesion, regardless of observable trapped air. As nanostructure size increases, the proportion of air also increases, trapped air reduces fibrinogen adsorption but increases platelet adhesion, particularly in the largest nanostructures with superhydrophobicity. Upon air removal, protein adsorption increases compared to the same sample with air, while platelet adhesion decreases. This indicates that trapped air reduces protein adsorption but unexpectedly enhances platelet adhesion, which is contrary to our intuitive expectations. Conversely, hydrophobic surfaces without trapped air minimize platelet adhesion. To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we propose an interpretable model. Overall, this study challenges conventional assumptions and offers new insights for the design and application of superhydrophobic materials.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recognized as essential regulators in various human malignancies. Hundreds of lncRNAs were known to be abnormally expressed in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) through a lncRNA expression microarray, among which lncRNA OSTM1 antisense RNA 1(OSTM1-AS1) was revealed as one of the most abundant lncRNAs. However, the function of OSTM1-AS1 in RCC remains unknown. Here, we examined OSTM1-AS1 functional roles and mechanism in RCC development. OSTM1-AS1 expression was significantly highly expressed among RCC tissue specimens and cell lines. Functionally, OSTM1-AS1 knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration along with metastasis of RCC cells. Mechanistically, miR-491-5p was targeted via OSTM1-AS1, and down-regulation of miR-491-5p reversed OSTM1-AS1 knockdown impact on RCC migration and invasion. MMP-9 was targeted via miR-491-5p, and MMP-9 overexpression reversed miR-491-5p or OSTM1-AS1 knockdown impact on cell migration and invasion. MMP-9 abundance was decreased by OSTM1-AS1 silence, that was reduced by miR-491-5p deficiency. Importantly, our investigation revealed that OSTM1-AS1 has the ability to interact with miR-491-5p, thereby increasing the MMP-9 expression. The in vivo trial demonstrated that OSTM1-AS1 suppression resulted in tumor growth inhibition among nude mice. In summary, our findings indicate, for the first time, at least to the best of our knowledge, that OSTM1-AS1 serves as an oncogene among RCC by promoting proliferation, invasion, and metastasis through its targeting of the miR-491-5p/MMP9 axis. Therefore, this axis could represent a promising alternative therapeutic target for RCC treatment., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics declarations: The present study was approved (approval no. 2016-R007) by the Ethics Committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University (Ningbo, China) following the Helsinki Declaration’s ethical principles. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The animal experiments were conducted out in Ningbo, all animal methods were carried out in accordance with ARRIVE principles and were approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Ningbo University (approval no. 10994)., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is a major pest of global citriculture. In the Americas and in Asia, D. citri vectors the phloem-limited bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), which causes the fatal citrus disease huanglongbing, or citrus greening. Cell lines derived from D. citri can provide insight into both the basic biology of this pest and D. citri-associated pathogens including CLas. We previously identified CLG#2 as the optimal medium for long-term growth of D. citri primary cell cultures. Here we report on the establishment and characterization of three continuous D. citri cell lines, Dici1, Dici3, and Dici5, that have been passaged for > 40 times. Based on morphological and transcriptomic data, the Dici1 and Dici3 cell lines include undifferentiated and neurogenic progenitor cells. Dici1 and Dici5 are infected with Wolbachia. Both Dici1 and Dici5 are infected with D. citri reovirus, and Dici5 is also infected with D. citri-associated C virus. Dici3 is free of both Wolbachia and virus infection. These cell lines provide an ideal platform for the study of inter-microbial relationships as well as microbe interaction with host insect cells., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Hydrocephalus, whether arising from post-hemorrhagic or post-traumatic origins, poses significant challenges in clinical management. Lumboperitoneal shunting (LPS) emerges as a viable therapeutic intervention, yet comparative analyses between these etiologies remain scarce. This retrospective study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of LPS placement in patients with post-hemorrhagic (PHH) and post-traumatic hydrocephalus (PTH). This retrospective study investigates shunting outcomes in patients aged 18 years or older diagnosed with PHH or PTH who underwent LPS between 2014 and 2018. Primary outcomes included shunt reoperation rates, with secondary outcomes encompassing modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, Evans index, complications, and length of hospital stay. Favorable outcomes were defined as an mRS score of 2 or less. A total of 34 PHH and 48 PTH patients were included, with baseline characteristics being similar between groups. Shunt reoperation rates were comparable between PHH (23.5%) and PTH (27.1%) groups (P = 0.716). At 2 years, favorable outcomes were observed in 82.4% of PHH patients and 72.9% of PTH patients (P = 0.318). NIHSS scores at discharge (P = 0.230) and at 2 years (P = 0.530) showed no significant differences. However, PHH patients exhibited shorter hospital stays post-LPS implantation (P = 0.025). LPS placement demonstrates comparable outcomes in patients with PHH and PTH, with similar rates of shunt reoperation and complications, as well as equivalent neurological outcomes. However, Notably, PTH patients exhibited a higher risk of shunt malfunction compared to PHH patients, along with prolonged hospital stays post-LPS implantation., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Institutional review board statement: The ethical review and approval were waived for this study by the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Since this study was retrospective. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study., (© 2024. The Author(s).)