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Objectives: Vaccine hesitancy persists as a significant global health concern, especially during public health crises. This study aimed to explore factors influencing vaccination acceptance during a major public health crisis and establish a model of influencing factors., Design: A cross-sectional study., Methods: An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted online, encompassing sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety levels, personal risk perception and attitudes towards vaccination acceptance. Data analysis was performed using t-tests, one-way analysis of variance and multiple linear regression techniques in IBM SPSS Statistics V.25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA)., Results: A total of 3921 participants participated in the survey. The mean acceptance attitudes were above the moderate level (M=4.02, SD=0.51), the mean risk perception score was below the moderate level (M=2.66, SD=0.58), and the mean score on the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale was also below the moderate level (M=2.05, SD=0.53). The results showed that internal variables (gender, age, marital status, professional background, region) and external variables (average family income, distance from home to vaccination site, family medical background) were statistically significant (p<0.05). Gender, region, distance from home to the vaccination site, anxiety, family medical background, risk coping, emotional perception and psychological representation of unusual severity were identified as significant predictors of vaccination acceptance attitudes, with the model explaining 35% of the variance (R²= 0.35, adjusted R²= 0.33). Based on these results, we constructed a theoretical model of influencing factors for vaccine acceptance attitudes., Conclusions: Despite increased acceptance of vaccination during major public health events, factors that both support and hinder acceptance remain. Identifying these factors allows for effective disease control and informs the development of public health strategies and crisis response measures., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Calcium oxalate urolithiasis, commonly referred to as kidney stones, is a prevalent condition marked by the development of solid crystals within the urinary system. Currently, there is no established treatment to cure calcium oxalate urolithiasis. The underlying processes of calcium oxalate urolithiasis remain unclear, and the aim of this study was to clarify the correlation and prediction of IL-10Ra and DKK-4 plasma levels in patients with calcium oxalate urolithiasis., Methods: In this study, we explored the role of body mass index, eating habits score, levels of IL-10Ra and DKK-4, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, blood urea nitrogen, and blood uric acid in HCC. In total, 85 patients with COU, attending our hospitals between January 2022 and June 2023, were enrolled in this study as experimental group (n = 85), and 85 healthy individuals, who underwent physical examinations during the same period, were collected as control group (n = 85). The obtained blood samples were collected for further testing. Numerous assays, including ELISA assay, western blot, and qRT-PCR, were employed to investigate the role of IL-10Ra and DKK-4 in calcium oxalate urolithiasis., Results: The results indicate that the upregulation of IL-10Ra and DKK-4 may accelerate the progression of calcium oxalate urolithiasis. The logistic regression analysis indicates that the levels of IL-10Ra and DKK-4 positively correlated with calcium oxalate urolithiasis., Conclusions: In summary, the expression levels of IL-10Ra and DKK-4 positively correlated with the progression of calcium oxalate urolithiasis, suggesting that IL-10Ra and DKK-4 could serve as potential predictive factors and risk factors for calcium oxalate urolithiasis.

Ovarian cancer (OC) remains the primary cause of mortality among gynecological malignancies, and the identification of reliable molecular biomarkers to prognosticate OC outcomes is yet to be achieved. The gene palmitoyl protein thioesterase 2 (PPT2), which has been sparsely studied in OC, was closely associated with metabolism. This study aimed to determine the association between PPT2 expression, prognosis, immune infiltration, and potential molecular mechanisms in OC. We obtained the RNA-seq and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, then Kaplan-Meier analysis, univariate Cox regression, multivariate Cox regression, nomogram, and calibration were conducted to assess and verify the role of PPT2. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to figure out the closely correlated pathways with PPT2. Overexpression experiment was performed to explore the function of PPT2. Our findings showed that PPT2 mRNA expression was apparent down-regulation in OC tissue compared to normal ovarian tissues in TCGA, GTEx datasets, and GEO datasets. This differential expression was also confirmed in our in-house datasets at both the mRNA and protein levels. Decreased PPT2 expression correlated with lower survival rates in TCGA, several GEO datasets, and our in-house datasets. Multivariate analysis revealed that PPT2 was an independent factor in predicting better outcomes for OC patients in TCGA and GEO. A negative correlation was revealed between immune infiltration and PPT2 expression through Single-sample GSEA (ssGSEA). Additionally, PPT2 was negatively correlated with an up-regulated immune score, stromal score, and estimate score, suggesting that patients with low PPT2 expression might benefit more from immunotherapy. Numerous chemical agents showed lower IC50 in patients with high PPT2 expression. In single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of several OC datasets, we found PPT2 was mainly expressed in endothelial cells. Furthermore, we found that PPT2 inhibited OC cell proliferation in vitro. Our results demonstrated that PPT2 was considered a favorable prognostic biomarker for OC and may be vital in predicting response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Further research was needed to fully understand the relationship between PPT2 and immunotherapy efficacy in OC patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study investigated the anti-gastric cancer activity and mechanism of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix(Panax quinquefolium L.), and preliminarily compared the in vivo anti-gastric cancer efficacy of American-imported(JK-AG) and domestically produced(Shandong) Panacis Quinquefolii Radix decoctions(SD-AG). Based on network pharmacology predictions, a LUC-MGC803 cell ectopic gastric cancer nude mouse model was established. Mice were administered JK-AG and SD-AG at 1 g·kg~(-1) via gavage for 21 consecutive days. The positive control group received intraperitoneal injections of 5-fluorouracil(5-FU) at 20 mg·kg~(-1) every other day. Tumor volume was measured during the experiment. At the end of the experiment, high-resolution ultrasound imaging was used to measure tumor size, and an in vivo imaging system was used to observe tumor fluorescence expression. Tumor tissues were excised, weighed, and subjected to pathological histological examination. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling(TUNEL) assay and TUNEL+caspase-1 fluorescence double staining were used to detect tissue apoptosis and caspase-1 expression. Immunohistochemistry(IHC), Western blot(WB), and quantitative real-time PCR(RT-qPCR) techniques were used to detect the expression of predicted key proteins and genes involved in apoptosis and pyroptosis in tumor tissues. Network pharmacology predictions indicated that Panacis Quinquefolii Radix had anti-gastric cancer activity, primarily due to its ginsenoside components. Apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α activation and caspase-1 may be key molecular mechanisms of its anti-cancer effects. In in vivo anti-tumor studies, compared to the model group, JK-AG and SD-AG did not affect the body weight or organ indices of the mice, whereas 5-FU significantly reduced body weight(P&lt;0.05) and increased lung and liver indices(P&lt;0.05). The tumor inhibition rates of JK-AG and SD-AG were 29.76% and 27.97%, respectively, which were lower than that of 5-FU. However, both JK-AG and SD-AG significantly reduced tumor tissue fluorescence intensity and three-dimensional tumor volume(P&lt;0.05 or P&lt;0.01). HE staining results showed that the drug groups had larger areas of tumor tissue necrosis. TUNEL and TUNEL+caspase-1 fluorescence staining indicated that both groups induced tumor cell apoptosis and increased caspase-1 expression. Both JK-AG and SD-AG significantly increased the expression of cleaved-caspase-8 and cleaved-caspase-3 proteins in tumor tissues detected by IHC and WB, as well as the mRNA expression of TNF-α, caspase-8, and caspase-9 detected by PCR, while reducing B-cell lymphoma 2(Bcl-2) protein expression. IHC showed that SD-AG increased the expression of TNF-α, caspase-9, cleaved-caspase-9, and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1(TNFR1) proteins more significantly than JK-AG, and also increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, whereas JK-AG increased Bax mRNA expression more significantly than SD-AG. Additionally, JK-AG and SD-AG significantly increased the expression of NLRP3, caspase-1, cleaved-caspase-1, Gasdermin D(GSDMD), cleaved-GSDMD, IL-18, Gasdermin E(GSDME), and GSDME-NT proteins and the mRNA expression of caspase-1 and GSDME. JK-AG increased cleaved-caspase-1 protein expression more significantly than SD-AG in WB analysis. At the same time, JK-AG increased the expression of GSDMD mRNA, which was significantly higher than that of SD-AG group. For GSDME-NT protein expression, SD-AG increased it more significantly than JK-AG. The above studies indicate that Panacis Quinquefolii Radix has anti-gastric cancer effects, and the efficacy of American and Shandong ginsengs is comparable. Their mechanisms are related to TNF-α-mediated extrinsic apoptosis pathways and the induction of pyroptosis. The sensitivity of their action targets varies between American and Shandong ginsengs.

In gynecological oncology, ovarian cancer (OC) remains the most lethal, highlighting its significance in public health. Our research focused on the role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in OC, particularly senescence-related lncRNAs (SnRlncRNAs), crucial for OC prognosis. Utilizing data from the genotype-tissue expression (GTEx) and cancer genome Atlas (TCGA), SnRlncRNAs were discerned and subsequently, a risk signature was sculpted using co-expression and differential expression analyses, Cox regression, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). This signature's robustness was validated through time-dependent receiver operating characteristics (ROC), and multivariate Cox regression, with further validation in the international cancer genome consortium (ICGC). Gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) unveiled pathways intertwined with risk groups. The ROC, alongside the nomogram and calibration outcomes, attested to the model's robust predictive accuracy. Of particular significance, our model has demonstrated superiority over several commonly utilized clinical indicators, such as stage and grade. Patients in the low-risk group demonstrated greater immune infiltration and varied drug sensitivities compared to other groups. Moreover, consensus clustering classified OC patients into four distinct groups based on the expression of 17 SnRlncRNAs, showing diverse survival rates. In conclusion, these findings underscored the robustness and reliability of our model and highlighted its potential for facilitating improved decision-making in the context of risk assessment, and demonstrated that these markers potentially served as robust, efficacious biomarkers and prognostic tools, offering insights into predicting OC response to anticancer therapeutics., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43657-024-00163-z., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestAll authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© International Human Phenome Institutes (Shanghai) 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Background: Several studies report that radiomics provides additional information for predicting hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). However, the comparison of diagnostic performance of radiomics for predicting revised hematoma expansion (RHE) remains unclear., Methods: The cohort comprised 312 consecutive patients with ICH. A total of 1106 radiomics features from seven categories were extracted using Python software. Support vector machines achieved the best performance in both the training and validation datasets. Clinical factors models were constructed to predict RHE. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the abilities of non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) signs, radiomics features, and combined models to predict RHE., Results: We finally selected the top 21 features for predicting RHE. After univariate analysis, 4 clinical factors and 5 NCCT signs were selected for inclusion in the prediction models. In the training and validation dataset, radiomics features had a higher predictive value for RHE (AUC = 0.83) than a single NCCT sign and expansion-prone hematoma. The combined prediction model including radiomics features, clinical factors, and NCCT signs achieved higher predictive performances for RHE (AUC = 0.88) than other combined models., Conclusions: NCCT radiomics features have a good degree of discrimination for predicting RHE in ICH patients. Combined prediction models that include quantitative imaging significantly improve the prediction of RHE, which may assist in the risk stratification of ICH patients for anti-expansion treatments., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Perioperative or postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy based on 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a common first-line adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer (GC). However, drug resistance and the side effects of 5-FU have reduced its efficacy. Among these side effects, gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity is one of the most common. Xianglian Pill (XLP) is a Chinese patent medicine that is commonly used for the treatment of diarrhoea. It can reduce inflammation and has a protective effect on the intestinal mucosa. Recent studies have shown that many components of XLP can inhibite tumor cell growth. However, the therapeutic effect of XLP in combination with 5-FU on GC is unclear., Aim of the Study: To investigate whether the combination of XLP and 5-FU can enhance anti-GC activity while reducing GI toxicity., Materials and Methods: XLP was administered orally during intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU in GC mice model. Mice were continuously monitored for diarrhea and xenograft tumor growth. After 2 weeks, the mice were sacrificed and serum was collected to determine interleukin-6 levels. Pathological changes, the expression of pro-inflammatory factors and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in GI tissue were determined by Western blot analysis. Pathological changes, apoptosis levels and p38 MAPK expression levels in xenograft tissues were also determined., Results: The results showed that XLP could alleviate GI mucosal injury caused by 5-FU, alleviated diarrhea, and inhibited the expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and myeloid differentiation primary response-88. Besides, XLP could promote the 5-FU-induced apoptosis of GC cells and enhance the inhibitory effect of 5-FU on tumor xenografts. Further study showed that XLP administration could regulate the expression of p38 MAPK., Conclusions: XLP in combination with 5-FU could alleviate its GI side effects and enhance its inhibitory effect on xenograft tumor. Moreover, these effects were found to be related to the regulation of the p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The development of optical optics for low-location road lighting is a challenging problem in providing high luminance and uniformity of illumination and meeting many other specific requirements. This study proposes an optical design method of low-location illumination based on an asymmetric double freeform surface lens. The ray emitted from the light source is refracted and reflected through the different surface types to the corresponding area of the receiving surface. In the design example, the road has dual-side mounted luminaires and a width of 6 m, and a height of 0.8 m. Simulation results indicate that, compared with conventional high-pole streetlights, the luminance uniformity had increased from 0.60 to 0.66, the illuminance uniformity had improved from 0.75 to 0.86, and the glare had been reduced., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Population growth and climate change pose challenges to the sustainability of poultry farming. The emphasis on high-yield traits in commercialized breeds has led to a decline in their adaptability. Chicken varieties adapted to the local environment, possessing traits that facilitate adaptation to climate change, such as disease resistance and tolerance to extreme weather conditions, can improve hybridization outcomes. In this study, we conducted an analysis of the population structure and genetic diversity of 110 chickens representing indigenous breeds from southern China and two different commercial breeds. Further, we performed comparative population genomics, utilizing nucleotide diversity and fixation statistics, to characterize genomic features of natural selection and to identify unique genetic traits and potential selection markers developed by indigenous breeds after adapting to the local environment. Results based on genetic diversity and population structure analyses showed that indigenous varieties exhibited high levels of genetic diversity. Commercial breeds that have been indigenously bred demonstrated higher levels of genetic diversity than those that have not, and breeds with different selection practices displayed significant differences in genetic structure. Additionally, we further searched for potential genomic regions in native chicken ecotypes, uncovering several candidate genes related to ecological adaptations affecting local breeds, such as IKBKB, S1PR1, TSHR, IL1RAPL1 and AMY2A, which are involved in disease resistance, heat tolerance, immune regulation and behavioral traits. This work provides important insights into the genomic characterization of ecotypes of native chicken in southern China. The identification of candidate genes associated with traits such as disease resistance, heat tolerance, immunomodulation, and behavioral traits is a significant outcome. These candidate genes may contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis of the adaptation of the southern native chicken to the local environment. It is recommended that these genes be integrated into chicken breeding programs to enhance sustainable agriculture and promote effective conservation and utilization strategies., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: This prospective cohort study, conducted at a high-volume esophageal cancer center from July 2019 to July 2022, aimed to investigate the link between the right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) length and anastomotic leakage (AL) rates following minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). Real-world data on stomach blood supply in the Chinese population were examined., Materials and Methods: A total of 516 cases were enrolled, categorized into two groups based on the Youden index-determined optimal cut-off value for the relative length of RGEA (length of RGEA/length of gastric conduit, 64.69%) through ROC analysis: Group SR (short RGEA) and Group LR (long RGEA). The primary observation parameter was the relationship between AL incidence and the ratio of direct blood supply from RGEA. Secondary parameters included the mean length of the right gastroepiploic artery, greater curvature, and the connection type between right and left gastroepiploic vessels. Patient data were prospectively recorded in electronic case report forms., Results: The study revealed median lengths of 43.60 cm for greater curvature, 43.16 cm for the gastric conduit, and 26.75 cm for RGEA. AL, the most common postoperative complication, showed a significant difference between groups (16.88 vs. 8.84%, P =0.01). Multivariable binary logistic regression identified Group SR and LR (odds ratio: 2.651, 95% CI: 1.124-6.250, P =0.03) and Neoadjuvant therapy (odds ratio: 2.479, 95% CI: 1.374-4.473, P =0.00) as independent predictors of AL., Conclusions: The study emphasizes the crucial role of RGEA length in determining AL incidence in MIE for esophageal cancer. Preserving RGEA and fostering capillary arches between RGEA and LGEA are recommended strategies to mitigate AL risk., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: Apatinib is an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2. Oral vinorelbine is a semisynthetic chemotherapeutic agent of vinorelbine alkaloids. Apatinib and oral vinorelbine have been proved to be effective in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (mBC). At present, several small sample clinical trials have explored the efficacy of apatinib combined with oral vinorelbine in the treatment of mBC., Methods: This retrospective study included 100 human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-negative mBC patients who received low-dose apatinib (250 mg orally per day) plus oral vinorelbine until disease progression or intolerance during February 2017 and March 2023. The progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were analyzed by SPSS 26.0 software and GraphPad Prism 8 software. Cox proportional hazards regression model for univariate and multivariate was used to identify factors significantly related to PFS and OS., Results: The median follow-up time for this study was 38.1 months. Among 100 patients with HER2-negative mBC, 66 were hormone receptor (HR)-positive/HER2-negative and 34 were triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The median PFS and OS were 6.0 months (95% CI, 5.2-6.8 months) and 23.0 months (95% CI, 19.9-26.1 months). There were no statistical differences in PFS (p = 0.239) and OS (p = 0.762) between the HR-positive /HER2-negative and TNBC subgroups. The ORR, CBR, and DCR were 21.0%, 58.0%, and 78.0%, respectively. Ninety-five patients (95.0%) experienced varying grades of adverse events (AEs) and 38.0% of patients for Grades 3-4. The most common Grades 3-4 AEs that we observed were neutropenia (30.0%) and leukopenia (25.0%)., Conclusion: Low-dose apatinib combined with oral vinorelbine demonstrates potential efficacy and well tolerated for pretreated HER2-negative mBC., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Changes in soil nitrogen components in tea gardens affect the soil nitrogen supply capacity and nitrogen cycle. In this study, soil samples were collected from forest land, cultivated land, and tea gardens with different plantation ages (30, 50, and 70 years) to explore the changes in soil nitrogen components and their relationship with physicochemical properties and enzyme activities. The results showed that:① with the increase in tea plantation age, the silt, total phosphorus, and urease and catalase activities gradually increased, whereas the sand, clay, pH, electrical conductivity, soil organic carbon, and the activities of invertase gradually decreased. The alkaline phosphatase activity increased first and then decreased with the increase in tea plantation age, and no significant differences were observed in soil water content and acid phosphatase activity. ② With the increase in tea plantation age, the contents of acid ammonia nitrogen, amino acid nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 - -N) increased significantly, and the contents of total nitrogen, acid ammonia nitrogen, hydrolyzable unknown nitrogen, and non-hydrolyzable nitrogen in tea gardens were significantly higher than those in forest land. ③ The total phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and urease were the main factors affecting soil nitrogen components. Among them, organic nitrogen components were significantly correlated with total phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase, and inorganic nitrogen components were significantly correlated with alkaline phosphatase, whereas total nitrogen had significant correlations with sand, silt, total phosphorus, urease, and alkaline phosphatase.

Shenfu injection (SFI), composed of ginseng and aconite, is a Chinese patent developed from the classic traditional prescription Shenfu Decoction created more than 700 years ago. SFI has been widely used in China for over 30 years for treating cardiovascular diseases. The main components in it include ginsenosides and aconitum alkaloids. In recent years, the role of SFI in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases has attracted much attention. The pharmacological effects and therapeutic applications of SFI in cardiovascular diseases are summarized here, highlighting pharmacological features and potential mechanisms developments, confirming that SFI can play a role in multiple ways and is a promising drug for treating cardiovascular diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Xu, Xie, Hu, Tong and Peng.)

Background: The potential impact of learning curve on long-term health-related quality of life (QoL) after esophagectomy for cancer has not been investigated. The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between learning curve for McKeown minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and health-related quality of life (QoL) in long-term, disease free survivors up to 10 years after esophageal cancer resection., Methods: Esophageal cancer patients who underwent McKeown MIE between 2009 and 2019 were identified in which 280 who were free of disease at the time of survey and completed health-related QoL and symptom questionnaires, including EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-OES18, and Digestive Symptom Questionnaire. Patients were assessed in 3 cohorts according to the learning phases of expertise reported by our previous study: initial phase; plateau phase, and; experienced phase., Results: Median time from operation to survey was 5.8 years (interquartile range 4.6-8.2). The QLQ-C30 mean scores of functional scales, and symptom scales of respiratory and digestive systems including dyspnea (P = 0.006), shortness of breath (P = 0.003), and dysphagia (P = 0.031) were significantly better in experienced phase group. Furthermore, in the subgroup analyses for patients without postoperative major complications, patients in the initial learning phase remained suffering from more symptoms of dyspnea (P = 0.040) and shortness of breath (P = 0.001)., Conclusion: Esophageal cancer patients undergoing McKeown MIE in initial learning phase tend to suffer from a deterioration in long-term health-related QoL and higher symptomatic burden as compared to experienced learning phase, which did not improved over time and warranted more attention., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Spatial prediction of the concentrations of soil heavy metals (HMs) in cultivated land is critical for monitoring cultivated land contamination and ensuring sustainable eco-agriculture. In this study, 32 environmental variables from terrain, climate, soil attributes, remote-sensing information, vegetation indices, and anthropogenic activities were used as auxiliary variables, and random forest (RF), regression Kriging (RK), ordinary Kriging (OK), and multiple linear regression (MLR) models were proposed to predict the concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in cultivated soils. In comparison to those of RK, OK, and MLR, the RF model had the best prediction performance for As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Zn, whereas the OK and RK models had highest prediction performance for Cu and Ni, respectively, showing that R 2 was the highest, and mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were the lowest. The prediction performance of the spatial distribution of soil HMs under different prediction methods was basically consistent. The high value areas of eight HMs concentrations were all distributed in the southern plain area. However, the RF model depicted the details of spatial prediction more prominently. Moreover, the importance ranking of influencing factors derived from the RF model indicated that the spatial variation in concentrations of the eight HMs in Lanxi City were mainly affected by the combined effects of Se, TN, pH, elevation, annual average temperature, annual average rainfall, distance from rivers, and distance from factories. Given the above, random forest models could be used as an effective method for the spatial prediction of soil heavy metals, providing scientific reference for regional soil pollution investigation, assessment, and management.

Background: Lymph nodes along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve (LRLN) is thought to be highly involved in esophageal cancer. Given the unique anatomical positioning of the nerve, performing lymphadenectomy in this region requires advanced techniques within limited working space. Meanwhile, high incidence of morbidity and mortality is associated with lymphadenectomy. Although several methods have been applied to reduce the technical requirement and the incidence of postoperative complication, the optimal method remains controversial., Methods: This study was a single-center, prospective, randomized trial to investigate the utility of lymphadenectomy along the LRLN during the minimally invasive esophagectomy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients by comparing the surgical outcome, postoperative complication, survival rate, and quality of life (QoL) between the retraction method (RM) and the suspension method (SM) in patients with esophageal cancer from June 2018 to November 2020. QoL was assessed according to questionnaire: EQ-5D-5L., Results: Of 94 patients were enrolled and randomized allocated to RM and SM group equally. Characteristics did not differ between groups. The duration of lymph node dissection along LRLN was significant longer in SM group ( P <0.001). No difference was observed about postoperative complications. One of in-hospital death was occurred in each group ( P >0.999). Patients in neither of groups exhibiting difference about 3-year disease-free survival rate ( P =0.180) and overall survival rate ( P =0.430). No difference was observed in postoperative QoL between groups at different time points (all, P >0.05)., Conclusion: Both methods of lymph node dissection along the LRLN during minimally invasive esophagectomy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients are technically feasible and safe. The RM appears more favorable in terms of reducing surgical duration compared to the SM., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)