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Understanding the role of B cells in tuberculosis (TB) is crucial for developing new TB vaccines. However, the changes in B cell immune landscapes during TB and their functional implications remain incompletely explored. Using high-dimensional flow cytometry to map the immune landscape in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, our results show an accumulation of marginal zone B (MZB) cells and other unconventional B cell subsets in the lungs and spleen, shaping an unconventional B cell landscape. These MZB cells exhibit activated and memory-like phenotypes, distinguishing their functional profiles from those of conventional B cells. Notably, functional studies show that MZB cells produce multiple cytokines and contribute to systemic protection against TB by shaping cytokine patterns and cell-mediated immunity. These changes in the immune landscape are reversible upon successful TB chemotherapy. Our study suggests that, beyond antibody production, targeting the regulatory function of B cells may be a valuable strategy for TB vaccine development. [Display omitted] • MZB cells accumulate in the lungs and spleen in response to Mtb infection • MZB cells produce multiple cytokines during infection • Splenic MZB cells restrict infection by shaping cytokine patterns • Splenic MZB cells restrict infection by orchestrating cell-mediated immunity Tsai et al. show that marginal zone B cells accumulate in the lungs and spleen in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, exhibiting activated, memory-like phenotypes and producing multiple cytokines. Splenic marginal zone B cells restrict infection by coordinating the systemic cytokine pattern and cell-mediated immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young age is associated with poor prognosis in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of female breast and controversy exists regarding the optimal treatment modality for young patients. We aimed to compare treatment outcomes among breast conserving surgery (BCS), BCS with adjuvant radiotherapy (BCS + RT), and total mastectomy (MT) for young DCIS women. PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase were searched for studies reporting comparative results among BCS, BCS + RT, or MT in ≤50 years old (y/o) DCIS females. Study quality was assessed and meta-analysis with subgroup analysis was performed to pool the effect sizes of the outcomes-of-interest. We included 3 randomized control trials and 18 observational studies. For DCIS women ≤50 y/o, RT following BCS significantly reduced the risk for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) (HR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.50–0.87). However, the benefit was less robust in extremely young patients and with long follow-ups. RT revealed no statistically significant preventive effect on ipsilateral invasive recurrence (HR = 1.38, 95% CI 0.98–1.94). On the other hand, MT yielded the lowest IBTR (BCS + RT vs MT: HR = 4.4, 95% CI 2.06–9.40), both in ipsilateral DCIS recurrence and ipsilateral invasive recurrence. There was great heterogeneity and could not reach an evident conclusion concerning survival outcomes. This study highlighted the varying effect of RT for young DCIS females. The local control benefit of MT was definite without survival differences observed. Our study provided a moderate certainty of evidence to guide the treatment for young DCIS women. Further age-specific prospective trial is warranted. • It's the largest meta-analysis including 114,619 young DCIS women from 21 studies. • Radiotherapy reduces ipsilateral breast events following breast conserving surgery. • Mastectomy yields the best local control outcomes. • No significant survival difference was found among local treatment modalities. • Shared-decision making could be suggested on local treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been engendering enormous hazards to the world. We obtained the complete genome sequences of SARSCoV-2 from imported cases admitted to the Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, which was appointed by the Guangdong provincial government to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The SARS-CoV-2 diversity was analyzed, and the mutation characteristics, time, and regional trend of variant emergence were evaluated. In total, 177 throat swab samples were obtained from COVID-19 patients (from October 2020 to May 2021). High-throughput sequencing technology was used to detect the viral sequences of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analyses were used to evaluate the mutation characteristics and the time and regional trends of variants. We observed that the imported cases mainly occurred after January 2021, peaking in May 2021, with the highest proportion observed from cases originating from the United States. The main lineages were found in Europe, Africa, and North America, and B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 were the two major sublineages. Sublineage B.1.618 was the Asian lineage (Indian) found in this study, and B.1.1.228 was not included in the lineage list of the Pangolin web. A reasonably high homology was observed among all samples. The total frequency of mutations showed that the open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) protein had the highest mutation density at the nucleotide level, and the D614G mutation in the spike protein was the commonest at the amino acid level. Most importantly, we identified some amino acid mutations in positions S, ORF7b, and ORF9b, and they have neither been reported on the Global Initiative of Sharing All Influenza Data nor published in PubMed among all missense mutations. These results suggested the diversity of lineages and sublineages and the high homology at the amino acid level among imported cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing energy storage solutions is crucial to address the intermittency challenges of marine renewable energy. Buoyancy energy storage technology (BEST) holds potential, but its development remains in its infancy. Additionally, optimisation has not been implemented to improve the design. Therefore, a transit search (TS)-based optimisation model is developed to optimise both the small-scale (volume of tank less than 500 m3) and large-scale (volume of tank less than 30,000 m3) fabric BEST to maximise the power density and energy density. The optimisation results obtained through the transit search (TS) algorithm surpass those from the gray wolf (GW), whale, and artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithms in terms of consistency. The optimised large-scale fabric BEST design demonstrates improvements, with a 56% increase in power density from 345 W/m3 to 539 W/m3 and a 58% increase in energy density from 201 Wh/m3 to 318 Wh/m3 compared to the pre-optimised design from the literature. Moreover, linear relationships between the tank's submerged volume-to-water volume ratio and the extra weight limit were investigated through sensitivity analysis. The optimised fabric BEST shows competitive energy density when compared to other emerging energy storage technologies. Lithium-sulphur has higher energy density, but fabric BEST offers better safety and ease of installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]