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Previous low-quality evidence has suggested preoperative Modic changes (MC) showed a trend toward less improvement in low back pain in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) undergoing discectomy. However, a recent meta-analysis concluded that the presence of preoperative MC did not significantly impact clinical outcomes following lumbar discectomy.To compare low back pain and functional outcomes of patients after discectomy for LDH with preoperative MC.Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.This comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis used English-language articles identified through searches using Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane library until August 2022. The included studies identified publications that concentrated on the patients suffering from LDH with different preoperative MCs treated by discectomy. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were the two main metrics to evaluate outcomes.A series of 2,299 LDH patients with a definitive type of MC were included in four retrospective and five prospective studies. Overall, there is moderate to high quality evidence suggesting no significant difference between normal and MC groups for pain outcomes as well as normal and Modic type 2 groups in terms of pain or functional outcomes at one or two-year follow up. There are less functional outcomes in LDH patients with preoperative MC compared with no MC at 2-year follow up and showed no significant difference at 1-year follow-up. However, above all results may due to heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis revealed that only Modic type 1 showed statistically lower functional scores (mean difference in ODI scores range from 0 to 100) compared with Modic type 2 or compared with no MC at 2-year follow-up and showed no significant difference at 1-year follow-up (MC1 vs. MC0, p=.24, MD= -2.70; 95% CI, -7.15 to 1.76 for 1-year;p.00001, MD= -7.92; 95% CI, -11.19 to -4.66 for 2 years. MC1 vs. MC2, p=.58, MD= -1.29; 95% CI, -5.83 to 3.25 for 1-year;p.0001, MD= -6.77; 95% CI, -9.94 to -3.61 for 2 years).These data suggest LDH patients with or without preoperative MCs show a similar improvement of low back pain at 1 and 2-year follow-up and functional scores after discectomy at one-year follow-up. LDH patients with preoperative Modic type 1 are associated with worse functional status after discectomy at 2-year follow-up. However, high-quality randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies which focus on analyzing the risk and confounding factors are lacking.

To establish a mini-pig model of ureteral stricture by using electrocoagulation under ureteroscopy.Twelve female mini-pigs were included. Their ureters on one side and contralateral side were randomly divided into electrocoagulation and control groups, respectively. In the electrocoagulation group, the middle ureter was circumferentially electrocoagulated by using a self-made electrocoagulation device with the ureteroscope under direct vision, while the control group underwent ureteroscopy only without electrocoagulation. At 30 and 90 days after electrocoagulation, the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), formation of ureteral stricture, and histomorphological changes of ureteral tissues of each group were detected.At 90 days after surgery, ureteroscopy and retrograde urography revealed ureteral stricture formation in the middle ureter in the electrocoagulation group. GFR was gradually decreased over time with prolonged washout half-time in the electrocoagulation group. A compensatory increase in GFR was observed in the control group. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson's Trichrome staining revealed fibroblast infiltration and fibrous tissue hyperplasia in the superficial muscular layers, and the muscular layers were arranged disorderly in the electrocoagulation group. Immunohistochemical staining showed accumulation and disorganization of ureteric epithelium in the narrow segment. In the control group, the epithelium was arranged neatly with normal structure.A mini-pig model of ureteral stricture was successfully established using electrocoagulation under ureteroscopy. This method has the advantages of being simple to implement, having high accuracy and high success rate, which can provide an ideal animal model for studying ureteral stricture.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is highly aggressive and has poor prognosis. There are few biomarkers to inform treatment decisions, and collecting tumour samples for testing is challenging.Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from patients with PDAC liquid biopsies were expanded ex vivo to form CTC-derived organoid cultures, using a laboratory-developed biomimetic cell culture system. CTC-derived organoids were tested for sensitivity to a PDAC panel of nine drugs, with tests conducted in triplicate, and a weighted cytotoxicity score (CTS) was calculated from the results. Clinical response to treatment in patients was evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) version 1.1 criteria at the time of blood sampling and 3 months later. The correlation between CTS and clinical response was then assessed.A total of 41 liquid biopsies (87.8% from patients with Stage 4 disease) were collected from 31 patients. The CTC-derived organoid expansion was achieved in 3 weeks, with 87.8% culture efficiency. CTC-derived organoid cultures were positive for EpCAM staining and negative for CD45 staining in the surface marker analysis. All patients had received a median of two lines of treatment prior to enrolment and prospective utility analysis indicated significant correlation of CTS with clinical treatment response. Two representative case studies are also presented to illustrate the relevant clinical contexts.CTCs were expanded from patients with PDAC liquid biopsies with a high success rate. Drug sensitivity profiles from CTC-derived organoid cultures correlated meaningfully with treatment response. Further studies are warranted to validate the predictive potential for this approach.

The horizontal basal cells (HBCs) of olfactory epithelium (OE) serve as reservoirs for stem cells during OE regeneration, through proliferation and differentiation, which is important in recovery of olfactory function. However, the molecular mechanism of regulation of HBC proliferation and differentiation after injury remains unclear. Here, we found that yes-associated protein (YAP) was upregulated and activated in HBCs after OE injury. Deletion of YAP in HBCs led to impairment in OE regeneration and functional recovery of olfaction after injury. Mechanically, YAP was activated by S1P/S1PR2 signaling, thereby promoting the proliferation of HBCs and OE regeneration after injury. Finally, activation of YAP signaling enhanced the proliferation of HBCs and improved functional recovery of olfaction after OE injury or in Alzheimer's disease model mice. Taken together, these results reveal an S1P/S1PR2/YAP pathway in OE regeneration in response to injury, providing a promising therapeutic strategy for OE injury.

Background: In recent years, the disease outbreak caused by Vibrio harveyi upset the booming development of the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) farming industry. Genomic selection (GS) is a powerful method to improve the traits of interest, which has been proved in livestock and some fishes. Besides, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array is an efficient genotyping platform that can be used for genetic studies. To improve V. harveyi resistance in C. semilaevis, we firstly constructed a reference group of 1,572 individuals and investigated accuracies of four genomic methods (genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP), weighted GBLUP, BayesB, and BayesC) at predicting the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) using five-fold cross-validation and SNPs varying from 0.5 k to 500 k. Then, an SNP array was developed using the Affymetrix Axiom technology, and its accuracy in genotyping was evaluated by comparing SNPs generated by the array and by the re-sequencing technology. Finally, we selected 44 candidates as the parents of 23 families of C. semilaevis to evaluate the feasibility of the SNP array for GS.Results: all genomic methods outperformed the pedigree-based BLUP (ABLUP) when at least 50 k SNPs used for prediction, of which GBLUP resulted in better estimation than ABLUP when more than 1 k SNPs used. A 38 k SNP array, “Solechip No.1”, was developed with an average of 10.5 kb inter-spacing between two adjacent SNPs. The SNPs generated by the array and by the re-sequencing reached an average consistency of 94.8 %, of which 79.3 % of loci had a more than 90 % of the consistency. The survival rates of these 23 offspring families had a correlation of 0.706 with the family GEBVs (mid-parental GEBVs), and the average survival rate of the top five families in GEBVs (79.1 %) is higher than the bottom five families (58.1 %).Conclusion: GS is an efficient method to improve the V. harveyi resistance in C. semilaevis, and the SNP array “Solechip No.1” is a convenient and reliable tool for the Chinses tongue sole selective breeding practice.

The development of functional materials for osteoporosis is ultimately required for bone remodeling. However, grafts were accompanied by increasing pro-inflammatory cytokines that impaired bone formation. In this work, nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA)/resveratrol (Res)/chitosan (CS) composite microspheres were designed to create a beneficial microenvironment and help improve the osteogenesis by local sustained release of Res. Study of in vitro release confirmed the feasibility of n-HA/Res/CS microspheres for controlled Res release. Notably, microspheres had anti-inflammatory activity evidenced by the decreased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and iNOS in RAW264.7 cells in a dose dependent manner. Further, enhanced adhesion and proliferation of BMSCs seeded onto microspheres demonstrated that composite microspheres were conducive to cell growth. The ability to enhance osteo-differentiation was supported by up-regulation of Runx2, ALP, Col-1 and OCN, and substantial mineralization in osteogenic medium. When implanted into bone defects in the osteoporotic rat femoral condyles, enhanced entochondrostosis and bone regeneration suggested that the n-HA/Res/CS composite microspheres were more favorable for impaired fracture healing. The results indicated that optimized n-HA/Res/CS composite microspheres could serve as promising multifunctional fillers for osteoporotic bone defect/fracture treatment., Graphical abstract The n-HA/Res/CS composite microspheres exhibited a better anti-inflammatory response, osteo-differentiation, entochondrostosis and bone remodeling, serving as promising multifunctional fillers for osteoporotic bone defect/fracture treatment.Image 1, Highlights • The microspheres with sustained Res release possessed obvious anti-inflammatory activity. • The microspheres were favorable for cell growth and osteo-differentiation. • Higher Res-loaded microspheres significantly improved entochondrostosis and bone remodeling. • The microspheres are promising bone fillers for the healing of osteoporotic bone defects/fractures.

Objective This study is a retrospective evaluation of patients with L4-5 highly down-migrated lumbar disc herniation (LDH) operated with interlaminar endoscopic lumbar discectomy (IELD) versus transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy (TELD). Methods From January 2015 to December 2018, 77 patients with L4-5 highly down-migrated LDH were divided into 2 groups according to different surgical approaches. There were 40 patients who underwent IELD, and 37 patients who underwent TELD. The operation time, hospital stay, Oswestry Disability Index, clinical outcome according with modified MacNab criteria, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores, and complications were compared between the IELD and TELD groups. Results Seventy-seven patients were included, 40 and 37 patients underwent IELD and TELD, respectively. The IELD and TELD groups both achieved a significant improvement in Oswestry Disability Index, back and leg VAS scores, and clinical outcome postoperation. Mean operating and x-ray times during operation were significantly shorter in the IELD group than in the TELD group (41.8 vs. 50.3, 1.8 vs. 13.7). There were 3 patients who experienced recurrence in the IELD group and 2 in the TELD group. In the TELD group, there were 3 patients who required revision surgery due to incompletely removed disc fragment. All patients in the IELD group were treated successfully. There was no other complication in these cases. Conclusions Both IELD and TELD could be a good alternative option for highly down-migrated LDH in L4-L5. IELD may have advantages in operation time and x-ray times during operation compared with TELD.

Objective To evaluate the safety and accuracy of S2 alar-iliac (S2AI) screw placement guided by a three-dimensional (3D)-printed surgical guide template. Methods The data of 27 patients treated with S2AI screws were analyzed. S2AI surgical guide templates were designed and printed, and S2AI screw placement was completed intraoperatively with the guide templates. Postoperative computed tomography (CT) was performed to measure screw path parameters, namely, the sagittal angle (SA), the transverse angle (TA), the horizontal distance (HD) between the entry point of the screw and the median sacral crest, and the vertical distance (VD) between the entry point of the screw and the lower edge of the first posterior sacral foramen. Screw placement was graded according to the Oh grading criteria. Results A total of 54 S2AI screws were placed. The screw grades were as follows: 52 screws were considered grade 0, two were grade 1, none were grade 2, and none were grade 3. Thus, grade 0 accounted for 96.3% of the screws. When the preoperatively planned SA (32.3° ± 2.0°), TA (42.1° ± 3.9°), HD (5.1 ± 1.1) mm, and VD (19.0 ± 2.4) mm were compared with the corresponding postoperative SA (31.9° ± 3.8°), TA (42.5° ± 4.0°), HD (4.9 ± 1.1) mm, and VD (19.1 ± 2.3) mm, no significant differences were identified (P > 0.05). Conclusions S2AI screw placement assisted by a 3D-printed surgical guide is safe and accurate.

Nanomaterial mediated cancer/tumor photo driven hyperthermia has obtained great awareness. Nevertheless, it is a challenge for improving the hyperthermic efficacy lacking resistance to stimulated thermal stress. We thus developed a bioinspired nano-platform utilizing inclusion complexation between photosensitive polypyrrole (Ppy) nanoparticles (NP) and fucoidan (FU). This FU-Ppy NP proved to be an excellent P-selectin-mediated, lung cancer-cell/tumor targeting delivery and specific accumulation, could augment cancer/tumor oxidative stress levels through producing cellular reactive oxygen species. Potent ROS/photothermal combinational therapeutic effects were exhibited by the bioinspired FU-Ppy NP through a selective P-selectin cancer/tumor targeting aptitude for the lung cancer cells/tumor compared with other nano-formulations. The usage of FU-Ppy NP also involves the potential mechanism of suppressing the biological expression of tumor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This FU biological macromolecule-amplified photothermally therapeutic nano-platform has promising potential for future medical translation in eradicating numerous tumors.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in over 200 countries poses a substantial threat to human health. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, can be discharged with feces into the drainage system. However, a comprehensive understanding of the occurrence, presence, and potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in sewers, especially in community sewers, is still lacking. This study investigated the virus occurrence by viral nucleic acid testing in vent stacks, septic tanks, and the main sewer outlets of community where confirmed patients had lived during the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan, China. The results indicated that the risk of long-term emission of SARS-CoV-2 to the environment via vent stacks of buildings was low after confirmed patients were hospitalized. SARS-CoV-2 were mainly detected in the liquid phase, as opposed to being detected in aerosols, and its RNA in the sewage of septic tanks could be detected for only four days after confirmed patients were hospitalized. The surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage could be a sensitive indicator for the possible presence of asymptomatic patients in the community, though the viral concentration could be diluted more than 10 times, depending on the sampling site, as indicated by the

Periodic exogenous signals often exist in motion systems, especially those involving one or more rotating elements. These periodic exogenous signals deteriorate the performance of motion systems, and these adverse effects cannot be practically eliminated by straightforwardly increasing feedback control gains due to sensor noise, actuator saturation, and unmodeled plant dynamics. This paper describes a sliding repetitive controller for motion systems subject to periodic exogenous signals. Moreover, an adaptive law for bound estimation is devised to ensure the presence of a sliding motion for both repetitive learning and disturbance observation. The tracking motion system of a disk drive is considered in practice, and a traditional repetitive controller is also implemented for performance comparisons with the proposed scheme. Experimental results are reported in this paper, showing the efficacy of the proposed scheme.

The preparation of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) with different morphologies and oxidation states decorating with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and their comparison in the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 are reported in the present work. The rhombic dodecahedra Cu2O/rGO exhibits the highest methanol yield (355.3 μmol g−1cat) which is ca. 4.1–80.8 times superior to cubic, octahedral Cu2O/rGO and CuO/rGO after 20 h of visible light illumination. The enhanced performance may be due to the unique rhombic dodecahedra structure with less band bending of conduction and valence bands which decrease the energy barrier for the transfer of photogenerated electrons to the surface. The incorporation of rGO should assist the transfer of photogenerated electrons from conduction band of Cu2O. The positively charged dodecahedra Cu2O/rGO may also increase the adsorption of carbonate anions from dissolution of CO2 gas. This work provides a facile solution-chemistry route to synthesize rGO incorporated crystal Cu2O with various facets as visible-light-active photocatalysts for CO2 utilization by using natural sunlight.

Thermal sprayed NiCrBSi coatings often have some shortcomings such as poor cohesion and adhesion, which degrade their properties and are expected to be eliminated by the remelting process. However, there is still a lack of remelting methods combining the advantages of reliability, reproducibility and low-cost. This work developed a remelting method to remelt the as-sprayed NiCrBSi by plasma gun in an automatic mode using optimized parameters. The remelting process reduces the porosity, eliminates the lamellar boundaries and promotes the formation of metallurgical bonding at the coating/substrate interface. Therefore, the hardness (803 HV0.5) and bonding strength (165 MPa) of the remelted NiCrBSi coating are about 22% and 516% higher than the corresponding ones of the as-sprayed NiCrBSi counterpart (hardness: 657 HV0.5; bonding strength: 32 MPa). The remelted NiCrBSi coating also exhibit significantly enhanced wear resistance compared with the substrate and as-sprayed one. Comparison between the remelted NiCrBSi coatings prepared by various remelting methods indicates that the remelting process used in this work is prominently useful for wider industrial applications since it is reliable, reproducible and convenient.

The inadequate representativeness of driving cycles used by regulatory lab tests is one significant factor leading to the large discrepancy between real-world fuel consumption and type-approval levels. Onboard measurement devices have been used in previous researches to collect vehicle activity data but the amount of data is sometimes limited. With second-by-second GPS trajectory data of 459 private passenger cars, covering over 17,000 sampling days, this study used big-data mining techniques to study the variations in real-world driving cycles. A Markov chain method was developed to generate typical driving cycles that have representative features of real-world driving. As a case study, two typical cycles, Off-peak cycle, and Peak cycle are constructed from six sub-cycles representing different road types and travel periods. The travel dynamics indicated the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) would be too mild to represent real-world driving in China. The simulation results of vehicle fuel consumption showed that different driving cycles could lead to different lab-to-road gaps when comparing with NEDC type-approval levels. For example, the fuel consumption (median value) of Off-peak cycle and Peak cycle were higher than the NEDC type-approval level by 29.3% and 37.5%, respectively. This study highlights the importance of addressing real-world features in improving future fuel economy regulations. The practical approach to generate representative driving cycles ensured by massive travel profiles can be employed reliably for fuel consumption and exhaust emission assessment in the future.

Background: Conscious sedation is not routinely administered for therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in many countries. The aim of our retrospective study was to compare the safety and rate of success and complications during common bile duct (CBD) stone extraction using ERCPs performed with no-sedation (NS) or under general endotracheal anesthesia (GET). Methods: The medical records of all patients who underwent ERCP for biliary stone extraction between January 2010 and September 2013 were reviewed, and patients classified to the NS and GET groups. The primary outcomes were the rate of success of complete stone removal and rate of complications, including post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP), perforation, bleeding, pneumonia, and mortality within 30 days post-ERCP. Operative time was recorded for analysis. Results: During the study period, 630 patients underwent ERCP, 402 with NS and 105 with GET. Among the 402 patients in the NS group, 37 (9.2%) could not complete the procedure due to an inability to tolerate the procedure. The success rate of complete stone extraction was higher among patients in the GET group than the NS group (94.3% versus 75.6%, respectively; p

The conversion of β-amido esters to β-enamino esters is an indispensable step for some synthetic approaches to alkaloids and related medicines. Known methods for such transformation are not only stepwise, but also proceed with low atom-efficiency. Herein, we report a direct and versatile approach that features the Ir-catalyzed chemoselective reduction of β-amido esters with 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS). In addition, a lack of some signals was observed in the 13C NMR spectra of some alicyclic β-enamino esters. This revealed a longstanding existing but being ignored phenomenon in the literature.

High-pressure (HP) pelitic granulites have been used as important targets in evaluating ancient geodynamic processes similar to subduction, collision and exhumation operating in modern plate tectonics. In this contribution, relic HP pelitic granulites were identified from the Pingdu-Laiyang areas of the Jiaobei terrane that are dominated by low- to medium-pressure (LMP) pelitic granulites, suggesting their linear distribution and that at least some of LMP types should be retrograde products of the HP pelitic granulites. Their metamorphic P-T-t paths were traced by integrated methods of petrographic observation, mineral chemistry, P-T-X pseudosection modeling, Zr-in-rutile thermometry, and zircon and monazite geochronology. These HP pelitic granulites record consistent clockwise P-T-t paths that are manifested by similar peak metamorphism of high-pressure granulite-facies, with P-T conditions of P > 13 kbar, T > 850 °C possibly during 1950–1900 Ma, followed by near isothermal decompression (ITD) to mid-crustal level at 1900–1850 Ma and subsequent near isobaric cooling (IBC) to low temperature during 1850–1800 Ma. The consistent clockwise P-T-t paths and linear distribution of HP pelitic granulites explicitly indicate a sequence of geodynamic processes similar to modern-style plate tectonics must have operated during formation of the Paleoproterozoic Jiao-Liao-Ji belt (JLJB). These include a process similar to subduction that brought sedimentary precursors of HP pelitic granulites down, which was followed by continental orogeny during 1950–1900 Ma, leading to crustal thickening (40–50 km) and high-pressure granulite-facies metamorphism, and a post-orogenic collapse during 1900–1800 Ma that resulted in exhumation and cooling of HP granulites along ITD and IBC paths. Therefore, it is argued that ancient HP pelitic granulites can be regarded as relics of orogen and ascertain tectonic interpretation of the dominated LMP pelitic granulites in the same Precambrian metamorphic terranes. Notably, the apparent thermal gradients estimated from peak metamorphism are 15–20 °C/km, much higher than those of typical products in Phanerozoic plate tectonics, and the HP pelitic granulites that contain well-preserved kyanite probably require relatively high exhumation rates during ITD to middle crustal level. These seem to mark the differences in thermal regimes and tectonic mechanisms between Paleoproterozoic and Phanerozoic collisional orogenic systems.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic relapsing psychiatric disorder. An unconditioned stimulus (US)-triggers a memory reconsolidation updating procedure (MRUP) that has been developed and demonstrated its effectiveness in decreasing relapse to cocaine and heroin in preclinical models. However, utilizations of abused drugs as the US to initiate MRUP can be problematic. We therefore designed a translational rat study and human study to evaluate the efficacy of a novel methadone-initiated MRUP.In the rodent study, male rats underwent heroin self-administration training for 10 consecutive days, and were randomly assigned to receive saline or methadone at 10 min, 1 h or 6 h before extinction training after 28-day withdrawal. The primary outcome was operant heroin seeking after reinstatement. In the human experimental study, male OUD patients were randomly assigned to get MRUP at 10 min or 6 h after methadone or methadone alone. The primary outcomes included experimental cue-induced heroin craving change, sustained abstinence and retention in the study at post intervention and the 5 monthly follow-up assessments. The secondary outcomes were changes in physiological responses including experimental cue-induced blood pressure and heart rate.Methadone exposure but not saline exposure at 10 min or 1 h before extinction decreased heroin-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking after 28-day of withdrawal in rats (FThe approach of MRUP within about 1 to 6 h after a methadone dose potently improved several key outcomes of OUD patients during methadone maintenance treatment, and could be a potentially novel treatment to prevent opioid relapse.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. U1802283, 81761128036, 82001400, 82001404 and 31671143) and Chinese National Programs for Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Technology (NO. 2021ZD0200800).

Currently, cancer theranostic studies have only focused on integrating existing medical imaging techniques with therapeutic modalities. Obviously, this strategy is not a real theranostic method, as diagnosis and therapy are based on different principles and require independent operation. Here, a cancer theranostic method was established by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)-mediated synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy, which was activated by a single 1064-nm light for simultaneous tumor localization and treatment. PEGylated cobalt phosphate (CoP@PEG) nanoparticles (NPs) with strong near-infrared (NIR)-II absorbance, high photothermal conversion efficiency and a reactive oxygen species generation effect were fabricated, and they produced excellent antitumor outcomes under 1064-nm excitation, as evidenced by the substantial increase in HepG2 cell death in vitro and complete tumor elimination in vivo. Meanwhile, the diagnostic method of the LIBS imaging system used in the present study also uses 1064-nm light. The LIBS imaging system can provide fast, real-time analysis and imaging of elements and facilitate the localization of the tumor site by monitoring the distribution of CoP@PEG NPs for precise tumor treatment. We postulate that this theranostic platform will promote the development of further theranostic research.