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Abstract Global warming has led to the enhancement of diurnal (daytime-nighttime) compound heat waves, which can severely affect the population’s physical health and productive life; this is particularly the case for vulnerable populations that are more susceptible to psychological and physiological harm with the future normalization of heatwave scenarios. In this study, we attributed the changes in population exposure under diurnal compound high temperatures (HTs) and extremely high temperatures (EHTs) to the influence of climatic (exposure duration) and population factors and their combined influence to determine the relationship between exposure duration and the changes in exposure of vulnerable populations. Diurnal compound HT and EHT covered a land area of 4,016,800 and 1,984,200 km2, respectively. The heat-exposed area spread step-like in all directions, centering on the 24-h high-exposure area with a strong gradient effect. The area of prolonged exposure shifted from the Yellow-Huai-Huai Plain across the geographical boundary between the south and the north to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain. Meanwhile, the average maximum value of vulnerable population exposure reached 186,800 and 93,100 person-h, with high values in Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Beijing, and other cities. Changes in vulnerable population exposure were dominated first by demographic factors and then by climatic factors, with the dominance of climatic factors evident in areas of prolonged exposure. Under prolonged exposure to daytime-nighttime compound EHT, changes in the exposure of child and older populations were dominated by climatic factors with a contribution rate of 87.16% and 87.43%, respectively. Therefore, suitable cooling measures should be proposed for vulnerable populations under prolonged exposure, focusing more on the physical and mental health of children and older adults exposed to compound EHT.

Abstract Green finance plays a critical role in promoting regional green innovation. However, the precise influence of green finance on diverse facets of green innovation remains underexplored. This study empirically analyses the diverse effects of green finance on heterogeneous green innovation by applying the negative binomial model, the threshold model, andthe spatial error model using China’s regional data from 2010 to 2019. The results indicate that green finance has a positive impact on regional green innovation performance, primarily through significant contributions to fossil energy carbon reduction, energy conservation and recovery, and clean energy technology innovation. The effect of green finance is also influenced by the level of local environmental supervision, exhibiting a significant threshold effect. In addition, the development of green innovation in the region can have a siphoning effect on the resources of surrounding areas, hindering their innovation development. These findings highlight the necessity for strategic government policy-making, which should leverage the diverse impacts of green finance on various forms of green innovation. Customizing green financial instruments to suit regional environmental regulatory conditions and the green innovation levels of neighboring regions could significantly aid in promoting regional green transformation and growth.

Abstract In recent years, the Chinese government has initiated assertive centralization efforts in its approach to environmental governance. However, the efficacy of these initiatives demonstrates marked variability across different sectors. While the central-local relational framework has traditionally been employed to elucidate these disparities, its explanatory power is showing signs of strain. This paper, through policy analysis and field interviews, investigates regulatory conflicts in land use for ecological and agricultural purposes within China. The findings highlight instances of overlapping jurisdictions and discordant policy objectives among agencies responsible for delineating ecological spaces and agricultural zones. While these conflicts seem to stem from the dynamics between the central and local governments, they more accurately reflect the inherent characteristics of fragmented authoritarianism. This paper aims to expand the theory of fragmented authoritarianism by incorporating the dimension of inter-departmental competition into environmental governance, moving beyond the traditional binary analysis framework of central-local relations. It seeks to understand and critique its limitations from a broader perspective, emphasizing the role of departmental competition within fragmented authoritarianism. By analyzing this internal mechanism, the paper reveals a more nuanced governance landscape, essentially replacing the traditional central-local paradigm with a model that situates departmental competition within the overall context of fragmented authoritarianism. We propose two models for delineating competition among governmental institutions: the bureaucratic model and the charisma model, thereby advancing and deepening the application of fragmented authoritarianism theory in China’s environmental governance. This provides new theoretical insights for understanding the current challenges and developments in China’s environmental governance.

Abstract As an integral part of the overall life cycle, it is crucial to ensure equity and accessibility to palliative care services at the end of life. The knowledge of healthcare providers has a significant beneficial impact on the quality of palliative care services. This study aimed to compare the nationwide geographic distribution of healthcare providers’ knowledge of palliative care at the provincial level in China and identify the possible factors associated with its geographic disparities. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in all provinces (n = 29) that implemented palliative care pilot programs in China. Data were collected online using a structured questionnaire. The possible factors associated with healthcare providers’ knowledge including economy, demographics, and health, were explored by using exploratory regression and ordinary least squares. In addition, spatial autocorrelation was also examined with Moran’s I, LISA, and Geographically Weighted Regression. A total of 18,272 participants from 903 health institutions in 87 palliative care pilot cities were included across 29 out of 31 provinces in China. The average knowledge score (mean ± standard deviation [SD]) was 8.61 ± 2.85. A positive spatial correlation was observed in healthcare providers’ palliative care knowledge level in China. The high level of knowledge was significantly associated with fewer hospitals per 10,000 population (β = −0.384, 95% CI: −0.601 to −0.168, p = 0.001), more primary healthcare institutions per 10,000 population (β = 0.220, 95% CI: 0.032–0.407, p = 0.024), and more community health center visits (β = 0.259, 95% CI: 0.054–0.465, p = 0.016), with higher coefficients being observed in the northwest and northeast regions. This study suggested that the knowledge level of palliative care among healthcare providers nationwide was relatively low, indicating the existence of a disparity between the supply and demand of palliative care services. There may be regional disparities in palliative care services based on the substantial geographical variation in healthcare provider knowledge, emphasizing the necessity of tailored interventions targeting areas with the greatest need.

Abstract Based on the perspective of corporate cash holdings, this paper explores whether the combination of an optimistic CEO and a pessimistic CFO creates the “best partners”. Taking the non-financial A-share listed firms in China from 2010 to 2018 as the sample, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis was used as the baseline approach to empirically test, for the first time, the comprehensive influence of CEO optimism and CFO pessimism on corporate cash holdings. The empirical results show that firms with an optimistic CEO and a pessimistic CFO will hold less cash. Moreover, this negative compound effect is found to be more significant in regions with a strong gambling culture and in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs). Further analysis reveals that whether the CFO sits on the board of directors and the educational level difference between the CEO and CFO are also essential factors restricting this negative compound effect. This study provides a new perspective for relevant research on upper echelons theory, and also enriches relevant research on the factors influencing corporate cash holdings.

Abstract Urban parks can effectively reduce surface temperatures, which is an important strategic approach to reducing the urban heat island effect. Quantifying the cooling effect of urban parks and identifying their main internal influencing factors is important for improving the urban thermal environment, achieving maximum cooling benefits, and improving urban sustainability. In this study, we extracted data frobut this is often unrealisticm 28 urban parks in Zhengzhou, China. We combined multivariate data, such as Landsat 8 data, to retrieve the land surface temperature (LST), extract the park interior landscape, and quantify the cooling effect using three cooling indices: park cooling distance (L ∆max), temperature difference magnitude (∆T max), and temperature gradient (G temp). Furthermore, the relationship between the internal landscape characteristics of the park and the average LST and cooling indices of the park was analyzed. The results showed that different buffer ranges affect the LST-distance fitting results of urban parks, and a 300-m buffer zone is the optimal fitting interval. However, specific parks should be analyzed to select the optimal buffer range and reduce the cooling index calculation errors. Additionally, the mean values of LST, ∆T max, L ∆max, and G temp for the 28 parks in Zhengzhou were 34.11, 3.22 °C, 194.02 m, and 1.78 °C/hm, respectively. Park perimeter (PP), park area, internal green area (GA), and landscape shape index (LSI) were both significantly correlated with ∆T max and the main factors associated with maintaining a low LST in parks. L∆max was mainly affected by the GA, LSI, and perimeter-area ratio, whereas G temp was positively correlated with PP. Finally, the threshold value of efficiency for parks in Zhengzhou was 0.83 ha, and comprehensive parks showed optimal cooling in every aspect.

Abstract Population mobility is a key component in promoting the re-agglomeration and dissemination of social and economic factors. Based on Spring Festival data from 2019 to 2023 on Baidu Migration Big Data, this paper analyses the spatiotemporal patterns and structural characteristics of population mobility in cities across China through spatiotemporal statistics and social network analysis and investigates the evolution patterns of Chinese population migration behavior under the influence of COVID-19 epidemic during Spring Festival. The results of the study show that: (1) There are significant temporal and spatial differences in the impact of COVID-19 on population migration, with much stronger shocks on the cities of middle migration scale; (2) Population migration in Chinese cities is robust, and the impact of COVID-19 on population movement and community evolution is mainly manifested in short-term effects, with essentially no residual effects; (3) Between 2020 and 2023, a total of 119 cities experience a transfer of communities (32.25%), of which 69 cities transfer once, 20 cities transfer twice, and 30 cities transfer three times. In addition, it is found that the closeness of urban links based on population movements remains subject to geospatial effects, and the boundaries of “communities” coincide very closely with provincial borders. The results of this study have important theoretical and practical implications for a deeper understanding of the long-term impact of major public health events on changes in the geographical characteristics of population distribution and the structure of population mobility networks.

Abstract Palatalization is a common phenomenon in the Laomian language of South-east Asia. This paper compares the phonetic bilabial, velar, and coronal consonants of Laomian and their counterparts in related languages. A phonological analysis of the evolution of palatalization in Laomian is provided from a feature geometry perspective using the frameworks of nonlinear phonology and Optimality Theory. The results show that bilabials in Laomian, like those in related languages, include only the simple palatalized form ‘bilabial + glide j’ without evolving into affricates. Velars, based on different functions of [i], evolve into prepalatals and ‘velar + glide j’ respectively. Alveolars turn into prepalatals before vowels with the [-back] feature. A limited set of words in Laomian can still be pronounced in two ways with consonants belonging to two categories, reflecting different evolutionary stages of phonetic chains.

Sex is a crucial biological variable, and influence of biological sex on the change of gene expression in ageing skeletal muscle has not yet been fully revealed. In this study, the mRNA expression profiles were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Key genes were identified by differential expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The gene set enrichment analysis software and Molecular Signatures Database were used for functional and enrichment analysis. A protein–protein interaction network was constructed using STRING and visualized in Cytoscape. The results were compared between female and male subgroups. Differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways in different sex subgroups shared only limited similarities. The pathways enriched in the female subgroup were more similar to the pathways enriched in the older groups without taking sex difference into consideration. The pathways enriched in the female subgroup were more similar to the pathways enriched in the older groups without taking sex difference into consideration. The muscle myosin filament pathways were downregulated in the both aged female and male samples whereas transforming growth factor beta pathway and extracellular matrix-related pathways were upregulated. With muscle ageing, the metabolism-related pathways, protein synthesis and degradation pathways, results of predicted immune cell infiltration, and gene cluster associated with slow-type myofibers drastically different between the female and male subgroups. This finding may indicate that changes in muscle type with ageing may differ between the sexes in vastus lateralis muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophage-orchestrated inflammation contributes to multiple diseases including sepsis. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be defined clearly. Here, we show that macrophage TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) is up-regulated in murine sepsis models. When myeloid Tigar is ablated, sepsis induced by either lipopolysaccharide treatment or cecal ligation puncture in male mice is attenuated via inflammation inhibition. Mechanistic characterizations indicate that TIGAR directly binds to transforming growth factor β-activated kinase (TAK1) and promotes tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6-mediated ubiquitination and auto-phosphorylation of TAK1, in which residues 152-161 of TIGAR constitute crucial motif independent of its phosphatase activity. Interference with the binding of TIGAR to TAK1 by 5Z-7-oxozeaenol exhibits therapeutic effects in male murine model of sepsis. These findings demonstrate a non-canonical function of macrophage TIGAR in promoting inflammation, and confer a potential therapeutic target for sepsis by disruption of TIGAR-TAK1 interaction. Macrophage TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) is implicated in a range of immunopathology. Here the authors show TIGAR drives inflammation and sepsis via activation of TAK1 and that disruption of TIGAR-TAK1 interaction in a murine model of sepsis reduces immunopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Muricidae family in the Class Gastropoda comprises numerous species with a vast range of morphological features and a worldwide presence. The phylogeny of the Muricidae has been analyzed in previous studies; however, the evolutionary relationships among the main branches of the Muricidae remain unknown. Methods and results: In the present study, the mitochondrial genome of Mancinella alouina was sequenced. The mitochondrial genome was found to be 16,671 bp in length and made up of 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA and 2 ribosomal RNA genes). The genome has an A-T-rich region (66.5% A + T content) and all of the PCGs use the ATN start codon and the TAG or TAA stop codons. The mitochondrial gene arrangement of Mancinella alouina is similar to that of other Muricidae, except for Ocinebrellus inornatus and Ceratostoma burnetti. On the basis of a flexible molecular clock model, time-calibrated phylogenetic results indicate that the genus Mancinella diverged roughly 18.09 Mya, and that the family Muricidae emerged in the Late Cretaceous. Conclusions: This study reveals the structural and sequence information features of the mitochondrial genome of Mancinella alouina. This study provides evidence for the relationships within the family Muricidae at the molecular level, and infer the divergence time. The results of phylogenetic analyses strongly support the current classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High myopia (HM) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide with currently no effective interventions available. A major hurdle lies in its often isolated perception as a purely ocular morbidity, disregarding potential systemic implications. Recent evidence suggests the existence of a gut-eye axis; however, the role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of HM remains largely unexplored. Herein, we provide a potential crosstalk among HM's gut dysbiosis, microbial metabolites, and scleral remodeling. Utilizing 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we observed an altered gut microbiota profile in HM patients with a significant reduction in probiotic abundance compared with healthy controls. Subsequent targeted metabolic profiling revealed a notable decrease in plasma levels of the gut microbiota-derived metabolite indole-3-acetic acid (3-IAA) among HM patients, which is closely associated with the reduced probiotics, both negatively correlated with HM severity. Genetic analyses determined that gut microbiota are causally associated with myopia risk. Importantly, when mice subjected to HM modeling receive fecal microbiota transplantation from healthy donors, there is an increase in 3-IAA plasma levels and simultaneous retardation of HM progression along with better maintenance of collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1) expression in the sclera. Furthermore, 3-IAA gavage achieves similar effects. Mechanistic investigations confirm the transcriptional activation of COL1A1 by 3-IAA via promoting the enrichment of SP1 to its promoter. Together, our findings provide novel insights into the gut microbiota-eye axis in the pathogenesis of HM and propose new strategies for HM intervention by remodeling the gut microbiota and indole supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling the precise growth of atoms is necessary to achieve manipulation of atomic composition and atomic position, regulation of electronic structure, and an understanding of reactions at the atomic level. Herein, we report a facile method for ordered anchoring of zero-valent platinum and manganese atoms with single-atom thickness on graphdiyne under mild conditions. Due to strong and incomplete charge transfer between graphdiyne and metal atoms, the formation of metal clusters and nanoparticles can be inhibited. The size, composition and structure of the bimetallic nanoplates are precisely controlled by the natural structure-limiting effect of graphdiyne. Experimental characterization clearly demonstrates such a fine control process. Electrochemical measurements show that the active site of platinum-manganese interface on graphdiyne guarantees the high catalytic activity and selectivity (~100%) for alkene-to-diol conversion. This work lays a solid foundation for obtaining high-performance nanomaterials by the atomic engineering of active site. This work reports a facile method for growing highly ordered Pt and Mn bimetallic single atomic layers on graphdiyne. This fully activates loaded metal atoms and results in in high activity and selectivity for electrocatalytic alkene-to-diol conversion [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) achieves internal networks penetration through multiple methods, making it difficult to detect attack clues solely through boundary defense measures. To address this challenge, some research has proposed threat detection methods based on provenance graphs, which leverage entity relationships such as processes, files, and sockets found in host audit logs. However, these methods are generally inefficient, especially when faced with massive audit logs and the computational resource-intensive nature of graph algorithms. Effectively and economically extracting APT attack clues from massive system audit logs remains a significant challenge. To tackle this problem, this paper introduces the ProcSAGE method, which detects threats based on abnormal behavior patterns, offering high accuracy, low cost, and independence from expert knowledge. ProcSAGE focuses on processes or threads in host audit logs during the graph construction phase to effectively control the scale of provenance graphs and reduce performance overhead. Additionally, in the feature extraction phase, ProcSAGE considers information about the processes or threads themselves and their neighboring nodes to accurately characterize them and enhance model accuracy. In order to verify the effectiveness of the ProcSAGE method, this study conducted a comprehensive evaluation on the StreamSpot dataset. The experimental results show that the ProcSAGE method can significantly reduce the time and memory consumption in the threat detection process while improving the accuracy, and the optimization effect becomes more significant as the data size expands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipe contaminant detection holds considerable importance within various industries, such as the aviation, maritime, medicine, and other pertinent fields. This capability is beneficial for forecasting equipment potential failures, ascertaining operational situations, timely maintenance, and lifespan prediction. However, the majority of existing methods operate offline, and the detectable parameters online are relatively singular. This constraint hampers real-time on-site detection and comprehensive assessments of equipment status. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a sensing method that integrates an ultrasonic unit and an electromagnetic inductive unit for the real-time detection of diverse contaminants and flow rates within a pipeline. The ultrasonic unit comprises a flexible transducer patch fabricated through micromachining technology, which can not only make installation easier but also focus the sound field. Moreover, the sensing unit incorporates three symmetrical solenoid coils. Through a comprehensive analysis of ultrasonic and induction signals, the proposed method can be used to effectively discriminate magnetic metal particles (e.g., iron), nonmagnetic metal particles (e.g., copper), nonmetallic particles (e.g., ceramics), and bubbles. This inclusive categorization encompasses nearly all types of contaminants that may be present in a pipeline. Furthermore, the fluid velocity can be determined through the ultrasonic Doppler frequency shift. The efficacy of the proposed detection principle has been validated by mathematical models and finite element simulations. Various contaminants with diverse velocities were systematically tested within a 14 mm diameter pipe. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed sensor can effectively detect contaminants within the 0.5−3 mm range, accurately distinguish contaminant types, and measure flow velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiotherapy (RT) is a widely used treatment with strong therapeutic effects, but overcoming challenges related to hypoxia-induced tumor resistance and ineffective antitumor immune responses is crucial for optimal outcomes. In this study, we developed a versatile nanosystem using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), R837, and a small quantity of manganese peroxide (Mn/ZnO2). The synthesized MSN@R837-Mn/ZnO2 nanoparticles exhibited precise tumor targeting and accumulation, controlled drug release under acidic conditions, and increased sensitivity in magnetic resonance imaging. These attributes collectively augmented the therapeutic efficacy of RT by alleviating hypoxia and immunosuppression. Tumor cells treated with RT combined with these nanoparticles displayed reduced oxidative stress, alleviated hypoxia, and normalized blood vessel formation. Notably, all mice in the RT + PD-1 + MSN@R837-Mn/ZnO2 group achieved complete tumor regression with extended survival. Safety assessments confirmed the absence of MSN@R837-Mn/ZnO2 toxicity, highlighting its potential as a promising approach with dual functionality for the diagnostic imaging and treatment of cancer. Radiotherapy (RT) faces challenges like hypoxia-induced tumor resistance and weak antitumor immune responses. This study developed a nanosystem using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), R837, and manganese peroxide (Mn/ZnO2). The MSN@R837-Mn/ZnO2 nanoparticles showed precise tumor targeting, controlled drug release in acidic conditions, and enhanced MRI sensitivity, boosting RT efficacy by reducing hypoxia and immunosuppression. Tumor cells treated with RT and these nanoparticles had less oxidative stress, improved hypoxia, and normalized blood vessels. Remarkably, all mice in the RT+PD-1+MSN@R837-Mn/ZnO2 group achieved complete tumor regression and extended survival, with no toxicity observed, indicating its potential for cancer imaging and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in computer vision and deep learning techniques have facilitated significant progress in video scene understanding, thus helping film and television practitioners achieve accurate video editing. However, so far, publicly available semantic segmentation datasets are mostly limited to indoor scenes, city streets, and natural images, often ignoring example objects in action movies, which is a research gap that needs to be urgently filled. In this paper, we introduce a large-scale, high-precision semantic segmentation dataset of props in Chinese martial arts movie clips, named ChineseMPD. Specifically, this dataset first establishes segmentation rules and general review criteria for audiovisual data, and then provides semantic segmentation annotations for six weapon props (Gun, Sword, Stick, Knife, Hook, and Arrow) with a summary of 32,992 objects.To the best of our knowledge, this dataset is the largest semantic segmentation dataset for movie props to date. ChineseMPD dataset not only significantly expands the application of traditional tasks of computer vision such as object detection and scene understanding, but also opens up new avenues for interdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Receptor-interacting protein kinase-3 (RIP-3) is a key component for inducing necroptosis following acute brain injury. Purpose of this study is to unveil whether serum RIP-3 levels are related to severity and clinical outcomes after human severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). In this two-center prospective cohort study, serum RIP-3 levels were detected in 127 healthy controls coupled with 127 sTBI patients. The prognostic indicators encompassed posttraumatic 180-day mortality, overall survival and poor prognosis (defined as extended Glasgow outcome scale scores of 1–4). The prognosis associations were verified via multivariate analysis. There was a significant incremental serum RIP-3 levels in patients with sTBI, relative to the controls. RIP-3 levels of patients were independently correlated with Rotterdam Computed Tomography (CT) scores and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) scores, as well as were independently predictive of mortality, overall survival and poor prognosis. Mortality and poor prognosis were effectively predicted by serum RIP-3 levels under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Linear relationships between RIP-3 levels and their risks were verified. Mortality and poor prognosis models of serum RIP-3 levels combined with GCS and Rotterdam CT scores displayed efficient predictive abilities. The two models were graphically represented, which were of clinical stability and value by employing the calibration and decision curves. Increased serum RIP-3 levels after sTBI are closely linked to heightened trauma severity and poor prognosis, signifying that serum RIP-3 may be an encouraging biomarker for evaluating severity and predicting clinical outcome of sTBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance plays a critical role in promoting regional green innovation. However, the precise influence of green finance on diverse facets of green innovation remains underexplored. This study empirically analyses the diverse effects of green finance on heterogeneous green innovation by applying the negative binomial model, the threshold model, andthe spatial error model using China's regional data from 2010 to 2019. The results indicate that green finance has a positive impact on regional green innovation performance, primarily through significant contributions to fossil energy carbon reduction, energy conservation and recovery, and clean energy technology innovation. The effect of green finance is also influenced by the level of local environmental supervision, exhibiting a significant threshold effect. In addition, the development of green innovation in the region can have a siphoning effect on the resources of surrounding areas, hindering their innovation development. These findings highlight the necessity for strategic government policy-making, which should leverage the diverse impacts of green finance on various forms of green innovation. Customizing green financial instruments to suit regional environmental regulatory conditions and the green innovation levels of neighboring regions could significantly aid in promoting regional green transformation and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex syndrome with poorly understood mechanisms driving its early progression (GOLD stages 1–2). Elucidating the genetic factors that influence early-stage COPD, particularly those related to airway inflammation and remodeling, is crucial. This study analyzed lung tissue sequencing data from patients with early-stage COPD (GSE47460) and smoke-exposed mice. We employed Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and machine learning to identify potentially pathogenic genes. Further analyses included single-cell sequencing from both mice and COPD patients to pinpoint gene expression in specific cell types. Cell–cell communication and pseudotemporal analyses were conducted, with findings validated in smoke-exposed mice. Additionally, Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to confirm the association between candidate genes and lung function/COPD. Finally, functional validation was performed in vitro using cell cultures. Machine learning analysis of 30 differentially expressed genes identified 8 key genes, with CLEC5A emerging as a potential pathogenic factor in early-stage COPD. Bioinformatics analyses suggested a role for CLEC5A in macrophage-mediated inflammation during COPD. Two-sample Mendelian randomization linked CLEC5A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with Forced Expiratory Volume in One Second (FEV1), FEV1/Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and early/later on COPD. In vitro, the knockdown of CLEC5A led to a reduction in inflammatory markers within macrophages. Our study identifies CLEC5A as a critical gene in early-stage COPD, contributing to its pathogenesis through pro-inflammatory mechanisms. This discovery offers valuable insights for developing early diagnosis and treatment strategies for COPD and highlights CLEC5A as a promising target for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing industrialization, the pollution of water resources by heavy metal ions has become an increasingly serious problem. In this study, dopamine-modified silk fibroin powder was used for the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water. A series of tests, including L value, visible light absorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and particle size analysis, were performed on the modified silk fibroin powder. The results showed that the adsorption of heavy metal ions was most effective at pH = 6, and the adsorption effects of Cu2+, Cd2+, and Ni2+ were 115.8, 60, and 60 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption of Cu2+ by the modified silk fibroin powder conformed to Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This study provides new insight for the application of natural silk fibroin powder for the adsorption of heavy metal ions in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamical environment around the asteroid (162173) Ryugu is analyzed in detail using a constant-density polyhedron model based on the measurements from the Hayabusa2 mission. Six exterior equilibrium points (EPs) are identified along the ridge line of Ryugu, and their topological classifications fall into two distinctive categories. The initial periodic orbit (PO) families are computed and analyzed, including distant retrograde/prograde orbit (DRO/DPO) families and fifteen PO families emanating from the exterior EPs. The fifteen PO families are further divided into three categories: seven converge to an EP, seven reach Ryugu's surface, and one exhibits cyclic behavior during its progression. The existence of initial PO families converging to an EP is analyzed using the bifurcation of a degenerate EP. Connection between these families and similar ones in the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) is also examined. Bifurcated PO families are identified and computed from the initial PO families, including ten families from the DROs, fifteen from the DPOs, and twenty-five associated with the EPs. The bifurcated families are separately analyzed and categorized in terms of their corresponding initial families. Connections established by the same bifurcation points between different bifurcated families are identified. A comparison is made for the dynamical environments of Ryugu and Bennu to evaluate the similarities and differences in the evolution of EPs and the progression of PO families in top-shaped asteroids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying purchase intention by analyzing the Query and the Document of the product description (Q &D) text is one of the most important means of promoting Purchase Rate (PR). In view of that customers sometimes cannot describe their purchasing intention in queries, this paper aims to identify purchase intention from implicit queries by computing semantic similarity between Q &D and proposes a novel model based on Word2Vec algorithm, Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) and Deep Structured Semantic Model (DSSM). Besides, an empirical analysis is conducted through the Keras framework and based on the factual retrieval data of the Home Depot, an E-commerce website selling building materials in America. The results show that the proposed model has achieved improving F1-score on test dataset compared with other existing models. The novel model combines Word2Vec and LSTM to extract text features and applies DSSM to further fetch high-dimension representations by maximizing semantic similarity between the user query and the description of the correct merchandise. Our proposed model can be used to remove or minimize subjective factors in extracting features, improves the performance of purchasing intention identification, and also improves the customer experience of online shopping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of copper ions (Cu2+) in excessive amounts can pose significant health risks. Therefore, the development of a rapid and highly sensitive technique for detecting even trace quantities of Cu2+ is of paramount importance. The proposed detection approach leverages the core-shell design of Au@Ag NPs functioning as the sensing substrate. The substrates were coupled with Raman probe molecules, namely, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA) and iodine ions (I−), resulting in the formation of the Au@Ag NPs-4-MBA-I− detection system. In this system, interactions between Cu2+ and I− took place, leading to the generation of I2, which in turn initiated the etching process of the Ag shell layer. Consequently, the thickness of the Ag shell decreased gradually. This reduction in the shell layer impaired the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement effect, causing a gradual decrease in the Raman signal intensity at 1586 cm−1 which was attributed to the characteristic peak of 4-MBA. Notably, a linear correlation existed between the thickness of the Ag shell and the intensity of the Raman signal. The proposed method for Cu2+ detection exhibits robust resistance to interference and high reproducibility under optimal SERS testing conditions. It boasted a wide linear detection range from 10−9 to 10−4 M and achieves a low detection limit (LOD) of 1.108 10−9 M. Moreover, this sensor was environmentally friendly, offered rapid recognition capabilities, and incurred minimal detection costs. Its versatility extended to diverse water systems, making it suitable for detecting Cu2+ not only in tap water but also in various other water sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is one of the most common diseases around the world. For cancer diagnosis, pathological examination is the most effective method. But the heavy and time-consuming workflow has increased the workload of the pathologists. With the appearance of whole slide image (WSI) scanners, tissues on a glass slide can be saved as a high-definition digital image, which makes it possible to diagnose diseases with computer aid. However, the extreme size and the lack of pixel-level annotations of WSIs make machine learning face a great challenge in pathology image diagnosis. To solve this problem, we propose a metric learning-based two-stage MIL framework (TSMIL) for WSI classification, which combines two stages of supervised clustering and metric-based classification. The training samples (WSIs) are first clustered into different clusters based on their labels in supervised clustering. Then, based on the previous step, we propose four different strategies to measure the distance of the test samples to each class cluster to achieve the test samples classification: MaxS, AvgS, DenS and HybS. Our model is evaluated on three pathology datasets: TCGA-NSCLC, TCGA-RCC and HER2. The average AUC scores can be up to 0.9895 and 0.9988 over TCGA-NSCLC and TCGA-RCC, and 0.9265 on HER2, respectively. The results showed that compared with the state-of-the-art methods, our method outperformed. The excellent performance on different kinds of cancer datasets verifies the feasibility of our method as a general architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on moderate deviations for two-time scale systems with mixed fractional Brownian motion. Our proof uses the weak convergence method which is based on the variational representation formula for mixed fractional Brownian motion. Throughout this paper, the Hurst parameter of fractional Brownian motion is larger than 1/2 and the integral along the fractional Brownian motion is understood as the generalized Riemann-Stieltjes integral. First, we consider single-time scale systems with fractional Brownian motion. The key of our proof is showing the weak convergence of the controlled system. Next, we extend our method to show moderate deviations for two-time scale systems. To this goal, we combine the Khasminskii-type averaging principle and the weak convergence approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)/acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe complication of sepsis characterized by acute respiratory distress, hypoxemia, and diffuse bilateral pulmonary infiltrates. The regulation of RIPK1 is an important part of the inflammatory response, and cIAP1/2 serves as the E3 ubiquitin ligase for RIPK1. In this study, we investigated the effect and mechanism of cIAP1/2 inhibition on sepsis-induced lung injury. Our results showed that cIAP1/2 inhibition can alleviate sepsis-induced lung injury and reduce the inflammatory response, which is accompanied by downregulation of RIPK1 phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Additionally, cIAP1/2 inhibition led to the up-regulation of programmed cell death, including apoptosis, necroptosis, and pyroptosis, and inhibiting these three cell death pathways can further reduce the inflammatory response, which is similar to the recently discovered programmed cell death pathway PANoptosis. Our findings suggest that cIAP1/2 and PANoptosis inhibition may be a new strategy for treating sepsis-induced lung injury and provide important references for further exploring the mechanism of sepsis-induced lung injury and identifying new therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of creating non-absorption window (NAW) structures in high-power semiconductor laser cavities, techniques like impurity-free vacancy diffusion and rapid thermal annealing induced quantum well intermixing were employed. The challenge is to induce a desired 30 nm blue shift while safeguarding the gain-emitting region from high-temperature annealing O2− bombardment effectively inhibits quantum well mixing, as demonstrated through experiments. Epitaxial wafers subjected to this treatment exhibit just a 1 nm blue shift, compared to 32 nm without O2− bombardment. These findings provide essential insights for protecting the gain-emitting region during NAW structure fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinal degeneration (RD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide and includes conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and Stargardt's disease (STGD). These diseases result in the permanent loss of vision due to the progressive and irreversible degeneration of retinal cells, including photoreceptors (PR) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The adult human retina has limited abilities to regenerate and repair itself, making it challenging to achieve complete self-replenishment and functional repair of retinal cells. Currently, there is no effective clinical treatment for RD. Stem cell therapy, which involves transplanting exogenous stem cells such as retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), or activating endogenous stem cells like Müller Glia (MG) cells, holds great promise for regenerating and repairing retinal cells in the treatment of RD. Several preclinical and clinical studies have shown the potential of stem cell-based therapies for RD. However, the clinical translation of these therapies for the reconstruction of substantial vision still faces significant challenges. This review provides a comprehensive overview of stem/progenitor cell-based therapy strategies for RD, summarizes recent advances in preclinical studies and clinical trials, and highlights the major challenges in using stem/progenitor cell-based therapies for RD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since deep learning is introduced to medical image segmentation, UNet and its variants have been extensively applied in medical image analysis. This paper proposes a multi-scale channel attention UNet (MSCA-UNet) to raise the accuracy of the segmentation in medical ultrasound images. Specifically, a multi-scale module is constructed to connect and to enhance the feature maps with different scales extracted by convolution. Subsequently, A channel attention mechanism is designed to compress feature maps through learnable depth separable convolutions. Eventually, we have explored the global feature module to establish the dependency between multi-level features. The proposed method is thoroughly evaluated and compared with the existing methods on four medical ultrasound image datasets. The experiments indicate that our method outperforms the SOTA method in accuracy on four medical ultrasound image datasets. Compared with UNet network, the parameters of our model have decreased 29.82%. In addition, visual comparisons further demonstrate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is difficult to treat due to its severe pain intensity and recurring episodes, which significantly impact quality of life. Objectives: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) in alleviating the pain intensity in TN, and to determine whether EA combined with low-dosage carbamazepine (CBZ) has a synergistic effect. Methods: A multi-centre, randomized, 2 × 2 factorial trial was conducted. Participants who met the inclusion criteria received active EA or sham EA for 60 min, three times a week for four weeks; CBZ (300 mg per day) or placebo for four weeks. The primary outcome was the change in visual analog scale (VAS) score from baseline to weeks 2, 4, 16, and 28. Secondary outcomes included quality of life and adverse events. Results: A total of 120 participants (75 females and 45 males; mean (SD) age, 58.5 (15.3) years) were included. The main effects of EA and CBZ were significant (P < 0.001), and there was a significant interaction was identified between the interventions (P = 0.041). Participants who received EA (mean difference [MD], −0.3 [95% CI, −0.40 to −0.20] at week 2; −1.6 [−1.70 to −1.50] at week 4; −1.1 [−1.31 to −0.89] at week 16; −0.8 [−1.01 to −0.59] at week 28), CBZ (MD, −0.6 [95% CI, −0.70 to −0.50] at week 2; −0.9 [−1.03 to −0.77] at week 4, −0.2 [−0.41 to 0.01] at week 16, 0.2 [−0.01 to 0.41] at week 28), and the combination of both (MD, −1.8 [95% CI, −1.90 to −1.70] at week 2; −3.7 [−3.83 to −3.57] at week 4, −3.4 [−3.61 to −3.19] at week 16, −2.9 [−3.11 to −2.69] at week 28) had a greater reduction in VAS score over the treatment phase than their respective control groups (sham EA, placebo, and sham EA plus placebo). EA-related adverse events (6/59, 10.17%) were lower than that of CBZ (15/59, 25.42%) during the whole phases. Conclusions: EA or CBZ alone are effective treatments for TN, while the combination of EA and low-dosage CBZ exerts a greater benefit. These findings in this trial demonstrate that the combination of EA and low-dosage CBZ may be clinically effective under certain circumstances. Trial registration: NCT03580317. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock discontinuity has a crucial impact on the deformation and strength of rock masses, and thus, the clustering of discontinuities is a critical aspect of rock mechanics. Traditional clustering methods require initial cluster centers to be specified and involve a multitude of parameter calculations, leading to a complex and cumbersome process. In this paper, a novel clustering approach based on the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) is introduced to overcome these limitations. This method utilizes a sparrow population coding technique and fitness function tailored to the unique characteristics of rock discontinuity orientation data. The SSA is adeptly applied to the clustering of rock joints, and the optimal number of clusters are automatically determined via the silhouette coefficient method. This methodology was tested on artificial datasets and actual discontinuity survey results from the underground powerhouse of the Henan Wuyue Hydropower Station to evaluate its feasibility and efficacy in analyzing rock discontinuities. Comparative data analysis reveals that the proposed method outperforms classic algorithms such as FCM and KPSO in terms of clustering accuracy and stability. The proposed method stands out among various clustering methods of discontinuity orientation for its ability to achieve convergent results without user intervention, demonstrating significant practical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyimide (PI) has emerged as a promising organic photocatalyst owing to its distinct advantages of high visible-light response, facile synthesis, molecularly tunable donor-acceptor structure, and excellent physicochemical stability. However, the synthesis of high-quality PI photoelectrode remains a challenge, and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting for PI has been less studied. Herein, the synthesis of uniform PI photoelectrode films via a simple spin-coating method was reported, and their PEC properties were investigated using melamine as donor and various anhydrides as acceptors. The influence of the conjugate size of aromatic unit (phenyl, biphenyl, naphthalene, perylene) of electron acceptor on PEC performance were studied, where naphthalene-based PI photoelectrode exhibited the highest photocurrent response. This is resulted from the unification of wide-range light absorption, efficient charge separation and transport, and strong photooxidation capacity. This paper expands the material library of polymer films for PEC applications and contributes to the rational design of efficient polymer photoelectrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate potential of enhancing image quality, maintaining interobserver consensus, and elevating disease diagnostic efficacy through the implementation of deep learning-based reconstruction (DLR) processing in 3.0 T cervical spine fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, compared with conventional images. Methods: The 3.0 T cervical spine MRI images of 71 volunteers were categorized into two groups: sagittal T2-weighted short T1 inversion recovery without DLR (Sag T2w-STIR) and with DLR (Sag T2w-STIR-DLR). The assessment covered artifacts, perceptual signal-to-noise ratio, clearness of tissue interfaces, fat suppression, overall image quality, and the delineation of spinal cord, vertebrae, discs, dopamine, and joints. Spanning canal stenosis, neural foraminal stenosis, herniated discs, annular fissures, hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum or vertebral facet joints, and intervertebral disc degeneration were evaluated by three impartial readers. Results: Sag T2w-STIR-DLR images exhibited markedly superior performance across quality indicators (median = 4 or 5) compared to Sag T2w-STIR sequences (median = 3 or 4) (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between the two sequences in terms of diagnosis and grading (p > 0.05). The interobserver agreement for Sag T2w-STIR-DLR images (0.604–0.931) was higher than the other (0.545–0.853), Sag T2w-STIR-DLR (0.747–1.000) demonstrated increased concordance between reader 1 and reader 3 in comparison to Sag T2w-STIR (0.508–1.000). Acquisition time diminished from 364 to 197 s through the DLR scheme. Conclusions: Our investigation establishes that 3.0 T fast MRI images subjected to DLR processing present heightened image quality, bolstered diagnostic performance, and reduced scanning durations for cervical spine MRI compared with conventional sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) and reintubation are among the most serious postoperative adverse events associated with malignant cervical tumors. In this study, we aimed to clarify the incidence, characteristics, and risk factors for PMV and reintubation in target patients. Methods: This retrospective nested case–control study was performed between January 2014 and January 2020 at a large spinal tumor center in China. Univariate analysis was used to identify the possible risk factors associated with PMV and reintubation. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with covariates of a probability < 0.05 in univariate analysis. Results: From a cohort of 560 patients with primary malignant (n = 352) and metastatic (n = 208) cervical tumors, 27 patients required PMV and 20 patients underwent reintubation. The incidence rates of PMV and reintubation were 4.82% and 3.57%, respectively. Three variables (all p < 0.05) were independently associated with an increased risk of PMV: Karnofsky Performance Status < 50 compared to ≥ 80, operation duration ≥ 8 h compared to < 6 h, and C4 nerve root encased by the tumor. Longer operative duration and preoperative hypercapnia (all p < 0.05) were independent risk factors for postoperative reintubation, both of which led to longer length of stay (32.6 ± 30.8 vs. 10.7 ± 5.95 days, p < 0.001), with an in-hospital mortality of 17.0%. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the risk factors for PMV or reintubation after surgery for malignant cervical tumors. Adequate assessment, early detection, and prevention are necessary for this high-risk population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of carbide coatings on graphite substrates using molten salt synthesis (MSS), has garnered significant interest due to its cost-effective nature. This study investigates the reaction process and growth kinetics involved in MSS, shedding light on key aspects of the process. The involvement of Ti powder through liquid-phase mass transfer is revealed, where the diffusion distance and quantity of Ti powder play a crucial role in determining the reaction rate by influencing the C content gradient on both sides of the carbide. Furthermore, the growth kinetics of the carbide coating are predominantly governed by the diffusion behavior of C within the carbide layer, rather than the chemical reaction rate. To analyze the kinetics, the thickness of the carbide layer is measured with respect to heat treatment time and temperature, unveiling a parabolic relationship within the temperature range of 700–1300°C. The estimated activation energy for the reaction is determined to be 179283 J·mol−1. These findings offer valuable insights into the synthesis of carbide coatings via MSS, facilitating their optimization and enhancing our understanding of their growth mechanisms and properties for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentially methylated CpG sites (dmCpGs) that distinguish prostate tumour from adjacent benign tissue could aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer. Previously, the identification of such dmCpGs has only been undertaken in radical prostatectomy (RP) samples and not primary diagnostic tumour samples (needle biopsy or transurethral resection of the prostate). We interrogated an Australian dataset comprising 125 tumour and 43 adjacent histologically benign diagnostic tissue samples, including 41 paired samples, using the Infinium Human Methylation450 BeadChip. Regression analyses of paired tumour and adjacent benign samples identified 2,386 significant dmCpGs (Bonferroni p < 0.01; delta-β ≥ 40%), with LASSO regression selecting 16 dmCpGs that distinguished tumour samples in the full Australian diagnostic dataset (AUC = 0.99). Results were validated in independent North American (npaired = 19; AUC = 0.87) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; npaired = 50; AUC = 0.94) RP datasets. Two of the 16 dmCpGs were in genes that were significantly down-regulated in Australian tumour samples (Bonferroni p < 0.01; GSTM2 and PRKCB). Ten additional dmCpGs distinguished low (n = 34) and high Gleason (n = 88) score tumours in the diagnostic Australian dataset (AUC = 0.95), but these performed poorly when applied to the RP datasets (North American: AUC = 0.66; TCGA: AUC = 0.62). The DNA methylation marks identified here could augment and improve current diagnostic tests and/or form the basis of future prognostic tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vanadium-titanium magnetite tailings are bulk industrial solid wastes and can be found in the Panxi Region of Sichuan province. The utilization of vanadium-titanium magnetite tailings as soil represents a viable strategy for achieving extensive depletion, while simultaneously fostering ecological revitalization. In order to effectively reuse the stockpiled Vanadium-titanium magnetite tailings, a comprehensive analysis was conducted to assess their physicochemical attributes, microbial community composition, and mineralogical makeup. Methods: The morphologies of six heavy metals, V, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Fe, extracted from different depths of the tailings soil were extracted and analyzed using the modified European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure. The physicochemical indexes—such as water content, pH, available sulfur, and available potassium, of the tailings soil were analyzed. The microbial community structure was analyzed using high-throughput sequencing, and the mineral composition was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results and discussion: The concentrations of Ni, Cu, Cr and Cd in the vanadium-titanium magnetite tailings are all within the controllable range. The content of available phosphorus was graded as level 1 (> 40 mg/kg), the content of cation exchange capacity (CEC) was graded as level 1 (> 20 cmol (+)/kg), and the content of available sulfur was 6.91 times higher than the average value (34.3 mg/kg) of available sulfur of the 10 southern provinces of China. At the T3-D3 sample sites, the Geothermobacter genus prevailed, while Thiobacillus reigned supreme at the remaining sampling locations. The microbial populations in the tailings were primarily influenced by sulfur and iron metabolism. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed that pyroxene, mica, cordierite, and kaolinite were the primary minerals in the tailings. Conclusion: There is a low risk of soil contamination from the utilization of vanadium and titanium magnetite tailings as an ecological reclamation substrate. Organic matter and nitrogen being the limiting indicators of soil utilization. The abundance of Actinobacteria and Bacteroidota can be appropriately intensified during soil utilization to enhance the soil nitrogen and carbon cycling performance. The chemical weathering dominated the tailings, and its maturation could be accelerated by strengthening the chemical weathering pathway of tailings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) are toxic elements that usually co-occur in paddy soils due to their chemical similarity. Those elements are redox-sensitive and shift their species across the soil–water interface (SWI) where redox potentials change in every millimeter. In the real world, the distribution and speciation of As and Sb in soils are often influenced by external redox disturbance, but their temporospatial response remains poorly understood. This study aimed to address this gap by introducing external disturbance by adding nitrate into the overlying water. Methods: Daily changes in the profile of As, Sb, iron (Fe), and sulfur (S) were measured using ICP-MS and the In-situ Porewater Iterative (IPI) sampler array. Results: The results revealed a rapid formation of a sink for As and Fe at the oxic-anoxic transition zone within one day, persisting for at least 6 days and extending to ~ 30 mm below the SWI. Moreover, Sb was re-mobilized in the same area as the As and Fe sink, but the re-mobilized Sb zone was weaker, lasting only 4 days and extending to ~ 20 mm below the SWI. The presence of aqueous ferrous Fe below the transition zone facilitated the formation of Fe and As sink, while the presence of aqueous sulfide below the transition zone hindered the development of the Sb source. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of carefully evaluating the impact of nitrate-based fertilizers or stabilization reagents when applied in As and Sb contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a major gynecological malignancy with an annually increasing morbidity that poses a significant threat to the health of women worldwide. Most OC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. It is an urgent task to search for biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of OC. The lncRNA HCP5 (HCP5) was recently identified as an oncogene in several malignant tumors. However, the function of HCP5 in OC has rarely been reported. Herein, the levels of HCP5 and PTBP1 were found to be markedly increased in malignant OC tumor tissues and OC cell lines. In HCP5-silenced SKOV-3 and HEY cells, cell viability was markedly decreased, and the apoptosis rate was significantly increased, with more cells exhibiting G0/G1 arrest and increased expression of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9. Furthermore, the number of migrated cells, number of invaded cells, and migration distance were notably decreased by the knockdown of HCP5 in SKOV-3 cells and HEY cells. In the xenograft model established with SKOV-3 cells, the number of lung metastases, tumor growth, and Ki67 expression in tumor tissues were markedly decreased by the knockdown of HCP5, accompanied by an increased percentage of TUNEL-positive cells. HCP5 was found to be localized in the nucleus, and the interaction between HCP5 and PTBP1 was verified by RNA pull-down and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. Furthermore, in HCP5-overexpressing OC cells, the impacts of HCP5 on cell proliferation and apoptosis were significantly attenuated by the knockdown of PTBP1. Collectively, these results indicate that HCP5 facilitates the progression of OC by interacting with the PTBP1 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing development of intelligent robots and wearable electronics, the demand for high-performance flexible energy storage devices is drastically increasing. In this study, flexible symmetric microsupercapacitors (MSCs) that could operate in a wide working voltage window were developed by combining laser-direct-writing graphene (LG) electrodes with a phosphoric acid-nonionic surfactant liquid crystal (PA-NI LC) gel electrolyte. To increase the flexibility and enhance the conformal ability of the MSC devices to anisotropic surfaces, after the interdigitated LG formed on the polyimide (PI) film surface, the devices were further transferred onto a flexible, stretchable and transparent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate; this substrate displayed favorable flexibility and mechanical characteristics in the bending test. Furthermore, the electrochemical performances of the symmetric MSCs with various electrode widths (300, 400, 500 and 600 μm) were evaluated. The findings revealed that symmetric MSC devices could operate in a large voltage range (0–1.5 V); additionally, the device with a 300 μm electrode width (MSC-300) exhibited the largest areal capacitance of 2.3 mF cm−2 at 0.07 mA cm−2 and an areal (volumetric) energy density of 0.72 μWh cm−2 (0.36 mWh cm−3) at 55.07 μW cm−2 (27.54 mW cm−3), along with favorable mechanical and cycling stability. After charging for ~20 s, two MSC-300 devices connected in series could supply energy to a calculator to operate for ~130 s, showing its practical application potential as an energy storage device. Moreover, the device displayed favorable reversibility, stability and durability. After 12 months of aging in air at room temperature, its electrochemical performance was not altered, and after charging-discharging measurements for 5000 cycles at 0.07 mA cm−2, ~93.6% of the areal capacitance was still retained; these results demonstrated its practical long-term application potential as an energy storage device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play various roles in the development of many autoimmune diseases. However, their expression profiles and specific function in Sjögren's Syndrome remains largely unknown. Objectives: We aimed to investigate circRNAs potential diagnostic value in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and contribution to the pathogenesis of pSS. Methods: This study included 102 subjects, 51 pSS patients and 51 healthy controls. The concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 was analyzed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from 51 pSS patients and 51 healthy controls by qRT-PCR. We established a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) to assess the biological diagnostic value of hsa_circ_0045800 for pSS. In addition, we analyzed the correlation between hsa_circ_0045800 and disease activity in Sjogren's syndrome. A differential analysis was also conducted on the concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 in patients in pSS patients before and after treatment. We studied the downstream mechanism of hsa_circ_0045800 through bioinformatics analysis and confirmed it using luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: We confirmed that the concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 was elevated 10.4-fold in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of pSS patients than in healthy controls (p = 0.00). In the pSS active disease group, the concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 is 2.5-fold higher compared to the pSS non-active disease group (p = 0.04). The concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 after treatment was decreased by 80% compared with that before treatment (p = 0.037), suggesting its utility as a potential marker for monitoring treatment efficacy. ROC curve analysis showed that the diagnostic value of hsa_circ_0045800 in pSS patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls, with an area under the curve of 0.865, a sensitivity of 74%, and a specificity of 92%. The concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 is correlated with various clinical factors: the concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 is positively associated with age (r = 0.328, P = 0.019), oral dryness (r = 0.331, P = 0.017), while it is negatively correlated with HGB (r = -0.435, P = 0.001) and and hypothyroidism (r = -0.318, P = 0.023). Bioinformatics predictions and luciferase assays indicated that hsa_circ_0045800 acts as a molecular sponge for miR-1247-5p, with SMAD2 being a target gene of miR-1247-5p. Conclusion: Our study results show that hsa_circ_0045800 potentially contributes to the development and progression of pSS via the miR-1247-5p/SMAD2 pathway. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are directly involved in the pathogenesis of pSS, and the discovery of hsa_circ_0045800 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells highlights its potential as a novel biomarker for disease activity and diagnosis in patients with pSS. Key Points • The concentration of hsa_circ_0045800 was higher in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of pSS patients. • Hsa_circ_0045800 promoted pSS progression through miR-1247-5p–SMAD2 axis. • Hsa_circ_0045800 is a potential biomarker for pSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimens allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was developed for older patients or those with poor functional status. Haploidentical donor was appropriate alternative donor for patients without matched donors or patients with emergency disease state. However, there was few studies report the outcomes of RIC regimen of anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) based haploidentical HSCT. The selection of the appropriate RIC regimen based on age and comorbidities in ATG-based haploidentical HSCT remains poorly described. To investigate the safety and efficacy of RIC regimen ATG-based haploidentical HSCT in older or unfit patients. Additionally, to explore the potential factors that impact the prognosis of RIC regimen of ATG-based haploidentical HSCT. We included a retrospective cohort of 63 patients with hematologic malignant diseases who underwent their first RIC haploidentical HSCT from November 2016 to June 2022 at our institutions. The conditioning regimen involved fludarabine (Flu) 30 mg/m²/kg 6 days combined with busulfan 3.2 mg/kg 2 days (Bu2) or 3 days (Bu3). ATG-Fresenius (ATG-F) was administered 10 mg/kg in total, ATG-thymoglobulin (ATG-T) was administered 6 mg/kg in total. The median age of patients in the entire cohort was 60 (32–67) years with a median follow-up of 496 (83–2182) days. There were 29 patients with AML, 20 patients with MDS, and 14 patients with ALL. A total of 32 patients underwent Bu2 RIC haplo-HSCT and 31 patients were treated with Bu3 RIC haplo-HSCT. The 2-year overall survival (OS) and 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) in whole cohort were 67.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 53.8 − 85.1%) and 61.4% (95% CI, 48.8 − 77.3%) respectively. The cumulative incidence rates of grades II to IV and grades III to IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in whole cohort were 15.8% (95% CI, 4.8 − 19.6%) and 9.7% (95% CI, 0.0 − 11.8%) respectively. The 2-year cumulative incidence of chronic GVHD was 34.0% (95% CI, 18.9 − 46.3%). The 2-year cumulative incidence rates of relapse (IR) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) rates in whole cohort were 27.5% (95% CI, 14.5 − 33.7%) and 11.6% (95% CI, 2.2 − 21.9%) respectively. The probability of 2-year OS were 60.2% (95% CI:42.5-85.3%) in Bu2 and 85.5%(95% CI:73.0-100%) in Bu3 group respectively(P = 0.150). The probability of 2-year DFS were 49.7% (95% CI:33.0-74.8%) in Bu2 and 72.6% (95% CI:55.5-95.5%) in Bu3 group respectively (P = 0.045). The 2-year IR of Bu2 group was significantly higher than Bu3 group (P = 0.045). However, the 2-year NRM were not significantly different between Bu2 and Bu3 group(P > 0.05). In multivariable analysis, RIC regimen of Bu3 had superior OS and DFS than Bu2 group respectively [HR 0.42, 95% CI 0.18–0.98; P = 0.044; HR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14–0.86; P = 0.022]. Besides, RIC regimen of Bu3 had lower IR than Bu2 group [HR 0.34, 95% CI 0.13–0.89; P = 0.029]. The RIC regimen of ATG-based haploidentical HSCT is a safe and effective treatment option for patients who are older or have poor functional status. In particular, a relatively high-intensity pre-treatment regimen consisting of Bu achieves significant improvements in OS and DFS, thus providing more favorable post-transplantation clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional chromosomal abnormalities(ACAs) at diagnosis are associated with inferior prognosis in chronic myeloid leukemia. However, the prognostic significance of ACAs in adult patients with Philadelphia Chromosome Positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph + ALL) receiving TKI-targeted drugs and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT) is unknown. One hundred thirty-six adult patients with Ph + ALL were included in the study and retrospectively analysed, evaluating the effect of ACAs on outcomes of transplantation. ACAs are observed in 60 cases (44%). ACAs detected in more than 5% of cases were defined as major-route and encompass: +der(22), +der(9), + 8, -7 and complex karyotype. The median follow-up was 26.4 months. In the subgroup analyses of major route ACAs, three-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) and progression-free survival(PFS) are statistically significant in + 8[66.7% vs.23.7%, P = 0.024; 77.8% vs. 23.7%, P = 0.0087], -7[53.8% vs. 23.7%, P = 0.035%; 61.5% vs. 32.9%, P = 0.033], and complex karyotypes[42.9% vs. 23.7%, P = 0.027; 47.6% vs. 23.7%] compared with t(9;22) sole. Additionally, the 3-year CIR for Ph + ALL with + der(22) is 44% vs. 23.7% for t(9;22) sole(P = 0.045). The 3-year overall survival (OS) in the − 7 group is 46.5%, which is statistically significant compared with the other groups(P = 0.001). In multivariate analyses, three years CIR and PFS are statistically significant in + der(22), + 8, -7 and complex karyotype compared with t(9;22) sole(P < 0.05). More importantly, Ph + ALL with − 7 was negatively associated with the rate of 3-year OS(P = 0.012). Thus, ACAs at diagnosis appear to have a significant prognostic impact on transplantation outcomes in patients with Ph + ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) gene mutations are infrequent in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but MDS with WT1 mutations (WT1mut) is considered high risk for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transformation. The influence of WT1 mutations in patients with MDS after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is unclear. We performed a retrospective analysis of 136 MDS with excess blasts 2 (MDS-EB2) patients with available WT1 status who underwent their first allo-HSCT between 2017 and 2022 in our center. There were 20 (20/136, 15%) cases in the WT1mut group and 116 (116/136, 85%) cases in the WT1 wild-type (WT1wt) group. WT1mut patients had a higher 2-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) than WT1wt cases (26.2% vs. 9.4%, p = 0.037) after allo-HSCT. Multivariate analysis of relapse showed that WT1 mutations (HR, 6.0; p = 0.002), TP53 mutations (HR, 4.2; p = 0.021), and ≥ 5% blasts in bone marrow (BM) at transplantation (HR, 6.6; p = 0.004) were independent risk factors for relapse. Patients were stratified into three groups according to the risk factors. Two-year CIR differed significantly in high-, intermediate-, and low-risk groups (31.8%, 11.6%, and 0%, respectively). Hence, WT1 mutations may be related to post-transplant relapse in patients with MDS-EB2, which warrants further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is a rare syndrome characterized by normocytic normochromic anemia with severe reticulocytopenia and absence of erythroid precursors in the bone marrow. For refractory PRCA patients, the low response rate and high toxicity of alternative therapies pose a great challenge. T-cell large granular lymphocyte (T-LGL) leukemia is one of the most common conditions in secondary PRCA and also the most difficult form to manage with an inferior treatment response to other secondary PRCA forms. T-LGL leukemia exhibits sustained activation of the intracellular JAK-STAT signaling pathway. We herein report a case of PRCA associated with T-LGL leukemia that had been refractory to multiple lines of therapies and was successfully treated by ruxolitinib. The patient achieved complete remission and tolerated ruxolitinib well without occurrence of neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. This preliminary finding favors ruxolitinib as a potential salvage therapy for refractory PRCA associated with T-LGL leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]