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The glymphatic-lymphatic system is increasingly recognized as fundamental for the homeostasis of the brain milieu since it defines cerebral spinal fluid flow in the brain parenchyma and eliminates metabolic waste. Animal and human studies have uncovered several important physiological factors regulating the glymphatic system including sleep, aquaporin-4, and hemodynamic factors. Yet, our understanding of the modulation of the glymphatic system is limited, which has hindered the development of glymphatic-based treatment for aging and neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we present the evidence from fluorescence tracing, two-photon recording, and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging analyses that 40 Hz light flickering enhanced glymphatic influx and efflux independently of anesthesia and sleep, an effect attributed to increased astrocytic aquaporin-4 polarization and enhanced vasomotion. Adenosine-A2A receptor (A2AR) signaling emerged as the neurochemical underpinning of 40 Hz flickering-induced enhancement of glymphatic flow, based on increased cerebrofluid adenosine levels, the abolishment of enhanced glymphatic flow by pharmacological or genetic inactivation of equilibrative nucleotide transporters-2 or of A2AR, and by the physical and functional A2AR–aquaporin-4 interaction in astrocytes. These findings establish 40 Hz light flickering as a novel non-invasive strategy of enhanced glymphatic flow, with translational potential to relieve brain disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosorption by microorganisms is an environmentally friendly and efficient method to adsorb heavy metals and radionuclieds. The purpose of this study was to transform urease gene (Ure) from Sporosarcina pasteurii DSM33 into D.radiodurans to prepare a recombinant Deino-Ure strains. The urease was used to decompose urea to produce CO32−, promoting calcium carbonate precipitation in the presence of Ca2+. This enhances the biomineralisation and U(IV) enrichment of D. radiodurans, which provides a scientific basis for the treatment of low enriched uranium contaminated soil. During Deino-Ure mineralization of U(VI), uranium may co-precipitate with calcium, forming a stable U(VI)/U (IV)-calcite mineral precipitate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children now are facing an increasing risk of early life stress (ELS), which leads to detrimental psychosocial outcomes. Behavior studies suggested that positive parental interactions might moderate the negative impact of ELS, but the related biological alteration remains unclear. This study aims to investigate whether positive parent–child interactions moderate the association between maltreatment (as a severe form of ELS) and hair cortisol concentration (HCC), as well as between HCC and psychosocial outcomes in young children. Participants were 6-year-old Chinese children (N = 257, Mage = 6.2, 121 were male) selected by stratified cluster random sampling from a Shanghai population representative cohort. Proximal 3 cm hair strands were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for HCC. Children's psychosocial outcome was evaluated using the parental report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Parents also reported the frequency of positive parent–child interactions using the Chinese Parent–Child Interaction Scale (CPCIS) as well as the history of maltreatment. Multi-level logistic regression models adjusting for individual, kindergarten, and district confounders were used to evaluate the associations between maltreatment, HCC, and psychosocial outcomes. Interactions terms tested whether more frequent positive parent–child interactions moderates the association between maltreatment and HCC, as well as between HCC and psychosocial outcomes. Maltreated children exhibited higher levels of HCC (B = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.38,2.02; p = 0.004), and children with higher HCC exhibited poorer psychosocial outcomes (B = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.18,0.51; p < 0.001). Positive parent–child interactions did not have a moderating effect on the association between maltreatment and HCC, but they demonstrated a moderating effect on the association between increased HCC and psychosocial outcomes (interaction term: B = −0.42, 95% CI: −0.75,−0.10; p = 0.01). These findings provide evidence that positive parental interaction may serve as a moderator between chronic cortisol exposure and psychosocial problems. It highlights the importance of frequent parent–child interactions, especially among children under a high risk of ELS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellular senescence is characterized by a decrease in protein synthesis, although the underlying processes are mostly unclear. Chemical modifications to transfer RNAs (tRNAs) frequently influence tRNA activity, which is crucial for translation. We describe how tRNA N7-methylguanosine (m7G46) methylation, catalyzed by METTL1-WDR4, regulates translation and influences senescence phenotypes. Mettl1/Wdr4 and m7G gradually diminish with senescence and aging. A decrease in METTL1 causes a reduction in tRNAs, especially those with the m7G modification, via the rapid tRNA degradation (RTD) pathway. The decreases cause ribosomes to stall at certain codons, impeding the translation of mRNA that is essential in pathways such as Wnt signaling and ribosome biogenesis. Furthermore, chronic ribosome stalling stimulates the ribotoxic and integrative stress responses, which induce senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Moreover, restoring eEF1A protein mitigates senescence phenotypes caused by METTL1 deficiency by reducing RTD. Our findings demonstrate that tRNA m7G modification is essential for preventing premature senescence and aging by enabling efficient mRNA translation. The heterodimer of METTL1-WDR4 is responsible for adding methylation group to the N7 atom of guanine (m7G) in tRNA molecules. Here the authors show how the tRNA m7G modification mediates tRNA stability to control proteostasis by maintaining efficient protein synthesis, which is important for preventing premature senescence and aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that significantly threatens human health. However, the differential diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active tuberculosis (ATB) remains a challenge for clinicians in early detection and preventive intervention. In this study, we developed a novel biomarker named HP16118P, utilizing 16 helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, 11 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, and 8 B cell epitopes identified from 15 antigens associated with LTBI-RD using the IEDB database. We analyzed the physicochemical properties, spatial structure, and immunological characteristics of HP16118P using various tools, which indicated that it is a hydrophilic and relatively stable alkaline protein. Furthermore, HP16118P exhibited good antigenicity and immunogenicity, while being non-toxic and non-allergenic, with the potential to induce immune responses. We observed that HP16118P can stimulate the production of high levels of IFN-γ+ T lymphocytes in individuals with ATB, LTBI, and health controls. IL-5 induced by HP16118P demonstrated potential in distinguishing LTBI individuals and ATB patients (p=0.0372, AUC=0.8214, 95% CI [0.5843 to 1.000]) with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 71.43%. Furthermore, we incorporated the GM-CSF, IL-23, IL-5, and MCP-3 induced by HP16118P into 15 machine learning algorithms to construct a model. It was found that the Quadratic discriminant analysis model exhibited the best diagnostic performance for discriminating between LTBI and ATB, with a sensitivity of 1.00, specificity of 0.86, and accuracy of 0.93. In summary, HP16118P has demonstrated strong antigenicity and immunogenicity, with the induction of GM-CSF, IL-23, IL-5, and MCP-3, suggesting their potential for the differential diagnosis of LTBI and ATB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell division cycle 42 (CDC42) regulates cholesterol efflux, chronic inflammation, and reendothelialization in various atherosclerotic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the correlation of serum CDC42 with myocardial injury indicators and major adverse cardiac event (MACE) in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients who were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In 250 STEMI patients about to receive PCI, serum samples were collected at enrollment before PCI treatment, and the serum samples were also obtained from 100 healthy controls (HCs) at enrollment. Serum CDC42 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum CDC42 was decreased (versus HCs, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with diabetes mellitus (P = 0.017), multivessel disease (P = 0.016), cardiac troponin I (P < 0.001), creatine kinase MB (P = 0.012), stent diameter ≥ 3.5 mm (P = 0.039), white blood cell (P < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.049), and C-reactive protein (P < 0.001) in STEMI patients. Besides, 29 (11.6%) STEMI patients experienced MACE. The 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year accumulating MACE rates were 7.5%, 17.3%, and 19.3%, accordingly. Serum CDC42 was reduced in STEMI patients who experienced MACE compared to those who did not (P = 0.001). Serum CDC42 ≥ 250 pg/mL, ≥ 400 pg/mL, ≥ 700 pg/mL (cut by near integer value of 1/4th quartile, median, and 3/4th quartile) were associated with decreased accumulating MACE rates in STEMI patients (all P < 0.050). Notably, serum CDC42 ≥ 250 pg/mL (hazard ratio = 0.435, P = 0.031) was independently related to reduced accumulating MACE risk in STEMI patients. A serum CDC42 level of ≥ 250 pg/mL well predicts decreased MACE risk in STEMI patients who are treated with PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The twin-body plasma arc has the decoupling control ability of heat transfer and mass transfer, which is beneficial to shape and property control in wire arc additive manufacturing. In this paper, with the wire feeding speed as a characteristic quantity, the wire melting control ability of twin-body plasma arc was studied by adjusting the current separation ratio (under the condition of a constant total current), the wire current/main current and the position of the wire in the arc axial direction. The results showed that under the premise that the total current remains unchanged (100 A), as the current separation ratio increased, the middle and minimum melting amounts increased approximately synchronously under the effect of anode effect power, the first melting mass range remained constant; the maximum melting amount increased twice as fast as the middle melting amount under the effect of the wire feeding speed, and the second melting mass range was expanded. When the wire current increased, the anode effect power and the plasma arc power were both factors causing the increase in the wire melting amount; however, when the main current increased, the plasma arc power was the only factor causing the increase in the wire melting amount. The average wire melting increment caused by the anode effect power was approximately 2.7 times that caused by the plasma arc power. The minimum melting amount was not affected by the wire-torch distance under any current separation ratio tested. When the current separation ratio increased and reached a threshold, the middle melting amount remained constant with increasing wire-torch distance. When the current separation ratio continued to increase and reached the next threshold, the maximum melting amount remained constant with the increasing wire-torch distance. The effect of the wire-torch distance on the wire melting amount reduced with the increase in the current separation ratio. Through this study, the decoupling mechanism and ability of this innovative arc heat source is more clearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we explored the relationship between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation by investigating the potential mediating role of core self-evaluation as well as the moderating role of perceived social support. A total of 1204 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.50 years, SDage = 1.59, 653 girls and 551 boys) were invited to complete a survey about cybervictimization, perceived social support, core self-evaluation, suicidal ideation and demographic variables. We found that cybervictimization was positively associated with suicidal ideation. Additionally, core self-evaluation partially mediated the association between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation, while perceived social support moderated the first stage of the mediation process. The present study helps us to better understand the underlying mechanism through which cybervictimization increases the risk of suicidal ideation. It also provides a new perspective on how to help those with suicidal ideation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and its variants are widely used in solving practical problems. However, the efficiency of such methods largely relies on the solvability of involving subproblems. In this paper, we propose two types of inexact generalized proximal ADMM with different relative error criteria to solve the linearly constrained separable convex minimization problems. The relative error criteria are only controlled by several certain constants in range of [0, 1). The convergence and ergodic iteration-complexity bound of the new methods are rigorously established. Moreover, some numerical results on ℓ 1 -regularized sparse recovery and image deblurring problems are reported to illustrate the advantages of the new methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer (EC) is a common gynecological tumor in females with an increasing incidence over the past few decades. Alcohol consumption has been linked to the occurrence of various cancers; However, epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent associations between alcohol consumption and EC risk. In order to avoid the influence of potential confounding factors and reverse causality in traditional epidemiological studies, we used a method based on genetic principles-Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to test whether there is a causal relationship between alcohol consumption and EC. MR analysis was conducted using publicly available summary-level data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Fifty-seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were extracted as instrumental variables for alcohol exposure from the GWAS and Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine GWAS summary data involving 941,287 participants of European ancestry. SNPs for EC were obtained from the Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium, the Endometrial Cancer Epidemiology Consortium, and the UK Biobank, involving 121,885 European participants. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary method to estimate the causal effect, and the MR-Egger regression and weighted median method were used as supplementary methods. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using the Mendelian Randomization Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier global test, MR-Egger intercept test, and leave-one-out analysis to evaluate the impact of pleiotropy on causal estimates. An increase of 1 standard deviation of genetically predicted log-transformed alcoholic drinks per day was associated with a 43% reduction in EC risk [odds ratio (OR) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41–0.79, P < 0.001]. Subgroup analysis of EC revealed that alcohol consumption was a protective factor for endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC) (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.38–0.83, P = 0.004) but not for non-endometrioid endometrial cancer (NEC) (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 0.40–4.66, P = 0.626). The MR-Egger regression and weighted median method yielded consistent causal effects with the IVW method. The consistent results of sensitivity analyses indicated the reliability of our causal estimates. Additionally, alcohol consumption was associated with decreased human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) levels. This MR study suggests that genetically predicted alcohol consumption is a protective factor for EC, particularly for EEC, and this protective effect may be mediated through the reduction of HCG and IGF1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deinococcus radiodurans (DR) exhibits strong resistance to ionizing radiation. In this study, by constructing a radiation-resistant genetically engineered strain overexpressing the Cs gene, the tolerance of the bacterium to aluminum ions was enhanced, thereby achieving the goal of microbial sustainable remediation of uranium-contaminated environments. Methods: 1. Extraction of the recombinant plasmid pRADK-Cs, transformation into DR, and verification. 2. Investigation of factors such as time and initial uranium concentration on the efficiency of uranium accumulation by the recombinant strain, characterized by changes in functional groups and surface morphology before and after accumulation using techniques such as scanning electron microscope. Conclusions: The recombinant strain Deino-Cs can reduce the inhibitory effect of aluminum ions on uranium accumulation capability, and it exhibits a higher uranium accumulation rate compared to the wild-type strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of double emulsion droplet is a significant development direction in droplet microfluidics. In this paper, we simulate the droplet formation inside a six-way type microchannel. The effects of flow rate, viscosity, and interfacial tension of microfluid on the process of droplets preparation are investigated, i.e., the forming quality of droplets under different flow parameters and physical properties of microfluid, which is of reference significance for the preparation of microdroplets such as double emulsion droplet. In this paper, it is found that when the flow rate of the outer phase increases, the area of the inner and outer droplets of double emulsion droplets decreases; when the flow rate of the middle phase increases, the area of the inner droplet decreases, while the area of the outer droplet increases; the viscosity affects the forming flow pattern, and the location where the area ratio of inner and outer droplets changes more intensely is near the flow pattern transition node; the interfacial tension has a significant influence on the forming size of droplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyaluronidase (HAase) is an important endoglycosidase involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes, such as apoptosis, senescence, and cancer progression. Simple, convenient, and sensitive detection of HAase is important for clinical diagnosis. Herein, an easy-to-operate multicolor visual sensing strategy was developed for HAase determination. The proposed sensor was composed of an enzyme-responsive hydrogel and a nanochromogenic system (gold nanobipyramids (AuNBPs)). The enzyme-responsive hydrogel, formed by polyethyleneimine-hyaluronic acid (PEI-HA), was specifically hydrolyzed with HAase, leading to the release of platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs). Subsequently, PtNPs catalyzed the mixed system of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and H2O2 to produce TMB2+ under acidic conditions. Then, TMB2+ effectively etched the AuNBPs and resulted in morphological changes in the AuNBPs, accompanied by a blueshift in the localized surface plasmon resonance peak and vibrant colors. Therefore, HAase can be semiquantitatively determined by directly observing the color change of AuNBPs with the naked eye. On the basis of this, the method has a linear detection range of HAase concentrations between 0.6 and 40 U/mL, with a detection limit of 0.3 U/mL. In addition, our designed multicolor biosensor successfully detected the concentration of HAase in human serum samples. The results showed no obvious difference between this method and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, indicating the good accuracy and usability of the suggested method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-phosphate cytidylyltransferase (MCT) is a key enzyme in the MEP pathway of monoterpene synthesis, catalyzing the generation of 4- (5′-pyrophosphate cytidine)-2-C-methyl-d-erythritol from 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate. We used homologous cloning strategy to clone gene, LiMCT, in the MEP pathway that may be involved in the regulation of floral fragrance synthesis in the Lilium oriental hybrid 'Sorbonne.' The full-length ORF sequence was 837 bp, encoding 278 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the relative molecular weight of LiMCT protein is 68.56 kD and the isoelectric point (pI) is 5.12. The expression pattern of LiMCT gene was found to be consistent with the accumulation sites and emission patterns of floral fragrance monoterpenes in transcriptome data (unpublished). Subcellular localization indicated that the LiMCT protein is located in chloroplasts, which is consistent with the location of MEP pathway genes functioning in plastids to produce isoprene precursors. Overexpression of LiMCT in Arabidopsis thaliana affected the expression levels of MEP and MVA pathway genes, suggesting that overexpression of the LiMCT in A. thaliana affected the metabolic flow of C5 precursors of two different terpene synthesis pathways. The expression of the monoterpene synthase AtTPS14 was elevated nearly fourfold in transgenic A. thaliana compared with the control, and the levels of carotenoids and chlorophylls, the end products of the MEP pathway, were significantly increased in the leaves at full bloom, indicating that LiMCT plays an important role in regulating monoterpene synthesis and in the synthesis of other isoprene-like precursors in transgenic A. thaliana flowers. However, the specific mechanism of LiMCT in promoting the accumulation of isoprene products of the MEP pathway and the biosynthesis of floral monoterpene volatile components needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Precise determination of cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) involvement in patients with early-stage thyroid cancer is fairly significant for identifying appropriate cervical treatment options. However, it is almost impossible to directly judge lymph node metastasis based on the imaging information of early-stage thyroid cancer patients with clinically negative lymph nodes. Methods: Preoperative US images (BMUS and CDFI) of 1031 clinically node negative PTC patients definitively diagnosed on pathology from two independent hospitals were divided into training set, validation set, internal test set, and external test set. An ensemble deep learning model based on ResNet-50 was built integrating clinical variables, BMUS, and CDFI images using a bagging classifier to predict metastasis of CLN. The final ensemble model performance was compared with expert interpretation. Results: The ensemble deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) achieved high performance in predicting CLNM in the test sets examined, with area under the curve values of 0.86 (95% CI 0.78–0.94) for the internal test set and 0.77 (95% CI 0.68–0.87) for the external test set. Compared to all radiologists averaged, the ensemble DCNN model also exhibited improved performance in making predictions. For the external validation set, accuracy was 0.72 versus 0.59 (p = 0.074), sensitivity was 0.75 versus 0.58 (p = 0.039), and specificity was 0.69 versus 0.60 (p = 0.078). Conclusions: Deep learning can non-invasive predict CLNM for clinically node-negative PTC using conventional US imaging of thyroid cancer nodules and clinical variables in a multi-institutional dataset with superior accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity comparable to experts. Critical relevance statement: Deep learning efficiently predicts CLNM for clinically node-negative PTC based on US images and clinical variables in an advantageous manner. Key points: • A deep learning-based ensemble algorithm for predicting CLNM in PTC was developed. • Ultrasound AI analysis combined with clinical data has advantages in predicting CLNM. • Compared to all experts averaged, the DCNN model achieved higher test performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid flow around the keyhole in the molten pool is asymmetric due to the influence of gravity, which directly influences the formation of asymmetric welds and cutting in the variable polarity plasma arc horizontal welding of Al alloys. It is an efficient method used to improve molten metal flow and weld formation by changing the wire feed position (using asymmetric mass transfer to against the gravity effect). Numerical simulation results and direct observation (using a high-speed camera and tracer particles) showed that the stagnation point at the leading side of the keyhole was about at 1.5 mm above the centerline of the weld pool; gravity was the main force driving molten pool flow below the stagnation point. Indirect observation (using a tracer element) was provided to confirm the stagnation point. The metal distribution at the leading side greatly improved with changing wire feed position; the amount of metal at the upper wall of the keyhole was almost equal to that on the opposite side when the wire feed position was near the stagnation point. However, metal still tended to flow downwards to the lower side, at the rear side as the influence of gravity continued until the metal solidified. The wire feed position should be above the stagnation point. Filler material compensated for the lack of flow of base metal, and weld joints with good performance were obtained using asymmetric mass transfer (the solidification stripe was about 90°). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to discover an affordable electrode for the glucose detection application, which can be easily prepared. In this regard, we report a novel non-enzymatic glucose sensor that utilizes a free-standing electrode with a hybrid structure consisting of nanoporous CuZn/CuO nanoparticle (NPC/CuO). This electrode was fabricated through the process of dealloying the Zn80Cu20 precursor alloy and subsequent natural oxidation. We conducted a thorough investigation of the phase structure and morphology evolution. The results revealed that the NPC/CuO composite-based glucose biosensor displayed remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 2.33 mAcm−2 mM−1, wide linear range from 0 to 3.5 mM, low detection limit of 2.42 μM, excellent selectivity and suitable stability. These outstanding characteristics were attributed to the combined effect of the electroactive CuO and the nanoporous structure. These findings highlight that NPC/CuO composites have the potential to replace expensive noble metal biosensors in non-enzymatic glucose detection. By leveraging the cooperative effect of the nanostructure and copper oxide, these composites offer promising prospects for future development in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sperm quality can be easily influenced by living environmental and occupational factors. This study aimed to discover potential semen quality related living environmental and occupational factors, expand knowledge of risk factors for semen quality, strengthen men's awareness of protecting their own fertility and assist the clinicians to judge the patient's fertility. 465 men without obese or underweight (18.5 < BMI < 28.5 kg/m2), long-term medical history and history of drug use, were recruited between June 2020 to July 2021, they are in reproductive age (25 < age < 45 years). We have collected their semen analysis results and clinical information. Logistic regression was applied to evaluate the association of semen quality with different factors. We found that living environment close to high voltage line (283.4 × 106/ml vs 219.8 × 106/ml, Cohen d = 0.116, P = 0.030) and substation (309.1 × 106/ml vs 222.4 × 106/ml, Cohen d = 0.085, P = 0.015) will influence sperm count. Experienced decoration in the past 6 months was a significant factor to sperm count (194.2 × 106/ml vs 261.0 × 106/ml, Cohen d = 0.120, P = 0.025). Living close to chemical plant will affect semen PH (7.5 vs 7.2, Cohen d = 0.181, P = 0.001). Domicile close to a power distribution room will affect progressive sperm motility (37.0% vs 34.0%, F = 4.773, Cohen d = 0.033, P = 0.030). Using computers will affect both progressive motility sperm (36.0% vs 28.1%, t = 2.762, Cohen d = 0.033, P = 0.006) and sperm total motility (57.0% vs 41.0%, Cohen d = 0.178, P = 0.009). After adjust for potential confounding factors (age and BMI), our regression model reveals that living close to high voltage line is a risk factor for sperm concentration (Adjusted OR 4.03, 95% CI 1.15–14.18, R2 = 0.048, P = 0.030), living close to Chemical plants is a protective factor for sperm concentration (Adjusted OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05–0.46, R2 = 0.048, P = 0.001) and total sperm count (Adjusted OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.13–0.99, R2 = 0.026, P = 0.049). Time spends on computer will affect sperm total motility (Adjusted OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.11–4.73, R2 = 0.041, P = 0.025). Sum up, our results suggested that computer using, living and working surroundings (voltage line, substation and chemical plants, transformer room), and housing decoration may association with low semen quality. Suggesting that some easily ignored factors may affect male reproductive ability. Couples trying to become pregnant should try to avoid exposure to associated risk factors. The specific mechanism of risk factors affecting male reproductive ability remains to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of microwave ablation (MWA) plus ethanol ablation (EA) for different types of benign mixed thyroid nodules. Methods: A total of 81 patients with 81 benign mixed thyroid nodules were enrolled into the study; 39 were divided to the MWA group and 42 to the combined group (MWA combined with EA). Nodule ablation rate, volume reduction rate (VRR) and surgical complications of all patients were analyzed before and after treatment. Results: The mean ablation rate were 86.49 ± 6.68% and 90.09 ± 5.79% in the microwave and combined groups respectively, and the ablation rate of nodule decreased as the nodule volume increased. For nodules ≥15 ml in volume, the mean ablation rate of the combined group was higher than that of the microwave group (all P < 0.05). The mean VRR at 12 months postoperatively was 89.58 ± 4.32% in the microwave group and 92.92 ± 3.49% in the combined group, showing statistical significantly different between both arms (P = 0.001). The combined group decreased in volume more significantly than the microwave group for nodules with 20–50% or 50–80% cystic proportions or >15 ml in volume (all P < 0.05). The complication rate was 23.08% and 2.38% respectively. Conclusion: MWA combined with EA is more effective than MWA for treating mixed thyroid nodules. MWA combined with EA may be the first approach for nodules with >20% cystic proportions or volume >15 ml. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting a suitable approximation strategy can both enhance the robustness and improve the efficiency of the numerical algorithms. In this paper, we suggest combining two approximation criteria, the absolute one and the relative one, to the asymmetric forward-backward-adjoint splitting (AFBA) algorithm for a class of convex-concave saddle point problems, resulting in two inexact AFBA variants. These two approximation criteria are low-cost, since verifying them just involves the subgradient of a certain function. For both the absolute error AFBA and the relative error AFBA, we establish the global convergence and the O(1/N) convergence rate measured by the gap function in the ergodic sense, where N is the number of iterations. For the absolute error AFBA, we show that it possesses an O(1/N2) (linear convergence) rate of convergence, under the assumption that a part of (both) the underlying functions are strongly convex. We report some numerical results which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies on the exploration policies for stochastic multi-agent bandit (MAB) problems demonstrate that integrating the experience of other group members accelerates the learning of optimal actions. However, the basic assumption of the classical MAB problem that the expected rewards are agent-independent is invalid in many real-world problems. The group members have different expected rewards for the possible actions, perhaps due to the different initial states or local environments. To solve the MAB problem with agent-dependent expected rewards, we develop a decentralized exploration policy in which agents apply confidence-weighting to integrate the experience of other group members and to estimate the expected rewards. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the acceleration of learning still works in the agent-dependent case, and numerical simulation results verify that the proposed exploration policy outperforms the state-of-the-art method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine existing trends concerning in-hospital mortality in patients with traumatic subaxial cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) over the last four decades. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE to assess the role of the following factors on in-hospital mortality over the last four decades: neurological deficit, age, surgical decompression, use of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), use of methylprednisolone in the acute post-injury period, and study location (developing versus developed countries). Results: Among 3333 papers after deduplication, 21 studies met the eligibility criteria. The mortality rate was 17.88% [95% confidence interval (CI): 12.9–22.87%]. No significant trend in mortality rate was observed over the 42-year period (meta-regression coefficient = 0.317; p = 0.372). Subgroup analysis revealed no significant association between acute subaxial cervical SCI–related mortality when stratified by use of surgery, administration of methylprednisolone, use of MRI and CT imaging, study design (prospective versus retrospective study), and study location. The mortality rate was significantly higher in complete SCI (20.66%, p = 0.002) and American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale (AIS) A (20.57%) and B (9.28%) (p = 0.028). Conclusion: A very low level of evidence showed that in-hospital mortality in patients with traumatic subaxial cervical SCI did not decrease over the last four decades despite diagnostic and therapeutic advancements. The overall acute mortality rate following subaxial cervical SCI is 17.88%. We recommend reporting a stratified mortality rate according to key factors such as treatment paradigms, age, and severity of injury in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circadian rhythms are crucial for regulating physiological and behavioral processes. Pineal hormone melatonin is often used to measure circadian amplitude but its collection is costly and time-consuming. Wearable activity data are promising alternative, but the most commonly used measure, relative amplitude, is subject to behavioral masking. In this study, we firstly derive a feature named circadian activity rhythm energy (CARE) to better characterize circadian amplitude and validate CARE by correlating it with melatonin amplitude (Pearson's r = 0.46, P = 0.007) among 33 healthy participants. Then we investigate its association with cognitive functions in an adolescent dataset (Chinese SCHEDULE-A, n = 1703) and an adult dataset (UK Biobank, n = 92,202), and find that CARE is significantly associated with Global Executive Composite (β = 30.86, P = 0.016) in adolescents, and reasoning ability, short-term memory, and prospective memory (OR = 0.01, 3.42, and 11.47 respectively, all P < 0.001) in adults. Finally, we identify one genetic locus with 126 CARE-associated SNPs using the genome-wide association study, of which 109 variants are used as instrumental variables in the Mendelian Randomization analysis, and the results show a significant causal effect of CARE on reasoning ability, short-term memory, and prospective memory (β = -59.91, 7.94, and 16.85 respectively, all P < 0.0001). The present study suggests that CARE is an effective wearable-based metric of circadian amplitude with a strong genetic basis and clinical significance, and its adoption can facilitate future circadian studies and potential intervention strategies to improve circadian rhythms and cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the efficacy of second allogeneic hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) for treating hemophagocytic syndrome with first engraftment failure. Among a total of 35 patients who underwent allo-HSCT between June 2015 and July 2021 for HLH, 10 patients who underwent a second HSCT following graft rejection were retrospectively analyzed. Various factors, such as the treatment course and outcome, the remission status, donor selection, and the conditioning regimen of patients before second allo-HSCT, were scrutinized for transplant-related complications and transplant-related mortality, as well as transplant outcomes. All the subjects have achieved complete donor engraftment, in which the neutrophils and platelets engraftment occurred in a median time of 12 d (range 10–19 d) and 24 d (range 11–97 d), respectively. Among the selected subjects, 20% of patients are diseased due to transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy. Further, 90% of patients are diagnosed with aGVHD, in which 3 of them with grade I aGVHD, one patient with grade II aGVHD, two patients with grade III GVHD, and three patients with localized chronic GVHD. Moreover, 70% of patients showed signs of combined viral infections. Despite the complex symptoms, the overall survival rate is around 80%, with transplant-related mortality and the incidence of post-transplant GVHD of 20% and 60%, respectively. Together, our findings indicated that the second allo-HSCT showed great potential in treating hemophagocytic syndrome with engraftment failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to analyse cancer survival and its spatial distribution in Shandong Province. A total of 609,861 cancer cases from 2014 to 2016 were included in the analysis. Survival analysis was performed using strs in Stata. Spatial analysis was performed with GeoDa to determine measures of global and local spatial autocorrelation. Hotspot analysis was used to identify spatial clusters of high values (hotspots) and low values (cold spots) through ArcGIS. The 5-year relative survival rates were 37.85% for all cancers combined, 29.29% for males and 48.88% for females. After age standardisation, the survival rates were 34.47% for all cancers, 28.43% for males and 41.56% for females. Cancers with higher survival rates included thyroid (78.80%), breast (69.52%), uterus (64.51%) and bladder (62.54%) cancers. However, cancers with lower survival rates included pancreatic (11.34%), liver (13.19%), lung (18.39%), bone (19.71%), gallbladder (19.78%), oesophagus (24.52%), and stomach (28.85%) cancers and leukaemia (26.30%). Cancer survival rates in urban areas (37.53%) were higher than those in rural areas (32.83%). From the geographic distribution of cancer survival, we observed that the survival rate displayed a downward trend from east to west and from north to south. The hotspot analysis revealed that some counties of Qingdao, Jinan, Zibo, Dongying and Yantai cities were hotspots, whereas almost all counties of Linyi city and some counties of Weifang, Heze, Rizhao, and Dezhou cities were cold spots. In conclusion, the cancer survival rate in Shandong is still lower than that in China overall. The early diagnosis and treatment of lung and digestive tract cancers need to be further strengthened. Nevertheless, our results reflect a critical first step in obtaining and reporting accurate and reliable estimates of survival in Shandong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharing logistics platform can effectively realize the sharing of idle logistics resources and maximize the utility of logistics resources utilization by publishing and matching the supply and demand information of logistics resource. For sharing logistics platform, subsidy strategy plays a significant role in winning market competition. Therefore, how to establish an effective subsidy scheme is a burning issue. By analyzing the problems in the transaction orders of drivers and consignor on the sharing logistics platform, this paper estimates the subsidy strategy on the following three aspects: (1) establish a dynamic model of freight supply and demand matching according to the freight cost and determine the impact of different subsidy policies on the platform usage; (2) evaluate the solution of different subsidy policies to the matching problem of vehicles and goods, and determine the optimal subsidy scheme based on the evaluation results; (3) establish the subsidy model based on platform maximum benefit and social welfare optimization and analyze a practical case of "Huochebang" (a Sharing logistics platform). The analysis results show that the model constructed in this paper can be well applied to the subsidy problem of sharing logistics platform and assist the platform to establish the most suitable subsidy policy to achieve the optimal economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrodeposition of zinc (Zn) coatings on copper (Cu) substrates was conducted from choline chloride–ethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvent under the temperatures varying from 323 to 343 K. The electrochemical behavior of Zn ions on Cu electrodes at different temperatures was studied through cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperogram testing. The obtained results illustrate that the electrodeposition of Zn coatings is a diffusion-controlled quasi-reversible process with an instantaneous two-dimensional nucleation and growth mechanism. The crystal structure and chemical composition analysis demonstrates that the electrodeposition from ChCl–EG–ZnCl2 system is an effective strategy to achieve a Zn coating with high crystallinity and purity. The surface morphological analysis further reveals that the electroplated coatings are stacks of flake Zn grains. The dependence of the deposition behavior and quality of electroplated Zn coatings on temperature was studied systematically. The growth behavior of Zn grains is enhanced with increasing the temperature, but too high a temperature inevitably leads to the undesired coarsen microstructure instead. On the basis of the polarization curves and EIS testing results, the temperature was optimized at 333 K to obtain a Zn coating with superior corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution to that of Zn coatings electroplated at other conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intra-pulse modulation recognition of radar signals plays an important role in the field of electronic warfare. In this paper, a multi-feature random matching fusion (MFRMF) network is proposed to deal with the recognition technology of radar signals' intra-pulse modulation at a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). First, we extract 12 traditional parameter features of radar signals and screen out 7 more important features. Next, we analyze and extract the Time–frequency images. Finally, the MFRMF network with the idea of residual learning, self-attention mechanism, and random matching algorithm is adopted to perform feature learning and identify the intra-pulse modulation type of radar signals. Simulation results demonstrate that MFRMF can effectively reduce the interference of noise on signal classification and improve recognition accuracy at a low SNR. It can classify 10 kinds of radar signals, and the overall recognition accuracy achieves 90.6% and 95.4% when the SNR is − 8 dB and − 6 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adenovirus-REIC/Dkk-3 expression vector (Ad-REIC) has been the focus of numerous clinical studies due to its potential for the quenching of cancers. The cancer-suppressing mechanisms of the REIC/DKK-3 gene depend on multiple pathways that exert both direct and indirect effects on cancers. The direct effect is triggered by REIC/Dkk-3-mediated ER stress that causes cancer-selective apoptosis, and the indirect effect can be classified in two ways: (i) induction, by Ad-REIC-mis-infected cancer-associated fibroblasts, of the production of IL-7, an important activator of T cells and NK cells, and (ii) promotion, by the secretory REIC/Dkk-3 protein, of dendritic cell polarization from monocytes. These unique features allow Ad-REIC to exert effective and selective cancer-preventative effects in the manner of an anticancer vaccine. However, the question of how the REIC/Dkk-3 protein leverages anticancer immunity has remained to be answered. We herein report a novel function of the extracellular REIC/Dkk-3—namely, regulation of an immune checkpoint via modulation of PD-L1 on the cancer-cell surface. First, we identified novel interactions of REIC/Dkk-3 with the membrane proteins C5aR, CXCR2, CXCR6, and CMTM6. These proteins all functioned to stabilize PD-L1 on the cell surface. Due to the dominant expression of CMTM6 among the proteins in cancer cells, we next focused on CMTM6 and observed that REIC/Dkk-3 competed with CMTM6 for PD-L1, thereby liberating PD-L1 from its complexation with CMTM6. The released PD-L1 immediately underwent endocytosis-mediated degradation. These results will enhance our understanding of not only the physiological nature of the extracellular REIC/Dkk-3 protein but also the Ad-REIC-mediated anticancer effects. Key messages: • REIC/Dkk-3 protein effectively suppresses breast cancer progression through an acceleration of PD-L1 degradation. • PD-L1 stability on the cancer cell membrane is kept high by binding with mainly CMTM6. • Competitive binding of REIC/Dkk-3 protein with CMTM6 liberates PD-L1, leading to PD-L1 degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a class of saddle point problems frequently arising in the areas of image processing and machine learning. In this paper, we propose a simple primal-dual algorithm, which embeds a general proximal term induced with a positive definite matrix into one subproblem. It is remarkable that our algorithm enjoys larger stepsizes than many existing state-of-the-art primal-dual-like algorithms due to our relaxed convergence-guaranteeing condition. Moreover, our algorithm includes the well-known primal-dual hybrid gradient method as its special case, while it is also of possible benefit to deriving partially linearized primal-dual algorithms. Finally, we show that our algorithm is able to deal with multi-block separable saddle point problems. In particular, an application to a multi-block separable minimization problem with linear constraints yields a parallel algorithm. Some computational results sufficiently support the promising improvement brought by our relaxed requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most used polymers, but the mechanical and esthetic properties can deteriorate for use outdoors because of ultraviolet (UV) light or heat. The addition of stabilizers is indispensable method for improving the stability of PVC. In this work, a facile synthetic method of CeO2 quantum dots (QDs) was used, for achieving the best dispersion and improvement of anti-UV properties, the surface of CeO2 QDs was modified by ethyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (EDHB), which was dispersed within the PVC matrix using the casting method to investigate the anti-UV and thermal properties. X-ray powder diffraction spectra (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), UV spectrophotometry and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were applied to characterize the structures, morphologies, and properties. The results highlighted that EDHB/CeO2 can help reduce damages of PVC upon exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light and heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the application of combined audiological examination and a self-reported symptoms survey in the evaluation of hyperacusis. Patients who visited the outpatient department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Otological medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, from January 2019 to March 2021 were divided into a hyperacusis group and a normal control group. We measured the loudness discomfort level (LDL) and hearing threshold (HT) of the subjects and investigated their self-reported symptoms. We compared the demographic characteristics, loudness discomfort level, and hearing threshold of the two groups and analyzed the self-reported symptoms and audiological characteristics of hyperacusis. We considered 87 subjects, comprising 40 patients with hyperacusis and 47 healthy individuals. Among the hyperacusis patients, bilateral disease was predominant. Among them, 33 were females, 23 had hearing loss, and 20 had tinnitus. Patients are mainly in the 21–60 age group. Patients with hyperacusis had low discomfort thresholds at all frequencies except 500 Hz (P ≤ 0.05, mean LDL decreased by 6.14–1.37 dB HL for all frequencies). The incidences of feeling upset, pain, and anxiety or fear were 95%, 65%, and 82.5%, respectively, in patients with hyperacusis. The severity of symptoms varies between patients with hyperacusis and healthy individuals. A combination of LDL measurements and self-reported symptom surveys allows for an accurate and comprehensive assessment of hyperacusis. Trial registration: This study was retrospectively registered (TRN: ChiCTR2100047391) on June 13, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS), the peak power applied to the target is of great importance for regulating the ionization degree of the metal target and ion/atom flux ratio. In this work, chromium (Cr) films were deposited on 316-L stainless steel substrates and silicon (100) wafers with different peak powers by HIPIMS. The relationship between peak target power and properties of Cr films was explored in detail. The resulting structure and mechanical properties of deposited Cr films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), indentation hardness and scratch tester. The results indicate that the ionization degree of metal target and ion/atom flux ratio increase with the increase in peak power but without the loss of deposition rate at the same time. At low ionization degree, the deposited Cr film has low compressive residual stress and low hardness but good adhesion strength. When the ionization degree of target metal increases with increasing peak power, Cr film exhibits finer size and smoother surface with improved hardness but decreased adhesion strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological ion channels rely on ions as charge carriers and unidirectional ion flow to produce and transmit signals. To realize artificial biological inspired circuitry and seamless human-machine communication, ion-transport-based rectification devices should be developed. In this research, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are assembled to construct a novel ionic diode, enabling ion rectification through ion-diffusion/migration that emulates biological systems. This ion rectification results from the different diffusion/migration behaviors of mobile ions transporting in the GPE heterojunction. The electrical tests of the GPE heterojunction reveal outstanding rectifying ratio of 23.11. The GPE ionic diode operates in wide temperature window, from −20 °C (anti-freezing) to 125 °C (thermal tolerance). The absence of redox reactions is verified in the cyclic voltammogram. The GPE ionic diodes are used to construct ionic logic gates for signal communication. Furthermore, rectification of a triboelectric nanogenerator and potential for synaptic devices are demonstrated. Designing efficient biological inspired devices and circuits remains a challenge. Here, the authors develop ionic diodes based on gel polymer electrolytes enabling ion rectification through different diffusion and migration of mobile ions for logic gates, nanogenerator and synaptic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MADS-box gene family has multiple molecular and biological functions in plants. Here, the LiSEP3 gene of the MADS-box gene family of' 'Sorbonne' was obtained by homologous cloning using the petals of the flowering stage of Lilium Oriental Hybrid 'Sorbonne.' The ORF full-length sequence is 729 bp, encoding 242 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the relative molecular weight of the LiSEP3 protein is 27.67 kD and the isoelectric point (pI) is 9.16. The prediction result of the gene positioning is transcription in its nucleus. Homologous alignment of amino acid sequences showed that the protein not only had typical MADS-box and K-box domains, but also contained two short and relatively conservative SEP motifs. The phylogenetic tree showed that the amino acid sequence encoded by the LiSEP3 gene had the closest relationship with SEP3 in monocotyledon plants such as Apostasia odorata. The results of real-time PCR showed that LiSEP3 gene was mainly expressed in petal. During flower development, the expression level of the LiSEP3 gene showed an overall trend of initially increasing and then decreasing. The flowering time of LiSEP3 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana L. plants was earlier than that of wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana L. plants, compared with wild type, the number of rosette leaves is less. In the transgenic plants, the expression of flowering-associated AtSPL5 and AtGI genes was up-regulated, while the expression of AtSVP and AtFRI genes that inhibit flowering was down-regulated, which was consistent with the statistical results of the flowering time of LiSEP3 transgenic plants. Our results illustrate that the heterologous expression of SEP3 functional genes in the MADS-box family promoted the flowering period of transgenic plants of this hybrid. This research provides a theoretical basis for improving the flowering period of ornamental plants through plant genetic engineering technology and enhancing their economic and social values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban–rural digital sharing of social public resources (SPR) is related to the balanced allocation and efficient utilization of public resources in urban and rural areas, which could promote sustainable and healthy socio-economic development. This paper describes the self-organization features of the urban–rural digital sharing system of SPR from the perspective of the self-organization of complex systems. A Logistic evolutionary model of the system is proposed to illustrate its collaborative evolutionary nature. In this model, the three variables affecting the evolutionary process of the sharing system—sharing level, sharing environment, and sharing benefits—are metaphorically represented as the three reactants in the B–Z reaction. The simulation results show that the sharing level of the digital sharing system dominates its evolutionary direction. The sharing environment and benefit of the system have similar evolutionary trends due to their synergistic effects. The high external input level promotes the evolutionary process of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microfluidic chip is introduced for generating double emulsion droplets, consisting of a coaxial focusing center structure combined with a flow-focusing structure. The volume of fluid method (VOF) was adopted to numerically simulate and validate the formation of double emulsion droplets in the device. The impact of microfluidics on the dimensions and molding position of double emulsion droplets was examined under varying flow parameters and physical properties. Results demonstrate that the impact of the alteration in the flow rate of the middle phase is pivotal in the droplet generation process in comparison to the outer phase. An increase in the flow rate of the middle phase results in a notable enlargement of the double emulsion droplets. An increase in viscosity affects the forming regime, causing a transition in the droplet regime. Furthermore, interfacial tension exerts a notable impact on the positioning of droplet formation. The microfluidic device outlined in this paper effectively generates double emulsion droplets characterized by high monodispersity and excellent stability, which serves as a new reference for the practical generation of double emulsion droplets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional stress is a significant environmental risk factor for various mental health disabilities, such as anxiety. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been demonstrated to have pronounced anxiolytic effects. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these effects and their contribution to behavioral deficits remain poorly understood. Here, we addressed these issues using a classical mouse anxiety model induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS).Anxiety-like behaviors were evaluated with the open field test and elevated plus maze. Neuronal activation in various brain regions was marked using c-Fos, followed by calculations of interregional correlation to characterize a network that became functionally active following EA at the HT7 acupoint (EA-HT7). We selected the hub regions and further investigated their functions and connections in regulating anxiety-like behaviors by using a combination of chemogenetic manipulations and behavioral testing. CRS exposure induced anxiety-like behaviors. Interestingly, EA-HT7 mitigated these behavioral abnormalities. The c-Fos expression in 30 brain areas revealed a vital brain network for acupuncture responsiveness in naïve mice. Neural activity in the NAcSh (nucleus accumbens shell), BNST (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis), VMH (Ventromedial Hypothalamus), ARC (arcuate nucleus), dDG (dorsal dentate gyrus), and VTA (ventral tegmental area) was significantly altered following acupuncture. Notably, both c-Fos immunostaining and brain functional connectivity analysis revealed the significant activation of VTA following EA-HT7. Interestingly, blocking the VTA eliminated the anxiolytic effects of EA-HT7, whereas chemogenetic activation of the VTA replicated the therapeutic effects of EA-HT7. EA-HT7 has demonstrated benefits in treating anxiety and enhances brain functional connectivity. The VTA is functionally associated with the anxiolytic effects of EA-HT7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the linear convergence of several well-known first-order primal-dual methods for solving a class of convex-concave saddle point problems. We first unify the convergence analysis of these methods and prove the O(1/N) convergence rates of the primal-dual gap generated by these methods in the ergodic sense, where N counts the number of iterations. Under a mild calmness condition, we further establish the global Q-linear convergence rate of the distances between the iterates generated by these methods and the solution set, and show the R-linear rate of the iterates in the nonergodic sense. Moreover, we demonstrate that the matrix games, fused lasso and constrained TV- ℓ 2 image restoration models as application examples satisfy this calmness condition. Numerical experiments on fused lasso demonstrate the linear rates for these methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic value of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) software on ultrasound in distinguishing benign and malignant breast masses and avoiding unnecessary biopsy. Methods: This prospective, multicenter study included patients who were scheduled for pathological diagnosis of breast masses between April 2019 and November 2020. Ultrasound images, videos, CAD analysis, and BI-RADS were obtained. The AUC, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were calculated and compared with radiologists. Results: Overall, 901 breast masses in 901 patients were enrolled in this study. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of CAD software were 89.6%, 94.2%, 87.0%, 80.4%, and 96.3, respectively, in the long-axis section; 89.0%, 91.4%, 87.7%, 80.8%, and 94.7%, respectively, in the short-axis section. With BI-RADS 4a as the cut-off value, CAD software has a higher AUC (0.906 vs 0.734 vs 0.696, all p < 0.001) than both experienced and less experienced radiologists. With BI-RADS 4b as the cut-off value, CAD software showed better AUC than less experienced radiologists (0.906 vs 0.874, p < 0.001), but not superior to experienced radiologists (0.906 vs 0.883, p = 0.057). After the application of CAD software, the unnecessary biopsy rate of BI-RADS categories 4 and 5 was significantly decreased (33.0% vs 11.9%, 37.8% vs 14.5%), and the malignant rate of biopsy in category 4a was significantly increased (11.6% vs 40.7%, 7.4% vs 34.9%, all p < 0.001). Conclusions: CAD software on ultrasound can be used as an effective auxiliary diagnostic tool for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast masses and reducing unnecessary biopsy. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT 03887598) Key Points: • Prospective multicenter study showed that computer-aided diagnosis software provides greater diagnostic confidence for differentiating benign and malignant breast masses. • Computer-aided diagnosis software can help radiologists reduce unnecessary biopsy. • The management of patients with breast masses becomes more appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]