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The knowledge of acoustic wave propagation in a borehole embedded in gas hydrate-bearing sediments is of great significance for the exploitation of gas hydrate. A gas hydrate-bearing sediment is a typical three-phase porous medium containing two solids and one fluid. However, until now, the borehole acoustic wavefield and its component waves within such a porous medium have never been calculated. In this work, a real-axis integration method is proposed to calculate the borehole acoustic field embedded in a three-phase porous medium based on the Biot-type three-phase theory. Meanwhile, a component wave approach, combined with the branch-cut integral method and the residue theorem, including residues at leaky poles is proposed to study the borehole wave propagation of a three-phase porous medium. The branch points and poles of the potential acoustic wave function are obtained, which correspond to the normal and leaky modes on various Riemann sheets. On this basis, the excitation intensity and waveforms of each component are obtained. The result shows that the waveform summed up from all individual waves agrees well with the full waveform calculated by real-axis integration, which provides a theoretical basis for the subsequent inversion of reservoir parameters by using the information of various mode waves.

Background Female infertility is a major problem for women of reproductive-age worldwide. Oxidative stress and inflammation are involved in processes related to female infertility. Serum uric acid levels, an indicator of oxidative stress and inflammation, have rarely been reported to be associated with female infertility. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum uric acid levels and female infertility. Methods This cross-sectional study included women aged 18–44 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2013 and 2018. All data were extracted from NHANES questionnaires and laboratory measurements. Weighted univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were utilized to explore the relationship between serum uric acid and female infertility. Stratified analyses were performed based on body mass index (BMI, 2 and ≥ 25 kg/m2) and age (≤ 30 years and > 30 years). The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to report associations. Results A total of 2,884 women were included, of which 352 (13.30%) had infertility. Women with high serum uric acid concentrations were related to higher odds of infertility (OR = 1.20, 95%CI: 1.03–1.39) after adjusting for confounders. Compared with serum uric acid concentrations ≤ 3.72 mg/dL, women with uric acid concentrations of 4.43–5.13 mg/dL (OR = 1.65, 95%CI: 1.02–2.67) and > 5.13 mg/dL (OR = 1.86, 95%CI: 1.10–3.13) were related to higher odds of infertility. Stratified analyses showed that high serum uric acid concentrations were associated with higher odds of infertility in women with a BMI 2 (OR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.04–1.93), but not in women with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (P = 0.056). In addition, high serum uric acid concentrations were associated with higher odds of infertility in women aged > 30 years (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.04–1.45), but not in women aged ≤ 30 years (P = 0.556). Conclusion Women with high serum uric acid concentrations were associated with higher odds of infertility, and this association may vary by BMI and age.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is rapidly becoming routine in clinical oncology practice to identify therapeutic biomarkers, including gene rearrangements in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Our study investigated the concordance of ALK positivity evaluated by DNA-based NGS with orthogonal ALK testing methods such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and RNA-based NGS (RNA-NGS). Thirty-eight patients with lung adenocarcinoma who were detected with ALK rearrangements using DNA-NGS and also had adequate tissue samples submitted for FISH, IHC, and RNA-NGS, were included in this study. Of the 38 patients, RNA samples from 3 patients failed quality control for RNA-NGS. The concordance of ALK positivity was calculated relative to DNA-NGS results. The concordance rates were 97.1% (34/35) for RNA-NGS, 94.7% (36/38) for IHC, and 97.4% (37/38) for FISH. DNA-NGS detected single ALK rearrangements in 14 (35.0%) patients and complex ALK rearrangements in 26 (65.0%). RNA-NGS detected only single transcripts of the primary ALK fusions. A novel LANCL1-ALK (L7:A20) detected using DNA-NGS was detected as EML4-ALK (E13:A20) transcripts using RNA-NGS. Interestingly, patients with single ALK rearrangements were more likely to be detected with atypical isolated red signals (p 0.001), while patients with complex ALK rearrangements were more likely to be detected with atypical split red and green signals less than 2 signal diameters apart (p 0.001). Our study highlights the reliability of NGS in the accurate detection of specific ALK fusion variants and concomitant mutations that are crucial for individualized treatment decisions in patients with lung cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies. However, the existing pathological grading system cannot accurately and effectively predict the survival rate and immune checkpoint treatment response of BC patients. In this study, based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, a total of 7 immune-related genes (IRGs) were screened out to construct a prognostic model. Subsequently, the clinical prognosis, pathological characteristics, cancer-immunity cycle, tumour immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) score, and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) response were compared between the high- and low-risk groups. In addition, we determined the potential regulatory effect of NPR3 on BC cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. The model consisting of 7 IRGs was an independent prognostic factor. Patients with lower risk scores exhibited longer survival times. Moreover, the expression of NPR3 was increased but the expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4 was decreased in the high-risk group compared to the low-risk group. In addition, compared with si-NC, si-NPR3 suppressed proliferation and migration but promoted apoptosis in both MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. This study presents a model for predicting survival outcomes and provides a strategy to guide effective personalized immunotherapy in BC patients.

Inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) can lead to severe motor and neurological developmental disorders and even disability and death in children due to untimely treatment. In this study, we used tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for primary screening and recall of those with positive primary screening for rescreening. Further diagnosis was based on biochemical tests, imaging and clinical presentation as well as accurate genetic testing using multi-gene panel with high-throughput sequencing of 130 IEM-related genes. The screening population was 16,207 newborns born between July 1, 2019, and December 31, 2021. Based on the results, 8 newborns were diagnosed with IEM, constituting a detection rate of 1:2,026. Phenylketonuria was the most common form of IEM. In addition, seven genes associated with IEM were detected in these eight patients. All eight patients received standardized treatment starting in the neonatal period, and the follow-up results showed good growth and development. Therefore, our study suggests that MS/MS rescreening for IEM pathogenic variants in high-risk areas, combined with a sequencing validation strategy, can be highly effective in the early detection of affected children. This strategy, combined with early intervention, can be effective in preventing neonatal morbidity and improving population quality.

To investigate the protective effects of Schisandra chinensis oil (SCEO) against aristolochic acid I (AA I)-induced nephrotoxicity in vivo and in vitro and elucidate the underlying mechanism.C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 5 groups according to a random number table, including control group, AA I group, and AA I +SCEO (0.25, 0.5 and 1 g/kg) groups (n=5 per group). Pretreatment with SCEO was done for 2 days by oral administration, while the control and AA I groups were treated with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. Mice of all groups except for the control group were injected intraperitoneally with AA I (5 mg/kg) from day 3 until day 7. Histopathological examination and apoptosis of kidney tissue were observed by hematoxylin and eosin and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining, respectively. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and serum creatinine (SCr), as well as renal malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione, r-glutamyl cysteingl+glycine (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Expressions of hepatic cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), CYP1A2, and nad(p)hquinonedehydrogenase1 (NQO1) were analyzed using ELISA, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot, respectively. In vitro, SCEO (40 µ g/mL) was added 12 h before treatment with AA I (40 µ mol/mL for 48 h) in human renal proximal tubule cell line (HK-2), then apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were analyzed by flow cytometry.SCEO 0.5 and 1 g/kg ameliorated histopathological changes and TUNELSCEO can alleviate AA I-induced kidney damage both in vivo and in vitro. The protective mechanism may be closely related to the regulation of metabolic enzymes, thereby inhibiting apoptosis and ROS production.

Hedgehog (Hh) is a morphogen that binds to its receptor Patched 1 and activates Smoothened (SMO), thereby governing embryonic development and postnatal tissue homeostasis. Cholesterol can bind and covalently conjugate to the luminal cysteine-rich domain (CRD) of human SMO at the D95 residue (D99 in mouse). The reaction mechanism and biological function of SMO cholesterylation have not been elucidated. Here, we show that the SMO-CRD undergoes auto-cholesterylation which is boosted by calcium and involves an intramolecular ester intermediate. In cells, Hh stimulation elevates local calcium concentration in the SMO-localized endosomes through store-operated calcium entry. In addition, we identify the signaling-incompetent SMO D95E mutation, and the D95E mutant SMO can bind cholesterol but cannot be modified or activated by cholesterol. The homozygous Smo(D99E/D99E) knockin mice are embryonic lethal with severe developmental delay, demonstrating that cholesterylation of CRD is required for full-length SMO activation. Our work reveals the unique autocatalytic mechanism of SMO cholesterylation and an unprecedented role of calcium in Hh signaling.

In this paper, we discuss centralizers in the Riordan group. We will see that Fa\`a di Bruno's formula is an application of the Fundamental Theorem of Riordan arrays. Then the composition group of formal power series in ${\cal F}_1$ is studied to construct the centralizers of Bell type and Lagrange type Riordan arrays. Our tools are the $A$-sequences of Riordan arrays and Fa\`a di Bruno's formula. Some combinatorial explanation and discussion about related algebraic topics are also given., Comment: Submitted

Phonon-assisted photon upconversion (UPC) is an anti-Stokes process in which incident photons achieve higher energy emission by absorbing phonons. This letter studies phonon-assisted UPC in twisted 2D semiconductors, in which an inverted contrast between UPC and conventional photoluminescence (PL) of WSe2 twisted bilayer is emergent. A 4-fold UPC enhancement is achieved in 5.5° twisted bilayer while PL weakens by half. Reduced interlayer exciton conversion efficiency driven by lattice relaxation, along with enhanced pump efficiency resulting from spectral redshift, lead to the rotation-angle-dependent UPC enhancement. The counterintuitive phenomenon provides a novel insight into a unique way that twisted angle affects UPC and light-matter interactions in 2D semiconductors. Furthermore, the UPC enhancement platform with various superimposable means offers an effective method for lighting bilayers and expanding the application prospect of 2D stacked van der Waals devices.

A new corticioid species, Skvortzovia yunnanensis sp. nov., is described based on morphological and molecular characters. Skvortzovia yunnanensis is characterised by annual, resupinate, very thin basidiomata with a smooth, white to pale cream hymenial surface and a monomitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae and allantoid, colourless, thin-walled, smooth basidiospores (5 – 6.5 × 1 – 1.5 μm) and larger halocystidia. Sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU) regions of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference methods. The phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data of ITS and ITS+nLSU sequences showed that S. yunnanensis formed a single well-supported lineage (100% maximum likelihood bootstrap (BS), 100% parsimony bootstrap portion (BP) and 1.00 Bayesian posterior probability (BPP)), and then grouped with S. furfurella (Bres.) Bononi & Hjortstam and S. meridionalis (Burds. & Nakasone) G.Gruhn & Hallenb.

The local microenvironment is essential to stem cell-based therapy for ischemic stroke, and spatiotemporal changes of the microenvironment in the pathological process provide vital clues for understanding the therapeutic mechanisms. However, relevant studies on microenvironmental changes were mainly confined in the acute phase of stroke, and long-term changes remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the microenvironmental changes in the subacute and chronic phases of ischemic stroke after stem cell transplantation. Herein, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and neural stem cells (NSCs) were transplanted into the ischemic brain established by middle cerebral artery occlusion surgery. Positron emission tomography imaging and neurological tests were applied to evaluate the metabolic and neurofunctional alterations of rats transplanted with stem cells. Quantitative proteomics was employed to investigate the protein expression profiles in iPSCs-transplanted brain in the subacute and chronic phases of stroke. Compared with NSCs-transplanted rats, significantly increased glucose metabolism and neurofunctional scores were observed in iPSCs-transplanted rats. Subsequent proteomic data of iPSCs-transplanted rats identified a total of 39 differentially expressed proteins in the subacute and chronic phases, which are involved in various ischemic stroke-related biological processes, including neuronal survival, axonal remodeling, antioxidative stress, and mitochondrial function restoration. Taken together, our study indicated that iPSCs have a positive therapeutic effect in ischemic stroke and emphasized the wide-ranging microenvironmental changes in the subacute and chronic phases.

Necroptosis plays a major role in breast cancer (BC) progression and metastasis. Besides, necroptosis also regulates inflammatory response and tumor microenvironment. Here, we aim to explore the predictive signature based on necroptosis-related genes (NRGs) for predicting the prognosis and response to therapies. Using Lasso multivariate cox analysis, we firstly established the NRG signature based on TCGA database. A total of 6 NRGs (FASLG, IPMK, FLT3, SLC39A7, HSP90AA1, and LEF1), which were associated with the prognosis of BC patients, were selected to establish our signature. Next, CIBERSORT algorithm was utilized to evaluate immune cell infiltration levels. We compare the response to immunotherapy using IMvigor 210 database, and also compared immune indicators in two risk groups via multiple methods. The biological function of IPMK was explored via in vitro verification. Finally, our results indicated that the signature was an independent prognostic indicator for BC patients with better efficiency than other reported signatures. The immune cell infiltration levels were higher, and the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy was better in the low-risk groups. Besides, other immunotherapy-related factors, including TMB, TIDE, and expression of immune checkpoints were also increased in the low-risk group. Clinical sample validation showed that CD206 and IPMK in clinical samples were both up-regulated in the high-risk group. In vitro assay showed that IPMK promoted BC cell proliferation and migration, and also enhanced macrophage infiltration and M2 polarization. In summary, we successfully established the NRG signature, which could be used to evaluate BC prognosis and identify patients who will benefit from immunotherapy.

The Indian and Pacific Oceans surround the Maritime Continent (MC). Major modes of sea surface temperature variability in both oceans, including the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), can strongly affect precipitation on the MC. The prevalence of fires in the MC is closely associated with precipitation amount and terrestrial water storage in September and October. Precipitation and terrestrial water storage, which is a measurement of hydrological drought conditions, are significantly modulated by Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño events. We utilize long-term datasets to study the combined effects of ENSO and the IOD on MC precipitation during the past 100 years (1900–2019) and find that the reductions in MC precipitation and terrestrial water storage are more pronounced during years when El Niño and a positive phase of the IOD (pIOD) coincided. The combined negative effects are produced mainly through an enhanced reduction of upward motion over the MC. Coincident El Niño-pIOD events have occurred more frequently after 1965. However, climate models do not project a higher occurrence of coincident El Niño-pIOD events in a severely warming condition, implying that not the global warming but the natural variability might be the leading cause of this phenomenon.