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Abstract The teaching objectives of traditional approaches in higher education emphasize mostly students’ mastery of knowledge and have insufficient directionality to social needs. In this study, we developed a BOPPPS (Bridge-in, Objectives, Pre-assessment, Participatory Learning, Post-assessment and Summary) teaching model combined with the OBE (Outcome Based Education) concept to enhance the teaching outcomes. Firstly, based on the graduation requirements and professional training objectives of students, we divided the course objectives into three dimensions (knowledge, ability and quality), and further specified into index points. Then, the teaching content of each chapter was set to correspond with the index points. Finally, the BOPPPS teaching model was used to meet each requirement. Clinical biochemistry testing course was used as a model to assess the effects of the teaching reform. After the class, the teaching effect was analyzed based on the questionnaire surveys from the students and their scores of both the chapter and final examinations. The results showed that compared with the traditional approach, the BOPPPS teaching model combined with the OBE concept has demonstrated a notable enhancement in student engagement, and significant improvement of their mastery of knowledge, application skills, and problem-solving abilities. The examination scores of the BOPPPS group were markedly higher than those of the traditional group. Moreover, the difference between the two groups diverse assessment scores was much bigger than that between the two group examination scores. Our study indicates that the BOPPPS teaching model combined with the OBE concept is a highly effective teaching model for enhancing the learning effectiveness of students.

Abstract Background Sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) are at higher risk of HIV incidence compared to their heterosexual cisgender counterparts. Despite the high HIV disease burden among SGMs, there was limited data on whether they are at higher risk of virologic failure, which may lead to potential disease progression and increased transmission risk. The All of Us (AoU) Research Program, a national community-engaged program aiming to improve health and facilitate health equity in the United States by partnering with one million participants, provides a promising resource for identifying a diverse and large volunteer TGD cohort. Leveraging various data sources available through AoU, the current study aims to explore the association between sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and longitudinal virologic failure among adult people with HIV (PWH) in the US. Methods This retrospective cohort study used integrated electronic health records (EHR) and self-reported survey data from the All of Us (AoU) controlled tier data, version 7, which includes participants enrolled in the AoU research program from May 31, 2017, to July 1, 2022. Based on participants’ sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex assigned at birth, their SOGI were categorized into six groups, including cisgender heterosexual women, cisgender heterosexual men, cisgender sexual minority women, cisgender sexual minority men, gender minority people assigned female at birth of any sexual orientation, and gender minority people assigned male at birth of any sexual orientation. Yearly virologic failure was defined yearly after one’s first viral load testing, and individuals with at least one viral load test > 50 copies/mL during a year were defined as having virologic failure at that year. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to explore the association between SOGI and longitudinal virologic failure while adjusting for potential confounders, including age, race, ethnicity, education attainment, income, and insurance type. Results A total of 1,546 eligible PWH were extracted from the AoU database, among whom 1,196 (77.36%) had at least one viral failure and 773 (50.00%) belonged to SGMs. Compared to cisgender heterosexual women, cisgender sexual minority women (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.05–3.27) were at higher risk of HIV virologic failure. Additionally, PWH who were Black vs. White (aOR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.52–3.04) and whose insurance type was Medicaid vs. Private insurance (aOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.33–3.21) were more likely to experience virologic failure. Conclusions Maintaining frequent viral load monitoring among sexual minority women with HIV is warranted because it allows early detection of virologic failure, which could provide opportunities for interventions to strengthen treatment adherence and prevent HIV transmission. To understand the specific needs of subgroups of SGMs, future research needs to examine the mechanisms for SOGI-based disparities in virologic failure and the combined effects of multi-level psychosocial and health behavior characteristics.

Objective To screen the distribution frequency of Mur blood group among voluntary blood donors in Hezhou, Guangxi, and further analyze the molecular basis of of Mur antigen positive samples. Methods The Mur phenotype of voluntary blood donors in Hezhou was serologically screened using microplate method, and the distribution frequency of Mur antigens in different ethnic groups was analyzed. Genetic typing was performed on these positive samples with PCR-SSP method to verify the accuracy of the serological method, and the genetic background was sequenced and analyzed. Results Among 3 298 samples from voluntary blood donors in Hezhou, 432(13.10%, 432/3 298) were screened positive for Mur antigen, and PCR-SSP genotyping validation showed that all 432 samples were electrophoretic positive. Among them, the proportion of Han blood donors with positive Mur antigen was 12.79%(331/2 587), Yao ethnic group was 13.25%(64/483), Zhuang ethnic group was 16.51%(36/218), and no statistically significant difference was found in the three groups(P>0.05). Further sequencing results showed that 428 samples were GYP(B-A-B) Mur, also known as GYP. Mur type(12.98%, 428/3 298), the other 4 samples were GYP(B-A-B) Bun, also known as GYP. Bun type(0.12%, 4/3 298). Conclusion The Mur blood type frequency is high in the voluntary blood donors in Hezhou, Guangxi, and is predominant characterized by GYP. Mur genotype. Due to ethnic integration, no significant difference was noticed in the frequency of Mur blood type distribution between Han, Zhuang and Yao population. Therefore, conducting extensive Mur blood group antigen and antibody testing in Hezhou is of great significance for ensuring clinical blood transfusion safety.

Abstract Our study presents the assembly of a high-quality Taihu goose genome at the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) level. By employing advanced sequencing technologies, including Pacific Biosciences HiFi reads, Oxford Nanopore long reads, Illumina short reads, and chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C), we achieved an exceptional assembly. The T2T assembly encompasses a total length of 1,197,991,206 bp, with contigs N50 reaching 33,928,929 bp and scaffold N50 attaining 81,007,908 bp. It consists of 73 scaffolds, including 38 autosomes and one pair of Z/W sex chromosomes. Importantly, 33 autosomes were assembled without any gap, resulting in a contiguous representation. Furthermore, gene annotation efforts identified 34,898 genes, including 436,162 RNA transcripts, encompassing 806,158 exons, 743,910 introns, 651,148 coding sequences (CDS), and 135,622 untranslated regions (UTR). The T2T-level chromosome-scale goose genome assembly provides a vital foundation for future genetic improvement and understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying important traits in geese.

BackgroundHypnotherapy has a potential role in modulating attention bias to treat social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study aimed to verify whether hypnotherapy can reduce social anxiety by changing attentional bias. The primary objective of our study is to explore the influence of hypnosis on various aspects of attention processes, specifically focusing on how it affects attention bias and social anxiety.MethodsThis study included 69 participants with SAD who were assigned to three groups based on their scores on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). The experimental group (n = 23) received a hypnosis treatment once a week, for a total of six sessions, while the control group (n = 23) and the baseline group (n = 23) did not receive any treatment. To evaluate whether hypnosis could alleviate SAD and attention bias towards threatening stimuli, we employed questionnaires and an odd-one-out task accompanied by electroencephalography (EEG) recordings.ResultsUnder the attention sensitivity conditions, the experimental group exhibited a reduced N170 and LPP at the posttest stage, and a similar N170 and LPP reduction under the attention disengagement conditions. Notably, the symptom improvements were positively correlated with the reduction in N170 and LPP amplitude across conditions.ConclusionHypnosis treatment modulates the early face processing and late emotional evaluation of threat-related stimuli in SAD patients. These findings suggest that N170 and LPP are important biomarkers for the treatment of SAD.

BackgroundThis retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis aims to explore the association between microvascular invasion (MVI) and clinicopathologiccal features, as well as survival outcomes of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Material and methodsThe retrospective cohort study included 30 RCC patients with positive MVI and another 75 patients with negative MVI as controls. Clinicopathological features and follow-up data were compiled. The meta-analysis conducted searches on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, and WanFang Data from the beginning to 30 September 2023, for comparative studies relevant to MVI patients. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Egger Test were used to assess the risk of biases and certainty of evidence in the included studies.ResultsThe cohort study showed that MVI was associated with advanced primary tumor stage, high pathological grades, high tumor size, high clinical symptoms and lymph node invasion (P 0.05). The meta-analysis part included 11 cohort studies. The results confirmed that patients with MVI positive had worse 12 and 60 mo CSS rates (HR12mo = 0.86, 95%CI 0.80–0.92; HR60mo = 0.63, 95% CI 0.55–0.72; P < 0.00001). Moreover, the meta-analysis also confirmed that MVI group was associated with higher rate of advanced tumor stage, pathological grades, tumor size diameter, higher rate of clinical symptoms and lymph node invasion (P

BackgroundIn 2021, the United States experienced a 14% rise in fatal drug overdoses totaling 106,699 deaths, driven by harmful opioid use, particularly among individuals in the perinatal period who face increased risks associated with opioid use disorders (OUDs). Increased concerns about the impacts of escalating harmful opioid use among pregnant and postpartum persons are rising. Most of the current limited perinatal OUD studies were conducted using traditional methods, such as interviews and randomized controlled trials to understand OUD treatment, risk factors, and associated adverse effects. However, little is known about how social media data, such as X, formerly known as Twitter, can be leveraged to explore and identify broad perinatal OUD trends, disclosure and communication patterns, and public health surveillance about OUD in the perinatal period. ObjectiveThe objective is 3-fold: first, we aim to identify key themes and trends in perinatal OUD discussions on platform X. Second, we explore user engagement patterns, including replying and retweeting behaviors. Third, we investigate computational methods that could potentially streamline and scale the labor-intensive manual annotation effort. MethodsWe extracted 6 million raw perinatal-themed tweets posted by global X users during the opioid epidemic from May 2019 to October 2021. After data cleaning and sampling, we used 500 tweets related to OUD in the perinatal period by US X users for a thematic analysis using NVivo (Lumivero) software. ResultsSeven major themes emerged from our thematic analysis: (1) political views related to harmful opioid and other substance use, (2) perceptions of others’ substance use, (3) lived experiences of opioid and other substance use, (4) news reports or papers related to opioid and other substance use, (5) health care initiatives, (6) adverse effects on children’s health due to parental substance use, and (7) topics related to nonopioid substance use. Among these 7 themes, our user engagement analysis revealed that themes 4 and 5 received the highest average retweet counts, and theme 3 received the highest average tweet reply count. We further found that different computational methods excel in analyzing different themes. ConclusionsSocial media platforms such as X can serve as a valuable tool for analyzing real-time discourse and exploring public perceptions, opinions, and behaviors related to maternal substance use, particularly, harmful opioid use in the perinatal period. More health promotion strategies can be carried out on social media platforms to provide educational support for the OUD perinatal population.

Land Use/ Cover Change (LUCC) plays a crucial role in influencing hydrological processes, nutrient cycling, and sediment transport in watersheds, ultimately impacting water quality on both spatial and temporal scales. Accurately predicting changes in watershed water quality is beneficial for the sustainable management of water resources. Current models often lack the ability to effectively predict water quality changes in a dynamic spatio-temporal context, particularly in complex watershed environments. The overall purpose of the study is to establish a comprehensive and dynamic modeling framework that links LUCC with water quality, allowing for accurate predictions of future water quality under varying land use scenarios. The model, which uses water quality as the dependent variable and LUCC as the independent variable, was developed to quantitatively predict changes in watershed water quality. To achieve this, annual multi-period remote sensing images from Landsat-5, Landsat-8 or Sentinel-2 satellites spanning from 1992 to 2022 were analyzed. Random Forest (achieving a Kappa coefficient of 0.9468) were employed to classify land use within the watershed. Based on classification results, a Cellular Automata-Markov chain model (CA-Markov) was constructed to simulate and predict the spatio-temporal patterns of land use, incorporating driving factors such as proximity to water systems, roads, elevation, and slope. Validation of the model using LUCC data from 2020 yielded a high prediction accuracy with a Kappa coefficient of 0.9505. The CA-Markov model was further utilized to project LUCC under three different scenarios—natural development, ecological protection, and arable land protection—between 2023 and 2033. Based on these projections, the coupled water quality and LUCC model was employed to predict water quality changes in the watershed over the same period. Key findings indicate that water quality is likely to improve under ecological protection scenario, while deterioration is expected under natural development scenario and cropland protection scenario due to urban expansion, agricultural practices, and water diversion for irrigation. This study provides a robust framework for watershed management, offering scientific guidance for source management and water purification efforts, thereby contributing significantly to the sustainable development of water resources.

BackgroundAccording to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, polysubstance use among pregnant women is prevalent, with 38.2% of those who consume alcohol also engaging in the use of one or more additional substances. However, the underlying mechanisms, contexts, and experiences of polysubstance use are unclear. Organic information is abundant on social media such as X (formerly Twitter). Traditional quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as natural language processing techniques, can be jointly used to derive insights into public opinions, sentiments, and clinical and public health policy implications. ObjectiveBased on perinatal polysubstance use (PPU) data that we extracted on X from May 1, 2019, to October 31, 2021, we proposed two primary research questions: (1) What is the overall trend and sentiment of PPU discussions on X? (2) Are there any distinct patterns in the discussion trends of PPU-related tweets? If so, what are the implications for perinatal care and associated public health policies? MethodsWe used X’s application programming interface to extract >6 million raw tweets worldwide containing ≥2 prenatal health- and substance-related keywords provided by our clinical team. After removing all non–English-language tweets, non-US tweets, and US tweets without disclosed geolocations, we obtained 4848 PPU-related US tweets. We then evaluated them using a mixed methods approach. The quantitative analysis applied frequency, trend analysis, and several natural language processing techniques such as sentiment analysis to derive statistics to preview the corpus. To further understand semantics and clinical insights among these tweets, we conducted an in-depth thematic content analysis with a random sample of 500 PPU-related tweets with a satisfying κ score of 0.7748 for intercoder reliability. ResultsOur quantitative analysis indicates the overall trends, bigram and trigram patterns, and negative sentiments were more dominant in PPU tweets (2490/4848, 51.36%) than in the non-PPU sample (1323/4848, 27.29%). Paired polysubstance use (4134/4848, 85.27%) was the most common, with the combination alcohol and drugs identified as the most mentioned. From the qualitative analysis, we identified 3 main themes: nonsubstance, single substance, and polysubstance, and 4 subthemes to contextualize the rationale of underlying PPU behaviors: lifestyle, perceptions of others’ drug use, legal implications, and public health. ConclusionsThis study identified underexplored, emerging, and important topics related to perinatal PPU, with significant stigmas and legal ramifications discussed on X. Overall, public sentiments on PPU were mixed, encompassing negative (2490/4848, 51.36%), positive (1884/4848, 38.86%), and neutral (474/4848, 9.78%) sentiments. The leading substances in PPU were alcohol and drugs, and the normalization of PPU discussed on X is becoming more prevalent. Thus, this study provides valuable insights to further understand the complexity of PPU and its implications for public health practitioners and policy makers to provide proper access and support to individuals with PPU.

Edge computing, a key technology in the Internet of Things, can help integrate real-time fault diagnosis into industrial applications. Lightweight and compression technologies are essential for deploying high-precision deep learning methods on resource-constrained edge computing systems. However, modeling accuracy is severely compromised by existing methods. To overcome this limitation, a new multi-stage pruning and distillation architecture was proposed in this study to compress a depthwise separable convolutional network for intelligent fault diagnosis of bearings in edge computing systems. The model was implemented on an NVIDIA Jetson Nano and verified using two bearing fault datasets. The results show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the calculation and reasoning time of the model and maintain high accuracy. The proposed method exhibits remarkable effectiveness, requires minimal memory, provides fast inference speeds, and is suitable for use in edge devices with less configuration.

Background: Distinguishing nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) from pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a challenge especially in patients with positive sputum smear of acid-fast bacilli (AFB). This study aimed to compare and identify the clinical characteristics between the two diseases among patients with positive sputum AFB. Methods: From February 2017 through March 2021, patients with positive sputum AFB were reviewed in two hospitals of China. Among them, clinical data of NTM-PD and PTB patients was collected and compared. Results: 76 cases of NTM-PD and 92 cases of PTB were included in our study. When compared with PTB, NTM-PD patients were older (59.2 ± 11.4 vs 44.2 ± 19.5 years, P

BackgroundNumerous observational studies and randomized controlled trials have recently revealed the associations between circulating antioxidants and the risk of endometriosis, while the underlying causal relationship remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the causal association between genetically determined circulating antioxidants and the risk of endometriosis using Mendelian randomization (MR).MethodsA two-sample MR analysis was conducted using publicly available summary data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to investigate the causal impact of genetically determined absolute circulating antioxidants (such as ascorbate, retinol, β-carotene, and lycopene) and their metabolites (including α-and γ-tocopherol, ascorbate, and retinol) on the risk of endometriosis. The study used inverse variance weighted (IVW) or Wald ratio analyses as the primary estimation method and also conducted sensitivity analyses to assess heterogeneity and pleiotropy.ResultsNo significant causality was observed for genetically determined circulating antioxidants and the risk of endometriosis. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) for absolute circulating antioxidants were 0.62 (95% CI: 0.32–1.18, retinol), 0.95 (95% CI: 0.79–1.15, β-carotene), 1.01 (95% CI: 0.95–1.08, lycopene), and 1.00 (95% CI: 0.99–1.02, ascorbate, expressed as a Wald ratio). The pooled ORs indicating the EM risk per unit increase in circulating antioxidant metabolites were 1.04 (95% CI: 0.82–1.33, γ-tocopherol), 0.91 (95% CI: 0.57–1.46, α-tocopherol), 1.03 (95% CI: 0.99–1.07, retinol), and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.87–1.06, ascorbate).ConclusionOur study demonstrated that increased levels of diet-derived circulating antioxidants were not significantly associated with a reduced risk of endometriosis.

ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the inhibitory effect of Polydatin (PD) on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.MethodsA standard intravascular puncture model was established to mimic SAH in mice. Neurological functions were assessed using neurological scoring, Grip test, and Morris water maze. Brain edema and Evans blue extravasation were measured to evaluate blood-brain barrier permeability. Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses were performed to examine protein and mRNA expressions related to ER stress. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining was used to detect cell apoptosis, and transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the ultrastructure of the endoplasmic reticulum.ResultsThe results indicated that PD significantly reduced brain edema and Evans blue extravasation after SAH, improving neurological function. Compared to the SAH group, the expression levels of ER stress-related proteins including glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), phosphorylated protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (p-PERK), phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (p-eIF2α), activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), were significantly lower in the PD-treated group. Moreover, PD significantly enhances the protein expression of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). Validation with sh-SIRT1 confirmed the critical role of SIRT1 in ER stress, with PD’s inhibitory effect on ER stress being dependent on SIRT1 expression. Additionally, PD attenuated ER stress-mediated neuronal apoptosis and SAH-induced ferroptosis through upregulation of SIRT1.ConclusionPD alleviates ER stress following SAH by upregulating SIRT1 expression, thereby mitigating early brain injury. The protective effects of PD are mediated through SIRT1, which inhibits ER stress and reduces neuronal apoptosis and ferroptosis.

Abstract Robust matching, especially the number, precision and distribution of feature point matching, directly affects the effect of 3D reconstruction. However, the existing methods rarely consider these three aspects comprehensively to improve the quality of feature matching, which in turn affects the effect of 3D reconstruction. Therefore, to effectively improve the quality of 3D reconstruction, we propose a circle-based enhanced motion consistency and guided diffusion feature matching algorithm for 3D reconstruction named EMC+GD_C. Firstly, a circle-based neighborhood division method is proposed, which increases the number of initial matching points. Secondly, to improve the precision of feature point matching, on the one hand, we put forward the idea of enhancing motion consistency, reducing the mismatch of high similarity feature points by enhancing the judgment conditions of true and false matching points; on the other hand, we combine the RANSAC optimization method to filter out the outliers and further improve the precision of feature point matching. Finally, a novel guided diffusion idea combining guided matching and motion consistency is proposed, which expands the distribution range of feature point matching and improves the stability of 3D models. Experiments on 8 sets of 908 pairs of images in the public 3D reconstruction datasets demonstrate that our method can achieve better matching performance and show stronger stability in 3D reconstruction. Specifically, EMC+GD_C achieves an average improvement of 24.07% compared to SIFT-based ratio test, 9.18% to GMS and 1.94% to EMC+GD_G in feature matching precision.

Abstract Objective Sex differences in outcomes of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) remain controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the sex differences in the prognosis of patients with aSAH. Methods This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of aSAH patients admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery of General Hospital of Northern Theater Command, from April 2020 to January 2022. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to evaluate outcomes at 3-month post-discharge. Baseline characteristics, in-hospital complications and outcomes were compared after 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM). Results A total of 665 patients were included and the majority (63.8%) were female. Female patients were significantly older than male patients (59.3 ± 10.9 years vs. 55.1 ± 10.9 years, P

Winter jujube (Ziziphus jujuba ‘Dongzao’) is greatly appreciated by consumers for its excellent quality, but brand infringement frequently occurs in the market. Here, we first determined a total of 38 elements in 167 winter jujube samples from the main winter jujube producing areas of China by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). As a result, 16 elements (Mg, K, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ba, Be, As, Se, Cd, Sb, Ce, Er, Tl, and Pb) exhibited significant differences in samples from different producing areas. Supervised linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) showed better performance in identifying the origin of samples than unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA). LDA and OPLS-DA had a mean identification accuracy of 87.84 and 94.64% in the testing set, respectively. By using the multilayer perceptron (MLP) and C5.0, the prediction accuracy of the models could reach 96.36 and 91.06%, respectively. Based on the above four chemometric methods, Cd, Tl, Mo and Se were selected as the main variables and principal markers for the origin identification of winter jujube. Overall, this study demonstrates that it is practical and precise to identify the origin of winter jujube through multi-element fingerprint analysis with chemometrics, and may also provide reference for establishing the origin traceability system of other fruits.

Abstract Background This study aims to investigate the incidence and dynamic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among people living with HIV (PLWH). Methods In this population-based statewide cohort study, we utilized integrated electronic health records data to identify adult (age ≥ 18) who were diagnosed with HIV between 2006 and 2019 and were CVD event-free at the HIV diagnosis in South Carolina. The associations of HIV-related factors and traditional risk factors with the CVD incidence were investigated during the overall study period, and by different follow-up periods (i.e., 0-5yrs, 6-10yrs 11-15yrs) using multivariable logistic regression models. Results Among 9,082 eligible participants, the incidence of CVD was 18.64 cases per 1000 person-years. Overall, conventional risk factors, such as tobacco use, hypertension, obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD), were persistently associated with the outcome across all three groups. While HIV-related factors, such as recent CD4 count (e.g., > 350 vs.

Abstract Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an acquired autoimmune disease, is characterized by immune-mediated platelet destruction. A biomarker is a biological entity that contributes to disease pathogenesis and reflects disease activity. Metabolic alterations are reported to be associated with the occurrence of various diseases. As metabolic biomarkers for ITP have not been identified. This study aimed to identify metabolism-related differentially expressed genes as potential biomarkers for pathogenesis of ITP using bioinformatic analyses.The microarray expression data of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE112278 download link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE112278 ). Key module genes were intersected with metabolism-related genes to obtain the metabolism-related key candidate genes. The hub genes were screened based on the degree function in the coytoscape sofware. The key ITP-related genes were subjected to functional enrichment analysis. Immune infiltration analysis was performed using a single-sample gene set enrichment analysis algorithm to evaluate the differential infiltration levels of immune cell types between ITP patient and control. Molecular subtypes were identified based on the expression of hub genes. The expression of hub genes in the ITP patients was validated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. This study identified five hub genes (ADH4, CYP7A1, CYP1A2, CYP8B1, and NR1H4), which were be associated with the pathogenesis of ITP, and two molecular subtypes of ITP. Among these hub genes, CYP7A1 and CYP8B1 involved in cholesterol metabolism,were further verified in clinical samples.

Abstract Background In the behavioral sciences, conducting pilot and/or feasibility studies (PFS) is a key step that provides essential information used to inform the design, conduct, and implementation of a larger-scale trial. There are more than 160 published guidelines, reporting checklists, frameworks, and recommendations related to PFS. All of these publications offer some form of guidance on PFS, but many focus on one or a few topics. This makes it difficult for researchers wanting to gain a broader understanding of all the relevant and important aspects of PFS and requires them to seek out multiple sources of information, which increases the risk of missing key considerations to incorporate into their PFS. The purpose of this study was to develop a consolidated set of considerations for the design, conduct, implementation, and reporting of PFS for interventions conducted in the behavioral sciences. Methods To develop this consolidation, we undertook a review of the published guidance on PFS in combination with expert consensus (via a Delphi study) from the authors who wrote such guidance to inform the identified considerations. A total of 161 PFS-related guidelines, checklists, frameworks, and recommendations were identified via a review of recently published behavioral intervention PFS and backward/forward citation tracking of a well-known PFS literature (e.g., CONSORT Ext. for PFS). Authors of all 161 PFS publications were invited to complete a three-round Delphi survey, which was used to guide the creation of a consolidated list of considerations to guide the design, conduct, and reporting of PFS conducted by researchers in the behavioral sciences. Results A total of 496 authors were invited to take part in the three-round Delphi survey (round 1, N = 46; round 2, N = 24; round 3, N = 22). A set of twenty considerations, broadly categorized into six themes (intervention design, study design, conduct of trial, implementation of intervention, statistical analysis, and reporting) were generated from a review of the 161 PFS-related publications as well as a synthesis of feedback from the three-round Delphi process. These 20 considerations are presented alongside a supporting narrative for each consideration as well as a crosswalk of all 161 publications aligned with each consideration for further reading. Conclusion We leveraged expert opinion from researchers who have published PFS-related guidelines, checklists, frameworks, and recommendations on a wide range of topics and distilled this knowledge into a valuable and universal resource for researchers conducting PFS. Researchers may use these considerations alongside the previously published literature to guide decisions about all aspects of PFS, with the hope of creating and disseminating interventions with broad public health impact.

Abstract HVE-400 ion implanter is special ion implantation equipment for semiconductor materials boron and phosphorus doping. The ion source and extraction deflection system are at high voltage platform, while the corresponding control system is at ground voltage position. The control signals and measurement signals of various parameters at the high-voltage end need to be transmitted between ground voltage and high voltage through optical fibers to isolate high voltage. Upgrading is carried out due to the aging of the optical fiber transmission control and monitoring system, which cannot work stably. The transformation replaces the original distributed single-point control method with an advanced distributed centralized control method, and integrates all control and monitoring functions into an industrial control computer for digital operation and display. In the computer software, two kinds of automatic calculation of ion mass number are designed. After upgrading, the implanter high-voltage platform control and monitoring system features digitalization, centralized control, high reliability, strong anti-interference, fast communication speed, and easy operation.

Abstract Background Corneal neovascularization (CoNV) threatens vision by disrupting corneal avascularity, however, current treatments, including pharmacotherapy and surgery, are hindered by limitations in efficacy and adverse effects. Minocycline, known for its anti-inflammatory properties, could suppress CoNV but faces challenges in effective delivery due to the cornea's unique structure. Therefore, in this study a novel drug delivery system using minocycline-loaded nano-hydroxyapatite/poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (nHAP/PLGA) nanoparticles was developed to improve treatment outcomes for CoNV. Results Ultra-small nHAP was synthesized using high gravity technology, then encapsulated in PLGA by a double emulsion method to form nHAP/PLGA microspheres, attenuating the acidic by-products of PLGA degradation. The MINO@PLGA nanocomplex, featuring sustained release and permeation properties, demonstrated an efficient delivery system for minocycline that significantly inhibited the CoNV area in an alkali-burn model without exhibiting apparent cytotoxicity. On day 14, the in vivo microscope examination and ex vivo CD31 staining corroborated the inhibition of neovascularization, with the significantly smaller CoNV area (29.40% ± 6.55%) in the MINO@PLGA Tid group (three times daily) than that of the control group (86.81% ± 15.71%), the MINO group (72.42% ± 30.15%), and the PLGA group (86.87% ± 14.94%) (p

Due to the high activation energy required for the decomposition of Mg metal hydrides, it can be decomposed into magnesium and H2 when the external temperature reaches 350 °C. In this paper, Nd5Mg41Ni + x wt.% GO (x = 0–4) composites were obtained by planetary ball milling the alloy with GO for 10 h. The alloy has Nd5Mg41, NdMg3, NdMg12 and Mg2Ni phase, and the main phase is Nd5Mg41 phase. The time required for the alloy phase structure composite material to reach the maximum hydrogen desorption capacity of 95 % is 20, 23, 18, 17 and 18 min, and the calculated hydrogen desorption activation energy Ea values are 99.9, 98.1, 95.6, 89.9 and 95.7 kJ/mol H2, the ΔHde of the composites are 77.57, 76.40, 73.48, 70.77 and 81.2 kJ/mol H2, respectively. The alloy particles are embedded in the layered GO to form a special microstructure of the nanocrystalline GO embedded nanocrystalline alloy, which makes the composite material easier to adsorb hydrogen molecules and promotes the dissociation of hydrogen molecules and the diffusion of hydrogen atoms. However, the excessive addition of GO leads to excessive GO coating alloy particles, which hinders the diffusion of hydrogen atoms. The agglomeration of alloy particles leads to the increase of hydrogen desorption enthalpy of the alloy.

At present, osteoarthritis stands as one of the most prevalent degenerative musculoskeletal diseases globally. The inherent lack of self-healing capacity in articular cartilage presents a considerable obstacle in treating osteoarthritis. Tissue engineering emerged as a promising strategy for the regeneration of osteochondral defects. Collagen, a primary component of bone and cartilage, stands out as a widely utilized natural material in osteochondral tissue engineering. Among various collagen types, Type I and type II collagen are notably prominent in this field. This review initially summarizes the advantageous and disadvantageous properties of type I/II collagen in osteochondral tissue engineering, proceeds to introduce their applications in this context, and concludes with a prospective outlook on the future development of type I/II collagen's applications.

The transient receptor potential melastatin 7 channel (TRPM7) is a nonselective cation channel highly expressed in some human cancer tissues. TRPM7 is involved in the proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells. Modulation of TRPM7 could be a promising therapeutic strategy for treating cancer; however, efficient and selective pharmacological TRPM7 modulators are lacking. In this study we investigated N- [4- (4, 6-dimethyl- 2-pyrimidinyloxy) − 3- methylphenyl] -N’ - [2 -(dimethylamino)] benzoylurea (SUD), a newly synthesized benzoylurea derivative, for its effects on cancer cell migration and EMT and on functional expression of TRPM7. Our previous studies showed that SUD induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of MCF-7 and BGC-823 cells (human breast cancer and gastric cancer cell lines, respectively). Here, we show that SUD significantly decreased the migration of both types of cancer cells. Moreover, SUD decreased vimentin expression and increased E-cadherin expression in both cell types, indicating that EMT is also decreased by SUD. Importantly, SUD potentially reduced the TRPM7-like current in a concentration-dependent manner and decreased TRPM7 expression through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Finally, molecular docking simulations were used to investigate potential SUD binding sites on TRPM7. In summary, our research demonstrated that SUD is an effective TRPM7 inhibitor and a potential agent to suppress the metastasis of breast and gastric cancer by inhibiting TRPM7 expression and function.

In this study, we explore the robustness of urban road networks, a crucial aspect of urban infrastructure whose failure can significantly disrupt urban functionality. Our approach offers a fresh perspective on network robustness by focusing on intrinsic street hierarchies within stroke-based representations across 20 major Chinese cities. These networks exhibit common complex properties, such as being scale-free and small-world. We determine street hierarchies based on the power law distribution of two key graph centrality measures: degree and betweenness. Our methodology involves a targeted attack strategy, sequentially removing roads from the highest to the lowest hierarchy in each urban street network. This process yields robustness profiles characterized by monotonic decreasing curves, which reflect changes in network connectivity and efficiency. The profiles not only provide valuable insights into urban structure and function, but also offer significant implications for practical road planning and urban resilience strategies.

This study aimed to explore the clinical profile and the impact of vaccination status on various health outcomes among COVID-19 patients diagnosed in different phases of the pandemic, during which several variants of concern (VOCs) circulated in South Carolina (SC). The current study included 861,526 adult COVID-19 patients diagnosed between January 2021 and April 2022. We extracted their information about demographic characteristics, vaccination, and clinical outcomes from a statewide electronic health record database. Multiple logistic regression models were used to compare clinical outcomes by vaccination status in different pandemic phases, accounting for key covariates (e.g. historical comorbidities). A reduction in mortality was observed among COVID-19 patients during the whole study period, although there were fluctuations during the Delta and Omicron dominant periods. Compared to non-vaccinated patients, full-vaccinated COVID-19 patients had lower mortality in all dominant variants, including Pre-alpha (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.33; 95%CI: 0.15–0.72), Alpha (aOR: 0.58; 95%CI: 0.42–0.82), Delta (aOR: 0.28; 95%CI: 0.25–0.31), and Omicron (aOR: 0.29; 95%CI: 0.26–0.33) phases. Regarding hospitalization, full-vaccinated parties showed lower risk of hospitalization than non-vaccinated patients in Delta (aOR: 0.44; 95%CI: 0.41–0.47) and Omicron (aOR: 0.53; 95%CI: 0.50–0.57) dominant periods. The findings demonstrated the protection effect of the COVID-19 vaccines against all VOCs, although some of the full-vaccinated population still have symptoms to varying degrees from COVID-19 disease at different phases of the pandemic.

ABSTRACTBackground Adolescents’ risk-taking behaviors can have profound impacts on their future health. Few studies have established a relationship between multiple social environmental factors and adolescent risk behaviors. We used structural equation modeling to examine the role of parental monitoring and environmental risks on adolescents’ behavioral intentions and risk behaviors.Methods Data were collected through the baseline survey of a national implementation project among 2205 Grade 6 students in 24 government schools in The Bahamas in 2019. Structural equation modeling examined relations among parental monitoring, environmental risk factors, behavioral intentions, and risk behaviors.Results Students had engaged in various delinquent, substance use, and sexual risks. In the structural equation model, parental monitoring demonstrated direct negative (protective) effects on behavioral intentions and risk behaviors, whereas environmental risk factors had a direct positive effect on adolescent behavioral intentions and risk behaviors. The model had an R2 value of 0.57 for adolescent risk behaviors.Conclusion Parental monitoring and environmental risk factors had strong influences on risk-taking behaviors of early adolescents. Future adolescent health behavior interventions should consider offering additional prevention resources to early adolescents who are exposed to multiple environmental risk factors.

AimsChina is one of the countries in the world most seriously affected by typhoons, which pose a great threat to the eucalyptus plantation industry. However, few studies have comprehensively accounted for the impact of key traits on the wind damage/resistance of eucalyptus.MethodsTo identify the key factors affecting the wind resistance of eucalyptus, 20 eucalyptus genotypes were selected; a total of 18 traits, including the wind damage index, growth traits, and wood traits, were measured, and the wind resistance was determined via the tree-pulling test.ResultsCorrelation, principal component, canonical correlation, and path analyses were performed to evaluate these traits. Correlation analysis revealed that the wind resistance of eucalyptus plants was related to the tree height, volume, and duration of stress wave propagation. Principal components and tree-pulling variables were further used for correlation and path analyses. Canonical correlation analysis and the PA-OV model showed that holocellulose and lignin contents and fiber width, as well as growth traits, were important factors affecting the stability of standing trees under typhoon conditions. The key traits influencing the wind resistance of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, which may provide a reference for evaluating the wind resistance of Eucalyptus varieties for forest management, were identified.ConclusionThis study provides a knowledge base for forest management and planning in typhoon-prone coastal areas, and provides a theoretical basis for the breeding and genetically improving eucalyptus stocks based on wind resistance characteristics.

Treated drinking water is delivered to customers through drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs). Although studies have focused on exploring the microbial ecology of DWDSs, knowledge about the effects of different water treatments on the bacterial community of biofilm and loose deposits in DWDS is limited. This study assessed the effects of additional treatments on the bacterial communities developed in 10 months’ old pilot DWDSs. The results showed a similar bacterial community in the pipe-wall biofilm, which was dominated by Novosphingobium spp. (20–82 %) and Sphingomonas spp. (11–53 %), regardless of the treatment applied. The bacterial communities that were retained in the distribution systems (including pipe-wall biofilm and loose deposits) were similar to the particle-associated bacteria (PAB) in the corresponding supply water. The additional treatments showed clear effects of the removal and/or introduction of particles. The genera Aeromonas spp., Clostridium spp., Legionella spp., and Pseudomonas spp., which contain opportunistic pathogenic species, were only detected among the PAB in ion exchange system. Our study demonstrated that the biofilm community is consistent across treatments, and the contribution from bacteria in loose deposits is important but can be controlled by removing particles. These findings offer more insight into the origin and development of microbial ecology in DWDSs and suggest paths for further research on the possibility of managing the microbial ecology in distribution systems.

Bacterial infections and inadequate tissue regeneration capacity are prevalent issues in diabetic wounds, impeding the healing process. To solve these problems, a biomimetic hydrogel combined with bacterial cellulose (BC), recombinant human collagen type III (RHC), and ε-poly-L-Lysine (EPL) is fabricated by stepwise co-assembly technology. Owing to the RHC and EPL modifications of BC, the biomimetic hydrogel exhibited antibacterial effects and promoted fibroblast proliferation and angiogenesis, which accelerated the healing of diabetic wounds. Biomimetic hydrogels exhibit good mechanical properties and excellent water absorption, that can protect wounds and provide a moist environment. In addition, in vitro studies have shown that the hydrogels exhibit excellent antibacterial activity and biocompatibility. In vivo studies on diabetic wound healing have shown that biomimetic hydrogels can promote angiogenesis, accelerate collagen deposition, and re-epithelialize wound sites to promote wound healing. This study provides a new and promising strategy for the treatment of diabetic wounds.

Internet-based interventions (IBIs) for behavioural health have been prevalent for over two decades, and a growing proportion of individuals with mental health concerns prefer these emerging digital alternatives. However, the effectiveness and acceptability of IBIs for various mental health disorders continue to be subject to scholarly debate. We performed an umbrella review of meta-analyses (MAs), conducting literature searches in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane and Ovid Medline from their inception to 17 January 2023. A total of 87 MAs, reporting on 1683 randomised controlled trials and 295 589 patients, were included. The results indicated that IBIs had a moderate effect on anxiety disorder (standardised mean difference (SMD)=0.53, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.62) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (SMD=0.63, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.89). In contrast, the efficacy on depression (SMD=0.45, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.52), addiction (SMD=0.23, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.31), suicidal ideation (SMD=0.23, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.30), stress (SMD=0.41, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.48) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (SMD=0.47, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.73) was relatively small. However, no significant effects were observed for personality disorders (SMD=0.07, 95% CI −0.13 to 0.26). Our findings suggest a significant association between IBIs and improved mental health outcomes, with particular effectiveness noted in treating anxiety disorders and PTSD. However, it is noteworthy that the effectiveness of IBIs was impacted by high dropout rates during treatment. Furthermore, our results indicated that guided IBIs proved to be more effective than unguided ones, playing a positive role in reducing dropout rates and enhancing patient adherence rates. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023417366.

Abstract Mindfulness and self‐regulation practice have shown benefits in reducing emotional disorders and improving cognitive outcomes. This study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine time‐lagged associations of momentary mindfulness and self‐regulation on affective and cognitive outcomes within college students' natural environments. College students (n = 186) received six surveys per day for seven consecutive days in 2021, 2022, and 2023 using the Expiwell application. Each survey measured students' momentary affect, perceived cognition, mindfulness, and self‐regulation levels. Due to nested data structure, multilevel models were used for analysis. Findings from 4982 EMA surveys revealed that higher levels of momentary mindfulness and self‐regulation at one‐time point were positively associated with perceived cognition (β = 0.102, p

Objectives: This study aims to characterize and compare COVID-19 breakthrough infections between people living with and without HIV across different phases of the pandemic. Methods: Using statewide HIV cohort data, the study population included adult residents in South Carolina (SC) (>18 years old) who were fully vaccinated between January 02, 2021 and April 14, 2022 when Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants were circulating in SC. We used the Cox proportional hazard model to investigate the association between HIV infection and breakthrough infection, adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: Among 2,144,415 vaccinated individuals, 8,335 were people living with HIV (PLWH) and 2,136,080 were people without HIV (PWoH). After propensity score matching, HIV infection was not significantly associated with breakthrough infection rate. However, when comparing breakthrough infections among individuals without any booster dose, PLWH had a higher risk of breakthrough infections (adjusted Hazard Ration: 1.19; 95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.39). Compared to PWoH, PLWH with high levels of clusters of differentiation 4 (CD4) count or viral suppression were not associated with breakthrough infections. Conclusions: Our findings do not support a broad conclusion that COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness is lower among PLWH, while we did find that PLWH had a higher risk of breakthrough infection compared to PWoH if they did not receive a booster dose.

Abstract The correlation between scoliosis and sagittal curvature of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine have already been reported in previous studies. However, as a part of the spine, the change in coccygeal morphology in AIS patients has not yet been studied. In this study, a retrospective analysis was performed on 400 patients who were divided into a non-scoliotic group (206 patients) and an AIS group (194 patients). The Postacchini coccygeal radiological classification that was modified by Nathan was used to observe and compare the sagittal coccygeal morphology between the two groups. The results showed that the non-scoliotic group had the highest percentage (52.4%) of patients with type I and the lowest (3.4%) proportion of patients with type V; moreover, the AIS group had the highest percentage (69.1%) of patients with type I and the lowest (1.5%) proportion of patients with type V. The coccygeal morphology was significantly different between the non-scoliotic group and the AIS group (P = 0.001). No significant differences in coccygeal morphology were found between the males and females in the two groups (mild and moderate scoliosis and different segmental scoliosis). In addition, a significant correlation between coccygeal morphology and scoliosis (P = 0.035) was found. In conclusion, coccygeal morphology significantly differs between AIS patients and non-scoliotic adolescents. There was a smaller proportion of patients with a type I coccyx and a larger proportion of patients with a type II or type III coccyx in the AIS group than in the non-scoliotic group. In other words, the presence of a more pronounced coccygeal curve in AIS patients may be caused by an incorrect sitting position and an imbalance in the contraction of the pelvic muscles. It should be further studied whether correcting the sitting position and muscular imbalances could change coccygeal morphology and subsequently affect the development of AIS.

Abstract Background Obesity is increasingly recognized as a grave public health concern globally. It is associated with prevalent diseases including coronary heart disease, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Prior research has identified demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and genetic factors as contributors to obesity. Nevertheless, the influence of occupational risk factors on obesity among workers remains under-explored. Investigating risk factors specific to steelworkers is crucial for early detection, prediction, and effective intervention, thereby safeguarding their health. Methods This research utilized a cohort study examining health impacts on workers in an iron and steel company in Hebei Province, China. The study involved 5469 participants. By univariate analysis, multifactor analysis, and review of relevant literature, predictor variables were found. Three predictive models—XG Boost, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest (RF)—were employed. Results Univariate analysis and cox proportional hazard regression modeling identified age, gender, smoking and drinking habits, dietary score, physical activity, shift work, exposure to high temperatures, occupational stress, and carbon monoxide exposure as key factors in the development of obesity in steelworkers. Test results indicated accuracies of 0.819, 0.868, and 0.872 for XG Boost, SVM, and RF respectively. Precision rates were 0.571, 0.696, and 0.765, while recall rates were 0.333, 0.592, and 0.481. The models achieved AUCs of 0.849, 0.908, and 0.912, with Brier scores of 0.128, 0.105, and 0.104, log losses of 0.409, 0.349, and 0.345, and calibration-in-the-large of 0.058, 0.054, and 0.051, respectively. Among these, the Random Forest model demonstrated superior performance. Conclusions The research indicates that obesity in steelworkers results from a combination of occupational and lifestyle factors. Of the models tested, the Random Forest model exhibited superior predictive ability, highlighting its significant practical application.

Recent decades have witnessed several infectious disease outbreaks, including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which had catastrophic impacts on societies around the globe. At the same time, the twenty-first century has experienced an unprecedented era of technological development and demographic changes: exploding population growth, increased airline flights, and increased rural-to-urban migration, with an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide in 2020, despite COVID-19 movement restrictions. In this review, we synthesized 195 research articles that examined the association between human movement and infectious disease outbreaks to understand the extent to which human mobility has increased the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. This article covers eight infectious diseases, ranging from respiratory illnesses to sexually transmitted and vector-borne diseases. The review revealed a strong association between human mobility and infectious disease spread, particularly strong for respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 and Influenza. Despite significant research into the relationship between infectious diseases and human mobility, four knowledge gaps were identified based on reviewed literature in this study: 1) although some studies have used big data in investigating infectious diseases, the efforts are limited (with the exception of COVID-19 disease), 2) while some research has explored the use of multiple data sources, there has been limited focus on fully integrating these data into comprehensive analyses, 3) limited research on the global impact of mobility on the spread of infectious disease with most studies focusing on local or regional outbreaks, and 4) lack of standardization in the methodology for measuring the impacts of human mobility on infectious disease spread. By tackling the recognized knowledge gaps and adopting holistic, interdisciplinary methods, forthcoming research has the potential to substantially enhance our comprehension of the intricate interplay between human mobility and infectious diseases.

Objective To explore the value of thrombelastogram(TEG) on monitoring the coagulation function and guiding blood transfusion in admitted patients in early stage of severe trauma. Methods A total of 96 patients in early stage of severe trauma were selected from Ezhou Central Hospital, and were divided into two groups using a random number table method, with 48 patients in each group. The control group was guided by four routine coagulation tests for blood transfusion, while the observation group was guided by TEG.The detection rate of trauma-induced coagulopathy, detection duration, blood infusion volume within 24 hours of admission, coagulation index levels at different time points after blood transfusion, length of hospital stay, ICU stay, and mortality rate between the two groups were compared. Results The detection rate of trauma-induced coagulopathy was 72.9% in the control group and 93.8% in the observation group(P

Abstract Background Improving the egg production of goose is a crucial goal of breeding, because genetics is the key factor affecting egg production. Thus, we sequenced the genomes of 55 Chinese indigenous geese from six breeds, which were divided into the high egg-laying group (ZE, HY, and SC) and low egg-laying group (ZD, LH, and ST). Based on the results of the inter-population selection signal analysis, we mined the selected genome regions in the high egg-laying germplasm population to identify the key candidate genes affecting the egg-laying traits. Results According to the whole-genome sequencing data, the average sequencing depth reached 11.75X. The genetic relationships among those six goose breeds coincided with the breed’s geographical location. The six selective signal detection results revealed that the most selected regions were located on Chr2 and Chr12. In total, 12,051 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites were selected in all six methods. Using the enrichment results of candidate genes, we detected some pathways involved in cell differentiation, proliferation, and female gonadal development that may cause differences in egg production. Examples of these pathways were the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway (IGF2, COMP, and FGFR4), animal organ morphogenesis (IGF2 and CDX4), and female gonad development (TGFB2). Conclusion On analyzing the genetic background of six local goose breeds by using re-sequencing data, we found that the kinship was consistent with their geographic location. 107 egg-laying trait-associated candidate genes were mined through six selection signal analysis. Our study provides a critical reference for analyzing the molecular mechanism underlying differences in reproductive traits and molecular breeding of geese.

Abstract Background The prolonged β-lactam antibiotics infusion has been an attractive strategy in severe infections, because it provides a more stable free drug concentration and a longer duration of free drug concentration above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). We conducted this systematic review of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) to compare the effects of prolonged vs intermittent intravenous infusion of β-lactam antibiotics for patients with sepsis. Methods This study was prospectively registered on PROSPERO database (CRD42023447692). We searched EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library to identify eligible studies (up to July 6, 2023). Any study meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria would be included. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 30 days. Two authors independently screened studies and extracted data. When the I 2 values

In this study, 168 chicks were randomly divided into two groups to elucidate the effect of fermented Chinese herbs (FCHs) on the intestinal microbiota of Chinese chickens (Gallus domesticus) and provide a scientific basis for the development and application of FCHs feed additives. The chicks were fed a basal diet for 7 days during the pre-feeding period. Thereafter, the control group was fed a basal diet, and the experimental group was fed a basal diet supplemented with 1.5% FCHs for 43 days. After being weighed and euthanised, the chickens were dissected to obtain the caecum content to analyse the intestinal microbiota composition using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and metabolites using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. Our results showed that FCHs had no effect on the growth and serum immunological indices of Chinese chickens but significantly increased the bursa of Fabricius index, and reduced the α-diversity and affected composition of the caecum intestinal microbiota. In particular, the relative abundance of Akkermansia increased, and these of Bacteroides, Megamonas, and Faecalibacterium were reduced, accompanied by a change in the composition of caecal metabolites. These results implied that the FCH probably enhance the immune capacity of Chinese chickens. This study provides a scientific basis for developing and applying FCHs as feed additives. However, more research is necessary to elucidate the mode of action, level of inclusion, and the benefits of including the FCH in chicken diets.

Geospatial social media (GSM) data has been increasingly used in public health due to its rich, timely, and accessible spatial information, particularly in infectious disease research. This review synthesized 86 research articles that use GSM data in infectious diseases published between December 2013 and March 2022. These articles cover 12 infectious disease types ranging from respiratory infectious diseases to sexually transmitted diseases with spatial levels varying from the neighborhood, county, state, and country. We categorized these studies into three major infectious disease research domains: surveillance, explanation, and prediction. With the assistance of advanced computing, statistical and spatial methods, GSM data has been widely and deeply applied to these domains, particularly in surveillance and explanation domains. We further identified four knowledge gaps in terms of contextual information use, application scopes, spatiotemporal dimension, and data limitations and proposed innovation opportunities for future research. Our findings will contribute to a better understanding of using GSM data in infectious diseases studies and provide insights into strategies for using GSM data more effectively in future research.

Eucalyptus is an important plantation tree with a high economic value in China. The tree contributes significantly to China’s timber production. The stable and efficient Eucalyptus regeneration system and genetic transformation system are of great significance for exploring the regulatory function and possible genetic breeding capacity of important genes in the species. However, as a woody plant, Eucalyptus has problems, such as a long generation cycle, strong specificity of the regeneration system, and a low genetic conversion rate, which seriously limit the rapid development of Eucalyptus genetics and breeding programs. The present review summarizes the status of research on Eucalyptus regeneration and genetic transformation, with a focus on the effects of explants, media, plant growth regulators (PGRs), and concentrations in the Eucalyptus regeneration process. In addition, the effects of genotype, Agrobacterium, antibiotics, preculture, and co-culture on the genetic transformation efficiency of Eucalyptus are discussed. Furthermore, the study also summarizes the problems encountered in Eucalyptus regeneration and genetic transformation, with reference to previous studies, and it outlines future developments and prospects. The aim was to provide a reference for solving the problems of genetic instability and the low transformation efficiency of eucalyptus, and to establish an efficient and stable eucalyptus regeneration and transformation system to accelerate the process of its genetic improvement.

As urbanization advances, rural construction and resource development in China encounter significant challenges, leading to the widespread adoption of standardized planning and design methods to manage increasing population pressure. These uniform approaches often prioritize economic benefits over climate adaptability and energy efficiency. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on traditional mountain villages in northern regions, particularly examining the wind and thermal environments of courtyards and street networks. This study integrates energy consumption and comfort performance analysis early in the planning and design process, utilizing Genetic and XGBoost algorithms to enhance efficiency. This study began by selecting a benchmark model based on simulations of courtyard PET (Physiological Equivalent Temperature) and MRT (mean radiant temperature). It then employed the Wallacei_X plugin, which uses the NSGA-II algorithm for multi-objective genetic optimization (MOGO) to optimize five energy consumption and comfort objectives. The resulting solutions were trained in the Scikit-learn machine learning platform. After comparing machine learning models like RandomForest and XGBoost, the highest-performing XGBoost model was selected for further training. Validation shows that the XGBoost model achieves an average accuracy of over 80% in predicting courtyard performance. In the project’s validation phase, the overall street network framework of the block was first adjusted based on street performance prediction models and related design strategies. The optimized model prototype was then integrated into the planning scheme according to functional requirements. After repeated validation and adjustments, the performance prediction of the village planning scheme was conducted. The calculations indicate that the optimized planning scheme improves overall performance by 36% compared with the original baseline. In conclusion, this study aimed to integrate performance assessment and machine learning algorithms into the decision-making process for optimizing traditional village environments, offering new approaches for sustainable rural development.

This study investigates the spatial patterns of residential migration among older adults in the city center of Yancheng and the influencing factors using data on the home purchases of individuals aged 65 and older from 2016 to 2018, along with peripheral point of interest (POI) data, analyzed with ArcGIS and a decision tree model. The results indicated that persons aged 60–65 accounted for 42.8% of the total sample and primarily chose to migrate in the early stages of retirement. The intra-city migration of older adults exhibits both centripetal and centrifugal patterns, with a greater tendency toward the city center. House prices, floor levels, and commercial facilities significantly impact their choice of migration destinations. Among these, house prices were the most critical determinant, with the majority of older adults migrating to neighborhoods with lower house prices. This study contributes by integrating residential migration and location choice research and constructing an analytical framework based on facility accessibility. The findings provide insights into the key determinants of location choice for intra-city residential migration among older adults and the construction of livable neighborhoods for them.

Although the COVID-19 mortality rate is declining, the number of individuals dealing with persistent COVID-19 symptoms is increasing worldwide, making long COVID a global public health concern. People with long COVID (long haulers) often deal with physical and mental stressors. Long haulers’ psychological resilience could play a key role in coping with these stressors in intercorrelation with psychosocial resources. The current study aims to test a hypothesized relationship between social support and its functions (i.e., instrumental and emotional) and the resilience of long haulers through serial mediation by personal mastery and self-esteem. A cross-sectional and self-administered online survey was conducted among 460 individuals with long COVID recruited from COVID-19 Facebook support groups in the United States. Analyzing data indicated a positive correlation between social support and the resilience of long haulers. Structural equation modeling suggested that self-esteem and personal mastery fully mediated the association between social (instrumental) support and resilience. Personal mastery also mediated the association between self-esteem and resilience in social (instrumental) support models. However, in the emotional support model, the indirect effect was non-significant for the mediation by personal mastery and self-esteem. Findings suggest that social support, mainly instrumental support, may protect long haulers by promoting their resilience through self-esteem and personal mastery. This study emphasizes the importance of including social support services in designing programs for COVID-19 long haulers.

Abstract Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) face limited processability challenges as photoelectrodes in photoelectrochemical water reduction. Herein, sub‐10 nm benzothiazole‐based colloidal conjugated reticular oligomers (CROs) are synthesized using an aqueous nanoreactor approach, and the end‐capping molecular strategy to engineer electron‐deficient units onto the periphery of a CRO nanocrystalline lattices (named CROs‐Cg). This results in stable and processable “electronic inks” for flexible photoelectrodes. CRO‐BtzTp‐Cg and CRO‐TtzTp‐Cg expand the absorption spectrum into the infrared region and improve fluorescence lifetimes. Heterojunction device engineering is used to develop interlayer heterojunction and bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photoelectrodes with a hole transport layer, electron transport layer, and the main active layers, using a CROs/CROs‐Cg or one‐dimensional (1D) electron‐donating polymer HP18 mixed solution via spinning coating. The ITO/CuI/CRO‐TtzTp‐Cg‐HP18/SnO2/Pt photoelectrode shows a photocurrent of 94.9 µA cm‒2 at 0.4 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is 47.5 times higher than that of ITO/Bulk‐TtzTp. Density functional theory calculations show reduced energy barriers for generating adsorbed H* intermediates and increased electron affinity in CROs‐Cg. Mott‐Schottky and charge density difference analyses indicate enhanced charge carrier densities and accelerated charge transfer kinetics in BHJ devices. This study lays the groundwork for large‐scale production of COF nanomembranes and heterojunction structures, offering the potential for cost‐effective, printable energy systems.

Waxy maize (Zea mays L. sinensis Kulesh) is highly regarded for its high nutritional content and unique taste. Although the stalks and leaves contain high carbohydrate levels after ear harvesting, inadequate crude protein (CP) limits the utilization and promotion of waxy maize silage in animal husbandry. In this study, waxy maize and fodder soybeans were mixed for sowing in different proportions [1:0 (CK), 1:1 (A1), 1:2 (A2), 1:3 (A3), and 1:4 (A4)] to investigate the effects of different mixing ratios on the growth of the waxy maize, the chemical indices, fermentation quality, and the microbial community of the mixed silage after ear harvesting. The mixed planting of waxy maize and fodder soybeans in different proportions had no effect on the yield and quality of the waxy maize ears and increased the aboveground biomass after ear harvesting. After ear harvesting, the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents significantly decreased, and the CP content and relative feeding value (RFV) gradually increased in the mixed silage. The pH of the treatments was lower than 4.2 except for A4, and the lowest ammonia nitrogen (AN) concentration was observed in A3. With increasing proportions of fodder soybeans, the abundance of beneficial bacteria increased and that of harmful bacteria decreased; Firmicutes and Lactobacillus were the dominant phylum and genus, respectively, and both increased gradually. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the fermentation indices affecting the microbial community composition in the silage were inconsistent among the different mixed sowing combinations. The Mantel test showed that the composition of the microbial communities in the treatments was significantly correlated with the ADF, water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC), and propionic acid (PA) contents. Comprehensive analysis revealed that the optimal mixed sowing ratio of waxy maize to fodder soybeans was 1:3, and waxy maize and fodder soybeans silage can increase the utilization of aboveground biomass and improve the fermentation quality and feeding quality of silage by changing the microbial community. These findings lay a certain theoretical foundation for improving the utilization of waxy maize.

IntroductionGrain production at the regional level is related to the strategic development orientation of the country as a whole, and maintaining the stability of grain production is of great importance in ensuring the sustainable development of the food system. Studying the potential imbalance differences resulting from the spatial and temporal development of grain production and its driving factors will help to reduce the contradiction between the rapid development of the urban economy and the inappropriate use of arable land resources, thus coordinating regional agricultural development and further clarifying the direction and focus of future food security construction work.MethodsThis study focuses on the potential imbalance differences based on spatial and temporal development of grain production in Jiangsu Province during the period 1990–2020, and explores the spatial and temporal patterns and driving mechanisms of grain production spatial autocorrelation model and spatial error model are applied to analysis the spatial and temporal characteristics of grain production and security in Jiangsu Province and their influencing factors.ResultsThe results are as follows: (1) The total amount of food in Jiangsu Province increased by 17.36% during the 30-year period, but the growth rate was lower than the national average. (2) Regional differences are significant, with a significant decline in grain production in southern Jiangsu and growth in northern and central Jiangsu. (3) The center of gravity for grain production has shifted to northern Jiangsu. (4) Grain production is significantly correlated with socio-economic factors such as per capita ownership, sown area, irrigated area, and cultivated area.DiscussionTo ensure the sustainability of food production in the future, attention should be paid to the risk of imbalance in regional food production, coordination of socio-economic factors, promotion of efficient agricultural production, improvement of the relevant policy system and optimization of the food production system.

BackgroundThe angiography-derived index of microvascular resistance (A-IMR) is a novel tool for diagnosing coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) addressing limitation of unavailability. However, the clinical value of A-IMR remains controversial.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched for relevant studies. Studies that reported estimates of A-IMR's diagnostic accuracy (with thermodilution-based IMR as the reference test) and/or predictions of adverse cardiovascular events were selected. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (sROC) were calculated to measure diagnostic performance; pooled hazard/risk ratio (HR/RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or other independent adverse events were calculated to measure prognostic effect. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023451884).ResultsA total of 12 diagnostic studies pooling 1,642 vessels and 12 prognostic studies pooling 2,790 individuals were included. A-IMR yielded an area under sROC of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.91, 0.95), a pooled sensitivity of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.89) and a pooled specificity of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.83, 0.93) for the diagnosis of CMD. CMD diagnosed using A-IMR was associated with higher risks of MACE (HR, 2.73, 95% CI: 2.16, 3.45), CV death (RR, 2.39, 95% CI: 1.49, 3.82) and heart failure hospitalization (HR, 2.30, 95% CI: 1.53, 3.45).ConclusionA-IMR demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy for CMD and showed a strong prognostic capability in predicting the risk of adverse CV outcomes.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023451884, PROSPERO (CRD42023451884).