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This is a compilation of various parametric conditions for the critical ionization velocity (CIV) process to occur in the ionosphere.

Abstract Flapping flight of animals has captured the interest of researchers due to their impressive flight capabilities across diverse environments including mountains, oceans, forests, and urban areas. Despite the significant progress made in understanding flapping flight, high-altitude flight as showcased by many migrating animals remains underexplored. At high-altitudes, air density is low, and it is challenging to produce lift. Here we demonstrate a first lift-off of a flapping wing robot in a low-density environment through wing size and motion scaling. Force measurements showed that the lift remained high at 0.14 N despite a 66% reduction of air density from the sea-level condition. The flapping amplitude increased from 148 to 233 degrees, while the pitch amplitude remained nearly constant at 38.2 degrees. The combined effect is that the flapping-wing robot benefited from the angle of attack that is characteristic of flying animals. Our results suggest that it is not a simple increase in the flapping frequency, but a coordinated increase in the wing size and reduction in flapping frequency enables the flight in lower density condition. The key mechanism is to preserve the passive rotations due to wing deformation, confirmed by a bioinspired scaling relationship. Our results highlight the feasibility of flight under a low-density, high-altitude environment due to leveraging unsteady aerodynamic mechanisms unique to flapping wings. We anticipate our experimental demonstration to be a starting point for more sophisticated flapping wing models and robots for autonomous multi-altitude sensing. Furthermore, it is a preliminary step towards flapping wing flight in the ultra-low density Martian atmosphere.

Background Time in range (TIR) is a new indicator of glycemic management in diabetes mellitus which has been thriving in recent years. Studies have confirmed that TIR is closely associated with chronic complications of diabetes. Previous studies have confirmed a close association between TIR and chronic complications of diabetes. Current studies on TIR and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) mainly focus on proteinuria, however the role of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in it is often neglected, and there are few studies on the cut points of TIR in evaluating glycemic control. Objective To investigate the relationship between TIR and the development of DKD in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), so as to provide theoretical foundations for the timely clinical detection, diagnosis and treatment of DKD in patients with T2DM. Methods A total of 214 T2DM patients admitted to the Department of Endocrinology in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from July 2021 to December 2021 were included. The general data, laboratory indices and medication use were collected. The included patients were divided into group of DKD〔UACR ≥ 30 mg/g and/or eGFR < 60 ml·min-1 (1.73 m2) -1, n=58〕 and group of T2DM alone〔UACR85%, n=90), TIR2 group (70%

Abstract Background The superiority of Enhanced Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT-E) with regard to weight gain and improvement of psychopathology of eating disorders for patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) over other psychotherapies and treatment as usual (TAU) has not been demonstrated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, a previous RCT showed that patients with AN whose baseline body mass index (BMI) was less than 17.5 kg/m2 gained more weight when treated with CBT-E than with other psychotherapies. The aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of CBT-E and TAU for patients with AN. It was hypothesized that CBT-E would be superior to TAU, at least in terms of weight gain, as most patients with AN are likely to have a BMI lower than 17.5 kg/m2. Methods/design A randomized parallel-group multicenter trial will be conducted in three teaching hospitals in Japan between January 2023 and March 2026. Patients with DSM-5 AN, aged 16 years and older, with a BMI equal to or above 14.0 and below 18.5 will be eligible to participate. 56 patients will be randomly and evenly assigned to two intervention groups (CBT-E and TAU). Those assigned to CBT-E will be offered 25–40 sessions in accordance with their initial BMI. Patients assigned to TAU will have at least one session every 2 weeks, with the number of sessions and treatment period not fixed in advance. The primary outcome is BMI at 40 weeks after treatment initiation. The secondary outcomes are the results from the Japanese version of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and Clinical Impairment Assessment questionnaire to measure eating disorder psychopathology and psychological impairment. The follow-up assessment will be performed 6 months after the 40-week assessment. Discussion This multi-center randomized controlled study will probably evaluate the efficacy of CBT-E compared with TAU for patients with more severe AN than in previous studies since Japanese patients are likely to have a lower BMI than those in Western countries. While it may be difficult to generalize the results of a study conducted in Japan, it would be valuable to clarify the efficacy of CBT-E as a treatment package. Trial registration UMIN, UMIN000048847. Registered 12 Sep 2022.

Abstract Anti-PD-1 therapy has shown promising outcomes in the treatment of different types of cancer. It is of fundamental interest to analyze the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy in cancer patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) since the comorbidity of HBV and cancer is widely documented. We designed a multicenter retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy on non-liver cancer patients infected with HBV. We found anti-PD-1 therapy achieved much better outcomes in HBV+ non-liver cancer patients than their HBV– counterparts. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. We found both cytotoxicity score of T cells and MHC score of B cells significantly increased after anti-PD-1 therapy in HBV+ ESCC patients. We also identified CX3CR1high TEFF, a subset of CD8+ TEFF, associated with better clinical outcome in HBV+ ESCC patients. Lastly, we found CD8+ TEFF from HBV+ ESCC patients showing higher fraction of Exhaustionhi T than their HBV– counterpart. In summary, anti-PD-1 therapy on HBV+ non-liver cancer patients is safe and achieves better outcomes than that on HBV– non-liver cancer patients, potentially because HBV+ patients had higher fraction of Exhaustionhi T, which made them more efficiently respond to anti-PD-1 therapy.

Abstract Although the scope of pharmacists’ work has expanded in Japan, people’s perception of this is unclear. To contribute to medical care together with non- and health care professionals, clarifying the perceptions of these groups is important to best utilize pharmacist professionals. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among non-health care professionals (n = 487) and nurses (n = 151), medical doctors (n = 133), and pharmacists (n = 204) regarding the work of pharmacists. The questionnaire comprised 56 items in four categories associated with the roles of pharmacists. For each questionnaire item, we performed logistic regression analysis to compare pharmacists’ opinions with those of other professionals and non-health care professionals. Opinions were similar between pharmacists and nurses or medical doctors regarding “collecting patient information” and “providing drug information to patients.” However, there were differences in perceptions regarding “medical collaboration” (nurses; 8/23 items, physicians; 11/23 items) and “community medicine” (nurses; 9/15 items, physicians; 11/15 items), and pharmacists themselves perceived greater roles related to health care collaboration and community health care. Perceptions of non-health care professionals were poorer than those of pharmacists in all categories (47/56 items). These results suggest that pharmacists must actively communicate to help others understand their specialty and build trusting relationships to improve patient care.

Iatrogenic dural tear is usually recognized during the surgery. We describe a rare case of unrecognized dural tear caused by percutaneous endoscopic lumbar surgery at another hospital clearly confirmed with dynamic myelography. Although magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine showed no obvious fluid collection suggesting dural tear, dynamic myelography revealed leakage of intradural subarachnoid contrast medium along root sleeve into the intervertebral disc space. In the setting of endoscopic spine surgery, incidental dural tear might be overlooked due to the narrow and fluid-filled surgical field. Dynamic myelography is useful to evaluate the precise condition caused by unrecognized dural tear.

In this study, we analyse the effect of financial uncertainty on corporate investment using firm-level panel data from the Republic of Korea. We find that financial uncertainty has a significant negative effect on corporate investment, and that the effect is heterogeneous across firms of different sizes. Small firms and large firms are more exposed to the negative effect of uncertainty than medium-sized firms. The negative effect of uncertainty on large firms slightly declined after the global financial crisis (GFC), but it increased for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Financial constraints and investment irreversibility amplify the negative effect of uncertainty. The inverted U-shaped curve of the uncertainty effect along the firm-size spectrum can be understood as follows: Small firms are more financially constrained and large firms’ investments are more irreversible in nature. Lastly, contrary to widespread belief, uncertainty has waned since 1990, dampening the trend of declining investment ratios. To counter the negative effect of uncertainty on SMEs, policies need to be directed toward the development of capital markets and bond markets for SMEs. Furthermore, SME policies should be redirected to target competitiveness, not protection.

Key Clinical Message We describe a patient who lost her vision because of Lemierre's syndrome. Ophthalmologic complications of Lemierre's syndrome are rare, and very few cases have been reported. Clinicians need to recognize that it is a serious condition that can lead to blindness in some cases. Abstract Lemierre's syndrome is a systemic septic embolism resulting from thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein. We report a case of blindness caused by Lemierre's syndrome, despite prompt diagnosis and early treatment. A 36‐year‐old woman was transported to our hospital. She presented with fever, facial swelling, and right visual acuity deterioration. Contrast‐enhanced computed tomography revealed a retropharyngeal abscess and right internal jugular vein thrombosis. Blood culture revealed Fusobacterium necrophorum, suggesting Lemierre's syndrome. The patient had septic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation. We diagnosed her visual impairment as orbital‐apex syndrome due to spread of inflammation. After 6 weeks of antimicrobial drug treatments, her general condition had improved, and the retropharyngeal abscess had disappeared. On Day 49 of her illness, she was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, but her visual acuity was not restored. Clinicians should be aware that Lemierre's syndrome can, although rarely, cause blindness.

Abstract Following a series of actions in China, the annual mean fine particle (PM2.5) concentrations have considerably reduced since 2013. However, in some cities, the PM2.5 concentrations exceed the national ambient air quality standard of 35 μg/m3. Herein, we evaluated the historical trends of PM2.5 from 2014 to 2022 in mainland China and found continuously declining trends. However, the annual decline rates decreased despite increasing investments on pollution control, showing considerably diminishing marginal effects of these investments. Accumulative reduction in PM2.5 concentrations is linearly dependent on the log‐transformed accumulative investment in air pollution control. The standard of 35 μg/m3 can be achieved by 2035 if the current efforts continue at the same pace. However, the standard of 35 μg/m3 can weaken the momentum of future actions in cities where the standard has already been implemented. We proposed and tested two tiers with four or six levels of specific regional standards based on the regression model predictions from the historical data and demonstrated that more rigorous standards for regions where the current standard is already attained could provide more momentum for strengthening abatement efforts. The results show that both tiers are feasible if the level of abatement endeavor is maintained even with marginal effects. We also demonstrate that additional 135,000 or 384,000 deaths can be avoided by applying the regional standards. Health benefits are monetized and compared with the control costs, suggesting that compared to Tier‐2, Tier‐1 is more cost‐effective and balanced across the mainland China.

AbstractTumor-secreted exosomes are critical for the functional regulation of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). This study aimed to explore how exosomes secreted by ovarian carcinoma cells regulate the phenotype and function of macrophages. Hypoxic treatment of A2780 cells was postulated to mimic the tumor microenvironment, and exosomes were co-cultured with TAMs. miR-1225-5p was enriched in hypoxic exosomes and contributed to M2 macrophage polarizationby modulating Toll-like receptor 2 expression (TLR2). Furthermore, hypoxia-treated macrophages promote ovarian cancer cell viability, migration, and invasion via the wnt/β-catenin pathway. This study clarified that exosomal miR-1225-5p promotes macrophage M2-like polarization by targeting TLR2 to promote ovarian cancer, which may via the wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Burdock (Arctium lappa) root has been traditionally consumed in Japan since ancient times. Roasted burdock tea (BT) is gaining popularity worldwide as a health drink as it is rich in inulin and chlorogenic acid, and has been reported to have health benefits, including inhibitory and ameliorative effects on constipation and bowel inflammation. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. To determine the effects of BT on gut microbiota, diet without cellulose (no fibre: NF), 5% (w/w) whole roasted burdock root powder (WB) diet, 5% (w/v) BT as drinking liquid, or 1.7% (w/w) residue of BT (BR) diet was fed to mice. Microbiota analysis was performed using 16S rRNA (V4) gene amplicon sequencing. The abundance of microbial groups related to obesity and inflammation, such as Allobaculum, was decreased by feeding burdock root preparations, particularly BT (0.6%) compared with NF (25%). Conversely, the abundance of Muribaculaceae, which are gut commensals that correlate with anti-inflammation, immunomodulation, and longevity, in the three burdock groups was 2–3-times higher than that in the NF group. The levels of tumour necrosis factor-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, were 2.5-fold decreased in the BT group. In conclusion, BT may affect gut microbiota composition and, thereby, impact the host immune system.

Contamination of water and soils by oil is becoming one of the most dangerous pollution problem to handle due to oil toxicity to aquatic organisms, degradation of soil quality and effect on human health. Unfortunately, industrial development, increase population and human activities have increased different types of oil discharges into the soils and water sources. This aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of cattle hair waste in removing spent engine and vegetable oils from wastewater using different process conditions, and the toxicity of water containing oil and when treated on maize germination evaluated. The equilibrium removal time is 10 minutes for both oils with 100% removal at 50 g/L initial oil concentration. Cattle hair is a good oil adsorbent with adsorption capacities of 52.20 g/g for vegetable oil and 28.49 g/g for spent engine oil. Temperature increase reduces oil removal from 100% at 25–30 °C to 93% at 60oc for spent engine oil and from 100% at 25 °C to 85% at 60 °C for vegetable oil. The removal of vegetable oil is reduced from 100% in the absence of NaCl to 10% at 10000 mg/L NaCl meanwhile there is a negligible effect of NaCl presence on spent engine oil removal. Untreated water containing spent engine oil reduced maize seed germination by about 70% compared to 45% for vegetable oil. These values reduced respectively to 17% for spent engine oil and 11% for vegetable oil when oil wastewater is treated. The fact that just 10 minutes was required to have a 100% removal, and with removal capacities of 52.20 g/g for vegetable oil and 28.49 g/g for spent engine oil shows cattle hair can be effectively applied in removing spent engine and vegetable oils from wastewater in a low cost process, with a positive effect on environmental and human safety.

Abstract Bone is one of the largest organ systems in humans and is considered to regulate whole-body homeostasis in cooperation with other organs. We have previously reported that a sympathetic or sensory nervous system inside bone regulates bone homeostasis. However, the detailed regulatory mechanism, including the distribution of nerves inside bone, remains unknown. Although a two-dimensional histological analysis has been widely used to evaluate the structure of nerves or blood vessels, the actual structure is more complex, suggesting that it should be evaluated three-dimensionally. Here, we established a novel bone tissue clearing technique (Osteo-DISCO) for murine bones which enabled us to visualize the detailed distribution of nerves or blood vessels inside bone. Interestingly, we found that there is a specific nerve entry site in each long bone and that surgical ablation of the specific nerve fibers entering bone tissue led to decreased bone formation and impaired bone regeneration. Furthermore, we revealed that the administration of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which is primarily released from sensory nerves, suppressed the bone loss caused by surgical nerve ablation. An in vitro study also indicated that CGRP directly promotes osteoblast activity, suggesting that sensory nerves inside bone can regulate osteogenesis via the secretion of CGRP.

Abstract Background Water shortage caused by global warming seriously affects the yield and quality of vegetable crops. β-carotene, the lipid-soluble natural product with important pharmacological value, is abundant in celery. Transcription factor MYB family extensively disperses in plants and plays regulatory roles in carotenoid metabolism and water scarcity response. Results Here, the AgMYB5 gene encoding 196 amino acids was amplified from celery cv. ‘Jinnanshiqin’. In celery, the expression of AgMYB5 exhibited transactivation activity, tissue specificity, and drought-condition responsiveness. Further analysis proved that ectopic expression of AgMYB5 increased β-carotene content and promoted drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, AgMYB5 expression promoted β-carotene biosynthesis by triggering the expression of AtCRTISO and AtLCYB, which in turn increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and led to the decreased contents of H2O2 and MDA, and the inhibition of O2 − generation. Meanwhile, β-carotene accumulation promoted endogenous ABA biosynthesis of transgenic Arabidopsis, which resulted in ABA-induced stomatal closing and delayed water loss. In addition, ectopic expression of AgMYB5 increased expression levels of AtERD1, AtP5CS1, AtRD22, and AtRD29. Conclusions The findings indicated that AgMYB5 up-regulated β-carotene biosynthesis and drought tolerance of Arabidopsis.

Abstract Background In the current context of reduced and limited antibiotic use, several pathogens and stressors cause intestinal oxidative stress in poultry, which leads to a reduced feed intake, slow or stagnant growth and development, and even death, resulting in huge economic losses to the poultry breeding industry. Oxidative stress in animals is a non-specific injury for which no targeted drug therapy is available; however, the health of poultry can be improved by adding appropriate feed additives. Bacillus pumilus, as a feed additive, promotes growth and development and reduces intestinal oxidative stress damage in poultry. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) senses oxidative damage and repairs unfolded and misfolded proteins; its protective effect has been widely investigated. Mitogen-activated protein kinase/protein kinase C (MAPK/PKC) and hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) are also common proteins associated with inflammatory response induced by several stressors, but there is limited research on these proteins in the context of poultry intestinal Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) infections. In the present study, we isolated a novel strain of Bacillus pumilus with excellent performance from the feces of healthy yaks, named TS1. To investigate the effect of TS1 on SE-induced enteritis in broilers, 120 6-day-old white-feathered broilers were randomly divided into four groups (con, TS1, SE, TS1 + SE). TS1 and TS1 + SE group chickens were fed with 1.4 × 107 colony-forming units per mL of TS1 for 15 days and intraperitoneally injected with SE to establish the oxidative stress model. Then, we investigated whether TS1 protects the intestine of SE-treated broiler chickens using inflammatory cytokine gene expression analysis, stress protein quantification, antioxidant quantification, and histopathological analysis. Results The TS1 + SE group showed lower MDA and higher GSH-Px, SOD, and T-AOC than the SE group. TS1 alleviated the effects of SE on intestinal villus length and crypt depth. Our results suggest that SE exposure increased the expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-4, and MCP-1), p38 MAPK, and PKCβ and decreased the expression of HSP60, HSP70, and HIF-1α, whereas TS1 alleviated these effects. Conclusions Bacillus pumilus TS1 alleviated oxidative stress damage caused by SE and attenuated the inflammatory response in broilers through MAPK/PKC regulation of HSPs/HIF-1α.

Ising machines have attracted attention as efficient solvers for combinatorial optimization problems, which are formulated as ground-state (lowest-energy) search problems of the Ising model. Due to the limited bit-width of coefficients on Ising machines, the Ising model must be transformed into a bit-width reduced (BWR) Ising model. According to previous research, the bit-width reduction method, which adds auxiliary spins, ensures that the ground state of the BWR Ising model is theoretically the same as the Ising model before bit-width reduction (original Ising model). However, while the dynamical process is closely related to solution accuracy, how the BWR Ising model progresses towards the ground state remains to be elucidated. Therefore, we compared the dynamical processes of these models using simulated annealing (SA). Our findings reveal significant differences in the dynamical process across models. Analysis from the viewpoint of statistical mechanics found that the BWR Ising model has two characteristic properties: an effective temperature and a slow relaxation. These properties alter the temperature schedule and spin flip probability in the BWR Ising model, leading to differences in the dynamical process. Therefore, to obtain the same dynamical process as the original Ising model, we proposed SA parameters for the BWR Ising model. We demonstrated the proposed SA parameters using a square lattice Ising model, in which all coefficients were set uniformly to the same positive values or randomly. Our experimental evaluations demonstrated that the dynamical process of the BWR and original Ising model became closer.

The development of sensitive hydrogel sensor without additional mobile ionic species is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate force-induced ion generation in a skin sensor based on zwitterionic hydrogel, and build a throat-worn silent-speech recognition system with high recognition accuracy.

Objective: The Developmental Origins of Disease hypothesis has spurred increased interest in how prenatal exposures affect lifelong health, while mechanisms such as epigenetics may explain the multigenerational influences on health. Such factors are not well captured within conventional epidemiologic study designs. We explored the feasibility of collecting information on the offspring and grand-offspring of participants in a long-running study. Design: The Bogalusa Heart Study is a study, begun in 1973, of life-course cardiovascular health in a semirural population (65% white and 35% black). Main measures: Female participants who had previously provided information on their pregnancies were contacted to obtain contact information for their daughters aged 12 and older. Daughters were then contacted to obtain reproductive histories, and invited for a clinic or lab visit to measure cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Two hundred seventy-four daughters of 208 mothers were recruited; 81% (223) had a full clinic visit and 19% (51) a phone interview only. Forty-five percent of the daughters were black, and 55% white. Mean and median age at interview was 27, with 15% under the age of 18. The strongest predictors of participation were black race, recent maternal participation in the parent study, and living in or near Bogalusa. Simple correlations for cardiovascular risk factors across generations were between r = 0.19 (systolic blood pressure) and r = 0.39 (BMI, LDL). Conclusion: It is feasible to contact the children of study participants even when participants are adults, and initial information on the grandchildren can also be determined in this manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two important observations when the onset of spacecraft surface charging occurs are (1) the electron flux measured in the high-energy (above several keV) channels onboard rises and (2) the ambient electron temperature rises above a critical value. We show by means of an analytical model that the two behaviors are consistent with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present models for a fast spinning, dielectric coated, spheroidal (prolate or oblate) spacecraft charging in sunlight. This work is a generalization of previous treatments of sunlight charging of spherical satellites. The main difference is that the spacecraft geometry can be characterized by a shape parameter that sets the aspect ratio of the spheroids. The models are based on an expansion of the Laplacian potentials external to the spacecraft surface in terms of products of standard Legendre polynomials, describing the polar angle dependence, and modified Legendre functions of the second kind, representing the “radial” behavior. The potential distributions are discussed relative to the corresponding monopole-dipole and monopole-quadrupole configurations in spherical geometry. A Taylor expansion is developed for the potentials when the shape parameter is large (the spherical limit) and expressions are also given in the opposite limit, when the shape parameter goes to zero. As in the spherical case, the potentials produce photosheath barriers which act to block escaping photoelectrons and lead to current balance, allowing sunlight charging to high negative levels. The sheath barrier location and height are calculated numerically, for a wide range of shape parameters. Contour plots are given to depict the potential distributions for sunlight charging of prolate and oblate spheroids at a representative aspect ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Healthy aging in place is affected by what the neighborhood provides for older adults. The mixed-methods ethnographic study explored the built environmental and contextual effects of urban parks and traditional local coffeeshops (kopitiam) on health practices among older adults in Singapore. Methods A door-to-door survey with 497 older adults from 32 residential blocks in a public housing town assessed exercise and smoking. The walking distances from the residential blocks to the facilities were calculated. Regression analysis examined the associations between the distance and rates of exercise and smoking. Ethnographic assessment data contextualized the quantitative findings. Results Older adults’ exercise was associated with proximity to an urban park but not traditional local coffeeshops. High rates of smoking were clustered in the housing blocks close to the coffeeshops, which provided casual drinking places with smoking tables. The proximity to the coffeeshops was significantly associated with increased smoking and decreased exercise. A walking distance of 200 m to the park and coffeeshops was found to discriminate the outcomes. Conclusions The findings suggested that walking distances of a few blocks influenced health behaviors among older adults. Their smoking habits appeared to be maintained through environmental features and cultural norms attached to the coffeeshops. Policy of urban planning and redevelopment for the aging population needs to consider the socioecology of healthy aging in place.

Abstract We aimed to quantitatively compare the choroid blood flow and choroid thickness at the periphery among eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), fellow eyes and healthy eyes using ultra-widefield swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (UWF SS-OCTA). Retrospective analysis of 49 patients with CSC (98 eyes, including unaffected fellow eyes) and 49 age and sex matched controls were included. We obtained 3-dimensional data of vertical 20 mm × horizontal 24 mm × scan depth 6 mm, comprising 9 subfields (superotemporal, upper, superonasal, temporal, central, nasal, inferotemporal, lower, inferonasal regions). CSC eyes presented with greater density of large-vessel choroidal layer in all the 9 subfields compared with controls. Compared with normal eyes, CSC eyes had greater choroidal thickness (superotemporal, upper, superonasal, temporal, central, nasal, inferotemporal, and inferonasal subfields) and choroidal volume (superotemporal, upper, superonasal, temporal, central, and nasal subfields). Compared with control eyes, the choriocapillaris density in the superotemporal, inferotemporal and inferonasal subfields was greater in patients with CSC. Our study may provide further evidence for the congestion of vortex vein in the pathogenesis of CSC. UWF SS-OCTA can be used to evaluate the abnormalities of the choroidal structures even at the periphery in eyes with CSC.

Abstract The Green Revolution (GR) enhances crop yields significantly that contributes greatly to the social and economic development of many less developed countries. However, the increasing crop yields might rise crop residue biomass burning, leading to adverse environmental and health consequences. We assess the impact of crop residue burning associated with the GR-induced growing crop yields on benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) pollution, a congener of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with strong carcinogenicity. We find a significant increasing trend of BaP emission and contamination from crop residue biomass burning from the mid-1960s to 2010s in India, coinciding with the growing crop yields occurring during the GR. Our results reveal that agricultural BaP emission driven lifetime lung cancer risk (ILCR) in India increased 2.6 times from the onset of GR in the mid-1960s to 2014 and the 57% population in India was exposed to the BaP level higher than the India national standard (1 ng m−3). We show that the reduction of open crop residue burning during the rice and wheat residue burning period would be a very effective measure to reduce BaP environmental contamination and health risk.

Mounting concern over the negative externalities of industrialized animal agriculture, coupled with falling cost curves of novel food technologies have birthed the field of cellular agriculture: a new category of food technology seeking to reproduce the sensory experiences of animal protein, and promising a cleaner, more ethical way of enjoying animal proteins. This research examines consumer acceptance of precision fermentation (PF) made egg products in Germany, Singapore, and the USA. Using an online survey of 3,006 participants, the study examines demographic and dietary traits that predict willingness to try such products and identifies the reasons why consumers are most attracted to them. The findings suggest that PF made egg products are likely to find a willing market, with a substantial proportion (51–61%) of participants willing to try the product, with vegetarians and vegans displaying the highest enthusiasm. Egg consumption habits and, to a lesser extent, income also predict acceptance. Major reasons for adopting the product were animal welfare in Germany, and health aspects in Singapore and the USA, as well as curiosity in all three countries. Observed differences between the acceptance of PF egg and PF dairy are discussed, as well as comparisons to existing alternative protein (AP) product adoption.

Objective: Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Perinatal inflammation is one of the promising environmental risk factors for ADHD, but the relationship between the genetic risk for ADHD and perinatal inflammation requires further examination. Methods: A possible gene-environmental interaction between perinatal inflammation and ADHD polygenic risk score (ADHD-PRS) on ADHD symptoms was investigated in children aged 8–9 from the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children (N = 531). Perinatal inflammation was evaluated by the level of concentration of three cytokines assayed in umbilical cord blood. The genetic risk for ADHD was assessed by calculating ADHD-PRS for each individual using a previously collected genome-wide association study of ADHD. Results: Perinatal inflammation (β [SE], 0.263 [0.017]; P

Coke production is an important source of environmental polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), including parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives. The focus near coking plants has primarily been on parent-PAH contamination, with less attention given to highly toxic derivatives. In this study, soil samples were collected from both within and outside of a coking plant. The concentrations of parent-PAHs and their derivatives, including methylated-PAHs, oxygenated-PAHs, and nitrated-PAHs, were examined. Spatial interpolation was employed to determine their spatial distribution patterns. Methods for identifying potential sources and conducting incremental lifetime cancer risk analysis were used. This could achieve a comprehensive understanding of the status of PAC pollution and the associated health risks caused by coke production. The concentrations of total PACs inside the plant ranged from 7.4 to 115.8 mg/kg, higher than those outside (in the range of 0.2 to 65.7 mg/kg). The spatial distribution of parent-PAH concentration and their derivatives consistently decreased with increasing distance from the plant. A significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) among parent-PAHs and their derivatives was observed, indicating relatively consistent sources. Based on diagnostic ratios, the potential emission sources of soil PACs could be attributed to coal combustion and vehicle emissions, while principal component analysis–multiple linear regression further indicated that primary emissions and secondary formation jointly influenced the PAC content, accounting for 60.4% and 39.6%, respectively. The exposure risk of soil PACs was dominated by 16 priority control PAHs; the non-priority PAHs’ contribution to the exposure risk was only 6.4%.

Instance segmentation is a computer vision task that aims to give each pixel in an image an instance-specific label. Recently, researchers have shown growing interest in real-time instance segmentation. In this paper, we propose a novel center-based real-time instance segmentation method (CenterInst), which follows the FastInst meta-architecture. Key design aspects include a center-guided query selector, a center-guided sampling-based query decoder, and a lightweight dual-path decoder. The center-guided query selector selects queries via the per-pixel prediction of center point probabilities, avoiding excessive query proposals for single instances. The center-guided sampling-based query decoder adaptively generates local sampling points based on center positions, employing adaptive mixing to update queries without irrelevant sampling disturbances. The lightweight dual-path decoder enhances inference speed and maintains accuracy via pixel decoding on every layer during training but only utilizing the final layer’s decoder during inference. The experimental results show CenterInst achieves superior accuracy and speed compared to state-of-the-art real-time instance segmentation methods.

Two important observations when the onset of spacecraft surface charging has occurred are the electron flux measured in the high-energy channels and the ambient temperature rises above a critical value. An analytical model is used for showing that the two behaviors are consistent with each other.

Long-read sequencing on activated T-cells from a sample of 333 Japanese individuals (representing 111 parent-offspring trios) provides a useful reference dataset of structural variation in the Japanese population.