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The heavy metals pollution and related health issues were widely reported in e-waste sites, while the impacts of e-waste exposure on the essential trace elements have been neglected. The aim of this study was focused on the internal Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn levels in the residents from an e-waste site and the potential endocrine disrupting effects of these essential trace elements on the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. This was a cross-sectional study that 87 subjects were recruited from the e-waste site and 81 from the reference site. The results indicated that the e-waste exposed group had significantly lower Fe, Mn level when compared with the reference group (p

Abstract While tremendous progress has recently been made in perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs), large‐area blue devices feature inferior performance due to uneven morphologies and vast defects in the solution‐processed perovskite films. To alleviate these issues, a facile and reliable interface engineering scheme is reported for manipulating the crystallization of perovskite films enabled by a multifunctional molecule 2‐amino‐1,3‐propanediol (APDO)‐triggered “anchoring effect” at the grain‐growth interface. Sky‐blue perovskite films with large‐area uniformity and low trap states are obtained, showing the distinctly improved radiative recombination and hole‐transport capability. Based on the APDO‐induced interface engineering, synergistical boost in device performance is achieved for large‐area sky‐blue PeLED (measuring at 100 mm2) with a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9.2% and a highly prolonged operational lifetime. A decent EQE up to 6.1% is demonstrated for the largest sky‐blue device emitting at 400 mm2.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) therapy has been successfully utilized in the treatment of multiple tumors, but only a fraction of patients with gastric cancer (GC) could greatly benefit from it. A recent study has shown that the tumor microenvironment (TME) can greatly affect the effect of immunotherapy in GC. In this study, we established a novel immune risk signature (IRS) for prognosis and predicting response to ICIs in GC based on the TCGA-STAD dataset. Characterization of the TME was explored and further validated to reveal the underlying survival mechanisms and the potential therapeutic targets of GC. The GC patients were stratified into high- and low-risk groups based on the IRS. Patients in the high-risk group, associated with poorer outcomes, were characterized by significantly higher immune function. Further analysis showed higher T cell immune dysfunction and probability of potential immune escape. In vivo, we detected the expressions of SERPINE1 by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues. In vitro, knockdown of SERPINE1 significantly attenuated malignant biological behaviors of tumor cells in GC. Our signature can effectively predict the prognosis and response to immunotherapy in patients with GC.

With the increase of large camera networks around us, it is becoming more difficult to manually identify vehicles. Computer vision enables us to automate this task. More specifically, vehicle re-identification (ReID) aims to identify cars in a camera network with non-overlapping views. Images captured of vehicles can undergo intense variations of appearance due to illumination, pose, or viewpoint. Furthermore, due to small inter-class similarities and large intra-class differences, feature learning is often enhanced with non-visual cues, such as the topology of camera networks and temporal information. These are, however, not always available or can be resource intensive for the model. Following the success of Transformer baselines in ReID, we propose for the first time an outlook-attention-based vehicle ReID framework using the Vision Outlooker as its backbone, which is able to encode finer-level features. We show that, without embedding any additional side information and using only the visual cues, we can achieve an 80.31% mAP and 97.13% R-1 on the VeRi-776 dataset. Besides documenting our research, this paper also aims to provide a comprehensive walkthrough of vehicle ReID. We aim to provide a starting point for individuals and organisations, as it is difficult to navigate through the myriad of complex research in this field.

Metal halide perovskite materials hold great potential as a core element in full‐color display and lighting applications due to their unique optoelectronic properties, such as high photoluminescence efficiency, good color purity, tunable bandgap, and low‐temperature solution processability. However, the performance of blue perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) lags far behind their red and green counterparts, impeding their practical use. Herein, the recent progress on blue PeLEDs based on different restrictions and some feasible strategies to improve luminescence efficiency and stability are summarized. The methods to optimize blue‐emission perovskite materials with different dimensions are addressed. The major factors affecting luminescence stability, the approaches to balance charge injection and minimize the optical loss are also discussed. Several problems in blue PeLEDs, particularly the toxicity of lead‐based perovskites and the alternative solutions of lead‐free perovskites, are emphasized. Finally, the perspective of future development in blue PeLEDs is provided.

Background: Poor time in therapeutic range (TTR) control is associated with an increased risk of stroke and bleeding in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients receiving warfarin. This study aimed to determine whether the physician–pharmacist collaborative clinic (PPCC) model could improve the anticoagulation quality as well as to create a nomogram for predicting anticoagulation quality in AF patients.Methods: This retrospective observational study enrolled AF patients who either initially received warfarin or returned to warfarin after withdrawal between January 1, 2016 and January 1, 2021, at our institution. The primary outcome was dynamic changes in TTRs (a TTR of ≥60% considered high anticoagulation quality). The secondary outcomes were thromboembolic and bleeding events during follow-up. We compared the dynamic changes in TTRs between the general clinic (GC) and PPCC groups in both the original and propensity score matching (PSM) cohorts. In addition, we explored the potential predictors of high anticoagulation quality and subsequently formulated a nomogram to predict anticoagulation quality.Results: A total of 265 patients with AF were included, comprising 57 patients in the PPCC group and 208 patients in the GC group. During a median follow-up period of 203 days, the PPCC group had a shorter time (76 vs. 199 days, p < 0.001) and more patients achieved a TTR ≥60% (73.7 vs. 47.1%, p = 0.002 by log-rank test) than the GC group. The results from the PSM cohort confirmed this finding. No significant differences in the incidences of thromboembolic events (5.3 vs. 5.3%, p = 1.000) and bleeding events (4.3 vs. 3.5%, p = 1.000) were observed between the two groups. Four variables were explored as predictors related to high anticoagulation quality: treatment within a PPCC, history of bleeding, history of bleeding, and the presence of more than four comorbidities. The nomogram revealed a moderate predictive ability (c-index: 0.718, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.669–0.767) and a moderately fitted calibration curve.Conclusion: The PPCC model contributed to improved anticoagulation quality in AF patients receiving warfarin. The nomogram might be an effective tool to predict anticoagulation quality and could aid physicians and pharmacists in the selection of patients who will likely benefit from sustained and active intervention.

The toxicity of heavy metals is one of the major public health issues leading to hazardous effects on humans. Many studies focus on the adverse effects on people who were working in or living near E-waste recycling. However, little is known to the sustaining effects of E-waste exposure on human health after the recycling factories were shut down. In the present study, we collected the blood of people living near E‑waste recycling facilities after the recycling factories were closed for 2 years. Eight heavy metals were examined in all blood samples. The results revealed that the blood levels of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), mercury (Hg) were significantly higher in the exposed group than in the reference group, and no difference was observed for copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), stannum (Sn), cadmium (Cd). Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were analyzed as the important indicators of fibrosis, which were statistically significantly higher in the exposed group than in the reference group. 8-isoprostane (8-I) and malondialdehyde (MDA) as the biomarkers of oxidative stress (OS) were elevated in the exposed group. Furthermore, both Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression showed that Co was positively correlated with TGF-β, α-SMA and 8-I in the exposed group. Accordingly, we speculate that high concentrations of Co dissolved in the blood may increase the risk of tissue fibrosis through stimulating myofibroblast activation and OS involve in the process, which may provide some potential new hints for the intervention for tissue fibrosis in the future.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the macular hemorrhage and refractive abnormalities,and analyze the occurrence probability and the factors of refractive abnormalities in high-risk neonates. METHODS: From January 2017 to January 2018, a total of 1 229 neonates with high-risk factors invided into 3 groups, according to the different parts of retinal hemorrhage, examined by RetCamⅢ device. All the subjects were checked the refractive status by autorefractor when they were 1 to 1.5 years old. The abnormalities were checked their refractive status under using of 1% atropine oculentum after 7d. The relationship between the macular hemorrhage and refractive abnormalities, and the occurrence probability and the factors of refractive abnormalities were analyzed.RESULTS: Among 205 eyes which were retinal hemorrhage irrelated macula 6 eyes had refractive abnormality(2.93%)in group A. 57 eyes which were macular hemorrhage 17 eyes had refractive abnormality(29.82%)in group B. 2 196 eyes which were no retinal hemorrhage 40 eyes had refractive abnormality(1.82%)in group C. It had significant difference between groups A and B, groups B and C(PP=0.27). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that macular hemorrhage and neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy were the independent risk factors for refractive status.CONCLUSION: The incidence of refractive abnormality was high in macular hemorrhage. Macular hemorrhage and neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy were the independent risk factors for refractive abnormality,and we should strengthen the observation and intervention of such new-borns.

Background: The incidence of pancreatic cancer (PC) is higher in diabetic patients due to disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism caused by insulin resistance (IR). However, the effect of diabetes as well as IR on the prognosis of PC patients remains inconclusive. Our study aims to assess the impact of IR on the prognosis of PC patients with diabetes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 172 PC patients with diabetes in our institute from 2015 to 2021. Prognostic assessment was performed using univariate/multifactorial analysis and survival analysis. The predictive efficacy of metabolic indices was compared using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: One hundred twenty‐one of 172 patients died during follow‐up, with a median follow‐up of 477 days and a median overall survival (OS) of 270 days. Survival analysis showed a significant difference in OS by IR related parameters, which were triglyceride‐glucose index (TyG), triglyceride‐glucose index‐body mass index (TyG‐BMI), and triglyceride/high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL‐c). The ROC curve indicated that TyG, TyG‐BMI, and TG/HDL‐c had prognostic efficacy for PC with diabetes. We next optimized TyG‐BMI and obtained a new parameter, namely glucose‐lipid metabolism index (GLMI), and the patients were classified into GLMI low group and high group based on the calculated cutoff value. The GLMI high group had higher TyG, TyG‐BMI, TyG/HDL‐c, BMI, TG, total cholesterol (TC), TC/HDL‐c, fasting plasma glucose, CA199, and more advanced tumor stage compared to low group. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that GLMI was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, the patients of GLMI high group had worse OS compared to low group and the ROC curves showed GLMI had better predictive ability than TyG and TyG‐BMI. Conclusions: IR is associated with the outcome of PC patients with diabetes and higher level of IR indicates worse prognosis. GLMI has a good predictive value for PC with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumors usually display fetal‐like characteristics, and many oncofetal proteins have been identified. However, fetal‐like reprogramming of RNA splicing in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly understood. Here, it is demonstrated that the expression of epithelial splicing regulatory protein 2 (ESRP2), an RNA splicing factor, is suppressed in fetal hepatocytes and HCC, in parallel with tumor progression. By combining RNA‐Seq with splicing analysis, it is identified that ESRP2 controls the fetal‐to‐adult switch of multiple splice isoforms in HCC. Functionally, ESRP2 suppressed cell proliferation and migration by specifically switching the alternative splicing (AS) of the TAK1 gene and restraining the expression of the fetal and oncogenic isoform, TAK1_ΔE12. Notably, aberrant TAK1 splicing led to the activation of p38MAPK signaling and predicted poor prognosis in HCC patients. Further investigation revealed that TAK1_ΔE12 protein interacted closely with TAB3 and formed liquid condensation in HCC cells, resulting in p38MAPK activation, enhanced cell migration, and accelerated tumorigenesis. Loss of ESRP2 sensitized HCC cells to TAK1 kinase inhibitor (TAK1i), promoting pyroptotic cell death and CD8+ T cell infiltration. Combining TAK1i with immune checkpoint therapy achieved potent tumor regression in mice. Overall, the findings reveal a previously unexplored onco‐fetal reprogramming of RNA splicing and provide novel therapeutic avenues for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant leaves can retain atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and thus alleviate air pollution. Herein, four plant species (Cerasus. serrulata, H. syriacus, H. tuberosus, and E. japonicus) from the central part of Shanxi Province, China, were investigated to analyse the dynamic changes in their PM retention capacity and grain size over five periods. The relationship between leaf morphological characteristics (leaf size and leaf surface microstructure) and dynamic changes were discussed in PM retention, revealing the influence of leaf morphological characteristics on the amount of PM retention and its composition. The results showed that amount and grain sizes of the retained PM differed significantly among the various studied species; however, the trends in PM retention of different species in the time series were the same. The grain size distributions of PM from the four species displayed a bimodal distribution, in which the main peak distribution range was 5–60 μm and the secondary peak distribution range was 0.4–1 μm. Leaves of smaller sizes and those with rough surfaces had a high PM retention capacity. Leaves with deep grooves are conductive to retaining PM2.5 and PM2.5-10, while leaves with hair are conductive to retaining PM>10. Therefore, the morphological characteristics of leaves should be considered when selecting the use of plant species to alleviate air pollution. Highlights Dynamics of PM retention capacity and grain size distributions of four plant species were analysed. Grain size distributions of PM retained on leaves had a bimodal distribution. Small leaves with grooves or hair are conductive to PM retention. Grooves are conductive to fine PM retention while hairs are conductive to coarse PM retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to identify overlapping or diverging dysregulated genes, lncRNAs, miRNAs and signaling pathways in smoking and non-smoking chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Compared to normal controls, we identified the shared and divergent differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs), miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and lncRNAs (DElncRNAs) in smoking and non-smoking COPD by RNA-sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Functional annotation of DEmRNAs were performed. Both cis and trans-target DEmRNAs of DElncRNAs were identified. The target DEmRNAs of DEmiRNAs were identified as well. The DEmiRNA-DEmRNA-DElncRNA interaction network was constructed. QRT-PCR was performed to validat the selected DEmiRNAs, DEmRNA and DElncRNAs in COPD. Results: Compared to normal control, 1234 DEmRNAs, 96 DElncRNAs and 151 DEmiRNAs were identified in non-smoking patients with COPD; 670 DEmRNAs, 44 DElncRNAs and 63 DEmiRNAs were identified in smoking patients with COPD. Leukocyte transendothelial migration and pathways in cancer were significantly enriched pathways in non-smoking and smoking COPD, respectively. MiR-122-5p-A2M-LINC00987/A2M-AS1/ linc0061 interactions might play key roles in COPD irrespective with the smoking status. Let-7-ADRB1-HLA-DQB1-AS1 might play a key role in the pathogenesis of smoking COPD while miR-218-5p/miR15a-RORA-LOC101928100/LINC00861 and miR-218-5p/miR15a-TGFβ3-RORA-AS1 interactions might involve with non-smoking COPD. Conclusion: We identified the shared and diverging genes, lncRNAs, miRNAs and their interactions and pathways in smoking and non-smoking COPD which provided clues for understanding the mechanism and developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for COPD.

AIM: To evaluate the structural injure patterns in peripapillary retinal fiber layer (pRNFL), retinal ganglion cell layer (RGCL) and their correlations to visual function in various mitochondrial optic neuropathies (MON) to offer help to their differential diagnosis. METHODS: Totally 32 MON patients (60 eyes) were recruited within 6mo after clinical onsets, including 20 Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) patients (37 eyes), 12 ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy (EON) patients (23 eyes), and 41 age-gender matched healthy controls (HC, 82 eyes). All subjects had pRNFL and RGCL examinations with optic coherence tomography (OCT) and visual function tests. RESULTS: In the early stages of MON, the temporal pRNFL thickness decreased (66.09±22.57 μm), but increased in other quadrants, compared to HC (76.95±14.81 μm). The other quadrants remaining stable for LHON and EON patients besides the second hour sector of pRNFL thickness reduced and the temporal pRNFL decreased (56.78±15.87 μm) for EON. Total macular thickness in MON reduced remarkably (279.25±18.90 μm; P=0.015), which mainly occurring in the inner circle (3 mm diameter of circle) and the nasal temporal sectors in the outer circle (5.5 mm diameter of circle), in contrast to those in HC. RGCL thickness reduced in each sector of the macula (61.90±8.73 μm; P≤0.001). It strongly showed the correlationship of best corrected visual acuity (R=0.50, P=0.0003) and visual field injury (R=0.54, P=0.0002) in MON patients. CONCLUSION: OCT is a potential tool for detecting structural alterations in the optic nerves of various MON. Different types of MON may have different damage patterns.

Background: Myocardial injury is a life-threatening complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Pre-existing health conditions and early morphological alterations may precipitate cardiac injury and dysfunction after contracting the virus. The current study aimed at assessing potential risk factors for COVID-19 cardiac complications in patients with pre-existing conditions and imaging predictors.Methods and Results: The multi-center, retrospective cohort study consecutively enrolled 400 patients with lab-confirmed COVID-19 in six Chinese hospitals remote to the Wuhan epicenter. Patients were diagnosed with or without the complication of myocardial injury by history and cardiac biomarker Troponin I/T (TnI/T) elevation above the 99th percentile upper reference limit. The majority of COVID-19 patients with myocardial injury exhibited pre-existing health conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and coronary disease. They had increased levels of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 and more in-hospital adverse events (admission to an intensive care unit, invasive mechanical ventilation, or death). Chest CT scan on admission demonstrated that COVID-19 patients with myocardial injury had higher epicardial adipose tissue volume ([EATV] 139.1 (83.8–195.9) vs. 92.6 (76.2–134.4) cm2; P = 0.036). The optimal EATV cut-off value (137.1 cm2) served as a useful factor for assessing myocardial injury, which yielded sensitivity and specificity of 55.0% (95%CI, 32.0–76.2%) and 77.4% (95%CI, 71.6–82.3%) in adverse cardiac events, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that EATV over 137.1 cm2 was a strong independent predictor for myocardial injury in patients with COVID-19 [OR 3.058, (95%CI, 1.032–9.063); P = 0.044].Conclusions: Augmented EATV on admission chest CT scan, together with the pre-existing health conditions (hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia) and inflammatory cytokine production, is associated with increased myocardial injury and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Assessment of pre-existing conditions and chest CT scan EATV on admission may provide a threshold point potentially useful for predicting cardiovascular complications of COVID-19.