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Abstract Background Ascending aortic perforation is a rare complication of the transseptal puncture procedure that often requires emergency management. Case presentation We report the case of a 53-year-old woman with severe mitral stenosis (MS) who underwent percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV). After the transseptal puncture procedure, a right atrium-iatrogenic ascending aortic perforation was observed. An 8-mm muscular ventricular septal defect (VSD) occluder was then successfully used for emergency closure. Conclusion Percutaneous closure of ascending aortic perforations via a muscular VSD occluder is a feasible treatment approach.

Abstract Background Complete endothelialization is often not achieved within 6 months after implantation of an atrial septal defect (ASD) occluder, which may lead to microthrombus or thrombosis. This study aimed to assess the endothelialization and morphology of a novel puncturable ASD occluder (ReAces) compared with traditional occluders 1 year post-implantation using computed tomography angiography (CTA). Methods Fifteen patients from each group in a randomized controlled trial comparing ReAces with traditional occluders were included at the 1-year follow-up at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. Baseline characteristics and procedural data were recorded. CTA was performed to assess the device morphology and degree of endothelialization. Independent samples t-test and Fisher's exact test were primarily used to compare the above data. Results Each patient received a single device and had no residual shunts. There were no differences in defect size (15.3 ± 4.0 mm vs. 15.3 ± 4.7 mm, p = 1.00) or occluder size (21.2 ± 4.4 mm vs. 21.5 ± 5.3 mm, p = 0.882) between the two groups. At the 1-year follow-up CTA, the central region thickness (4.2 mm ± 0.9 mm vs. 7.8 mm ± 2.4 mm, p

Abstract Patients with previous interatrial shunt device (IASD) implantation may face greater challenges during future left atrial interventional procedures. Herein, we report the first case of left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) in a patient with previous IASD implantation. The patient successfully underwent LAAC using the LAmbre device without complications.

Abstract The demand for open data and open science is on the rise, fueled by expectations from the scientific community, calls to increase transparency and reproducibility in research findings, and developments such as the Final Data Management and Sharing Policy from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and a memorandum on increasing public access to federally funded research, issued by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy. This paper explores the pivotal role of data repositories in biomedical research and open science, emphasizing their importance in managing, preserving, and sharing research data. Our objective is to familiarize readers with the functions of data repositories, set expectations for their services, and provide an overview of methods to evaluate their capabilities. The paper serves to introduce fundamental concepts and community-based guiding principles and aims to equip researchers, repository operators, funders, and policymakers with the knowledge to select appropriate repositories for their data management and sharing needs and foster a foundation for the open sharing and preservation of research data.

Abstract Background Larval settlement and metamorphosis represent critical events in the life history of marine benthic animals. Myoinhibitory peptide (MIP) plays a pivotal role in larval settlement of marine invertebrates. However, the molecular mechanisms of MIP involved in this process are not well understood. Results In this study, we evaluated the effects of thirteen MIP mature peptides on triggering the larval settlement of Urechis unicinctus (Xenopneusta, Urechidae), and determined that MIP2 was the principal neuropeptide. Transcriptomic analysis was employed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the MIP2-treated larvae and normal early-segmentation larvae. Both cAMP and calcium signaling pathways were enriched in the DEGs of the MIP2-treated larvae, and two neuropeptide receptor genes (Spr, Fmrfar) were up-regulated in the MIP2-treated larvae. The activation of the SPR-cAMP pathway by MIP2 was experimentally validated in HEK293T cells. Furthermore, fourteen cilia-related genes, including Tctex1d2, Cfap45, Ift43, Ift74, Ift22, Cav1 and Mns1, etc. exhibited down-regulated expression in the MIP2-treated larvae. Whole-mount in situ hybridization identified two selected ciliary genes, Tctex1d2 and Cfap45, were specially expressed in circumoral ciliary cells of the early-segmentation larvae. Knocking down Tctex1d2 mRNA levels by in vivo RNA interference significantly increased the larval settlement rate. Conclusion Our findings suggest that MIP2 inhibits the function of the cilia-related genes, such as Tctex1d2, through the SPR-cAMP-PKA pathway, thereby inducing larval settlement in U. unicinctus. The study contributes important data to the understanding of neuropeptide regulation in larval settlement.

Objective To investigate the correlation between mildly elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) on echocardiography and mortality, as well as long-term changes in PASP.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Shanghai, China, a single centre.Participants A total of 910 patients were enrolled in this study. From January to June 2016, 1869 patients underwent echocardiography at the Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. Patients with malignant tumours, previous heart or other solid organ transplantation, previous or scheduled ventricular assist device implantation, severe kidney dysfunction (uraemia and patients on dialysis) and a life expectancy of less than 1 year for any medical condition were excluded.Interventions No interventions were done.Primary and secondary outcome measures The predictors of death in patients with mild echocardiographic pulmonary hypertension were analysed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Paired t-tests were used to calculate changes in the PASP values at baseline and follow-up for different patient groups.Results The 5-year survival of patients was 93.2%. Patients were grouped according to whether they had combined organic heart disease (OHD). The PASP value was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with OHD, with each 1 mm Hg increase associated with an HR of 1.02 (95% CI: 1.01–1.03, p=0.038) but not in patients without OHD. Of the total, 46% (419/910) of the patients with 5–6 years of echocardiography were investigated for changes in the PASP value. We found significant PASP reduction in patients without OHD (42.8±2.4 mm Hg vs 39.3±8.2 mm Hg, p

The FAO56 Penman–Monteith model (FAO56-PM) is widely used for estimating reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0). However, key variables such as shortwave radiation (Rs) and net longwave radiation (Rln) are often unavailable at most weather stations. While previous studies have focused on calibrating Rs, the influence of large Rln, particularly in high-altitude regions with thin air, remains unexplored. This study investigates this issue by using observed data from Bange in central Tibet to identify the optimal methods for estimating Rs and Rln to accurately calculate ET0. The findings reveal that the average daily Rln was 8.172 MJ m−2 d−1 at Bange, much larger than that at the same latitude. The original FAO56-PM model may produce seemingly accurate ET0 estimates due to compensating errors: underestimated Rln offsetting underestimated net shortwave radiation (Rsn). Merely calibrating Rs does not improve ET0 accuracy but may exacerbate errors. The Liu-S was the empirical model for Rs estimation calibrated by parameterization over the Tibetan Plateau and the Allen-LC was the empirical model for Rln estimation calibrated by local measurements in central Tibet. The combination of the Liu-S and Allen-LC methods showed much-improved performance in ET0 estimation, yielding a high Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.889 and a low relative error of −5.7%. This strategy is indicated as optimal for ET0 estimation in central Tibet. Trend analysis based on this optimal strategy indicates significant increases in ET0 in central Tibet from 2000 to 2020, with projections suggesting a continued rise through 2100 under climate change scenarios, though with increasing uncertainty over time. However, the rapidly increasing trends in precipitation will lead to decreasing trends in agricultural water use for highland parley production in central Tibet under climate change scenarios. The findings in this study provide critical information for irrigation planning to achieve sustainable agricultural production over the Tibetan Plateau.

Robust water management is in intense demand in many water scarcity areas, such as arid and semi-arid regions in the world. As part of the regional water management strategy, rain enhancement is vital to replenish groundwater reservoirs, and the key challenge is how to assess its effectiveness. Some recent weather modification experiments attained cloud seeding effect through advanced in situ measurement coupled with accurate numerical simulation. However, there is still a lack of an objective and scientific approach to quantitatively evaluate the rain enhancement effect, especially for many non-randomized operational cloud seeding activities in China. In this study, we proposed a composite evaluation approach by analyzing two operational aircraft cloud seeding cases in stratus clouds in Shaanxi, China. By calculating the aircraft cloud seeding agent plumes, the target areas (as well as the control areas) of cloud seeding were dynamically and roughly determined. Physical properties, such as radar reflectivity and precipitation, were individually quantified in these areas. The cloud seeding effect was then evaluated by calculating the difference in parameter variation between target and control areas. This approach can be applied to qualitative analysis in a single aircraft cloud seeding operation and can also provide quantitative statistical results from multiple cloud seeding cases. We found that the average precipitation enhancement percentage of 18 operational aircraft cloud seeding cases is ~4.84%. Note that the homogeneity hypothesis of the seeding cloud, the error in the calculation of the target area, and the selection of control areas are the major uncertainties likely in the evaluation of the cloud seeding effect by this approach.

Abstract Iris segmentation is a critical step in the iris recognition system. Since the quality of iris database taken under different camera sensors varies greatly, thus most existing iris segmentation methods are designed for a particular collection device. Meanwhile, many iris segmentation methods based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) require a lot of computational costs and hardware costs (storage space), which are not suitable for deploying on low‐performance devices. To address the above problems, an accurate and efficient heterogeneous iris segmentation network is proposed in this paper. First, the authors design an efficient feature extraction network, which combines depth‐wise separable convolution with traditional convolution to greatly reduce model parameters and computational cost while maintaining segmentation accuracy. Then, a Multi‐scale Context Information Extraction Module (MCIEM) is proposed to extract multi‐scale spatial information at a more granular level and enhance the discriminability of the iris region. Finally, a Multi‐layer Feature Information Fusion Module (MFIFM) is proposed to reduce the loss of information during the downsampling process. Experimental results on multi‐source heterogeneous iris database show that the proposed network can not only achieve state‐of‐the‐art performance but is also more efficient in terms of required parameters, calculated load, and storage space.

No commercial “on-label” transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) device for aortic regurgitation (AR) is available in most countries. TAVR for AR with an “off-label” self-expanding device has shown acceptable procedural success but it elevated rates of early mortality and other complications. Valve disposition or displacement frequently occurs during transfemoral TAVR (TF-TAVR) for AR with a self-expanding valve, because of weak anchoring force. To overcome this problem, we propose a transcatheter “sandwich” valve-in-valve implantation (SVIV) technique, which has achieved good results. Our initial results and experience in a case series comprising seven patients suggest that the SVIV technique using commercially available self-expanding valves may be an option for treating selected patients with AR with high risk for surgical valve replacement. Compared with the traditional method, this technique can decrease the incidence of complications, particularly conduction block, but several technical details require the operator’s attention. Additional research is required to confirm the superiority of this technology.

Background: Atrial septal defect (ASD) patients commonly experience severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (SPAH), which is frequently associated with a poor prognosis. While serum bilirubin levels, indicative of liver function, are known predictors of right heart failure (RHF), their potential to differentiate SPAH in ASD patients is yet to be ascertained. The purpose of this study was to discover the potential correlations between serum bilirubin levels and ASD patients with SPAH. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 102 ASD patients admitted from December 2019 to November 2020 were enrolled and divided into two cohorts: those with SPAH and those without. Blood tests were conducted to measure serum direct bilirubin (DBIL), total bilirubin (TBIL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), uric acid (UA) and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Additionally, all participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography, and invasive hemodynamic data were gathered through right heart catheterization. Results: ASD patients with SPAH exhibited significantly elevated serum DBIL (5.2 ± 3.0 vs. 2.4 ± 1.5 µmol/L, p < 0.001) and TBIL (24.6 ± 20.7 vs. 10.1 ± 4.8 µmol/L, p < 0.001) levels in comparison to those without SPAH. However, ALT and AST levels remained comparable between the cohorts. Additionally, the SPAH cohort displayed higher serum UA (403.5 ± 131.6 vs. 317.8 ± 67.9 µmol/L, p < 0.001) and NT-proBNP levels. Serum DBIL levels, when analyzed independently of other variables, correlated with an increased risk of mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) in ASD patients (β = 1.620, p = 0.010). A DBIL concentration of 2.15 mg/dL effectively differentiated ASD patients with SPAH from those without, with a sensitivity of 92.9% and a specificity of 51.4% (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.794, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.701–0.886, p < 0.001). Notably, the combination of DBIL and UA had a higher sensitivity of 92.9% and specificity of 71.6% (AUC: 0.874, 95% CI: 0.799–0.949, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Elevated serum DBIL and TBIL levels in ASD patients with SPAH were correlated with poor cardiac function and heightened pulmonary artery pressure. The combination of DBIL and UA has emerged as a strong noninvasive predictor for SPAH in ASD patients, presenting a potentially novel therapeutic biomarker.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a malignant pulmonary vascular syndrome characterized by a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure, which eventually leads to right heart failure and even death. Although the exact mechanism of PAH is not fully understood, pulmonary vasoconstriction, vascular remodeling, immune and inflammatory responses, and thrombosis are thought to be involved in the development and progression of PAH. In the era of non-targeted agents, PAH had a very dismal prognosis with a median survival time of only 2.8 years. With the deep understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism of PAH as well as advances in drug research, PAH-specific therapeutic drugs have developed rapidly in the past 30 years, but they primarily focus on the three classical signaling pathways, namely the endothelin pathway, nitric oxide pathway, and prostacyclin pathway. These drugs dramatically improved pulmonary hemodynamics, cardiac function, exercise tolerance, quality of life, and prognosis in PAH patients, but could only reduce pulmonary arterial pressure and right ventricular afterload to a limited extent. Current targeted agents delay the progression of PAH but cannot fundamentally reverse pulmonary vascular remodeling. Through unremitting efforts, new therapeutic drugs such as sotatercept have emerged, injecting new vitality into this field. This review comprehensively summarizes the general treatments for PAH, including inotropes and vasopressors, diuretics, anticoagulants, general vasodilators, and anemia management. Additionally, this review elaborates the pharmacological properties and recent research progress of twelve specific drugs targeting three classical signaling pathways, as well as dual-, sequential triple-, and initial triple-therapy strategies based on the aforementioned targeted agents. More crucially, the search for novel therapeutic targets for PAH has never stopped, with great progress in recent years, and this review outlines the potential PAH therapeutic agents currently in the exploratory stage to provide new directions for the treatment of PAH and improve the long-term prognosis of PAH patients.

The systemic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic require cross-disciplinary collaboration in a global and timely fashion. Such collaboration needs open research practices and the sharing of research outputs, such as data and code, thereby facilitating research and research reproducibility and timely collaboration beyond borders. The Research Data Alliance COVID-19 Working Group recently published a set of recommendations and guidelines on data sharing and related best practices for COVID-19 research. These guidelines include recommendations for clinicians, researchers, policy- and decision-makers, funders, publishers, public health experts, disaster preparedness and response experts, infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations), and other potential users. These guidelines include recommendations for researchers, policymakers, funders, publishers and infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations). Several overarching themes have emerged from this document such as the need to balance the creation of data adherent to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), with the need for quick data release; the use of trustworthy research data repositories; the use of well-annotated data with meaningful metadata; and practices of documenting methods and software. The resulting document marks an unprecedented cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional effort authored by over 160 experts from around the globe. This letter summarises key points of the Recommendations and Guidelines, highlights the relevant findings, shines a spotlight on the process, and suggests how these developments can be leveraged by the wider scientific community.

The systemic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic require cross-disciplinary collaboration in a global and timely fashion. Such collaboration needs open research practices and the sharing of research outputs, such as data and code, thereby facilitating research and research reproducibility and timely collaboration beyond borders. The Research Data Alliance COVID-19 Working Group recently published a set of recommendations and guidelines on data sharing and related best practices for COVID-19 research. These guidelines include recommendations for researchers, policymakers, funders, publishers and infrastructure providers from the perspective of different domains (Clinical Medicine, Omics, Epidemiology, Social Sciences, Community Participation, Indigenous Peoples, Research Software, Legal and Ethical Considerations). Several overarching themes have emerged from this document such as the need to balance the creation of data adherent to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), with the need for quick data release; the use of trustworthy research data repositories; the use of well-annotated data with meaningful metadata; and practices of documenting methods and software. The resulting document marks an unprecedented cross-disciplinary, cross-sectoral, and cross-jurisdictional effort authored by over 160 experts from around the globe. This letter summarises key points of the Recommendations and Guidelines, highlights the relevant findings, shines a spotlight on the process, and suggests how these developments can be leveraged by the wider scientific community.

Ground-based microwave radiometers (MWRPS) can provide continuous atmospheric temperature and relative humidity profiles for a weather prediction model. We investigated the impact of assimilation of ground-based microwave radiometers based on the rapid-refresh multiscale analysis and prediction system-short term (RMAPS-ST). In this study, five MWRP-retrieved profiles were assimilated for the precipitation enhancement that occurred in Beijing on 21 May 2020. To evaluate the influence of their assimilation, two experiments with and without the MWRPS assimilation were set. Compared to the control experiment, which only assimilated conventional observations and radar data, the MWRPS experiment, which assimilated conventional observations, the ground-based microwave radiometer profiles and the radar data, had a positive impact on the forecasts of the RMAPS-ST. The results show that in comparison with the control test, the MWRPS experiment reproduced the heat island phenomenon in the observation better. The MWRPS assimilation reduced the bias and RMSE of two-meter temperature and two-meter specific humidity forecasting in the 0–12 h of the forecast range. Furthermore, assimilating the MWRPS improved both the distribution and the intensity of the hourly rainfall forecast, as compared with that of the control experiment, with observations that predicted the process of the precipitation enhancement in the urban area of Beijing.

Bolted joints are the primary structures for the load transfer of large-scale structures. It is vital to monitor the process of bolt cracking for enduring structural safety. In this paper, a structural health monitoring technique based on the embedding eddy current sensing film has been proposed to quantify the crack parameters of bolt cracking. Two configurations of the sensing film containing one-dimensional circumferential coil array and two-dimensional coil array are designed and verified to have the ability to identify three crack parameters: the crack angle, the crack depth, and the crack location in the axial direction of the bolt. The finite element method has been employed not only to verify the capacity of the sensing film, but also to investigate the interaction between the crack and the eddy current/magnetic field. It has been demonstrated that as the crack propagates, the variations of the induced voltage of the sensing coils are influenced by both eddy current effect and magnetic flux leakage, which play different roles in the different periods of the crack propagation. Experiments have been performed to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the sensing film to quantify three crack parameters in the process of the bolt cracking.

Huanglongbing (HLB) or "citrus greening" is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide. In this work, we studied host responses of citrus to infection with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas) using next-generation sequencing technologies. A deep mRNA profile was obtained from peel of healthy and HLB-affected fruit. It was followed by pathway and protein-protein network analysis and quantitative real time PCR analysis of highly regulated genes. We identified differentially regulated pathways and constructed networks that provide a deep insight into the metabolism of affected fruit. Data mining revealed that HLB enhanced transcription of genes involved in the light reactions of photosynthesis and in ATP synthesis. Activation of protein degradation and misfolding processes were observed at the transcriptomic level. Transcripts for heat shock proteins were down-regulated at all disease stages, resulting in further protein misfolding. HLB strongly affected pathways involved in source-sink communication, including sucrose and starch metabolism and hormone synthesis and signaling. Transcription of several genes involved in the synthesis and signal transduction of cytokinins and gibberellins was repressed while that of genes involved in ethylene pathways was induced. CaLas infection triggered a response via both the salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways and increased the transcript abundance of several members of the WRKY family of transcription factors. Findings focused on the fruit provide valuable insight to understanding the mechanisms of the HLB-induced fruit disorder and eventually developing methods based on small molecule applications to mitigate its devastating effects on fruit production.

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may cause maternally-inherited cardiomyopathy and heart failure. In homoplasmy all mtDNA copies contain the mutation. In heteroplasmy there is a mixture of normal and mutant copies of mtDNA. The clinical phenotype of an affected individual depends on the type of genetic defect and the ratios of mutant and normal mtDNA in affected tissues. We aimed at determining the sensitivity of next-generation sequencing compared to Sanger sequencing for mutation detection in patients with mitochondrial cardiomyopathy. We studied 18 patients with mitochondrial cardiomyopathy and two with suspected mitochondrial disease. We "shotgun" sequenced PCR-amplified mtDNA and multiplexed using a single run on Roche's 454 Genome Sequencer. By mapping to the reference sequence, we obtained 1,300x average coverage per case and identified high-confidence variants. By comparing these to >400 mtDNA substitution variants detected by Sanger, we found 98% concordance in variant detection. Simulation studies showed that >95% of the homoplasmic variants were detected at a minimum sequence coverage of 20x while heteroplasmic variants required >200x coverage. Several Sanger "misses" were detected by 454 sequencing. These included the novel heteroplasmic 7501T>C in tRNA serine 1 in a patient with sudden cardiac death. These results support a potential role of next-generation sequencing in the discovery of novel mtDNA variants with heteroplasmy below the level reliably detected with Sanger sequencing. We hope that this will assist in the identification of mtDNA mutations and key genetic determinants for cardiomyopathy and mitochondrial disease.

We developed a novel method for identifying SNPs widely distributed throughout the coding and non-coding regions of a genome. The method uses large-scale parallel pyrosequencing technology in combination with bioinformatics tools. We used this method to generate approximately 23,000 candidate SNPs throughout the Macaca mulatta genome. We estimate that over 60% of the SNPs will be of high frequency and useful for mapping QTLs, genetic management, and studies of individual relatedness, whereas other less frequent SNPs may be useful as population specific markers for ancestry identification. We have created a web resource called MamuSNP to view the SNPs and associated information online. This resource will also be useful for researchers using a wide variety of Macaca species in their research.