Search

Abstract Background Osteosarcoma (OS) is one of the most common primary malignant tumors of bone in children, which develops from osteoblasts and typically occurs during the rapid growth phase of the bone. Recently, Super-Enhancers(SEs)have been reported to play a crucial role in osteosarcoma growth and metastasis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify specific targeted inhibitors of SEs to assist clinical therapy. This study aimed to elucidate the role of BRD4 inhibitor GNE-987 targeting SEs in OS and preliminarily explore its mechanism. Methods We evaluated changes in osteosarcoma cells following treatment with a BRD4 inhibitor GNE-987. We assessed the anti-tumor effect of GNE-987 in vitro and in vivo by Western blot, CCK8, flow cytometry detection, clone formation, xenograft tumor size measurements, and Ki67 immunohistochemical staining, and combined ChIP-seq with RNA-seq techniques to find its anti-tumor mechanism. Results In this study, we found that extremely low concentrations of GNE-987(2–10 nM) significantly reduced the proliferation and survival of OS cells by degrading BRD4. In addition, we found that GNE-987 markedly induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in OS cells. Further study indicated that VHL was critical for GNE-987 to exert its antitumor effect in OS cells. Consistent with in vitro results, GNE-987 administration significantly reduced tumor size in xenograft models with minimal toxicity, and partially degraded the BRD4 protein. KRT80 was identified through analysis of the RNA-seq and ChIP-seq data. U2OS HiC analysis suggested a higher frequency of chromatin interactions near the KRT80 binding site. The enrichment of H3K27ac modification at KRT80 was significantly reduced after GNE-987 treatment. KRT80 was identified as playing an important role in OS occurrence and development. Conclusions This research revealed that GNE-987 selectively degraded BRD4 and disrupted the transcriptional regulation of oncogenes in OS. GNE-987 has the potential to affect KRT80 against OS.

High-silicon iron ore tailings, typically regarded as a byproduct of iron ore processing, are utilized innovatively in this study for the extraction of 99.99% high-purity quartz (HPQ). An innovative process consisting of Wet High-Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) with refined two-stage mixed acid leaching was developed. Hazardous impurities, such as heavy metals, were significantly reduced by this approach, achieving a notable SiO2 purity of 99.99%. Significant outcomes include achieving a SiO2 purity of 99.99%, a total recovery rate of 38.04% from raw materials, and significant removal efficiencies for critical contaminants such as Fe (90.45%), Al (78.89%), and Ca (68.15%) after the two-stage acid treatment. Analytical techniques like SEM-EDS (Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray Diffraction), XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry), and FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) were utilized to monitor the migration of these impurities throughout the purification process, ensuring a safe and controlled treatment of the tailings. A viable method for HPQ extraction has been demonstrated and a model for sustainable mining waste management practices has been established through this research.

Abstract Background Despite the use of targeted therapeutic approaches, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is still associated with a high incidence of complications and a poor prognosis. Indisulam (also known as E7070), a newly identified molecular glue compound, has demonstrated increased therapeutic efficacy in several types of cancer through the rapid degradation of RBM39. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of indisulam in T-ALL, elucidate its underlying mechanisms and explore the role of the RBM39 gene. Methods We verified the anticancer effects of indisulam in both in vivo and in vitro models. Additionally, the construction of RBM39-knockdown cell lines using shRNA confirmed that the malignant phenotype of T-ALL cells was dependent on RBM39. Through RNA sequencing, we identified indisulam-induced splicing anomalies, and proteomic analysis helped pinpoint protein changes caused by the drug. Comprehensive cross-analysis of these findings facilitated the identification of downstream effectors and subsequent validation of their functional roles. Results Indisulam has significant antineoplastic effects on T-ALL. It attenuates cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis and interferes with cell cycle progression in vitro while facilitating tumor remission in T-ALL in vivo models. This investigation provides evidence that the downregulation of RBM39 results in the restricted proliferation of T-ALL cells both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that RBM39 is a potential target for T-ALL treatment. Indisulam’s efficacy is attributed to its ability to induce RBM39 degradation, causing widespread aberrant splicing and abnormal translation of the critical downstream effector protein, THOC1, ultimately leading to protein depletion. Moreover, the presence of DCAF15 is regarded as critical for the effectiveness of indisulam, and its absence negates the ability of indisulam to induce the desired functional alterations. Conclusion Our study revealed that indisulam, which targets RBM39 to induce tumor cell apoptosis, is an effective drug for treating T-ALL. Targeting RBM39 through indisulam leads to mis-splicing of pre-mRNAs, resulting in the loss of key effectors such as THOC1.

Background/purpose: The etiology of the ectopic eruption (EE) of the maxillary first permanent molars (FPM) remains unclear and controversial. This study was designed to explore the dental and skeletal factors for EE of the FPM in children. Materials and methods: Children aged 6–10 years were recruited to this study. Subjects were assigned to the ectopic eruption group (EEG) and the normal eruption group (NEG). Lateral cephalometric radiographs and panoramic radiographs were measured by angular and linear indices. Results: The prevalence of EE of maxillary FPM was higher in males and at younger ages. Subjects with skeletal class III malocclusion were more likely to be diagnosed with EE of maxillary FPM. The SNA, ANB, FMIA, Wits, Ptm-A, ANS-PNS, overbite, and overjet were significantly different between the EEG and the NEG. The length of the posterior region of the maxillary alveolar bone, U6-OP, and eruptive angulation of the maxillary FPM were statistically different between the two groups. Conclusion: Male sex, skeletal class III malocclusion, mesial inclination of the maxillary FPM, hypoplasia of the maxilla, and insufficient length of the posterior region of the maxillary alveolar bone were related to EE of the maxillary FPM.

Abstract Characteristic of ground pressure in surrounding rock is generally considered as the theoretical basis of parameter optimization for stope structure and technology. To explore the feasibility of efficient method for the second-step downward route backfill stopes in Shanjin gold mine, various numerical simulation methods were used to investigate the effect of slab-wall backfill structure on stability of surrounding rock in downward route mining system. The maximum principal stress, artificial false roof stress, and displacement were analyzed to evaluate the level of ground pressure in different mining areas. These results indicate the optimized structural parameters for backfill stopes, which may also provide a low-cost way to achieve a high safety for downward route mining system.

Photocatalysis offers a sustainable means for the oxidative removal of low concentrations of NOx (NO, NO2, N2O, N2O5, etc.) from the atmosphere. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are promising candidate photocatalysts owing to their unique layered and tunable chemical structures and abundant surface hydroxide (OH−) moieties, which are hydroxyl radical (·OH) precursors. However, the practical applications of LDHs are limited by their poor charge-separation ability and insufficient active sites. Herein, we developed a facile N2H4-driven etching approach to introduce dual Ni2+ and OH− vacancies (Niv and OHv, respectively) into NiFe-LDH nanosheets (hereafter referred to as NiFe-LDH-et) to facilitate improved charge-carrier separation and active Lewis acidic site (Fe3+ and Ni2+ exposed at OHv) formation. In contrast to inert pristine LDH, NiFe-LDH-et actively removed NO under visible-light illumination. Specifically, Ni76Fe24-LDH-et etched with 1.50 mmol·L−1 N2H4 solution removed 32.8% of the NO in continuously flowing air (NO feed concentration: ∼500 parts per billion (ppb)) under visible-light illumination, thereby outperforming most reported catalysts. Experimental and theoretical data revealed that the dual vacancies promoted the production of reactive oxygen species (O2·− and ·OH) and the adsorption of NO on the LDH. In situ spectroscopy demonstrated that NO was preferentially adsorbed at Lewis acidic sites, particularly exposed Fe3+ sites, converted into NO+, and subsequently oxidized to NO3− without the notable formation of the more toxic intermediate NO2, thereby alleviating risks associated with its production and emission.

Abstract Background The proposed trial is to examine the feasibility of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT)-guided cytoreduction plus apalutamide and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for newly diagnosed metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) at oligometastatic state. Methods CHAMPION (NCT05717582) is an open-label, single-arm, phase II trial, planning to enroll newly diagnosed mHSPC cases with oligometastases (≤ 10 distant metastatic sites in conventional imaging). Patients will receive 6 cycles of apalutamide plus ADT. Patients with oligometastatic disease at PSMA PET/CT after 3 treatment cycles will receive cytoreductive radical prostatectomy. PSMA PET/CT-guided metastasis-directed external radiation therapy will be determined by the investigators. Apalutamide plus ADT will be continued for 2 weeks postoperatively. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA), no disease progression, and no symptom deterioration after 6 cycles of apalutamide plus ADT. Secondary endpoints include the percentage of patients with PSA ≤ 0.2 ng/mL and oligometastases by the end of 3 treatment cycles, PSA response rate, and safety. Fleming’s two-stage group sequential design will be adopted in the study, where the null hypothesis is that the rate of patients with an undetectable PSA is ≤ 40% after 6 cycles of treatment, while the alternate hypothesis is an undetectable PSA of > 60%; with one-sided α = 0.05, power = 0.80, and an assumed dropout rate of 10%, the required number of patients for an effective analysis is 47. Enrolment in the study commenced in May 2023. Discussion The multi-modal therapy based on treatment response may improve the prognosis of newly diagnosed mHSPC patients with oligometastases. Trial registration The study is registered with Clinical Trials.Gov (NCT05717582). Registered on 8th February 2023.

Abstract Objective Low impacted third molars are usually asymptomatic and are often found by X-ray examination. The removal of asymptomatic low impacted third molars is one of the most controversial clinical issues in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Methods In this study, 806 patients with low impacted mandibular third molars (LIMTMs) (full bony impaction) were analyzed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for cystic lesions and adjacent tooth root resorption throughout the patients’ entire life cycle. Results The results showed that the prevalence of adjacent tooth root resorption and cystic lesions was age-related, exhibiting a trend of first increasing and then decreasing; prevalence peaked at the age of 41 to 45 years old, the prevalence rates were 12.50% and 11.11% respectively. And the lowest prevalence rate was 2.86% and 2.44% in ≥ 61 group and 56- to 60-year age group respectively. Age was an independent risk factor for adjacent tooth root resorption of LIMTMs, whereas age and impaction type (especially inverted impaction) were independent risk factors for cystic lesions. Conclusions The full life cycle management strategy for LIMTMs may need to be individualized. Surgical removal is recommended for LIMTMs in patients younger than 41 to 45 years, especially for inverted, mesioangular, and horizontally impacted LIMTMs. LIMTMs in patients older than 41 to 45 years may be treated conservatively with regular follow-up, but surgical removal of inverted impacted LIMTMs is still recommended to avoid cyst formation.

Abstract Neuroblastoma (NB) is a common childhood tumor with a high incidence worldwide. The regulatory role of RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in gene expression has attracted significant attention, and the impact of methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14) on tumor progression has been extensively studied in various types of cancer. However, the specific influence of METTL14 on NB remains unexplored. Using data from the Target database, our study revealed significant upregulation of METTL14 expression in high-risk NB patients, with strong correlation with poor prognosis. Furthermore, we identified ETS1 and YY1 as upstream regulators that control the expression of METTL14. In vitro experiments involving the knockdown of METTL14 in NB cells demonstrated significant inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In addition, suppressing METTL14 inhibited NB tumorigenesis in nude mouse models. Through MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq analyses, we further discovered that YWHAH is a downstream target gene of METTL14. Mechanistically, we observed that methylated YWHAH transcripts, particularly those in the 5′ UTR, were specifically recognized by the m6A “reader” protein YTHDF1, leading to the degradation of YWHAH mRNA. Moreover, the downregulation of YWHAH expression activated the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, promoting NB cell activity. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the oncogenic effects of METTL14 in NB cells, highlighting its role in inhibiting YWHAH expression through an m6A-YTHDF1-dependent mechanism. These findings also suggest the potential utility of a biomarker panel for prognostic prediction in NB patients.

Abstract Background Glioblastoma (GBM) is a relatively prevalent primary tumor of the central nervous system in children, characterized by its high malignancy and mortality rates, along with the intricate challenges of achieving complete surgical resection. Recently, an increasing number of studies have focused on the crucial role of super-enhancers (SEs) in the occurrence and development of GBM. This study embarks on the task of evaluating the effectiveness of MZ1, an inhibitor of BRD4 meticulously designed to specifically target SEs, within the intricate framework of GBM. Methods The clinical data of GBM patients was sourced from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2), and the gene expression data of tumor cell lines was derived from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE). The impact of MZ1 on GBM was assessed through CCK-8, colony formation assays, EdU incorporation analysis, flow cytometry, and xenograft mouse models. The underlying mechanism was investigated through RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analyses. Results In this investigation, we made a noteworthy observation that MZ1 exhibited a substantial reduction in the proliferation of GBM cells by effectively degrading BRD4. Additionally, MZ1 displayed a notable capability in inducing significant cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in GBM cells. These findings were in line with our in vitro outcomes. Notably, MZ1 administration resulted in a remarkable decrease in tumor size within the xenograft model with diminished toxicity. Furthermore, on a mechanistic level, the administration of MZ1 resulted in a significant suppression of pivotal genes closely associated with cell cycle regulation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Interestingly, our analysis of RNA-seq and ChIP-seq data unveiled the discovery of a novel prospective oncogene, SDC1, which assumed a pivotal role in the tumorigenesis and progression of GBM. Conclusion In summary, our findings revealed that MZ1 effectively disrupted the aberrant transcriptional regulation of oncogenes in GBM by degradation of BRD4. This positions MZ1 as a promising candidate in the realm of therapeutic options for GBM treatment.

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignancy of the hematopoietic system, and childhood AML accounts for about 20% of pediatric leukemia. ANP32B, an important nuclear protein associated with proliferation, has been found to regulate hematopoiesis and CML leukemogenesis by inhibiting p53 activity. However, recent study suggests that ANP32B exerts a suppressive effect on B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in mice by activating PU.1. Nevertheless, the precise underlying mechanism of ANP32B in AML remains elusive. Results Super enhancer related gene ANP32B was significantly upregulated in AML patients. The expression of ANP32B exhibited a negative correlation with overall survival. Knocking down ANP32B suppressed the proliferation of AML cell lines MV4-11 and Kasumi-1, along with downregulation of C-MYC expression. Additionally, it led to a significant decrease in H3K27ac levels in AML cell lines. In vivo experiments further demonstrated that ANP32B knockdown effectively inhibited tumor growth. Conclusions ANP32B plays a significant role in promoting tumor proliferation in AML. The downregulation of ANP32B induces cell cycle arrest and promotes apoptosis in AML cell lines. Mechanistic analysis suggests that ANP32B may epigenetically regulate the expression of MYC through histone H3K27 acetylation. ANP32B could serve as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for AML patients.

This paper studies a continuous-time asset-liability management problem with a defaultable bond under stochastic interest rates and stochastic default intensity. Specifically, an asset-liability manager is allowed to invest in a cash, a treasury bond, a defaultable bond and a stock. Using the stochastic control scheme and partial differential equation approach, we derive closed-form expressions for optimal investment strategies and corresponding value functions under the power and exponential utility functions. In addition, we also provide numerical experiments to illustrate the impact of relevant parameters in the default process and recovery rate on the optimal asset allocation strategy.

Abstract Bone regeneration for large, critical-sized bone defects remains a clinical challenge nowadays. Guided bone regeneration (GBR) is a promising technique for the repair of multiple bone defects, which is widely used in oral and maxillofacial bone defects but is still unsatisfied in the treatment of long bone defects. Here, we successfully fabricated a bilayer mineralized collagen/collagen (MC/Col)-GBR membrane with excellent osteoinductive and barrier function by coating the MC particles prepared via in situ biomimetic mineralization process on one side of a sheet-like pure collagen layer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the physicochemical properties and biological functions of the MC/Col film, and to further evaluate its bone regeneration efficiency in large bone defect repair. Fourier-transform infrared spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the presence of both hydroxyapatite and collagen phase in the MC/Col film, as well as the chemical interaction between them. stereo microscope, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscope showed the uniform distribution of MC particles in the MC/Col film, resulting in a rougher surface compared to the pure Col film. The quantitative analysis of surface contact angle, light transmittance and tensile strength demonstrated that the MC/Col film have better hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, light-barrier properties, respectively. In vitro macrophage co-culture experiments showed that the MC/Col film can effectively inhibit macrophage proliferation and fusion, reducing fibrous capsule formation. In vivo bone repair assessment of a rabbit critical segmental radial defect proved that the MC/Col film performed better than other groups in promoting bone repair and regeneration due to their unique dual osteoinductive/barrier function. These findings provided evidence that MC/Col film has a great clinical potential for effective bone defect repair. Graphic abstract

Although there is a well‐known disparity in prostate cancer (PC) incidence and mortality between Chinese and Western patients, the underlying genomic differences have been investigated only sparsely. This clinicogenomic study was conducted to reveal the genomic mutations contributing to the PC disparity across ethnicities and investigate the mutational profile of Chinese PC patients. A total of 1016 Chinese PC patients were prospectively enrolled and subjected to targeted sequencing, resulting in usable sequencing data for 41 genes from 859 patients. Genomic data retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA; locoregional PC), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [MSKCC; metastatic castration‐sensitive PC (mCSPC)], and Stand Up To Cancer [SU2C; metastatic castration‐resistant PC (mCRPC)] cohorts were used as comparators representing Western men. Genomic mutations were analyzed using an integrated bioinformatic strategy. A comparison of the disease stages revealed that mutations in tumor protein 53 (TP53), androgen receptor (AR), forkhead box A1 (FOXA1), and genes involved in the cell cycle pathway were enriched in mCRPC. Mutations in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene were found to be more prevalent in patients with visceral metastasis. Genomic differences between Western and Chinese men were mainly observed in castration‐sensitive PC, with tumors from Chinese men having more FOXA1 (11.4% vs. 4.2%) but fewer TP53 (4.8% vs. 13%) mutations in locoregional PC and harboring fewer TP53 (11% vs. 29.2%), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN; 2.5% vs. 10.3%), and APC (1.7% vs. 7.4%) mutations in the mCSPC stage than those of Western men. Patients of both ethnicities with mCRPC had similar mutational spectra. Furthermore, FOXA1 class‐2 was less common than FOXA1 class‐1 and showed no enrichment in metastasis, contrary to the findings in the Western cohort. Our study provides a valuable resource for a better understanding of PC in China and reveals the genomic alterations associated with PC disparity across races.

Background/purpose: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis (TMJOA) is a chronic disease with progressive destruction of articular cartilage. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic effects of kartogenin on TMJOA via promoting the binding of core binding factor β (CBFβ) and runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1). Materials and methods: Type II collagenase was injected into 35 8-week-old male Sprague Dawley rat TMJs to establish the TMJOA model. Kartogenin, or the CBFβ-RUNX1 complex inhibitor (Ro5-3335), was also delivered via intra-articular injection. Subchondral bone was analyzed by MicroCT. The hematoxylin-eosin, Safranin O, and toluidine blue O staining were used to observe histopathology. Immunohistochemical staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), caspase-3 (CASP3), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and collagen II (COL2) was performed. Results: TMJOA was established in rats by intra-articular injection of type II collagenase. The condylar cartilage and subchondral bone were damaged, with decreased PCNA and COL2 and increased CASP3 and IL-1 (P

The utilization of sulfur acid residue is an urgent problem confronting sulfuric acid production enterprises, especially the application of sulfur acid residue (SAR) containing lead and zinc. A method combining chlorination roasting using CaCl2 with pelletizing for processing SAR containing lead and zinc was used in this study, and the effect of calcium chloride on pelletizing performance was studied; in addition, the removal behavior of lead and zinc was also studied by using polarized light microscopy (Zeiss double Axioskop 40A), X ray diffraction, SEM and EDS. The results showed that CaCl2 migrated to the surface of the pellets during drying, and this phenomenon resulted in a lower removal rate of lead and zinc inside the pellets than outside the pellets during the preheating phase. When the roasting temperature was 1220 °C, with an increase in the basicity of pellets, the silicate minerals in the pellets gradually decomposed, the hematite particles were gradually refined, and more lead or zinc minerals were exposed, which further increased the removal rate of lead and zinc in the pellets. Finally, the SAR pellets with Pb and Zn removal rates up to 91.33 and 97.88%, and a compressive strength of 2789 N, could be obtained, which is very beneficial to the sustainable development of sulfuric acid mills.

Abstract The pathogenesis of Diabetic kidney disease(DKD) involves pathological changes in both tubulo‐interstitium and the glomerulus. Surprisingly, tubulo‐interstitial fibrosis (TIF), does not develop significantly until the late stage of DKD. Here, it is demonstrated that PR domain‐containing 16 (PRDM16) is a key to the low level of TIF in DKD. In the experiments, PRDM16 is upregulated in high glucose‐treated renal tubular cells, DKD mouse kidneys, and renal biopsy of human DKD patients via activation of NF‐κB signal pathway. High glucose‐induced expression of fibrotic proteins in renal tubular cells is suppressed by PRDM16. Mechanistically, PRDM16 bound to the promotor region of Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) to transactivate its expression and then suppressed MAPK (P38, ERK1/2) activation and downstream expression of TGF‐β1. Knockout of PRDM16 from kidney proximal tubules in mice blocked TRPA1 expression and enhanced MAPK activation, TGF‐β1 production, TIF development, and DKD progression, whereas knock‐in of PRDM16 has opposite effects. In addition, overexpression of PRDM16 or its induction by formononetin ameliorated renal dysfunction and fibrosis in db/db diabetic mice. Finally, the above finding are detected in renal biopsies of DKD patients. Together, these results unveil PRDM16/TRPA1 as the mechanism responsible for the low level of TIF in the early stage of DKD by suppressing and TGF‐β1 expression.

Due to the recent implementation of carbon limits and certain government delays in promulgating these limits, some firms are faced with incomplete information regarding their carbon limits, which hinders their ability to make environmental investments based on accurate information. This study aims to investigate firms’ optimal decisions regarding carbon limit estimations and environmental investment amounts when faced with incomplete information on carbon limits. In addition, it explores the impact of such uncertain regulations on firms’ environmental investments. These issues are progressively addressed through the establishment and resolution of a two-stage model. The research indicates that it is not always appropriate for firms to estimate carbon limits as the minimum value. While this strategy helps them better adapt to strict emission regulations, it involves substantial financial costs. The level of environmental investment is negatively influenced by estimated carbon limits, owing to the escalating marginal cost nature associated with reducing carbon emissions. However, the impact of carbon limit uncertainty on environmental investment is not constant. It can be positive, negative, or neutral depending on the firm’s trade-off between decision robustness and profit objectives. These findings provide insights into how firms in countries that have recently implemented carbon limits and delayed the disclosure of carbon limits can make environmental investments.

Background: PSMA-negative but FDG-positive (PSMA−/FDG+) lesion in dual-tracer ( 68 Ga-PSMA and 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is associated with an unfavorable response to Lutetium-177 ( 177 Lu)-PSMA-617. This study sought to develop both radiomics and clinical models for the precise prediction of the presence of PSMA−/FDG+ lesions in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CPRC). Methods: A cohort of 298 patients who underwent dual-tracer PET/CT with a less than 5-day interval was included. The evaluation of the prognostic performance of the radiomics model drew upon the survival data derived from 40 patients with CRPC treated with 177 Lu-PSMA-617 in an external cohort. Two endpoints were evaluated: (a) prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate, defined as a reduction exceeding 50% from baseline and (b) overall survival (OS), measured from the initiation of 177 Lu-PSMA-617 to death from any cause. Results: PSMA−/FDG+ lesions were identified in 56 (18.8%) CRPC patients. Both radiomics (area under the curve [AUC], 0.83) and clinical models (AUC, 0.78) demonstrated robust performance in PSMA−/FDG+ lesion prediction. Decision curve analysis revealed that the radiomics model yielded a net benefit over the ‘screen all’ strategy at a threshold probability of ⩾4%. At a 5% probability threshold, the radiomics model facilitated a 21% reduction in 18 F-FDG PET/CT scans while only missing 2% of PSMA−/FDG+ cases. Patients with a low estimated score exhibited significantly prolonged OS (hazard ratio = 0.49, p = 0.029) and a higher PSA response rate (75% versus 35%, p = 0.011) compared to those with a high estimated score. Conclusion: This study successfully developed two models with accurate estimations of the risk associated with PSMA−/FDG+ lesions in CRPC patients. These models held potential utility in aiding the selection of candidates for 177 Lu-PSMA-617 treatment and guiding 68 Ga-PSMA PET/CT-directed radiotherapy.

The ability of a robot to navigate through a dynamic environment, avoid obstacles, and reach its destination is crucial for safety and a major technological challenge in autonomous navigation, especially in crowded environments involving hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. Most prominent methods use distance metrics as a safety constraints in their planning algorithms, which leads to overly cautious navigation. Thus, a velocity obstacle guided motion planning method for mobile robots in moving obstacle environments is proposed. The approach automatically negotiates dynamic obstacles combining velocity obstacle (VO) and trajectory generating. First, a dynamic perception algorithm is developed to track and predict obstacles using only point cloud input. Subsequently, to obtain an initial trajectory that satisfies kinodynamic and the VO-based safety metric (VOSM), VO is applied to search the kinodynamic path to verify the safety of the extended motion primitives. Finally, the smoothness and safety of the robot trajectory are enhanced by nonlinear optimization, which incorporates the proposed safety constraints based on VO. Extensive simulations in challenging environments demonstrate a 40.0% success rate increase and a 44.8% trajectory smoothness improvement over obstacle distance-based methods. Practical testing prove our technology is reliable and can safely avoid dynamic obstacles.

Abstract This study aims to discriminate between leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) antibody encephalitis and gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) receptor antibody encephalitis using a convolutional neural network (CNN) model. A total of 81 patients were recruited for this study. ResNet18, VGG16, and ResNet50 were trained and tested separately using 3828 positron emission tomography image slices that contained the medial temporal lobe (MTL) or basal ganglia (BG). Leave-one-out cross-validation at the patient level was used to evaluate the CNN models. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were generated to evaluate the CNN models. Based on the prediction results at slice level, a decision strategy was employed to evaluate the CNN models’ performance at patient level. The ResNet18 model achieved the best performance at the slice (AUC = 0.86, accuracy = 80.28%) and patient levels (AUC = 0.98, accuracy = 96.30%). Specifically, at the slice level, 73.28% (1445/1972) of image slices with GABAB receptor antibody encephalitis and 87.72% (1628/1856) of image slices with LGI1 antibody encephalitis were accurately detected. At the patient level, 94.12% (16/17) of patients with GABAB receptor antibody encephalitis and 96.88% (62/64) of patients with LGI1 antibody encephalitis were accurately detected. Heatmaps of the image slices extracted using gradient-weighted class activation mapping indicated that the model focused on the MTL and BG for classification. In general, the ResNet18 model is a potential approach for discriminating between LGI1 and GABAB receptor antibody encephalitis. Metabolism in the MTL and BG is important for discriminating between these two encephalitis subtypes.

Abstract One of the characteristics of leukemia is that it contains multiple rearrangements of signal transduction genes and overexpression of non-mutant genes, such as transcription factors. As an important regulator of hematopoietic stem cell development and erythropoiesis, LMO2 is considered an effective carcinogenic driver in T cell lines and a marker of poor prognosis in patients with AML with normal karyotype. LDB1 is a key factor in the transformation of thymocytes into T-ALL induced by LMO2, and enhances the stability of carcinogenic related proteins in leukemia. However, the function and mechanism of LMO2 and LDB1 in AML remains unclear. Herein, the LMO2 gene was knocked down to observe its effects on proliferation, survival, and colony formation of NB4, Kasumi-1 and K562 cell lines. Using mass spectrometry and IP experiments, our results showed the presence of LMO2/LDB1 protein complex in AML cell lines, which is consistent with previous studies. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that LDB1 is essential for the proliferation and survival of AML cell lines. Analysis of RNA-seq and ChIP-Seq results showed that LDB1 could regulate apoptosis-related genes, including LMO2. In LDB1-deficient AML cell lines, the overexpression of LMO2 partially compensates for the proliferation inhibition. In summary, our findings revealed that LDB1 played an important role in AML as an oncogene, and emphasize the potential importance of the LMO2/LDB1 complex in clinical treatment of patients with AML.

While numerous studies have explored the mineralogical characteristics and purification techniques of high-purity quartz (HPQ), discussions on impurity control during various purification processes and their applications in photovoltaics, electronics, and optics remain limited. This review delves into the adverse effects of impurities such as aluminum, iron, and sodium in the manufacturing processes of these industries, emphasizing their critical role as these impurities can degrade material performance. This paper focuses on analyzing the types of impurities found in quartz and evaluates existing purification technologies such as acid washing, ultrasonic acid washing, chlorination roasting, and calcination quenching. It highlights the limitations of current technologies in processing quartz ore and discusses the advantages of different impurity types under various technological treatments. Moreover, it explores the environmental and economic impacts of these high-purity processes, underlining the necessity for more environmentally friendly and cost-effective purification techniques. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive technical and strategic framework for the use of high-purity quartz in high-tech applications, supporting future research and industrial applications in this critical material field.

Highlights A rational design of metal halide perovskites for achieving efficient CO2 reduction reaction was demonstrated. The stability of CsPbI3 perovskite nanocrystal (NCs) in aqueous electrolyte was improved by compositing with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The CsPbI3/rGO catalyst exhibited > 92% Faradaic efficiency toward formate production with high current density which was associated with the synergistic effects between the CsPbI3 NCs and rGO. Abstract Transformation of greenhouse gas (CO2) into valuable chemicals and fuels is a promising route to address the global issues of climate change and the energy crisis. Metal halide perovskite catalysts have shown their potential in promoting CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), however, their low phase stability has limited their application perspective. Herein, we present a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapped CsPbI3 perovskite nanocrystal (NC) CO2RR catalyst (CsPbI3/rGO), demonstrating enhanced stability in the aqueous electrolyte. The CsPbI3/rGO catalyst exhibited > 92% Faradaic efficiency toward formate production at a CO2RR current density of ~ 12.7 mA cm−2. Comprehensive characterizations revealed the superior performance of the CsPbI3/rGO catalyst originated from the synergistic effects between the CsPbI3 NCs and rGO, i.e., rGO stabilized the α-CsPbI3 phase and tuned the charge distribution, thus lowered the energy barrier for the protonation process and the formation of *HCOO intermediate, which resulted in high CO2RR selectivity toward formate. This work shows a promising strategy to rationally design robust metal halide perovskites for achieving efficient CO2RR toward valuable fuels.

Abstract Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data can serve as a good indicator of cell-to-cell heterogeneity and can aid in the study of cell growth by identifying cell types. Recently, advances in Variational Autoencoder (VAE) have demonstrated their ability to learn robust feature representations for scRNA-seq. However, it has been observed that VAEs tend to ignore the latent variables when combined with a decoding distribution that is too flexible. In this paper, we introduce ScInfoVAE, a dimensional reduction method based on the mutual information variational autoencoder (InfoVAE), which can more effectively identify various cell types in scRNA-seq data of complex tissues. A joint InfoVAE deep model and zero-inflated negative binomial distributed model design based on ScInfoVAE reconstructs the objective function to noise scRNA-seq data and learn an efficient low-dimensional representation of it. We use ScInfoVAE to analyze the clustering performance of 15 real scRNA-seq datasets and demonstrate that our method provides high clustering performance. In addition, we use simulated data to investigate the interpretability of feature extraction, and visualization results show that the low-dimensional representation learned by ScInfoVAE retains local and global neighborhood structure data well. In addition, our model can significantly improve the quality of the variational posterior.

Existing data-driven object detection methods use the Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) principle to achieve more robust detection performance using supervised learning. This study systematically proposes a data-driven target detection framework based on the measured echo data from the ground early warning radar for low-altitude slow dim target detection. This framework addresses two key problems in this field: (1) aiming at the problem that current data-driven object detection methods fail to make full use of feature representation learning to exert its advantages, a representation learning method of echo temporal dependency is proposed, and two implementations, including unsupervised- and supervised-learning are given; (2) Low-altitude slow dim targets show extreme sparsity in the radar detection range, such unevenness of target-clutter sample scale causes the trained model to seriously tilt to the clutter samples, resulting in the decision deviation. Therefore, we further propose incorporating the data balancing policy of abnormal detection into the framework. Finally, ablation experiments are performed on the measured X-band echo data for each component in the proposed framework. Experimental results completely validate the effectiveness of our echo temporal representation learning and balancing policy. Additionally, under real sequential validation, our proposed method achieves comprehensive detection performance that is superior to multiple CFAR methods.

Background/purpose: Analysis of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-related long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) may enable prognostic stratification in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the ERS-related LncRNAs signature and its effects on the prognosis, tumorigenesis, and tumor immune microenvironment in HNSCC. Materials and methods: The transcriptome data of HNSCC were obtained from TCGA. Least absolute shrinkage selection operator algorithm, and multivariate Cox regression were used to screen LncRNAs for the signature construction. Somatic mutation, gene enrichment, and immune infiltration analyses were further performed. Results: 458 ERS-related LncRNAs were identified and 55 of which were correlated with HNSCC prognosis. Ten ERS-related LncRNAs were selected to establish a risk prediction signature. When dividing patients into high-risk and low-risk groups by signature score, high-risk group correlated with worse survival rates (hazard ratio = 1.211; 95% confidence interval 1.123–1.306, P

ABSTRACTIntroduction B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most prevalent malignant tumor affecting children. While the majority of B-ALL patients (90%) experience successful recovery, early relapse cases of B-ALL continue to exhibit high mortality rates. MZ1, a novel inhibitor of Bromodomains and extra-terminal (BET) proteins, has demonstrated potent antitumor activity against hematological malignancies. The objective of this study was to examine the role and therapeutic potential of MZ1 in the treatment of B-ALL.Methods In order to ascertain the fundamental mechanism of MZ1, a sequence of in vitro assays was conducted on B-ALL cell lines, encompassing Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK8) assay, Propidium iodide (PI) staining, and Annexin V/PI staining. Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were employed to examine protein and mRNA expression levels. Transcriptomic RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was utilized to screen the target genes of MZ1, and lentiviral transfection was employed to establish stably-expressing/knockdown cell lines.Results MZ1 has been observed to induce the degradation of Bromodomain Containing 4 (BRD4), Bromodomain Containing 3 (BRD3), and Bromodomain Containing 2 (BRD2) in B-ALL cell strains, leading to inhibited cell growth and induction of cell apoptosis and cycle arrest in vitro. These findings suggest that MZ1 exhibits cytotoxic effects on two distinct molecular subtypes of B-ALL, namely 697 (TCF3/PBX1) and RS4;11 (MLL-AF4) B-ALL cell lines. Additionally, RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that MZ1 significantly downregulated the expression of Cyclin D3 (CCND3) gene in B-ALL cell lines, which in turn promoted cell apoptosis, blocked cell cycle, and caused cell proliferation inhibition.Conclusion Our results suggest that MZ1 has potential anti-B-ALL effects and might be a novel therapeutic target.

T cell immunity plays a central role in clinical outcomes of Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and T cell-focused vaccination or cellular immunotherapy might provide enhanced protection for some immunocompromised patients. Pre-existing T cell memory recognizing SARS-CoV-2 antigens antedating COVID-19 infection or vaccination, may have developed as an imprint of prior infections with endemic non-SARS human coronaviruses (hCoVs) OC43, HKU1, 229E, NL63, pathogens of “common cold”. In turn, SARS-CoV-2-primed T cells may recognize emerging variants or other hCoV viruses and modulate the course of subsequent hCoV infections. Cross-immunity between hCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 has not been well characterized. Here, we systematically investigated T cell responses against the immunodominant SARS-CoV-2 spike, nucleocapsid and membrane proteins and corresponding antigens from α- and β-hCoVs among vaccinated, convalescent, and unexposed subjects. Broad T cell immunity against all tested SARS-CoV-2 antigens emerged in COVID-19 survivors. In convalescent and in vaccinated individuals, SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific T cells reliably recognized most SARS-CoV-2 variants, however cross-reactivity against the omicron variant was reduced by approximately 47%. Responses against spike, nucleocapsid and membrane antigens from endemic hCoVs were significantly more extensive in COVID-19 survivors than in unexposed subjects and displayed cross-reactivity between α- and β-hCoVs. In some, non-SARS hCoV-specific T cells demonstrated a prominent non-reciprocal cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 antigens, whereas a distinct anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunological repertoire emerged post-COVID-19, with relatively limited cross-recognition of non-SARS hCoVs. Based on this cross-reactivity pattern, we established a strategy for in-vitro expansion of universal anti-hCoV T cells for adoptive immunotherapy. Overall, these results have implications for the future design of universal vaccines and cell-based immune therapies against SARS- and non-SARS-CoVs.

The advent of novel cancer immunotherapy approaches is revolutionizing the treatment for cancer. Current small animal models for most cancers are syngeneic or genetically engineered mouse models or xenograft models based on immunodeficient mouse strains. These models have been limited in evaluating immunotherapy regimens due to the lack of functional human immune system. Development of animal models for bone cancer faces another challenge in the accessibility of tumor engraftment sites. Here, we describe a protocol to develop an orthotopic humanized mouse model for a bone and soft tissue sarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, by transplanting fresh human cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells into young NSG-SGM3 mice combined with subsequent Ewing sarcoma patient derived cell engraftment in the tibia of the humanized mice. We demonstrated early and robust reconstitution of human CD45+ leukocytes including T cells, B cells, natural killer cells and monocytes. Ewing sarcoma xenograft tumors successfully orthotopically engrafted in the humanized mice with minimal invasive procedures. We validated the translational utility of this orthotopic humanized model by evaluating the safety and efficacy of an immunotherapy antibody, magrolimab. Treatment with magrolimab induces CD47 blockade resulting in significantly decreased primary tumor growth, decreased lung metastasis and prolonged animal survival in the established humanized model. Furthermore, the humanized model recapitulated the dose dependent toxicity associated with the CD47 blockade as observed in patients in clinical trials. In conclusion, this orthotopic humanized mouse model of Ewing sarcoma represents an improved platform for evaluating immunotherapy in bone and soft tissue sarcoma, such as Ewing sarcoma. With careful design and optimization, this model is generalizable for other bone malignancies.

In order to comprehensive evaluate the quality of Ficus hirta Vahl., which were dried under sun, fumigated by sulfur dioxide, dried by vacuum freezing, and dried by hot air at 50 ℃, the contents of psoralen, total polyphenols, total flavones, soluble sugars and volatile components were determined by HPLC and GC-MS. The results showed that 22, 19, 15 and 12 h was needed to reduce the moisture content of Ficus hirta Vahl. to 15% (safe storage moisture content), respectively. When Ficus hirta Vahl. were dried by sun drying, sulfur dioxide fumigated drying, vacuum freezing drying and 50 ℃ hot air drying, the contents of psoralen were 0.49, 0.60, 0.35 and 0.71 mg/g, respectively. The content of total polyphenols were 1.50, 3.95, 1.44 and 1.59 mg/g, respectively. The content of total flavonoids were 3.91, 4.65, 1.19, 1.55 mg/g, respectively. The content of soluble sugars were 94.95, 83.83, 86.76, 82.19 mg/g, respectively. GC-MS results showed that the relative contents of volatile components were 75.20% , 70.99% , 57.18% and 69.36% respectively in the samples dried by sun-drying, fumigation-sulfur drying, vacuum freeze-drying and 50 ℃ hot-air drying. In actual production, if the weather was fine, sun drying would be the most economical and environmentally friendly drying method. In case of overcast and rainy weather, 50 ℃ hot air drying would be used.

Oxidised pellets have become an indispensable high-quality charge for blast furnaces. Nevertheless, high-quality pellet feeds are becoming scarcer and scarcer. To broaden the range of sources of pellet feeds and reduce the production cost of pellets, more steel mills are predicted to use coarse iron ore fines with a relatively low iron grade and low impurities for the preparation of desirable pellet feeds through a typical wet grinding–settling–filtering process. In this work, the grinding, settling and filtering behaviour of Brazilian and Australian iron ore fines are studied and compared, with the aim of discovering the internal relationship between the mineralogical characteristics of different iron ore types and their grinding–settling–filtering performance. Additionally, the effects of ore blending on pellet preparation were investigated. The results show that, usually, the higher the hardness of the iron ore, the more grinding energy is required. Australian and Brazilian ore fines exhibit good grindability, with a Bond work index of about 10–15 kW·h/t. Furthermore, ore blending can reduce grinding energy consumption and improve settling and filtration rates, and the addition of finely ground Australian ores improves the balling performance of pellet mixtures. At the same bentonite content, the ball drop strength of the three blends with added Australian ore is significantly higher than that of the base blend, and the fired pellets obtained from Blend 1, Blend 2 and Blend 3 blends exhibit good metallurgical properties.

Inflammation is known to play a critical role in all stages of tumorigenesis; however, less is known about how it predisposes the tissue microenvironment preceding tumor formation. Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a skin-blistering disease secondary to COL7A1 mutations and associated with chronic wounding, inflammation, fibrosis, and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), models this dynamic. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) to analyze gene expression patterns in skin cells from a mouse model of RDEB. We uncovered a complex landscape within the RDEB dermal microenvironment that exhibited altered metabolism, enhanced angiogenesis, hyperproliferative keratinocytes, infiltration and activation of immune cell populations, and inflammatory fibroblast priming. We demonstrated the presence of activated neutrophil and Langerhans cell subpopulations and elevated expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in T cells and antigen-presenting cells, respectively. Unsupervised clustering within the fibroblast population further revealed two differentiation pathways in RDEB fibroblasts, one toward myofibroblasts and the other toward a phenotype that shares the characteristics of inflammatory fibroblast subsets in other inflammatory diseases as well as the IL-1-induced inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblasts (iCAFs) reported in various cancer types. Quantitation of inflammatory cytokines indicated dynamic waves of IL-1α, TGF-β1, TNF, IL-6, and IFN-γ concentrations, along with dermal NF-κB activation preceding JAK/STAT signaling. We further demonstrated the divergent and overlapping roles of these cytokines in inducing inflammatory phenotypes in RDEB patients as well as RDEB mouse-derived fibroblasts together with their healthy controls. In summary, our data have suggested a potential role of inflammation, driven by the chronic release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, in creating an immune-suppressed dermal microenvironment that underlies RDEB disease progression.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly cancerous and aggressive hematologic disease with elevated levels of drug resistance and relapse resulting in high mortality. Recently, bromodomains and extra-terminal (BET) protein inhibitors have been extensively researched in hematological tumors as potential anticancer agents. MZ1 is a novel BET inhibitor that mediates selective proteins degradation and suppression of tumor growth through proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTAC) technology. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the role and therapeutic potential of MZ1 in AML. In this study, we first identified that AML patients with high BRD4 expression had poor overall survival than those with low expression group. MZ1 inhibited AML cell growth and induced apoptosis and cycle arrest in vitro. MZ1 induced degradation of BRD4, BRD3 and BRD2 in AML cell strains. Additionally, MZ1 also initiated the cleavage of poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), which showed cytotoxic effects on NB4 (PML-RARa), K562 (BCR-ABL), Kasumi-1 (AML1-ETO), and MV4-11 (MLL-AF4) cell lines representing different molecular subtypes of AML. In AML mouse leukemia model, MZ1 significantly decreased leukemia cell growth and increased the mouse survival time. According to the RNA-sequencing analysis, MZ1 led to c-Myc and ANP32B genes significant downregulation in AML cell lines. Knockdown of ANP32B promoted AML cell apoptosis and inhibited cell growth. Overall, our data indicated that MZ1 had broad anti-cancer effects on AML cell lines with different molecular lesions, which might be exploited as a novel therapeutic strategy for AML patients.

The success of the PROfound, IPATential150, and TheraP trials promoted the transition from sequential treatment to therapeutic targets (TTs)‐guided precision treatment in metastatic castration‐resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic value of TTs from these three trials. All included Chinese mCRPC patients underwent circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing, PTEN status assessment, and dual‐tracer [68Ga‐prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and 18F‐fluorodexyglucose (FDG)] positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Previous treatment with cabazitaxel, Lu‐PSMA or olaparib was unallowed. Patients with known significant sarcomatoid or spindle cell or neuroendocrine small cell components were also excluded. TTs were defined as positive as follows: (a) high PSMA and no PSMA−/FDG+ disease on dual‐tracer PET/CT scans; (b) defects in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes in ctDNA; and (c) loss of PTEN immunohistochemistry staining in tumor tissue. The prevalence and prognostic value on progression‐free survival (PFS) of TTs were evaluated. A total of 106 consecutive mCRPC patients were included. The prevalence of positive PET/CT, HRR defect, and PTEN loss was 30%, 29% and 16%, respectively. Sixty‐three patients had at least one TT. Metastatic volume (odds ratio = 5.0; P = 0.017) was the only independent factor of positive TT in multivariate analysis. Seventy‐four patients received abiraterone after TT screening. Patients with positive PET/CT (P = 0.011) and HRR defect (P = 0.002) had a significantly shorter PFS after receiving abiraterone than patients with negative TTs. However, PTEN status was unrelated to PFS, which may be due to a less number of patients with PTEN loss (P = 0.952). Overall, patients with any positive TTs had a significantly shorter PFS after abiraterone than patients with negative TTs (P = 0.009). Nearly 60% of Chinese patients with mCRPC who had a poor prognosis on abiraterone were candidates for precision treatments based on the specific criteria of TTs.

Abstract Bone injury plagues millions of patients worldwide every year, and it demands a heavy portion of expense from the public medical insurance system. At present, orthopedists think that autologous bone transplantation is the gold standard for treating large-scale bone defects. However, this method has significant limitations, which means that parts of patients cannot obtain a satisfactory prognosis. Therefore, a basic study on new therapeutic methods is urgently needed. The in-depth research on crosstalk between macrophages (Mϕs) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) suggests that there is a close relationship between inflammation and regeneration. The in-depth understanding of the crosstalk between Mϕs and BMSCs is helpful to amplify the efficacy of stem cell-based treatment for bone injury. Only in the suitable inflammatory microenvironment can the damaged tissues containing stem cells obtain satisfactory healing outcomes. The excessive tissue inflammation and lack of stem cells make the transplantation of biomaterials necessary. We can expect that the crosstalk between Mϕs and BMSCs and biomaterials will become the mainstream to explore new methods for bone injury in the future. This review mainly summarizes the research on the crosstalk between Mϕs and BMSCs and also briefly describes the effects of biomaterials and aging on cell transplantation therapy.

The unit commitment (UC) problem is a typical mixed integer nonlinear programming problem related to power systems. As electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources (RESs; e.g., wind and solar power) have become integrated into the power system, the UC problem has become increasingly complex. With the continuous growth of the proportion of renewable energy based on wind and solar energy in the power supply structure on the supply side in the future, the random characteristics of the supply and demand sides of the power system will become more obvious, which will inevitably bring about the safety, stability and economic operation of the power system. The study of UC not only has great academic value, but also has important practical significance. The optimal scheduling of UC, including thermal, wind, solar, and EV power units was investigated. The objective function of optimal scheduling was to minimize the operating cost of the unit and optimize the charging and discharging costs of EVs. In view of power generation characteristics of RESs, an interval number was introduced to describe the uncertainties in the outputs of wind and solar power generation. The enhanced-interval linear programming is introduced to deal with the UC problem including EVs and uncertainty of RES. For better accuracy, wind power was considered for each of the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) and solar power was divided into sunny, cloudy, and rainy conditions. To reflect the influence of EV charging and discharging on UC, three different charging and discharging pricing schemes were considered. Various scenarios were simulated using the CPLEX solver. The results showed that costs can be affected by season and climate. The interval number solution sets of the total cost and of the charging and unit costs were obtained by using interval number theory to describe the uncertainty of output in RESs; this provides a new approach for solving the UC optimization problem by integrating RESs. The charging and discharging of EVs can also affect costs. By encouraging the orderly charging and discharging of EVs, power load fluctuations could be reduced and peak-load shifting could be achieved. Different pricing schemes had different impacts on cost. The pricing scheme can not only effectively reduce the charging cost borne by EV owners, but could also make EVs profitable. This discovery provides a theoretical basis for guidance on the charging and discharging of EVs through charge and discharge price schemes. The simulation results reflect the relationship between economic cost and seasons/climate and confirm the suitability of using an interval number to describe uncertainty in energy generation.

Abstract Background Abnormal lipid metabolism is one of the most prominent metabolic changes in cancer. Studies have shown that lipid metabolism also plays an important role in neuroblastoma. We recently discovered that the insulinoma-associated 2 gene (INSM2) could regulate lipid metabolism in neuroblastoma (NB) and is improperly controlled by super enhancers, a mammalian genome region that has been shown to control the expression of NB cell identity genes. However, the specific molecular pathways by which INSM2 leads to NB disease development are unknown. Results We identified INSM2 as a gene regulated by super enhancers in NB. In addition, INSM2 expression levels were significantly upregulated in NB and correlated with poor prognosis in patients. We found that INSM2 drives the growth of NB cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Knocking down INSM2 inhibited fatty acid metabolism in NB cells. Mechanistically, INSM2 regulates the expression of SREBP1 by regulating the mTOR signaling pathway, which in turn affects lipid metabolism, thereby mediating the occurrence and development of neuroblastoma. Conclusion INSM2 as a super-enhancer-associated gene could regulates lipid metabolism by modulating mTOR signaling pathway in neuroblastoma.

Background: Olaparib, a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, has been approved for use in breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA)-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCPRC) patients. Our aim was to evaluate the adverse events (AEs) and efficacy of Olaparib in the treatment of mCRPC patients from the Chinese mainland. Methods: We retrospectively included mCPRC patients treated with Olaparib more than for 28 days. Patients with alterations in 15 homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes were defined as the HRRmt group, and the rest were defined as the HRRwt group. The efficacy was analyzed by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decreased rate and PSA progression-free survival (PFS). The partial response, good response, and high response of PSA were defined as a reduction of between 0% and 50%, greater than 50%, and greater than 90% from baseline. Results: A total of 43 patients were enrolled in this study, including 26 HRRmt group patients and 17 HRRwt group patients. Two HRRwt patients received additional abiraterone therapy. A partial response, good response, and high response were achieved in 89% (23/26), 59% (15/26), and 15% (4/26) of HRRmt group patients, respectively. In HRRwt group, 59% (10/17), 35% (6/17), and 12% (2/17) of patients met the criteria of partial response, good response, and high response, respectively. Median PFS was 8.0 months in the HRRmt group and 3.0s months in the HRRwt group (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.24–1.14; p = 0.148), respectively. All the 20 patients had AEs during Olaparib treatment. Ten episodes of grade 3 or 4 AEs were observed in four patients. The most common all-grade AEs were fatigue or asthenia (70%), anemia (65%), and decreased appetite (55%). Conclusions: Most of the AEs were tolerated, and Olaparib was effective in mCRPC patients with HRR deficiency. In addition, the underlying mechanism of the efficacy of Olaparib observed in HRRwt group patients remained explored.

Stainless steel solid wastes (SSSW) treatment and recycling has attracted wide attention in recent years because of more stringent environment laws and regulations. Recycling of SSSW through carbothermal reduction of chromite (SRC)-electric furnace (EF) process is favorable to the effective treatment of SSSW and recovery of valuable elements. In this paper, SSSW are used to manufacture sufficiently strong oxidized pellets with the coexistence of chromite concentrates for ferrochrome production based on the SRC-EF process. The induration characteristics and harmful element migration behavior during oxidation of pellets are investigated and revealed. It is found that the oxidized pellets made from 100% SSSW possess low mechanical strength. Increasing the ratio of chromite concentrate from 0% to 80% can significantly improve the pellet strength from 460 N/pellet to 1868 N/pellet when preheating at 1000 °C for 12min and roasting at 1275 °C for 15min. Oxidized pellets made from SSSW and chromite are mainly dominated by the solid-phase consolidation due to the recrystallization of iron-rich spinel phases and sesquioxide derived from oxidation of ferrous oxides. In addition, slag bonding of CaO–CaF2–SiO2–FeO system also plays an important role in the consolidation of oxidized pellets. As for pellets made from 32% SSSW and 68% chromite concentrate, 39.96% F, 91.06% S, 66.73% Cl can be removed from the pellets when preheating at 1000 °C for 12 min and roasting at 1275 °C for 15 min.

The reduction behaviors of fired vanadium titanomagnetite (VTM) pellets must be fully ascertained for the effective utilization of VTM concentrates via the coal-based rotary kiln direct reduction-electric furnace smelting process. This paper investigates the effects of the reduction conditions on the reduction behaviors of three types of fired VTM pellets, i. e., Pellets 1, 2 and 3 assaying 13.02%, 11.70% and 5.25% TiO2, respectively, as well as the differences among their reduction behaviors. The results indicate that the highest metallization degree of Pellets 1, 2 and 3 increases sequentially when fully reduced at high temperature for long duration. Pellet 1 shows a good resistance to volume swelling under any reduction conditions, while both Pellets 2 and 3 exhibit the abnormal volume swelling during reduction, with the maximum volume swelling up to 43.78% and 36.45%, respectively. The compressive strength of reduced pellets of Pellet 1 is about 1000N/pellet, whereas below or only close to 500N/pellet for Pellets 2 and 3. Mechanism analysis shows that the minerals compositions and microstructure of fired VTM pellets have great effect on their reduction behaviors. Moreover, the reduction behaviors of fired VTM pellets can be improved by addition of ordinary magnetite in the pellet feeds.

In this paper, a process of pre-oxidation and magnetization roasting followed by low-intensity magnetic separation and acid leaching (OMLA) was developed to separate and recover iron from siderite ore with high-magnesium and high-manganese. The pre-oxidation of siderite ore was performed in a tube furnace at 800 °C for 45 min, improving the iron recovery by 6%. The effects of conditions of magnetization roasting, magnetic separation and acid leaching on the separation indices were studied. Under the optimum parameters, the iron concentrate, assaying 62.01% Fe, 8.74% MgO, 2.41% MnO with comprehensive recovery of 96.9%, were obtained through the OMLA process. Phase and microstructure transformation of the samples in OMLA process were investigated by SEM-EDS. The results indicated that pre-oxidation of siderite ore can cause porous structure of raw sample, improving reduction efficiency in magnetization roasting process. Most of gangue minerals (dolomite, ankerite, quartz and muscovite) could be removed in the process while Mn and part of Mg which existed in the iron oxides in the form of isomorphous substitution throughout the OMLA process would remain in the final concentrate.

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a myeloid neoplasm makes up 7.6% of hematopoietic malignancies. Super-enhancers (SEs) represent a special group of enhancers, which have been reported in multiple cell types. In this study, we explored super-enhancer profiling through ChIP-Seq analysis of AML samples and AML cell lines, followed by functional analysis. Methods ChIP-seq analysis for H3K27ac was performed in 11 AML samples, 7 T-ALL samples, 8 B-ALL samples, and in NB4 cell line. Genes and pathways affected by GNE-987 treatment were identified by gene expression analysis using RNA-seq. One of the genes associated with super-enhancer and affected by GNE-987 treatment was LYL1 basic helix-loop-helix family member (LYL1). shRNA mediated gene interference was used to down-regulate the expression of LYL1 in AML cell lines, and knockdown efficiency was detected by RT-qPCR and western blotting. The effect of knockdown on the growth of AML cell lines was evaluated by CCK-8. Western blotting was used to detect PARP cleavage, and flow cytometry were used to determine the effect of knockdown on apoptosis of AML cells. Results We identified a total of 200 genes which were commonly associated with super-enhancers in ≧10 AML samples, and were found enriched in regulation of transcription. Using the BRD4 inhibitor GNE-987, we assessed the dependence of AML cells on transcriptional activation for growth and found GNE-987 treatment predominantly inhibits cell growth in AML cells. Moreover, 20 candidate genes were selected by super-enhancer profile and gene expression profile and among which LYL1 was observed to promote cell growth and survival in human AML cells. Conclusions In summary, we identified 200 common super-enhancer-associated genes in AML samples, and a series of those genes are cancer genes. We also found GNE-987 treatment downregulates the expression of super-enhancer-associated genes in AML cells, including the expression of LYL1. Further functional analysis indicated that LYL1 is required for AML cell growth and survival. These findings promote understanding of AML pathophysiology and elucidated an important role of LYL1 in AML progression.

Background Safe and effective local anesthesia is a prerequisite for emergency oral surgeries and most dental treatments. Pregnancy is characterized by complex physiological changes, and increased sensitivity to pain. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to oral diseases, such as caries, gingivitis, pyogenic granuloma and third molar pericoronitis. Maternally administered drugs can affect the fetus through the placenta. Therefore, many physicians and patients are reluctant to provide or accept necessary local anesthesia, which leads to delays in the condition and adverse consequences. This review is intended to comprehensively discuss the instructions for local anesthesia in the oral treatment of pregnant patients. Methodology An in-depth search on Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed to review articles concerned with maternal and fetal physiology, local anesthetic pharmacology, and their applications for oral treatment. Results Standard oral local anesthesia is safe throughout the pregnancy. At present, 2% lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine is considered to be the anesthetic agent that best balances safety and efficacy for pregnant women. Maternal and fetal considerations must be taken into account to accommodate the physiological and pharmacological changes in the gestation period. Semi-supine position, blood pressure monitoring, and reassurance are suggested for high-risk mothers to reduce the risk of transient changes in blood pressure, hypoxemia, and hypoglycemia. For patients with underlying diseases, such as eclampsia, hypertension, hypotension, and gestational diabetes, the physicians should use epinephrine cautiously and control the dose of anesthetic. New local anesthesia formulations and equipment, which contribute to minimizing injection pain and relieving the anxiety, have and are being developed but remain understudied. Conclusions Understanding the physiological and pharmacological changes during pregnancy is essential to ensure the safety and efficiency of local anesthesia. Optimal outcomes for the mother and fetus hinge on a robust understanding of the physiologic alterations and the appropriate selection of anesthetic drugs and approaches.

Pannexin 1 (Panx1) is an ubiquitously expressed protein that forms plasma membrane channels permeable to anions and moderate-sized signaling molecules (e.g., ATP, glutamate). In the nervous system, activation of Panx1 channels has been extensively shown to contribute to distinct neurological disorders (epilepsy, chronic pain, migraine, neuroAIDS, etc.), but knowledge of the extent to which these channels have a physiological role remains restricted to three studies supporting their involvement in hippocampus dependent learning. Given that Panx1 channels may provide an important mechanism for activity-dependent neuron-glia interaction, we used Panx1 transgenic mice with global and cell-type specific deletions of Panx1 to interrogate their participation in working and reference memory. Using the eight-arm radial maze, we show that long-term spatial reference memory, but not spatial working memory, is deficient in Panx1-null mice and that both astrocyte and neuronal Panx1 contribute to the consolidation of long-term spatial memory. Field potential recordings in hippocampal slices of Panx1-null mice revealed an attenuation of both long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic strength and long-term depression (LTD) at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses without alterations of basal synaptic transmission or pre-synaptic paired-pulse facilitation. Our results implicate both neuronal and astrocyte Panx1 channels as critical players for the development and maintenance of long-term spatial reference memory in mice.

Accurate navigation is crucial in the construction of intelligent orchards, and the need for vehicle navigation accuracy becomes even more important as production is refined. However, traditional navigation methods based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and 2D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) can be unreliable in complex scenarios with little sensory information due to tree canopy occlusion. To solve these issues, this paper proposes a 3D LiDAR-based navigation method for trellis orchards. With the use of 3D LiDAR with a 3D simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm, orchard point cloud information is collected and filtered using the Point Cloud Library (PCL) to extract trellis point clouds as matching targets. In terms of positioning, the real-time position is determined through a reliable method of fusing multiple sensors for positioning, which involves transforming the real-time kinematics (RTK) information into the initial position and doing a normal distribution transformation between the current frame point cloud and the scaffold reference point cloud to match the point cloud position. For path planning, the required vector map is manually planned in the orchard point cloud to specify the path of the roadway, and finally, navigation is achieved through pure path tracking. Field tests have shown that the accuracy of the normal distributions transform (NDT) SLAM method can reach 5 cm in each rank with a coefficient of variation that is less than 2%. Additionally, the navigation system has a high positioning heading accuracy with a deviation within 1° and a standard deviation of less than 0.6° when moving along the path point cloud at a speed of 1.0 m/s in a Y-trellis pear orchard. The lateral positioning deviation was also controlled within 5 cm with a standard deviation of less than 2 cm. This navigation system has a high level of accuracy and can be customized to specific tasks, making it widely applicable in trellis orchards with autonomous navigation pesticide sprayers.

ObjectivesTo investigate the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis based on whole tumor volume for the preoperative prediction of lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) in patients with stage IB-IIA cervical cancer.MethodsFifty consecutive patients with stage IB-IIA cervical cancer were stratified into LVSI-positive (n = 24) and LVSI-negative (n = 26) groups according to the postoperative pathology. All patients underwent pelvic 3.0T diffusion-weighted imaging with b-values of 50 and 800 s/mm2 preoperatively. Whole-tumor ADC histogram analysis was performed. Differences in the clinical characteristics, conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features, and ADC histogram parameters between the two groups were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ADC histogram parameters in predicting LVSI.ResultsADCmax, ADCrange, ADC90, ADC95, and ADC99 were significantly lower in the LVSI-positive group than in the LVSI-negative group (all P-values < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were reported for the remaining ADC parameters, clinical characteristics, and conventional MRI features between the groups (all P-values > 0.05). For predicting LVSI in stage IB-IIA cervical cancer, a cutoff ADCmax of 1.75×10−3 mm2/s achieved the largest area under ROC curve (Az) of 0.750, followed by a cutoff ADCrange of 1.36×10−3 mm2/s and ADC99 of 1.75×10−3 mm2/s (Az = 0.748 and 0.729, respectively), and the cutoff ADC90 and ADC95 achieved an Az of

Typical edge defects in the edge region of a new cemented carbide insert without edge preparation include burrs, poor surface quality, micro-breakages, and irregularities along the edge. To address the problems in new cemented carbide inserts without edge preparations, a chemical–mechanical synergistic preparation (CMSP) method for the cemented carbide insert cutting edge was proposed. Firstly, the CMSP device for the insert cutting edge was constructed. Then, the polishing slurry of the CMSP for the insert cutting edge was optimized using the Taguchi method combined with a grey relation analysis and fuzzy inference. Finally, orthogonal experiments, the Taguchi method, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to investigate the effect of the polishing plate’s rotational speed, swing angle, and input frequency of the controller on the edge preparation process, and the parameters were optimized. The results showed that the best parameter combination for the polishing slurry for the cemented carbide inserts was the mass concentration of the abrasive particle of 10 wt%, the mass concentration of the oxidant of 10 wt%, the mass concentration of the dispersant of 2 wt%, and the pH of 8. The CMSP process parameter combination for the linear edge had the polishing plate’s rotational speed of 90 rpm, the swing angle of 6°, and the input frequency of the controller of 5000 Hz. The optimum CMSP process parameter combination for the circular edge had the polishing plate’s rotational speed of 90 rpm, the swing angle of 6°, and the input frequency of the controller of 7000 Hz. The polishing plate’s rotational speed had the most significant impact on the edge preparation process, followed by the swing angle, and the effect of the input frequency of the controller was the smallest. This study demonstrated that CMSP is a potential way to treat the cemented carbide insert cutting edge in a tool enterprise.