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Abstract The presence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) contributes to the development of cervical lesions and cervical cancer. Recent studies suggest that an imbalance in the cervicovaginal microbiota might be a factor in the persistence of HR-HPV infections. In this study, we collected 156 cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) of women with HR-HPV infection, which were divided into three groups (negative for intraepithelial lesions = 78, low/high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions = 52/26). We performed metabolomics and 16 S rRNA sequencing to identify changes in metabolites and cervicovaginal microbiota among patients with HR-HPV infection and varying grades of cervical lesions. We detected 164 metabolites and 389 flora types in the three groups. Ten CVF metabolites—N-methylalanine, phenylacetaldehyde, succinic acid, 2-3-dihydroxypyridine, DL-p-hydroxylphenyllactic acid, gluconic acid lactone, guanine, glucose-6-phosphate, erythrose, and sucrose showed significant associations with disease severity and distinct separation patterns in HR-HPV-infected patients with LSIL and HSIL, with an area under the curve of 0.928. The most abundant microbial communities in the CVF were Gardnerella. Gardnerella was found to be associated with increased levels of succinic acid, thereby highlighting distinct metabolic profiles. These findings suggest that the development of cervical lesions resulting from persistent HR-HPV infection is associated with significant alterations in systemic metabolism and shifts in the cervicovaginal microbiota, providing valuable insights into the metabolic and microbiota changes linked to disease severity.

Conventional moiré magnifier suffers from high manufacturing cost and poor scalability due to the stringent requirement on alignment between the microfocusing element array and micropattern array (MPA). By superposition of the microreflective element array and MPA together to form hierarchical microstructure, not only the alignment can be done during mold fabrication process, which is easily scalable and compatible to semiconductor, but also the synthetically magnified image is visible as viewed from both front and back side. The investigation of the moiré magnifier with hierarchical microstructure unveils new imaging phenomenon in moiré imaging device, and thereby offers a facile and low-cost platform to address challenges to open up a potential avenue in micro-optic involved three-dimensional display or anti-counterfeiting applications.

Abstract Background Colonoscopy is considered the most effective screening method for colorectal polyps. However, the longevity and complexity of the procedure makes it less desirable to screen for colorectal polyps in the general population. Therefore, it is essential to identify other independent risk factors. In this study, we explored the link between Hp infection, atrophic gastritis, and colorectal polyps to identify a new potential risk factors of colorectal polyps. Methods In this study, atrophic gastritis and intestinal polyps were diagnosed by endoscopy and pathology. All the 792 patients in this retrospective study were divided into sub-groups based on the presence of colorectal polyps. The correlation between polyps and atrophic gastritis was analyzed using the chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the predictive value for colorectal polyps between Hp infection and atrophic gastritis. Binary logistic regression was utilized to identify independent risk factors for colorectal polyps. Results Patients with colorectal polyps were primarily male with advanced age, and the number of patients with colorectal polyps had a higher association with smoking, alcohol drinking, and Hp infection than the control group. A positive correlation between the number of colorectal polyps and the severity of atrophic gastritis was observed. ROC analysis showed that atrophic gastritis was a better risk factors for colorectal polyps. Multivariate analysis identified atrophic gastritis as an independent risk factor for colorectal polyps (OR 2.294; 95% CI 1.597–3.296). Conclusions Atrophic gastritis confirmed could be an independent risk factors for colorectal polyps.

Abstract The preparation of monodisperse azobenzene (Azo) polymer microspheres by dispersion polymerization was reported. The photo‐induced fusion of Azo polymer microspheres was successfully achieved during the process of reversible trans‐cis‐trans photoisomerization of Azo units, and induced various unique “microsphere molecular” clusters or “microsphere polymers”. Encouraged by this interesting phenomenon, microsphere clusters of different topological structures were stabilized by the in situ acetal cross‐linking chemistry. The photo‐induced fusion polymerization of monodisperse polymer microspheres provides a new strategy for designing photo‐responsive clusters and allows for control over the mechanical properties of microspheres with high spatiotemporal resolution.

The article discusses the challenges faced by blockchain technology in terms of scalability, security, and privacy protection. It highlights the limitations of current blockchain applications and the risks they pose to investors and sensitive data. Various research directions are proposed to address these bottlenecks, including improving consensus mechanisms, sharding the network, and enhancing security through cryptographic technology. The article also provides a summary of 11 high-quality papers accepted for a special issue, covering topics such as smart contract vulnerability detection, graph-based sharding schemes, NFT security, and decentralized reputation management mechanisms. [Extracted from the article]

BackgroundAlthough atrial fibrillation (AF) is a risk factor for ischemic bowel disease, data regarding the incidence of ischemic bowel disease in patients with anticoagulated AF were limited.MethodsThe present study used the Taiwan NHIRD and included newly diagnosed patients with AF aged ≥ 20 years without ischemic bowel disease from 2012 to 2018. A total of 69,549 patients taking warfarin or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) constituted the final study group. We aimed to study the incidence of ischemic bowel disease in patients with AF receiving warfarin or NOACs. Secondary endpoints were also analyzed, including ischemic stroke, systemic embolism, myocardial infarction, mortality, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), major bleeding, and composite adverse events (ischemic bowel disease or ICH or major bleeding).ResultsThere were 43,787 patients taking NOACs and 25,762 patients taking warfarin. The overall incidence rate of ischemic bowel disease was 0.036% per year and increased with the CHA2DS2-VASc scores [0.013% for patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 (men) or 1 (women), 0.022% for those with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 (men) or 2 (women), and 0.039% for those with a CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2 (men) or ≥ 3 (women)]. The risk of ischemic bowel disease was similar between NOAC and warfarin groups (0.036%/year vs. 0.037%/year; adjusted hazard ratio 0.802, p = 0.430), whereas the NOAC group had a significantly lower risk of secondary endpoints compared to the warfarin group.ConclusionWe reported the incidence of ischemic bowel disease in patients with anticoagulated AF from a nationwide cohort database and observed a positive correlation between the increase of CHA2DS2-VASc scores and the incidence rate. Moreover, NOAC was as effective as warfarin for the risk of ischemic bowel disease.

This exploratory study aimed to develop a risk prediction model of vancomycin‐associated nephrotoxicity (VANT) in elderly patients. Clinical information of elderly patients who received vancomycin therapy from January 2016 to June 2018 was retrieved. A total of 255 patients were included in this study. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that vancomycin trough concentration ≥ 20 mg/L (odds ratio (OR) = 3.009; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.345–6.732), surgery (OR = 3.357; 95% CI 1.309–8.605), the Charlson Comorbidities Index ≥ 4 points (OR = 2.604; 95% CI 1.172–5.787), concomitant use of cardiotonic drug (OR = 3.283; 95% CI 1.340–8.042), plasma volume expander (OR = 3.459; 95% CI 1.428–8.382), and piperacillin/tazobactam (OR = 2.547; 95% CI 1.680–6.007) were risk factors for VANT in elderly patients. Furthermore, a VANT risk prediction model was developed, which had good discriminative power and was well‐calibrated.

BackgroundWe have proposed the Taiwan AF score consisting of age, male sex, hypertension, heart failure, coronary artery disease, end-stage renal disease, and alcoholism to predict incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in Asian population. We hypothesized that the modified Taiwan AF score (mTaiwan AF score) excluding alcoholism remained useful for predicting new onset AF.MethodsA total of 7,220,654 subjects aged ≥ 40 years without a past history of cardiac arrhythmia were identified from a national cohort, and 438,930 incident AF occurred during a 16-year follow-up with an incidence of 0.42 per 100 person-years. The mTaiwan AF score ranging between −2 and 14 and its predictive accuracy of incident AF was analyzed.ResultsThe areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) of the mTaiwan AF scores in predicting AF are 0.861 for 1-year follow-up, 0.829 for 5-year follow-up, 0.795 for 10-year follow-up, and 0.751 for 16-year follow-up. The risk of incident AF increased from 0.05%/year for patients with a score of −2 to 6.98%/year for those having a score of 14. Patients were classified into three groups based on the tertile values of the mTaiwan AF scores—group 1 (score −2-3), group 2 (score 4-9) and group 3 (score 10-14). The annual risks of incident AF were 0.20, 1.33, and 3.36% for group 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Compared to patients in group 1, the hazard ratios of incident AF were 5.79 [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.75-7.75] for group 2 and 8.93 (95% CI 6.47-10.80) for group 3.ConclusionsWe demonstrated that the mTaiwan AF score based on age and clinical comorbidities could be used to predict incident AF in Asian population.

This research presents an experimental study on the flexural strength and failure behaviour of a newly developed composite metal decking system. The newly developed metal decking system with a thickness of 0.75 mm and 1.0 mm produced by the industry requires a detailed study in strength and performances before it is launched for commercialization. A simply supported conventional reinforced concrete slab is used as the control specimen and two composite slabs with different metal thickness of steel sheet profiles were constructed and tested under a four points flexural strength test. The strength and behaviour of the slabs are recorded and comparisons with conventional slabs with composite deck slabs are made to achieve the objectives. The recorded results of three different slabs were then used to plot a load-displacement graph and deflection profiles are to be analysed and compared. The yield flexural capacity and average yield displacement of specimens for the composite slabs were 28.0 kN and 0.80 mm respectively. The 1.0 mm metal thickness composite slab has the highest ultimate flexural capacity among all specimens which is 84 kN followed by a 0.75 mm metal thickness composite slab with 58 kN and ends with the lowest 9.1 kN of conventional slab. Two cracking patterns were found during the experimental test which includes shear cracking and flexural cracking`. Besides that, two major failure modes under bending which are flexure failure at the centre point of the specimen and bond or longitudinal slip failure along the side of the specimen were found in the experimental test. Bond failure results in slippage between the concrete and metal deck, which can result in cancellation of the composite action at interface. In conclusion, the strength of slabs improved, and ductility was remarkably increased when slabs acted as a composite structure.

With the support of our government's commitment to the energy sector, the installed capacity of wind power will continue to grow. However, due to the instability of wind power, accurate prediction of wind power output is essential for effective grid dispatch. In addition, data privacy and protection have become paramount in today's society. Traditional wind forecasting methods rely on centralized data, which raises concerns about data privacy and data silos. To address these challenges, we propose a hybrid approach that combines federated learning and deep learning for wind power forecasting. In our proposed method, we use a bidirectional long short-term memory (BILSTM) neural network as the basic prediction model to improve the prediction accuracy. Then, the model is integrated into the federated learning framework to form the Fed-BILSTM prediction method. In addition, we have introduced cloud computing technology into the Fed-BILSTM method, using cloud resources for model training and parameter update. Participants share model parameters instead of sharing raw data, which solves data privacy concerns. We compared Fed-BILSTM with traditional forecasting methods. Experimental results show that the proposed Fed-BILSTM is better than the traditional prediction method in terms of prediction accuracy. What's more, Fed-BILSTM can effectively protect data privacy compared to traditional centralized forecasting methods while ensuring prediction performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]