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Abstract Background Spontaneous femoral neck fracture is a rare condition that remains controversial due to limited reported cases. This retrospective study aims to provide further insights into the etiology and characteristics of the disease. Method We conducted a retrospective review of data from 963 patients with femoral neck fractures. The data encompassed demographic information, medical histories, radiographic records, bone mineral density (BMD) measurements, and pathological examinations. Patients were categorized into two groups: spontaneous femoral neck fracture (SFF) group (30 cases) and control group (933 cases), based on their medical histories. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify risk factors for SFF. Statistical analysis was performed to compare and elucidate the characteristics of SFF within each group. Results Logistic regression analysis revealed osteonecrosis of the femoral head, steroid use, and osteoporosis as three significant risk factors for SFF. Furthermore, a higher proportion of Garden type I and II fractures, as well as Pauwels type I fractures, were observed in the SFF group compared to the control group. Within the SFF group, a higher proportion of patients with osteonecrosis exhibited Garden type III and IV fractures compared to those with osteoporosis. Additionally, both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathological examinations demonstrated that osteonecrosis in the SFF group predominantly occurred at the lateral femoral head-neck junction. Conclusions Osteonecrosis of the femoral head, particularly involving the lateral head-neck junction, was confirmed as a major risk factor for SFF. Furthermore, SFF exhibits internal heterogeneity based on its different causes.

Chongqing Fuling shale gas field, the largest shale gas exploration site in China, produces a large amount of oil-based drill cuttings (OBDC) every year, which is a hazardous waste. Traditional treatment methods such as solidification/stabilization did not recycle the valuable components such as petroleum hydrocarbons. Pyrolysis is proven to be an efficient method that can recover those components. This study firstly investigated the pyrolysis kinetics by two different methods on the basis of detailed material characterization, and then taking the workers and the surrounding ecological environment as the analysis object, the human health risk assessment (HHRA) and ecological risk assessment were evaluated respectively before and after pyrolysis. The results showed that the pyrolysis of OBDC was divided into three stages, and the cracking of light hydrocarbons stage was the key control step for pyrolysis process. The activation energy E increased gradually during the pyrolysis progress. The HHRA results showed that pyrolysis could greatly reduce the non-carcinogenic risk, carcinogenic risk and ecological risk by 59.6 %, 62.8 % and 75 % respectively. However, the carcinogenic risk after pyrolysis was still higher than the critical value 10−6.

The adsorption of CO 2 and CH 4 on carbon molecular sieves was studied based on the adsorption potential theory, which is widely used in gas adsorption on microporous adsorbents. The methods to obtain the adsorption density in the adsorbed phase, including Ozawa’s method and the empirical method, and the methods to calculate the virtual saturation vapor pressure, including Dubinin’s method and Amankwah’s method, were discussed. A functional exponential form proposed in this study could describe the adsorption characteristic curve better than the cubic polynomial and logarithmic function used in the previous literature. A new model, which expresses the correlation of adsorbed amount, temperature, and pressure, was proposed and verified experimentally. The model provides a reliable way to predict the adsorption isotherms of CO 2 and CH 4 on carbon molecular sieves at different temperatures according to the data measured at a certain temperature and to select a proper kind of carbon molecular sieve in CO 2 /CH 4 separation.

Lacrimal duct obstruction disease (LDOD) is a common ophthalmologic disease. Stent implantation surgery is one of the most effective therapies. In this study, we intended to find out the satisfactory biodegradable stents containing poly-L-lactic acid-polycaprolactone-polyethylene glycol (PLLA- PCL- PEG) complexes for therapeutic application in LDOD. Stents made of PLLA- PCL- PEG complexes in various ratios, were prepared and used in vitro to determine stents with appropriate mechanical properties and shorter range of bio-degradation for study in vivo. Thirty-two rabbits were randomized into eight groups of four eyes each in advance for test in vivo. The selected stents were implanted into the left lacrimal ducts of 16 rabbits and silica gel stents as the control for the other 16 rabbits. At four points in time (1, 4, 10 and 16 weeks after the implantation), weight loss rate (WLR) of the stents was measured and analysed. To access the change of lacrimal duct, fluorescein excretion test, lacrimal duct endoscopy and histopathological testing were conducted. The stent containing PLLA: PCL6: 4+ 15%PEG was selected for study in vivo. Analysis of weight loss rate (WLR), fluorescein excretion test, lacrimal duct endoscopy and histopathological testing indicated that the selected stent was biodegradable and caused minimal stimulation and earlier tissue restoration in the lacrimal epithelium compared with the silica gel stent used as the control. The study results suggest that the PLLA: PCL6: 4+ 15% PEG stent is a satisfactory biodegradable stent as a promising alternative for therapeutic application in LDOD, which showed tissue compatibility, biodegradation and adequate mechanical intensity.

Abstract Background Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is one of the most common hereditary organic acid metabolism disorders that endangers the lives and health of infants and children. Early detection and intervention before the appearance of a newborn’s clinical symptoms can control disease progression and prevent or mitigate its serious consequences. Methods 42,004 newborns from two Chinese populations were included in the study. The small molecular metabolite analytes were detected from the dried blood spot (DBS) samples by MS/MS. Genetic analysis of 68 Chinese MMA cases were performed by whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing. Random forest classifiers (RFC) were constructed to improve the MMA screening performance and genotype prediction in two Chinese populations. Meanwhile, other six machine learning models were trained to separate MMA patients from normal newborns. Model performance was assessed using accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate (FPR), and positive predictive value (PPV) and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results In the total 42,004 newborn samples, 68 MMA cases were identified by genetic analysis, 42 cases of which were caused by variants in MMACHC, 24 cases by variants in MMUT, and two cases by variants in MMAA. Three novel variants including c.449T>G (p.I150R) of MMACHC, c.1151C>T (p.S384F) and c.1091_1108delins (p.Y364Sfs*4) in MMUT were identified in the MMA patients. RFC for newborn screening of MMA performed best as compared to several other classification models based on machine learning with 100% sensitivity, low FPR, excellent PPV and AUC. In addition, the subdivision RFC for MMA genotype prediction was constructed with superior performance. Conclusions It can be seen that RFC is extremely helpful for detection and genotype prediction in the newborn MMA screening. In addition, our findings extend the variant spectrum of genes related to MMA.

Abstract Polycystic Kidney and Hepatic Disease 1-Like 1 (PKHD1L1) is a human deafness gene, responsible for autosomal recessive deafness-124 (DFNB124). Sensory hair cells of the cochlea are essential for hearing, relying on the mechanosensitive stereocilia bundle at their apical pole for their function. PKHD1L1 is a stereocilia protein required for the formation of the developmentally transient stereocilia surface coat. In this study, we carry out an in depth characterization of PKHD1L1 expression in mice during development and adulthood, analyze hair-cell bundle morphology and hearing function in aging PKHD1L1-deficient mouse lines, and assess their susceptibility to noise damage. Our findings reveal that PKHD1L1-deficient mice display no disruption to bundle cohesion or tectorial membrane attachment-crown formation during development. However, starting from 6 weeks of age, PKHD1L1-deficient mice display missing stereocilia and disruptions to bundle coherence. Both conditional and constitutive PKHD1L1 knockout mice develop high-frequency hearing loss progressing to lower frequencies with age. Furthermore, PKHD1L1-deficient mice are susceptible to permanent hearing loss following moderate acoustic overexposure, which induces only temporary hearing threshold shifts in wild-type mice. These results suggest a role for PKHD1L1 in establishing robust sensory hair bundles during development, necessary for maintaining bundle cohesion and function in response to acoustic trauma and aging.

Abstract Background Grapes are highly valued for their nutritional and economic benefits, and have been widely studied for their biological attributes such as fruit development, quality formation, and stress resistance. One significant threat to grape quality is gray mold, caused by Botrytis cinerea, which can infect the flowers, fruits, leaves, and stems. The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), known for its high sensitivity and quantitative accuracy, is an essential tool for analyzing gene expression related to the pathogenesis of gray mold, thereby providing deeper insights into the disease. Result In this study, we aim to identify stable internal reference genes crucial for accurate gene expression analysis via qRT-PCR. Utilizing transcriptome data from grapes under various disease stresses, we identified twelve candidate reference genes with consistently high expression levels. The stability of these genes was assessed through delta-CT, geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder analyses after establishing the cycling thresholds (Ct) in different grape varieties treated with Botrytis cinerea. Conclusions Our findings reveal that VIT-17s0000g02750 and VIT-06s0004g04280 exhibit stable expression and are suitable as new reference genes. This foundational work supports further research into the molecular mechanisms of grape biological processes.

ABSTRACTPersistent human papillomavirus HPV infection is a necessary but insufficient condition for cervical cancer. Microorganisms are crucial environmental factors in cancers susceptibility and progression, recently attracting considerable attention. This study aimed to determine the infection status and relationship between high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and lower genital tract infectious pathogens in cervical cancer and its precursors. From a retrospective and a prospective cohort analysis, Escherichia coli (E. coli) dominated the pathogens isolated from cervical discharges, and an isolation rate uptrend has been shown recently. HPV16 and E. coli’s coinfection rate gradually increased with the severity of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The adhesion and invasion abilities of the isolated E. coli to HPV16-positive SiHa cells were evaluated in vitro. The TCGA database and cervical tissues samples analysis showed that IL-10 was upregulated in cervical cancer. IL-10 expression levels increased in tissue samples with the severity of cervical cancer and its precursors with HPV16 and E. coli coinfection. Although no significant changes in IL-10 production were observed in the co-culture supernatant, we hypothesized that Treg immune cells in the tumour microenvironment might be responsible for the local IL-10 upregulation, according to our data showing Foxp3 upregulation and an upward trend with the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grading to cancer and tumours with E. coli and HPV16 coinfection. Our data provide insights into the possible role of E. coli in cervical cancer progression and suggest that the application of HPV and E. coli screening programs may be an effective strategy to relieve the burden of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions.

IntroductionGait disturbances significantly impact the mobility and quality of life of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aims to delve into the cortical mechanisms underlying gait disorders in PD, specifically focusing on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), premotor cortex (PMC), and primary somatosensory cortex (PSC).ObjectiveTo compare the functional connectivity of the PFC, PMC, and PSC regions during walking between individuals with PD and healthy controls.MethodsThe study included 30 individuals with PD (mean age 62.40 ± 7.16 years) and 22 healthy older adults (mean age 60.95 ± 6.34 years). All participants were requested to walk back and forth at a comfortable pace for 30 s over a 10-meter course three times. A mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system was employed to evaluate the oxyhemoglobin concentration change (∆HbO2). To assess the interactions between the PFC, PMC, and PSC, the connectivity strength between different fNIRS channels was computed.ResultsIndividuals with PD in the off-state exhibited significantly decreased walking speed and shorter stride length compared to the healthy controls. For six brain regions including the left (L) and right (R) PFC, PMC, and PSC, no significant differences in functional connectivity within each region were found between the PD and control groups. However, when it comes to the functional connectivity between every two regions, the PD group exhibited stronger functional connectivity than the control group in the LPFC-LPMC, LPFC-RPMC, LPFC-LPSC, RPFC-LPMC, RPFC-LPSC, LPMC-LPSC, LPMC-RPSC, and RPMC-RPSC. Positive correlations were found between gait performance (speed and stride length) and functional connectivity within the RPMC as well as between the RPMC and the RPSC.ConclusionIndividuals with PD exhibit notable gait disturbances and increased functional connectivity in brain regions responsible for sensorimotor integration and motor function in their off-state. Strengthening the functional connectivity within the RPMC and between the RPMC and the RPSC could be a potential target for future treatments of gait impairments in PD.

The collision and friction between the rock masses during the caving of the gob roof has become an important hidden danger to induce the gas explosion accident in the gob. In order to study the mechanism of gas explosion induced by sandstone friction by friction velocity, friction force, gas concentration, SiO2 content and other factors, the rock friction effect igniting gas test system was used to conduct quantitative test research on each factor. The results show that when the gas concentration is 7.0%-11.5%, the gas explosion time induced by sandstone friction first decreases and then increases with the increase of gas concentration. The high friction and hot surface of sandstone is the main cause of gas explosion. Gas explosion induced by friction can be divided into two stages: gas burning on sandstone friction surface and gas explosion diffusion. The time of gas explosion induced by friction decreases with the increase of friction and the increase of SiO2 content in sandstone. When the friction is lower than the minimum critical velocity, the gas explosion will not be induced. When the friction is higher than the minimum critical velocity and lower than the maximum critical velocity, the maximum friction velocity is negatively correlated with the gas explosion time.

Abstract Background Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) provide more comprehensive and informative perspective on microstructural alterations of cerebral white matter (WM) than single-shell diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), especially in the detection of crossing fiber. However, studies on systemic lupus erythematosus patients without neuropsychiatric symptoms (non-NPSLE patients) using multi-shell diffusion imaging remain scarce. Methods Totally 49 non-NPSLE patients and 41 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls underwent multi-shell diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Totally 10 diffusion metrics based on DKI (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, mean kurtosis, axial kurtosis and radial kurtosis) and NODDI (neurite density index, orientation dispersion index and volume fraction of the isotropic diffusion compartment) were evaluated. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and atlas-based region-of-interest (ROI) analyses were performed to determine group differences in brain WM microstructure. The associations of multi-shell diffusion metrics with clinical indicators were determined for further investigation. Results TBSS analysis revealed reduced FA, AD and RK and increased ODI in the WM of non-NPSLE patients (P

Abstract Background Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) improves the prognosis of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Right ventricle (RV) is an important predictor of prognosis in CTEPH patients. 2D-speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) can evaluate RV function. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of BPA in CTEPH patients and to assess the value of 2D-STE in predicting outcomes of BPA. Methods A total of 76 patients with CTEPH underwent 354 BPA sessions from January 2017 to October 2022. Responders were defined as those with mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) ≤ 30 mmHg or those showing ≥ 30% decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) after the last BPA session, compared to baseline. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of BPA efficacy. Results BPA resulted in a significant decrease in mPAP (from 50.8 ± 10.4 mmHg to 35.5 ± 11.9 mmHg, p

BackgroundCardiovascular complications are the leading cause of death among individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, due to the difficulty in evaluating individuals with inactive DMD, acute myocardial injury may be overlooked.Case presentationAn 11-year-old boy with DMD presented to the emergency department with a 5-day history of persistent nasal congestion, runny nose, and cough. He was regularly taking prednisolone acetate, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and β-blockers for suspected DMD-associated cardiomyopathy. Upon presentation, a substantially elevated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) level of 19.8 μg/L and abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) results were detected. Further cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) showed myocardial inflammation with localized T2 hyperintensity from the basal to middle lateral and inferior walls, as well as late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) from the basal to apical inferior lateral walls, supporting a diagnosis of acute myocarditis. Subsequently, the patient showed clinical improvement in response to combination treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, oral prednisolone acetate, potassium chloride sustained-release tablets, anti-heart failure medication, and broad-spectrum antibiotics.ConclusionsWe report a rare case of acute myocarditis in a patient with DMD, potentially due to upper respiratory tract infection. This case highlights the importance of early myocarditis recognition and treatment in patients with DMD.

BackgroundPrevious study has indicated a potential link between gut microbiota and maternal pregnancy outcomes. However, the causal relationship between gut microbiota and premature rupture of membranes (PROM) remains a topic of ongoing debate.MethodsA two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) study was used to investigate the relationship between gut microbiota and PROM. Genetic data on gut microbiota was obtained from the MiBioGen consortium’s largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) (n=14,306). Genetic data on PROM (3011 cases and 104247 controls) were sourced from publicly available GWAS data from the Finnish National Biobank FinnGen consortium. Various methods including Inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, simple mode, weighted median, and weighted mode were utilized to assess the causal relationship by calculating the odd ratio (OR) value and confidence interval (CI). Sensitivity analyses for quality control were performed using MR-Egger intercept tests, Cochran’s Q tests, and leave-one-out analyses.ResultsThe IVW method revealed that class Mollicutes (IVW, OR=0.773, 95%CI: 0.61-0.981, pval = 0.034), genus Marvinbryantia (IVW, OR=00.736, 95%CI: 0.555-0.977, pval = 0.034), genus Ruminooccaceae UCG003 (IVW, OR=0.734, 95%CI: 0.568-0.947, pval = 0.017) and phylum Tenericutes (IVW, OR=0.773, 95%CI: 0.566-1.067, pval = 0.034) were associated with a reduced risk of PROM, while genus Collinsella (IVW, OR=1.444, 95%CI: 1.028-2.026, pval = 0.034), genus Intestinibacter (IVW, OR=1.304, 95%CI: 1.047-1.623, pval = 0.018) and genus Turicibacter (IVW, OR=1.282, 95%CI: 1.02-1.611, pval = 0.033) increased the risk of PROM. Based on the other four supplementary methods, six gut microbiota may have a potential effect on PROM. Due to the presence of pleiotropy (pval=0.045), genus Lachnoclostridium should be ruled out. No evidence of horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity was found in other microbiota (pval >0.05).ConclusionsIn this study, we have discovered a causal relationship between the presence of specific probiotics and pathogens in the host and the risk of PROM. The identification of specific gut microbiota associated with PROM through MR studies offers a novel approach to diagnosing and treating this condition, thereby providing a new strategy for clinically preventing PROM.

Background: Yinqiaosan decoction (YQSD), a traditional Chinese medicinal recipe, has been employed to treat influenza in China for approximately 300 years. Objective: Our study aimed to explore the mechanisms of YQSD against influenza via in vivo and in vitro experimental studies. Study design: and methods UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was utilized to examine the substances of the YQSD. The chemical components of YQSD detected by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS were used for network pharmacology analysis. The antiviral effect of YQSD in vivo was investigated. The potential mechanisms of YQSD in combating influenza, which were predicted from network pharmacology analysis, were validated in vitro. Results: By use of UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS, 97 compounds were identified from YQSD. Network pharmacology analysis revealed that the therapeutic effect of YQSD against influenza may be associated with the regulation of T cell receptors (TCR) and Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K)- protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathways. Treatment with YQSD significantly prolonged the mean survival time of the mice and reduced lung injury due to the influenza A virus in vivo. It was discovered that YQSD efficiently inhibited the expression of inflammation-related cytokines. Moreover, YQSD has been found to significantly reduce the expression levels of cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and H1N1 virus nucleoprotein (NP), and prevent the decrease of epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) protein. In addition, YQSD can inhibit the phosphorylation of the zeta chain of T cell receptor-associated protein kinase 70 (ZAP70) and PI3K proteins in vitro. Conclusion: The capacity of YQSD to suppress viral multiplication and inflammatory response by modulating T cell immunity may explain its effect against influenza viral pneumonia, which may involve the regulation of TCR and PI3K signaling pathways.

Artificial intelligence for graph‐structured data has achieved remarkable success in applications such as recommendation systems, social networks, drug discovery, and circuit annotation. Graph convolutional networks (GCNs) are an effective way to learn representations of various graphs. The increasing size and complexity of graphs call for in‐memory computing (IMC) accelerators for GCN to alleviate massive data transmission between off‐chip memory and processing units. However, GCN implementation with IMC is challenging because of the large memory consumption, irregular memory access, and device nonidealities. Herein, a fully binarized GCN (BGCN) accelerator based on computational resistive random‐access memory (RRAM) through software–hardware codesign is presented. The essential operations including aggregation and combination in GCN are implemented on the RRAM crossbar arrays with cooperation between multiply‐and‐accumulation and content‐addressable memory operations. By leveraging the model quantization and IMC on the RRAM, the BGCN accelerator demonstrates less RRAM usage, high robustness to the device variations, high energy efficiency, and comparable classification accuracy compared to the current state‐of‐the‐art GCN accelerators on both graph classification task using the MUTAG and PTC datasets and node classification task using the Cora and CiteSeer datasets. These results provide a promising approach for edge intelligent systems to efficiently process graph‐structured data.

Abstract Combinatorial optimization (CO) has a broad range of applications in various fields, including operations research, computer science, and artificial intelligence. However, many of these problems are classified as nondeterministic polynomial‐time (NP)‐complete or NP‐hard problems, which are known for their computational complexity and cannot be solved in polynomial time on traditional digital computers. To address this challenge, continuous‐time Ising machine solvers have been developed, utilizing different physical principles to map CO problems to ground state finding. However, most Ising machine prototypes operate at speeds comparable to digital hardware and rely on binarizing node states, resulting in increased system complexity and further limiting operating speed. To tackle these issues, a novel device‐algorithm co‐design method is proposed for fast sub‐optimal solution finding with low hardware complexity. On the device side, a piezoelectric lithium niobate (LiNbO3) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) oscillator network‐based Ising machine without second‐harmonic injection locking (SHIL) is devised to solve Max‐cut and graph coloring problems. The LiNbO3 oscillator operates at speeds greater than 9 GHz, making it one of the fastest oscillatory Ising machines. System‐wise, an innovative grouping method is used that achieves a performance guarantee of 0.878 for Max‐cut and 0.658 for graph coloring problems, which is comparable to Ising machines that utilize binarization.

Endoscopic tattooing plays a pivotal role in modern endoscopic localization of gastrointestinal lesions, facilitating further surgical intervention and aiding in the postoperative identification and repositioning of lesions. However, traditional endoscopic tattoo dyes often suffer from drawbacks such as side effects, short tattoo duration, and high overall costs. In this study, we developed polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-modified polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles by oxidizing pyrrole in a PVP aqueous solution to create a PPy/PVP nanoparticle solution. This innovation aims to enhance endoscopic tattooing efficiency and mitigate the limitations associated with current tattooing methods. Both in vitro and in vivo evaluations confirmed the biosafety of PPy/PVP nanoparticles. Endoscopic tattooing experiments conducted in a pig model demonstrated the dye’s stability within the digestive tract. Similarly, subcutaneous tissue tattooing experiments performed in a mouse model revealed the sustained stability of the PPy/PVP tattoo dye for at least 180 days. With its robust stability, safety, and longevity, PPy/PVP nanoparticles hold promise as novel tattoo dyes for marking intestinal lesion sites. This advancement has the potential to enhance the accuracy of lesion localization and long-term tracking.

Background: High mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) is considered as a biomarker of poor prognosis in various cancers.This study aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of HMGB2 in gliomas. Methods: With the glioma related on-line and our local hospital databases, the expression differences of HMGB2,Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and COX regression analysis were performed.The correlation analysis between the clinicopathological features and imaging parameters with the HMGB2 expression had been done. Then GSEA and PPI networks were carried out to find out the most significant pathway. The pathway inhibitor was applied to verify HMGB2’s participation. CCK8,EDU assays,γ-H2AX immunofluorescence staining and colony formation assay were conducted to observe effects on glioma cells. Results: Available datasets showed that HMGB2 was highly expressed in glioma and patients with high expression of HMGB2 had poorer prognosis and molecular characteristics. Protein level evidence of western blot and immunohistochemistry from our center supported the conclusions above. Analysis on imaging features suggested that HMGB2 expression level had an inverse association with ADCmean but positively with the thickness of enhancing margin. Results from GSEA and PPI network analysis exhibited that HMGB2 was involved in base excision repair (BER) signaling pathway. Experimental evidence demonstrated that the overexpression of HMGB2 promoted the proliferation of glioma cells and enhanced the radio-resistance. Conclusions: HMGB2 could promote glioma development and enhance the radioresistance of glioma cells, potentially related to the BER pathway, suggesting it may serve as an underlying biomarker for patients with glioma.

Abstract Background In this era of big data, data harmonization is an important step to ensure reproducible, scalable, and collaborative research. Thus, terminology mapping is a necessary step to harmonize heterogeneous data. Take the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) for example, the mapping between them is essential for drug safety and pharmacovigilance research. Our main objective is to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the mapping status between MedDRA and ICD. We focus on evaluating the current mapping status between MedDRA and ICD through the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) and Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model (OMOP CDM). We summarized the current mapping statistics and evaluated the quality of the current MedDRA-ICD mapping; for unmapped terms, we used our self-developed algorithm to rank the best possible mapping candidates for additional mapping coverage. Results The identified MedDRA-ICD mapped pairs cover 27.23% of the overall MedDRA preferred terms (PT). The systematic quality analysis demonstrated that, among the mapped pairs provided by UMLS, only 51.44% are considered an exact match. For the 2400 sampled unmapped terms, 56 of the 2400 MedDRA Preferred Terms (PT) could have exact match terms from ICD. Conclusion Some of the mapped pairs between MedDRA and ICD are not exact matches due to differences in granularity and focus. For 72% of the unmapped PT terms, the identified exact match pairs illustrate the possibility of identifying additional mapped pairs. Referring to its own mapping standard, some of the unmapped terms should qualify for the expansion of MedDRA to ICD mapping in UMLS.

Oxidative stress and metabolic disorders are involved in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Heme oxygenase 2 (HMOX2) plays a critical role in preserving heme metabolism as well as in modulating glycolipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammation. This study examined the correlation between HMOX2 G554A (rs1051308) and A-42G (rs2270363) genetic variants with the risk of PCOS and assessed the effects of these genotypes on clinical, hormonal, metabolic, and oxidative stress indices using a case–control design that included 1014 patients with PCOS and 806 control participants. We found that the allelic and genotypic frequencies of the HMOX2 G554A and A-42G polymorphisms were comparable between the PCOS and control groups in Chinese women (P > 0.05). Nevertheless, it was discovered that patients with the AA or AG genotype of A-42G polymorphism had notably elevated levels of estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), LH/FSH ratio, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein (apo)B, and/or apoB/apoA1 ratio than those with the GG genotypes (P < 0.05). Patients with the GG or AG genotype of G554A polymorphism had elevated serum levels of LH, FSH, E2, LH/FSH ratio, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, apoB, and/or apoB/apoA1 ratio and lower 2-h glucose concentration compared with those with the AA genotype (P < 0.05). Our findings indicate a potential association between the genetic variants and endocrine abnormalities in the reproductive system and metabolic irregularities in glycolipid levels in patients, thus suggesting their potential role in the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Dopaminergic treatment has proved effective to Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the conventional treatment assessment is human-administered and prone to intra- and inter-assessor variability. In this paper, we propose a knowledge-driven framework and discover that brain ACtivation-Transition-Spectrum (ACTS) features achieve effective quantified assessments of dopaminergic therapy in PD. Firstly, brain activities of fifty-one PD patients during clinical walking tests under the OFF and ON states (without and with dopaminergic medication) were measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Then, brain ACTS features were formulated based on the medication-induced variations in temporal features of brain regional activation, transition features of brain hemodynamic states, and graph spectrum of brain functional connectivity. Afterwards, a prior selection algorithm was constructed based on recursive feature elimination and graph spectrum analysis for the selection of principal discriminative features. Further, linear discriminant analysis was conducted to predict the treatment-induced improvements. The results demonstrated that the proposed method decreased the misclassification probability from 42% to 16% in the evaluations of dopaminergic treatment and outperformed existing fNIRS-based methods. Therefore, the proposed method promises a quantified and objective approach for dopaminergic treatment assessment, and our brain ACTS features may serve as promising functional biomarkers for treatment evaluation.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is establishing itself as a promising treatment for disorders of consciousness (DOC). Measuring consciousness changes is crucial in the optimization of DBS therapy for DOC patients. However, conventional measures use subjective metrics that limit the investigations of treatment-induced neural improvements. The focus of this study is to analyze the regulatory effects of DBS and explain the regulatory mechanism at the brain functional level for DOC patients. Specifically, this paper proposed a dynamic brain temporal-spectral analysis method to quantify DBS-induced brain functional variations in DOC patients. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) that promised to evaluate consciousness levels was used to monitor brain variations of DOC patients. Specifically, a fNIRS-based experimental procedure with auditory stimuli was developed, and the brain activities during the procedure from thirteen DOC patients before and after the DBS treatment were recorded. Then, dynamic brain functional networks were formulated with a sliding-window correlation analysis of phase lag index. Afterwards, with respect to the temporal variations of global and regional networks, the variability of global efficiency, local efficiency, and clustering coefficient were extracted. Further, dynamic networks were converted into spectral representations by graph Fourier transform, and graph energy and diversity were formulated to assess the spectral global and regional variability. The results showed that DOC patients under DBS treatment exhibited increased global and regional functional variability that was significantly associated with consciousness improvements. Moreover, the functional variability in the right brain regions had a stronger correlation with consciousness enhancements than that in the left brain regions. Therefore, the proposed method well signifies DBS-induced brain functional variations in DOC patients, and the functional variability may serve as promising biomarkers for consciousness evaluations in DOC patients.

Recycling is a crucial waste management option because of the increasing amount of waste generated and the limited space in landfills. However, traditional recycling processes, which require individuals to deliver large quantities of waste to recycling centers, can discourage participation. To address this issue, this study expanded upon the technology acceptance model (TAM) by incorporating perceived risk and social influence to examine residents’ intentions to adopt recycling vending machines. This study used partial least squares structural equation modeling based on the data collected from 525 individuals in Jiangsu Province, China. This study’s findings indicate that TAM components, such as attitudes, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, positively influence residents’ intentions and behaviors to adopt recycling vending machines. Additionally, perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly affected attitudes toward recycling vending machines. This study also found that social influence had a significant positive impact on perceived usefulness and ease of use, while perceived risk negatively influenced these factors. Furthermore, attitude played a crucial mediating role, with additional factors impacting intentions and behaviors through attitude. Overall, this research can help stakeholders such as waste management companies to understand residents’ concerns and improve the implementation of recycling vending machines.

AimsThis study aims to investigate the effects of coronary collateral circulation (CCC) on the prognosis of chronic total occlusion (CTO) patients with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS).MethodsThe study included 342 CTO patients who underwent successful percutaneous coronary intervention at the People's Hospital of Liaoning Province between 1 February 2021 and 30 September 2023. The Rentrop score was used to assess the status of CCC. The outcome was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs), defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and non-fatal stroke. Univariate and multivariate logistic analyses were used to investigate the association of CCC, MetS, and MACCEs with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The effect of CCC was further investigated in different MetS, diabetes mellitus (DM), and Syntax score groups.ResultsMACCEs were more common in patients with poor CCC compared to those with good CCC (38.74% vs. 16.56%). Statistical differences were found in MACCEs (OR = 3.33, 95% CI: 1.93–5.72), MI (OR = 3.11, 95% CI: 1.73–5.58), TVR (OR = 3.06, 95% CI: 1.70–5.53), and stent thrombosis (OR = 6.14, 95% CI: 2.76–13.65) between the good and poor CCC groups. Poor CCC patients with MetS had a higher incidence of MACCEs (OR = 4.21, 95% CI: 2.05–8.65), non-fatal MI (OR = 4.44, 95% CI: 2.01–9.83), TVR (OR = 3.28, 95% CI: 1.51–7.11), and stent thrombosis (OR = 10.80, 95% CI: 3.11–37.54). Similar findings were also observed in CTO patients with DM and a Syntax score ≥23.ConclusionPoor CCC could increase the risk of MACCEs in CTO patients, particularly those with MetS, DM, and a Syntax score ≥23. Further prospective, multicenter studies are needed to validate our findings and to explore potential therapeutic interventions.

Background: Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an established treatment for inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), but its efficacy in CTEPH patients with a pulmonary comorbidity has not been well-studied. Here, we compared post-BPA outcomes between CTEPH patients with and without chronic pulmonary disease at baseline and analyzed predictors of BPA success. Methods: From August 2017 to October 2022, 62 patients with inoperable CTEPH who underwent BPA were consecutively enrolled and grouped based on the presence of a pulmonary comorbidity at baseline. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography, pulmonary function tests, and right heart catheterization. Pre- and post-BPA data were evaluated to identify factors that influence the success of BPA. Results: Among the 62 CTEPH patients, BPA was considered successful in 50 patients and unsuccessful in 12 patients. Responders to BPA had better exercise capacity and right heart function at baseline, but no differences in hemodynamic or respiratory function were detected between the groups. In CTEPH patients with chronic pulmonary disease (n = 14), BPA significantly improved mean pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance and right heart function parameters. Only CTEPH patients without chronic pulmonary disease (n = 48) exhibited significant improvement in 6-minute walk distance and respiratory function. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that pulmonary comorbidity at baseline was independently associated with the efficacy of BPA. Conclusions: BPA provided significantly improvements in hemodynamics and right heart function in CTEPH patients, independent of pulmonary comorbidity at baseline. However, pulmonary comorbidity can negatively impact post-BPA outcomes.

Abstract Background Noninvasive and precise methods to estimate treatment response and identify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who could benefit from transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) are urgently required. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics based on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) to preoperatively predict tumor response to TACE in HCC patients. Methods A total of 138 patients with HCC who received TACE were retrospectively included and randomly divided into training and validation cohorts at a ratio of 7:3. Total 1206 radiomics features were extracted from arterial, venous, and delayed phases images. The inter- and intraclass correlation coefficients, the spearman’s rank correlation test, and the gradient boosting decision tree algorithm were used for radiomics feature selection. Radiomics models on intratumoral region (TR) and peritumoral region (PTR) (3 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm) were established using logistic regression. Three integrated radiomics models, including intratumoral and peritumoral region (T-PTR) (3 mm), T-PTR (5 mm), and T-PTR (10 mm) models, were constructed using TR and PTR radiomics scores. A clinical-radiological model and a combined model incorporating the optimal radiomics score and selected clinical-radiological predictors were constructed, and the combined model was presented as a nomogram. The discrimination, calibration, and clinical utilities were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis, respectively. Results The T-PTR radiomics models performed better than the TR and PTR models, and the T-PTR (3 mm) radiomics model demonstrated preferable performance with the AUCs of 0.884 (95%CI, 0.821–0.936) and 0.911 (95%CI, 0.825–0.975) in both training and validation cohorts. The T-PTR (3 mm) radiomics score, alkaline phosphatase, tumor size, and satellite nodule were fused to construct a combined nomogram. The combined nomogram [AUC: 0.910 (95%CI, 0.854–0.958) and 0.918 (95%CI, 0.831–0.986)] outperformed the clinical-radiological model [AUC: 0.789 (95%CI, 0.709–0.863) and 0.782 (95%CI, 0.660–0.902)] in the both cohorts and achieved good calibration capability and clinical utility. Conclusions CE-MRI-based intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics approach can provide an effective tool for the precise and individualized estimation of treatment response for HCC patients treated with TACE.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most significant tropical and subtropical fruit species, with high ecological and economic value. However, research on the in vitro culture of mangoes is relatively weak, so establishing an efficient and stable mango plant regeneration system is of great significance. In this study, a preliminary mango regeneration system was established with Mangifera indica L. cv. Keitt from young branches as the starting explants. The results showed that the optimal plant growth regulator (PGR) formula for direct adventitious shoot induction on the branches was 1 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) + 0.1 mg/L a-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), with an adventitious shoot induction rate of 73.63% and an average of 6.76 adventitious shoots. The optimal basal medium for adventitious shoot induction was wood plant medium (WPM), with an adventitious shoot induction rate of 63.87% and an average of 5.21 adventitious shoots. The optimal culture medium for adventitious shoot elongation was WPM + 1 mg/L 6-BA + 0.5 mg/L NAA, with an adventitious shoot elongation rate of 89.33% and an average length of 5.17 cm. The optimal formula for the induction of mango rooting was Douglas fir cotyledon revised medium (DCR) + 3 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), with a maximum rooting rate of 66.13% and an average rooting quantity of 6.43. The genetic fidelity of the in vitro-regenerated plants was evaluated using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. There was no difference between the in vitro-regenerated plants and the parent plant. This study provides an efficient and stable propagation system for Mangifera indica L., laying the foundation for its rapid propagation and genetic improvement.