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Abstract Background The remarkable advancements in surgical techniques over recent years have shifted the clinical focus from merely reducing mortality to enhancing the quality of postoperative recovery. The duration of a patient’s hospital stay serves as a crucial indicator in evaluating postoperative recovery and surgical outcomes. This study aims to identify predictors of the length of hospital stay for children who have undergone corrective surgery for Ebstein Anomaly (EA). Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study on children (under 18 years of age) diagnosed with EA who were admitted for corrective surgery between January 2009 and November 2021 at Fuwai Hospital. The primary outcome was the Time to Hospital Discharge (THD). Cox proportional hazard models were utilized to identify predictors of THD. In the context of time-to-event analysis, discharge was considered an event. In cases where death occurred before discharge, it was defined as an extended THD, input as 100 days (exceeding the longest observed THD), and considered as a non-event. Results A total of 270 children were included in this study, out of which three died in the hospital. Following the Cox proportional hazard analysis, six predictors of THD were identified. The hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were as follows: age, 1.030(1.005,1.055); C/R > 0.65, 0.507(0.364,0.707); Carpentier type C or D, 0.578(0.429,0.779); CPB time, 0.995(0.991,0.998); dexamethasone, 1.373(1.051,1.795); and transfusion, 0.680(0.529,0.875). The children were categorized into three groups based on the quartile of THD. Compared to children in the ≤ 6 days group, those in the ≥ 11 days group were associated with a higher incidence of adverse outcomes. Additionally, the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay, as well as hospital costs, were significantly higher in this group. Conclusion We identified six predictors of THD for children undergoing corrective surgery for EA. Clinicians can utilize these variables to optimize perioperative management strategies, reduce adverse complications, improve postoperative recovery, and reduce unnecessary medical expenses.

Abstract This scholarly investigation scrutinizes the involvement of the private sector in environmentally sustainable projects, employing the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag methodology on yearly data spanning from 2000 to 2020 across 11 low and lower-middle-income Asian nations. It specifically assesses the influence of the good governance index. Findings indicate a notable correlation, where a 1% enhancement in the index corresponds to a 0.34% increase in private engagement in green projects in the short term and a 0.64% increase in the long term. The study underscores the significance of economic stability; a 1% escalation in uncertainty leads to a 0.56% short term and 0.73% long-term reduction in private participation. It underscores the driving role of gross domestic product growth and the proliferation of small and medium-sized enterprises, emphasizing the necessity for tailored financial instruments to stimulate private investment in green projects. Moreover, it explores practical policy avenues such as e-government services, information and communication technology-driven digital transformation, sustainable corporate governance, and issuance of state-backed green bonds to foster private-sector participation in eco-friendly initiatives. Future research avenues encompass examining the repercussions of the pandemic on private green investments and evaluating the efficacy of the public-private partnership model in green projects across these economies.

Abstract Background Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) promote tumor growth, metastasis, and lead to immunotherapy resistance. Studies revealed that miRNAs are also expressed in MDSCs and promote the immunosuppressive function of MDSCs. Currently, few studies have been reported on inducible cellular microvesicle delivery of nucleic acid drugs targeting miRNA in MDSCs for the treatment of malignant tumors. Results and conclusion In this study, we designed an artificial DNA named G-quadruplex-enhanced circular single-stranded DNA-9 (G4-CSSD9), that specifically adsorbs the miR-9 sequence. Its advanced DNA folding structure, rich in tandem repeat guanine (G-quadruplex), also provides good stability. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were prepared into nanostructured vesicles by membrane extrusion. The MSC microvesicles-encapsulated G4-CSSD9 (MVs@G4-CSSD9) was delivered into MDSCs, which affected the downstream transcription and translation process, and reduced the immunosuppressive function of MDSCs, so as to achieve the purpose of treating melanoma. In particular, it provides an idea for the malignant tumor treatment. Graphical Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the effect of selenium on gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer under a high-fat diet.MethodsA total of 12 female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups: 4 T1 + selenium+ high-fat diet group and 4 T1 + high-fat diet group. Mice were injected with 4 T1 cells on the right 4th mammary fat pad and kept on a high-fat diet. Fecal samples were collected, and DNA was extracted for metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Relevant target genes and pathways were annotated and metabolically analyzed to explore the intervention effect of selenium on breast cancer in the high-fat diet state.ResultsSelenium supplementation in the high-fat diet altered the composition and diversity of gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer. The gut microbial composition was significantly different in the selenium intervention group, with an increased abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia phyla and species such as Helicobacter ganmani, Helicobacter japonicus, and Akkermansia muciniphila, while phyla, such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Deferribacteres, and Spirochaetes, and species, such as Prevotella sp. MGM2, Muribaculum intestinale, Lactobacillus murinus, and Prevotella sp. MGM1, were decreased. Functional analysis revealed differential expression of genes related to carbohydrate-active enzymes, pathogen–host interactions, cell communication, cell auto-induction, membrane transporters, and virulence factors. Furthermore, 37 COGs and 48 metabolites with rising metabolic potential in the selenium intervention group were predicted.ConclusionSelenium alters the homeostasis of gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer on a high-fat diet, affecting their composition, abundance, and associated metabolism. These findings suggest that the mechanism involves interfering with gut microbiota homeostasis, leading to altered synthesis of tumor-associated proteins and fatty acids and inducing tumor cell apoptosis and pyroptosis.

ABSTRACT: Stress is known to disrupt the intestinal barrier and induce intestinal dysfunction. A critical role for gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in stress has emerged. However, whether GnIH mediates stress-induced intestinal dysfunction remains unknown. The present study explored this question through in vivo and in vitro experiments in hens. Our in vivo experiments showed that continuous intraperitoneal injection of GnIH not only significantly increased the concentration of stress hormones in serum, but also significantly elevated the mRNA expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the duodenum and jejunum. Moreover, morphological and molecular analyses revealed that GnIH disrupted the physical and chemical barriers of the intestine and dramatically increased inflammatory factor levels in the intestine and serum of hens. Interestingly, the microbiomics results showed that GnIH altered the structure and composition of the gut flora in the cecum, revealing an increased abundance of harmful intestinal bacteria such as Desulfovibrionaceae. Similar results were found in in vitro studies in which the GnIH-induced intestinal mucosal barrier was disrupted, and inflammation increased in jejunal explants, although no significant difference was found in the expression of GR between the control and GnIH groups. Our results demonstrated that GnIH not only directly damaged intestinal barriers and elevated intestinal inflammation but also mediated stress and microflora imbalance-induced intestinal function disorder, suggesting that GnIH is a potential therapeutic target for gut dysfunction, stress-induced intestinal function disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease in animals and humans.

Abstract Background The Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERACS) programs are comprehensive multidisciplinary interventions to improve patients’ recovery. The application of the ERAS principle in pediatric patients has not been identified completely. Methods This study is a multicenter, stepwise design, cluster randomized controlled trial. 3030 patients presenting during control and intervention periods are eligible if they are aged from 28 days to 6 years old and awaiting elective correction surgery of congenital heart disease with cardiopulmonary bypass. 5 centers are randomly assigned to staggered start dates for one-way crossover from the control phase to the intervention phase. In the intervention periods, patients will receive a bundle strategy including preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative approaches. During the control phase, patients receive the usual care. The primary outcome consists of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs), postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), and acute kidney injury (AKI). Discussion This study aims to explore whether the bundle of ERAS measurements could improve patients’ recovery in congenital heart surgery. Trial registration http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . (NCT05914103).

The gastrointestinal tract is an important part of the human immune system. The gut microbiome, which constitutes a major component of the gastrointestinal tract, plays a crucial role in maintaining normal physiological functions and influences the development, diagnosis, and immunotherapy of colorectal cancer (CRC). Natural polysaccharides can be extracted from animals, plants, and traditional Chinese medicines. They serve as an essential energy source for the gut microbiome, promoting probiotic proliferation and regulating the intestinal microecological balance. Moreover, polysaccharides exhibit anti-tumor effects due to their immune regulatory functions and low toxicity. This review focuses on discussing these anti-tumor effects in CRC, along with improving gut microbiome dysbiosis and regulating the tumor immune microenvironment, providing evidence for effective therapeutic strategies against CRC.

BackgroundIncreasing evidence indicates the microbial ecology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is intricately associated with the disease’s status and severity, and distinct microbial ecological variations exist between COPD and healthy control (HC). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize microbial diversity indices and taxa relative abundance of oral, airway, and intestine microbiota of different stages of COPD and HC to make comparisons.MethodsA comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases to identify relevant English articles on the oral, airway, and intestine microbiota in COPD published between 2003 and 8 May 2023. Information on microbial diversity indices and taxa relative abundance of oral, airway, and intestine microbiota was collected for comparison between different stages of COPD and HC.ResultsA total of 20 studies were included in this review, involving a total of 337 HC participants, 511 COPD patients, and 154 AECOPD patients. We observed that no significant differences in alpha diversity between the participant groups, but beta diversity was significantly different in half of the included studies. Compared to HC, Prevotella, Streptococcus, Actinomyces, and Veillonella of oral microbiota in SCOPD were reduced at the genus level. Most studies supported that Haemophilus, Lactobacillus, and Pseudomonas were increased, but Veillonella, Prevotella, Actinomyces, Porphyromonas, and Atopobium were decreased at the genus level in the airway microbiota of SCOPD. However, the abundance of Haemophilus, Lactobacillus and Pseudomonas genera exhibited an increase, whereas Actinomyces and Porphyromonas showed a decrease in the airway microbiota of AECOPD compared to HC. And Lachnospira of intestine microbiota in SCOPD was reduced at the genus level.ConclusionThe majority of published research findings supported that COPD exhibited decreased alpha diversity compared to HC. However, our meta-analysis does not confirm it. In order to further investigate the characteristics and mechanisms of microbiome in the oral-airway- intestine axis of COPD patients, larger-scale and more rigorous studies are needed.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/), identifier CRD42023418726.

Abstract Background Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a common cyanotic congenital heart malformation that carries a high risk of right-to-left shunting. Anemia is characterized by decreased hemoglobin (Hb) levels that can affect tissue oxygen delivery and impact postoperative recovery in patients. Chronic hypoxia caused by right-to-left shunting of TOF could lead to compensatory increases in Hb to maintain systemic oxygen balance. This study aims to investigate whether preoperative Hb and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) can predict adverse outcomes in children undergoing corrective surgery for TOF. Methods This retrospective study included patients under 18 years of age who underwent corrective surgery for TOF at Fuwai Hospital between January 2016 and December 2018. Adverse outcomes, including in-hospital death, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation implantation, ICU stay > 30 days, and severe complications, were considered as the primary outcome. Univariable and multivariable logistic analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors for adverse outcomes. Propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis was also conducted to minimize the confounding factors. Results A total of 596 children were included in the study, of which 64 (10.7%) experienced adverse outcomes. Hb*SpO2

Abstract Background Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common pathogen that often causes diarrhea in piglets. Since bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics, phages have become a promising alternative therapy. However, the therapy of oral phage often fails to achieve the desired effect. A novel phage named A221 was isolated by using E. coli GXXW-1103 as host strain, characterized by electron microscopy, genomic sequencing and analyzed by measuring lysis ability in vitro. Results Phage A221 was identified as a member of Ackermannviridae, Aglimvirinae, Agtrevirus with 153297 bp genome and effectively inhibited bacterial growth in vitro for 16 h. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of oral microencapsulated phage A221 on E. coli GXXW-1103 infections in weaned piglets. The protective effect of phage was evaluated by body weight analysis, bacterial load and histopathological changes. The results showed that with the treatment of phage A221, the body weight of piglets increased, the percentage of Enterobacteriaceae in duodenum decreased to 0.64%, the lesions in cecum and duodenum were alleviated, and the bacterial load in the jejunal lymph nodes, cecum and spleen were also significantly different with infected group (P

The Airborne Terahertz Ice Cloud Imager (ATICI) is an airborne demonstration prototype of an ice cloud imager (ICI), which will be launched on the next generation of Fengyun satellites and plays an important role in heavy precipitation detection, typhoon, and medium-to-short-term meteorological/ocean forecasting. At present, it has 13 frequency channels covering 183–664 GHz, which are sensitive to scattering by cloud ice. This paper provides an overview of ATICI and proposes a receiving front-end design scheme using a planar mirror and a quasi-optical feed network which improves the main beam efficiency of each frequency band, with measured values better than 95.5%. It can detect factors such as ice particle size, ice water path, and ice water content in clouds by rotating the circular scanning of the antenna feed system. A high-sensitivity receiver system has been developed and tested for verification. The flight verification results show that the quasi-optical feed network subsystem works well and performs stably under vibration and temperature changes. The system sensitivity is better than 1.5 K, and the domestically produced high-frequency receiver has stable performance, which can meet the conditions of satellite applications. The ATICI performs well and meets expectations, verifying the feasibility of the Fengyun-5 ICI payload.

For synthetic aperture microwave radiometers, the problem of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is becoming more and more serious, which affects both the scientific retrieval of remote sensing data and the imaging quality of brightness temperature (BT) images. In the visibility data domain, the array factor synthesis algorithm is commonly employed to mitigate RFI sources and their Gibbs trailing. In the BT image domain, the CLEAN algorithm is typical applied to mitigate RFI sources and their Gibbs trailing. However, the array factor synthesis algorithm can result in anomalous BT points near the “zero trap” region, and the CLEAN algorithm will miss some BT points below a certain threshold. In this paper, a Bi-domain combined mitigation algorithm is proposed to mitigate RFI sources and their Gibbs trailing. Following initial mitigation in the visibility data domain, dual thresholds are applied to normalize anomalous BT points near the “zero trap” region, thereby enhancing imaging quality. The effectiveness of the Bi-domain combined mitigation algorithm is verified by using both measured data from SMOS L1A and simulated data. The experimental results demonstrate that the Bi-domain combined mitigation algorithm is superior to the array factor synthesis algorithm and the CLEAN algorithm in mitigating RFI sources and their Gibbs trailing.

Herein, we explore the generation and characterization of the radical cations of glycylphenylalanylglycine, or [GFG]•+, formed via dissociative electron-transfer reaction from the tripeptide to copper(II) within a ternary complex. A comprehensive investigation employing isotopic labeling, infrared multiple-photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidated the details and energetics in formation of the peptide radical cations as well as their dissociation products. Unlike conventional aromatic-containing peptide radical cations that primarily form canonical π-radicals, our findings reveal that 75% of the population of the experimentally produced [GFG]•+ precursors are [GFα•G]+, where the radical resides on the middle α-carbon of the phenylalanyl residue. This unexpected isomeric ion has an enthalpy of 6.8 kcal/mol above the global minimum, which has an N-terminal captodative structure, [Gα•FG]+, comprising 25% of the population. The [b₂-H]•+ product ions are also present in a ratio of 75/25 from [GFα•G]+/ [Gα•FG]+, the results of which are obtained from matches between the IRMPD action spectrum and predicted IR absorption spectra of the [b₂-H]•+ candidate structures, as well as from IRMPD isomer population analyses.

Background: Colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are both common life-threatening diseases in the elderly population. Some studies suggest a possible inverse relationship between colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, but real-world research is subject to many biases. We hope to clarify the causal relationship between the two through a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Methods: In our study, we used genetic summary data from large-scale genome-wide association studies to investigate the relationship between colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Our primary analysis employed the inverse-variance weighted method and we also used complementary techniques, including MR-Egger, weighted median estimator, and Maximum likelihood. We applied simex adjustment to the MR-Egger results. We also utilized the MRlap package to detect potential sample overlap and its impact on the bias of the results. In addition, we performed several sensitivity and heterogeneity analyses, to ensure the reliability of our results.Results: The combined effect size results of the inverse-variance weighted method indicate that colorectal cancer may decrease the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.846 (95% CI: 0.762–0.929). Similar results were observed using other methods such as MR-Egger, weighted median estimator, and Maximum likelihood. On the other hand, Alzheimer’s disease may slightly increase the incidence of colorectal cancer, with an OR of 1.014 (95% CI: 1.001–1.027). However, the results of one subgroup were not significant, and the results from MRlap indicated that sample overlap introduced bias into the results. Therefore, the results of the reverse validation are not reliable. The F-statistic for all SNPs was greater than 20. Four SNPs related to the outcome were excluded using Phenoscanner website but the adjustment did not affect the overall direction of the results. The results of these statistics were further validated by MR-PRESSO, funnel plots, leave-one-out analyses, Cochran’s Q, demonstrating the reliability of the findings.Conclusion: According to the findings of this Mendelian randomization study, there appears to be a causal association between colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. These results could have important implications for clinical practice in terms of how colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease are treated. To better understand the relationship between these two diseases, more research and screening are needed in clinical settings.

Summary: The carcinogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are closely related to viral infection and intestinal bacteria. However, little is known about bacteria within the HCC tumor microenvironment. Here, we showed that intratumoral Mycoplasma hyorhinis (M. hyorhinis) promoted the initiation and progression of HCC by enhancing nuclear ploidy. We quantified M. hyorhinis in clinical tissue specimens of HCC and observed that patients with high M. hyorhinis load had poor prognosis. We found that gastrointestinal M. hyorhinis can retrogradely infect the liver through the oral-duodenal-hepatopancreatic ampulla route. We further found that the increases in mononuclear polyploidy and cancer stemness resulted from mitochondrial fission caused by intracellular M. hyorhinis. Mechanistically, M. hyorhinis infection promoted the decay of mitochondrial fusion protein (MFN) 1 mRNA in an m6A-dependent manner. Our findings indicated that M. hyorhinis infection promoted pathological polyploidization and suggested that Mycoplasma clearance with antibiotics or regulating mitochondrial dynamics might have the potential for HCC therapy.

Low P-containing wastewaters (LPWs) exhibit huge P recovery potential, considering their larger volume. P recovery via CaP crystallization using apatite as seed is documented as being potentially well suited for LPWs. However, its responsible mechanisms remain a subject for debate. Taking hydroxyapatite (HAP) as the seed of LPWs, this paper conducted HAP adsorption/dissolution experiments, titration experiments, and P recovery experiments to distinguish the primary responsible mechanism. Results showed that it was HAP dissolution, not P adsorption, that occurred when the initial P concentration was no higher than 5 mg/L, ruling out adsorption mechanism of P recovery from LPWs using HAP as the seed. Significant OH− consumption and rapid P recovery occurred simultaneously within the first 60 s in titration experiments, suggesting CaP crystallization should be responsible for P recovery. Moreover, the continuous increase in P recovery efficiency with seed dosages observed in P recovery experiments seemed to follow well the mechanism of pre-nucleation ion clusters (PNCs) aggregation. During PNCs aggregation, P aggregates with Ca2+ quickly, generating CaP PNCs; then, CaP PNCs aggregate with seed particles, followed by CaP PNCs fusion, and ultimately transform into fines attached to the seed surface. PNCs’ aggregation mechanism was further supported by a comparison of seed SEM images before and after P recovery, since denser and smaller rod-shaped fines were observed on the seed surface after P recovery. This study suggests that PNCs’ aggregation is the dominant mechanism responsible for the recovery of P from LPWs via CaP crystallization using HAP as the seed.

Abstract Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) play an important role in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) may exert therapeutic effects on AAA through their immunomodulatory and regenerative abilities. This study aimed to examine the role and mechanism of MSC-EVs in regulating the development of NET-mediated AAA. Excessive release of NETs was observed in patients with AAA, and the levels of NET components were associated with the clinical outcomes of the patients. Datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were analyzed and revealed that the PI3K/AKT pathway and ferroptosis were strongly associated with NETosis during AAA formation. Further experiments verified that NETs promoted AAA formation by inducing ferroptosis in smooth muscle cells (SMCs) by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT pathway. The PI3K agonist 740 Y-P, the ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1, and Padi4 deficiency significantly prevented AAA formation. MSC-EVs attenuated AAA formation by reducing NET release in an angiotensin II-induced AAA mouse model. In vitro experiments revealed that MSC-EVs reduced the release of NETs by shifting NETosis to apoptosis. Our study indicates an important role for NET-induced SMC ferroptosis in AAA formation and provides several potential targets for AAA treatment.

Abstract Background Ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation can lead to skin damage and premature skin aging known as photoaging. This work found that UVA irradiation caused an imbalance between dermal matrix synthesis and degradation through the aberrant upregulation of transgelin (TAGLN) and studied the underlying molecular mechanism. Results Co-immunoprecipitation and proximal ligation assay results showed that TAGLN can interact with USP1. USP1 can be retained in the cytoplasm by TAGLN in UVA-induced cells, which inhibits the interaction between USP1/zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), promote the ubiquitination degradation of ZEB1, and lead to photoaging. TAGLN knockdown can release USP1 retention and help human skin fibroblasts (HSFs) resist UVA-induced damage. The interactive interface inhibitors of TAGLN/USP1 were screened via virtual docking to search for small molecules that inhibit photoaging. Zerumbone (Zer), a natural product isolated from Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith, was screened out. Zer can competitively bind TAGLN to reduce the retention of USP1 in the cytoplasm and the degradation of ZEB1 ubiquitination in UV-induced HSFs. The poor solubility and permeability of Zer can be improved by preparing it as a nanoemulsion, which can effectively prevent skin photoaging caused by UVA in wild-type (WT) mice. Zer cannot effectively resist the photoaging caused by UVA in Tagln −/− mice because of target loss. Conclusions The present results showed that the interaction of TAGLN and USP1 can promote ZEB1 ubiquitination degradation in UV-induced skin photoaging, and Zer can be used as an interactive interface inhibitor of TAGLN/USP1 to prevent photoaging.

x wt.% B4C/Ti6Al4V titanium matrix composites were prepared by selective laser melting (SLM) technology. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the SLM-formed and heat-treated samples were studied in detail. The results indicated that an in-situ reaction occurred during the SLM process, producing acicular TiB, whisker TiB and granular TiC. The microhardness of the selective laser melted sample increased with increasing B4C content. When wt.% (B4C) is 0.05, the mechanical properties, i.e., compressive strength, compressive strain, tensile strength and elongation, of the SLM-formed sample are 2021 MPa, 29.98%, 1225 MPa and 14.17%, respectively. In addition, some of the SLM-formed samples were solution-treated at different temperatures (950 °C, 1000 °C, 1050 °C), and the microstructures were obviously changed, resulting in an increase in grain size and agglomeration of the in-situ reaction products. As the solution temperature increases, the microhardness of the composites decreases, and the tensile strength, compressive strength and strain tend to increase, but they are generally weaker than those of the original samples. When the solution temperature is 1050 °C, the tensile strength and elongation of the composite are 1402 MPa and 13.74%, respectively.

Unlike the traditional multichannel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) 3-D reconstruction technology, the single-channel SAR with two synthetic apertures in the vertical and horizontal planes, realized by curved trajectory, has the advantages of requiring less acquisition data, lower device cost, and fewer limitations on trajectories. However, due to the complex aerodynamic configuration and flight characteristics, critical challenges are faced, including the mathematical model establishment, signal property analyses, and reconstruction approach design. In this article, to address these issues, a 3-D vector geometry model of the curvilinear SAR (CLSAR) system is presented and its properties, including elevation bandwidth and resolution, are studied in detail. Then, a novel 3-D reconstruction approach for a single-channel CLSAR system based on azimuth prefocusing is presented, in which the cylindrical symmetry of the SAR system is utilized to provide accurate azimuth information of targets in observing scenes. With the assisted azimuths, the scene imaged in the vertical plane can be performed, and the 3-D reconstruction of interested targets can be obtained. Numerical results using simulated data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Grid-based features have been proven to be as effective as region-based features in multi-modal tasks such as visual question answering. However, its application to image captioning encounters two main issues, namely, noisy features and fragmented semantics. In this paper, we propose a novel feature selection scheme, with a Relation-Aware Selection (RAS) and a Fine-grained Semantic Guidance (FSG) learning strategy. Based on the grid-wise interactions, RAS can enhance the salient visual regions and channels, and suppress the less important ones. In addition, this selection process is guided by FSG, which uses fine-grained semantic knowledge to supervise the selection process. Experimental results on the MS COCO show the proposed RAS-FSG scheme achieves state-of-the-art performance on both the off-line and on-line testing, i.e., 134.3 CIDEr for the off-line testing and 135.4 for the on-line testing of MSCOCO. Extensive ablation studies and visualizations also validate the effectiveness of our scheme.

ABSTRACTRemote sensing Change Detection (CD) involves identifying changing regions of interest in bi-temporal remote sensing images. CD technology has rapidly developed in recent years through the powerful learning ability of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), affording complex feature extraction. However, the local receptive fields in the CNN limit modeling long-range contextual relationships in semantic changes. Therefore, this work explores the great potential of Siamese Transformers in CD tasks and proposes a general CD model entitled STCD that relies on Swin Transformers. In the encoding process, pure Transformers without CNN are used to model the long-range context of semantic tokens, reducing computational overhead and improving model efficiency compared to current methods. During the decoding process, the 3D convolution block obtains the changing features in the time series and generates the predicted change map in the deconvolution layer with axial attention. Extensive experiments on three binary CD datasets and one semantic CD dataset demonstrate that the proposed STCD model outperforms several popular benchmark methods considering performance and the required parameters. Among the STCD variants, the F1-Score of the Base-STCD on the three binary CD datasets LEVIR, DSIFN, and SVCD reached 89.85%, 54.72%, and 93.75%, respectively, and the mF1-Score and mIoU on the semantic CD dataset SECOND were 75.60% and 66.19%.

Abstract Background Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) after pediatric cardiac surgery imposes a great burden on patients in terms of morbidity, mortality as well as financial costs. Ebstein anomaly (EA) is a rare congenital heart disease, and few studies have been conducted about PMV in this condition. This study aimed to establish a simple-to-use nomogram to predict the risk of PMV for EA children. Methods The retrospective study included patients under 18 years who underwent corrective surgeries for EA from January 2009 to November 2021. PMV was defined as postoperative mechanical ventilation time longer than 24 hours. Through multivariable logistic regression, we identified and integrated the risk factors to develop a simple-to-use nomogram of PMV for EA children and internally validated it by bootstrapping. The calibration and discriminative ability of the nomogram were determined by calibration curve, Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Two hundred seventeen children were included in our study of which 44 (20.3%) were in the PMV group. After multivariable regression, we obtained five risk factors of PMV. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were as follows: preoperative blood oxygen saturation, 0.876(0.805,0.953); cardiothoracic ratio, 3.007(1.107,8.169); Carpentier type, 4.644(2.065,10.445); cardiopulmonary bypass time, 1.014(1.005,1.023) and postoperative central venous pressure, 1.166(1.016,1.339). We integrated the five risk factors into a nomogram to predict the risk of PMV. The area under ROC curve of nomogram was 0.805 (95% CI, 0.725,0.885) and it also provided a good discriminative information with the corresponding Hosmer-Lemeshow p values > 0.05. Conclusions We developed a nomogram by integrating five independent risk factors. The nomogram is a practical tool to early identify children at high-risk for PMV after EA corrective surgery.

The change detection (CD) of heterogeneous remote sensing images is an important but challenging task. The difficulty is to obtain the change information by directly comparing the different statistical characteristics of the images acquired by different sensors. This paper proposes an unsupervised method for heterogeneous image CD based on an image domain transfer network. First, an attention mechanism is added to the Cycle-generative adversarial networks (Cycle-GANs) to obtain a more consistent feature expression by transferring bi-temporal heterogeneous images to the common domain. The Euclidean distance of the corresponding pixels is calculated in the common domain to form a difference map, and a threshold algorithm is applied to get a rough change map. Finally, the proposed adaptive Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) algorithm reduces the noise introduced by false detection, and the final change map is obtained. The proposed method is verified on three real heterogeneous CD datasets and compared with the current state-of-the-art methods. The results show that the proposed method is accurate and robust for performing heterogeneous CD tasks.

This study incorporates a static press-in piling machine into the conventional laboratory model tests for jacked piles. By conducting a comparative analysis between two tests, one involving the static press-in piling machine and the other focusing solely on pile jacking, this study aims to unveil the variations in penetration characteristics with pile sinking depth during the process of pile jacking under the constraint imposed by the static press-in piling machine. When considering the impact of the piling machine, the pile pressing force, pile sinking resistance, pile axial force, and unit side friction resistance of the pile body are higher compared to test results that only focus on pile jacking. There is an acceleration in the total side friction resistance within the depth range of 20 to 30 cm. Additionally, the reduction rate of axial force during the entire pile jacking process is 2% higher, with a general reduction in the “side resistance degradation” phenomenon. The soil pressure around the pile exhibits an initial increase followed by a decrease. The authors believe that the model box test of the jacked pile, considering the pile machine, would be more aligned with engineering practice.

For an aperture synthesis radiometer (ASR), the visibility and the modified brightness temperature (BT) are related to the Fourier transform when the distance between the system and the source is in the far-field region. BT reconstruction can be achieved using G-matrix imaging. However, for ASRs with large array sizes, the far-field condition is not satisfied when performing performance tests in an anechoic chamber due to size limitations. Using far-field imaging methods in near-field conditions can introduce errors in the images and fail to correctly reconstruct the BT. Most of the existing methods deal with visibilities, converting near-field visibilities to far-field visibilities, which are suitable for point sources but not good for extended source correction. In this paper, two near-field imaging methods are proposed based on the near-field distance. These methods enable BT reconstruction in near-field conditions by generating improved resolving matrices: the near-field G-matrix and the F-matrix. These methods do not change the visibility measurements and can effectively image both the point source and the extended source in the near field. Simulations of point sources and extended sources in near-field conditions demonstrate the effectiveness of both methods, with F-matrix imaging outperforming near-field G-matrix imaging. The feasibility of both near-field imaging methods is further validated by carrying out experiments on a 10-element Y-array system.

Increasing evidence confirms that histone modification plays a critical role in preserving long-term immunological memory. Immune priming is a novel form of immunological memory recently verified in invertebrates. Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling and cytokines have been reported to be involved in the immune priming of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. In the present study, the expression of Toll-like receptor 3 (CgTLR3), myeloid differentiation factor 88-2 (CgMyd88-2) and interleukin 17-1 (CgIL17-1) was found to be elevated in the hemocytes of C. gigas at 6 h after the secondary stimulation with Vibrio splendidus, which was significantly higher than that at 6 h after the primary stimulation (p < 0.05). A significant increase in histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) enrichment was detected in the promoter region of the CgTLR3 gene at 7 d after the primary stimulation with inactivated V. splendidus (p < 0.05). After the treatment with a histone methyltransferase inhibitor (5′-methylthioadenosine, MTA), the level of H3K4me3 at the promoter of the CgTLR3 gene decreased significantly at 7 d after the primary stimulation with inactivated V. splendidus (p < 0.05), and the expression of CgTLR3, CgMyD88-2 and CgIL17-1 was significantly repressed at 6 h after the secondary stimulation with V. splendidus (p < 0.05). Conversely, the treatment with monomethyl fumarate (MEF, an inhibitor of histone demethylases) resulted in a significant increase in H3K4me3 enrichment levels at the CgTLR3 promoter at 7 d after the primary stimulation (p < 0.05), and the expression of CgTLR3, CgMyD88-2 and CgIL17-1 was observed to increase significantly at 6 h after the secondary stimulation (p < 0.05). These results suggested that H3K4me3 regulated MyD88-dependent TLR signaling in the hemocytes of C. gigas, which defined the role of histone modifications in invertebrate immune priming.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an oncogenic virus consisting of both latent and lytic life cycles. Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is an aggressive B-cell lineage lymphoma, dominantly latently infected by KSHV. The latent infection of KSHV is persistent and poses an obstacle to killing tumor cells. Like the "shock and kill" strategy designed to eliminate latent HIV reservoir, methods that induce viral lytic reactivation in tumor latently infected by viruses represent a unique antineoplastic strategy, as it could potentially increase the specificity of cytotoxicity in cancer. Inspired by this conception, we proposed that the induction of KSHV lytic reactivation from latency could be a potential therapeutic stratagem for KSHV-associated cancers. Oxidative stress, the clinical hallmark of PEL, is one of the most prominent inducers for KSHV reactivation. Paradoxically, we found that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) triggers robust cytotoxic effects on KSHV-negative rather than KSHV-positive B lymphoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, we identified forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1) and FoxO3 as irrevocable antioxidant defense genes and both of them are upregulated by KSHV latent infection, which is essential for the promoted ROS scavenging in KSHV-positive B lymphoma cells. Pharmacological inhibition or functional knockdown of either FoxO1 or FoxO3 is sufficient to ablate the antioxidant ability and therefore increases the intracellular ROS level that further reverses KSHV from latency to active lytic replication in PEL cells, resulting in tremendous cell death both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, the elevated level of ROS by inhibiting FoxO proteins further sensitizes PEL cells to ROS-induced apoptosis. Our study therefore demonstrated that the lytic reactivation of KSHV by inhibiting FoxO proteins is a promising therapeutic approach for PEL, which could be further extended to other virus-associated diseases.

Interference has recently become a critical factor in communication satellite performance, and the interference source location is one of the most important factors in resolving this issue. The article proposes an innovative method of interference source direction-finding suitable for communication satellites with an existing single antenna beam and single radio frequency (RF) channel, which utilizes the symmetry of the antenna pattern to search for interference sources. Compared to traditional position methods with time-frequency-synchronized multi-satellites or a directing antenna array in a single satellite, the method does not require any particular direction-finding payload in communication satellites and shares existing antennas and RF channels with communication systems in satellites. The ability to find the direction of the interference source is a software-defined function in the communication processor. The proposed method provides a novel way to solve the problems of interference source direction-finding with the least engineering complexity, and it has excellent coexistence with other existing systems in communication satellites. The computer simulation and out-field experiment results in this article show that the method has excellent performance with high direction-finding resolution within extensive coverage, offering significant value and bright prospects for resolving the growing interference issues in communication satellites.

IntroductionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic in China, the silent management (Lockdown) policy has caused severe sleep problems for university students. Long-term isolation may further deteriorate sleep quality, and it requires practical interventions. Today in mental and sleep health, interventions based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian ethics have been proven effective in reducing cognition and sleep disorders. However, such interventions also have limitations. They tend to focus on peace of mind or some technical means with the main direction of symptom improvement but neglect the mundane activities of daily life.MethodsWe conducted an innovative tranquil sitting intervention program based on the Chinese Confucian value of the “tranquility and reverence” method, integrating various intervention techniques traditionally recognized as effective for achieving more lasting mental health and sleep quality. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of a tranquil sitting intervention in improving sleep problems in isolated university students. Using a randomized control trial (RCT), the participants in the intervention program (n = 35) practiced the tranquil sitting intervention program for ten weeks. They had their PSQI scores measured at the pre-experimental, post-test, and 1-month follow-up time points and compared to the control group (n = 35).ResultsThe participants who received the tranquil sitting intervention had significantly better sleep quality than the control group, with moderate to large effect sizes in the middle and late stages. The instructor may challenge the intervention group at the beginning of the tranquil sitting technique. However, the improvement in sleep quality was significant after fully mastering the method.DiscussionThe intervention program in this study emphasized the importance of “tranquility” and showed the same sleep improvement as in other traditional interventions. In conclusion, this intervention is a feasible and promising new approach to improving sleep quality among youths.

BackgroundMarital status is a robust sociodemographic predictor of sleep. Having to live apart from spouse may have different implications than those of cohabitants or singles, especially in military personnel. Further research on this group will help provide knowledge in advance and facilitate early targeted interventions.MethodsAn online questionnaire study was conducted from July to November 2021. A total of 1,832 male military personnel completed the questionnaire. The marital status was measured by a self-reported single choice question. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and The Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about sleep scale (DBAS-16) were used to measure sleep-related outcomes. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was applied to reduce the effects of confounding. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between marital status and sleep and explore the impact of living together or not.ResultsAfter inverse probability weighting, the prevalence of poor sleep quality, sleepiness and dysfunctional beliefs were 16.1, 20.1 and 7.1%, respectively. One-way ANOVA results for the means of both groups were statistically significantly different, except for the sleep latency and sleep disturbance dimensions of PSQI. Participants who were married were more likely to have poor sleep quality (OR: 1.408, 95% CI: [1.10, 1.80]), to have daytime sleepiness (OR: 1.560, 95% CI: [1.27, 1.92]) and to develop dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes (OR: 2.497, 95% CI: [1.65, 3.80]) than those who were unmarried. Further analysis showed that the odds of developing poor sleep quality and DBAS in participants who married but living apart were significantly bigger than those unmarried (OR: 1.548 and 3.991, respectively.), while there were no significant differences in the odds of daytime sleepiness (OR: 0.738, p = 0.050). Age was a protective factor for the development of bad sleep outcomes, while family economic was an independent risk factor.ConclusionMarital status appear important for sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and sleep beliefs. The effect of living apart or not should be considered separately as an important predictor of sleep.

Abstract Corneal volume (CV) is a useful index for detecting forme fruste keratoconus from normal corneas. It can be used to evaluate the whole cornea, since it can measure corneal areas up to 10 mm in diameter. Thus, CV has become the clinicians' interest as a diagnostic tool of corneal ectatic disease and a measure of corneal integrity to determine suitability for refractive surgery. We conducted a cross‐sectional study including 7893 myopic patients from five ophthalmic centers to investigate the distribution pattern of CV. Our study showed that distribution of CV‐3, CV‐5, and CV‐7 mm were slightly positively skewed and the 2.5th to 97.5th percentiles were 3.6–4.4, 10.4–12.8, 22.5–27.5 mm3, respectively. Central corneal thickness (CCT) was significantly correlated with CV in all measurement regions. The correlation between CV and CCT showed an inconsistent trend with the increase of age. The correlation coefficient between CV and CCT did not change significantly with the increase of myopia degree in low to moderate myopia, but fluctuated significantly in high myopia (less than −6.0 diopters). According to our results, corneal volume follows a slightly positively skewed distribution pattern in myopic Chinese patients. The information is useful for screening refractive surgery candidates and assessing the risk of corneal refractive surgery.

The geostationary orbit microwave multi-channel radiometer has the advantages of high real-time performance and large coverage, which plays an important role in typhoon, strong precipitation detection, and medium-to-short-term meteorological/oceanic forecasting. However, due to the difficulty in engineering development of the payload, its application on-orbit has not yet been achieved at present. To satisfy the requirements of fine and quantitative application of satellite observation data, a geostationary orbit microwave multi-channel radiometer with a 10-m-caliber is developed, in which the spatial resolution at horizontal polarization is better than 24 km at 54 GHz. In geostationary orbit microwave multi-channel radiometer, a quasi-optical feed network covering nearly 28 frequency octave bands and ranging from 23.8 to 664 GHz is proposed to solve the technical problem of multi-frequency sharing in the system. Meanwhile, a high-precision reflector preparation method and a high-precision unfolding scheme are proposed, which are considered as a solution for the large-diameter reflector with a high maintaining surface accuracy. A high-precision antenna prototype with 0.54-m is developed, and the tests are performed to verify the key technologies, such as the preparation of high-precision grating reflectors at the micron level, high surface accuracy detection, and sub-millimeter wave antenna electrical performance testing. The results indicate that measured main beam efficiency of the 664 GHz antenna is better than 95.5%. In addition, the system sensitivity is greater than 1.5 K, and the calibration accuracy is better than 1.8 K, according to the results of an analysis of the multi-channel radiometer’s essential parameters and calibration errors.

ABSTRACTScene classification for remote sensing image (RSI) of land use and land cover (LULC) involves identifying discriminative features of interest in different classes. Spurred by the powerful feature extraction capability of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), LULC classification for RSI has rapidly developed in recent years. Although multi-models have better classification performance than single-models, combining multi-models is still the key to maximizing classification accuracy. Thus, this paper proposes a dual-model architecture with multilevel feature fusion called XE-Net. Specifically, high, middle, and low-level features are extracted by the Xception and EfficientNet-V2, respectively, and through transfer learning, the model’s weighting parameters from the ImageNet data are shared. Moreover, the designed sibling feature fusion algorithm fuses the triple-level features extracted from the dual models sequentially according to the same level. Besides, the proposed multi-scale feature fusion method systematically enhances the fused three-scale features to improve the discriminative feature. Finally, the discriminative feature is input into the classifier to obtain the classification results. The maximum average overall accuracy obtained from sufficient experiments using XE-Net on the RSSCN-7 dataset is 96.84%, while WHU-19, UCM-21, OPTIMAL-31, NWPU-RESISC45, and AID attain 99.58%, 99.37%, 97.07%, 95.03%, and 95.78%, respectively, demonstrating our model’s superiority.

Abstract Background Phellinus linteus (PL), which is a typical medicinal fungus, has been shown to have antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities. However, studies on the effect of anti-photoaging are limited. Studies have shown that exosome-like nanovesicles are functional components of many medicinal plants, and miRNAs in exosome-like nanovesicles play a cross-kingdom regulatory role. At present, research on fungi exosome-like nanovesicles (FELNVs) is few. Results We systematically evaluated the anti-aging effects of PL. FELNVs of PL were isolated, and the functional molecular mechanisms were evaluated. The results of volunteer testing showed that PL had anti-aging activity. The results of component analysis showed that FELNVs were the important components of PL function. FELNVs are nanoparticles (100–260 nm) with a double shell structure. Molecular mechanism research results showed that miR-CM1 in FELNVs could inhibit Mical2 expression in HaCaT cells through cross-kingdom regulation, thereby promoting COL1A2 expression; inhibiting MMP1 expression in skin cells; decreasing the levels of ROS, MDA, and SA-β-Gal; and increasing SOD activity induced by ultraviolet (UV) rays. The above results indicated that miR-CM1 derived from PL inhibited the expression of Mical2 through cross-kingdom regulation and inhibited UV-induced skin aging. Conclusion miR-CM1 plays an anti-aging role by inhibiting the expression of Mical2 in human skin cells through cross-species regulation. Graphical abstract

Purpose: Intravitreal injection of conbercept (IVC) is a novel anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This study aimed to assess the intraocular pressure (IOP) effect of IVC.Methods: All IVC surgeries were performed in the Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, from January 2021 to May 2021. In this study, 30 eyes of 15 infants who received intravitreal injections of conbercept at a dose of 0.25 mg/0.025 mL were included. The IOP of all participants was measured prior to administering the injection and subsequently at 2 min, 1 h, 1 day, and 1 week thereafter.Results: We included 30 eyes (10 boys and 5 girls) with ROP. For the male group, the mean birth weight, mean gestational age at birth, and the mean time of postmenstrual age (PMA) at IVC treatment were 1,174.0 ± 446.0 g, 28.4 ± 3.0 weeks, and 37.1 ± 1.6 weeks, respectively; for the female group, they were 1,108 ± 285.5 g, 28.2 ± 2.5 weeks, and 36.8 ± 2.1 weeks, respectively. For the male group, the IOP at baseline, 2 min, 1 h, 1 day, and 1 week after IVC were 12.4 ± 1.5 mmHg, 49.0 ± 3.1 mmHg, 26.3 ± 2.5 mmHg, 13.4 ± 2.2 mmHg, and 11.6 ± 1.7 mmHg, respectively; for the female group, they were 10.7 ± 2.0 mmHg, 47.3 ± 3.2 mmHg, 26.4 ± 3.2 mmHg, 10.7 ± 1.8 mmHg, and 10.2 ± 1.8 mmHg, respectively. In both groups, the IOP immediately (2 min) after the operation was significantly higher than that at any other time point (p < 0.01). IOP values returned to the preoperative baseline level on the first day after surgery, with no significant difference compared with that before injection (p > 0.05). IOP continued to be maintained at the preoperative baseline level on the first week after surgery, with no significant difference compared with that before surgery (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Infants with ROP who received IVC experienced a sharp increase in the IOP immediately after injection, which decreased to below 30 mmHg after 1 h and maintain that level for 1 week or longer.

When water diversion projects become important part of the water network around the world, the effective operation and management of the projects play important roles in giving full play to the optimal allocation of water resources. For the operation and management of water transfer, the decision-making of water supply chain under the scenario of economic benefit, producer surplus, and water quality utility should be considered simultaneously. According to the idea of supply chain, this paper regards water transfer operation management as a water supply chain composed of water transfer companies, water supply companies, and consumers. From the perspective of social welfare and water quality utility, a comprehensive optimization and coordination decision model for water transfer is proposed. Taking the South-to-North Water Diversion Project as the research object, the cost-sharing contract is designed, and the Stackelberg game method is used to optimize the decision-making and coordination of the water supply chain. The results show that when the concern coefficient and the cost-sharing ratio are evaluated within a given feasible value region, the profits of both the water transfer company and the water supply company can be improved. The feasible value interval of the concern coefficient decreases with the increase in the cost-bearing proportion. When the concern coefficient increases, the profit of the water transfer company decreases, while profit of the water supply company, water quality, consumer surplus, water quality utility, and utility of the water transfer company increase gradually. The results provide valuable references for water transfer decision-making.

As one of the frequent complications leading to poor prognosis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a better understanding of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in COVID-19 patients is needed. We conducted a single-center, retrospective study on 96 COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) from April to June 2022, in Shanghai Renji Hospital. Records of these COVID-19 patients upon admission were reviewed for demographic information, co-morbidities, vaccinations, treatment, and laboratory tests. VTE occurred in 11 (11.5%) cases among 96 COVID-19 patients despite the standard thromboprophylaxis since ICU admission. In COVID-VTE patients, a significant increase in B cells and a decrease in Ts cells were observed and a strong negative correlation ( r = −0.9524, P = .0003) was found between these two populations. In COVID-19 patients with VTE, increased MPV and decreased albumin levels were seen in addition to the common VTE indicators of D-dimer abnormalities. The altered lymphocyte composition in COVID-VTE patients is noteworthy. In addition to D-dimer, MPV and albumin levels might be novel indicators for the risk of VTE in COVID-19 patients.

Summary: New vessel formation (angiogenesis) is an essential physiological process for embryologic development, normal growth, and tissue repair. Angiogenesis is tightly regulated at the molecular level. Dysregulation of angiogenesis occurs in various pathologies and is one of the hallmarks of cancer. However, most existing methods for evaluating cell vascular formation are limited to static analysis and prone to bias due to time, field of vision, and parameter selection. Code scripts, such as AngiogenesisAnalyzer.ijm, AutomaticMeasure.ijm, and VM.R., were developed to study the dynamic angiogenesis process. This method was used to screen drugs that could affect the time, maximum value, tilt, and decline rate of cell vascular formation and angiogenesis. Animal experiments have confirmed that these drugs could inhibit the formation of blood vessels. This work provides a new perspective for the research of angiogenesis process and is helpful to the development of drugs related to angiogenesis.

Summary: AT-rich interaction domain 3 (ARID3) transcription factors are expressed in the nervous system, but their mechanisms of action are largely unknown. Here, we provide, in vivo, a genome-wide binding map for CFI-1, the sole C. elegans ARID3 ortholog. We identify 6,396 protein-coding genes as putative direct targets of CFI-1, most of which encode neuronal terminal differentiation markers. In head sensory neurons, CFI-1 directly activates multiple terminal differentiation genes, thereby acting as a terminal selector. In motor neurons, however, CFI-1 acts as a direct repressor, continuously antagonizing three transcriptional activators. By focusing on the glr-4/GRIK4 glutamate receptor locus, we identify proximal CFI-1 binding sites and histone methyltransferase activity as necessary for glr-4 repression. Rescue assays reveal functional redundancy between core and extended DNA-binding ARID domains and a strict requirement for REKLES, the ARID3 oligomerization domain. Altogether, this study uncovers cell-context-dependent mechanisms through which a single ARID3 protein controls the terminal differentiation of distinct neuron types.

IntroductionGrowing evidence shows that long non-coding RNA small nucleolar RNA host genes (lncRNA SNHGs) enact an pivotal regulatory roles in the shorter survival outcome of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, no research has systematically evaluated the correlation among lncRNA SNHGs expression and survival outcome of CRC. This research indented to screen whether exist potential prognostic effect of lncRNA SNHGs in CRC patientss using comprehensive review and meta-analysis.MethodsSystematic searches were performed from the six relevant databases from inception to October 20, 2022. The quality of published papers was evaluated in details. We pooled the hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) through direct or indirect collection of effect sizes, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI by collecting effect sizes within articles. Detailed downstream signaling pathways of lncRNA SNHGs were summarized in detailResults25 eligible publications including 2,342 patients were finally included to appraise the association of lncRNA SNHGs with prognosis of CRC. Elevated lncRNA SNHGs expression was revealed in colorectal tumor tissues. High lncSNHG expression means bad survival prognosis in CRC patients (HR=1.635, 95% CI: 1.405–1.864, P

Background and aimThe purpose of this study was to investigate and validate the efficacy of a nomogram model in predicting early objective response rate (ORR) in u-HCC patients receiving a combination of TACE, Lenvatinib, and anti-PD-1 antibody treatment after 3 months (triple therapy).MethodThis study included 169 u-HCC cases from five different hospitals. As training cohorts (n = 102), cases from two major centers were used, and external validation cohorts (n = 67) were drawn from the other three centers. The clinical data and contrast-enhanced MRI characteristics of patients were included in this retrospective study. For evaluating MRI treatment responses, the modified revaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST) were used. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to select relevant variables and develop a nomogram model. Our as-constructed nomogram was highly consistent and clinically useful, as confirmed by the calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA); an independent external cohort also calibrated the nomogram.ResultsThe ORR was 60.9% and the risk of early ORR was independently predicted by AFP, portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), tumor number, and size in both the training (C-index = 0.853) and test (C-index = 0.800) cohorts. The calibration curve revealed that the nomogram-predicted values were consistent with the actual response rates in both cohorts. Furthermore, DCA indicated that our developed nomogram performed well in clinical settings.ConclusionThe nomogram model accurately predicts early ORR achieved by triple therapy in u-HCC patients, which aids in individual decision-making and modifying additional therapies for u-HCC cases.

Rapid urbanisation has triggered a series of 'urban diseases' that seriously interfere with the sustainability of ecosystem services (ESs). Scientific assessment of the interactions between urbanisation and ESs is important for improving the quality of urban development and optimising ESs. However, studies on the interactive stress relationship between urbanisation and ESs from the coupling and decoupling perspective are lacking, especially at the urban cluster scale. Considering 20 prefecture-level cities in the Taiwan Strait west coast urban agglomeration (TSWCUA), in this study we used land-use remote sensing monitoring data from 2005 to 2018 to assess the relationships between urbanisation and ESs within each coordinated development stage using a coupled coordination degree and the Tapio decoupling model. The results showed that, the urbanisation level (UL) of the TSWCUA had an overall upward trend, whereas ecosystem services value (ESV) showed a gradual decline. The coupled and coordinated relationship between UL and ESs was benign, despite long-term dysfunctional states. Overall, the number of cities with lagging ecosystem services increased. The decoupling state between urbanisation and ESV improved in a variable manner, and the weak decoupling gradually increased. The development trend in the study region was generally clear, although coordinated development was rare among the TSWCUA regions. Our study provides an empirical basis for improving the coordinated development of ULs and ESs in the TSWCUA.

Thin-walled tubular mesh structures are the basic form of tubular scaffolds, such as vascular and nerve conduit stents, in tissue engineering. A novel electric field-driven microscale three-dimensional printing (EFD μ-3D printing) was proposed for manufacturing these structures of molten polymers with high resolution. For printing on curved substrates, the distributions of electric field force on substrates with different curvature radii in the self-excited electrostatic field were revealed via numerical simulations. The optimal process parameters for EFD μ-3D printing on curved substrates were determined. To improve printing accuracy, a micro-area preset eccentricity strategy was proposed by reducing the vertical angle of printing jets. A number of printing cases have been carried out. It is shown that the proposed method is effective for the micro-nano scale printing of 3D structures. The printed structures have good flexibility; they can be restored to their original state after 8.9 % axial compression, with an original length of 67 mm. Moreover, a conformal printing variable stiffness thin-wall tubular mesh structure has been achieved with a length of 28 mm, a line diameter of 80 μm, a big end diameter of 8 mm, and a small end diameter of 4 mm.

The assessment of river health holds paramount significance in diagnosing the conditions of river water environments, and its research serves as a crucial foundation for the functional management and restoration of rivers. We discuss the concept and assessment criteria of health in areas characterized by significant human activity. Utilizing the “over the riverbank” and “under the riverbank” quantification criteria as the framework, a comprehensive river health assessment index system is developed, encompassing seven aspects (riparian zone condition, pollution discharge condition, human–water interaction, physical structure, water environment, water ecology, and socio-economic service function) and 35 indicators. This study introduces the River Health Index (RHI), specifically tailored for regions with significant human activity, facilitating the quantitative assessment of river health status and precise calculation of the River Health Index in these areas. The research employs the RHI to assess the health condition of the Cangzhou section of the Qingliang River in China. The results indicate that the Qingliang River is in a suboptimal state of health, with the key limiting factors being the aspects of “water environment” and “water ecology”. The research demonstrates that the proposed river health assessment system for areas with significant human activity effectively reflects the objective reality of the Qingliang River, exhibiting a high level of reliability and applicability.

Airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is susceptible to atmospheric disturbance and other factors that cause the position offset error of the antenna phase center and motion error. In close-range detection scenarios, the large elevation angle may make it impossible to directly observe areas near the underlying plane, resulting in observation blind spots. In cases where the illumination elevation angle is extremely large, the influence of range variant envelope error and phase modulations becomes more serious, and traditional two-step motion compensation (MOCO) methods may fail to provide accurate imaging. In addition, conventional phase gradient autofocus (PGA) algorithms suffer from reduced performance in scenes with few strong scattering points. To address these practical challenges, we propose an improved phase-weighted estimation PGA algorithm that analyzes the motion error of UAV SAR under a large elevation angle, providing a solution for high-order range variant motion error. Based on this algorithm, we introduce a combined focusing method that applies a threshold value for selection and optimization. Unlike traditional MOCO methods, our proposed method can more accurately compensate for spatially variant motion error in the case of scenes with few strong scattering points, indicating its wider applicability. The effectiveness of our proposed approach is verified by simulation and real data experimental results.

Abstract Background Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is the common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and is also found in the upper respiratory tract of healthy people. Hence, the study aimed to compare the serotypes, virulence/pili genes, and antibiotic susceptibility of S. pneumoniae from healthy asymptomatic participants and CAP patients. Methods Streptococcus pneumoniae were retrospectively collected from health asymptomatic participants and CAP patients in Sichuan, China. The serotypes were tested by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or Quellung reaction. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the broth microdilution method. The molecular epidemiology of S. pneumoniae was analyzed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Additionally, the presence of virulence/pili genes were detected using PCR. Results A total of 83 pneumococcal isolates were collected in the current study. Of these, 52 and 31 isolates were from healthy asymptomatic participants and CAP patients, respectively. Most of S. pneumoniae were resistant to erythromycin (ERY), clindamycin (CLI), tetracycline (TET) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT). 90.4% isolates were classified as multidrug resistant (MDR). The predominant serotypes were 3, 19F and 19A in the CAP carriers, whereas 3, 6 and 19F were the main serotypes among the asymptomatic carriers. The overall coverage rates of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) 10 and PCV13 serotypes were 34.9% and 66.3%, respectively. The predominant sequence types (STs) were ST271, ST320, and ST3397. There were significant differences in some resistance and virulence characteristics between CAP patients and asymptomatic carriers. Additionally, clonal complex (CC) 271 strains had higher percentage in resistance to cefuroxime (CXM) and cefotaxime (CEF), meropenem (MER) and cefepime (CFP), which mainly carried the rlrA and sipA genes. Conclusions High coverage rate of PCV13 and high prevalence of MDR indicated the necessity to expand immunization with PCV13 and rationally use the antibiotics in Sichuan, China. Importantly, long-term surveillance should be conducted to assess effectiveness brought by vaccines. Our findings may supply new guidance for developing new pneumococcal vaccines.