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Abstract Background Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) has been recommended as a marker of plasma atherogenicity. The impact of AIP on plaque characteristics is not fully understood. Purpose The study investigates the relationship between AIP and coronary plaque features in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods From January 2016 to June 2017 pre-intervention optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed in 522 ACS patients. AIP was defined as the base 10 logarithm of the ratio of the concentrations of triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Patients were divided into four groups according to AIP quartiles. Results A total of 332 patients were included for the analysis. The prevalence of thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) (group I [lowest] 9.09% vs group II 16.5% vs group III 44.7% vs group IV [highest] 52.9%), macrophage accumulation (group I 18.2% vs group II 22.4% vs group III 31.8% vs group IV 47.1%), plaque rupture (group I 10.4% vs group II 14.1% vs group III 17.6% vs group IV 34.1%) and plaque erosion (group I 2.6% vs group II 2.4% vs group III 14.1% vs group IV 12.9%) were significantly different among AIP quartiles. Multivariate logistic regression revealed the risk of TCFA (odds ratio 11.130, 95% confidence interval 4.186–29.593, p

Abstract Background Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most common diseases in andrology and leads to serious male sexual dysfunction. Although several targeted oral drug therapies are used to treat PE, they often face challenges related to imprecise targeting and adverse effects. Acupuncture has shown potential in prolonging ejaculation time and improving couples' sexual quality of life. This review aims to summarize the benefits of acupuncture in treating PE and explore its probable neurobiological mechanisms. Results The review included eight clinical trials involving 679 patients, of which 294 were treated with acupuncture. Furthermore, this review analyzed acupuncture points, needle retention time, treatment duration, and their probable neurobiological mechanisms. The proposed mechanisms include stimulating the frontal functional lobe, inhibiting spinal cord neural pathways, regulating serotonin levels, enhancing 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor IB excitability, reducing penile sensitivity, and modulating hormone levels. Conclusions Acupuncture is a viable alternative or complementary therapy for PE, and neurobiological mechanisms appear to play a key role, but further experimental validation is needed.

In response to the demand for broadband antennas in 5G mobile communications, this paper proposes a compact broadband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna array. By chamfering a radiation patch and adding parasitic patches, the antenna is miniaturized while also expanding its bandwidth. The mutual coupling between the two antenna elements is reduced by loading a double-layer metamaterial decoupling structure above the elements which consists of an open resonating ring and a square ring. The antenna is simulated and measured using the three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation software HFSS and a vector network analyzer. The results show that the proposed antenna has a good radiation performance of S11 < −10 dB in the operating band of 12.11–13.99 GHz (relative bandwidth of 14.41%). Furthermore, the isolation of the proposed MIMO antenna array in the operating band is improved by more than −18.8 dB on loading the metameterial structure, indicating that the array antenna is suitable for use in the Ku-band.

Abstract Background Acute compartment syndrome is a rare but serious complication following gynecological surgery in the lithotomy position, potentially resulting in permanent neuromuscular dysfunction or limb loss, making early recognition and prompt management essential. Case presentation A 41-year-old woman underwent a laparoscopic myomectomy for uterine fibroids, during which she was positioned in the high lithotomy and head-down position for 118 min. Six hours post-surgery, she experienced spasmodic pain and swelling in both lower extremities. Thirteen hours after surgery, her symptoms worsened, leading to the diagnosis of acute compartment syndrome in both legs. An emergency bilateral fasciotomy was performed, and the patient fully recovered within two months without any neuromuscular dysfunction. Conclusions ACS should be an important differential diagnosis for lower extremity pain after gynecologic surgery, especially with prolonged lithotomy positioning. Gynecologists should be vigilant for ACS signs and symptoms to prevent delayed diagnosis.

To investigate the pattern and threshold of physiological growth, defining as axial length (AL) elongation that results in little refraction progression, among Chinese children and teenagers, a total of 916 children aged between 7 and 18 years from a 6-year longitudinal cohort study were included for analysis. Ocular biometry, cycloplegic refraction and demographic data were obtained annually. Physiological growth was calculated based on myopic progression and Gullstrand eye model, respectively. The annual change in AL was found to be significantly smaller in the persistent emmetropia (PE) group compared to the incident myopia (IM) and persistent myopia (PM) group at all ages (all P

BackgroundLarge language models have shown remarkable efficacy in various medical research and clinical applications. However, their skills in medical image recognition and subsequent report generation or question answering (QA) remain limited. ObjectiveWe aim to finetune a multimodal, transformer-based model for generating medical reports from slit lamp images and develop a QA system using Llama2. We term this entire process slit lamp–GPT. MethodsOur research used a dataset of 25,051 slit lamp images from 3409 participants, paired with their corresponding physician-created medical reports. We used these data, split into training, validation, and test sets, to finetune the Bootstrapping Language-Image Pre-training framework toward report generation. The generated text reports and human-posed questions were then input into Llama2 for subsequent QA. We evaluated performance using qualitative metrics (including BLEU [bilingual evaluation understudy], CIDEr [consensus-based image description evaluation], ROUGE-L [Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation—Longest Common Subsequence], SPICE [Semantic Propositional Image Caption Evaluation], accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F1-score) and the subjective assessments of two experienced ophthalmologists on a 1-3 scale (1 referring to high quality). ResultsWe identified 50 conditions related to diseases or postoperative complications through keyword matching in initial reports. The refined slit lamp–GPT model demonstrated BLEU scores (1-4) of 0.67, 0.66, 0.65, and 0.65, respectively, with a CIDEr score of 3.24, a ROUGE (Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation) score of 0.61, and a Semantic Propositional Image Caption Evaluation score of 0.37. The most frequently identified conditions were cataracts (22.95%), age-related cataracts (22.03%), and conjunctival concretion (13.13%). Disease classification metrics demonstrated an overall accuracy of 0.82 and an F1-score of 0.64, with high accuracies (≥0.9) observed for intraocular lens, conjunctivitis, and chronic conjunctivitis, and high F1-scores (≥0.9) observed for cataract and age-related cataract. For both report generation and QA components, the two evaluating ophthalmologists reached substantial agreement, with κ scores between 0.71 and 0.84. In assessing 100 generated reports, they awarded scores of 1.36 for both completeness and correctness; 64% (64/100) were considered “entirely good,” and 93% (93/100) were “acceptable.” In the evaluation of 300 generated answers to questions, the scores were 1.33 for completeness, 1.14 for correctness, and 1.15 for possible harm, with 66.3% (199/300) rated as “entirely good” and 91.3% (274/300) as “acceptable.” ConclusionsThis study introduces the slit lamp–GPT model for report generation and subsequent QA, highlighting the potential of large language models to assist ophthalmologists and patients.

BackgroundLarge language models (LLMs) have the potential to enhance clinical flow and improve medical education, but they encounter challenges related to specialized knowledge in ophthalmology. ObjectiveThis study aims to enhance ophthalmic knowledge by refining a general LLM into an ophthalmology-specialized assistant for patient inquiries and medical education. MethodsWe transformed Llama2 into an ophthalmology-specialized LLM, termed EyeGPT, through the following 3 strategies: prompt engineering for role-playing, fine-tuning with publicly available data sets filtered for eye-specific terminology (83,919 samples), and retrieval-augmented generation leveraging a medical database and 14 ophthalmology textbooks. The efficacy of various EyeGPT variants was evaluated by 4 board-certified ophthalmologists through comprehensive use of 120 diverse category questions in both simple and complex question-answering scenarios. The performance of the best EyeGPT model was then compared with that of the unassisted human physician group and the EyeGPT+human group. We proposed 4 metrics for assessment: accuracy, understandability, trustworthiness, and empathy. The proportion of hallucinations was also reported. ResultsThe best fine-tuned model significantly outperformed the original Llama2 model at providing informed advice (mean 9.30, SD 4.42 vs mean 13.79, SD 5.70; P

Abstract Background This study aimed to explore the mechanism of Ge-Gen-Qin-Lian decoction (GGQLD) in the alleviation of symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by network pharmacology and experimental validation. Methods The active components and targets of GGQLD were identified from the TCMSP database. The potential therapeutic targets of T2DM and IBD were identified from the GEO database and 4 online disease target databases. The PPI network and KEGG/GO analyses were performed with the common targets among GGQLD, T2DM and IBD. Molecular docking was carried out between the core compounds and hub targets. To verify the above results, UHPLC-MS technology was used to identify the chemical compounds in GGQLD, and a T2DM with IBD rat model was used to explore the mechanism by which GGQLD treats T2DM with IBD. Results Totally, 70 potential therapeutic targets were identified among GGQLD, T2DM and IBD. Ten hub genes were selected from the PPI network. KEGG analysis revealed that GGQLD is tightly involved in the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway. Berberine, baicalein, wogonin, and quercitrin are the main active compounds of GGQLD. Animal experiments showed that GGQLD could decrease blood glucose and alleviate intestinal inflammation. Notably, the concentrations of AGEs, the expression of RAGE, c-JUN and NF-κB and the expression of inflammatory cytokines were decreased by GGQLD. Conclusions Our study initially demonstrated that GGQLD has favorable anti-hyperglycemic and anti-intestinal inflammation effects in a T2DM with IBD rat model, and the AGE-RAGE pathway plays a vital role in this process.

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using animation as education material for family empowerment program on perioperative care for caregivers whose children were to undergo neurosurgery. Methods A total of 204 caregivers were randomly assigned to either the face‐to‐face oral nursing educated group (Oral Group) or the animation‐assisted nursing educated group (Animated Group). The nursing education primarily focused on instructing caregivers about the manual vibration method. The primary outcome of interest in this study was participants' knowledge level, collected by a 10‐item questionnaire. Secondary outcomes included child patients' clinical data, including hospitalization days, treatments, and signs of pneumonia. Results Participants in the Animated Group exhibited significantly higher accuracy in perioperative care knowledge assessment, and patients in this group had a lower chance of requiring atomization therapy compared to the Oral Group. Conclusions The animation‐assisted nursing education program effectively enhances pediatric caregivers' knowledge, reduces respiratory complications after surgery, and offers valuable insights for future studies on the use of such programs to instruct caregivers.

Abstract Understanding the transcriptional regulatory characteristics throughout the embryogenesis of plant-parasitic nematodes is crucial for elucidating their developmental processes’ uniqueness. However, a challenge arises due to the lack of suitable technical methods for synchronizing the age of plant-parasitic nematodes embryo, it is difficult to collect detailed transcriptome data at each stage of embryonic development. Here, we recorded the 11 embryonic developmental time-points of endophytic nematode Meloidogyne incognita (isolated from Wuhan, China), Heterodera glycines (isolated from Wuhan, China), and Ditylenchus destructor (isolated from Jinan, China) species, and constructed transcriptome datasets of single embryos of these three species utilizing low-input smart-seq2 technology. The datasets encompassed 11 complete embryonic development stages, including Zygote, 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, 24–44 cell, 64–78 cell, Comma, 1.5-fold, 2-fold, Moving, and L1, each stage generated four to five replicates, resulting in a total of 162 high-resolution transcriptome libraries. This high-resolution cross-species dataset serves as a crucial resource for comprehending the embryonic developmental properties of plant-parasitic nematodes and for identifying functional regulatory genes during embryogenesis.

BackgroundCancer cells induce neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to promote tumor progression and metastasis. However, only a few studies have focused on the role of NETs in Neuroblastoma (NB).MethodsFirst, based on the expression of NET-related genes, consensus clustering analysis was conducted to cluster NB samples into different subtypes. Differential analysis was performed to identify DEGs between subtypes. Functional items and related pathways of DEGs were identified using enrichment analysis. Univariate Cox analysis and the LASSO algorithm were used to identify biomarkers for prognosis. Furthermore, independent prognostic analysis was performed. Immune infiltration analysis was performed to identify differential immune cells. Finally, the verification of prognostic model genes were taken by the immunohistochemical staining and quantitative real-time PCR.ResultsConsensus clustering analysis demonstrated that NB samples were clustered into two subtypes. There were 125 DEGs between the two subtypes of NB. Moreover, the enrichment analysis results showed that the DEGs were mainly associated with ‘external side of plasma membrane,’ ‘immune receptor activity’ ‘regulation of leukocyte migration’ GO items. There were also several GO items related to neutrophils, such as regulation of neutrophil migration and differentiation. KEGG pathways revealed that the DEGs were correlated with in immunity-related activities, including ‘Complement and coagulation cascades,’ ‘Neutrophil extracellular trap formation, ‘T cell receptor signaling pathway,’ ‘PD-L1 expression and PD-1 checkpoint pathway in cancer’ and so on. A total of five biomarkers,[Selenoprotein P1 (SEPP1), Fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2), NK cell lectin-like receptor K1 (KLRK1), ATP-binding cassette transporters 6(ABCA6) and Galectins(GAL)], were screened, and a risk model based on the biomarkers was created. Furthermore, a nomogram for forecasting the survival rates of patients with NB was established based on the risk score, age at diagnosis, and MYCN status. Eight differential immune cells (CD8 + T cells, resting mast cells, etc.) were acquired between the two risk subgroups. The expression levels of five prognostic model genes at the protein and mRNA were verified and all results were consistent with the results of our bioinformatics analysis.ConclusionWe initially found that five NET-related genes were significantly differentially expressed in NETs-associated molecular isoforms and two Netrg molecular isoforms were found to be associated with poorer prognosis. This stratification might provide insight into the prediction of prognosis and ideal immunotherapy strategies for patients with NB. However, we also noted that the formation of NETs is a complex biological process involving the regulation of multiple cytokines and cellular interactions. Therefore, the exact roles of these genes and their specific mechanisms in the formation of NETs and the development of NB still need to be further investigated.

Understanding the state transitions in biological systems and identifying critical steady states are crucial for investigating disease development and discovering key therapeutic targets. To advance the study of state transitions in specific biological entities, we proposed the Ternary Entity State Inference System (T-ESIS). T-ESIS builds upon the Entity State Inference System by providing richer information on entity states, where states can take values of 0, 1, or 1/2, representing activation, inhibition, and normal states, respectively. This method infers state transition pathways based on interaction relationships and visualizes them through the Entity State Network. Furthermore, the cyclic structures within the Entity State Network capture positive and negative feedback loops, providing a topological foundation for the formation of steady states.To demonstrate the applicability of T-ESIS, entity states were modeled, and attractor analysis was conducted in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) networks. Our analysis provided valuable insights into targeted therapy for NSCLC, highlighting the potential of T-ESIS in uncovering therapeutic targets and understanding disease mechanisms. Moreover, the proposed T-ESIS framework facilitated the inference of entity state transitions and the analysis of steady states in biological systems, offering a novel approach for studying the dynamic principles of these systems. This ternary dynamic modeling approach not only deepened our understanding of biological networks but also provided a methodological reference for future research in the field.

Abstract Fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) is a crucial diagnostic tool for chorioretinal diseases, but its interpretation requires significant expertise and time. Prior studies have used Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems to assist FFA interpretation, but these systems lack user interaction and comprehensive evaluation by ophthalmologists. Here, we used large language models (LLMs) to develop an automated interpretation pipeline for both report generation and medical question-answering (QA) for FFA images. The pipeline comprises two parts: an image-text alignment module (Bootstrapping Language-Image Pre-training) for report generation and an LLM (Llama 2) for interactive QA. The model was developed using 654,343 FFA images with 9392 reports. It was evaluated both automatically, using language-based and classification-based metrics, and manually by three experienced ophthalmologists. The automatic evaluation of the generated reports demonstrated that the system can generate coherent and comprehensible free-text reports, achieving a BERTScore of 0.70 and F1 scores ranging from 0.64 to 0.82 for detecting top-5 retinal conditions. The manual evaluation revealed acceptable accuracy (68.3%, Kappa 0.746) and completeness (62.3%, Kappa 0.739) of the generated reports. The generated free-form answers were evaluated manually, with the majority meeting the ophthalmologists’ criteria (error-free: 70.7%, complete: 84.0%, harmless: 93.7%, satisfied: 65.3%, Kappa: 0.762–0.834). This study introduces an innovative framework that combines multi-modal transformers and LLMs, enhancing ophthalmic image interpretation, and facilitating interactive communications during medical consultation.

Abstract Objective To explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI ) and the severity of tic disorders (TDs) in children 6–14 years old. Methods A total of 86 children diagnosed with TDs in a hospital between Jan. 2023 and Sept. 2023 were collected by convenient sampling method, and the general data and TD-specific data were collected and analyzed. Results Univariate analysis showed that patients with different Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) grades had statistically significant differences in age, BMI, residence, snacking pattern, weekly physical exercise frequency, weekly physical exercise time, and proportion of cesarean birth. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the YGTSS score grades were related to BMI, snacking pattern, and cesarean birth of the patients. Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between BMI grades and the YGTSS score grades, with a higher BMI indicating more severe TDs. Predictive value evaluation showed that BMI, snacking pattern, and cesarean birth had predictive values for TD severity, and the highest value was found in the combined prediction. Conclusion BMI, snacking pattern, and cesarean birth are of predictive values for the severity of TDs. In addition, BMI is positively correlated with the severity of TDs, and a higher BMI suggests more severe TDs.

Abstract The high-resolution array is the basic structure of most kinds of microelectronics. Electrohydrodynamic jet (E-Jet) printing technology is widely applied in manufacturing array structures with high resolution, high material compatibility and multi-modal printing. It is still challenging to acquire high uniformity of printed array with micro-nanometer resolution, which greatly influences the performance and lifetime of the microelectronics. In this paper, to improve the uniformity of the printed array, the influence of each parameter on the uniformity of the E-jet printed dot array is studied on the cobuilt NEJ-E/P200 experimental platform, finding the applied voltage plays the most important role in maintaining the uniformity of the printed array. By appropriately adjusting the printing parameters, the dot arrays with different resolutions from 500 pixels per inch (PPI) to 17,000 PPI are successfully printed. For arrays below and over 10,000 PPI, the deviations of the uniformity are within 5% and 10% respectively. In this work, the dot array over 15,000 PPI is first implemented using E-jet printing. The conclusions acquired by experimental analysis of dot array printing process are of great importance in high resolution array printing as it provides practical guidance for parameters adjustment.

Psychogenic erectile dysfunction (pED) is more common in the population of young and middle-aged males. Research relating to pED has increased significantly over the past 20 years. However, few studies have performed comprehensive statistical analysis on these publications. In this study, we highlight the current research hotspots and emerging trends relating to pED from 2000 to 2022, as determined by a focused review of the literature. Relevant articles were identified by searching the PubMed and Web of Science databases between 2000 and 2022. VOSviewer and Origin software were then used to analyze and verify emerging trends. A total of 118 articles relating to pED were included in our final analysis. Our analysis showed that research on pED is dominated by clinical studies and concentrated in journals relating to male and sexual medicine. Chinese researchers have produced the highest number of publications. In addition, over the past 20 years, pED research has focused more on pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we reviewed articles related to pED that were published over the last 20 years; our findings may provide reference guidelines for researchers when designing future research on pED.

Quartz flexible accelerometers (QFAs) are a type of temperature-sensitive sensor, whereby a change in temperature will cause the key parameters of the accelerometer to drift and cause stability errors. Due to the absence of effective methods for sensing the temperature of internal accelerometer components, existing temperature error correction approaches primarily rely on shell temperature measurements to establish correction models. Consequently, most correction methods achieve higher accuracy during the steady-state heat conduction phase of the accelerometer, whereas the correction error markedly increases during the transient heat conduction phase. To elucidate the temperature discrepancy between the QFA shell and its internal components and to support the development of a temperature error correction method for QFAs based on the internal temperature as a reference, this paper investigated the heat exchange dynamics between the interior and exterior of a QFA. A thermal conduction simulation model of the QFA was established, from which the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of the internal temperature field were derived. The results indicate that the temperature of the QFA shell changes significantly faster than that of the internal meter head in the early stage of the temperature change. The temperature gradient between the shell and the meter head first increases and then decreases, and the rate of temperature change in the upper part of the accelerometer is faster than that in the lower part. Before thermal equilibrium is reached, the temperature distribution inside the accelerometer is uneven in terms of time and space. Inside the accelerometer, the yoke iron, swing plate assembly, servo circuit, and magnetic steel assembly are the main components that exhibit differences in the internal temperature change in the QFA. When developing the temperature error correction method, it was crucial to address and mitigate the impact of temperature variations among these components. The average RMSE between the predicted temperature from the heat transfer model established in this paper and the experimental results was 0.4 °C. This indicates that the model can accurately predict the temperature variation within the QFA, thereby providing robust support for investigating the temperature behavior inside the QFA and offering essential technical foundations for enhancing the accuracy of the temperature error correction method.

Designing waveforms with a Constant Modulus Constraint (CMC) to achieve desirable Slow-Time Ambiguity Function (STAF) characteristics is significantly important in radar technology. The problem is NP-hard, due to its non-convex quartic objective function and CMC constraint. Existing methods typically involve model-based approaches with relaxation and data-driven Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) methods, which face the challenge of dataimitation. We observe that the Complex Circle Manifold (CCM) naturally satisfies the CMC. By projecting onto the CCM, the problem is transformed into an unconstrained minimization problem that can be tackled using the CCM gradient descent model. Furthermore, we observe that the gradient descent model over the CCM can be unfolded as a Deep Learning (DL) network. Therefore, byeveraging the powerfulearning ability of DL and the CCM gradient descent model, we propose a Model-Adaptive Learned Network (MAL-Net) method without relaxation. Initially, we reformulate the problem as an Unconstrained Quartic Problem (UQP) on the CCM. Then, the MAL-Net is developed toearn the step sizes of allayers adaptively. This is accomplished by unrolling the CCM gradient descent model as the networkayer. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed MAL-Net achieves superior STAF performance compared to existing methods.

BackgroundRegulating the immune system is a crucial measure of gut microbiota (GM) that influences the development of diseases. The causal role of GM on Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP) and whether it can be mediated by immune cells is still unknown.MethodsWe performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization study using an inverse variance weighted (IVW) method to examine the causal role of GM on HSP and the mediation effect of immune cells between the association of GM and HSP.ResultsWe demonstrated the causal relationships between 14 axas and 6 pathways with HSP. Additionally, we identified 9 immune cell characteristics associated with HSP. Importantly, through mediation MR analysis, we identified several immune cell characteristics that mediate the impact of GM on HSP. For instance, Genus_Blautia affects HSP via Monocyte (HLA DR on CD14+ CD16- monocyte) and Monocyte (HLA DR on monocyte). The proportion of mediation effects further elucidated the complex dynamics between GM exposure, immune markers, and their combined impact on HSP.ConclusionThe study suggested a causal relationship between GM and HSP, which may be mediated by immune cells.

Based on the properties of the 2-tuples distribution matrix of the rotation symmetric orbits, all 7-variable 2-resilient rotation symmetric Boolean functions were constructed concretely.The results show that there are only 280 nonlinear 2-resilient rotation symmetric Boolean functions over F 2 7 .Furthermore, there are at least 280 nonlinear 2-resilient rotation symmetric Boolean functions over F 2 7k for any odd number k.

Abstract Background Psychogenic erectile dysfunction (pED) is a common sexual dysfunction often accompanied by psychosomatic factors. Its treatment includes oral medications, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy. Acupuncture’s effect on erectile function in pED patients remains to be investigated. This randomized study evaluated the effects of acupuncture and sham acupuncture in pED patients. Altogether, 66 men with pED were randomized to the acupuncture (n = 33) or sham acupuncture group (n = 33). Both groups have a 6-week treatment with 18 sessions. Primary outcome was the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes were IIEF-5 (weeks 2, 4, and 10), erection hardness score (EHS), sexual encounter profile-2 (SEP-2), SEP-3, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), and self-rating depression scale (SDS). Results Among the 66 participants, 64 completed the outcome measurements at week 10. Both acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups had improved IIEF-5 and EHS and decreased SAS and SDS post-treatment (p 0.05). There were no serious adverse events. Conclusions The 6-week acupuncture treatment significantly improved the erectile capacity and psychosomatic status of pED patients. Trial registration ChiCTR2200064345 (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry) ( https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=174873 ).

Abstract Background Red ginseng (RG) is a traditional herb commonly used in China, Korea, and other East Asian countries. Recently, it has demonstrated a better clinical value in men’s reproductive health (MRH). The present review aimed to examine the effects of RG treatment on MRH. Results Overall, 42 articles related to RG application in MRH were reviewed, of which 31 were animal experiments and 11 were clinical studies. Furthermore, this review analyzed the use of RG in some male reproductive diseases in clinical trials and determined the associated mechanisms of action. The mechanism of action of RG in MRH may be related to oxidative stress, regulation of sex hormones and spermatogenesis-related proteins, and anti-inflammation. Conclusions The application of RG for the treatment of male infertility, erectile dysfunction, and prostate diseases has the potential to contribute to MRH.

Abstract Background The morbidity of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in children is increasing and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the main microvascular complications of T1DM. The aim of this study was to explore sympathetic skin response (SSR) characteristics in children with T1DM and analyze the value of early diagnosis and follow-up in T1DM complicated with DPN. Methods Our prospective study enrolling 85 participants diagnosed with T1DM and 30 healthy controls (HCs) in the Children’s Hospital of Hebei Province from 2017 to 2020. Compared the outcomes of SSR and nerve conduction study (NCS) in T1DM, and evaluated the variations in SSR and NCS of different durations, as well as changes after six months of therapy. Results SSR latency of T1DM group showed statistical difference as compared to HCs (p

Abstract Objective To compare 18 F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT, 18 F-FDG PET/CT and 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT in the diagnostic value of prostate cancer. Method The Chinese and foreign databases, such as Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, etc., were systematically searched within the period from the establishment of the database to June 1, 2022. Clinical studies related to the diagnosis of prostate cancer by methods such as 18 F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT, 18 F-FDG PET/CTCT, 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT, were researched. Two (2) investigators independently screened literatures, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias when these data were included in the studies with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2). Review Manager5.4, Stata 14.0, and Meta-disc 1.4 software were used for meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of different methods in the diagnose of prostate cancer. Results Twenty-seven (27) studies, including 2891 subjects were included in our study. Meta-analysis results showed that the pooled sensitivities of 18 F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT, 18 F-FDG PET/CT, and 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT were 0.912 (95%CI: 0.883–0.936), 0.748 (95%CI: 0.698–0.795), and 0.916 (95%CI: 0.896–0.934), respectively; the pooled specification were 0.878 (0.844–0.907), 0.639 (95%CI: 0.589–0.687), and 0.734 (95%CI: 0.685–0.779), respectively; the positive likelihood ratios were 6.335 (95%CI: 4.288–9.357), 2.282 (95%CI: 1.497–3.477), and 3.593 (95%CI: 2.986–4.323), respectively; the negative likelihood ratios were 0.878 (95%CI: 0.844–0.907), 0.374 (95%CI: 0.280–0.499), and 0.110 (95%CI: 0.083–0.144), respectively; the diagnostic odds ratios were 65.125 (95%CI: 34.059–124.53), 7.094 (95%CI: 4.091–12.301), and 29.722 (95%CI: 20.141–43.863), respectively; the positive posterior probability was 64%, 38%, and 62%, respectively; the area under the SPOC curve was 0.95 (95%CI: 0.93–0.97), 0.81 (95%CI: 0.78–0.84), and 0.96 (95%CI: 0.92–0.98), respectively. The funnel plots indicated that there was no significant publication bias in the included literatures. Conclusion The current evidences showed that 18 F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT and 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT had higher diagnostic efficacy of prostate cancer compared with 18 F-FDG PET/CT, among which 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT was slightly higher in the sensitivity of the diagnosis of prostate cancer, while 18 F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT may have higher efficacy in specificity and confirmed positive rate. Due to the limitations of the quality of the included samples and literatures, the above conclusions should be further validated by expanding the sample size and improving the quality.

The analysis of residential electricity consumption behavior (RECB) aims to deeply reveal the electricity consumption characteristics of customers that can be used to improve the electricity service performances from the large volume of load data. For analyzing the RECB, various clustering-based methods have been developed. However, with the dimension of power consumption data increasing, it is difficult for traditional methods to accurately identify users’ power consumption patterns. To this end, this paper proposes a novel analysis method for RECB with high-dimensional data based on uniform manifold approximation and projection-criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (UMAP-CRITIC) feature optimization and sparrow search algorithm (SSA)-assisted clustering. Specifically, the high-dimensional raw data combined with load characteristics indexes are first utilized to generate low-dimensional features by UMAP-based dimension reduction theory. Secondly, the contribution weight of each reduced feature to the intrinsic information of the original data is optimized based on the CRITIC weight method, and then the data feature set of RECB identification considering feature contributions is constructed. Finally, the SSA-based k-means is employed to obtain and analyze the various RECBs. The simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively identify high-dimensional electricity consumption data and precisely extract the electricity consumption information of residents.

Abstract Industrial agglomeration has attracted extensive attention from economists and geographers, yet it is still a challenge to identify the multi-agglomeration spatial structure and degree of industrial agglomeration in continuous space—there is still a lack of a more targeted industrial clustering method. The clustering method and the standard deviational ellipse (simply, ellipse) model have advantages in identifying the spatial structure and representing spatial information respectively. On this basis, we propose an ellipse-based approach to identifying industrial clusters. Our ellipse-based approach rests upon group nearest neighbor using the group-based nearest neighbor (GNN) ordering and spatial compactness matrix, where a number of point sequences with varying lengths, generated under the GNN ordering, are characterized by an ellipse and the elliptical parameters of these point sequences formulate the values and structure of the compactness matrix. Clustering is reformulated to identify ellipses with a specified parameter among a number of potential candidate ellipses, with significant changes (especially in the area) used as the cutoff criterion for determining the clusters’ border point. Our approach is illustrated in the location pattern of firms in Shanghai City, China in comparison with four well-known clustering methods. With the combination of elliptical parameters and spatial compactness, our approach may bring a new analytical ground for future industrial clustering research.

Summary: Efficient and sustainable amino acid synthesis is essential for industrial applications. Electrocatalytic reductive amination has emerged as a promising method, but challenges such as undesired side reactions and low efficiency persist. Herein, we demonstrated a lignin-derived catalyst for alanine synthesis. Carbon nanosheets (CNSs) were synthesized from lignin via a template-assisted method and doped with nitrogen and sulfur to boost reductive amination and suppress side reactions. The resulting N,S-co-doped carbon nanosheets (NS-CNSs) exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance. It achieved a maximum alanine Faradaic efficiency of 79.5%, and a yield exceeding 1,199 μmol h−1 cm−2 on NS-CNS, with a selectivity above 99.9%. NS-CNS showed excellent durability during long-term electrolysis. Kinetic studies including control experiments and theoretical calculations provided further insights into the reaction pathway. Moreover, NS-CNS catalysts demonstrated potential in upgrading real-world polylactic acid plastic waste, yielding value-added alanine with a selectivity over 75%.

With the expansion of cities and the emergence of various urban problems, urban underground space has been developed as a solution. In China’s urban transition context, there is a need for the development of underground space in urban built-up areas. In this case-study of the central city of Nanjing, we used spatial analysis and statistical methods to characterize the underground space use of urban built-up areas from a dynamic spatiotemporal perspective. We first analyzed the relationship between the population distribution and the underground space use of the central city of Nanjing based on a Baidu heat map, which can reflect the real-time population distribution, and then, we explored the spatiotemporal characteristics and spatial structure of the underground space use in urban built-up areas. The analysis results provide a reference for planning to improve and optimize the layout of underground space in the central city of Nanjing and, more generally, for the stock-type planning of underground space in urban built-up areas.

IntroductionIn the present study, sympathetic skin response (SSR) characteristics were explored in children with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) and the value of early diagnosis and prognostic evaluation in GBS complicated by autonomic dysfunction (AD) was evaluated.MethodsA total of 25 children with GBS and 30 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this prospective study. SSR findings for the two groups were compared. SSR and nerve conduction study (NCS) results were compared among patients with GBS, and differences in clinical characteristics between the groups with abnormal and normal SSR were analyzed.ResultsWithin the GBS group, six patients (24%) required mechanical ventilation, 17 patients (66.7%) had AD, 18 patients (72%) had an abnormal SSR, and 13 patients (52%) had AD combined with SSR abnormalities. There was a statistically significant difference in SSR latency in the lower limbs between the GBS group and HCs (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between SSR and NCS results in the acute phase of GBS (P > 0.05), and there was no significant difference in the rate of AD or in Hughes functional grade at nadir between the groups with abnormal and normal SSR (P>0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the results of SSR and NCS tests during the recovery phase (P = 0.003). Abnormal SSR mainly occurred in cases of the acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) subtype. In addition, SSR was abnormal in all pediatric GBS patients with poor prognosis 1 month after onset of symptoms.ConclusionTwo-thirds of the children with GBS have AD. SSR could be used for early diagnosis and follow-up of GBS and may also be helpful in evaluating disease severity and short-term prognosis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the probability of norovirus foodborne illness by raw oyster consumption. One hundred fifty-six oyster samples were collected to examine the norovirus prevalence. The oyster samples were inoculated with murine norovirus and stored at 4°C-25°C. A plaque assay determined norovirus titers. The norovirus titers were fitted with the Baranyi model to calculate shoulder period (h) and death rate (Log PFU/g/h). These kinetic parameters were fitted to a polynomial model as a function of temperature. Distribution temperature and time were surveyed, and consumption data were surveyed. A dose-response model was also searched through literature. The simulation model was prepared with these data in @RISK to estimate the probability of norovirus foodborne. One sample of 156 samples was norovirus positive. Thus, the initial contamination level was estimated by the Beta distribution (2, 156), and the level was .5.3 Log PFU/g. The developed predictive models showed that the norovirus titers decreased in oysters under the storage conditions simulated with the Uniform distribution (0.325, 1.643) for time and the Pert distribution (10, 18, 25) for temperature. Consumption ratio of raw oyster was 0.98%, and average consumption amount was 1.82 g, calculated by the Pert distribution [Pert {1.8200, 1.8200, 335.30, Truncate (0, 236.8)}]. 1F1 hypergeometric dose-response model [1 -(1 + 2.55 × 10−3 × dose)-0.086] was appropriate to evaluate dose-response. The simulation showed that the probability of norovirus foodborne illness by raw oyster consumption was 5.90 × 10−10 per person per day. The annual socioeconomic cost of consuming raw oysters contaminated with norovirus was not very high.

Introduction: Chronic stress exposure is the main environmental factor leading to cognitive impairment, but the detailed molecular mechanism is still unclear. Adenosine Deaminase acting on double-stranded RNA1(ADAR1) is involved in the occurrence of chronic stress-induced cognitive impairment. In addition, dopamine and Adenosine 3′5′-monophosphate-regulated phospho-protein (DARPP-32) gene variation affects cognitive function. Therefore, we hypothesized that ADAR1 plays a key role in chronic stress-induced cognitive impairment by acting on DARPP-32.Methods: In this study, postnatal 21-day-old male BALB/c mice were exposed to chronic unpredictable stressors. After that, the mice were treated with ADAR1 inducer/inhibitor. The cognitive ability and cerebral DARPP-32 protein expression of BALB/c mice were evaluated. In order to explore the link between ADAR1 and DARPP-32, the effects of ADAR1 high/low expression on DARPP-32 protein expression in vitro were detected.Results: ADAR1 inducer alleviates cognitive impairment and recovers decreased DARPP-32 protein expression of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in BALB/c mice with chronic unpredictable stress exposure. In vivo and in vitro studies confirm the results predicted by bio-informatics; that is, ADAR1 affects DARPP-32 expression via miR-874-3p.Discussion: The results in this study demonstrate that ADAR1 affects the expression of DARPP-32 via miR-874-3p, which is involved in the molecular mechanism of pathogenesis in chronic unpredictable stress-induced cognitive impairment. The new findings of this study provide a new therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of stress cognitive impairment from epigenetics.

IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the effects of smoking and CYP2C19 gene polymorphism on antiplatelet therapy to specify the most optimized and accurate antiplatelet therapy for different populations.MethodsThis study included 6,353 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). In total, 2,256 (35.5%) were smokers and 4,097 (64.5%) were non-smokers. Patients carrying a CYP2C19*2 or *3 allele were considered loss-of-function (LOF) allele carriers. The medical history of patients who had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at Beijing Anzhen Hospital was recorded. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events (MACCE) during the 6-month follow-up period. A Cox regression model was used to assess the interactions between antiplatelet efficacy and CYP2C19 LOF allele carrier status, stratified by smoking status.ResultsCompared to clopidogrel plus aspirin, ticagrelor plus aspirin reduced the MACCE recurrence risk in non-smokers (carrier: 6.0 vs. 2.0%, hazard ratio 0.298, 95% confidence interval 0.204–0.635, P < 0.0001; non-carrier: 5.8 vs. 2.1%, hazard ratio 0.358, 95% confidence interval 0.189–0.678, P = 0.002), and not in smokers. Similar results were discovered regarding the recurrence rate for hospitalization for ischemic cardiac events in non-smokers. No apparent difference was discovered in the bleeding events in either group. There were no significant associations between antiplatelet medication and CYP2C19 LOF allele carrier status for the MACCE recurrence risk among smokers (P = 0.943, respectively) or non-smokers (P = 0.774, respectively).ConclusionIn patients with CAD after PCI, ticagrelor plus aspirin lowered the MACCE recurrence risk in CYP2C19 LOF allele carriers and non-carriers compared with clopidogrel plus aspirin alone among non-smokers. The efficacy of antiplatelet therapy varies between CYP2C19 LOF allele carrier status. No significant interaction between CYP2C19 LOF allele carrier status and antiplatelet effectiveness was observed. However, caution should be used to interpret our results considering the many limitations of our investigation.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the trend and main influencing factors of road traffic accidents in Guangzhou, China, from 2007 to 2020 and to provide a reference and guidance for government decision-making. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was used to describe road traffic accidents in Guangzhou. According to the population types, all people with road traffic accidents were divided into migrant workers and the control population. We divided road users, administrative districts, motorcycle types and injury levels into subgroups to investigate the characteristics of road traffic accidents in Guangzhou. The road traffic accident data were derived from the Guangzhou Public Security Traffic Management Integrated System. Results: The incidence rate of road traffic accidents per 10,000 vehicles in Guangzhou decreased from 36.55 in 2007 to 10.07 in 2012, remained relatively stable at 9.47 in 2017, and finally rose to 11.12 in 2020. The injury rate showed the same trend as the incidence rate, while the mortality rate gradually decreased from 14.21 in 2007 to 5.19 in 2020. Vulnerable road users such as motorized two-to-three-wheeler drivers and migrant workers were casualties in more than 80% of the cases. The proportion of casualties involving mopeds and electric bicycles increased rapidly after 2018. Motor vehicle drivers frequently caused road traffic accidents and were most often uninjured. Conclusion: Road safety in Guangzhou has shown a clear trend of improvement, but casualties are uneven across administrative districts. More attention should be given to motorized two-to-three-wheelers, migrant workers, and road traffic violations by uninjured individuals.

Smoking is an independent risk factor for the cardiovascular diseases. Nicotine, a major component of tobacco, is responsible for the impaired endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation in smokers. Procyanidin B2 (PCB2), a natural flavonoid, has been reported to possess several potential beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system. However, whether PCB2 prevents nicotine-induced endothelial dysfunction remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that PCB2 improved nicotine-impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in mouse thoracic aortas. Mechanistically, PCB2 increased the expression levels of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1), two important enzymes in the synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), in mouse aortas and cultured ECs. GSK0660, a selective antagonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ), abolished the PCB2-induced effects on BH4 synthesis, nitric oxide (NO) production and vasodilation. Collectively, we demonstrated that PCB2 mitigates nicotine-induced endothelial dysfunction through a PPARδ-BH4 dependent manner, thereby suggesting a novel role of PCB2 in preventing vascular dysfunction caused by nicotine exposure.

Panoramic imagery from multi-camera systems often suffers the problem of geometric mosaicking errors due to eccentric errors between the optical centers of cameras and variations in object-distances within the panoramic environment. In this paper, an inverse rigorous panoramic imaging model was derived completely for a panoramic multi-camera system. Additionally, we present an estimation scheme aimed at extracting object-distance information to enhance the seamlessness of panoramic image stitching. The essence of the scheme centers around our proposed object-space-based image matching algorithm called the Panoramic Vertical Line Locus (PVLL). As a result, panoramas were generated using the proposed inverse multi-cylinder projection method, utilizing the estimated object-distance information. The experiments conducted on our developed multi-camera system demonstrate that the root mean square errors (RMSEs) in the overlapping areas of panoramic images are no more than 1.0 pixel. In contrast, the RMSEs of the conventional traditional methods are typically more than 6 pixels, and in some cases, even exceed 30 pixels. Moreover, the inverse imaging model has successfully addressed the issue of empty pixels. The proposed method can effectively meet the accurate panoramic imaging requirements for complex surroundings with varied object-distance information.

In this paper, a combination of non-targeted metabolomics and multi-element analysis was used to investigate the impact of five different cultivars on the sensory quality of QTMJ tea and identify candidate markers for varietal authenticity assessment. With chemometric analysis, a total of 54 differential metabolites were screened, with the abundances significantly varied in the tea cultivars. By contrast, the QTMJ tea from the Yaoshan Xiulv (XL) monovariety presents a much better sensory quality as result of the relatively more abundant anthocyanin glycosides and the lower levels of 2′-o-methyladenosine, denudatine, kynurenic acid and L-pipecolic acid. In addition, multi-elemental analysis found 14 significantly differential elements among the cultivars (VIP > 1 and p < 0.05). The differences and correlations of metabolites and elemental signatures of QTMJ tea between five cultivars were discussed using a Pearson correlation analysis. Element characteristics can be used as the best discriminant index for different cultivars of QTMJT, with a predictive accuracy of 100%.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding sequences that can regulate the expression of target genes. Erythrocytes, also called red blood cells (RBCs), are the largest proportion of cells in blood. Erythrocytes deliver oxygen in the body of vertebrates and contribute to the body's immune function. Illumina sequencing technology was used to analyze pooled RNA samples isolated from erythrocytes, in order to characterize their gene expression profile and increase the range of miRNAs identified in Nile tilapia erythrocytes. This study identified conserved (n = 309) and novel (n = 194) miRNAs. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing results indicated that miR-451 was the most abundant in RBCs, followed by let-7a-1, miR-2188 and miR-144. Moreover, the tissue expression mode of these highly expressed miRNAs was characterized. Results show that miR-451, miR-2188, and miR-144 were all highly expressed in RBCs but were low abundance in other tissues. miR-1 and miR-10b were also abundantly expressed in muscle, while miR-122 was abundantly expressed in the liver. let-7a-1, miR-10b, and miR-1 were significantly higher in the testis than in the ovary. The tissue distribution of miRNAs implies that these noncoding sequences have a potential role in regulating tissue differentiation or maintaining tissue characteristics. The results of a dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that miR-144 and miR-10b inhibited the expression of the meningioma expressed antigen 5 gene in vitro. This study contributes to the Nile tilapia miRNA database and reveals the profile of erythrocyte miRNA expression.

Micro-expression is a fleeting facial expression of emotion that usually occurs in high-stake situations and reveals the true emotion that a person tries to conceal. Due to its unique nature, recognizing micro-expression has great applications for fields like law enforcement, medical treatment, and national security. However, the psychological mechanism of micro-expression recognition is still poorly understood. In the present research, we sought to expand upon previous research to investigate whether the group membership of the expresser influences the recognition process of micro-expressions. By conducting two behavioral studies, we found that contrary to the widespread ingroup advantage found in macro-expression recognition, there was a robust ingroup disadvantage in micro-expression recognition instead. Specifically, in Study 1A and 1B, we found that participants were more accurate at recognizing the intense and subtle micro-expressions of their racial outgroups than those micro-expressions of their racial ingroups, and neither the training experience nor the duration of micro-expressions moderated this ingroup disadvantage. In Study 2A and 2B, we further found that mere social categorization alone was sufficient to elicit the ingroup disadvantage for the recognition of intense and subtle micro-expressions, and such an effect was also unaffected by the duration of micro-expressions. These results suggest that individuals spontaneously employ the social category information of others to recognize micro-expressions, and the ingroup disadvantage in micro-expression stems partly from motivated differential processing of ingroup micro-expressions.

BackgroundInsulin resistance (IR) is closely associated with in-stent restenosis (ISR) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Nevertheless, the predictive power of the newly developed simple assessment method for IR, estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR), for ISR after PCI in individuals with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) remains unclear.MethodsNSTE-ACS cases administered PCI in Beijing Anzhen Hospital between January and December 2015 were enrolled. The included individuals were submitted to at least one coronary angiography within 48 months after discharge. Patients were assigned to 2 groups according to ISR occurrence or absence. eGDR was derived as 21.16 - (0.09 * waist circumference [cm]) - (3.41 * hypertension) - (0.55 * glycated hemoglobin [%]). Multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed for evaluating eGDR’s association with ISR.ResultsBased on eligibility criteria, 1218 patients were included. In multivariate logistic analysis, the odds ratios (ORs) of eGDR as a nominal variate and a continuous variate were 3.393 (confidence interval [CI] 2.099 - 5.488, P < 0.001) and 1.210 (CI 1.063 - 1.378, P = 0.004), respectively. The incremental effect of eGDR on ISR prediction based on traditional cardiovascular risk factors was reflected by ROC curve analysis (AUC: baseline model + eGDR 0.644 vs. baseline model 0.609, P for comparison=0.013), continuous net reclassification improvement (continuous-NRI) of -0.264 (p < 0.001) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of 0.071 (p = 0.065).ConclusionIn NSTE-ACS cases administered PCI, eGDR levels show an independent negative association with increased ISR risk.

IntroductionTo study cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain (CSF-NfL) levels as a prognostic biomarker in pediatric Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).MethodsProspective study enrolling 26 pediatric GBS patients and 48 healthy controls (HCs) from neurology units between 2017 to 2021. The CSF-NfL levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The children's disability levels were evaluated using Hughes Functional Score (HFS) at nadir, 1 month, and 6 months after onset. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve derived from logistic regression (with age as a covariate) was used to assess the prognostic value of CSF-NfL on the possibility of walking aided at 1 month after symptom onset.ResultsThe mean CSF-NfL levels were significantly increased in GBS patients (111.76 pg/mL) as compared to that in HCs (76.82 pg/mL) (t = 6.754, p < 0.001). At follow- up, the mean CSF-NfL levels after treatment (65.69 pg/mL) declined significantly (t = 6.693, p < 0.001). CSF-NfL levels upon admission were significantly associated with the HFS at nadir (rs = 0.461, p = 0.018). Moreover, the mean CSF-NfL levels in GBS patients with poor prognosis (130.47pg/mL) were significantly higher than that in patients with good prognosis (104.87pg/mL) (t = 2.399, p = 0.025). ROC curve analysis of the predictive value of CSF-NfL levels with respect to the inability to walk unaided within 1 month showed a significant difference (area under the curve: 0.857,95% confidence interval 0.702-1.000; p = 0.006).ConclusionCSF-NfL levels were increased in pediatric GBS patients. High CSF-NfL level predicted worse motor function, and was strongly associated with poor short-term prognosis of pediatric GBS. We propose a biomarker for early prediction of outcome in pediatric GBS, which would be applicable for clinical practice and efficacy of treatment in the future.

IntroductionTo examine the importance of abundant A-waves in electrophysiological classification and prognosis of pediatric Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).MethodsA single-center and retrospective study enrolling 65 children-patients, aged 16 years and younger, with clinically diagnosed GBS between 2013 to 2020. Hughes grade was used to assess functional disability at nadir, 1 month, and 6 months after symptom onset. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of abundant A-waves. Clinical features and prognosis between the 2 groups were compared.ResultsThe distal motor latency of the median nerve in patients with GBS with A-waves (9.18 ms) was more prolonged than that of patients with GBS without A-waves (4.1 ms). An electrophysiological variant of these two groups was also statistically different (p = 0.006). The short-term prognosis of patients with AIDP with A-waves was worse than patients with AIDP without A-waves (χ2 = 5.022, p = 0.025), and univariable logistic regression analysis showed statistically significant (OR: 5.844, 95% CI 1.118–30.553; p = 0.036).ConclusionA-waves were strongly associated with demyelination and poor short-term prognosis of AIDP in children. We proposed an electrophysiological marker for early prediction of outcome in the AIDP subtype of GBS, applicable for clinical practice and future treatment administration.

There are some problems in the photovoltaic microgrid system due to the solar irradiance-change environment, such as power fluctuation, which leads to larger power imbalance and affects the stable operation of the microgrid. Aiming at the problems of power mismatch loss under partial shading in photovoltaic microgrid systems, this paper proposed a distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) approach based on an improved sparrow search algorithm (ISSA). First, used the center of gravity reverse learning mechanism to initialize the population, so that the population has a better spatial solution distribution; Secondly, the learning coefficient was introduced in the location update part of the discoverer to improve the global search ability of the algorithm; Simultaneously used the mutation operator to improve the position update of the joiner and avoid the algorithm falling into the local extreme value. The results of the model in Matlab showed that the ISSA can track the maximum power point(MPP) more accurately and quickly than the perturbation observation method (P&O) and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and had good steady-state performance.

Objective An isotope dilution-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was established for the determination of ribavirin and adamantanes (amantadine, adamantanemethylamine, rimantadine, memantine) in poultry food. Methods After enzymatic hydrolysis and precipitated by trichloroacetic acid, the samples were centrifuged by high-speed centrifuge at low temperature, and purified by PBA/PCX composite solid-phase extraction cartridge. The separation of ribavirin was performed on UPLC system with Agilent ZORBAX SB-Aq (3.0 mm×100 mm, 1.8 μm), adamantanes with Waters BEH C18 column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm) and determinated by tandem mass spectrometry. The method was quantified by internal standard. Results The calibration curves showed a good linearity between the peak ratio and the concentrations of 1.0-100 ng/mL (ribavirin) and 0.2-20 ng/mL (adamantanes) with r=0.999. The limit of detection of ribavirin was 0.5 and 0.1 μg/kg for adamantanes. The limit of quantification of ribavirin was 1.5 and 0.3 μg/kg for adamantanes. The mean recoveries of the ribavirin ranged from 91.4%-103.7% and ranged from 94.3%-108.2% for adamantanes spiked at three concentration levels (1.5-15 and 0.3-3.0 μg/kg), with the relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 10%. Conclusion This method was simple, high sensitivity and accuracy.

PurposeTo report a modified technique of dry-lensectomy assisted lensectomy in the management of end-stage familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) complicated with capsule-endothelial, iris-endothelial adhesion and secondary glaucoma.Methods24 eyes of 16 patients with severe complications of advanced pediatric total retinal detachment caused by FEVR who received limbus-based dry-lensectomy were studied retrospectively. Preoperative and postoperative clinical information was collected and reviewed.ResultsAmong the 24 eyes, three eyes (12.50%) underwent lensectomy combined with vitrectomy and membrane peeling simultaneously. 21 (87.50%) eyes underwent lensectomy without membrane peeling due to severe corneal opacity or retinal vascular activity, of which eight underwent another vitrectomy combined with membrane peeling. At the last visit (mean:13.86 ± 5.24 months of follow-up), all eyes had a reconstructed anterior chamber with normal depth. Among 21 eyes having preoperative corneal opacity, 15 (71.43%) had a clearer cornea with reduced opacity, 5 (23.81%) showed similar corneal opacification without deterioration. Among 11 eyes undergone retrolental fibroplasia peeling, seven (63.64%) eyes showed partial retinal reattachment in open-funnel type.ConclusionDry-lensectomy offered a simple way to lower the intraocular pressure and simplified the surgery, which helped to solve the severe anterior segment complications and offer a chance for following retrolental fibroplasia peeling and potential visual gain for selected end-stage FEVR patients.

In recent decades, DNA nanotechnology has grown into a highly innovative and widely established field. DNA nanostructures have extraordinary structural programmability and can accurately organize nanoscale materials, especially in guiding the synthesis of metal nanomaterials, which have unique advantages in controlling the growth morphology of metal nanomaterials. This review started with the evolution in DNA nanotechnology and the types of DNA nanostructures. Next, a DNA-based nanofabrication technology, DNA metallization, was introduced. In this section, we systematically summarized the DNA-oriented synthesis of metal nanostructures with different morphologies and structures. Furthermore, the applications of metal nanostructures constructed from DNA templates in various fields including electronics, catalysis, sensing, and bioimaging were figured out. Finally, the development prospects and challenges of metal nanostructures formed under the morphology control by DNA nanotechnology were discussed.

This study estimated the risk of hepatitis A virus (HAV) foodborne illness outbreaks through the consumption of fermented clams in South Korea. HAV prevalence in fermented clams was obtained from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Report, 2019. Fermented clam samples (2 g) were inoculated with HAV and stored at −20–25 °C. Based on the HAV titer (determined using plaque assay) in fermented clams according to storage, the Baranyi predictive models provided by Combase were applied to describe the kinetic behavior of HAV in fermented clams. The initial estimated HAV contamination level was −3.7 Log PFU/g. The developed predictive models revealed that, when the temperature increased, the number of HAV plaques decreased. The Beta-Poisson model was chosen for determining the dose–response of HAV, and the simulation revealed that there was a 6.56 × 10−11/person/day chance of contracting HAV foodborne illness by eating fermented clams. However, when only regular consumers of fermented clams were assumed as the population, the probability of HAV foodborne illness increased to 8.11 × 10−8/person/day. These results suggest that, while there is a low likelihood of HAV foodborne illness from consuming fermented clams across the country, regular consumers should be aware of the possibility of foodborne illness.

Adenosine deaminase acting on RNA1 (ADAR1) is a newly discovered epigenetic molecule marker that is sensitive to environmental stressors. A recent study has demonstrated that ADAR1 affects BDNF expression via miR-432 and is involved in antidepressant action. However, the detailed molecular mechanism is still unclear. We have uncovered a new molecular mechanism showing the involvement of miR-432 and circ_0000418 in mediating the antidepressant action of ADAR1. We demonstrate that the ADAR1 inducer (IFN-γ) alleviates the depressive-like behaviors of BALB/c mice treated with chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) exposure. Moreover, both in vivo and in vitro studies show that ADAR1 differently impacts miR-432 and circ_0000418 expressions. Furthermore, the in vitro results demonstrate that circ_0000418 oppositely affects BDNF expression. Together, our results indicate that ADAR1 affects CUS-induced depressive-like behavior and BDNF expression by acting on miR-432 and circ_0000418. Elucidation of this new molecular mechanism will not only provide insights into further understanding the important role of ADAR1 in stress-induced depressive-like behavior but also suggest a potential therapeutic strategy for developing novel anti-depressive drugs.