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ABSTRACT To date, the mechanical control of drifting sand is the main method used for the protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from damage. The thermal effect of sandy sediments which are held in place on the underlying permafrost is a key area of interest and the focus of this paper. A ground temperature investigation of the permafrost along the railway route was undertaken and results were related to the different mechanical control measures used to control moving sand which had resulted in varying sandy sediment thicknesses. The studies were conducted in the Hongliang River area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from June 2010 to September 2010 using thermistor sensors. The results showed that the permafrost ground temperature and its daily variation, as well as the thawing depth of the active layer, decreased after the setting-up of sand movement controls which had resulted in the accumulation of thick sandy sediments within the outside fringe of sand-control engineering, or a covering of thin sandy sediments within the inside trackside (fringe) of sand-control engineering. Below the thick sandy sediment cover accumulated by sand-blocking fences, the average maximum temperature decreased. Average temperature decreased and the average depth of seasonal thawing (average thinning) were 3·38°C, 0·54°C and 0·48 m, respectively. Below the thin sand sediment cover accumulated by the checkerboard sand barriers, the values for the same parameters were 1·02°C, 0·21°C and 0·5 m, respectively. This study found that the mechanical control of sand does not only protect the railway from obstruction, but also facilitates permafrost stability, which in turn can help promote safety in railway operations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prominent neurodegenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system in the elderly. Current understanding of AD primarily centers on the gradual decline in cognitive and memory functions, believed to be influenced by factors including mitochondrial dysfunction, β-amyloid aggregation, and neuroinflammation. Emerging research indicates that neuroinflammation plays a significant role in the development of AD, with the inflammasome potentially mediating inflammatory responses that contribute to neurodegeneration. Recent studies in AD pathology have identified a novel form of inflammasome referred to as NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Pathological alterations closely associated with NLRP3 inflammasome activation have been observed in the brain tissues of AD patients, transgenic mice, and in vitro neurocyte models. Numerous studies have demonstrated the potent neuroprotective properties of natural plant products (NPPs) against NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated AD pathology. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the NLRP3 inflammasome, its involvement in AD pathology, and the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of NPP targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Clinical trial number: Not applicable., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A central paradigm of nonequilibrium physics concerns the dynamics of heterogeneity and disorder, impacting processes ranging from the behavior of glasses to the emergent functionality of active matter. Understanding these complex mesoscopic systems requires probing the microscopic trajectories associated with irreversible processes, the role of fluctuations and entropy growth, and the timescales on which nonequilibrium responses are ultimately maintained. Approaches that illuminate these processes in model systems may enable a more general understanding of other heterogeneous nonequilibrium phenomena, and potentially define ultimate speed and energy cost limits for information processing technologies. Here, we apply ultrafast single-shot X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to resolve the nonequilibrium, heterogeneous, and irreversible mesoscale dynamics during a light-induced phase transition in a (PbTiO 3 ) 16 /(SrTiO 3 ) 16 superlattice. Such ferroelectric superlattice systems are a useful platform to study phase transitions and topological dynamics due to their high degree of tunability. This provides an approach for capturing the nucleation of the light-induced phase, the formation of transient mesoscale defects at the boundaries of the nuclei, and the eventual annihilation of these defects, even in systems with complex polarization topologies. We identify a nonequilibrium correlation response spanning >10 orders of magnitude in timescales, with multistep behavior similar to the plateaus observed in supercooled liquids and glasses. We further show how the observed time-dependent long-time correlations can be understood in terms of stochastic and non-Markovian dynamics of domain walls, encoded in waiting-time distributions with power-law tails. This work defines possibilities for probing the nonequilibrium and correlated dynamics of disordered and heterogeneous media., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of platelet indicators in the susceptibility of ABO blood groups to lung adenocarcinoma. This was a multicenter retrospective cohort analysis. The study included 528 patients diagnosed with primary lung adenocarcinoma and 528 randomly selected control group patients who were admitted to the Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital from January 2021 to September 2023. Additionally, it included 1452 patients diagnosed with primary lung adenocarcinoma and 1452 control group patients who were admitted to the Sichuan Cancer Hospital from November 2013 to May 2021. Platelet indicators were studied using an automated blood counter. ABO blood groups were determined by the gel column method using agglutination techniques. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square tests, independent-samples T-tests, ANOVA, and logistic regression. Chi-square analysis showed that there was a difference in ABO blood group composition between the lung adenocarcinoma group and the control group (p < 0.001). Independent-samples T-tests showed that MPV was significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma than in control group (p = 0.025). The ANOVA of ABO blood groups and platelet indicators in lung adenocarcinoma showed that the average platelet count (PLT) of O group blood was higher than that of B group blood (p = 0.037), while the mean platelet volume (MPV) was significantly lower than that of A group, B group and AB group blood (p = 0.009). After adjusting for gender and age, logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of lung adenocarcinoma in blood groups O and B was higher than that in blood group A (p < 0.05 for each) and blood group AB (p < 0.05 for each), regardless of whether platelet indicators were added. Meanwhile, logistic regression showed that high platelet volume (MPV) was a risk factor for lung adenocarcinoma (p = 0.029). Our findings suggest that platelet indicators are respectively associated with ABO blood groups and lung adenocarcinoma. However, platelet indicators may not influence the ABO blood groups related susceptibility to Lung Adenocarcinoma., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: The research related to human use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, institutional policies and follows the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of The Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Chengdu Fifth People’s Hospital. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Sichuan Cancer Hospital approved this retrospective study (IRB code: SCCHEC-02-2021-064 ). The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Chengdu Fifth People’s Hospital approved this retrospective study (IRB code: Ethical review 2023-036(science)-01). This retrospective study has been approved to waive informed consent by the Institutional Review Board of the Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Chengdu Fifth People’s Hospital. Consent to participate: The study was a retrospective analysis and didn’t require the patient’s informed consent., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

This study investigates platelet-related subtypes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and seeks to identify genes associated with prognosis, focusing on the clinical significance of the chloride ion channel gene BEST3. We utilised sequencing and clinical data from GEO, TCGA and the Xena platform, building a risk model based on genetic features. TCGA and GSE37745 served as training cohorts, while GSE50081, GSE13213, GSE30129 and GSE42127 were validation cohorts. Immunotherapy datasets (GSE135222, TCGA-SKCM) were also analysed. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using Limma, subtypes through ConsensusClusterPlus and key prognostic genes using COX regression, Random Forest and LASSO-COX. BEST3 expression was validated by flow cytometry (FCM) and functional assays in A549 cells with lentiviral overexpression evaluated its impact on apoptosis, proliferation and migration. Three platelet-related subtypes were identified, with ten key prognostic genes (including BEST3). Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed six genes involved in platelet pathways. BEST3 was highly expressed in the platelet subtype 1. Flow cytometry confirmed elevated BEST3 levels in NSCLC (35.9% vs. 27.3% in healthy individuals). Overexpression of BEST3 in NSCLC cells suppressed apoptosis and promoted proliferation and migration. The discovery of three platelet subtypes and the role of BEST3 in promoting tumour growth and migration highlights its potential as a therapeutic target and prognostic marker in NSCLC., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The growth of layered 2D compounds is a key ingredient in finding new phenomena in quantum materials, optoelectronics, and energy conversion. Here, we report SnP 2 Se 6 , a van der Waals chiral ( R 3 space group) semiconductor with an indirect bandgap of 1.36 to 1.41 electron volts. Exfoliated SnP 2 Se 6 flakes are integrated into high-performance field-effect transistors with electron mobilities >100 cm 2 /Vs and on/off ratios >10 6 at room temperature. Upon excitation at a wavelength of 515.6 nanometer, SnP 2 Se 6 phototransistors show high gain (>4 × 10 4 ) at low intensity (≈10 -6 W/cm 2 ) and fast photoresponse (< 5 microsecond) with concurrent gain of ≈52.9 at high intensity (≈56.6 mW/cm 2 ) at a gate voltage of 60 V across 300-nm-thick SiO 2 dielectric layer. The combination of high carrier mobility and the non-centrosymmetric crystal structure results in a strong intrinsic bulk photovoltaic effect; under local excitation at normal incidence at 532 nm, short circuit currents exceed 8 mA/cm 2 at 20.6 W/cm 2 .

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Kai Xin San (KXS), first proposed by Sun Simiao during the Tang Dynasty, has been utilized to treat dementia by tonifying qi and dispersing phlegm., Aim of the Study: This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which KXS exerts its therapeutic effects on Alzheimer's disease (AD) by targeting ferroptosis, using a combination of network pharmacology, bioinformatics, and experimental validation strategies., Materials and Methods: The active target sites and the further potential mechanisms of KXS in protecting against AD were investigated through molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and network pharmacology, and combined with the validation of animal experiments., Results: Computational and experimental findings provide the first indication that KXS significantly improves learning and memory defects and inhibits neuronal ferroptosis by repairing mitochondria damage and upregulating the protein expression of ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) in vivo APP/PS1 mice AD model. According to bioinformatics analysis, the mechanism by which KXS inhibits ferroptosis may involve SIRT1. KXS notably upregulated the mRNA and protein expression of SIRT1 in both vivo APP/PS1 mice and in vitro APP-overexpressed HT22 cells. Additionally, KXS inhibited ferroptosis induced by APP-overexpression in HT22 cells through activating the SIRT1-FSP1 signal pathway., Conclusions: Collectively, our findings suggest that KXS may inhibit neuronal ferroptosis through activating the SIRT1/FSP1 signaling pathway. This study reveals the scientific basis and underlying modern theory of replenishing qi and eliminating phlegm, which involves the inhibition of ferroptosis. Moreover, it highlights the potential application of SIRT1 or FSP1 activators in the treatment of AD and other ferroptosis-related diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have declared that no conflicts of interest exist., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by high invasion rates, rapid progression, and poor prognoses. Thus, identifying SCLC patients at high risk of progression and death is critical to improve long-term survival. In this study, the aspartate transaminase-to-albumin ratio (ATAR) was examined as a prognostic factor for SCLC patients., Methods: We screened 196 SCLC patients from December 2013 to September 2022 at the Sichuan Cancer Hospital. The data was collected from patients' medical information as well as from their blood results during diagnosis. Using the Youden index as a cutoff value, patients were divided into high-risk（> 0.54) and low-risk (≤ 0.54) ATAR groups. We analyzed the prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) using the Kaplan-Meier method, univariate and multivariate analyses, Cox regression, and the C-index., Results: There were 109 (55.6%) smokers among the patients, and the median OS was 17.55 months. The Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with high-risk ATAR had significantly lower OS (p < 0.0001). A multivariate analysis demonstrated that elevated ATAR is an independent adverse predictor of OS (p < 0.001, HR = 1.907). Our study found that ATAR is an independent predictor of survival outcomes in SCLC, which was superior to ALB, PNI, and SII in predicting outcomes in low-risk and high-risk groups (all p < 0.05). Models combining ATAR with ALB, PNI, and SII showed more powerful prognostic value than their corresponding original models. Moreover, the prognostic indicator ATAR can significantly stratify stage I - II and III - IV SCLC patients (p ＜ 0.05)., Conclusions: Peripheral blood ATAR prognostic index can be used as an independent predictor of SCLC patients before treatment.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of postoperative Creatine Kinase type M and B (CK-MB) to total Creatine Kinase (CK) ratio (CK-MB/CK) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients after radical resection., Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort analysis. Subjects were stage I-III CRC patients hospitalized in Sichuan Cancer Hospital from January 2017 to May 2021. Patients were divided into abnormal group and normal group according to whether the CK-MB/CK ratio was abnormal after surgery. Through a comparative analysis of clinical data, laboratory test results, and prognosis differences between the two groups, we aimed to uncover the potential relationship between abnormal CK-MB > CK results and CRC patients. To gauge the impact of CK-MB/CK on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), we employed the multivariable COX regression and LASSO regression analysis. Additionally, Spearman correlation analysis, logistic regression, and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were conducted to assess the predictive value of the CK-MB/CK ratio for postoperative liver metastasis., Results: Cox regression analysis revealed that the CK-MB/CK ratio was a stable risk factors for OS (HR = 3.82, p < 0.001) and DFS (HR = 2.31, p < 0.001). To distinguish hepatic metastases after surgery, the ROC area under the curve of CK-MB/CK was 0.697 (p < 0.001), and the optimal cut-off value determined by the Youden index was 0.347., Conclusions: Postoperative abnormal CK-MB/CK ratio predicts worse prognosis in CRC patients after radical resection and serves as a useful biomarker for detecting postoperative liver metastasis., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cadmium (Cd)-induced oxidative stress detrimentally affects hyperaccumulator growth, thereby diminishing the efficacy of phytoremediation technology aimed at Cd pollution abatement. In the domain of plant antioxidant mechanisms, the role of glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in conferring Cd tolerance to tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) remained unclear. Our investigation employed genome-wide analysis to identify 14 NtGPX genes in tobacco, revealing their organization into seven subgroups characterized by analogous conserved domain patterns. Notably, qPCR analysis highlighted NtGPX8a as markedly responsive to Cd 2+ stress. Subsequent exploration through yeast two-hybridization unveiled NtGPX8a's utilization of thioredoxins AtTrxZ and AtTrxm2 as electron donors, and without interaction with AtTrx5. Introduction of NtGPX8a into Escherichia coli significantly ameliorated Cd-induced adverse effects on bacterial growth. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing NtGPX8a demonstrated significantly augmented activities of GPX, SOD, POD, and CAT under Cd 2+ stress compared to the wild type (WT). Conversely, these transgenic plants exhibited markedly reduced levels of MDA, H 2 O 2 , and proline. Intriguingly, the expression of NtGPX8a in both E. coli and transgenic tobacco led to increased Cd accumulation, confirming its dual role in enhancing Cd tolerance and accumulation. Consequently, NtGPX8a emerges as a promising candidate gene for engineering transgenic hyperaccumulators endowed with robust tolerance for Cd-contaminated phytoremediation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) functions as a key regulator in inflammation and cell death and is involved in mediating a variety of inflammatory or degenerative diseases. A number of allosteric RIPK1 inhibitors (RIPK1i) have been developed, and some of them have already advanced into clinical evaluation. Recently, selective RIPK1i that interact with both the allosteric pocket and the ATP-binding site of RIPK1 have started to emerge. Here, we report the rational development of a new series of type-II RIPK1i based on the rediscovery of a reported but mechanistically atypical RIPK3i. We also describe the structure-guided lead optimization of a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable RIPK1i, 62 , which exhibits extraordinary efficacies in mouse models of acute or chronic inflammatory diseases. Collectively, 62 provides a useful tool for evaluating RIPK1 in animal disease models and a promising lead for further drug development., Competing Interests: Li Tan, Ying Li, Ying Qin, Chunting Qi, and Huaijiang Xiang are inventors on patent applications relating to this work, owned by SIOC, CAS., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) have been widely reported to have promising application potential; nonetheless, platelet isolation from peripheral blood is an important but neglected step in TEPs research for platelet-based liquid biopsy. In this article, we discussed some common influence factors for platelet isolation. To investigate the factors involved in platelet isolation, a prospective multicenter study was conducted on healthy Han Chinese adults (18 to 79 years of age). A total of 208 individuals were included in the final statistical analysis out of the 226 healthy volunteers who were prospectively enrolled from four hospitals. The primary study metric was the platelet recovery rate (PRR). The similar pattern was observed in the four hospitals, The PRR at room temperature (23°C±2°C) was slightly higher than the PRR at cold temperature (4°C±2°C). Moreover, the PRR gradually decreased as the storage time increased. The PRR for samples within 2 hours of storage is significantly higher than for samples beyond 2 hours ( p  < .05). Additionally, PRR was also affected by the equipment used in different centers. This study confirmed several factors that influence platelet isolation. In our study, we indicated that platelet isolation should be performed within two hours of peripheral blood draw and held at room temperature until isolation, and that centrifuge models should be fixed during the extraction process, which will further improve the research progress of platelet-based liquid biopsy in cancer.

There is tremendous interest in employing collective excitations of the lattice, spin, charge, and orbitals to tune strongly correlated electronic phenomena. We report such an effect in a ruthenate, Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7 , where two phonons with strong electron-phonon coupling modulate the electronic pseudogap as well as mediate charge and spin density wave fluctuations. Combining temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy with density functional theory reveals two phonons, B 2 P and B 2 M , that are strongly coupled to electrons and whose scattering intensities respectively dominate in the pseudogap versus the metallic phases. The B 2 P squeezes the octahedra along the out of plane c-axis, while the B 2 M elongates it, thus modulating the Ru 4d orbital splitting and the bandwidth of the in-plane electron hopping; Thus, B 2 P opens the pseudogap, while B 2 M closes it. Moreover, the B 2 phonons mediate incoherent charge and spin density wave fluctuations, as evidenced by changes in the background electronic Raman scattering that exhibit unique symmetry signatures. The polar order breaks inversion symmetry, enabling infrared activity of these phonons, paving the way for coherent light-driven control of electronic transport., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Objective: To investigate the effects of high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and duration of embryo cryopreservation on perinatal outcomes of the first frozen-thawed cycle after whole embryo cryopreservation. Methods: The clinical data of 1 804 patients who underwent the first frozen-thawed cycle after whole embryo cryopreservation and achieved singleton live births in the Reproductive Center of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. According to whether there was high risk of OHSS in the oocyte retrieval cycle, the patients were divided into high-risk group ( n =790) and non-high-risk group ( n =1 014). The baseline data and perinatal outcomes were compared between the two groups. Multivariate linear regression was applied to analyze the relative factors affecting neonatal weight. And the high-risk group was divided into three subgroups according to different cryopreservation time: the embryos of 96 cycles with a cryopreservation time less than 60 days were defined as group A; the embryos of 587 cycles with a cryopreservation time around 60 to 120 days were defined as group B; the embryos of 107 cycles with a cryopreservation time more than 120 days were defined as group C. The perinatal outcomes were compared among the three groups. The measurement data in this study were represented by［ M （ Q 1 ， Q 3 ）］. Results: The female age in the high-risk group was 30.0 (27.0, 32.0) years old, which was lower than that in the non-high-risk group 31.0 (29.0, 34.0) ( P <0.001). The male age in high-risk group was 30.0 (28.0, 33.0), lower than that in non-high-risk group 32.0 (29.0, 35.0) ( P <0.001). The birth weight of high-risk group [3 500.0 (3 200.0,3 800.0) g] was higher than that of control group [3 400.0 (3 150.0,3 800.0) g]( P =0.045). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that female BMI was correlated with neonatal weight, β (95% CI ) was 15.37(8.33, 22.41) ( P <0.001), and the high risk of OHSS was not correlated with neonatal weight, β (95% CI ) was 19.40 (-38.07, 76.87) ( P =0.508). There was significant difference in the incidence of low birth weight and very low birth weight among groups A, B and C (all P values<0.05), and the incidence of low birth weight and very low birth weight in group C was higher than that in group B (all P values<0.017). Conclusions: The risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in high-risk OHSS patients who underwent the first frozen-thawed cycle after whole embryo cryopreservation was not increased. However, prolonged cryopreservation of embryos may lead to increased risk of low birth weight and very low birth weight.

In additive manufacturing (AM), the mechanical properties of manufactured parts are often insufficient due to complex defects and residual stresses, limiting their use in high-value or mission-critical applications. Therefore, the research and application of nondestructive testing (NDT) technologies to identify defects in AM are becoming increasingly urgent. This article reviews the recent progress in online detection technologies in AM, a special introduction to the high-speed synchrotron X-ray technology for real-time in situ observation, and analysis of defect formation processes in the past 5 years, and also discusses the latest research efforts involving process monitoring and feedback control algorithms. The formation mechanism of different defects and the influence of process parameters on defect formation, important parameters such as defect spatial resolution, detection speed, and scope of application of common NDT methods, and the defect types, advantages, and disadvantages associated with current online detection methods for monitoring three-dimensional printing processes are summarized. In response to the development requirements of AM technology, the most promising trends in online detection are also prospected. This review aims to serve as a reference and guidance for the work to identify/select the most suitable measurement methods and corresponding control strategy for online detection., Competing Interests: No competing financial interests exist., (Copyright 2023, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.)

Oxidative stress (OS) is a chemical imbalance between an oxidant and an antioxidant, causing damage to redox signaling and control or causing molecular damage. Unbalanced oxidative metabolism can produce excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS). These excess ROS can cause drastic changes in platelet metabolism and further affect platelet function. It will also lead to an increase in platelet procoagulant phenotype and cell apoptosis, which will increase the risk of thrombosis. The creation of ROS and subsequent platelet activation, adhesion, and recruitment are then further encouraged in an auto-amplifying loop by ROS produced from platelets. Meanwhile, cancer cells produce a higher concentration of ROS due to their fast metabolism and high proliferation rate. However, excessive ROS can result in damage to and modification of cellular macromolecules. The formation of cancer and its progression is strongly associated with oxidative stress and the resulting oxidative damage. In addition, platelets are an important part of the tumor microenvironment, and there is a significant cross-communication between platelets and cancer cells. Cancer cells alter the activation status of platelets, their RNA spectrum, proteome, and other properties. The "cloaking" of cancer cells by platelets providing physical protection，avoiding destruction from shear stress and the attack of immune cells, promoting tumor cell invasion.We explored the vicious circle interaction between ROS, platelets, and cancer in this review, and we believe that ROS can play a stimulative role in tumor growth and metastasis through platelets., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

It has been proved that Raman spectral intensities could be used to diagnose lung cancer patients. However, the application of Raman spectroscopy in identifying the patients with pulmonary nodules was barely studied. In this study, we revealed that Raman spectra of serum samples from healthy participants and patients with benign and malignant pulmonary nodules were significantly different. A support vector machine (SVM) model was developed for the classification of Raman spectra with wave points, according to ANOVA test results. It got a good performance with a median area under the curve (AUC) of 0.89, when the SVM model was applied in discriminating benign from malignant individuals. Compared with three common clinical models, the SVM model showed a better discriminative ability and added more net benefits to participants, which were also excellent in the small-size nodules. Thus, the Raman spectroscopy could be a less-invasive and low-costly liquid biopsy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether a 60-day weight reduction intervention prior to in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) and a higher weight loss ratio effectively improved perinatal outcomes for infertile overweight or obese women., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a university-affiliated fertility center. Two thousand three hundred and eighty-one overweight or obese infertile women who underwent or did not undergo a 60-day weight reduction intervention prior to IVF/ICSI between February 27, 2017 and November 11, 2020 were included in this study. All of these women achieved clinical pregnancy and delivered a single child after assisted reproductive technology (ART). Primary outcomes included neonatal birth weight and the incidence of pregnancy complications, premature delivery, and low birth weight., Results: The body mass index (BMI), blood glucose concentration, serum insulin level, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) of the intervention group decreased significantly after the weight reduction intervention. Neonatal birth weight was significantly higher in the intervention group (3519.6 g ±484.8 g) than the control group (3406.8 g ± 554.2 g; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of pregnancy complications between the two groups. Linear regression analysis found that the weight reduction intervention prior to IVF/ICSI and lower HOMA-IR at ovulation induction were associated with increased birth weight. As the weight loss ratio increased, the incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, premature membrane rupture, premature delivery, stillbirth, and low birth weight showed a downward trend., Conclusions: A 60-day weight reduction intervention prior to IVF/ICSI may increase neonatal birth weight, reduce maternal blood glucose concentration, and improve maternal insulin resistance in infertile overweight or obese women. This results require to be further verified by prospective randomized controlled trials with a larger sample size., Competing Interests: Author NL was employed by company Zhejiang Nutriease Health Technology Company Limited. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Yang, Yang, Zheng, Zu, Ran, Wu, Ren, Lv, Kuang, Li, Du and Guan.)

Objective: To evaluate whether singleton live births achieved following in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in women with late moderate-to-severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes., Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted from January 2016 to June 2021. A total of 4,012 IVF/ICSI-fresh embryo transfer cycles that achieved singleton live births were included. According to the diagnosis of OHSS, the cycles were divided into two groups: late moderate-to-severe OHSS (MS-OHSS) group ( n = 114) and non-OHSS group ( n = 3,898). Multiple baseline covariates were controlled by propensity score matching, yielding 114 late MS-OHSS singleton live births matched to 337 non-OHSS singleton live births. The primary outcome of the study was normal term infant. The secondary outcomes were perinatal complications, gestational age at birth, birth weight, and birth height., Results: Before propensity score matching, no significant difference in perinatal outcomes was identified between late MS-OHSS group and non-OHSS group. After matching maternal age, BMI, basal serum FSH level, basal serum AMH level, basal antral follicle count, type of stimulation protocol, day of embryo development for embryo transfer, number of embryo transfer, and number of oocytes retrieved, there was still no significant difference in obstetric outcomes and neonatal outcomes between the two groups., Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that the perinatal outcomes were similar between the two groups. However, because the sample size of patients with late MS-OHSS was limited in this study, further investigations are warranted using a larger sample size., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ran, Zu, Wu, Zheng, Yang, Yang, Ren, Zhang, Du and Guan.)

Background: Esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) is a disease with a male predominance. Accordingly, the applicability of prognostic indicators values previously set for the general population with ESCC has not been reported for determining the physical state in females. Methods: Patients with ESCC were pooled from 2009 to 2017 at Sichuan Cancer Hospital. We determined the differences in the nutritional and inflammatory indicators between gender by sex-stratified survival analysis in all cohorts ( n = 2,660) and matching cohorts ( n = 483 pairs) separately. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to eliminate selection bias between genders. We further performed the prognostic value of total cholesterol (TC) by subgroup analysis in the female cohort. The area ROC curve was used to assess the predictive performance of TC in females. Results: There were a total of 2,660 patients with ESCC, of whom 2,173 (81.7%) were male and 487 (18.3%) were female. Before PSM, the prognostic nutritional index was an independent factor for OS in males but not in females. For cohort with or without matching, TC was an independent prognostic factor in females not for males. Furthermore, female patients with high TC level had significant poor OS in stages III and IV. The AUCs of TC were 0.63 and 0.70 for predicting 3- and 5-year OS, respectively. Conclusion: Based on a much larger cohort, we confirmed that gender was a significant prognostic factor for ESCC patients. Interestingly, we found a significant difference in TC related to ESCC prognosis between genders. Collectively, TC might be an independent prognostic factor in females with ESCC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Luo, Ye, Zhang, Liu, Zu, Ni, He, Rao, Wang and Wang.)

This study investigated whether singleton pregnancies conceived after preimplantation genetic testing for chromosomal structural rearrangements (PGT-SR) are associated with a higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes than singleton pregnancies conceived after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We collected data on singleton live births after PGT-SR (n = 107) and ICSI (n = 585) in our hospital from January 2017 to August 2020. Multivariable analyses were used to adjust for maternal age, body mass index, gravidity and parity, paternal age, ovulatory disorder, and recurrent spontaneous abortion. The unadjusted results showed a significantly higher risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.47; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10-5.54; P = 0.029) associated with PGT-SR singleton pregnancies than with ICSI singleton pregnancies. However, after adjusting for potential confounders, there were no longer any significant differences in the risk of HDP (adjusted OR = 2.24; 95% CI: 0.92-5.48; P = 0.077) between PGT-SR and ICSI singleton pregnancies. There were no significant differences between PGT-SR and ICSI singleton pregnancies in terms of gestational diabetes, preterm premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, cesarean delivery, gestational age (weeks), preterm delivery (< 37 weeks), very preterm delivery (≥ 28 weeks and < 32 weeks), birth weight (g), low birth weight (< 2500 g), very low birth weight (< 1500 g), birth height (cm), birth defects, and 1-min and 5-min Apgar scores. In conclusion, for single frozen-thawed blastocyst cycles, there were no significant differences in adverse perinatal outcomes between PGT-SR and ICSI singleton pregnancies. However, due to the limited sample size, these conclusions need to be confirmed by further studies., (© 2021. Society for Reproductive Investigation.)

The recent global focus on big data in medicine has been associated with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosis and decision-making following recent advances in computer technology. Up to now, AI has been applied to various aspects of medicine, including disease diagnosis, surveillance, treatment, predicting future risk, targeted interventions and understanding of the disease. There have been plenty of successful examples in medicine of using big data, such as radiology and pathology, ophthalmology cardiology and surgery. Combining medicine and AI has become a powerful tool to change health care, and even to change the nature of disease screening in clinical diagnosis. As all we know, clinical laboratories produce large amounts of testing data every day and the clinical laboratory data combined with AI may establish a new diagnosis and treatment has attracted wide attention. At present, a new concept of radiomics has been created for imaging data combined with AI, but a new definition of clinical laboratory data combined with AI has lacked so that many studies in this field cannot be accurately classified. Therefore, we propose a new concept of clinical laboratory omics (Clinlabomics) by combining clinical laboratory medicine and AI. Clinlabomics can use high-throughput methods to extract large amounts of feature data from blood, body fluids, secretions, excreta, and cast clinical laboratory test data. Then using the data statistics, machine learning, and other methods to read more undiscovered information. In this review, we have summarized the application of clinical laboratory data combined with AI in medical fields. Undeniable, the application of Clinlabomics is a method that can assist many fields of medicine but still requires further validation in a multi-center environment and laboratory., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Gram-negative bacteremia (GNB) is a common complication in malignant patients. Identifying risk factors and developing a prognostic model for GNB might improve the survival rate. In this observational and real-world study, we retrospectively analyzed the risk factors and outcomes of GNB in malignant patients. Multivariable regression was used to identify risk factors for the incidence of GNB, while Cox regression analysis was performed to identify significant prognostic factors. A prognostic model was constructed based on Cox regression analysis and presented on a nomogram. ROC curves, calibration plots, and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used to estimate the model. It comprised 1004 malignant patients with Bloodstream infection (BSI) in the study cohort, 65.7% (N = 660) acquired GNB. Multivariate analysis showed gynecologic cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, and genitourinary cancer were independent risk factors related to the incidence of GNB. Cox regression analysis raised that shock, admission to ICU before infection, pulmonary infection, higher lymphocyte counts, and lower platelet counts were independent risk factors for overall survival (OS). The OS was significantly different between the two groups classified by optimal cut-off value (log-rank, p < 0.001). Above all, a nomogram was created based on the prognostic model, which was presented on a website freely. This real-world study was concentrated on the malignant patients with GNB and proved that shock, admission to ICU before infection, pulmonary infection, higher lymphocyte counts, and lower platelet counts were related to the death of these patients. And a prognostic model was constructed to estimate the risk score of mortality, further to reduce the risk of death., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Today's society is a society of Internet information, especially the rapid development of new media that is the most distinctive project today. New media has changed the way traditional media are disseminated, and the advertising industry has made new developments with the rapid development of new media, especially with the rise of online advertising, making the dissemination of advertising more influential. In modern advertising information, online advertising has become very influential. This study aims at how to achieve user-matching push and set the right price is the two major problems of Internet advertising push, through the analysis of the emergence and development of network advertising and visual elements in network advertising, starting from the problems appearing in modern online advertisements, and studying the visual communication design in online advertisements. In this paper, a neural network model and a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation decision model are designed; so as to make our online advertisements rich in national characteristics and really cause online users' active clicks. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves good results and verifies the effectiveness of the model., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ruizhi Zu.)

Many studies in recent years have demonstrated that some messenger RNA (mRNA) in platelets can be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis of pan-cancer. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) molecular technique is most commonly used to determine mRNA expression changes in platelets. Accurate and reliable relative RT-qPCR is highly dependent on reliable reference genes. However, there is no study to validate the reference gene in platelets for pan-cancer. Given that the expression of some commonly used reference genes is altered in certain conditions, selecting and verifying the most suitable reference gene for pan-cancer in platelets is necessary to diagnose early stage cancer. This study performed bioinformatics and functional analysis from the RNA-seq of platelets data set (GSE68086). We generated 95 candidate reference genes after the primary bioinformatics step. Seven reference genes ( YWHAZ , GNAS , GAPDH , OAZ1 , PTMA , B2M , and ACTB ) were screened out among the 95 candidate reference genes from the data set of the platelets' transcriptome of pan-cancer and 73 commonly known reference genes. These candidate reference genes were verified by another platelets expression data set (GSE89843). Then, we used RT-qPCR to confirm the expression levels of these seven genes in pan-cancer patients and healthy individuals. These RT-qPCR results were analyzed using the internal stability analysis software programs (the comparative Delta CT method, geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper) to rank the candidate genes in the order of decreasing stability. By contrast, the GAPDH gene was stably and constitutively expressed at high levels in all the tested samples. Therefore, GAPDH was recommended as the most suitable reference gene for platelet transcript analysis. In conclusion, our result may play an essential part in establishing a molecular diagnostic platform based on the platelets to diagnose pan-cancer., Competing Interests: Authors YD, XM, and KZ were employed by the company GenomCan Inc. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wen, Yang, Dong, Luo, Cao, Mengesha, Zu, Liao, Liu, Li, Deng, Zhang, Ma, Huang, Wang, Zhao, Leng and Luo.)

Objective: To explore the related factors affecting the outcome of treatment free remission (TFR) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Methods: Clinical data of CML patients with automatic discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) from the CML cooperative organization of Henan province between June 2, 2013 to March 27, 2021 and the follow-up time was ≥ 6 months were retrospectively analyzed. Log-rank test was used for univariate analysis and Cox proportional risk regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 135 patients were enrolled, and 69 patients (51.1%) were femal and 66 patients (48.9%)were male. Median age was[ M ( Q 1 , Q 3 )] 49 years (38, 58)at discontinuation.Before discontinuation, 72 patients (53.3%) were on treatment with second-generation TKI, 63 patients (46.7%) were on treatment with IM, 17patients (12.6%) had a history of TKI reduction/withdrawal;median duration of treatment was months 84 (68, 108) for all patients;median time of TKI treatment to DMR was months 12(8, 26);median duration of DMR was months 65 (54, 84), and 9 patients (6.7%) had unsustained DMR.The median follow-up time was months 16(6-96), 35 patients (25.9%) lost MMR at a median months 3(1-22), overall estimated TFR was 74.1%.The univariate analysis results showed that:second-generation TKI was used, the time of TKI treatment to DMR was ≤12 months, DMR duration time ≥48 months, had sustained DMR, without TKI reduction/withdrawal history were favorable factors affecting of TFR in patients with TKI discontinuation (all P <0.05).The TFR rate of the second-generation TKI therapy group was significantly higher than the IM therapy group (81.9% vs 65.1%, P =0.019).The multivariate analysis results showed that second-generation TKI treatment[ RR =0.451, 95%CI (0.227-0.896), P =0.023] and had sustained DMR [ RR =0.120, 95%CI (0.053-0.271), P <0.001] were the protective factors of TFR in patients with TKI discontinuation. Conclusions: Treated with second-generation TKI and had sustained DMR are the protective factors of TFR in patients with TKI discontinuation.The CML patients who had sustained DMR more≥48 months before TKI discontinuation showed a better TFR.

Objectives: As the pulmonary nodules were hard to be discriminated as benignancy or malignancy only based on imageology, a prospective and observational real-world research was devoted to develop and validate a predictive model for managing the diagnostic challenge. Methods: This study started in 2018, and a predictive model was constructed using eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) based on computed tomographic, clinical, and platelet data of all the eligible patients. And the model was evaluated and compared with other common models using ROC curves, continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net benefit (NB). Subsequently, the model was validated in an external cohort. Results: The development group included 419 participants, while there were 62 participants in the external validation cohort. The most accurate XGBoost model called SCHC model including age, platelet counts in platelet rich plasma samples (pPLT), plateletcrit in platelet rich plasma samples (pPCT), nodule size, and plateletcrit in whole blood samples (bPCT). In the development group, the SCHC model performed well in whole group and subgroups. Compared with VA, MC, BU model, the SCHC model had a significant improvement in reclassification as assessed by the NRI and IDI, and could bring the patients more benefits. For the external validation, the model performed not as well. The algorithm of SCHC, VA, MC, and BU model were first integrated using a web tool (http://i.uestc.edu.cn/SCHC). Conclusions: In this study, a platelet feature-based model could facilitate the discrimination of early-stage malignancy from benignancy patients, to ensure accurate diagnosis and optimal management. This research also indicated that common laboratory results also had the potential in diagnosing cancers., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Objective: Supraphysiological hormone exposure, in vitro culture and embryo transfer throughout the in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) procedures may affect placental development. The present study aimed to identify differences in genomic expression profiles between IVF-ET and naturally conceived placentals and to use this as a basis for understanding the underlying effects of IVF-ET on placental function., Methods: Full-term human placental tissues were subjected to next-generation sequencing to determine differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) and genes (DEGs) between uncomplicated IVF-ET assisted and naturally conceived pregnancies. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and transcription factor enrichment analysis were used for DEmiRs. MiRNA-mRNA interaction and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed. In addition, hub genes were obtained by using the STRING database and Cytoscape. DEGs were analyzed using GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Differentially expressed miRNAs were validated through qRT-PCR., Results: Compared against natural pregnancies, 12 DEmiRs and 258 DEGs were identified in IVF-ET placental tissues. In a validation cohort, it was confirmed that hsa-miR-204-5p, hsa-miR-1269a, and hsa-miR-941 were downregulation, while hsa-miR-4286, hsa-miR-31-5p and hsa-miR-125b-5p were upregulation in IVF-ET placentas. Functional analysis suggested that these differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in angiogenesis, pregnancy, PI3K-Akt and Ras signaling pathways. The miRNA-mRNA regulatory network revealed the contribution of 10 miRNAs and 109 mRNAs while EGFR was the most highly connected gene among ten hub genes in the PPI network., Conclusion: Even in uncomplicated IVF-ET pregnancies, differences exist in the placental transcriptome relative to natural pregnancies. Many of the differentially expressed genes in IVF-ET are involved in essential placental functions, and moreover, they provide a ready resource of molecular markers to assess the association between placental function and safety in IVF-ET offspring., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Yang, Zheng, Yang, Zu, Ran, Wu, Mu, Sun, Zhang, Thorne and Guan.)

Necroptosis is a form of regulated necrotic cell death that promotes inflammation. In cells undergoing necroptosis, activated RIPK1 kinase mediates the formation of RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL complex to promote MLKL oligomerization and execution of necroptosis. RIPK1 kinase activity also promotes cell-autonomous activation of proinflammatory cytokine production in necroptosis. However, the signaling pathways downstream of RIPK1 kinase in necroptosis and how RIPK1 kinase activation controls inflammatory response induced by necroptosis are still largely unknown. Here, we quantitatively measured the temporal dynamics of over 7000 confident phosphorylation-sites during necroptosis using mass spectrometry. Our study defined a RIPK1-dependent phosphorylation pattern in late necroptosis that is associated with a proinflammatory component marked by p-S473 TRIM28. We show that the activation of p38 MAPK mediated by oligomerized MLKL promotes the phosphorylation of S473 TRIM28, which in turn mediates inflammation during late necroptosis. Taken together, our study illustrates a mechanism by which p38 MAPK may be activated by oligomerized MLKL to promote inflammation in necroptosis., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Tailored polymer materials exhibiting high-glass transition temperatures, cross-linked matrices, and/or strong intermolecular interactions containing electric-field poled nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores are promising materials for applications in optical telecommunication, high-performance computing, and data transmission. Although the current design parameters have led to significant advances in NLO materials, we introduce an alternative, yet highly effective, approach in which a NLO chromophore is cocrystallized with a polymer, forming a noncentrosymmetric hybrid host-guest complex. Specifically, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and 2-chloro-4-nitroaniline (CNA) will cocrystallize and exhibit second harmonic generation (SHG) activity due to the formation of a noncentrosymmetric cocrystalline unit cell where the chromophore exhibits acentric alignment. Furthermore, the hybrid PEO/CNA films exhibit interesting SHG activity at elevated temperature in which SHG intensity decreases to zero when the cocrystal orientation randomizes due to sample melting. Aligning and maintaining a cocrystalline domain orientation via the formation of hybrid host-guest complexes, while imparting SHG properties, is an innovative approach for creating materials exhibiting SHG properties.

Background: Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) includes methods that allow embryos to be tested for severe inherited diseases or chromosomal abnormalities. In addition to IVF/ICSI and repeated freezing and thawing of the embryos, PGT requires a biopsy to obtain embryonic genetic material for analysis. However, the potential effects of PGT on obstetric and neonatal outcomes are currently uncertain., Objective and Rationale: This study aimed to investigate whether pregnancies conceived after PGT were associated with a higher risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes compared with spontaneously conceived (SC) pregnancies or pregnancies conceived after IVF/ICSI., Search Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Web of Science and The Cochrane Library entries from January 1990 to January 2021 were searched. The primary outcomes in this study were low birth weight (LBW) and congenital malformations (CMs), and the secondary outcomes included gestational age, preterm delivery (PTD), very preterm delivery (VPTD), birth weight (BW), very low birth weight (VLBW), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), gestational diabetes, placenta previa and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PROM). We further pooled the results of PGT singleton pregnancies. Subgroup analyses included preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), preimplantation genetic screening (PGS), cleavage-stage biopsy combined with fresh embryo transfer (CB-ET) and blastocyst biopsy combined with frozen-thawed embryo transfer (BB-FET)., Outcomes: This meta-analysis included 15 studies involving 3682 babies born from PGT pregnancies, 127 719 babies born from IVF/ICSI pregnancies and 915 222 babies born from SC pregnancies. The relative risk (RR) of LBW was higher in PGT pregnancies compared with SC pregnancies (RR = 3.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.32-6.72), but the risk of CMs was not different between the two groups. The pooled results for the risks of LBW and CMs were similar in PGT and IVF/ICSI pregnancies. The risks of PTD (RR = 3.12, 95% CI: 2.67-3.64) and HDP (RR = 3.12, 95% CI: 2.18-4.47) were significantly higher in PGT pregnancies compared with SC pregnancies. Lower gestational age (mean difference [MD] = -0.76 weeks, 95% CI -1.17 to -0.34) and BW (MD = -163.80 g, 95% CI: -299.35 to -28.24) were also noted for PGT pregnancies compared with SC pregnancies. Nevertheless, compared with IVF/ICSI pregnancies, the risks of VPTD and VLBW in PGT pregnancies were significantly decreased by 41% and 30%, respectively, although the risk of HDP was still significantly increased by 50% in PGT pregnancies compared with IVF/ICSI pregnancies. The combined results of obstetric and neonatal outcomes of PGT and IVF/ICSI singleton pregnancies were consistent with the overall results. Further subgroup analyses indicated that both PGD and PGS pregnancies were associated with a higher risk of PTD and a lower gestational age compared with SC pregnancies., Wider Implications: This meta-analysis showed that PGT pregnancies may be associated with increased risks of LBW, PTD and HDP compared with SC pregnancies. The overall obstetric and neonatal outcomes of PGT pregnancies are favourable compared with those of IVF/ICSI pregnancies, although PGT pregnancies were associated with a higher risk of HDP. However, because the number of studies that could be included was limited, more randomised controlled trials and prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these conclusions., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks third in the cause of death due to cancer. Circular RNA circSEC24 Homolog A (circSEC24A) has been uncovered to be upregulated in liver cancer. However, the function of circSEC24A in HCC is indistinct. We analyzed the microarray datasets GSE78520 and GSE94508 to search for differentially expressed circRNAs associated with HCC. Expression of circSEC24A, microRNA (miR)-455-3p, and protein phosphatase, Mg2+/Mn2+ dependent 1F (PPM1F) mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Loss-of-function experiments were conducted to validate the biological function of circSEC24A in HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Protein levels were evaluated by western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The relationship between circSEC24A or PPM1F and miR-455-3p was verified by a dual-luciferase reporter and/or RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays. circSEC24A was overexpressed in HCC. circSEC24A silencing decreased xenograft tumor growth in vivo and repressed proliferation, metastasis, invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), induced cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis of HCC cells in vitro. circSEC24A acted as a molecular sponge to sequester miR-455-3p, resulting in elevating the expression of PPM1F. miR-455-3p inhibitor reversed the suppressive impact of circSEC24A silencing on malignant behaviors of HCC cells. PPM1F overexpression offsets the inhibitory effect of miR-455-3p mimic on malignant behaviors of HCC cells. circSEC24A sponged miR-455-3p to elevate the PPM1F expression, resulting in accelerating malignant behaviors of HCC cells. The study provided a potential therapeutic target for patients with HCC.

A dielectric medium containing noncentrosymmetric domains can exhibit piezoelectric and second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses when an electric field is applied. Since many crystalline biopolymers have noncentrosymmetric structures, there has been a great deal of interest in exploiting their piezoelectric and SHG responses for electromechanical and electro-optic devices, especially owing to their advantages such as biocompatibility and low density. However, exact mechanisms or origins of such polarization responses of crystalline biopolymers remain elusive due to the convolution of responses from multiple domains with varying degrees of structural disorder or difficulty of ensuring the unidirectional alignment of noncentrosymmetric domains. In this study, we investigate the polarization responses of a noncentrosymmetric crystalline biopolymer, namely, unidirectionally aligned β-chitin crystals interspersed in the amorphous protein matrix, which can be obtained naturally from tubeworm Lamellibrachia satsuma (LS) tube. The mechanisms governing polarization responses in different dynamic regimes covering optical (>10 13 Hz), acoustic/ultrasonic (10 3 -10 5 Hz), and low (10 -2 -10 2 Hz) frequencies are explained. Relationships between the polarization responses dominant in different frequencies are addressed. Also, electromechanical coupling responses, including piezoelectricity of the LS tube, are quantitatively discussed. The findings of this study can be applicable to other noncentrosymmetric crystalline biopolymers, elucidating their polarization responses.

In crystalline cellulose I, all glucan chains are ordered from reducing ends to non-reducing ends. Thus, the polarity of individual chains is added forming a large dipole within the crystal. If one can engineer unidirectional alignment (parallel packing) of cellulose crystals, then it might be possible to utilize the material properties originating from polar crystalline structures. However, most post-synthesis manipulation methods reported so far can only achieve the uniaxial alignment with bi-directionality (antiparallel packing). Here, we report a method to induce the parallel packing of bacterial cellulose microfibrils by applying unidirectional shear stress during the synthesis and deposition through the rising bubble stream in a culture medium. Driving force for the alignment is explained with mathematical estimation of the shear stress. Evidences of the parallel alignment of crystalline cellulose Iα domains were obtained using nonlinear optical spectroscopy techniques., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Materials with high second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency and reduced dimensions are favorable for integrated photonics and nonlinear optical applications. Here, we fabricate MoS 2 nanoscrolls with different chiralities and study their SHG performances. As a 1D material, MoS 2 nanoscroll shows reduced symmetry and strong chirality dependency in the polarization-resolved SHG characterizations. This SHG performance can be well explained by the superposition theory of second harmonic field of the nanoscroll walls. MoS 2 nanoscrolls with certain chiralities and diameters in our experiment can have SHG intensity up to 95 times stronger than that of monolayer MoS 2 , and the full potential can still be further exploited. The same chirality-dependent SHG can be expected for nanoscrolls or nanotubes composed of other noncentrosymmetric 2D materials, such as WS 2 , WSe 2 , and hBN. The characterization and analysis results presented here can also be exploited as a nondestructive technique to determine the chiralities of these nanoscrolls and nanotubes.

Objectives: To determine whether the integration platelet features in blood and platelet rich plasma can establish a model to diagnose lung cancer and colon cancer, even differentiate lung malignancy from lung benign diseases., Methods: 245 individuals including 159 lung cancer and 86 normal participants were divided into the training cohort and testing cohort randomly. Then, 32 colon cancers, 37 lung cancers, and 21 benign patients were enrolled into validate cohort. The whole blood and corresponding platelet rich plasma (PRP) samples from all participants were prospectively collected, and the platelet features were determined. The features which are statistically significant at the univariate analysis in the training cohort and reported significant features were entered the diagnostic model. A receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the accuracy of the model in each cohort., Results: In the training cohort, multiple platelet features were significantly different in lung cancer patients, including MPV in whole blood, MPV, and platelet count in PRP and platelet recovery rate (PRR). For the training cohort, the diagnostic model for lung cancer performed well (AUC = 0.92). The probability distribution of lung cancers and controls in testing cohort were also separated well by the diagnostic model (AUC = 0.79). The diagnostic model for colon cancer also performed well (AUC = 0.79). The model also has a potential value in differentiating the lung malignancy from the benign (AUC = 0.69)., Conclusion: The PRR was first raised and used in the detection of lung cancer. This study identified a diagnostic model based on PRR and other platelet features in whole blood and PRP samples with the potential to distinguish patients with lung cancer or colon cancer from healthy controls. The model could also be used to distinguish between lung cancer from the benign disease., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report the efforts to construct active targeting quantum dots using receptor-binding peptide for enhanced detection and migration inhibition of cancer cells. Peptide E5 has specific binding with chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), which is a transmembrane G-coupled receptor involved in the metastasis of various types of cancers. E5 was introduced to the surface of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots via biotin-streptavidin interactions. The constructed CXCR4-targeting quantum dots (E5@QDs) was observed to display improved detection sensitivity and significantly enhanced binding affinity for CXCR4 over-expressed cancer cells, and the ability to inhibit cancer cells migration induced by CXCL12.

The emergence of resistant Candida albicans has made clinical fluconazole (FLC) treatment difficult. Improving sensitivity to FLC is an effective way to treat resistant isolates. Berberine hydrochloride (BBH) is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine with antimicrobial effects, especially in resistant isolates. We investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying BBH and FLC synergism on biofilm-positive FLC-resistant C. albicans inhibition. Checkerboard microdilution assays and time-kill assays showed a strong synergistic effect between BBH and FLC in resistant C. albicans isolates, causing a significant 32-512-fold reduction in minimum inhibitory concentrations. BBH combined with FLC inhibited intracellular FLC efflux due to key efflux pump gene CDR1 downregulation, whereas FLC alone induced high CDR1 transcription in resistant strains. Further, BBH + FLC inhibited yeast adhesion, morphological hyphae transformation, and biofilm formation by downregulating the hyphal-specific genes ALS3 , HWP1 , and ECE1 . BBH caused cytoplasmic Ca 2+ influx, while FLC alone did not induce high intracellular Ca 2+ levels. The vacuolar calcium channel gene YVC1 was upregulated, while the vacuolar calcium pump gene PMC1 was downregulated in the BBH + FLC and BBH alone groups. However, vacuolar calcium gene expression after FLC treatment was opposite in biofilm-positive FLC-resistant C. albicans , which might explain why BBH induces Ca 2+ influx. These results demonstrate that BBH + FLC exerts synergistic effects to increase FLC sensitivity by regulating multiple targets in FLC-resistant C. albicans . These findings further show that traditional Chinese medicines have multi-target antimicrobial effects that may inhibit drug-resistant strains. This study also found that the vacuolar calcium regulation genes YVC1 and PMC1 are key BBH + FLC targets which increase cytoplasmic Ca 2+ in resistant isolates, which might be critical for reversing biofilm-positive FLC-resistant C. albicans ., (Copyright © 2020 Yong, Zu, Huang, Ge and Li.)

Subchalcogenides are uncommon, and their chemical bonding results from an interplay between metal-metal and metal-chalcogenide interactions. Herein, we present Ir 6 In 32 S 21 , a novel semiconducting subchalcogenide compound that crystallizes in a new structure type in the polar P 31 m space group, with unit cell parameters a = 13.9378(12) Å, c = 8.2316(8) Å, α = β = 90°, γ = 120°. The compound has a large band gap of 1.48(2) eV, and photoemission and Kelvin probe measurements corroborate this semiconducting behavior with a valence band maximum (VBM) of -4.95(5) eV, conduction band minimum of -3.47(5) eV, and a photoresponse shift of the Fermi level by ∼0.2 eV in the presence of white light. X-ray absorption spectroscopy shows absorption edges for In and Ir do not indicate clear oxidation states, suggesting that the numerous coordination environments of Ir 6 In 32 S 21 make such assignments ambiguous. Electronic structure calculations confirm the semiconducting character with a nearly direct band gap, and electron localization function (ELF) analysis suggests that the origin of the gap is the result of electron transfer from the In atoms to the S 3p and Ir 5d orbitals. DFT calculations indicate that the average hole effective masses near the VBM (1.19 m e ) are substantially smaller than the average electron masses near the CBM (2.51 m e ), an unusual feature for most semiconductors. The crystal and electronic structure of Ir 6 In 32 S 21 , along with spectroscopic data, suggest that it is neither a true intermetallic nor a classical semiconductor, but somewhere in between those two extremes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The corundum-related oxides Mn 2 ScNbO 6 and Mn 2 ScTaO 6 were synthesized at high pressure and high temperature (6 GPa and 1475 K). Analysis of the synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction shows that Mn 2 ScNbO 6 and Mn 2 ScTaO 6 crystallize in Ni 3 TeO 6 -type noncentrosymmetric crystal structures with space group R 3. The asymmetric crystal structure was confirmed by second harmonic generation measurement. X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopies indicate formal valence states of Mn 2+ 2 Sc 3+ Nb 5+ O 6 and Mn 2+ 2 Sc 3+ Ta 5+ O 6 , also supported by the calculated bond valence sums. Both samples are electrically insulating. Magnetic measurements indicate that Mn 2 ScNbO 6 and Mn 2 ScTaO 6 order ferrimagnetically at 53 and 50 K, respectively, and Mn 2 ScTaO 6 is found to have a field-induced magnetic transition.

(1) Background: Tornadoes are one of the deadliest disasters but their health impacts in China are poorly investigated. This study aimed to assess the public health risks and impact of an EF-4 tornado outbreak in Funing, China; (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis on the characteristics of tornado-related deaths and injuries was conducted based on the database from the Funing's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Funing People's Hospital. A change-point time-series analysis of weekly incidence for the period January 2010 to September 2016 was used to identify sensitive infectious diseases to the tornado; (3) Results: The 75 to 84 years old group was at the highest risk of both death (RR = 82.16; 95% CIs = 19.66, 343.33) and injury (RR = 31.80; 95% CI = 17.26, 58.61), and females were at 53% higher risk of death than males (RR = 1.53; 95% CIs = 1.02, 2.29). Of the 337 injuries, 274 injuries (81%) were minor. Most deaths occurred indoors (87%) and the head (74%) was the most frequent site of trauma during the tornado. Five diseases showed downward change-points; (4) Conclusions: The experience of the Funing tornado underscores the relative danger of being indoors during a tornado and is successful in avoiding epidemics post-tornado. Current international safety guidelines need modification when generalized to China., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate the incidence of sleep disorders (SD), characteristic of cerebral infarction patients with different parts affected., Methods: The research selected 101 patients with a first occurrence of acute cerebral infarction as the experimental group, and 86 patients without cerebral infarction as controls. Polysomnography, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and US National Stroke Scale were assessed., Results: Compared with control group, the incidence of SD was higher in experimental group (P < .05), and the incidence of SD in women was more frequent in experimental group (P < .05). There was no significant difference in the types of SD patients with acute cerebral infarction. In addition, the sleep quality of cerebral infarction patients with different parts affected was different: the sleep quality of left hemisphere infarction patients was poor compared with the right one, and the sleep quality of anterior circulation patients was poor compared with posterior circulation patients. Patients with thalamus infarction had a longer sleep time and a shorter sleep latency and stage 2 of non-rapid eye movement sleep compared with non-thalamus infarction group., Conclusions: The prevalence of SD was relatively high in acute cerebral infarction patients, and the detailed classification of acute cerebral infarction may provide a more effective therapeutic method and therefore relieve patients' pain and supply a better quality of sleep., (Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)