Synergistic Effect of Grain Boundaries and Oxygen Vacancies on Enhanced Selectivity for Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Dual-engineering involved of grain boundaries (GBs) and oxygen vacancies (VO) efficiently engineers the material's catalytic performance by simultaneously introducing favorable electronic and chemical properties. Herein, a novel SnO2 nanoplate is reported with simultaneous oxygen vacancies and abundant grain boundaries (V,G-SnOx/C) for promoting the highly selective conversion of CO2 to value-added formic acid. Attributing to the synergistic effect of employed dual-engineering, the V,G-SnOx/C displays highly catalytic selectivity with a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 87% for HCOOH production at -1.2 V versus RHE and FEs > 95% for all C1 products (CO and HCOOH) within all applied potential range, outperforming current state-of-the-art electrodes and the amorphous SnOx/C. Theoretical calculations combined with advanced characterizations revealed that GB induces the formation of electron-enriched Sn site, which strengthens the adsorption of *HCOO intermediate. While GBs and VO synergistically lower the reaction energy barrier, thus dramatically enhancing the intrinsic activity and selectivity toward HCOOH.

Cu-Mo Dual Sites in Cu-Doped MoSe2 for Enhanced Electrosynthesis of Urea

The quest for sustainable urea production has directed attention toward electrocatalytic methods that bypass the energy-intensive traditional Haber-Bosch process. This study introduces an approach to urea synthesis through the coreduction of CO2 and NO3- using copper-doped molybdenum diselenide (Cu-MoSe2) with Cu-Mo dual sites as electrocatalysts. The electrocatalytic activity of the Cu-MoSe2 electrode is characterized by a urea yield rate of 1235 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 at -0.7 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode and a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 23.43% at -0.6 V versus RHE. Besides, a continuous urea production with an enhanced average yield rate of 9145 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 can be achieved in a flow cell. These figures represent a substantial advancement over that of the baseline MoSe2 electrode. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations elucidate that Cu doping accelerates *NO2 deoxygenation and significantly decreases the energy barriers for C-N bond formation. Consequently, Cu-MoSe2 demonstrates a more favorable pathway for urea production, enhancing both the efficiency and feasibility of the process. This study offers valuable insights into electrode design and understanding of the facilitated electrochemical pathways.

Effects of nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms of the KIAA1217, SNTA1 and LTBP1 genes on the growth traits of Ujumqin sheep

Sheep body size can directly reflect the growth rates and fattening rates of sheep and is also an important index for measuring the growth performance of meat sheep. In this study, high-resolution resequencing data from four sheep breeds (Dorper sheep, Suffolk sheep, Ouessant sheep, and Shetland sheep) were analyzed. The nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms of three candidate genes (KIAA1217, SNTA1, and LTBP1) were also genotyped in 642 healthy Ujumqin sheep using MALDI-TOFMS and the genotyping results were associated with growth traits. The results showed that different genotypes of the KIAA1217 g.24429511T>C locus had significant effects on the chest circumferences of Ujumqin sheep. The SNTA1 g.62222626C>A locus had different effects on the chest depths, shoulder widths and rump widths of Ujumqin sheep. This study showed that these two sites can be used for marker-assisted selection, which will be beneficial for future precision molecular breeding.

Nur77 mitigates endothelial dysfunction through activation of both nitric oxide production and anti-oxidant pathways

BACKGROUND

Nur77 belongs to the member of orphan nuclear receptor 4A family that plays critical roles in maintaining vascular homeostasis. This study aims to determine whether Nur77 plays a role in attenuating vascular dysfunction, and if so, to determine the molecular mechanisms involved.

METHODS

Both Nur77 knockout (Nur77 KO) and Nur77 endothelial specific transgenic mice (Nur77-Tg) were employed to examine the functional significance of Nur77 in vascular endothelium in vivo. Endothelium-dependent vasodilatation to acetylcholine (Ach) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was determined under inflammatory and high glucose conditions. Expression of genes was determined by real-time PCR and western blot analysis.

RESULTS

In response to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) treatment and diabetes, the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation to Ach was significantly impaired in aorta from Nur77 KO as compared with those from the wild-type (WT) mice. Endothelial specific overexpression of Nur77 markedly prevented both TNF-α- and high glucose-induced endothelial dysfunction. Compared with WT mice, after TNF-α and high glucose treatment, ROS production in aorta was significantly increased in Nur77 KO mice, but it was inhibited in Nur77-Tg mice, as determined by dihydroethidium (DHE) staining. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Nur77 overexpression substantially increased the expression of several key enzymes involved in nitric oxide (NO) production and ROS scavenging, including endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH-1), glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx-1), and superoxide dismutases (SODs). Mechanistically, we found that Nur77 increased GCH1 mRNA stability by inhibiting the expression of microRNA-133a, while Nur77 upregulated SOD1 expression through directly binding to the human SOD1 promoter in vascular endothelial cells.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that Nur77 plays an essential role in attenuating endothelial dysfunction through activating NO production and anti-oxidant pathways in vascular endothelium. Targeted activation of Nur77 may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases associated with endothelial dysfunction.

Numerical analysis of on-chip acousto-optic modulators for visible wavelengths

On-chip acousto-optic modulators that operate at an optical wavelength of 780 nm and a microwave frequency of 6.835 GHz are proposed. The modulators are based on a lithium-niobate-on-sapphire platform and efficiently excite surface acoustic waves and exhibit strong interactions with tightly confined optical modes in waveguides. In particular, a high-efficiency phase modulator and single-sideband mode converter are designed. We found that for both microwave and optical wavelengths below 1 µm, the interactions at the cross-sections of photonic waveguides are sensitive to the waveguide width and are significantly different from those in previous studies. Our designed devices have small footprints and high efficiencies, making them suitable for controlling rubidium atoms and realizing hybrid photonic-atomic chips. Furthermore, our devices have the potential to extend the acousto-optic modulators to other visible wavelengths for other atom transitions and for visible light applications, including imaging and sensing.

[Observation of the consistency between intellectualized and manual-based cognitive assessment tools in the outpatient clinic]

Objective: The intellectualized versions of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) and the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) (i-MoCA/i-MMSE) were developed. The validity of this system was evaluated in a clinical sample through comparing with the manual-based assessments. Methods: A total of 88 patients [aged (66.82±11.37) years, 30 males and 58 females] were enrolled in the outpatient clinic of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University with complaints of cognitive decline, from February to October 2023. All participants completed manual-based and intellectualized assessments in a randomized order, with an interval of 2 weeks to control for the practice effect. The reliability of the intellectualized version of assessments was evaluated based on the manual-based version using the Concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). The difference between the intellectualized and the manual-based assessments was tested by the Repeated ANCOVA with demographic information controlled. The accuracy of evaluation of the i-MoCA and i-MMSE was analyzed by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: High concordance was observed between the intellectualized version and the manual-based assessments (CCCMoCA=0.87, CCCMMSE=0.83). Controlling for basic demographic information, there was no significant difference in the scores of the intellectualized version and the manual-based assessments (all P>0.05). The accuracy of i-MoCA in screening patients with cognitive impairment was 94.3% (sensitivity=94.6%, specificity=78.1%), while the accuracy of i-MMSE in screening patients with cognitive impairment was 94.9% (sensitivity=94.9%, specificity=77.6%). In addition, the majority of subdomains measured by the cognitive assessments exhibited high consistency across the intellectualized the manual-based versions (CCCMoCA=0.32-0.78; CCCMMSE=0.54-0.79). Conclusion: Both the i-MoCA and i-MMSE showed high consistency and diagnostic accuracy with the manual-based versions in terms of overall cognitive function and subdomains.

Constructing Interfacial Oxygen Vacancy and Ruthenium Lewis Acid-Base Pairs to Boost the Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Kinetics

Simultaneous optimization of the energy level of water dissociation, hydrogen and hydroxide desorption is the key to achieving fast kinetics for the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, the well-dispersed Ru clusters on the surface of amorphous/crystalline CeO2-δ (Ru/ac-CeO2-δ ) is demonstrated to be an excellent electrocatalyst for significantly boosting the alkaline HER kinetics owing to the presence of unique oxygen vacancy (VO ) and Ru Lewis acid-base pairs (LABPs). The representative Ru/ac-CeO2-δ exhibits an outstanding mass activity of 7180 mA mgRu -1 that is approximately 9 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C at the potential of -0.1 V (V vs RHE) and an extremely low overpotential of 21.2 mV at a geometric current density of 10 mA cm-2 . Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the VO as Lewis acid sites facilitate the adsorption of H2 O and cleavage of H-OH bonds, meanwhile, the weak Lewis basic Ru clusters favor for the hydrogen desorption. Importantly, the desorption of OH from VO sites is accelerated via a water-assisted proton exchange pathway, and thus boost the kinetics of alkaline HER. This study sheds new light on the design of high-efficiency electrocatalysts with LABPs for the enhanced alkaline HER.

The value of MRI in predicting hepatocellular carcinoma with cytokeratin 19 expression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM

To evaluate the overall diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), different image features, and different image analysis methods in predicting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with cytokeratin 19 (CK19) expression.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies using MRI to predict HCC with CK19 expression between 2012 and 2023. Data were extracted to calculate the pooled sensitivity and specificity. Overall diagnostic performance was assessed using areas under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Subgroup analyses were conducted for specific image features and according to image analysis methods (traditional image feature, radiomics, and combined methods). Z-test statistics was used to analyse the differences in diagnostic performance between combined and individual methods.

RESULTS

Eleven studies with 14 datasets (1,278 lesions from 1,264 patients) were included. The overall pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated to be 0.72 (0.55, 0.85), 0.88 (0.80, 0.93), and 0.89 (0.86, 0.91) for MRI in predicting HCC with CK19 expression. Combined methods had higher sensitivity than image feature methods (0.86 versus 0.54, p=0.001), with no difference in specificity (0.85 versus 0.87, p=0.641). There were no significant differences between radiomics and combined methods regarding sensitivity (p=0.796) and specificity (p=0.535), respectively.

CONCLUSION

MRI shows moderate sensitivity and high specificity in identifying HCC with CK19 expression. The application of radiomics can improve the sensitivity of MRI in identifying HCC with CK19 expression.

Long-term clinical outcomes of drug-coated balloon for the management of chronic total occlusions

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of patients with de novo chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions treated by hybrid strategy and drug-coated balloons (DCB)-only strategy.

BACKGROUNDS

DCBs have been used as an alternative to or in combination with drug-eluting stents in CTO lesions. However, the clinical impact of DCB treatment on CTO lesion remains uncertain.

METHODS

We retrospectively enrolled 154 patients with de novo CTO lesions treated by DCB, including 57 cases in hybrid group and 97 cases in DCB-only group.

RESULTS

The lesions in hybrid group were more complicated than those in DCB-only group as shown by higher J-CTO score, and therefore higher percentage of retrograde approach, more IVUS guidance, more CTO guidewires, and longer procedural time were demonstrated. Although the percentage of non-flow-limiting dissection and residual stenosis of more than 30% were lower in hybrid group, TIMI flow grade, satisfactory and acceptable recanalization rate were not significantly different between two groups. During a median follow-up was 470 days, the incidence of target lesion revascularization (TLR), myocardial infarction and cardiac death was 11.0%, 1.3% and 1.9%, respectively. The long-term TLR-free survival was comparable between hybrid and DCB-only groups. By multivariate analysis, DCB length and age were predictors of TLR.

CONCLUSION

DCB treatment appears effective and safe in selected de novo CTO lesions during long-term follow up. The recanalization results and long-term outcomes are comparable between hybrid and DCB-only group despite more complicated lesions in hybrid group.

Modified alginate materials for wastewater treatment: Application prospects

Sodium alginate is a natural macromolecule widely used because of its abundance, low cost of acquisition, and rich hydroxyl and carboxyl groups in the matrix. The physical modification of sodium alginate can be made by blending it with polymer materials. The so-yielded alginate complex is commonly unstable in an aqueous environment due to alginate backbones' high hydrophilicity. The chemical modification can remove its hydrophilic groups and introduce special functional groups or polymers onto the alginate backbones to provide excess reaction sites for specific reactions and effective complexation sites for accommodating antibiotics, dyes, heavy metal ions, and radioactive elements. Sodium alginate has been used in water treatment engineering under revised modification protocols. This article also reviews the latest modification protocols for sodium alginate and outlines the novel application of the modified materials. The limitations of modified sodium alginate materials are described, and research prospects are put forward.

Electrochemical Reversible Reforming between Ethylamine and Acetonitrile on Heterostructured Pd-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets

Rational design of electrocatalysts is essential to achieve desirable performance of electrochemical synthesis process. Heterostructured catalysts have thus attracted widespread attention due to their multifunctional intrinsic properties, and diverse catalytic applications with corresponding outstanding activities. Here, we report an in situ restoration strategy for the synthesis of ultrathin Pd-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets. Such Pd-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets exhibit excellent activity and selectivity towards reversible electrochemical reforming of ethylamine and acetonitrile. In the acetonitrile reduction process, Pd acts as reaction center, while Ni(OH)2 provide proton hydrogen through promoting the dissociation of water. Also ethylamine oxidation process can be achieved on the surface of the heterostructured nanosheets with abundant Ni(II) defects. More importantly, an electrolytic cell driven by solar cells was successfully constructed to realize ethylamine-acetonitrile reversible reforming. This work demonstrates the importance of heterostructure engineering in the rational synthesis of multifunctional catalysts towards electrochemical synthesis of fine chemicals.

Emerging Electrocatalysts in Urea Production

Urea synthesis from abundant CO2 and N-feedstocks via renewable electricity has attracted increasing interests, offering a promising alternative to the industrial-applied Haber-Meiser process. However, the studies toward electrochemical urea production remain scarce and appeal for more research. Herein, in this perspective, an up-to-date overview on the urea electrosynthesis is highlighted and summarized. Firstly, the reaction pathways of urea formation through various feedstocks are comprehensively discussed. Then, we focus on the strategies of materials design to improve C-N coupling efficiency by identifying the descriptor and understanding the reaction mechanism. Finally, the current challenges and disadvantages in this field are reviewed and some future development directions of electrocatalytic urea synthesis are also prospected. This Minireview aims to promote future investigations of the electrochemical urea synthesis.

InBi Bimetallic Sites for Efficient Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to HCOOH

Formic acid is receiving intensive attention as being one of the most progressive chemical fuels for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. However, the majority of catalysts suffer from low current density and Faraday efficiency. To this end, an efficient catalyst of In/Bi-750 with InOx nanodots load is prepared on a two-dimensional nanoflake Bi2 O2 CO3 substrate, which increases the adsorption of * CO2 due to the synergistic interaction between the bimetals and the exposure of sufficient active sites. In the H-type electrolytic cell, the formate Faraday efficiency (FE) reaches 97.17% at -1.0 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) with no significant decay over 48 h. A formate Faraday efficiency of 90.83% is also obtained in the flow cell at a higher current density of 200 mA cm-2 . Both in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and theoretical calculations show that the BiIn bimetallic site can deliver superior binding energy to the * OCHO intermediate, thereby fundamentally accelerating the conversion of CO2 to HCOOH. Furthermore, assembled Zn-CO2 cell exhibits a maximum power of 6.97 mW cm-1 and a stability of 60 h.

Ammonia-assisted synthesis of low-crystalline FeCo hydroxides for efficient electrochemical overall water splitting

Low-crystalline FeCo hydroxides were synthesized on a gram scale with the aid of ammonia, and they exhibited impressive catalytic activity for both the HER and OER. We utilized these catalysts to assemble a water splitting cell, which functions efficiently. The electrolytic cell can produce a consistent current density of 200 mA cm^-2 for over 20 hours while operating at a voltage of 1.95 V.

Mesoporous PtPb Nanosheets as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution and Ethanol Oxidation

Using a one-pot hydrothermal method with ethylenediamine, we have synthesized mesoporous PtPb nanosheets that exhibit exceptional activity in both hydrogen evolution and ethanol oxidation. The resulting PtPb nanosheets have a Pt-enriched structure with up to 80% atomic content of Pt. The synthetic method generated a significant mesoporous structure, formed through the dissolution of Pb species. These advanced structures enable the mesoporous PtPb nanosheets to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm2 with an extreme low overpotential of 21 mV for hydrogen evolution under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, the mesoporous PtPb nanosheets exhibit superior catalytic activity and stability for ethanol oxidation. The highest catalytic current density of PtPb nanosheets is 5.66 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. This research opens up new possibilities in designing mesoporous, two-dimensional noble-metal-based materials for electrochemical energy conversion with excellent performance.

Carbon-Anchored Molybdenum Oxide Nanoclusters as Efficient Catalysts for the Electrosynthesis of Ammonia and Urea

The electrochemical NO3- reduction and its coupling with CO2 can provide novel and clean routes to synthesize NH3 and urea, respectively. However, their practical application is still impeded by the lack of efficient catalysts with desirable Faradaic efficiency (FE) and yield rate. Herein, we report the synthesis of molybdenum oxide nanoclusters anchored on carbon black (MoOx/C) as electrocatalyst. It affords an outstanding FE of 98.14% and NH3 yield rate of 91.63 mg h-1 mgcat.-1 in NO3- reduction. Besides, the highest FE of 27.7% with a maximum urea yield rate of 1431.5 μg h-1 mgcat.-1 toward urea is also achieved. The formation of electron-rich MoOx nanoclusters with highly unsaturated metal sites in the MoOx/C heterostructure is beneficial for enhanced catalytic performance. Studies on the mechanism reveal that the stabilization of *NO and *CO2NOOH intermediates are critical for the NH3 and urea synthesis, respectively.

In Situ Activation Endows Orthorhombic Fluorite-Type Samarium Iridium Oxide with Enhanced Acidic Water Oxidation

Developing electrochemical catalysts for acidic water oxidation with improved activity and stability has been the key to the further popularization of proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. In this work, an orthorhombic fluorite-type samarium iridium oxide (Sm3IrO7) catalyst is synthesized by a simple solid-state reaction. After in situ activation, the as-prepared Sm3IrO7 exhibits higher mass activity and durability than that of commercial IrO2. The in-depth analyses indicate the formation of amorphous IrOx species on the surface to evolve to a new heterostructure IrOx/Sm3IrO7, along with Sm leaching during the in situ activation process. More importantly, strong electronic interactions exist between newborn IrOx species and remaining Sm3IrO7, leading to the compressed Ir-O bonds in IrOx compared to commercial IrO2, thus reducing the energy barrier for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates to improve the OER process. Based on the above-mentioned analyses, it is speculated that the actual active species for enhanced acidic water oxidation should be IrOx/Sm3IrO7, rather than Sm3IrO7 itself. Theoretical calculations confirm that the optimal energy level path of IrOx/Sm3IrO7 follows the lattice oxygen mechanism, and the energy level of surface Ir 5d orbitals is lower than O 2p orbitals in IrOx/Sm3IrO7, enabling it a superior OER activity.

Transition from electromagnetically-induced transparency to absorption in a single microresonator

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and absorption (EIA) are two phenomena that can be observed in whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical microresonators. Transition from EIT to EIA has potential applications in optical switching, filtering and sensing. In this paper an observation of the transition from EIT to EIA in a single WGM microresonator is presented. A fiber taper is used to couple light into and out of a sausage-like microresonator (SLM) that contains two coupled optical modes with significantly different quality factors. By stretching the SLM axially the resonance frequencies of the two coupled modes are tuned to the same, a transition from EIT to EIA is then observed in the transmission spectra when the fiber taper is moved closer to the SLM. It is the special spatial distribution of the optical modes of the SLM that provide a theoretical basis for the observation.

NDRG1 Signaling Is Essential for Endothelial Inflammation and Vascular Remodeling

BACKGROUND

NDRG-1 (N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1) is a member of NDRG family that plays essential roles in cell differentiation, proliferation, and stress responses. Although the expression of NDRG1 is regulated by fluid shear stress, its roles in vascular biology remain poorly understood. The purpose of the study is to determine the functional significance of NDRG1 in vascular inflammation and remodeling.

METHODS AND RESULTS

By using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blot, and immunohistochemistry, we demonstrate that the expression of NDRG1 is markedly increased in cytokine-stimulated endothelial cells and in human and mouse atherosclerotic lesions. To determine the role of NDRG1 in endothelial activation, we performed loss-of-function studies using NDRG1 short hairpin RNA. Our results demonstrate that NDRG1 knockdown by lentivirus bearing NDRG1 short hairpin RNA substantially attenuates both IL-1β (interleukin-1β) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α)-induced expression of cytokines/chemokines and adhesion molecules. Intriguingly, inhibition of NDRG1 also significantly attenuates the expression of procoagulant molecules, such as PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1) and TF (tissue factor), and increases the expression of TM (thrombomodulin) and t-PA (tissue-type plasminogen activator), thus exerting potent antithrombotic effects in endothelial cells. Mechanistically, we showed that NDRG1 interacts with orphan Nur77 (nuclear receptor) and functionally inhibits the transcriptional activity of Nur77 and NF-κB (nuclear factor Kappa B) in endothelial cells. Moreover, in NDRG1 knockdown cells, both cytokine-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, c-Jun phosphorylation, and AP-1 (activator protein 1) transcriptional activity are substantially inhibited. Neointima and atherosclerosis formation induced by carotid artery ligation and arterial thrombosis were markedly attenuated in endothelial cell-specific NDRG1 knockout mice compared with their wild-type littermates.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results for the first time identify NDRG1 as a critical mediator implicated in regulating endothelial inflammation, thrombotic responses, and vascular remodeling, and suggest that inhibition of NDRG1 may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for inflammatory vascular diseases, such as atherothrombosis and restenosis.

Electrochemical Converting CO2 into HCOO- Synergistically by Nanocomposite of Zn2SnO4/ZnO

Designing nanocomposite catalyst with different phase component is an underlying strategy to achieve prominent catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction owning to the potential capacity to regulate electronic structure by interfacial...

Boosting the OER Activity of Amorphous IrOx in Acidic Medium by Tuning its Electron Structure Using Lanthanum Salt Nanosheets

Promoting the activity of Ir-based nanomaterials for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid media by no means the expense of their durability is crucial for reducing overpotentials at energy conversion,...

Identification of the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network associated with radiosensitivity in esophageal cancer based on integrative analysis of the TCGA and GEO data

BACKGROUND

The current study set out to identify the miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks that influence the radiosensitivity in esophageal cancer based on the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases.

METHODS

Firstly, esophageal cancer-related miRNA-seq and mRNA-seq data were retrieved from the TCGA database, and the mRNA dataset of esophageal cancer radiotherapy was downloaded from the GEO database to analyze the differential expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) and mRNAs (DEmRNAs) in radiosensitive and radioresistant samples, followed by the construction of the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and Gene Ontology and KEGG enrichment analysis. Additionally, a prognostic risk model was constructed, and its accuracy was evaluated by means of receiver operating characteristic analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 125 DEmiRNAs and 42 DEmRNAs were closely related to the radiosensitivity in patients with esophageal cancer. Based on 47 miRNA-mRNA interactions, including 21 miRNAs and 21 mRNAs, the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed. The prognostic risk model based on 2 miRNAs (miR-132-3p and miR-576-5p) and 4 mRNAs (CAND1, ZDHHC23, AHR, and MTMR4) could accurately predict the prognosis of esophageal cancer patients. Finally, it was verified that miR-132-3p/CAND1/ZDHHC23 and miR-576-5p/AHR could affect the radiosensitivity in esophageal cancer.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that miR-132-3p/CAND1/ZDHHC23 and miR-576-5p/AHR were critical molecular pathways related to the radiosensitivity of esophageal cancer.

Identification of body size characteristic points based on the Mask R-CNN and correlation with body weight in Ujumqin sheep

The measurements of body size data not only reflect the physical fitness, carcass structure, excellent growth condition, and developmental relationship among tissues and organs of animals but are also critical indicators to measure the growth and development of sheep. Computer vision-based body size identification is a non-contact and stress-free method. In this study, we analyzed different body size traits (height at wither, body slanting length, chest depth, chest circumference, shank circumference, hip height, shoulder width, and rump width) and the body weight of 332 Ujumqin sheep and significant correlations (P < 0.05) were obtained among all traits in Ujumqin sheep. Except for shoulder width, rump width, and shank circumference, all were positively correlated, and the effect of sex on Ujumqin sheep was highly significant. The main body size indexes affecting the body weight of rams and ewes were obtained through stepwise regression analysis of body size on body weight, in order of chest circumference, body slanting length, rump width, hip height, height at wither, and shoulder width for rams and body slanting length, chest circumference, rump width, hip height, height at wither and shoulder width for ewes. The body slanting length, chest circumference, and hip height of ewes were used to construct prediction equations for the body weight of Ujumqin sheep of different sexes. The model's prediction accuracy was 83.9% for the rams and 79.4% for ewes. Combined with a Mask R-CNN and machine vision methods, recognition models of important body size parameters of Ujumqin sheep were constructed. The prediction errors of body slanting length, height at wither, hip height, and chest circumference were ~5%, chest depth error was 9.63%, and shoulder width, rump width, and shank circumference errors were 14.95, 12.05, and 19.71%, respectively. The results show that the proposed method is effective and has great potential in precision management.