Improving image quality of triple-low-protocol renal artery CT angiography with deep-learning image reconstruction: a comparative study with standard-dose single-energy and dual-energy CT with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction

AIM

To investigate the improvement in image quality of triple-low-protocol (low radiation, low contrast medium dose, low injection speed) renal artery computed tomography (CT) angiography (RACTA) using deep-learning image reconstruction (DLIR), in comparison with standard-dose single- and dual-energy CT (DECT) using adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-Veo (ASIR-V) algorithm.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ninety patients for RACTA were divided into different groups: standard-dose single-energy CT (S group) using ASIR-V at 60% strength (60%ASIR-V), DECT (DE group) with 60%ASIR-V including virtual monochromatic images at 40 keV (DE40 group) and 70 keV (DE70 group), and the triple-low protocol single-energy CT (L group) with DLIR at high level (DLIR-H). The effective dose (ED), contrast medium dose, injection speed, standard deviation (SD), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of abdominal aorta (AA), and left/right renal artery (LRA, RRA), and subjective scores were compared among the different groups.

RESULTS

The L group significantly reduced ED by 37.6% and 31.2%, contrast medium dose by 33.9% and 30.5%, and injection speed by 30% and 30%, respectively, compared to the S and DE groups. The L group had the lowest SD values for all arteries compared to the other groups (p<0.001). The SNR of RRA and LRA in the L group, and the CNR of all arteries in the DE40 group had highest value compared to others (p<0.05). The L group had the best comprehensive score with good consistency (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The triple-low protocol RACTA with DLIR-H significantly reduces the ED, contrast medium doses, and injection speed, while providing good comprehensive image quality.

Probing the pH-dependency of DC-SIGN/R multivalent lectin-glycan interactions using polyvalent glycan-gold nanoparticles

The dendritic cell tetrameric lectin, DC-SIGN, and its closely related endothelial cell lectin, DC-SIGNR (collectively abbreviated as DC-SIGN/R) play a key role in the binding and transmission of deadly viruses, including Ebola, HIV, HCV, and SARS-CoV-2. Their virus binding/release processes involve a gradually acidifying environment following the natural intracellular trafficking pathways. Therefore, understanding DC-SIGN/R's pH-dependent binding properties with glycan ligands is of great importance. We have recently developed densely glycosylated gold nanoparticles (glycan-GNPs) as a powerful new tool for probing DC-SIGN/R multivalent lectin-glycan interaction (MLGI) mechanisms. They can provide not only quantitative MLGI affinities but also important structural information, such as binding site orientation and binding modes. Herein, we further employ the glycan-GNP probes to investigate the pH dependency of DC-SIGN/R MLGI properties. We find that DC-SIGN/R MLGIs exhibit distinct pH dependence over the normal physiological (7.4) to lysosomal (∼4.6) pH range. DC-SIGN binds glycan-GNPs strongly and stably from pH 7.4 to ∼5.8, but the binding is weakened significantly as pH decreases to ≤5.4 and may be fully dissociated at pH 4.6. This behaviour is fully consistent with DC-SIGN's role as an endocytic recycling receptor. In contrast, DC-SIGNR's affinity with glycan-GNPs is enhanced with the decreasing pH from 7.4 to 5.4, peaking at pH 5.4, and then reduced as pH is further lowered. Interestingly, both DC-SIGN/R binding with glycan-GNPs are found to be partially reversible in a pH-dependent manner.

Association of the triglyceride-glucose index variability with blood pressure and hypertension: a cohort study

BACKGROUND

Several studies have indicated that the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) index is associated with hypertension; however, evidence on the association of change in the TyG index with blood pressure and hypertension is limited.

AIMS

To assess the association of the TyG index with blood pressure and hypertension.

DESIGN

A cohort study.

METHODS

We included 17 977 individuals with a mean age of 60.5 years from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort. The TyG index was calculated as ln [fasting triglyceride (mg/dl)×fasting glucose (mg/dl)/2]. Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg, self-reported current use of antihypertensive medication or self-reported physician diagnosis of hypertension.

RESULTS

In the longitudinal analyses, we found a linear dose-response relationship between changes in the TyG index and change in blood pressure. Each one-unit change in the TyG index was associated with a 1.93 (1.23-2.63) mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and a 1.78 (1.42-2.16) mmHg increase in diastolic blood pressure (DBP). During a median follow-up of 9.37 years, a total of 3594 individuals were newly diagnosed with hypertension. We also found a linear dose-response relationship between the TyG index and the incidence of hypertension. The hazard ratio (HR) of hypertension for each one-unit increase in the TyG index was 1.21 (1.13-1.29). In addition, the best cut-off point of TyG for predicting hypertension was 8.4797, with sensitivity, and specificity of 57.85% and 55.40%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The TyG index had a positive dose-response relationship with blood pressure and could be used to predict the risk of hypertension.

Lesions of the lateral habenula excite dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area and serotonin neurons in the dorsal raphe nuclei in hemiparkinsonian rats

The lateral habenula (LHb) projects to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN) that deliver dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) to cortical and limbic regions such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), hippocampus and basolateral amygdala (BLA). Dysfunctions of VTA-related mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic and DRN-related serotonergic systems contribute to non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, how the LHb affects the VTA and DRN in PD remains unclear. Here, we used electrophysiological and neurochemical approaches to explore the effects of LHb lesions on the firing activity of VTA and DRN neurons, as well as the levels of DA and 5-HT in related brain regions in unilateral 6-hydroxydopamie (6-OHDA)-induced PD rats. We found that compared to sham lesions, lesions of the LHb increased the firing rate of DA neurons in the VTA and 5-HT neurons in the DRN, but decreased the firing rate of GABAergic neurons in the same nucleus. In addition, lesions of the LHb increased the levels of DA and 5-HT in the mPFC, ventral hippocampus and BLA compared to sham lesions. These findings suggest that lesions of the LHb enhance the activity of mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic and serotonergic systems in PD.

Exploring negative thermal expansion materials with bulk framework structures and their relevant scaling relationships through multi-step machine learning

Discovering new negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials is a great challenge in experiment. Meanwhile, the machine learning (ML) method can be another approach to explore NTE materials using the existing material databases. Herein, we adopt the multi-step ML method with efficient data augmentation and cross-validation to identify around 1000 materials, including oxides, fluorides, and cyanides, with bulk framework structures as new potential NTE candidate materials from ICSD and other databases. Their corresponding coefficients of negative thermal expansion (CNTE) and temperature ranges are also well predicted. Among them, about 57 materials are predicted to have an NTE probability of 100%. Some predicted NTE materials were tested by the first-principles calculations with quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA), which indicates that the ML results are in good agreement with the first principles calculation results. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the existing and predicted NTE materials, we established three universal relationships of CNTE with an average electronegativity, porosity, and temperature range. From these, we also identified some important critical values characterizing the NTE property, which can serve as an important criterion for designing new NTE materials.

Self-Reinforced Bimetallic Mito-Jammer for Ca2+ Overload-Mediated Cascade Mitochondrial Damage for Cancer Cuproptosis Sensitization

Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), metal ion accumulation, and tricarboxylic acid cycle collapse are crucial factors in mitochondria-mediated cell death. However, the highly adaptive nature and damage-repair capabilities of malignant tumors strongly limit the efficacy of treatments based on a single treatment mode. To address this challenge, a self-reinforced bimetallic Mito-Jammer is developed by incorporating doxorubicin (DOX) and calcium peroxide (CaO2) into hyaluronic acid (HA) -modified metal-organic frameworks (MOF). After cellular, Mito-Jammer dissociates into CaO2 and Cu2+ in the tumor microenvironment. The exposed CaO2 further yields hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Ca2+ in a weakly acidic environment to strengthen the Cu2+-based Fenton-like reaction. Furthermore, the combination of chemodynamic therapy and Ca2+ overload exacerbates ROS storms and mitochondrial damage, resulting in the downregulation of intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels and blocking of Cu-ATPase to sensitize cuproptosis. This multilevel interaction strategy also activates robust immunogenic cell death and suppresses tumor metastasis simultaneously. This study presents a multivariate model for revolutionizing mitochondria damage, relying on the continuous retention of bimetallic ions to boost cuproptosis/immunotherapy in cancer.

Finite element analysis of sagittal angles of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty

BACKGROUND

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is an effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis, but it has the risk of failure, and the installation position of the prosthesis is one of the factors affecting the failure. There are few biomechanical studies on the installation angle of unicompartmental knee prosthesis.

METHODS

Constructed a finite element model of a normal human knee joint, and the validity of the model was verified by stress and front anterior methods. The mobile-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty femoral prosthesis was placed at 3° intervals from 0° sagittal plane to 15° flexion, and - 2° and 17°were established, and observing the biomechanical changes of components.

FINDINGS

Maximum peak stresses occurred at a sagittal mounting angle of -2° for the insert and the contralateral meniscus, with the tibia showing a maximum at 17° sagittal and the tibial prosthesis stress maximum occurring at 6° sagittal. As the sagittal plane angle of the femoral prosthesis increases and the osteotomy distance extends posteriorly, more bone is amputated during the osteotomy. The ratio of the distance from the tip of the anterior intramedullary nail to the anterior end of the osteotomy to the total anteroposterior length of the sagittal osteotomy ranged from 43.2% to 44.6%.

INTERPRETATION

In this paper, the more appropriate sagittal mounting position for the femoral prosthesis is between 9 and 12°, based on the amount of osteotomy and the peak stress of each component in a standing position.

Preparation and application of biocontrol formulation of nematode-trapping fungus-Duddingtonia flagrans

The use of nematophagous fungi as a biological control strategy for parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) in livestock holds promise as an innovative alternative approach. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a lyophilized Duddingtonia flagrans preparation, utilized in association with the anthelmintics ivermectin or albendazole, to control GINs in Tibetan sheep on a farm based in Qinghai Province. The experimental design included five groups: D. flagrans lyophilized preparation group; D. flagrans+ ivermectin combination tablets treatment group (0.6 tablets for each 10 kg b.w. containing 106 chlamydospores of D. flagrans); D. flagrans+ albendazole combination capsules treatment group (5 capsules for each 10 kg b.w. containing 106 chlamydospores of D. flagrans); ivermectin group (0.2 mg/kg); albendazole group (15 mg/kg), and a control group; The effect of these strategies was evaluated through the analysis of feces collected directly from the animals in each group at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h,96 h and 120 h after administration, by estimating the counts of fecal egg count reduction percentage (FECR) and larval development reduction percentage (LDR). The combination of D. flagrans lyophilized preparation with either ivermectin or albendazole yielded fecal egg and larval reduction rates of up to 100% within 72 h after oral administration, outperforming the groups treated with a single anthelmintic. Moreover, the application of the lyophilized preparation of D. flagrans chlamydospores in isolation demonstrated an 89.8% larval reduction rate. The formulation containing D. flagrans showed high predatory capacity after passage through the gastrointestinal tract of sheep and was effective for controlling gastrointestinal nematodes, which greatly reduced the pollution of the grassland, and avoid reinfection.

The effect of ice-cold water spray following the model for symptom management on postoperative thirst in patients admitted to intensive care unit: A randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND

Postoperative thirst is common in patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Existing methods like wet cotton swabs or oral care prove ineffectual or operationally intricate. Currently, an efficacious postoperative thirst alleviation method remains elusive. Exploring a prompt, safe, and efficacious solution is of paramount importance.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of ice-cold water spray applied following a symptom management model on postoperative thirst and to establish a framework for mitigating thirst in intensive care unit patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Single-center randomized controlled study.

SETTING

Surgical intensive care unit in a university-affiliated hospital.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

56 intensive care unit patients were selected and equally randomized. The experimental group received ice-cold water spray in conjunction with eight symptom management strategies, while the control group underwent standard care involving wet cotton swabs. Thirst intervention was initiated 0.5 hours after postoperative extubation, followed by subsequent interventions at 2-hour, 4-hour, and 6-hour intervals post-extubation. Thirst intensity, oral comfort, and the duration of relief from thirst were assessed and compared between groups before and 0.5 hours after each thirst intervention.

RESULTS

Across different interventions, the experimental group exhibited superior scores in thirst intensity and oral comfort compared to the control group. Additionally, the nursing time required to alleviate thirst in the experimental group was significantly shorter than that in the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Ice-cold water spray following the model for symptom management can effectively mitigate the postoperative thirst intensity in intensive care unit patients, improve oral comfort, and reduce the nursing time for relieving thirst.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE

Clinical nurses can employ ice-cold water spray following the model for symptom management to ameliorate postoperative thirst intensity in ICU patients while enhancing oral comfort. Furthermore, the utilization of ice-cold water spray can reduce the nursing time required for relieving postoperative thirst in intensive care unit patients.

Study of High-Transverse-Momentum Higgs Boson Production in Association with a Vector Boson in the qqbb Final State with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter presents the first study of Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson (V=W or Z) in the fully hadronic qqbb final state using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137  fb^{-1}. The vector bosons and Higgs bosons are each reconstructed as large-radius jets and tagged using jet substructure techniques. Dedicated tagging algorithms exploiting b-tagging properties are used to identify jets consistent with Higgs bosons decaying into bb[over ¯]. Dominant backgrounds from multijet production are determined directly from the data, and a likelihood fit to the jet mass distribution of Higgs boson candidates is used to extract the number of signal events. The VH production cross section is measured inclusively and differentially in several ranges of Higgs boson transverse momentum: 250-450, 450-650, and greater than 650 GeV. The inclusive signal yield relative to the standard model expectation is observed to be μ=1.4_{-0.9}^{+1.0} and the corresponding cross section is 3.1±1.3(stat)_{-1.4}^{+1.8}(syst)  pb.

The evolution and impact of sarcopenia in severe aplastic anaemia survivors following allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation

BACKGROUND

Sarcopenia is a potential risk factor for adverse outcomes in haematopoietic cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. We aimed to explore longitudinal body changes in muscle and adipose mass and their prognostic value in allogeneic HSCT-treated severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analysed consecutive SAA patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT between January 2017 and March 2022. Measurements of pectoral muscle and corresponding subcutaneous fat mass were obtained via chest computed tomography at baseline and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months following HSCT. Sarcopenia was defined as pectoral muscle index (PMI) lower than the sex-specific median at baseline. Changes in body composition over time were evaluated by generalized estimating equations. Cox regression models were used to investigate prognostic factors affecting overall survival (OS) and failure-free survival (FFS). A nomogram was constructed from the Cox regression model for OS.

RESULTS

We included 298 adult SAA patients (including 129 females and 169 males) with a median age of 31 years [interquartile range (IQR), 24-39 years] at baseline. Sarcopenia was present in 148 (148/298, 50%) patients at baseline, 218 (218/285, 76%) patients post-1 month, 209 (209/262, 80%) patients post-3 month, 169 (169/218, 78%) patients post-6 month, and 129 (129/181, 71%) patients post-12 month. A significant decrease in pectoral muscle mass was observed in SAA patients from the time of transplant to 1 year after HSCT, and the greatest reduction occurred in post 1-3 months (P < 0.001). The sarcopenia group exhibited significantly lower 5-year OS (90.6% vs. 100%, log-rank P = 0.039) and 5-year FFS (89.2% vs. 100%, log-rank P = 0.021) than the nonsarcopenia group at baseline. Sarcopenia at baseline (hazard ratio, HR, 6.344; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.570-25.538; P = 0.01; and HR, 3.275; 95% CI: 1.159-9.252; P = 0.025, respectively) and the delta value of the PMI at 6 months post-transplantation (ΔPMI6) (HR, 0.531; 95% CI: 0.374-0.756; P < 0.001; and HR, 0.666; 95% CI: 0.505-0.879; P = 0.004, respectively) were demonstrated to be independent prognostic factors for OS and FFS in SAA patients undergoing HSCT, and were used to construct the nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.75, and the calibration plot showed good agreement between the predictions made by the nomogram and actual observations.

CONCLUSIONS

Sarcopenia persists in SAA patients from the time of transplant to the 1-year follow-up after HSCT. Both sarcopenia at baseline and at 6 months following HSCT are associated with poor clinical outcomes, especially in patients with persistent muscle mass loss up to 6 months after transplantation.

Non-invasive assessment of periodontal inflammation by continuum-removal hemodynamic spectral indices

BACKGROUND

Hyperspectral techniques have aroused great interest in non-invasively measuring periodontal tissue hemodynamics. However, current studies mainly focused on three typical inflammation stages (healthy, gingivitis and periodontitis) and practical approaches for using optical spectroscopy for early and precisely detection of periodontal inflammation at finer disease stages have not been well studied.

METHODS

This study provided novel spectroscopic insights into periodontitis at different stages of disease, and developed six simple but physically meaning hemodynamic spectral indices (HSIs) including four spectral absorption depths of oxyhemoglobin ( D HbO 2 ), deoxyhemoglobin ( D Hb ), total hemoglobin ( t Hb ) and tissue water ( D water ), and two normalized difference indices of oxyhemoglobin( N D HbO 2 I ) and deoxyhemoglobin ( N D Hb I ) from continuum-removal spectra (400-1700 nm) of periodontal tissue collected from 47 systemically healthy subjects over different severities from healthy, gingivitis, slight, moderate to severe periodontitis for early and precision diagnostics of periodontitis. Typical statistical analyses were conducted to explore the effectiveness of the proposed HSIs.

RESULTS

D Hb and t Hb exerted significant increasing trends as inflammation progressed, whereas D HbO 2 exhibited significant difference (P < 0.05) from the healthy sites only at moderate and severe periodontitis and D water presented unstable sensitives to disease severity. By contrast, N D HbO 2 I and N D Hb I showed more steadily downward trends as severity increased, and demonstrated the highest correlations with clinical gold standard parameters. Particularly, the proposed normalized HSIs ( N D HbO 2 I and N D Hb I ) yielded high correlations of - 0.49 and - 0.44 with probing depth, respectively, far outperforming results achieved by previous studies. The performances of the HSIs were also confirmed using the periodontal therapy group.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicated great potentials of combination optical spectroscopy and smart devices to non-invasively probe periodontitis at earlier stages using the simple and practical HSIs. Trial registration This study was retrospectively registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on October 24, 2021, and the clinical registration number is ChiCTR2100052306.

One-Tip enables comprehensive proteome coverage in minimal cells and single zygotes

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics workflows typically involve complex, multi-step processes, presenting challenges with sample losses, reproducibility, requiring substantial time and financial investments, and specialized skills. Here we introduce One-Tip, a proteomics methodology that seamlessly integrates efficient, one-pot sample preparation with precise, narrow-window data-independent acquisition (nDIA) analysis. One-Tip substantially simplifies sample processing, enabling the reproducible identification of >9000 proteins from ~1000 HeLa cells. The versatility of One-Tip is highlighted by nDIA identification of ~6000 proteins in single cells from early mouse embryos. Additionally, the study incorporates the Uno Single Cell Dispenser™, demonstrating the capability of One-Tip in single-cell proteomics with >3000 proteins identified per HeLa cell. We also extend One-Tip workflow to analysis of extracellular vesicles (EVs) extracted from blood plasma, demonstrating its high sensitivity by identifying >3000 proteins from 16 ng EV preparation. One-Tip expands capabilities of proteomics, offering greater depth and throughput across a range of sample types.

Advances in the study of S100A9 in cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a group of diseases that primarily affect the heart or blood vessels, with high disability and mortality rates, posing a serious threat to human health. The causative factors, pathogenesis, and characteristics of common CVD differ, but they all involve common pathological processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis. S100A9 belongs to the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins, which are mainly secreted by myeloid cells and bind to the Toll-like receptor 4 and receptor for advanced glycation end products and is involved in regulating pathological processes such as inflammatory response, fibrosis, vascular calcification, and endothelial barrier function in CVD. The latest research has found that S100A9 is a key biomarker for diagnosing and predicting various CVD. Therefore, this article reviews the latest research progress on the diagnostic and predictive, and therapeutic value of S100A9 in inflammatory-related CVD such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and arterial aneurysm and summarizes its molecular mechanisms in the progression of CVD, aiming to explore new predictive methods and to identify potential intervention targets for CVD in clinical practice.

Discovery of a Potent Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase Activator for Improving Aging-associated Dysfunctions

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) plays a crucial role in the cellular energy metabolism pathway. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is a rate-limiting enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of NAD+. Herein, a series of new NAMPT activators were designed to increase the NAD+ levels and improve aging-associated dysfunctions. In particular, compound C8 effectively activated NAMPT and promoted the biosynthesis of NAD+. Furthermore, we demonstrated that NAMPT activator C8 possessed excellent antiaging effects both in vitro and in vivo. Activator C8 showed potent activity in delaying aging in senescent HL-7702 cells and extended the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans. In a naturally aging mouse model, compound C8 effectively alleviated age-related dysfunctions and markers. Therefore, NAMPT activator C8 represented a promising lead compound for the treatment of age-related diseases.

[Research progress in autophagy in the development of pulp inflammation and dental pulp injury reparation and regeneration]

Pulpitis is an infectious disease characterized by persistent inflammation of dental pulp and severe pain of patients, root canal treatment increases the risk of tooth fracture, discoloration and reinfection. Therefore, pulp injury repair and pulp regeneration become the new targets of pulpitis treatment. Autophagy is considered as an important defense and protective mechanism, thus plays an important role in preventing the host from excessive inflammatory reaction. There are few reports on the regulative mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of autophagy on pulp inflammation progression, therefore, this paper reviewed the role of autophagy on the progression of pulpitis, also reviewed the research progress of autophagy on dental pulp injury repair and regeneration, aiming to provide theoretical support for further research and clinical application.

Measurement of the Centrality Dependence of the Dijet Yield in p+Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=8.16 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

ATLAS measured the centrality dependence of the dijet yield using 165  nb^{-1} of p+Pb data collected at sqrt[s_{NN}]=8.16  TeV in 2016. The event centrality, which reflects the p+Pb impact parameter, is characterized by the total transverse energy registered in the Pb-going side of the forward calorimeter. The central-to-peripheral ratio of the scaled dijet yields, R_{CP}, is evaluated, and the results are presented as a function of variables that reflect the kinematics of the initial hard parton scattering process. The R_{CP} shows a scaling with the Bjorken x of the parton originating from the proton, x_{p}, while no such trend is observed as a function of x_{Pb}. This analysis provides unique input to understanding the role of small proton spatial configurations in p+Pb collisions by covering parton momentum fractions from the valence region down to x_{p}∼10^{-3} and x_{Pb}∼4×10^{-4}.

[Clinical features and prognostic analysis of testicular relapse in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia]

Objective: To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of testicular relapse in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods: Clinical data including the age, time from initial diagnosis to recurrence, relapse site, and therapeutic effect of 37 pediatric ALL with testicular relapse and treated in Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between November 2011 and December 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were grouped according to different clinical data. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to evaluate the overall survival (OS) rate and event free survival (EFS) rate for univariate analysis, and Cox proportional-hazards regression model was used to evaluate the influencing factors of OS rate and EFS rate for multivariate analysis. Results: The age at initial diagnosis of 37 pediatric testicular relapse patients was (5±3) years and the time from initial diagnosis to testicular recurrence was (37±15) months. The follow-up time was 43 (22, 56) months. Twenty-three patients (62%) were isolated testis relapse. The 5-year OS rate and EFS rate of the 37 relapsed children were (60±9) % and (50±9) % respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the 2-year EFS rate in the group of patients with time from initial diagnosis to testicular recurrence >28 months was significantly higher than those ≤28 months ((69±10)% vs. (11±11)%, P<0.05), 2-year EFS rate of the isolated testicular relapse group was significantly higher than combined relapse group ((66±11)% vs. (20±13) %, P<0.05), 2-year EFS rate of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell treatment after relapse group was significantly higher than without CAR-T cell treatment after relapse group ((78±10)% vs. (15±10)%, P<0.05). ETV6-RUNX1 was the most common genetic aberration in testicular relapsed ALL (38%, 14/37). The 4-year OS and EFS rate of patients with ETV6-RUNX1 positive were (80±13) % and (64±15) %, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified relapse occurred≤28 months after first diagnosis (HR=3.09, 95%CI 1.10-8.72), combined relapse (HR=4.26, 95%CI 1.34-13.52) and CAR-T cell therapy after relapse (HR=0.15,95%CI 0.05-0.51) were independent prognostic factors for 2-year EFS rate (all P<0.05). Conclusions: The outcome of testicular relapse in pediatric ALL was poor. They mainly occurred 3 years after initial diagnosis. ETV6-RUNX1 is the most common abnormal gene.Patients with ETV6-RUNX1 positive often have a favorable outcome. Early relapse and combined relapse indicate unfavorable prognosis, while CAR-T cell therapy could significantly improve the survival rate of children with testicular recurrence.

Distinct microbiota assembly and functional patterns in disease-resistant and susceptible varieties of tobacco

The plant microbiota is believed to be an accessory genome that extends plant functions, forming holobionts together with the host plant. Plant disease resistance, therefore, is inextricably linked with plant microbiota, which play important roles in plant growth and health. To explore the relationship between plant microbiota and disease resistance, we investigated the tobacco microbiome of two varieties with contrasting disease-resistance levels to bacterial wilt and black shank diseases. Comparative microbiome analysis indicated that the resistant variety assembled a distinct microbiota with higher network complexity and diversity. While Pseudomonas and Ensifer, which contain biocontrol and beneficial members, were enriched in the rhizosphere of the resistant variety, Ralstonia, a genus including the known causative pathogen, was enriched in the susceptible variety. Metagenome sequencing revealed that biocontrol functions, such as hydrogen cyanide synthase, pyochelin biosynthesis, and arthrofactin-type cyclic lipopeptide synthetase, were more abundant in the resistant variety. Further analysis indicated that contigs encoding the corresponding genes were mostly assigned to Pseudomonas. Among all the metagenome-assembled genomes, positive selection was suggested in the genome assigned to Pseudomonas only in the rhizosphere of the resistant variety. The search of biosynthetic gene clusters in the Pseudomonas genome revealed a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase, the compound of which was brabantamide A, with known antimicrobial activity. Collectively, our study suggests that the plant microbiota might be involved in microbe-mediated disease resistance. Particularly, our results highlight Pseudomonas in the rhizosphere of the disease-resistant variety as a promising biocontrol candidate. Our study may facilitate further screening of bacterial isolates and the targeted design of microbial communities.

HRadNet: A Hierarchical Radiomics-Based Network for Multicenter Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes Prediction

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, where molecular subtypes of breast cancer are closely related to the treatment and prognosis. Therefore, the goal of this work is to differentiate between luminal and non-luminal subtypes of breast cancer. The hierarchical radiomics network (HRadNet) is proposed for breast cancer molecular subtypes prediction based on dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. HRadNet fuses multilayer features with the metadata of images to take advantage of conventional radiomics methods and general convolutional neural networks. A two-stage training mechanism is adopted to improve the generalization capability of the network for multicenter breast cancer data. The ablation study shows the effectiveness of each component of HRadNet. Furthermore, the influence of features from different layers and metadata fusion are also analyzed. It reveals that selecting certain layers of features for a specified domain can make further performance improvements. Experimental results on three data sets from different devices demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed network. HRadNet also has good performance when transferring to other domains without fine-tuning.

Environmental chemical TCPOBOP exposure alters milk liposomes and offspring growth trajectories in mice

Exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors (EEDs) has become a global health concern, and EEDs are known to be potent inducers of constitutive androstane receptor (CAR). 1,4-bis [2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)] benzene (TCPOBOP, hereafter abbreviated as TC), a specific ligand for CAR, has been considered as a potential EED. Here, we analyzed the effect of TC exposure to female mice on the histological morphology of their alveoli in the basic unit of lactation. We quantified differences in the milk metabolome of the control and TC-exposed group while assessing the correlations between metabolites and neonatal growth. Mammary histological results showed that TC exposure inhibited alveolar development. Based on the milk metabolomic data, we identified a total of 1505 differential metabolites in both the positive and negative ion mode, which indicated that TC exposure affected milk composition. As expected, the differential metabolites were significantly enriched in the drug metabolism pathway. Further analyses revealed that differential metabolites were significantly enriched in multiple lipid metabolic pathways, such as fatty acid biosynthesis, suggesting that most differential metabolites were concentrated in lipids. Simultaneously, a quantitative analysis showed that TC exposure led to a decrease in the relative abundance of total milk lipids, affecting the proportion of some lipid subclasses. Notably, a portion of lipid metabolites were associated with neonatal growth. Taken together, these findings suggest that TC exposure may affect milk lipidomes, resulting in the inability of mothers to provide adequate nutrients, ultimately affecting the growth and health of their offspring.

Rapid and accurate identification of bacteria utilizing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Timely and accurate identification of harmful bacterial species in the environment is paramount for preventing the spread of diseases and ensuring food safety. In this study, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technology was utilized, combined with four machine learning methods - KNN, PCA-KNN, RF, and SVM, to conduct classification and identification research on 7 different types of bacteria, adhering to various substrate materials. The experimental results showed that despite the nearly identical elemental composition of these bacteria, differences in the intensity of elemental spectral lines provide crucial information for identification of bacteria. Under conditions of high-purity aluminum substrate, the identification rates of the four modeling methods reached 74.91%, 84.05%, 85.36%, and 96.07%, respectively. In contrast, under graphite substrate conditions, the corresponding identification rates reached 96.87%, 98.11%, 98.93%, and 100%. Graphite is found to be more suitable as a substrate material for bacterial classification, attributed to the fact that more characteristic spectral lines are excited in bacteria under graphite substrate conditions. Additionally, the emission spectral lines of graphite itself are relatively scarce, resulting in less interference with other elemental spectral lines of bacteria. Meanwhile, SVM exhibited the highest precision rate and recall rate, reaching up to 1, making it the most effective classification method in this experiment. This study provides a valuable approach for the rapid and accurate identification of bacterial species based on LIBS, as well as substrate selection, enhancing efficient microbial identification capabilities in fields related to social security and military applications.

Noninvasive Nonlinear Optical Computational Histology

Cancer remains a global health challenge, demanding early detection and accurate diagnosis for improved patient outcomes. An intelligent paradigm is introduced that elevates label-free nonlinear optical imaging with contrastive patch-wise learning, yielding stain-free nonlinear optical computational histology (NOCH). NOCH enables swift, precise diagnostic analysis of fresh tissues, reducing patient anxiety and healthcare costs. Nonlinear modalities are evaluated, including stimulated Raman scattering and multiphoton imaging, for their ability to enhance tumor microenvironment sensitivity, pathological analysis, and cancer examination. Quantitative analysis confirmed that NOCH images accurately reproduce nuclear morphometric features across different cancer stages. Key diagnostic features, such as nuclear morphology, size, and nuclear-cytoplasmic contrast, are well preserved. NOCH models also demonstrate promising generalization when applied to other pathological tissues. The study unites label-free nonlinear optical imaging with histopathology using contrastive learning to establish stain-free computational histology. NOCH provides a rapid, non-invasive, and precise approach to surgical pathology, holding immense potential for revolutionizing cancer diagnosis and surgical interventions.

In Situ Heterodyne-Detected Second-Harmonic Generation Study of the Influence of Cholesterol on Dye Molecule Adsorption on Lipid Membrane

Cholesterol plays an essential role in regulating the functionality of biomembranes. This study employed in situ second-harmonic generation (SHG) to investigate the adsorption behavior of the dye molecule 4-(4-(diethylamino)styryl)-N-methyl-pyridinium iodide (D289) on a biomimic membrane composed of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'-rac-glycerol) (sodium salt) (DPPG) and cholesterol. The time-dependent polarization SHG intensity exhibited an initial rapid increase, followed by a subsequent decline. The initial increased SHG intensity is responsible for the electrostatic interaction-driven adsorption of D289 onto the membrane, while the decrease in the SHG signal results from the broadening of the orientation distribution within the membrane. Heterodyne-detected SHG (HD-SHG) measurements demonstrated that the adsorption of dye molecules influenced the phase of the induced electric field. The interfacial potential Φ(0) as a function of time was measured, and we found that even after reaching a stable Stern layer state, the diffusion layer continued to exhibit a dynamic change. This study offers a comprehensive understanding of the influence of cholesterol on adsorption, reorientation dynamics, and dynamic changes in the reorientation of water in the diffusion layer.

Search for New Phenomena in Two-Body Invariant Mass Distributions Using Unsupervised Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

Searches for new resonances are performed using an unsupervised anomaly-detection technique. Events with at least one electron or muon are selected from 140  fb^{-1} of pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV recorded by ATLAS at the Large Hadron Collider. The approach involves training an autoencoder on data, and subsequently defining anomalous regions based on the reconstruction loss of the decoder. Studies focus on nine invariant mass spectra that contain pairs of objects consisting of one light jet or b jet and either one lepton (e,μ), photon, or second light jet or b jet in the anomalous regions. No significant deviations from the background hypotheses are observed. Limits on contributions from generic Gaussian signals with various widths of the resonance mass are obtained for nine invariant masses in the anomalous regions.

A Multi-Layer Stacked Microfluidic Tactile Display With High Spatial Resolution

Pneumatic tactile displays dynamically customize surface morphological features with reconfigurable arrays of independently addressable actuators. However, their ability to render detailed tactile patterns or fine textures is limited by the low spatial resolution. For pneumatic tactile displays, the high-density integration of pneumatic actuators within a small space (fingertip) poses a significant challenge in terms of pneumatic circuit wiring. In contrast to the structure with a single-layer layout of pipes, we propose a multi-layered stacked microfluidic pipe structure that allows for a higher density of actuators and retains their independent actuation capabilities. Based on the proposed structure, we developed a soft microfluidic tactile display with a spatial resolution of 1.25 mm. The device consists of a 5 × 5 array of independently addressable microactuators, driven by pneumatic pressure, each of which enables independent actuation of the surface film and continuous control of the height. At a relative pressure of 1000 mbar, the actuator produced a perceptible out-of-plane deformation of 0.145 mm and a force of 17.7 mN. User studies showed that subjects can easily distinguish eight tactile patterns with 96% accuracy.

Wavelet-Inspired Multi-channel Score-based Model for Limited-angle CT Reconstruction

Score-based generative model (SGM) has demonstrated great potential in the challenging limited-angle CT (LA-CT) reconstruction. SGM essentially models the probability density of the ground truth data and generates reconstruction results by sampling from it. Nevertheless, direct application of the existing SGM methods to LA-CT suffers multiple limitations. Firstly, the directional distribution of the artifacts attributing to the missing angles is ignored. Secondly, the different distribution properties of the artifacts in different frequency components have not been fully explored. These drawbacks would inevitably degrade the estimation of the probability density and the reconstruction results. After an in-depth analysis of these factors, this paper proposes a Wavelet-Inspired Score-based Model (WISM) for LA-CT reconstruction. Specifically, besides training a typical SGM with the original images, the proposed method additionally performs the wavelet transform and models the probability density in each wavelet component with an extra SGM. The wavelet components preserve the spatial correspondence with the original image while performing frequency decomposition, thereby keeping the directional property of the artifacts for further analysis. On the other hand, different wavelet components possess more specific contents of the original image in different frequency ranges, simplifying the probability density modeling by decomposing the overall density into component-wise ones. The resulting two SGMs in the image-domain and wavelet-domain are integrated into a unified sampling process under the guidance of the observation data, jointly generating high-quality and consistent LA-CT reconstructions. The experimental evaluation on various datasets consistently verifies the superior performance of the proposed method over the competing method.

Impact of calcium ions at physiological concentrations on the adsorption behavior of proteins on silica nanoparticles

The adsorption of proteins on nanoparticles (NPs) largely decides the fate and bioeffects of NPs in vivo. However, bio-fluids are too complicated to directly study in them to reveal related mechanisms, and current studies on model systems often ignore some important biological factors, such as metal ions. Herein, we evaluate the effect of Ca2+ at physiological concentrations on the protein adsorption on negatively-charged silica NP (SNP50). It is found that Ca2+, as well as Mg2+ and several transition metal ions, significantly enhances the adsorption of negatively-charged proteins on SNP50. Moreover, the Ca2+-induced enhancement of protein adsorption leads to the reduced uptake of SNP50 by HeLa cells. A double-chelating mechanism is proposed for the enhanced adsorption of negatively-charged proteins by multivalent metal ions that can form 6 (or more) coordinate bonds, where the metal ions are chelated by both the surface groups of NPs and the surface residues of the adsorbed proteins. This mechanism is consistent with all experimental evidences from metal ions-induced changes of physicochemical properties of NPs to protein adsorption isotherms, and is validated with several model proteins as well as complicated serum. The findings highlight the importance of investigating the influences of physiological factors on the interaction between proteins and NPs.

Multi-image optical information hiding algorithm based on Fourier transform without hidden key transmission

Existing optical information hiding algorithms for multiple images require generating hidden keys for embedded images, resulting in the transmission of numerous keys. This challenge undermines the usage of these algorithms in low-quality networks. To address this issue and enhance transmission efficiency, we present a multi-image optical information hiding algorithm based on Fourier transformation principles, which is employed to generate hidden frequency maps and carrier frequency maps. Specific low-frequency information zones are extracted within these hidden frequency maps. A chaotic system integrates a phase mask, modulated with the low-frequency regions, positioned in the carrier frequency map's high-frequency sector. The final stego image is obtained by subjecting the carrier frequency map to inverse Fourier transformation. Experimental analysis shows that concealing three images takes only 0.0089 s, with extraction requiring 0.0658 s. Post-extraction PSNR values for hidden images exceed 32 dB. Robustness and anti-attack experiments were done to prove the security of this algorithm. The compared experiments between the proposed method and other state-of-the-art algorithms affirm the algorithm's attributes of simplicity, ease of implementation, robust security, and high efficiency. Importantly, the restoration process eliminates the necessity of transmitting hidden keys, reducing network burdens and enhancing both concealment and extraction efficiencies significantly.

Dual output feature fusion networks for femoral segmentation and quantitative analysis of the knee joint

BACKGROUND

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the preferred imaging modality for diagnosing knee disease. Segmentation of the knee MRI images is essential for subsequent quantification of clinical parameters and treatment planning for knee prosthesis replacement. However, the segmentation remains difficult due to individual differences in anatomy, the difficulty of obtaining accurate edges at lower resolutions, and the presence of speckle noise and artifacts in the images. In addition, radiologists must manually measure the knee's parameters which is a laborious and time-consuming process.

PURPOSE

Automatic quantification of femoral morphological parameters can be of fundamental help in the design of prosthetic implants for the repair of the knee and the femur. Knowledge of knee femoral parameters can provide a basis for femoral repair of the knee, the design of fixation materials for femoral prostheses, and the replacement of prostheses.

METHODS

This paper proposes a new deep network architecture to comprehensively address these challenges. A dual output model structure is proposed, with a high and low layer fusion extraction feature module designed to extract rich features through the cross-fusion mechanism. A multi-scale edge information extraction spatial feature module is also developed to address the boundary-blurring problem.

RESULTS

Based on the precise automated segmentation results, 10 key clinical parameters were automatically measured for a knee femoral prosthesis replacement program. The correlation coefficients of the quantitative results of these parameters compared to manual results all achieved at least 0.92. The proposed method was extensively evaluated with MRIs of 78 patients' knees, and it consistently outperformed other methods used for segmentation.

CONCLUSIONS

The automated quantization process produced comparable measurements to those manually obtained by radiologists. This paper demonstrates the viability of automatic knee MRI image segmentation and quantitative analysis with the proposed method. This provides data to support the accuracy of assessing the progression and biomechanical changes of osteoarthritis of the knee using an automated process, thus saving valuable time for the radiologists and surgeons.

Magnetically Manipulated Optoelectronic Hybrid Microrobots for Optically Targeted Non-Genetic Neuromodulation

Optically controlled neuromodulation is a promising approach for basic research of neural circuits and the clinical treatment of neurological diseases. However, developing a non-invasive and well-controllable system to deliver accurate and effective neural stimulation is challenging. Micro/nanorobots have shown great potential in various biomedical applications because of their precise controllability. Here, a magnetically-manipulated optoelectronic hybrid microrobot (MOHR) is presented for optically targeted non-genetic neuromodulation. By integrating the magnetic component into the metal-insulator-semiconductor junction design, the MOHR has excellent magnetic controllability and optoelectronic properties. The MOHR displays a variety of magnetic manipulation modes that enables precise and efficient navigation in different biofluids. Furthermore, the MOHR could achieve precision neuromodulation at the single-cell level because of its accurate targeting ability. This neuromodulation is achieved by the MOHR's photoelectric response to visible light irradiation, which enhances the excitability of the targeted cells. Finally, it is shown that the well-controllable MOHRs effectively restore neuronal activity in neurons damaged by β-amyloid, a pathogenic agent of Alzheimer's disease. By coupling precise controllability with efficient optoelectronic properties, the hybrid microrobot system is a promising strategy for targeted on-demand optical neuromodulation.

Noninvasive identification of HER2-low-positive status by MRI-based deep learning radiomics predicts the disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to establish a MRI-based deep learning radiomics (DLR) signature to predict the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-low-positive status and further verified the difference in prognosis by the DLR model.

METHODS

A total of 481 patients with breast cancer who underwent preoperative MRI were retrospectively recruited from two institutions. Traditional radiomics features and deep semantic segmentation feature-based radiomics (DSFR) features were extracted from segmented tumors to construct models separately. Then, the DLR model was constructed to assess the HER2 status by averaging the output probabilities of the two models. Finally, a Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis was conducted to explore the disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with HER2-low-positive status. The multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was constructed to further determine the factors associated with DFS.

RESULTS

First, the DLR model distinguished between HER2-negative and HER2-overexpressing patients with AUCs of 0.868 and 0.763 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, the DLR model distinguished between HER2-low-positive and HER2-zero patients with AUCs of 0.855 and 0.750, respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that the prediction score obtained using the DLR model (HR, 0.175; p = 0.024) and lesion size (HR, 1.043; p = 0.009) were significant, independent predictors of DFS.

CONCLUSIONS

We successfully constructed a DLR model based on MRI to noninvasively evaluate the HER2 status and further revealed prospects for predicting the DFS of patients with HER2-low-positive status.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT

The MRI-based DLR model could noninvasively identify HER2-low-positive status, which is considered a novel prognostic predictor and therapeutic target.

KEY POINTS

• The DLR model effectively distinguished the HER2 status of breast cancer patients, especially the HER2-low-positive status. • The DLR model was better than the traditional radiomics model or DSFR model in distinguishing HER2 expression. • The prediction score obtained using the model and lesion size were significant independent predictors of DFS.

Heterogeneity-induced NGF-NGFR communication inefficiency promotes mitotic spindle disorganization in exhausted T cells through PREX1 suppression to impair the anti-tumor immunotherapy with PD-1 mAb in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The mechanism of decreased T cells infiltrating tumor tissues in hepatocellular carcinoma is poorly understood.

METHODS

Cells were separated from the single-cell RNA-sequence dataset of hepatocellular carcinoma patients (GSE149614) for cell-cell communication. Flow cytometry, EDU staining, H3-Ser28 staining, confocal immunofluorescence staining, western blotting and naked microsubcutaneous tumors were performed for the mechanism of NGF-NGFR promoting proliferation.

RESULTS

The present study has revealed that during the process of T-cell infiltration from adjacent tissues to tumor tissues, an inefficiency in NGF-NGFR communication occurs in the tumor tissues. Importantly, NGF secreted by tumor cells interacts with NGFR present on the membranes of the infiltrated T cells, thereby promoting the proliferation through the activation of mitotic spindle signals. Mechanistically, the mediation of mitotic spindle signal activation promoting proliferation is executed by HDAC1-mediated inhibition of unclear trans-localization of PREX1. Furthermore, PD-1 mAb acts synergistically with the NGF-NGFR communication to suppress tumor progression in both mouse models and HCC patients. Additionally, NGF-NGFR communication was positively correlates with the PD-1/PDL-1 expression. However, expressions of NGF and NGFR are low in tumor tissues, which is responsible for the invasive clinicopathological features and the disappointing prognosis in HCC patients.

CONCLUSION

Inefficiency in NGF-NGFR communication impairs PD-1 mAb immunotherapy and could thus be utilized as a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of HCC patients in clinical practice.

Efficacy and safety of fractional microneedle radiofrequency for atrophic acne scars: A real-world clinical study of 126 patients

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the clinical efficacy and safety of fractional microneedle radiofrequency (FMR) for facial atrophic acne scars in a real-world setting.

METHODS

The clinical data of patients with atrophic acne scars who had received FMR therapy from February 2018 to August 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The improvement of atrophic acne scars was assessed using the ECCA Grading Scale (échelle d'évaluation clinique des cicatrices d'acné), Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS), and modified Manchester Scar Scale (mMSS). Adverse reactions during FMR treatment were also recorded. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of FMR for atrophic acne scars.

RESULTS

A total of 126 patients with facial atrophic acne scars were included. A total of 590 FMR treatment sessions were accomplished, with each of 82 patients receiving 4 or more treatment sessions, and 1 receiving a maximum of 14 sessions. All patients showed improvement in symptoms after FMR treatment, with moderate to significant improvement (ECCA score reduction of 26%-100%) in 92 (73.0%) patients. As the number of treatment sessions increased, the ECCA score gradually decreased from an average of 85.6 before to 35.0 after FMR. The average scores for distortion, color, and visual analogue scale (VAS) of mMSS all showed certain reductions. The change in GAIS score indicated improvement after treatment, with minimal improvement in 16 patients (12.7%), good improvement in 57 patients (45.2%), significant improvement in 45 patients (35.7%), and optimal improvement in 8 patients (6.4%). The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that the long pulse width and the number of FMR treatment sessions were positively associated with clinical efficacy. Compared to the short pulse-width group (200 ms), the longer pulse-width group (300 ms) (odds ratio [OR] = 8.3, p = 0.003) and the even longer pulse-width group (400-500 ms) (OR = 52.6, p < 0.001) demonstrated stronger efficacies. Patients who received more than three treatment sessions had better outcomes compared to those who received three or fewer treatment sessions (OR = 4.0, p = 0.036). All patients experienced posttreatment transient erythema, but no crusting, infection, or blister. Six cases developed grid-like erythema around 1 month posttreatment and one case experienced hyperpigmentation, both of which resolved within 1-3 months after appropriate management.

CONCLUSION

FMR is a safe and effective treatment modality for improving facial atrophic acne scars, and the number of FMR treatment sessions and pulse width are associated with clinical efficacy.

The pathogenicity and immune effects of different generations of Mycoplasma synoviae on chicken embryos

1. Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is the primary causative agent of synovitis in avian species. In order to investigate the pathogenicity and immunological responses associated with MS in specific pathogen-free chicken embryos, a series of generations (F1, F95, F120, F160 and F200) of MS were introduced into 7-day-old SPF chicken embryos and subsequent mortality rates were recorded and analysed2. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect expression of heat shock proteins HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90 and inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-1β, caspase-1 and IL-18 in the tracheal tissue.3. The results showed that the mortality rate of SPF chicken embryos decreased with an increase in the number of passages, with the highest being 80% (8/10) for F1 generation and the lowest being 10% (1/10) for F200. The expression of HSP27, IL-1β, HSP40, caspase-1, HSP70 and HSP90 showed a significant downregulation trend with an increase in the generation (except IL-18; P < 0.05). The HSP60 expression was significantly upregulated with increasing generations (P < 0.05).4. A relationship between pathogenicity and the number of passages was observed and the decrease in pathogenicity appeared to be associated with HSP and genes related to inflammatory factors. The present work offers a scientific foundation for screening potential MS strains that might be employed to develop attenuated vaccines.

Taxonomic and functional assembly cues enrich the endophytic tobacco microbiota across epiphytic compartments

The plant microbiome plays a critical role in plant growth, development, and health, with endophytes being recognized as essential members due to their close interactions with host plants. However, knowledge gaps remain in understanding the mechanisms driving the colonization and establishment of endophytic communities. To address this issue, we investigated the microbiota of tobacco roots and leaves, including both epiphytic and endophytic microorganisms. We found that Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were significantly enriched in the root endosphere. Additionally, we identified higher abundances of functional traits involved in antibiotic synthesis, plant cell wall degradation, iron metabolism, secretion systems, and nicotine degradation enzymes in the endosphere. We further studied metagenome-assembled genomes from the rhizosphere and root endosphere, revealing a greater diversity of secondary metabolites in bacteria within the root endosphere. Together, this study provides insights into the taxonomic and functional assembly cues that may contribute to shaping the endophytic plant microbiota.IMPORTANCEThe presence of diverse microorganisms within plant tissues under natural conditions is a well-established fact. However, due to the plant immune system's barrier and the unique microhabitat of the plant interior, it remains unclear what specific characteristics bacteria require to successfully colonize and thrive in the plant endosphere. Recognizing the significance of unraveling these functional features, our study focused on investigating the enriched traits in the endophytic microbiota compared to the epiphytes. Through our research, we have successfully identified the taxonomic and functional assembly cues that drive the enrichment of the endophytic microbiota across the epiphytic compartments. These findings shed new light on the intricate mechanisms of endophyte colonization, thereby deepening our understanding of plant-microbe interactions and paving the way for further advancements in microbiome manipulation.

Development of a machine learning-based radiomics signature for estimating breast cancer TME phenotypes and predicting anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy response

BACKGROUNDS

Since breast cancer patients respond diversely to immunotherapy, there is an urgent need to explore novel biomarkers to precisely predict clinical responses and enhance therapeutic efficacy. The purpose of our present research was to construct and independently validate a biomarker of tumor microenvironment (TME) phenotypes via a machine learning-based radiomics way. The interrelationship between the biomarker, TME phenotypes and recipients' clinical response was also revealed.

METHODS

In this retrospective multi-cohort investigation, five separate cohorts of breast cancer patients were recruited to measure breast cancer TME phenotypes via a radiomics signature, which was constructed and validated by integrating RNA-seq data with DCE-MRI images for predicting immunotherapy response. Initially, we constructed TME phenotypes using RNA-seq of 1089 breast cancer patients in the TCGA database. Then, parallel DCE-MRI images and RNA-seq of 94 breast cancer patients obtained from TCIA were applied to develop a radiomics-based TME phenotypes signature using random forest in machine learning. The repeatability of the radiomics signature was then validated in an internal validation set. Two additional independent external validation sets were analyzed to reassess this signature. The Immune phenotype cohort (n = 158) was divided based on CD8 cell infiltration into immune-inflamed and immune-desert phenotypes; these data were utilized to examine the relationship between the immune phenotypes and this signature. Finally, we utilized an Immunotherapy-treated cohort with 77 cases who received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treatment to evaluate the predictive efficiency of this signature in terms of clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

The TME phenotypes of breast cancer were separated into two heterogeneous clusters: Cluster A, an "immune-inflamed" cluster, containing substantial innate and adaptive immune cell infiltration, and Cluster B, an "immune-desert" cluster, with modest TME cell infiltration. We constructed a radiomics signature for the TME phenotypes ([AUC] = 0.855; 95% CI 0.777-0.932; p < 0.05) and verified it in an internal validation set (0.844; 0.606-1; p < 0.05). In the known immune phenotypes cohort, the signature can identify either immune-inflamed or immune-desert tumor (0.814; 0.717-0.911; p < 0.05). In the Immunotherapy-treated cohort, patients with objective response had higher baseline radiomics scores than those with stable or progressing disease (p < 0.05); moreover, the radiomics signature achieved an AUC of 0.784 (0.643-0.926; p < 0.05) for predicting immunotherapy response.

CONCLUSIONS

Our imaging biomarker, a practicable radiomics signature, is beneficial for predicting the TME phenotypes and clinical response in anti-PD-1/PD-L1-treated breast cancer patients. It is particularly effective in identifying the "immune-desert" phenotype and may aid in its transformation into an "immune-inflamed" phenotype.

[Echocardiographic two-dimensional strain evaluation of right ventricular function in healthy adults]

Objective: To explore the feasibility of using two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography for measuring right ventricular strain and function in healthy adults, and to analyze the impact of age and gender. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study. Healthy adults who underwent physical examination in the Physical Examination Center of Beijing Hospital from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021 were included. Two researchers independently measured various right ventricular longitudinal strain indices using the Echopac software, including (global longitudinal strain (GLS), apical longitudinal strain (ALS), midventricle longitudinal strain (MLS), basal longitudinal strain (BLS), free wall GLS (FWGLS), free wall ALS (FWALS), free wall MLS (FWMLS) and free wall BLS (FWBLS)) as well as tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and right ventricle-fraction of area change (RVFAC). The above indicators were taken as the average of two physicians. The consistency of the measurements by two physicians was evaluated by the within-group correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: A total of 233 subjects were included, including 137 males, aged (58.5±14.2) years. ICC values was all above 0.8 with excellent agreement. The values of FWGLS and GLS in healthy adults were -26.63% and -21.89%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in TAPSE ((2.06±0.41)cm vs. (2.10±0.39)cm, P=0.510) and RVFAC ((51.17±9.91)% vs. (50.89±8.65)%, P=0.826) between males and females. The values of various right ventricular long axis strain indicators (GLS, ALS, MLS, BLS, FWGLS, FWMLS, FWMLS, FWBLS) in females aged 18 to 40 and 41 to 65 years were higher than those in males of the same age (all P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in the values of various right ventricular long axis strain indicators between the sexes in subjects aged 65 years and above (all P>0.05). In females, the right ventricular GLS, ALS, MLS, FWGLS, FWALS, FWMLS, and FWBLS values in the groups aged 18 to 40 and 41 to 65 years were significantly higher than those in the group aged 65 years and above (all P<0.05). In contrast, no significant differences were found in these indices among different age groups in males (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Using two-dimensional speckle tracking technology in echocardiography to measure right ventricular strain indicators is feasible and highly reproducible. Gender and age have an impact on right ventricular strain indicators.

Preparation and characterisation of novel casein-gum Arabic composite microcapsules for targeted in vivo delivery of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum A3

The health benefits of probiotics in the body are predicated on their ability to remain viable in harsh gastrointestinal conditions and complex pathological microenvironments. Casein and gum Arabic (GA), with dual emulsifying and stabilising effects in colloidal systems. Therefore, the objective of this research was to develop a novel microcapsule to encapsulate Lactiplantibacillus plantarum A3 using casein and GA as wall materials to improve the survival of the bacteria during gastrointestinal digestion, storage and lyophilization. The casein and GA composite microcapsules were prepared and characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that the microcapsules had stable morphology, uniform size and spherical shape. The results revealed that the encapsulation of microcapsules significantly improved the survival of L. plantarum A3 in gastrointestinal fluid environment (5.52 × 109 cfu/ml) and lyophilization treatment (6.25 × 109 cfu/ml). Furthermore, the microencapsulated L. plantarum A3 exhibited an improved ability to regulate intestinal microbiota by effectively increasing the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria and decreasing the relative abundance of Firmicutes in vivo. The findings of the study will help to design a lactic acid bacteria encapsulation system based on the gastrointestinal environment and provide a basis for the development of probiotic functional products.

Adrenal crisis mainly manifested as recurrent syncope secondary to tislelizumab: a case report and literature review

As an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), tislelizumab is an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) drug. With the extensive application of ICIs, there is an ever-increasing proportion of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in clinical settings, some of which may even be life-threatening. Herein, we present a patient with tislelizumab-induced adrenal crisis. The main clinical manifestation was recurrent syncope accompanied by high-grade fever. Timely identification and hormone replacement therapy helped the patient overcome the crisis well. Finally, the patient discontinued tislelizumab and switched to antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapy. We report this case to improve our understanding of this situation, identify this kind of disease, and prevent adrenal crisis in time. Eventually, limiting toxicities reduces the interruption of immunotherapy. Since irAEs are multisystem damage with more non-specific symptoms, except for oncologists, general practitioners who endorse the need for taking a holistic approach to the patient should play a vital role in the management of cancer treatment.

Observation of WZγ Production in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter reports the observation of WZγ production and a measurement of its cross section using 140.1±1.2  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The WZγ production cross section, with both the W and Z bosons decaying leptonically, pp→WZγ→ℓ^{'}^{±}νℓ^{+}ℓ^{-}γ (ℓ^{(^{'})}=e, μ), is measured in a fiducial phase-space region defined such that the leptons and the photon have high transverse momentum and the photon is isolated. The cross section is found to be 2.01±0.30(stat)±0.16(syst)  fb. The corresponding standard model predicted cross section calculated at next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and at leading order in the electroweak coupling constant is 1.50±0.06  fb. The observed significance of the WZγ signal is 6.3σ, compared with an expected significance of 5.0σ.

Cystatin C is associated with poor survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Background

Cystatin C (CysC) levels in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been found changes, however, the associations between serum CysC levels and the progression and survival of ALS remain largely unknown.

Methods

A total of 1,086 ALS patients and 1,026 sex-age matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. Serum CysC, other renal function, and metabolic parameters were measured. Correlation analysis and binary logistic regression were used to explore the factors related to serum CysC. Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression model were used for survival analysis.

Results

CysC levels were significantly higher in ALS patients compared to HCs (0.94 vs. 0.85 mg/L, p < 0.001). Compared with ALS patients with lower CysC levels, those with higher CysC levels had an older age of onset, significantly lower ALSFRS-R scores (40.1 vs. 41.3, p < 0.001), a faster disease progression rate (0.75 vs. 0.67, p = 0.011), and lower frontal lobe function scores (15.8 vs. 16.1, p = 0.020). In the correlation analysis, CysC levels were significantly negatively correlated with ALSFRS-R scores (r = -0.16, p < 0.001). Additionally, ALS patients with higher CysC levels had significantly shorter survival time (40.0 vs. 51.8, p < 0.001) compared to patients with lower CysC levels. Higher CysC levels were associated with a higher risk of death in Cox analysis (HR: 1.204, 95% CI: 1.012-1.433). However, when treatment was included in the model, the result was no longer significant.

Conclusion

CysC levels in ALS patients were higher compared to HCs. Higher CysC levels were associated with greater disease severity, faster progression rate and shorter survival, needing early intervention.

Biomechanical response of lower limb joints to lateral wedge insoles

Lateral wedge insole (LWI) is a frequently recommended treatment option for early and midterm stages of medial knee osteoarthritis. However, studies of its effects on the lower limb joints are incomplete and imperfect. The main purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the response of intervention of LWI on lower-limb joint kinematics, ground reaction forces (GRFs), and centre of pressure (COP). Gait analysis of 16 healthy subjects was conducted. Three-dimensional motion data and force plate measurements were collected in the control (barefoot) and experimental conditions (wearing a pair of assigned shoes with 0, 7, and 10 mm LWIs). Results showed that the peak knee flexion angle was increased by 3.43°, 3.09°, and 3.27° with 0, 7, and 10 mm LWIs, respectively (p < 0.01). The ankle peak dorsiflexion angle was significantly decreased by 3.79°, 2.19°, and 1.66° with 0, 7, and 10 mm LWIs, respectively (p = 0.02). The internal rotation angle was increased by 2.78°, 3.76°, and 4.58° with 0, 7, and 10 mm LWIs, respectively (p < 0.01). The forefoot with LWIs showed highly significantly smaller inversion, eversion, and adduction angles (all p < 0.01). The 1st peak of the vertical GRF (p = 0.016) also increased significantly by a maximum of 0.06 body weight (BW) with LWIs. These results indicated that biomechanical changes and limitations of lateral wedges insole should be analyzed in more detail, possibly leading to new guidelines for the design and application.

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex improves depression-like behaviors in rats with Parkinson's disease

Depression associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) seriously affects patients, and there is a lack of effective treatments. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is increasingly used as a new non-invasive neuromodulation technique in the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases. However, there is a paucity of research on tDCS for PD-related depression. Our study used PD model rats established with unilateral destruction of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) to observe the modulatory effects of tDCS acting on the mPFC on depression-like behaviors. We found that tDCS acting on the mPFC improved depression-like behaviors in PD model rats by increasing sucrose intake in sucrose preference test (n = 7-10 rats/group) and shortening immobility time in forced swimming test (n = 7-8 rats/group). Meanwhile, tDCS decreased the expression of c-Fos protein (n = 8-11 rats/group) and the excitation of glutamatergic neurons (n = 6-8 rats/group) in the PrL and LHb of PD model rats. Western blots showed that tDCS decreased the overexpression of serine 845 phosphorylation site of AMPA receptor GluR1 (p-GluR1-S845) in the PrL and LHb of PD model rats (n = 8-11 rats/group), and the overexpression of p-GluR1-S831 in the LHb (n = 8-11 rats/group). The results of this study show that tDCS acting on the mPFC helps to improve PD-related depression, which involves the modulation of excitability and AMPA receptor phosphorylation on the PrL and LHb neurons.

Antagonistic MADS-box transcription factors SEEDSTICK and SEPALLATA3 form a transcriptional regulatory network that regulates seed oil accumulation

Transcriptional regulation is essential for balancing multiple metabolic pathways that influence oil accumulation in seeds. Thus far, the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that govern seed oil accumulation remain largely unknown. Here, we identified the transcriptional regulatory network composed of MADS-box transcription factors SEEDSTICK (STK) and SEPALLATA3 (SEP3), which bridges several key genes to regulate oil accumulation in seeds. We found that STK, highly expressed in the developing embryo, positively regulates seed oil accumulation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Furthermore, we discovered that SEP3 physically interacts with STK in vivo and in vitro. Seed oil content is increased by the SEP3 mutation, while it is decreased by SEP3 overexpression. The chromatin immunoprecipitation, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and transient dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that STK positively regulates seed oil accumulation by directly repressing the expression of MYB5, SEP3, and SEED FATTY ACID REDUCER 4 (SFAR4). Moreover, genetic and molecular analyses demonstrated that STK and SEP3 antagonistically regulate seed oil production and that SEP3 weakens the binding ability of STK to MYB5, SEP3, and SFAR4. Additionally, we demonstrated that TRANSPARENT TESTA 8 (TT8) and ACYL-ACYL CARRIER PROTEIN DESATURASE 3 (AAD3) are direct targets of MYB5 during seed oil accumulation in Arabidopsis. Together, our findings provide the transcriptional regulatory network antagonistically orchestrated by STK and SEP3, which fine tunes oil accumulation in seeds.

Factors influencing the occurrence of hyperuricemia and poor cardiac and renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to analyze the factors influencing the occurrence of hyperuricemia and poor cardiac and renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

One hundred and sixteen patients with CKD admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to September 2022 were picked as the subjects. Fasting venous blood of these subjects was collected to value the serum uric acid (SUA) levels on an automatic biochemical analyzer. Patients were then grouped as the CKD-only group (n=80) and hyperuricemia group (n=36), according to the SUA results, or the good prognosis group (n=88) and poor prognosis group (n=28), according to the presence of cardiovascular diseases. The changes in laboratory indexes and clinical data were analyzed and compared. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors for combined hyperuricemia and the risk factors for poor cardiac and renal outcomes in patients with CKD. The correlation between SUA level and cardiac and renal indexes was analyzed by Pearson analysis.

RESULTS

Patients in the CKD hyperuricemia group had markedly higher content of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), urinary retinol-binding protein (RBP), urinary N-acetyl-β-D glucosidase (NAG), much higher proportion of heart failure episodes history, and much lower content of total cholesterol (TC), albumin (Alb), hemoglobin (Hb), urinary α1-microglobulin (α1-MG), and glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) than the CKD-only group (p < 0.05). SUA, BNP, SBP, and history of heart failure episodes were independent risk factors for combined hyperuricemia in CKD patients (p < 0.05). Besides, eGFR, albumin, and hemoglobin were independent protective factors for combined hyperuricemia in CKD patients (p < 0.05). Compared with the good prognosis group, the content of BNP, SBP, DBP, urinary RBP, urinary NAG, and SUA was much higher, the proportion of heart failure episodes history was obviously higher, and the levels of Alb, Hb, TC, eGFR, and urinary α1-MG were sharply lower in the poor prognosis group (p < 0.05). SUA, BNP, SBP, and history of heart failure episodes were independent risk factors for poor cardiac and renal outcomes (p < 0.05), and eGFR was an independent protective factor for poor cardiac and renal outcomes in patients with CKD (p < 0.05). The SUA level in CKD patients was positively correlated with BNP and SBP (r=0.463, 0.215, p < 0.05), but negatively correlated with eGFR (r=0.463, 0.215, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The serum SUA level was elevated with the aggravation of the CKD stage. High serum SUA level is a risk factor for the development of hyperuricemia and poor cardio-renal outcomes in CKD patients, suggesting that early monitoring of changes in SUA levels may help assess the risk of cardio-renal outcomes in CKD patients.

Analysis of the relative frequencies of the multipartite BNYVV genomic RNAs in different plants and tissues

Multipartite virus genomes are composed of two or more segments, each packaged into an independent viral particle. A potential advantage of multipartitism is the regulation of gene expression through changes in the segment copy number. Soil-borne beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) is a typical example of multipartism, given its high number of genomic positive-sense RNAs (up to five). Here we analyse the relative frequencies of the four genomic RNAs of BNYVV type B during infection of different host plants (Chenopodium quinoa, Beta macrocarpa and Spinacia oleracea) and organs (leaves and roots). By successfully validating a two-step reverse-transcriptase digital droplet PCR protocol, we show that RNA1 and -2 genomic segments always replicate at low and comparable relative frequencies. In contrast, RNA3 and -4 accumulate with variable relative frequencies, resulting in distinct RNA1 : RNA2 : RNA3 : RNA4 ratios, depending on the infected host species and organ.