Alfvén pulse driven spicule-like jets in the presence of thermal conduction and ion-neutral collision in two-fluid regime

We present the formation of quasi-periodic cool spicule-like jets in the solar atmosphere using 2.5-D numerical simulation in two-fluid regime (ions+neutrals) under the presence of thermal conduction and ion-neutral collision. The nonlinear, impulsive Alfvénic perturbations at the top of the photosphere trigger field aligned magnetoacoustic perturbations due to ponderomotive force. The transport of energy from Alfvén pulse to such vertical velocity perturbations due to ponderomotive force is considered as an initial trigger mechanism. Thereafter, these velocity perturbations steepen into the shocks followed by quasi-periodic rise and fall of the cool jets transporting mass in the overlying corona. This article is part of the theme issue 'Partially ionized plasma of the solar atmosphere: recent advances and future pathways'.

Role of GABAB receptors in cognition and EEG activity in aged APP and PS1 transgenic mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. Recent evidence suggests that gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) receptor-mediated inhibition is a major contributor to AD pathobiology, and GABAB receptors have been hypothesized to be a potential target for AD treatment. The aim of this study is to determine how GABAB regulation alters cognitive function and brain activity in an AD mouse model. Early, middle and late stage (8-23 months) amyloid precursor protein (APP) and presenilin 1 (PS1) transgenic mice were used for the study. The GABAB agonist baclofen (1 and 2.5 mg/kg, i. p.) and the antagonist phaclofen (0.5 mg/kg, i. p.) were used. Primarily, we found that GABAB activation was able to improve spatial and/or working memory performance in early and late stage AD animals. In addition, GABAB activation and inhibition could regulate global and local EEG oscillations in AD animals, with activation mainly regulating low-frequency activity (delta-theta bands) and inhibition mainly regulating mid- and high-frequency activity (alpha-gamma bands), although the regulated magnitude at some frequencies was reduced in AD. The cognitive improvements in AD animals may be explained by the reduced EEG activity in the theta frequency band (2-4 Hz). This study provides evidence for a potential therapeutic effect of baclofen in the elderly AD brain and for GABAB receptor-mediated inhibition as a potential therapeutic target for AD.

Embedding Quantum Many-Body Scars into Decoherence-Free Subspaces

Quantum many-body scars are nonthermal excited eigenstates of nonintegrable Hamiltonians, which could support coherent revival dynamics from special initial states when scars form an equally spaced tower in the energy spectrum. For open quantum systems, engineering many-body scarred dynamics by a controlled coupling to the environment remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide a general framework to exactly embed quantum many-body scars into the decoherence-free subspaces of Lindblad master equations. The dissipative scarred dynamics manifest persistent periodic oscillations for generic initial states, and can be practically utilized to prepare scar states with potential quantum metrology applications. We construct the Liouvillian dissipators with the local projectors that annihilate the whole scar towers, and utilize the Hamiltonian part to rotate the undesired states out of the null space of dissipators. We demonstrate our protocol through several typical models hosting many-body scar towers and propose an experimental scheme to observe the dissipative scarred dynamics based on digital quantum simulations and resetting ancilla qubits.

SAW: an efficient and accurate data analysis workflow for Stereo-seq spatial transcriptomics

The basic analysis steps of spatial transcriptomics require obtaining gene expression information from both space and cells. The existing tools for these analyses incur performance issues when dealing with large datasets. These issues involve computationally intensive spatial localization, RNA genome alignment, and excessive memory usage in large chip scenarios. These problems affect the applicability and efficiency of the analysis. Here, a high-performance and accurate spatial transcriptomics data analysis workflow, called Stereo-seq Analysis Workflow (SAW), was developed for the Stereo-seq technology developed at BGI. SAW includes mRNA spatial position reconstruction, genome alignment, gene expression matrix generation, and clustering. The workflow outputs files in a universal format for subsequent personalized analysis. The execution time for the entire analysis is ∼148 min with 1 GB reads 1 × 1 cm chip test data, 1.8 times faster than with an unoptimized workflow.

Circ-Luc7l Absence Attenuates Diabetic Nephropathy Progression by Reducing Mesangial Cell Excessive Proliferation, Inflammation, and Extracellular Matrix Accumulation via Mediating the miR-205-5p/Tgfbr1 Pathway

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) threatens the survival quality of patients, with complex pathogenesis. Circular RNA (circRNA) dysregulation occurs in DN development. This work aimed to investigate the role of circ-Luc7l in DN cell models and related molecular mechanisms. The expression of circ-Luc7l, microRNA (miR)-205-5p, and transforming growth factor-beta receptor 1 (Tgfbr1) was examined by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Cell viability and proliferation were detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and EdU assay. The expression of extracellular matrix (ECM)-related markers and Tgrbr1 protein was measured by Western blot. The binding between miR-205-5p and circ-Luc7l or Tgfbr1 was validated by dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, or RNA pull-down assay. Experimental animal models were established to elucidate the function of circ-Luc7l in vivo. Circ-Luc7l expression was notably enhanced in high glucose (HG)-treated mesangial cells. Knockdown of circ-Luc7l attenuated HG-induced cell proliferation, inflammation, and ECM accumulation in vitro and relieved inflammation and ECM accumulation of kidneys of diabetic mice in vivo. Circ-Luc7l targeted miR-205-5p, and miR-205-5p inhibition rescued the depletion effects of circ-Luc7l knockdown on cell proliferation, inflammation, and ECM accumulation. MiR-205-5p bound to Tgfbr1 whose expression was negatively regulated by circ-Luc7l. Tgfbr1 overexpression also rescued the depletion effects of circ-Luc7l knockdown on cell proliferation, inflammation, and ECM accumulation. In HG conditions, increased circ-Luc7l upregulated Tgfbr1 expression via targeting miR-205-5p to induce DN progression.

Inkjet-Printed Dielectric Layer for the Enhancement of Electrowetting Display Devices

Electrowetting with a dielectric layer is commonly preferred in practical applications. However, its potential is often limited by factors like the properties of the dielectric layer and its breakdown, along with the complexity of the deposition method. Fortunately, advancements in 3D inkjet printing offer a more adaptable solution for making patterned functional layers. In this study, we used a negative photoresist (HN-1901) to create a new dielectric layer for an electrowetting display on a 3-inch ITO glass using a Dimatix DMP-2580 inkjet printer. The resulting devices performed better due to their enhanced resistance to dielectric breakdown. We meticulously investigated the physical properties of the photoresist material and printer settings to achieve optimal printing. We also controlled the uniformity of the dielectric layer by adjusting ink drop spacing. Compared to traditional electrowetting display devices, those with inkjet-printed dielectric layers showed significantly fewer defects like bubbles and electrode corrosion. They maintained an outstanding response time and breakdown resistance, operating at an open voltage of 20 V. Remarkably, these devices achieved faster response times of ton 22.3 ms and toff 14.2 ms, surpassing the performance of the standard device.

Cytoprotective effects of C1s enzyme in macrophages in atherosclerosis mediated through the LRP5 and Wnt/β-catenin pathway

C1s enzyme (active C1s) is a subunit of the complement C1 complex that cleaves low-density lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5 and 6, leading to Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation in some cell lines. Macrophages have two major functional polarization states (the classically activated M1 state and the alternatively activated M2 state) and play an essential role in atherosclerosis. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that canonical Wnt signaling is related to macrophage polarization. In this study, we explored the cytoprotective effects of C1s enzyme in macrophages. The results show that C1s enzyme activates canonical Wnt signaling in macrophages, exacerbates macrophage M2 polarization, and inhibits M1 polarization. Moreover, C1s enzyme reduces foam cell formation and simultaneously enhances efferocytosis. This study reveals a novel function of C1s enzyme in macrophages in the context of atherosclerosis.

MicroRNAs in Small Extracellular Vesicles from Amniotic Fluid and Maternal Plasma Associated with Fetal Palate Development in Mice

Cleft palate (CP) is a common congenital birth defect. Cellular and morphological processes change dynamically during palatogenesis, and any disturbance in this process could result in CP. However, the molecular mechanisms steering this fundamental phase remain unclear. One study suggesting a role for miRNAs in palate development via maternal small extracellular vesicles (SEVs) drew our attention to their potential involvement in palatogenesis. In this study, we used an in vitro model to determine how SEVs derived from amniotic fluid (ASVs) and maternal plasma (MSVs) influence the biological behaviors of mouse embryonic palatal mesenchyme (MEPM) cells and medial edge epithelial (MEE) cells; we also compared time-dependent differential expression (DE) miRNAs in ASVs and MSVs with the DE mRNAs in palate tissue from E13.5 to E15.5 to study the dynamic co-regulation of miRNAs and mRNAs during palatogenesis in vivo. Our results demonstrate that some pivotal biological activities, such as MEPM proliferation, migration, osteogenesis, and MEE apoptosis, might be directed, in part, by stage-specific MSVs and ASVs. We further identified interconnected networks and key miRNAs such as miR-744-5p, miR-323-5p, and miR-3102-5p, offering a roadmap for mechanistic investigations and the identification of early CP biomarkers.

SuSiE PCA: A scalable Bayesian variable selection technique for principal component analysis

Latent factor models, like principal component analysis (PCA), provide a statistical framework to infer low-rank representation in various biological contexts. However, feature selection is challenging when this low-rank structure manifests from a sparse subspace. We introduce SuSiE PCA, a scalable sparse latent factor approach that evaluates uncertainty in contributing variables through posterior inclusion probabilities. We validate our model in extensive simulations and demonstrate that SuSiE PCA outperforms other approaches in signal detection and model robustness. We apply SuSiE PCA to multi-tissue expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) data from GTEx v8 and identify tissue-specific factors and their contributing eGenes. We further investigate its performance on the large-scale perturbation data and find that SuSiE PCA identifies modules with a higher enrichment of ribosome-related genes than sparse PCA (false discovery rate [FDR] = 9.2 × 10 - 82 vs. 1.4 × 10 - 33 ), while being ∼ 18x faster. Overall, SuSiE PCA provides an efficient tool to identify relevant features in high-dimensional biological data.

Landscape and the immune patterns of cuproptosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is an increasingly prevalent cancer type characterized by high incidence and mortality rates. Its early detection is challenging, primarily because of the absence of early molecular markers. Cuproptosis is a novel regulatory mechanism of cell death with implications in various cancers. In this study, we aimed to study cuproptosis-related genes in oral squamous cell carcinoma to identify their prognostic value.

METHODS

By analyzing genomic, bulk RNA-seq, and single-cell RNA-seq data, we investigated 13 cuproptosis-related genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas-Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma dataset and Gene Expression Omnibus repository (GSE172577).

RESULTS

ATP7A, ATP7B, and DLST were the most frequently mutated genes, with nine of our studied genes associated with overall survival. Single-cell analysis was conducted to identify cuproptosis-related tumor cells in oral squamous cell carcinoma, which revealed two distinct patterns based on the expression of cuproptosis-related genes. These patterns exhibit differences in genetic alterations and tumor immune microenvironment. Finally, we developed a cuproptosis index using a random forest algorithm based on cuproptosis pattern-related genes in which higher levels were linked to poorer prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Our findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying oral squamous cell carcinoma-associated cuproptosis.

Clinical relevance of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio combined with APACHEII for prognosis of severe heatstroke

We evaluated clinical implication of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for severe heatstroke and predictive value of combined acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHEII) score for prognosis of severe heatstroke. Retrospectively, we studied 185 individuals that have been admitted at emergency department for severe heatstroke. On the basis of their prognosis, we sorted the patients into two categories, namely non-survival (n = 43) and survival groups (n = 142). The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. A considerably higher NLR was observed among the non-survivors compared to survivors (P < 0.05). After correction for confounders, statistical analysis using multi-variable Cox regression indicated NLR as an independent risk factor for patient death (HR = 1.167, 95%CI = 1.110-1.226, P < 0.001). Through receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve, we estimated area-under the curve (AUC) of NLR to be 0.7720 (95% CI [0.6953, 0.8488]). Also, transformation of NLR into a profile type analysis showed that the marker remained a risk factor for death, which showed trend variation (P for trend <0.001). Subgroup forest plot analysis showed robustness in the predictive ability of NLR after exclusion of confounders. Besides, we demonstrated through Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis curve that high risk NLR mortality substantially exceeded low risk NLR. The combined prediction of NLR and APACHEII achieved higher efficacy than NLR and APACHEII alone (AUC = 0.880, 95% CI [0.8280, 0.9290]). Additionally, Delong test indicated that the combined prediction demonstrated a significantly greater ROC than NLR and APACHEII alone, while DCA showed a considerably higher clinical net benefit rate. Increased NLR is a high risk factor and has predictive value for death in individuals with severe heatstroke. Suggestively, combination of NLR and APACHEII have greater predictive value.

Synthesis and Performance Testing of Maleic Anhydride-Ene Monomers Multicomponent Co-Polymers as Pour Point Depressant for Crude Oil

To address the issue of pipeline blockage caused by the formation of waxy deposits inside pipelines, hindering the flow of petroleum in the Shengli oilfield, eight new-style polyacrylic acid pour point depressants (PPD) for Shengli crude oil were prepared by maleic anhydride and ene monomers with different polar and aromatic pendant chains. The synthesized Pour Point Depressants were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and polarizing optical microscopy (POM). The results were promising and demonstrated that any type of pour point depressant exhibited excellent performance on high-pour-point crude oil. The reduction in pour-point after additive addition was largely dependent on the polymer structure. Notably, polymers containing long alkyl side chains and aromatic units displayed the most impressive performance, capable of depressing the pour point by 12 °C.

Follicular fluid derived exosomal miR-4449 regulates cell proliferation and oxidative stress by targeting KEAP1 in human granulosa cell lines KGN and COV434

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by ovulatory dysfunction, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovary morphology, affecting more and more women of reproductive age. Our study aimed to explore the molecular mechanism and effect of exosomal miR-4449 on granulosa cells (GCs). Two immortalized human ovarian granulosa cells (KGN and COV434 cells) were used for in vitro functional studies. Our study found that follicular fluid (FF) derived exosomal miR-4449 was significantly decreased in women with PCOS compared with the control patients. And exosomal miR-4449 could alleviate GCs oxidative stress (OS) and promote GCs proliferation, while the opposite trend was observed after inhibiting the expression of miR-4449. In addition, we demonstrated that Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(KEAP1) was a direct target of miR-4449 through dual-luciferase reporter assay, and the expression patterns of KEAP1 and miR-4449 in PCOS FF-derived exosomes were exactly opposite. In addition, KEAP1/NRF2 signaling pathway may play an important role in GCs proliferation and OS. Our results demonstrated that the decreased FF-derived exosomal miR-4449 expression in PCOS might aggravate the OS of GCs and inhibit GCs proliferation via KEAP1/NRF2 signaling pathway. Exosomal miR-4449 might be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of PCOS. Our study contributes to a new understanding of the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Osteogenic microenvironment affects palatal development through glycolysis

Palate development involves various events, including proliferation, osteogenic differentiation, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Disruption of these processes can result in the cleft palate (CP). Mouse embryonic palatal mesenchyme (MEPM) cells are commonly used to explore the mechanism of palatal development and CP. However, the role of the microenvironment in the biological properties of MEPM cells, which undergoes dynamic changes during palate development, is rarely reported. In this study, we investigated whether there were differences between the palatal shelf mesenchyme at different developmental stages. Our results found that the palatal shelves facilitate proliferation at the early palate stage at mouse embryonic day (E) 13.5 and the tendency towards osteogenesis at E15.5, the late palate development stage. And the osteogenic microenvironment, which was mimicked by osteogenic differentiation medium (OIM), affected the biological properties of MEPM cells when compared to the routine medium. Specifically, MEPM cells showed slower proliferation, shorter S phase, increased apoptosis, and less migration distance after osteogenesis. E15.5 MEPM cells were more sensitive than E13.5, showing an earlier change. Moreover, E13.5 MEPM cells had weaker osteogenic ability than E15.5, and both MEPM cells exhibited different Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) and Cytochrome c (CytC) expressions in OIM compared to routine medium, suggesting that glycolysis might be associated with the influence of the osteogenic microenvironment on MEPM cells. By comparing the stemness of the two cells, we investigated that the stemness of E13.5 MEPM cells was stronger than that of E15.5 MEPM cells, and E15.5 MEPM cells were more like differentiated cells than stem cells, as their capacity to differentiate into multiple cell fates was reduced. E13.5 MEPM cells might be the precursor cells of E15.5 MEPM cells. Our results enriched the understanding of the effect of the microenvironment on the biological properties of E13.5 and E15.5 MEPM cells, which should be considered when using MEPM cells as a model for palatal studies in the future.

Accurate and Wide-Voltage-Range Modeling of Electrowetting with a Lattice Boltzmann Approach

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been widely used in multi-phase fluid mechanics and is known to be more computationally efficient than the traditional method of numerically solving Navier-Stokes and Cahn-Hilliard equations. Electrowetting is an important component of interfacial sciences, in which the liquid-liquid and solid-liquid interfaces are tuned by electrostatics. Modeling electrowetting using the LBM can be categorized into surface and bulk methods. By modifying the surface tension scalar, the surface method easily reproduces the fundamental Young-Lippmann (YL) equation at low voltages but fails to capture contact angle saturation at high voltages. With fully coupled hydrodynamics and electrostatics in the form of spatially dependent matrices, the bulk method can successfully show contact angle saturation, but it is often unable to reproduce the YL equation due to its intrinsic inaccuracies. The inaccuracies are mainly due to the fact that while the hydrodynamics are all described by continuous physical quantities in the framework of diffusive interfaces, the interfacial electrostatics are governed by discontinuous electric fields caused by sheet charge density. In this paper, we show that accurately modeling electrowetting using the LBM is non-trivial. Additional modeling work, especially the treatment of interfacial electric fields, is needed to recover the fundamental YL equation at low voltages and predict contact angle saturation at high voltages, with a systematic model validation over key parameters and applications.

[Protective effects of total saponins from Panax japonicus against high-fat diet-induced testicular Sertoli cell junction damage in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the protective effects of total saponins from Panax japonicus (TSPJ) against high-fat dietinduced testicular Sertoli cell junction damage in mice.

METHODS

Forty male C57BL/6J mice were randomized into normal diet group, high-fat diet group, and low-dose (25 mg/kg) and high-dose (75 mg/kg) TSPJ treatment groups (n=10). The mice in the normal diet group were fed a normal diet, while the mice in the other groups were fed a high-fat diet. After TSPJ treatment via intragastric administration for 5 months, the testes and epididymis of the mice were collected for measurement of weight, testicular and epididymal indices and sperm parameters. HE staining was used for histological evaluation of the testicular tissues and measurement of seminiferous tubule diameter and seminiferous epithelium height. The expression levels of ZO-1, occludin, claudin11, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and β-catenin in Sertoli cells were detected with Western blot, and the localization and expression levels of ZO-1 and β-catenin in the testicular tissues were detected with immunofluorescence assay. The protein expressions of LC3B, p-AKT and p-mTOR in testicular Sertoli cells were detected using double immunofluorescence assay.

RESULTS

Treatment with TSPJ significantly improved high-fat diet-induced testicular dysfunction by reducing body weight (P < 0.001), increasing testicular and epididymal indices (P < 0.05), and improving sperm concentration and sperm viability (P < 0.05). TSPJ ameliorated testicular pathologies and increased seminiferous epithelium height of the mice with high-fat diet feeding (P < 0.05) without affecting the seminiferous tubule diameter. TSPJ significantly increased the expression levels of ZO-1, occludin, N-cadherin, E-cadherin and β-catenin (P < 0.05) but did not affect claudin11 expression in the testicular tissues. Immunofluorescence assay showed that TSPJ significantly increased ZO-1 and β-catenin expression in the testicular tissues (P < 0.001), downregulated LC3B expression and upregulated p-AKT and p-mTOR expressions in testicular Sertoli cells.

CONCLUSION

TSPJ alleviates high-fat diet-induced damages of testicular Sertoli cell junctions and spermatogenesis possibly by activating the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and inhibiting autophagy of testicular Sertoli cells.

Extracting Quantum Many-Body Scarred Eigenstates with Matrix Product States

Quantum many-body scarred systems host nonthermal excited eigenstates immersed in a sea of thermal ones. In cases where exact expressions for these special eigenstates are not known, it is computationally demanding to distinguish them from their exponentially many thermal neighbors. We propose a matrix-product-state (MPS) algorithm, dubbed DMRG-S, to extract such states at system sizes far beyond the scope of exact diagonalization. Using this technique, we obtain scarred eigenstates in Rydberg-blockaded chains of up to 80 sites and perform a finite-size scaling study to address the lingering question of the stability for the Néel state revivals in the thermodynamic limit. Our method also provides a systematic way to obtain exact MPS representations for scarred eigenstates near the target energy without a priori knowledge. In particular, we find several new scarred eigenstates with exact MPS representations in kinetically constrained spin and clock models. The combination of numerical and analytical investigations in our work provides a new methodology for future studies of quantum many-body scars.

A Unifying Probabilistic Framework for Partially Labeled Data Learning

Partially labeled data learning (PLDL), including partial label learning (PLL) and partial multi-label learning (PML), has been widely used in nowadays data science. Researchers attempt to construct different specific models to deal with the different classification tasks for PLL and PML scenarios respectively. The main challenge in training classifiers for PLL and PML is how to deal with ambiguities caused by the noisy false-positive labels in the candidate label set. The state-of-the-art strategy for both scenarios is to perform disambiguation by identifying the ground-truth label(s) directly from the candidate label set, which can be summarized into two categories: 'the identifying method' and 'the embedding method'. However, both kinds of methods are constructed by hand-designed heuristic modeling under considerations like feature/label correlations with no theoretical interpretation. Instead of adopting heuristic or specific modeling, we propose a novel unifying framework called A Unifying Probabilistic Framework for Partially Labeled Data Learning (UPF-PLDL), which is derived from a clear probabilistic formulation, and brings existing research on PLL and PML under one theoretical interpretation with respect to information theory. Furthermore, the proposed UPF-PLDL also unifies 'the identifying method' and 'the embedding method' into one integrated framework, which naturally incorporates the feature and label correlation considerations. Comprehensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets for both PLL and PML scenarios clearly demonstrate the superiorities of the derived framework.

[Clinical significance of early troponin I levels on the prognosis of patients with severe heat stroke]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the clinical significance of early troponin I (TnI) level in the prognosis of severe heat stroke.

METHODS

Clinical data of 131 patients with severe heat stroke in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Affiliated Changzhou NO.2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (study dataset) and ICU 67 patients with severe heat stroke in Jintan First People's Hospital of Changzhou (validation dataset) were retrospectively analyzed from June 2013 to September 2022. The patients were divided into survival group and death group according to 30-day outcomes. TnI was collected within 24 hours after admission to the emergency department. Cox regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors of severe heat stroke death. Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the correlation between TnI and heart rate, and peripheral systolic blood pressure. The receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of TnI for death in patients with severe heat stroke. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was conducted to assess the clinical net benefit rate of TnI prediction. Grouping by TnI cut-off value, Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze 30-day cumulative survival. Sensitivity analysis included modified Possion regression, E-value, and subgroup forest map was used to evaluate the mortality risk of TnI in different populations. External dataset was used to verify the predictive value of TnI.

RESULTS

The death group had significantly higher TnI compared to the survival group [μg/L: 0.623 (0.196, 1.510) vs. 0.084 (0.019, 0.285), P < 0.01]. Multivariate Cox regression analysis after adjusting for confounding factors showed that TnI was an independent risk factor for death [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.885, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.528-2.325,P < 0.001]. Spearman correlation test showed that TnI was positively correlated with heart rate (r = 0.537, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with peripheral systolic blood pressure (r = -0.611, P < 0.001). ROC curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the TnI (0.817) was better than that of the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II, 0.756). The DCA curve showed that the range of clinical net benefit rate of TnI (6.21%-20.00%) was higher than that of APACHE II score (5.14%-20.00%). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that patients in the low-risk group (TnI ≤ 0.106) had a significantly higher 30-day survival rate than that in the high-risk group (TnI > 0.106) group (Log-Rank test: χ2 = 17.350, P < 0.001). Modified Possion regression with adjustment for confounding factors showed that TnI was still an independent risk factor for death in patients with severe heat stroke [relative risk (RR) = 1.425, 95%CI was 1.284-1.583, P < 0.001]. The E-value was 2.215. The subgroup forest plot showed that the risk factors of TnI were obvious in male patients and patients ≤ 60 years old (male: HR = 1.731, 95%CI was 1.402-2.138, P < 0.001; ≤ 60 years old: HR = 1.651, 95%CI was 1.362-2.012, P < 0.001). In the validation dataset, ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC (0.836) of TnI predicting the prognosis of severe heat stroke was still higher than the APACHE II score (0.763).

CONCLUSIONS

Early elevation of TnI is a high-risk factor for death in patients with severe heat stroke, and it has a good predictive value for death.

Identification of potential diagnostic biomarkers of atherosclerosis based on bioinformatics strategy

BACKGROUND

Atherosclerosis is the main pathological change in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and its underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The aim of this study was to explore the hub genes involved in atherosclerosis and their potential mechanisms through bioinformatics analysis.

METHODS

Three microarray datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) identified robust differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by robust rank aggregation (RRA). We performed connectivity map (CMap) analysis and functional enrichment analysis on robust DEGs and constructed a protein‒protein interaction (PPI) network using the STRING database to identify the hub gene using 12 algorithms of cytoHubba in Cytoscape. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the diagnostic potency of the hub genes.The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to perform immunocyte infiltration analysis and explore the association between the identified biomarkers and infiltrating immunocytes using Spearman's rank correlation analysis in R software. Finally, we evaluated the expression of the hub gene in foam cells.

RESULTS

A total of 155 robust DEGs were screened by RRA and were revealed to be mainly associated with cytokines and chemokines by functional enrichment analysis. CD52 and IL1RN were identified as hub genes and were validated in the GSE40231 dataset. Immunocyte infiltration analysis showed that CD52 was positively correlated with gamma delta T cells, M1 macrophages and CD4 memory resting T cells, while IL1RN was positively correlated with monocytes and activated mast cells. RT-qPCR results indicate that CD52 and IL1RN were highly expressed in foam cells, in agreement with bioinformatics analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

​This study has established that CD52 and IL1RN may play a key role in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis, which opens new lines of thought for further research on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Physics-model-based neural networks for inverse design of binary phase planar diffractive lenses

The inverse design approach has enabled the customized design of photonic devices with engineered functionalities through adopting various optimization algorithms. However, conventional optimization algorithms for inverse design encounter difficulties in multi-constrained problems due to the substantial time consumed in the random searching process. Here, we report an efficient inverse design method, based on physics-model-based neural networks (PMNNs) and Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction theory, for engineering the focusing behavior of binary phase planar diffractive lenses (BPPDLs). We adopt the proposed PMNN to design BPPDLs with designable functionalities, including realizing a single focal spot, multiple foci, and an optical needle with size approaching the diffraction limit. We show that the time for designing single device is dramatically reduced to several minutes. This study provides an efficient inverse method for designing photonic devices with customized functionalities, overcoming the challenges based on traditional data-driven deep learning.

Intrafollicular fluid metabolic abnormalities in relation to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: Follicular fluid metabolomics via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

INTRODUCTION

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is the most serious iatrogenic complication of ovulation stimulation during assisted reproductive technology. The main objective of this study was to investigate intrafollicular fluid metabolic change profiles of OHSS in non-ovarian etiologic infertility women (CON) and polycystic ovarian syndrome patients (PCOS).

METHODS

87 infertile women were divided into four subgroups: CON-Norm (CON with normal ovarian response), CON-OHSS (CON with OHSS), PCOS-Norm (PCOS with normal ovarian response), and PCOS-OHSS (PCOS with OHSS). The intrafollicular fluid metabolic profiles were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The multivariable-adjusted conditional logistic regression was applied to assess the association of metabolites with OHSS risk.

RESULTS

We identified 17 and 3 metabolites that related to OHSS risk in CON and PCOS, respectively. 13 OHSS risk-related metabolites in CON were unsaturated fatty acids, 8 of which were also the significantly altered metabolites between all PCOS and CON-Norm.

CONCLUSION

Our study may shed light on the role of intrafollicular fluid metabolic abnormalities in the pathophysiology of OHSS. The findings suggested that there might be some metabolic heterogeneities underlying the development of OHSS in CON and PCOS women and indicated possible shared etiological factors in the development of PCOS and OHSS.

Ferric ions release from iron-binding protein: Interaction between acrylamide and human serum transferrin and the underlying mechanisms of their binding

Acrylamide (ACR) is a surprisingly common chemical due to its widespread use in industry and various other applications. However, its toxicity is a matter of grave concern for public health. Even worse, ACR is frequently detected in numerous fried or baked carbohydrate-rich foods due to the Maillard browning reaction. Herein, this study intends to delineate the underlying molecular mechanisms of Fe ions released from iron-binding protein transferrin (TF) after acrylamide binding by combining multiple methods, including multiple complementary spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopy), isothermal titration calorimetry, ICP-MS measurements, and modeling simulations. Results indicated that free Fe was released from TF only under high-dose ACR exposure (>100 μM). Acrylamide binding induced the loosening and unfolding of the backbone and polypeptide chain and destroyed the secondary structure of TF, thereby leading to protein misfolding and denaturation of TF and forming a larger size of TF agglomerates. Of which, H-binding and van der Waals force are the primary driving force during the binding interaction between ACR and TF. Further modeling simulations illustrated that ACR prefers to bind to the hinge region connecting the C-lobe and N-lobe, after that it attaches to the Fe binding sites of this protein, which is the cause of free Fe release from TF. Moreover, ACR interacted with the critical fluorophore residues (Tyr, Trp, and Phe) in the binding pocket, which might explain such a phenomenon of fluorescence sensitization. The two binding sites (Site 2 and Site 3) located around the Fe (III) ions with low-energy conformations are more suitable for ACR binding. Collectively, our study demonstrated that the loss of iron in TF caused by acrylamide-induced structural and conformational changes of transferrin.

Predicting the risk of HIV infection among internal migrant MSM in China: An optimal model based on three variable selection methods

Introduction

Internal migrant Men who have sex with men (IMMSM), which has the dual identity of MSM and floating population, should be more concerned among the vulnerable groups for HIV in society. Establishing appropriate prediction models to assess the risk of HIV infection among IMMSM is of great significance to against HIV infection and transmission.

Methods

HIV and syphilis infection were detected using rapid test kits, and other 30 variables were collected among IMMSM through questionnaire. Taking HIV infection status as the dependent variable, three methods were used to screen predictors and three prediction models were developed respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test was performed to verify the fit of the models, and the net classification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement were used to compare these models to determine the optimal model. Based on the optimal model, a prediction nomogram was developed as an instrument to assess the risk of HIV infection among IMMSM. To quantify the predictive ability of the nomogram, the C-index measurement was performed, and internal validation was performed using bootstrap method. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration plot and dynamic component analysis (DCA) were respectively performed to assess the efficacy, accuracy and clinical utility of the prediction nomogram.

Results

In this study, 12.52% IMMSMs were tested HIV-positive and 8.0% IMMSMs were tested syphilis-positive. Model A, model B, and model C fitted well, and model B was the optimal model. A nomogram was developed based on the model B. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.757 (95% CI: 0.701-0.812), and the C-index of internal verification was 0.705.

Conclusions

The model established by stepwise selection methods incorporating 11 risk factors (age, education, marriage, monthly income, verbal violence, syphilis, score of CUSS, score of RSES, score of ULS, score of ES and score of DS) was the optimal model that achieved the best predictive power. The risk nomogram based on the optimal model had relatively good efficacy, accuracy and clinical utility in identifying internal migrant MSM at high-risk for HIV infection, which is helpful for developing targeted intervention for them.

[Efficacy of omalizumab in the treatment of eosinophilic granulomatous polyangiitis with asthma as the first symptom]

Objective: To investigate the efficacy, and safety of omalizumab in the treatment of eosinophilic granulomatous with polyangiitis (EGPA) with asthma as the first symptom. Method: The clinical characteristics of 22 EGPA patients with asthma as the first symptom treated with omalizumab in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from March 2018 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The asthma control test (ACT) score, the frequency of asthma exacerbation (AE), the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS), the variation rate of peak expiratory flow (PEF), the percentage of PEF to predicted value of PEF (PEFpred%), the percentage of forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV₁) to predicted value of FEV₁ (FEV₁pred%), the dosage of oral corticosteroid (OCS) and other clinical data [M(Q₁, Q₃)] were collected before and after treatment, to observe the efficacy and adverse reactions of omalizumab. Results: There were 22 subjects recruited in this study. The median age was 42 (22-70) years. Eleven of the patients were males. After treated with omalizumab for 4 months, there were 68.2%(15/21) of patients who responded to the treatment. In the response group (n=15), the patients' ACT score increased from 19.0 (16.5, 21.0) to 23.0 (21.5, 24.0) (P=0.001). The frequency of AE decreased from 0.7 (0.3, 1.0) to 0 (0, 0.7) per four mouths (P<0.001). The BVAS decreased from 4.0 (2.0, 6.0) to 2.0 (2.0, 4.0) (P=0.007). The variation rate of PEF decreased from 18.8% (14.0%, 27.7%) to 9.2% (6.8%, 11.9%) (P=0.007). The PEFpred% increased from 80.8% (73.5%, 90.7%) to 100.5% (79.4%, 114.0%) (P=0.005). The maintenance dosage of OCS reduced from 15.0 (10.0, 20.0) mg/d to 8.8 (5.0, 10.0) mg/d (P=0.005). The level of baseline eosinophil in peripheral blood of patients in non-response group was higher than that in response group [11.4% (9.2%, 22.6%) vs 3.4% (1.1%, 6.5%), P<0.05]. A total of 190 injections were performed in 22 patients, and only 4 patients (2.1%) had adverse reactions after a single injection of omalizumab, such as dizziness, swelling of injection site and pruritus. The adverse reactions were tolerable. Conclusions: Omalizumab has certain curative effect on EGPA, can reduce asthmatic symptoms and OCS maintenance dosage, and has a good safety profile. The rate of response to the treatment is higher in patients with mild eosinophilic inflammation.

Anodal and cathodal transcranial direct current stimulations of prefrontal cortex in a rodent model of Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia in the elderly, with no effective treatment currently available. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-drug and non-invasive therapy, has been testified efficient in cognitive enhancement. This study aims to examine the effects of tDCS on brain function in a mouse model of AD. The amyloid precursor protein (APP) and presenilin 1 (PS1) transgenic mice (7–8 months old) were subjected to 20-min anodal and cathodal tDCS (atDCS and ctDCS; 300 μA, 3.12 mA/cm²) for continuous five days. tDCS was applied on the left frontal skull of the animals, targeting on their prefrontal cortex (PFC). Behavioral performances were assessed by open-field, Y-maze, Barnes maze and T-maze paradigms; and their PFC electroencephalogram (EEG) activities were recorded under spontaneous state and during Y-maze performance. Behaviorally, atDCS and ctDCS improved spatial learning and/or memory in AD mice without affecting their general locomotion and anxiety-like behaviors, but the effects depended on the testing paradigms. Interestingly, the memory improvements were accompanied by decreased PFC EEG delta (2–4 Hz) and increased EEG gamma (20–100 Hz) activities when the animals needed memory retrieval during task performance. The decreased EEG delta activities could also be observed in animals under spontaneous state. Specifically, atDCS increased PFC EEG activity in the alpha band (8–12 Hz) for spontaneous state, whereas ctDCS increased that in alpha-beta band (8–20 Hz) for task-related state. In addition, some EEG changes after ctDCS could be found in other cortical regions except PFC. These data indicate that tDCS can reverse the situation of slower brain activity in AD mice, which may further lead to cognitive improvement. Our work highlights the potential clinical use of tDCS to restore neural network activity and improve cognition in AD.

Three Isomeric Non-Fullerene Acceptors Comprising a Mono-Brominated End-Group for Efficient Organic Solar Cells

Non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) carrying a 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone (IC) end-group are the most powerful ones to boost the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, the well-known Knoevenagel condensation of the mono-halogenated IC end-group will result in an NFA isomeric effect, a chemical issue that needs to be addressed. Herein, facile preparations and separations of three well-defined mono-brominated isomers BTzIC-2Br-δ, BTzIC-2Br-γ, and BTzIC-2Br-δγ via column chromatography with a well-chosen mixing solvent were demonstrated for Knoevenagel condensation, and their structures were verified by NMR spectra and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) mass spectra. It is the first time that an asymmetric isomer BTzIC-2Br-δγ is reported, and the regioisomeric effect on optoelectronic properties can be investigated based on all three isomers. Moreover, the single-crystal structure was successfully achieved for the symmetric molecule BTzIC-2Br-γ. With benzodithiophene (BDT)-free PFBT4T-T20 as an easily accessible and low-cost polymer donor, the three isomers could show differentiated device performances, with a power conversion efficiency order of BTzIC-2Br-γ (16.00%) > BTzIC-2Br-δγ (15.81%) > BTzIC-2Br-δ (15.29%). The best efficiency of 16.00% achieved with BTzIC-2Br-γ is among the highest ones for binary OSCs based on the low-cost BDT-free donors. The facile and complete synthesis of isomeric NFAs with mono-halogenated IC end-groups would promote the elucidation of the structure-property relationship.

Fine-Tuning of Siloxane Pendant Distance for Achieving Highly Efficient Eco-Friendly Nonfullerene Solar Cells

Side-chain engineering has been proved to show profound impact on polymer properties and blend morphology. Herein, the critical role of siloxane-terminated alkoxy side chains was revealed by a tiny decorating method through which the molar content of siloxane-terminated alkoxy side chain was fixed to 5 %, and its alkyl linker was the only tuning factor. The pentylene, heptylene, and nonylene linkers were designed and used to synthesize wide-bandgap polymers PQSi505, PQSi705, and PQSi905, respectively. Interestingly, the siloxane pendant of combinatory side chain exhibited a distinct impact on molecular packing when its branching position shifted slightly. Among the three polymers, PQSi705 had the strongest aggregation and the highest packing order. Finally, toluene-processed organic solar cells (OSCs) based on PQSi705 and Y6-BO achieved the best power conversion efficiency of 15.77 %. This work suggests that siloxane pendant can serve as a powerful modulator to enhance the photovoltaic performance of OSCs.

Multi-ancestry fine-mapping improves precision to identify causal genes in transcriptome-wide association studies

Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) are a powerful approach to identify genes whose expression is associated with complex disease risk. However, non-causal genes can exhibit association signals due to confounding by linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns and eQTL pleiotropy at genomic risk regions, which necessitates fine-mapping of TWAS signals. Here, we present MA-FOCUS, a multi-ancestry framework for the improved identification of genes underlying traits of interest. We demonstrate that by leveraging differences in ancestry-specific patterns of LD and eQTL signals, MA-FOCUS consistently outperforms single-ancestry fine-mapping approaches with equivalent total sample sizes across multiple metrics. We perform TWASs for 15 blood traits using genome-wide summary statistics (average n_EA = 511 k, n_AA = 13 k) and lymphoblastoid cell line eQTL data from cohorts of primarily European and African continental ancestries. We recapitulate evidence demonstrating shared genetic architectures for eQTL and blood traits between the two ancestry groups and observe that gene-level effects correlate 20% more strongly across ancestries than SNP-level effects. Lastly, we perform fine-mapping using MA-FOCUS and find evidence that genes at TWAS risk regions are more likely to be shared across ancestries than they are to be ancestry specific. Using multiple lines of evidence to validate our findings, we find that gene sets produced by MA-FOCUS are more enriched in hematopoietic categories than alternative approaches (p = 2.36 × 10^-15). Our work demonstrates that including and appropriately accounting for genetic diversity can drive more profound insights into the genetic architecture of complex traits.

[Analysis of the characteristics of HIV-1 molecular transmission network among people aged 50 years and above in Pengzhou city of Sichuan province]

Objective: To describe the characteristics of molecular transmission network of newly diagnosed HIV-1 infected patients, analyze their risk factors related to network access and provide a scientific basis for precise prevention of HIV infection. Methods: For 340 blood samples collected from confirmed HIV-1 infection cases aged ≥50 years in Pengzhou city of Sichuan province from April 2019 to August 2021, nested PCR amplification was used to amplify, clean up and splice clips the pol gene region. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by multi-sequence comparison to distinguish subtypes, and the pairwise genetic distance was calculated. When the genetic distance threshold was 0.90%, the number of clusters was the largest (41), and the molecular transmission network was constructed.The χ² test and logistic regression analysis were performed.The software SPSS 19.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 340 samples were successfully amplified (97.06%, 330/340) in 330 samples. 6 HIV-1 subtypes identified, including:CRF01_AE(56.67%,187/330), CRF07_BC(27.88%,92/330), B(11.21%,37/330), CRF08_BC(3.33%,11/330), CRF55_01B(0.61%,2/330) and C(0.30%,1/330).The network entry rate was 58.79% (194/330).The results of logistic regression analysis of the risk factors of HIV-1 molecular transmission network in the research subjects showed that compared with illiteracy, junior high school (OR=0.35, 95%CI:0.13-0.97) and high school/technical secondary school (OR=0.14, 95%CI: 0.02-0.97) had lower possibility of network entry. Compared with farmers, unknown occupations (OR=0.40,95%CI: 0.17-0.95) are less likely to enter the network .Compared with CRF01_AE, CRF07_BC (OR=0.20, 95%CI: 0.11-0.35) and CRF08_BC subtype (OR=0.09, 95%CI: 0.02-0.45) were less likely to enter the network. Conclusions: The sources of AIDS transmission among middle-aged and elderly people of rural areas are diversified in Pengzhou city of Sichuan province. AIDS intervention should focus on middle-aged and elderly farmers with low educational level, and strengthen detection and traceability investigation.

High fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio with type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with poor prognosis in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: 5-year findings from a large cohort

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): the National Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Background

Inflammation plays a crucial role in coronary atherosclerosis progression, and growing evidence has demonstrated that the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio index (FAR) is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the long-term risk of cardiovascular events remains indistinct in patients with different level of FAR and different glycemic metabolism status. This study was to access 5-year clinical outcomes of diabetic and non-diabetic patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with different level of FAR.

Methods

We consecutively enrolled 10,724 patients with CAD hospitalized for PCI and followed up for major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) covering all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal ischemic stroke and unplanned coronary revascularization. FAR was computed using the following formula: Fibrinogen (mg/dL) / Albumin (g/L). According to the optimal cut-off value of FAR, which was determined by the surv_cutpoint function of the R package survminer via RStudio software (version 2021.09.0), patients were divided into higher level of FAR (FAR-H) and lower level of (FAR-L) subgroups, and were further categorized into for groups as FAR-H with DM and non-DM, and FAR-L with DM and non-DM.

Results

5,298 patients (58.36 ± 10.36 years, 77.7% male) were ultimately enrolled in the present study. A total of 1,099 (20.7%) MACCEs were documented during the 5-year follow-up. The optimal cut-off value of FAR was 0.0783 by the surv_cutpoint function. Compared to ones with FAR-H and DM, patients with FAR-L and non-DM, FAR-H and non-DM, FAR-L and DM had decreased risk of MACCEs [adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64-0.89, p = 0.001; HR: 0.006, 95% CI 0.66-0.93, p = 0.006; HR: 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.97, p = 0.019]. Notably, non-diabetic patients with lower level of FAR also had lower all-cause mortality risk than those in the FAR-H/DM group (HR: 0.41, 95% CI 0.27-0.63, p &lt; 0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis also indicated the highest risk of MACCEs in patients with FAR-H and DM than others (p for trend = 0.005). In addition, subgroup analysis revealed consistent effects on 5-year MACCE across various subgroups.

Conclusion

Diabetic patients with higher level of FAR had the worse 5-year outcomes compared with patients in other three groups. The level of FAR may help to identify high-risk individuals in this specific population.

Sonosensitizer nanoplatform-mediated sonodynamic therapy induced immunogenic cell death and tumor immune microenvironment variation

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies, and effective treatments are still lacking due to drug tolerance and tumor recurrence. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) on ovarian cancer and its potential mechanism. Folate receptor-targeted and ultrasound-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) were constructed using PLGA-PEG-FA (PLGA: poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid, polyethylene glycol (PEG), FA: folate), the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating sonosensitizer IR780 and the oxygen-carrying material perfluorohexane (PFH), termed IRO@FA NPs. The antitumor effect of NPs triggered by ultrasound (US) was measured by an apoptosis assay in a C57/BL6 mouse model. Immunochemistry and flow cytometry were used to detect the proportion of CD3⁺ T, CD4⁺ T, CD8⁺ T cells and activated dendritic cells (DCs) in spleens and tumor tissues to assess variation in the immune response. Moreover, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and immunogenic cell death (ICD) markers (high mobility group protein box-1, ATP and calreticulin) were detected to identify potential mechanisms. The results showed that IRO@FA NP-mediated SDT promoted ID8 cell apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. The densities of CD3⁺ and CD8⁺ T lymphocytes and inflammatory markers were upregulated in tumor tissues. IRO@FA NP-mediated SDT prompted DC maturation and T lymphocyte infiltration by inducing ID8 cell ICD.

Red Display for Three-Color Electrophoretic Displays with High Saturation via a Separation Stage between Black and Red Particles

A three-color electrophoretic display (EPD) can solve the defect of an insufficient color display of black/white EPDs, but it is difficult to achieve a high red saturation due to the same driving polarity between black and red electrophoretic particles. In this work, a separation stage was proposed in the driving process to increase the red saturation in three-color EPDs. Firstly, red particles' motion was analyzed by the electrophoretic theory and Stokes' theorem to optimize driving parameters. Secondly, the activity of black particles was analyzed by testing different driving process parameters, and an optimal activation parameter for red particles was obtained. Next, the separation stage parameters were analyzed to reduce the mixing degree of black and red electrophoretic particles. Experimental results showed that the red and black electrophoretic particles could be effectively separated. Compared with an existing driving method, the red saturation was increased by 23.4%.

[Establishment of morphological reference values for the differential count of white blood cells in peripheral blood smear, as well as nucleated cells and megakaryocytes in bone marrow smear]

Objective: To establish the morphological reference values for the differential count of white blood cells in peripheral blood smear as well as nucleated cells and megakaryocytes in bone marrow smear. Methods: From April 2012 to June 2020, 4 221 healthy donors for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Hebei Yanda Lu Daopei Hospital were selected. The median age was 36 (3-72) years old, including 2 520 males and 1 701 females. They were divided into four groups according to age: children group, with age≤14 years old [n=334, 11 (3-14) years old], youth group, with age >14 years old and <45 years old [n=2 855, 33 (15-44) years old], middle-aged adult group, with age ≥45 years old and < 60 years old [n=929, 49 (45-59) years old], and older adult group, with age ≥60 years old [n=103, 62 (60-72) years old]. Gender subgroups were established in each age group. According to different hematopoietic characteristics, the children group were divided into two subgroups: children group 1 [n=48, 6 (3-7) years old] and children group 2 [n=286, 11 (8-14) years old]. According to the clinical routine, 100 white blood cells in peripheral blood, 200 nucleated cells in bone marrow, and cell numbers/4.5 cm² for megakaryocytes were classified and counted. The results of cell count in different age and gender groups were compared, and the reference values of morphological classification were established for different groups with statistical or clinical significance. Results: Due to the existence of statistically significant differences between children and adult groups and different gender subgroups in adults (all P<0.05), the reference values were established for children group and adult gender subgroups. The counts of segmented neutrophils and lymphocytes in peripheral blood were 46.65(43.97-49.32)% and 44.00(10.60-65.10)% in children group 1, 50.73(49.50-51.96)% and 39.55 (38.36-40.74)% in children group 2, and 57.00 (39.00-75.23) % and 33.00 (17.00-52.00) % in adult group, respectively. Bone marrow segmented neutrophils, orthochromatic erythroblasts, and mature lymphocytes were 11.54 (10.68-12.41)%, 14.20 (13.19-15.21)%, and 23.99 (22.06-25.92)% in children group 1, 12.50 (7.00-21.50)%, 15.00(9.50-25.50)%, and 21.02 (20.24-21.81)% in children group 2, 13.50 (7.50-21.00)%, 16.50 (10.50-26.00)%, and 15.50 (7.50-26.00)% in adult male group, and 14.50 (8.00-24.50)%, 14.50 (9.00-23.00)%, and 17.50 (8.50-29.00)% in adult female group, respectively. The myelopoiesis/erythropoiesis ratio in children group, adult male group and adult female group was 1.86∶1 (1.14∶1-3.23∶1), 1.96∶1 (1.12∶1-3.19∶1), 2.22∶1 (1.30∶1-3.69∶1), respectively. The numbers of granular megakaryocytes and thromocytogenic megakaryocytes were 138 (25-567) cells/4.5cm² and 86 (13-328) cells/4.5 cm² in children group, and 92 (13-338) cells/4.5 cm² and 38 (3-162) cells/4.5 cm² in adult group, respectively. Conclusion: The morphological reference values for the differential count of white blood cells in peripheral blood smear as well as nucleated cells and megakaryocytes in bone marrow smear are successfully established, which is helpful to improve the application of morphological examination in disease screening, diagnosis and monitoring.

Bronchial epithelial SIRT1 deficiency exacerbates cigarette smoke induced emphysema in mice through the FOXO3/PINK1 pathway

Purpose: Cellular senescence and mitochondrial fragmentation are thought to be crucial components of the cigarette smoke(CS)-induced responses that contribute to the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development as a result of accelerated premature aging of the lung. Although there have been a few reports on the role of sirtuin 1(SIRT1) in mitochondrial homeostasis, senescence and inflammation, whether SIRT1/FOXO3/PINK1 signaling mediated mitophagy ameliorates cellular senescence in COPD is still unclear. This study aimed to ascertain whether SIRT1 regulates cellular senescence via FOXO3/PINK1-mediated mitophagy in COPD. Methods: To investigate the effect of CS exposure and SIRT1 deficiency on mitophagy and senescence in the lung, a SIRT1 knockout(KO) mouse model was used. Airway resistance, cellular senescence mitochondrial injury, mitophagy, cellular architecture and protein expression levels in lung tissues, from SIRT1 KO and wild-type(WT) COPD model mice exposed to CS for 6 months were examined by western blotting, histochemistry, immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Results: In CS exposed mice, SIRT1 deficiency exacerbated airway resistance and cellular senescence, increased FOXO3 acetylation and decreased PINK1 protein levels and attenuated mitophagy. Mechanistically, the damaging effect of SIRT1 deficiency on lung tissue was attributed to increased FOXO3 acetylation and decreased PINK1 levels, and attenuated mitophagy. In vitro, mitochondrial damage and cellular sensitivity in response to CS exposure were more severe in control cells than in cells treated with aSIRT1 activator. SIRT1 activation SIRT1 activation decreased FOXO3 acetylation and increased the protein levels of PINK1 and enhanced mitophagy. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that the detrimental effects of SIRT1 deficiency on cell senescence associated with insufficient mitophagy, and involved the FOXO3/PINK1 signaling pathway.

Thermochromic Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Microcapsules with Cellulose Nanocrystals and a Melamine Resin Hybrid Shell

Thermochromic coatings that can change their color in response to variations in ambient temperature have various potential applications. Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) are promising thermochromic materials due to their selective light reflection and wide regulation range. However, it remains a challenge to fabricate thermochromic coatings that combine good responsivity, mechanical strength, fabrication feasibility, and flexibility. In this study, CLC microcapsules containing cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and a melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin hybrid shell were fabricated via in situ polymerization using CNC-stabilized Pickering emulsions as templates. The CNCs were employed as both Pickering emulsifiers and alignment agents of CLCs to prepare CLC Pickering emulsions. The CLC microcapsules were mixed with curable binders to obtain coating slurries, and thermochromic coatings were prepared by painting the slurries on substrates and drying. The thermochromic coatings could adjust their color in the visible wavelength range in a temperature range of 12 to 42 °C. Moreover, the obtained thermochromic coatings displayed a relatively high reflectance of up to 30-40% and can even be applied to flexible substrates. The CLC microcapsules with CNCs and an MF hybrid shell are promising in the field of smart decorative paints, anti-counterfeit labels, and artificial skins.

Fabric-based in situ synthesis of gold nanoparticles for continuous enhanced heterogeneous chemiluminescence online detection of carbon dioxide

A novel method to achieve real-time and long-term continuous measurement of CO2 based on in situ synthesis of AuNPs on fabrics is reported. A heterogeneous CO2 detection method and the application of continuous catalytic chemiluminescence immobilized by nanoparticles were also developed.

A facile depolymerization reaction enables efficient feedstock recycling of polymerized small molecule acceptors in all-polymer solar cells

A facile depolymerization reaction of polymerized small molecule acceptors (PSMAs) is developed for efficiently recovering the polymeric monomers in various circumstances, showing potential on decreasing the cost of PSMA-based all-PSCs.

Delicately Controlled Polymer Orientation for High-Performance Non-Fullerene Solar Cells with Halogen-Free Solvent Processing

Molecular orientation in polymer solar cells (PSCs) is a critical subject of investigation that promotes the quality of bulk heterojunction morphology and power conversion efficiency (PCE). Herein, the intrinsic polymer orientation transition can be found upon delicate control over the branching point position of the irregular alkoxy side chain in difluoroquinoxaline-thiophene-based conjugated polymers. Three polymers with branching points at the third, fourth, and fifth positions away from the backbone were synthesized and abbreviated as PHT3, PHT4, and PHT5, respectively. Temperature-dependent absorption behavior manifests the polymer aggregation ability in the order of PHT3 < PHT4 < PHT5. Surprisingly, the polymer orientation transition from typical face-on to edge-on emerged between PHT4 and PHT5, as evidenced by X-ray-scattering analysis. The enhanced face-on crystallinity of PHT4 endowed the o-xylene-processed PHT4:IT-4Cl-based devices with the highest PCE of 13.40%. For PHT5 with stronger aggregation, the related o-xylene-processed PSCs still showed a good PCE of 12.66%. Our results demonstrate that a delicate polymer orientation transition could be realized through a precisely controlled strategy of the side chain, yielding green-solvent-processed high-performance PSCs.

Interruption of endolysosomal trafficking leads to stroke brain injury

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Dysfunction of the endolysosomal system can cause cell death. A key molecule for controlling the endolysosomal trafficking activities is the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) ATPase. This study investigates the cascades of NSF ATPase inactivation events, endolysosomal damage, cathepsin release, and neuronal death after focal brain ischemia.

METHODS

A total of 62 rats were used in this study. They were subjected to sham surgery or 2 h of focal brain ischemia followed by 1, 4, and 24 h of reperfusion. Confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis were utilized to analyze the levels, redistribution, and co-localization of key proteins of the Golgi apparatus, late endosomes, endolysosomes, and lysosomes. Light and electron microscopy were used to examine the histopathology, protein aggregation, and endolysosomal ultrastructures.

RESULTS

Two hours of focal brain ischemia in rats led to acute neuronal death at the striatal core in 4 h and a slower type of neuronal death in the neocortical area during 1-24 h reperfusion periods. Confocal microscopy showed that NSF immunoreactivity was irreversibly and selectively depleted from most, if not all, post-ischemic penumbral neurons. Western blot analysis further demonstrated that NSF depletion from brain sections was due to its deposition into dense inactive aggregates that could not be recognized by the NSF antibody. Commitantly, the Golgi apparatus was completely fragmented and cathepsin B (CTSB)-containing endolysosomal structures, as well as p62/SQSTM1- and EEA1-immunopositive structures were massively accumulated in the post-ischemic penumbral neurons. Ultimately, CTSB was released into the cytoplasm and extracellular space, causing stroke brain injury.

CONCLUSION

Stroke Inactivates NSF, resulting in disruption of the reforming of functional endolysosomal compartments, blockade of the endocytic and autophagic pathways, a large scale of CTSB release into the cytoplasm and extracellular space, and stroke brain injury in the rat model.

Directly Cooling Gut Prevents Mortality in the Rat Model of Reboa Management of Lethal Hemorrhage

BACKGROUND

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is a lifesaving technique for the management of lethal torso hemorrhage. Its benefit, however, must be weighed against the lethal distal organ ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). This study uses a novel direct gut cooling technique to manage the distal organ IRI.

METHODS

A rat lethal hemorrhage model was established by bleeding of 50% of the estimated total blood volume via inferior vena cava. A novel TransRectal Intra-Colon (TRIC) temperature management device was positioned in the descending colon either to maintain intra-colon temperature at 37°C or 12°C. The upper body temperature was maintained at as close to 37°C as possible in both groups. A 2F Fogarty balloon catheter was inserted via the femoral artery into the descending thoracic aorta for the implementation of REBOA. After REBOA, the balloon was deflated, and the shed blood was returned. The temperature managements were continued for additional 180 to 270 min during the post-REBOA period.

RESULTS

All rats subjected to REBOA management of lethal hemorrhage at 37°C had severe histopathological gut and abdominal organ IRI, severe functional deficits, and died within 24 h with 100% mortality. By contrast, directly cooling the colon to 10°C to 12°C with the novel TRIC device abolished mortality, and dramatically improved ABG parameters, prevented the abdominal organ injury, and reduced the functional deficits during the 7-day post-REBOA period.

CONCLUSIONS

Direct trans-rectal colon cooling during REBOA management of lethal hemorrhage offers extraordinary functional improvement and amazing tissue protection, and abolishes mortality.

Discriminative Metric Learning for Partial Label Learning

One simple strategy to deal with ambiguity in partial label learning (PLL) is to regard all candidate labels equally as the ground-truth label, and then solve the PLL problem using existing multiclass classification algorithms. However, due to the noisy false-positive labels in the candidate set, these approaches are readily mislead and do not generalize well in testing. Consequently, the method of identifying the ground-truth label straight from the candidate label set has grown popular and effective. When the labeling information in PLL is ambiguous, we ought to take advantage of the data's underlying structure, such as label and feature interdependencies, to conduct disambiguation. Furthermore, while metric learning is an excellent method for supervised learning classification that takes feature and label interdependencies into account, it cannot be used to solve the weekly supervised learning PLL problem directly due to the ambiguity of labeling information in the candidate label set. In this article, we propose an effective PLL paradigm called discriminative metric learning for partial label learning (DML-PLL), which aims to learn a Mahanalobis distance metric discriminatively while identifying the ground-truth label iteratively for PLL. We also design an efficient algorithm to alternatively optimize the metric parameter and the latent ground-truth label in an iterative way. Besides, we prove the convergence of the designed algorithms by two proposed lemmas. We additionally study the computational complexity of the proposed DML-PLL in terms of training and testing time for each iteration. Extensive experiments on both controlled UCI datasets and real-world PLL datasets from diverse domains demonstrate that the proposed DML-PLL regularly outperforms the compared approaches in terms of prediction accuracy.

[Incidence of unintended pregnancy within 2 years after delivery and its influencing factors in China]

Objective: To investigate the present situation of unintended pregnancy within two years postpartum and its influencing factors in China. Methods: Participants who delivered a live birth at 60 hospitals in 15 provinces in the eastern, central and western regions of China during July 2015 to June 2016 were interviewed by using structured questionnaire. Information on occurrence of unintended pregnancy within 2 years after delivery, postpartum contraceptive use, sexual resumption, breastfeeding, and women's socio-demographic characteristics, and so on, were collected. Life-table analysis, cluster log-rank tests and a 2-level Cox regression model were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 18 045 postpartum women were investigated. The cumulative 1- and 2-year unintended pregnancy rates after delivery were 5.3% (95%CI: 4.5%－6.1%) and 13.1% (95%CI: 11.3%－14.8%), respectively. Cox regression model analysis showed that the risk of unintended pregnancy within 2 years postpartum were increased in younger women, ethnic minorities, women with abortion history, and those who had a vaginal delivery with short lactation time and late postpartum contraceptive initiation (all P<0.01). The risk of postpartum unintended pregnancy was not associated with geographic regions and hospitals where women gave a birth (all P>0.05). Conclusions: In China, the risk of unintended pregnancy within 2 years after delivery is relatively high. Service institutions and service providers should improve the quality of postpartum family planning services, promote the use of high effect contraceptive methods, and educate women to use a method at the time of their sexual resumption or even before.

Transrectal intracolon cooling prevents paraplegia and mortality in a rat model of aortic occlusion-induced spinal cord ischemia

OBJECTIVE

Spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury (SC-IRI) occurs in many medical conditions such as aneurysm surgical repair but no treatment of SC-IRI is available in clinical practice. The objective of the present study was to develop a novel medical device for the treatment of SC-IRI.

METHODS

A rat model of SC-IRI was used. A novel transrectal intracolon (TRIC) temperature management device was developed to maintain an intracolon wall temperature at either 37°C (TRIC37°C) or 12°C (TRIC12°C). The upper body temperature was maintained as close as possible to 37°C in both groups. A 2F Fogarty balloon catheter was inserted via the left common carotid artery to block the distal aortic blood flow to the spinal cord. The proximal blood pressure was controlled by the withdrawal and infusion of blood via the jugular vein catheter, such that the distal tail artery blood pressure was maintained at ∼10 mmHg for 13 and 20 minutes, respectively. Next, the balloon was deflated, and TRIC temperature management was continued for an additional 30 minutes to maintain the colon wall temperature at either 37°C or 12°C during the reperfusion period.

RESULTS

All the rats subjected to 13 minutes of spinal cord ischemia in the TRIC37°C group had developed paraplegia during the postischemic phase. In striking contrast, TRIC at 12°C completely prevented the paraplegia, dramatically improved the arterial blood gas parameters, and avoided the histopathologic injuries to the spinal cord in rats subjected to 13 minutes of spinal cord ischemia. Furthermore, TRIC12°C allowed for the extension of the ischemia duration from 13 minutes to 20 minutes, with significantly reduced functional deficits.

CONCLUSIONS

Directly cooling the intestine focally with the TRIC device offered an exceptional survival rate and functional improvement after aortic occlusion-induced spinal cord ischemia.

Theoretical realization of single-mode fiber integrated metalens for beam collimating

Optical fiber facet has rapidly emerged as a powerful light-coupling platform for integrating metasurfaces with miniaturized footprint and multifarious functionalities, through direct lithographic patterning or decal transfer. However, the fiber integrated metasurfaces investigated so far have been usually limited to high refractive index (RI) materials, thus leading to severe impedance mismatch at the fiber/metasurface interface and low efficiency. Here we report a single-mode fiber (SMF) integrated metalens based on low-RI material. We theoretically show that the highly divergent beam at the cleaved SMF is fully collimated by the metalens consisting of elliptical nanoposts with uniform height but varied width and length. The spatial wavefront of the transmitted light at the end facet of the light waveguide is properly modulated by the metasurface while maintaining an efficiency beyond 95% in the simulation. This study demonstrates a roadmap to design highly efficient SMF integrated metasurface based on low-RI material and may find applications in biomedical and optical imaging.

Correlation study of parabens in urine, serum, and seminal plasma of adult men in Beijing, China

The adverse effects of parabens raise concerns about their extensive use as preservatives in consumer products, especially in cosmetics. Until now, their distribution and excretion in humans have attracted little attention. Here, we quantified various agents including, for the first time, methyl-; ethyl-; n-propyl-; n-butyl-, and i-butylparaben (MeP, EtP, PrP, n-BuP, i-BuP); methyl- and ethyl-protocatechuate (OH-MeP and OH-EtP); hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HB); and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHB) in urine, serum, and seminal plasma samples from 50 healthy Chinese men in Beijing, China. Urine paraben concentrations were 1-2 orders of magnitudes higher than those in serum and seminal plasma. MeP and PrP were predominant and correlated with each other in the urine, serum, and seminal plasma. In urine, we observed a significant correlation between MeP and OH-MeP; EtP and OH-EtP; and 4-HB and 3,4-DHB concentrations. All these results provide new information on parabens as biomarkers for the assessment of exposure.

HIF-1α aggravated traumatic brain injury by NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and activation of microglia

Hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) is involved in regulating the biological functions of neuronal death after traumatic brain injury (TBI), and attaches importance in the inflammatory response, but its potential mechanism is still unknown. Our study aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism between HIF-1α and NLRP3 inflammasome after TBI. Male mice underwent controlled cortical impact (CCI) or sham-operated procedures. Brain water content and blood-brain barrier permeability were measured at the indicated time after TBI. The behavioral performance, ELISA, immunofluorescence, and western blot analysis were used to determine whether HIF-1α specifically targeted TBI-induced pyroptosis. We discovered that TBI-induced brain injury caused by external mechanical forces is characterized by edema and blood-brain barrier disorder, and the release of IL-1β, IL-18, and LDH and upregulation of HIF-1α expression, reaching the peak on the third day post-TBI. In addition, HIF-1α accumulated NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and activation of microglia. The protein expressions of NLRP3, GSDMD, GSDMD-N, pro-caspase 1, and cleaved caspase 1 were markedly increased in the injured cortex, which were restored to normal levels by the interference of HIF-1α. The inactivation of HIF-1α conferred neuroprotection and alleviated brain injury after TBI. HIF-1α was implicated in TBI-induced brain injury, aggravated NLRP3 inflammasome -mediated pyroptosis, and the activation of microglia, which provided a potential target for treating TBI.