[Chylomicron retention disease caused by SAR1B gene variations in 2 cases and literatures review]

Objective: To summarize the genotype and clinical characteristics of chylomicron retention disease (CMRD) caused by secretion associated Ras related GTPase 1B (SAR1B) gene variations. Methods: Clinical data and genetic testing results of 2 children with CMRD treated at Children's Hospital of Fudan University and Jiangxi Provincial Children's Hospital from May 2022 to July 2023 were summarized. To provide an overview of the clinical and genetic characteristics of CMRD caused by SAR1B gene variations, all of the literature was searched and reviewed from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, China VIP database, China Biology Medicine disc and PubMed database (up to January 2024) with "chylomicron retention disease" "Anderson disease" or "Anderson syndrome" as the search terms. All relevant literatures were reviewed to summarize the clinical and genetic features of CMRD caused by SAR1B gene variations. Results: One 11-year-old boy and one 4-month-old girl with CMRD. Both patients had lipid malabsorption, failure to thrive, decreased cholesterol, elevated transaminase and creatine kinase, and vitamin E deficiency, with homozygous variations (c.224A>G) and compound heterozygous variations (c.224A>G and c.554G>T) in SAR1B gene, respectively. Case 1 was followed up for over a month, and he still occasionally experienced lower limb muscle pain. Case 2 was followed up for more than a year, and her had caught up to normal levels. Both patients had no other significant discomfort. Literature search retrieved 0 Chinese literature and 22 English literatures. In addition to the 2 cases reported in this study, a total of 51 patients were identified as CMRD caused by SAR1B gene variations. Twenty-one types of SAR1B variants 10 missense, 4 nonsense, 3 frameshift, 1 in-frame deletion, 1 splice, 1 gross deletion, and 1 gross insertion-deletion were found among the 51 CMRD cases. Among all the patients, 49 cases had lipid malabsorption (43 cases had diarrhea or fatty diarrhea, 17 cases had vomiting, and 12 cases had abdominal distension), 45 cases had lipid soluble Vitamin deficiency (43 cases had Vitamin E deficiency, 10 cases had Vitamin A deficiency, 9 case had Vitamin D deficiency, and 5 cases had Vitamin K deficiency), 35 cases had failure to thrive, 32 cases had liver involvement (32 cases had elevated transaminases, 5 cases had fatty liver, and 3 cases had hepatomegaly), 29 cases had white small intestinal mucosa under endoscopy, and 17 cases had elevated creatine kinase, 14 cases had neuropathy, 5 cases had ocular lesions, 2 cases had acanthocytosis, 1 case had decreased cardiac ejection fraction, and 1 case was symptom-free. Conclusions: Early infancy failure to thrive and lipid malabsorption are common issues for CMRD patients. The Laboratory tests are characterized by hypocholesterolemia with or without fat-soluble vitamin deficiency, elevated liver enzymes and (or) creatine kinase. Currently, missense variations are frequent among the primarily homozygous SAR1B genotypes that have been described.

[Neoadjuvant strategy for locally advanced colorectal cancer based organ preservation]

Neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced colorectal cancer has made great progress in the past 20 years, but there are still limitations such as side effects, organ dysfunction and unsatisfactory control of metastasis. In recent years, with the improvement of surgical techniques and further development of molecular research, how to further improve local control, reduce distant metastasis, and even avoid surgery according to clinical remission to achieve organ preservation, is the current demand and research goal. With the advancement of molecular research, colorectal cancer has different treatment strategies based on microsatellite status. For patients with microsatellite instability locally advanced colorectal cancer, immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy significantly increased the pathologic complete response rate, reduced the incidence of adverse events and improved organ function compared with conventional chemoradiotherapy. For patients with microsatellite stable locally advanced colon cancer, neoadjuvant therapy is still in the exploratory stage. The standard of care is surgery combined with perioperative chemotherapy. For microsatellite stable locally advanced rectal cancer, the complete response rate is improved by enhancing neoadjuvant therapy, which helps to preserve organs. On the other hand, selective radiotherapy preserves organ function and improves quality of life. This article reviews the neoadjuvant treatment strategies for locally advanced colorectal cancer based on organ-sparing strategies.

[Investigation of the population diversity of intermediate host snails and crabs of Paragonimus along Jiulong River, Zhangjiang River and Dongxi River basins in southern Fujian Province]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the population distribution of intermediate host snails and crabs of Paragonimus along the Jiulongjiang River, Zhangjiang River, and Dongxi River basins in Bopingling Mountain, southern Fujian Province, so as to provide baseline data for researches on parasitic disease prevention and control and enlargement of samples in the parasitic resource bank.

METHODS

A total of 23 villages in 8 counties (districts) along the Jiulong River, Zhangjiang River, and Dongxi River basins in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province were selected as survey sites during the period from November 2020 through March 2023, and snail and freshwater crabs were sampled from 1 to 3 streams and ditches neighboring residential areas in each village. Morphological identification of snails was performed according to the external morphological characteristics of collected snail shells, and the unidentified snail species sampled from the natural foci of paragonimiasis in Yunxiao County were subjected to se-quence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) gene. The crab species was identified by observing the morphological characteristics of the terminal segment of the first pleopod of male crabs, and Paragonimus cercariae and metacercariae were detected in collected snails.

RESULTS

The shells of the unidentified snails sampled from the natural foci of paragonimiasis in Yunxiao County were approximately 50 mm in height and 18 mm in width, thick and solid, long tower cone-shaped, and had 8 to 10 whorls. CO1 gene sequence analysis identified the snail species as Sulcospira hainanensis. A total of 6 freshwater snail species belonging to 5 genera within 3 families, identified 23 survey sites, including Semisulcospira libertina, Paludomus zhangchouensis and S. hainanensis that belonged to the Family Pleurceridae, Tricula fujianensis and T. huaanensis that belonged to the subfamily Triculinae, Family Pomatiopsidae, and Melanoides tuberculata (Family Thiaridae), and 11 species of freshwater crabs belonging to 5 genera within 2 families were identified, including Sinopotamon genus of S. jianglense, S. pinheense, and S. zhangzhouense, Huananpotamon genus of H. planopodum and H. zhangzhouense, Nanhaipotamon genus of N. huaanense and N. longhaiense, and Minpotamon genus of M. nasicum and M. auritum that belonged to the Family Potamidae, and Somanniathelphusa genus of S. huaanensis and S. zhangpuensis (Family Parathelphusidae). In addition, the prevalence of P. westermani cercariae infections was 0.08% (2/2 317) in P. zhangchouensis from Danyan Village in Changtai District and 0.09% (1/1 039) in S. hainanensis from Jinkeng Village in Yunxiao County, and the prevalence of P. westermani metacercariae infections was 25.81% (8/31) in S. jianglense from Danyan Village in Changtai District, and 26.31% (5/19) in S. zhangzhouense from Jinkeng Village in Yunxiao County, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a population diversity in the intermediate host snails and crabs along the Jiulongjiang River, Zhangjiang River, and Dongxi River basins in Bopingling Mountain, southern Fujian Province, and P. zhangzhouensis and S. hainanensis are, for the first time, confirmed as the first intermediate hosts of P. westermani.

Sleeve gastrectomy links the attenuation of diabetic kidney disease to the inhibition of renal tubular ferroptosis through down-regulating TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway

PURPOSE

To investigate how sleeve gastrectomy (SG), a typical operation of bariatric surgery, attenuated symptom, and progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD).

METHODS

DKD model was induced by high-fat diet (HFD) combined with streptozocin in Wistar rats. SG was performed, and the group subjected to sham surgery served as control. The animals were euthanized 12 weeks after surgery, followed by sample collection for the subsequent experiment. The HK-2, a renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line derived from human, was utilized to investigate the potential mechanisms.

RESULTS

SG improved metabolic parameters and glucose homeostasis, and could alleviate DKD in terms of renal function indices as well as histological and morphological structures in DM rats, accompanied with a significant reduction in renal tubular injury. Compared with sham group, SG reduced the renal tubular ferroptosis. To further clarify the mechanism involved, in vitro experiments were performed. In the presence of high glucose, renal tubular TGF-β1 secretion was significantly increased in HK-2 cell line, which led to activation of ferroptosis through TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway. Inhibition of TGF-β1 receptor and phosphorylation of Smad3 significantly ameliorated TGF-β1-mediated ferroptosis. In vivo experiments also found that SG improved the hyperglycemic environment, reduced renal TGF-β1 concentrations, and down-regulated the TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

With the capacity to lower the glucose, SG could attenuate the ferroptosis by inhibiting TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway in DKD rats, and eventually attenuated DKD.

Convergence of dissolving and melting at the nanoscale

Phase transitions of water and its mixtures are of fundamental importance in physical chemistry, the pharmaceutical industry, materials sciences, and atmospheric sciences. However, current understanding remains elusive to explain relevant observations, especially at the nanoscale. Here, by using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the dissolution of sodium chloride (NaCl) nanocrystals with volume-equivalent diameters from 0.51 to 1.75 nm. Our results show that the dissolution of NaCl in aqueous nanodroplets show a strong size dependence, and its solubility can be predicted by the Ostwald-Freundlich equation and Gibbs-Duhem equation after considering a size-dependent solid-liquid surface tension. We find that the structure of dissolved ions in the saturated aqueous nanodropplet resembles the structure of a molten NaCl nanoparticle. With decreasing nanodroplet size, this similarity grows and the average potential energy of NaCl in solution, the molten phase and the crystal phase converges.

Development of a real-time impedance matching system for ion cyclotron resonance heating in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

To achieve stable operation of an ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) system in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a real-time impedance matching system needs to be established to respond to antenna load variation during long pulse discharges. A new impedance matching method based on capacitors was proposed in this study. By considering the reflected voltage of the transmission line as the feedback parameter, the real-time impedance-matching system can quickly control the motors based on a programmable logic controller to determine the minimum reflection voltage. A real-time impedance matching system was successfully used on the test platform in the laboratory and on the ICRH system in EAST. A significant result is that we can match the variable impedance within 1 s by suitably adjusting the motor controller to ensure high-power and long-pulse operation of the ICRH system to satisfy the requirements of the EAST experiment.

Toripalimab plus axitinib versus sunitinib as first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma: RENOTORCH, a randomized, open-label, phase III study

BACKGROUND

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors are standard treatments for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This phase III RENOTORCH study compared the efficacy and safety of toripalimab plus axitinib versus sunitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with intermediate-/poor-risk advanced RCC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with intermediate-/poor-risk unresectable or metastatic RCC were randomized in a ratio of 1 : 1 to receive toripalimab (240 mg intravenously once every 3 weeks) plus axitinib (5 mg orally twice daily) or sunitinib [50 mg orally once daily for 4 weeks (6-week cycle) or 2 weeks (3-week cycle)]. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) assessed by an independent review committee (IRC). The secondary endpoints were investigator-assessed PFS, overall response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and safety.

RESULTS

A total of 421 patients were randomized to receive toripalimab plus axitinib (n = 210) or sunitinib (n = 211). With a median follow-up of 14.6 months, toripalimab plus axitinib significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 35% compared with sunitinib as assessed by an IRC [hazard ratio (HR) 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.86; P = 0.0028]. The median PFS was 18.0 months in the toripalimab-axitinib group, whereas it was 9.8 months in the sunitinib group. The IRC-assessed ORR was significantly higher in the toripalimab-axitinib group compared with the sunitinib group (56.7% versus 30.8%; P < 0.0001). An OS trend favoring toripalimab plus axitinib was also observed (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.40-0.92). Treatment-related grade ≥3 adverse events occurred in 61.5% of patients in the toripalimab-axitinib group and 58.6% of patients in the sunitinib group.

CONCLUSION

In patients with previously untreated intermediate-/poor-risk advanced RCC, toripalimab plus axitinib provided significantly longer PFS and higher ORR than sunitinib and had a manageable safety profile TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04394975.

[Evaluation of brain age changes in patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy with deep learning models based on structural magnetic resonance imaging]

Objective: To investigate the brain aging in patients with cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy(HE), constructed a prediction model of brain age based on deep learning and T1 high-resolution MRI, and try to reveal the specific regions where cirrhosis and HE accelerating brain aging. Methods: A cross-sectional study. A brain age prediction model based on the 3D full convolutional neural network was constructed through T1 high-resolution MRI data from 3 609 healthy individuals across eight global public datasets. The mean absolute error (MAE) between actual age and predicted brain age, Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and determination coefficient (R2) were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the model's predictions. A test set (n=555) from the Human Connectome Project was used to assess the accuracy of the model. A total of 136 patients with cirrhosis were recruited from Tianjin First Central Hospital as the case group (79 patients with cirrhosis without HE and 57 patients with cirrhosis with HE), and 70 healthy individuals were recruited from the society as the healthy control group during the same period. Brain-predicted age difference (Brain-PAD), digital connection-A (NCT-A) and digital-symbol test (DST) scores of all subjects were calculated for all subjects to assess brain aging and cognitive function in the healthy control group, the cirrhosis without HE group, and the cirrhosis with HE group. The network occlusion sensitivity analysis method was employed to assess the importance of each brain region in predicting brain age. Results: As for the prediction model, in the training set, MAE=2.85, r=0.98, R2=0.96. In the test set, MAE=4.45, r=0.96, R2=0.92. In the local data set of the healthy control group, MAE=3.77, r=0.85, R2=0.73. The time of NCT-A in both cirrhosis groups was longer than healthy control group, while the DST scores were lower than healthy control group, and the differences were statistically significant (both P<0.001); the Brain-PAD of healthy control group was (0.8±4.5) years, the Brain-PAD of no-HE group was (6.9±8.1) years, and the HE group was (10.2±7.7) years. The differences between the three groups were statistically significant (P<0.001), and the differences between any two groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The importance ratio of visual network in predicting brain age increased in cirrhosis patients, and the HE group was higher than no-HE group. Conclusions: In patients with cirrhosis, the cognitive function is reduced, brain aging is accelerated, and these changes are more obvious in patients with HE. The importance differences of each brain network in predicting brain aging provide a new direction for identifying the specific regions where cirrhosis and HE accelerate brain aging.

Research on speed sensorless control strategy of permanent magnet synchronous motor based on fuzzy super-twisting sliding mode observer

Aiming at the problems of poor adjustment effect, weak anti-disturbance ability, and low robustness of the traditional sliding mode algorithm for permanent magnet synchronous motor speed sensorless, a permanent magnet synchronous motor speed observation method combining super-twisting sliding mode control algorithm and fuzzy control is proposed to accelerate the convergence speed of the system and improve the anti-disturbance ability. Fuzzy rules are used to solve the problem of obtaining the upper bound of the boundary function in the super-twisting algorithm. Moreover, the fuzzy algorithm is used to output the variable sliding mode gain instead of the fixed sliding mode coefficient to improve the system robustness and suppress the jitter. The simulation results show that the overshoot of the control system is 4%, the lag time is not more than 0.003 ms, the speed error is not more than 1%, and the response and adjustment time is not more than 0.02 s. The proposed control strategy improves the tracking accuracy and response speed of the system, suppresses the sliding mode chattering, and enhances the anti-interference ability of the system.

[Preliminary insights into the practice of hypoallergenic home visiting program]

Allergic diseases affect about 40% of the world's population. Environmental factors are important in the occurrence and development of allergic diseases. Dust mites are one of the most important allergens in the indoor environment. The World Health Organization proposes the "four-in-one, combination of prevention and treatment" treatment principle for allergic diseases, in which environmental control to avoid or reduce allergens is the first choice for treatment. Modern people spend much more time at home (including sleeping) than outdoors, and the control of the home environment is particularly critical. This practice introduces the hypoallergenic home visit program, which including home environment assessment, environmental and behavioral intervention guidance, and common household hypoallergenic supplies and service guidance for the patient's home environment. The real-time semi-quantitative testing of dust mite allergens, qualitative assessments of other indoor allergens, record of patients' household items and lifestyle, and precise, individualized patient prevention and control education will be conducted. The hypoallergenic home visit program improves the doctors' diagnosis and treatment data dimension, and becomes a patient management tool for doctors outside the hospital. It also helps patients continue to scientifically avoid allergens and irritants in the environment, effectively build a hypoallergenic home environment, reduce exposure to allergens in the home environment, and achieve the goal of combining the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases.

Hyperon Polarization along the Beam Direction Relative to the Second and Third Harmonic Event Planes in Isobar Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The polarization of Λ and Λ[over ¯] hyperons along the beam direction has been measured relative to the second and third harmonic event planes in isobar Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. This is the first experimental evidence of the hyperon polarization by the triangular flow originating from the initial density fluctuations. The amplitudes of the sine modulation for the second and third harmonic results are comparable in magnitude, increase from central to peripheral collisions, and show a mild p_{T} dependence. The azimuthal angle dependence of the polarization follows the vorticity pattern expected due to elliptic and triangular anisotropic flow, and qualitatively disagrees with most hydrodynamic model calculations based on thermal vorticity and shear induced contributions. The model results based on one of existing implementations of the shear contribution lead to a correct azimuthal angle dependence, but predict centrality and p_{T} dependence that still disagree with experimental measurements. Thus, our results provide stringent constraints on the thermal vorticity and shear-induced contributions to hyperon polarization. Comparison to previous measurements at RHIC and the LHC for the second-order harmonic results shows little dependence on the collision system size and collision energy.

[Survey on the application of external cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Chinese children with sudden cardiac arrest]

Objectives: To investigate the current application status and implementation difficulties of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) in children with sudden cardiac arrest. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 35 hospitals. A Children's ECPR Information Questionnaire on the implementation status of ECPR technology (abbreviated as the questionnaire) was designed, to collect the data of 385 children treated with ECPR in the 35 hospitals. The survey extracted the information about development of ECPR, the maintenance of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, the indication of ECPR, and the difficulties of implementation in China. These ECPR patients were grouped based on their age, the hospital location and level, to compare the survival rates after weaning and discharge. The statistical analysis used Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance for the comparison between the groups, LSD method for post hoc testing, and Bonferroni method for pairwise comparison. Results: Of the 385 ECPR cases, 224 were males and 161 females. There were 185 (48.1%) survival cases after weaning and 157 (40.8%) after discharge. There were 324 children (84.2%) receiving ECPR for cardiac disease and 27 children (7.0%) for respiratory failure. The primary cause of death in ECPR patients was circulatory failure (82 cases, 35.9%), followed by brain failure (80 cases, 35.0%). The most common place of ECPR was intensive care unit (ICU) (278 cases, 72.2%); ECPR catheters were mostly inserted through incision (327 cases, 84.9%). There were 32 hospitals (91.4%) had established ECMO emergency teams, holding 125 ECMO machines in total. ECMO machines mainly located in ICU (89 pieces, 71.2%), and the majority of hospitals (32 units, 91.4%) did not have pre-charged loops. There were no statistically significant differences in the post-withdrawal and post-discharge survival rates of ECPR patients among different age groups, regions, and hospitals (all P>0.05). The top 5 difficulties in implementing ECPR in non-ICU environments were lack of ECMO machines (16 times), difficulty in placing CPR pipes (15 times), long time intervals between CPR and ECMO transfer (13 times), lack of conventional backup ECMO loops (10 times), and inability of ECMO emergency teams to quickly arrive at the site (5 times). Conclusion: ECPR has been gradually developed in the field of pediatric critical care in China, and needs to be further standardized. ECPR in non-ICU environment remains a challenge.

Exploration of Multiomic Profiles and Biomarkers as Predictors of Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Responsiveness in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The current gold standard of care for resectable locally advanced esophageal cancer is neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) followed by surgery. Given that only 30-40% of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) achieved a pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, it is critical to understand the biological basis of NCRT resistance in esophageal cancer and identify biomarkers for these patients in order to further personalize treatment plans. We aim to depict the biological landscape of ESCC responsiveness and resistance to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Endoscopic biopsied specimens of the primary tumors and paired peripheral blood samples were obtained from 24 patients before neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and tested for whole exosome sequencing, RNA sequencing, and DIA mass spectrometry. Genomic data were analyzed for significantly mutated genes, copy number alterations, MSI, TMB, and mutational signatures. Transcriptomics and proteomics data were used to examine differentially activated pathways. GSEA and ActivePathways were used for the single omics level and joint multi-omics analysis, respectively. Tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics were deconvoluted by xCell upon RNA-seq data. Treatment resistance biomarkers were identified and validated in a separate cohort using mIHC.

RESULTS

In the study cohort, 54% (13/24) of the patients achieved pCR. WES data suggested that FBXW7 was more frequently mutated in the pCR group (fisher test p-value = 0.029), and the most significant cytoband loss in the pCR group was 9p21.3 (qval = 0.001). Differences in TMB, MSI, and mutational signatures were not significant between groups. Combined transcriptomics and proteomics analysis revealed that type I interferon signaling pathways and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathways(p<0.05) were enriched in non-pCR tumors. Esophageal cancer cohort RNA-seq data from TCGA verified the correlation between the genetic variances (FBXW7 mutation and 9p21.3 loss) and the decreased expression of type I interferon signaling pathway genes. In TME analysis, tolerogenic dendritic cells and exhausted T cell signatures were significantly enriched in non-pCR tumors, indicating an immunosuppressive status in treatment resistant patients. Based on proteomics PPI network and differential expression genes from RNA-seq data, a biomarker panel consisted of 12 proteins predictive of non-pCR tumors was identified: STAT1, EIF2AK2, MX1, BST2, TRIM21, SAMHD1, IFI44L, GBP1, PARP14, ISG15, IFIT3, and HLA-B. The expression of selected genes was validated by mIHC in an independent cohort.

CONCLUSION

Through a multiomics approach, we described the biological characteristics of ESCC with distinct responses to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and proposed a panel of 12 proteins as predictive biomarkers for non-pCR patients.

[Prevalence of comorbid depression and anxiety and effect of psychological interventions among schistosomiasis patients in China: a meta-analysis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of comorbid depression and anxiety and to evaluate the effect of psychological interventions among schistosomiasis patients in China, so as to provide insights into improvements of psychological health among schistosomiasis patients.

METHODS

Publications pertaining to comorbid depression and anxiety and psychological interventions among Chinese schistosomiasis patients were retrieved in electronic databases, including CNKI, Wanfang Data, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. The prevalence of comorbidity, psychological interventions, and scores for the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) before and after psychological interventions among Chinese schistosomiasis patients were extracted. The prevalence of comorbid depression and anxiety was investigated among Chinese schistosomiasis patients using a meta-analysis, and the effect of psychological interventions for depression and anxiety was evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 231 publications were retrieved, and 14 publications that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the final analysis, including 2 English publications and 12 Chinese publications. Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence rates of comorbid depression and anxiety were 61% [95% confidential interval (CI): (48%, 72%)] and 64% [95% CI: (42%, 81%)] among Chinese schistosomiasis patients. Both the SDS [1.45 points, 95% CI: (1.30, 1.60) points] and SAS scores [2.21 points, 95% CI: (2.05, 2.38) points] reduced among Chinese schistosomiasis patients after psychological interventions than before psychological interventions, and the SDS [-0.47 points, 95% CI: (-6.90, -0.25) points] and SAS scores [-1.30 points, 95% CI: (-1.52, -1.09) points] reduced among Chinese schistosomiasis patients in the case group than in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

The comorbid anxiety and depression are common among Chinese schistosomiasis patients, and conventional psychological interventions facilitate the improvements of anxiety and depression among schistosomiasis patients.

[The impact of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells on the pancreatic function of type 2 diabetic mice and their regulatory role on NLRP3 inflammasomes]

Objective: To investigate the effect and regulation of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) on islets function and NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) and autophagy in type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) mice. Methods: Experimental study. Twenty, 8-week-old, male C57BL/6J mice were selected and divided into a normal control group (n=5) and a high-fat feeding modeling group (n=15). The model of T2DM was established by high-fat feeding combined with intraperitoneal injection of low-dose streptozotocin. After successful modeling, those mice were divided into a diabetes group (n=7) and a UC-MSCs treatment group (n=7). The UC-MSCs treatment group was given UC-MSCs (1×106/0.2 ml phosphate buffer solution) by tail vein infusion once a week for a total of 4 weeks; the diabetes group was injected with the same amount of normal saline, and the normal control group was not treated. One week after the treatment, mice underwent intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests and intraperitoneal insulin tolerance tests, and then the mice were sacrificed to obtain pancreatic tissue to detect the expressions of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) by immunofluorescence. The bone marrow-derived macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and adenosine triphosphate (experimental group) in vitro, then co-cultured with UC-MSCs for 24 h (treatment group). After the culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the secretion level of IL-1β in the supernatant, and immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome, and related autophagy proteins. Statistical analysis was performed using unpaired one-way analysis of variance, repeated measure analysis of variance. Results: In vivo experiments showed that compared with the diabetes group, the UC-MSCs treatment group partially repaired islet structure, improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity (all P<0.05), and the expression of PDX-1 increased and IL-1β decreased in islets under confocal microscopy. In vitro experiments showed that compared with the experimental group, the level of IL-1β secreted by macrophages in the treatment group was decreased [(85.9±74.6) pg/ml vs. (883.4±446.2) pg/ml, P=0.001], the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and autophagy-related protein P62 was decreased, and the expressions of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3β (LC3) and autophagy effector Beclin-1 were increased under confocal microscopy. Conclusions: UC-MSCs can reduce the level of pancreatic inflammation in T2DM mice, preserving pancreatic function. This might be associated with the ability of UC-MSCs to inhibit the activity of NLRP3 inflammasomes in macrophages and enhance autophagy levels.

Thyroid V40 is a good predictor for subclinical hypothyroidism in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after intensity modulated radiation therapy: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Hypothyroidism (HT) and subclinical HT after radiotherapy is frequent in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, results in negative impact on patients' quality of life. The percentage of thyroid volume receiving more than 40 Gy (V40) ≤ 85% was reported to be a useful dose constraint to adopt during intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning. This study aims to verify whether V40 ≤ 85% can be used as an effective dose constraint in IMRT planning in a randomized clinical trial.

METHODS

This single-center 1:1 randomized clinical trial was conducted in Fujian province hospital between March 2018 and September 2022. All patients were treated with IMRT and randomized to induction chemo followed by concurrent chemo-IMRT or concurrent chemo-IMRT alone. Ninety-two clinically NPC patients were included in this study. The thyroid function tests were performed for all patients before and after radiation at regular intervals. Thyroid dose-constraint was defined as V40 ≤ 85%. The primary outcome in this study was subclinical HT.

RESULTS

Median follow up was 34 months. Significant difference in the incidence of subclinical HT between the thyroid dose-constraint group and unrestricted group was observed (P = 0.023). The risk of subclinical HT in the thyroid dose-constraint group was lower than that in the unrestricted group (P = 0.022). Univariate and multivariate cox regression analysis indicated that thyroid dose-constraint was a protective effect of subclinical HT (HR = 0.408, 95% CI 0.184-0.904; HRadjusted = 0.361, 95% CI 0.155-0.841).

CONCLUSION

V40 ≤ 85% can be used as an effective dose constraint in IMRT planning to prevent radiation-induced subclinical HT.

Measurements of jet multiplicity and jet transverse momentum in multijet events in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

Multijet events at large transverse momentum (p T ) are measured at s = 13 Te V using data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb - 1 . The multiplicity of jets with p T > 50 Ge V that are produced in association with a high-p T dijet system is measured in various ranges of the p T of the jet with the highest transverse momentum and as a function of the azimuthal angle difference Δ ϕ 1 , 2 between the two highest p T jets in the dijet system. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momenta of the four highest p T jets. The measurements are compared with leading and next-to-leading order matrix element calculations supplemented with simulations of parton shower, hadronization, and multiparton interactions. In addition, the measurements are compared with next-to-leading order matrix element calculations combined with transverse-momentum dependent parton densities and transverse-momentum dependent parton shower.

Azimuthal correlations in Z +jets events in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

The production of Z bosons associated with jets is measured in pp collisions at s = 13 Te V with data recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.3fb - 1 . The multiplicity of jets with transverse momentum p T > 30 Ge V is measured for different regions of the Z boson's p T ( Z ) , from lower than 10Ge V to higher than 100Ge V . The azimuthal correlation Δ ϕ between the Z boson and the leading jet, as well as the correlations between the two leading jets are measured in three regions of p T ( Z ) . The measurements are compared with several predictions at leading and next-to-leading orders, interfaced with parton showers. Predictions based on transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions and corresponding parton showers give a good description of the measurement in the regions where multiple parton interactions and higher jet multiplicities are not important. The effects of multiple parton interactions are shown to be important to correctly describe the measured spectra in the low p T ( Z ) regions.

[Diagnosis and treatment procedures and health management for patients with hereditary angioedema]

As a recognized rare and highly fatal disease, hereditary angioedema (HAE) is difficult to diagnose and characterized by recurrent edema involving the head, limbs, genitals and larynx, etc. Diagnosis of HAE is not difficult. However, low incidence and lack of clinical characteristics lead to difficulty of doctors on timely diagnosis and correct intervention for HAE patients. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the awareness of this disease and prevent its recurrence. for HAE patients. In view of absent cognition of doctors and the general public on HAE, patients often suffer from sudden death or become disabled due to laryngeal edema which cannot be treated in time. Thus, based on the Internet mobile terminal platform, the team set up an all-day rapid emergency response system which is provided for HAE patients by setting up "one-click help". The aim is to offer optimization on overall management of HAE and designed the intelligent follow-up management to provide timely assistance and specialized suggestion for patients with acute attacks.

Azimuthal Correlations within Exclusive Dijets with Large Momentum Transfer in Photon-Lead Collisions

The structure of nucleons is multidimensional and depends on the transverse momenta, spatial geometry, and polarization of the constituent partons. Such a structure can be studied using high-energy photons produced in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions. The first measurement of the azimuthal angular correlations of exclusively produced events with two jets in photon-lead interactions at large momentum transfer is presented, a process that is considered to be sensitive to the underlying nuclear gluon polarization. This study uses a data sample of ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.38  nb^{-1}, collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measured second harmonic of the correlation between the sum and difference of the two jet transverse momentum vectors is found to be positive, and rising, as the dijet transverse momentum increases. A well-tuned model that has been successful at describing a wide range of proton scattering data from the HERA experiments fails to describe the observed correlations, suggesting the presence of gluon polarization effects.

[UhpTE350Q mutation along with the presence of fosA6/5 genes in the genome probably contributes to inherent fosfomycin resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying inherent fosfomycin resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae).

METHODS

The draft genomic sequences of 14 clinical hypervirulent/hypermucoviscous K. pneumoniae (HvKP/ HmKP) isolates were obtained using the next-generation sequencing technology. The genomic sequences were analyzed using the Resistance Gene Identifier (RGI) software for predicting the resistome based on homology and SNP models in the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) and for identification of the presence of phosphomycin resistancerelated genes uhpt and fosA and their mutations in the bacterial genomes. The results were verified by analyzing a total of 521 full-length genomic sequences of K. pneumonia strains obtained from GenBank.

RESULTS

All the 14 clinical isolates of HvKP/ HmKP carried hexose phosphate transporter (UhpT) gene mutation, in which the glutamic acid was mutated to glutamine at 350aa (UhpT^E350Q mutation); the presence of fosA6 gene was detected in 12 (85.71%) of the isolates and fosA5 gene was detected in the other 2 (14.29%) isolates. Analysis of the genomic sequences of 521 K. pneumonia strains from GenBank showed that 508 (97.50%) strains carried UhpT^E350Q mutation, 439 (84.26%) strains harbored fosA6, and 80 (15.36%) strains harbored fosA5; 507 (97.31%) strains were found to have both UhpT^E350Q mutation and fosA6/5 genes in the genome. Only 12 (2.30%) strains carried fosA6/5 genes without UhpT^E350Q mutation; 1 (0.19%) strain had only UhpT^E350Q mutation without fosA6/5 genes, and another strain contained neither UhpT^E350Q mutation nor fosA6/5 genes.

CONCLUSION

UhpT^E350Q mutation with the presence of fosA6/5 genes are ubiquitous in K. pneumonia genomes, indicating a possible intrinsic mechanism of fosfomycin resistance in the bacterium to limit the use of fosfomycin against infections caused by K. pneumoniae, especially the multi-resistant HvKP/HmKP strains.

[An interpretable machine learning-based prediction model for risk of death for patients with ischemic stroke in intensive care unit]

OBJECTIVE

To construct an inherent interpretability machine learning model as an explainable boosting machine model (EBM) for predicting one-year risk of death in patients with severe ischemic stroke.

METHODS

We randomly divided the data of 2369 eligible patients with severe ischemic stroke in the MIMIC-Ⅳ(2.0) database, who were admitted in ICU in 2008 to 2019, into a training dataset (80%) and a test dataset (20%), and assessed the prognosis of the patients using the EBM model. The prediction performance of the model was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) curve. The calibration curve and Brier score were used to evaluate the degree of calibration of the model, and a decision curve was generated to assess the net clinical benefit.

RESULTS

The EBM model constructed in this study had good discrimination power, calibration and net benefit, with an AUC of 0.857 (95% CI: 0.831-0.887) for predicting prognosis of severe ischemic stroke. Calibration curve analysis showed that the standard curve of the EBM model was the closest to the ideal curve. Decision curve analysis showed that the model had the greatest net benefit rate at the prediction probability threshold of 0.10 to 0.80. The top 5 independent predictive variables based on the EBM model were age, SOFA score, mean heart rate, mechanical ventilation, and mean respiratory rate, whose significance scores ranged from 0.179 to 0.370.

CONCLUSION

This EBM model has a good performance for predicting the risk of death within one year in patients with severe ischemic stroke and allows clinicians to better understand the contributing factors of the patients' outcomes through the model interpretability.

Measurement of the mass dependence of the transverse momentum of lepton pairs in Drell-Yan production in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV

The double differential cross sections of the Drell-Yan lepton pair (ℓ + ℓ - , dielectron or dimuon) production are measured as functions of the invariant mass m ℓ ℓ , transverse momentum p T ( ℓ ℓ ) , and φ η ∗ . The φ η ∗ observable, derived from angular measurements of the leptons and highly correlated with p T ( ℓ ℓ ) , is used to probe the low-p T ( ℓ ℓ ) region in a complementary way. Dilepton masses up to 1Te V are investigated. Additionally, a measurement is performed requiring at least one jet in the final state. To benefit from partial cancellation of the systematic uncertainty, the ratios of the differential cross sections for various m ℓ ℓ ranges to those in the Z mass peak interval are presented. The collected data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.3fb - 1 of proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13Te V . Measurements are compared with predictions based on perturbative quantum chromodynamics, including soft-gluon resummation.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of ozone and the formation sensitivity over the Fenwei Plain

High surface ozone (O₃) levels affect human and environmental health. The Fenwei Plain (FWP), one of the critical regions for China's "Blue Sky Protection Campaign", has reported severe O₃ pollution. This study investigates the spatiotemporal properties and the causes of O₃ pollution over the FWP using high-resolution data from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) from 2019 to 2021. This study characterizes spatial and temporal variations in O₃ concentration by linking O₃ columns and surface monitoring using a trained deep forest machine learning model. O₃ concentrations in summer were 2-3 times higher than those found in winter due to higher temperatures and greater solar irradiation. The spatial distributions of O₃ correlate with the solar radiation showing decreased trends from the northeastern to the southwestern FWP, with the highest O₃ values in Shanxi Province and the lowest in Shaanxi Province. For urban areas, croplands and grasslands, the O₃ photochemistry in summer is NO_x-limited or in the transitional regime, while it is VOC-limited in winter and other seasons. Reducing NO_x emissions would be effective for decreasing O₃ levels in summer, while VOC reductions are necessary for winter. The annual cycle in vegetated areas included both NO_x-limited and transitional regimes, indicating the importance of NO_x controls to protect ecosystems. The O₃ response to limiting precursors shown here is of importance for optimizing control strategies and is illustrated by emission changes during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak.

CMS pythia 8 colour reconnection tunes based on underlying-event data

New sets of parameter tunes for two of the colour reconnection models, quantum chromodynamics-inspired and gluon-move, implemented in the pythia  8 event generator, are obtained based on the default CMS pythia  8 underlying-event tune, CP5. Measurements sensitive to the underlying event performed by the CMS experiment at centre-of-mass energies s = 7 and 13Te V , and by the CDF experiment at 1.96Te V are used to constrain the parameters of colour reconnection models and multiple-parton interactions simultaneously. The new colour reconnection tunes are compared with various measurements at 1.96, 7, 8, and 13Te V including measurements of the underlying-event, strange-particle multiplicities, jet substructure observables, jet shapes, and colour flow in top quark pair (t t ¯ ) events. The new tunes are also used to estimate the uncertainty related to colour reconnection modelling in the top quark mass measurement using the decay products of t t ¯ events in the semileptonic channel at 13Te V .

Search for light Higgs bosons from supersymmetric cascade decays in pp collisions at s=13TeV

A search is reported for pairs of light Higgs bosons (H 1 ) produced in supersymmetric cascade decays in final states with small missing transverse momentum. A data set of LHC pp collisions collected with the CMS detector at s = 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb - 1 is used. The search targets events where both H 1 bosons decay into pairs that are reconstructed as large-radius jets using substructure techniques. No evidence is found for an excess of events beyond the background expectations of the standard model (SM). Results from the search are interpreted in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM, where a "singlino" of small mass leads to squark and gluino cascade decays that can predominantly end in a highly Lorentz-boosted singlet-like H 1 and a singlino-like neutralino of small transverse momentum. Upper limits are set on the product of the squark or gluino pair production cross section and the square of the branching fraction of the H 1 in a benchmark model containing almost mass-degenerate gluinos and light-flavour squarks. Under the assumption of an SM-like branching fraction, H 1 bosons with masses in the range 40-120GeV arising from the decays of squarks or gluinos with a mass of 1200-2500GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

[Mechanism of intestinal injury induced by WNT2B high-expressed fibroblasts in Crohn's disease]

Objective: To explore the mechanism of intestinal tissue damage induced by macrophages activated by WNT2B high-expressed fibroblasts. Methods: This study involved biological information analysis, pathological tissue research and cell experimental research. The biological information of the colon tissue from the children with inflammatory bowel disease in previous study was analyzed again with single-cell sequencing. The pathological tissues were collected by colonoscopy from 10 children with Crohn's disease treated in the Department of Gastroenterology of Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center from July 2022 to September 2022. According to the findings of colonoscopy, tissues with obvious inflammation or ulceration were classified as the inflammatory group, while tissues with slight inflammation and no ulceration were classified as the non-inflammatory group. HE staining was performed to observe the pathological changes of the colon tissues. Macrophage infiltration and CXCL12 expression were detected by immunofluorescence. In terms of cell experiments, fibroblasts transfected with WNT2B plasmid or empty plasmid were co-cultured with salinomycin treated or non-treated macrophages, respectively; the expression of proteins through Wnt classical pathway were detected by western blotting. Macrophages treated with SKL2001 were used as the experimental group, and those with phosphate buffer as the control group. The expression and secretion of CXCL12 in macrophages were detected by quantitative Real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). T-test or rank sum test were used for the comparison between groups. Results: Single-cell sequencing analysis suggested that macrophages were the main cells in inflammatory bowel disease colon tissue, and there was interaction between WNT2B high-expressed fibroblasts and macrophages. HE staining of the 10 patients ((9.3±3.8) years old, 7 males and 3 females) showed that the pathological score of colon tissue in the inflammatory group was higher than that in the non-inflammatory group (4 (3, 4) vs. 2 (1, 2) points, Z=3.05, P=0.002). Tissue immunofluorescence indicated that the number of infiltrating macrophages in the inflammatory group was significantly higher than that in the non-inflammatory group under high power field of view (72.8±10.4 vs.8.4±3.5, t=25.10, P<0.001), as well as the number of cells expressing CXCL12 (14.0±3.5 vs. 4.7±1.9, t=14.68, P<0.001). In cell experiments, western blotting suggested an elevated level of glycogen synthase kinase-3β phosphorylation in macrophages co-cultured with fibroblast transfected with WNT2B plasmid, and salinmycin could reverse this change. Real-time PCR suggested that the transcription level of CXCL12 in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group (6.42±0.04 vs. 1.00±0.03, t=183.00, P<0.001), as well as the expression and secretion of CXCL12 by ELISA ((465±34) vs. (77±9) ng/L, t=13.21, P=0.006). Conclusion: WNT2B high-expressed fibroblasts can secrete WNT2B protein and activate the Wnt classical signaling pathway thus enhancing the expression and secretion of CXCL12 in macrophages, inducing the development of intestinal inflammation of Crohn's disease.

Measurements of the Elliptic and Triangular Azimuthal Anisotropies in Central ^{3}He+Au, d+Au and p+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV

The elliptic (v_{2}) and triangular (v_{3}) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients in central ^{3}He+Au, d+Au, and p+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV are measured as a function of transverse momentum (p_{T}) at midrapidity (|η|<0.9), via the azimuthal angular correlation between two particles both at |η|<0.9. While the v_{2}(p_{T}) values depend on the colliding systems, the v_{3}(p_{T}) values are system independent within the uncertainties, suggesting an influence on eccentricity from subnucleonic fluctuations in these small-sized systems. These results also provide stringent constraints for the hydrodynamic modeling of these systems.

Observation of Directed Flow of Hypernuclei _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H in sqrt[s_{NN}]=3 GeV Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report here the first observation of directed flow (v_{1}) of the hypernuclei _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H in mid-central Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3  GeV at RHIC. These data are taken as part of the beam energy scan program carried out by the STAR experiment. From 165×10^{6} events in 5%-40% centrality, about 8400 _{Λ}^{3}H and 5200 _{Λ}^{4}H candidates are reconstructed through two- and three-body decay channels. We observe that these hypernuclei exhibit significant directed flow. Comparing to that of light nuclei, it is found that the midrapidity v_{1} slopes of _{Λ}^{3}H and _{Λ}^{4}H follow baryon number scaling, implying that the coalescence is the dominant mechanism for these hypernuclei production in the 3 GeV Au+Au collisions.

Expert consensus of management of adverse drug reactions with anaplastic lymphoma kinase tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements occur in ∼3%-6% of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Small molecular drugs that effectively inhibit ALK gene have revolutionized the therapeutic paradigm for patients with ALK rearrangements, resulting in significant improvements in objective response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival compared with classical platinum-based chemotherapy. Several ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ALK-TKIs), including crizotinib, alectinib, ceritinib, brigatinib, ensartinib, and lorlatinib, have been recommended as standard first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC patients with ALK rearrangements. Patients with ALK rearrangements typically exhibit long-term durable responses to ALK-TKIs; therefore, the management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) with ALK-TKIs is crucial in clinical practice to maximize clinical benefits, prevent an adverse impact on quality of life, and improve patient compliance. In general, ALK-TKIs are well tolerated. There are, however, a number of serious toxicities that may necessitate dose modification or even discontinuation of treatment and the management of ADRs with ALK-TKIs has grown in importance. The therapeutic use of this class of medications still carries some risk because there are currently no pertinent guidelines or consensus recommendations for managing ADRs caused by ALK-TKIs in China. In order to improve the clinical management of ADRs with ALK-TKIs, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Professional Committee led the discussion and summary of the incidence, diagnosis and grading standards, and prevention and treatment of ADRs caused by ALK-TKIs.

Beam Energy Dependence of Triton Production and Yield Ratio (N_{t}×N_{p}/N_{d}^{2}) in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the triton (t) production in midrapidity (|y|<0.5) Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=7.7-200  GeV measured by the STAR experiment from the first phase of the beam energy scan at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The nuclear compound yield ratio (N_{t}×N_{p}/N_{d}^{2}), which is predicted to be sensitive to the fluctuation of local neutron density, is observed to decrease monotonically with increasing charged-particle multiplicity (dN_{ch}/dη) and follows a scaling behavior. The dN_{ch}/dη dependence of the yield ratio is compared to calculations from coalescence and thermal models. Enhancements in the yield ratios relative to the coalescence baseline are observed in the 0%-10% most central collisions at 19.6 and 27 GeV, with a significance of 2.3σ and 3.4σ, respectively, giving a combined significance of 4.1σ. The enhancements are not observed in peripheral collisions or model calculations without critical fluctuation, and decreases with a smaller p_{T} acceptance. The physics implications of these results on the QCD phase structure and the production mechanism of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions are discussed.

Bilateral simultaneous cataract surgery and intraocular lens implantation in an adult female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) inducing monovision

BACKGROUND

Cataract is the major cause of visual impairment in humans. Phacoemulsification with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is the standard technique for cataract treatment with a high success rate. In a few cases, the surgical cataract procedure and lens implantation have been applied in non-human primates.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A +/- 40-year-old female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in captivity was diagnosed with mature cataract optical density (OD) and posterior subcapsular cataract combined with cortical opacities OS after ophthalmic examination. To restore vision and facilitate far- and near sight, phacoemulsification OU with +22.5 diopter (D) IOL implantation OD and + 24 D OS were performed. Despite complicated surgery OD due to posterior capsular rupture, the outcome was successful during 1-year follow-up. The chimpanzee regained adequate vision, normal behavior, and was successfully re-introduced to her group of chimpanzees.

CONCLUSION

This is the first case report of a simultaneous bilateral cataract surgery with IOL implantations in both eyes, targeting emmetropia OS and near vision OD resulting in monovision, in a chimpanzee. Vision was restored without postoperative complications.

A Novel MR Imaging Sequence of 3D-ZOOMit Real Inversion-Recovery Imaging Improves Endolymphatic Hydrops Detection in Patients with Ménière Disease

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The detection rate of premortem MR imaging endolymphatic hydrops is lower than that of postmortem endolymphatic hydrops in Ménière disease, indicating that current MR imaging techniques may underestimate endolymphatic hydrops. Therefore, we prospectively investigated whether a novel high-resolution MR imaging technique, the 3D zoomed imaging technique with parallel transmission real inversion-recovery (3D-ZOOMit real IR), would improve the detection of endolymphatic hydrops compared with conventional 3D TSE inversion-recovery with real reconstruction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty patients with definite unilateral Ménière disease were enrolled and underwent 3D-ZOOMit real IR and 3D TSE inversion-recovery with real reconstruction 6 hours after IV gadolinium injection. The endo- and perilymph spaces were scored separately. The contrast-to-noise ratio, SNR, and signal intensity ratio of the 2 sequences were respectively calculated and compared. The presence of endolymphatic hydrops was evaluated.

RESULTS

The endolymphatic space in the cochlea and vestibule was better visualized with 3D-ZOOMit real IR than with conventional 3D TSE inversion-recovery with real reconstruction (P < .001). There were differences between the 2 sequences in the evaluation of no cochlear hydrops and cochlear hydrops (both, P < .017). All contrast-to-noise ratio, SNR, and signal intensity ratio values of 3D-ZOOMit real IR images were statistically higher than those of conventional 3D TSE inversion-recovery with real reconstruction (all, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

The 3D-ZOOMit real IR sequences are superior to conventional 3D TSE inversion-recovery with real reconstruction sequences in visualizing the endolymphatic space, detecting endolymphatic hydrops, and discovering contrast permeability.

[HSDL2 overexpression promotes rectal cancer progression by regulating cancer cell cycle and promoting cell proliferation]

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the expression of hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase like 2 (HSDL2) in rectal cancer tissues and the effect of changes in HSDL2 expression level on proliferation of rectal cancer cells.

METHODS

Clinical data and tissue samples of 90 patients with rectal cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2020 to June 2022 were collected from the prospective clinical database and biological specimen database. The expression level of HSDL2 in rectal cancer and adjacent tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry, and based on the median level of HSDL2 expression, the patients were divided into high expression group (n=45) and low expression group (n=45) for analysis the correlation between HSDL2 expression level and the clinicopathological parameters. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed to explore the role of HSDL2 in rectal cancer progression. The effects of changes in HSDL2 expression levels on rectal cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle and protein expressions were investigated in SW480 cells with lentivirus-mediated HSDL2 silencing or HSDL2 overexpression using CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and Western blotting.

RESULTS

The expressions of HSDL2 and Ki67 were significantly higher in rectal cancer tissues than in the adjacent tissues (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the expression of HSDL2 protein was positively correlated with Ki67, CEA and CA19-9 expressions (P < 0.01). The rectal cancer patients with high HSDL2 expressions had significantly higher likelihood of having CEA ≥5 μg/L, CA19-9 ≥37 kU/L, T3-4 stage, and N2-3 stage than those with a low HSDL2 expression (P < 0.05). GO and KEGG analysis showed that HSDL2 was mainly enriched in DNA replication and cell cycle. In SW480 cells, HSDL2 overexpression significantly promoted cell proliferation, increased cell percentage in S phase, and enhanced the expression levels of CDK6 and cyclinD1 (P < 0.05), and HSDL2 silencing produced the opposite effects (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The high expression of HSDL2 in rectal cancer participates in malignant progression of the tumor by promoting the proliferation and cell cycle progress of the cancer cells.

[Diosmetin regulates intestinal immune balance by inhibiting PI3K/AKT signaling to relieve 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced Crohn's disease-like colitis in mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of diosmetin on 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced Crohn's disease (CD)-like colitis in mice.

METHODS

Wild-type C57BL/6 mice were randomized into control group, TNBS-induced CD-like colitis group (TNBS group) and 50 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 diosmetin-treated group (n=8). Disease activity (DAI) scores, body weight changes, histological scores, colon lengths and colon mucosal levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-17A were measured to evaluate the severity of colitis. The changes of T lymphocyte subsets (Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg) in the mesenteric lymph nodes were analyzed by flow cytometry. Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to analyze the effect of diosmetin on PI3K/AKT pathway.

RESULTS

Compared with TNBS group, diosmetin treatment significantly lowered DAI scores, histological scores, body weight loss and colon mucosal levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-17A (P < 0.05) and increased the colon length of the rat models, but these improvements did not reach the control levels (P < 0.05). Diosmetin significantly lowered the percentages of Th1/Th17 cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes in TNBS-treated mice, which remained higher than the control levels (P < 0.05); The percentages of Th2/Treg cells were significantly higher in diosmetin group than in TNBS group (P < 0.05) and the control group (P < 0.05). Network pharmacologic analysis identified 46 intersection targets of diosmetin and CD, and among them AKT1, EGFR, SRC, ESR1, MMP9 and PTGS2 were the top 6 core targets. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was closely related with the therapeutic effect of diosmetin on CD-like colitis. Molecular docking suggested strong binding of diosmetin to the key core targets. Diosmetin significantly reduced the levels of p-PI3K and p-AKT in the colon mucosa in TNBS-treated mice (P < 0.05), but their levels remained higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Diosmetin ameliorates TNBS-induced CDPlike colitis in mice possibly by regulating Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg balance to improve intestinal immune disorder through inhibition of PI3K/AKT signaling.

Measurement of Sequential ϒ Suppression in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV with the STAR Experiment

We report on measurements of sequential ϒ suppression in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV with the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) through both the dielectron and dimuon decay channels. In the 0%-60% centrality class, the nuclear modification factors (R_{AA}), which quantify the level of yield suppression in heavy-ion collisions compared to p+p collisions, for ϒ(1S) and ϒ(2S) are 0.40±0.03(stat)±0.03(sys)±0.09(norm) and 0.26±0.08(stat)±0.02(sys)±0.06(norm), respectively, while the upper limit of the ϒ(3S) R_{AA} is 0.17 at a 95% confidence level. This provides experimental evidence that the ϒ(3S) is significantly more suppressed than the ϒ(1S) at RHIC. The level of suppression for ϒ(1S) is comparable to that observed at the much higher collision energy at the Large Hadron Collider. These results point to the creation of a medium at RHIC whose temperature is sufficiently high to strongly suppress excited ϒ states.

Beam Energy Dependence of Fifth- and Sixth-Order Net-Proton Number Fluctuations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

We report the beam energy and collision centrality dependence of fifth and sixth order cumulants (C_{5}, C_{6}) and factorial cumulants (κ_{5}, κ_{6}) of net-proton and proton number distributions, from center-of-mass energy (sqrt[s_{NN}]) 3 GeV to 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Cumulant ratios of net-proton (taken as proxy for net-baryon) distributions generally follow the hierarchy expected from QCD thermodynamics, except for the case of collisions at 3 GeV. The measured values of C_{6}/C_{2} for 0%-40% centrality collisions show progressively negative trend with decreasing energy, while it is positive for the lowest energy studied. These observed negative signs are consistent with QCD calculations (for baryon chemical potential, μ_{B}≤110  MeV) which contains the crossover transition range. In addition, for energies above 7.7 GeV, the measured proton κ_{n}, within uncertainties, does not support the two-component (Poisson+binomial) shape of proton number distributions that would be expected from a first-order phase transition. Taken in combination, the hyperorder proton number fluctuations suggest that the structure of QCD matter at high baryon density, μ_{B}∼750  MeV at sqrt[s_{NN}]=3  GeV is starkly different from those at vanishing μ_{B}∼24  MeV at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV and higher collision energies.

[Fibroblasts overpressing WNT2b cause impairment of intestinal mucosal barrier]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the mechanism by which fibroblasts with high WNT2b expression causes intestinal mucosa barrier disruption and promote the progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS

Caco-2 cells were treated with 20% fibroblast conditioned medium or co-cultured with fibroblasts highly expressing WNT2b, with the cells without treatment with the conditioned medium and cells co-cultured with wild-type fibroblasts as the control groups. The changes in barrier permeability of Caco-2 cells were assessed by measuring transmembrane resistance and Lucifer Yellow permeability. In Caco-2 cells co-cultured with WNT2b-overexpressing or control intestinal fibroblasts, nuclear entry of β-catenin was detected with immunofluorescence assay, and the expressions of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and E-cadherin were detected with Western blotting. In a C57 mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced IBD-like enteritis, the therapeutic effect of intraperitoneal injection of salinomycin (5 mg/kg, an inhibitor of WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway) was evaluated by observing the changes in intestinal inflammation and detecting the expressions of tight junction proteins.

RESULTS

In the coculture system, WNT2b overexpression in the fibroblasts significantly promoted nuclear entry of β-catenin (P < 0.01) and decreased the expressions of tight junction proteins in Caco-2 cells; knockdown of FZD4 expression in Caco-2 cells obviously reversed this effect. In DSS-treated mice, salinomycin treatment significantly reduced intestinal inflammation and increased the expressions of tight junction proteins in the intestinal mucosa.

CONCLUSION

Intestinal fibroblasts overexpressing WNT2b causes impairment of intestinal mucosal barrier function and can be a potential target for treatment of IBD.

Measurements of the associated production of a W boson and a charm quark in proton-proton collisions at s = 8 TeV

Measurements of the associated production of a W boson and a charm ( c ) quark in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV are reported. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb - 1 collected by the CMS detector at the LHC. The W bosons are identified through their leptonic decays to an electron or a muon, and a neutrino. Charm quark jets are selected using distinctive signatures of charm hadron decays. The product of the cross section and branching fraction σ ( pp → W + c + X ) B ( W → ℓ ν ) , where ℓ = e or μ , and the cross section ratio σ ( pp → W + + c ¯ + X ) / σ ( pp → W - + c + X ) are measured in a fiducial volume and differentially as functions of the pseudorapidity and of the transverse momentum of the lepton from the W boson decay. The results are compared with theoretical predictions. The impact of these measurements on the determination of the strange quark distribution is assessed.