Theoretical and experimental investigations of speckle features based on free-space surface scattering.

Speckle is a significant challenge for laser imaging systems, as it degrades the image quality. In this study, an improved theoretical model is established to describe the speckle features in free-space optical path. The model quantitatively defines the relationship between speckle contrast and five parameters: wavelength, screen surface roughness, light-spot diameter, incidence angle, and observation angle. Subsequently, the theoretical results are experimentally verified. This study enhances the theory of speckle suppression in free-space optical path, and thus enriches the existing speckle suppression theory. The speckle features based on free-space surface-scattered fields have the potential for applications related to non-imaging optics.

PCSK9 inhibitors and osteoporosis: mendelian randomization and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors represent an effective strategy for reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Yet, PCSK9's impact on osteoporosis remains unclear. Hence, we employed Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis for examining PCSK9 inhibitor effects on osteoporosis. METHODS: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl cofactor A reductase (HMGCR) and PCSK9 were gathered from available online databases for European pedigrees. Four osteoporosis-related genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data served as the main outcomes, and coronary artery disease (CAD) as a positive control for drug-targeted MR analyses. The results of MR analyses examined by sensitivity analyses were incorporated into a meta-analysis for examining causality between PCSK9 and HMGCR inhibitors and osteoporosis. RESULTS: The meta-analysis involving a total of 1,263,102 subjects, showed that PCSK9 inhibitors can increase osteoporosis risk (P < 0.05, I2, 39%). However, HMGCR inhibitors are not associated with osteoporosis risk. Additionally, a replication of the analysis was conducted with another exposure-related GWAS dataset, which led to similar conclusions. CONCLUSION: PCSK9 inhibitors increase osteoporosis risk. However, HMGCR inhibitors are unremarkably linked to osteoporosis.

Static laser speckle suppression using liquid light guides.

Static laser speckle suppression using multimode fibers has practical limitations as the technique requires an extremely long fiber to achieve an acceptable speckle contrast. An effective method based on liquid light guides was developed in this study to suppress laser speckle. In this study, a speckle simulation model of the liquid light guide was established for numerically calculating the speckle contrast without solving the analytical solution of the photon diffusion equation. The obtained simulation results were compared with the experimental results for the dependence of speckle contrast on the required length and numerical aperture with different liquid core types of liquid light guides. A speckle contrast of 12% and a speckle suppression efficiency of 5 was achieved at the end of a 2.4 m long liquid light guide. For the same fiber length, liquid light guides were found to suppress speckle more efficiently when compared to multimode fibers.

The Assessment of Sleep Quality in Patients Following Valve Repair and Valve Replacement for Infective Endocarditis: A Retrospective Study at a Single Center.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to measure sleep quality among patients who underwent infective endocarditis (IE) surgery and identify the risk factors involved in sleep disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, we used actigraphy, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Epworth Sleep Scale (ESS) to determine the clinical characteristics of sleep disorders in 116 patients with IE who were in rehabilitation after surgery. RESULTS Our results showed that 46 (39.7%) patients had sleep efficiency over 85%, while 70 (60.3%) patients had sleep efficiency below 85%. The correlation analysis showed that sleep efficiency was related to the duration of the disease, with a longer duration leading to lower sleep efficiency (P=0.031). The sleep efficiency of patients with IE following surgery was also affected by alcohol consumption; however, surprisingly, patients with "heavy" alcohol consumption had higher sleep efficiency (P=0.030). We found a significant correlation between sleep efficiency and postoperative interleukin-6 (IL) levels, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and preoperative erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P<0.05). No significant correlation was found between brain natriuretic peptide levels and sleep efficiency, PSQI score, or ESS score. Postoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level was associated with sleep efficiency (R=0.194, P=0.036), but there was no statistically significant correlation between the PSQI and ESS scores. Postoperative alanine transaminase (ALT) showed a significant negative correlation with sleep efficiency (R=-0.27, P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS We found a high prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with IE along with an increase in inflammatory factors, including postoperative IL-6, CRP, ALT, and Hb levels.

Effect of workplace ostracism on emotional exhaustion and unethical behaviour among Chinese nurses: A time-lagged three-wave survey.

AIM: This study examined the following: (a) the impact of nurses' workplace ostracism on unethical behaviour; (b) mediating role of emotional exhaustion between nurses' workplace ostracism and unethical behaviour; and (c) moderating effect of hostile attribution bias. BACKGROUND: While unethical behaviour is a workplace phenomenon that can negatively influence the sustainable development of settings, few nurse studies have explored it. This study identified an interpersonal antecedent of unethical behaviour: workplace ostracism. DESIGN: A time-lagged three-wave survey was conducted over 3 months (November 2016-January 2017) to collect data. METHODS: Nurses (N = 530) from three hospitals in China completed three anonymous self-reported questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, linear regression, and moderated mediation tests were performed, and data analysed using SPSS 23.0 and Mplus7.4. RESULTS: Workplace ostracism positively influenced nurses' unethical behaviour and emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between workplace ostracism and unethical behaviour. Nurses' hostile attribution bias moderated the effect of workplace ostracism on emotional exhaustion and unethical behaviour. CONCLUSION: Workplace ostracism was an important interpersonal factor predicting unethical behaviour. Nurse supervisors should establish a harmonious interpersonal environment and be aware of hostile attribution bias to prevent nurses' unethical behaviour. IMPACT: Workplace ostracism is a pervasive phenomenon in the nursing workplace that contributes to unethical behaviour. Nurse supervisors and staff should together establish harmonious working environments without workplace ostracism. Nurse supervisors should pay attention to nurses' emotions and conduct psychological counselling to minimize the negative effects of workplace ostracism. This study contributed to understanding how and why nurses engaged in unethical behaviour.

The Ultrafast and Continuous Fabrication of a Polydimethylsiloxane Membrane by Ultraviolet-Induced Polymerization.

The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane commonly used for separation of biobutanol from fermentation broth fails to meet demand owing to its discontinuous and polluting thermal fabrication. Now, an UV-induced polymerization strategy is proposed to realize the ultrafast and continuous fabrication of the PDMS membrane. UV-crosslinking of synthesized methacrylate-functionalized PDMS (MA-PDMS) is complete within 30 s. The crosslinking rate is three orders of magnitude larger than the conventional thermal crosslinking. The MA-PDMS membrane shows a versatile potential for liquid and gas separations, especially featuring an excellent pervaporation performance for n-butanol. Filler aggregation, the major bottleneck for the development of high-performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), is overcome, because the UV polymerization strategy demonstrates a freezing effect towards fillers in polymer, resulting in an extremely high-loading silicalite-1/MA-PDMS MMM with uniform particle distribution.

Lipase immobilization on high water adsorbing capacity bagasse: applications in bio-based plasticizer synthesis.

This study investigates the structure and water adsorbing capacity of bagasse and of sodium hydroxide pretreated bagasse. The structures of bagasse and bagasse-NaOH were compared by SEM and XRD. Candida antarctica lipase B was then immobilized on bagasse, bagasse-NaOH and DPA@bagasse-NaOH. The expressed activity and immobilization yield of lipase immobilized on bagasse-NaOH (1.0%) was 36% and 45% higher than that on bagasse. When dopamine (DPA) was used as cationic polymer monomer via self-polymerization for mediating immobilization, the protein loading amounts and activity of lipase immobilized on DPA@bagasse-NaOH were higher than that of bagasse-NaOH. When the DPA concentration was 100 mg/ml, the immobilized lipase expressed activity reached its highest value (800 U/g), where the immobilization yield achieved 96.8%, which was 3.93-fold of lipase immobilized on native bagasse (24.6%). Then the immobilized lipases were used to synthesize a bio-based plasticizer. Lipase immobilized on DPA@bagasse-NaOH exhibited a significantly improved operational stability. Even after 12 batches, a high ester yield (84.2%) was maintained. Additionally, poly (vinyl chloride) PVC blends plasticized with methyl oleate as a secondary plasticizer were investigated. It was discovered that methyl oleate can be used as an effective bio-based plasticizer for PVC. These results indicate that bagasse with high water adsorbing capacity and self-polymerized DPA layer could create a favorable microenvironment for bio-based plasticizer synthesis in esterification reactions.

Simultaneous acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation, gas stripping, and full-cell-catalyzed esterification for effective production of butyl oleate.

In this study, aiming to improve the economic feasibility of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation process, generate valuable products and extend the product chain, esterification catalyzed by Candida sp. 99-125 cells was hybrid with the ABE fermentation-gas-stripping integration system. The gas-stripping condensate that contained concentrated ABE products was directly used for esterification without the participation of toxic organic solvents. Full-cell catalysis temperature and the cell dosage rate on oleate production were evaluated and optimized in the esterification process. Under the optimized conditions (35 °C, 8% of cells), ~ 68% of butyl oleate and ~ 12% of ethyl oleate were obtained after 4 h of esterification. The Candida sp. 99-125 cells were able to be reused for at least four cycles. The novel cascade process showed environmental benefits, which also showed promising in improving the economic feasibility of the conventional ABE fermentation process.

Efficient Synthesis of Nitrogen- and Sulfur-co-Doped Ketjenblack with a Single-Source Precursor for Enhancing Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity.

Promoting the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activities of cost-effective catalysts is of great significance for the development of various energy conversion and storage systems. Herein, we describe the preparation of a highly active N- and S-co-doped ketjenblack (Kb) by facile pyrolysis of a mixture of thiourea and Kb in the presence of FeCl3 ⋅6 H2 O followed by an acid-leaching process. This novel synthetic approach was rationally designed with the consideration that thiourea could easily introduce both N and S heteroatoms into the carbon matrix by a heat-treatment method by releasing plentiful reactive N- and S-containing gases, which could simultaneously optimize the porous structure of the resultant catalyst. Physical characterization revealed that N and S were homogeneously incorporated into the nanostructure of Kb and formed a hierarchical porous structure with a high specific surface area. The N/S-Kb catalyst showed impressive ORR activity, with an onset potential of 0.08 V at 0.1 mA cm-2 , which is 20 mV more positive than that of commercial 20 wt. % Pt/C catalyst. This was coupled with long-term durability and superior methanol tolerance in alkaline media. The improved ORR performance can be mainly ascribed to synergistic contributions of highly efficient active sites arising from high contents of thiophene S and pyridinic N along with the high specific surface area and the favorable mass-transport properties arising from the hierarchical porous structure. The remarkable ORR performance and facile preparation method make the N/S-Kb catalyst a promising substitute for Pt in electrochemical energy devices.

Composition and Bioactivity of Essential Oil from Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck 'Mato Peiyu' Leaf.

'Mato Peiyu' pomelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck 'Mato Peiyu') leaves from pruning are currently an agricultural waste. The aim of this study was to isolate essential oils from these leaves through steam distillation (SD) and solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) and to evaluate their applicability to skin care by analyzing their antimicrobial, antioxidant (diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay, ß-carotene/linoleic acid assay, and nitric oxide scavenging assay), anti-inflammatory (5-lipoxygenase inhibition assay), and antityrosinase activities. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry results indicated that the main components of 'Mato Peiyu' leaf essential oils were citronellal and citronellol, with a total percentage of 50.71% and 59.82% for SD and SFME, respectively. The highest bioactivity among all assays was obtained for 5-lipoxygenase inhibition, with an IC50 value of 0.034% (v/v). The MIC90 of the antimicrobial activity of essential oils against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans ranged from 0.086% to 0.121% (v/v). Citronellal and citronellol were the main contributors, accounting for at least 54.58% of the essential oil's bioactivity. This paper is the first to report the compositions and bioactivities of 'Mato Peiyu' leaf essential oil, and the results imply that the pomelo leaf essential oil may be applied in skin care.

Dynamic Perfusion Culture of Human Outgrowth Endothelial Progenitor Cells on Demineralized Bone Matrix In Vitro.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the proliferation, differentiation, and tube formation of human outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells (OECs) cultured with porous demineralized bone matrix (DBM) under a dynamic perfusion system in vitro. MATERIAL AND METHODS OECs were isolated, expanded, characterized, eGFP-transfected and seeded on DBM scaffold and cultured under static or dynamic perfusion conditions, and continuously observed under fluorescence microscope. DBM scaffolds were harvested on day six for RT-PCR and western blot assay to analyze the mRNA and protein expression level of CD34, VE-cadherin, and VEGF. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the tube formation of OECs seeded on DBM scaffolds. RESULTS The results showed the cell density of OECs on DBM was higher when exposed to shear stress generated by a dynamic perfusion system. Shear stress also markedly increased the expression level of VE-cadherin and VEGF and decreased the expression of CD34, at both mRNA and protein levels. SEM showed that the shear-stressed OECs formed tube-like structures inside the pores of DBM scaffolds. CONCLUSIONS A dynamic perfusion system can be used as an innovative method for the rapid vascularization in tissue engineering, which can accelerate the proliferation and differentiation of OECs and the vascularization of implanted scaffolds.

Structure and properties of water film adsorbed on mica surfaces.

The structure profiles and physical properties of the adsorbed water film on a mica surface under conditions with different degrees of relative humidity are investigated by a surface force apparatus. The first layer of the adsorbed water film shows ice-like properties, including a lattice constant similar with ice crystal, a high bearing capacity that can support normal pressure as high as 4 MPa, a creep behavior under the action of even a small normal load, and a character of hydrogen bond. Adjacent to the first layer of the adsorbed water film, the water molecules in the outer layer are liquid-like that can flow freely under the action of external loads. Experimental results demonstrate that the adsorbed water layer makes the mica surface change from hydrophilic to weak hydrophobic. The weak hydrophobic surface may induce the latter adsorbed water molecules to form water islands on a mica sheet.

Fabrication and Evaluation of Porous Keratin/chitosan (KCS) Scaffolds for Effectively Accelerating Wound Healing.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a dressing with desired antibacterial activity, good water maintaining ability and mechanical properties for wound healing and skin regeneration. METHODS: The chitosan with different concentrations were added in keratin solution to form porous keratin/chitosan (KCS) scaffolds. The morphological characteristics, chemical composition, wettability, porosity, swelling ratio and degradation of the scaffolds were evaluated. The antibacterial activity was tested by using S. aureus and E. coli suspension for 2 h. And L929 fibroblast cells culture was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the KCS scaffolds. RESULTS: The adding of chitosan could increase the hydrophobicity, decrease porosity, swelling ratio and degradation rate of the KCS porous scaffolds. Mechanical properties of KCS scaffolds could be enhanced and well adjusted by chitosan. KCS scaffolds could obviously decrease bacteria number. The proliferation of fibroblast cells in porous KCS patch increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of chitosan concentration. It was appropriate to add 400 µg/mL chitosan to form porous KCS scaffold for achieving best cell attachment and proliferation compared with other samples. CONCLUSION: The porous KCS scaffold may be used as implanted scaffold materials for promoting wound healing and skin regeneration.

[Effect of pulse magnetic field on distribution of neuronal action potential].

The biological effect on the organism generated by magnetic field is widely studied. The present study was aimed to observe the change of sodium channel under magnetic field in neurons. Cortical neurons of Kunming mice were isolated, subjected to 15 Hz, 1 mT pulse magnetic stimulation, and then the currents of neurons were recorded by whole-cell patch clamp. The results showed that, under magnetic stimulation, the activation process of Na(+) channel was delayed, and the inactivation process was accelerated. Given the classic three-layer model, the polarization diagram of cell membrane potential distribution under pulse magnetic field was simulated, and it was found that the membrane potential induced was associated with the frequency and intensity of magnetic field. Also the effect of magnetic field-induced current on action potential was simulated by Hodgkin-Huxley (H-H) model. The result showed that the generation of action potential was delayed, and frequency and the amplitudes were decreased when working current was between -1.32 µA and 0 µA. When the working current was higher than 0 µA, the generation frequency of action potential was increased, and the change of amplitudes was not obvious, and when the working current was lower than -1.32 µA, the time of rising edge and amplitudes of action potential were decreased drastically, and the action potential was unable to generate. These results suggest that the magnetic field simulation can affect the distribution frequency and amplitude of action potential of neuron via sodium channel mediation.

[Assessing splenic vein complications in patients with acute pancreatitis using color Doppler ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic value of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and contrast enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) for splenic vein complications (SVCs). METHODS: 144 inpatients (86 male, 58 female) with acute pancreatitis from Jan 2012 to Apr 2013 were recruited for this study. The participants had a mean age of (44.3 +/- 11.9) years. All participants were examined using CDFI, CEUS and contrast enhanced computer tomography (CECT) (less than 72 h interval between examinations). The CECT results were regarded as a golden standard, which were compared with the results of CDFI and CEU. The Medcalc 12.7.1.0 was used for drawing ROC curves and calculating AUC. RESULTS: The CECT confirmed 17 cases of SVCs; whereas, the CEUS identified 12 cases and the CDFI identified 4 cases of SVCs. The difference between the results of CDFI and CEUS was significant (Z = 2.233, P < 0.05). Higher levels of sensitivity (58.82%), specificity (98.43%), accuracy (93.75%), positive likelihood ratio (37.46), and negative likelihood ratio (0. 42) were found using CEUS for diagnosing SVCs, compared with those of using CDFI (sensitivity = 17.65%, specificity = 99.21%, accuracy = 89.58%, positive likelihood ratio = 22.34,negative likelihood ratio = 0.83). The area of AUC were 0.618 and 0.853 for CDFI and CEUS, respectively. CONCLUSION: CEUS is a better imaging method for diagnosing SVCs in patients with acute pancreatitis.

[Effect of fast capacitance compensation method on improving the action potential firing accuracy of nerve cell].

Patch-clamp is used to study all sorts of ionic channels and their regulations with measuring pA current of cell ionic channel, but the fast capacitance (C-fast) compensation and slow capacitance (C-slow) compensation transient currents are caused by measuring objects and measuring instruments themselves which will change the properties of action potentials. The present paper firstly discusses the C-Fast transient currents affecting membrane capacitance and membrane potential, and then draws a conclusion that the changes of membrane potential affect the properties of action potential through analyzing the changes of membrane potential in H-H model. Based on this conclusion, we discuss the influence mechanisms mainly through the analysis of traditional C-fast compensation errors, and focus discussion on the shape of electrode capacitance affecting C-fast. This method can not only improve the compensation speed greatly, but also improve the compensation precision from the electrode shape as much as possible.

Renal anastomosing hemangioma following partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Renal anastomosing hemangioma (AH) is a rare benign vascular tumor characterized by unique histopathological features. CASE SUMMARY: We report a highly unusual case of renal AH. A male patient had undergone partial nephrectomy for clear cell carcinoma of the kidney four years prior. A follow-up computed tomography scan in the third postoperative year revealed a new mass near the surgical site on the same side of the kidney, raising suspicions of tumor recurrence. However, the characteristics on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonography were more consistent with those of a benign lesion. The patient strongly insisted on undergoing surgery due to concerns about the possibility of renal cancer recurrence. Postoperative pathology confirmed the diagnosis of renal AH. CONCLUSION: This case report presents the imaging features of a patient with rare renal AH and a history of renal clear cell carcinoma, providing broader insights into the differential diagnosis of new lesions after surgery for renal cell carcinoma.

Towards valorization of rice straw into bioethanol and lignin: Emphasizing critical role of deep eutectic solvent components in biorefining process.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) offer a potential opportunity in biomass utilization industries. This work emphasized the impact of hydrogen bond donors (HBD) and acceptors (HBA) on deconstruction and valorization of rice straw. Acidity, alkyl chain length, hydrogen bonding ability and functional groups of HBD and HBA appeared to be important factors affecting the fractionated pulps and lignins, which further influenced ethanol fermentation. Among the candidate DESs, lactic acid/guanidine hydrochloride (LGH) was proved to be the most suitable one due to the excellent delignification and xylan removal. For the downstream fermentation process, 0.47 g g-1 of bioethanol with 0.55 g/L h-1 of productivity can be obtained from the LGH pulp's hydrolysate. Mass balance showed 302.8 g bioethanol and 119.0 g technical lignin can be co-generated from 1 kg dried rice straw. This "green" valorization strategy offers a promising scheme in biorefinery of lignocelluloses.

Rapid fractionation of corn stover by microwave-assisted protic ionic liquid [TEA][HSO4] for fermentative acetone-butanol-ethanol production.

BACKGROUND: The use of ionic liquids (ILs) to fractionate lignocelluloses for various bio-based chemicals productions is in the ascendant. On this basis, the protic ILs consisting of triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate ([TEA][HSO4]) possessed great promise due to the low price, low pollution, and high efficiency. In this study, the microwave-assistant [TEA][HSO4] fractionation process was established for corn stover fractionation, so as to facilitate the monomeric sugars production and supported the downstream acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. RESULTS: The assistance of microwave irradiation could obviously shorten the fractionation period of corn stover. Under the optimized condition (190 W for 3 min), high xylan removal (93.17 ± 0.63%) and delignification rate (72.90 ± 0.81%) were realized. The mechanisms for the promotion effect of the microwave to the protic ILs fractionation process were ascribed to the synergistic effect of the IL and microwaves to the depolymerization of lignocellulose through the ionic conduction, which can be clarified by the characterization of the pulps and the isolated lignin specimens. Downstream valorization of the fractionated pulps into ABE productions was also investigated. The [TEA][HSO4] free corn stover hydrolysate was capable of producing 12.58 g L-1 of ABE from overall 38.20 g L-1 of monomeric sugars without detoxification and additional nutrients supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: The assistance of microwave irradiation could significantly promote the corn stover fractionation by [TEA][HSO4]. Mass balance indicated that 8.1 g of ABE and 16.61 g of technical lignin can be generated from 100 g of raw corn stover based on the novel fractionation strategy.

Therapeutic potential of single-nucleotide polymorphism-mediated IL6R inhibitors in ankylosing spondylitis treatment.

Objective: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multiple-effect cell factor implicated in the etiopathogenesis of several rheumatologic disorders. The blockade of the IL-6 pathway via IL6R inhibitors effectively treats these disorders. However, the clinical significance of the IL6R blockade for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) therapy remains controversial. With advances in genomics, increasing evidence has revealed the role of heritability in the etiology of disease, and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses are being used more broadly to infer causation. Therefore, this MR study aims to evaluate the potential therapeutic utility of IL6R-targeted approaches in AS. Methods: The C-reactive protein (CRP) level was used as an exposure factor, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was used as a positive control. As-related genome-wide association study (GWAS) data were used as the primary outcome of drug-targeted MR analyses to test the relation between IL6R blockers and AS. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) is the primary analytical approach. Various sensitivity tests were performed to check the robustness and trustworthiness of the causality estimation, including consistency, heterogeneity, and pleiotropy analyses. In addition, repeated analysis was conducted using different GWAS data related to exposures and outcomes to examine the results for stability. Results: According to the IVW results, IL6R inhibitors significantly reduced the risk of AS in ukb-b-18194 (OR: 0.995, 95% CI 0.993-0.996, P = 5.12 × 10-08) and ukb-a-88 (OR: 0.994, 95% CI 0.993-0.996, P = 6.25 × 10-15). Moreover, repeated analyses were performed using different exposure-related GWAS data, yielding similar results, ukb-b-18194 (OR: 0.995, 95% CI 0.993-0.997, P = 1.25 × 10-06) and ukb-a-88 (OR: 0.995, 95% CI 0.994-0.997, P = 7.81 × 10-09). Heterogeneity analyses and pleiotropy analyses indicated no significant heterogeneity or pleiotropy. Conclusion: This MR analysis result further validates that the IL-6 pathway may contribute to the pathogenesis of AS and that the inhibition of IL6R reduces the risk of AS. These findings may guide future studies and provide more favorable drug treatment options for people at high risk of AS.