Hope and its relationship with treatment/ physical related factors in lung cancer patients receiving immunotherapy.

BACKGROUNDPURPOSE: Immunotherapy is a new treatment option for patients with Lung Cancer (LC). However, relatively limited research has explored about patients' perception of hope and its associated factors during the process. This study aimed to examine level of perceived hope and the factors related to hope, with a particular focus on treatment and physically related factors, in LC patients receiving immunotherapy. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted and patients who had already received at least one immunotherapy cycle were recruited from two hospitals in northern Taiwan. The questionnaire included a background information form, the Herth's Hope Index, and the Symptom Severity Scale. Stepwise regression was applied to identify the most robust factors related to level of hope in the participants. RESULTS: A total of 130 patients were recruited. Overall, patients reported moderate to high levels of hope and mild symptoms. Fatigue, weakness, appearance changes, pruritus, and shortness of breath were identified as the most severe symptoms. Further regression analysis showed that patients with poor performance status, less immunotherapy cycles, higher level of fatigue, and more severe pruritus reported to have lower level of hope which explained 47% of the variances. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that lung cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy had moderate level of hope. Patients' performance status, selected symptoms and times of receiving immunotherapy were the robust factors related to hope. Systematic assessment of patients' symptoms and the development of appropriate interventions to reduce distress and enhance hope are strongly recommended for both clinical care and research.

Insights into the antineoplastic activity and mechanisms of action of coumarin-coordinated 8-hydroxyquinoline ruthenium(II/III) compounds.

Ruthenium(II/III) coordination compounds have gained widespread attention as chemotherapy drugs, photosensitizers, and photodynamic therapy reagents. Herein, a family of 11 novel coumarin-coordinated 8-hydroxyquinoline ruthenium(II/III) compounds, i.e., [RuII2(µ2-Cl)2(QL1a)2(DMSO)4] (YNU-4a = Yulin Normal University-4a), [RuII2(µ2-Cl)2(QL1b)2(DMSO)4] (YNU-4b), [RuII2(µ2-Cl)2(QL1c)2(DMSO)4] (YNU-4c), [RuII2(µ2-Cl)2(QL1d)2(DMSO)4]⋅2CH3OH (YNU-4d), [RuII(QL1e)2(DMSO)2] (YNU-4e), [RuIII(QL1e)2(QL3a)] (YNU-4f), [RuIII(QL1e)2(QL3b)] (YNU-4g), [RuIII(QL1e)2(QL3c)] (YNU-4h), [RuIICl2(H-QL3a)2(DMSO)2] (YNU-4i), [RuIICl2(H-QL3b)2(DMSO)2] (YNU-4j), and [RuIICl2(H-QL3c)2(DMSO)2] (YNU-4k), featuring the coligands 5,7-diiodo-8-hydroxyquinoline (H-QL1a), 5,7-dichloro-8-quinolinol (H-QL1b), 5-chloro-7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinolin (H-QL1c), 5,7-dibromo-8-hydroxyquinoline (H-QL1d), and 5,7-dichloro-8-hydroxy-2-methylquinoline (H-QL1e) and the main ligands 6,7-dichloro-3-pyridin-2-yl-chromen-2-one (H-QL3a), 6-bromo-3-pyridin-2-yl-chromen-2-one (H-QL3b), and 6-chloro-3-pyridin-2-yl-chromen-2-one (H-QL3c), respectively. The structure of compounds YNU-4a-YNU-4k was fully confirmed by conducting various spectroscopic analyses. The anticancer activity of YNU-4a-YNU-4k was evaluated in cisplatin-resistant A549/DDP lung cancer cells (LC549) versus normal embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells. Notably, compound YNU-4f bearing QL1e and QL3a ligands showed a more pronounced antiproliferative effect against LC549 cells (IC50 = 1.75 ± 0.09 µM) with high intrinsic selectivity toward LC549 cancer cells than YNU-4a-YNU-4e, H-QL1a-H-QL1e, cisplatin (PDD), YNU-4g-YNU-4k, and H-QL3a-H-QL3c. Additionally, a colocalization assay analysis of YNU-4e and YNU-4f showed that these two ruthenium(II/III) compounds were subcellularly accumulated in the mitochondria and other regions of the cytoplasm, where they induce mitophagy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) reduction, mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I/IV(RC1/RC4) inhibition, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Accordingly, compounds YNU-4a-YNU-4k can be regarded as mitophagy inductors for the eradication of cisplatin-resistant LC549 cancer cells.

Combined Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Exercise Intervention for Improving Psychological Well-Being in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the clinical effectiveness of combining mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) with exercise intervention in improving anxiety, depression, sleep quality and mood regulation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: A total of 60 patients with NSCLC who had not received surgical treatment were selected using convenience sampling and divided into an intervention group and control group, with 30 patients in each group. The control group received conventional psychological nursing care, whereas the intervention group received a combination of MBwSR and exercise therapy. Before the intervention, a questionnaire was completed to collect the basic data of the two groups. Further questionnaires were administered at 6 and 8 weeks after treatment to assess anxiety, depression, sleep quality and other items included in the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5). RESULTS: No significant differences between the intervention and control groups were identified in terms of personal and clinical characteristics (p > 0.05). No significant differences were determined in the BSRS-5, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) or Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores between the intervention and control groups before the intervention. However, 6 and 8 weeks after the intervention, scores were significantly lower in both groups (p < 0.001). Significant differences in the BSRS-5, SAS, SDS and PSQI scores were identified between the two groups at different time points (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The combination of MBSR and exercise intervention demonstrated improvements in anxiety, depression, sleep quality and BSRS-5 scores in patients with NSCLC.

Derivative spectrophotometry-assisted determination of tryptophan metabolites emerges host and intestinal flora dysregulations during sepsis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition characterized by organ dysfunction resulting from a dysregulated host response to infection. Dysregulated tryptophan (TRP) metabolites serve as significant indicators for endogenous immune turnovers and abnormal metabolism in the intestinal microbiota during sepsis. Therefore, a high coverage determination of TRP and its metabolites in sepsis is beneficial for the diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis, as well as for understanding the underlying mechanism of sepsis development. However, similar structures in TRP metabolites make it challenging for separation and metabolite identification. Here, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) was developed to determine TRP metabolites in rat serum. The first-order derivative spectrophotometry of targeted metabolites in the serum was investigated and proved to be promising for chromatographic peak annotation across different columns and systems. The established method separating the targeted metabolites was optimized and validated to be sensitive and accurate. Application of the method revealed dysregulated TRP metabolites, associated with immune disorders and NAD + metabolism in both the host and gut flora in septic rats. Our findings indicate that the derivative spectrophotometry-assisted method enhances metabolite identifications for the chromatographic systems based on DAD detectors and holds promise for precision medicine in sepsis.

A Hybrid Handover Scheme for Vehicular VLC/RF Communication Networks.

Visible light communication (VLC) is a promising complementary technology to its radio frequency (RF) counterpart to satisfy the high quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of intelligent vehicular communications by reusing LED street lights. In this paper, a hybrid handover scheme for vehicular VLC/RF communication networks is proposed to balance QoS and handover costs by considering the vertical handover and horizontal handover together judging from the mobile state of the vehicle. A Markov decision process (MDP) is formulated to describe this hybrid handover problem, with a cost function balancing the handover consumption, delay, and reliability. A value iteration algorithm was applied to solve the optimal handover policy. The simulation results demonstrated the performance of the proposed hybrid handover scheme in comparison to other benchmark schemes.

Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing reveals the operating mode and chlorination-aggravated SWRO biofouling at a nuclear power plant.

Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane fouling and biological contamination problems faced by seawater desalination systems are microbiologically related. We used full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing to assess the bacterial community structure and chlorine-resistant bacteria (CRB) associated with biofilm growth in different treatment processes under the winter mode of a chlorinated seawater desalination system in China. At the outset of the winter mode, certain CRB, such as Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Bacillus held sway over the bacterial community structure, playing a pivotal role in biofouling. At the mode's end, Deinococcus and Paracoccus predominated, with Pseudomonas and Roseovarius following suit, while certain CRB genera still maintained their dominance. RO and chlorination are pivotal factors in shaping the bacterial community structure and diversity, and increases in total heterotrophic bacterial counts and community diversity in safety filters may adversely affect the effectiveness of subsequent RO systems. Besides, the bacterial diversity and culturable biomass in the water produced by the RO system remain high, and some conditionally pathogenic CRBs pose a certain microbial risk as a source of drinking water. Targeted removal of these CRBs will be an important area of research for advancing control over membrane clogging and ensuring water quality safety in the future.

Detecting genetic gain and loss events in terms of protein domain: Method and implementation.

Continuous gain and loss of genes are the primary driving forces of bacterial evolution and environmental adaptation. Studying bacterial evolution in terms of protein domain, which is the fundamental function and evolutionary unit of proteins, can provide a more comprehensive understanding of bacterial differentiation and phenotypic adaptation processes. Therefore, we proposed a phylogenetic tree-based method for detecting genetic gain and loss events in terms of protein domains. Specifically, the method focuses on a single domain to trace its evolution process or on multiple domains to investigate their co-evolution principles. This novel method was validated using 122 Shigella isolates. We found that the loss of a significant number of domains was likely the main driving force behind the evolution of Shigella, which could reduce energy expenditure and preserve only the most essential functions. Additionally, we observed that simultaneously gained and lost domains were often functionally related, which can facilitate and accelerate phenotypic evolutionary adaptation to the environment. All results obtained using our method agree with those of previous studies, which validates our proposed method.

Circadian rhythms in the Drosophila eye may regulate adaptation of vision to light intensity.

The sensitivity of the eye at night would lead to complete saturation of the eye during the day. Therefore, the sensitivity of the eye must be down-regulated during the day to maintain visual acuity. In the Drosophila eye, the opening of TRP and TRPL channels leads to an influx of Ca++ that triggers down-regulation of further responses to light, including the movement of the TRPL channel and Gα proteins out of signaling complexes found in actin-mediated microvillar extensions of the photoreceptor cells (the rhabdomere). The eye also exhibits a light entrained-circadian rhythm, and we have recently observed that one component of this rhythm (BDBT) becomes undetectable by antibodies after exposure to light even though immunoblot analyses still detect it in the eye. BDBT is necessary for normal circadian rhythms, and in several circadian and visual mutants this eye-specific oscillation of detection is lost. Many phototransduction signaling proteins (e.g., Rhodopsin, TRP channels and Gα) also become undetectable shortly after light exposure, most likely due to a light-induced compaction of the rhabdomeric microvilli. The circadian protein BDBT might be involved in light-induced changes in the rhabdomere, and if so this could indicate that circadian clocks contribute to the daily adaptations of the eye to light. Likewise, circadian oscillations of clock proteins are observed in photoreceptors of the mammalian eye and produce a circadian oscillation in the ERG. Disruption of circadian rhythms in the eyes of mammals causes neurodegeneration in the eye, demonstrating the importance of the rhythms for normal eye function.

High expression levels of centromere protein O participates in cell proliferation of human ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is a common malignant tumor in women, with a high mortality rate ranking first among gynecological tumors. Currently, there is insufficient understanding of the causes, pathogenesis, recurrence and metastasis of ovarian cancer, and early diagnosis and treatment still face great challenges. The sensitivity and specificity of existing ovarian cancer screening methods are still unsatisfactory. Centromere protein O (CENP-O) is a recently discovered structural centromere protein that is involved in cell death and is essential for spindle assembly, chromosome separation, and checkpoint signaling during mitosis. The abnormal high expression of CENP-O was detected in various tumors such as bladder cancer and gastric cancer, and it participates in the regulation of tumor cell proliferation. In this study, we detect the expression abundance of CENP-O mRNA in different ovarian cancer cells ( ES-2, A2780, Caov-3, OVCAR-3 and SK-OV-3). The biological function changes of cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected and the role of CENP-O in ovarian cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis was explored by knocking down the expression of CENP-O gene. The results showed that CENP-O gene was significantly expressed in 5 types of ovarian cancer cell lines. After knocking down the CENP-O gene, the proliferation and cloning ability of ovarian cancer cells decreased, and the apoptosis increased. This study indicates that CENP-O has the potential to be a molecular therapeutic target, and downregulating the expression of CENP-O gene can break the unlimited proliferation ability of cancer cells and promote their apoptosis, providing a foundation and new ideas for subsequent molecular mechanism research and targeted therapy.

[The Prognostic Value of Del(1p32) in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prognostic value of del(1p32) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: The clinical data of 341 newly diagnosed MM attended in Jiangsu Province Hospital were retrospective analyzed. Clinical characteristic combined with genetic features, especially del(1p32), were analyzed for survival and prognostic of patients. RESULTS: Among the 341 patients with newly diagnosed MM, 24(7.0%) patients were del(1p32) positive. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were significantly shorter in MM patients with del(1p32) than those without del(1p32) (PFS: P < 0.001;OS: P < 0.001). The COX proportional-hazards model showed that del (1p32) was an independent risk factor for PFS and OS of patients with MM. The patients with both 1q21 gain/amplification and del(1p32), as "double-hit chromosome 1", have worse prognosis than those with only 1q21 gain/amplification or only del(1p32) (PFS: P < 0.001; OS: P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Del(1p32) is an independent risk factor for PFS and OS of patients with MM. Del(1p32) detection should be widely used in the prognostic analysis for newly diagnosed MM patients.

Comparative genomic analysis provides insights into the genetic diversity and pathogenicity of the genus Brucella.

Some Brucella spp. are important pathogens. According to the latest prokaryotic taxonomy, the Brucella genus consists of facultative intracellular parasitic Brucella species and extracellular opportunistic or environmental Brucella species. Intracellular Brucella species include classical and nonclassical types, with different species generally exhibiting host preferences. Some classical intracellular Brucella species can cause zoonotic brucellosis, including B. melitensis, B. abortus, B. suis, and B. canis. Extracellular Brucella species comprise opportunistic or environmental species which belonged formerly to the genus Ochrobactrum and thus nowadays renamed as for example Brucella intermedia or Brucella anthropi, which are the most frequent opportunistic human pathogens within the recently expanded genus Brucella. The cause of the diverse phenotypic characteristics of different Brucella species is still unclear. To further investigate the genetic evolutionary characteristics of the Brucella genus and elucidate the relationship between its genomic composition and prediction of phenotypic traits, we collected the genomic data of Brucella from the NCBI Genome database and conducted a comparative genomics study. We found that classical and nonclassical intracellular Brucella species and extracellular Brucella species exhibited differences in phylogenetic relationships, horizontal gene transfer and distribution patterns of mobile genetic elements, virulence factor genes, and antibiotic resistance genes, showing the close relationship between the genetic variations and prediction of phenotypic traits of different Brucella species. Furthermore, we found significant differences in horizontal gene transfer and the distribution patterns of mobile genetic elements, virulence factor genes, and antibiotic resistance genes between the two chromosomes of Brucella, indicating that the two chromosomes had distinct dynamics and plasticity and played different roles in the survival and evolution of Brucella. These findings provide new directions for exploring the genetic evolutionary characteristics of the Brucella genus and could offer new clues to elucidate the factors influencing the phenotypic diversity of the Brucella genus.

Real-world osimertinib pretreatment experience in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor T790M mutation-positive locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Osimertinib has demonstrated efficacy in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in clinical trials. However, real-world data on its effectiveness remain scarce. Taiwanese patients with T790M-positive locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC and progressive disease following treatment with at least one EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) were enrolled from the osimertinib early access program. Of the 419 patients (mean age, 63 years; female, 67%), 53% were heavily pretreated (≥ third-line [3L]), making osimertinib a fourth-line (4L) intervention. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.95-11.41); the 18-month PFS rate was 26.5%. The median overall survival (OS) was 19.0 months (95% CI: 16.30-20.95); the 24-month OS rate was 40.9%. The objective response rate was 32.46%, and the disease control rate was 86.38%. The median time to treatment discontinuation of osimertinib monotherapy was 11.9 months (95% CI: 10.49-13.11). Subgroup analyses of median PFS and OS in the chemotherapy combination group vs. the osimertinib monotherapy group yielded no difference. Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis, number of prior lines of therapy, and types of initial EGFR-TKIs did not significantly impact outcomes. The median PFS values were 9.0 (95% CI: 5.18-11.34) and 10.9 (95% CI: 9.18-11.90) months with and without CNS metastasis, respectively, and 10.8 (95% CI: 8.59-12.69), 13.6 (95% CI: 10.89-16.3), and 9.2 (95% CI: 7.8-10.62) months for second-line (2L), 3L, and ≥4L therapy, respectively. In patients who received osimertinib as 2L therapy, the median PFS values in response to prior afatinib, erlotinib and gefitinib treatment were 11.2 (95% CI: 4.85-4.79), 10.5 (95% CI: 8.59-20.26) and 8.7 (95% CI: 7.21-16.79) months, respectively. Overall, real-world data from Taiwan support the clinical benefits of osimertinib in EGFR T790M -positive NSCLC.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase I clinical trial of rotavirus inactivated vaccine (Vero cell) in a healthy adult population aged 18-49 years to assess safety and preliminary observation of immunogenicity.

We conducted a phase I, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including healthy adults in Sui County, Henan Province, China. Ninety-six adults were randomly assigned to one of three groups (high-dose, medium-dose, and low-dose) at a 3:1 ratio to receive one vaccine dose or placebo. Adverse events up to 28 days after each dose and serious adverse events up to 6 months after all doses were reported. Geometric mean titers and seroconversion rates were measured for anti-rotavirus neutralizing antibodies using microneutralization tests. The rates of total adverse events in the placebo group, low-dose group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group were 29.17 % (12.62 %-51.09 %), 12.50 % (2.66 %-32.36 %), 50.00 % (29.12 %-70.88 %), and 41.67 % (22.11 %-63.36 %), respectively, with no significant difference in the experimental groups compared with the placebo group. The results of the neutralizing antibody assay showed that in the adult group, the neutralizing antibody geometric mean titer at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 583.01 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 447.12-760.20), that in the medium-dose group was 899.34 (95 % CI: 601.73-1344.14), and that in the high-dose group was 1055.24 (95 % CI: 876.28-1270.75). The GMT of serum-specific IgG at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 3444.26 (95 % CI: 2292.35-5175.02), that in the medium-dose group was 6888.55 (95 % CI: 4426.67-10719.6), and that in the high-dose group was 7511.99 (95 % CI: 3988.27-14149.0). The GMT of serum-specific IgA at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 2332.14 (95 % CI: 1538.82-3534.45), that in the medium-dose group was 4800.98 (95 % CI: 2986.64-7717.50), and that in the high-dose group was 3204.30 (95 % CI: 2175.66-4719.27). In terms of safety, adverse events were mainly Grades 1 and 2, indicating that the safety of the vaccine is within the acceptable range in the healthy adult population. Considering the GMT and positive transfer rate of neutralizing antibodies for the main immunogenicity endpoints in the experimental groups, it was initially observed that the high-dose group had higher levels of neutralizing antibodies than the medium- and low-dose groups in adults aged 18-49 years. This novel inactivated rotavirus vaccine was generally well-tolerated in adults, and the vaccine was immunogenic in adults (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04626856).

Cross-site validation of lung cancer diagnosis by electronic nose with deep learning: a multicenter prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Although electronic nose (eNose) has been intensively investigated for diagnosing lung cancer, cross-site validation remains a major obstacle to be overcome and no studies have yet been performed. METHODS: Patients with lung cancer, as well as healthy control and diseased control groups, were prospectively recruited from two referral centers between 2019 and 2022. Deep learning models for detecting lung cancer with eNose breathprint were developed using training cohort from one site and then tested on cohort from the other site. Semi-Supervised Domain-Generalized (Semi-DG) Augmentation (SDA) and Noise-Shift Augmentation (NSA) methods with or without fine-tuning was applied to improve performance. RESULTS: In this study, 231 participants were enrolled, comprising a training/validation cohort of 168 individuals (90 with lung cancer, 16 healthy controls, and 62 diseased controls) and a test cohort of 63 individuals (28 with lung cancer, 10 healthy controls, and 25 diseased controls). The model has satisfactory results in the validation cohort from the same hospital while directly applying the trained model to the test cohort yielded suboptimal results (AUC, 0.61, 95% CI: 0.47─0.76). The performance improved after applying data augmentation methods in the training cohort (SDA, AUC: 0.89 [0.81─0.97]; NSA, AUC:0.90 [0.89─1.00]). Additionally, after applying fine-tuning methods, the performance further improved (SDA plus fine-tuning, AUC:0.95 [0.89─1.00]; NSA plus fine-tuning, AUC:0.95 [0.90─1.00]). CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that deep learning models developed for eNose breathprint can achieve cross-site validation with data augmentation and fine-tuning. Accordingly, eNose breathprints emerge as a convenient, non-invasive, and potentially generalizable solution for lung cancer detection. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is not a clinical trial and was therefore not registered.

The quality of life after keratinized mucosa augmentation around dental implants using xenogenic collagen matrix with or without stent.

BACKGROUND: The substitution of missing teeth with implants is a dependable and anticipated therapeutic approach. Despite numerous studies affirming long-term success rates, there exists a spectrum of potential biological and aesthetic complications. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to assess patient responses subsequent to surgical interventions, with a specific emphasis on the utilization of xenogenic collagen matrix (XCM), both with and without the application of a stent secured over healing abutments, in the context of keratinized gingival mucosa augmentation. The principal aim was to evaluate and draw comparisons between the clinical outcomes resulting from these two procedural approaches, with a particular focus on critical parameters encompassing post-operative complications, patient comfort, and the overall efficacy in achieving successful keratinized tissue augmentation. methods: Sixty patients were selected for this study. The patients were divided into three groups: A, B, and a control group, with each group comprising 20 participants. We used XCM in experimental group A, XCM covered with surgical stent in experimental group B, and free gingival graft (FGG) in the control group. After the surgical procedure, patients were required to complete a visual analogue scale (VAS) questionnaire for post-operative complications, and a quality of life (QOL) questionnaire on days 1, 3, and 7. RESULTS: Patients in the experimental groups A and B demonstrated markedly improved outcomes when compared with the control group. Assessments conducted on days 1, 3, and 7 demonstrated diminished levels of pain, bleeding, and swelling in both experimental groups, with experimental group B showing the least discomfort. The incorporation of XCM, either with or without stents, was associated with a reduction in analgesic consumption, underscoring its favorable influence on post-operative comfort, notwithstanding the exception of halitosis in experimental group B. CONCLUSION: Using XCM with or without a stent for keratinized tissue augmentation has better post-operative outcomes associated with reduced swelling, bleeding, and pain based on the QOL survey. This study provides data to support the clinical application of XCM and stents.

[Short term follow-up of femoral neck dynamic cross screw system and threaded cannulated screw in the treatment of vertically unstable femoral neck fractures].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare the clinical effects of femoral neck dynamic cross screw system (FNS) and cannulated screws(CS) in the treatment of vertically unstable femoral neck fractures. METHODS: The clinical data and short-term follow-up results of 40 patients with vertically unstable femoral neck fractures admitted from July 2020 to August 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. According to different internal fixation methods, 40 patients were divided into two groups, 20 cases in FNS group included 11 males and 9 females with a median of 58.5(50.3, 62.5) years old, and 20 in CS group included 9 males and 11 females with a median of 52.0(40.5, 58.0) years old. The operation time, knife edge length, blood loss and treatment cost of two gruops were observed and compared. The postoperative fracture healing and internal fixation were evaluated with X-ray imaging data, and the femoral neck shortening of the affected side was measured. The incidence of thigh irritation, the time of partial weight bearing and full weight bearing, early necrosis of femoral head, reoperation revision and Harris scores were compared between two groups. RESULTS: FNS group was followed up for 18.0(15.0, 19.0) months, CS group for 17.0(15.0, 18.8) months. There was no significant difference in operation time, incision length and blood loss between two groups(P>0.05). The cost of diagnosis and treatment in FNS group was higher than that in CS group(P<0.001). In FNS group, there was no irritation sign of the affected side thigh, while in CS group, there were 6 cases with discomfort or irritation sign of the lateral thigh(P<0.05). The average time of partial weight bearing activity in CS group was later than that in FNS group(P<0.05); However, there was no significant difference in the activity time of complete weight bearing between two groups(P=0.011>0.05). At the last follow-up, the shortened length of the affected femoral neck in CS group was greater than that in FNS group(P<0.05). There was no early necrosis of femoral head and reoperation in both groups. There was no significant difference in Harris score between two groups 12 months after operation(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: FNS treatment of vertically unstable femoral neck fractures can significantly reduce the incidence of lateral thigh irritation sign, and effectively reduce the postoperative shortening rate of vertically unstable femoral neck fractures, which can provide a relatively stable anti rotation force and anti cutting force, so that patients can go to the ground relatively early, which is conducive to the recovery of the affected hip joint function after surgery. It is a new option for the surgical treatment of vertically unstable femoral neck fractures. However, due to the high cost of treatment, In clinical practice, appropriate surgical treatment is selected according to the actual situation.

Classification of lung cancer subtypes on CT images with synthetic pathological priors.

The accurate diagnosis on pathological subtypes for lung cancer is of significant importance for the follow-up treatments and prognosis managements. In this paper, we propose self-generating hybrid feature network (SGHF-Net) for accurately classifying lung cancer subtypes on computed tomography (CT) images. Inspired by studies stating that cross-scale associations exist in the image patterns between the same case's CT images and its pathological images, we innovatively developed a pathological feature synthetic module (PFSM), which quantitatively maps cross-modality associations through deep neural networks, to derive the "gold standard" information contained in the corresponding pathological images from CT images. Additionally, we designed a radiological feature extraction module (RFEM) to directly acquire CT image information and integrated it with the pathological priors under an effective feature fusion framework, enabling the entire classification model to generate more indicative and specific pathologically related features and eventually output more accurate predictions. The superiority of the proposed model lies in its ability to self-generate hybrid features that contain multi-modality image information based on a single-modality input. To evaluate the effectiveness, adaptability, and generalization ability of our model, we performed extensive experiments on a large-scale multi-center dataset (i.e., 829 cases from three hospitals) to compare our model and a series of state-of-the-art (SOTA) classification models. The experimental results demonstrated the superiority of our model for lung cancer subtypes classification with significant accuracy improvements in terms of accuracy (ACC), area under the curve (AUC), positive predictive value (PPV) and F1-score.

Electronic Spin Alignment within Homologous NiS2/NiSe2 Heterostructures to Promote Sulfur Redox Kinetics in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The catalytic activation of the Li-S reaction is fundamental to maximize the capacity and stability of Li-S batteries (LSBs). Current research on Li-S catalysts mainly focuses on optimizing the energy levels to promote adsorption and catalytic conversion, while frequently overlooking the electronic spin state influence on charge transfer and orbital interactions. Here, hollow NiS2/NiSe2 heterostructures encapsulated in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (NiS2/NiSe2@NC) are synthesized and used as a catalytic additive in sulfur cathodes. The NiS2/NiSe2 heterostructure promotes the spin splitting of the 3d orbital, driving the Ni3+ transformation from low to high spin. This high spin configuration raises the electronic energy level and activates the electronic state. This accelerates the charge transfer and optimizes the adsorption energy, lowering the reaction energy barrier of the polysulfides conversion. Benefiting from these characteristics, LSBs based on NiS2/NiSe2@NC/S cathodes exhibit high initial capacity (1458 mAh·g⁻1 at 0.1C), excellent rate capability (572 mAh·g⁻1 at 5C), and stable cycling with an average capacity decay rate of only 0.025% per cycle at 1C during 500 cycles. Even at high sulfur loadings (6.2 mg·cm⁻2), high initial capacities of 1173 mAh·g⁻1 (7.27 mAh·cm⁻2) are measured at 0.1C, and 1058 mAh·g⁻1 is retained after 300 cycles.

Identifying piRNAs that regulate BaP-induced lung injuries: A bottom-up approach from toxicity pathway investigation to animal validation.

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) is an emerging class of small non-coding RNAs that has been recently reported to have functions in infertility, tumorigenesis, and multiple diseases in humans. Previously, 5 toxicity pathways were proposed from hundreds of toxicological studies that underlie BaP-induced lung injuries, and a "Bottom-up" approach was established to identify small non-coding RNAs that drive BaP-induced pulmonary effects by investigating the activation of these pathways in vitro, and the expression of the candidate microRNAs were validated in tissues of patients with lung diseases from publications. Here in this study, we employed the "Bottom-up" approach to identifying the roles of piRNAs and further validated the mechanisms in vivo using mouse acute lung injury model. Specifically, by non-coding RNA profiling in in vitro BaP exposure, a total of 3 suppressed piRNAs that regulate 5 toxicity pathways were proposed, including piR-004153 targeting CYP1A1, FGFR1, ITGA5, IL6R, NGRF, and SDHA, piR-020326 targeting CDK6, and piR-020388 targeting RASD1. Animal experiments demonstrated that tail vein injection of respective formulated agomir-piRNAs prior to BaP exposure could all alleviate acute lung injury that was shown by histopathological and biochemical evidences. Immunohistochemical evaluation focusing on NF-kB and Bcl-2 levels showed that exogenous piRNAs protect against BaP-induced inflammation and apoptosis, which further support that the inhibition of the 3 piRNAs had an important impact on BaP-induced lung injuries. This mechanism-driven, endpoint-supported result once again confirmed the plausibility and efficiency of the approach integrating in silico, in vitro, and in vivo evidences for the purpose of identifying key molecules.