Robust All-Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries Enabled by a Composite Lithium Anode with Improved Bulk Li Diffusion Kinetics Properties.

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) with a Li metal anode are expected to be one of the most promising energy storage systems to achieve high energy density. However, the interfacial instability between the Li metal anode and solid-state electrolyte (SSE) limits the rate capability and cycling stability of ASSBs. The main issue is the formation of voids at the Li/SSE interface during Li stripping due to the slow diffusion of Li within the bulk Li metal, then increasing internal cell resistance and inducing the formation of lithium dendrites. To address these issues, a composite Li anode (LAO) composed by Li-Ag alloy and Li2O is constructed by mixing the stoichiometric metal Li and Ag2O directly. LAO anode is capable of improving bulk Li diffusion kinetics and inhibiting the formation of interfacial voids effectively, achieving a high critical current density over 1.5 mA cm-2 and long stable cycling over 1000 h at 1 mA cm-2. The ASSBs, employing LAO as the anode, Li6PS5Cl as the SSE, and LiCoO2 as the cathode, exhibit superior rate capability and stable cycling over 4000 cycles at 5 C. Moreover, ASSBs can operate stably with a high LiCoO2 loading of 17.8 mg cm-2 for more than 100 cycles at 0.2 C.

Meta-Analysis of Dyslipidemia and Blood Lipid Parameters on the Risk of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Objective: We aimed to explore the effect of blood lipid parameters on the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) by meta-analysis. Methods: The databases of PubMed, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang were systematically searched from inception to April 2022, and the relevant research literature was obtained, screened, and analyzed. Results: A total of 15 studies were included in this meta-analysis, including 11 reporting dyslipidemia and risk of POAG and 5 reporting specific lipid level and risk of POAG. Dyslipidemia increased the risk of POAG with an odd ratio (OR) of 1.25 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.26). Total triglyceride and total cholesterol were not related to the prevalence of POAG, but high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly negatively correlated with the risk of POAG with an OR of 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94, 0.99). Conclusion: Dyslipidemia is a risk factor for POAG. Given the small sample size and significant interstudy heterogeneity, additional studies are needed to establish this conclusion.

A novel machine learning-based radiomic model for diagnosing high bleeding risk esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To develop and validate a novel machine learning-based radiomic model (RM) for diagnosing high bleeding risk esophageal varices (HREV) in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: A total of 796 qualified participants were enrolled. In training cohort, 218 cirrhotic patients with mild esophageal varices (EV) and 240 with HREV RM were included to training and internal validation groups. Additionally, 159 and 340 cirrhotic patients with mild EV and HREV RM, respectively, were used for external validation. Interesting regions of liver, spleen, and esophagus were labeled on the portal venous-phase enhanced CT images. RM was assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), sensitivity, specificity, calibration and decision curve analysis (DCA). RESULTS: The AUROCs for mild EV RM in training and internal validation were 0.943 and 0.732, sensitivity and specificity were 0.863, 0.773 and 0.763, 0.763, respectively. The AUROC, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.654, 0.773 and 0.632, respectively, in external validation. Interestingly, the AUROCs for HREV RM in training and internal validation were 0.983 and 0.834, sensitivity and specificity were 0.948, 0.916 and 0.977, 0.969, respectively. The related AUROC, sensitivity and specificity were 0.736, 0.690 and 0.762 in external validation. Calibration and DCA indicated RM had good performance. Compared with Baveno VI and its expanded criteria, HREV RM had a higher accuracy and net reclassification improvements that were as high as 49.0% and 32.8%. CONCLUSION: The present study developed a novel non-invasive RM for diagnosing HREV in cirrhotic patients with high accuracy. However, this RM still needs to be validated by a large multi-center cohort.

Comparison of visual acuity between phacoemulsification and extracapsular cataract extraction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment is the primary intervention for cataracts. Extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) is a routine surgery for cataracts, phacoemulsification (PE) is another procedure with a small incision and injury area. This study investigated the comparison of the effects of these two procedures on the patient's visual acuity. METHODS: Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and SpringerLink databases were searched from January 2000 to August 2021 to obtain randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies of PE and ECCE procedures for cataract in English. After the initial screening, Revman 5.4 software was used for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included a total of eight articles with 1,015 affected eyes. The results showed that the rate of good final visual acuity in the PE group was higher than that in the ECCE group [odds ratio (OR) =2.94, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.17-3.99, P<0.00001], the incidence of vitreous Loss during PE surgery was lower than that in ECCE surgery (OR =0.16, 95% CI: 0.04-0.64, P=0.01), as was the incidence of capsular tear (OR =0.29, 95% CI: 0.10-0.85, P=0.02), the incidence of capsule opacification after surgery (OR =0.20, 95% CI: 0.08-0.53, P=0.001), and the incidence of cystoid macular edema after surgery (OR =0.16, 95% CI: 0.04-0.74, P=0.02). DISCUSSION: Compared with ECCE, PE demonstrates an improvement in postoperative visual acuity and has fewer complications for cataract patients.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus increases liver transplant-free mortality in patients with cirrhosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the prognosis and complications of liver cirrhosis is not fully clarified. AIM: To clarify the mortality and related risk factors as well as complications in cirrhotic patients with T2DM. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to December 1, 2020 for cohort studies comparing liver transplant-free mortality, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), variceal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in cirrhotic patients with vs without T2DM. Odds ratios (ORs) were combined by using fixed-effects or random-effects models with RevMan software. RESULTS: The database search generated a total of 17 cohort studies that met the inclusion criteria. Among these studies, eight reported the risk of mortality, and eight reported the risk of HCC. Three studies provided SBP rates, and two documented ascites rates. Four articles focused on HE rates, and three focused on variceal bleeding rates. Meta-analysis indicated that T2DM was significantly associated with an increased risk of liver transplant-free mortality [OR: 1.28, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.16-1.41, P < 0.0001] and HCC incidence (OR: 1.82, 95%CI: 1.32-2.51, P = 0.003). The risk of SBP was not significantly increased (OR: 1.16 95%CI: 0.86-1.57, P = 0.34). Additionally, T2DM did not significantly increase HE (OR: 1.31 95%CI: 0.97-1.77, P = 0.08), ascites (OR: 1.11 95%CI: 0.84-1.46, P = 0.46), and variceal bleeding (OR: 1.34, 95%CI: 0.99-1.82, P = 0.06). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that cirrhotic patients with T2DM have a poor prognosis and high risk of HCC. T2DM may not be associated with an increased risk of SBP, variceal bleeding, ascites, or HE in cirrhotic patients with T2DM.

A family of serine protease inhibitors (serpins) and its expression profiles in the ovaries of Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides.

Serpins are evolutionarily conserved serine protease inhibitors found in many organisms. In arthropods, serpins are involved in feeding, development, oviposition, anti-coagulation and innate immune responses. We characterized of 11 serpins in the tick Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides. These serpins have orthologous genes in other ticks, as indicated by phylogenetic analysis. Analysis of the reactive center loop and hinge regions of the protein sequences indicated that RHS7 encodes proteins that may lack proteinase inhibitor activity. All R. haemaphysaloides serpins had high amino acid sequence identities to Rhipicephalus microplus serpins. Tissue and temporal transcriptional profiling of eight R. haemaphysaloides serpins located in the ovaries demonstrated that they are transcribed during feeding and oviposition. These suggested their participation in the regulation of tick physiology. Immune serum from rabbits repeatedly infested with larvae, nymphs and adults of R. haemaphysaloides can recognize multiple recombinant serpins, respectively. After gene silencing, the blood feeding to repletion time was significantly longer and the 24 h attachment rate was significantly lower in the RHS3 and RHS7 knock down groups. The RHS9 and RHS11 silenced ticks had significant reduction in repletion time and egg-laying rate. Egg hatchability was significantly decreased in RHS4, RHS5 and RHS9 silenced ticks. All groups had significant reductions in engorged body weight. This study increases information on the serpins of R. haemaphysaloides and suggests that some RHSs are potential targets for development of tick vaccines.

Combination of pembrolizumab and 125I attenuates the aggressiveness of non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality. Therapies targeting programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD1L1) have promising effects on NSCLC. However, resistance to targeted therapy has become the main problem and the underling molecular mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, the expression of PD1L1 in NSCLC was determined and the association with clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. A combination therapy was also constructed, including pembrolizumab (Pem) and iodine-125 (125I), which represented an efficient strategy for the treatment of NSCLC. The expression of PD1L1 was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and positively correlated with the Ki-67 index, pathological subtypes and risk stages. A higher level of PD1L1 expression was associated with poorer survival in patients with NSCLC, which could be used as a prognostic indicator. When NSCLC cells were cultured in the presence of Pem and 125I seeds, the combination treatment significantly abrogated the tumor proliferation and aggressiveness through the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 secretion. Flow cytometry analysis revealed pembrolizumab combined with 125I contributed to a higher rate of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, indicating that the combination treatment improved the resistance to immunotherapy. Furthermore, the associated molecular mechanism was the dysregulation of ADAM metallopeptidase domain 17. The findings from the present study revealed that PD1L1 could be used as a predictive biomarker, and the application of combination treatment of pembrolizumab and 125I showed promising effects on NSCLC.

Description of a new species of Dascillus Latreille from Henan, China (Coleoptera: Dascillidae).

Dascillus Latreille, 1797 (Coleoptera: Dascillidae) currently contains about 40 species, of which 32 have been reported from China (Jin et al. 2013, 2018; Hájek 2016; Terzani et al. 2017; Wang et al. 2019). The Baotianman National Nature Reserve of Henan (33°20'-33°36'N, 111°47'-112°04'E) which is one of the "world biosphere reserves" recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for their high ecosystem and species diversity (Zhu et al. 2002). While examining specimens collected from the survey of the Baotianman National Nature Reserve in 2017, conducted by the Hunan Agricultural University (Changsha, China), a new species of Dascillus was identified and is described in this paper.

A serpin from the tick Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides: Involvement in vitellogenesis.

Tick serpins are involved in enzyme activity, food digestion, blood-feeding, immune response and anticoagulation. Little is known about the potential roles of serpins in tick reproduction. RHS8, a serpin from the tick Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, has an open reading frame 1212 bp long and encodes a protein that has 404 amino acids and a predicted molecular weight of 45 kDa. RHS8 exhibits 89.58 % amino acid identity with RmS15 in Rhipicephalus microplus. RHS8 was expressed primarily in larvae and nymphs. RHS8 mRNA expression in the ovaries, fat bodies and salivary glands were up-regulated from feeding to ovipositing ticks. RNAi results showed that RHS8 dsRNA-injected ticks had a lower body weight, longer feeding time, fewer eggs laid and lower egg hatchability. Tick reproduction, such as egg laying and hatching, was disrupted by RNAi. Compared with the control group, ovaries of the RHS8 interference group were light brown color, indicating a reduction in yolk granule accumulation. Western blot results showed that the expression of RHVg3 and RHVg4 proteins in ovaries was reduced in the RHS8 dsRNA-injected group. These results indicate that RHS8 is related to tick reproduction and its interference affects vitellogenesis.

Alteration in gene expression profiles of thymoma: Genetic differences and potential novel targets.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the gene expression profiles associated with thymoma to better understand the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of thymoma. METHODS: Eight patients with thymomas (type A, AB, B1, and B2) and four controls with thymic cysts were analyzed using microarray profiling to identify changes in gene expression. RESULTS: Across all of our samples, 2319 messenger RNAs were upregulated and 2776 were downregulated in thymomas relative to thymic cysts. Gene ontology and pathway analyses revealed that a large number of genes participate in cellular functions, among which MHC class II protein complex assembly, assembly with peptide antigen, calcium activated phosphatidylcholine scrambling, and release of cytoplasmic sequestered NF-κB were dysregulated, whereas intestinal immune network for immunoglobulin A production, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, the calcium signaling pathway, and pathways related to autoimmune diseases were downregulated. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed gene expression differences between thymomas and thymic cysts, and identified key candidate genes/pathways that might be used as diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets to treat cancer metastasis.

Alteration in gene expression profile of thymomas with or without myasthenia gravis linked with the nuclear factor-kappaB/autoimmune regulator pathway to myasthenia gravis pathogenesis.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the gene expression profile of a set of candidate genes for a better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of thymoma with or without myasthenia gravis. METHODS: Thymoma patients and thymoma patients with myasthenia gravis were analyzed using microarray profiling to identify significant changes in gene expression of autoimmune regulator pathway genes including AIRE, IL-7R, CHRNA3, SYMD1, THRA, and CAV3. RESULTS: Across all of our samples, we found that 1484 mRNAs were upregulated and 770 were downregulated in thymoma patients compared with thymoma with myasthenia gravis patients. Gene ontology and pathway analysis revealed that a large number of genes participated in cellular functions for humoral immune response, sequence-specific DNA binding RNA polymerase II transcription factor activity, positive regulation of gene expression, regulation of neuron projection development, extracellular ligand-gated ion channel activity, positive regulation of striated muscle cell differentiation, and regulation of nuclear factor-kappaB import into the nucleus. CONCLUSION: Our results revealed genetic differences between thymomas and myasthenia gravis, and identified the key candidate genes/pathways for molecular mechanism.

Recombined humanized endostatin-induced suppression of HMGB1 expression inhibits proliferation of NSCLC cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Recombined humanized endostatin (Rh-endostatin) exhibits a potent anti-cancer effect involving multiple molecular targets and signaling pathways. HMGB1 is a highly conserved DNA-binding protein involved in cancer development. The therapeutic effect of Rh-endostatin on HMGB1 has not been reported, thus we investigate the effect in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were used to analyze the messenger RNA and protein expression of HMGB1 in A549 cancer cells, while enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the release of HMGB1. Western blot was performed to evaluate HMGB1 expression in SK-MES-1 and H661 NSCLC cells. RESULTS: Rh-endostatin inhibited the proliferation of A549 cancer cells and distinctly downregulated the expression and release of HMGB1 in dose and time dependent manners. Rh-endostatin-induced HMGB1 downregulation was confirmed in different types of NSCLC cells. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate the general phenomenon that Rh-endostatin can induce HMGB1 suppression in a variety of NSCLC cells. Rh-endostatin may suppress HMGB1 expression and release in A549 cancer cells, thus inhibiting cell proliferation.

An epidemiological investigation of age-related macular degeneration in aged population in China: the Hainan study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the risk factors in the residents aged ≥50 years in Hainan Province. METHODS: Random sampling was carried out in four separated cities in Hainan Province in 2015. All the subjects accomplished the standard questionnaire and ocular examinations. The diagnosis of AMD was performed based on the criteria proposed by Beckman Initiative for Macular Research Classification Committee. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-seven subjects (15.6%) were diagnosed with AMD, including 267 (11.7%) of early AMD, 64 (2.80%) of intermediate AMD and 24 (1.1%) of late AMD, respectively. The factors associated with the prevalence of AMD included age, educational level, smoking, outdoor activities and diet. The prevalence of AMD increased with age, lower educational level, smoking or less outdoor activities. The prevalence of AMD in those with a diet of meat or eggs was higher compared with a diet of vegetables or fish. The prevalence of early, intermediate and late AMD in the aged population in Hainan Province was 11.7, 2.8 and 1.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Age and smoking were the risk factors for AMD, while the educational level and outdoor activities were the protective factors. Early AMD mostly occurred in those aged 50-59 years and 60-69 years, while intermediate and late AMD occurred in 70-79 years and older than 80 years.

Beneficial effects of ApoA-I on LPS-induced acute lung injury and endotoxemia in mice.

High density lipoprotein (HDL) binds lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and neutralizes its toxicity. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of Apolipoprotein (ApoA-I), the major apolipoprotein of HDL, on LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and endotoxemia. BALB/c mice were challenged with LPS, followed by ApoA-I or saline administration for 24h. The mice were then sacrificed and histopathological analysis of the lung was performed. We found that ApoA-I could attenuate LPS-induced acute lung injury and inflammation. To investigate the mechanisms, we measured tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and found that ApoA-I could significantly inhibit LPS-induced increases in the IL-1beta and TNF-alpha levels in serum (P<0.05, respectively), as well as in the IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 levels in BAL fluid (P<0.01 and P<0.05, P<0.05, respectively). Moreover, we evaluated the effect of ApoA-I on the mortality of L-929 cells which were attacked by LPS-activated peritoneal macrophages. We found that ApoA-I could significantly inhibit the LPS-induced cell death in a dose-dependent fashion. Furthermore, we investigated in vivo the effects of ApoA-I on the mortality rate and survival time after LPS administration and found that ApoA-I significantly decreased the mortality (P<0.05) and increased the survival time (P<0.05). In summary, the results suggest that ApoA-I could effectively protect against LPS-induced endotoxemia and acute lung damage. The mechanism might be related to inhibition of inflammatory cytokine release from macrophages.