Transcription factor CmHSFA4-CmMYBS3 complex enhances salt tolerance in chrysanthemum by repressing CmMYB121 expression.

Excessive soil salinity not only hampers plant growth and development but can also lead to plant death. Previously, we found that heat shock factor A4 (CmHSFA4) enhances the tolerance of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) to salt. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we identified a candidate MYB transcription factor, CmMYB121, which responded to salt stress. We observed that the CmMYB121 transcription is suppressed by CmHSFA4. Moreover, overexpression of CmMYB121 exacerbated chrysanthemum sensitivity to salt stress. CmHSFA4 directly bound to the promoter of CmMYB121 at the heat shock element (HSE). Protein-protein interaction assays identified an interaction between CmHSFA4 and CmMYBS3, a transcriptional repressor, and recruited the corepressor TOPLESS (CmTPL) to inhibit CmMYB121 transcription by impairing the H3 and H4 histone acetylation levels of CmMYB121. Our study demonstrated that a CmHSFA4-CmMYBS3-CmTPL complex modulates CmMYB121 expression, consequently regulating the tolerance of chrysanthemum to salt. The findings shed light on the responses of plants to salt stress.

Cellular senescence and metabolic reprogramming model based on bulk/single-cell RNA sequencing reveals PTGER4 as a therapeutic target for ccRCC.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the prevailing histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma and has unique metabolic reprogramming during its occurrence and development. Cell senescence is one of the newly identified tumor characteristics. However, there is a dearth of methodical and all-encompassing investigations regarding the correlation between the broad-ranging alterations in metabolic processes associated with aging and ccRCC. We utilized a range of analytical methodologies, such as protein‒protein interaction network analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis, to form and validate a risk score model known as the senescence-metabolism-related risk model (SeMRM). Our study demonstrated that SeMRM could more precisely predict the OS of ccRCC patients than the clinical prognostic markers in use. By utilizing two distinct datasets of ccRCC, ICGC-KIRC (the International Cancer Genome Consortium) and GSE29609, as well as a single-cell dataset (GSE156632) and real patient clinical information, and further confirmed the relationship between the senescence-metabolism-related risk score (SeMRS) and ccRCC patient progression. It is worth noting that patients who were classified into different subgroups based on the SeMRS exhibited notable variations in metabolic activity, immune microenvironment, immune cell type transformation, mutant landscape, and drug responsiveness. We also demonstrated that PTGER4, a key gene in SeMRM, regulated ccRCC cell proliferation, lipid levels and the cell cycle in vivo and in vitro. Together, the utilization of SeMRM has the potential to function as a dependable clinical characteristic to increase the accuracy of prognostic assessment for patients diagnosed with ccRCC, thereby facilitating the selection of suitable treatment strategies.

Two B-box proteins orchestrate vegetative and reproductive growth in summer chrysanthemum.

Floral transition, the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth, is extremely important for the growth and development of flowering plants. In the summer chrysanthemum, CmBBX8, a member of the subgroup II B-box (BBX) family, positively regulates the transition by physically interacting with CmERF3 to inhibit CmFTL1 expression. In this study, we show that CmBBX5, a B-box subgroup I member comprising two B-boxes and a CCT domain, interacts with CmBBX8. This interaction suppresses the recruitment of CmBBX8 to the CmFTL1 locus without affecting its transcriptional activation activity. CmBBX5 overexpression led to delayed flowering under both LD (long-day) and SD (short-day) conditions, while lines expressing the chimeric repressor gene-silencing (CmBBX5-SRDX) exhibited the opposite phenotype. Subsequent genetic evidence indicated that in regulating flowering, CmBBX5 is partially dependent on CmBBX8. Moreover, during the vegetative growth period, levels of CmBBX5 expression were found to exceed those of CmBBX8. Collectively, our findings indicate that both CmERF3 and CmBBX5 interact with CmBBX8 to dampen the regulation of CmFTL1 via distinct mechanisms, which contribute to preventing the premature flowering of summer chrysanthemum.

Multi-omic profiling of clear cell renal cell carcinoma identifies metabolic reprogramming associated with disease progression.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a complex disease with remarkable immune and metabolic heterogeneity. Here we perform genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and spatial transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses on 100 patients with ccRCC from the Tongji Hospital RCC (TJ-RCC) cohort. Our analysis identifies four ccRCC subtypes including De-clear cell differentiated (DCCD)-ccRCC, a subtype with distinctive metabolic features. DCCD cancer cells are characterized by fewer lipid droplets, reduced metabolic activity, enhanced nutrient uptake capability and a high proliferation rate, leading to poor prognosis. Using single-cell and spatial trajectory analysis, we demonstrate that DCCD is a common mode of ccRCC progression. Even among stage I patients, DCCD is associated with worse outcomes and higher recurrence rate, suggesting that it cannot be cured by nephrectomy alone. Our study also suggests a treatment strategy based on subtype-specific immune cell infiltration that could guide the clinical management of ccRCC.

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) CmHRE2-like negatively regulates the resistance of chrysanthemum to the aphid (Macrosiphoniella sanborni).

BACKGROUND: The growth and ornamental value of chrysanthemums are frequently hindered by aphid attacks. The ethylene-responsive factor (ERF) gene family is pivotal in responding to biotic stress, including insect stress. However, to date, little is known regarding the involvement of ERF transcription factors (TFs) in the response of chrysanthemum to aphids. RESULTS: In the present study, CmHRE2-like from chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), a transcription activator that localizes mainly to the nucleus, was cloned. Expression is induced by aphid infestation. Overexpression of CmHRE2-like in chrysanthemum mediated its susceptibility to aphids, whereas CmHRE2-like-SRDX dominant repressor transgenic plants enhanced the resistance of chrysanthemum to aphids, suggesting that CmHRE2-like contributes to the susceptibility of chrysanthemum to aphids. The flavonoids in CmHRE2-like-overexpression plants were decreased by 29% and 28% in two different lines, whereas they were increased by 42% and 29% in CmHRE2-like-SRDX dominant repressor transgenic plants. The expression of Chrysanthemum-chalcone-synthase gene(CmCHS), chalcone isomerase gene (CmCHI), and flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase gene(CmF3'H) was downregulated in CmHRE2-like overexpression plants and upregulated in CmHRE2-like-SRDX dominant repressor transgenic plants, suggesting that CmHRE2-like regulates the resistance of chrysanthemum to aphids partially through the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis. CONCLUSION: CmHRE2-like was a key gene regulating the vulnerability of chrysanthemum to aphids. This study offers fresh perspectives on the molecular mechanisms of chrysanthemum-aphid interactions and may bear practical significance for developing new strategies to manage aphid infestation in chrysanthemums.

Metabolic reprogramming based on RNA sequencing of gemcitabine-resistant cells reveals the FASN gene as a therapeutic for bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer (BLCA) is the most frequent malignant tumor of the genitourinary system. Postoperative chemotherapy drug perfusion and chemotherapy are important means for the treatment of BLCA. However, once drug resistance occurs, BLCA develops rapidly after recurrence. BLCA cells rely on unique metabolic rewriting to maintain their growth and proliferation. However, the relationship between the metabolic pattern changes and drug resistance in BLCA is unclear. At present, this problem lacks systematic research. In our research, we identified and analyzed resistance- and metabolism-related differentially expressed genes (RM-DEGs) based on RNA sequencing of a gemcitabine-resistant BLCA cell line and metabolic-related genes (MRGs). Then, we established a drug resistance- and metabolism-related model (RM-RM) through regression analysis to predict the overall survival of BLCA. We also confirmed that RM-RM had a significant correlation with tumor metabolism, gene mutations, tumor microenvironment, and adverse drug reactions. Patients with a high drug resistance- and metabolism-related risk score (RM-RS) showed more active lipid synthesis than those with a low RM-RS. Further in vitro and in vivo studies were implemented using Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN), a representative gene, which promotes gemcitabine resistance, and its inhibitor (TVB-3166) that can reverse this resistance effect.

Constructing gradient reflection and scattering porous framework in composite aerogels for enhanced microwave absorption.

Developing high-performance microwave absorption (MA) materials becomes an urgent concern in the field of electromagnetic protection. Constructing porous framework is an efficient approach to MA owing to the abilities of adjusting impedance matching and providing more reflection and scattering paths for electromagnetic waves. Herein, a cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/honeycomb-like carbon-shell encapsulated FeCoNi@C/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite aerogel was fabricated via a facile freeze-drying method. The super-lightweight composites showed a distinctive gradient structure for reflection and scattering inside aerogel pores, micrometer small pores, and nano-fillers on the pore walls. The composite aerogel showed an ideal minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -43.6 dB and remarkable adjustable effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 12.18 GHz due to good impedance matching, unique gradient porous structure, and synergies of multiple loss mechanisms. Therefore, this work will provide a viable strategy to improve the MA capability of absorbers by taking full advantage of constructing gradient reflection and scattering porous structure.

CmNAC25 targets CmMYB6 to positively regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis during the post-flowering stage in chrysanthemum.

BACKGROUND: Anthocyanin is a class of important secondary metabolites that determines colorful petals in chrysanthemum, a famous cut flower. 'Arctic Queen' is a white chrysanthemum cultivar that does not accumulate anthocyanin during the flowering stage. During the post-flowering stage, the petals of 'Arctic Queen' accumulate anthocyanin and turn red. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this flower color change remains unclear. RESULTS: In this study, by using transcriptome analysis, we identified CmNAC25 as a candidate gene promoting anthocyanin accumulation in the post-flowering stage of 'Arctic Queen'. CmNAC25 is directly bound to the promoter of CmMYB6, a core member of the MBW protein complex that promotes anthocyanin biosynthesis in chrysanthemum, to activate its expression. CmNAC25 also directly activates the promoter of CmDFR, which encodes the key enzyme in anthocyanin biosynthesis. CmNAC25 was highly expressed during the post-flowering stage, while the expression level of CmMYB#7, a known R3 MYB transcription factor interfering with the formation of the CmMYB6-CmbHLH2 complex, significantly decreased. Genetic transformation of both chrysanthemum and Nicotiana tabacum verified that CmNAC25 was a positive regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Another two cultivars that turned red during the post-flowering stages also demonstrated a similar mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our data revealed that CmNAC25 positively regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis in chrysanthemum petals during the post-flowering stages by directly activating CmMYB6 and CmDFR. Our results thus revealed a crucial role of CmNAC25 in regulating flower color change during petal senescence and provided a target gene for molecular design breeding of flower color in chrysanthemum.

Fatty Acid Oxidation Mediated by Malonyl-CoA Decarboxylase Represses Renal Cell Carcinoma Progression.

Fatty acid metabolism reprogramming is a prominent feature of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Increased lipid storage supports ccRCC progression, highlighting the importance of understanding the molecular mechanisms driving altered fatty acid synthesis in tumors. Here, we identified that malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MLYCD), a key regulator of fatty acid anabolism, was downregulated in ccRCC, and low expression correlated with poor prognosis in patients. Restoring MLYCD expression in ccRCC cells decreased the content of malonyl CoA, which blocked de novo fatty acid synthesis and promoted fatty acid translocation into mitochondria for oxidation. Inhibition of lipid droplet accumulation induced by MLYCD-mediated fatty acid oxidation disrupted endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial homeostasis, increased reactive oxygen species levels, and induced ferroptosis. Moreover, overexpressing MLYCD reduced tumor growth and reversed resistance to sunitinib in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, HIF2α inhibited MLYCD translation by upregulating expression of eIF4G3 microexons. Together, this study demonstrates that fatty acid catabolism mediated by MLYCD disrupts lipid homeostasis to repress ccRCC progression. Activating MLYCD-mediated fatty acid metabolism could be a promising therapeutic strategy for treating ccRCC. SIGNIFICANCE: MLYCD deficiency facilitates fatty acid synthesis and lipid droplet accumulation to drive progression of renal cell carcinoma, indicating inducing MYLCD as a potential approach to reprogram fatty acid metabolism in kidney cancer.

The RAV transcription factor TEMPRANILLO1 involved in ethylene-mediated delay of chrysanthemum flowering.

TEMPRANILLO1 (TEM1) is a transcription factor belonging to related to ABI3 and VP1 family, which is also known as ethylene response DNA-binding factor 1 and functions as a repressor of flowering in Arabidopsis. Here, a putative homolog of AtTEM1 was isolated and characterized from chrysanthemum, designated as CmTEM1. Exogenous application of ethephon leads to an upregulation in the expression of CmTEM1. Knockdown of CmTEM1 promotes floral initiation, while overexpression of CmTEM1 retards floral transition. Further phenotypic observations suggested that CmTEM1 involves in the ethylene-mediated inhibition of flowering. Transcriptomic analysis established that expression of the flowering integrator CmAFL1, a member of the APETALA1/FRUITFULL subfamily, was downregulated significantly in CmTEM1-overexpressing transgenic plants compared with wild-type plants but was verified to be upregulated in amiR-CmTEM1 lines by quantitative RT-PCR. In addition, CmTEM1 is capable of binding to the promoter of the CmAFL1 gene to inhibit its transcription. Moreover, the genetic evidence supported the notion that CmTEM1 partially inhibits floral transition by targeting CmAFL1. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that CmTEM1 acts as a regulator of ethylene-mediated delayed flowering in chrysanthemum, partly through its interaction with CmAFL1.

Platinum nanoflowers stabilized with aloe polysaccharides for detection of organophosphorus pesticides in food.

Organophosphorus pesticides can inhibit the activity of acetylcholinesterase and cause neurological diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to establish an efficient and sensitive platform for organophosphorus pesticide detection. In this work, we extracted aloe polysaccharide (AP) from aloe vera with the number average molecular weight of 27760 Da and investigated its reducing property. We prepared aloe polysaccharide stabilized platinum nanoflowers (AP-Ptn NFs), their particle size ranges were 29.4-67.3 nm. Furthermore, AP-Ptn NFs exhibited excellent oxidase-like activity and the catalytic kinetics followed the typical Michaelis-Menten equation. They showed strong affinity for 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine substrates. More importantly, we developed a simple and effective strategy for the sensitive colorimetric detection of organophosphorus pesticides in food using biocompatible AP-Ptn NFs. The detection range was 0.5 µg/L - 140 mg/L, which was wider than many previously reported nanozyme detection systems. This colorimetric biosensor had good selectivity and good promise for bioassay analysis.

Platinum Palladium Bimetallic Nanozymes Stabilized with Vancomycin for the Sensitive Colorimetric Determination of L-cysteine.

Many diseases in the human body are related to the level of L-cysteine. Therefore, it is crucial to establish an efficient, simple and sensitive platform for L-cysteine detection. In this work, we synthesized platinum palladium bimetallic nanoparticles (Van-Ptm/Pdn NPs) using vancomycin hydrochloride (Van) as a stabilizer, which exhibited high oxidase-like catalytic activity. In addition, the catalytic kinetics of the Van-Pt1/Pd1 NPs followed the typical Michaelis-Menten equation, exhibiting a strong affinity for 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine substrates. More importantly, we developed a simple and effective strategy for the sensitive colorimetric detection of L-cysteine using biocompatible Van-Pt1/Pd1 NPs. The detection limit was low, at 0.07 µM, which was lower than the values for many previously reported enzyme-like detection systems. The colorimetric method of the L-cysteine assay had good selectivity. The established method for the detection of L-cysteine showed promise for biomedical analysis.

Comparative transcriptome analysis and flavonoid profiling of floral mutants reveals CmMYB11 regulating flavonoid biosynthesis in chrysanthemum.

Flavonoids, of which the major groups are flavones, flavonols, and anthocyanins, confer a variety of colors on plants. Bud sports with variation of floral colors occur occasionally during chrysanthemum cultivation. Although it has been reported that methylation at the promoter of CmMYB6 was related to anthocyanin contents, the regulatory networks of flavonoid biosynthesis still remain largely unknown in mutation of chrysanthemum. We compared phenotypes, pigment composition and transcriptomes in two chrysanthemum cultivars, 'Anastasia Dark Green' and 'Anastasia Pink', and regenerated bud sports of these cultivars with altered floral colors. Increased anthocyanins turned the 'Anastasia Dark Green' mutant red, while decreased anthocyanins turned the 'Anastasia Pink' mutant white. Moreover, total flavonoids were reduced in both mutants. Multiple flavonoid biosynthetic genes and regulatory genes encoding MYBs and bHLHs transcription factors were differentially expressed in pairwise comparisons of transcriptomes in 'Anastasia Dark Green' or 'Anastasia Pink' and their mutants at different flowering stages. Among these regulatory genes, the expression patterns of CmMYB6 and CmbHLH2 correlated to changes of anthocyanin contents, and down-regulation of CmMYB11 correlated to decreased total flavonoid contents in two mutants. CmMYB11 was shown to directly activate the promoter activities of CmCHS2, CmCHI, CmDFR, CmANS, CmFNS, and CmFLS. Furthermore, overexpression of CmMYB11 increased both flavonols and anthocyanins in tobacco petals. Our work provides new insights into regulatory networks involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and coloration in chrysanthemum.

Synergistic interactions between anammox and dissimilatory nitrate reducing bacteria sustains reactor performance across variable nitrogen loading ratios.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria are utilized for high efficiency nitrogen removal from nitrogen-laden sidestreams in wastewater treatment plants. The anammox bacteria form a variety of competitive and mutualistic interactions with heterotrophic bacteria that often employ denitrification or dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) for energy generation. These interactions can be heavily influenced by the influent ratio of ammonium to nitrite, NH4+:NO2-, where deviations from the widely acknowledged stoichiometric ratio (1:1.32) have been demonstrated to have deleterious effects on anammox efficiency. Thus, it is important to understand how variable NH4+:NO2- ratios impact the microbial ecology of anammox reactors. We observed the response of the microbial community in a lab scale anammox membrane bioreactor (MBR) to changes in the influent NH4+:NO2- ratio using both 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Ammonium removal efficiency decreased from 99.77 ± 0.04% when the ratio was 1:1.32 (prior to day 89) to 90.85 ± 0.29% when the ratio was decreased to 1:1.1 (day 89-202) and 90.14 ± 0.09% when the ratio was changed to 1:1.13 (day 169-200). Over this same timespan, the overall nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) remained relatively unchanged (85.26 ± 0.01% from day 0-89, compared to 85.49 ± 0.01% from day 89-169, and 83.04 ± 0.01% from day 169-200). When the ratio was slightly increased to 1:1.17-1:1.2 (day 202-253), the ammonium removal efficiency increased to 97.28 ± 0.45% and the NRE increased to 88.21 ± 0.01%. Analysis of 16 S rRNA gene sequences demonstrated increased relative abundance of taxa belonging to Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Ignavibacteriae over the course of the experiment. The relative abundance of Planctomycetes, the phylum to which anammox bacteria belong, decreased from 77.19% at the beginning of the experiment to 12.24% by the end of the experiment. Analysis of metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) indicated increased abundance of bacteria with nrfAH genes used for DNRA after the introduction of lower influent NH4+:NO2- ratios. The high relative abundance of DNRA bacteria coinciding with sustained bioreactor performance indicates a mutualistic relationship between the anammox and DNRA bacteria. Understanding these interactions could support more robust bioreactor operation at variable nitrogen loading ratios.

The impact of perfluorooctanoic acid shock on hydrogen-driven nitrate and arsenate removal.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a type of toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) commonly found in groundwater due to its use in firefighting and industrial applications. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of PFOA shock on the biological performance of a hydrogen-driven bioreactor for nitrate and arsenate removal. Four hydrogen-driven removal reactors (HdBRs) used for the simultaneous removal of nitrate and arsenal were operated with concentrations of either 0, 1, 5, and 10 mg/L of PFOA to induce shock on the systems and examine the corresponding bacterial response. Our results showed that PFOA shock inhibited and decreased the maximum hydrogen-driven arsenate removal rate. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed that this performance decrease occurred due to a bacterial strike triggered by PFOA shock. PFOA toxicity also led to protein secretion and sludge density decreases. Bacterial analyses showed shifts in the community population due to PFOA shock. The dominant bacteria phylum Proteobacteria became more abundant, from 41.24% originally to 48.29% after exposure to 10 mg/L of PFOA. Other phyla, such as Euryarchaeota and Bacteroidetes, were more tolerant to PFOA shock. Although some of the predominant species within the sludge of each HdBR exhibited a decline, other species with similar functions persisted and assumed the functional responsibilities previously held by the dominant species.

High-performance composite elastomers with abundant heterostructures for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption with ultrabroad bandwidth.

Two-dimensional (2D) MXene has attracted vast attention in electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA), but there remains a contradiction between maintaining impedance matching and enhancing dielectric loss. Herein, the multi-scale architectures of ecoflex/2D MXene (Ti3C2Tx)@zero-dimensional CoNi sphere@one-dimensional carbon nanotube composite elastomers were successfully constructed by simple liquid-phase reduction and thermo-curing method. The binding between the hybrids as fillers and ecoflex as a matrix greatly enhanced the EWA capability of the obtained composite elastomer and improved its mechanical properties. Owing to its good impedance matching, abundant heterostructures, and synergistic electrical and magnetic losses, this elastomer exhibited an excellent minimum reflection loss of -67 dB at 9.46 GHz under a thickness of 2.98 mm. In addition, its ultrabroad effective absorption bandwidth reached 6.07 GHz. This achievement will pave the way for the exploitation of multi-dimensional heterostructures as high-performance electromagnetic absorbers with superior EWA ability.

Dissimilatory sulfate reduction in an anaerobic biofilm reactor for tofu processing wastewater treatment: Bacterial community and their functional genes.

Dissimilatory sulfate reduction (DSR) is the key sulfur cycle that transforms sulfate to sulfide. This process leads to odour issues in wastewater treatment. However, few studies have focused on DSR during treating food processing wastewater with high sulfate. This study investigated DSR microbial population and functional genes in an anaerobic biofilm reactor (ABR) treating tofu processing wastewater. The tofu processing wastewater is a common food processing wastewater in Asia. The full-scale ABR was operated for over 120 days in a tofu and tofu-related products manufacturing factory. Mass balance calculations based on the reactor performance indicated that 79.6-85.1 % of the sulfate was transformed into sulfide irrelevant to dissolved oxygen supplementation. Metagenomic analysis revealed 21 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) containing enzymes encoding DSR. The biofilm contained the complete functional genes of DSR pathway in the full-scale ABR, indicating that biofilm could process DSR independently. Comamonadaceae, Thiobacillus, Nitrosomonadales, Desulfatirhabdium butyrativorans, Desulfomonile tiedjei were the dominant DSR species in the ABR biofilm community. Dissolved oxygen supplementation directly inhibited DSR and mitigated HS- production. It was also found that Thiobacillus contained all the function genes encoding every necessary enzyme in DSR, and thus Thiobacillus distribution directly correlated to DSR and the ABR performance.

Ultrasound radiomics in the prediction of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To systematically assess the clinical value of ultrasound radiomics in the prediction of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: Relevant articles were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase and Medline and screened according to the eligibility criteria. The quality of the included articles was assessed based on the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. After article assessment and data extraction, the diagnostic performance of ultrasound radiomics was evaluated based on pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by generating the ROC curve. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 15.1, and subgroup analysis was conducted to identify the sources of heterogeneity. A Fagan nomogram was generated to assess the clinical utility of ultrasound radiomics. Results: Five studies involving 1260 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that ultrasound radiomics had a pooled sensitivity of 79% (95% CI: 75-83%), specificity of 70% (95% CI: 59-79%), PLR of 2.6 (95% CI: 1.9-3.7), NLR of 0.30 (95% CI: 0.23-0.39), DOR of 9 (95% CI: 5-16), and AUC of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.78-0.85). Sensitivity analysis indicated that the results were statistically reliable and stable, and no significant difference was identified during subgroup analysis. Conclusion: Ultrasound radiomics has favorable predictive performance in the microvascular invasion of HCC and may serve as an auxiliary tool for guiding clinical decision-making.

Wheat-like Ni-coated core-shell silver nanowires for effective electromagnetic wave absorption.

Nowadays, developing high-performance electromagnetic functional materials to eliminate the ever-increasing electromagnetic pollution problem is necessary for the complex electromagnetic environment. However, the materials with high electrical conductivity are prone to secondary electromagnetic pollution due to interface impedance mismatching. Herein, the wheat-like electrically conductive and magnetic silver nanowire@nickle (AgNW@Ni) composites were fabricated via a one-pot in-situ growth method. The electromagnetic properties of the composites could be regulated by adjusting different ratios of precursors, resulting in various morphological features of the nanowire as the core with different Ni shell thicknesses. When the Ag and Ni molar ratio was 1:1.1, the AgNW@Ni composite exhibited the optimal minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -61.1 dB with an adequate effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.06 GHz owing to good impedance matching, abundant heterostructures, and synergistic electrical and magnetic losses. Even after three months, it still maintained an acceptable RLmin value of -39.7 dB and similar EAB, demonstrating its long-term operational stability. This unique composite is expected to be applied in more actual electromagnetic protection occasions.