Association between inflammatory biomarkers before pregnancy and risk of perinatal depression: A prospective cohort study of 4483 women in Sweden.

AIM: Perinatal depression (PND) is a global health concern, affecting millions of childbearing women. Emerging data suggest that inflammation may play a role in the development of PND. Peripheral blood inflammatory biomarkers before pregnancy are widely tested in clinical practice at minimum cost, yet their potential role in PND risk remains unknown. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 4483 birthing women during 2009-2021 within the LifeGene study with linkage to Swedish registers. Peripheral blood inflammatory biomarkers were profiled at baseline. Cases of PND were identified using validated tools or clinical diagnosis from subsequent pregnancies and postpartum periods. Logistic regression models were employed to assess the associations of each inflammatory biomarker (z scored) with PND. RESULTS: We identified 495 (11.0 %) PND cases with an average age of 29.2 years. Pre-pregnancy platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) was positively associated [OR, 95 % CI:1.14(1.01,1.27)], while lymphocyte count was inversely associated [OR, 95 % CI: 0.89(0.80,0.98)] with PND. A dose-response relationship was indicated for both PLR and lymphocytes when analyzed in categories based on tertile distribution. These associations appeared more pronounced for postpartum depression than antepartum depression and were independent of psychiatric comorbidities. CONCLUSION: With implications for future mechanistic research, these findings suggest that blood levels of lymphocytes and PLR before pregnancy are associated with subsequent risk of PND in a dose-response manner.

Effect of sarcopenia on liver cirrhosis with complicating oesophageal and gastric varices after endoscopic therapy.

Several investigators have reported that sarcopenia is common in patients with liver cirrhosis. However, few studies have probed the association between sarcopenia and liver cirrhosis complicated with oesophageal and gastric variceal bleeding (LC-EGVB). We aimed to investigate the impact of sarcopenia on rebleeding after endoscopic therapy in patients with LC-EGVB. Computed tomography (CT) radiographs from the third lumbar vertebra were selected to analyse body composition, including skeletal muscle tissue, visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue using SliceOmatic software. Sarcopenia was defined using validated cutoff values for patients with liver cirrhosis: 44.77 cm2/m2 for men and 32.50 cm2/m2 for women. A total of 187 patients with LC-EGVB and 309 controls were included in this study. The rate of sarcopenia in controls (17.4 %) was significantly lower than that in patients with LC-EGVB (41.2 %). Patients with LC-EGVB exhibiting sarcopenia showed a high prevalence of portal vein thrombosis and rebleeding rate at 1 year. The rate of sarcopenia in the rebleeding group was significantly higher than that in the non-rebleeding group. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that sarcopenia was an independent risk factor for rebleeding within 1 year in patients with LC-EGVB. Patients with LC-EGVB displayed a high prevalence of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia was observed to be an independent risk factor for rebleeding within 1 year.

A population-based multigenerational family co-aggregation study of severe infections and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Postinfectious autoimmune processes have been proposed as potential causal factors for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This large population-based study aimed to clarify the co-aggregation pattern between severe infections and OCD across clusters of relatives with varying degrees of relatedness. METHODS: We identified 4,916,898 individuals born in Sweden between 1960 and 2008 and followed them until 2020. Each individual was linked to their first- and second-degree relatives, including monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins, mothers, fathers, full siblings, maternal and paternal half siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. OCD and infection diagnoses from inpatient and specialized outpatient units were retrieved from the Swedish National Patient Register. We compared the risk of OCD in relatives of probands with severe infections to those of probands without severe infections. Cox proportional hazard regression models, incorporating time-varying exposures, were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs). Dose-response associations were examined using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Relatives of probands with severe infections exhibited a higher risk of OCD, increasing with genetic relatedness, with HRs (95% CI) ranging from 1.46 (1.07-1.98) in MZ twins to 1.10 (1.09-1.11) in cousins. The results remained robust after adjusting for severe infections among relatives, OCD in probands, and comorbid autoimmune disorders in both probands and relatives. A dose-response association was observed between the number of infections in the probands and their odds of OCD, as well as in their relatives. CONCLUSIONS: The results strongly suggest that the association between severe infections and OCD may be largely driven by shared genetic factors.

Incident Benzodiazepine and Z-Drug Use and Subsequent Risk of Serious Infections.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Animal studies have suggested a link between benzodiazepine and related Z-drug (BZDR) use and immune dysfunction. Corresponding evidence in humans is limited and focuses mainly on pneumonia. This study aimed to assess the association of incident BZDR use with subsequent development of serious infections. METHODS: This Swedish register-based study included a population-based demographically matched cohort, a co-twin control cohort, and an active comparator cohort. Out of 7,362,979 individuals aged below 65 years who were BZDR naïve by 2007, 713,896 BZDR recipients with incident dispensation of any BZDRs between 2007 and 2019 were 1:1 matched to 713,896 nonrecipients from the general population; 9197 BZDR recipients were compared with their 9298 unexposed co-twins/co-multiples; and 434,900 BZDR recipients were compared with 428,074 incident selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) recipients. The outcomes were identified by the first inpatient or specialist outpatient diagnosis of serious infections in the National Patient Register, or death from any infections recorded as the underlying cause in the Cause of Death Register. Cox proportional hazards regression models were fitted and controlled for multiple confounders, including familial confounding and confounding by indication. To study a possible dose-response association, the cumulative dosage of BZDRs dispensed during the follow-up was estimated for each BZDR recipient and modeled as a time-varying exposure with dose categories in tertiles [≤ 20 defined daily doses (DDDs), > 20 DDDs ≤ 65, and > 65 DDDs). The risk of infections was assessed in BZDR recipients within each category of the cumulative BZDR dosage compared to their demographically matched nonrecipients. RESULTS: In the demographically matched cohort (average age at incident BZDR use 42.8 years, 56.9% female), the crude incidence rate of any serious infections in BZDR recipients and matched nonrecipients during 1-year follow-up was 4.18 [95% confidence intervals (CI) 4.13-4.23] and 1.86 (95% CI 1.83-1.89) per 100 person-years, respectively. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and pharmacological confounders, BZDR use was associated with 83% relative increase in risk of any infections [hazard ratio (HR) 1.83, 95% CI 1.79-1.89]. The risk remained increased, although attenuated, in the co-twin cohort (HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.23-1.97) and active comparator cohort (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.30-1.35). The observed risks were similar across different types of initial BZDRs and across individual BZDRs, and the risks increased with age at BZDR initiation. We also observed a dose-response association between cumulative BZDR dosage and risk of serious infections. CONCLUSIONS: BZDR initiation was associated with increased risks of serious infections, even when considering unmeasured familial confounding and confounding by indication. The exact pathways through which BZDRs may affect immune function, however, remain unclear. Further studies are needed to explore the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the association between BZDR use and serious infections, as it can lead to safer therapeutic strategies for patients requiring BZDR.

Clinical characteristics of peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures in myopic children.

AIM: To describe the characteristics of peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure (PHOMS) in myopic children and to investigate factors associated with PHOMS. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 101 eyes of 101 children (age ≤17y) with myopia. All included patients underwent comprehensive clinical examination. Optic nerve canal parameters, including disc diameter, optic nerve head (ONH) tilt angle, and border tissue angle were measured using serial enhanced-depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Based on the optic disc drusen consortium's definition of PHOMS, eyes were classified as PHOMS group and non-PHOMS group. PHOMS was categorized according to height. RESULTS: Sixty-seven (66.3%) eyes were found with PHOMS. Small PHOMS could only be detected by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Medium PHOMS could be seen with blurred optic disc borders corresponding to OCT. The most frequent location of PHOMS was at the nasosuperior (91%, 61 of 67 eyes) to ONH disc. The axial length and spherical equivalent were more myopic in the PHOMS group than in the non-PHOMS group (both P<0.001). ONH tilt angle was also significantly greater in PHOMS group than in non-PHOMS group [8.90 (7.16-10.54) vs 3.93 (3.09-5.25), P<0.001]. Border tissue angle was significantly smaller in PHOMS group than in non-PHOMS group [29.70 (20.90-43.81) vs 45.62 (35.18-60.45), P<0.001]. In the multivariable analysis, spherical equivalent (OR=3.246, 95%CI=1.209-8.718, P=0.019) and ONH tilt angle (OR=3.275, 95%CI=1.422-7.542, P=0.005) were significantly correlated with PHOMS. There was no disc diameter associated with PHOMS. In the linear regression analysis, border tissue angle was negatively associated with PHOMS height (ß=-2.227, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: PHOMS is associated with optic disc tilt and optic disc nasal shift in myopia. Disc diameter is not a risk factor for PHOMS. The changes in ONH caused by axial elongation facilitated an understanding of the mechanism of PHOMS.

The Transcriptional Regulator TfmR Directly Regulates Two Pathogenic Pathways in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola.

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc) is a notorious plant pathogen. Like most bacterial pathogens, Xoc has evolved a complex regulatory network to modulate the expression of various genes related to pathogenicity. Here, we have identified TfmR, a transcriptional regulator belonging to the TetR family, as a key player in the virulence mechanisms of this phytopathogenic bacterium. We have demonstrated genetically that tfmR is involved in the hypersensitive response (HR), pathogenicity, motility and extracellular polysaccharide production of this phytopathogenic bacterium. Our investigations extended to exploring TfmR's interaction with RpfG and HrpX, two prominent virulence regulators in Xanthomonas species. We found that TfmR directly binds to the promoter region of RpfG, thereby positively regulating its expression. Notably, constitutive expression of RpfG partly reinstates the pathogenicity compromised by TfmR-deletion mutants. Furthermore, our studies revealed that TfmR also exerts direct positive regulation on the expression of the T3SS regulator HrpX. Similar to RpfG, sustained expression of HrpX partially restores the pathogenicity of TfmR-deletion mutants. These findings underscore TfmR's multifaceted role as a central regulator governing key virulence pathways in Xoc. Importantly, our research sheds light on the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of pathogenicity in this plant pathogen.

Individualized prediction models in ADHD: a systematic review and meta-regression.

There have been increasing efforts to develop prediction models supporting personalised detection, prediction, or treatment of ADHD. We overviewed the current status of prediction science in ADHD by: (1) systematically reviewing and appraising available prediction models; (2) quantitatively assessing factors impacting the performance of published models. We did a PRISMA/CHARMS/TRIPOD-compliant systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42023387502), searching, until 20/12/2023, studies reporting internally and/or externally validated diagnostic/prognostic/treatment-response prediction models in ADHD. Using meta-regressions, we explored the impact of factors affecting the area under the curve (AUC) of the models. We assessed the study risk of bias with the Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST). From 7764 identified records, 100 prediction models were included (88% diagnostic, 5% prognostic, and 7% treatment-response). Of these, 96% and 7% were internally and externally validated, respectively. None was implemented in clinical practice. Only 8% of the models were deemed at low risk of bias; 67% were considered at high risk of bias. Clinical, neuroimaging, and cognitive predictors were used in 35%, 31%, and 27% of the studies, respectively. The performance of ADHD prediction models was increased in those models including, compared to those models not including, clinical predictors (ß = 6.54, p = 0.007). Type of validation, age range, type of model, number of predictors, study quality, and other type of predictors did not alter the AUC. Several prediction models have been developed to support the diagnosis of ADHD. However, efforts to predict outcomes or treatment response have been limited, and none of the available models is ready for implementation into clinical practice. The use of clinical predictors, which may be combined with other type of predictors, seems to improve the performance of the models. A new generation of research should address these gaps by conducting high quality, replicable, and externally validated models, followed by implementation research.

Shared familial risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and psychiatric disorders: a nationwide multigenerational genetics study.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatric disorders and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are heritable, polygenic, and often comorbid conditions, yet knowledge about their potential shared familial risk is lacking. We used family designs and T2DM polygenic risk score (T2DM-PRS) to investigate the genetic associations between psychiatric disorders and T2DM. METHODS: We linked 659 906 individuals born in Denmark 1990-2000 to their parents, grandparents, and aunts/uncles using population-based registers. We compared rates of T2DM in relatives of children with and without a diagnosis of any or one of 11 specific psychiatric disorders, including neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, using Cox regression. In a genotyped sample (iPSYCH2015) of individuals born 1981-2008 (n = 134 403), we used logistic regression to estimate associations between a T2DM-PRS and these psychiatric disorders. RESULTS: Among 5 235 300 relative pairs, relatives of individuals with a psychiatric disorder had an increased risk for T2DM with stronger associations for closer relatives (parents:hazard ratio = 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.35-1.42; grandparents: 1.14, 1.13-1.15; and aunts/uncles: 1.19, 1.16-1.22). In the genetic sample, one standard deviation increase in T2DM-PRS was associated with an increased risk for any psychiatric disorder (odds ratio = 1.11, 1.08-1.14). Both familial T2DM and T2DM-PRS were significantly associated with seven of 11 psychiatric disorders, most strongly with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder, and inversely with anorexia nervosa. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings of familial co-aggregation and higher T2DM polygenic liability associated with psychiatric disorders point toward shared familial risk. This suggests that part of the comorbidity is explained by shared familial risks. The underlying mechanisms still remain largely unknown and the contributions of genetics and environment need further investigation.

Risk factors for dropout from psychological substance use disorder treatment programs in criminal justice settings.

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders are highly prevalent in people within the criminal justice system. Psychological programs are the most common type of treatment available and have been shown to decrease recidivism, but dropping out of treatment is common. Risk factors associated with treatment dropout remain unclear in this setting, and whether the risk factors differ by treatment form (group-based vs. individual). METHODS: Outcome (treatment dropout) was defined as not finishing the program due to client's own wish, misbehavior, no-shows, or because program leader found client to be unsuitable. Predictors of treatment dropout included a comprehensive set of individual-level clinical, socioeconomic, and crime-related pre-treatment characteristics. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate the associations between predictors and dropout. FINDINGS: The study cohort included 5239 criminal justice clients who participated in a psychological treatment program (group-based or individual). Multivariable logistic regression models showed that female sex (OR=1.64, 95% CI 1.20-2.25), age (0.99, [0.97-1.00]), sentence length (0.98, [0.97-0.98]), higher education (0.54, [0.28-1.00]), number of violent offenses (1.03, [1.01-1.05]), and anxiety disorders (1.32, [1.01-1.72]) were associated with dropout from the individual treatment program. For the group-based program, age (OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.96-1.00), sentence length (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98), stimulant use disorder (OR=1.48, 95%, 1.00-2.19), and self-harm (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.00-2.34) were associated with dropout. CONCLUSIONS: We identified certain sociodemographic, crime-related, and clinical characteristics that were particularly important in predicting dropout from psychological treatment. Further, we find that there are similarities and differences in predictors of dropout from group-based and individual treatment forms.

Establishment and evaluation of a prognostic model for patients with unresectable gastric cancer liver metastases.

BACKGROUND: Liver metastases (LM) is the primary factor contributing to unfavorable outcomes in patients diagnosed with gastric cancer (GC). The objective of this study is to analyze significant prognostic risk factors for patients with GCLM and develop a reliable nomogram model that can accurately predict individualized prognosis, thereby enhancing the ability to evaluate patient outcomes. AIM: To analyze prognostic risk factors for GCLM and develop a reliable nomogram model to accurately predict individualized prognosis, thereby enhancing patient outcome assessment. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data pertaining to GCLM (type III), admitted to the Department of General Surgery across multiple centers of the Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2010 to January 2018. The dataset was divided into a development cohort and validation cohort in a ratio of 2:1. In the development cohort, we utilized univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to identify independent risk factors associated with overall survival in GCLM patients. Subsequently, we established a prediction model based on these findings and evaluated its performance using receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, calibration curves, and clinical decision curves. A nomogram was created to visually represent the prediction model, which was then externally validated using the validation cohort. RESULTS: A total of 372 patients were included in this study, comprising 248 individuals in the development cohort and 124 individuals in the validation cohort. Based on Cox analysis results, our final prediction model incorporated five independent risk factors including albumin levels, primary tumor size, presence of extrahepatic metastases, surgical treatment status, and chemotherapy administration. The 1-, 3-, and 5-years Area Under the Curve values in the development cohort are 0.753, 0.859, and 0.909, respectively; whereas in the validation cohort, they are observed to be 0.772, 0.848, and 0.923. Furthermore, the calibration curves demonstrated excellent consistency between observed values and actual values. Finally, the decision curve analysis curve indicated substantial net clinical benefit. CONCLUSION: Our study identified significant prognostic risk factors for GCLM and developed a reliable nomogram model, demonstrating promising predictive accuracy and potential clinical benefit in evaluating patient outcomes.

Inhibitory Subpopulations in preBötzinger Complex Play Distinct Roles in Modulating Inspiratory Rhythm and Pattern.

Inhibitory neurons embedded within mammalian neural circuits shape breathing, walking, and other rhythmic motor behaviors. At the core of the neural circuit controlling breathing is the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC), where GABAergic (GAD1/2+) and glycinergic (GlyT2+) neurons are functionally and anatomically intercalated among glutamatergic Dbx1-derived (Dbx1+) neurons that generate rhythmic inspiratory drive. The roles of these preBötC inhibitory neurons in breathing remain unclear. We first characterized the spatial distribution of molecularly defined preBötC inhibitory subpopulations in male and female neonatal double reporter mice expressing either tdTomato or EGFP in GlyT2+, GAD1+, or GAD2+ neurons. We found that the majority of preBötC inhibitory neurons expressed both GlyT2 and GAD2 while a much smaller subpopulation also expressed GAD1. To determine the functional role of these subpopulations, we used holographic photostimulation, a patterned illumination technique, in rhythmically active medullary slices from neonatal Dbx1tdTomato;GlyT2EGFP and Dbx1tdTomato;GAD1EGFP double reporter mice of either sex. Stimulation of 4 or 8 preBötC GlyT2+ neurons during endogenous rhythm prolonged the interburst interval in a phase-dependent manner and increased the latency to burst initiation when bursts were evoked by stimulation of Dbx1+ neurons. In contrast, stimulation of 4 or 8 preBötC GAD1+ neurons did not affect interburst interval or latency to burst initiation. Instead, photoactivation of GAD1+ neurons during the inspiratory burst prolonged endogenous and evoked burst duration and decreased evoked burst amplitude. We conclude that GlyT2+/GAD2+ neurons modulate breathing rhythm by delaying burst initiation while a smaller GAD1+ subpopulation shapes inspiratory patterning by altering burst duration and amplitude.

Graph Laplace Regularization-based pressure sensor placement strategy for leak localization in the water distribution networks under joint hydraulic and topological feature spaces.

Urban water distribution networks (WDNs) have wide range and intricate topology, which include leakage, pipe burst and other abnormal states during production and operation. With the continuous development of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology in recent years, the means of monitoring the WDNs by using wireless sensor network technology has gradually received attention and extensive research. Most of the existing researches select the deployment location of sensors according to the hydraulic state of the WDNs, but the connectivity and topology between the nodes of the WDNs are not fully considered and analyzed. In this study, a new method that can integrate the topological features and hydraulic model information of the WDN is proposed to solve the problem of optimal sensor placement. First, the method preprocesses the covariance matrix of the pressure sensitivity matrix of the water distribution network by a diffusion kernel-based data prefiltering method and obtains the new network topology weights and its Laplacian matrix under the constraints of the network topology through a data-based graphical Laplacian learning method. Then, the sensor placement problem is transformed into a matrix minimum eigenvalue constraint problem by the Graph Laplace Regularization (GLR)-based method, and finally the selection of sensor nodes is accomplished by the method based on Gershgorin Disc Alignment (GDA). The proposed strategy is tested on a passive Hanoi network, an active Net 3 network, and a larger network, PA2, and is compared with some existing methods. The results show that the proposed solution achieves good performance in three different leak localization methods.

Intentional Self-Harm and Death by Suicide in Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Nationwide Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is thought to be associated with considerable suicide risk. This nationwide cohort study quantified the risks of intentional self-harm-including nonsuicidal self-injuries and suicide attempts-and death by suicide in BDD. METHODS: Individuals with a validated ICD-10 diagnosis of BDD in the Swedish National Patient Register, registered between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2020, were matched with 10 unexposed individuals (i.e., without BDD) from the general population on birth year, sex, and county of residence. Conditional Poisson regression models estimated incidence rate ratios and 95% CIs for intentional self-harm. Stratified Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios and 95% CIs for death by suicide. Models adjusted for sociodemographic variables and lifetime psychiatric comorbidities. RESULTS: Among 2833 individuals with BDD and 28,330 unexposed matched individuals, 466 (16.45%) and 1071 (3.78%), respectively, had at least 1 record of intentional self-harm during the study period (incidence rate ratio = 3.37; 95% CI, 3.02-3.76). In the BDD group, about two-thirds (n = 314; 67%) had their first recorded self-harm event before their first BDD diagnosis. A total of 17 (0.60%) individuals with BDD and 27 (0.10%) unexposed individuals died by suicide (hazard ratio = 3.47; 95% CI, 1.76-6.85). All results remained robust to additional adjustment for lifetime psychiatric comorbidities. A higher proportion of individuals with BDD who died by suicide had at least 1 previous record of intentional self-harm compared with unexposed individuals (52.94% vs. 22.22%; p = .036). CONCLUSIONS: BDD was associated with a 3-fold increased risk of intentional self-harm and death by suicide.

Effectiveness of substance use disorder treatment as an alternative to imprisonment.

INTRODUCTION: Drug courts are criminal justice programs to divert people with substance use disorders from incarceration into treatment. Drug courts have become increasingly popular in the US and other countries. However, their effectiveness in reducing important public health outcomes such as recidivism and substance-related health harms remains ambiguous and contested. We used nationwide register data from Sweden to evaluate the effectiveness of contract treatment sanction, the Swedish version of drug court, in reducing substance misuse, adverse somatic and mental health outcomes, and recidivism. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, two quasi-experimental designs were used: difference-in-differences and the within-individual design. In the latter, we compared the risk of outcomes during time on contract treatment to, 1) parole after imprisonment and, 2) probation. RESULTS: The cohort included 11,893 individuals (13% women) who underwent contract treatment. Contract treatment was associated with a reduction of 7 percentage points (95% CI: -.088, -.055) in substance misuse, 5 percentage points (-.064, -.034) in adverse mental health events, 9 percentage points (-.113, -.076) in adverse somatic health events, and 3 fewer charges (-3.16, -2.85) for crime in difference-in-differences analyses. Within-individual associations suggested that the same individual had longer times-to-event for all outcomes during contract treatment than on parole or on probation. CONCLUSIONS: Contract treatment is an effective intervention from both public health and criminal justice perspective. Our findings suggest that it is a superior alternative to incarceration in its target group. Further, we find that an implementation approach that is less punitive and more inclusive than what is typical in the US can be successful.

Quantum Light Generation Based on GaN Microring toward Fully On-Chip Source.

An integrated quantum light source is increasingly desirable in large-scale quantum information processing. Despite recent remarkable advances, a new material platform is constantly being explored for the fully on-chip integration of quantum light generation, active and passive manipulation, and detection. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate a gallium nitride (GaN) microring based quantum light generation in the telecom C-band, which has potential toward the monolithic integration of quantum light source. In our demonstration, the GaN microring has a free spectral range of 330 GHz and a near-zero anomalous dispersion region of over 100 nm. The generation of energy-time entangled photon pair is demonstrated with a typical raw two-photon interference visibility of 95.5±6.5%, which is further configured to generate a heralded single photon with a typical heralded second-order autocorrelation g_{H}^{(2)}(0) of 0.045±0.001. Our results pave the way for developing a chip-scale quantum photonic circuit.

Novel method for identifying the heaviest QED atom.

QED atoms are composed of unstructured and point-like lepton pairs bound together by the electromagnetic force. The smallest and heaviest QED atom is formed by a τ+τ- pair. Currently, the only known atoms of this type are the e+e- and µ+e- atoms, which were discovered 64 years ago and remain the sole examples found thus far. We demonstrate that the Jτ (τ+τ- atom with JPC=1--) atom signal can be observed with a significance larger than 5σ including both statistical and systematic uncertainties, via. the process e+e-→X+Y-Ɇ (X,Y=e,µ,π,K, or ρ, and Ɇ is the missing energy due to unobserved neutrinos) with 1.5ab-1 data taken around the τ pair production threshold. The τ lepton mass can be measured with a precision of 1 keV with the same data sample. This is within one year's running time of the proposed super tau-charm facility in China or super charm-tau factory in Russia.

The genus Ranunculus L. (Ranunculus) in Asia: a review of its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and pharmaceutical preparations.

OBJECTIVES: Ranunculus L. genus contains 413 species, and it is the biggest genus in the family Ranunculaceae Juss. This review is to provide botanical characteristics, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and pharmaceutical preparations of the genus Ranunculus. KEY FINDINGS: The genus Ranunculus contains flavonoids, organic acids, coumarins, lactones, glycosides, sterols, polysaccharides, and trace elements. These chemical constituents complement the pharmacological actions and work together to exert anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antitubercular, antibacterial, antimalarial, etc. Those traditional Chinese medicine characteristics, like clearing away heat and detoxification, make this genus significant in ethnic medicine. The progress in research and the development of various pharmaceutical preparations made it appear in epidemiological and clinical studies. SUMMARY: The genus Ranunculus has attracted the attention of experts and scholars in many fields due to its unique advantages. However, there are many species that are not scientifically investigated. The toxicity issues are also a huge concern. Fortunately, the toxicity can be overcome via special processes like drying or heating and by choosing a safe extraction solvent, such as water thus ensuring the safety of medication. Pharmaceutical preparations containing the plants from Ranunculus have gratifying clinical value, but they are not promoted sufficiently. Therefore, further research should be carried out to promote the genus for its health benefits to humans.