Spatial correlation between electricity generation and economic scale in Africa.

This study attempts to determine whether there is a spatial correlation between electricity generation and economic scale promoting coordinated development in Africa. We explore the spatial similarity and gray correlation degree between electricity generation and economic scale in Africa since the 21st century by adopting barycenter coupling and Gray Correlation Analysis method. We argue that there is a strong correlation between electricity generation and economic scale. Our findings indicate a significant spatial difference in electricity generation, mainly concentrated in Northern and Southern Africa. Furthermore, spatial pattern remains largely consistent over time, mirroring trends observed at the economic scale. Electricity generation and economic scale were concentrated in six countries- South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, and Libya- and did not change significantly over time. A correlation analysis between electricity generation and the economic scale further confirmed this, with a linear coefficient of 0.907. Both the gravity centers of economic scale and electricity generation in Africa move farther in the north-south direction than in the East-West direction, with the former showing a Southwest-Northeast-Southwest track feature and the latter a Northeast-Southwest track feature. The spatial distribution of the gravity centers of electricity generation and the gravity centers of the economic scale in Africa are highly consistent; electricity generation highly correlates with the economic scale, consistent with the research conclusion obtained by the Gray Correlation Analysis method. This study suggests the coordinated development of electricity generation and economic scales in various African countries.

The damage mechanism in copper studied using in situ TEM nanoindentation.

Copper (Cu) has a soft-plastic nature, which makes it susceptible to damages from scratching or abrasive machining, such as lapping and polishing. It is a challenge to control these damages as the damage mechanism is elusive. Nonetheless, controlling damages is essential, especially on the atomic surfaces of Cu. To interpret the damage mechanism, in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) nanoindentation was performed using a cube-corner indenter with a radius of 57 nm at a loading speed of 5 nm s-1. Experimental results showed that damages originate from dislocations, evolve to stack faults, and then form broken crystallites. When the indentation depth was 45 nm at a load of 20 µN, damages comprised dislocations and stacking faults. After increasing the depth to 67 nm and load to 30 µN, the formation of broken crystallites initiated; and the critical depth was 67 nm. To validate the damage mechanism, fixed-abrasive lapping, mechanical polishing, and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) were conducted. Firstly, a novel green CMP slurry containing silica, hydrogen peroxide, and aspartic acid was developed. After CMP, a surface roughness Ra of 0.2 nm was achieved with a scanning area of 50 µm × 50 µm; and the thickness of the damaged layer was 3.1 nm, which included a few micro-stacking faults. Lapping and mechanical polishing were carried out using a silicon carbide plate and cerium slurry, with surface roughness Ra values of 16.42 and 1.74 nm, respectively. The damaged layer of the former with a thickness of 300 nm comprised broken crystallites, dislocations, and stacking faults and that of the latter with a thickness of 33 nm involved several stacking faults. This verifies that the damage mechanism derived from in situ TEM nanoindentation is in agreement with lapping and polishing. These outcomes propose new insights into understanding the origin of damages and controlling them, as well as obtaining atomic surfaces using a novel green CMP technique for soft-plastic metals.

The complete chloroplast genome of Saccharum fulvum (Poaceae).

Saccharum species are of great importance as fruit crops due to their economic and food value. S. fulvum is a wild relative of sugarcane that has a wide geographic distribution and is well-adapted to various environmental conditions. It exhibits high resistance to pests, diseases, drought, cold, and degraded soils, making it a valuable resource for sugarcane research. Here, we report the chloroplast genome of S. fulvum. This chloroplast genome was 141,151 bp in length with a GC content of 38.41%. The large single-copy, small single-copy, and inverted repeat regions were 83,030 bp, 12,533 bp, and 22,794 bp in length, respectively. The chloroplast genome contained 111 different genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNA genes, and 30 tRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. fulvum was closely related to S. narenga. This study not only enriches the genome information of Saccharum, but also will be useful for the evolutionary study of the family Poaceae.

Knowledge and willingness toward SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing among older adults in China: a nationwide cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The end of the zero-COVID-19 policy placed a large number of older adults in China at increased risk of COVID-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing (RAT) is a promising tool for scaling up testing and ensuring that patient management and public health measures can be implemented without delay. We aimed to understand the knowledge and willingness of RAT, and its correlates among older adults in China. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional survey on knowledge and willingness about RAT among older adults in China was conducted between January 14 and 28, 2023, shortly after the end of the zero-COVID-19 policy. An online questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics, health characteristics, sources to access RAT information, and attitudes toward COVID-19 and its RAT. Logistic regression was used to assess correlates of knowledge of RAT and willingness to take RAT among older adults. RESULTS: A total of 1030 older adults (494 women and 536 men, mean age 68.7 ± 7.0 years) were recruited. 49.4% of the participants had a high level of RAT knowledge. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, chronic diseases (0.70, 0.49-0.99), learning RAT from new media (5.46, 3.48-8.68) and traditional media (3.35, 2.13-5.34), and perceiving RAT as convenient (4.03, 2.80-5.85) were associated with levels of RAT knowledge. 53.3% of the participants were willing to take RAT. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, learning RAT from new media (8.46, 5.26-14.0) and traditional media (1.63, 1.04-2.55), perceiving RAT as convenient (2.97, 2.10-4.22), and worrying about (re)infection with COVID-19 (2.12, 1.55-2.92) were associated with willingness to take RAT. CONCLUSION: The levels of RAT knowledge and willingness to take RAT among older adults in China may hinder the scale-up of RAT. Health education about RAT should be strengthened among older adults. Special efforts should be made to integrate traditional and new media to promote RAT among older adults, specifically, for virus susceptibility and the convenience of RAT. Given the reopening of society, our study could inform our response to future novel infectious diseases and aid in the timely scale-up of RAT.

Development and application of oncolytic viruses as the nemesis of tumor cells.

Viruses and tumors are two pathologies that negatively impact human health, but what occurs when a virus encounters a tumor? A global consensus among cancer patients suggests that surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other methods are the primary means to combat cancer. However, with the innovation and development of biomedical technology, tumor biotherapy (immunotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, gene therapy, oncolytic virus therapy, etc.) has emerged as an alternative treatment for malignant tumors. Oncolytic viruses possess numerous anti-tumor properties, such as directly lysing tumor cells, activating anti-tumor immune responses, and improving the tumor microenvironment. Compared to traditional immunotherapy, oncolytic virus therapy offers advantages including high killing efficiency, precise targeting, and minimal side effects. Although oncolytic virus (OV) therapy was introduced as a novel approach to tumor treatment in the 19th century, its efficacy was suboptimal, limiting its widespread application. However, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first OV therapy drug, T-VEC, in 2015, interest in OV has grown significantly. In recent years, oncolytic virus therapy has shown increasingly promising application prospects and has become a major research focus in the field of cancer treatment. This article reviews the development, classification, and research progress of oncolytic viruses, as well as their mechanisms of action, therapeutic methods, and routes of administration.

Primary pulmonary artery tumors easily misdiagnosed as pulmonary embolism: A review.

Primary pulmonary artery tumors (PPATs), originating from the pulmonary artery intima, are rare tumors characterized by pulmonary artery luminal occlusion and pulmonary hypertension. Diagnosis of this rare entity is a challenging dilemma with the need for a high expertise in the radiological and pathological identification of PPATs. computed tomographic pulmonary angiography of PPATs may show filling defects, which are easily misdiagnosed. The radionuclide scan, along with other imaging examinations, can assist with the diagnosis, but the pathological diagnosis requires a puncture or surgical resection. Most primary pulmonary artery tumors are malignant, with poor prognosis and lack of specificity in clinical manifestations. However, there is no unified understanding and standard for diagnosis and treatment. In this review, we discuss the status, diagnosis, and treatment of primary pulmonary artery tumors, as well as how clinicians can better understand and treat the disease.

Spatio-Temporal Coupling Evolution of Urbanisation and Carbon Emission in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The distribution characteristics of urbanisation level and per capita carbon emissions from 2006 to 2019 were investigated by the ranking scale rule, using 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China. A coupling coordination model was established to analyse the relative development relationship between the two, and exploratory spatial-temporal data analysis (ESTDA) was applied to reveal the spatial interaction characteristics and temporal evolution pattern of the coupling coordination degree. The results demonstrate that: (1) The urbanisation level and per capita carbon emissions of the Yangtze River Economic Belt show a stable spatial structure of 'high in the east and low in the west'. (2) The coupling and coordination degree of urbanisation level and carbon emissions show a trend of 'decreasing and then increasing', with a spatial distribution of 'high in the east and low in the west'. (3) The spatial structure exhibits strong stability, dependence, and integration. The stability is enhanced from west to east, the coupling coordination degree has strong transfer inertia, and the spatial pattern's path dependence and locking characteristics show a trend of weak fluctuation. Therefore, the coupling and coordination analysis is required for the coordinated development of urbanisation and carbon emission reduction.

QRS-T angle as a predictor of pulmonary arterial hypertension: A review.

Spatial QRS-T angle is a vector projection of ventricular gradient, reflecting the heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization. The QRS vector is projected into three dimensional (3D) space to obtain the frontal QRSf vector and Tf vector. The frontal QRS-T Angle can be obtained by simple calculation. In several studies of diseases that cause pulmonary hypertension, there has been evidence that changes in the QRS-T Angle can predict disease. Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a cheap and noninvasive test, and its clinical significance in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension should be further studied.

Solitary splenic tuberculosis: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Solitary splenic tuberculosis (TB) is unusual and rarely reported. Whether splenic TB is best treated surgically is still controversial. We describe a 73-year-old man with solitary splenic TB and no extrapulmonary TB. CASE SUMMARY: We report the case of a 73-year-old man with solitary splenic TB who complained of emaciation and fatigue. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) images suggested a splenic space-occupying lesion. We then performed a CT-guided splenic biopsy. The postoperative pathological examination revealed splenic TB. The patient took quadruple anti-TB medication. After 1 year, the patient recovered his normal weight and had no feeling of fatigue, and the splenic lesion had shrunk significantly. CONCLUSION: If patients receive combined, appropriate, regular, full-time anti-TB treatment, solitary splenic TB may be cured.

Identification and Validation of a Novel Multiomics Signature for Prognosis and Immunotherapy Response of Endometrial Carcinoma.

Purpose: Cancer development and immune escape involve DNA methylation, copy number variation, and other molecular events. However, there are remarkably few studies integrating multiomics genetic profiles into endometrial cancer (EC). This study aimed to develop a multiomics signature for the prognosis and immunotherapy response of endometrial carcinoma. Methods: The gene expression, somatic mutation, copy number alteration, and DNA methylation data of EC were analyzed from the UCSC Xena database. Then, a multiomics signature was constructed by a machine learning model, with the ROC curve comparing its prognostic power with traditional clinical features. Two computational strategies were utilized to estimate the signature's performance in predicting immunotherapy response in EC. Further validation focused on the most frequently mutant molecule, ARID1A, in the signature. The association of ARID1A with survival, MSI (Microsatellite-instability), immune checkpoints, TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte), and downstream immune pathways was explored. Results: The signature consisted of 22 multiomics molecules, showing excellent prognostic performance in predicting the overall survival of patients with EC (AUC = 0.788). After stratifying patients into a high and low-risk group according to the signature's median value, low-risk patients displayed a greater possibility of respond to immunotherapy. Further validation on ARID1A suggested it could induce immune checkpoints upregulation, promote interferon response pathway, and interact with Treg (regulatory T cell) to facilitate immune activation in EC. Conclusion: A novel multiomics prognostic signature of EC was identified and validated in this study, which could guide clinical management of EC and benefit personalized immunotherapy.

Complete chloroplast genome of Cardamine hupingshanensis K.M.Liu, L.B.Chen, H.F.Bai & L.H.Liu (Brassicaceae) in Enshi, Hubei.

Cardamine hupingshanensis K.M.Liu, L.B.Chen, H.F.Bai & L.H.Liu 2008, also called Cardamine enshiensis, belongs to the genus Cardamine, Brassicaceae. As a plant with selenium enrichment ability, it has high development value. Here, we analyzed the chloroplast genome of C. hupingshanensis. The complete chloroplast genome had a total size of 154,832 bp with a typical quadripartite structure, including a large single-copy region (LSC, 83,908 bp) and a small single-copy region (SSC, 17,938 bp), separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,493 bp). Genome annotation showed the chloroplast genome contained 113 unique genes, including 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. A total of 143 SSRs were found in the chloroplast genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. hupingshanensis was closer to the C. circaeoides and C. lyrata. This chloroplast genome resource will be useful for study of the phylogeny and evolution of Cardamine in the future.

Identification of Androgen Receptor Splice Variants in the Pten Deficient Murine Prostate Cancer Model.

Androgen receptor (AR) variants are associated with resistance to anti androgen therapy both in human prostate cancer cell lines and clinical samples. These observations support the hypothesis that AR isoform accumulation is a consequence of selective therapeutic pressure on the full length AR. The Pten deficient prostate cancer model proceeds with well-defined kinetics including progression to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). While surgical castration and enzalutamide treatments yield an initial therapeutic response, Pten-/-epithelia continue to proliferate yielding locally invasive primary tumor pathology. That most epithelium remains AR positive, but ligand independent, suggests the presence of oncogenic AR variants. To address this hypothesis, we have used a panel of recently described Pten-/- tumor cell lines derived from both from hormone intact (E4, E8) and castrated Pten mutants (cE1, cE2) followed by RACE PCR to identify and characterize three novel truncated, amino terminus containing AR variants (mAR-Va, b, c). Variants appear not only conserved throughout progression but are correlated with nearly complete loss of full length AR (AR-FL) at castrate androgen levels. The overexpression of variants leads to enhanced transcriptional activity of AR while knock down studies show reduced transcriptional output. Collectively, the identification of truncated AR variants in the conditional PTEN deletion model supports a role for maintaining the CRPC phenotype and provides further therapeutic applications of this preclinical model.

A randomized study of involved-field irradiation versus elective nodal irradiation in combination with concurrent chemotherapy for inoperable stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Radiation dose escalation is limited by the high incidence of pulmonary and esophageal toxicity, leading to calls for the omission of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) and the willingness to use involved-field irradiation (IFI) in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 200 eligible patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy and randomized into either an IFI or ENI arm. A total of 4 to 6 cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy were delivered, and concurrent radiotherapy was started after the second cycle of chemotherapy. Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy was delivered in once-daily fractions of 1.8 to 2 Gy to 68 to 74 Gy for IFI or 60 to 64 Gy for ENI. RESULTS: Patients in the IFI arm achieved better overall response rate (90% vs. 79%, P = 0.032) and better 5-years local control rate (51% vs.36%, P = 0.032) than those in the ENI arm. The radiation pneumonitis rate in patients with IFI was lower than in patients with ENI (17% vs. 29%, P = 0.044), and similar trends appeared in the radiation esophagitis, myelosuppression, and radiation pericarditis between 2 study arms, although not significantly. The 1-, 2-, and 5-year survival rates were 60.4%, 25.6%, and 18.3% for the ENI arm and 69.9%, 39.4%, and 25.1% for the IFI arm, respectively. Only the 2-year survival rates were statistically significant (P = 0.048). CONCLUSION: IFI arm achieved better overall response and local control than ENI arm, and it allowed a dose of 68 to 74 Gy to be safely administered to patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC. Outcome improvement can be expected by conformal IFI combined with chemotherapy for stage III NSCLC.

[Effects of c-jun on hCG-induced testosterone secretion of rat Leydig cells in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of c-jun on hCG-induced testosterone secretion in isolated rat Leydig cells by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides(ASODNs). METHODS: c-jun ASODNs were used to antagonise the effects of c-jun, hCG was used to induce the testosterone secretion of LC cultured in vitro and testosterone was measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The testosterone secretion of LC in vitro could be induced by hCG, which was a good model for the functional study of LC. c-jun ASODNs decreased the hCG-induced testosterone secretion of LC in a dose-dependent manner(P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It is suggested that c-jun proto-oncogene enhances the testosterone secretion of LC.