Prevalence and management of pulmonary nodules: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Pulmonary nodules are small, focal lesions often identified via computed tomography (CT) scans. Although the majority are benign, a small percentage of them may be malignant or potentially become malignant, underscoring the importance of early detection and effective management. This study systematically reviews the epidemiology, risk factors, and management strategies for pulmonary nodules, comparing findings across Chinese and non-Chinese populations to better inform the actuarial calculations for predicting the demand of medical services for patients with pulmonary nodules. Methods: We performed a systematic analysis of the PubMed and China Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases for studies reporting the detection rate of pulmonary nodules through CT scans. Both cross-sectional studies and the baseline data from longitudinal studies were included. A modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias and random effect models were used to estimate the overall prevalence. Results: We identified 32 studies and included 24 of them in our meta-analysis. Pooled analysis showed that the overall prevalence of pulmonary nodules was 0.27 (95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.29) after outliers removal. Subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference for prevalence between Chinese and non-Chinese populations. Males (0.38) were shown to have slightly higher prevalence compared to females (0.36), but not significant (P=0.88). Age and smoking are the most frequently reported risk factors by studies. Conclusions: Overall, 27% of participants were positive for pulmonary nodules. Advancing age and smoking were consistently identified as a key risk factor for the incidence of pulmonary nodules. Although the management strategies are different across studies, recent guidelines recommend personalized management strategies, prioritizing nodule size, characteristics, and individual risk factors to optimize outcomes.

Identification and validation of an anoikis-related genes signature for prognostic implication in papillary thyroid cancer.

Thyroid cancer, notably papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), is a global health concern with increasing incidence. Anoikis, a regulator of programmed cell death, is pivotal in normal physiology and, when dysregulated, can drive cancer progression and metastasis. This study explored the impact of anoikis on PTC prognosis. Analyzing data from GEO, TCGA, and GeneCards, we identified a prognostic signature consisting of six anoikis-related genes (ARGs): EZH2, PRKCQ, CD36, INHBB, TDGF1, and MMP9. This signature independently predicted patient outcomes, with high-risk scores associated with worse prognoses. A robust predictive ability was confirmed via ROC analysis, and a nomogram achieved a C-index of 0.712. Differences in immune infiltration levels were observed between high- and low-risk groups. Importantly, the high-risk group displayed reduced drug sensitivity and poor responses to immunotherapy. This research provides insights into anoikis in PTC, offering a novel ARG signature for predicting patient prognosis and guiding personalized treatment strategies.

Transcriptomic and Physiological Analysis of the Effects of Exogenous Phloretin and Pterostilbene on Resistance Responses of Stylosanthes against Anthracnose.

Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a destructive disease of Stylosanthes (stylo). Combination treatment of phloretin and pterostilbene (PP) has been previously shown to effectively inhibit the conidial germination and mycelial growth of C. gloeosporioides in vitro. In this study, the effects of PP treatment on the growth of C. gloeosporioides in vivo and the biocontrol mechanisms were investigated. We found that exogenous PP treatment could limit the growth of C. gloeosporioides and alleviate the damage of anthracnose in stylo. Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed that 565 genes were up-regulated and 239 genes were down-regulated upon PP treatment during the infection by C. gloeosporioides. The differentially expressed genes were mainly related to oxidative stress and chloroplast organization. Further physiological analysis revealed that application of PP after C. gloeosporioides inoculation significantly reduced the accumulation of O2•- level and increased the accumulation of antioxidants (glutathione, ascorbic acid and flavonoids) as well as the enzyme activity of total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase. PP also reduced the decline of chlorophyll a + b and increased the content of carotenoid in response to C. gloeosporioides infection. These results suggest that PP treatment alleviates anthracnose by improving antioxidant capacity and reducing the damage of chloroplasts, providing insights into the biocontrol mechanisms of PP on the stylo against anthracnose.

Discovery and characterization of sgRNA-sequence-independent DNA cleavage from CRISPR/Cas9 in mouse embryos.

The CRISPR/Cas9 system can induce off-target effects in programmed gene editing, but there have been few reports on cleavage detection and their affection in embryo development. To study these events, sgRNAs with different off-target rates were designed and compared after micro-injected into mouse zygotes, and γH2AX was used for DNA cleavage sites analysis by immunostaining and CUT&Tag. Although the low off-target sgRNA were usually selected for production gene editing animals, γH2AX immunofluorescence indicated that there was a relative DSB peak at 15 h after Cas9 system injection, and the number of γH2AX foci at the peak was significantly higher in the low off-target sgRNA-injected group than in the control group. Further, the result of CUT&Tag sequencing analysis showed more double-strand breaks (DSBs) related sequences were detected in low off-target sgRNA-injected group than control and the distribution of DSB related sequences had no chromosome specificity. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation analysis of the DSB related sequences showed that these sequences were mainly concentrated at genes associated with some important biological processes, molecular functions, and cell components. In a conclusion, there are many sgRNA-sequence-independent DSBs in early mouse embryos when the Cas9 system is used for gene editing and the DSB related sequence could be detected and characterized in the genome. These results and method should also be considered in using or optimizing the Cas9 system.

The demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki.

The largest ever primate and one of the largest of the southeast Asian megafauna, Gigantopithecus blacki1, persisted in China from about 2.0 million years until the late middle Pleistocene when it became extinct2-4. Its demise is enigmatic considering that it was one of the few Asian great apes to go extinct in the last 2.6 million years, whereas others, including orangutan, survived until the present5. The cause of the disappearance of G. blacki remains unresolved but could shed light on primate resilience and the fate of megafauna in this region6. Here we applied three multidisciplinary analyses-timing, past environments and behaviour-to 22 caves in southern China. We used 157 radiometric ages from six dating techniques to establish a timeline for the demise of G. blacki. We show that from 2.3 million years ago the environment was a mosaic of forests and grasses, providing ideal conditions for thriving G. blacki populations. However, just before and during the extinction window between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago there was enhanced environmental variability from increased seasonality, which caused changes in plant communities and an increase in open forest environments. Although its close relative Pongo weidenreichi managed to adapt its dietary preferences and behaviour to this variability, G. blacki showed signs of chronic stress and dwindling populations. Ultimately its struggle to adapt led to the extinction of the greatest primate to ever inhabit the Earth.

A Zn-modified PCN-224 fluorescent nanoprobe for selective and sensitive turn-on detection of glutathione.

Monitoring endogenous glutathione (GSH) levels in living cells is essential for cancer diagnose and treatment. In this work, GSH responsive fluorescent nanoprobe with turn-on property was constructed using Zn-modified porphyrinic metal-organic frameworks (PCN-224-Zn). The introduced Zn2+ could quench the fluorescence of PCN-224 by the metallization of organic ligand (TCPP) and serves as sensing site for GSH. When exposed to GSH, the strong binding affinity of GSH generates the formation of Zn-GSH complex, eliminating the fluorescence quenching effect of Zn2+. Based on the constructed PCN-224-Zn nanoprobe, selective determination of GSH was achieved in the range of 0.01-6 µM with a detection limit of 1.5 nM. Furthermore, the constructed nanoprobe can realize the fluorescence imaging of endogenous GSH in MCF-7 and HeLa cells. Meanwhile, PCN-224-Zn could also monitor GSH in cell lysate with recovery rates from 93.8 % to 102.3 %. The performance of PCN-224-Zn demonstrates its capacities in the application of fluorescence sensing and bio-imaging fields.

Ergonomics and performance of using prismatic loupes in simulated surgical tasks among surgeons - a randomized controlled, cross-over trial.

Introduction: Recently developed prismatic loupes may mitigate the high physical workload and risk of neck disorders associated with traditional surgical loupes among surgeons. However, research in this area, particularly among surgeons, is sparse. This study examines the impact of prismatic loupes on surgeons' physical workload, musculoskeletal discomfort, and performance during simulated surgical tasks. Materials and methods: Nineteen out of twenty recruited surgeons performed three tasks in a fixed-order with their own loupes and both low-tilt (LT) and high-tilt (HT) prismatic loupes, in a randomized order. The primary outcomes were the median inclination angles and velocities of the head, trunk, and upper arms, along with the median muscle activity of the cervical erector spinae (CES), upper trapezius (UT), and lumbar erector spinae (LES) for each pair of loupes. The secondary outcomes included performance (completion time and errors), perceived body-part discomfort, and subjective evaluation of the three pairs of loupes. Results: Using prismatic loupes, either LT or HT, compared with the surgeons' own loupes yielded lower head inclinations (all p < 0.001), lower neck muscle activity (all p < 0.05), and lower neck discomfort in indirect comparisons (p < 0.01) with no significant difference in surgical errors (p = 0.628). However, HT loupes resulted in a longer task completion time in two tasks (p < 0.001). Most surgeons preferred LT loupes (N = 12) for their comfort and visual functions. Discussion: The results indicate that prismatic loupes can reduce physical workload in the neck during simulated surgical task, with no significant difference in surgical errors. Future studies are needed to investigate the long-term effects of prismatic loupes among surgeons.