Recovery of nutrients from fish sludge to enhance the growth of microalga Chlorella sorokiniana CMBB276.

Intensive aquaculture production generates large amounts of sludge. This waste could be considered as a potential source of nutrients that can be recovered and utilized. Little attention has been paid to nutrient recovery from fish sludge. In this study, bioconversion of sludge was evaluated in lab scale under anaerobic (AN), facultative anaerobic (FA) and aerobic (AE) conditions. After 40 days of fermentation, AN recovered the highest values of dissolved total nitrogen (82.7 mg L-1), while AE showed the highest dissolved total phosphorus (11.8 mg L-1) and the highest reduction of total suspended solids (36.0 %). Microbial analysis showed that AN exhibited a distinct bacterial community than that of FA and AE. Furthermore, C. sorokiniana grown in AN effluents collected after 12 days of fermentation achieved the highest biomass production (1.96 g L-1). These results suggest that AN has the best potential to recover nutrients from sludge for production of C. sorokiniana.

Surgical Treatment of Multiple Large Tuberous and Tendinous Xanthoma Secondary to Familial Hypercholesterolaemia: A Case Report.

Xanthomas are well-circumscribed skin lesions that are commonly seen in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The aim of this report is to present a rare case of multiple large tuberous and tendinous xanthomas. A 17-year-old female patient in this report presented with multiple asymptomatic and papulo-nodular masses in both sides of palms, elbows, buttocks, knees, and Achilles tendons. Surgical removal of the masses was carried out in combination with lipid-lowering therapy. A following up of 3 months showed all wounds were healing well, and no recurrence of masses was observed. Therefore, for patients with xanthomas related with familial hypercholesterolaemia, lipid-lowering therapy has reportedly reduced the size of masses, but surgical treatment may be essential for large xanthomas caused pain or limitation of daily activities.

Cold-Sintered All-Inorganic Perovskite Bulk Composite Scintillators for Efficient X-ray Imaging.

Cost-effective bulk scintillators with high density, large-area, and long-term stability are desirable for high-energy radiation detections. Conventional bulk polycrystalline or single-crystal scintillators are generally synthesized by high-temperature approaches, and it is challenging to realize simultaneously high detectivity/responsivity, spatial resolution, and rapid time response. Here, we report the cold sintering of bulk scintillators (at 90 °C) based on an "emitter-in-matrix" principle, in which emissive CsPbBr3 nanocrystals are embedded in a durable and transparent Cs4PbBr6 matrix. These bulk scintillators exhibit high light yield (33,800 photons MeV-1), low detection limit (79 nGyair s-1), fast decay time (9.8 ns), and outstanding spatial resolution of 8.9 lp mm-1 to X-ray radiation and an energy resolution of 19.3% for γ-ray (59.6 keV) detection. The composite scintillator also shows exceptional stability against environmental degradation and cyclic X-ray radiation. Our results demonstrate a cost-effective strategy for developing perovskite-based bulk transparent scintillators with exceptional performance and high radioluminescence stability for high-energy radiation detection and imaging.

Single-nucleus RNA-seq identifies one galanin neuronal subtype in mouse preoptic hypothalamus activated during recovery from sleep deprivation.

The preoptic area of the hypothalamus (POA) is essential for sleep regulation. However, the cellular makeup of the POA is heterogeneous, and the molecular identities of the sleep-promoting cells remain elusive. To address this question, this study compares mice during recovery sleep following sleep deprivation to mice allowed extended sleep. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (single-nucleus RNA-seq) identifies one galanin inhibitory neuronal subtype that shows upregulation of rapid and delayed activity-regulated genes during recovery sleep. This cell type expresses higher levels of growth hormone receptor and lower levels of estrogen receptor compared to other galanin subtypes. single-nucleus RNA-seq also reveals cell-type-specific upregulation of purinergic receptor (P2ry14) and serotonin receptor (Htr2a) during recovery sleep in this neuronal subtype, suggesting possible mechanisms for sleep regulation. Studies with RNAscope validate the single-nucleus RNA-seq findings. Thus, the combined use of single-nucleus RNA-seq and activity-regulated genes identifies a neuronal subtype functionally involved in sleep regulation.

The effects of crystal structure on the chemical durability of yttrium disilicate.

Amorphous, α, ß, and γ-phase yttrium disilicate Y2Si2O7 pellets were synthesized by spark plasma sintering, and their chemical durability and degradation mechanisms were investigated via semi-dynamic leaching test in pH = 3 nitric acid at 90 °C. All crystalline phases displayed relatively congruent dissolution with a slight preferential release of Y. The amorphous sample showed clear incongruent dissolution with preferential release of Y, leading to a surface reorganization reaction and the formation of a SiO2 passivation layer 20-25 µm thick on the surface of the sample. This passivation layer led to a continuous decrease in the elemental release rates of the amorphous sample. The γ-phase sample displayed the lowest short-term and long-term leaching rates of Y and Si, followed by the ß, α, and then amorphous sample. The crystalline samples showed increasing release rates over time indicating a dissolution-controlled reaction mechanism. Post-leaching microstructural characterization of the ß and γ samples revealed variations in the corrosion levels of the surface grains, indicating a dependence on grain orientation.

Single and Combined Effects of Phenanthrene and Silver Nanoparticles on Denitrification Processes in Coastal Marine Sediments.

The increasing production and utilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and commercial silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have raised concerns about their potential environmental release, with coastal sediments as a substantial sink. To better understanding the effects of these contaminants on denitrification processes in coastal marine sediments, a short-term exposure simulation experiment was conducted. We investigated the effects of single and combined contamination of phenanthrene (Phe) and AgNPs on denitrification processes in a coastal marine sediment. Results showed that all contaminated treatment groups had different degrees of inhibitory effect on denitrification activity, denitrifying enzyme activity, total bacteria count and denitrifying genes. The inhibitory effect sequence of each treatment group was combined treatment > AgNPs treatment > Phe treatment. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of denitrifying genes were much larger than that of total bacteria count, indicating that the pollutants had specific toxic effects on denitrifying bacteria. The sequence of sensitivity of three reduction process to pollutants was N2O > NO2- > NO3-. All contaminated treatment groups could increase NO3-, NO2- and N2O accumulation. Furthermore, according to the linear relationship between functional gene or reductase and denitrification process, we also found that the abundance of denitrifying genes could better predict the influence of Phe and AgNPs on sediment denitrification than the denitrifying bacterial diversity. In addition, at the genus level, the community structure of nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifying bacteria changed dramatically, while changes at the phylum level were comparatively less pronounced. Single and combined contamination of Phe and AgNPs could reduce the dominance of Pseudomonas, which may lead to a potential slow-down in the degradation of Phe and inhibition of denitrification, especially the combined contamination. Overall, our study revealed that combined contamination of Phe and AgNPs could lead to an increase in NO3-, NO2- and N2O accumulation in coastal sediment, which poses a risk of eutrophication in coastal areas, exacerbates the greenhouse effect and has adverse effects on global climate change.

Molecular subtyping and the construction of a predictive model of colorectal cancer based on ion channel genes.

PURPOSE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly heterogeneous malignancy with an unfavorable prognosis. The purpose of this study was to address the heterogeneity of CRC by categorizing it into ion channel subtypes, and to develop a predictive modeling based on ion channel genes to predict the survival and immunological states of patients with CRC. The model will provide guidance for personalized immunotherapy and drug treatment. METHODS: A consistent clustering method was used to classify 619 CRC samples based on the expression of 279 ion channel genes. Such a method was allowed to investigate the relationship between molecular subtypes, prognosis, and immune infiltration. Furthermore, a predictive modeling was constructed for ion channels to evaluate the ion channel properties of individual tumors using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. The expression patterns of the characteristic genes were validated through molecular biology experiments. The effect of potassium channel tetramerization domain containing 9 (KCTD9) on CRC was verified by cellular functional experiments. RESULTS: Four distinct ion channel subtypes were identified in CRC, each characterized by unique prognosis and immune infiltration patterns. Notably, Ion Cluster3 exhibited high levels of immune infiltration and a favorable prognosis, while Ion Cluster4 showed relatively lower levels of immune infiltration and a poorer prognosis. The ion channel score could predict overall survival, with lower scores correlated with longer survival. This score served as an independent prognostic factor and presented an excellent predictive efficacy in the nomogram. In addition, the score was closely related to immune infiltration, immunotherapy response, and chemotherapy sensitivity. Experimental evidence further confirmed that low expression of KCTD9 in tumor tissues was associated with an unfavorable prognosis in patients with CRC. The cellular functional experiments demonstrated that KCTD9 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion capabilities of LOVO cells. CONCLUSIONS: Ion channel subtyping and scoring can effectively predict the prognosis and evaluate the immune microenvironment, immunotherapy response, and drug sensitivity in patients with CRC.

[Thinking from Horqin Grassland to Horqin Sandy Land]. / 从科尔沁草原到科尔沁沙地的思考.

We systematically elaborated and compared the spatial scope and landscape changes of Horqin Grassland and Horqin Sand Land from their definitions and ranges. Horqin Grassland is an area with geographical units named after Mongolian tribes, but the boundary is unclear. Horqin Sand Land is also an area that borrows tribal names, but has independent topographic and geomorphic units, and clear boundaries. Horqin Grassland and Horqin Sand Land belong to two spatial regions that are both cross and different. The area and range of Horqin Grassland are larger than that of Horqin Sand Land which has obvious regional characteristics, and is a typical and research object area to study the development and restoration of aeolian desertification. Based on those cognition, we summarized the technologies and example models of comprehensive land management and desertification controlling over the years, and finally sorted out what should be focused on in the future to serve the annihilation war against desertification for Horqin Sand Land.

Enantioselective Construction of Quaternary Stereocenters via Cooperative Photoredox/Fe/Chiral Primary Amine Triple Catalysis.

The catalytic and enantioselective construction of quaternary (all-carbon substituents) stereocenters poses a formidable challenge in organic synthesis due to the hindrance caused by steric factors. One conceptually viable and potentially versatile approach is the coupling of a C-C bond through an outer-sphere mechanism, accompanied by the realization of enantiocontrol through cooperative catalysis; however, examples of such processes are yet to be identified. Herein, we present such a method for creating different compounds with quaternary stereocenters by photoredox/Fe/chiral primary amine triple catalysis. This approach facilitates the connection of an unactivated alkyl source with a tertiary alkyl moiety, which is also rare. The scalable process exhibits mild conditions, does not necessitate the use of a base, and possesses a good functional-group tolerance. Preliminary investigations into the underlying mechanisms have provided valuable insights into the reaction pathway.

PHB2 inhibits WSSV replication by promoting the nuclear translocation of STAT.

Prohibitins (PHBs) are ubiquitously expressed conserved proteins in eukaryotes that are associated with apoptosis, cancer formation, aging, stress responses and cell proliferation. However, the function of the PHBs in immune regulation has largely not been determined. In the present study, we identified PHB2 in the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. PHB2 was found to be widely distributed in several tissues, and its expression was significantly upregulated by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) challenge. PHB2 significantly reduced the amount of WSSV in crayfish and the mortality of WSSV-infected crayfish. Here, we observed that PHB2 promotes the nuclear translocation of STAT by binding to STAT. After blocking PHB2 or STAT with antibodies or interfering with PHB2 or STAT, the expression levels of the antiviral genes ß-thymosin (PcThy-4) and crustin2 (Cru2) decreased. The gene sequence of PHB2 was analyzed and found to contain a nuclear introgression sequence (NIS). After in vivo injection of PHB2 with deletion of NIS (rΔNIS-PHB2), the nuclear translocation of STAT did not change significantly compared to that in the control group. These results suggest that PHB2 promoted the nuclear translocation of STAT through NIS and mediated the expression of antiviral proteins to inhibit WSSV infection.

Identification of colon cancer subtypes based on multi-omics data-construction of methylation markers for immunotherapy.

Background: Being the most widely used biomarker for immunotherapy, the microsatellite status has limitations in identifying all patients who benefit in clinical practice. It is essential to identify additional biomarkers to guide immunotherapy. Aberrant DNA methylation is consistently associated with changes in the anti-tumor immune response, which can promote tumor progression. This study aims to explore immunotherapy biomarkers for colon cancers from the perspective of DNA methylation. Methods: The related data (RNA sequencing data and DNA methylation data) were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and UCSC XENA database. Methylation-driven genes (MDGs) were identified through the Pearson correlation analysis. Unsupervised consensus clustering was conducted using these MDGs to identify distinct clusters of colon cancers. Subsequently, we evaluated the immune status and predicted the efficacy of immunotherapy by tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (Tide) score. Finally, The Quantitative Differentially Methylated Regions (QDMR) software was used to identify the specific DNA methylation markers within particular clusters. Results: A total of 282 MDGs were identified by integrating the DNA methylation and RNA-seq data. Consensus clustering using the K-means algorithm revealed that the optimal number of clusters was 4. It was revealed that the composition of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in Cluster 1 was significantly different from others, and it exhibited a higher level of tumor mutation burdens (TMB) and stronger anti-tumor immune activity. Furthermore, we identified three specific hypermethylation genes that defined Cluster 1 (PCDH20, APCDD1, COCH). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that these specific markers could effectively distinguish Cluster 1 from other clusters, with an AUC of 0.947 (95% CI 0.903-0.990). Finally, we selected clinical samples for immunohistochemical validation. Conclusion: In conclusion, through the analysis of DNA methylation, consensus clustering of colon cancer could effectively identify the cluster that benefit from immunotherapy along with specific methylation biomarkers.

Clinical Implications of Naples Prognostic Score for Patients with Resected Cholangiocarcinoma: A Real-World Experience.

Purpose: The Nutritional Prognostic Score (NPS) is a composite indicator that effectively reflects the preoperative nutritional and inflammation status of patients. Its prognostic value has been extensively confirmed in various types of tumors. Our study aims to investigate the clinical implications of the NPS in the postoperative patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Patients and Methods: Data on clinicopathological characteristics were collected from CCA patients who underwent radical surgery between 2014 and 2019 at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital. NPS was calculated using relevant indicators to categorize the patients, and association of NPS with clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes were analyzed. To assess differences in survival rates between different groups, we utilized the Kaplan-Meier method. Independent prognostic risk factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. A CONomogram was created, and its accuracy in survival prediction was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Independent verification was conducted in the validation group. Results: For this study, a cohort of 232 patients was enlisted and subsequently divided into training group (N=162) and validation group (N=70). An evident correlation was detected between NPS and preoperative malnutrition. Patients with higher NPS exhibited a worse overall survival (OS), with 5-year OS rates of 79.1%, 33.1%, and 10.6%. Multivariate analysis revealed that NPS was an independent risk factor for OS in resected CCA patients (P<0.001). The NPS-based Nomogram was developed to accurately assess the risk of patients. Conclusion: The NPS was identified as a significant risk factor that impacts the prognosis of patients with resected CCA. In order to improve prognosis management, the NPS-based Nomogram has been demonstrated to be a precise and efficient tool.

Citrate synthase lysine K215 hypoacetylation contributes to microglial citrate accumulation and pro-inflammatory functions after traumatic brain injury.

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between microglial metabolism and neuroinflammation by examining the impact of citrate accumulation in microglia and its potential regulation through Cs K215 hypoacetylation. METHODS: Experimental approaches included assessing Cs enzyme activity through Cs K215Q mutation and investigating the inhibitory effects of hesperidin, a natural flavanone glycoside, on citrate synthase. Microglial phagocytosis and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines were also examined in relation to Cs K215Q mutation and hesperidin treatment. RESULTS: Cs K215Q mutation and hesperidin exhibited significant inhibitory effects on Cs enzyme activity, microglial citrate accumulation, phagocytosis, and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression. Interestingly, Sirt3 knockdown aggravated microglial pro-inflammatory functions during neuroinflammation, despite its proven role in Cs deacetylation. CONCLUSION: Cs K215Q mutation and hesperidin effectively inhibited microglial pro-inflammatory functions without reversing the metabolic reprogramming. These findings suggest that targeting Cs K215 hypoacetylation and utilizing hesperidin may hold promise for modulating neuroinflammation in microglia.

GT-HAD: Gated Transformer for Hyperspectral Anomaly Detection.

Hyperspectral anomaly detection (HAD) aims to distinguish between the background and anomalies in a scene, which has been widely adopted in various applications. Deep neural network (DNN)-based methods have emerged as the predominant solution, wherein the standard paradigm is to discern the background and anomalies based on the error of self-supervised hyperspectral image (HSI) reconstruction. However, current DNN-based methods cannot guarantee correspondence between the background, anomalies, and reconstruction error, which limits the performance of HAD. In this article, we propose a novel gated transformer network for HAD (GT-HAD). Our key observation is that the spatial-spectral similarity in HSI can effectively distinguish between the background and anomalies, which aligns with the fundamental definition of HAD. Consequently, we develop GT-HAD to exploit the spatial-spectral similarity during HSI reconstruction. GT-HAD consists of two distinct branches that model the features of the background and anomalies, respectively, with content similarity as constraints. Furthermore, we introduce an adaptive gating unit to regulate the activation states of these two branches based on a content-matching method (CMM). Extensive experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of GT-HAD. The original code is publicly available at https://github.com/jeline0110/ GT-HAD, along with a comprehensive benchmark of state-of-the-art HAD methods.

Ossicular Reconstruction With Various Degrees of Malleus Preservation in Patients With Chronic Otitis Media.

Objective: We examined the relationship between factors of middle ear conditions and the outcome of ossiculoplasty in chronic otitis media (COM) by measuring the improvement in the air-bone gap (ABG) and air conduction threshold (TAC). Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 76 patients (77 ears) who underwent ossiculoplasty from among 520 COM patients who underwent tympanoplasty based on the maximum preservation of the original ossicles. The reconstructed ossicular chain was performed by preserving or utilizing the remaining malleus in all cases with the presence of the malleus manubrium. Patients with eardrum adhesion, cholesteatoma, and cholesterol granuloma were defined as having a compromised middle ear condition (Group A), and those without as having an uncompromised middle ear condition (Group B). In each group, pure-tone audiometry was performed preoperatively and postoperatively, and improvements in the ABG and TAC were compared. The effects of the types of tympanoplasty and the method of ossiculoplasty (columella versus incus interposition) on postoperative ABG and TAC were also compared. Results: The postoperative ABG improvement in Group B was significantly higher than that in Group A [ß = 7.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.93-12.69, P < .05]. Type III minor columella tympanoplasty yielded significantly better results than type III major and type Vb tympanoplasty (ß = 11.42, 95% CI = 5.16-17.68, P < .01). There were no significant differences in the postoperative ABG or TAC between the reconstruction groups with and without preservation of malleus. Conclusions: Our results indicate that complex cases compromised by adhesions, cholesteatoma, and cholesterol granuloma have worse outcomes regarding hearing improvement and success rates, while those with intact stapes suprastructure have better outcomes. Malleus was maximally preserved in the patients of this study; however, this showed no significant prognostic benefit in hearing.

Bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis identifies causal associations between cardiovascular diseases and frozen shoulder.

BACKGROUND: Although prior observational studies indicate an association between cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and frozen shoulder (FS), the potential causal relationship between them remains uncertain. This study aims to explore the genetic causal relationship between CVDs and FS using Mendelian randomization (MR). METHODS: Genetic variations closely associated with FS were obtained from the FinnGen Consortium. Summary data for CVD, including atrial fibrillation (AF), coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and ischemic stroke (IS), were sourced from several large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS). MR analysis was performed using inverse variance weighting (IVW), MR Egger, and weighted median methods. IVW, as the primary MR analysis method, complemented by other sensitivity analyses, was utilized to validate the robustness of the results. Further reverse MR analysis was conducted to explore the presence of reverse causal relationships. RESULTS: In the forward MR analysis, genetically determined risk of stroke and IS was positively associated with FS (OR [95% CI] = 1.58 (1.23-2.03), P < 0.01; OR [95% CI] = 1.46 (1.16-1.85), P < 0.01, respectively). There was no strong evidence of an effect of genetically predicted other CVDs on FS risk. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results. In the reverse MR analysis, no causal relationships were observed between FS and various CVDs. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that stroke increases the risk of developing FS. However, further basic and clinical research is needed to substantiate our findings.

Omental coating attenuates implant-induced foreign body reaction in rats.

The objective of this study is to clarify whether the omental coating can effectively attenuate foreign body reaction (FBR) induced by implanted materials. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with polydextran particle slurry intraperitoneally to activate the omentum. 7 days later, polyether polyurethane sponge discs were implanted subcutaneously on each side of the rat's back as the foreign implants to induce FBR. The next day, omental transposition were performed. The disc on the left side of each rat's back was wrapped with omental flap (omental group); the disc on the right side was untreated (control group). All discs were removed 21 days after implantation and assessed by determining the components of the fibrovascular tissue (angiogenesis, inflammation, foreign body giant cells (FBGCs) aggregation and fibrogenesis). In implants in omental group, micro vessel density (MVD), Hemoglobin (Hb) content and VEGF levels (pro-angiogenic cytokine) were increased when compared with implants from control group. Inflammatory parameters (IL-1ß; macrophage accumulation-NAG activity; neutrophil accumulation- MPO levels) were decreased in implants after omental coating. Also, collagen deposition, fibrous capsule thickness, and FBGCs decreased in implants from omental group. However, intra-implant levels of TNF-α and TGF-ß1 were not different after omental coating. Our findings showed for the first time that the omental coating around the implants attenuate the adverse FBR, it may be critical in developing new strategies to control FBR and improve the function and performance of the implanted materials.

Machine learning prediction of hepatic steatosis using body composition parameters: A UK Biobank Study.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as the most prevalent chronic liver disease worldwide, yet detection has remained largely based on surrogate serum biomarkers, elastography or biopsy. In this study, we used a total of 2959 participants from the UK biobank cohort and established the association of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived body composition parameters and leveraged machine learning models to predict NAFLD. Hepatic steatosis reference was based on MRI-PDFF which has been extensively validated previously. We found several significant associations with traditional measurements such as abdominal obesity, as defined by waist-to-hip ratio (OR = 2.50 (male), 3.35 (female)), android-gynoid ratio (OR = 3.35 (male), 6.39 (female)) and waist circumference (OR = 1.79 (male), 3.80 (female)) with hepatic steatosis. Similarly, A Body Shape Index (Quantile 4 OR = 1.89 (male), 5.81 (female)), and for fat mass index, both overweight (OR = 6.93 (male), 2.83 (female)) and obese (OR = 14.12 (male), 5.32 (female)) categories were likewise significantly associated with hepatic steatosis. DXA parameters were shown to be highly associated such as visceral adipose tissue mass (OR = 8.37 (male), 19.03 (female)), trunk fat mass (OR = 8.64 (male), 25.69 (female)) and android fat mass (OR = 7.93 (male), 21.77 (female)) with NAFLD. We trained machine learning classifiers with logistic regression and two histogram-based gradient boosting ensembles for the prediction of hepatic steatosis using traditional body composition indices and DXA parameters which achieved reasonable performance (AUC = 0.83-0.87). Based on SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis, DXA parameters that had the largest contribution to the classifiers were the features predicted with significant association with NAFLD. Overall, this study underscores the potential utility of DXA as a practical and potentially opportunistic method for the screening of hepatic steatosis.

A novel electrospun polylactic acid silkworm fibroin mesh for abdominal wall hernia repair.

Objective: Abdominal wall hernias are common abdominal diseases, and effective hernia repair is challenging. In clinical practice, synthetic meshes are widely applied for repairing abdominal wall hernias. However, postoperative complications, such as inflammation and adhesion, are prevalent. Although biological meshes can solve this problem to a certain extent, they face the problems of heterogeneity, rapid degradation rate, ordinary mechanical properties, and high-cost. Here, a novel electrospinning mesh composed of polylactic acid and silk fibroin (PLA-SF) for repairing abdominal wall hernias was manufactured with good physical properties, biocompatibility and low production cost. Materials and methods: FTIR and EDS were used to demonstrate that the PLA-SF mesh was successfully synthesized. The physicochemical properties of PLA-SF were detected by swelling experiments and in vitro degradation experiments. The water contact angle reflected the hydrophilicity, and the stress‒strain curve reflected the mechanical properties. A rat abdominal wall hernia model was established to observe degradation, adhesion, and inflammation in vivo. In vitro cell mesh culture experiments were used to detect cytocompatibility and search for affected biochemical pathways. Results: The PLA-SF mesh was successfully synthesized and did not swell or degrade over time in vitro. It had a high hydrophilicity and strength. The PLA-SF mesh significantly reduced abdominal inflammation and inhibited adhesion formation in rat models. The in vitro degradation rate of the PLA-SF mesh was slower than that of tissue remodeling. Coculture experiments suggested that the PLA-SF mesh reduced the expression of inflammatory factors secreted by fibroblasts and promoted fibroblast proliferation through the TGF-ß1/Smad pathway. Conclusion: The PLA-SF mesh had excellent physicochemical properties and biocompatibility, promoted hernia repair of the rat abdominal wall, and reduced postoperative inflammation and adhesion. It is a promising mesh and has potential for clinical application.

Modeling Structured Dependency Tree with Graph Convolutional Networks for Aspect-Level Sentiment Classification.

Aspect-based sentiment analysis is a fine-grained task where the key goal is to predict sentiment polarities of one or more aspects in a given sentence. Currently, graph neural network models built upon dependency trees are widely employed for aspect-based sentiment analysis tasks. However, most existing models still contain a large amount of noisy nodes that cannot precisely capture the contextual relationships between specific aspects. Meanwhile, most studies do not consider the connections between nodes without direct dependency edges but play critical roles in determining the sentiment polarity of an aspect. To address the aforementioned limitations, we propose a Structured Dependency Tree-based Graph Convolutional Network (SDTGCN) model. Specifically, we explore construction of a structured syntactic dependency graph by incorporating positional information, sentiment commonsense knowledge, part-of-speech tags, syntactic dependency distances, etc., to assign arbitrary edge weights between nodes. This enhances the connections between aspect nodes and pivotal words while weakening irrelevant node links, enabling the model to sufficiently express sentiment dependencies between specific aspects and contextual information. We utilize part-of-speech tags and dependency distances to discover relationships between pivotal nodes without direct dependencies. Finally, we aggregate node information by fully considering their importance to obtain precise aspect representations. Experimental results on five publicly available datasets demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model over state-of-the-art approaches; furthermore, the accuracy and F1-score show a significant improvement on the majority of datasets, with increases of 0.74, 0.37, 0.65, and 0.79, 0.75, 1.17, respectively. This series of enhancements highlights the effective progress made by the STDGCN model in enhancing sentiment classification performance.