Phylogeography and population structure of Lagocephalus spadiceus (Richardson, 1845) (Tetraodontiformes, Tetraodontidae) in the South China Sea.

The climate fluctuations during the Late Pleistocene significantly influenced the phylogeographic structure and historical dynamics of marine fishes in the marginal seas of the western Pacific Ocean. The puffer fish, Lagocephalus spadiceus, holds substantial nutritional and economic value in the South China Sea. To investigate the demographic history and population structure of the L. spadiceus, the mitochondrial DNA COI and Cyt b gene datasets from 300 individuals across eight populations in the South China Sea were sequenced. Our findings revealed high haplotype diversity (0.874 ± 0.013) and low nucleotide diversity (0.00075 ± 0.00058). The phylogenetic tree and haplotype networks revealed no significant genetic differentiation along the northern coast of South China Sea. Neutrality tests, mismatch distribution analyses, and Bayesian skyline plots suggested that L. spadiceus underwent population expansion during the Late Pleistocene. Both ocean currents and climate change significantly influenced the geographical distribution and genetic population structure of L. spadiceus.

Haplotype-resolved genome assembly of the diploid Rosa chinensis provides insight into the mechanisms underlying key ornamental traits.

Roses are consistently ranked at the forefront in cut flower production. Increasing demands of market and changing climate conditions have resulted in the need to further improve the diversity and quality of traits. However, frequent hybridization leads to highly heterozygous nature, including the allelic variants. Therefore, the absence of comprehensive genomic information leads to them making it challenging to molecular breeding. Here, two haplotype-resolved chromosome genomes for Rosa chinensis 'Chilong Hanzhu' (2n = 14) which is high heterozygous diploid old Chinese rose are generated. An amount of genetic variation (1,605,616 SNPs, 209,575 indels) is identified. 13,971 allelic genes show differential expression patterns between two haplotypes. Importantly, these differences hold valuable insights into regulatory mechanisms of traits. RcMYB114b can influence cyanidin-3-glucoside accumulation and the allelic variation in its promoter leads to differences in promoter activity, which as a factor control petal color. Moreover, gene family expansion may contribute to the abundance of terpenes in floral scents. Additionally, RcANT1, RcDA1, RcAG1 and RcSVP1 genes are involved in regulation of petal number and size under heat stress treatment. This study provides a foundation for molecular breeding to improve important characteristics of roses.

Robust, Self-Healing, and Multi-Use Poly(Urethane-Urea-Imide) Elastomer as a Durable Adhesive for Thermal Interface Materials.

Currently, research on thermal interface materials (TIMs) is primarily focused on enhancing thermal conductivity. However, strong adhesion and multifunctionality are also important characteristics for TIMs when pursing more stable interface heat conduction. Herein, a novel poly(urethane-urea-imide) (PUUI) elastomer containing abundant dynamic hydrogen bonds network and reversible disulfide linkages is successfully synthesized for application as a TIM matrix. The PUUI can self-adapt to the metal substrate surface at moderate temperatures (80 °C) and demonstrates a high adhesion strength of up to 7.39 MPa on aluminum substrates attributed its noncovalent interactions and strong intrinsic cohesion. Additionally, the PUUI displays efficient self-healing capability, which can restore 94% of its original mechanical properties after self-healing for 6 h at room temperature. Furthermore, PUUI composited with aluminum nitride and liquid metal hybrid fillers demonstrates a high thermal conductivity of 3.87 W m-1 K-1 while maintaining remarkable self-healing capability and adhesion. When used as an adhesive-type TIM, it achieves a low thermal contact resistance of 22.1 mm2 K W-1 at zero pressure, only 16.7% of that of commercial thermal pads. This study is expected to break the current research paradigm of TIMs and offers new insights for the development of advanced, reliable, and sustainable TIMs.

Exploring Plastomic Resources in Sempervivum (Crassulaceae): Implications for Phylogenetics.

The plastid organelle is vital for photosynthesis and energy production. Advances in sequencing technology have enabled the exploration of plastomic resources, offering insights into plant evolution, diversity, and conservation. As an important group of horticultural ornamentals in the Crassulaceae family, Sempervivum plants are known for their unique rosette-like structures and reproduction through offsets. Despite their popularity, the classification status of Sempervivum remains uncertain, with only a single plastome sequence currently available. Furthermore, codon usage bias (CUB) is a widespread phenomenon of the unbalanced usage of synonymous codons in the coding sequence (CDS). However, due to the limited available plastid data, there has been no research that focused on the CUB analysis among Sempervivum until now. To address these gaps, we sequenced and released the plastomes of seven species and one subspecies from Sempervivum, revealing several consistent patterns. These included a shared 110 bp extension of the rps19 gene, 14 hypervariable regions (HVRs) with distinct nucleotide diversity (π: 0.01173 to 0.02702), and evidence of selective pressures shaping codon usage. Notably, phylogenetic analysis robustly divided the monophyletic clade into two sections: Jovibarba and Sempervivum. In conclusion, this comprehensive plastomic resource provides valuable insights into Sempervivum evolution and offers potential molecular markers for DNA barcoding.

Wide resection and extensive reconstruction of soft tissue sarcomas in the upper limb. A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Upper limb soft tissue sarcomas are extremely rare and can be misdiagnosed as benign, leading to unplanned excisions. Unplanned excisions and local recurrences pose significant challenges for the subsequent treatment of patients. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A patient with a forearm soft tissue sarcoma who underwent unplanned excisions and experienced multiple recurrences. In the most recent treatment, she underwent wide tumor excision combined with thigh free flap transplantation for reconstruction. The reconstruction surgery successfully addressed the extensive soft tissue defect. During the three-year follow-up, there was no tumor recurrence observed, alongside the restoration of upper arm function. DISCUSSION: Challenges and considerations in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are discussed. CONCLUSION: Unplanned excisions and local recurrences of upper limb soft tissue sarcomas present significant challenges for surgery. Patients should be referred to specialized cancer centers for multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment.

PMAT: an efficient plant mitogenome assembly toolkit using low-coverage HiFi sequencing data.

Complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of plants are valuable resources for nucleocytoplasmic interactions, plant evolution, and plant cytoplasmic male sterile line breeding. However, the complete assembly of plant mitogenomes is challenging due to frequent recombination events and horizontal gene transfers. Previous studies have adopted Illumina, PacBio, and Nanopore sequencing data to assemble plant mitogenomes, but the poor assembly completeness, low sequencing accuracy, and high cost limit the sampling capacity. Here, we present an efficient assembly toolkit (PMAT) for de novo assembly of plant mitogenomes using low-coverage HiFi sequencing data. PMAT has been applied to the de novo assembly of 13 broadly representative plant mitogenomes, outperforming existing organelle genome assemblers in terms of assembly accuracy and completeness. By evaluating the assembly of plant mitogenomes from different sequencing data, it was confirmed that PMAT only requires 1× HiFi sequencing data to obtain a complete plant mitogenome. The source code for PMAT is available at https://github.com/bichangwei/PMAT. The developed PMAT toolkit will indeed accelerate the understanding of evolutionary variation and breeding application of plant mitogenomes.

Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Combined with Transarterial Embolization Plus Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma with a Diameter >8 Cm: A Retrospective Study.

Purpose: Local in combination with systemic therapy might be an option for patients with advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). This study examined the clinical benefits and adverse events (AEs) of first-line transarterial embolization (TAE) and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) combined with atezolizumab (Atezo) and bevacizumab (Bev) in patients with uHCC of a diameter larger than 8 cm. Patients and methods: This retrospective study included patients with uHCC of a diameter larger than 8 cm who were treated with first-line Atezo-Bev and TAE+HAIC at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University between September 30, 2019, and September 30, 2022. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), tumor response according to mRECIST, and AEs were analyzed. Multivariable Cox analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with PFS. Results: Thirty patients were included. The objective response rate (ORR) was 74.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 59.3%-89.5%), and the disease control rate (DCR) was 93.3% (95% CI, 85.4%-98.6%). The median follow-up was 11.4 (inter-quartile range [IQR], 5.5-17.9) months. The median PFS was 6.8 (95% CI, 2.6-11.1) months. The 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month survival rates were 86.2%, 82.5%, 68.6%, and 60%, respectively. The median OS was not estimated. Extrahepatic metastasis was independently associated with PFS (hazard ratio [HR]=3.468, 95% CI, 1.001-12.023). The most common AEs were fever (46.7%). Grade 4 AEs occurred one time as hematemesis but no 5 AEs were observed. Conclusion: Atezo-Bev combined with TAE and HAIC might benefit patients with uHCC of a diameter larger than 8 cm, with manageable AEs.

Genome copy number predicts extreme evolutionary rate variation in plant mitochondrial DNA.

Nuclear and organellar genomes can evolve at vastly different rates despite occupying the same cell. In most bilaterian animals, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolves faster than nuclear DNA, whereas this trend is generally reversed in plants. However, in some exceptional angiosperm clades, mtDNA substitution rates have increased up to 5,000-fold compared with closely related lineages. The mechanisms responsible for this acceleration are generally unknown. Because plants rely on homologous recombination to repair mtDNA damage, we hypothesized that mtDNA copy numbers may predict evolutionary rates, as lower copy numbers may provide fewer templates for such repair mechanisms. In support of this hypothesis, we found that copy number explains 47% of the variation in synonymous substitution rates of mtDNA across 60 diverse seed plant species representing ~300 million years of evolution. Copy number was also negatively correlated with mitogenome size, which may be a cause or consequence of mutation rate variation. Both relationships were unique to mtDNA and not observed in plastid DNA. These results suggest that homologous recombinational repair plays a role in driving mtDNA substitution rates in plants and may explain variation in mtDNA evolution more broadly across eukaryotes. Our findings also contribute to broader questions about the relationships between mutation rates, genome size, selection efficiency, and the drift-barrier hypothesis.

Cytonuclear Interactions and Subgenome Dominance Shape the Evolution of Organelle-Targeted Genes in the Brassica Triangle of U.

The interaction and coevolution between nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes are one of the fundamental hallmarks of eukaryotic genome evolution and, 2 billion yr later, are still major contributors to the formation of new species. Although many studies have investigated the role of cytonuclear interactions following allopolyploidization, the relative magnitude of the effect of subgenome dominance versus cytonuclear interaction on genome evolution remains unclear. The Brassica triangle of U features 3 diploid species that together have formed 3 separate allotetraploid species on similar evolutionary timescales, providing an ideal system for understanding the contribution of the cytoplasmic donor to hybrid polyploid. Here, we investigated the evolutionary pattern of organelle-targeted genes in Brassica carinata (BBCC) and 2 varieties of Brassica juncea (AABB) at the whole-genome level, with particular focus on cytonuclear enzyme complexes. We found partial evidence that plastid-targeted genes experience selection to match plastid genomes, but no obvious corresponding signal in mitochondria-targeted genes from these 2 separately formed allopolyploids. Interestingly, selection acting on plastid genomes always reduced the retention rate of plastid-targeted genes encoded by the B subgenome, regardless of whether the Brassica nigra (BB) subgenome was contributed by the paternal or maternal progenitor. More broadly, this study illustrates the distinct selective pressures experienced by plastid- and mitochondria-targeted genes, despite a shared pattern of inheritance and natural history. Our study also highlights an important role for subgenome dominance in allopolyploid genome evolution, even in genes whose function depends on separately inherited molecules.

PARVB promotes malignant melanoma progression and is enhanced by hypoxic conditions.

Beta-Parvin (PARVB) is an actin-binding protein with functionality in extracellular matrix binding. Recent studies suggest its potential as a biomarker for various cancers, given its role in governing several malignancies. Yet, its involvement and modulatory mechanisms in malignant melanoma remain under-explored.  In this research, we undertook a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis centered on PARVB. We probed its aberrant expression and prognostic implications, and assessed correlations between PARVB expression and immunocyte infiltration. This expression was subsequently corroborated using clinical samples. Both in vitro and in vivo, we discerned the functional ramifications of PARVB on melanoma. Furthermore, we scrutinized how HIF-1α/2α modulates PARVB and initiated a preliminary investigation into potential downstream pathways influenced by PARVB. Our results illuminate that elevated PARVB expression manifests across various tumors and significantly influences the prognosis of multiple cancers, emphasizing its peculiar expression and prognostic relevance in melanoma. Augmented PARVB levels were inversely proportional to immunocyte penetration in melanoma. Silencing PARVB curtailed cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and decelerated tumor expansion in vivo. Notably, hypoxic conditions, triggering HIF-1α/2α activation, appear to elevate PARVB expression by anchoring to the hypoxia-specific responsive element within the PARVB promoter. Enhanced PARVB levels seem intertwined with the activation of cellular proliferation circuits and the damping of inflammatory trajectories. Collectively, these revelations posit PARVB as a potential prognostic indicator and therapeutic linchpin for malignant melanoma.

Transcriptome Profiling Reveals the Gene Network Responding to Low Nitrogen Stress in Wheat.

As one of the essential nutrients for plants, nitrogen (N) has a major impact on the yield and quality of wheat worldwide. Due to chemical fertilizer pollution, it has become increasingly important to improve crop yield by increasing N use efficiency (NUE). Therefore, understanding the response mechanisms to low N (LN) stress is essential for the regulation of NUE in wheat. In this study, LN stress significantly accelerated wheat root growth, but inhibited shoot growth. Further transcriptome analysis showed that 8468 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) responded to LN stress. The roots and shoots displayed opposite response patterns, of which the majority of DEGs in roots were up-regulated (66.15%; 2955/4467), but the majority of DEGs in shoots were down-regulated (71.62%; 3274/4565). GO and KEGG analyses showed that nitrate reductase activity, nitrate assimilation, and N metabolism were significantly enriched in both the roots and shoots. Transcription factor (TF) and protein kinase analysis showed that genes such as MYB-related (38/38 genes) may function in a tissue-specific manner to respond to LN stress. Moreover, 20 out of 107 N signaling homologous genes were differentially expressed in wheat. A total of 47 transcriptome datasets were used for weighted gene co-expression network analysis (17,840 genes), and five TFs were identified as the potential hub regulatory genes involved in the response to LN stress in wheat. Our findings provide insight into the functional mechanisms in response to LN stress and five candidate regulatory genes in wheat. These results will provide a basis for further research on promoting NUE in wheat.

Mild and Efficient Preparation of N-Heterocyclic Organic Molecules by Catalyst-free and Solvent-free Methods.

AIMS: The small organic molecular compounds with biological activity containing C-C and C-N or C-O bonding were efficiently prepared without catalyst and solvent in the hydrothermal synthesis reactor. OBJECTIVES: Our goal was to explore new applications for the more environmentally friendly and efficient synthesis of bis(indolyl)methyl, xanthene, quinazolinone, and N-heterocyclic derivatives in hydrothermal synthesis reactors under solvent-free and catalyst-free conditions. METHODS: A greener and more efficient method was successfully developed for the synthesis of bis(indolyl)methyl, heteroanthracene, quinazolinone, and N-heterocyclic derivatives using a hydrothermal synthesis reactor in a solvent- and catalyst-free manner. RESULTS: In a hydrothermal synthesis reactor, bis(indoyl)methyl, xanthene, quinazolinone, and N-heterocyclic derivatives were synthesized without catalysts and solvents. CONCLUSION: Overall, it is proved once again that the catalyst-free and solvent-free synthesis method has universal value and is a more ideal and environmentally friendly new method, especially the hydrothermal reactor for synthesis.

Association Analysis Provides Insights into Plant Mitonuclear Interactions.

Cytonuclear interaction refers to the complex and ongoing process of coevolution between nuclear and organelle genomes, which are responsible for cellular respiration, photosynthesis, lipid metabolism, etc. and play a significant role in adaptation and speciation. There have been a large number of studies to detect signatures of cytonuclear interactions. However, identification of the specific nuclear and organelle genetic polymorphisms that are involved in these interactions within a species remains relatively rare. The recent surge in whole genome sequencing has provided us an opportunity to explore cytonuclear interaction from a population perspective. In this study, we analyzed a total of 3,439 genomes from 7 species to identify signals of cytonuclear interactions by association (linkage disequilibrium) analysis of variants in both the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes across flowering plants. We also investigated examples of nuclear loci identified based on these association signals using subcellular localization assays, gene editing, and transcriptome sequencing. Our study provides a novel perspective on the investigation of cytonuclear coevolution, thereby enriching our understanding of plant fitness and offspring sterility.

Acetylated nanocellulose reinforced hydroxypropyl starch acetate realizing polypropylene replacement for green packaging application.

The use of natural starch as a replacement for petroleum-based packaging materials is limited due to its poor processability, weak mechanical properties, and strong moisture sensitivity. To address these limitations, this study adopts molecular design of hydroxypropylation and acetylation to sequentially modify natural starch, and material design of introducing acetylated cellulose nanofibers (ACNF) into the starch matrix to reinforce the material. Hydroxypropylation decreased the interaction force between the starch molecular chains, thereby reducing the glass transition temperature. Subsequent acetylation introduced hydrophobic acetyl groups that disrupted intermolecular hydrogen bonds, enhancing the mobility of the starch molecular chain, and endowed the hydroxypropyl starch acetate (HPSA) with excellent thermoplastic processability (melt index of 7.12 g/10 min) without the need for plasticizers and notable water resistance (water absorption rate of 3.0 %). The introduction of ACNF generated a strong interaction between HPSA chains, promoting the derived ACNF-HPSA to exhibit excellent mechanical strength, such as high impact strength of 2.1 kJ/m2, tensile strength of 22.89 MPa, elasticity modulus of 813.22 MPa, flexural strength of 24.18 MPa and flexural modulus of 1367.88 MPa. Its overall performance even surpassed that of polypropylene (PP) plastic, making it a potential alternative material for PP-based packaging materials.

Multiomics profiling reveals the benefits of gamma-delta (γδ) T lymphocytes for improving the tumor microenvironment, immunotherapy efficacy and prognosis in cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: As an unconventional subpopulation of T lymphocytes, γδ T cells can recognize antigens independently of major histocompatibility complex restrictions. Recent studies have indicated that γδ T cells play contrasting roles in tumor microenvironments-promoting tumor progression in some cancers (eg, gallbladder and leukemia) while suppressing it in others (eg, lung and gastric). γδ T cells are mainly enriched in peripheral mucosal tissues. As the cervix is a mucosa-rich tissue, the role of γδ T cells in cervical cancer warrants further investigation. METHODS: We employed a multiomics strategy that integrated abundant data from single-cell and bulk transcriptome sequencing, whole exome sequencing, genotyping array, immunohistochemistry, and MRI. RESULTS: Heterogeneity was observed in the level of γδ T-cell infiltration in cervical cancer tissues, mainly associated with the tumor somatic mutational landscape. Definitely, γδ T cells play a beneficial role in the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. First, γδ T cells exert direct cytotoxic effects in the tumor microenvironment of cervical cancer through the dynamic evolution of cellular states at both poles. Second, higher levels of γδ T-cell infiltration also shape the microenvironment of immune activation with cancer-suppressive properties. We found that these intricate features can be observed by MRI-based radiomics models to non-invasively assess γδ T-cell proportions in tumor tissues in patients. Importantly, patients with high infiltration levels of γδ T cells may be more amenable to immunotherapies including immune checkpoint inhibitors and autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapies, than to chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: γδ T cells play a beneficial role in antitumor immunity in cervical cancer. The abundance of γδ T cells in cervical cancerous tissue is associated with higher response rates to immunotherapy.

Comprehensive Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Rehmannia chingii: An Autotrophic Species in the Orobanchaceae Family.

Rehmannia chingii is an important medicinal plant with immense value in scientific research. However, its mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) has not yet been characterized. Herein, based on whole-genome Illumina short reads and PacBio HiFi reads, we obtained the complete mitogenome of R. chingii through a de novo assembly strategy. We carried out comparative genomic analyses and found that, in comparison with the plastid genome (plastome) showing a high degree of structural conservation, the R. chingii mitogenome structure is relatively complex, showing an intricate ring structure with 16 connections, owing to five repetitive sequences. The R. chingii mitogenome was 783,161 bp with a GC content of 44.8% and contained 77 genes, comprising 47 protein-coding genes (CDS), 27 tRNA genes, and 3 rRNA genes. We counted 579 RNA editing events in 47 CDS and 12,828 codons in all CDSs of the R. chingii mitogenome. Furthermore, 24 unique sequence transfer fragments were found between the mitogenome and plastome, comprising 8 mitogenome CDS genes and 16 plastome CDS genes, corresponding to 2.39% of the R. chingii mitogenome. Mitogenomes had shorter but more collinear regions, evidenced by a comparison of the organelles of non-parasitic R. chingii, hemiparasitic Pedicularis chinensis, and holoparasitic Aeginetia indica in the Orobanchaceae family. Moreover, from non-parasitic to holoparasitic species, the genome size in the mitogenomes of Orobanchaceae species did not decrease gradually. Instead, the smallest mitogenome was found in the hemiparasitic species P. chinensis, with a size of 225,612 bp. The findings fill the gap in the mitogenome research of the medicinal plant R. chingii, promote the progress of the organelle genome research of the Orobanchaceae family, and provide clues for molecular breeding.

The pan-plastome of Hemerocallis citrina reveals new insights into the genetic diversity and cultivation history of an economically important food plant.

BACKGROUND: Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (Huang hua cai in Chinese) is a perennial herbaceous plant grown for its flower buds that are eaten fresh or dried and is known as the vegetarian three treasures. The nuclear genome of H. citrina has been reported, but the intraspecific variation of the plastome (plastid genome) has not yet been studied. Therefore, the panplastome of this species collected from diverse locations is reported here for the first time. RESULTS: In this study, 65 H. citrina samples were resequenced, de novo assembled, and aligned with the published plastome of H. citrina to resolve the H. citrina panplastome. The sizes of the 65 newly assembled complete plastomes of H. citrina ranged from 156,048 bp to 156,263 bp, and the total GC content ranged from 37.31 to 37.34%. The structure of the complete plastomes showed a typical tetrameric structure, including a large single copy (LSC), a small single copy (SSC), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRA and IRB). Many nucleotide variants were identified between plastomes, among which the variants in the intergenic spacer region were the most abundant, with the highest number of variants concentrated in the LSC region. Based on the phylogenetic tree constructed using the ML method, population structure analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA), the panplastome data were subdivided into five genetic clusters. The C5 genetic cluster was mostly represented by samples from Qidong, Hunan Province, while samples from Shanxi and Shaanxi Provinces were classified into the C4 genetic cluster. The greatest genetic diversity was found in the C1 genetic cluster, and the greatest genetic distance between any two clusters was found between the C4 and C5 clusters. CONCLUSION: The resolution of the panplastome and the analysis of the population structure of H. citrina plastomes provide important data for future breeding projects and germplasm preservation.

Is radiofrequency ablation effective in treating patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background and aims: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the short-term and long-term efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and explore the role of diagnostic genicular nerve blocks in predicting treatment outcomes. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted, and nine randomized controlled trials involving 714 participants were included in the analysis. Data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and subgroup analyses were performed. The primary outcome measures were pain scores at 6 and 12 months, assessed using visual analogue scale and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Results: The meta-analysis revealed that RFA demonstrated a significant short-term efficacy in reducing pain compared to the control group at 6 months, as indicated by the pain scores [weighted mean difference (WMD): -2.69, 95% CI: -3.99, -1.40]. Similarly, WOMAC scores at 6 months favored the RFA group (WMD: -4.40, 95% CI: -7.12, -1.68). However, the long-term efficacy of RFA at 12 months remained uncertain for both pain scores (WMD: -0.88, 95% CI: -2.36, 0.61) and WOMAC (WMD: 0.03, 95% CI: -0.25, 0.32). Subgroup analysis suggested that a positive result from the diagnostic genicular nerve blocks test was associated with a more favourable short-term outcome. Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides moderate-quality evidence supporting the short-term efficacy of RFA in reducing pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The inclusion of a diagnostic genicular nerve blocks test prior to RFA may help identify patients likely to benefit from the procedure. But it still needs more large sample studies to verify the results. However, further research is needed to determine the long-term efficacy of RFA in managing knee osteoarthritis pain.

Arthritis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans infection: A case report.

Cryptococcal infections are uncommon in individuals with normal immune functions. These infections commonly affect the lungs and central nervous system; however, there are a few reports of infection in the bone and joint areas. The current study reported a case of knee joint infection caused by Cryptococcus neoformans in China. A 56-year-old man presented to The China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Guang'anmen Hospital Baoding Hospital (Baoding, China) with severe anemia and lung inflammation. Initially, there was no obvious cause of swelling or pain in the knee joints. However, after the patient presented with new swollen and painful knee joint symptoms, pus culture and cryptococcal antigen detection tests confirmed C. neoformans infection. After pus drainage and fluconazole treatment, the patient's condition substantially improved. Clinical awareness of C. neoformans infections should be promoted. In suspected cases, puncture fluid or tissue pathogen testing should be performed as early as possible to avoid misdiagnosis and serious consequences of delayed treatment.