Cellulose Nanofiber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Efficient Air Filtration in Harsh Environments.

Advanced portable healthcare devices with high efficiencies, small pressure drops, and high-temperature resistance are urgently desired in harsh environments with high temperatures, high humidities, and high levels of atmospheric pollution. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which serve as energy converters in a revolutionary self-powered sensor device, present a sustainable solution for meeting these requirements. In this work, we developed a porous negative triboelectric material by synthesizing ZIF-8 on the surface of a cellulose/graphene oxide aerogel, grafting it with trimethoxy(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl)silane, and adding a negative corona treatment, and it was combined with a positive triboelectric material to create a cellulose nanofiber-based TENG self-powered filter. The devices achieved a balance between a small pressure drop (53 Pa) and high filtration efficiency (98.97%, 99.65%, and 99.93% for PM0.3, PM0.5, and PM1, respectively), demonstrating robust filtration properties at high temperatures and high humidities. Our work provides a new approach for developing self-powered wearable healthcare devices with excellent air filtration properties.

The Prl3d1-Cre mouse line selectively induces the expression of Cre recombinase in parietal trophoblast giant cells.

The placenta plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of normal pregnancy, but how it forms, matures, and performs its function remains poorly understood. Here, we describe a novel mouse line (Prl3d1-iCre) that expresses iCre recombinase under the control of the endogenous prl3d1 promoter. Prl3d1 has been proposed as a marker for distinguishing trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) from other trophoblast cells in the placenta. The in vivo efficiency and specificity of the Cre line were analyzed by interbreeding Prl3d1-iCre mice with B6-G/R reporter mice. Through anatomical studies of the placenta and other tissues of Prl3d1-iCre/+; B6-G/R mouse mice, we found that the tdTomato signal was expressed in parietal trophoblast giant cells (P-TGCs). Thus, we report a mouse line with ectopic Cre expression in P-TGCs, which provides a valuable tool for studying human pathological pregnancies caused by implantation failure or abnormal trophoblast secretion due to aberrant gene regulation.

Refractory lupus hepatitis successfully treated with telitacicept who failed to belimumab: A case report and literature review.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-associated hepatitis ("lupus hepatitis") was one of the most frequent causes of liver function abnormalities in patients with SLE. Lupus hepatitis (LH) is commonly treated with conventional treatment, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and immunomodulators. However, in refractory cases, other treatment options may be required.Methodology: We report the case of a patient with lupus hepatitis refractory to both conventional therapy and belimumab who was successfully treated with telitacicept, a new dual B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS)/APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) inhibitor.Literature review was performed on PubMed search forum.Result: The specific search term was "telitacicept", 23 papers were searched, among them 10 case reports/series articles reporting telitacicept treatment were elected.Apart from our literature reporting the effectiveness of telitacicept in treating LH, there is no report on it in treating LH.Conclusion: This case suggests that telitacicept should be an effective and safe treatment for LH refractory, even to those who failed to belimumab based on the standard treatment, and can reduce the dosage of glucocorticoids.However, further investigations, particularly prospective randomized controlled trials, are warranted to verify our findings and ensure patient safety.

Groundwater pollution risk, health effects and sustainable management of halocarbons in typical industrial parks.

As important chemical raw materials and organic solvents, halogenated hydrocarbons not only play an important role in economic development, but are also the main source of environmental pollution. This study proposed an improved groundwater risk assessment model system, aimed at identifying and treating contaminants at leak sites. Groundwater ubiquity score (GUS) was used to evaluate the leachability of organic pollutants. The entropy-weighted water quality index (EWQI) method was used to assess the comprehensive quality of groundwater at the site. An improved groundwater health risk assessment model was constructed to analyze the health risks of groundwater. The sources of organic pollutants were identified based on the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model. Self-organizing mapping (SOM) and the K-means algorithm were integrated to classify and manage pollution source areas. The results showed that groundwater in the study area was strongly affected by human activities. The pollution source was located in a factory near S05. Different organic pollutants were highly leachable and had high potential to contaminate surrounding groundwater. 1,2-dichloropropane and 1,2,3-trichloropropane caused the largest range of contamination. The groundwater pollution index in the study area was high, and 72% of the monitoring points were non-drinkable. Both the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic indexes of groundwater far exceeded the international standard limits and had a great impact on human health. 1,2,3-trichloropropane and 1,2-dichloropropane were major non-carcinogenic risk factors. The leakage of pollutants and pesticide solvents were the main causes of groundwater pollution. Cluster areas III and II were areas with significant pollution impacts and needed to be monitored intensively. Most areas were cluster I, with relatively low risk. This study can provide technical support for groundwater pollution risk assessment and management in similar industrial parks.

One-Dimensional Covalent Organic Framework as High-Performance Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as a new class of cathode materials for energy storage in recent years. However, they are limited to two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) framework structures. Herein, this work reports designed synthesis of a redox-active one-dimensional (1D) COF and its composites with 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via in situ growth. Used as cathode materials for Li-ion batteries, the 1D COF@CNT composites with unique dendritic core-shell structure can provide abundant and easily accessible redox-active sites, which contribute to improve diffusion rate of lithium ions and the corresponding specific capacity. This synergistic structural design enables excellent electrochemical performance of the cathodes, giving rise to 95% utilization of redox-active sites, high rate capability (81% capacity retention at 10 C), and long cycling stability (86% retention after 600 cycles at 5 C). As the first example to explore the application of 1D COFs in the field of energy storage, this study demonstrates the great potential of this novel type of linear crystalline porous polymers in battery technologies.

Improved Electrical Output Performance of Cellulose-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators Enabled by Negative Triboelectric Materials.

Cellulose-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted widespread attention due to the low cost and environmentally friendly characteristics of cellulose. However, achieving high electrical energy output from these generators still presents significant challenges. Here, cellulose is dissolved-regenerated to form a composite aerogel with high specific surface area, in which cellulose-based composites with excellent negative triboelectric properties are developed by coupling the rich 3D network structure of the regenerated cellulose aerogel, modified barium titanate, and poly(vinylidene fluoride). The TENGs assembled from the composite materials exhibit an output voltage of 1040 V and a current of 1.165 mA at an external force of 8 N and a frequency of 4 Hz, outperforming all cellulose-based negative triboelectric materials. In addition, the nanogenerators have a stable electrical energy output capacity, with no significant property degradation in 100 000 contact-separation tests. The excellent electrical output property of the composite materials enables them to harvest energy from human movement and waterdrops, demonstrating their great application prospects in wearable devices, energy harvesting devices, self-powered sensors, and other fields.

Boosting Hydrostability and Carbon Dioxide Capture of Boroxine-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks by One-Pot Oligoamine Modification.

Boron-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are susceptible to nucleophilic attack by water at the electron-deficient boron sites and even slightly humid air could destroy the integrity of their porous frameworks within hours. Such instability is a major limitation to the practical applications of boron-based COFs. Herein we report a significant enhancement of hydrostability of boroxine-linked COFs (COF-1 as representative) by modification with an oligoamine (tetraethylenepentamine, TEPA), which leads to survival of the modified COF in water and long-time stability under humid atmosphere. Meanwhile, the TEPA modification also results in a considerable increase in CO2 adsorption capacity up to 13 times and a dramatic improvement in CO2 /N2 selectivity in low pressure region, which make the modified COF suitable for capturing CO2 from flue gas. This work provides a facile, efficient, and scalable method to greatly improve hydrostability of boroxine-linked COFs and reshape them into high-performance CO2 adsorbents.

A Superhydrophobic Trifluoromethyl-Containing Covalent Organic Framework Membrane for Efficient Oil/Water Separation.

Oily water caused in the process of industry leads to not only the waste of resources, but also environmental pollution. Membrane separation, as a facile and efficient separation technology, has attracted widespread attention in the field of oil/water separation. The development of membrane materials with high separation performance is one of the key elements to improve separation efficiency. In this work, a superhydrophobic membrane composited with a trifluoromethyl-containing covalent organic framework (COF) is prepared, which exhibits excellent performance on separations of oil/water mixtures and water-in-oil emulsions. For different composition of oil/water mixtures, the highest flux of oil is up to 32 000 L m-2  h-1 and oil/water separation efficiency is above 99%. Moreover, the high oil/water separation efficiency remains unchanged after successive cycles. This work provides a feasible scheme for the design of high-efficiency oil/water separation membranes.

Impact of bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation on lung volume reduction in patients with emphysema: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (LVR) could significantly improve pulmonary function and quality of life in patients with emphysema. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation (BTVA) on LVR in patients with emphysema at different stage. METHODS: A systematic search of database including PubMed, Embase and Cochrane library was conducted to determine all the studies about bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation published through Dec 1, 2022. Related searching terms were "lung volume reduction", "bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation", "bronchial thermal vapor ablation" "BTVA" and "emphysema", "efficacy" and"safety". We used standardized mean difference (SMD) to analyze the summary estimates for BTVA therapy. RESULTS: We retrieved 30 records through database search, and 4 trials were selected for meta-analysis, including 112 patients with emphysema. Meta-analysis of the pooled effect showed that levels of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), residual volume (RV), total lung capacity (TLC), 6-min walk distance (6MWD) and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were significantly improved in patients with emphysema following BTVA treatment between 6 months vs. baseline. Additionally, no significant changes in FEV1, RV, TLC and SGRQ occurred from 3 to 6 months of follow-up except for 6MWD. The magnitude of benefit was higher at 3 months compared to 6 months. The most common complications at 6 months were treatment-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations (RR: 12.49; 95% CI: 3.06 to 50.99; p < 0.001) and pneumonia (RR: 9.49; 95% CI: 2.27 to 39.69; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis provided clinically relevant information about the impact and safety of BTVA on predominantly upper lobe emphysema. Particularly, short-term significant improvement of lung function and quality of life occurred especially within the initial 3 months. Further large-scale, well-designed long-term interventional investigations are needed to clarify this issue.

Acquired CFTR dysfunction and dense distribution of ionocytes in nasal mucosa of children with CRS.

BACKGROUND: Ionocytes are rare cells in airway epithelium characterized by a high expression of CFTR. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the morphology and distribution of ionocytes and the function of CFTR in the nasal mucosal epithelium of children. METHODS: The exfoliated cells of nasal mucosa from 101 children were detected using flow cytometry to analyze the number of ionocytes and CFTR and the difference of CFTR function. Nasal mucosa and polyps were collected from 10 children with CRSwNP. The RNAscope of FOXI1 and CFTR was detected in pathological paraffin sections. The expression and distribution of ionocytes and CFTR in nasal mucosa and polyp epithelium were observed. RESULTS: In CRS patients, the number of ionocytes in the nasal epithelium was lower and the number of ionocytes that did not express CFTR was higher, and the function of CFTR was also decreased. The expression of CFTR in the nasal mucosa of CRS showed the characteristics of local dense distribution and increased as the inflammation expanded. The ionocytes were "tadpole-shaped" in the epithelium and gathered in the area of high CFTR expression, the intracellular CFTR was expanded in clusters. Ionocytes that did not express CFTR was more common in the nasal polyps. CONCLUSIONS: The number of ionocytes and the function of CFTR in nasal mucosa of CRS patients decreased. With the expansion of inflammation, CFTR and ionocytes showed more obvious dense distribution. Some ionocytes lost the expression of CFTR and did not show the "tadpole" shape, which may be related to the occurrence of polyps.

Mass Production of Hierarchically Designed Engine-Intake Air Filters by Multinozzle Electroblow Spinning.

Particulate matter damages engines of vehicles when blown into the ventilation system. Conventional engine-intake filter is cellulose microfiber board with an average diameter larger than ten microns, which has low removal efficiency of ultrafine particular matter. In this work, we apply ultrafine polyurethane nanofibers (∼122.8 nm) onto pleated cellulose board using scalable multinozzle electroblow spinning technology, which improves filtration efficiency of particulate matter with a diameter of less than 0.3 µm PM0.3 greatly. The thermoplastic polyurethane 85A nanofiber membranes are transparent, and display superior filtration performance which meets up with the 95% filtration efficiency standard in GB 19083-2010 technical requirements for protective face mask for medical use. The lightweight pleated thermoplastic polyurethane/cellulose composites intercept ∼90% ultrafine PM0.3 under airflow velocity of 32 L min-1 and possess great resistance to shock. These hierarchically designed filters follow a mechanical mechanism and can be used in on-road and off-road cars in the long run.

Spatio-temporal variation of groundwater pollution in urban wetlands and management strategies for zoning.

Groundwater is an important resource to maintain the sustainable development of urban wetlands. The Jixi National Wetland Park (JNWP) was studied to realize the refined prevention and control of groundwater. The self-organizing map-K-means algorithm (SOM-KM), improved water quality index (IWQI), health risk assessment model and forward model were used comprehensively to evaluate the groundwater status and solute sources in different periods. The results showed that the groundwater chemical type in most areas was the HCO3-Ca type. Groundwater chemistry data from different periods were clustered into five groups. Groups 1 and 5 are affected by agricultural and industrial activities, respectively. The IWQI value in the normal period was higher in most areas due to the influence of spring ploughing. The east side of the JNWP was disturbed by human activities, and the quality of drinking water continued to deteriorate from the wet period to the dry period. 64.29% of the monitoring points showed good irrigation suitability. The health risk assessment model showed that the health risk was the largest in the dry period and the smallest in the wet period. The main factors causing health risks in the wet period and other periods were NO3- and F-, respectively. The overall cancer risk was within acceptable limits. The forward model and ion ratio analysis showed that the weathering of carbonate rocks was the main factor affecting the evolution of groundwater chemistry, accounting for 67.16%. The high-risk areas of pollution were mainly concentrated in the east of the JNWP. K+ and Cl- were the key monitoring ions in the risk-free zone and potential risk zone, respectively. The research can be used to help decision-makers carry out fine zoning control of groundwater.

Frequency of child restraint system use and parental knowledge of such systems in western China.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the frequency of child restraint system (CRS) use in cars and assessed parental knowledge and attitudes toward such restraint systems in western China. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was conducted between December 2021 and January 2022. Hospitals and kindergartens were convenience sampling selected, and parents with cars were asked whether they owned and used CRS. Parents' knowledge and attitudes toward such systems were also determined. Factors associated with CRS were explored using binary logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 4764 questionnaires were distributed to parents with children 0-6 years old. Among the 4455 responses received, 50.8% of the respondents owned CRS, and most of which were front-facing child seats (42.0%). Less than half (44.4%) reported using a CRS sometimes, but only 19.6% used it all the time. The possession and use of a CRS varied significantly with the parental education level, age of the child, place of residence, number of children, family income, travel frequency, and travel distance. Logistic regression analysis showed that the frequency of car travel with a child and monthly family income significantly affected CRS use. Most parents (85.2%) perceived that adult seat belt in cars are effective at protecting their children in the event of a crash. The most frequent reason for not using a CRS was the tendency for children to travel in the car less often. CONCLUSIONS: Although approximately half of the respondents owned a CRS, most of them used it rarely, if at all. Educating parents about safe ways for children to ride in a car and use of safety belts may promote CRS use.

Marinifilum caeruleilacunae sp. nov., isolated from Yongle Blue Hole in the South China Sea.

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic and non-flagellated marine bacterium, designated JC070T was isolated from the Yongle Blue Hole in the South China Sea. The temperature, pH and NaCl ranges for growth of strain JC070T were 4-37 °C (optimum, 16 °C), pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and 1.0 -6.0% (w/v; optimum, 3.0%). The predominant isoprenoid quinone of strain JC070T was identified as menaquinone-7. The dominant fatty acids (>10%) were iso-C15:0 (59.6%) and iso-C17:0 3-OH (17.2%). The major polar lipids were aminophospholipid, aminolipid, two unknown phospholipids and two unidentified lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content was determined to be 37.0 mol%. Based on the results of polyphasic analysis, a new species, named Marinifilum caeruleilacunae sp. nov., within the genus Marinifilum was proposed. The type strain is JC070T (= JCM 39045T=MCCC 1K03774T).

Evaluation of whole axillary status with lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound in patients with breast cancer.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the whole axillary status of patients with breast cancer by lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (LCEUS). METHODS: LCEUS was applied for 169 patients with suspected breast cancer. Abnormal patterns in lymphatic channels, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), and non-enhanced but abnormal lymph nodes were investigated. The signs of distorted, attenuated, netted, or interrupted lymphatic channels, defective-filling or no-filling SLNs, and the appearance of non-enhanced but abnormal lymph nodes were designated as features of axillary metastasis. A positive outcome was given when any of the abnormal patterns was found in the LCEUS. The diagnostic efficiencies were calculated to differentiate the axillary lymphatic status using LCEUS for the whole axilla, compared with conventional ultrasound (US) and LCEUS for SLNs. RESULTS: The LCEUS procedure was successfully performed for 157 breast cancer patients with axillary dissection. Compared to normal axillae, abnormal patterns had a significantly higher frequency in metastatic axillae (p = 0.000). Using conventional US to evaluate the whole axillae, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 69.1%, 71.9%, and 70.7%, respectively. When LCEUS was used for SLN evaluation to predict the whole axilla, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 66.2%, 89.9%, and 79.6%, respectively. When LCEUS was used as the whole axillary evaluation method, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 76.5%, 86.5%, and 82.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: LCEUS can be an accurate method to observe the whole axillae in breast cancer patients. Lymphatic channels, SLNs, and non-enhanced but abnormal lymph nodes constitute the LCEUS for whole axillary evaluation. KEY POINTS: • LCEUS can be an accurate method to observe the whole axillae in breast cancer patients. • Three aspects in the LCEUS for whole axillary evaluation are the lymphatic channels, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), and non-enhanced but abnormal lymph nodes. • Signs of distorted, attenuated, netted, or interrupted lymphatic channels, defective-filling or no-filling SLNs, and the appearance of non-enhanced but abnormal lymph nodes were considered as features of axillary metastasis.

Impact of rapid on-site evaluation combined with endobronchial ultrasound and virtual bronchoscopic navigation in diagnosing peripheral lung lesions.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the value of endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) combined with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) in diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). METHODS: Between January 1st 2019 to September 1st 2021, EBUS and VBN examination were performed in expected consecutive patients with PPLs who were admitted to Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (Fujian, China). Finally, based on the calculation of expected diagnostic yield of R-EBUS biopsy and drop out, 198 eligible patients were randomly divided into ROSE group (100 cases) and non-ROSE group (98 cases). The diagnostic yield of brushing and biopsy, the complications, the procedure time, the diagnosis time and expense during diagnosis were analyzed. RESULTS: In the ROSE group, the positive rate of EBUS brushing and biopsy were 68%, 84%, respectively. The average procedure time and diagnosis time were 18.6 ± 6.8 min, 3.84 ± 4.28 days, respectively, and the average expense was 643.44 ± 706.56 US.$ (4093.15 ± 4494.67 yuan ¥). In the controls, the positive rate of brushing and biopsy were 44%, 74%, respectively. The average procedure time and diagnosis time were 15.4 ± 5.7 min, 6.46 ± 3.66 days, respectively. And the average expense during diagnosis was 1009.27 ± 713.89 US.$ (6420.28 ± 4541.33 yuan ¥). There was significant difference in the positive rate of EBUS brushing and biopsy, diagnosis time and expense during diagnosis between both groups. And no significant difference was observed in the complications and the procedure time. Additionally, the impact of ROSE on diagnostic yield in right upper lobe and the size of lesion ≤ 2 cm in diameter was significant. CONCLUSION: In combination with ROSE, EBUS could significantly improve the positive rate of diagnosing PPLs, shorten diagnosis time and reduce expense during diagnosis. ROSE will be of great importance in the diagnosis of PPLs and medical resource.

Nonunion of humeral medial condyle fracture caused by excessive functional exercise: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Medial epicondyle fractures are one of the more common humerus fractures, but humeral medial condyle fracture (HMCF) is rare. Nonunion of medial humeral condyle fractures due to functional exercise is less common. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 5-year-old patient with a nonunion HMCF due to excessive functional exercise, who bruised the elbow 1 year ago and had no positive findings on all imaging studies. On this physical examination, there was a snapping and palpable lump in the elbow joint during movement, but the patient did not feel any discomfort and the range of motion of the joint was normal. X rays and computed tomography (CT) showed that the left HMCF was discontinuous, the broken ends were dislocated, and the joint alignment was poor. Open reduction (OR) and screw fixation was used during the operation, and the patient recovered well at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The rarity and low radiographic appearance of displaced HMCF are easily overlooked and can eventually lead to nonunion HMCF, especially when radiographically difficult to visualize before age 5 years. Therefore, regardless of whether there are signs or imaging abnormalities in the growth process of adolescents, they should be vigilant, shorten the time interval for re-examination, and early detection and timely treatment can avoid some complications caused by this.

Division behaviours and their effects on pre-implantation development of pig embryos.

The quality of pre-implantation embryos could affect developmental efficiency after embryo transfer. However, the assessment of pre-implantation embryos was unsatisfactory, especially in pig embryos to date. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate available and applicable parameters that indicate developmental potential and quality of porcine pre-implantation embryos produced by handmade cloning (HMC), and parthenogenetic activation without zona pellucida (PAZF) and with zona pellucida (PAZI). Firstly, a common division behaviour was detected, that is the formation of uneven division with two unequal size blastomeres (UD 2-cell), especially in HMC embryos; then, the proportion of UD 2-cell was found to be significantly higher than that of even division with equal size blastomeres (ED 2-cell) (72.56 ± 4.56 vs. 24.57 ± 1.92). The formation of UD 2-cell might be due to the spindle migration along the long axis in 1-cell stage, and the cleavage furrow was not formed in the centre of cytoplasm. In the two sister blastomeres of UD 2-cell, uneven distribution of organelles (mitochondria and lipid droplet) was observed with lower proportion in the smaller one (p < .05). Although no difference in blastocyst rate was observed between UD and ED 2-cell embryos, the cell number per blastocyst from UD 2-cell embryos was lower than that from ED 2-cell embryos (44.15 ± 2.05 vs. 51.55 ± 1.83). Besides, because of non-synchronized division of each blastomere, the following three cleavage routes were observed in all HMC/PAZF/PAZI embryos: T1 (2-cell → 3-cell → 4-cell → ≥5-cell → morula → blastocyst), T2 (2-cell → 3-cell → 4-cell → morula → blastocyst) and T3 (2-cell → 3-cell/4-cell → morula → blastocyst). Therefore, in pig in vitro-produced embryos, division behaviours of uneven volume of cytoplasm and non-synchronized cell cycles were observed at the early embryonic developmental stage, which might be another potential factor to evaluate embryonic development.

Ultrasonic multimodality imaging features and the classification value of nonpuerperal mastitis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of ultrasonic multimodality imaging for characterizing nonpuerperal mastitis (NPM) lesions and feasibility of distinguishing different subtypes. METHODS: Thirty-eight NPM lesions were assessed using conventional ultrasonography (US), strain elastography (SE), and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). The lesions were confirmed pathologically and classified as granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM), plasma cell mastitis (PCM), or nonspecific mastitis (NSM). Furthermore, diagnostic indicators were evaluated. The diagnostic performances of the modalities were compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: The overall morphological features on US differed significantly between the GLM and PCM groups (p = 0.002). Lesion size (≤10 mm) (p = 0.003) and mean SE score (p = 0.001) differed significantly between the PCM and NSM groups. The frequent NPM characteristic on CEUS was hyperenhancement with (or without) increased lesion size; intergroup differences were not significant. Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System > 3 was considered to indicate malignancy; accordingly, the accuracy of US alone, US with CEUS, and US with SE was 10.5%, 21.1%, and 65.8%, respectively. Moreover, the AUC for US with SE for classifying GLM and PCM was 0.616. CONCLUSION: CEUS cannot accurately classify NPM subtypes, while US and SE are valuable for classification.

The Role of Circular RNAs in the Physiology and Pathology of the Mammalian Ovary.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are an abundant class of endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) generated from exonic, intronic, or untranslated regions of protein-coding genes or intergenic regions. The diverse, stable, and specific expression patterns of circRNAs and their possible functions through cis/trans regulation and protein-coding mechanisms make circRNA a research hotspot in various biological and pathological processes. It also shows practical value as biomarkers, diagnostic indicators, and therapeutic targets. This review summarized the characteristics, classification, biogenesis and elimination, detection and confirmation, and functions of circRNAs. We focused on research advances circRNAs in the mammalian ovary under conditions including ovarian cancer, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and maternal aging, as well as during reproductive status, including ovarian follicle development and atresia. The roles of circRNAs in high reproductive traits in domestic animals were also summarized. Finally, we outlined some obstructive factors and prospects to work with circRNA, aiming to provide insights into the functional research interests of circRNAs in the reproduction and gynecology areas.