Altered functional connectivity of primary olfactory cortex-hippocampus-frontal cortex in subjective cognitive decline during odor stimulation.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a high-risk population in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and olfactory dysfunction is a risk factor for dementia progression. The present study aimed to explore the patterns of functional connectivity (FC) changes in the olfactory neural circuits during olfactory stimulation in SCD subjects. A total of 56 SCD subjects and 56 normal controls (NCs) were included. All subjects were assessed with a cognitive scale, an olfactory behavior test, and olfactory task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The FC differences in olfactory neural circuits between the two groups were analyzed by the generalized psychophysiological interaction. Additionally, we calculated and compared the activation of brain regions within the olfactory neural circuits during odor stimulation, the volumetric differences in brain regions showing FC differences between groups, and the correlations between neuroimaging indicators and olfactory behavioral and cognitive scale scores. During odor stimulation, the FC between the bilateral primary olfactory cortex (bPOC) and the right hippocampus in the SCD group was significantly reduced; while the FC between the right hippocampus and the right frontal cortex was significantly increased in the SCD group. The bPOC of all subjects showed significant activation, but no significant difference in activation between groups was found. No significant differences were observed in the volume of the brain regions within the olfactory neural circuits or in olfactory behavior between groups. The volume of the bPOC and right frontal cortex was significantly positively correlated with olfactory identification, and the volume of the right frontal cortex and right hippocampus was significantly correlated with cognitive functions. Furthermore, a significant correlation between the activation of bPOC and the olfactory threshold was found in the whole cohort. These results suggested that while the structure of the olfactory neural circuits and olfactory behavior in SCD subjects remained stable, there were significant changes observed in the FC of the olfactory neural circuits (specifically, the POC-hippocampus-frontal cortex neural circuits) during odor stimulation. These findings highlight the potential of FC alterations as sensitive imaging markers for identifying high-risk individuals in the early stage of AD.

Enhancing Hole Transport Uniformity for Efficient Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells through Optimizing Buried Interface Contacts and Suppressing Interface Recombination.

[4-(3,6-dimethyl-9H-carbazol-9yl)butyl]phosphonic acid (Me-4PACz) self-assembly material has been recognized as a highly effective approach for mitigating nickel oxide (NiOx) surface-related challenges in inverted perovskite solar cells (IPSCs). However, its uneven film generation and failure to effectively passivate the buried interface defects limit the device's performance improvement potential. Herein, p-xylylenediphosphonic acid (p-XPA) containing bilateral phosphate groups (-PO3H2) is introduced as an interface layer between the NiOx/Me-4PACz and the perovskite layer. P-XPA can flatten the surface of hole transport layer and optimize interface contact. Meanwhile, p-XPA achieves better energy level alignment and promotes interfacial hole transport. In addition, the bilateral -PO3H2 of p-XPA can chelate with Pb2+ and form hydrogen bond with FA+ (formamidinium cation), thereby suppressing buried interface non-radiative recombination loss. Consequently, the IPSC with p-XPA buried interface modification achieves champion power conversion efficiency of 25.87 % (certified at 25.45 %) at laboratory scale (0.0448 cm2). The encapsulated target device exhibits better operational stability. Even after 1100 hours of maximum power point tracking at 50 °C, its efficiency remains at an impressive 82.7 % of the initial efficiency. Molecules featuring bilateral passivation groups optimize interfacial contact and inhibit interfacial recombination, providing an effective approach to enhancing the stability and efficiency of devices.

Performance of screening tests for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare the pooled diagnostic accuracy of the currently available esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) screening tests. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of Embase and Medline (up to October 31, 2020) was performed to identify eligible studies. We pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio for ESCC screening tools using a bivariate random-effects model. The summary receiver operating characteristic curves with area under the curve (AUC) were plotted for each screening test. RESULTS: We included 161 studies conducted in 81 research articles involving 32,209 subjects. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of the major screening tools were respectively as follows: endoscopy (peroral endoscopy): .94 (95% confidence interval [CI], .87-.97), .92 (95% CI, .87-.95), and .97 (95% CI, .96-.99); endoscopy (transnasal endoscopy): .85 (95% CI, .70-.93), .96 (95% CI, .91-.98), and .97 (95% CI, .95-.98); microRNA: .77 (95% CI, .75-.80), .78 (95% CI, .75-.80), and .85 (95% CI, .81-.87); autoantibody: .45 (95% CI, .36-.53), .91 (95% CI, .89-.93), and .84 (95% CI, .81-.87); and cytology: .82 (95% CI, .60-.93), .97 (95% CI, .88-.99), and .97 (95% CI, .95-.98). There was high heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic accuracy seemed to be comparable between cytology and endoscopy, whereas autoantibody and microRNAs bear potential as future noninvasive screening tools for ESCC. To reduce ESCC-related death in high-risk populations, it is important to develop a more accurate and less-invasive screening test.

A bottom-up design strategy for controllable self-assembly based on the isotropic double-well potential.

Controllable self-assembly of particles or atoms is still challenging in the synthesis of materials with desirable properties that are highly relevant to the microscopic structures determined by the interparticle interactions. To gain insight into how the interactions affect the self-assembly, we designed various kinds of isotropic double-well potentials and simulated the motion of the particles. By controlling the depth and location of the potential wells and the height of the barriers, we studied their effects on the aggregation structures and the related microscopic kinetic processes. We identified five aggregation patterns at different temperatures and eight kinds of crystals, including Frank-Kasper phases, and observed the expansion or contraction of crystals. We found that the system usually stays in a sparse configuration at very low or very high temperatures. The particles typically assemble into a loosely packed cluster at medium temperatures and then deplete into a tightly packed state with a specific pattern. These phenomena can be explained from the perspective of energy. In contrast, very few structures could be obtained for the system guided by a single-well potential under the same simulation conditions. Thus, the interparticle interactions driven by the double-well potential greatly enrich the possible packing morphology of the system. The information obtained from this work helps us to understand how to achieve a specific self-assembled architecture through a reasonable selection of materials.

Effects of different straw returning amounts and fertilizer conditions on bacteria of rice's different part in rare earth mining area.

Pot experiments were conducted to explore the effects of different rice straw returning soil on the community structure and function of bacteria in rice root, rhizosphere, leaf and phyllosphere under 7 conditions of rice straw combined with different fertilizers respectively. The results showed that: rice straw returning in different ways increased the content of soil pH and K, and reduced the accumulation of N, P and organic matter in soil, and different rice straw returning ways had different effects; rice straw returning reduced dry weight of rice grain, 2% of rice straw returning reduced rice grain greater than that of 1% rice straw returning; The reduction of NP combined fertilization is greater than that of NK combined fertilization and NPK combined fertilization. Except for the decrease of chao_1 index in rice root at maturity, rice straw returning significantly improved the abundance, diversity and evenness of bacteria in rice root, rhizosphere, leaf and phyllosphere. Rice straw returning increased the content of REEs in rice, and 2% of rice straw returning soil increased rare earth element (REE) content in rice grain greater than that of 1% rice straw returning soil. Different ways of rice straw returning soil reduced the abundance of Bacillus, while the abundance of Exiguobacterium in rice leaves was hundreds of times higher than that of the control group, and the genus in leaves was dozens of times higher than that of the control group, 2% of rice straw returning soil increased the abundance of harmful bacteria and pathogens of Acidovorax, Clostridium sensu stricto, Citrobacter, Curtobacterium, and 1% of rice straw returning soil promoted the abundance of nitrogen fixing bacteria, plant growth-promoting bacteria, stress resistant bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Azospira, Acinetobacter, Bradyrhizobium and Acidocella; Environmental factors such as available P, organic matter, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, rare earth element content in rice roots, available K and soil moisture are important factors affecting the community structure of bacteria in rice roots, rhizosphere, leaf and phyllosphere at tillering stage of the rice. pH, REE content in rice roots, shoots, organic matter, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and soil moisture content are the main environmental factors affecting the community structure of bacteria in rice roots, rhizosphere, leaf and phyllosphere at maturity stage of rice. 2% rice straw returning soil promoted the formation of harmful bacteria, which may be an important reason for its significant reduction in the dry weight of rice grains.

Global burden and temporal trends of lower urinary tract symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common complaint in urology practice and affecting the quality of life for patients. This article aims to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the global prevalence of LUTS overall, and according to different patient characteristics. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE and Embase for population-based epidemiological studies reporting the prevalence of LUTS from inception to 1 Jan 2021. Studies which: (1) have enough information on sample size and prevalence; (2) investigate individuals aged 15 or above; and (3) have clear diagnostic criteria for LUTS. We extracted the following information: year of publication; name of the first author; study period; region of recruitment; race; age range; sex; severity; symptoms; and criteria. We pooled rate estimates with exact binomial and test score-based confidence intervals (CIs) using proportions with a random-effects model. RESULTS: We included 222 studies from 36 countries involving 1,692,110 samples and 632,933 patients with LUTS. The overall prevalence of any and moderate-to-severe LUTS was 63.2% (95% CI = 58.0-68.1) and 31.3% (95% CI = 28.8-33.8), respectively. The most common symptom was storage symptoms (56.7%; 95% CI = 51.0-62.4), followed by voiding symptoms (36.4%; 95% CI = 27.8-45.4) and post-micturition symptoms (30.7%; 95% CI = 19.2-43.6). A higher prevalence of moderate-to-severe LUTS was observed in male subjects (35.2%; 95% CI = 32.1-38.5) and individuals aged ≥60 (39.0%; 95% CI = 33.4-44.8; I2 = 99.9%). Its prevalence increased from 27.4% (95% CI = 24.5-30.3) in 1990-1999, to 31.9% (95% CI = 27.3-36.7) in 2000-2009 and 36.2% (95% CI = 30.7-41.9) in 2010-2019. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first comprehensive meta-analysis examining the global prevalence of LUTS. We identified a high level of LUTS prevalence in the general population, with a higher burden in male subjects, older individuals, and the Asian population. There has been an increasing trend in the prevalence of LUTS since the 1990s.

Deep Learning and Improved HMM Training Algorithm and Its Analysis in Facial Expression Recognition of Sports Athletes.

Facial expressions are an auxiliary embodiment of information conveyed in the communication between people. Facial expressions can not only convey the semantic information that people want to express but also convey the emotional state of the speaker at the same time. But for sports athletes in training and competitions, it is usually not convenient to communicate directly. This paper is based on deep learning and an improved HMM training algorithm to study the facial expression recognition of sports athletes. It proposes the construction of deep learning of multilayer neural network, and the rank algorithm is introduced to carry out face recognition experiments with traditional HMM and class-specific HMM methods. The experimental results show that, with the increase of rank value, the class-specific recognition rate is up to 90%, the detection rate is 98% and the time-consuming is 2.5 min, which is better than HMM overall.

Effects of rare earth elements on bacteria in rhizosphere, root, phyllosphere and leaf of soil-rice ecosystem.

The effects of rare earth mining on rice biomass, rare earth element (REE) content and bacterial community structure was studied through pot experiment. The research shows that the REE content in rice roots, shoots and grains was significantly positive correlated with that in soil, and the dry weight of rice roots, shoots and grains was highly correlated with soil physical and chemical properties, nutrient elements and REE contents; The exploitation of rare earth minerals inhibited a-diversity of endophytic bacteria in rhizosphere, root, phyllosphere and leaf of rice, significantly reduced the abundance index, OTU number, Chao, Ace index and also significantly reduced the diversity index-Shannon index, and also reduced uniformity index: Pielou's evenness index, which caused ß-diversity of bacteria to be quite different. The exploitation of rare earth minerals reduces the diversity of bacteria, but forms dominant bacteria, such as Burkholderia, Bacillus, Buttiauxella, Acinetobacter, Bradyrhizobium, Candida koribacter, which can degrade the pollutants formed by exploitation of rare earth minerals, alleviate the compound pollution of rare earth and ammonia nitrogen, and also has the function of fixing nitrogen and resisting rare earth stress; The content of soil available phosphorus in no-mining area is lower, and the dominant bacteria of Pantoea formed in such soil, which has the function of improving soil phosphorus availability. Rare earth elements and physical and chemical properties of soil affect the community structure of bacteria in rhizosphere and phyllosphere of rice, promote the parallel movement of some bacteria in rhizosphere, root, phyllosphere and leaf of rice, promote the construction of community structure of bacteria in rhizosphere and phyllosphere of rice, give full play to the growth promoting function of Endophytes, and promote the growth of rice. The results showed that the exploitation of rare earth minerals has formed the dominant endophytic bacteria of rice and ensured the yield of rice in the mining area, however, the mining of mineral resources causes the compound pollution of rare earth and ammonia nitrogen, which makes REE content of rice in mining area significantly higher than that in non-mining area, and the excessive rare earth element may enter the human body through the food chain and affect human health, so the food security in the REE mining area deserves more attention.

Hippocampal neurogenesis interferes with extinction and reinstatement of methamphetamine-associated reward memory in mice.

Drugs of abuse, including morphine and cocaine, can reduce hippocampal neurogenesis (HN). Whereas promotion of HN is being increasingly recognized as a promising strategy for treating morphine and cocaine addiction. The present study is focused on exploring the changes of HN during methamphetamine (METH) administration and further clarify if HN is involved in METH-associated reward memory. After successfully establishing the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to simulate the METH-associated reward memory in C57BL/6 mice, we observed that HN was significantly inhibited during METH (2 mg/kg, i. p.) administration and returned to normal after the extinction of METH CPP, as indicated by the immunostaining of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and doublecortin (DCX) in the hippocampus. To promote/inhibit HN levels, 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (DHF), a small tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) agonist and temozolomide (TMZ), an alkylating agent, were administered intraperitoneally (i.p.), respectively. The data showed that either DHF (5 mg/kg, i. p.) or TMZ (25 mg/kg, i. p.) pre-treatment before METH administration could significantly prolong extinction and enhance reinstatement of the reward memory. Notably, DHF treatment after METH administration significantly facilitated extinction and inhibited METH reinstatement, while TMZ treatment resulted in opposite effects. The present study indicated that METH administration could induce a temporal inhibitory effect on HN. More importantly, promotion of HN after the acquisition of METH-associated reward memory, but not inhibition of HN or promotion of HN before the acquisition of reward memory, could facilitate METH extinction and inhibit METH reinstatement, indicating the beneficial effect of HN on METH addiction by erasing the according reward memory.

Acceptance of pneumococcal vaccination in older adults: A general population-based survey.

BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal infection is a leading cause of disability and death globally. The Hong Kong Government has launched two programmes for pneumococcal vaccination - The Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS) and the Government Vaccination Programme (GVP). This study aimed to examine the enabling factors, obstacles and perception of pneumococcal vaccination, and their association with its uptake in a general Chinese population. METHODS: We performed a population-based, telephone survey in the general public aged 65 or above via simple random sampling. A validated survey based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) was used. Their socio-demographic information; history of previous participation in the GVP or VSS; and self-perceived health status were captured. Binary logistic regression models were constructed to examine the factors independently associated with vaccination. RESULTS: A total of 1,000 respondents were enrolled in the study, with 402 (40.2%) respondents having intention to join the GVP/VSS in 12 months. Respondents with long-term medical consultant and medication (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] = 1.541, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.008-2.356, p = 0.046); high levels of perceived susceptibility of infections (aOR = 3.624, 95 %CI: 2.318-5.665, p < 0.001); high levels of perceived benefits of vaccine (aOR = 1.699, 95 %CI: 1.153-2.504, p < 0.001); recommendations from government (aOR = 8.025, 95 %CI: 4.771-13.497, p < 0.001) or physicians (aOR = 7.399, 95 %CI: 3.472-15.764, p = 0.008); and high levels of self-efficacy (aOR = 3.045, 95 %CI: 1.458-6.362, p = 0.003) were more likely to have intention to participate in the vaccination programme. CONCLUSIONS: The acceptance rate of pneumococcal vaccination programme remained suboptimal in the population. The government and physicians should be involved in the promotion of pneumococcal vaccination and GVP/VSS by increasing perceived benefits and self-efficacy, and reducing barriers towards vaccination among the target population. More studies are required to confirm our findings in other settings.

Worldwide distribution, associated factors, and trends of gallbladder cancer: A global country-level analysis.

This study aimed to evaluate the global distribution, associated factors, and epidemiologic trends of gallbladder cancer (GBC) by country, sex, and age groups. The Global Cancer Observatory was interrogated for the disease burden of GBC using age-standardized rates (ASR). The prevalence of different potential risk factors for each country was extracted from Global Health Observatory and their associations with GBC incidence and mortality were examined by linear regression analysis using beta coefficients (ß). The Cancer Incidence in Five Continents I-XI and the WHO Mortality database were searched and Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) was generated from joinpoint regression analysis. The incidence (ASR = 2.3) and mortality (ASR = 1.7) of GBC varied globally in 2018 and were higher in more developed countries and among females. Countries with higher incidence had higher human development index (ßmale = 0.37; ßfemale = 0.27), gross domestic products (ßmale = 0.13) and higher prevalence of current smoking (ßfemale = 0.05), overweight (ßmale = 0.02), obesity (ßmale = 0.03), and hypercholesterolaemia (ßmale = 0.07). Similar patterns of associations were also observed for mortality with an additional association found for diabetes (ßfemale = 0.07). Although there was an overall decreasing trend in mortality, an increasing trend in incidence was observed among some populations, particularly in males (AAPCs, 8.97 to 1.92) and in younger individuals aged <50 years (AAPCs, 12.02 to 5.66). The incidence of GBC varied between countries and was related to differences in the prevalence of potential risk factors. There was an increasing incidence trend among males and younger individuals. More intensive lifestyle modifications and disease surveillance are recommended for these populations.

Response of rice and bacterial community to phosphorus-containing materials in soil-plant ecosystem of rare earth mining area.

The effects of phosphate rock (PR), bone charcoal (BC), single superphosphate (SSP) and calcium magnesium phosphate (CMP) on rice growth and bacterial community structure in mining area of heavy and light rare earth elements(REEs) were studied by pot experiment, field experiments were conducted with CMP and BC as restorative materials. The pot experiment showed that BC, SSP and CMP improved dry weight of rice (especially grains) in two places by 84.23%, 116.97%, 81.83%, 1630.77%, 1817.95% and 902.56% respectively; and reduced REE content of rice (especially roots) in two places by 28.19%, 81.67%, 90.58%, 67.87%, 81.72% and 94.81%; PR had little effect on dry weight and REE content of rice in both places, but reduces Bacillusabundance in both places, while BC significantly improved the abundance of Perlucidibaca and Bacillus; CMP had little effect on bacterial community, two-year field experiments showed that dry weight of rice grain treated with BC was 100% and 43.0% higher than that treated with CK and CMP, and the content of REEs was 91.8% and 16.8% lower than that with CK and CMP. The results of pot and field experiments both show BC is the most potential material for restoring soil-plant ecosystem in REE mining area.

Effects of rice straw and rice straw ash on rice growth and α-diversity of bacterial community in rare-earth mining soils.

Pot experiments were carried out to study the effects of rice straw (RS) and rice straw ash (RSA) on the growth of early rice and α-diversity of bacterial community in soils around rare earth mining areas of Xunwu and Xinfeng counties in South Jiangxi of China. The results showed that the exploitation of rare earth resources leads to soil pollution around rare earth mining areas and affects the growth of rice, and the content of rare earth elements (REEs) in rice was positively correlated with that in soils and negative correlated with dry weight of rice; The addition of RS to soils around REE mining area can inhibit growth of early rice, and the dry weight of rice grains, shoots, roots is lower when compared with the controls, while the content of REEs is higher. The α-diversity of soil bacterial decreases, which promotes the growth of Pseudorhodoferax, Phenylobacterium and other bacteria of the same kind, and inhibits the growth of beneficial bacteria. The addition of RSA to soils had no significant effect on α-diversity of soil bacterial but promoted the growth of Azospira and other beneficial bacteria, inhibited the growth of Bryobacter and other bacteria of the same kind, significantly improved the dry weight of grains, shoots and roots of early rice, and reduced the content of REEs in these parts of rice. It can be concluded that RS is unsuitable to be added to the planting soil of early rice in REE mining area, while RSA is suitable.

Potential role of the ecto-5'-nucleotidase in morphine-induced uridine release and neurobehavioral changes.

There is growing evidence that uridine may act as an endogenous neuromodulator with a potential signaling role in the central nervous system in addition to its function in pyrimidine metabolism. We previously found that acute morphine treatment significantly increased uridine release in the dorsal striatum of mice, indicating that uridine may contribute to morphine-induced neurobehavioral changes. In the present study, we analyzed the mechanism involved in morphine-induced uridine release and the role of uridine in morphine-induced neurobehavioral changes. Uridine release in the dorsal striatum of mice was assessed by in vivo microdialysis coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after morphine treatment. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to evaluate the expression of uridine-related proteins. Morphine-induced neurobehavioral changes were assessed by locomotor activity, behavioral sensitization and conditioned place preference (CPP) test. The expression of NT5E, an extracellular enzyme involved in formation of nucleosides, including uridine, was specifically knocked down in the dorsal striatum of mice using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA). The results indicated that both acute and chronic morphine administration significantly increased uridine release in the dorsal striatum, and this was associated with upregulation of NT5E but not other uridine-related proteins. Inhibition of NT5E with APCP or shRNA markedly inhibited morphine-induced uridine release in the dorsal striatum and related neurobehavioral changes, including hyperlocomotor activity, behavioral sensitization and CPP. Our data give a better understanding of the contribution of NT5E to morphine-induced uridine release and neurobehavioral changes, and identify NT5E as a potential target for treating morphine abuse.