Exhaled Anesthetic Xenon Regeneration by Gas Separation Using a Metal-Organic Framework with Sorbent-Sorbate Induced-Fit.

Noble gas xenon (Xe) is an excellent anesthetic gas, but its rarity, high cost and constrained production prohibits wide use in medicine. Here, we have developed a closed-circuit anesthetic Xe recovery and reusage process with highly effective CO2-specific adsorbent CUPMOF-5 that is promising to solve the anesthetic Xe supply problem. CUPMOF-5 possesses spacious cage cavities interconnected in four directions by confinement throat apertures of ~3.4 Å, which makes it an ideal molecular sieving of CO2 from Xe, O2, N2 with the benchmark selectivity and high uptake capacity of CO2. In situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and computational simulation solidly revealed the vital sieving role of the confined throat and the sorbent-sorbate induced-fit strengthening binding interaction to CO2. CUPMOF-5 can remove 5 % CO2 even from actual moist exhaled anesthetic gases, and achieves the highest Xe recovery rate (99.8 %) so far, as verified by breakthrough experiments. This endows CUPMOF-5 great potential for the on-line CO2 removal and Xe recovery from anesthetic closed-circuits.

Evaluation of the performance of a 7-T 8 × 2 transceiver array.

The decoupled 8 × 2 transceiver array has been shown to achieve a mean B1 + of 11.7 uT with a coefficient of variation of ~11% over the intracranial brain volume for 7-T MR imaging. However, this array may be thought to give lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and higher g-factors for parallel imaging compared with a radio frequency (RF) receive-only coil due to the latter's higher coil count and use of coil overlap to reduce the mutual impedance. Nonetheless, because the transceiver's highly decoupled design (pertinent for transmission) should also be constructive for reception, we measured the noise correlation, g-factors, and SNR for the decoupled transceiver in comparison with a commercial reference coil. We found that although the transceiver has half the number of receive elements in comparison with the reference coil (16 vs. 32), comparable g-factors and SNR over the head were obtained. From five subjects, the transceiver versus reference coil SNR was 65 ± 10 versus 67 ± 15. The mean noise correlation for all coil pairs was 10% ± 5% and 12% ± 9% (transceiver and reference coil, respectively). As changes in load impedance may alter the S parameters, we also examined the performance of the transceiver with tuned and matched (TM) versus untuned and unmatched (UTM) conditions on five subjects. We found that the noise correlation and SNR are robust to load variation; a noise correlation of 10% ± 5% and 10% ± 6% was determined with TM versus UTM conditions (SNRUTM/SNRTM = 0.97 ± 0.08). Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the array in human brain using T2-weighted turbo spin echo imaging, finding excellent SNR performance in both caudal and rostral brain regions.

Improved catalytic performance in gas-phase dimethyl ether carbonylation over facile NH4F etched ferrierite.

Gas-phase dimethyl ether (DME) carbonylation to methyl acetate (MA) initiates a promising route for producing ethanol from syngas. Ferrierite (FER, ZSM-35) has received considerable attention as it displays excellent stability in the carbonylation reaction and its modification strategy is to improve its catalytic activity on the premise of maintaining its stability as much as possible. However, conventional post-treatment methods such as dealumination and desilication usually selectively remove framework Al or Si atoms, ultimately altering the intrinsic composition, crystallinity, and acidity of zeolites inevitably. In this study, we successfully prepared a series of hierarchical ZSM-35 materials through post-treatment with NH4F etching, which dissolved framework Al and Si at similar rates and preferentially attacked the defective sites. Interestingly, the produced pore systems effectively penetrated the [100] plane, offering elevated access to both the 8-membered ring (8-MR) and 10-membered ring (10-MR) channels. The physicochemical and acid properties of the pristine and NH4F etched ZSM-35 samples were comprehensively characterized using various techniques, including XRD, XRF, FESEM, HRTEM, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption, NH3-TPD, Py-IR, 27Al MAS NMR, and 29Si MAS NMR. Under moderate treatment conditions, the intrinsic microporous structure, acid properties, and crystallinity of zeolite were retained, leading to superior catalytic activity and stability with respect to the pristine sample. Nonetheless, severe NH4F etching disrupted the crystalline framework and created additional defective sites, bringing about faster deposition of coke precursors on the interior Brønsted acid sites (BAS) and decreased catalytic performance. This technique provides a novel and efficient method to slightly enhance the micropore and mesopore volume of industrially pertinent zeolites through a straightforward post-treatment, thus elevating the catalytic performance of these zeolites.

Enhanced formation of methane hydrate from active ice with high gas uptake.

Gas hydrates provide alternative solutions for gas storage & transportation and gas separation. However, slow formation rate of clathrate hydrate has hindered their commercial development. Here we report a form of porous ice containing an unfrozen solution layer of sodium dodecyl sulfate, here named active ice, which can significantly accelerate gas hydrate formation while generating little heat. It can be readily produced via forming gas hydrates with water containing very low dosage (0.06 wt% or 600 ppm) of surfactant like sodium dodecyl sulfate and dissociating it below the ice point, or by simply mixing ice powder or natural snow with the surfactant. We prove that the active ice can rapidly store gas with high storage capacity up to 185 Vg Vw-1 with heat release of ~18 kJ mol-1 CH4 and the active ice can be easily regenerated by depressurization below the ice point. The active ice undergoes cyclic ice-hydrate-ice phase changes during gas uptake/release, thus removing most critical drawbacks of hydrate-based technologies. Our work provides a green and economic approach to gas storage and gas separation and paves the way to industrial application of hydrate-based technologies.

Study on acoustic properties of hydrate-bearing sediments with reconstructed CO2 hydrate in different layers during CH4 hydrate mining.

Natural gas hydrate (NGH), a clean energy source with huge reserves in nature, and its safe and efficient exploitation fits perfectly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-7). However, large-scale NGH decomposition frequently results in subsea landslides, reservoir subsidence, and collapse. In this work, in order to achieve safe and efficient exploitation of NGHs, the stability variation of different reservoir layers by depressurization/intermittent CO2/N2 injection (80:20 mol%, 50:50 mol%) was investigated using acoustic properties (P-wave velocity, elastic modulus), as well as reservoir subsidence under an overburden stress of 10 MPa. The P-wave velocity increased from 1282 m/s to 2778 m/s in the above-reservoir and from 1266 m/s to 2564 m/s in the below-reservoir, significantly increasing reservoir strength after CO2 hydrate formation. The P-wave velocity and elastic modulus in the top reconstructed reservoir were continually decreased by the shear damage of the overlying stress, while they remained stable in the bottom reconstructed reservoir during hydrate mining. However, due to superior pressure-bearing ability of the top CO2 hydrate reservoir, which was lacking in the bottom CO2 hydrate reservoir, the reservoir subsidence was relieved greatly. Despite the stiffness strength of reconstructed reservoir was ensured with CO2/N2 sweeping, the skeletal structure of CH4 hydrate reservoir was destroyed, and only the formation of CO2 hydrate could guarantee the stability of P-wave velocity and elastic modulus which was most beneficial to relieve reservoir subsidence. A large amount of CO2 was used in reservoir reconstruction and CH4 hydrate mining, which achieved the geological storage of CO2 (SDG-13). This work provided a new idea for safe and efficient NGHs mining in the future, and the application of acoustic properties served as a guide for the efficient construction of reconstructed reservoirs and offers credible technical assistance for safe exploitation of NGHs.

The Effects of MgO and Al2O3 Content in Sinter on the Softening-Melting Properties of Mixed Ferrous Burden.

The softening-melting properties of mixed ferrous burden made from high-basicity sinter with increased MgO and Al2O3 content and acid pellets was investigated for optimization. The influences of MgO and Al2O3 are discussed with the aid of phase analysis. The results showed that, with decreasing MgO mass%/Al2O3 mass% in mixed burden, all the softening-melting characteristic temperatures decreased, which can be attributed to the low melting temperature and viscosity of the slag caused by MgO and Al2O3. The permeability of the melting zone deteriorated again when MgO mass%/Al2O3 mass% decreased to a certain content. The softening interval widened slightly at first and then narrowed, while the melting interval first increased slightly and then increased greatly later. It can be deduced that the softening properties were improved, but the melting properties were worsened. Under comprehensive consideration of its softening-melting properties, permeability, iron ore reduction and the thermal state of the blast furnace hearth, the optimal softening-melting properties of a mixed ferrous burden with MgO mass%/Al2O3 mass% of 0.82 is optimal.

StrainNet: Improved Myocardial Strain Analysis of Cine MRI by Deep Learning from DENSE.

Purpose: To develop a three-dimensional (two dimensions + time) convolutional neural network trained with displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) data for displacement and strain analysis of cine MRI. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, a deep learning model (StrainNet) was developed to predict intramyocardial displacement from contour motion. Patients with various heart diseases and healthy controls underwent cardiac MRI examinations with DENSE between August 2008 and January 2022. Network training inputs were a time series of myocardial contours from DENSE magnitude images, and ground truth data were DENSE displacement measurements. Model performance was evaluated using pixelwise end-point error (EPE). For testing, StrainNet was applied to contour motion from cine MRI. Global and segmental circumferential strain (Ecc) derived from commercial feature tracking (FT), StrainNet, and DENSE (reference) were compared using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), Pearson correlations, Bland-Altman analyses, paired t tests, and linear mixed-effects models. Results: The study included 161 patients (110 men; mean age, 61 years ± 14 [SD]), 99 healthy adults (44 men; mean age, 35 years ± 15), and 45 healthy children and adolescents (21 males; mean age, 12 years ± 3). StrainNet showed good agreement with DENSE for intramyocardial displacement, with an average EPE of 0.75 mm ± 0.35. The ICCs between StrainNet and DENSE and FT and DENSE were 0.87 and 0.72, respectively, for global Ecc and 0.75 and 0.48, respectively, for segmental Ecc. Bland-Altman analysis showed that StrainNet had better agreement than FT with DENSE for global and segmental Ecc. Conclusion: StrainNet outperformed FT for global and segmental Ecc analysis of cine MRI.Keywords: Image Postprocessing, MR Imaging, Cardiac, Heart, Pediatrics, Technical Aspects, Technology Assessment, Strain, Deep Learning, DENSE Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2023.

Regulation of Gut Microflora by Lactobacillus casei Zhang Attenuates Liver Injury in Mice Caused by Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs.

The gut-liver axis may provide a new perspective for treating anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (ATDILI). Herein, the protective effect of Lactobacillus casei (Lc) was investigated by modulating gut microflora (GM) and the toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)-nuclear factor (NF)-κB-myeloiddifferentiationfactor 88 (MyD88) pathway. C57BL/6J mice were given three levels of Lc intragastrically for 2 h before administering isoniazid and rifampicin for 8 weeks. Blood, liver, and colon tissues, as well as cecal contents, were collected for biochemical and histological examination, as well as Western blot, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and 16S rRNA analyses. Lc intervention decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels (p < 0.05), recovered hepatic lobules, and reduced hepatocyte necrosis to alleviate liver injury induced by anti-tuberculosis drugs. Moreover, Lc also increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and Desulfovibrio and decreased Bilophila abundance, while enhancing zona occludens (ZO)-1 and claudin-1 protein expression compared with the model group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Lc pretreatment reduced the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) level and downregulated NF-κB and MyD88 protein expression (p < 0.05), thus restraining pathway activation. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that Lactobacillus and Desulfovibrio were positively correlated with ZO-1 or occludin protein expression and negatively correlated with pathway protein expression. Desulfovibrio had significant negative relationships with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and LPS levels. In contrast, Bilophila had negative associations with ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1 protein expressions and positive correlations with LPS and pathway proteins. The results prove that Lactobacillus casei can enhance the intestinal barrier and change the composition of the gut microflora. Moreover, Lactobacillus casei may also inhibit TLR4-NF-κB-MyD88 pathway activation and alleviate ATDILI.

Influence of TiO2, Al2O3, and Basicity on Viscosity and Structure of High Titanium-Bearing Blast Furnace Slag.

The viscosity of high-titanium blast furnace slag with different TiO2 content, Al2O3 content, and basicity was measured at 1653-1773 K using the rotational cylinder method. The phase composition of the slag is measured by XRD. Phase diagram of the slags is calculated by FactSage software. Ionic network structure of the slags is analyzed by FT-IR. Results show that TiO2 depolymerizes the silicate network structure, reducing viscosity at high temperature, while increasing Al2O3 content generates a more complicated silicate, increasing viscosity. Basicity affects viscosity, with higher basicity resulting in lower viscosity above 1733 K. Perovskite significantly affects the viscosity of slag. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the relationship between the composition and viscosity of high-titanium blast furnace slag, which is very important for improving production efficiency.

A neuroepithelial wave of BMP signalling drives anteroposterior specification of the tuberal hypothalamus.

The tuberal hypothalamus controls life-supporting homeostatic processes, but despite its fundamental role, the cells and signalling pathways that specify this unique region of the central nervous system in embryogenesis are poorly characterised. Here, we combine experimental and bioinformatic approaches in the embryonic chick to show that the tuberal hypothalamus is progressively generated from hypothalamic floor plate-like cells. Fate-mapping studies show that a stream of tuberal progenitors develops in the anterior-ventral neural tube as a wave of neuroepithelial-derived BMP signalling sweeps from anterior to posterior through the hypothalamic floor plate. As later-specified posterior tuberal progenitors are generated, early specified anterior tuberal progenitors become progressively more distant from these BMP signals and differentiate into tuberal neurogenic cells. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments in vivo and ex vivo show that BMP signalling initiates tuberal progenitor specification, but must be eliminated for these to progress to anterior neurogenic progenitors. scRNA-Seq profiling shows that tuberal progenitors that are specified after the major period of anterior tuberal specification begin to upregulate genes that characterise radial glial cells. This study provides an integrated account of the development of the tuberal hypothalamus.

Phase Characteristics of the Miscible Zone in Natural Gas Miscible Flooding and the Gas Channeling Identification Method.

As for natural gas miscible flooding in low-permeability reservoirs, studying on the phase behavior characteristic of oil-gas miscible zone has a significant meaning. In this paper, based on the reservoir characteristics of Donghe 1CIII oilfield, the evaluation of phase physical properties and minimum miscible pressure was conducted by laboratory experiments using recombined formation fluid and natural gas samples. Then, one compositional model was established to analyze the phase behavior of the miscible zone during natural gas flooding. The result shows that the fluid critical points of the miscible zone change the polynomial in the P-T diagram. More specially, the curve of critical points owns more area with higher pressure, which means that the fluid reaches a deeper miscible degree. Finally, a new chart method for gas channeling identification is proposed to evaluate the production state of the miscible zone in order to identify gas channeling. The phase envelope of the production fluid is concerned with the migration of the miscible zone. In addition, an application case in Donghe oilfield is given by means of the gas channeling-phase diagram identification method. This work could provide a theoretical basis for timely gas channeling prevention and control measures as well as improvement of the gas injection development effect.

Early Changes in Transcriptomic Profiles in Synaptodendrosomes Reveal Aberrant Synaptic Functions in Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the progressive decline of cognitive functions, and is closely associated with the dysfunction of synapses, which comprise the basic structure that mediates the communication between neurons. Although the protein architecture and machinery for protein translation at synapses are extensively studied, the impact that local changes in the mRNA reservoir have on AD progression is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the changes in transcriptomic profiles in the synaptodendrosomes purified from the cortices of AD mice at ages 3 and 6 months, a stage when early signatures of synaptic dysfunction are revealed. The transcriptomic profiles of synaptodendrosomes showed a greater number of localized differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in 6-month-old AD mice compared with mice 3 months of age. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that these DEGs are majorly enriched in mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic activity. More specifically, we further identified three representative DEGs in mitochondrial and metabolic pathways-Prnp, Cst3, and Cox6c-that regulate the dendritic spine density and morphology in neurons. Taken together, this study provides insights into the transcriptomic changes in synaptodendrosomes during AD progression, which may facilitate the development of intervention strategies targeting local translation to ameliorate the pathological progression of AD.

Efficient separation of butane isomers via ZIF-8 slurry on laboratory- and pilot-scale.

n-butane and isobutane are important petrochemical raw materials. Their separation is challenging because of their similar properties, including boiling point. Here, we report a zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)/N,N-Dimethylpropyleneurea (DMPU)-water slurry as sorption material to separate butane mixtures. The isobutane/n-butane selectivity of ZIF-8/DMPU-water slurries is as high as 890 with high kinetic performance, which transcends the upper limit of various separation materials or membranes reported in the literature. More encouragingly, a continuous pilot separation device was established, and the test results show that the purity and recovery ratio of isobutane product are 99.46 mol% and 87%, respectively, which are superior to the corresponding performance (98.56 mol% and 54%) of the industrial distillation tower. To the best of our knowledge, the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for gas separation in pilot scale remains underexplored, and thus this work provides a step forward to the commercial application of MOFs in gas separation.

Accelerated fatty acid composition MRI of epicardial adipose tissue: Development and application to eplerenone treatment in a mouse model of obesity-induced coronary microvascular disease.

PURPOSE: To develop an accelerated MRI method to quantify the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) fatty acid composition (FAC) and test the hypothesis that eplerenone (EPL) shifts the EAT FAC toward unsaturation in obese mice. METHODS: Undersampled multi-echo gradient echo imaging employing a dictionary-based compressed-sensing reconstruction and iterative decomposition with echo asymmetry and least-squares-based mapping (IDEAL) was developed, validated, and used to study EAT in obese mice scanned at 7T. Fully sampled and rate 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5 undersampled image data were acquired, reconstructed, and assessed using RMSE and structural similarity (SSIM). Two groups of mice were studied: untreated (control, n = 10) and EPL-treated (n = 10) mice fed a high-fat high-sucrose diet. MRI included imaging of EAT FAC, EAT volume, and myocardial perfusion reserve. RESULTS: Rate 3 acceleration provided RMSE <5% and structural similarity >0.85 for FAC MRI. After 6 weeks of diet, EPL-treated compared to untreated mice had a reduced EAT saturated fatty acid fraction (0.27 ± 0.09 vs. 0.39 ± 0.07, P < 0.05) and increased EAT unsaturation degree (4.37 ± 0.32 vs. 3.69 ± 0.58, P < 0.05). Also, EAT volume in EPL-treated compared to untreated mice was reduced (8.1 ± 0.6 mg vs. 11.4 ± 0.7 mg, P < 0.01), and myocardial perfusion reserve was improved (1.83 ± 0.15 vs. 1.61 ± 0.17, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Rate 3 accelerated FAC MRI enabled accurate quantification of EAT FAC in mice. EPL treatment shifted the EAT FAC toward increased unsaturation and was associated with improvement of coronary microvascular function.

A Slice-Low-Rank Plus Sparse (slice-L + S) Reconstruction Method for k-t Undersampled Multiband First-Pass Myocardial Perfusion MRI.

PURPOSE: The synergistic use of k-t undersampling and multiband (MB) imaging has the potential to provide extended slice coverage and high spatial resolution for first-pass perfusion MRI. The low-rank plus sparse (L + S) model has shown excellent performance for accelerating single-band (SB) perfusion MRI. METHODS: A MB data consistency method employing ESPIRiT maps and through-plane coil information was developed. This data consistency method was combined with the temporal L + S constraint to form the slice-L + S method. Slice-L + S was compared to SB L + S and the sequential operations of split slice-GRAPPA and SB L + S (seq-SG-L + S) using synthetic data formed from multislice SB images. Prospectively k-t undersampled MB data were also acquired and reconstructed using seq-SG-L + S and slice-L + S. RESULTS: Using synthetic data with total acceleration rates of 6-12, slice-L + S outperformed SB L + S and seq-SG-L + S (N = 7 subjects) with respect to normalized RMSE and the structural similarity index (P < 0.05 for both). For the specific case with MB factor = 3 and rate 3 undersampling, or for SB imaging with rate 9 undersampling (N = 7 subjects), the normalized RMSE values were 0.037 ± 0.007, 0.042 ± 0.005, and 0.031 ± 0.004; and the structural similarity index values were 0.88 ± 0.03, 0.85 ± 0.03, and 0.89 ± 0.02 for SB L + S, seq-SG-L + S, and slice-L + S, respectively (P < 0.05 for both). For prospectively undersampled MB data, slice-L + S provided better image quality than seq-SG-L + S for rate 6 (N = 7) and rate 9 acceleration (N = 7) as scored by blinded experts. CONCLUSION: Slice-L + S outperformed SB-L + S and seq-SG-L + S and provides 9 slice coverage of the left ventricle with a spatial resolution of 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm with good image quality.

Reproducibility of global and segmental myocardial strain using cine DENSE at 3 T: a multicenter cardiovascular magnetic resonance study in healthy subjects and patients with heart disease.

BACKGROUND: While multiple cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) methods provide excellent reproducibility of global circumferential and global longitudinal strain, achieving highly reproducible segmental strain is more challenging. Previous single-center studies have demonstrated excellent reproducibility of displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) segmental circumferential strain. The present study evaluated the reproducibility of DENSE for measurement of whole-slice or global circumferential (Ecc), longitudinal (Ell) and radial (Err) strain, torsion, and segmental Ecc at multiple centers. METHODS: Six centers participated and a total of 81 subjects were studied, including 60 healthy subjects and 21 patients with various types of heart disease. CMR utilized 3 T scanners, and cine DENSE images were acquired in three short-axis planes and in the four-chamber long-axis view. During one imaging session, each subject underwent two separate DENSE scans to assess inter-scan reproducibility. Each subject was taken out of the scanner and repositioned between the scans. Intra-user, inter-user-same-site, inter-user-different-site, and inter-user-Human-Deep-Learning (DL) comparisons assessed the reproducibility of different users analyzing the same data. Inter-scan comparisons assessed the reproducibility of DENSE from scan to scan. The reproducibility of whole-slice or global Ecc, Ell and Err, torsion, and segmental Ecc were quantified using Bland-Altman analysis, the coefficient of variation (CV), and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). CV was considered excellent for CV ≤ 10%, good for 10% < CV ≤ 20%, fair for 20% < CV ≤ 40%, and poor for CV > 40. ICC values were considered excellent for ICC > 0.74, good for ICC 0.6 < ICC ≤ 0.74, fair for ICC 0.4 < ICC ≤ 0.59, poor for ICC < 0.4. RESULTS: Based on CV and ICC, segmental Ecc provided excellent intra-user, inter-user-same-site, inter-user-different-site, inter-user-Human-DL reproducibility and good-excellent inter-scan reproducibility. Whole-slice Ecc and global Ell provided excellent intra-user, inter-user-same-site, inter-user-different-site, inter-user-Human-DL and inter-scan reproducibility. The reproducibility of torsion was good-excellent for all comparisons. For whole-slice Err, CV was in the fair-good range, and ICC was in the good-excellent range. CONCLUSIONS: Multicenter data show that 3 T CMR DENSE provides highly reproducible whole-slice and segmental Ecc, global Ell, and torsion measurements in healthy subjects and heart disease patients.

Single-cell analysis of early chick hypothalamic development reveals that hypothalamic cells are induced from prethalamic-like progenitors.

The hypothalamus regulates many innate behaviors, but its development remains poorly understood. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) to profile multiple stages of early hypothalamic development in the chick. Hypothalamic neuroepithelial cells are initially induced from prethalamic-like cells. Two distinct hypothalamic progenitor populations then emerge and give rise to tuberal and mammillary/paraventricular hypothalamic cells. At later stages, the regional organization of the chick and mouse hypothalamus is highly similar. We identify selective markers for major subdivisions of the developing chick hypothalamus and many previously uncharacterized candidate regulators of hypothalamic induction, regionalization, and neurogenesis. As proof of concept for the power of the dataset, we demonstrate that prethalamus-derived follistatin inhibits hypothalamic induction. This study clarifies the organization of the nascent hypothalamus and identifies molecular mechanisms that may control its induction and subsequent development.

Tenofovir Alafenamide for Pregnant Chinese Women With Active Chronic Hepatitis B: A Multicenter Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Data on long-term tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) therapy for pregnant women with active chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (immune clearance and reactivation phases, currently and previously diagnosed) and their infants are lacking. METHODS: Pregnant women with active CHB treated with TAF and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) were enrolled in this multicenter prospective study, and infants received immunoprophylaxis. The primary outcomes were rates of adverse (safety) events in pregnant women and defects in infants and fetuses. The secondary outcomes were virologic responses in pregnant women, infants' safety, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) status, and growth conditions. RESULTS: One hundred three and 104 pregnant women were enrolled and 102 and 104 infants were born in the TAF and TDF groups, respectively. In the TAF group, the mean age, gestational age, alanine aminotransferase level, and viral loads at treatment initiation were 29.3 years, 1.3 weeks, 122.2 U/L, and 5.1 log10 IU/mL, respectively. TAF was well-tolerated, and the most common adverse event was nausea (29.1%) during a mean of 2 years of treatment. Notably, 1 (1.0%) TAF-treated pregnant woman underwent induced abortion due to noncausal fetal cleft lip and palate. No infants in either group had birth defects. In the TAF group, the hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion rate was 20.7% at postpartum month 6, infants had normal growth parameters, and no infants were positive for HBsAg at 7 months. The TDF group had comparable safety and effectiveness profiles. CONCLUSIONS: TAF administered throughout or beginning in early pregnancy is generally safe and effective for pregnant women with active CHB and their infants.