Integrating international Chinese visualization teaching and vocational skills training: leveraging attention-connectionist temporal classification models.

The teaching of Chinese as a second language has become increasingly crucial for promoting cross-cultural exchange and mutual learning worldwide. However, traditional approaches to international Chinese language teaching have limitations that hinder their effectiveness, such as outdated teaching materials, lack of qualified instructors, and limited access to learning facilities. To overcome these challenges, it is imperative to develop intelligent and visually engaging methods for teaching international Chinese language learners. In this article, we propose leveraging speech recognition technology within artificial intelligence to create an oral assistance platform that provides visualized pinyin-formatted feedback to learners. Additionally, this system can identify accent errors and provide vocational skills training to improve learners' communication abilities. To achieve this, we propose the Attention-Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) model, which utilizes a specific temporal convolutional neural network to capture the location information necessary for accurate speech recognition. Our experimental results demonstrate that this model outperforms similar approaches, with significant reductions in error rates for both validation and test sets, compared with the original Attention model, Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) is reduced by 0.67%. Overall, our proposed approach has significant potential for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of vocational skills training for international Chinese language learners.

Construction and preclinical evaluation of a 124I-labelled bispecific antibody targeting PD-L1 and PD-L2.

PURPOSE: NB12 is a bispecific antibody that consists of two anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) nanobodies and two anti-programmed cell death-ligand 2 (PD-L2) nanobodies. The aim of this study was to design a novel tracer, [124I]I-NB12, targeting PD-L1/2 and perform preclinical evaluations to dynamically monitor PD-L1/2 expression for determining cancer patient responsiveness to ICI therapy. METHODS: NB12 was labelled with the radionuclide 124I at room temperature (RT). An in vitro binding assay was performed to assess the affinity of [124I]I-NB12 for PD-L1 and PD-L2. Cellular uptake, pharmacokinetic, and biodistribution experiments were performed to evaluate the biological properties. Micro-PET/CT imaging with [124I]I-NB12 was conducted at different time points. Immunohistochemical and haematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining experiments were carried out using tumour tissues. Routine blood, biochemical indices and major organ pathology were used to evaluate the biosafety of the tracers. RESULTS: The radiochemical yield of [124I]I-NB12 was 84.62 ± 3.90%, and the radiochemical purity (RCP) was greater than 99%. [124I]I-NB12 had a high affinity for the PD-L1 (Kd = 19.82 nM) and PD-L2 (Kd = 2.93 nM). Cellular uptake experiments confirmed that the uptake of [124I]I-NB12 by A549-PDL1/2 cells was greater than that by A549 cells. The half-lives of the distribution phase and elimination phase were 0.26 h and 4.08 h, respectively. Micro-PET/CT showed significant [124I]I-NB12 uptake in the tumour region of A549-PDL1/2 tumour-bearing mice compared with A549 tumour-bearing mice 24 h postinjection. Immunohistochemical and HE staining experiments confirmed that tumour-bearing mice was successfully constructed. CONCLUSION: We constructed a bispecific antibody that targets PD-L1 and PD-L2, namely, [124I]I-NB12. Biological evaluation revealed its specificity and affinity for PD-L1/2, and micro-PET/CT confirmed the feasibility of visualizing tumour PD-L1/2 in vivo. Using [124I]I-NB12 may be a promising strategy for identifying cancer patients that can potentially benefit from ICI therapy.

Engineering Living Material for Controlled Fragrance Release Utilizing Kluyveromyces marxianus CBS6556 and Adaptive Hydrogel.

The demand for controllable fragrance materials is substantial owing to their potential to impart enduring scents in a variety of applications. However, the practical application of such materials has been limited by challenges in tunable morphogenesis, structural variability, and adaptability to diverse conditions. In our study, we introduce a hybrid living material that integrates a genetically engineered strain of Kluyveromyces marxianus CBS6556 with an adaptive hydrogel. The engineered K. marxianus achieved temperature stability in 2-phenylethanol (2-PE) and 2-phenylethyl acetate (2-PEAc) production by expressing relevant genes in the 2-PE metabolic pathway using the high-temperature preferential promoter SSE1. The enhanced water retention capacity supports the metabolic activities of the encapsulated yeast cells, ensuring their survival and functionality over an extended period. Fragrance-releasing living material (FLM) is designed to controllably emit fragrance 2-PE by adjusting the microbial concentration within the hydrogel matrix. The FLM exhibits versatile adhesion capabilities, effectively binding to a spectrum of surfaces such as wood, textiles, and glass as well as to natural substrates like leaves. This adaptability enhances the material's applicability across various settings. Furthermore, FLM can be crafted into various forms, including microbeads, fibers, and films. This research opens up new horizons for controlled fragrance release of living materials.

CT-based radiomics predicts CD38 expression and indirectly reflects clinical prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Cluster of differentiation 38 (CD38) has been found to be highly expressed in various solid tumours, and its expression level may be associated with patient prognosis and survival. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of CD38 expression for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and construct two computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics models for predicting CD38 expression. Methods: A total of 333 cases of EOC were enrolled from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for CD38-related bioinformatics and survival analysis. A total of 56 intersection cases from TCGA and The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) databases were selected for radiomics feature extraction and model construction. Logistic regression (LR) and support vector machine (SVM) models were constructed and internally validated using 5-fold cross-validation to assess the performance of the models for CD38 expression levels. Results: High CD38 expression was an independent protective factor (HR = 0.540) for overall survival (OS) in EOC patients. Five radiomics features based on CT images were selected to build models for the prediction of CD38 expression. In the training and internal validation sets, for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the LR model reached an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.739 and 0.732, while the SVM model achieved AUC values of 0.741 and 0.700, respectively. For the precision-recall (PR) curve, the LR and SVM models demonstrated an AUC of 0.760 and 0.721. The calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) provided evidence supporting the fitness and net benefit of the models. Conclusions: High levels of CD38 expression can improve OS in EOC patients. CT-based radiomics models can be a new predictive tool for CD38 expression, offering possibilities for individualised survival assessment for patients with EOC.

High-efficiency color-tunable ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence from organic-inorganic metal halides via synergistic inter/intramolecular interactions.

Materials exhibiting highly efficient, ultralong and multicolor-tunable room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are of practical importance for emerging applications. However, these are still very scarce and remain a formidable challenge. Herein, using precise structure design, several novel organic-inorganic metal-halide hybrids with efficient and ultralong RTP have been developed based on an identical organic cation (A). The original organic salt (ACl) exhibits red RTP properties with low phosphorescence efficiency. However, after embedding metals into the organic salt, the changed crystal structure endows the resultant metal-halide hybrids with excellent RTP properties. In particular, A2ZnCl4·H2O exhibits the highest RTP efficiency of up to 56.56% with a long lifetime of up to 159 ms. It is found that multiple inter/intramolecular interactions and the strong heavy-atom effect of the rigid metal-halide hybrids can suppress molecular motion and promote the ISC process, resulting in highly stable and localized triplet excitons followed by highly efficient RTP. More crucially, multicolor-tunable fluorescence and RTP achieved by tuning the metal and halogen endow these materials with wide application prospects in the fields of multilevel information encryption and dynamic optical data storage. The findings promote the development of phosphorescent metal-halide hybrids for potential high-tech applications.

Balancing the AspC and AspA Pathways of Escherichia coli by Systematic Metabolic Engineering Strategy for High-Efficient l-Homoserine Production.

l-Homoserine is a promising C4 platform compound used in the agricultural, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Numerous works have been conducted to engineer Escherichia coli to be an excellent l-homoserine producer, but it is still unable to meet the industrial-scale demand. Herein, we successfully engineered a plasmid-free and noninducible E. coli strain with highly efficient l-homoserine production through balancing AspC and AspA synthesis pathways. First, an initial strain was constructed by increasing the accumulation of the precursor oxaloacetate and attenuating the organic acid synthesis pathway. To remodel the carbon flux toward l-aspartate, a balanced route prone to high yield based on TCA intensity regulation was designed. Subsequently, the main synthetic pathway and the cofactor system were strengthened to reinforce the l-homoserine synthesis. Ultimately, under two-stage DO control, strain HSY43 showed 125.07 g/L l-homoserine production in a 5 L fermenter in 60 h, with a yield of 0.62 g/g glucose and a productivity of 2.08 g/L/h. The titer, yield, and productivity surpassed the highest reported levels for plasmid-free strains in the literature. The strategies adopted in this study can be applied to the production of other l-aspartate family amino acids.

Prevalence and clinical correlates of benzodiazepine use in the patients with major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious and disabling condition characterized by abnormal mood changes. Clinical guidelines for depression treatment recommend antidepressant medications, with benzodiazepines acting as short-term synergists. However, little is currently known about the prevalence and associated clinical risk factors of benzodiazepine use among Chinese patients with MDD. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and clinical risk factors associated with benzodiazepine use in this population. METHODS: A total of 2742 patients with MDD (males/females = 816/1926, aged 14-60 years) participated in this cross-sectional observational study. General information and psychosis assessments were collected online. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and sleep problems and suicidal tendencies using the third and ninth items of the PHQ-9. Multivariable logistic regression analysis models were employed to identify factors associated with benzodiazepine use. RESULTS: The prevalence of benzodiazepine use among patients with MDD was 42.9 %. Among these patients, 99.6 % used a single benzodiazepine, with oxazepam being the most frequently prescribed. Age, severity of sleep problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were significantly correlated with benzodiazepine use (all P < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design of this study precludes establishing causal relationships. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate a high prevalence of benzodiazepine use among Chinese patients with MDD. Factors such as severe depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, age, and sleep problems appear to be associated with benzodiazepine use. These results underscore the importance of vigilance regarding benzodiazepine use in patients with MDD.

Oral behaviors and anxiety are significant predictors of jaw function limitation in patients with anterior disc displacement without reduction.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe jaw function characteristics in patients with anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDWoR) using the jaw function limitation scale (JFLS), and to investigate the effects of biopsychosocial risk factors on limited jaw function. DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study of 636 patients with ADDWoR (females, 568; males, 68), we used the JFLS to assess jaw function. Behavioral, psychological, sociodemographic, and biomedical data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors affecting limited jaw function. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the predictive effect of these risk factors. RESULTS: ADDWoR-associated limitations included restricted jaw mobility and mastication, which exceeded median global functional limitations scale scores, especially mouth opening to bite an apple and chewing tough food. Females had greater limitations in jaw mobility, verbal and emotional communication, and overall. Multivariate logistic regression analysis findings indicated that oral behaviors, anxiety, sex, pain intensity, and maximal mouth opening (MMO) were predictive of limited jaw function (area under the curve, 72 %). CONCLUSION: Patients with ADDWoR reported mastication and jaw mobility restrictions, with females having more pronounced limitations, and specific risk factors identified as significant predictors of jaw function limitations. Along with pain relief and improvement in MMO, appropriate psychological counseling and oral behavioral correction facilitates recovery of jaw function in such patients.

Clemastine improves emotional and social deficits in adolescent social isolation mice by reversing demyelination.

Adolescence is a critical period for social experience-dependent oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination. Adolescent stress predisposes to cause irreversible changes in brain structure and function with lasting effects on adulthood or beyond. However, the molecular mechanisms linking adolescent social isolation stress with emotional and social competence remain largely unknown. In our study, we found that social isolation during adolescence leads to anxiety-like behaviors, depression-like behaviors, impaired social memory and altered patterns of social ultrasonic vocalizations in mice. In addition, adolescent social isolation stress induces demyelination in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of mice, with decreased myelin-related gene expression and disrupted myelin structure. More importantly, clemastine was sufficient to rescue the impairment of emotional and social memory by promoting remyelination. These findings reveal the demyelination mechanism of emotional and social deficits caused by social isolation stress in adolescence, and provides potential therapeutic targets for treating stress-related mental disorders.

Promoter of Cassava MeAHL31 Responds to Diverse Abiotic Stresses and Hormone Signals in Transgenic Arabidopsis.

The AT-hook motif nuclear-localized (AHL) family is pivotal for the abiotic stress response in plants. However, the function of the cassava AHL genes has not been elucidated. Promoters, as important regulatory elements of gene expression, play a crucial role in stress resistance. In this study, the promoter of the cassava MeAHL31 gene was cloned. The MeAHL31 protein was localized to the cytoplasm and the nucleus. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the MeAHL31 gene was expressed in almost all tissues tested, and the expression in tuber roots was 321.3 times higher than that in petioles. Promoter analysis showed that the MeAHL31 promoter contains drought, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), abscisic acid (ABA), and gibberellin (GA) cis-acting elements. Expression analysis indicated that the MeAHL31 gene is dramatically affected by treatments with salt, drought, MeJA, ABA, and GA3. Histochemical staining in the proMeAHL31-GUS transgenic Arabidopsis corroborated that the GUS staining was found in most tissues and organs, excluding seeds. Beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity assays showed that the activities in the proMeAHL31-GUS transgenic Arabidopsis were enhanced by different concentrations of NaCl, mannitol (for simulating drought), and MeJA treatments. The integrated findings suggest that the MeAHL31 promoter responds to the abiotic stresses of salt and drought, and its activity is regulated by the MeJA hormone signal.

Inulin enhanced rifaximin-inhibited colon cancer pulmonary metastasis by flora-regulated bile acid pathway.

Inulin as a natural polysaccharide regulates intestinal microorganisms, and improves the immune and gastrointestinal function. In order to explore the effect of inulin on pulmonary metastasis of colon cancer, we set up a CT26 injected pulmonary metastatic model. The results showed that inulin used alone did not improve pulmonary metastasis of colon cancer, while inulin combined with rifaximin significantly prolonged the survival time of mice, and inhibited pulmonary metastasis compared with model and inulin groups. Inulin treatment increased the abundance of harmful bacteria such as Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, while combined treatment decreased their abundance and increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria containing Firmicutes and Eubacterium which belonged to the bile acid-related bacteria. The combination treatment decreased the content of primary bile acids and secondary bile acids in the feces of mice, especial for DCA and LCA which were the agonists of TGR5. Furthermore, the combination treatment reduced the mRNA expression of the TGR5, cyclin dependent kinase 4, cyclin 1 and CDK2, increased the mRNA expression of p21 in the lung, down-regulated the level of NF-κB p65, and up-regulated the level of TNF-α compared with the model group. The above may be the reason for the better use of the combination treatment.

Pollution, cumulative ecological risk and source apportionment of heavy metals in water bodies and river sediments near the Luanchuan molybdenum mining area in the Xiaoqinling Mountains, China.

The water and sediment samples were collected from the Yu River and Taowanbei River during periods of summer and winter. The NCPI, EWQI, Igeoand PERI were used to evaluate the pollution degree and cumulative ecological risk of HMs in the water and sediments. The PMF model was used to analyze the sources of HMs in river sediments. The pollution degree of Cd, Hg and Zn in the water reached the severe pollution level, in the rank of Hg > Zn > Cd. Cd and Zn in sediments are heavily polluted, Cu is lightly polluted, Pb and As are within the warning range, and the pollution rank is Cd > Zn > Cu > Pb > As. The cumulative ecological risk of HMs in sediments reached extremely strong level, mainly Cd and Hg. The main sources of HMs in sediments are mining sources, mixed agricultural and transport sources, and natural sources, which contributed 42.1 %, 34.1 % and 23.8 %, respectively.

Thirty years of 3-D urbanization in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

Accurately capturing the urbanization process is essential for planning sustainable cities and realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11. However, until recently, most of the studies on urban expansion in the world have focused on area growth but have little knowledge of height dynamics. This study mapped the spatial distribution of urban built-up areas (UBA) in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one of the most urbanized regions in China, to investigate the spatio-temporal evolution in both the horizontal and vertical directions from 1990 to 2020. We coupled and analyzed the horizontal and vertical urban expansion from the 3-D perspective and identified the dominant types. The results showed that 30 cities (73.17 % of the total number of cities) were increasing in the 3-D combined expansion intensity. The decreasing cities were mainly located in Anhui Province. Despite the increasing number of skyscrapers, horizontal growth has dominated urban expansion over the past three decades. The UBA area of the YRD has grown from 4,855.30 km2 to 44,447.15 km2, while the average building height has slowly decreased by 1.26 m. Significant unevenness and differences existed in horizontal and vertical expansions of varying provinces and cities. Our study can accurately grasp the 3-D urban expansion process in the YRD and could promote the efficient development and sustainable utilization of urban land resources in China and beyond.

High-throughput analysis of topographical cues for the expansion of murine pluripotent stem cells.

The expansion of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in vitro remains a critical barrier to their use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Biochemical methods for PSC expansion are known to produce heterogeneous cell populations with varying states of pluripotency and are cost-intensive, hindering their clinical translation. Engineering biomaterials to physically control PSC fate offers an alternative approach. Surface or substrate topography is a promising design parameter for engineering biomaterials. Topographical cues have been shown to elicit profound effects on stem cell differentiation and proliferation. Previous reports have shown isotropic substrate topographies to be promising in expanding PSCs. However, the optimal feature to promote PSC proliferation and the pluripotent state has not yet been determined. In this work, the MultiARChitecture (MARC) plate is developed to conduct a high-throughput analysis of topographical cues in a 96-well plate format. The MARC plate is a reproducible and customizable platform for the analysis of multiple topographical patterns and features and is compatible with both microscopic assays and molecular biology techniques. The MARC plate is used to evaluate the expression of pluripotency markers Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2 and the differentiation marker LmnA as well as the proliferation of murine embryonic stem (mES) cells. Our systematic analyses identified three topographical patterns that maintain pluripotency in mES cells after multiple passages: 1 µm pillars (1 µm spacing, square arrangement), 2 µm wells (c-c (x,y) = 4, 4 µm), and 5 µm pillars (c-c (x,y) = 7.5, 7.5 µm). This study represents a step towards developing a biomaterial platform for controlled murine PSC expansion.

Difficult Airway Assessment Based on Multi-View Metric Learning.

The preoperative assessment of difficult airways is of great significance in the practice of anesthesia intubation. In recent years, although a large number of difficult airway recognition algorithms have been investigated, defects such as low recognition accuracy and poor recognition reliability still exist. In this paper, we propose a Dual-Path Multi-View Fusion Network (DMF-Net) based on multi-view metric learning, which aims to predict difficult airways through multi-view facial images of patients. DMF-Net adopts a dual-path structure to extract features by grouping the frontal and lateral images of the patients. Meanwhile, a Multi-Scale Feature Fusion Module and a Hybrid Co-Attention Module are designed to improve the feature representation ability of the model. Consistency loss and complementarity loss are utilized fully for the complementarity and consistency of information between multi-view data. Combined with Focal Loss, information bias is effectively avoided. Experimental validation illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method, with the accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and F1 score reaching 77.92%, 75.62%, 82.50%, and 71.35%, respectively. Compared with methods such as clinical bedside screening tests and existing artificial intelligence-based methods, our method is more accurate and reliable and can provide a reliable auxiliary tool for clinical healthcare personnel to effectively improve the accuracy and reliability of preoperative difficult airway assessments. The proposed network can help to identify and assess the risk of difficult airways in patients before surgery and reduce the incidence of postoperative complications.

The generation of sulfate species on Ir-based catalysts for boosting NO reduction with CO under the coexistence of O2 and SO2 atmosphere.

Generally, sulfur poisoning is considered to be one of the main factors contributing to the deactivation of selective catalytic reduction of NOx by CO (CO-SCR) catalysts, while the promotional effect of SO2 on NO reduction over Ir/SiO2 is observed which is an interesting scientific phenomenon. After the introduction of 20 ppm SO2, NOx conversion increased from âˆ¼ 40 % to âˆ¼ 90 % at 275 °C, and N2 selectivity increased from âˆ¼ 80 % to 100 % at 200 âˆ¼ 300 °C. Furthermore, the promoting effect could remain unchanged after 24 h of continuous reaction. However, the temperature point for achieving complete conversion of CO increased from 225 °C to 275 °C after the introduction of SO2. Experimental characterization and theoretical calculation jointly proved that the inhibition of CO oxidation by the generation of sulfate was the main reason for promoting NO reduction. Under the coexistence of O2 and SO2, SO2 was firstly oxidized to SO3 on the iridium surface and generated sulfate species on surface hydroxyl groups of SiO2. Some active sites for O2 adsorption were covered by the generated surface sulfate, and adsorbed CO was hard to react with adsorbed O2, resulting in Langmuir-Hinshelwood (L-H) reaction pathways for CO oxidation being inhibited. Therefore, unoxidized CO reacted with NO adsorbed species and generated N2O to generate N2 and CO2, improving NO reduction. This new insight has implications for understanding the promotional effect of SO2 on NO reduction with CO in the presence of O2.

Site-specific apparent optimum air temperature for vegetation photosynthesis across the globe.

The apparent optimum air temperature for vegetation photosynthesis (Topt) is a key temperature parameter in terrestrial ecosystem models estimating daily photosynthesis or gross primary production (GPP, g C/m2/day). To date, most models use biome-specific Topt (Topt-biome) parameter values. Given vegetation acclimation and adaptation to local climate, site-specific Topt (Topt-site) is needed to reduce uncertainties in estimating daily GPP across the scales from site to region and the globe. Previous studies have demonstrated using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images and daytime air temperature data to estimate the Topt-site at the eddy covariance tower sites. This study used MODIS-derived EVI and ERA5 climate data to estimate and generate global Topt-site data products from 2000 to 2019. The Topt-site of individual pixels within a biome has large variation, which clearly cannot be represented accurately by the widely used Topt-biome. Therefore, using this global dataset of Topt-site estimates might significantly affect GPP simulation in current ecosystem models.

Noninvasive prediction of CCL2 expression level in high-grade glioma patients.

BACKGROUND: Gliomas are recognized as the most frequent type of malignancies in the central nervous system, and efficacious prognostic indicators are essential to treat patients with gliomas and improve their clinical outcomes. The chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) is a promising predictor for glioma malignancy and progression. However, at present, the methods to evaluate CCL2 expression level are invasive and operator-dependent. OBJECTIVE: It was expected to noninvasively predict CCL2 expression levels in malignant glioma tissues by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics and assess the association between the developed radiomics model and prognostic indicators and related genes. METHODS: MRI-based radiomics was used to predict CCL2 expression level using data obtained from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. A support vector machine (SVM)-based radiomics model and a logistic regression (LR)-based radiomics model were used to predict the radiomics score, and its correlation with CCL2 expression level was analyzed. RESULTS: The results revealed that there was an association between CCL2 expression level and the overall survival of cases with gliomas, and bioinformatics correlation analysis showed that CCL2 expression level was highly correlated with disease-related pathways, such as mTOR signaling pathway, cGMP-PKG signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway. Both SVM- and LR-based radiomics data robustly predicted CCL2 expression level, and radiomics scores could also be used to predict the overall survival of patients. Moreover, the high/low radiomics scores were highly correlated with the known glioma-related genes, including CD70, CD27, and PDCD1. CONCLUSION: An MRI-based radiomics model was successfully developed, and its clinical benefits were confirmed, including the prediction of CCL2 expression level and patients' prognosis.

Effect of individualized comprehensive physiotherapy versus hyaluronic acid therapy in older patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Few studies have compared the efficacy of physiotherapy and hyaluronic acid injection therapy on temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA). Research on older patients with TMJ-OA is also scarce. PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the efficacy of individualized comprehensive physiotherapy and intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection therapy in older patients with moderate or severe pain caused by TMJ-OA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Participants with TMJ-OA (aged ≥60 years) were enrolled. The improvements in the numeric rating scale pain score, maximum active mouth opening (MAO), joint sound, and jaw functional limitation scale (JFLS) were analyzed for between-group differences using the independent samples t test or Mann-Whitney U test (α=.05). RESULTS: A total of 141 participants (physiotherapy, n=71; hyaluronic acid injection, n=70) were selected for the final analysis. Pain intensity, MAO, joint sound, and JFLS scores improved in both groups at the 2-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups (P<.001). The injection group demonstrated greater improvement in mouth opening pain at the 2-week follow-up and in joint sound at the 3-month follow-up, whereas the physiotherapy group exhibited greater improvement in mastication pain at the 3-month follow-up. At the 2-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups, the physiotherapy group showed higher improvement in MAO and JFLS scores compared with the injection group (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Individualized comprehensive physiotherapy and intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection therapy significantly improved pain intensity, MAO, and JFLS scores in older participants with TMJ-OA. As a noninvasive therapy, individualized comprehensive physiotherapy provides better improvement in mastication pain control, mouth opening, and mandibular function.

Study of the Effects on the Strengthening Mechanism and Wear Behavior of Wear-Resistant Steel of Temperature Controlling in Heat Treatment.

To improve the wear resistance of the materials used for blades in engineering machinery, this study focused on the microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties, and wear behavior of HB500 grade wear-resistant steel developed using an optimized heat treatment system. To improve the temperature uniformity of the heat treatment furnace, the method of cyclic heating was used to heat the components. Carefully designing the quenching equipment, such as using a cross-shaped press, was employed to enhance the quenching effect and reduce the deformation of the steel plates. The crystal orientation analysis revealed a uniform and fine-grained microstructure, primarily characterized by plate-type tempered martensite, which indicated a good hardenability. The microstructure observations showed that the width of martensite is approximately 200 nm, with a significant presence of dislocations and carbides. Tensile tests and multi-temperature gradient impact tests indicated superior mechanical properties compared to similar grade wear-resistant steels, including a Rockwell hardness of 53, tensile strength of 1610 MPa, yield strength of 1404 MPa, and total elongation around 12.7%. The results of friction and wear experiments indicate that the wear rate decreases as the load increases from 100 N to 300 N, demonstrating an excellent wear resistance under a large load. Observations of the worn surfaces indicated that the wear mainly involved adhesive wear, fatigue wear, and oxidative wear. The properties' improvements were attributed to microstructure refinement and precipitation strengthening. This study indicates that designing a heat treatment system to control temperature uniformity and stability is feasible.