Design of a gamma threshold detector based on the bubble chamber for high-flux gamma beams.

The detection of high-flux gamma beams from laser plasma interactions is always hampered by signal pileup. In this study, a gamma threshold detector based on the bubble chamber is designed to detect high-flux gamma beams. Through simulations, it has been demonstrated that this detector can detect gamma rays with energies above 5 MeV through photonuclear reactions, even at fluences as high as 1011 photons/cm2. In addition, by setting the detection threshold at 0.1 MeV/µm, a yield of up to 10-2 bubbles per gamma interaction can be achieved. Finally, the bubble chamber in the detection of a gamma ray from the inverse Compton scattering process is also discussed.

The MaNAP1-MaMADS1 transcription factor module mediates ethylene-regulated peel softening and ripening in banana.

The banana (Musa spp.) peel undergoes rapid softening during ripening, leading to finger drop and a shortened shelf life. The regulatory mechanism behind this process remains to be elucidated. In this study, we confirmed the role of peel softening in banana finger drop and uncovered the underlying transcriptional regulatory network. Cell wall-related (CWR) genes were substantially upregulated in both the peel and finger drop zone during ethylene-induced ripening. Transcriptome analysis and genome-wide profiling of chromatin accessibility and transcription factor (TF) binding revealed that two key regulators of fruit ripening, Musa acuminata NAC-like, Activated by apetala3/Pistillata1 (MaNAP1) and MaMADS1, regulate CWR genes by directly binding to their promoters or by targeting other ripening-related TFs to form a hierarchical regulatory network. Notably, MaNAP1 and MaMADS1 were directly targeted by ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE3 (MaEIN3), and MaNAP1 and MaMADS1 associated with tissue-specific histone modifications, enabling them to integrate MaEIN3-mediated ethylene signaling and undergo epigenetic regulation. Overexpression of MaNAP1, MaMADS1 or other identified regulatory TFs upregulated CWR genes and promoted peel softening. Our findings unveil a MaNAP1-MaMADS1-centered regulatory cascade governing banana peel softening and finger drop, offering potential targets for enhancing banana texture and shelf life.

Amino acid metabolism-related genes as potential biomarkers and the role of MATN3 in stomach adenocarcinoma: A bioinformatics, mendelian randomization and experimental validation study.

BACKGROUND: Stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) is a major contributor to cancer-related mortality worldwide. Alterations in amino acid metabolism, which is integral to protein synthesis, have been observed across various tumor types. However, the prognostic significance of amino acid metabolism-related genes in STAD remains underexplored. METHODS: Transcriptomic gene expression and clinical data for STAD patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. Amino acid metabolism-related gene sets were sourced from the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) database. A prognostic model was built using LASSO Cox regression based on the TCGA cohort and validated with GEO datasets (GSE84433, GSE84437, GSE84426). Kaplan-Meier analysis compared overall survival (OS) between high- and low-risk groups, and ROC curves assessed model accuracy. A nomogram predicted 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival. Copy number variations (CNVs) in model genes were visualized using data from the Xena platform, and mutation profiles were analyzed with "maftools" to create a waterfall plot. KEGG and GO enrichment analyses were performed to explore biological mechanisms. Immune infiltration and related functions were evaluated via ssGSEA, and Spearman correlation analyzed associations between risk scores and immune components. The TIDE database predicted immunotherapy efficacy, while FDA-approved drug sensitivity was assessed through CellMiner database. The role of MATN3 in STAD was further examined in vitro and in vivo, including amino acid-targeted metabolomic sequencing to assess its impact on metabolism. Finally, Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis evaluated the causal relationship between the model genes and gastric cancer. RESULTS: In this study, we developed a prognostic risk model for STAD based on three amino acid metabolism-related genes (SERPINE1, NRP1, MATN3) using LASSO regression analysis. CNV amplification was common in SERPINE1 and NRP1, while CNV deletion frequently occurred in MATN3. STAD patients were classified into high- and low-risk groups based on the median risk score, with the high-risk group showing worse prognosis. A nomogram incorporating the risk score and clinical factors was created to estimate 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates. Distinct mutation profiles were observed between risk groups, with KEGG pathway analysis showing immune-related pathways enriched in the high-risk group. High-risk scores were significantly associated with the C6 (TGF-ß dominant) subtype, while low-risk scores correlated with the C4 (lymphocyte-depleted) subtype. Higher risk scores also indicated increased immune infiltration, enhanced immune functions, lower tumor purity, and poorer immunotherapy response. Model genes were linked to anticancer drug sensitivity. Manipulating MATN3 expression showed that it promoted STAD cell proliferation and migration in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Metabolomic sequencing revealed that MATN3 knockdown elevated levels of 30 amino acid metabolites, including alpha-aminobutyric acid, glycine, and aspartic acid, while reducing (S)-ß-Aminoisobutyric acid and argininosuccinic acid. MR analysis found a significant causal effect of NRP1 on gastric cancer, but no causal relationship for MATN3 or SERPINE1. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the amino acid metabolism-related prognostic model shows promise as a valuable biomarker for predicting the clinical prognosis, selecting immunotherapy and drug treatment for STAD patients. Furthermore, our study has shed light on the potential value of the MATN3 as a promising strategy for combating the progression of STAD.

Nadolol Attenuates Brain Cell Ferroptosis in Ischemic Stroke Rats by Targeting the HOIL-1/IRP2 Pathway.

INTRODUCTION: Heme-oxidized iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2) ubiquitin ligase-1 (HOIL-1) is believed to contribute to the ubiquitination of IRP2, which facilitates the transcription of transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) while preventing the transcription of ferroportin-1 (FPN-1). Bioinformatics analysis predicts that nadolol (a ß-blocker) interacts with the HOIL-1. METHOD: The present study is intended to explore whether nadolol suppresses ferroptosis in the brains of rats suffering from ischemic stroke via targeting the HOIL-1/IRP2 pathway. A rat model of ischemic stroke was established by blocking the middle cerebral artery for 2 h plus 24 h reperfusion, and nadolol (2.5 or 5 mg/kg) was given at 1h after reperfusion. HT22 cells were subjected to 12 h of hypoxia, followed by 24 h of reoxygenation for simulating ischemic stroke, and nadolol (0.1 or 0.25 µM) was administered to the culture medium before reoxygenation. RESULTS: The stroke rats showed evident brain injury (increases in neurological deficit score and infarct volume) and ferroptosis, along with up-regulation of IRP2 and TfR1 while downregulation of HOIL-1 and FPN-1; these phenomena were reversed in the presence of nadolol. In the cultured HT22 cells, hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced LDH release, ferroptosis, and changes in the levels of relevant proteins (IRP2, TfR1, HOIL-1, and FPN-1) were also reversed by nadolol. CONCLUSION: In terms of these findings, it is concluded that nadolol can protect the ischemic rats' brains against ferroptosis by targeting the HOIL-1/IRP2 pathway, thereby preventing intracellular iron overload. Thus, nadolol may be a novel indication for treating patients with ischemic stroke.

A Case of Ocular Infection with Clostridium tertium Caused by a Salute Gun Explosion.

BACKGROUND: In February 2024, our hospital confirmed a case of ocular infection with Clostridium tertium caused by a salute gun explosion. The patient sought medical attention at our hospital due to a salute gun explosion injury in the right eye. Two days ago, a patient mistakenly believed that the fuse was not ignited when firing a salute gun. When observing, the salute gun exploded and injured his right eye. The patient immediately went to the local hos-pital for treatment. The CT scan of the local hospital showed rupture of the right eyeball. For additional diagnosis and treatment, the patient came to our hospital. The patient in this case has an acute onset, severe condition, no additional systemic diseases, and no history of drug or food allergies. METHODS: Intraocular exploration, cranial CT, local and systemic anti infection treatment. Pathogen examination items: bacterial smear, bacterial culture and identification. Venous blood test items: blood routine, liver function, kidney function, and coagulation function. RESULTS: Intraocular exploration showed conjunctival congestion and edema in the right eye, corneal haze and ede-ma, shallow anterior chamber, anterior chamber hemorrhage, and unclear intraocular structure. Clinical treatment: debridement and suturing of right eye rupture + repair of eyeball rupture + removal of intraocular foreign body + repair of superior rectus muscle detachment + anterior chamber flushing + anterior chamber shaping + suture of eyelid laceration. Pathogen examination item: Eye secretion bacterial smear (Gram staining): A large number of gram-positive bacilli were found, and the secretion bacterial culture and identification (MALDI-TOF MS): Clostridium tertium. Auxiliary examination: Blood routine (venous blood): White blood cells 10.89 x 109/L, neutrophil count 9.65 x 109/L, whole blood hypersensitive C-reactive protein 20.28 mg/L, renal function: urea 9.15 mmol/L, uric acid 428.5 µmol/L, fasting glucose 6.48 mmol/L, no further abnormalities observed. Clinical drug treatment plan: Tetanus human immunoglobulin 250 IU im, tobramycin eye drops 0.1 g ext qd, vancomycin 0.5 g ih qd, levofloxacin 0.5g ivgtt qd, aluminum magnesium suspension 15 mL po bid, potassium chloride sustained-release tablets 0.5 g po qd. After 7 days of treatment, the patient's body temperature returned to normal, conjunctival congestion and edema decreased, anterior chamber hemorrhage decreased, corneal incision closed properly, and the patient improved and was discharged. CONCLUSIONS: This article reports a case of ocular infection caused by a salute gun explosion with Clostridium tertium. Clostridium tertium was quickly and accurately identified by a mass spectrometer, and reasonable treatment measures were adopted clinically. The patient improved and was discharged. I hope that in the future, this study can provide assistance for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of special site infections caused by Clostridium tertium.

Unveiling the Influences of In Situ Carbon Content on the Structure and Electrochemical Properties of MoS2/C Composites.

In this work, a MoS2/C heterostructure was designed and prepared through an in situ composite method. The introduction of carbon during the synthesis process altered the morphology and size of MoS2, resulting in a reduction in the size of the flower-like structures. Further, by varying the carbon content, a series of characterization methods were employed to study the structure and electrochemical lithium storage performance of the composites, revealing the effect of carbon content on the morphology, structure characteristics, and electrochemical performance of MoS2/C composites. The experimental setup included three sample groups: MCS, MCM, and MCL, with glucose additions of 0.24 g, 0.48 g, and 0.96 g, respectively. With increasing carbon content, the size of MoS2 initially decreases, then increases. Among these, the MCM sample exhibits the optimal structure, characterized by smaller MoS2 dimensions with less variation. The electrochemical results showed that MCM exhibited excellent electrochemical lithium storage performance, with reversible specific capacities of 956.8, 767.4, 646.1, and 561.4 mAh/g after 10 cycles at 100, 200, 500, and 1000 mA/g, respectively.

Defective autophagy of pericytes enhances radiation-induced senescence promoting radiation brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Radiation-induced brain injury (RBI) represents a major challenge for cancer patients undergoing cranial radiotherapy. However, the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of RBI remain inconclusive. With the continuous exploration of the mechanisms of RBI, an increasing number of studies have implicated cerebrovascular dysfunction as a key factor in RBI-related cognitive impairment. As pericytes are a component of the neurovascular unit, there is still a lack of understanding in current research about the specific role and function of pericytes in RBI. METHODS: We constructed a mouse model of RBI-associated cognitive dysfunction in vivo and an in vitro radiation-induced pericyte model to explore the effects of senescent pericytes on the blood-brain barrier and normal CNS cells, even glioma cells. To further clarify the effects of pericyte autophagy on senescence, molecular mechanisms were explored at the animal and cellular levels. Finally, we validated the clearance of pericyte senescence by using senolytic drug and all-trans retinoic acid to investigate the role of radiation-induced pericyte senescence. RESULTS: Our findings indicated that radiation-induced pericyte senescence plays a key role in blood-brain barrier dysfunction, leading to RBI and subsequent cognitive decline. Strikingly, pericyte senescence also contributes to the growth and invasion of glioma cells. We further demonstrate that defective autophagy in pericytes is a vital regulatory mechanism for pericyte senescence. Moreover, autophagy activated by rapamycin can reverse pericyte senescence. Notably, the elimination of senescent cells by senolytic drugs significantly mitigated radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. DISSCUSSION: Our results demonstrated that pericyte senescence may be a promising therapeutic target for RBI and glioma progression.

Optimal Structure and Photocatalytic Performance of C3N4@TiO2 Composite by Controlling the Molar Ratio of Components.

Based on the heterogeneous composite design of C3N4 and TiO2, composite photocatalysts of C3N4@TiO2 (with varied molar ratios of C3N4 to TiO2) were synthesized by a water bath method to degrade RhB in wastewater. The composition, morphology, structure, and photocatalytic properties of the materials were assessed through a variety of characterization techniques. The results show that TiO2 nanoparticles are uniformly coated on two-dimensional g-C3N4 nanosheets, forming relatively dense heterostructures within the C3N4@TiO2 composite. Due to the synergistic effect derived from the heterogeneous component and appropriate proportion of C3N4 and TiO2, the light absorption range is extended, and the separation/transport performance of photon-generated carrier is improved. As a result, TCNT-3 (where the molar ratio of C3N4 to TiO2 is 1:1) presents remarkable photocatalytic performance, the degradation rate of which for 60 min is 99.8%, and the reaction rate constant is calculated to be 0.0872 min-1. Moreover, the degradation efficiency remains 94.4% after 5 cycles, indicating the superior cycle stability.

An omics-based characterization of Wolfiporia cocos reveals three CYP450 members involved in the biosynthetic pathway of pachymic acid.

Wolfiporia cocos is a medicinal mushroom used in China. It biosynthesizes pachymic acid (PA), a main therapeutic triterpene associated with therapies. Nowadays, the unknown PA biosynthesis leads to difficulties in increasing its content in W. cocos. Herein, we report sequencing, assembling, and characterization of the genome and several transcriptomes of W. cocos. Sequence mining determined candidate genes that encode lanosterol synthase, sterol O-acyltransferase, and sterol C-24 methyltransferase likely involved in the steps from lanosterol to PA. Gene cluster analysis identified four CYP450 cDNAs likely involved in the biosynthesis of PA, namely WcCYP64-1, WcCYP64-2, WcCYP52, and WcCYP_FUM15, which were subjected to both overexpression and silencing in mycelia. The overexpression of each of WcCYP64-1, WcCYP52 and WcCYP_FUM15 increased the content of PA, 16α-hydroxytrametenolic acid, eburicoic acid, and tumulosic acid, while the silencing of each gene either significantly or slightly decreased the contents of these four compounds, indicating their involvement in the PA biosynthesis. In addition, different temperatures affected the expression of these genes and the formation of PA. By contrast, the overexpression and silencing of WcCYP64-2 did not alter the formation of these compounds. Taken together, these findings determine more potential steps in the biosynthetic pathway of PA for metabolic engineering.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Using Henipavirus-Receptor EphrinB2 and Monoclonal Antibodies for Detecting Nipah and Hendra Viruses.

The Nipah virus (NiV) and the Hendra virus (HeV) are highly pathogenic zoonotic diseases that can cause fatal infections in humans and animals. Early detection is critical for the control of NiV and HeV infections. We present the development of two antigen-detection ELISAs (AgELISAs) using the henipavirus-receptor EphrinB2 and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to detect NiV and HeV. The NiV AgELISA detected only NiV, whereas the NiV/HeV AgELISA detected both NiV and HeV. The diagnostic specificities of the NiV AgELISA and the NiV/HeV AgELISA were 100% and 97.8%, respectively. Both assays were specific for henipaviruses and showed no cross-reactivity with other viruses. The AgELISAs detected NiV antigen in experimental pig nasal wash samples taken at 4 days post-infection. With the combination of both AgELISAs, NiV can be differentiated from HeV. Complementing other henipavirus detection methods, these two newly developed AgELISAs can rapidly detect NiV and HeV in a large number of samples and are suitable for use in remote areas where other tests are not available.

Evolutionary game analysis of multiple subjects in the management of major public health emergencies.

The frequent occurrence of major public health emergencies (MPHEs) significantly challenges national security, economic stability, social operation and the safety of people's lives and property worldwide. Consequently, enhancing the emergency management of MPHEs is critically urgent. This paper constructs a game model involving local government, social organisations, and the public for MPHE management, exploring strategy combinations and influencing factors across various scenarios. Several results were obtained. (1) Local government, social organisations, and the public each have positive and negative strategy choices based on cost-benefit analysis, leading to eight different strategy combinations. Furthermore, all three take positive strategies as the optimal way to achieve the game equilibrium. (2) The transformation of strategy combinations is primarily influenced by the cost-benefit gap and the strategic decisions of local government. (3) Altering a subject's initial strategy value doesn't change its final choice but impacts the time to achieve a stable strategy equilibrium. The severity of local government punishments on social organisations influences their strategic choices and the time to optimal strategy, whereas rewards to the public or social organisations only affect the time to achieve this strategy. The findings of this study can not only help improve the collaborative governance system of MPHEs but also provide scientific guidance on how governments can manage MPHEs.

Time to benefit of colchicine in patients with cardiovascular disease: A pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Low-dose colchicine has been shown to lower major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) among those with cardiovascular disease (CVD). It remains unclear how long a CVD patient needs to live to potentially benefit from colchicine. Our study aimed to determine the time to benefit (TTB) of colchicine in individuals with CVD. Methods: Literature searches were performed in PubMed for the cardiovascular outcome trial of colchicine in patients with CVD until October 12, 2023. The primary outcome measured was MACE. Reconstructed individual participant data (IPD) and the stratified Cox proportional hazards model were used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) to estimate the efficacy of colchicine, and Weibull survival curves were fitted to estimate TTB for specific absolute risk reduction (ARR) thresholds (0.002, 0.005, and 0.01). Results: Four trials randomizing 11,594 adults aged between 59.8 and 66.5 years were included (follow-up duration: 12-28.6 months). Compared with placebo, colchicine reduced the risk of MACE (HR 0.68, 95 % CI: 0.60 to 0.78) but had no impact on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. A TTB of 11.0 months (95 % CI: 0.59 to 21.3) was estimated to be needed to prevent 1 MACE in 100-colchicine-treated patients. The TTB for acute coronary syndrome was similar compared to stable coronary artery disease (10.7 vs. 11.2 months for ARR = 0.010). Conclusions: By using reconstructed IPD, this pooled analysis demonstrated that colchicine was associated with reduced nonfatal MACE, and the TTB was approximately 11.0 months to prevent 1 MACE per 100 patients.

Evaluating the impact of automatic positive airway pressure therapy on cardiovascular risk index and vascular behavior in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a study on heterogeneity in the therapeutic response.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the impact of automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) therapy on vascular behavior and its potential to lower cardiovascular risk in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), as well as differentiating APAP therapy heterogeneity. METHODS: All participants were diagnosed with OSA by portable monitoring, and pulse wave parameters and cardiac risk composite parameter index were obtained by photoplethysmography before and after APAP. Clustering analysis of pulse wave parameters before APAP in the high-risk population was performed using k-means clustering. Linear regression was used to assess the associations of changes in cardiac risk composite parameter index and pulse wave parameters with clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Eighty-two patients with OSA underwent APAP therapy. The cardiac risk composite parameter index after APAP was significantly lower than before APAP (0.38 ± 0.33 and 0.58 ± 0.31, respectively; P < .001). All pulse wave parameters (except irregular pulse) were significantly different (P < .001) in patients with OSA and in the high-risk responders group after vs before APAP. The differences in pulse wave parameters after vs before APAP were not significant in the high-risk nonresponders group, except for the difference between the pulse rate acceleration index and the oxygen saturation index and pulse rate variability. Four clusters were obtained from the clustering analysis of pulse wave parameters before APAP in the high-risk responders group. CONCLUSIONS: APAP reduces the cardiac risk composite parameter index in patients with OSA by altering vascular behavior. Overnight photoplethysmography monitoring of pulse wave parameters can be used to assess whether patients with OSA will benefit from APAP. CITATION: Zhu W, Xiang L, Cao L, Tian Y, Li W, He L. Evaluating the impact of automatic positive airway pressure therapy on cardiovascular risk index and vascular behavior in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a study on heterogeneity in the therapeutic response. J Clin Sleep Med. 2024;20(9):1435-1444.

Genome-Wide Identification of the SPP/SPPL Gene Family and BnaSPPL4 Regulating Male Fertility in Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.).

Signal peptide peptidase (SPP) and its homologs, signal peptide peptidase-like (SPPL) proteases, are members of the GxGD-type aspartyl protease family, which is widespread in plants and animals and is a class of transmembrane proteins with significant biological functions. SPP/SPPLs have been identified; however, the functions of SPP/SPPL in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) have not been reported. In this study, 26 SPP/SPPLs were identified in rapeseed and categorized into three groups: SPP, SPPL2, and SPPL3. These members mainly contained the Peptidase_A22 and PA domains, which were distributed on 17 out of 19 chromosomes. Evolutionary analyses indicated that BnaSPP/SPPLs evolved with a large number of whole-genome duplication (WGD) events and strong purifying selection. Members are widely expressed and play a key role in the growth and development of rapeseed. The regulation of rapeseed pollen fertility by the BnaSPPL4 gene was further validated through experiments based on bioinformatics analysis, concluding that BnaSPPL4 silencing causes male sterility. Cytological observation showed that male infertility caused by loss of BnaSPPL4 gene function occurs late in the mononucleate stage due to microspore dysplasia.

Nodule-CLIP: Lung nodule classification based on multi-modal contrastive learning.

The latest developments in deep learning have demonstrated the importance of CT medical imaging for the classification of pulmonary nodules. However, challenges remain in fully leveraging the relevant medical annotations of pulmonary nodules and distinguishing between the benign and malignant labels of adjacent nodules. Therefore, this paper proposes the Nodule-CLIP model, which deeply mines the potential relationship between CT images, complex attributes of lung nodules, and benign and malignant attributes of lung nodules through a comparative learning method, and optimizes the model in the image feature extraction network by using its similarities and differences to improve its ability to distinguish similar lung nodules. Firstly, we segment the 3D lung nodule information by U-Net to reduce the interference caused by the background of lung nodules and focus on the lung nodule images. Secondly, the image features, class features, and complex attribute features are aligned by contrastive learning and loss function in Nodule-CLIP to achieve lung nodule image optimization and improve classification ability. A series of testing and ablation experiments were conducted on the public dataset LIDC-IDRI, and the final benign and malignant classification rate was 90.6%, and the recall rate was 92.81%. The experimental results show the advantages of this method in terms of lung nodule classification as well as interpretability.

Perfluorobutane (Sonazoid) Contrast-enhanced ultrasound to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the precision of Sonazoid contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to distinguish hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from focal liver lesions (FLLs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched and checked for studies using Sonazoid CEUS to characterize HCC. A comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted, involving data pooling, subgroup analyses, meta-regression, and investigation of publication bias. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included fourteen studies. The overall diagnostic accuracy for characterizing HCC was as follows (all ranges show the 95% confidence interval): pooled sensitivity of 0.87 (0.80-0.92), pooled specificity of 0.95 (0.91-0.97), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 121 (61-241). The overall weighted area under the curve was 0.97 (0.95-0.98). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio for Sonazoid and Sonovue were 0.75 (0.63- 0.84), 0.97 (0.86-0.99), 82 (15-445); and 0.64 (0.51-0.76), 0.98 (0.91-0.99), 72 (17-311), respectively. The sources of heterogeneity were identified as the study location, prevailing risk factor, reference diagnosis standard, criteria of Sonazoid CUES, and the proportion of cases of HCC. We observed no potential publication bias. CONCLUSION: Sonazoid CEUS is efficient to distinguish HCC from FLLs, with good sensitivity and specificity. It is comparable to Sonovue CEUS to diagnose HCC.

Clinical features, polysomnography, and genetics association study of restless legs syndrome in clinic based Chinese patients: A multicenter observational study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To systemically describe the clinical features, polysomnography (PSG) finding, laboratory tests and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a clinic based Chinese primary restless legs syndrome (RLS) population. METHODS: This observational study, conducted from January 2020 to October 2021 across 22 sleep labs in China, recruited 771 patients diagnosed with RLS following the 2014 RLSSG criteria. Clinical data, PSG testing, and laboratory examination and SNPs of patients with RLS were collected. A total of 32 SNPs in 24 loci were replicated using the Asian Screening Array chip, employing data from the Han Chinese Genomes Initiative as controls. RESULTS: In this study with 771 RLS patients, 645 had primary RLS, and 617 has DNA available for SNP study. Among the 645 primary RLS, 59.7% were women. 33% had a family history of RLS, with stronger familial influence in early-onset cases. Clinical evaluations showed 10.4% had discomfort in body parts other than legs. PSG showed that 57.1% of RLS patients had periodic leg movement index (PLMI) of >5/h and 39.1% had PLMI >15/h, respectively; 73.8% of RLS patients had an Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) > 5/h, and 45.3% had an AHI >15/h. The laboratory examinations revealed serum ferritin levels <75 ng/ml in 31.6%, and transferrin saturation (TSAT) of <45% in 88.7% of RLS patients. Seven new SNPs in 5 genes showed a significant allelic association with Chinese primary RLS, with one previously reported (BTBD9) and four new findings (TOX3, PRMT6, DCDC2C, NOS1). CONCLUSIONS: Chinese RLS patients has specific characters in many aspects. A high family history with RLS not only indicates strong genetic influence, but also reminds us to consider the familial effect in the epidemiological study. Newly developed sequencing technique with large samples remains to be done.

SCMEA: A stacked co-enhanced model for entity alignment based on multi-aspect information fusion and bidirectional contrastive learning.

Entity alignment refers to discovering the entity pairs with the same realistic meaning in different knowledge graphs. This technology is of great significance for completing and fusing knowledge graphs. Recently, methods based on knowledge representation learning have achieved remarkable achievements in entity alignment. However, most existing approaches do not mine hidden information in the knowledge graph as much as possible. This paper suggests SCMEA, a novel cross-lingual entity alignment framework based on multi-aspect information fusion and bidirectional contrastive learning. SCMEA initially adopts diverse representation learning models to embed multi-aspect information of entities and integrates them into a unified embedding space with an adaptive weighted mechanism to overcome the missing information and the problem of different-aspect information are not uniform. Then, we propose a stacked relation-entity co-enhanced model to further improve the representations of entities, wherein relation representation is modeled using an Entity Collector with Global Entity Attention. Finally, a combined loss function based on improved bidirectional contrastive learning is introduced to optimize model parameters and entity representation, effectively mitigating the hubness problem and accelerating model convergence. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the alignment performance of SCMEA. The overall experimental results, ablation studies, and analysis performed on five cross-lingual datasets demonstrate that our model achieves varying degrees of performance improvement and verifies the effectiveness and robustness of the model.

Efficacy of Daiwenjiu ointment on the treatment of cervical spondylosis with nerve root type caused by cold dampness obstruction.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the clinical efficacy of Daiwenjiu ointment in the treatment of cervical spondylosis with cold dampness obstruction nerve root type. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 110 patients diagnosed with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. Based on the treatment method, the patients were divided into two groups. The control group received electroacupuncture treatment, while the observation group received a combination of Daiwenjiu ointment and electroacupuncture treatment. The outcome measures included Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores for cervical spine function, Simplified McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) scores, and changes in serum inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß. RESULTS: Following treatment, the JOA score in the observation group increased from 9.45 ± 1.35 to 14.82 ± 1.29 after treatment, indicating better recovery of cervical spine function compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The SF-MPQ score in the observation group decreased to 18.25 ± 3.80 after treatment, while it remained at 30.20 ± 4.30 in the control group. This difference between the groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the observation group demonstrated a significant decrease in serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1ß after treatment compared to the control group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Daiwenjiu ointment exhibits significant therapeutic effects in patients with cold dampness obstruction nerve root type cervical spondylosis. It effectively improves cervical function, reduces pain, and downregulates inflammatory cytokine levels.

Quercetin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection and prevents syncytium formation by cells co-expressing the viral spike protein and human ACE2.

BACKGROUND: Several in silico studies have determined that quercetin, a plant flavonol, could bind with strong affinity and low free energy to SARS-CoV-2 proteins involved in viral entry and replication, suggesting it could block infection of human cells by the virus. In the present study, we examined the ex vivo ability of quercetin to inhibit of SARS-CoV-2 replication and explored the mechanisms of this inhibition. METHODS: Green monkey kidney Vero E6 cells and in human colon carcinoma Caco-2 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and incubated in presence of quercetin; the amount of replicated viral RNA was measured in spent media by RT-qPCR. Since the formation of syncytia is a mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 propagation, a syncytialization model was set up using human embryonic kidney HEK293 co-expressing SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), [HEK293(S + ACE2) cells], to assess the effect of quercetin on this cytopathic event by microscopic imaging and protein immunoblotting. RESULTS: Quercetin inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 cells and Caco-2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner with a half inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 166.6 and 145.2 µM, respectively. It also inhibited syncytialization of HEK293(S + ACE2) cells with an IC50 of 156.7 µM. Spike and ACE2 co-expression was associated with decreased expression, increased proteolytic processing of the S protein, and diminished production of the fusogenic S2' fragment of S. Furin, a proposed protease for this processing, was inhibited by quercetin in vitro with an IC50 of 116 µM. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that at low 3-digit micromolar concentrations of quercetin could impair SARS-CoV-2 infection of human cells partly by blocking the fusion process that promotes its propagation.