Plant-microbiome dynamics through spatial metatranscriptomics and network biology.

Climate change threatens global agriculture, impacting plant health and crop yield, while plant microbiomes offer potential solutions to enhance resilience. In this forum, we discuss the prospects of single cell multiome and network science in understanding intricate plant-microbe interactions, providing insights for sustainable agriculture and improved crop productivity for global food security.

Advancing mastitis assessment in dairy bovines via short milking tube thermography: A seasonal perspective.

In India, where dairy production leads globally, infrared thermography (IRT) and short milking tube thermography specifically are vital for managing mastitis. Therefore, the present study focuses on thermal imaging of the udder and short milking tube (SMT) of the milking machine during the peak milking process of Sahiwal cows and Murrah buffaloes during winter, summer, rainy and autumn seasons to identify sub-clinical (SCM) and clinical mastitis (CM) cases using the Darvi DTL007 camera. The udder health was assessed using the California Mastitis Test, Somatic Cell Count (SCC) and IRT throughout the year. Log10SCC and thermogram analysis revealed a difference (p < 0.01) between healthy, SCM, and CM cases during different seasons in both breeds. Further results showed an increase (p < 0.01) in SMT thermograms of SCM and CM cases compared to healthy quarters in Sahiwal cows during winter, summer, rainy, and autumn were 4.26 and 7.51, 2.37 and 4.47, 2.20 and 3.64, 2.90 and 4.94 ºC, respectively and for Murrah buffaloes were 3.56 and 5.55, 2.70 and 3.81, 1.72 and 3.10, 3.14 and 4.42ºC, respectively. The highest degree of increase in milking udder skin surface temperature and SMT of SCM and CM cases compared to healthy quarters was observed during the winter and the least during the rainy season. Thus, regardless of the seasons examined in this study, SMT thermograms effectively assessed SCM and CM.

Adapting the SMART tube technology for flow cytometry in feline full blood samples.

Flow cytometry of blood samples is a very valuable clinical and research tool to monitor the immune response in human patients. Furthermore, it has been successfully applied in cats, such as for infections with feline immune deficiency virus (FIV). However, if cells are not isolated and frozen, analysis of anticoagulated blood samples requires mostly prompt processing following blood collection, making later analysis of stored full blood samples obtained in clinical studies often impossible. The SMART Tube system (SMART TUBE Inc., California, United States; SMT) allows fixation and long-term preservation of whole blood samples at -80°C. However, this system has so far only been applied to human biological samples. In the present study, a new flow cytometry SMART Tube protocol adapted for feline whole blood samples was successfully established allowing quantification of T-helper cells, cytotoxic T-cells, B-cells, monocytes, and neutrophils up to 2 years post sampling. Results obtained from frozen stabilized and fresh blood samples were compared for validation purposes and correlated to differential blood counts from a conventional hematology analyzer. Clinical applicability of the new technique was verified by using samples from a treatment study for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Using the new SMT protocol on retained samples, it could be demonstrated that long-term storage of these SMT tubes is also possible. In summary, the newly adapted SMT protocol proved suitable for performing flow cytometry analysis on stored feline whole blood samples, thus opening up new avenues for veterinary research on a variety of aspects of clinical interest.

Spontaneous rates exhibit high intra-individual stability across movements involving different biomechanical systems and cognitive demands.

Spontaneous rhythmic movements are part of everyday life, e.g., in walking, clapping or music making. Humans perform such spontaneous motor actions at different rates that reflect specific biomechanical constraints of the effector system in use. However, there is some evidence for intra-individual consistency of specific spontaneous rates arguably resulting from common underlying processes. Additionally, individual and contextual factors such as musicianship and circadian rhythms have been suggested to influence spontaneous rates. This study investigated the relative contributions of these factors and provides a comprehensive picture of rates among different spontaneous motor behaviors, i.e., melody production, walking, clapping, tapping with and without sound production, the latter measured online before and in the lab. Participants (n = 60) exhibited high intra-individual stability across tasks. Task-related influences included faster tempi for spontaneous production rates of music and wider ranges of spontaneous motor tempi (SMT) and clapping rates compared to walking and music making rates. Moreover, musicians exhibited slower spontaneous rates across tasks, yet we found no influence of time of day on SMT as measured online in pre-lab sessions. Tapping behavior was similar in pre-lab and in-lab sessions, validating the use of online SMT assessments. Together, the prominent role of individual factors and high stability across domains support the idea that different spontaneous motor behaviors are influenced by common underlying processes.

Hydrothermal Corrosion of Latest Generation of FeCrAl Alloys for Nuclear Fuel Cladding.

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the nuclear materials community has been vastly investing in accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concepts to modify/replace Zircaloy cladding material. Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are one of the leading contenders in this race. In this study, we investigated FA-SMT (or APMT-2), PM-C26M, and Fe17Cr5.5Al over a time period of 6 months in simulated BWR environments and compared their performance with standard Zirc-2 and SS316 materials. Our results implied that water chemistry along with alloy chemistry has a profound effect on the corrosion rate of FeCrAl alloys. Apart from SS316 and Zirc-2 tube specimens, all FeCrAl alloys showed a mass loss in hydrogen water chemistry (HWC). FA-SMT displayed minimal mass loss compared to PM-C26M and Fe17Cr5.5Al because of its higher Cr content. The mass gain of FeCrAl alloys in normal water chemistry (NWC) is significantly less when compared to Zirc-2.

Chigno/CG11180 and SUMO are Chinmo-interacting proteins with a role in Drosophila testes somatic support cells.

Stem cells are critical for replenishment of cells lost to death, damage or differentiation. Drosophila testes are a key model system for elucidating mechanisms regulating stem cell maintenance and differentiation. An intriguing gene identified through such studies is the transcription factor, chronologically inappropriate morphogenesis (Chinmo). Chinmo is a downstream effector of the Jak-STAT signaling pathway that acts in testis somatic stem cells to ensure maintenance of male stem cell fate and sexual identity. Defects in these processes can lead to infertility and the formation of germ cell tumors. While Chinmo's effect on testis stem cell behavior has been investigated in detail, there is still much to be learned about its structure, function, and interactions with other proteins. Using a two-hybrid screen, we find that Chinmo interacts with itself, the small ubiquitin-like modifier SUMO, the novel protein CG11180, and four other proteins (CG4318, Ova (ovaries absent), Taf3 (TBP-associated factor 3), and CG18269). Since both Chinmo and CG11180 contain sumoylation sites and SUMO-interacting motifs (SIMs), we analyzed their interaction in more detail. Using site-directed mutagenesis of a unique SIM in CG11180, we demonstrate that Chinmo's interaction with CG11180 is SUMO-dependent. Furthermore, to assess the functional relevance of both SUMO and CG11180, we performed RNAi-mediated knockdown of both proteins in somatic cells of the Drosophila testis. Using this approach, we find that CG11180 and SUMO are required in somatic cells of adult testes, and that reduction of either protein causes formation of germ cell tumors. Overall, our work suggests that SUMO may be involved in the interaction of Chinmo and CG11180 and that these genes are required in somatic cells of the adult Drosophila testis. Consistent with the CG11180 knockdown phenotype in male testes, and to underscore its connection to Chinmo, we propose the name Chigno (Childless Gambino) for CG11180.

Precutting Endoscopic Band Ligation-Assisted Resection Is Safe and Effective for Treating Gastric Submucosal Tumors from the Muscularis Propria.

BACKGROUND: We previously treated small gastric submucosal tumors originating from the muscularis propria layer by precutting endoscopic band ligation but lacked precise pathological results. Then, precutting endoscopic band ligation was modified by additional snare resection after ligation to obtain tumor specimens, termed precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection. AIMS: In this study, we aimed to explore the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection. METHODS: From 2021 to 2022, a total of 16 consecutive patients underwent precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection to treat small gastric submucosal tumors originating from the muscularis propria. The clinical demography, perioperative data, and follow-up outcomes were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: With a mean operative time of 21.3 min, all lesions were successfully and completely resected, and no severe adverse events or local recurrences occurred postoperatively. More importantly, en bloc and R0 resection were achieved in all 16 patients. CONCLUSION: Precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection is a safe, effective, and time-saving endoscopic technique for managing gastric small gastric submucosal tumors originating from the muscularis propria for both diagnosis and eradication.

A case of EBV-associated adrenal leiomyoma.

Adrenal leiomyomas are rare and often reported as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated smooth muscle tumor (SMT) in association with EBV infection in immunocompromised patients. We experienced a case of right adrenal leiomyoma that was incidentally found in a man in his 70s. Computed Tomography (CT) showed a well-circumscribed mass of 3.1 cm in diameter in the right adrenal gland, which increased to 4.9 cm in diameter over 1 year. Preoperative diagnosis was difficult due to the lack of specific imaging findings. He had a history of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) 8 years ago, and EBV had been detected in his blood. EBV-encoded small RNA(EBER) in situ hybridization (EBER-ISH) of the right adrenal leiomyoma was positive, and the final diagnosis was EBV-associated leiomyoma.

Wearable All-Fabric Hybrid Energy Harvester to Simultaneously Harvest Radiofrequency and Triboelectric Energy.

Distributed micro-energy harvesting devices offer the flexibility, sustainability, and multi-scenario applicability that will be critical to wearable electronic products in the Internet of Things. The radiofrequency and triboelectric (RF-TE) hybrid energy harvester (HEH) concept and prototype is presented for the first time, to simultaneously capture the energy from ambient electromagnetic waves and biological motions. The proposed hybrid energy harvesting system consists of a wearable rectenna, a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), and a power management circuit (PMC). Among them, the all-fabric rectenna exhibits good impedance matching characteristics in the ISM frequency. The flexible TENG unit can generate a maximum power density of 0.024 µW cm-2. The designed multifunctional fabric-based PMC can considerably enhance the controllability of harvested hybrid energy. Additionally, a normalizable fabric circuit board quasi surface mount technology (FCB-SMT) is proposed to integrate all modules on the same fabric substrate in one step, making the entire system superior mechanical robustness. The proposed wearable fabric-based RF-TE hybrid energy harvester is capable of successfully driving consumer electronics (such as sensors, watches, etc.). It provides a new energy solution strategy for self-powered wearable electronic devices and is anticipated to encourage the efficient utilization of renewable energy.

Precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection versus endoscopic submucosal dissection in patients with small gastric submucosal tumors originating from the muscularis propria: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The management of small gastric submucosal tumors (SMTs) originating from the muscularis propria layer (SMT-MPs) remains a subject of debate. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is currently considered the optimal treatment for resection. However, high expenses, complex procedures, and the risk of complications have limited its application. Our previously proposed novel operation, precutting endoscopic band ligation (precutting EBL), has been demonstrated in a long-term, single-arm study to be an effective and safe technique for removing small gastric SMTs. However, the absence of a pathological examination and the potential for delayed perforation have raised concerns. Thus, we modified the precutting EBL by adding endoscopic resection to the snare after ligation and closure, yielding the precutting endoscopic band ligation-assisted resection (precutting EBLR). Moreover, the initial pilot study confirmed the safety and efficacy of the proposed approach and we planned a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to further validate its clinical feasibility. METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center, open-label, parallel group, and randomized controlled trial. Approximately 40 patients with SMT-MPs will be included in this trial. The patients included were allocated to two groups: ESD and precutting EBLR. The basic clinical data of the patients were collected in detail. To better quantify the difference between ESD and precutting EBLR, the primary outcome was set as the operation duration. The secondary outcomes included total operation cost and hospitalization, intraoperative adverse events, and postoperative recurrence. The primary outcome was tested for superiority, while the secondary outcomes were tested for noninferiority. SPSS is commonly used for statistical analysis. DISCUSSION: This study was designed to validate the feasibility of a novel operation for removing gastric SMT-MPs. To intuitively assess this phenomenon, the operation durations of precutting EBLR and ESD were compared, and other outcomes were also recorded comprehensively. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2200065473 . Registered on November 5, 2022.

SMT-738: a novel small-molecule inhibitor of bacterial lipoprotein transport targeting Enterobacteriaceae.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CREs) are described by the Centers for Disease Control as an urgent threat, and there is a critical need for new therapeutic agents able to treat infections caused by these pathogens. Herein, we describe the microbiological profile, the mechanism f action, and the in vitro safety as well as the pharmacokinetic (PK)/PD profile of SMT-738, a small molecule belonging to a new chemical class. SMT-738 is active against Enterobacterales [including multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli with 90% of isolates having a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of 1 µg/mL and Klebsiella pneumoniae 2 µg/mL] and inactive against a broad panel of Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens. SMT-738 displays rapid bactericidal activity (2-4 h) and has a low propensity for resistance development (less than ~10-9). Characterization of resistant mutants following exposure to SMT-738 identified mutations within the lipoprotein transport complex (LolCDE), a clinically unexploited and essential bacterial molecular target in Gram-negative bacteria. SMT-738 has a promising in vitro toxicology profile. Furthermore, PK studies demonstrated that when dosed intravenously, SMT-738 maintained exposure levels across infection sites (bloodstream/urinary tract/lung). Proof-of-concept studies across multiple murine in vivo infection models (bloodstream/pneumonia/urinary tract) demonstrated that SMT-738 significantly reduced the bacterial burden compared to baseline and vehicle control. SMT-738 represents a promising novel drug candidate being developed to address clinically challenging serious life-threatening infections caused by highly resistant Enterobacteriaceae including CRE.

Which factors modulate spontaneous motor tempo? A systematic review of the literature.

Intentionally or not, humans produce rhythmic behaviors (e.g., walking, speaking, and clapping). In 1974, Paul Fraisse defined rhythmic behavior as a periodic movement that obeys a temporal program specific to the subject and that depends less on the conditions of the action (p. 47). Among spontaneous rhythms, the spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) corresponds to the tempo at which someone produces movements in the absence of external stimuli, at the most regular, natural, and pleasant rhythm for him/her. However, intra- and inter-individual differences exist in the SMT values. Even if several factors have been suggested to influence the SMT (e.g., the age of participants), we do not yet know which factors actually modulate the value of the SMT. In this context, the objectives of the present systematic review are (1) to characterize the range of SMT values found in the literature in healthy human adults and (2) to identify all the factors modulating the SMT values in humans. Our results highlight that (1) the reference value of SMT is far from being a common value of 600 ms in healthy human adults, but a range of SMT values exists, and (2) many factors modulate the SMT values. We discuss our results in terms of intrinsic factors (in relation to personal characteristics) and extrinsic factors (in relation to environmental characteristics). Recommendations are proposed to assess the SMT in future research and in rehabilitative, educative, and sport interventions involving rhythmic behaviors.

Investigating the role of Sterol C24-Methyl transferase mutation on drug resistance in leishmaniasis and identifying potential inhibitors.

Leishmaniasis is a fatal disease caused by the leishmania parasite. For the survival of the leishmania parasite, Sterol C24-Methyl Transferase (SMT) is essential which is an enzyme of the ergosterol pathway. SMT protein mutation is responsible for Amphotericin-B drug resistance in Leishmania, which is the main treatment for visceral leishmaniasis. Amphotericin-B resistance is caused by three mutated residues V131I, V321I and F72C. The underlying mechanisms and structural changes in SMT enzymes responsible for resistance due to mutation are still not well understood. In the current study, the potential mechanism of resistance due to these mutations and the structure variation of wild and mutant SMT proteins were investigated through molecular dynamics simulations and molecular docking analysis. The results showed that AmB established strong bonding interaction with wild SMT as compare to mutants SMT. The binding energy calculation showed that binding energy of AmB with mutants SMT increases as compare to the wild SMT. Further structural based virtual screening was carried out to design potential inhibitors for the mutant SMT. On the basis of structural-based virtual screening four inhibitors (SANC01057, SANC00882, SANC00414, SANC01047) were computationally identified as potential mutant SMT (F72C) inhibitors. This work provides valuable information for improved management of drug resistant Leishmaniasis.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The effect of endoscopic ultrasound on the precise selection of endoscopic treatment for submucosal tumors in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize and discuss the guiding role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in selecting endoscopic treatments for submucosal tumors (SMTs) in the upper gastrointestinal tract. METHODS: A retrospective investigation was conducted on 156 SMT patients who received endoscopic resection guided by EUS in the endoscopy center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine from May 2019 to September 2021. Next, the size, pathological type, and distribution of lesions were analyzed; the correlation of the tumor origin with distribution of lesions and selection of treatments was explored; and the consistency of preoperative EUS diagnosis and postoperative pathological diagnosis was summarized and analyzed. RESULTS: The tumor diameters of the included SMT patients ranged from 0.3 to 4 cm, with a mean diameter of 0.95 cm; the lesions were mostly located in the esophagus, gastric fundus or fundic cardia and gastric body. As for the pathological types, liomyoma was the most common tumor in the esophagus, liomyoma and mesenchymoma were mainly located in the fundic cardia and gastric body, and heterotopic pancreas was mostly discovered in the gastric sinus. Among 38 esophageal SMT patients, some with lesions originating from muscularis mucosa and submucosa under EUS mainly underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and endoscope band ligation (EBL); while others with lesions originated from muscularis propria mainly received submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER). Of 115 gastric SMT patients under EUS, some with lesion origins from the muscularis mucosa and submucosa mainly underwent endoscopic submucosal excavation (ESE), while others from muscularis propria mainly underwent ESE, ESD, and endoscopic full-thickness resection (EFTR). Besides, 3 duodenal SMT patients with lesion origins from submucosa and muscularis propria under EUS were given ESD and ESE, respectively. Additionally, 121 cases showed a consistency between the EUS diagnosis and the postoperative pathological nature, and the consistency rate was 84.6%. CONCLUSION: Clarifying the origin layer, size, growth pattern, and pathological nature of the lesion through preoperative EUS can guide the precise selection of endoscopic treatments, thereby ensuring a safe, effective, and complete surgical outcomes and reducing complications.

Design of a Multi-Mode Hybrid Micro-Gripper for Surface Mount Technology Component Assembly.

In the last few decades, industrial sectors such as smart manufacturing and aerospace have rapidly developed, contributing to the increase in production of more complex electronic boards based on SMT (Surface Mount Technology). The assembly phases in manufacturing these electronic products require the availability of technological solutions able to deal with many heterogeneous products and components. The small batch production and pre-production are often executed manually or with semi-automated stations. The commercial automated machines currently available offer high performance, but they are highly rigid. Therefore, a great effort is needed to obtain machines and devices with improved reconfigurability and flexibility for minimizing the set-up time and processing the high heterogeneity of components. These high-level objectives can be achieved acting in different ways. Indeed, a work station can be seen as a set of devices able to interact and cooperate to perform a specific task. Therefore, the reconfigurability of a work station can be achieved through reconfigurable and flexible devices and their hardware and software integration and control For this reason, significant efforts should be focused on the conception and development of innovative devices to cope with the continuous downscaling and increasing variety of the products in this growing field. In this context, this paper presents the design and development of a multi-mode hybrid micro-gripper devoted to manipulate and assemble a wide range of micro- and meso-SMT components with different dimensions and proprieties. It exploits two different handling technologies: the vacuum and friction.

Second malignant tumors and non-tumor causes of death for patients with localized and regional kidney cancer after diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the second malignant tumors (SMTs) and non-tumor causes of death among patients diagnosed with localized and regional kidney cancer. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with kidney cancer between 2000 and 2017 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program database were identified. All causes of death for patients during the follow-up and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) were analyzed. RESULT: 113,734 patients with localized kidney cancer with 30,390 cases of death were analyzed. 60.4% of the death cases were due to non-tumor caused and 23.6% were second malignant tumors (SMTs). Main SMTs included cancers of lung and bronchus [n = 1,283, SMR: 1.00 (0.95-1.06)] and pancreas [n = 393, SMR: 1.27 (1.15-1.41)]. Causes of death for non-tumor mainly included heart diseases [n = 6,161, SMR: 1.25 (1.21-1.28)] and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [n = 1,185, SMR: 0.99 (0.94-1.05)]. 14,437 of 29,602 patients with regional kidney cancer died. 14.6% of all deaths were due to SMTs and 23.6% due to non-tumor causes. Main SMTs contained bladder cancer [n = 371, SMR: 10.90 (9.81-12.06)] and lung and bronchus cancer [n = 346, SMR: 1.21 (1.08-1.34)]. The main non-tumor death was heart disease [n = 1,424, SMR: 1.26 (1.2-1.33)]. When stratified by pathological types, patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) did not have increased mortality risks of bladder cancer and lung cancer but patients with non-clear cell RCC did. CONCLUSION: SMTs and non-tumor diseases including lung and bronchus cancer, bladder cancer, pancreas cancer, diseases of heart, COPD, and cerebrovascular diseases are the leading causes of death besides kidney cancer and should be paid more attention during patients' survival period.

The Ubiquitin-like Proteins of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In this review, we present a comprehensive list of the ubiquitin-like modifiers (Ubls) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a common model organism used to study fundamental cellular processes that are conserved in complex multicellular organisms, such as humans. Ubls are a family of proteins that share structural relationships with ubiquitin, and which modify target proteins and lipids. These modifiers are processed, activated and conjugated to substrates by cognate enzymatic cascades. The attachment of substrates to Ubls alters the various properties of these substrates, such as function, interaction with the environment or turnover, and accordingly regulate key cellular processes, including DNA damage, cell cycle progression, metabolism, stress response, cellular differentiation, and protein homeostasis. Thus, it is not surprising that Ubls serve as tools to study the underlying mechanism involved in cellular health. We summarize current knowledge on the activity and mechanism of action of the S. cerevisiae Rub1, Smt3, Atg8, Atg12, Urm1 and Hub1 modifiers, all of which are highly conserved in organisms from yeast to humans.

EBV-Associated Smooth Muscle Tumor in the Malar Area of an HIV-Positive Patient: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: EBV-associated smooth muscle tumors (EBV-SMTs) are rare and typically develop in individuals with a compromised immune system, particularly those who have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or who have undergone organ transplants. METHODS: We document a case of EBV-SMT in an HIV-positive 25-year-old man. The lesion was incised and assessed histologically and a panel of immune markers were performed. EBV association was demonstrated by in situ hybridization for EBV-encoded RNA (EBER-ISH). RESULTS: Microscopically, the tumor composed of mildly pleomorphic, ovoid to spindled cells with numerous slit-like vascular channels. The tumor cells exhibited diffuse and strong immunoreactivity for smooth muscle actin (SMA) and focal positivity for h-caldesmon. EBER-ISH of the tumor cells revealed strong positive nuclear signals. CONCLUSION: The histopathological features of EBV-SMT do not conform to either benign or malignant SMTs and it has a peculiar predilection to develop at sites unusual for leiomyoma or leiomyosarcoma. The key diagnostic features of EBV-SMT include history of immunosuppression, histologic evidence of primitive and mildly pleomorphic cells maintaining blunt nuclear features in most areas, and positivity for EBER-ISH.

On the resistance of new lightweight block ciphers against differential cryptanalysis.

Many recently proposed lightweight block ciphers lack security evaluation against generic cryptanalytic attacks such as differential cryptanalysis. In this paper, we contribute towards security evaluation efforts by investigating four lightweight Feistel-based block ciphers including SLIM, LBC-IoT, SCENERY, and LCB. SLIM claims resistance to differential cryptanalysis since, using a heuristic technique, its designers could only find a 7-round differential trail. Despite having no analysis of security against attacks such as differential cryptanalysis, the designers of LBC-IoT and LCB claimed that their ciphers are secure. Meanwhile, the designers of SCENERY claim that the best 11-round differential trail for the cipher has a probability of 2 - 66 . To substantiate these claims, we propose attacks on all four ciphers based on differential cryptanalysis. We presented practical key recovery attacks on SLIM which can retrieve the final round key for up to 14 rounds with a time complexity of 232. LBC-IoT was found to be weaker against differential cryptanalysis despite sharing many similarities with SLIM, whereby a key recovery attack of up to 19 rounds is possible with time complexity 231. For SCENERY, we found a differential trail of up to 12 rounds with probability 2 - 60 , which was used as the distinguisher for a 13-round key recovery attack. We also discovered that LCB's design lacks nonlinearity, allowing us to easily derive deterministic differential trails regardless of the number of rounds. This flaw allowed us to perform a trivial distinguishing attack using a single known ciphertext. By using a different S-box to address this flaw, LCB is now more resilient to differential cryptanalysis than SLIM and LBC-IoT when using the same number of rounds. Our paper presents new independent cryptanalysis results for these ciphers.