Spatial genomics enables multi-modal study of clonal heterogeneity in tissues.

The state and behaviour of a cell can be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. In particular, tumour progression is determined by underlying genetic aberrations1-4 as well as the makeup of the tumour microenvironment5,6. Quantifying the contributions of these factors requires new technologies that can accurately measure the spatial location of genomic sequence together with phenotypic readouts. Here we developed slide-DNA-seq, a method for capturing spatially resolved DNA sequences from intact tissue sections. We demonstrate that this method accurately preserves local tumour architecture and enables the de novo discovery of distinct tumour clones and their copy number alterations. We then apply slide-DNA-seq to a mouse model of metastasis and a primary human cancer, revealing that clonal populations are confined to distinct spatial regions. Moreover, through integration with spatial transcriptomics, we uncover distinct sets of genes that are associated with clone-specific genetic aberrations, the local tumour microenvironment, or both. Together, this multi-modal spatial genomics approach provides a versatile platform for quantifying how cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic factors contribute to gene expression, protein abundance and other cellular phenotypes.

Biomimetic Dual-Network Collagen Fibers with Porous and Mechanical Cues Reconstruct Neural Stem Cell Niche via AKT/YAP Mechanotransduction after Spinal Cord Injury.

Tissue engineering scaffolds can mediate the maneuverability of neural stem cell (NSC) niche to influence NSC behavior, such as cell self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation direction, showing the promising application in spinal cord injury (SCI) repair. Here, dual-network porous collagen fibers (PCFS) are developed as neurogenesis scaffolds by employing biomimetic plasma ammonia oxidase catalysis and conventional amidation cross-linking. Following optimizing the mechanical parameters of PCFS, the well-matched Young's modulus and physiological dynamic adaptability of PCFS (4.0 wt%) have been identified as a neurogenetic exciter after SCI. Remarkably, porous topographies and curving wall-like protrusions are generated on the surface of PCFS by simple and non-toxic CO2 bubble-water replacement. As expected, PCFS with porous and matched mechanical properties can considerably activate the cadherin receptor of NSCs and induce a series of serine-threonine kinase/yes-associated protein mechanotransduction signal pathways, encouraging cellular orientation, neuron differentiation, and adhesion. In SCI rats, implanted PCFS with matched mechanical properties further integrated into the injured spinal cords, inhibited the inflammatory progression and decreased glial and fibrous scar formation. Wall-like protrusions of PCFS drive multiple neuron subtypes formation and even functional neural circuits, suggesting a viable therapeutic strategy for nerve regeneration and functional recovery after SCI.

Evaluation of mild cognitive impairment genetic susceptibility risks in a Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a kind of non-functional cognitive decline between normal aging and dementia. With the increase of individual age, the quality of cognitive function has become a more and more important topic. The study of gene loci in patients with MCI is essential for the prevention of dementia. In this study, we evaluate the gene polymorphism in Chinese Han patients with MCI by propensity score matching (PSM) and comparing them to healthy control (HC) subjects. METHODS: Four hundred seventeen patients with mild cognitive impairment and 508 healthy people were included. The two groups were matched by applying one-to-one PSM, and the matching tolerance was set to 0.002. The matching covariates included gender,age,occupation,marital status,living mode. Then, a case-control associated analysis was conducted to analyze the genotype and allele frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MCI group and the control group. RESULTS: Three hundred eleven cases were successfully matched in each group, and there was no statistical difference on all the matching variables, gender, age, occupation, marital status, living mode between two groups after the match (P > 0.05). The allele frequency of bridging integrator 1(BIN1) rs7561528 showed minimal association with MCI in the Han Chinese population (P = 0.01). Compared with the healthy control (HC) group, A allele frequency of MCI group patients was significantly decreased. The genotype frequency of BIN1 rs6733839 showed minimal association with MCI in the recessive model (P = 0.03). The genotype frequency of rs7561528 showed minimal association with MCI in the codominant, dominant, overdominant, and log-additive model (P < 0.05). The genotype frequencies of StAR-related lipid transfer domain 6 (STARD6) rs10164112 showed nominal association with MCI in the codominant, dominant, and log-additive model (P < 0.05). Unfortunately, the significant differences did not survive Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction (adjusted P > 0.05). The patients with SPI1 rs1057233 may be the protective factor of MCI (OR = 0.733, 95%CI 0.625-0.859, P < 0.001), and patients with APOE rs10164112 may be a risk factor for MCI (OR = 1.323, 95%CI 1.023-1.711, P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: The polymorphisms of rs7561528, rs6733839 loci in the BIN1 gene, and rs1057233 loci in the SPI1 gene may be associated with the MCI in Chinese Han population. APOE gene was the risk factor of MCI, but further verification in a large sample population is still needed.

Flow characteristics and formation optimization of vortex ring air supply.

The vortex rings ventilation (VRV) is a new type of air supply system comprising vortex rings. Compared with an air supply jet, a vortex ring reduces the loss of fresh air during transportation because of its stable structure. However, during the formation of the vortex ring, it entrains the ambient air and reduces the fresh air in the vortex ring. In this study, a vortex ring generator with a fresh air cavity is proposed to form confined vortex rings. This improved the fresh air ratio of the VRV. Based on previous experiments, a piston-orifice axisymmetric model with a dynamic grid was developed to form an air vortex ring. The flow characteristics of free and confined vortex rings during the generation stage were studied. First, the evolution of free vortex rings with different stroke lengths was studied, and the optimal piston stroke length and radial constraint size were determined. Subsequently, the mixing ratios of the free and confined vortex rings were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the mixing ratio of the confined vortex ring formed by the fresh air cavity in the formation stage was zero. Moving to the location of 4.9 times the orifice diameter ( D 0 $$ {D}_0 $$ ), reduced the mixing ratio of the confined vortex ring by 77.78% compared with that of the free vortex ring. In addition, the influence of three inner diameters and four outlet diameters of fresh air cavities on the vortex rings was studied to optimize the size of the vortex ring generator. The results showed that the inner diameter of the fresh air cavity was greater than 3 D 0 $$ 3{D}_0 $$ and that an outlet diameter greater than 2.5 D 0 $$ 2.5{D}_0 $$ had little influence on the vortex rings.

The optimization of Low Impact Development placement considering life cycle cost using Genetic Algorithm.

Low Impact Development (LID) is an effective measure in controlling the urban runoff and mitigating the non-point source pollution. The determination of LID facilities and layouts for a sub-catchment is important for designing stormwater management system. However, there are remain large uncertainty and challenge exist in determination of LID facilities when consider budget, land use, soil surface and groundwater as well as local climate etc. To address this issue, this study employed Genetic Algorithm (GA) for optimization of the selection and layout of LID. The urban runoff was simulated using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The LID planning was encoded as 0 and 1 in GA algorithm. The multiple objectives which include runoff reduction, area of LID and life cycle cost were selected as optimization targets. To test the model performance, the Airport Economic Zone in Tianjin, China was chosen as the study area. The results demonstrate that the combination of LID approaches are most effective measures on runoff reduction through long-term simulation (10 years' rainfall events). The impact of different weights of land area and cost on LID selection were evaluated when considering life cycle cost. Bio-Retention is preferred when considering the area of LID and Green Roof is recommended when the cost is prioritized. The present research proved GA is feasible for LID planning in urban area. The proposed method can help the decision-makers to determine the LID plan more scientific based on SWMM model and GA.

A novel CT-based radiomics in the distinction of severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Convenient and precise assessment of the severity in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) contributes to the timely patient treatment and prognosis improvement. We aimed to evaluate the ability of CT-based radiomics nomogram in discriminating the severity of patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 150 patients (training cohort n = 105; test cohort n = 45) with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test were enrolled. Two feature selection methods, Max-Relevance and Min-Redundancy (mRMR) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), were used to extract features from CT images and construct model. A total of 30 radiomic features were finally retained. Rad-score was calculated by summing the selected features weighted by their coefficients. The radiomics nomogram incorporating clinical-radiological features was eventually constructed by multivariate regression analysis. Nomogram, calibration, and decision-curve analysis were all assessed. RESULTS: In both cohorts, 40 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were severe and 110 patients were non-severe. By combining the 30 radiomic features extracted from CT images, the radiomics signature showed high discrimination between severe and non-severe patients in the training set [Area Under the Curve (AUC), 0.857; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.775-0.918] and the test set (AUC, 0.867; 95% CI, 0.732-949). The final combined model that integrated age, comorbidity, CT scores, number of lesions, ground glass opacity (GGO) with consolidation, and radiomics signature, improved the AUC to 0.952 in the training cohort and 0.98 in the test cohort. The nomogram based on the combined model similarly exhibited excellent discrimination performance in both training and test cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The developed model based on a radiomics signature derived from CT images can be a reliable marker for discriminating the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Prevalence and clinical demography of hyperhomocysteinemia in Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Previous studies have shown that high homocysteine worsens the occurrence, symptoms, and prognosis of patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, clinical correlation, and demographic characteristics of hyperhomocysteinemia in Han Chinese schizophrenia patients. In this study, we enrolled 330 schizophrenia patients and 190 healthy controls. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the psychiatric symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. The plasma homocysteine level was measured by the enzyme cycle method and the concentration of homocysteine > 15 µmol/L was defined as hyperhomocysteinemia. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in Han Chinese schizophrenia patients and healthy controls was 55.05% and 26.98%, respectively. Schizophrenia patients with hyperhomocysteinemia had more male proportion, older age, higher smoking rate, lower HDL level, higher PANSS total score, and higher negative factor than those patients without hyperhomocysteinemia. Binary logical regression result showed that gender and age were the independent risk factors of hyperhomocysteinemia. Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia had high prevalence hyperhomocysteinemia than healthy controls, and elderly male patients have a higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia. This study was registered in the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (chiCTR 1800017044).

Ultrawide bandwidth single-mode polarization beam splitter based on dual-hollow-core antiresonant fiber.

An ultrawide bandwidth and single-mode polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on an air-gap type of dual-hollow-core antiresonant fiber (DHC-ARF) is proposed. Nested tubes are introduced into two cladding tubes between two cores to weaken the wavelength dependence of coupling length in DHC-ARF for obtaining ultrawide bandwidth. By tuning the cladding tube sizes, higher-order core modes with the lowest loss can be coupled with cladding tube modes, and thus, effectively, single-mode operation is achieved. Numerical results demonstrate that an 8.15 cm long DHC-ARF can be used to develop a PBS with an operating bandwidth of 370 nm ranging from 1.28 to 1.65 µm, where a polarization extinction ratio is below -20dB and a high-order mode extinction ratio exceeds 100.

Quantitative Analysis of Multiphase Contrast-Enhanced CT Images: A Pilot Study of Preoperative Prediction of Fat-Poor Angiomyolipoma and Renal Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to preoperatively predict fat-poor angiomyolipoma (fp-AML) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by conducting quantitative analysis of contrast-enhanced CT images. MATERIALS AND METHODS. One hundred fifteen patients with a pathologic diagnosis of fp-AML or RCC from a single institution were randomly allocated into a train set (tumor size: mean ± SD, 4.50 ± 2.62 cm) and test set (tumor size: 4.32 ± 2.73 cm) after data augmentation. High-dimensional histogram-based features, texture-based features, and Laws features were first extracted from CT images and were then combined as different combinations sets to construct a logistic prediction model based on the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator procedure for the prediction of fp-AML and RCC. Prediction performances were assessed by classification accuracy, area under the ROC curve (AUC), positive predictive value, negative predictive value, true-positive rate, and false-positive rate (FPR). In addition, we also investigated the effects of different gray-scales of quantitative features on prediction performances. RESULTS. The following combination sets of features achieved satisfying performances in the test set: histogram-based features (mean AUC = 0.8492, mean classification accuracy = 91.01%); histogram-based features and texture-based features (mean AUC = 0.9244, mean classification accuracy = 91.81%); histogram-based features and Laws features (mean AUC = 0.8546, mean classification accuracy = 88.76%); and histogram-based features, texture-based features, and Laws features (mean AUC = 0.8925, mean classification accuracy = 90.36%). The different quantitative gray-scales did not have an obvious effect on prediction performances. CONCLUSION. The integration of histogram-based features with texture-based features and Laws features provided a potential biomarker for the preoperative diagnosis of fp-AML and RCC. The accurate diagnosis of benign or malignant renal masses would help to make the clinical decision for radical surgery or close follow-up.

CT Features of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in 30 Pediatric Patients.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to characterize the CT findings of 30 children from mainland China who had laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Although recent American College of Radiology recommendations assert that CT should not be used as a screening or diagnostic tool for patients with suspected COVID-19, radiologists should be familiar with the imaging appearance of this disease to identify its presence in patients undergoing CT for other reasons. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We retrospectively reviewed the CT findings and clinical symptoms of 30 pediatric patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who were seen at six centers in China from January 23, 2020, to February 8, 2020. Patient age ranged from 10 months to 18 years. Patients older than 18 years of age or those without chest CT examinations were excluded. Two cardiothoracic radiologists and a cardiothoracic imaging fellow characterized and scored the extent of lung involvement. Cohen kappa coefficient was used to calculate interobserver agreement between the readers. RESULTS. Among children, CT findings were often negative (77%). Positive CT findings seen in children included ground-glass opacities with a peripheral lung distribution, a crazy paving pattern, and the halo and reverse halo signs. There was a correlation between increasing age and increasing severity of findings, consistent with reported symptomatology in children. Eleven of 30 patients (37%) underwent follow-up chest CT, with 10 of 11 examinations (91%) showing no change, raising questions about the utility of CT in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 in children. CONCLUSION. The present study describes the chest CT findings encountered in children with COVID-19 and questions the utility of CT in the diagnosis and management of pediatric patients.

Rapid identification of COVID-19 severity in CT scans through classification of deep features.

BACKGROUND: Chest CT is used for the assessment of the severity of patients infected with novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). We collected chest CT scans of 202 patients diagnosed with the COVID-19, and try to develop a rapid, accurate and automatic tool for severity screening follow-up therapeutic treatment. METHODS: A total of 729 2D axial plan slices with 246 severe cases and 483 non-severe cases were employed in this study. By taking the advantages of the pre-trained deep neural network, four pre-trained off-the-shelf deep models (Inception-V3, ResNet-50, ResNet-101, DenseNet-201) were exploited to extract the features from these CT scans. These features are then fed to multiple classifiers (linear discriminant, linear SVM, cubic SVM, KNN and Adaboost decision tree) to identify the severe and non-severe COVID-19 cases. Three validation strategies (holdout validation, tenfold cross-validation and leave-one-out) are employed to validate the feasibility of proposed pipelines. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The experimental results demonstrate that classification of the features from pre-trained deep models shows the promising application in COVID-19 severity screening, whereas the DenseNet-201 with cubic SVM model achieved the best performance. Specifically, it achieved the highest severity classification accuracy of 95.20% and 95.34% for tenfold cross-validation and leave-one-out, respectively. The established pipeline was able to achieve a rapid and accurate identification of the severity of COVID-19. This may assist the physicians to make more efficient and reliable decisions.

Schizophrenia patients with a metabolically abnormal obese phenotype have milder negative symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia patients with a metabolically abnormal obese (MAO) phenotype have been shown poor cardiovascular outcomes, but the characteristics of their current psychiatric symptoms have not been characterized. This study mainly explored the psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenia patients with the MAO phenotype. METHODS: A total of 329 patients with schizophrenia and 175 sex- and age-matched people without schizophrenia from Anhui Province in China were enrolled. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the mental symptoms of the schizophrenia patients. The MAO phenotype was defined as meeting 1-4 metabolic syndrome criteria (excluding waist circumference) and having a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 28 kg/m2. And, metabolically healthy normal-weight (MHNW) phenotype was defined as meeting 0 criteria for metabolic syndrome and 18.5 ≤ BMI < 24 kg/m2. RESULTS: Overall, 15.8% of the schizophrenia patients and 9.1% of the control group were consistent with the MAO phenotype, and the prevalence of MAO in the schizophrenia group was higher than that in the control group. Among the patients with schizophrenia, the MAO group had lower negative factor, cognitive factor and total PANSS scores than the MHNW group. However, when confounding factors were controlled, only the negative factor remained lower significantly. CONCLUSION: We found that schizophrenia patients with the MAO phenotype had reduced negative symptoms, which may indicate an internal mechanism linking metabolic disorders and negative symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered in the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (No. chiCTR 1,800,017,044 ).

Potential application of using vortex ring for personalized ventilation.

A novel vortex ring personalized ventilation system (VRPV) is proposed for efficiently supplying fresh air to room occupants. A vortex ring generator with a piston-cylinder is developed for an experimental study of the formation, transportation, and ventilation characteristics of the VRPV. The translational velocity, volume, and fresh air ratio of the vortex rings are studied using high-speed cameras and tracer gas experiments. According to the results, the categories of the vortex ring volume in the formation stage are studied. It is observed that the velocity of the piston determines the initial translational velocity of the vortex ring, and a fitting equation is proposed to predict the evolution of the translational velocity. The deviation range of the VRPV over different distances is studied, and it is shown to be affected by interference from both the generator and the environment. Finally, the total volumes, fresh air volumes, and fresh air ratios of the VRPV are studied at different distances. The results indicate that, as a personalized ventilation system, the fresh air ratio of the VRPV is up to 159.3% higher than that of a symmetrical round jet within a 0-4 m range. This shows the excellent application potential of the VRPV for providing high-efficiency personalized ventilation with lower fresh airflow rates.

A higher body mass index in Chinese inpatients with chronic schizophrenia is associated with elevated plasma orexin-A levels and fewer negative symptoms.

Objective: Orexin-A is involved in numerous physiological functions, such as feeding behavior and energy balance. Yet, the associations among the orexin system, weight changes and the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia patients remain uncertain, especially in inpatients with chronic schizophrenia (CS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the orexin-A levels, body mass index (BMI) and clinical symptoms of CS inpatients.Methods: Altogether, 324 inpatients were enrolled in our study. The clinical symptoms of all inpatients were measured using a 30-item Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and then we calculated the BMI of each subject and tested the orexin-A levels by ELISA methods.Results: The orexin-A levels of the CS inpatients in the obesity group (1.24 ± 1.45 ng/ml, n = 52) were significantly higher than those in the non-overweight group (0.85 ± 1.18 ng/ml, n = 176) and the overweight group (0.97 ± 1.15 ng/ml, n = 96). Spearman's correlation analysis showed that higher BMIs were associated with higher plasma orexin-A levels and fewer negative symptoms. Furthermore, the multiple regression analysis indicated that the orexin-A level could be a contributor to BMI (F = 30.21, p < 0.001). However, there was no correlation between plasma orexin-A concentrations and clinical symptoms in our research.Conclusion: A higher plasma orexin-A level may be a factor influencing the BMI of inpatients with CS, and fewer negative symptoms seem to be correlated with higher BMI, but the causality among BMI, orexin-A and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia requires further clinical research.

CDC42 controls the activation of primordial follicles by regulating PI3K signaling in mouse oocytes.

BACKGROUND: In mammalian females, progressive activation of dormant primordial follicles in adulthood is crucial for the maintenance of the reproductive lifespan. Misregulated activation of primordial follicles leads to various ovarian diseases, such as premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). Although recent studies have revealed that several functional genes and pathways, such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, play roles in controlling the activation of primordial follicles, our understanding of the molecular networks regulating the activation progress is still incomplete. RESULTS: Here, we identify a new role for cell division cycle 42 (CDC42) in regulating the activation of primordial follicles in mice. Our results show that CDC42 expression increases in oocytes during the activation of primordial follicles in the ovary. Disruption of CDC42 activity with specific inhibitors or knockdown of Cdc42 expression significantly suppresses primordial follicle activation in cultured mouse ovaries. Conversely, the follicle activation ratio is remarkably increased by overexpression of CDC42 in ovaries. We further demonstrate that CDC42 governs the process of primordial follicle activation by binding to phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit beta (p110ß) and regulating the expression levels of PTEN in oocytes. Finally, we extend our study to potential clinical applications and show that a short-term in vitro treatment with CDC42 activators could significantly increase the activation rates of primordial follicles in both neonatal and adult mouse ovaries. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that CDC42 controls the activation of primordial follicles in the mammalian ovary and that increasing the activity of CDC42 with specific activators might improve the efficiency of in vitro activation approaches, opening avenues for infertility treatments.

The Prevalence of Suicide Attempts and Independent Demographic and Clinical Correlates among Chronic Schizophrenia Patients in Agricultural Areas of China.

This study investigated the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts (SA) and independent demographic and clinical correlates in stabilized schizophrenia inpatients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three psychiatric hospitals in Anhui province, an agricultural province located in east China. Psychopathology and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), respectively. A total of 315 stable schizophrenia inpatients were interviewed prior to discharge. The lifetime prevalence of SA was 22.2%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that female gender (P < 0.001, OR = 3.4, 95%CI: 1.9-6.0), being married (P = 0.02, OR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.1-4.4) and having more severe depressive symptoms (P = 0.014, OR = 1.2, 95%CI: 1.01-1.3) were independently and significantly associated with higher risk of SA. Lifetime SA is common among hospitalized schizophrenia patients living in agricultural areas of China. For suicide prevention, regular assessments, appropriate interventions and clinical management should be integrated into a community-based psychiatric service model for this population.

Simultaneous Measurement of Curvature, Strain and Temperature Using a Twin-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Sensor.

A novel twin-core photonic crystal fiber-based sensor for simultaneous measurement of curvature, strain and temperature is proposed. The fiber sensor is constructed by splicing the homemade twin-core photonic crystal fiber between two segments of single mode fiber. Affected by the coupling between two cores, the transmission spectrum of the fiber sensor has different wavelength responses to curvature, strain, and temperature. The maximal sensitivities to curvature, strain and temperature are 10.89 nm/m-1, 1.24 pm/µÎµ and 73.9 pm/°C, respectively. Simultaneous measurement of curvature, strain and temperature can be achieved by monitoring the wavelength shifts of selected valleys in the transmission spectrum. Contrast experiment based on traditional twin-core fiber is carried out. Experimental results demonstrate that twin-core photonic crystal fiber-based sensor has higher sensitivity and better linearity than traditional twin-core fiber-based sensor.

Ultrabroadband polarization splitter based on three-core photonic crystal fiber with a modulation core.

We design an ultrabroadband polarization splitter based on three-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF). A modulation core and two fluorine-doped cores are introduced to achieve an ultrawide bandwidth. The properties of three-core PCF are modeled by using the full-vector finite element method along with the full-vector beam propagation method. Numerical results demonstrate that an ultrabroadband splitter with 320 nm bandwidth with an extinction ratio as low as -20 dB can be achieved by using 52.8 mm long three-core PCF. This splitter also has high compatibility with standard single-mode fibers as the input and output ports due to low splicing loss of 0.02 dB. All the air holes in the proposed structure are circular holes and arranged in a triangular lattice that makes it easy to fabricate.

Flanking sequence determination and specific PCR identification of transgenic wheat B102-1-2.

The exogenous fragment sequence and flanking sequence between the exogenous fragment and recombinant chromosome of transgenic wheat B102-1-2 were successfully acquired using genome walking technology. The newly acquired exogenous fragment encoded the full-length sequence of transformed genes with transformed plasmid and corresponding functional genes including ubi, vector pBANF-bar, vector pUbiGUSPlus, vector HSP, reporter vector pUbiGUSPlus, promoter ubiquitin, and coli DH1. A specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification method for transgenic wheat B102-1-2 was established on the basis of designed primers according to flanking sequence. This established specific PCR strategy was validated by using transgenic wheat, transgenic corn, transgenic soybean, transgenic rice, and non-transgenic wheat. A specifically amplified target band was observed only in transgenic wheat B102-1-2. Therefore, this method is characterized by high specificity, high reproducibility, rapid identification, and excellent accuracy for the identification of transgenic wheat B102-1-2.

Bidirectional causality between idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss and depression: a Mendelian randomization study.

Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (ISSHL) is a sudden onset, unexplained sensorineural hearing loss. Depression is a common mental disorder and a leading cause of disability. Here, We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach using pooled statistics from genome-wide association studies of ISSHL (1491 cases, 196,592 controls) and depression (23,424 cases, 192,220 controls) in European populations. This study investigated the bidirectional relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with depression and ISSHL using inverse variance weighting.Additional sensitivity analyses, such as Mendelian randomization-Egger (MR-Egger), weighted median estimates, and leave-one-out analysis, were performed to assess the reliability of the findings. Significant causal association between genetic susceptibility to ISSHL and depression in a random-effects IVW approach (OR = 1.037, 95% CI = 1.004-1.072, P = 0.030). In contrast, genetic depression was not risk factors for ISSHL (OR = 1.134, 95% CI = 0.871-1.475, P = 0.350). After validation by different MR methods and the sensitivity analysis, all of the above results are consistent. The evidence we have gathered suggests a causal relationship between ISSHL and depression. The presence of the former induces or further exacerbates the latter, whereas a similar situation does not exist when the latter is an influencing factor.