Pressure-Induced Re-Entrant Superconductivity in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide TiSe2.

Transition metal dichalcogenide TiSe2 exhibits a superconducting dome within a low pressure range of 2-4 GPa, which peaks with the maximal transition temperature Tc of ≈1.8 K. Here it is reported that applying high pressure induces a new superconducting state in TiSe2, which starts at ≈16 GPa with a substantially higher Tc that reaches 5.6 K at ≈21.5 GPa with no sign of decline. Combining high-throughput first-principles structure search, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy measurements up to 30 GPa, It is found that TiSe2 undergoes a first-order structural transition from the 1T phase under ambient pressure to a new 4O phase under high pressure. Comparative ab initio calculations reveal that while the conventional phonon-mediated pairing mechanism may account for the superconductivity observed in 1T-TiSe2 under low pressure, the electron-phonon coupling of 4O-TiSe2 is too weak to induce a superconducting state whose transition temperature is as high as 5.6 K under high pressure. The new superconducting state found in pressurized TiSe2 requires further study on its underlying mechanism.

The gut-lung axis in critical illness: microbiome composition as a predictor of mortality at day 28 in mechanically ventilated patients.

BACKGROUND: Microbial communities are of critical importance in the human host. The lung and gut microbial communities represent the most essential microbiota within the human body, collectively referred to as the gut-lung axis. However, the differentiation between these communities and their influence on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients remains uncertain. METHODS: An observational cohort study was obtained in the intensive care unit (ICU) of an affiliated university hospital. Sequential samples were procured from two distinct anatomical sites, namely the respiratory and intestinal tracts, at two precisely defined time intervals: within 48 h and on day 7 following intubation. Subsequently, these samples underwent a comprehensive analysis to characterize microbial communities using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing and to quantify concentrations of fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The primary predictors in this investigation included lung and gut microbial diversity, along with indicator species. The primary outcome of interest was the survival status at 28 days following mechanical ventilation. RESULTS: Sixty-two mechanically ventilated critically ill patients were included in this study. Compared to the survivors, the diversity of microorganisms was significantly lower in the deceased, with a significant contribution from the gut-originated fraction of lung microorganisms. Lower concentrations of fecal SCFAs were detected in the deceased. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that not only lung microbial diversity but also the abundance of Enterococcaceae from the gut were correlated with day 28 mortality. CONCLUSION: Critically ill patients exhibited lung and gut microbial dysbiosis after mechanical ventilation, as evidenced by a significant decrease in lung microbial diversity and the proliferation of Enterococcaceae in the gut. Levels of fecal SCFAs in the deceased served as a marker of imbalance between commensal and pathogenic flora in the gut. These findings emphasize the clinical significance of microbial profiling in predicting the prognosis of ICU patients.

Serum mAST/ALT ratio had high predictive value for adverse outcome of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome with severe condition.

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) usually demonstrates multi-organ injury with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate associations of serum aspartate/alanine aminotransferase (AST)/ALT, cytosolic AST (cAST)/ALT and mitochondrial AST (mAST)/ALT ratios with the prognosis of SFTS patients. METHODS: A total of 355 confirmed SFTS patients were included. Clinical and laboratory data were compared between survivors and nonsurvivors. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent risk factors for fatality in all patients and those admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The predictive values of the risk factors and constructed risk models were evaluated. RESULTS: Mean age and biochemical parameters were significantly greater in nonsurvivors than in survivors. In ICU patients, the three ratios, high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (α-HBDH) were elevated markedly in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, three ratios and α-HBDH were independent risk factors for mortality in all patients. Only the three ratios were independent risk factors for death in ICU patients. Risk Models (M1, M2 and M3) and simplified models (sMs) containing the three ratios respectively had comparatively high predictive values for fatality in all patients with area under ROC curves (AUCs) > 0.85. In ICU patients, mAST/ALT ratio had the highest predictive value, sensitivity and odds ratio (OR) for mortality among three ratios. CONCLUSION: AST/ALT, cAST/ALT and mAST/ALT ratios were associated with unfavorable clinical outcome of SFTS. The prognostic value of mAST/ALT ratio was higher in severe cases.

Sestrin2 suppresses ferroptosis to alleviate septic intestinal inflammation and barrier dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: Alterations in intestinal function play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of sepsis, and the repair of the intestinal barrier is a potential strategy for the treatment of sepsis. Sestrin2 (SESN2), a highly conserved stress-responsive protein, can be induced in response to stress. AIM: This paper aimed to explore the role and mechanism of SESN2 in septic intestinal dysfunction. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from patients with septic intestinal dysfunction, and Caco-2 cells were subjected to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to construct in vitro models. The expression level of SESN2 was determined in the blood samples and cells. The impacts of SESN2 overexpression on cell inflammation, oxidative stress, barrier integrity, and MAPK/Nrf2 signaling were evaluated. To determine the mediated role of MAPK signaling and ferroptosis, AMPK inhibitor (Compound C) and ferroptosis inducer (erastin) were separately used to treat cells, and the influences on the above aspects in cells were assessed. RESULTS: The expression level of SESN2 was down-regulated in patients with septic intestinal dysfunction and LPS-induced cells. SESN2 overexpression was found to suppress cell inflammation and oxidative stress, maintain barrier integrity, and activate AMPK/Nrf2 signaling. Following the AMPK signaling was inhibited or the ferroptosis was triggered, the effects of SESN2 overexpression on the cells were both reversed. CONCLUSION: Reduced SESN2 contributed to inflammatory response and barrier dysfunction in septic intestinal dysfunction by promoting ferroptosis via activating the AMPK/Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Low serum free triiodothyronineis level predicts worse outcome of patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) caused by phlebovirus results in neuropsychiatric symptoms, multiorgan dysfunction and significant mortality. We aimed to evaluate the thyroid function in SFTS patients, elucidate its association with neuropsychiatric manifestations, disease severity, and prognosis, retrospectively. METHODS: Serum levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were compared between survivors and non-survivors, between those with and without nervous symptoms at baseline, and at baseline and remission. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine independent risk factors for mortality. A risk model based on risk factors was constructed and its prognostic value was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: A total of 207 SFTS cases with thyroid function data enrolled from January 2016 to January 2020 were included with 34 patients (16.4%) died. Baseline serum levels of FT3, TSH (p < 0.001), and FT3/FT4 ratio (p < 0.05) were significantly decreased in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Prevalence of low serum FT3 in nonsurvivors (81.8%) was greater than in survivors (41.3%). FT3 level (p < 0.001) was markedly reduced in patients with central neurological symptoms than those without. FT3 and FT4 levels were increased in remission than at baseline (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.868-0.958) and serum FT3 level (OR 3.055, 95% CI 1.494-6.248) were the independent risk factors for mortality. A risk model based on age and FT3 had a high predictive value for mortality (AUC = 0.818, 95% CI 0.795-0.868) at a cutoff value of > 3.39. CONCLUSIONS: Low serum FT3 level was associated with a worse outcome of SFTS patients.

Actively implementing an evidence-based feeding guideline for critically ill patients (NEED): a multicenter, cluster-randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous cluster-randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of implementing evidence-based guidelines for nutrition therapy in critical illness do not consistently demonstrate patient benefits. A large-scale, sufficiently powered study is therefore warranted to ascertain the effects of guideline implementation on patient-centered outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized, parallel-controlled trial in intensive care units (ICUs) across China. We developed an evidence-based feeding guideline. ICUs randomly allocated to the guideline group formed a local "intervention team", which actively implemented the guideline using standardized educational materials, a graphical feeding protocol, and live online education outreach meetings conducted by members of the study management committee. ICUs assigned to the control group remained unaware of the guideline content. All ICUs enrolled patients who were expected to stay in the ICU longer than seven days. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 28 days of enrollment. RESULTS: Forty-eight ICUs were randomized to the guideline group and 49 to the control group. From March 2018 to July 2019, the guideline ICUs enrolled 1399 patients, and the control ICUs enrolled 1373 patients. Implementation of the guideline resulted in significantly earlier EN initiation (1.20 vs. 1.55 mean days to initiation of EN; difference - 0.40 [95% CI - 0.71 to - 0.09]; P = 0.01) and delayed PN initiation (1.29 vs. 0.80 mean days to start of PN; difference 1.06 [95% CI 0.44 to 1.67]; P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality (14.2% vs. 15.2%; difference - 1.6% [95% CI - 4.3% to 1.2%]; P = 0.42) between groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this large-scale, multicenter trial, active implementation of an evidence-based feeding guideline reduced the time to commencement of EN and overall PN use but did not translate to a reduction in mortality from critical illness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN12233792 . Registered November 20th, 2017.

Multiple Magnetic Topological Phases in Bulk van der Waals Crystal MnSb_{4}Te_{7}.

The magnetic van der Waals crystals MnBi_{2}Te_{4}/(Bi_{2}Te_{3})_{n} have drawn significant attention due to their rich topological properties and the tunability by external magnetic field. Although the MnBi_{2}Te_{4}/(Bi_{2}Te_{3})_{n} family have been intensively studied in the past few years, their close relatives, the MnSb_{2}Te_{4}/(Sb_{2}Te_{3})_{n} family, remain much less explored. In this work, combining magnetotransport measurements, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and first principles calculations, we find that MnSb_{4}Te_{7}, the n=1 member of the MnSb_{2}Te_{4}/(Sb_{2}Te_{3})_{n} family, is a magnetic topological system with versatile topological phases that can be manipulated by both carrier doping and magnetic field. Our calculations unveil that its A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state stays in a Z_{2} AFM topological insulator phase, which can be converted to an inversion-symmetry-protected axion insulator phase when in the ferromagnetic (FM) state. Moreover, when this system in the FM phase is slightly carrier doped on either the electron or hole side, it becomes a Weyl semimetal with multiple Weyl nodes in the highest valence bands and lowest conduction bands, which are manifested by the measured notable anomalous Hall effect. Our work thus introduces a new magnetic topological material with different topological phases that are highly tunable by carrier doping or magnetic field.

Predictive risk score model for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome mortality based on qSOFA and SIRS scoring system.

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a severe systemic virus infectious disease usually having multi-organ dysfunction which resembles sepsis. METHODS: Data of 321 patients with laboratory-confirmed SFTS from May 2013 to July 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and clinical characteristics, calculated quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria for survivors and nonsurvivors were compared. Independent risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality were obtained using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Risk score models containing different risk factors for mortality in stratified patients were established whose predictive values were evaluated using the area under ROC curve (AUC). RESULTS: Of 321 patients, 87 died (27.1%). Age (p < 0.001) and percentage numbers of patients with qSOFA≥2 and SIRS≥2 (p < 0.0001) were profoundly greater in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Age, qSOFA score, SIRS score and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were independent risk factors for mortality for all patients. qSOFA score was the only common risk factor in all patients, those age ≥ 60 years and those enrolled in the intensive care unit (ICU). A risk score model containing all these risk factors (Model1) has high predictive value for in-hospital mortality in these three groups with AUCs (95% CI): 0.919 (0.883-0.946), 0.929 (0.862-0.944) and 0.815 (0.710-0.894), respectively. A model only including age and qSOFA also has high predictive value for mortality in these groups with AUCs (95% CI): 0.872 (0.830-0.906), 0.885(0.801-0.900) and 0.865 (0.767-0.932), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Risk models containing qSOFA have high predictive validity for SFTS mortality.

Enteral nutrition feeding in Chinese intensive care units: a cross-sectional study involving 116 hospitals.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of large-scale epidemiological data on the clinical practice of enteral nutrition (EN) feeding in China. This study aimed to provide such data on Chinese hospitals and to investigate factors associated with EN delivery. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was launched in 118 intensive care units (ICUs) of 116 mainland hospitals and conducted on April 26, 2017. At 00:00 on April 26, all patients in these ICUs were included. Demographic and clinical variables of patients on April 25 were obtained. The dates of hospitalization, ICU admission and nutrition initiation were reviewed. The outcome status 28 days after the day of investigation was obtained. RESULTS: A total of 1953 patients were included for analysis, including 1483 survivors and 312 nonsurvivors. The median study day was day 7 (IQR 2-19 days) after ICU entry. The proportions of subjects starting EN within 24, 48 and 72 h after ICU entry was 24.8% (84/352), 32.7% (150/459) and 40.0% (200/541), respectively. The proportion of subjects receiving > 80% estimated energy target within 24, 48, 72 h and 7 days after ICU entry was 10.5% (37/352), 10.9% (50/459), 11.8% (64/541) and 17.8% (162/910), respectively. Using acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) 1 as the reference in a Cox model, patients with AGI 2-3 were associated with reduced likelihood of EN initiation (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.353-0.599; p < 0.001). AGI 4 was significantly associated with lower hazard of EN administration (HR 0.056; 95% CI 0.008-0.398; p = 0.004). In a linear regression model, greater Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores (coefficient - 0.002, 95% CI - 0.008 to - 0.001; p = 0.024) and male gender (coefficient - 0.144, 95% CI - 0.203 to - 0.085; p < 0.001) were found to be associated with lower EN proportion. As compared with AGI 1, AGI 2-3 was associated with lower EN proportion (coefficient - 0.206, 95% CI - 0.273 to - 0.139; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that EN delivery was suboptimal in Chinese ICUs. More attention should be paid to EN use in the early days after ICU admission.

Immune response- and viral control-related pathways in the progression of chronic hepatitis B.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a complicated and dynamic course, and is associated with advanced liver disease. Host immune response against viral infection plays a pivotal role in the progression of CHB. However, it is still uncharted that how the hepatic transcriptomes in patients with CHB are correlated with the clinical phases. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the specific sub-networks across various phases of CHB and infer potential pathways for phenotypic outcome prediction. METHODS: In this study, we performed the pairwise comparisons of the hepatic transcriptomes of CHB patients under different phases, and constructed the differential co-expression networks (DCNs). We firstly identified the critical genes from each DCN according to the adjacency matrix of the network. Then, the specific sub-networks were digged by iteratively affiliating genes that can increase the classification accuracy, using a snow-ball sampling strategy. Permutation test was implemented to determine the statistical significance of these sub-networks. Finally, each sub-network was given a most significant functional pathway. RESULTS: We constructed 3 DCNs by pairwise comparing the hepatic transcriptomes among three CHB phases, and systemically tracked 1, 1 and 2 specific sub-networks and pathways, respectively. Relative to immune tolerant phase, TGF-beta receptor signaling in EMT (epithelial to mesenchymal transition) pathway was significantly changed in the immune clearance phase, and nuclear receptor transcription pathway and adenylate cyclase activating pathway were altered in inactive carrier state. The host genes related to DNA strand elongation showed significant difference between the immune clearance phase and inactive carrier state. CONCLUSIONS: By pairwise comparing the hepatic transcriptomes of CHB patients under a network view, several immune- and viral control-related pathways were identified in this study. These results might serve as a foundation for characterizing the host transcriptomes responded to CHB infection, and hold clues for the development of potential targets for disease control.

Score risk model for predicting severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome mortality.

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging epidemic infectious disease with high mortality in East Aisa, especially in China. To predict the prognosis of SFTS precisely is important in clinical practice. METHODS: From May 2013 to November 2015, 233 suspected SFTS patients were tested for SFTS virus using RT-PCR. Cox regression model was utilized to comfirm independent risk factors for mortality. A risk score model for mortality was constructed based on regression coefficient of risk factors. Log-rank test was used to evaluate the significance of this model. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-four patients were confirmed with SFTS, of which 40 patients died (23%). Baseline age, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and serum creatinine (sCr) level were independent risk factors of mortality. The area under ROC curve (AUCs) of these parameters for predicting death were 0.771, 0.797 and 0.764, respectively. And hazard ratio (HR) were 1.128, 1.002 and 1.013, respectively. The cutoff value of the risk model was 10. AUC of the model for predicting mortality was 0.892, with sensitivity and specificity of 82.5 and 86.6%, respectively. Log-rank test indicated strong statistical significance (×2 = 88.35, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This risk score model may be helpful to predicting the prognosis of SFTS patients.

STM study of electrical transport properties of one dimensional contacts between MnSi(~1.7) nanowires and Si(111) and (110) substrates.

We demonstrate the formation of contact barriers at the interfaces between MnSi1.7 nanowires (NWs) and Si substrates by the current-voltage (I-V) curves measured by scanning tunneling microscope with the tip contacting the NWs. The NWs on Si(110) exhibit linear reverse bias I-V curves, which suggests a parallel Ohmic surface state conductance of the Si(110) surface. The NWs on Si(111) exhibit nonlinear reverse bias I-V behavior, which indicates a considerable amount of minority carrier recombination-generation current. The NW length-dependence study of the forward bias current clearly shows that the quantitative change in NW length leads to a qualitative change in electrical transport properties. We derive a characteristic length LC ≈ 200 nm and the corresponding aspect ratio of ∼12-18 for MnSi1.7 NWs according to the variation of current density with the NW length.

WSNs data acquisition by combining hierarchical routing method and compressive sensing.

We address the problem of data acquisition in large distributed wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We propose a method for data acquisition using the hierarchical routing method and compressive sensing for WSNs. Only a few samples are needed to recover the original signal with high probability since sparse representation technology is exploited to capture the similarities and differences of the original signal. To collect samples effectively in WSNs, a framework for the use of the hierarchical routing method and compressive sensing is proposed, using a randomized rotation of cluster-heads to evenly distribute the energy load among the sensors in the network. Furthermore, L1-minimization and Bayesian compressed sensing are used to approximate the recovery of the original signal from the smaller number of samples with a lower signal reconstruction error. We also give an extensive validation regarding coherence, compression rate, and lifetime, based on an analysis of the theory and experiments in the environment with real world signals. The results show that our solution is effective in a large distributed network, especially for energy constrained WSNs.

[Correlation of hepatocyte expression of hepatitis B viral core antigen and the clinicopathological characters in chronic hepatitis B patients].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the expression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) core antigen and viral replication and liver tissue inflammation damage in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, and to analyze the relationship of core antigen expression differences with clinical and pathological features in e antigen-negative and e antigen-positive CHB patients. METHODS: Sixty-three treatment-naive patients diagnosed with CHB who underwent liver biopsy were included in this retrospective analysis. Liver pathology was assessed, and the karyotype, pulp type, and pulp karyotype were determined. Core and e antigen expression was quantitatively determined by automated immunoassay. Blood samples were used to determine the amount of peripheral lymphocytes or monocytes and HBV DNA load. Results The median titer of HBV DNA was significantly higher in the CHB patients with e antigen positivity (n = 48) than those with e antigen negativity (n = 15) (5.4 * 106 copies/ml vs. 5.4 * 104 copies/ml, P = 0.003). The core antigen positive expression rate was significantly higher in the e antigen-positive CHB patients than in the e antigen-negative CHB patients (80.33% vs. 53.33%, P = 0.042). For the e antigen-positive CHB patients, the HBV DNA titer in karyotype core antigen cases was higher than that in the pulp karyotype mixed-type cases (P = 0.008) and in the negative cases (P = 0.013); in addition, the karyotype patients showed higher titer than the plasma patients (P = 0.019). Also for the e antigen-positive CHB patients, the HBV DNA titer was positively correlated with the rank level of pulp karyotype in core antigen expression (r = 0.589, P = 0.003) but negatively correlated with lobular inflammation, interface inflammation, and fibrosis level (r = -0.552, P = 0.000; r = -0.381, P = 0.008; r = -0.555, P = 0.000); in addition, the level of peripheral blood lymphocytes was negatively correlated with lobular inflammation and fibrosis level (r = -0.361, P = 0.012; r = -0.356, P = 0.013). For the e antigen-negative CHB patients, the level of peripheral blood lymphocytes was negatively correlated with lobular inflammation and interface inflammation (r = -0.702, P = 0.004; r = -0.578, P = 0.024), while the level of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was negatively correlated with lobular inflammation, interface inflammation, and fibrosis level (r = -0.682, P = 0.005; r = -0.620, P = 0.014; r = -0.527, P = 0.044); in addition, age positively correlated with interface inflammation (r = 0.690, P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The pulp karyotype mixed-type of core antigen expression may reflect the level of HBV replication. Negative expression of core antigen may be associated with variation in pre-C or C zone. The monocyte-macrophage system may be involved in the pathogenesis of e antigen-negative CHB, while the mechanism of immune escape may play an important role in increasing HBV DNA titer in an e-antigen-negative CHB condition.

Serum programmed cell death protein 5 (PDCD5) levels is upregulated in liver diseases.

Intracellular protein molecules are detected in the blood following release from damaged cells. PDCD5 is widely expressed in most types of normal human tissue and is unregulated in cells undergoing apoptosis. It is therefore hypothesized that release of PDCD5 into the circulation might be a specific marker of apoptosis. In this study, a sandwich ELISA was developed for quantification of soluble PDCD5 protein and used to investigate serum PDCD5 levels in liver diseases. The highest levels of PDCD5 were detected in acute icteric hepatitis (AIH) patients compared with normal subjects and other detected liver diseases, such as chronic active hepatitis B (CAHB), chronic persistent hepatitis B (CPHB) and and liver cirrhosis (LC). Increased PDCD5 levels correlated well with ALT and AST in AIH and CAHB patients. In patients with CPHB, increased PDCD5 levels correlated well with AST, TBI, DBIL, and IBIL. In LC patients, PDCD5 levels correlated well with AST/ALT and DBIL. More importantly, increased PDCD5 levels were also observed in patients with normal ALT or AST levels. These data demonstrate a correlation between increased levels of PDCD5 in serum and liver disease progression and indicate the potential utility of serum PDCD5 as a biomarker for monitoring liver injury.

Semantic overlay network for large-scale spatial information indexing.

The increased demand for online services of spatial information poses new challenges to the combined filed of Computer Science and Geographic Information Science. Amongst others, these include fast indexing of spatial data in distributed networks. In this paper we propose a novel semantic overlay network for large-scale multi-dimensional spatial information indexing, called SON_LSII, which has a hybrid structure integrating a semantic quad-tree and Chord ring. The SON_LSII is a small world overlay network that achieves a very competitive trade-off between indexing efficiency and maintenance overhead. To create SON_LSII, we use an effective semantic clustering strategy that considers two aspects, i.e., the semantic of spatial information that peer holds in overlay network and physical network performances. Based on SON_LSII, a mapping method is used to reduce the multi-dimensional features into a single dimension and an efficient indexing algorithm is presented to support complex range queries of the spatial information with a massive number of concurrent users. The results from extensive experiments demonstrate that SON_LSII is superior to existing overlay networks in various respects, including scalability, maintenance, rate of indexing hits, indexing logical hops, and adaptability. Thus, the proposed SON_LSII can be used for large-scale spatial information indexing.

Robust Weak Antilocalization Effect Up to ∼120 K in the van der Waals Crystal Fe5-xGeTe2 with Near-Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism.

The van der Waals Fe5-xGeTe2 is a 3d ferromagnetic metal with a high Curie temperature of 275 K. We report herein the observation of an exceptional weak antilocalization (WAL) effect that can persist up to 120 K in an Fe5-xGeTe2 nanoflake, indicating the dual nature with both itinerant and localized magnetism of 3d electrons. The WAL behavior is characterized by the magnetoconductance peak around zero magnetic field and is supported by the calculated localized nondispersive flat band around the Fermi level. The peak to dip crossover starting around 60 K in magnetoconductance is visible, which could be ascribed to temperature-induced changes in Fe magnetic moments and the coupled electronic band structure as revealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. Our findings would be instructive for understanding the magnetic exchanges in transition metal magnets as well as for the design of next-generation room-temperature spintronic devices.

An-Luo-Hua-Xian Pill Improves the Regression of Liver Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Treated with Entecavir.

Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) can cause liver fibrosis and lead to cirrhosis and cancer. As the effectiveness of antiviral therapy to reverse liver fibrosis is limited, We aimed to evaluate the effect of An-Luo-Hua-Xian pill (ALHX) on fibrosis regression in CHB patients treated with entecavir (ETV). Methods: Treatment-naïve patients with CHB were randomly treated with ETV alone or combined with ALHX (ETV+ALHX) between October 1, 2013 and December 31, 2020. Demographic, laboratory, and liver histology data before and after 78 weeks of treatment were collected. The Ishak fibrosis score (F) was used and fibrosis regression required a decrease in F of ≥1 after treatment. Results: A total of 780 patients were enrolled, and 394 with a second liver biopsy after treatment were included in the per-protocol population, 132 in ETV group and 262 in ETV+ALHX group. After 78 weeks of treatment, the fibrosis regression rate in the ETV+ALHX group was significantly higher than that of the ETV group at baseline F≥3 patients: 124/211 (58.8%) vs. 45/98 (45.9%), p=0.035. The percentage of patients with a decreased liver stiffness measurement (LSM) was higher in the ETV+ALHX group: 156/211 (73.9%) vs. 62/98 (63.%), p=0.056. Logistic regression analysis showed that ETV combined with ALHX was associated with fibrosis regression [odds ratio (OR)=1.94, p=0.018], and a family history of hepatocellular carcinoma was on the contrary. (OR=0.41, p=0.031). Conclusions: ETV combined with ALHX increased liver fibrosis regression in CHB patients.

Increased frequency of circulating Th17 cells in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure.

BACKGROUND: T helper (Th) 17 cells participate in the pathogenesis of liver diseases but their exact role in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (ACHBLF) still remains obscure. AIMS: This present study was aimed to characterize the circulating Th17 cells and to analyze their association with disease progression in ACHBLF. METHODS: This retrospective study consisted of 40 ACHBLF patients, 40 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and 20 healthy controls. The frequency of peripheral Th17 cells and IL-17 mRNA level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were estimated by flow cytometry and relative quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: We found that the frequency of peripheral Th17 cells, as well as the level of IL-17 mRNA in PBMCs, was significantly increased in ACHBLF patients compared with CHB patients and healthy controls. In ACHBLF patients, the frequency of Th17 cells was positively correlated with serum total bilirubin (r = 0.392, P = 0.012) and model for end-stage liver disease scores (r = 0.383, P = 0.015), but negatively correlated with prothrombin activity (r = -0.317, P = 0.046). The same trend was observed as for relative expression of IL-17. Furthermore, the frequency of Th17 cells and IL-17 mRNA level were significantly elevated in non-survivors compared with survivors in ACHBLF patients. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that Th17 cells as well as IL-17 might be related with disease severity and prognosis in ACHBLF patients.