Thermal conductivity of fivefold twinned silicon-germanium heteronanowires.

The thermal transport properties of five-fold twinned (5FT) germanium-silicon (Ge-Si) heteronanowires (h-NWs) with varying cross-sectional areas, germanium (Ge) domain ratios and heterostructural patterns are investigated using homogeneous nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (HNEMD) simulations. The results demonstrate a distinctive behavior in the thermal conductivity (κ) of 5FT-NWs, characterized by a "flipped" trend at a critical cross-sectional area. This behavior is attributed to the hydrodynamic phonon flow, arising from the normal three-phonon scattering process in the low-frequency region. In addition, the composition ratio of 5FT-NWs has a significant impact on reducing the κ of 5FT-NWs and suppressing the hydrodynamic effect. Intriguingly, as the homogeneous element domains are separated, stronger phonon hydrodynamic flows are observed in comparison to the adjacent homogeneous element domains. By analyzing various phonon properties, including phonon dispersion, three-phonon scattering rate, and phonon mean free path, critical insights into the origin of the differential κ in different 5FT-NW structures are provided. The findings deepen the understanding of the thermal transport properties of nanomaterials and hold implications for the design and development of nanoelectronics and thermoelectric devices.

Pregnancy Outcomes after Uterus-sparing Operative Treatment for Adenomyosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the overall pregnancy outcomes after uterus-sparing operative treatment in patients with adenomyosis (AD). DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase for literature from January 2000 to January 2022. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: We included all studies reporting reproductive outcomes of uterine-sparing surgery for patients with AD with fertility requirements. Surgical treatment was classified as complete excision or incomplete removal of AD and nonexcisional techniques for induction of necrosis in AD. The latter included physically removing the tissue where pathology is present or disrupting the blood flow to the affected area, involving high-intensity focused ultrasound, microwave ablation, radiofrequency ablation, and uterine artery embolization. Two independent researchers performed study selection according to the screening criteria. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: A total of 13 studies with 1319 patients with AD were included in this study, comprising 795 women wishing fertility. Pooled estimates of pregnancy, miscarriage, and live-birth rates after excisional treatment for women attempting to conceive were 40% (95% confidence interval [CI], 29-52), 21% (95% CI, 16-27), and 70% (95% CI, 64-76), respectively, and corresponding rates after nonexcisional treatment were 51% (95% CI, 42-60), 22% (95% CI, 13-34), and 71% (95% CI, 57-83), respectively. The differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Excisional treatment could be a treatment consideration for patients with symptomatic AD and infertility for several years or repeated failure of assisted reproductive technology. Nonexcisional techniques may be considered probably for AD-related infertility.

Association between HLA-B*27:04 and genetic susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis in Hunan Province. / 湖南地区携带HLA-B*27꞉04ç­‰ä½åŸºå› äººç¾¤ä¸Žå¼ºç›´æ€§è„ŠæŸ±ç‚Žçš„æ˜“æ„Ÿæ€§å ·æœ‰å¼ºç›¸å ³æ€§ï¼ˆè‹±æ–‡ï¼‰.

OBJECTIVES: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27 is a susceptibility allele of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and HLA-B27 antigen typing is an important indicator for clinical diagnosis of AS, but current typing methods such as sequence specific primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP) still possess limitation. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the correlation between B27 subtypes and susceptibility to AS in Hunan Province by applying high-resolution polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT). METHODS: Peripheral blood of 116 patients with suspected AS (suspected AS group) and 121 healthy volunteers (control group) admitted to the Second Xiangya Hospital from January 2020 to December 2020 were collected for HLA-B genotyping by PCR-SBT. Among the patients in the suspected AS group, 23 patients were finally diagnosed with AS (confirmed AS group), and the remaining 93 undiagnosed patients served as the non-confirmed AS group. PCR-SBT and PCR-SSP were used to detect HLA-B27 typing in 116 patients with suspected AS, and the results of the 2 methods were compared. RESULTS: The HLA-B27 allele frequency in the suspected AS group was significantly higher than that in the control group [11.63% vs 2.48%; P<0.001, odds ratio (OR)=5.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.097 to 12.795]. B*27:04, B*27:05, B*27:06, and B*27:07 were detected in the suspected AS group and the control group. The frequency of the B*27:04 allele in the suspected AS group was significantly higher than that in the control group (9.48% vs 1.24%; P<0.001, OR=8.346, 95% CI 2.463 to 28.282). The positive rate of B27 in the suspected AS group and the confirmed AS group (B27+/+ and B27+/-) was significantly higher than that in the control group (χ2=16.579, P<0.001; χ2=94.582, P<0.001, respectively). Among the confirmed AS group, 21 were HLA-B27 carriers, and the B27 positive rate in the confirmed AS group was 91.3%. PCR-SBT could achieve high resolution typing of the HLA-B gene locus, with higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy than PCR-SSP. CONCLUSIONS: PCR-SBT typing analysis shows a strong correlation between HLA-B * 27:04 and AS in Hunan province. The PCR-SBT method can be used as the preferred option for the auxiliary diagnosis of clinical AS.

Nomograms to predict the prognosis in malignant ovarian germ cell tumors: a large cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCTs) are rare gynecologic neoplasms. The use of nomograms that are based on various clinical indicators to predict the prognosis of MOGCTs are currently lacking. METHODS: Clinical and demographic information of patients with MOGCT recorded between 2004 and 2015 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, and Cox regression analysis was performed to screen for important independent prognostic factors. Prognostic factors were used to construct predictive calculational charts for 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year overall survival (OS). The externally validated case cohort included a total of 121 MOGCT patients whose data were recorded from 2008 to 2019 from the database of the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University. RESULTS: A total of 1401 patients with MOGCT were recruited for the study. A nomogram was used to forecast the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS using data pertaining to age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging, histological subtype and grade, and surgical type. Nomograms have a more accurate predictive ability and clinical utility than FIGO staging alone. Internal and external validation also demonstrated satisfactory consistency between projected and actual OS. CONCLUSIONS: A nomogram constructed using multiple clinical indicators provided a more accurate prognosis than FIGO staging alone. This nomogram may assist clinicians in identifying patients who are at increased risk, thus implementing individualized treatment regimens.

Scalable Evaluation of Quantum-Circuit Error Loss Using Clifford Sampling.

A major challenge in developing quantum computing technologies is to accomplish high precision tasks by utilizing multiplex optimization approaches, on both the physical system and algorithm levels. Loss functions assessing the overall performance of quantum circuits can provide the foundation for many optimization techniques. In this Letter, we use the quadratic error loss and the final-state fidelity loss to characterize quantum circuits. We find that the distribution of computation error is approximately Gaussian, which in turn justifies the quadratic error loss. It is shown that these loss functions can be efficiently evaluated in a scalable way by sampling from Clifford-dominated circuits. We demonstrate the results by numerically simulating 10-qubit noisy quantum circuits with various error models as well as executing 4-qubit circuits with up to ten layers of 2-qubit gates on a superconducting quantum processor. Our results pave the way toward the optimization-based quantum device and algorithm design in the intermediate-scale quantum regime.

High-sensitivity optical fiber temperature sensor based on a dual-loop optoelectronic oscillator with the Vernier effect.

In this paper, a high-sensitivity optical fiber temperature sensor based on a dual-loop optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) with the Vernier effect has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Different from the traditional dual-loop OEOs which comprise a very long loop and a short loop to achieve low-phase noise and single-mode selection, the proposed OEO scheme has two loops with slightly different lengths and does not use any RF filters. A part of the fiber in one of the loops is used as a temperature sensing element as well as the delaying component. An obvious Vernier effect has been generated in the frequency response of the OEO. By detecting the frequency shift of the envelope peak of the measured frequency response curve, the temperature sensing interrogation of the dual-loop OEO based sensor is conducted. The experimental results show that the sensitivity of the proposed dual-loop OEO based temperature sensor can be improved from 6.625 KHz/°C for a single-loop OEO to 210.25KHz/°C by employing the Vernier effect.

Statin use and the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between statin use and the risk of ovarian or endometrial cancer remains controversial. Here, we investigated the relationship between statin use and the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis using articles retrieved from the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. All original comparative studies published in English that were related to statin use and the risk of ovarian or endometrial cancer were included. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 19 studies enrolling 1,999,362 female subjects and 19,849 cancer cases (7,948 ovarian cancer cases and 11,901 endometrial cancer cases). The overall analysis indicated that statin use did not significantly reduce the risk of ovarian cancer [relative risk (RR) = 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-1.03, p = 0.12] or the risk of endometrial cancer (RR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.78-1.00, p = 0.05.) Subgroup analyses based on study type, percentage of cancer cases, study location, and quality of studies also supported our conclusions. No association was found between long-term statin use (> 5 years) and the risk of ovarian cancer (RR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.51-1.04, p = 0.08) or endometrial cancer (RR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.58-1.08, p = 0.14). CONCLUSIONS: Statin use did not lower the risk of ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer. The long-term use of statins (> 5 years) was not associated with a reduction in the risk of ovarian or endometrial cancer.

Changing trends in the disease burden of uterine cancer globally from 1990 to 2019 and its predicted level in 25 years.

Background: We aim to evaluate the global, regional, and national burden of Uterine Cancer (UC) from 1990 to 2019. Methods: We gathered UC data across 204 countries and regions for the period 1990-2019, utilizing the Global Burden of Disease Database (GBD) 2019 public dataset. Joinpoint regression analysis was employed to pinpoint the year of the most significant changes in global trends. To project the UC trajectory from 2020 to 2044, we applied the Nordpred analysis, extrapolating based on the average trend observed in the data. Furthermore, the Bayesian Age-Period-Cohort (BAPC) model with integrated nested Laplace approximations was implemented to confirm the stability of the Nordpred analysis predictions. Results: Globally, the age-standardized rate (ASR) of incidence for UC has increased from 1990 to 2019 with an Average Annual Percentage Change (AAPC) of 0.50%. The ASR for death has declined within the same period (AAPC: -0.8%). An increase in the ASR of incidence was observed across all Socio-demographic Index (SDI) regions, particularly in High SDI regions (AAPC: 1.12%), while the ASR for death decreased in all but the Low SDI regions. Over the past 30 years, the highest incidence rate was observed in individuals aged 55-59 (AAPC: 0.76%). Among 204 countries and regions, there was an increase in the ASR of incidence in 165 countries and an increase in the ASR of deaths in 77 countries. Our projections suggest that both the incidence and death rates for UC are likely to continue their decline from 2020 to 2044. Conclusions: UC has significantly impacted global health negatively, with its influence stemming from a range of factors including geographical location, age-related and racial disparities, and SDI.

In vitro and in vivo metabolism of 3-Methoxyeticyclidine in human liver microsomes, a zebrafish model, and two human urine samples based on liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry.

3-Methoxyeticyclidine (3-MeO-PCE), a phencyclidine-type substance, has a higher N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor binding affinity than phencyclidine and an involvement in fatal intoxication cases. The aim of this study was to identify new biomarkers and biotransformation pathways for 3-MeO-PCE. In vitro models were established using zebrafish and human liver microsomes for analysis of the phases I and II metabolites of 3-MeO-PCE by liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. Urine samples of known 3-MeO-PCE consumers in forensic cases were then subjected to analysis. Overall, 14 metabolites were identified in zebrafish and human liver microsomes, allowing postulation of the following metabolic pathways: hydroxylation, O-demethylation, N-dealkylation, dehydrogenation, combination, and glucuronidation or sulfation. 3-MeO-PCE and three metabolites (M2, M3, and M6) were detected in urine. We recommended M2 (the hydroxylation product) as a potential biomarker for documenting 3-MeO-PCE intake in clinical and forensic cases.

Achieving high nitrogen and antibiotics removal efficiency by nZVI-C in partial nitritation/anammox system with a single-stage membrane-aerated biofilm reactor.

This study innovated constructed an activated carbon-loaded nano-zero-valent iron (nZVI-C) enhanced membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) coupled partial nitritation/anammox (PN/A) system for optimizing nitrogen and antibiotics removal. Results showed that nitrogen and antibiotic removal efficiencies of 88.45 ± 0.14% and 89.90 ± 3.07% were obtained by nZVI-C, respectively. nZVI-C hastened Nitrosomonas enrichment (relative abundance raised from 2.85% to 12.28%) by increasing tryptophan content in EPS. Furthermore, nZVI-C proliferated amo gene by 3.92 times and directly generated electrons, stimulating Ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) co-metabolism activity. Concurrently, via antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) horizontal transfer, Nitrosomonas synergized with Arenimonas and Comamonadaceae for efficient antibiotic removal. Moreover, nZVI-C mitigated antibiotics inhibition of electron transfer by proliferating genes for PN and anammox electron production (hao, hdh) and utilization (amo, hzs, nir). That facilitated electron transfer and synergistic substrate conversion between ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AnAOB). Finally, the high nitrogen removal efficiency of the MABR-PN/A system was achieved.

Rapid cycle deliberate practice: application in forceps simulation training for gynecology and obstetrics residents.

BACKGROUND: Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice (RCDP) has gained prominence in recent years as an innovative teaching method in simulation-based training for adult and pediatric emergency medical skills. However, its application in the training of forceps delivery skills among obstetrics and gynecology residents remains unexplored. This study aimed to assess the impact of RCDP in this domain. METHODS: Conducted in March 2021, this randomized controlled study involved 60 second-year obstetrics and gynecology residents undergoing standardized training. Participants were randomly assigned to the RCDP group or the traditional teaching method (TTM) group, each comprising 30 residents. The RCDP group followed the RCDP practice mode, while the TTM group adhered to conventional simulation teaching. Post-training assessment of operational proficiency was conducted immediately and after one year. Independent operational confidence and training satisfaction were evaluated through questionnaire surveys and the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience (SSE) scale. Data analysis utilized SPSS 23.0. RESULTS: The RCDP group displayed significantly higher immediate post-training forceps operation scores compared to the TTM group (92.00 [range: 90.00-94.00] vs. 88.00 [range: 86.75-92.00]; z = 3.79; p < .001). However, no significant difference emerged in forceps operation scores after one year (86.00 [range: 85.00-88.00] vs. 85.50 [range: 84.00-88.25]; z = 0.54; p = .59). The RCDP group exhibited notable performance improvement over the TTM group (z = 3.49; p < .001). Independent operation confidence showed no significant discrepancy (p > .05). Importantly, the RCDP group reported higher satisfaction scores, particularly in the Debriefing and Reflection subscale (44.00 [range: 43.00-45.00] vs. 41.00 [range: 41.50-43.00]; z = 5.24; p < .001), contributing to an overall superior SSE score (z = 4.74; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: RCDP exhibits immediate efficacy in elevating forceps delivery skills among residents. However, sustained skill enhancement necessitates innovative approaches, while RCDP's value lies in tailored feedback and reflection for enriched medical education.

Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice (RCDP) demonstrates immediate effectiveness in enhancing forceps delivery skills among obstetrics and gynecology residents, leading to improved immediate performance, which also increased their satisfaction with the teaching process and operational confidence.Long-term skill retention through RCDP appears limited, highlighting the importance of ongoing reinforcement to prevent skill decay and maintain proficiency.

Insights into the mechanical stability of tetrahydrofuran hydrates from experimental, machine learning, and molecular dynamics perspectives.

Natural gas hydrates (NGHs) hold immense potential as a future energy resource and for sustainable applications such as gas capture and storage. Due to the challenging formation conditions, however, their mechanical properties remain poorly understood. Herein, the mechanical characteristics of tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrates, a proxy for methane hydrates, were investigated at different ice contents, strain rates, and temperatures using uniaxial compressive experiments. The results unveil a distinct behavior in the peak strength of THF hydrates with a varying ice content, strain rate and temperature, exhibiting an increase as the strain rate and temperature decrease, in contrast to the peak strength-strain rate relationship observed in polycrystalline ice. Based on the experimental data, four machine learning (ML) models including extreme gradient boosting (XGboost), multilayer perceptron (MLP), gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) and decision tree (DT) were developed to predict the peak strength. The XGboost model demonstrates superior predictive performance, emphasizing the significant influence of ice content and temperature on the peak strength of hydrates. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed to gain insights into the dissociation and formation processes of clathrate cages, as well as phase transitions and amorphization occurring at grain boundaries (GBs) involving diverse unconventional clathrate cages, including 51265, 4151062, 4151064, 425861 and 425862, with 425861 and 425862 cages being predominant. This study enhances our understanding of the mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of hydrates and provides a ML-based predictive framework for estimating the compressive strength of hydrates under diverse coupling conditions. The findings have significant implications for stability assessments of NGHs and the exploitation of NGH resources.

Enhanced quantum state transfer by circumventing quantum chaotic behavior.

The ability to realize high-fidelity quantum communication is one of the many facets required to build generic quantum computing devices. In addition to quantum processing, sensing, and storage, transferring the resulting quantum states demands a careful design that finds no parallel in classical communication. Existing experimental demonstrations of quantum information transfer in solid-state quantum systems are largely confined to small chains with few qubits, often relying upon non-generic schemes. Here, by using a superconducting quantum circuit featuring thirty-six tunable qubits, accompanied by general optimization procedures deeply rooted in overcoming quantum chaotic behavior, we demonstrate a scalable protocol for transferring few-particle quantum states in a two-dimensional quantum network. These include single-qubit excitation, two-qubit entangled states, and two excitations for which many-body effects are present. Our approach, combined with the quantum circuit's versatility, paves the way to short-distance quantum communication for connecting distributed quantum processors or registers, even if hampered by inherent imperfections in actual quantum devices.

[Expression and clinical significance of E-cadherin and ß-catenin in the vulvar squamous cell carcinoma tissues].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin in the Vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) tissues. METHODS: A total of 63 documented paraffin blocks of VSCC (n=41), vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (n=22), vulvar negative cutting edge tissues (n=10) diagnosed in department of pathology of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University from January 2005 to April 2012 were enrolled. EliVision immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin in the three groups. Then to do a statistical analysis among the expression of them with patients' menopause status, pathological grade, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyse the expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin in the vulvar lesion tissues. RESULTS: The abnormal immunoreactivity for E-cadherin [46%(19/41), 64% (14/22)] and ß-catenin [61% (25/41), 68% (15/22)] in VSCC and VINII-III were found, which were significantly different from that in normal epithelium samples (P<0.05). The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin have no statistically significant difference between VSCC group and VINII-III group (P>0.05). The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin were collected with tumor pathological grade and lymph node metastasis status (all P<0.05). The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin have no statistically significant difference between menopause and the surgical stage of patients (all P>0.05). The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin have a significant positive correlation in the same sample in the VSCC tissue (r=0.543, P=0.000). The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin have no correlation in the VINII-III tissue (r=0.295, P=0.182). CONCLUSIONS: The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin may occurs frequently in the VSCC. The abnormal expression of E-cadherin and ß-catenin have correlation with vulvar cancer pathological grade and lymph node metastasis, which may be important mechanisms promoting the invasion and metastasis of VSCC.

Mitigating mechanism of nZVI-C on the inhibition of anammox consortia under long-term tetracycline hydrochloride stress: Extracellular polymeric substance properties and microbial community evolution.

In this study, activated carbon-loaded nano-zero-valent iron (nZVI-C) composites were added to anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (AnAOB) to overcome the inhibition of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Results showed that 500 mg L-1 nZVI-C effectively mitigated the long-term inhibition of 1.5 mg L-1 TCH on AnAOB and significantly improved the total nitrogen removal efficiency (TNRE) (from 65.27% to 86.99%). Spectroscopic analysis revealed that nZVI-C increased the content of N-H and CO groups in EPS, which contributed to the adsorption of TCH. The accumulation of humic acid-like substances in EPS was also conducive to strengthening the extracellular defense level. In addition, TCH-degrading bacteria (Clostridium and Mycobacterium) were enriched in situ, and the abundance of Ca. Brocadia was significantly increased (from 10.69% to 18.59%). Furthermore, nZVI-C increased the abundance of genes encoding tetracycline inactivation (tetX), promoted mineralization of TCH by 90%, weakening the inhibition of TCH on microbial nitrogen metabolism. nZVI-C accelerated the electron consumption of anammox bacteria by upregulating the abundance of electron generation genes (nxrA, hdh) and providing electrons directly.

Effectiveness and safety of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Studies in recent years have shown that PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors may have better effectiveness in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. The effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors is thought to be related to mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) and mismatch repair-proficient (pMMR) classification in advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in patients classified as dMMR and pMMR. Methods: Medical databases were searched to identify relevant publications up to 30 November 2022. The primary outcome was comparison of objective response rate (ORR) in patients with dMMR and pMMR following treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors; secondary outcomes were single-group ORR in patients with dMMR and in patients with pMMR, respectively. Results: Eleven studies were eligible for analysis and patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with molecular classification of dMMR had a higher total ORR than those with pMMR [odds ratio (OR), 7.70; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.22-18.38; p < 0.01], with low evidence of between-study heterogeneity (I2 = 0%). The total ORR of patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with molecular type dMMR was 51.9% (95% CI, 33.6%-69.9%). The overall ORR of patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with molecular type pMMR was 16.1% (95% CI, 5.5%-30.3%). Conclusion: In our including studies, the patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer with molecular types of dMMR and pMMR, following treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, the total ORR of patients with dMMR was higher than that of patients with pMMR. Since the current number of studies is not very large, it is possible that more studies will be published in the future and more precise results will be discussed further.

Enhancing postpartum hemorrhage prediction in pernicious placenta previa: a comparative study of magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound nomogram.

Objective: To explore the risk factors of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in patients with pernicious placenta previa (PPP) and to develop and validate a clinical and imaging-based predictive model. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients diagnosed surgically and pathologically with PPP between January 2018 and June 2022. All patients underwent PPP magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound scoring in the second trimester and before delivery, and were categorized into two groups according to PPH occurrence. The total imaging score and sub-item prediction models of the MRI risk score/ultrasound score were used to construct Models A and B/Models C and D. Models E and F were the total scores of the MRI combined with the ultrasound risk and sub-item prediction model scores. Model G was based on the subscores of MRI and ultrasound with the introduction of clinical data. Univariate logistic regression analysis and the logical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) model were used to construct models. The receiver operating characteristic curve andision curve analysis (DCA) were drawn, and the model with the strongest predictive ability and the best clinical effect was selected to construct a nomogram. Internal sampling was used to verify the prediction model's consistency. Results: 158 patients were included and the predictive power and clinical benefit of Models B and D were better than those of Models A and C. The results of the area under the curve of Models B, D, E, F, and G showed that Model G was the best, which could reach 0.93. Compared with Model F, age, vaginal hemorrhage during pregnancy, and amniotic fluid volume were independent risk factors for PPH in patients with PPP (p < 0.05). We plotted the DCA of Models B, D, E, F, and G, which showed that Model G had better clinical benefits and that the slope of the calibration curve of Model G was approximately 45°. Conclusion: LASSO regression nomogram based on clinical risk factors and multiple conventional ultrasound plus MRI signs has a certain guiding significance for the personalized prediction of PPH in patients with PPP before delivery.

Predicting mechanical properties of CO2hydrates: machine learning insights from molecular dynamics simulations.

Understanding the mechanical properties of CO2hydrate is crucial for its diverse sustainable applications such as CO2geostorage and natural gas hydrate mining. In this work, classic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are employed to explore the mechanical characteristics of CO2hydrate with varying occupancy rates and occupancy distributions of guest molecules. It is revealed that the mechanical properties, including maximum stress, critical strain, and Young's modulus, are not only affected by the cage occupancy rate in both large 51262and small 512cages, but also by the distribution of guest molecules within the cages. Specifically, the presence of vacancies in the 51262large cages significantly impacts the overall mechanical stability compared to 512small cages. Furthermore, four distinct machine learning (ML) models trained using MD results are developed to predict the mechanical properties of CO2hydrate with different cage occupancy rates and cage occupancy distributions. Through analyzing ML results, as-developed ML models highlight the importance of the distribution of guest molecules within the cages, as crucial contributor to the overall mechanical stability of CO2hydrate. This study contributes new knowledge to the field by providing insights into the mechanical properties of CO2hydrates and their dependence on cage occupancy rates and cage occupancy distributions. The findings have implications for the sustainable applications of CO2hydrate, and as-developed ML models offer a practical framework for predicting the mechanical properties of CO2hydrate in different scenarios.

Analysis of Antibodies Induced after SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Using Antigen Coded Bead Array Luminex Technology.

Objectives. Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019, nearly 12.2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered worldwide; however, the humoral immune responses induced by different types of vaccines are yet to be fully validated. Methods. We analyzed antibody levels in 100 serum samples after vaccination with different types of COVID-19 vaccines and their reactivity against the RBD antigen of Delta and Omicron variants using a bead-based microarray. Results. Elevated levels of anti-wild-type (WT)-RBD IgG and anti-WT-NP IgG were detected in participants who received two doses of the inactivated vaccines (CoronaVac or BBIBP-CorV) and three doses of the recombinant spike protein vaccine (ZF2001), indicating that antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 were generated regardless of the vaccine administered. We found highly correlated levels of serum anti-RBD IgG and anti-NP IgG (r = 0.432, p < 0.001). We observed that the antibodies produced in vivo after COVID-19 vaccination still reacted with variants of SARS-CoV-2 (p < 0.0001). Conclusions. Our results show that high levels of specific antibodies can be produced after completion of COVID-19 vaccination (two doses of the inactivated vaccines or three doses of ZF2001), with some degree of cross-reactivity to the RBD antigen of Delta and Omicron variants, and provide an accessible and practical experimental method for post-vaccination antibody detection.

Electric field as a crystallization switch of heterogeneous ice formation.

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the effect of external electric field on ice formation with the present of a substrate surface. It turns out that the electric field can affect the ice formation on substrate surface by altering the dipole orientation of interfacial water molecules (IWs): a crossover from inhibiting to promoting ice formation with the increase of electric field strength. According to the influence of the electric field on ice formation, the electric field strength range of 0.0 V nm-1-7.0 V nm-1can be divided into three regions. In the region I and region III, there are both ice formation on the substrate surface. While, the behavior of IWs in the region I and region III are distinguished, including the arrangements of oxygen atoms and the dipole orientation distribution. In region II, ice formation does not occur in the system within 5 × 200 ns simulations. The IWs show a disorder structure, preventing the ice formation process on substrate. The interfacial water molecular orientation distribution and two-dimensional free energy landscape reveals that the electric field can alter the dipole orientation of the interfacial water and lead a free energy barrier, making the ice formation process harder. Our result demonstrates the external electric field can regulate the behavior of IWs, and further affect the ice formation process. The external electric field act as a crystallization switch of ice formation on substrate, shedding light into the studies on the control of ice crystallization.