Inhibition of circRNA NGFR promotes ferroptosis in gallbladder carcinoma cells.

Background: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a formidably aggressive malignancy. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play crucial regulatory roles in cancer. NGFR is a novel circRNA implicated in various types of cancers. The primary goal of this study was to elucidate the role of NGFR in GBC. Methods: NGFR variants exhibiting discernible discrepancies were identified using RNA sequencing and validated using real-time PCR. Cell proliferation was assessed using 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine and Cell Counting Kit-8 assays. The ferroptotic phenotype was characterized by assessing the reactive oxygen species and Fe2+ levels. Western blotting was used to analyze ferroptosis-associated proteins. Superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, and glutathione levels were measured using commercially available reagent kits. The severity of mitochondrial damage was evaluated by assessing JC-1, MitoSOX, and ATP activities. Results: NGFR was upregulated, and its suppression inhibited cell proliferation and increased Fe2+ levels in GBC cells. Furthermore, NGFR downregulation disrupted mitochondrial function. Conclusion: Circular RNA NGFR can impede the advancement of GBC by modulating the ferroptotic phenotype, thereby potentially offering a novel avenue for the clinical diagnosis and treatment strategies of GBC.

Acetylation- and ubiquitination-regulated SFMBT2 acts as a tumor suppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common kidney tumor. The analysis from medical database showed that Scm-like with four MBT domains protein 2 (SFMBT2) was decreased in advanced clear cell RCC cases, and its downregulation was associated with the poor prognosis. This study aims to investigate the role of SFMBT2 in clear cell RCC. METHODS: The expression of SFMBT2 in clear cell RCC specimens were determined by immunohistochemistry staining and western blot. The overexpression and knockdown of SFMBT2 was realized by infection of lentivirus loaded with SFMBT2 coding sequence or silencing fragment in 786-O and 769-P cells, and its effects on proliferation and metastasis were assessed by MTT, colony formation, flow cytometry, wound healing, transwell assay, xenograft and metastasis experiments in nude mice. The interaction of SFMBT2 with histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) and seven in absentia homolog 1 (SIAH1) was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. RESULTS: In our study, SFMBT2 exhibited lower expression in clear cell RCC specimens with advanced stages than those with early stages. Overexpression of SFMBT2 inhibited the growth and metastasis of clear cell RCC cells, 786-O and 769-P, in vitro and in vivo, and its silencing displayed opposites effects. HDAC3 led to deacetylation of SFMBT2, and the HDAC3 inhibitor-induced acetylation prevented SFMBT2 from SIAH1-mediated ubiquitination modification and proteasome degradation. K687 in SFMBT2 protein molecule may be the key site for acetylation and ubiquitination. CONCLUSIONS: SFMBT2 exerted an anti-tumor role in clear cell RCC cells, and HDAC3-mediated deacetylation promoted SIAH1-controlled ubiquitination of SFMBT2. SFMBT2 may be considered as a novel clinical diagnostic marker and/or therapeutic target of clear cell RCC, and crosstalk between its post-translational modifications may provide novel insights for agent development.

Treatment of landfill leachate by black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae and the changes of intestinal microbial community.

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia illucens) are commonly used to treat organic waste. This work aims to evaluate the transformation effect, heavy metal migration, and alterations in the gut microbiota of BSFL in addition to treating landfill leachate (LL) with BSFL. We found that BSFL may grow in various landfill leachate concentrations without obvious toxicity and growth inhibition. In addition, the results indicated a significant increase in the content of ammonia nitrogen and the activity of urease and ß-glucosidase (ß-GC) in LL, increased from 2570.17 mg/L to 5853.67 mg/L, 1859.17 mg/(g·d) to 517,177.98 mg/(g·d), 313.73 µg/(g·h) to 441.91 µg/(g·h) respectively. Conversely, the content of total nitrogen (TN) and total organic carbon (TOC) decreased in LL, decreasing by 31.24% and 29.45% respectively. Heavy metals are accumulated in the leachate by the BSFL to differing degrees, the descending sequence of accumulation is Cd > As > Cu > Cr. As dropped by 26.0%, Cd increased by 22.6%, Cu reduced by 5.23%, and Cr increased by 317.1% in the remaining matrix. The concentration of heavy metals satisfies the organic fertilizers' limit index (NY/T1978). The diversity of intestinal microorganisms in BSFL decreased, from 2819 OTUs to 2338 OTUs, with Providencia and Morganella emerging as the core flora. The gene abundance of nitrogen metabolism in the microbiota increased significantly. The TOC, ß-GC, and Copper (Cu) content in BSFL correlated significantly with the gut microbiota. In Summary, this study revealed the treatment effect of BSFL on LL, the migration of heavy metals, and changes in the intestinal microorganisms of BSFL. The content of heavy metals in BSFL was found to be much lower than the upper limit of feed protein raw materials, demonstrating that BSFL is a sustainable method to treat LL.

Liver fibrosis automatic diagnosis utilizing dense-fusion attention contrastive learning network.

BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis poses a significant public health challenge given its elevated incidence and associated mortality rates. Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) serves as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for supporting the identification of liver fibrosis. Deep learning, as a computer-aided diagnostic technology, can assist in recognizing the stage of liver fibrosis by extracting abstract features from DWI images. However, gathering samples is often challenging, posing a common dilemma in previous research. Moreover, previous studies frequently overlooked the cross-comparison information and latent connections among different DWI parameters. Thus, it is becoming a challenge to identify effective DWI parameters and dig potential features from multiple categories in a dataset with limited samples. PURPOSE: A self-defined Multi-view Contrastive Learning Network is developed to automatically classify multi-parameter DWI images and explore synergies between different DWI parameters. METHODS: A Dense-fusion Attention Contrastive Learning Network (DACLN) is designed and used to recognize DWI images. Concretely, a multi-view contrastive learning framework is constructed to train and extract features from raw multi-parameter DWI. Besides, a Dense-fusion module is designed to integrate feature and output predicted labels. RESULTS: We evaluated the performance of the proposed model on a set of real clinical data and analyzed the interpretability by Grad-CAM and annotation analysis, achieving average scores of 0.8825, 0.8702, 0.8933, 0.8727, and 0.8779 for accuracy, precision, recall, specificity and F-1 score. Of note, the experimental results revealed that IVIM-f, CTRW-ß, and MONO-ADC exhibited significant recognition ability and complementarity. CONCLUSION: Our method achieves competitive accuracy in liver fibrosis diagnosis using the limited multi-parameter DWI dataset and finds three types of DWI parameters with high sensitivity for diagnosing liver fibrosis, which suggests potential directions for future research.

Suppression of lysosome metabolism-meditated GARP/TGF-ß1 complexes specifically depletes regulatory T cells to inhibit breast cancer metastasis.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) prevent autoimmunity and contribute to cancer progression. They exert contact-dependent inhibition of immune cells through the production of active transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1). However, the absence of a specific surface marker makes inhibiting the production of active TGF-ß1 to specifically deplete human Tregs but not other cell types a challenge. TGF-ß1 in an inactive form binds to Tregs membrane protein Glycoprotein A Repetitions Predominant (GARP) and then activates it via an unknown mechanism. Here, we demonstrated that tumour necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 3 interacting protein 3 (TRAF3IP3) in the Treg lysosome is involved in this activation mechanism. Using a novel naphthalenelactam-platinum-based anticancer drug (NPt), we developed a new synergistic effect by suppressing ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member 9 (ABCB9) and TRAF3IP3-mediated divergent lysosomal metabolic programs in tumors and human Tregs to block the production of active GARP/TGF-ß1 for remodeling the tumor microenvironment. Mechanistically, NPt is stored in Treg lysosome to inhibit TRAF3IP3-meditated GARP/TGF-ß1 complex activation to specifically deplete Tregs. In addition, by promoting the expression of ABCB9 in lysosome membrane, NPt inhibits SARA/p-SMAD2/3 through CHRD-induced TGF-ß1 signaling pathway. In addition to expose a previously undefined divergent lysosomal metabolic program-meditated GARP/TGF-ß1 complex blockade by exploring the inherent metabolic plasticity, NPt may serve as a therapeutic tool to boost unrecognized Treg-based immune responses to infection or cancer via a mechanism distinct from traditional platinum drugs and currently available immune-modulatory antibodies.

OSTF1 knockdown mitigates IL-1ß-induced chondrocyte injury via inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related joint disease characterized by progressive heterogeneous changes in articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Osteoclast stimulating factor 1 (OSTF1) is a small intracellular protein involved in bone formation and bone resorption. However, to our best knowledge, its role in OA is still unclear. In this study, an OA rat model was established by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ALCT). OSTF1 was increased in the cartilage tissues of OA patients and OA rats. Next, the role of OSTF1 in interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß)-induced chondrocyte apoptosis, inflammation and extracellular matrix degradation was explored through loss of function assays. Strikingly, OSTF1 knockdown relieved IL-1ß-induced chondrocyte apoptosis, with decreased cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP levels. Besides, OSTF1 knockdown restrained IL-1ß-induced inflammation and degradation of extracellular matrix of chondrocytes. Subsequently, the molecular mechanism of OSTF1 was explored. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the potential gene network map regulated by OSTF1 knockdown. Some differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in regulating the NF-κB signaling pathway. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that OSTF1 knockdown inhibited IL-1ß-activated the NF-κB signaling pathway. Ultimately, we analyzed the potential gene network map regulated by OSTF1 and its downstream NF-κB. Bioinformatics analysis showed that 18 DEGs in OSTF1-silenced chondrocytes overlapped with the NF-κB downstream targets. Collectively, our findings indicate that OSTF1 knockdown mitigates IL-1ß-induced chondrocyte injury via inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Heart Sound Abnormality Detection From Multi-Institutional Collaboration: Introducing a Federated Learning Framework.

OBJECTIVE: Early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases is a crucial task in medical practice. With the application of computer audition in the healthcare field, artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied to clinical non-invasive intelligent auscultation of heart sounds to provide rapid and effective pre-screening. However, AI models generally require large amounts of data which may cause privacy issues. Unfortunately, it is difficult to collect large amounts of healthcare data from a single centre. METHODS: In this study, we propose federated learning (FL) optimisation strategies for the practical application in multi-centre institutional heart sound databases. The horizontal FL is mainly employed to tackle the privacy problem by aligning the feature spaces of FL participating institutions without information leakage. In addition, techniques based on deep learning have poor interpretability due to their "black-box" property, which limits the feasibility of AI in real medical data. To this end, vertical FL is utilised to address the issues of model interpretability and data scarcity. CONCLUSION: Experimental results demonstrate that, the proposed FL framework can achieve good performance for heart sound abnormality detection by taking the personal privacy protection into account. Moreover, using the federated feature space is beneficial to balance the interpretability of the vertical FL and the privacy of the data. SIGNIFICANCE: This work realises the potential of FL from research to clinical practice, and is expected to have extensive application in the federated smart medical system.

A Multiview Brain Network Transformer Fusing Individualized Information for Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis.

Functional connectivity (FC) networks, built from analyses of resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), serve as efficacious biomarkers for identifying Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) patients. Given the neurobiological heterogeneity across individuals and the unique presentation of ASD symptoms, the fusion of individualized information into diagnosis becomes essential. However, this aspect is overlooked in most methods. Furthermore, the existing methods typically focus on studying direct pairwise connections between brain ROIs, while disregarding interactions between indirectly connected neighbors. To overcome above challenges, we build common FC and individualized FC by tangent pearson embedding (TP) and common orthogonal basis extraction (COBE) respectively, and present a novel multiview brain transformer (MBT) aimed at effectively fusing common and individualized information of subjects. MBT is mainly constructed by transformer layers with diffusion kernel (DK), fusion quality-inspired weighting module (FQW), similarity loss and orthonormal clustering fusion readout module (OCFRead). DK transformer can incorporate higher-order random walk methods to capture wider interactions among indirectly connected brain regions. FQW promotes adaptive fusion of features between views, and similarity loss and OCFRead are placed on the last layer to accomplish the ultimate integration of information. In our method, TP, DK and FQW modules all help to model wider connectivity in the brain that make up for the shortcomings of traditional methods. We conducted experiments on the public ABIDE dataset based on AAL and CC200 respectively. Our framework has shown promising results, outperforming state-of-the-art methods on both templates. This suggests its potential as a valuable approach for clinical ASD diagnosis.

Targeting of SUMOylation leads to cBAF complex stabilization and disruption of the SS18::SSX transcriptome in Synovial Sarcoma.

Synovial Sarcoma (SS) is driven by the SS18::SSX fusion oncoprotein. and is ultimately refractory to therapeutic approaches. SS18::SSX alters ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling BAF (mammalian SWI/SNF) complexes, leading to the degradation of canonical (cBAF) complex and amplified presence of an SS18::SSX-containing non-canonical BAF (ncBAF or GBAF) that drives an SS-specific transcription program and tumorigenesis. We demonstrate that SS18::SSX activates the SUMOylation program and SSs are sensitive to the small molecule SAE1/2 inhibitor, TAK-981. Mechanistically, TAK-981 de-SUMOylates the cBAF subunit SMARCE1, stabilizing and restoring cBAF on chromatin, shifting away from SS18::SSX-ncBAF-driven transcription, associated with DNA damage and cell death and resulting in tumor inhibition across both human and mouse SS tumor models. TAK-981 synergized with cytotoxic chemotherapy through increased DNA damage, leading to tumor regression. Targeting the SUMOylation pathway in SS restores cBAF complexes and blocks the SS18::SSX-ncBAF transcriptome, identifying a therapeutic vulnerability in SS, positioning the in-clinic TAK-981 to treat SS.

CB1 receptor mediates anesthetic drug ketamine­induced neuroprotection against glutamate in HT22 cells.

The anesthetic drug, ketamine (KTM) has been shown to induce therapeutic effects against major depressive disorder (MDD), however the related underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, HT22 neuronal cells were treated with glutamate to imitate oxidative stress injury in MDD, and it was hypothesized that the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor mediates KTM-induced neuroprotection via ameliorating mitochondrial function in glutamate-treated neuronal cells. Compared with the control, glutamate decreased cell viability and intracellular antioxidants, including glutathione (GSH), catalase and superoxide dismutase 2 levels, and inhibited mitochondrial function simultaneously. Moreover, glutamate increased lactate dehydrogenase release, cellular apoptosis level, cleaved caspase-3 expression and intracellular oxidants, such as reactive oxygen species, oxidized GSH and mitochondrial superoxide in the cells. The presence of KTM, however, significantly decreased the glutamate-induced oxidative stress injury, ameliorated the antioxidant/oxidant levels in the cells, enhanced mitochondrial function and upregulated CB1 receptor expression (P<0.05). Co-administration of the CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 markedly abolished the KTM-induced cytoprotective effects and ameliorations of antioxidant/oxidant levels and mitochondrial function, and also reversed CB1 upregulation (P<0.05). These observations indicated that KTM decreases the oxidative stress injury caused by glutamate in HT22 neuronal cells, and the neuroprotective effects may be mediated by the CB1 receptor.

Portable Mass Spectrometry for On-site Detection of Hazardous Volatile Organic Compounds via Robotic Extractive Sampling.

Various hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are frequently released into environments during accidental events that cause many hazards to ecosystems and humans. Therefore, rapid, sensitive, and on-site detection of hazardous VOCs is crucial to understand their compositions, characteristics, and distributions in complex environments. However, manual handling of hazardous VOCs remains a challenging task, because of the inaccessible environments and health risk. In this work, we designed a quadruped robotic sampler to reach different complex environments for capturing trace hazardous VOCs using a needle trap device (NTD) by remote manipulation. The captured samples were rapidly identified by portable mass spectrometry (MS) within minutes. Rapid detection of various hazardous VOCs including toxicants, chemical warfare agents, and burning materials from different environments was successfully achieved using this robot-MS system. On-site detection of 83 typical hazardous VOCs was examined. Acceptable analytical performances including low detection limits (at subng/mL level), good reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) < 20%, n = 6), excellent quantitative ability (R2 > 0.99), and detection speed (within minutes) were also obtained. Our results show that the robot-MS system has excellent performance including safety, controllability, applicability, and robustness under dangerous chemical conditions.

METHANOL STEAM REFORMING FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION OVER Ni-BASED CATALYSTS: STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW AND FUTURE PROSPECTS.

With increasing global emphasis on environmental sustainability, the reliance on traditional energy sources such as coal, natural gas, and oil is encountering significant challenges. H2, known for its high energy content and pollution-free usage, emerges as a promising alternative. However, despite the great potential of H2, approximately 95% of hydrogen production still depends on non-renewable resources. Hence, the shift towards producing H2 from renewable sources, particularly through methods like steam reforming of methanol - a renewable resource - represents a beacon of hope for advancing sustainable energy practices. This review comprehensively examines recent advancements in efficient H2 production using Ni-based catalysts in methanol steam reforming (MSR) and proposes the future prospects. Firstly, the fundamental principles of MSR technology and the significance in clean energy generation are elucidated. Subsequently, the design, synthesis techniques, and optimization strategies for enhancing the catalytic performance of Ni-based catalysts are discussed. Through the analysis of various catalyst compositions, structural adjustments, surface active sites, and modification methods, the review uncovers effective approaches for boosting the activity and durability of MSR reactions. By offering a comprehensive critical analysis, this review serves as a valuable reference to enhance MSR hydrogen production efficiency and catalyst performance.

[Evaluation of the feasibility of endoscopic tympanoplasty in two-person three-hand operation].

Objective:To study the difference of postoperative efficacy between two-person three-hand ear endoscopy and microscopic tympanoplasty in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media, and to explore the advantages and disadvantages of two-person three-hand ear endoscopy. Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on 100 patients who underwent tympanoplasty in the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of Hunan People's Hospital from April 2019 to March 2023, and they were divided into 2 groups with 50 cases each according to random number table method. Among them, 50 cases underwent endoscopic tympanoplasty in two-person three-hand（group A） and 50 cases underwent routine microscopic tympanoplasty（group B）. The operation and postoperative conditions of the two groups were followed up. Results:In group A, the mean operation time was（65.78±18.21） min, the mean intraoperative blood loss was（12.94±4.46） mL, the postoperative pain score was（1.82±0.60） points, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was（2.76±0.72） d. The mean operation time of group B was（89.45±20.38） min, the mean intraoperative blood loss was（22.78±5.74） mL, the postoperative pain score was（2.98±0.85） points, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was（3.82±0.75） d, which with statistical significance between the two groups（P<0.05）. Hearing in both groups was significantly improved 6 months after surgery, and the difference was statistically significant before and after surgery（P<0.05）, but there was no significant difference between the two groups before surgery and 6 months after surgery（P>0.05）. There were 2 cases in group A（4%） and 1 case in group B（2%） complicated with tympanic cord injury during operation, and the difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）. There were 47 cases of A group（94%） of one-time healing of tympanic membrane after operation, 48 cases（96%） of group B, and the difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）. Conclusion:There is no significant difference in cure rate and hearing improvement between two-person three-hand ear endoscopic tympanoplasty and conventional microscope surgery, and the operation time is significantly shortened, the amount of blood loss is less, and the postoperative recovery is faster. It has the advantages of clear operating field, two-person three-hand operation, minimally invasive, and can reach the range of middle ear tympanic sinus and mastoid apex, and the surgical complications are seldom, which is worth promoting.

Preoperative systemic immune-inflammation index-based nomogram for lung carcinoma following microwave ablation -a real world single center study.

Background: The preoperative inflammatory condition significantly influences the prognosis of malignancies. We aimed to investigate the potential significance of preoperative inflammatory biomarkers in forecasting the long-term results of lung carcinoma after microwave ablation (MWA). Method: This study included patients who received MWA treatment for lung carcinoma from Jan. 2012 to Dec. 2020. We collected demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome information. To assess the predictive capacity of inflammatory biomarkers, we utilized the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) and assessed the predictive potential of inflammatory biomarkers in forecasting outcomes through both univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses. Results: A total of 354 individuals underwent MWA treatment, of which 265 cases were included in this study, whose average age was 69.1 ± 9.7 years. The AUC values for the Systemic Inflammatory Response Index (SIRI) to overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 0.796 and 0.716, respectively. The Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated a significant independent association between a high SIRI and a decreased overall survival (hazard ratio [HR]=2.583, P<0.001). Furthermore, a high SIRI independently correlated with a lower DFS (HR=2.391, P<0.001). We developed nomograms utilizing various independent factors to forecast the extended prognosis of patients. These nomograms exhibited AUC of 0.900, 0.849, and 0.862 for predicting 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS, respectively. Additionally, the AUC values for predicting 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year DFS were 0.851, 0.873, and 0.883, respectively. Conclusion: SIRI has shown promise as a valuable long-term prognostic indicator for forecasting the outcomes of lung carcinoma patients following MWA.

Meta-analysis of clinical outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and classical open partial nephrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) has emerged as a promising alternative to classical partial nephrectomy (CPN). AIM: This study aimed to compare the outcomes of RAPN and CPN for treating localized renal tumors through a meta-analysis of available literature. METHODS: Chinese databases, such as CNKI, Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database (VIP), and Wanfang Full-text Database, were searched using Chinese search terms, and all published articles on PubMed and Web of Science were searched using English search terms. Articles on Localized Renal Tumors were included. RevMan5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. The funnel plots were drawn using Stata software to assess publication bias. OUTCOMES: This study aimed to identify the differences between robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy and classic partial nephrectomy in patients with localized renal tumors. RESULTS: In total, 67 articles with 17 677 patients were included. The results demonstrate the advantages of RAPN over CPN for localized renal tumors. Compared to CPN and RAPN had significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay duration, incidence of perioperative complications, and proportion of patients requiring blood transfusion. Regarding surgical outcomes, RAPN showed more favorable results regarding the incidence of positive resection margins, postoperative decline in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), postoperative local recurrence rate, and proportion of Trifecta achieved. However, there was no significant difference between RAPN and CPN regarding 5-year tumor-specific survival rates. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The study suggests that robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy is a viable alternative to classic surgery for renal tumors. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The strengths of this study are the use of a comprehensive search strategy and the inclusion of studies published in both English and Chinese. The limitations of this study are the small sample size and the need for long-term follow-up data. CONCLUSION: RAPN and CPN have similar overall survival outcomes for treating localized renal tumors. However, RAPN may offer advantages in terms of perioperative outcomes and preservation of renal function. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to identify the optimal surgical approach for individual patients.

Enterococcus faecalis provides protection during scavenging in carrion crow ( Corvus corone).

The gut microbiota significantly influences host physiology and provides essential ecosystem services. While diet can affect the composition of the gut microbiota, the gut microbiota can also help the host adapt to specific dietary habits. The carrion crow ( Corvus corone), an urban facultative scavenger bird, hosts an abundance of pathogens due to its scavenging behavior. Despite this, carrion crows infrequently exhibit illness, a phenomenon related to their unique physiological adaptability. At present, however, the role of the gut microbiota remains incompletely understood. In this study, we performed a comparative analysis using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing technology to assess colonic content in carrion crows and 16 other bird species with different diets in Beijing, China. Our findings revealed that the dominant gut microbiota in carrion crows was primarily composed of Proteobacteria (75.51%) and Firmicutes (22.37%). Significant differences were observed in the relative abundance of Enterococcus faecalis among groups, highlighting its potential as a biomarker of facultative scavenging behavior in carrion crows. Subsequently, E. faecalis isolated from carrion crows was transplanted into model mice to explore the protective effects of this bacterial community against Salmonella enterica infection. Results showed that E. faecalis down-regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin 6 (IL-6), prevented S. enterica colonization, and regulated the composition of gut microbiota in mice, thereby modulating the host's immune regulatory capacity. Therefore, E. faecalis exerts immunoregulatory and anti-pathogenic functions in carrion crows engaged in scavenging behavior, offering a representative case of how the gut microbiota contributes to the protection of hosts with specialized diets.

Surgical outcomes for non-small cell lung cancer in younger adults: A population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The surgical outcomes for younger patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features long-term survival outcomes in younger individuals with NSCLC following surgery. METHODS: We queried the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2010 to 2017, selecting all pathologically confirmed NSCLC cases that underwent cancer-directed surgery. Younger patients were defined as those aged 18-50 years, while older patients were 51-80 years. Propensity score matching (PSM) was implemented to mitigate selection bias. Overall survival (OS) and lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Among the 33 586 treated surgically patients, 2223 (6.6%) were young. Compared to the older group, younger patients had a higher frequency of female gender, non-white ethnicity, carcinoid tumors, stage IV disease, pneumonectomy, and postoperative adjuvant therapies. The 5-year OS rates were significantly higher for younger patients (79.3% vs. 62.0%; p < 0.001), as were the 5-year LCSS rates (82.4% vs. 71.8%; p < 0.001). Post-PSM, younger patients consistently demonstrated significantly better OS and LCSS. Further stage-specific analysis revealed significantly improved 5-year OS rates at each stage and superior 5-year LCSS for stages I-II among younger patients. However, there was no statistically significant difference in LCSS for stages III-IV. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, younger patients with NSCLC treated surgically exhibit superior OS and LCSS compared to their older counterparts, although no statistically significant difference in LCSS for stages III-IV was observed between the two age groups.

Controllability on impulsive systems with delays in both input and impulse and its applications to multi-agent networks.

This paper investigates the controllability of impulsive systems with input delay and impulse delay and its applications in multi-agent networks. We adopt the geometric and algebraic analytical tools to establish some easily verified controllability conditions for the considered system model. First, the analytic solution of the considered system is established on every impulsive interval by using ordinary differential equation theory. Then, according to the solution derived, some sufficient complete controllability criteria are developed to reveal the role of the Gramian matrices in different subintervals. By introducing a row matrix of different kinds of Gramian matrices, a complete controllability condition that is proved to be necessary and sufficient is further obtained. By using the relevant geometric matrix theory, the derived algebraic controllability condition is then converted to a geometric one. On other hand, we introduce a multi-agent network with delayed input and impulse and investigate its controllability. By resorting to graph theory and matrix theory, several factors affecting the controllability of the considered multi-agent networks are investigated, such as the topology structure, the inner coupling matrix, and the dynamics of each agent. Finally, two numerical examples are worked out to verify the derived controllability criteria.