Association of the dietary inflammation index DII with the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with hypertension.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health concern that is frequently associated with hypertension. Inflammation is an important factor in the development of both illnesses. The Dietary Inflammation Index (DII) has evolved as a way to measure how much a diet can cause inflammation, which may impact CKD, especially in hypertensive persons. The study's goal is to investigate the link between DII and the occurrence of CKD in hypertensive individuals. METHODS: This study examined data from 22940 hypertensive patients from 1999 to 2018 of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The DII was computed using 28 dietary components. CKD was diagnosed based on the estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. The link between DII and CKD was explored using sampling-weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic splines. RESULTS: Higher DII scores were shown to be strongly related with an increased risk of CKD. In the fully adjusted model, this connection remained consistent across demographic and clinical categories. CONCLUSIONS: The study found a strong association between a pro-inflammatory diet and an elevated risk of CKD in hypertensive individuals, emphasizing the potential of dietary changes in CKD management.

From inflammatory signaling to neuronal damage: Exploring NLR inflammasomes in ageing neurological disorders.

The persistence of neuronal degeneration and damage is a major obstacle in ageing medicine. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors detect environmental stressors and trigger the maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can cause neuronal damage and accelerate cell death. NLR (NOD-like receptors) inflammasomes are protein complexes that contain NOD-like receptors. Studying the role of NLR inflammasomes in ageing-related neurological disorders can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of neurodegeneration. This includes investigating their activation of inflammasomes, transcription, and capacity to promote or inhibit inflammatory signaling, as well as exploring strategies to regulate NLR inflammasomes levels. This review summarizes the use of NLR inflammasomes in guiding neuronal degeneration and injury during the ageing process, covering several neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke, and peripheral neuropathies. To improve the quality of life and slow the progression of neurological damage, NLR-based treatment strategies, including inhibitor-related therapies and physical therapy, are presented. Additionally, important connections between age-related neurological disorders and NLR inflammasomes are highlighted to guide future research and facilitate the development of new treatment options.

Flexible porous organic polymers constructed using C(sp3)-C(sp3) coupling reactions and their high methane-storage capacity.

Carbon-carbon coupling is a basic design principle for the synthesis of porous organic polymers, which are widely used in gas adsorption/separation, photocatalysis, energy storage, etc. However, the C(sp3)-C(sp3) coupling reaction to construct porous organic polymers remains an important yet elusive objective due to its low reactivity and unknown side reactions. Herein, we report that nickel bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene) (Ni(COD)2), which was a famous catalyst for C(sp2)-C(sp2) coupling reactions, enables highly efficient C(sp3)-C(sp3) homo-coupling reactions to construct porous linear crystalline polymers and flexible three-dimensional porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) under mild reaction conditions. The resulting linear polymers generated with dibromomethyl arenes have good crystallinity and high melting points (T m = 286 °C) due to controllability of reaction sites. Furthermore, the PAFs (PAF-64, PAF-65 and PAF-66) stemmed from tri-/tetra-bromomethyl arenes show high surface area (S BET = 390 m2 g-1) and high methane-storage capacity (up to 313 cm3 cm-3) because of their flexible frameworks. This work sheds new light on the construction of novel porous polymers through C(sp3)-C(sp3) coupling reactions and the development of methane-storage materials.

Electroacupuncture for urinary retention after stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Electroacupuncture (EA) is one of the non-pharmacological therapies in traditional Chinese medicine to treat urinary retention. The objective of this meta-analysis is to assess the efficacy of electroacupuncture in the treatment of urinary retention after stroke. METHODS: Overall, seven electronic databases were searched until December 31, 2023, and randomized control trials about EA for urinary retention after stroke were reviewed. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias for included studies. The meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.4 and Stata/MP 17.0 software. RESULTS: Eleven studies with a total of 856 participants were included in this meta-analysis. EA treatment yielded an improved reduction in the post-void residual (PVR) (mean difference [MD]: 37.85, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 55.09 to -20.61 p < 0.0001) and the weight of diaper pads (MD: 38.87, 95 % CI: 42.68 to -335.06). Further analysis indicated that EA improved the effectiveness ratio (risk ratio [RR]: 1.36, 95 % CI: 1.20 to 1.53, p < 0.00001), the function of the bladder (MD: 0.45, 95 % CI: 0.61 to -0.30), and the quality of life (MD: 1.15, 95 %: CI: 2.10 to -0.20) in comparison to normal treatment and simple acupuncture. CONCLUSION: EA may be an effective way and reasonable modality to incorporate into the multiple prevention and therapy for urinary retention after stroke. The wide application of EA could be associated with the improvement of bladder and life quality and decline in the PVR for patients after stroke with urinary retention.

[Corrigendum] Enhanced antitumor activity by the combination of dasatinib and combretastatin A­4 in vitro and in vivo.

Following the publication of this article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that the flow cytometric (FCM) plots in Fig. 2A on p. 2278 showing the 'Dasatinib' and 'CA­4' experiments were duplicates of each other. After having re­examined their original data, and due to the overall similarity of the data, the authors have realized that these data were inadvertently assembled incorrectly in the figure. They realize that they also made a further mistake regarding the writing of the ratios of mitochondrial membrane­depolarized HO­8910 cells for these FCM plots (essentially, these were written the wrong way around): The percentage of mitochondrial membrane­depolarized HO­8910 cells should have been written as 22.50% for the dasatinib­treated cells (the centre­left FCM plot) and 15.71% for the CA­4­treated cells (centre­right plot). A revised version of Fig. 2 now showing alternative data for the FCM experiments shown in Fig. 2A, is shown on the next page. Note that the errors made in terms of assembling the data in Fig. 2A did not greatly affect either the results or the conclusions reported in this paper, and all the authors agree with the publication of this corrigendum. The authors regret that these errors went unnoticed prior to the publication of their article, and are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for granting them this opportunity to publish a corrigendum. Furthermore, they apologize to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Oncology Reports 29: 2275­2282, 2013; DOI: 10.3892/or.2013.2405].

Selection of Stable Reference Genes for QRT-PCR in Tree Peony 'Doulv' and Functional Analysis of PsCUC3.

(1) Background: Tree peonies display extensive cultivar diversity due to widespread hybridization, resulting in a complex genetic architecture. This complexity complicates the selection of universal reference genes across different cultivars for qRT-PCR analyses. Paeonia suffruticosa 'Doulv', notable for its unique green blooms in China, exhibits chlorosis post-flowering and features petaloid stamens and pistils. (2) Methods: Based on published literature and RNA-seq data from 'Doulv', nine candidate reference genes-ACT (Actin), TUB (ß-Tubulin), UBC (Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme), UBQ (Ubiquitin), UPL (Ubiquitin Protein Ligase), PP2A (Protein Phosphatase 2A), PP2C (Protein Phosphatase 2C), MBF1A (Multiprotein Bridging Factor 1A), and GAPDH (Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase)-were selected. Their expression stability was assessed across various tissues and developmental stages of 'Doulv' flowers using qRT-PCR, with evaluations conducted via GeNorm_v3.5, NormFinder_v20, and BestKeeper_v1.0. Gene cloning and expression analyses of PsCUC3, including its subcellular localization, were performed. (3) Results: GAPDH and ACT were identified as the most stable reference genes in petaloid stamens across various developmental stages of 'Doulv', whereas UBC and MBF1A were optimal across different tissues. Notably, specific conserved amino acids in PsCUC3 from 'Doulv' diverged from those in NAM/CUC3 proteins of other species, impacting its protein structure. PsCUC3 expression analysis revealed no correlation with chlorophyll content in petaloid stamens but an association with petaloid organ development. Furthermore, PsCUC3 was predominantly localized in the nucleus. (4) Conclusions: This study comprehensively evaluated suitable reference genes using GeNorm_v3.5, NormFinder_v20, and BestKeeper_v1.0 software, establishing a robust qRT-PCR detection system for 'Doulv' peony. These results provide a solid experimental foundation for further research on 'Doulv' peony. Building on this experimental foundation, the functional analysis of the PsCUC3 gene was conducted. The findings suggest a potential association between the PsCUC3 gene and floral morphology alterations in 'Doulv', identifying PsCUC3 as crucial for understanding the molecular mechanisms influencing floral structure in tree peonies.

Increased stress from compound drought and heat events on vegetation.

Compound drought and heat events (CDHEs), which are frequently occurring compound extreme climate events, have garnered considerable attention because of their detrimental effects on ecosystems. However, the intricacies of the spatial and temporal distributions of different durations of compound events, along with the variability in vegetation responses remain unclear. Here, we delineated the CDHEs based on meteorological observation data and investigated the spatial and temporal characteristics of CDHEs from 1993 to 2020 using the Theil-Sen trend test and Mann-Kendall nonparametric test. Furthermore, we utilized sliding correlation analysis to evaluate the impacts of CDHEs on vegetation among different climatic regions and ecosystems. Our findings indicate significant increasing trends in both the frequency and persistence of CDHEs from 1993 to 2020. The average trend of CDHEs frequency across different duration periods amounted to 13.80 %/decade. The fractional contribution of CDHEs lasting more than three days exhibited a significant increase, with an average trend of 2.00 %/decade. We also observed that vegetation is most significantly affected by compound events lasting 5-9 days. During the study period, the geographical extent of vegetation significantly impacted by CDHEs expanded by 0.89 %, correlation strength increased by 0.02, and lag time decreased by 0.25 months. These insights highlight the growing impact of CDHEs on vegetation under climate change, improving our understanding of vegetation responses to these compound events.

Adsorption behaviors of perfluorooctanoic acid on aged microplastics.

The presence of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment poses a significant threat to ecological safety and environmental health. Widespread microplastics (MPs) have been recognized as vectors for emerging contaminants due to human activities. However, the adsorption behaviors of PFAS on MPs, especially on aged MPs, have not been extensively investigated. This study aimed to investigate the adsorption behaviors of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on aged MPs (polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate) treated with UV irradiation and persulfate oxidation under salinity and dissolve organic matter (DOM) condition. Carbonyl index values of MPs increased after the aged treatment, indicating the production of oxygen-containing groups. The PFOA adsorption on aged MPs was impacted by the co-existence of Na+ ions and DOM. As PFOA adsorption onto aged MPs was mainly controlled by hydrophobic interaction, the electrostatic interaction also made a contribution, but there was no significant change in PFOA adsorption behavior between the pristine and aged MPs. While these findings provide insight into PFAS adsorption on aged MPs, further research is necessary to account for the complexity of the real environment. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Adsorption behaviors of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) on aged microplastics were investigated. Hydrophobic interaction mainly controlled PFOA adsorption on aged microplastics (MPs). Co-existence dissolve organic matter and salinity influenced PFOA adsorption behaviors on aged MPs.

Polyvinyl alcohol/PEDOT:PSS with Fe3+/amylopectin enabled highly tough, anti-freezing and healable hydrogels for multifunctional wearable sensors.

In recent years, hydrogel-based flexible sensors have garnered increasing attention in research. Ionic hydrogels, enriched with large amounts of ionic liquids, exhibit electrical conductivity, excellent electrochemical stability, anti-freezing, and antimicrobial properties. However, most ionic hydrogels suffer from poor mechanical properties, limiting their adaptability to more complex application scenarios. Integrating conductive polymers into hydrogels leads to desirable features such as increased specific surface area, soft and biocompatible interfaces, and high electrolyte permeability. In this study, we successfully prepared Fe3+/Ap@PVA/PEDOT double-network hydrogel. Utilizing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the primary matrix, we introduced PEDOT:PSS and FeCl3 to confer conductivity to the hydrogel. The incorporation of amylopectin (Ap) further enhanced mechanical performance. The resulted hydrogel sensor exhibits outstanding mechanical properties, allowing for stretching up to 347 % and withstanding a tensile force of 505 kPa. In addition, it exhibits excellent antifreeze properties (can work at -30 °C), healability, water retention, and high sensitivity to stretching (GF = 4.72 at a 200 % strain ratio), compression (GF = 2.97 at a 12 % compressive ratio), and temperature (TCR = 2.46). These remarkable properties of the hydrogel make it possible in applications such as human motion monitoring, handwriting recognition, and temperature sensing.

[Characteristics of Soil Organic Carbon and Its Influencing Factors of Different Plant Communities in the Yellow River Delta].

Changes in soil organic carbon （SOC） are of great importance to the evolution of soil quality. The distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon （SOC）, easily oxidizable organic carbon （EOC）, dissolved organic carbon （DOC）, and particulate organic carbon （POC） were investigated in the 0-50 cm soil layer of the Phragmites australis, Suaeda salsa, and Tamarix chinensis communities of the supratidal zone in the Yellow River Delta as the research subjects. Then, the composition and sources of soil dissolved organic matter （DOM） were analyzed based on the UV-vis spectroscopy, three-dimensional excitation emission matrix spectroscopy, and parallel factor analysis （PARAFAC）. Finally, the key factors affecting the characteristics of soil organic carbon and DOM fractions of different plant communities were finally revealed in combination with the physicochemical properties of the soil. The results showed that： ① Comparing different communities, the S. salsa community had the highest ω（SOC） at 7.53 g·kg-1, the T. chinensis community had the highest ω（DOC） at 0.98 g·kg-1, and the P. australis community had significantly higher ω（EOC） and ω（POC） than those of the S. salsa and T. chinensis communities at 1.47 g·kg-1 and 0.65 g·kg-1, respectively. The vertical distribution showed a tendency to decrease with deeper soil layers, except for POC concentration. ② The main components of soil DOM of the P. australis, S. salsa, and T. chinensis communities were humus, protein-like substances, and fulvic acid-like substances, of which exogenous components accounted for 55.80%, 56.41%, and 52.81% in the above communities, respectively. ③ Comparing different communities, the humification degree of the P. australis community was significantly higher than that of the S. salsa and T. chinensi communities, but its aromaticity and proportion of biological sources were significantly lower than those of the T. chinensi community. On the vertical profile of the soil, DOM aromaticity and humification degree gradually increased with the deepening of the soil layer, and the deeper soils were mainly dominated by small molecular weight DOM with a lower proportion of hydrophobic fraction. ④ Redundant analysis showed that N （P<0.01）, NO2--N （P<0.01）, and NH4+-N （P<0.05） were the key factors affecting the changes in soil organic carbon and DOM fractions.

The synthesis of triacylglycerol by diacylglycerol acyltransferases (CsDGAT1A and CsDGAT2D) is essential for tolerance of cucumber's resistance to low-temperature stress.

KEY MESSAGE: CsDGAT1A and CsDGAT2D play a positive regulatory role in cucumber's response to low-temperature stress and positively regulate the synthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG). Triacylglycerol (TAG), a highly abundant and significant organic compound in plants, plays crucial roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. The final acetylation step of TAG synthesis is catalyzed by diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs). However, the involvement of DGATs in cucumber's low-temperature stress response remains unexplored. This study focused on two DGAT genes, CsDGAT1A and CsDGAT2D, investigating their function in enhancing cucumber's low-temperature stress tolerance. Our results revealed that both proteins were the members of the diacylglycerol acyltransferase family and were predominantly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum. Functional analysis demonstrated that transient silencing of CsDGAT1A and CsDGAT2D significantly compromised cucumber's low-temperature stress tolerance, whereas transient overexpression enhanced it. Furthermore, the TAG content quantification indicated that CsDGAT1A and CsDGAT2D promoted TAG accumulation. In conclusion, this study elucidates the lipid metabolism mechanism in cucumber's low-temperature stress response and offers valuable insights for the cultivation of cold-tolerant cucumber plants.

Increased antipsychotic drug concentration in hospitalized patients with mental disorders following COVID-19 infection: a call for attention.

Purpose: Examine the alterations in antipsychotic concentrations following coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection among hospitalized patients with mental disorders and conduct an analysis of the factors influencing these changes. Methods: Data were collected from inpatients at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital between December 12, 2022, and January 11, 2023, pre- and post-COVID-19. Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, 329 inpatients with mental disorders were included (3 with incomplete data excluded). Primary outcomes assessed changes in antipsychotic concentrations pre- and post-COVID-19, while secondary outcomes examined factors linked to concentration increases and antipsychotic dose adjustments. Results: Clozapine (P < 0.001), aripiprazole (P < 0.001), quetiapine (P = 0.005), olanzapine (P < 0.001), risperidone (P < 0.001), and paliperidone (P < 0.001) concentrations increased post-COVID-19 in patients with mental disorders. Notably, clozapine concentration surpassing pre-infection levels was highest. Clozapine users were more likely to adjust their dose (50.4%) compared to olanzapine (17.5%) and other antipsychotics. Moreover, traditional Chinese patent medicines and antibiotics during COVID-19 infection were associated with antipsychotic reduction or withdrawal (OR = 2.06, P = 0.0247; OR = 7.53, P = 0.0024, respectively). Conclusion: Antipsychotic concentrations in hospitalized patients with mental disorders increased after COVID-19 infection, that may be related not only to COVID-19, but also to the use of Chinese patent medicines during infection. The pre-infection concentration and types of antipsychotics, patient's gender, and combination of traditional Chinese medicine or antibiotics, were factors found to correlate with increased drug concentrations and necessitate dose adjustments.

Open-world electrocardiogram classification via domain knowledge-driven contrastive learning.

Automatic electrocardiogram (ECG) classification provides valuable auxiliary information for assisting disease diagnosis and has received much attention in research. The success of existing classification models relies on fitting the labeled samples for every ECG type. However, in practice, well-annotated ECG datasets usually cover only limited ECG types. It thus raises an issue: conventional classification models trained with limited ECG types can only identify those ECG types that have already been observed in the training set, but fail to recognize unseen (or unknown) ECG types that exist in the wild and are not included in training data. In this work, we investigate an important problem called open-world ECG classification that can predict fine-grained observed ECG classes and identify unseen classes. Accordingly, we propose a customized method that first incorporates clinical knowledge into contrastive learning by generating "hard negative" samples to guide learning diagnostic ECG features (i.e., distinguishable representations), and then performs multi-hypersphere learning to learn compact ECG representations for classification. The experiment results on 12-lead ECG datasets (CPSC2018, PTB-XL, and Georgia) demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. Specifically, our method achieves superior accuracy than the comparative methods on the unseen ECG class and certain seen classes. Overall, the investigated problem (i.e., open-world ECG classification) helps to draw attention to the reliability of automatic ECG diagnosis, and the proposed method is proven effective in tackling the challenges. The code and datasets are released at https://github.com/betterzhou/Open_World_ECG_Classification.

Nanomaterials promote the fast development of electrochemical MiRNA biosensors.

Cancer has become the leading cause of death worldwide. In recent years, molecular diagnosis has demonstrated great potential in the prediction and diagnosis of cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short oligonucleotides that regulate gene expression and cell function and are considered ideal biomarkers for cancer detection, diagnosis, and patient prognosis. Therefore, the specific and sensitive detection of ultra-low quantities of miRNA is of great significance. MiRNA biosensors based on electrochemical technology have advantages of high sensitivity, low cost and fast response. Nanomaterials show great potential in miRNA electrochemical detection and promote the rapid development of electrochemical miRNA biosensors. Some methods and signal amplification strategies for miRNA detection in recent years are reviewed herein, followed by a discussion of the latest progress in electrochemical miRNA detection based on different types of nanomaterial. Future perspectives and challenges are also proposed for further exploration of nanomaterials to bring breakthroughs in electrochemical miRNA detection.

Efficacy and Safety of a Self-Improved Continuous Bladder Irrigation Sensor Device in Patients after Transurethral Resection of the Prostate: A Prospective Study.

Purpose To explore the efficacy and safety of a self-improved continuous bladder irrigation (CBI) sensor device after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Materials and Methods A total of 160 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who received TURP from June 2021 to May 2022 were selected. According to the envelope randomization method, patients were divided into a control group (80 cases) and study group (80 cases). In the control group, the speed of bladder flushing fluid was adjusted according to the clinical experience of nurses. On the basis of the control group, the self-improved CBI sensor device was used in the study group to observe the postoperative comfort and complication rate in the two groups. Results The comfort of patients in the study group was significantly higher than that of patients in the control group (97.50% vs. 88.75%, P = .023), and the number of postoperative complications in the control group was significantly higher than that in the study group (8.75% vs. 1.25%, P = .021). Meanwhile, the average amount of irrigation fluid in the study group was obviously lower than that in the control group (26.4 L vs. 27.8 L, P = .011). In addition, patients in the study group had a significantly shorter hospital stay than the controls (3.3 days vs. 3.6 days, P = .005). Conclusion Implementation of the new self-improved CBI sensor device for patients after TURP can improve their awareness regarding disease-related knowledge, alleviate their fear and anxiety, improve their compliance and comfort with treatment and nursing, and reduce the incidence of complications.

Interplay of Physical, Psychological, and Social Frailty among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Five European Countries: A Longitudinal Study.

Frailty is a dynamic condition encompassing physical, psychological, and social domains. While certain factors are associated with overall or specific frailty domains, research on the correlations between physical, psychological, and social frailty is lacking. This study aims to investigate the associations between physical, psychological, and social frailty in European older adults. The study involved 1781 older adults from the Urban Health Centres Europe project. Baseline and 1-year follow-up data were collected on physical, psychological, and social frailty, along with covariates. Linear regression analyzed unidirectional associations, while cross-lagged panel modeling assessed bi-directional associations. Participants' mean age was 79.57 years (SD = 5.54) and over half were female (61.0%). Physical and psychological frailty showed bi-directional association (effect of physical frailty at baseline on psychological frailty at follow-up: ß = 0.14, 95%CI 0.09, 0.19; reversed direction: ß = 0.05, 95%CI 0.01, 0.09). Higher physical frailty correlated with increased social frailty (ß = 0.05, 95%CI 0.01, 0.68), but no association was found between social and psychological frailty. This longitudinal study found a reciprocal relationship between physical and psychological frailty in older adults. A relatively higher level of physical frailty was associated with a higher level of social frailty. There was no association between social and psychological frailty. These findings underscore the multifaceted interplay between various domains of frailty. Public health professionals should recognize the implications of these interconnections while crafting personalized prevention and care strategies. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and investigate underlying mechanisms.

Effectiveness of PD-1 inhibitor-based first-line therapy in Chinese patients with metastatic gastric cancer: a retrospective real-world study.

Objective: Programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor-based therapy has demonstrated promising results in metastatic gastric cancer (MGC). However, the previous researches are mostly clinical trials and have reached various conclusions. Our objective is to investigate the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitor-based treatment as first-line therapy for MGC, utilizing real-world data from China, and further analyze predictive biomarkers for efficacy. Methods: This retrospective study comprised 105 patients diagnosed with MGC who underwent various PD-1 inhibitor-based treatments as first-line therapy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2018 to December 2022. Patient characteristics, treatment regimens, and tumor responses were extracted. We also conducted univariate and multivariate analyses to assess the relationship between clinical features and treatment outcomes. Additionally, we evaluated the predictive efficacy of several commonly used biomarkers for PD-1 inhibitor treatments. Results: Overall, after 28.0 months of follow-up among the 105 patients included in our study, the objective response rate (ORR) was 30.5%, and the disease control rate (DCR) was 89.5% post-treatment, with two individuals (1.9%) achieving complete response (CR). The median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 9.0 months, and the median overall survival (mOS) was 22.0 months. According to both univariate and multivariate analyses, favorable OS was associated with patients having Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0-1. Additionally, normal baseline levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), as well as the combination of PD-1 inhibitors with chemotherapy and trastuzumab in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive MGC, independently predicted longer PFS and OS. However, microsatellite instability/mismatch repair (MSI/MMR) status and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection status were not significantly correlated with PFS or OS extension. Conclusion: As the first-line treatment, PD-1 inhibitors, either as monotherapy or in combination therapy, are promising to prolong survival for patients with metastatic gastric cancer. Additionally, baseline level of CEA is a potential predictive biomarker for identifying patients mostly responsive to PD-1 inhibitors.

Visualized analysis of microplastics in residents' diets and regional investigation of China.

Microplastics are widely distributed in ecosystems and are increasingly found in food. This poses a potential threat to human health. However, current detections of microplastic in food primarily focused on the simple matrices, such as water, milk, and beverages, with relatively few methods available for complex matrices. Due to the strong matrix interference, non-destructive detection of microplastics in food has always been challenging. Thus, in this study, infrared spectral imaging approach was employed in tandem with chemometrics to perform nondestructive and in-situ characterization of microplastics in twelve diverse Chinese diets including meat and seafood stuffs. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently characterize common microplastics, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE), etc., in various complex matrices. The IR spectral imaging was subsequently applied to the detection of microplastics in seafood samples collected from 24 provinces across China. Results revealed the widespread presence of microplastics in seafood diets with significant regional variations. Overall, this study offers an innovative and applicable means for detecting microplastics in complex foods and provides a reference for the rapid detection of microplastics in various materials.

Proton 3D dose measurement with a multi-layer strip ionization chamber (MLSIC) device.

Objective. In current clinical practice for quality assurance (QA), intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) fields are verified by measuring planar dose distributions at one or a few selected depths in a phantom. A QA device that measures full 3D dose distributions at high spatiotemporal resolution would be highly beneficial for existing as well as emerging proton therapy techniques such as FLASH radiotherapy. Our objective is to demonstrate feasibility of 3D dose measurement for IMPT fields using a dedicated multi-layer strip ionization chamber (MLSIC) device.Approach.Our developed MLSIC comprises a total of 66 layers of strip ion chamber (IC) plates arranged, alternatively, in thexandydirection. The first two layers each has 128 channels in 2 mm spacing, and the following 64 layers each has 32/33 IC strips in 8 mm spacing which are interconnected every eight channels. A total of 768-channel IC signals are integrated and sampled at a speed of 6 kfps. The MLSIC has a total of 19.2 cm water equivalent thickness and is capable of measurement over a 25 × 25 cm2field size. A reconstruction algorithm is developed to reconstruct 3D dose distribution for each spot at all depths by considering a double-Gaussian-Cauchy-Lorentz model. The 3D dose distribution of each beam is obtained by summing all spots. The performance of our MLSIC is evaluated for a clinical pencil beam scanning (PBS) plan.Main results.The dose distributions for each proton spot can be successfully reconstructed from the ionization current measurement of the strip ICs at different depths, which can be further summed up to a 3D dose distribution for the beam. 3D Gamma Index analysis indicates acceptable agreement between the measured and expected dose distributions from simulation, Zebra and MatriXX.Significance.The dedicated MLSIC is the first pseudo-3D QA device that can measure 3D dose distribution in PBS proton fields spot-by-spot.