Smoking-diseases correlation database: comprehensive analysis of the correlation between smoking and 422 diseases based on NHANES 2013-2018.

Background: Smoking is a risk factor for a wide range of diseases. Previous research has confirmed over 30 Smoking-Associated Diseases in diverse systems. There is limited research exploring the correlation among multiple diseases, with an absence of comprehensive investigations. Few studies concentrate on diseases exhibiting a negative correlation with smoking, wherein smokers demonstrate a lower prevalence. Objective: This study aimed to detect the correlation between smoking and other diseases using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and construct a Smoking-Diseases Correlation Database (SDCD). The second aim is to obtain an extensive screening test for diseases that may be linked to smoking. Methods: 39,126 subjects' data from the NHANES 2013-2018 dataset were extracted. The baseline information, difference in blood routine and blood chemistry indicators between smokers and non-smokers, and diseases' correlation with smoking in four different models were analyzed by R. The data and statistics were aggregated into an online SDCD. Results: Our study reported 46 Smoking-Associated Diseases (SAD), including 29 Smoking Positively Associated Diseases (SPAD) and 17 Smoking Negatively Associated Diseases (SNAD). The SDCD of 422 diseases was constructed and can be accessed at https://chatgptmodel.shinyapps.io/sdcd/. Conclusion: Our findings revealed 46 SADs including 29 SPADs and 17 SNADs. We aggregated the statistics and developed online SDCD, advancing our understanding of the correlation between smoking and diseases.

Optimization of the fermentation media and growth conditions of Bacillus velezensis BHZ-29 using a Plackett-Burman design experiment combined with response surface methodology.

Introduction: Bacillus velezensis occurs extensively in the soil environment. It produces a range of antimicrobial compounds that play an important role in the field of biological control. However, during the actual application process it is often affected by factors such as the medium formulation and fermentation conditions, and therefore biocontrol measures often do not achieve their expected outcomes. Methods: In this study, the B. velezensis BHZ-29 strain was used as the research object. The carbon and nitrogen sources, and inorganic salts that affect the number of viable bacteria and antibacterial potency of B. velezensis BHZ-29, were screened by a single factor test. A Plackett-Burman design experiment was conducted to determine the significant factors affecting the number of viable bacteria and antibacterial potency, and a Box-Behnken design experiment was used to obtain the optimal growth of B. velezensis BHZ-29. The medium formula that produced the highest number of viable bacteria and most antibacterial substances was determined. The initial pH, temperature, amount of inoculant, liquid volume, shaking speed, and culture time were determined by a single factor test. The factors that had a significant influence on the number of viable bacteria of B. velezensis BHZ-29 were selected by an orthogonal test. A Box-Behnken design experiment was conducted to obtain the optimal fermentation conditions, and highest number of viable bacteria and antibacterial titer. Results: Molasses, peptone, and magnesium sulfate had significant effects on the viable count and antibacterial titer of B. velezensis BHZ-29. The viable count of B. velezensis BHZ-29 increased from 7.83 × 109 to 2.17 × 1010 CFU/mL, and the antibacterial titer increased from 111.67 to 153.13 mm/mL when the optimal media were used. The optimal fermentation conditions for B. velezensis BHZ-29 were as follows: temperature 25.57°C, pH 7.23, culture time 95.90 h, rotation speed 160 rpm, amount of inoculant 2%, and liquid volume 100 ml. After the optimization of fermentation conditions, the number of viable bacteria increased to 3.39 × 1010 CFU/mL, and the bacteriostatic titer increased to 158.85 mm/ml.The plant height and leaf number of cotton plants treated with BHZ-29 fermentation broth were higher than those of cotton inoculated with Verticillium dahliae. The number of bacteria was 1.15 × 107 CFU/g, and the number of fungi was 1.60 × 105 spores/g. The disease index of the cotton seedlings treated with the optimized fermentation broth was 2.2, and a control effect of 93.8% was achieved. B. velezensis BHZ-29 could reduce the disease index of cotton Verticillium wilt and had a controlling effect on the disease. The best effect was achieved in the treatment group with an inoculation concentration of 2 × 108 CFU/ml, the disease index was 14.50, and a control effect of 84.18% was achieved. Discussion: The fermentation process parameters of the number of viable bacteria and antibacterial titer by strain B. velezensis BHZ-29 were optimized to lay a foundation for the practical production and application of strain B. velezensis BHZ-29 in agriculture.

Immune features revealed by single-cell RNA and single-cell TCR/BCR sequencing in patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, have profoundly affected human health. Booster COVID-19 vaccines have demonstrated significant efficacy in reducing infection and severe cases. However, the effects of booster COVID-19 vaccines on key immune cell subsets and their responses in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are not well understood. By using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) combined with scTCR/BCR-seq analysis, a total of 8 major and 27 minor cell clusters were identified from paired peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) which were collected 1 week before and 4 weeks after booster vaccination in stable RA patients. Booster vaccination only had limited impact on the composition and proportions of PBMCs cell clusters. CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CD8+T_CTL) showed a trend toward an increase after vaccination, while naive B cells and conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) showed a trend toward a decrease. Transcriptomic changes were observed after booster vaccination, primarily involving T/B cell receptor signaling pathways, phagosome, antigen processing and presenting, and viral myocarditis pathways. Interferon (IFN) and pro-inflammatory response gene sets were slightly upregulated across most major cell subpopulations in COVID-19 booster-vaccinated RA individuals. Plasma neutralizing antibody titers significantly increased after booster COVID-19 vaccination (p = 0.037). Single-cell TCR/BCR analysis revealed increased B cell clone expansion and repertoire diversity postvaccination, with no consistent alterations in T cells. Several clonotypes of BCRs and TCRs were identified to be significantly over-represented after vaccination, such as IGHV3-15 and TRBV28. Our study provided a comprehensive single-cell atlas of the peripheral immune response and TCR/BCR immune repertoire profiles to inactivated SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination in RA patients, which helps us to understand vaccine-induced immune responses better.

Regulatory mechanism of GA3 application on grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berry size.

Gibberellin A3 (GA3) is often used as a principal growth regulator to increase plant size. Here, we applied Tween-20 (2%)-formulated GA3 (T1:40 mg/L; T2:70 mg/L) by dipping the clusters at the initial expansion phase of 'Red Globe' grape (Vitis vinifera L.) in 2018 and 2019. Tween-20 (2%) was used as a control. The results showed that GA3 significantly increased fruit cell length, cell size, diameter, and volume. The hormone levels of auxin (IAA) and zeatin (ZT) were significantly increased at 2 h (0 d) -1 d after application (DAA0-1) and remained significantly higher at DAA1 until maturity. Conversely, ABA exhibited an opposite trend. The mRNA and non-coding sequencing results yielded 436 differentially expressed mRNA (DE_mRNAs), 79 DE_lncRNAs and 17 DE_miRNAs. These genes are linked to hormone pathways like cysteine and methionine metabolism (ko00270), glutathione metabolism (ko00480) and plant hormone signal transduction (ko04075). GA3 application reduced expression of insensitive dwarf 2 (GID2, VIT_07s0129g01000), small auxin-upregulated RNA (SAUR, VIT_08s0007g03120) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACS, VIT_18s0001g08520), but increased SAUR (VIT_04s0023g00560) expression. These four genes were predicted to be negatively regulated by vvi-miR156, vvi-miR172, vvi-miR396, and vvi-miR159, corresponding to specific lncRNAs. Therefore, miRNAs could affect grape size by regulating key genes GID2, ACS and SAUR. The R2R3 MYB family member VvRAX2 (VIT_08s0007g05030) was upregulated in response to GA3 application. Overexpression of VvRAX2 in tomato transgenic lines increased fruit size in contrast to the wild type. This study provides a basis and genetic resources for elucidating the novel role of ncRNAs in fruit development.

Three-dimensional ultrafast charge-density-wave dynamics in CuTe.

Charge density waves (CDWs) involved with electronic and phononic subsystems simultaneously are a common quantum state in solid-state physics, especially in low-dimensional materials. However, CDW phase dynamics in various dimensions are yet to be studied, and their phase transition mechanism is currently moot. Here we show that using the distinct temperature evolution of orientation-dependent ultrafast electron and phonon dynamics, different dimensional CDW phases are verified in CuTe. When the temperature decreases, the shrinking of c-axis length accompanied with the appearance of interchain and interlayer interactions causes the quantum fluctuations (QF) of the CDW phase until 220 K. At T < 220 K, the CDWs on the different ab-planes are finally locked with each other in anti-phase to form a CDW phase along the c-axis. This study shows the dimension evolution of CDW phases in one CDW system and their stabilized mechanisms in different temperature regimes.

Computational screening of biomarkers and potential drugs for arthrofibrosis based on combination of sequencing and large nature language model.

Background: Arthrofibrosis (AF) is a fibrotic joint disease resulting from excessive collagen production and fibrous scar formation after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This devastating complication may cause consistent pain and dramatically reduction of functionality. Unfortunately, the conservative treatments to prevent the AF in the early stage are largely unknown due to the lack of specific biomarkers and reliable therapeutic targets. Methods: In this study, we extracted1782 fibrosis related genes (FRGs) from 373,461published literature based on the large natural language processing models (ChatGPT) and intersected with the 2750 differential expressed genes (DEGs) from mRNA microarray (GSE135854). A total of 311 potential AF biomarker genes (PABGs) were obtained and functional analysis were performed including gene ontology (GO) annotation and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Subsequently, we accomplished validation in AF animal models with immobilization of the unilateral knee joints of 16 rabbits for 1-week, 2-weeks, 3-weeks and 4-weeks. Finally, we tested the biomarkers in a retrospective cohort enrolled 35 AF patients and 35 control group patients. Results: We identified G-protein-coupled receptor 17 (GPR17) as a reliable therapeutic biomarker for AF diagnosis with higher AUC (0.819) in the ROC curve. A total of 21 potential drugs targeted to GPR17 were screened. Among them, pranlukast and montelukast have achieved therapeutic effect in animal models. In addition, we established an online AF database for data integration (https://chenxi2023.shinyapps.io/afdbv1). Conclusions: These results unveiling therapeutic biomarkers for AF diagnosis, and provide potential drugs for clinical treatment. The translational potential of this article: Our study demonstrated that GPR17 holds significant promise as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for arthrofibrosis. Moreover, pranlukast and montelukast targeted to GPR17 that could be instrumental in the treatment of AF.

Protection against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice by 3-caffeoylquinic acid isomers isolated from Saxifraga tangutica.

The development of ischemic heart disease (IHD) involves a variety of pathophysiological responses, such as mitochondrial dysfunction. Many compounds with antioxidant activity isolated from natural products have been shown to have significant effects on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, little is known about the palliative effects of 3-caffeoylquinic acid isomers isolated from Saxifraga tangutica (S. tangutica) on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI). Three isomers of 3-caffeoylquinic acid were isolated from S. tangutica and identified as neochlorogenic acid (Fr2-4-1-1, 18.5 mg), chlorogenic acid (Fr2-5-1-1, 81.7 mg) and cryptochlorogenic acid (Fr2-5-2-1, 15.0 mg) using medium-pressure liquid chromatography-high-pressure two-dimensional liquid chromatography. An in vitro DPPH assay showed that cryptochlorogenic acid (CCGA), neochlorogenic acid (NCGA) and chlorogenic acid (CGA) (in order of activity from strongest to weakest) possessed superior antioxidant activity. Langendorff's in vitro model was utilized to explore the protective effects of 3 caffeoylquinic acid isomers against MIRI. The ex vivo MIRI assay demonstrated that CCGA significantly improved hemodynamic function (P < 0.05), hemodynamic function-related indices (LVDP, RPP, +dP/dt and -dP/dt), and cell morphology in I/R myocardium tissues. In addition, the results of western blot analysis showed that mitochondrial biogenesis was significantly increased in I/R myocardial tissues after treatment with CCGA. In contrast, the activities of CGA and NCGA were lower. This is the first demonstration of efficient preparative isolation of 3-caffeoylquinic acid isomers (CGA, NCGA and CCGA) from S. tangutica. CCGA may be a promising approach for the treatment of cardiac I/R injury, especially for the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis after MIRI.

Conventional and multi-omics assessments of subacute inhalation toxicity due to propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin aerosol produced by electronic cigarettes.

Propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG) are the most common solvents used in electronic cigarette liquids. No long-term inhalation toxicity assessments have been performed combining conventional and multi-omics approaches on the potential respiratory effects of the solvents in vivo. In this study, the systemic toxicity of aerosol generated from a ceramic heating coil-based e-cigarette was evaluated. First, the aerosol properties were characterized, including carbonyl emissions, the particle size distribution, and aerosol temperatures. To determine toxicological effects, rats were exposed, through their nose only, to filtered air or a propylene glycol (PG)/ glycerin (VG) (50:50, %W/W) aerosol mixture at the target concentration of 3 mg/L for six hours daily over a continuous 28-day period. Compared with the air group, female rats in the PG/VG group exhibited significantly lower body weights during both the exposure period and recovery period, and this was linked to a reduced food intake. Male rats in the PG/VG group also experienced a significant decline in body weight during the exposure period. Importantly, rats exposed to the PG/VG aerosol showed only minimal biological effects compared to those with only air exposure, with no signs of toxicity. Moreover, the transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses of the rat lung tissues following aerosol exposure revealed a series of candidate pathways linking aerosol inhalation to altered lung functions, especially the inflammatory response and disease. Dysregulated pathways of arachidonic acids, the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and the hematopoietic cell lineage were revealed through integrated multi-omics analysis. Therefore, our integrated multi-omics approach offers novel systemic insights and early evidence of environmental-related health hazards associated with an e-cigarette aerosol using two carrier solvents in a rat model.

Synthesis of Chiral Diarylmethylamides via Catalytic Asymmetric Aza-Michael Addition of Amides to ortho-Quinomethanes.

Chiral diarylmethylamides are a privileged skeleton in many bioactive molecules. However, the enantioselective synthesis of such molecules remains a long-standing challenge in organic synthesis. Herein, we report a chiral bifunctional squaramide catalyzed asymmetric aza-Michael addition of amides to in situ generated ortho-quinomethanes, affording enantioenriched diarylmethylamides in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities. This work not only provides a new strategy for the construction of the diarylmethylamides but also represents the practicability of amides as nitrogen-nucleophiles in asymmetric organocatalysis.

Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Eight-Membered N-Heterocycles from Benzofuran-Derived Azadienes and Ynones.

Enantioselective synthesis of eight-membered N-heterocycles represents a long-standing challenge in organic synthesis. Here, by combining the squaramide and DBU catalysis, a sequential asymmetric conjugate addition/cyclization reaction between benzofuran-derived azadienes and ynones has been well-developed, providing straightforward access to chiral eight-membered N-heterocycles in high yields with stereoselectivities. This protocol features the use of a bifunctional squaramide catalyst for controlling the enantioselectivity of products, while the DBU is utilized to achieve intramolecular cyclization and improve the diastereoselectivity of products.

Systemic Type 2 Inflammation-Associated Atopic Dermatitis Exacerbates Periodontitis.

INTRODUCTION: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent and chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by Th2 cell-mediated type 2 inflammation. Emerging evidence indicated that AD patients exhibit an increased incidence of oral disorders. In the present study, we sought mechanistic insights into how AD affects periodontitis. METHODS: Onset of AD was induced by 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Furthermore, we induced periodontitis (P) in AD mice. The effect of AD in promoting inflammation and bone resorption in gingiva was evaluated. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining, immunofluorescence assay, and flow cytometry were used to investigate histomorphology and cytology analysis, respectively. RNA sequencing of oral mucosa is used tissues to further understand the dynamic transcriptome changes. 16S rRNA microbial analysis is used to profile oral microbial composition. RESULTS: Compared to control group, mice in AD group showed inflammatory signatures and infiltration of a proallergic Th2 (Th2A)-like subset in oral mucosa but not periodontitis, as identified by not substantial changes in mucosa swelling, alveolar bone loss, and TRAP+ osteoclasts infiltration. Similarly, more Th2A-like cell infiltration and interleukin-4 levels were significantly elevated in the oral mucosa of DNCB-P mice compared to P mice. More importantly, AD exacerbates periodontitis when periodontitis has occurred and the severity of periodontitis increased with aggravation of dermatitis. Transcriptional analysis revealed that aggravated periodontitis was positively correlated with more macrophage infiltration and abundant CCL3 secreted. AD also altered oral microbiota, indicating the re-organization of extracellular matrix. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide solid evidence about exacerbation of periodontitis caused by type 2 dermatitis, advancing our understanding in cellular and microbial changes during AD-periodontitis progression.

Aspiration Thrombectomy Versus Stent-Retriever Thrombectomy for the First-Pass Therapy of Intracranial Atherosclerosis-Related Large Vessel Occlusion: A Post Hoc Analysis of The Endovascular Treatment With Versus Without Tirofiban for Patients with Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke Trial.

BACKGROUND: This study sought to scrutinize the clinical outcomes associated with first-pass mechanical thrombectomy strategies in the management of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS)-related large vessel occlusion (LVO). METHODS: Within this post-hoc analysis of the The Endovascular Treatment With vs Without Tirofiban for Patients with Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke (RESCUE BT) trial, we compared data pertaining to patients with ICAS-LVO situated in the anterior circulation who underwent initial therapeutic interventions utilizing either aspiration thrombectomy or stent-retriever thrombectomy. The analysis encompassed the assessment of intraprocedural recanalization, rescue procedures involving balloon angioplasty or stenting, 48-hour reocclusion rates, occurrences of cerebral hemorrhagic complications, and 90-day Modified Rankin Scale scores. RESULTS: Among the 948 patients encompassed in the RESCUE BT trial, a total of 230 patients with ICAS-LVO in the anterior circulation were enrolled in the study. Of these, 111 underwent aspiration thrombectomy as the first-pass therapy, while 119 patients underwent stent-retriever thrombectomy as the initial intervention. The difference in first pass recanalization rates between aspiration thrombectomy and stent-retriever thrombectomy was not statistically significant (17.1% vs. 14.3%, P = 0.555), and mechanical thrombectomy success rates (90.1% vs. 90.8%, P = 0.864), the use of balloon angioplasty or stenting for rescue therapy (54.6% vs. 45.9%, P = 0.189; 23.4% vs. 25.2%, P = 0.752), and favorable 90-day Modified Rankin Scale outcomes (53.2% vs. 40.3%, P = 0.051) showed no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: Both aspiration thrombectomy and stent-retriever thrombectomy can be considered as primary therapeutic options for patients presenting with ICAS-LVO in the anterior circulation.

The correlation of lymphocytes with disease progression of COVID-19.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of lymphocytes as biomarkers to predict the decline of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Lymphocytes were counted in 164 moderate COVID-19 patients in Shenzhen, China. Among the moderate infected patients, 12.2% (20/164) progressed to severe cases after admission. Compared with the stable patients, the counts of lymphocytes, both total T lymphocytes and CD4+ T lymphocytes, in the severe patients, were lower. The aggravation of moderate infected patients was significantly associated with lymphocyte count (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84-0.99), total T lymphocyte count (HR = 0.91; 95% CI: 0.84-0.99), and CD4+ T lymphocyte count (HR = 0.91; 95% CI: 0.85-0.98). Total T lymphocytes and CD4+ T lymphocytes could be important biomarkers to evaluate the risk of aggravation for moderate infected COVID-19 patients. The patients with low percentages of total T lymphocytes and CD4+ T lymphocytes need more attention.

Interprofessional education in problem-based learning: A frontier form of PBL in medical education.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education (IPE) aims to educate healthcare students to improve collaboration and the quality of care. The delivery of IPE through a problem-based learning (PBL) setting appears to hold good validity. However, there are few studies that show the value of combining these two teaching modes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was a longitudinal intervention study. A total of 360 students were randomly divided into three interprofessional PBL (IPBL) groups that mixed nursing, pharmacy, and clinical medical students and three uniprofessional PBL (UPBL) groups that consisted of a single profession. An improved Attitude and Learning Ability Questionnaire (ALAQ) was used to measure the improvement in attitudes toward interprofessional cooperation and learning outcomes. The tutorial session and final examination grades were compared between IPBL and UPBL by Chi-square tests and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests. Cronbach's α analysis was calculated to assess the validity and reliability. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.887, demonstrating high levels of reliability (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.842 0.916). RESULTS: According to Chi-square tests and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests, we observed the student's positive attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and the student's role awareness in the IPBL students was increased compared with UPBL students. In addition, a great majority of IPBL students felt that they had improved their self-learning ability and maintained a high enthusiasm for learning during the course. CONCLUSION: Our study found that the IPBL teaching model was more effective than the UPBL teaching model in healthcare student's positive attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and learning outcomes.

A Retrospective Cohort Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Sequential versus Concurrent Intrapleural Instillation of Tissue Plasminogen Activator and DNase for Pleural Infection.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with pleural infection requiring intrapleural therapy at two tertiary referral centres. Results: We included 84 (62.2%) and 51 (37.8%) patients who received sequential and concurrent intrapleural therapy, respectively. Patient demographics and clinical characteristics, including age, RAPID score, and percentage of pleural opacity on radiographs before intrapleural therapy, were similar in both groups. Treatment failure rates (defined by either in-hospital mortality, surgical intervention, or 30-day readmission for pleural infection) were 9.5% and 5.9% with sequential and concurrent intrapleural therapy, respectively (p = 0.534). This translates to a treatment success rate of 90.5% and 94.1% for sequential and concurrent intrapleural therapy, respectively. There was no significant difference in the decrease in percentage of pleural effusion size on chest radiographs (15.1% [IQR 6-35.7] versus 26.6% [IQR 9.9-38.7], p = 0.143) between sequential and concurrent therapy, respectively. There were also no significant differences in the rate of pleural bleeding (4.8% versus 9.8%, p = 0.298) and chest pain (13.1% versus 9.8%, p = 0.566) between sequential and concurrent therapy, respectively. Conclusion: Our study adds to the growing literature on the safety and efficacy of concurrent intrapleural therapy in pleural infection.

ALOX5AP is a new prognostic indicator in acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: The overexpression of ALOX5AP has been observed in many types of cancer and has been identified as an oncogene. However, its role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to identify the expression and methylation patterns of ALOX5AP in bone marrow (BM) samples of AML patients, and further explore its clinical significance. METHODS: Eighty-two de novo AML patients and 20 healthy donors were included in the study. Meanwhile, seven public datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were included to confirm the alteration of ALOX5AP. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to determine the discriminative capacity of ALOX5AP expression to discriminate AML. The prognostic value of ALOX5AP was identified by the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. It was further validated in four independent cohorts (n = 1186). Significantly different genes associated with ALOX5AP expression were subsequently compared by LinkedOmics, and Metascape database. RESULTS: The level of ALOX5AP expression was significantly increased in bone marrow cells of AML patients compared with healthy donors (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis suggested that ALOX5AP expression might be a potential biomarker to discriminate AML from controls. ALOX5AP overexpression was associated with decreased overall survival (OS) in AML according to the TCGA data (P = 0.006), which was validated by other four independent cohorts. DNA methylation levels of ALOX5AP were significantly lower in AML patients compared to normal samples (P < 0.05), as confirmed in the Diseasemeth database and the independent cohort GSE63409. ALOX5AP level was positively associated with genes with proleukemic effects such as PAX2, HOX family, SOX11, H19, and microRNAs that act as oncogenes in leukemia, such as miR125b, miR-93, miR-494, miR-193b, while anti-leukemia-related genes and tumor suppressor microRNAs such as miR-582, miR-9 family and miR-205 were negatively correlated. CONCLUSION: ALOX5AP overexpression, associated with its hypomethylation, predicts poorer prognosis in AML.

Strategies targeting IL-33/ST2 axis in the treatment of allergic diseases.

Interleukin-33 (IL-33) and its receptor Serum Stimulation-2 (ST2, also called Il1rl1) are members of the IL-1 superfamily that plays a crucial role in allergic diseases. The interaction of IL-33 and ST2 mainly activates NF-κB signaling and MAPK signaling via the MyD88/IRAK/TRAF6 module, resulting in the production and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The IL-33/ST2 axis participates in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases, and therefore serves as a promising strategy for allergy treatment. In recent years, strategies blocking IL-33/ST2 through targeting regulation of IL-33 and ST2 or targeting the molecules involved in the signal transduction have been extensively studied mostly in animal models. These studies provide various potential therapeutic agents other than antibodies, such as small molecules, nucleic acids and traditional Chinese medicines. Herein, we reviewed potential targets and agents targeting IL-33/ST2 axis in the treatment of allergic diseases, providing directions for further investigations on treatments for IL-33 induced allergic diseases.

Environmental Contamination of SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC by COVID-19 Patients Staying in the Hospital for More Than Two Weeks.

Background: Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC have a longer course of disease. We detected the air, surfaces, and patient's personal items in the wards of the second hospital of Nanjing during the outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta Variant to identify the environmental contamination, which provides a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of COVID-19 variation beads in the future. Methods: In the cross-sectional study, we collected and analyzed clinical features, demographic and epidemiological data, laboratory and swab test results, and surface and air samples of 144 COVID-19 cases. Results: The time from symptom onset to surface sampling was 25 days (IQR, 21 to 33 days). Positive throat swabs were detected in 52(36.1%) patients, of which only 8(5.6%) patients had N or ORF1a/b genes Ct value <35 on the surface sampling day. Among the 692 environmental surface and air specimens collected from 144 COVID-19 cases, 3 specimens (3/692, 0.4%) related to 5 cases (3.5%, 5/144) were detected positive on RT-PCR. Overall, bedside tables (2/144, 1.4%) were most likely to be contaminated, followed by toilet seats (1/81, 1.2%). Conclusion: The environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 Delta VOC-infected cases with disease duration of more than two weeks is limited.

TDLNet: Transfer Data Learning Network for Cross-Subject Classification Based on Multiclass Upper Limb Motor Imagery EEG.

The limited number of brain-computer interface based on motor imagery (MI-BCI) instruction sets for different movements of single limbs makes it difficult to meet practical application requirements. Therefore, designing a single-limb, multi-category motor imagery (MI) paradigm and effectively decoding it is one of the important research directions in the future development of MI-BCI. Furthermore, one of the major challenges in MI-BCI is the difficulty of classifying brain activity across different individuals. In this article, the transfer data learning network (TDLNet) is proposed to achieve the cross-subject intention recognition for multiclass upper limb motor imagery. In TDLNet, the Transfer Data Module (TDM) is used to process cross-subject electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in groups and then fuse cross-subject channel features through two one-dimensional convolutions. The Residual Attention Mechanism Module (RAMM) assigns weights to each EEG signal channel and dynamically focuses on the EEG signal channels most relevant to a specific task. Additionally, a feature visualization algorithm based on occlusion signal frequency is proposed to qualitatively analyze the proposed TDLNet. The experimental results show that TDLNet achieves the best classification results on two datasets compared to CNN-based reference methods and transfer learning method. In the 6-class scenario, TDLNet obtained an accuracy of 65%±0.05 on the UML6 dataset and 63%±0.06 on the GRAZ dataset. The visualization results demonstrate that the proposed framework can produce distinct classifier patterns for multiple categories of upper limb motor imagery through signals of different frequencies. The ULM6 dataset is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.21227/8qw6-f578.

Single-cell and bulk tissue sequencing unravels the heterogeneity of synovial microenvironment in arthrofibrosis.

Arthrofibrosis (AF) is a debilitating complication that occurs after trauma or surgery, leading to functional impairment and surgical failures worldwide. This study aimed to uncover the underlying mechanism of AF. A total of 141 patients were enrolled, and synovial samples were collected from both patients and animal models at different time points. Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and bulk tissue RNA sequencing (bulk-seq) were employed to profile the distinct synovial microenvironment. This study revealed changes in cell proportions during AF pathogenesis and identified Engrailed-1 (EN1) as a key transcription factor strongly associated with disease severity and clinical prognosis. Additionally, the researchers discovered a specific type of synovial fibroblast called DKK3-SLF, which played a critical role in driving AF development. These findings shed light on the composition and heterogeneity of the synovial microenvironment in AF, offering potential avenues for identifying therapeutic targets and developing clinical treatments for AF and other fibrotic diseases.