Benefits of maternal pectin supplementation in gestation diet on vaginal microbiota of sows and intestinal health of newborn piglets.

Pectin is a proven prebiotic and widely used in human health products. This study aims to assess the impact of dietary pectin supplementation during gestation on sow vaginal microbiota and the offspring's intestinal composition. Thirty sows were randomly allocated to two groups and fed a standard diet (CON) or a standard diet supplemented with 3 g/kg pectin (PEC). Blood, feces, and vaginal swab samples from the sows and blood, intestines issue, and colonic content samples from the offspring were collected and analyzed. The results indicate that the relative abundance of vaginal Lactobacillus was notably enhanced in the PEC group and fecal ß-glucuronidase (ß-G) activity and plasma 17ß-estradiol (E2) concentration were also significantly increased in the PEC group. Newborn piglets were found to host different microbial communities as well. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria dominated in the CON group, and Firmicutes was predominant in the PEC group. Newborn piglets in the PEC group had a lower interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration in their plasma. The expression of intestinal cytokines of offspring was improved as well. Villus height and villus height/crypt depth (V/C) in the PEC group were extremely higher than those in the CON group. In conclusion, dietary pectin supplementation can be of benefit to both sows and newborn piglets.

A Gestational Pectin Diet Could Improve the Health of Multiparous Sows by Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Cytokine Level during Late Pregnancy.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the dietary fiber pectin on the gut microbiota and health of parturient sows. A total of 30 parity 5-7, multiparous gestation sows (Large White × Landrace) were randomly assigned to two treatment groups after mating: Con (control, basic diet) and Pec (pectin, 3%). The sows received the two diets during gestation, and all sows were fed the same standard basic diet during lactation. The results of ß-diversity showed that the composition of the gut microbiota was different in the Con and Pec groups. Compared with the sows in the Con group, the Pec sows showed a higher abundance of the gut bacteria Clostridium and Romboutsia and a lower abundance of harmful bacteria (Micrococcaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, Dorea, Actinomyces). On the other hand, the SCFA plasma concentration was increased in the Pec group, while pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α) concentrations were decreased. In conclusion, the soluble dietary fiber pectin could improve the reproductive performance and health of sows by increasing the abundance of some commensal bacteria enhancing the metabolite SCFA levels and reducing the pro-inflammatory cytokine plasma levels.

Improvement of insulin sensitivity by dietary fiber consumption during late pregnant sows is associated with gut microbiota regulation of tryptophan metabolism.

BACKGROUND: Dietary fiber (DF) consumption was reported to improve insulin sensitivity, change the tryptophan metabolism, and alter the gut microbiota. Herein, this study aimed to investigate the effects of DF consumption on insulin sensitivity, tryptophan metabolism, and gut microbiota composition in sows during late pregnancy, and explore the relationship between tryptophan metabolites and insulin sensitivity regulated by DF supplementation. RESULTS: Twelve sows were randomly assigned to two dietary treatment groups (six/group): the low-fiber (LF) group, which was fed a basal diet, and the high-fiber (HF) group, which was fed the basal diet supplemented with 22.60 g/kg inulin and 181.60 g/kg cellulose. During late pregnancy, meal test, glucose tolerance test, and insulin challenge test were used to investigate the insulin sensitivity of sows, using the percutaneous brachiocephalic vein catheterization technique. High DF consumption resulted in improved insulin sensitivity, especially during the second and third trimesters, and promoted serotonin production from tryptophan. Additionally, plasma serotonin concentration was positively correlated with the insulin sensitivity index during late pregnancy. Moreover, DF consumption elevated fecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, altered fecal microbial diversity, and increased the abundances of Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Alloprevotella, Parabacteroides, Roseburia, and Sphaerochaeta, which were positively correlated to plasma serotonin concentration. CONCLUSIONS: DF consumption improved insulin sensitivity during late pregnancy in sows, which improved microbial diversity in fecal samples and increased fecal SCFA concentrations, resulting in a positive correlation with plasma serotonin level.

Nomogram based on immune-inflammatory indicators and age-adjusted charlson comorbidity index score to predict prognosis of postoperative parotid gland carcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Parotid gland carcinoma (PGC) is a rare malignant tumor. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score (ACCI) of PGC and develop the nomogram model for predicting prognosis. METHOD: All patients diagnosed with PGC in two tertiary hospitals, treated with surgical resection, from March 2012 to June 2018 were obtained. Potential prognostic factors were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The nomogram models were established based on these identified independent prognostic factors. The performance of the developed prognostic model was estimated by related indexes and plots. RESULT: The study population consisted of 344 patients with PGC who underwent surgical resection, 285 patients without smoking (82.8%), and 225 patients (65.4%) with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, with a median age of 50.0 years. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (p < 0.001), pathology (p = 0.019), tumor location (p < 0.001), extranodal extension (ENE) (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.004), prognostic nutrition index (PNI) (p = 0.003), ACCI (p < 0.001), and Glasgow prognostic Score (GPS) (p = 0.001) were independent indicators for disease free survival (DFS). Additionally, the independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) including AJCC stage (p = 0.015), pathology (p = 0.004), tumor location (p < 0.001), perineural invasion (p = 0.009), ENE (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.001), PNI (p = 0.001), ACCI (p = 0.003), and GPS (p = 0.033). The nomogram models for predicting DFS and OS in PGC patients were generated based on these independent risk factors. All nomogram models show good discriminative capability with area under curves (AUCs) over 0.8 (DFS 0.802, and OS 0.825, respectively). Decision curve analysis (DCA), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification index (NRI) show good clinical net benefit of the two nomograms in both training and validation cohorts. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed superior discrimination of DFS and OS in the new risk stratification system compared with the AJCC stage system. Finally, postoperative patients with PGC who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy had a better prognosis in the high-, and medium-risk subgroups (p < 0.05), but not for the low-risk subgroup. CONCLUSION: The immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and ACCI played an important role in both DFS and OS of PGC patients. Adjuvant radiotherapy had no benefit in the low-risk subgroup for PGC patients who underwent surgical resection. The newly established nomogram models perform well and can provide an individualized prognostic reference, which may be helpful for patients and surgeons in proper follow-up strategies.

Novel prognostic nomograms for postoperative patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma in the central region of China.

BACKGROUND: Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) is the most common pathological type in oral tumors. This study intends to construct a novel prognostic nomogram model based on China populations for these resectable OCSCC patients, and then validate these nomograms. METHODS: A total of 607 postoperative patients with OCSCC diagnosed between June 2012 and June 2018 were obtained from two tertiary medical institutions in Xinxiang and Zhengzhou. Then, 70% of all the cases were randomly assigned to the training group and the rest to the validation group. The endpoint time was defined as overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The nomograms for predicting the 3-, and 5-year OS and DFS in postoperative OCSCC patients were established based on the independent prognostic factors, which were identified by the univariate analysis and multivariate analysis. A series of indexes were utilized to assess the performance and net benefit of these two newly constructed nomograms. Finally, the discrimination capability of OS and DFS was compared between the new risk stratification and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage by Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: 607 postoperative patients with OCSCC were selected and randomly assigned to the training cohort (n = 425) and validation cohort (n = 182). The nomograms for predicting OS and DFS in postoperative OCSCC patients had been established based on the independent prognostic factors. Moreover, dynamic nomograms were also established for more convenient clinical application. The C-index for predicting OS and DFS were 0.691, 0.674 in the training group, and 0.722, 0.680 in the validation group, respectively. Besides, the calibration curve displayed good consistency between the predicted survival probability and actual observations. Finally, the excellent performance of these two nomograms was verified by the NRI, IDI, and DCA curves in comparison to the AJCC stage system. CONCLUSION: The newly established and validated nomograms for predicting OS and DFS in postoperative patients with OCSCC perform well, which can be helpful for clinicians and contribute to clinical decision-making.

New perspective on sustained antidepressant effect: focus on neurexins regulating synaptic plasticity.

Depression is highly prevalent globally, however, currently available medications face challenges such as low response rates and short duration of efficacy. Additionally, depression mostly accompany other psychiatric disorders, further progressing to major depressive disorder without long-term effective management. Thus, sustained antidepressant strategies are urgently needed. Recently, ketamine and psilocybin gained attention as potential sustained antidepressants. Review of recent studies highlights that synaptic plasticity changes as key events of downstream long-lasting changes in sustained antidepressant effect. This underscores the significance of synaptic plasticity in sustained antidepressant effect. Moreover, neurexins, key molecules involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity, act as critical links between synaptic plasticity and sustained antidepressant effects, involving mechanisms including protein level, selective splicing, epigenetics, astrocytes, positional redistribution and protein structure. Based on the regulation of synaptic plasticity by neurexins, several drugs with potential for sustained antidepressant effect are also discussed. Focusing on neurexins in regulating synaptic plasticity promises much for further understanding underlying mechanisms of sustained antidepressant and the next step in new drug development. This research represents a highly promising future research direction.

Genetic Characteristics of Novel IncpSE5381-aadB Plasmids, Integrative and Mobilizable Elements, and Integrative and Conjugative Elements in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Purpose: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common causative bacteria in nosocomial infections. This study aims to describe the structure and evolutionary characteristics of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) carrying antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from P. aeruginosa and to conduct bioinformatics and comparative genomic analysis to provide a deeper understanding of the genetic characteristics and diversity of MGEs in P. aeruginosa. Methods: Fifteen clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa from China were collected and sequenced in this study, and 15 novel MGEs were identified. Together with four MGEs from GenBank, a total of 19 MGEs were used to perform detailed modular structure dissection and sequence comparison. Then, the biological experiments were carried out to verify the biological characteristics of these isolates and MEGs. Results: The novel MGEs identified in this study displayed diversification in modular structures, which showed complex mosaic natures. The seven types of 19 MGEs included in this study were divided into three groups: i) novel MGEs (firstly identified in this study): four IncpSE5381-aadB plasmids and three Tn7495-related integrative and mobilizable elements (IMEs); ii) newly defined MGEs (firstly designated in this study, but with previously determined sequences): four Tn7665-related IMEs; iii) novel transposons with reference prototypes identified in this study: two Tn6417-related integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), two IS-based transposition units, two Tn501-related unit transposons, two Tn1403-related unit transposons. At least 36 ARGs involved in resistance to 11 different classes of antimicrobials and heavy metals were identified. Additionally, three novel blaOXA variants were identified. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that these variants were resistant to some ß-lactamase antibiotics and blaOXA-1204 was additionally resistant to cephalosporins. Conclusion: The continuous evolution of ARG-carrying MGEs during transmission, leading to the emergence of novel MGEs or ARGs, which facilitates the spread of antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa and enhances the diversity of transmission modes of bacterial resistance.

Contactless User-Interactive Sensing Display for Human-Human and Human-Machine Interactions.

Creating a large-scale contactless user-interactive sensing display (CUISD) with optimal features is challenging but crucial for efficient human-human or human-machine interactions. This study reports a CUISD based on dynamic alternating current electroluminescence (ACEL) that responds to humidity. Subsecond humidity-induced luminescence is achieved by integrating a highly responsive hydrogel into the ACEL layer. The patterned silver nanofiber electrode and luminescence layer, produced through electrospinning and microfabrication, result in a stretchable, large-scale, high-resolution, multicolor, and dynamic CUISD. The CUISD is implemented for the real-time control of a remote-controlled car, wherein the luminescence signals induced by touchless finger movements are distinguished and encoded to deliver specific commands. Moreover, the distinctive recognition of breathing facilitates the CUISD to serve as a visual signal transmitter for information interaction, which is particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities. The paradigm shift depicts in this work is expected to reshape the way authors interact with each other and devices, discovering niche applications in virtual/augmented reality and the metaverse.

Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Intraoperative Red Blood Cell Transfusion in Aortic Valve Replacement Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Blood shortage is a global challenge, impacting elective surgeries with high bleeding risk. Predicting intraoperative blood use, optimizing resource allocation, and ensuring safe elective surgery are vital. This study targets identifying key bleeding risk factors in Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR) through machine learning. METHODS: Data from 702 AVR patients were split into 70% training and 30% test sets. Thirteen models predicted RBC transfusion. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analyzed risk factors. RESULTS: Logistic Regression excelled, with Area Under Curve (AUC) 0.872 and 81.0% accuracy on the test set. Notably, female gender, Hemoglobin (HGB) < 131.91 g/L, Hematocrit (HCT) < 0.41L/L, weight < 59.49 kg, age > 54.47 year, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) < 29.15 pg, Total Protein (TP) > 69.7 g/L, FIB > 2.61 g/L, height < 160 cm, and type of operation is Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR) were significant RBC transfusion predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The study's model accurately forecasts AVR-related RBC transfusions. This informs presurgery blood preparations, reducing resource waste and aiding clinicians in optimizing patient care.

The value of transitory protective stomas during primary debulking surgery for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer-- a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Limited data are available on patients with advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) who require ostomy during primary cytoreductive surgery. This study aimed to investigate the application of postoperative and long-term oncological results from transitory protective stoma (TPS) formation during primary debulking surgery (PDS) for OC. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study with a single center. We identified patients with stage III-IV OC who underwent colon resection and anastomosis. Depending on the methods used after colorectal anastomosis and the outcomes of surgical resection, the patients were stratified into three groups: resection and end-to-end anastomosis, resection and ostomy, or R1 resection. Demographic and clinical data were analyzed. RESULTS: 84 patients underwent colorectal resection during cytoreduction for FIGO stage III-IV OC. Patients undergoing ostomy were more likely to have a longer mean operative time (266 vs. 283 vs. 236 min; P=0.003) and to undergo rectosigmoid resection at the time of cytoreductive surgery (56.0% vs. 22.7%, P=0.007). Their postoperative feeding (7 vs. 1 vs. 3 d, P<0.001) and exhaustion (6 vs. 3 vs. 3, P<0.001) times were similar to those of patients with R1 resection and much earlier than those of patients with intestinal anastomosis. The first normal time (35 d) and half-life (14.68 d) of CA125 after surgery were significantly better in patients with TPS group. The overall incidence of complications was the same, and there was no significant difference in the 30-day readmission rate. The overall quality of life assessment was significantly lower in the R1 resection group. CONCLUSIONS: TPSs can accelerate postoperative recovery and the initiation of postoperative chemotherapy, reduce the risk of mortality and disease progression and limit the incidence of complications.

Drought decreases cotton fiber strength by altering sucrose flow route.

The potential mechanisms by which drought restricts cotton fiber cell wall synthesis and fiber strength are still not fully understood. Herein, drought experiments were conducted using two cultivars of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), Dexiamian 1 (drought-tolerant) and Yuzaomian 9110 (drought-sensitive). Results showed that drought notably reduced sucrose efflux from cottonseed coats to fibers by down-regulating the expression of GhSWEET10 and GhSWEET15 in outer cottonseed coats, leading to enhanced sucrose accumulation in cottonseed coats but decreased sucrose accumulation in fibers. Within cotton fibers, drought restricted the hydrolysis of sucrose to uridine-5'-diphosphoglucose by suppressing sucrose synthase activity, and drought favored the conversion of uridine-5'-diphosphoglucose to ß-1,3-glucan rather than cellulose by up-regulating GhCALS5. Hence, cellulose content was reduced, which was the main reason for the decreased fiber strength under drought. Moreover, drought promoted lignin synthesis by up-regulating the expression of Gh4CL4, GhPAL9, GhCCR5, GhCAD11, and GhCOMT6, which partly offset the negative influence of reduced cellulose content on fiber strength. Compared with Yuzaomian 9110, the drought-tolerance of Dexiamian 1 was evidenced by the following under drought conditions: (i) greater sucrose flow from seedcoat to fiber, (ii) less ß-1,3-glucan accumulation, and (iii) more lignin biosynthesis. Overall, this study provides new insights into the mechanism of reduced cotton fiber strength induced by drought.

M-Ni-Co MOF (M=Zn, Fe, Mn) for high-performance supercapacitors by adjusting its morphology.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) have been wildly synthesised and studied as electrode materials for supercapacitors, and bimetallic MOF of Ni and Co has been broadly studied to enhance both specific capacitance and stability of supercapacitors. Herein, a best performance (about 320 F/g) of Ni-Co bimetallic MOF was found in a uniform preparation condition by adjusting the ratio of Ni to Co. Then tiny third metal ion was introduced, and we found that the morphology of material has a significant change on the original basis. Furthermore, certain ions (Zn, Fe, Mn) introduced make a huge improvement in capacitance based on Ni-Co MOF of 320 F/g. The result shows that Zn-Ni-Co MOF, Fe-Ni-Co MOF and Mn-Ni-Co MOF perform specific capacitance of 1135 F/g, 870 F/g and 760F/g at 1 A/g, respectively. Meanwhile, the asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was constructed by Zn-Ni-Co MOF as positive electrode and active carbon (AC) as negative electrode. The Zn-Ni-Co MOF//AC ASC possesses a energy density of 58 Wh/kg at a power density of 775 W/kg. This research provides a new methods to regulate the morphology of MOF and a novel viewpoint for assembling high-performance, low-price, and eco-friendly green energy storage devices.

Lithium Niobate MEMS Antisymmetric Lamb Wave Resonators with Support Structures.

The piezoelectric thin film composed of single-crystal lithium niobate (LiNbO3) exhibits a remarkably high electromechanical coupling coefficient and minimal intrinsic losses, making it an optimal material for fabricating bulk acoustic wave resonators. However, contemporary first-order antisymmetric (A1) Lamb mode resonators based on LiNbO3 thin films face specific challenges, such as inadequate mechanical stability, limited power capacity, and the presence of multiple spurious modes, which restrict their applicability in a broader context. In this paper, we present an innovative design for A1 Lamb mode resonators that incorporates a support-pillar structure. Integration of support pillars enables the dissipation of spurious wave energy to the substrate, effectively mitigating unwanted spurious modes. Additionally, this novel approach involves anchoring the piezoelectric thin film to a supportive framework, consequently enhancing mechanical stability while simultaneously improving the heat dissipation capabilities of the core.

Large-Scale Molecular Dynamics Simulation Based on Heterogeneous Many-Core Architecture.

As the application of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations continues to evolve, the demand for accelerating large-scale simulation systems and handling of enormous simulation tasks is steadily increasing. We propose a parallel acceleration method for large-scale MD simulations based on Sunway heterogeneous many-core processors. This method integrates task scheduling, simulation calculations, and data storage, effectively tackling issues related to large-scale simulations and numerous simulation tasks. The task scheduling strategy flexibly handles tasks on various scales and enables parallel execution of multiple tasks. During the simulation calculations, we ported GROMACS to the Sunway architecture and accelerated the calculation of short-range forces through a heterogeneous processor. Our method achieves approximately 10-fold acceleration and 90% scalability when executing a single simulation task. When handling numerous simulation tasks, our method achieves parallel execution of all of the tasks with 90% scalability. By employing our method, we carried out 50 ns simulations on over 3000 distinct conotoxin structures individually within just 5 h. Additionally, we evaluated more than 200 protein-ligand complexes, and the simulation efficiency significantly exceeded that of midsized to small GPU clusters.

Antioxidation and Hepatoprotection of Selenium Mycelium Polysaccharides Against Alcoholic Liver Diseases from the Cultivated Morel Mushroom Morchella esculenta (Ascomycota).

The liver was regarded as the most important metabolic and detoxification organ in vivo, and Morchella esculenta had been reported as the admittedly rare edible fungus belonging to Ascomycetes contributing to the abundant bioactivities. The objective of this study aimed to confirm the potential antioxidant activities of selenium mycelium polysaccharides (Se-MIP) from M. esculenta against alcoholic liver diseases (ALD) in mice. The results indicated that a selenium concentration of 25 µg/mL exhibited potential in vitro antioxidant capacities of Se-MIP. The in vivo mice results demonstrated that Se-MIP showed potential anti-ALD effects by improving the antioxidant activities and alleviating the hepatic dysfunctions. The present conclusions suggested that Se-MIP could be used as a candidate on improving ALD and its complications for further clinical investigations.

CREG1 deficiency impaired myoblast differentiation and skeletal muscle regeneration.

BACKGROUND: CREG1 (cellular repressor of E1A-stimulated genes 1) is a protein involved in cellular differentiation and homeostasis regulation. However, its role in skeletal muscle satellite cells differentiation and muscle regeneration is poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the role of CREG1 in myogenesis and muscle regeneration. METHODS: RNA sequencing data (GSE8479) was analysed from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi). We generated Creg1 knockdown and skeletal muscle satellite cells specific Creg1 overexpression mice mediated by adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9), skeletal muscle mature myofibre Creg1 knockout mice (myoblast/Creg1MKO), and control mice Creg1flox/flox (Creg1fl/fl) as in vivo models. The mice were injected into tibialis anterior (TA) muscle with 100 µL of 10 µM cardiotoxin to establish a muscle regeneration model. Creg1fl/fl and Creg1MKO mice were treated with AAV-sh-C-Cbl (2 × 1010 genomic copies/mouse) to silence C-Cbl in the TA muscle. 293T and C2C12 cells were transfected with plasmids using lipofectamine RNAi MAX in vitro. Mass spectrometry analyses and RNA sequencing transcriptomic assay were performed. RESULTS: We analysed the transcriptional profiles of the skeletal muscle biopsies from healthy older (N = 25) and younger (N = 26) adult men and women in GSE8479 database, and the results showed that Creg1 was associated with human sarcopenia. We found that Creg1 knockdown mice regenerated less newly formed fibres in response to cardiotoxin injection (~30% reduction, P < 0.01); however, muscle satellite cells specific Creg1 overexpression mice regenerated more newly formed fibres (~20% increase, P < 0.05). AMPKa1 is known as a key mediator in the muscle regeneration process. Our results revealed that CREG1 deficiency inhibited AMPKa1 signalling through C-CBL E3-ubiquitin ligase-mediated AMPKa1 degradation (P < 0.01). C-CBL-mediated AMPKa1 ubiquitination was attributed to the K48-linked polyubiquitination of AMPKa1 at K396 and that the modification played an important role in the regulation of AMPKa1 protein stability. We also found that Creg1MKO mice regenerated less newly formed fibres compared with Creg1fl/fl mice (~30% reduction, P < 0.01). RNA-seq analysis showed that CREG1 deletion in impaired muscles led to the upregulation of inflammation and DKK3 expression. The TA muscles of Creg1MKO mice were injected with AAV-vector or AAV-shC-Cbl, silencing C-CBL (P < 0.01) in the skeletal muscles of Creg1MKO mice significantly improved muscle regeneration induced by CTX injury (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that CREG1 may be a potential therapeutic target for skeletal muscle regeneration.

Price discovery in Chinese PVC futures and spot markets: Impacts of COVID-19 and benchmark analysis.

Despite being a minor futures category, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) futures have emerging as a vital element in energy and chemical futures domain. Employing three benchmark models component share (CS), information share (IS), and information leadership share (ILS), this study explores the price discovery function of Chinese PVC futures and spot markets. It assesses whether PVC futures have matured into an effective hedging tool and reference point for spot markets, and also examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this price discovery relationship. Empirical analysis reveals that the futures market has become the primary site for price discovery in the Chinese PVC market. All the models consistently demonstrate a mature price discovery function in PVC futures, providing risk mitigation tools for industry players. However, post-pandemic dynamics indicate that price discovery in PVC markets primarily occurs within the spot market. This suggests that compared to the futures market, the PVC spot market is able to respond more quickly to the strong signals of industrial recovery after the end of the pandemic. The feedback and pricing efficiency of the PVC futures market in response to new market information are also influenced. Furthermore, our study offers better anticipation of future market prices.

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in patients with lip squamous cell carcinoma after surgery.

BACKGROUND: Lip squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) was one of the most common cancer types of head and neck tumors. This study aimed to find more predictors of the prognosis in postoperative LSCC patients. METHODS: A total of 147 LSCC patients between June 2012 and June 2018 were collected from two tertiary care institutions. There were 21 clinicopathological factors included and analyzed in our study. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to find the independent prognostic factors for predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in postoperative LSCC patients. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy in various subgroups was displayed by Kaplan-Meier plots. RESULTS: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year PFS of postoperative LSCC patients were 88.4%, 70.1%, and 57.8%, respectively. Similarly, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of postoperative LSCC patients were 94.6%, 76.9%, and 69.4%, respectively. The results suggested that postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, grade with moderate or poor differentiate, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IV, higher systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), surgical margin < 5, and age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) ≥ 5 tend to have a poorer PFS (all P < 0.05). Besides, postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, AJCC stage IV, higher GPS, higher SII, and ACCI ≥ 5 tend to have a worse OS (all P < 0.05). Additionally, postoperative patients with LSCC in the subgroup of ACCI < 5 and AJCC III-IV stage was more likely to benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy, but not for the other subgroups. CONCLUSION: We identified a series of significant immune-inflammation-related and comorbidity-related clinicopathological factors associated with the prognosis of postoperative LSCC patients by local data from two tertiary care institutions in China, which can be helpful for patients and surgeons to pay more attention to nutrition, inflammation, and complications and finally obtained a better prognosis.

High-energy-density zinc ion capacitors based on 3D porous free-standing defect-reduced graphene oxide hydrogel cathodes.

Zinc ion capacitors (ZICs) have shown potential for breaking the energy density ceiling of traditional supercapacitors (SCs) via appropriate device design. Nevertheless, a significant challenge remains in advancing ZIC positive electrode materials with excellent conductivity, high specific capacitance, and reliable cycle stability. A highly attractive option for carbon-based electrode materials is reduced graphene oxide (RGO) due to its vast specific surface area, prominent porosity, and 3D cross-linked frame. However, the tight stacking of RGO sheets driven by van der Waals forces can restrict active sites, decrease specific capacitance, and elevate electrochemical impedance. To overcome these challenges, 3D defective RGO (DRGO) hydrogels were prepared by a metal Co cocatalytic gasification reaction. This method produced mesoporous defects on the surface of RGO hydrogels via a low-temperature hydrothermal self-assembly strategy. The surface of the layer has a wide and uniform distribution, which can offer abundant redox active sites, rich ion transfer channels, and fast reaction kinetics. In this work, 3D DRGO//Zn exhibited a wide operating window (0-1.8 V), high specific capacitance (189.39 F g-1 at 1 A g-1), outstanding energy density (85.23 W h kg-1 at 960.31 W kg-1; 52.36 W h kg-1 at 17454.87 W kg-1), and persistent cycling life (98.86% initial capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at 10 A g-1). This study emphasizes the device design of ZIC and promising prospects of using 3D DRGO hydrogel as a feasible positive electrode for ZIC.

Net clinical benefit of clopidogrel versus ticagrelor in elderly patients carrying CYP2C19 loss-of-function variants with acute coronary syndrome after percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) tend to choose clopidogrel over potent P2Y12 receptor inhibitor such as ticagrelor after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in China considering higher risks of bleeding. CYP2C19 genotype is regarded as a major factor influencing the efficacy of clopidogrel. The present study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of ticagrelor relative to clopidogrel in elderly ACS patients after PCI in China with reduced CYP2C19 metabolism. METHODS: Between January 2016 and March 2019, 2751 ACS patients over 65 years old with CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LOF) variants after PCI were enrolled. All patients were treated with aspirin and P2Y12 receptor inhibitor, among whom 2056 received clopidogrel and 695 received ticagrelor. Net adverse clinical events (NACE), a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic stroke, target vessel revascularization and clinically relevant bleeding including Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) types 2, 3, 5 bleeding, were compared between the two groups at 12 months after PCI. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to balance the baseline characteristics between the two groups. RESULTS: Before and after PSM, NACE was significantly increased in ticagrelor group compared with clopidogrel group at 12 months post PCI (Before PSM, 15.18% vs. 25.61% p<0.001; After PSM, 11.66% vs. 26.01% p<0.001). MACE was comparable between the two groups (Before PSM, 5.45% vs. 5.32% p>0.999; After PSM, 3.59% vs. 5.38% p=0.146). BARC types 2, 3, 5 bleeding events were significantly increased in patients treated with ticagrelor relative to clopidogrel (Before PSM, 10.31% vs. 21.01% p<0.001; After PSM, 8.22% vs. 21.38% p<0.001), which was mainly attributed to a higher incidence of BARC type 2 bleeding events in ticagrelor group (Before PSM, 8.12% vs. 18.56% p<0.001; After PSM, 6.43% vs. 18.83% p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In the present real-world study, selection of ticagrelor over clopidogrel showed a significant increase in NACE with a higher incidence of bleeding and similar ischemic events in elderly ACS patients carrying CYP2C19 LOF variants after PCI.