Resistive spontaneous breathing exacerbated lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury in mice.

Background: Spontaneous respiratory mechanical force interacted with the primary lung injury and aggravated the progression of ARDS clinically. But the exact role and involved mechanism of it in the pathogenesis of ARDS animal model remained obscure. Aim: This study was to investigate the effect of spontaneous respiratory mechanical force on lung injury of ARDS in mice. Methods: Female C57BL/6 mice were subjected to resistive spontaneous breathing (RSB) by tracheal banding after 4-6 h of intranasal inhalation of LPS. Pulmonary function was examined by Buxco system, partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide (PO2 and PCO2) were measured by a blood gas analyzer, and lung pathological changes were analyzed with hematoxylin and eosin staining. The levels of inflammatory markers were quantified by ELISA, total protein assay, and FACS analysis. The expression levels of mechanosensitive ion channels were detected by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Results: The airway resistance (Raw) was increased and the tidal volume (TV) was decreased remarkedly in RSB group. RSB treatment did not affect PO2, PCO2, pathology and inflammation levels of lung in mice. The Raw increased and ventilatory indicators decreased in RSB + ARDS compared to ARDS significantly. Besides, RSB treatment deteriorated the changes of PO2, PCO2 and level of lactic acid induced by LPS. Meanwhile, RSB significantly promoted LPS-induced pulmonary histopathological injury, and elevated the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-α and total proteins, increased neutrophils infiltration. The expression level of Piezo1 in RSB + ARDS group was remarkably reduced compared to ARDS group and consistent with the severity of pulmonary damage. Conclusion: RSB exacerbated LPS-induced ARDS hypoxemia and hypercapnia, inflammation and damage. The mechanosensitive protein Piezo1 expression decreased and may play an important role in the process.

Insights into the hydrogen generation and catalytic mechanism on Co-based nanocomposites derived from pyrolysis of organic metal precursor.

Hydrogen generation from boron hydride is important for the development of hydrogen economy. Cobalt (Co) element has been widely used in the hydrolysis of boron hydride. Pyrolysis is a common method for materials synthesis in catalytic fields. Herein, Co-based nanocomposites derived from the pyrolysis of organic metal precursors and used for hydrolysis of boron hydride are summarized and discussed. The different precursors consisting of MOF, supported, metal, and metal phosphide precursors are summarized. The catalytic mechanism consisting of dissociation mechanism based on oxidative addition-reduction elimination, pre-activation mechanism, SN2 mechanism, four-membered ring mechanism, and acid-base mechanism is intensively discussed. Finally, conclusions and outlooks are conveyed from the design of high-efficiency catalysts, the characterization of catalyst structure, the enhancement of catalytic activities, the investigation of the catalytic mechanism, and the catalytic stability of active structure. This review can provide guidance for designing high-efficiency catalysts and boosting development of hydrogen economy.

Association between dietary inflammation index and female infertility from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: 2013-2018.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between dietary inflammatory index (DII) scores and infertility in US adults aged 18 to 45. Methods: Data were gathered from the 2013-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In total, 3496 women were included in the study. To examine the relationship between DII, EDII and infertility, a weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis using continuous factors or categorical variables grouped by quartiles was conducted. Using subgroup analysis stratified based on DII and infertility features, the association between DII and infertility has been further studied. In order to determine whether there was a nonlinear relationship between DII and infertility, restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was carried out. Results: For statistical analysis, a total of 3496 individuals - 367 patients with infertility and 3129 persons without infertility - were included. A multivariable logistic regression study revealed a positive relationship between DII and infertility. A significant difference in subgroup analysis was shown in age group and race, although RCS analysis demonstrated nonlinear relationship between the DII and infertility. Conclusion: For participants aged 18-45 years, higher DII scores were positively correlated with infertility. In addition, anti-inflammatory diets might improve infertility outcomes.

Heat exposure induced risks of preterm birth mediated by maternal hypertension.

Heat exposure is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (PTB), with previous work suggesting that maternal blood pressure may play a role in these associations. Here we conducted a cohort study of 197,080 singleton live births across 8 provinces in China from 2015 to 2018. The study first estimated the associations between heat exposure, maternal hypertension and clinical subtypes of PTB, and then quantified the role of maternal hypertension in heat and PTB using mediation analyses. We show that heat exposure (>85th, 90th and 95th percentiles of local temperature distributions) spanning from conception to the 20th gestational week was associated with a 15-21% increase in PTB, and a 20-22% increase in medically indicated PTB. Heat exposure is likely to increase the risk of maternal hypertension and elevated blood pressure. Maternal hypertension mediated 15.7% and 33.9% of the effects of heat exposure (>90th percentile) on PTB and medically indicated PTB, respectively. Based on this large-population study, we found that exposure to heat in early pregnancy can increase the risk of maternal hypertension, thereby affecting the incidence of PTB.

Effect of inspiratory muscle training in children with asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease in children. Alongside pharmacological interventions, inspiratory muscle training (IMT) emerges as a complementary therapeutic approach for asthma management. However, the extent of its efficacy in pediatric populations remains uncertain when compared to its benefits in adults. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of IMT with threshold loading in children with asthma. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of inspiratory muscle training in pediatric asthma patients were identified through June 2023 across various literature databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAL), Web of Science, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (CNKI), Wei Pu Database, Wan Fang Database, and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM). These trials compared inspiratory muscle training against sham inspiratory muscle training and conventional care. Eligible studies were assessed in terms of risk of bias and quality of evidence. Where feasible, data were pooled and subjected to meta-analysis, with results reported as mean differences (MDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Six trials involving 333 patients were included in the analysis. IMT demonstrated significant improvements in maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) (MD 25.36, 95% CI 2.47-48.26, P = 0.03), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) (MD 14.72, 95% CI 4.21-25.24, P = 0.006), forced vital capacity in percent predicted values [FVC(% pred)] (MD 3.90, 95% CI 1.86-5.93, P = 0.0002), forced expiratory volume in the first second in percent predicted values [FEV1(% pred)] (MD 4.96, 95% CI 2.60-7.32, P < 0.0001), ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) (MD 4.94, 95% CI 2.66-7.21, P < 0.0001), and asthma control test (ACT) (MD = 1.86, 95% CI: 0.96-2.75, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Findings from randomized controlled trials indicate that inspiratory muscle training enhances respiratory muscle strength and pulmonary function in pediatric asthma patients. Systematic Review Registration: www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023449918, identifier: CRD42023449918.

Catalytically Active Carbon for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Energy Conversion: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.

The shortage and unevenness of fossil energy sources are affecting the development and progress of human civilization. The technology of efficiently converting material resources into energy for utilization and storage is attracting the attention of researchers. Environmentally friendly biomass materials are a treasure to drive the development of new-generation energy sources. Electrochemical theory is used to efficiently convert the chemical energy of chemical substances into electrical energy. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the development of green and economical electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Although many reviews have been reported around the application of biomass-derived catalytically active carbon (CAC) catalysts in ORR, these reviews have only selected a single/partial topic (including synthesis and preparation of catalysts from different sources, structural optimization, or performance enhancement methods based on CAC catalysts, and application of biomass-derived CACs) for discussion. There is no review that systematically addresses the latest progress in the synthesis, performance enhancement, and applications related to biomass-derived CAC-based oxygen reduction electrocatalysts synchronously. This review fills the gap by providing a timely and comprehensive review and summary from the following sections: the exposition of the basic catalytic principles of ORR, the summary of the chemical composition and structural properties of various types of biomass, the analysis of traditional and the latest popular biomass-derived CAC synthesis methods and optimization strategies, and the summary of the practical applications of biomass-derived CAC-based oxidative reduction electrocatalysts. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the latest advances to provide research directions and design ideas for the development of catalyst synthesis/optimization and contributes to the industrialization of biomass-derived CAC electrocatalysis and electric energy storage.

Assessing the Feasibility of Simplifying the Scanning Protocol for Spinal Metastases With Vertebral Compression Fractures Using Only the Dixon T2-Weighted Sequence.

OBJECTIVE: Conventional imaging protocols, including sagittal T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and water-only T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), are time consuming when screening for spinal metastases with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). In this study, we aimed to assess the accuracy of using only the Dixon T2-weighted sequence in the diagnosis of spinal metastases with VCFs to determine its suitability as a simplified protocol for this task. METHODS: This retrospective study included 27 patients diagnosed with spinal metastases and VCFs. Qualitative analysis was performed separately by two musculoskeletal radiologists, who independently performed diagnostic evaluations of each vertebra using both conventional and simplified protocols. McNemar's test was then used to compare the differences in diagnostic results, and Cohen's kappa coefficient was used to assess interobserver and interprotocol agreement. Diagnostic performance values for both protocols, including sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve, were then determined based on the reference standard. Quantitative image analysis was performed randomly for 30 metastases on T1WI and fat-only T2WI to measure the signal intensity, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio. RESULTS: The diagnosis of VCFs by both radiologists was in full agreement with the reference standard. The classification of spinal metastases and diagnostic performance values determined by both radiologists were not significantly different between the two protocols (all P > 0.05), and the consistency between observers and protocols was excellent (κ = 0.973-0.991). The contrast-to-noise ratio of fat-only T2WI was significantly higher than that of T1WI (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Dixon T2-weighted sequence alone performed well in diagnosing spinal metastases with VCFs, performing no worse than the conventional protocol (T1WI and water-only T2WI). This suggests that the Dixon T2-weighted sequence alone can serve as a simplified protocol for the diagnosis of spinal metastases with VCFs, thereby avoiding the need for more intricate scanning procedures.

Novel Superhydrophobic Copper Mesh-Based Centrifugal Device for Edible Oil-Water Separation.

Edible oil is essential for people's daily life but also results in a large amount of oily wastewater simultaneously. Oil-water separation is a practical route that can not only purify wastewater but also recycle valuable edible oil. In this study, the superhydrophobic copper mesh (SCM) was prepared by chemical etching, and a novel oil-water centrifugal device was designed for high-efficiency separation of edible oil wastewater. The kernel is a self-prepared SCM, which has a water contact angle (WCA) of 155.1 ± 1.8° and an oil contact angle (OCA) of 0°. Besides, the separation performance of the SCM for edible oil-water mixtures was studied in this study. The results showed that the SCM exhibited excellent oil/water separation performance, with a separation efficiency of up to 96.7% for sunflower seed oil-water wastewater, 93.3% for corn oil-water wastewater, and 98.3% for peanut oil-water wastewater, respectively. Moreover, the separation efficiency was still over 90% after 18 cycles. A model was established to analyze the oil-water separation mechanism via centrifugation. The oil-water centrifugal separation device has great potential for scale-up applications.

[Screening and Identification of lncRNA Related to Adipocity of Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Aplastic Anemia].

OBJECTIVE: To systematically screen and identify long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) associated with bone marrow adiposity changes in aplastic anemia (AA). METHODS: The PPARγ and C/EBPα ChIP-Seq data in ChIPBase was analyzed by bioinformatics and the potential lncRNA co-transcriptionally regulated by PPARγ and C/EBPα was screened. The expression of candidate lncRNA was verified by qRT-PCR in the in vitro adipogenic differentiation model of BM-MSC, BM-MSC infected with lenti-shPPARγ and lenti-shC/EBPα as well as clinical BM-MSC samples derived from AA and controls. RESULTS: PPARγ and C/EBPα were significantly highly expressed in AA BM-MSC, and knock-down of PPARγ and C/EBPα impaired the adipogenic capacity of AA BM-MSC. PPARγ and C/EBPα cotranscriptionally activate LINC01230 promoter activity in binding sites dependant manner. The LINC01230 was also aberrantly highly expressed in AA BM-MSC compared with controls. CONCLUSION: PPARγ and C/EBPα are aberrantly expressed in AA BM-MSC and may promote the adipogenic differentiation of AA BM-MSC, and to a certain extent mediate the bone marrow adiposity alteration by transcriptionally activating LINC01230 expression.

UNVEILING THE PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS OF PUERARIN AGAINST ACUTE LUNG INJURY: A COMPREHENSIVE EXPLORATION OF THE ROLES AND MECHANISMS OF MST1/ERS SIGNALING.

OBJECTIVES: Puerarin, the principal active constituent extracted from Pueraria, is believed to confer protection against sepsis-induced lung injury. The study aimed to elucidate the role and mechanism of Mst1/ERS in puerarin-mediated protection against acute lung injury (ALI). METHODS: Monolayer vascular endothelial cell permeability was assessed by gauging the paracellular flow of FITC-dextran 40,000 (FD40). ELISA was employed for the quantification of inflammatory cytokines. Identification of target proteins was conducted through Western blotting. Histological alterations and apoptosis were scrutinized using H&E staining and TUNEL staining, respectively. The ultrastructure of the endoplasmic reticulum was observed via transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: Puerarin significantly protected mice from LPS-induced ALI, reducing lung interstitial width, neutrophil and lymphocyte infiltration, pulmonary interstitial and alveolar edema, and lung apoptosis. Puerarin treatment also markedly attenuated levels of TNF-α and IL-1ß in both alveolar lavage fluid and serum. Furthermore, puerarin significantly attenuated LPS-induced increases in Mst1, GRP78, CHOP, and Caspase12 protein expression and blunted LPS-induced decrease in ZO-1 protein expression in lung tissues. Puerarin obviously reduced endoplasmic reticulum expansion and vesiculation. Similarly, puerarin significantly mitigated the LPS-induced reduction in HUVEC cell viability and ZO-1 expression. Puerarin also attenuated LPS-induced increase in apoptosis, TNF-α and IL-1ß, FD40 flux, and Mst1, GRP78, CHOP, and Caspase12 expression in HUVEC cells. Nevertheless, the inhibitory impact of puerarin on vascular endothelial cell injury, lung injury, and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) was diminished by Mst1 overexpression. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that the Mst1/ERS signaling pathway played a pivotal role in the development of LPS-induced vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and ALI. Puerarin exhibited the ability to attenuate LPS-induced vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and ALI by inhibiting the Mst1/ERS signaling pathway.

Cosine similarity knowledge distillation for surface anomaly detection.

The current state-of-the-art anomaly detection methods based on knowledge distillation (KD) typically depend on smaller student networks or reverse distillation to address vanishing representations discrepancy on anomalies. These methods often struggle to achieve precise detection when dealing with complex texture backgrounds containing anomalies due to the similarity between anomalous and non-anomalous regions. Therefore, we propose a new paradigm-Cosine Similarity Knowledge Distillation (CSKD), for surface anomaly detection and localization. We focus on the superior performance of the same deeper teacher and student encoders by the distillation loss in traditional knowledge distillation-based methods. Essentially, we introduce the Attention One-Class Embedding (AOCE) in the student network to enhance learning capabilities and reduce the effect of the teacher-student (T-S) model on response similarity in anomalous regions. Furthermore, we find the optimal models by different classes' hard-coded epochs, and an adaptive optimal model selection method is designed. Extensive experiments on the MVTec dataset with 99.2% image-level AUROC and 98.2%/94.7% pixel-level AUROC/PRO demonstrate that our method outperforms existing unsupervised anomaly detection algorithms. Additional experiments on DAGM dataset, and one-class anomaly detection benchmarks further show the superiority of the proposed method.

Distinct fibroblast subpopulations associated with bone, brain or intrapulmonary metastasis in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Bone or brain metastases may develop in 20-40% of individuals with late-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), resulting in a median overall survival of only 4-6 months. However, the primary lung cancer tissue's distinctions between bone, brain and intrapulmonary metastases of NSCLC at the single-cell level have not been underexplored. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of 14 tissue biopsy samples obtained from treatment-naïve advanced NSCLC patients with bone (n = 4), brain (n = 6) or intrapulmonary (n = 4) metastasis using single-cell sequencing originating from the lungs. Following quality control and the removal of doublets, a total of 80 084 cells were successfully captured. RESULTS: The most significant inter-group differences were observed in the fraction and function of fibroblasts. We identified three distinct cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) subpopulations: myofibroblastic CAF (myCAF), inflammatory CAF (iCAF) and antigen-presenting CAF (apCAF). Notably, apCAF was prevalent in NSCLC with bone metastasis, while iCAF dominated in NSCLC with brain metastasis. Intercellular signalling network analysis revealed that apCAF may play a role in bone metastasis by activating signalling pathways associated with cancer stemness, such as SPP1-CD44 and SPP1-PTGER4. Conversely, iCAF was found to promote brain metastasis by activating invasion and metastasis-related molecules, such as MET hepatocyte growth factor. Furthermore, the interaction between CAFs and tumour cells influenced T-cell exhaustion and signalling pathways within the tumour microenvironment. CONCLUSIONS: This study unveils the direct interplay between tumour cells and CAFs in NSCLC with bone or brain metastasis and identifies potential therapeutic targets for inhibiting metastasis by disrupting these critical cell-cell interactions.

Inoculation with Stutzerimonas stutzeri strains decreases N2O emissions from vegetable soil by altering microbial community composition and diversity.

Inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains has promoted plant growth and decreased nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils simultaneously. However, limited PGPR strains can mitigate N2O emissions from agricultural soils, and the microbial ecological mechanisms underlying N2O mitigation after inoculation are poorly understood. In greenhouse pot experiments, the effects of inoculation with Stutzerimonas stutzeri NRCB010 and NRCB025 on tomato growth and N2O emissions were investigated in two vegetable agricultural soils with contrasting textures. Inoculation with NRCB010 and NRCB025 significantly promoted tomato growth in both soils. Moreover, inoculation with NRCB010 decreased the N2O emissions from the fine- and coarse-textured soils by 38.7% and 52.2%, respectively, and inoculation with NRCB025 decreased the N2O emissions from the coarse-textured soil by 76.6%. Inoculation with NRCB010 and NRCB025 decreased N2O emissions mainly by altering soil microbial community composition and the abundance of nitrogen-cycle functional genes. The N2O-mitigating effect might be partially explained by a decrease in the (amoA + amoB)/(nosZI + nosZII) and (nirS + nirK)/(nosZI + nosZII) ratios, respectively. Soil pH and organic matter were key variables that explain the variation in abundance of N-cycle functional genes and subsequent N2O emission. Moreover, the N2O-mitigating effect varied depending on soil textures and individual strain after inoculation. This study provides insights into developing biofertilizers with plant growth-promoting and N2O-mitigating effects. IMPORTANCE: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been applied to mitigate nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils, but the microbial ecological mechanisms underlying N2O mitigation are poorly understood. That is why only limited PGPR strains can mitigate N2O emissions from agricultural soils. Therefore, it is of substantial significance to reveal soil ecological mechanisms of PGPR strains to achieve efficient and reliable N2O-mitigating effect after inoculation. Inoculation with Stutzerimonas stutzeri strains decreased N2O emissions from two soils with contrasting textures probably by altering soil microbial community composition and gene abundance involved in nitrification and denitrification. Our findings provide detailed insight into soil ecological mechanisms of PGPR strains to mitigate N2O emissions from vegetable agricultural soils.

Effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on the quality of postoperative recovery: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to systematically delve into the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the quality of recovery after general anesthesia. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials related to TEAS improving postoperative recovery quality were searched in Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang and Chinese biomedical database from the inception of each database to June 2023. After literature screening and data extraction, Stata15 software was employed for meta-analysis, and the quality of the included literature was evaluated utilizing ROB2. RESULTS: The study included 10 articles involving 2,383 patients in total. The meta-analysis results unveiled that TEAS could improve 24-hour and 48-hour postoperative QoR-40 scores as well as 24-hour postoperative QoR-40 dimension scores [WMD = 8.52, 95%CI (5.12, 11.91), P < 0.001; WMD = 1.99, 95%CI (0.91, 3.07), P < 0.001], emotional state [WMD = 1.38, 95%CI (0.66, 2.09), P < 0.001], physical comfort [WMD = 2.99, 95%CI (1.59, 4.39), P < 0.001], psychological support [WMD = 0.63, 95%CI (0.36, 0.90), P < 0.001], and physical independence [WMD = 0.76, 95%CI (0.22, 1.30), P = 0.006]; pain [WMD = 1.81, 95%CI (0.87, 2.75), P < 0.001]; decrease 24-hour postoperative VAS pain scores [WMD = -0.84, 95%CI (-1.45, -0.23), P = 0.007] and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting [RR = 0.88, 95%CI (0.81, 0.97), P = 0.006; RR = 0.62, 95%CI (0.52, 0.73), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: TEAS can improve postoperative QoR-40 scores and the quality of recovery, relieve pain, and decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting after surgery in patients who underwent general anesthesia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRD42023433959.

Cytoplasmic genome contributions to domestication and improvement of modern maize.

BACKGROUND: Studies on maize evolution and domestication are largely limited to the nuclear genomes, and the contribution of cytoplasmic genomes to selection and domestication of modern maize remains elusive. Maize cytoplasmic genomes have been classified into fertile (NA and NB) and cytoplasmic-nuclear male-sterility (CMS-S, CMS-C, and CMS-T) groups, but their contributions to modern maize breeding have not been systematically investigated. RESULTS: Here we report co-selection and convergent evolution between nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes by analyzing whole genome sequencing data of 630 maize accessions modern maize and its relatives, including 24 fully assembled mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. We show that the NB cytotype is associated with the expansion of modern maize to North America, gradually replaces the fertile NA cytotype probably through unequal division, and predominates in over 90% of modern elite inbred lines. The mode of cytoplasmic evolution is increased nucleotypic diversity among the genes involved in photosynthesis and energy metabolism, which are driven by selection and domestication. Furthermore, genome-wide association study reveals correlation of cytoplasmic nucleotypic variation with key agronomic and reproductive traits accompanied with the diversification of the nuclear genomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate convergent evolution between cytoplasmic and nuclear genomes during maize domestication and breeding. These new insights into the important roles of mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes in maize domestication and improvement should help select elite inbred lines to improve yield stability and crop resilience of maize hybrids.

Transcriptional Differential Analysis of Nitazoxanide-Mediated Anticanine Parvovirus Effect in F81 Cells.

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a single-stranded DNA virus that can cause typical hemorrhagic enteritis, and it is one of the common canine lethal viruses. In previous studies, we screened the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s drug library and identified nitazoxanide (NTZ), which has anti-CPV capabilities. To investigate the potential antiviral mechanisms, we first reconfirmed the inhibitory effect of NTZ on the CPV by inoculating with different doses and treating for different lengths of time. Then, the differences in the transcription levels between the 0.1%-DMSO-treated virus group and the NTZ-treated virus group were detected using RNA-seq, and a total of 758 differential expression genes (DEGs) were finally identified. Further Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses of the DEGs revealed that these genes are involved in a variety of biological processes and/or signaling pathways, such as cell cycle, mitosis and cell proliferation and differentiation. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis further identified hub genes associated with cell cycle and division among the DEGs. In addition, the expression levels of some of the enriched genes were detected, which were consistent with the high-throughput sequencing results. Moreover, when the cell cycle was regulated with cell cycle checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitor MK-8776 or Prexasertib HCl, both inhibitors inhibited the CPV. In summary, the transcriptome differential analysis results presented in this paper lay the foundation for further research on the molecular mechanism and potential targets of NTZ anti-CPV.

Whole-Genome Resequencing Reveals Genetic Diversity and Wool Trait-Related Genes in Liangshan Semi-Fine-Wool Sheep.

Understanding the genetic makeup of local sheep breeds is essential for their scientific conservation and sustainable utilization. The Liangshan semi-fine-wool sheep (LSS), a Chinese semi-fine-wool breed renowned for its soft wool, was analyzed using whole-genome sequencing data including 35 LSS, 84 sheep from other domestic breeds, and 20 Asiatic mouflons. We investigated the genetic composition of LSS by conducting analyses of the population structure, runs of homozygosity, genomic inbreeding coefficients, and selection signature. Our findings indicated that LSS shares greater genetic similarity with Border Leicester and Romney sheep than with Tibetan (TIB), Yunnan (YNS), and Chinese Merino sheep. Genomic analysis indicated low to moderate inbreeding coefficients, ranging from 0.014 to 0.154. In identifying selection signals across the LSS genome, we pinpointed 195 candidate regions housing 74 annotated genes (e.g., IRF2BP2, BVES, and ALOX5). We also found the overlaps between the candidate regions and several known quantitative trait loci related to wool traits, such as the wool staple length and wool fiber diameter. A selective sweep region, marked by the highest value of cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity, encompassed IRF2BP2-an influential candidate gene affecting fleece fiber traits. Furthermore, notable differences in genotype frequency at a mutation site (c.1051 + 46T > C, Chr25: 6,784,190 bp) within IRF2BP2 were observed between LSS and TIB and YNS sheep (Fisher's exact test, p < 2.2 × 10-16). Taken together, these findings offer insights crucial for the conservation and breeding enhancement of LSS.

Evaluation of clinical and imaging features for differentiating rhabdomyosarcoma from neuroblastoma in pediatric soft tissue.

Background: In this study, we developed a nomogram predictive model based on clinical, CT, and MRI parameters to differentiate soft tissue rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) from neuroblastoma (NB) in children preoperatively. Materials and methods: A total of 103 children with RMS (n=37) and NB (n=66) were enrolled in the study from December 2012 to July 2023. The clinical and imaging data (assessed by two experienced radiologists) were analyzed using univariate analysis, and significant factors were further analyzed by multivariable logistic regression using the forward LR method to develop the clinical model, radiological model, and integrated nomogram model, respectively. The diagnostic performances, goodness of fit, and clinical utility of the integrated nomogram model were assessed using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operator characteristics curve (ROC) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) curves, respectively. Diagnostic efficacy between the model and radiologists' interpretations was examined. Results: The median age at diagnosis in the RMS group was significantly older than the NB group (36.0 months vs. 14.5 months; P=0.003); the fever rates in RMS patients were significantly lower than in patients with NB (0.0% vs.16.7%; P=0.022), and the incidence of palpable mass was higher in patients with RMS compared with the NB patients (89.2% vs. 34.8%; P<0.001). Compare NB on image features: RMS occurred more frequently in the head and neck and displayed homogeneous density on non-enhanced CT than NB (48.6% vs. 9.1%; 35.3% vs. 13.8%, respectively; all P<0.05), and the occurrence of characteristics such as calcification, encasing vessels, and intraspinal tumor extension was significantly less frequent in RMS children compared to children with NB (18.9% vs. 84.8%; 13.5% vs. 34.8%; 2.7% vs. 50.0%, respectively; all P <0.05). Two, three, and four features were identified as independent parameters by multivariate logistic regression analysis to develop the clinical, radiological, and integrated nomogram models, respectively. The AUC value (0.962), calibration curve, and DCA showed that the integrated nomogram model may provide better diagnostic performance, good agreement, and greater clinical net benefits than the clinical model, radiological model, and radiologists' subjective diagnosis. Conclusion: The clinical and imaging features-based nomogram has potential for helping radiologists distinguish between pediatric soft tissue RMS and NB patients preoperatively, and reduce unnecessary interventions.

FeP-Fe3O4 nanospheres for electrocatalytic N2 reduction to NH3 under ambient conditions.

The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) under ambient conditions is deemed a promising alternative for NH3 synthesis. In this paper, an FeP-Fe3O4 nanocomposite electrocatalyst was prepared by phosphating annealing using Fe2O3 as a precursor, and the resulting FeP-Fe3O4 exhibited excellent N2-to-NH3-producing activity over a wide potential window. The highest faradaic efficiency of FeP-Fe3O4 is 11.02% at -0.1 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), and the maximum NH3 yield reaches 12.73 µg h-1 mgcat-1, comparable to or exceeding the reported values in this field. Furthermore, the FeP-Fe3O4 nanocomposite electrocatalyst presents high electrochemical stability, selectivity, and durability.