iGWAS: Image-based genome-wide association of self-supervised deep phenotyping of retina fundus images.

Existing imaging genetics studies have been mostly limited in scope by using imaging-derived phenotypes defined by human experts. Here, leveraging new breakthroughs in self-supervised deep representation learning, we propose a new approach, image-based genome-wide association study (iGWAS), for identifying genetic factors associated with phenotypes discovered from medical images using contrastive learning. Using retinal fundus photos, our model extracts a 128-dimensional vector representing features of the retina as phenotypes. After training the model on 40,000 images from the EyePACS dataset, we generated phenotypes from 130,329 images of 65,629 British White participants in the UK Biobank. We conducted GWAS on these phenotypes and identified 14 loci with genome-wide significance (p<5×10-8 and intersection of hits from left and right eyes). We also did GWAS on the retina color, the average color of the center region of the retinal fundus photos. The GWAS of retina colors identified 34 loci, 7 are overlapping with GWAS of raw image phenotype. Our results establish the feasibility of this new framework of genomic study based on self-supervised phenotyping of medical images.

Application of near-infrared spectroscopy to assess the effect of the cupping size on the spatial hemodynamic response from the area inside and outside the cup of the biceps.

Cupping therapy is a popular intervention for improving muscle recovery after exercise although clinical evidence is weak. Previous studies demonstrated that cupping therapy may improve microcirculation of the soft tissue to accelerate tissue healing. However, it is unclear whether the cupping size could affect the spatial hemodynamic response of the treated muscle. The objective of this study was to use 8-channel near-infrared spectroscopy to assess this clinical question by assessing the effect of 3 cupping sizes (35, 40, and 45 mm in inner diameter of the circular cup) under -300 mmHg for 5 min on the muscle hemodynamic response from the area inside and outside the cup, including oxyhemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin in 18 healthy adults. Two-way factorial design was used to assess the interaction between the cupping size (35, 40, and 45 mm) and the location (inside and outside the cup) and the main effects of the cupping size and the location. The two-way repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated an interaction between the cupping size and the location in deoxy-hemoglobin (P = 0.039) but no interaction in oxyhemoglobin (P = 0.100), and a main effect of the cup size (P = 0.001) and location (P = 0.023) factors in oxyhemoglobin. For the cupping size factor, the 45-mm cup resulted in a significant increase in oxyhemoglobin (5.738±0.760 µM) compared to the 40-mm (2.095±0.312 µM, P<0.001) and 35-mm (3.134±0.515 µM, P<0.01) cup. Our findings demonstrate that the cupping size and location factors affect the muscle hemodynamic response, and the use of multi-channel near-infrared spectroscopy may help understand benefits of cupping therapy on managing musculoskeletal impairment.

Analysis of risk characteristics for early progression and late progression in locally advanced rectal cancer patients: a large population-based and validated study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to explore the factors influencing early progression (EP) and late progression (LP) in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients. METHODS: The patients were classified into EP and LP groups using one year as a cutoff. The random survival forest model was utilized to calculate the probability of time-to-progression. Besides, inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) were conducted to validate our results. RESULTS: Our study revealed that PNI, CEA level, and pathological stage were independent prognostic factors for PFS both in EP group and LP group. For EP group patients, Group 1 had the highest probability of progression at the 9th month of follow-up, while Group 2 exhibited the highest probability at the 6th month. Group 3, on the other hand, showed two peaks of progression at the 4th and 8th months of follow-up. As for LP group patients, Groups 4, 5, and 6 all exhibited peaks of progression between the 18th and 24th months of follow-up. Furthermore, our results suggested that PNI was also an independent prognostic factor affecting OS in both EP group and LP group. Finally, the analysis of IPTW and SEER database further confirmed our findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated a significant correlation between immune and nutritional status with PFS and OS in both EP and LP groups. These insights can aid healthcare professionals in effectively identifying and evaluating patients' nutritional status, enabling them to develop tailored nutrition plans and interventions.

Does invasive submerged macrophyte diversity affect dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes in sediments with varying microplastics?

Nitrogen removal is essential for restoring eutrophic lakes. Microorganisms and aquatic plants in lakes are both crucial for removing excess nitrogen. However, microplastic (MP) pollution and the invasion of exotic aquatic plants have become increasingly serious in lake ecosystems due to human activity and plant-dominant traits. This field mesocosm study explored how the diversity of invasive submerged macrophytes affects denitrification (DNF), anammox (ANA), and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) in lake sediments with varying MPs. Results showed that invasive macrophytes suppressed DNF rates, but DNRA and ANA were less sensitive than DNF to the diversity of invasive species. Sediment MPs increased the biomass of invasive species more than native species, but did not affect microbial processes. The effects of MPs on nitrate dissimilatory reduction were process-specific. MPs increased DNF rates and the competitive advantage of DNF over DNRA by changing the sediment environment. The decoupling of DNF and ANA was also observed, with increased DNF rates and decreased ANA rates. The study findings suggested new insights into how the invasion of exotic submerged macrophytes affects the sediment nitrogen cycle complex environments.

Physical function as a predictor of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of research indicates that poor functional status before chemotherapy may be correlated with the severity of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) after the neurotoxic treatment. However, little is known about the associations between pre-chemotherapy physical function and CIPN in patients with pancreatic cancer. PURPOSE: To identify the predictors of CIPN in relation to pre-chemotherapy physical function in patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODS: This secondary analysis included data from patients with pancreatic cancer who participated in a longitudinal research study at National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan. Four physical function tests (i.e., grip strength, Timed Up and Go (TUG), 2-minute step test (2MST), and Romberg test) and two questionnaires (The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 [EORTC QLQ-C30] and Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Module [CIPN20]) were assessed at baseline (i.e., before first chemotherapy session) and 2-, 3-, 4-, and 6-month follow-up. Multiple linear regression with adjustment for confounding factors was used to assess the associations between the four functional tests at baseline and the CIPN20 total score and individual subscale scores (sensory, motor, and autonomic) at 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: Data from a total of 209 pancreatic cancer patients (mean age: 64.4 years, 54.5% male) were analyzed. The findings showed that the severity of CIPN at 6-month follow-up was significantly associated with the baseline TUG completion time (ß = 0.684, p = 0.003). The TUG completion time was also positively correlated with the 6-month CIPN sensory and autonomic subscales. In addition, a baseline positive Romberg test (ß = 0.525, p = 0.009) was a significant predictor of the severity of motor neuropathy at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: The TUG completion time and positive Romberg test before chemotherapy may be predictive factors of the CIPN severity 6 months after the commencement of chemotherapy. Accordingly, the incorporation of TUG and Romberg tests into the clinical assessment protocol emerges as imperative for individuals diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma undergoing chemotherapy regimens.

Association of echocardiographic parameters with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate associations between echocardiography markers and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: Diabetes Care Management Program database of a medical center was used, including 5612 patients with T2DM aged 30 years and older and who underwent echocardiography assessment between 2001 and 2021. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to evaluate associations of echocardiography abnormalities with all-cause and expanded cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 5.8 years, 1273 patients died. Hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of all-cause mortality for each standard deviation increase were presented for the cardiac systolic function indicator of left ventricular ejection fraction (0.77, 0.73-0.81), cardiac structural parameters of left ventricular mass index (1.25, 1.19-1.31) and left atrial volume index (1.31, 1.25-1.37), and cardiac diastolic function of E/A ratio (1.10, 1.07-1.13), E/e' ratio (1.37, 1.30-1.45), and TR velocity (1.25, 1.18-1.32); meanwhile, the values of expanded CVD mortality included left ventricular ejection fraction (0.67, 0.62-0.72), left ventricular mass index (1.35, 1.25-1.45), left atrial volume index (1.40, 1.31-1.50), E/A ratio (1.12, 1.08-1.16), E/e' ratio (1.57, 1.46-1.69), and TR velocity (1.29, 1.19-1.39), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac systolic function indicator of left ventricular ejection fraction, cardiac structural parameters of left ventricular mass index and left atrial volume index, and cardiac diastolic function indicators of E/A ratio, E/e' ratio, and TR velocity are associated with all-cause and expanded CVD mortality in patients with T2DM.

Picometer-Scale Atomic Shifts Governing Subdisordered Structures in Diamond.

Diamond is considered the most promising next-generation semiconductor material due to its excellent physical characteristics. It has been more than three decades since the discovery of a special structure named n-diamond. However, despite extensive efforts, its crystallographic structure and properties are still unclear. Here, we show that subdisordered structures in diamond provide an explanation for the structural feature of n-diamond. Monocrystalline diamond with subdisordered structures is synthesized via the chemical vapor deposition method. Atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy characterizations combined with the picometer-precision peak finder technology and diffraction simulations reveal that picometer-scale shifts of atoms within cells of diamond govern the subdisordered structures. First-principles calculations indicate that the bandgap of diamond decreases rapidly with increasing shifting distance, in accordance with experimental results. These findings clarify the crystallographic structure and electronic properties of n-diamond and provide new insights into the bandgap adjustment in diamond.

Protein lipoylation: mitochondria, cuproptosis, and beyond.

Protein lipoylation, a crucial post-translational modification (PTM), plays a pivotal role in mitochondrial function and emerges as a key player in cell death through cuproptosis. This novel copper-driven cell death pathway is activated by excessive copper ions binding to lipoylated mitochondrial proteins, disrupting energy production and causing lethal protein aggregation and cell death. The intricate relationship among protein lipoylation, cellular energy metabolism, and cuproptosis offers a promising avenue for regulating essential cellular functions. This review focuses on the mechanisms of lipoylation and its significant impact on cell metabolism and cuproptosis, emphasizing the key genes involved and their implications for human diseases. It offers valuable insights into targeting dysregulated cellular metabolism for therapeutic purposes.

The regulation and its application of the charge decay rate in triboelectric nanogenerator.

The decay rate of charge in the friction layer is one of the key factors affecting the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). Reducing the decay rate of the triboelectric charge can increase the charge-carrying capacity of the friction layer and improve the output current and voltage of the TENG. This makes a friction generator more suitable for discontinuous driving environments. In contrast, increasing the decay rate of the charge in the friction layer can greatly improve the recovery time of the device, although it reduces the output performance of the generator. This is conducive to the application of friction generator in the field of sensors. In this study, polystyrene (PS) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were added to polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers to adjust the charge decay time in the friction layer, thereby regulating the output performance of the friction generator and sensor. When the amount of added PS in the PVDF nanofiber reached 20%, the charge density on the friction surface increased by 1.9 times, and the charge decay time decreased by 64 times; when 0.1 wt% CNTs were added in the PVDF nanofiber, the charge decay time increased by more than 10 times. The former is more conducive to improving the power generation performance of the TENG, and the latter significantly improves the stability and repeatability of TENG-based sensors. .

Combination of Dasatinib and Quercetin alleviates heat stress-induced cognitive deficits in aged and young adult male mice.

OBJECTIVE: Dasatinib and quercetin (D & Q) have demonstrated promise in improving aged-related pathophysiological dysfunctions in humans and mice. Herein we aimed to ascertain whether the heat stress (HS)-induced cognitive deficits in aged or even young adult male mice can be reduced by D & Q therapy. METHODS: Before the onset of HS, animals were pre-treated with D & Q or placebo for 3 consecutive days every 2 weeks over a 10-week period. Cognitive function, intestinal barrier permeability, and blood-brain barrier permeability were assessed. RESULTS: Compared to the non-HS young adult male mice, the HS young adult male mice or the aged male mice had significantly lesser extents of the exacerbated stress reactions, intestinal barrier disruption, endotoxemia, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier disruption, hippocampal inflammation and oxidative stress, and cognitive deficits evaluated at 7 days post-HS. All the cognitive deficits and other syndromes that occurred in young adult HS mice or in aged HS mice were significantly attenuated by D & Q therapy (P < 0.01). Compared to the young adult HS mice, the aged HS mice had significantly (P < 0.01) higher severity of cognitive deficits and other related syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: First, our data show that aged male mice are more vulnerable to HS-induced cognitive deficits than those of the young adult male mice. Second, we demonstrate that a combination of D and Q therapy attenuates cognitive deficits in heat stressed aged or young adult male mice via broad normalization of the brain-gut-endotoxin axis function.

A novel long non-coding RNA MIR4500HG003 promotes tumor metastasis through miR-483-3p-MMP9 axis in triple-negative breast cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. The 5-year survival rate is over 90% in BC patients, but once BC cells metastasis into distal organs, it is dramatically decreasing to less than 30%. Especially, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients usually lead to poor prognosis and survival because of metastasis. Understanding the underline mechanisms of TNBC metastasis is a critical issue. Non-coding RNAs, including of lncRNAs and microRNAs, are non-protein-coding transcripts and have been reported as important regulators in TNBC metastasis. However, the underline mechanisms for non-coding RNAs regulating TNBC metastasis remain largely unclear. Here, we found that lncRNA MIR4500HG003 was highly expressed in highly metastatic MDA-MB-231 TNBC cells and overexpression of MIR4500HG003 enhanced metastasis ability in vitro and in vivo and promoted MMP9 expression. Furthermore, we found MIR4500HG003 physically interacted with miR-483-3p and reporter assay showed miR-483-3p attenuated MMP9 expression. Importantly, endogenous high expressions of MIR4500HG003 were correlated with tumor recurrence in TNBC patients with tumor metastasis. Taken together, our findings suggested that MIR4500HG003 promotes metastasis of TNBC through miR-483-3p-MMP9 signaling axis and may be used as potential prognostic marker for TNBC patients.

Advancements in Polymer-Assisted Layer-by-Layer Fabrication of Wearable Sensors for Health Monitoring.

Recent advancements in polymer-assisted layer-by-layer (LbL) fabrication have revolutionized the development of wearable sensors for health monitoring. LbL self-assembly has emerged as a powerful and versatile technique for creating conformal, flexible, and multi-functional films on various substrates, making it particularly suitable for fabricating wearable sensors. The incorporation of polymers, both natural and synthetic, has played a crucial role in enhancing the performance, stability, and biocompatibility of these sensors. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of LbL self-assembly, the role of polymers in sensor fabrication, and the various types of LbL-fabricated wearable sensors for physical, chemical, and biological sensing. The applications of these sensors in continuous health monitoring, disease diagnosis, and management are discussed in detail, highlighting their potential to revolutionize personalized healthcare. Despite significant progress, challenges related to long-term stability, biocompatibility, data acquisition, and large-scale manufacturing are still to be addressed, providing insights into future research directions. With continued advancements in polymer-assisted LbL fabrication and related fields, wearable sensors are poised to improve the quality of life for individuals worldwide.

Continuous microalgal culture module and method of culturing microalgae containing macular pigment.

This study established and investigated continuous macular pigment (MP) production with a lutein (L):zeaxanthin (Z) ratio of 4-5:1 by an MP-rich Chlorella sp. CN6 mutant strain in a continuous microalgal culture module. Chlorella sp. CN6 was cultured in a four-stage module for 10 days. The microalgal culture volume increased to 200 L in the first stage (6 days). Biomass productivity increased to 0.931 g/L/day with continuous indoor white light irradiation during the second stage (3 days). MP content effectively increased to 8.29 mg/g upon continuous, indoor white light and blue light-emitting diode irradiation in the third stage (1 day), and the microalgal biomass and MP concentrations were 8.88 g/L and 73.6 mg/L in the fourth stage, respectively. Using a two-step MP extraction process, 80 % of the MP was recovered with a high purity of 93 %, and its L:Z ratio was 4-5:1.

L-Glutamine Substantially Improves 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Intestinal Mucositis by Modulating Gut Microbiota and Maintaining the Integrity of the Gut Barrier in Mice.

SCOPE: This study investigates the potential of glutamine to mitigate intestinal mucositis and dysbiosis caused by the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). METHODS AND RESULTS: Over twelve days, Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice are given low (0.5 mg kg-1) or high (2 mg kg-1) doses of L-Glutamine daily, with 5-FU (50 mg kg-1) administered between days six and nine. Mice receiving only 5-FU exhibited weight loss, diarrhea, abnormal cell growth, and colonic inflammation, correlated with decreased mucin proteins, increased endotoxins, reduced fecal short-chain fatty acids, and altered gut microbiota. Glutamine supplementation counteracted these effects by inhibiting the Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa B (TLR4/NF-κB) pathway, modulating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase 1 (Nrf2/HO-1) oxidative stress proteins, and increasing mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) levels, thereby enhancing microbial diversity and protecting intestinal mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore glutamine's potential in preventing 5-FU-induced mucositis by modulating gut microbiota and inflammation pathways.

The effect of colchicine on cancer risk in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: a time-dependent study based on the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database.

BACKGROUND: To determine the effect of colchicine on cancer risk in patients with the immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs)-related to colchicine use. METHODS: This is a time-dependent propensity-matched general population study based on the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. We identified the IMIDs patients (n = 111,644) newly diagnosed between 2000 and 2012 based on the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)-274,712, 135, 136.1, 279.49, 518.3, 287.0, 696.0, 696.1, 696.8, 420, 429.4, 710.0, 710.1, 710.3, 710.4, 714.0, 720, 55.0, 55.1, 55.9, 556. INCLUSION CRITERIA: aged ≧ 20 years, if a patient had at least these disease diagnosis requirements within 1 year of follow-up, and, these patients had at least two outpatient visits or an inpatient visit. After propensity-matched according to age, sex, comorbidities, medications and index date, the IMIDs patients enter into colchicine users (N = 16,026) and colchicine nonusers (N = 16,026). Furthermore, time-dependent Cox models were used to analyze cancer risk in propensity-matched colchicine users compared with the nonusers. The cumulative cancer incidence was analyzed using Cox proportional regression analysis. We calculated adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for cancer after adjusting for sex, age, comorbidities, and use of medicine including acetylcysteine, medication for smoking cessation such as nicotine replacement medicines (the nicotine patch) and pill medicines (varenicline), anti-inflammatory drugs and immunosuppressant drugs. RESULTS: Comparing the colchicine nonusers, all cancer risk were mildly attenuated, the (aHR (95% CI)) of all cancer is (0.84 (0.55, 0.99)). Meanwhile, the colchicine users were associated with the lower incidence of the colorectal cancer, the (aHRs (95% CI)) is (0.22 (0.19, 0.89)). Those aged < 65 years and male/female having the colchicine users were associated with lower risk the colorectal cancer also. Moreover, the colchicine > 20 days use with the lower aHR for colorectal cancer. CONCLUSION: Colchicine was associated with the lower aHR of the all cancer and colorectal cancer formation in patients with the IMIDs.

NeRFBuff: Fast Neural Rendering via Inter-frame Feature Buffering.

Neural radiance fields (NeRF) have demonstrated impressive performance in novel view synthesis, but are still slow to render complex scenes at a high resolution. We introduce a novel method to boost the NeRF rendering speed by utilizing the temporal coherence between consecutive frames. Rather than computing features of each frame entirely from scratch, we reuse the coherent information (e.g., density and color) computed from the previous frames to help render the current frame, which significantly boosts rendering speed. To effectively manage the coherent information of previous frames, we introduce a history buffer with a multiple-plane structure, which is built online and updated from old frames to new frames. We name this buffer as multiple plane buffer (MPB). With this MPB, a new frame can be efficiently rendered using the warped features from previous frames. Extensive experiments on the NeRF-Synthetic, LLFF, and Mip-NeRF-360 datasets demonstrate that our method significantly boosts rendering efficiency and achieves 4× speedup on real-world scenes compared to the baseline methods while preserving competitive rendering quality.

Utilizing Deep Learning and Computed Tomography to Determine Pulmonary Nodule Activity in Patients With Nontuberculous Mycobacterial-Lung Disease.

PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) model for the classification of acute and chronic lung nodules from nontuberculous mycobacterial-lung disease (NTM-LD) on computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected a data set of 650 nodules (316 acute and 334 chronic) from the CT scans of 110 patients with NTM-LD. The data set was divided into training, validation, and test sets in a ratio of 4:1:1. Bounding boxes were used to crop the 2D CT images down to the area of interest. A DCNN model was built using 11 convolutional layers and trained on these images. The performance of the model was evaluated on the hold-out test set and compared with that of 3 radiologists who independently reviewed the images. RESULTS: The DCNN model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.806 for differentiating acute and chronic NTM-LD nodules, corresponding to sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 76%, 68%, and 72%, respectively. The performance of the model was comparable to that of the 3 radiologists, who had area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.693 to 0.771, 61% to 82%, 59% to 73%, and 60% to 73%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the feasibility of using a DCNN model for the classification of the activity of NTM-LD nodules on chest CT. The model performance was comparable to that of radiologists. This approach can potentially and efficiently improve the diagnosis and management of NTM-LD.

Efficacy of salvage surgery versus re-irradiation for isolated regional lymph node recurrence in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: To compare the clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with isolated regional lymph node recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (irrNPC) who underwent surgery or re-irradiation treatment. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 124 irrNPC patients who underwent initial radiotherapy between January 2010 and December 2020. The staging of regional lymph node recurrence was as follows: 75.8% for rN1, 14.5% for rN2, and 9.7% for rN3. Fifty-five patients underwent regional lymph node surgery (Surgery group), and sixty-nine patients received salvage radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (Re-irradiation group). The survival rate was compared using Kaplan‒Meier analysis and evaluated by the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze prognostic factors. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 70 months, the 5-year overall survival (OS) was 74%, and the median survival time was 60.8 months. There were no significant differences in 5-year OS (75.6% vs. 72.4%, P = 0.973), regional recurrence-free survival (RRFS, 62.7% vs. 71.1%, P = 0.330) or distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS, 4.2% vs.78.7%, P = 0.677) between the Surgery group and Re-irradiation group. Multivariate analysis revealed age at recurrence, radiologic extra-nodal extension (rENE) status, and recurrent lymph node (rN) classification as independent prognostic factors for OS. The rENE status was an independent prognostic factor for DMFS. Subgroup analysis of the Surgery group revealed that the rN3 classification was an adverse prognostic factor for OS. Age at recurrence ≥ 50 years, GTV-N dose, and induction chemotherapy were found to be independent prognostic factors for OS, RRFS, and DMFS, respectively, in the Re-irradiation group. CONCLUSIONS: For NPC patients with isolated regional lymph node recurrence after initial radiotherapy, those who underwent surgery had survival prognosis similar to those who underwent re-radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. A prospective study is needed to validate these findings.

Investigating causal relationships between extensive peripheral immune cell phenotypes and preeclampsia: A bi-directional Mendelian randomization analysis.

PROBLEM: Preeclampsia, a multifaceted condition during pregnancy characterized by hypertension and organ dysfunction, poses significant risks to both maternal and fetal health. This study aims to investigate the bidirectional causal relationship between peripheral immune cell phenotypes and preeclampsia using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. METHOD OF STUDY: Genetic data from two sizable cohorts were utilized: 3757 individuals from Sardinia, providing information on 731 immune traits, and 200 929 Finnish adult females, encompassing 6663 preeclampsia cases. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms served as instrumental variables. The MR analyses employed the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method as the primary tool, supplemented by MR-Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode methods to enhance reliability and address potential heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy. RESULTS: Among the 731 immune cell phenotypes studied, 18 displayed a suggestive positive association (IVW p < .05) with heightened preeclampsia risk, while 20 exhibited a suggestive negative association linked to reduced risk. Following false discovery rate (FDR) adjustment, four immune phenotypes showed significant associations with decreased preeclampsia risk: CD27 on CD24+ CD27+ B cells (B-cell panel) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.927, PFDR = 0.061), CD33+ HLA DR+ CD14- absolute count (OR = 0.963, PFDR = 0.061), CD80 on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (OR = 0.923, PFDR = 0.061); and CD80 on CD62L+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells (OR = 0.923, PFDR = 0.061). In the reverse-direction MR analysis, no significant causal effects of preeclampsia on immune cell phenotypes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides quantifiable evidence linking specific immune cell phenotypes to the risk of developing preeclampsia. This novel understanding of the immunological aspects underlying preeclampsia's pathogenesis could lead to innovative therapeutic strategies centered on immune modulation.

Nanoconfinement Enables Photoelectrochemical Selective Oxidation of Glycerol via the Microscale Fluid Effect.

The glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) run with photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) is one of the most promising ways to upgrade biomass because it is thermodynamically favorable, while irreversible overoxidation leads to unsatisfactory product selectivities. Herein, a tunable one-dimensional nanoconfined environment was introduced into the GOR process, which accelerated mass transfer of glycerol via the microscale fluid effect and changed the main oxidation product from formic acid (FA) to glyceraldehyde (GLD), which led to retention of the heavier multicarbon products. The rate of glycerol diffusion in the nanochannels increased by a factor of 4.92 with decreasing inner diameters. The main product from the PEC-selective oxidation of glycerol changed from the C1 product FA to the C3 product GLD with a great selectivity of 60.7%. This work provides a favorable approach for inhibiting further oxidation of multicarbon products and illustrates the importance of microenvironmental regulation in biomass oxidation.