Cu-Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide-based tumor microenvironment-responsive injectable gels for cuproptosis-based synergistic osteosarcoma therapy.

Cuproptosis affects osteosarcoma locally, and the exploitation of cuproptosis-related biomaterials for osteosarcoma treatment is still in its infancy. We designed and synthesized a novel injectable gel of Cu ion-coordinated Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide (TFP-Cu) for antiosteosarcoma therapy. This material has antitumor effects, the ability to stimulate immunity and promote bone formation, and a controlled Cu2+ release profile in smart response to tumor microenvironment stimulation. TFP-Cu can selectively inhibit the proliferation of K7M2 tumor cells by arresting the cell cycle and promoting cell apoptosis and cuproptosis. TFP-Cu also promoted the M1 polarization of RAW264.7 cells and regulated the immune microenvironment. These effects increased osteogenic gene and protein expression in MC3T3-E1 cells. TFP-Cu could significantly limit tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and improving the activation of anti-CD8 T cell-mediated immune responses. Therefore, TFP-Cu could be a potential candidate for treating osteosarcoma and bioactive drug carrier for further cancer-related applications.

Clinical characteristics and antibiotic treatment of peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis caused by Pseudomonas species: a review of 15 years' experience from southern China.

Pseudomonas can lead to peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis, which is characterized by a poor prognosis, such as a substantial failure rate and a high death rate. This study aimed to provide an overview of Pseudomonas peritonitis's clinical features, the regimens of antibiotic, antibiotic resistance, and outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This study observed patients with Pseudomonas peritonitis in two large PD centers in South China from January 2008 to December 2022. The demographics, symptomatology, antibiotics regimens, resistance to common antibiotics, and clinical outcomes of all included patients were reviewed. A total of 3,459 PD patients were included, among them 57 cases of peritonitis caused by Pseudomonas, including 48 cases (84.2%) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The incidence rate of Pseudomonas peritonitis was 0.0041 episode per patient-year. Of them, 28.1% (16 cases) of the patients were accompanied by exit site infection (ESI), and all had abdominal pain and turbid ascites at the time of onset. The most commonly used antibiotic combination was ceftazidime combined with amikacin. Approximately 89% of Pseudomonas species were sensitive to ceftazidime, and 88% were sensitive to amikacin. The overall primary response rate was 28.1% (16 patients), and the complete cure rate was 40.4% (23 patients). There was no significant difference in the complete cure rate of peritonitis using three and other antibiotic treatment regimens (44.8% vs 46.4%; P = 0.9). The successful treatment group had higher baseline albumin level (35.9 ± 6.2; P = 0.008) and residual urine volume (650.7 ± 375.5; P = 0.04). Although the incidence of peritonitis caused by Pseudomonas was low, the symptoms were serious, and prognosis was very poor. Pseudomonas was still highly susceptible to first-line antibiotics currently in use against Gram-negative bacteria. Patients with successful treatment had higher albumin levels and higher urine output. IMPORTANCE: Although the incidence of peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis caused by Pseudomonas is very low, it seriously affects the technique survival of peritoneal dialysis patients. However, there are few studies and reports on Pseudomonas peritonitis in the Chinese mainland area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics, the regimens of antibiotic, drug resistance, and outcome of peritoneal dialysis patients in southern China in the past 15 years and summarize the clinical experience in the treatment of Pseudomonas peritonitis.

RNA aggregates harness the danger response for potent cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapy remains limited by poor antigenicity and a regulatory tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we create "onion-like" multi-lamellar RNA lipid particle aggregates (LPAs) to substantially enhance the payload packaging and immunogenicity of tumor mRNA antigens. Unlike current mRNA vaccine designs that rely on payload packaging into nanoparticle cores for Toll-like receptor engagement in immune cells, systemically administered RNA-LPAs activate RIG-I in stromal cells, eliciting massive cytokine/chemokine response and dendritic cell/lymphocyte trafficking that provokes cancer immunogenicity and mediates rejection of both early- and late-stage murine tumor models. In client-owned canines with terminal gliomas, RNA-LPAs improved survivorship and reprogrammed the TME, which became "hot" within days of a single infusion. In a first-in-human trial, RNA-LPAs elicited rapid cytokine/chemokine release, immune activation/trafficking, tissue-confirmed pseudoprogression, and glioma-specific immune responses in glioblastoma patients. These data support RNA-LPAs as a new technology that simultaneously reprograms the TME while eliciting rapid and enduring cancer immunotherapy.

Acupuncture versus tricyclic antidepressants in the prophylactic treatment of tension-type headaches: an indirect treatment comparison meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture showed better improvement than sham acupuncture in reducing attack frequency of tension-type headache (TTH), but its effectiveness relative to first-line drugs for TTH is unknown, which impedes the recommendation of acupuncture for patients who are intolerant to drugs for TTH. We aimed to estimate the relative effectiveness between acupuncture and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) through indirect treatment comparison (ITC) meta-analysis. METHODS: We searched Ovid Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from database inception until April 13, 2023. Randomized controlled trials of TCAs or acupuncture in the prevention of TTH in adults were included. The primary outcome was headache frequency. The secondary outcomes were headache intensity, responder rate, and adverse event rate. Bayesian random-effect models were used to perform ITC meta-analysis, and confidence of evidence was evaluated by using the GRADE approach. RESULTS: A total of 34 trials involving 4426 participants were included. Acupuncture had similar effect with TCAs in decreasing TTH frequency (amitriptyline: mean difference [MD] -1.29, 95% CI -5.28 to 3.02; amitriptylinoxide: MD -0.05, 95% CI -6.86 to 7.06) and reducing TTH intensity (amitriptyline: MD 2.35, 95% CI -1.20 to 5.78; clomipramine: MD 1.83, 95% CI -4.23 to 8.20). Amitriptyline had a higher rate of adverse events than acupuncture (OR 4.73, 95% CI 1.42 to 14.23). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture had similar effect as TCAs in reducing headache frequency of TTH, and acupuncture had a lower adverse events rate than amitriptyline, as shown by very low certainty of evidence.

Purity control of simulated moving bed based on advanced fuzzy controller.

Simulated moving bed (SMB) technology is considered one of the most successful techniques in chromatographic separation. However, due to the nonlinearity caused by discrete events and sensitivity to numerous separation performance parameters, purity control in SMB systems has been a challenging issue. Fuzzy controllers are increasingly popular in industrial environments due to their simplicity and effectiveness in handling nonlinearity. However, traditional fuzzy controllers used in industry often overlook considerations of error acceleration, resulting in slight deviations from target values under steady-state conditions and oscillatory behavior when system parameters change. This study proposes an advanced fuzzy controller, where in a series of experiments, the purity control targets for component B are set at 94% and 96%, and for component A are set at 96% and 96%, respectively. Experimental results indicate that the advanced fuzzy controller achieves higher precision, with an average deviation of around 0.1%, for both components B and A. Importantly, under variations in adsorbent parameter(from 0.01 to 0.03), feed concentration(from 4.5 to 5.2), and switching time(from 178 to 182), the experimental results demonstrate smoother control with the advanced controller, particularly when oscillations occur with conventional fuzzy controllers due to switching time variations, indicating robust control with the advanced fuzzy controller.

Adsorption and Desorption Behavior and Mechanism of Ruthenium in Nitrite-Nitric Acid System.

Ruthenium is required to separate from high-level liquid waste (HLLW) because Ru is a valuable resource and is negatively influential on the vitrification process of HLLW. However, the separation of Ru is very challenging due to its complicated complexation properties. In this study, the adsorption and desorption characteristics of ruthenium on a synthesized SiPyR-N3 (weak-base anion exchange resin with pyridine functional groups) composite were investigated in nitric acid and nitrite-nitric acid systems, respectively, and the adsorption mechanism was explored. The experimental results showed that SiPyR-N3 has a significantly better adsorption effect on Ru in the nitrite-nitric acid system than in the nitric acid system, with an increase in the adsorption capacity of approximately three times. The maximum adsorption capacity of Ru is 45.6 mg/g in the nitrite-nitric acid system. The SiPyR-N3 possesses good adsorption selectivity (SFRu/other metal ions is around 100) in 0.1 M NO2--0.1 M HNO3 solution. The adsorption processes of Ru in the two different systems are fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model for uptake kinetics and adsorption isotherms, respectively. The results obtained from the FT-IR, XPS, and UV absorption spectrometry indicate that NO2- was involved in the adsorption process either as a complexing species with the metal ions or as free NO2- from the solution. A 0.1 M HNO3 + 1 M thiourea mixed solution shows effective desorption performance, and the desorption efficiency can reach 92% at 328 K.

Highly Active CoNi-CoN3 Composite Sites Synergistically Accelerate Oxygen Electrode Reactions in Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries.

Reaching rapid reaction kinetics of oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) is critical for realizing efficient rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs). Herein, a novel CoNi-CoN3 composite site containing CoNi alloyed nanoparticles and CoN3 moieties is first constructed in N-doped carbon nanosheet matrix (CoNi-CoN3 /C). Benefiting from the high electroactivity of CoNi-CoN3 composite sites and large surface area, CoNi-CoN3 /C shows a superior half-wave potential (0.88 V versus RHE) for ORR and a small overpotential (360 mV) for OER at 10 mA cm-2 . Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that the introduction of CoNi alloys has modulated the electronic distributions near the CoN3 moiety, inducing the d-band center of CoNi-CoN3 composite site to shift down, thus stabilizing the valence state of Co active sites and balancing the adsorption of OER/ORR intermediates. Accordingly, the reaction energy trends exhibit optimized overpotentials for OER/ORR, leading to superior battery performances. For aqueous and flexible quasi-solid-state rechargeable ZABs with CoNi-CoN3 /C as catalyst, a large power density (250 mW cm-2 ) and high specific capacity (804 mAh g-1 ) are achieved. The in-depth understanding of the electroactivity enhancement mechanism of interactive metal nanoparticles and metal coordinated with nitrogen (MNx ) moieties is crucial for designing novel high-performance metal/nitrogen-doped carbon (M─N─C) catalysts.

Melt electrowriting enabled 3D liquid crystal elastomer structures for cross-scale actuators and temperature field sensors.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have garnered attention for their remarkable reversible strains under various stimuli. Early studies on LCEs mainly focused on basic dimensional changes in macrostructures or quasi-three-dimensional (3D) microstructures. However, fabricating complex 3D microstructures and cross-scale LCE-based structures has remained challenging. In this study, we report a compatible method named melt electrowriting (MEW) to fabricate LCE-based microfiber actuators and various 3D actuators on the micrometer to centimeter scales. By controlling printing parameters, these actuators were fabricated with high resolutions (4.5 to 60 µm), actuation strains (10 to 55%), and a maximum work density of 160 J/kg. In addition, through the integration of a deep learning-based model, we demonstrated the application of LCE materials in temperature field sensing. Large-scale, real-time, LCE grid-based spatial temperature field sensors have been designed, exhibiting a low response time of less than 42 ms and a high precision of 94.79%.

Bone mineral density in lower thoracic vertebra for osteoporosis diagnosis in older adults during CT lung cancer screening.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-based lumbar bone mineral density (LBMD) has been used to diagnose osteoporosis. This study explored the value of lower thoracic BMD (TBMD) in diagnosing osteoporosis in older adults during CT lung cancer screening. METHODS: This study included 751 subjects who underwent QCT scans with both LBMD and TBMD. 141 of them was selected for a validation. Osteoporosis was diagnosed based on LBMD using the ACR criteria (gold standard). TBMD thresholds were obtained using receiver operating characteristic curve. TBMD was also translated into LBMD (TTBMD) and osteoporosis was defined based on TTBMD using ACR criteria. The performance of TBMD and TTBMD in identifying osteoporosis was determined by Kappa test. The associations between TBMD- and TTBMD-based osteoporosis and fracture were tested in 227 subjects with followed up status of spine fracture. RESULTS: The performance of TBMD in identifying osteoporosis was low (kappa = 0.66) if using the ACR criteria. Two thresholds of TBMD for identifying osteopenia (128 mg/cm3) and osteoporosis (91 mg/cm3) were obtained with areas under the curve of 0.97 and 0.99, respectively. The performance of the identification of osteoporosis/osteopenia using the two thresholds or TTBMD both had good agreement with the gold standard (kappa = 0.78, 0.86). Similar results were observed in validation population. Osteoporosis identified using the thresholds (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 18.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.13-68.36) or TTBMD (adjusted HR = 10.28, 95% CI: 4.22-25.08) were also associated with fractures. CONCLUSION: Calculating the threshold of TBMD or normalizing TBMD to LBMD are both useful in identifying osteoporosis in older adults during CT lung cancer screening.

Feasibility and validity of using deep learning to reconstruct 12-lead ECG from three­lead signals.

BACKGROUND: In the field of mobile health, portable dynamic electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring devices often have a limited number of lead electrodes due to considerations, such as portability and battery life. This situation leads to a contradiction between the demand for standard 12­lead ECG information and the limited number of leads collected by portable devices. METHODS: This study introduces a composite ECG vector reconstruction network architecture based on convolutional neural network (CNN) combined with recurrent neural network by using leads I, II, and V2. This network is designed to reconstruct three­lead ECG signals into 12­lead ECG signals. A 1D CNN abstracts and extracts features from the spatial domain of the ECG signals, and a bidirectional long short-term memory network analyzes the temporal trends in the signals. Then, the ECG signals are inputted into the model in a multilead, single-channel manner. RESULTS: Under inter-patient conditions, the mean reconstructed Root mean squared error (RMSE) for precordial leads V1, V3, V4, V5, and V6 were 28.7, 17.3, 24.2, 36.5, and 25.5 µV, respectively. The mean overall RMSE and reconstructed Correlation coefficient (CC) were 26.44 µV and 0.9562, respectively. CONCLUSION: This paper presents a solution and innovative approach for recovering 12­lead ECG information when only three­lead information is available. After supplementing with comprehensive leads, we can analyze the cardiac health status more comprehensively across 12 dimensions.

Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with IgA Nephropathy: A Meta-Analysis.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Wanfang database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP database up to February 2023 were searched for associated studies comparing HCQ with any other nonHCQ for treating IgAN. The effects of proteinuria, a 50% decrease in proteinuria, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and adverse events in patients with IgAN were examined in a meta-analysis. Data were extracted and pooled using RevMan 5.3. RESULTS: Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), two retrospective and two prospective studies (675 patients) that matched our inclusion criteria were identified. Compared with a control group, HCQ significantly reduced proteinuria (mean difference (MD): -0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.44 to -0.08, p < 0.01). Patients receiving HCQ plus renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASSi) had a better efficacy in proteinuria alleviation and a 50% decrease in proteinuria compared with control groups (MD: -0.38, 95% CI: -0.50 to -0.25, p < 0.001 and relative risk (RR) = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.73 to 6.36, p < 0.001). No appreciable variations were observed in eGFR between HCQ groups and control groups in treating patients with IgAN (MD: -2.00, 95% CI: -4.36 to 0.36, p = 0.10). Moreover, no serious adverse events were observed during HCQ treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate HCQ is an efficient, secure treatment for IgAN.

MAGL protects against renal fibrosis through inhibiting tubular cell lipotoxicity.

Rationale: Renal fibrosis, with no therapeutic approaches, is a common pathological feature in various chronic kidney diseases (CKD). Tubular cell injury plays a pivotal role in renal fibrosis. Commonly, injured tubular cells exhibit significant lipid accumulation. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Methods: 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) levels in CKD patients and CKD model specimens were measured using mass spectrometry. 2-AG-loaded nanoparticles were infused into unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) mice. Lipid accumulation and renal fibrosis were tested. Furthermore, monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), the hydrolyzing enzyme of 2-AG, was assessed in CKD patients and models. Tubular cell-specific MAGL knock-in mice were generated. Moreover, MAGL recombination protein was also administered to unilateral ischemia reperfusion injury (UIRI) mice. Besides, a series of methods including RNA sequencing, metabolomics, primary cell culture, lipid staining, etc. were used. Results: 2-AG was increased in the serum or kidneys from CKD patients and models. Supplement of 2-AG further induced lipid accumulation and fibrogenesis through cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2)/ß-catenin signaling. ß-catenin knockout blocked 2-AG/CB2-induced fatty acid ß-oxidation (FAO) deficiency and lipid accumulation. Remarkably, MAGL significantly decreased in CKD, aligning with lipid accumulation and fibrosis. Specific transgene of MAGL in tubular cells significantly preserved FAO, inhibited lipid-mediated toxicity in tubular cells, and finally retarded fibrogenesis. Additionally, supplementation of MAGL in UIRI mice also preserved FAO function, inhibited lipid accumulation, and protected against renal fibrosis. Conclusion: MAGL is a potential diagnostic marker for kidney function decline, and also serves as a new therapeutic target for renal fibrosis through ameliorating lipotoxicity.

Effectiveness, safety and indications of acute normovolemic haemodilution in total knee arthroplasty.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most cost-effective, and potent method for the treatment of end-stage knee osteoarthritis. Acute normovolemic haemodilution (ANH) can effectively replace the need for allogeneic transfusions due to the high amount of bleeding during TKA. However, more studies are needed to prove the efficacy and safety of ANH and to clarify its indications in the field of knee replacement. Medical records from June 1, 2019 to June 1, 2021 were searched and grouped according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. PART I: 58 patients with ANH during TKA were selected as the ANH group (n = 58), and 58 patients with allogeneic transfusion were chosen as the control group (n = 58). PART II: Patients with anaemia were divided into the ANH group (n = 18) and the control group (n = 12). PART I: The postoperative inflammatory index and serum albumin in the ANH group were significantly lower than those in the control group. No significant difference was observed in the theoretical loss of red blood cells, postoperative renal function, liver function, cardiac function and biochemical ion index between the two groups. The effective rate of ANH in the normal haemoglobin group was significantly lower than that in the anaemia group. PART II: In patients with anaemia, the theoretical loss of red blood cells in patients with ANH was less than that in the control group. The postoperative inflammation, renal function, liver function and cardiac function in the ANH group were better than those in the control group, and no significant difference was noted in biochemical ions and nutritional status indicators. This paper shows that ANH not only can replace allogeneic transfusion in TKA, especially in patients with anaemia, but also has lower inflammatory indicators than allogeneic transfusion. From a security perspective, the body's tolerance to ANH is within the body's compensation range.

Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with IgA Nephropathy: A Meta-Analysis

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Wanfang database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP database up to February 2023 were searched for associated studies comparing HCQ with any other nonHCQ for treating IgAN. The effects of proteinuria, a 50% decrease in proteinuria, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and adverse events in patients with IgAN were examined in a meta-analysis. Data were extracted and pooled using RevMan 5.3. Results: Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), two retrospective and two prospective studies (675 patients) that matched our inclusion criteria were identified. Compared with a control group, HCQ significantly reduced proteinuria (mean difference (MD): −0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.44 to −0.08, p < 0.01). Patients receiving HCQ plus renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASSi) had a better efficacy in proteinuria alleviation and a 50% decrease in proteinuria compared with control groups (MD: −0.38, 95% CI: −0.50 to −0.25, p < 0.001 and relative risk (RR) = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.73 to 6.36, p < 0.001). No appreciable variations were observed in eGFR between HCQ groups and control groups in treating patients with IgAN (MD: −2.00, 95% CI: −4.36 to 0.36, p = 0.10). Moreover, no serious adverse events were observed during HCQ treatment. Conclusions: Our results indicate HCQ is an efficient, secure treatment for IgAN (AU)

Influence of Dilution on the Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Polyurethane-Cement Based Composite Surface Coating.

Polyurethane-cement composite are widely used in modern civil engineering, and the method of adding diluent is often used to adjust the construction process to adapt to the engineering environment. Studies have shown that the addition of diluent impacts the performance of polyurethane-cement based composite surface coatings, but there have been few reports on the influence of diluent content on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the coatings. To address this, polyurethane coatings with different diluent contents were prepared, and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to test the microstructure of the coatings. The tensile strength and elongation at rupture were tested using a universal material testing machine, and the fracture interface morphology of each coating was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Finally, the correlation between the microstructure parameters and the mechanical properties of the coating was analyzed using grey relation theory. The results demonstrated that with the increase in diluent content, (i) the average radius of the free volume hole (R) and the free volume fraction (FV) of the coating both showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. The value of R was between 3.04 and 3.24 Å, and the value of FV was between 2.08 and 2.84%. (ii) The tensile strength of the coating increased first and then decreased, while the elongation at rupture decreased first and then increased. Among them, the value of tensile strength was between 3.23 and 4.02 MPa, and the value of elongation at fracture was between 49.34 and 63.04%. In addition, the free volume in polymers plays a crucial role in facilitating the migration of molecular chain segments and is closely related to the macroscopic mechanical properties of polymers. A correlation analysis showed that the R value of the coating had the greatest influence on its tensile strength, while FV showed a higher correlation with the elongation at rupture.

Roles of the medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex in major depression and its treatment.

We describe evidence for dissociable roles of the medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in major depressive disorder (MDD) from structure, functional activation, functional connectivity, metabolism, and neurochemical systems. The reward-related medial orbitofrontal cortex has lower connectivity and less reward sensitivity in MDD associated with anhedonia symptoms; and the non-reward related lateral OFC has higher functional connectivity and more sensitivity to non-reward/aversive stimuli in MDD associated with negative bias symptoms. Importantly, we propose that conventional antidepressants act to normalize the hyperactive lateral (but not medial) OFC to reduce negative bias in MDD; while other treatments are needed to operate on the medial OFC to reduce anhedonia, with emerging evidence suggesting that ketamine may act in this way. The orbitofrontal cortex is the key cortical region in emotion and reward, and the current review presents much new evidence about the different ways that the medial and lateral OFC are involved in MDD.

Temperature-humidity evolution and radon exhalation mechanism of red clay-bentonite covering layer in uranium mill tailings pond.

To ensure the safety and stability of the beach surface of the decommissioned uranium mill tailings pond, this paper uses red clay-bentonite and red clay (1:1) to carry out covering layer radon reduction simulation experiments to study the temperature, humidity, and radon reduction effect of the covering layer under natural conditions. The results show that the radon exhalation rate of red clay-bentonite cover layer is only 0.32 times that of red clay, which has a better radon reduction effect. The red clay-bentonite cover layer has better water retention and comparable heat preservation effect than red clay cover layer. The red clay-bentonite and red clay temperature curves follow the same evolution trend and were close together in the same outdoor conditions, and the humidity curves showed a difference of 1% to 3%. Soil temperature is the dominant factor affecting the variation of radon exhalation of red clay-bentonite and red clay covering layer with unsaturated water content.

2023 International Consensus Meeting on musculoskeletal infection: Summary from the treatment workgroup and consensus on treatment in preclinical models.

In vitro and in vivo studies are critical for the preclinical efficacy assessment of novel therapies targeting musculoskeletal infections (MSKI). Many preclinical models have been developed and applied as a prelude to evaluating safety and efficacy in human clinical trials. In performing these studies, there is both a requirement for a robust assessment of efficacy, as well as a parallel responsibility to consider the burden on experimental animals used in such studies. Since MSKI is a broad term encompassing infections varying in pathogen, anatomical location, and implants used, there are also a wide range of animal models described modeling these disparate infections. Although some of these variations are required to adequately evaluate specific interventions, there would be enormous value in creating a unified and standardized criteria to animal testing in the treatment of MSKI. The Treatment Workgroup of the 2023 International Consensus Meeting on Musculoskeletal Infection was responsible for questions related to preclinical models for treatment of MSKI. The main objective was to review the literature related to priority questions and estimate consensus opinion after voting. This document presents that process and results for preclinical models related to (1) animal model considerations, (2) outcome measurements, and (3) imaging.

Opportunistic Muscle Evaluation During Chest CT Is Associated With Vertebral Compression Fractures in Old Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia and bone loss are both common in older individuals. However, the association between sarcopenia and bone fractures has not been evaluated longitudinally. In this study, we evaluated the association between computed tomography (CT)-based erector spinae muscle area and attenuation and vertebral compression fracture (VCF) in elderly individuals in a longitudinal study. METHODS: This study recruited individuals 50 years of age and older, who did not have VCF and underwent CT imaging for lung cancer screening during January 2016 to December 2019. Participants were followed up annually until January 2021. Muscle CT value and muscle area of the erector spinae were determined for muscle assessment. Genant score was used to define new-onset VCF. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between muscle area/attenuation and VCF. RESULTS: Of the 7 906 included participants, 72 developed new VCF over a median follow-up of 2 years. Large area of the erector spinae (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.1-0.7) and high bone attenuation (adjusted HR = 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1-0.5) were independently associated with VCF. High muscle attenuation was associated with severe VCF (adjusted HR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.24-0.86). The addition of muscle area improved the area under the curve of bone attenuation from 0.79 (95% CI: 0.74-0.86) to 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82-0.91; p = .001). CONCLUSIONS: CT-based muscle area/attenuation of the erector spinae was associated with VCF in elderly individuals, independently of bone attenuation. The addition of muscle area improved the performance of bone attenuation in predicting VCF.