Analysis of quality of life in patients after transgastric natural orifice transluminal endoscopic gallbladder-preserving surgery.

BACKGROUND: At present, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the main surgical treatment for gallstones. But, after gallbladder removal, there are many complications. Therefore, it is hoped to remove stones while preserving the function of the gallbladder, and with the development of endoscopic technology, natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery came into being. AIM: To compare the quality of life, perioperative indicators, adverse events after LC and transgastric natural orifice transluminal endoscopic gallbladder-preserving surgery (EGPS) in patients with gallstones. METHODS: Patients who were admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from 2020 to 2022 were retrospectively collected. We adopted propensity score matching (1:1) to compare EGPS and LC patients. RESULTS: A total of 662 cases were collected, of which 589 cases underwent LC, and 73 cases underwent EGPS. Propensity score matching was performed, and 40 patients were included in each of the groups. In the EGPS group, except the gastrointestinal defecation (P = 0.603), the total score, physical well-being, mental well-being, and gastrointestinal digestion were statistically significant compared with the preoperative score after surgery (P < 0.05). In the LC group, except the mental well-being, the total score, physical well-being, gastrointestinal digestion, the gastrointestinal defecation was statistically significant compared with the preoperative score after surgery (P < 0.05). When comparing between groups, gastrointestinal defecation had significantly difference (P = 0.002) between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the total postoperative score and the other three subscales. In the surgery duration, hospital stay and cost, LC group were lower than EGPS group. The recurrence factors of gallstones after EGPS were analyzed: and recurrence was not correlated with gender, age, body mass index, number of stones, and preoperative score. CONCLUSION: Whether EGPS or LC, it can improve the patient's symptoms, and the EGPS has less impact on the patient's defecation. It needed to, prospective, multicenter, long-term follow-up, large-sample related studies to prove.

Global, regional, and national burden of ischemic heart disease attributable to secondhand smoke from 1990 to 2019.

INTRODUCTION: Assessing the burden of ischemic heart disease (IHD) attributable to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is crucial for informing evidence-based healthcare practices, prevention strategies, and resource allocation planning. METHODS: The burden of IHD attributable to SHS from 1990 to 2019 was assessed using the comparative risk assessment method as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. RESULTS: Globally, the absolute number of deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) from IHD due to SHS increased substantially from 270.0 thousand and 6971.3 thousand in 1990 to 397.4 thousand and 9566.1 thousand in 2019. The corresponding age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and age-standardized DALYs rates (ASDR) were both in a decreasing trend with estimate of the annual percentage change (EAPC) of -1.38 (-1.42 - -1.34) and -1.43 (-1.47 - -1.38). Central Asia has the highest ASMR (16 per 100000, 95% uncertainty interval, UI: 12.8-19.4), and Oceania has the highest ASDR (323.2 per 100000, 95% UI: 228.9-443.1 per 100000) in 2019. All sociodemographic index (SDI) category regions showed a decreasing trend in ASMR and ASDR, with the decrease being more obvious in high and high-middle SDI regions. Our analysis identified an escalating trend concerning ASMR and ASDR in Oceania from 1990 to 2019. In 2019, the most significant number of deaths and DALYs occurred in the age group of 80-84 years (5.4 thousand, 95% UI: 3.7-7.3 in thousands) and the age group of 55-59 years (1140.8 thousand, 95% UI: 876.1-1435 in thousands). CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals an absolute global increase in deaths and DALYs from IHD due to SHS from 1990 to 2019. Despite a declining trend in ASMR and ASDR, regional disparities persist. The elderly and middle-aged populations bore the most significant burden. These findings highlight the ongoing global health impact of SHS on IHD and emphasize the need for targeted interventions in regions with rising trends and vulnerable age groups.

Mechanisms and Origins of Regio- and Stereoselectivities in NHC-Catalyzed [3 + 3] Annulation of α-Bromoenals and 5-Aminoisoxazoles: A DFT Study.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted to explore the mechanisms and origins of regio- and stereoselectivities underlying the [3 + 3] annulation reaction between α-bromoenals and 5-aminoisoxazoles with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) as the catalyst. The reaction occurs in nine steps: (1) nucleophilic addition of NHC to α-bromoenal, (2) Breslow intermediate formation through 1,2-proton transfer, (3) debromination, (4) α,ß-unsaturated acyl azolium intermediate formation via 1,3-proton transfer, (5) addition of α,ß-unsaturated acyl azolium intermediate to 5-aminoisoxazole, (6) deprotonation, (7) protonation, (8) ring closure, and (9) elimination of NHC. For the fifth step, 1,2-addition suggested in the experiment was not supported by our results. Instead, we found that Michael addition is energetically the most feasible pathway and the stereo-controlling step that preferentially provides the S-configuration product. DFT-computed results and experimental findings agree well. Analysis of distortion/interaction reveals that lower distortion energy leads to stability of the transition state corresponding to the S-configuration product. Global reactivity index analysis indicates that the behavior of the NHC catalyst differs significantly before and after the Breslow intermediate debromination. Before debromination, the nucleophilicity of α-bromoenal is enhanced by addition to NHC. However, after debromination, the α,ß-unsaturated acyl azole generates and acts as an electrophilic reagent.

Feature Extraction Methods for Underwater Acoustic Target Recognition of Divers.

The extraction of typical features of underwater target signals and excellent recognition algorithms are the keys to achieving underwater acoustic target recognition of divers. This paper proposes a feature extraction method for diver signals: frequency-domain multi-sub-band energy (FMSE), aiming to achieve accurate recognition of diver underwater acoustic targets by passive sonar. The impact of the presence or absence of targets, different numbers of targets, different signal-to-noise ratios, and different detection distances on this method was studied based on experimental data under different conditions, such as water pools and lakes. It was found that the FMSE method has the best robustness and performance compared with two other signal feature extraction methods: mel frequency cepstral coefficient filtering and gammatone frequency cepstral coefficient filtering. Combined with the commonly used recognition algorithm of support vector machines, the FMSE method can achieve a comprehensive recognition accuracy of over 94% for frogman underwater acoustic targets. This indicates that the FMSE method is suitable for underwater acoustic recognition of diver targets.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy attenuates heatstroke-induced hippocampal injury by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) injury is the most prominent feature of heatstroke and the hippocampus is prone to damage. However, the mechanisms underlying the heatstroke-induced hippocampal injury remain unclear. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy prevents CNS injury in heatstroke mice. However, the underlying mechanisms of HBO in heatstroke-induced hippocampal injury remain unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the protective effects of HBO against hippocampal injury and its potential role in microglial pyroptosis in heatstroke rats.Methods: A rat heatstroke model and a heat stress model with a mouse microglial cell line (BV2) were, respectively, used to illustrate the effect of HBO on heat-induced microglial pyroptosis in vivo and in vitro. We used a combination of molecular and histological methods to assess microglial pyroptosis and neuroinflammation both in vivo and in vitro.Results: The results revealed that HBO improved heatstroke-induced survival outcomes, hippocampal injury, and neurological dysfunction in rats. In addition, HBO mitigates microglial pyroptosis and reduces the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus of heatstroke rats. In vitro experiments showed that HBO attenuated BV2 cell injury under heat stress. Furthermore, HBO prevented heat-induced pyroptosis of BV2 cells, and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-18 and IL-1ß was reduced. Mechanistically, HBO alleviates heatstroke-induced neuroinflammation and hippocampal injury by preventing microglial pyroptosis. Conclusions: In conclusion, HBO attenuates heatstroke-induced neuroinflammation and hippocampal injury by inhibiting microglial pyroptosis.

BUB1b impairs chemotherapy sensitivity via resistance to ferroptosis in lung adenocarcinoma.

BUB1 mitotic checkpoint serine/threonine kinase B (BUB1b) has been unequivocally identified as an oncogene in various cancers. However, the potential mechanism by which BUB1b orchestrates the progression of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. Here we found that both the transcript and protein levels of BUB1b were dramatically upregulated in tumor tissues and contributed to the dismal prognosis of LUAD patients. Moreover, gain- and loss-of-function assays, conducted both in vitro and in vivo, confirmed that BUB1b enhanced the viability of LUAD cells. Mechanistically, BUB1b forms a complex with OTUD3 and NRF2 and stabilizes the downstream NRF2 signaling pathway to facilitate insensitivity to ferroptosis and chemotherapy. In BALB/c nude mice bearing subcutaneous tumors that overexpress BUB1b, a combined strategy of ML385 targeting and chemotherapy achieved synergistic effects, inhibiting tumor growth and obviously improving survival. Taken together our study uncovered the underlying mechanism by which BUB1b promotes the progression of LUAD and proposed a novel strategy to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy.

Synthesis, Anticancer Activity, and Molecular Docking of New 1,2,3-Triazole Linked Tetrahydrocurcumin Derivatives.

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases to humanity. There is significant progress in treating this disease, but developing some drugs that can fight this disease remains a challenge in the field of medical research. Thirteen new 1,2,3-triazole linked tetrahydrocurcumin derivatives were synthesized by click reaction, including a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of tetrahydrocurcumin baring mono-alkyne with azides in good yields, and their in vitro anticancer activity against four cancer cell lines, including human cervical carcinoma (HeLa), human lung adenocarcinoma (A549), human hepatoma carcinoma (HepG2), and human colon carcinoma (HCT-116) were investigated using MTT(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetraz-olium bromide) assay. The newly synthesized compounds had their structures identified using NMR HRMS and IR techniques. Some of prepared compounds, including compounds 4g and 4k, showed potent cytotoxic activity against four cancer cell lines compared to the positive control of cisplatin and tetrahydrocurcumin. Compound 4g exhibited anticancer activity with a IC50 value of 1.09 ± 0.17 µM against human colon carcinoma HCT-116 and 45.16 ± 0.92 µM against A549 cell lines compared to the positive controls of tetrahydrocurcumin and cisplatin. Moreover, further biological examination in HCT-116 cells showed that compound 4g can arrest the cell cycle at the G1 phase. A docking study revealed that the potential mechanism by which 4g exerts its anti-colon cancer effect may be through inhabiting the binding of APC-Asef. Compound 4g can be used as a promising lead for further exploration of potential anticancer agents.

A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the terrestrial Parasitengona (Acariformes, Prostigmata) provides insights into the evolution of their metamorphosis, invasion into aquatic habitats and classification.

Parasitengona (velvet mites, chiggers and water mites) is a highly diverse and globally distributed mite lineage encompassing over 11,000 described species, inhabiting terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. Certain species, such as chiggers (Trombiculidae), have a great medical and veterinary importance as they feed on their vertebrate hosts and vector pathogens. Despite extensive previous research, the classification of Parasitengona is still contentious, particularly regarding the boundaries between superfamilies and families, exacerbated by the absence of a comprehensive phylogeny. The ontogeny of most Parasitengona is distinct by the presence of striking metamorphosis, with parasitic larvae being heteromorphic compared to the predatory free-living deutonymphs and adults. The enigmatic superfamily Allotanaupodoidea is an exception, with larvae and active post-larval stages being morphologically similar, suggesting that the absence of metamorphosis may be either an ancestral state or a secondary reversal. Furthermore, there is disagreement in the literature on whether Parasitengona had freshwater or terrestrial origin. Here, we inferred phylogenetic relationships of Parasitengona (89 species, 36 families) and 307 outgroups using five genes (7,838 nt aligned). This phylogeny suggests a terrestrial origin of Parasitengona and a secondary loss of metamorphosis in Allotanaoupodoidea. We recovered the superfamily Trombidioidea (Trombidioidea sensu lato) as a large, well-supported, higher-level clade including 10 sampled families. We propose a new classification for the terrestrial Parasitengona with three new major divisions (epifamilies) of the superfamily Trombidioidea: Trombelloidae (families Audyanidae, Trombellidae, Neotrombidiidae, Johnstonianidae, Chyzeriidae); Trombidioidae (Microtrombidiidae, Neothrombiidae, Achaemenothrombiidae, Trombidiidae, Podothrombiidae); and Trombiculoidae (=Trombiculidae sensu lato). Adding them to previously recognized superfamilies Allotanaupodoidea, Amphotrombioidea, Calyptostomatoidea, Erythraeoidea, Tanaupodoidae and Yurebilloidae.

A Nomogram Including Sarcopenia for Predicting Progression-Free Survival in Patients with Localized Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Because of to the removal of subclassification of papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC), the survival prognostification of localized pRCC after surgical treatment became inadequate. Sarcopenia was widely evaluated and proved to be a predictive factor for prognosis in RCC patients. Therefore, we comprehensively investigated the survival prediction of the body composition parameters for localized pRCC. METHODS: Patients pathologically diagnosed with pRCC between February 2012 and February 2022 in our center were enrolled. The body composition parameters, including skeletal muscle index (SMI), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and perirenal adipose tissue (PRAT), were measured by the images of preoperative computed tomography (CT). The primary outcome was set as progression-free survival (PFS), and the cutoff values of body composition parameters were calculated by using the Youden from receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) curves. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional regression analyses were performed to explore independent risk factors for survival prediction. Then, significant factors were used to construct a prognostic nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated by Harrell's C-index, calibration curves and time-dependent ROC curves. RESULTS: A total of 105 patients were enrolled for analysis. With a median follow-up time of 30.48 months, 25 (23.81%) patients experienced cancer progression. The percentage of sarcopenia was 74.29%. Univariate Cox analysis identified that gender, PRAT, SAT, skeletal muscle (SM), sarcopenia, surgical technique, and tumor diameter were associated with progression. Further multivariate analysis showed that sarcopenia (hazard ratio [HR] 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03-0.66), SAT (HR 6.36, 95% CI 2.39-16.93), PRAT (HR 4.66, 95% CI 1.77-12.27), tumor diameter (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.14-0.86), and surgical technique (HR 2.85, 95% CI 1.06-7.64) were independent risk factors for cancer progression. Then, a prognostic nomogram based on independent risk factors was constructed and the C-index for progression prediction was 0.831 (95% CI 0.761-0.901), representing a reasonable discrimination, the calibration curves, and the time-dependent ROC curves verified the good performance of the nomogram. CONCLUSIONS: A prognostic nomogram, including sarcopenia, SAT, PRAT, tumor diameter, and surgical technique, was constructed to calculate the probability of progression for localized pRCC patients and needs further external validation for clinical use in the future.

Rapid and on-site detection of bisulfite via a NIR fluorescent probe: A case study on the emission wavelength of probes with different quinolinium as electron-withdrawing groups.

The emission of venenous sulfur dioxide (SO2) and its derivatives from industrial applications such as coking, transportation and food processing has caused great concern about public health and environmental quality. Probes that enable sensitivity and specificity to detect SO2 derivatives play a crucial role in its regulations and finally mitigating its environmental and health impacts, but fluorescent probes that can accurately, rapidly and on-site detect SO2 derivatives in foodstuffs and environmental systems rarely reported. Herein, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (ZTX) for the ratiometric response of bisulfite (HSO3-) was designed and synthesized by regulating the structure of high-performance HSO3- fluorescent probe SL previously reported by us based on structural analyses, theoretical calculations and related literature reports. The Michael addition reaction between the electronic-deficient C=C bond and HSO3- destroys ZTX's π-conjugation system and blocks its intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) process, resulting in a significant fading of the fuchsia solution and the bluish-purple fluorescence turned light blue fluorescence. Fluorescent imaging of HSO3- in live animals utilizing ZTX has been demonstrated. The quantitative analysis of HSO3- in food samples using ZTXvia a smartphone has been also successfully implemented. Simultaneously, the ZTX-based test strips were utilized to quantificationally determine HSO3- in environmental water samples by a smartphone. Consequently, probe ZTX could provide a new method to understand the physiopathological roles of HSO3-, evaluate food safety and monitor environment, and is promising for broad applications.

Biological characteristics of manganese transporter MntP in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important opportunistic pathogen that causes a variety of infections. It is critical for bacteria to maintain metal homeostasis during infection. By using an isogenic mntP deletion mutant of K. pneumoniae strain NTUH-K2044, we found that MntP was a manganese efflux pump. Manganese increased the tolerance to oxidative stress, and oxidative stress could increase the intracellular manganese concentration. In oxidative stress, the mntP deletion mutant exhibited significantly higher sensitivity to manganese. Furthermore, iron could increase the tolerance of the mntP deletion mutant to manganese. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the mntP deletion mutant had higher intracellular manganese and iron concentrations than wild-type and complementary strains. These findings suggested that iron could increase manganese tolerance in K. pneumoniae. This work elucidated the role of MntP in manganese detoxification and Mn/Fe homeostasis in K. pneumoniae.IMPORTANCEMetal homeostasis plays an important role during the process of bacterial infection. Herein, we revealed that MntP was involved in intracellular manganese homeostasis. Manganese promoted resistance to oxidative stress in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the mntP deletion mutant exhibited significantly lower survival under manganese and H2O2 conditions. Oxidative stress increased the intracellular manganese content of the mntP deletion mutant. MntP played a critical role in maintaining intracellular manganese and iron concentrations. MntP contributed to manganese detoxification and Mn/Fe homeostasis in K. pneumoniae.

Temporally Local Weighting-Based Phase-Locked Time-Shift Data Augmentation Method for Fast-Calibration SSVEP-BCI.

Various training-based spatial filtering methods have been proposed to decode steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) efficiently. However, these methods require extensive calibration data to obtain valid spatial filters and temporal templates. The time-consuming data collection and calibration process would reduce the practicality of SSVEP-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Therefore, we propose a temporally local weighting-based phase-locked time-shift (TLW-PLTS) data augmentation method to augment training data for calculating valid spatial filters and temporal templates. In this method, the sliding window strategy using the SSVEP response period as a time-shift step is to generate the augmented data, and the time filter which maximises the temporally local covariance between the original template signal and the sine-cosine reference signal is used to suppress the temporal noise in the augmented data. For the performance evaluation, the TLW-PLTS method was incorporated with state-of-the-art training-based spatial filtering methods to calculate classification accuracies and information transfer rates (ITRs) using three SSVEP datasets. Compared with state-of-the-art training-based spatial filtering methods and other data augmentation methods, the proposed TLW-PLTS method demonstrates superior decoding performance with fewer calibration data, which is promising for the development of fast-calibration BCIs.

Terpene synthases GhTPS6 and GhTPS47 participate in resistance to Verticillium dahliae in upland cotton.

Terpene synthases (TPSs) are enzymes responsible for catalyzing the production of diverse terpenes, the largest class of secondary metabolites in plants. Here, we identified 107 TPS gene loci encompassing 92 full-length TPS genes in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Phylogenetic analysis showed they were divided into six subfamilies. Segmental duplication and tandem duplication events contributed greatly to the expansion of TPS gene family, particularly the TPS-a and TPS-b subfamilies. Expression profile analysis screened out that GhTPSs may mediate the interaction between cotton and Verticillium dahliae. Three-dimensional structures and subcellular localizations of the two selected GhTPSs, GhTPS6 and GhTPS47, which belong to the TPS-a subfamily, demonstrated similarity in protein structures and nucleus and cytoplasm localization. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of the two GhTPSs yielded plants characterized by increased wilting and chlorosis, more severe vascular browning, and higher disease index than control plants. Additionally, knockdown of GhTPS6 and GhTPS47 led to the down-regulation of cotton terpene synthesis following V. dahliae infection, indicating that these two genes may positively regulate resistance to V. dahliae through the modulation of disease-resistant terpene biosynthesis. Overall, our study represents a comprehensive analysis of the G. hirsutum TPS gene family, revealing their potential roles in defense responses against Verticillium wilt.

Remittance from migrants reinforces forest recovery for China's reforestation policy.

Forests play a key role in the mitigation of global warming and provide many other vital ecosystem goods and services. However, as forest continues to vanish at an alarming rate from the surface of the planet, the world desperately needs knowledge on what contributes to forest preservation and restoration. Migration, a hallmark of globalization, is widely recognized as a main driver of forest recovery and poverty alleviation. Here, we show that remittance from migrants reinforces forest recovery that would otherwise be unlikely with mere migration, realizing the additionality of payments for ecosystem services for China's largest reforestation policy, the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP). Guided by the framework that integrates telecoupling and coupled natural and human systems, we investigate forest-livelihood dynamics under the CCFP through the lens of rural out-migration and remittance using both satellite remote sensing imagery and household survey data in two representative sites of rural China. Results show that payments from the CCFP significantly increases the probability of sending remittance by out-migrants to their origin households. We observe substantial forest regeneration and greening surrounding households receiving remittance but forest decline and browning in proximity to households with migrants but not receiving remittance, as measured by forest coverage and the Enhanced Vegetation Index derived from space-borne remotely sensed data. The primary mechanism is that remittance reduces the reliance of households on natural capital from forests, particularly fuelwood, allowing forests near the households to recover. The shares of the estimated ecological and economic additionality induced by remittance are 2.0% (1.4%∼3.8%) and 9.7% (5.0%∼15.2%), respectively, to the baseline of the reforested areas enrolled in CCFP and the payments received by the participating households. Remittance-facilitated forest regeneration amounts to 12.7% (6.0%∼18.0%) of the total new forest gained during the 2003-2013 in China. Our results demonstrate that remittance constitutes a telecoupling mechanism between rural areas and cities over long distances, influencing the local social-ecological gains that the forest policy intended to stimulate. Thus, supporting remittance-sending migrants in cities can be an effective global warming mitigation strategy.

Visible light photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline hydrochloride using chitosan-loaded Z-scheme heterostructured material BiOCOOH/O-gC3N4.

In this work, a Z-scheme heterostructured BiOCOOH/O-gC3N4 material was synthesized and immobilized on chitosan (CTS) to obtain the BiOCOOH/O-gC3N4/CTS photocatalytic material for photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (CTC).Our findings indicate that the composite material BiOCOOH/O-gC3N4, as well as the BiOCOOH/O-gC3N4/CTS composite membrane, displayed a significantly higher efficiency in photocatalytic degradation of CTC compared to BiOCOOH alone, owing to the synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalysis. Following four cycles of use, the composite material retained around 96 % of its initial photocatalytic degradation activity. The addition of CTS in the photocatalytic material resolved issues such as aggregation and difficult recovery commonly encountered with powder materials, thereby facilitating effective collision between the photocatalytic active sites and CTC. Experimental and theoretical calculations provided confirmation that the combination of BiOCOOH and O-gC3N4 effectively enhanced the light absorption capacity and photocatalytic performance. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of environmental factors such as pH value and anions on the photocatalytic degradation experiment, which offers valuable insights for the application of composite catalysts in wastewater treatment.

Micro-flow cell washing technique combined with single-cell Raman spectroscopy for rapid and automatic antimicrobial susceptibility test of pathogen in urine.

Facing the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance, methods based on single-cell Raman spectroscopy have proven their advances in reducing the turn-around time (TAT) of antimicrobial susceptibility tests (AST). However, the Raman-based methods are still hindered by the prolonged centrifugal cell washing procedure, which may require complex labor operation and induce high mechanical stress, resulting in a pretreatment time of over 1 h as well as a high cell-loss probability. In this study, we developed a micro-flow cell washing device and corresponding Raman-compatible washing chips, which were able to automatically remove the impurities in the samples, retain the bacterial cell and perform Raman spectra acquisition in situ. Results of washing the 5- and 10-µm polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) microspheres showed that the novel technique achieved a successful removal of 99 % impurity and an 80 % particle retention rate after 6 to 10 cycles of washing. The micro-flow cell washing technique could complete the pretreatment for urine samples in a 96-well plate within 10 min, only taking 15 % of the handling time required by centrifugation. The AST profiles of urine sample spiked with E. coli 25922, E. faecalis 29212, and S. aureus 29213 obtained by the proposed Raman-based approach were found to be 100 % consistent with the results from broth micro-dilution while reducing the TAT to 3 h from several days which is required by the latter. Our study has demonstrated the micro-flow cell washing technique is a reliable, fast and compatible approach to replace centrifuge washing for sample pretreatment of Raman-AST and could be readily applied in clinical scenarios.

The indirect influence of potential mates on survival and reproduction of Tyrophagus curvipenis (Acari: Acaridae).

The social-sexual environment is well known for its influence on the survival of organisms by modulating their reproductive output. However, whether it affects survival indirectly through a variety of cues without physical contact and its influence relative to direct interaction remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated both the indirect and direct influences of the social-sexual environment on the survival and reproduction of the mite Tyrophagus curvipenis (Acari: Acaridae). The results demonstrated no apparent influence of conspecific cues on the survival of mites, but the survival and reproduction of mated female mites significantly changed, with the females mated with males having a significantly shortened lifespan and increased lifetime fecundity. For males, no significant difference was observed across treatments in their survival and lifespan. These findings indicate that direct interaction with the opposite sex has a much more profound influence on mites than indirect interaction and highlight the urgent need to expand research on how conspecific cues modulate the performance of organisms with more species to clarify their impacts across taxa.

Genetic diversity and haplotype distribution patterns analysis of cytb and RAG2 sequences in Rana hanluica from southern China.

Rana hanluica: an endemic amphibian of China, is found in the hills and mountains south of the Yangtze River. In this comprehensive study, we collected 162 samples from 14 different localities to delve into the genetic diversity of Rana hanluica using mitochondrial Cytb and nuclear RAG2 as genetic markers. Our findings reveal that the Nanling Mountains, specifically regions like Jiuyi Shan, Jinggang Shan, Mang Shan, and Qiyun Shan, are genetic hotspots harboring remarkable diversity. The research results also indicate that there is gene flow among the various populations of the species, and no distinct population structure has formed, which may be due to migration. Moreover, populations in some regions, as well as the overall population, show signs of a possible genetic bottleneck, which we speculate may have been caused by climate change. However, given the exploratory nature of our study, further investigations are warranted to confirm these observations. Through phylogenetic analyses, we uncovered indications that R. hanluica might have originated within the Nanling region, dispersing along the east-west mountain ranges, with a significant contribution originating from Jiuyi Shan. The genetic distributions uncovered through our research reflect historical migratory patterns, evident in the distinct haplotypes of the RAG2 gene between the western and eastern parts of the studied area. Moreover, Heng Shan and Yangming Shan exhibited unique genetic signatures, possibly influenced by geographic isolation, which has shaped their distinct genotypes. The insights gained from this study hold profound implications for conservation efforts. By identifying regions rich in genetic diversity and crucial gene flow corridors, we can develop more effective conservation strategies. Preserving these genetically diverse areas, especially within the Nanling Mountains, is vital for maintaining the evolutionary potential of R. hanluica. In conclusion, our research has laid a solid foundation for understanding the genetic landscape of R. hanluica, shedding light on its origins, population structures, and evolutionary trajectories. This knowledge will undoubtedly guide future research endeavors and inform conservation strategies for this endemic amphibian.