A multicenter, prospective, non-interventional real-world study to assess the effectiveness of mecapegfilgrastim in preventing neutropenia in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Mecapegfilgrastim, a long-acting granulocyte-colony stimulating factor has been approved for reducing the incidence of infection, particularly febrile neutropenia (FN), in China. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a multicenter prospective observational study to examine the safety and effectiveness of mecapegfilgrastim in preventing neutropenia in gastrointestinal patients receiving the chemotherapy, including S-1/capecitabine-based regimens or the fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (FOLFOXIRI)/fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX)/fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRINOX) regimens. METHOD: Five hundred and sixty-one gastrointestinal patients from 40 sites across China, between May 2019 and November 2021, were included. The administration of mecapegfilgrastim was prescribed at the discretion of local physicians. RESULTS: The most common adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of any grade for all patients was increased white blood cells (2.9%). Grade 3/4 ADRs were observed for anemia (0.2%), decreased white blood cells (0.2%), and decreased neutrophil count (0.2%). Among the 116 patients who received S-1/capecitabine-based chemotherapy throughout all cycles, ADRs of any grade included anemia (1.7%), myalgia (0.9%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (0.9%). No grade 3/4 ADRs were observed. In 414 cycles of patients who underwent S-1/capecitabine-based regimens, only one (0.2%) cycle experienced grade 4 neutropenia. In the FOLFIRINOX, FOLFOXIRI, and FOLFOX chemotherapy regimens, grade 4 neutropenia occurred in one (2.7%) of 37 cycles, four (4.7%) of 85 cycles, and two (1.2%) of 167 cycles, respectively. CONCLUSION: In a real-world setting, mecapegfilgrastim has proven effective in preventing severe neutropenia in gastrointestinal patients following chemotherapy. This includes commonly used moderate or high-risk FN regimens or regimens containing S1/capecitabine, all of which have demonstrated favorable efficacy and safety profiles.

A denoising method for power equipment images based on block-matching and 3D filtering.

A substation is important equipment of the power system, and there are many power equipment components in the substation. In order to better detect the working status of power equipment components, it is necessary to preprocess these components. In the actual application, the power equipment images may be noisy due to external environmental interference. Therefore, it should denoise these images in order to improve system detection performance. This paper uses the acquired power equipment images and adds noise intensity of 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30, respectively. Then, the Block-Matching and 3D Filtering (BM3D) method is used to denoise these images. BM3D includes three steps such as block combination, collaborative filtering, and integration, which has strong denoising ability. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms other methods in terms of denoising visual effects and evaluation indicators. Especially in terms of preserving details and textures of the denoised image, there is a significant advantage in suppressing strong noise. In summary, the proposed method can achieve encouraging denoising results, which is an effective denoising method for power equipment images.

Anatomical study of the C6 pedicle and lateral mass in children aged 0-14 years based on CT imaging.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the anatomical structure of the C6 pedicle and lateral mass in children aged 0-14 years using CT imaging, providing detailed insights into their growth and development. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive measurement of C6. Measurements included width, length, and height of the pedicles, as well as the length, width, and thickness of the lateral masses, and several angular metrics. Regression analysis was performed to understand the growth trends, and statistical analyses were carried out to identify differences between age groups, genders, and sides. RESULTS: In children younger than four years, the pedicle width exceeds its height, influencing the diameter of the pedicle screws. By age two to three, the pedicle height and lateral mass thickness reaches 3.0 mm, allowing for the use of 3.0 mm diameter screws. The pedicle transverse angle remains stable. Most parameters showed no significant differences between the left and right sides. Size parameters exhibited significant larger in males than females at ages 0-1, 3-7, and 10-12 years. Regression analysis revealed that the growth trends of size parameters follow cubic or polynomial curves. Most angular metrics follow cubic fitting curves without a clear trend of change with age. CONCLUSION: This study provides a detailed analysis of the anatomical development of the C6 pedicle and lateral masses in children, offering valuable insights for pediatric cervical spine surgeries. The findings highlight the importance of considering age-specific anatomical variations when planning posterior surgical fixation, specifically at C6. It is necessary for us to perform thin-layer CT scans on children and carefully measure various indicators before surgery.

Latest Research Progress of Liquid Biopsy in Tumor-A Narrative Review.

Human life expectancy is significantly impacted by cancer, with liquid biopsy emerging as an advantageous method for cancer detection because of its noninvasive nature, high accuracy, ease of sampling, and cost-effectiveness compared with conventional tissue biopsy techniques. Liquid biopsy shows promise in early cancer detection, real-time monitoring, and personalized treatment for various cancers, including lung, cervical, and prostate cancers, and offers innovative approaches for cancer diagnosis and management. By utilizing circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells, and exosomes as biomarkers, liquid biopsy enables the tracking of cancer progression. Various techniques commonly used in life sciences research, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), next-generation sequencing (NGS), and droplet digital PCR, are employed to assess cancer progression on the basis of different indicators. This review examines the latest advancements in liquid biopsy markers-circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and exosomes-for cancer diagnosis over the past three years, with a focus on their detection methodologies and clinical applications. It encapsulates the pivotal aims of liquid biopsy, including early detection, therapy response prediction, treatment monitoring, prognostication, and its relevance in minimal residual disease, while also addressing the challenges facing routine clinical adoption. By combining the latest research advancements and practical clinical experiences, this work focuses on discussing the clinical significance of DNA methylation biomarkers and their applications in tumor screening, auxiliary diagnosis, companion diagnosis, and recurrence monitoring. These discussions may help enhance the application of liquid biopsy throughout the entire process of tumor diagnosis and treatment, thereby providing patients with more precise and effective treatment plans.

The economics of home energy usage: Insights from urban economy.

Recent regional investigations in the United States have revealed a thought-provoking perspective: household electricity consumption may act as an inferior commodity, displaying a negative correlation with wealth. This finding challenges the outcomes of various other econometric analyses and underscores the importance of scrutinizing power consumption patterns across different regional service areas. While it is commonly believed that home electricity usage decreases as income rises, this may not always hold true universally. This study focuses on power usage in Seattle, Washington households, a prominent urban economy in the Pacific Northwest. Employing dynamic error correction modeling techniques, the research demonstrates statistically significant fluctuations in domestic power usage attributed to variations in actual value, actual revenue, and cold weather. In the immediate future, energy for homes in this urban economy resembles any other commodity. However, investing in electricity for homes in Seattle may not be advisable in the long run. Home power usage in Seattle declines with each percentage point increase in actual per capita income over 1.2 %. This finding highlights the need for careful consideration and strategic planning in energy management policies for urban economies like Seattle.

[Correlation of environment temperature with the incidence of testicular torsion].

Objective： To explore the influence of environment temperature on the incidence of testicular torsion. METHODS: We collected the clinical data on 172 cases of testicular torsion diagnosed in the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from December 2013 to December 2020. According to the local environment temperature on the day of onset, we divided the patients into groups A (below 0℃), B (0－10℃), C (10－20℃) and D (above 20℃), and compared the incidence rates of testicular torsion among the four groups, followed by correlation analysis. RESULTS: The incidence rate of testicular torsion was 12.8% (n = 22) in group A, 35.5% (n = 61) in B, 34.9% (n = 60) in C and 16.9% (n = 29) in D, the highest at 0－10℃ in group B, with statistically significant difference among the four groups (χ2 = 29.07, P <0.001). Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the incidence of testicular torsion was negatively correlated with the environment temperature (r = －0.261, P <0.01), with no statistically significant difference among different seasons (χ2 = 5.349, P >0.05), but higher in autumn and winter than in the other two seasons. CONCLUSION: The incidence of testicular torsion is negatively correlated with the environment temperature, elevated when the temperature decreases, but has no statistically significant difference among different seasons, though relatively higher in autumn and winter.

ARID1 is required to regulate and reinforce H3K9me2 in sperm cells in Arabidopsis.

Heterochromatin de-condensation in companion gametic cells is conserved in both plants and animals. In plants, microspore undergoes asymmetric pollen mitosis (PMI) to produce a vegetative cell (VC) and a generative cell (GC). Subsequently, the GC undergoes pollen mitosis (PMII) to produce two sperm cells (SC). Consistent with heterochromatin de-condensation in the VC, H3K9me2, a heterochromatin mark, is barely detected in VC. However, how H3K9me2 is differentially regulated during pollen mitosis remains unclear. Here, we show that H3K9me2 is gradually evicted from the VC since PMI but remain unchanged in the GC and SC. ARID1, a pollen-specific transcription factor that facilitates PMII, promotes H3K9me2 maintenance in the GC/SC but slows down its eviction in the VC. The genomic targets of ARID1 mostly overlaps with H3K9me2 loci, and ARID1 recruits H3K9 methyltransferase SUVH6. Our results uncover that differential pattern of H3K9me2 between two cell types is regulated by ARID1 during pollen mitosis.

[Corrigendum] DJ­1 is involved in the peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer through activation of the Akt signaling pathway.

Subsequently to the publication of the above paper, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that the western blot data shown for the MMP­9 experiment in Fig. 4 on p. 1493 were strikingly similar to the western blots shown for the total­Akt experiments in Fig. 6 on p. 1494. After having re­examined their original data files, the authors realized that Fig. 6 had been inadvertently assembled incorrectly. The revised version of Fig. 6, containing the correct data for the total­Akt experiments, is shown below. Note that the corrections made to this figure do not affect the overall conclusions reported in the paper. The authors are grateful to the Editor of Oncology Reports for allowing them the opportunity to publish this Corrigendum, and apologize to the readership for any inconvenience caused. [Oncology Reports 31: 1489­1497, 2014; DOI: 10.3892/or.2013.2961].

Oxidized cellulose microneedle patch combined with vascular embolization and local delivery of timolol maleate for hemangiomas.

Hemangiomas are superficial tumors characterized by dense vascular structures that often affect the patient's aesthetic appearance due to the obvious red appearance on the skin. Current treatments, especially timolol maleate in the form of eye drops and hydrogels, suffer from low transdermal drug delivery rates, resulting in prolonged treatment time. To address this challenge, our study introduced a soluble microneedle patch with dextran as the main material to form microcatheters for sustained delivery of timolol maleate. In addition, we proposed a vascular embolization strategy to disrupt the blood supply in hemangiomas. Oxidized cellulose (C-cellulose) was selected for its excellent hemostatic properties. We incorporated C-cellulose into dextran microneedles to facilitate thrombosis in the vascular-rich areas of hemangiomas. The innovative microneedle patch we developed can penetrate the skin to a depth of 430 µm and dissolve rapidly within 3 minutes, ensuring direct drug delivery to the subcutaneous layer. Notably, the treated skin area regained its original appearance within two hours after treatment. In addition to excellent skin permeability and rapid dissolution, these patches significantly promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell migration in mouse hemangioendothelioma EOMA cells. Our results demonstrate that this approach not only achieves significant tumor inhibition in a mouse hemangioma model, but also represents a more effective, convenient, and non-invasive treatment option. Therefore, dextran/C-cellulose/timolol maleate microneedle patch (MNs/Timolol) has broad clinical application prospects in the treatment of hemangiomas, minimizing the risk of additional damage and improving treatment efficacy.

The crosstalk between DNA-damage responses and innate immunity.

DNA damage is typically caused during cell growth by DNA replication stress or exposure to endogenous or external toxins. The accumulation of damaged DNA causes genomic instability, which is the root cause of many serious disorders. Multiple cellular organisms utilize sophisticated signaling pathways against DNA damage, collectively known as DNA damage response (DDR) networks. Innate immune responses are activated following cellular abnormalities, including DNA damage. Interestingly, recent studies have indicated that there is an intimate relationship between the DDR network and innate immune responses. Diverse kinds of cytosolic DNA sensors, such as cGAS and STING, recognize damaged DNA and induce signals related to innate immune responses, which link defective DDR to innate immunity. Moreover, DDR components operate in immune signaling pathways to induce IFNs and/or a cascade of inflammatory cytokines via direct interactions with innate immune modulators. Consistently, defective DDR factors exacerbate the innate immune imbalance, resulting in severe diseases, including autoimmune disorders and tumorigenesis. Here, the latest progress in understanding crosstalk between the DDR network and innate immune responses is reviewed. Notably, the dual function of innate immune modulators in the DDR network may provide novel insights into understanding and developing targeted immunotherapies for DNA damage-related diseases, even carcinomas.

GLIM-defined malnutrition in patients with acute abdomen associated with poor prognosis and increased economic burden: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria have rapidly developed into a principal methodological framework for nutrition diagnosis. However, the applicability of the GLIM criteria in patients with acute abdomen has not been validated. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on patients diagnosed with acute abdomen and admitted to a tertiary hospital in southwest China. Nutrition risk screening was conducted using the Nutrition Risk Screening 2002, and patients identified with nutrition risk were assessed for malnutrition based on the GLIM criteria. RESULTS: We enrolled a total of 440 patients with acute abdomen. The top three diagnoses of acute abdomen were intestinal obstruction (47.2%), acute appendicitis (23.1%), and digestive system perforation (8.8%). The prevalence of nutrition risk was 46.5%, with a malnutrition rate of 32.5% based on the GLIM. Patients with malnutrition according to the GLIM showed significantly higher rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (13.28% vs 7.07%; P = 0.003), increased hospitalization costs (median: 3315USD [interquartile range (IQR): 978-7852] vs 1641 [IQR: 816-3523] USD; P < 0.001), and longer length of hospital stay (LOS) (median: 8 [IQR: 5-13] vs 6 [IQR: 4-8] days; P < 0.001) compared with patients without malnutrition. Multivariate analysis indicated that GLIM-defined malnutrition was an independent predictor of hospitalization costs, and severe malnutrition was an independent predictor of ICU admission. CONCLUSION: GLIM criteria are applicable for diagnosing malnutrition in patients with acute abdomen. The prevalence of malnutrition was high in patients with acute abdomen. Malnutrition was associated with increased ICU admission and LOS, along with higher economic burden.

The Role of Self-Efficacy Enhancement in Improving Self-Management Behavior for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

Background: The effectiveness of a self-efficacy-focused structured education program for patients with diabetes mellitus has been verified. However, changes in self-efficacy for the behavior change mechanism in patients who participated in the program require clarification. Aim: To analyze the mechanism of self-management behavioral variations in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who underwent a self-efficacy-focused structured education program. Methods: A secondary analysis of patients who received a self-efficacy-focused structured education program was conducted using data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial. The relationships among the 3-, 6-, and 12-month changes in diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy, diabetes distress, and self-management behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were studied using a structural equation model. Results: Enhancement of self-efficacy among patients receiving a self-efficacy-focused structured education program directly influenced improvements in self-management behaviors at 3, 6 and 12 months. The increase in diabetes knowledge directly and indirectly improved self-management behaviors at 3 months, but the direct effect on behavior disappeared at 6 months and the indirect effect on behavior by enhancing self-efficacy only lasted until 6 months. The decrease in diabetes distress directly influenced improvement in self-management behaviors at 3 months. While it did not directly influence self-management behavior improvement at 6 and 12 months, it indirectly affected behavior improvement by enhancing self-efficacy. Conclusion: The enhancement of self-efficacy plays a core role in improving and maintaining self-management behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who receive self-efficacy-focused structured education programs. Patients' behaviors can be improved by gaining more diabetes knowledge and mitigating diabetes distress at the 3- and 6-month follow-up. Improvements in behaviors at the 12-month follow-up could be achieved by mitigating diabetes distress.

Antibiotic-induced gut microbiota disruption promotes vascular calcification by reducing short-chain fatty acid acetate.

BACKGROUND: Vascular calcification is a common vascular lesion associated with high morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular events. Antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiota (GM) and have been shown to exacerbate or attenuate several human diseases. However, whether antibiotic-induced GM disruption affects vascular calcification remains unclear. METHODS: Antibiotic cocktail (ABX) treatment was utilized to test the potential effects of antibiotics on vascular calcification. The effects of antibiotics on GM and serum short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in vascular calcification mice were analyzed using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing and targeted metabolomics, respectively. Further, the effects of acetate, propionate and butyrate on vascular calcification were evaluated. Finally, the potential mechanism by which acetate inhibits osteogenic transformation of VSMCs was explored by proteomics. RESULTS: ABX and vancomycin exacerbated vascular calcification. 16 S rRNA gene sequencing and targeted metabolomics analyses showed that ABX and vancomycin treatments resulted in decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes in the fecal microbiota of the mice and decreased serum levels of SCFAs. In addition, supplementation with acetate was found to reduce calcium salt deposition in the aorta of mice and inhibit osteogenic transformation in VSMCs. Finally, using proteomics, we found that the inhibition of osteogenic transformation of VSMCs by acetate may be related to glutathione metabolism and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. After adding the glutathione inhibitor Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) and the ubiquitination inhibitor MG132, we found that the inhibitory effect of acetate on VSMC osteogenic differentiation was weakened by the intervention of BSO, but MG132 had no effect. CONCLUSION: ABX exacerbates vascular calcification, possibly by depleting the abundance of Bacteroidetes and SCFAs in the intestine. Supplementation with acetate has the potential to alleviate vascular calcification, which may be an important target for future treatment of vascular calcification.

Delineation of features, responses, outcomes, and prognostic factors in pediatric PDGFRB-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients: A retrospective multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: PDGFRB fusions in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is rare. The authors identified 28 pediatric PDGFRB-positive ALL. They analyzed the features, outcomes, and prognostic factors of this disease. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective study included 6457 pediatric patients with newly diagnosed PDGFRB fusion ALL according to the CCCG-ALL-2015 and CCCG-ALL-2020 protocols from April 2015 to April 2022 in 20 hospitals in China. Of these patients, 3451 were screened for PDGFRB fusions. RESULTS: Pediatric PDGFRB-positive ALL accounted for only 0.8% of the 3451 cases tested for PDGFRB. These patients included 21 males and seven females and 24 B-ALL and 4 T-ALL; the median age was 10 years; and the median leukocyte count was 29.8 × 109/L at baseline. Only one patient had eosinophilia. Three patients had an IKZF1 deletion, three had chromosome 5q31-33 abnormalities, and one suffered from a complex karyotype. The 3-year event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), and cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) were 33.1%, 65.5%, and 32.1%, respectively, with a median follow-up of 25.5 months. Twenty patients were treated with chemotherapy plus tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and eight were treated without TKI. Complete remission (CR) rates of them were 90.0% and 63.6%, respectively, but no differences in EFS, OS, or CIR. Univariate analyses showed patients with IKZF1 deletion or measurable residual disease (MRD) ≥0.01% after induction had inferior outcomes (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric PDGFRB-positive ALL has a poor outcome associated with high-risk features. Chemotherapy plus TKIs can improve the CR rate, providing an opportunity for lower MRD levels and transplantation. MRD ≥0.01% was a powerful adverse prognostic factor, and stratified treatment based on MRD may improve survival for these patients. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with PDGFRB fusions are associated with high-risk clinical features such as older age, high white blood cell count at diagnosis, high measurable residual disease after induction therapy, and increased risk of leukemia relapse. Chemotherapy plus tyrosine-kinase inhibitors can improve the complete remission rate and provide an opportunity for lower measurable residual disease (MRD) levels and transplantation for pediatric PDGFRB-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. The MRD level was also a powerful prognostic factor for pediatric PDGFRB-positive ALL patients.

Heterochiral π-stacking dimerization of helical secondary structures with emerging supramolecular chirality.

In this work, we report a new type of interface modes between helical secondary structures by noncovalent assembly along the helical axis. The dimerization of helical secondary structures mediated by aromatic π-stacking leads to discrete heterochiral dimeric helical rods consisting of left-handed helix and right-handed helix, which has been demonstrated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. We conduct chiral induction studies on discrete heterochiral dimers to regulate the preference of the helical sense. Surprisingly, we found a novel supramolecular chirality potentially occurring inside the super-secondary structure of chirality-induced heterochiral helical dimers, rather than the racemization of helical chirality. Furthermore, chirality-induced heterochiral helical dimers can exhibit unique chiral switches when formed or not formed. In order to identify the emerging supramolecular chirality of discrete heterochiral dimeric helix, we covalently synthesized meso-helix structures with opposite helical handedness. The chirality of aromatic chromophore linker was confirmed by chiral induction despite competition from opposite handed helices, which strongly demonstrates the occurrence of emerging supramolecular chirality in heterochiral dimeric helix. This study not only reports the heterochiral π-stacking dimerization of helical secondary structures for the first time, but also discovers novel supramolecular chirality hidden in the structure of noncovalent and even covalent meso-helices.

Safety of first-line systemic therapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety of first-line systemic therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer through network meta-analysis. METHODS: The literature from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases was searched from the inception of the databases to August 15, 2023, and strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to screen studies. The Cochrane Bias Risk Assessment Tool (RoB 2.0) was used to evaluate the quality of the included literature. Network meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 15.0 and R4.3.1 software to compare the incidence of adverse events (AEs) among different treatment regimens. RESULTS: A total of 53 randomized controlled trials, involving 17,351 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), were ultimately included, encompassing 29 different therapeutic approaches. According to SUCRA rankings, the CAPOX regimen is most likely to rank first in terms of safety, while the FOLFOXIRI + panitumumab regimen is most likely to rank last. In terms of specific AEs, the CAPOX regimen, whether used alone or in combination with targeted drugs (bevacizumab and cetuximab), is associated with a reduced risk of neutropenia and febrile neutropenia, as well as an increased risk of thrombocytopenia and diarrhea. The FOLFOX regimen, with or without bevacizumab, is linked to an increased risk of neutropenia and peripheral sensory neuropathy. The FOLFIRI/CAPIRI + bevacizumab regimen is associated with a reduced risk of peripheral sensory neuropathy. S-1 and S-1 + oxaliplatin are well-tolerated in terms of gastrointestinal reactions. The FOLFOXIRI regimen, whether used alone or in combination with targeted drugs, is associated with various AEs. CONCLUSION: In summary, the CAPOX regimen may be the safest option among the first-line systemic treatment regimens for mCRC patients, while the FOLFOXIRI + panitumumab regimen may be associated with a higher incidence of grade 3 or higher AEs.

Machine vision-based gait scan method for identifying cognitive impairment in older adults.

Objective: Early identification of cognitive impairment in older adults could reduce the burden of age-related disabilities. Gait parameters are associated with and predictive of cognitive decline. Although a variety of sensors and machine learning analysis methods have been used in cognitive studies, a deep optimized machine vision-based method for analyzing gait to identify cognitive decline is needed. Methods: This study used a walking footage dataset of 158 adults named West China Hospital Elderly Gait, which was labelled by performance on the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. We proposed a novel recognition network, Deep Optimized GaitPart (DO-GaitPart), based on silhouette and skeleton gait images. Three improvements were applied: short-term temporal template generator (STTG) in the template generation stage to decrease computational cost and minimize loss of temporal information; depth-wise spatial feature extractor (DSFE) to extract both global and local fine-grained spatial features from gait images; and multi-scale temporal aggregation (MTA), a temporal modeling method based on attention mechanism, to improve the distinguishability of gait patterns. Results: An ablation test showed that each component of DO-GaitPart was essential. DO-GaitPart excels in backpack walking scene on CASIA-B dataset, outperforming comparison methods, which were GaitSet, GaitPart, MT3D, 3D Local, TransGait, CSTL, GLN, GaitGL and SMPLGait on Gait3D dataset. The proposed machine vision gait feature identification method achieved a receiver operating characteristic/area under the curve (ROCAUC) of 0.876 (0.852-0.900) on the cognitive state classification task. Conclusion: The proposed method performed well identifying cognitive decline from the gait video datasets, making it a prospective prototype tool in cognitive assessment.

Efficacy of Xuebijing injection for the treatment of acute lung injury: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Management guidelines for acute lung injury (ALI) are extremely limited. Xuebijing, a traditional Chinese medicine, exerts therapeutic effects in patients with ALI; however, supportive evidence is currently insufficient. Material and methods: A systematic literature search of seven electronic databases for randomised controlled trials assessing the efficacy of Xuebijing injections in patients with ALI, published from inception to March 31, 2024, was performed. The Risk of Bias assessment tool recommended by The Cochrane Collaboration was used for quality evaluation. Review Manager version 5.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) was used for analysis. Dichotomous variables are expressed as relative risk (RR) and continuous variables as standardised mean difference (SMD). Heterogeneity was assessed using the I 2 statistic and a funnel plot was used to visually assess publication bias. Results: Sixteen studies comprising 1327 patients were included. Xuebijing injection improved oxygenation index (SMD 1.08 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.79-1.38]), reduced the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (RR 0.56 [95 % CI 0.42-0.74) and all-cause mortality (RR 0.48 [95 % CI 0.34-0.67]), and decreased serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (SMD -1.33 [95 % CI -1.50 to -1.17]) and interleukin-6 levels (SMD -1.35 [95 % CI -1.52 to -1.17]). The funnel plot indicated no publication bias. Conclusion: Xuebijing injection may be an effective treatment for ALI. However, this needs to be further confirmed in well-designed, large-sample, randomised controlled trials.

Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Wearable All-Carbon Nanotube Photodetector Arrays.

With electronic devices evolving toward portable and high-performance wearables, the constraints of complex and wet processing technologies become apparent. This study presents a scalable photolithography/chemical-free method for crafting wearable all-carbon nanotube (CNT) photodetector device arrays. Laser-assisted patterning and dry deposition techniques directly assemble gas-phase CNTs into flexible devices without any lithography or lift-off processes. The resulting wafer-scale all-CNT photodetector arrays showcase excellent uniformity, wearability, environmental stability, and notable broadband photoresponse, boasting a high responsivity of 44 AW-1 and a simultaneous detectivity of 1.9 × 109 Jones. This research provides an efficient, versatile, and scalable strategy for manufacturing wearable all-CNT device arrays, allowing widespread adoption in wearable optoelectronics and multifunctional sensors.

Investigating the impact of ultrasound-assisted treatment on the crafting of mulberry leaf protein and whey isolate complex: A comprehensive analysis of structure and functionality.

Mulberry leaf protein (MLP) is a nutrient-rich protein, but its applicability is limited because of its poor solubility. To address this issue, this study combines MLP with whey protein isolates (WPI), known for the high nutritional value, and subsequently forms composite protein nanoparticles using the ultrasound-assisted pH shifting method. Microscopic observation and SDS-PAGE confirmed the binding between these two proteins. Fluorescence spectra and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis supported the involvement of electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic attractions, and hydrogen bonding in the formation of stable complex nanoparticles. The interactions between the proteins became stronger after ultrasound-assisted pH-shifting treatment. Solubility, emulsification capacity, foaming, and antioxidant activity, among other indicators, demonstrate that the prepared composite nanoparticles exhibit favorable functional properties. The study successfully illustrates the creation of protein-based complex nanoparticles through the ultrasound-assisted pH shifting method, with potential applications in the delivery of bioactive compounds.