Public Views on Whether the Use of Pharmaceutical Neuroenhancements Should Be Allowed.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Some individuals are using drugs to try to enhance cognitive and social-affective functioning and asking physicians for off-label prescriptions for neuroenhancement (e.g., stimulants). Several medical societies released guidance on prescribing neuroenhancers, some of which refer to potential societal effects of neuroenhancement (e.g., distributive justice), besides risks and benefits to users. Which institutions (e.g., medical societies, government, universities) should make decisions on allowing neuroenhancement and whether they should consider potential societal effects are unclear. We examined whether and how much support for allowing pharmaceutical neuroenhancers was influenced by the institution and potential individual and societal effects of neuroenhancers. METHODS: We conducted a discrete-choice experiment using a constructed representative sample of the US adult public. Multinomial logit models were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Participants (n = 927) demographically resembled the US population. Risks of serious side effects (OR 0.20, CI 0.18-0.22) and a lack of benefits for users (OR 0.31, CI 0.26-0.38) had the largest negative effect on participants' support for allowing neuroenhancers. A risk of mild side effects had a moderate negative effect on participants' support for allowing neuroenhancers (OR 0.67, CI 0.62-0.74) and the prospect of more meaningful, long-lasting benefits for users a moderate positive effect (OR 1.74, CI 1.61-1.87). Positive or negative effects of neuroenhancers on the average well-being of people in society and on equality had moderate effects on participants' support for allowing neuroenhancers. For example, the odds of participants' support for allowing enhancers with a negative effect on societal well-being were around half (OR 0.45, CI 0.40-0.50) and the odds of allowing enhancers that worsen inequality were approximately 40% lower compared with enhancers without such effects (OR 0.62, CI 0.55-0.71). The odds of participants allowing neuroenhancers were slightly (10%) lower if enhancers reduced users' authenticity (OR 0.90, CI 0.84-0.97). The institution regulating neuroenhancers and neuroenhancers providing users with an unfair advantage did not affect participants' decisions. DISCUSSION: When presented with both individual and societal considerations, the public seems to support medical societies and other institutions making policy decisions about neuroenhancers based on risks and benefits for users, as well as, but to a lesser extent, effects on equality and societal well-being.

A Multiomic Analysis to Identify Drivers of Subclinical Vascular Disease in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) increases cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and this is not explained by traditional risk factors. Characterization of blood immunologic signatures that associate with subclinical CVD and predict its progression has been challenging and may help identify subgroups at risk. METHODS: Patients with SLE (n = 77) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 27) underwent assessments of arterial stiffness, vascular wall inflammation, and coronary atherosclerosis burden with cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI); fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (CT) (target-to-background ratio [TBR]); and coronary CT angiography. Whole blood bulk RNA sequencing was performed in a subset of study participants (HC n = 10, SLE n = 20). In a partially overlapping subset (HC n = 24, SLE n = 64), serum inflammatory protein biomarkers were quantified with an Olink platform. RESULTS: CAVI, TBR, and noncalcified coronary plaque burden (NCB) were increased in patients with SLE compared to HCs. When comparing patients with SLE with high CAVI scores to those with low CAVI scores or to HCs, there was a down-regulation of genes in pathways involved in the cell cycle and differentially regulated pathways related to metabolism. Distinct serum proteins associated with increased CAVI (CCL23, colony-stimulating factor 1, latency-activating peptide transforming growth factor ß1, interleukin 33 [IL-33], CD8A, and IL-12B), NCB (monocyte chemotactic protein 4 and FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand [Flt3L]), and TBR (CD5, IL-1α, AXIN1, cystatin D [CST5], and tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily 9; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Blood gene expression patterns and serum proteins that associate with worse vascular phenotypes suggest dysregulated immune and metabolic pathways linked to premature CVD. Cytokines and chemokines identified in associations with arterial stiffness, inflammation, and NCB in SLE may allow for characterization of new CVD biomarkers in lupus.

The efficacy of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for adult binge spectrum eating disorders: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) is an innovative modality of cognitive-behavioral intervention that presents a promising therapeutic strategy for individuals diagnosed with binge spectrum eating disorders. This study employed a meta-analysis methodology to assess the clinical effectiveness and acceptability of iCBT. METHODS: We conducted searches in databases such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO, collecting literature that met the inclusion criteria until August 5, 2023. RESULTS: A comprehensive analysis was conducted, encompassing a total of 11 randomized controlled studies that satisfied the predetermined criteria for inclusion. The summary results demonstrated that iCBT could significantly improve the pathological features related to eating in patients with binge spectrum eating disorders and also significantly reduce the frequency of binge episodes. Additionally, iCBT could ameliorate the depressive and anxious emotions of patients with binge spectrum eating disorders and boost their self-esteem. Furthermore, a notable disparity in dropout rates was seen in comparison to the control group. LIMITATION: Heterogeneity across studies，limitations of self-assessment scales and potential publication bias. CONCLUSION: iCBT can effectively assist patients with binge spectrum eating disorders in improving clinical symptoms. However, it is important to use caution when interpreting the findings of this study, as there are limitations pertaining to the quantity and quality of the included studies.

Photorewriting, Time-Resolved Encryption, and Unclonable Anticounterfeiting with Artificial Intelligence Authentication via a Reversible Photoswitchable System.

In the fields of photolithographic patterning, optical anticounterfeiting, and information encryption, reversible photochromic materials with solid-state fluorescence are emerging as a potential class of systems. A design strategy for reversible photochromic materials has been proposed and synthesized through the introduction of photoactive thiophene groups into the molecular backbone of aryl vinyls, compounds with unique aggregation-induced emission properties, and solid-state reversible photocontrollable fluorescence and color-changing properties. This work develops novel photochromic inks, films, and cellulose hydrogels for enhancing the security of information encryption and anticounterfeiting technologies. They achieve rapid and reversible color change under ultraviolet light irradiation. Dependent upon the rate of color change, higher levels of time-resolved security can be achieved. This feature is important for enhancing the confidentiality of encrypted information and the reliability of security labels. Color-changing cellulose hydrogels, inks, and films consisting of three photochromic fluorescent molecules have quick photoactivity, great photoreversibility and photostability, and good processability, making them ideal for time-delayed anticounterfeiting and smart encryption. Furthermore, specialized algorithms are used to construct convolutional neural networks, and image analysis is performed on these systems, thus solving the current problem of the time-consuming information decryption process. This artificial intelligence method offers new opportunities for enhanced data encryption.

Comparative Analysis of Chloroplast Genomes of "Tiantai Wu-Yao" (Lindera aggregata) and Taxa of the Same Genus and Different Genera.

Lindera aggregata is a species of the Lauraceae family, which has important medicinal, economic and ornamental values. In this study, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the chloroplast genome of L. aggregata and reannotated and corrected eight unverified annotations in the same genus. The chloroplast genomes taxa from Lindera and from different genera of Lauraceae were compared and analyzed, and their phylogenetic relationship and divergence time were speculated. All the 36 chloroplast genomes had typical quadripartite structures that ranged from 150,749 to 154,736 bp in total length. These genomes encoded 111-112 unique genes, including 78-79 protein-coding genes, 29-30 tRNA and 4 rRNA. Furthermore, there were 78-97 SSRs loci in these genomes, in which mononucleotide repeats were the most abundant; there were 24-49 interspersed repeats, and forward repeat types were the most frequent. The codon bias patterns of all species tended to use codons ending with A or U. Five and six highly variable regions were identified within genus and between genera, respectively, and three common regions (ycf1, ndhF-rpl32 and rpl32-trnL) were identified, which can be used as important DNA markers for phylogeny and species identification. According to the evaluation of the Ka/Ks ratio, most of the genes were under purifying selection, and only 10 genes were under positive selection. Finally, through the construction of the evolutionary tree of 39 chloroplast genomes, the phylogenetic relationship of Lauraceae was clarified and the evolutionary relationship of Lindera was revealed. The species of genus Lindera experienced rapid adaptive radiation from Miocene to Pleistocene. The results provided valuable insights for the study of chloroplast genomes in the Lauraceae family, especially in the genus Lindera.

Contrast-Phys+: Unsupervised and Weakly-Supervised Video-Based Remote Physiological Measurement via Spatiotemporal Contrast.

Video-based remote physiological measurement utilizes facial videos to measure the blood volume change signal, which is also called remote photoplethysmography (rPPG). Supervised methods for rPPG measurements have been shown to achieve good performance. However, the drawback of these methods is that they require facial videos with ground truth (GT) physiological signals, which are often costly and difficult to obtain. In this paper, we propose Contrast-Phys+, a method that can be trained in both unsupervised and weakly-supervised settings. We employ a 3DCNN model to generate multiple spatiotemporal rPPG signals and incorporate prior knowledge of rPPG into a contrastive loss function. We further incorporate the GT signals into contrastive learning to adapt to partial or misaligned labels. The contrastive loss encourages rPPG/GT signals from the same video to be grouped together, while pushing those from different videos apart. We evaluate our methods on five publicly available datasets that include both RGB and Near-infrared videos. Contrast-Phys+ outperforms the state-of-the-art supervised methods, even when using partially available or misaligned GT signals, or no labels at all. Additionally, we highlight the advantages of our methods in terms of computational efficiency, noise robustness, and generalization.

HRUNet: Assessing Uncertainty in Heart Rates Measured From Facial Videos.

Video-based Photoplethysmography (VPPG) offers the capability to measure heart rate (HR) from facial videos. However, the reliability of the HR values extracted through this method remains uncertain, especially when videos are affected by various disturbances. Confronted by this challenge, we introduce an innovative framework for VPPG-based HR measurements, with a focus on capturing diverse sources of uncertainty in the predicted HR values. In this context, a neural network named HRUNet is structured for HR extraction from input facial videos. Departing from the conventional training approach of learning specific weight (and bias) values, we leverage the Bayesian posterior estimation to derive weight distributions within HRUNet. These distributions allow for sampling to encode uncertainty stemming from HRUNet's limited performance. On this basis, we redefine HRUNet's output as a distribution of potential HR values, as opposed to the traditional emphasis on the single most probable HR value. The underlying goal is to discover the uncertainty arising from inherent noise in the input video. HRUNet is evaluated across 1,098 videos from seven datasets, spanning three scenarios: undisturbed, motion-disturbed, and light-disturbed. The ensuing test outcomes demonstrate that uncertainty in the HR measurements increases significantly in the scenarios marked by disturbances, compared to that in the undisturbed scenario. Moreover, HRUNet outperforms state-of-the-art methods in HR accuracy when excluding HR values with 0.4 uncertainty. This underscores that uncertainty emerges as an informative indicator of potentially erroneous HR measurements. With enhanced reliability affirmed, the VPPG technique holds the promise for applications in safety-critical domains.

A wireless fluorescent sensing device for on-site closed-loop detection of hydrazine levels in the environment.

Given the extensive need for the detection of hydrazine (N2H4) in the biomedical and chemical-pharmaceutical sectors, there is a necessity to devise a fast, sensitive, specific, and portable technique for precisely quantifying hydrazine at environmental levels. In our work, an "OFF-ON" type fluorescent probe namely 2-(4-(10-(naphthalen-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)phenyl)isoindole-1,3-dione (NAP), which was inspired by the "Gabriel" reaction, was synthesized. The NAP fluorescent cellulose film successfully achieved the detection of hydrazine vapor with a LOD = 0.658 ppm. Compared to previous qualitative methods for detecting hydrazine, this study successfully achieved quantitative identification of hydrazine at low concentrations. In addition, a portable sensor device based on NAP cellulose film was successfully integrated, enabling ultra-sensitive, wireless, remote, and real-time detection of N2H4 vapor. It was determined that the probe (NAP) exhibited excellent detection performance when applied to various environmental samples including distilled water, tap water, creek water, soil and plants. This study introduces a potentially effective approach for detecting hydrazine in real-world settings.

Genome-Wide Identification of Expansins in Rubus chingii and Profiling Analysis during Fruit Ripening and Softening.

Improving fruit size or weight, firmness, and shelf life is a major target for horticultural crop breeding. It is associated with the depolymerization and rearrangement of cell components, including pectin, hemicellulose, cellulose, and other structural (glyco)proteins. Expansins are structural proteins to loosen plant cell wall polysaccharides in a pH-dependent manner and play pivotal roles in the process of fruit development, ripening, and softening. Rubus chingii Hu, a unique Chinese red raspberry, is a prestigious pharmaceutical and nutraceutical dual-function food with great economic value. Thirty-three RchEXPs were predicted by genome-wide identification in this study, containing twenty-seven α-expansins (EXPAs), three ß-expansins (EXPBs), one expansin-like A (EXPLA), and two expansin-like B (EXPLBs). Subsequently, molecular characteristics, gene structure and motif compositions, phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal location, collinearity, and regulatory elements were further profiled. Furthermore, transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) and real-time quantitative PCR assays of fruits from different developmental stages and lineages showed that the group of RchEXPA5, RchEXPA7, and RchEXPA15 were synergistically involved in fruit expanding and ripening, while another group of RchEXPA6 and RchEXPA26 might be essential for fruit ripening and softening. They were regulated by both abscisic acid and ethylene and were collinear with phylogenetic relationships in the same group. Our new findings laid the molecular foundation for improving the fruit texture and shelf life of R. chingii medicinal and edible fruit.

Associations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor rs6265 polymorphism and cognitive function in breast cancer survivors from a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer survivors (BCS) often complain of cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) during and even months after completing primary cancer treatments, particularly chemotherapy. The etiology of CRCI is unknown, but associations of CRCI with germline genetic polymorphisms have been reported, including Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) rs6265 polymorphism. The current study investigated the associations of specific BDNF rs6265 with CRCI. METHODS: Cancer-related cognitive impairment was assessed using subjective reports of cognitive symptoms (the version 1.0, 8-item short-forms of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System®) and computerized objective cognitive function scores (CANTAB®). BDNF rs6265 genotypes were determined from buccal swabs. The associations of specific BDNF rs6265 with CRCI were examined by either one-way analysis of variance or the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by post hoc tests and rank-based regression analysis. RESULTS: We examined 356 female BCS. The mean (SD) age was 55.6 (9.8) years old, the median (IQR) years since cancer diagnosis were 4.0 (6.0), and 331 (92.7%) were self-described as White. BCS carrying the Met/Met genotype showed poorer results on 'visual episodic memory and new learning' and 'spatial working memory and executive function.' This relationship was observed regardless of prior chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that carrying the BDNF rs6265 Met/Met genotype increases the risk for CRCI in BCS. These results are foundational in nature and provide important information to identify mechanisms underpinning CRCI.

Smartphone Augmented Reality Outperforms Conventional CT Guidance for Composite Ablation Margins in Phantom Models.

PURPOSE: To develop and evaluate a smartphone augmented reality (AR) system for a large 50-mm liver tumor ablation with treatment planning for composite overlapping ablation zones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A smartphone AR application was developed to display tumor, probe, projected probe paths, ablated zones, and real-time percentage of the ablated target tumor volume. Fiducial markers were attached to phantoms and an ablation probe hub for tracking. The system was evaluated with tissue-mimicking thermochromic phantoms and gel phantoms. Four interventional radiologists performed 2 trials each of 3 probe insertions per trial using AR guidance versus computed tomography (CT) guidance approaches in 2 gel phantoms. Insertion points and optimal probe paths were predetermined. On Gel Phantom 2, serial ablated zones were saved and continuously displayed after each probe placement/adjustment, enabling feedback and iterative planning. The percentages of tumor ablated for AR guidance versus CT guidance, and with versus without display of recorded ablated zones, were compared among interventional radiologists with pairwise t-tests. RESULTS: The means of percentages of tumor ablated for CT freehand and AR guidance were 36% ± 7 and 47% ± 4 (P = .004), respectively. The mean composite percentages of tumor ablated for AR guidance were 43% ± 1 (without) and 50% ± 2 (with display of ablation zone) (P = .033). There was no strong correlation between AR-guided percentage of ablation and years of experience (r < 0.5), whereas there was a strong correlation between CT-guided percentage of ablation and years of experience (r > 0.9). CONCLUSIONS: A smartphone AR guidance system for dynamic iterative large liver tumor ablation was accurate, performed better than conventional CT guidance, especially for less experienced interventional radiologists, and enhanced more standardized performance across experience levels for ablation of a 50-mm tumor.

Serum Phosphorus as a Driver of Skeletal Morbidity in Fibrous Dysplasia.

CONTEXT: Fibrous dysplasia (FD) results in fractures, pain, and deformities. Abnormal osteoprogenitor cells overproduce FGF23, leading to hyperphosphaturia in most patients and frank hypophosphatemia in a subset. Studies suggest hypophosphatemia is associated with increased FD-related morbidity. However, the relationship between phosphorus and skeletal complications has not been investigated, and the optimal therapeutic target has not been determined. OBJECTIVE: Characterize the impact of serum phosphorus on FD-related morbidity and identify levels associated with increased skeletal complications. METHODS: Natural history study with 240 subjects at a clinical research center who had ≥1 fasting phosphorus level, determined as age- and sex-adjusted Z-scores. Subjects were categorized based on frank hypophosphatemia (Z-score ≤ -2; n = 48); low-normophosphatemia (> -2 to ≤ -1; n = 66); and high-normophosphatemia (> -1 to ≤ 2; n = 125). Main outcomes were fractures, orthopedic surgeries, and scoliosis. RESULTS: Subjects with frank and low-normophosphatemia had increased fracture and surgery rates vs high-normophosphatemia. The prevalence of moderate to severe scoliosis was similarly higher in the frank and low-normophosphatemia groups. In a subanalysis of patients matched for Skeletal Burden Score ≥35, fracture and surgery rates remained higher in the frank hypophosphatemia group, suggesting association between phosphorus and skeletal complications is not explained by differences in FD burden alone. CONCLUSION: Both frank hypophosphatemia and low-normophosphatemia are associated with increased FD-related complications. This supports FGF23-mediated hypophosphatemia as a driver of skeletal morbidity, which may impact a larger proportion of the FD/McCune-Albright syndrome population than previously recognized. These findings enable clinicians to identify at-risk patients and will inform development of prospective studies to determine optimal therapeutic targets.

Regulation of carotenoid metabolism and ABA biosynthesis during blueberry fruit ripening.

Carotenoids and their derivates play critical physiologic roles in plants. However, these substrates and their metabolism have not been elucidated in fruit of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). In this study, carotenoids and ABA were investigated by LC-MS and their biosynthesis were subject to proteomic analysis during fruit ripening. Activity of CCD1 and NCED1/3 were studied in vivo or in vitro. Also, effects of ethephon and 1-MCP on biosynthesis of carotenoid and ABA were investigated through the expression of corresponding genes using qPCR. As a result, carotenoid biosynthesis was prominently mitigated whereas its metabolism was enhanced during fruit ripening, which resulted in a decrease in the carotenoids. VcCCD1 could both cleave ß-carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein at positions of 9, 10 (9', 10'), which was mainly responsible for the degradation of these carotenoids. Interestingly, in the situation of mitigation of carotenoid biosynthesis, ABA still rapidly accumulated, which was mainly attributed to the upregulated expression of VcNCED1/3. Notably, VcNCED1/3 also showed a cleavage activity of all-trans-zeaxanthin and a stereospecific cleavage activity of 9-cis-carotene to generate C15-carotenal. The C15-carotenal could be potentially converted to ABA through ZEP-independent ABA biosynthetic pathway during blueberry fruit ripening. Similar to a nature natural maturation, ethylene accelerated the carotenoid degradation and ABA biosynthesis trough downregulating the expression of genes in carotenoid biosynthesis and upregulating the expression of genes in ABA biosynthesis. These information help understand the regulation of carotenoids and ABA, and effects of ethylene on the regulation during blueberry fruit ripening.

Correlates of frailty in older female cancer survivors.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer survivors are at risk of frailty because of cancer and its treatment. Understanding the factors that increase the risk of frailty is an important aspect of cancer care for the development of interventions to prevent or manage frailty, thus improving cancer survival and overall quality of life of cancer survivors. This study aimed to identify demographic, clinical, and psychosocial correlates of frailty in older, female cancer survivors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a sub-study focusing on the exploratory aim of a larger cross-sectional study (NURS-IIR-IUSCC-0748). A total of 213 female cancer survivors aged 59-87 years old were included from the parent study in the current analysis. Frailty, the primary outcome, was measured using the Tilburg Frailty Indicator scale. The independent variables were age, relationship status, clinical stage of cancer, treatment type, comorbidity, depression, affect, optimism, stress, and social support. Stepwise linear regression modeling identified the independent variables that were significantly associated with frailty. RESULTS: The final regression model revealed that high patient-reported stress and depression, comorbidity, not being married or living with a partner, and low positive affect were significantly associated with worsening frailty in this population. DISCUSSION: Understanding the context of frailty is important for the design of interventions that target factors known to be associated with frailty in older cancer survivors. Further validation with a larger and a more diverse sample from a broad spectrum of sociodemographic and clinical population would fully account for the multiple independent variables influencing frailty in cancer survivors.

VidBP: Detecting Blood Pressure from Facial Videos with Personalized Calibration.

Recent studies have found that blood volume pulse (BVP) in facial videos contains features highly correlated to blood pressure (BP). However, the mapping from BVP features to BP varies from person to person. To address this issue, VidBP has been proposed as a BP detector that can be calibrated based on an individual's data. VidBP is pre-trained on a large dataset to extract BP-related features from BVP. Then, BVP samples and BP labels of an individual are fed into the pre-trained VidBP to create a personal dictionary of BP-related features. When estimating the individual's BP, the current BP-related feature is compared to the features saved in the dictionary, and the BP labels of the similar features are considered as the BP estimate. The performance of VidBP was evaluated on 640 samples of 16 subjects, and it demonstrated significantly lower errors in BP estimation compared to state-of-the-art methods. The personalized calibration of VidBP is a significant advantage, enabling it to better capture the unique mapping from BVP features to BP for each individual.Clinical relevance This study reports a feasible method to estimate BP from facial videos, providing a convenient and cost-effective way for home BP monitoring.

A Conjugated Microporous Polymer/Wood Aerogel with Physical Adsorption, Chemical Degradation and Antibacterial Self-Cleaning Triple Sewage Treatment Functions.

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have important applications in the fields of optoelectronics and sewage treatment due to their high specific surface area, broad visible absorption, processability and simple synthesis process. Biocompatibility, recycling, mass production and solar photodegradation are particularly important in wastewater treatment. Here, A CMP with a high specific surface area and a hierarchical pore structure (CPOP) was constructed based on 4,4',4″-Tris(carbazol-9-yl)-triphenylamine (3CZ-TPA). Furthermore, a CMP-loaded wood aerogel (CPOP/wood aerogel) with physical adsorption, chemical degradation, bacterial inhibition and self-cleaning properties was prepared by in situ polymerization and used for wastewater treatment. The obtained CPOP/wood aerogel is highly biocompatible and easy to recycle. In addition, the inherent broad visible light absorption property of CPOP endows it with promising photocatalytic properties. Subsequently, we investigated the photocatalytic mechanism of CPOP, and the results showed that it was mainly affected by peroxyl radicals, which implied and confirmed its microbial self-cleaning for secondary cleaning of water pollutants. The reported studies on CPOP/wood aerogel provide a new direction for water purification materials with excellent adsorption, degradation and antibacterial properties.

Research Progress and Prospect of Stimuli-Responsive Lignin Functional Materials.

As the world's second most abundant renewable natural phenolic polymer after cellulose, lignin is an extremely complex, amorphous, highly cross-linked class of aromatic polyphenolic macromolecules. Due to its special aromatic structure, lignin is considered to be one of the most suitable candidates to replace fossil materials, thus the research on lignin functional materials has received extensive attention. Because lignin has stimuli-sensitive groups such as phenolic hydroxyl, hydroxyl, and carboxyl, the preparation of stimuli-responsive lignin-based functional materials by combining lignin with some stimuli-responsive polymers is a current research hotspot. Therefore, this article will review the research progress of stimuli-responsive lignin-based functional materials in order to guide the subsequent work. Firstly, we elaborate the source and preparation of lignin and various types of lignin pretreatment methods. We then sort out and discuss the preparation of lignin stimulus-responsive functional materials according to different stimuli (pH, light, temperature, ions, etc.). Finally, we further envision the scope and potential value of lignin stimulus-responsive functional materials for applications in actuators, optical coding, optical switches, solar photothermal converters, tissue engineering, and biomedicine.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor rs6265 polymorphism is associated with severe cancer-related fatigue and neuropathic pain in female cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: This study examined the relationships between a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) rs6265 and psychoneurological (PN) symptoms in female cancer survivors. METHODS: This secondary analysis examined 393 study participants. In addition to demographic variables, self-reported PN symptom scores (anxiety, bodily pain, depression, fatigue, neuropathic pain, and sleep disturbance) were collected using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Buccal swab samples were collected to obtain genotypes for BDNF rs6265 (Val/Val, Val/Met, or Met/Met). The PN symptom scores were compared across genotypes, and the relationships were examined using a regression model. We also explored correlations between different symptoms within each genotype. RESULTS: Participants with the Met/Met genotype reported significantly worse cancer-related fatigue and neuropathic pain, which was confirmed by rank-based regression analysis. In addition, cancer-related fatigue was correlated with other PN symptoms, particularly depression. These correlations were stronger in study participants with the Met/Met genotype than those with other genotypes. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that female cancer survivors with the Met/Met genotype of BDNF rs6265 are likely to experience worse cancer-related fatigue and neuropathic pain and that cancer-related fatigue is a good predictor of co-occurring PN symptoms in this population. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Our findings advance the scientific community's understanding of cancer-related PN symptoms experienced by female cancer survivors, especially the unique role of BDNF rs6265 polymorphism in these symptoms. Our findings offer valuable insights for clinical practice that the symptom experience among female cancer survivors may vary based on BDNF genotypes.

CT radiomics for differentiating fat poor angiomyolipoma from clear cell renal cell carcinoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Differentiation of fat-poor angiomyolipoma (fp-AMLs) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is often not possible from just visual interpretation of conventional cross-sectional imaging, typically requiring biopsy or surgery for diagnostic confirmation. However, radiomics has the potential to characterize renal masses without the need for invasive procedures. Here, we conducted a systematic review on the accuracy of CT radiomics in distinguishing fp-AMLs from RCCs. METHODS: We conducted a search using PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science for studies published from January 2011-2022 that utilized CT radiomics to discriminate between fp-AMLs and RCCs. A random-effects model was applied for the meta-analysis according to the heterogeneity level. Furthermore, subgroup analyses (group 1: RCCs vs. fp-AML, and group 2: ccRCC vs. fp-AML), and quality assessment were also conducted to explore the possible effect of interstudy differences. To evaluate CT radiomics performance, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were assessed. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022311034). RESULTS: Our literature search identified 10 studies with 1456 lesions in 1437 patients. Pooled sensitivity was 0.779 [95% CI: 0.562-0.907] and 0.817 [95% CI: 0.663-0.910] for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Pooled specificity was 0.933 [95% CI: 0.814-0.978]and 0.926 [95% CI: 0.854-0.964] for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Also, our findings showed higher sensitivity and specificity of 0.858 [95% CI: 0.742-0.927] and 0.886 [95% CI: 0.819-0.930] for detecting ccRCC from fp-AML in the unenhanced phase of CT scan as compared to the corticomedullary and nephrogenic phases of CT scan. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that radiomic features derived from CT has high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating RCCs vs. fp-AML, particularly in detecting ccRCCs vs. fp-AML. Also, an unenhanced CT scan showed the highest specificity and sensitivity as compared to contrast CT scan phases. Differentiating between fp-AML and RCC often is not possible without biopsy or surgery; radiomics has the potential to obviate these invasive procedures due to its high diagnostic accuracy.

Quantitative trait loci associated with straighthead-resistance used for marker assisted selection in rice (Oryza sativa L.) RIL populations.

Straighthead is a physiological disorder of rice (Oryza sativa L.) that causes dramatic yield loss in susceptible cultivars. This disorder is found worldwide and is reported to increasingly occur in the southern United States. Genetic resistance breeding has been considered as one of the most efficient methods for straighthead prevention because the traditional prevention method wastes water and costs labor. In this study, we analyzed the genetic effects of five straighthead quantitative trait loci (QTLs), namely, AP3858-1 (qSH-8), RM225 (qSH-6), RM2 (qSH-7), RM206 (qSH-11), and RM282 (qSH-3), on the recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed from Jing185/Cocodrie and Zhe733/R312 populations using our five previously identified markers linked to these QTLs. As a result, recombinant inbred lines (RILs) with four resistant alleles at the four loci (AP3858-1, RM225, RM2, and RM206) exhibited the highest straighthead resistance. This result suggests that the four markers could be efficiently used to select the straighthead-resistant recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Furthermore, by using AP3858-1, we successfully obtained five straighthead-resistant recombinant inbred lines (RILs) with more than 50% genetic similarity to Cocodrie. These markers and recombinant inbred lines (RILs) can be used for future straighthead resistance breeding through marker-assisted selection.