Salivary Microbiome Relates to Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy Response in OSCC.

Most patients diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) present with locally advanced stages, which are typically associated with poor outcomes. Although immunotherapy offers potential improvements in patient survival, its efficacy is hampered by low response rates. The microbiome is widely involved in tumor immunity and may play a role in immunotherapy. This study aimed to investigate the potential association between the oral (salivary) microbiome and immunotherapy response in patients with OSCC. Salivary metagenome sequencing was performed on 47 patients with OSCC undergoing neoadjuvant immunotherapy (NAIT) in a clinical trial (NCT04649476). Patients were divided into responders and nonresponders based on their pathological responses. The results showed that the species richness of the salivary microbiome was lower in the nonresponders before NAIT than in the responders. Differential analysis revealed that nonresponders exhibited a lower relative abundance of 34 bacterial species and a higher relative abundance of 4 bacterial species. Notably, low levels of Eubacterium infirmum, Actinobaculum, and Selenomas (EAS) in the saliva may be associated with the nonresponse of patients with OSCC to NAIT. A nomogram based on EAS was developed and validated to determine the efficacy of NAIT. The area under the curve for the training cohort was 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.66 to 0.81). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction confirmed that low levels of salivary EAS effectively identified nonresponders to NAIT. Furthermore, the low abundance of salivary EAS was closely correlated with a low density of intratumoral CD4+, CD14+, CD68+, and FOXP3+ cells. Metabolic functional annotation revealed numerous biosynthetic processes associated with EAS that were more active in responders. In summary, this study provides valuable data resources for the salivary microbiome and reveals that nonresponders have different salivary microbiome profiles than responders do before NAIT. Low salivary EAS levels can serve as potential biomarkers for distinguishing nonresponders from responders.

[The first translation on pediatrics: Er Ke Cuo Yao].

Er Ke Cuo Yao(The Pediatric Summary) is the first monograph on pediatrics of Western medicine translated and introduced in the late Qing Dynasty. It occupies an important position in the history of the development of modern pediatrics and modern Western medicine in China. Edited by American missionary Mary Hannah Fulton and translated by Chinese Western medicine scholar Yin Duanmo, the book consists of 2 volumes and 14 books, including general discussion of pediatrics, diagnosis of pediatric diseases, and discussion on teething, throat diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, worms, liver diseases, abdominal epimesis, and new infectious diseases, etc. covering the diagnosis, treatment, maintenance and other knowledge of Western medical pediatrics. The source of Er Ke Cuo Yao is not yet available, but it may be a synthesis of various materials, and the translation uses paraphrasing, transliteration, and traditional Chinese medicine terminology, and the language is easy to understand. Er Ke Cuo Yao reflects the level of development of pediatrics in Western medicine in the early modern period, makes up for the lack of pediatrics knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, and plays an active role in the diagnosis and treatment of common pediatric diseases, epidemiological diseases, surgical diseases, and malnutrition prevention.

[The relationship between rapid eye movement electromyogram activity and sleep stability in rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the types of electromyogram (EMG) activity and sleep stability during rapid eye movement (REM) in patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder(RBD). Methods: One hundred and three patients with RBD who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Military Medical University from January 2017 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The general situation, clinical symptoms, sleep and emotion questionnaires and nocturnal PSG data were collected. According to the different proportions of tonic and phasic EMG activity, the group with a higher proportion of tonic EMG than phasic EMG was defined as the tonic dominant group, and the group with a higher proportion of phasic EMG than tonic was defined as the phasic dominant group. The sleep instability index was calculated according to the ratio of the number of transitions from sleep to wakefulness to the total sleep time of each sleep stage. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the relationship between REM EMG activity and sleep instability index. Results: A total of 35 idiopathic RBD (iRBD) patients were included, aged(54.5±18.2)years, with 17 males and 18 females. There were 27 RBD with Parkinson's disease (PD), with an average age of (59.4±7.9)years, including 17 males and 10 females. Additionally, there were 41 RBD patients with narcolepsy, aged (21.2±13.2)years, consisting of 22 males and 19 females. Both iRBD and RBD patients with PD had lower objective total sleep time, sleep latency, sleep efficiency, wake time after sleep onset and the percentage of N3 sleep compared to RBD with episodic sleep disorder (all P<0.05). N1-W index[M(Q1, Q3),10.6 (6.5, 16.9)/h vs 7.3 (4.7, 10.5)/h], N2-W index [4.0 (2.2, 5.6)/h vs 2.3 (1.5, 3.9)/h], NREM-W index [ (5.8±2.9)/h vs (4.5±3.2)/h] and REM-W index[ 3.9 (1.9, 7.3)/h vs 2.7 (1.0, 4.0)/h] in the phasic dominant group were higher than those in the tonic dominant group. After adjusting for confounding factors, the effect of phasic EMG dominant group on REM-W was higher than that in the tonic dominant group (ß=2.05, 95%CI: 0.09-3.26, P=0.012). Conclusion: In RBD patients, the phasic EMG activity has a significant impact on sleep stability, especially on REM sleep stability.

Novel data interpretation method for DIII-D divertor retarding field energy analyzer with 3-D particle-in-cell simulations.

A novel data interpretation process that utilizes comprehensive particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations is developed for the new retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) currently being constructed at DIII-D for the lower divertor using the Divertor Material Evaluation System. This probe is expected to survive a heat load of up to 100 MW/m2 for up to 5 s and reliably measure the main ion temperature (Ti) on the divertor target ranging from 10 to 200 eV. These extreme conditions posed significant engineering limitations on the probe geometry, thus extensive validation work has been performed. The conventional fitting method for the RFEA I-V characteristics is based on a simplified 1-D model without considering the ion space charge inside the probe cavity and may not be sufficient for probes designed for the DIII-D divertor environment. In this article, a more realistic description of the particle propagation process within the RFEA cavity is achieved by including both 3-D geometric effects and ion space charge in the PIC simulations, and the capability to reconstruct the ion energy distribution functions is demonstrated with reasonable consistency.

[Study on the protection of gingival epithelial barrier by interleukin-22 through regulating microbiota and E-cadherin expression].

Objective: To investigate the regulatory effect and mechanism of interleukin-22 (IL-22) on the gingival epithelial barrier in the context of periodontal inflammation. Methods: IL-22 knockout (IL-22 KO) mice were constructed, and periodontitis mice models were established through oral gavage with polymicrobial inoculation. DNAs were extracted from the oral plaques of IL-22 KO periodontitis mice group (n=7) and their wild-type littermates periodontitis group (n=7) to establish a periodontitis-related oral microbiota database"PD-RiskMicroDB", determining the relationship between changes in oral microbiota and microbial function in two groups using 16S rRNA sequencing results. Gingival epithelial cells (GEC) were cultured by modified trypsinization method, and were stimulated with 100 µg/L IL-22, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) (multiplicity of infection:100), separately or together for 3 and 12 hours. The experimental groups were as follows: control group (no stimulation), IL-22 group, Pg group and Pg+IL-22 group. The expression of barrier protein E-cadherin in each group at 3 h was detected by immunofluorescence, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran-mediated epithelial cell permeability experiment was conducted to clarify the changes in permeability of GEC in each group at 3 and 12 h. The mRNA expressions of E-cadherin in the gingival epithelium of wild-type littermates periodontitis group and IL-22 KO periodontitis group were detected by RT-qPCR. Fifteen C57BL/6 wild-type mice were randomly divided into control group (n=5), periodontitis group (n=5) and periodontitis+IL-22 treatment group (n=5). RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining were used to detect the expression level of E-cadherin in the gingival epithelium of each group. Results: 16S rRNA sequencing results showed that the composition of oral microbiota changed in IL-22 KO periodontitis group, of which the abundance of bacterial genera related to periodontal tissue invasion was significantly increased (linear discriminant analysis score: 2.22, P=0.009), compared with wild-type littermates periodontitis group. In vitro cell experiments showed that after Pg infection for 3 hours, the cell connections of GEC in Pg group were interrupted, and the fluorescence intensity of E-cadherin was reduced in Pg group compared with the control group. Meanwhile, the mRNA and protein expression levels of E-cadherin (mRNA: 0.69±0.12; protein: 0.60±0.12) were downregulated compared with the control group [mRNA: 1.00±0.00 (P=0.043); protein: 1.04±0.08 (P=0.003)], respectively. The fluorescence intensity of E-cadherin in the Pg+IL-22 group was enhanced compared with Pg group, and expression levels of E-cadherin mRNA (1.16±0.10) and protein (0.98±0.07) in Pg+IL-22 group showed a significant increase compared with Pg group [mRNA: 0.69±0.12 (P=0.005); protein: 0.60±0.12 (P=0.007)]. The result of epithelial permeability test showed that there was no statistical difference in epithelial permeability among control group, Pg group, IL-22 group and Pg+IL-22 group with treatment for 3 hours (F=0.20, P=0.893). While when the treatment time turned to be 12 hours, the epithelial barrier permeability showed a significant increase in Pg group (1.39±0.15) compared with control group (1.00±0.00, P=0.027), and a decrease in Pg+IL-22 group (1.02±0.18) compared with Pg group (1.39±0.15, P=0.034). In vivo, the mRNA expression of E-cadherin in the gingival epithelium of IL-22 KO periodontitis group decreased significantly (0.32±0.21) compared with wild-type littermates periodontitis group (1.01±0.01) (t=5.70, P=0.005). Moreover, RT-qPCR and IHC staining results showed that the mRNA expression level of E-cadherin (0.40±0.07) and absorbance value of E-cadherin positive expression (0.02±0.00) in gingival epithelial tissue of periodontitis group were both significantly down-regulated compared with control group [mRNA: 1.00±0.00 (P=0.005); absorbance value of E-cadherin positive expression: 0.04±0.01 (P=0.006)]. Meanwhile, the mRNA expression level of E-cadherin (1.06±0.24) and the absorbance value of E-cadherin positive expression (0.03±0.01) were both observed increase in periodontitis+IL-22 treatment group compared with periodontitis group (P=0.003, P=0.039). Conclusions: IL-22 may exert a protective effect on the gingival epithelial barrier in an inflammatory environment by regulating the invasiveness of oral microbiota and the expression of host barrier protein.

[Preliminary discussion on the whole life-cycle management of wisdom teeth health].

The impaction rate of wisdom teeth is increasingly high, leading to more and more serious clinical problems. For a long time, the primary approach to managing wisdom teeth has been direct extraction, with a notable lack of systematic and diversified treatment methods. This article introduces, for the first time, the concept of whole life-cycle health management for wisdom teeth and suggests that the window for wisdom teeth life-cycle health management should be moved forward to the tooth germ stage. For tooth germs of wisdom teeth with severe risks, timely and necessary intervention should be administered. For normally erupting wisdom teeth, efforts should be made to maintain their health so they can function over the long term. For impacted wisdom teeth that have not caused related clinical symptoms, careful observation and cautious extraction should be considered. If necessary, techniques such as orthodontics and autotransplantation can be used to functionalize them. For impacted wisdom teeth that have caused clinical symptoms, functional oral surgical principles should be applied to reduce surgical trauma and prevent intraoperative and postoperative complications using advanced clinical techniques.

Assessing morinidazole for surgical site infection in class III wounds prevention: a multi-centre, randomized, single-blind, parallel-controlled study.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are significant postoperative risks; antibiotic prophylaxis is crucial due to the presence of anaerobic bacteria. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of a novel nitroimidazole, morinidazole, in SSI reduction in class III wounds, as there is currently a lack of evidence in the existing literature. METHODS: A multi-centre randomized clinical trial was conducted from December 2020 to October 2022 in the general surgery departments of 12 tertiary hospitals in China, including 459 patients in two treatment groups using morinidazole plus ceftriaxone or ceftriaxone alone. Efficacy and safety were evaluated including SSI incidence, adverse events, and compliance. Statistical analysis employed SAS 9.4 software. Data analysis was performed from February to May 2023. RESULTS: A total of 440 participants (median (interquartile range, IQR) age, 63.0 (54.0, 70.0) years; 282 males (64.09%); 437 patients were of Han race (99.32%) and were randomized. The experimental group exhibited a significantly lower SSI rate compared with the control group (31 (14.49%) vs 52 (23.01%); risk difference, 1.76%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-2.88%; P=0.0224). The superficial incisional site infections revealed a marked reduction in the experimental group (12 (5.61%) vs 31 (13.37%); risk difference, 2.68%; 95% CI 1.34-5.36%; P=0.0042). Non-surgical site infections, severe postoperative complications, and total adverse events showed no statistically significant differences between the groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The significant decrease in SSI rates and superficial incisional infections demonstrates morinidazole to be a valuable prophylactic antibiotic. Our findings provide valuable insights for clinical practice, where this new-generation nitroimidazole can play a crucial role in SSI prevention.

[Epidemiological characteristics and spatial aggregation of acute myocardial infarction in Shandong Province].

Objective: To understand the characteristics and trends of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Shandong Province and to provide evidence for formulating prevention and control strategies. Methods: Data were derived from the AMI incidence reports of Shandong Province's Chronic Disease Surveillance Information Management System in 2012-2021. The crude and standardized incidence rates were used as indicators to describe the incidence level of AMI. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to analyze the trends in the incidence and age of onset over the years. The contribution of population aging to the increase in AMI incidence was assessed using the rate difference decomposition method. The incidence of AMI in each district (county) in Shandong Province was visualized using ArcGIS 10.8 software, and global and local spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed using DeoDa 1.12 software. Results: From 2012 to 2021, 198 233 cases of AMI were reported from 19 provincial monitoring sites in Shandong Province, of which 53.13% were males and 97.12% were ≥45 years old. The reported crude incidence increased from 90.12 per 100 000 in 2012 to 176.54 per 100 000 in 2021, with an average annual increase of 7.01% (Z=7.35, P<0.001). There was no significant upward trend in standardized incidence (Z=1.64, P=0.140), but the standardized incidence of male residents showed an increasing trend (Z=2.76, P=0.028). Before 2014, the reported crude incidence of males was similar to that of females, but after 2014, the reported crude incidence of males was continuously higher than that of females. However, males' standardized incidence was higher than females in all years. Both crude and standardized incidence rates were higher in rural residents than in urban areas. The median onset of AMI increased from 71.6 years old in 2012 to 73.5 years old in 2021. The median age of onset in males was lower than that in females in all years, and in most years, the median age of onset in urban residents was lower than that in rural residents. The incidence of AMI in males showed a trend in younger age groups. According to the seasonal decomposition, the incidence peak of AMI was in January, and the trough was in September. The contribution of aging population to the increase in crude incidence of AMI increased from 8.63% in 2013 to 52.58% in 2021. The global spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the incidence of AMI presented an obvious spatial clustering distribution. Local spatial autocorrelation analysis found that the high-incidence areas (counties) were mainly concentrated in Liaocheng City and Dezhou City in the northwest region of Shandong Province and Heze City in the southwest. Conclusions: The incidence of AMI among residents in Shandong Province was rising, with spatial clustering and seasonal clustering characteristics. People aged 45 years and older, male residents, and rural residents were at high risk of developing AMI. There was a certain trend of younger age at onset among men. Targeted prevention and control measures should be taken for high-incidence seasons, high-risk groups, and high-incidence clustering areas in northwestern Shandong Province.

[Analysis of clinical characteristics and risk factors for nosocomial mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia].

Objective: To analyze and explore the clinical characteristics and risk factors related to nosocomial mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia. Methods: 252 hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia from January 2014 to December 2021 were enrolled, and their clinical characteristics were analyzed. The above-mentioned patients were divided into groups according to their nosocomial mortality rate. Among them, 45 nosocomial mortality cases were classified as the mortality group, and 207 survival cases were classified as the survival group. The differences in clinical data and laboratory data between the two groups were compared. The risk factors for nosocomial mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia were analyzed. The t-test, or rank-sum test, was used to compare measurement data. The chi-square test, or Fisher's exact probability method, was used to compare enumeration data. Multivariate analysis was performed by the logistic regression method. Results: Among the 252 cases, the male-to-female ratio was the same (male/female ratio: 126/126). The age range was 26 to 89 (66.77±10.46) years. Han ethnicity accounted for 79.5%. The main type of atrial arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation (P < 0.001). The main cause of liver cirrhosis was post-hepatitis B cirrhosis (56.3%). There were 57/72/123 cases of CTP grade A/B/C. The CTP and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores were 10.30±1.77 and 18.0(11.0, 29.0), respectively. The nosocomial mortality rate was 17.9% (45/252). The overall incidence rate of complications in all patients was 89.28%, with complications occurring in the following order: 71.4% ascites, 71.0% hypersplenism, 64.7% spontaneous peritonitis, 64.3% esophageal gastric varices, 32.5% hepatorenal syndrome, 32.1% hepatic encephalopathy, and 26.2% esophageal gastric variceal bleeding. The incidence rate of new-onset atrial fibrillation in the nosocomial mortality group was 73.3%, which was much higher than the 44.0% rate in the survival group (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that new-onset atrial fibrillation (OR=2.707, 95%CI 1.119 ~ 6.549), esophageal-gastric varices (OR=3.287, 95%CI 1.189 ~ 9.085), serum potassium (OR=3.820, 95%CI 1.532 ~ 9.526), and MELD score (OR=1.108, 95%CI 1.061~1.157) were independent risk factors for nosocomial mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia. Conclusion: Patients with cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmias have more severe liver function damage and are more likely to develop complications such as ascites, hypersplenism, and hepatorenal syndrome. New-onset atrial fibrillation, esophageal-gastric varices, hyperkalemia, and a high MELD score are risk factors for nosocomial mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis combined with atrial arrhythmia, so more attention should be paid to corresponding patients for timely symptomatic treatment.

Antimicrobial-coated sutures versus non-coated sutures in reducing surgical site infection: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial-coated sutures are one of the strategies to avoid surgical site infection (SSI) caused by microbial colonization on the surface of surgical sutures. AIM: To investigate the effectiveness of antimicrobial-coated sutures in reducing SSI and develop the latest systematic evaluation evidence for clinical SSI prevention and the use of antimicrobial-coated sutures. METHODS: The databases of MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, African Index Medicus, and WHO Global Health were searched from October 10th, 1990 to March 3rd, 2023 with language restricted to English, Spanish, and French. Meta-analysis was used to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial-coated sutures on SSI and whether their effectiveness is influenced by the type of sutures or wounds. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on type of sutures and wounds. Finally, quality of the retrieved evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). FINDINGS: Twenty-six randomized control trials (RCTs) and nine observational studies (OBSs) met the inclusion criteria. Antimicrobial sutures significantly reduced SSI risk (RCTs: odds ratio: 0.74; 95% confidence interval: 0.63-0.87; P = 0.0002; OBSs: OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.48-0.76; P < 0.0001). Only subgroup analysis of Polydioxanone Suture (PDS) Plus vs PDS, Vicryl Plus vs Vicryl and mixed wounds revealed consistent results in favour of antimicrobial-coated sutures. According to GRADE, the quality of RCT evidence is moderate, while that of OBS evidence is low. CONCLUSION: Antimicrobial-coated sutures are effective in reducing the risk of postoperative SSI among a large number of surgical patients. However, the available evidence is of moderate/low quality and many studies had conflicts of interest.

Experimental Limits on Solar Reflected Dark Matter with a New Approach on Accelerated-Dark-Matter-Electron Analysis in Semiconductors.

Recently a dark matter-electron (DM-electron) paradigm has drawn much attention. Models beyond the standard halo model describing DM accelerated by high energy celestial bodies are under intense examination as well. In this Letter, a velocity components analysis (VCA) method dedicated to swift analysis of accelerated DM-electron interactions via semiconductor detectors is proposed and the first HPGe detector-based accelerated DM-electron analysis is realized. Utilizing the method, the first germanium based constraint on sub-GeV solar reflected DM-electron interaction is presented with the 205.4 kg·day dataset from the CDEX-10 experiment. In the heavy mediator scenario, our result excels in the mass range of 5-15 keV/c^{2}, achieving a 3 orders of magnitude improvement comparing with previous semiconductor experiments. In the light mediator scenario, the strongest laboratory constraint for DM lighter than 0.1 MeV/c^{2} is presented. The result proves the feasibility and demonstrates the vast potential of the VCA technique in future accelerated DM-electron analyses with semiconductor detectors.

Teaching Before, During, and After a Surgical Resuscitation.

Teaching during a surgical resuscitation can be difficult due to the infrequency of these events. Furthermore, when these events do occur, the trainee can experience cognitive overload and an overwhelming amount of stress, thereby impairing the learning process. The emergent nature of these scenarios can make it difficult for the surgical educator to adequately teach. Repeated exposure through simulation, role play, and "war games" are great adjuncts to teaching and preparation before crisis. However, surgical educators can further enhance the knowledge of their trainees during these scenarios by using tactics such as talking out loud, targeted teaching, and debriefing.

[Clinical application of split liver transplantation: a single center report of 203 cases].

Objective: To investigate the safety and therapeutic effect of split liver transplantation (SLT) in clinical application. Methods: This is a retrospective case-series study. The clinical data of 203 consecutive SLT, 79 living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and 1 298 whole liver transplantation (WLT) performed at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2014 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Two hundred and three SLT liver grafts were obtained from 109 donors. One hundred and twenty-seven grafts were generated by in vitro splitting and 76 grafts were generated by in vivo splitting. There were 90 adult recipients and 113 pediatric recipients. According to time, SLT patients were divided into two groups: the early SLT group (40 cases, from July 2014 to December 2017) and the mature SLT technology group (163 cases, from January 2018 to July 2023). The survival of each group was analyzed and the main factors affecting the survival rate of SLT were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used for survival analysis. Results: The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3-, and 5-year were 74.58%, 71.47%, and 71.47% in the early SLT group, and 88.03%, 87.23%, and 87.23% in the mature SLT group, respectively. Survival rates in the mature SLT group were significantly higher than those in the early SLT group (χ2=5.560,P=0.018). The cumulative survival rates at 1-, 3- and 5-year were 93.41%, 93.41%, 89.95% in the LDLT group and 87.38%, 81.98%, 77.04% in the WLT group, respectively. There was no significant difference among the mature SLT group, the LDLT group and the WLT group (χ2=4.016, P=0.134). Abdominal hemorrhage, infection, primary liver graft nonfunction,and portal vein thrombosis were the main causes of early postoperative death. Conclusion: SLT can achieve results comparable to those of WLT and LDLT in mature technology liver transplant centers, but it needs to go through a certain time learning curve.

MRI-based radiomics model to preoperatively predict mesenchymal transition subtype in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

AIM: To develop a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics model for the preoperative identification of mesenchymal transition (MT) subtype in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and eighty-nine patients with histopathologically confirmed HGSOC were enrolled retrospectively. Among the included patients, 55 patients were determined as the MT subtype and the remaining 134 were non-MT subtype. After extracting a total of 204 features from T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and contrast-enhanced (CE)-T1WI images, the Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman correlation test, and Boruta algorithm were adopted to select the optimal feature set. Three classifiers, including logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF), were trained to develop radiomics models. The performance of established models was evaluated from three aspects: discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. RESULTS: Seven radiomics features relevant to MT subtypes were selected to build the radiomics models. The model based on the RF algorithm showed the best performance in predicting MT subtype, with areas under the curves (AUCs) of 0.866 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.797-0.936) and 0.852 (95 % CI: 0.736-0.967) in the training and testing cohorts, respectively. The calibration curves, supported with Brier scores, indicated very good consistency between observation and prediction. Decision curve analysis (DCA) showed that the RF-based model could provide more net benefit, which suggested favorable utility in clinical application. CONCLUSION: The RF-based radiomics model provided accurate identification of MT from the non-MT subtype and may help facilitate personalised management of HGSOC.

Individual connectivity-based parcellations reflect functional properties of human auditory cortex.

Neuroimaging studies of the functional organization of human auditory cortex have focused on group-level analyses to identify tendencies that represent the typical brain. Here, we mapped auditory areas of the human superior temporal cortex (STC) in 30 participants by combining functional network analysis and 1-mm isotropic resolution 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two resting-state fMRI sessions, and one or two auditory and audiovisual speech localizer sessions, were collected on 3-4 separate days. We generated a set of functional network-based parcellations from these data. Solutions with 4, 6, and 11 networks were selected for closer examination based on local maxima of Dice and Silhouette values. The resulting parcellation of auditory cortices showed high intraindividual reproducibility both between resting state sessions (Dice coefficient: 69-78%) and between resting state and task sessions (Dice coefficient: 62-73%). This demonstrates that auditory areas in STC can be reliably segmented into functional subareas. The interindividual variability was significantly larger than intraindividual variability (Dice coefficient: 57%-68%, p<0.001), indicating that the parcellations also captured meaningful interindividual variability. The individual-specific parcellations yielded the highest alignment with task response topographies, suggesting that individual variability in parcellations reflects individual variability in auditory function. Connectional homogeneity within networks was also highest for the individual-specific parcellations. Furthermore, the similarity in the functional parcellations was not explainable by the similarity of macroanatomical properties of auditory cortex. Our findings suggest that individual-level parcellations capture meaningful idiosyncrasies in auditory cortex organization.

Molecular rectification induced by magnetization alignment in organic-ferromagnetic devices.

Spin-dependent transport in ferromagnet/organic-ferromagnet/ferromagnet junctions is investigated theoretically under different alignment of magnetization orientations. The results demonstrate a significant current rectification at low bias voltages, and the rectifying direction relies on the relative magnetization orientation in each component. The orbital analysis demonstrates two underlying mechanisms for the rectification, the slight structural asymmetry of the molecule from spin radicals and distinct spin match between conducting electrons and the magnetic molecule upon the reversal of bias. The latter is responsible for the strong low-bias rectification and relies on the magnetization alignment. The effects of parameter strength, temperature and size on the rectification are discussed. This work explores a new route to achieve high-performance molecular rectifiers operating at low bias with controlled rectifying direction.

[Oridonin suppresses the effect of thioacetamide for promoting osteoclast differentiation of RAW264.7 cells and inhibiting osteoblast differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of oridonin (ORI) for suppressing thioacetamide (TAA)-induced osteoclast differentiation of RAW264.7 cells and antagonizing the inhibitory effect of TAA on osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). METHODS: The effects of TAA and ORI on the proliferation of RAW264.7 cells and SD rat BMSCs were examined using CCK-8 assay. TRAP staining and immunofluorescence staining were used to observe the effects of TAA and ORI on osteoclast differentiation in RAW264.7 cells. The expressions of osteoclast-specific proteins in the treated cells were detected using Western blotting, and p65 nuclear translocation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the cells were assessed with immunofluorescence assay and flow cytometry. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and alizarin red staining were used to examine the effects of TAA and ORI on osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, and the expressions of osteogenic and apoptosis-related proteins in the cells were detected with Western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with RAW264.7 cells treated with TAA alone, the cells with the combined treatment with TAA and ORI showed decreased osteoclast differentiation (P < 0.01) and significant inhibition of the MAPK/NF-κB pathway (P < 0.01) with reduced p65 nuclear translocation and intracellular ROS production (P < 0.01). In rat BMSCs, treatment with TAA alone significantly inhibited ALP activity and formation of calcified nodules (P < 0.01) and induced obvious cell apoptosis. Compared with TAA-treated BMSCs, the cells treated with both TAA and ORI showed upregulated expressions of the BMP-2/RUNX2 pathway with enhanced ALP activity (P < 0.01) and calcium deposition (P < 0.01) and a lowered cell apoptosis level. CONCLUSION: ORI inhibits TAA-induced osteoclast differentiation via regulating the MAPK/NF-κB pathway and antagonizes TAA-induced inhibition of bone formation by regulating the BMP-2/RUNX2 pathway.

[Interaction analysis of the influence of different factors and benzene exposure on workers' alanine aminotransferase].

Objective: To investigate the main factors that influence ALT abnormalities in workers exposed to benzene. Methods: In June 2022, data of 613 enterprises with benzene hazards and 585 enterprises with non-benzene hazards in Tianjin in 2021 were collected, and occupational health examination data of 13018 workers with benzene exposure and 13018 workers with non-benzene exposure were collected, and the region, enterprise type, industry classification and enterprise scale of the employer were analyzed. And occupational health examination data of workers with benzene exposure and non-benzene exposure. The effects of personal general situation, occupational history, enterprise information and benzene exposure on alanine aminotransferase were evaluated by additive interaction. Results: Compared with the group of non-benzene-exposed workers, the personal general conditions, occupational history, company information were higher in the benzene-exposed workers, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The quantitative analysis of additive interaction found that gender (RERI=2.632, 95%CI: 1.966-3.297; AP=0.383, 95%CI: 0.311-0.456; S=1.813, 95%CI: 1.530-2.149), age (RERI=1.142, 95%CI: 0.928-1.356; AP=0.462, 95% CI: 0.371-0.552; S=4.461, 95%CI: 1.800-11.053), length of service (RERI=-1.199, 95%CI: -1.653--0.745; AP=-0.456, 95%CI: -0.640--0.271; S=0.576, 95%CI: 0.479-0.693), region (RERI=0.421, 95% CI: 0.148-0.694; AP=0.161, 95%CI: 0.053-0.268; S=1.350, 95%CI: 1.057-1.726), industry classification (RERI=0.627, 95%CI: 0.345-0.910; AP=0.232, 95%CI: 0.132-0.332; S=1.584, 95%CI: 1.233-2.035) and benzene exposure had a statistically significant additive interaction with abnormal serum ALT. Conclusion: Emphasis should be placed on male workers under the age of 40 in the petrochemical industry, oil storage and transportation, and power production, so as to protect the health of workers more specifically and reduce the risk of disability due to disease.