Unintentional emissions of polychlorinated naphthalenes in China: Sources, composition, and historical trends.

Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) are detrimental to human health and the environment. With the commercial production of PCNs banned, unintentional releases have emerged as a significant environmental source. However, relevant information is still scarce. In this study, provincial emissions for eight PCNs homologues from 37 sources in the Chinese mainland during the period of 1960-2019 were estimated based on a source-specific and time-varying emission factor database. The results showed that the total PCNs emissions in 2019 reached 757.0 kg with Hebei ranked at the top among all the provinces and iron & steel industry as the biggest source. Low-chlorinated PCNs comprised 90% of emissions by mass, while highly chlorinated PCNs dominated in terms of toxicity, highlighting divergent priorities for mitigating emissions and safeguarding human health. The emissions showed an overall upward trend from 1960 to 2019 driven by emission increase from iron & steel industry in terms of source, and from North China and East China in terms of geographic area. Per-capita emissions followed an inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve while emission intensities decreased with increasing per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) following a nearly linear pattern when log-transformed.

Jin-Gu-Lian Capsule Did Not Significantly Improve Clinical Value in Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy: A Real-World Study.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical value of adding Jin-gu-lian (JGL) capsules into rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment by examining its impact on disease activity and quality of life (QoL) through a real-world study (RWS). Patients and methods: RWS was conducted to compare the inflammatory markers, including IgM-RF, ESR, and CRP, between RA patients treated with only Western medicine (reference group) and Western medicine plus JGL (study group) during one-year follow-up. The clinical data was acquired from the hospital information system (HIS). Telephone call-based follow-up on QoL (SF-36) and accompanying symptoms, including gastrointestinal complaints, attacks of pneumonia, herpes zoster, URTIs, UTIs, and LTBIs. Finally, the anti-rheumatic drugs given to both groups were also compared. RWS was further validated for its feasibility by performing studies with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treatment, which is a commonly used anti-rheumatic drug for RA with mild effect. Results: The study group failed to show a significant effect on inflammatory markers, especially on the CRP levels, indicating no additional clinical value of supplementing with JGL. Similarly, at the endpoint, no significant differences between the two groups on QoL and related symptoms were observed. Our study suggests that the patients in the study group might need more anti-rheumatic drugs to fill the treatment insufficiency, and the application ratio of NSAIDs would be significantly higher than the reference group. By conducting this study on HCQ treatment, the positive aspects of controlling disease activity and reducing NSAIDs application were found, which demonstrates the utility of performing the RWS to evaluate the effect of JGL. Conclusion: Adding JGL did not significantly improve the clinical efficacy of RA treatment by this RWS. Folk herbal prescriptions such as JGL are suggested to underwent strict clinical trials before application.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Hippophae tibetana: insights into adaptation to high-altitude environments.

Hippophae tibetana, belonging to the Elaeagnaceae family, is an endemic plant species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, valued for its remarkable ecological restoration capabilities, as well as medicinal and edible properties. Despite being acknowledged as a useful species, its mitochondrial genome data and those of other species of the Elaeagnaceae family are lacking to date. In this study, we, for the first time, successfully assembled the mitochondrial genome of H. tibetana, which is 464,208 bp long and comprises 31 tRNA genes, 3 rRNA genes, 37 protein-coding genes, and 3 pseudogenes. Analysis of the genome revealed a high copy number of the trnM-CAT gene and a high prevalence of repetitive sequences, both of which likely contribute to genome rearrangement and adaptive evolution. Through nucleotide diversity and codon usage bias analyses, we identified specific genes that are crucial for adaptation to high-altitude conditions. Notably, genes such as atp6, ccmB, nad4L, and nad7 exhibited signs of positive selection, indicating the presence of unique adaptive traits for survival in extreme environments. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the close relationship between the Elaeagnaceae family and other related families, whereas intergenomic sequence transfer analysis revealed a substantial presence of homologous fragments among the mitochondrial, chloroplast, and whole genomes, which may be linked to the high-altitude adaptation mechanisms of H. tibetana. The findings of this study not only enrich our knowledge of H. tibetana molecular biology but also advance our understanding of the adaptive evolution of plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This study provides a solid scientific foundation for the molecular breeding, conservation, and utilization of H. tibetana genetic resources.

C3 Selective Hydroxylation of Pyridines via Photochemical Valence Isomerization of Pyridine N-Oxides.

The C-H hydroxylation of the pyridine C3 position is a highly desirable transformation but remains a great challenge due to the inherent electronic properties of this heterocycle core which bring difficulties in chemical reactivity and regioselectivity. Herein we present an efficient method for formal C3 selective hydroxylation of pyridines via photochemical valence isomerization of pyridine N-oxides. This metal-free transformation features operational simplicity and compatibility with a diverse array of functional groups, and the resulting hydroxylated products are amenable to further elaboration to synthetically useful building blocks. The synthetic utility of this strategy is further demonstrated in the effective late-stage functionalization of pyridine-containing medicinally relevant molecules and versatile derivatizations of 3-pyridinols.

Acrolein exposure affects ovarian function by interfering with glycolysis and mitochondrial energy metabolism in mouse.

Acrolein is a widespread contaminant found in both diet and environment, entering the human body through food, alcohol, smoking, and exposure to fuel combustion fumes. While prior studies have highlighted acrolein's harmful impact on oocyte quality and early embryonic development in vitro, the specific mechanisms by which acrolein affects the female reproductive system in vivo remain poorly understood. This study first confirmed that in vitro acrolein exposure disrupts spindle morphology and chromosome alignment during the mid-MI stage of oocyte development, thus hindering oocyte maturation. Besides, exposure to acrolein not only stunts growth in mice but also impairs ovarian development, decreases the ovarian coefficient, disrupts follicular development, and increases the count of atretic follicles in vivo. Additional research has shown that acrolein exposure reduces the activity of key enzymes in glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle within the ovaries. It also suppresses mitochondrial complex expression and disturbs the balance between mitochondrial fission and fusion, as confirmed by metabolomic analyses. Moreover, acrolein exposure in vivo induced granulosa cell apoptosis and reduced oocyte number. In summary, acrolein exposure impairs glucose metabolism and induces mitochondrial dysfunction in the ovaries.

Clinical outcomes of the neonates with critical pulmonary stenosis: intrauterine versus postnatal transport.

Background: Pulmonary stenosis (PS) is one rare congenital heart disease (CHD) featuring obstruction of right ventricular outflow tract. Critical pulmonary stenosis (CPS) is neonatal PS having cyanosis and evidence of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) dependency. There is limited data on the clinical outcomes of CPS with different modes of transportation. This study aimed to investigate clinical features and outcomes of CPS through the intrauterine transport (IT) and postnatal transport (PT). Methods: Single-center retrospective research was performed. Neonates with CPS were grouped into the IT group and PT group. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of the neonates were compared between the two groups. Results: Totally 110 neonates with PS were included in this study, 77 with CPS and 33 with non-CPS. In the infants with CPS, there were 53 and 24 in the IT and PT group respectively. Echocardiography showed that transvalvular pulmonary gradient (TVG) stayed lower in the IT group than that in the PT group {77.0 [interquartile range (IQR), 60.5-91.5] vs. 92.0 (IQR, 73.3-125.0) mmHg, P=0.006}. Levels of serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin I also remained lower in the IT group than those in the PT group [2,256 (IQR, 1,054-4,527) vs. 3,708 (IQR, 2,138-6,789) pg/mL, P=0.02; 0.020 (IQR, 0.011-0.034) vs. 0.042 (IQR, 0.027-0.072) ng/mL, P<0.001, respectively]. All infants with CPS received percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (PBPV) therapy in neonatal period and were discharged from the hospital. Length of hospital stay remained shorter in the IT group than that in the PT group [13.0 (IQR, 11.0-15.0) vs. 15.5 (IQR, 10.8-22.8) days, P=0.03]. Conclusions: IT and early management after birth could effectively reduce the severity of CPS before PBPV treatment and shorten the length of hospital stay among neonates suffering from CPS.

A comprehensive review on potential role of selenium, selenoproteins and selenium nanoparticles in male fertility.

Selenium (Se), a component of selenoproteins and selenocompounds in the human body, is crucial for the development of male reproductive organs, DNA synthesis, thyroid hormone, metabolism, and defence against infections and oxidative damage. In the testis, it must exceed a desirable level since either a shortage or an overabundance causes aberrant growth. The antioxidant properties of selenium are essential for preserving human reproductive health. Selenoproteins, which have important structural and enzymatic properties, control the biological activities of Se primarily. These proteins specifically have a role in metabolism and a variety of cellular processes, such as the control of selenium transport, thyroid hormone metabolism, immunity, and redox balance. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are less hazardous than selenium-based inorganic and organic materials. Upon being functionalized with active targeting ligands, they are both biocompatible and capable of efficiently delivering combinations of payloads to particular cells. In this review, we discuss briefly the chemistry, structure and functions of selenium and milestones of selenium and selenoproteins. Next we discuss the various factors influences male infertility, biological functions of selenium and selenoproteins, and role of selenium and selenoproteins in spermatogenesis and male fertility. Furthermore, we discuss the molecular mechanism of selenium transport and protective effects of selenium on oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation. We also highlight critical contribution of selenium nanoparticles on male fertility and spermatogenesis. Finally ends with conclusion and future perspectives.

Predictive Study of Machine Learning-Based Multiparametric MRI Radiomics Nomogram for Perineural Invasion in Rectal Cancer: A Pilot Study.

This study aimed to establish and validate the efficacy of a nomogram model, synthesized through the integration of multi-parametric magnetic resonance radiomics and clinical risk factors, for forecasting perineural invasion in rectal cancer. We retrospectively collected data from 108 patients with pathologically confirmed rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent preoperative multiparametric MRI at the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College between April 2019 and August 2023. This dataset was subsequently divided into training and validation sets following a ratio of 7:3. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were implemented to identify independent clinical risk factors associated with perineural invasion (PNI) in rectal cancer. We manually delineated the region of interest (ROI) layer-by-layer on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences and extracted the image features. Five machine learning algorithms were used to construct radiomics model with the features selected by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method. The optimal radiomics model was then selected and combined with clinical features to formulate a nomogram model. The model performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and its clinical value was assessed via decision curve analysis (DCA). Our final selection comprised 10 optimal radiological features and the SVM model showcased superior predictive efficiency and robustness among the five classifiers. The area under the curve (AUC) values of the nomogram model were 0.945 (0.899, 0.991) and 0.846 (0.703, 0.99) for the training and validation sets, respectively. The nomogram model developed in this study exhibited excellent predictive performance in foretelling PNI of rectal cancer, thereby offering valuable guidance for clinical decision-making. The nomogram could predict the perineural invasion status of rectal cancer in early stage.

Integrating Polyoxometalate into Dy(III)-based Single-molecule Magnets with Pentagonal Bipyramidal Symmetry.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) with various coordination fashions are versatile ligands for constructing single-ion magnets (SIMs), but enforcing POM-SIMs with a specific geometry remains a synthetic challenge. Herein, we synthesized a POM-cocrystallized DyIII-SIM [Dy(OPPh3)4(H2O)3][PW12O40]·4EtOH (1Dy) and a POM-ligated DyIII-SIM [{Dy(OPPh3)3(H2O)3}{PW12O40}]·Ph3PO·H2O (2Dy) with pentagonal bipyramidal local coordination geometry. Magnetic measurements indicate that 1Dy displays field-induced single-molecule magnet (SMM) behavior and the relaxation is dominated by under-barrier processes. 2Dy exhibits spin-lattice relaxation at a broader temperature region with a reversal barrier over 300 K. Magneto-structural analysis reveals that the enhancement of SMM behavior originated from the equatorial replacement of Ph3PO by POM, which strengthens the axial anisotropy in 2Dy. Luminescent experiments indicate that the characteristic DyIII emissions of 1Dy are covered up by the strong π-π* emission of Ph3PO at low-temperature regions. As for 2Dy, partial DyIII emission persists thanks to the antenna effect between DyIII and POM.

Visible-light-promoted selenylation/cyclization of o-(1-alkynyl) benzoates to access seleno-substituted isocoumarins.

A simple and efficient method to access 4-selenyl-isocoumarin derivatives through visible-light-promoted selenylation/cyclization of o-(1-alkynyl) benzoates has been developed. This transformation is performed under mild conditions and has the advantages of functional group tolerance and broad substrate scope.

Early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation for hospitalized patients with acute ex-acerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether an early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation intervention initiated during hospital admission is safe and effective for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. DESIGN: Prospective randomized controlled study. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS: Patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. METHODS: In total, 108 patients were randomized to the early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation and usual care groups within 48 hours. The 6-min walking distance, quality of life, breathlessness, and inspiratory muscle strength were measured on admission and discharge. Any adverse events of pulmonary rehabilitation were recorded. RESULTS: On discharge, the patients in the early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation group had a more significant improvement in the 6-min walking distance (47.5 vs 23.0, p = 0.04). There was no significant difference in quality of life and breathlessness between the 2 groups. In the early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation group, inspiratory muscle strength and peak inspiratory flow were significantly improved, and the changes were much more pronounced than in the usual care group. There were no adverse events. CONCLUSION: Early comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation is safe and effective for hospitalized patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and should be performed during the early stage of hospitalization.

The association between circulating irisin levels and osteoporosis in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between circulating irisin levels and osteoporosis in women, exploring irisin's potential role in the pathophysiology and management of osteoporosis. Method: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP databases up to January 2023. The inclusion criteria were observational studies reporting on circulating irisin levels in women. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and correlation coefficients with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used as the main effect measures under a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the Cochrane Q statistic and the I2 statistics. Subgroup analysis and univariate meta-regression analysis were performed to identify the sources of heterogeneity. The quality of the included study was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Score. The quality of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE system. Publication bias was assessed using Begg's and Egger's test, and the trim-and-fill method. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the stability of the results. Results: Fifteen studies with a total of 2856 participants met the criteria. The analysis showed significantly lower irisin levels in postmenopausal osteoporotic women compared to non-osteoporotic controls (SMD = -1.66, 95% CI: -2.43 to -0.89, P < 0.0001; I2 = 98%, P < 0.00001) and in postmenopausal individuals with osteoporotic fractures than in non-fractures controls (SMD = -1.25, 95% CI: -2.15 to -0.34, P = 0.007; I2 = 97%, P < 0.00001). Correlation analysis revealed that irisin levels positively correlated with lumbar spine BMD (r = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.18 to 0.54), femoral BMD (r = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.18 to 0.42), and femoral neck BMD (r = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.47) in women. Despite significant heterogeneity, the robustness of the results was supported by using the random effects model and sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: The current evidence suggests that lower irisin levels are significantly associated with osteoporosis and fracture in postmenopausal women, suggesting its utility as a potential biomarker for early detection of osteoporosis and therapeutic target. However, further high-quality prospective research controlling for confounding factors is needed to clarify the relationship between irisin levels and osteoporotic outcomes. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier CRD42023410264.

Transcription Factor PdTP1 Regulates the Biotransformation of Limonene to α-Terpineol and the Growth of Penicillium digitatum.

α-Terpineol, an alcoholic monoterpene with lilac-like aroma, possesses diverse biological activities and has found applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and agricultural industries. Our previous studies indicated that gene PdTP1 was highly expressed in Penicillium digitatum DSM 62840 during the biotransformation of limonene to α-terpineol, while its actual biological functions are not fully understood. Here, PdTP1 was functionally characterized with bioinformatics analysis, subcellular localization, transcriptional activation activity, overexpression, and RNA interference (RNAi) silencing and RNA-seq analysis. Results showed that PdTP1 protein contained a GAL4-like Zn2Cys6 DNA-binding domain and a fungal_trans domain, was located in the nucleus and cell membrane and presented transcriptional activation effect, suggesting that PdTP1 encoded a Zn2Cys6 type transcription factor. Overexpression of PdTP1 in P. digitatum promoted limonene biotransformation and increased α-terpineol production, and opposite results were observed after the silencing of PdTP1. Moreover, transcription factor PdTP1 was found to affect the growth of P. digitatum and participate in ionic stress and oxidative stress responses. RNA-seq data revealed that altering the PdTP1 expression influenced the expression of some genes related to terpene metabolism or biosynthesis, fungal growth, and stress responses. In summary, PdTP1, which encoded a Zn2Cys6 transcription factor, played important roles in improving the production of α-terpineol from limonene and regulating fungal growth and environmental stress responses.

A predictive model for 28-day mortality after discharge in patients with sepsis associated with cerebrovascular disease.

BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the association between cerebrovascular diseases and sepsis, including its occurrence, progression, and impact on mortality. However, there is currently a lack of predictive models for 28-day mortality in patients with cerebrovascular disease associated with sepsis. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to examine the mortality rate within 28 days after discharge in this population, while concurrently developing a corresponding predictive model. METHODS: The data for this retrospective cohort study were obtained from the MIMIC-IV database. Patients with sepsis and cerebrovascular disease in the ICU were included. Laboratory indicators, vital signs, and demographic data were collected within 24 hours of ICU admission. Mortality rates within 28 days after discharge were calculated based on patient death times. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential variables for a predictive model. A nomogram visualized the prediction model. The performance of the model was evaluated using ROC curves, Calibration plots, and DCA. RESULTS: The study enrolled a total of 2660 patients diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease complicated by sepsis, consisting of 1434 males (53.91%) with a median age of 70.97 (59.60, 80.73). Among this cohort of patients, a total of 751 fatalities occurred within 28 days following discharge. The multivariate regression analysis revealed that age, creatinine, arterial oxygen partial pressure (Pa O2), arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (Pa CO2), respiratory rate, white blood cell (WBC) count, Body Mass Index (BMI), and race demonstrated potential predictive variables. The aforementioned model yielded an area under the ROC curve of 0.744, accompanied by a sensitivity of 66.2% and specificity of 71.2%. Furthermore, both calibration plots and DCA demonstrated robust performance in practical applications. CONCLUSION: The proposed prediction model allows clinicians to promptly assess the mortality risk in patients with cerebrovascular disease complicated by sepsis within 28 days after discharge, facilitating early intervention strategies. Consequently, clinicians can implement additional advantageous medical interventions for individuals with cerebrovascular disease and sepsis.

Pain perception enhancement in consecutive second-eye phacoemulsification cataract surgeries under topical anesthesia.

Cataract is the main cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide while the only effective cure for cataract is still surgery. Consecutive phacoemulsification under topical anesthesia has been the routine procedure for cataract surgery. However, patients often grumbled that they felt more painful during the second-eye surgery compared to the first-eye surgery. The intraoperative pain experience has negative influence on satisfaction and willingness for second-eye cataract surgery of patients with bilateral cataracts. Intraoperative ocular pain is a complicated process induced by the nociceptors activation in the peripheral nervous system. Immunological, neuropsychological, and pharmacological factors work together in the enhancement of intraoperative pain. Accumulating published literatures have focused on the pain enhancement during the second-eye phacoemulsification surgeries. In this review, we searched PubMed database for articles associated with pain perception differences between consecutive cataract surgeries published up to Feb. 1, 2024. We summarized the recent research progress in mechanisms and interventions for pain perception enhancement in consecutive second-eye phacoemulsification cataract surgeries. This review aimed to provide novel insights into strategies for improving patients' intraoperative experience in second-eye cataract surgeries.

Oral microbiome, periodontal disease and systemic bone-related diseases in the era of homeostatic medicine.

BACKGROUND: Homeostasis is a state of self-regulation and dynamic equilibrium, maintaining the good physiological functions of each system in living organisms. In the oral cavity, the interaction between the host and the oral microbiome forms oral microbial homeostasis. Physiological bone remodeling and renewal can occur under the maintenance of oral microbial homeostasis. The imbalance of bone homeostasis is a key mechanism leading to the occurrence of systemic bone-related diseases. Considering the importance of oral microbial homeostasis in the maintenance of bone homeostasis, it still lacks a complete understanding of the relationship between oral microbiome, periodontal disease and systemic bone-related diseases. AIM OF REVIEW: This review focuses on the homeostatic changes, pathogenic routes and potential mechanisms in the oral microbiome in periodontal disease and systemic bone-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and osteomyelitis. Additionally, this review discusses oral microbiome-based diagnostic approaches and explores probiotics, MSCs, and oral microbiome transplantation as promising treatment strategies. KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW: This review highlights the association between oral microbial homeostasis imbalance and systemic bone-related diseases, and highlights the possibility of remodeling oral microbial homeostasis for the prevention and treatment of systemic bone-related diseases.

Computing pulsatile blood flow of coronary artery under incomplete boundary conditions.

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of pulsatile blood flow in the coronary arteries enables coronary wave intensity analysis, which can serve as an indicator for assessing coronary artery physiology and myocardial viability. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods integrating coronary angiography images and fractional flow reserve (FFR) offer a novel approach for computing mean coronary blood flow. However, previous methods neglect the inertial effect of blood flow, which may have great impact on pulsatile blood flow calculation. To improve the accuracy of pulsatile blood flow calculation, a novel CFD based method considering the inertia term is proposed. METHODS: A flow resistance model based on Pressure-Flow vs.Time curves is proposed to model the resistance of the epicardial artery. The parameters of the flow resistance model can be fitted from the simulated pulsating flow rates and pressure drops of a specific mode. Then, pulsating blood flow can be calculated by combining the incomplete pressure boundary conditions under pulsating conditions which are easily obtained in clinic. Through simulation experiments, the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in idealized and reconstructed 3D model of coronary artery. The impacts of key parameters for generating the simulated pulsating flow rates and pressure drops on the accuracy of pulsatile blood flow calculation are also investigated. RESULTS: For the idealized model, the previously proposed Pressure-Flow model has a significant leading effect on the computed blood flow waveform in the moderate model, and this leading effect disappears with the increase of the degree of stenosis. The improved model proposed in this paper has no leading effect, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the proposed model is low (the left coronary mode:≤0.0160, the right coronary mode:≤0.0065) for all simulated models, and the RMSE decreases with an increase of stenosis. The RMSE is consistently small (≤0.0217) as the key parameters of the proposed method vary in a large range. It is verified in the reconstructed model that the proposed model significantly reduces the RMSE of patients with moderate stenosis (the Pressure-Flow model:≤0.0683, the Pressure-Flow vs.Time model:≤0.0297), and the obtained blood flow waveform has a higher coincidence with the simulated reference waveform. CONCLUSIONS: This paper confirms that ignoring the effect of inertia term can significantly affect the accuracy of calculating pulsatile blood flow in moderate stenosis lesions, and the new method proposed in this paper can significantly improves the accuracy of calculating pulsatile blood flow in moderate stenosis lesions. The proposed method provides a convenient clinical method for obtaining pressure-synchronized blood flow, which is expected to facilitate the application of waveform analysis in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Viewpoint adaptation revealed potential representational differences between 2D images and 3D objects.

For convenience and experimental control, cognitive science has relied largely on images as stimuli rather than the real, tangible objects encountered in the real world. Recent evidence suggests that the cognitive processing of images may differ from real objects, especially in the processing of spatial locations and actions, thought to be mediated by the dorsal visual stream. Perceptual and semantic processing in the ventral visual stream, however, has been assumed to be largely unaffected by the realism of objects. Several studies have found that one key difference accounting for differences between real objects and images is actability; however, less research has investigated another potential difference - the three-dimensional nature of real objects as conveyed by cues like binocular disparity. To investigate the extent to which perception is affected by the realism of a stimulus, we compared viewpoint adaptation when stimuli (a face or a kettle) were 2D (flat images without binocular disparity) vs. 3D (i.e., real, tangible objects or stereoscopic images with binocular disparity). For both faces and kettles, adaptation to 3D stimuli induced stronger viewpoint aftereffects than adaptation to 2D images when the adapting orientation was rightward. A computational model suggested that the difference in aftereffects could be explained by broader viewpoint tuning for 3D compared to 2D stimuli. Overall, our finding narrowed the gap between understanding the neural processing of visual images and real-world objects by suggesting that compared to 2D images, real and simulated 3D objects evoke more broadly tuned neural representations, which may result in stronger viewpoint invariance.

Intrapericardial Administration to Achieve Localized and Targeted Treatment for Cardiac Disease.

Intrapericardial administration has been proposed as an alternative delivery route of pharmacological agents via the bilaminar sac of pericardium surrounding the heart. To date, intrapericardial administration has entailed the localized administration of a broad spectrum of therapeutic agents. These agents include stem cells, extracellular matrix, growth factor, drugs, bioactive materials, and genetic materials, to the heart and coronary arteries. The route not only overcomes the limitations associated with traditional systemic administration methods, but also presents multiple intrinsic advantages over the other approaches, allowing greater therapeutic actions. Intrapericardial administration exhibits versatility in addressing certain cardiac conditions and ongoing research in this field certainly holds promise for further innovations and advancements to improve cardiac treatment. Thus, this review discusses the anatomy and physiology of the pericardium, the intrapericardial administration access routes, the recent application of intrapericardial delivery in the context of cardiac repair as well as the challenges associated with the approach.