GA-BP-Based Low-Noise FBG Hydroacoustic Monitoring System with Reference Sensor.

To address the issue of harsh marine background noise impacting the monitoring signal of fiber-optic hydrophones, we propose a low-noise fiber Bragg grating (FBG) hydroacoustic monitoring system with a reference sensor based on genetic algorithm backpropagation (GA-BP). Through theoretical analysis, we deduce the noise suppression steps of the GA-BP algorithm based on the reference sensor and construct train and test sets based on the data from the reference sensor and monitoring sensor at different times, optimizing the GA-BP algorithm to find the best fitting results and thereby obtaining the low-noise monitoring signal. Experimental results from the anechoic tank show that the proposed method can suppress background noise interference on effective signals and that the suppression effect improves as the background noise increases. The sound pressure sensitivity ranges from -173.76 dB to -171.33 dB at frequencies of 8 kHz to 12 kHz, with a response flatness of less than 2.43 dB. The noise suppression effect is obvious under the condition of poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which can reach more than 18.3 dB. The advantages of the proposed algorithm in array signal processing are further demonstrated by the directivity experiment, which proves that the algorithm has a great potential for engineering applications in harsh marine environment.

Inflammatory biomarkers in cardiac syndrome X: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: In the current systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to analyze the existing literature to evaluate the role of inflammatory biomarkers, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) among individuals with cardiac syndrome X (CSX) compared to healthy controls. METHODS: We used PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and Embase to systematically search relevant publications published before April 2, 2023. We performed the meta-analysis using Stata 11.2 software (Stata Corp, College Station, TX). So, we used standardized mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) to compare the biomarker level between patients and healthy controls. The I2 and Cochran's Q tests were adopted to determine the heterogeneity of the included studies. RESULTS: Overall, 29 articles with 3480 participants (1855 with CSX and 1625 healthy controls) were included in the analysis. There was a significantly higher level of NLR (SMD = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.55-1.15, I2 = 89.0 %), CRP (SMD = 0.69, 95%CI = 0.38 to 1.02, p < 0.0001), IL-6 (SMD = 5.70, 95%CI = 1.91 to 9.50, p = 0.003), TNF-a (SMD = 3.78, 95%CI = 0.63 to 6.92, p = 0.019), and PLR (SMD = 1.38, 95%CI = 0.50 to 2.28, p = 0.02) in the CSX group in comparison with healthy controls. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that CSX leads to a significant increase in inflammatory biomarkers, including NLR, CRP, IL-6, TNF-a, and PLR.

One-Dimensional Rod-like Tobacco Mosaic Virus Promotes Macrophage Polarization for a Tumor-Suppressive Microenvironment.

The phenotype of tumor-associated macrophages plays an important role in their function of regulating the tumor immune microenvironment. The M1-phenotype macrophages display tumor-killing and immune activating functions. Here we show that the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a rod-like plant virus, can polarize macrophages to an M1 phenotype and shape a tumor-suppressive microenvironment. RAW 264.7 cells and bone marrow derived-macrophages (BMDMs) can recognize TMV via Toll-like receptor-4, and then the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways are activated, leading to the production of pro-inflammatory factors. Furthermore, the in vivo assessments on a subcutaneous co-injection tumor model show that the TMV-polarized BMDMs shape a tumor-suppressive microenvironment, resulting in remarkable delay of 4T1 tumor growth. Another in vivo assessment on an established tumor model indicates the high tumor-metastasis-inhibiting capacity of TMV-polarized BMDMs. This work suggests a role for this plant virus in macrophage-mediated therapeutic approaches and provides a strategy for tumor immunotherapy.