LiNbO3 Coating and F- Doping Stabilize the Crystal Structure and Ameliorate the Interface of LiNi0.88Co0.06Mn0.03Al0.03O2 to Improve the Electrochemical Properties and Safety Capability.

Ni-rich layered materials Li[NixCoyMnzAl1-x-y-z]O2 (x > 0.8) are regarded as the competitive cathode for practical applications in lithium-ion batteries owing to the large discharging capacity. Nevertheless, the strong oxidation activity, the poor structure, and the thermal stability at the electrode-electrolyte interface would lead to much trouble, for example, inferior electrochemical properties and acute safety issues. To ameliorate the above problems, this work reports a strategy for the double modification of F- doping and LiNbO3 covering in LiNi0.88Co0.06Mn0.03Al0.03O2 cathode via using high-temperature calcining and ball-milling technology. As a result, the cathodes after F- doping and LiNbO3 covering not only demonstrate a more stabilized crystal structure and particle interface but also reduce the release of high-activity oxygen species to ameliorate the thermal runaway. The electrochemical tests show that the LiNbO3-F--modified cathode displays a superior rate capability of 159.3 mAh g-1 at 10.0 C and has the predominant capability retention of 92.1% in the 200th cycle at 25 °C, much superior than those (125.4 mAh g-1 and 84.0%) of bare cathode. Thus, the F- doped and LiNbO3-coated Ni-rich oxides could be a promising cathode to realize the high capacity and a stabilized interface.

Segmentation method of magnetic resonance imaging brain tumor images based on improved UNet network.

Background: Glioma is a primary malignant craniocerebral tumor commonly found in the central nervous system. According to research, preoperative diagnosis of glioma and a full understanding of its imaging features are very significant. Still, the traditional segmentation methods of image dispensation and machine wisdom are not acceptable in glioma segmentation. This analysis explores the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain tumor images as an effective segmentation method of glioma. Methods: This study used 200 MRI images from the affiliated hospital and applied the 2-dimensional residual block UNet (2DResUNet). Features were extracted from input images using a 2×2 kernel size (64-kernel) 1-step 2D convolution (Conv) layer. The 2DDenseUNet model implemented in this study incorporates a ResBlock mechanism within the UNet architecture, as well as a Gaussian noise layer for data augmentation at the input stage, and a pooling layer for replacing the conventional 2D convolutional layers. Finally, the performance of the proposed protocol and its effective measures in glioma segmentation were verified. Results: The outcomes of the 5-fold cross-validation evaluation show that the proposed 2DResUNet and 2DDenseUNet structure has a high sensitivity despite the slightly lower evaluation result on the Dice score. At the same time, compared with other models used in the experiment, the DM-DA-UNet model proposed in this paper was significantly improved in various indicators, increasing the reliability of the model and providing a reference and basis for the accurate formulation of clinical treatment strategies. The method used in this study showed stronger feature extraction ability than the UNet model. In addition, our findings demonstrated that using generalized die harm and prejudiced cross entropy as loss functions in the training process effectively alleviated the class imbalance of glioma data and effectively segmented glioma. Conclusions: The method based on the improved UNet network has obvious advantages in the MRI brain tumor portrait segmentation procedure. The result showed that we developed a 2D residual block UNet, which can improve the incorporation of glioma segmentation into the clinical process.

Tm,Ho:YLF waveguide lasers at 2.05†µm.

In this work, we report on the first, to our knowledge, 2.05-µm laser based on femtosecond-laser direct written (FsLDW) Tm,Ho:YLF cladding waveguides. A channel waveguide with a 90-µm diameter "fiber-like" low-index cladding is fabricated in a 6 at. % Tm3+, 0.4 at. % Ho3+:LiYF4 crystal by FsLDW. Pumped by Ti:sapphire laser at 795.1 nm, the fabricated waveguide supports efficient lasing oscillation at 2050 nm with a maximum output power of 47.5 mW, a minimum lasing threshold of 181 mW, and a slope efficiency of 20.1%. The impacts of cavity conditions and polarizations of the pump light on the obtained lasing performance are well studied. The experimental results obtained in this study demonstrate the great potential of utilizing Tm,Ho:YLF and FsLDW for the development of durable mid-infrared lasers featuring compact designs.

Is postmastectomy radiotherapy necessary for breast cancer patients with clinically node-positive downstaging to ypN0 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

PURPOSE: The significance of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in breast cancer patients who initially have clinically node-positive (cN +) status but achieve downstaging to ypN0 following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains uncertain. This study aims to assess the impact of PMRT in this patient subset. METHODS: Patients were enrolled from West China Hospital, Sichuan University from 2008 to 2019. Overall survival (OS), Locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and assessed with the log-rank test. The impact of PMRT was further analyzed by the Cox proportional hazards model. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce the selection bias. RESULTS: Of the 333 eligible patients, 189 (56.8%) received PMRT, and 144 (43.2%) did not. At a median follow-up period of 71 months, the five-year LRFS, DMFS, BCSS, and OS rates were 99.1%, 93.4%, 96.4%, and 94.3% for the entire cohort, respectively. Additionally, the 5-year LRFS, DMFS, BCSS, and OS rates were 98.9%, 93.8%, 96.7%, and 94.5% with PMRT and 99.2%, 91.3%, 94.9%, and 92.0% without PMRT, respectively (all p-values not statistically significant). After multivariate analysis, PMRT was not a significant risk factor for any of the endpoints. When further stratified by stage, PMRT did not show any survival benefit for patients with stage II-III diseases. CONCLUSION: In the context of comprehensive treatments, PMRT might be exempted in ypN0 breast cancer patients. Further large-scale, randomized controlled studies are required to investigate the significance of PMRT in this patient subset.

Hepatic artery diameter predicts bleeding risk after gastroesophageal varices treatment: a contrast-enhanced CT study.

OBJECTIVE: Portal hypertension leads to hepatic artery dilatation and a higher risk of bleeding. We tried to identify the bleeding risk after gastroesophageal varices (GOV) treatment using hepatic artery diameter of contrast-enhanced CT. METHODS: Retrospective retrieval of 258 patients with cirrhosis who underwent contrast-enhanced CT from January 2022 to May 2023 and endoscopy within one month thereafter at Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University. Cirrhotic patients before GOV treatment were used as the test cohort (n = 199), and cirrhotic patients after GOV treatment were used as the validation cohort (n = 59). The grading and bleeding risk was classified according to the endoscopic findings. Arterial-phase images of contrast-enhanced CT were used for coronal reconstruction, and the midpoint diameter of the hepatic artery was measured on coronal images. The optimal cutoff value for identifying bleeding risk was analyzed and calculated in the test cohort, and its diagnostic performance was evaluated in the validation cohort. RESULTS: In the test cohort, hepatic artery diameters were significantly higher in high-risk GOV than in low-risk GOV [4.69 (4.31, 5.56) vs. 3.10 (2.59, 3.77), P < 0.001]. With a hepatic artery diameter cutoff value of 4.06 mm, the optimal area under the operating characteristic curve was 0.940 (95% confidence interval: 0.908-0.972), with a sensitivity of 0.887, a specificity of 0.892, a positive predictive value of 0.904, and a negative predictive value of 0.874 for identifying bleeding risk in the test cohort, while in the validation cohort, the sensitivity was 0.885, specificity was 0.939, positive predictive value was 0.920, and negative predictive value was 0.912. CONCLUSION: Hepatic artery diameter has high diagnostic performance in identifying bleeding risk after GOV treatment.

Supramolecular Mimotope Peptide Nanofibers Promote Antibody-Ligand Polyvalent and Instantaneous Recognition for Biopharmaceutical Analysis.

Peptide-based supramolecules exhibit great potential in various fields due to their improved target recognition ability and versatile functions. However, they still suffer from numerous challenges for the biopharmaceutical analysis, including poor self-assembly ability, undesirable ligand-antibody binding rates, and formidable target binding barriers caused by ligand crowding. To tackle these issues, a "polyvalent recognition" strategy employing the CD20 mimotope peptide derivative NBD-FFVLR-GS-WPRWLEN (acting on the CDR domains of rituximab) was proposed to develop supramolecular nanofibers for target antibody recognition. These nanofibers exhibited rapid self-assembly within only 1 min and robust stability. Their binding affinity (179 nM) for rituximab surpassed that of the monomeric peptide (7 µM) by over 38-fold, highlighting that high ligand density and potential polyvalent recognition can efficiently overcome the target binding barriers of traditional supramolecules. Moreover, these nanofibers exhibited an amazing "instantaneous capture" rate (within 15 s), a high recovery (93 ± 3%), and good specificity for the target antibody. High-efficiency enrichment of rituximab was achieved from cell culture medium with good recovery and reproducibility. Intriguingly, these peptide nanofibers combined with bottom-up proteomics were successful in tracking the deamidation of asparagine 55 (from 10 to 16%) on the rituximab heavy chain after 21 day incubation in human serum. In summary, this study may open up an avenue for the development of versatile mimotope peptide supramolecules for biorecognition and bioanalysis of biopharmaceuticals.

Self-assembled molecular network with waterwheel-like architecture: experimental and theoretical evaluation toward electron transport capabilities for optoelectronic devices.

In recent times, self-assembled electron transport materials for optoelectronic devices, both solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), have been gaining much interest as they help in fabricating high-efficiency devices. However, designing organic small molecular materials with star-shaped self-assembled networks is a challenge. To achieve this sort of target, we chose triazine and benzene-1,3,5-tricarbonyl cores for developing such architecture, and we developed four molecular systems, vizTCpCN, TCmCN, TmCN, and TpCN. Successful isolation of single crystals followed by structural analysis of TmCN revealed interesting molecular arrangements in the solid state resulting in the formation of a waterwheel type architecture with an extended network bearing characteristic voids. Theoretical calculations was carried out to check their electron transportability. The natural transition orbital calculation helped in understanding the locally excited and charge transfer excited states. The low electron reorganization energies of these molecules indicated that these materials may have potential to be used in electron transport layers of optoelectronic devices, particularly in OLEDs. Moreover, the assembled networks have a relatively wide surface area and linked structures, which are advantageous for the conduction of carriers with poor electron recombination inside the ETL, and these may offer a straightforward channel for electron conduction to the emissive layer. Finally, the fabricated electron-only device indicated that the synthesized materials may be used as ETMs in the electron transport layer of optoelectronic devices.

Construction of an autofluorescence interference-free phosphorescence biosensor for the specific detection of TK1 mRNA.

The anti-interference ability of biosensors is critical for detection in biological samples. Fluorescence-based sensors are subject to interference from self-luminescent substances in biological matrices. Therefore, phosphorescent sensors stand out among biosensors due to their lack of self-luminescence background. In this study, a phosphorescent sensor was constructed, which can accurately detect thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) mRNA in biological samples and avoid autofluorescence interference. When there is no target, polydopamine (PDA) is used as the phosphorescence resonance energy transfer (PRET) acceptor to quench the phosphorescence of the persistently luminescent (PL) nanomaterial. When there is a target, the DNA modified by the PL nanomaterial is replaced by the hairpin H and removed away from the PDA, resulting in a rebound in phosphorescence. The phosphorescent sensor exhibits a good linear relationship in the TK1 mRNA concentration range of 0-200 nM, and the detection limit was 1.74 nM. The sensor fabricated in this study can effectively avoid interference from spontaneous fluorescence in complex biological samples, and sensitively and precisely detect TK1 mRNA in serum samples, providing a powerful tool to more accurately detect biomarkers in biological samples.

Recent advances and role of melatonin in post-harvest quality preservation of shiitake (Lentinula edodes).

Shiitake mushrooms are renowned for their popularity and robust nutritional value, are susceptible to spoilage due to their inherent biodegradability. Nevertheless, because of their lack of protection, these mushrooms have a short shelf life. Throughout the post-harvest phase, mushrooms experience a persistent decline in quality. This is evidenced by changes such as discoloration, reduced moisture content, texture changes, an increase in microbial count, and the depletion of nutrients and flavor. Ensuring postharvest quality preservation and prolonging mushroom shelf life necessitates the utilization of post-harvest preservation techniques, including physical, chemical, and thermal processes. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the deterioration processes affecting mushroom quality, covering elements such as moisture loss, discoloration, texture alterations, increased microbial count, and the depletion of nutrients and flavor. It also explores the key factors influencing these processes, such as temperature, relative humidity, water activity, and respiration rate. Furthermore, the review delves into recent progress in preserving mushrooms through techniques such as drying, cooling, packaging, irradiation, washing, and coating.

Machine learning-based pathomics signature of histology slides as a novel prognostic indicator in primary central nervous system lymphoma.

PURPOSE: To develop and validate a pathomics signature for predicting the outcomes of Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL). METHODS: In this study, 132 whole-slide images (WSIs) of 114 patients with PCNSL were enrolled. Quantitative features of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained slides were extracted using CellProfiler. A pathomics signature was established and validated. Cox regression analysis, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, Calibration, decision curve analysis (DCA), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were performed to assess the significance and performance. RESULTS: In total, 802 features were extracted using a fully automated pipeline. Six machine-learning classifiers demonstrated high accuracy in distinguishing malignant neoplasms. The pathomics signature remained a significant factor of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in the training cohort (OS: HR 7.423, p < 0.001; PFS: HR 2.143, p = 0.022) and independent validation cohort (OS: HR 4.204, p = 0.017; PFS: HR 3.243, p = 0.005). A significantly lower response rate to initial treatment was found in high Path-score group (19/35, 54.29%) as compared to patients in the low Path-score group (16/70, 22.86%; p < 0.001). The DCA and NRI analyses confirmed that the nomogram showed incremental performance compared with existing models. The ROC curve demonstrated a relatively sensitive and specific profile for the nomogram (1-, 2-, and 3-year AUC = 0.862, 0.932, and 0.927, respectively). CONCLUSION: As a novel, non-invasive, and convenient approach, the newly developed pathomics signature is a powerful predictor of OS and PFS in PCNSL and might be a potential predictive indicator for therapeutic response.

Diagnostic utility and sensitivities of matrix Gla protein (MGP), TRPS1 and GATA3 in breast cancer: focusing on metastatic breast cancer, invasive breast carcinoma with special features, and salivary gland-type tumours.

Matrix Gla protein (MGP) and trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type 1 (TRPS1) have recently emerged as novel breast-specific immunohistochemical (IHC) markers, particularly for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and metaplastic carcinoma. The present study aimed to validate and compare the expression of MGP, TRPS1 and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC), invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) with special features, including special types of invasive breast carcinoma (IBC-STs) and invasive breast carcinoma of no special type with unique features, and mammary and non-mammary salivary gland-type tumours (SGTs). Among all enrolled cases, MGP, TRPS1 and GATA3 had comparable high positivity for ER/PR-positive (p=0.148) and HER2-positive (p=0.310) breast carcinoma (BC), while GATA3 positivity was significantly lower in TNBC (p<0.001). Similarly, the positive rates of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs (99.4%), were higher than in GATA3 (90.9%, p<0.001). Among the IBC-STs, 98.4% of invasive lobular carcinomas (ILCs) were positive for all three markers. Among neuroendocrine tumours (NTs), all cases were positive for TRPS1 and GATA3, while MGP positivity was relatively low (81.8%, p=0.313). In the neuroendocrine carcinoma (NC) subgroup, all cases were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while one case was negative for TRPS1. All carcinomas with apocrine differentiation (APOs) were positive for GATA3 and MGP, while only 60% of the cases demonstrated moderate staining for TRPS1. Among mammary SGTs, MGP demonstrated the highest positivity (100%), followed by TRPS1 (96.0%) and GATA3 (72.0%). Positive staining for these markers was also frequently observed in non-mammary SGTs. Our findings further validate the high sensitivity of MGP and TRPS1 in MBCs, IBC-STs, and breast SGTs. However, none of these markers are capable of distinguishing between mammary and non-mammary SGTs.

Second harmonic generation of visible vortex laser based on a waveguide-grating emitter in LBO.

In this work, we propose a practical solution to visible vortex laser emission at 532 nm based on second harmonic generation (SHG) in a well-designed waveguide-grating structure. Such an integrated structure is fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW) in an LBO crystal. Confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy is employed for detailed analysis of FsLDW-induced localized crystalline damage. By optical excitation at 1064 nm, the guiding properties, SHG performance, as well as vortex laser generation of the waveguide-grating hybrid structure are systematically studied. Our results indicate that FsLDW waveguide-grating emitter is a reliable design holding great promise for nonlinear vortex beam generation in integrated optics.

AI-supported estimation of safety critical wind shear-induced aircraft go-around events utilizing pilot reports.

The occurrence of wind shear and severe thunderstorms during the final approach phase contributes to nearly half of all aviation accidents. Pilots usually employ the go-around procedure in order to lower the likelihood of an unsafe landing. However, multiple factors influence the go-arounds induced by wind shear. In order to predict the wind shear-induced go-around, this study utilized a cutting-edge AI-based Combined Kernel and Tree Boosting (KTBoost) framework with various data augmentation strategies. First, the KTBoost model was trained, tested, and compared to other Machine Learning models using the data extracted from Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)-based Pilot Reports for the years 2017-2021. The performance evaluation revealed that the KTBoost model with Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique - Edited Nearest Neighbor (SMOTE-ENN)- augmented data demonstrated superior performance as measured by the F1-Score (94.37%) and G-Mean (94.87%). Subsequently, the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) approach was employed to elucidate the interpretation of the KTBoost model using data that had been treated with the SMOTE-ENN technique. According to the findings, flight type, wind shear magnitude, and approach runway contributed the most to the wind shear-induced go-around. Compared to international flights, Hong Kong-based airlines endured the highest number of wind shear-induced go-arounds. Shear due to the tailwind contributed more to the go-around than the headwinds. The runways with the most wind shear-induced Go-arounds were 07C and 07R.

Modifying temperature-related cardiovascular mortality through green-blue space exposure.

Green-blue spaces (GBS) are pivotal in mitigating thermal discomfort. However, their management lacks guidelines rooted in epidemiological evidence for specific planning and design. Here we show how various GBS types modify the link between non-optimal temperatures and cardiovascular mortality across different thermal extremes. We merged fine-scale population density and GBS data to create novel GBS exposure index. A case time series approach was employed to analyse temperature-cardiovascular mortality association and the effect modifications of type-specific GBSs across 1085 subdistricts in south-eastern China. Our findings indicate that both green and blue spaces may significantly reduce high-temperature-related cardiovascular mortality risks (e.g., for low (5%) vs. high (95%) level of overall green spaces at 99th vs. minimum mortality temperature (MMT), Ratio of relative risk (RRR) = 1.14 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.21); for overall blue spaces, RRR = 1.20 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.29)), while specific blue space types offer protection against cold temperatures (e.g., for the rivers at 1st vs MMT, RRR = 1.17 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.28)). Notably, forests, parks, nature reserves, street greenery, and lakes are linked with lower heat-related cardiovascular mortality, whereas rivers and coasts mitigate cold-related cardiovascular mortality. Blue spaces provide greater benefits than green spaces. The severity of temperature extremes further amplifies GBS's protective effects. This study enhances our understanding of how type-specific GBS influences health risks associated with non-optimal temperatures, offering valuable insights for integrating GBS into climate adaptation strategies for maximal health benefits.

DMC-siERCC2 hybrid nanoparticle enhances TRAIL sensitivity by inducing cell cycle arrest for glioblastoma treatment.

ERCC2 plays a pivotal role in DNA damage repair, however, its specific function in cancer remains elusive. In this study, we made a significant breakthrough by discovering a substantial upregulation of ERCC2 expression in glioblastoma (GBM) tumor tissue. Moreover, elevated levels of ERCC2 expression were closely associated with poor prognosis. Further investigation into the effects of ERCC2 on GBM revealed that suppressing its expression significantly inhibited malignant growth and migration of GBM cells, while overexpression of ERCC2 promoted tumor cell growth. Through mechanistic studies, we elucidated that inhibiting ERCC2 led to cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase by blocking the CDK2/CDK4/CDK6/Cyclin D1/Cyclin D3 pathway. Notably, we also discovered a direct link between ERCC2 and CDK4, a critical protein in cell cycle regulation. Additionally, we explored the potential of TRAIL, a low-toxicity death ligand cytokine with anticancer properties. Despite the typical resistance of GBM cells to TRAIL, tumor cells undergoing cell cycle arrest exhibited significantly enhanced sensitivity to TRAIL. Therefore, we devised a combination strategy, employing TRAIL with the nanoparticle DMC-siERCC2, which effectively suppressed the GBM cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. In summary, our study suggests that targeting ERCC2 holds promise as a therapeutic approach to GBM treatment.

Intravascular ultrasound-guided versus angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndromes (IVUS-ACS): a two-stage, multicentre, randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention has been shown to result in superior clinical outcomes compared with angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention. However, insufficient data are available concerning the advantages of intravascular ultrasound guidance for patients with an acute coronary syndrome. This trial aimed to investigate whether the use of intravascular ultrasound guidance, as compared with angiography guidance, improves the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with contemporary drug-eluting stents in patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: In this two-stage, multicentre, randomised trial, patients aged 18 years or older and presenting with an acute coronary syndrome at 58 centres in China, Italy, Pakistan, and the UK were randomly assigned to intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention or angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients, follow-up health-care providers, and assessors were masked to random assignment; however, staff in the catheterisation laboratory were not. The primary endpoint was target vessel failure, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically driven target vessel revascularisation at 1 year after randomisation. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03971500, and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Aug 20, 2019 and Oct 27, 2022, 3505 patients with an acute coronary syndrome were randomly assigned to intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (n=1753) or angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (n=1752). 1-year follow-up was completed in 3504 (>99·9%) patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 70 patients in the intravascular ultrasound group and 128 patients in the angiography group (Kaplan-Meier rate 4·0% vs 7·3%; hazard ratio 0·55 [95% CI 0·41-0·74]; p=0·0001), driven by reductions in target vessel myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularisation. There were no significant differences in all-cause death or stent thrombosis between groups. Safety endpoints were also similar in the two groups. INTERPRETATION: In patients with an acute coronary syndrome, intravascular ultrasound-guided implantation of contemporary drug-eluting stents resulted in a lower 1-year rate of the composite outcome of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically driven revascularisation compared with angiography guidance alone. FUNDING: The Chinese Society of Cardiology, the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China, and Jiangsu Provincial & Nanjing Municipal Clinical Trial Project. TRANSLATION: For the Mandarin translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

TEAD2 initiates ground-state pluripotency by mediating chromatin looping.

The transition of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) between serum/LIF and 2i(MEK and GSK3 kinase inhibitor)/LIF culture conditions serves as a valuable model for exploring the mechanisms underlying ground and confused pluripotent states. Regulatory networks comprising core and ancillary pluripotency factors drive the gene expression programs defining stable naïve pluripotency. In our study, we systematically screened factors essential for ESC pluripotency, identifying TEAD2 as an ancillary factor maintaining ground-state pluripotency in 2i/LIF ESCs and facilitating the transition from serum/LIF to 2i/LIF ESCs. TEAD2 exhibits increased binding to chromatin in 2i/LIF ESCs, targeting active chromatin regions to regulate the expression of 2i-specific genes. In addition, TEAD2 facilitates the expression of 2i-specific genes by mediating enhancer-promoter interactions during the serum/LIF to 2i/LIF transition. Notably, deletion of Tead2 results in reduction of a specific set of enhancer-promoter interactions without significantly affecting binding of chromatin architecture proteins, CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), and Yin Yang 1 (YY1). In summary, our findings highlight a novel prominent role of TEAD2 in orchestrating higher-order chromatin structures of 2i-specific genes to sustain ground-state pluripotency.

Planktonic eukaryotes in the Chesapeake Bay: contrasting responses of abundant and rare taxa to estuarine gradients.

Phytoplankton are important drivers of aquatic ecosystem function and environmental health. Their community compositions and distributions are directly impacted by environmental processes and human activities, including in the largest estuary in North America, the Chesapeake Bay. It is crucial to uncover how planktonic eukaryotes play fundamental roles as primary producers and trophic links and sustain estuarine ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the detailed community structure and spatiotemporal variations of planktonic eukaryotes in the Chesapeake Bay across space and time for three consecutive years. A clear seasonal and spatial shift of total, abundant, and rare planktonic eukaryotes was evident, and the pattern recurred interannually. Multiple harmful algal species have been identified in the Bay with varied distribution patterns, such as Karlodinium, Heterosigma akashiwo, Protoperidinium sp., etc. Compared to abundant taxa, rare subcommunities were more sensitive to environmental disturbance in terms of richness, diversity, and distribution. The combined effects of temporal variation (13.3%), nutrient availability (10.0%), and spatial gradients (8.8%) structured the distribution of eukaryotic microbial communities in the Bay. Similar spatiotemporal patterns between planktonic prokaryotes and eukaryotes suggest common mechanisms of adjustment, replacement, and species interaction for planktonic microbiomes under strong estuarine gradients. To our best knowledge, this work represents the first systematic study on planktonic eukaryotes in the Bay. A comprehensive view of the distribution of planktonic microbiomes and their interactions with environmental processes is critical in understanding the underlying microbial mechanisms involved in maintaining the stability, function, and environmental health of estuarine ecosystems. IMPORTANCE: Deep sequencing analysis of planktonic eukaryotes in the Chesapeake Bay reveals high community diversity with many newly recognized phytoplankton taxa. The Chesapeake Bay planktonic eukaryotes show distinct seasonal and spatial variability, with recurring annual patterns of total, abundant, and rare groups. Rare taxa mainly contribute to eukaryotic diversity compared to abundant groups, and they are more sensitive to spatiotemporal variations and environmental filtering. Temporal variations, nutrient availability, and spatial gradients significantly affect the distribution of eukaryotic microbial communities. Similar spatiotemporal patterns in prokaryotes and eukaryotes suggest common mechanisms of adjustment, substitution, and species interactions in planktonic microbiomes under strong estuarine gradients. Interannually recurring patterns demonstrate that diverse eukaryotic taxa have well adapted to the estuarine environment with a long residence time. Further investigations of how human activities impact estuarine planktonic eukaryotes are critical in understanding their essential ecosystem roles and in maintaining environmental safety and public health.

Dynamic radiomics based on contrast-enhanced MRI for predicting microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To exploit the improved prediction performance based on dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI by using dynamic radiomics for microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We retrospectively included 175 and 75 HCC patients who underwent preoperative DCE-MRI from September 2019 to August 2022 in institution 1 (development cohort) and institution 2 (validation cohort), respectively. Static radiomics features were extracted from the mask, arterial, portal venous, and equilibrium phase images and used to construct dynamic features. The static, dynamic, and dynamic-static radiomics (SR, DR, and DSR) signatures were separately constructed based on the feature selection method of LASSO and classification algorithm of logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the curve (AUC) were plotted to evaluate and compare the predictive performance of each signature. RESULTS: In the three radiomics signatures, the DSR signature performed the best. The AUCs of the SR, DR, and DSR signatures in the training set were 0.750, 0.751 and 0.805, respectively, while in the external validation set, the corresponding AUCs were 0.706, 0756 and 0.777. The DSR signature showed significant improvement over the SR signature in predicting MVI status (training cohort: P = 0.019; validation cohort: P = 0.044). After external validation, the AUC value of the SR signature decreased from 0.750 to 0.706, while the AUC value of the DR signature did not show a decline (AUCs: 0.756 vs. 0.751). CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic radiomics had an improved effect on the MVI prediction in HCC, compared with the static DCE MRI-based radiomics models.

Genome-Wide Association Studies on Chinese Wheat Cultivars Reveal a Novel Fusarium Crown Rot Resistance Quantitative Trait Locus on Chromosome 3BL.

Fusarium crown rot (FCR), primarily caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum, has emerged as a new threat to wheat production and quality in North China. Genetic enhancement of wheat resistance to FCR remains the most effective approach for disease control. In this study, we phenotyped 435 Chinese wheat cultivars through FCR inoculation at the seedling stage in a greenhouse. Our findings revealed that only approximately 10.8% of the wheat germplasms displayed moderate or high resistance to FCR. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) using high-density 660K SNP led to the discovery of a novel quantitative trait locus on the long arm of chromosome 3B, designated as Qfcr.hebau-3BL. A total of 12 significantly associated SNPs were closely clustered within a 1.05 Mb physical interval. SNP-based molecular markers were developed to facilitate the practical application of Qfcr.hebau-3BL. Among the five candidate FCR resistance genes within the Qfcr.hebau-3BL, we focused on TraesCS3B02G307700, which encodes a protein kinase, due to its expression pattern. Functional validation revealed two transcripts, TaSTK1.1 and TaSTK1.2, with opposing roles in plant resistance to fungal disease. These findings provide insights into the genetic basis of FCR resistance in wheat and offer valuable resources for breeding resistant varieties.