Transformer-based de novo peptide sequencing for data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry.

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) stands as the predominant high-throughput technique for comprehensively analyzing protein content within biological samples. This methodology is a cornerstone driving the advancement of proteomics. In recent years, substantial strides have been made in Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA) strategies, facilitating impartial and non-targeted fragmentation of precursor ions. The DIA-generated MS/MS spectra present a formidable obstacle due to their inherent high multiplexing nature. Each spectrum encapsulates fragmented product ions originating from multiple precursor peptides. This intricacy poses a particularly acute challenge in de novo peptide/protein sequencing, where current methods are ill-equipped to address the multiplexing conundrum. In this paper, we introduce DiaTrans, a deep-learning model based on transformer architecture. It deciphers peptide sequences from DIA mass spectrometry data. Our results show significant improvements over existing STOA methods, including DeepNovo-DIA and PepNet. Casanovo-DIA enhances precision by 15.14% to 34.8%, recall by 11.62% to 31.94% at the amino acid level, and boosts precision by 59% to 81.36% at the peptide level. Integrating DIA data and our DiaTrans model holds considerable promise to uncover novel peptides and more comprehensive profiling of biological samples. Casanovo-DIA is freely available under the GNU GPL license at https://github.com/Biocomputing-Research-Group/DiaTrans.

Long-term co-circulation of multiple influenza A viruses in pigs, Guangxi, China.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose a persistent potential threat to human health because of the spillover from avian and swine infections. Extensive surveillance was performed in 12 cities of Guangxi, China, during 2018 and 2023. A total of 2540 samples (including 2353 nasal swabs and 187 lung tissues) were collected from 18 pig farms with outbreaks of respiratory disease. From these, 192 IAV-positive samples and 19 genomic sequences were obtained. We found that the H1 and H3 swine influenza A viruses (swIAVs) of multiple lineages and genotypes have continued to co-circulate during that time in this region. Genomic analysis revealed the Eurasian avian-like H1N1 swIAVs (G4) still remained predominant in pig populations. Strikingly, the novel multiple H3N2 genotypes were found to have been generated through the repeated introduction of the early H3N2 North American triple reassortant viruses (TR H3N2 lineage) that emerged in USA and Canada in 1998 and 2005, respectively. Notably, when the matrix gene segment derived from the H9N2 avian influenza virus was introduced into endemic swIAVs, this produced a novel quadruple reassortant H1N2 swIAV that could pose a potential risk for zoonotic infection.

Reducing Remifentanil Usage in Laparoscopic Rectal Cancer Surgery for Elderly Patients by Optimizing Dosing.

Background: Colorectal cancer is a prevalent and serious health concern globally, particularly among the elderly population. Laparoscopic surgery is a commonly used approach for colorectal cancer treatment. However, the use of appropriate anesthesia and muscle relaxants is essential to ensure optimal surgical outcomes. Elderly patients undergoing surgery often have unique physiological characteristics and comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. These factors can affect treatment efficiency and patient outcomes. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of different target-controlled infusion concentrations of rocuronium bromide on elderly patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery. Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled study. Ninety senior adults who underwent laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery at our hospital between September 2018 and May 2020 were selected as the eligible participants. They were randomly divided into three groups: the low-dose group (0.6 mg/L of rocuronium bromide), the middle-dose group (0.9 mg/L of rocuronium bromide), and the high-dose group (1.2 mg/L of rocuronium bromide). The purpose of this division was to administer target-controlled infusions of rocuronium bromide to maintain skeletal muscle relaxation during the surgical procedure. Data on various outcome measures, including skeletal muscle relaxation effectiveness, patient satisfaction, skeletal muscle relaxation recovery times and indices, extubation duration, and remifentanil dosage, were collected and analyzed. Results: The middle-dose group and the high-dose group exhibited notably higher levels of satisfaction with skeletal muscle relaxation compared to the low-dose group. As the rocuronium bromide dosage increased, the patients experienced prolonged recovery times and had higher skeletal muscle indices (P < .05). Additionally, the middle-dose group demonstrated significantly reduced extubation times and lower remifentanil dosages compared to the other groups (P < .05). The enhanced satisfaction levels in the middle-dose and high-dose groups, indicating that higher concentrations of rocuronium bromide may be more effective in achieving optimal skeletal muscle relaxation during laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery. The prolonged recovery times and higher skeletal muscle indices associated with increased dosage suggest a dose-dependent effect on muscle relaxation. Conclusion: For elderly patients undergoing laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery, the use of a target-controlled infusion of 0.9 mg/L of rocuronium bromide appears to be a viable option. It maintains adequate skeletal muscle relaxation, shortens postoperative recovery time, and reduces the demand for remifentanil, demonstrating excellent potential for clinical application. These findings provide valuable insights for anesthesiologists and healthcare professionals involved in the perioperative management of elderly patients undergoing laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery. Implementing the optimized dosage of rocuronium bromide can contribute to enhanced surgical outcomes, improved patient satisfaction, and more efficient resource utilization in the clinical setting.

CloudProteoAnalyzer: scalable processing of big data from proteomics using cloud computing.

Summary: Shotgun proteomics is widely used in many system biology studies to determine the global protein expression profiles of tissues, cultures, and microbiomes. Many non-distributed computer algorithms have been developed for users to process proteomics data on their local computers. However, the amount of data acquired in a typical proteomics study has grown rapidly in recent years, owing to the increasing throughput of mass spectrometry and the expanding scale of study designs. This presents a big data challenge for researchers to process proteomics data in a timely manner. To overcome this challenge, we developed a cloud-based parallel computing application to offer end-to-end proteomics data analysis software as a service (SaaS). A web interface was provided to users to upload mass spectrometry-based proteomics data, configure parameters, submit jobs, and monitor job status. The data processing was distributed across multiple nodes in a supercomputer to achieve scalability for large datasets. Our study demonstrated SaaS for proteomics as a viable solution for the community to scale up the data processing using cloud computing. Availability and implementation: This application is available online at https://sipros.oscer.ou.edu/ or https://sipros.unt.edu for free use. The source code is available at https://github.com/Biocomputing-Research-Group/CloudProteoAnalyzer under the GPL version 3.0 license.

Rational Design of FeCo-S/Ni2P/NF Heterojunction as a Robust Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting.

The rational design of nonnoble-metal-based catalysts with high electroactivity and long-term stability, featuring controllable active sites, remains a significant challenge for achieving effective water electrolysis. Herein, a heterogeneous catalyst with a FeCo-S and Ni2P heterostructure (denoted FeCo-S/Ni2P/NF) grown on nickel foam (NF) was synthesized by a solvothermal method and low-temperature phosphorization. The FeCo-S/Ni2P/NF catalyst shows excellent electrocatalytic performance and stability in alkaline solution. The FeCo-S/Ni2P/NF catalyst demonstrates low overpotentials (η) for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) (49 mV@10 mA cm-2) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (279 mV@100 mA cm-2). Assembling the FeCo-S/Ni2P/NF catalyst as both cathode and anode in an electrolytic cell for overall water splitting (OWS) needs an ultralow cell voltage of 1.57 V to attain a current density (CD) of 300 mA cm-2. Furthermore, it demonstrates excellent durability, significantly outperforming the commercial Pt/C∥IrO2 system. The results of experiments indicate that the heterostructure and synergistic effect of FeCo-S and Ni2P can significantly enhance conductivity, facilitate mass/ion transport and gas evolution, and expose more active sites, thereby improving the catalytic activity of the electrocatalyst for the OWS. This study provides a rational approach for the development of commercially promising dual-functional electrocatalysts.

Sensing of dietary amino acids and regulation of calcium dynamics in adipose tissues through Adipokinetic hormone in Drosophila.

Nutrient sensing and the subsequent metabolic responses are fundamental functions of animals, closely linked to diseases such as type 2 diabetes and various obesity-related diseases. Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as an excellent model for investigating metabolism and its associated disorders. In this study, we used live-cell imaging to demonstrate that the fly functional homolog of mammalian glucagon, Adipokinetic hormone (AKH), secreted from AKH hormone-producing cells (APCs) in the corpora cardiaca, stimulates intracellular Ca 2+ waves in the larval fat body/adipose tissue to promote lipid metabolism. Further, we show that specific dietary amino acids activate the APCs, leading to increased intracellular Ca 2+ and subsequent AKH secretion. Finally, a comparison of Ca 2+ dynamics in larval and adult fat bodies revealed different mechanisms of regulation, highlighting the interplay of pulses of AKH secretion, extracellular diffusion of the hormone, and intercellular communication through gap junctions. Our study underscores the suitability of Drosophila as a powerful model for exploring real-time nutrient sensing and inter-organ communication dynamics.

A novel monolayer adsorption kinetic model based on adsorbates "infect" adsorbents inspired by epidemiological model.

Adsorption is a unit operation process with broad applications in environmental, pharmaceutical, and chemical fields, with its most significance in environmental fields for water and wastewater treatment. Adsorption involves continuous/batch modes with fixed/dispersed adsorbents, leading to diverse systems. The adsorption kinetic models provide essential insights for effectively designing these systems. However, many adsorption models are semi-empirical/empirical, making it challenging to identify the adsorption mechanisms. Additionally, a consistent method for modelling the adsorption kinetics of different processes would be helpful for the comparison and analysis of various adsorption systems, but no such unified model is available. In epidemiological modeling, populations are often categorized into susceptible, infected, and removed individuals, simplifying disease transmission dynamics without considering individual-level movement intricacies. Likewise, we have employed a similar approach within adsorption systems, classifying adsorbates into absorbable, adsorbed, and removed (to the effluent) segments, thus developing the Monolayer-Absorbable-Adsorbed-Removed (MPQR) kinetics model. This model is applicable to continuous/batch adsorption systems, regardless of whether fixed or dispersed adsorbents are employed. The model was validated using experimental data across water/wastewater treatment, drug separation/purification, metal recovery, and desalination. The results showed that our model successfully fitted the kinetic data from various adsorption systems. It outperformed commonly used models for continuous/batch adsorption. The model allowed us to directly compare the parameters among various adsorption processes. The solving method based on Excel was provided and can be used by the researchers. Our model offers a versatile and unified approach to model adsorption kinetics, enabling the analysis and design of various adsorption systems.

The Gompertz model and its applications in microbial growth and bioproduction kinetics: Past, present and future.

The Gompertz model, initially proposed for human mortality rates, has found various applications in growth analysis across the biotechnological field. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the Gompertz model's applications in the biotechnological field, examining its past, present, and future. The past of the Gompertz model was examined by tracing its origins to 1825, and then it underwent various modifications throughout the 20th century to increase its applicability in biotechnological fields. The Zwietering-modified version has proven to be a versatile tool for calculating the lag-time and maximum growth rate/quantity in microbial growth. In addition, the present applications of the Gompertz model to microbial growth kinetics and bioproduction (e.g., hydrogen, methane, caproate, butanol, and hexanol production) kinetics have been comprehensively summarized and discussed. We highlighted the importance of standardized citations and guidance on model selection. The Zwietering-modified Gompertz model and the Lay-modified Gompertz model are recommended for describing microbial growth kinetics and bioproduction kinetics, recognized for their widespread use and provision of valuable kinetics information. Finally, in response to the current Gompertz models' focus on internal mortality, the modified Makeham-Gompertz models that consider both internal/external mortality were introduced and validated for microbial growth and bioproduction kinetics with good fitting performance. This paper provides a perspective of the Gompertz model and offers valuable insights that facilitate the diverse applications of this model in microbial growth and bioproduction kinetics.

Plant and microbial response in constructed wetland treating tetracycline antibiotic polluted water: Evaluating the effects of microplastic size and concentration.

Microplastics (MPs) and antibiotics are novel water pollutants that have attracted increasing attention. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are widely applied treating various types of polluted water. How these two new pollutants affect plants and microorganisms in CWs, especially deciphering the unknown roles of MPs size and concentration, is of great essential. Here, five CW treatments with submerged macrophyte Myriophyllum aquaticum were established to treat oxytetracycline (OTC) antibiotic-polluted water. The effects of polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics (NPs) (700 nm) and MPs (90-110 µm) on plant and microbial communities at 10 µg/L and 1 mg/L, respectively, were systematically evaluated. PS reduced the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies and inhibited OTC removal. Low doses (10 µg/L) of NPs and high doses (1 mg/L) of MPs had the greatest effects on plant and microbial responses. The overall effect of MPs was greater than that of NPs. Compared with high NPs concentration (1 mg/L), low concentrations (10 µg/L) had higher catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. However, the activity and content of MPs at low concentrations (10 µg/L) were lower than those at high concentrations (1 mg/L). The coexistence of OTC and MPs/NPs decreased the microbial diversity and abundance. Low doses of NPs and high doses of MPs decreased the relative abundance of Abditibacteriota, Deinococccota, and Zixibacteria. Redundancy and network analyses revealed a strong correlation between pollutant removal and plant and microbial responses. NH4+-N and OTC removal was positively and negatively correlated with CAT, SOD, and MDA content, respectively. MDA positively correlated to chlorophyll content, whereas SOD showed a negative correlation with Chloroflexi. This study highlighted the scale effect of MPs in wastewater treatment via CWs. It enhances our understanding of the response of plants and microorganisms to the remediation of water co-polluted with MPs and antibiotics.

Sub-Second Long Lifetime Triplet Exciton Reservoir for Highly Efficient and Stable Organic Light-Emitting Diode.

In organic light-emitting diode (OLED), achieving high efficiency requires effective triplet exciton confinement by carrier-transporting materials, which typically have higher triplet energy (ET ) than the emitter, leading to poor stability. Here, an electron-transporting material (ETM), whose ET is 0.32 eV lower than that of the emitter is reported. In devices, it surprisingly exhibits strong confinement effect and generates excellent efficiency. Additionally, the device operational lifetime is 4.9 times longer than the device with a standard ETM, 1,3,5-tri(1-phenyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl) phenyl (whose ET 0.36 eV is higher than the emitter). This anomalous finding is ascribed to the exceptionally long triplet state lifetime (≈0.2 s) of the ETM. It is named as long-lifetime triplet exciton reservoir effect. The systematic analysis reveals that the long triplet lifetime of ETM can compensate the requirement for high ET with the help of endothermic energy transfer. Such combination of low ET and long lifetime provides equivalent exciton confinement effect and high molecular stability simultaneously. It offers a novel molecular design paradigm for breaking the dilemma between high efficiency and prolonged operational lifetime in OLEDs.

Wearable Ultrasound Imaging Device for Dynamic Dual-Direction Shear Wave Elastography of Shoulder Muscle.

The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the human body, thus requiring intricate coordination of adjacent muscles. Patients suffered from rotator cuff muscle Injuries have several typical symptoms include shoulder pain and difficulty raising the arm, thus reducing work efficiency, and compromising the quality of life. Ultrasound has been used widely for shoulder soft tissue imaging as well as ultrasound elastography was introduced in shoulder examination for the dilemma of treating degenerative rotator cuff tears. However, most of ultrasound examination was performed under a static condition. Providing dynamic information from shoulder muscle are important in clinical applications because the pains sometime come from various positions of shoulder during moving. In this study, a customized wearable T-shaped ultrasound transducer (128+128 elements) was proposed for shoulder dual-direction shear wave elastography (DDSWE) which provides the SWE for both longitudinal (SW along the muscle fiber) and transverse (SW cross the muscle fiber) directions dynamically. An optical tracking system was synchronized with ultrasound imaging system to capture shoulder movements in 3-D space with their corresponding ultrasound images. The performance of DDSWE and the accuracy of optical tracking were verified by phantom experiments. Human studies were carried out from volunteers as they are moving their arms. Experimental results shows that the bias and precision for the proposed DDSWE in elastic phantom were about 6% and 1.2 % for both directions, respectively. A high accuracy of optical tracking was observed using 3-D motor stage experimental setup. Human experiments shows that the shear wave velocities (SWVs) were increased with the angles of shoulder abduction, the average transverse and longitudinal SWVs were increase from 2.24 m/s to 3.35 m/s and 2.95 m/s to 5.95 m/s with abduction angle from 0° to 60°, respectively, which they are anisotropic-dependent. All the experimental results indicates that the proposed wearable ultrasound DDSWE can quantify the mechanical properties of shoulder muscles dynamically, thereby may help surgeons and physical therapists determine whether the intensity of rehabilitation shoulder be tuned down or escalated in the future.

An analysis of the efficacy of botulinum neurotoxin type a in treating cervical dystonia.

BACKGROUND: The first-line treatment for cervical dystonia (CD) consists of repeated intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin (BoNT). However, the efficacy in some patients may be unsatisfactory and they may discontinue treatment. OBJECTIVE: To examine the factors associated with the maximum rate of remission in patients with CD after initial botulinum neurotoxin type A (or botulinum toxin type A abbreviated as BTX-A or BoNT-A) treatment. METHODS: Patients with CD who received BoNT-A injections were evaluated using the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) and the Tsui scale, with follow-up endpoints lasting until the start of the second injection. Patients who did not receive a second injection of BoNT-A were followed up for at least 5 months. The maximum remission rates were determined using the lowest Tsui and TWSTRS total scores during the follow-up period. We obtained basic information about these patients such as age, gender, duration of disease, presence of additional disease, types of torticollis, presence of anxiety, depression, tremors, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) findings, injected dose, and so on from their medical records. RESULTS: A total of 70 patients with CD participated in this study, with males comprising 35.7% (25 individuals) with an average age of 45 ± 14 years old. The duration of disease was an independent risk factor for determining whether a complete remission has been attained using the Tsui scale (odds ratio [OR] = 0.978, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.959-0.997, P= 0.026). The optimal cut-off point for predicting patients who were unable to achieve complete remission based on duration of disease was 7.5 months (AUG = 0.711). Patients with CD with additional disease had greater difficulty achieving complete remission than those with CD alone based on TWSTRS assessments (P= 0.049). During the study, approximately 17% of all participants reported experiencing adverse reactions that lasted between 1 to 3 weeks before disappearing. CONCLUSION: BoNT is an effective and safe method for treating CD. The maximum remission rates of patients after their first injections are influenced by the duration of their disease. Thus, treatment using BoNT injections must be administered as soon as possible.

High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the connection between the triglyceride-glucose index and intracranial arterial remodeling: a retrospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is associated with atherosclerotic plaque progression and the occurrence of stroke, with the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index serving as a surrogate indicator. The present study aimed to investigate the association between TyG index levels and intracranial arterial remodeling in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: Patients with AIS who visited the Neurology Department of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University and underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) between September 2018 and October 2021 were enrolled. A total of 123 patients were finally included in the study, with 81 excluded. The TyG index levels were measured, and the characteristics of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) plaques were evaluated using HR-MRI. A logistic regression model was employed to analyze the relationship between TyG index levels and remodeling mode. Patients were divided into two groups, positive remodeling (PR) and non-positive remodeling (non-PR), based on the remodeling index (RI). Results: Patients in the PR group had a higher TyG index than those in the non-PR group {median [interquartile range (IQR)]: 9.11 (8.82-9.51) vs. 8.72 (8.30-9.23), P<0.001}. After adjusting factors such as age and gender, the TyG index was found to be significantly correlated with intracranial arterial PR [odds ratio (OR): 3.169, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.327-7.569, P=0.009]. In non-diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, the TyG index level in the PR group was significantly higher than that in the non-PR group (8.95±0.42 vs. 8.50±0.45, P<0.001), whereas there was no such difference in patients with DM. Conclusions: TyG index was correlated with intracranial vessel PR, indicating that the TyG index level may be a useful marker for predicting intracranial vessel PR.

High-Spatiotemporal-Resolution Ultrasound Flow Imaging to Determine Cerebrovascular Hemodynamics in Alzheimer's Disease Mice Model.

Although the relationships of cerebrovascular hemodynamic dysfunction with neurodegenerative diseases remain unclear, many studies have indicated that poor cerebral perfusion accelerates the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Small animal models are widely used in AD research. However, providing an imaging modality with a high spatiotemporal resolution and sufficiently large field of view to assess cerebrovascular hemodynamics in vivo remains a challenge. The present study proposes a novel technique for high-spatiotemporal-resolution vector micro-Doppler imaging (HVµDI) based on contrast-free ultrafast high frequency ultrasound imaging to visualize the cerebrovascular hemodynamics of the mouse, with a data acquisition time of 0.4 s, a minimal detectable vessel size of 38 µm, and a temporal resolution of 500 Hz. In vivo experiments are conducted on wild-type and AD mice. Cerebrovascular hemodynamics are quantified using the cerebral vascular density, diameter, velocity, tortuosity, cortical flow pulsatility, and instant flow direction variations. Results reveal that AD significantly change the cerebrovascular hemodynamics. HVµDI offers new opportunities for in vivo analysis of cerebrovascular hemodynamics in neurodegenerative pathologies in preclinical animal research.

Characterization of human placenta-derived exosome (pExo) as a potential osteoarthritis disease modifying therapeutic.

OBJECTIVE: Human placenta-derived exosomes (pExo) were generated, characterized, and evaluated as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: pExo was generated from full-term human placenta tissues by sequential centrifugation, purification, and sterile filtration. Upon analysis of particle size, cytokine composition, and exosome marker expression, pExo was further tested in cell-based assays to examine its effects on human chondrocytes. In vivo therapeutic efficacies were evaluated in a medial meniscal tear/medial collateral ligament tear (MCLT + MMT) rat model, in which animals received pExo injections intraarticularly and weight bearing tests during in-life stage while histopathology and immunohistochemistry were performed as terminal endpoints. RESULTS: pExo displayed typical particle size, expressed maker proteins of exosome, and contained proteins with pro-proliferative, pro-anabolic, anti-catabolic, or anti-inflammatory activities. In vitro, pExo promoted chondrocyte migration and proliferation dose-dependently, which may involve its activation of cell growth-related signaling pathways. Expression of inflammatory and catabolic genes induced in a cellular OA model was significantly suppressed by pExo. In the rat OA model, pExo alleviated pain burden, restored cartilage degeneration, and downregulated expressions of pro-inflammatory, catabolic, or apoptotic proteins in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that pExo has multiple potential therapeutic effects including symptom control and disease modifying characteristics. This may make it an attractive candidate for further development as an anti-OA therapeutic.

Single-port insufflation endoscopic nipple-sparing mastectomy in early breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in female patients. In recent years, more and more studies have focused on how to improve the appearance and the quality of life for patients. This study aimed to compare the oncologic safety, aesthetic results, and upper extremity function between single-port insufflation endoscopic nipple-sparing mastectomy (SIE-NSM) and conventional open mastectomy (C-OM) in early-stage breast cancer treatment. Methods: In our retrospective cohort, 285 patients with stage I and II breast cancer were categorized into the SIE-NSM group (n=71) and the C-OM group (n=214). We assessed local recurrence, distant metastasis, and upper extremity function across the two groups. The BREAST-Q scale was employed to analyze differences in aesthetic results, psychosocial well-being, and sexual health. The risk of local recurrence was evaluated using multivariable binary logistic regression, while a multivariable linear regression model gauged upper extremity function and aesthetic outcomes. Results: Local recurrence rates between the two groups were statistically similar (1/71, 1.4% for SIE-NSM vs. 2/214, 0.9% for C-OM, P=0.735), as confirmed by the multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Neither group exhibited distant metastases. The SIE-NSM group demonstrated higher scores in satisfaction with breasts, chest wellness, psychosocial health, and sexual well-being (P<0.001). The SIE-NSM group also exhibited superior outcomes regarding chest wall/breast pain, shoulder mobility, and daily arm usage (P<0.001). No subcutaneous effusion was reported in the SIE-NSM group, whereas the C-OM group had a 10.7% incidence rate (P=0.004). Conclusions: SIE-NSM offers comparable oncologic safety to C-OM but provides enhanced satisfaction regarding breast appearance, physical comfort, psychosocial health, sexual health, and improved upper extremity functionality. Consequently, this innovative approach is a suitable surgical alternative for treating early-stage breast cancer.

Visualization of Human Hand Tendon Mechanical Anisotropy in 3-D Using High- Frequency Dual-Direction Shear Wave Imaging.

High-resolution ultrasound shear wave elastography has been used to determine the mechanical properties of hand tendons. However, because of fiber orientation, tendons have anisotropic properties; this results in differences in shear wave velocity (SWV) between ultrasound scanning cross sections. Rotating transducers can be used to achieve full-angle scanning. However, this technique is inconvenient to implement in clinical settings. Therefore, in this study, high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) dual-direction shear wave imaging (DDSWI) based on two external vibrators was used to create both transverse and longitudinal shear waves in the human flexor carpi radialis tendon. SWV maps from two directions were obtained using 40-MHz ultrafast imaging at the same scanning cross section. The anisotropic map was calculated pixel by pixel, and 3-D information was obtained using mechanical scanning. A standard phantom experiment was then conducted to verify the performance of the proposed HFUS DDSWI technique. Human studies were also conducted where volunteers assumed three hand postures: relaxed (Rel), full fist (FF), and tabletop (TT). The experimental results indicated that both the transverse and longitudinal SWVs increased due to tendon flexion. The transverse SWV surpassed the longitudinal SWV in all cases. The average anisotropic ratios for the Rel, FF, and TT hand postures were 1.78, 2.01, and 2.21, respectively. Both the transverse and the longitudinal SWVs were higher at the central region of the tendon than at the surrounding region. In conclusion, the proposed HFUS DDSWI technique is a high-resolution imaging technique capable of characterizing the anisotropic properties of tendons in clinical applications.

Effect of domestic COVID-19 vaccine on the plasma D-dimer levels of early pregnant women in China.

Objective: To investigate the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on plasma D-dimer levels in early pregnant women. Methods: A total of 834 early pregnant women(gestational age ≤ 13 weeks), who visited Northwest Women and Children's Hospital between December 2020 and April 2022, were selected. There were 696 women in the healthy group (group A) and 138 in the group with a history of adverse pregnancy and childbirth (group B). The plasma D-dimer levels of all participants were tested, and the COVID-19 vaccine history of all participants was collected using a survey questionnaire. Results: The plasma D-dimer levels did not differ between group A and the group B (p = 0.1327). In the group A, 470 were vaccinated and 226 were unvaccinated. The D-dimer levels of vaccinated individuals were lower than those of unvaccinated individuals (p = 0.0047). In the group B, 84 were vaccinated and 54 were unvaccinated; no difference in D-dimer levels was found between the vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals (p = 0.0542). In the group A, the D-dimer levels of the unvaccinated group were not different from those of women vaccinated with one dose (p = 0.208), but they were higher than those who received two doses (p = 0.019) or three doses (p = 0.003). And, no significant difference in D-dimer levels was found among women who received different vaccine brands and with different vaccination times. Conclusion: This study preliminarily indicates that COVID-19 vaccination does not increase D-dimer levels in early pregnant women.

A Multi-Dimensional Calibration Based on Genetic Algorithm in a 12-Bit 750 MS/s Pipelined ADC.

As the preferred architecture for high-speed and high-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADC), the accuracy of pipelined ADC is limited mainly by various errors arising from multiple digital-to-analog converters (MDAC). This paper presents a multi-dimensional (M-D) MDAC calibration based on a genetic algorithm (GA) in a 12-bit 750 MS/s pipelined ADC. The proposed M-D MDAC compensation model enables capacitor mismatch and static interstage gain error (IGE) compensation on the chip and prepares for subsequent background calibration based on a pseudo-random number (PN) injection to achieve accurate compensation for dynamic IGE. An M-D coefficient extraction scheme based on GA is also proposed to extract the required compensation coefficients of the foreground calibration, which avoids falling into local traps through MATLAB. The above calibration scheme has been verified in a prototype 12-bit 750 MS/s pipelined ADC. The measurement results show that the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) are increased from 49.9 dB/66.7 dB to 59.6 dB/77.5 dB with the proposed calibration at 25 °C. With the help of background calibration at 85 °C, the SNDR and SFDR are improved by 3.4 dB and 8.8 dB, respectively.

Diamond controls epithelial polarity through the dynactin-dynein complex.

Epithelial polarity is critical for proper functions of epithelial tissues, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. The evolutionarily conserved transmembrane protein Crumbs (Crb) is a key regulator of epithelial polarity. Both Crb protein and its transcripts are apically localized in epithelial cells. However, it remains not fully understood how they are targeted to the apical domain. Here, using Drosophila ovarian follicular epithelia as a model, we show that epithelial polarity is lost and Crb protein is absent in the apical domain in follicular cells (FCs) in the absence of Diamond (Dind). Interestingly, Dind is found to associate with different components of the dynactin-dynein complex through co-IP-MS analysis. Dind stabilizes dynactin and depletion of dynactin results in almost identical defects as those observed in dind-defective FCs. Finally, both Dind and dynactin are also required for the apical localization of crb transcripts in FCs. Thus our data illustrate that Dind functions through dynactin/dynein-mediated transport of both Crb protein and its transcripts to the apical domain to control epithelial apico-basal (A/B) polarity.