Analysis of the interaction-length dependence of frequency stability in an iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG laser.

We report a numerical simulation and an experimental study on the interaction-length dependence of frequency stability in an iodine-stabilized neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser. A saturation spectroscopy model was used in the simulation to calculate the interaction-length dependence of the linewidth and signal-to-noise ratio of the iodine saturation spectrum. We determined that 2 m was the optimal interaction length for laser-frequency stabilization. We confirmed the simulation results by performing modulation transfer spectroscopy and laser-frequency stabilization using 45-cm- and 2-m-long iodine cells and multipass configurations. The results of this study are useful for designing compact and highly stable iodine-stabilized lasers.

Inhibition of USP7 enhances CD8+ T cell activity in liver cancer by suppressing PRDM1-mediated FGL1 upregulation.

Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG3), an immune checkpoint molecule expressed on activated T cells, functions as a negative regulator of immune responses. Persistent antigen exposure in the tumor microenvironment results in sustained LAG3 expression on T cells, contributing to T cell dysfunction. Fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FGL1) has been identified as a major ligand of LAG3, and FGL1/LAG3 interaction forms a novel immune checkpoint pathway that results in tumor immune evasion. In addition, ubiquitin-specific peptidase 7 (USP7) plays a crucial role in cancer development. In this study we investigated the role of USP7 in modulation of FGL1-mediated liver cancer immune evasion. We showed that knockdown of USP7 or treatment with USP7 inhibitor P5091 suppressed liver cancer growth by promoting CD8+ T cell activity in Hepa1-6 xenograft mice and in HepG2 or Huh7 cells co-cultured with T cells, whereas USP7 overexpression produced the opposite effect. We found that USP7 upregulated FGL1 in HepG2 and Huh7 cells by deubiquitination of transcriptional factor PR domain zinc finger protein 1 (PRDM1), which transcriptionally activated FGL1, and attenuated the CD8+ T cell activity, leading to the liver cancer growth. Interestingly, USP7 could be transcriptionally stimulated by PRDM1 as well in a positive feedback loop. P5091, an inhibitor of USP7, was able to downregulate FGL1 expression, thus enhancing CD8+ T cell activity. In an immunocompetent liver cancer mouse model, the dual blockade of USP7 and LAG3 resulted in a superior antitumor activity compared with anti-LAG3 therapy alone. We conclude that USP7 diminishes CD8+ T cell activity by a USP7/PRDM1 positive feedback loop on FGL1 production in liver cancer; USP7 might be a promising target for liver cancer immunotherapy.

Effects of heterogeneous surface characteristics on hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility of bacterial nanocellulose.

The surface properties of cardiovascular biomaterials play a critical role in their biological responses. Although bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) materials have exhibited potential applications in cardiovascular implants, the impact of their surface characteristics on biocompatibility has rarely been studied. This study investigated the mechanism for the biocompatibility induced by the physicochemical properties of both sides of BNC. With greater wettability and smoothness, the upper BNC surface reduced protein adsorption by 25 % compared with the lower surface. This prolonged the plasma re-calcification time by 14 % in venous blood. Further, compared with the lower BNC surface, the upper BNC surface prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time by 5 % and 4 % in arterial and venous blood, respectively. Moreover, the lower BNC surface with lesser rigidity, higher roughness, and sparser fiber structure promoted cell adhesion. The lower BNC surface enhanced the proliferation rate of L929 and HUVECs cells by 15 % and 13 %, respectively, compared with the upper BNC surface. With lesser stiffness, the lower BNC surface upregulated the expressions of CD31 and eNOS while down-regulating the ICAM-1 expression - This promoted the proliferation of HUVECs. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights into the design of blood contact materials and cardiovascular implants.

Development and performance evaluation of a novel elastic bacterial nanocellulose/polyurethane small caliber artificial blood vessels.

There is an increasing demand for small-diameter blood vessels. Currently, there is no clinically available small-diameter artificial vessel. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has vast potential for applications in artificial blood vessels due to its good biocompatibility. At the same time, medical polyurethane (PU) is a highly elastic polymer material widely used in artificial blood vessels. This study reports a composite small-diameter BNC/PU conduit using a non-solvent-induced phase separation method with the highly hydrophilic BNC tube as the skeleton and the hydrophobic polycarbonate PU as the filling material. The results revealed that the compliance and mechanical matching of BNC/PU tubes were higher than BNC tubes; the axial/radial mechanical strength, burst pressure, and suture strength were significantly improved; the blood compatibility and cell compatibility were also excellent. The molecular and subcutaneous embedding tests showed that the composite tubes had lighter inflammatory reactions. The results of the animal substitution experiments showed that the BNC/PU tubes kept blood flow unobstructed without tissue proliferation after implantation in rats for 9 months. Thus, the BNC/PU small-diameter vascular prosthesis had the potential for long-term patency and acted as an ideal material for small-diameter vessels.

Endovascular thrombectomy in wake-up stroke guided by arterial spin-labeling and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery versus diffusion-weighted imaging mismatch on MRI.

OBJECTIVE: This purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and safety of utilizing the arterial spin-labeling (ASL) combined with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) combined with DWI double mismatch in the endovascular treatment of patients diagnosed with wake-up stroke (WUS). METHODS: In this single-center trial, patients diagnosed with WUS underwent thrombectomy if acute ischemic lesions were observed on DWI indicating large precerebral circulation occlusion. Patients with no significant parenchymal hypersignal on FLAIR and ASL imaging showing a hypoperfusion tissue to infarct core volume ratio of at least 1.2 were included. The participants were divided into groups receiving endovascular thrombectomy plus medical therapy or medical therapy alone, based on their subjective preference. Functional outcomes were assessed using the ordinal score on the modified Rankin scale (mRs) at 90 days, along with the rate of functional independence. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 77 patients were included, comprising 38 patients in the endovascular therapy group and 39 patients in the medical therapy group. The endovascular therapy group exhibited more favorable changes in the distribution of functional prognosis measured by mRs at 90 days, compared to the medical therapy group (adjusted common odds ratio, 3.25; 95% CI, 1.03 to 10.26; P < 0.01). Additionally, the endovascular therapy group had a higher proportion of patients achieving functional independence (odds ratio, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.36 to 11.81; P < 0.01). Importantly, there were no significant differences observed in the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage or mortality rates between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Guided by the ASL-DWI and FLAIR-DWI double mismatch, endovascular thrombectomy combined with standard medical treatment appears to yield superior functional outcomes in patients with WUS and large vessel occlusion compared to standard medical treatment alone.

Causal relationship between nutritional assessment phenotypes and heart failure: A Mendelian randomization study.

Introduction: Malnutrition is strongly associated with heart failure (HF); however, the causal link remains unclear. We used Mendelian randomization (MR) to infer causal associations between different nutritional assessment phenotypes and HF and to analyze whether these associations were mediated by common HF risk factors. Methods: Two-sample bidirectional MR was used to infer causal associations between nutritional assessment phenotypes and HF. Mutual influences between different nutritional assessment phenotypes and potential correlations were estimated using multivariate MR methods. Two-step MR was used to quantify the mediating effects of common HF risk factors on the causal associations. Results: Three phenotypes were positively associated with the development of HF: waist circumference (WC) (odds ratio [OR] = 1.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.60-1.90; P = 3.95 × 10-39), body mass index (BMI) (OR = 1.70; 95%CI, 1.60-1.80; P = 1.35 × 10-73), and whole body fat mass (WBFM) (OR = 1.54; 95%CI, 1.44-1.65; P = 4.82 × 10-37). Multivariate MR indicated that WBFM remained positively associated with HF after conditioning on BMI and WC (OR = 2.05; 95%CI, 1.27-3.31; P = 0.003). Three phenotypes were negatively correlated with the development of HF: usual walking pace (UWP) (OR = 0.40; 95%CI, 0.27-0.60; P = 8.41 × 10-6), educational attainment (EA) (OR = 0.73; 95%CI, 0.67-0.79; P = 2.27 × 10-13), and total cholesterol (TC) (OR = 0.90; 95%CI, 0.84-0.96; P = 4.22 × 10-3). There was a bidirectional causality between HF and UWP (Effect estimate = -0.03; 95%CI, -0.05 to -0.01; P = 1.95 × 10-3). Mediation analysis showed that common risk factors for HF (hypertension, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, and valvular heart disease) mediated these causal associations (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: BMI, WC, and WBFM are potential risk factors for HF, and the correlation between WBFM and HF was significantly stronger than that between BMI and WC, and HF. EA, UWP, and TC are potential protective factors against HF. Common risk factors for HF mediate these causal pathways. Early identification of potential risk or protective factors for HF patients from the dimension of nutritional status is expected to further improve patient outcomes.

UniChest: Conquer-and-Divide Pre-training for Multi-Source Chest X-Ray Classification.

Vision-Language Pre-training (VLP) that utilizes the multi-modal information to promote the training efficiency and effectiveness, has achieved great success in vision recognition of natural domains and shown promise in medical imaging diagnosis for the Chest X-Rays (CXRs). However, current works mainly pay attention to the exploration on single dataset of CXRs, which locks the potential of this powerful paradigm on larger hybrid of multi-source CXRs datasets. We identify that although blending samples from the diverse sources offers the advantages to improve the model generalization, it is still challenging to maintain the consistent superiority for the task of each source due to the existing heterogeneity among sources. To handle this dilemma, we design a Conquer-and-Divide pre-training framework, termed as UniChest, aiming to make full use of the collaboration benefit of multiple sources of CXRs while reducing the negative influence of the source heterogeneity. Specially, the "Conquer" stage in UniChest encourages the model to sufficiently capture multi-source common patterns, and the "Divide" stage helps squeeze personalized patterns into different small experts (query networks). We conduct thorough experiments on many benchmarks, e.g., ChestX-ray14, CheXpert, Vindr-CXR, Shenzhen, Open-I and SIIM-ACR Pneumothorax, verifying the effectiveness of UniChest over a range of baselines, and release our codes and pre-training models at https://github.com/Elfenreigen/UniChest.

Mezagitamab in systemic lupus erythematosus: clinical and mechanistic findings of CD38 inhibition in an autoimmune disease.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate safety and mechanism of action of mezagitamab (TAK-079), an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, in patients with moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: A phase 1b double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study was conducted in patients with SLE receiving standard background therapy. Eligible patients were adults who met the 2012 SLICC or ACR criteria for diagnosis, had a baseline SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score of ≥6 and were positive for anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies and/or anti-extractable nuclear antigens antibodies. Patients received 45 mg, 90 mg or 135 mg of mezagitamab or placebo every 3 weeks over 12 weeks. Primary endpoints were safety and tolerability. Secondary endpoints included pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Exploratory assessments included disease activity scales, deep immune profiling and interferon pathway analysis. RESULTS: 22 patients received at least one dose of either mezagitamab or placebo. In patients exposed to mezagitamab (n=17), drug was well tolerated. Adverse event (AEs) were balanced across treatment groups, with no treatment emergent AEs exceeding grade 2. Responder analyses for Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Disease Area and Severity Index (CLASI) and SLEDAI-2K did not reveal any observable differences across treatment groups. However, there was a trend for more profound skin responses among patients with higher CLASI scores (>10) at baseline. Pharmacodynamic analysis showed median CD38 receptor occupancy up to 88.4% on CD38+ natural killer cells with concurrent depletion of these cells up to 90% in the 135 mg group. Mean reductions in IgG and autoantibodies were less than 20% in all dose groups. Cytometry by time of flight and type 1 interferon gene analysis revealed unique fingerprints that are indicative of a broad immune landscape shift following CD38 targeting. CONCLUSIONS: Mezagitamab had a favourable safety profile in patients with moderate to severe SLE and elicited a pharmacodynamic effect consistent with CD38+ cell depletion. These findings reveal novel insights into the drug's mechanism of action and support the continued investigation of mezagitamab in autoimmune diseases.

Chitosan particles embedded bacterial nanocellulose flat membrane for hemodialysis.

The development of bio-based hemodialysis membranes continues to be a challenge. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) membranes show potential in hemodialysis but can hardly retain beneficial proteins. Here, chitosan particles/bacterial nanocellulose (CSP/BNC) membranes were designed to efficiently remove uremic toxins and retain beneficial proteins. First, CSPs were synthesized in situ within a BNC membrane by ionic gelation following negative pressure impregnation. Subsequently, these membranes were thoroughly characterized. Compared with the BNC membrane, the pore volume and pore size of the 3 % CSP/BNC membrane decreased by 42.2 % and 32.1 %, respectively. The increased 22.2 times of Young's modulus and 88.9 % of tensile strength in the 3 % CSP/BNC membrane confirmed enhanced mechanical property. The sieving coefficient of bovine serum albumin decreased to 0.05 ± 0.03 in the 3 % CSP/BNC membrane. Moreover, the CSP/BNC membrane exhibited good hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility. The simulated dialysis results showed that the 3 % CSP/BNC membrane exhibited high clearance of urea (16.37 %/cm2) and lysozyme (3.54 %/cm2), while efficiently retaining bovine serum albumin (98.04 %/cm2). This is the first demonstration of the construction of a BNC-based hemodialysis membrane with in situ CSP formation to effectively regulate the pore properties of the membrane, making the CSP/BNC membrane a promising candidate for hemodialysis applications.

Dynamic ctDNA-based analysis of drug-resistant gene alterations at RAS/BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients after cetuximab plus chemotherapy as the first-line treatment.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamic changes of genomic mutations and their correlations with the efficacy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with cetuximab plus mFOLFOX as the first-line treatment. METHODS: We included mCRC patients from January 2018 to October 2020 as a studied cohort which were treated with cetuximab plus mFOLFOX as first line therapy. Blood samples were collected for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test at three timepoints: before the first-line therapy(baseline), at the time of first-line progression and at the time of second-line progression. Progression-free survival was considered as the primary endpoint while objective response rate and overall survival were determined as the secondary endpoints. RESULTS: Totally 39 patients received first-line treatment, of which 25 patients entered the second-line treatment, while 10 patients entered the third-line treatment. The median follow-up time was 16.4 months (95 %CI, 14.8-19.3). Along the treatment from first-line progress disease (PD) to second-line PD, proportions of TP53 (12/18, 67 %), APC (10/18, 56 %), FBXW7 (3/18, 17 %), and AMER1 (2/18, 11 %) were gradually increased according to results of single nucleotide variation (SNV). CONCLUSIONS: Resistant gene mutations caused by anti-EGFR drugs in RAS/BRAF wild-type mCRC patients can be observed by dynamic ctDNA analysis. TP53 and AMER1 mutations, tumor mutational burden (TMB) levels, and TP53/AMER1 co-mutation may predict the efficacy of the first-line cetuximab-contained treatment. Situations of genetic mutations were differentiated from first-line PD to second-line PD, which indicated that mutation detection may contribute to predict prognosis of mCRC patients.

Pan-cancer analysis of NUP155 and validation of its role in breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis.

NUP155 is reported to be correlated with tumor development. However, the role of NUP155 in tumor physiology and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) has not been previously examined. This study comprehensively investigated the expression, immunological function, and prognostic significance of NUP155 in different cancer types. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that NUP155 was upregulated in 26 types of cancer. Additionally, NUP155 upregulation was strongly correlated with advanced pathological or clinical stages and poor prognosis in several cancers. Furthermore, NUP155 was significantly and positively correlated with DNA methylation, tumor mutational burden, microsatellite instability, and stemness score in most cancers. Additionally, NUP155 was also found to be involved in TIME and closely associated with tumor infiltrating immune cells and immunoregulation-related genes. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a strong correlation between NUP155 and immunomodulatory pathways, especially antigen processing and presentation. The role of NUP155 in breast cancer has not been examined. This study, for the first time, demonstrated that NUP155 was upregulated in breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA) cells and revealed its oncogenic role in BRCA using molecular biology experiments. Thus, our study highlights the potential value of NUP155 as a biomarker in the assessment of prognostic prediction, tumor microenvironment and immunotherapeutic response in pan-cancer.

Artemisinin ameliorates cognitive decline by inhibiting hippocampal neuronal ferroptosis via Nrf2 activation in T2DM mice.

BACKGROUND: Neuronal ferroptosis plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits. The present study explored whether artemisinin protected type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice from cognitive impairments by attenuating neuronal ferroptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region. METHODS: STZ-induced T2DM mice were treated with artemisinin (40 mg/kg, i.p.), or cotreated with artemisinin and Nrf2 inhibitor MEL385 or ferroptosis inducer erastin for 4 weeks. Cognitive performance was determined by the Morris water maze and Y maze tests. Hippocampal ROS, MDA, GSH, and Fe2+ contents were detected by assay kits. Nrf2, p-Nrf2, HO-1, and GPX4 proteins in hippocampal CA1 were assessed by Western blotting. Hippocampal neuron injury and mitochondrial morphology were observed using H&E staining and a transmission electron microscope, respectively. RESULTS: Artemisinin reversed diabetic cognitive impairments, decreased the concentrations of ROS, MDA and Fe2+, and increased the levels of p-Nr2, HO-1, GPX4 and GSH. Moreover, artemisinin alleviated neuronal loss and ferroptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region. However, these neuroprotective effects of artemisinin were abolished by Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 and ferroptosis inducer erastin. CONCLUSION: Artemisinin effectively ameliorates neuropathological changes and learning and memory decline in T2DM mice; the underlying mechanism involves the activation of Nrf2 to inhibit neuronal ferroptosis in the hippocampus.

The application of modified functional movement screen as predictor of training injury in athletes.

Background: The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is widely recognized by clinicians and trainers as a valuable tool for the prediction and prevention of training injuries in sports population. However, some studies suggested that FMS may not fully meet the needs of professional athletes. To address this, the Modified Functional Movement Screen (MFMS) has been specifically developed for athletes. Methods: A total of 527 male athletes in active service without prior training injuries 18.5 ± 1.2 years old) underwent the MFMS test, and their training injuries were monitored during a 2-year follow-up period. The ability of the MFMS to predict the risk of training injury was evaluated based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the total MFMS score. Binary logistic analysis was employed to examine the correlation between the 10 MFMS tests and the risk of training injury. Results: The injured group of athletes had significantly lower total MFMS scores compared to the healthy group (P < 0.001). The total MFMS score demonstrated a strong predictive ability for training injury risk, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.97 (P < 0.001). The calculated cut-off point was set at 22, yielding an odds ratio of 25.63, sensitivity of 0.94, and specificity of 0.88. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed a negative correlation between 6 MFMS tests and the risk of training injury. Conclusion: The MFMS can effectively predict the risk of training injuries. Athletes with a total MFMS score below 22 are more susceptible to experiencing injuries during training.

Frequency-multiplexed on-demand storage in five modes of atomic frequency comb through simultaneous application of control pulses.

In quantum communication with quantum repeaters, multiplexed quantum memory is expected to enhance communication rates. When using an atomic frequency comb (AFC) for on-demand storage, the frequency mode number is often limited by the optical power of the control pulses. Here, using a space-coupled waveguide electro-optic modulator, we increased the output power, allowing us to apply control pulses to multiple modes simultaneously. Further, through enhancement of an experimental setup that increases power density, we increased the number of modes. Consequently, we pioneered, to the best of our knowledge, on-demand storage using five modes of AFC. This technology is a significant achievement toward frequency-multiplexed on-demand quantum memory.

A fast-flexible strategy based approach to solving employee scheduling problem considering soft work time.

Employee scheduling aims to assign employees to shifts to satisfy daily workload and constraints. Some employee scheduling problems and their variants have been proven NP-hard, and a series of works have been done. However, the existing algorithms consider the fixed work time, which may cause plenty of overstaffing and understaffing phenomenons. Hence, this paper proposes a fast-flexible strategy based approach (FFS) to solve it. FFS introduces the idea of soft work time, which allows the work time of employees can be adjusted in a range. Based on this, we set the flextime strategy to decide the specific work time of each employee every day. Besides, FFS adopts a pairwise-allocated strategy and proficiency average matrix to boost its efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, the extensive experimental evaluation shows that FFS is more effective and efficient than the baselines for solving the employee scheduling problem considering soft work time.

Click Reaction-Mediated Fluorescent Immunosensor Based on Cu-MOF Nanoparticles for Ultrasensitive and High-Throughput Detection of Aflatoxin B1 in Food Samples.

Due to the high toxicity of aflatoxin B1 and its risks to human health, we developed a click reaction-mediated automated fluorescent immunosensor (CAFI) for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 based on the Cu(I)-catalyzed click reaction. With its large specific surface area, a copper-based metal-organic framework (Cu-MOF) was synthesized to adsorb and enrich the copper ion (Cu(II)) and then load the complete antigen (BSA-AFB1). After the immunoreaction, Cu(II) inside the Cu-MOF-Antigen conjugate would be reduced to Cu(I) in the presence of sodium ascorbate, which triggered the click reaction between the fluorescent donor-modified DNA and the receptor-modified complementary DNA to lead to a fluorescence signal readout. The whole reaction steps were finished by the self-developed automated immunoreaction device. This CAFI method showed a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.48 pg/mL as well as a 670-fold enhancement in sensitivity compared to conventional ELISA, revealing its great potential in practical applications and automated detection.

Characterization of Firmiana danxiaensis plastomes and comparative analysis of Firmiana: insight into its phylogeny and evolution.

BACKGROUND: Firmiana danxiaensis is a critically endangered and ecologically important tree currently only found in four locations in Danxia or Karst habitats in northern Guangdong Province, China. The specialized habitat preference makes it an ideal model species for study of adaptive evolution. Meanwhile, the phylogenetic relationships of F. danxiaensis in four locations under two landforms are unclear. Therefore, we sequenced its complete chloroplast (cp.) genomes and conducted comprehensive interspecific and intrageneric plastome studies. RESULTS: The F. danxiaensis plastomes in four locations showed a typical quadripartite and circular structure that ranged from 160,832 to 161,206 bp in size, with 112 unique genes encoded. Comparative genomics showed that the plastomes of F. danxiaensis were relatively conserved with high similarity of genome organization, gene number, GC content and SSRs. While the genomes revealed higher biased codon preferences in Karst habitat than those in Danxia habitats. Eighteen and 11 divergent hotpots were identified at interspecific and intrageneric levels for species identification and further phylogenetic studies. Seven genes (clpP, accD, ccsA, ndhH, rpl20, rpoC2, and rps4) were under positive selection and may be related to adaptation. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that F. danxiaensis is sister to F. major and F. simplex. However, the interspecific relationships are not consistent with the habitat types. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics and interspecific relationship of F. danxiaensis plastomes provide new insights into further integration of geographical factors, environmental factors, and genetic variations on the genomic study of F. danxiaensis. Together, our study will contribute to the study of species identification, population genetics, and conservation biology of F. danxiaensis.

Surgical outcomes and perioperative risk factors of patients with interstitial lung disease after pulmonary resection.

BACKGROUND: Patients of interstitial lung disease (ILD) combined with pulmonary lesions are increasingly common in clinical practice. Patients with ILD are at significantly higher risk for complications after pulmonary resection (including lobectomy and sublobar resection), especially acute exacerbations of ILD (AE-ILD). The purpose of this study is to summarize the short-term and long-term outcomes after pulmonary resection in ILD patients and to analyze the clinical factors affecting surgical safety. METHODS: From January 2004 to January 2022, a total of 78 patients who were diagnosed with ILD and underwent pulmonary resection at our center were enrolled in this study. Clinical data, pathological findings, surgical procedures, and intraoperative safety of these patients were collected retrospectively. Postoperative 90-day complications and mortality, long-term surgical outcomes from postoperative 90 days to 24 months, and changes in ILD condition were investigated. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors associated with postoperative complications. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 66.5 (range 33-86) years, 82.1% (64/78) of patients were male, and 78.2% (61/78) of patients had comorbidities. Idiopathic ILD and secondary ILD accounted for 86% and 14%, thoracotomy and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery accounted for 12.8% and 87.2%, and lobectomy and sublobar resection accounted for 37.2% and 62.8%, respectively. Postoperative 90-day complications occurred in 25.6% (20/78) of patients, with pulmonary complications and AE-ILD occurring in 15.4% and 9.0% of patients, respectively. The postoperative 90-day mortality rate was 5.1% (4/78), and the cause of death was AE-ILD. Exacerbation of ILD or other complications occurred in 12.8% (10/78) of patients from postoperative 90 days to 24 months. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that comorbidity, extent of resection, systemic lymph node dissection, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and pathology of pulmonary lesion were associated with postoperative 90-day complications. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index and intraoperative blood loss were identified as independent risk factors of postoperative 90-day complications. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ILD have a significantly higher risk of postoperative 90-day complications and mortality after pulmonary resection, especially pulmonary complications and AE-ILD. After postoperative 90 days, the risk of deterioration of pulmonary status remains high, including exacerbation of ILD and complications associated with long-term use of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressant. Age, comorbidity and intraoperative blood loss are high risk factors for postoperative 90-day complications.

Molecular epidemiological characteristics of Mycobacterium leprae in highly endemic areas of China during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Objectives: The present study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and incidence of new leprosy cases, as well as the diversity, distribution, and temporal transmission of Mycobacterium leprae strains at the county level in leprae-endemic provinces in Southwest China. Methods: A total of 219 new leprosy cases during two periods, 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, were compared. We genetically characterized 83 clinical isolates of M. leprae in Guizhou using variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The obtained genetic profiles and cluster consequences of M. leprae were compared between the two periods. Results: There was an 18.97% decrease in the number of counties and districts reporting cases. Considering the initial months (January-March) of virus emergence, the number of new cases in 2021 increased by 167% compared to 2020. The number of patients with a delay of >12 months before COVID-19 (63.56%) was significantly higher than that during COVID-19 (48.51%). Eighty-one clinical isolates (97.60%) were positive for all 17 VNTR types, whereas two (2.40%) clinical isolates were positive for 16 VNTR types. The (GTA)9, (TA)18, (TTC)21 and (TA)10 loci showed higher polymorphism than the other loci. The VNTR profile of these clinical isolates generated five clusters, among which the counties where the patients were located were adjacent or relatively close to each other. SNP typing revealed that all clinical isolates possessed the single SNP3K. Conclusion: COVID-19 may have a negative/imbalanced impact on the prevention and control measures of leprosy, which could be a considerable fact for official health departments. Isolates formed clusters among counties in Guizhou, indicating that the transmission chain remained during the epidemic and was less influenced by COVID-19 preventative policies.

Swallowed Embedding of Nanopetal-Rich Microflowers in Flexible Photocatalytic and Thermoresponsive Functional Composite Fibers.

Developing efficient catalysts to degrade pollutants in water is a very important way to alleviate water pollution. However, it is crucial but challenging to broaden the functions of conventional photocatalysts and improve their environmental adaptability. In this paper, Bi(Er3+/Yb3+)OBr/polyacrylonitrile (BOB-EY/PAN) composite fibers with a swallowed-embedded structure assembled with nanopetal-rich microflowers were designed and fabricated, integrating photocatalytic and temperature-monitoring functions simultaneously. Their unique structure brings a large specific surface area, and the doping of rare earth ions improves the separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs, which enhances the photocatalytic efficiency and endows the fibers with a temperature-monitoring function at the same time. Under simulated sunlight irradiation, the nanofibers show a maximum degradation efficiency of 99.2% for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) with a degradation constant of K as high as 0.078 min-1. Based on the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR), the two thermally coupled levels of Er3+ in the nanofibers, 2H11/2 and 4S3/2, provide real-time temperature feedback, displaying a maximum relative sensitivity as high as 0.0215 K-1 at 303 K. Dual-functional BOB-EY/PAN composite nanofibers show great potential for industrial wastewater disposition, providing solutions for wastewater purification in special scenarios.