Effects of Caragana korshinskii tannin on fermentation, methane emission, community of methanogens, and metabolome of rumen in sheep.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of dietary supplementation of Caragana korshinskii tannin (CKT) on rumen fermentation, methane emission, methanogen community and metabolome in rumen of sheep. A total of 15 crossbred sheep of the Dumont breed with similar body conditions, were divided into three groups (n = 5), which were fed with CKT addition at 0, 2 and 4%/kg DM. The study spanned a total of 74 days, with a 14-day period dedicated to adaptation and a subsequent 60-day period for conducting treatments. The results indicated that the levels of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) and acetate were reduced (p < 0.05) in rumen sheep fed with 2 and 4% CKT; The crude protein (CP) digestibility of sheep in 2 and 4% CKT groups was decreased(p < 0.05); while the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility was increased (p < 0.05) in 4% CKT group. Furthermore, the supplementation of CKT resulted in a decrease (p < 0.05) in daily CH4 emissions from sheep by reducing the richness and diversity of ruminal methanogens community, meanwhile decreasing (p < 0.05) concentrations of tyramine that contribute to methane synthesis and increasing (p < 0.05) concentrations of N-methy-L-glutamic acid that do not contribute to CH4 synthesis. However, CH4 production of DMI, OMI, NDFI and metabolic weight did not differ significantly across the various treatments. To sum up, the addition of 4% CKT appeared to be a viable approach for reducing CH4 emissions from sheep without no negative effects. These findings suggest that CKT hold promise in mitigating methane emissions of ruminant. Further investigation is required to evaluate it effectiveness in practical feeding strategies for livestock.

Is percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) effective for fecal incontinence (FI) in adults compared with sham electrical stimulation? A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Sacral nerve neuromodulation (SNM) has been considered the optimal second-line treatment for fecal incontinence (FI). However, SNM involves high cost and requires highly skilled operators. Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) has emerged as an alternative treatment modality for FI, yielding varying clinical outcomes. We conducted this meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of PTNS compared to sham electrical stimulation for FI. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies from May 12, 2012 to May 12, 2022. RESULTS: Four randomized controlled studies were included in this review, involving a total of 439 adult patients with FI (300 in the PTNS group and 194 in the sham electrical stimulation group). Our meta-analysis revealed that PTNS demonstrated superior efficacy in reducing weekly episodes of FI compared to the control groups (MD - 1.6, 95% CI - 2.94 to - 0.26, p = 0.02, I2 = 30%). Furthermore, a greater proportion of patients in the PTNS group reported more than a 50% reduction in FI episodes per week (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.57-0.94, p = 0.02, I2 = 6%). However, no significant differences were observed in any domains of the FI Quality of Life (QoL) and St Mark's incontinence scores (MD - 2.41, 95% CI - 5.1 to 0.27, p = 0.08, I2 = 67%). Importantly, no severe adverse events related to PTNS were reported in any of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis revealed that PTNS was more effective than sham stimulation in reducing FI episodes and led to a higher proportion of patients reporting more than a 50% reduction in weekly FI episodes.

A metagenomic catalog of the early-life human gut virome.

Early-life human gut microbiome is a pivotal driver of gut homeostasis and infant health. However, the viral component (known as "virome") remains mostly unexplored. Here, we establish the Early-Life Gut Virome (ELGV), a catalog of 160,478 non-redundant DNA and RNA viral sequences from 8130 gut virus-like particles (VLPs) enriched or bulk metagenomes in the first three years of life. By clustering, 82,141 viral species are identified, 68.3% of which are absent in existing databases built mainly from adults, and 64 and 8 viral species based on VLPs-enriched and bulk metagenomes, respectively, exhibit potentials as biomarkers to distinguish infants from adults. With the largest longitudinal population of infants profiled by either VLPs-enriched or bulk metagenomic sequencing, we track the inherent instability and temporal development of the early-life human gut virome, and identify differential viruses associated with multiple clinical factors. The mother-infant shared virome and interactions between gut virome and bacteriome early in life are further expanded. Together, the ELGV catalog provides the most comprehensive and complete metagenomic blueprint of the early-life human gut virome, facilitating the discovery of pediatric disease-virome associations in future.

Effect of lite touch on the anxiety of low-risk pregnant women in the latent phase of childbirth: a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Women with perinatal anxiety have reduced coping capacity during labor, which affects labor progress and increases the likelihood of a cesarean section. Several non-pharmacological interventions for anxiety during childbirth are available. This study used the "lite touch" method, a non-pharmacological intervention based on physiological responses and obstetric clinical experience in women. We aimed to evaluate whether lite touch could relieve perinatal anxiety and investigate the effect of light skin stroking on the maternal hormones, catecholamine, and cortisol. Methods: This randomized clinical trial involved women with low-risk singleton pregnancies at full term or near term. Eligible pregnant women who were latent and did not undergo epidural anesthesia were randomized into two groups. Participants in the intervention group underwent routine prenatal care, including lite touch, whereas the control group underwent routine prenatal care alone. Demographic data were collected through a questionnaire. Labor anxiety was assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory, and saliva was collected before and after the intervention. Changes in saliva cortisol and catecholamine levels were analyzed using a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In total, 83 participants were included, with 43 and 40 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. In the intervention group, pre-intervention anxiety scores were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than post-intervention anxiety scores, whereas the control group showed no difference in anxiety scores before and after intervention (p > 0.05). Cortisol and catecholamine levels in saliva were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group after the intervention (p < 0.01). Discussion: Lite touch can reduce the latent anxiety state of low-risk pregnant women, thereby maintaining in vivo stability and facilitating labor. Clinical trial registration: https://www.chictr.org.cn/aboutEN.html, ChiCTR2300070905, Retrospectively Registered Date: April 26, 2023.

Preliminary study of the effect of low-intensity focused ultrasound on postpartum uterine involution and breast pain in puerperal women: a randomised controlled trial.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) therapy in facilitating fundus descent and relieving postpartum breast pain compared with sham treatment. A multicentre, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded trial was conducted. A cohort of 176 eligible participants, who had normal prenatal check-ups and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were recruited from three medical centres and subsequently randomized into either the LIFU or sham group. All participants received three treatment sessions, wherein LIFU signal was applied to the uterus and breast sites using coupling gel, with the absence of ultrasound signal output in the sham group. Fundal height measurement and breast pain score were performed after each treatment. The primary outcome, uterine involution, was presented by measuring the fundal height of the uterus. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score, as a secondary outcome, was used to assess breast pain and determine the correlation between breast pain and fundal height as the outcome simultaneously. All participants were randomly assigned to either the LIFU group (n = 88) or sham group (n = 88), with seven individuals not completing the treatment. Overall, a statistically significant difference was noted in the rate and index of fundus descent after each treatment. The rate and index of fundus descent showed greater significance following the second treatment (rate: 1.5 (1.0, 2.0) cm/d; index: 0.15 (0.1, 0.18), P < 0.001) and third treatment (rate: 1.67 (1.33, 2.0) cm/d; index: 0.26 (0.23, 0.3), P < 0.001) in the LIFU group. VAS scores, which were based on the continuous variables for the baseline, first, second, and third treatments in the LIFU group (2.0 (2.0, 3.0), 1.0 (0.0, 2.0), 0.0 (0.0, 1.0), and 0.0 (0.0, 0.0) points, respectively), and the sham group (2.0 (2.0, 2.0), 2.0 (1.0, 2.0), 2.0 (1.0, 3.0), and 3.0 (1.0, 3.0) points, respectively), showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Meanwhile, the discrepancies in VAS score classification variables between the two groups were statistically significant. After the third treatment, a notable correlation was observed between the VAS score decrease and fundus descent rate; the more the VAS score decreased, the faster was the fundal decline rate in the LIFU group. LIFU therapy is safe and effective, contributing to the acceleration of uterine involution and the relief of postpartum breast pain.Trial ID The study has registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100049586) at 05/08/2021.

A portable all-in-one microfluidic device with real-time colorimetric LAMP for HPV16 and HPV18 DNA point-of-care testing.

Screening for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the most important preventative measures for cervical cancer. However, fast, convenient, and low-cost HPV detection remains challenging, especially in resource-limited settings. Here, we report a portable all-in-one device (PAD) for point-of-care testing (POCT) for HPV16 and HPV18 DNA in cervical swabs. The PAD was engineered to integrate modules for extraction-free sample lysis, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with lyophilized reagent beads, and real-time colorimetric signal sensing into a single miniaturized device, considerably shortening the sample-to-result time to 15 min. The precision liquid handling in the completely sealed microfluidic chip is achieved by a uniquely designed pressure-balanced automatic liquid flow mechanism, thereby eliminating the need for manual manipulation of liquids and thus the risk of biohazards. The PAD employs an improved real-time colorimetric LAMP (rcLAMP) assay with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1 copy/µL, enabled by enhanced assay chemistry to maximize the reaction kinetics. To validate this device for clinical application, we tested 206 clinical cervical swab samples and obtained a sensitivity of 92.1% and a specificity of 99.0%. This custom PAD enabled by microfluidic and electronic engineering techniques can be configured for the simultaneous detection of HPV16 and HPV18 or other pathogens in point-of-care applications.

A large sample-based case-control study of related risk factors of two types of lichenoid vulvar disease (LVD).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the associated factors of two types of lichenoid vulvar disease (LVD) and to compare the differences in related factors between the different pathological types of lichenoid vulvar disease (LVD). METHODS: The study conducted at the West China second Hospital of Sichuan University included a total of 1770 patients with biopsy-confirmed vulvar lichen simplex chronicus (VLSC)and vulvar lichen sclerosus(VLS), along with 1209 patients with normal vulvovagina as control. Further pathological subtype analysis was carried out on 163 cases of vulvar lichen simplex chronicus and 51 cases of vulvar lichen sclerosus. In addition, Univariate chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the lichenoid vulvar disease group and vulvovaginal normal control group. RESULTS: Univariate analysis revealed that there were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in factors between the LVD group and the control group, except for living type, sleep habit, history of drinking, and allergic diseases. There was no significant difference in late sleep, spicy diet, and coffee intake in the factors of life and eating habits and the concomitant disease factors. Furthermore, univariate analysis showed that except for eating seafood, humid living environment, residence, caffeinated drinks, hypertension, and vaginitis, there were statistical differences in the related factors of LVSC. CONCLUSION: The incidence about lichenoid vulvar disease is influenced by various factors such as dietary habits, living environment, mental stress, concomitant diseases, hormone levels and so on, and there were no significant differences in these factors between VLS and VLSC except for income, work stress, systemic immune diseases, and menopause.

Changes in aspartate metabolism in the medial-prefrontal cortex of nicotine addicts based on J-edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

This study aims to explore the changes of the aspartate (Asp) level in the medial-prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of subjects with nicotine addiction (nicotine addicts [NAs]) using the J-edited 1 H MR spectroscopy (MRS), which may provide a positive imaging evidence for intervention of NA. From March to August 2022, 45 males aged 40-60 years old were recruited from Henan Province, including 21 in NA and 24 in nonsmoker groups. All subjects underwent routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and J-edited MRS scans on a 3.0 T MRI scanner. The Asp level in mPFC was quantified with reference to the total creatine (Asp/Cr) and water (Aspwater-corr , with correction of the brain tissue composition) signals, respectively. Two-tailed independent samples t-test was used to analyze the differences in levels of Asp and other coquantified metabolites (including total N-acetylaspartate [tNAA], total cholinine [tCho], total creatine [tCr], and myo-Inositol [mI]) between the two groups. Finally, the correlations of the Asp level with clinical characteristic assessment scales were performed using the Spearman criteria. Compared with the control group (n = 22), NAs (n = 18) had higher levels of Asp (Asp/Cr: p = .005; Aspwater-corr : p = .004) in the mPFC, and the level of Asp was positively correlated with the daily smoking amount (Asp/Cr: p < .001; Aspwater-corr : p = .004). No significant correlation was found between the level of Asp and the years of nicotine use, Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Russell Reason for Smoking Questionnaire (RRSQ), or Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11) score. The elevated Asp level was observed in mPFC of NAs in contrast to nonsmokers, and the Asp level was positively correlated with the amount of daily smoking, which suggests that nicotine addiction may result in elevated Asp metabolism in the human brain.

A recombination-resistant genome for live attenuated and stable PEDV vaccines by engineering the transcriptional regulatory sequences.

IMPORTANCE: Coronaviruses are important pathogens of humans and animals, and vaccine developments against them are imperative. Due to the ability to induce broad and prolonged protective immunity and the convenient administration routes, live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are promising arms for controlling the deadly coronavirus infections. However, potential recombination events between vaccine and field strains raise a safety concern for LAVs. The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) remodeled TRS (RMT) mutant generated in this study replicated efficiently in both cell culture and in pigs and retained protective immunogenicity against PEDV challenge in pigs. Furthermore, the RMT PEDV was resistant to recombination and genetically stable. Therefore, RMT PEDV can be further optimized as a backbone for the development of safe LAVs.

Missing data imputation, prediction, and feature selection in diagnosis of vaginal prolapse.

BACKGROUND: Data loss often occurs in the collection of clinical data. Directly discarding the incomplete sample may lead to low accuracy of medical diagnosis. A suitable data imputation method can help researchers make better use of valuable medical data. METHODS: In this paper, five popular imputation methods including mean imputation, expectation-maximization (EM) imputation, K-nearest neighbors (KNN) imputation, denoising autoencoders (DAE) and generative adversarial imputation nets (GAIN) are employed on an incomplete clinical data with 28,274 cases for vaginal prolapse prediction. A comprehensive comparison study for the performance of these methods has been conducted through certain classification criteria. It is shown that the prediction accuracy can be greatly improved by using the imputed data, especially by GAIN. To find out the important risk factors to this disease among a large number of candidate features, three variable selection methods: the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) and the broken adaptive ridge (BAR) are implemented in logistic regression for feature selection on the imputed datasets. In pursuit of our primary objective, which is accurate diagnosis, we employed diagnostic accuracy (classification accuracy) as a pivotal metric to assess both imputation and feature selection techniques. This assessment encompassed seven classifiers (logistic regression (LR) classifier, random forest (RF) classifier, support machine classifier (SVC), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) , LASSO classifier, SCAD classifier and Elastic Net classifier)enhancing the comprehensiveness of our evaluation. RESULTS: The proposed framework imputation-variable selection-prediction is quite suitable to the collected vaginal prolapse datasets. It is observed that the original dataset is well imputed by GAIN first, and then 9 most significant features were selected using BAR from the original 67 features in GAIN imputed dataset, with only negligible loss in model prediction. BAR is superior to the other two variable selection methods in our tests. CONCLUDES: Overall, combining the imputation, classification and variable selection, we achieve good interpretability while maintaining high accuracy in computer-aided medical diagnosis.

Effects of L-arginine and arginine-arginine dipeptide on amino acids uptake and αS1-casein synthesis in bovine mammary epithelial cells.

Arginine (Arg), as an important functional amino acids (AA), is essential for milk protein synthesis in lactating ruminants. Arg shares transporters with cationic and neutral AA in mammary epithelial cells. Therefore, competitive inhibition might exist among these AA in uptake by mammary epithelial cells. In this study, cultured bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC) were used as the model to investigate whether the availability of L-Arg (0.7, 1.4, 2.8, 5.6, and 11.2 mM) affects the uptake of other AA and if this related to αS1-casein synthesis, and whether Arginine-Arginine (Arg-Arg) substituting part of free L-Arg can alleviate competitive inhibition among Arg and other AA, so as to promote αS1-casein synthesis. Our results showed that 2.8 mM L-Arg generated the greatest positive effects on αS1-casein synthesis and the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway (P < 0.01). With L-Arg supply increasing from 0.7 to 11.2 mM, the net-uptake of other AA (except Glu and Ala) decreased linearly and quadratically (Plinear < 0.01; Pquadratic < 0.01). Compared with 2.8 mM, the net-uptake of essential amino acids (EAA) and total amino acids (TAA) were lower at 11.2 mM L-Arg group, while greater at 1.4 mM L-Arg group (P < 0.01). Arg-Arg dipeptide replacing 10% free L-Arg increased αS1-casein synthesis (P < 0.05), net-uptake of EAA and TAA, as well as phosphorylation level of mTOR and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (P70S6K) and mRNA expression of oligopeptide transporter 2 (PepT2; P < 0.01). These observations suggested that the increased αS1-casein synthesis by 10% Arg-Arg dipeptide might be related to the increase of AA availability and the activation of mTOR signaling pathway in BMEC.

Arginine (Arg) availability has been demonstrated to affect milk protein synthesis in dairy cows. Competitive inhibition exists among amino acids (AA) in uptake by mammary epithelial cells. This study aims to explore whether the availability of L-Arg affects the uptake of other AA by bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC) and if this is related to αS1-casein synthesis, and whether Arginine-Arginine (Arg-Arg) dipeptide substituting part of free L-Arg can alleviate competitive inhibition among Arg and other AA, so as to promote αS1-casein synthesis in BMEC. Our results showed that 2.8 mM L-Arg is the appropriate concentration for αS1-casein synthesis. With L-Arg supply increasing from 0.7 to 11.2 mM, the net-uptake of most AA decreased linearly and quadratically. Arg-Arg dipeptide substituting 10% of free L-Arg increased αS1-casein synthesis and the net-uptake of AA as well as expression of proteins related to mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway and mRNA expression of oligopeptide transporter 2 (PepT2). The positive effects of 10% Arg-Arg dipeptide on αS1-casein synthesis may be related to the increase of AA availability and the activation of mTOR signaling pathway.

Static and dynamic changes of intrinsic brain local connectivity in internet gaming disorder.

BACKGROUND: Studies have revealed that intrinsic neural activity varies over time. However, the temporal variability of brain local connectivity in internet gaming disorder (IGD) remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the alterations of static and dynamic intrinsic brain local connectivity in IGD and whether the changes were associated with clinical characteristics of IGD. METHODS: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans were performed on 36 individuals with IGD (IGDs) and 44 healthy controls (HCs) matched for age, gender and years of education. The static regional homogeneity (sReHo) and dynamic ReHo (dReHo) were calculated and compared between two groups to detect the alterations of intrinsic brain local connectivity in IGD. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to evaluate the severity of online gaming addiction and sleep quality, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between brain regions with altered sReHo and dReHo and IAT and PSQI scores. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to reveal the potential capacity of the sReHo and dReHo metrics to distinguish IGDs from HCs. RESULTS: Compared with HCs, IGDs showed both increased static and dynamic intrinsic local connectivity in bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and supplementary motor area (SMA). Increased dReHo in the left putamen, pallidum, caudate nucleus and bilateral thalamus were also observed. ROC curve analysis showed that the brain regions with altered sReHo and dReHo could distinguish individuals with IGD from HCs. Moreover, the sReHo values in the left mSFG and SMA as well as dReHo values in the left SMA were positively correlated with IAT scores. The dReHo values in the left caudate nucleus were negatively correlated with PSQI scores. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed impaired intrinsic local connectivity in frontostriatothalamic circuitry in individuals with IGD, which may provide new insights into the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of IGD. Besides, dynamic changes of intrinsic local connectivity in caudate nucleus may be a potential neurobiological marker linking IGD and sleep quality.

Connectome-based predictive modeling of smoking severity using individualized structural covariance network in smokers.

Introduction: Abnormal interactions among distributed brain systems are implicated in the mechanisms of nicotine addiction. However, the relationship between the structural covariance network, a measure of brain connectivity, and smoking severity remains unclear. To fill this gap, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between structural covariance network and smoking severity in smokers. Methods: A total of 101 male smokers and 51 male non-smokers were recruited, and they underwent a T1-weighted anatomical image scan. First, an individualized structural covariance network was derived via a jackknife-bias estimation procedure for each participant. Then, a data-driven machine learning method called connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) was conducted to infer smoking severity measured with Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) scores using an individualized structural covariance network. The performance of CPM was evaluated using the leave-one-out cross-validation and a permutation testing. Results: As a result, CPM identified the smoking severity-related structural covariance network, as indicated by a significant correlation between predicted and actual FTND scores (r = 0.23, permutation p = 0.020). Identified networks comprised of edges mainly located between the subcortical-cerebellum network and networks including the frontoparietal default model and motor and visual networks. Discussion: These results identified smoking severity-related structural covariance networks and provided a new insight into the neural underpinnings of smoking severity.

ANXA13 promotes cell proliferation and invasion and attenuates apoptosis in renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Emerging evidences have demonstrated that annexin A13 (ANXA13) is closely related to the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. However, the functions and underlying molecular mechanisms of ANXA13 in Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) have not been defined. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the potential role of ANXA13 in regulating the proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, and apoptosis of ccRCC cells. Patients and methods: The quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blotting was performed for detecting the ANXA13 expression in ccRCC tissues at the mRNA and protein levels, respectively. The GEPIA2 databases were used to derive data for analyzing the ANXA13 expression in pan-cancer and ccRCC clinical features. Cell Counting and colony formation assays, as well as flow cytometry, were used to detect cell proliferation, apoptosis, or cell cycle. The wound healing assay was used to evaluate the migration ability of cells, and the Trans-well assay was conducted to determine the cell invasiveness. Results: ANXA13 was upregulated in ccRCC cells and human ccRCC tissues. Furthermore, siANXA13 inhibited ccRCC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and induced cell apoptosis. Conclusion: ANXA13 was upregulated in ccRCC. ANXA13 promotes tumorigenic traits of ccRCC cell lines in vitro. ANXA13 is a potential novel biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in ccRCC.

SARS-CoV-2 Serological Investigation of White-Tailed Deer in Northeastern Ohio.

Coronaviruses are known to cross species barriers, and spill over among animals, from animals to humans, and vice versa. SARS-CoV-2 emerged in humans in late 2019. It is now known to infect numerous animal species, including companion animals and captive wildlife species. Experimental infections in other animals have established that many species are susceptible to infection, with new ones still being identified. We have developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S) proteins, that is both sensitive and specific. It can detect S antibodies in sera at dilutions greater than 1:10,000, and does not cross-react with antibodies to the other coronaviruses tested. We used the S antibody ELISA to test serum samples collected from 472 deer from ten sites in northeastern Ohio between November 2020 and March 2021, when the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was first peaking in humans in Ohio, USA. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were found in serum samples from every site, with an overall positivity rate of 17.2%; we further compared the viral neutralizing antibody titers to our ELISA results. These findings demonstrate the need to establish surveillance programs to monitor deer and other susceptible wildlife species globally.

Germline EGFR mutations in lung cancer (Review).

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death and familial lung cancer is a potential contributing factor. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are important events in carcinogenesis. The present study summarized the common germline mutations of EGFR, including T790M, V843I, R776H and P848L, and provided detailed information regarding each mutation site and potential treatment strategies. Individuals with germline mutations may develop lung cancer upon exposure to environmental stimuli such as smoking, air pollution or radiological contamination, or due to the occurrence of another somatic mutation. The present study recommends regular physical examinations as well as population-wide germline mutation screening for early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer.

Blocking autofluorescence in brain tissues affected by ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, or traumatic brain injury.

Autofluorescence is frequently observed in animal tissues, interfering with an experimental analysis and leading to inaccurate results. Sudan black B (SBB) is a staining dye widely used in histological studies to eliminate autofluorescence. In this study, our objective was to characterize brain tissue autofluorescence present in three models of acute brain injury, including collagenase-induced intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and middle cerebral artery occlusion, and to establish a simple method to block autofluorescence effectively. Using fluorescence microscopy, we examined autofluorescence in brain sections affected by ICH and TBI. In addition, we optimized a protocol to block autofluorescence with SBB pretreatment and evaluated the reduction in fluorescence intensity. Compared to untreated, pretreatment with SBB reduced brain tissue autofluorescence in the ICH model by 73.68% (FITC), 76.05% (Tx Red), and 71.88% (DAPI), respectively. In the TBI model, the ratio of pretreatment to untreated decreased by 56.85% (FITC), 44.28% (Tx Red), and 46.36% (DAPI), respectively. Furthermore, we tested the applicability of the protocol using immunofluorescence staining or Cyanine-5.5 labeling in the three models. SBB treatment is highly effective and can be applied to immunofluorescence and fluorescence label imaging techniques. SBB pretreatment effectively reduced background fluorescence but did not significantly reduce the specific fluorescence signal and greatly improved the signal-to-noise ratio of fluorescence imaging. In conclusion, the optimized SBB pretreatment protocol blocks brain section autofluorescence of the three acute brain injury models.

Characterization of high intensity progressive ultrasound beams in air at 300 kHz.

The majority of reported measurements on high intensity ultrasound beams in air are below 40 kHz and performed on standing waves inside of a guide. Here, experimental characterization of high intensity progressive and divergent sound beams in air at 300 kHz are presented. Measurements in this frequency range are challenging. Accurate characterization of high intensity sound beams requires a measurement bandwidth at least ten times the beam's primary frequency, as high intensity soundwaves steepen and form shocks and, therefore, contain significant signal power at harmonic frequencies. Hence, a measurement bandwidth of at least 3 MHz is required. Calibrated measurement microphones are generally not available in this frequency range. This limitation has been overcome by using a hydrophone with a calibrated response from 250 kHz to 20 MHz. A narrowband piezoelectric transducer is used as the source in this study, and it is capable of generating tone burst waveforms centered at 300 kHz with 160 dB sound pressure level surface pressure. Cumulative wave steepening and shock formation are observed in on-axis measurements. The source's surface vibration profile is measured using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer, and the vibration profile is imported into a numerical wide-angle Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov simulation for comparison against measured on-axis waveforms.

A retrospective comparative cohort study of ultra-pulse CO2 lattice laser and glucocorticoids in the treatment of vulvar epithelial nonneoplastic lesions.

Background: A comparison of topical glucocorticoids with CO2 fractional laser treatment was conducted to investigate the differences in the efficacy of non-neoplastic vulvar epithelial lesion treatments in different pathological types and to provide a scientific basis for the management of these disorders. This paper was to study the difference of curative effect of different pathological types of non-tumor vulvar epithelial lesions and provide scientific basis for the treatment of these diseases. Methods: From November 2016 to July 2018, 178 cases of vulvar lichen simplex chronicus (LSC) or lichen sclerosus were confirmed with vulvar biopsy at our institute. Finally, 160 patients were enrolled in this trial. The patients were divided into 2 groups: a group treated with topical hormone and a group treated with CO2 lattice laser therapies. There were 80 cases in each group, including 40 with LSC and 40 with lichen sclerosus. Patients applied 1 gram of progesterone cream and betamethasone cream to the affected area in the morning and evening, respectively, once a day for 3 months. The efficacy was evaluated with the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGI-C) subjective symptom improvement scale and clinical efficacy evaluation scale. The formula was applied to calculate the curative effect index. Results: The PGI-C scores at 1, 3, and 6 months of treatment showed that the laser treatment group had remarkably superior outcomes to the glucocorticoid treatment group. The clinical efficacy score scale at 3- and 6-month treatments indicated a significantly greater curative effect in the laser than in the glucocorticoid treatment (P=0.006 and P=0.002 respectively). In the glucocorticoid group, the clinical effects of different pathological subtypes were significantly different following the 1- and 3-month treatments. The efficacy of treatment for LSC was better than that for lichen sclerosus. Following the 3- and 6-month treatments, the clinical effect for LSC was better than that of lichen sclerosus (3 months: 95% vs. 75%; 6 months: and 95% vs. 70%). Conclusions: Ultrapulse CO2 lattice laser was more effective than was glucocorticoid therapy in the treatment of vulvar epithelial non-tumor-like lesions.

Increased spontaneous activity of the superior frontal gyrus with reduced functional connectivity to visual attention areas and cerebellum in male smokers.

Background: Chronic smokers have abnormal spontaneous regional activity and disrupted functional connectivity as revealed by previous neuroimaging studies. Combining different dimensions of resting-state functional indicators may help us learn more about the neuropathological mechanisms of smoking. Methods: The amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of 86 male smokers and 56 male non-smokers were first calculated. Brain regions that displayed significant differences in ALFF between two groups were selected as seeds for further functional connectivity analysis. Besides, we examined correlations between brain areas with abnormal activity and smoking measurements. Results: Increased ALFF in left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) and middle frontal gyrus (MFG) as well as decreased ALFF in right calcarine sulcus were observed in smokers compared with non-smokers. In the seed-based functional connectivity analysis, smokers showed attenuated functional connectivity with left SFG in left precuneus, left fusiform gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left cerebellum 4 5 and cerebellum 6 as well as lower functional connectivity with left mSGF in left fusiform gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), left calcarine sulcus, left cerebellum 4 5, cerebellum 6 and cerebellum 8 (GRF corrected, Pvoxel < 0.005, Pcluster<0.05). Furthermore, attenuated functional connectivity with left mSGF in left lingual gyrus and PHG displayed a negative correlation with FTND scores (r = -0.308, p = 0.004; r = -0.326, p = 0.002 Bonferroni corrected). Conclusion: Our findings of increased ALFF in SFG with reduced functional connectivity to visual attention areas and cerebellum subregions may shed new light on the pathophysiology of smoking.