Interleukin-2/anti-interleukin-2 complex attenuates inflammation in a mouse COPD model by expanding CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Chronic, nonspecific inflammation of the alveoli and airways is an important pathological feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), while sustained inflammatory reactions can cause alveolar damage. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) inhibit inflammation, whereas the interleukin-2/anti-interleukin-2 complex (IL-2C) increases the number of Tregs; however, whether the IL-2C has a therapeutic role in COPD remains unknown. Therefore, this study investigated whether IL-2C alleviates lung inflammation in COPD by increasing the number of Tregs.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

A mouse COPD model was created by exposing mice to lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and cigarette smoke (CS), and the effects of IL-2C treatment on COPD were evaluated. The number of Tregs in the spleen and lung, pulmonary pathological changes, and inflammatory damage were examined through flow cytometry, histopathology, and immunofluorescence, respectively.

KEY RESULTS

IL-2C increased the number of Treg cells in the spleen and lungs after exposure to CS and LPS, reduced the number of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in lung tissue, and improved the Th17/Treg balance. IL-2C decreased the number of inflammatory cells and reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, CCL5, KC, and MCP-1 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum. IL-2C significantly reduced the pathological scores for lung inflammation, as well as decreased airway mucus secretion and infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages in the lungs. The depletion of Tregs using anti-CD25 antibodies eliminated the beneficial effects of IL-2C.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

IL-2C is a potential therapeutic agent for alleviating excessive inflammation in the lungs of patients with COPD.

Multiple autoimmune disorders refractory to glucocorticoids after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a case report and review of the literature

We report here the case of a 50-year-old man who was first diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts-2 (MDS-EB-2) and underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in 2019, resulting in complete remission. However, he was diagnosed in 2021 with several autoimmune disorders, including autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). This is referred as multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS), which is a rare occurrence after allo-HSCT, as previously noted in the literature. Despite being treated with glucocorticoids, cyclosporine A, and other medications, the patient did not fully recover. To address the glucocorticoid-refractory MAS, a four-week course of rituximab (RTX) at a weekly dose of 100mg was administered, which significantly improved the patient's condition. Thus, this case report underscores the importance of implementing alternative treatments in patients with post-transplant autoimmune diseases, who are glucocorticoid-refractory or glucocorticoid-dependent, and highlights the effectiveness of RTX as second-line therapy.

AP39 through AMPK-ULK1-FUNDC1 pathway regulates mitophagy, inhibits pyroptosis, and improves doxorubicin-induced myocardial fibrosis

Doxorubicin induces myocardial injury and fibrosis. Still, no effective interventions are available. AP39 is an H2S donor that explicitly targets mitochondria. This study investigated whether AP39 could improve doxorubicin-induced myocardial fibrosis. Doxorubicin induced significant myocardial fibrosis while suppressing mitophagy-related proteins and elevating pyroptosis-related proteins. Conversely, AP39 reverses these effects, enhancing mitophagy and inhibiting pyroptosis. In vitro experiments revealed that AP39 inhibited H9c2 cardiomyocyte pyroptosis, improved doxorubicin-induced impairment of mitophagy, reduced ROS levels, ameliorated the mitochondrial membrane potential, and upregulated AMPK-ULK1-FUNDC1 expression. In contrast, AMPK inhibitor (dorsomorphin) and ULK1 inhibitor (SBI-0206965) reversed AP39 antagonism of doxorubicin-induced FUNDC1-mediated impairment of mitophagy and secondary cardiomyocyte pyroptosis. These results suggest that mitochondria-targeted H2S can antagonize doxorubicin-induced pyroptosis and impaired mitophagy in cardiomyocytes via AMPK-ULK1-FUNDC1 and ameliorated myocardial fibrosis and remodeling.

Abnormal heart rate responses to exercise in non-severe COPD: relationship with pulmonary vascular volume and ventilatory efficiency

BACKGROUND

Despite being a prognostic predictor, cardiac autonomic dysfunction (AD) has not been well investigated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to characterise computed tomography (CT), spirometry, and cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) features of COPD patients with cardiac AD and the association of AD with CT-derived vascular and CPET-derived ventilatory efficiency metrics.

METHODS

This observational cohort study included stable, non-severe COPD patients. They underwent clinical evaluation, spirometry, CPET, and CT. Cardiac AD was determined based on abnormal heart rate responses to exercise, including chronotropic incompetence (CI) or delayed heart rate recovery (HRR) during CPET.

RESULTS

We included 49 patients with FEV1 of 1.2-5.0 L (51.1-129.7%), 24 (49%) had CI, and 15 (31%) had delayed HRR. According to multivariate analyses, CI was independently related to reduced vascular volume (VV; VV ≤ median; OR [95% CI], 7.26 [1.56-33.91]) and low ventilatory efficiency (nadir VE/VCO2 ≥ median; OR [95% CI], 10.67 [2.23-51.05]). Similar results were observed for delayed HRR (VV ≤ median; OR [95% CI], 11.46 [2.03-64.89], nadir VE/VCO2 ≥ median; OR [95% CI], 6.36 [1.18-34.42]).

CONCLUSIONS

Cardiac AD is associated with impaired pulmonary vascular volume and ventilatory efficiency. This suggests that lung blood perfusion abnormalities may occur in these patients. Further confirmation is required in a large population-based cohort.

Quality assessment of Red Yeast Rice by fingerprint and fingerprint-effect relationship combined with antioxidant activity

Red Yeast Rice (RYR) is an important functional food ingredient that plays a critical role in promoting dietary guidance and maintaining health. To ensure its quality, four key compounds were quantified, and both HPLC fingerprint and electrochemical fingerprint (ECFP) were applied to assess quality. Additionally, 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS+•) scavenging test and ECFP were applied to assay the total antioxidant activity, with ascorbic acid as the positive control. The results showed that the holistic quality of samples was divided into 4 grades based on HPLC fingerprint analysis by the comprehensive linear quantitative fingerprint method. Additionally, the area of the total peak (Atp) in ECFP was found to be linearly correlated with the antioxidant activity (R > 0.99). A further fingerprint-efficacy relationship analysis determined the significant contributions to the antioxidant activity of peaks 20-Daidzein, 21-Glycitein, and 24-Genistein. Overall, this study suggested a comprehensive and reliable approach to the quality assessment of RYR.

Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing

Aerosol ammonium (NH4+), mainly produced from the reactions of ammonia (NH3) with acids in the atmosphere, has significant impacts on air pollution, radiative forcing, and human health. Understanding the source and formation mechanism of NH4+ can provide scientific insights into air quality improvements. However, the sources of NH3 in urban areas are not well understood, and few studies focus on NH3/NH4+ at different heights within the atmospheric boundary layer, which hinders a comprehensive understanding of aerosol NH4+. In this study, we perform both field observation and modeling studies (the Community Multiscale Air Quality, CMAQ) to investigate regional NH3 emission sources and vertically resolved NH4+ formation mechanisms during the winter in Beijing. Both stable nitrogen isotope analyses and CMAQ model suggest that combustion-related NH3 emissions, including fossil fuel sources, NH3 slip, and biomass burning, are important sources of aerosol NH4+ with more than 60% contribution occurring on heavily polluted days. In contrast, volatilization-related NH3 sources (livestock breeding, N-fertilizer application, and human waste) are dominant on clean days. Combustion-related NH3 is mostly local from Beijing, and biomass burning is likely an important NH3 source (∼15%-20%) that was previously overlooked. More effective control strategies such as the two-product (e.g., reducing both SO2 and NH3) control policy should be considered to improve air quality.

Effectiveness and tolerability of programmed cell death protein-1 inhibitor + chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy for upper gastrointestinal tract cancers

BACKGROUND

The combination of programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor and chemotherapy is approved as a standard first- or second-line treatment in patients with advanced oesophageal or gastric cancer. However, it is unclear whether this combination is superior to chemotherapy alone.

AIM

To assess the comparative effectiveness and tolerability of combining PD-1 inhibitors with chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced gastric cancer, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, or oesophageal carcinoma.

METHODS

We searched the PubMed and Embase databases for studies that compared the efficacy and tolerance of PD-1 inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy vs chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced oesophageal or gastric cancer. We employed either random or fixed models to analyze the outcomes of each clinical trial, encompassing data on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate, and adverse events (AEs).

RESULTS

Nine phase 3 clinical trials (7016 advanced oesophageal and gastric cancer patients) met the inclusion criteria. Our meta-analysis demonstrated that the pooled PD-1 inhibitor + chemotherapy group had a significantly longer OS than the chemotherapy-alone group [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-0.81]; the pooled PFS result was consistent with that of OS (HR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.61-0.74). The count of patients achieving an objective response in the PD-1 inhibitor + chemotherapy group surpassed that of the chemotherapy-alone group [odds ratio (OR) = 1.86, 95%CI: 1.59-2.18]. AE incidence was also higher in the combination-therapy group than in the chemotherapy-alone group, regardless of whether ≥ grade 3 only (OR = 1.30, 95%CI: 1.07-1.57) or all AE grades (OR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.39-2.54) were examined. We performed a subgroup analysis based on the programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) and noted extended OS and PFS durations within the CPS ≥ 1, CPS ≥ 5, and CPS ≥ 10 subgroups of the PD-1 inhibitor + chemotherapy group.

CONCLUSION

In contrast to chemotherapy alone, the combination of PD-1 inhibitor and chemotherapy appears to present a more favorable option for initial or subsequent treatment in patients with gastric cancer, GEJ tumor, or oesophageal cancer. This holds true particularly for individuals with PD-L1 CPS scores of ≥ 5 and ≥ 10.

Identification of positively selected genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis from southern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region of China

Background

Tuberculosis (TB), mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), remains a serious public health problem. Increasing evidence supports that selective evolution is an important force affecting genomic determinants of Mtb phenotypes. It is necessary to further understand the Mtb selective evolution and identify the positively selected genes that probably drive the phenotype of Mtb.

Methods

This study mainly focused on the positive selection of 807 Mtb strains from Southern Xinjiang of China using whole genome sequencing (WGS). PAML software was used for identifying the genes and sites under positive selection in 807 Mtb strains.

Results

Lineage 2 (62.70%) strains were the dominant strains in this area, followed by lineage 3 (19.45%) and lineage 4 (17.84%) strains. There were 239 codons in 47 genes under positive selection, and the genes were majorly associated with the functions of transcription, defense mechanisms, and cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis. There were 28 codons (43 mutations) in eight genes (gyrA, rpoB, rpoC, katG, pncA, embB, gid, and cut1) under positive selection in multi-drug resistance (MDR) strains but not in drug-susceptible (DS) strains, in which 27 mutations were drug-resistant loci, 9 mutations were non-drug-resistant loci but were in drug-resistant genes, 2 mutations were compensatory mutations, and 5 mutations were in unknown drug-resistant gene of cut1. There was a codon in Rv0336 under positive selection in L3 strains but not in L2 and L4 strains. The epitopes of T and B cells were both hyper-conserved, particularly in the T-cell epitopes.

Conclusion

This study revealed the ongoing selective evolution of Mtb. We found some special genes and sites under positive selection which may contribute to the advantage of MDR and L3 strains. It is necessary to further study these mutations to understand their impact on phenotypes for providing more useful information to develop new TB interventions.

Clinical characteristics, genetic alterations, and prognosis of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma: an 11-year multicenter retrospective study in China

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis, and there is little data available from the Chinese population. This retrospective study included 115 patients diagnosed with ATLL who were treated across five hospitals in China from June 2011 to December 2022. The median age at diagnosis was 53 years. Several genes involved in T-cell receptor-induced nuclear factor κB (TCR-NF-κB) signaling were commonly mutated, including PLCG1, CIC, PRKCB, CARD11, and IRF4. Eighty-seven patients received chemotherapy. Of these, 13 received a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) (allogeneic-HSCT, n=9; autologous-HSCT, n=4) after chemotherapy. Following initial multiagent chemotherapy using EPOCH/CHOEP and other regimens, the overall response rates were 80.6% (complete response [CR], 44.4%) and 42.8% (CR, 14.2%), respectively. The 4-year survival rates (median survival time in days) for EPOCH/CHOEP (n=43), HSCT (n=13), and CHOP-based regimens (n=31) were 12.7% (138), 30.8% (333), and 0% (66), respectively. Lymphadenopathy, EPOCH/CHOEP, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were independent prognostic protective factors in patients with aggressive ATLL. Chinese patients exhibit a higher incidence of aggressive-type ATLL, sharing similar genetic alterations with Japanese patients. Etoposide-based chemotherapy (EPOCH or CHOEP) remains the preferred choice for aggressive ATLL, and upfront allogeneic HSCT should be considered in all eligible patients.

Isolation, identification, and optimization of conditions for the degradation of four sulfonamide antibiotics and their metabolic pathways in Pseudomonas stutzeri strain DLY-21

Overuse of sulfonamides in aquaculture and agriculture leads to residual drugs that cause serious pollution of the environment. However, the residues of sulfonamides in the environment are not unique, and the existing microbial degradation technology has a relatively low degradation rate of sulfonamides. Therefore, in this study, a Pseudomonas stutzeri strain (DLY-21) with the ability to degrade four common SAs was screened and isolated from aerobic compost. Under optimal conditions, the DLY-21 strain degraded four sulfonamides simultaneously within 48 h, and the degradation rates were all over 90%, with the average degradation rates of SAs being sulfoxide (SDM) ≈ sulfachloropyridazine (SCP) > sulfa quinoxaline (SQ) > sulfadiazine (SQ). In addition, the main compounds of the strain DLY-21-degrading SAs were identified by LC-MS analysis. On this basis, four detailed reaction pathways for SA degradation were deduced. This is the first report of the use of a P. stutzeri strain to degrade four sulfonamide antibiotics (SQ, SDM, SCP, and SM1), which can improve the removal efficiency of sulfonamide antibiotic pollutants and thus ameliorate environmental pollution. The results showed that DLY-21 had a good degradation effect on four SAs (SQ, SDM, SCP, and SM1).

Enhancing quality evaluation in traditional Chinese medicine: Utilizing dual wavelength fusion fingerprint, electrochemical fingerprint, and DSC fingerprint

Developing a reliable and effective quality evaluation system for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is both challenging and crucial for its advancement. This study employs fingerprinting techniques to establish precise and comprehensive quality control for TCM, taking Xuezhikang capsules as an example and aiming to facilitate the internationalization of TCM. The "double wavelength absorption coefficient ratio fingerprint" and "Reliability theory" are developed to determine the fingerprint peak purity and fingerprint reliability respectively. Subsequently, the dual-wavelength fusion fingerprint was obtained to avoid the limitations of a single wavelength. In addition, an electrochemical fingerprint (ECFP) was obtained to assess the similarity of electroactive components in the sample, and the Differential Scanning Calorimetry quantized fingerprint (DSC QFP) was introduced for thermal analysis. Fingerprint-efficacy correlations between PL-EC* and dual-wavelength fusion fingerprint (DWFFP) provided valuable insights that there are 76.6 % of the fingerprint compounds exhibited electroactivity. Finally, samples were classified into grades 1∼3 by combining DWFFP, ECFP and DSC QFP through the mean method, meeting the evaluation standard (SL-M > 0.9, PL-M between 80 % and 120 %). This study provides valuable information for ensuring the quality of TCM products, which represents a significant step forward in enhancing the reliability and authenticity of TCM products.

First Measurement of η Meson Production in Neutrino Interactions on Argon with MicroBooNE

We present a measurement of η production from neutrino interactions on argon with the MicroBooNE detector. The modeling of resonant neutrino interactions on argon is a critical aspect of the neutrino oscillation physics program being carried out by the DUNE and Short Baseline Neutrino programs. η production in neutrino interactions provides a powerful new probe of resonant interactions, complementary to pion channels, and is particularly suited to the study of higher-order resonances beyond the Δ(1232). We measure a flux-integrated cross section for neutrino-induced η production on argon of 3.22±0.84(stat)±0.86(syst) 10^{-41}  cm^{2}/nucleon. By demonstrating the successful reconstruction of the two photons resulting from η production, this analysis enables a novel calibration technique for electromagnetic showers in GeV accelerator neutrino experiments.

A Self-Temperature Compensation Barometer Based on All-Quartz Resonant Pressure Sensor

This paper reports a self-temperature compensation barometer based on a quartz resonant pressure sensor. A novel sensor chip that contains a double-ended tuning fork (DETF) resonator and a single-ended tuning fork (SETF) resonator is designed and fabricated. The two resonators are designed on the same diaphragm. The DETF resonator works as a pressure sensor. To reduce the influence of the temperature drift, the SETF resonator works as a temperature compensation sensor, which senses the instantaneous temperature of the DETF resonator. The temperature compensation method based on polynomial fitting is studied. The experimental results show that the accuracy is 0.019% F.S. in a pressure range of 200~1200 hPa over a temperature range of -20 °C~+60 °C. The absolute errors of the barometer are within ±23 Pa. To verify its actual performance, a drone flight test was conducted. The test results are consistent with the actual flight trajectory.

The increased effective connectivity from left middle occipital gyrus to right medial septum/diagonal bands in AD patients after donepezil intervention

Introduction

Donepezil enhances the function of cholinergic nerves by increasing the concentration of acetylcholine, thereby improving clinical symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the neural mechanisms of how donepezil modulates the effective connectivity (EC) network of cholinergic system in AD patients remain unknown. We speculated that the effective network of the cholinergic system changes in AD patients after donepezil intervention.

Methods

We employed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and Granger causality analysis approach to explore changes in the effective connectivity network of the basal forebrain in AD patients before and after donepezil intervention. This study included 32 participants, including 16 healthy controls (HCs) and 16 AD patients. In a 3T MRI scanner, the 16 AD patients were scanned before and after the donepezil intervention. To compare EC differences between the three groups of participants, ANOVA and post-hoc t-tests analysis were employed.

Results

Compared to baseline status, AD patients after donepezil intervention had an increased EC from left middle occipital gyrus to right medial septum/diagonal bands. Compared to HCs, AD patients after donepezil intervention had an increased EC from right inferior frontal gyrus/orbit part to right medial septum/diagonal bands, AD patients before donepezil intervention had a reduced EC from right precuneus to right medial septum/diagonal bands. A significant positive correlation was found between EC values in right precuneus and Mini-Mental State Examination in pre-intervention AD patients (r = 0.7338, p = 0.0012).

Discussion

Our study showed that effective connectivity of brain regions associated with the default mode network in the cholinergic pathway was enhanced after donepezil intervention. The results of this study will help us to better understand the neural mechanisms of donepezil intervention in AD and to find clinical targets for intervention.

miR-31 Modulates Liver Cancer HepG2 Cell Apoptosis and Invasion via ROCK1/F-Actin Pathways [Retraction]

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.2147/OTT.S227467.].

Multi-step validation of a Post-Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis prediction system integrating multi-modal data: A multi-center study

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

The impact of various categories of information on the prediction of Post Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis (PEP) remains uncertain. We aimed to comprehensively investigate the risk factors associated with PEP by constructing and validating a model incorporating multi-modal data through multiple steps.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 1,916 cases underwent ERCP were retrospectively collected from multiple centers for model construction. Through literature research, 49 electronic health record (EHR) features and one image feature related to PEP were identified. The EHR features were categorized into baseline, diagnosis, technique, and prevent strategies, covering pre-ERCP, intra-ERCP, and peri-ERCP phases. We first incrementally constructed models 1-4 incorporating these four feature categories, then added the image feature into models 1-4 and developed models 5-8. All models underwent testing and comparison using both internal and external test sets. Once the optimal model was selected, we conducted comparison among multiple machine learning algorithms.

RESULTS

Compared with model 2 incorporating baseline and diagnosis features, adding technique and prevent strategies (model 4) greatly improved the sensitivity (63.89% vs 83.33%, p<0.05) and specificity (75.00% vs 85.92%, p<0.001). Similar tendency was observed in internal and external tests. In model 4, the top three features ranked by weight were previous pancreatitis, NSAIDS, and difficult cannulation. The image-based feature has the highest weight in model 5-8. Lastly, model 8 employed Random Forest algorithm showed the best performance.

CONCLUSIONS

We firstly developed a multi-modal prediction model for identifying PEP with clinical-acceptable performance. The image and technique features are crucial for PEP prediction.

Integrated ultrastructural, physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analysis uncovers the mechanisms by which nicotinamide alleviates cadmium toxicity in Pistia stratiotes L

Exogenous nicotinamide (NIC) is a promising solution to relieve heavy metal (HM) toxicity in plants. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. As NIC addition (200 μM) can increase the tolerance of Pistia stratiotes L. to Cd stress (10 mg L-1), this strategy was subjected to integrated ultrastructural, physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analysis to reveal the mechanisms involved. Exogenous NIC initiated a series of physiological, transcriptional, and metabolic responses that alleviated Cd damage. NIC addition improved Cd transfer from roots to leaves and reduced Cd damage in roots. The transported Cd to leaves did not induce further toxicity because it was abundantly compartmentalised in cell walls, which might be mediated by lignin synthesis. Moreover, NIC addition improved the repair of photosystem II in leaves under Cd stress by inducing key genes (e.g., chlorophyll A-B binding protein and PSII repair protein encoding genes), resulting in the restoration of Fv/Fm. In addition, antioxidant enzyme activities (e.g., peroxidase and catalase) and synthesis of antioxidants (e.g., stachydrine and curculigoside) were triggered to overcome oxidative stress. Our work paves the way for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which NIC alleviates HM toxicity in plants, providing a basis for improving phytoremediation.

Influence of cardioplegic solution on incidence of acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass surgery procedure: del Nido cardioplegia versus Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketoglutarate solution: Insight of kidney disease improving global outcomes criteria

INTRODUCTION

We set out to investigate whether the use of Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketoglutarate (HTK) solution or del Nido cardioplegia is linked to an increased incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

METHODS

A retrospective study was carried out at our center, with a total of 478 patients included in the analysis. Among them, 268 patients were administered the del Nido solution (DN) while 210 patients received the HTK solution. The primary focus of this study was to assess the occurrence of postoperative AKI and the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between the type of cardioplegia used and adverse kidney outcomes. Additionally, serum levels of sodium, potassium, and ionized calcium were monitored during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

RESULTS

The incidence of AKI was significantly higher in the HTK group compared to the DN group [(48/220 (21.81%) vs. 24/186 (12.90%), p = .049], although the rate of RRT did not show a statistically significant difference (9/48, 18.75% vs. 6/24, 25%, p = .538). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that HTK was a significant risk factor for AKI. Furthermore, serum sodium and calcium levels were found to decrease following HTK cardioplegic infusion. Conclusion: Our study provides compelling evidence of the impact of cardioplegic solutions on postoperative AKI rates. It underscores the importance of optimizing cardiac arrest protocols. These findings warrant further prospective investigations into the influence of cardioplegic solutions on electrolyte imbalances and postoperative AKI rates.

Heterogeneities and impact profiles of early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease status: findings from the China Pulmonary Health Study

Background

The prevalence, epidemiological and clinical heterogeneities, and impact profiles of individuals with preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm), pre-COPD, young COPD, and mild COPD in general Chinese population were not known yet.

Methods

Data were obtained from the China Pulmonary Health study (2012-2015), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey that recruited 50,991 adults aged 20 years or older. Definitions of the four early disease status were consistent with the latest publications and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease criteria.

Findings

The age-standardised prevalences of PRISm, pre-COPD, young COPD, and mild COPD were 5.5% (95% confidence interval, 4.3-6.9), 7.2% (5.9-8.8), 1.1% (0.7-1.8), and 3.1% (2.5-3.8), respectively. In summary, mild COPD was under more direct or established impact factor exposures, such as older age, male gender, lower education level, lower family income, biomass use, air pollution, and more accumulative cigarette exposures; young COPD and pre-COPD experienced more personal and parents' events in earlier lives, such as history of bronchitis or pneumonia in childhood, frequent chronic cough in childhood, parental history of respiratory diseases, passive smoke exposure in childhood, and mother exposed to passive smoke while pregnant; pre-COPD coexisted with heavier symptoms and comorbidities burdens; young COPD exhibited worse airway obstruction; and most of the four early disease status harbored small airway dysfunction. Overall, older age, male gender, lower education level, living in the urban area, occupational exposure, frequent chronic cough in childhood, more accumulated cigarette exposure, comorbid with cardiovascular disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease were all associated with increased presence of the four early COPD status; different impact profiles were additionally observed with distinct entities. Over the four categories, less than 10% had ever taken pulmonary function test; less than 1% reported a previously diagnosed COPD; and no more than 13% had received pharmaceutical treatment.

Interpretation

Significant heterogeneities in prevalence, epidemiological and clinical features, and impact profiles were noted under varied defining criteria of early COPD; a unified and validated definition for an early disease stage is warranted. Closer attention, better management, and further research need to be administrated to these population.

Funding

Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Institute of Respiratory Medicine Grant for Young Scholars (No. 2023-ZF-9); China International Medical Foundation (No. Z-2017-24-2301); Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (No. 2021-I2M-1-049); National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding (No. 2022-NHLHCRF-LX-01); Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82090011).

Tertiary treatment of municipal wastewater in an IBFR dominated by PD/A with unique niche

To explore the feasibility of biofilter reactor to treat municipal secondary effluent deeply without extra carbon source, this paper proposed an integrated biofilter reactor (IBFR) coupling partial denitrification (PD) with anammox (A) to treat the secondary effluent and raw sewage with the flow ratio of 3:1 together. The results show that the effluent concentration of TN and COD in IBFR could be reduced to 10 mg/L and 15 mg/L, respectively, under hydraulic retention time of 1.5 h and nitrogen loading rate of 0.55 kg/(m3·d). The highest specific anammox activity (19.2 mg N/(g TVS·d)) and the maximum extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) content (107.21 mg/g TVS) occurred at the 25-50 cm section of IBFR, where Thauera, Candidatus Anammoximicrobium and Candidatus Brocadia were the dominant denitrifiers and anammox bacteria. Furthermore, the cyclic self-stratification occurred along the reactor height, where the utilization, decomposition, transformation and cross-feeding of EPS enhanced the performance stability of nitrogen and carbon removal, strengthened the niche structure and promoted the synergistic symbiosis. In conclusion, IBFR coupling PD and A demonstrated the possibility to treat secondary effluent without additional carbon sources, which is expected as an alternative approach for tertiary treatment of municipal wastewater.

Abnormally decreased functional connectivity of the right nucleus basalis of Meynert in Alzheimer's disease patients with depression symptoms

Dysfunction of the basal forebrain is the main pathological feature in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study was to explore whether depressive symptoms cause changes in the functional network of the basal forebrain in AD patients. We collected MRI data from depressed AD patients (n = 24), nondepressed AD patients (n = 14) and healthy controls (n = 20). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and functional connectivity analysis were used to study the characteristics of the basal forebrain functional network of the three groups of participants. The functional connectivity differences among the three groups were compared using ANCOVA and post hoc analyses. Compared to healthy controls, depressed AD patients showed reduced functional connectivity between the right nucleus basalis of Meynert and the left supramarginal gyrus and the supplementary motor area. These results increase our understanding of the neural mechanism of depressive symptoms in AD patients.

A single mitochondria-targetable fluorescent probe for visualizing cysteine and glutathione in ferroptosis of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury

Ferroptosis plays an important role in the early stage of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury, which is closely associated with the antioxidant damage of mitochondrial cysteine (Cys)/glutathione (GSH)/glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) axis. Visualization of Cys and GSH in mitochondria is meaningful to value ferroptosis and further contributes to understanding and preventing MI/R injury. Herein a mitochondria-targetable thiols fluorescent probe (MTTP) was designed and synthesized based on sulfonyl benzoxadiazole (SBD) chromophore with a triphenylphosphine unit as the mitochondria-targeted functional group. Cys and GSH can be differentiated by MTTP with two distinguishable emission bands (583 nm and 520 nm) through the controllable aromatic substitution-rearrangement reaction. Importantly, MTTP is capable of monitoring ferroptosis and its inhibition by measuring mitochondrial Cys and GSH. MTTP was also employed to non-invasively detect ferroptosis during oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R)-induced MI/R injury in H9C2 cells. In a word, MTTP provides a visual tool that can simultaneously detect Cys and GSH to monitor ferroptosis processes during MI/R injury, which helps for more deeper understanding of the role of ferroptosis in MI/R injury-related diseases.

Quadruple Control Electrochromic Devices Utilizing Ce4W9O33 Electrodes for Visible and Near-Infrared Transmission Intelligent Modulation

Electrochromic smart windows are promising for building energy savings due to their dynamic regulation of the solar spectrum. Restricted by materials or traditional complementary device configuration, precisely and independently controlling of visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) light is still on the drawing board. Herein, a novel Zn2+ electrochemically active Ce4W9O33 electrode is reported, which demonstrates three distinct states, including VIS and NIR transparent "bright and warm" state, VIS and NIR opaque "dark and cool" state, VIS transparent and NIR opaque "bright and cool" state. A dual-operation mode electrochromic platform is also presented by integrating Ce4W9O33/NiO complementary device and Zn anode-based electrochromic device (Ce4W9O33/Zn/NiO device). Such a platform enables an added VIS opaque and NIR transparent "dark and warm" state, thus realizing four color states through individually controlling Ce4W9O33 and NiO electrodes, respectively. These results present an effective approach for facilitating electrochromic windows more intelligent to weather/season conditions and personal preferences.

Predicting autism spectrum disorder using maternal risk factors: A multi-center machine learning study

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a complex environmental etiology involving maternal risk factors, which have been combined with machine learning to predict ASD. However, limited studies have considered the factors throughout preconception, perinatal, and postnatal periods, and even fewer have been conducted in multi-center. In this study, five predictive models were developed using 57 maternal risk factors from a cohort across ten cities (ASD:1232, typically developing[TD]: 1090). The extreme gradient boosting model performed best, achieving an accuracy of 66.2 % on the external cohort from three cities (ASD:266, TD:353). The most important risk factors were identified as unstable emotions and lack of multivitamin supplementation using Shapley values. ASD risk scores were calculated based on predicted probabilities from the optimal model and divided into low, medium, and high-risk groups. The logistic analysis indicated that the high-risk group had a significantly increased risk of ASD compared to the low-risk group. Our study demonstrated the potential of machine learning models in predicting the risk for ASD based on maternal factors. The developed model provided insights into the maternal emotion and nutrition factors associated with ASD and highlighted the potential clinical applicability of the developed model in identifying high-risk populations.

Abdominal Diffusion-Weighted MRI With Simultaneous Multi-Slice Acquisition: Agreement and Reproducibility of Apparent Diffusion Coefficients Measurements

BACKGROUND

Simultaneous multi-slice diffusion-weighted imaging (SMS-DWI) can shorten acquisition time in abdominal imaging.

PURPOSE

To investigate the agreement and reproducibility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from abdominal SMS-DWI acquired with different vendors and different breathing schemes.

STUDY TYPE

Prospective.

SUBJECTS

Twenty volunteers and 10 patients.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE

3.0 T, SMS-DWI with a diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging sequence.

ASSESSMENT

SMS-DWI was acquired using breath-hold and free-breathing techniques in scanners from two vendors, yielding four scans in each participant. Average ADC values were measured in the liver, pancreas, spleen, and both kidneys. Non-normalized ADC and ADCs normalized to the spleen were compared between vendors and breathing schemes.

STATISTICAL TESTS

Paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed rank test; intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC); Bland-Altman method; coefficient of variation (CV) analysis; significance level: P < 0.05.

RESULTS

Non-normalized ADCs from the four SMS-DWI scans did not differ significantly in the spleen (P = 0.262, 0.330, 0.166, 0.122), right kidney (P = 0.167, 0.538, 0.957, 0.086), and left kidney (P = 0.182, 0.281, 0.504, 0.405), but there were significant differences in the liver and pancreas. For normalized ADCs, there were no significant differences in the liver (P = 0.315, 0.915, 0.198, 0.799), spleen (P = 0.815, 0.689, 0.347, 0.423), pancreas (P = 0.165, 0.336, 0.304, 0.584), right kidney (P = 0.165, 0.336, 0.304, 0.584), and left kidney (P = 0.496, 0.304, 0.443, 0.371). Inter-reader agreements of non-normalized ADCs were good to excellent (ICCs ranged from 0.861 to 0.983), and agreement and reproducibility were good to excellent depending on anatomic location (CVs ranged from 3.55% to 13.98%). Overall CVs for abdominal ADCs from the four scans were 6.25%, 7.62%, 7.08, and 7.60%.

DATA CONCLUSION

The normalized ADCs from abdominal SMS-DWI may be comparable between different vendors and breathing schemes, showing good agreement and reproducibility. ADC changes above approximately 8% may potentially be considered as a reliable quantitative biomarker to assess disease or treatment-related changes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.