I2C: Invertible Continuous Codec for High-Fidelity Variable-Rate Image Compression

Lossy image compression is a fundamental technology in media transmission and storage. Variable-rate approaches have recently gained much attention to avoid the usage of a set of different models for compressing images at different rates. During the media sharing, multiple re-encodings with different rates would be inevitably executed. However, existing Variational Autoencoder (VAE)-based approaches would be readily corrupted in such circumstances, resulting in the occurrence of strong artifacts and the destruction of image fidelity. Based on the theoretical findings of preserving image fidelity via invertible transformation, we aim to tackle the issue of high-fidelity fine variable-rate image compression and thus propose the Invertible Continuous Codec (I2C). We implement the I2C in a mathematical invertible manner with the core Invertible Activation Transformation (IAT) module. I2C is constructed upon a single-rate Invertible Neural Network (INN) based model and the quality level (QLevel) would be fed into the IAT to generate scaling and bias tensors. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed I2C method outperforms state-of-the-art variable-rate image compression methods by a large margin, especially after multiple continuous re-encodings with different rates, while having the ability to obtain a very fine variable-rate control without any performance compromise.

MECOM: A Meta-Completion Network for Fine-Grained Recognition with Incomplete Multi-Modalities

Our work focuses on tackling the problem of fine-grained recognition with incomplete multi-modal data, which is overlooked by previous work in the literature. It is desirable to not only capture fine-grained patterns of objects but also alleviate the challenges of missing modalities for such a practical problem. In this paper, we propose to leverage a meta-learning strategy to learn model abilities of both fast modal adaptation and more importantly missing modality completion across a variety of incomplete multi-modality learning tasks. Based on that, we develop a meta-completion method, termed as MECOM, to perform multimodal fusion and explicit missing modality completion by our proposals of cross-modal attention and decoupling reconstruction. To further improve fine-grained recognition accuracy, an additional partial stream (as a counterpart of the main stream of MECOM, i.e., holistic) and the part-level features (corresponding to fine-grained objects' parts) selection are designed, which are tailored for fine-grained nature to capture discriminative but subtle part-level patterns. Comprehensive experiments from quantitative and qualitative aspects, as well as various ablation studies, on two fine-grained multimodal datasets and one generic multimodal dataset show our superiority over competing methods. Our code is open-source and available at https://github.com/SEU-VIPGroup/MECOM.

Highly Flexible and Superelastic Graphene Nanofibrous Aerogels for Intelligent Sign Language

Highly flexible and superelastic aerogels at large deformation have become urgent mechanical demands in practical uses, but both properties are usually exclusive. Here a trans-scale porosity design is proposed in graphene nanofibrous aerogels (GNFAs) to break the trade-off between high flexibility and superelasticity. The resulting GNFAs can completely recover after 1000 fatigue cycles at 60% folding strain, and notably maintain excellent structural integrity after 10000 cycles at 90% compressive strain, outperforming most of the reported aerogels. The mechanical robustness is demonstrated to be derived from the trans-scale porous structure, which is composed of hyperbolic micropores and porous nanofibers to enable the large elastic deformation capability. It is further revealed that flexible and superelastic GNFAs exhibit high sensitivity and ultrastability as an electrical sensors to detect tension and flexion deformation. As proof, The GNFA sensor is implemented onto a human finger and achieves the intelligent recognition of sign language with high accuracy by multi-layer artificial neural network. This study proposes a highly flexible and elastic graphene aerogel for wearable human-machine interfaces in sensor technology.

[α2-macroglobulin alleviates glucocorticoid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head in mice by promoting proliferation, migration and angiogenesis of vascular endothelial cells]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the mechanism underlying the protective effect of α2-macroglobulin (A2M) against glucocorticoid-induced femoral head necrosis.

METHODS

In a human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) model with injuries induced by gradient concentrations of dexamethasone (DEX; 10-8-10-5 mol/L), the protective effects of A2M at 0.05 and 0.1 mg/mL were assessed by examining the changes in cell viability, migration, and capacity of angiogenesis using CCK-8 assay, Transwell and scratch healing assays and angiogenesis assay. The expressions of CD31 and VEGF-A proteins in the treated cells were detected using Western blotting. In BALB/c mouse models of avascular necrosis of the femoral head induced by intramuscular injections of methylprednisolone, the effects of intervention with A2M on femoral trabecular structure, histopathological characteristics, and CD31 expression were examined with Micro-CT, HE staining and immunohistochemical staining.

RESULTS

In cultured HUVECs, DEX treatment significantly reduced cell viability, migration and angiogenic ability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (P<0.05), and these changes were obviously reversed by treatment with A2M in positive correlation with A2M concentration (P<0.05). DEX significantly reduced the expression of CD31 and VEGF-A proteins in HUVECs, while treatment with A2M restored CD31 and VEGF-A expressions in the cells (P<0.05). The mouse models of femoral head necrosis showed obvious trabecular damages in the femoral head, where a large number of empty lacunae and hypertrophic fat cells could be seen and CD31 expression was significantly decreased (P<0.05). A2M treatment of the mouse models significantly improved trabecular damages, maintained normal bone tissue structures, and increased CD31 expression in the femoral head (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

A2M promotes proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of DEX-treated HUVECs and alleviates methylprednisolone-induced femoral head necrosis by improving microcirculation damages and maintaining microcirculation stability in the femoral head.

A Multidisciplinary Assessment of ChatGPT's Knowledge of Amyloidosis: Observational Study

BACKGROUND

Amyloidosis, a rare multisystem condition, often requires complex, multidisciplinary care. Its low prevalence underscores the importance of efforts to ensure the availability of high-quality patient education materials for better outcomes. ChatGPT (OpenAI) is a large language model powered by artificial intelligence that offers a potential avenue for disseminating accurate, reliable, and accessible educational resources for both patients and providers. Its user-friendly interface, engaging conversational responses, and the capability for users to ask follow-up questions make it a promising future tool in delivering accurate and tailored information to patients.

OBJECTIVE

We performed a multidisciplinary assessment of the accuracy, reproducibility, and readability of ChatGPT in answering questions related to amyloidosis.

METHODS

In total, 98 amyloidosis questions related to cardiology, gastroenterology, and neurology were curated from medical societies, institutions, and amyloidosis Facebook support groups and inputted into ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4. Cardiology- and gastroenterology-related responses were independently graded by a board-certified cardiologist and gastroenterologist, respectively, who specialize in amyloidosis. These 2 reviewers (RG and DCK) also graded general questions for which disagreements were resolved with discussion. Neurology-related responses were graded by a board-certified neurologist (AAH) who specializes in amyloidosis. Reviewers used the following grading scale: (1) comprehensive, (2) correct but inadequate, (3) some correct and some incorrect, and (4) completely incorrect. Questions were stratified by categories for further analysis. Reproducibility was assessed by inputting each question twice into each model. The readability of ChatGPT-4 responses was also evaluated using the Textstat library in Python (Python Software Foundation) and the Textstat readability package in R software (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).

RESULTS

ChatGPT-4 (n=98) provided 93 (95%) responses with accurate information, and 82 (84%) were comprehensive. ChatGPT-3.5 (n=83) provided 74 (89%) responses with accurate information, and 66 (79%) were comprehensive. When examined by question category, ChatGTP-4 and ChatGPT-3.5 provided 53 (95%) and 48 (86%) comprehensive responses, respectively, to "general questions" (n=56). When examined by subject, ChatGPT-4 and ChatGPT-3.5 performed best in response to cardiology questions (n=12) with both models producing 10 (83%) comprehensive responses. For gastroenterology (n=15), ChatGPT-4 received comprehensive grades for 9 (60%) responses, and ChatGPT-3.5 provided 8 (53%) responses. Overall, 96 of 98 (98%) responses for ChatGPT-4 and 73 of 83 (88%) for ChatGPT-3.5 were reproducible. The readability of ChatGPT-4's responses ranged from 10th to beyond graduate US grade levels with an average of 15.5 (SD 1.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Large language models are a promising tool for accurate and reliable health information for patients living with amyloidosis. However, ChatGPT's responses exceeded the American Medical Association's recommended fifth- to sixth-grade reading level. Future studies focusing on improving response accuracy and readability are warranted. Prior to widespread implementation, the technology's limitations and ethical implications must be further explored to ensure patient safety and equitable implementation.

Heat stress impairs floral meristem termination and fruit development by affecting the BR-SlCRCa cascade in tomato

Floral meristem termination is a key step leading to carpel initiation and fruit development. The frequent occurrence of heat stress due to global warming often disrupts floral determinacy, resulting in defective fruit formation. However, the detailed mechanism behind this phenomenon is largely unknown. Here, we identify CRABS CLAW a (SlCRCa) as a key regulator of floral meristem termination in tomato. SlCRCa functions as an indispensable floral meristem terminator by suppressing SlWUS activity through the TOMATO AGAMOUS 1 (TAG1)-KNUCKLES (SlKNU)-INHIBITOR OF MERISTEM ACTIVITY (SlIMA) network. A direct binding assay revealed that SlCRCa specifically binds to the promoter and second intron of WUSCHEL (SlWUS). We also demonstrate that SlCRCa expression depends on brassinosteroid homeostasis in the floral meristem, which is repressed by heat stress via the circadian factor EARLY FLOWERING 3 (SlELF3). These results provide new insights into floral meristem termination and the heat stress response in flowers and fruits of tomato and suggest that SlCRCa provides a platform for multiple protein interactions that may epigenetically abrogate stem cell activity at the transition from floral meristem to carpel initiation.

Covalent Tethering of Cobalt Porphyrins on Phenolic Resins for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions

Using functionalized supporting materials for the immobilization of molecular catalysts is an appealing strategy to improve the efficiency of molecular electrocatalysis. Herein, we report the covalent tethering of cobalt porphyrins on phenolic resins (PR) for improved electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). A cobalt porphyrin bearing an alkyl bromide substituent was covalently tethered on phenolic resins, through the substitution reaction of alkyl bromides with phenolic hydroxyl groups, to afford molecule-engineered phenolic resins (Co-PR). The resulted Co-PR was efficient for electrocatalytic ORR and OER by displaying an ORR half-wave potential of E1/2=0.78 V versus RHE and an OER overpotential of 420 mV to get 10 mA/cm2 current density. We propose that the many residual phenolic hydroxyl groups on PR will surround the tethered Co porphyrin and play critical roles in facilitating proton and electron transfers. Importantly, Co-PR outperformed unmodified PR and PR loaded with Co porphyrins through simple physical adsorption (termed Co@PR). The zinc-air battery assembled using Co-PR displayed a performance comparable to that using Pt/C+Ir/C. This work is significant to present phenolic resins as a functionalized material to support molecular electrocatalysts and demonstrate the strategy to improve molecular electrocatalysis with the use of phenolic resin residues.

Covalent Tethering of Cobalt Porphyrins on Phenolic Resins for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions

The front cover artwork is provided by Rui Cao's group at Shaanxi Normal University. The image shows the design of Co-porphyrin-engineered phenolic resins with intramolecular phenolic hydroxyl groups to facilitate proton and electron transfers for efficient oxygen electrocatalysis, which is bioinspired by cytochrome c oxidases, and shows the excellent performance of Zn-air batteries assembled with the hybrid material. Read the full text of the Research Article at 10.1002/cphc.202400017.

Negatives Make a Positive: An Embarrassingly Simple Approach to Semi-Supervised Few-Shot Learning

Semi-Supervised Few-Shot Learning (SSFSL) aims to train a classifier that can adapt to new tasks using limited labeled data and a fixed amount of unlabeled data. Various sophisticated methods have been proposed to tackle the challenges associated with this problem. In this paper, we present a simple but quite effective approach to predict accurate negative pseudo-labels of unlabeled data from an indirect learning perspective. We leverage these pseudo-labels to augment the support set, which is typically limited in few-shot tasks, e.g., 1-shot classification. In such label-constrained scenarios, our approach can offer highly accurate negative pseudo-labels. By iteratively excluding negative pseudo-labels one by one, we ultimately derive a positive pseudo-label for each unlabeled sample in our approach. The integration of negative and positive pseudo-labels complements the limited support set, resulting in significant accuracy improvements for SSFSL. Our approach can be implemented in just few lines of code by only using off-the-shelf operations, yet it outperforms state-of-the-art methods on four benchmark datasets. Furthermore, our approach exhibits good adaptability and generalization capabilities when used as a plug-and-play counterpart alongside existing SSFSL methods and when extended to generalized linear models.

The incidence of surgical site infections in China

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a common type of healthcare-associated infection. We performed a literature review to demonstrate the incidence of SSIs in mainland China based on studies since 2010. We included 231 eligible studies with ≥30 postoperative patients, comprising 14 providing overall SSI data regardless of surgical sites and 217 reporting SSIs for a specific site. We found that the overall SSI incidence was 2.91% (median; interquartile range: 1.05%, 4.57%) or 3.18% (pooled; 95% confidence interval: 1.85%, 4.51%) and the SSI incidence varied remarkably according to the surgical site between the lowest (median, 1.00%; pooled, 1.69%) in thyroid surgeries and the highest (median, 14.89%; pooled, 12.54%) in colorectal procedures. We uncovered that Enterobacterales and staphylococci were the most common types of micro-organisms associated with SSIs after various abdominal surgeries and cardiac or neurological procedures, respectively. We identified two, nine, and five studies addressing the impact of SSIs on mortality, the length of stay (LOS) in hospital, and additional healthcare-related economic burden, respectively, all of which demonstrated increased mortality, prolonged LOS, and elevated medical costs associated with SSIs among affected patients. Our findings illustrate that SSIs remain a relatively common, serious threat to patient safety in China, requiring more action. To tackle SSIs, we propose to establish a nationwide network for SSI surveillance using unified criteria with the aid of informatic techniques and to tailor and implement countermeasures based on local data and observation. We highlight that the impact of SSIs in China warrants further study.

SlCRCa is a key D-class gene controlling ovule fate determination in tomato

Cell fate determination and primordium initiation on the placental surface are two key events for ovule formation in seed plants, which directly affect ovule density and seed yield. Despite ovules form in the marginal meristematic tissues of the carpels, angiosperm carpels evolved after the ovules. It is not clear how the development of the ovules and carpels is coordinated in angiosperms. In this study, we identify the S. lycopersicum CRABS CLAW (CRC) homologue SlCRCa as an essential determinant of ovule fate. We find that SlCRCa is not only expressed in the placental surface and ovule primordia but also functions as a D-class gene to block carpel fate and promote ovule fate in the placental surface. Loss of function of SlCRCa causes homeotic transformation of the ovules to carpels. In addition, we find low levels of the S. lycopersicum AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) homologue (SlANT2) favour the ovule initiation, whereas high levels of SlANT2 promote placental carpelization. SlCRCa forms heterodimer with tomato INNER NO OUTER (INO) and AGAMOUS (AG) orthologues, SlINO and TOMATO AGAMOUS1 (TAG1), to repress SlANT2 expression during the ovule initiation. Our study confirms that angiosperm basal ovule cells indeed retain certain carpel properties and provides mechanistic insights into the ovule initiation.

Toward Video Anomaly Retrieval From Video Anomaly Detection: New Benchmarks and Model

Video anomaly detection (VAD) has been paid increasing attention due to its potential applications, its current dominant tasks focus on online detecting anomalies, which can be roughly interpreted as the binary or multiple event classification. However, such a setup that builds relationships between complicated anomalous events and single labels, e.g., "vandalism", is superficial, since single labels are deficient to characterize anomalous events. In reality, users tend to search a specific video rather than a series of approximate videos. Therefore, retrieving anomalous events using detailed descriptions is practical and positive but few researches focus on this. In this context, we propose a novel task called Video Anomaly Retrieval (VAR), which aims to pragmatically retrieve relevant anomalous videos by cross-modalities, e.g., language descriptions and synchronous audios. Unlike the current video retrieval where videos are assumed to be temporally well-trimmed with short duration, VAR is devised to retrieve long untrimmed videos which may be partially relevant to the given query. To achieve this, we present two large-scale VAR benchmarks and design a model called Anomaly-Led Alignment Network (ALAN) for VAR. In ALAN, we propose an anomaly-led sampling to focus on key segments in long untrimmed videos. Then, we introduce an efficient pretext task to enhance semantic associations between video-text fine-grained representations. Besides, we leverage two complementary alignments to further match cross-modal contents. Experimental results on two benchmarks reveal the challenges of VAR task and also demonstrate the advantages of our tailored method. Captions are publicly released at https://github.com/Roc-Ng/VAR.

Facet engineering of a two-dimensional metal-organic framework with uniquely oriented layered-structure for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction

The properties of metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals are highly dependent on their sizes, morphologies, and exposed facets. Facet engineering of MOFs offers an efficient strategy to tailor the active sites and optimize the catalytic activity of both MOFs and their derivatives. In this study, we prepared 1D zeolitic imidazolate framework-nanorod (ZIF-NR) through facet engineering of the parental 2D ZIF-L. The introduction of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) surfactant into the synthesis solution hindered the crystal growth along the c-axis of leaf-like ZIF-L, resulting in the formation of 1D ZIF-NR. The derived Co nanoparticle encapsulated N doped carbon nanorod (denoted as Co-NCR) exhibited high activity and stability for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions and Zn-air batteries. Facet engineering of a 2D MOF with a uniquely oriented layered structure demonstrates the possibility of designing novel electrocatalysts.

Recent Trends in Self-Powered Photoelectrochemical Sensors: From the Perspective of Signal Output

Revolutionary developments in analytical chemistry have led to the rapid development of self-powered photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors. Different from conventional PEC sensors, self-powered PEC sensors do not require an external power source or complex devices for the sensitive detection of targets. As a result, these sensors have enormous application potential for the development of novel portable sensors. An increasing body of work is making excellent progress toward the implementation of self-powered PEC sensors for detection, but there have been no reviews to date. The present review first introduces the state of the art in the development of self-powered PEC sensors. Then, different types of self-powered PEC sensors are summarized and discussed in detail, including their current, power, and potential. Additionally, single- and dual-photoelectrode systems are classified and systematically compared. Finally, the current developments and major challenges that need to be addressed are also summarized. This review provides valuable insights into the current state of self-powered PEC sensors to promote further progress in this field.

Pseudoxanthomonas sp. JBR18, a halotolerant endophytic bacterium, improves the salt tolerance of Arabidopsis seedlings

Salinization of land is globally increasing due to climate change, and salinity stress is an important abiotic stressor that adversely affects agricultural productivity. In this study, we assessed a halotolerant endophytic bacterium, Pseudoxanthomonas sp. JBR18, for its potential as a plant growth-promoting agent with multiple beneficial properties. The strain exhibited tolerance to sodium chloride concentration of up to 7.5 % in the R2A medium. In vitro evaluation revealed that strain JBR18 possessed proteolytic, protease (EC 3.4), and cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4) activities, as well as the ability to produce indole-acetic acid, proline, and exopolysaccharides. Compared with the controls, co-cultivation of Arabidopsis seedlings with the strain JBR18 improved plant growth, rosette size, shoot and root fresh weight, and chlorophyll content under salinity stress. Moreover, JBR18-inoculated seedlings showed lower levels of malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species, and Na+ uptake into plant cells under salt stress but higher levels of K+. Additionally, seedlings inoculated with JBR18 exhibited a delayed response time and quantity of salt-responsive genes RD29A, RD29B, RD20, RD22, and KIN1 under salt stress. These multiple effects suggest that Pseudoxanthomonas sp. JBR18 is a promising candidate for mitigating the negative impacts of salinity stress on plant growth. Our findings may assist in future efforts to develop eco-friendly strategies for managing abiotic stress and enhancing plant tolerance to salt stress.

A twisted carbonaceous nanotube as the air-electrode for flexible Zn-Air batteries

Exploring electrocatalysts with high-efficiency oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is significant for practical applications of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. In this work, a twisted core@shell material has been prepared with helical polypyrrole nanotubes (HPPys) as the core and coordination polymers (CPs) as the shell. After the pyrolysis process, a dense twisted carbon layer was formed by the reaction of CP and HPPy at its interface under Ar. The derived twisted carbonaceous nanotube exhibits good performance in both electrocatalytic ORR and OER. When used as the air-electrode in a flexible Zn-air battery, the battery shows good performance and stability.

Study on the Frying Performance Evaluation of Refined Soybean Oil after PLC Enzymatic Degumming

It is known that phospholipase C (PLC) enzymatic degumming can hydrolyze phospholipids into diacylglycerol (DAG), which improves the efficiency of oil processing. However, it is unclear whether the presence of DAG and the use of enzymes affect the performance of the oil. This paper evaluated the frying performance of PLC-degummed refined soybean oil. Following the chicken wings and potato chips frying trials, results revealed that after 30 cycles of frying, free fatty acid (FFA) levels were 0.22% and 0.21%, with total polar compounds (TPC) at 23.75% and 24.00%, and peroxide value (PV) levels were 5.90 meq/kg and 6.45 meq/kg, respectively. Overall, PLC-degummed refined soybean oil showed almost the same frying properties as traditional water-degummed refined oil in terms of FFA, PV, TPC, polymer content, viscosity, color, foaming of frying oils, and appearance of foods. Moreover, FFA, TPC, polymer content, foaming, and color showed significant positive correlations with each other (p < 0.05) in soybean oil intermittent frying processing.

Chitosan-Se Engineered Nanomaterial Mitigates Salt Stress in Plants by Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species

Soil salinity seriously hinders the sustainable development of green agriculture. The emergence of engineered nanomaterials has revolutionized agricultural research, providing a new means to overcome the limitations associated with current abiotic stress management and achieve highly productive agriculture. Herein, we synthesized a brand-new engineered nanomaterial (Cs-Se NMs) through the Schiff base reaction of oxidized chitosan with selenocystamine hydrochloride to alleviate salt stress in plants. After the addition of 300 mg/L Cs-Se NMs, the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase in rice shoots increased to 3.19, 1.79, and 1.85 times those observed in the NaCl group, respectively. Meanwhile, the MDA levels decreased by 63.9%. Notably, Cs-Se NMs also raised the transcription of genes correlated with the oxidative stress response and MAPK signaling in the transcriptomic analysis. In addition, Cs-Se NMs augmented the abundance and variety of rhizobacteria and remodeled the microbial community structure. These results provide insights into applying engineered nanomaterials in sustainable agriculture.

Total iron binding capacity: an independent predictor of prognosis for pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of parameters of iron metabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

METHOD

This was a prospective observational study recruiting patients diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SLE-PAH). Patients with other factors that might lead to PAH were excluded from the study. All patients were assessed for PAH every 1-3 months and were followed up for 6 months. The primary outcome was considered improved if the grade of risk stratification declined at the endpoint; otherwise, it was considered unimproved.

RESULTS

In total, 29 patients with SLE-PAH were included in this study. The mean of serum ferritin was higher than normal, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) decreased in 48% of patients. Correlation analyses showed that serum iron (SI) was negatively correlated with World Health Organization functional class (WHO-FC) (r = -0.409, p = 0.028), and positively correlated with Six-Minute Walk Test distance (6MWD) (r = 0.427, p = 0.021) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (r = 0.388, p = 0.037). Primary outcomes improved in 12 patients at the endpoint, and univariate logistic regression analyses indicated that TIBC was associated with improved primary outcomes in patients with SLE-PAH (odds ratio 12.00, 95% confidence interval 1.90-75.72).

CONCLUSION

SI was negatively correlated with WHO-FC, and positively correlated with 6MWD and TAPSE. Furthermore, TIBC was associated with improved outcomes of patients with SLE-PAH, which could be an independent predictor of prognosis. Further research is needed to verify the findings.

Rapid characterization of anti-CRISPR proteins and optogenetically engineered variants using a versatile plasmid interference system

Anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins are encoded by mobile genetic elements to overcome the CRISPR immunity of prokaryotes, displaying promises as controllable tools for modulating CRISPR-based applications. However, characterizing novel anti-CRISPR proteins and exploiting Acr-related technologies is a rather long and tedious process. Here, we established a versatile plasmid interference with CRISPR interference (PICI) system in Escherichia coli for rapidly characterizing Acrs and developing Acr-based technologies. Utilizing the PICI system, we discovered two novel type II-A Acrs (AcrIIA33 and AcrIIA34), which can inhibit the activity of SpyCas9 by affecting DNA recognition of Cas9. We further constructed a circularly permuted AcrIIA4 (cpA4) protein and developed optogenetically engineered, robust AcrIIA4 (OPERA4) variants by combining cpA4 with the light-oxygen-voltage 2 (LOV2) blue light sensory domain. OPERA4 variants are robust light-dependent tools for controlling the activity of SpyCas9 by approximately 1000-fold change under switching dark-light conditions in prokaryotes. OPERA4 variants can achieve potent light-controllable genome editing in human cells as well. Together, our work provides a versatile screening system for characterizing Acrs and developing the Acr-based controllable tools.

Jeongeuplla avenae gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel β-carotene-producing bacterium that alleviates salinity stress in Arabidopsis

A novel endophytic bacterium, designated DY-R2A-6T, was isolated from oat (Avena sativa L.) seeds and found to produces β-carotene. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain DY-R2A-6T had 96.3% similarity with Jiella aquimaris LZB041T, 96.0% similarity with Aurantimonas aggregate R14M6T and Aureimonas frigidaquae JCM 14755T, and less than 95.8% similarity with other genera in the family Aurantimonadaceae. The complete genome of strain DY-R2A-6T comprised 5,929,370 base pairs, consisting of one full chromosome (5,909,198 bp) and one plasmid (20,172 bp), with a G + C content was 69.1%. The overall genome-related index (OGRI), including digital DNA-DNA hybridization (<20.5%), ANI (<79.2%), and AAI (<64.2%) values, all fell below the thresholds set for novel genera. The major cellular fatty acids (>10%) of strain DY-R2A-6T were C16:0, C19:0 cyclo ω8c, and summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c). Ubiquinone-10 was the main respiratory quinone. We identified the gene cluster responsible for carotenoid biosynthesis in the genome and found that the pink-pigment produced by strain DY-R2A-6T is β-carotene. In experiment with Arabidopsis seedlings, co-cultivation with strain DY-R2A-6T led to a 1.4-fold increase in plant biomass and chlorophyll content under salt stress conditions, demonstrating its capacity to enhance salt stress tolerance in plants. Moreover, external application of β-carotene to Arabidopsis seedlings under salt stress conditions also mitigated the stress significantly. Based on these findings, strain DY-R2A-6T is proposed to represent a novel genus and species in the family Aurantimonadaceae, named Jeongeuplla avenae gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is DY-R2A-6T (= KCTC 82985T = GDMCC 1.3014T). This study not only identified a new taxon but also utilized genome analysis to predict and confirm the production of β-carotene by strain DY-R2A-6T. It also demonstrated the ability of this strain to enhance salt stress tolerance in plants, suggesting potential application in agriculture to mitigate environmental stress in crops.

Smart Public Transportation Sensing: Enhancing Perception and Data Management for Efficient and Safety Operations

The use of cloud computing, big data, IoT, and mobile applications in the public transportation industry has resulted in the generation of vast and complex data, of which the large data volume and data variety have posed several obstacles to effective data sensing and processing with high efficiency in a real-time data-driven public transportation management system. To overcome the above-mentioned challenges and to guarantee optimal data availability for data sensing and processing in public transportation perception, a public transportation sensing platform is proposed to collect, integrate, and organize diverse data from different data sources. The proposed data perception platform connects multiple data systems and some edge intelligent perception devices to enable the collection of various types of data, including traveling information of passengers and transaction data of smart cards. To enable the efficient extraction of precise and detailed traveling behavior, an efficient field-level data lineage exploration method is proposed during logical plan generation and is integrated into the FlinkSQL system seamlessly. Furthermore, a row-level fine-grained permission control mechanism is adopted to support flexible data management. With these two techniques, the proposed data management system can support efficient data processing on large amounts of data and conducts comprehensive analysis and application of business data from numerous different sources to realize the value of the data with high data safety. Through operational testing in real environments, the proposed platform has proven highly efficient and effective in managing organizational operations, data assets, data life cycle, offline development, and backend administration over a large amount of various types of public transportation traffic data.

An Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton System Controlled by MI Recognition Model With Deep Emphasized Informative Features in a VR Scene

The prevalence of stroke continues to increase with the global aging. Based on the motor imagery (MI) brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigm and virtual reality (VR) technology, we designed and developed an upper-limb rehabilitation exoskeleton system (VR-ULE) in the VR scenes for stroke patients. The VR-ULE system makes use of the MI electroencephalogram (EEG) recognition model with a convolutional neural network and squeeze-and-excitation (SE) blocks to obtain the patient's motion intentions and control the exoskeleton to move during rehabilitation training movement. Due to the individual differences in EEG, the frequency bands with optimal MI EEG features for each patient are different. Therefore, the weight of different feature channels is learned by combining SE blocks to emphasize the useful information frequency band features. The MI cues in the VR-based virtual scenes can improve the interhemispheric balance and the neuroplasticity of patients. It also makes up for the disadvantages of the current MI-BCIs, such as single usage scenarios, poor individual adaptability, and many interfering factors. We designed the offline training experiment to evaluate the feasibility of the EEG recognition strategy, and designed the online control experiment to verify the effectiveness of the VR-ULE system. The results showed that the MI classification method with MI cues in the VR scenes improved the accuracy of MI classification (86.49% ± 3.02%); all subjects performed two types of rehabilitation training tasks under their own models trained in the offline training experiment, with the highest average completion rates of 86.82% ± 4.66% and 88.48% ± 5.84%. The VR-ULE system can efficiently help stroke patients with hemiplegia complete upper-limb rehabilitation training tasks, and provide the new methods and strategies for BCI-based rehabilitation devices.

Attribute-Aware Deep Hashing With Self-Consistency for Large-Scale Fine-Grained Image Retrieval

Our work focuses on tackling large-scale fine-grained image retrieval as ranking the images depicting the concept of interests (i.e., the same sub-category labels) highest based on the fine-grained details in the query. It is desirable to alleviate the challenges of both fine-grained nature of small inter-class variations with large intra-class variations and explosive growth of fine-grained data for such a practical task. In this paper, we propose attribute-aware hashing networks with self-consistency for generating attribute-aware hash codes to not only make the retrieval process efficient, but also establish explicit correspondences between hash codes and visual attributes. Specifically, based on the captured visual representations by attention, we develop an encoder-decoder structure network of a reconstruction task to unsupervisedly distill high-level attribute-specific vectors from the appearance-specific visual representations without attribute annotations. Our models are also equipped with a feature decorrelation constraint upon these attribute vectors to strengthen their representative abilities. Then, driven by preserving original entities' similarity, the required hash codes can be generated from these attribute-specific vectors and thus become attribute-aware. Furthermore, to combat simplicity bias in deep hashing, we consider the model design from the perspective of the self-consistency principle and propose to further enhance models' self-consistency by equipping an additional image reconstruction path. Comprehensive quantitative experiments under diverse empirical settings on six fine-grained retrieval datasets and two generic retrieval datasets show the superiority of our models over competing methods. Moreover, qualitative results demonstrate that not only the obtained hash codes can strongly correspond to certain kinds of crucial properties of fine-grained objects, but also our self-consistency designs can effectively overcome simplicity bias in fine-grained hashing.

Sphingomonas abietis sp. nov., an Endophytic Bacterium Isolated from Korean Fir

PAMB 00755T, a bacterial strain, was isolated from Korean fir leaves. The strain exhibits yellow colonies and consists of Gram-negative, non-motile, short rods or ovoid-shaped cells. It displays optimal growth conditions at 20°C, 0% NaCl, and pH 6.0. Results of 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analyses showed that strain PAMB 00755T was most closely related to Sphingomonas chungangi MAH-6T (97.7%) and Sphingomonas polyaromaticivorans B2-7T (97.4%), and ≤96.5% sequence similarity to other members of the genus Sphingomonas. The values of average nucleotide identity (79.9-81.3%), average amino acid identity (73.3-75.9%), and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (73.3-75.9%) were significantly lower than the threshold values for species boundaries; these overall genome-related indexes (OGRI) analyses indicated that the strain represents a novel species. Genomic analysis revealed that the strain has a 4.4-Mbp genome encoding 4,083 functional genes, while the DNA G+C content of the whole genome is 66.1%. The genome of strain PAMB 00755T showed a putative carotenoid biosynthetic cluster responsible for its antioxidant activity. The respiratory quinone was identified as ubiquinone 10 (Q-10), while the major fatty acids in the profile were identified as C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c (summed feature 8). The major polar lipids of strain PAMB 00755T were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingoglycolipid, and phosphatidylcholine. Based on a comprehensive analysis of genomic, phenotypic, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, we proposed the name Sphingomonas abietis sp. nov. for this novel species, with PAMB 00755T as the type strain (= KCTC 92781T = GDMCC 1.3779T).

Bioplastic (poly-3-hydroxybutyrate)-producing Massilia endophytica sp. nov., isolated from Cannabis sativa L. 'Cheungsam'

A rod-shaped, motile, Gram-negative bacterial strain named DM-R-R2A-13T was isolated from the plant Cannabis sativa L. 'Cheungsam'. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain DM-R-R2A-13T belongs to the family Oxalobacteraceae and is closely related to members of the genus Massilia, with Massilia flava (97.58% sequence similarity) and Massilia armeniaca (97.37% sequence similarity) being the closest members. The digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain DM-R-R2A-13T and Massilia flava CGMCC 1.10685T and Massilia armeniaca ZMN-3Twere 22.2% and 23.3%, while the average nucleotide identity (ANI) values were 78.85% and 79.63%, respectively. The DNA G+C content was measured to be 64.6 mol%. Moreover, the bacterium was found to contain polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granules based on transmission electron microscopy, indicating its potential to produce bioplastic. Genome annotation revealed the presence of PHA synthase genes (phaC, phaR, phaP, and phaZ), and the biopolymer was identified as poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. Using maltose as a carbon source, the strain produced PHB of up to 58.06% of its dry cell weight. Based on the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic characteristics, it has been determined that DM-R-R2A-13T represents a novel species belonging to the genus Massilia. As such, the name Massilia endophytica sp. nov. is proposed for this newly identified species. The type strain is DM-R-R2A-13T (= KCTC 92072T = GDMCC 1.2920T).

Bio-inspired soft pneumatic actuator based on a kresling-like pattern with a rigid skeleton

INTRODUCTION

Biomimetic soft pneumatic actuators (SPA) with Kresling origami patterns have unique advantages over conventional rigid robots, owing to their adaptability and safety.

OBJECTIVES

Inspired by cloning and moving behaviors observed from salps, we proposed an SPA based on a Kresling-like pattern with a rigid skeleton. The elongation and output force were tested, and the effectiveness of the applications with the SPA was evaluated.

METHODS

The proposed SPA consists of rigid skeletons and a soft skin. The rigid skeletons are constructed using layers of Kresling-like patterns, while a novel extensible inserting structure is devised to replace the folds found in conventional Kresling patterns. This innovative approach ensures that the SPA exhibits axial contraction/expansion motion without any twisting movement. To mimic the bionic characteristics of swimming and ingesting progress of salps, the proposed SPA can perform an axial contraction motion without twisting and a controllable bending motion based on multi-layered Kresling-like patterns; to mimic the cloning and releasing life phenomena of salps, the number of layers of Kresling-like patterns is changeable by adding or reducing skeleton components according to the practical needs.

RESULTS

The experimental elongation results on the SPA with multiple layers of Kresling-like patterns show that the elongation can increase to above 162% by adding layers; the experimental output force results show that the three-layer SPA can provide 6.36 N output force at an air flow rate of 10 L/min, and the output force will continue to increase as the number of layers of Kresling-like pattern increases or the air flow rate increases. Further, we demonstrate the applications of the SPA in soft grippers, scissor grippers, claw grippers and pipe crawlers.

CONCLUSION

Our proposed SPA can avoid twisting in the radial contraction motion with high elongation and output force, and provide the practical guidance for bio-inspired soft robotic applications.

Impacts of pregnancy and menopause on COVID-19 severity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 4.6 million women

BACKGROUND

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still a public health emergency of international concern. However, whether pregnancy and menopause impact the severity of COVID-19 remain unclear.

AIM

This study is performed to investigate the truth.

DESIGN

Study appraisal and synthesis follows PRISMA guideline. Meta-analysis is performed in random-effects model.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane database, Central, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO COVID-19 database and WHO-ICTRP are searched until 28 March 2023.

RESULTS

In total, 57 studies (4 640 275 COVID-19 women) were analyzed. Pregnant women were at a lower risk of severe COVID-19, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and disease mortality compared to those nonpregnant women with comparable comorbidities. In contrast, pregnant women with more prepregnancy comorbidities were at a higher risk of severe COVID-19, ICU admission and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). In addition, pregnant women with pregnancy complications had a significantly increased risk of severe COVID-19 and ICU admission. Menopause increased COVID-19 severity, IMV requirement and disease mortality. Hormone replacement therapy inhibited COVID-19 severity in postmenopausal women. Premenopausal and postmenopausal women had a lower chance of severe illness than age-matched men. The impact of pregnancy on COVID-19 severity was significant in Americans and Caucasians, whereas the effect of menopause on COVID-19 severity was only significant in Chinese.

CONCLUSIONS

Pregnancy and menopause are protective and risk factors for severe COVID-19, respectively. The protective role of pregnancy on COVID-19 is minimal and could be counteracted or masked by prepregnancy or pregnancy comorbidities. The administration of estrogen and progesterone may prevent severe COVID-19.

Impact of PRaG Therapy on Immune Microenvironment of Bilateral Subcutaneous Tumor Model of Colon Cancer

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Immune microenvironment is closely related to the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors. The immune microenvironment contains a variety of immune cells, including effector T cells (cytotoxic CD8+T cells and effector CD4+T cells), dendritic cells (DC), and Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). The antitumor effects of PRaG therapy have been confirmed in bilateral subcutaneous transplantation tumor model of colon cancer. But the impact of PRaG therapy on immune microenvironment of such model is unclear. Therefore, the study continued to reveal the changes of immune microenvironment in mice.

MATERIALS/METHODS

80 male Balb/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were divided into five groups: control group, PD-1 inhibitor group, radiation group, radiation + PD-1 inhibitor group, and radiation + PD-1 inhibitor +GM-CSF (PRaG therapy) group. Bilateral subcutaneous tumor model of colon cancer in mice was constructed. 3×105 CT26.WT cells were inoculated subcutaneously in the right thigh root, and then the left thigh root 3 days later. Right subcutaneous tumor was selected for radiotherapy of 8 Gy×3. GM-CSF (100ng, i.p.) was given on the 1st day and PD-1 inhibitor (0.25mg/kg, i.p.) was given on the 2nd day after radiotherapy with one cycle every 3 days. On day 15, the spleen, left inguinal lymph node and left subcutaneous tumor of mice were collected. The proportion of immune cells was detected by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

Compared with other groups, PRaG therapy decreased the proportion of cDC1 in left inguinal lymph node, increased the proportion of cDC2 in left subcutaneous tumor and left inguinal lymph node. Moreover, PRaG therapy increased the proportion of CD8+ effector memory T cells and CD226+CD8+T cells in left inguinal lymph nodes. Finally, PRaG therapy increased the proportion of CD4+, CD8+ central memory T cells and CD69+CD8+T cells and reduced the proportion of M-MDSCs in spleen.

CONCLUSION

PRaG therapy can improve the immune microenvironment of spleen, unirradiated tumors and inguinal draining lymph nodes of bilateral subcutaneous tumor model of colon cancer in mice.

A Generalized Deep Learning Method for Synthetic CT Generation

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The application of deep learning to generate synthetic CT (sCT) has been widely studied in radiotherapy. Existing methods generally involve data from two different image modalities, such as CBCT-CT or MRI-CT, the quality of sCT is adversely affected by source image quality. We propose a unique method of synthesizing MRI and CBCT into sCT based on single-modal CT for training, and call it SmGAN.

MATERIALS/METHODS

We used planning CT of a group of 35 head and neck cases to as training data. We then applied two different spatial transformations to the planning CT image to produce the transformed CT1 and CT2. And We used a random style enhancement technique (Shuffle Remap) to modify the image distribution of CT1 which we termed CT1+E. CT1+E was used to simulate the patient's "image of the day" while CT2 to simulate the "planning image". After feeding both CT1+E and CT2 into the generator, we obtained the sCT predicted by the generator. The generator was trained using the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) loss between sCT and CT1. In the actual clinical process, we use the patient's CBCT or MRI instead of CT1+E and the patient's planning CT instead of CT2 as the input of the generator. After processing, we get an sCT that can maintain the spatial position of the image taken on the day, while presenting features similar to the planning CT. The evaluation data we have includes 10 pairs of MRI-Def_CT and 10 pairs of CBCT-Def_CT Head and Neck patients. Def_CT is obtained from the planning CT based on the spatial position deformation of MRI and CBCT. To evaluate the accuracy of sCT based on MRI and CBCT with Def CT, we use a range of metrics, including Hounsfield Unit (HU) difference, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (SSIM) and gamma pass rate. All results will be benchmarks against the advanced method RegGAN for comparison.

RESULTS

Compared to RegGAN, the results of SmGAN were significantly better. The mean absolute errors within the body were (44.7±216.2 HU vs. 36.7±131.4 HU) and (64.9±123.7 HU vs. 58.2±152.8 HU) for the CBCT-SCT and MRI-SCT, respectively (Table 1). In addition, experimental results show that SmGAN also outperforms RegGAN in dose calculation accuracy. For example, under the 10% threshold, SmGAN's gamma pass rate of 1mm and 1% is 0.926±0.02, compared with gamma rate of 0.896±0.02 for RegGAN.

CONCLUSION

We proposed a generalized deep learning model for synthetic CT generation, based on CBCT or MRI images. The proposed algorithm achieved high accuracy of dosimetric metrics, as well as excellent IMRT QA verification results. Compared to other existing synthetic CT generation methods, the proposed SmGAN required a single-modal image for training, which is considered as a major breakthrough in the industry, and is expected to have wide spread of clinical applications.

Mitigation of Dosimetric Uncertainty in MRI-Based Proton Planning Using Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (SPArc) Technique

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

MRI-based synthetic CT (SCT) images created using generative adversarial network (GAN) have been demonstrated to be feasible for intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) planning. However, dose calculation accuracy can be uncertain in some regions within/near the target of head and neck patients due to the local CT number estimation error or sharp dose fall-off. This study investigated the feasibility of using the SPArc technique to mitigate such dosimetric uncertainty.

MATERIALS/METHODS

A GAN using a 3D U-net as the generator and a 6-layer 3D convolutional neural network as the discriminator was trained with T1-weighted MR-CT image pairs from 162 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients (14 for validation). The generator was used to generate SCT images from MR images for 7 test patients. For each test patient, the CT image was used to create a SPArc plan and an IMPT plan with the same clinical objectives. The SPArc plans (control point frequency sampling, arc trajectory, etc.) were optimized using a previously developed iterative approach. The dose distributions of both SPArc plans and IMPT plans were re-calculated on the SCT images and compared to the one calculated on the CT images. The dosimetric uncertainty was quantified using the gamma index.

RESULTS

The 2%/2mm and 3%/3mm passing rates for SPArc plans were (96.9¡À2.7) % and (98.6¡À1.5) %, while the passing rates for IMPT plans were (94.0¡À3.9) % and (96.4+2.9) %. A significant reduction in dosimetric uncertainty was identified for SPArc plans (p ¡Ü0.021). Table 1 shows the passing rates for the 7 test individuals.

CONCLUSION

SPArc can mitigate the uncertainty of dose calculation in MRI-based proton planning. Further research needs to validate these findings on a larger patient cohort. The study paves the road map for using MRI for SPArc planning.

Multidetector CT-derived tricuspid annulus measurements predict tricuspid regurgitation reduction after transcatheter aortic valve replacement

AIM

To use multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT)-derived tricuspid annulus (TA) measurements to identify predictors for tricuspid regurgitation (TR) reduction after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), and to investigate the impact of TR change on prognosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective, single-centre study was conducted on consecutive patients who underwent TAVR with concomitant baseline mild or more severe TR from April 2012 to April 2022. TA parameters were measured using MDCT.

RESULTS

The study comprised 266 patients (mean age 74.2 ± 7.6 years, 147 men) and 45.1% had more than one grade of TR reduction at follow-up. Independent predictors of TR reduction at follow-up were distance between TA centroid and antero-septal commissure (odd ratio [OR] 0.776; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.672-0.896, p=0.001), baseline TR of moderate or worse (OR 4.599; 95% CI: 2.193-9.648, p<0.001), systolic pulmonary artery pressure (OR 1.018; 95% CI: 1.002-1.035, p=0.027), age (OR 0.955; 95% CI: 0.920-0.993, p=0.019), and pre-existing atrial fibrillation (OR 0.209; 95% CI: 0.101-0.433, p<0.001). Patients without TR reduction had higher rates of rehospitalisation (hazard ratio [HR] 0.642; 95% CI: 0.413-0.998, p=0.049).

CONCLUSIONS

The MDCT-derived TA parameter was predictive of TR reduction after TAVR. Persistent TR after TAVR was associated with higher rates of rehospitalisation.

Impact of PRaG Therapy on Peripheral Immune Cells of Subcutaneous Tumor Peritoneal Metastasis Model of Colon Cancer

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Immune cells in peripheral blood may be closely related to the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. T cells originally present in tumors may have limited antitumor effects, and T cells that respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors may be derived from peripheral blood. Therefore, in this study, subcutaneous tumor peritoneal metastasis model of colon cancer was constructed to reveal the changes of T cells and their subsets (CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, CD226+T cells), MDSCs and their subsets (G-MDSCs, M-MDSCs) in peripheral blood of mice after PRaG therapy.

MATERIALS/METHODS

A total of 90 male Balb/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were divided into five groups: control group, PD-1 inhibitor group, radiation group, radiation + PD-1 inhibitor group, and radiation + PD-1 inhibitor +GM-CSF (PRaG therapy) group. The subcutaneous tumor peritoneal metastasis model of colon cancer was constructed. 3×105 CT26.WT cells was inoculated subcutaneously at the right thigh root, and 5 days later, 1×105 CT26.WT cells was inoculated on the left side at the junction of the anterior superior iliac spine and the midabdominal line. The subcutaneous tumor was selected for radiotherapy of 8 Gy×3. GM-CSF (100ng, i.p.) was given on the 1st day and PD-1 inhibitor (0.25mg/kg, i.p.) was given on the 2nd day after radiotherapy with one cycle every 3 days. On day 22, the peripheral blood of mice was collected. The proportion of immune cells was detected by flow cytometry.

RESULTS

Compared with other groups, PRaG therapy decreased the proportion of CD4+T cells and increased the proportion of CD8+T cells. Moreover, PRaG therapy increased the proportion of CD226+CD4+T cells and CD226+CD8+T cells. Finally, PRaG therapy increased the proportion of M-MDSCs and decreased the proportion of G-MDSCs.

CONCLUSION

PRaG therapy can improve the immune microenvironment of peripheral blood of subcutaneous tumor peritoneal metastasis model of colon cancer in mice.

Radiation-Induced Nasopharyngeal Necrosis in Locally-Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients after Re-Radiotherapy

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

Re-radiotherapy (re-RT) is the main treatment for locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (lrNPC) patients, and commonly led to radiation-induced nasopharyngeal (NP) necrosis, which was lethal but rare study has focused on it. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cause and impact of radiation-induced NP necrosis in lrNPC patients who received re-RT.

MATERIALS/METHODS

Totally 252 lrNPC patients who received re-RT between January 2013 and December 2020 were retrospectively collected. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) no NP necrosis before re-RT; (2) complete medical records, including treatment, clinical and dosimetric information; (3) conventional fractionated radiotherapy. All patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy ± chemotherapy. Radiation-induced NP necrosis was diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging and/or electronic nasopharyngoscopy. Dosimetric factors of the planning target volume of primary tumor (PTVp) were extracted from the dose-volume histogram (DVH), which was rescaled to an equivalent dose of 2 Gy per fraction (EQD 2 Gy) using a linear quadratic model. Logistic regression was used to identify the independent prognostic factors for generating the nomogram.

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 44.63 months (inter-quartile range [IQR], 27.70 - 69.20 months), 47.6% of patients (120/252) occurred radiation-induced NP necrosis, which mostly happened within 1 year post re-RT (median [IQR], 5.83 [3.37 - 11.57] months). The 3-year overall survival was 83.0% vs 39.7% (P<0.001) in lrNPC patients with or without radiation-induced NP necrosis. Except for the fractionated dose, other dosimetric factors of PTVp were not significantly different between two groups, including D98 (dose to 98% of PTVp), D50, D2 and homogeneity index (Table 1). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that continuous variable age (HR [95% CI]: 1.04 [1.02 - 1.07], P = 0.003) and tumor volume (HR [95% CI]: 1.02 [1.01 - 1.03], P<0.001), and fractionated dose > 2.22 Gy (HR [95% CI]: 2.36 [1.32 - 4.21], P = 0.004) were independent factors in predicting radiation-induced NP necrosis, which yielded a C-index of 0.742 (95% CI, 0.682 - 0.803) for OS in the nomogram.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of radiation-induced NP necrosis was high in lrNPC patients who received re-RT. Patients with older age, larger tumor volume or receiving fractionated dose over 2.22 Gy were more easily to suffer NP necrosis, which need to explore novel treatment strategies to improve patients' survivals.

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution with a copper porphyrin bearing meso-(o-carborane) substituents

A newly designed copper complex of 5,15-bis(pentafluorophenyl)-10,20-bis(o-carborane)porphyrin (1) was synthesized and tested for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In acetonitrile, 1 was much more efficient than Cu 5,15-bis(pentafluorophenyl)-10,20-diphenylporphyrin (2) for electrocatalytic HER by shifting the catalytic wave to the anodic direction by 190 mV. In aqueous media, 1 also outperformed 2 by achieving higher current densities under smaller overpotentials. This enhancement was attributed to the aromatic and the strong electron-withdrawing properties of o-carborane groups. This work is significant to address the crucial effects of meso-(o-carborane) substituents of metal porphyrins on boosting the electrocatalytic HER.

Smart G-quadruplex hydrogels: From preparations to comprehensive applications

In recent years, the accelerated development of G-quadruplexes and hydrogels has driven the development of intelligent biomaterials. Based on the excellent biocompatibility and special biological functions of G-quadruplexes, and the hydrophilicity, high-water retention, high water content, flexibility and excellent biodegradability of hydrogels, G-quadruplex hydrogels are widely used in various fields by combining the dual advantages of G-quadruplexes and hydrogels. Here, we provide a systematic and comprehensive classification of G-quadruplex hydrogels in terms of preparation strategies and applications. This paper reveals how G-quadruplex hydrogels skillfully utilize the special biological functions of G-quadruplexes and the skeleton structure of hydrogels, and expounds its applications in the fields of biomedicine, biocatalysis, biosensing and biomaterials. In addition, we deeply analyze the challenges in preparation, applications, stability and safety of G-quadruplex hydrogels, as well as potential future development directions.

[Preliminary experience of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement using domestic balloon-expandable valve]

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and preliminary clinical results of transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) with the domestically-produced balloon-expandable Prizvalve system. Methods: This is a prospective single-center observational study. Patients with postoperative right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) dysfunction, who were admitted to West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2021 to March 2023 and deemed anatomically suitable for TPVR with balloon-expandable valve, were included. Clinical, imaging, procedural and follow-up data were analyzed. The immediate procedural results were evaluated by clinical implant success rate, which is defined as successful valve implantation with echocardiography-assessed pulmonary regurgitation Collapse

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MESH Headings

• Male
• Humans
• Pulmonary Valve/surgery
• Heart Valve Prosthesis/adverse effects
• Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation
• Constriction, Pathologic/complications
• Constriction, Pathologic/surgery
• Prospective Studies
• Ventricular Outflow Obstruction/etiology
• Ventricular Outflow Obstruction/surgery
• Treatment Outcome
• Cardiac Catheterization/methods
• Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

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Grants

• 2022ZDZX0030 Sichuan Science and Technology Program

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In-plane reorientation induced single laser pulse magnetization reversal

Single Pulse All Optical Switching represents the ability to reverse the magnetization of a nanostructure using a femtosecond single laser pulse without any applied field. Since the first switching experiments carried out on GdFeCo ferrimagnets, this phenomena has been only recently extended to a few other materials, MnRuGa alloys and Tb/Co multilayers with a very specific range of thickness and composition. Here, we demonstrate that single pulse switching can be obtained for a large range of rare earth-transition metal multilayers, making this phenomenon much more general. Surprisingly, the threshold fluence for switching is observed to be independent of the laser pulse duration. Moreover, at high laser intensities, concentric ring domain structures are induced. These striking features contrast to those observed in Gd based materials pointing towards a different reversal mechanism. Concomitant with the demonstration of an in-plane magnetization reorientation, a precessional reversal mechanism explains all the observed features.

[Construction of a dual fluorescent reporter system for tracing horizontal transfer of mcr-1-carrying plasmid]

The green fluorescent reporter gene was inserted into the gene interval of polymyxin resistant mcr-1-carrying plasmid (pSH13G841) by homologous recombination of suicide plasmid. At the same time, E. coli J53 with red fluorescent reporter gene was constructed. Using the ability of spontaneous conjugation of drug resistant plasmid (pSH13G841), pSH13G841-GFP plasmid was transferred into J53 RFP bacteria to construct a double fluorescent labeled donor bacterium. The two light-emitting systems could stably and spontaneously express fluorescence without mutual interference. The dual fluorescence report system constructed can be used for visual tracing horizontal transfer of mcr-1-carrying plasmid, the subsequent model can study the colonization, transfer and prognosis of drug-resistant bacteria/drug-resistant genes mcr-1 by using mouse in vivo imaging technology.

[Feasibility and safety of transseptal transcatheter mitral valve replacement for severe mitral regurgitation]

A prospective, single-center, single-arm, and open-design study was performed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of transseptal transcatheter mitral valve replacement in the treatment of severe mitral regurgitation. Patients with symptomatic moderate-severe or severe mitral regurgitation at high-surgical risk and anatomically appropriate for the HighLife transseptal mitral valve replacement (TSMVR) system in West China Hospital, Sichuan University from December 2021 to August 2022 were enrolled. Four patients (1 male and 3 females) with severe mitral regurgitation were included, with a median age of 68.5 (64.0-77.0) years and a median Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) score of 8.1% (6.4%-8.9%). Technical success was achieved in all the patients. There was no residual mitral regurgitation, paravalvular leakage, or left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Three major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular adverse events occurred within 30 days after the procedure, including ventricular tachycardia, iatrogenic atrial septal defect closure, and heart failure readmission. The current study preliminarily demonstrates that transcatheter mitral valve replacement using the HighLife system via the transseptal approach for severe mitral regurgitation is feasible and relatively safe.

Engineering the Quaternary Hydrotalcite-Derived Ce-Promoted Ni-Based Catalysts for Enhanced Low-Temperature CO2 Hydrogenation into Methane

Ce-promoted NiMgAl mixed-oxide (NiCex-C, x = 0, 1, 5, 10) catalysts were prepared from the quaternary hydrotalcite precursors for CO₂ hydrogenation to methane. By engineering the Ce contents, NiCe5-C showed its prior catalytic performance in low-temperature CO₂ hydrogenation, being about three times higher than that of the Ce-free NiCe0-C catalyst (turnover frequency of NiCe5-C and NiCe0-C: 11.9 h^-1 vs. 3.9 h^-1 @ 225 °C). With extensive characterization, it was found that Ce dopants promoted the reduction of NiO by adjusting the interaction between Ni and Mg(Ce)AlOx support. The highest ratio of surface Ni⁰/(Ni²⁺ + Ni⁰) was obtained over NiCe5-C. Meanwhile, the surface basicity was tailored with Ce dopants. The strongest medium-strength basicity and highest capacity of CO₂ adsorption was achieved on NiCe5-C with 5 wt.% Ce content. The TOF tests indicated a good correlation with medium-strength basicity over the NiCex-C samples. The results showed that the high medium-strength and Ce-promoted surface Ni⁰ species endows the enhanced low-temperature catalytic performance in CO₂ hydrogenation to methane.

[Corneal melt after intracorneal ring segment implantations: a case report]

A 50-year-old female patient presented to the Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, with complaints of right eye pain, tearing, and difficulty opening the eye for over a month after intrastromal corneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation 18 years prior in both eyes. Slit lamp examination revealed corneal stromal melting around the ICRS at the 3 to 4 o'clock position of the right eye, with fluorescein staining. Optical coherence tomography showed epithelial and superficial stromal layer defects in the area of the lesion. The patient was diagnosed with corneal melting after ICRS implantation in the right eye. Under general anesthesia, the corneal stromal ring was removed, and deep lamellar keratoplasty was performed. The patient had no discomfort and the corneal graft remained transparent after the surgery.

[Prevalence of parasitic infections in human stool samples from a hospital in Chenzhou City of Hunan Province]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of parasitic infections in human stool samples from a hospital in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, so as to provide insights into the management of intestinal parasitic diseases.

METHODS

Stool samples were collected from patients admitted to a hospital in Chenzhou City from September 2020 to March 2021, subjected to physiological saline smearing and microscopy for detection of intestinal parasites. The prevalence of parasitic infections and the species of parasites were descriptively analyzed.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 1.61% in the 10 728 stool samples, and there were 3 samples with mixed infections of two parasite species. A total of seven parasite species were identified, including Blastocystis hominis (162 cases, 1.55%), Giardia lamblia (5 cases, 0.05%), Dientamoeba fragilis (5 cases, 0.05%), Endolimax nana (one case, 0.01%), Iodamoeba bütschlii (one case, 0.01%), Strongyloides stercoralis (one case, 0.01%) and Trichomonas hominis (one case, 0.01%). The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was significantly higher among women than in men (2.14% vs. 1.25%; χ² = 13.01, P < 0.01), and a high prevalence rate was seen among patients at ages of 20 to 30 years (2.99%) and 80 years and older (2.86%); however, no age-specific prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was detected (χ² = 12.45, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was low among patients admitted to a hospital in Chenzhou City, and gender-specific prevalence was found. Food-borne and opportunistic parasites were predominant intestinal parasites, including B. hominis, G. lamblia and D. fragilis.

How high-intensity sensory consumption fills up resource scarcity: The boundary condition of self-acceptance

OBJECTIVE

Everyone in life will experience resource scarcity, which causes self-discrepancy. It is widely known that individuals participate in reactive consumption to solve the problems of self-discrepancy and resources scarcity. This kind of consumption may be symbolically related to the essence of the resource scarcity or may occur in an unrelated domain. This study proposes a theory for "filling up" one's resource scarcity through high-intensity sensory consumption (HISC).

METHODS

We used different methods, including one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), linear regression, mediating effect, and moderating effect, to test the four hypotheses. Four experiments in the study were conducted from May 2022 and August 2022 and involved undergraduates from a university and volunteers recruited online. All participants are adults and verbally agree to participate voluntarily. Study 1a (N = 96 (male 47, female 49), participants from a business school in China) measured resource scarcity in the laboratory experiments and verified the effect of resource scarcity on consumer HISC preference by using linear regression (H1). Study 1b (N = 191 (male 98, female 93), students and teachers from a university in China) measured resource scarcity in the laboratory experiments and manipulated positively and negatively valenced experiences. Using the PROCESS SPSS Mode l, we verified that negatively valenced stimuli also lead to higher levels of arousal, which in turn restores the self-discrepancy caused by resource scarcity (H2). Study 2 (an online experiment, N = 182 (male 91, female 91), participants from China) manipulated the resource scarcity in a color sensory stimulant context, replicating the preliminary effect and examined the mediating effect of the self-worth by using the PROCESS SPSS Mode 4 (H3). Study 3 (an online experiment, N = 251 (male 125, female 126), participants from China) manipulated resource scarcity and self-acceptance in the tactile sensory experience, and tested the moderating effect of self-acceptance by using the PROCESS SPSS Mode 8 (H4).

RESULTS

Four studies suggest that not only do individuals facing resources scarcity prefer HISC but also that this consumption is mediated and moderated by self-worth and self-acceptance, respectively. This preference for HISC is negated when individuals have high self-acceptance traits. The findings are tested in the auditory domain (as evidenced by a propensity for louder volume), the visual domain (as evidenced by a propensity for more intense colors), and the tactile domain (as evidenced by a propensity for more intense need for touch). The findings also demonstrate that individual preferences for HISC is shown to operate regardless of the valence (positive valence vs. negative valence) of the sensory consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

Across four experiments, we find that individuals who are subjected to resource scarcity show a preference for high-intensity sensory consumption in the auditory, visual, and tactile domains. We also find that both negatively and positively valenced sensory stimuli have the same impact on resource-scarce individuals' preference for HISC. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the sense of self-worth significantly mediates the effect of resource scarcity on HISC. Finally, we reveal that self-acceptance moderates the effect of resource scarcity on HISC preference.

[Analysis on missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery by echocardiography from one single medical center]

Objectives: To analyze the reasons of missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis on anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) by echocardiography. Methods: This is a retrospective study. Patients with ALCAPA who underwent surgical treatment in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from August 2008 to December 2021 were included. According to the results of preoperative echocardiography and surgical diagnosis, the patients were divided into confirmed group or missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis group. The results of preoperative echocardiography were collected, and the specific echocardiographic signs were analyzed. According to the experience of the doctors, the echocardiographic signs were divided into four types, namely clear displayed, vague/doubtful displayed, no display and no notice, and the display rate of each sign was calculated (display rate=number of clearly displayed cases/total number of cases×100%). By referring the surgical data, we analyzed and recorded the pathological anatomy and pathophysiological characteristics of the patients, and the rate of missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis of echocardiography in patients with different characteristics was compared. Results: A total of 21 patients were enrolled, including 11 males, aged 1.8 (0.8, 12.3) years (range 1 month to 47 years). Except for one patient with anomalous origin of left anterior descending artery, the others were all originated from the main left coronary artery (LCA). There were 13 cases of ALCAPA in infant and children, and 8 cases of adult ALCAPA. There were 15 cases in the confirmed group (diagnostic accuracy was 71.4% (15/21)), and 6 cases in the missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis group (three cases were misdiagnosed as primary endocardial fibroelastosis, two cases were misdiagnosed as coronary-pulmonary artery fistula; and one case was missed diagnosis). The working years of the physicians in the confirmed group were longer than those in the missed diagnosis/misdiagnosed group ((12.8±5.6) years vs. (8.3±4.7) years, P=0.045). In infants with ALCAPA, the detection rate of LCA-pulmonary shunt (8/10 vs. 0, P=0.035) and coronary collateral circulation (7/10 vs. 0, P=0.042) in confirmed group was higher than that in missed diagnosis/misdiagnosed group. In adult ALCAPA patients, the detection rate of LCA-pulmonary artery shunt was higher in confirmed group than that in missed diagnosis/misdiagnosed group (4/5 vs. 0, P=0.021). The missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis rate of adult type was higher than that of infant type (3/8 vs. 3/13, P=0.410). The rate of missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis was higher in patients with abnormal origin of branches than that of abnormal origin of main trunk (1/1 vs. 5/21, P=0.028). The rate of missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis in patients with LCA running between the main and pulmonary arteries was higher than that distant from the main pulmonary artery septum (4/7 vs. 2/14, P=0.064). The rate of missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension was higher than that in patients without severe pulmonary hypertension (2/3 vs. 4/18, P=0.184). The reasons with an echocardiography missed diagnosis/misdiagnosis rate of≥50% included that (1) the proximal segment of LCA ran between the main and pulmonary arteries; (2) abnormal opening of LCA at the right posterior part of the pulmonary artery; (3) abnormal origin of LCA branches; (4) complicated with severe pulmonary hypertension. Conclusions: Echocardiography physicians' knowledge of ALCAPA and diagnostic vigilance are critical to the accuracy of diagnosis. Attention should be paid to the pediatric cases with no obvious precipitating factors of left ventricular enlargement, regardless of whether the left ventricular function is normal or not, the origin of coronary artery should be routinely explored.

Gymnodinialimonas phycosphaerae sp. nov., a phycosphere bacterium isolated from Karlodinium veneficum

A facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated N5^T, was obtained from the phycosphere microbiota of the marine planktonic dinoflagellate, Karlodinium veneficum. Strain N5^T showed growth on marine agar at 25 °C, pH 7 and 1 % (w/v) NaCl and produced a yellow colour. According to a phylogenetic study based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain N5^T has a lineage within the genus Gymnodinialimonas. The G+C content in the genome of strain N5^T is 62.9 mol% with a total length of 4 324 088 bp. The NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline revealed that the N5^T genome contained 4230 protein-coding genes and 48 RNA genes, including a 5S rRNA, 16S rRNA, 23S rRNA, 42 tRNA, and three ncRNAs. Genome-based calculations (genome-to-genome distance, average nucleotide identity and DNA G+C content) clearly indicated that the isolate represents a novel species within the genus Gymnodinialimonas. The predominant fatty acids were C_19 : 0 cyclo ω8c and feature 8 (comprising C_18 : 1 ω6c and/or C_18 : 1 ω7c). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. The main respiratory quinone was Q-10. Based on its phenotypic, phylogenetic, genomic and chemotaxonomic features, strain N5^T represents a novel species of the genus Gymnodinialimonas, for which the name Gymnodinialimonas phycosphaerae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is N5^T (=KCTC 82362^T=NBRC 114899^T).