Prediagnosis recognition of acute ischemic stroke by artificial intelligence from facial images.

Stroke is a major threat to life and health in modern society, especially in the aging population. Stroke may cause sudden death or severe sequela-like hemiplegia. Although computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are standard diagnosis methods, and artificial intelligence models have been built based on these images, shortage in medical resources and the time and cost of CT/MRI imaging hamper fast detection, thus increasing the severity of stroke. Here, we developed a convolutional neural network model by integrating four networks, Xception, ResNet50, VGG19, and EfficientNetb1, to recognize stroke based on 2D facial images with a cross-validation area under curve (AUC) of 0.91 within the training set of 185 acute ischemic stroke patients and 551 age- and sex-matched controls, and AUC of 0.82 in an independent data set regardless of age and sex. The model computed stroke probability was quantitatively associated with facial features, various clinical parameters of blood clotting indicators and leukocyte counts, and, more importantly, stroke incidence in the near future. Our real-time facial image artificial intelligence model can be used to rapidly screen and prediagnose stroke before CT scanning, thus meeting the urgent need in emergency clinics, potentially translatable to routine monitoring.

SENP2-NDR2-p21 axis modulates lung cancer cell growth.

Sentrin/small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-specific proteases (SENPs) perform pivotal roles in SUMO maturation and recycling, which modulate the balance of SUMOylation/de-SUMOylation and spatiotemporal functions of SUMOylation targets. The malfunction of SENPs often results in cellular dysfunction and various diseases. However, studies rarely investigated the correlation between SENP2 and lung cancer. This study revealed that SENP2 is a required contributor to lung cancer-cell growth and targets nuclear Dbf2-related 2 (NDR2, also known as serine/threonine kinase 38L or STK38L) for de-SUMOylation, which improves NDR2 kinase activity. This condition leads to the instability of downstream target p21 in accelerating the G1/S cell cycle transition and suggests SENP2 as a promising therapeutic target for lung cancer in the future. Specifically, astragaloside IV, an active ingredient of Jinfukang Oral Liquid (JOL, a clinical combination antilung cancer drug approved by the National Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of China), can repress lung cancer-cell growth via the SENP2-NDR2-p21 axis, which provides new insights into the molecular mechanism of JOL for lung cancer treatment.

Effects of natural Ionones and derived novel analogues with simplified structures on behavioral responses of whiteflies.

BACKGROUND: Whiteflies are major pests in agriculture, causing damage to crops and transmitting plant viruses. Using Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as semiochemicals offers a sustainable approach for combating whiteflies. One such group of compounds, represented by ß-ionone, has been found to possess repellent/attractant properties. To further explore the behavioral effects of these compounds on whiteflies, we selected five natural ionone compounds and synthesized six novel analogues to examine the impact of structural variations on whitefly behavior. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that ß-ionone and its analogues have a significant impact on the behavior of whiteflies. Among them, 0.01% pseudo ionone solution exhibited an attractant effect on whiteflies. Notably, the application of 1% ß-ionone and 0.1% ß-ionol solution demonstrated a notable repellent effect and oviposition deterrent effect on whitefly. We also found that the novel ionone analogue (±)1A exhibited a strong repellent effect. Both ß-ionol and compound (±)1A possess high logP values and low saturation vapor pressures, which contribute to enhanced lipophilicity, making them more likely to penetrate insect antennae and prolong their presence in the air. CONCLUSION: The newly discovered ionone analogue (±)1A and ß-ionol exhibit improved repellent effects, while pseudo ionone shows an attractant effect. These three compounds hold promising potential for development as novel biological control agents. Our work highlights the efficacy of VOCs as a protection method against whiteflies. These findings indicate that our new technology for a 'push-pull' control method of B. tabaci can offer a novel tool for integrated pest management (IPM). © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Posterior perforator tibial artery flaps for soft tissue defects of limbs: a retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical effect of posterior perforator tibial artery flaps on repairing soft tissue defects of limbs. METHODS: From June 2012 to June 2021, 14 cases of soft tissue defects of limbs were repaired with pedicled or free flaps of posterior perforator tibial artery. Among them, there were 9 cases of pedicled flaps and 5 cases of free flaps. The donor sites were closed directly or covered with skin grafting. The defects area varied from 3 × 5 cm to 7 × 16 cm. All cases were followed up for 1 year to 2 years. RESULTS: All flaps survived completely except 3 cases with distal end necrosis and the 3 cases healed after dressing change. There were not any other complications at both donor and recipient sites. Appearance of the recipient sites was close to the surrounding skin. All patients were satisfied with the results. CONCLUSION: Posterior perforator tibial artery flaps have the advantages of relatively simple technique, few damage, few complications and satisfying appearance. It is a good choice for soft tissue defects of limbs.

Intratumor microbiome-derived butyrate promotes lung cancer metastasis.

Most recurrences of lung cancer (LC) occur within 3 years after surgery, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we collect LC tissues with shorter (<3 years, recurrence group) and longer (>3 years, non-recurrence group) recurrence-free survival. By using 16S sequencing, we find that intratumor microbiome diversity is lower in the recurrence group and butyrate-producing bacteria are enriched in the recurrence group. The intratumor microbiome signature and circulating microbiome DNA can accurately predict LC recurrence. We prove that intratumor injection of butyrate-producing bacteria Roseburia can promote subcutaneous tumor growth. Mechanistically, bacteria-derived butyrate promotes LC metastasis by increasing expression of H19 in tumor cells through inhibiting HDAC2 and increasing H3K27 acetylation at the H19 promoter and inducing M2 macrophage polarization. Depletion of macrophages partially abolishes the metastasis-promoting effect of butyrate. Our results provide evidence for the cross-talk between the intratumor microbiome and LC metastasis and suggest the potential prognostic and therapeutic value of the intratumor microbiome.

Circulating microbiome DNA as biomarkers for early diagnosis and recurrence of lung cancer.

Lung cancer mortality is exacerbated by late-stage diagnosis. Emerging evidence indicates the potential clinical significance of distinct microbial signatures as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers across various cancers. However, circulating microbiome DNA (cmDNA) profiles are underexplored in lung cancer (LC). Here, whole-genome sequencing is performed on plasma of LC patients and healthy controls (HCs). Differentially enriched microbial species are identified between LC and HC. A diagnostic model is developed, which has a high sensitivity of 87.7% and achieves an AUC of 93.2% in the independent validation dataset. Crucially, this model demonstrates the capability to detect early-stage LC, achieving a sensitivity of 86.5% for stage I and 87.1% for tumors <1 cm. In addition, we construct a cmDNA model for recurrence, which precisely predicts LC recurrence after surgery. Overall, this study highlights the significant alterations of cmDNA profiles in LC, indicating its potential as biomarkers for early diagnosis and recurrence.

A novel web-based dynamic prognostic nomogram for gastric signet ring cell carcinoma: a multicenter population-based study.

Background: Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (GSRCC) is a rare and highly malignant disease with a poor prognosis. To assess the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of patients with GSRCC, prognostic nomograms were developed and validated using common clinical factors. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients diagnosed with GSRCC between 2011 and 2018 from the National Cancer Center (n = 1453) and SEER databases (n = 2745). Prognostic nomograms were established by identifying independent prognostic factors using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The calibration curve and C-index were used to assess the predictions. The clinical usefulness of the survival prediction model was further evaluated using the DCA and ROC curves. The models were internally validated in the training cohort and externally validated in the validation cohort. Two web servers were created to make the nomogram easier to use. Results: Patients with GSRCC were divided into training (n = 2938) and validation (n = 1260) cohorts. The nomograms incorporated six predictors: age, race, tumor site, tumor size, N stage, T stage, and AJCC stage. Excellent agreement was observed between the internal and exterior calibration plots for the GSRCC survival estimates. The C-index and area under the ROC curve were roughly greater than 0.7. Both nomograms had adequate clinical efficacy, as demonstrated by the DCA plots. Furthermore, we developed a dynamic web application utilizing the constructed nomograms available at https://jiangyujuan.shinyapps.io/OS-nomogram/ and https://jiangyujuan.shinyapps.io/DynNomapp-DFS/. Conclusion: We developed web-based dynamic nomograms utilizing six independent prognostic variables that assist physicians in estimating the OS and CSS of patients with GSRCC.

Characterization of the distinct immune microenvironments between hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

As two major types of primary liver cancers, the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) have been well studied separately. However, a systemic assessment of the similarities and differences between the TIME of HCC and ICC is still lacking. In this study, we pictured a landscape of combined TIME of HCC and ICC by sequencing and integrating 41 single-cell RNA-seq samples from four different tissue types of both malignancies. We found that T cells in HCC tumors generally exhibit higher levels of immunosuppression and exhaustion than those in ICC tumors. Myeloid cells in HCC and ICC tumors also exhibit distinct phenotypes and may serve as a key factor driving the differences between their TIMEs. Besides, we identified a cluster of EGR1+ macrophages specifically enriched in HCC tumors. Together, our study provides new insights into cellular composition, states and interactions in the TIMEs of HCC and ICC, which could pave the way for the development of future therapeutic targets for liver cancers.

Integrative single-cell transcriptomic analyses reveal the cellular ontological and functional heterogeneities of primary and metastatic liver tumors.

BACKGROUND: The global cellular landscape of the tumor microenvironment (TME) combining primary and metastatic liver tumors has not been comprehensively characterized. METHODS: Based on the scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic data of non-tumor liver tissues (NTs), primary liver tumors (PTs) and metastatic liver tumors (MTs), we performed the tissue preference, trajectory reconstruction, transcription factor activity inference, cell-cell interaction and cellular deconvolution analyses to construct a comprehensive cellular landscape of liver tumors. RESULTS: Our analyses depicted the heterogeneous cellular ecosystems in NTs, PTs and MTs. The activated memory B cells and effector T cells were shown to gradually shift to inhibitory B cells, regulatory or exhausted T cells in liver tumors, especially in MTs. Among them, we characterized a unique group of TCF7+ CD8+ memory T cells specifically enriched in MTs that could differentiate into exhausted T cells likely driven by the p38 MAPK signaling. With regard to myeloid cells, the liver-resident macrophages and inflammatory monocyte/macrophages were markedly replaced by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), with TREM2+ and UBE2C+ TAMs enriched in PTs, while SPP1+ and WDR45B+ TAMs in MTs. We further showed that the newly identified WDR45B+ TAMs exhibit an M2-like polarization and are associated with adverse prognosis in patients with liver metastases. Additionally, we addressed that endothelial cells display higher immune tolerance and angiogenesis capacity, and provided evidence for the source of the mesenchymal transformation of fibroblasts in tumors. Finally, the malignant hepatocytes and fibroblasts were prioritized as the pivotal cell populations in shaping the microenvironments of PTs and MTs, respectively. Notably, validation analyses by using spatial or bulk transcriptomic data in clinical cohorts concordantly emphasized the clinical significance of these findings. CONCLUSIONS: This study defines the ontological and functional heterogeneities in cellular ecosystems of primary and metastatic liver tumors, providing a foundation for future investigation of the underlying cellular mechanisms.

Major quality regulation network of flavonoid synthesis governing the bioactivity of black wolfberry.

Black wolfberry (Lycium ruthenicum Murr.) contains various bioactive metabolites represented by flavonoids, which are quite different among production regions. However, the underlying regulation mechanism of flavonoid biosynthesis governing the bioactivity of black wolfberry remains unclear. Presently, we compared the bioactivity of black wolfberry from five production regions. Multi-omics were performed to construct the regulation network associated with the fruit bioactivity. The detailed regulation mechanisms were identified using genetic and molecular methods. Typically, Qinghai (QH) fruit exhibited higher antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The higher medicinal activity of QH fruit was closely associated with the accumulation of eight flavonoids, especially Kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (K3R) and Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (rutin). Flavonoid biosynthesis was found to be more active in QH fruit, and the upregulation of LrFLS, LrCHS, LrF3H and LrCYP75B1 caused the accumulation of K3R and rutin, leading to high medicinal bioactivities of black wolfberry. Importantly, transcription factor LrMYB94 was found to regulate LrFLS, LrCHS and LrF3H, while LrWRKY32 directly triggered LrCYP75B1 expression. Moreover, LrMYB94 interacted with LrWRKY32 to promote LrWRKY32-regulated LrCYP75B1 expression and rutin synthesis in black wolfberry. Transgenic black wolfberry overexpressing LrMYB94/LrWRKY32 contained higher levels of K3R and rutin, and exhibited high medicinal bioactivities. Importantly, the LrMYB94/LrWRKY32-regulated flavonoid biosynthesis was light-responsive, showing the importance of light intensity for the medicinal quality of black wolfberry. Overall, our results elucidated the regulation mechanisms of K3R and rutin synthesis, providing the basis for the genetic breeding of high-quality black wolfberry.

Discovery and properties of novel analogues of the aphid pheromones nepetalactone and nepetalactol.

BACKGROUND: Pheromones have unique advantages for pest control. Current aphid pheromone research focuses on alarm and sex pheromones. However, practical applications are limited so far, as (E)-ß-farnesene has only been investigated to a small extent as an alarm pheromone and only male aphids are targeted by sex pheromones. Previous literature reports electrophysiological responses and repellent behavior of asexual aphids to nepetalactone (1B), therefore our objective was to modify nepetalactone's structure to identify key fragments responsible for repellent effects, as guidance for subsequent modifications and further investigation. RESULTS: In this study, seven derivatives were designed and synthesized based on nepetalactol (1A) and nepetalactone (1B) as lead compounds. Free-choice tests, conducted using cowpea aphids (Aphis craccivora), revealed that the lactone moiety was crucial for the repellent activity, and the removal of the carbonyl group eliminated the repelling effect. Compound (±)1I, an analogue of nepetalactone (1B), demonstrated a significantly higher repellent value than nepetalactone (1B) at three different concentrations, and even at 0.1 mg/mL it maintained a considerable repellent effect (26.5%). Electrostatic potential and density functional theory calculations supported the importance of the carbonyl group for the repellent effects. CONCLUSION: The newly discovered para-pheromone (±)1I shows improved repellent effects and potential for development as a novel biological control agent. Based on our innovative findings, analogues with improved efficacy and properties can be designed and prepared. Our research contributes to understanding the effects of structural modifications on pheromone activity and properties, which is crucial for exploring novel pheromone-based products for crop protection. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is important for improving long-term survival in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases undergoing simultaneous resection.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A growing number of studies have demonstrated that neoadjuvant chemotherapy can improve the prognosis of patients with resectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). However, the routine use of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (POAC) for patients with CRLM after simultaneous resection remains controversial. This retrospective study investigated the impact of POAC on outcomes in patients with CRLM who underwent simultaneous resection of colorectal cancer tumors and liver metastases using propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. METHODS: From January 2009 to November 2020, patients with CRLM who underwent simultaneous resection were retrospectively enrolled. The confounding factors and selection bias were adjusted by 2:1 PSM. Patients were stratified into the POAC and non-POAC groups. Kaplan-Meier curves were utilized to compare overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between the groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify independent clinicopathological factors before and after PSM analysis. The utility of the model was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration curves after PSM analysis. RESULTS: In total, 478 patients with resectable CRLM were enrolled and assigned to the POAC (n = 212, 60.9%) or non-POAC group (n = 136, 39.1%). After 2:1 PSM, there was no significant bias between the groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a significant effect of POAC on OS (P < 0.001) but not PFS. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified T stage (T3-T4), lymph node metastasis, radiofrequency ablation during surgery, operative time ≥ 325 min, and the receipt of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (hazard ratio = 0.447, 95% confidence interval = 0.312-0.638, P < 0.001) as independent prognostic factors for OS. The areas under the ROC curves for the nomogram model for predicting 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival were 0.653, 0.628, and 0.678, respectively. Subgroups analysis suggested that POAC can enhance OS in patients with resectable CRLM with either low (1-2, P < 0.001) or high clinical risk scores (3-5, P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study identified POAC as a prognostic factor to predict OS in patients with CRLM undergoing simultaneous resection.

Mapping the Landscape of Obesity Effects on Male Reproductive Function: A Bibliometric Study.

BACKGROUND: Due to changes in lifestyle and dietary habits, the global population with obesity is increasing gradually, resulting in a significant rise in the number of individuals having obesity. Obesity is caused by an imbalance between energy intake and consumption, leading to excessive fat accumulation, which interferes with normal human metabolism. It is also associated with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, male reproductive endocrine regulation disorders, systemic and local inflammatory reactions, excessive oxidative stress, and apoptosis. All these factors can damage the internal environment for sperm generation and maturation, resulting in male sexual dysfunction, a decline in sperm quality, and lower fertility. This study analyzes the trends and priorities of the effects of obesity on male reproductive disorders from a bibliometric perspective. METHODS: This study uses the Web of Science as the statistical source, covering all time spans. Tools like Web of Science, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace are used to analyze countries, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords in the field. Total publications, total citations, and average number of citations are selected for statistics. RESULTS: The results show that the research on the impact of obesity on male reproductive function can be roughly divided into three stages: the initial stage, the slow development stage, and the rapid development stage. Our statistical scope includes 463 highly relevant articles that we have screened. We found that the journal with the most publications in this field is Andrologia, and the institution with the highest total citations is the University of Utah. The most influential countries, institutions, and authors in this field are the United States, the University of Utah, and Carrell, Douglas. Currently, research related to the impact of obesity on male reproduction focuses mainly on three aspects: biochemistry, molecular biology, and reproductive biology. The keyword explosion results indicate that sperm, obesity, and male reproduction are at the forefront and trends of future research in this field. There has been a shift from basic biochemical and molecular research to research on molecular mechanisms relying on omics technologies. However, we have observed that the number of papers published in 2022 is lower than in 2021, indicating a growth interruption during this period. Considering that this deviation may be due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may hinder the progress of certain experiments in 2022. In recent years, China has rapidly developed research in this field. However, the average citation rate is relatively low, indicating the need for Chinese scholars to improve the quality of their articles further. Based on our research and in the context of global obesity, men are at risk of increased infertility. Addressing this issue relies on our continued research into the mechanisms of obesity-related male reproductive disorders. Over the past forty-three years, with the contributions of scientists worldwide, research in this field has flourished. CONCLUSION: The impact of obesity on male reproductive disorders has been extensively studied. Currently, research in this field primarily focuses on male sperm function, sperm quality, and the effects or mechanisms of cells on male reproduction. Future trends in this field should concentrate on the relationship between male fertility and energy metabolism, as well as the endocrine function of adipose tissue. This study comprehensively analyzes the current research status and global trends in obesity and male reproductive disorders. We also discuss the future developments in this field, making it easier for researchers to understand its developmental history, current status, and trends, providing valuable reference for effective exploration in this area.

Nighttime bionic compass based on a short-wave infrared polarization sensing system.

Sky-bionic polar co-ordinate navigation is an effective means of providing navigational information in the absence of a priori information. Polar co-ordinate navigation during clear daytime conditions has been studied, but there has been a lack of research of it at night due to problems with noise. Therefore, in this paper, a short-wave infrared polarimetric sensor system is designed, which is capable of acquiring atmospheric polarimetric information in low illumination environments at night, compared with traditional visible band sensors. Additionally, based on the statistics of polarization angle information, an algorithm for removing noise and starlight is proposed to solve the influence of starlight and noise on the polarization information at night. After many outdoor experiments, we found that the method can output the heading angle stably and accurately, and its standard deviation is controlled to be 0.42° in a clear night.

Impact of Removal of Lymph Nodes on Survival in Stage I-III Gastric Signet-Ring Cell Cancer: The More, the Better?

BACKGROUND: There is an ongoing debate over the prognostic value of the number of examined lymph nodes (ELNs) in cases of gastric signet-ring cell cancer (GSRCC). In this study, we sought to evaluate the correlation between the number of ELNs and the prognosis of GSRCC and identify the optimal number of ELNs. METHODS: A total of 1020 patients diagnosed with GSRCC between 2011 and 2018 in the National Cancer Center database were identified. Clinicopathological characteristics were retrospectively collected, and optimal cutoff values of ELNs were calculated by using X-tile. The impact of different ELNs on overall survival (OS) was compared by using Kaplan-Meier curves. We used univariate and multivariate Cox and subgroup analyses to explore the relationship between ELNs and OS. Furthermore, nonlinear correlations were investigated by using restricted cubic splines (RCSs). RESULTS: X-tile showed that the optimal cutoff value of ELNs was 22. The 5-year OS was higher for patients with ELNs > 22 (vs. ELNs ≤ 22, 66.9% vs. 74.9%, P = 0.026). Multivariate Cox analyses showed that high ELNs were associated with superior OS (hazard ratio = 0.56, 95% confidence interval 0.43-0.74, P < 0.001). In subgroup analyses, the significant association between tumor size > 4 cm, and TNM III stage was still observed. The RCS regression model showed a U-shaped dose-response nonlinear relationship between ELNs and OS; the inflection point, as well as the lowest risk points, corresponded to 44-52 ELNs. CONCLUSIONS: A U-shaped, nonlinear correlation with inflection points of 44-52 ELNs between ELNs and prognosis in GSRCC was identified.

Identification of membrane protein types via deep residual hypergraph neural network.

A membrane protein's functions are significantly associated with its type, so it is crucial to identify the types of membrane proteins. Conventional computational methods for identifying the species of membrane proteins tend to ignore two issues: High-order correlation among membrane proteins and the scenarios of multi-modal representations of membrane proteins, which leads to information loss. To tackle those two issues, we proposed a deep residual hypergraph neural network (DRHGNN), which enhances the hypergraph neural network (HGNN) with initial residual and identity mapping in this paper. We carried out extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets of membrane proteins. In the meantime, we compared the DRHGNN with recently developed advanced methods. Experimental results showed the better performance of DRHGNN on the membrane protein classification task on four datasets. Experiments also showed that DRHGNN can handle the over-smoothing issue with the increase of the number of model layers compared with HGNN. The code is available at https://github.com/yunfighting/Identification-of-Membrane-Protein-Types-via-deep-residual-hypergraph-neural-network.

Machine learning algorithms for a novel cuproptosis-related gene signature of diagnostic and immune infiltration in endometriosis.

Endometriosis (EMT) is an aggressive disease of the reproductive system, also called "benign cancer". However, effective treatments for EMT are still lacking in clinical practice. Interestingly, immune infiltration is significantly involved in EMT pathogenesis. Currently, no studies have shown the involvement of cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) in regulating immune infiltration in EMT. This study identified three CRGs such as GLS, NFE2L2, and PDHA1, associated with EMT using machine learning algorithms. These three CRGs were upregulated in the endometrium of patients with moderate/severe EMT and downregulated in patients with infertility. Single sample genomic enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) revealed that these CRGs were closely correlated with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Furthermore, these CRGs were correlated with immune cells such as eosinophils, natural killer cells, and macrophages. Therefore, profiling patients based on these genes aid in a more accurate diagnosis of EMT progression. The mRNA and protein expression levels of GLS, NFE2L2 and PDHA1 were validated by qRT-PCR and WB studies in EMT samples. These findings provide a new idea for the pathology and treatment of endometriosis, suggesting that CRGs such as GLS, NFE2L2 and PDHA1 may play a key role in the occurrence and development of endometriosis.

Single-cell map of dynamic cellular microenvironment of radiation-induced intestinal injury.

Intestine is a highly radiation-sensitive organ that could be injured during the radiotherapy for pelvic, abdominal, and retroperitoneal tumors. However, the dynamic change of the intestinal microenvironment related to radiation-induced intestine injury (RIII) is still unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we pictured a dynamic landscape of the intestinal microenvironment during RIII and regeneration. We showed that the various cell types of intestine exhibited heterogeneous radiosensitivities. We revealed the distinct dynamic patterns of three subtypes of intestinal stem cells (ISCs), and the cellular trajectory analysis suggested a complex interconversion pattern among them. For the immune cells, we found that Ly6c+ monocytes can give rise to both pro-inflammatory macrophages and resident macrophages after RIII. Through cellular communication analysis, we identified a positive feedback loop between the macrophages and endothelial cells, which could amplify the inflammatory response induced by radiation. Besides, we identified different T cell subtypes and revealed their role in immunomodulation during the early stage of RIII through inflammation and defense response relevant signaling pathways. Overall, our study provides a valuable single-cell map of the multicellular dynamics during RIII and regeneration, which may facilitate the understanding of the mechanism of RIII.

Largely Enhanced Thermoelectric Power Factor of Flexible Cu2-xS Film by Doping Mn.

Copper-sulfide-based materials have attracted noteworthy attention as thermoelectric materials due to rich elemental reserves, non-toxicity, low thermal conductivity, and adjustable electrical properties. However, research on the flexible thermoelectrics of copper sulfide has not yet been reported. In this work, we developed a facile method to prepare flexible Mn-doped Cu2-xS films on nylon membranes. First, nano to submicron powders with nominal compositions of Cu2-xMnyS (y = 0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Then, the powders were vacuum-filtrated on nylon membranes and finally hot-pressed. Phase composition and microstructure analysis revealed that the films contained both Cu2S and Cu1.96S, and the size of the grains was ~20-300 nm. By Mn doping, there was an increase in carrier concentration and mobility, and ultimately, the electrical properties of Cu2-xS were improved. Eventually, the Cu2-xMn0.05S film showed a maximum power factor of 113.3 µW m-1 K-2 and good flexibility at room temperature. Moreover, an assembled four-leg flexible thermoelectric generator produced a maximum power of 249.48 nW (corresponding power density ~1.23 W m-2) at a temperature difference of 30.1 K, and had good potential for powering low-power-consumption wearable electronics.