A combined experimental and computational study of ligand-controlled Chan-Lam coupling of sulfenamides.

The unique features of the sulfenamides' S(II)-N bond lead to interesting stereochemical properties and significant industrial functions. Here we present a chemoselective Chan-Lam coupling of sulfenamides to prepare N-arylated sulfenamides. A tridentate pybox ligand governs the chemoselectivity favoring C-N bond formation, and overrides the competitive C-S bond formation by preventing the S,N-bis-chelation of sulfenamides to copper center. The Cu(II)-derived resting state of catalyst is captured by UV-Vis spectra and EPR technique, and the key intermediate is confirmed by the EPR isotope response using 15N-labeled sulfenamide. A computational mechanistic study reveals that N-arylation is both kinetically and thermodynamically favorable, with deprotonation of the sulfenamide nitrogen atom occurring prior to reductive elimination. The origin of ligand-controlled chemoselectivity is explored, with the interaction between the pybox ligand and the sulfenamide substrate controlling the energy of the S-arylation and the corresponding product distribution, in agreement with the EPR studies and kinetic results.

Clinical study on the treatment of Qingfei Paidu Granules combined with nondrug therapy for asymptomatic patients with novel coronavirus.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing for over 2 years with evolving viral strains, including the highly infectious Omicron variant, underscores the pivotal role of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in pandemic intervention. Qingfei Paidu Granules (QFPG) are incorporated into the national TCM diagnosis and treatment protocol. This study aims to assess the clinical effectiveness of QFPG combined with nonpharmacological interventions in asymptomatic novel coronavirus infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a full-group randomized controlled trial, asymptomatic individuals from 3 wards of Fangcang Hospital were randomly assigned to 3 groups, each comprising 150 cases: F1, the nonpharmacological treatment group, receiving only Five Elements Music Therapy and Gongfa Therapy; F2, the comprehensive treatment group, receiving QFPG treatment combined with Five Elements Music Therapy and Gongfa Therapy; and F3, the pharmacological treatment group, receiving only QFPG treatment. The treatment duration for each group was 6 days. Clinical efficacy and safety among different treatment groups were observed, including the conversion time of COVID-19 nucleic acid detection, duration of hospitalization, conversion rate from mild to moderate cases, and occurrence of adverse events. RESULTS: All 450 participants were included and completed the study. The conversion rates on the first day of treatment were 10.7%, 30%, and 11.3% for the F1, F2, and F3 groups, respectively. Compared to F1, both F2 and F3 showed shortened first conversion time and time to double negative results, with first conversion times of 1.92 days for F2 and 2.29 days for F3. Additionally, the time in F2 was shorter compared to F3. Hospitalization duration was shortened in both F2 and F3 compared to F1, with no statistically significant difference between F2 and F3. The conversion rate from mild to moderate cases was lower in both F2 and F3 compared to F1, but the difference between F2 and F3 was not significant. CONCLUSION: Combining QFPG with traditional Chinese nonpharmacological interventions effectively shortened the conversion time of COVID-19 nucleic acid detection and reduced the conversion rate from asymptomatic infection to mild/moderate cases. This treatment approach is worth promoting in the management of asymptomatic patients during pandemics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ChiCTR2200059007.

Hypoxic indices for obstructive sleep apnoea severity and cardiovascular disease risk prediction: A comparison and application in a community population.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) encounter challenges in capturing the intricate relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Although novel hypoxic indices have been proposed to tackle these limitations, there remains a gap in comprehensive validation and comparisons across a unified dataset. METHODS: Samples were derived from the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS), involving 4485 participants aged over 40 years after data quality screening. The study compared several key indices, including AHI, ODI, the reconstructed hypoxic burden (rHB), the percentage of sleep time with the duration of respiratory events causing desaturation (pRED_3p) and the sleep breathing impairment index (SBII), in relation to CVD mortality and morbidity risks. Adjusted Cox proportional models were employed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) for each index, and comparisons were performed. RESULTS: SBII and pRED_3p exhibited significant correlations with both CVD mortality and morbidity, with SBII showing the highest adjusted HR (95% confidence interval) for mortality (2.04 [1.25, 3.34]) and pRED_3p for morbidity (1.43 [1.09-1.88]). In contrast, rHB was only significant in predicting CVD mortality (1.63 [1.05-2.53]), while AHI and ODI did not show significant correlations with CVD outcomes. The adjusted models based on SBII and pRED_3p exhibited optimal performance in the CVD mortality and morbidity datasets, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study identified the optimal indices for OSA-related CVD risks prediction, SBII for mortality and pRED_3p for morbidity. The open-source online platform provides the computation of the indices.

Alginate di-aldehyde-modified metal-organic framework nanocarriers as delivery platform and adjuvant in inactivated pseudorabies vaccination.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a highly contagious viral disease, which leads to severe financial losses in the breeding industry worldwide. Presently, PRV is mainly controlled using live attenuated and inactivated vaccines. However, these vaccines have an innate tendency to lose their structural conformation upon exposure to environmental and chemical stressors and cannot provide full protection against the emerging prevalent PRV variants. In this work, first, we synthesized aminated ZIF-7/8 nanoparticles (NPs), and then chemical bond-coated alginate dialdehyde (ADA, a type of dioxide alginate saccharide) on their surface via Schiff base reaction to obtain ZIF-7/8-ADA NPs. The as-fabricated ZIF-7/8-ADA NPs exhibited high stability, monodispersity and a high loading ratio of antigen. Furthermore, the ZIF-7/8-ADA NPs showed good biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo. Using ZIF-7/8-ADA NPs as an adjuvant and inactivated PRV as a model antigen, we constructed a PR vaccine through a simple mixture. The immunity studies indicated that ZIF-7/8-ADA induced an enhancement in the Th1/Th2 immune response, which was superior to that of the commercial ISA201, alum adjuvant and ZIF-7/8. Due to the pH-sensitive release of the antigen in lysosomes, the as-prepared PR vaccine subsequently accelerated the antigen presentation and improved the immune responses in vitro and in vivo. The results of PRV challenge using mice as the model demonstrated that ZIF-7/8-ADA achieved the same preventive effect as the commercial ISA201 and was much better than the alum adjuvant, and thus can serve as a promising delivery system and adjuvant to enhance humoral and cellular responses against PRV infection.

Research Progress on Quality Detection of Livestock and Poultry Meat Based on Machine Vision, Hyperspectral and Multi-Source Information Fusion Technologies.

Presently, the traditional methods employed for detecting livestock and poultry meat predominantly involve sensory evaluation conducted by humans, chemical index detection, and microbial detection. While these methods demonstrate commendable accuracy in detection, their application becomes more challenging when applied to large-scale production by enterprises. Compared with traditional detection methods, machine vision and hyperspectral technology can realize real-time online detection of large throughput because of their advantages of high efficiency, accuracy, and non-contact measurement, so they have been widely concerned by researchers. Based on this, in order to further enhance the accuracy of online quality detection for livestock and poultry meat, this article presents a comprehensive overview of methods based on machine vision, hyperspectral, and multi-sensor information fusion technologies. This review encompasses an examination of the current research status and the latest advancements in these methodologies while also deliberating on potential future development trends. The ultimate objective is to provide pertinent information and serve as a valuable research resource for the non-destructive online quality detection of livestock and poultry meat.

Simulating room transfer functions between transducers mounted on audio devices using a modified image source method.

The image source method (ISM) is often used to simulate room acoustics due to its ease of use and computational efficiency. The standard ISM is limited to simulations of room impulse responses between point sources and omnidirectional receivers. In this work, the ISM is extended using spherical harmonic directivity coefficients to include acoustic diffraction effects. These effects occur in practice when transducers are mounted on audio devices of finite spatial extent, e.g., modern smart speakers with loudspeakers and microphones. The proposed method is verified using finite element simulations of various loudspeaker and microphone configurations in a shoebox-shaped room. It is shown that the accuracy of the proposed method is related to the sizes, shapes, number, and positions of the devices inside a room. A simplified version of the proposed method, which can significantly reduce computational effort, is also presented. The proposed method and its simplified version can simulate room transfer functions more accurately than currently available image source methods and can aid the development and evaluation of speech and acoustic signal processing algorithms, including speech enhancement, acoustic scene analysis, and acoustic parameter estimation.

Clinical application of neuromodulation therapy in patients with disorder of consciousness: A pooled analysis of 544 participants.

BACKGROUND: The number of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) has increased dramatically with the advancement of intensive care and emergency medicine, which brings tremendous economic burdens and even ethical issues to families and society. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of neuromodulation therapy for patients with DoC. METHODS: First, we conducted a literature review of individual patient data (IPD) on PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane-controlled trials following PRISMA guidelines. Then, we collected neuromodulation cases from our institution. Finally, we conducted a pooled analysis using the participants from the medical literature (n = 522) and our local institutions (n = 22). RESULTS: In this pooled analysis of 544 patients with DoC with a mean age of 46.33 years, our results revealed that patients have improved CRS-R scores [1.0 points (95% CI, 0.57-1.42)] after neuromodulation. Among them, patients have better effectiveness in traumatic than non-traumatic etiology (P < 0.05). The effectiveness of consciousness improvement could be affected by the age, baseline consciousness state, and duration of stimulation. Compared with non-invasive intervention, an invasive intervention can bring more behavioral improvement (P < 0.0001) to MCS rather than UWS/VS patients. Importantly, neuromodulation is a valuable therapy even years after the onset of DoC. CONCLUSION: This pooled analysis spotlights that the application of neuromodulation can improve the behavioral performance of patients with DoC. A preliminary trend is that age, etiology, baseline consciousness state, and stimulation duration could impact its effectiveness.

Operative timing and the safety of emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A retrospective analysis.

The ideal operative timing for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) remains controversial, particularly in emergency patients. This study aimed to evaluate the necessity of operative timing for emergency LC. One hundred ninety-four patients who had undergone operative timings were classified into groups of <72h and >72h from the onset of symptoms to the operation. Baseline data, basic disease, operative bleeding, complications, and conversion rates were analyzed by Variance analysis and logistic regression analysis. The total morbidity of postoperative complication was 4.93% and 3.84% (P = .751) in the <72h and >72h groups respectively. The complication and conversion to LC were mainly influenced by age and gallbladder volume (odds ratio [OR] = 1.078, P = .013, and OR = 1.035, P = .031), but not by operative timing (P = .292). The intraoperative blood loss was closely correlated with the gallbladder volume (OR = 1.019, P = .025) by logit regression analysis, and correlation coefficient of R = 0.436, P < .01. Our results suggest that it is not necessary to confine the operative timing of LC to within 72h from the onset of symptoms, and gallbladder volume should be emphasized in the operative timing for emergency LC.

Physical layer encryption for coherent PDM system based on polarization perturbations using a digital optical polarization scrambler.

In this paper, a security enhanced physical layer encryption scheme is proposed for coherent optical polarization division multiplexing (PDM) systems. The concept of a digital optical polarization scrambler (DOPS) is introduced to apply high speed rotation of state of polarization (RSOP) to the transmitted signal, which enables encryption based on polarization perturbations and offers superior flexibility in polarization management. By utilizing different combinations of digital polarization device matrices and adjusting their key parameters, four encryption modes are designed. The proposed encryption scheme is successfully implemented in a PDM-QPSK system at the data rate of 32 Gbps. Experimental results demonstrate that authorized users can successfully decrypt the received signal, while the eavesdroppers cannot derive useful information with a bit error rate (BER) at approximately 0.5. To enhance system security, a 5-D chaotic system is introduced with superior properties of high sensitivity to initial values and improved uniform distribution, which guarantees the large entropy and further the system's security. This scheme can effectively prevent against brute attacks with the expanded key space of 1060.

Functional evaluation of BRCA1/2 variants of unknown significance with homologous recombination assay and integrative in silico prediction model.

Numerous variants of unknown significance (VUSs) exist in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Although multiple methods have been developed to assess the significance of BRCA1/2 variants, functional discrepancies among these approaches remain. Therefore, a comprehensive functional evaluation system for these variants should be established. We performed conventional homologous recombination (HR) assays for 50 BRCA1 and 108 BRCA2 VUSs and complementarily predicted VUSs using a statistical logistic regression prediction model that integrated six in silico functional prediction tools. BRCA1/2 VUSs were classified according to the results of the integrative in vitro and in silico analyses. Using HR assays, we identified 10 BRCA1 and 4 BRCA2 VUSs as low-functional pathogenic variants. For in silico prediction, the statistical prediction model showed high accuracy for both BRCA1 and BRCA2 compared with each in silico prediction tool individually and predicted nine BRCA1 and seven BRCA2 variants to be pathogenic. Integrative functional evaluation in this study and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology (ACMG/AMP) guidelines strongly suggested that seven BRCA1 variants (p.Glu272Gly, p.Lys1095Glu, p.Val1653Leu, p.Thr1681Pro, p.Phe1761Val, p.Thr1773Ile, and p.Gly1803Ser) and four BRCA2 variants (p.Trp31Gly, p.Ser2616Phe, p.Tyr2660Cys, and p.Leu2792Arg) were pathogenic. This study demonstrates that integrative evaluation using conventional HR assays and optimized in silico prediction comprehensively classified the significance of BRCA VUSs for future clinical applications.

Research Progress on Low Damage Grasping of Fruit, Vegetable and Meat Raw Materials.

The sorting and processing of food raw materials is an important step in the food production process, and the quality of the sorting operation can directly or indirectly affect the quality of the product. In order to improve production efficiency and reduce damage to food raw materials, some food production enterprises currently use robots for sorting operations of food raw materials. In the process of robot grasping, some food raw materials such as fruits, vegetables and meat have a soft appearance, complex and changeable shape, and are easily damaged by the robot gripper. Therefore, higher requirements have been put forward for robot grippers, and the research and development of robot grippers that can reduce damage to food raw materials and ensure stable grasping has been a major focus. In addition, in order to grasp food raw materials with various shapes and sizes with low damage, a variety of sensors and control strategies are required. Based on this, this paper summarizes the low damage grasp principle and characteristics of electric grippers, pneumatic grippers, vacuum grippers and magnetic grippers used in automated sorting production lines of fruit, vegetable and meat products, as well as gripper design methods to reduce grasp damage. Then, a grasping control strategy based on visual sensors and tactile sensors was introduced. Finally, the challenges and potential future trends faced by food robot grippers were summarized.

Red blood cell-mimicking liposomes loading curcumin promote diabetic wound healing.

The excessive inflammatory response is known to be a major challenge for diabetic wound healing, while bacteria secreted toxin, α-hemolysin (Hlα), was recently reported to prolong inflammation and delay diabetic wound healing. In this study, we designed a red blood cell membrane (RBCM)-mimicking liposome containing curcumin (named RC-Lip) for the treatment of diabetic wounds. RC-Lips were successfully fabricated using the thin film dispersion method, and the fusion of RBC membrane with the liposomal membrane was confirmed via surface protein analysis. RC-Lips efficiently adsorbed Hlα, thereby reducing the damage and pro-apoptotic effects of Hlα on keratinocytes. Furthermore, they remarkably facilitated liposome uptake into macrophages with advanced curcumin release and regulation of M2 macrophage polarization. In a diabetic mouse and infected wound model, RC-Lips treatment significantly promoted wound healing and re-epithelialization while downregulating interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and upregulating interleukin-10 (IL-10). In summary, the results showed that the spongiform RC-Lips effectively modulate the inflammatory response after adsorbing Hlα and regulating M2 macrophage polarization, leading to a significant promotion of wound healing in diabetic mice. Hence, this study provides a prospective strategy of efficiently mediating inflammatory response for diabetic wounds.

LFA-1/ICAM-1 Adhesion Pathway Mediates the Homeostatic Migration of Lymphocytes from Peripheral Tissues into Lymph Nodes through Lymphatic Vessels.

Lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) and its endothelial ligand intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) are important for the migration of lymphocytes from blood vessels into lymph nodes. However, it is largely unknown whether these molecules mediate the homeostatic migration of lymphocytes from peripheral tissues into lymph nodes through lymphatic vessels. In this study, we find that, in naive mice, ICAM-1 is expressed on the sinus endothelia of lymph nodes, but not on the lymphatic vessels of peripheral tissues. In in vivo lymphocyte migration assays, memory CD4+ T cells migrated to lymph nodes from peripheral tissues much more efficiently than from blood vessels, as compared to naive CD4+ T cells. Moreover, ICAM-1 deficiency in host mice significantly inhibited the migration of adoptively transferred wild-type donor lymphocytes from peripheral tissues, but not from blood vessels, into lymph nodes. The migration of LFA-1-deficient donor lymphocytes from peripheral tissues into the lymph nodes of wild-type host mice was also significantly reduced as compared to wild-type donor lymphocytes. Furthermore, the number of memory T cells in lymph nodes was significantly reduced in the absence of ICAM-1 or LFA-1. Thus, our study extends the functions of the LFA-1/ICAM-1 adhesion pathway, indicating its novel role in controlling the homeostatic migration of lymphocytes from peripheral tissues into lymph nodes and maintaining memory T cellularity in lymph nodes.

Probing Intrinsic Neural Timescales in EEG with an Information-Theory Inspired Approach: Permutation Entropy Time Delay Estimation (PE-TD).

Time delays are a signature of many physical systems, including the brain, and considerably shape their dynamics; moreover, they play a key role in consciousness, as postulated by the temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). However, they are often not known a priori and need to be estimated from time series. In this study, we propose the use of permutation entropy (PE) to estimate time delays from neural time series as a more robust alternative to the widely used autocorrelation window (ACW). In the first part, we demonstrate the validity of this approach on synthetic neural data, and we show its resistance to regimes of nonstationarity in time series. Mirroring yet another example of comparable behavior between different nonlinear systems, permutation entropy-time delay estimation (PE-TD) is also able to measure intrinsic neural timescales (INTs) (temporal windows of neural activity at rest) from hd-EEG human data; additionally, this replication extends to the abnormal prolongation of INT values in disorders of consciousness (DoCs). Surprisingly, the correlation between ACW-0 and PE-TD decreases in a state-dependent manner when consciousness is lost, hinting at potential different regimes of nonstationarity and nonlinearity in conscious/unconscious states, consistent with many current theoretical frameworks on consciousness. In summary, we demonstrate the validity of PE-TD as a tool to extract relevant time scales from neural data; furthermore, given the divergence between ACW and PE-TD specific to DoC subjects, we hint at its potential use for the characterization of conscious states.

Effectiveness and Safety of Bu Shen Kai Qiao Fang in the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Study Protocol for a Multicenter, Prospective, Real-World Clinical Trial.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common degenerative disease of the nervous system with serious impact on quality of life of patients and their families. With an aging population, AD has become a major public health problem in China and worldwide. However, the physiological and pathological mechanisms of AD have not been fully elucidated, and there is a lack of effective prevention and clinical treatment methods. Many studies have found that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a good therapeutic effect on cognitive function in AD patients. Bu Shen Kai Qiao Fang (BSKQF) is one such Chinese herbal preparation used in the treatment of AD. We designed a protocol for a real-world clinical study of BSKQF combined with Donepezil hydrochloride (DH) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this approach in the treatment of AD patients. Methods: This is a protocol for a real-world, multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study. The study will recruit 860 AD patients from four hospitals across China. Equal numbers of patients will be treated with BSKQF and DH or with DH only. The criteria for grouping are based primarily on patient preference. Outcome measures include scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MOCA) and will be recorded at baseline, and at one, two and three months after enrollment. The plasma Aß42 and plasma Tau levels of participating patients will also be measured by ELISA at baseline and after 3 months of treatment. Safety metrics and adverse events (AEs) of participating patients will be monitored and recorded. Discussion: This study will evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of BSKQF in the treatment of AD. The results will provide reliable evidence for the clinical application of BSKQF in the treatment of AD. Study Registration: Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, NO. ChiCTR2000039670, Registered 5 November 2020 https://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojEN.html?proj=63800.

Clinical Characteristics of and Treatment Strategy for Hydrocephalus in Patients With Severe Disorders of Consciousness.

Abstract Making an appropriate diagnosis and administering effective treatment for hydrocephalus in patients with severe disorders of consciousness (DOC) remains controversial and difficult. Given that the typical symptoms are usually concealed by the limited behavioral responsiveness of patients with severe DOC, hydrocephalus diagnosis is likely to be missed in the clinic. Even if not, the presence of hydrocephalus may reduce the likelihood of DOC recovery, posing a conundrum for clinicians. From December 2013 to January 2023, the clinical data and therapeutic schedule of hydrocephalus in patients with severe DOC at Huashan Hospital's Neurosurgical Emergency Center were studied retrospectively. Sixty-eight patients (mean age [± SD] 52.53 ± 17.03 years, 35 males and 33 females) with severe DOC were included. The hydrocephalus was discovered after computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed enlarged ventricles in the patients. During hospitalization, patients underwent a surgical treatment that included a ventriculoperitoneal (V-P) shunt and/or cranioplasty (CP) implantation. Following the surgery, an individualized V-P pressure was established based on the patient's ventricle size and neurological function variation. To account for the improvement in consciousness in patients with severe DOC, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) assessments were performed before and after hydrocephalus treatment. All patients with severe DOC had varying degrees of ventricular enlargement, deformation, and poor brain compliance. Approximately 60.3% (41/68) of them had low- or negative-pressure hydrocephalus (LPH or NegPH). Of the patients, 45.5% (31/68) had a one-stage V-P shunt and CP operation performed concurrently, whereas the remaining 37 patients had a single V-P shunt operation performed independently. Besides two patients with DOC who developed surgical complications, 92.4% (61/66) of the survivors showed an improvement in consciousness after hydrocephalus treatment. In patients with severe DOC, LPH or NegPH was common. Secondary hydrocephalus in patients with DOC had been largely ignored, hampering their neurological rehabilitation. Even months or years after the onset of severe DOC, active treatment of hydrocephalus can significantly improve patients' consciousness and neurological function. This study summarized several evidence-based treatment experiences of hydrocephalus in patients with DOC.

Why traditional herbal medicine promotes wound healing: Research from immune response, wound microbiome to controlled delivery.

Impaired wound healing in chronic wounds has been a significant challenge for clinicians and researchers for decades. Traditional herbal medicine (THM) has a long history of promoting wound healing, making them culturally accepted and trusted by a great number of people in the world. However, for a long time, the understanding of herbal medicine has been limited and incomplete, particularly in the allopathic medicine-dominated research system. The therapeutic effects of individual components isolated from THM are found less pronounced compared to synthetic chemical medicine, and the clinical efficacy is always inferior to herbs. In the present article, we review and discuss underlying mechanisms of the skin microbiome involved in the wound healing process; THM in regulating immune responses and commensal microbiome. We additionally propose few pioneer ideas and studies in the development of therapeutic strategies for controlled delivery of herbal medicine. This review aims to promote wound care with a focus on wound microbiome, immune response, and topical drug delivery systems. Finally, future development trends, challenges, and research directions are discussed.

Formulation and Evaluation of Lipidized Imiquimod as an Effective Adjuvant.

Adjuvants are essential for the induction of robust immune responses against vaccine antigens. Small-molecule TLR7 agonists hold high potential for this purpose. In this communication, imiquimod (IMQ) bearing a cholesterol lipid moiety derivative, IMQ-Chol, was designed and synthesized as a vaccine adjuvant, which could release parent IMQ molecules in aqueous conditions via amide bond hydrolysis. We performed a series of immunological evaluations by cooperating with the inactivated foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). All of the results confirmed that IMQ-Chol could stimulate the body for a prolonged time to produce strong humoral and cellular immunity with a balanced Th1/Th2 immune response through a TLR7-related MAPK pathway. In addition, the results of the proof-of-concept vaccine indicated IMQ-Chol had a good effect on preventing and treating FMD in pigs.

Enhanced brain parcellation via abnormality inpainting for neuroimage-based consciousness evaluation of hydrocephalus patients by lumbar drainage.

Brain network analysis based on structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered as an effective method for consciousness evaluation of hydrocephalus patients, which can also be applied to facilitate the ameliorative effect of lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drainage (LCFD). Automatic brain parcellation is a prerequisite for brain network construction. However, hydrocephalus images usually have large deformations and lesion erosions, which becomes challenging for ensuring effective brain parcellation works. In this paper, we develop a novel and robust method for segmenting brain regions of hydrocephalus images. Our main contribution is to design an innovative inpainting method that can amend the large deformations and lesion erosions in hydrocephalus images, and synthesize the normal brain version without injury. The synthesized images can effectively support brain parcellation tasks and lay the foundation for the subsequent brain network construction work. Specifically, the novelty of the inpainting method is that it can utilize the symmetric properties of the brain structure to ensure the quality of the synthesized results. Experiments show that the proposed brain abnormality inpainting method can effectively aid the brain network construction, and improve the CRS-R score estimation which represents the patient's consciousness states. Furthermore, the brain network analysis based on our enhanced brain parcellation method has demonstrated potential imaging biomarkers for better interpreting and understanding the recovery of consciousness in patients with secondary hydrocephalus.

Clinical Decision on Disorders of Consciousness After Acquired Brain Injury: Stepping Forward.

Major advances have been made over the past few decades in identifying and managing disorders of consciousness (DOC) in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI), bringing the transformation from a conceptualized definition to a complex clinical scenario worthy of scientific exploration. Given the continuously-evolving framework of precision medicine that integrates valuable behavioral assessment tools, sophisticated neuroimaging, and electrophysiological techniques, a considerably higher diagnostic accuracy rate of DOC may now be reached. During the treatment of patients with DOC, a variety of intervention methods are available, including amantadine and transcranial direct current stimulation, which have both provided class II evidence, zolpidem, which is also of high quality, and non-invasive stimulation, which appears to be more encouraging than pharmacological therapy. However, heterogeneity is profoundly ingrained in study designs, and only rare schemes have been recommended by authoritative institutions. There is still a lack of an effective clinical protocol for managing patients with DOC following ABI. To advance future clinical studies on DOC, we present a comprehensive review of the progress in clinical identification and management as well as some challenges in the pathophysiology of DOC. We propose a preliminary clinical decision protocol, which could serve as an ideal reference tool for many medical institutions.