Predictive factors and adalimumab efficacy in managing chronic recurrence Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

BACKGROUND: This study explores prognostic factors influencing Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease and observes the efficacy and safety of Adalimumab (ADA) in treating recurrence in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients diagnosed with VKH disease at Beijing Tongren Hospital between 2020 and 2023. Clinical data included initial and final visual acuity, age, gender, ocular complications, treatment modalities, disease duration, and recurrence frequency. RESULTS: A total of 62 VKH patients were included, comprising 34 in the acute-resolved group and 28 in the chronic-recurrent group. The mean age of patients in the acute-resolved group was 38.29 ± 15.46 years, while the mean age of chronic-recurrent group had a 49.00 ± 16.43 years. Initial best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) examination at the first visit showed an average BCVA of 0.64 ± 0.29 logMAR in the acute-resolved group and 1.38 ± 0.54 logMAR in the chronic-recurrent group (p = 0.002). During follow-up, ocular complications were observed in 29.4% of the acute-resolved group patients and 41.7% of the chronic-recurrent group patients (P = 0.006). "Sunset glow fundus" was observed in 23.5% of the acute-resolved group and 64.3% of the chronic-recurrent group patients (P = 0.001). Poor initial BCVA (P = 0.046) and the occurrence of "sunset glow fundus" (P = 0.040) were significantly associated with progression to the chronic recurrent phase. Logistic regression analysis revealed that older age at onset (P = 0.042) and the occurrence of "sunset glow fundus" (P = 0.037) were significant predictors for progression to the chronic recurrent phase. ADA significantly reduced anterior chamber inflammatory cells (P = 0.000) and vitreous cavity inflammatory cells (P = 0.001) in the chronic-recurrent group, and markedly decreased the recurrence rate in VKH patients (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: In comparison to acute-resolved patients, chronic-recurrent patients exhibited poorer initial BCVA and a significantly increased incidence of "sunset glow fundus." Older age at onset and the occurrence of "sunset glow fundus" at diagnosis are crucial predictive factors for VKH patients progressing to the chronic recurrent phase. ADA effectively alleviates refractory VKH disease and is generally well-tolerated.

Measurement method of virtual image distance for a head-mounted display based on a variable-focus liquid lens.

The distance from the virtual image to the human eye is an important factor in measuring the comfort of a head-mounted display (HMD). However, accurately measuring their distance is challenging due to the dynamic changes in virtual presence and distance. In this paper, we proposed a virtual image distance measurement prototype based on a variable-focus liquid lens and derived a virtual image distance calculation model. We built a variable-focus liquid lens experimental platform to verify the method's correctness. In addition, we proposed an improved optimization algorithm that can efficiently and accurately search for the optimal focal length corresponding to the maximum sharpness moment of the virtual image within the focal length value space. Verified in an experimental scene of 0.5 m to 3.5 m, we observed that the error between the object image distance and the virtual image distance at the same focal length is about 5 cm. The proposed virtual image distance measurement method can accurately measure the distance value of the virtual image in the HMD. This method can be widely used in virtual and augmented reality, especially in the task of constructing realistic scenes.

High-speed eye tracking based on a synchronized imaging mechanism by a dual-ring infrared lighting source.

It is a challenge for conventional monocular-camera single-light source eye-tracking methods to achieve high-speed eye tracking. In this work, a dual-ring infrared lighting source was designed to achieve bright and dark pupils in high speed. The eye-tracking method used a dual-ring infrared lighting source and synchronized triggers for the even and odd camera frames to capture bright and dark pupils. A pupillary corneal reflex was calculated by the center coordinates of the Purkinje spot and the pupil. A map function was established to map the relationship between the pupillary corneal reflex and gaze spots. The gaze coordinate was calculated based on the mapping function. The average detection time of each gaze spot was 3.76 ms.

Research on the pharmacognostic characteristics, physicochemical properties and in vitro antioxidant potency of Rosa laxa Retz. flos.

Rosa laxa Retz. is an unexplored Rosaceae plant in Xinjiang, China, and its flower is traditionally used in Kazak to treat the common cold, fever, and epileptic seizures and lessen the effects of aging. In the present study, the pharmacognostic profiles, physicochemical properties, phytochemical characteristics, and in vitro antioxidant potency of Rosa laxa Retz. flos (RLF) were presented. In the pharmacognostic evaluation of RLF, organoleptic characteristics, internal structures, and powder information were observed, and physicochemical parameters, including moisture content, ash, pH value, swelling degree, and extractives were examined. The quantitative analysis of the chemical composition of four different polar extracts of RLF showed that the aqueous part had the highest total triterpene acid, flavonoid, and polyphenol content (4.50 ± 0.04 mg/g, 50.56 ± 0.03 mg/g, and 60.20 ± 0.09 mg/g, respectively). A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detector (DAD) method was established and the contents of gallic acid, ellagic acid, astragalin, and tiliroside in RLF were determined simultaneously. In the set concentration range, the linear relationship among the four components was good (r > 0.999), the average recoveries were 97.36%-100.54%. The contents of gallic acid, ellagic acid, astragalin, and tiliroside in RLF samples were (9.46 ± 2.31) mg/g, (10.60 ±0.75) mg/g, (1.13 ± 2.50) mg/g, and (1.11 ± 2.65) mg/g, respectively. The types of its secondary metabolites were determined by fluorescence, color reaction by chemical solvent method, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The functional groups of its secondary metabolites were determined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Results showed that RLF contains a variety of secondary metabolic products, including flavonoids, phenolic acid, glycoside, and organic acid. TLC identification showed it contains ursolic acid, ß-sitosterol, tiliroside, astragalin, isoquercitrin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, gallic acid, and ellagic acid. The in vitro antioxidant activity of different polar parts of RLF was investigated by DPPH, ABTS, and reduction performance experiments. The aqueous extract had the strongest antioxidant capacity, consistent with the high content of triterpene acids, flavonoids, and polyphenolic compounds. These findings will provide critical information for the study of quality standards and medicinal value of RLF and its extracts, justify its usage in traditional medicinal systems, and encourage the use of this plant in disease prevention and treatment. Its phytochemical composition and pharmacological studies need to be explored in future. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to observe the morphology, and microstructure of Rosa laxa Retz. flos (RLF). The physicochemical properties, fluorescence and phytochemical composition of four different polar extracts of RLF were analyzed by UV-Vis and FTIR. Determination of total triterpenic acid, total flavonoids, and total polyphenols in four different polar extracts of RLF by UV spectrophotometry. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detector (DAD) method was established and the contents of gallic acid, ellagic acid, astragalin, and tiliroside in RLF were determined simultaneously. TLC confirmed that RLF contains ursolic acid, ß-sitosterol, tiliroside, astragalin, isoquercitrin, kaempferol 3-rutinoside, gallic acid, and ellagic acid. The in vitro antioxidant activity of RLF was studied by DPPH, ABTS, and reducing ability experiments.

Dual-Reference Source-Free Active Domain Adaptation for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Tumor Segmentation across Multiple Hospitals.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a prevalent and clinically significant malignancy that predominantly impacts the head and neck area. Precise delineation of the Gross Tumor Volume (GTV) plays a pivotal role in ensuring effective radiotherapy for NPC. Despite recent methods that have achieved promising results on GTV segmentation, they are still limited by lacking carefully-annotated data and hard-to-access data from multiple hospitals in clinical practice. Although some unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) has been proposed to alleviate this problem, unconditionally mapping the distribution distorts the underlying structural information, leading to inferior performance. To address this challenge, we devise a novel Sourece-Free Active Domain Adaptation framework to facilitate domain adaptation for the GTV segmentation task. Specifically, we design a dual reference strategy to select domain-invariant and domain-specific representative samples from a specific target domain for annotation and model fine-tuning without relying on source-domain data. Our approach not only ensures data privacy but also reduces the workload for oncologists as it just requires annotating a few representative samples from the target domain and does not need to access the source data. We collect a large-scale clinical dataset comprising 1057 NPC patients from five hospitals to validate our approach. Experimental results show that our method outperforms the previous active learning (e.g., AADA and MHPL) and UDA (e.g., Tent and CPR) methods, and achieves comparable results to the fully supervised upper bound, even with few annotations, highlighting the significant medical utility of our approach. In addition, there is no public dataset about multi-center NPC segmentation, we will release code and dataset for future research (Git).

Interpregnancy Interval After Healthy Live Birth and Subsequent Spontaneous Abortion.

Importance: Many studies have reported that the interpregnancy interval (IPI) is a potential modifiable risk factor for adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the association between IPI after live birth and subsequent spontaneous abortion (SA) is unclear. Objective: To investigate the association of IPI after a healthy live birth and subsequent SA. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective cohort study used data from 180 921 women aged 20 to 49 years who had a single healthy live birth and planned for another pregnancy and who participated in the Chinese National Free Prepregnancy Checkups Project from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2020. Statistical analysis was conducted from June 20 to October 5, 2023. Exposure: Interpregnancy interval, defined as the interval between the delivery date and conception of the subsequent pregnancy, was categorized as follows: less than 18 months, 18 to 23 months, 24 to 35 months, 36 to 59 months, and 60 months or longer. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was SA. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression models to examine the association between IPI and the risk of SA. Dose-response associations were evaluated by restricted cubic splines. Results: The analyses included 180 921 multiparous women (mean [SD] age at current pregnancy, 26.3 [2.8] years); 4380 SA events (2.4% of all participants) were recorded. A J-shaped association between IPI levels and SA was identified. In the fully adjusted model, compared with IPIs of 18 to 23 months, both short (<18 months) and long (≥36 months) IPIs showed an increased risk of SA (IPIs of <18 months: OR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.04-1.27]; IPIs of 36-59 months: OR, 1.28 [95% CI, 1.15-1.43]; IPIs of ≥60 months: OR, 2.13 [95% CI, 1.78-2.56]). Results of the subgroup analysis by mode of previous delivery were consistent with the main analysis. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study of multiparous women suggests that an IPI of shorter than 18 months or an IPI of 36 months or longer after a healthy live birth was associated with an increased risk of subsequent SA. The findings are valuable to make a rational prepregnancy plan and may facilitate the prevention of SA and improvement in neonatal outcomes.

Improved Diversity-Promoting Collaborative Metric Learning for Recommendation.

Collaborative Metric Learning (CML) has recently emerged as a popular method in recommendation systems (RS), closing the gap between metric learning and collaborative filtering. Following the convention of RS, existing practices exploit unique user representation in their model design. This paper focuses on a challenging scenario where a user has multiple categories of interests. Under this setting, the unique user representation might induce preference bias, especially when the item category distribution is imbalanced. To address this issue, we propose a novel method called Diversity-Promoting Collaborative Metric Learning (DPCML), with the hope of considering the commonly ignored minority interest of the user. The key idea behind DPCML is to introduce a set of multiple representations for each user in the system where users' preference toward an item is aggregated by taking the minimum item-user distance among their embedding set. Specifically, we instantiate two effective assignment strategies to explore a proper quantity of vectors for each user. Meanwhile, a Diversity Control Regularization Scheme (DCRS) is developed to accommodate the multi-vector representation strategy better. Theoretically, we show that DPCML could induce a smaller generalization error than traditional CML. Furthermore, we notice that CML-based approaches usually require negative sampling to reduce the heavy computational burden caused by the pairwise objective therein. In this paper, we reveal the fundamental limitation of the widely adopted hard-aware sampling from the One-Way Partial AUC (OPAUC) perspective and then develop an effective sampling alternative for the CML-based paradigm. Finally, comprehensive experiments over a range of benchmark datasets speak to the efficacy of DPCML.

Factors influencing TSH suppression efficacy in postoperative papillary thyroid carcinoma patients: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: While surgery plays a crucial role in treating papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the potential effects of subsequent TSH suppression therapy on prognosis should not be overlooked. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence postoperative TSH suppression therapy in patients with PTC. METHODS: This study was a retrospective cohort study conducted at our hospital. It included 268 patients who underwent surgery and were pathologically diagnosed with PTC between February 2019 and February 2021. The selected patients received postoperative TSH suppression therapy. Based on the TSH level measured 12 months after surgery, the patients were divided into two groups: TSH level conforming group (n = 80) and non-conforming group (n = 188). We then compared the general clinical data, clinicopathological characteristics, preoperative laboratory test indicators, postoperative levothyroxine sodium tablet dosage, follow-up frequency, and thyroid function-related indicators between the two groups of patients. The correlation between the observed indicators and the success of TSH suppression therapy was further analyzed, leading to the identification of influencing factors for TSH suppression therapy. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in general clinical data and clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups of patients (P > 0.05). The proportion of patients with preoperative TSH ≥ 2.0 mU/L was higher in the non-conforming group compared to the TSH level conforming group (P < 0.05), and the ROC curve analysis indicated that the area under the curve for the preoperative TSH index was 0.610 (P < 0.05). The proportion of patients in the TSH level conforming group who took oral levothyroxine sodium tablets at a dose of ≥ 1.4 µg/kg·d after surgery was higher (P < 0.05). The postoperative levels of FT3 and FT4 were higher in the TSH level conforming group (P < 0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis indicated that factors "Postoperative TSH level ≥ 2 mU/L", "Levothyroxine sodium tablet dose<1.4 µg/kg·d", and "Combined with Hashimoto thyroiditis" were significantly associated with an elevated risk of postoperative TSH levels failing to reach the target (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Optimal thyroid function in patients with PTC post-surgery is best achieved when adjusting the dose of levothyroxine sodium in a timely manner to reach the target TSH level during follow-up visits.

Injectable, self-healing and degradable dynamic hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties and stability by thermal-induced micellization.

Dynamic hydrogels possessing injectable, degradable and self-healing abilities have attracted considerable attention in the biomedical field in recent years, but it is difficult to tune the mechanical properties and stability of conventional dynamic hydrogels. In this work, we synthesized ABA-triblock copolymers via RAFT polymerization, where the A block consisted of thermo-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-diacetone acrylamide) and the B block was hydrophilic poly(acrylamide). Subsequently, dynamic hydrogels were obtained based on the acylhydrazone bonds between the triblock copolymers and adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH). The obtained hydrogels exhibited injectable and self-healable abilities. In response to the thermal-induced micellization of their temperature-responsive blocks, the mechanical strength of the hydrogels not only increased, but also they exhibited high stability even at pH 2.0. Moreover, the hydrogel in the stable state could be degraded by the fracture of its trithiocarbonate groups. In addition, the hydrogels exhibited good cytocompatibility and controlled release behavior for doxorubicin (DOX). Considering these attractive tunable properties, these dynamic hydrogels show various potential applications in the biomedical field, such as drug carriers and cell or tissue engineering scaffolds.

Non-targeted mass spectrometry and feature-based molecular networking for determination of branched fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids in milk.

Branched fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs) represent trace lipids with significant natural biological functions. While exogenous FAHFAs have been extensively studied, research on FAHFAs in milk remains limited, constraining our grasp of their nutritional roles. This study introduces a non-targeted mass spectrometry approach combined with chemical networking of spectral fragmentation patterns to uncover FAHFAs. Through meticulous sample handling and comparisons of various data acquisition and processing modes, we validate the method's superiority, identifying twice as many FAHFAs compared to alternative techniques. This validated method was then applied to different milk samples, revealing 45 chemical signals associated with known and potential FAHFAs, alongside findings of 66 ceramide/hexosylceramide (Cer/HexCer), 48 phosphatidyl ethanolamine/lyso phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE/LPE), 21 phosphatidylcholine/lysophosphatidylcholine (PC/LPC), 16 phosphatidylinositol (PI), 7 phosphatidylserine (PS), and 11 sphingomyelin (SM) compounds. This study expands our understanding of the FAHFA family in milk and provides a fast and convenient method for identifying FAHFAs.

A review of the research progress on Artemisia argyi Folium: botany, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and clinical application.

As a kind of well-known moxibustion material across the world, Artemisia argyi Folium (AAF) has a definite curative effect. From 1996 to now, various studies on AAF have been increasing year by year. That is why this paper is conducted because of no comprehensive summary except for an essential oil review recently published in 2023. Using "AAF" and "mugwort" as keywords, the related literature was summarized in four internationally recognized databases: PubMed, Web of Science, ACS, and ScienceDirect, mainly include four aspects such as botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical application. Four traditional identification methods and two new ones were reported. A total of 136 compounds were identified, among which 23 new terpenoids and two new flavonoids were discovered. The pharmacological effects of AAF mainly focus on anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, and other aspects. Clinically, it is mainly used in respiratory, immune, digestive, and nervous systems in addition to gynecology. The current research mainly focuses on the composition and pharmacology of AAF. Future studies should thoroughly establish the quality criteria and pharmacokinetics of AAF. According to the different application fields, the corresponding quality standards should be formulated to ensure the efficacy of drugs in the actual treatment.

Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Fasting Blood Glucose and Diabetes in 20 Million Chinese Women of Reproductive Age.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence of the associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and diabetes risk from women of reproductive age, in whom diabetes may have adverse long-term health effects for both themselves and future generations, remains scarce. We therefore examined the associations of long-term PM2.5 exposure with fasting blood glucose (FBG) level and diabetes risk in women of reproductive age in China. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study included 20,076,032 women age 20-49 years participating in the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project in China between 2010 and 2015. PM2.5 was estimated using a satellite-based model. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of PM2.5 exposure with FBG level and diabetes risk, respectively. Diabetes burden attributable to PM2.5 was estimated using attributable fraction (AF) and attributable number. RESULTS: PM2.5 showed monotonic relationships with elevated FBG level and diabetes risk. Each interquartile range (27 µg/m3) increase in 3-year average PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 0.078-mmol/L (95% CI 0.077, 0.079) increase in FBG and 18% (95% CI 16%, 19%) higher risk of diabetes. The AF attributed to PM2.5 exposure exceeding 5 µg/m3 was 29.0% (95% CI 27.5%, 30.5%), corresponding to an additional 78.6 thousand (95% CI 74.5, 82.6) diabetes cases. Subgroup analyses showed more pronounced diabetes risks in those who were overweight or obese, age >35 years, less educated, of minority ethnicity, registered as a rural household, and residing in western China. CONCLUSIONS: We found long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with higher diabetes risk in women of reproductive age in China.

Gut Microbiota-Derived Tryptophan Metabolites Alleviate Allergic Asthma Inflammation in Ovalbumin-Induced Mice.

Asthma is a prevalent respiratory disease. The present study is designed to determine whether gut microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites alleviate allergic asthma inflammation in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced mice and explore the effect and potential mechanism therein. Asthma model mice were constructed by OVA treatment, and kynurenine (KYN), indole-3-lactic acid (ILA), in-dole-3-carbaldehyde (I3C), and indole acetic acid (IAA) were administered by intraperitoneal injection. The percent survival, weight and asthma symptom score of mice were recorded. The total immunoglobulin E and OVA-specific (s)IgE in the serum and the inflammatory cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected by the corresponding ELISA kits. The composition of the gut microbiota and tryptophan-targeted metabolism in mouse feces were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and targeted metabolomics, respectively. The four tryptophan metabolites improved the percent survival, weight and asthma symptoms of mice, and reduced the inflammatory cells in lung tissues, especially I3C. I3C and IAA significantly (p < 0.05) downregulated the levels of OVA-IgE and inflammatory cytokines. KYN was observed to help restore gut microbiota diversity. Additionally, I3C, KYN, and ILA increased the relative abundance of Anaeroplasma, Akkermansia, and Ruminococcus_1, respectively, which were connected with tryptophan metabolic pathways. IAA also enhanced capability of tryptophan metabolism by the gut microbiota, restoring tryptophan metabolism and increasing production of other tryptophan metabolites. These findings suggest that tryptophan metabolites may modulate asthma through the gut microbiota, offering potential benefits for clinical asthma management.

Enhancing infectious diseases early warning: A deep learning approach for influenza surveillance in China.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a universally applicable, feedback-informed Self-Excitation Attention Residual Network (SEAR) model. This model dynamically adapts to evolving disease trends and surveillance system changes, accommodating various scenarios. Thereby enhancing the effectiveness of early warning systems. Methods: Surveillance data on influenza-like illness (ILI) was collected from various regions including Northern China, Southern China, Beijing, and Yunnan. The reproduction number (Rt) was estimated to determine the threshold for issuing warnings. The Self-Excitation Attention Residual Network (SEAR) was devised employing deep learning algorithms and was trained, validated, and tested. The SEAR model's efficacy was assessed based on five metrics: accuracy rate, recall rate, F1 score, confusion matrix, and the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: With an advance warning set at three days, the SEAR model outperformed five primary models - logistic regression, support vector machine, random forest, Extreme Gradient Boosting, and Long Short-Term Memory model - in all five evaluation metrics. Notably, the model's warning performance declined with an increase in the early warning value and the number of warning days, albeit maintaining a ROC value over 0.7 in all scenarios. Conclusion: The SEAR model demonstrated robust early warning performance for influenza in diverse Chinese regions with high accuracy and specificity. This novel model, augmenting traditional systems, supports widespread application for respiratory disease outbreak monitoring. Future evaluations could incorporate alternative indicators, with the model continuously updating through data feedback, thus enhancing its universal applicability. Ongoing optimization, using iterative feedback and expert judgment, heralds a transformative approach to surveillance-based early warning strategies.

Yiwei Xiaoyu granules for treatment of chronic atrophic gastritis with deficiency syndrome of the spleen and stomach.

BACKGROUND: The Correa sequence, initiated by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), commonly progresses to gastric cancer through the stage of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). Although eradication of H. pylori only reduces the risk of gastric cancer, it does not eliminate the risk for neoplastic progression. Yiwei Xiaoyu granules (YWXY) are a commonly used composite preparation in Chinese clinics. However, the pursuit of excellence in clinical trials and the establishment of standardized animal experiments are still needed to contribute to full understanding and application of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of CAG. AIM: To demonstrate the effectiveness of YWXY in patients with CAG and spleen-stomach deficiency syndrome (DSSS), by alleviating histological scores, improving response rates for pathological lesions, and achieving clinical efficacy in relieving DSSS symptoms. METHODS: We designed a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. The study enrolled seventy-two H. pylori-negative patients (mean age, 52.3 years; 38 men) who were randomly allocated to either the treatment group or control group in a 1:1 ratio, and treated with 15 g YWXY or 0.36 g Weifuchun (WFC) tablet combined with the respective dummy for 24 wk. The pre-randomization phase resulted in the exclusion of 72 patients: 50 participants did not meet the inclusion criteria, 12 participants declined to participate, and 10 participants were excluded for various other reasons. Seven visits were conducted during the study, and histopathological examination with target endoscopic biopsy of narrow-band imaging was requested before the first and seventh visits. We also evaluated endoscopic performance scores, total symptom scores, serum pepsinogen and gastrin-17. RESULTS: Six patients did not complete the trial procedures. Treatment with YWXY improved the Operative Link on Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia Assessment (OLGIM) stage, compared with WFC (P < 0.05). YWXY provided better relief from symptoms of DSSS and better improvement in serum gastric function, compared with WFC (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: YWXY compared with WFC significantly reduced the risk of mild or moderate atrophic disease, according to OLGIM stage, significantly relieved symptoms of DSSS, and improved serum gastric function.

Prevotella melaninogenica disrupted oral epithelial barrier function via myosin light chain kinase.

OBJECTIVE: Our previous studies have found that the composition ratio of Prevotella melaninogenica (Pm) on buccal mucosa surface of oral lichen planus (OLP) patients increased significantly compared with control. Furthermore, Pm could invade the epithelium of OLP patients. This study aimed to further explore the impact of Pm on oral keratinocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Pm-human oral keratinocyte (HOK) co-culture model was established to detect monolayer permeability, zona occludens-1 (ZO-1) expression, and intracellular survival of Pm. We performed RNA-seq followed by identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis, with a particular focus on myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). An MLCK inhibitor ML-7 was utilized in Pm-HOK co-culture model to assess its effects on monolayer permeability and ZO-1 expression. RESULTS: HOK monolayer permeability was increased, and ZO-1 expression was decreased after co-culture (p < 0.05). Pm could survive in HOK cells. RNA-seq revealed MLCK was an upregulated common DEG. The expression of MLCK in the Pm-HOK co-culture model was upregulated. Inhibition of MLCK rescued the increased epithelial permeability, and ZO-1 expression was upregulated (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: MLCK may be involved in disrupting epithelial barrier function by Pm.

Sludge deep dewatering by liquefied dimethyl ether: selection of operating conditions based on response surface methodology.

Sludge is an inevitable by-product of the sewage treatment process and its high moisture content poses significant challenges for its treatment and disposal. This study focuses on the technology of sludge deep dewatering using liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) and explores the relationship between operating parameters (DME/sludge ratio, extraction time and stirring speed) and the water content of the sludge after deep dewatering. After deep dewatering, the sludge's lower heating value (LHV) was significantly increased. The dehydrated filtrate is highly biodegradable and could be treated together with sewage. Based on the response surface method of central composite design, a second-order regression model of the above three variables and sludge water content as the response was established. Finally, the operating conditions diagram was drawn by target water content (36.96 wt.%) which meets the requirement of self-sustained incineration and model equation. This study provides a valuable perspective on sludge drying and fuelisation.

Heterogeneous Porous Synergistic Photocatalysts for Organic Transformations.

Recent interest has surged in using heterogeneous carriers to boost synergistic photocatalysis for organic transformations. Heterogeneous catalysts not only facilitate synergistic enhancement of distinct catalytic centers compared to their homogeneous counterparts, but also allow for the easy recovery and reuse of catalysts. This mini-review summarizes recent advancements in developing heterogeneous carriers, including metal-organic frameworks, covalent-organic frameworks, porous organic polymers, and others, for synergistic catalytic reactions. The advantages of porous materials in heterogeneous catalysis originate from their ability to provide a high surface area, facilitate enhanced mass transport, offer a tunable chemical structure, ensure the stability of active species, and enable easy recovery and reuse of catalysts. Both photosensitizers and catalysts can be intricately incorporated into suitable porous carriers to create heterogeneous dual photocatalysts for organic transformations. Notably, experimental evidence from reported cases has shown that the catalytic efficacy of heterogeneous catalysts often surpasses that of their homogeneous analogues. This enhanced performance is attributed to the proximity and confinement effects provided by the porous nature of the carriers. It is expected that porous carriers will provide a versatile platform for integrating diverse catalysts, thus exhibiting superior performance across a range of organic transformations and appealing prospect for industrial applications.

Salivary microbiome is associated with the response to chemoradiotherapy in initially inoperable patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: The salivary microbiome may interact with chemoradiotherapy through dynamic changes in microbial composition and systemic immunity. We aimed to explore the association between the salivary microbiome and response to chemoradiotherapy in initially inoperable patients with local advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LAESCC). Methods: Salivary and peripheral blood samples were collected before and after chemoradiotherapy. The microbiome and metabolic pathways were analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry/Mass spectrometry analyses. Results: The salivary microbiome exhibited characteristic variations between patients and healthy controls. A significant correlation was found between Prevotella_salivae, Saccharibacteria_TM7_G3_bacterium_HMT_351, and Veillonellaceae_G1_bacterium_HMT_129 and pathological complete response (pCR) in initially inoperable patients who underwent surgery. The PICRUSt suggested that immune diseases and cell motility were different in tumor compared to normal groups. KEGG enrichment analysis showed enriched lipid metabolism, signal transduction, and membrane transport in the tumor group. CD3+CD8 T cells, IL6, IL10, and IFNγ exhibited an increasing trend during the treatment process of chemoradiotherapy. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that variations in specific saliva taxa associated with host immunomodulatory cells and cytokines could be promising for early efficacy prediction of chemoradiotherapy in initially inoperable patients with LAESCC.

Autonomous Feedback-Driven Engineered DNAzyme-Coated Trojan Horse-like Nanocapsules for On-Demand CRISPR/Cas9 Delivery.

Manipulating the expression of cellular genes through efficient CRISPR/Cas9 delivery is rapidly evolving into a desirable tumor therapeutics. The exposure of CRISPR/Cas9 to a complex external environment poses challenges for conventional delivery carriers in achieving responsive and accurate release. Here, we report a Trojan horse-like nanocapsule for the on-demand delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 in a microRNA-responsive manner, enabling precise tumor therapy. The nanocapsule comprises a nanoassembled, engineered DNAzyme shell encasing a Cas9/sgRNA complex core. The DNAzyme, functioning as a catalytic unit, undergoes a conformational change in the presence of tumor-associated microRNA, followed by activating a positive feedback-driven autonomous catabolic cycle of the nanocapsule shell. This catabolic cycle is accomplished through chain reactions of DNAzyme "cleavage-hybridization-cleavage", which ensures sensitivity in microRNA recognition and effective release of Cas9/sgRNA. Utilizing this Trojan horse-like nanocapsule, as low as 1.7 pM microRNA-21 can trigger the on-demand release of Cas9/sgRNA, enabling the specific editing of the protumorigenic microRNA coding gene. The resulting upregulation of tumor suppressor genes induces apoptosis in tumor cells, leading to significant inhibition of tumor growth by up to 75.94%. The Trojan horse-like nanocapsule, with superior programmability and biocompatibility, is anticipated to serve as a promising carrier for tailoring responsive gene editing systems, achieving enhanced antitumor specificity and efficacy.