Regioselective N-Trideuteromethylation of Tautomeric Polyaza Heterocycles.

Methods for regioselective N-trideuteromethylation of tautomeric polyaza heterocycles are highly sought-after. Disclosed herein is an N-trideuterated methylation reaction of imidazoles and pyrazoles with high regioselectivity and deuterium purity using easily available CF3SO3CD3 as the -CD3 source. This method enables the easy synthesis of important deuterium-labeled azoles, including dimetridazole-d3, ipronidazole-d3, hydroxy dimetridazole-d3, and ronidazole-d3.

Constructing eRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks to explore the genetic basis of muscle and fat-relevant traits in pigs.

BACKGROUND: Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) play a crucial role in transcriptional regulation. While significant progress has been made in understanding epigenetic regulation mediated by eRNAs, research on the construction of eRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks (eGRN) and the identification of critical network components that influence complex traits is lacking. RESULTS: Here, employing the pig as a model, we conducted a comprehensive study using H3K27ac histone ChIP-seq and RNA-seq data to construct eRNA expression profiles from multiple tissues of two distinct pig breeds, namely Enshi Black (ES) and Duroc. In addition to revealing the regulatory landscape of eRNAs at the tissue level, we developed an innovative network construction and refinement method by integrating RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals and enhancer-modulating effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) measured by self-transcribing active regulatory region sequencing (STARR-seq) experiments. Using this approach, we unraveled eGRN that significantly influence the growth and development of muscle and fat tissues, and identified several novel genes that affect adipocyte differentiation in a cell line model. CONCLUSIONS: Our work not only provides novel insights into the genetic basis of economic pig traits, but also offers a generalizable approach to elucidate the eRNA-mediated transcriptional regulation underlying a wide spectrum of complex traits for diverse organisms.

Identifying and overcoming COVID-19 vaccination impediments using Bayesian data mining techniques.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly reshaped human life. The development of COVID-19 vaccines has offered a semblance of normalcy. However, obstacles to vaccination have led to substantial loss of life and economic burdens. In this study, we analyze data from a prominent health insurance provider in the United States to uncover the underlying reasons behind the inability, refusal, or hesitancy to receive vaccinations. Our research proposes a methodology for pinpointing affected population groups and suggests strategies to mitigate vaccination barriers and hesitations. Furthermore, we estimate potential cost savings resulting from the implementation of these strategies. To achieve our objectives, we employed Bayesian data mining methods to streamline data dimensions and identify significant variables (features) influencing vaccination decisions. Comparative analysis reveals that the Bayesian method outperforms cutting-edge alternatives, demonstrating superior performance.

An Analysis of a Transposable Element Expression Atlas during 27 Developmental Stages in Porcine Skeletal Muscle: Unveiling Molecular Insights into Pork Production Traits.

The development and growth of porcine skeletal muscle determine pork quality and yield. While genetic regulation of porcine skeletal muscle development has been extensively studied using various omics data, the role of transposable elements (TEs) in this context has been less explored. To bridge this gap, we constructed a comprehensive atlas of TE expression throughout the developmental stages of porcine skeletal muscle. This was achieved by integrating porcine TE genomic coordinates with whole-transcriptome RNA-Seq data from 27 developmental stages. We discovered that in pig skeletal muscle, active Tes are closely associated with active epigenomic marks, including low levels of DNA methylation, high levels of chromatin accessibility, and active histone modifications. Moreover, these TEs include 6074 self-expressed TEs that are significantly enriched in terms of muscle cell development and myofibril assembly. Using the TE expression data, we conducted a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and identified a module that is significantly associated with muscle tissue development as well as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of the signals of pig meat and carcass traits. Within this module, we constructed a TE-mediated gene regulatory network by adopting a unique multi-omics integration approach. This network highlighted several established candidate genes associated with muscle-relevant traits, including HES6, CHRNG, ACTC1, CHRND, MAMSTR, and PER2, as well as novel genes like ENSSSCG00000005518, ENSSSCG00000033601, and PIEZO2. These novel genes hold promise for regulating muscle-related traits in pigs. In summary, our research not only enhances the TE-centered dissection of the genetic basis underlying pork production traits, but also offers a general approach for constructing TE-mediated regulatory networks to study complex traits or diseases.

Grain-refining mechanism in hypereutectic Al-20Si alloy with minor Sr - Sc - La and ultrasonic vibration treatment.

The grain-refining mechanism with minor Sr - Sc - La and ultrasonic vibration treatment (UVT) in the hypereutectic Al-20Si alloy were studied. The results demonstrated that the microstructure of the hypereutectic Al-20Si alloy could be refined significantly, further improve its mechanical properties. The desirable refinement of the microstructure was achieved using 0.2% Sr, 0.15% Sc, and 0.3% La under UVT, achieving the highest grain circularity coefficient, hardness, elongation, and area reduction. The tensile strength was the largest with the addition of 0.2% La. The findings of this study provide theoretical and experimental guidelines for the fabrication of structural materials for application in automotive, aerospace, and deep-sea equipment.

DeepSATA: A Deep Learning-Based Sequence Analyzer Incorporating the Transcription Factor Binding Affinity to Dissect the Effects of Non-Coding Genetic Variants.

Utilizing large-scale epigenomics data, deep learning tools can predict the regulatory activity of genomic sequences, annotate non-coding genetic variants, and uncover mechanisms behind complex traits. However, these tools primarily rely on human or mouse data for training, limiting their performance when applied to other species. Furthermore, the limited exploration of many species, particularly in the case of livestock, has led to a scarcity of comprehensive and high-quality epigenetic data, posing challenges in developing reliable deep learning models for decoding their non-coding genomes. The cross-species prediction of the regulatory genome can be achieved by leveraging publicly available data from extensively studied organisms and making use of the conserved DNA binding preferences of transcription factors within the same tissue. In this study, we introduced DeepSATA, a novel deep learning-based sequence analyzer that incorporates the transcription factor binding affinity for the cross-species prediction of chromatin accessibility. By applying DeepSATA to analyze the genomes of pigs, chickens, cattle, humans, and mice, we demonstrated its ability to improve the prediction accuracy of chromatin accessibility and achieve reliable cross-species predictions in animals. Additionally, we showcased its effectiveness in analyzing pig genetic variants associated with economic traits and in increasing the accuracy of genomic predictions. Overall, our study presents a valuable tool to explore the epigenomic landscape of various species and pinpoint regulatory deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) variants associated with complex traits.

Evaluation of artificial intelligent breast ultrasound on lesion detection and characterization compared with hand-held ultrasound in asymptomatic women.

Introduction: To compare the accuracy of Artificial Intelligent Breast Ultrasound (AIBUS) with hand-held breast ultrasound (HHUS) in asymptomatic women and to offer recommendations for screening in regions with limited medical resources. Methods: 852 participants who underwent both HHUS and AIBUS were enrolled between December 2020 and June 2021. Two radiologists, who were unaware of the HHUS results, reviewed the AIBUS data and scored the image quality on a separate workstation. Breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) final recall assessment, breast density category, quantified lesion features, and examination time were evaluated for both devices. The statistical analysis included McNemar's test, paired t-test, and Wilcoxon test. The kappa coefficient and consistency rate were calculated in different subgroups. Results: Subjective satisfaction with AIBUS image quality reached 70%. Moderate agreements were found between AIBUS with good quality images and HHUS for the BI-RADS final recall assessment (κ = 0.47, consistency rate = 73.9%) and breast density category (κ = 0.50, consistency rate = 74.8%). The lesions measured by AIBUS were statistically smaller and deeper than those measured by HHUS (P < 0.001), though they were not significant in clinical diagnosis (all < 3 mm). The total time required for the AIBUS examination and image interpretation was 1.03 (95% CI (0.57, 1.50)) minutes shorter than that of HHUS per case. Conclusion: Moderate agreement was obtained for the description of the BI-RADS final recall assessment and breast density category. With image quality comparable to that of HHUS, AIBUS was superior for the efficiency of primary screening.

Application of Surgery-First Approach in Treating Skeletal Dentofacial Asymmetry with Orthognathic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Skeletal dentofacial asymmetry decreases patient's attractiveness by deteriorating symmetry of facial appearance which is of great significance to individuals. Surgery-first orthognathic approach manifests its advantages of shortening treatment time and improving patient's quality of life. However, current literature on surgery-first approach mainly focuses on treating prognathism, overlooking its efficacy in improving facial symmetry of skeletal dentofacial asymmetry patients. This study aimed to assess SFA's efficacy in improving facial appearance by analyzing morphological features of asymmetric bone and facial soft tissue in a three-dimensional manner. METHODS: Thirty-four patients who received orthognathic surgery in a surgery-first fashion were included. Based on three-dimensional CT reconstruction, bilateral preoperative morphological features and postoperative symmetry of hard tissue were compared respectively. Efficacy of facial soft tissue symmetry restoration was evaluated using root mean square deviation (RMSD). RESULTS: Asymmetric features mainly located in menton, mandibular body length, angulation between ramus and midsagittal plane (MSP), distance between gonion and MSP and so on, which were significantly restored after the whole treatment. RMSD of facial soft tissue surface were significantly declined after the treatment and prognathism was corrected simultaneously if existed. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery-first orthognathic approach is proved to be capable of treating skeletal dentofacial asymmetry effectively and efficiently.

"Medium-ring" strategy enables high-performance narrowband pure-blue multi-resonance emitters: boost provided by a unique perpendicular geometry.

The introduction of a heptagonal tribenzo[b,d,f]azepine (TBA) donor onto BCz-BN enabled the development of a pure-blue narrowband emitter, TBA-BCz-BN, and induced a significant blue shift of emission from 483 nm to 468 nm and a decrease in the singlet-triplet energy gap from 0.17 eV to 0.14 eV. The corresponding TBA-BCz-BN-based OLED exhibited a high external quantum efficiency of 30.8%.

A Novel and Simplified Parameter for Mandible Angle Asymmetry Evaluation in Chinese Females.

AIM: To develop a novel and simplified parameter for mandible angle asymmetry (MAA) evaluation for facial countering surgeries in Chinese females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 250 craniofacial computer tomography of healthy Chinese individuals were collected in this retrospective study. Mimics 21.0 was applied for 3-dimensional anthropometry. The Frankfort and Green planes were set as referenced vertical and horizontal planes for measuring the distances to gonions. The differences in both orientations were analyzed to verify the symmetry. Mandible angle asymmetry (∠Go-N-ANS, MAA) which comprehensively represented horizontal and vertical placements was defined qas the novel parameter for asymmetric evaluation and quantitative analysis was conducted to generate referenced materials. RESULTS: Mandible angle asymmetry was divided into horizontal and vertical asymmetry. No significant differences were found in either horizontal or vertical orientations. The horizontal difference was 3.09±2.52 mm, the reference range was (0.28, 7.54) mm, whereas the±ertical difference was 2.59±2.48 mm, the reference range was (0.12, 6.34) mm. The difference of MAA was 1.74±1.30 degrees, and the reference range was (0.10,4.32）degrees. CONCLUSION: This study provided a novel parameter for asymmetric evaluation in the mandible angle region through quantitative 3-dimensional anthropometry, arousing plastic surgeons' attention to both aesthetics and symmetry in facial contouring surgery.

Application and Accuracy of Craniomaxillofacial Plastic Surgery Robot in Congenital Craniosynostosis Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to observe the accuracy and security of the craniomaxillofacial plastic surgery robot in congenital craniosynostosis surgery and to enhance and improve its performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed model surgical experiments on computed tomography data of 5 children with congenital craniosynostosis who were diagnosed and treated in our hospital, and model surgical experiments and animal experiments on the skulls of 3 Bama minipigs. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference shown either in model experiments or animal experiments in comparing the actual operation with the surgical simulation and inside the groups ( P >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The craniomaxillofacial plastic surgery robot has achieved good security and accuracy in model surgery and animal experiments. Further studies are needed to be conducted to confirm its security and accuracy and to continuously improve and refine the robot's performance.

Efficiency Recycling and Utilization of Phosphate from Wastewater Using LDHs-Modified Biochar.

The excessive application of phosphate fertilizers easily causes water eutrophication. Phosphorus recovery by adsorption is regarded as an effective and simple intervention to control water bodies' eutrophication. In this work, a series of new adsorbents, layered double hydroxides (LDHs)-modified biochar (BC) with different molar ratios of Mg2+ and Fe3+, were synthesized based on waste jute stalk and used for recycling phosphate from wastewater. The prepared LDHs-BC4 (the molar ratio of Mg/Fe is 4:1) has significantly high adsorption performance, and the recovery rate of phosphate is about 10 times higher than that of the pristine jute stalk BC. The maximum adsorption capacity of LDHs-BC4 for phosphate was 10.64 mg-P/g. The main mechanism of phosphate adsorption mainly includes electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, ligand exchange, and intragranular diffusion. Moreover, the phosphate-adsorbed LDHs-BC4 could promote mung bean growth, which indicated the recovery phosphate from wastewater could be used as a fertilizer.

Treatment of Asymmetric Crying Face by Fascia lata Grafting.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and discuss the plastic surgery treatment of asymmetric crying face. METHODS: From 2019 to 2022, 60 patients with asymmetric crying face were treated by fascia lata grafting. We evaluated the postoperative improvement, summarized experiences and reviewed literatures about the treatment of asymmetric crying face. RESULTS: 59 patients showed varying degrees of improvement in the movement of the affected corner of mouth, and no complications were found during the follow-up period of 6 months to 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: The cause of asymmetric crying face is still uncertain. Fascia lata grafting has shown a certain effect in the treatment of asymmetric crying face. This study evaluated this method with quite large sample. More researches are needed to explore the most appropriate treatment for asymmetric crying face.

Medium-Ring Strategy Enables Multiple Resonance Emitters with Twisted Geometry and Fast Spin-Flip to Suppress Efficiency Roll-Off.

Suppressing aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect and reducing device efficiency roll-off are both crucial yet challenging for multi-resonance (MR) emitters. Herein, we put forward a medium-ring strategy to design efficient MR emitters that feature heptagonal tribenzo[b,d,f]azepine (TBA) donors. The highly twisted conformation enlarges the intermolecular distances between the MR-emitting cores, and thus suppresses ACQ effect. Meanwhile, the introduction of heptagonal donors enhances spin-orbital coupling, so as to accelerate reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) process. This medium-ring strategy gives rise to the first example of blue MR emitter that simultaneously possesses radiative decay rate as fast as 108  s-1 and RISC rate as fast as 106  s-1 . Accordingly, DTBA-B2N3 enables to assemble high-performance blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax ) of 30.9 % and alleviated efficiency roll-off (EQE1000 : 20.5 %).

Comprehensive Serial Treatment of Treacher Collins Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss and summarize the comprehensive serial surgical treatment of Treacher Collins syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From September 2012 to January 2020, 12 patients with Treacher Collins syndrome were treated by autologous fat graft, mandibular distraction osteogenesis, orbitozygomatic reconstruction with calvarial external lamina, orthognathic surgery combined with postoperative orthodontics, transplantation of upper eyelid orbicularis myocutaneous flap, lateral canthal ligament reduction, and other methods. The authors evaluated the postoperative improvement, summarized experiences, and reviewed literatures about the comprehensive serial treatment of Treacher Collins syndrome. RESULTS: All patients showed significant improvement in appearance and function, and no complications were found during the follow-up period of 5 months to 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: The deformities of Treacher Collins syndrome involves multiple craniofacial region, and only by formulating comprehensive serial treatment strategies according to the malformation characteristics of different patients can the best effect be achieved.

Application of Composite Tissue Flap Pedicled With Superficial Temporal Artery and its Branches in the Repair of Various Maxillofacial Defects.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss and study the application of composite tissue flaps pedicled with the superficial temporal artery (STA) and its branches in the repair of various defects, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of such composite tissue flaps, and provide a reference for the personalized design of various maxillofacial defect repairs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In recent years, 12 cases of various maxillofacial defects were repaired with composite tissue flaps pedicled with the STA and its branches. The application strategies of this type of tissue flaps were summarized by summarizing experience and reviewing literature. RESULTS: According to the different defect characteristics of patients and the requirements of patients for surgery, different tissue flaps have been designed, and good results have been obtained. Except for 2 patients who developed dark purple skin flap within 48 hours after operation, the remaining patients were followed up for 6 to 24 months without serious complications. CONCLUSION: The composite tissue flap pedicled with the STA and its branches is a kind of functional tissue flap for facial defect repair. Individualized repair schemes can be designed according to different defect types of patients.

Modified Intramolecular-Lock Strategy Enables Efficient Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Non-Doped OLEDs.

The development of intramolecular-lock strategy is an appealing task for designing efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules, but only limited examples have been reported so far. Herein we present a "medium ring"-lock strategy to develop TADF emitters for improving the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The installation of an electron-deficient heptagonal diimide lock onto a highly rotatable biphenyl-based emitter not only enhances electron-withdrawing ability of acceptor that decreases singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST ), but also endows the skeleton with modest rigidity and flexibility that increases photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) in neat film. In particular, the integration of the diimide lock also leads to an increase in horizontal orientation factor (Θ// ) from 69 % to 83 %. Consequently, this modified intramolecular-lock strategy enables an efficient TADF emitter to assemble high-performance non-doped OLEDs with a high external quantum efficiency of 26.2 % and a power efficiency of 76.6 lm W-1 .

Space-Confined Donor-Acceptor Strategy Enables Fast Spin-Flip of Multiple Resonance Emitters for Suppressing Efficiency Roll-Off.

Multi-resonance boron-nitrogen-containing thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitters have experienced great success in assembling narrowband organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the slow reverse intersystem crossing rate (kRISC ) of MR-emitters (103 -105  s-1 ) that will lead to severe device efficiency roll-off has received extensive attention and remains a challenging issue. Herein, we put forward a "space-confined donor-acceptor (SCDA)" strategy to accelerate RISC process. The introduction of SCDA units onto the MR-skeleton induces intermediate triplet states, which leads to a multichannel RISC process and thus increases kRISC . As illustrated examples, efficient MR-emitters have been developed with a sub-microsecond delayed lifetime and a high kRISC of 2.13×106  s-1 , which enables to assemble high-performance OLEDs with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax ) as high as 32.5 % and an alleviated efficiency roll-off (EQE1000 : 22.9 %).

Accuracy and Security Analysis of a Cranio-Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery Robot Equipped with Piezosurgery in Genioplasty.

ABSTRACT: This study aims to verify that the craniofacial plastic surgery robot with piezosurgery is more accurate and safer than traditional operations in genioplasty. This study chose data from the Digital Plastic Surgery of Plastic Surgery Hospital in the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. The CT data of the patient's skull were reconstructed in the software, and the authors designed the measurement index. The surgical plan was designed as an ideal scheme (control group). Patients underwent traditional surgery according to the preoperative surgery plan (clinical group). Guided by surgical navigation, the osteotomy was operated on patients' same size plaster model using the surgery robot equipped with a piezosurgery (robot group). At last, the accuracy was calculated by CT data. There was no significant difference between the robotic group and control groups in the postoperative measurement index (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the robotic group and the control group (P > 0.05) in the line of osteotomy, but there was a significant difference between the clinical group and the control group in the line of the osteotomy.

Structurally Nontraditional Benzo[c]cinnoline-Based Electron-Transporting Materials with 3D Molecular Interaction Architecture.

The academically widely used electron-transporting materials (ETMs) typically suffer from low glass transition temperatures (Tg ) that could lead to poor device stability. Considering practical applications, we herein put forward a "3D molecular interaction architecture" strategy to design high-performance ETMs. As a proof-of-concept, a type of structurally nontraditional ETMs with the benzo[c]cinnoline (BZC) skeleton have been proposed and synthesized by the C-H/C-H homo-coupling of N-acylaniline as the key step. 2,9-diphenylbenzo[c]cinnoline (DPBZC) exhibits strong intermolecular interactions that feature a 3D architecture, which boosts Tg to exceedingly high 218 °C with a fast electron mobility (µe ) of 6.4×10-4  cm2 V-1 s-1 . DPBZC-based fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes show outstanding electroluminescent performances with an external quantum efficiency of 20.1 % and a power efficiency as high as 70.6 lm W-1 , which are superior to those of the devices with the commonly used ETMs.