A feasibility study to predict 3D dose delivery accuracy for IMRT using DenseNet with log files.

Objective: This study aims to explore the feasibility of DenseNet in the establishment of a three-dimensional (3D) gamma prediction model of IMRT based on the actual parameters recorded in the log files during delivery.

Methods: A total of 55 IMRT plans (including 367 fields) were randomly selected. The gamma analysis was performed using gamma criteria of 3% /3 mm (Dose Difference/Distance to Agreement), 3% /2 mm, 2% /3 mm, and 2% /2 mm with a 10% dose threshold.

Database-aided ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography Q-Exactive-Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometry putatively identifies 16 unexpected compounds and three anticounterfeiting pharmacopoeia quality markers for Perillae Fructus.

Rationale: Perillae Fructus (PF) is a common traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of asthma. It has not been effectively characterized by rosmarinic acid (RosA), which is currently designed as the sole quality indicator in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.

Methods: This study introduced a database-aided ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography equipped with quadrupole-Exactive-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-Exactive-Orbitrap MS/MS) technology to putatively identify the compounds in PF, followed by literature research, quantum chemical calculation, and molecular docking to screen potential quality markers (Q-markers) of PF.

Segmentation of liver CT images based on weighted medical transformer model.

Deep convolutional neural networks have made significant strides in the field of medical image segmentation. Although existing convolutional structures enhance performance by leveraging local image information, they often lose the interdependence information between contexts. Therefore, the article utilizes the multi-attention mechanism of the Transformer structure to more comprehensively express relationships between contexts and introduced the Transformer network architecture into the field of medical image segmentation.

A sonication-filtration method for acquisition of integrated bacterial communities from phycosphere.

Bacteria in phycosphere engage in intricate interactions with microalgae by exchanging organic and inorganic matter. However, elucidating the primary roles of bacteria in phycosphere has been a big challenge, due to the lack of adequate methods for separating tightly associated bacteria from microalgal cells. In this study we evaluated several isolation methods including centrifugation, filtration, sonication combined with filtration, and tween lysis followed by sonication and filtration, aiming to efficiently acquire complete bacterial communities from phycosphere.

A Data-Driven Computational Framework for Assessing the Risk of Placental Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.

A computational framework based on placental gene networks was proposed in this work to improve the accuracy of the placental exposure risk assessment of environmental compounds. The framework quantitatively characterizes the ability of compounds to cross the placental barrier by systematically considering the interaction and pathway-level information on multiple placental transporters. As a result, probability scores were generated for 307 compounds crossing the placental barrier based on this framework.

Associations Between Depression Symptom Burden and Delirium Risk: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background And Objectives: Delirium and depression are prevalent in aging. There is considerable clinical overlap, including shared symptoms and comorbid conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, functional decline, and mortality. Despite this, the long-term relationship between depression and delirium remains unclear.

Bioproduction of cerium-bearing magnetite and application to improve carbon-black supported platinum catalysts.

Background: Biogeochemical processing of metals including the fabrication of novel nanomaterials from metal contaminated waste streams by microbial cells is an area of intense interest in the environmental sciences.

Results: Here we focus on the fate of Ce during the microbial reduction of a suite of Ce-bearing ferrihydrites with between 0.2 and 4.

Short-term association of particulate matter and cardiovascular disease mortality in Shanghai, China between 2003 and 2020.

Objective: Evidence regarding the effects of particulate matter (PM) pollutants on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality remains limited in Shanghai, China. Our objective was to thoroughly evaluate associations between PM pollutants and CVD mortality.

Methods: Daily data on CVD mortality, PM (PM and PM) pollutants, and meteorological variables in Shanghai, China were gathered from 2003 to 2020.

Validation of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 microneutralization assay for evaluation of vaccine immunogenicity.

As variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue to emerge, assessment of vaccine immunogenicity remains a critical factor to support continued vaccination. To this end, an in vitro microneutralization (MN50) assay was validated to quantitate SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies against prototype and variant strains (Beta, Delta, Omicron BA.1, Omicron BA.

Effects of turning frequency on fermentation efficiency and microbial community metabolic function of sheep manure composting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

This study explored the effects of turning frequency on fermentation efficiency and microbial metabolic function of sheep manure composting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Five treatments with different turning frequencies were set up in this study: turning every 1 day (T1), 2 days (T2), 4 days (T3), 6 days (T4), and 8 days (T5). Results showed that the high temperature period for T1 and T5 lasted only 4 days, while that for T2-T4 lasted more than 8 days.

Enhanced lignin degradation by Irpex lacteus through expanded sterilization further improved the fermentation quality and microbial community during the silage preservation process.

Traditional autoclaving, slow degradation rate and preservation of biomass treated by fungi are the main factors restricting biological treatment. In our previous studies, strains with high efficiency and selective lignin degradation ability were obtained. To further solve the limiting factors of biological treatment, this paper proposed a composite treatment technology, which could replace autoclaves for fungal treatment and improve the preservation and utilization of fungal-pretreated straw.

Vital role of oxidative stress in tadpole liver damage caused by polystyrene nanoparticles.

Polystyrene nanoparticles are emerging as contaminants in freshwater environments, posing potential risks to amphibians exposed to extended periods of water contamination. Using tadpoles as a model, this study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of PS NPs. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (Py-GCMS) analysis revealed a concentration-dependent increase in polystyrene nanoparticles (PS NPs) levels in tadpoles with escalating exposure concentrations.

[Genetic characterization and drug resistance analysis of Salmonella Kentucky ST314 in Shenzhen in 2010-2021].

Objective: To understand the prevalence, genetic characteristics and drug resistance features of Salmonella Kentucky ST314 in Shenzhen.

Methods: Whole genome sequencing of 14 strains of Salmonella Kentucky ST314 collected from 2010-2021 by the Foodborne Disease Surveillance Network of Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention for phylogenetic evolutionary analysis, drug resistance gene and plasmid detection; drug susceptibility experiments were performed by micro-broth dilution method.

Results: A total of 57 strains of Salmonella Kentucky were collected from the foodborne disease surveillance network, 14 of which were ST314.

Relationship between ruminative style and adolescent depression.

Background: The role of rumination in depression remains controversial. We aimed to establish the ruminative tendency style theory (RTST), discuss the occurrence of depression in adolescents with rumination as the core, and explore the different associations between adolescent ruminative tendency, ruminative style, and depression.

Methods: This study employed an online questionnaire survey of 1110 Chinese adolescents aged 12-17 years, assessing ruminative tendency, ruminative style, stressful life events, depressive state, depressive trait, the Big Five personality traits, and social support.

Weakly Confined Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots as High-Purity Room-Temperature Single Photon Sources.

Colloidal perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have emerged as highly promising single photon emitters for quantum information applications. Presently, most strategies have focused on leveraging quantum confinement to increase the nonradiative Auger recombination (AR) rate to enhance single-photon (SP) purity in all-inorganic CsPbBr QDs. However, this also increases the fluorescence intermittency.

Self-Supervised Learning for Time Series Analysis: Taxonomy, Progress, and Prospects.

Self-supervised learning (SSL) has recently achieved impressive performance on various time series tasks. The most prominent advantage of SSL is that it reduces the dependence on labeled data. Based on the pre-training and fine-tuning strategy, even a small amount of labeled data can achieve high performance.

Integrated analysis of m6A regulator-mediated RNA methylation modification patterns and immune characteristics in Sjögren's syndrome.

The epigenetic modifier N6-methyladenosine (m6A), recognized as the most prevalent internal modification in messenger RNA (mRNA), has recently emerged as a pivotal player in immune regulation. Its dysregulation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune conditions. However, the implications of m6A modification within the immune microenvironment of Sjögren's syndrome (SS), a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by exocrine gland dysfunction, remain unexplored.

Self-compassion improves emotion regulation and mental health outcomes: A pilot study of an online self-compassion program for autistic adults.

Self-compassion is when we are aware of our feelings and thoughts, are friendly toward ourselves, and realize everyone feels pain and makes mistakes. Self-compassion is associated with having better mental health and well-being in autistic and non-autistic people. But we do not know if autistic people's self-compassion can be improved through psychoeducation and self-compassion practices.

Protein Corona-Mediated Inhibition of Nanozyme Activity: Impact of Protein Shape.

During biomedical applications, nanozymes, exhibiting enzyme-like characteristics, inevitably come into contact with biological fluids in living systems, leading to the formation of a protein corona on their surface. Although it is acknowledged that molecular adsorption can influence the catalytic activity of nanozymes, there is a dearth of understanding regarding the impact of the protein corona on nanozyme activity and its determinant factors. In order to address this gap, we employed the AuNR@Pt@PDDAC [PDDAC, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)] nanorod (NR) as a model nanozyme with multiple activities, including peroxidase, oxidase, and catalase-mimetic activities, to investigate the inhibitory effects of the protein corona on the catalytic activity.

SH3GL2 and MMP17 as lung adenocarcinoma biomarkers: a machine-learning based approach.

Objective: Using bioinformatics machine learning methods, our research aims to identify the potential key genes associated with Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD).

Methods: We obtained two gene expression profiling microarrays (GSE68571 and GSE74706) from the public Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database at the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The purpose was to identify Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) between the lung adenocarcinoma group and the healthy control group.

Heavy metal induced shifts in microbial community composition and interactions with dissolved organic matter in coastal sediments.

Heavy metals can impact the structure and function of coastal sediment. The dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool plays an important role in determining both the heavy metal toxicity and microbial community composition in coastal sediments. However, how heavy metals affect the interactions between microbial communities and DOM remains unclear.

AMP-Coated TiO Doped ZnO Nanomaterials Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity and Efficacy in Otitis Media Treatment by Elevating Hydroxyl Radical Levels.

Background: In the past decades, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been a major threat to global public health. Long-term, chronic otitis media is becoming more challenging to treat, thus the novel antibiotic alternative agents are much needed.

Methods: ZnO@TiO@AMP (ATZ NPs) were synthesized through a solvothermal method and subjected to comprehensive characterization.