Development and evaluation of a deep learning framework for pelvic and sacral tumor segmentation from multi-sequence MRI: a retrospective study.

Background: Accurate segmentation of pelvic and sacral tumors (PSTs) in multi-sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is essential for effective treatment and surgical planning.

Purpose: To develop a deep learning (DL) framework for efficient segmentation of PSTs from multi-sequence MRI.

Materials And Methods: This study included a total of 616 patients with pathologically confirmed PSTs between April 2011 to May 2022.

IP6K2 mutations as a novel mechanism of resistance to oncolytic virus therapy.

Background: Oncolytic virus therapy (OVT) represents a promising frontier in cancer treatment. Despite its efficacy in clinical trials, variability in patient response, particularly resistance development, highlights the need for tailored therapeutic strategies.

Methods: The Inositol Hexakisphosphate Kinase 2 (IP6K2) gene knock out was carried by CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Harnessing Lithiophilic Hetero-Interfacial Chemistry for Stable Lithium Metal Batteries with Low Negative/Positive Capacity Ratios.

Lithium (Li) metal batteries hold great promise for next-generation energy storage due to their high energy density. However, their application is hindered by uncontrollable Li plating/stripping, leading to limited cycle life, especially under practical conditions with a low negative/positive (N/P) capacity ratio. Here, it is demonstrated that stable cycling of low N/P ratio Li metal batteries can be realized by harnessing hetero-interfacial redox chemistry to regulate Li nucleation and deposition behavior.

Comparative study of peroxymonosulfate activation with HO activation by Cu-N doped biochar derived from peach gum network for rapid antibiotic removal.

The design and development of efficient biochar catalysts is an urgent need for the removal of toxic contaminants from water bodies. Peach gum (PG) is a natural colloid featuring a heteropolysaccharide macromolecule structure. Herein, Cu was anchored to the macromolecule of peach gum with dicyandiamide serving as the auxiliary ligand.

Transcriptome analysis of the hypothalamus and testes in Brandt's Vole: new insights into mechanisms of photoperiodic plasticity in postnatal testicular development.

Postnatal gonadal development is regulated by photoperiod via the hypothalamus, especially in seasonal breeding small rodents. However, the precise molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the transcriptomes of the hypothalamus and testes in 10-week-old male Brandt's voles born under long (LP, 16L:8D) and short photoperiod (SP, 8L:16D) conditions.

Comparative study of artificial light plant factories and greenhouse seedlings of SAOPOLO tomato.

In the summer, the high temperatures, high humidity, frequent rainstorms, and typhoons in the East China region limit the growth of SAOPOLO tomato seedlings. By using a plant factory combined with an LED artificial light environment, the light environment can be effectively controlled to produce high-quality seedlings. This study investigates the growth and energy consumption of tomato seedlings in an artificial light plant factory.

Developing a professional competency framework for general practitioners in tertiary hospitals in China: a modified Delphi study.

Objective: At present, the competency of general practitioners (GPs) in tertiary hospitals has not been reported, and there is no suitable competency evaluation tool. This study was conducted to develop a professional competency framework for GPs in tertiary hospitals.

Design: A modified Delphi method was adopted in the study.

Disentangled Representation Learning for Capturing Individualized Brain Atrophy via Pseudo-Healthy Synthesis.

Brain atrophy emerges as a distinctive hallmark in various neurodegenerative diseases, demonstrating a progressive trajectory across diverse disease stages and concurrently manifesting in tandem with a discernible decline in cognitive abilities. Understanding the individualized patterns of brain atrophy is critical for precision medicine and the prognosis of neurodegenerative diseases. However, it is difficult to obtain longitudinal data to compare changes before and after the onset of diseases.

The organelle genomes of the endangered seagrass reveal sequence divergences, massive gene transfer, and uncommon RNA editing types.

Introduction: , a rare submerged angiosperm, is considered endemic to the northwestern Pacific.

Methods: This study assembled and compared the mitochondrial (mt) and chloroplast (cp) genomes of to understand the organelle evolutionary patterns.

Results And Discussion: The cp genome (143,972 bp) was the second smallest within the seagrasses, whereas the mt genomes (192,246 bp) of and other seagrasses were smaller compared to those of other monocotyledons.

Exploiting Anti-site Defects in FeWN2 Nanosheets for Enol Electrooxidation Coupled with H2 Evolution at a Large Current Density.

Hydrogen production from biomass electrooxidation offers a promising alternative to water electrolysis by lowering the anodic oxidation barrier and producing valuable chemicals. However, current biomass electrooxidation systems have difficulties in achieving an industrial-scale current density due to the difficulty in cleaving high-energy C-H and O-H bonds. Here, we report a ternary layer nitride FeWN2 electrocatalyst with abundant anti-site defects (ASDs), which significantly improves its electrocatalytic performance for ascorbic acid (AA) oxidation.

Divergent Photoperiodic Responses in Hypothalamic Expression and Gonadal Activity Between Offspring and Paternal Brandt's Voles.

The postnatal development of gonadal glands in seasonal breeders, particularly small rodent species, is influenced by photoperiodic patterns. However, little research has been conducted on the effects of pattern similarity and age differentiation especially in molecular features. This study compares the postnatal development of gonadal glands and the expression of hypothalamic genes related to reproductive regulation in male offspring of Brandt's voles () born under three types of changing photoperiodic patterns: increasing long photoperiod (ILP, 12 h + 3 min/day), natural increasing long photoperiods (NLPs), and decreasing short photoperiods (DSPs, 12 h - 3 min/day), as well as in their paternal voles exposed to these patterns at the same period.

Androgen Receptor Expression Governs the Seasonal Inhibition of Testicular Development and Subsequent Recovery in .

Commonly in seasonal breeding animals, testicular development is inhibited prior to Sertoli cell maturation when environmental conditions become unfavorable, with recovery occurring once conditions improve. However, the precise molecular mechanisms governing this process remain unclear. We investigated the role of androgen receptor (AR) in the seasonal regulation of testicular development in a wild population of , a subspecies of brown rats in Northeast China residing in high-latitude regions, known for its seasonal reproductive patterns.

Distinct effects of early-stage and late-stage socioeconomic factors on brain and behavioral traits.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a time-varying multidimensional construct with ill-defined dimension-specific and age-specific effects on brain and behavior. We investigated these effects in 4,228 young adults. From 16 socioeconomic indicators, assessed for early (0-10 years) and late (>10 years) stages, we constructed family, provincial, family adverse and neighborhood adverse socioeconomic dimensions.

[Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of TCP gene family in (Franch.) Schneid].

(Franch.) Schneid. is an economic fruit plant with high medicinal and edible values.

Global, regional, and nation burden of urolithiasis in young adults from 1990 to 2021: analysis of data from the global burden of disease study 2021.

The global burden of urolithiasis has attracted increasing attention, but there is still a lack of data on the trends and regional disparities of urolithiasis among young adults. Utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 Results Tool, this study analyzed annual incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates across 204 countries and 21 regions among young adults aged 15-49 years. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) were calculated to facilitate direct comparisons, and temporal trends were assessed using the Joinpoint Regression Program to determine average annual percentage changes (AAPC).

Uveal Melanoma in a Child: A Case Report.

Uveal melanoma is a rare and highly malignant tumor. Its occurrence in children is rare and challenging to differentiate from retinoblastoma. The present work reports on the unusual case of a 4-year-old male patient who presented a mass in the right eye unresponsive to 18 days of ophthalmic artery chemotherapy.

Ankylosing spondylitis and the genetic correlation of extra-articular manifestations: Evidence from bidirectional Mendelian randomization and Bayesian colocalization.

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) encompasses a group of inflammatory joint disorders affecting the spine and joints, including ankylosing spondylitis and nonradiographic axial SpA, exhibiting diverse extra-articular manifestations. Genetic factors, beyond human leukocyte antigen B27, play a significant role in SpA development. Leveraging advanced statistical methods, this study explores bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) and Bayesian colocalization to unravel the genetic links between SpA and its extra-articular manifestations.

Metal chloride mediated choline chloride-lactic acid deep eutectic solvent pretreatment of bamboo for improved cellulose saccharification and lignin recovery.

The cost and recycling efficiency of solvents are critical factors determining the practicality of pretreatment process. In this work, effects of metal chlorides FeCl, AlCl and CuCl on pretreatment efficiency and recyclability of choline chloride-lactic acid (ChCl-LA) deep eutectic solvent are comparatively studied. The results show that metal chloride mediation significantly enhances pretreatment efficiency of ChCl-LA, improving delignification, lignin recovery and enzymatic saccharification of cellulose after pretreatment.

Genome-wide identification of SWEET family genes and functional analysis of NtSWEET12i under drought and saline-alkali stresses in tobacco.

Background: SWEET (Sugar Will Eventually be Exported Transporter) proteins play vital roles in the transport of sugars, contributing to the regulation of plant development, hormone signaling, and responses to abiotic stress.

Results: In this study, we identified 57 NtSWEETs in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), and then their physicochemical properties, chromosomal localization, synteny, phylogenetic relationships, genomic structure, promoter cis-elements, protein interaction network, tissue specificity, and expression pattern were systematically analyzed.

Synchronous changes in mercury stable isotopes and compound-specific amino acid nitrogen isotopes in organisms through food chains.

The relationship between stable isotope of mercury (Hg, ΔHg and δHg) and compound-specific nitrogen isotope of amino acids (CSIA-AA, δN and δN) remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated bird species and their prey in an abandoned Hg mining area, southern China to elucidate these correlations for a better understanding of Hg sources, biological transfer, accumulation and amplification through food chains. Our findings revealed distinct isotopic patterns: ΔHg showed a positive correlation with δN, indicating trophic transfer processes, while a negative correlation with δN suggested differences in Hg sources among birds.

Metabolomics- and proteomics-based multi-omics integration reveals early metabolite alterations in sepsis-associated acute kidney injury.

Background: Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is a frequent complication in patients with sepsis and is associated with high mortality. Therefore, early recognition of SA-AKI is essential for administering supportive treatment and preventing further damage. This study aimed to identify and validate metabolite biomarkers of SA-AKI to assist in early clinical diagnosis.

Impact of Mlkl or Ripk3 deletion on age-associated liver inflammation, metabolic health, and lifespan.

Chronic, low-grade inflammation is a hallmark of aging and various age-related diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), an advanced form of MASLD, increases with age and contributes to morbidity and mortality among the elderly. This study investigates the role of necroptosis, a programmed cell death pathway that promotes inflammation, in liver inflammaging and age-associated MASLD by utilizing genetic ablation models of two key necroptosis proteins, Mlkl or Ripk3.

C3 as a predictive and prognostic biomarker in adult hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a large cohort study in China.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory syndrome. Complement component 3 (C3), a central effector molecule in three separate complement pathways, has been linked to inflammatory diseases. Hence, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance of C3 in adult HLH.

Cellular morphometric biomarkers and large language model predict prognosis and treatment response in neuroblastoma patients: A retrospective and double-blind prospective single arm clinical study.

Background: The heterogeneity of Neuroblastoma (NB) leads to variation in response to treatment and outcomes. The aim of the current study is to discover AI-empowered cellular morphometric biomarkers (CMBs), to establish the corresponding CMB risk score (CMBRS), CMB risk group (CMBRG), large language model driven CMB risk score (CMB-LLM-RS), and large language model driven CMB risk group (CMB-LLM-RG), and to investigate and validate their prognostic and predictive power in NB.

Methods: In this study, the retrospective cohort enrolled 84 primary NBs between 1/2020 and 12/2021, followed up through 11/22/2024; the prospective cohort enrolled 67 primary NBs between 1/2022 and 7/2023, followed up through 11/22/2024.