Analysis of differentially methylated sites and regions associated with intrauterine transmission of hepatitis B virus in infants.

Background: The goal is to identify methylation sites linked to transmission and their impact on host gene expression and HBV spread, aiming to uncover new molecular targets for preventing and treating intrauterine HBV infection.

Methods: This study recruited 1205 infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers in Liuzhou City, China, between July 2023 and January 2024. Infants were followed up at 7-12 months of age and classified as HBsAg-positive (case, n = 5) or HBsAg-negative (control, n = 14) based on serological testing.

2'-O-Galloylhyperin Prevents Tissue Remodeling in Thyroid Eye Disease: Prospects as a Thyrotropin Receptor Antagonist.

Context: Thyroid eye disease (TED) is a challenging condition owing to relentless orbital tissue remodeling, with thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) in orbital fibroblasts (OFs) serving as a promising therapeutic target.

Objective: This study seeks to discover potential TSHR inhibitors among US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs and evaluate their effects on TED-OFs.

Methods: Adipose tissues were sourced from the patients with or without TED.

Changes in blood physiological and biochemical parameters and intestinal flora in newborn horses and mares with angular limb deformities.

Introduction: Angular limb deformities (ALDs) are a common skeletal development disorder in newborn foals. This condition affects the growth and development of foals and severely impacts their future athletic performance and economic value, causing significant financial losses to the horse industry. Placentitis, metritis, and severe metabolic diseases during mare pregnancy are significant causes of ALDs in newborn foals.

Esophageal submucosal gland duct adenoma: An unrecognised esophageal counterpart of minor salivary gland tumours with frequent BRAF V600E mutations.

Aims: Esophageal submucosal gland duct adenoma is an extremely rare benign tumour, with only a few reported cases. We conducted the largest single-centre clinical study of esophageal submucosal gland duct adenoma, examining its molecular mechanisms and clinicopathological features.

Methods And Results: Between 2018 and 2023, seven cases of esophageal submucosal gland duct adenoma were identified at a tertiary medical centre; two were female and five were male, aged between 51 and 75 years (mean = 63.

The impact of pillow height on neck muscle activity: a pilot study.

Purpose: Muscle relaxation in the neck during sleep is crucial for achieving quality sleep, and varying pillow heights can significantly influence the myoelectric activity of the neck muscles. This study aims to investigate the effects of different pillow heights on neck muscle activity, with the goal of providing evidence-based recommendations for pillow selection.

Methods: A total of 15 asymptomatic participants in this study, aged 18 to 30, were assigned to three groups based on pillow height: height 1 (0.

transmission electron microscopy insights into nanoscale deformation mechanisms of body-centered cubic metals.

Nanostructured body-centered cubic (BCC) metals exhibit remarkable mechanical properties under various stress fields, making them promising candidates for novel micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS). A deep understanding of their mechanical behaviors, particularly at the atomic scale, is essential for optimizing their properties and expanding their applications at the nanoscale. Newly developed nanomechanical testing techniques within transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provide powerful tools for uncovering the atomic-scale microstructural evolution of nanostructured BCC materials under external forces.

Preliminary Study on Type I Interferon as a Mucosal Adjuvant for Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus F Protein.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) imposes a significant disease burden on infants and the elderly. Intranasal immunization using attenuated live vaccines and certain vector vaccines against HRSV has completed phase II clinical trials with good safety and efficacy.Recombinant protein vaccines for mucosal immunization require potent mucosal adjuvants.

Access to Ketones via Nickel-Catalyzed Coupling between S-2-Pyridyl Thioesters and Redox-Active Esters Using an Organic Reductant.

A nickel-catalyzed coupling between S-2-pyridyl thioesters and redox-active esters has been reported. Diludine was used as a reductant in this strategy. Our method rapidly achieves the target ketone products in moderate to good yield.

Comparison of Occupational Performance in Immersive Virtual and Real Environments Among Patients With Stroke: Observational Randomized Crossover Pilot Study.

Background: Conventional rehabilitation approaches involve therapists simulating various occupational tasks in health care settings or recreating real-life situations to assess and train patients in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). As an alternative, immersive virtual reality (IVR) has been widely used in stroke rehabilitation for years, but research comparing occupational performance between virtual and real environments is limited.

Objective: This study aims to introduce a novel IVR shopping system designed for patients with stroke and to investigate the correlation of occupational performance in virtual and real environments among patients with stroke.

PGSR: Planar-based Gaussian Splatting for Efficient and High-Fidelity Surface Reconstruction.

Recently, 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) has attracted widespread attention due to its high-quality rendering, and ultra-fast training and rendering speed. However, due to the unstructured and irregular nature of Gaussian point clouds, it is difficult to guarantee geometric reconstruction accuracy and multi-view consistency simply by relying on image reconstruction loss. Although many studies on surface reconstruction based on 3DGS have emerged recently, the quality of their meshes is generally unsatisfactory.

Phase-Engineered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Highly Efficient Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering.

Phase engineering of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is an attractive avenue to construct new surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. Herein, 2D WS and MoS monolayers with high-purity distorted octahedral phase (1T') are prepared for highly sensitive SERS detection of analytes (e.g.

MAPSeg: Unified Unsupervised Domain Adaptation for Heterogeneous Medical Image Segmentation Based on 3D Masked Autoencoding and Pseudo-Labeling.

Robust segmentation is critical for deriving quantitative measures from large-scale, multi-center, and longitudinal medical scans. Manually annotating medical scans, however, is expensive and labor-intensive and may not always be available in every domain. Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) is a well-studied technique that alleviates this label-scarcity problem by leveraging available labels from another domain.

Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the skinnycheek lanternfish Benthosema ptertum.

Lanternfish not only boast the most abundant biomass among marine fish species but also play a vital role in marine ecosystems. As one of the lanternfish species with the highest global catch, the skinnycheek lanternfish (Benthosema pterotum) is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, playing a pivotal role in the marine biological pump. This study constructed the first chromosome-level genome of B.

Co-application of Validamycin A and dsRNAs targeting trehalase genes conferred enhanced insecticidal activity against Laodelphax striatellus.

The small brown planthopper (SBPH), Laodelphax striatellus, poses a significant threat to rice crops, necessitating innovative pest control strategies. This study evaluated the potential of validamycin A (Val A) and RNA interference (RNAi) targeting trehalase genes (LsTre1 and LsTre2) in controlling SBPH. Our results demonstrated that Val A treatment of rice seedlings led to a dose-dependent mortality of SBPH.

Truncated VZV gE Induces High-Titer Neutralizing Antibodies in Mice.

A contemporary public health challenge is the increase in the prevalence rates of herpes zoster (HZ) worldwide. In this work, the gE gene structure was analyzed using bioinformatics techniques, and three plasmids of varying lengths, tgE537, tgE200, and tgE350, were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. These proteins were used to immunize BALB/c mice with Al/CpG adjuvant; ELISPOT and FCM were used to evaluate cellular immunity; and ELISA, VZV microneutralization, and FAMA assays were performed to detect antibody titers.

Co-Regulation Mechanism of Host p53 and Fos in Transcriptional Activation of ILTV Immediate-Early Gene .

Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) exhibits a cascade expression pattern of encoded genes, and is the only immediate-early gene of ILTV, which plays a crucial role in initiating the subsequent viral genes. Therefore, studying the transcriptional regulation mechanism of holds promise for effectively blocking ILTV infection and spread. Host transcriptional factors p53 and Fos are proven to regulate a variety of viral infections, and our previous studies have demonstrated their synergistic effects in regulating ILTV infection.

Machine learning-based model for CD4 conventional T cell genes to predict survival and immune responses in colorectal cancer.

Globally, CRC ranks as a principal cause of mortality, with projections indicating a substantial rise in both incidence and mortality by the year 2040. The immunological responses to cancer heavily rely on the function of CD4Tconv. Despite this critical role, prognostic studies on CRC-related CD4Tconv remain insufficient.

Coupling Disturbance Modeling and Compensation for Aerial Manipulator in Highly Dynamic Motion.

When a manipulator moves in a highly dynamic scenario with a large range of rapid motion, the coupling disturbances between the manipulator and the UAV in the aerial manipulator system (AMS) become very strong, which directly affects the ability of the AMS to perform aerial manipulation and even poses a threat to the safety of the system. The aim of this article is to address the strong coupling disturbance problem in the AMS through precise coupling disturbance modeling and compensation. First, considering the rapid changes in the center of mass (CoM) and the moment of inertia (MoI) of the system under a highly dynamic scenario, this article delves into the generation mechanism of the coupling disturbances and models them based on the variable inertia parameters.

The safety and efficacy of through-and-through wire technique for ureteral Double-J stent placement.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the through-and-through wire (TTW) technique for antegrade ureteral Double-J stent placement after failure of either antegrade or retrograde ureteral stent placement.

Method: This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of consecutive patients who underwent Double-J stent placement with the TTW technique at Asan Medical Center and Gil Medical Center between January 2016 and February 2023. Patient histories, reasons for employing the TTW technique, TTW pathways, and complications were reviewed.