Contrast-enhanced ultrasound-based AI model for multi-classification of focal liver lesions.

Background & Aims: Accurate multi-classification is the prerequisite for reasonable management of focal liver lesions (FLLs). Ultrasound is the common image examination, but lacks accuracy. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) offers better performance, but highly relies on experience.

What causes the urban river to look darker? An underestimated source of sulfide production in methanogenic metabolism.

The blackening and increased smelling of waterbodies steadily affect urban aquatic ecology. Sulfide is recognized as the key substance responsible for the darkening of urban rivers. However, the pathway of sulfide production and the underling microbial mechanisms in urban rivers are not fully understood.

Efficient nitrogen removal via simultaneous ammonium assimilation and heterotrophic denitrification of R-1.

Although diverse microorganisms can remove ammonium and nitrate simultaneously, their metabolic mechanisms are not well understood. R-1 showed the maximal NH removal rate 9.94 mg L·h and 2.

Transcription factor EB (TFEB) interaction with RagC is disrupted during enterovirus D68 infection.

Unlabelled: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a picornavirus associated with severe respiratory illness and a paralytic disease called acute flaccid myelitis in infants. Currently, no protective vaccines or antivirals are available to combat this virus. Like other enteroviruses, EV-D68 uses components of the cellular autophagy pathway to rewire membranes for its replication.

Siglec-H Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Protect Against Acute Liver Injury by Suppressing IFN-γ/Th1 Response and Promoting IL-21 CD4 T Cells.

Background & Aims: Siglec-H is a receptor specifically expressed in mouse plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), which functions as a negative regulator of interferon-α production and plays a critical role in pDC maturation to become antigen-presenting cells. The function of pDCs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has been reported. However, the effect of Siglec-H expression in pDCs in liver inflammation and diseases remains unclear.

Respiration and growth of R-1 with nitrous oxide as an electron acceptor.

Unlabelled: In the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle, the reduction of nitrous oxide (NO) to N by NO reductase, which is encoded by gene, is the only biological pathway for NO consumption. In this study, we successfully isolated a strain of denitrifying R-1 from sewage treatment plant sludge. This strain has strong NO reduction capability, and the average NO reduction rate was 5.

Coupled Stable Isotope Tracing and Sulfamic Acid Reduction (SIT-SAR) Method to Determine the Ammonia and Nitrite Oxidation Rates in Water and Sediments.

Herein, a method was developed to measure the ammonia oxidation rate () and the nitrite oxidation rate () of water and sediment samples using a coupled stable isotope tracing and sulfamic acid reduction (SIT-SAR) method. NH was used as a tracer to determine the ammonia oxidation rates () by calculating the concentrations of produced NO and NO during incubation, while NO was used as a tracer to determine the nitrite oxidation rates () by calculating the increase of NO during incubation. NO was chemically reduced to N with 15 mmol·L sulfamic acid (SA).

Stochastic processes drive the diversity and composition of methanogenic community in a natural mangrove ecosystem.

Methanogens are considered to be crucial components of mangrove ecosystems with ecological significance. However, understanding the assembly processes of methanogenic communities in mangrove ecosystems is relatively insufficient. In the current study, a natural mangrove in a protection zone was employed to investigate the diversity and assembly processes of methanogenic community by using amplicon high-throughput sequencing, a null model as well as a neutral community model.

High throughput amplicon analysis reveals potential novel ammonia oxidizing prokaryotes in the eutrophic Jiaozhou Bay.

Ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes (AOPs) are the major contributors of ammonia oxidization with widely distribution. Here we investigated the phylogenetic diversity, community composition, and regulating factors of AOPs in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB) with high-throughput sequencing of amoA gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed most of the OTUs could not be clustered with any known AOPs, indicating there might exist putative novel AOPs.

Novel database for accA gene revealed a vertical variability pattern of autotrophic carbon fixation potential of ammonia oxidizing archaea in a permeable subterranean estuary.

The autotrophic carbon fixation pathway of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) was the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate (3-HP/4-HB) cycle, of which the acetyl-CoA carboxylase α-submit (accA) gene is widely recognized as the indicator. To date, there is no reference database or suitable cut-off value for operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering to analyze the diversity of AOA based on the accA gene. In this study, a reference database with 489 sequences was constructed, all the accA gene sequences was obtained from the AOA enrichment culture, pure culture and environmental samples.

Distribution and co-occurrence networks of the bacterial community in sediment cores from the subtropical Daya Bay, China.

The bacterial community plays an important role in biogeochemical cycles in marine sediment. However, little is known about the vertical profiles and co-occurrence patterns of bacterial community in sediment cores from the marine environment. In this study, five sediment cores were taken from a subtropical bay in China, heavily impacted by anthropogenic activities.

On-Site Diagnostic Ability of CEUS/CT/MRI for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (2019-2022): A Multicenter Study.

Objectives: To compare the on-site diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), computed tomography (CECT), and magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) across diverse practice settings.

Methods: Between May 2019 and April 2022, a total of 2085 patients with 2320 pathologically confirmed focal liver lesions (FLLs) were enrolled. Imaging reports were compared with results from pathology analysis.

Feeding artery: a valuable feature for differentiation of regenerative nodule, dysplastic nodules and small hepatocellular carcinoma in CEUS LI-RADS.

Objective: To investigate whether the feeding artery (FA) feature can aid in discriminating small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) from precancerous lesions.

Methods: Between June 2017 and May 2021, a total of 347 patients with 351 precancerous liver lesions or small HCCs who underwent CEUS were enrolled. Two independent radiologists assigned LI-RADS categories to all lesions and assessed the presence of the FA feature, which was used as an ancillary feature to either upgrade or downgrade the LI-RADS category.

The imbalance between NO production and reduction by multi-microbial communities determines sedimentary NO emission potential in the Pearl River Estuary.

Denitrification is the dominant process of nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide (NO) emissions in estuarine ecosystems. However, little is known regarding the microbial mechanism of the production and reduction of NO in estuaries. We investigated in situ dissolved NO as well as potential NO production rate (NPR), reduction rate (NRR), and emission rate (NER), and key functional genes related to NO transformation of denitrification in the Pearl River Estuary.

Ultrasound identification of hepatic echinococcosis using a deep convolutional neural network model in China: a retrospective, large-scale, multicentre, diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: Ultrasonography is the most widely used technique to diagnose echinococcosis; however, challenges in using this technique and the demand on medical resources, especially in low-income or remote areas, can delay diagnosis. We aimed to develop a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) model based on ultrasonography to identify echinococcosis and its types, especially alveolar echinococcosis.

Methods: This retrospective, large-scale, multicentre study used ultrasound images from patients assessed at 84 hospitals in China, obtained between Jan 1, 2002, and Dec 31, 2021.

Denitrification contributes to NO emission in paddy soils.

Denitrification is vital to nitrogen removal and NO release in ecosystems; in this regard, paddy soils exhibit strong denitrifying ability. However, the underlying mechanism of NO emission from denitrification in paddy soils is yet to be elucidated. In this study, the potential NO emission rate, enzymatic activity for NO production and reduction, gene abundance, and community composition during denitrification were investigated using the N isotope tracer technique combined with slurry incubation, enzymatic activity detection, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and metagenomic sequencing.

NosZ-II-type NO-reducing bacteria play dominant roles in determining the release potential of NO from sediments in the Pearl River Estuary, China.

The microbial reduction of NO serves as a "gatekeeper" for NO emissions, determining the flux of NO release into the atmosphere. Estuaries are active regions for NO emissions, but the microbial functions of NO-reducing bacteria in estuarine ecosystems are not well understood. In this study, the N isotope tracer method, qPCR, and high-throughput sequencing were used to analyze NO production, reduction, and emission processes in surface sediments of the Pearl River Estuary.

Delineation of the complex microbial nitrogen-transformation network in an anammox-driven full-scale wastewater treatment plant.

Microbial-driven nitrogen removal is a crucial step in modern full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and the complexity of nitrogen transformation is integral to the various wastewater treatment processes. A full understanding of the overall nitrogen cycling networks in WWTPs is therefore a prerequisite for the further enhancement and optimization of wastewater treatment processes. In this study, metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were used to elucidate the microbial nitrogen removal processes in an ammonium-enriched full-scale WWTP, which was configured as an anaerobic-anoxic-anaerobic-oxic system for efficient nitrogen removal (99.

Abnormal Behavior Monitoring Method of in Recirculating Aquaculture System Based on Computer Vision.

It is crucial to monitor the status of aquaculture objects in recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs). Due to their high density and a high degree of intensification, aquaculture objects in such systems need to be monitored for a long time period to prevent losses caused by various factors. Object detection algorithms are gradually being used in the aquaculture industry, but it is difficult to achieve good results for scenes with high density and complex environments.

Liver cirrhosis and tumor location can affect the range of intrahepatic microwave ablation zone.

Background: The range of an ablation zone (AZ) plays a crucial role in the treatment effect of microwave ablation (MWA). The aim of this study was to analyze the factors influencing the AZ range.

Methods: Fourteen factors in four areas were included: patient-related factors (sex, age), disease-related factors (tumor location, liver cirrhosis), serological factors (ALT, AST, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and platelets), and MWA parameters (ablation time, power, and needle type).

Stochastic processes drive the soil fungal communities in a developing mid-channel bar.

Intricate associations between rhizosphere microbial communities and plants play a critical role in developing and maintaining of soil ecological functioning. Therefore, understanding the assembly patterns of rhizosphere microbes in different plants and their responses to environmental changes is of great ecological implications for dynamic habitats. In this study, a developing mid-channel bar was employed in the Yangtze River to explore the assembly processes of rhizosphere fungal communities among various plant species using high-throughput sequencing-based null model analysis.

Discrepant Effects of Flooding on Assembly Processes of Abundant and Rare Communities in Riparian Soils.

Numerous rare species coexist with a few abundant species in microbial communities and together play an essential role in riparian ecosystems. Relatively little is understood, however, about the nature of assembly processes of these communities and how they respond to a fluctuating environment. In this study, drivers controlling the assembly of abundant and rare subcommunities for bacteria and archaea in a riparian zone were determined, and their resulting patterns on these processes were analyzed.

The tumor ghost on MRI after microwave ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: A new modality to assess the ablative margin.

Purpose: The ablated tumor ghost can be visually distinguished on MR images after ablation. This retrospective study aimed to assess the performance of tumor ghost on post-ablation contrast-enhanced MRI with excellular contrast agent gadolinium-DTPA in evaluating the ablative margin of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after microwave ablation (MWA).

Method: 315 HCC lesions less than 5 cm in 287 patients completely treated by MWA were enrolled in the study.

Novel database and cut-off value for bacterial amoA gene revealed a spatial variability pattern of the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria community from river to sea.

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) catalyze the first step of nitrification, oxidizing ammonia to nitrite, and are characterized by amoA gene encoding ammonia monooxygenase. To analyze the AOB community effectively, an integral taxonomy database containing 14,058 amoA sequences and the optimal cut-off value at 95 % for OTU clustering were determined. This method was evaluated to be efficient by the analysis of environmental samples from the river, estuary, and sea.