Simultaneous separation and detection of common chiral and achiral metabolites in the urine of human exposed to benzene series by LC-MS/MS.

Benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) are priority pollutants known for their hematotoxicity and carcinogenic properties. Benzene is further metabolized to phenyl mercapturic acid (PMA), toluene and xylene also generate benzyl mercapturic acid (BMA) in human urine. To confirm whether the exposure to benzene series comes from the workplace or from the external environment such as smoking is a very meaningful work, so accurate measurement of their biomarkers in biological samples is crucial.

Achieving synergistic enhancement in the anaerobic digestion of corn straw by (CH + CO) nanobubbles in conjunction with optimized particle sizes.

Nanobubbles (NBs) technology has been proven to promote methane production from anaerobic digestion (AD). In this study, the synergistic effects of (CH + CO)-nanobubble water ((CH + CO)-NBW) combined with varying particle sizes of corn straw on the AD were investigated. As findings, adding (CH + CO)-NBW effectively promoted the methane production from AD of corn straw with different particle sizes.

Dynamic graph consistency and self-contrast learning for semi-supervised medical image segmentation.

Semi-supervised medical image segmentation endeavors to exploit a limited set of labeled data in conjunction with a substantial corpus of unlabeled data, with the aim of training models that can match or even exceed the efficacy of fully supervised segmentation models. Despite the potential of this approach, most existing semi-supervised medical image segmentation techniques that employ consistency regularization predominantly focus on spatial consistency at the image level, often neglecting the crucial role of feature-level channel information. To address this limitation, we propose an innovative method that integrates graph convolutional networks with a consistency regularization framework to develop a dynamic graph consistency approach.

Comprehensive analysis of the prognostic and immunological role of cavins in non-small cell lung cancer.

Caveolae, specialized and dynamic subdomains of the plasma membrane, have a crucial role in diverse cellular functions encompassing endocytosis, signal transduction, mechanosensation, lipid storage, and metabolism. Cavin family proteins are indispensable for caveolar formation and function. An increasing number of studies have found that cavins are involved in tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis and may have dual roles in the regulation of cancer.

Electricity use in big area additive manufacturing of fiber-reinforced polymer composites.

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM), especially large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM), has gained momentum in the manufacturing industry. While LFAM offers benefits over conventional manufacturing processes, such as minimizing material waste and providing vast geometric freedom, assessing its sustainability remains challenging due to limited data, particularly on energy consumption. Most existing data pertain to small-scale or desktop AM and are not directly applicable to LFAM.

MiR-378 exaggerates angiogenesis and bone erosion in collagen-induced arthritis mice by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder marked by pain, inflammation, and discomfort in the synovial joints. It is critical to understand the pathological mechanisms of RA progression. MicroRNA-378 (miR-378) is highly expressed in the synovium of RA patients and positively correlated with disease severity, but its function and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.

Contrastive machine learning reveals species -shared and -specific brain functional architecture.

A deep comparative analysis of brain functional connectome across species in primates has the potential to yield valuable insights for both scientific and clinical applications. However, the interspecies commonality and differences are inherently entangled with each other and with other irrelevant factors. Here we develop a novel contrastive machine learning method, called shared-unique variation autoencoder (SU-VAE), to allow disentanglement of the species-shared and species-specific functional connectome variation between macaque and human brains on large-scale resting-state fMRI datasets.

The effects of increased screen time on post-surgical pain and pain memory among children with sleep-disordered breathing.

Adenotonsillectomy procedures can provide effective relief to children affected by sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), but the post-adenotonsillectomy pain management remains challenging, and the most effective approach to managing postoperative pain in these cases remains uncertain. The use of electronic media as a form of distraction therapy aimed at mitigating postoperative pain in children, it is unknown whether increases in screen time can effectively reduce persistent postoperative pain intensity or the incidence of negatively biased pain memories. A total of 107 SDB children undergoing adenotonsillectomy were enrolled and divided into two groups.

A heterobimetallic MOF as a stable heterogeneous catalyst with high activity for ethylene oligomerization.

Herein, the performance of heterobimetallic clusters MOF-1213(Dy/Ni) for ethylene oligomerization reactions was investigated. At 30 °C and 40 bar, its average ethylene turnover frequency is approximately 160 000 h (α-olefins selectivity above 80%), which was higher than the activity previously reported for most heterogeneous catalysts under similar conditions.

Matrix Viscoelasticity Controls Differentiation of Human Blood Vessel Organoids into Arterioles and Promotes Neovascularization in Myocardial Infarction.

Stem cell-derived blood vessel organoids are embedded in extracellular matrices to stimulate vessel sprouting. Although vascular organoids in 3D collagen I-Matrigel gels are currently available, they are primarily capillaries composed of endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes, and mesenchymal stem-like cells, which necessitate mature arteriole differentiation for neovascularization. In this context, the hypothesis that matrix viscoelasticity regulates vascular development is investigated in 3D cultures by encapsulating blood vessel organoids within viscoelastic gelatin/β-CD assembly dynamic hydrogels or methacryloyl gelatin non-dynamic hydrogels.

High mobility group protein N2 inhibits the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma and the related molecular mechanisms.

High mobility group protein N2 (HMGN2) related pathways are involved in chromatin regulation/acetylation. It has been reported to be involved in several types of cancers. A recent sequencing study suggested that HMGN2 might be involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Construction of a Multi-Parametric Ultrasonographic Nomogram for Precise Assessment of Papillary Breast Lesions.

Purpose: To analyze the multi-parametric ultrasonographic (MpUS) features of atypical/malignant papillary lesions of the breast with clinical information, identify independent risk factors, and construct a nomogram to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed consecutively hospitalized patients diagnosed with pathologically confirmed papillary breast lesions from January 2017 to June 2023. Preoperative sonographic exams, including gray-scale ultrasound (G-US), color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), were conducted.

Mechanistic impact of Gracilaria bailinae extracts on photosynthesis and metabolism in Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

In the intricate realm of aquatic ecosystems, biotic interactions play pivotal roles in shaping the physiological responses and survival strategies of microorganisms. This study investigates the effects of Gracilaria bailinae on photosynthesis and metabolism on the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and the ecological significance. Our results reveal considerable suppression by G.

Untargeted qualitative and targeted quantitative analysis of saponins reveal differential chemotypes of Gynostemma pentaphyllum and G. longipes from different geographical origins.

Jiaogulan herbal tea, known for its pharmacological benefits, is derived from various species within the genus Gynostemma, particular for G. pentaphyllum (GP) and G. longipes (GL).

Study on the effect of surface organic acid treatment on inhibiting nitrogen loss in trough composting.

To reduce the ammonia loss during the trough composting process and the problem of low initial pH of the compost due to one-time addition of organic acids. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of buffering the pH of the compost and controlling the ammonia emission through the addition of dilute acetic acid sprayed on the surface of the compost pile after several pile-turnings in the trough composting process. The results showed that the spraying of acetic acid did not have a significant difference in the effect on the initial pH and maintained a slightly alkaline environment throughout the composting process, which led to an increase in the degradation rate of 58.

understanding on the formation of fibrillar morphology in green solvent processed all-polymer solar cells.

Solid additive engineering has been intensively explored on morphology tuning for highly efficient all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs), a promising photovoltaic technology towards multi-scenario application. Although the nano-fibrillar network of the active layer induced by additive treatment is confirmed as the key factor for power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all-PSCs, its formation mechanism is not clearly revealed, for lack of precise and convincing real-time observation of crystallization and phase separation during the liquid-to-solid transition process of spin-coating. Herein we report an grazing incidence wide-angle/small-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS/GISAXS) screening that reveals the fact that naphthalene derived solid additives can suppress the aggregation of the polymer acceptor (PY-IT) at the beginning stage of spin coating, which provides sufficient time and space for the polymer donor (PM6) to form the fibril structure.

Establishment of RNA modification regulators index predicting clinical outcomes and immune relevance of kidney cancer patients.

Increasing evidence indicates that RNA modifications are misregulated in human cancers, which might be optimal targets of cancer therapy. However, important RNA regulators in kidney cancer still need further exploration. In this study, we collected regulators representing different types of RNA modification and identified the prognosis-related RNA regulators in kidney cancer patients.

Bone biochemical markers, bone mineral density, and the risk of osteonecrosis of the femoral head: a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Alterations in bone metabolism may play a significant role in the early stages of femoral head necrosis, yet the causal relationship remains unclear. This study utilizes a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to explore the genetic causal links between biochemical markers of bone metabolism, bone mineral density, and the risk of femoral head necrosis.

Methods: This study utilizes publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets, with exposure factors including biochemical bone markers (25OHD, calcium, and alkaline phosphatase) and bone mineral density (measured at the lumbar spine, heel, femoral neck, and total body).

A foundation model for enhancing magnetic resonance images and downstream segmentation, registration and diagnostic tasks.

In structural magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, motion artefacts, low resolution, imaging noise and variability in acquisition protocols frequently degrade image quality and confound downstream analyses. Here we report a foundation model for the motion correction, resolution enhancement, denoising and harmonization of MR images. Specifically, we trained a tissue-classification neural network to predict tissue labels, which are then leveraged by a 'tissue-aware' enhancement network to generate high-quality MR images.