Loss of vagal integrity disrupts immune components of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and inhibits the effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus on behavior and the corticosterone stress response.

The vagus nerve is one of the major signalling components between the gut microbiota and brain. However, the exact relationship between gut-brain signaling along the vagus and the effects of gut microbes on brain function and behaviour is unclear. In particular, the relationship between the vagus nerve and immune signaling, that also appears to play a critical role in microbiota-gut-brain communication, has not been delineated.

Atezolizumab Monotherapy or Plus Chemotherapy in First-Line Treatment for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Atezolizumab plus chemotherapy has been recommended as a first-line treatment option for patients with advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) irrespective of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Currently, little is known about the efficacy and treatment-related adverse effects (TRAEs) of subtracting chemotherapy from the combination for patients with high PD-L1 expression. Thus, we performed an indirect comparison between atezolizumab plus chemotherapy and atezolizumab alone.

Global distribution and evolutionary transitions of angiosperm sexual systems.

Angiosperm sexual systems are fundamental to the evolution and distribution of plant diversity, yet spatiotemporal patterns in angiosperm sexual systems and their drivers remain poorly known. Using data on sexual systems and distributions of 68453 angiosperm species, we present the first global maps of sexual system frequencies and evaluate sexual system evolution during the Cenozoic. Frequencies of dioecy and monoecy increase with latitude, while hermaphrodites are more frequent in warm and arid regions.

Comparative Analysis and in vitro Experiments of Signatures and Prognostic Value of Immune Checkpoint Genes in Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Immune checkpoints, as pivotal regulators of immune escape in cancer, can motivate the emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The aim of this study is to identify the expression of the immune checkpoint genes (ICGs) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to relate their individual as well as combined expression to prognosis and therapeutic effectiveness in CRC.

Methods: RNA expression of 47 ICGs and clinical information of CRC patients were collected from two public databases to elucidate the expression levels and prognostic values of these ICGs in CRC.

Integrin α5 promotes migration and invasion through the FAK/STAT3/AKT signaling pathway in icotinib-resistant non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) ultimately develop drug resistance and metastasis. Therefore, there is a need to identify the underlying mechanisms of resistance to EGFR-TKIs. In the present study, colony formation and MTT assays were performed to investigate cell viability following treatment with icotinib.

Impact of 2D-3D Heterointerface on Remote Epitaxial Interaction through Graphene.

Remote epitaxy has drawn attention as it offers epitaxy of functional materials that can be released from the substrates with atomic precision, thus enabling production and heterointegration of flexible, transferrable, and stackable freestanding single-crystalline membranes. In addition, the remote interaction of atoms and adatoms through two-dimensional (2D) materials in remote epitaxy allows investigation and utilization of electrical/chemical/physical coupling of bulk (3D) materials 2D materials (3D-2D-3D coupling). Here, we unveil the respective roles and impacts of the substrate material, graphene, substrate-graphene interface, and epitaxial material for electrostatic coupling of these materials, which governs cohesive ordering and can lead to single-crystal epitaxy in the overlying film.

Immune Landscape of Gastric Carcinoma Tumor Microenvironment Identifies a Peritoneal Relapse Relevant Immune Signature.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) still represents the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Peritoneal relapse (PR) is the most frequent metastasis occurring among patients with advanced gastric cancer. Increasingly more evidence have clarified the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) may predict survival and have clinical significance in GC.

Significantly improving the thermostability of a hyperthermophilic GH10 family xylanase XynAF1 by semi-rational design.

Xylanases have a broad range of applications in industrial biotechnologies, which require the enzymes to resist the high-temperature environments. The majority of xylanases have maximum activity at moderate temperatures, which limited their potential applications in industries. In this study, a thermophilic GH10 family xylanase XynAF1 from the high-temperature composting strain Aspergillus fumigatus Z5 was characterized and engineered to further improve its thermostability.

Zoom lens with high zoom ratio design based on Gaussian bracket and particle swarm optimization.

In this paper, we use Gaussian brackets and a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to design a 20× four-group zoom lens with a focus tunable lens and two moving groups. This method uses Gaussian brackets to derive the paraxial design equations of the zoom lens and determine the lens parameters. In the optimization stage, we define an objective function as a performance indicator to optimize its first-order design and implement the PSO algorithm in MATLAB to find its global optimal first-order design.

Apatinib as second-line or later therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (AHELP): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

Background: Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) has shown antitumour activity in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, but few studies of VEGFR inhibitors have been done in populations with a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of apatinib in patients with pretreated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: AHELP was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial done at 31 hospitals in China, in patients (aged ≥18 years) with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had previously been refractory or intolerant to at least one line of systemic chemotherapy or targeted therapy.

Vagotomy and insights into the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

The Microbiota-gut-brain axis describes the bidirectional communication between central nervous system and microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Increasing evidence has suggests that the vagus nerve, a major neural connection between the gut and brain, plays a key role in facilitating signaling along the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Much of this evidence has come from studies employing surgical subdiaphragmatic vagotomy.

Bacillus velezensis tolerance to the induced oxidative stress in root colonization contributed by the two-component regulatory system sensor ResE.

Efficient root colonization of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is critical for their plant-beneficial functions. However, the strategy to overcome plant immunity during root colonization is not well understood. In particular, how Bacillus strains cope with plant-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS), which function as the first barrier of plant defence, is not clear.

Association between cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer sidedness: A multi-center big-data platform-based analysis.

Background: Sidedness (right/left) of colorectal cancer (CRC) is essential for treatment. Whether carcinogenesis of tobacco varies by sidedness remains unclear. The present study aims to evaluate the sidedness tendency of cigarette smoking and to explore its impact on prognosis.

Distinct prognostic values of programmed death-ligand 1 and programmed cell death protein 1 in lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Background: Although immunotherapy has demonstrated similar clinical activities in the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), several studies have shown programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) to have different predictive roles in ADC and SCC. This study was conducted to compare the different functions of PD-L1/programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway in these malignancies.

Methods: A multi-dimensional analysis based on public databases and 2 independent cohorts including 262 patients with lung cancer was performed.

Tricycloquinazoline-Based 2D Conductive Metal-Organic Frameworks as Promising Electrocatalysts for CO Reduction.

2D conductive metal-organic frameworks (2D c-MOFs) are promising candidates for efficient electrocatalysts for the CO reduction reaction (CO RR). A nitrogen-rich tricycloquinazoline (TQ) based multitopic catechol ligand was used to coordinate with transition-metal ions (Cu and Ni ), which formed 2D graphene-like porous sheets: M (HHTQ) (M=Cu, Ni; HHTQ=2,3,7,8,12,13-Hexahydroxytricycloquinazoline). M (HHTQ) can be regarded as a single-atom catalyst where Cu or Ni centers are uniformly distributed in the hexagonal lattices.

Chitosan Films Functionalized with Different Hydroxycinnamic Acids: Preparation, Characterization and Application for Pork Preservation.

Hydroxycinnamic acids are one category of bioactive phenolic acids that are widely distributed in plants. In this study, chitosan (CS) was functionalized with three kinds of hydroxycinnamic acids (-coumaric acid, caffeic acid and ferulic acid) through the carbodiimide-mediated grafting method. The obtained hydroxycinnamic-acid-grafted CSs (hydroxycinnamic acid-g-CSs) were further fabricated into food packaging films through solvent casting.

Interferon regulatory factor 6 correlates with the progression of non-small cell lung cancer and can be regulated by miR-320.

Objectives: The expression of interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6) has been reported in several cancer types, but its roles underlying the progression of lung cancer have not been detailedly investigated.

Methods: The pairs of lung cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues and The Cancer Genome Atlas database were collected to detect IRF6 expression. Cell counting kit-8, transwell and terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase-mediated nick end labelling assays were used to evaluate cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis.

Experimental evaluation of an OFDM-PWM-based X-ray communication system.

We experimentally demonstrate an improved orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) into the pulse width modulation (PWM) scheme for the X-ray communication (XCOM). The scheme is insensitive to the nonlinearity of the grid-controlled X-ray tube with switching 'on' and 'off' between two points. The dependence of this system's bit-error-rate (BER) performances on the data rates and the working parameters including the anode voltage and filament current of the grid-controlled X-ray tube are studied.

Bioinformatics-Based Identification of HDAC Inhibitors as Potential Drugs to Target EGFR Wild-Type Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Patients with EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) greatly benefit from EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) while the prognosis of patients who lack EGFR-sensitive mutations (EGFR wild type, EGFR-WT) remains poor due to a lack of effective therapeutic strategies. There is an urgent need to explore the key genes that affect the prognosis and develop potentially effective drugs in EGFR-WT NSCLC patients. In this study, we clustered functional modules related to the survival traits of EGFR-WT patients using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA).

SARS-CoV-2 infection aggravates chronic comorbidities of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in mice.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are top two chronic comorbidities that increase the severity and mortality of COVID-19. However, how SARS-CoV-2 alters the progression of chronic diseases remain unclear.

Methods: We used adenovirus to deliver h-ACE2 to lung to enable SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice.

A Prognostic Nomogram of Colon Cancer With Liver Metastasis: A Study of the US SEER Database and a Chinese Cohort.

Background: Among colon cancer patients, liver metastasis is a commonly deadly phenomenon, but there are few prognostic models for these patients.

Methods: The clinicopathologic data of colon cancer with liver metastasis (CCLM) patients were downloaded from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. All patients were randomly divided into training and internal validation sets based on the ratio of 7:3.

Automatic lumbar spinal MRI image segmentation with a multi-scale attention network.

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a lumbar disease with a high incidence in recent years. Accurate segmentation of the vertebral body, lamina and dural sac is a key step in the diagnosis of LSS. This study presents an lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging image segmentation method based on deep learning.