ExamPle: explainable deep learning framework for the prediction of plant small secreted peptides.

Motivation: Plant Small Secreted Peptides (SSPs) play an important role in plant growth, development, and plant-microbe interactions. Therefore, the identification of SSPs is essential for revealing the functional mechanisms. Over the last few decades, machine learning-based methods have been developed, accelerating the discovery of SSPs to some extent.

Visible light-driven photodynamic therapy for hypertrophic scars with MOF armored microneedles patch.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is widely used for the treatment of hypertrophic scars in clinical practice. However, the low transdermal delivery of photosensitizers in scar tissue and protective autophagy induced by Photodynamic therapy greatly reduces the therapeutic efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with these difficulties for overcoming obstacles in Photodynamic therapy treatment.

A sensitive fluorescence sensor based on a glutathione modified quantum dot for visual detection of copper ions in real samples.

Copper (Cu), as a heavy metal, accumulates in the human body to a certain extent, which can induce various diseases and endanger human health. Rapid and sensitive detection of Cu is highly desired. In present work, a glutathione modified quantum dot (GSH-CdTe QDs) was synthesized and applied in a "turn-off" fluorescence probe to detect Cu.

Preservation of the integrity of facial nerve in vestibular schwannoma microsurgery: A consecutive study of 127 clinical cases focusing on nervus intermedius.

Background: Nervus intermedius (NI) injuries are not given enough attention by neurosurgeons during vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery. Preservation of NI function is essential for the integrity and continuity of the facial nerve, although this can be challenging. We identified the risk factors for NI injury and proposed our experience for optimizing NI preservation based on our cases.

Prognostic RNA-editing signature predicts immune functions and therapy responses in gliomas.

RNA-editing refers to post-transcriptional transcript alterations that lead to the formation of protein isoforms and the progression of various tumors. However, little is known about its roles in gliomas. The aim of this study is to identify prognosis-related RNA-editing sites (PREs) in glioma, and to explore their specific effects on glioma and potential mechanisms of action.

A user-friendly nomogram for predicting radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

Background: The diagnosis of radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RAIR-DTC) is primarily based on clinical evolution and iodine uptake over the lesions, which is still time-consuming, thus urging a predictive model for timely RAIR-DTC informing. The aim of this study was to develop a nomogram model for RAIR prediction among DTC patients with distant metastases (DM).

Methods: Data were extracted from the treatment and follow-up databases of Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 2010 and 2021.

Comparative Study on Laser Welding Thick-Walled TC4 Titanium Alloy with Flux-Cored Wire and Cable Wire.

In the welding process of thick-walled titanium alloys, the selection of the wire type is one of the critical factors affecting the welding quality. In this paper, flux-cored and cable wires were used as filler materials in the welding of thick-walled titanium alloys. The macrostructure, microstructure, texture, and grain size of both welded joints were compared by employing an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM), and the tensile and impact properties were also evaluated.

Aspirin Thromboprophylaxis Following Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty Is Associated With a Lower Rate of Early Prosthetic Joint Infection Compared With Other Agents.

Background: Patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Aspirin has been shown to be effective at reducing rates of VTE. In select patients, more potent thromboprophylaxis is indicated, which has been associated with increased rates of bleeding and wound complications.

Single-cell whole-genome sequencing, haplotype analysis in prenatal diagnosis of monogenic diseases.

Monogenic inherited diseases are common causes of congenital disabilities, leading to severe economic and mental burdens on affected families. In our previous study, we demonstrated the validity of cell-based noninvasive prenatal testing (cbNIPT) in prenatal diagnosis by single-cell targeted sequencing. The present research further explored the feasibility of single-cell whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and haplotype analysis of various monogenic diseases with cbNIPT.

Cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PABPC1) is a prognostic biomarker to predict survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma regardless of chemoradiotherapy.

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), especially the nonkeratinizing type, is a malignant tumor primarily occurring in southern China and Southeast Asia. Chemotherapy (CT) and combined radiotherapy (RT) is used to treat NPC. However, the mortality rate is high in recurrent and metastatic NPC.

Risk Factors for Melioidosis Mortality and Epidemics: A Multicentre, 10-Year Retrospective Cohort Study in Northern Hainan.

Introduction: Burkholderia pseudomallei is a gram-negative environmental bacterium and aetiological agent of melioidosis, a tropical infectious disease with diverse clinical presentations. We aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of melioidosis in northern Hainan and to determine the meteorological factors affecting its morbidity.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicentre, observational cohort study of 90 patients with melioidosis admitted to four general hospitals in northern Hainan from 2010 to 2020.

Identifying Solitary Granulomatous Nodules from Solid Lung Adenocarcinoma: Exploring Robust Image Features with Cross-Domain Transfer Learning.

Purpose: This study aimed to find suitable source domain data in cross-domain transfer learning to extract robust image features. Then, a model was built to preoperatively distinguish lung granulomatous nodules (LGNs) from lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) in solitary pulmonary solid nodules (SPSNs).

Methods: Data from 841 patients with SPSNs from five centres were collected retrospectively.

Imaging and pathological diagnosis of primary intracranial malignant melanoma: A case report and literature review.

Rationale: Primary intracranial malignant melanoma (PIMM) is a rare malignant tumor that lacks specific clinical manifestations. Preoperative diagnosis is difficult to differentiate from meningiomas on computed tomography (CT) scans. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) usually shows typical characteristics with high signal intensity on T1WI and low signal intensity on T2WI.

Expression of Polyadenylate-binding Protein Cytoplasmic 1 (PABPC1) in Combination With RAD51 as Prognostic Biomarker in Patients Who Underwent Postoperative Chemotherapy for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Molecular markers in the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients who received postoperative treatments are lacking. This research aims to evaluate the prognostic value of polyadenylate-binding protein cytoplasmic 1 (PABPC1) alone and in combination with RAD51 in ESCC patients who underwent postoperative chemotherapy (CT). A total of 103 ESCC patients who underwent postoperative CT and 103 matched ones who received surgery alone were analyzed in this study.

Spatial Coherence Adaptive Clutter Filtering in Color Flow Imaging-Part I: Simulation Studies.

The appropriate selection of a clutter filter is critical for ensuring the accuracy of velocity estimates in ultrasound color flow imaging. Given the complex spatio-temporal dynamics of flow signal and clutter, however, the manual selection of filters can be a significant challenge, increasing the risk for bias and variance introduced by the removal of flow signal and/or poor clutter suppression. We propose a novel framework to adaptively select clutter filter settings based on color flow image quality feedback derived from the spatial coherence of ultrasonic backscatter.

Spatial Coherence Adaptive Clutter Filtering in Color Flow Imaging-Part II: Phantom and Experiments.

Conventional color flow processing is associated with a high degree of operator dependence, often requiring the careful tuning of clutter filters and priority encoding to optimize the display and accuracy of color flow images. In a companion paper, we introduced a novel framework to adapt color flow processing based on local measurements of backscatter spatial coherence. Through simulation studies, the adaptive selection of clutter filters using coherence image quality characterization was demonstrated as a means to dynamically suppress weakly-coherent clutter while preserving coherent flow signal in order to reduce velocity estimation bias.

One-year Efficacy of the Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segment Lens in Chinese Myopic Children.

Significance: These data demonstrate that defocus incorporated multiple segment (DIMS) lens reduces myopia progression in children during the first year of use.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of DIMS myopia control spectacle lens in Chinese myopic children aged 6 to 15 years.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of 1-year longitudinal data.

Genetic alterations of GI-NECs involving three main signaling pathways.

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI)-neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are subclassified in neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs), and mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms (MiNENs). The genetic characteristics of GI-NEN has been a hot issue in recent years, but more studies are needed to provide further details. This study aims to provide additional data about genomic characteristics of GI-NENs and the genetic differences between NETs and NECs.

Distinguishing common renal cell carcinomas from benign renal tumors based on machine learning: comparing various CT imaging phases, slices, tumor sizes, and ROI segmentation strategies.

Objectives: To determine whether a CT-based machine learning (ML) can differentiate benign renal tumors from renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) and improve radiologists' diagnostic performance, and evaluate the impact of variable CT imaging phases, slices, tumor sizes, and region of interest (ROI) segmentation strategies.

Methods: Patients with pathologically proven RCCs and benign renal tumors from our institution between 2008 and 2020 were included as the training dataset for ML model development and internal validation (including 418 RCCs and 78 benign tumors), and patients from two independent institutions and a public database (TCIA) were included as the external dataset for individual testing (including 262 RCCs and 47 benign tumors). Features were extracted from three-phase CT images.

Structurally diverse G-quadruplexes as the noncanonical nucleic acid drug target for live cell imaging and antibacterial study.

The formation of G-quadruplex structures (G4s) from guanine (G)-rich nucleic acid sequences of DNA and RNA stabilized with monovalent cations, typically K and Na, under physiological conditions, has been verified experimentally and some of them have high-resolution NMR or -ray crystal structures; however, the biofunction of these special noncanonical secondary structures of nucleic acids has not been fully understood and their existence is still controversial at present. It is generally believed that the folding and unfolding of G4s is a transient process. Accumulating evidence has shown that G4s may play a role in the regulation of certain important cellular functions including telomere maintenance, replication, transcription and translation.

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of V-Modified Ti-Zr-Cu-Ni Filler Metals.

TA2 titanium alloy was brazed with Ti-Zr-Cu-Ni-V filler metals developed in a laboratory. The melting properties, the microstructures, phase compositions of filler metals and wettability, erosion properties, tensile properties of the brazed joint were studied in detail. The results show that with the increase of V content, the solidus-liquidus temperature of Ti-Zr-Cu-Ni-V filler metals increased, but the temperature difference basically remained unchanged, trace V element had a limited influence on the melting temperature range of Ti-Zr-Cu-Ni filler metals.

ASTER: accurately estimating the number of cell types in single-cell chromatin accessibility data.

Summary: Recent innovations in single-cell chromatin accessibility sequencing (scCAS) have revolutionized the characterization of epigenomic heterogeneity. Estimation of the number of cell types is a crucial step for downstream analyses and biological implications. However, efforts to perform estimation specifically for scCAS data are limited.

Constraints on Heavy Decaying Dark Matter from 570 Days of LHAASO Observations.

The kilometer square array (KM2A) of the large high altitude air shower observatory (LHAASO) aims at surveying the northern γ-ray sky at energies above 10 TeV with unprecedented sensitivity. γ-ray observations have long been one of the most powerful tools for dark matter searches, as, e.g.