Comparison of metagenomic next-generation sequencing and conventional culture for the diagnostic performance in febrile patients with suspected infections.

Background: Timely and accurate identification of pathogens is crucial for appropriate treatment and prognosis of infectious diseases. As an increasingly popular pathogen detection method, the performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in detecting pathogens in febrile patients with suspected infection requires further exploration.

Methods: This study included 368 febrile patients with suspected infections who were admitted to the Infectious Disease Department of Qilu Hospital, Shandong University between January 5, 2021 and April 14, 2023.

Neurometabolite levels in the brains of patients with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies (N = 1501).

Evidence suggests that neurometabolite alterations may be involved in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We performed a meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) studies to examine the neurometabolite levels in the brains of patients with ASD. A systematic search of PubMed and Web of Science identified 54 studies for the meta-analysis.

Bergapten alleviates depression-like behavior by inhibiting cyclooxygenase 2 activity and NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway in microglia.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric disorder that severely affects human life and health. However, the pathological mechanism of MDD is unclear, and effective treatment strategies are urgently needed. Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is closely associated with the pathophysiology of depression.

Systemic inflammation indicators and risk of incident arrhythmias in 478,524 individuals: evidence from the UK Biobank cohort.

Background: The role of systemic inflammation in promoting cardiovascular diseases has attracted attention, but its correlation with various arrhythmias remains to be clarified. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between various indicators of systemic inflammation and atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF), ventricular arrhythmia (VA), and bradyarrhythmia in the UK Biobank cohort.

Methods: After excluding ineligible participants, a total of 478,524 eligible individuals (46.

Bullatine A exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the ROS/JNK/NF-κB pathway and attenuating systemic inflammatory responses in mice.

Context: Radix (Xue-shang-yi-zhi-hao) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that is capable of anti-analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. Bullatine A (BA) is one of the major active ingredients of this plant, and most of the previous studies reported that it has anti-analgesic effects. However, the mechanism of BA anti-inflammatory remains unclear.

Factors associated with the decision to administer β-lactams via prolonged infusion in patients with sepsis: a prospective observational cohort study.

Objective: β-lactams are the most widely used antibiotics in sepsis. We aimed to explore the factors that drive physicians to choose prolonged infusion (PI) of β-lactams in septic patients.

Methods: This prospective observational national cohort study was conducted in 40 ICUs at the teaching hospitals of 31 provinces in China between August 20, 2021 and September 20, 2021.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing-guided antimicrobial treatment versus conventional antimicrobial treatment in early severe community-acquired pneumonia among immunocompromised patients (MATESHIP): A study protocol.

Background: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is the main cause of mortality in immunocompromised patients. Compared with conventional microbiological tests (CMT), metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) can quickly and simultaneously detect a wide array of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in an unbiased manner. It is increasingly used for severe respiratory infectious diseases, especially for immunocompromised patients.

Mangiferin Alleviates Postpartum Depression-Like Behaviors by Inhibiting MAPK Signaling in Microglia.

Postpartum depression (PPD), a severe mental health disorder, is closely associated with decreased gonadal hormone levels during the postpartum period. Mangiferin (MGF) possesses a wide range of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammation. Growing evidence has suggested that neuroinflammation is involved in the development of depression.

Large Screening Identifies ACE2 Positively Correlates With NF-κB Signaling Activity and Targeting NF-κB Signaling Drugs Suppress ACE2 Levels.

Coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 infected more than 156 million people and caused over 3 million death in the whole world, therefore a better understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanism and the searching for more effective treatments were urgently needed. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was the receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this study, we found that ACE2 was an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) in human cell lines.

Dlg1 Knockout Inhibits Microglial Activation and Alleviates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Depression-Like Behavior in Mice.

Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation is widely perceived as a contributor to numerous neurological diseases and mental disorders including depression. Discs large homolog 1 (Dlg1), an adaptor protein, regulates cell polarization and the function of K channels, which are reported to regulate the activation of microglia. However, little is known about the role of Dlg1 in microglia and the maintenance of central nervous system homeostasis.

11-watt single-frequency 1342-nm laser based on multi-segmented Nd:YVO crystal.

High power continuous-wave (CW) single-frequency 1342 nm lasers are of interest for fundamental research, particularly, for laser cooling of lithium atoms. Using the popular Nd:YVO laser crystal requires careful heat management, because strong thermal effects in the gain medium are the most severe limitations of output power. Here, we present a multi-segmented Nd:YVO crystal design that consists of three segments with successive doping concentrations, optimized using a theoretical model.

High-power 671 nm laser by second-harmonic generation with 93% efficiency in an external ring cavity.

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is useful for obtaining single-frequency continuous-wave laser sources at various wavelengths for applications ranging from biology to fundamental physics. Using an external power-enhancement cavity is an effective approach to improve the frequency conversion efficiency. However, thermal effects limit the efficiency, particularly, in high-power operation.

Time-Variant Reliability Analysis for Rubber O-Ring Seal Considering Both Material Degradation and Random Load.

Due to the increase in working hours, the reliability of rubber O-ring seals used in hydraulic systems of transfer machines will change. While traditional methods can only analyze one of the material properties or seal properties, the failure of the O-ring is caused by these two factors together. In this paper, two factors are mainly analyzed: the degradation of material properties and load randomization by processing technology.

Traffic congestion and the lifetime of networks with moving nodes.

For many power-limited networks, such as wireless sensor networks and mobile ad hoc networks, maximizing the network lifetime is the first concern in the related designing and maintaining activities. We study the network lifetime from the perspective of network science. In our model, nodes are initially assigned a fixed amount of energy moving in a square area and consume the energy when delivering packets.