Stratification of Alzheimer's Disease Patients Using Knowledge-Guided Unsupervised Latent Factor Clustering with Electronic Health Record Data.

Background: People with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit varying clinical trajectories. There is a need to predict future AD-related outcomes such as morbidity and mortality using clinical profile at the point of care.

Objective: To stratify AD patients based on baseline clinical profiles (up to two years prior to AD diagnosis) and update the model after AD diagnosis to prognosticate future AD-related outcomes.

Plasma fibronectin is a prognostic biomarker of disability in Parkinson's disease: a prospective, multicenter cohort study.

In a prospective longitudinal study with 218 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in the discovery cohort and 84 in the validation cohort, we aimed to identify novel blood biomarkers predicting disability milestones in PD. Through Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator-Cox (Lasso-Cox) regression, developed nomogram predictive model and Linear mixed-effects models, we identified low level of plasma fibronectin (pFN) as one of the best-performing risk markers in predicting disability milestones. A low level of pFN was associated with a short milestone-free survival period in PD.

Enriching fluorotelomer carboxylic acids-degrading consortia from sludges and soils.

Fluorotelomer carboxylic acids (FTCAs) has drawn increasing attention due to their prevalent occurrence, high toxicity, and bioaccumulating effects. In this study, microbial consortia with sustainable FTCA removal abilities were enriched and characterized from two activated sludges and five soils when no external carbon sources were supplemented. After four generations of enrichment, stable 6:2 FTCA and 5:3 FTCA biodegradation were achieved, reaching 0.

Distinctive adsorption and transport behaviors of short-chain versus long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids in a river sediment.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) embrace perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and other concerning chemicals of different chain length and terminal moieties. PFAAs can leach from municipal wastewater facilities as point sources discharging into rivers and receiving streams. In this study, we investigated the adsorption and transport behaviors of six select PFAAs in a Hudson River (USA) sediment in both batch and mesocosm studies.

Multisource representation learning for pediatric knowledge extraction from electronic health records.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are particularly valuable in pediatrics due to high barriers in clinical studies, but pediatric EHR data often suffer from low content density. Existing EHR code embeddings tailored for the general patient population fail to address the unique needs of pediatric patients. To bridge this gap, we introduce a transfer learning approach, MUltisource Graph Synthesis (MUGS), aimed at accurate knowledge extraction and relation detection in pediatric contexts.

Effect of the gene on the pathogenicity of and immune function .

Objectives: a ubiquitous membrane protein in fungi, plays a pivotal role in various physiological processes, such as osmotic stress, oxidative stress, temperature response, and virulence regulation across different fungal species. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the gene on the pathogenicity of and its immune function .

Materials And Methods: Ninety-nine clinical strains from various infection sites were collected to investigate the expression levels of the gene compared to its levels in the standard strain (SC5314).

Determination of Volatile Halogenated Hydrocarbons in Drinking and Environmental Waters by Headspace Gas Chromatography.

Volatile halogenated hydrocarbons (VHHs) are annually produced and released into the environment, posing a threat to public health. In this study, a simple, rapid, sensitive and automated method based on headspace and gas chromatography (GC) with electron-capture detection was described for the determination of VHHs in different concentration levels in water samples. The proposed headspace GC method was initially optimized, and the optimum experimental conditions found were 10-mL water sample containing 20% w/v sodium chloride placed in a 20-mL vial and stirred at 60°C for 35 min, and then 14 VHHs were well separated on DB-35 MS capillary column with a split ratio of 12.

Interactions of graphene oxide with the microbial community of biologically active filters from a water treatment plant.

With widespread occurrence and increasing concern of emerging contaminants (CECs) in source water, biologically active filters (BAF) have been gaining acceptance in water treatment. Both BAFs and graphene oxide (GO) have been shown to be effective in treating CECs. However, studies to date have not addressed interactions between GO and microbial communities in water treatment processes such as BAFs.

Caspase-4 in glioma indicates deterioration and unfavorable prognosis by affecting tumor cell proliferation and immune cell recruitment.

Gliomas are the most common malignant tumors of the central nervous system, accounting for approximately 80% of all malignant brain tumors. Accumulating evidence suggest that pyroptosis plays an essential role in the progression of cancer. Unfortunately, the effect of the pyroptosis-related factor caspase-4 (CASP4) on immunotherapy and drug therapy for tumors has not been comprehensively investigated.

Enhanced chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer using surfactant-modified AIE carbon dots.

Chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) efficiency can be enhanced by confining CRET donors and acceptors within nanoscale spaces. However, this enhanced efficiency is often affected by uncertainties stemming from the random distribution of CRET donors and acceptors in such confined environments. In this study, a novel confined nanospace was created through the surfactant modification of carbon dots (CDs) exhibiting aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics.

Surface-programmed microbiome assembly in phycosphere to microplastics contamination.

Recalcitrance in microplastics accounts for ubiquitous white pollution. Of special interest are the capabilities of microorganisms to accelerate their degradation sustainably. Compared to the well-studied pure cultures in degrading natural polymers, the algal-bacterial symbiotic system is considered as a promising candidate for microplastics removal, cascading bottom-up impacts on ecosystem-scale processes.

Comparative resistomics analysis of multidrug-resistant Chryseobacteria.

Chryseobacteria consists of important human pathogens that can cause a myriad of nosocomial infections. We isolated four multidrug-resistant Chryseobacterium bacteria from activated sludge collected at domestic wastewater treatment facilities in the New York Metropolitan area. Their genomes were sequenced with Nanopore technology and used for a comprehensive resistomics comparison with 211 Chryseobacterium genomes available in the public databases.

Effect of artificial natural light on the development of myopia among primary school-age children in China: a three-year longitudinal study.

Aim: To assess the efficacy of artificial natural light in preventing incident myopia in primary school-age children.

Methods: This is a prospective, randomized control, intervention study. A total of 1840 students from 39 classes in 4 primary schools in Foshan participated in this study.

Molecule engineering strategy of toll-like receptor 7/8 agonists designed for potentiating immune stimuli activation.

Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR-7/8) agonists serve as a promising class of pattern recognition receptors that effectively evoke the innate immune response, making them promising immunomodulatory agents for tumor immunotherapy. However, the uncontrollable administration of TLR-7/8 agonists frequently leads to the occurrence of severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Thus, it is imperative to strategically design tumor-microenvironment-associated biomarkers or exogenous stimuli responsive TLR-7/8 agonists in order to accurately evaluate and activate innate immune responses.

Distinctive biotransformation and biodefluorination of 6:2 versus 5:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acids by municipal activated sludge.

Fluorotelomer carboxylic acids (FTCAs) represent an important group of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) given their high toxicity, bioaccumulation potential, and frequent detection in landfill leachates and PFAS-impacted sites. In this study, we assessed the biodegradability of 6:2 FTCA and 5:3 FTCA by activated sludges from four municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the New York Metropolitan area. Coupling with 6:2 FTCA removal, significant fluoride release (0.

Rapid detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using paper spray-based mass spectrometry.

Traditional PFAS analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) is time-consuming, as laborious sample preparation (e.g., extraction and desalting) is necessary.

Insights into the roles of biochar pores toward alleviating antibiotic resistance genes accumulation in biofiltration systems.

Biofiltration systems would harbor and spread various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) when treating antibiotic micro-pollution, constituting a potential ecological risk. This study aimed to investigate the effects of biochar pores on ARG emergence and related microbial response mechanisms in bench-scale biofiltration systems. Results showed that biochar pores effectively reduced the absolute copies of the corresponding ARGs sul1 and sul2 by 54.

Angstrom-Scale Electrochemistry at Electrodes with Dimensions Commensurable and Smaller than Individual Reacting Species.

In nature and technologies, many chemical reactions occur at interfaces with dimensions approaching that of a single reacting species in nano- and angstrom-scale. Mechanisms governing reactions at this ultimately small spatial regime remain poorly explored because of challenges to controllably fabricate required devices and assess their performance in experiment. Here we report how efficiency of electrochemical reactions evolves for electrodes that range from just one atom in thickness to sizes comparable with and exceeding hydration diameters of reactant species.

A syndromic diagnostic assay on a macrochannel-to-digital microfluidic platform for automatic identification of multiple respiratory pathogens.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has changed people's lives and the diagnostic landscape. The nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) as the gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection has been applied in containing its transmission. However, there remains a lack of an affordable on-site detection system at resource-limited areas.

Diffusion basis spectrum imaging detects pathological alterations in substantia nigra and white matter tracts with early-stage Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: Using diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI) to examine the microstructural changes in the substantia nigra (SN) and global white matter (WM) tracts of patients with early-stage PD.

Methods: Thirty-seven age- and sex-matched patients with early-stage PD and 22 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent clinical assessments and diffusion-weighted MRI scans, analyzed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and DBSI to assess the pathologies of PD in SN and global WM tracts.

NRF2/HO-1 axis, BIRC5, and TP53 expression in ESCC and its correlation with clinical pathological characteristics and prognosis.

Background: Many types of cancer exhibit high nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), which is effective in resisting drugs and radiation. However, the role of NRF2 gene expression in predicting the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear.

Methods: The association between NRF2, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), baculovirus IAP repeat 5 (BIRC5), P53 gene expression levels and their relationship to immune-infiltrating cells were assessed using the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, the Human Protein Atlas and the TISDB database.