Background: Neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus (NETT) are rare and malignant tumors that arise in the anterior mediastinum. These tumors can exhibit aggressive behavior and may involve surrounding critical structures, such as the superior vena cava. This case contributes to the literature by presenting a recurrent thymic carcinoma with invasion of major blood vessels, including the superior vena cava, and the complexities involved in its surgical management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human gut microbiome within the gastrointestinal tract continuously adapts to variations in diet, medications, and host physiology. A central strategy for genetic adaptation is epigenetic phase variation (ePV) mediated by bacterial DNA methylation, which can regulate gene expression, enhance clonal heterogeneity, and enable a single bacterial strain to exhibit variable phenotypic states. Genome-wide and site-specific ePV have been well characterized in human pathogens' antigenic variation and virulence factor production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To describe tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment patterns and analyze co-variates of TKI switch for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in a center from China.
Methods: A retrospectively study was designed to analyze TKI switching patterns, reasons and associated covariates in patients with CP-CML.
Results: 1766 patients receiving initial imatinib (n = 1374), nilotinib (n = 254), dasatinib (n = 63) and flumatinib (n = 75) therapy were retrospectively interrogated.
Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonists have been developed and tested in clinical trials for their antitumor activity. However, the specific cell population(s) responsible for such STING activation-induced antitumor immunity have not been completely understood. In this study, we demonstrated that endothelial STING expression was critical for STING agonist-induced antitumor activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGut microbiota (GM) alterations have been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the specific functional architecture remains elusive. Here, employing multi-omics approaches, we investigate stool samples from two distinct cohorts comprising 203 children with mild ASD or typical development. In our screening cohort, regression-based analysis for metabolomic profiling identifies an elevated γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to glutamate (Glu) ratio as a metabolic signature of ASD, independent of age and gender.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic evolved under control measures is crucial to tackle the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread. Laos, a country bordering China but with late occurrence and low burden of COVID-19 compared to its neighbouring countries, was used for a case study.
Methods: A transmission model with disease reporting was proposed to investigate the impact of control measures on the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread in Laos from April 2021 to May 2022.
Complex network is an effective approach to studying complex diseases, and provides another perspective for understanding their pathological mechanisms by illustrating the interactions between various factors of diseases. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex polygenic metabolic disease involving genetic and environmental factors. By combining the complex network approach with biological data, this study constructs a pathway-based weighted network model of T2DM-related genes to explore the interrelationships between genes, here a weight is assigned to each edge in terms of the number of the same pathways in which the two nodes (genes) connected to the edge are involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile nanopore sequencing is increasingly used for mapping DNA modifications, it is important to recognize false positive calls as they can mislead biological interpretations. To assist biologists and methods developers, we describe a framework for rigorous evaluation that highlights the use of false discovery rate with rationally designed negative controls capturing both general background and confounding modifications. Our critical assessment across multiple forms of DNA modifications highlights that while nanopore sequencing performs reliably for high-abundance modifications, including 5-methylcytosine (5mC) at CpG sites in mammalian cells and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in mammalian brain cells, it makes a significant proportion of false positive detections for low-abundance modifications, such as 5mC at CpH sites, 5hmC and N6-methyldeoxyadenine (6mA) in most mammal cell types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUreaplasma urealyticum (UU) is one of the most commonly occurring pathogens associated with genital tract infections in infertile males, but the impact of seminal UU infection in semen on intrauterine insemination (IUI) outcomes is poorly understood. We collected data from 245 infertile couples who underwent IUI at The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC (Hefei, China) between January 2021 and January 2023. The subjects were classified into two groups according to their UU infection status: the UU-positive group and the UU-negative group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe abnormal structure of tumor vascular seriously hinders the delivery and deep penetration of drug in tumor therapy. Herein, an integrated and tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive nanocarrier is designed, which can dilate vessle and improve the drug penetration by in situ releasing nitric oxide (NO). Briefly, S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO) and curcumin (Cur) were encapsulatd into the Cu-doped zeolite imidazole framework-8 (Cu-ZIF-8) and modified with hyaluronic acid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRemimazolam (Byfavo), a recent FDA-approved ester-linked benzodiazepine, offers advantages in sedation, such as rapid onset and predictable duration, making it suitable for broad anesthesia applications. Its favorable pharmacological profile is primarily attributed to rapid hydrolysis, the primary metabolism pathway for its deactivation. Thus, understanding remimazolam hydrolysis determinants is essential for optimizing its clinical use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo evaluate the Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) of the Influenza Vaccine (InfV) during pregnancy in Gansu province. A retrospective cohort of pregnant women vaccinated with InfV was constructed using the electronic case system and immunization planning system of Gansu province. Outcome information of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) in pregnant women after vaccination with InfV during the influenza epidemic seasons from 2019 to 2021 was collected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study focuses on the cases(mainly characterized by respiratory symptoms such as cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, and nasal congestion)of an outbreak of upper respiratory tract infections in a kindergarten in Jingyuan County, Baiyin City, Gansu Province, in May 2023. The epidemiological data were collected, and pharyngeal swab specimens were also obtained from the patients. The specimens of the research participants were subjected to respiratory multi-pathogen testing, and the positive specimens were further analyzed by sequencing the second hypervariable region (HRV2) of the G gene of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and constructing a phylogenetic tree.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in the well-known Myostatin () produce a 'double-muscle' phenotype, which makes it commercially invaluable for improving livestock meat production and providing high-quality protein for humans. However, mutations at different loci of the often produce a variety of different phenotypes. In the current study, we increased the delivery ratio of Cas9 mRNA to sgRNA from the traditional 1:2 to 1:10, which improves the efficiency of the homozygous mutation of biallelic gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Obesity continues to be a major problem, despite known treatment strategies such as lifestyle modifications, pharmaceuticals, and surgical options, necessitating the development of novel weight loss approaches. The naturally occurring fatty acid, 10,12 conjugated linoleic acid (10,12 CLA), promotes weight loss by increasing fat oxidation and browning of white adipose tissue, leading to increased energy expenditure in obese mice. Coincident with weight loss, 10,12 CLA also alters the murine gut microbiota by enriching for microbes that produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), with concurrent elevations in fecal butyrate and plasma acetate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA large-scale, high-speed, long-runout landslide occurred in Xinmo Village, Maoxian, Sichuan Province, China, on June 24, 2017. It was characterized by fast sliding speed, rapid volume growth, and large impact area. The dynamic process of such landslides and the influence of erosion on the dynamic process are studied by field investigation, numerical inversion and simulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvestigating the wind speed flow field and aerodynamic characteristics of shelterbelts with different structural features is of significant importance for the rational arrangement of shelterbelts and the mitigation of wind-blown sand disasters. Considering five cross-sectional shapes of shelterbelts (rectangle, windward right-angle triangle, leeward right-angle triangle, isosceles triangle, and parabolic) and four layout forms (single shelterbelt, L-shaped network, U-shaped network, and rectangular network), we conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using the large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence model to understand mean wind speed flow field and turbulence structure of shelterbelts with different structural features, and investigated the effects of shelterbelt cross-sectional shapes and layout forms on windbreak indicators, such as protection distance and area. We considered tree canopies as porous media and conducted simulation with the 'Tsujimatsu' shelterbelt in Japan with a total height () of 7 m, canopy height of 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaize (Zea mays L.) kernel development is a complex and dynamic process involving cell division and differentiation, into a variety of cell types. Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, play a pivotal role in regulating this process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to investigate humoral immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and assess the impact of booster vaccines. We recruited individuals scheduled to receive either the first (original formula) or the second (bivalent) booster following the initial two-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. We tested for IgG antibodies targeting the spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD), S1, S2, and nucleocapsid protein, as well as for neutralizing antibodies against Omicron BA.
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