Analysis of the causal relationship between gut microbiota and bone remodeling growth factor from the gene association.

Background: A growing body of evidence indicates a close association between the gut microbiota (GM) and the bone remodeling (BR) process, raising suspicions that the GM may actively participate in BR by modulating the levels of growth factors. However, the precise causal relationship between them remains unclear. Due to many confounding factors, many microorganisms related to BR growth factors have not been identified.

Brain effect mechanism of lever positioning manipulation on LDH analgesia based on multimodal MRI: a study protocol.

Introduction: The clinical symptoms of Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) can be effectively ameliorated through Lever Positioning Manipulation (LPM), which is closely linked to the brain's pain-regulating mechanisms. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) offers an objective and visual means to study how the brain orchestrates the characteristics of analgesic effects. From the perspective of multimodal MRI, we applied functional MRI (fMRI) and Magnetic Resonance Spectrum (MRS) techniques to comprehensively evaluate the characteristics of the effects of LPM on the brain region of LDH from the aspects of brain structure, brain function and brain metabolism.

Genetically predicted causal effects of gut microbiota on spinal pain: a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis.

Background: Observational studies have hinted at a correlation between the gut microbiota and spinal pain (SP). However, the impact of the gut microbiota on SP remains inconclusive.

Methods: In this study, we employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causal relationship between the gut microbiota and SP, encompassing neck pain (NP), thoracic spine pain (TSP), low back pain (LBP), and back pain (BP).

Gene association analysis to determine the causal relationship between immune cells and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a type of chronic childhood arthritis with complex pathogenesis. Immunological studies have shown that JIA is an acquired self-inflammatory disease, involving a variety of immune cells, and it is also affected by genetic and environmental susceptibility. However, the precise causative relationship between the phenotype of immune cells and JIA remains unclear to date.

Association between dermatology follow-up and melanoma survival: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Guidelines recommend that patients with melanoma undergo dermatologic examination at least annually. Adherence to follow-up and its impact on survival are unclear.

Objective: To determine the level of adherence to annual dermatologic follow-up in patients with primary cutaneous melanoma, identify predictors for better adherence, and evaluate whether adherence was associated with melanoma-related mortality.

Comparing the ocular surface temperature and dry eye condition of keratoconus with normal eyes using infrared thermal imaging.

Purpose: This study was conducted to compare the ocular surface temperature in keratoconus eyes with that in normal eyes.

Methods: A total of 27 participants were enrolled, with 10 and 17 participants in the keratoconus and control groups, respectively. Participants in the control group underwent an ophthalmic slit lamp examination and ocular thermography, while an additional corneal tomography was performed for those in the keratoconus group.

Immunohistochemistry analysis reveals lysyl oxidase-like 3 as a novel prognostic marker for primary melanoma.

Lysyl oxidase-like 3 (LOXL3) is an extracellular enzyme involved in the synthesis of collagen and elastin, and it has been reported to promote melanoma cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. However, the expression level of LOXL3 at different stages of melanocytic lesions and the role of LOXL3 in melanoma pathogenesis remain unknown. Immunohistochemical staining of LOXL3 in a tissue microarray of 373 biopsies at different melanocytic stages was conducted.

A nomogram predicting subclinical extension of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese individuals: A retrospective study.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma usually extends beyond the visible margin. Little is known about the predictors for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with subclinical extension in Chinese individuals. This study aimed to construct a nomogram for predicting the probability of subclinical extension of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in Chinese patients.

Two-dimensional stretchable blazed wavelength-tunable grating based on PDMS.

This paper reports a two-dimensional stretchable blazed wavelength-tunable grating based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In the elastic range, stretch the grating along (-axis) and perpendicular to (-axis) the grating line, fix the position of the +1st-order spot to maintain the grating period, and only change the groove angle to tune the blazed wavelength. By stretching the grating up to 20% of the -axis, and 5.

Low-stray-light concave holographic gratings processed by combining the methods of photoresist hot-melting and oxygen-ion ashing.

The principal motivation for this paper is to reduce stray light and line roughness in concave holographic gratings (CHG). Compared with other previously reported line-smoothing grating techniques such as dynamic-exposure near-field holography, we successfully improve the line smoothing of CHG to approximately 10 nm from 2 nm. Our method uses optimization technologies and a combination of photoresist hot-melting (PHM) and oxygen-ion ashing (OIA), thereby improving the degree of stray light before and after optimization by one order of magnitude; the level processed by OIA, PHM, and OIA successively is ${7.

Analytical design of a high-performing +1st order diffraction convex grating imaging spectrometer.

A novel concentric spectrometer having one convex grating and one concave mirror, working at ${+}{1}$+1st order diffraction, and with a small size, high resolution, and high diffraction efficiency, is proposed. It can simultaneously achieve high resolution and compactness by increasing the grating groove density. A compact spectrometer operating at a wavelength of 740-790 nm with an excellent imaging quality is designed.

Highly Sensitive Graphene/Polydimethylsiloxane Composite Films near the Threshold Concentration with Biaxial Stretching.

Uniformly dispersed graphene effectively improves the strain-sensing capability of the composite film under a low graphene load in nanocomposites prepared with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and graphene (GNP) monolayer powder. The threshold concentration of graphene was determined by loading nanocomposites at different temperatures. For different concentrations, when using traditional uniaxial stretching, the rate of resistance change of films near the threshold concentration is five times higher than the rate of films with a high concentration.

Optimized multielement accommodative intraocular lens with a four-freeform-surface Alvarez lens and a separate aspheric lens.

This paper proposes an accommodative intraocular lens (IOL), which consists of a two-element Alvarez lens and an aspheric lens for changing focal power and refractive power, respectively. The four-freeform-surface Alvarez lens is optimized for a multiple field of view; further, the aspheric lens also corrects the aberrations induced by the corneal asphericity of the human eye over the whole range of accommodation. A simulation using optical design software demonstrates its excellent performance in that the values of the modulation transfer function at 100 cycles/mm all reach ∼0.

Computer-Aided Discovery of Small Molecule Inhibitors of Thymocyte Selection-Associated High Mobility Group Box Protein (TOX) as Potential Therapeutics for Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas.

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are the most common primary lymphomas of the skin. We have previously identified thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group (HMG) box protein (TOX) as a promising drug target in CTCL; however, there are currently no small molecules able to directly inhibit TOX. We aimed to address this unmet opportunity by developing anti-TOX therapeutics with the use of computer-aided drug discovery methods.

Multifacet echelle grating for intensity broadening on spectral plane fabricated by rotating ion-beam etching.

This paper describes a new type of multifacet echelle grating (MFEG) for use in an echelle spectrometer. This new type of echelle grating broadens the spectral distribution on the spectral plane. We built a geometric model of MFEG to analyze the influence of the blaze angle and number of facet shapes on the spectral evolution.

Flexible and Optical Fiber Sensors Composited by Graphene and PDMS for Motion Detection.

A stretchable optical sensor can quantify the strain generated by human movement, which has been widely studied in the development of health monitoring systems, human-machine interfaces and wearable devices. This paper reports a graphene-added polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fiber, which has high tensile properties and good light transmittance suitable for detecting human movement. When the graphene-added PDMS fiber is stretched, the concentration of graphene per unit volume is constant, and the sensor uses the optical loss of the beam through the graphene PDMS fiber to detect the tensile strain.

IL-10 is overexpressed in human cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and is required for maximal tumor growth in a mouse model.

A crucial question pertains to a role of IL-10 as a tumorigenic factor, or just a marker of advanced disease in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Herein, we measured significantly elevated IL-10 mRNA in a cohort of skin samples of patients with CTCL. Increased IL-10 was also detected in the tumor microenvironment of an established inflammation-dependent murine model of using MBL2 T lymphoma cells.

Ring Wrinkle Patterns with Continuously Changing Wavelength Produced Using a Controlled-Gradient Light Field.

We report a facile method to prepare gradient wrinkles using a controlled-gradient light field. Because of the gradient distance between the ultraviolet (UV) lamp and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate during UV/ozone treatment, the irradiance reaching the substrate continuously changed, which was transferred into the resulting SiO film with a varying thickness. Therefore, wrinkles with continuously changing wavelength were fabricated using this approach.

Measurement of grating groove density using multiple diffraction orders and one standard wavelength.

A new method for measuring grating groove density is proposed using multiple diffraction orders and one standard wavelength to eliminate the eccentricity effect originated from the rotation of a diffraction grating. Based on the Littman configuration for autocollimation, the groove density can be obtained by measuring the internal angles between the zeroth-order and two nonzeroth-order diffracted beams for one laser wavelength at a certain incident angle. The method was applied to measure the groove density of a plane grating with a nominal groove density of 651 lines/mm, where the mean value of this grating was measured to be 650.