Airway dysbiosis accelerates lung function decline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Progressive lung function decline is a hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Airway dysbiosis occurs in COPD, but whether it contributes to disease progression remains unknown. Here, we show, through a longitudinal analysis of two cohorts involving four UK centers, that baseline airway dysbiosis in COPD patients, characterized by the enrichment of opportunistic pathogenic taxa, associates with a rapid forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) decline over 2 years.

An improved total en bloc spondylectomy for L5 vertebral giant cell tumor through a single-stage posterior approach.

Purpose: Although total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) is strongly recommended for spinal giant cell tumor (GCT), it is extremely difficult to excise a L5 neoplasm intactly through the single-stage posterior approach. Given the risk of neurological and vascular injury, intralesional curettage (IC) is usually recommended for the treatment of L5 GCT. In this study, we presented our experience with the use of an improved TES to treat L5 GCT through the single-stage posterior approach.

Identification of cough-variant asthma phenotypes based on clinical and pathophysiologic data.

Background: Cough-variant asthma (CVA) may respond differently to antiasthmatic treatment. There are limited data on the heterogeneity of CVA.

Objective: We aimed to classify patients with CVA using cluster analysis based on clinicophysiologic parameters and to unveil the underlying molecular pathways of these phenotypes with transcriptomic data of sputum cells.

CAG Repeat Expansion in THAP11 Is Associated with a Novel Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Background: More than 50 loci are associated with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), and the most frequent subtypes share nucleotide repeats expansion, especially CAG expansion.

Objective: The objective of this study was to confirm a novel SCA subtype caused by CAG expansion.

Methods: We performed long-read whole-genome sequencing combined with linkage analysis in a five-generation Chinese family, and the finding was validated in another pedigree.

[New characteristics of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant in Guangzhou].

We investigated the types of novel coronavirus strains present during the Omicron epidemic from late 2022 to early 2023, COVID-19 co-infections with other pathogens, and clinical characteristics of patients with novel coronavirus infections. Adult patients hospitalized due to SARS CoV-2 infection in six hospitals in Guangzhou city were included in the study from November 2022 to February 2023. Clinical information was collected and analyzed, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained for pathogen detection using a variety of techniques, including standard methods and mNGS, tNGS.

Clinical Spectrum, Diagnosis, and Treatment Outcome in Individuals With Intravascular Large B-cell Lymphoma Affecting the Nervous System: A Case Series.

We treated five patients, three females, and two males, with intravascular lymphoma that affected the central or peripheral nervous systems. We reviewed their clinical, laboratory, neuro-imaging, and pathological data and treatment outcomes. The median age of onset was 60 years, with a range of 39 to 69 years.

Giant Superlinear Power Dependence of Photocurrent Based on Layered Ta NiS Photodetector.

Photodetector based on two-dimensional (2D) materials is an ongoing quest in optoelectronics. 2D photodetectors are generally efficient at low illuminating power but suffer severe recombination processes at high power, which results in the sublinear power-dependent photoresponse and lower optoelectronic efficiency. The desirable superlinear photocurrent is mostly achieved by sophisticated 2D heterostructures or device arrays, while 2D materials rarely show intrinsic superlinear photoresponse.

Pathogenesis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy caused by chaotic glymphatics-Mini-review.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common cause of lobar intracerebral hemorrhage in the elderly. It is also associated pathologically with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Both CAA and AD share similar pathology of deposition amyloid beta fibrils (Aβ).

Deep neural network to differentiate internet gaming disorder from healthy controls during stop-signal task: a multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), as one of worldwide mental health issues, leads to negative effects on physical and mental health and has attracted public attention. Most studies on IGD are based on screening scales and subjective judgments of doctors, without objective quantitative assessment. However, public understanding of internet gaming disorder lacks objectivity.

Optimal concentration of Lugol's solution for detecting early esophageal carcinoma: A randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aim: Lugol chromoendoscopy is the standard technique to detect an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, a high concentration of Lugol's solution can induce mucosal injury and adverse events. We aimed to investigate the optimal concentration of Lugol's solution to reduce mucosal injury and adverse events without degrading image quality.

Microplastics discharged from urban drainage system: Prominent contribution of sewer overflow pollution.

Urban drainage system is an important channel for terrigenous microplastics (<5 mm in size) to migrate to urban water bodies, especially the input load caused by overflow pollution in wet weather. Investigating how they transport and discharge is essential to better understand the occurrence and variability of microplastics in different water ecosystems. This study evaluated the abundance and distribution characteristics of microplastics in the drainage systems of typical coastal cities in China.

BigNeuron: a resource to benchmark and predict performance of algorithms for automated tracing of neurons in light microscopy datasets.

BigNeuron is an open community bench-testing platform with the goal of setting open standards for accurate and fast automatic neuron tracing. We gathered a diverse set of image volumes across several species that is representative of the data obtained in many neuroscience laboratories interested in neuron tracing. Here, we report generated gold standard manual annotations for a subset of the available imaging datasets and quantified tracing quality for 35 automatic tracing algorithms.

Intranasal booster using an Omicron vaccine confers broad mucosal and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants severely attenuated the effectiveness of currently licensed SARS-CoV-2 vaccines based on ancestral strains administered via intramuscular injection. In this study, we generated a recombinant, replication-incompetent human adenovirus type 5, Ad5-S-Omicron, that expresses Omicron BA.1 spike.

Plasma cell-free DNA promise monitoring and tissue injury assessment of COVID-19.

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a complex disease that affects billions of people worldwide. Currently, effective etiological treatment of COVID-19 is still lacking; COVID-19 also causes damages to various organs that affects therapeutics and mortality of the patients. Surveillance of the treatment responses and organ injury assessment of COVID-19 patients are of high clinical value.

Endoscopic ultrasound-based application system for predicting endoscopic resection-related outcomes and diagnosing subepithelial lesions: Multicenter prospective study.

Objectives: Subepithelial lesions (SELs) are associated with various endoscopic resection (ER) outcomes and diagnostic challenges. We aimed to establish a tool for predicting ER-related outcomes and diagnosing SELs and to investigate the predictive value of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS).

Methods: Phase 1 (system development) was performed in a retrospective cohort (n = 837) who underwent EUS before ER for SELs at eight hospitals.

Engineered CRISPR-OsCas12f1 and RhCas12f1 with robust activities and expanded target range for genome editing.

The type V-F CRISPR-Cas12f system is a strong candidate for therapeutic applications due to the compact size of the Cas12f proteins. In this work, we identify six uncharacterized Cas12f1 proteins with nuclease activity in mammalian cells from assembled bacterial genomes. Among them, OsCas12f1 (433 aa) from Oscillibacter sp.

Sputum pathogen spectrum and clinical outcomes of upper respiratory tract infection in bronchiectasis exacerbation: a prospective cohort study.

Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is common in humans. We sought to profile sputum pathogen spectrum and impact of URTI on acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis (AE). Between March 2017 and December 2021, we prospectively collected sputum from adults with bronchiectasis.

Familial Epilepsy Associated With Concurrent CHRNB2 Mutation and RBFOX1 Exon Deletion: A Case Report.

Understanding the genetic basis of epilepsy may lead to an improved understanding of its etiology, more precise medical management, and ultimately improved outcomes. It is imperative for patients with epilepsy to obtain a molecular diagnosis, especially when strong familial epilepsy is discovered. We investigated a multi-generational family with epilepsy.

Real-World Effectiveness of Primary Series and Booster Doses of Inactivated Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Against Omicron BA.2 Variant Infection in China: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: China has been using inactivated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines as primary series and booster doses to protect the population from severe to fatal COVID-19. We evaluated primary and booster vaccine effectiveness (VE) against Omicron BA.2 infection outcomes.

Low human beta-defensin-2 levels in the sputum of COPD patients are associated with the risk of exacerbations.

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complicated chronic inflammatory disease. It is important to investigate the characteristics of acute exacerbation of COPD to develop new therapeutic strategies.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the human beta-defensin-2 (hBD-2) levels and aggravation of COPD.

Effects of Pendrin Protein in Nasal Epithelial Cells on Mucin Production in the Context of Type 2 Inflammation.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a heterogeneous disease. The pathogenesis of chronic sinusitis is still unclear; however, the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are commonly affected by type 2 inflammation, which is caused by Th2 cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-5, IL-4, and IL-13. Previous studies have shown that pendrin promotes local infiltration of neutrophils through the production of human neutrophil elastase (HNE), which is essential for the secretion of mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) in chronic inflammatory diseases of the lower respiratory tract.

Host PTX3 Protein and Bacterial Capsule Coordinately Regulate the Inflammatory Response during Infection.

serotype 2 (SS2) is a noteworthy zoonotic pathogen that has been responsible for large economic losses in pig production and a great threat to human health. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an essential regulator of the innate immune response to bacterial pathogens; however, its role during SS2 infection is not fully understood. In this study, we found that the SS2 strain HA9801 induced a significant inflammatory response in the mouse air pouch model; this response was amplified by the treatment of exogenous PTX3 simultaneously in terms of the results of inflammatory cell recruitment and proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 production.

SARS-CoV-2 epitope-specific T cells: Immunity response feature, TCR repertoire characteristics and cross-reactivity.

The devastating COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 and multiple variants or subvariants remains an ongoing global challenge. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses play a critical role in early virus clearance, disease severity control, limiting the viral transmission and underpinning COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. Studies estimated broad and robust T cell responses in each individual recognized at least 30 to 40 SARS-CoV-2 antigen epitopes and associated with COVID-19 clinical outcome.

Study of the Compressive Properties of Heavy Calcium Carbonate-Reinforced Epoxy Composite Spheres (HC-R-EMS) Composite Lightweight Concrete.

Lightweight concrete is one of the effective means to solve the problems of structural component weight, energy efficiency, and fire safety in modern civil engineering. Heavy calcium carbonate-reinforced epoxy composite spheres (HC-R-EMS) were prepared by the ball milling method, and HC-R-EMS, cement, and hollow glass microspheres (HGMS) were mixed into the mold by the molding method to prepare composite lightweight concrete. The relationship between the HC-R-EMS volumetric fraction, the initial inner diameter of the HC-R-EMS, the number of layers of HC-R-EMS, the HGMS volume ratio, the basalt fiber length and content, and the multi-phase composite lightweight concrete density and compressive strength was studied.

Research Progresses and Applications of Fluorescent Protein Antibodies: A Review Focusing on Nanobodies.

Since the discovery of fluorescent proteins (FPs), their rich fluorescence spectra and photochemical properties have promoted widespread biological research applications. FPs can be classified into green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its derivates, red fluorescent protein (RFP) and its derivates, and near-infrared FPs. With the continuous development of FPs, antibodies targeting FPs have emerged.