Potential of nanopore sequencing for tuberculosis diagnosis and drug resistance detection.

Objectives: This study evaluates the effectiveness of nanopore sequencing for accurate detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogens and drug resistance mutations in clinical specimens.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 2,421 specimens from suspected tuberculosis patients admitted to Xi'an Chest Hospital from 2022 to 2023 was conducted, with 131 specimens undergoing via real-time, fluorescence-based quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR), simultaneous amplification and testing RNA (RNA), Mycobacterium culture, Mycobacterium smear, and nanopore sequencing. Employing clinical tuberculosis diagnoses as the gold standard, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, concordance rate, and Kappa coefficient were measured for the five detection techniques.

Development of a set of indicators for the quality of chronic pain management in Chinese community-dwelling older adults: a Delphi study.

Background: Standardized and systematic quality assessments of chronic pain management, particularly among older adult populations, are lacking in resource-limited community settings. A specific set of indicators to evaluate the quality of chronic pain management in this population has yet to be developed. Therefore, the present study constructed a set of indicators to assess the quality of chronic pain management in Chinese community-dwelling older adults, providing a standardized reference and guidance for community health centers to manage chronic pain in this population.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Confers Protection Against Asthma Through Inhibition of NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) modulates the inflammatory response in a range of pathological conditions. However, whether FGF21 modulates asthma remains unexplored. This study sought to investigate its function in asthma using an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced mouse model.

Perioperative Changes in Serum Transaminases Levels Predicts Long-Term Survival Following Liver Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: We sought to define whether and how hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) as manifested by perioperative aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) levels impact long-term outcomes after curative-intent resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients And Methods: Intrasplenic injection of HCC cells was used to establish a murine model of HCC recurrence with versus without I/R injury. Patients who underwent curative resection for HCC were identified from a multi-institutional derivative cohort (DC) and separate external validation (VC) cohort.

Correction method of Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion for rock based on freeze-thaw and residual effects.

Under confining pressure, rocks transition from brittle failure to plastic failure, and residual strength exists after complete failure. However, in the process of establishing rock damage constitutive models, the strength criteria used usually do not consider residual stress. In cold region engineering, the freeze-thaw effect caused by temperature changes should be considered in the constitutive model, and strength criteria should also be introduced.

Insights into adolescent sleep and mental health in rural area of Northwestern China.

Adolescents in affluent nations have experienced a decline in sleep duration, associated with adverse outcomes such as behavioral issues and health concerns. However, the connection between sleep and mental well-being during adolescence, particularly in developing regions like rural China, remains underexplored. A cross-sectional study of 18,516 adolescents in 124 junior high schools in Ningxia, China, utilized the strengths and difficulties questionnaire to assess mental health.

Enhancing active fire detection in Sentinel 2 imagery using GLCM texture features in random forest models.

The array of wildfire activities instigated by human endeavors has emerged as a significant source of atmospheric pollution, posing considerable risks to both public health and property safety. This study harnesses Sentinel-2 satellite data, employing a variety of methods including spectral index methods, thresholding, and the Random Forest (RF) model for active fire spot detection. The research encompasses a wide range of land cover types across various Chinese regions.

Modelling the compensatory and carry-over effects between physical activity and fruit-vegetable consumption in young adults.

Physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) are crucial factors jointly affecting young adults' physical and mental health. However, the psychosocial interactive mechanisms of these behaviors remain understudied. Using a two-wave prospective design over two months, this study investigated the psychological mechanisms underlying multiple health behavior change (MHBC) through a novel two-layer social-cognitive framework, the Compensatory Carry-Over Action Model (CCAM), among 322 Chinese college students (19.

A novel biomarker of COVI-19: MMP8 emerged by integrated bulk RNAseq and single-cell sequencing.

COVID-19 has been emerging as the most influential illness which has caused great costs to the heath of population and social economy. Sivelestat sodium (SS) is indicated as an effective cure for lung dysfunction, a characteristic symptom of COVID-19 infection, but its pharmacological target is still unclear. Therefore, a deep understanding of the pathological progression and molecular alteration is an urgent issue for settling the diagnosis and therapy problems of COVID-19.

Examining the impact of globalization and natural resources on environmental sustainability in G20 countries.

The G20 countries are responsible for around 75% of the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including the use of natural resources. In this regard, the role of globalization in achieving environmental sustainability is a relatively new topic of concern. As a result, the present study considers how globalization and natural resources affect GHG emissions, as well as the roles that renewable energy consumption and urbanization play in the G20 countries between 1990 and 2020.

The dual role of calnexin on malignant progression and tumor microenvironment in glioma.

Glioma is the most common malignant brain tumor. Previous studies have reported that calnexin (CANX) is significantly up-regulated in a variety of malignant tumors, including glioma, but its biological function and mechanism in glioma is still unclear. In this study, differentially expressed proteins in 3 primary glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tissues and 3 paracancer tissues were identified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based proteomic and bioinformatic analysis.

Feature decoupling integrated domain generalization network for bearing fault diagnosis under unknown operating conditions.

In real engineering scenarios, the complex and variable operating conditions of mechanical equipment lead to distributional differences between the collected fault data and the training data. This distribution difference can lead to the failure of deep learning-based diagnostic models. Extracting generalized diagnostic knowledge from the source domain in scenarios where the target domain is not visible is the key to solving this problem.

Theoretical analysis of additional surrounding rock pressure in shallow buried bias tunnel.

The existing calculation method for the surrounding rock pressure of shallow buried bias tunnel fails to account for the impact of the progressive failure characteristics of the surrounding rock and slope creep, thereby neglecting the additional pressure arising from slope creep. Therefore, the progressive instability failure mode of the surrounding rock of shallow buried bias tunnel was obtained by numerical simulation. Based on this, the theoretical analysis model of the additional pressure of shallow buried bias tunnel was established, and the calculation formula of the additional pressure was derived.

Association of baseline thyroid stimulating hormone with in-hospital outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation and coronary artery diseases.

Objective: Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is related to increased atrial fibrillation (AF) inducibility and plays an important role in a variety of cardiovascular diseases. However, the association of baseline TSH with in-hospital outcomes in patients with AF and coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of baseline TSH and its association with in-hospital outcomes (major adverse cardiovascular events [MACE], all-cause death, or heart failure [HF]) in AF patients combined with CAD.

Stress causes lipid droplet accumulation in chondrocytes by impairing microtubules.

Objective: Abnormal mechanical stress is intimately coupled with osteoarthritis (OA). Microtubules play a vital role in the regulation of mechanotransduction and intracellular transport. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of stress-induced microtubule impairment on intracellular transport and lipid droplet (LD) accumulation in chondrocytes.

Proliferative behaviours of CD90-expressing chondrocytes under the control of the TSC1-mTOR/PTHrP-nuclear localization segment pathway.

Objective: Some cells in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) cartilage undergo proliferation in response to negative pressure, which can be induced in vivo by creating bilateral anterior elevation (BAE). TMJ cartilage harbours CD90-expressing cells, and CD90 expression increases under certain controlled conditions. The parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) nuclear localization segment (NLS) promotes chondrocyte proliferation, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling plays a regulatory role in promoting PTHrP transcription.

Pathological-microenvironment responsive injectable GelMA hydrogel with visualized biodegradation for pressure-assisted treatment of hypertrophic scars.

Intralesional injection of 5-fluorouracil for the clinical treatment of hypertrophic scars (HS) remains challenging due to its short half-life, as well as the absence of evidence-based dosage and frequency injection guidelines. Herein, we developed a matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)/reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive injectable prodrug hydrogel (GFP) that exhibits sustained drug release and fluorescence imaging capability, aiming to facilitate the optimization of injection dosage and frequency in HS treatment. The GFP hydrogel comprises gelatin methacryloyl and pendant methacryloyl-decorated tetrapeptide (PPPK) with 5-fluorouracil acetic acid/rhodamine B at the N-terminus.

Robust and ultra-thin nanocellulose/MXene composite film and its performance in efficient electricity-generation and sensing.

The conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) has attracted attention in recent years, particularly in the field of wearable sensor. In this work, TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNF) with carboxylate groups were compounded with MXene to serve as both the negative friction layer and the electrode in assembling a TENG with nylon. The synergistic effect between TOCNF and MXene was analyzed to disclose its influence on the performance of the as-prepared TENG.

Multiscale analysis of CO adsorption mechanisms on porous carbon: An investigation into the impact of intrinsic defects and pore size.

Porous carbon adsorption represents a critical component of CCUS technologies, with microporous structures playing an essential role in CO capture. The preparation of porous carbon introduces intrinsic defects, making it essential to consider both pore size and these defects for a comprehensive understanding of the CO adsorption mechanism. This study investigates the mechanisms of CO adsorption influenced by intrinsic defects and pore size using multiscale methods, incorporating experimental validation, Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations, and Density Functional Theory simulations.

Individual FiO guided by SO prevents hyperoxia and reduces postoperative atelectasis in colorectal surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Study Objective: To determine whether individualized fraction of inspired oxygen (iFiO) improves pulmonary atelectasis after elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery relative to 60 % FiO.

Design: This was a single-center, prospective, randomized study.

Setting: This study was conducted in a single tertiary care hospital in China.

A gamma-ray imaging method for multiple radionuclides and low-activity radioactive sources.

Gamma-ray coded-aperture imaging technology has important applications in the fields of nuclear security, isolated source detection, and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. However, artifacts can reduce the quality of reconstructed images and affect the identification of the intensity and location of radioactive sources. In this paper, a gamma-ray coded-aperture imaging method based on primitive and reversed coded functions (PRCF) was proposed to reduce imaging artifacts.

Effects of various sterilization treatments on the structural and functional alterations of the epigallocatechin-3-gallate-casein complex.

The effects of dairy sterilization techniques (65 °C/30 min, 72 °C/15 s, 85 °C/15 s, 100 °C/5 min, and 121 °C/5 s) on the epigallocatechin-3-gallate-casein (EGCG-CS) complexes were investigated through the structural and functional characteristics in this work. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) detection showed the redshirting of the absorption peak suggested structural changes in the amide I area. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and viscosity measurements proved that treatments above 85 °C broke non-covalent bonds, leading to instability and low viscosity of EGCG-CS.

Ofatumumab treatment in new-onset narcolepsy type 1 following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objectives: To explore the efficacy of ofatumumab in new onset narcolepsy type 1 following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: We present a 9-year-old girl who experienced new onset narcolepsy type 1 following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Polysomnography (PSG) followed by a daytime multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) was under taken after admission.

Flexible progestin-primed ovarian stimulation versus a GnRH antagonist protocol in predicted suboptimal responders undergoing freeze-all cycles: a randomized non-inferiority trial.

Study Question: Are live birth rates (LBRs) per woman following flexible progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (fPPOS) treatment non-inferior to LBRs per woman following the conventional GnRH-antagonist protocol in expected suboptimal responders undergoing freeze-all cycles in assisted reproduction treatment?

Summary Answer: In women expected to have a suboptimal response, the 12-month likelihood of live birth with the fPPOS treatment did not achieve the non-inferiority criteria when compared to the standard GnRH antagonist protocol for IVF/ICSI treatment with a freeze-all strategy.

What Is Known Already: The standard PPOS protocol is effective for ovarian stimulation, where medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is conventionally administered in the early follicular phase for ovulatory suppression. Recent retrospective cohort studies on donor cycles have shown the potential to prevent premature ovulation and maintain oocyte yields by delaying the administration of MPA until the midcycle (referred to as fPPOS), similar to GnRH antagonist injections.

Nitrate-Photolysis Shortens the Lifetimes of Brown Carbon Tracers from Biomass Burning.

Biomass burning is an important source of brown carbon (BrC) aerosols, which influence climate by affecting the Earth's radiative balance. However, the transformation pathways of BrC chromophores, especially in the presence of photochemically active species, such as nitrate, are not well understood. In this study, the nitrate-mediated aqueous-phase photooxidation of three typical BrC chromophores from biomass burning was investigated, including 4-nitrocatechol, 3-nitrosalicylic acid, and 3,4-dinitrophenol.