Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a manifestation of systemic atherosclerotic disease. It is assessed by intervention or traditional scoring risk factors. Diagnosis is limited by inaccurate and ...invasive methods. Developing noninvasive methods to screen for the risk of CAD is a major challenge. We aimed to identify urinary proteins associated with CAD. We utilized iTRAQ labeling followed by 2D LC-MS/MS to compare the urinary proteome of CAD patients to healthy cohorts. The multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was used to verify the differential proteins. ROC analysis based on MRM data was used to evaluate the diagnostic application. A total of 876 proteins were quantified, and 100 differential proteins were found. Functional analysis revealed that the differential proteins were mainly associated with Liver X Receptor/Retinoid X Receptor (LXR/RXR) pathway activation, atherosclerosis signaling, production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species, and the top upstream regulator of the differential proteins by IPA analysis indicated to the APOE. Nineteen differential proteins were verified by MRM analysis. ROC based on MRM data revealed that the combination of two proteins (APOD and TFF1) could diagnose CAD with 85% sensitivity and 99% specificity (AUC 0.95). The urinary proteome might reflect the pathophysiological changes in CAD and be used for the clinical study of CAD.
Introduction
Laser-assisted hatching (LAH) is a commonly used adjunct technique; however, its effectiveness has not been fully established.
Objective
We evaluated the effects of LAH on pregnancy ...outcomes in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles of cleavage-stage embryos.
Materials and methods
This retrospective study involved 5779 FET cycles performed at the Reproductive and Genetic Center in the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2016 and December 2020. After propensity score matching, 3535 FET cycles were included, out of which 1238 were subjected to LAH while the remaining 2297 cycles were non-LAH (NLAH). The primary outcomes were clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR) while secondary outcomes included implantation rate (IR), biochemical pregnancy rate (BPR), ectopic pregnancy rate (EPR), pregnancy loss rate (PLR), multiple pregnancy rate (MPL), and monozygotic twinning rate (MTR). Logistic regression analysis was conducted to adjust for possible confounders. Subgroup analysis was also performed based on the endometrial preparation regimen.
Results
The LAH group exhibited a higher LBR, compared to the NLAH group (34.9% vs. 31.4%, OR = 1.185, 95% CI = 1.023, 1.374,
P
= 0.024). Additionally, the LAH group showed a decreasing trend in PLR and EPR; however, differences were insignificant (
P
= 0.078,
P
= 0.063 respectively). Differences in IR (24.6% vs. 24.3%), BPR (41.8% vs. 40.4%), CPR (40.7% vs. 38.3%), MPR (14.1% vs. 17.3%), and MTR (1.4% vs. 1.1%) were insignificant. Subgroup analysis revealed that LAH may be more conducive for pregnancy outcomes in hormone replacement cycles.
Conclusions
In summary, LAH has an increased chance of achieving live births. However, further prospective studies should be performed to confirm our findings.
To determine the clinical markers based on cognitive and motor profiles in predicting phenoconverion and phenotype in isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD).
45 iRBD patients and ...25 healthy controls were included in the follow-up study. All participates received comprehensive evaluations of cognitive, motor and autonomic function at baseline. Positive phenoconversion were identified according to standard diagnostic criteria during follow-up.
21 iRBD patients displayed phenoconversion in a mean follow-up of 2.9 ± 1.6 years, with 14 presenting motor phenotype and 7 cognitive phenotype. In iRBD, visuospatial, memory, attention-executive function, information processing speed, and motor function predicted phenoconversion, with the combination of Trail Making Test (TMT) and Alternate-tap Test (ATT) performing best (sensitivity = 95.0 %, specificity = 75.0 %); attention-executive function, information processing speed, and motor function predicted motor phenotype conversion, with the combination of TMT and ATT performing best (sensitivity = 100 %, specificity = 66.7 %); visuospatial, memory, and attention-executive function predicted cognitive phenotype conversion, with TMT performing best (sensitivity = 83.3 %, specificity = 91.7 %). Furthermore, individuals with lower z-scores of TMT, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, and ATT than the established cutoff values in iRBD exhibited a significantly higher risk for phenoconversion at follow-up (HR = 2.98, 9.53, 11.68; respectively).
In iRBD, the attention-executive and motor function served as optimum combined markers in predicting phenoconversion and motor phenotype, whereas the attention-executive function performed best in predicting cognitive phenotype. Poor attention-executive function, information processing speed and motor function in iRBD independently increased the risk of phenoconversion.
Artificially tilted multilayer thermoelectric devices (ATMTDs) have attracted growing attention due to their ease in miniaturization and high flexibility in device design. However, most of these ...devices are inefficient due to the lack of effective strategy to optimize their material matching and geometrical configurations. Herein, a high-throughput optimization approach is employed to screen high-performance Bi2Te2.7Se0.3-based ATMTDs from a material genome database covering 230 kinds of candidates. 14 kinds of ATMTDs are found to have ZTzx,max values exceeding 0.3 and tilt angles greater than 15°. Bi0.1Sb1.9Te3/Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 ATMTD is screened out and fabricated because of its excellent transverse figure of merit, large tilt angle, and good interface compatibility. Consequently, transverse figure of merit over 0.3, thermal sensitivity greater than 0.11 mV·K−1, and power density up to 1.1 kW·m−2 are recorded in Bi0.1Sb1.9Te3/Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 ATMTD. This indicates that ATMTDs have great potential for application in the fields of temperature detection and power generation.
Simultaneously optimizing electrical and thermal transport properties of bulk thermoelectric materials remains a key challenge due to the conflicting combination of material traits. Here, we have ...explored the electrical and thermal transport features of In-filled CoSb3 through X-ray absorption fine structure, X-ray photoemission spectra, transport measurement and theoretical calculation. The results provide evidence of three types of coexisting multi-localization transport behaviours in the material; these are heat-carrying phonon-localized resonant scattering, accelerated electron movement and increase in density of states near the Fermi level. The 5p-orbital hybridization between In and Sb is discovered in the In-filled CoSb3 compound, which results in a charge transfer from Sb to In and the enhancement of p-d orbital hybridization between Co and Sb. Our work demonstrates that the electrical and thermal properties of filled skutterudite bulk thermoelectric materials can be simultaneously optimized through the three types of coexisting multi-localization transport behaviours in an independent way.
The storage of facial images in medical records poses privacy risks due to the sensitive nature of the personal biometric information that can be extracted from such images. To minimize these risks, ...we developed a new technology, called the digital mask (DM), which is based on three-dimensional reconstruction and deep-learning algorithms to irreversibly erase identifiable features, while retaining disease-relevant features needed for diagnosis. In a prospective clinical study to evaluate the technology for diagnosis of ocular conditions, we found very high diagnostic consistency between the use of original and reconstructed facial videos (κ ≥ 0.845 for strabismus, ptosis and nystagmus, and κ = 0.801 for thyroid-associated orbitopathy) and comparable diagnostic accuracy (P ≥ 0.131 for all ocular conditions tested) was observed. Identity removal validation using multiple-choice questions showed that compared to image cropping, the DM could much more effectively remove identity attributes from facial images. We further confirmed the ability of the DM to evade recognition systems using artificial intelligence-powered re-identification algorithms. Moreover, use of the DM increased the willingness of patients with ocular conditions to provide their facial images as health information during medical treatment. These results indicate the potential of the DM algorithm to protect the privacy of patients' facial images in an era of rapid adoption of digital health technologies.
It has been shown that nuclear expression of S100A4 is significantly correlated with increased metastasis and reduced survival in patients with gastric cancer and many other cancers. However, the ...factors which could influence the nuclear contents of S100A4 in cancer cells are not clear. It has also been reported that Interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) promotes the nuclear translocation of S100A4 in chondrocytes. Previous studies have shown that IL‐1β promotes the stemness of colon cancer cells, and S100A4 is also involved in maintaining cancer‐initiating cells in head and neck cancers. We speculate that IL‐1β might promote the nuclear translocation of S100A4 protein in MGC803 gastric cancer cells and therefore enhance their stem‐like properties. The results from Western‐blot and qRT‐PCR analysis showed that IL‐1β increased the nuclear and total cellular content of S100A4 protein and S100A4 mRNA level in MGC803 cells. LY294002, a pharmacological inhibitor of Phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K) reversed the above effects. Functional studies indicated that IL‐1β promoted the colony‐forming and spheroid‐forming capabilities of the cells and the expression of SOX2 and NANOG gene. PI3K or S100A4 inhibition reversed the IL‐1β‐mediated increase in colony and spheroid‐forming capabilities of the cells. LY294002 also reversed the elevated SOX2 and NANOG expression induced by IL‐1β. Our study demonstrated that IL‐1β promote the nuclear translocation of S100A4 protein in gastric cancer cells MGC803, which are PI3K dependent, suggesting the existence of IL‐1β‐PI3K‐S100A4 pathway for the first time. The study also showed that IL‐1β promoted stem‐like properties of the cells through the new pathway.
This study suggests the existence of a new IL‐1β‐PI3K‐S100A4 pathway, which promotes the stem‐like properties of gastric cancer cells, providing new clues for the diagnosis, and treatment of gastric cancer.
Marine chlorophyll a is a key molecule for photosynthesis of marine plants and some plankton, which is important in marine ecosystems. This study utilized the chlorophyll a concentration data product ...observed by the MODIS sensor (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) to construct a long-term sequence of chlorophyll a concentration dataset by processing the raw data. Based on this, the multi-time-scale chlorophyll a concentration data was synthesized, and it was used to analyze the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of chlorophyll a concentration in China Seas. In addition, several oceanographic variables, including sea surface temperature, nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, silicate), partial pressure of seawater carbon dioxide, net primary productivity of the ocean, physical dynamics of seawater processes (mixed layer), were analyzed to ascertain their potential influence on chlorophyll a concentration. Finally, we analyzed the effects of changes in chlorophyll a concentration on marine fisheries. The result showed that: The average value of chlorophyll a concentration in China Seas from 2002 to 2022 was 0.874 mg/m
3
, with the highest concentration observed in the Bohai Sea area (4.547 mg/m
3
) and the lowest in the South China Sea area (0.288 mg/m
3
). The spatial variation of chlorophyll a concentration revealed an overall decrease of 0.0095 mg/m
3
in China Seas from 2002 to 2022. From the perspective of time changes, the concentration of chlorophyll a in China’s Bohai Sea area showed a downward trend from 2002 to 2022, while the Yellow Sea area showed an upward trend. The concentration remained relatively stable in the East China Sea area, whereas a significant declining trend was observed in the South China Sea area. The relationship between temperature and chlorophyll a concentration was non-linear, and chlorophyll a concentration showed some fluctuation or threshold effect with the change of seawater temperature. The three nutrient salts studied have a promoting effect on chlorophyll a, among which phosphate has the most obvious promoting effect on chlorophyll a. Chlorophyll a was negatively correlated with pCO
2
and positively correlated with ocean net primary productivity. Seasonal changes in the mixed layer had a significant effect on changes in the upper marine nutrients, which in turn affected changes in chlorophyll a concentration. Six of the eight types of algae studied show a trend toward deeper sea depths, which may have implications for the food availability of marine fish at different levels and pose new challenges for marine fisheries development.
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