Development and validation of a prediction model for new vertebral fracture after percutaneous kyphoplasty.

Percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) is one of the primary treatment options for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF). New vertebral compression fractures (NVCF) are common complications following PKP. This study aims to identify risk factors associated with NVCF after PKP and to develop a simple and user-friendly predictive model to assist clinicians in decision-making.

Modeling and application of production metering for electric pump wells without downhole pressure measurement devices.

To address the issues of low frequency and high costs associated with the current manual production measurement for ESP wells in the Tarim Oilfield, a study was conducted to develop a digital production measurement method for ESP wells. Based on the principle of energy conservation, where the input power of the pump equals the output power of the motor, and incorporating parameters such as surface tubing and casing pressure, motor current, and motor/ pump performance curves, with viscosity correction of the pump performance curve, a corrected power calculation method was proposed. A digital production measurement mathematical model was established.

Dissecting the Binding Affinity of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Compounds to Human Transmembrane Protease, Serine 2: A Computational Study.

The human transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2), essential for SARS-CoV-2 entry, is a key antiviral target. Here, we computationally profiled the TMPRSS2-binding affinities of 15 antiviral compounds. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the docked complexes revealed that three compounds exited the substrate-binding cavity (SBC), suggesting noncompetitive inhibition.

High spin-orbit torque efficiency induced by engineering spin absorption for fully electric-driven magnetization switching.

Realizing spin-orbit torque (SOT)-driven magnetization switching offers promising opportunities for the advancement of next-generation spintronics. However, the relatively low charge-spin conversion efficiency accompanied by an ultrahigh critical switching current density () remains a significant obstacle to the further development of SOT-based storage elements. Herein, spin absorption engineering at the ferromagnet/nonmagnet interface is firstly proposed to achieve high SOT efficiency in Pt/Co/Ir trilayers.

Perturbation of calcium homeostasis invokes eryptosis-like cell death in enucleated bone marrow stem cells.

Enucleated cells, also known as cytoplasts, are valuable tools with a wide range of applications. However, their potential for bio-engineering is greatly restricted by the short lifespan. We postulated that the enucleation process damages the integrity of the plasma membrane and thus activates a cell death program(s).

A fundus vessel segmentation method based on double skip connections combined with deep supervision.

Background: Fundus vessel segmentation is vital for diagnosing ophthalmic diseases like central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. Accurate segmentation provides crucial vessel morphology details, aiding the early detection and intervention of ophthalmic diseases. However, current algorithms struggle with fine vessel segmentation and maintaining sensitivity in complex regions.

Automatic height measurement of central serous chorioretinopathy lesion using a deep learning and adaptive gradient threshold based cascading strategy.

Accurately quantifying the height of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) lesion is of great significance for assisting ophthalmologists in diagnosing CSCR and evaluating treatment efficacy. The manual measurement results dominated by single optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scan image in clinical practice face the dilemma of weak reference, poor reproducibility, and experience dependence. In this context, this paper constructs two schemes: Scheme Ⅰ draws on the idea of ensemble learning, namely, integrating multiple models for locating starting key point in the height direction of lesion in the inference stage, which appropriately improves the performance of a single model.

Berberine inhibits intracellular Ca signals in mouse pancreatic acinar cells through M muscarinic receptors: Novel target, mechanism, and implication.

Berberine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid, exhibits a variety of pharmacological effects, but the pharmacological targets and mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we report a novel finding that berberine inhibits acetylcholine (ACh)-induced intracellular Ca oscillations, mediated through an inhibition of the muscarinic subtype 3 (M) receptor. Patch-clamp recordings and confocal Ca imaging were applied to acute dissociated pancreatic acinar cells prepared from CD1 mice to examine the effects of berberine on ACh-induced Ca oscillations.

Long-term air pollution and adverse meteorological factors might elevate the osteoporosis risk among adult Chinese.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between exposure to air pollution and adverse meteorological factors, and the risk of osteoporosis.

Methods: We diagnosed osteoporosis by assessing bone mineral density through Dual-Energy X-ray absorptiometry in 2,361 participants from Jiangsu, China. Additionally, we conducted physical examinations, blood tests, and questionnaires.

Deterministic Magnetization Switching via Tunable Noncollinear Spin Configurations in Canted Magnets.

Spin obit torque (SOT) driven magnetization switching has been used widely for encoding consumption-efficient memory and logic. However, symmetry breaking under a magnetic field is required to realize the deterministic switching in synthetic antiferromagnets with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), which limits their potential applications. Herein, we report all electric-controlled magnetization switching in the antiferromagnetic Co/Ir/Co trilayers with vertical magnetic imbalance.

External Fields Assisted Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction of Confined 1T-VSe Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles.

As a clean and effective approach, the introduction of external magnetic fields to improve the performance of catalysts has attracted extensive attention. Owing to its room-temperature ferromagnetism, chemical stability, and earth abundance, VSe is expected to be a promising and cost-effective ferromagnetic electrocatalyst for the accomplishment of high-efficient spin-related OER kinetics. In this work, a facile pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method combined with rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment is used to successfully confine monodispersed 1T-VSe nanoparticles in amorphous carbon matrix.

Identification of and Mechanistic Insights into SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Non-Covalent Inhibitors: An In-Silico Study.

The indispensable role of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) in the viral replication cycle and its dissimilarity to human proteases make Mpro a promising drug target. In order to identify the non-covalent Mpro inhibitors, we performed a comprehensive study using a combined computational strategy. We first screened the ZINC purchasable compound database using the pharmacophore model generated from the reference crystal structure of Mpro complexed with the inhibitor ML188.

An Automatic Image Processing Method Based on Artificial Intelligence for Locating the Key Boundary Points in the Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Lesion Area.

Accurately and rapidly measuring the diameter of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) lesion area is the key to judge the severity of CSCR and evaluate the efficacy of the corresponding treatments. Currently, the manual measurement scheme based on a single or a small number of optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scan images encounters the dilemma of incredibility. Although manually measuring the diameters of all OCT B-scan images of a single patient can alleviate the previous issue, the situation of inefficiency will thus arise.

A multi-modal fundus image based auxiliary location method of lesion boundary for guiding the layout of laser spot in central serous chorioretinopathy therapy.

The lesion boundary of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is the guarantee to guide the ophthalmologist to accurately arrange the laser spots, so as to enable this ophthalmopathy to be treated precisely. Currently, the accuracy and rapidity of manually locating CSCR lesion boundary in clinic based on single-modal fundus image are limited by imaging quality and ophthalmologist experience, which is also accompanied by poor repeatability, weak reliability and low efficiency. Consequently, a multi-modal fundus image-based lesion boundary auxiliary location method is developed.

Differences in the prevalence and risk factors of osteoporosis in chinese urban and rural regions: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Bone mineral density (BMD) and prevalence of osteoporosis may differ between urban and rural populations. This study aimed to investigate the differences in BMD characteristics between urban and rural populations in Jiangsu, China.

Methods: A total of 2,711 participants aged 20 years and older were included in the cross-sectional study.

An intelligent location method of key boundary points for assisting the diameter measurement of central serous chorioretinopathy lesion area.

The diameter of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) lesion is one of the important indicators to evaluate the severity of CSCR and the efficacy of corresponding treatment schemes. Traditional manual measurement by ophthalmologists is usually based on a single or a small number of optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scan images. This measurement scheme may not be convincing, vulnerable to subjective factors and lower efficiency.

Degradation Effect and Magnetoelectric Transport Properties in CrBr Devices.

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials exhibiting unique 2D-limit magnetism have attracted great attention due to their potential applications in ultrathin spintronic devices. These 2D magnetic materials and their heterostructures provide a unique platform for exploring physical effect and exotic phenomena. However, the degradation of most 2D magnetic materials at ambient conditions has so far hindered their characterization and integration into ultrathin devices.

Mechanistic Origin of Different Binding Affinities of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBDs to Human ACE2.

The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (RBD) has a higher binding affinity to the human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) than the SARS-CoV RBD (RBD). Here, we performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy (BFE) calculations, and interface residue contact network (IRCN) analysis to explore the mechanistic origin of different ACE2-binding affinities of the two RBDs. The results demonstrate that, when compared to the RBD-ACE2 complex, RBD-ACE2 features enhanced dynamicsand inter-protein positional movements and increased conformational entropy and conformational diversity.

A Few-Shot Learning-Based Retinal Vessel Segmentation Method for Assisting in the Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Laser Surgery.

Background: The location of retinal vessels is an important prerequisite for Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSC) Laser Surgery, which does not only assist the ophthalmologist in marking the location of the leakage point (LP) on the fundus color image but also avoids the damage of the laser spot to the vessel tissue, as well as the low efficiency of the surgery caused by the absorption of laser energy by retinal vessels. In acquiring an excellent intra- and cross-domain adaptability, the existing deep learning (DL)-based vessel segmentation scheme must be driven by big data, which makes the densely annotated work tedious and costly.

Methods: This paper aims to explore a new vessel segmentation method with a few samples and annotations to alleviate the above problems.

Antiferromagnetic Phase Induced by Nitrogen Doping in 2D CrS.

Exploration for the new members of air-stable 2D antiferromagnetic magnets to widen the magnetic families has drawn great attention due to its potential applications in spintronic devices. In addition to seeking the intrinsic antiferromagnets, externally introducing antiferromagnetic ordering in existing 2D materials, such as structural regulation and phase engineering, may be a promising way to modulate antiferromagnetism in the 2D limit. In this work, the in situ nitrogen doping growth of ultrathin 2D CrS nanoflakes has been achieved.

Interfacial Effect on Photo-Modulated Magnetic Properties of Core/Shell-Structured NiFe/NiFeO Nanoparticles.

Photo-modulated magnetism has become an emerging method for technological applications, such as magneto-optical devices. In this work, by introducing oxygen during rapid thermal annealing, NiFe/NiFeO core/shell nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. Obvious photo-modulated ferromagnetism was observed in core/shell nanoparticles confined in AlO film.

Retinal Image Enhancement Using Cycle-Constraint Adversarial Network.

Retinal images are the most intuitive medical images for the diagnosis of fundus diseases. Low-quality retinal images cause difficulties in computer-aided diagnosis systems and the clinical diagnosis of ophthalmologists. The high quality of retinal images is an important basis of precision medicine in ophthalmology.