REFINE2: A simplified simulation tool to help epidemiologists evaluate the suitability and sensitivity of effect estimation within user-specified data.

Epidemiologists have access to various methods to reduce bias and improve statistical efficiency in effect estimation, from standard multivariable regression to state-of-the-art doubly-robust efficient estimators paired with highly flexible, data-adaptive algorithms ("machine learning"). However, due to numerous assumptions and trade-offs, epidemiologists face practical difficulties in recognizing which method, if any, may be suitable for their specific data and hypotheses. Importantly, relative advantages are necessarily context-specific (data structure, algorithms, model misspecification), limiting the utility of universal guidance.

Quantitative assessment of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration and its correlation with clinical symptoms: a study utilizing ultrashort time-of-echo and T2 mapping as biomarkers.

Background: Lumbar cartilage endplate (CEP) structures show low signal intensity on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), making them hard to observe and quantify. This often results in poor correlation between conventional MRI findings and low back pain (LBP) symptoms and provides inadequate guidance for clinical decisions.

Methods: The study included Twenty-five healthy volunteers and forty-one patients with LBP.

Clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture antagonistic muscles combined with rehabilitation training in the treatment of spastic hemiplegia after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objective: Antagonistic muscles rehabilitation training has been extensively utilized in the rehabilitation of patients with spastic hemiplegia. With the increasing acceptance and application of acupuncture, numerous scholars have discovered that incorporating electroacupuncture combined with antagonistic muscles rehabilitation training can enhance the treatment for spastic hemiplegia after stroke. The objective of this study is quantify the clinical efficacy of electroacupuncture in treating spastic hemiplegia after stroke on the basis of antagonistic muscles rehabilitation training, provide insights for future clinical treatments and scientific investigations related to spastic hemiplegia.

Case Report: A long-term survival case of primary malignant melanoma of the lung with meningeal metastasis.

Background: Malignant melanoma originating in the lungs is relatively rare, accounting for only 0.01% of lung tumors, and has a poor prognosis and is prone to distant metastasis. Notably, melanoma is the third most common source of intracranial metastases in adults, after lung and breast cancer.

miR-34c regulates the proliferation, apoptosis, and testosterone synthesis of bovine leydig cells by targeted ATG5 gene.

The reproductive potential of bull represents a key economic trait in modern cattle husbandry. The primary determinant of bull reproductive capacity is the proper development of the testes, which is essential for the production of spermatozoa. The synthesis and secretion of testosterone by Leydig cells affect the physiological function of testes.

Highly uniform thermally undercut silicon photonic devices in a 300 mm CMOS foundry process.

Silicon photonic devices are fundamental to high-density wavelength-division multiplexed (DWDM) optical links and photonic switching networks, such as resonant modulators and Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), and are highly sensitive to fabrication variations and operational temperature swings. However, thermal tuning to compensate for fabrication and operational temperature variations can result in prohibitive power consumption, challenging the scalability of energy-efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In this work, we develop and demonstrate a wafer-scale thermal undercut process in a 300 mm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) foundry that dramatically improves the thermal isolation of thermo-optic devices by selectively removing substrate material beneath the waveguides and resonators.

High-throughput pixel-super-resolved coded ptychographic microscopy with a color image sensor.

Lensless on-chip microscopy imaging draws widespread attention owing to its evident advantages in simple optical structure, aberration-free imaging, wide field-of-view, and low-cost hardware budget, providing a fertile opportunity for disruptive reductions in cost and revolutionary improvements in portability for biomedical imaging applications. Here, we report a high-throughput pixel-super-resolved coded ptychographic microscopy implemented using a color image sensor. However, the color filtering array (CFA) introduces inherent modulation in the diffraction patterns acquired under monochromatic illumination, leading to spectral crosstalk in the data processing for lensless on-chip imaging.

Deep neural network-based joint monitoring of carrier-to-signal power ratio (CSPR) and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) for directly detected optical single-sideband transmission.

Optical single-sideband (SSB) transmission enhances spectral efficiency and mitigates transmission reach limitations caused by chromatic dispersion (CD), making it ideal for cost-effective data-center interconnects. This paper proposes and demonstrates deep neural network (DNN)-enabled optical performance monitoring (OPM) for optical SSB transmissions. By extracting features dependent on both carrier-to-signal power ratio (CSPR) and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) from amplitude histograms (AHs) generated by an AC-coupled photodetector (PD) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a low-complexity dual-task DNN (DT-DNN) is employed to jointly estimate CSPR and OSNR with high accuracy.

Astragalus-Safflower Combination Promotes Vascular Neogenesis in a Rat Model of Ischemic Stroke via Inhibition of MAPK/NF-κB and Activation of VEGF/Notch1 Pathways.

Introduction: The combination of Astragalus membranaceus and Safflower (AS) is known for its efficacy in benefiting Qi and activating blood circulation, making it a frequently used empirical combination in traditional Chinese medicine. Numerous reports have highlighted the interventional effect of this combination in treating ischemic stroke (IS). However, the active ingredients and potential mechanisms underlying its treatment of stroke have not been fully elucidated.

Evaluation of Laboratory Toxicities and Field Application of Plant Spray Oil and Its Mixture with Against (Hemiptera: Liviidae).

Overusing chemicals to manage has created insecticide resistance and negative impacts on the natural ecosystem. This has prompted the need to develop new methods of control. In the present study, we evaluated the toxicity of plant spray oil, , and their combined formulations against adults through laboratory bioassays.

enhances growth and salt tolerance in a short rotation woody crop, , under NaCl stress.

Salinization is a major environmental challenge that jeopardizes productivity and resilience of plants such as the short rotation woody crops (SRWC) and bioenergy crops. Leveraging beneficial microbes will enhance plant resistance to salinity with physiological adjustments. Here we investigated the efficacy of plant growth promoting fungus () on optimizing growth and salt tolerance of SRWCs and bioenergy tree crops, using as an example.

Genome-wide identification of the mA gene family and analysis of mA methylome in alfalfa under drought stress.

Crops frequently endure diverse environmental stresses that negatively impact their growth and yield. Understanding the mechanisms underlying stress responses is crucial for developing stress-tolerant crop varieties, thereby improving their adaptability and productivity. N-methyladenosine (mA) is the most prevalent and reversible internal modification found in eukaryotic mRNA, and is installed, removed, and recognized by methyltransferases (writers), demethylases (erasers), and mA-binding proteins (readers), playing crucial roles in regulating plant growth, development, and environmental stress response.

The exosomal miRNA-3184-3p derived from highly metastatic melanoma cells promotes metastatic competency via the positive feedback loop of NLK/Wnt/S100A11.

Protein secretion and extracellular vesicles represent distinct mechanisms through which cancer cells and stromal cells interact to modify the tumor microenvironment. However, most studies on these mechanisms have predominantly focused on elucidating the impact of cancer cells on stromal cells, leaving the interactions between cancer cells and adjacent cancer cells relatively unexplored. We utilized a heterogeneous melanoma metastasis cell model that our laboratory previously developed, comprising POL (Polymetastatic) cells with high metastatic potential and OL (Oligometastatic) cells with low metastatic potential.

Yoga pose recognition using dual structure convolutional neural network.

As a popular form of physical and mental exercise, the correct execution of yoga movements is crucial. With the development of deep learning technologies, automatic recognition of yoga postures has become popular. To recognize five different yoga postures, this article proposed a dual structure convolutional neural network with a feature fusion function, which consists of the convolutional neural network A (CNN A) and convolutional neural network B (CNN B).

Modulating the Nitrate Reduction Pathway on Unconventional Phase Ultrathin Nanoalloys for Selective Ammonia Electrosynthesis.

Ammonia (NH) electrosynthesis from nitrate-polluted wastewater is a challenging but meaningful technique for the future green chemical and sewage disposal industries. The dominant difficulties lie in how to realize a highly selective, low-overpotential, and rapid electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NORR). Herein, we propose a catalyst crystal phase and electrode/electrolyte interface dual engineering strategy to enhance the neutral NORR performance of ultrathin alloy nanostructures.

Mutually Activated Dual-Exponential Amplification DNA Machine Enhances Robust CRISPR/Cas12a Feedback Propagation for Ultrasensitive miRNA Detection.

Breast cancer (BC) remains a critical global health challenge, necessitating ultrasensitive methods for detecting biomarkers such as miR-155, a key regulator in BC progression. Here, we present a mutually activated dual-exponential amplification DNA machine (MADEA-DNA machine) for ultrasensitive miR-155 detection. This system integrates exponential rolling circle amplification (E-RCA) and autocatalytic incremental strand displacement amplification (AI-SDA), driven by a bidirectional activation mechanism.

Target detection enhancement method through multi-dimensional information differential projection and fusion.

As a powerful detection tool, spectral polarization imaging (SPI) reveals spatial, spectral, and polarization characteristics. When combined with deep learning, its detection capabilities can be further improved. However, SPI requires the acquisition and processing of large-scale data, and it is still facing significant challenges in detecting targets in complex scenes with reduced contrast, loss of spatial structures, and cluttered backgrounds.

Unravelling CYP4V2: Clinical features, genetic insights, pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic strategies in Bietti crystalline corneoretinal dystrophy.

Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) comprise a spectrum of disease phenotypes with genetic heterogeneity and clinical phenotypic diversity. Bietti crystalline corneoretinal dystrophy (BCD) represents a distinct IRD subtype characterized by crystalline deposits in the retina. Although rare in Western populations, BCD ranks among the most prevalent IRDs in East Asia, affecting an estimated 124,000 to 377,000 individuals worldwide.

Functional trait identity regulates productivity better than tree diversity and structural complexity in subtropical mixed-species forests.

Subtropical forests play an important role in global carbon cycle and in mitigating climate change. Understanding the relationship between multiple diversity and ecosystem function is crucial for protecting and managing forests. Here we used forest inventory data from a 6-hectare sample plot in natural evergreen deciduous broad-leaf mixed forest systems for the years 2016 and 2021.

Carbonation of Ammonium Diuranate Filtrate to Enhance Uranium Rejection by Nanofiltration.

A commercial polymeric nanofiltration membrane (NF270, DuPont) was employed for uranium removal from ammonium diuranate filtrate (ADUF). Carbonate supplementation through ammonium carbonate addition enhanced uranium rejection via formation of uranyl-carbonate coordination complexes. Systematic speciation analysis of uranium species in ADUF was conducted, coupled with calculation of the concentration polarization modulus to optimize ammonium carbonate dosage.

Controlled synthesis of metal-based Janus nanostructures for tandem electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) possesses huge potential for achieving carbon neutrality by reducing greenhouse-gas CO to value-added chemicals/fuels with sustainable energy. However, obtaining highly selective and long-term stable catalysts for CORR is still challenging. Recently, metal-based Janus nanostructures (JNSs) have demonstrated unique advantages in addressing this issue in CORR via tandem catalysis.

Electroacupuncture intervention relieves pain by stimulating the STING/IFN-I pathway in rat models of cancer-induced bone pain.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) and investigate its interaction with the STING/IFN-I pathway. A CIBP model was established in female rats. EA was administered for six consecutive days at bilateral L3-L5 Jia Ji points (EX-B2).

The role of manganese oxidation states in the performance of SiC-supported composites toward SF degradation.

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF) is a potent greenhouse gas with a significant impact on the environment and there is a need to develop effective strategies toward its degradation. In this study, a series of composites with Mn-based metal active centers were synthesized using a simple and efficient milling method with SiC as the carrier to determine the effect of different oxidation states of Mn on SF degradation. The results showed that the performance of Mn-based composites with different oxidation states in the degradation of SF had an obvious hierarchy: SiC-Mn(0) > SiC-MnO(II) > SiC-MnO(III) > SiC-MnO(IV).

Interfacial Water Structure Modulation on Unconventional Phase Non-Precious Metal Alloy Nanostructures for Efficient Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia in Neutral Media.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) has been recognized as a sustainable route for nitrate removal and value-added ammonia (NH) synthesis. Regulating the surface active hydrogen (*H) behavior is crucial but remains a formidable challenge, especially in neutral electrolytes, greatly limiting the highly selective NH formation. Herein, we report the controlled synthesis of heterophase hcp/fcc non-precious CuNi alloy nanostructures for efficient NH electrosynthesis in neutral media.