Artificial intelligence-augmented ultrasound diagnosis of follicular-patterned thyroid neoplasms: a multicenter retrospective study.

Background: Conventional diagnostic tools, including ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration cytology, and intraoperative frozen section pathology, may fail to reliably distinguish between benign and malignant FNs, leading to unnecessary or inadequate surgical interventions. We aimed to develop and validate a deep learning (DL) system for the preoperative diagnosis of follicular-patterned thyroid neoplasms (FNs) using routine ultrasound images, with the goal of improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing unnecessary procedures.

Methods: In this multicenter, retrospective study, we included 3817 patients (2877 [75.

Impact of natural rainfall and solidifying agents on solidified river sludge: Environmental characteristics.

Application of solidified dredged sludge for constructing ecological slope protection represents a vital strategy for sustainable utilization of river sludge. Evaluating the environmental characteristics of solidified river sludge under prolonged exposure to natural conditions is essential for assessing its ecological safety and practical applicability. In this study, conventional cement (CC) and a novel composite solidifying agent (GCP) were employed to stabilize river sludge.

Human-generative AI collaboration enhances task performance but undermines human's intrinsic motivation.

In a series of four online experimental studies (total N = 3,562), we investigated the performance augmentation effect and psychological deprivation effect of human-generative AI (GenAI) collaboration in professional settings. Our findings consistently demonstrated that collaboration with GenAI enhanced immediate task performance. However, this performance augmentation effect did not persist in subsequent tasks performed independently by humans.

Prevalence and distribution of respiratory pathogens in pediatric acute respiratory infections in Putian, China.

Background: Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) are a significant source of morbidity among pediatric populations. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and distribution of respiratory pathogens in pediatric ARIs in Putian, China.

Methods: This retrospective study included 3,790 pediatric patients with suspected ARIs, evaluated between March 2023 and February 2024.

Se-methylselenocysteine inhibits inflammatory response in an LPS-stimulated chicken HD11 macrophage-like cell model through the NFKB2 pathway.

Among the various sources of selenium supplementations, the Se-methylselenocysteine (SeMC) is a natural organic selenium compound that has been demonstrated to have multiple advantages in terms of metabolism efficiency and biosafety in animals. Nevertheless, the genome-wide impact of SeMC on gene transcription remains to be elucidated. In this study, we employed an LPS-stimulated chicken HD11 macrophage-like cell model to identify the principal transcription factors involved in transcriptome regulation responsible for SeMC treatment.

Subtle magnesium liberation of self-fabricated functional filler actuates highly efficient phosphorus removal from source-separated urine by SBBR.

Domestic wastewater source-separated treatment has attracted wide attention due to the efficiency improvement of sewage treatment systems, energy saving, resource reuse, and the construction and operation cost saving of pipeline networks. Nonetheless, the excess source-separated urine still demands further harmless treatment. Sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR), a new type of composite biofilm reactor developed by filling different fillers into the sequential batch reactor (SBR) reactor, has higher pollutant removal performance and simpler operation and maintenance.

Fertilizer recovery from source-separated urine by evaporation with a combined process of dehumidification and the addition of absorbent resin supplement.

Urine is an ideal resource for producing fertilizer, and processes of volume reduction are promising ways to recover nutrients from urine. Because urea is rapidly hydrolyzed in fresh urine, the stabilization of urine is usually necessary to avoid nitrogen loss during evaporation for fertilizer production. In this work, we investigated a new method about rapid evaporation for non-pretreated urine by dehumidification and addition of absorbent resin supplement (ARS).

Synthesis and application of wetland plant-based functional materials for aqueous antibiotics removal.

Wetlands have been widely used in wastewater treatment and restoration of water bodies due to their ecological characteristics and functions. However, large amounts of plant residues are produced in wetlands every year and their treatment are facing large challenge. Synthesis of wetland plant-based functional materials (WPBFMs) has emerged as promising method for treating and recycling wetland plant residues.

Symmetry-Breaking Manipulated Channel Ergodicity in Intramolecular Singlet Fission Uncovered Statistically by Molecular Dynamics Samplings.

Persistent structure dynamics of chromophores in a solvent has a pivotal influence on singlet fission (SF) phenomena through breaking structure symmetry and tuning electronic properties. However, clarifying how the dynamic factors manipulate the SF dynamics faces major challenges. Here, we for the first time propose a dynamic symmetry-breaking strategy for manipulating intramolecular SF and unveil channel-ergodic characters by constructing transient configuration space of an individual solvated monomer in a chromophore-in-solvent ensemble by sampling its dynamics trajectory.

Prenatal diagnosis of Treacher Collins syndrome: A case report and literature review.

Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) should be suspected if the triad of micrognathia, glossoptosis, and posterior cleft palate, and deformed external ears are observed during prenatal ultrasonography, excepting Pierre Robin sequence. Visualization of the fetal zygomatic bone and down-slanting palpebral fissures are conducive to differentiation. Molecular genetics testing can establish a definite diagnosis.

Identification of microbial consortia for sustainable disposal of constructed wetland reed litter wastes.

Reed is a typical emerged plant in constructed wetlands (CWs). Its litters were used as raw materials for preparing Fe-C ceramic-filler (Fe-C-CF). The physical and chemical properties of Fe-C-CF were studied under different conditions, including the mass ration of Fe to carbon (Fe/C ratio), sintering temperature, and time, to determine the optimum preparing conditions.

Shaddock peels derived multilayer biochar with embedded CoO@Co nanoparticles for peroxymonosulfate based wastewater treatment.

The utilization of bio-wastes, such as shaddock peels, is of great significance for sustainable development. Combined with the potential of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) based advanced oxidation process (AOP) in wastewater treatment, a highly efficient functional catalyst, derived from shaddock peels biochar (SPC) and embedded with CoO@Co nanoparticles, i.e.

Embedding Co in perovskite MoO for superior catalytic oxidation of refractory organic pollutants with peroxymonosulfate.

A cobalt (Co)-doped perovskite molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO) catalyst (Co-MO) was synthesized by a facile pyrolysis strategy and used for degrading various organic contaminants via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The doped Co was inserted in the inter space between the octahedron [MoO], facilitating the growth of the α-MoO crystal on the [010] direction. This unique structure accelerated the activation of PMS as the Co-MO could function as a carrier for electron transfer to facilitate the Co(II)/Co(III) cycle in the Co-MO/PMS system.

A comprehensive review on mixotrophic denitrification processes for biological nitrogen removal.

Biological denitrification is the most widely used method for nitrogen removal in water treatment. Compared with heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification, mixotrophic denitrification is later studied and used. Because mixotrophic denitrification can overcome some shortcomings of heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification, such as a high carbon source demand for heterotrophic denitrification and a long start-up time for autotrophic denitrification.

Improve follicular thyroid carcinoma diagnosis using computer aided diagnosis system on ultrasound images.

Objective: We aim to leverage deep learning to develop a computer aided diagnosis (CAD) system toward helping radiologists in the diagnosis of follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) on thyroid ultrasonography.

Methods: A dataset of 1159 images, consisting of 351 images from 138 FTC patients and 808 images from 274 benign follicular-pattern nodule patients, was divided into a balanced and unbalanced dataset, and used to train and test the CAD system based on a transfer learning of a residual network. Six radiologists participated in the experiments to verify whether and how much the proposed CAD system helps to improve their performance.

Enhancement of cottonseed oil refining wastewater treatment by zero valent iron under sunlight irradiation and O bubbling.

This study is the first to apply a zero-valent iron (ZVI) system in the treatment of cottonseed oil (CTO) refining wastewater. The results indicated that the ZVI system can effectively degrade and mineralize CTO in the wastewater, whereas sunlight irradiation and O bubbling can considerably enhance CTO degradation, removing 93.5% of CTO and 69.

Optimisation of enzymatic saccharification of wheat straw pre-treated with sodium hydroxide.

To enhance the reducing sugar yield in enzymatic hydrolysis, various factors (NaOH concentration, solid content and pre-treatment time) that affect the pre-treatment process were investigated and evaluated based on the reducing sugar yield of the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysis was based on the cellulase from Trichoderma reesi ATCC 26921, the optimum NaOH pre-treatment conditions were an NaOH concentration of 1.0% (w/w), a solid content of 5.

Isolation and thermo-acclimation of thermophilic bacteria in hyperthermophilic fermentation system.

Hyperthermophilic microorganisms play a key role in the hyper-thermophilic composting (HTC) technique. However, little information is available about the hyperthermophilic microorganisms prevalent in HTC systems, except for the Calditerricola satsumensis, Calditerricola yamamurae, and Thermaerobacter. To obtain effective hyper-thermophilic microorganisms, a continuous thermo-acclimation of the suitable thermophilic microorganisms was demonstrated in this study.

Web-Based Ultrasonic Nomogram Predicts Preoperative Central Lymph Node Metastasis of cN0 Papillary Thyroid Microcarcinoma.

Background: Many clinicians are facing the dilemma about whether they should apply the active surveillance (AS) strategy for managing Clinically Node-negative (cN0) PTMC patients in daily clinical practice. This research plans to construct a dynamic nomogram based on network, connected with ultrasound characteristics and clinical data, to predict the risk of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in cN0 PTMC patients before surgery.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 659 patients with cN0 PTMC who had underwent thyroid surgery and central compartment neck dissection.

Ultrasound Real-Time Tissue Elastography Improves the Diagnostic Performance of the ACR Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System in Differentiating Malignant from Benign Thyroid Nodules: A Summary of 1525 Thyroid Nodules.

Background: To explore the correlation between the ultrasound elasticity score (ES) of real-time tissue elastography (RTE) and the malignant risk stratification of the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) and to evaluate the added value of RTE to TI-RADS in differentiating malignant nodules from benign ones.

Methods: A total of 1,498 patients (885 women and 613 men; mean age of 43.5 ± 12.

Intermittent operating characteristics of an ecological soil system with two-stage water distribution for wastewater treatment.

Ecological soil systems (ESSs) are usually used to remove nitrogen from wastewater. Due to the poor denitrification performance of traditional ecological soil systems (ESSs), this study proposes a two-stage water distribution system to improve the nitrogen removal. The effects of different distribution ratios on the system treatment effect were studied in an intermittent operation mode.

The influence of phosphorus on the autotrophic and mixotrophic denitrification.

Autotrophic and mixotrophic denitrification, two approaches of biological denitrification, have drawn more and more attention among the techniques to remove nitrogen from the aquatic environment. This study investigated the influence of phosphorus on the denitrification performance and bacterial community structure in the autotrophic and mixotrophic denitrification reactors. The activity test was applied to evaluate the variation of denitrification activity of autotrophic and mixotrophic sludge before and after phosphorus addition.