Digital marking versus manual marking technique for toric intraocular lens alignment: a meta-analysis.

Background: Manual and digital-assisted marking are the two main marking methods used for toric intraocular lens (IOL) in cataract surgery. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the consistency in accuracy for these two methods. This meta-analysis aimed to compare and evaluate the accuracy of digital and manual marking techniques for toric IOL alignment during cataract surgery.

E2F1-autophagy-ALDH1A1 axis enhances self-renewal and drug resistance of lung cancer stem-like cells in a p53-dependent manner.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a predominant subtype of non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma (NSCLC). It is typically asymptomatic and associated with high mortality rates. Despite recent advancements in screening technologies and therapeutic approaches, its pathogenesis still remains elusive.

Application of artificial intelligence-based stemness index in cancer.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) exhibit self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation capacities. The stemness of CSCs is the fundamental cause of tumor progression and treatment resistance. The stemness index, evaluating the number and activity of CSCs, is a crucial indicator predicting various aspects of tumor behavior such as growth, metastasis, and prognosis.

An Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Expressing Aphrocallistes Vastus Lectin Modulates Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metabolism via ACSS2/TFEB-Mediated Autophagy and Lipid Accumulation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a therapeutic challenge due to metabolic plasticity and drug resistance. Oncolytic viruses (OVs), such as thymidine kinase-deleted vaccinia virus (oncoVV), selectively lyse tumors while stimulating antitumor immunity, however, their metabolic interplay with cancer cells is poorly understood. Here, we engineered an oncoVV-expressing Aphrocallistes vastus lectin (oncoVV-AVL) and uncovered its unique ability to exploit the ACSS2/TFEB axis, driving metabolic competition in HCC.

Saline flushing to prevent circuit clotting during CRRT without anticoagulant: a randomized controlled study.

Background: Regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) is the preferred strategy during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). However, saline flushing is often used when anticoagulants are contraindicated, although its effectiveness remains uncertain. This study evaluated the efficacy of different saline flushing strategies in preventing circuit clotting during anticoagulant-free CRRT in critically ill patients.

The association between attitudes toward aging and treatment adherence in rural elderly hemodialysis patients in Chengdu, China: a cross-sectional study.

This study examined the relationship between attitudes toward aging and treatment adherence in rural elderly patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). A total of 213 patients aged ≥60 years and on dialysis for ≥3 months were recruited from five tertiary hospitals in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, between February and June 2022. Sociodemographic data were collected using a general information questionnaire, attitudes toward aging were assessed with the Attitudes Toward Aging Scale, and treatment adherence-including diet, fluid, medication, and dialysis-was measured with the Treatment Adherence Scale.

Sensitivity analysis for attributable effects in case2 studies.

The case$^2$ study, also referred to as the case-case study design, is a valuable approach for conducting inference for treatment effects. Unlike traditional case-control studies, the case$^2$ design compares treatment in cases of concern (the first type of case) to other cases (the second type of case). One of the quantities of interest is the attributable effect for the first type of case-that is, the number of the first type of case that would not have occurred had the treatment been withheld from all units.

Biocompatible Pickering Emulsions from Byproducts for Promoting Burn Wound Healing.

Biological dressings have emerged as a promising approach for effective wound treatment. However, despite extensive research, the fabrication of biomass-based dressings with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as high biocompatibility, remains a challenge. In this study, the byproducts of as raw materials were used to prepare a biomass-based Pickering emulsion.

Role of placebo samples in observational studies.

In an observational study, it is common to leverage known null effects to detect bias. One such strategy is to set aside a placebo sample - a subset of data immune from the hypothesized cause-and-effect relationship. Existence of an effect in the placebo sample raises concerns about unmeasured confounding bias while absence of it helps corroborate the causal conclusion.

Phase I Trial of Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin Combined with Ifosfamide for Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) combined with both ifosfamide (IFO) and supported by human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) for treating advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

Methods: Twenty-three patients were enrolled in this trial with 3+3 dose-escalation from January 2020 to September 2022. PLD was initiated at 30 mg/m and incrementally escalated by 5 mg/m per step.

A More Robust Approach to Multivariable Mendelian Randomization.

Multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR) uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to infer the direct effects of multiple exposures on an outcome. However, unlike univariable Mendelian randomization, MVMR often faces greater challenges with many weak instruments, which can lead to bias not necessarily toward zero and inflation of type I errors. In this work, we introduce a new asymptotic regime that allows exposures to have varying degrees of instrument strength, providing a more accurate theoretical framework for studying MVMR estimators.

Rapid qPCR detection of Pseudomonas plecoglossicida and antimicrobial peptide dynamics in infected Larimichthys polyactis.

Pseudomonas plecoglossicida has emerged as a serious threat to aquaculture, causing visceral white-nodules disease (VWND) in a range of commercially valuable fish, including the small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis). In this study, a pathogenic strain of P. plecoglossicida, designated XSLPP-1, was isolated from diseased L.

Peptidomimetics based on natural cinnamic acid scaffold: Synthesis, bio-evaluation and structure-activity relationships.

A total of twenty-one peptidomimetics based on cinnamic acid scaffold were synthesized through structure-activity relationship driven (SAR-driven) optimization of natural molecule (CSDK450160). Systematic bio-evaluation against twelve phytopathogenic fungi for these compounds revealed structure-dependent antifungal specificity, with cinnamic acid-peptide conjugates demonstrating pronounced inhibitory efficacy against Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. In planta antifungal assays showed that compound I-1 exhibited superior inhibitory potency against S.

Adaptive Responses of Large Yellow Croaker to Ocean Acidification: Integrative Analysis of Gill and Kidney Transcriptomics and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities.

Anthropogenic acidification is a long-term challenge to marine ecosystems. Though coastal acidification is intensifying, the large yellow croaker () exhibits good adaptability to pH fluctuations, the underlying mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. This study investigated the morphology, antioxidant enzyme activity, and gene expression of under varying acidification conditions (pH 8.

Phase III Study of Mediastinal Lymph Node Dissection for Ground Glass Opacity-Dominant Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Systematic mediastinal lymph node dissection (LND) or sampling is currently recommended for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. We aimed to investigate whether no mediastinal LND was noninferior to systematic LND in patients with ground glass opacity (GGO)-dominant invasive lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, open-label, phase III, noninferiority randomized controlled trial comparing systematic mediastinal LND versus no mediastinal LND in patients with GGO-dominant invasive lung adenocarcinoma, who were predicted to have no lymph node metastasis on the basis of criteria established in our previous trial.

A general form of covariate adjustment in clinical trials under covariate-adaptive randomization.

In randomized clinical trials, adjusting for baseline covariates can improve credibility and efficiency for demonstrating and quantifying treatment effects. This article studies the augmented inverse propensity weighted estimator, which is a general form of covariate adjustment that uses linear, generalized linear and nonparametric or machine learning models for the conditional mean of the response given covariates. Under covariate-adaptive randomization, we establish general theorems that show a complete picture of the asymptotic normality, efficiency gain and applicability of augmented inverse propensity weighted estimators.

Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal prognostic stratification for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Recent large-scale multi-omics studies have characterized the heterogeneity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but inconsistent clinical management has hindered the identification of prognostic markers and patient stratification. Here, we conducted genomic and transcriptomic profiling of 203 patients from the ECTOP-2002 study with full clinical information. Mutation in the mucin family, as well as APOBEC signature, were associated with poor prognosis.

Improve the Precision of Area Under the Curve Estimation for Recurrent Events Through Covariate Adjustment.

The area under the curve (AUC) of the mean cumulative function (MCF) has recently been introduced as a novel estimand for evaluating treatment effects in recurrent event settings, offering an alternative to the commonly used Lin-Wei-Yang-Ying (LWYY) model. The AUC of the MCF provides a clinically interpretable summary measure that captures the overall burden of disease progression, regardless of whether the proportionality assumption holds. To improve the precision of the AUC estimation while preserving its unconditional interpretability, we propose a nonparametric covariate adjustment approach.

Cancer-associated Fibroblast-like Cells Promote Osteosarcoma Metastasis by Upregulation of Phosphoserine Aminotransferase 1 and Activation of the mTOR/S6K Pathway.

Metastasis remains a major obstacle limiting the survival of patients with osteosarcoma (OS). Cross-talk between cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and OS cells has been found to facilitate metastasis, although the effects of CAFs on OS cell metabolism are poorly understood. Here, conditioned medium from OS cells was used to activate CAF-like cells, which was found to promote OS migration and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Mast cells boost anti-tumor potency of MAIT cells via inflammasome-dependent secretion of IL-18.

Mast cells (MC) serve as pivotal sentinels in the regulation of immune responses and inflammation, yet their function in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains largely neglected. To decode their heterogeneity, we perform single-cell transcriptomic analysis of LUAD-infiltrating MCs. Our study uncovers the complexity in MC composition and identifies 9 distinct states, including proinflammation, chemotaxis, and antigen presentation.

BSA-seq and transcriptome analysis identification candidate genes associated with Pseudomonas plecoglossicida resistance in the large yellow croaker (Larimichthyscrocea).

Visceral white-nodule disease (VWND), caused by Pseudomonas plecoglossicida, poses a significant threat to the development of the Larimichthys crocea aquaculture industry. Breeding disease-resistant strains offers a potential solution, but the underlying mechanisms of disease resistance in L. crocea remain unclear, and relevant functional markers are still lack.

exploits host- and bacterial-derived β-alanine for replication inside host macrophages.

is a major foodborne pathogen that can effectively replicate inside host macrophages to establish life-threatening systemic infections. must utilize diverse nutrients for growth in nutrient-poor macrophages, but which nutrients are required for intracellular growth is largely unknown. Here, we found that either acquisition from the host or de novo synthesis of a nonprotein amino acid, β-alanine, is critical for replication inside macrophages.

Motivational preferences of interdisciplinary family physician team members in delivering integrated care: a best-worst scaling study.

Background: In China, integrated care is facilitated by interdisciplinary Family Physician Teams (FPTs) to extend primary care services without increasing physician numbers. However, the advancement of integrated care faces challenges due to insufficient motivators for Family Physician Team Members (FPTMs).

Objective: To elucidate the motivational preferences of FPTMs within integrated care, highlighting preference heterogeneity across individuals with diverse demographic and professional characteristics.

Improving HIV Prevention Among Heterosexual Men Seeking Sexually Transmitted Infection Services in Malawi: Protocol for a Type I Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Randomized Controlled Trial of Systems Navigator-Delivered Integrated Prevention Package (HPTN 112-NJIRA Study).

Background: Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains one of the most efficacious interventions for preventing HIV, but its effectiveness is often limited by poor persistence. Although regional efforts have primarily focused on young women and men who have sex with men, heterosexual men in East and Southern Africa represent a crucial group to engage and retain in PrEP care-both to improve health outcomes for men and to interrupt HIV transmission chains. Men seeking sexually transmitted infection (STI) services are particularly vulnerable to HIV acquisition, yet only a few interventions have tested strategies for engaging and retaining these men in PrEP services.

A method for improving the quality of grass carp (): A comprehensive evaluation of clear water depuration based on sensory and nutritional aspects.

This study investigates the effects of clear water depuration farming on grass carp muscle quality, nutrition, and flavor. Results show that clear water depuration significantly reduces off-flavor compounds while improving muscle texture and sensory traits. After three months, fish muscle hardness, chewiness, and whiteness increased, while drip and freezing loss decreased.