Assembly and comparative analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Abies beshanzuensis: insights into conservation genomics of a critically endangered fir.

Background: Abies beshanzuensis, an endemic fir native to the subtropical high mountains of eastern China, is classified as a first-class nationally protected wild plant and is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Taxonomic controversies have long persisted among A. beshanzuensis, A.

Liquid lens-based endoscopic OCT probe with adjustable focus for 3D imaging in cross-sectionally irregular lumens.

For imaging and inspecting lumens in industrial components, endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT), with its high resolution and compact probe, is a promising method. The majority of OCT probes possess a fixed depth of field (DOF) and suffer from missing point clouds when measuring cross-sectionally irregular lumens, limiting their application scenarios. To address this problem, we developed an endoscopic OCT probe that incorporates dual electrically tunable liquid lenses for dynamic focal length adjustment, making the system adaptable for imaging irregularly shaped lumens.

Genome Skimming Reveals Plastome Conservation, Phylogenetic Structure, and Novel Molecular Markers in Valuable Orchid .

: is a rare and endangered terrestrial orchid endemic to China, valued for its ornamental and medicinal properties. However, limited genomic resources hinder its effective conservation strategies and sustainable utilization. This study aimed to generate comprehensive plastome resources and develop molecular markers to support the phylogenetics, identification, and conservation management of .

Global research trends in surgical management of choledochal cysts: a bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2024.

Introduction: Choledochal cysts (CCs), which are congenital biliary anomalies prevalent in Asia, predominantly affect children and carry the risk of severe complications, including malignancy. Surgical intervention, evolving from open to minimally invasive (laparoscopic/robotic) techniques, remains the cornerstone of management. Despite growing research, no bibliometric analysis has mapped the global trends in CCs surgical studies.

Characteristics of multifrequency vestibular evoked myogenic potentials tuning in ménière's disease and vestibular migraine.

Objective: Diagnostic criteria for Vestibular Migraine (VM) and Ménière's Disease (MD) overlap considerably, complicating accurate diagnoses in patients with headaches, vertigo, hearing loss, aural fullness, and tinnitus. This study assesses the utility of multifrequency vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) in differentiating MD from VM.

Study Sample: The research included 49 MD and 32 VM patients from April to June 2024.

Predicting current and future potential distribution of Changnienia amoena in China under global climate change.

Changnienia amoena is a terrestrial orchid endemic to China and holds significant ornamental and medicinal value. Understanding the current and future potential geographic distribution patterns of C. amoena under climate change is crucial for its effective conservation and sustainable development.

Multidimensional Feature Analysis of Meniere's Disease and Vestibular Migraine: Insights from Machine Learning and Vestibular Testing.

Objective: Differentiating between Meniere's disease (MD) and vestibular migraine (VM) is challenging due to overlapping symptoms and limited diagnostic tools. Traditional statistical methods often rely on physician judgment and struggle with complex, high-dimensional data. This study applies the random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm to enhance the clinical differentiation between MD and VM.

PRC1 as an independent adverse prognostic factor in Wilms tumor via integrated bioinformatics and experimental validation.

Wilms Tumor (WT), a prevalent pediatric renal malignancy, exhibits marked heterogeneity and variable clinical outcomes. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a biological process enabling epithelial cells to acquire mesenchymal traits associated with enhanced migratory and invasive capacities, plays a crucial role in cancer progression. Protein Regulator of Cytokinesis 1 (PRC1) is a critical protein in cell division, whose overexpression is linked to poor prognosis in various cancers.

Carbon monoxide inhibits human bronchial epithelial CCL5 and IL-6 secretion induced by SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD protein.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a novel anti-inflammatory molecule, but the effects of CO on SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD (S-RBD)-induced human bronchial epithelial cytokines release remains unclear. CO was delivered using CO-releasing molecule 3 (CORM-3). The effects of S-RBD, ATPγS and CO on cytokines secretion were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 16HBE14o-human bronchial epithelial cell line.

Assessing otolith dysfunction in Meniere's disease: insights from multi-frequency vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing.

Objective: To investigate the impact of Meniere's Disease (MD) on balance and proprioception by utilising multi-frequency Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) to evaluate otolith function.

Design: Observational study employing the Otolith Tuning Index (OTI) to quantify vestibular function through analysis of VEMP response rates and tuning ratios.

Study Sample: A total of 123 participants were included, comprising 94 patients diagnosed with MD and 29 healthy controls.

Health information analysis of cryptorchidism-related short videos: Analyzing quality and reliability.

Objective: Cryptorchidism is a common congenital anomaly in children. Short video content has increased awareness and urged timely intervention, but there is a lack of understanding about the quality and reliability of these videos. This survey assesses the quality and credibility of cryptorchidism-related videos on Chinese short video platforms to ensure accurate information for caregivers and healthcare professionals.

Magnesium ions regulate the Warburg effect to promote the differentiation of enteric neural crest cells into neurons.

Background: Understanding how enteric neural crest cells (ENCCs) differentiate into neurons is crucial for neurogenesis therapy and gastrointestinal disease research. This study explores how magnesium ions regulate the glycolytic pathway to enhance ENCCs differentiation into neurons.

Materials And Methods: We used polymerase chain reaction, western blot, immunofluorescence, and multielectrode array techniques to assess magnesium ions' impact on ENCCs differentiation.

A Ferritin-Based Eg95 Nanoparticle Vaccine Adjuvanted with pCpG Eliciting Robust Immune Responses Against Cystic Echinococcosis in Mice Model.

Introduction: Cystic echinococcosis (CE), a chronic disabling parasitic zoonosis, poses a great threat to public health and livestock production and causes huge economic losses globally. The commercial Quil-A-adjuvanted Eg95 vaccine was empirically effective for CE control; however, it is expensive and has side effects and insufficient immunity.

Purpose: This study aimed to employ a novel adjuvant consisting of a delivery system and an immune potentiator and assess its adjuvanticity to Eg95 antigen, thereby developing a safe and cost-effective novel vaccine against the disease.

Comparing saccades in Visually Enhanced Vestibular-Ocular Reflex and video head impulse test in vestibular assessment.

Objective: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel software tool for robust analysis of the Visually Enhanced Vestibular-Ocular Reflex (VVOR) and video head impulse test (vHIT) saccades.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 94 patients with Meniere's Disease (MD), unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH), and vestibular migraine (VM). The MATLAB-based VVOR Analysis System and Saccades All in One software were utilized for data processing.

Effect of histone demethylase KDM5B on long-term cognitive impairment in neonatal rats induced by sevoflurane.

Introduction: Whether repeated inhalation of sevoflurane during the neonatal period causes long-term learning and memory impairments in humans is unclear. Some recent investigations have indicated that general anesthesia drugs affect histone methylation modification and may further affect learning and memory ability. This study aimed to explore the role and mechanism of histone methylation in long-term cognitive dysfunction caused by repeated inhalation of sevoflurane during the neonatal period.

Motion-error-free calibration of event camera systems using a flashing target.

Event cameras, inspired by biological vision, offer high dynamic range, excellent temporal resolution, and minimal data redundancy. Precise calibration of event camera systems is essential for applications such as 3D vision. The cessation of extra gray frame production in popular models like the dynamic vision sensor (DVS) poses significant challenges to achieving high-accuracy calibration.

Experimental and Numerical Investigations on the Seismic Performance of High-Strength Exterior Beam-Column Joints with Steel Fibers.

Steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete (SFRHSC) is a composite material composed of cement, coarse aggregate, and randomly distributed short steel fibers. The excellent tensile strength of steel fiber can significantly improve the crack resistance and ductility of high-strength concrete (HSC). In this study, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to study the cyclic behavior of the HSC beam-column joint.

Antiviral Chlorinated Drimane Meroterpenoids from the Fungus LD-7 and Their Biosynthetic Pathway.

Ten new drimane meroterpenoids talarines A-J (-), along with six known analogues , were isolated from desert soil-derived fungus LD-7. Their 2D structures were elucidated by comprehensive interpretation of NMR and HRESIMS data. Electronic circular dichroism calculation was used to establish their absolute configurations.

Vestibular Migraine and Recurrent Vertigo in Children: A Diagnostic Focus From a Tertiary Hospital Study.

Background: To improve diagnostic precision in pediatric vertigo, particularly in Vestibular Migraine of Childhood (VMC), probable VMC (pVMC), Recurrent Vertigo of Childhood (RVC), and unspecified categories, by delineating clinical characteristics and prevalence to refine diagnostics and treatments.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 102 pediatric patients (five to 18 years; 46 females, 56 males) at the Dizziness Center of the Otolaryngology Department in a tertiary-level hospital from January 2019 to December 2023. Patients were classified into VMC, pVMC, RVC, and indeterminate groups.

CP-Net: Instance-aware part segmentation network for biological cell parsing.

Instance segmentation of biological cells is important in medical image analysis for identifying and segmenting individual cells, and quantitative measurement of subcellular structures requires further cell-level subcellular part segmentation. Subcellular structure measurements are critical for cell phenotyping and quality analysis. For these purposes, instance-aware part segmentation network is first introduced to distinguish individual cells and segment subcellular structures for each detected cell.

Analysis of the association between high antioxidant diet and lifestyle habits and diabetic retinopathy based on NHANES cross-sectional study.

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in increasing the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy (DR). The oxidative balance score (OBS) and the composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) are two tools for assessing the effects of diet and lifestyle on oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between OBS, CDAI and the occurrence of DR.

Enhancing Thermal Conductivity in Polymer Composites through Molding-Assisted Orientation of Boron Nitride.

Incrementing thermal conductivity in polymer composites through the incorporation of inorganic thermally conductive fillers is typically constrained by the requirement of high filler content. This necessity often complicates processing and adversely affects mechanical properties. This study presents the fabrication of a polystyrene (PS)/boron nitride (BN) composite exhibiting elevated thermal conductivity with a modest 10 wt% BN content, achieved through optimized compression molding.

Tumour organoids and assembloids: Patient-derived cancer avatars for immunotherapy.

Background: Organoid technology is an emerging and rapidly growing field that shows promise in studying organ development and screening therapeutic regimens. Although organoids have been proposed for a decade, concerns exist, including batch-to-batch variations, lack of the native microenvironment and clinical applicability.

Main Body: The concept of organoids has derived patient-derived tumour organoids (PDTOs) for personalized drug screening and new drug discovery, mitigating the risks of medication misuse.

A SARS-CoV-2 Nanobody Displayed on the Surface of Human Ferritin with High Neutralization Activity.

Purpose: COVID-19 is rampant throughout the world, which has caused great damage to human lives and seriously hindered the development of the global economy. Aiming at the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, in this study, we proposed a novel fenobody strategy based on ferritin (Fe) self-assembly technology.

Methods: The neutralizing nanobody H11-D4 of SARS-CoV-2 fused to the C-terminus of end-modified human ferritin was expressed in and silkworm baculovirus expression systems.

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain promotes IL-6 and IL-8 release via ATP/P2Y and ERK1/2 signaling pathways in human bronchial epithelia.

The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 as well as its receptor binding domain (RBD) has been demonstrated to be capable of activating the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in endothelial cells and immune cells such as monocytes. However, the effects of spike protein or its RBD on airway epithelial cells and mechanisms underlying these effects have not been adequately characterized. Here, we show that the RBD of spike protein alone can induce bronchial epithelial inflammation in a manner of ATP/P2Y dependence.