Partner Tracing Survey and Phylogenetic Analysis Among Newly Diagnosed HIV-Positive MSM - Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China, 2019-2022.

What Is Already Known About This Topic?: Partner tracing (PT) represents an established public health strategy for identifying undiagnosed individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and contributes to controlling sustained HIV transmission.

What Is Added By This Report?: Partner tracing among newly diagnosed HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) demonstrates effectiveness in identifying undiagnosed infected individuals, with regular sexual partners showing higher likelihood of HIV-positive detection. However, phylogenetic analysis revealed that only a small proportion of epidemiologically linked pairs exhibited genetic linkage.

Generating Active Metal/Oxide Dynamic Interface through Triggering Hydroxyl Reverse Spillover for High-Performing Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers.

Monitoring the reconstruction of atomic and electronic structure of the reaction interface under realistic working conditions remains a significant challenge in achieving highly efficient acidic oxygen evolution (OER). Herein, we introduce a bias-induced activation strategy to modulate in situ catalyst leaching and trigger hydroxyl reverse spillover on the IrO/SrTiO catalyst for enhanced OER performance. Through extensive operando measurements including X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) combined with OH radical quenching experiment, we confirm the involvement of a reverse OH spillover mechanism in the OER process.

Biological volume EM with focused Ga ion beam depends on formation of radiation-resistant Ga-rich layer at block face.

Volume electron microscopy (vEM) enables biologists to visualize nanoscale 3D ultrastructure of entire eukaryotic cells and tissues prepared by heavy atom staining and plastic embedding. The highest resolution vEM technique is focused ion-beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), which provides nearly isotropic (~5-10 nm) spatial resolution at fluences of > 10,000 e/nm. However, it is not clear how such high resolution is achievable because serial block-face (SBF) SEM, which incorporates an in-situ ultramicrotome instead of a Ga FIB beam, results in radiation-induced collapse of similar specimen blocks at fluences of only ~20 e/nm.

The Dance Between Schwann Cells and Macrophages During the Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injury.

Schwann cells and macrophages are the main immune cells involved in peripheral nerve injury. After injury, Schwann cells produce an inflammatory response and secrete various chemokines, inflammatory factors, and some other cytokines to promote the recruitment and M2 polarization of blood-derived macrophages, enhancing their phagocytotic ability, and thus play an important role in promoting nerve regeneration. Macrophages have also been found to promote vascular regeneration after injury, promote the migration and proliferation of Schwann cells along blood vessels, and facilitate myelination and axon regeneration.

Impacts of multi-environmental stresses on different facets of riverine phytoplankton beta diversity in a large-scale semi-arid basin.

Rivers are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, with their biodiversity facing pressures from both natural variability and human activities. Compared to river ecosystems in humid regions, those in semi-arid regions are more fragile and susceptible to environmental stresses. However, the impacts of diverse environmental stresses on multiple facets of riverine phytoplankton beta diversity in semi-arid basins remain understudied.

Characterization of zooplankton communities and the interspecific relationships among dominant species in the Jinghe River Basin, Northwest China.

To analyze the characteristics of zooplankton community and the interspecific relationship of dominant species in Jinghe River Basin, we conducted a systematic water ecology survey in the autumn of 2021 (October) and the spring of 2022 (May). The results showed that a total of 71 genera and 150 species of zooplankton were identified in spring and autumn. The number of zooplankton species and the average density in autumn were smaller than that in spring.

ARA290, an alternative of erythropoietin, inhibits activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in schwann cells after sciatic nerve injury.

The challenge of repairing peripheral nerve injury is a critical issue that needs to be addressed urgently. Previous research has shown that erythropoietin (EPO) and its prolonged peptides exhibit beneficial effects in neurological disorders. In our study, we demonstrated that both EPO and pyroglutamic acid helix B surface peptide (pHBSP, also known as ARA290) inhibit the early inflammatory response and promote functional recovery after sciatic nerve crush injury in rat models.

ShennongAlpha: an AI-driven sharing and collaboration platform for intelligent curation, acquisition, and translation of natural medicinal material knowledge.

Natural Medicinal Materials (NMMs) have a long history of global clinical applications and a wealth of records and knowledge. Although NMMs are a major source for drug discovery and clinical application, the utilization and sharing of NMM knowledge face crucial challenges, including the standardized description of critical information, efficient curation and acquisition, and language barriers. To address these, we developed ShennongAlpha, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven sharing and collaboration platform for intelligent knowledge curation, acquisition, and translation.

INSL3 promotes macrophage polarization to an immunosuppressive phenotype via the cAMP downstream signaling pathway and Akt/mTOR pathway.

Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a small peptide hormone produced almost exclusively by testicular Leydig cells in males and thus serves as an essential biomarker of the maturation and functionality of these cells. Accumulated evidence suggests that INSL3 is a crucial factor affecting testicular descent during fetal development by regulating the growth of the gubernaculum. However, the physiological roles of INSL3 in adults remain unclear.

High sediment load weakens the effects of nitrogen nutrients on zooplankton diversity in a continental-scale river.

Suspended sediment is a major factor driving biodiversity in sediment-laden rivers. However, the composition of aquatic communities and their diversity responses to sediment-nutrient interactions in large-scale sediment-laden rivers are largely unexplored. This study investigated the distribution patterns of zooplankton communities in the main stream of the Yellow River, China.

Bias-Induced Ga-O-Ir Interface Breaks the Limits of Adsorption-Energy Scaling Relationships for High-Performing Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers.

Rationally manipulating the in situ formed catalytically active surface of catalysts remains a significant challenge for achieving highly efficient water electrolysis. Herein, we present a bias-induced activation strategy to modulate in situ Ga leaching and trigger the dynamic surface restructuring of lamellar Ir@GaO for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction. The in situ reconstructed Ga-O-Ir interface sustains high water oxidation rates at oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotentials.

Biological volume EM with focused Ga ion beam depends on formation of radiation-resistant Ga-rich layer at block face.

Volume electron microscopy (vEM) enables biologists to visualize nanoscale 3D ultrastructure of entire eukaryotic cells and tissues processed by heavy atom staining and plastic embedding. The vEM technique with the highest resolution is focused ion-beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), which provides nearly isotropic (~5-10 nm) spatial resolution at fluences up to 10,000 e/nm. However, it is still not understood how such resolution is achievable, because serial block-face (SBF) SEM, which incorporates an in-situ ultramicrotome instead of a Ga FIB beam, results in radiation-induced collapse of similar specimen blocks at fluences of only ~20 e/nm.

HIV risk and influence factors among MSM who had sought sexual partners in core venues: a continuous sentinel surveillance in 2010-2022.

Background: Seeking sexual partners in men who have sex with men (MSM) venues has been regarded as a high-risk behavior for HIV among MSM. Nevertheless, with the implementation of venue-based interventions and the change in the way MSM seek sexual partners, the continued status of MSM venues as the HIV risk factor remains inconclusive. This study endeavors to delve into this ambiguity by examining the MSM sexual contact network (SCN) as a foundation.

Self-healing actuatable electroluminescent fibres.

Alternating-current electroluminescent fibres are promising candidates as light sources for smart textiles and soft machines. However, physical damage from daily use causes device deterioration or failure, making self-healable electroluminescent fibres attractive. In addition, soft robots could benefit from light-emitting combined with magnetically actuated functions.

Densely Populated Cell and Organelles Segmentation with U-Net Ensembles.

The complex and highly intertwined morphology of activated platelets within thrombi poses significant challenges for segmentation. In this work, we present a robust dual-network pipeline for cell and organelle segmentation. This multi-network approach enables the detection of fine details near the membrane while simultaneously facilitating long-range smoothing in regions distal to the membrane, drastically improving the performance of the watershed clustering algorithm compared to single-network approaches.

Comprehensive Investigation of Homology and Heterogeneity Between Aurantii Fructus and Aurantii Fructus Immaturus Using Chemometrics Combined with Network Pharmacology.

Aurantii Fructus (AF) and Aurantii Fructus Immaturus (AFI) are distinct herbs outlined by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. They are sourced from the same plant but harvested at different times, resulting in differences in efficacy. It is important to avoid mixing them clinically and to distinguish between the two.

The protective effect of erythropoietin and its novel derived peptides in peripheral nerve injury.

Peripheral nerve injury seriously endangers human life and health, but there is no clinical drug for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury, so it is imperative to develop drugs to promote the repair of peripheral nerve injury. Erythropoietin (EPO) not only has the traditional role of promoting erythropoiesis, but also has a tissue-protective effect. Over the past few decades, researchers have confirmed that EPO has neuroprotective effects.

A low-latency graph computer to identify metastable particles at the Large Hadron Collider for real-time analysis of potential dark matter signatures.

Image recognition is a pervasive task in many information-processing environments. We present a solution to a difficult pattern recognition problem that lies at the heart of experimental particle physics. Future experiments with very high-intensity beams will produce a spray of thousands of particles in each beam-target or beam-beam collision.

The FGFR2 Variant rs13387042 is Associated With Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Objective: The association of FGFR2-rs13387042 polymorphism with breast cancer (BC) susceptibility in women remains inconclusive due to varying reports. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between FGFR2-rs13387042 polymorphism and susceptibility to BC.

Methods: Relevant literature were acquired through searches across multiple databases.

Exosomal circ_0000722 derived from periodontal ligament stem cells undergoing osteogenic differentiation promotes osteoclastogenesis.

Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs), which are considered promising stem cells for regeneration of periodontal bony tissue, can also manipulate alveolar bone remodeling by exosomes. In this study, we investigated interactions between PDLSCs under osteogenic differentiation and osteoclast precursors. The results showed that conditioned medium from PDLSCs under 5d osteogenic induction promoted osteoclastogenesis of RAW264.