Persistent and advanced reddening of sweetgum leaves after major veins severing

The effects of major veins severing on morphological and physiological features of sweetgum （Liquidambar styraciflua L.） leaves were investigated by observing leaf color change and measuring leaf temperature, green/luminance （G/L） value of half-lobes, leaf stomata conductance, and water content in Yamaguchi University, Japan. The palmately veined leaves of sweetgum （Liquidambar styraciflua L.） were found more sensitive to the major vein severing than that of other species Major veins severing resulted in serious water stresses, as indicated by the persistent reddening and/or advanced reddening of local leaf, lower leaf stomatal conductance, and higher leaf temperature, etc. Severed leaf can be clearly divided into non-severed area, transitional area, and stressed area, which the three areas have different colours and temperature. The major vein barrier can also be seen clearly. The persistent reddening and advanced reddening seem consistent with the phenomenon of red crown top of some sweetgum trees and may have similar mechanism.

ABNORMAL SHOOT 6 interacts with KATANIN 1 and SHADE AVOIDANCE 4 to promote cortical microtubule severing and ordering in Arabidopsis

Plant interphase cortical microtubules(cMTs)mediate anisotropic cell expansion in response to environmental and developmental cues.In Arabidopsis thaliana,KATANIN 1(KTN1),the p60 catalytic subunit of the conserved MT-severing enzyme katanin,is essential for cMT ordering and anisotropic cell expansion.However,the regulation of KTN1-mediated cMT severing and ordering remains unclear.In this work,we report that the Arabidopsis IQ67 DOMAIN(IQD)family gene ABNORMAL SHOOT 6(ABS6)encodes a MT-associated protein.Overexpression of ABS6 leads to elongated cotyledons,directional pavement cell expansion,and highly ordered transverse cMT arrays.Genetic suppressor analysis revealed that ABS6-mediated cMT ordering is dependent on KTN1 and SHADE AVOIDANCE 4(SAV4).Live imaging of cMT dynamics showed that both ABS6 and SAV4 function as positive regulators of cMT severing.Furthermore,ABS6 directly interacts with KTN1 and SAV4 and promotes their recruitment to the cMTs.Finally,analysis of loss-of-function mutant combinations showed that ABS6,SAV4,and KTN1 work together to ensure the robust ethylene response in the apical hook of dark-grown seedlings.Together,our findings establish ABS6 and SAV4 as positive regulators of cMT severing and ordering,and highlight the role of cMT dynamics in fine-tuning differential growth in plants.

Persistent alterations in gray matter in COVID-19 patients experiencing sleep disturbances:a 3-month longitudinal study

Sleep disturbances are among the most prevalent neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals who have recovered from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections.Previous studies have demonstrated abnormal brain structures in patients with sleep disturbances who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).However,neuroimaging studies on sleep disturbances caused by COVID-19 are scarce,and existing studies have primarily focused on the long-term effects of the virus,with minimal acute phase data.As a result,little is known about the pathophysiology of sleep disturbances in the acute phase of COVID-19.To address this issue,we designed a longitudinal study to investigate whether alterations in brain structure occur during the acute phase of infection,and verified the results using 3-month follow-up data.A total of 26 COVID-19 patients with sleep disturbances(aged 51.5±13.57 years,8 women and 18 men),27 COVID-19 patients without sleep disturbances(aged 47.33±15.98 years,9 women and 18 men),and 31 age-and gender-matched healthy controls(aged 49.19±17.51 years,9 women and 22 men)were included in this study.Eleven COVID-19 patients with sleep disturbances were included in a longitudinal analysis.We found that COVID-19 patients with sleep disturbances exhibited brain structural changes in almost all brain lobes.The cortical thicknesses of the left pars opercularis and left precuneus were significantly negatively correlated with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores.Additionally,we observed changes in the volume of the hippocampus and its subfield regions in COVID-19 patients compared with the healthy controls.The 3-month follow-up data revealed indices of altered cerebral structure(cortical thickness,cortical grey matter volume,and cortical surface area)in the frontal-parietal cortex compared with the baseline in COVID-19 patients with sleep disturbances.Our findings indicate that the sleep disturbances patients had altered morphology in the cortical and hippocampal structures during the acute phase of infection and persistent changes in cortical regions at 3 months post-infection.These data improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of sleep disturbances caused by COVID-19.

The Katanin Microtubule Severing Protein in Plants

Katanin is a heterodimeric microtubule （MT） severing protein that uses energy from ATP hydrolysis to generate internal breaks along MTs. Katanin p60, one of the two subunits, possesses ATPase and MT-binding/severing activities, and the p 80 subunit is responsible for targeting of katanin to certain subcellular locations. In animals, katanin plays an important role in the release of MTs from their nucleation sites in the centrosome. It is also involved in severing MTs into smaller fragments which can serve as templates for further polymerization to increase MT number during meiotic and mitotic spindle assembly. Katanin homologs are present in a wide variety of plant species. The Arabidopsis katanin homolog has been shown to possess ATP-dependent MT severing activity in vitro and exhibit a punctate localization pattern at the cell cortex and the perinuclear region. Disruption of katanin functions by genetic mutations causes a delay in the disappearance of the perinuclear MT array and results in an aberrant organization of cortical MTs in elongating cells. Consequently, katanin mutations lead to defects in cell elongation, cellulose microfibril deposition, and hormonal responses. Studies of katanin in plants provide new insights into our understanding of its roles in cellular functions.

Effect of safety valve types on the gas venting behavior and thermal runaway hazard severity of large-format prismatic lithium iron phosphate batteries

The safety valve is an important component to ensure the safe operation of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).However,the effect of safety valve type on the thermal runaway(TR)and gas venting behavior of LIBs,as well as the TR hazard severity of LIBs,are not known.In this paper,the TR and gas venting behavior of three 100 A h lithium iron phosphate(LFP)batteries with different safety valves are investigated under overheating.Compared to previous studies,the main contribution of this work is in studying and evaluating the effect of gas venting behavior and TR hazard severity of LFP batteries with three safety valve types.Two significant results are obtained:(Ⅰ)the safety valve type dominates over gas venting pressure of battery during safety venting,the maximum gas venting pressure of LFP batteries with a round safety valve is 3320 Pa,which is one order of magnitude higher than other batteries with oval or cavity safety valve;(Ⅱ)the LFP battery with oval safety valve has the lowest TR hazard as shown by the TR hazard assessment model based on gray-fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.This study reveals the effect of safety valve type on TR and gas venting,providing a clear direction for the safety valve design.

Machine Learning Analysis of Impact of Western US Fires on Central US Hailstorms

Fires,including wildfires,harm air quality and essential public services like transportation,communication,and utilities.These fires can also influence atmospheric conditions,including temperature and aerosols,potentially affecting severe convective storms.Here,we investigate the remote impacts of fires in the western United States(WUS)on the occurrence of large hail(size:≥2.54 cm)in the central US(CUS)over the 20-year period of 2001–20 using the machine learning(ML),Random Forest(RF),and Extreme Gradient Boosting(XGB)methods.The developed RF and XGB models demonstrate high accuracy(>90%)and F1 scores of up to 0.78 in predicting large hail occurrences when WUS fires and CUS hailstorms coincide,particularly in four states(Wyoming,South Dakota,Nebraska,and Kansas).The key contributing variables identified from both ML models include the meteorological variables in the fire region(temperature and moisture),the westerly wind over the plume transport path,and the fire features(i.e.,the maximum fire power and burned area).The results confirm a linkage between WUS fires and severe weather in the CUS,corroborating the findings of our previous modeling study conducted on case simulations with a detailed physics model.

Resilience and response:Unveiling the impacts of extreme droughts on forests through integrated dendrochronological and remote sensing analyses

Extreme droughts are anticipated to have detrimental impacts on forest ecosystems,especially in water-limited regions,due to the influence of climate change.However,considerable uncertainty remains regarding the patterns in species-specific responses to extreme droughts.Here,we conducted a study integrating dendrochronology and remote sensing methods to investigate the mosaic-distributed maple-oak(native)natural forests and poplar plantations(introduced)in the Horqin Sandy Land,Northeast China.We assessed the impacts of extreme droughts on tree performances by measuring interannual variations in radial growth and vegetation index.The results showed that precipitation and self-calibrated palmer drought severity index(scPDSI)are the major factors influencing tree-ring width index(RWI)and normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI).The severe droughts between 2000 and 2004 resulted in reduced RWI in the three studied tree species as well as led to NDVI reductions in both the maple-oak natural forests and the poplar plantations.The RWI reached the nadir during the2000-2004 severe droughts and remained at low levels two years after the severe drought,creating a legacy effect.In contrast to the lack of significant correlation between RWI and scPDSI,NDVI exhibited a significant positive correlation with scPDSI indicating the greater sensitivity of canopy performance to droughts than radial growth.Furthermore,interspecific differences in RWI and NDVI responses were observed,with the fast-growing poplar species experiencing a more significant RWI decrease and more negative NDVI anomaly during severe droughts than native species,highlighting the species-specific trade-offs between drought resilience and growth rate.This study emphasizes the importance of combining tree-level radial growth with landscape-scale canopy remote sensing to understand forest resilience and response.Our study improves our understanding of forest responses to extreme drought and highlights species differences in climate responses,offering crucial insights for optimizing species selection in sustainable afforestation and forest management in water-limited regions under the influence of climate change.

Different timing for abdominal paracentesis catheter placement and drainage in severe acute pancreatitis complicated by intraabdominal fluid accumulation

BACKGROUND Non-surgical methods such as percutaneous drainage are crucial for the treatment of patients with severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).However,there is still an ongoing debate regarding the optimal timing for abdominal paracentesis catheter place-ment and drainage.AIM To explore the influence of different timing for abdominal paracentesis catheter placement and drainage in SAP complicated by intra-abdominal fluid accumu-lation.METHODS Using a retrospective approach,184 cases of SAP complicated by intra-abdominal fluid accumulation were enrolled and categorized into three groups based on the timing of catheter placement:group A(catheter placement within 2 d of symptom onset,n=89),group B(catheter placement between days 3 and 5 after symptom onset,n=55),and group C(catheter placement between days 6 and 7 after symptom onset,n=40).The differences in progression rate,mortality rate,and the number of cases with organ dysfunction were compared among the three groups.RESULTS The progression rate of group A was significantly lower than those in groups B and groups C(2.25%vs 21.82%and 32.50%,P<0.05).Further,the proportion of patients with at least one organ dysfunction in group A was significantly lower than those in groups B and groups C(41.57%vs 70.91%and 75.00%,P<0.05).The mortality rates in group A,group B,and group C were similar(P>0.05).At postoperative day 3,the levels of C-reactive protein(55.41±19.32 mg/L vs 82.25±20.41 mg/L and 88.65±19.14 mg/L,P<0.05),procalcitonin(1.36±0.51 ng/mL vs 3.20±0.97 ng/mL and 3.41±0.98 ng/mL,P<0.05),tumor necrosis factor-alpha(15.12±6.63 pg/L vs 22.26±9.96 pg/L and 23.39±9.12 pg/L,P<0.05),interleukin-6(332.14±90.16 ng/L vs 412.20±88.50 ng/L and 420.08±87.65ng/L,P<0.05),interleukin-8(415.54±68.43 ng/L vs 505.80±66.90 ng/L and 510.43±68.23ng/L,P<0.05)and serum amyloid A(270.06±78.49 mg/L vs 344.41±81.96 mg/L and 350.60±80.42 mg/L,P<0.05)were significantly lower in group A compared to those in groups B and group C.The length of hospital stay in group A was significantly lower than those in groups B and group C(24.50±4.16 d vs 35.54±6.62 d and 38.89±7.10 d,P<0.05).The hospitalization expenses in group A were also significantly lower than those in groups B and groups C[2.70(1.20,3.55)ten-thousand-yuan vs 5.50(2.98,7.12)ten-thousand-yuan and 6.00(3.10,8.05)ten-thousand-yuan,P<0.05).The incidence of complications in group A was markedly lower than that in group C(5.62%vs 25.00%,P<0.05),and similar to group B(P>0.05).CONCLUSION Percutaneous catheter drainage for the treatment of SAP complicated by intra-abdominal fluid accumulation is most effective when performed within 2 d of onset.

Computerized tomography-guided therapeutic percutaneous puncture catheter drainage-combined with somatostatin for severe acute pancreatitis: An analysis of efficacy and safety

BACKGROUND Severe acute pancreatitis(SAP),a condition with rapid onset,critical condition and unsatisfactory prognosis,poses a certain threat to human health,warranting optimization of relevant treatment plans to improve treatment efficacy.AIM To evaluate the efficacy and safety of computerized tomography-guided the-rapeutic percutaneous puncture catheter drainage(CT-TPPCD)combined with somatostatin(SS)in the treatment of SAP.METHODS Forty-two SAP patients admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from June 2020 to June 2023 were selected.On the basis of routine treatment,20 patients received SS therapy(control group)and 22 patients were given CT-TPPCD plus SS intervention(research group).The efficacy,safety(pancreatic fistula,intra-abdominal hemorrhage,sepsis,and organ dysfunction syndrome),abdominal bloating and pain relief time,bowel recovery time,hospital stay,inflammatory indicators(C-reactive protein,interleukin-6,and pro-calcitonin),and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation(APACHE)II score of both groups were evaluated for comparison.RESULTS Compared with the control group,the research group had a markedly higher total effective rate,faster abdominal bloating and pain relief and bowel recovery,INTRODUCTION Pancreatitis,an inflammatory disease occurring in the pancreatic tissue,is classified as either acute or chronic and is associated with high morbidity and mortality,imposing a socioeconomic burden[1,2].The pathogenesis of this disease involves early protease activation,activation of nuclear factor kappa-B-related inflammatory reactions,and infiltration of immune cells[3].Severe acute pancreatitis(SAP)is a serious condition involving systemic injury and subsequent possible organ failure,accounting for 20%of all acute pancreatitis cases[4].SAP is also characterized by rapid onset,critical illness and unsatisfactory prognosis and is correlated with serious adverse events such as systemic inflammatory response syn-drome and acute lung injury,threatening the health of patients[5,6].Therefore,timely and effective therapeutic inter-ventions are of great significance for improving patient prognosis and ensuring therapeutic effects.Somatostatin(SS),a peptide hormone that can be secreted by endocrine cells and the central nervous system,is in-volved in the regulatory mechanism of glucagon and insulin synthesis in the pancreas[7].It has complex and pleiotropic effects on the gastrointestinal tract,which can inhibit the release of gastrointestinal hormones and negatively modulate the exocrine function of the stomach,pancreas and bile,while exerting a certain influence on the absorption of the di-gestive system[8,9].SS has shown certain clinical effectiveness when applied to SAP patients and can regulate the severity of SAP and immune inflammatory responses,and this regulation is related to its influence on leukocyte apoptosis and adhesion[10,11].Computerized tomography-guided therapeutic percutaneous puncture catheter drainage(CT-TPPCD)is a surgical procedure to collect lesion fluid and pus samples from necrotic lesions and perform puncture and drainage by means of CT image examination and precise positioning[12].In the research of Liu et al[13],CT-TPPCD applied to pa-tients undergoing pancreatic surgery contributes to not only good curative effects but also a low surgical risk.Baudin et al[14]also reported that CT-TPPCD has a clinical success rate of 64.6%in patients with acute infectious necrotizing pan-creatitis,with nonfatal surgery-related complications found in only two cases,suggesting that this procedure is clinically effective and safe in the treatment of the disease.In light of the limited studies on the efficacy and safety of SS plus CT-TPPCD in SAP treatment,this study performed a relevant analysis to improve clinical outcomes in SAP patients.

Evaluation of frictional pressure drop correlations for air-water and air-oil two-phase flow in pipeline-riser system

Accurate prediction of the frictional pressure drop is important for the design and operation of subsea oil and gas transporting system considering the length of the pipeline. The applicability of the correlations to pipeline-riser flow needs evaluation since the flow condition in pipeline-riser is quite different from the original data where they were derived from. In the present study, a comprehensive evaluation of 24prevailing correlation in predicting frictional pressure drop is carried out based on experimentally measured data of air-water and air-oil two-phase flows in pipeline-riser. Experiments are performed in a system having different configuration of pipeline-riser with the inclination of the downcomer varied from-2°to-5°to investigated the effect of the elbow on the frictional pressure drop in the riser. The inlet gas velocity ranges from 0.03 to 6.2 m/s, and liquid velocity varies from 0.02 to 1.3 m/s. A total of885 experimental data points including 782 on air-water flows and 103 on air-oil flows are obtained and used to access the prediction ability of the correlations. Comparison of the predicted results with the measured data indicate that a majority of the investigated correlations under-predict the pressure drop on severe slugging. The result of this study highlights the requirement of new method considering the effect of pipe layout on the frictional pressure drop.

ASLP-DL—A Novel Approach Employing Lightweight Deep Learning Framework for Optimizing Accident Severity Level Prediction

Highway safety researchers focus on crash injury severity,utilizing deep learning—specifically,deep neural networks(DNN),deep convolutional neural networks(D-CNN),and deep recurrent neural networks(D-RNN)—as the preferred method for modeling accident severity.Deep learning’s strength lies in handling intricate relation-ships within extensive datasets,making it popular for accident severity level(ASL)prediction and classification.Despite prior success,there is a need for an efficient system recognizing ASL in diverse road conditions.To address this,we present an innovative Accident Severity Level Prediction Deep Learning(ASLP-DL)framework,incorporating DNN,D-CNN,and D-RNN models fine-tuned through iterative hyperparameter selection with Stochastic Gradient Descent.The framework optimizes hidden layers and integrates data augmentation,Gaussian noise,and dropout regularization for improved generalization.Sensitivity and factor contribution analyses identify influential predictors.Evaluated on three diverse crash record databases—NCDB 2018–2019,UK 2015–2020,and US 2016–2021—the D-RNN model excels with an ACC score of 89.0281%,a Roc Area of 0.751,an F-estimate of 0.941,and a Kappa score of 0.0629 over the NCDB dataset.The proposed framework consistently outperforms traditional methods,existing machine learning,and deep learning techniques.

Characteristics and Risk Factors for Pediatric Sepsis

Objective Sepsis is considered a major cause of health loss in children and had high mortality and morbidity.Currently,there is no reliable model for predicting the prognosis of pediatric patients with sepsis.This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of sepsis in children and assess the risk factors associated with poor prognosis in pediatric sepsis patients to identify timely interventions and improve their outcomes.Methods This study analyzed the clinical indicators and laboratory results of septic patients hospitalized in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,China,from January 1,2019,to December 31,2021.Risk factors for sepsis were identified by logistic regression analyses.Results A total of 355 children with sepsis were enrolled,with 333 children(93.8%)in the good prognosis group,and 22 children(6.2%)in the poor prognosis group.Among them,there were 255 patients(71.8%)in the sepsis group,and 100 patients(28.2%)in the severe sepsis group.The length of hospital stay in the poor prognosis group was longer than that in the good prognosis group(P<0.01).The levels of interleukin 1β(IL-1β)in the poor prognosis group were higher than those in the good prognosis group(P>0.05),and the platelet(PLT),albumin(ALB),and hemoglobin(Hb)levels were lower in the poor prognosis group(P<0.01).The IL-8 levels in the severe sepsis group were higher than those in the sepsis group(P<0.05).Multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that lower Hb levels,ALB levels,peak PLT counts,and higher IL-1βlevels were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in children with sepsis.Conclusion Lower Hb,ALB,and PLT counts and elevated IL-1βare independent risk factors for poor prognosis in children with sepsis.

Radial growth in Qinghai spruce is most sensitive to severe drought in the Qilian Mountains of Northwest China

Global warming and frequent extreme drought events lead to tree death and extensive forest decline,but the underlying mechanism is not clear.In drought years,cambial development is more sensitive to climate change,but in different phenological stages,the response rela-tionship is nonlinear.Therefore,the dynamic relationship between tree radial growth and climatic/environmental fac-tors needs to be studied.We thus continuously monitored radial growth of Qinghai spruce(Picea crassifolia Kom.)and environmental factors from January 2021 to November 2022 using point dendrometers and portable meteorological weather stations in the central area of the Qilian Mountains.The relationship and stability between the radial growth of Qinghai spruce and environmental factors were compared for different levels of drought in 2021 and 2022.The year 2022 had higher temperatures and less precipitation and was drier than 2021.Compared with 2021,the growing period in 2022 for Qinghai spruce was 10 days shorter,maximum growth rate(Grmax)was 4.5μm·d^(-1) slower,and the initiation of growth was 6 days later.Growth of Qinghai spruce was always restricted by drought,and the stem radial increment(SRI)was more sensitive to precipitation and air relative humidity.Seasonal changes in cumulative radial growth were divided into four phenological stages according to the time of growth onset,cessation,and maximum growth rate(Grmax)of Qinghai spruce.Stability responses of SRI to climate change were stronger in Stage 3 and Stage 4 of 2021 and stronger in Stage 1(initiation growth stage)and Stage 3 of 2022.The results provide important information on the growth of the trees in response to drought and for specific managing forests as the climate warms.

Superplasticity of fine-grained Mg-10Li alloy prepared by severe plastic deformation and understanding its deformation mechanisms

The superplastic behavior and associated deformation mechanisms of a fine-grained Mg-10.1 Li-0.8Al-0.6Zn alloy(LAZ1011)with a grain size of 3.2μm,primarily composed of the BCCβphase and a small amount of the HCPαphase,were examined in a temperature range of 473 K to 623 K.The microstructural refinement of this alloy was achieved by employing high-ratio differential speed rolling.The best superplasticity was achieved at 523 K and at strain rates of 10^(-4)-5×10^(-4)s^(-1),where tensile elongations of 550±600%were obtained.During the heating and holding stage of the tensile samples prior to tensile loading,a significant increase in grain size was observed at temperatures above 573 K.Therefore,it was important to consider this effect when analyzing and understanding the superplastic deformation behavior and mechanisms.In the investigated strain rate range,the superplastic flow at low strain rates was governed by lattice diffusion-controlled grain boundary sliding,while at high strain rates,lattice diffusion-controlled dislocation climb creep was the rate-controlling deformation mechanism.It was concluded that solute drag creep is unlikely to occur.During the late stages of deformation at 523 K,it was observed that grain boundary sliding led to the agglomeration of theαphase,resulting in significant strain hardening.Deformation mechanism maps were constructed forβ-Mg-Li alloys in the form of 2D and 3D formats as a function of strain rate,stress,temperature,and grain size,using the constitutive equations for various deformation mechanisms derived based on the data of the current tests.

Relationship between mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction of blood mononuclear cells and heart failure severity

Chronic heart failure(CHF)is a clinical syndrome manifested by reduced pumping ability of the heart,increased pressure in heart chambers in both physical activity and at rest.The symptoms of this syndrome are dyspnea,undue fatigability,peripheral edema,which follow structural and functional changes of the myocardium.[1]The growing incidence of CHF,especially among elderly people,is an urgent problem for medicine in the vast majority of industrialized countries.For instance,in Russian Federation,CHF is diagnosed in about 7%of cardiovascular patients.At the same time,this indicator varies from 0.3%in young people(20-29 years old)to 70%in the older age group.[2,3].

An early scoring system to predict mechanical ventilation for botulism: a single-center-based study

BACKGROUND: Early identification of patients requiring ventilator support will be beneficial for the outcomes of botulism. The present study aimed to establish a new scoring system to predict mechanical ventilation(MV) for botulism patients.METHODS: A single-center retrospective study was conducted to identify risk factors associated with MV in botulism patients from 2007 to 2022. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to screen out risk factors for constructing a prognostic scoring system. The area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was calculated.RESULTS: A total of 153 patients with botulism(66 males and 87 females, with an average age of 43 years) were included. Of these, 49 patients(32.0%) required MV, including 21(13.7%) with invasive ventilation and 28(18.3%) with non-invasive ventilation. Multivariate analysis revealed that botulinum toxin type, pneumonia, incubation period, degree of hypoxia, and severity of muscle involvement were independent risk factors for MV. These risk factors were incorporated into a multivariate logistic regression analysis to establish a prognostic scoring system. Each risk factor was scored by allocating a weight based on its regression coefficient and rounded to whole numbers for practical utilization([botulinum toxin type A: 1], [pneumonia: 2], [incubation period ≤1 day: 2], [hypoxia <90%: 2], [severity of muscle involvement: grade Ⅱ, 3;gradeⅢ, 7;grade IV, 11]). The scoring system achieved an area under the ROC curve of 0.82(95% CI 0.75–0.89, P<0.001). At the optimal threshold of 9, the scoring system achieved a sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 70.2%.CONCLUSION: Our study identified botulinum toxin type, pneumonia, incubation period, degree of hypoxia, and severity of muscle involvement as independent risk factors for MV in botulism patients. A score ≥9 in our scoring system is associated with a higher likelihood of requiring MV in botulism patients. This scoring system needs to be validated externally before it can be applied in clinical settings.

Systemic inflammatory index as a predictive marker for the severity of coronary artery disease in individuals with chronic kidney disease

Objective To evaluate the correlation between the inflammatory intensity,as indicated by the systemic inflammatory index(SII),and the severity of coronary artery disease(CAD)in patients with chronic kidney disease(CKD).Methods A total of 280 CKD patients who underwent coronary angiography were enrolled.CAD was evaluated using the Gen-sini score(GS).Patients were divided into the low,medium and high SII groups according to the tertiles of the SII values.Logist-ic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between SII and GS.The cutoff points for the sensitivity and spe-cificity of SII in predicting GS were estimated by performing the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results Patients in the higher SII group had a higher prevalence of CAD(P=0.013).In addition,the high SII group had more pa-tients with complex CAD(triple-vessel disease and/or left main coronary artery stenosis)and chronic total occlusion lesions,and more patients required revascularization(P<0.05).Correlation analysis suggested a positive relationship between SII and GS,and in comparison to neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio,SII displayed a stronger correlation with GS(r=0.332,P<0.001).Multifactorial logistic regression analysis revealed that SII is independently associated with the severity of CAD(adjusted OR=1.14,95%CI:1.08-1.21,P<0.01),particularly among elderly patients(age≥65 years).Receiver operating charact-eristic curve analysis indicated that the optimal cutoff value for SII in predicting severe coronary artery stenosis(GS>60)was 6.01(sensitivity:76.30%,specificity:53.50%),with an area under the curve(AUC)of 0.705(95%CI:0.642-0.768,P<0.001),which was sta-tistically significantly better than platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio(AUC=0.646,95%CI:0.579-0.713,P<0.001)and neutrophil-to-lym-phocyte ratio(AUC=0.643,95%CI:0.574-0.712,P<0.001).Conclusions In patients with CKD,SII is independently associated with the severity of CAD,especially in individuals aged 65 ye-ars or older.Furthermore,SII functions as a predictive marker for the severity of coronary lesions.

Potential role of peripheral blood mononuclear cell' s mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction in heart failure severity prediction in patients with cardioverter-defibrillator implantation indications

Background It has been reported that the mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction (MRD) is important mechanisms affecting the heart failure (HF) pathogenesis.We sought to evaluate the potential role of MRD of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in HF severity prediction in patients with cardioverter-defibrillator implantation indications.Methods In this single-center study patients with HF of New York Heart Association (NYHA) Ⅰ-Ⅲ functional class (FC) and cardioverter-defibrillator implantation indications underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and MRD assessment using PB-MC.Mitochondrial respiration rate (MRR) indicators (pyruvate+malate+adenosine diphosphate;succinate+adenosine diphosphate;pyruvate+malate–adenosine diphosphate[V4.1];succinate–adenosine diphosphate) were calculated.Correlations between HF NYHA FC,TTE and MRR indicators were evaluated.Based on our data,we developed a risk model regarding HF severity.Results Of 53 (100.0%) HF patients,33 (62.3%) had mild exercise intolerance (1stgroup) and 20 (37.7%) had moderate-to-severe exercise intolerance (2ndgroup).Patients with mild exercise intolerance were likely to have a higher V4.1(P<0.001) values.V4.1was independently associated with moderate-to-severe exercise intolerance in univariate and multivariate logistic regression (OR=0.932,95%CI:0.891–0.975,P<0.001).Conclusions The severity of HF is associated with PBMC mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction in patients with cardioverter-defibrillator implantation indications.Our HF severity risk model including V4.1parameters is able to distinguish patients with mild and moderate-to-severe exercise intolerance.Further investigations of their predictive significance are warranted.

Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of in-vessel phenomena under severe accident mitigation strategy based on ISAA-SAUP program

The phenomenology involved in severe accidents in nuclear reactors is highly complex.Currently,integrated analysis programs used for severe accident analysis heavily rely on custom empirical parameters,which introduce considerable uncertainty.Therefore,in recent years,the field of severe accidents has shifted its focus toward applying uncertainty analysis methods to quantify uncertainty in safety assessment programs,known as“best estimate plus uncertainty(BEPU).”This approach aids in enhancing our comprehension of these programs and their further development and improvement.This study concentrates on a third-generation pressurized water reactor equipped with advanced active and passive mitigation strategies.Through an Integrated Severe Accident Analysis Program(ISAA),numerical modeling and uncertainty analysis were conducted on severe accidents resulting from large break loss of coolant accidents.Seventeen uncertainty parameters of the ISAA program were meticulously screened.Using Wilks'formula,the developed uncertainty program code,SAUP,was employed to carry out Latin hypercube sampling,while ISAA was employed to execute batch calculations.Statistical analysis was then conducted on two figures of merit,namely hydrogen generation and the release of fission products within the pressure vessel.Uncertainty calculations revealed that hydrogen production and the fraction of fission product released exhibited a normal distribution,ranging from 182.784 to 330.664 kg and from 15.6 to 84.3%,respectively.The ratio of hydrogen production to reactor thermal power fell within the range of 0.0578–0.105.A sensitivity analysis was performed for uncertain input parameters,revealing significant correlations between the failure temperature of the cladding oxide layer,maximum melt flow rate,size of the particulate debris,and porosity of the debris with both hydrogen generation and the release of fission products.

Endoscopy-assisted vitrectomy for severe ocular penetrating trauma with corneal opacity

AIM:To assess the utility and efficiency of endoscopyassisted vitrectomy(EAV)for the treatment of corneal opacity in severe ocular trauma.METHODS:Patients who underwent fundus examination using a preoperative slit lamp and intraoperative endoscopy,followed by EAV and additional surgery were retrospectively recruited.Silicone oil removal and penetrating keratoplasty were used in selected eyes at postoperative follow-ups.Outcome measurements included the best corrected visual acuity(BCVA),intraocular pressure(IOP),findings of endoscopic fundus examination,and postoperative complications.RESULTS:Twenty-one eyes with severe ocular trauma and corneal opacity were followed up for 24-36mo.Retinal detachment(RD)and vitreous haemorrhage(VH)were identified in 16 eyes(76.2%),RD only in four eyes(19.0%),and VH combined with intraocular foreign body in one eye(4.8%).All eyes underwent at least three surgeries.Stage-Ⅰ surgeries involved wound closure(100%),lens extraction(76.2%),and anterior vitrectomy(14.3%).Stage-Ⅱ surgeries involved scleral buckling(28.6%),membrane peeling(47.6%),retinal laser photocoagulation(100%)and silicone oil tamponade(100%)using EAV.Stage-Ⅲ surgeries were conducted using endoscopy including silicone oil removal(52.4%),retinal laser photocoagulation(52.4%)and penetrating keratoplasty(28.6%).Nearly all eyes showed improvements in BCVA and IOP.Although there were no severe complications,glaucoma was noted in one eye,chronic hypotony in another eye,and band keratopathy in three eyes.CONCLUSION:EAV is an effective adjunct for restoring ocular anatomical structures and visual function in the case of corneal opacity after severe ocular trauma.