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The increasing antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori infection is a globally urging problem. To investigate the H. pylori resistance situation in Nanjing, China, we enrolled patients in Nanjing First Hospital from January 2018 to May 2021. H. pylori strains were isolated from patients who had at least one positive 13C-urea breath or rapid urease result. Subsequently, we performed antibiotic susceptibility tests on the isolated strains to clarithromycin, metronidazole, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, furazolidone and tetracycline. ARMS-PCR was conducted to determine H. pylori clarithromycin resistance gene mutation. Our results demonstrated that the primary resistance rates of metronidazole, clarithromycin, levofloxacin, amoxicillin, furazolidone and tetracycline were 67.19% (1417/2109), 35.99% (759/2109), 24.23% (511/2109), 0.76% (16/2109), 0.28% (6/2109) and 0.09% (2/2109), respectively. The resistance rates of metronidazole, clarithromycin and levofloxacin elevated significantly after treatment and the three antibiotics composed the majority of multi-resistance patterns. However, the resistance rates of amoxicillin, furazolidone and tetracycline were still in low levels after treatment. ARMS-PCR showed a rather good consistency with antibiotic susceptibility test in detecting clarithromycin resistance, with a kappa value of 0.79. Overall, this study revealed the latest complex situation of antibiotic resistance of H. pylori infection in Nanjing and offered suggestions on clinical medication for curing H. pylori .

Charge-coupled devices (CCD) allow imaging by photodetection, charge integration, and serial transfer of the stored charge packets from multiple pixels to the readout node. The functionality of CCD can be extended to the non-destructive and in-situ readout of the integrated charges by replacing metallic electrodes with graphene in the metal-oxide-semiconductors (MOS) structure of a CCD pixel. The electrostatic capacitive coupling of graphene with the substrate allows the Fermi level tuning that reflects the integrated charge density in the depletion well. This work demonstrates the in-situ monitoring of the serial charge transfer and interpixel transfer losses in a reciprocating manner between two adjacent Gr-Si CCD pixels by benefitting the electrostatic and gate-to-gate couplings. We achieved the maximum charge transfer efficiency (CTE) of 92.4%, which is mainly decided by the inter-pixel distance, phase clock amplitudes, switching slopes, and density of surface defects. The discussion on overcoming transfer losses and improving CTE by realizing a graphene-electron multiplication CCD is also presented. The proof of the concept of the in-situ readout of the out-of-plane avalanche in a single Gr-Si CCD pixel is also demonstrated, which can amplify the photo packet in a pre-transfer manner.

To evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of 10-day vonoprazan-amoxicillin (VA) dual therapy compared to 14-day VA therapy. A non-inferiority trial was carried out at 10 clinical centers to recruit patients with H. pylori infection. Subjects were assigned at random to either the group for 10-day or 14-day, and where given vonoprazan 20 mg bid and amoxicillin 1 g tid. Comparisons were made in terms of eradication rates, adverse events, cost-effectiveness, and compliance. 914 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the 10-day or 14-day VA groups. Using the intention-to-treat principle and multiple imputation for missing outcomes, the analysis showed an eradication rate of 88.79% in the 10-day group and 92.37% in the 14-day group (P = 0.064). The eradication rates were 89.14% and 93.35% by per-protocol analysis (P = 0.037). There were no significant differences in adverse events or compliance between the groups (P > 0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that smoking and prior failure of eradication were risk factors influencing the eradication rate (P < 0.05). For the economic evaluation, the cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) of the 10-day group was 426.30 yuan, the CER of the 14-day group was 485.27 yuan, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 1680.23 yuan. In probability sensitivity analysis, the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve showed that when the willingness-to-pay(WTP) threshold was below 1742 yuan, the 10-day group was more cost-effective. When the WTP threshold was above 1742 yuan, the 14-day group was more cost-effective. In this study, the 10-day VA was not found to be inferior to the 14-day VA. Compared with the 14-day group, the 10-day group is more cost-effective, but as the WTP threshold increases to 1742 yuan, the probability of the 14-day group being more cost-effective was greater than that of the 10-day group. Smoking and previous eradication attempts were associated with the eradication failure of VA therapy. https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier NCT05469685.

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor with a poor prognosis. Currently, treatment for UVM is limited, and the development of drug resistance and tumor recurrence are common. Therefore, it is important to identify new prognostic biomarkers of UVM and explore their role in the tumor microenvironment. Pyroptosis is a way of cell programmed death, and related research is in full throttle. However, the role of pyroptosis in UVM is unclear. In this study, we constructed the prognosis model of pyroptosis-related genes of UVM. This model can accurately guide the prognosis of UVM, and different groups differ in immune infiltration. We further verified our results in cell experiments. To some extent, our study can provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of UVM.

CuCr alloy with high Cr content (20–50 wt.%) is the main contact material for medium voltage and high current vacuum interrupters. However, the influence of network distribution of Cr particles affect the conductivity of CuCr alloy, and its properties strongly depend on the size of Cr particles. In this paper, Cr@RGO (Cr powder coated with reduced GO) was prepared by BSA (bovine serum protein) electrostatic assembly method, and then RGO/CuCr composites with different graphene content were prepared by vacuum hot pressing sintering process. The results show that the size of Cr particles decreases with the increase of graphene content and the network of Cr particles became fractured. When the content of RGO is 3.0 wt.%, the size of Cr phase is 19.9 μ m, which is 23.8% less than that of CuCr25 of 26.1 μ m. The Brinell hardness and electrical conductivity of 3.0 wt.% RGO/CuCr composite are 102.5 HB and 52.9% IACS, which is increased by 8% and 6% in contrast with that of CuCr25. And the Preparation of RGO/CuCr is simple, feasible, replicable and easy to achieve the goal of the industrial preparation.

In this paper, the effect of the addition of graphene on the as-cast and homogenized annealing microstructure of 7075 aluminum alloy (AlZnMgCu) was studied. The analytical model devised in this study has demonstrated the significant grain refinement of graphene-7075 aluminium matrix composites (G-7075) due to large surface area of graphene. The results showed that the as-cast microstructure of graphene-7075 aluminum matrix composite was refined significantly, which the average grain size of the composite decreased from 78 m to 45 m and lattice distortion is more significant. The effect of the dissolution of the non-equilibrium eutectic structure and the secondary phase distribution of the graphene-7075 aluminum matrix composite is better after annealing at 470 °C for 16 hours.

7075Al alloy is the preferred material for lightweight automotive applications, but the existing problem is that it is difficult to combine high strength and high toughness. This paper presents our research aimed at obtaining high strength and high toughness materials by adding a nano-phase to realize microstructure refinement. Graphene nanoplates (GNP)/7075Al composites and 7075Al alloy were prepared by a stirring casting method in the present study. In comparison to 7075Al, the tensile strength of GNP/7075Al composites was increased from 572 MPa to 632 MPa while maintaining good uniform elongation of 8% to 10%. The increased strength behavior of GNP/7075Al composites while maintaining the plasticity is discussed in terms of grain refinement and dislocation evolution by analyzing the composite microstructure and quantitatively analyzing the contributions of grain boundary strengthening, solid solution strengthening, precipitation strengthening and dislocation strengthening. GNP’s strengthening of GNP/7075Al composites is mainly attributed to the refinement of grain size and the increase of dislocation density.

A 7075 aluminum alloy is widely used in the fields of transportation and aerospace because of its high strength and low density. In this paper, the effect of homogenization annealing on the microstructure of 7075 aluminum alloy was studied. The microstructure and second phase evolution of 7075 aluminum alloy were analyzed by optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy spectrometer (EDS) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results showed that the as-cast microstructure of 7075 aluminum alloy was equiaxial crystal, and non-equilibrium eutectic microstructure Mg(Zn, Cu, Al)2 produced along the grain boundary. In the subsequent first-order homogenization annealing, part of Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 was converted to Al2CuMg phase. However, the transformation was not fully complete. Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 was then completely converted to Al2CuMg phase in the second order homogenization annealing.

Rett syndrome (RTT), a severe postnatal neurodevelopmental disorder, is caused by mutations in the X-linked gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2). MeCP2 is a chromatin organizer regulating gene expression. RTT-causing mutations have been shown to affect this function. However, the mechanism by which MeCP2 organizes chromatin is unclear. In this study, we found that MeCP2 can induce compaction and liquid–liquid phase separation of nucleosomal arrays in vitro, and DNA methylation further enhances formation of chromatin condensates by MeCP2. Interestingly, RTT-causing mutations compromise MeCP2-mediated chromatin phase separation, while benign variants have little effect on this process. Moreover, MeCP2 competes with linker histone H1 to form mutually exclusive chromatin condensates in vitro and distinct heterochromatin foci in vivo. RTT-causing mutations reduce or even abolish the ability of MeCP2 to compete with histone H1 and to form chromatin condensates. Together, our results identify a novel mechanism by which phase separation underlies MeCP2-mediated heterochromatin formation and reveal the potential link between this process and the pathology of RTT.

Abstract Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has achieved remarkable success in the treatment of hematological malignancies. Based on the immunomodulatory capability of CAR-T cells, efforts have turned toward exploring their potential in treating autoimmune diseases. Bibliometric analysis of 210 records from 128 academic journals published by 372 institutions in 40 countries/regions indicates a growing number of publications on CAR-T therapy for autoimmune diseases, covering a range of subtypes such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, among others. CAR-T therapy holds promise in mitigating several shortcomings, including the indiscriminate suppression of the immune system by traditional immunosuppressants, and non-sustaining therapeutic levels of monoclonal antibodies due to inherent pharmacokinetic constraints. By persisting and proliferating in vivo, CAR-T cells can offer a tailored and precise therapeutics. This paper reviewed preclinical experiments and clinical trials involving CAR-T and CAR-related therapies in various autoimmune diseases, incorporating innovations well-studied in the field of hematological tumors, aiming to explore a safe and effective therapeutic option for relapsed/refractory autoimmune diseases.