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Objectives In the present study, we aim to show the results of microwave ablation (MWA) for medically inoperable stage I non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) with long-term follow-up. Methods From Feb 2011 to Mar 2016, patients with histologically proven clinical stage I NSCLC were treated with CT-guided MWA and retrospectively analyzed. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Secondary end points included disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and complications. Results A total of 105 patients with 105 lesions underwent MWA. The mean age was 70.7 years (range: 40–86 years), and the mean diameter of all lesions was 2.40 cm (range: 0.9–4.0 cm). Adenocarcinoma was the most common histological type (77, 73.3%), followed by squamous cell carcinomas (21, 20%) and undefined NSCLC (7, 6.7%). With a median follow-up of 54.8 months, the median DFS was 36.0 months, and 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 89.5%, 49.4%, and 42.7%, respectively. The median CSS and OS were 89.8 and 64.2 months, respectively. The OS rate was 99% at 1 year, 75.6% at 3 years, and 54.1% at 5 years, while the CSS rates were 99%, 78.9%, and 60.9%, respectively. Patients with stage IB lesions had significant shorter DFS (22.3 months vs. undefined, HR: 11.5, 95%CI: 5.85–22.40) and OS (37.3 vs. 89.8 months, HR: 8.64, 95% CI: 4.49–16.60) than IA disease. Conclusion MWA is a safe, effective, and potentially curative therapy for medically inoperable stage I NSCLC patients. Key Points • In this multicenter retrospective study which included 105 patients, we found the median overall survival (OS) was 64.2 months. The OS rate was 99% at 1 year, 75.6% at 3 years, and 54.1% at 5 years . • Procedures were technically successful and well tolerated in all patients. Most MWA complications were mild or moderate .

Summary For a flowering plant, the transition from vegetative stage to reproductive growth is probably the most critical developmental switch. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the product of BBX7, group II member of BBX family, acts to delay floral transition. In this study, a presumed chrysanthemum homolog of a second group gene AtBBX8, designated CmBBX8, had been isolated and characterized. The transcription of CmBBX8 followed a diurnal rhythm as the chrysanthemum floral transition regulator. Overexpression of CmBBX8 accelerated flowering, while its (artificial microRNAs) amiR‐enabled knockdown delayed flowering in plants grown under both long‐ and short‐day conditions. Global expression analysis revealed that genes associated with photoperiod were down‐regulated in amiR‐CmBBX8 lines compared with the wild type, which were verified to be up‐regulated in overexpressing lines (OX‐CmBBX8) by RT‐PCR. A number of in vitro assays were used to show that CmBBX8 targets CmFTL1. Furthermore, the function of CmFTL1 as a floral inducer under long‐day conditions was confirmed by the behaviour of engineered summer‐flowering chrysanthemum plants. The conclusion is that the BBX8‐FT regulatory module is an important determinant of reproductive development in summer‐flowering chrysanthemum.

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most frequent malignancy of the endocrine system. Apatinib, as an anti-angiogenic agent, has been applied in the therapy of several cancers. However, the function and mechanism of Apatinib in TC have not been clearly elucidated. After processing with Apatinib alone or combined PKM2 overexpression plasmids, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were analyzed by EdU staining, CCK-8, wound healing, and Transwell. Meanwhile. HUVECs were incubated with the conditioned medium prepared from cell culture medium, and tube formation and VEGFR2 expression in HUVECs were examined using tube formation and immunofluorescence (IF) assays. Besides, we established a nude mouse xenograft model by lentivirus-mediated PKM2 shRNAs, and tested the growth of tumors; the pathological structure was analyzed with H&E staining. And the expressions of N-cadherin, Vimentin, E-cadherin, PKM2, VEGFA, VEGFR2, and Ki67 were determined by immunohistochemistry or Western blot. Apatinib could prominently suppress proliferation, migration, invasion, and HUVEC tube formation in SW579 and TPC-1 cells. Besides, we discovered that Apatinib had a significant inhibitory role on the expression of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) in TC cells. And PKM2 overexpression also could notably reverse Apatinib-mediated inhibition of TC progression. Moreover, PKM2 shRNAs were applied to TC xenografts, resulting in significant reduction in tumor volume and suppression of angiogenesis-related protein expression. In summary, Apatinib has a regulatory role in TC progression, and Apatinib can block cancer cell angiogenesis by downregulating PKM2. This will provide a theoretical basis for therapy of TC.

Temperature is an important environmental factor affecting plant anthocyanin synthesis. High temperatures are associated with decreased anthocyanin pigmentation in chrysanthemum. To reveal the effects of high temperature on anthocyanin biosynthesis in chrysanthemum, ray florets of the heat-sensitive cultivar “Nannong Ziyunying” (ZYY) were subjected to RNA sequencing. A total of 18,286 unigenes were differentially expressed between the control and treatment groups. Functional annotation and enrichment analyses of these unigenes revealed that the heat shock response and flavonoid pathways were significantly enriched, suggesting that the expression of these genes in response to high temperature is associated with the fading of chrysanthemum flower color. In addition, genes related to anthocyanin synthesis and heat shock response were differentially expressed under high-temperature stress. Finally, to further investigate the molecular mechanism of discoloration under high-temperature stress and facilitate the use of marker-assisted breeding for developing novel heat-tolerant cultivars, these results were used to mine candidate genes by analyzing changes in their transcription levels in chrysanthemum.

The embryogenesis period is critical for epigenetic reprogramming and is thus of great significance in the research field of poultry epigenetics for elucidation of the trends in DNA methylation variations during the embryonic development of birds, particularly due to differences in embryogenesis between birds and mammals. Here, we first examined the variations in genomic DNA methylation during chicken embryogenesis through high-performance liquid chromatography using broilers as the model organism. We then identified the degree of DNA methylation of the promoters and gene bodies involved in two specific genes (IGF2 and TNF-α) using the bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction method. In addition, we measured the expression levels of IGF2, TNF-α and DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 1, 3a and 3b. Our results showed that the genomic DNA methylation levels in the liver, heart and muscle increased during embryonic development and that the methylation level of the liver was significantly higher in mid-anaphase. In both the muscle and liver, the promoter methylation levels of TNF-α first increased and then decreased, whereas the gene body methylation levels remained lower at embryonic ages E8, 11 and 14 before increasing notably at E17. The promoter methylation level of IGF2 decreased persistently, whereas the methylation levels in the gene body showed a continuous increase. No differences in the expression of TNF-α were found among E8, 11 and 14, whereas a significant increase was observed at E17. IGF2 showed increasing expression level during the examined embryonic stages. In addition, the mRNA and protein levels of DNMTs increased with increasing embryonic ages. These results suggest that chicken shows increasing genomic DNA methylation patterns during the embryonic period. Furthermore, the genomic DNA methylation levels in tissues are closely related to the genes expression levels, and gene expression may be simultaneously regulated by promoter hypomethylation and gene body hypermethylation.

China has made significant progress in paleontological heritage conservation. However, research and conservation efforts have predominantly focused on exquisitely preserved, movable specimens of high scientific value, leading to the relative neglect of in situ paleontological geosites which are critical for understanding fossil distribution patterns. To address this gap, this study employs a GIS approach to conduct a multifaceted spatial analysis of paleontological geosites in the BTH region as a representative case study. Our results reveal a pronounced spatiotemporal imbalance in the distribution of these geosites. Furthermore, their spatial configuration exhibits significant correlations with key physiographic factors—including elevation, stratigraphic distribution, and slope—as well as socioeconomic indicators such as population density, GDP density, and fiscal self-reliance ratio. This uneven distribution creates substantial conservation challenges, resulting in fragmented governance, a mismatch between local conservation capacities and needs, and potential biases in protection priorities toward specific regions or geological periods. In the BTH region, the distribution patterns of paleontological geosites are jointly shaped by physiographic, socioeconomic, and anthropogenic process factors. Elucidating the relationships between these drivers and the spatial distribution of geosites constitutes a critical foundation for advancing their scientific conservation and sustainable management. Drawing on broader interdisciplinary insights, currently peripheral paleontological heritage can be further transformed into strategic and sustainable resources.

In laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, driving pressure boosting and smoothing are major challenges. A proposed hybrid-drive (HD) scheme can offer such ideal HD pressure performing stable implosion and nonstagnation ignition. Here we report that in the hemispherical and planar ablator targets installed in the semicylindrical hohlraum scaled down from the spherical hohlraum of the designed ignition target, under indirect-drive (ID) laser energies of ~43–50 kJ, the peak radiation temperature of 200 ± 6 eV is achieved. And using only direct-drive (DD) laser energies of 3.6–4.0 kJ at an intensity of 1.8 × 10 15 W/cm 2 , in the hemispherical and planar targets the boosted HD pressures reach 3.8–4.0 and 3.5–3.6 times the radiation ablation pressure respectively. In all the above experiments, significant HD pressure smoothing and the important phenomenon of how a symmetric strong HD shock suppresses the asymmetric ID shock pre-compressed fuel are demonstrated. The backscattering and hot-electron energy fractions both of which are about one-third of that in the DD scheme are also measured. In laser-driven inertial fusion, finding optimal driving pressure is a major challenge. Here, the authors use a 100 kJ SG laser and a hybrid-drive scheme to demonstrate such driving pressure with the help of the direct-drive laser such that the indirect-drive radiation ablation pressure is turned into a well-smoothed hybrid-drive pressure much greater than the radiation ablation pressure.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Microwave ablation (MWA) is an effective and safe approach for the treatment of ground-glass nodule (GGN)-like lung cancer, but long-term follow-up is warranted. Therefore, this multi-center retrospective study aimed to evaluate the results of MWA for the treatment of peripheral GGN-like lung cancer with a long-term follow-up. Materials and Methods: From June 2013 to January 2018, a total of 87 patients (47 males and 40 females, mean age 64.6 ± 10.2 years) with 87 peripheral lung cancer lesions showing GGN (mean long axis diameter, 17 ± 5 mm) underwent computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous MWA. All GGN-like lung cancers were histologically verified. The primary endpoints were local progression-free survival (LPFS) and overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints were cancer-specific survival (CSS) and complications. Results: During a median follow-up of 65 months, both the 3-year and 5-year LPFS rates were 96.6% and 96.6%. The OS rate was 94.3% at 3 years and 84.9% at 5 years, whereas the 3-year and 5-year CSS rates were 100% and 100%, respectively. No periprocedural deaths were observed. Complications were observed in 49 patients (51.6%). Grade 3 or higher complications included pneumothorax, pleural effusion, hemorrhage, and pulmonary infection, which were identified in ten (10.5%), two (2.1%), two (2.1%), and one (1.1%) patient, respectively. Conclusions: CT-guided percutaneous MWA is an effective, safe, and potentially curative treatment regimen for GGN-like lung cancer.

Background Pulmonary oligometastases are common in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, the existing therapeutic options have several limitations. This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of microwave ablation (MWA) in the treatment of HCC-originating pulmonary oligometastases. Methods A total of 83 patients, comprising 73 males and 10 females with a median age of 57 years, who had pulmonary oligometastases from HCC, underwent MWA treatment at four different medical institutions. Inclusion criteria for patients involved having primary HCC under control and having less than three oligometastases with a maximum diameter of ≤ 5 cm in the unilateral lung or less than five oligometastases with a maximum diameter of ≤ 3 cm in the bilateral lung. A total of 147 tumors were treated with MWA over 116 sessions. The primary endpoints assessed included technical success, treatment efficacy, and local progression rate, while secondary endpoints encompassed complications, clinical outcomes, overall survival (OS), local progression-free survival (LPFS), and prognostic factors. Results The technical success rate for MWA was 100% (116/116 sessions), and the treatment efficacy rate was 82.3% (121/147 tumors). Six months after MWA, the local progression rate was 23.1% (18/147 tumors). Complications were observed in 10.3% (major) and 47.4% (minor) of the 116 sessions, with no cases of ablation-related deaths. The median follow-up period was 21.6 months (range: 5.7–87.8 months). Median OS was 22.0 months, and the 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates were 82.6%, 44.5%, and 25.2%, respectively. Median LPFS was 8.5 months. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels during initial diagnosis and the number of oligometastases as potential independent prognostic factors for OS ( p  = 0.017 and 0.045, respectively). Conclusion Percutaneous MWA is a safe and effective treatment modality for pulmonary oligometastases originating from HCC.

IntroductionWildfire smoke is a significant pollutant and severe threat to climate, air quality, and public health within forest ecosystems. This study focused on quantifying PM2.5 emission characteristics from the combustion of major coniferous species in China.MethodsIndoor ignition experiments were conducted on needles, branches, and bark of six coniferous species—— Pinus koraiensis (HS), Larix gmelinii (LYS), Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica (ZZS), Abies fabri (LS), Picea jezoensis (YLYS), and Picea koraiensis (HPYS)—from the Liangshui National Nature Reserve. The experiments systematically varied fuel moisture content, fuel load, and wind speed to assess their effects on PM2.5 emissions.ResultsSubstantial disparities in PM2.5 emission concentrations were observed among different tree species and their organs. Both individual and interactive effects of fuel moisture content, fuel load, and wind speed significantly impacted PM2.5 emissions. Elevated wind speed and fuel load were identified as predominant factors influencing PM2.5 concentrations, whereas the impact of high fuel moisture content was more complex.DiscussionThe random forest model trained on these data effectively predicted PM2.5 emissions at the laboratory scale. This study provides a crucial reference for estimating wildfire smoke emissions, evaluating their atmospheric impact, and informing refined forest fuel management strategies.