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Objective Brucellosis-induced aortic aneurysm (BIA), as a rare yet highly life-threatening type of infectious aortic aneurysm, currently lacks standardized treatment protocols. The primary objective of this study is to thoroughly evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular therapy using a combination of covered stents and drug irrigation techniques for the treatment of BIA. This endeavor aims to provide a scientific basis for the clinical management of this disease. Methods This study employed a retrospective analysis approach to systematically collect comprehensive clinical data from patients with infectious aortic aneurysms admitted to three independent campuses of the same hospital from January 2016 to January 2024. The analysis encompassed a wide range of aspects, including patients' epidemiological characteristics, diverse clinical manifestations, detailed laboratory test reports, computed tomography angiography imaging data of the thoracoabdominal aorta(CTATA), specific treatment strategies, and prognosis during follow-up. The aim of this study is to provide robust support for optimizing the treatment strategies of Brucella-induced aortic aneurysms through comprehensive and in-depth data mining. Results Among the 27 confirmed cases of infectious aortic aneurysm, a striking 51.7% ( n  = 15) were unequivocally diagnosed as a consequence of brucellosis-induced aneurysmal formation. Direct confirmation of brucellosis via blood culture succeeded in merely 6 cases (40%), with the remainder being verified through the combination of the Rose Bengal plate agglutination and tube agglutination tests specific to Brucella. Gender distribution among these 15 patients was heavily skewed, with a significant majority being male ( n  = 13) contrasting with just 2 females. Their ages spanned a range from 47 to 75 years. Delving deeper, 11 patients had a documented history of contact with cattle, sheep, pigs, or their derivatives, whereas 4 did not present with such definitive exposure. The study exhibited diversity in aneurysm locations, including 6 cases of simple abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), 2 in the iliac arteries, 4 involving both abdominal and iliac arteries, a unique abdominal aortic segment harboring two distinct pseudoaneurysms, a complex case where pseudoaneurysms impacted the thoracic, abdominal, and iliac arteries concurrently, and a solitary thoracic aortic aneurysm. All patients underwent successful endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) utilizing a stent-graft in conjunction with drug flushing techniques. Notably, 4 patients necessitated emergency surgical intervention due to impending rupture or aneurysmal rupture. No perioperative deaths were recorded. Postoperatively, all patients received comprehensive, long-term antibiotic therapy. One patient, three days following EVAR, underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy and drainage for brucellar spondylitis, subsequently being transferred to the orthopedics department for further care. Another case required inferior vena cava filter implantation due to pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities at admission, with the filter successfully removed three months later. Furthermore, one patient was readmitted six months post-discharge for acute myocardial infarction and underwent a successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).During a two-year follow-up, a patient presented with enlargement of the original pseudoaneurysm in both abdominal and iliac arteries, which was effectively addressed through repeat EVAR with a stent-graft. Conclusion The diagnosis of Brucella-induced aortic aneurysm is prone to being overlooked, and some patients present with severe conditions at their initial diagnosis. Therefore, emphasizing early diagnosis and timely antibacterial treatment is crucial for containing disease progression. The application of endovascular repair with drug flushing covered stent grafts combined with long-term, regular antibiotic therapy has proven to be a safe, effective, and feasible treatment option for Brucella-induced aortic aneurysm, worthy of widespread promotion and application in clinical practice.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a key hormone in plant growth and development, playing a central role in responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses as well as in fruit ripening. The present study examined the impact of ABA and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) on various postharvest ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’ pear fruit characteristics, including firmness, pectinase activity, pectin content, volatile aromatic substances, and the expression of correlated genes. The results showed that ABA quickly reduced fruit firmness, increasing the activity of pectin degradation-related enzymes. The contents of water-soluble pectin (WSP) and ionic-soluble pectin (ISP) increased, and covalent binding pectin (CBP) decreased under ABA treatment. Among the detected volatile aromatic substances, the highest-level substance of the fruit was ester, and the ABA treatment significantly promoted the amount of ester substances. The cell wall disassembly-related genes PcPME3 , PcPG1 , PcPG2 , PcPL , PcARF2 , and PcGAL1 , as well as ABA biosynthesis-related genes PcNCED1 and PcNCED2 , were also significantly induced by ABA. Conversely, all these genes were repressed in the NDGA treatment group. Therefore, it was speculated that ABA may promote the softening of postharvest European pear fruit by affecting the activity of pectin degradation enzymes in fruit cell walls.

During the storage period after harvest, the presence of volatile esters is essential for European pear aroma. Nevertheless, the specific molecular process underlying the production of volatile esters in European pear remains elusive. In this research, head space solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were employed to examine the volatile compounds of two varieties of European pear. The results revealed the identification of a collective of 149 volatile compounds, which were categorized into 8 groups: esters (37), alcohols (25), alkanes (24), aldehydes (22), terpenes (15), acids (8), ketones (6) and other categories (12). Notably, there were 79 volatile compounds that coexisted in both varieties, which esters are the primary group of volatile compounds found in both varieties. Through transcriptome analysis, we identified 12 candidate genes associated with ester biosynthesis and established their correlation with firmness, ethylene production, and predominant volatile esters. The results from gene expression analysis revealed significant up-regulation of PcFAD2 and PcLIP2 in both varieties and PcFAD6 exhibits low expression levels. The results indicate that the involvement of these three genes in the synthesis of esters in European pear may have a significant level of importance. This study enhances our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the formation of European pear flavor.

During the post-ripening process of ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’ pear, the aroma of the fruit gradually becomes richer with increasing maturity. In this study, the volatile substances in ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’ pear fruits stored at room temperature (RT), low temperature (LT), and low temperature to room temperature (LT-RT) were identified and analyzed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) at different ripening stages. The results showed that the volatile substances were mainly alcohols, aldehydes, esters, acids, ketones, alkanes, and terpenes. Esters are the main substances of fruit aroma; with an increase in fruit maturity, the ester content increases gradually. Ethyl acetate, hexyl acetate, heptyl acetate, and amyl acetate were the main volatile components of the fruit. The aroma content under LT was lower than that under RT, and after transferring from LT-RT, the ripening of the fruit was accelerated, and the aroma content increased rapidly. Among the genes involved in the lox pathway, the expression of PcHPL1 , PcADH1 , PcGLIP1 , PcGLIP-like , PcLOX2 , PcLIP2 , and PcFAD2 were the most contributing to the changes of esters in ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’ pear. These results are helpful to provide basic data for the study of volatile in ‘Docteur Jules Guyot’ pear fruit under LT and RT storage.

The size of leaves and fruits is a crucial agronomic and economic trait for fruit trees. The ‘Bartlett’ pear is a famous cultivar with succulent and delicious fruit and is cultivated globally. ‘Xiang shuomi’ is a bud sport of the ‘Bartlett’ pear, discovered in our breeding work, and exhibits enlarged leaves and fruits. However, the specific regulatory mechanism of this superior agronomic trait is still elusive. In this study, comprehensive transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed to explore the differences in gene expression and metabolite accumulation between these two pear cultivars. The transcriptome analysis showed a total of 1279 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with the flavonoid biosynthetic process being the most significant enriched biological process. Metabolome data indicated the detection of 412 differentially abundant metabolites (DAMs), with the metabolites of flavonoid biosynthesis being enriched significantly. The integrative transcriptomic and metabolomics analysis further confirmed the pivotal role of the flavonoid biosynthetic process in distinguishing the two cultivars. Importantly, the genes that encoded enzymes related to flavonoid biosynthesis, including CHS, CHI, HCT, LAR and CYP75B1, increased their expressions in the ‘Xiang shuomi’ pear. Correspondingly, the metabolites galangin, chlorogenic acid, luteolin and catechin were found to accumulate in the ‘Xiang shuomi’ pear. Overall, this research identified key pathways and genes influencing the fruit and leaf size of pears, providing fundamental information for the high-yield breeding of fruit trees.

Postharvest ripening is correlated to the quality and shelf life of European pear fruit. In this study, the effects of peppermint extract on fruit phenotype, related physiological activities, and aroma components during postharvest ripening of the European pear variety ‘Packham’s Triumph’ were examined. Fruit treated with 2.0 g L−1 peppermint extract for 12 h showed delayed softening by 4 d compared with that of the untreated control group. The peak values of ethylene and respiratory rate in fruit were reduced to a certain extent after peppermint extract treatment; however, the peppermint extract did not delay the occurrence of the respiratory climacteric peak. Peppermint extract treatment also did not significantly increase the content of the characteristic peppermint aroma in pear fruit. Further, widely targeted metabolome analysis revealed 298 significantly different metabolites, with flavonoids (40%) and lipid compounds (15%) accounting for the highest proportion on the first day after treatment. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway result showed significant enrichment in the metabolic pathways of biosynthesis of flavonoid, isoflavonoid, flavone and flavonol, linoleic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism following peppermint extract treatment. The combined analysis of transcriptome and metabolome data showed significant enrichment in linoleic acid metabolism and alpha-linolenic acid metabolism on the first, third, and fifth days after peppermint extract treatment. This study indicates that peppermint extract mainly affects the pear fruit softening process in the early stage after treatment.

In higher plants, aquaporin proteins (AQPs) play important roles in the uptake of water across cell membranes. However, their functions in halophytes are still largely unknown. In this work, we isolated, cloned, and identified KvTIP3, a tonoplast intrinsic protein gene from Kosteletzkya virginica. Bioinformatic analyses demonstrated that KvTIP3 encoded a tonoplast protein with the common properties of AQPs. Further multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analyses showed that KvTIP3 shared 65%–82% homology with other AQPs from Arabidopsis, cotton, polar, and cocoa. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) analyses revealed that KvTIP3 was ubiquitously expressed in various tissues such as leaves, stems, and roots, with a predominant expression in roots. In addition, KvTIP3 transcript was strongly induced by NaCl, low temperature, and ABA in K. virginica. Our findings suggest that KvTIP3 encodes a new AQP possibly involved in multiple abiotic stress responses in K. virginica, and KvTIP3 could be used as a potential candidate gene for the improvement of plants resistant to various abiotic stresses.

Background Radiographic periodontal bone loss is one of the most important basis for periodontitis staging, with problems such as limited accuracy, inconsistency, and low efficiency in imaging diagnosis. Deep learning network may be a solution to improve the accuracy and efficiency of periodontitis imaging staging diagnosis. This study aims to establish a comprehensive and accurate radiological staging model of periodontal alveolar bone loss based on panoramic images. Methods A total of 640 panoramic images were included, and 3 experienced periodontal physicians marked the key points needed to calculate the degree of periodontal alveolar bone loss and the specific location and shape of the alveolar bone loss. A two-stage deep learning architecture based on UNet and YOLO-v4 was proposed to localize the tooth and key points, so that the percentage of periodontal alveolar bone loss was accurately calculated and periodontitis was staged. The ability of the model to recognize these features was evaluated and compared with that of general dental practitioners. Results The overall classification accuracy of the model was 0.77, and the performance of the model varied for different tooth positions and categories; model classification was generally more accurate than that of general practitioners. Conclusions It is feasible to establish deep learning model for assessment and staging radiographic periodontal alveolar bone loss using two-stage architecture based on UNet and YOLO-v4.

To determine the association between blood pressure variability (BPV), coagulation indexes, and germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GMH-IVH) in preterm infants with gestational age [less than or equal to] 32 weeks. In addition, we aimed to determine whether the combination can predict the occurrence and outcome of GMH-IVH. This retrospective study included 106 preterm infants. According to the presence of GMH-IVH, the preterm infants were divided into GMH-IVH (51 patients) and no GMH-IVH (55 patients) groups. Furthermore, according to the short-term prognoses, the GMH-IVH group was subdivided into good outcome (30 patients) and poor outcome (21 patients) groups. Coagulation function and BPV indexes were collected at admission. Univariate analysis, logistic regression model, and receiver operating characteristic curve were used to analyze the relationship between indexes and the occurrence and outcome of GMH-IVH in preterm infants. Univariate analysis showed that the difference between maximum and minimum (Max-Min); standard deviation (SD); coefficient of variation (CV) of BPV, prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and proportion of premature rupture of membranes (PROM) were higher in the GMH-IVH group than the no GMH-IVH group (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that INR and DBP SD were directly correlated with GMH-IVH, and the joint curve had the largest area under the curve (AUC) (82.4% sensitivity and 79.7% specificity). BPV SD, BPV CV, APTT, and INR were higher in the poor outcome group than in the good outcome group (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that INR and DBP SD were directly correlated with poor outcomes in preterm infants with GMH-IVH. The joint curve had the largest AUC (sensitivity 76.2% and specificity 90.0%). Increased INR and DBP SD are directly associated factors for the developement and poor short-term outcome of GMH-IVH, and combined monitoring of INR and DBP SD has certain reference value for the early identification and prognosis evaluation of GMH-IVH in preterm infants with gestational age [less than or equal to] 32 weeks.