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Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a prevalent cause of vaginal symptoms in women of reproductive age. With the widespread of heavy metal pollutants and their harmful function on women’s immune and hormonal systems, it is necessary to explore the association between heavy metal exposure and BV. This study investigates the potential relationship between serum heavy metals and bacterial vaginosis in a cohort of American women. The present study employed a cross-sectional analysis of 2,493 women participating in the 2001–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Multivariable logistic regression models were utilized in the study to assess the correlation between these variables. A stratified analysis was performed to investigate the relationship among different population groups further, and smooth curve fittings were conducted to intuitively evaluate the correlation. According to the current cross-sectional study results, a significant correlation was identified between the high levels of lead and cadmium in the serum and the likelihood of developing bacterial vaginosis. We found that serum lead (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.06–1.72, p = 0.016) and serum cadmium (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.01–1.98, p = 0.047) increased the risk of bacterial vaginosis by 35% and 41%, respectively, in the highest level group in comparison to the lowest level group in the fully adjusted model. Furthermore, the research discovered no statistically significant association between the levels of total mercury in the serum and a heightened susceptibility to bacterial vaginosis (OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.75–1.23, p = 0.763). Results of our study indicated an inverse association between serum heavy metals and bacterial vaginosis risk, including lead and cadmium. Reducing exposure to heavy metals could be vital to preventing and managing bacterial vaginosis.

A major obstacle in the development of superior intersubspecific hybrids between subspecies (indica and japonica) of Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) is partial sterility of the F1 generation. Neutral genes, Sa‐n, Sb‐n, and Sc‐n, for pollen fertility have the potential to overcome F1 pollen sterility. The present study was planned to find double‐neutral genes for pollen fertility and to evaluate their effect on pollen fertility of intersubspecific hybrids. Five genotypes were crossed with eight isogenic lines to mine neutral genes for pollen fertility. Pollen fertility of hybrids was observed in F1 and F2, and segregation ratios were recorded in F2 to confirm the neutral genes. The results showed that DN18 and DN75 had double‐neutral genes (Sa‐n and Sb‐n) whereas DN22 had three neutral genes Sa‐n, Sb‐n, and Sc‐n at Sa, Sb, and Sc pollen sterility loci, respectively. Furthermore, we found a single neutral gene (Sc‐n) for pollen fertility at the Sc locus and neutral gene for embryo sac fertility at the S5 locus in DN13. DN18 and DN75 were crossed with numerous typical japonica and indica cultivars. Results showed that double‐neutral genes could overcome most of the intersubspecific hybrid pollen sterility. These lines could be used for the development of high yielding indica × japonica hybrids and neutral genes could be introgressed into elite cultivars of Asian cultivated rice for fertility restoration.

Smart window is an attractive option for efficient heat management to minimize energy consumption and improve indoor living comfort owing to their optical properties of adjusting sunlight. To effectively improve the sunlight modulation and heat management capability of smart windows, here, we propose a co-assembly strategy to fabricate the electrochromic and thermochromic smart windows with tunable components and ordered structures for the dynamic regulation of solar radiation. Firstly, to enhance both illumination and cooling efficiency in electrochromic windows, the aspect ratio and mixed type of Au nanorods are tuned to selectively absorb the near-infrared wavelength range of 760 to 1360 nm. Furthermore, when assembled with electrochromic W 18 O 49 nanowires in the colored state, the Au nanorods exhibit a synergistic effect, resulting in a 90% reduction of near-infrared light and a corresponding 5 °C cooling effect under 1-sun irradiation. Secondly, to extend the fixed response temperature value to a wider range of 30–50 °C in thermochromic windows, the doping amount and mixed type of W-VO 2 nanowires are carefully regulated. Last but not the least, the ordered assembly structure of the nanowires can greatly reduce the level of haze and enhance visibility in the windows. Smart windows offer more efficient sunlight modulation and heat management. Here, the authors propose a co-assembly strategy to produce smart windows that combine electrochromic and thermochromic functions with tunable components and ordered structures for dynamic solar radiation regulation.

Tumor burden, considered a common chronic stressor, can cause widespread anxiety. Evidence suggests that cancer-induced anxiety can promote tumor progression, but the underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. Here, we used neuroscience and cancer tools to investigate how the brain contributes to tumor progression via nerve-tumor crosstalk in a mouse model of breast cancer. We show that tumor-bearing mice exhibited significant anxiety-like behaviors and that corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the central medial amygdala (CeM) were activated. Moreover, we detected newly formed sympathetic nerves in tumors, which established a polysynaptic connection to the brain. Pharmacogenetic or optogenetic inhibition of CeMCRH neurons and the CeMCRH→lateral paragigantocellular nucleus (LPGi) circuit significantly alleviated anxiety-like behaviors and slowed tumor growth. Conversely, artificial activation of CeMCRH neurons and the CeMCRH→LPGi circuit increased anxiety and tumor growth. Importantly, we found alprazolam, an antianxiety drug, to be a promising agent for slowing tumor progression. Furthermore, we show that manipulation of the CeMCRH→LPGi circuit directly regulated the activity of the intratumoral sympathetic nerves and peripheral nerve-derived norepinephrine, which affected tumor progression by modulating antitumor immunity. Together, these findings reveal a brain-tumor neural circuit that contributes to breast cancer progression and provide therapeutic insights for breast cancer.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a common subepidermal bullous disorder that lacks adequate treatment alternatives. Dupilumab, an anti-interleukin (IL) 4 receptor α antibody blocking Th2 molecules IL-4 and 13, has been used off-label and shown to be effective in refractory BP cases. BP patients with various disease severities and comorbidities were included in this case series. All patients received dupilumab alone or in combination with immunosuppressants in a real-world setting. Complete remission (CR) was defined as the absence of pruritus symptoms and previous BP eruptions, with only hyperpigmentation patches and without newly occurring lesions for at least 4 weeks. Disease relapse was classified as the appearance of three or more new lesions within 1 month or at least one large urticarial or eczematous lesion that did not resolve within a week. Ten individuals were enrolled in this case series. Pruritus symptoms and BP eruptions improved significantly in nine patients (90%). Seven patients (70%) attained CR, including all mild-to-moderate (100%) cases and three of six (50%) severe BP cases. At the dupilumab monotherapy stage, eosinophilia was observed in two severe cases. One patient out of seven (14.3%) relapsed after 1 year of follow-up after CR. Treatment of BP with diverse comorbidities with anti-IL-4 receptor α antibody provides further credentials to a prospective randomized study. More impressive efficacy and safety profiles were observed in patients with mild-to-moderate disease after 1 year of follow-up. Eosinophilia may occur in patients receiving dupilumab monotherapy.

Despite the potential of small molecules and recombinant proteins to enhance the efficiency of homology-directed repair (HDR), single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) donors, as currently designed and chemically modified, remain suboptimal for precise gene editing. Here, we screen the biased ssDNA binding sequences of DNA repair-related proteins and engineer RAD51-preferred sequences into HDR-boosting modules for ssDNA donors. Donors with these modules exhibit an augmented affinity for RAD51, thereby enhancing HDR efficiency across various genomic loci and cell types when cooperated with Cas9, nCas9, and Cas12a. By combining with an inhibitor of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or the HDRobust strategy, these modular ssDNA donors achieve up to 90.03% (median 74.81%) HDR efficiency. The HDR-boosting modules targeting an endogenous protein enable a chemical modification-free strategy to improve the efficacy of ssDNA donors for precise gene editing. Single-stranded DNA donors using current design parameters remain inefficient for precise gene editing. Here, the authors engineer RAD51-preferred sequences into HDR-boosting modules for donors, enhancing HDR efficiency across various genomic loci and cell types.

Background Increasing research indicates that the complex interactions between circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) are critical for diagnosing and treating various human diseases. Consequently, accurately predicting potential circRNA-miRNA interactions (CMIs) has become increasingly important and urgent. Traditional biological experiments, however, are often labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to external influences. Results To tackle this challenge, we present a novel model, iHofman, designed to predict CMIs by i ntegrating h igh-order and l o w-order f eatures with weighted attention m ech an isms. Specifically, we first extract sequence and structural information representations using FastText and GraRep, respectively, and capture high-order and low-order features from sequence information representations using stacked autoencoders. Subsequently, weighted attention mechanisms are applied for feature fusion, focusing on the most relevant information. Finally, multi-layer perceptron is employed to accurately infer potential CMIs. In the fivefold cross-validation (CV) experiment on the baseline dataset, iHofman achieved an accuracy of 82.49% with an AUC of 0.9092. iHofman also demonstrates solid performance on other CMI datasets. In case studies, 26 of the top 30 CMIs with the highest iHofman predictive scores were confirmed in relevant literature. Conclusions The above experimental results indicate that iHofman can effectively predict potential CMIs and has achieved outstanding performance compared with existing methods. It provides a reliable supplementary approach for subsequent biological wet experiments.

A close association between psoriasis and anti-p200 pemphigoid has been demonstrated by numerous studies. However, the clinical characteristics of patients suffering from these two entities have not yet been well-elucidated. This study aimed to review the case reports and case series, summarizing clinical features and therapeutic strategies in patients suffering from anti-p200 pemphigoid and psoriasis. A systematic review was conducted by searching PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases for studies published in English involving patients with psoriasis and anti-p200 pemphigoid on 6 September 2021. All case reports and case series reporting patients diagnosed with anti-p200 pemphigoid and psoriasis were included in this systematic review. A total of 21 eligible studies comprising 26 anti-p200 pemphigoid patients with preceding psoriasis were included in the qualitative synthesis. The average age at blisters eruption was 62.5 years, and the mean duration between the two entities was 15.6 years. Twenty-four percent of patients developed bullous lesions during UV therapy. Clinical manifestation of bullae and/or vesicles was recorded in all patients, and the trunk (94.7%) was most frequently involved, with only 15.8% reporting mucosal involvement. Epitope spreading was detected by immunoblotting in 33.3% of patients. All the patients reached completed remission during the course of disease, with 36.8% experiencing at least one relapse. Monotherapy of prednisolone was the leading therapeutic approach (n=6, 31.6%) required for disease control, but 5 (83.3%) of them suffered from blister recurrence after tapering or ceasing corticosteroid. Most of the clinical aspects of patients with anti-p200 pemphigoid and psoriasis were similar to what was demonstrated in previous articles on anti-p200 pemphigoid. Nevertheless, compared with other anti-p200 pemphigoid cases without psoriasis, a clinical manifestation pattern with more frequent involvement of the trunk and less mucosal involvement was illustrated in those with psoriasis. Generally, monotherapy is sufficient for a complete remission for such patients. However, one or more relapses have been recorded in a considerable portion of patients, especially those prescribed with prednisolone. It reminded us to be more cautious during a tapering of medication.

The active power filter (APF) is a popular electrical device to eliminate harmonics in power systems. The rational design and effective control of DC-link capacitor voltage are important for implementing APF functions. In this study, the influences from the DC-link voltage on the APF compensating current characteristic and compensation performance are analyzed, and the reason to maintain DC-link voltage at a minimum value is investigated. On this basis, a simplified minimum DC-link voltage control strategy for APF is proposed. Compared with the existing DC-link voltage control strategies, the minimum DC-link voltage value in proposed strategy is only determined by the grid voltage and modulation ratio, reducing the calculation burden and the implementation difficulty in application, avoiding the interference from external parameters on the compensation effect. Additionally, the reference DC-link voltage varies at different values according to the grid voltage and modulation ratio. A shunt APF prototype is established and the experimental results verify the correctness and effectiveness of the analysis and proposed strategy.