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Background Immunocompromised cancer patients represent a susceptible population for enterococcal infections. While linezolid remains the primary therapeutic option for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections, the emergence of linezolid-resistant Enterococcus (LRE) worldwide has not only exacerbated public health risks but also posed significant challenges to clinical treatment. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of LRE isolates among cancer patients in China and to investigate the mechanisms of linezolid resistance. Methods A total of 656 non-repetitive Enterococcus isolates were collected. The susceptibility of Enterococcus to linezolid was determined using the broth microdilution method, and the mechanisms of linezolid resistance were explored through whole-genome sequencing. Results Among 656 isolates, 22 (3.35%) of Enterococcus were found to be resistant to linezolid. The isolates were susceptible to tigecycline, teicoplanin and vancomycin, except for one isolate with vancomycin resistance. The optrA gene was the primary mechanism of acquired linezolid resistance. Eleven LRE isolates had mutations in rplD gene. None of Enterococcus isolates contained cfr or poxtA genes or had mutations in the 23 S rRNA or rplC genes. ST16 (8, 36.36%) was the most prevalent sequence type (ST) in LRE isolates. The optrA gene was predominantly located on the chromosome (15, 68.18%), and was often associated with the fexA gene. The RDK variant (8, 36.36%) was predominant variant of the OptrA protein. Conclusion The prevalence of LRE in this centre was low (3.35%). The presence of optrA gene was the primary mechanism of acquired linezolid resistance, with ST16 being the most prevalent sequence type. These findings highlight the need for both continued surveillance of LRE and further investigation into the role of OptrA variants in linezolid resistance.

Janus nanoparticles have aroused the interest of scholars because of their highly efficient emulsification of spilled oils in wastewater. In this work, interfacially active Janus hollow glass microparticles (J-HGMPs) of asymmetric wettability were designed and synthesized in order to achieve more efficient separation of emulsified oil droplets from oily wastewater. Surface characteristic techniques such as FTIR, SEM, zeta potential and contact angle measurements had been employed to assess the amphiphilic surface properties of J-HGMPs. The oil removal/recovery performance of J-HGMPs in different oil–water systems and their interfacial activities were studied. As a particulate emulsifier, J-HGMPs could remove/recover > 96% oil from oil–water mixed phase. The results showed that J-HGMPs had strong interfacial activities and anchored firmly at oil/water interfaces. This high adsorption energy was also evaluated and verified via the calculation of Gibbs free energy. Overall, this study provided a novel and low-cost oil recovery method via a convenient buoyancy force that could be effectively applied in the treatment of oil spills while achieving the goal of benign and green environmental protection.

In this paper, the compatibility of polyetherimide (PEI) with different contents as a high-performance copolymer and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was studied, and 5%–20% PEI was prepared by the non-solvent-induced phase inversion method. The compatibility of PVDF and PEI was evaluated by analyzing the physical structure and properties of the blend membrane, the microstructure, the glass transition temperature Tg, the enthalpy, and the mechanism of the polymer blend enthalpy change. The results show that the blend membranes have -NH and C=O-N binding energies at X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which preliminarily proves that fluorine–amine bonds are formed between the polymers, and new spectra appeared by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks, which further proves that the two have the formation of fluorine–amine bonds, the Tg and enthalpy of the mixed membrane was increased, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) observed that the membrane pores changed from finger-like pores to sponge-like macropores. When the content of PEI is 15%, the performance of the blended membrane is the best, the water contact angle increases to 58.5°, the porosity increases to 17.33%, the maximum force increases to 8.04 N, and the elongation at break decreases to 24.26%, the pure water flux is 1870.292 L/m2·h, and the oil rejection is 87%. In addition, the enthalpy change of polymer blending further proves that PEI and PVDF are compatible systems and have a good performance improvement for PVDF.

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly GPT models like GPT-4o (omnimodal), is increasingly being integrated into healthcare for providing diagnostic and treatment recommendations. However, the accuracy and clinical applicability of such AI systems remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of GPT-4o in comparison to resident physicians and senior infectious disease specialists in diagnosing and managing bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. A comparative study was conducted involving GPT-4o, three resident physicians, and three senior infectious disease experts. Participants answered 75 questions-comprising true/false, open-ended, and clinical case-based scenarios-developed according to international guidelines and clinical practice. Accuracy and completeness were assessed via blinded expert review using Likert scales. Statistical analysis included Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. In true/false questions, GPT-4o showed comparable accuracy (87.5%) to specialists (90.3%) and exceeded residents (77.8%). Specialists outperformed GPT-4o in accuracy on open-ended (p = .008) and clinical case-based questions (  = .02). However, GPT-4o demonstrated significantly greater completeness than residents on open-ended (  < .0001) and clinical case-based questions (  = .01), providing more comprehensive explanations. GPT-4o shows promise as a tool for providing comprehensive responses in infectious disease management, although specialists still outperform it in accuracy. Continuous human oversight is recommended to mitigate potential inaccuracies in clinical decision-making. These findings suggest that while GPT-4o may be considered a valuable supplementary tool for medical advice, it should not replace expert consultation in complex clinical decision-making.

For the pricing of vulnerable options, we improve the results of Klein and Inglis [Journal of Banking and Finance] and Tian et al. [The Journal of Futures and Markets], considering the circumstances in which the writers of options face financial crisis. Our pricing model faces the risks of default and the occasional impact experienced by the underlying assets and counterparty’s assets. The correlation between the option’s underlying assets and the option writer’s assets is clearly modeled. Asset prices are driven by the jump-diffusion processes of two related assets. Furthermore, we consider a variable default boundary (VDB) based on the option’s potential debt and the option writer’s other liabilities. In case financial distress happens, the payout rate is connected to the option writer’s assets. Through the Taylor expansion, we derive an approximate explicit valuation for vulnerable options.

We study how sharing a hometown or college connection with an incumbent member of China’s Politburo affects a candidate’s likelihood of selection as a new member. In specifications that include fixed effects to absorb quality differences across cities and colleges, we find that hometown and college connections are each associated with 5–9 percentage point reductions in selection probability. This “connections penalty” is equally strong for retiring Politburo members, arguing against quota-based explanations, and it is much stronger for junior Politburo members, consistent with a role for intra-factional competition. Our findings differ from earlier work because of our emphasis on within-group variation, and our focus on shared hometown and college, rather than shared workplace, connections.

Background/Aims: Transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) has been proved to perturb the blood-testis barrier (BTB) by accelerating junction protein endocytosis in Sertoli cells (SCs) to accommodate the traversing of preleptotene spermatocytes across the BTB around stage VIII in rat. Yet the molecular network underlying the impairment of TGF-β3 on BTB integrity is not fully elucidated. Our study herein was designed to investigate the participation of microRNA-142-3p (miR-142-3p), which has been reported to affect TGF-β3 signaling via different pathways, during BTB dynamics and the corresponding mechanisms. Methods: MiRNA mimic or agomiRNA was co-administered with or without TGF-β3 in the cultured SCs or in the rat testis. The SC permeability barrier function was reflected by measuring the transepithelial resistance (TER) and the permeability of the sodium fluorescein (Na-F). The BTB integrity was detected by the permeation of biotin. A luciferase reporter assay was used to testify the potential target of miR-142-3p, lethal giant larvae 2 (Lgl2). Laser capture microdissection (LCM) was applied to acquire cell components of different stages of seminiferious tubules, followed by detection of the expression levels of miR-142-3p, TGF-β3, and Lgl2 by qPCR. The SC barrier function was also detected as above in the presence of TGF-β3 after Lgl2 knockdown. Results: We revealed a reversion of TGF-β3-induced BTB impairment after miR-142-3p treatment both in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, the activation of Cdc42 and reduction in occludin aroused by TGF-β3 were also reversed by miR-142-3p. The predicted binding of miR-142-3p with 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of Lgl2, was verified by the luciferase assay. Moreover, an increased Lgl2 level in TGF-β3-treated SCs was found and correlated stage-specific expressions of TGF-β3, miR-142-3p, and Lgl2 were revealed. Knockdown of Lgl2 in SCs was shown to partially antagonize the BTB disruption mediated by TGF-β3. Conclusions: Collectively, our results suggest a resistance of miR-142-3p on the BTB impairment caused by TGF-β3 during the seminiferous epithelial cycle by targeting Lgl2.

Background and aims SOC inventory and soil δ¹³C were widely used to access the size of soil C pool and to indicate the dynamics of C input and output. The effects of climatic factors and soil physical characteristics and plant litter input on SOC inventory and soil δ¹³C were analyzed to better understand the dynamics of carbon cycling across ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Methods Field investigation was carried out along the two transects with a total of 1,875 km in length and 200 km in width. Sixty-two soil profiles, distributed in forest, meadow, steppe, and cropland, were stratified sampled every 10 cm from 0 to 40 cm. Results Our result showed that SOC density in forest and meadows were much higher than in steppe and highland barley. In contrast, δ¹³C in forest and meadow were lower than in steppe and highland barley. Soil δ¹³C tended to enrich with increasing soil depth but SOC decline. SOC and δ¹³C (0-40 cm) were correlated with different climatic factors in different ecosystems, such that SOC correlated negatively with MAT in meadow and positively with MAP in steppe; δ¹³C correlated positively with MAT in meadow and steppe; and δ¹³C also tended to increase with increasing MAT in forest. Of the variation of SOC, 55.15 % was explained by MAP, pH and silt content and 4.63 % was explained by the interaction between MAT and pH across all the ecosystems except for the cropland. Meanwhile, SOC density explained 27.40 % of variation of soil δ¹³C. Conclusions It is suggested that different climatic factors controlled the size of the soil C pool in different ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. SOC density is a key contributor to the variation of soil δ¹³C.

In the actual production and operation of enterprises, it is sometimes inevitable that the floating roof will fall to the bottom. This paper calculates the explosion limit of the mixture of oil gas under the floating roof, and confirms that the concentration of oil gas will be within the explosion limit under certain circumstances. Through the monitoring and analysis of the oil-gas mixing space below the floating roof, corresponding control measures are proposed to deal with the potential safety hazards of the floating plate falling to the bottom.

Issue Title: Focal Theme: Rupture Processes of Crustal Rocks and Earthquake Mechanism Carbon fluxes in temperate grassland ecosystems are characterized by large inter-annual variations due to fluctuations in precipitation and land water availability. Since an eddy flux tower has been in operation in the Xilin Gol grassland, which belongs to typical temperate grassland in North China, in this study, observed eddy covariance flux data were used to critically evaluate the biophysical performance of different remote sensing vegetation indices in relation to carbon fluxes. Furthermore, vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) was introduced to estimate gross primary production (GPP) of the grassland ecosystem for assessing its dependability. As defined by the input variables of VPM, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradimeter (MODIS) and standard data product MOD09A1 were downloaded for calculating enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index (LSWI). Measured air temperature (Ta) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data were also included for model simulating. Field CO2 flux data, during the period from May, 2003 to September, 2005, were used to estimate the \"observed\" GPP (GPP obs) for validation. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted from VPM (GPP VPM) was compared quite well (R 2=0.903, N=111, p<0.0001) with the observed GPP. The aggregate GPP VPM for the study period was 641.5 g C·m-2, representing a 6% over-estimation, compared with GPP obs. Additionally, GPP predicted from other two typical production efficiency model (PEM) represents either higher overestimation or lower underestimation to GPP obs. Results of this study demonstrate that VPM has potential for estimating site-level or regional grassland GPP, and might be an effective tool for scaling-up carbon fluxes. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]