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After nearly three decades of observed increasing trends of Antarctic sea ice extent, in September-October-November 2016, there was a dramatic decrease. Here we document factors that contributed to that decrease. An atmosphere-only model with a specified positive convective heating anomaly in the eastern Indian/western Pacific Ocean, representing the record positive precipitation anomalies there in September-October-November 2016, produces an anomalous atmospheric Rossby wave response with mid- and high latitude surface wind anomalies that contribute to the decrease of Antarctic sea ice extent. The sustained decreases of Antarctic sea ice extent after late 2016 are associated with a warmer upper Southern Ocean. This is the culmination of a negative decadal trend of wind stress curl with positive Southern Annular Mode and negative Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, Ekman suction that results in warmer water being moved upward in the column closer to the surface, a transition to positive Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation around 2014–2016, and negative Southern Annular Mode in late 2016. In late 2016, there was a sudden and subsequently sustained decrease of Antarctic sea ice extent. Analyses of observations and a model simulation trace the causes to teleconnections from the tropics on the interannual timescale combined with decadal-timescale warming in the upper Southern Ocean.

Background Ovarian cancer (OC) is the second most common gynaecological malignancy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be aberrantly expressed in OC tissue and have been proposed as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for OC. Results In this study, we found that miR-96-5p was up-regulated in OC tissues and OC cells compared to normal ovarian tissues and epithelial cell line. And, miR-96-5p was also up-regulated in the serum samples from OC patients compared to health participants. In addition, there was a positive correlation of miR-96-5p levels between OC tissues and serum samples. At the cellular level, overexpression of miR-96-5p promoted cell proliferation and migration in OC cells. Moreover, we further validated Caveolae1 (CAV1) as the direct target of miR-96-5p in OC cells through luciferase activity assays and western blot. CAV1 was obvious low expression in OC tissues. The overexpression of CAV1 abrogated the promotion of miR-96-5p on the OC cells proliferation and migration. Finally, we found that AKT signaling pathway was involved in this process. MiR-96-5p inhibited the phosphorylation of AKT and expression of down-stream proteins Cyclin D1 and P70 by targeting CAV1. Conclusions The above findings suggested that targeting miR-96-5p may be a promising strategy for OC treatment.

The annual minimum Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) in February 2022 hits a record low in the satellite era, with less than 2 million square kilometres observed on 25 February 2022, contrasting with the slightly positive trend in the Antarctic SIE prior to 2014. However, the preceding Amundsen Sea Low (ASL) in austral spring 2021 was the deepest since 1950. According to a linear regression model, the very low ASL contributed about 60% to the record low SIE in 2022. This study further investigates the underlying mechanism. The investigation of the lagged impact of the ASL on Antarctic SIE is based on observational data and state-of-the-art simulations. We found that (a) the deepened ASL associated with strengthened southerly winds accelerates the sea ice export away from the western Antarctic continent in spring, leading to the expansion of coastal polynyas (open water areas); (b) through the positive ice-ocean albedo feedback, the lack of the sea ice off the coastline enhances solar heating in the upper ocean and further sea ice melting in summer can occur. Specifically, in spring 2021, the deepest ASL is accompanied by a large sea-ice area flux of about 17.6 × 10 3 km 2 across 70° S over the Ross Sea in October and November, contributing to a significant increase in net surface radiation of 20–30 W m −2 and upper ocean warming of about 0.5 K in summer. Therefore, the deepened ASL in spring 2021 plays a crucial role for the record low Antarctic SIE in February 2022. In addition, it is found that both the La Niña conditions and the strong stratospheric polar vortex contributed significantly to the very strong ASL in 2021. Currently, nearly 2/3 of Earth system models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 have difficulties capturing the relationship between the ASL and the Antarctic SIE.

The Southern Hemisphere summertime eddy-driven jet and storm tracks have shifted poleward over the recent few decades. In previous studies, explanations have mainly stressed the influence of external forcing in driving this trend. Here we examine the role of internal tropical SST variability in controlling the austral summer jet’s poleward migration, with a focus on interdecadal time scales. The role of external forcing and internal variability are isolated by using a hierarchy of Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) simulations, including the pre-industrial control, large ensemble, and pacemaker runs. Model simulations suggest that in the early twenty-first century, both external forcing and internal tropical Pacific SST variability are important in driving a positive southern annular mode (SAM) phase and a poleward migration of the eddy-driven jet. Tropical Pacific SST variability, associated with the negative phase of the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO), acts to shift the jet poleward over the southern Indian and southwestern Pacific Oceans and intensify the jet in the southeastern Pacific basin, while external forcing drives a significant poleward jet shift in the South Atlantic basin. In response to both external forcing and decadal Pacific SST variability, the transient eddy momentum flux convergence belt in the middle latitudes experiences a poleward migration due to the enhanced meridional temperature gradient, leading to a zonally symmetric southward migration of the eddy-driven jet. This mechanism distinguishes the influence of the IPO on the midlatitude circulation from the dynamical impact of ENSO, with the latter mainly promoting the subtropical wave-breaking critical latitude poleward and pushing the midlatitude jet to higher latitudes.

In electroencephalogram (EEG)-based emotion recognition tasks, existing end-to-end approaches predominantly rely on real-valued neural networks, which mainly operate in the time–amplitude domain. However, EEG signals are a type of wave, intrinsically including frequency, phase, and amplitude characteristics. Real-valued architectures may struggle to capture amplitude–phase coupling and spectral structures that are crucial for emotion decoding. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to introduce complex-valued neural networks for EEG-based emotion recognition, upon which we design a new end-to-end architecture named Complex-valued EEGNet (CV-EEGNet). Beginning with raw EEG signals, CV-EEGNet transforms them into complex-valued spectra via the Fast Fourier Transform, then sequentially applies complex-valued spectral, spatial, and depthwise-separable convolution modules to extract frequency structures, spatial topologies, and high-level semantic representations while preserving amplitude–phase relationships. Finally, a complex-valued, fully connected classifier generates complex logits, and the final emotion predictions are derived from their magnitudes. Experiments on the SEED (three-class) and SEED-IV (four-class) datasets validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, with t-SNE visualizations further confirming the discriminability of the learned representations. These results show the potential of complex-valued neural networks for raw-signal EEG emotion recognition.

This study investigates the specific circulation anomalies that have sustained the low Antarctic sea ice state since 2016. Firstly, we find a significant strengthening and southward shift in the Ferrel Cell (FC) during 2016–2022, resulting in a marked increase in southward transport of heat and moisture. Secondly, this enhanced FC is closely associated with a stronger mid‐latitude wave pattern. This pattern is zonally asymmetric and greatly amplifies the poleward advections of heat and moisture, leading to the increased downward longwave radiation, more liquid precipitation and sea ice retreat in specific regions, including the western Pacific and Indian Ocean sectors, Ross and northern Weddell Seas. The mechanism deduced from the short‐term period is further supported by the results of 40 ensemble members of simulations. The southward expansion of the FC and sea ice decline are closely linked to La Niña‐like conditions but may also be driven by anthropogenic global warming. Plain Language Summary Following the sudden decline in 2016, the Antarctic sea ice extent has persisted at historically low levels. In 2023, it reached unprecedented record lows. However, the specific atmospheric circulation anomalies that have sustained the Antarctic sea ice at low levels are still unknown. It is well‐established that the Ferrel Cell, a mid‐latitude atmospheric meridional circulation, plays a pivotal role in the energy exchange between the high‐ and mid‐latitudes. Our findings indicate that the enhanced Ferrel Cell zonally intensified southward transport of heat and moisture over the sea ice regions, which sustains the overall low Antarctic sea ice state. Additionally, in the horizontal plane, the enhanced mid‐latitude wave pattern is responsible for the regional sea ice retreat over the western Pacific sector, Ross Sea, Indian Ocean sector, and northern Weddell Sea, and is also closely associated with the enhanced Ferrel Cell. The effects of the enhanced Ferrel Cell on Antarctic sea ice decline are further supported by the results of large ensemble simulations. Therefore, this study suggests that concurrent with the southward shifting of the Ferrel Cell, the stronger warm and moist air intrusions, and the increased liquid precipitation, restrict the Antarctic sea ice expansion following its sudden decline. Key Points Since 2016, the low Antarctic sea ice extent has persisted, consistent with heat and moisture accumulation over the sea ice edges The Ferrel Cell was enhanced and shifted southward, leading to the increased southward heat/moisture advection, and liquid precipitation The effects of the enhanced Ferrel Cell on Antarctic sea ice decline are further supported by the results of large ensemble simulations

Endometriosis is a common gynecological illness in women of reproductive age that significantly decreases life quality and fertility. Paeonol has been shown to play an important part in endometriosis treatments. Understanding the mechanism is critical for treating endometriosis. In this study, autologous transplantation combined with a 28 day ice water bath was used to create a rat model of endometriosis with cold clotting and blood stagnation. The levels of estradiol and progesterone in plasma were detected by ELISA, and the pathological changes of ectopic endometrial tissue were examined by H&E staining, which proved the efficacy of paeonol. For metabolomic analysis of plasma samples, UPLC-Q/TOF-MS was combined with multivariate statistical analysis to identify the influence of paeonol on small molecule metabolites relevant to endometriosis. Finally, the key targets were screened using a combination of network pharmacology and molecular docking approaches. The results showed that the pathological indexes of rats were improved and returned to normal levels after treatment with paeonol, which was the basis for confirming the efficacy of paeonol. Metabolomics results identified 13 potential biomarkers, and paeonol callbacks 7 of them, involving six metabolic pathways. Finally, four key genes were found for paeonol therapy of endometriosis, and the results of molecular docking revealed a significant interaction between paeonol and the four key genes. This study was successful in establishing a rat model of endometriosis with cold coagulation and blood stagnation. GCH1, RPL8, PKLR, and MAOA were the key targets of paeonol in the treatment of endometriosis. It is also demonstrated that metabolomic techniques give the potential and environment for comprehensively understanding drug onset processes.

Objective To assess the guiding role of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) intraoperatively and its evaluative function postoperatively during left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in patients with non‐organic heart disease (NOHD). Methods In this retrospective observational study, a total of 48 patients with NOHD who underwent LAAO in the Department of Cardiology at The First People's Hospital of Lanzhou City from April 2020 to September 2022 were recruited. TEE findings during and after the procedure, cardiac chamber size, and cardiac function parameters at different surgical stages, postoperative occlusion efficacy, and complications were recorded. The application value of TEE in LAAO for patients with NOHD was evaluated. Results Comparative analysis TEE‐measured the maximum diameter of the LAAO (22.37 ± 3.86 mm) was significantly smaller than X‐ray angiographic measurement (23.45 ± 4.22 mm; p < 0.05). One month after radiofrequency ablation, TTE revealed a statistically significant reduction in left atrial diameter (p < 0.05). Four cases (8%) exhibited minor peri‐device leak (< 3 mm), and no major complications occurred. Conclusion TEE shows significant application value for monitoring anatomical changes, guiding device sizing, and detecting peri‐device leaks during and after LAAO for patients with NOHD. This graphical illustrates the application value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) for patients with non‐organic heart disease (NOHD). The figure compares the maximum diameter of the left atrial appendage ostium measured by TEE and X‐ray angiography, showing that TEE measurements are significantly smaller than those obtained by X‐ray angiography. This highlights the importance of TEE in accurately assessing the left atrial appendage anatomy before the procedure. Additionally, the graphical summary presents the significant reduction in left atrial diameter 1 month after radiofrequency ablation, as monitored by TEE, emphasizing its role in evaluating postoperative changes. The figure also depicts the intraoperative guidance provided by TEE, including transseptal puncture, guidewire placement, and occluder deployment, underscoring its critical role in ensuring procedural safety and efficacy.

Rising rates of infertility have stimulated interest in dietary supplements to improve oocyte quality through mitochondrial function, antioxidant activity, and epigenetically regulated metabolic pathways. Mitochondria provides adenosine triphosphate for oocyte maturation, with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) demonstrating efficacy in animal models by alleviating oxidative damage and enhancing blastocyst formation. In aged mice, CoQ10 restored mitochondrial activity and reduced chromosomal abnormalities, while preliminary human studies noted improved embryo quality in poor responders, though randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remain inconclusive. Antioxidants like melatonin counter reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced spindle defects and mitochondrial dysfunction, showing benefits in murine oocyte maturation and blastocyst development. Resveratrol enhanced bovine oocyte quality through metabolic modulation. Human trials on antioxidants show reduced granulosa cell stress but lack robust evidence. Epigenetically, folate supports DNA methylation critical for embryonic gene expression, with deficiencies linked to hyperhomocysteinemia and developmental defects in animal models. Human observational studies associate folate-rich diets with lower aneuploidy and better assisted reproductive technology outcomes, while omega-3 fatty acids aid chromatin remodeling via histone deacetylase regulation. Despite compelling preclinical data, human trials face inconsistencies due to variable designs and confounders. Standardized RCTs are urgently needed to translate mechanistic insights into clinical guidelines, addressing the disconnect between animal studies and human reproductive outcomes.

Haemophilus parasuis (H. parasuis, HPS) is a prominent pathogenic bacterium in pig production. Its infection leads to widespread fibrinous inflammation in various pig tissues and organs, often in conjunction with various respiratory virus infections, and leads to substantial economic losses in the pig industry. Therefore, the rapid diagnosis of this pathogen is of utmost importance. In this study, we used recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology to establish a convenient detection and analysis system for H. parasuis that is fast to detect, easy to implement, and accurate to analyze, known as RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a analysis. The process from sample to results can be completed within 1 h with high sensitivity (0.163 pg/μL of DNA template, p < 0.05), which is 104 -fold higher than the common PCR method. The specificity test results show that the RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a analysis of H. parasuis did not react with other common pig pathogens, including Streptococcus suis type II and IX, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Streptococcus suis, and Staphylococcus aureus (p < 0.0001). The RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a assay was applied to 15 serotypes of H. parasuis clinical samples through crude extraction of nucleic acid by boiling method, and all of the samples were successfully identified. It greatly reduces the time and cost of nucleic acid extraction. Moreover, the method allows results to be visualized with blue light. The accurate and convenient detection method could be incorporated into a portable format as point-of-care (POC) diagnostics detection for H. parasuis at the field level.