Future directions in ventilator-induced lung injury associated cognitive impairment: a new sight

Mechanical ventilation is a widely used short-term life support technique, but an accompanying adverse consequence can be pulmonary damage which is called ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Mechanical ventilation can potentially affect the central nervous system and lead to long-term cognitive impairment. In recent years, many studies revealed that VILI, as a common lung injury, may be involved in the central pathogenesis of cognitive impairment by inducing hypoxia, inflammation, and changes in neural pathways. In addition, VILI has received attention in affecting the treatment of cognitive impairment and provides new insights into individualized therapy. The combination of lung protective ventilation and drug therapy can overcome the inevitable problems of poor prognosis from a new perspective. In this review, we summarized VILI and non-VILI factors as risk factors for cognitive impairment and concluded the latest mechanisms. Moreover, we retrospectively explored the role of improving VILI in cognitive impairment treatment. This work contributes to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of VILI-induced cognitive impairment and may provide future direction for the treatment and prognosis of cognitive impairment

Evaluation of the IP-10 mRNA release assay for diagnosis of TB in HIV-infected individuals

HIV-infected individuals are susceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection and are at high risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB). Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) are auxiliary tools in the diagnosis of TB. However, the performance of IGRAs in HIV-infected individuals is suboptimal, which limits clinical application. Interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) is an alternative biomarker for identifying M.tb infection due to its high expression after stimulation with M.tb antigens. However, whether IP-10 mRNA constitutes a target for the diagnosis of TB in HIV-infected individuals is unknown. Thus, we prospectively enrolled HIV-infected patients with suspected active TB from five hospitals between May 2021 and May 2022, and performed the IGRA test (QFT-GIT) alongside the IP-10 mRNA release assay on peripheral blood. Of the 216 participants, 152 TB patients and 48 non-TB patients with a conclusive diagnosis were included in the final analysis. The number of indeterminate results of IP-10 mRNA release assay (13/200, 6.5%) was significantly lower than that of the QFT-GIT test (42/200, 21.0%) (P = 0.000026). IP-10 mRNA release assay had a sensitivity of 65.3% (95%CI 55.9% – 73.8%) and a specificity of 74.2% (95%CI 55.4% – 88.1%), respectively; while the QFT-GIT test had a sensitivity of 43.2% (95%CI 34.1% – 52.7%) and a specificity of 87.1% (95%CI 70.2% – 96.4%), respectively. The sensitivity of the IP-10 mRNA release assay was significantly higher than that of QFT-GIT test (P = 0.00062), while no significant difference was detected between the specificities of these two tests (P = 0.198). The IP-10 mRNA release assay showed a lower dependence on CD4+ T cells than that of QFT-GIT test. This was evidenced by the fact that the QFT-GIT test had a higher number of indeterminate results and a lower sensitivity when the CD4+ T cells counts were decreased (P < 0.05), while no significant difference in the number of indeterminate results and sensitivity were observed for the IP-10 mRNA release assay among HIV-infected individuals with varied CD4+T cells counts (P > 0.05). Therefore, our study suggested that M.tb specific IP-10 mRNA is a better biomarker for diagnosis of TB in HIV-infected individuals

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.

RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Heavy metal characteristics of vegetables and their soils in Foshan City

Investigation of the vegetable garden soil in Foshan City 4 kinds of heavy metals Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd in the total and different forms of content, while also investigating a variety of vegetables and edible part of the Cd content. The results show that, Foshan City, the heavy metal content in vegetable field exceed the national and the background value of Guangdong Province, the pollution index to the maximum Cd, Cu, followed by, Cd elements of the highest validity coefficients. Foshan City, edible part of vegetables found excessive Cd, leafy soil Cd content and Cd the full amount of exchangeable manganese content and the amount of state showed a significant positive correlation. The state of heavy metal content of vegetable soil in Foshan city was investigated. The total content and available content of 4 heavy metal elements (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) were analyzed and measured. The result indicated that the heavy metal content of vegetable soil in Foshan city was greater than the average in other areas throughout Guangdong Province or even the whole country. The valid coefficient of Cd element was the greatest. The content of Cd in vegetables was greater than the state vegetable sanitation standard. In different kinds of vegetables, the content of Cd in leaf-vegetable had very significant correlation with the content of different sort Cd in soil. which indicated that the content of Cd in vegetables was affected by the content of Cd in soil

Genetic Regulation Mechanism of Cadmium Accumulation and Its Utilization in Rice Breeding

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal whose pollution in rice fields leads to varying degrees of Cd accumulation in rice. Furthermore, the long-term consumption of Cd-contaminated rice is harmful to human health. Therefore, it is of great theoretical significance and application value to clarify the genetic regulation mechanism of Cd accumulation in rice and cultivate rice varieties with low Cd accumulation for the safe use of Cd-contaminated soils. This review summarizes the effects of Cd on rice growth, yield, and quality; the physiological and molecular mechanisms of Cd absorption in the roots, loading, and transport of Cd in the xylem, the distribution of Cd in nodes, redistribution of Cd in leaves, and accumulation of Cd in the grains; the regulation mechanism of the Cd stress response; and the breeding of rice with low Cd accumulation. Future directions on the genetic regulation of Cd in rice and application are also discussed. This review provides a theoretical basis for studies exploring the genetic regulation of Cd stress in rice. It also offers a basis for formulating effective strategies to reduce the Cd content in rice

Nonsmooth Levenberg-Marquardt Type Method for Solving a Class of Stochastic Linear Complementarity Problems with Finitely Many Elements

Our purpose of this paper is to solve a class of stochastic linear complementarity problems (SLCP) with finitely many elements. Based on a new stochastic linear complementarity problem function, a new semi-smooth least squares reformulation of the stochastic linear complementarity problem is introduced. For solving the semi-smooth least squares reformulation, we propose a feasible nonsmooth Levenberg–Marquardt-type method. The global convergence properties of the nonsmooth Levenberg–Marquardt-type method are also presented. Finally, the related numerical results illustrate that the proposed method is efficient for the related refinery production problem and the large-scale stochastic linear complementarity problems

A Novel Clustering Topology Control for Reliable Multi-Hop Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks

The reliability of wireless sensor networks is significant in certain applications, especially the reliable routing. Most existing routing protocols use multi-paths to improve routing reliability. However, multi-paths waste a large amount of energy to obtain redundancy. This is not an optimal option for sensor nodes with limited energy. In this paper, a novel clustering-based reliable multi-hop routing algorithm (CRMR) is proposed. The algorithm adopts a mechanism of multiple backup cluster heads efficiently to extend time of stable period of clusters and to decrease energy consumption for reconstructing clusters. The local reconstruction of clusters is addressed for improving cover¬age, maintaining connectivity, and extending the network lifetime. While the algorithm overcomes the randomicity of selecting cluster heads and ensures well proportioned clusters. Employing backup cluster heads and gateways can ensure reliability of routing and overcome disadvantages of most existing reliable routing protocols, which is to preserve multiple backup paths. The algorithm adopts query driving data transmission mode for finding routes and bypassing unavailable routing nodes for backtracking to ensure the speediness of data transmissions and the reliability. The simulation results show that the algorithm can achieve good performance on both routing reliability and energy consumption

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Responses to Copper Stress

Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient for humans, animals, and plants, and it participates in various morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes. Cu is a cofactor for a variety of enzymes, and it plays an important role in photosynthesis, respiration, the antioxidant system, and signal transduction. Many studies have demonstrated the adverse effects of excess Cu on crop germination, growth, photosynthesis, and antioxidant activity. This review summarizes the biological functions of Cu, the toxicity of excess Cu to plant growth and development, the roles of Cu transport proteins and chaperone proteins, and the transport process of Cu in plants, as well as the mechanisms of detoxification and tolerance of Cu in plants. Future research directions are proposed, which provide guidelines for related research

PowerPrint: Identifying Smartphones through Power Consumption of the Battery

Device fingerprinting technologies are widely employed in smartphones. However, the features used in existing schemes may bring the privacy disclosure problems because of their fixed and invariable nature (such as IMEI and OS version), or the draconian of their experimental conditions may lead to a large reduction in practicality. Finding a new, secure, and effective smartphone fingerprint is, however, a surprisingly challenging task due to the restrictions on technology and mobile phone manufacturers. To tackle this challenge, we propose a battery-based fingerprinting method, named PowerPrint, which captures the feature of power consumption rather than invariable information of the battery. Furthermore, power consumption information can be easily obtained without strict conditions. We design an unsupervised learning-based algorithm to fingerprint the battery, which is stimulated with different power consumption of tasks to improve the performance. We use 15 smartphones to evaluate the performance of PowerPrint in both laboratory and public conditions. The experimental results indicate that battery fingerprint can be efficiently used to identify smartphones with low overhead. At the same time, it will not bring privacy problems, since the power consumption information is changing in real time