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BACKGROUND: A dramatic increase in fetal situs inversus diagnoses by ultrasound in the months following the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) surge of December 2022 in China led us to investigate whether maternal SARS-CoV-2 exposure could be associated with elevated risk of fetal situs inversus. METHODS: In this multi-institutional, hospital-based, matched case-control study, we investigated pregnant women who underwent ultrasonographic fetal biometric assessment at gestational weeks 20-24 at our hospitals. Each pregnant woman carrying a situs inversus fetus was randomly matched with four controls based on the date of confinement. Relevant information, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, and other potential risk factors were collected. Conditional logistic regression was used to test possible associations between fetal situs inversus and SARS-CoV-2 infection at different gestational weeks as well as individual risk factors. FINDINGS: A total of 52 pregnant women diagnosed with fetal situs inversus between January 1 and October 31, 2023 and 208 matched controls with normal fetuses were enrolled. We found no association between an increased risk of fetal situs inversus with gestational SARS-CoV-2 infection or with other risk factors. However, fetal situs inversus was significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection specifically in gestational weeks 4-6 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.54 [95% confidence interval 1.76-24.34]), but not with infection at other gestational ages, after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Increased risk of fetal situs inversus is significantly associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection at gestational weeks 4-6, corresponding to the fetal developmental window for visceral lateralization in humans. FUNDING: National Key R&D Program of China, etc.

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Asian soybean rust (ASR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is a devastating disease that is present in all major soybean-producing regions. The limited availability of resistant germplasm has resulted in a scarcity of commercial soybean cultivars that are resistant to the disease. To date, only the Chinese soybean landrace SX6907 has demonstrated an immune response to ASR. In this study, we present the isolation and characterization of Rpp6907-7 and Rpp6907-4, a gene pair that confer broad-spectrum resistance to ASR. Rpp6907-7 and Rpp6907-4 encode atypic nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins that are found to be required for NLR-mediated immunity. Genetic analysis shows that only Rpp6907-7 confers resistance, while Rpp6907-4 regulates Rpp6907-7 signaling activity by acting as a repressor in the absence of recognized effectors. Our work highlights the potential value of using Rpp6907 in developing resistant soybean cultivars.

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Asian soybean rust (ASR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is one of the most destructive foliar diseases that affect soybeans. Developing resistant cultivars is the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and easy strategy for controlling the disease. However, the current understanding of the mechanisms underlying soybean resistance to P. pachyrhizi remains limited, which poses a significant challenge in devising effective control strategies. In this study, comparative transcriptomic profiling using one resistant genotype and one susceptible genotype was performed under infected and control conditions to understand the regulatory network operating between soybean and P. pachyrhizi. RNA-Seq analysis identified a total of 6540 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were shared by all four genotypes. The DEGs are involved in defense responses, stress responses, stimulus responses, flavonoid metabolism, and biosynthesis after infection with P. pachyrhizi. A total of 25,377 genes were divided into 33 modules using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Two modules were significantly associated with pathogen defense. The DEGs were mainly enriched in RNA processing, plant-type hypersensitive response, negative regulation of cell growth, and a programmed cell death process. In conclusion, these results will provide an important resource for mining resistant genes to P. pachyrhizi infection and valuable resources to potentially pyramid quantitative resistance loci for improving soybean germplasm.

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Biofilm formation affects biological nitrogen (N) removal, and a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) was set up to evaluate the changes in N removal and microbial characteristics during biofilm formation. The results indicated that the average effluent concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) and total nitrogen (TN) in the SBBR were 27.48, 1.41, and 13.52 mg L-1, respectively after biofilm formation. Furthermore, this process increased microbial richness, but reduced microbial diversity. Patescibacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroides were the dominant phyla that did not change after biofilm formation. After biofilm formation, Firmicutes was eliminated while Spirochaetes involved in the interspecies relationship. Biofilm increased the nitrification and denitrification relating coding genes abundance (hao, narG, narZ, nxrA, narH, narY, nxrB, napA, napB, norB, norC and nosZ), and enhanced the processes of N respiration and denitrification, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism and membrane transport. Meanwhile, correlation analysis between genera and transcriptome reflected that Zooglea, Micropruina, Aeromonas and Tessaracoccus played essential roles in biofilm formation and N removal. The key enzyme abundance of EC:1.7.99.1, EC:1.7.2.4, and EC:1.1.1.42 of N and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle increased after biofilm formation. This study can reveal the effect of biofilm formation on biological N removal and provide a theoretical foundation for the application of biofilm process.

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The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of different numbers of alternating aerobic/anoxic (A/O) cycles on pollutant removal. Three sequential batch reactors (SBRs) with varying numbers of alternating A/O cycles were established. Under the tertiary anoxic operating conditions, the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) were 88.73%, 89.56%, 72.15%, and 77.61%, respectively. Besides, alternating A/O affected the dominant microbial community relative abundance (Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) and increased microbial richness and diversity. It also increased the relative abundance of aerobic denitrifying, heterotrophic nitrifying, and denitrifying phosphorus removal bacteria to change N and P removal patterns. Furthermore, the abundance of carbohydrate metabolism and amino acid metabolism was improved by alternating A/O to improve organic matter and TN removal.

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An anaerobic/oxic/anoxic continuous plug-flow biorereactor was established to derive stable advanced nitrogen removal of oligotrophic domestic wastewater by setting a sludge dual-reflux system and a mixed liquid cross-flow system, while extending the hydraulic retention time in anoxic section. The effluent total inorganic nitrogen was 7.9 ± 2.2 mg N/L, with removal efficiency of 84 ± 3.9%. Results of nitrogen balance calculations indicated that the contribution of simultaneous nitrification and denitrification to total inorganic nitrogen loss in oxic region was 15% during stable stage, and the total inorganic nitrogen removal by endogenous-denitrification and enhanced exogenous-denitrification in the anoxic region was 39.9%. Prolongation of hydraulic retention time in anoxic segment is the critical reason for enhancing endogenous-denitrification, and cross-flow system is an important measure to improve exogenous-denitrification. This study provides new insights into bridging the gap between energy-saving and high-level nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater with low carbon to nitrogen ratios.

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BACKGROUND: Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is prone to recurrence and hematogenous metastasis, preoperative accurate diagnosis is still needed to help clinicians select the best surgical methods to improve the prognosis of patients. The aim of this study was to find specific conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) characteristics of FTC and to explore their diagnostic value in the differential diagnosis between FTC and follicular adenoma (FA). METHODS: This retrospective study included 258 thyroid follicular neoplasms (172 FAs and 86 FTCs) in 244 consecutive patients who underwent preoperative conventional US, and 72 of them underwent both conventional US and CEUS. Sonograms were reviewed in consensus by two experienced radiologists for various conventional US and CEUS features. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors for FTC. RESULTS: Independent risk factors of conventional US for FTC were heterogenicity (OR =7.477, 95% CI: 2.848-19.629), unevenly thick halo (OR =5.643, 95% CI: 3.234-9.848) and calcifications (OR =1.748, 95% CI: 1.098-2.783). While independent risk factors determined with the combination of CEUS and conventional US were unevenly thick halo (OR =5.770, 95% CI: 1.310-25.409) and absent or irregular rim enhancement (OR =27.000, 95% CI: 2.445-298.178). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the final two logistic regression models was 0.835 and 0.838. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional US is an efficient diagnostic tool in the differential diagnosis of FTC and FA to help clinicians in making appropriate decisions while CEUS failed to provide additional diagnostic value in the study, thus the value of CEUS remains to be verified by further studies with larger sample sizes.

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PURPOSE: To provide theoretical basis for clinical CAD/CAM restorations with a comparison of the fracture strength between two chairside CAD/CAM immediate restorative materials (IPS e.max CAD and Vita Enamic) with different occlusal thickness in vitro. METHODS: IPS e.max CAD and Vita Enamic full-crowns with occlusal thicknesses 1.5/2.0/2.5 mm were fabricated with CEREC and adhesively seated to dies customized by manufacturer (n=42). All specimens were stored in distilled water at 37 ℃ for 24 h. Later, static fractural loading was performed. The fracture surface was observed through scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS). The composites of two materials were detected by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The results of fracture strength were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and t-test via SPSS 20.0 software package. RESULTS: With the increase of occlusal thickness, the fracture strength of IPS e.max CAD increased remarkably. However, the Vita Enamic's fracture strength remained the same with no significant difference. With the occlusal thickness increased from 1.5 to 2.0 mm, there was no significant difference in the fracture strength between IPS e.max CAD group and Vita Enamic group. As the thickness increased from 1.5 to 2.0 mm, the fracture strength of IPS e.max CAD group was significantly higher than that of Vita Enamic group. The results of SEM showed that the filler particles of IPS e.max CAD were smaller compared to that of Vita Enamic. Cone cracks were mainly found in the fracture surface of IPS e.max CAD, while radical cracks appeared in Vita Enamic. EDS showed the metal oxide and SiO2 in Vita Enmic was significantly higher than that in IPS e.max CAD. XRD showed that the primary crystal phase of IPS e.max CAD was lithium silicate, while Vita Enamic was amorphous. CONCLUSIONS: Both IPS e.max CAD and Vita Enamic can meet the standard of clinical application as the occlusal thickness reaches 1.5 mm. IPS e.max CAD showed better fracture resistance when the thickness was greater than 2.0 mm.

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Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a growing problem worldwide, damaging human and ecosystem health. In this study, a novel buoyant-bead flotation (BBF) method using chitosan-coated fly ash cenospheres (CFACs) was developed to remove HABs in freshwater. To achieve a high removal efficiency of harmful algae (Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus quadricauda, and Microcystis aeruginosa), this study investigated the effects of chitosan/fly ash ratios in CFAC composite, CFAC concentration, flotation time, and pH values on the microalgae removal. The optimized ratio of CFACs is 0.1:12, and the optimized CFAC concentration is 0.3-0.7 g L-1. However, the lower or higher ratios (0.1:4, 0.1:8, 0.1:16) result in microalgae reaching a zero-point charge too late or early, which failed to effectively remove HABs with an appropriate coal fly ash dosage. An optimized removal efficiency of 98.50% for Microcystis aeruginosa was reached at pH of 6.0. The optimized efficiency of Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlorella vulgaris was 99.37% and 91.63%, respectively, at pH of 8.0. At neutral pH conditions, the surface charge of microalgae cells and CFACs are different, promoting aggregate formation. When CFACs were used to remove microalgae, aggregate size significantly influenced removal efficiency. Meanwhile, at the optimized pH and concentration, the removal efficiency of all three algal species exceeded 90.00% in 5 min. The study highlights an efficient and inexpensive method for removing HABs and obtains the optimized operational conditions.

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Thermal pre-flocculation to enable dispersed air flotation is an economical and ecofriendly technology for harvesting microalgae from water. However, the underlying mechanism and optimal conditions for this method remain unclear. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) and Scenedesmus obliquus (S. obliquus) were harvested using a thermal flotation process. The surface structure and characteristics (morphology, electricity, and hydrophobicity) of the microalgae were analyzed using FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), zeta potential, and a hydrophobic test. Further, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the flotation process. The hydrophobicity of S. obliquus exceeded that of C. vulgaris; as such, under the thermal pre-flocculation, S. obliquus (88.16%) was harvested more efficiently than C. vulgaris (47.16%). Thermal pre-flocculation denatured the lipids, carbohydrate, and proteins of microalgal cell surfaces. This resulted in a decrease in the electrostatic repulsion between the cells and air bubbles. The highest harvesting efficiency was 91.96% at 70 °C, 1,412 rpm, and 13.36 min. The results of this study demonstrate the potential for economic and ecofriendly harvesting of microalgae for biofuels and other bioproducts industries.

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Coupling algal cultivation with wastewater treatment due to their potentials to alleviate energy crisis and reduce environmental burden has attracted the increased attention in recent years. However, these microalgal-based processes are challenging since daily and seasonal temperature fluctuation may affect microalgal growth in wastewater, and the effects of the temperature regimes on microalgal biomass production and wastewater nutrient removal remain unclear. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris was continuously cultured for 15 days in municipal wastewater to investigate the effects on the algal biomass and wastewater nutrient removal in three temperature regimes: (1) low temperature (4 °C), (2) high temperature (35 °C), and (3) alternating high-low temperature (35 °C in the day: 4 °C at night). Compared with the other two temperature regimes, the high-low temperature conditions generated the most biomass (1.62 g L-1), the highest biomass production rate (99.21 mg L-1 day-1), and most efficient removal of COD, TN, NH3-N, and TP (83.0%, 96.5%, 97.8%, and 99.2%, respectively). In addition, the polysaccharides, proteins, lipid content, and fatty acid methyl ester composition analysis indicates that in alternating high-low temperature condition, biomass production increased the potential for biofuel production, and there was the highest lipid content (26.4% of total dry biomass). The results showed that the nutrients except COD were all efficiently removed in these temperature conditions, and the alternating high-low temperature condition showed great potential to generate algal biomass and alleviate the wastewater nutrients. This study provides some valuable information for large-scale algal cultivation in wastewater and microalgal-based wastewater treatments.

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To investigate confounding factors of real-time ultrasound elastography (RTE) and to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ultrasound (US)-guided FNA for thyroid nodules with indeterminate elastography compared with conventional US. This study included 244 nodules with indeterminate elastography caused by several confounding factors (large or small size, deep location, isthmic or paratracheal location, calcification, thyroiditis, conflicting results between conventional US and RTE), and corresponding prevalences of malignancy were calculated. Additionally, conventional US and US-FNA data were collected and compared. The prevalences of malignancy of confounding factors were 74.1%, 75.0%, 73.3%, 46.2%, 27.3%, and 53.2%, respectively. Sonographic features (border, margin, echogenicity, echohomogeneity, and microcalcification) were significantly different between benign and malignant thyroid nodules (p < 0.05), and most of them exhibited good sensitivity but unsatisfactory specificity and accuracy. While US-FNA exhibited better performance with a sensitivity of 96.9%, a specificity of 99.1% and an accuracy of 98.0% in the diagnosis of malignancy. Given that indeterminate RTE is inevitable with a rather high malignant risk due to several confounding factors, our study revealed that US-FNA was a valuable tool in nodules with indeterminate elastography by increasing the detection rate of thyroid malignancy.

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