This study aims to evaluate the impact of low-carbohydrate diet, balanced dietary guidance and pharmacotherapy on weight loss among individuals with overweight or obesity over a period of 3 months. The study involves 339 individuals with overweight or obesity and received weight loss treatment at the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. The primary outcome is the percentage weight loss. Among the studied patients, the majority chose low-carbohydrate diet as their primary treatment (168 (49·56 %)), followed by balanced dietary guidance (139 (41·00 %)) and pharmacotherapy (32 (9·44 %)). The total percentage weight loss for patients who were followed up for 1 month, 2 months and 3 months was 4·98 (3·04, 6·29) %, 7·93 (5·42, 7·93) % and 10·71 (7·74, 13·83) %, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified low-carbohydrate diet as an independent factor associated with percentage weight loss of ≥ 3 % and ≥ 5 % at 1 month (OR = 0·461, P < 0·05; OR = 0·349, P < 0·001). The results showed that a low-carbohydrate diet was an effective weight loss strategy in the short term. However, its long-term effects were comparable to those observed with balanced dietary guidance and pharmacotherapy.

Previous studies have indicated an association between vitamin D and thyroid- and parathyroid-related diseases. However, it remains unclear whether it is a cause of the disease, a side effect of treatment or a consequence of the disease. The Mendelian randomisation (MR) study strengthens the causal inference by controlling for non-heritable environmental confounders and reverse causation. In this study, a two-sample bidirectional MR analysis was conducted to investigate the causal relationship between serum vitamin D levels and thyroid- and parathyroid-related diseases. Inverse variance weighted, weighted median and MR-Egger methods were performed, the Cochran Q test was used to evaluate the heterogeneity and the MR-PRESSO and MR-Egger intercepts were utilised to assess the possibility of pleiotropy. The Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold was 0·0038. At the Bonferroni-corrected significance level, we found that vitamin D levels suggestively decreased the risk of benign parathyroid adenoma (OR = 0·244; 95 % CI 0·074, 0·802; P = 0·0202) in the MR analyses. In the reverse MR study, a genetically predicted risk of thyroid cancer suggestively increased the risk of elevated vitamin D (OR = 1·007; 95 % CI 1·010, 1·013; P = 0·0284), chronic thyroiditis significantly increased the risk of elevated vitamin D (OR = 1·007; 95 % CI 1·002, 1·011; P = 0·0030) and thyroid nodules was significantly decreased the vitamin D levels (OR = 0·991; 95 % CI 0·985, 0·997; P = 0·0034). The findings might be less susceptible to horizontal pleiotropy and heterogeneity (P > 0·05). This study from a gene perspective indicated that chronic thyroiditis and thyroid nodules may impact vitamin D levels, but the underlying mechanisms require further investigation.

This paper retrospectively analysed the prevalence of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) in some parts of China. Between January 2013 and December 2019, we collected 4,145 respiratory samples, including pharyngeal swabs and alveolar lavage fluid. The highest PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae was 74.5% in Beijing, the highest resistance rate was 100% in Shanghai, and Gansu was the lowest with 20%. The highest PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae was 74.5% in 2013, and the highest MRMP was 97.4% in 2019; the PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae for adults in Beijing was 17.9% and the MRMP was 10.48%. Among the children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the PCR-positive and macrolide-resistant rates of M. pneumoniae were both higher in the severe ones. A2063G in domain V of 23S rRNA was the major macrolide-resistant mutation, accounting for more than 90%. The MIC values of all MRMP to erythromycin and azithromycin were ≥ 64 μg/ml, and the MICs of tetracycline and levofloxacin were ≤ 0.5 μg/ml and ≤ 1 μg/ml, respectively. The macrolide resistance varied in different regions and years. Among inpatients, the macrolide-resistant rate was higher in severe pneumonia. A2063G was the common mutation, and we found no resistance to tetracycline and levofloxacin.

This study investigated the electrophysiological correlates of cross-language orthographic and phonological processing in unbalanced Chinese (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals using a translation recognition task. The critical L1-L2 word pairs were incorrect translation equivalents but orthographically or phonologically related through translation (orthographic or phonological translation neighbor). Compared with the unrelated control, the recognition of L2 words showed comparable reaction time and accuracies when coupled with L1 orthographic or phonological translation neighbors. However, both orthographic and phonological translation neighbors elicited more negative event-related potential (ERP) waveforms in the bulk of the N400 component (300-600 ms) than the unrelated control. These findings were interpreted in the framework of the Bilingual Interactive Activation Plus model (BIA+ model), according to which cross-language orthographic and phonological representations were non-selectively accessed during the recognition of the L2 words, and top-down inhibitory control mechanism impacted the cross-language lexical competition and confliction between the two languages.

This study assessed the efficacy of ThinPrep cytologic test and human papillomavirus (HPV) co-test in cervical cancer screening during pregnancy. A cohort of 8,712 pregnant women from Ren Ji Hospital participated in the study. Among them, 601 (6.90%) tested positive for high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and 38 (0.44%) exhibited abnormal cytology results (ASCUS+). Following positive HR-HPV findings, 423 patients underwent colposcopy, and 114 individuals suspected of having high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and cervical cancer (HSIL+) underwent cervical biopsy. Histological examination revealed 60 cases of normal pathology (52.63%), 35 cases of low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (30.70%), 17 cases of HSIL (14.91%), and 2 cases of cervical cancer (1.75%). The incidence of HSIL+ in HPV 16/18 group was significantly higher than that in non-HPV16/18 group (10.53% vs. 6.14%, P < 0.05). Subsequent evaluation of the clinical performance of cytology alone, primary HPV screening, and co-testing for HSIL+ detection revealed that the HSIL+ detection rate was lowest with cytology alone. These findings suggest that HPV testing, either alone or combined with cytology, presents an efficient screening strategy for pregnant women, underscoring the potential for improved sensitivity in cervical cancer screening during pregnancy. The significantly higher incidence of HSIL+ in the HPV16/18 group emphasizes the importance of genotype-specific considerations.

Sepiolite-based composites have great potential for application as flame-retardant and thermal-insulation material but their application and development are limited by poor mechanical properties. The objective of the present study was to combine polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH-550) with sepiolite (Sep) to improve its aerogel strength. A universal testing machine, thermogravimetry, and microcalorimetry were used to investigate the mechanical properties, thermal-stability, and flame-retardant properties, respectively, of aerogels. The results indicated that KH-550 can enhance effectively the mechanical properties and flame retardancy of aerogels. The compressive modulus of PVA/Sep vs KH-550/PVA/Sep aerogel was 209.28 vs. 474.43 kPa, the LOI index changed from 26.4 to 30.4%. The porosity of the aerogels was > 96% and the density was < 0.05 g/cm3. The thermal conductivity remained at between 0.0340 and 0.0390 W/(m·K), and the aerogel could recover to > 85% after a 50% compressive deformation. These data indicated that Sep-based aerogel would act as a flame retardant and a thermal insulating material with excellent mechanical properties.

Species of Baylisascaris (Nematoda: Ascarididae) are of great veterinary and zoonotic significance, owing to cause Baylisascariosis or Baylisascariasis in wildlife, captive animals and humans. However, the phylogenetic relationships of the current 10 Baylisascaris species remain unclear. Moreover, our current knowledge of the detailed morphology and morphometrics of the important zoonotic species B. procyonis is still insufficient. The taxonomical status of B. procyonis and B. columnaris remains under debate. In the present study, the detailed morphology of B. procyonis was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy based on newly collected specimens from the raccoon Procyon lotor (Linnaeus) in China. The results of the ASAP analysis and Bayesian inference (BI) using the 28S, ITS, cox1 and cox2 genetic markers did not support that B. procyonis and B. columnaris represent two distinct species. Integrative morphological and molecular assessment challenged the validity of B. procyonis, and suggested that B. procyonis seems to represent a synonym of B. columnaris. Molecular phylogenetic results indicated that the species of Baylisascaris were grouped into 4 clades according to their host specificity. The present study provided new insights into the taxonomic status of B. procyonis and preliminarily clarified the phylogenetic relationships of Baylisascaris species.

Galls function as provide shelter for gall inducers, guarding them against their natural enemies. Previous research has illuminated the interactions between galls, gall inducers, and their corresponding parasitoids within various caltrop plants. However, less is known about these relationships within Nitraria sibirica, particularly regarding the efficacy of parasitism. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the morphometric relationships among the swollen galls, gall inducers, and their parasitoids. Two species of gall inducers and three species of parasitoids were obtained from the swollen galls of N. sibirica. The correlations of the parasitization indexes, the lifespan of gall inhabitants, and temperature and the morphometric relationships between the galls and their inhabitants were analyzed. The dominant gall inducer identified was Contarinia sp. (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Furthermore, it was observed that three solitary parasitoids attacked Contarinia sp. in the swollen galls, with only Eupelmus gelechiphagus acting as an idiobiont ectoparasitoid. The dominant parasitoids were Platygaster sp. and Cheiloneurus elegans at sites 1 and 2, respectively, with Platygaster sp. displaying greater abundance than C. elegans in the swollen galls. The lifespan of the gall inhabitants shortened gradually as the temperature increased. Moreover, the optimal number of gall chambers ranged from two to four per swollen gall with maximized fitness, which can be considered the optimal population density for the gall inducer Contarinia sp. Morphometric analysis exhibited a strong linear correlation between gall size and chamber number or the number of gall inhabitants, as well as a weak correlation between gall size and body size of the primary inhabitants of swollen galls. Our results highlight the importance of the biological investigation of parasitoids and gall inducers living in closed galls with multiple chambers and may pave the way for potential application in biological control.

Breast cancer is a high-risk disease with a high mortality rate among women. Chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of breast cancer. However, chemotherapy eventually results in tumours that are resistant to drugs. In recent years, many studies have revealed that the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling is crucial for the emergence and growth of breast tumours as well as the development of drug resistance. Additionally, drugs that target this pathway can reverse drug resistance in breast cancer therapy. Traditional Chinese medicine has the properties of multi-target and tenderness. Therefore, integrating traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine into chemotherapy provides a new strategy for reversing the drug resistance of breast tumours. This paper mainly reviews the possible mechanism of Wnt/β-catenin in promoting the process of breast tumour drug resistance, and the progress of alkaloids extracted from traditional Chinese medicine in the targeting of this pathway in order to reverse the drug resistance of breast cancer.

According to the public data collected from the Health Commission of Gansu Province, China, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic during the summer epidemic cycle in 2022, the epidemiological analysis showed that the pandemic spread stability and the symptom rate (the number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of the number of asymptomatic cases and the number of confirmed cases) of COVID-19 were different among 3 main epidemic regions, Lanzhou, Linxia, and Gannan; both the symptom rate and the daily instantaneous symptom rate (daily number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of daily number of asymptomatic cases and daily number of confirmed cases) in Lanzhou were substantially higher than those in Linxia and Gannan. The difference in the food sources due to the high difference of the population ethnic composition in the 3 regions was probably the main driver for the difference of the symptom rates among the 3 regions. This work provides potential values for prevention and control of COVID-19 in different regions.

Extensive evidence has demonstrated that bilinguals non-selectively activate lexicons of both languages when reading or hearing words in one language. Here, we further investigated the electrophysiological roles of cross-linguistic orthography and phonology in the processing of L2 spoken words in unbalanced Chinese (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals in a cross-modal situation. Relative to unrelated control, the recognition of auditory L2 words showed behavioral interference effects when paired with orthographic or phonological neighbors of the correct translations of L2 words. Moreover, the lexical effects were also exhibited in the electrophysiological data, as reflected by marginally less positive late positive component (500–800 ms) amplitudes in the frontal region. Importantly, the orthographic rather than phonological translation neighbor condition elicited less negative N400 (300–500 ms) amplitudes in the parietal–occipital regions, suggesting that this orthographic translation neighbor condition facilitated the co-activation of spoken L2 words. Taken together, these findings indicate that cross-linguistic orthographic and phonological activation have different temporal dynamics with both bottom-up parallel cross-linguistic activation and the top-down inhibitory control mechanism governing the two-language lexical organization in L2 spoken word recognition.

We presented the first photometric and orbital period investigations for four W Ursae Majoris-type binaries: V473 And, V805 And, LQ Com, and EG CVn. The photometric solutions suggested that V805 And and LQ Com are two total-eclipse contact binaries, while V473 And and EG CVn are partial-eclipse ones. V473 And and LQ Com belong to the A-subtype contact binaries, while V805 And and EG CVn belong to the W subtype. The O’Connell effects found in the light curves of V805 And, LQ Com, and EG CVn can be interpreted as a result of a cool spot on the surface of their less massive and hotter primary components. Based on two different methods, the absolute physical parameters were properly determined. Combining the eclipse timings derived from our observations and survey’s data with those collected from literature, we investigated their orbital period variations. The results show that the orbital periods of V473 And, V805 And, and EG CVn are undergoing a secular decrease/increase superposed a periodic variation, while LQ Com exhibits a possible cyclic period variation with a small amplitude. The secular period changes are caused mainly by the mass transfer between two components, while the cyclic period oscillations may be interpreted as the results of either the light-time effect due to the third body or the cyclic magnetic activity. Finally, we made a statistical investigation for nearly 200 contact binaries with reliable physical parameters. The statistical results suggested that the W-subtype systems are more evolved than the A-subtype ones. Furthermore, the evolutionary direction of A-subtype into W-subtype systems is also discussed. The opposite evolutionary direction seems to be unlikely because it requires an increase of the total mass, the orbital angular momentum, and the temperature differences between two components of a binary system.

In this paper, we investigate the $H^{p}(G) \rightarrow L^{p}(G)$, $0< p \leq 1$, boundedness of multiplier operators defined via group Fourier transform on a graded Lie group $G$, where $H^{p}(G)$ is the Hardy space on $G$. Our main result extends those obtained in [Colloq. Math. 165 (2021), 1–30], where the $L^{1}(G)\rightarrow L^{1,\infty }(G)$ and $L^{p}(G) \rightarrow L^{p}(G)$, $1< p <\infty$, boundedness of such Fourier multiplier operators were proved.

The wheat aphid Sitobion miscanthi (CWA) is an important harmful pest in wheat fields. Insecticide application is the main method to effectively control wheat aphids. However, CWA has developed resistance to some insecticides due to its extensive application, and understanding resistance mechanisms is crucial for the management of CWA. In our study, a new P450 gene, CYP4CJ6, was identified from CWA and showed a positive response to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Transcription of CYP4CJ6 was significantly induced by both imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, and overexpression of CYP4CJ6 in the imidacloprid-resistant strain was also observed. The sensitivity of CWA to these two insecticides was increased after the knockdown of CYP4CJ6. These results indicated that CYP4CJ6 could be associated with CWA resistance to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Subsequently, the posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism was assessed, and miR-316 was confirmed to participate in the posttranscriptional regulation of CYP4CJ6. These results are crucial for clarifying the roles of P450 in the resistance of CWA to insecticides.