Neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are often accompanied by disrupted cortical folding. We applied a quantitative sulcal pattern analysis technique using graph structures to study the atypical cortical folding at the lobar level in ADHD brains in this study. A total of 183 ADHD patients and 167 typical developmental controls matched according to age and gender were enrolled. We first constructed sulcal graphs at the brain lobar level and then investigated their similarity to the typical sulcal patterns. The within-group variability and interhemispheric similarity in sulcal patterns were also compared between the ADHD and TDC groups. The results showed that, compared with controls, the left frontal, right parietal, and temporal lobes displayed altered similarities to the typical sulcal patterns in patients with ADHD. Moreover, the sulcal patterns in ADHD seem to be more heterogeneous than those in controls. The results also identified the disruption of the typical asymmetric sulcal patterns in the frontal lobe between the ADHD and control groups. Taken together, our results revealed the atypical sulcal pattern in boys with ADHD and provide new insights into the neuroanatomical mechanisms of ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder associated with widespread brain morphological abnormalities. Here, we utilized a sulcal pits-based method to provide new insight into the atypical cortical folding morphology in ADHD.

Background: There is a continued debate and inconsistent findings in previous literature about the relationship of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and Parkinson's disease (PD) susceptibility as well as cognitive dysfunction. To substantiate this existing gap, we comprehensively examine COMT genotype effects on the development of PD and test the hypothesis that the Met158 allele of the COMT gene is associated with cognitive dysfunction by conducting a meta-analysis review. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane databases search (18/30/08) yielded 49 included studies. Data were extracted by two reviewers and included COMT genotype, publication year, diagnostic status, ancestry, the proportion of male participants, and whether genotype frequencies were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) were used to derive pooled estimates of PD risk overall and in subgroups defined by ethnicity, gender, and onset of disease. Moreover, the association of certain cognitive domains in PD and COMT gene type was explored. Meta-analyses were performed using random-effect models and p value-based methods. All statistical tests were two-sided. The present study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018087323). Results: In the current studies, we found no association between COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism and PD susceptibility. However, the gender-stratified analyses revealed marginally significant effects in heterozygote model analyses in women (P = 0.053). In addition, stratification according to onset of PD also shows significant effects of COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism on late-onset population both in recessive (P = 0.017) and allelic (P = 0.017) genetic models. For the intelligence quotient (IQ) score and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS III), there was no evidence for genetic association, except in subgroup analyses in Asian populations (IQ score, P = 0.016; UPDRS III, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism is associated with the risk for PD in female or late-onset PD. Methionine/methionine carriers of Asian population performed significantly worse than the valine allele carriers in IQ score and UPDRS III.

We develop a statistical tool SNVer for calling common and rare variants in analysis of pooled or individual next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. We formulate variant calling as a hypothesis testing problem and employ a binomial-binomial model to test the significance of observed allele frequency against sequencing error. SNVer reports one single overall P-value for evaluating the significance of a candidate locus being a variant based on which multiplicity control can be obtained. This is particularly desirable because tens of thousands loci are simultaneously examined in typical NGS experiments. Each user can choose the false-positive error rate threshold he or she considers appropriate, instead of just the dichotomous decisions of whether to 'accept or reject the candidates' provided by most existing methods. We use both simulated data and real data to demonstrate the superior performance of our program in comparison with existing methods. SNVer runs very fast and can complete testing 300 K loci within an hour. This excellent scalability makes it feasible for analysis of whole-exome sequencing data, or even whole-genome sequencing data using high performance computing cluster. SNVer is freely available at http://snver.sourceforge.net/.

Infant bronchiolitis has a high death rate in severe cases. In China, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is commonly used to treat infant bronchiolitis. However, it has not received enough international attention.

Recently, measurement of RNA at single cell resolution has yielded surprising insights. Methods for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have received considerable attention, but the broad reliability of single cell methods and the factors governing their performance are still poorly known.

Although ALYREF has been demonstrated to have a role in a number of malignancies, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has received little attention. Our objective was to research at the prognostic value, biological role and relevance of ALYREF to the immune system in HCC.

Fear of disease progression (FoP) is among the most prevalent and major psychological burdens breast cancer patients encounter. Excessive FoP may result in serious adverse effects for patients. FoP in breast cancer patients has gained attention recently; however, its prevalence in China is unknown.

miR-199a-5p was increased during osteoblast differentiation, which may target and regulate TET2, a gene attracted a lot of attention in the osteoblast differentiation in the past few years. However, the role of miR-199a-5p in osteoblast differentiation by targeting TET2 is not established.

T cell immunoglobulin- and mucin-domain-containing molecule-4 (Tim-4) receives much attention as a potentially negative regulator of immune responses. However, its modulation on macrophages has not been fully elucidated so far. This study aimed to identify the role of Tim-4 in nitric oxide (NO) modulation.

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is considered curative intent treatment for patients with non-operative esophageal cancer. Radiation-induced heart damage receives much attention. We performed repeated four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) to detect changes in cardiac volume during radiotherapy for esophageal cancer patients, and explored potential factors responsible for those changes.

The existing therapeutic approaches for combating tumors are insufficient in completely eradicating malignancy, as cancer facilitates tumor relapse and develops resistance to treatment interventions. The potential mechanistic connection between SARS-CoV-2 and ESCC has received limited attention. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-related-genes (SCRGs) in esophageal squamous cancer (ESCC).

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent malignancy and has the fourth highest global cancer mortality rate. Early diagnosis and prompt medical attention can improve quality of life and the prognosis of CRC patients. Accumulating evidence reveals that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) function as oncogenes or anti-oncogenes, as well as biomarkers in various cancers.

Hypersexuality is related to functions of personality and emotion and is a salient symptom of bipolar I disorder especially during manic episode. However, it is uncertain whether bipolar I disorder with (BW) and without (BO) hypersexuality exhibits different cerebral activations under external emotion stimuli. In 54 healthy volunteers, 27 BW and 26 BO patients, we administered the visual oddball event-related potentials (ERPs) under external emotions of Disgust, Erotica, Fear, Happiness, Neutral, and Sadness. Participants' concurrent states of mania, hypomania, and depression were also evaluated. The N1 latencies under Erotica and Happiness were prolonged, and the P3b amplitudes under Fear and Sadness were decreased in BW; the P3b amplitudes under Fear were increased in BO. The parietal, frontal, and occipital activations were found in BW, and the frontal and temporal activations in BO under different external emotional stimuli, respectively. Some ERP components were correlated with the concurrent affective states in three groups of participants. The primary perception under Erotica and Happiness, and voluntary attention under Fear and Sadness, were impaired in BW, while the voluntary attention under Fear was impaired in BO. Our study indicates different patterns of visual attentional deficits under different external emotions in BW and BO.

Di-N-butylphthalate (DBP) is a kind of unique endocrine toxicity linked to hormonal disruptions that affects the male reproductive system and has given rise to more and more attention. However, the mechanism of DBP-induced testicular injury remains unclear. Here, the objective of this study was to investigate the potential molecular mechanism of miR-506-3p in DBP-induced rat testicular oxidative stress injury via ANXA5 (Annexin A5)/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

In the field of object detection algorithms, the task of infrared vehicle detection holds significant importance. By utilizing infrared sensors, this approach detects the thermal radiation emitted by vehicles, enabling robust vehicle detection even during nighttime or adverse weather conditions, thus enhancing traffic safety and the efficiency of intelligent driving systems. Current techniques for infrared vehicle detection encounter difficulties in handling low contrast, detecting small objects, and ensuring real-time performance. In the domain of lightweight object detection algorithms, certain existing methodologies face challenges in effectively balancing detection speed and accuracy for this specific task. In order to address this quandary, this paper presents an improved algorithm, called YOLO-IR-Free, an anchor-free approach based on improved attention mechanism YOLOv7 algorithm for real-time detection of infrared vehicles, to tackle these issues. We introduce a new attention mechanism and network module to effectively capture subtle textures and low-contrast features in infrared images. The use of an anchor-free detection head instead of an anchor-based detection head is employed to enhance detection speed. Experimental results demonstrate that YOLO-IR-Free outperforms other methods in terms of accuracy, recall rate, and average precision scores, while maintaining good real-time performance.

Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable resource in the world and has attracted widespread attention. It can be hydrolyzed into sugars with the help of cellulases and hemicellulases that are secreted by filamentous fungi. Several studies have revealed that the Ras small GTPase superfamily regulates important cellular physiological processes, including synthesis of metabolites, sporulation, and cell growth and differentiation. However, it remains unknown how and to what extent Ras small GTPases participate in cellulase production.

Phenazine-1-carboxamide (PCN), a phenazine derivative, is strongly antagonistic to fungal phytopathogens. The high PCN biocontrol activity fascinated researcher's attention in isolating and identifying novel bacterial strains combined with engineering strategies to target PCN as a lead molecule. The chemical route for phenazines biosynthesis employs toxic chemicals and display low productivities, require harsh reaction conditions, and generate toxic by-products. Phenazine biosynthesis using some natural phenazine-producers represent remarkable advantages of non-toxicity and possibly high yield in environmentally-friendlier settings.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a heterogeneous disease with a dismal prognosis for advanced tumors. Immune-associated cells in the microenvironment substantially impact LUAD formation and progression, which has gained increased attention in recent decades. Sphingolipids have a profound impact on tumor formation and immune infiltration. However, few researchers have focused on the utilization of sphingolipid variables in the prediction of LUAD prognosis. The goal of this work was to identify the major sphingolipid-related genes (SRGs) in LUAD and develop a valid prognostic model based on SRGs.

Hypertrophic scars are a common disease in plastic surgery, which is the reaction of skin connective tissue to trauma beyond the normal range. Although scholars around the world have explored the tissue structure and formation mechanism of HS for decades, they are not satisfactory the result of. No effective treatment has been found. Therefore, the search for safe and effective treatments for HS has always been the focus of medical attention and research. Acupuncture therapy has a definite effect on HS and has unique advantages.