BackgroundA20, also known as TNF-α-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3), is a crucial negative regulator of inflammation and immune responses. Emerging evidence suggests that A20 is involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and plays a significant role in bone metabolic diseases by inhibiting nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation. However, the potential relationship between serum A20 level and bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has not been explored. This study aims to investigate the association between serum A20 level with BMD and bone turnover markers (BTMs) in patients with T2DM.MethodA total of 189 patients with T2DM and 183 non-diabetic individuals were included in the study based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were categorized into normal BMD and low BMD groups. Baseline clinical histories were collected through face-to-face questionnaires. Participants underwent measurements of blood biochemistry and anthropometric, hand grip strength records and short physical performance battery (SPPB) assessment. Serum A20 level was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Areal BMD was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). A T-score of less than -1.0 at the lumbar spine 1-4, femoral neck and/or total hip was classified as low BMD.ResultsSerum A20 level was lower in patients with T2DM compared to controls [41.30 (29.91, 61.87) vs 76.01 (54.90, 109.64) pg/mL, P<0.001]. Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that A20 level was not associated with SPPB but negatively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Pearson correlation analysis showed A20 level was positively correlated with lumbar spine 1-4 BMD in male diabetic patients (r=0.253, P=0.032). Multivariate regression analysis showed a positive association between serum A20 level and lumbar spine 1-4 BMD (Beta=0.047; 95% CI: 0.007-0.086; P=0.024) after multivariate adjustment. Logistic regression analysis showed that lower serum A20 level predicted low BMD in male patients with T2DM (OR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.09-0.59; P=0.002).ConclusionsType 2 diabetic patients exhibited lower serum A20 level compared to non-diabetic individuals. In male patients with T2DM, serum A20 level showed a significant positive correlation with lumbar spine 1-4 BMD and could serve as an independent negative predictor for low BMD.

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• Pub. Date : 2025
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Introduction: While palliative radiotherapy (RT) is frequently used in the management of relapsed/refractory high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NBL); outcomes after palliative hypofractionated RT (hypo-RT) remain poorly characterized. Methods: We conducted a multi-institutional retrospective study of 38 patients who were diagnosed with HR-NBL between 1997 and 2021 and received palliative RT. Conventional RT (conv-RT) and hypo-RT were defined as palliative treatment courses using dose ≤2 or >2 Gy per fraction, respectively. The primary outcome was cumulative incidence of in-field progression using Gray’s test. Univariate analyses were performed using the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: When analyzing by first course of palliative RT, 16 patients received conventionally fractionated RT (43%) and 21 received hypo-RT (57%). Clinical characteristics were similar between the two groups. With a median follow-up of 10.3 months (range: 0.3–104.0), the cumulative incidence of in-field progression was not statistically significantly different between hypo-RT and conv-RT (30% vs. 20% at 10 months; p = 0.80). Clinical response, defined as symptomatic improvement or decrease in the size of the lesion, was not statistically different between the two groups (92% conv-RT vs. 90% hypo-RT; p = 1.00). No grade ≥4 toxicities were observed. On univariate analysis, hypo-RT (HR 1.50; 95% CI 0.47–4.76; p = 0.493) was not statistically significantly associated with time to in-field progression, but MYCN amplification was associated with significantly longer time to in-field progression (HR: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.05–0.77; p = 0.020). Conclusions: We found no statistically significant difference in cumulative incidence of in-field progression and clinical outcomes between the conv-RT and hypo-RT groups. Palliative hypo-RT can be considered for relapsed/refractory HR-NBL, especially when shorter treatments may offer improved quality of life.

• Book : 32(3)
• Pub. Date : 2025
• Page : pp.124-124
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Addressing the black hole information paradox necessitates the exploration of various hypotheses and theoretical frameworks. Among these, the proposition to utilize quantum entanglement, as introduced by Don N. Page, shows great promise. This study builds upon Page’s theoretical foundation and proposes a simplified model for elucidating the evolution of black hole von Neumann entropy. This model simulates the process of Hawking radiation using entangled photon pairs. Our experiment suggests that quantum entanglement may offer a plausible avenue for resolving the paradox, thereby lending support to Page’s proposal. The results suggest that this model may contribution to the exploration of one of the most profound puzzles in theoretical physics.

• Book : 27(3)
• Pub. Date : 2025
• Page : pp.236-236
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Realistic 3D rendering and viewpoint synthesis have become essential in industries such as robotics, healthcare. The development of techniques like NeRF and Gaussian Splatting has greatly advanced rendering capabilities. However, their performance is satisfactory only under ideal conditions, such as perfect lighting and the absence of occlusions, which are rarely encountered in real-world scenarios. To address this limitation, we propose the integration of thermal imaging sensors into Gaussian Splatting. Thermal imaging, which captures infrared radiation emitted by objects, offers robustness in low-light and occluded environments. Additionally, we introduce a thermal mapping process combined with a keyframe selection method that accounts for non-uniformity correction, effectively extracting feature points from low-texture and noisy thermal images, thereby enhancing structure-from-motion outcomes. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed approach outperforms existing methods under challenging lighting conditions, improving the accuracy of 3D rendering across various techniques.

• Book : 20(1)
• Pub. Date : 2025
• Page : pp.104-111
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• Pub. Date : 2025
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ABSTRACTThe Rev Response Element (RRE) forms an oligomeric complex with the viral protein Rev to facilitate the nuclear export of intron-retaining viral RNAs during the late phase of HIV-1 infection. However, our structural understanding of this crucial virological process remains limited. In this study, we determined several crystal structures of an intact RRE stem-loop II in two distinct conformations, performed negative-staining electron microscopy and molecular dynamics simulations, and revealed that this three-way junction RNA exhibits remarkable structural plasticity. Throughin vitroRev-binding andin vivoRev-activity assays using various stem-loop II mutants designed to favor one of the conformers, we demonstrated that the structural plasticity of stem-loop II modulates Rev binding and oligomerization. Our findings illuminate emerging perspectives on RRE dynamics-based regulation of HIV-1 RNA nuclear export and provide a framework for developing anti-HIV drugs that target specific RRE conformations.

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• Pub. Date : 2025
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• Pub. Date : 2025
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• Pub. Date : 2025
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AbstractNew anodic electrocatalysts with high performance and cost‐effectiveness at large current densities help advance the emerging anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) technology. To this end, a ruthenium (Ru) single atoms and sulfur (S) anions dual‐doped NiFe layered double hydroxides (Ru‐S‐NiFe LDH) catalyst is reported with remarkably low alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotentials, high mass activities and prolonged stabilities at high current densities. Inspiringly, the AEMWE performance on Ru‐S‐NiFe LDH is also superior to the NiFe LDH. In‐depth mechanism investigations reveal that Ru single atoms not only act as the highly active sites, but also facilitate the conductivity of NiFe LDH. Meanwhile, S anions accelerate the electrochemical reconstruction of NiFe LDH to OER‐active NiFeOOH and alleviate the over‐oxidation issue on Ru active sites. Benefiting from these, Ru‐S‐NiFe LDH shows significantly enhanced OER activity and stability. Theoretical calculations further validate the decreased OER free energy difference brought about by the Ru single atoms and S anions dual‐doping. This study offers a proof‐of‐concept that the noble metal single atoms and anions dual‐doping is a feasible strategy to construct the promising 3d transition metal‐based electrocatalysts toward the practical alkaline water electrolyzer.

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• Pub. Date : 2025
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• Book : ()
• Pub. Date : 2025
• Page : pp.1-1
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