ObjectivePrimary liver cancer, predominantly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is a significant global health issue, ranking as the sixth most diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Accurate and early diagnosis of HCC is crucial for effective treatment, as HCC and non-HCC malignancies like intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) exhibit different prognoses and treatment responses. Traditional diagnostic methods, including liver biopsy and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), face limitations in applicability and objectivity. The primary objective of this study was to develop an advanced, light-weighted classification network capable of distinguishing HCC from other non-HCC malignancies by leveraging the automatic analysis of brightness changes in CEUS images. The ultimate goal was to create a user-friendly and cost-efficient computer-aided diagnostic tool that could assist radiologists in making more accurate and efficient clinical decisions. MethodsThis retrospective study encompassed a total of 161 patients, comprising 131 diagnosed with HCC and 30 with non-HCC malignancies. To achieve accurate tumor detection, the YOLOX network was employed to identify the region of interest (ROI) on both B-mode ultrasound and CEUS images. A custom-developed algorithm was then utilized to extract brightness change curves from the tumor and adjacent liver parenchyma regions within the CEUS images. These curves provided critical data for the subsequent analysis and classification process. To analyze the extracted brightness change curves and classify the malignancies, we developed and compared several models. These included one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-ResNet, 1D-ConvNeXt, and 1D-CNN), as well as traditional machine-learning methods such as support vector machine (SVM), ensemble learning (EL), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), and decision tree (DT). The diagnostic performance of each method in distinguishing HCC from non-HCC malignancies was rigorously evaluated using four key metrics: area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC), accuracy (ACC), sensitivity (SE), and specificity (SP). ResultsThe evaluation of the machine-learning methods revealed AUC values of 0.70 for SVM, 0.56 for ensemble learning, 0.63 for KNN, and 0.72 for the decision tree. These results indicated moderate to fair performance in classifying the malignancies based on the brightness change curves. In contrast, the deep learning models demonstrated significantly higher AUCs, with 1D-ResNet achieving an AUC of 0.72, 1D-ConvNeXt reaching 0.82, and 1D-CNN obtaining the highest AUC of 0.84. Moreover, under the five-fold cross-validation scheme, the 1D-CNN model outperformed other models in both accuracy and specificity. Specifically, it achieved accuracy improvements of 3.8% to 10.0% and specificity enhancements of 6.6% to 43.3% over competing approaches. The superior performance of the 1D-CNN model highlighted its potential as a powerful tool for accurate classification. ConclusionThe 1D-CNN model proved to be the most effective in differentiating HCC from non-HCC malignancies, surpassing both traditional machine-learning methods and other deep learning models. This study successfully developed a user-friendly and cost-efficient computer-aided diagnostic solution that would significantly enhances radiologists’ diagnostic capabilities. By improving the accuracy and efficiency of clinical decision-making, this tool has the potential to positively impact patient care and outcomes. Future work may focus on further refining the model and exploring its integration with multimodal ultrasound data to maximize its accuracy and applicability.

Organ transplantation is the preferred treatment for end-stage organ failure, However, the allogenic origin of donor tissues frequently provokes rejection by the recipient's immune system. Inducing a state of immune hyporesponsiveness specific to the transplanted cells and organs, referred to as near-immunotolerance, is the ideal approach to managing transplant rejection. Currently, various strategies have been explored to achieve immune hyporesponsiveness, including cell-based immune induction, chimerism induction, co-stimulatory pathway blockade, apoptosis induction, targeted clearance of memory T cells, and the use of exosomes or nanoparticles for drug delivery to induce tolerance. This review highlights the importance of achieving immune tolerance in clinical medicine to ensure the survival of both allografts and recipients. It provides an overview of the current status and advancements in tolerance-inducing strategies in allogeneic transplantation. Additionally, the review critically examines the limitations of these approaches and discusses future directions for research in this field.

Photodynamic immunotherapy is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the dysfunctional tumor vasculature results in tumor hypoxia and the low efficiency of drug delivery, which in turn restricts the anticancer effect of photodynamic immunotherapy. In this study, we designed photosensitive lipid nanoparticles. The synthesized PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles could produce type I/II reactive oxygen species (ROS) by electron or energy transfer through PFBT under light irradiation. Moreover, this nanosystem could alleviate tumor hypoxia and promote vascular normalization through Roxadustat. Upon irradiation with white light, the ROS produced by PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles in situ dysregulated calcium homeostasis and triggered endoplasmic reticulum stress, which further promoted the release of damage-associated molecular patterns, enhanced antigen presentation, and stimulated an effective adaptive immune response, ultimately priming the tumor microenvironment (TME) together with the hypoxia alleviation and vessel normalization by Roxadustat. Indeed, in vivo results indicated that PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles promoted M1 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages, recruited more natural killer cells, and augmented infiltration of T cells, thereby leading to efficient photodynamic immunotherapy and potentiating the anti-primary and metastatic tumor efficacy of PD-1 antibody. Collectively, photodynamic immunotherapy with PFBT@Rox Lip nanoparticles efficiently program TME through the induction of immunogenicity and oxygenation, and effectively suppress tumor growth through immunogenic cell death and enhanced anti-tumor immunity.

Radiochemotherapy-induced oral mucositis (OM) is a common oral complication in patients with tumors following head and neck radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Erosion and ulcers are the main features of OM that seriously affect the quality of life of patients and even the progress of tumor treatment. To date, differences in clinical prevention and treatment plans for OM have been noted among doctors of various specialties, which has increased the uncertainty of treatment effects. On the basis of current research evidence, this expert consensus outlines risk factors, clinical manifestations, clinical grading, ancillary examinations, diagnostic basis, prevention and treatment strategies and efficacy indicators for OM. In addition to strategies such as basic oral care, anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents, anti-infective agents, pro-healing agents, and photobiotherapy recommended in previous guidelines, we also emphasize the role of traditional Chinese medicine in OM prevention and treatment. This expert consensus aims to provide references and guidance for dental physicians and oncologists in formulating strategies for OM prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, standardizing clinical practice, reducing OM occurrence, promoting healing, and improving the quality of life of patients.
Humans ; Chemoradiotherapy/adverse effects* ; Consensus ; Risk Factors ; Stomatitis/etiology*

Objective To establish the phylogenic relationships among genus Botrychium,and to develop better molecular markers,along with to gain better understanding of cytonuclear coordination patterns of RuBisCO enzyme,the current article sampled two species(e.g.Botrychium ternatum(Thunb.)Sw.and Botrychium virginianum(L.)Sw.),and applied sequencing approaches for the data mining.Methods The assembly results of chloroplast(cp)genomes from B.ternatum and B.virginianum were determined via de novo hybrid assemble approach with the help of short reads(Illumina)and long reads(PacBio and Nanopore).Then the phylogenic relationships of 18 fern species were reconstructed based on the protein coding sequences from the cp genome and the rbcS gene,which were fished out of the RNA-seq data from SRA database,respectively.Then the adaptive selection and co-evolutionary analysis were employed to investigate the evolutionary trajectories of rbcL(cp genome)and rbcS(nuclear genome)genes.Results The full length of cp genome in the two genus Botrychium species were determined as 139 063 bp(NC_060644)and 139 372 bp(OR609363).Then 92 SSR sites and 78 SSR sites were identified in the current two cp genomes,respectively.The collinearity analysis showed high relevant relationship between the current two species,and significant relationship within both species among the inverted repeats regions.The adaptation and coevolution investigations illustrated the following results:①Coevolution network exists between RBCL and RBCS subunits from the fern RuBisCO enzyme.②Positively selected sites were significantly detected among both rbcL and rbcS genes.③Two coevolutionary pair sites from the two genes(e.g.site 11 in RBCL and site 106 in RBCS)were significantly positively selected,which may demonstrate a molecular pattern for the fern species fine-tuning the RuBisCO enzyme during the long earth history via the cytonuclear coordination.Conclusion Our current research shed a new light on the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Botrychium among the fern backbone-tree and provided amount of cpSSR sites with the potential as molecular markers for further population study on B.ternatum and B.virginianum.Moreover,our adaptation and coevolution investigations on rbcL and rbcS genes might indicate that the underlying cytonuclear coordination between the organelle and nuclear in cell of fern species for fine-tuning the key photosynthesis enzyme RuBisCO to gain better fitness according to the changing environment of earth during the geologic time-scale.

Objective Five chloroplast(cp)genomes from members of genus Polygonatum were assembled by hybrid assembly technique,and their intraspecic and interspecific differences were analyzed by comparative genomic method.Codon usage patterns and influencing factors were determined,and the cp genome data were applied to understand the phylogenomic relationships in the entire genus Polygonatum along with the available data.Methods In this study,the chloroplast genomes of 5 species of genus Polygonatum were assembled using Unicycler software.Sequence alignment,collinearity analysis,boundary analysis and other methods were used to evaluate the interspecific differences of these five species.Nucleotide polymorphism analysis was used to discover the high-variation sites of the five species and their related species,predict the distribution of different long repeat sequences and SSRs,and then analyze the use bias of Polygonatum code.Finally,phylogenetic tree was constructed with the coding sequences of other 47 genus Polygonatum and their closely related species to explore their phylogenetic relationships in this study.Results ①Chloroplast genomes of 155 408-155 623 bp were assembled from five species of Polygonatum.A total of 132-133 genes were annotated,and 369 long repeats and 1553 simple repeats were detected.②The contraction and expansion of chloroplast genomes in 8 species were not obvious at the IRs boundary,and the size and distribution of individual genes at the LSC-IRs-SSC boundary,such as ndhF gene and ycf1 gene,were slightly different.No interspecific or intraspecific rearrangement was observed in 8 species.③ The high-variation regions of the 8 chloroplast genomes are mainly located in two single-copy regions,the duplicate copy region is relatively conserved,and the coding region is more conserved than the non-coding region.High nucleotide polymorphic loci rps16-trnQ,trnS-trnG,trnTUGU-trnL,ndhF-rpl32 and rpl32-trnL are located in the single copy region and most of them are gene spacer regions.④ The codon preference results showed that the codon preference of the five species was similar and mainly affected by selection pressure,and the third base of the codon played A dominant role and mainly ended in A/U.RSCU clustering heat map shows that PK and PZ,PCB and PS have close relationship.⑤ Phylogenetic trees divided 52 species into five branches:Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,ⅣandⅤ.PS,PK,PCB,PCZ and PZ were divided into ⅣandⅤbranches,among which PK and PZ were most closely related,while PCZ was more distant than the other four,was divided into the Ⅴbranch alone.Conclusion This study provided a reference for the phylogenetic research and molecular marker development of the medicinal plants of the Polygonum genus.

Objective To establish the phylogenic relationships among genus Botrychium,and to develop better molecular markers,along with to gain better understanding of cytonuclear coordination patterns of RuBisCO enzyme,the current article sampled two species(e.g.Botrychium ternatum(Thunb.)Sw.and Botrychium virginianum(L.)Sw.),and applied sequencing approaches for the data mining.Methods The assembly results of chloroplast(cp)genomes from B.ternatum and B.virginianum were determined via de novo hybrid assemble approach with the help of short reads(Illumina)and long reads(PacBio and Nanopore).Then the phylogenic relationships of 18 fern species were reconstructed based on the protein coding sequences from the cp genome and the rbcS gene,which were fished out of the RNA-seq data from SRA database,respectively.Then the adaptive selection and co-evolutionary analysis were employed to investigate the evolutionary trajectories of rbcL(cp genome)and rbcS(nuclear genome)genes.Results The full length of cp genome in the two genus Botrychium species were determined as 139 063 bp(NC_060644)and 139 372 bp(OR609363).Then 92 SSR sites and 78 SSR sites were identified in the current two cp genomes,respectively.The collinearity analysis showed high relevant relationship between the current two species,and significant relationship within both species among the inverted repeats regions.The adaptation and coevolution investigations illustrated the following results:①Coevolution network exists between RBCL and RBCS subunits from the fern RuBisCO enzyme.②Positively selected sites were significantly detected among both rbcL and rbcS genes.③Two coevolutionary pair sites from the two genes(e.g.site 11 in RBCL and site 106 in RBCS)were significantly positively selected,which may demonstrate a molecular pattern for the fern species fine-tuning the RuBisCO enzyme during the long earth history via the cytonuclear coordination.Conclusion Our current research shed a new light on the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Botrychium among the fern backbone-tree and provided amount of cpSSR sites with the potential as molecular markers for further population study on B.ternatum and B.virginianum.Moreover,our adaptation and coevolution investigations on rbcL and rbcS genes might indicate that the underlying cytonuclear coordination between the organelle and nuclear in cell of fern species for fine-tuning the key photosynthesis enzyme RuBisCO to gain better fitness according to the changing environment of earth during the geologic time-scale.

Objective Five chloroplast(cp)genomes from members of genus Polygonatum were assembled by hybrid assembly technique,and their intraspecic and interspecific differences were analyzed by comparative genomic method.Codon usage patterns and influencing factors were determined,and the cp genome data were applied to understand the phylogenomic relationships in the entire genus Polygonatum along with the available data.Methods In this study,the chloroplast genomes of 5 species of genus Polygonatum were assembled using Unicycler software.Sequence alignment,collinearity analysis,boundary analysis and other methods were used to evaluate the interspecific differences of these five species.Nucleotide polymorphism analysis was used to discover the high-variation sites of the five species and their related species,predict the distribution of different long repeat sequences and SSRs,and then analyze the use bias of Polygonatum code.Finally,phylogenetic tree was constructed with the coding sequences of other 47 genus Polygonatum and their closely related species to explore their phylogenetic relationships in this study.Results ①Chloroplast genomes of 155 408-155 623 bp were assembled from five species of Polygonatum.A total of 132-133 genes were annotated,and 369 long repeats and 1553 simple repeats were detected.②The contraction and expansion of chloroplast genomes in 8 species were not obvious at the IRs boundary,and the size and distribution of individual genes at the LSC-IRs-SSC boundary,such as ndhF gene and ycf1 gene,were slightly different.No interspecific or intraspecific rearrangement was observed in 8 species.③ The high-variation regions of the 8 chloroplast genomes are mainly located in two single-copy regions,the duplicate copy region is relatively conserved,and the coding region is more conserved than the non-coding region.High nucleotide polymorphic loci rps16-trnQ,trnS-trnG,trnTUGU-trnL,ndhF-rpl32 and rpl32-trnL are located in the single copy region and most of them are gene spacer regions.④ The codon preference results showed that the codon preference of the five species was similar and mainly affected by selection pressure,and the third base of the codon played A dominant role and mainly ended in A/U.RSCU clustering heat map shows that PK and PZ,PCB and PS have close relationship.⑤ Phylogenetic trees divided 52 species into five branches:Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,ⅣandⅤ.PS,PK,PCB,PCZ and PZ were divided into ⅣandⅤbranches,among which PK and PZ were most closely related,while PCZ was more distant than the other four,was divided into the Ⅴbranch alone.Conclusion This study provided a reference for the phylogenetic research and molecular marker development of the medicinal plants of the Polygonum genus.

Organ transplantation is the preferred treatment for end-stage organ failure, However, the allogenic origin of donor tissues frequently provokes rejection by the recipient's immune system. Inducing a state of immune hyporesponsiveness specific to the transplanted cells and organs, referred to as near-immunotolerance, is the ideal approach to managing transplant rejection. Currently, various strategies have been explored to achieve immune hyporesponsiveness, including cell-based immune induction, chimerism induction, co-stimulatory pathway blockade, apoptosis induction, targeted clearance of memory T cells, and the use of exosomes or nanoparticles for drug delivery to induce tolerance. This review highlights the importance of achieving immune tolerance in clinical medicine to ensure the survival of both allografts and recipients. It provides an overview of the current status and advancements in tolerance-inducing strategies in allogeneic transplantation. Additionally, the review critically examines the limitations of these approaches and discusses future directions for research in this field.