The interaction of helminth infections with type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been a major area of research in the past few years. This paper, therefore, focuses on the systematic review of the effects of helminthic infections on metabolism and immune regulation related to T2D, with mechanisms through which both direct and indirect effects are mediated. Specifically, the possible therapeutic role of helminths in T2D management, probably mediated through the modulation of host metabolic pathways and immune responses, is of special interest. This paper discusses the current possibilities for translating helminth therapy from basic laboratory research to clinical application, as well as existing and future challenges. Although preliminary studies suggest the potential for helminth therapy for T2D patients, their safety and efficacy still need to be confirmed by larger-scale clinical studies.

Background: Self-injurious behaviours (SIB) are repetitive, non-accidental movements that result in physical damage inflicted upon oneself, without suicidal intent. SIB are prevalent among children with autism spectrum disorder and can lead to permanent disability or death. Neuromodulation at a locus of neural circuitry implicated in SIB, the nucleus accumbens (NAc), may directly influence these behaviours. Methods: We completed a phase I, open-label clinical trial of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the NAc in children with severe, treatment-refractory SIB (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03982888). Participants were monitored for 12 months following NAc-DBS to assess the primary outcomes of safety and feasibility. Secondary outcomes included serial assessments of SIB, ambulatory actigraphy, and changes in brain glucose metabolism induced by DBS. Results: Six children underwent NAc-DBS without any serious adverse events. NAc-DBS resulted in significant reductions in SIB and SIB-associated behaviours across multiple standardized scales, concurrent with clinically meaningful improvements in quality-of-life. Ambulatory actigraphy showed reductions in high-amplitude limb movements and positron emission tomography revealed treatment-induced reductions in metabolic activity within the thalamus, striatum, and temporoinsular cortex. Conclusions: This first-in-children phase 1 clinical trial demonstrates the safety and feasibility of NAc-DBS in children with severe, refractory SIB at high risk of physical injury and death and supports further investigations.

This study explored mental workload recognition methods for carrier-based aircraft pilots utilising multiple sensor physiological signal fusion and portable devices. A simulation carrier-based aircraft flight experiment was designed, and subjective mental workload scores and electroencephalogram (EEG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals from six pilot cadets were collected using NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and portable devices. The subjective scores of the pilots in three flight phases were used to label the data into three mental workload levels. Features from the physiological signals were extracted, and the interrelations between mental workload and physiological indicators were evaluated. Machine learning and deep learning algorithms were used to classify the pilots’ mental workload. The performances of the single-modal method and multimodal fusion methods were investigated. The results showed that the multimodal fusion methods outperformed the single-modal methods, achieving higher accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score. Among all the classifiers, the random forest classifier with feature-level fusion obtained the best results, with an accuracy of 97.69%, precision of 98.08%, recall of 96.98% and F1 score of 97.44%. The findings of this study demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method, offering insights into mental workload management and the enhancement of flight safety for carrier-based aircraft pilots.

The transport process of a relativistic electron beam (REB) in high-density and degenerate plasmas holds significant importance for fast ignition. In this study, we have formulated a comprehensive theoretical model to address this issue, incorporating quantum degeneracy, charged particle collisions and the effects of electromagnetic (EB) fields. We model the fuel as a uniform density region and particularly focus on the effect of quantum degeneracy during the transport of the REB, which leads to the rapid growth of a self-generated EB field and a subsequently significant self-organized pinching of the REB. Through our newly developed hybrid particle-in-cell simulations, we have observed a two-fold enhancement of the heating efficiency of the REB compared with previous intuitive expectation. This finding provides a promising theoretical framework for exploring the degeneracy effect and the enhanced self-generated EB field in the dense plasma for fast ignition, and is also linked to a wide array of ultra-intense laser-based applications.

In this article, we delve into the optimal scheduling challenge for many-to-many on-orbit services, taking into account variations in target accessibility. The scenario assumes that each servicing satellite is equipped with singular or multiple service capabilities, tasked with providing on-orbit services to multiple targets, each characterised by distinct service requirements. The mission’s primary objective is to determine the optimal service sequence, orbital transfer duration and on-orbit service time for each servicing satellite, with the ultimate goal of minimising the overall cost. We frame the optimal scheduling dilemma as a time-related colored travelling salesman problem (TRCTSP) and propose an enhanced firefly algorithm (EFA) to address it. Finally, experimental results across various scenarios validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm. The principal contribution of this work lies in the modeling and resolution of the many-to-many on-orbit service challenge, considering accessibility variations — a domain that has, until now, remained unexplored.

Urban air mobility (UAM) utilising novel transportation tools is gradually being recognised as a significant means to alleviate ground transportation pressures, vertiports which serve as pivotal nodes in UAM require efficient methods for assessing its operational capacity to develop an appropriate operational strategy and help to design vertiport ground infrastructure scientifically. This study proposes a multi-dimensional assessment method for the capacity of vertiports considering throughput and quality of service based on genetic algorithm (CEGA). The method comprehensively considers constraints such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) safety separation, battery endurance, number of landing vertipads and UAV speed. The experimental results indicate that the vertiport with the scheduling algorithm proposed by this study has a larger capacity and experiences fewer delay than the vertiport with first-come-first-served (FCFS) algorithm when the vertiport has the same limited number of vertipads. Different proportions of UAVs significantly affect the quality of service and the degree of operation delays. The weights of vertiport throughput and customer satisfaction are the parameters that represent the importance of throughput and customer satisfaction in the objective function of the capacity assessment model. When the weights of throughput and customer satisfaction are set to 0.8 and 0.2 respectively, the performance of this optimisation model is optimal. This study provides a novel solution for capacity assessment and operation scheduling of vertiports, laying the foundation for improving the efficiency of UAM operations.

During the investigation of parasitic pathogens of Mytilus coruscus, infection of a Perkinsus-like protozoan parasite was detected by alternative Ray's Fluid Thioglycolate Medium (ARFTM). The diameter of hypnospores or prezoosporangia was 8–27 (15.6 ± 4.0, n = 111) μm. The prevalence of the Perkinsus-like species in M. coruscus was 25 and 12.5% using ARFTM and PCR, respectively. The ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 fragments amplified by PCR assay had 100% homology to that of P. beihaiensis, suggesting that the protozoan parasite was P. beihaisensis and M. coruscus was its new host in East China Sea (ECS). Histological analysis showed the presence of trophozoites of P. beihaiensis in gill, mantle and visceral mass, and the schizonts only found in visceral mass. Perkinsus beihaiensis infection led to inflammatory reaction of hemocyte and the destruction of digestive tubules in visceral mass, which had negative effect on health of the farmed M. coruscus and it deserves more attention.

Three new species of Gyrodactylus were identified from the body surface of the Triplophysa species from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Gyrodactylus triplorienchili n. sp. on Triplophysa orientalis in northern Tibet, G. yellochili n. sp. on T. sellaefer and T. scleroptera and G. triplsellachili n. sp. on T. sellaefer and T. robusta in Lanzhou Reach of the Yellow River. The three newly identified species share the nemachili group species’ characteristic of having inturning hamulus roots. Gyrodactylus triplorienchili n. sp. shared a quadrate sickle heel and a thin marginal hook sickle, two morphological traits that set them apart from G. yellochili n. sp. However, they may be identified by the distinct shapes of the sickle base and marginal hook sickle point. Gyrodactylus triplsellachili n. sp. had much larger opisthaptoral hard part size than the other two species. The three new species show relatively low interspecific differences of 2.9–5.3% p-distance for ITS1-5.85-ITS2 rDNA sequences. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the three new species formed a well-supported monophyletic group (bp = 99) with the other nemachili group species.

Soluble Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (sICAM-1) has emerged as an inflammatory biomarker of many essential functions. We investigated the level of sICAM-1 influenced by Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis) co-infection in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients to explore the degree of liver tissue inflammation and liver function damage after co-infection. The study included data from patients with C. sinensis mono-infection (n=27), hepatitis B virus (HBV) mono-infection (n=32), C. sinensis and HBV co-infection (n=24), post-hepatitis B liver cirrhosis (n=18), post-hepatitis B liver cirrhosis co-infected with C. sinensis (n=16), and healthy controls (n=39). The level of sICAM-1 was measured with specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Compared to the healthy control group, all the experimental groups had significantly higher serum sICAM-1 levels. The levels of sICAM-1 in co-infected groups were significantly higher compared to the mono-infection groups and were positively correlated with the levels of glutamate aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Our research findings confirmed that co-infection could exacerbate liver tissue inflammation and liver function damage in patients, could raise the sICAM-1 level, and may lead to the chronicity of HBV infection. These results provide clues for pathological mechanism study and formulating treatment plans.

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by DMD gene mutations. Delandistrogene moxeparvovec is an investigational gene transfer therapy, developed to address the underlying cause of DMD. We report findings from Part 1 (52 weeks) of the two-part EMBARK trial (NCT05096221). Methods: Key inclusion criteria: Ambulatory patients aged ≥4-<8 years with a confirmed DMD mutation within exons 18–79 (inclusive); North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA) score >16 and <29 at screening. Eligible patients were randomized 1:1 to intravenous delandistrogene moxeparvovec (1.33×1014 vg/kg) or placebo. The primary endpoint was change from baseline in NSAA total score to Week 52. Results: At Week 52 (n=125), the primary endpoint did not reach statistical significance, although there was a nominal difference in change from baseline in NSAA total score in the delandistrogene moxeparvovec (2.6, n=63) versus placebo groups (1.9, n=61). Key secondary endpoints (time to rise, micro-dystrophin expression, 10-meter walk/run) demonstrated treatment benefit in both age groups (4-5 and 6-7 years; p<0.05).There were no new safety signals, reinforcing the favorable and manageable safety profile observed to date. Conclusions: Based on the totality of functional assessments including the timed function tests, treatment with delandistrogene moxeparvovec indicates beneficial modification of disease trajectory.

Recently released Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) collection 6.1 (C6.1) products are useful for understanding ice–atmosphere interactions over East Antarctica, but their accuracy should be known prior to application. This study assessed Level 2 and Level 3 MODIS C6.1 LST products (MxD11_L2 and MxD11C1) in comparison with the radiance-derived in situ LSTs from 12 weather stations. Significant cloud-related issues were identified in both LST products. By utilizing a stricter filter based on automatic weather station cloud data, despite losing 29.4% of the data, accuracy of MODIS LST was greatly improved. The cloud-screened MODIS LST exhibited cold biases (−5.18 to −0.07°C, and root mean square errors from 2.37 to 6.28°C) than in situ LSTs at most stations, with smaller cold biases at inland stations, but larger ones at coastal regions and the edge of plateau. The accuracy was notably higher during warm periods (October–March) than during cold periods (April–September). The cloud-screened MODIS C6.1 LST did not show significant improvements over C5 (Collection 5) version across East Antarctica. Ice-crystal precipitation occurring during temperature inversions at the surface (Tair-Tsurface) played a crucial role in MODIS LST accuracy on inland plateau. In coastal regions, larger MODIS LST biases were observed when the original measurements were lower.

The formation of siderite and magnetite by Fe(III)-reducing bacteria may play an important role in C and Fe geochemistry in subsurface and ocean sediments. The objective of this study was to identify environmental factors that control the formation of siderite (FeCO3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) by Fe(III)-reducing bacteria. Psychrotolerant (<20°C), mesophilic (20–35°C) and thermophilic (>45°C) Fe(III)-reducing bacteria were used to examine the reduction of a poorly crystalline iron oxide, akaganeite (β-FeOOH), without a soluble electron shuttle, anthraquinone disulfuonate (AQDS), in the presence of N2, N2-CO2(80:20, V:V), H2 and H2-CO2 (80:20, V:V) headspace gases as well as in -buffered medium (30–210 mM) under a N2 atmosphere. Iron biomineralization was also examined under different growth conditions such as salinity, pH, incubation time, incubation temperature and electron donors. Magnetite formation was dominant under a N2 and a H2 atmosphere. Siderite formation was dominant under a H2-CO2 atmosphere. A mixture of magnetite and siderite was formed in the presence of a N2-CO2 headspace. Akaganeite was reduced and transformed to siderite and magnetite in a -buffered medium (>120 mM) with lactate as an electron donor in the presence of a N2 atmosphere. Biogeochemical and environmental factors controlling the phases of the secondary mineral suite include medium pH, salinity, electron donors, atmospheric composition and incubation time. These results indicate that microbial Fe(III) reduction may play an important role in Fe and C biogeochemistry as well as C sequestration in natural environments.

The poor environmental stability of natural anthocyanin hinders its usefulness in various functional applications. The objectives of the present study were to enhance the environmental stability of anthocyanin extracted from Lycium ruthenicum by mixing it with montmorillonite to form an organic/inorganic hybrid pigment, and then to synthesize allochroic biodegradable composite films by incorporating the hybrid pigment into sodium alginate and test them for potential applications in food testing and packaging. The results of X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and use of the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and zeta potential demonstrated that anthocyanin was both adsorbed on the surface and intercalated into the interlayer of montmorillonite via host–guest interaction, and the hybrid pigments obtained allowed good, reversible, acid/base behavior after exposure to HCl and NH3 atmospheres. The composite films containing hybrid pigments had good mechanical properties due to the uniform dispersion of the pigments in a sodium alginate substrate and the formation of hydrogen bonds between them. Interestingly, the composite films also exhibited reversible acidichromism. The as-prepared hybrid pigments in composite films could, therefore, serve simultaneously as a reinforced material and as a smart coloring agent for a polymer substrate.

Transient electromagnetic field plays very important roles in the evolution of high-energy-density matter or laser plasma. Now, a new design is proposed in this paper to diagnose the transient magnetic field, using relativistic electron bunch as a probe based on high-energy electron radiography. And based on this scheme, the continuous distribution of magnetic strength field can be snapshotted. For 1 mm thick quadrupole magnet model measured by 50 MeV probe electron beams, the simulation result indicates that this diagnosis has spatial resolution better than 4 microns and high measurement accuracy for strong magnetic strength and high magnetic gradient field no matter whether the magnetic interaction is focusing or defocusing for the range from -510 T∗ μm to 510 T∗ μm.

The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.

The paper addresses the six-degree-of-freedom coupled control problem for spacecraft formation flying subject to actuator saturation and input quantisation whilst considering limited communication resources. Firstly, a novel event-triggered distributed observer without continuous communications is presented to recover the information of the virtual leader. Remarkably, by embedding a hyperbolic tangent function-based nonlinear term into the triggering condition, the event-based observer realises a more reasonable trigger threshold. Subsequently, an adding-a-power-integrator-based fixed-time control algorithm is proposed for the follower spacecraft. Further, the control scheme ingeniously compensates for the actuator saturation and the input quantisation problems without embedding auxiliary systems. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to highlight the advantages of the theoretical results.