Northwest Minzu University

BackgroundLung cancer, a highly lethal malignant disease, requires timely and accurate differentiation between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules (PNs) to enable early intervention and improved prognosis. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is a multimodal imaging technique that integrates metabolic information with anatomical details, playing a crucial role in tumor diagnosis. This study aimed to develop a multimodal fusion-based classification model for the automated diagnosis of PNs, ultimately supporting clinical decision-making.MethodsWe propose a novel multi-level cross-modal fusion classification framework, of which the core architecture comprises: (I) a dual-path densely connected network for hierarchically extracting modality-specific features; and (II) a multi-level cross-modal interaction mechanism to facilitate complementary feature fusion. This end-to-end framework performs a comprehensive diagnostic categorization of PNs, effectively distinguishing between benign and malignant cases, thereby enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of clinical decision-making.ResultsThe proposed model was evaluated on a real-world clinical dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that it achieved an accuracy of 0.7778, a precision of 0.7590, a recall of 0.7968, and an F1 score of 0.7725.ConclusionsThe proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, validating the effectiveness of its feature extraction and multi-level cross-modal interaction strategy. These findings highlight the potential of the proposed model as a robust and reliable tool in clinical settings, capable of supporting intelligent, automated diagnosis of PNs.

Housebound older adults residing in relatively isolated living environments for extended periods encounter a range of health and psychological challenges, stemming from limited mobility spaces and diminished social engagements. The fear of falling, a prevalent psychological issue among this demographic, is intricately linked not only to the actual risk of falling but also exerts a profound influence on their behavioral patterns and quality of life. This study aims to understand the current situation of fear of falling, i.e., FOF, among the Housebound older adults and analyze its influencing factors to provide a reference for formulating targeted nursing interventions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from February to April 2025. FOF scores of 229 Housebound older adults individuals were estimated by analyzing their responses to a general questionnaire and the Fear of Falling Questionnaire-Reversed (FFQ-R). Participants' total FOF score was estimated as (41.90±9.95), representing a medium-to-high level of fear of falling. The results of univariate analysis indicated statistically significant difference in the FOF scores of the participants with different characteristics, namely, gender, marital status, education level, smoking history, drinking history, chronic disease history, living style, and fall history (P< 0.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis suggested that gender, smoking history, chronic disease history, living style, and fall history were independent factors affecting fear of falling among the Housebound older adults. Based on our results, we recommend that community nurses should pay special attention to Housebound older adults, especially those who are female, live alone, or have a history of smoking, chronic disease, or falls and implement targeted nursing interventions to allay fear of falling among the Housebound older adults.

Serum-free suspension culture technology for animal cells involves the division and proliferation of cells in serum-free medium as single cells or cell clusters within shaking flasks or bioreactors. This approach enables large-scale cell culture, enhances the yield and quality of biopharmaceuticals, reduces costs, and broadens the applications of animal cells. Serum-free suspension culture of adherent cells (e.g., Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), Vero, baby hamster kidney (BHK-21), and human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells) has been successfully achieved through direct or indirect adaptation, medium optimization, and genetic engineering. Additionally, novel suspension cell lines, such as duck embryonic stem (EB66) and human retinoblastoma (PER.C6) cells, have been developed as potential new substrates for biopharmaceutical production. This review examines animal cell suspension culture technology and its applications in viral vaccines, recombinant proteins, and monoclonal antibodies, providing insights into the development and utilization of this important technology.

Excessive adipose tissue accumulation in sheep disrupts insulin signaling, inducing insulin resistance, and alters energy partitioning mechanisms. These changes adversely affect both ovine health and production efficiency. This study employed whole-genome resequencing to conduct selection signal analysis in long-fat-tailed (Lanzhou fat-tailed sheep) and short-fat-tailed (Hu sheep) breeds, investigating the genetic basis underlying divergent lipid metabolism-related traits between these distinct tail phenotypes. Fifteen healthy adult individuals, each from long-fat-tailed (Lanzhou Large-tailed sheep) and short-fat-tailed (Hu sheep) breeds, underwent whole-genome resequencing. Whole-genome resequencing analyses via FST, XP-CLR, and XP-EHH identified 75 significantly selected regions (p < 0.01), revealing eight key candidate genes (DAB1, DPP10, EPHA6, GPC5, KLF12, PAK7, PTPN3, TENM3). Subsequent functional enrichment analysis demonstrated significant enrichment of DAB1 and GPC5 in lipid metabolic processes (GO:0006629). Employing whole-genome resequencing-based selection signal analysis in long-fat-tailed (Lanzhou Large-tailed sheep) and short-fat-tailed (Hu sheep) breeds, this study identified two key lipid metabolism-associated genes (DAB1 and GPC5). These findings provide critical insights for conserving genetic resources and informing molecular breeding strategies targeting divergent tail phenotypes.

High-entropy boride (HEB) ceramics combine ultra-high melting points, superior hardness, and compositional tunability, enabling service in extreme environments; however, difficult densification and limited fracture toughness still constrain their aerospace applications. In this study, metallic Ta was introduced into high-entropy (Ti0.2Zr0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2)B2 as both a sintering aid and a toughening phase. Bulk HEB-Ta composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering to investigate the effect of Ta content on densification behavior, microstructure, mechanical properties, and high-temperature oxidation resistance. The results show that an appropriate amount of Ta markedly promotes densification; at 10 vol% Ta, the open porosity reaches a minimum of 0.15%. Hardness and fracture toughness exhibit an increase-then-decrease trend with Ta content, attaining maxima at 15 vol% Ta (20.79 ± 0.17 GPa and 4.31 ± 0.12 MPa·, respectively). During oxidation at 800–1400 °C, the extent of oxidation increases with temperature, yet the composite with 10 vol% Ta shows the best oxidation resistance. This improvement arises from the formation of a viscous, protective Ta2O5-B2O3 glassy layer that effectively suppresses oxygen diffusion and enhances high-temperature stability. Overall, incorporating metallic Ta is an effective route to improve the manufacturability and service durability of HEB ceramics, providing a composition guideline and a mechanistic basis for simultaneously enhancing densification, toughness, and oxidation resistance.

Due to its high mutation rate, the nucleotide usage variation of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is generally considered as one of evolutionary dynamics for evolving distinct coding regions and thus shaping evolutionary pathway of BVDV. Here, we analyzed 168 genetically distinct BVDV strains with verified genotypic classifications to elucidate which selective factor acting on twelve viral coding regions. We employed information entropy, dinucleotide odds ratios, relative synonymous codon usage, the effective number of codons (ENC), and context-dependent codon bias (CDCB) to characterize the genetic features underlying variations in nucleotide usage patterns. Among the twelve viral regions of the BVDV genome, the Capsid, P7, and NS4A regions exhibit stronger biases in overall nucleotide usage patterns than the other regions. Moreover, the nucleotide pair usage in these regions displays a conserved pattern rather than a genotype-specific one. Although certain dinucleotide pairs, such as UpA and CpG, are recognized for their roles in stimulating host immune responses, CpG usage is more strongly suppressed than UpA across all BVDV genomic regions. Compared with dinucleotide usage patterns, synonymous codon usage in these regions has better performance for displaying both genotype-associated evolutionary trends and function-specific coding preferences. Moreover, the overall codon usage bias reflected by ENC in each viral region reflects the interaction of nucleotide usage variability driven by mutational pressure and function-specific patterns shaped by natural selection acts on evolutionary paradigm of BVDV. Additionally, CDCB analysis provides further evidence for the pervasive influence of natural selection in shaping the codon organization of all BVDV genomic regions.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-025-05035-w.

ObjectiveThis article aims to analyze the safety and efficacy of Erdafitinib in the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors harboring FGFR1–4 mutations.MethodsSearch for relevant articles in databases such as PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CNKI, covering the period from their establishment to October 25, 2024. Summarize the adverse drug reaction (AE) data, overall survival (OS), median progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and other relevant data for patients with advanced solid tumors treated with Erdafitinib for FGFR1–4 mutations. Conduct a meta-analysis on the corresponding summarized data using the software Stata 18.0.ResultsThrough our search, we identified a total of 10 articles involving 1019 patients. In urothelial carcinoma, the most prevalent adverse reactions are hyperphosphatemia (78.5%), diarrhea (56.5%), and stomatitis (51.1%). The most frequently reported adverse reactions in other solid tumors are hyperphosphatemia (66.5%), dry mouth (48.5%), and diarrhea (44.9%). Patients with urothelial carcinoma treated with Erdafitinib exhibit higher median progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) compared to those treated with other solid tumor therapies.ConclusionCurrent evidence indicates that Erdafitinib exhibits certain therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of advanced solid tumors harboring FGFR1–4 mutations, with the most pronounced therapeutic effect observed in urothelial carcinoma. The efficacy of Erdafitinib in treating other solid tumors requires further confirmation through larger-scale studies involving a broader range of FGFR1–4 mutant tumors.