N-aminomorpholine-functionalized bromine-doped carbon dots for hypochlorous acid detection in foods and imaging in live cells

Hypochlorous acid (HClO) is used in food preservation. However, excessive HClO can deteriorate nutritional composition of food, compromise its quality, and potentially induce various diseases. Consequently, the development of multifunctional fluorescent probes for the sensitive and selective detection of HClO is highly anticipated for food safety. In this work, we designed a nanoprobe using N-aminomorpholine (AM)-functionalized bromine-doped carbon dots (Br-CDs-AM) for sensing HClO. This nanoprobe exhibits pH stability, strong resistance to photobleaching, superior long-term photostability (12 weeks), high sensitivity (19.3 nM), and an ultrarapid response (8 s) for detecting HClO residues in food matrices with percentage recovery (96.5 %-108 %) and RSDs less than 5.34 %. In addition, extremely low cytotoxicity and outstanding biocompatibility enable the nanoprobe to be used primarily for lysosome tracking and rapidly visualizing HClO in live cells. Thus, this study provides a new pathway to design unconventional nanoprobes for food safety assessment and subcellular organelle-specific imaging HClO.

Mutual Associations of Exposure to Ambient Air Pollutants in the First 1000 Days of Life With Asthma/Wheezing in Children: Prospective Cohort Study in Guangzhou, China

BACKGROUND

The first 1000 days of life, encompassing pregnancy and the first 2 years after birth, represent a critical period for human health development. Despite this significance, there has been limited research into the associations between mixed exposure to air pollutants during this period and the development of asthma/wheezing in children. Furthermore, the finer sensitivity window of exposure during this crucial developmental phase remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to assess the relationships between prenatal and postnatal exposures to various ambient air pollutants (particulate matter 2.5 [PM2.5], carbon monoxide [CO], sulfur dioxide [SO2], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ozone [O3]) and the incidence of childhood asthma/wheezing. In addition, we aimed to pinpoint the potential sensitivity window during which air pollution exerts its effects.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective birth cohort study wherein pregnant women were recruited during early pregnancy and followed up along with their children. Information regarding maternal and child characteristics was collected through questionnaires during each round of investigation. Diagnosis of asthma/wheezing was obtained from children's medical records. In addition, maternal and child exposures to air pollutants (PM2.5 CO, SO2, NO2, and O3) were evaluated using a spatiotemporal land use regression model. To estimate the mutual associations of exposure to mixed air pollutants with the risk of asthma/wheezing in children, we used the quantile g-computation model.

RESULTS

In our study cohort of 3725 children, 392 (10.52%) were diagnosed with asthma/wheezing. After the follow-up period, the mean age of the children was 3.2 (SD 0.8) years, and a total of 14,982 person-years were successfully followed up for all study participants. We found that each quartile increase in exposure to mixed air pollutants (PM2.5, CO, SO2, NO2, and O3) during the second trimester of pregnancy was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.24 (95% CI 1.04-1.47). Notably, CO made the largest positive contribution (64.28%) to the mutual effect. After categorizing the exposure according to the embryonic respiratory development stages, we observed that each additional quartile of mixed exposure to air pollutants during the pseudoglandular and canalicular stages was associated with HRs of 1.24 (95% CI 1.03-1.51) and 1.23 (95% CI 1.01-1.51), respectively. Moreover, for the first year and first 2 years after birth, each quartile increment of exposure to mixed air pollutants was associated with HRs of 1.65 (95% CI 1.30-2.10) and 2.53 (95% CI 2.16-2.97), respectively. Notably, SO2 made the largest positive contribution in both phases, accounting for 50.30% and 74.70% of the association, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to elevated levels of mixed air pollutants during the first 1000 days of life appears to elevate the risk of childhood asthma/wheezing. Specifically, the second trimester, especially during the pseudoglandular and canalicular stages, and the initial 2 years after birth emerge as crucial susceptibility windows.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-ROC-17013496; https://tinyurl.com/2ctufw8n.

Epicoccum sorghinum Causing Leaf Spot on Polygonatum cyrtonema in China

Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua (family Asparagaceae) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that is widely cultivated in various parts of China, including Hunan Province. In summer 2022, a leaf spot disease was observed in 10% of the P. cyrtonema plants (Huang jing) in 18 hectares of this crop in the Hongjiang District (27°18'4″N, 110°11'1″E) of Hunan Province. The initial symptoms of the disease were brown spots on young leaves, and adjacent tissues gradually changed from green to yellow. The entire leaf then became yellow, withered, and eventually exhibited a thn and black appearance. In total, 12 diseased plants from four sampling sites (three plants per site) were collected for laboratory analysis to address the concerns of P. cyrtonema growers. Symptomatic leaf samples were selected, and the leaf fragments containing infected parts of the plants were disinfected with 75% ethanol for 1 min, then immersed in 2.5% hypochlorite for 45 s. After disinfection, symptomatic leaf samples were rinsed three times with sterile water, placed on potato saccharose agar containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin and incubated at 25°C for 2 days. Subsequently, 12 fungal isolates were isolated from various leaf samples through hyphal tip transferring. Ten of the 12 fungal isolates had similar morphological features, and one of them (isolate hjh) was used as the representative isolate for the study. With a growth rate of 6.3 mm per day, its white colonies transformed into red concentric rings in five days; they gradually became black after 10 days of growth. The chlamydospores were round (4.0-9.9 × 3.1-9.3 µm, n = 30), whereas the conidia were ovate (8.0-12.1 × 3.2-6.5 µm, n = 30). The morphological features of the isolate hjh were similar to the features of Epicoccum spp. (Aveskamp et al. 2010). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (including the partial ITS1 sequence and the 5.8S and ITS2 complete sequences), β-tubulin (tub) gene, and large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene, were amplified from the isolate hjh using the primer pairs ITS5/ITS4, Bt2a/Bt2b, and LROR/LR5, respectively (Taguiam et al. 2021). BLASTn analysis showed that the ITS (OR253745), tub (OR253764), and LSU (OR253746) sequences generated from the isolate hjh were 98-99% similar to the sequences of E. sorghinum strains CBS 179.80 and CBS 627.68. Subsequently, the ITS, tub, and LSU sequences were combined using Sequence Matrix software; phylogenetic analysis via Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods (Vaidya et al. 2011; Li et al. 2021) classified the isolate hjh into the E. sorghinum clade. To fulfill Koch's postulates, pathogenicity tests were conducted on healthy (lesion-free and disease-free) 2-year-old P. cyrtonema plants. Three healthy plants were inoculated by spraying whole plant until run-off with a spore suspension of the isolate hjh (1 × 106 conidia/ml); Three other healthy plants were sprayed with sterile water as controls. The inoculated plants were incubated in a growth chamber at 25 ± 2°C with 85% humidity for 28 days(Chen et al. 2021). Leaves from the inoculated plants gradually became brown within 15 days. Finally, the plants died 28 days after inoculation. The control plants showed no symptoms throughout the experimental period. Isolates (isolate hjh1, hjh2 and hjh3) that were reisolated from the inoculated plants exhibited morphologically similar characteristics and molecularly identical to the original isolate hjh. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. sorghinum causing leaf spot disease on P. cyrtonema. The results of this study may facilitate the production of P. cyrtonema in China.

Si-Zhi Wan regulates osteoclast autophagy in osteoporosis through the AMPK signaling pathway to attenuate osteoclastogenesis

OBJECTIVES

The mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of Si-Zhi Wan (SZW), a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat osteoporosis (OP), remain unknown. This study investigated the therapeutic effects of SZW on mice that underwent ovariectomy (OVX) and underlying mechanisms thereof.

METHODS

We established an in vivo model of OP by performing OVX in mice. Microcomputed tomography (Micro-CT) was used to assess changes in bone characteristics of mice following SZW administration for 4 weeks. H&E staining revealed alterations in bone tissues of mice. Osteoclastogenesis in mouse bone tissue was observed using tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining and western blotting. Furthermore, we examined the impact of SZW on osteoclastogenesis in vitro using receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL). Finally, we explored the regulatory effects of SZW on osteoclast autophagy and the AMPK pathway.

KEY FINDINGS

The results demonstrated that high-dose SZW reversed changes in bone density parameters caused by OVX, including bone volume (BV), BV/total volume, trabecular number, and trabecular spacing (P = 0.0007, 0.0035, 0.0114, and 0.0182, respectively), and stimulated the formation of bone trabeculae in mice (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, SZW suppressed osteoclast formation in mice with OVX and inhibited osteoclast formation induced by RANKL. Mechanistically, SZW inhibited osteoclast precursor cell autophagy through the AMPK pathway.

CONCLUSIONS

SZW effectively inhibited the autophagy of osteoclast precursors by regulating the AMPK pathway, thereby exerting anti-osteoclastogenic effects and serving as an alternative therapy for OP.

Testosterone regulates thymic remodeling by altering metabolic reprogramming in male rats

The thymus is an energy-consuming organ, and its metabolism changes with atrophy. Testosterone regulates thymus remodeling (atrophy and regeneration). However, the characteristics of the energy metabolism during testosterone-mediated thymic atrophy and regeneration remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that testosterone ablation (implemented by immunocastration and surgical castration) induced global metabolic changes in the thymus. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment for differential metabolites and metabolite set enrichment analysis for total metabolites revealed that testosterone ablation affected thymic glycolysis, glutamate metabolism, and fatty acid β-oxidation. Testosterone ablation-induced thymic regeneration was accompanied by attenuated glycolysis and glutamate metabolism and changed fatty acid composition and content. Testosterone supplementation in immunocastrated and surgically castrated rats enhanced glutaminolysis, reduced the level of unsaturated fatty acids, enhanced the β-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in the mitochondria, boosted the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and accelerated thymic atrophy. Overall, these results imply that metabolic reprogramming is directly related to thymic remodeling.

Single-Cell Unsaturated Lipid Profiling for Studying Chemoresistance Heterogeneity of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

Chemoresistance to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a critical issue in clinical practice. Lipid metabolism takes a unique role in breast cancer cells; especially, unsaturated lipids involving cell membrane fluidity and peroxidation are highly remarked. At present, for the lack of a high-resolution molecular recognition platform at the single-cell level, it is still hard to systematically study chemoresistance heterogeneity based on lipid unsaturation proportion. By designing a single-cell mass spectrometry workflow based on CyESI-MS, we profiled the unsaturated lipids of TNBC cells to evaluate lipidomic remodeling under platinum stress. Profiling revealed the heterogeneity of the polyunsaturated lipid proportion of TNBC cells under cisplatin treatment. A cluster of cells identified by polyunsaturated lipid accumulation was found to be involved in platinum sensitivity. Furthermore, we found that the chemoresistance of TNBC cells could be regulated by fatty acid supplementation, which determinates the composition of unsaturated lipids. These discoveries provide insights for monitoring and controlling cellular unsaturated lipid proportions to overcome chemoresistance in breast cancer.

[Acute heart failure with altered ejection fraction : Electrocardiographic signs with mortality at the Abidjan cardiology institute]

INTRODUCTION

Heart failure with impaired ejection fraction (HFIEF) represents the end-stage of most cardiac diseases, and is responsible for a high mortality rate. In order to identify patients at risk, numerous clinical and paraclinical prognostic factors have been proposed. The electrocardiogram (ECG), easy to perform and inexpensive, retains a powerful role in the prognostic evaluation of heart failure patients. The aim was to evaluate ECG signs associated with mortality in a retrospective cohort of patients with ICFEA.

METHODOLOGY

The study was observational and analytical based on retrospective data collected from patients benefiting from a primary hospitalization for ICFEA at the Abidjan Heart Institute from January 2018 to July 2020.

RESULTS

Of the 370 patients included, 197 had died by August 1, 2020, representing an overall mortality of 53%. Mortality progressed gradually up to one year, then remained unchanged up to 30 months. In multivariate Cox regression including ECG variables only, the presence of intra-ventricular conduction disorders (OR: 1.80; 95% CI [1.01-3.25]), microvoltage (OR: 1.82; 95% CI [1.05-16]), and pathological Q waves (OR: 1.70; 95% CI [1.02-2.83]), were significantly associated with overall mortality. When ECG variables and clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic demographic variables were included, only the presence of pathological Q waves (OR:1.74; 95% CI [1.01-3.01]) persisted as a risk factor for mortality. Hypertension and treatment of heart failure, in particular ACEI/ARII, beta-blockers and ARM, were protective factors. The presence of Q waves was associated with a significant reduction in survival, based on curves obtained using the Kaplan-Meier model.

CONCLUSION

ICFEA is responsible for high mortality, mainly in the year following the 1st hospitalization for cardiac decompensation. The presence of pathological Q waves is the only electrocardiographic sign that remains statistically associated with a poor prognosis, after adjustment.

Effects of beta-blockers use on mortality of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: a retrospective cohort study

Introduction: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a challenging disease with limited prevention and treatment options. The usage of beta-blockers may have potential benefits in different critical illnesses. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between beta-blocker therapy and mortality in patients with ARDS. Materials and methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) IV database and focused on patients diagnosed with ARDS. The primary outcome of the study was 30-day mortality. To account for confounding factors, a multivariable analysis was performed. Propensity score matching (PSM) was carried out on a 1:1 ratio. Robust assessments were conducted using inverse probability weighting (IPTW), standardized mortality ratio weighting (SMRW), pairwise algorithms (PA), and overlap weights (OW). Results: A total of 1,104 patients with ARDS were included in the study. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses found that the 30-day mortality for 489 patients (23.7%) who received beta-blockers was significantly lower than the mortality rate of 615 patients (35.9%) who did not receive beta-blockers. After adjusting for potential confounders through PSM and propensity score, as well as utilizing IPTW, SMRW, PA, and OW, the results remained robust, with the hazard ratios (HR) ranging from 0.42 to 0.58 and all p-values < 0.001. Evaluation of the E-values indicated the robustness of the results even in the presence of unmeasured confounding. Conclusion: The findings suggest a potential association between beta-blocker usage and reduced mortality in critically ill patients with ARDS. However, further validation of this observation is needed through randomized controlled trials.

Single-cell metabolite profiling enables information-rich classification of lymphocyte types and subtypes

Lymphocytes play crucial roles in the human immune system; however, detailed metabolite characteristics need to be further investigated. Herein, we propose a lymphocyte classification method based on metabolite profiling at the single-cell level. The percentages of different lymphocyte types were calculated with a low margin of error, confirming that the metabolites could serve as a basis for lymphocyte classification. Furthermore, we analyzed the CD4/CD8 ratio in human peripheral blood to verify the feasibility of this method for the classification of lymphocyte subtypes. The proposed method is expected to be a potential tool for the clinical diagnosis of lymphocyte-related diseases.

Application of multidisciplinary in situ simulation training in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke: a quality improvement project

BACKGROUND

Ischemic stroke refers to a disorder in the blood supply to a local area of brain tissue for various reasons and is characterized by high morbidity, mortality, and disability. Early reperfusion of brain tissue at risk of injury is crucial for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate comfort levels in managing acute stroke patients with hypoxemia who required endotracheal intubation after multidisciplinary in situ simulation training and to shorten the door-to-image time.

METHODS

This quality improvement project utilized a comprehensive multidisciplinary in situ simulation exercise. A total of 53 participants completed the two-day in situ simulation training. The main outcome was the self-reported comfort levels of participants in managing acute stroke patients with hypoxemia requiring endotracheal intubation before and after simulation training. A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure participant comfort. A paired-sample t-test was used to compare the mean self-reported comfort scores of participants, as well as the endotracheal intubation time and door-to-image time on the first and second days of in situ simulation training. The door-to-image time before and after the training was also recorded.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that in situ simulation training could enhance participant comfort when managing acute stroke patients with hypoxemia who required endotracheal intubation and shorten door-to-image time. For the emergency management of hypoxemia or tracheal intubation, the mean post-training self-reported comfort score was significantly higher than the mean pre-training comfort score (hypoxemia: 4.53±0.64 vs. 3.62±0.69, t= -11.046, P<0.001; tracheal intubation: 3.98±0.72 vs. 3.43±0.72, t= -6.940, P<0.001). We also observed a decrease in the tracheal intubation and door-to-image time and a decreasing trend in the door-to-image time, which continued after the training.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrates that the implementation of in situ simulation training in a clinical environment with a multidisciplinary approach may improve the ability and confidence of stroke team members, optimize the first-aid process, and effectively shorten the door-to-image time of stroke patients with emergency complications.

Ocular features in myopic eyes with longer horizontal ciliary sulcus diameters for intended implantable collamer lens surgery

PURPOSE

To assess the ocular anterior segment characteristics in myopic eyes intended for ICL surgery with horizontal ciliary sulcus-to-sulcus (STS) diameters being greater than vertical STS diameters.

METHODS

This retrospective, comparative case study included 1230 eyes of patients who underwent ICL implantation for the treatment of myopia or myopic astigmatism at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from September 2020 to November 2021. The myopic eyes were divided into two groups according to the relatively long diameter of the ciliary sulcus. General parameters and anterior chamber parameters were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

1230 eyes of 694 patients were included. The proportion of myopic eyes with longer horizontal STS diameters was 4.63%. Horizontal STS distances exceeding vertical meridians in these eyes were mainly attributed to the shortening of vertical STS distances (horizontal STS: P = 0.112; vertical STS: P < 0.001). Eyes with longer horizontal meridians of the ciliary sulcus displayed larger steep keratometry value (P = 0.001), larger corneal volume (P = 0.002), larger corneal astigmatism (P < 0.001), larger ocular residual astigmatism (P = 0.017), worse visual acuity (logMAR UDVA: P = 0.021; logMAR CDVA: P = 0.001), and more iridociliary cysts (P = 0.017) compared to eyes with vertically oval shapes.

CONCLUSION

Myopic eyes with longer horizontal STS diameters are commonly accompanied by a change in corneal morphology and more iridociliary cysts. The anatomical features of the ciliary sulcus should be given sufficient consideration to ICL size and placement selection, contributing to more personalized and precise surgery.

Ethanol extract of Paridis rhizoma attenuates carrageenan-induced paw swelling in rats by inhibiting the production of inflammatory factors

CONTEXT

Inflammation has been identified as a key factor contributing to the development of numerous diseases. Several anti-inflammatory drugs have been developed to treat inflammation-related diseases. However, some of such drugs are associated with varying degrees of side effects. Therefore, it is imperative to develop new anti-inflammatory drugs with reducing side effects for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases. Natural anti-inflammatory drugs have emerged as an important area of research in recent years. The study was to determine the anti-inflammatory mechanism of Paridis rhizoma extract (PRE) in rat models of acute inflammation induced by carrageenan and RAW264.7 cells models induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PRE was investigated using the carrageenan-induced paw oedema model on rats in vivo. Histopathology examined the extent of inflammatory infiltration and tissue damage. The effect of PRE on the levels of specific cytokines was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The Cell Counting Kit (CCK)-8 assay evaluated the cytotoxic effects of PRE on Raw264.7 cells. The mRNA expression levels of cytokines were quantified using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Western blot measured TNF-α, IL6, TLR4, p-P65, p-IKB, HO1, SOD1 and SOD2. Fluorescence measured the cellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

RESULTS

PRE treatment reduced interstitial edema and structural damage in a dose-dependent manner in vivo. PRE inhibited inflammatory responses in vivo and in vitro, as evidenced by the decreased expression of inflammatory factors, production of ROS, and increased expression of SOD1, SOD2, and HO1. Moreover, PRE inhibited the activity of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) pathway.

CONCLUSION

The anti-inflammatory activity and potential mechanism of PRE were demonstrated according to the results. PRE reduced LPS-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting the NF-KB signaling pathway and ROS production in vitro. PRE alleviated interstitial edema and structural damage in the carrageenan-induced paw edema model on rats in vivo. This study provided an idea for future development of PR-based anti-inflammatory drugs.

Evaluation of Chlamydia trachomatis screening from the perspective of health economics: a systematic review

Background

Most Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infections are asymptomatic. The infection can persist and lead to severe sequelae. Therefore, screening for CT can primarily prevent serious sequelae.

Aim

To systematically evaluate CT screening from the perspective of health economics, summarize previous findings from different target populations, and make practical recommendations for developing local CT screening strategies.

Methods

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochran Library, and National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (Ovid) were searched from January 1, 2000, to March 4, 2023. Studies reporting the cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, or cost-utility of CT screening were eligible to be included. A narrative synthesis was used to analyze and report the results following the PRISMA guidelines. The Consensus on Health Economic Criteria (CHEC) list was used to assess the methodological quality of included studies.

Results

Our review finally comprised 39 studies addressing four populations: general sexually active people (n = 25), pregnant women (n = 4), women attending STD and abortion clinics (n = 4), and other high-risk individuals (n = 6). The total number of participants was ~7,991,198. The majority of studies assessed the cost-effectiveness or cost-utility of the screening method. The results showed that the following screening strategies may be cost-effective or cost-saving under certain conditions: performing CT screening in young people aged 15-24 in the general population, military recruits, and high school students; incorporating CT screening into routine antenatal care for pregnant women aged 15-30; opportunistic CT screening for women attending STD and abortion clinics; home-obtained sampling for CT screening using urine specimens or vaginal swab; performing CT screening for 14-30-year-old people who enter correctional institutions (i.e., jail, detention) as soon as possible; providing CT screening for female sex workers (FSWs) based on local incidence and prevalence; adding routine CT screening to HIV treatment using rectal samples from men who have sex with men (MSM).

Conclusion

We found that CT screening in general sexually active people aged 15-24, military recruits, high school students, pregnant women aged 15-30, women attending STD and abortion clinics, people entering jail, detention, FSWs, and MSM has health economic value. Due to the different prevalence of CT, diversities of economic conditions, and varying screening costs among different populations and different countries, regions, or settings, no uniform and standard screening strategies are currently available. Therefore, each country should consider its local condition and the results of health economic evaluations of CT screening programs in that country to develop appropriate CT screening strategies.

Construction of Cation-Sieving Function Layers Enabling Dendrite-Free Zinc Metal Anodes for Durable Aqueous Systems

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are considered as promising candidates for safe and green energy storage. Yet, Zn anodes still suffer from serious challenges. Herein, an effective cation-sieve of polyethersulfone-modified sulfonated polyether ether ketone is developed as protective coating layer of the Zn anodes. Cation-only transmission and dense property of the layer can protect the Zn from active water and anions, inhibiting corrosion, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and passivation. Zincophilic property of the layer can homogenize Zn2+ flow, and promote uniform plating of Zn. Therefore, protected symmetric Zn||Zn cell can maintain as long as 5600 h with a low polarization at 1.0 mA cm-2 and 0.5 mAh cm-2 , and still long as 800 h at 5.0 mA cm-2 and 5.0 mAh cm-2 . It is found that not only the dendrites but also the popular existed passivation product of Zn4 SO4 (OH)6 ·5H2 O can be inhibited effectively. In asymmetric Zn||Ti cells, average Coulombic efficiency can reach 98.2%, suggesting corrosion and HER are restrained effectively. Matched with MnO2 cathode, full cells using coated Zn exhibit much better cycling performance than that using bare Zn. Moreover, Zn4 O3 (SO4 )·7H2 O (ZSH)-assisted reversible conversion mechanism between the ZSH and Znx Hy MnO2 is revealed through operando Raman.

Chiral recognition of neutral guests by chiral naphthotubes with a bis-thiourea endo-functionalized cavity

Developing chiral receptors with an endo-functionalized cavity for chiral recognition is of great significance in the field of molecular recognition. This study presents two pairs of chiral naphthotubes containing a bis-thiourea endo-functionalized cavity. Each chiral naphthotube has two homochiral centers which were fixed adjacent to the thiourea groups, causing the skeleton and thiourea groups to twist enantiomerically through chiral transfer. These chiral naphthotubes are highly effective at enantiomerically recognizing various neutral chiral molecules with an enantioselectivity up to 17.0. Furthermore, the mechanism of the chiral recognition has been revealed to be originated from differences in multiple non-covalent interactions. Various factors, such as the shape of cavities, substituents of guests, flexibility of host and binding modes are demonstrated to contribute to creating differences in the non-covalent interactions. Additionally, the driving force behind enantioselectivity is mainly attributed to enthalpic differences, and enthalpy -entropy compensation has also been observed to influence enantioselectivity.

[Comparison of incubation periods of infections of Omicron variants BA.2 and BF.7 in Beijing]

Objective: To understand the incubation periods of infections of Omicron variants BA.2 and BF.7 in two COVID-19 epidemics and related factors in Beijing and provide basic parameters for the establishment of 2019-nCoV dynamic transmission model. Methods: The COVID-19 cases with specific exposure time and onset time in the Omicron variant BA.2 infection epidemic in April 2022 and in the Omicron variant BF.7 infection epidemic in October 2022 in Beijing were included in the analysis. The rank-sum test was conducted to estimate the differences in the incubation period between two types of infections. The incubation period distribution of the Omicron variant infection was fitted by using Weibull, Gamma and lognormal distributions. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to assess the effects of age, sex, variant type and vaccination status on the incubation periods. Results: A total of 64 cases of variant BA.2 infection and 58 cases of variant BF.7 infection were included. The M(Q1,Q3) of the incubation period was 3.00 (3.00, 4.00) days for BA.2 infection and 3.00 (2.00, 3.25) days for BF.7 infection. The lognormal distribution was the best fit. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that there were some differences in the incubation periods between two types of infections of Omicron variants, and the incubation period of variant BF.7 infection was shorter than that of variant BA.2 infection. Conclusion: Omicron variant BF.7 infection had shorter incubation period compared with Omicron variant BA.2 infection.

Active immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone affects thymic T cell production, migration, and colonization in male rat lymphoid tissue

Active immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) inhibits animal reproduction and has become a friendly alternative to surgical castration, which has been reported to affect the proportion of thymic T cell subpopulations. The effects of active immunization against GnRH on T cell migration from the thymus to the periphery and T cell distribution in lymphoid tissues remain unclear. Here, we showed that active immunization against GnRH increased thymic size and weight, enlarged the number of thymocytes, and enhanced CD4+ recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) and CD8+ RTEs migration to the blood and spleen. Active immunization against GnRH had no significant effect on naïve CD4+, naïve CD8+, CD4+ memory/activated, or CD8+ memory/activated T cells. In addition, active immunization against GnRH increased the proportion of CD3+ T cells in the spleen and lymph nodes. The percentages of CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells in the blood, spleen, and lymph nodes were not significantly affected by GnRH immunization. Overall, these results enhance our understanding of thymic T cell production, migration, and colonization in rat lymphoid tissues affected by GnRH immunization.

Vault Height Is a Key Predictive Factor for Anterior Segment Measurement Error by IOLMaster 700 in Eyes With Phakic Intraocular Lens

Purpose

To identify risk factors of ocular anterior segment measurement error by the IOLMaster 700 in eyes implanted with an implantable Collamer lens (ICL).

Methods

In total, 152 patients with clear lens (152 eyes, group 1) and another 32 cataract patients (57 eyes, group 2) who underwent ICL implantation were included, and the presence of measurement error by the IOLMaster 700 was determined based on B-scan images. The risk factors for measurement error were evaluated by logistic regression, and the optimal threshold was determined using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Results

The ICL was misidentified as the anterior surface of the crystalline lens in 51.97% of eyes (79/152) in group 1 and 80.70% of eyes (46/57) in group 2. For every 100-µm decrease in the vault height, a 3.57- and 5.78-fold increase in the risk of measurement error was observed in group 1 and group 2, respectively. We identified an optimal threshold of the vault height at 389.47 µm for predicting biometric measurement error in eyes implanted with ICL, which showed an area under the curve of 0.93 (95% confidence interval, 0.90-0.97), a sensitivity of 0.87, and a specificity of 0.86.

Conclusions

Patients with ICL implantation, particularly those with a vault height less than 389.47 µm, are at a greater risk of anterior segment biometric measurement error by the IOLMaster 700.

Translational Relevance

The threshold of vault height can help to identify high-risk patients and further optimize biometric measurement.

Dynamic DNA 5-hydroxylmethylcytosine and RNA 5-methycytosine Reprogramming During Early Human Development

After implantation, complex and highly specialized molecular events render functionally distinct organ formation, whereas how the epigenome shapes organ-specific development remains to be fully elucidated. Here, nano-hmC-Seal, RNA bisulfite sequencing (RNA-BisSeq), and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) were performed, and the first multilayer landscapes of DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) and RNA 5-methylcytosine (m5C) epigenomes were obtained in the heart, kidney, liver, and lung of the human foetuses at 13-28 weeks with 123 samples in total. We identified 70,091 and 503 organ- and stage-specific differentially hydroxymethylated regions (DhMRs) and m5C-modified mRNAs, respectively. The key transcription factors (TFs), T-box transcription factor 20 (TBX20), paired box 8 (PAX8), krueppel-like factor 1 (KLF1), transcription factor 21 (TCF21), and CCAAT enhancer binding protein beta (CEBPB), specifically contribute to the formation of distinct organs at different stages. Additionally, 5hmC-enriched Alu elements may participate in the regulation of expression of TF-targeted genes. Our integrated studies reveal a putative essential link between DNA modification and RNA methylation, and illustrate the epigenetic maps during human foetal organogenesis, which provide a foundation for for an in-depth understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms underlying early development and birth defects.

Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu granules attenuate bone destruction in mice with collagen-induced arthritis by promoting mitophagy of osteoclast precursors to inhibit osteoclastogenesis

BACKGROUND

Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu decoction, a traditional Chinese medicine formula used empirically for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), has been shown to alleviate bone destruction in rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA).

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to characterize the effects of Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu granules (GSZGs) on bone destruction in RA and the underlying mechanism.

STUDY DESIGN

A CIA arthritis model using DBA/1 mice. The animals were divided into a normal group; CIA model group; low, medium, and high-dose GSZG groups (3, 6, and 9 g/kg/day); and a methotrexate group (1.14 mg/kg/w). In vitro, a cytokine induced osteoclastogenesis model was established.

METHODS

After 28 days of treatment, the paw volume was measured, bone destruction was examined by micro-CT, and the generation of osteoclasts in bone tissue was evaluated via tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect and underlying mechanism of action of GSZG on RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis were investigated in vitro.

RESULTS

The in vivo analyses demonstrated that the paw volume and degree of bone erosion of mice in the medium- and high-dose GSZG groups were significantly decreased compared to the CIA model group. In addition, GSZG treatment suppressed the excessive generation of osteoclasts in the bone tissue of CIA mice. In vitro, GSZG inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. Specifically, it only inhibited the generation of osteoclast precursors (OCPs); it had no significant effect on the fusion of OCPs or maturation of osteoclasts. Finally, we showed that the inhibitory effect of GSZG on osteoclastogenesis was related to the promotion of PTEN-induced kinase protein 1 (PINK1)/Parkin pathway-mediated mitophagy of osteoclast precursors, which was verified using a PINK1 knockdown small interfering RNA in OCPs.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate that GSZG is a candidate for the treatment of bone destruction in RA and provide a more detailed elucidation of the mechanism of GSZG anti-RA bone erosion, i.e., inhibition of the ROS/NF-κB axis through the PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitochondrial autophagic pathway to inhibit osteoclast precursor production, compared to the published literature.

3-Bromopyruvate-loaded bismuth sulfide nanospheres improve cancer treatment by synergizing radiotherapy with modulation of tumor metabolism

BACKGROUND

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most mainstream cancer therapeutic modalities. However, due to the lack of specificity of the radiation adopted, both normal and cancerous cells are destroyed indiscriminately. This highlights the crucial need to improve radiosensitization. This study aims to address this issue by constructing a multifunctional nanospheres that can sensitize multiple aspects of radiotherapy.

RESULTS

Nanospheres containing high atomic element Bi can effectively absorb ionizing radiation and can be used as radiosensitizers. Cell viability after Bi₂S₃ + X-ray treatment was half that of X-ray treatment alone. On the other hand, exposed 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) could reduce the overactive oxygen (O₂) metabolism of tumor cells and alleviate tumor hypoxia, thereby promoting radiation-induced DNA damage. The combination index (CI) of 3BP and Bi₂S₃-based RT in Bi₂S₃-3BP + X-ray was determined to be 0.46 with the fraction affected (f_a) was 0.5 via Chou-Talalay's isobolographic method, which indicated synergistic effect of 3BP and Bi₂S₃-based RT after integration into Bi₂S₃-3BP + X-ray. Under the combined effect of 3BP and RT, autophagy was over-activated through starvation-induced and redox homeostasis dysregulation pathways, which in turn exhibited pro-death effects. In addition, the prepared nanospheres possess strong X-ray attenuation and high near-infrared (NIR) optical absorption, thus eliminating the need for additional functional components and could serve as bimodal contrast agents for computed tomography/photoacoustic (CT/PA) imaging.

CONCLUSIONS

The rational design of multifunctional nanospheres with the unique properties provided a novel strategy to achieving high therapeutic efficacy in RT. This was accomplished through simultaneous activation of multiple sensitization pathways by increasing ionizing radiation, reducing tumor oxygen consumption, inducing pro-death autophagy, and providing multiple-imaging guidance/monitoring.

LIPUS-S/B@NPs regulates the release of SDF-1 and BMP-2 to promote stem cell recruitment-osteogenesis for periodontal bone regeneration

Purpose: Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)-based nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) have been widely used as the carrier for sustainable drug delivery. However, the drug release from the NPs was usually incomplete and uncontrollable. Herein, a low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) assisted SDF-1/BMP-2@nanoparticles (S/B@NPs) system was fabricated to facilitate stem cell recruitment-osteogenesis for periodontal bone regeneration. Methods: In this work, S/B@NPs were prepared with double-emulsion synthesis method. Then the S/B release profile from NPs was evaluated with or without low intensity pulsed ultrasound treatment. Afterwards, the stem cell recruiting and osteoinductive capacities of LIPUS-S/B@NPs were detected with human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) in vitro and in a rat periodontal bone defect model. Results: The results indicated that S/B@NPs were successfully prepared and LIPUS could effectively regulate the release of S/B and increase their final releasing amount. Moreover, LIPUS-S/B@NPs system significantly promoted hPDLCs migrating and osteogenesis in vitro and recruiting rBMSCs to the rat periodontal defect and facilitated bone regeneration in vivo. Conclusion: Our LIPUS assisted S/B@NPs system can effectively facilitate stem cell recruitment and periodontal bone regeneration. Considering its reliable safety and therapeutic effect on bone fracture, LIPUS, as an adjuvant therapy, holds great potential in the regulation of drug delivery systems for bone healing.

Predicting post-operative vault and optimal implantable collamer lens size using machine learning based on various ophthalmic device combinations

BACKGROUND

Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) surgery has been proven to be a safe, effective, and predictable method for correcting myopia and myopic astigmatism. However, predicting the vault and ideal ICL size remains technically challenging. Despite the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in ophthalmology, no AI studies have provided available choices of different instruments and combinations for further vault and size predictions. This study aimed to fill this gap and predict post-operative vault and appropriate ICL size utilizing the comparison of numerous AI algorithms, stacking ensemble learning, and data from various ophthalmic devices and combinations.

RESULTS

This retrospective and cross-sectional study included 1941 eyes of 1941 patients from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center. For both vault prediction and ICL size selection, the combination containing Pentacam, Sirius, and UBM demonstrated the best results in test sets [R² = 0.499 (95% CI 0.470-0.528), mean absolute error = 130.655 (95% CI 128.949-132.111), accuracy = 0.895 (95% CI 0.883-0.907), AUC = 0.928 (95% CI 0.916-0.941)]. Sulcus-to-sulcus (STS), a parameter from UBM, ranked among the top five significant contributors to both post-operative vault and optimal ICL size prediction, consistently outperforming white-to-white (WTW). Moreover, dual-device combinations or single-device parameters could also effectively predict vault and ideal ICL size, and excellent ICL selection prediction was achievable using only UBM parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

Strategies based on multiple machine learning algorithms for different ophthalmic devices and combinations are applicable for vault predicting and ICL sizing, potentially improving the safety of the ICL implantation. Moreover, our findings emphasize the crucial role of UBM in the perioperative period of ICL surgery, as it provides key STS measurements that outperformed WTW measurements in predicting post-operative vault and optimal ICL size, highlighting its potential to enhance ICL implantation safety and accuracy.

Covalent Organic Framework Nanosheets for Fluorescence Quantification of Peptide

Rapid and sensitive quantification of peptides plays an important role in clinical diagnosis. Fluorescence assay is one of the most promising peptide detection tools, but it relies on intrinsic fluorescence or additional derivatization, resulting in poor versatility. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown a good application prospect in the field of fluorescence detection, but their application scope is limited to heavy metal ions and some small polar organic molecules. Herein, we report the application of COFs nanosheet for fluorescence detection of peptides. Fluorescent sp² acrylonitrile-linked COFs nanosheets (TTAN-CON) were prepared by water-assisted ultrasonic exfoliation which performed with excellent fluorescence properties with Stokes shifts of 146 nm and fluorescence quantum yield of up to 24.45%. Compared to the bulk fluorescent COFs, exfoliated CONs films performed with better stability of fluorescence signal in solution. We found the fluorescence of TTAN-CON can be effectively quenched by hydrophobic peptides at a very rapid rate (less than 5 min per sample). TTAN-CON presented good sensitivity and selectivity for hydrophobic peptides detection via the static and dynamic joint quenching mechanism. TTAN-CON was further used to detect NLLGLIEAK and ProGRP_31-98, two target peptide fragments of lung cancer biomarker ProGRP. The fluorescence intensities of TTAN-CON were negative linearly correlated with the amounts of hydrophobic NLLGLIEAK over the range of 5-1000 ng/mL with the correlation coefficients over 0.99, and the limit of detection was 1.67 ng/mL, displaying higher sensitivity and convenience than traditional optical methods. What's more, the quantification of ProGRP_31-98 was achieved by the quantification of hydrophobic peptides in its enzyme hydrolysis products. We anticipate COFs nanosheets to be a universal fluorescence detection work-box for peptides biomarkers with clinical significance.

Multifunctional Nanoplatform-Mediated Chemo-Photothermal Therapy Combines Immunogenic Cell Death with Checkpoint Blockade to Combat Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Distant Metastasis

Background

Breast cancer has become the most common cancer in women. Compare with other subtypes of breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is more likely to relapse and metastasize. Highly effective therapeutic strategies are desperately needed to be explored. In this study, a multifunctional nanoplatform is expected to mediate chemo-photothermal therapy, which can combine immunogenic cell death with checkpoint blockade to combat TNBC and distant metastasis.

Methods

Poly (lactic acid-glycolic acid)-Poly (ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles (NPs), a type of polymeric NPs, loaded with IR780, a near-infrared (NIR) dye, and doxorubicin (DOX) as the chemotherapeutic drug, were assembled by an improved double emulsification method (designated as IDNPs). The characterization, intracellular uptake, biosafety, photoacoustic (PA) imaging performance, and biodistribution of IDNPs were studied. Chemo-photothermal therapeutic effect and immunogenic cell death (ICD) were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. The potency of chemo-photothermal therapy-triggered ICD in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) immunotherapy in eliciting immune response and treating distant tumors was further investigated.

Results

IR780 and DOX were successfully loaded into PLGA-PEG to form the IDNPs, with size of 243.87nm and Zeta potential of -6.25mV. The encapsulation efficiency of IR780 and DOX was 83.44% and 5.98%, respectively. IDNPs demonstrated remarkable on-site accumulation and PA imaging capability toward 4T1 TNBC models. Chemo-photothermal therapy demonstrated satisfactory therapeutic effects both in vitro and in vivo, and triggered ICD efficiently. ICD, in combination with anti-PD-1, provoked a systemic antitumor immune response against distant tumors.

Conclusion

Multifunctional IDNPs were successfully synthesized to mediate chemo-photothermal therapy, which combines immunogenic cell death with checkpoint blockade to combat TNBC and distant metastasis, showing great promise preclinically and clinically.

Recent Progress on Honeycomb Layered Oxides as a Durable Cathode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are becoming promising candidates for energy storage devices due to the low cost, abundant reserves, and excellent electrochemical performance. As the most important unit, layered cathodes attract much attention, where honeycomb-layered-oxides (HLOs) manifest outstanding structural stability, high redox potential, and long-life electrochemistry. Here, recent progress on HLOs as well as Na₃ Ni₂ SbO₆ and Na₃ Ni₂ BiO₆ as two representative materials are introduced, and the crystal and electronic structure, electrochemical performance, and modification strategies are summarized. The advanced high nickel HLOs are highlighted toward development of state-of-the-art sodium-ion batteries. This review would deepen the understanding of superstructure in layered oxides, as well as structure-property relationship, and inspire more interest in high output voltage, long lifespan sodium-ion batteries.

Selective adsorption of trace morpholine impurities over N-ethyl morpholine by tetralactam solids

The separation and especially the removal of morpholine (MOR) impurities from N-ethyl morpholine (NEM) is of great significance in the fine chemical industry. Herein, we offer a novel strategy for the selective adsorption of MOR over NEM by tetralactam solids. The adsorbent realized the purification of NEM by adsorbing traces of MOR impurities, such that the purity can be improved from around 98% to over 99.5%. Single crystal structures indicate that N-H⋯O and N-H⋯N hydrogen bonding interactions are essential in the selective separation.

[Cardiovascular risk assessment among patients with hypertension based on SCORE2 and SCORE-OP algorithms in black Africans]

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events. The cardiovascular risk assessment is performed using specific algorithms, particularly SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP developed by the European Society of Cardiology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Prospective cohort study from February 1, 2022, to July 31, 2022, enrolling 410 hypertensive patients. Epidemiological, paraclinical, therapeutic, and follow-up data were analyzed. Cardiovascular risk stratification of patients was performed using SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP algorithms. We compared the initial and 6-month cardiovascular risks.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 60.88 ± 12.35 years with a female predominance (sex ratio = 0.66). In addition to hypertension, dyslipidemia (45.4%) was the most frequently associated risk factor. A high proportion of patients were classified as high (48.6%) and very high (46.3%) cardiovascular risk, with a significant difference between men and women. Reassessment of cardiovascular risk after 6 months of treatment found significant differences compared with the initial cardiovascular risk (p < 0.001). The rate of patients at low to moderate cardiovascular risk (49.5%) increased substantially, whereas the proportion of patients at very high risk decreased (6.8%).

CONCLUSION

Our study conducted at Abidjan Heart Institute in a young population of patients with hypertension revealed a severe cardiovascular risk profile. Almost half of the patients are classified at very high cardiovascular risk, based on the SCORE2 and SCORE2-OP. The widespread use of these new algorithms for risk stratification should lead to more aggressive management and prevention strategies for hypertension and associated risk factors.

[Determination of eight cannabinoids in foods with enhanced matrix removal-lipid adsorbent by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry]

A novel method was developed for the simultaneous determination of eight cannabinoids in six types of food matrices, including chocolate, fondant, biscuit, beverage, cookie and baijiu, using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The sample extraction and cleanup steps were optimized, and various purification methods were investigated to remove the oil matrix and glue in chocolate and fudge, respectively. Enhanced matrix removal-lipid adsorbent (EMR-Lipid) provided efficient, selective cleanup of the evaluated matrices. The sample was extracted using acetonitrile, followed by EMR-Lipid cleanup, and then dried using anhydrous sodium sulfate. The acetonitrile layer was concentrated by nitrogen to near-dry after 100 μL 10% glycerol in methanol was added to improve the recovery by reducing loss during concentration under the stream of nitrogen gas. Eight cannabinoids were separated using a Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH Shield RP18 column (100 mm×3.0 mm, 1.7 μm). The responses of the cannabinoids in the positive and negative ionization modes were investigated and optimized, and the responses were superior in the negative ion mode compared to those in the positive ion mode. MS detection was performed in the multi-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using an electrospray source in the negative ion mode. The cannabinoids were quantified using an external standard with matrix calibration curves to reduce the influences of the matrix effects on the quantitative results. The developed method was verified, and the conditions of sample pretreatment were also optimized. The calibration curves of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidivarin, tetrahydrocannabivarin, and cannabigerol and those of cannabidiol, cannabinol, cannabidiolic acid, and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid exhibited good linearities, with r>0.995, in the ranges of 2-200 and 0.4-40 ng/mL, respectively. The respective limits of detection (LODs, S/N=3) and quantification (LOQs, S/N=10) of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidivarin, tetrahydrocannabivarin, and cannabigerol were 4 and 10 μg/kg, and those of cannabidiol, cannabinol, cannabidiolic acid, and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid were 0.8 and 2 μg/kg. The average recoveries of the cannabinoids were 82.0%-114.9% under three spiked levels with corresponding relative standard deviations (RSDs) of <15% (n=6). EMR-Lipid provided efficient, selective cleanups of food matrices with good accuracy. The method is sensitive, rapid, accurate, simple to execute, and it is suitable for the determination of cannabinol compounds in typical food matrices.

Mechanism of action of quercetin in rheumatoid arthritis models: meta-analysis and systematic review of animal studies

Quercetin, a typical flavonoid derived from a common natural plant, has multiple biological activities. Previous research in animal models has demonstrated the effectiveness of quercetin in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The pharmacological effects and probable mechanisms of quercetin were evaluated in this study. Three databases, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase, were searched for relevant studies from the creation of the databases to November 2022. Methodological quality was assessed using the SYRCLE risk of bias tool. STATA 15.1 was used to perform the statistical analysis. This research included 17 studies involving 251 animals. The results indicated that quercetin was able to reduce arthritis scores, paw swelling, histopathological scores, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-17 (IL-17), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and increase interleukin-10 (IL-10), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). These may be related to quercetin's potential anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and osteoprotective properties. However, more high-quality animal studies are needed to assess the effect of quercetin on RA. Additionally, the safety of quercetin requires further confirmation. Given the importance of the active ingredient, dose selection and the improvement of quercetin's bioavailability remain to be explored.

Thallium exposure induces changes in B and T cell generation in mice

Thallium (Tl) is a high-priority toxic metal that poses a severe threat to human health. The toxicity characteristics induced by Tl have been partially discussed. However, the immunotoxic effects of Tl exposure have remained largely unexplored. Our findings demonstrated that 50 ppm of Tl exposure for one week induced severe weight loss in mice, which was accompanied by appetite suppression. Moreover, although Tl exposure did not induce significant pathological damage to skeletal muscle and bone, Tl inhibited the expression of B cell development-related genes in the bone marrow. Additionally, Tl exposure increased B cell apoptosis and reduced its generation in the bone marrow. Analysis of B cells in the blood indicated that the percentage of B-2 cells decreased significantly, whereas B-2 cell proportions in the spleen did not. The percentage of CD4⁺ T cells in the thymus increased significantly, and the proportion of CD8⁺ T cells did not. Furthermore, although the proportion of the total CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells was not significantly altered in the blood and spleen, Tl exposure promoted the migration of naïve CD4⁺ T cells and recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) from the thymus to the spleen. These results suggest that Tl exposure can affect B and T cell generation and migration, which provides new evidence for Tl-induced immunotoxicity.

Single-Shot Multi-Frame Imaging of Femtosecond Laser-Induced Plasma Propagation

Single-shot ultrafast multi-frame imaging technology plays a crucial role in the observation of laser-induced plasma. However, there are many challenges in the application of laser processing, such as technology fusion and imaging stability. To provide a stable and reliable observation method, we propose an ultrafast single-shot multi-frame imaging technology based on wavelength polarization multiplexing. Through the frequency doubling and birefringence effects of the BBO and the quartz crystal, the 800 nm femtosecond laser pulse was frequency doubled to 400 nm, and a sequence of probe sub-pulses with dual-wavelength and different polarization was generated. The coaxial propagation and framing imaging of multi-frequency pulses provided stable imaging quality and clarity, as well as high temporal/spatial resolution (200 fs and 228 lp/mm). In the experiments involving femtosecond laser-induced plasma propagation, the probe sub-pulses measured their time intervals by capturing the same results. Specifically, the measured time intervals were 200 fs between the same color pulses and 1 ps between the adjacent different. Finally, based on the obtained system time resolution, we observed and revealed the evolution mechanism of femtosecond laser-induced air plasma filaments, the multifilament propagation of femtosecond laser in fused silica, and the influence mechanism of air ionization on laser-induced shock waves.

Thallium(III) exposure alters diversity and co-occurrence networks of bacterial and fungal communities and intestinal immune response along the digestive tract in mice

The gut microbiota, which includes fungi and bacteria, plays an important role in maintaining gut health. Our previous studies have shown that monovalent thallium [Tl(I)] exposure is associated with disturbances in intestinal flora. However, research on acute Tl(III) poisoning through drinking water and the related changes in the gut microbiota is insufficient. In this study, we showed that Tl(III) exposure (10 ppm for 2 weeks) reduced the alpha diversity of bacteria in the ileum, colon, and feces of mice, as well as the alpha diversity of fecal fungi. In addition, principal coordinate analysis showed that Tl(III) exposure had little effect on the bacterial and fungal beta diversity. LEfSe analyses revealed that Tl(III) exposure altered the abundance of intestinal bacteria in the digestive tract and feces. Moreover, Tl(III) exposure had little effect on fungal abundance in the ileum, cecum, and colon, but had a considerable effect on fungal abundance in feces. After Tl(III) exposure, the fungal composition was more disrupted in feces than in the intestinal tract, suggesting that feces can serve as a representative of the gut mycobiota in Tl(III) exposure studies. Intra-kingdom network analyses showed that Tl(III) exposure affected the complexity of bacterial-bacterial and fungal-fungal co-occurrence networks along the digestive tract. The bacterial-fungal interkingdom co-occurrence networks exhibited increased complexity after Tl(III) exposure, except for those in the colon. Additionally, Tl(III) exposure altered the intestinal immune response. These results reveal the perturbation in gut bacterial and fungal diversity, abundance, and co-occurrence network complexity, as well as the gut immune response, caused by Tl(III) exposure.

Structural Evolution and Transitions of Mechanisms in Creep Deformation of Nanocrystalline FeCrAl Alloys

FeCrAl alloys have been suggested as one of the most promising fuel cladding materials for the development of accident tolerance fuel. Creep is one of the important mechanical properties of the FeCrAl alloys used as fuel claddings under high temperature conditions. This work aims to elucidate the deformation feature and underlying mechanism during the creep process of nanocrystalline FeCrAl alloys using atomistic simulations. The creep curves at different conditions are simulated for FeCrAl alloys with grain sizes (GS) of 5.6-40 nm, and the dependence of creep on temperature, stress and GS are analyzed. The transitions of the mechanisms are analyzed by stress and GS exponents firstly, and further checked not only from microstructural evidence, but also from a vital comparison of activation energies for creep and diffusion. Under low stress conditions, grain boundary (GB) diffusion contributes more to the overall creep deformation than lattice diffusion does for the alloy with small GSs. However, for the alloy with larger GSs, lattice diffusion controls creep. Additionally, a high temperature helps the transition of diffusional creep from the GB to the dominant lattice. Under medium- and high-stress conditions, GB slip and dislocation motion begin to control the creep mechanism. The amount of GB slip increases with the temperature, or decreases with GS. GS and temperature also have an impact on the dislocation behavior. The higher the temperature or the smaller the GS is, the smaller the stress at which the dislocation motion begins to affect creep.

Fabrication of a Cation Exchange Membrane with Largely Reduced Anion Permeability for Advanced Aqueous K-ion Battery in an Alkaline-Neutral Electrolyte Decoupling System

Herein, an efficient method to prepare sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) based cation exchange membranes (CEMs) is developed, where polyethersulfone (PES) is used as an additive. The optimized membrane of 30 wt.%PES/SPEEK-M exhibits a rather low anion permeability and a high ionic conductivity of 9.52 mS cm^-1 together with low volume swelling in water. Meanwhile, tensile strength of the membrane is as high as 31.4 MPa with a tensile strain of 162%. As separators for aqueous K-ion batteries (AKIBs) with decoupled gel electrolytes (Zn anode in alkaline and Prussian blue (FeHCF) cathode in neutral). Discharge voltage of the AKIB can reach 2.3 V. Meanwhile, Zn dendrites can be effectively suppressed in the gel anolyte. Specific capacities of the FeHCF cathode are 116.7 mAh g^-1 at 0.3 A g^-1 (close to its theoretical value), and 95.0 mAh g^-1 at 1.0 A g^-1 , indicating good rate performance. Capacity retention of the cathode is as high as 91.2% after 1000 cycles' cycling owing to the well remained neutral environment of the catholyte. There is almost no pH change for the catholyte after cycling, indicating good anion-blocking or cation-selecting ability of the 30 wt.%PES/SPEEK-M, much better than other membranes.

Effective Solution toward the Issues of Zn-Based Anodes for Advanced Alkaline Ni-Zn Batteries

Alkaline nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn) batteries, as traditional rechargeable aqueous batteries, possess an obvious advantage in terms of energy density, but their development has been hindered by the anode-concerned problems, Zn dendrites, self-corrosion, passivation, deformation, and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, to solve these problems, a dual protective strategy is proposed toward the anode using ZnO as an initial active material, including a C coating on ZnO (ZnO@C) and a thin poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) layer coating on the electrode (ZnO@C-PVA). In a three-electrode configuration, the reversible capacity can reach 600 mAh g^-1 for the ZnO@C-PVA. Using excessive commercial Ni(OH)₂ as the cathode, the alkaline Ni-Zn cells exhibit good electrochemical performance: Discharge capacity can be as high as 640-650 mAh g^-1 at 4 A g^-1 with a Coulomb efficiency (CE) as high as 97-99% after activity, suggesting low self-corrosion and HER. Capacity retention is 97% after 1200 cycles, indicating rather good durability. The discharge capacity is even slightly increased with the increase of charge/discharge current density (≤8 A g^-1), implying good rate performance. Additionally, the discharge voltage can reach 1.8 V (midpoint value) at various current densities, reflecting the fast reaction kinetics of the anode. Most importantly, no Zn dendrites and passivation are observed after long-term cycling. The strategy proposed here can solve the anode-concerned problems effectively, exhibiting a high application prospect.

Tetralactam macrocycle based indicator displacement assay for colorimetric and fluorometric dual-mode detection of urinary uric acid

An indicator displacement assay for colorimetric and fluorometric dual-mode detection of urinary uric acid was constructed by water-soluble naphthalene-based tetralactam macrocycle and phenoxazine dye resorufin. The visual detection of uric...

CARK3-mediated ADF4 regulates hypocotyl elongation and soil drought stress in Arabidopsis

Actin depolymerization factors (ADFs), as actin-binding proteins, act a crucial role in plant development and growth, as well as in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we found that CARK3 plays a role in regulating hypocotyl development and links a cross-talk between actin filament and drought stress through interaction with ADF4. By using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and GST pull-down, we confirmed that CARK3 interacts with ADF4 in vivo and in vitro. Next, we generated and characterized double mutant adf4cark3-4 and OE-ADF4:cark3-4. The hypocotyl elongation assay indicated that the cark3-4 mutant seedlings were slightly longer hypocotyls when compared with the wild type plants (WT), while CARK3 overexpressing seedlings had no difference with WT. In addition, overexpression of ADF4 significantly inhibited long hypocotyls of cark3-4 mutants. Surprisingly, we found that overexpression of ADF4 markedly enhance drought resistance in soil when compared with WT. On the other hand, drought tolerance analysis showed that overexpression of CARK3 could rescue adf4 drought susceptibility. Taken together, our results suggest that CARK3 acts as a regulator in hypocotyl elongation and drought tolerance likely via regulating ADF4 phosphorylation.

Recent progress in mass spectrometry for single-cell metabolomics

Metabolites are the end products of cellular vital activities and can reflect the state of cellular to a certain extent. Rapid change of metabolites and the low abundance of signature metabolites cause difficulties in single-cell detection, which is a great challenge in single-cell metabolomics analysis. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful tool that uniquely suited to detect intracellular small-molecule metabolites and has shown good application in single-cell metabolite analysis. In this mini-review, we describe three types of emerging technologies for MS-based single-cell metabolic analysis in recent years, including nano-ESI-MS based single-cell metabolomics analysis, high-throughput analysis via flow cytometry, and cellular metabolic imaging analysis. These techniques provide a large amount of single-cell metabolic data, allowing the potential of MS in single-cell metabolic analysis is gradually being explored and is of great importance in disease and life science research.

Thallium(I) exposure perturbs the gut microbiota and metabolic profile as well as the regional immune function of C57BL/6 J mice

Intestinal microbes regulate the development of diseases induced by environmental exposure. Thallium (Tl) is a highly toxic heavy metal, and its toxicity is rarely discussed in relation to gut microbes. Herein, we showed that Tl(I) exposure (10 ppm for 2 weeks) affected the alpha diversity of bacteria in the ileum, colon, and feces, but had little effect on the beta diversity of bacteria through 16S rRNA sequencing. LEfSe analysis revealed that Tl(I) exposure changed the abundance of intestinal microbiota along the digestive tract. Cecum metabolomic detection and analysis showed that Tl(I) exposure altered the abundance and composition of metabolites. In addition, the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that Tl(I) exposure impaired amino acid, lipid, purine metabolism, and G protein-coupled receptor signalling pathways. A consistency test revealed a strong correlation, and a Pearson's correlation analysis showed an extensive interaction, between microorganisms and metabolites. Analysis of the intestinal immunity revealed that Tl(I) exposure suppressed the immune responses, which also had regional differences. These results identify the perturbation of the intestinal microenvironment by Tl exposure and provide a new explanation for Tl toxicity.

Thallium(I and III) exposure leads to liver damage and disorders of fatty acid metabolism in mice

Thallium (Tl), a highly toxic and priority pollutant heavy metal, exposure can damage mitochondria and disrupt their function. The liver is the central organ that controls lipid homeostasis and contains a large number of mitochondria. So far, there is no study investigating the effects of Tl exposure on hepatic fatty acid metabolism. Here, we showed that 10 ppm of Tl(I) and Tl(III) exposures for two weeks did not significantly affect the body weight and water/food intake in mice. However, it decreased the ratio of liver/weight and induced hepatic sinus congestion and hepatocyte necrosis. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis revealed Tl accumulation in the liver. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) results showed that Tl(I) exposure significantly increased hepatic C18:0 concentration, while significantly decreased the concentrations of C16:1n-7, C20:1n-9, C18:3n-6, and C20:2n-9. Tl(III) exposure significantly reduced hepatic concentrations of C20:0, C22:0, C20:1n-9, C18:3n-6, and C20:3n-6. In addition, Tl(I) exposure upregulated the genes related to antioxidation (HO-1, GPX1, and GPX4), fatty acid synthesis (FADS2 and Elovl2), and fatty acid oxidation pathway (PPARα, ACADM, ACADVL, ACAA2, and CPT1A) in the liver. Tl(III) exposure did not significantly affect the transcript levels of liver antioxidative/metabolic enzymes and fatty acid synthesis-related genes, but upregulated fatty acid oxidation pathway-related genes (CYP4A10 and CPT1A). These results suggest that Tl(I) and Tl(III) exposures can cause liver damage and disrupt hepatic fatty acid metabolism, which provide new insights into Tl exposure-induced energy depletion from the perspective of fatty acid metabolism.

Bioinformatics Analysis and Experimental Identification of Immune-Related Genes and Immune Cells in the Progression of Retinoblastoma

Purpose

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common type of aggressive intraocular malignancy in children. The alteration of immunity during RB progression and invasion has not yet been well defined. This study investigated significantly altered immune-associated genes and cells related to RB invasion.

Methods

The differentially expressed immune-related genes (IRGs) in noninvasive RB and invasive RB were identified by analysis of two microarray datasets (GSE97508 and GSE110811). Hub IRGs were further identified by real time PCR. The single-sample gene set enrichment analysis algorithm and Pearson correlation analysis were used to define immune cell infiltration and the relationships between hub IRGs and immune cells. Cell viability and migration were evaluated by CCK-8 and Transwell assays. A xenograft mouse model was used to verify the relationship between Src homology 3 (SH3) domain GRB2-like 2 (SH3GL2) expression and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs).

Results

Eight upregulated genes and six downregulated IRGs were identified in invasive RB. Seven IRGs were confirmed by real-time PCR. Moreover, the proportions of MDSCs were higher in invasive RB tissues than in noninvasive RB tissues. Furthermore, correlation analysis of altered immune genes and cells suggested that SH3GL2, Langerhans cell protein 1 (LCP1) and transmembrane immune signaling adaptor TYROBP have strong connections with MDSCs. Specifically, decreased SH3GL2 expression promoted the migration of RB cells in vitro, increased the tumor size and weight, and increased the numbers of MDSCs in the tumor and spleen in vivo.

Conclusions

This study indicated that SH3GL2 and MDSCs play a critical role in RB progression and invasion and provide candidate targets for the treatment of RB.

Investigation of children’s habits of smartphone usage and parental awareness of myopia control in underdeveloped areas of China

AIM: To investigate the behaviors of smartphone usage and parental knowledge of vision health among primary students in the rural areas of China. METHODS: In this school-based, cross-sectional study, a total of 52 606 parents of students from 30 primary schools in the Xingguo County were investigated through an online questionnaire from July 2020 to August 2020. The self-designed questionnaire contained three parts: the demographic factors of both children and parents, parental knowledge and attitude toward myopia, and the preventive treatment of myopia. RESULTS: A total of 52 485 appropriately answered questionnaires were received, showing an effective response rate of 95.1%. The average age of the primary students was 10.1±0.98y and the prevalence of myopia among the primary students was 40.3%. The age of myopia occurrence in elementary students was significantly correlated with the parents' educational level (95%CI: 0.82-0.98, P=0.013), children's gender (95%CI: 1.08-1.20, P&#x003C;0.001), school location (county or countryside) (95%CI: 0.59-0.66, P&#x003C;0.001), children's smartphone ownership (95%CI: 1.09-1.26, P&#x003C;0.001), and the average time spent on smartphone per day (95%CI: 0.78-0.88, P&#x003C;0.001). School location in the county town, high family income, and high parents' educational level significantly affected both parents' myopia awareness and children's vision-threatening behaviors (P&#x003C;0.01). Left-behind children showed a higher incidence of vision-threatening habits than those who lived with their parents (P&#x003C;0.01). CONCLUSION: The results reveal the current situation of myopia development among rural primary school students and their parents. This survey will serve as a guidance for designing myopic prevention policies in the rural areas of China.