Analysis of the role of CHPF in colorectal cancer tumorigenesis and immunotherapy based on bioinformatics and experiments.

BACKGROUND: Chondroitin polymerizing factor (CHPF) has been found to be involved in the development of numerous cancers and correlated with poor prognosis. However, its role in the tumorigenesis and development of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. METHODS: In our research, we explored CHPF expression and clinicopathological characteristics using The Cancer Genome Atlas Program (TCGA), UALCAN, GSE9348, TIMER2.0 and The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database, in addition, we validated CHPF expression in CRC cell lines by Real-Time Quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB). KM-Plotter, PrognoScan and TCGA were also utilized to verify its prognosis value in CRC. Small-interfer RNA (Si-RNA) was used to perform Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), colony formation, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EDU), transwell and wound healing assays to testify its function on the tumor progression. Based on TCGA database, we probed potential biological mechanism by which CHPF play its role via clusterProfiler package and GEPIA database and we validated their correlation by WB assay. Moreover, we explored its potential association with the tumor microenvironment (TME), immune infiltrated cells, immune checkpoints, tumor mutation burden (TMB) as well as microsatellite instability (MSI), and investigated immunotherapy sensitivity via Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm as well as potentially effective therapeutic drugs via pRRophetic algorithm. RESULTS: CHPF was identified upregulated in CRC tissues and cells, correlated with poor prognosis, and nodal metastasis status, stage and histological subtype. Down-regulation of CHPF inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration and its expression correlated with wnt pathway key molecules. In addition, high expression of CHPF was positively correlated with TME scores, Regulatory T cells (Tregs) cell infiltration degree, Programmed death-1 (PD-1), MSI-high (MSI-H), and TIDE scores, however, not with TMB. Targeted drug analysis showed that patients with high CHPF expression were more sensitive to telatinib, recaparib, serdemetan, and trametinib. CONCLUSION: CHPF could promote the proliferation and migration of CRC cells and lead to poor prognosis, possibly through wnt pathways as well as changes in TME. Patients with high expression of CHPF had poor efficacy in immunotherapy, which might be related to Tregs cell infiltration. Above all, it might offer more reliable guidance for future immunotherapy.

Deep learning fusion framework for automated coronary artery disease detection using raw heart sound signals.

One of the most common cardiovascular diseases is coronary artery disease (CAD). Thus, it is crucial for early CAD diagnosis to control disease progression. Computer-aided CAD detection often converts heart sounds into graphics for analysis. However, this method relies heavily on the subjective experience of experts. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a method for CAD detection using raw heart sound signals by constructing a fusion framework with two CAD detection models: a multidomain feature model and a medical multidomain feature fusion model. We collected heart sound signal datasets from 400 participants, extracting 206 multidomain features and 126 medical multidomain features. The designed framework fused the same one-dimensional deep learning features with different multidomain features for CAD detection. The experimental results showed that the multidomain feature model and the medical multidomain feature fusion model achieved areas under the curve (AUC) of 94.7 % and 92.7 %, respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the fusion framework in integrating one-dimensional and cross-domain heart sound features through deep learning algorithms, providing an effective solution for noninvasive CAD detection.

Effect of single blastocyst-stage versus single cleavage-stage embryo transfer on cumulative live births in women with good prognosis undergoing in vitro fertilization: Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

In this multicenter, non-inferiority, randomized trial, we randomly assigned 992 women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) with a good prognosis (aged 20-40, ≥3 transferrable cleavage-stage embryos) to strategies of blastocyst-stage (n = 497) or cleavage-stage (n = 495) single embryo transfer. Primary outcome was cumulative live-birth rate after up to three transfers. Secondary outcomes were cumulative live-births after all embryo transfers within 1 year of randomization, pregnancy outcomes, obstetric-perinatal complications, and livebirths outcomes. Live-birth rates were 74.8% in blastocyst-stage group versus 66.3% in cleavage-stage group (relative risk 1.13, 95%CI:1.04-1.22; Pnon-inferiority < 0.001, Psuperiority = 0.003) (1-year cumulative live birth rates of 75.7% versus 68.9%). Blastocyst transfer increased the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (4.6% vs 2.0%; P = 0.02) and neonatal hospitalization >3 days. Among good prognosis women, a strategy of single blastocyst transfer increases cumulative live-birth rates over single cleavage-stage transfer. Blastocyst transfer resulted in higher preterm birth rates. This information should be used to counsel patients on their choice between cleavage-stage and blastocyst-stage transfer (NCT03152643, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03152643 ).

Deficient RPE mitochondrial energetics leads to subretinal fibrosis in age-related neovascular macular degeneration.

Subretinal fibrosis permanently impairs the vision of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Despite emerging evidence revealing the association between disturbed metabolism in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and subretinal fibrosis, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, single-cell RNA sequencing revealed, prior to subretinal fibrosis, genes in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation are downregulated in the RPE lacking very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR), especially the rate-limiting enzyme carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A). We found that overexpression of CPT1A in the RPE of Vldlr-/- mice suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and fibrosis. Mechanistically, TGFß2 induces fibrosis by activating a Warburg-like effect, i.e. increased glycolysis and decreased mitochondrial respiration through ERK-dependent CPT1A degradation. Moreover, VLDLR blocks the formation of the TGFß receptor I/II complex by interacting with unglycosylated TGFß receptor II. In conclusion, VLDLR suppresses fibrosis by attenuating TGFß2-induced metabolic reprogramming, and CPT1A is a potential target for treating subretinal fibrosis.

Hyperlipidemia negatively impacts implantation by dysregulating tight junction and Claudin-3 and Claudin-4 expression in the endometrium.

Clinical observational studies have suggested hyperlipidemia may disturb embryo implantation through endometrium; however, the mechanism has been unclear. With its profound implications for reproductive health, the present study aims to investigate whether hyperlipidemia affects endometrial epithelial cell tight junctions for implantation failures. By constructing hyperlipidemia mice model, the number and distribution of embryo implantation status were investigated after both natural mating and in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to compare the ultrastructure of tight junctions in endometrial endothelial cells. Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to explore the expression and localization of tight junction proteins, such as Claudin (CDLN)3, CLDN4, occludin (OCLN), and zonula occludens-1 (ZO1). For women with reproductive failure, mid-luteal phase endometrial tissues were collected, and gene expression of tight junction proteins was investigated using RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR. In hyperlipidemic mice, the number of embryo implantation sites significantly decreased with uneven distribution after natural mating and IVF-ET. Disrupted tight junctions were found, characterized by a decreased number of tight junctions by TEM, downregulated expressions of CDLN4, OCLN, and ZO1, and an increased expression of CLDN3 by western blot. In hyperlipidemic women with reproductive failure, the dysregulated expression of CLDN3 and CLDN4 was also present in the luteal phase endometrium. In this study, evaluation of both animal models and infertile women in vivo demonstrated that hyperlipidemia reduced female fertility, accompanied by disruption of tight junction structures and dysregulation of CLDN3 and CLDN4 expression in the endothelial cells of luteal phase endometrium.

The safety and efficacy of indobufen or aspirin combined with clopidogrel in patients with acute myocardial infarction after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Currently, the standard treatment for patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) following acute myocardial infarction (MI) involves dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with a combination of aspirin and a potent P2Y12 receptor inhibitor. However, the potential benefits of aspirin were partially constrained by the intolerance of some patients. The safety and efficacy of indobufen, an alternative antiplatelet agents to aspirin, in patients with AMI after PCI are yet to be thoroughly investigated.This retrospective study was conducted at a single center and utilized propensity score matching. The enrollment spanned from January 2019 to June 2022, incorporating patients with AMI after PCI. The participants were categorized into two groups based on discharged prescriptions: the aspirin DAPT group and the indobufen DAPT group. The primary endpoint focused on net adverse clinical event (NACE), defined as a composite outcome, including cardiac death, recurrence of MI, definite or probable stent thrombosis (ST), target lesion revascularization (TLR), ischemic stroke and Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria type 2, 3, or 5. All the patients underwent a one-year follow-up period.A total of 1451 patients were enrolled in this study, with 258 assigned to the indobufen DAPT group and 1193 to the aspirin DAPT group. Following 1:1 propensity score matching, 224 patients were retained in each group. In the indobufen DAPT group, 58 individuals (25.9%) experienced the primary endpoint within one year, compared to 52 individuals (23.2%) in the aspirin DAPT group (HR 1.128, 95% CI 0.776-1.639, p = .527). Specifically, no significant differences were observed in either the efficacy endpoint (MACCE, 20.1% vs. 14.7%, HR 1.392, 95% CI 0.893-2.170, p = .146) or the safety endpoint (BARC 2,3 or 5, 8.04% vs. 10.30%, HR 0.779, p = .427). These findings remained consistent at 1, 3, or 6 months. Additionally, the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly lower in indobufen DAPT group compared to the aspirin DAPT group (7.1% vs. 14.3%, p = .022).Our research reveals that the efficacy and safety of indobufen are comparable to aspirin in Chinese patients with AMI following PCI. Given the potential advantages of indobufen in alleviating gastrointestinal symptoms, we propose it as a viable alternative for individuals intolerant to aspirin.

What is the context? Currently, the standard treatment for patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention following acute myocardial infarction involves dual antiplatelet therapy with a combination of aspirin and a potent P2Y12 receptor inhibitor.However, the potential benefits of aspirin were partially constrained by the intolerance of some patients.The safety and efficacy of indobufen, an alternative antiplatelet agents to aspirin, in patients with AMI after PCI are yet to be thoroughly investigated.What is new? While both American and European clinical guidelines recommend the use of indobufen as an alternative treatment for patients who cannot tolerate aspirin, there exists a limited body of research on this subject.Our research is the first to address this gap by comparing the efficacy and safety of indobufen and aspirin in patients with AMI.Our research reveals that the efficacy and safety of indobufen are comparable to aspirin in Chinese patients with AMI following PCI. Given the potential advantages of indobufen in alleviating gastrointestinal symptoms, we propose it as a viable alternative for individuals intolerant to aspirin.What is the impact? These findings might pave the way for further exploration of alternatives to aspirin in patients with AMI.

Retrospective, observational study of different medication regimens and outcome in children with cough variant asthma.

OBJECTIVE: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study aimed to explore the best therapeutic regimen and treatment duration of cough variant asthma (CVA) in children. METHODS: A total of 314 children with CVA were divided into receive inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) combined with long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) group, ICS combined with leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA) group, ICS monotherapy group and LTRA monotherapy group. All clinical data were statistically analyzed. Logistic regression model was used to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different treatment schemes at each follow-up time point and the best treatment scheme. The Cox proportional hazard regression model based on inverse probability weighting was used to compare the effects of different medication regimens on adverse outcomes with asthma recurrence or progression as the end point. RESULTS: (1) After comprehensive analysis, ICS + LABA group was the preferred control regimen for CVA within 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of diagnosis, the efficacy of ICS group or LTRA group was comparable to that of ICS + LABA group and ICS + LTRA group. (2) The ICS + LABA group showed a significant improvement in cough at an early stage, particularly at 4 weeks; the symptoms of ICS + LTRA and ICS groups were significantly improved at 36 weeks. The LTRA group alone showed significant improvement at 20 weeks. CONCLUSION: ICS + LABA, ICS + LTRA, ICS alone and LTRA alone can effectively treat CVA. ICS + LABA could improve the symptoms most quickly within 8 weeks after CVA diagnosis, followed by ICS + LATR group. After 8 weeks, it can be reduced to ICS alone to control CVA for at least 36 weeks based on the remission of symptoms in children.

Health outcomes of COVID-19 patients from Wuhan, China 3-year after hospital discharge: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate changes in health outcomes between years 2 and 3 after discharge following COVID-19 and to identify risk factors for poor health 3-year post-discharge. DESIGN: This is a multicentre observational cohort study. SETTING: This study was conducted in two centres from Wuhan, China. PARTICIPANTS: Eligibility screening has been performed in 3988 discharged laboratory-confirmed adult COVID-19 patients. Exclusion criteria were refusal to participate, inability to contact and death before follow-up. The WHO COVID-19 guidelines on defining disease severity were adopted. RESULTS: 1594 patients participated in the 1-year, 2-year and 3-year follow-ups, including 796 (49.9%) male patients, and 422 (26.5%) patients were classified in the severe disease group. 3 years after discharge, 182 (11.4%) patients still complained of at least one symptom. The most common symptoms were fatigue, myalgia, chest tightness, cough, anxiety, shortness of breath and expectoration. Fatigue or myalgia, the most common symptom cluster, frequently coexisted with chest symptoms and anxiety. Symptom persistence between years 2 and 3 was reported in 70 patients (4.4%) for which intensive care unit (ICU) admission was a risk factor (p=0.038). Of the 1586 patients who completed the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT), 97 (6.1%) scored ≥10, with older age being associated with CAT ≥10 (p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Between years 2 and 3 after SARS-CoV-2 infection, most patients returned to an asymptomatic state, and only a few were still symptomatic. ICU admission was a risk factor for symptom persistence.

LPS-LBP complex induced endothelial cell pyroptosis in aortic dissection is associated with gut dysbiosis.

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is the most severe traumatic disease affecting the aorta. Pyroptosis-mediated vascular wall inflammation is a crucial trigger for AAD, and the exact mechanism requires further investigation. In this study, our proteomic analysis showed that Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP) was significantly upregulated in the plasma and aortic tissue of patients with AAD. Further, 16S rRNA sequencing of stool samples suggested that patients with AAD exhibit gut dysbiosis, which may lead to an impaired intestinal barrier and LPS leakage. By comparing with control mice, we found that LBP, including Pyrin Domain Containing Protein3 (NLRP3), the CARD-containing adapter apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), and Cleaved caspase-1, were upregulated in the AAD aorta, whereas gut intestinal barrier-related proteins were downregulated. Moreover, treated with LBPK95A (an LBP inhibitor) attenuated the incidence of AAD, the expression levels of pyroptosis-related factors, and the extent of vascular pathological changes compared to those in AAD mice. In addition, LPS and LBP treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) activated TLR4 signaling and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which stimulated NLRP3 inflammasome formation and mediated pyroptosis in endothelial cells. Our findings showed that gut dysbiosis mediates pyroptosis by the LPS-LBP complex, thus providing new insights into developing AAD.

Visualization of Solvent Effect and Oxygen Content via a Red Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Material.

The development of pure organic room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials greatly facilitates the integrated application of luminescent materials. Herein, a type of photoactivated red RTP material was constructed by simply doping 4-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-5-ylthio)benzonitrile (p-NNS) into a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. The obtained film realized a controllable photoactivation process by regulation of diverse solvent levels, demonstrating potential advantages in optical anti-counterfeiting applications. Furthermore, luminescent properties of the doped film were utilized to detect oxygen content from 2.00% to 4.90%, which revealed the exact consumption of ambient oxygen under UV light. Every CIE point of the luminescence corresponds to a certain oxygen content, illustrating the visualization of oxygen content. The remarkable regulation of solvent effect and oxygen content in this work will provide competitive material for further optical applications.

Variants in NLRP2 and ZFP36L2, non-core components of the human subcortical maternal complex, cause female infertility with embryonic development arrest.

The subcortical maternal complex (SCMC), which is vital in oocyte maturation and embryogenesis, consists of core proteins (NLRP5, TLE6, OOEP), non-core proteins (PADI6, KHDC3L, NLRP2, NLRP7), and other unknown proteins that are encoded by maternal effect genes. Some variants of SCMC genes have been linked to female infertility characterized by embryonic development arrest. However, so far, the candidate non-core SCMC components associated with embryonic development need further exploration and the pathogenic variants that have been identified are still limited. In this study, we discovered two novel variants [p.(Ala131Val) and p.(Met326Val)] of NLRP2 in patients with primary infertility displaying embryonic development arrest from large families. In vitro studies using 293T cells and mouse oocytes, respectively, showed that these variants significantly decreased protein expression and caused the phenotype of embryonic development arrest. Additionally, we combined the 'DevOmics' database with the whole exome sequence data of our cohort and screened out a new candidate non-core SCMC gene ZFP36L2. Its variants [p.(Ala241Pro) and p.(Pro291dup)] were found to be responsible for embryonic development arrest. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments in 293T cells, used to demonstrate the interaction between proteins, verified that ZFP36L2 is one of the human SCMC components, and microinjection of ZFP36L2 complementary RNA variants into mouse oocytes affected embryonic development. Furthermore, the ZFP36L2 variants were associated with disrupted stability of its target mRNAs, which resulted in aberrant H3K4me3 and H3K9me3 levels. These disruptions decreased oocyte quality and further developmental potential. Overall, this is the first report of ZFP36L2 as a non-core component of the human SCMC and we found four novel pathogenic variants in the NLRP2 and ZFP36L2 genes in 4 of 161 patients that caused human embryonic development arrest. These findings contribute to the genetic diagnosis of female infertility and provide new insights into the physiological function of SCMC in female reproduction.

Fast-Activated Minimal Gated Unit: Lightweight Processing and Feature Recognition for Multiple Mechanical Impact Signals.

Multiple dynamic impact signals are widely used in a variety of engineering scenarios and are difficult to identify accurately and quickly due to the signal adhesion phenomenon caused by nonlinear interference. To address this problem, an intelligent algorithm combining wavelet transforms with lightweight neural networks is proposed. First, the features of multiple impact signals are analyzed by establishing a transfer model for multiple impacts in multibody dynamical systems, and interference is suppressed using wavelet transformation. Second, a lightweight neural network, i.e., fast-activated minimal gated unit (FMGU), is elaborated for multiple impact signals, which can reduce computational complexity and improve real-time performance. Third, the experimental results show that the proposed method maintains excellent feature recognition results compared to gate recurrent unit (GRU) and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks under all test datasets with varying impact speeds, while its metrics for computational complexity are 50% lower than those of the GRU and LSTM. Therefore, the proposed method is of great practical value for weak hardware application platforms that require the accurate identification of multiple dynamic impact signals in real time.

Effect of Remote Ischemic Conditioning on Organ Transplantation: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) has shown great advantages in protecting organs from ischemia-reperfusion loss and applied research on RIC continues to increase. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to comprehensively investigate the value of RIC for different organ transplantation. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from inception to November 1, 2023, for randomized controlled trials investigating whether RIC has an advantage in organ transplantation (including heart, lung, liver, and kidney) compared with controls. The primary outcomes varied according to the transplanted organ, including liver transplantation (graft loss, early allograft dysfunction, acute kidney injury, days in hospital, and mortality); kidney transplantation (delayed graft function, acute rejection (AR), graft loss, 50% decrease in serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, days in hospital, and mortality); heart and lung transplantation (AR, mortality). Two investigators independently selected suitable trials, assessed trial quality, and extracted the data. RESULTS: A total of 11 randomized controlled trials were included in this study, including six kidney transplants, three liver transplants, and one heart and lung transplant each, with 561 RIC cases and 564 controls, and a total of 1125 patients. The results showed that RIC did not reduce mortality in transplant patients compared with controls (liver transplant: RR0.9, 95% confidence interval [0.31-2.66]; kidney transplant: RR 0.76, 95% confidence interval [0.17-3.33]), graft failure rate (liver transplantation: RR 0.3, 95% confidence interval [0.07, 1.19]; kidney transplantation: RR 0.89, 95% confidence interval [0.35, 2.27]), length of hospital stay (liver transplantation: standard mean difference [SMD] 0.14, 95% confidence interval [-0.15, 0.42]; kidney transplantation: SMD -0.1, 95% confidence interval [-0.3, 0.11]). In addition, RIC did not improve early liver function after liver transplantation (RR 0.97, 95% confidence interval [0.55,1.7]), acute kidney injury after liver transplantation (RR 1.17 95% confidence interval [0.9, 1.54]), delayed functional recovery after renal transplantation (RR 0.84, 95% confidence interval [0.62, 1.15]), AR rate (RR 1.04, 95% confidence interval [0.72, 1.49]), 50% serum creatinine decline rate (RR 1.1, 95% confidence interval [0.88, 1.37]), glomerular filtration rate 3 months after surgery (SMD 0.13, 95% confidence interval [-0.05, 0.31]) and postoperative 12 months glomerular filtration rate (SMD 0.13, 95% confidence interval [-0.06, 0.31]). CONCLUSION: Remote ischemic modulation does not improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing organ transplantation (heart, lung, liver, and kidney).

Single Image Super-Resolution via Wide-Activation Feature Distillation Network.

Feature extraction plays a pivotal role in the context of single image super-resolution. Nonetheless, relying on a single feature extraction method often undermines the full potential of feature representation, hampering the model's overall performance. To tackle this issue, this study introduces the wide-activation feature distillation network (WFDN), which realizes single image super-resolution through dual-path learning. Initially, a dual-path parallel network structure is employed, utilizing a residual network as the backbone and incorporating global residual connections to enhance feature exploitation and expedite network convergence. Subsequently, a feature distillation block is adopted, characterized by fast training speed and a low parameter count. Simultaneously, a wide-activation mechanism is integrated to further enhance the representational capacity of high-frequency features. Lastly, a gated fusion mechanism is introduced to weight the fusion of feature information extracted from the dual branches. This mechanism enhances reconstruction performance while mitigating information redundancy. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves stable and superior results compared to the state-of-the-art methods, as evidenced by quantitative evaluation metrics tests conducted on four benchmark datasets. Furthermore, our WFDN excels in reconstructing images with richer detailed textures, more realistic lines, and clearer structures, affirming its exceptional superiority and robustness.

Rod-Shaped Mesoporous Zinc-Containing Bioactive Glass Nanoparticles: Structural, Physico-Chemical, Antioxidant, and Immuno-Regulation Properties.

Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) are applied widely in tissue regeneration. Varied micro/nanostructures and components of BGNs have been designed for different applications. In the present study, nanorod-shaped mesoporous zinc-containing bioactive glass nanoparticles (ZnRBGNs) were designed and developed to form the bioactive content of composite materials for hard/soft tissue repair and regeneration. The nanostructure and components of the ZnRBGNs were characterized, as were their cytocompatibility and radical-scavenging activity in the presence/absence of cells and their ability to modulate macrophage polarization. The ZnRBGNs possessed a uniform rod shape (length ≈ 500 nm; width ≈ 150 nm) with a mesoporous structure (diameter ≈ 2.4 nm). The leaching liquid of the nanorods at a concentration below 0.5 mg/mL resulted in no cytotoxicity. More significant improvements in the antioxidant and M1-polarization-inhibiting effects and the promotion of M2 polarization were found when culturing the cells with the ZnRBGNs compared to when culturing them with the RBGNs. The doping of the Zn element in RBGNs may lead to improved antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which may be beneficial in tissue regeneration/repair.

Unconventional Magnetic and Magneto-Transport Properties in Quasi-2D Ni0.28TaSeS Single Crystal.

Van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials have broad application prospects in next-generation spintronics. Inserting magnetic elements into nonmagnetic vdW materials can introduce magnetism and enhance various transport properties. Herein, the unconventional magnetic and magneto-transport phenomena is reported in Ni0.28TaSeS crystal by intercalating Ni atoms into nonmagnetic 2H-TaSeS matrix. Magnetic characterization reveals a canted magnetic structure in Ni0.28TaSeS, which results in an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order along the c-axis and a ferromagnetic (FM) moment in the ab-plane. The presence of spin-flop (SF) behavior can also be attributed to the canted magnetic structure. Temperature-dependent resistivity exhibits a metallic behavior with an abrupt decrease corresponding to the magnetic transition. Magneto-transport measurements demonstrate a positive magnetoresistance (MR) with a plateau that is different from conventional magnetic materials. The field-dependent Hall signal exhibits nonlinear field dependence when the material is in magnetically ordered state. These unconventional magneto-transport behaviors are attributed to the field-induced formation of a complex spin texture in Ni0.28TaSeS. In addition, it further investigated the angle dependence of MR and observed an unusual fourfold anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect. This work inspires future research on spintronic devices utilizing magnetic atom-intercalated quasi-2D materials.

Intrinsic Stress Field for Liquid Surfaces.

The microscopic stress field inhomogeneity in the interfacial region adjacent to the liquid surface is the fundamental origin of the liquid surface tension, but because of broadening due to capillary fluctuations, a detailed molecular level understanding of the stress field remains elusive. In this work, we deconvolute the capillary fluctuations to reveal the intrinsic stress field and show that the atomic-level contributions to the surface tension are similar in functional form across a variety of monatomic systems. These contributions are confined to an interfacial region approximately 1.5±0.1 times the particle diameter for all systems studied. In addition, the intrinsic density and stress profiles show a strong spatial correlation that should be useful in the development of a statistical mechanical theory for the prediction of surface stress and surface tension.

Fast and high-accuracy collinear reflection Mueller imaging polarimeter implemented with the compound calibration method.

The collinear reflection Mueller matrix imaging polarimeter is suitable for characterizing thick samples with high-scattering depolarization such as biological tissues or in-situ living organs. Achieving fast detection and high measurement accuracy is vital to prevent artifacts and accurately assess polarization characteristics in these applications. This paper demonstrates a fast collinear reflection imaging polarimeter based on liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVRs-CRMMIP). We propose a novel compound calibration method (CCM), to the best of our knowledge, which enhances measurement accuracy through light intensity correction and an improved equivalent calibration sample model. This method surpasses the double-pass eigenvalue calibration method (dp-ECM), enhancing accuracy by over 23 times. Performance evaluations with standard samples, including mirrors, linear polarizers, and wave plates, reveal that the LCVRs-CRMMIP achieves rapid measurements (about 3 s) and high accuracy with an error of less than 0.0017.

Unified Stokes-Mueller polarimetry for multi-photon processes at varying wavelengths.

Existing polarimetry, mainly focusing on harmonic generations, overlooks the differences in retardance (DRs) caused by illuminations with different wavelengths in nonlinear processes, consequently falling short in accuracy beyond frequency doubling. In this Letter, with DRs considered, we propose a universal nonlinear Stokes-Mueller (NSM) polarimetry design involving illuminations with different wavelengths. Then, we optimize the NSM measurement model, applied to sum-frequency generation (SFG) and difference frequency generation. To demonstrate the necessity of consideration of DRs, the processes of polarization measurement for SFG are simulated, where the condition number decreases by 51.2%, and the root mean square error of the nonlinear Mueller matrix decreases by 20.48%.

Melatonin Mitigates Atrazine-Induced Renal Tubular Epithelial Cell Senescence by Promoting Parkin-Mediated Mitophagy.

The accumulation of senescent cells in kidneys is considered to contribute to age-related diseases and organismal aging. Mitochondria are considered a regulator of cell senescence process. Atrazine as a triazine herbicide poses a threat to renal health by disrupting mitochondrial homeostasis. Melatonin plays a critical role in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis. The present study aims to explore the mechanism by which melatonin alleviates atrazine-induced renal injury and whether parkin-mediated mitophagy contributes to mitigating cell senescence. The study found that the level of parkin was decreased after atrazine exposure and negatively correlated with senescent markers. Melatonin treatment increased serum melatonin levels and mitigates atrazine-induced renal tubular epithelial cell senescence. Mechanistically, melatonin maintains the integrity of mitochondrial crista structure by increasing the levels of mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system, mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), adenosine triphosphatase family AAA domain-containing protein 3A (ATAD3A), and sorting and assembly machinery 50 (Sam50) to prevent mitochondrial DNA release and subsequent activation of cyclic guanosine 5'-monophosphate-adenosine 5'-monophosphate synthase pathway. Furthermore, melatonin activates Sirtuin 3-superoxide dismutase 2 axis to eliminate the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the kidney. More importantly, the antisenescence role of melatonin is largely determined by the activation of parkin-dependent mitophagy. These results offer novel insights into measures against cell senescence. Parkin-mediated mitophagy is a promising drug target for alleviating renal tubular epithelial cell senescence.