Structural characteristics, biomechanics and clinical significance of calcar femorale: A review.

The calcar femorale, first identified by Merkel in 1874, plays a pivotal role in the weight-bearing capacity of the proximal femur, and its structural integrity is crucial for the efficient distribution of mechanical loads. Originating at the vertical ridge where the pubofemoral ligament anchors, this bony prominence extends laterally behind the neutral axis from the medial to lateral aspects. Its presence is not merely an anatomical curiosity but significantly influences the biomechanics of the hip joint by providing additional strength and support against compressive forces encountered during activities such as walking or jumping. Despite its clear description in orthopedic texts, misconceptions persist about its exact function and importance. This article delves into the nuanced anatomy and biomechanical properties of the calcar femorale, offering a detailed literature-based examination that demonstrates its relevance in clinical practice. The review highlights how the robustness of the calcar femorale contributes to the prevention of femoral neck fractures as well as the stabilization of hip prostheses. Furthermore, the indispensable role of the calcar femorale in surgical outcomes is discussed, especially in the context of fracture repair and joint replacement, thus illustrating its enduring significance in contemporary medical applications.

Efficient Homojunction/Heterojunction Photocatalyst via Integrating CsPbBr3 Quantum Dot Homojunction with TiO2 for Degradation of Organic Dyes.

A novel TiO2-CsPbBr3(Q) photocatalyst is proposed and rationally constructed, where CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs) of various sizes inside mesopore TiO2 (M-TiO2) are integrated. These perovskite QDs, generated in situ within M-TiO2, establish a type-II homojunction. Interestingly, a Z-scheme heterojunction is simultaneously formed at the interface between CsPbBr3 and TiO2. Due to the coexistence of the type-II homojunction and the Z-scheme heterojunction, photogenerated electrons are effectively transferred from TiO2 to CsPbBr3, thereby suppressing carrier recombination and thus enhancing the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). Compared with pure CsPbBr3 and TiO2, TiO2-CsPbBr3(Q) shows significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance for RhB degradation. The degradation efficiency of RhB in the presence of the TiO2-CsPbBr3(Q) attains 97.7% in 5 min under light illumination, representing the highest efficiency observed among photocatalysts based on TiO2. This study will facilitate the development of superior semiconductor catalysts for photocatalytic applications.

Development and validation of a pyroptosis-related prognostic signature associated with osteosarcoma metastasis and immune infiltration.

Pyroptosis is a programmed cell death, which has garnered increasing attention because it relates to the immune and therapy response. However, few studies focus on the application of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in predicting osteosarcoma (OS) patients' prognoses. In this study, the gene expression and clinical information of OS patients were downloaded from the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database. Based on these PRGs and unsupervised clustering analysis, all OS samples can be classified into 2 clusters. The 8 key differential expressions for PRGs (LAG3, ITGAM, CCL2, TLR4, IL2RA, PTPRC, FCGR2B, and CD5) were established through the univariate Cox regression and utilized to calculate the risk score of all samples. According to the 8-gene signature, OS samples can be divided into high and low-risk groups and correlation analysis can be performed using immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoints. Finally, we developed a nomogram to improve the PRG-predictive model in clinical application. We verified the predictive performance using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration curves. There were significant differences in survival, immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoints between the low and high-risk groups. A nomogram was developed with clinical indicators and the risk scores were effective in predicting the prognosis of patients with OS. In this study, a prognostic model was constructed based on 8 PRGs were proved to be independent prognostic factors of OS and associated with tumor immune microenvironment. These 8 prognostic genes were involved in OS development and may serve as new targets for developing therapeutic drugs.

CAR-NK cells in combination therapy against cancer: A potential paradigm.

Various preclinical and a limited number of clinical studies of CAR-NK cells have shown promising results: efficient elimination of target cells without side effects similar to CAR-T therapy. However, the homing and infiltration abilities of CAR-NK cells are poor due to the inhibitory tumor microenvironment. From the perspective of clinical treatment strategies, combined with the biological and tumor microenvironment characteristics of NK cells, CAR-NK combination therapy strategies with anti-PD-1/PD-L1, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, kinase inhibitors, proteasome inhibitors, STING agonist, oncolytic virus, photothermal therapy, can greatly promote the proliferation, migration and cytotoxicity of the NK cells. In this review, we will summarize the targets selection, structure constructions and combinational therapies of CAR-NK cells for tumors to provide feasible combination strategies for overcoming the inhibitory tumor microenvironment and improving the efficacy of CAR-NK cells.

High-Efficiency Blue-Emitting Mn-Ligand passivated CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets.

Perovskite nanoplatelets (NPLs), as a promising material to achieve pure blue emission, have attracted significant attention in high gamut displays. However, the high surface-to-volume ratio and the loosely connected ligands of NPLs make them susceptible to degradation from light, air and heat. As a result, NPLs often exhibit low photoluminescence (PL) intensity and instability. Here, an Mn-ligand passivation strategy is proposed, in which Mn-doped DMAPbBr3 is used as a precursor. During the perovskite transformation, Mn2+ ions migrate from the lattice of DMAPbBr3 to the surface of CsPbBr3 NPLs, which have strong binding forces with ligands. The final products Mn-CsPbBr3 (M-CPB) NPLs are then acquired by the ligand-induced ripening growth process, which not only exhibit pure blue emission with narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM), but also possess near-unity PL quantum yields (QYs). Besides, M-CPB NPLs show excellent stability due to the strong Mn-ligand passivation layer. Based on the new growth mechanism discovery, the reaction time can be shortened to several minutes by heating. The innovative growth model proposed in this work will provide a paradigm for designing and optimizing future synthesis schemes.

Highly efficient and stable Cs3Mn0.93Zn0.07Br5@SiO2 for wide color gamut backlight displays.

Mn-based perovskites have become a new candidate material for backlight display applications. However, low efficiency and poor stability are the key problems limiting the application of Mn-based perovskites. In this work, Zn-doped and SiO2-encapsulated Cs3MnBr5, denoted as Cs3Mn0.93Zn0.07Br5@SiO2 (CMZBS), was successfully synthesized to improve the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and stability. After Zn doping, the PLQY increased from 51% to 72% due to the reduction in the energy transfer between [MnBr4]2-. The PLQY can be further improved to 80% after coating SiO2. Compared with Cs3MnBr5 (CMB), CMZBS showed better stability against thermal, air, light, and polar solvents (ethanol and isopropanol). In addition, a white LED (WLED) device with a CIE of (0.323, 0.325) was fabricated by integrating CMZBS and the red phosphor K2SiF6:Mn4+ on a 465 nm blue GaN chip, which exhibited a high luminous efficiency of 92 lm W-1 and excellent stability, demonstrating its great potential application in wide color gamut displays.

Virtual touch tissue imaging for differential diagnosis in ACR TI-RADS category 3-4 thyroid nodules: Conservative and aggressive methods.

PURPOSE: Many Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) category 3-4 nodules are benign. Our study aimed to add virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) to TI-RADS using two methods, namely conservative and aggressive, and to explore which method had better diagnostic performance and which method avoided more unnecessary biopsies. METHODS: From January 2016 to December 2021, we included 121 thyroid nodules classified as TI-RADS category 3-4 in 115 consecutive patients in this retrospective study. This study used the reference standard for pathological diagnosis by surgical resection or biopsy. The diagnostic performance of the different methods was evaluated and compared by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the ROC curve (AUC). RESULTS: In this study, the aggressive approach had the best diagnostic performance among TI-RADS alone, the conservative approach, and the aggressive approach (AUC: 0.863 versus 0.598, P = 0.0007; 0.863 versus 0.755, P = 0.0067). When we used an aggressive approach, 75.44% (43/57) of the 57 false-positive nodes diagnosed by TI-RADS were appropriately downgraded from TI-RADS category 4 to category 3, avoiding unnecessary biopsies. CONCLUSION: VTI improves the diagnostic performance of TI-RADS. The aggressive approach of combining the TI-RADS with VTI would help reduce unnecessary biopsies.

Highly efficient and robust multi-color afterglow of ZnO nanoparticles.

Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials are widely used in various fields. However, the realization of multicolor RTP via facile approaches still remains a great challenge. In this study, we propose an in situ hydrolysis method using different solvents to synthesize blue, green, and yellow phosphorescence ZnO/SiO2 composites. By investigating the photoluminescence (PL) and phosphorescence mechanisms of ZnO/SiO2 composites, it is discovered that the solvents not only introduce impurities to ZnO but also affect the position of defect energy levels, leading to the variation in luminescent performance. Meanwhile, the as-synthesized ZnO/SiO2 composites exhibit stable PL and phosphorescence under extreme conditions. Specifically, the PL and phosphorescence properties of the composites are well maintained at high temperature (523 K) or underwater. Owing to the multicolor phosphorescence properties of these ZnO/SiO2 products, herein, we demonstrate that ZnO/SiO2 composites can act as new smart materials for information encryption, fingerprint identification, and white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs).

Metal-Ion-Doped Manganese Halide Hybrids with Tunable Emission for Advanced Anti-Counterfeiting.

Stimuli-responsive luminescent materials have received great attention for their potential application in anti-counterfeiting and information encryption. Manganese halide hybrids have been considered an efficient stimuli-responsive luminescent material due to their low price and adjustable photoluminescence (PL). However, the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of PEA2MnBr4 is relatively low. Herein, Zn2+- and Pb2+-doped PEA2MnBr4 samples are synthesized, and show an intense green emission and orange emission, respectively. After doping with Zn2+, the PLQY of PEA2MnBr4 is elevated from 9% to 40%. We have found that green emitting Zn2+-doped PEA2MnBr4 could transform to a pink color after being exposed to air for several seconds and the reversible transformation from pink to green was achieved by using heating treatment. Benefiting from this property, an anti-counterfeiting label is fabricated, which exhibits excellent "pink-green-pink" cycle capability. Pb2+-doped PEA2Mn0.88Zn0.12Br4 is acquired by cation exchange reaction, which shows intense orange emission with a high QY of 85%. The PL of Pb2+-doped PEA2Mn0.88Zn0.12Br4 decreases with increasing temperature. Hence, the encrypted multilayer composite film is fabricated relying on the different thermal responses of Zn2+- and Pb2+-doped PEA2MnBr4, whereby the encrypted information can be read out by thermal treatment.

Intergenerational effects of parental [Cnmim]BF4 (n = 4, 6, 8) ionic liquids exposure on zebrafish development based on transcriptomic analysis.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been developed as alternatives to traditional solvents, and their toxicity may be affected by alkyl chain length. Currently, there is limited evidence for whether parental exposure to different alkyl chain length ILs will induce intergenerational toxicity in zebrafish offspring. To address this knowledge gap, the parental zebrafish (F0) were exposed to 25 mg/L [Cnmim]BF4 (n = 4, 6, 8) for 7 days. Following this, fertilized F1 embryos from the exposed parents were reared in clean water for 120 h. Increased mortality, higher deformity rate, increased pericardial edema rate, and a shorter swimming distance and average speed were detected in the unexposed F1 embryonic larvae from the exposed F0 compared to the F1 generation from the unexposed F0. Parental exposure to [Cnmim]BF4 (n = 4, 6, 8) resulted in cardiac malformations and dysfunction in F1 larvae, including increased pericardial areas, increased yolk sac areas and decreased heart rate. Moreover, the intergenerational toxicity of [Cnmim]BF4 (n = 4, 6, 8) in F1 offspring appeared to be alkyl chain length-dependent. Parental [Cnmim]BF4 (n = 4, 6, 8) exposure led to global transcriptomic changes involved in developmental processes, nervous system process, cardiomyopathy, cardiac muscle contraction, and metabolic signalling pathways such as PI3K-Akt, PPAR and cAMP pathways in unexposed F1 offspring. Overall, the present study provides evidence that the neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity of ILs in zebrafish can be markedly transmitted to offspring, and the intergenerational developmental toxicity is probably linked to transcriptomic alterations, highlighting the necessity of assessing ILs' environmental safety and human health risks.

Diagnostic performance of the thyroid imaging reporting and data system improved by color-coded acoustic radiation force pulse imaging.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of color-coded virtual touch tissue imaging (CCV) using acoustic radiation force pulse technology (ARFI) in diagnosing malignant thyroid nodules. METHODS: Images including 189 thyroid nodules were collected as training samples and a binary logistic regression analysis was used to calculate regression coefficients for Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) and CCV. An integrated prediction model (TI-RADS+CCV) was then developed based on the regression coefficients. Another testing dataset involving 40 thyroid nodules was used to validate and compare the diagnostic performance of TI-RADS, CCV, and the integrated predictive models using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Both TI-RADS and CCV are independent predictors. The diagnostic performance advantage of CCV is insignificant compared to TI-RADS (P = 0.61). However, the diagnostic performance of the integrated prediction model is significantly higher than that of TI-RADS or CCV (all P < 0.05). Applying to the validation image dateset, the integrated predictive model yields an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.880. CONCLUSIONS: Developing a new predictive model that integrates the regression coefficients calculated from TI-RADS and CCV enables to achieve the superior performance of thyroid nodule diagnosis to that of using TI-RADS or CCV alone.

Fluorescent detection of brown spot of tobacco caused by Alternaria alternata based on lambda exonuclease-induced DNAzyme amplification.

A rapid, simple, and sensitive fluorescent detection method for brown spot of tobacco is established by lambda exonuclease-induced Mg2+-dependent DNAzyme amplification. It contains hybridization of the Alternaria alternata genome and HP1, digestion of the 5'-phosphorylated strand of the hybrid dsDNA by lambda exonuclease, acquisition of complete Mg2+-dependent DNAzyme, cleavage of the substrate modified with FAM and BHQ-1, and fluorescent detection. The proposed assay exhibits good sensitivity (10 pg L-1), selectivity and reproducibility. The method does not require pure DNA and expensive instruments, and can be performed within 2.5 hours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of fluorescent detection of Alternaria alternata and its tobacco field samples. This method can be applied to the rapid and sensitive detection of Alternaria alternata in tobacco and its seedlings, and is particularly important for the green prevention and control of tobacco brown spot disease.

Multidisciplinary management of pediatric malignant rhabdoid tumor based on 5 years of experience at a tertiary care center.

OBJECTIVE: Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) is a highly aggressive tumor that occurs mostly in young children with extremely poor prognosis. Standardized and effective treatment strategies for MRT have yet to be established because of its rarity. Here, we report our single-institutional experience involving MRT treatment. METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed MRT between March 2016 and October 2021 were included. The clinical characteristic, treatment-related toxicities, clinical outcomes, and prognostic factor were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 18 patients with MRT were enrolled during the 5 years. The median age was 42.8 months (range 10 to 82 years). Among the 18 patients, 9 patients died after a median of follow-up 26 months (range 3 to 42 months). The 1-year event-free survival (EFS) and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates of the entire cohort were 63% (95% CI 46% to 74%) and 67% (95% CI 49% to 82%), respectively. Univariate analysis of patients who underwent gross or total resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy demonstrated an improvement in 1-year EFS. However, only gross resection and total resection predicted a better 3-year OS. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical excision is still the mainstream treatment for MRT. Postoperative adjuvant treatments including chemotherapy and radiotherapy contribute to improved disease control rate. Our single-institute experience may provide insights into the multimodal treatment of MRT.

A rare case of bladder cancer that metastasized to brain, heart, and lung lymph nodes benefited from immunotherapy.

Bladder cancer is a common malignant tumor of the genitourinary system, with the primary cause of death being metastasis. The most common metastatic sites are the lymph nodes, liver, lung, bone, peritoneum, pleura, kidney, adrenal gland, and the intestine. Brain and heart metastases are rare. In this report, we describe a patient who had pulmonary lymph node metastases more than a year after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, followed by brain and cardiac metastases more than two years later. Following the failure of standard first-line chemotherapy, the patient accepted 6 cycles of tislelizumab immunotherapy. The re-examination revealed that the bilateral frontal brain metastases had vanished, the right temporal lobe metastases had been greatly decreased, the neurological symptoms had been alleviated, and the cardiac metastases had disappeared. This is a rare clinical case with encouraging effects of tislelizumab and can serve as a model for the treatment of similar patients.

Treatment of infantile fibrosarcoma: A tertiary care center experience.

Objective: Infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS) is a highly locally aggressive nonrhabdomyosarcomatous soft tissue sarcoma that most commonly occurs in young infants. There exists no standard treatment this lesion due to its rarity. We shared our treatment experience for IFS in this study. Methods: Patients' record between January 2013 and December 2018 were reviewed and patients with newly diagnosed IFS were included. The clinical characteristics, treatment strategy, treatment-related toxicities and clinical outcome were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Eleven patients were admitted in our center, including 4 girls and 7 boys, and the median age at diagnosis was 5 months (range 1-23 months). Ten patients achieved complete remission (CR) after the completion of initial treatment. The main short-term adverse effects was myelosuppression. Three patients experienced relapse, including two patients with local progression and one patient with distant metastasis. After a median follow-up of 3.5 years (range 1.5-7 years), 9 patients were alive and 2 patients died. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 93.5% (95% CI 83.7-98.2). Conclusion: We formulated the treatment strategy according to group grade and the experience from previous studies, which may be effective and feasible for the treatment of IFS.

Mn-Doped Multiple Quantum Well Perovskites for Efficient Large-Area Luminescent Solar Concentrators.

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) can be used as large-area sunlight collectors, which show great potential in the application of building-integrated photovoltaic areas. Achieving highly efficient LSCs requires the suppression of reabsorption losses while maintaining a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and broad absorption. Perovskites as the superstar fluorophores have recently emerged as candidates for large-area LSCs. However, highly emissive perovskites with a large Stokes shift and broad absorption have not been obtained up to now. Here, we devised a facile synthetic route to obtain Mn-doped multiple quantum well (MQW) Br-based perovskites. The Br-based perovskite host ensures broad absorption. Efficient energy transfer from the exciton to the Mn dopant produces a large Stokes shift and high PLQY simultaneously. By further coating the perovskites with Al2O3, the stability and PLQY are greatly elevated. A large area of liquid LSC (40 cm × 40 cm × 0.5 cm) is fabricated, which possesses an internal quantum efficiency (ηint) of 47% and an optical conversion efficiency (ηopt) reaching 11 ± 1%, which shows the highest value for large-area LSCs.

Digital Quantification Method for Sensitive Point-of-Care Detection of Salivary Uric Acid Using Smartphone-Assisted µPADs.

Uric acid (UA) is an important biomarker for many diseases. A sensitive point-of-care (POC) testing platform is designed for the digital quantification of salivary UA based on a colorimetric reaction on an easy-to-build smartphone-assisted microfluidic paper-based analytical device (SµPAD). UA levels are quantified according to the color intensity of Prussian blue on the SµPAD with the aid of a MATLAB code or a smartphone APP. A color correction method is specifically applied to exclude the light effect. Together with the engineering design of SµPADs, the background calibration function with the APP increases the UA sensitivity by 100-fold to reach 0.1 ppm with a linear range of 0.1-200 ppm. The assay time is less than 10 min. SµPADs demonstrate a correlation of 0.97 with a commercial UA kit for the detection of salivary UA in clinical samples. SµPADs provide a sensitive, fast, affordable, and reliable tool for the noninvasive POC quantification of salivary UA for early diagnosis of abnormal UA level-associated health conditions.

Meniscus Regeneration With Multipotent Stromal Cell Therapies.

Meniscus is a semilunar wedge-shaped structure with fibrocartilaginous tissue, which plays an essential role in preventing the deterioration and degeneration of articular cartilage. Lesions or degenerations of it can lead to the change of biomechanical properties in the joints, which ultimately accelerate the degeneration of articular cartilage. Even with the manual intervention, lesions in the avascular region are difficult to be healed. Recent development in regenerative medicine of multipotent stromal cells (MSCs) has been investigated for the significant therapeutic potential in the repair of meniscal injuries. In this review, we provide a summary of the sources of MSCs involved in repairing and regenerative techniques, as well as the discussion of the avenues to utilizing these cells in MSC therapies. Finally, current progress on biomaterial implants was reviewed.

Apigenin Suppresses the Warburg Effect and Stem-like Properties in SOSP-9607 Cells by Inactivating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a prevalent primary malignant bone tumor that commonly occurs in children and adolescents. Apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone) is one of the most researched phenolic compounds that exhibits antitumor effects in several cancers. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect and underlying mechanisms of apigenin on OS. To address this, OS cells (SOSP-9607) were treated with different concentrations of apigenin. The proliferation, migration, invasion, stem-like properties, and Warburg effect of apigenin-treated OS cells were evaluated. Apigenin was found to suppress the proliferation of SOSP-9607 cells and inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition, as indicated by decreased number of migrated and invaded cells, decreased protein expression of vimentin, and increased protein expression of E-cadherin. Additionally, apigenin suppressed tumorsphere formation and reduced the proportion of SOSP-9607 cells with positive expression of the stem cell-related markers Nanog and OCT-4. Apigenin inhibited the Warburg effect in SOSP-9607 cells, as demonstrated by decreased glucose and lactic acid levels, increased citrate and ATP levels, and downregulation of GLUT1, HK1, and LDHA, which are metabolism-related enzymes related to the Warburg effect. Moreover, apigenin inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, and mTOR in SOSP-9607 cells. Collectively, these results indicate that apigenin suppresses the Warburg effect and stem-like properties in SOSP-9607 cells, which may be mediated by PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, thus, providing a novel strategy for OS treatment.