Metrnl inhibits choroidal neovascularization by attenuating the choroidal inflammation via inactivating the UCHL-1/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objective: Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) represents the predominant form of advanced wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (wAMD). Macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathological progression of CNV. Meteorin-like (Metrnl), a novel cytokine known for its anti-inflammatory properties in macrophages, is the focus of our investigation into its mechanism of action and its potential to impede CNV progression. Methods: Cell viability was evaluated through CCK-8 and EdU assays following Metrnl treatment. Expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and proteins were assessed using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blot techniques. Protein-protein interactions were identified through protein mass spectrometry and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP). Additionally, in vivo and in vitro neovascularization models were employed to evaluate angiogenesis. Results: Our results revealed downregulated Metrnl levels in the choroid-sclera complex of CNV mice, the aqueous humor of wAMD patients, and activated macrophages. Metrnl overexpression demonstrated a reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokine production, influenced endothelial cell function, and suppressed angiogenesis in choroid explants and CNV models. Through protein mass spectrometry and Co-IP, we confirmed Metrnl binds to UCHL-1 to modulate the NF-κB signaling pathway. This interaction inhibited the transcription and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, ultimately suppressing angiogenesis. Conclusion: In summary, our findings indicate that Metrnl down-regulates macrophage pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion via the UCHL-1/NF-κB signaling pathway. This mechanism alleviates the inflammatory microenvironment and effectively inhibits choroidal neovascularization.

The mediating effect of family resilience between coping styles and caregiver burden in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Primary caregivers of hemodialysis patients suffer from varying degrees of stress from their patients. Caring for hemodialysis patients can expose caregivers to many problems, leading to an increased burden of care and even impacting the quality of care. The purpose of our study was to examine whether family resilience could be a mediating variable moderating the relationship between patient coping styles and caregiver burden. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study that interviewed 173 pairs of hemodialysis patients and their caregivers at a blood purification center in a public hospital in China. The Brief Coping Styles Scale (Chinese version) was used to assess individuals' coping styles for disease and treatment. From the caregiver's perspective, the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (Chinese version) was used to understand the resilience of families, and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale was used to capture the caregiver's subjective experience of burden. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 23 and Amos version 26 to analyze the relationships between variables to examine for correlation and construct mediated effects models. RESULTS: Coping styles showed a significant positive correlation with family resilience (r = 0.347, P < 0.01) and a negative correlation with caregiver burden (r = -0.379, P < 0.01). A significant negative correlation was found between family resilience and caregiver burden (r = -0.503, P < 0.01). In the mediation model, patient coping styles directly impacted caregiver burden significantly (95% CI [-0.372, -0.058]), and coping styles indirectly impacted caregiver burden by family resilience in a significant way (95% CI [-0.275, -0.098]). CONCLUSIONS: Patient coping styles directly affect caregiver burden. Family resilience is a mediating variable between patients' coping styles and the burden on caregivers.

Exploring the potential applications of amphiphilic carbon dots based nanocomposite hydrogel in liquid chromatographic separations.

BACKGROUND: Due to their excellent stability, low toxicity, flexible modification and adjustable functionality, carbon dots (CDs) have a promising application prospect in the field of chromatographic stationary phases. Hydrogels are new functional polymer materials with three-dimensional network structure that have excellent hydrophilicity, high porosity and unique mechanical properties, which are also good candidate materials for liquid chromatography. Nevertheless, a review of the literature reveals that CDs based nanocomposite hydrogels have not yet been reported as HPLC stationary phases. RESULTS: In this work, amphiphilic CDs with multiple functional groups and polyacrylic acid hydrogel were grafted to the surface of silica gel by an in-situ polymerization method, and a CDs/polyacrylic acid nanocomposite hydrogel stationary phase (CDs/hydrogel@SiO2) was prepared. CDs act as the macroscopic cross-linking agents to form a cross-linked network with polyacrylic acid chains through physical cross-linking by hydrogen bonding and chemical cross-linking by amidation and esterification reactions, which not only improve the swelling property of the hydrogel but also increase its stability. Additionally, the introduction of CDs with multifunctional groups modulates the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance of the hydrogel that also imparts good hydrophobicity to the composite hydrogel. Through the study of retention mechanism and influencing factors, it is certificate that the CDs/hydrogel@SiO2 has mixed-mode chromatographic performance. Furthermore, the CDs/hydrogel@SiO2 column shows great potential for the determination of organic contaminants in environmental water samples. SIGNIFICANCE: This work confirms the potential application of CDs/hydrogel composite for the separation of various samples and provides the possibility of developing CDs based nanocomposite hydrogel in the field of liquid chromatography. Introducing CDs into hydrogel can open up a new way for nanocomposite hydrogels to be used in HPLC, which expands the advance of hydrogel and CDs in separation field.

S100A9-/- alleviates LPS-induced acute lung injury by regulating M1 macrophage polarization and inhibiting pyroptosis via the TLR4/MyD88/NFκB signaling axis.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by pulmonary diffusion abnormalities that may progress to multiple-organ failure in severe cases. There are limited effective treatments for ALI, which makes the search for new therapeutic avenues critically important. Macrophages play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ALI. The degree of macrophage polarization is closely related to the severity and prognosis of ALI, and S100A9 promotes M1 polarization of macrophages. The present study assessed the effects of S100A9-gene deficiency on macrophage polarization and acute lung injury. Our cohort study showed that plasma S100A8/A9 levels had significant diagnostic value for pediatric pneumonia and primarily correlated with monocyte-macrophages and neutrophils. We established a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse model of acute lung injury and demonstrated that knockout of the S100A9 gene mitigated inflammation by suppressing the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, reducing the number of inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and inhibiting cell apoptosis, which ameliorated acute lung injury in mice. The in vitro and in vivo mechanistic studies demonstrated that S100A9-gene deficiency inhibited macrophage M1 polarization and reduced the levels of pulmonary macrophage chemotactic factors and inflammatory cytokines by suppressing the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway and reversing the expression of the NLRP3 pyroptosis pathway, which reduced cell death. In conclusion, S100A9-gene deficiency alleviated LPS-induced acute lung injury by inhibiting macrophage M1 polarization and pyroptosis via the TLR4/MyD88/NFκB pathway, which suggests a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ALI.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals S100a9hi macrophages promote the transition from acute inflammation to fibrotic remodeling after myocardial ischemia‒reperfusion.

Rationale: The transition from acute inflammation to fibrosis following myocardial ischemia‒reperfusion (MIR) significantly affects prognosis. Macrophages play a pivotal role in inflammatory damage and repair after MIR. However, the heterogeneity and transformation mechanisms of macrophages during this transition are not well understood. Methods: In this study, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and mass cytometry to examine murine monocyte-derived macrophages after MIR to investigate macrophage subtypes and their roles in the MIR process. S100a9-/- mice were used to establish MIR model to clarify the mechanism of alleviating inflammation and fibrosis after MIR. Reinfusion of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) after macrophage depletion (MD) in mice subjected to MIR were performed to further examine the role of S100a9hi macrophages in MIR. Results: We identified a unique subtype of S100a9hi macrophages that originate from monocytes and are involved in acute inflammation and fibrosis. These S100a9hi macrophages infiltrate the heart as early as 2 h post-reperfusion and activate the Myd88/NFκB/NLRP3 signaling pathway, amplifying inflammatory responses. As the tissue environment shifts from proinflammatory to reparative, S100a9 activates transforming growth factor-ß (Tgf-ß)/p-smad3 signaling. This activation not only induces the transformation of myocardial fibroblasts to myofibroblasts but also promotes fibrosis via the macrophage-to-myofibroblast transition (MMT). Targeting S100a9 with a specific inhibitor could effectively mitigate acute inflammatory damage and halt the progression of fibrosis, including MMT. Conclusion: S100a9hi macrophages are a promising therapeutic target for managing the transition from inflammation to fibrosis after MIR.

Metabolic subtypes and immune landscapes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: prognostic implications and potential for personalized therapies.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify metabolic subtypes in ESCA, explore their relationship with immune landscapes, and establish a metabolic index for accurate prognosis assessment. METHODS: Clinical, SNP, and RNA-seq data were collected from 80 ESCA patients from the TCGA database and RNA-seq data from the GSE19417 dataset. Metabolic genes associated with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were selected, and k-means clustering was performed. Immune-related pathways, immune infiltration, and response to immunotherapy were predicted using bioinformatic algorithms. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was conducted to identify metabolic genes associated with co-expression modules. Lastly, cell culture and functional analysis were performed using patient tissue samples and ESCA cell lines to verify the identified genes and their roles. RESULTS: Molecular subtypes were identified based on the expression profiles of metabolic genes, and univariate survival analysis revealed 163 metabolic genes associated with ESCA prognosis. Consensus clustering analysis classified ESCA samples into three distinct subtypes, with MC1 showing the poorest prognosis and MC3 having the best prognosis. The subtypes also exhibited significant differences in immune cell infiltration, with MC3 showing the highest scores. Additionally, the MC3 subtype demonstrated the poorest response to immunotherapy, while the MC1 subtype was the most sensitive. WGCNA analysis identified gene modules associated with the metabolic index, with SLC5A1, NT5DC4, and MTHFD2 emerging as prognostic markers. Gene and protein expression analysis validated the upregulation of MTHFD2 in ESCA. MTHFD2 promotes the progression of ESCA and may be a potential therapeutic target for ESCA. CONCLUSION: The established metabolic index and identified metabolic genes offer potential for prognostic assessment and personalized therapeutic interventions for ESCA, underscoring the importance of targeting metabolism-immune interactions in ESCA. MTHFD2 promotes the progression of ESCA and may be a potential therapeutic target for ESCA.

Selectively fractionate hemicelluloses with high molecular weight from poplar thermomechanical pulp by tetramethylammonium hydroxide.

Selective fractionation of hemicelluloses is of great significance for realizing high-value application of hemicelluloses and comprehensive utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solvent has been confirmed as a promising solvent to selectively fractionate hemicelluloses from holocellulose. Herein, TMAH solvent was adopted to pretreat poplar thermomechanical pulp (PTMP) for the selective fractionation of hemicelluloses and enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis performance of residues. The maximal hemicelluloses yield (65.0 %) and excellent cellulose retention rate (93.3 %) were achieved after pretreatment by the 25 wt% TMAH solvent, while the delignification was only 33.9 %. The hemicelluloses fractions could be selectively fractionated with high molecular weights (109,800-118,500 g/mol), the contents of Klason lignin in them were low (3.2-5.9 %), and the dominating structure of them was 4-O-methylglucurono-ß-D-xylan. Compared to the H2SO4 and NaOH methods, the hemicelluloses fractionated by TMAH method exhibited higher yields, more complete structures and higher molecular weights. Furthermore, the crystalline structure of cellulose practically remained stable, and the highest yield of enzymatic hydrolysis glucose was 57.5 %, which was 3.3 times of that of PTMP. The fractionation effectiveness of TMAH solvent was not significantly reduced after repeatedly recycling. This work demonstrated TMAH solvent could selectively fractionate hemicelluloses from PTMP and efficiently promote sustainable poplar-based biorefinery.

Organization of an Artificial Multicellular System with a Tunable DNA Patch on a Membrane Surface.

Coordinating multiple artificial cellular compartments into a well-organized artificial multicellular system (AMS) is of great interest in bottom-up synthetic biology. However, developing a facile strategy for fabricating an AMS with a controlled arrangement remains a challenge. Herein, utilizing in situ DNA hybridization chain reaction on the membrane surface, we developed a DNA patch-based strategy to direct the interconnection of vesicles. By tuning the DNA patch that generates heterotrophic adhesion for the attachment of vesicles, we could produce an AMS with higher-order structures straightforwardly and effectively. Furthermore, a hybrid AMS comprising live cells and vesicles was fabricated, and we found the hybrid AMS with higher-order structures arouses efficient molecular transportation from vesicles to living cells. In brief, our work provides a versatile strategy for modulating the self-assembly of AMSs, which could expand our capability to engineer synthetic biological systems and benefit synthetic cell research in programmable manipulation of intercellular communications.

AMPKα is active in autophagy of endothelial cells in arsenic-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction by regulating mTORC1/p70S6K/ULK1.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of death, environmental factors, such as arsenic, playing an important role in the progress of CVD. Vascular endothelial dysfunction (VED) is a crucial early feature for CVD, inorganic arsenic (iAs) can induce autophagy in various cells. However, the role of endothelial autophagy has rarely been studied in VED triggered by arsenic. Total of one hundred and twenty healthy male C57BL/6J mice weighing 18-22 g were randomly divided into an arsenic-exposure group and a control group for 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks. The results showed that, independent of the exposure period, autophagy markers of p-ATG16L1 levels and Beclin 1 contents in the aortic arch endothelium increased significantly compared with those of the corresponding control group. And different exposure duration decreased NO contents in the serum significantly. Combined with the histological changes that endothelial injury aggravated gradually with the increasing exposure period, suggesting that under exposure to iAs over 9 weeks, VED was remarkably induced, and consistant high levels of endothelial autophagy may play an important role. Additionally, levels of p-AMPKα/AMPKα increased significantly and p-mTORC1/mTORC1 levels decreased remarkably in the aortic arch endothelium. Then, a NaAsO2-induced-VED in vitro model was used to explore the mechanism of arsenic-induced endothelial autophagy. Similarly, p-AMPKα/AMPKα level significantly increased, and p-mTORC1/mTORC1 level remarkably decreased induced by 30 µmol/L NaAsO2 in HUAECs. Further, an AMPK inhibitor (Compound C) pre-treatment prior to arsenic exposure reversed the increased autophagy level, and alleviated the endothelial dysfunction in HUVECs, as shown by the significant increase in the intracellular NO content and the cell vitality. Mechanistically, we revealed that AMPKα is active in autophagy of endothelial cells in arsenic-induced VED by regulating mTORC1/p70S6K/ULK1. The present study provide a new promising target for prevention and control arsenic-associated CVD.

Association between dietary knowledge and muscle mass in Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the possible association between dietary knowledge and muscle mass in a Chinese population aged 60 years and above. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. SETTING: Data from the 2006 and 2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) were used for this study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1487 Chinese participants (44.38% males) aged 60 and above in the 2006 survey were included in the cross-sectional study. From the same study population, a total of 1023 participants (46.82% males) with normal muscle mass on the interview date of 2006 were included in the longitudinal study. OUTCOME MEASURES: Dietary knowledge was accessed by a validated CHNS questionnaire. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass was calculated using a validated anthropometric equation derived from a representative Chinese population. Based on the 2021 Chinese consensus on sarcopenia, the appendicular skeletal muscle mass was categorised as 'normal' or 'low' using sex-specific cut-off values. RESULTS: The prevalence of low muscle mass in the study population was 31.20%, with a higher prevalence in females (34.22%). People with low muscle mass have a significantly lower dietary knowledge score (mean difference: -1.74, 95% CI -2.20 to -1.29). In the cross-sectional analysis, one score higher in dietary knowledge score was associated with a 4% lower odds of low muscle mass (OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99). Compared with people in the lowest quartile of dietary knowledge, people in the highest quartile have a 44% lower odds of low muscle mass (OR=0.56, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.91). In the longitudinal analysis, no significant association was found between dietary knowledge and low muscle mass, yet the upper 95% CI was close to one (HR=0.97, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.01). CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient dietary knowledge may play a protective role in maintaining normal muscle mass in Chinese adults aged 60 or above.

Cardiac Abnormalities in Patients With Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Since the identification of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in 2010, there has been an increase in reported cases in China and other Asian countries. Cardiac abnormalities are highly prevalent in SFTS patients. We searched 5 Chinese and international databases for published SFTS articles and extracted patient characteristics, cardiac complications, electrocardiography findings, and imaging findings. Twenty-seven studies were identified, covering 1938 patients and 621 cardiac abnormalities. Arrhythmia was the most prevalent, reported in 24 studies and 525 cases, with a prevalence of 27.09%. The 2 major types of arrhythmias were bradycardia and atrial fibrillation. Heart failure was the second most prevalent abnormality, with 77 cases. Changes in the ST segment and T wave were the most common. Valve regurgitation, reduced ejection fraction, and pericardial effusion were also documented. We recommend that physicians pay close attention to newly onset arrhythmia and structural heart disease in SFTS patients.

circ_0000337 Promotes the Progression of Cervical Cancer by miR-155-5p/RAB3B Axis.

Current study aims to investigate the biological function of circular RNA (circRNA, circ_0000337) in cervical cancer (CC). Bioinformatic analyses were used to predict targets for circ_0000337 and miR-155-5p, and analyze the gene expression differences between cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (CESC) tissues and normal tissues. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot were applied to assess mRNA and protein expressions of circ_0000337, microRNA-155-5p (miR-155-5p) and member RAS oncogene family (RAB3B), respectively. Following the establishment of gain/loss-of-function models, CCK-8 was performed to evaluate cell proliferation. Bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) were used to identify the interaction in circ_0000337, miR-155-5p, and RAB3B. Circ_0000337 and RAB3B were upregulated, while miR-155-5p was downregulated in CC tissues and cell lines. circ_0000337 overexpression promoted cell proliferation, circ_0000337 knock down inhibited cell proliferation by sponging miR-155-5p. RAB3B was a target of miR-155-5p which was positively regulated by circ_0000337. In the collected CC tissues, there was a negative correlation between miR-155-5p and circ_0000337 or RAB3B, and a positive correlation between circ_0000337 and RAB3B. miR-155-5p was positively, while RAB3B was negatively correlated with OS in patients with CC, and they were negatively correlated. In conclusion, circ_0000337 upregulates RAB3B by sponging miR-155-5p to promote CC cell proliferation.

Nanozyme colorimetric sensing of L-cysteine and copper ions based on PtCo nanoparticles@multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

In this work, PtCo bimetallic nanoparticles supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PtCo@MWCNTs) nanohybrid was prepared simply and used for the first time as a novel nanozyme in the colorimetric sensing of L-cysteine (L-Cys) and Cu2+. Due to its strong enzyme-like catalytic activity, the prepared PtCo@MWCNTs nanohybrid can catalyze the oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to form ox-TMB without H2O2. Interestingly, the oxidase-like active of PtCo@MWCNTs was effectively suppressed by L-Cys, which could reduce ox-TMB to colorless TMB and lead to a pronounced blue fading, and the absorbance at 652 nm gradually decreased with increasing L-Cys concentration. On the other hand, the nanozyme activity of PtCo@MWCNTs can be recovered due to the complexation between L-Cys and Cu2+. Therefore, a colorimetric method based on PtCo@MWCNTs nanozyme was established to detect L-Cys and Cu2+. The results show that the assay platform has simple, rapid, sensitive performance and good selectivity. The detection limits for L-Cys and Cu2+ are 0.041 µM and 0.056 µM, respectively, coupled with the linearities of 0.01 ~ 60.0 µM and 0.05 ~ 80.0 µM. The successful first application of PtCo bimetal-based nanozyme in colorimetric sensing herein opens a new direction for nanozyme and colorimetric analysis, showing great potential applications.

The influence of social alienation on maintenance hemodialysis patients' coping styles: chain mediating effects of family resilience and caregiver burden.

Objective: Research on the possible impact of social alienation, family resilience, and caregiver burden on the coping styles of Chinese patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) is scarce. We explore the influence of social alienation, family resilience, and caregiver burden on the coping styles of MHD patients, both directly and indirectly. Methods: We invited 173 MHD patients and their primary caregivers for a cross-sectional study; the study using convenience sampling method at the hemodialysis center of the First People's Hospital of Foshan. The Chinese version of the generalized social of alienation scale, the Chinese version of the simplified coping style questionnaire, and a sociodemographic questionnaire were completed by the MHD patients, while their primary caregivers had filled out the Chinese family resilience assessment scale, the Chinese version of the Zarit caregiver burden interview, and provided socio-demographic information. SPSS macro program PROCESS v3.3 Model 6 were used for analyses of chain-mediated effects. Results: In the mediating effects model, the direct influence of social alienation upon coping styles was significant (95% CI -0.050, -0.014), and social alienation indirectly impacted coping style by family resilience in a significant way (95% CI -0.012, -0.001) or caregiver burden (95% CI -0.013, -0.001). In addition, social alienation significantly impacted coping style by both family resilience and caregiver burden (95% CI -0.008, -0.001). Conclusion: Social alienation can exert both a direct and indirect influence on coping styles through the mediating factors of family resilience and caregiver burden. Clinicians can take interventions to strengthen family resilience and reduce caregiver burden, which may be useful in improving socially isolated behaviors and coping skills in MHD patients.

Crosstalk between ferroptosis and steroid hormone signaling in gynecologic cancers.

Ferroptosis is a novel types of regulated cell death and is widely studied in cancers and many other diseases in recent years. It is characterized by iron accumulation and intense lipid peroxidation that ultimately inducing oxidative damage. So far, signaling pathways related to ferroptosis are involved in all aspects of determining cell fate, including oxidative phosphorylation, metal-ion transport, energy metabolism and cholesterol synthesis progress, et al. Recently, accumulated studies have demonstrated that ferroptosis is associated with gynecological oncology related to steroid hormone signaling. This review trends to summarize the mechanisms and applications of ferroptosis in cancers related to estrogen and progesterone, which is expected to provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of gynecologic cancers.

Hydrophilic ZnO/C nanocomposites with superior adsorption, photocatalytic, and photo-enhanced antibacterial properties for synergistic water purification.

Owing to the numerous potential applications of ZnO nanomaterials, the development of ZnO-based nanocomposites has become of great scientific interest in various fields. In this paper, we are reporting the fabrication of a series of ZnO/C nanocomposites through a simple "one-pot" calcination method under three different temperatures, 500 ℃, 600 ℃, and 700 ℃, with samples labeled as ZnO/C-500, -600, and -700, respectively. All samples exhibited adsorption capabilities and photon-activated catalytic and antibacterial properties, with the ZnO/C-700 sample showing superior performance among the three. The carbonaceous material in ZnO/C is key to expanding the optical absorption range and improving the charge separation efficiency of ZnO. The remarkable adsorption property of the ZnO/C-700 sample was demonstrated using Congo red dye, and is credited to its good hydrophilicity. It was also found to exhibit the most notable photocatalysis effect due to its high charge transfer efficiency. The hydrophilic ZnO/C-700 sample was also examined for antibacterial effects both in vitro (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and in vivo (against MSRA-infected rat wound model), and it was observed to exhibit synergistic killing performance under visible-light irradiation. A possible cleaning mechanism is proposed on the basis of our experimental results. Overall, this work presents a facile way of synthesizing ZnO/C nanocomposites with outstanding adsorption, photocatalysis, and antibacterial properties for the efficient treatment of organic and bacterial contaminants in wastewater.

Fluorescence enhancement of surface plasmon coupled emission by Au nanobipyramids and its modulation effect on multi-wavelength radiation.

Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE), a novel surface-enhanced fluorescence technique, can generate directional and amplified radiation by the intense interaction between fluorophores and surface plasmons (SPs) of metallic nanofilms. For plasmon-based optical systems, the strong interaction between localized and propagating SPs and "hot spot" structures show great potential to significantly improve the electromagnetic (EM) field and modulate optical properties. Au nanobipyramids (NBPs) with two sharp apexes to enhance and restrict the EM field were introduced through electrostatic adsorption to achieve a mediated fluorescence system, and the emission signal enhancement was realized by factors over 60 compared with the normal SPCE. It has been demonstrated that the intense EM field produced by the NBPs assembly is what triggered the unique enhancement of SPCE by Au NBPs, which effectively overcomes the inherent signal quenching of SPCE for ultrathin sample detection. This remarkable enhanced strategy offers the chance to improve the detection sensitivity for plasmon-based biosensing and detection systems, and expand the range of applications for SPCE in bioimaging with more comprehensive and detailed information acquisition. The enhancement efficiency for various emission wavelengths was investigated in light of the wavelength resolution of SPCE, and it was discovered that enhanced emission for multi-wavelength could be successfully detected through the different emission angles due to the angular displacement caused by wavelength change. Benefit from this, the Au NBP modulated SPCE system was employed for multi-wavelength simultaneous enhancement detection under a single collection angle, which could broaden the application of SPCE in simultaneous sensing and imaging for multi-analytes, and expected to be used for high throughput detection of multi-component analysis.

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Lansoprazole/Sodium Bicarbonate Immediate-release Capsules in Healthy Chinese Subjects: An Open, Randomized, Controlled, Crossover, Single-, and Multiple-dose Trial.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) differ in onset of action and bioavailability. This trial was conducted to investigate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an immediate-release capsule formulation containing lansoprazole 30 mg and sodium bicarbonate 1100 mg (T preparation) in healthy Chinese subjects. This was an open, single-center, randomized, single and multiple oral doses, and two-period crossover study in 30 healthy subjects. After single- and multiple-dose oral administration, blood samples were obtained and lansoprazole concentration in serum was measured for pharmacokinetic analysis. Meanwhile, the intragastric pH was monitored continuously to evaluate the pharmacodynamics of the investigational drugs. The Tmax of the T preparation was 0.5 hours, while the Tmax of the R preparation was 1.5 hours after multiple doses, which indicated that the absorption speed of the T preparation was significantly faster than that of the R preparation. The same characteristics also existed after single-dose administration. The area under the curve (AUC)ss of the T preparation was bio-equivalent to that of the R preparation under steady state. The time percentage of intragastric pH > 4.0 for the T preparation was higher than that of the R preparation after 1 hour for both single- and multiple-dose. It suggested compared with R preparation, the time percentage of intragastric pH > 4.0 met the criteria for superiority after 1 hour administration for the T preparation. In addition, no serious adverse events occurred in this study. Across this study, the T preparation was better than the R preparation at improving drug absorption and increasing intragastric pH, and had a favorable safety profile.

Correlation between coefficient of variation of blood pressure and cognitive dysfunction in patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease.

To investigate the correlation between the coefficient of variation of blood pressure and cognitive dysfunction in patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease. 415 patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease who received treatment in our hospital from January 2019 to June 2022 were retrospectively included in this study. These patients were divided into a cognitive dysfunction group (n = 74) and a non-cognitive dysfunction group (n = 341) according to whether they had cognitive dysfunction. Blood pressure and general data were recorded for each patient. The logistic regression coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between coefficient of variation of blood pressure and cognitive dysfunction in patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, the weighted standard deviation of 24-hour systolic blood pressure (24hSBP-wSD), cholesterol level, and triglyceride level were risk factors for cognitive dysfunction in patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease (P < 0.05). The risk for cognitive dysfunction was increased by 3.532-fold in patients aged>65 years, increased by 1.203-fold in patients with a 24hSBP-wSD of 14.9-15.9%, and increased by 3.033-fold in patients with a 24hSBP-wSD>16.0% (P < 0.05). The coefficient of variation of blood pressure is markedly correlated with the risk for cognitive dysfunction; and a higher coefficient of variation of blood pressure leads to a higher risk for cognitive dysfunction in patients with hypertension complicated by cerebral small vessel disease.