Current hotspot and study trend of innate immunity in COVID-19: a bibliometric analysis from 2020 to 2022.

Background: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread throughout the world, many studies on innate immunity in COVID-19 have been published, and great progress has been achieved, while bibliometric analysis on hotspots and research trends in this field remains lacking. Methods: On 17 November 2022, articles and reviews on innate immunity in COVID-19 were recruited from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database after papers irrelevant to COVID-19 were further excluded. The number of annual publications and the average citations per paper were analyzed by Microsoft Excel. Bibliometric analysis and visualization of the most prolific contributors and hotspots in the field were performed by VOSviewer and CiteSpace software. Results: There were 1,280 publications that met the search strategy on innate immunity in COVID-19 and were published from 1 January 2020 to 31 October 2022. Nine hundred thirteen articles and reviews were included in the final analysis. The USA had the highest number of publications (Np) at 276 and number of citations without self-citations (Nc) at 7,085, as well as an H-index of 42, which contributed 30.23% of the total publications, followed by China (Np: 135, Nc: 4,798, and H-index: 23) with 14.79% contribution. Regarding Np for authors, Netea, Mihai G. (Np: 7) from the Netherlands was the most productive author, followed by Joosten, Leo A. B. (Np: 6) and Lu, Kuo-Cheng (Np: 6). The Udice French Research Universities had the most publications (Np: 31, Nc: 2,071, H-index: 13), with an average citation number (ACN) at 67. The journal Frontiers in Immunology possessed the most publications (Np: 89, Nc: 1,097, ACN: 12.52). "Evasion" (strength 1.76, 2021-2022), "neutralizing antibody" (strength 1.76, 2021-2022), "messenger RNA" (strength 1.76, 2021-2022), "mitochondrial DNA" (strength 1.51, 2021-2022), "respiratory infection" (strength 1.51, 2021-2022), and "toll-like receptors" (strength 1.51, 2021-2022) were the emerging keywords in this field. Conclusion: The study on innate immunity in COVID-19 is a hot topic. The USA was the most productive and influential country in this field, followed by China. The journal with the most publications was Frontiers in Immunology. "Messenger RNA," "mitochondrial DNA," and "toll-like receptors" are the current hotspots and potential targets in future research.

Effect of PCSK9 Monoclonal Antibody Versus Placebo/Ezetimibe on Atrial Fibrillation in Patients at High Cardiovascular Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 26 Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Patients at high cardiovascular risk are closely associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). Whether proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 monoclonal antibodies (PCSK9 mAbs) can attenuate AF progression remains unknown. METHODS: To compare PCSK9 mAbs with placebo or ezetimibe to explore the effect of PCSK9 mAbs therapy on the end-point of incidence of AF, we searched PubMed, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov for articles. We used Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio (RR) with corresponding 95% CI for the categorical data, including the incidence of AF and predefined other outcomes of interest. RESULTS: We included 21 articles consisting of 26 randomized controlled trials with a total of 95,635 participants. Quantitative synthesis revealed that PCSK9 mAbs significantly reduce the incidence of AF events (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.72-0.98; p = 0.03), whereas no obvious differences were seen between the PCSK9 mAbs group and the ezetimibe group (RR 0.90; 95% CI 0.29-2.76; p = 0.85). PCSK9 mAbs also markedly decreased the incidence of cerebrovascular events (RR 0.75; 95% CI 0.66-0.85; p < 0.0001) and new-onset hypertension (RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.87-0.97; p = 0.003), but not the risk of cardiovascular death (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.85-1.07; p = 0.40) and new-onset diabetes mellitus (RR 1.01; 95% CI 0.95-1.08; p = 0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the PCSK9 mAbs therapy reduced AF and presented certain cardiovascular benefits in patients at high cardiovascular risk. Further big-scale and long follow-up duration randomized controlled trials that compare PCSK9 mAbs with ezetimibe are required to evaluate the effect of PCSK9 mAbs versus ezetimibe on AF.

Efficacy and Safety of Finerenone for Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

ABSTRACT: Only a few meta-analyses evaluated the effect of finerenone on cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetes mellitus with chronic kidney disease. The main aim of this meta-analysis was to gain more reliable assessments of the efficacy and safety of finerenone for prevention of cardiovascular events in diabetic kidney disease. We searched for finerenone in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease from database (PubMed, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov ) until December 30, 2021. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) calculated by the Mantel-Haenszel random-effects model were used as summary statistics for the categorical data. We included 4 studies that met the inclusion criteria with 13,943 participants. The finerenone group demonstrated a great benefit in reducing the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (RR: 0.88; 95% CI 0.80-0.96; P = 0.003), all-cause mortality (RR: 0.89; 95% CI 0.80-0.99; P = 0.04), myocardial infarction (RR: 0.79; 95% CI 0.67-0.92; P = 0.003), and new-onset hypertension (RR: 0.71; 95% CI 0.62-0.81; P < 0.00001). No difference was found in adverse events between the finerenone and placebo groups (RR: 1.00; 95% CI [0.98-1.01], P = 0.59), whereas a higher risk of hyperkalemia was observed in the finerenone group than in the placebo group (RR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.80-2.32; P < 0.00001). Besides, cerebrovascular events and new-onset atrial fibrillation did not increase in patients taking finerenone. Overall, finerenone treatment showed a great benefit of reducing the risk of major adverse cardiac events, all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and new-onset hypertension events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease.

A Clinical-Radiomic Nomogram Based on Unenhanced Computed Tomography for Predicting the Risk of Aldosterone-Producing Adenoma.

PURPOSE: To develop and validate a clinical-radiomic nomogram for the preoperative prediction of the aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) risk in patients with unilateral adrenal adenoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety consecutive primary aldosteronism (PA) patients with unilateral adrenal adenoma who underwent adrenal venous sampling (AVS) were randomly separated into training (n = 62) and validation cohorts (n = 28) (7:3 ratio) by a computer algorithm. Data were collected from October 2017 to June 2020. The prediction model was developed in the training cohort. Radiomic features were extracted from unenhanced computed tomography (CT) images of unilateral adrenal adenoma. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to reduce data dimensions, select features, and establish a radiomic signature. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used for the predictive model development, the radiomic signature and clinical risk factors integration, and the model was displayed as a clinical-radiomic nomogram. The nomogram performance was evaluated by its calibration, discrimination, and clinical practicability. Internal validation was performed. RESULTS: Six potential predictors were selected from 358 texture features by using the LASSO regression model. These features were included in the Radscore. The predictors included in the individualized prediction nomogram were the Radscore, age, sex, serum potassium level, and aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR). The model showed good discrimination, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.900 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.807 to 0.993], and good calibration. The nomogram still showed good discrimination [AUC, 0.912 (95% CI, 0.761 to 1.000)] and good calibration in the validation cohort. Decision curve analysis presented that the nomogram was useful in clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: A clinical-radiomic nomogram was constructed by integrating a radiomic signature and clinical factors. The nomogram facilitated accurate prediction of the probability of APA in patients with unilateral adrenal nodules and could be helpful for clinical decision making.

Atorvastatin downregulates HSP22 expression in an atherosclerotic model in vitro and in vivo.

One of the pathological functions of heat shock protein 22 (HSP22) is the association with inflammatory diseases and atherosclerosis. However, the effects of a high­fat diet (HFD) or oxidized low­density lipoprotein (ox­LDL) combined with atorvastatin (ATV) on HSP22 expression are entirely unknown. The present study investigated the effects of ATV on HSP22 expression in HFD­induced atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E­deficient (ApoE­/­) mice and in ox­LDL­induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Furthermore, the influence of HSP22­knockdown on the HFD- or ox­LDL­induced atherosclerotic model was also examined. It was found that HFD or ox­LDL treatment significantly increased HSP22 expression in the serum and aorta, accompanied by decreased phosphorylated (p)­endothelial nitric oxide synthase (p-eNOS) activity and activated p38 mitogen­activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, these effects were suppressed by treatment with ATV. Furthermore, HSP22-knockdown showed reduced ox­LDL­induced lesions, evidenced by increased p­eNOS activity and inactivated p38 MAPK, while suppression of cell proliferation inhibition and cell cycle arrest were also observed. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that HFD or ox­LDL increased the expression of HSP22 and p­p38 MAPK, and decreased the p­eNOS activity in vitro and in vivo, and ATV could reduce the effects by downregulating HSP22 expression.

Spin-dependent transport properties of Fe3O4/MoS2/Fe3O4 junctions.

Magnetite is a half-metal with a high Curie temperature of 858 K, making it a promising candidate for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Yet, initial efforts to exploit its half metallic nature in Fe3O4/MgO/Fe3O4 MTJ structures have been far from promising. Finding suitable barrier layer materials, which keep the half metallic nature of Fe3O4 at the interface between Fe3O4 layers and barrier layer, is one of main challenges in this field. Two-dimensional (2D) materials may be good candidates for this purpose. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductor with distinctive electronic, optical, and catalytic properties. Here, we show based on the first principle calculations that Fe3O4 keeps a nearly fully spin polarized electron band at the interface between MoS2 and Fe3O4. We also present the first attempt to fabricate the Fe3O4/MoS2/Fe3O4 MTJs. A clear tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) signal was observed below 200 K. Thus, our experimental and theoretical studies indicate that MoS2 can be a good barrier material for Fe3O4 based MTJs. Our calculations also indicate that junctions incorporating monolayer or bilayer MoS2 are metallic.

Electrical-field-driven metal-insulator transition tuned with self-aligned atomic defects.

Recently, significant attention has been paid to the resistance switching (RS) behaviour in Fe3O4 and it was explained through the analogy of the electrically driven metal-insulator transition based on the quantum tunneling theory. Here, we propose a method to experimentally support this explanation and provide a way to tune the critical switching parameter by introducing self-aligned localized impurities through the growth of Fe3O4 thin films on stepped SrTiO3 substrates. Anisotropic behavior in the RS was observed, where a lower switching voltage in the range of 10(4) V cm(-1) is required to switch Fe3O4 from a high conducting state to a low conducting state when the electrical field is applied along the steps. The anisotropic RS behavior is attributed to a high density array of anti-phase boundaries (APBs) formed at the step edges and thus are aligned along the same direction in the film which act as a train of hotspot forming conduits for resonant tunneling. Our experimental studies open an interesting window to tune the electrical-field-driven metal-insulator transition in strongly correlated systems.

Magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial thin film MgFe2O4 grown on MgO (100) by molecular beam epitaxy.

Magnesium ferrite is a very important magnetic material due to its interesting magnetic and electrical properties and its chemical and thermal stability. Here we report on the magnetic and transport properties of epitaxial MgFe2O4 thin films grown on MgO (001) by molecular beam epitaxy. The structural properties and chemical composition of the MgFe2O4 films were characterized by X-Ray diffraction and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The nonsaturation of the magnetization in high magnetic fields observed for M (H) measurements and the linear negative magnetoresistance (MR) curves indicate the presence of anti-phase boundaries (APBs) in MgFe2O4. The presence of APBs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, post annealing decreases the resistance and enhances the MR of the film, suggesting migration of the APBs. Our results may be valuable for the application of MgFe2O4 in spintronics.

Self-powered, ultrafast, visible-blind UV detection and optical logical operation based on ZnO/GaN nanoscale p-n junctions.

Ultrafast-response (20 µs) UV detectors, which are visible-blind and self-powered, in devices where an n-type ZnO nanowire partially lies on a p-type GaN film, are demonstrated. Moreover, a CdSe-nanowire red-light detector powered by a nanoscale ZnO/GaN photovoltaic cell is also demonstrated, which extends the device function to a selective multiwavelength photodetector and shows the function of an optical logical AND gate.

Patterned growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on a large-area stainless steel grid.

Large-area ZnO nanorod arrays have been synthesized successfully on a stainless steel grid at a mild growth temperature of around 400 degrees C. The as-grown ZnO nanorods have uniform diameters of about 30-50 nm with approximately 5 nm tips. Patterned growth can be realized by engineering the shape of the grid in the growth. Photoluminescence demonstrates a sharp strong UV peak and a broad green band. The growth method provides a promising way of producing nanorod arrays with good controllability in patterns and morphologies, which will be critical in potential application such as high-efficiency filtering and catalysts.