Worldwide productivity and research trend of publications concerning extracellular vesicles role in fibrosis: A bibliometric study from 2013 to 2022.

Background: Fibrosis is a heavy burden on the global healthcare system. Recently, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that Extracellular vesicles play an important role in intercellular communication under both physiological and pathological conditions. This study aimed to explore the role of extracellular vesicles' in fibrosis using bibliometric methods. Methods: Original articles and reviews related to extracellular vesicles and fibrosis were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database on November 9, 2022. VOSviewer was used to obtain general information, including co-institution, co-authorship, and co-occurrence visualization maps. The CiteSpace software was used to analyze citation bursts of keywords and references, a timeline view of the top clusters of keywords and cited articles, and the dual map. R package "bibliometrix" was used to analyze annual production, citation per year, collaboration network between countries/regions, thematic evolution map, and historiography network. Results: In total, 3376 articles related to extracellular vesicles and fibrosis published from 2013 to 2022 were included in this study, with China and the United States being the top contributors. Shanghai Jiao Tong University has the highest number of publications. The main collaborators were Giovanni Camussi, Stefania Bruno, Marta Tepparo, and Cristina Grange. Journals related to molecular, biology, genetics, health, immunology, and medicine tended to publish literature on extracellular vesicles and fibrosis. "Recovery," "heterogeneity," "degradation," "inflammation," and "mesenchymal stem cells" are the keywords in this research field. Literature on extracellular vesicles and fibrosis associated with several diseases, including "kidney disease," "rheumatoid arthritis," and "skin regeneration" may be the latest hot research field. Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive perspective on extracellular vesicles and fibrosis through a bibliometric analysis of articles published between 2013 and 2022. We identified the most influential countries, institutions, authors, and journals. We provide information on recent research frontiers and trends for scholars interested in the field of extracellular vesicles and fibrosis. Their role in biological processes has great potential to initiate a new upsurge in future research.

[Circadian rhythm and health: dialogue between traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine].

Circadian rhythm refers to the daily rhythmic variations in an organism. The irregular lifestyles of modern humans have led to a high incidence of chronic diseases, highlighting an inseparable relationship between disrupted circadian rhythm and disease development. TCM has long discussed rhythmic variations, with records dating back to the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon(Huang Di Nei Jing), which laid a rich theoretical foundation for the research on circadian rhythm. Modern medical research has provided a more comprehensive explanation of its molecular mechanisms. This article integrated the current understanding of circadian rhythm in both Chinese and western medicine, emphasizing the crucial relationship between rhythm regulation and disease treatment. By highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the two fields, it offers new directions for exploring the field of chronomedicine.

Differences in the evolution of urban and rural surface thermal environment and their responses to urban renewal in Shanghai, China.

The rapid and extensive urbanization has profound impacts on urban thermal environment. It is of great significance to comprehensively understand how urbanization affects the evolution of urban thermal environment for urban ecological safety, environmental quality, and residents' health. Based on daily land surface temperature (LST) products of MODIS Aqua satellite in the summer of 2002-2020, we investigated the evolution of urban-rural differences in surface summer thermal environment in Shanghai during 2002-2020 and its response to urban spatial renewal. We used normalized land surface temperature (NLST) and urban heat island ratio index (URI) as the surface thermal environment measurement indicators, by combining vegetation index and impervious surface cove-rage, and used M-K trend analysis and interpretation analysis. The results showed that the linear growth rate of LST in Shanghai was 0.09 ℃·a-1 (2002-2020), and that URI showed a trend of first increasing (2002-2010) and then decreasing (2010-2020). The mean summer LST was generally in the order of urban core>suburban>rural. 1.6% of the areas showed a significant cooling trend, of which 54.0% were distributed in the urban core. 39.5% of the regions showed a significant warming trend, of which 77.6% were distributed in the suburban. In general, there were concentrated significant cooling areas in the highly urbanized urban areas, while there was a significant warming trend in the suburban. The transformation from urban expansion to urban renewal was the main reason for the emergence of concentrated and significant cooling areas in the urban. Nearly 20% of the urban area showed a signi-ficant increase of vegetation coverage. Urban renewal projects such as gathering vegetation or dispersing impervious surfaces in highly urbanized areas are important ways to effectively improve the urban residential thermal environment.

Neurotoxins and pore forming toxins in sea anemones: Potential candidates for new drug development.

There are two kinds of toxins in sea anemones: neurotoxins and pore forming toxins. As a representative of the sodium channel toxin, the neurotoxin ATX II in neurotoxin mainly affects the process of action potential and the release of transmitter to affect the inactivation of the sodium channel. As the representatives of potassium channel toxins, BgK and ShK mainly affect the potassium channel current. EqTx and Sticholysins are representative of pore forming toxins, which can form specific ion channels in cell membranes and change the concentration of internal and external ions, eventually causing hemolytic effects. Based on the above mechanism, toxins such as ATX II can also cause toxic effects in tissues and organs such as heart, lung and muscle. As an applied aspect it was shown that sea anemone toxins often have strong toxic effects on tumor cells, induce cancer cells to enter the pathway of apoptosis, and can also bind to monoclonal antibodies or directly inhibit relevant channels for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

A low-frequency multiple-band sound insulator without blocking ventilation along a pipe.

It is challenging to insulate sound transmission in low frequency-bands without blocking the air flow in a pipe. In this work, a small and light membrane-based cubic sound insulator is created to block acoustic waves in multiple low frequency-bands from 200 to 800 Hz in pipes. Due to distinct vibration modes of the membrane-type faces of the insulator and co-action of acoustic waves transmitting along different paths, large sound attenuation is achieved in multiple frequency-bands, and the maximum transmission loss reaches 25 dB. Furthermore, because the sound insulator with a deep subwavelength size is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the pipe, it does not block ventilation along the pipe.

Combining Pre- and Postoperative Lymphocyte-C-Reactive Protein Ratios Can Better Predict Hepatocellular Carcinoma Prognosis After Partial Hepatectomy.

Background: Various preoperative inflammatory indicators have been identified as potential predictors of poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the role of postoperative inflammatory indicators remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the prognostic value of the postoperative lymphocyte-C-reactive protein ratio (PostLCR) on its own and combined with preoperative LCR (PreLCR). Methods: A total of 290 patients with primary HCC were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Univariate analysis was used to identify factors significantly associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), then multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent prognostic indicators of poor survival. Prognostic models based on preoperative, postoperative, and both types of indicators were then constructed, and their predictive performance were evaluated using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves and the concordance index (C-index). Results: PreLCR and PostLCR levels correlated with DFS and OS more strongly than other pre- and postoperative inflammatory indicators, respectively. Decreased PreLCR and PostLCR were independent prognostic factors for both DFS and OS, while HCC patients with decreased PreLCR and PostLCR had worse prognosis than patients with increased PreLCR and PostLCR. Patients into three groups based on their cut-off values of PreLCR and PostLCR, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that HCC patients with low PreLCR and PostLCR had the worst DFS and OS. The combined model showed better predictive performance at 1 and 3 years post-surgery than individual pre- and postoperative models, the American Joint Committee on Cancer/Tumor-Node-Metastasis (8th edition) staging system and the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer system. The combine model demonstrated a markedly superior C-index compared with the other models in DFS and OS. Conclusion: Our study showed PreLCR and PostLCR are independent predictors of DFS and OS in HCC patients after partial hepatectomy. Models that include both PreLCR and PostLCR can predict prognosis better than well-established clinical staging systems.

Ocular development in children with unilateral congenital cataract and persistent fetal vasculature.

AIM: To investigate the ocular development of patients who had unilateral congenital cataract (CC) combined with persistent fetal vasculature (PFV). METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study included patients who had unilateral CC and PFV and those with isolated unilateral CC. Axial length (AL), keratometry, anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness, and vitreous length were obtained. The ocular biometric parameters of the affected eyes of patients with CC and PFV were compared with the fellow eyes and with the affected eyes of patients with isolated CC. RESULTS: A total of 110 patients were included and divided into 4 groups: group 1 (18 patients with CC and PFV, <24mo), group 2 (22 patients with CC and PFV, ≥24mo), group 3 (35 patients with CC, <24mo), and group 4 (35 patients with CC, ≥24mo). The ALs of the affected eyes were shorter than those of the fellow eyes in group 1 (20.02±1.06 vs 20.66±0.63 mm, P=0.025). While the ALs of the affected eyes were longer than those of the fellow eyes in group 2 (23.18±2.00 vs 22.31±1.06 mm, P=0.044) and group 4 (22.64±1.80 vs 22.02±1.01 mm, P=0.033). The keratometries of the affected eyes were steeper than those of the fellow eyes in group 2 (44.78±1.66 vs 43.83±1.38 D, P=0.041) and group 4 (43.76±1.91 vs 43.34±1.46 D, P=0.043). No difference of ACDs between two eyes was found in all groups (all P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with the fellow eyes, the ALs of the eyes with unilateral CC and PFV are shorter in patients younger than 24mo and longer in those older than 24mo; the keratometries of the eyes with unilateral CC and PFV are steeper in patients older than 24mo and similar with those younger than 24mo. These findings provide further understanding of ocular development in patients with both CC and PFV.

General pore features for one-step C2H4 production from a C2 hydrocarbon mixture.

Herein, we propose the required general pore features for one-step C2H4 production from a C2 hydrocarbon mixture, such as: (i) a non-metallic binding site; (ii) polar pore surface; and (iii) narrow pocket. Four representative MOFs (Ni-BDC-INA, CPM-173, UiO-66, and DMOF-1) and two counterexamples (MOF-74-Co and IISERP-MOF2) were selected to verify this concept, by conducting single-component gas adsorption measurements, multiple-component breakthrough experiments, and molecular simulations. The established pore features are a stepping-stone for the design and synthesis of new MOFs with improved performance for C2H4 separation.

LncRNA CDKN2B­AS1 sponges miR­28­5p to regulate proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in colorectal cancer.

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) CDKN2B­antisense RNA 1 (AS1) functions as a tumor oncogene in numerous cancers. However, the roles and mechanism of CDKN2B­AS1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) have not been explored. The present study aimed to investigate whether and how CDKN2B­AS1 contributes to CRC progression. The data revealed that CDKN2B­AS1 expression was upregulated in CRC tissues. Loss­of­function assays demonstrated that CDKN2B­AS1 in CRC modulated cell proliferation and apoptosis, which was mediated by cyclin D1, cyclin­dependent kinase (CDK) 4, p­Rb, caspase­9 and caspase­3. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assays indicated direct binding of microRNA (miR)­28­5p to CDKN2B­AS1. Moreover, the results herein revealed that the expression of miR­28­5p was negatively correlated with that of CDKN2B­AS1 in CRC tissue. Moreover, CDKN2B­AS1 acted as a miR­28­5p competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to target and regulate the expression of URGCP. These findings indicated that CDKN2B­AS1 plays roles in CRC progression, providing a potential therapeutic target or novel diagnostic biomarker for CRC.

A room-temperature ultrasonic hydrogen sensor based on a sensitive layer of reduced graphene oxide.

It is challenging to increase the sensitivity of a hydrogen sensor operating at room temperature due to weak sorption and tiny mass of hydrogen. In this work, an ultrasonic sensor is presented for detecting hydrogen, which is composed of a 128° YX-LiNbO3 substrate and a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sensitive layer with a platinum catalyzer. By optimizing the depositing parameters of RGO and platinum, a considerably high sensitivity is achieved at room temperature. A frequency shift of 308.9 kHz is obtained in 100 ppm hydrogen mixed with argon, and a frequency shift of 24.4 kHz is obtained in 1000 ppm hydrogen mixed in synthetic air. It is demonstrated that in addition to strong sorption of the sensitive layer, the coaction of mass load and conductivity variation is key to high sensitivity of the sensor. By establishing the original conductivity of the sensitive layer within the "conductivity window" for enhancing electrical response, we improve the sensitivity of the ultrasonic sensor, which is available for detecting hydrogen with an extremely low concentration of 5 ppm.

Sound regulation of coupled Helmholtz and Fabry-Pérot resonances in labyrinth cavity structures.

Traditional acoustic regulations in practice are used to have major obstacles in low frequency range, for which absorbers or suppressors have thicknesses that are comparable to their working wavelength. We present an acoustic structure-based "coiling-up space" to achieve outstanding sound regulation of acoustic waves in the extremely low frequency region. The structure is composed of an open waveguide and with a spiral throat tube and a cavity. The acoustic structure excites Helmholtz and Fabry-Pérot resonances in labyrinth cavity structures, coupling of an open waveguide, which produce Fano-like resonances respectively and a broadband low-transmission spectrum in the 120-3100 Hz range. During sound regulation, the existing open waveguide can also maintain natural ventilation through the structure. In addition, the sound transmission properties are shown to be sensitive to the structural parameters, which can be used to provide a tunable sound control method for acoustic devices.

Predicting the risk for colorectal cancer with personal characteristics and fecal immunochemical test.

We aimed to predict colorectal cancer (CRC) based on the demographic features and clinical correlates of personal symptoms and signs from Tianjin community-based CRC screening data.A total of 891,199 residents who were aged 60 to 74 and were screened in 2012 were enrolled. The Lasso logistic regression model was used to identify the predictors for CRC. Predictive validity was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Bootstrapping method was also performed to validate this prediction model.CRC was best predicted by a model that included age, sex, education level, occupations, diarrhea, constipation, colon mucosa and bleeding, gallbladder disease, a stressful life event, family history of CRC, and a positive fecal immunochemical test (FIT). The area under curve (AUC) for the questionnaire with a FIT was 84% (95% CI: 82%-86%), followed by 76% (95% CI: 74%-79%) for a FIT alone, and 73% (95% CI: 71%-76%) for the questionnaire alone. With 500 bootstrap replications, the estimated optimism (<0.005) shows good discrimination in validation of prediction model.A risk prediction model for CRC based on a series of symptoms and signs related to enteric diseases in combination with a FIT was developed from first round of screening. The results of the current study are useful for increasing the awareness of high-risk subjects and for individual-risk-guided invitations or strategies to achieve mass screening for CRC.

Simultaneous realization of slow and fast acoustic waves using a fractal structure of Koch curve.

An acoustic metamaterial based on a fractal structure, the Koch curve, is designed to simultaneously realize slow and fast acoustic waves. Owing to the multiple transmitting paths in the structure resembling the Koch curve, the acoustic waves travelling along different paths interfere with each other. Therefore, slow waves are created on the basis of the resonance of a Koch-curve-shaped loop, and meanwhile, fast waves even with negative group velocities are obtained due to the destructive interference of two acoustic waves with opposite phases. Thus, the transmission of acoustic wave can be freely manipulated with the Koch-curve shaped structure.

Tea consumption is associated with cognitive impairment in older Chinese adults.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between tea consumption and cognitive impairment (CoI). METHODS: 4579 adults (≥60 years) from the Weitang Geratric Diseases Study were assessed for characteristics of tea consumption and cognitive function by administering questionnaires and the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT), respectively. We divided the subjects into normal cognitive function group (AMT score ≥8) and CoI group (AMT score ≤7).   The association between tea consumption and risk of CoI was determined by logistic regression models. RESULTS: The least-squared means of the AMT scores for the subjects who seldom consumed tea were less favorable than those who habitually consumed tea. An inverse association was found between tea consumption (of any type) and prevalence of CoI (odds ratio = 0.74, 95% confidence interval = 0.57-0.98, P = 0.032). Interestingly, the protective correlation of tea was more obvious in never smokers (odds ratio = 0.63), but vanished in current/former smokers (odds ratio = 1.10). In never smokers, frequency of tea consumption was significantly associated with CoI (P for trend = 0.010). CONCLUSION: Habitual tea consumption is suggested to be associated with a decreased risk of CoI among elders in Suzhou, and a higher frequency of tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of CoI among never smokers.

Simulation of SAW Humidity Sensors Based on ( 11 2 ¯ 0 ) ZnO/R-Sapphire Structures.

The characteristics of two types of surface acoustic waves SAWs (Rayleigh waves and Love waves) propagating in bilayered structures of ( 11 2 ¯ 0 ) ZnO/R-sapphire are simulated by a finite element method (FEM) model, in which both SAWs have crossed propagation directions. Furthermore, based on the bilayered structures, the frequency responses of Rayleigh wave and Love wave humidity sensors are also simulated. Meanwhile, the frequency shifts, insertion loss changes and then the sensitivities of both humidity sensors induced by the adsorbed water layer perturbations, including the mechanical and electrical factors, are calculated numerically. Generally, the characteristics and performances of both sensors are strongly dependent on the thickness of the ZnO films. By appropriate selecting the ratio of the film thickness to SAW wavelength for each kind of the sensors, the performances of both sensors can be optimized.

Tunable sound transmission at an impedance-mismatched fluidic interface assisted by a composite waveguide.

We report a composite waveguide fabricated by attaching a coupling aperture to a waveguide. The acoustic impedance of the composite waveguide can be regulated by merely controlling its coupling vibrations, depending on its structure size. By changing the size to adjust the acoustic impedance of the composite waveguide at an impedance-mismatched fluidic interface, tunable sound transmission at the desired frequencies is achieved. The reported composite waveguide provides a new method for sound regulation at a mismatched fluidic interface and has extensive frequency hopping and frequency agility applications in air-water sound communication.

Extraordinary acoustic transmission through annuluses in air and its applications in acoustic beam splitter and concentrator.

We report an extraordinary acoustic transmission through two layer annuluses made of metal cylinders in air both numerically and experimentally. The effect arises from the enhancement and reconstruction of the incident source induced by different Mie-resonance modes of the annuluses. The proposed system takes advantages of the consistency in the waveform between the input and output waves, the high amplitude amplification of output waves, and the easy adjustment of structure. More interestingly, we investigate the applications of the extraordinary acoustic transmission in the acoustic beam splitter and acoustic concentrator. Our finding should have an impact on ultrasonic applications.

A tunable acoustic metamaterial with double-negativity driven by electromagnets.

With the advance of the research on acoustic metamaterials, the limits of passive metamaterials have been observed, which prompts the studies concerning actively tunable metamaterials with adjustable characteristic frequency bands. In this work, we present a tunable acoustic metamaterial with double-negativity composed of periodical membranes and side holes, in which the double-negativity pass band can be controlled by an external direct-current voltage. The tension and stiffness of the periodically arranged membranes are actively controlled by electromagnets producing additional stresses, and thus, the transmission and phase velocity of the metamaterial can be adjusted by the driving voltage of the electromagnets. It is demonstrated that a tiny direct-current voltage of 6V can arise a shift of double-negativity pass band by 40% bandwidth, which exhibits that it is an easily controlled and highly tunable acoustic metamaterial, and furthermore, the metamaterial marginally causes electromagnetic interference to the surroundings.

Performance optimization of high-order Lamb wave sensors based on silicon carbide substrates.

Silicon carbide (SiC), as a new type of material for substrates in micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), was given high consideration in virtue of the properties of high acoustic velocity, low loss, chemical resistance, and etc. In this work, five performance parameters, which are electromechanical coupling coefficients, mass sensitivities, conductivity sensitivities, insert losses and minimum detectable masses, are theoretically investigated in Lamb wave chemical sensors for gas sensing based on SiC substrates. It is presented that higher performance can be achieved based on high-order modes other than fundamental modes, and the abovementioned five parameters can be simultaneously optimized. Then, according to the optimized operating conditions, operating parameters of the SiC-based high-order Lamb wave sensors are designed, which can be easily realized in MEMS technology. Finally, it is demonstrates that the SiC-based sensor exhibits better performance than that of the sensor with a conventional silicon substrate.

Suppression of harmonics in a model of thermoacoustic refrigerator based on an acoustic metamaterial.

A model of thermoacoustic refrigerator on the basis of an acoustic metamaterial is presented, in which an array of side pipes is adopted to suppress harmonic waves in the thermoacoustic resonator. The array of side pipes traps the acoustic waves with Fabry-Perot resonant frequencies and induces narrow forbidden bands of transmission. When the resonant frequency of the thermoacoustic refrigerator is chosen as the operating frequency, the harmonic wave can be exactly located in the forbidden band by properly adapting the structural parameters of the system. Therefore, the component of the harmonic wave in the thermoacoustic resonator can be efficiently suppressed.