Light-Activated Chemically Reactive Fibrous Patch Revolutionizes Wound Repair Through the Prevention of Postoperative Adhesion.

A light-activated chemically reactive fibrous patch (ChemPatch) with tissue adhesion and wound healing activity was developed for preventing postoperative peritoneal adhesion. ChemPatch was constructed by an integrative electrospinning fabrication strategy, generating multifunctional PCL-NHS fibers encapsulating antioxidant curcumin and MnO2 nanoparticles. ChemPatch exhibited excellent photothermal conversion, which not only reformed the physical state to match the tissue but also improved conjugation between ChemPatch and tissues, allowing for strong attachment. Importantly, ChemPatch possessed good antioxidant and radical scavenging activity, which protected cells in an oxidative microenvironment and improved tissue regeneration. Particularly, ChemPatch acted as a multifunctional barrier and could not only promote reepithelialization and revascularization in wound defect model but simultaneously ameliorate inflammation and prevent postoperative peritoneal adhesion in a mouse cecal defect model. Thus, ChemPatch represents a dual-active bioadhesive barrier for reducing the incidence and severity of peritoneal adhesions.

A Method of Merging Maps for MUAVs Based on an Improved Genetic Algorithm.

The merging of environmental maps constructed by individual UAVs alone and the sharing of information are key to improving the efficiency of distributed multi-UAVexploration. This paper investigates the raster map-merging problem in the absence of a common reference coordinate system and the relative position information of UAVs, and proposes a raster map-merging method with a directed crossover multidimensional perturbation variational genetic algorithm (DCPGA). The algorithm uses an optimization function reflecting the degree of dissimilarity between the overlapping regions of two raster maps as the fitness function, with each possible rotation translation transformation corresponding to a chromosome, and the binary encoding of the coordinates as the gene string. The experimental results show that the algorithm could converge quickly and had a strong global search capability to search for the optimal overlap area of the two raster maps, thus achieving map merging.

Stretchable and Skin-Attachable Electronic Device for Remotely Controlled Wearable Cancer Therapy.

Surgery represents a primary clinical treatment of solid tumors. The high risk of local relapse typically requires frequent hospital visits for postoperative adjuvant therapy. Here, device designs and system integration of a stretchable electronic device for wearable cancer treatment are presented. The soft electronic patch harnesses compliant materials to achieve conformal and stable attachment to the surgical wound. A composite nanotextile dressing is laminated to the electronic patch to allow the on-demand release of anticancer drugs under electro-thermal actuation. An additional flexible circuit and a compact battery complete an untethered wearable system to execute remote therapeutic commands from a smartphone. The successful implementation of combined chemothermotherapy to inhibit tumor recurrence demonstrates the promising potential of stretchable electronics for advanced wearable therapies without interfering with daily activities.

Alginate functionalized biomimetic 3D scaffold improves cell culture and cryopreservation for cellular therapy.

The clinical translation of cellular therapy is hampered by the scarcity of reliable and consistent cell sources. In this study, we developed an exquisite scaffold featuring the hierarchical structure and biofunctions of silkworm cocoons (CryoSiCo), for boosting cell manufacture and cryopreservation. CryoSiCo was constructed by a creative bottom-up fabrication technique integrating electrospinning, in situ surface functionalization and freeze-shaping, generating a 3D cocoon-mimicking fibrous scaffold composed of graphene oxide-incorporated polylactic acid/gelatin inner fiber core and alginate outer fiber shell. CryoSiCo provided rapid and uniform rewarming for cryopreserved cells, and maximally maintained cell viability and proliferation capability, allowing for effective cryopreservation. Importantly, CryoSiCo could cryopreserve stem cell-scaffold constructs with high cell survival and functions, which can be directly implanted to restore tissue defects. Thus, CryoSiCo represents an appealing biomimetic strategy for storing precious cells and tissue engineered constructs, showing a broad application for fundamental research and applied medicine.

Effect of fermentation by Pediococcus pentosaceus and Staphylococcus carnosus on the metabolite profile of sausages.

A multi-omics approach was applied to investigate the differences and correlations between characteristic volatile flavor substances and non-volatile metabolites in sausages fermented by Pediococcus pentosaceus (P. pentosaceus) and Staphylococcus carnosus (S. carnosus) alone and in a mixture. Twenty-seven volatile metabolites were identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass. According to orthogonal projections to latent structures-differential analysis, 17 characteristic volatile metabolites were detected in the sausages of different treatments. Utilizing ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer to analyze metabolite profiles, 42.03% of the non-volatile metabolites were classified as lipids and lipid-like molecules, 25.00% of organic acids and derivatives, and others. Seventeen characteristic flavor substances were significantly correlated with twenty differential non-volatile metabolites, and the non-volatile metabolites changed significantly. Differences in the characteristics and combinations of microorganisms themselves have a decisive role in the development of flavor substances and non-volatile metabolites in sausages.

Outcomes of non-anatomic liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma in the patients with liver cirrhosis and analysis of prognostic factors.

PURPOSE: In the east countries, patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are usually associated with varied degrees of liver cirrhosis, and anatomic resection is therefore limited to use, especially in those with severe liver cirrhosis. This study aims to evaluate the clinical value of non-anatomic resection in HCC patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: Seventy-seven consecutive HCC patients with cirrhosis underwent non-anatomic liver resection in Tongji Hospital from January 2003 to December 2006. The clinical data, severity of liver cirrhosis, and survival rates of these patients were retrospectively evaluated, and the prognostic factors were analyzed. RESULTS: One-, 2-, and 3-year overall and disease-free survival rates of this cohort of patients were 78%, 68%, 56%, and 66%, 58%, 55%, respectively. The hospital mortality and morbidity were 0% and 24.7%, respectively. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates were 85.7%, 77.1%, and 74.3% in the patients with mild cirrhosis, 81.5%, 63%, and 48.1% in the patients with moderate cirrhosis, and 60.0%, 53.3%, and 26.7% in the patients with severe cirrhosis, respectively. There was a significant difference among the patients with different grades of cirrhosis (P = 0.001). Multivariate and univariate analyses revealed that severity of cirrhosis, tumor diameter larger than 5 cm, and vascular invasion were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Non-anatomic liver resection for HCC could yield comparable outcomes with anatomic resection in the patients with mild cirrhosis or tumors diameter smaller than 5 cm. Severity of cirrhosis is an independent factor worsening long-time survival. Non-anatomic resection is a safe and effective surgical modality in the treatment of HCC patients with cirrhosis.

PJ34, an inhibitor of PARP-1, suppresses cell growth and enhances the suppressive effects of cisplatin in liver cancer cells.

It has been suggested that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-l (PARP-l) plays an important role in DNA repair, cell death and proliferation, as well as in the stabilization of the genome. Pharmacological inhibition or genetic ablation of PARP-1 had a beneficial outcome in cancer chemotherapy since the cancer cells lacked PARP-1 and were sensitive to chemotherapeutic DNA damage. As a novel potent specific inhibitor of PARP-l, PJ34 has been reported to enhance chemotherapeutic effects in certain types of tumors. In a previous study, we found that PARP-1 expression was significantly increased in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared to its surrounding liver tissue. This study investigated whether or not the inhibition of PARP-1 activity by PJ34 produces suppressive effects on human liver cancer cells and sensitizes the tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents. We conclude that PJ34 significantly suppresses HepG2 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibits HepG2 cell-derived tumor growth in nude mice. The suppressive effects of PJ34 are associated with increased cell apoptosis. Furthermore, PJ34 enhances suppressive effects of cisplatin in HepG2 cells. These results suggest that PJ34 may be developed into an effective agent for the treatment of human HCC.