TAK1 in Vascular Signaling: "Friend or Foe"?

The maintenance of normal vascular function and homeostasis is largely dependent on the signaling mechanisms that occur within and between cells of the vasculature. TGF-ß-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), a multifaceted signaling molecule, has been shown to play critical roles in various tissue types. Although the precise function of TAK1 in the vasculature remains largely unknown, emerging evidence suggests its potential involvement in both physiological and pathological processes. A comprehensive search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies, PubMed, Web of Science, and other relevant databases were systematically searched using keywords related to TAK1, TABs and MAP3K7.In this review, we discussed the role of TAK1 in vascular signaling, with a focus on its function, activation, and related signaling pathways. Specifically, we highlight the TA1-TABs complex is a key factor, regulating vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and endothelial cells (ECs) involved in the processes of inflammation, vascular proliferation and angiogenesis. This mini review aims to elucidate the evidence supporting TAK1 signaling in the vasculature, in order to better comprehend its beneficial and potential harmful effects upon TAK1 activation in vascular tissue.

The double-edged sword of workplace friendship: exploring when and how workplace friendship promotes versus inhibits voice behavior.

Extant research has demonstrated the positive roles of workplace friendships and has recently found the negative effect or the double-edged effect on employees and organizations. Unfortunately, little is known about the boundary condition of the double-edged effects of workplace friendships and the elaborated understanding of the mechanism of positive and negative effects of workplace friendship simultaneously. Our purpose is to reveal that workplace friendship is a mixed blessing by investigating when and how workplace friendships are likely to promote versus inhibit voice behavior. We propose that the double-edged effect of workplace friendship hinges on the competitive climate. Specifically, when the competitive climate is low, workplace friendship is positively related to employees' psychological safety, promoting voice behavior. In contrast, workplace friendship is positively related to employees' face concern, inhibiting voice behavior when the competitive climate is high. Our hypotheses were supported across the three waves of surveys and experimental studies. Taken together, our findings reveal the perils and benefits of workplace friendship and the importance of boundary conditions resulting in employees' differential psychological processes in friendship interaction.

Impacts of Soil Properties on Species Diversity and Structure in Alternanthera philoxeroides-Invaded and Native Plant Communities.

Soil properties can affect plant population dynamics and the coexistence of native and invasive plants, thus potentially affecting community structure and invasion trends. However, the different impacts of soil physicochemical properties on species diversity and structure in native and invaded plant communities remain unclear. In this study, we established a total of 30 Alternanthera philoxeroides-invaded plots and 30 control plots in an area at the geographical boundary between North and South China. We compared the differences in species composition between the invaded and native plant communities, and we then used the methods of regression analysis, redundancy analysis (RDA), and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to examine the impacts of soil physicochemical properties on four α-diversity indices and the species distribution of these two types of communities. We found that A. philoxeroides invasion increased the difference between the importance values of dominant plant species, and the invasion coverage had a negative relationship with the soil-available potassium (R2 = 0.135; p = 0.046) and Patrick richness index (R2 = 0.322; p < 0.001). In the native communities, the species diversity was determined with soil chemical properties, the Patrick richness index, the Simpson dominance index, and the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, which all decreased with the increase in soil pH value, available potassium, organic matter, and ammonium nitrogen. However, in the invaded communities, the species diversity was determined by soil physical properties; the Pielou evenness index increased with increasing non-capillary porosity but decreased with increasing capillary porosity. The determinants of species distribution in the native communities were soil porosity and nitrate nitrogen, while the determinants in the invaded communities were soil bulk density and available potassium. In addition, compared with the native communities, the clustering degree of species distribution in the invaded communities intensified. Our study indicates that species diversity and distribution have significant heterogeneous responses to soil physicochemical properties between A. philoxeroides-invaded and native plant communities. Thus, we need to intensify the monitoring of soil properties in invaded habitats and conduct biotic replacement strategies based on the heterogeneous responses of native and invaded communities to effectively prevent the biotic homogenization that is caused by plant invasions under environmental changes.

Predictive Value of Serum microRNA-29b-3p in Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation After Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation.

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia. This study explored serum miR-29b-3p expression in AF patients and its value in predicting AF recurrence after radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA). Methods: Totally 100 AF patients who underwent RFCA were enrolled, with 100 individuals without AF as controls. Serum miR-29b-3p expression in participants was determined using RT-qPCR. The correlation between miR-29b-3p and atrial fibrosis markers (FGF-21/FGF-23) was assessed by Pearson analysis. The diagnostic efficacy of serum miR-29b-3p and FGF-21/FGF-23 in predicting AF recurrence after RFCA was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The Kaplan-Meier method was adopted to evaluate the effect of miR-29b-3p expression on the incidence of AF recurrence after RFCA. The independent risk factors for AF recurrence after RFCA were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results: Serum miR-29b-3p was poorly expressed in AF patients. After RFCA, AF patients showed elevated serum miR-29b-3p expression. Serum miR-29b-3p expression in AF patients negatively correlated with serum FGF-21 and FGF-23 concentrations. The cut-off values of serum miR-29b-3p, FGF-21, and FGF-23 in identifying AF recurrence were 0.860 (sensitivity: 100.00%, specificity: 39.71%), 222.2 pg/mL (sensitivity: 96.88%, specificity: 32.35%) and 216.3 ng/mL (sensitivity: 53.13%, specificity: 70.59%), respectively. Patients with low miR-29b-3p expression had a significantly higher incidence of AF recurrence than patients with high miR-29b-3p expression. Serum miR-29b-3p expression was one of the independent risk factors for AF recurrence after RFCA. Conclusion: Low miR-29b-3p expression in AF patients has certain predictive values and is one of the independent risk factors for AF recurrence after RFCA.

Enhanced Light Absorption and Photo-Generated Charge Separation Efficiency for Boosting Photocatalytic H2 Evolution through TiO2 Quantum Dots with N-Doping and Concomitant Oxygen Vacancy.

Low-range light absorption and rapid recombination of photo-generated charge carriers have prevented the occurrence of effective and applicable photocatalysis for decades. Quantum dots (QDs) offer a solution due to their size-controlled photon properties and charge separation capabilities. Herein, well-dispersed interstitial nitrogen-doped TiO2 QDs with stable oxygen vacancies (N-TiO2-x-VO) are fabricated by using a low-temperature, annealing-assisted hydrothermal method. Remarkably, electrostatic repulsion prevented aggregation arising from negative charges accumulated in situ on the surface of N-TiO2-x-VO, enabling complete solar spectrum utilization (200-800 nm) with a 2.5 eV bandgap. Enhanced UV-vis photocatalytic H2 evolution rate (HER) reached 2757 µmol g-1 h-1, 41.6 times higher than commercial TiO2 (66 µmol g-1 h-1). Strikingly, under visible light, HER rate was 189 µmol g-1 h-1. Experimental and simulated studies of mechanisms reveal that VO can serve as an electron reservoir of photo-generated charge carriers on N-doped active sites, and consequently, enhance the separation rate of exciton pairs. Moreover, the negative free energy (-0.35 V) indicates more favorable thermodynamics for HER as compared with bulk TiO2 (0.66 V). This research work paves a new way of developing efficient photocatalytic strategies of HER that are applicable in the sustainable carbon-zero energy supply.

Organophosphate esters in milk across thirteen countries from 2020 to 2023: Concentrations, sources, temporal trends and ToxPi priority to humans.

Recent increases in organophosphate ester (OPE) application have led to their widespread presence, yet little is known about their temporal trends in food. This study collected milk samples from 13 countries across three continents during 2020-2023, finding detectable OPEs in all samples (range: 2.25-19.7; median: 7.06 ng/g ww). Although no statistical temporal differences were found for the total OPEs during the 4-year sampling campaign, it was interesting to observe significant variations in the decreasing trend for Cl-OPEs and concentration variations for aryl-OPEs and alkyl-OPEs (p < 0.05), indicating changing OPE use patterns. Packaged milk exhibited significant higher OPE levels than those found in directly collected raw unpackaged milk, and milk with longer shelf-life showed higher OPE levels, revealing packaging material as a contamination source. No significant geographical differences were observed in milk across countries (p > 0.05), but Shandong Province, a major OPE production site in China, showed relatively higher OPE concentrations. The Monte Carlo simulation of estimated daily intakes indicated no exposure risk from OPEs through milk consumption. The molecular docking method was used to assess human hormone binding affinity with OPEs, amongst which aryl-OPEs had the highest binding energies. The Toxicological-Priority-Index method which integrated chemical property, detection frequency, risk quotients, hazardous quotients and endocrine-disrupting effects was employed to prioritize OPEs. Aryl-OPEs showed the highest scores, deserving attention in the future.

Clinical evaluation of continuous irrigation with Bikerui combined with negative pressure closed drainage and platelet-rich plasma technique for treatment of stage III-IV pressure ulcer.

Introduction: As a catastrophic complication of bedridden and elderly patients, pressure ulcer usually continuously affects patients' health and quality of life, so the daily care of wounds is attached great importance in clinic. Aim: This work investigated the effect of Bikerui disinfectant + vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) + platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy on patients with stage III ~ IV pressure sore. Material and methods: In this work, 110 patients with pressure ulcer (PU) treated in our hospital were enrolled and were randomly divided into an experimental group (Exp group) and a control group (Ctrl group) by a blind selection method, with 55 cases in each group. Patients in the Ctrl group received surgical debridement + VSD for treatment, while those in the Exp group were treated with Bikerui disinfectant + VSD + PRP. Inflammatory response (IR) score, PU healing (PUH) score, healing time, dressing change frequency (DCF), dressing interval time (DIT), and scar recovery (SR) score of patients in different groups were compared. Results: The results revealed that the positive rate of bacterial culture in wound secretions in the Exp group was greatly lower than that in the Ctrl group 1 or 2 weeks after treatment (p < 0.05). The IR score in the Exp group was much lower at week 1 and 2 after treatment (p < 0.05). The total effective rate (TER) in the Exp group was obviously higher than that in the Ctrl group (94.55% vs. 76.36%). Conclusions: The results suggested that Bikerui disinfectant + VSD + PRP therapy could effectively improve the inflammatory degree of PU patients, promote the wound repair and scar recovery of patients, and greatly improve the clinical efficacy of PU patients.

NeighborNet: Learning Intra- and Inter-Image Pixel Neighbor Representation for Breast Lesion Segmentation.

Breast lesion segmentation from ultrasound images is essential in computer-aided breast cancer diagnosis. To alleviate the problems of blurry lesion boundaries and irregular morphologies, common practices combine CNN and attention to integrate global and local information. However, previous methods use two independent modules to extract global and local features separately, such feature-wise inflexible integration ignores the semantic gap between them, resulting in representation redundancy/insufficiency and undesirable restrictions in clinic practices. Moreover, medical images are highly similar to each other due to the imaging methods and human tissues, but the captured global information by transformer-based methods in the medical domain is limited within images, the semantic relations and common knowledge across images are largely ignored. To alleviate the above problems, in the neighbor view, this paper develops a pixel neighbor representation learning method (NeighborNet) to flexibly integrate global and local context within and across images for lesion morphology and boundary modeling. Concretely, we design two neighbor layers to investigate two properties (i.e., number and distribution) of neighbors. The neighbor number for each pixel is not fixed but determined by itself. The neighbor distribution is extended from one image to all images in the datasets. With the two properties, for each pixel at each feature level, the proposed NeighborNet can evolve into the transformer or degenerate into the CNN for adaptive context representation learning to cope with the irregular lesion morphologies and blurry boundaries. The state-of-the-art performances on three ultrasound datasets prove the effectiveness of the proposed NeighborNet. The code is available at: https://github.com/fjcaoww/NeighborNet.

Different effects of 24 dietary intakes on gastroesophageal reflux disease: A mendelian randomization.

BACKGROUND: In observational studies, dietary intakes are associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). AIM: To conduct a two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to determine whether those associations are causal. METHODS: To explore the relationship between dietary intake and the risk of GERD, we extracted appropriate single nucleotide polymorphisms from genome-wide association study data on 24 dietary intakes. Three methods were adopted for data analysis: Inverse variance weighting, weighted median methods, and MR-Egger's method. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the causal association between dietary intake and GERD. RESULTS: Our univariate Mendelian randomization (UVMR) results showed significant evidence that pork intake (OR, 2.83; 95%CI: 1.76-4.55; P = 1.84 × 10-5), beer intake (OR, 2.70, 95%CI: 2.00-3.64; P = 6.54 × 10-11), non-oily fish intake (OR, 2.41; 95%CI: 1.49-3.91; P = 3.59 × 10-4) have a protective effect on GERD. In addition, dried fruit intake (OR, 0.37; 95%CI: 0.27-0.50; 6.27 × 10-11), red wine intake (OR, 0.34; 95%CI: 0.25-0.47; P = 1.90 × 10-11), cheese intake (OR, 0.46; 95%CI: 0.39-0.55; P =3.73 × 10-19), bread intake (OR, 0.72; 95%CI: 0.56-0.92; P = 0.0009) and cereal intake (OR, 0.45; 95%CI: 0.36-0.57; P = 2.07 × 10-11) were negatively associated with the risk of GERD. There was a suggestive association for genetically predicted coffee intake (OR per one SD increase, 1.22, 95%CI: 1.03-1.44; P = 0.019). Multivariate Mendelian randomization further confirmed that dried fruit intake, red wine intake, cheese intake, and cereal intake directly affected GERD. In contrast, the impact of pork intake, beer intake, non-oily fish intake, and bread intake on GERD was partly driven by the common risk factors for GERD. However, after adjusting for all four elements, there was no longer a suggestive association between coffee intake and GERD. CONCLUSION: This study provides MR evidence to support the causal relationship between a broad range of dietary intake and GERD, providing new insights for the treatment and prevention of GERD.

Multi-targeted nanoarrays for early broad-spectrum detection of lung cancer based on blood biopsy of tumor exosomes.

Liquid biopsies utilizing tumor exosomes offer a noninvasive approach for cancer diagnosis. However, validation studies consistently report that in the early stages of cancer, the secretion of exosomes by cancer cells is relatively low, while bodily fluids exhibit a high abundance of other interfering biomolecules. Additionally, target mutations or differences in biomarker expression among various lung cancer subtypes may contribute to detection failures. In this study, we propose a targeted nanoarray-based early cancer diagnostic approach for multiple subtypes of lung cancer. The targeted nanoarray was constructed by modifying five targeting aptamers onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles through the conjugation between amino and carboxyl groups. The flow cytometry experiments demonstrated the specific recognition ability of the targeted nanoarray to tumor exosomes in PBS, even at biomarker expression levels as low as 1.5 %. Moreover, the TEM results indicated that the targeted nanoarray could isolate tumor exosomes in the blood of tumor-bearing mice. Furthermore, the targeted nanoarray could detect tumor exosomes in the blood of various lung cancer bearing mice, including at the early stages of cancer, which has just been established for 7 days. Overall, the targeted nanoarray represents a promising tool for the early detection of various subtypes of lung cancer.

Host Nuclear Genome Copy Number Variations Identify High-Risk Anal Precancers in People Living With HIV.

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLWH) have substantially increased incidence of anal precancer and cancer. There are very little data regarding genomic disturbances in anal precancers among PLWH. In this study, specific chromosomal variants were identified in anal squamous intraepithelial lesions. METHODS: Overall, 63 anal biopsy specimens (27 low-grade intraepithelial lesions [LSIL] and 36 high-grade intraepithelial lesions [HSIL]) were collected from PLWH obtained as part of anal cancer screening in our NYC-based health system. Data on patient demographics, anal cytological, and high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) diagnoses were collected. Specimens were tested for a panel of chromosomal alterations associated with HPV-induced oncogenesis using fluorescence in situ hybridization, and analyses compared the associations of these alterations with clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Gains of 3q26, 5p15, 20q13, and cen7 were detected in 42%, 31%, 31%, and 19% of HSIL compared with 7%, 0%, 4%, and 0% of LSIL, respectively. If at least 1 abnormality was observed, 89% had a 3q26 gain. In lesions with 5p15 gains, 20q13 gains co-occurred in 91% of cases, while cen7 gain only co-occurred with the other 3 alterations. The sensitivity and specificity of any alteration to predict HSIL were 47% (95% CI: 30%-65%) and 93% (95% CI: 76%-99%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Genomic alterations seen in HPV-associated cancers may help distinguish anal LSIL from HSIL. 3q26 amplification may be an early component of anal carcinogenesis, preceding 5p16, 20q13, and/or chr7. IMPACT: Insights into potential genomic biomarkers for discriminating high-risk anal precancers are shared.

Dawn of CAR-T cell therapy in autoimmune diseases.

ABSTRACT: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has achieved remarkable success in the treatment of hematological malignancies. Based on the immunomodulatory capability of CAR-T cells, efforts have turned toward exploring their potential in treating autoimmune diseases. Bibliometric analysis of 210 records from 128 academic journals published by 372 institutions in 40 countries/regions indicates a growing number of publications on CAR-T therapy for autoimmune diseases, covering a range of subtypes such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, among others. CAR-T therapy holds promise in mitigating several shortcomings, including the indiscriminate suppression of the immune system by traditional immunosuppressants, and non-sustaining therapeutic levels of monoclonal antibodies due to inherent pharmacokinetic constraints. By persisting and proliferating in vivo , CAR-T cells can offer a tailored and precise therapeutics. This paper reviewed preclinical experiments and clinical trials involving CAR-T and CAR-related therapies in various autoimmune diseases, incorporating innovations well-studied in the field of hematological tumors, aiming to explore a safe and effective therapeutic option for relapsed/refractory autoimmune diseases.

Maternal Dietary Cholesterol and Egg Intake during Pregnancy and Large-for-Gestational-Age Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Cholesterol plays a vital role in fetal growth and development during pregnancy. There remains controversy over whether pregnant females should limit their cholesterol intake. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between maternal dietary cholesterol intake during pregnancy and infant birth weight in a Chinese prospective cohort study. METHODS: A total of 4146 mother-child pairs were included based on the Jiangsu Birth Cohort study. Maternal dietary information was assessed with a semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Birth weight z-scores and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants were converted by the INTERGROWTH-21st neonatal weight-for-gestational-age standard. Poisson regression and generalized estimating equations were employed to examine the relationships between LGA and maternal dietary cholesterol across the entire pregnancy and trimester-specific cholesterol intake, respectively. RESULTS: The median intake of maternal total dietary cholesterol during the entire pregnancy was 671.06 mg/d, with eggs being the main source. Maternal total dietary cholesterol and egg-sourced cholesterol were associated with an increase in birth weight z-score, with per standard deviation increase in maternal total and egg-sourced dietary cholesterol being associated with an increase of 0.16 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07, 0.25] and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.09) in birth weight z-score, respectively. Egg-derived cholesterol intake in the first and third trimesters was positively linked to LGA, with an adjusted relative risk of 1.11 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.18) and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.18). Compared with mothers consuming ≤7 eggs/wk in the third trimester, the adjusted relative risk for having an LGA newborn was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.72) for consuming 8-10 eggs/wk and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.86) for consuming >10 eggs/wk (P-trend = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal total dietary cholesterol intake, as well as consuming over 7 eggs/wk during pregnancy, displayed significant positive relationships with the incidence of LGA, suggesting that mothers should avoid excessive cholesterol intake during pregnancy to prevent adverse birth outcomes.

Single body-coupled fiber enables chipless textile electronics.

Intelligent textiles provide an ideal platform for merging technology into daily routines. However, current textile electronic systems often rely on rigid silicon components, which limits seamless integration, energy efficiency, and comfort. Chipless electronic systems still face digital logic challenges owing to the lack of dynamic energy-switching carriers. We propose a chipless body-coupled energy interaction mechanism for ambient electromagnetic energy harvesting and wireless signal transmission through a single fiber. The fiber itself enables wireless visual-digital interactions without the need for extra chips or batteries on textiles. Because all of the electronic assemblies are merged in a miniature fiber, this facilitates scalable fabrication and compatibility with modern weaving techniques, thereby enabling versatile and intelligent clothing. We propose a strategy that may address the problems of silicon-based textile systems.

Efficacy and safety of dabigatran and rivaroxaban in atrial fibrillation patients with impaired liver function: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with impaired liver function (ILF) have not been sufficiently studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DOACs for stroke prevention in patients with AF and ILF. METHOD: This study was based on data from 15 centers in China, including 4,982 AF patients. The patients were divided into 2 subgroups based on their liver function status: patients with normal liver function (NLF)(n = 4213) and patients with ILF (n = 769). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk of total bleeding, major bleeding, thromboembolism, and all-cause deaths in AF patients with NLF and ILF after taking dabigatran or rivaroxaban, respectively. RESULTS: Among AF patients treated with dabigatran or rivaroxaban, patients with ILF were associated with significantly higher major bleeding, compared with NLF patients (aOR: 4.797; 95% CI: 2.224-10.256; P < 0.001). In patients with NLF, dabigatran (n = 2011) had considerably lower risk of total bleeding than rivaroxaban (n = 2202) (aOR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.002-1.513; P = 0.049). In patients with ILF, dabigatran (n = 321) significantly favored lower risks of major bleeding compared with rivaroxaban(n = 448) (aOR: 5.484; 95% CI: 1.508-35.269; P = 0.026). CONCLUSION: After using dabigatran or rivaroxaban, patients with ILF had remarkably increased risk of major bleeding compared with patients with NLF. In AF patients with NLF, dabigatran had the distinct strength of significantly reduced risk of total bleeding compared with rivaroxaban. In patients with AF and ILF, dabigatran use was associated with lower risk for major bleeding compared with rivaroxaban.

Topical Application of TT-10 Ameliorates Impaired Wound Healing.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, chronic wounds have become an increasingly significant clinical concern due to their increasing morbidity and socioeconomic toll. However, there is currently no product available on the market that specifically targets this intricate process. One clear indicator of delayed wound repair is the inhibition of re-epithelialization. Yes-associated protein (YAP), which is a potential focal point for tissue repair and regeneration, has been shown to be prominent in several studies. In this context, we have identified the pharmacological product TT-10, which is a YAP activator, as a potential candidate for the treatment of various forms of chronic wounds. METHODS: The role of TT-10 in regulating YAP activity and subcellular localization was determined by western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. The effect of TT-10 on the biological functions of keratinocytes was assessed by proliferation, wound healing, and apoptosis assays. The impairment of YAP activity in chronic wounds was measured in human and mouse tissues. The in vivo efficacy of TT-10 was examined by gross examination, H&E staining, and measuring wound areas and gaps in normal, diabetic, and ischemic wounds. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that TT-10 facilitates the nuclear transport of YAP, consequently increasing YAP activity, which in turn increases the proliferation and migration of keratinocytes. Moreover, we showed that intracutaneous injection of TT-10 along the wound periphery promoted re-epithelization via YAP activation in the epidermis, culminating in accelerated wound closure in several chronic wound healing models. CONCLUSIONS: Our research highlights the potential of TT-10 to treat chronic wounds, which is a persistent challenge in tissue repair.

Development of a fluorescent DNA sensor for dual detection of heavy metal ions utilising DAPI in distinct buffers.

The DNA-based biosensor utilises a thymine/guanine(T/G)-rich ODN-4 scaffold with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI) as a fluorescent emissary to monitor mercury/lead(Hg(II)/Pb(II)) ions simultaneously. Key to its bifocal detection capability is the twin unbound cytosine(C) bases strategically bridging the G-quadruplex and T-rich sequences, enabling their synergistic interplay. It facilitates the recognition of Hg(II)/Pb(II) ions, characterised by high specificity, and effectively mitigates interference from silver(Ag(I)). The G-quadruplex, guided by the C bases, induces a conformational transition in T-Hg(II)-T complexes, resulting in intense fluorescence. Pb(II) causes a spatial shift in the G-quadruplex, relaxing the T-Hg(II)-T base pairs and attenuating the fluorescence signal. The ODN-4 exhibits a robust, linear correlation with Hg(II) concentration (4.09 nmol/L to 1000 nmol/L) and Pb(II) concentration (3.22 nmol/L to 5 µmol/L). Recovery rates in milk, tap water, and rice water specimens with both ions validate method accuracy (Hg(II): 95.19% to 104.68%, Pb(II): 98.20% to 103.46%). It holds promising prospects for practical food analysis.

Causal associations between Helicobacter pylori infection and pregnancy and neonatal outcomes: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies have reported that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is associated with a series of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. However, the results have been inconsistent, and the causal effect is unknown. Methods: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was performed using summary-level statistics for anti-H. pylori IgG levels from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children Cohort. Outcome data for pregnancy (miscarriage, preeclampsia-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, placental abruption, premature rupture of membranes, postpartum hemorrhage) and neonates (birthweight, gestational age, and preterm birth) were sourced from genome-wide association meta-analysis as well as the FinnGen and Early Growth Genetics Consortium. Causal estimates were calculated by five methods including inverse variance weighted (IVW). The heterogeneity of instrumental variables was quantified by Cochran's Q test, while sensitivity analyses were performed via MR-Egger, MR-PRESSO, and leave-one-out tests. Results: IVW estimates suggested that genetically predicted anti-H. pylori IgG levels were significantly associated with increased risks of preeclampsia-eclampsia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.24, P = 0.026) and premature rupture of membranes (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.05-1.30, P = 0.004). Similar results were obtained for preeclampsia-eclampsia from the MR-Egger method (OR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.06-1.64, P = 0.027) and for premature rupture of membranes from the weighted median method (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.06-1.41, P = 0.006). No significant causal effects were found for other outcomes. There was no obvious heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy across the MR analysis. Conclusion: Our two-sample MR study demonstrated a causal relationship of H. pylori infection with preeclampsia-eclampsia and premature rupture of membranes. The findings confirm the epidemiological evidence on the adverse impact of H. pylori in pregnancy. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms and assess the effectiveness of pre-pregnancy screening and preventive eradication.

Defect-Induced All-Solid-State Frustrated Lewis Pair on Metal-Organic Monolayer Accelerating Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction with H2O Vapor.

Understanding the structure-performance relationships of a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) at the atomic level is key to yielding high efficiency in activating chemically "inert" molecules into value-added products. A sound strategy was developed herein through incorporating oxygen defects into a Zr-based metal-organic layer (Zr-MOL-D) and employing Lewis basic proximal surface hydroxyls for the in situ formation of solid heterogeneous FLP (Zr4-δ-VO-Zr-OH). Zr-MOL-D exhibits a superior CO2 to CO conversion rate of 49.4 µmol g-1 h-1 in water vapor without any sacrificing agent or photosensitizer, which is about 12 times higher than that of pure MOL (Zr-MOL-P), with extreme stability even after being placed for half a year. Theoretical and experimental results reveal that the introduction of FLP converts the process of the crucial intermediate COOH* from an endothermic reaction to an exothermic spontaneous reaction. This work is expected to provide new prospects for developing efficient MOL-based photocatalysts in FLP chemistry through a sound defect-engineering strategy.