Self-Assembled DNA Nanospheres Driven by Carbon Dots for MicroRNAs Imaging in Tumor via Logic Circuit.

DNA nanostructures with diverse biological functions have made significant advancements in biomedical applications. However, a universal strategy for the efficient production of DNA nanostructures is still lacking. In this work, a facile and mild method is presented for self-assembling polyethylenimine-modified carbon dots (PEI-CDs) and DNA into nanospheres called CANs at room temperature. This makes CANs universally applicable to multiple biological applications involving various types of DNA. Due to the ultra-small size and strong cationic charge of PEI-CDs, CANs exhibit a dense structure with high loading capacity for encapsulated DNA while providing excellent stability by protecting DNA from enzymatic hydrolysis. Additionally, Mg2+ is incorporated into CANs to form Mg@CANs which enriches the performance of CANs and enables subsequent biological imaging applications by providing exogenous Mg2+. Especially, a DNAzyme logic gate system that contains AND and OR Mg@CANs is constructed and successfully delivered to tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. They can be specifically activated by endogenic human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 and recognize the expression levels of miRNA-21 and miRNA-155 at tumor sites by logic biocomputing. A versatile pattern for delivery of diverse DNA and flexible logic circuits for multiple miRNAs imaging are developed.

3D-Printed Piezoelectric Scaffolds with Shape Memory Polymer for Bone Regeneration.

The application of piezoelectric nanoparticles with shape memory polymer (SMP) to 3D-printed piezoelectric scaffolds for bone defect repair is an attractive research direction. However, there is a significant difference in dielectric constants between the piezoelectric phase and polymer phase, limiting the piezoelectric property. Therefore, novel piezoelectric acrylate epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) scaffolds doped with piezoelectric Ag-TMSPM-pBT (ATP) nanoparticles (AESO-ATP scaffolds) are prepared via digital light procession 3D-printing. The Ag-TMSPM-pBT nanoparticles improve the piezoelectric properties of the AESO scaffolds by TMSPM covalent functionalization and conductive Ag nanoparticles. The AESO scaffolds doped with 10 wt% Ag-TMSPM-pBT nanoparticles (AESO-10ATP scaffolds) exhibit promising piezoelectrical properties, with a piezoelectric coefficient (d33) of 0.9 pC N-1 and an output current of 146.4 nA, which are close to the piezoelectric constants of bone tissue. In addition, these scaffolds exhibit good shape memory function and can quickly recover their original shape under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. The results of osteogenesis capability evaluation indicate that the AESO-10ATP scaffolds can promote osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs in vitro and bone defect repair in vivo, indicating the 3D-printed AESO-10ATP piezoelectric scaffolds may have great application potential for bone regeneration.

A study on facial features of children with Williams syndrome in China based on three-dimensional anthropometric measurement technology.

To describe special facial features of children with Williams syndrome in China by using method of three-dimensional craniofacial anthropometry. Using three-dimensional stereo photogrammetric device, 14 craniofacial anthropometric measurements were performed and five indices were calculated in 52 children with Williams syndrome and 208 age and sex matched controls of Han Chinese ethnicity. Except intercanthal width, mouth breadth, morphological face height, nasal height-breadth index, nasal breadth-depth index, morphological ear index, the Williams syndrome group under 3 years old were smaller than the control group in the other 12 variables. Compared with the control group, the Williams syndrome group aged 3-5 years old had smaller biocular breadth, nasal length, nasorostral angle, bitragal breadth, ear width, morphological ear index and face depth. The Williams syndrome group aged above 6 years old had smaller biocular breadth, nasal breadth, bitragal breadth, ear width, ear length and face depth than the control group. The craniofacial variability index of the Williams syndrome group was greater than the control group. Greater variation was found among children with Williams syndrome than normal in China, specifically at eye, nose, ear and face shape, which demonstrate the usefulness of three-dimensional stereo photogrammetric analysis in supporting accurate diagnose of the patient with Williams syndrome.

ADAM28 dramatically regulates the biological features of human gingival fibroblasts.

This study was to explore the effects of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 (ADAM28) on the proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) and probable mechanism. After ADAM28 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS-ODN) and sense oligodeoxynucleotide (S-ODN) were transfected into HGFs by Lipofectamine 2000, respectively, the expression discrepancies of ADAM28 among various groups were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western-blotting. Methabenzthiazuron (MTT) and cell-cycle assays were used to test the HGFs proliferation activity. Annexin V fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) analysis were performed separately to measure apoptosis and the cytodifferentiation standard. Immunocytochemistry and Western-blotting were carried out to determine the influence of ADAM28 AS-ODN on HGFs expressing core binding factor α1 (Cbfα1), cementum protein 1 (CEMP1), osteopontin (OPN) and dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1). The AS-ODN group displayed the lowest expression level in HGFs, meanwhile the ADAM28 S-ODN group showed the highest. Furthermore, blocking of ADAM28 could inhibit the proliferation of HGFs, enhance HGFs differentiation and induce apoptosis of HGFs. Whereas, overexpression of ADAM28 generated the opposite effects and inhibited apoptosis. ADAM28 AS-ODN was able to notably suppress the expressions of Cbfα1 and CEMP1, and ADAM28 had positive correlations with cbfα1 and CEMP1. These provided conspicuous evidence that ADAM28 may play a crucial role in root development as a potential regulator of growth, differentiation, and apoptosis of HGFs.

Novel bamboo leaf shaped CuO nanorod@hollow carbon fibers derived from plant biomass for efficient and nonenzymatic glucose detection.

The present paper reports on the preparation of novel bamboo leaf shaped CuO nanorod dispersed hollow carbon fibers (denoted as CuO NR@PCFs). Specially, the new-type hollow carbon fibers (containing abundant micro/meso/macropores and a large specific surface area) were prepared only by simple and fast pyrolysis of the natural product catkins without using any template or surfactant. Meanwhile, a facile method was used to prepare the bamboo leaf shaped CuO nanorod covered PCFs. Thanks to the abundant micro/meso/macropores, large specific surface area, and excellent electrical conduction efficiency of the PCF matrix, the as-prepared CuO NR@PCFs could also afford more catalytic sites, show more excellent reactant transport efficiency, and display more excellent electron transport rates compared with those for the pure CuO balls. Above all, these advantages will result in the excellent oxidation and detection efficiency of the CuO NR@PCF sample to glucose. Electrochemical measurements reveal that the CuO NR@PCF modified electrode can directly catalyze glucose oxidation and display an enhanced current response compared with the pure CuO balls (such as a response time within 4 s, wide linear ranges of 5 × 10(-3)-0.8 mM and 0.8-8.5 mM, good reproducibility, considerable stability, and excellent anti-interference to electroactive molecules and Cl(-)). The superior catalytic activity and selectivity make the CuO NR@PCF catalyst very promising for application in direct detection of glucose.

Facile Solvent-Free Fabrication of All-Small-Molecule Supramolecular Photothermal Bioadhesive for Sutureless Wound Closure.

Achieving underwater adhesion possesses a significant challenge, primarily due to the presence of interfacial water, which restricts the potential applications of adhesives. In this study, we present a straightforward and environmentally friendly one-pot approach for synthesizing a solvent-free supramolecular TPFe bioadhesive composed of thioctic acid, proanthocyanidins, and FeCl3. The bioadhesive exhibits excellent biocompatibility and photothermal antibacterial properties and demonstrates effective adhesion on various substrates in both wet and dry environments. Importantly, the adhesive strength of this bioadhesive on steel exceeds 1.2 MPa and that on porcine skin exceeds 100 kPa, which is greater than the adhesive strength of most reported bioadhesives. In addition, the bioadhesive exhibits the ability to effectively halt bleeding, close wounds promptly, and promote wound healing in the rat skin wound model. Therefore, the TPFe bioadhesive has potential as a medical bioadhesive for halting bleeding quickly and promoting wound healing in the biomedical field. This study provides a new idea for the development of bioadhesives with firm wet adhesion.

3D-printed piezocatalytic hydrogels for effective antibacterial treatment of infected wounds.

Bacterial-infected wound repair has become a significant public health concern. This study developed a novel 3D-printed piezocatalytic SF-MA/PEGDA/Ag@BT (SPAB) hydrogels were fabricated by using digital light processing. These hydrogels exhibited high consistency, mechanical properties and good biocompatibility. Besides, the SPAB hydrogels exhibited excellent piezocatalytic performance and thus could induce piezoelectric polarization under ultrasound to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). The SPAB hydrogels possessed an antibacterial rate of 99.23% and 99.96% for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, under 5 min of ultrasonic stimulation (US) in vitro. The US-triggered piezocatalytic performance could increase antibacterial activity and improve the healing process of the infected wound. Therefore, the 3D printed piezocatalytic SPAB hydrogels could be unutilized as wound dressing in the field of bacterial-infected wound repair.

Fast and Stable Antibacterial Coating of Photosensitive Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens for Disinfection on Medical Devices.

Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) are promising photosensitizers that have exhibited excellent antibacterial ability with abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. TTCPy-PF6 and TTCPy-Br are deposited on the surface of diverse solid substrates through plasma-assistant electrostatic self-assembly. The AIEgens-covered coating can effectively eliminate different pathogenic Gram-positive (G+) bacteria and even their multidrug-resistant (MDR) mutants with negligible side effects such as cytotoxicity, hemolysis, and inflammation. Moreover, the AIEgen-coated surface can maintain high stability for long-time antibacterial usage, which is dependent on the ROS-mediated disruption of the attached bacteria. The AIEgen-based coatings with broad surface applicability have many advantages in high antibacterial ability, great biocompatibility, and low possibility of antibiotic pollution. The robust antibacterial ability and excellent biological safety of the AIEgen-based coatings would be helpful for the disinfection of medical devices.

Room Temperature Phosphorescent Nanofiber Membranes by Bio-Fermentation.

Stimuli-responsive materials exhibiting exceptional room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) hold promise for emerging technologies. However, constructing such systems in a sustainable, scalable, and processable manner remains challenging. This work reports a bio-inspired strategy to develop RTP nanofiber materials using bacterial cellulose (BC) via bio-fermentation. The green fabrication process, high biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and abundant hydroxyl groups make BC an ideal biopolymer for constructing durable and stimuli-responsive RTP materials. Remarkable RTP performance is observed with long lifetimes of up to 1636.79 ms at room temperature. Moreover, moisture can repeatedly quench and activate phosphorescence in a dynamic and tunable fashion by disrupting cellulose rigidity and permeability. With capabilities for repeatable moisture-sensitive phosphorescence, these materials are highly suitable for applications such as anti-counterfeiting and information encryption. This pioneering bio-derived approach provides a reliable and sustainable blueprint for constructing dynamic, scalable, and processable RTP materials beyond synthetic polymers.

Polyethyleneimine-mediated assembly of DNA nanotubes for KRAS siRNA delivery in lung adenocarcinoma therapy.

Self-assembled DNA nanostructures hold great promise in biosensing, drug delivery and nanomedicine. Nevertheless, challenges like instability and inefficiency in cellular uptake of DNA nanostructures under physiological conditions limit their practical use. To tackle these obstacles, this study proposes a novel approach that integrates the cationic polymer polyethyleneimine (PEI) with DNA self-assembly. The hypothesis is that the positively charged linear PEI can facilitate the self-assembly of DNA nanostructures, safeguard them against harsh conditions and impart them with the cellular penetration characteristic of PEI. As a demonstration, a DNA nanotube (PNT) was successfully synthesized through PEI mediation, and it exhibited significantly enhanced stability and cellular uptake efficiency compared to conventional Mg2+-assembled DNA nanotubes. The internalization mechanism was further found to be both clathrin-mediated and caveolin-mediated endocytosis, influenced by both PEI and DNA. To showcase the applicability of this hybrid nanostructure for biomedical settings, the KRAS siRNA-loaded PNT was efficiently delivered into lung adenocarcinoma cells, leading to excellent anticancer effects in vitro. These findings suggest that the PEI-mediated DNA assembly could become a valuable tool for future biomedical applications.

Achieving Tunable Organic Afterglow and UV-Irradiation-Responsive Ultralong Room-Temperature Phosphorescence from Pyridine-Substituted Triphenylamine Derivatives.

Amorphous polymers with ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are highly promising for various applications. Particularly, polymer-based RTP materials with multiple functions such as color-tunability or stimulus-response are highly desirable for multilevel anti-counterfeiting but are rarely reported. Herein, a facile strategy is presented to achieve a series of polymer-based RTP materials with ultralong lifetime, multicolor afterglow, and reversible response to UV irradiation by simply embedding pyridine-substituted triphenylamine derivatives into the polymer matrix poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), respectively. Notably, the pyridine group with the capabilities of promoting intersystem crossing and forming hydrogen-bonding interactions is essential for triggering ultralong RTP from the doping PVA system, among which the doping film TPA-2Py@PVA exhibits excellent RTP property with an ultralong lifetime of 798.4 ms and a high quantum yield of 15.2%. By further co-doping with the commercially available fluorescent dye, multicolor afterglow is obtained via phosphorescence energy transfer. Meanwhile, the doped PMMA system exhibits reversible photoactivated ultralong RTP properties under continuous UV irradiation. Finally, potential applications of these doped PVA and PMMA systems with ultralong lifetime, multicolor afterglow, and photoactivated ultralong RTP in multidimensional anti-counterfeiting are demonstrated.

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive and Cell Membrane Camouflaged Aggregation-Induced Emission Nanogels for Precise Chemo-photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Tumors.

Targeted and controllable drug release at lesion sites with the aid of visual navigation in real-time is of great significance for precise theranostics of cancers. Benefiting from the marvelous features (e.g., bright emission and phototheranostic effects in aggregates) of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials, constructing AIE-based multifunctional nanocarriers that act as all-arounders to integrate multimodalities for precise theranostics is highly desirable. Here, an intelligent nanoplatform (P-TN-Dox@CM) with homologous targeting, controllable drug release, and in vivo dual-modal imaging for precise chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy is proposed. AIE photothermic agent (TN) and anticancer drug (Dox) are encapsulated in thermo-/pH-responsive nanogels (PNA), and the tumor cell membranes are camouflaged onto the surface of nanogels. Active targeting can be realized through homologous effects derived from source tumor cell membranes, which advantageously elevates the specific drug delivery to tumor sites. After being engulfed into tumor cells, the nanogels exhibit a burst drug release at low pH. The near-infrared (NIR) photoinduced local hyperthermia can activate severe cytotoxicity and further accelerate drug release, thus generating enhanced synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy to thoroughly eradicate tumors. Moreover, P-TN-Dox@CM nanogels could achieve NIR-fluorescence/photothermal dual-modal imaging to monitor the dynamic distribution of therapeutics in real-time. This work highlights the great potential of smart P-TN-Dox@CM nanogels as a versatile nanoplatform to integrate multimodalities for precise chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy in combating cancers.

The distinct plastisphere microbiome in the terrestrial-marine ecotone is a reservoir for putative degraders of petroleum-based polymers.

Research into plastic-degrading bacteria and fungi is important for understanding how microorganisms can be used to address the problem of plastic pollution and for developing new approaches to sustainable waste management and bioplastic production. In the present study, we isolated 55 bacterial and 184 fungal strains degrading polycaprolactone (PCL) in plastic waste samples from Dafeng coastal salt marshes, Jiangsu, China. Of these, Jonesia and Streptomyces bacteria also showed potential to degrade other types of petroleum-based polymers. The metabarcoding results proved the existence of plastisphere as a distinct ecological niche regardless of the plastic types where 27 bacterial and 29 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were found to be significantly (p < 0.05) enriched, including some belonging to Alternaria (Ascomycota, Fungi) and Pseudomonas (Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteria) that were also mined out by the method of cultivation. Further assembly analyses demonstrated the importance of deterministic processes especially the environmental filtering effect of carbon content and pH on bacteria as well as the carbon and cation content on fungi in shaping the plastisphere communities in this ecosystem. Thus, the unique microbiome of the plastisphere in the terrestrial-marine ecotone is enriched with microorganisms that are potentially capable of utilizing petroleum-based polymers, making it a valuable resource for screening plastic biodegraders.

Age-specific transmission for different virus serotypes of hand, foot and mouth disease and the impact of interventions in East China, 2009-2015.

Background: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) remains an important public health problem in China. Understandings of age-specific transmission for different virus serotypes of the disease and assessment of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) for HFMD are helpful for disease control, but they have been seldom considered. Here we further investigate transmission dynamics of HFMD and quantify the effects of NPIs and vaccination on the disease transmission. Methods: We extracted information of reported HFMD cases from 2009 to 2015 in East China. Age-specific force of infection (FoI) was used to describe the transmission characteristics for serotypes (EV-A71, CV-A16 and other enterovirus). We used an age-structured Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) model to simulate how interventions affect HFMD outbreaks. Results: 4,096,270 HFMD cases were included, and 160619 cases were confirmed for virus serotypes. The peaks of infections always occurred in even-numbered years. CV-A16 and EV-A71 showed a similar trend, children aged 1 or 2 years generally had the highest FoI, but there were no clear patterns for other enterovirus. Simulations showed that school break could dramatically decline the average incidence. When combined with social interventions, it would further reduce the incidence, but the effect is not apparent. When vaccine rate is over or equal to 20%, the incidence would be lower than taking NPIs. Conclusion: More attention should be paid to children under 2 years of age in the prevention and control of HFMD. Compared to NPIs, vaccination is more effective.

Unveiling the crucial contributions of electrostatic and dispersion interactions to the ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence of H-bond crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) films.

Organic phosphors exhibiting room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in the amorphous phase are promising candidates for optoelectronic and biomedical applications. In particular, noncovalently embedding organic phosphors into a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix has emerged as the most commonly used yet effective approach to obtain amorphous organic RTP materials. While the role of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions in determining the RTP properties of doping PVA systems has been well documented, we show that electrostatic and dispersion interactions contribute crucially to the ultralong RTP properties of doping PVA films. This impressive outcome reveals the nature of non-covalent interactions existing in doping PVA systems for the first time. We demonstrate this through detailed experimental and computational studies for a series of hydrogen-bond crosslinked PVA films where star-shaped organic phosphors containing active groups of carboxy, hydroxy, and amino act as multisite crosslinkers for the construction of extensive hydrogen-bonding networks. More importantly, we successfully obtain an ultralong RTP lifetime of up to 1.74 s by tuning the electrostatic and dispersion interactions between organic phosphors and the PVA matrix through simply modifying active groups of organic phosphors. This instructive work will provide new guiding principles for the exploration of amorphous organic RTP systems.

Changing epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease in China, 2013-2019: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an important public health problem. A monovalent EV-A71 vaccine was launched in China in 2016. Previous studies showed that inactivated monovalent EV-A71 vaccines were highly efficient against HFMD associated with EV-A71 but not against HFMD with other etiologies, leading to a hypothesis that the introduction of EV-A71 vaccines might change the pathogen spectrum and epidemiological trend of HFMD. In this study, we described for the first time the changing epidemiological characteristics of HFMD after the launch of the EV-A71 vaccine. METHODS: We extracted individual-based epidemiological data on HFMD cases reported to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention between January 2013 and December 2019. We described the changing epidemiological characteristics of HFMD before and after vaccine launch according to the distribution of diseases characteristics (demographic, temporal, and geographical) and evaluated the potential changes in risk factors of severe patients. All analyses were stratified by the phase before and after vaccine launch, and by enterovirus serotype. FINDINGS: During 2013-2019, 15,316,710 probable cases of HFMD were reported. Of these, 787,197 (5·1%) were laboratory confirmed and 76,982 (0·5%) were severe. After the launch of the EV-A71 vaccine, the median age of HFMD patients infected with EV-A71 increased from 2·24 years (IQR:1·43, 3·56) to 2·81 years (IQR:1·58, 4·01). The proportion of patients less than 3 years of age decreased while the proportion of patients 3-5 years of age increased. There was a large decrease (60·7%) in the proportion of severe cases as well as a decline (28·3%) in HFMD patients infected with EV-A71. After the launch of the EV-A71 vaccine, the severe illness rate and mortality rate of HFMD patients in all age groups has decreased sharply, 62·20% and 83·78% respectively. The timing of the HFMD epidemic peak was delayed (1-2 months) . After the launch of EV-A71 vaccine, the risk of becoming a severe case for EV-A71 serotype was decreased, whereas that risk was instead increased for CV-A16 (from 0·17 (95% CI:0·16, 0·18) to 0·23 (95% CI:0·21, 0·25)) and other enterovirus compared to EV-A71 (from 0·38 (95% CI:0·37, 0·39) to 0·58 (95% CI:0·56, 0·61)). The longer the time from onset to diagnosis, the higher was the risk of being a severe case, but the effect size was decreased. INTERPRETATION: The introduction of the EV-A71 vaccine has effectively reduced the proportion of severe HFMD cases and mortality, but changes to the dominant serotypes should be closely monitored. Development of multivalent vaccines to avoid an increased case burden due to other enteroviruses is greatly needed. FUNDING: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973102, 81773487), Public Health Talents Training Program of Shanghai Municipality (GWV-10.2-XD21), the 5th Three-year Action Program of Shanghai Municipality for Strengthening the Construction of Public Health System (GWV-10.1-XK05), the Major Project of Scientific and Technical Winter Olympics from National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0306000), 13th Five-Year National Science and Technology Major Project for Infectious Diseases (2018ZX10725-509) and Key projects of the PLA logistics Scientific research Program (BHJ17J013).

Retropharyngeal Reduction Plate for Atlantoaxial Dislocation: A Cadaveric Test and Morphometric Trajectory Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the placement feasibility and safety of the newly designed retropharyngeal reduction plate by cadaveric test and to perform morphometric trajectory analysis. METHODS: The five cadaveric specimens with intact atlantoaxial joint were enrolled in this study. They were used for simulating the placement process and evaluating the placement feasibility of the retropharyngeal reduction plate. The atlantoaxial dislocation (AAD) of five cadaveric specimens were obtained by proper external force after dissecting ligaments. The retropharyngeal reduction plate was placed on atlantoaxial joint of cadaveric specimens. The X-ray and three-dimensional (3D) spiral CT were used for evaluating the placement safety of retropharyngeal reduction plate. The DICOM data was obtained after 3D spiral CT scanning for the morphometric trajectory analysis. RESULTS: The reduction plates were successfully placed on the atlantoaxial joint of five cadaveric specimens through the retropharyngeal approach, respectively. The X-ray and 3D spiral CT showed the accurate screw implantation and satisfying plate placement. The length of the left/right atlas screw trajectory (L/RAT) was, respectively, 1.73 ± 0.01 cm (LAT) and 1.71 ± 0.02 cm (RAT). The length of odontoid screw trajectory (OST) was 1.38 ± 0.02 cm. The length of the left/right axis screw trajectory (L/RAXT) was, respectively, 1.67 ± 0.02 cm (LAXT) and 1.67 ± 0.01 cm (RAXT). There was no statistical significance between left side and right side in terms of AT and AXT (P > 0.05). The angles of atlas screw trajectory angle (ASTA), axis screw trajectory angle (AXSTA), and odontoid screw trajectory angle (OSTA) were 38.04° ± 2.03°, 56.92° ± 2.66°, and 34.78° ± 2.87°, respectively. CONCLUSION: The cadaveric test showed that the retropharyngeal reduction plate is feasible to place on the atlantoaxial joint, which is also a safe treatment choice for atlantoaxial dislocation. The meticulous preoperative planning of screw trajectory based on individual differences was also vital to using this technique.

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 interventions on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease in mainland China.

BACKGROUND: In early 2020, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were implemented in China to reduce and contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. These NPIs might have also reduced the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). METHODS: The weekly numbers of HFMD cases and meteorological factors in 31 provincial capital cities and municipalities in mainland China were obtained from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) and National Meteorological Information Center of China from 2016 to 2020. The NPI data were collected from local CDCs. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated for the entire year of 2020, and for January-July 2020 and August-December 2020. The expected case numbers were estimated using seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models. The relationships between kindergarten closures and incidence of HFMD were quantified using a generalized additive model. The estimated associations from all cities were pooled using a multivariate meta-regression model. FINDINGS: Stringent NPIs were widely implemented for COVID-19 control from January to July 2020, and the IRRs for HFMD were less than 1 in all 31 cities, and less than 0·1 for 23 cities. Overall, the proportion of HFMD cases reduced by 52·9% (95% CI: 49·3-55·5%) after the implementation of kindergarten closures in 2020, and this effect was generally consistent across subgroups. INTERPRETATION: The decrease in HFMD incidence was strongly associated with the NPIs for COVID-19. HFMD epidemic peaks were either absent or delayed, and the final epidemic size was reduced. Kindergarten closure is an intervention to prevent HFMD outbreaks. FUNDING: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973102 & 81773487), Public Health Talents Training Program of Shanghai Municipality (GWV-10.2-XD21), the Shanghai New Three-year Action Plan for Public Health (GWV-10.1-XK16), the Major Project of Scientific and Technical Winter Olympics from National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0306000), 13th Five-Year National Science and Technology Major Project for Infectious Diseases (2018ZX10725-509) and Key projects of the PLA logistics Scientific research Program (BHJ17J013).

Anti-Swelling, Robust, and Adhesive Extracellular Matrix-Mimicking Hydrogel Used as Intraoral Dressing.

Due to the wet and dynamic environment of the oral cavity, the healing of intraoral wounds, such as tooth extraction wounds, requires stable and firm wound dressings. In clinical practice, cotton balls and gauzes, sponge plugs, or sutures are used to treat extraction wounds, but none of these means can continuously isolate the wound from the intraoral environment and facilitate ideal healing conditions. Herein, inspired by the natural extracellular matrix, a family of wound dressings is developed for intraoral wound repair. Infiltrating a ductile long-chain hydrogel network into a prefabricated, sturdy macromolecular meshwork and in situ crosslinking endowed the composite hydrogel with controllable swelling behaviors and robust mechanical properties. The macromolecular meshwork functioned as the backbone to support the composite and restricts the swelling of the long-chain hydrogel network. In vitro tests verified that this wound dressing can provide durable protection for intraoral wounds against complex irritations. Furthermore, accelerated wound healing occurred when the wound dressing is applied in vivo on a canine tooth extraction model, due to the effective reduction of acute inflammation. These results suggest that this family of bioinspired hydrogels has great potential for application as intraoral wound dressing.

A self-healing carboxymethyl chitosan/oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel with fluorescent bioprobes for glucose detection.

Self-healing hydrogel as a soft material with high durability and life-time has been successfully applied in various fields, including electronic skins, wearable electronic devices, and soft sensors. However, it is still a challenge to design a hydrogel with rapid self-healing, biodegradable and biosensing properties. Here, a self-healing carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose (OCMC) hydrogel with fluorescent bioprobes was developed for glucose detection. In this biosensing system, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and glucose oxidase (GOx) were encapsulated into the CMCS/OCMC hydrogel matrix as the fluorescent bioprobes. The CMCS/OCMC hydrogel with fluorescent bioprobes exhibited high sensitivity for glucose sensing with a linearly detection range of 100 µM to 5 mM and a detection limit of 0.029 mM, which covered the level of glucose in clinical detection. Furthermore, this hydrogel exhibited good biocompatibility. Finally, In vitro blood fluorescence tests and in vivo fluorescence investigation of the AuNCs-CMCS/OCMC hydrogel in diabetic mice indicated that this biocompatible and self-healing hydrogel based on fluorescent sensing system had potential application in implantable biosensing area for glucose monitoring.