Applications of nanotechnology in remodeling the tumour microenvironment for glioblastoma treatment.

With the increasing research and deepening understanding of the glioblastoma (GBM) tumour microenvironment (TME), novel and more effective therapeutic strategies have been proposed. The GBM TME involves intricate interactions between tumour and non-tumour cells, promoting tumour progression. Key therapeutic goals for GBM treatment include improving the immunosuppressive microenvironment, enhancing the cytotoxicity of immune cells against tumours, and inhibiting tumour growth and proliferation. Consequently, remodeling the GBM TME using nanotechnology has emerged as a promising approach. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery enables targeted delivery, thereby improving treatment specificity, facilitating combination therapies, and optimizing drug metabolism. This review provides an overview of the GBM TME and discusses the methods of remodeling the GBM TME using nanotechnology. Specifically, it explores the application of nanotechnology in ameliorating immune cell immunosuppression, inducing immunogenic cell death, stimulating, and recruiting immune cells, regulating tumour metabolism, and modulating the crosstalk between tumours and other cells.

Scalable Production of 2D Non-Layered Metal Oxides through Metal-Organic Gel Rapid Redox Transformation.

Two-dimensional (2D) nonlayered metal compounds with porous structure show broad application prospects in electrochemistry-related fields due to their abundant active sites, open ions/electrons diffusion channels, and faradaic reactions. However, scalable and universal synthesis of 2D porous compounds still remains challenging. Here, inspired by blowing gum, a metal-organic gel (MOG) rapid redox transformation (MRRT) strategy is proposed for the mass production of a wide variety of 2D porous metal oxides. Adequate crosslinking degree of MOG precursor and its rapid redox with NO3- are critical for generating gas pressure from interior to exterior, thus blowing the MOG into 2D carbon nanosheets, which further act as self-sacrifice template for formation of oxides with porous and ultrathin structure. The versatility of this strategy is demonstrated by the fabrication of 39 metal oxides, including 10 transition metal oxides, one II-main group oxide, two III-main group oxides, 22 perovskite oxides, four high-entropy oxides. As an illustrative verification, the 2D transition metal oxides exhibit excellent capacitive deionization (CDI) performance. Moreover, the assembled CDI cell could act as desalting battery to supply electrical energy during electrode regeneration. This MRRT strategy offers opportunities for achieving universal synthesis of 2D porous oxides with nonlayered structures and studying their electrochemistry-related applications.

Prevalence and molecular characteristics of intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from diarrheal pigs in Southern China.

Intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (InPEC) is one of the most common causes of bacterial diarrhea in farm animals, including profuse neonatal diarrhea and post weaning diarrhea (PWD) in piglets. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of InPEC and associated primary virulence factors among 543 non-duplicate E. coli isolates from diarrheal pigs from 15 swine farms in southern China. Six major virulence genes associated with InPEC were identified among 69 (12.71 %) E. coli isolates and included est (6.62 %), K88 (4.79 %), elt (3.68 %), eae (1.47 %), stx2 (0.92 %) and F18 (0.55 %). Three pathotypes of InPEC were identified including ETEC (8.10 %), EPEC (1.29 %) and STEC/ETEC (0.92 %). In particular, K88 was only found in ETEC from breeding farms, whereas F18 was only present in STEC/ETEC hybrid from finishing farms. Whole genome sequence analysis of 37 E. coli isolates revealed that InPEC strains frequently co-carried multiple antibiotic resistance gene (ARG). est, elt and F18 were also found to co-locate with ARGs on a single IncFIB/IncFII plasmid. InPEC isolates from different pathotypes also possessed different profiles of virulence genes and antimicrobial resistance genes. Population structure analysis demonstrated that InPEC isolates from different pathotypes were highly heterogeneous whereas those of the same pathotype were extremely similar. Plasmid analysis revealed that K88 and/or est/elt were found on pGX18-2-like/pGX203-2-like and pGX203-1-like IncFII plasmids, while F18 and elt/est, as well as diverse ARGs were found to co-locate on IncFII/IncFIB plasmids with a non-typical backbone. Moreover, these key virulence genes were flanked by or adjacent to IS elements. Our findings indicated that both clonal expansion and horizontal spread of epidemic IncFII plasmids contributed to the prevalence of InPEC and the specific virulence genes (F4, F18, elt and est) in the tested swine farms.

Gustative Roussy Immune Score is a Predictor for Major Pathological Response in Rectal Cancer: A Result from the Preoperative Intraarterial Chemoembolization Combined with Radiotherapy (PCAR) Study.

Despite the emergence of various treatment strategies for rectal cancer based on neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, there is currently a lack of reliable biomarkers to determine which patients will respond well to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Through collecting hematological and biochemical parameters data of patients prior to receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, we evaluated the predictive value of systemic inflammatory indices for pathological response and prognosis in rectal cancer patients. We found that baseline GRIm-Score was an independent predictor for MPR in rectal cancer patients. However, no association was observed between several commonly systemic inflammation indices and long-term outcome.

A simple projection method to correlate the principal mechanical direction with the principal microstructural direction of human osteoporotic femoral heads.

The mechanics of the trabecular bone is related to its structure; this work aimed to propose a simple projection method to clarify the correlation between the principal mechanical direction (PMD) and the principal microstructural direction (PMSD) of trabecular bones from osteoporotic femoral heads. A total of 529 trabecular cubes were cropped from five osteoporotic femoral heads. The micro computed tomography (µCT) sequential images of each cube were first projected onto the three Cartesian coordinate planes to have three overlapped images, and the trabecular orientation distribution in the three images was analyzed. The PMSD corresponding to the greatest distribution frequency of the trabecular orientation in the three images was defined. Then, the voxel finite element (FE) models of the cubes were reconstructed and simulated to obtain their compliance matrices, and the matrices were subjected to transversal rotation to find their maximum elastic constants. The PMD corresponding to the maximum elastic constant was defined. Subsequently, the correlation of the defined PMSD and PMD was analyzed. The results showed that PMSD and PMD of the trabecular cubes did not show a significant difference at the xy- and yz-planes except that at the zx-plane. Despite this, the mean PMSD-PMD deviations at the three coordinate planes were close to 0°, and the PMSD-PMD fitting to the line PMSD = PMD demonstrated their high correlation. This study might be helpful to identify the loading direction of anisotropic trabecular bones in experiments by examining the PMSD and also to guide bone scaffold design for bone tissue repair.

Piston Error Automatic Correction for Segmented Mirrors via Deep Reinforcement Learning.

The segmented mirror co-phase error identification technique based on supervised learning methods has the advantages of simple application conditions, no dependence on custom sensors, a fast calculation speed, and low computing power requirements compared with other methods. However, it is often difficult to obtain a high accuracy in practical application situations with this method because of the difference between the training model and the actual model. The reinforcement learning algorithm does not need to model the real system when operating the system. However, it still retains the advantages of supervised learning. Thus, in this paper, we placed a mask on the pupil plane of the segmented telescope optical system. Moreover, based on the wide spectrum, point spread function, and modulation transfer function of the optical system and deep reinforcement learning-without modeling the optical system-a large-range and high-precision piston error automatic co-phase method with multiple-submirror parallelization was proposed. Finally, we carried out relevant simulation experiments, and the results indicate that the method is effective.

Propofol Protects the Blood-Brain Barrier After Traumatic Brain Injury by Stabilizing the Extracellular Matrix via Prrx1: From Neuroglioma to Neurotrauma.

The purpose of this study is to explore the shared molecular pathogenesis of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and high-grade glioma and investigate the mechanism of propofol (PF) as a potential protective agent. By analyzing the Chinese glioma genome atlas (CGGA) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, we compared the transcriptomic data of high-grade glioma and TBI patients to identify common pathological mechanisms. Through bioinformatics analysis, in vitro experiments and in vivo TBI model, we investigated the regulatory effect of PF on extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes through Prrx1 under oxidative stress. The impact of PF on BBB integrity under oxidative stress was investigated using a dual-layer BBB model, and we explored the protective effect of PF on tight junction proteins and ECM-related genes in mice after TBI. The study found that high-grade glioma and TBI share ECM instability as an important molecular pathological mechanism. PF stabilizes the ECM and protects the BBB by directly binding to Prrx1 or indirectly regulating Prrx1 through miRNAs. In addition, PF reduces intracellular calcium ions and ROS levels under oxidative stress, thereby preserving BBB integrity. In a TBI mouse model, PF protected BBB integrity through up-regulated tight junction proteins and stabilized the expression of ECM-related genes. Our study reveals the shared molecular pathogenesis between TBI and glioblastoma and demonstrate the potential of PF as a protective agent of BBB. This provides new targets and approaches for the development of novel neurotrauma therapeutic drugs.

Healthy dietary patterns are associated with exposure to environmental chemicals in a pregnancy cohort.

Healthy dietary patterns, such as the alternate Mediterranean diet and alternate Healthy Eating Index, benefit cardiometabolic health. However, several food components of these dietary patterns are primary sources of environmental chemicals. Here, using data from a racially and ethnically diverse US cohort, we show that healthy dietary pattern scores were positively associated with plasma chemical exposure in pregnancy, particularly for the alternate Mediterranean diet and alternate Healthy Eating Index with polychlorinated biphenyls and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. The associations appeared stronger among Asian and Pacific Islanders. These findings suggest that optimizing the benefits of a healthy diet requires concerted regulatory efforts aimed at lowering environmental chemical exposure.

Recent advancement of sonogenetics: A promising noninvasive cellular manipulation by ultrasound.

Recent advancements in biomedical research have underscored the importance of noninvasive cellular manipulation techniques. Sonogenetics, a method that uses genetic engineering to produce ultrasound-sensitive proteins in target cells, is gaining prominence along with optogenetics, electrogenetics, and magnetogenetics. Upon stimulation with ultrasound, these proteins trigger a cascade of cellular activities and functions. Unlike traditional ultrasound modalities, sonogenetics offers enhanced spatial selectivity, improving precision and safety in disease treatment. This technology broadens the scope of non-surgical interventions across a wide range of clinical research and therapeutic applications, including neuromodulation, oncologic treatments, stem cell therapy, and beyond. Although current literature predominantly emphasizes ultrasonic neuromodulation, this review offers a comprehensive exploration of sonogenetics. We discuss ultrasound properties, the specific ultrasound-sensitive proteins employed in sonogenetics, and the technique's potential in managing conditions such as neurological disorders, cancer, and ophthalmic diseases, and in stem cell therapies. Our objective is to stimulate fresh perspectives for further research in this promising field.

Conductive PEDOT-Dominant Surface of Transparent Electrode Patch via Selective Phase Transfer for Efficient Flexible Photoelectronic Devices.

In this study, a conductive patch for a flexible organic optoelectronic device is proposed and implemented using a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) polymer electrode based on a transfer process to achieve its high conductivity with an efficient conductive pathway. This PEDOT-dominant surface is induced by phase inversion during the transfer process owing to the solvent affinity of the PSS phase. The PEDOT:PSS patch formed by the transfer process minimizes the power loss in a flexible optoelectronic device due to the improved charge collection and suppressed leakage current responses. In addition, the bending stability of the flexible photoelectronic device is also enhanced by maintaining performance for 1000 bending cycles. Therefore, in the fabrication of a transparent flexible conductive PEDOT:PSS patch, the transfer process of a conducting polymer constitutes an effective strategy that can improve conductivity and embellished morphology.

Performance evaluation and clinical application of the UA-5600 automatic dry chemistry urine analyzer in renal diseases.

Background: Urine testing as a routine screening programme, abnormal test results can be suggestive to clinicians but can sometimes be overlooked, and the establishment of a diagnostic model can better assist clinicians in identifying potential problems. BLD (blood), LEU (leukocyte), PRO (protein) and GLU (glucose) are the four most important parameters in urine testing, and the accuracy of their results is a key concern for clinicians, so it is essential to verify the accuracy of their results. In this study, we evaluated the analytical and clinical performance of Mindray's automatic urine dry chemistry analyzer, the UA-5600 (Hereinafter referred to as the (UA-5600), and the test strips configured with the instrument, and developed a machine-learning (ML) model for kidney disease screening from the results of 11 parameters output from the UA-5600 with the aim of detecting abnormal urine test results. Methods: Urine samples from outpatients and inpatients at The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University were collected from August to September 2022 to evaluate the performance of the Mindray UA-5600 dry chemistry analyzer and test strips. The evaluation of the UA-5600 and its test strips focused on the agreement of the urine BLD and LEU readings with the RBC (red blood cell) and WBC (white blood cell) counts obtained by the Mindray EH-2090 urine formed element analyzer. We also compared the PRO and GLU readings with the results of the Mindray BS-2800M biochemistry analyzer. Urine samples from outpatients and inpatients were retrospectively analysed and grouped according to LIS diagnosis. Additionally, eight ML models for kidney disease screening were developed using 11 parameters measured by the UA-5600. And the model was validated by the validation set. Results: The UA-5600 had an 89.55% concordance rate for BLD and a 91.04% concordance rate for LEU compared to the EH-2090 analyzer. When benchmarked against the BS-2800M, the concordance rates for PRO and GLU were 94.14% and 95.20%, respectively. A total of 1,691 samples were used for the construction of the ML models, of which 346 patients (135 males and 211 females, age range: 18 to 98 years) diagnosed with renal disease, and 1,345 patients (397 males and 948 females, age range: 18 to 92 years) with non-renal disease diagnosed with other conditions. Notably, the Naïve Bayes (NB) model, which was built from the UA-5600 parameters, demonstrated superior predictive capabilities for renal disease, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.9470, a sensitivity of 0.7767, and a specificity of 0.9457. Conclusions: The Mindray UA-5600 demonstrates robust detection abilities for both BLD and LEU, and its results for PRO and GLU align closely with those obtained from the chemistry analyzer. The NB model has a good screening ability and shows promise as an effective screening tool.

Hybrid argon plasma coagulation for the treatment of Barrett's esophagus: A prospective, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Barrett's esophagus (BE) in China is lower compared to the Western populations. Hence, studies conducted in the Chinese population has been limited. The current treatment options available for BE treatment includes argon plasma coagulation (APC), radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation, all with varying degrees of success. AIM: To determine the efficacy and safety of HybridAPC in the treatment of BE. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of patients with BE who underwent HybridAPC ablation treatment. These procedures were performed by seven endoscopists from different tertiary hospitals. The duration of the procedure, curative rate, complications and recurrent rate by 1-year follow-up were recorded. RESULTS: Eighty individuals were enrolled for treatment from July 2017 to June 2020, comprising of 39 males and 41 females with a median age of 54 years (range, 30 to 83 years). The technical success rate of HybridAPC was 100% and the overall curative rate was 98.15%. No severe complications occurred during the operation. BE cases were classified as short-segment BE and long-segment BE. Patients with short-segment BE were all considered cured without complications. Thirty-six patients completed the one-year follow-up without recurrence. Twenty-four percent had mild dysplasia which were all resolved with one post-procedural treatment. The mean duration of the procedure was 10.94 ± 6.52 min. CONCLUSION: Treatment of BE with HybridAPC was found to be a simple and quick procedure that is safe and effective during the short-term follow-up, especially in cases of short-segment BE. This technique could be considered as a feasible alternative ablation therapy for BE.

Relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms in older adults: role of activities of daily living and sleep duration.

Introduction: Previous studies have demonstrated that frailty is associated with depressive symptoms among older people and significantly increase the risk of difficulty in activities of daily living (ADL). However, uncertainties remain regarding the mechanisms behind such relationship. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of ADL in the relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms among older adults in China, and to explore to what extend sleep duration moderated the association between ADL and depressive symptoms. Methods: In this study, we carried out cross-sectional descriptive analysis and 1,429 participants were included in the analysis. A survey was conducted using questionnaires and instruments measuring frailty, depressive symptoms, ADL and sleep duration. Bootstrap analyses served to explore the impact of ADL in mediating frailty and depressed symptoms, as well as the effect of sleep duration in moderating ADL and depressive symptoms. Results: Compared to the robust group, the mediating effects of ADL between frailty and depressive symptoms were significant in the prefrail group and the frail group. The interaction term between sleep duration and ADL was significantly presented in the regression on depressive symptoms. Specifically, the Johnson-Neyman technique determined a range from 8.31 to 10.19 h for sleep duration, within which the detrimental effect of frailty on depressive symptoms was offset. Conclusion: Sleep duration moderated the indirect effect of ADL on the association between frailty and depressive symptoms. This provides support for unraveling the underlying mechanism of the association between frailty and depressive symptoms. Encouraging older adults to enhance ADL and obtain appropriate sleep duration might improve depressive symptoms for older adults with frailty and prefrailty.

Compact high-power 320-nm continuous-wave single-frequency laser based on power scaling of a diode-pumped Pr:LiYF4 ring laser at red.

Single-frequency (SF) lasers in the visible spectral region are usually obtained through an indirect method, i.e., frequency doubling of near-infrared SF lasers. In this work, we report on the direct generation of a high-power continuous-wave (CW) SF laser in red based on a diode-pumped Pr:LiYF4 (YLF) ring cavity technology. A maximum output power is scaled to 3.98 W at 640 nm with a linewidth of about 17.2 MHz and a power stability of 0.6%. Moreover, by inserting a LBO crystal into the ring cavity for intracavity frequency doubling of the 640 nm SF laser, we have also successfully demonstrated an ultraviolet (UV) SF laser at 320 nm, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, with a maximum power of 670 mW. This work provides a promising route for the development of simple, compact, and high-power SF lasers operating in visible and UV spectral regions.

Filler effects inspired high performance polyurethane elastomer design: segment arrangement control.

Elastomers with high strength and toughness are in great demand. Previous research on elastomers focused mainly on the design of new chemical structures, but their complicated synthesis process and expensive monomers have restricted the practical application of these materials. Inspired by general filler effects, a strategy is proposed to remarkably enhance the mechanical properties of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) elastomers by designing the arrangement of hard/soft segments using traditional chemical compositions. By utilizing the synergetic effect of weak hard segments, normal TPU elastomers are upgraded into advanced elastomers. Combining experiments and simulations, it is demonstrated that a suitable sequence length can achieve considerably enhanced strength and toughness by maximizing the relative surface area of hard domains. Mixing the obtained elastomer with an ionic liquid can result in a durable ionogel sensor with balanced mechanical strength and ionic conductivity. This easy-to-implement strategy offers a new dimension for the development of high-performance elastomers.

Recent Advances in Environment-Friendly Polyurethanes from Polyols Recovered from the Recycling and Renewable Resources: A Review.

Polyurethane (PU) is among the most universal polymers and has been extensively applied in many fields, such as construction, machinery, furniture, clothing, textile, packaging and biomedicine. Traditionally, as the main starting materials for PU, polyols deeply depend on petroleum stock. From the perspective of recycling and environmental friendliness, advanced PU synthesis, using diversified resources as feedstocks, aims to develop versatile products with excellent properties to achieve the transformation from a fossil fuel-driven energy economy to renewable and sustainable ones. This review focuses on the recent development in the synthesis and modification of PU by extracting value-added monomers for polyols from waste polymers and natural bio-based polymers, such as the recycled waste polymers: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), PU and polycarbonate (PC); the biomaterials: vegetable oil, lignin, cashew nut shell liquid and plant straw; and biomacromolecules: polysaccharides and protein. To design these advanced polyurethane formulations, it is essential to understand the structure-property relationships of PU from recycling polyols. In a word, this bottom-up path provides a material recycling approach to PU design for printing and packaging, as well as biomedical, building and wearable electronics applications.

Computational modeling of the physical features that influence breast cancer invasion into adipose tissue.

Breast cancer invasion into adipose tissue strongly influences disease progression and metastasis. The degree of cancer cell invasion into adipose tissue depends on both biochemical signaling and the mechanical properties of cancer cells, adipocytes, and other key components of adipose tissue. We model breast cancer invasion into adipose tissue using discrete element method simulations of active, cohesive spherical particles (cancer cells) invading into confluent packings of deformable polyhedra (adipocytes). We quantify the degree of invasion by calculating the interfacial area At between cancer cells and adipocytes. We determine the long-time value of At vs the activity and strength of the cohesion between cancer cells, as well as the mechanical properties of the adipocytes and extracellular matrix in which adipocytes are embedded. We show that the degree of invasion collapses onto a master curve as a function of the dimensionless energy scale Ec , which grows linearly with the cancer cell velocity persistence time and fluctuations, is inversely proportional to the system pressure, and is offset by the cancer cell cohesive energy. When E c > 1 , cancer cells will invade the adipose tissue, whereas for E c < 1 , cancer cells and adipocytes remain de-mixed. We also show that At decreases when the adipocytes are constrained by the ECM by an amount that depends on the spatial heterogeneity of the adipose tissue.

Investigation of Electropolishing for High-Gradient 1.3 GHz and 3.9 GHz Niobium Cavities.

Electropolishing (EP) has become a standard procedure for treating the inner surfaces of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities composed of pure niobium. In this study, a new EP facility was employed for the surface treatment of both 1.3 GHz and 3.9 GHz single-cell cavities at the Wuxi Platform. The stable "cold EP" mode was successfully implemented on this newly designed EP facility. By integrating the cold EP process with a two-step baking approach, a maximum accelerating gradient exceeding 40 MV/m was achieved in 1.3 GHz single-cell cavities. Additionally, an update to this EP facility involved the design of a special cathode system for small-aperture structures, facilitating the cold EP process for 3.9 GHz single-cell cavities. Ultimately, a maximum accelerating gradient exceeding 25 MV/m was attained in the 3.9 GHz single-cell cavities after undergoing the cold EP treatment. The design and commissioning of the EP device, as well as the electropolishing and vertical test results of the single-cell cavities, will be detailed herein. These methods and experiences are also transferable to multi-cell cavities and elliptical cavities of other frequencies.