Facile synthesis of hierarchical core-shell carbon@ZnIn2S4 composite for boosted photothermal-assisted photocatalytic H2 production.

Against the backdrop of energy shortage, hydrogen energy has attracted much attention as a green and clean energy source. In order to explore efficient hydrogen production pathways, we designed a composite photocatalyst with carbon-based core-shell photothermal-assisted photocatalytic system (Carbon@ZnIn2S4, denoted as C@ZIS). The well-designed catalyst C@ZIS composites demonstrated a photocatalytic hydrogen precipitation rate of 2.97 mmol g-1 h-1 even in the absence of the noble metal Pt co-catalyst. The incorporation of carbon-based core-shell photocatalysts into a photocatalytic reaction significantly affects the activity of the reaction by triggering a photothermal effect in the reaction solution. The results of the physicochemical experiments demonstrated that the carbon spheres in C@ZIS composite system could provide a greater number of active sites, thereby accelerating the electron transfer and separation efficiency, and thus enhancing the photocatalytic activity. The study presents an efficacious design concept for the development of efficacious carbon-based core-shell photothermal-assisted photocatalysts, which is anticipated to facilitate the efficient conversion of solar energy to hydrogen energy.

Enhancing motor skill learning through multiple sessions of online high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation in healthy adults: insights from EEG power spectrum.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) on finger motor skill acquisition. Thirty-one healthy adult males were randomly assigned to one of three groups: online HD-tDCS (administered during motor skill learning), offline HD-tDCS (delivered before motor skill learning), and a sham group. Participants engaged in a visual isometric pinch task for three consecutive days. Overall motor skill learning and speed-accuracy tradeoff function were used to evaluate the efficacy of tDCS. Electroencephalography was recorded and power spectral density was calculated. Both online and offline HD-tDCS total motor skill acquisition was significantly higher than the sham group (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). Motor skill acquisition in the online group was higher than offline (P = 0.132, Cohen's d = 1.46). Speed-accuracy tradeoff function in the online group was higher than both offline and sham groups in the post-test. The online group exhibited significantly lower electroencephalography activity in the frontal, fronto-central, and centro-parietal alpha band regions compared to the sham (P < 0.05). The findings suggest that HD-tDCS application can boost finger motor skill acquisition, with online HD-tDCS displaying superior facilitation. Furthermore, online HD-tDCS reduces the power of alpha rhythms during motor skill execution, enhancing information processing and skill learning efficiency.

A Novel Sequential Percutaneous Radiofrequency Treatment Strategy for Drug-refractory Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Propensity Score-matched Study.

BACKGROUND: Gasserian ganglion-targeted conventional and pulsed radiofrequency treatments are percutaneous procedures performed for drug-refractory trigeminal neuralgia. However, ideal outcomes are not always achieved with these procedures; frequent postprocedural complications and therapeutic ineffectiveness are also of major concern. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate a novel strategy for effective, uncomplicated pain relief in patients with drug-refractory trigeminal neuralgia. STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter, retrospective, observational study. SETTING: Participating centers were Beijing Tiantan Hospital and Sanbo Brain Hospital. METHODS: From January 2010 through December 2019, a total of 2,087 patients with drug-refractory trigeminal neuralgia were included in the current study. Of them, 143 underwent sequential conventional radiofrequency treatment and 1,944 underwent conventional radiofrequency treatment only. The primary outcome was being pain free at 24 months postprocedure; multiple secondary outcomes were compared between treatments before and after propensity score matching. RESULTS: At the 24-month follow-up, sequential radiofrequency treatment provided a higher pain-free outcome than conventional radiofrequency treatment (0.93 [95% CI, 0.92-0.94]) vs 0.89, (95% CI, 0.84-0.94; P = 0.04); hazard ratio, 1.703 (95% CI, 1.01-2.86). For the 124 propensity score-matched pairs, there was no significant difference between groups, although pain-free outcomes were numerically higher in the sequential radiofrequency treatment group (0.93 [95% CI, 0.89-0.98]) vs 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85-0.96; P = 0.3); hazard ratio, 0.653 (95% CI, 0.27-1.60). Notably, sequential radiofrequency treatment correlated with fewer overall postprocedural complications than conventional radiofrequency treatment, despite propensity score matching analysis (14/143 vs 723/1944, relative risk, 0.69 (95% CI, 0.65-0.74; P < 0.001); 11/124 vs 45/124, relative risk 0.69 (95% CI, 0.60-0.80; P < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: Procedural parameters and quality of life evaluation by treatment were not analyzed and cost data were not collected. CONCLUSION: Sequential radiofrequency treatment has the potential to provide effective, uncomplicated, pain-free outcomes.

Vascular network-inspired diffusible scaffolds for engineering functional neural organoids.

Organoids, three-dimensional in vitro organ-like tissue cultures derived from stem cells, show promising potential for developmental biology, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. However, the function and phenotype of current organoids, especially neural organoids, are still limited by insufficient diffusion of oxygen, nutrients, metabolites, signaling molecules, and drugs. Herein, we present Vascular network-Inspired Diffusible (VID) scaffolds to fully recapture the benefits of physiological diffusion physics for generating functional organoids and phenotyping their drug response. In a proof-of-concept application, the VID scaffolds, 3D-printed meshed tubular channel networks, support the successful generation of engineered human midbrain organoids almost without necrosis and hypoxia in commonly used well-plates. Compared to conventional organoids, these engineered organoids develop with more physiologically relevant features and functions including midbrain-specific identity, oxygen metabolism, neuronal maturation, and network activity. Moreover, these engineered organoids also better recapitulate pharmacological responses, such as neural activity changes to fentanyl exposure, compared to conventional organoids with significant diffusion limits. Combining these unique scaffolds and engineered organoids may provide insights for organoid development and therapeutic innovation.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Wrist-Ankle Acupuncture Combined With Patient-Controlled Intravenous Analgesia for Managing Post Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of combining wrist-ankle acupuncture with patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) on active pain and food intake in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) after undergoing uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). METHODS: Sixty patients with OSAHS who underwent UPPP at our hospital's Department of Otorhinolaryngology from January 2020 to October 2023 were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 each: an observation group and a control group. The control group received general anesthesia administered by an anesthesiologist and used a PCIA pump. In addition to this treatment, the observation group received the combined intervention of wrist-ankle acupuncture. Active pain levels were monitored at 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours after UPPP, and food intake was observed at 24, 36, and 48 hours postoperation. The results were compared and recorded for both groups. RESULTS: The analgesic effect on active pain in the observation group was significantly greater than in the control group at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours postoperation, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). In addition, when comparing food intake scores at 24, 36, and 48 hours postoperation, the observation group had significantly higher food intake than the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combined intervention of wrist-ankle acupuncture and PCIA provides effective pain relief for OSAHS patients after UPPP, enhances their food intake, improves their quality of life, and supports early recovery.

Monitoring of trace oxytetracycline using a porphyrin-MOF layer-based electrochemical aptasensor.

A two-dimensional porphyrin-MOF nanolayer was developed to construct an electrochemical aptasensor for monitoring oxytetracycline from 0.01 pg mL-1 to 0.1 ng mL-1. This aptasensor exhibited high sensitivity, outstanding selectivity, good stability, fine reproducibility, and quantitative detection ability in real samples.

Object Motion Detection Enabled by Reconfigurable Neuromorphic Vision Sensor under Ferroelectric Modulation.

Increasing the demand for object motion detection (OMD) requires shifts of reducing redundancy, heightened power efficiency, and precise programming capabilities to ensure consistency and accuracy. Drawing inspiration from object motion-sensitive ganglion cells, we propose an OMD vision sensor with a simple device structure of a WSe2 homojunction modulated by a ferroelectric copolymer. Under optical mode and intermediate ferroelectric modulation, the vision sensor can generate progressive and bidirectional photocurrents with discrete multistates under zero power consumption. This design enables reconfigurable devices to emulate long-term potentiation and depression for synaptic weights updating, which exhibit 82 states (more than 6 bits) with a uniform step of 6 pA. Such OMD devices also demonstrate nonvolatility, reversibility, symmetry, and ultrahigh linearity, achieving a fitted R2 of 0.999 and nonlinearity values of 0.01/-0.01. Thus, a vision sensor could implement motion detection by sensing only dynamic information based on the brightness difference between frames, while eliminating redundant data from static scenes. Additionally, the neural network utilizing a linear result can recognize the essential moving information with a high recognition accuracy of 96.8%. We also present the scalable potential via a uniform 3 × 3 neuromorphic vision sensor array. Our work offers a platform to achieve motion detection based on controllable and energy-efficient ferroelectric programmability.

Effects of slurry ice treatment on the physicochemical changes and proteome of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea).

Large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) is susceptible to oxidative denaturation during storage. This work is to investigate the quality alterations by analyzing its physicochemical changes and proteomics throughout preservation under refrigeration, frozen, and slurry ice (SI) conditions. Results revealed that the freshness of large yellow croaker, as evaluated by indicators such as total volatile basic nitrogen, total viable count, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, was well maintained while stored in the SI group. Meanwhile, the water distribution in the muscle tissue of group SI exhibited slower fluctuations, thereby preserving the integrity of fish muscle cells. Based on label-free proteomic analysis, a considerable downregulation was observed in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, indicating that SI decelerated this metabolic pathway and effectively delayed the deterioration of muscle. Therefore, the application of SI provides potential for maintaining the quality stability of large yellow croaker.

Ranking the attribution of high-risk genotypes among women with cervical precancers and cancers: a cross-sectional study in Ningbo, China.

BACKGROUND: The region-specific importance of carcinogenic HPV genotypes is required for optimizing HPV-based screening and promoting appropriate multivalent HPV prophylactic vaccines. This information is lacking for Ningbo, one of the first cities of China's Healthy City Innovation Pilot Program for Cervical Cancer Elimination. Here, we investigated high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) genotype-specific distribution and attribution to biopsy-confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) before mass vaccination in Ningbo, China. METHODS: A total of 1393 eligible CIN2+ archived blocks (including 161 CIN2, 1107 CIN3, and 125 invasive cervical cancers [ICC]) were collected from 2017 to 2020 in Ningbo. HR-HPV DNA was genotyped using the SPF10-DEIA-LiPA25 version 1 detection system and the SureX HPV 25X Genotyping Kit. Genotype-specific attribution to CIN2+ was estimated using a fractional contribution approach. RESULTS: Ranking by the attributable proportions, HPV16 remained the most important genotype in both cervical precancers and cancers, accounting for 36.8% of CIN2, 53.2% of CIN3, and 73.3% of ICC cases. Among cervical precancers, HPV52 (17.3% in CIN2, 12.7% in CIN3) and HPV58 (13.9%, 14.9%) ranked second and third, while HPV33 (8.3%, 7.9%) and HPV31 (6.5%, 4.1%) ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. However, among ICCs, HPV18 (5.7%) accounted for the second highest proportion, followed by HPV33 (5.4%), HPV58 (4.0%), and HPV45 (3.2%). HPV18/45 together accounted for 46.8% of adenocarcinomas, which was slightly lower than that of HPV16 (47.7%). The remaining HR-HPV genotypes (HPV35/39/51/56/59/66/68) combined accounted for only 6.7% of CIN2, 2.9% of CIN3, and 4.2% of ICC. CONCLUSIONS: With Ningbo's strong medical resources, it will be important to continue HPV16/18 control efforts, and could broaden to HPV31/33/45/52/58 for maximum health benefits. However, different strategies should be proposed for other HR-HPV genotypes based on their lower carcinogenic risks.

RBNE-CMI: An Efficient Method for Predicting circRNA-miRNA Interactions via Multiattribute Incomplete Heterogeneous Network Embedding.

Circular RNA (circRNA)-microRNA (miRNA) interaction (CMI) plays crucial roles in cellular regulation, offering promising perspectives for disease diagnosis and therapy. Therefore, it is necessary to employ computational methods for the rapid and cost-effective prediction of potential circRNA-miRNA interactions. However, the existing methods are limited by incomplete data; therefore, it is difficult to model molecules with different attributes on a large scale, which greatly hinders the efficiency and performance of prediction. In this study, we propose an effective method for predicting circRNA-miRNA interactions, called RBNE-CMI, and introduce a framework that can embed incomplete multiattribute CMI heterogeneous networks. By combining the proposed method, we integrate different data sets in the CMI prediction field into one incomplete network for modeling, achieving superior performance in 5-fold cross-validation. Moreover, in the prediction task based on complete data, the proposed method still achieves better performance than the known model. In addition, in the case study, we successfully predicted 18 of the 20 potential cancer biomarkers. The data and source code can be found at https://github.com/1axin/RBNE-CMI.

Sensors and Devices Guided by Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Pain Medicine.

Personalized pain medicine aims to tailor pain treatment strategies for the specific needs and characteristics of an individual patient, holding the potential for improving treatment outcomes, reducing side effects, and enhancing patient satisfaction. Despite existing pain markers and treatments, challenges remain in understanding, detecting, and treating complex pain conditions. Here, we review recent engineering efforts in developing various sensors and devices for addressing challenges in the personalized treatment of pain. We summarize the basics of pain pathology and introduce various sensors and devices for pain monitoring, assessment, and relief. We also discuss advancements taking advantage of rapidly developing medical artificial intelligence (AI), such as AI-based analgesia devices, wearable sensors, and healthcare systems. We believe that these innovative technologies may lead to more precise and responsive personalized medicine, greatly improved patient quality of life, increased efficiency of medical systems, and reducing the incidence of addiction and substance use disorders.

Carrier-Free Nanoagent Interfering with Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts' Metabolism to Promote Tumor Penetration for Boosted Chemotherapy.

Elevated production of extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumor stroma is a critical obstacle for drug penetration. Here we demonstrate that ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) is significantly upregulated in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) to produce tumor ECM. Using a self-assembling nanoparticle-design approach, a carrier-free nanoagent (CFNA) is fabricated by simply assembling NDI-091143, a specific ACLY inhibitor, and doxorubicin (DOX) or paclitaxel (PTX), the first-line chemotherapeutic drug, via multiple noncovalent interactions. After arriving at the CAFs-rich tumor site, NDI-091143-mediated ACLY inhibition in CAFs can block the de novo synthesis of fatty acid, thereby dampening the fatty acid-involved energy metabolic process. As the lack of enough energy, the energetic CAFs will be in a dispirited state that is unable to produce abundant ECM, thereby significantly improving drug perfusion in tumors and enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy. Such a simple drug assembling strategy aimed at CAFs' ACLY-mediated metabolism pathway presents the feasibility of stromal matrix reduction to potentiate chemotherapy.

A New Strategy to Inhibit Scar Formation by Accelerating Normal Healing Using Silicate Bioactive Materials.

Inspired by the scar-free wound healing in infants, an anti-scar strategy is proposed by accelerating wound healing using silicate bioactive materials. Bioglass/alginate composite hydrogels are applied, which significantly inhibit scar formation in rabbit ear scar models. The underlining mechanisms include stimulation of Integrin Subunit Alpha 2 expression in dermal fibroblasts to accelerate wound healing, and induction of apoptosis of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts by directly stimulating the N-Acylsphingosine Amidohydrolase 2 expression in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts, and indirectly upregulating the secretion of Cathepsin K in dermal fibroblasts. Considering specific functions of the bioactive silicate materials, two scar treatment regimes are tested. For severe scars, a regenerative intervention is applied by surgical removal of the scar followed by the treatment with bioactive hydrogels to reduce the formation of scars by activating dermal fibroblasts. For mild scars, the bioactive dressing is applied on the formed scar and reduces scar by inducing scar fibroblasts apoptosis.

Functional Neural Networks in Human Brain Organoids.

Human brain organoids are 3-dimensional brain-like tissues derived from human pluripotent stem cells and hold promising potential for modeling neurological, psychiatric, and developmental disorders. While the molecular and cellular aspects of human brain organoids have been intensively studied, their functional properties such as organoid neural networks (ONNs) are largely understudied. Here, we summarize recent research advances in understanding, characterization, and application of functional ONNs in human brain organoids. We first discuss the formation of ONNs and follow up with characterization strategies including microelectrode array (MEA) technology and calcium imaging. Moreover, we highlight recent studies utilizing ONNs to investigate neurological diseases such as Rett syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. Finally, we provide our perspectives on the future challenges and opportunities for using ONNs in basic research and translational applications.

Trends in 5-year cancer survival disparities by race and ethnicity in the US between 2002-2006 and 2015-2019.

Racial and ethnic disparities persist in cancer survival rates across the United States, despite overall improvements. This comprehensive analysis examines trends in 5-year relative survival rates from 2002-2006 to 2015-2019 for major cancer types, elucidating differences among racial/ethnic groups to guide equitable healthcare strategies. Data from the SEER Program spanning 2000-2020 were analyzed, focusing on breast, colorectal, prostate, lung, pancreatic cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute leukemia, and multiple myeloma. Age-standardized relative survival rates were calculated to assess racial (White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander) and ethnic (Hispanic, Non-Hispanic) disparities, utilizing period analysis for recent estimates and excluding cases identified solely through autopsy or death certificates. While significant survival improvements were observed for most cancers, notable disparities persisted. Non-Hispanic Blacks exhibited the largest gain in breast cancer survival, with an increase of 5.2% points (from 77.6 to 82.8%); however, the survival rate remained lower than that of Non-Hispanic Whites (92.1%). Colorectal cancer survival declined overall (64.7-64.1%), marked by a 6.2% point drop for Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives (66.3-60.1%). Prostate cancer survival declined across all races, with Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives showing a decrease of 7.7% points (from 96.9 to 89.2%). Lung cancer, acute leukemia, and multiple myeloma showed notable increases across groups. Substantial racial/ethnic disparities in cancer survival underscore the notable need for tailored strategies ensuring equitable access to advanced treatments, particularly addressing significant trends in colorectal and pancreatic cancers among specific minority groups. Careful interpretation of statistical significance is warranted given the large dataset.

Optimized hybrid edible surface coating prepared with gelatin and cellulose nanofiber for cherry tomato preservation.

The use of renewable bioresources and their nanoforms in developing edible coating materials is considered a promising approach for preserving food freshness. Herein, cellulose nanofibers (CNF) with different morphologies were combined with gelatin to prepare composite preservation film following by brushing over the surface of cherry tomatoes as an edible coating. The gelatin-based composite film containing 0.3 % CNF20 (GC2-0.3) exhibited the lowest water vapor permeability (WVP, 1.97 × 10-4 barrer), lower oxygen permeability (OP, 2.54 × 10-2 barrer), higher transparency (Tr = 85.28 %) and excellent mechanical properties (σ = 47.45 MPa, E = 1.84 GPa). When coated on cherry tomatoes, it maintained good luster and freshness, significantly reducing the water loss of cherry tomatoes. The weight loss was only 16 % after 14 days of storage at 25 °C and 30 % humidity, compared to >30 % for the uncoated cherry tomatoes. This work provides a viable strategy for developing sustainable, green fresh-keeping materials that can prolong the storage time of the putrescible food.

Multi-Objectives Optimization of Plastic Injection Molding Process Parameters Based on Numerical DNN-GA-MCS Strategy.

An intelligent optimization technique has been presented to enhance the multiple structural performance of PA6-20CF carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plastic injection molding (PIM) products. This approach integrates a deep neural network (DNN), Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), collectively referred to as the DNN-GA-MCS strategy. The main objective is to ascertain complex process parameters while elucidating the intrinsic relationships between processing methods and material properties. To realize this, a numerical study on the PIM structural performance of an automotive front engine hood panel was conducted, considering fiber orientation tensor (FOT), warpage, and equivalent plastic strain (PEEQ). The mold temperature, melt temperature, packing pressure, packing time, injection time, cooling temperature, and cooling time were employed as design variables. Subsequently, multiple objective optimizations of the molding process parameters were employed by GA. The utilization of Z-score normalization metrics provided a robust framework for evaluating the comprehensive objective function. The numerical target response in PIM is extremely intricate, but the stability offered by the DNN-GA-MCS strategy ensures precision for accurate results. The enhancement effect of global and local multi-objectives on the molded polymer-metal hybrid (PMH) front hood panel was verified, and the numerical results showed that this strategy can quickly and accurately select the optimal process parameter settings. Compared with the training set mean value, the objectives were increased by 8.63%, 6.61%, and 9.75%, respectively. Compared to the full AA 5083 hood panel scenario, our design reduces weight by 16.67%, and achievements of 92.54%, 93.75%, and 106.85% were obtained in lateral, longitudinal, and torsional strain energy, respectively. In summary, our proposed methodology demonstrates considerable potential in improving the, highlighting its significant impact on the optimization of structural performance.

Early Radiographic and Clinical Outcomes of Robotic-arm-assisted versus Conventional Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: A robotic system was recently introduced to improve prosthetic alignment during total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to determine whether robotic-arm-assisted TKA improves clinical and radiological outcomes when compared to conventional TKA. METHODS: One hundred and thirty patients who underwent primary TKA were enrolled in this prospective, randomized controlled trial, which was conducted at three hospitals. Five patients were lost to follow-up 6 weeks after surgery. Therefore, 125 participants (63 in the intervention group and 62 in the control group) remained in the final analysis. The primary outcome was the rate at which the mechanical axis of the femur deviated by less than 3° from the mechanical axis of the tibia. This was evaluated by full-length weight-bearing X-rays of the lower limb 6 weeks postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included operation times, 6-week postoperative functional outcomes evaluated by the American Knee Society score (KSS) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC), short form-36 (SF-36) health survey results, and the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). RESULTS: At 6 weeks postoperatively, we found that the rate of radiographic inliers was significantly higher in the intervention group (78.7% vs 51.6%; p = 0.00; 95% confidence interval, 10.9% to 43.2%). The operation was significantly longer in the intervention group than in the control group (119.5 vs 85.0 min; p = 0.00). There were no significant differences in the 6-week postoperative functional outcomes, SF-36, AEs, and SAEs between the two groups. There were no AEs or SAEs that were determined to be "positively related" to the robotic system. CONCLUSION: Robotic-arm-assisted TKA is safe and effective, as demonstrated in this trial.