Identifying polyamine related biomarkers in diagnosis and treatment of ulcerative colitis by integrating bulk and single-cell sequencing data.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the colon, and its pathogenesis remains unclear. Polyamine metabolic enzymes play a crucial role in UC. In this study, we aimed to identify pivotal polyamine-related genes (PRGs) and explore the underlying mechanism between PRGs and the disease status and therapeutic response of UC. We analyzed mRNA-sequencing data and clinical information of UC patients from the GEO database and identified NNMT, PTGS2, TRIM22, TGM2, and PPARG as key PRGs associated with active UC using differential expression analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WCGNA). Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis confirmed the accuracy of these key genes in UC and colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC) diagnosis, and we validated their relationship with therapeutic response in external verification sets. Additionally, single-cell analysis revealed that the key PRGs were specific to certain immune cell types, emphasizing the vital role of intestinal tissue stem cells in active UC. The results were validated in vitro and in vivo experiments, including the colitis mice model and CAC mice model. In conclusion, these key PRGs effectively predict the progression of UC patients and could serve as new pharmacological biomarkers for the therapeutic response of UC.

Recent Progress in Droplet Structure Machining for Advanced Optics.

The development of optical and photonic applications using soft-matter droplets holds great scientific and application importance. The machining of droplet structures is expected to drive breakthroughs in advancing frontier applications. This review highlights recent advancements in micro-nanofabrication techniques for soft-matter droplets, encompassing microfluidics, laser injection, and microfluidic 3D printing. The principles, advantages, and weaknesses of these technologies are thoroughly discussed. The review introduces the utilization of a phase separation strategy in microfluidics to assemble complex emulsion droplets and control droplet geometries by adjusting interfacial tension. Additionally, laser injection can take full advantage of the self-assembly properties of soft matter to control the spontaneous organization of internal substructures within droplets, thus providing the possibility of high-precision customized assembly of droplets. Microfluidic 3D printing demonstrates a 3D printing-based method for machining droplet structures. Its programmable nature holds promise for developing device-level applications utilizing droplet arrays. Finally, the review presents novel applications of soft-matter droplets in optics and photonics. The integration of processing concepts from microfluidics, laser micro-nano-machining, and 3D printing into droplet processing, combined with the self-assembly properties of soft materials, may offer novel opportunities for processing and application development.

Finite element analysis comparison of Type 42A2 fracture fixed with external titanium alloy locking plate and traditional external fixation frame.

BACKGROUND: At present, not all Type AO/OTA 42A2 open fractures can be treated by external fixation brackets, not to mention the inconvenience of this technique in clinical practice. External titanium alloy locking plates, which are lightweight and easy-to-operate, can be used as an alternative treatment option for such patients. However, there are few reports of finite element biomechanical analysis on the titanium alloy locking plates and fixation brackets being placed on the medial side of the tibial fracture. In this study, the biomechanical properties of titanium alloy locking plates and fixation brackets for treating Type AO/OTA 42A2 fractures were compared by applying the finite element method, and the results provided data support for the clinical application of the external titanium alloy locking plate technique. METHODS: Type AO/OTA 42A2 fracture models were constructed using CT data of a male volunteer for two external fixation techniques, namely the external titanium alloy locking plate technique and the external fixation bracket technique, according to commonly-used clinical protocols. Then, the four-point bending, axial compression, clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation tests under the maximum load were simulated in finite element analysis software. The stress distribution, peak stress and overall tibial displacement data for the two different external fixation techniques were obtained and compared. RESULTS: In the four different test conditions (i.e., four-point bending, axial compression, clockwise torsion, counterclockwise torsion) under the maximum load, the two external fixation techniques showed obvious von Mises stress concentration at the contacts between the screw and tibia, between the screw and titanium alloy locking plate, between the self-tapping self-drilling needle and tibia, between the self-tapping self-drilling needle and the external fixation device, as well as around the fracture end and around the cortical bone at the upper and lower ends of the tibia. The peak stress was ranged 26.67-558.77 MPa, all below the yield stress strength of titanium alloy. The peak tibial displacement of the external titanium alloy locking plate model was smaller than that of the fixation bracket model. In terms of structural stability, the external titanium alloy locking plate technique was superior to the external fixation bracket technique. CONCLUSIONS: When fixing Type AO/OTA 42A2 fractures, external titanium alloy locking plates are not only lightweight and easy-to-operate, but also have better performance in terms of axial compression, bending and torsion resistance. According to the finite element biomechanical analysis, external titanium alloy locking plates are superior to traditional external fixation brackets in treating Type AO/OTA 42A2 fractures and can better meet the needs of clinical application.

Production and Reconfiguration of Double Emulsions by Temperature Control.

Double emulsions are of great importance for both science and engineering. However, the production of multicore double-emulsion droplets is challenging and normally requires sophisticated microfluidic devices, which limits their availability to broader communities. Here, we propose a simple, precise, and scalable batch method for producing double emulsions with monodispersed multicores at milliliter per minute rates, using the most common means in laboratory, temperature. By rapidly cooling liquid crystal emulsions, the introduced temperature gradient around the emulsion droplets leads to the injection of monodispersed guest droplets to form double-emulsion droplets. The number of injected water droplets can be precisely controlled by adjusting the thermally induced mechanical force through the temperature difference and the cooling rate. In contrast to conventional microfluidic fabrication, this method processes all emulsion droplets simultaneously in a noncontact and in situ manner. Therefore, it has great flexibility, allows multiple processing of double emulsions of arbitrary shape, has good capacity for mass production, and offers excellent compatibility with technologies such as microfluidics. Finally, we demonstrate that temperature changes can also be used to release the inner droplets from the double emulsion. The proposed method offers a reversible tool for processing double emulsions with minimal cost and expertise and is applicable to droplet-based microsystems in materials science, photonics, sensors, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.

iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis of imiquimod in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we explored the potential mechanisms and the signaling pathways involved in the treatment of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) with imiquimod (IMQ). METHODS: The UC mouse model was established by treating C57BL/6J mice with 3% Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS). Then, the UC-related symptoms were examined. Disease Activity Index (DAI) was estimated based on weight loss, stool consistency, and occult bleeding or hematochezia. Histological changes were evaluated by Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining. Furthermore, we used multiplexed Isobaric Tagging for Relative and Absolute Protein Quantification (iTRAQ) technique coupled with high-throughput liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). RESULTS: Administration of 3% DSS for 7 days induced acute colitis associated with diarrhea, hematochezia, weight loss, and colon shortening. However, after IMQ administration, almost all the above symptoms were improved by different degrees. Specifically, the DAI, histological disorder, and colon shortening were attenuated. In iTRAQ analysis, a total of 4170 proteins were identified with a high confidence (≥ 95% confidence). The numbers of DEPs between the normal and UC model mice, between the normal and the IMQ-treated therapy mice, as well as between the model and the therapy mice were 317, 253, and 209, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that the DEPs involved in the complement and coagulation cascades were downregulated in IMQ-treated therapy group. CONCLUSIONS: IMQ might ameliorate colitis by suppressing the complement and coagulation cascades pathway, which might serve as new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with UC.

Fiber Optic Sensing Technology and Vision Sensing Technology for Structural Health Monitoring.

Structural health monitoring is currently a crucial measure for the analysis of structural safety. As a structural asset management approach, it can provide a cost-effective measure and has been used successfully in a variety of structures. In recent years, the development of fiber optic sensing technology and vision sensing technology has led to further advances in structural health monitoring. This paper focuses on the basic principles, recent advances, and current status of applications of these two sensing technologies. It provides the reader with a broad review of the literature. It introduces the advantages, limitations, and future directions of these two sensing technologies. In addition, the main contribution of this paper is that the integration of fiber optic sensing technology and vision sensing technology is discussed. This paper demonstrates the feasibility and application potential of this integration by citing numerous examples. The conclusions show that this new integrated sensing technology can effectively utilize the advantages of both fields.

Effect of mesalazine combined with probiotics on inflammation and immune function of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of mesalazine combined with probiotics on inflammation and immune function of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: In this retrospective study, a total of 116 patients with IBD treated in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from September 2018 to September 2021 were enrolled and divided into a control group (n=55, treated with mesalazine alone) and a research group (n=61, treated with mesalazine combined with probiotics) according to the treatment regimen. The two groups were compared in the levels of inflammatory factors, immune factors, adverse reactions, clinical efficacy and improvement of patients' disease condition before and after treatment. Logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors of infection in patients with IBD at 6 months after admission. RESULTS: The research group showed a significantly higher the total effective rate than the control group (P<0.05), and there was no notable difference between the two groups in the incidence of adverse reactions (P>0.05). In addition, compared with the control group, the research group showed significantly lower levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM), Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and had significantly lower scores of clinical activity index (CAI) and endoscopic activity index (EAI) after treatment (all P<0.05). Higher IgG, IgM, IL-6, CRP and EAI levels at admission were independent risk factors for infection in patients with IBD. CONCLUSION: Mesalazine combined with probiotics can substantially improve the disease condition of patients with IBD, improve their immune ability and reduce their inflammation level, with a good safety profile.

Laser processing of microdroplet structure of liquid crystal in 3D.

Processing of mesoscale structures of soft matter and liquid is of great importance in both science and engineering. In this work, we introduce the concept of laser-assisted micromachining to this field and inject a certain number of microdroplets into a preselected location on the surface of a liquid crystal drop through laser irradiation. The impact of laser energy on the triggered injection is discussed. The sequentially injected microdroplets are spontaneously captured by the defect ring in the host drop and transported along this defect track as micro-cargos. By precisely manipulating the laser beam, the tailored injection of droplets is achieved, and the injected droplets self-assemble into one necklace ring within the host drop. The result provides a bottom-up approach for the in-situ and three-dimensional microfabrication of droplet structure of soft matter using a laser beam, which may be applicable in the development of optical and photonic devices.

Locoregional recurrence prediction in head and neck cancer based on multi-modality and multi-view feature expansion.

Objective.Locoregional recurrence (LRR) is one of the leading causes of treatment failure in head and neck (H&N) cancer. Accurately predicting LRR after radiotherapy is essential to achieving better treatment outcomes for patients with H&N cancer through developing personalized treatment strategies. We aim to develop an end-to-end multi-modality and multi-view feature extension method (MMFE) to predict LRR in H&N cancer.Approach.Deep learning (DL) has been widely used for building prediction models and has achieved great success. Nevertheless, 2D-based DL models inherently fail to utilize the contextual information from adjacent slices, while complicated 3D models have a substantially larger number of parameters, which require more training samples, memory and computing resources. In the proposed MMFE scheme, through the multi-view feature expansion and projection dimension reduction operations, we are able to reduce the model complexity while preserving volumetric information. Additionally, we designed a multi-modality convolutional neural network that can be trained in an end-to-end manner and can jointly optimize the use of deep features of CT, PET and clinical data to improve the model's prediction ability.Main results.The dataset included 206 eligible patients, of which, 49 had LRR while 157 did not. The proposed MMFE method obtained a higher AUC value than the other four methods. The best prediction result was achieved when using all three modalities, which yielded an AUC value of 0.81.Significance.Comparison experiments demonstrated the superior performance of the MMFE as compared to other 2D/3D-DL-based methods. By combining CT, PET and clinical features, the MMFE could potentially identify H&N cancer patients at high risk for LRR such that personalized treatment strategy can be developed accordingly.

Series of AzTO-Based Energetic Materials: Effect of Different π-π Stacking Modes on Their Thermal Stability and Sensitivity.

π-Stacking is common in materials, but different π-π stacking modes remarkably affect the properties and performances of materials. In particular, weak interactions, π-stacking and hydrogen bonding, often have a great impact on the stability and sensitivity of high-energetic compounds. Therefore, several of energetic materials based on 1,1'-dihydroxyazotetrazole (1) with a nearly flat structure, such as the salts of aminoguanidine (2), 1,3-diaminoguanidine (3), imidazole (4), pyrazole (5) and triaminoguanidine (6), and a cocrystal of 2-methylimidazole (7), were designed and synthesized. Based on single-crystal diffraction data, thermal decomposition behaviors, and the mechanical sensitivity test, the compounds of 4, 5, and 7 with face-to-face π-π stacking display outstanding thermal stability and insensitivity.

Laser-Induced Nanodroplet Injection and Reconfigurable Double Emulsions with Designed Inner Structures.

Microfabrication of complex double emulsion droplets with controlled substructures, which resemble biological cells, is an important but a highly challenging subject. Here, a new approach is proposed based on laser-induced injection of water nanodroplets into a liquid crystal (LC) drop. In contrast to the conventional top-down microfluidic fabrication, this method employs a series of bottom-up strategies such as nanodroplet injection, spontaneous and assisted coalescence, elastically driven actuation, and self-assembly. Each step is controlled precisely by adjusting the laser beam, interfacial tension, and its gradients, surface anchoring, and elasticity of the LC. Whispering gallery mode illumination is used to monitor the injection of droplets. A broad spectrum of double emulsions with a predesigned hierarchical architecture is fabricated and reconfigured by temperature, laser-induced coalescence, and injection. The proposed bottom-up method to produce customized microemulsions that are responsive to environmental cues can be used in the development of drug delivery systems, biosensors, and functional soft matter microstructures.

Effect of fecal microbiota transplantation on experimental colitis in mice.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on the acute inflammatory response in a murine model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, and to delineate the putative underlying mechanism(s). Mice were divided into four groups, namely the normal control, DSS, 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) and FMT group. Mice in the DSS, 5-ASA and FMT groups were orally administered 3% DSS (w/v) solution for 7 days to induce colitis. On days 1, 3, 5 and 7, mice in the DSS, 5-ASA and FMT groups were respectively administered 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose sodium, 5-ASA suspension and fecal suspension by enema. The disease activity index of each mouse was calculated on a daily basis. All mice were sacrificed on day 8, and the length of their colons was measured. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and the levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-10 in the colon tissues of each group were also measured. Compared with that in the DSS group, FMT ameliorated the severity of inflammation due to ulcerative colitis in mice, which was accompanied by a significantly decreased MPO activity, reduced levels of TNF-α and IL-1ß, and an increased level of IL-10 in colon tissue (all P<0.05). Taken together, these results demonstrated that FMT exerted a therapeutic effect on experimental colitis in mice, and the associated mechanism is likely to involve the remodeling of the intestinal flora and regulation of intestinal T-cell immunity homeostasis.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of topological deformation in chiral nematic microspheres using fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy.

Chiral nematic droplets exhibit abundant topological defect structures, which have been intensively studied, both theoretically and experimentally. However, to observe and reconstruct the exact shape of three-dimensional (3D) defect structures has been a challenging task. In this study, we successfully reconstruct the 3D defect structures within a CLC microsphere with long helical pitches by combining polarized optical microscopy (POM) and laser scanning type fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy (FCPM). The obtained confocal stack images provide us with the vertical location of disclination defects, to allow reconstruction of the full 3D structures. The reconstructed 3D structures can be viewed from different directions, providing a better understanding of the topological structure. Moreover, the defect lines are identified to be + 1 defects, different from the previous prediction. Thus, FCPM provides an excellent tool to study the complex topological configuration in microspheres, and fosters its potential applicability in new devices based on topologically structured soft media.