Hydrogel-based radio frequency H2S sensor for in situ periodontitis monitoring and antibacterial treatment.

Periodontitis, a chronic disease, can result in irreversible tooth loss and diminished quality of life, highlighting the significance of timely periodontitis monitoring and treatment. Meanwhile, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in saliva, produced by pathogenic bacteria of periodontitis, is an important marker for periodontitis monitoring. However, the easy volatility and chemical instability of the molecule pose challenges to oral H2S sensing. Here, we report a wearable hydrogel-based radio frequency (RF) sensor capable of in situ H2S detection and antibacterial treatment. The RF sensor comprises an agarose hydrogel containing conjugated silver nanoparticles-chlorhexidine (AG-AgNPs-CHL hydrogel) integrated with split-ring resonators. Adhered to a tooth, the hydrogel-based RF sensor enables wireless transmission of sensing signals to a mobile terminal and a concurrent release of the broad-spectrum antibacterial agent chlorhexidine without complex circuits. With the selective binding of the AgNPs to the sulfidion, the RF sensor demonstrates good sensitivity, a wide detection range (2-30 µM), and a low limit of detection (1.2 µM). Compared with standard H2S measurement, the wireless H2S sensor can distinguish periodontitis patients from healthy individuals in saliva sample tests. The hydrogel-based wearable sensor will benefit patients with periodontitis by detecting disease-related biomarkers for practical oral health management.

Rapid and on-site wireless immunoassay of respiratory virus aerosols via hydrogel-modulated resonators.

Rapid and accurate detection of respiratory virus aerosols is highlighted for virus surveillance and infection control. Here, we report a wireless immunoassay technology for fast (within 10 min), on-site (wireless and battery-free), and sensitive (limit of detection down to fg/L) detection of virus antigens in aerosols. The wireless immunoassay leverages the immuno-responsive hydrogel-modulated radio frequency resonant sensor to capture and amplify the recognition of virus antigen, and flexible readout network to transduce the immuno bindings into electrical signals. The wireless immunoassay achieves simultaneous detection of respiratory viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, influenza A H1N1 virus, and respiratory syncytial virus for community infection surveillance. Direct detection of unpretreated clinical samples further demonstrates high accuracy for diagnosis of respiratory virus infection. This work provides a sensitive and accurate immunoassay technology for on-site virus detection and disease diagnosis compatible with wearable integration.

CD4/CD8 Ratio Recovered as a Predictor of Decreased Liver Damage in Adults Infected With HIV: 16-Year Observational Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: As the life expectancy of individuals infected with HIV continues to increase, vigilant monitoring of non-AIDS-related events becomes imperative, particularly those pertaining to liver diseases. In comparison to the general population, patients infected with HIV experience a higher frequency of liver-related deaths. The CD4/CD8 ratio is emerging as a potential biomarker for non-AIDS-related events. However, few existing studies have been specially designed to explore the relationship between the CD4/CD8 ratio and specific types of non-AIDS-related events, notably liver damage. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the potential association between the CD4/CD8 ratio and the development of liver damage in a sizable cohort of patients infected with HIV receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART). Additionally, the study sought to assess the effectiveness of 3 antiretroviral drugs in recovering the CD4/CD8 ratio and reducing the occurrence of liver damage in this population. METHODS: We conducted an observational cohort study among adults infected with HIV receiving ART from 2004 to 2020 in Guangxi, China. Propensity score matching, multivariable Cox proportional hazard, and Fine-Gray competing risk regression models were used to determine the relationship between the CD4/CD8 ratio recovered and liver damage. RESULTS: The incidence of liver damage was 20.12% among 2440 eligible individuals during a median follow-up period of 4 person-years. Patients whose CD4/CD8 ratio did not recover to 1.0 exhibited a higher incidence of liver damage compared to patients with a CD4/CD8 ratio recovered (adjusted hazard ratio 7.90, 95% CI 4.39-14.21; P<.001; subdistribution hazard ratio 6.80, 95% CI 3.83-12.11; P<.001), findings consistent with the propensity score matching analysis (adjusted hazard ratio 6.94, 95% CI 3.41-14.12; P<.001; subdistribution hazard ratio 5.67, 95% CI 2.74-11.73; P<.001). The Efavirenz-based regimen exhibited the shortest time for CD4/CD8 ratio recovery (median 71, IQR 49-88 months) and demonstrated a lower prevalence of liver damage (4.18/100 person-years). CONCLUSIONS: Recovery of the CD4/CD8 ratio was associated with a decreased risk of liver damage in patients infected with HIV receiving ART, adding evidence for considering the CD4/CD8 ratio as a potential marker for identifying individuals at risk of non-AIDS-related diseases. An efavirenz-based regimen emerged as a recommended choice for recovering the CD4/CD8 ratio and mitigating the risk of liver damage.

All-MXene-Printed RF Resonators as Wireless Plant Wearable Sensors for In Situ Ethylene Detection.

Printed flexible electronics have emerged as versatile functional components of wearable intelligent devices that bridge the digital information networks with biointerfaces. Recent endeavors in plant wearable sensors provide real-time and in situ insights to study phenotyping traits of crops, whereas monitoring of ethylene, the fundamental phytohormone, remains challenging due to the lack of flexible and scalable manufacturing of plant wearable ethylene sensors. Here the all-MXene-printed flexible radio frequency (RF) resonators are presented as plant wearable sensors for wireless ethylene detection. The facile formation of additive-free MXene ink enables rapid, scalable manufacturing of printed electronics, demonstrating decent printing resolution (2.5% variation), ≈30000 S m-1 conductivity and mechanical robustness. Incorporation of MXene-reduced palladium nanoparticles (MXene@PdNPs) facilitates 1.16% ethylene response at 1 ppm with 0.084 ppm limit of detection. The wireless sensor tags are attached on plant organ surfaces for in situ and continuously profiling of plant ethylene emission to inform the key transition of plant biochemistry, potentially extending the application of printed MXene electronics to enable real-time plant hormone monitoring for precision agriculture and food industrial management.

Changes in sensory-related brain networks of patients with moyamoya disease with limb paresthesia: A resting-state fMRI-based functional connectivity analysis.

This study's aim was to investigate functional brain connectivity changes among patients with moyamoya disease (MMD) with limb paresthesia, using functional connectivity analysis based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). A total of 181 patients with MMD were enrolled, including 57 with left limb paresthesia (MLP group), 61 with right limb paresthesia (MRP group), and 63 without paresthesia (MWP group). Encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS) was performed in 20 of the 57 patients with left limb paresthesia and 15 of the 61 patients with right limb paresthesia. Twenty-nine age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC group) were recruited during the same period. All participants underwent rs-fMRI examination, and the patients treated with EDAS were re-examined 3-4 months after the surgery. After data preprocessing, we selected Brodmann area 3 on each side of the brain as the seed region to construct a functional connectivity network of the whole brain, and then we analyzed the differences in functional connectivity between the HC group, MWP group, MLP group, and MRP group. The functional connectivity of Brodmann area 3 (on either side) with the ipsilateral frontal (superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus) and parietal (supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus, and superior parietal lobule) cortices was increased among patients with MMD. The functional connectivity enhancement in these brain regions was broader and greater in patients with contralateral limb paresthesia than in patients without paresthesia, and the regions with functional connectivity changes were roughly distributed symmetrically among the MLP group and the MRP group. There were no changes 3-4 months after EDAS in the increased functional connectivity between the frontal and parietal cortices and Brodmann area 3. Limb paresthesia in patients with MMD may be driven by abnormal functional connectivity in the frontal and parietal cortices. Functional changes in associated brain regions may be a target for evaluating the severity of MMD and its response to treatment.

White matter structural and network topological changes in moyamoya disease with limb paresthesia: A study based on diffusion kurtosis imaging.

Purpose: To investigate the structural and network topological changes in the white matter (WM) in MMD patients with limb paresthesia by performing diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). Materials and methods: A total of 151 MMD patients, including 46 with left-limb paresthesia (MLP), 52 with right-limb paresthesia (MRP), and 53 without paresthesia (MWP), and 28 healthy controls (HCs) underwent whole-brain DKI, while the surgical patients were reexamined 3-4 months after revascularization. The data were preprocessed to calculate the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean kurtosis (MK) values. Voxel-wise statistics for FA and MK images were obtained by using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Next, the whole-brain network was constructed, and global and local network parameters were analyzed using graph theory. All parameters were compared among the HC, MWP, MLP, and MRP groups, and changes in the MMD patients before and after revascularization were also compared. Results: The TBSS analysis revealed significant reductions in FA and MK in extensive WM regions in the three patient groups. In comparison with the MWP group, the MLP group showed reductions in FA and MK in both right and left WM, mainly in the right WM, while the MRP group mainly showed a reduction in FA in the left WM region and demonstrated no significant change in MK. The graph theoretical analysis showed decreased global network efficiency, increased characteristic path length, and increased sigma in the MWP, MRP, and MLP groups in comparison with the HC group. Among local network parameters, the nodal efficiency decreased in the bilateral MFG and IFGtriang, while the degree decreased in the MFG.L and bilateral IFGtriang. Patients with right-limb paresthesia showed the lowest nodal efficiency and degree in MFG.L and IFGtriang.L, while those with left-limb paresthesia showed the lowest nodal efficiency in MFG.R and IFGtriang.R and the lowest degree in IFGtriang.R. Conclusion: A DKI-based whole-brain structural and network analysis can be used to detect changes in WM damage and network topological changes in MMD patients with limb paresthesia. FA is more sensitive than MK in detecting WM injury, while MFG and IFGtriang are the key nodes related to the development of acroparesthesia.

Development and Validation of a Deep Learning Model for Brain Tumor Diagnosis and Classification Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Importance: Deep learning may be able to use patient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to aid in brain tumor classification and diagnosis. Objective: To develop and clinically validate a deep learning system for automated identification and classification of 18 types of brain tumors from patient MRI data. Design, Setting, and Participants: This diagnostic study was conducted using MRI data collected between 2000 and 2019 from 37 871 patients. A deep learning system for segmentation and classification of 18 types of intracranial tumors based on T1- and T2-weighted images and T2 contrast MRI sequences was developed and tested. The diagnostic accuracy of the system was tested using 1 internal and 3 external independent data sets. The clinical value of the system was assessed by comparing the tumor diagnostic accuracy of neuroradiologists with vs without assistance of the proposed system using a separate internal test data set. Data were analyzed from March 2019 through February 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: Changes in neuroradiologist clinical diagnostic accuracy in brain MRI scans with vs without the deep learning system were evaluated. Results: A deep learning system was trained among 37 871 patients (mean [SD] age, 41.6 [11.4] years; 18 519 women [48.9%]). It achieved a mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.84-0.99) on 1339 patients from 4 centers' data sets in diagnosis and classification of 18 types of tumors. Higher outcomes were found compared with neuroradiologists for accuracy and sensitivity and similar outcomes for specificity (for 300 patients in the Tiantan Hospital test data set: accuracy, 73.3% [95% CI, 67.7%-77.7%] vs 60.9% [95% CI, 46.8%-75.1%]; sensitivity, 88.9% [95% CI, 85.3%-92.4%] vs 53.4% [95% CI, 41.8%-64.9%]; and specificity, 96.3% [95% CI, 94.2%-98.4%] vs 97.9%; [95% CI, 97.3%-98.5%]). With the assistance of the deep learning system, the mean accuracy of neuroradiologists among 1166 patients increased by 12.0 percentage points, from 63.5% (95% CI, 60.7%-66.2%) without assistance to 75.5% (95% CI, 73.0%-77.9%) with assistance. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that deep learning system-based automated diagnosis may be associated with improved classification and diagnosis of intracranial tumors from MRI data among neuroradiologists.

Reusable TiN Substrate for Surface Plasmon Resonance Heterodyne Phase Interrogation Sensor.

A TiN-based substrate with high reusability presented high-sensitivity refractive index measurements in a home-built surface plasmon resonance (SPR) heterodyne phase interrogation system. TiN layers with and without additional inclined-deposited TiN (i-TiN) layers on glass substrates reached high bulk charge carrier densities of 1.28 × 1022 and 1.91 × 1022 cm-3, respectively. The additional 1.4 nm i-TiN layer of the nanorod array presented a detection limit of 6.1 × 10-7 RIU and was higher than that of the 46 nm TiN layer at 1.2 × 10-6 RIU when measuring the refractive index of a glucose solution. Furthermore, the long-term durability of the TiN-based substrate demonstrated by multiple processing experiments presented a high potential for various practical sensing applications.

Neuroimaging characteristics and long-term prognosis of myxoma-related intracranial diseases.

PURPOSE: Myxoma-related intracranial diseases were rarely documented in history. The main purpose of our study is to provide a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the pathogenesis, imaging features, surgical procedures and pathology of such patients through long-term follow-up. METHODS: From March 2012 to July 2018, baseline information that included neuroimaging and neuropathology data from 12 cardiac myxoma patients with neurological symptoms were retrospectively analysed, and the treatment options were discussed. Nine patients underwent long-term postoperative follow-up. RESULTS: Twelve cardiac myxoma patients with neurological symptoms were identified, and among them, 10 patients were postoperative patients who had undergone excision of cardiac myxoma, 5 patients had received craniotomy, and the others had received conservative treatment. Positive neuroimaging findings were found in all patients, including cerebral infarction (12/12, 100%), multiple intracranial aneurysms (8/12, 67%), and extravascular metastasis (6/12, 50%). After a long-term average follow-up of 27 months, an increased number of metastatic lesions or an enlargement of the intracranial aneurysms was found in 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroimaging findings of myxoma-related intracranial lesions were diversed and usually presented as multiple cerebral infarction, aneurysm formation, focal intracranial haemorrhage and space-occupying lesions. Progress is over a long period of time after primary tumour resection. It is necessary for patients to be regularly examined within 2 years after cardiac myxoma resection using MRI+CTA/MRA/DSA in order to be ruled out. Stable and effective chemotherapy drugs are urgently needed.