Effect of Paricalcitol Combined with Cinacalcet on Calcium and Phosphorus Metabolism in Patients Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis.

This study was designed to compare the beneficial effects of paricalcitol combined with or without cinacalcet on calcium and phosphorus metabolism in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). A total of 140 patients who received MHD in our hospital from March 2021 to March 2022 were randomly divided into a control group (intravenous paricalcitol, n = 70) and a test group (intravenous paricalcitol combined with oral cinacalcet, n = 70). Clinical baseline data and relevant laboratory parameters before treatment were compared. Additionally, calcium, phosphorus, intact parathyroid hormone in serum were measured and compared between the 2 groups before treatment and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 12 months after treatment. As a result, comparison before treatment demonstrated no significant difference in baseline data such as age, sex, and most laboratory parameters between the 2 groups (P > .05), but there was a significant difference in mean corpuscular volume (P < .001). The serum phosphorus level decreased and calcium level increased significantly in the 2 groups after treatment, while the intact parathyroid hormone level showed no significant change within 12 months of treatment (P > .05). In addition, the combined treatment for 6-12 months caused a much lower phosphorus level (P < .05) and higher calcium level (P < .05) than the treatment with paricalcitol alone, and the difference increased with the extension of treatment time. Collectively, paricalcitol combined with cinacalcet, which is more effective than paricalcitol alone, has a positive effect on calcium and phosphorus metabolism in patients receiving MHD.

Emerging Diamond Quantum Sensing in Bio-Membranes.

Bio-membranes exhibit complex but unique mechanical properties as communicative regulators in various physiological and pathological processes. Exposed to a dynamic micro-environment, bio-membranes can be seen as an intricate and delicate system. The systematical modeling and detection of their local physical properties are often difficult to achieve, both quantitatively and precisely. The recent emerging diamonds hosting quantum defects (i.e., nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center) demonstrate intriguing optical and spin properties, together with their outstanding photostability and biocompatibility, rendering them ideal candidates for biological applications. Notably, the extraordinary spin-based sensing enable the measurements of localized nanoscale physical quantities such as magnetic fields, electrical fields, temperature, and strain. These nanoscale signals can be optically read out precisely by simple optical microscopy systems. Given these exclusive properties, NV-center-based quantum sensors can be widely applied in exploring bio-membrane-related features and the communicative chemical reaction processes. This review mainly focuses on NV-based quantum sensing in bio-membrane fields. The attempts of applying NV-based quantum sensors in bio-membranes to investigate diverse physical and chemical events such as membrane elasticity, phase change, nanoscale bio-physical signals, and free radical formation are fully overviewed. We also discuss the challenges and future directions of this novel technology to be utilized in bio-membranes.

Metaoptronic Multiplexed Interface for Probing Bioentity Behaviors.

Biointerface sensors have brought about remarkable advances in modern biomedicine. To accurately monitor bioentity's behaviors, biointerface sensors need to capture three main types of information, which are the electric, spectroscopic, and morphologic signals. Simultaneously obtaining these three types of information is of critical importance in the development of future biosensor, which is still not possible in the existing biosensors. Herein, by synergizing metamaterials, optical, and electronic sensing designs, we proposed the metaoptronic multiplexed interface (MMI) and built a MMI biosensor which can collectively record electric, spectroscopic, and morphologic information on bioentities. The MMI biosensor enables the real-time triple-monitoring of cellular dynamics and opens up the possibility for powerlessly monitoring ocular dryness. Our findings not only demonstrate an advanced multiplexed biointerface sensor with integrated capacities but also help to identify a uniquely significant arena for the nanomaterials, meta-optics, and nanotechnologies to play their roles in a complementary manner.

Reciprocating-flowing on-a-chip enables ultra-fast immunobinding for multiplexed rapid ELISA detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibody.

The worldwide epidemic of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has led to a strong demand for highly efficient immunobinding to achieve rapid and accurate on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. However, hour-scale time-consumption is usually required to ensure the adequacy of immunobinding on expensive large instruments in hospitals, and the common false negative or positive results often occur in rapid on-site immunoassay (e.g. immunochromatography). We solved this dilemma by presenting a reciprocating-flowing immunobinding (RF-immunobinding) strategy. RF-immunobinding enabled the antibodies in fluid contacting with the corresponding immobilized antigens on substrate repeatedly during continuous reciprocating-flowing, to achieve adequate immunobinding within 60 s. This strategy was further developed into an immunoassay method for the serological detection of 13 suspected COVID-19 patients. We obtained a 100% true negative and true positive rate and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 4.14 pg/mL. Our strategy also can be a potential support for other areas related to immunorecognition, such as proteomics, immunopharmacology and immunohistochemistry.

Effectiveness of montelukast for uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Uremic pruritus (UP) is a common and tormenting symptom in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. An increasing number of studies have been published in recent years to support the effectiveness of montelukast for UP. We will conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate effectiveness of montelukast for UP in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: The following electronic databases were searched: Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China Science and Technology Journal Database. The range of publication time was from the inception of the database to December 2020. Two reviewers will independently conduct article selection, data collection, and assessment of risk of bias. Any disagreement will be resolved by discussion with the third reviewer. Meta-analysis will be performed by Review Manager 5.3. The Cochrane Collaboration tool will be used to assess the risk of bias. RESULTS: This study will provide a systematic synthesis of current published data to explore the effectiveness of montelukast for UP in hemodialysis patients. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide clinical evidence for the effectiveness of montelukast for UP in hemodialysis patients and inform our understanding of the value of montelukast in improving pruritus symptoms. This study will help clinicians, patients, and policy makers to make better decisions regarding the appropriate role of montelukast as a part of patient management routines. STUDY REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020100043.

A new ferroelastic hybrid material with a large spontaneous strain: (Me3NOH)2[ZnCl4].

A new hybrid compound (Me3NOH)2[ZnCl4] undergoes an above-room-temperature mmmF2/m ferroelastic phase transition and exhibits a large spontaneous strain of 0.129, owing to an order-disorder transition of organic cations.