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Purpose: For the custom‐built construction of eye plaques, the iodine (I‐125) seeds of different source strengths are recycled in our eye plaque program. To return I‐125 seeds to the correct lot, we developed a novel 3D‐printed conical plaque QA holder for relative assay for eye plaques. Materials and methods: A universal 3D‐printed conical plaque holder was designed to accommodate six plaque sizes and fit reproducibly in a well‐type dose calibrator. A reproducibility test was used to compare the plaque placement consistency in the holder versus without the holder. Plaque assays were performed for assembled plaques both before implant and after explant. The explant reading was compared with the implant reading adjusted for decay, and the relative error was calculated. The plaque response fraction (PRF) is defined as the fraction of well chamber implant reading over the total seed strength for a plaque. The PRF was aggregated for each individual plaque to confirm the seed lot before implant. Results: The reproducibility test showed the chamber reading's relative standard deviation of 0.40% with the QA holder compared to 0.68% without it. The batch relative assay was performed for 251 plaques. The absolute value of measurement deviation between explant and decay‐corrected implant readings is 0.89% ± 0.86% (mean ± standard deviation). The PRFs for individual plaques range from 36.49% to 49.87%, with a maximum standard deviation of 2%. Conclusions: This novel 3D‐printed QA holder provides reproducible setup for assaying assembled eye plaques in a well chamber. Batch relative assay can validate the seed batch used and plaque integrity during the implant without assaying individual seeds, saving valuable physicist time and radiation exposure from seed handling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) epidemic has been handled with long‐term management globally, the virus strains keep continuous evolution in an uncertain direction. The newly emerged JN.1 dominated the globally circulating variants in a short time and resulted in increasing hospitalizations. Up to 2024, variant vaccines with the composition of XBB sub‐lineage were available due to the coordinated efforts of developers and regulatory agencies. The development of updated vaccines is still needed and the regular availability of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccines should be timely guaranteed. The current landscape of COVID‐19 vaccines and the strategies for accelerating vaccine development and approval are reviewed. Proposals to enhance variants monitoring and the establishment of the strain recommendation mechanism are made. This review provides suggestions about platform technology designation and application, real‐world data leveraging and modification to regulatory pathways both for the post‐pandemic era of SARS‐CoV‐2 and for the future unknown pathogen pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron overload is common in cardiovascular disease, it is also the factor that drives ferroptosis. Noncoding RNAs play an important role in heart disease; however, their regulatory role in iron overload‐mediated ferroptosis remains much unknown. In our study, the iron overload model in mice was constructed through a high‐iron diet, and ammonium iron citrate treatment was used to mimic iron overload in vitro. We found iron overload induced ferroptosis in cardiomyocytes, which was dependent on the high expression of transferrin receptor (TFRC). MiR‐31‐5p was downregulated during iron overload; it inhibited cardiomyocyte ferroptosis by targeting TFRC. CircPIK3C2A, a highly expressed circRNA in the heart, was upregulated when iron was overloaded. CircPIK3C2A enhanced the expression of TFRC by sponging miR‐31‐5p and promoted ferroptosis during iron overload. Our results reveal a novel mechanistic insight into noncoding RNA‐based ferroptosis and identify the circPIK3C2A/miR‐31‐5p/TFRC axis as a promising therapeutic target for myocardial damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study systematically analyzed the molecular mechanism and function of nuclear factor kappa B subunit 2 (NFKB2) in colorectal cancer (CRC) to investigate the potential of NFKB2 as a therapeutic target for CRC. Various experimental techniques, including RNA sequencing, proteome chip assays, and small molecule analysis, were used to obtain a deeper understanding of the regulation of NFKB2 in CRC. The results revealed that NFKB2 was upregulated in a significant proportion of patients with advanced hepatic metastasis of CRC. NFKB2 played an important role in promoting tumor growth through CD8+ T‐cell exhaustion. Moreover, NFKB2 directly interacted with signal transducer and activator of transcription 2 (STAT2), leading to increased phosphorylation of STAT2 and the upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD‐L1). Applying a small molecule inhibitor of NFKB2 (Rg5) led to a reduction in PD‐L1 expression and improved response to programmed death‐1 blockade‐based immunotherapy. In conclusion, the facilitated NFKB2‐STAT2/PD‐L1 axis may suppress immune surveillance in CRC and targeting NFKB2 may enhance the efficacy of immunotherapeutic strategies. Our results provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the contribution of NFKB2 in CRC immune escape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]