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Plasma phosphorylated-tau 217 (p-tau217) is currently the most promising biomarker for reliable detection of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Various p-tau217 assays have been developed, but their relative performance is unclear. We compared key plasma p-tau217 tests using cross-sectional and longitudinal measures of amyloid-β (Aβ)-PET, tau-PET and cognition as outcomes and benchmarked them against CSF biomarker tests. Samples from 998 individuals [mean (range) age 68.5 (20.0-92.5) years, 53% female] from the Swedish BioFINDER-2 cohort, including both cognitively unimpaired and cognitively impaired individuals, were analysed. Plasma p-tau217 was measured with mass spectrometry assays [the ratio between phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated (%p-tau217WashU) and p-tau217WashU] and with immunoassays (p-tau217Lilly, p-tau217Janssen and p-tau217ALZpath). CSF biomarkers included p-tau217Lilly, the US Food and Drug Administration-approved p-tau181/Aβ42Elecsys, and p-tau181Elecsys. All plasma p-tau217 tests exhibited a high ability to detect abnormal Aβ-PET [area under the curve (AUC) range: 0.91-0.96] and tau-PET (AUC range: 0.94-0.97). Plasma %p-tau217WashU had the highest performance, with significantly higher AUCs than all the immunoassays (Pdiff < 0.007). For detecting Aβ-PET status, %p-tau217WashU had an accuracy of 0.93 (immunoassays: 0.83-0.88), sensitivity of 0.91 (immunoassays: 0.84-0.87) and a specificity of 0.94 (immunoassays: 0.85-0.89). Among immunoassays, p-tau217Lilly and plasma p-tau217ALZpath had higher AUCs than plasma p-tau217Janssen for Aβ-PET status (Pdiff < 0.006), and p-tau217Lilly outperformed plasma p-tau217ALZpath for tau-PET status (Pdiff = 0.025). Plasma %p-tau217WashU exhibited stronger associations with all PET load outcomes compared with immunoassays; baseline Aβ-PET load (R2: 0.72; immunoassays: 0.47-0.58; Pdiff < 0.001), baseline tau-PET load (R2: 0.51; immunoassays: 0.38-0.45; Pdiff < 0.001), longitudinal Aβ-PET load (R2: 0.53; immunoassays: 0.31-0.38; Pdiff < 0.001) and longitudinal tau-PET load (R2: 0.50; immunoassays: 0.35-0.43; Pdiff < 0.014). Among immunoassays, plasma p-tau217Lilly was more associated with Aβ-PET load than plasma p-tau217Janssen (Pdiff < 0.020) and with tau-PET load than both plasma p-tau217Janssen and plasma p-tau217ALZpath (all Pdiff < 0.010). Plasma %p-tau217 also correlated more strongly with baseline cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination) than all immunoassays (R2: %p-tau217WashU: 0.33; immunoassays: 0.27-0.30; Pdiff < 0.024). The main results were replicated in an external cohort from Washington University in St Louis (n = 219). Finally, p-tau217NULISA showed similar performance to other immunoassays in subsets of both cohorts. In summary, both mass spectrometry- and immunoassay-based p-tau217 tests generally perform well in identifying Aβ-PET, tau-PET and cognitive abnormalities, but %p-tau217WashU performed significantly better than all the examined immunoassays. Plasma %p-tau217 may be considered as a stand-alone confirmatory test for Alzheimer's disease pathology, whereas some immunoassays might be better suited as triage tests where positive results are confirmed with a second test, which needs to be determined by future reviews incorporating results from multiple cohorts., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.)

Purpose: We investigated the impact of operator parameters on the diagnostic performance of anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in anterior uveitis., Design: Prospective comparative diagnostic analysis., Methods: Setting: Single site., Study Population: Children younger than 18 years with anterior uveitis, recruited consecutively., Observation Procedures: Index testing: Optovue RTVue80 AS-OCT using "low-volume" (LV, horizontal and vertical cross-sections) and "high-volume" (HV, 68 horizontal cross-sections) protocols. Reference testing: slitlamp examination with anterior chamber inflammation graded using standardization of uveitis nomenclature (SUN)., Main Outcome Measure: Index test performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios), utility for "ruling-in" and "ruling-out" disease (positive/negative predictive values, PPV/NPV), receiver operating characteristic curves to explore the impact of different imaging-derived metrics, multivariable multilevel regression analyses to quantify correlation of index to reference testing, and repeatability indices across protocols., Results: A total of 40 children (77 eyes: 51 eyes at SUN grade 0, 10 at SUN 0.5+, 8 at SUN 1+, and 8 SUN ≥2+ or higher) were included. There was high repeatability across protocols (0.98, P < .001, 95% CI: 0.75-1.0). OCT resulted in strong predictive values for "ruling-out" (LV-scan NPV 82.9%, 95% CI: 71.5%-90.4%; HV-scan NPV 100%, 95% CI: 3%-100%) but a less predictive value for "ruling-in" SUN ≥0.5+ (LV-scan PPV 52.8%, 95% CI: 41.5%-63.7%; HV-scan PPV 34.2%, 95% CI: 33.3%-35.1%). Detection of more than 1 cell within a cross-sectional scan was strongly suggestive of clinical activity, with an area under the curve of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.62-0.89) for SUN ≥0.5+ and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.73-0.98) for the detection of SUN ≥1+. Cell count correlated with SUN grades at higher levels of inflammation (SUN ≥2+ both protocols, SUN ≥1+ HV-scans). There was an independent positive association between age and AS-OCT cell (adjusted correlation coefficient 0.2 cells for each additional year of age)., Conclusions: Operator-dependent factors impact the diagnostic and quantification performance of AS-OCT for anterior chamber inflammation. However, the strong, "dose-respondent" correlation of LV protocols with SUN grading promises clinical utility without the storage and analysis burden of HV approaches. Further work will involve exploration of the need for age-specific image metric interpretation., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hypothesis: Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM)-based microgels have garnered significant interest as effective soft particulate stabilizers because of their deformability and functionality. However, the inherent hydrophilic nature of microgel restricts their potential use in stabilizing water-in-oil (W/O) Pickering emulsions. Employing diverse polar additives can improve the hydrophobicity of microgels, thus unlocking new possibilities in inverse Pickering emulsion formation and materials fabrication., Experiments: Different types of microgels were generated using free-radical precipitation polymerization with tailored physiochemical properties. The effect of various polar additives on the wettability, adsorption kinetics, and interfacial coverage of microgels was systematically investigated. Additive-swollen microgels were utilized to stabilize inverse W/O Pickering emulsions, which served as templates to develop functional materials with stimuli responsiveness and hierarchical structures., Findings: Additive-swollen PNIPAM-based microgels exhibited enhanced hydrophobicity and superior emulsifying capability, which spontaneously assembled and jammed at oil-water interfaces, resulting in a significant interfacial energy decrease. The additive-swollen microgels formed a tightly packed, elastic, and responsive microgel monolayer. The feasibility of the strategy was verified by preparing various inverse W/O Pickering emulsions and high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs). More importantly, this straightforward formation strategy of microgel-stabilized inverse W/O Pickering emulsions offered a novel platform to create functional materials with customized inner structures from microscale (e.g., responsive core-shell hydrogel microspheres and colloidosomes) to macroscale (e.g., hierarchical porous materials) that can be used for potential applications, such as recyclable contaminant removal and droplet manipulation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To evaluate factors associated with sleep related injury (SRI) and persistent SRI (pSRI) in patients with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD)., Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. A total of 388 patients with iRBD were involved for a comprehensive review of sleep related injuries. SRI is defined as a lifetime history of injurious behaviors to self and/or bed partner, and pSRI is considered if injurious symptoms continued to occur frequently (≥1/month). Correlations of SRI/pSRI with clinical, lifestyle and polysomnographic characteristics were analyzed., Results: Lifetime SRI was reported in 322 (83 %) patients (66.3 ± 8.5 years old, male 77.0 %), with 19.3 % having severe injuries, including fractures (2.5 %) and subdural hemorrhage (1.2 %), while 7.5 % required medical attendance. SRI was related to more severe depressive features (P adj  = 0.017), current alcohol drinking (P adj  = 0.014) and higher mentalis phasic and tonic EMG activity (P adj  = 0.042 and 0.048). After a mean follow-up of 5.1 years, 18.2 % of SRI patients (38/209) had pSRI despite intense treatment. Frequent nightmare at baseline (OR [95 % CI] = 1.43 [1.01, 2.03]), restless leg syndrome (OR [95 % CI] = 5.68 [1.42, 22.64]) and adult-onset sleepwalking (OR [95 % CI] = 2.52 [1.10, 5.76]) were associated with an increased risk of pSRI., Conclusions: SRI is common in patients with iRBD and 18 % had pSRI despite intensive treatment, emphasizing the importance of bedside safety. The identification of risk factors for SRI and pSRI underscores the need for systematic clinical screening and targeted interventions for at-risk patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Dr Joey W.Y. Chan received a personal fee from Eisai for joining an expert panel. Prof. Y.K. Wing received personal fees from Eisai for delivering a lecture, and sponsorship from Lundbeck HK Ltd and Aculys Pharma, Japan. The other coauthors report no disclosures. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the performances of photon-counting detector computed tomography (PCD-CT) and energy-integrating detector computed tomography (EID-CT) for visualizing nodules and airways in human cadaveric lungs., Materials and Methods: Previously obtained 20 cadaveric lungs were scanned, and images were prospectively acquired by EID-CT and PCD-CT at a radiation dose with a noise level equivalent to the diagnostic reference level. PCD-CT was scanned with ultra-high-resolution mode. The EID-CT images were reconstructed with a 512 matrix, 0.6-mm thickness, and a 350-mm field of view (FOV). The PCD-CT images were reconstructed at 3 settings: PCD-512: same as EID-CT; PCD-1024-FOV350: 1024 matrix, 0.2-mm thickness, 350-mm FOV; and PCD-1024-FOV50: 1024 matrix, 0.2-mm thickness, 50-mm FOV. Two specimens per lung were examined after hematoxylin and eosin staining. The CT images were evaluated for nodules on a 5-point scale and for airways on a 4-point scale to compare the histology. The Wilcoxon signed rank test with Bonferroni correction was performed for statistical analyses., Results: Sixty-seven nodules (1321 μm; interquartile range [IQR], 758-3105 μm) and 92 airways (851 μm; IQR, 514-1337 μm) were evaluated. For nodules and airways, scores decreased in order of PCD-1024-FOV50, PCD-1024-FOV350, PCD-512, and EID-CT. Significant differences were observed between series other than PCD-1024-FOV350 versus PCD-1024-FOV50 for nodules (PCD-1024-FOV350 vs PCD-1024-FOV50, P = 0.063; others P < 0.001) and between series other than EID-CT versus PCD-512 for airways (EID-CT vs PCD-512, P = 0.549; others P < 0.005). On PCD-1024-FOV50, the median size of barely detectable nodules was 604 μm (IQR, 469-756 μm) and that of barely detectable airways was 601 μm (IQR, 489-929 μm). On EID-CT, that of barely detectable nodules was 837 μm (IQR, 678-914 μm) and that of barely detectable airways was 1210 μm (IQR, 674-1435 μm)., Conclusions: PCD-CT visualized small nodules and airways better than EID-CT and improved with high spatial resolution and potentially can detect submillimeter nodules and airways., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared. The study was supported by a grant from the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research–KAKENHI (JP21K07672)., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lithium nitrate (LiNO 3 ) stands as an effective electrolyte additive, mitigating the degradation of Li metal anodes by forming a Li 3 N-rich solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). However, its conversion kinetics are impeded by energy-consuming eight-electron transfer reactions. Herein, an isoreticular metal-organic framework-8-derived carbon is incorporated into the carbon cloth (RMCC) as a catalytic current collector to regulate the LiNO 3 conversion kinetics and boost Li 3 N generation inside the SEI. Our findings reveal that reducing LiNO to Li 3 N during LiNO 3 transformation occurs more favorably on the RMCC than on conventional substrates. The robust electrostatic attraction between LiNO and vacancy defects in the RMCC renders the chemical bonds of intermediate LiNO susceptible to cracking. Consequently, the RMCC-derived SEI exhibits effective Li dendrite restriction; the symmetric Li and LiFePO 4 full cells with prelithiated RMCC anodes demonstrate improved cycling stability without short-circuiting, outperforming their counterparts.

Objective: Our objective was to develop and assess the psychometric properties of relevant bolt-on items for the EQ-5D-5L in patients with rare diseases (RDs)., Methods: Nineteen new EQ-5D-5L bolt-ons were developed based on literature review, expert input and qualitative interviews and focus groups with patients, caregivers and representatives of patient associations. A nationwide, cross-sectional, web-based survey in China included patients or caregivers of patients with 31 RDs in China (n=9,190). In each RDs, participants completed the EQ-5D-5L and three out of 20 [one existing and 19 newly-developed] bolt-ons. Ceiling, explanatory power, convergent, divergent and known-group validity were examined., Results: Among the bolt-ons, itching had the lowest ceiling (6.5%), while social relationships had the highest (42.2%). The absolute reduction in the ceiling of the EQ-5D-5L with the addition of any bolt-ons was limited, ranging from 0 (respiratory problems) to 8.3%-points (isolation). Dignity and vitality resulted in the largest increase in explained variance in EQ VAS. The isolation, fertility and visual acuity bolt-ons showed good divergent validity from the EQ-5D-5L items. There was strong convergent validity between SF-12 and conceptually-related bolt-ons (e.g., physical health composite and muscle problems bolt-on). Various bolt-ons improved the known-groups validity in specific patient groups, e.g., Huntington's disease (oral expressions), scleroderma (dexterity), myasthenia gravis (muscle problems), neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis (fatigue), Marfan syndrome (self-image) and Pompe disease (safety)., Conclusion: The EQ-5D-5L shows sufficient validity in most RDs, but incorporating relevant specific bolt-ons could enhance its ability to more comprehensively assess health-related quality of life in these patients., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Metal migration strategy can offer BH functionalization of o-carboranes at different positions from where initial bond activation occurs to achieve bifunctionalized o-carboranes in one reaction. We report in this article an enantioselective 3,4-bifunctionalization of o-carboranes via asymmetric Pd migration with a high efficiency and up to 98 % ee. This asymmetric catalysis has a broad substrates scope, leading to the preparation of a class of chiral-at-cage o-carborane derivatives. The enantiocontrol model is suggested on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) results, where the chiral Trost ligand plays a crucial role in this enantioselective Pd migration from exo-alkenyl sp 2 C to the cage B(4) position of o-carborane., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: There is a pressing need for global surveillance of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli due to its health impacts, travel and increased antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize evidence investigating the global prevalence of ESBL E. coli ., Methods: Four databases, including Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed and Web of Science, were searched for quantitative studies that reported prevalence data of faecal carriage of ESBL-producing E. coli published between 23 April 2021 and 22 April 2024. Meta-analysis was performed using the inverse variance heterogeneity model., Results: Of the 25 studies (13 901 unique participants) included for final analysis, the overall pooled prevalence of ESBL E. coli was 25.4% (95% CI, 19.7%-31.2%). The pooled prevalences of ESBL E. coli in healthy individuals in community settings and inpatients in healthcare settings were 23.4% (95% CI, 14.7%-32.2%) and 27.7% (95% CI, 18.8%-36.7%), respectively. Nearly one-third of the included studies (32%) were from the Western Pacific Region. There was a significant between-group difference for studies with different WHO regions and healthcare contact., Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of ESBL E. coli remains high and there was a significant between-group difference for different WHO regions, with the highest being in Asian regions. Standardized surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship especially in these regions are needed to enhance the control of this global emergency., (© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.)

An efficient Pd-catalyzed regioselective intramolecular aerobic oxidative dehydrocoupling of BH/CH between o -carborane and arenes has been achieved with the construction of a series of five-, six- and seven-membered rings under mild reaction conditions. Control experiments indicate that B-H activation proceeds preferentially over the aryl C-H. These new polyarene-carborane conjugates have potential applications in materials as demonstrated by pyrene fused o -carborane that exhibits unique dual-phase emission, intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

As education increasingly relies on data-driven methodologies, accurately predicting student performance is essential for implementing timely and effective interventions. The California Student Performance Dataset offers a distinctive basis for analyzing complex elements that affect educational results, such as student demographics, academic behaviours, and emotional health. This study presents the GNN-Transformer-InceptionNet (GNN-TINet) model to overcome the constraints of prior models that fail to effectively capture intricate interactions in multi-label contexts, where students may display numerous performance categories concurrently. The GNN-TINet utilizes InceptionNet, transformer architectures, and graph neural networks (GNN) to improve precision in multi-label student performance forecasting. Advanced preprocessing approaches, such as Contextual Frequency Encoding (CFI) and Contextual Adaptive Imputation (CAI), were used on a dataset of 97,000 occurrences. The model achieved exceptional outcomes, exceeding current standards with a Predictive Consistency Score (PCS) of 0.92 and an accuracy of 98.5%. Exploratory data analysis revealed significant relationships between GPA, homework completion, and parental involvement, emphasizing the complex nature of academic achievement. The results illustrate the GNN-TINet's potential to identify at-risk pupils, providing a robust resource for educators and policymakers to improve learning outcomes. This study enhances educational data mining by enabling focused interventions that promote educational equality, tackling significant challenges in the domain., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2025 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgels are soft and deformable colloids, which can swell and shrink in response to external stimuli such as temperature or pH, making them suitable for various industries. Herein, poly(styrene-co-N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels with varying softness were synthesized through the doping of different proportions of styrene into their network structure. Rheological tests revealed that the deformability, surface charge, and wettability of microgels were precisely regulated through adjustments to styrene doping levels. As the molar ratio of styrene increased, the range of the linear viscoelastic region regarding stain did not exhibit a consistent change. The microgel suspensions exhibited a pronounced viscous-like behavior, as indicated by their frequency dependence. Additionally, the concentration or volume fraction of microgels significantly influenced the phase distribution in the phase diagram. At lower concentrations, the microgel suspensions typically underwent a colloidal gel-to-liquid-to-glass transition, with the liquid-like regime expanding as the styrene doping level increased. At higher microgel concentrations, the volume phase transition shifted to a direct colloidal gel-to-glass transition, particularly at high styrene levels. This study also revealed a strong correlation between the power-law viscoelastic exponents and the loss tangent during the entire phase transition, offering valuable insights for structure and rheological properties of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgels., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) affects people's activities of daily living, including sitting down and standing up. Movement pattern analyses during five-repetition sit-to-stand (5RSTS) may allow CLBP status differentiation. 44 CLBP and 22 asymptomatic participants performed 5RSTS in this study, with their trunk and lower limb movements recorded using 3-dimensional motion capture system. Joint active range of motion, joint maximal velocity, joint and segment continuous relative phase (CRP) were analyzed. Mean absolute relative phase (MARP) and deviation phase (DP) variables were calculated in CRP analysis. Between-group kinematic variables were compared using One-way Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA). Significant variables from different methods were compared using binomial logistic regression to assess accuracy for CLBP status. Results showed that segmental CRP is the most sensitive method for CLBP assessment, with the CLBP group femur-to-pelvis and lumbar-to-pelvis movement coordination was more in-phase MARP (F(8,56) = 7.127, p < 0.001, Wilks'Λ = 0.441, ηp 2  = 0.559) and stable DP (F(8,56) = 4.585, p < 0.001, Wilks'Λ = 0.551, ηp 2  = 0.449) during both standing up and sitting down. Utilizing CRP variables yielded Nagelkerke R 2  = 0.708 and overall correct classification of 93 % for CLBP status. Individuals with CLBP exhibited distinct movement coordination and stability, which should be considered in CLBP assessments and intervention. Variable combination from the segment analysis was found to be the most predictive to CLBP status, and significantly different to the results obtained from joint analysis, highlighting the necessity for CRP method standardization in future studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The objective of this prospective cohort study on the incidence of metabolic diseases and risk factors in Shunde (Speed-Shunde cohort) was to evaluate the incidence of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome and metabolic-associated multimorbidity, such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, China. Additionally, the study sought to identify the potential determinants that may impact the development of these conditions and the potential consequences that may result., Methods and Results: In the Speed-Shunde cohort, data were gathered via questionnaires, physical measurements, and laboratory analyses encompassing demographic data, behavioural tendencies, anthropometric assessments, controlled attenuation parameters, and liver stiffness measurement utilizing vibration-controlled transient elastography, as well as serum and urine detection (such as oral 75 g glucose tolerance tests, haemoglobin A1c levels, lipid profiles, liver and renal function tests, urinary microalbumin, and creatinine levels). The baseline data were gathered from October 2021 to September 2022 from over 10 000 Chinese community-based adults and the follow-up surveys would be conducted every 2 or 3 years. Blood and urine samples were obtained and stored for future omics data acquisition. Initial analyses revealed the prevalence and risk factors associated with metabolic-associated multimorbidity., Conclusions: The Speed-Shunde cohort study is a longitudinal community-based cohort with comprehensive CKM health and metabolic-associated multimorbidity assessment. It will provide valuable insights into these conditions' development, progression, and interrelationships, potentially informing future prevention and treatment strategies., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Purpose: To examine the relationship between dyadic coping and dyadic adjustment in patients with cervical cancer and their spouses in northwest China, and explore the mediating role of psychological resilience in this relationship., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to October 2024 in two tertiary hospitals in Xinjiang Province, China; 260 patients with cervical cancer and their spouses were enrolled. Participants independently completed demographic and clinical questionnaires as well as Chinese versions of the Resilience Scale, Dyadic Coping Inventory, and Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was employed to analyze dyadic data., Results: Patients with cervical cancer and their spouses both exhibited actor effects (β = 0.197, P < 0.001; β = 0.342, P < 0.001) and partner effects (β = 0.276, P < 0.001; β = 0.264, P < 0.001) in the association between dyadic coping and dyadic adjustment. Regarding the mediating role of psychological resilience, spouses' dyadic coping directly affected patients' psychological resilience, and patients' psychological resilience indirectly influenced their own dyadic adjustment (β = 0.061, 95% CI = 0.019, 0.121; β = 0.074, 95% CI = 0.019, 0.144)., Conclusions: Our findings suggested that psychological resilience plays an essential role in enhancing dyadic coping and cultivating dyadic adjustment among patients with cervical cancer and their spouses. Healthcare professionals should identify couples who have difficulty coping and adapting, and consider couple-centered dyadic resilience interventions to improve these behaviors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Word recognition is a fundamental reading skill that relies on various linguistic and cognitive abilities. While executive functions (EF) have gained attention for their importance in developing literacy skills, their interaction with domain-specific skills in facilitating reading among different learner groups remains understudied. This study examines the relationship between EF, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, and Chinese word recognition in 204 Chinese as a second language (CSL) students and 419 native Chinese primary students. Our findings reveal that EF indirectly influences word recognition through orthographic awareness, but not through morphological awareness. The result of group comparison indicates that direct and indirect effects of EF on word recognition are evident in both native and CSL groups. Nevertheless, EF plays a more prominent role in CSL learners. These results contribute to our understanding of cognitive skills in reading and offer significant implications for instructional practices., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: This manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. None of the authors have financial or other conflicts of interest with this study., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Limited large-scale, real-world data exist on the prevalence and clinical impact of discordance between fractional flow reserve (FFR) and nonhyperemic pressure ratios (NHPRs)., Methods: The J-PRIDE registry (Clinical Outcomes of Japanese Patients With Coronary Artery Disease Assessed by Resting Indices and Fractional Flow Reserve: A Prospective Multicenter Registry) prospectively enrolled 4304 lesions in 3200 patients from 20 Japanese centers. The lesions were classified into FFR+/NHPR-, FFR-/NHPR+, FFR+/NHPR+, or FFR-/NHPR groups according to cutoff values of 0.89 for NHPRs and 0.80 for FFR. The primary study end point was the cumulative 1-year incidence of target vessel failure (a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target vessel revascularization) on a lesion basis., Results: An NHPR cutoff value of 0.89, determined using online software, predicted an FFR of 0.80 across various NHPR types. Discordance between FFR and NHPRs was observed in 20% of lesions (FFR+/NHPR-, 11.2%; FFR-/NHPRs+, 8.8%). Revascularization was deferred in 42.9% and 88.4% of the FFR+/NHPR- and FFR-/NHPR+ groups, respectively. In deferred vessels, the FFR+/NHPR- and FFR-/NHPR+ groups showed a higher 1-year incidence of target vessel failure compared with the FFR-/NHPR- group (7.9% versus 5.5% versus 1.7%; for FFR+/NHPR-, adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 4.89 [95% CI, 2.68-8.91]; P <0.001; for FFR-/NHPR+, aHR, 2.64 [95% CI, 1.49-4.69]; P <0.001). In revascularized vessels, the 1-year target vessel failure rate was numerically higher in the FFR-/NHPR+ group than in the FFR+/NHPR+ group (9.6% versus 3.4%; aHR, 2.27 [95% CI, 0.70-7.34]; P =0.17), although with similar outcomes between the FFR+/NHPR- and FFR+/NHPR+ groups (2.3% versus 3.4%; aHR, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.37-2.38]; P =0.93). The FFR+/NHPR- group benefited from revascularization compared with medical treatment (aHR, 0.26 [95% CI, 0.08-0.86]; P =0.027); the FFR-/NHPR+ group did not (aHR, 2.39 [95% CI, 0.62-9.21]; P =0.20)., Conclusions: Discordance between FFR and NHPRs was noted in 20% of lesions, and discordant deferred lesions resulted in worse outcomes than concordant negative lesions. Although the outcomes after deferring revascularization were comparable between the FFR+/NHPR- and FFR-/NHPR+ lesions, only FFR+/NHPR- lesions showed a benefit from revascularization compared with medical treatment, suggesting that an FFR-guided strategy is superior to an NHPR-guided strategy in discordant lesions., Registration: URL: https://www.umin.ac.jp; Unique identifier: UMIN000038403.

In this work, a multicomponent polymerization (MCP) approach involving bipyrroles, sulfonyl azides, and diynes was developed to afford a library of poly(bipyrrole-sulfonylimide)s (PPSIs) in high yields and molecular weights, which were further modified to form unique sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) generators. Bipyrroles served as carbon-based nucleophiles to undergo Cu-catalyzed C-C coupling during the MCP. Upon post-MCP modification by transforming the bipyrrole unit to boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) and the sulfonylimide moiety to sulfonamide, poly(BODIPY-sulfonamide)s (PBSAs) were obtained as potent anticancer therapeutic agents. This study disclosed the decomposition and SO 2 -releasing ability of PBSAs under ultrasound (US) irradiation. Furthermore, one of these polymers having a reactive oxygen species-cleavable thioketal linker was modified with triethylene glycol chains to give PBSA-EG, which was further studied for in vitro and in vivo US-induced anti-cancer therapy. Upon tail veil administration of PBSA-EG nanoparticles into tumor-bearing mice followed by US irradiation, remarkable tumor suppression was observed. This study demonstrates that the innovative and efficient MCP method can construct polymers bearing the BODIPY-sulfonamide moieties, which show a great potential as safe and potent materials for combined gas and sonodynamic therapy against cancer., (© 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Severe malaria is associated with impaired nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS)-dependent vasodilation, and reversal of this deficit improves survival in murine models. Malaria might have selected for genetic polymorphisms that increase endothelial NO signaling and now contribute to heterogeneity in vascular function among humans. One protein potentially selected for is alpha globin, which, in mouse models, interacts with endothelial NOS (eNOS) to negatively regulate NO signaling. We sought to evaluate the impact of alpha globin gene deletions on NO signaling and unexpectedly found human arteries use not only alpha but also beta globin to regulate eNOS., Methods: The eNOS-hemoglobin complex was characterized by multiphoton imaging, gene expression analysis, and coimmunoprecipitation studies of human resistance arteries. Novel contacts between eNOS and hemoglobin were mapped using molecular modeling and simulation. Pharmacological or genetic disruption of the eNOS-hemoglobin complex was evaluated using pressure myography. The association between alpha globin gene deletion and blood pressure was assessed in a population study., Results: Alpha and beta globin transcripts were detected in the endothelial layer of the artery wall. Imaging colocalized alpha and beta globin proteins with eNOS at myoendothelial junctions. Immunoprecipitation demonstrated that alpha globin and beta globin form a complex with eNOS and cytochrome b5 reductase. Modeling predicted negatively charged glutamic acids at positions 6 and 7 of beta globin to interact with positively charged arginines at positions 97 and 98 of eNOS. Arteries from donors with a glutamic acid-to-valine substitution at beta globin position 6 (sickle trait) exhibited increased NOS-dependent vasodilation. Alpha globin gene deletions were associated with decreased arterial alpha globin expression, increased NOS-dependent vasodilation, and lower blood pressure. Mimetic peptides that targeted the interactions between hemoglobin and eNOS recapitulated the effects of these genetic variants on human arterial vasoreactivity., Conclusions: Alpha and beta globin subunits of hemoglobin interact with eNOS to restrict NO signaling in human resistance arteries. Malaria-protective genetic variants that alter the expression of alpha globin or the structure of beta globin are associated with increased NOS-dependent vasodilation. Targeting the hemoglobin-eNOS interface could potentially improve NO signaling in diseases of endothelial dysfunction such as severe malaria or chronic cardiovascular conditions., Competing Interests: H.C.A., S.B., and P.C. are co-inventors on a patent held by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for structures and uses of beta globin mimetic peptides (PCT/US2023/065432). The other authors report no conflicts.

Arctic permafrost is undergoing rapid changes due to climate warming in high latitudes. Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are one of the most abrupt and impactful thermal-denudation events that change Arctic landscapes and accelerate carbon feedbacks. Their spatial distribution remains poorly characterised due to time-intensive conventional mapping methods. While numerous RTS studies have published standalone digitisation datasets, the lack of a centralised, unified database has limited their utilisation, affecting the scale of RTS studies and the generalisation ability of deep learning models. To address this, we established the Arctic Retrogressive Thaw Slumps (ARTS) dataset containing 23,529 RTS-present and 20,434 RTS-absent digitisations from 20 standalone datasets. We also proposed a Data Curation Framework as a working standard for RTS digitisations. This dataset is designed to be comprehensive, accessible, contributable, and adaptable for various RTS-related studies. This dataset and its accompanying curation framework establish a foundation for enhanced collaboration in RTS research, facilitating standardised data sharing and comprehensive analyses across the Arctic permafrost research community., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Heart failure (HF) is strongly associated with inflammation. In pressure overload (PO)-induced HF, cardiac stress triggers adaptive immunity, ablation or inhibition of which blocks disease progression. We hypothesized that PO-HF might fulfill the often-used criteria of autoimmunity: if so, the associated adaptive immune response would be not only necessary but also sufficient to induce HF; it should also be possible to identify self-antigens driving the autoimmune response. Finally, we hypothesized that such an antigen-specific response can be manipulated to preventively reduce the severity of PO-HF in a tolerizing vaccine., Methods: We used the transfer of lymphocytes or serum from PO-HF mice into healthy recipients to assess whether the adaptive response is sufficient to induce disease. We devised a novel pipeline to identify self-antigens driving the response. We immunized healthy mice with novel antigens to assess whether they induce disease. To determine whether these antigens could be present in human patients, we sought to detect existing responses against these antigens in patients with HF. Finally, we used the antigens in an oral tolerance protocol to preventively protect mice from subsequently induced PO-HF, analyzing the results with next-generation sequencing., Results: We found that PO-HF fulfills the criteria of an autoimmune disease, albeit partially, and identified novel cardiac self-antigens, capable of inducing cardiac dysfunction. The novel antigens in a tolerizing vaccine formulation preemptively reduced the severity of disease triggered by subsequent application of PO, via induction of effector regulatory T cells, enabling a potent reduction of PO-driven loss of systolic function, cardiac inflammation, and proinflammatory CD4 + T-cell clonal expansion., Conclusions: We demonstrate that PO-HF is triggered by hemodynamic stress and then sets off an autoimmune-like response against cardiac self-antigens. The antigens can be used to reduce the severity of future-onset disease, via oral tolerization, effectively acting as a protective vaccine., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to disclose. E. Martini, G. Condorelli, and M. Kallikourdis are listed as inventors in pending patent applications stemming from the contents of this work.

Background: Brachial plexu root avulsion (BPRA) commonly causes extensive motoneuron death, motor axon degeneration and denervation of biceps, leading to devastating motor dysfunction in the upper limb. Edaravone (Eda) has been proven to exert anti-oxidative and neuroprotective effects on various neurological disorders. Herein, we aimed to investigate the efficacy profile and potential mechanisms of Eda on BPRA in vitro and in vivo models., Methods: Rats following BPRA and reimplantation surgery were intraperitoneally injected with Eda once daily. The motor function recovery of the affected forelimb was assessed by Terzis grooming test. Histological staining and transmission electron microscopy were performed to evaluate the morphological appearance of the spinal cord, musculocutaneous nerve, and biceps. Further in-depth studies to explore the underlying mechanisms of Eda were conducted using Western blotting, biochemical assays, and immunofluorescence in H 2 O 2 -induced NSC-34 cells., Results: Eda significantly accelerated motor function recovery, enhanced motoneuron survival, prevented motor axon descent, preserved myelin sheath integrity and attenuated muscle atrophy. Additionally, Eda treatment markedly suppressed oxidative stress-related indicators, downregulated apoptosis-related proteins, mitigated glial reactivity, and activated SIRT1 and TFEB. Notably, the neuroprotective effect of Eda was diminished by the SIRT1 inhibitor EX527 in H 2 O 2 -treated NSC-34 cells, suggesting that Eda regulated oxidative stress and apoptosis through SIRT1/TFEB-induced autophagy flux., Conclusions: Eda enhanced motoneuron survival and axonal regeneration that promotes motor functional restoration by inhibiting oxidative stress and apoptosis via the SIRT1/TFEB-autophagy pathway. Thus, it may serve as a promising strategy in reimplantation surgery for the treatment of BPRA., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a progressive, fatal disease. Vutrisiran, a subcutaneously administered RNA interference therapeutic agent, inhibits the production of hepatic transthyretin., Methods: In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with ATTR-CM in a 1:1 ratio to receive vutrisiran (25 mg) or placebo every 12 weeks for up to 36 months. The primary end point was a composite of death from any cause and recurrent cardiovascular events. Secondary end points included death from any cause, the change from baseline in the distance covered on the 6-minute walk test, and the change from baseline in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-Overall Summary (KCCQ-OS) score. The efficacy end points were assessed in the overall population and in the monotherapy population (the patients who were not receiving tafamidis at baseline) and were tested hierarchically., Results: A total of 655 patients underwent randomization; 326 were assigned to receive vutrisiran and 329 to receive placebo. Vutrisiran treatment led to a lower risk of death from any cause and recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo (hazard ratio in the overall population, 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56 to 0.93; P = 0.01; hazard ratio in the monotherapy population, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.49 to 0.93; P = 0.02) and a lower risk of death from any cause through 42 months (hazard ratio in the overall population, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.90; P = 0.01). Among the patients in the overall population, 125 in the vutrisiran group and 159 in the placebo group had at least one primary end-point event. In the overall population, treatment with vutrisiran resulted in less of a decline in the distance covered on the 6-minute walk test than placebo (least-squares mean difference, 26.5 m; 95% CI, 13.4 to 39.6; P<0.001) and less of a decline in the KCCQ-OS score (least-squares mean difference, 5.8 points; 95% CI, 2.4 to 9.2; P<0.001). Similar benefits were observed in the monotherapy population. The incidence of adverse events was similar in the two groups (99% in the vutrisiran group and 98% in the placebo group); serious adverse events occurred in 62% of the patients in the vutrisiran group and in 67% of those in the placebo group., Conclusions: Among patients with ATTR-CM, treatment with vutrisiran led to a lower risk of death from any cause and cardiovascular events than placebo and preserved functional capacity and quality of life. (Funded by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; HELIOS-B ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04153149.)., (Copyright © 2024 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

CITE-seq provides a powerful method for simultaneously measuring RNA and protein expression at the single-cell level. The integrated analysis of RNA and protein expression in identical cells is crucial for revealing cellular heterogeneity. However, the high experimental costs associated with CITE-seq limit its widespread application. In this paper, we propose scTEL, a deep learning framework based on Transformer encoder layers, to establish a mapping from sequenced RNA expression to unobserved protein expression in the same cells. This computation-based approach significantly reduces the experimental costs of protein expression sequencing. We are now able to predict protein expression using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, which is well-established and available at a lower cost. Moreover, our scTEL model offers a unified framework for integrating multiple CITE-seq datasets, addressing the challenge posed by the partial overlap of protein panels across different datasets. Empirical validation on public CITE-seq datasets demonstrates scTEL significantly outperforms existing methods., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells (TSCs) are promising candidates for commercialization due to their outstanding power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). However, controlling the crystallization process and alleviating the phases/composition inhomogeneity represent a considerable challenge for perovskite layers grown on rough silicon substrates, ultimately limiting the efficiency and stability of TSC. Here, this study reports a "halide locking" strategy that simultaneously modulates the nucleation and crystal growth process of wide bandgap perovskites by introducing a multifunctional ammonium salt, thioacetylacetamide hydrochloride (TAACl), to bind with all types of cations and anions in the mixed halide perovskite precursor. The approach not only enables excellent compositional uniformity in the wet-film stage but also induces preferred orientation along the (001) plane following nucleation, leading to enhanced homogeneity of the perovskite film in both vertical and horizontal directions over long-length scales. The resulting wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells yield exceptional open-circuit voltage-fill factor products (V OC × FF) of 1.074 and 1.040 in small- (0.0414 cm 2 ) and large-area (1.0208 cm 2 ) devices, respectively. Corresponding large-area tandem solar cells based on the Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) silicon subcells achieve a record PCE of 31.32% with a remarkable V OC of 1.931 V and FF of 81.54%., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a deadly form of leukemia with ineffective traditional treatment and frequent chemoresistance-associated relapse. Personalized drug screening holds promise in identifying optimal regimen, nevertheless, primary AML cells undergo spontaneous apoptosis during cultures, invalidating the drug screening results. Here, we reconstitute a 3D osteogenic niche (3DON) mimicking that in bone marrow to support primary AML cell survival and phenotype maintenance in cultures. Specifically, 3DON derived from osteogenically differentiated mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from healthy and AML donors are co-cultured with primary AML cells. The AML cells under the AML&#95;3DON niche showed enhanced viability, reduced apoptosis and maintained CD33 + CD34 - phenotype, associating with elevated secretion of anti-apoptotic cytokines in the AML&#95;3DON niche. Moreover, AML cells under the AML&#95;3DON niche exhibited low sensitivity to two FDA-approved chemotherapeutic drugs, further suggesting the physiological resemblance of the AML&#95;3DON niche. Most interestingly, AML cells co-cultured with the healthy&#95;3DON niche are highly sensitive to the same sample drugs. This study demonstrates the differential responses of AML cells towards leukemic and healthy bone marrow niches, suggesting the impact of native cancer cell niche in drug screening, and the potential of re-engineering healthy bone marrow niche in AML patients as chemotherapeutic adjuvants overcoming chemoresistance, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:The authors (Barbara Pui Chan, Hoi Lam Cheung, Anskar Yu Hung Leung and Jessica Evangeline Tan Kabigting) hold a patent associated with the current work., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based cancer vaccines is critically determined by the functionalities of in vitro maturated DCs. The maturation of DCs typically relies on chemicals that are cytotoxic or hinder the ability of DCs to efficiently activate the antigen-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) against tumors. Herein, the maturation chemicals are replaced with extracellular silica nanomatrices, fabricated by glancing angle deposition, to promote in vitro maturation of murine bone marrow-derived DCs (mBMDCs). The extracellular nanomatrices composed of silica nanozigzags (NZs) enable the generation of mature mBMDCs with upregulated levels of co-stimulatory molecules, C-C chemokine receptor type-7, X-C motif chemokine recetpor-1, DC-specific ICAM-3 grabbing nonintegrin, and enhanced endocytic capacity. The in vitro maturation is partially governed by focal adhesion kinase (FAK) that is mechanically activated in the curved cell adhesions formed at the DC-NZ interfaces. The NZ-maturated mBMDCs can prime the antigen-specific CTLs into programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) low CD44 high memory phenotypes in vitro and suppress the growth of tumors in vivo. Meanwhile, the NZ-mediated beneficial effects are also observed in human monocyte-derived DCs. This work demonstrates that the silica NZs promote the anti-tumor capacity of in vitro maturated DCs via the mechanoactivation of FAK, supporting the potential of silica NZs being a promising biomaterial for cancer immunotherapy., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Introduction and Hypothesis: The objective was to assess the sonographic tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O) position and the outcome in Asian Chinese women., Methods: A prospective cohort study of 254 patients who underwent TVT-O surgery between 2013 and 2022. The sonographic position of the TVT-O was recorded and correlated with the outcomes, including the subjective cure rates, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire 7 (IIQ-7), and retention of urine., Results: A total of 92.9% reported no stress urinary incontinence after the operation. The IIQ-7 score significantly improved after TVT-O surgery. 88.2% of patients had the TVT-O placed at 50-70% of the urethral length and half of the TVT-O were placed 3-5 mm from the urethra. The cure rate was higher when the tape was in the middle third of the urethra, but the tape position was not associated with postoperative retention of urine in our study., Conclusions: Most TVT-Os can be placed in the target zone in a blind procedure in Asian Chinese women. The tape position was related to the outcomes. Early postoperative ultrasound of the tape position may predict the outcome of the surgery., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical/Institutional Review Board Approval: This study protocol was approved by the ethical committee of the Kowloon Central Cluster/Kowloon East Cluster in Hong Kong and written consent was obtained from all patients. The ethics board approval number is KC/KE-13–0164/ER-1. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2024. The International Urogynecological Association.)

In recent advancements in life sciences, optical microscopy has played a crucial role in acquiring high-quality three-dimensional structural and functional information. However, the quality of 3D images is often compromised due to the intense scattering effect in biological tissues, compounded by several issues such as limited spatiotemporal resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio, inadequate depth of penetration, and high phototoxicity. Although various optical sectioning techniques have been developed to address these challenges, each method adheres to distinct imaging principles for specific applications. As a result, the effective selection of suitable optical sectioning techniques across diverse imaging scenarios has become crucial yet challenging. This paper comprehensively overviews existing optical sectioning techniques and selection guidance under different imaging scenarios. Specifically, we categorize the microscope design based on the spatial relationship between the illumination and detection axis, i.e., on-axis and off-axis. This classification provides a unique perspective to compare the implementation and performances of various optical sectioning approaches. Lastly, we integrate selected optical sectioning methods on a custom-built off-axis imaging system and present a unique perspective for the future development of optical sectioning techniques., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: Q.L., J.Y., R.J., and H.G. have been licensed co-inventors of LiMo and DSIM’s patents. All authors declare that they have no other competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

The infiltration and cytotoxicity of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are crucial for effective elimination of solid tumors. While metallo-immunotherapy is a promising strategy that can activate the antitumor immunity, its role in promoting CAR-T cell therapy remains elusive. The first single-element nanomaterial based on chromium nanoparticles (Cr NPs) for cancer photo-metallo-immunotherapy has been reported previously. Herein, an extended study using biodegradable polydopamine as a versatile carrier for these nanoparticles, enabling synergistic CAR-T cell therapy, is reported. The results show that these nanocomposites with or without further encapsulation of the anticancer drug alpelisib can promote the CAR-T cell migration and antitumor effect. Upon irradiation with near-infrared light, they caused mild hyperthermia that can "warm" the "cold" tumor microenvironment (TME). The administration of B7-H3 CAR-T cells to NOD severe combined immunodeficiency gamma mice bearing a human hepatoma or PIK3CA-mutated breast tumor can significantly inhibit the tumor growth after the induction of tumor hyperthermia by the nanocomposites and promote the secretion of serum cytokines, including IL-2, IFN-γ, and TNF-α. The trivalent Cr 3+ ions, which are the major degradation product of these nanocomposites, can increase the CXCL13 and CCL3 chemokine expressions to generate tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) in the tumor tissues, facilitating the CAR-T cell infiltration., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Recurrent events are common in medical practice or epidemiologic studies when each subject experiences a particular event repeatedly over time. In some long-term observations of recurrent events, a terminal event such as death may exist in recurrent event data. Meanwhile, some inspected subjects will withdraw from a study for some time for various reasons and then resume, which may happen more than once. The period between the subject leaving and returning to the study is called an intermittent gap. One naive method typically ignores gaps and treats the events as usual recurrent events, which could result in misleading estimation results. In this article, we consider a semiparametric proportional rates model for recurrent event data with intermittent gaps and a terminal event. An estimation procedure is developed for the model parameters, and the asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators are established. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed estimators perform satisfactorily compared to the naive method that ignores gaps. A diabetes study further shows the utility of the proposed method., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no potential conflict of interest., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: This systematic review examines how extreme temperatures impact chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) morbidity and mortality, focusing on identifying vulnerable subpopulations., Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search from January 1, 2000, to November 6, 2024, across databases like PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus, focusing on observational studies that quantitatively defined extreme temperatures and their impacts on COPD morbidity and mortality. Out of 3140 records, 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. We extracted data on study characteristics, effect estimates, and confounders, employing methods to assess the risk of bias and synthesize results., Results: We observed that extreme heat increased the relative risk (RR) for COPD morbimortality by 1.16-fold (95 % CI: 1.08-1.26; p < 0.05), and extreme cold increased the RR by 1.32-fold (95 % CI: 1.20-1.46;). Extreme heat was associated with a 1.19-fold (95 % CI: 1.09-1.30; p < 0.05) increase in COPD mortality. In contrast, extreme cold was associated with both COPD morbidity and mortality, with morbidity increasing by 1.47-fold (95 % CI: 1.26-1.71; p < 0.05) and mortality by 1.23-fold (95 % CI: 1.10-1.38; p < 0.05). Extreme heat poses a higher risk for female COPD patients compared to males. Moreover, extreme heat and cold were associated with morbimortality risk among older adults. Asian populations were sensitive to both temperature extremes, whereas Europeans were predominantly susceptible to extreme cold., Conclusion: This variability in response to extreme temperatures affects COPD morbidity and mortality, emphasizing the need for tailored medical and emergency responses to effectively mitigate health risks during extreme weather events., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although the presence of amyloid deposits is associated with a more severe cognitive status in patients with stroke at baseline, its influence on the subsequent cognitive outcome has not been extensively assessed. The primary objective of the present study of the IDEA3 (Imagerie des dépôts amyloïdes cérébraux par florbetapir AV-45 et diagnostic des déficits cognitifs et démence post Accident Vasculaire Cérébral) cohort was to determine the influence of amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) status on the 5-year cognitive outcome., Methods: This longitudinal study performed in Amiens University Hospital (inclusions: October 2014 to October 2019; last visits: October 2018 to February 2023) has included 91 patients with stroke (ischemic stroke, 89%; hemorrhagic stroke, 11%) with florbetapir PET data at baseline (positive, n=14). Patients underwent annually comprehensive clinical and cognitive assessments for 5 years after the PET scan. The primary outcome was incident dementia; secondary outcomes were incident cognitive impairment, total prevalence of cognitive impairment, and modified Rankin Scale score., Results: A survival analysis (mean poststroke follow-up, 80.4±27 months) showed that the incidence of incident dementia was higher in the PET-positive patients (odds ratio, 9.6 [95% CI, 2.5-36.9]; P =0.001), as was the incidence of incident cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 10 [95% CI, 1.9-52.3]; P =0.003). A Cox regression analysis showed that the association between amyloid status and the incidences of dementia ( P =0.001) and cognitive impairment ( P =0.007) was still significant after adjustment for age, education, prestroke modified Rankin Scale score and cognitive impairment, stroke type, and the PET status×stroke type interaction. Considering the overall prevalence at the last follow-up in the whole study population (n=91 patients), PET positivity was associated with an elevated risk of dementia (odds ratio, 6 [95% CI, 1.76-20.5]; P =0.002) and poststroke cognitive impairment (odds ratio, 6.25 [95% CI, 1.77-22]; P =0.002). The final modified Rankin Scale score did not differ ( P =0.3) according to PET status., Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the major impact of amyloid deposition on the stroke outcome and emphasized the need for comprehensive etiologic workup in patients with poststroke cognitive impairment., Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02813434., Competing Interests: Dr Wollenweber received institutional study fees (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [DFG], grant number 426336050, sponsored patients’ fees from the Find-AF2 study) and institutional (Alexion Pharm) and personal (Boehringer, Portola, Bayer, and Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb) speaker fees. The other authors report no conflicts.

Z boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of Z boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins. In this analysis, a machine learning method called omnifold is used to produce a simultaneous measurement of twenty-four Z+jets observables using 139  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV collected with the ATLAS detector. Unlike any previous fiducial differential cross-section measurement, this result is presented unbinned as a dataset of particle-level events, allowing for flexible reuse in a variety of contexts and for new observables to be constructed from the twenty-four measured observables.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant of widespread concern, and modern Hg levels have been much elevated compared to pre-industrial levels. The majority of environmental Hg assessment has occurred in the developed world within the temperate region, but recent years we have witnessed increases in research activities in polar, subtropical, and tropical biomes. East Asia is currently the biggest emitter of anthropogenic Hg, while intense research is ongoing in China, Korea, and Japan, relatively little has been done in the neighboring regions. Southeast (SE) Asia is a geographic region mostly within tropical biomes and neighboring two large global Hg emitters (i.e., China and India), and contains vast marine resources that would be prone to Hg contamination. The region consists of 10 countries of different economic and development status, and has a population near 700 million, a rapid industrialization and commercialization occurring in the region, including Hg-emitting activities such as coal burning and artisanal gold mining. Here, we identified 31 published studies since 1980s reporting marine Hg pollution in SE Asia, but the majority of the studies did not measure the neurotoxic form of Hg, methylmercury, while the majority of studies in SE Asia were concentrated in a few countries, namely Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Recommendations are provided to propel the Hg biogeochemical cycling studies in this rapidly developing region on the planet., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides (MXenes) have emerged as a promising class of 2D materials that can be used for various applications. Recently, a new form of high-entropy MXenes has been reported, which contains an increased number of elemental species that can increase the configurational entropy and reduce the Gibbs free energy. The unique structure and composition lead to a range of intriguing and tunable characteristics. Herein, the fabrication of high-entropy MXene TiVNbMoC 3 T x (T = surface terminations) with a layer of polydopamine is reported, followed by immobilization of a phthalocyanine-based fluorophore for imaging and the peptide sequence QRHKPREGGGSC for targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpressed in cancer cells. The resulting nanocomposite exhibits high biocompatibility and superior photothermal property. Upon laser irradiation at 808 nm, the light-to-heat conversion efficiency is up to 56.1%, which is significantly higher than that of conventional 2D materials. In vitro studies show that these nanosheets could be internalized selectively into EGFR-positive cancer cells and effectively eliminate these cells mainly through photothermal-induced apoptosis. Using 4T1 tumor-bearing mice as an animal model, the nanosheets could accumulate at the tumor and effectively eradicate the tumor upon laser irradiation without causing noticeable adverse effects to the mice., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), also known as dimethyl sulfone, is a naturally occurring sulphur-containing compound that can be found in plants, animals and humans. MSM can also be a metabolite of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Due to their anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, both MSM and DMSO are prohibited substances in horseracing. As both substances are naturally occurring, their misuse in horses is controlled by International Residue Limits (IRL) of 1200 and 15 μg/mL, respectively, in horse urine as established by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The elimination of DMSO in horses has been reported; however, there has been no report on the elimination of MSM in horses. This paper describes a pilot study of an administration study of MSM in two geldings following one scoop (~15 g) of Pure MSM twice daily for six consecutive days. MSM in post-administration urine and blood samples was quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after sample dilution, with additional protein precipitation for the blood samples. The elimination profiles of MSM in urine and blood are described. The maximum detection time in urine at the IRL of 1200 μg/mL was around 4.5 days after the last dose. Plasma MSM in both horses was around 120 μg/mL at 4.4 days after the last dose, which was the last blood sample collected. As such, 120 μg/mL may indicate a possible IRL for controlling MSM in horse blood. The analysis of DMSO in post-MSM-administration samples showed that DMSO is not a significant metabolite of MSM in horses., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ceased globally, individuals may still suffer from various psychological burdens in the post-COVID-19 era. The present observational cross-sectional study investigated how fear of COVID-19 can affect mental health through mediators including stress, perceived stigma, and preventive behaviors among young adults in Ghana., Methods: A total of 635 participants aged between 18 and 29 years (mean age = 20.2 years [SD = 2.04]) were recruited to complete measures of COVID-19 fear, stress, perceived stigma, preventive behaviors, and mental health status from June to August 2022., Results: Results from structural equation modeling found that (i) fear of COVID-19 was associated with stress and perceived stigma (standardized coefficients [βs] = 0.518 and 0.148, p -values < 0.001), (ii) stress and perceived stigma were associated with frequency of preventive behaviors (β = 0.173, p  < 0.001 for stress; -0.100, p  < 0.05 for perceived stigma), and (iii) preventive behaviors were associated with mental health status (β = 0.118, p  < 0.01). Stress and preventive behavior ( β  = 0.009, 95%CI: 0.000, 0.003) and perceived stigma and preventive behavior ( β  = -0.007, 95%CI: -0.283, -0.020) were significant mediators in the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health., Discussion: The findings suggest that fear of COVID-19 may affect mental health through multiple pathways. Health professionals should provide comprehensive mental health interventions that address various influences regarding fear of COVID-19. Further research that examines the relationships between COVID-19-related variables and various health conditions is needed in the post-COVID-19 era to help develop different preventive and therapy measures., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p&#95;{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p&#95;{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s&#95;{NN}]=5.02 and 5.44 TeV, respectively, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. All observables show distinct features in ultracentral collisions, which are explained by a suppression of the geometrical component as the overlap area reaches its maximum. These results demonstrate a new technique to separate geometrical and intrinsic fluctuations, providing constraints on initial conditions and properties of the quark-gluon plasma, such as the speed of sound.

Background: At the beginning of the 2018-2020 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), no vaccine had been licensed. However, cluster-randomized evidence from Guinea in 2015 had indicated that ring vaccination around new cases (targeting contacts and contacts-of-contacts) with the use of single-dose live-replicating rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine reduced EVD rates starting 10 days after vaccination. Thus, ring vaccination was added to the standard control measures for that outbreak., Methods: In this study, we evaluated the incidence of EVD within the first 9 days after vaccination (when little protection was expected from case isolation or ring vaccination), during days 10 to 29, and at later time periods. We established 1853 rings around new cases or clusters within 21 days after symptom onset in the index case and offered vaccination to the ring members. Vaccinees were monitored for EVD onset until the end of the outbreak in mid-2020., Results: From August 8, 2018, to January 14, 2020, we vaccinated 265,183 participants. Of these vaccinees, 102,515 were monitored on days 0, 3, and 21 for safety. Among the contacts and contacts-of-contacts, 434 cases of EVD (0.2 per ring) were diagnosed, almost all within 0 to 9 days (380 cases) or 10 to 29 days (32 cases) after vaccination. An additional 22 cases were diagnosed after day 29 during an average of 170 more days of follow-up. The sooner that control measures (including ring vaccination) began after EVD onset in the index case, the sooner EVD rates fell among contacts. In each subgroup, EVD rates fell suddenly around day 10. Among the contacts and contacts-of-contacts who were still disease-free at day 10, the EVD onset rate during days 10 to 29 was 0.16 per 1000 (in 32 of 194,019 participants). This rate was much lower than the rate of 4.64 per 1000 (in 21 of 4528 participants) that had been seen among similarly defined ring members in Guinea, in whom standard control measures had been promptly initiated but vaccination was delayed until 21 days after ring formation (rate ratio, 0.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.02 to 0.06). No safety concerns with the vaccine were identified., Conclusions: Nonrandomized evidence regarding standard EVD control measures plus ring vaccination in eastern DRC reinforces the earlier randomized evidence from Guinea of vaccine efficacy against EVD onset 10 or more days after vaccination., (Copyright © 2024 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

In the telecommunications industry, predicting customer churn is essential for retaining clients and sustaining profitability. Traditional CRM systems often fall short due to their static models, limiting responsiveness to evolving customer behaviors. To address these gaps, we developed the SmartSurveil CRM model, an ensemble-based system combining random forest, gradient boosting, and support vector machine to enhance churn prediction accuracy and adaptability. Using a comprehensive telecom dataset, our model achieved high performance metrics, including an accuracy of 0.89 and ROC-AUC of 0.91, surpassing baseline approaches. Integrated into a decision support system (DSS), SmartSurveil provides actionable insights to improve customer retention, enabling telecom companies to tailor strategies dynamically. Additionally, this model addresses ethical concerns, including data privacy and algorithmic transparency, ensuring a robust and responsible CRM approach. The SmartSurveil CRM model represents a substantial advancement in predictive accuracy and practical applicability within CRM systems., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Shi et al.)

Background: High adherence to behavioral interventions among parents of autistic children contribute to improvement in children's behaviors and parental outcomes. However, most of previous studies focused on the effects of intervention adherence on health-related well-being among parents, which is inadequate to capture the multi-dimensional parental burden of caring for autistic children. The aim of this study is to assess the association between parents' adherence to behavioral intervention and their capability well-being., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among caregivers of autistic children aged 1-17 years with a confirmed diagnosis in China. A total of 213 parents of autistic children who were currently receiving behavioral intervention were considered in this study. Parental adherence to behavioral intervention was evaluated by the 5-item General Adherence subscale of the Medical Outcome Study. Capability well-being was assessed using the Investigating Choice Experiments Capability Measures for Adults (ICECAP-A), including the domains of stability, attachment, autonomy, achievement, and enjoyment. The index scores for each domain were computed based on the preference-based value set in the United Kingdom, ranging from 0 to 1. Multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between intervention adherence and parental well-being. Intervention adherence as well as the variables with p < 0.1 in the univariate analyses were included in multivariate linear regression analyses., Results: The mean overall score of ICECAP-A was 0.681 (0.205). In the univariate analyses, intervention adherence was positively associated with stability, autonomy, achievement, and enjoyment (p < 0.05), while the relationship between intervention adherence and attachment was not significant (p = 0.07). After controlling for the confounders in the multivariate linear regression analyses, intervention adherence was positively associated with achievement (β = 0.0004) and enjoyment (β = 0.0004)., Conclusions: The overall capability well-being among parents of autistic children was worse than that of the general population and caregivers of adult patients with chronic diseases. Adherence to behavioral interventions was positively associated with parental well-being in terms of achievement and enjoyment. Health professionals should involve parents in behavioral interventions and encourage them to implement therapeutic strategies on a routine basis. Customized interventions are warranted to improve capability well-being targeting at vulnerable groups., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study is part of a broader investigation into the development of an early diagnosis assessment tool among autistic children in China. It has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (PJ-202210B). Informed consent was obtained from all the participants involved in this study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Frequency and intensity of wildfires are expected to increase due to climate change, especially in areas with a long summer drought. Forests are a major sink for the global pollutant mercury (Hg), and fluvial transport of Hg from recently burned watersheds has not been widely investigated. Here, we examined two years of fluvial transport of Hg and its speciation (total Hg, methyl-Hg, particulate, and dissolved forms) under storm events and baseflow in two recently burned watersheds with different burned proportions and one nonburned reference watershed in the Coastal Ranges of northern California. We examined postfire storm-event transport of Hg and its methylated form (methyl-Hg), addressed the importance of the "initial runoff pulse" to postfire Hg fluvial transport and its predominant association with suspended solids, and elucidated potential sources of Hg exports from the burned landscapes using geochemical indicators, which suggested that ash materials were likely the significant sources of particulates in the first high-flow season postfire but not subsequently. The maximum total suspended solid and total Hg levels in the "first pulse" at the severely burned watershed were 442 and 46 times higher, respectively, than those at the reference watershed. Stream suspended solid and Hg levels declined substantially in the burned watersheds after just a few months of rainfall likely due to the rapid regrowth of vegetation commonly observed in postfire landscapes, implying that the wildfire effects on immediate Hg inputs from the burned landscape are at most transient in nature.

Exposure to airborne bacteria poses significant risks to human health, highlighting the need for on-site sampling and detection to facilitate control and early warning. Commercial dissolvable gelatin filters are efficient samplers but can only dissolve in warm water. This study developed nanofiber gelatin filters that can rapidly dissolve in room-temperature water, facilitating on-site sampling and detecting of airborne bacteria when combined with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) analysis. To enhance the dissolvability of gelatin filters, the electrospinning technique was employed to fabricate the nanofiber filters with a high surface area but low mass. The physical and biological sampling efficiencies of the developed filters were then measured using NaCl particles and airborne bacteria, respectively. The feasibility of on-site detection of airborne bacteria was demonstrated through laboratory and field tests. The results indicate that the developed filters dissolved rapidly in room-temperature water within 2 s. The physical sampling efficiency was 98.96 %, and the biological sampling efficiency was 90 % higher than that of the standard Andersen impactor. Both laboratory and field experiments demonstrated that the proposed method could achieve on-site detection of airborne bacteria within 12 min. This study simplifies the steps and reduces the time needed for on-site sampling and detection of airborne bacteria., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Ferroptosis plays an important role in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, its specific regulatory mechanisms remain unclear., Methods: MPC5 cells were cultured in high glucose (HG) medium to stimulate the HG environment in vitro. Ferroptosis and oxidative stress were assessed by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, cystine uptake capacity, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). C91A and wild type (WT) MPC5 cells were constructed to further explore the specific regulatory mechanism of BAP1 on SLC7A11., Results: Erastin-induced ferroptosis was sensitized by HG, leading to a significant reduction in glutathione (GSH) levels, increased oxidative stress, and inhibited cystine uptake in podocytes. HG suppressed the expression of SLC7A11. Overexpression of SLC7A11 improved cystine uptake and reduced oxidative stress. Furthermore, HG increased BAP1 levels. Silencing BAP1 up-regulated SLC7A11 and mitigated ferroptosis. Cell proliferation was reduced after SLC7A11 knockdown. In BAP1 WT cells, but not in its C91A mutant cells, the transcription of SLC7A11 was downregulated and the level of ferroptosis was increased., Conclusion: HG inhibits cystine uptake in podocytes by promoting the expression of BAP1 and inhibiting H2Aub deubiquitination on SLC7A11, leading to lipid peroxide accumulation and ferroptosis in podocytes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no relevant financial interests., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background : Standard test methods for evaluating the antibacterial performance of plastic (non-porous) and textile (porous) materials are accurate and reliable, but completing a standard assessment generally requires at least several days to a week. Well-trained and experienced technicians are also required to conduct the standard tests consistently and analyse the samples and test results systemically. These costs are often not favourable for the performance assurance of antimicrobial products in industrial production, nor for meeting the fast-return demands in research and development of antimicrobial materials nowadays. Methods : In this study, "Rapid Tests" are developed to evaluate the antibacterial activities of plastic and textile materials. Results : The assessment results from Rapid Tests for plastics and textiles are highly correlated to those from the ISO 22196 and the AATCC Test Method 100, respectively, whereas the evaluation operation can be completed within one day. Based on bioluminescence technology, colony-forming units of E. coli from the inoculated specimens are determined via luminometry. Antibacterial efficacy of the treated plastic and textile samples can be examined effectively. Conclusions : By analysing antimicrobial artificial leather samples composed of hydrophilic polyurethane polymer using Rapid Tests for plastics and textiles, the applicability and scope of these tests were remarkedly recognised and verified.

Context: Heart failure (HF) is considered a multifaceted and life-threatening syndrome characterized by high symptom-burden and significant mortality., Objectives: To describe the symptom-burden in patients with HF and identify their palliative care needs. In this respect, symptom burden related to sex, age and classification of HF using New York Heart Association Functional Classification (NYHA) were analyzed., Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey included adult HF patients according to NYHA II, III, and IV. Palliative care needs were assessed using validated patient reported outcomes measures; SF-36v1, HeartQoL, EORTC- QLQ-C15-PAL, MFI-20 and HADS. Patients were recruited from the Department of Cardiology, North Zealand Hospital, Denmark., Results: In total, 314 patients (79%) completed the questionnaire (233 men). Mean age = 74 years (range 35-94 years). In all, 42% had NYHA III or IV and 53% self-rated their health to be fair or poor. In all, 19% NYHA II and 67% NYHA III/IV patients had ≥4 severe palliative symptoms according to EORTC-QLQ-C15-PAL. In addition, NYHA III/IV had a mean of 8.9 symptoms and a mean of 5.4 severe symptoms. Women, older patients, and those with NYHA III/IV had worse outcomes regarding health-related quality of life, functional capacity, and symptom burden., Conclusions: Patients with HF have a high prevalence of symptoms and, thus, potential palliative care needs. Predominantly, women, older patients, and those with higher severity of disease have the highest symptom burden. PROMs can help cardiologists address the palliative care needs and systematic assessment may be a prerequisite to integrate symptom-modifying and palliative care interventions., (Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Improving aircraft environmental control systems could reduce the risk of airborne infectious disease transmission in aircraft cabins. The high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters used in the existing systems exhibit high pressure drop, which results in high consumption of energy and fuel. Nanofiber air filters fabricated by electrospinning can reduce pressure drop, but their performance in aircraft cabins is unknown. Therefore, this study experimentally investigated the interpersonal particle transport in an aircraft cabin mockup with nanofiber air filters. First, a full-scale, fully occupied, 7-row, single-aisle aircraft cabin mockup was constructed. Nanofiber filtration units were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. Under the well-sealed laboratory testing conditions, both the small-scale nanofiber and HEPA filter media exhibited a particle removal efficiency of around 99 %. The performance of nanofiber and HEPA filtration units installed in the environmental control system of the mockup was then measured. Finally, the interpersonal particle transport in the cabin was measured. The results show that the particle removal efficiency of the nanofiber filtration units installed in the environmental control system ranged from 64 to 72 % when the particle size was 0.3-0.4 μm, which primarily reflected the large air leakages associated with the filter installation. At the filter media level, the pressure drop across the nanofiber units in the mockup was 61-67 % lower than that across the HEPA units under the same airflow rate, which however may not necessarily translate into lower pressure drop for actual filters in aircraft due to the potentially different design in terms of media face area. The average normalized particle concentration in the breathing zones of fellow passengers in the cabin mockup with the nanofiber filtration units was by 0.23, 0.29, and 0.32, respectively, when the index passenger was seated at the window, middle, and aisle., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)