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Background: To investigate whether an additional gastrojejunostomy reduces the incidence of delayed gastric emptying (DGE) following a distal segmental duodenectomy for duodenal and proximal jejunal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)., Materials and Methods: This retrospective review of the GIST database at Peking University Cancer Hospital included 50 patients who underwent distal segmental duodenectomies for primary GIST in the duodenum or proximal jejunum within 20 cm of Treitz's ligament between January 2008 and December 2023. The patients were divided into two groups: non-bypass (without gastrojejunostomy) and bypass (with gastrojejunostomy and Braun's jejunojejunostomy). Perioperative characteristics and postoperative complications were analyzed., Results: Among the 50 patients, 27 underwent duodenojejunostomies without gastrojejunostomies and 23 with gastrojejunostomies and Braun's jejunojejunostomies. The incidence of grade B-C DGE was significantly lower in the bypass group (43.5% vs. 74.1%, p = 0.028). In addition, non-bypass surgery was an independent risk factor for increased grade B-C DGE (OR 3.67, 95% CI 1.07-12.64, p = 0.039). The bypass group showed a trend towards a shorter postoperative hospital stay (median: 14 days, range: 10-56) compared to the non-bypass group (median: 28 days, range: 6-75), but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.070). Operative time (min) was significantly longer in the multi-visceral resection group (381.0 ± 108.8 vs. 227.3 ± 87.6, p < 0.001), for tumors ≥ 6.3 cm compared to < 6.3 cm (337.0 ± 116.4 vs. 228.3 ± 99.8, p = 0.002), and in patients with positive preoperative symptoms versus asymptomatic patients (319.9 ± 118.0 vs. 210.2 ± 90.3, p = 0.031)., Conclusion: The addition of gastrojejunostomy and Braun's jejunojejunostomy in distal segmental duodenectomy can reduce the incidence of grade B-C DGE, potentially facilitating timely adjuvant imatinib therapy. Future multicenter studies are needed to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study received approval from the institutional ethics committee and adhered to the principles outlined in the 1964 Helsinki Declaration, along with its subsequent amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent was obtained from each participating patient, ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines. The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. We have obtained consent from all authors and they have agreed to publish the results of this study. Consent for publication The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In recent years, adhesive thermal interface materials have attracted much attention because of their reliable adhesion properties on most substrates, preventing moisture, vibration impact, or chemical corrosion damage to components and equipment, as well as solving the heat dissipation problem. However, thermal interface materials have a huge contradiction between strong adhesion and high thermal conductivity. Here, we report a polymer-based thermal interface material consisting of polydimethylsiloxane/spherical aluminum fillers, which possesses both adhesion properties (adhesion strength of 3.59 MPa and adhesion toughness of 1673 J m -2 and enhanced thermal conductivity of 3.90 W m -1 K -1 ). These excellent properties are attributed to the modified chain structure by introducing acrylate accelerators into the polydimethylsiloxane network, thereby striking a balance between interfacial toughness and intrinsic dissipation. The addition of thermally conductive aluminum fillers not only increases the thermal conductivity but also improves the bulk energy dissipation of the thermal interface material. This work provides a novel strategy for designing a novel thermal interface material, leading to new ideas in long-term applications in high-power electronics.

Film-thermoelectric cooling devices are expected to provide a promising active thermal management solution with the continues increase of the power density of integrated circuit chips and other electronic devices. However, because the microstructure-related performance of thermoelectric films has not been perfectly matched with the device configuration, the potential of planar devices on chip heat dissipation has still not been fully exploited. Here, by liquid Te assistant growth method, highly (00 l) orientated Bi 2 Te 3 -based films which is comparable to single crystals are obtained in polycrystal films in this work. The high mobility stem from high orientation and low lattice thermal conductivity resulting from excess Te induced staggered stacking faults leads to high in-plane zT values ~1.53 and ~1.10 for P-type Bi 0.4 Sb 1.6 Te 3 and N-type Bi 2 Te 3 films, respectively. The planar devices basing on the geometrically designed high orientation films produce a remarkable temperature reduction of ~8.2 K in the hot spot elimination experiment, demonstrating the great benefit of Te assistant growth method for oriented planar Bi 2 Te 3 films and planar devices devices design, and also bring great enlightenment to the next generation active thermal management for integrated circuits., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In recent years, the clinical adverse drug reactions (ADR) reports of Senna obtusifolia have been constantly emerging, especially hepatotoxicity. However, it is unclear whether the liver is the only or main toxic target organ. In this study, we conducted a repeated administration experiment with the Senna obtusifolia Aqueous Extract (SE) and PCA analysis was used to determine the primary toxic target organs. The results revealed that the liver was the main toxic target organ and we also verifid the hepatotoxicity in vitro. The mechanism of hepatotoxicity was predicted by network toxicology technology, which was verified by ELISA, qPCR, western blotting and other methods.The results showed that SE could increase the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, the mRNA expression levels of ACT1, TRAF6, NF-κB P65 and the protein expression levels of TRAF6, NF-κB P65, P-P65 in rat livers and HepG2 cells, which indicated that SE induced hepatotoxicity might be related to inflammatory response., 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 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

3'-Untranslated regions (3'UTRs) are recognized for their role in regulating mRNA turnover while the turnover of a specific group of mRNAs mediated by coding sequences (CDS) remains poorly understood. N4BP1 is a critical inflammatory regulator in vivo with a molecular mechanism that is not yet clearly defined. Our study reveals that N4BP1 efficiently degrades its mRNA targets via CDS rather than the 3'-UTR. This CDS-dependent mRNA turnover mechanism appears to be a general feature of N4BP1, as evidenced by testing multiple mRNA substrates, such as Fos-C, Fos-B, Jun-B and CXCL1. Detailed mapping of the motif identified a crucial 33nt (289-322) sequence near the 5'-end of Fos-C-CDS, where the presence of polyC is necessary for N4BP1-mediated degradation. Functional studies involving domain deletion and point mutations showed that both the KH and NYN domains are essential for N4BP1 to restrict mRNA substrates. The function of N4BP1 in mRNA turnover is not dependent on nonsense-mediated decay as it efficiently restricts mRNA substrates even in cells deficient in UPF1, UPF3A, and UPF3B. Additionally, the function of N4BP1 is not reliant on LUC7L3 despite its known association with this protein. Our findings suggest that N4BP1 acts as an endoribonuclease to degrade mRNA substrates primarily through coding sequences containing a C-rich motif., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Realizing spin transport between heavy metal and two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials at high Curie temperature (T C ) is crucial to advanced spintronic information storage technology. Here, environmentally stable 2D nonlayered Fe 3 O 4 nanosheets are successfully synthesized using a reproducible process and found that they exhibit vortex magnetic domains at room temperature. A Verwey phase transition temperature (T V ) of ≈110 K is identified for ≈3 nm thick nanosheet through Raman characterization and spin Hall device measurement of the Pt/Fe 3 O 4 bilayer. The anisotropic magnetoresistance ratio decreases near T V , while both the spin Hall magnetoresistance ratio and spin mixing conductance (G r ) increase at T V . As the temperature approaches 112 K, the anomalous Hall effect ratio tends to become zero. The maximum G r reaches ≈5 × 10 15 Ω -1 m -2 due to the clean and flat interface between Pt and 2D nanosheet. The observed spin transport behavior in Pt/Fe 3 O 4 spin Hall devices indicates that 2D Fe 3 O 4 nanosheets possess potential for high-power micro spintronic storage devices applications., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

A novel coronavirus discovered in late 2019 (COVID-19) quickly spread into a global epidemic and, thankfully, was brought under control by 2022. Because of the virus's unknown mutations and the vaccine's waning potency, forecasting is still essential for resurgence prevention and medical resource management. Computational efficiency and long-term accuracy are two bottlenecks for national-level forecasting. This study develops a novel multivariate time series forecasting model, the densely connected highly flexible dendritic neuron model (DFDNM) to predict daily and weekly positive COVID-19 cases. DFDNM's high flexibility mechanism improves its capacity to deal with nonlinear challenges. The dense introduction of shortcut connections alleviates the vanishing and exploding gradient problems, encourages feature reuse, and improves feature extraction. To deal with the rapidly growing parameters, an improved variation of the adaptive moment estimation (AdamW) algorithm is employed as the learning algorithm for the DFDNM because of its strong optimization ability. The experimental results and statistical analysis conducted across three Japanese prefectures confirm the efficacy and feasibility of the DFDNM while outperforming various state-of-the-art machine learning models. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed DFDNM is the first to restructure the dendritic neuron model's neural architecture, demonstrating promising use in multivariate time series prediction. Because of its optimal performance, the DFDNM may serve as an important reference for national and regional government decision-makers aiming to optimize pandemic prevention and medical resource management. We also verify that DFDMN is efficiently applicable not only to COVID-19 transmission prediction, but also to more general multivariate prediction tasks. It leads us to believe that it might be applied as a promising prediction model in other fields., 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 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Skin flap transplantation is the most commonly used method to repair tissue defect and cover the wound. In clinic, finite element method is often used to design the pre-operation scheme of flap suture. However, the material parameters of skin flap are uncertain due to experimental errors and differences in body parts. How to consider the influence of material parameter uncertainty on the mechanical response of flap suture in the finite element modeling is an urgent problem to be solved at present. Therefore, the influence of material parameter uncertainty propagation in skin flap suture simulation was studied, Firstly, the geometric model of clinical patient's hand wound was constructed by using reverse modeling technology, the patient's three-dimensional wound was unfolded into a flat surface by using curved surface expansion method, yielding a preliminary design contour for the patient's transplant flap. Based on the acquired patient wound geometry model, the finite element model of flap suture with different fiber orientations and different sizes was constructed in Abaqus, and the uncertainty propagation analysis method based on Monte Carlo simulation combined with surrogate model technology was further used to analyze the stress response of flap suture considering the uncertainty of material parameters. Results showed that the overall stress value was relatively lower when the average fiber orientation was 45°. which could be used as the optimal direction for the flap excision. when the preliminary design contour of the flap was scaled down within 90%, the stress value after flap suturing remained within a safe range.

Background: The landscape of prostate cancer (PCa) segmentation within multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MP-MRI) was fragmented, with a noticeable lack of consensus on incorporating background details, culminating in inconsistent segmentation outputs. Given the complex and heterogeneous nature of PCa, conventional imaging segmentation algorithms frequently fell short, prompting the need for specialized research and refinement., Purpose: This study sought to dissect and compare various segmentation methods, emphasizing the role of background information and gland masks in achieving superior PCa segmentation. The goal was to systematically refine segmentation networks to ascertain the most efficacious approach., Methods: A cohort of 232 patients (ages 61-73 years old, prostate-specific antigen: 3.4-45.6 ng/mL), who had undergone MP-MRI followed by prostate biopsies, was analyzed. An advanced segmentation model, namely Attention-Unet, which combines U-Net with attention gates, was employed for training and validation. The model was further enhanced through a multiscale module and a composite loss function, culminating in the development of Matt-Unet. Performance metrics included Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and accuracy (ACC)., Results: The Matt-Unet model, which integrated background information and gland masks, outperformed the baseline U-Net model using raw images, yielding significant gains (DSC: 0.7215 vs. 0.6592; ACC: 0.8899 vs. 0.8601, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: A targeted and practical PCa segmentation method was designed, which could significantly improve PCa segmentation on MP-MRI by combining background information and gland masks. The Matt-Unet model showcased promising capabilities for effectively delineating PCa, enhancing the precision of MP-MRI analysis., (© 2024 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

MgH 2 used in solid-state hydrogen storage still suffers from high thermal stability and slow hydrogen absorption-desorption kinetics. Here, we report a hybrid of MgH 2 -Ti 3 C 2 /graphene prepared through a facile wet chemical method followed by a ball-milling method. It was confirmed that the coupling of Ti 3 C 2 and graphene possesses a synergistic effect on the hydrogen desorption and absorption reactions of MgH 2 /Mg. The initial temperature of MgH 2 -Ti 3 C 2 /graphene to desorb hydrogen was reduced to 169 °C significantly and it could desorb 6.8 wt% H 2 within 6 min at a constant temperature of 300 °C. Moreover, the desorbed sample could start to absorb hydrogen at room temperature and achieve a capacity of 6.0 wt% when the temperature was gradually increased to 350 °C. These results are far superior to pristine MgH 2 , disclosing that the addition of two-dimensional Ti 3 C 2 /graphene is an efficient strategy to boost the hydrogen storage performance of MgH 2 .

Background: The tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is an oral malignant tumor arising from the squamous epithelium of the tongue mucosa, characterized by a high malignant degree, invasive growth, early lymph node metastasis, and poor prognosis. Paclitaxel, represented by docetaxel, is now the standard first-line treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Docetaxel, which belongs to the class of drugs known as paclitaxel, is an antitumor drug that inhibits cell mitosis and proliferation. Its adverse effects include myelosuppression, hair loss, gastrointestinal reactions, fluid retention, and allergic reactions. However, hypokalemia is rare, most cases are mild or moderate, and severe hypokalemia is seldom reported., Case Summary: During chemotherapy with docetaxel and cisplatin, a patient with TSCC developed severe hypokalemia. His potassium level was found to have been reduced to 1.85 mmol/L at the most critical situation. The patient had grade 1 muscle strength in all four limbs and could not perform any action, which was considered to be a sign of severe hypokalemia. Measures taken included intravenous infusion via micro-pump, intravenous injection, and oral potassium supplement, which gradually improved muscle strength and serum potassium levels. The patient survived the critical period of severe hypokalemia after chemotherapy. He was generally in good condition following treatment and discharged in stable condition., Conclusion: Docetaxel may cause severe hypokalemia with hypomagnesemia and the mechanism for this is not yet known to researchers yet. This means that nurses specializing in chemotherapy must exercise a high degree of responsibility, closely observe the patient's reaction to the anticancer medication, notice any symptoms of adverse effects early. It is necessary to be considerate regarding individual differences between patients when selecting chemotherapy regimens and adhere to the principle of individualized treatment. Following multiple cycles of chemotherapy, patients should be aware of the accumulation of toxic side effects and receive blood tests reviewed within 24 hours of completion. It is essential to monitor electrolyte levels in patients suffering from severe gastrointestinal reactions to avoid complications that may result in death., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

The effects of complexing conditions on the formation of amylose-lipid-protein complexes and relationships between structure and digestion of amylose-lipid and amylose-lipid-protein complexes were poorly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of complexing time (0, 0.5, 2, 4 and 6 h) and temperature (60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C) on the structure and in vitro amylolysis of amylose-lauric acid (AM-LA) and amylose-lauric acid-β-lactoglobulin (AM-LA-βLG) complexes, and to understand the relationships between structure and in vitro digestiblity of these complexes. Longer complexing time and higher complexing temperature promoted the formation of greater amounts of the more stable type II crystallites than type I crystallites in both AM-LA and AM-LA-βLG complexes, which in turn decreased the rate and extent of the complexes digestion to a greater extent. Correlation analyses between parameters for structure and digestion kinetics showed that both the quantity of AM-LA and AM-LA-βLG complexes and the quality of their arrangement into V-type crystallites influenced their rate and extent of digestion. This study demonstrates that AM-LA and AM-LA-βLG complexes can be prepared with designed structural and functional properties tailored for various applications., 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.)

The exceptional and substantial electron affinity, as well as the excellent chemical and thermal stability of transition metal oxides (TMOs), infuse infinite vitality into multifunctional applications, especially in the field of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. Nonetheless, the suboptimal structural mechanical properties and absence of structural regulation continue to hinder the advancement of TMOs-based aerogels. Herein, a novel 2D tantalum disulfide (2H-TaS 2 ) reduction strategy is demonstrated to synthesize Ta 2 O 5 /reduced graphene oxide (rGO) heterointerface aerogels with unique characters. As the prerequisite, the defects, interfaces, and configurations of aerogels are regulated by varying the concentration of 2H-TaS 2 to ensure the Ta 2 O 5 /rGO heterointerface aerogels with appealing EMW absorption properties such as a minimum reflection loss (RL min ) of -61.93 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.54 GHz (7.80-16.34 GHz). This strategy provides valuable insights for designing advanced EMW absorbers. Meanwhile, the aerogel exhibits favorable thermal insulation performance with a value of 36 mW m -1 K -1 , outstanding fire resistance capability, and exceptional mechanical energy dissipation performance, making it promising for applications in the aerospace industry and consumer electronics devices., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Soft elastomer composites are promising functional materials for engineer interfaces, where the miniaturized electronic devices have triggered increasing demand for effective heat dissipation, high fracture energy, and antifatigue fracture. However, such a combination of these properties can be rarely met in the same elastomer composites simultaneously. Here a strategy is presented to fabricate a soft, extreme fracture tough (3316 J m -2 ) and antifatigue fracture (1052.56 J m⁻ 2 ) polydimethylsiloxane/aluminum elastomer composite. These outstanding properties are achieved by optimizing the dangling chains and spherical aluminum fillers, resulting in the combined effects of crack pinning and interfacial slippage. The dangling chains that lengthen the polymer chains between cross-linked points pin the cracks and the rigid fillers obstruct the cracks, enhancing the energy per unit area needed for fatigue failure. The dangling chains also promote polymer/filler interfacial slippage, enabling effective deflection and blunting of an advancing crack tip, thus enhancing mechanical energy dissipation. Moreover, the elastomer composite exhibits low thermal resistance (≈0.12 K cm 2 W -1 ), due to the formation of a thermally conductive network. These remarkable characteristics render this elastomer composite promising for application as a thermal interface material in electronic devices., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Backgrounds/aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly desmoplastic tumor with poor prognosis even after curative resection. We investigated the associations between the composition of the ICC stroma and immune cell infiltration and aimed to develop a stromal-immune signature to predict prognosis in surgically treated ICC., Methods: We recruited 359 ICC patients and performed immunohistochemistry to detect α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), CD3, CD4, CD8, Foxp3, CD68, and CD66b. Aniline was used to stain collagen deposition. Survival analyses were performed to detect prognostic values of these markers. Recursive partitioning for a discrete-time survival tree was applied to define a stromal-immune signature with distinct prognostic value. We delineated an integrated stromal-immune signature based on immune cell subpopulations and stromal composition to distinguish subgroups with different recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) time., Results: We defined four major patterns of ICC stroma composition according to the distributions of α-SMA and collagen: dormant (α-SMAlow/collagenhigh), fibrogenic (α-SMAhigh/collagenhigh), inert (α-SMAlow/collagenlow), and fibrolytic (α-SMAhigh/collagenlow). The stroma types were characterized by distinct patterns of infiltration by immune cells. We divided patients into six classes. Class I, characterized by high CD8 expression and dormant stroma, displayed the longest RFS and OS, whereas Class VI, characterized by low CD8 expression and high CD66b expression, displayed the shortest RFS and OS. The integrated stromal-immune signature was consolidated in a validation cohort., Conclusion: We developed and validated a stromal-immune signature to predict prognosis in surgically treated ICC. These findings provide new insights into the stromal-immune response to ICC.

Breast cancer patients may initially benefit from cytotoxic chemotherapy but experience treatment resistance and relapse. Chemoresistant breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) play a pivotal role in cancer recurrence and metastasis, however, identification and eradication of BCSC population in patients are challenging. Here, an mRNA-based BCSC signature is developed using machine learning strategy to evaluate cancer stemness in primary breast cancer patient samples. Using the BCSC signature, a critical role of polyamine anabolism in the regulation of chemotherapy-induced BCSC enrichment, is elucidated. Mechanistically, two key polyamine anabolic enzymes, ODC1 and SRM, are directly activated by transcription factor HIF-1 in response to chemotherapy. Genetic inhibition of HIF-1-controlled polyamine anabolism blocks chemotherapy-induced BCSC enrichment in vitro and in xenograft mice. A novel specific HIF-1 inhibitor britannin is identified through a natural compound library screening, and demonstrate that coadministration of britannin efficiently inhibits chemotherapy-induced HIF-1 transcriptional activity, ODC1 and SRM expression, polyamine levels, and BCSC enrichment in vitro and in xenograft and autochthonous mouse models. The findings demonstrate the key role of polyamine anabolism in BCSC regulation and provide a new strategy for breast cancer treatment., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Genetic variants in COL4A2 are less common than those of COL4A1 and their fetal clinical phenotype has not been well described to date. We present a fetus from China with an intronic variant in COL4A2 associated with a prenatal diagnosis of severe cerebral encephalomalacia and subdural hemorrhage., Methods: Whole exome sequencing (WES) was applied to screen potential genetic causes. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to predict the pathogenicity of the variant. In in vitro experiment, the minigene assays were performed to assess the variant's effect., Results: In this proband, we observed ventriculomegaly, subdural hemorrhage, and extensive encephalomalacia that initially suggested cerebral hypoxic-ischemic and/or hemorrhagic lesions. WES identified a de novo heterozygous variant c.549 + 5G > A in COL4A2 gene. This novel variant leads to the skipping of exon 8, which induces the loss of 24 native amino acids, resulting in a shortened COL4A2 protein (p.Pro161&#95;Gly184del)., Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that c.549 + 5G > A in COL4A2 gene is a disease-causing variant by aberrant splicing. This finding enriches the variant spectrum of COL4A2 gene, which not only improves the understanding of the fetal neurological disorders associated with hypoxic-ischemic and hemorrhagic lesions from a clinical perspective but also provides guidance on genetic diagnosis and counseling., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Different types of electron transfers (ETs) underlie the versatile use of various solid viologen-derived compounds, which is still insufficiently understood and difficult to control. Here, we demonstrate an effective strategy for modulating the key ET process in crystalline metalloviologen compounds (MVCs). By adjusting the coordinated transition metal ions bearing different electronic structures (e.g., d 5 , d 7 , d 10 ), three MVCs (i.e., Mn-1 , Co-2 , and Cd-3 ) with highly consistent coordination environments have been synthesized successfully. Surprisingly, whether the photochromism (energy-induced ET mechanism) or the specific analyte recognition (molecule-induced ET mechanism), compound Cd-3 exhibits obvious photochromic behavior and differential dimethylamine detection. Combined detailed structural analysis with theoretical calculations, such unique ion-dependent properties, were correlated to the fine modulation of the electron density of the bipyridinium cores by metal ions. Additionally, thanks to the delicate recognition of dimethylamine vapor, a convenient test strip Cd-3-PAN was prepared as a sensitive biogenic amine sensor for evaluating the real-time freshness of seafood.

Developing lightweight composite with reversible switching between microwave (MW) absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is promising yet remains highly challenging due to the completely inconsistent attenuation mechanism for electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Here, a lightweight vanadium dioxide/expanded polymer microsphere composites foam (VO 2 /EPM) is designed and fabricated with porous structures and 3D VO 2 interconnection, which possesses reversible switching function between MW absorption and EMI shielding under thermal stimulation. The VO 2 /EPM exhibits MW absorption with a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 3.25 GHz at room temperature (25 °C), while provides EMI shielding of 23.1 dB at moderately high temperature (100 °C). This reversible switching performance relies on the porous structure and tunability of electrical conductivity, complex permittivity, and impedance matching, which are substantially induced by the convertible crystal structure and electronic structure of VO 2 . Finite element simulation is employed to qualitatively investigate the change in interaction between EM waves and VO 2 /EPM before and after the phase transition. Moreover, the application of VO 2 /EPM is demonstrated with a reversible switching function in controlling wireless transmission on/off, showcasing its excellent cycling stability. This kind of smart material with a reversible switching function shows great potential in next-generation electronic devices., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The emerging applications of thermally conductive elastomer composites in modern electronic devices for heat dissipation require them to maintain both high toughness and resilience under thermomechanical stresses. However, such a combination of thermal conductivity and desired mechanical characteristics is extremely challenging to achieve in elastomer composites. Here this long-standing mismatch is resolved via regulating interfacial structure and dynamics response. This regulation is realized both by tuning the molecular weight of the dangling chains in the polymer networks and by silane grafting of the fillers, thereby creating a broad dynamic-gradient interfacial region comprising of entanglements. These entanglements can provide the slipping topological constraint that allows for tension equalization between and along the chains, while also tightening into rigid knots to prevent chain disentanglement upon stretching. Combined with ultrahigh loading of aluminum-fillers (90 wt%), this design provides a low Young's modulus (350.0 kPa), high fracture toughness (831.5 J m -2 ), excellent resilience (79%) and enhanced thermal conductivity (3.20 W m -1 k -1 ). This work presents a generalizable preparation strategy toward engineering soft, tough, and resilient high-filled elastomer composites, suitable for complex environments, such as automotive electronics, and wearable devices., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

As a traditional tonic Chinese medicine, Polygonum multiflorum is widely used in clinical practice. However, with the deepening of modern pharmacological research, its drug toxicity, especially hepatotoxicity, has become increasingly prominent. Based on a large number of clinical and experimental evidence, it has been confirmed that Polygonum multiflorum and its main active ingredients such as anthraquinones and diphenylethylene glucoside can cause different degrees of hepatotoxicity. Further studies have shown that the toxicological mechanisms involved in the hepatotoxicity of different extracts and components of Polygonum multiflorum may include oxidative phosphorylation, bile acid excretion, different metabolic pathways, genetic and metabolic factors, immune homeostasis, etc. By sorting out and summarizing the literature related to hepatotoxicity of Polygonum multiflorum in recent years, this paper discussed the hepatotoxicity mechanism of Polygonum multiflorum and its main components and some contradictions in related reports., 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. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

β-ionone, an apocarotenoid derived from a C40 terpenoid has an intense, woody smell and a low odor threshold that has been widely used in as an ingredient in food and cosmetics. Yarrowia lipolytica is a promising host for β-ionone production because of its oleaginous nature, its ability to produce high levels of acetyl-CoA (an important precursor for terpenoids), and the availability of synthetic biology tools to engineer the organism. In this study, β-carotene-producing Y. lipolytica strain XK17 was employed for β-ionone biosynthesis. First, we explored the effect of different sources of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD) genes on β-ionone production. A high-yielding strain rUinO-D14 with 122 mg/L of β-ionone was obtained by screening promoters combined with rDNA mediated multi-round iterative transformations to optimize the expression of the CCD gene of Osmanthus fragrans. Second, to further develop a high-level production strain for β-ionone, we optimized key genes in the mevalonate pathway by multi-round iterative transformations mediated by non-homologous end joining, combined with a protein tagging strategy. Finally, the introduction of a heterologous oxidoreductase pathway enabled the engineered Y. lipolytica strain to use xylose as a sole carbon source and produce β-ionone. In addition, the potential for use of lignocellulosic hydrolysate as the carbon source for β-ionone production showed that the NHA-A31 strain had a high β-ionone productivity level. This study demonstrates that engineered Y. lipolytica can be used for the efficient, green and sustainable production of β-ionone., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The swift progression of high-density chiplet packaging, propelled by the artificial intelligence revolution, has precipitated a critical need for high-performance chip-scale thermal interface materials (TIMs). The elevated thermal resistance, limited interfacial adhesion, and mechanical flexibility intrinsic to silicone systems present a substantial challenge in meeting reliability standards amidst chip warpage. This particular matter underscores a significant performance bottleneck within existing high-end TIMs. In this study, we present poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) as an innovative matrix for TIMs. Our findings highlight the unique properties of PILs, showcasing a low elastic modulus (60 kPa), exceptional flexibility and stretchability (>3800%), high adhesion to diverse substrates (up to 4.10 MPa), favorable filler compatibility, remarkable thermal stability, and prompt self-healing capabilities coupled with recyclability. The collective findings suggest that the PIL serves as an ideal matrix for heat transfer. As a proof of concept, PIL blended with liquid metal was straightforwardly combined to produce a TIM, exhibiting exceptional performance within practical encapsulated structures. The PIL-based TIM demonstrates substantial elongation at break (>350%), coupled with sustained high adhesion strength (up to 1.70 MPa), and exhibits favorable thermal conductivity in package testing. This study presents an innovative TIM matrix with the potential to enhance existing TIM systems, delivering significant performance benefits compared to silicones. Besides elucidating their multifaceted characteristics, this study forecasts an expanded range of applications for PILs, along with laying the groundwork for advancing next-generation TIMs.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Bupleuri Radix (BR) has been recognized as an essential herbal medicine for relieving liver depression for thousands of years. Contemporary research has provided compelling evidence of its pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, metabolic regulation, and anticancer properties, positioning it as a promising treatment option for various liver diseases. Hepatitis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer are among the prevalent and impactful liver diseases worldwide. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive systematic reviews that explore the prescription, bio-active components, and underlying mechanisms of BR in treating liver diseases., Aim of the Review: To summarize the BR classical Chinese medical prescription and ingredients in treating liver diseases and their mechanisms to inform reference for further development and research., Materials and Methods: Literature in the last three decades of BR and its classical Chinese medical prescription and ingredients were collated and summarized by searching PubMed, Wiley, Springer, Google Scholar, Web of Science, CNKI, etc. RESULTS: BR and its classical prescriptions, such as Xiao Chai Hu decoction, Da Chai Hu decoction, Si Ni San, and Chai Hu Shu Gan San, have been utilized for centuries as effective therapies for liver diseases, including hepatitis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. BR is a rich source of active ingredients, such as saikosaponins, polysaccharides, flavonoids, sterols, organic acids, and so on. These bioactive compounds exhibit a wide range of beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and lipid metabolism regulation. However, it is important to acknowledge that BR and its constituents can also possess hepatotoxicity, which is associated with cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes and oxidative stress. Therefore, caution should be exercised when using BR in therapeutic applications to ensure the safe and appropriate utilization of its potential benefits while minimizing any potential risks., Conclusions: To sum up, BR, its compounds, and its based traditional Chinese medicine are effective in liver diseases through multiple targets, multiple pathways, and multiple effects. Advances in pharmacological and toxicological investigations of BR and its bio-active components in the future will provide further contributions to the discovery of novel therapeutics for liver diseases., 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: Pain management is an important part of nursing care for children. The objective of this study was to systematically assess the impact of virtual reality (VR) technology on alleviating the pain and anxiety experienced by children during venipuncture procedures., Methods: This study searched Pubmed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Embase, Medline, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Weipu and China biomedical databases on the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of virtual reality technology for relieving pain and anxiety associated with venous puncture for children up to July 6, 2024. Risk of bias tool recommended by Cochrane library was used to evaluate the RCT quality. RevMan 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis., Results: A total of 10 RCTs involving 874 children were included. 429 children received VR intervention during vein puncture. VR was beneficial to reduce the children's self-reported pain scores [SMD=-0.48, 95% CI (- 0.61, - 0.35)], children's caregivers reported needle-related pain level [SMD=-0.93, 95% CI (-1.45, - 0.42)], children's self-reported anxiety scores [SMD=-0.45, 95% CI (- 0.65, - 0.25)], children's caregivers reported needle-related anxiety level [SMD=-0.47, 95% CI (- 0.73, - 0.21)]. Egger regression tests indicated that there were no publication biases in the synthesized outcomes (all P > 0.05)., Conclusions: VR technology has been shown to effectively mitigate the pain and anxiety experienced by children during venipuncture. Despite the positive findings, more research is needed to better understand the role of VR in children undergoing venipuncture., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A disclosed technique employs electrochemical dehydrogenative cross-coupling to create organophosphates, utilizing phosphites compounds with arenols. Inorganic iodide salts serve dual roles as redox catalysts and electrolytes in an undivided cell, omitting the need for external oxidants or bases. Initial mechanistic investigations indicate the reaction unfolds via an electro-oxidative radical pathway, facilitating the formation of P-O bonds, leading to the generation of oxygen radicals in the formation of acetylaminophenol. This environmentally friendly approach offers excellent tolerance to various functional groups, achieves high yields (up to 95% isolated yield), and accommodates a wide range of substrates, showcasing its utility for practical synthesis applications., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Lung cancer (LC) is currently the number one malignancy death rate disease in China, and its disease burden is serious. The study aimed to analyze trends of LC and its risk factor attributable disease in China from 1990 to 2019 and predict the next 41 years., Methods: The average annual percentage change (AAPC) was used to analyze the trend of LC and its risk factor attributable incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate in China from 1990 to 2019, collected in the Global Burden of Disease 2019. Cochran-Armitage trends examine trends in lung cancer disease burden by sex, age, and attributable risk factor groups in China from 1990 to 2019. In addition, based on data on death and DALYs rate due to LC and its risk factors between 1990 and 2019, an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was developed to predict the change in the trend of burden of disease due to LC and its risk factors over the next 41 years, and the model was evaluated using the model parameters root mean square error, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error., Results: From 1990 to 2019, the incidence, mortality and DALYs of LC were all increased. Among the eight risk factors associated with lung cancer, the DALYs rate and mortality rate of lung cancer risk factors for Chinese residents increased from 1990 to 2019, except for household air pollution from solid fuels and diet low in fruit, which showed a decrease; among them, the DALYs rate and mortality rate due to ambient particulate matter pollution showed the greatest increase with AAPC values of 2.880 and 3.310, respectively, while DALYs and mortality rates due to household air pollution from solid fuels showed the largest decreases, with AAPC values of -4.755 and -4.348, respectively. The results of the ARIMA model predictions show that both the mortality rate and the rate of DALYs for lung cancer are increasing yearly, and it is predicted that the rate of DALYs for lung cancer by 2060 will reach 740.095/100 000 and the mortality rate will reach 35.151/100 000. It is expected that by 2060, the top four risk factors for lung cancer in China will be, in order of DALYs rate and mortality rate, smoking, ambient particulate matter pollution, high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG), and secondhand smoke, with HFPG showing the greatest increase., Conclusions: The LC burden increased from 1990 to 2019 in China, the LC burden that could be attributed to HFPG will continue to increase in the next 40 years, and will be the third most factor by 2060. Targeted interventions are warranted to facilitate the prevention of LC and improvement of health-related quality of life patients with LC., (© 2024 The Author(s). Thoracic Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

The medium-intensity karst desertification environment is typically characterized by more rocks and less soil. The abandoned land in the construction areas of the dry-hot river valley hydropower station has more infertile soil, severe land degradation, and very low land productivity. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the soil quality to curb the increasingly degrading land and reuse the construction site. Few studies have focused on the effect of soil restoration and comprehensive evaluation of soil quality with multi-treatment in abandoned land in the dry-hot valley hydropower station construction area. Here, 9 soil restoration measures and 1 control group were installed at the Guangzhao Hydropower Station construction in Guizhou Province, China, for physical and chemical property analysis. In total, 180 physical and 90 chemical soil samples were collected on three occasions in May, August, and December 2022. Soil fertility and quality were evaluated under various measures using membership functions and principal component analysis (PCA). This study showed that almost all measures could enhance soil water storage capacity (The average total soil porosity of 9 soil treatments was 57.56%, while that of the control group was 56.37%). With the increase in soil porosity, soil evaporation became stronger, and soil water content decreased. Nevertheless, no decrease in soil water content was observed in the presence of vegetation cover (soil water content: 16.46% of hairy vetch, 13.99% of clover, 13.77% of the control). They also proved that manure, synthetic fertilizer, and straw could promote total and available nutrients (Soil total nutrient content, or the total content of TN、TP、TK,was presented as: synthetic fertilizer (11.039g kg-2)>fowl manure (10.953g kg-2)>maize straw (10.560g kg-2)>control (9.580g kg-2);Total available nutrient content in soil, or the total content of AN,AP,A,was shown as:fowl manure (1287.670 mg kg-1)>synthetic fertilizer (925.889 mg kg-1)>sheep manure (825.979 mg kg-1)>control (445.486 mg kg-1). They could also promote soil fertility, among which the first two reached the higher comprehensive soil quality. Fertilizer was conducive to improve soil quality and fertility, yet long-term application could cause land degradation like soil non-point source pollution, compaction, and land productivity decline. Ultimately, combining fertilizer with biochar or manure is recommended to improve soil fertility. Biochar and green manure could play an apparent role in soil improvement only when there is abundant soil water. The above views provide theoretical support for curbing soil degradation, improving soil fertility and quality, enhancing land productivity, and promoting the virtuous cycle of the soil ecosystem., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Wu 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.)

With the popularization of 5G technology and artificial intelligence, thermally conductive epoxies with self-healing ability will be widely used in flexible electronic materials. Although many compounds containing both performances have been synthesized, there is little systematic theory to explain the coordination mechanism. In this paper, alkyl chains of different lengths were introduced to epoxies to discuss the thermally conductive, the self-healing performance, and the synergistic effect. A series of electronic-grade biphenyl epoxies (4,4'-bis(oxiran-2-ylmethoxy)-1,1'-biphenyl (1), 4,4'-bis(2-(oxiran-2-yl)ethoxy)-1,1'-biphenyl (2), 4,4'-bis(3-(oxiran-2-yl)propoxy)-1,1'-biphenyl (3), and 4,4'-bis(4-(oxiran-2-yl)butoxy)-1,1'-biphenyl (4) were synthesized and characterized. Furthermore, they were cured with decanedioic acid to produce polymers. Results showed that alkyl chains can both affect the two properties, and the epoxies suitable for specific application scenarios can be prepared by adjusting the length of alkyl chains. In terms of thermal conductivity, compound 1 was a most promising material. However, compound 4 was expected to be utilized in flexible electronic devices because of its acceptable thermal conductivity, self-healing ability, transparency, and flexibility., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Interest in electrocatalytic bioconjugation reactions has surged, particularly for modifying tryptophan and tyrosine residues in proteins. We used a cost-effective graphite felt electrode and low-current methodology to achieve selective bioconjugation of tryptophan with thiophenols, yielding up to 92%. This method exclusively labeled tryptophan residues and incorporated fluorinated tryptophan for NMR analysis. Eight polypeptides, including lanreotide and leuprorelin, were effectively coupled, demonstrating the method's versatility and potential for novel diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be regarded as a potential platform for transmembrane drug delivery as many experimental works have demonstrated their capability to effectively transport bioactive molecules into living cells. Within this framework, the loading of a peptide drug onto either the interior or exterior of CNTs has gained considerable interest. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive comparison of these two loading methods. To this end, we performed molecular dynamics simulations and the umbrella sampling technique to investigate the interaction energy, conformational changes, and free energy changes of a model peptide drug containing α-helical structure interacting with the inner or outer walls of a 14.7-nm-long (20,20) CNT. Our finding reveals that, for a tube of such dimensions, it is thermodynamically more favorable for the peptide to be loaded onto the inner tube wall than the outer tube wall, primarily due to a larger free energy change for the former strategy. Conversely, unloading the drug from the tube interior poses greater challenges. Moreover, the tube's curvature plays an essential role in influencing the conformation of the adsorbed peptide. Despite the relatively weaker van der Waals interaction between the CNT exterior and the peptide, loading the peptide onto the exterior may induce significant conformational changes, particularly affecting the peptide's α-helix structure. In contrast, loading of the peptide on the CNT interior could maintain most of the α-helical content. CNTs do not typically attract specific peptide residues, with adsorbed groups primarily determined by the peptide's configurations and orientations. Finally, we offer a guideline for selecting an optimal loading strategy for CNT-based drug delivery.

Targeted therapy based on BRD4 and MYC shows promise due to their well-researched oncogenic functions in cancer, but their tumor-suppressive roles are less understood. In this study, we employ a systematic approach to delete exons that encode the low-complexity domain (LCD) of BRD4L in cells by using CRISPR-Cas9. In particular, the deletion of exon 14 (BRD4-E14) results in cellular morphological changes towards spindle-shaped and loosely packed. BRD4-E14 deficient cells show increased cell migration and reduced cell adhesion. The expression of S100A10 was significantly increased in cells lacking E14. BRD4L binds with MYC via the E14-encoded region of the LCD to inhibit the expression of S100A10. In cancer tissues, there is a positive correlation between BRD4 and MYC, while both of these proteins are negatively associated with S100A10 expression. Finally, knocking out the BRD4-E14 region or MYC promotes tumor growth in vivo. Together, these data support a tumor-suppressive role of BRD4L and MYC in some contexts. This discovery emphasizes the significance of a discreetly design and precise patient recruitment in clinical trials that testing cancer therapy based BRD4 and MYC., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

2D magnetic materials hold substantial promise in information storage and neuromorphic device applications. However, achieving a 2D material with high Curie temperature (T C ), environmental stability, and multi-level magnetic states remains a challenge. This is particularly relevant for spintronic devices, which require multi-level resistance states to enhance memory density and fulfil low power consumption and multi-functionality. Here, the synthesis of 2D non-layered triangular and hexagonal magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanosheets are proposed with high T C and environmental stability, and demonstrate that the ultrathin triangular nanosheets show broad antiphase boundaries (bAPBs) and sharp antiphase boundaries (sAPBs), which induce multiple spin precession modes and multi-level resistance. Conversely, the hexagonal nanosheets display slip bands with sAPBs associated with pinning effects, resulting in magnetic-field-driven spin texture reversal reminiscent of "0" and "1" switching signals. In support of the micromagnetic simulation, direct explanation is offer to the variation in multi-level resistance under a microwave field, which is ascribed to the multi-spin texture magnetization structure and the randomly distributed APBs within the material. These novel 2D magnetite nanosheets with unique spin textures and spin dynamics provide an exciting platform for constructing real multi-level storage devices catering to emerging information storage and neuromorphic computing requirements., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

River silt deposited by water in coastal areas is unsuitable for engineering construction. Thus, the in situ stabilization treatment of river silt as the bearing layer has been an important research area in geotechnical engineering. The strength degradation behavior and mechanism of stabilized river silt reinforced with cement and alginate fibers (AFCS) in different engineering environments are crucial for engineering applications. Therefore, freeze-thaw (F-T) cycle tests, wetting-drying (W-D) cycle tests, water immersion tests and seawater erosion tests were conducted to explore the strength attenuation of stabilized river silt reinforced with the same cement content (9% by wet weight) and different fiber contents (0%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 0.9% by weight of wet soil) and fiber lengths (3 mm, 6 mm and 9 mm). The reinforcement and damage mechanism of AFCS was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. The results indicate that the strength of AFCS was improved from 84% to 180% at 15 F-T cycle tests, and the strength of AFCS was improved by 26% and 40% at 30 W-D cycles, which showed better stability and excellent characteristics owing to the hygroscopic characteristics of alginate fiber arousing the release of calcium and magnesium ions within the alginate. Also, the strength attenuation of AFCS was reduced with the increase in the length and content of alginate fibers. Further, the strength of specimens in the freshwater environment was higher than that in the seawater environment at the same fiber content, and the softening coefficient of AFCS in the freshwater environment was above 0.85, indicating that the AFCS had good water stability. The optimal fiber content was found to be 0.6% based on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) reduction in specimens cured in seawater and a freshwater environment. And the strength of AFCS was improved by about 10% compared with that of cement-stabilized soil (CS) in a seawater environment. A stable spatial network structure inside the soil was formed, in which the reinforcing effect of fibers was affected by mechanical connection, friction and interfacial bonding. However, noticeable cracks developed in the immersed and F-T specimens. These microscopic characteristics contributed to decreased mechanical properties for AFCS. The results of this research provide a reference for the engineering application of AFCS.

Microalgal polysaccharides have received much attention due to their potential value in preventing and regulating oxidative damage. This study aims to reveal the mechanisms of regulating oxidative stress and the differences in the yield, structure, and effect of polysaccharides extracted from three microalgae: Golenkinia sp. polysaccharides (GPS), Chlorella sorokiniana polysaccharides (CPS), and Spirulina subsalsa polysaccharides (SPS). Using the same extraction method, GPS, CPS, and SPS were all heteropoly- saccharides composed of small molecular fraction: the monosaccharides mainly comprised galactose (Gal). Among the three, SPS had a higher proportion of small molecular fraction, and a higher proportion of Gal; thus it had the highest yield and antioxidant activity. GPS, CPS, and SPS all showed strong antioxidant activity in vitro, and showed strong ability to regulate oxidative stress, among which SPS was slightly higher. From the analysis of gene expression, the Nrf2-ARE signalling pathway was an important pathway for GPS, CPS, and SPS to regulate cellular oxidative stress. This study provides a theoretical foundation for further research on the utilization of microalgae polysaccharides and product development., 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: Wnt/FZD-mediated signaling pathways are activated in more than 90% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. As a well-known secretory glycoprotein, Wnt3 can interact with FZD receptors on the cell surface, thereby activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. However, the N-glycosylation modification site of Wnt3 and the effect of this modification on the biological function of the protein are still unclear., Aim: To investigate the effect of Wnt3 N-glycosylation on the biological function of HCC cells., Methods: Site-directed mutagenesis was used to verify the Wnt3 N-glycosylation sites, actinomycin D treatment was used to detect the stability of Wnt3 after site-directed mutation, the binding of the N-glycosylation site-directed mutant Wnt3 to FZD7 was observed by laser confocal microscopy, and the effects of the N-glycosylation site-directed mutation of Wnt3 on the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and the progression of HCC cells were detected by western blot and cell function experiments., Results: Wnt3 has two N-glycosylation-modified sites (Asn90 and Asn301); when a single site at amino acid 301 is mutated, the stability of Wnt3 is weakened; the binding ability of Wnt3 to FZD7 decreases when both sites are mutated simultaneously; and the level of proteins related to the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is downregulated. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion are also weakened in the case of single 301 site and double-site mutations., Conclusion: These results indicate that by inhibiting the N-glycosylation of Wnt3, the proliferation, migration, invasion and colony formation abilities of liver cancer cells can be weakened, which might provide new therapeutic strategies for clinical liver cancer in the future., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Sun has nothing to disclose., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study aims to develop a CT-based hybrid deep learning network to predict pathological subtypes of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma by integrating residual network (ResNet) with Vision Transformer (ViT). A total of 1411 pathologically confirmed ground-glass nodules (GGNs) retrospectively collected from two centers were used as internal and external validation sets for model development. 3D ResNet and ViT were applied to investigate two deep learning frameworks to classify three subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma namely invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma and adenocarcinoma in situ, respectively. To further improve the model performance, four Res-TransNet based models were proposed by integrating ResNet and ViT with different ensemble learning strategies. Two classification tasks involving predicting IAC from Non-IAC (Task1) and classifying three subtypes (Task2) were designed and conducted in this study. For Task 1, the optimal Res-TransNet model yielded area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of 0.986 and 0.933 on internal and external validation sets, which were significantly higher than that of ResNet and ViT models (p < 0.05). For Task 2, the optimal fusion model generated the accuracy and weighted F1 score of 68.3% and 66.1% on the external validation set. The experimental results demonstrate that Res-TransNet can significantly increase the classification performance compared with the two basic models and have the potential to assist radiologists in precision diagnosis., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.)

Structural factors that determine the amylolysis of starch-lipid complexes have remained unclear. Understanding the relationship between the structure and amylolysis of starch-lipid complexes is important for the design and preparation of complexes with predictable digestibility. In this study, the multiscale structures and amylolytic properties of complexes formed under different conditions between debranched high-amylose starch (DHAMS) and lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids were investigated. Higher complexing temperatures facilitated the formation of DHAMS-fatty acid (FA) complexes, especially the more stable type II crystallites. Longer complexing times also promoted the formation of complexes and the type II crystallites, except for DHAMS-lauric acid (LA). Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the binding free energy for the formation of DHAMS-LA complexes (10 kJ/mol) was lower than those for the other three DHAMS-FA complexes (20-50 kJ/mol), accounting for the lower stability of DHAMS-LA complexes at longer complexing times. The rate and extent of enzymatic digestion of the DHAMS-FA complexes were much lower in comparison to those of gelatinized HAMS. Correlation analyses showed that the rate and extent of enzymic digestion of DHAMS-FA complexes were mainly determined by the degree of crystallite perfection of the complexes.

Introduction: To characterize the influence of female-specific hormones on women's thyroid function, the study investigated the influence of extra progestin from oral contraceptives on inducing thyroid dysfunction., Methods: Sixty female Wistar rats were divided into six groups based on levonorgestrel or desogestrel administration as the main active agents: control, low (0.0039 mg*20-fold), medium (0.0039 mg*100-fold), high (0.0318 mg*100-fold) levonorgestrel (pure product); and low (0.0083 mg*20-fold) and high (0.0083 mg*100-fold) desogestrel (pure product). Progestin was administered by gavage every 4 days for 1 month. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and the Kruskal-Wallis test., Results: Following levonorgestrel gavage, serum free T 4 and thyroidstimulating hormone levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than that in the control group ( p =0.013 and 0.043). After desogestrel gavage, the serum free T 4 and free T 3 levels were lower in the experimental group than that in the control group ( p =0.019 and 0.030). Thyroid hormone antibody concentrations were lower in rats administered levonorgestrel and desogestrel than that in control rats. Moreover, exposure to progestin upregulated the expression of the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor and sodium iodide symporter in thyroid., Discussion: Progestin stimulation enhanced the proliferation of follicular epithelial cells in rat thyroid tissues. Progestin exposure could cause thyroid dysfunction by upregulating the transcription of thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor and sodium iodide symporter in thyroid, thus inducing pathomorphological changes in rats' thyroid., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Xie, Qian, Liu, Sun, Che, Zhao, Hou, Pan, Su, Li, Dong and Liu.)

Introduction: The aim of this paper was to make a preliminary analysis of the risk factors related to venous thromboembolism (VTE) in pregnant women by Meta-analysis., Evidence Acquisition: Three databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and The National Library of Medicine (NLM) were systematically searched from their establishment to January 1, 2023, and the obtained data were statistically analyzed using RevMan5.3 software., Evidence Synthesis: A total of 10 studies were included, involving 22 risk factors, of which 16 were included for further analysis. Meta analysis showed that cesarean section (OR=2.05, 95%CI: 1.71, 2.47, P=0.007), gestational diabetes (OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.09, 1.27, P<0.001), eclampsia or preeclampsia (OR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.42, 2.49, P< 0.001), obesity (OR=1.19, 95%CI: 1.04, 1.86, P=0.028), twin or multiple pregnancy (OR=2.34, 95%CI: 1.46, 3.76, P<0.001), chronic heart disease (OR=3.59, 95%CI: 3.28, 3.92, P<0.001), and blood transfusion history (OR=3.20, 95%CI: 2.78, 3.68, P<0.001) were risk factors for VTE in pregnant women., Conclusions: Existing evidence suggests that cesarean section, gestational diabetes, eclampsia or preeclampsia, obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m 2 ), twin or multiple pregnancy, chronic heart disease, and blood transfusion history may be risk factors for VTE in pregnant women. In clinical practice, the evaluation and management of VTE should be strengthened, and a model for clinical prediction of VTE can be established to provide a reference for the prevention of VTE.

Data mining, integration, and utilization are the inevitable trend of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) in the context of Big Data. With the increasing demand for data privacy, federated learning has emerged as a new paradigm, which enables distributed joint training of medical data sources without leaving the private domain. However, federated learning is suffering from security threats as the shared local model will reveal original datasets. Privacy leakage is even more fatal in healthcare because medical data contains critically sensitive information. In addition, open wireless channels are susceptible to malicious attacks. To further safeguard the privacy of IoMT, we propose a comprehensive privacy-preserving federated learning scheme with a tactful dropout handling mechanism. The proposed scheme leverages blind masking and certificateless proxy re-encryption (CL-PRE) for secure aggregation, ensuring the confidentiality of the local model and rendering the global model invisible to any parties other than clients. It also provides authentication of uploaded models while protecting identity privacy. Compared with other relevant schemes, our solution has better performance on functional features and efficiency, and is more applicable to IoMT systems with many devices.

Adhesion ability and interfacial thermal transfer capacity at soft/hard interfaces are of critical importance to a wide variety of applications, ranging from electronic packaging and soft electronics to batteries. However, these two properties are difficult to obtain simultaneously due to their conflicting nature at soft/hard interfaces. Herein, we report a polyurethane/silicon interface with both high adhesion energy (13535 J m -2 ) and low thermal interfacial resistance (0.89 × 10 -6 m 2 K W -1 ) by regulating hydrogen interactions at the interface. This is achieved by introducing a soybean-oil-based epoxy cross-linker, which can destroy the hydrogen bonds in polyurethane networks and meanwhile can promote the formation of hydrogen bonds at the polyurethane/silicon interface. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of enhancing adhesion energy and reducing interfacial thermal resistance at soft/hard interfaces, which offers a promising perspective to tailor interfacial properties in various material systems.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are recognized as major immune suppressor cells in the tumor microenvironment that may inhibit immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Here, we developed a Stattic-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle (PEG-MSN-Stattic) delivery system to tumor sites to reduce the number of MDSCs in tumors. This approach is able to significantly deplete intratumoral MSDCs and thereby increase the infiltration of T lymphocytes in tumors to enhance ICB therapy. Our approach may provide a drug delivery strategy for regulating the tumor microenvironment and enhancing cancer immunotherapy efficacy.

Shear thickening of multimodal suspensions has proven difficult to understand because the rheology depends largely on the microscopic details of stress-induced frictional contacts at different particle size distributions (PSDs). Our discrete particle simulations below a critical volume fraction ϕ c over a broad range of shear rates and PSDs elucidate the basic mechanism of order-disorder transition. Around the theoretical optimal PSD (relative content of small particles ζ 1 = 0.26), particles order into a layered structure in the Newtonian regime. At the onset of shear thickening, this layered structure transforms to a disordered one, accompanied by an abrupt viscosity jump. Minor increase in large-large particle contacts after the order-disorder transition causes apparent increase in radial force along the compressional axis. Bidisperse suspensions with less regular but stable layered structure at ζ 1 = 0.50 show good fluidity in the shear thickening regime. This work shows that in inertial flows where particle collisions dominate, order-disorder transition could play an essential role in shear thickening for bidisperse suspensions., 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.)

A visible-light-induced strategy has been explored for the synthesis of naphtho[2,1-d]thiazol-2-amines through ortho-C-H sulfuration of 2-isocyanonaphthalenes with elemental sulfur and amines under external photocatalyst-free conditions. This three-component reaction, which utilizes elemental sulfur as the odorless sulfur source, molecular oxygen as the clean oxidant, and visible light as the clean energy source, provides a mild and efficient approach to construct a series of naphtho[2,1-d]thiazol-2-amines. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that visible-light-promoted photoexcitation of reaction intermediates consisting of thioureas and DBU might be involved in this transformation., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: Various heart diseases ultimately lead to chronic heart failure (CHF). In CHF, the inflammatory response is associated with pyroptosis, which is mediated by the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Fu Xin decoction (FXD) is commonly used in clinical practice to treat CHF and improve inflammatory conditions. However, the specific pharmacological mechanisms of action for FXD in these processes have yet to be fully understood., Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the protective mechanism of FXT against CHF, both in H9c2 cells and mice., Method: A CHF mouse model was established, and the effect of FXD was observed via gavage. Cardiac function was evaluated using echocardiography, while serum BNP and LDH levels were analyzed to assess the severity of CHF. Hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E) and Masson staining were performed to evaluate myocardial pathological changes, and TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling staining was used to detect DNA damage. Additionally, doxorubicin was utilized to induce myocardial cell injury in H9c2 cells, establishing a relevant model. CCK8 was used to observe cell viability and detect LDH levels in the cell supernatant. Subsequently, the expression of pyroptosis-related proteins was detected using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and western blotting. Finally, the pharmacological mechanism of FXD against CHF was further validated by treating H9c2 cells with an NLRP3 activator and inducing NLRP3 overexpression., Result: According to current research findings, echocardiography demonstrated a significant improvement of cardiac function by FXD, accompanied by reduced levels of BNP and LDH, indicating the amelioration of cardiac injury in CHF mice. FXD exhibited the ability to diminish serum CRP and MCP inflammatory markers in CHF mice. The results of HE and Masson staining analyses revealed a significant reduction in pathological damage of the heart tissue following FXD treatment. The CCK8 assay demonstrated the ability of FXD to enhance H9c2 cell viability, improve cell morphology, decrease LDH levels in the cell supernatant, and alleviate cell damage. Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining substantiated the inhibitory effect of FXD on the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pyroptosis signaling pathway in both CHF and H9c2 cell injury models. Ultimately, the administration of the NLRP3 activator (Nigericin) and the overexpression of NLRP3 counteract the effects of FXD on cardiac protection and pyroptosis inhibition in vitro., Conclusion: FXD exhibits a cardioprotective effect, improving CHF and alleviating pyroptosis by inhibiting the NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD pathway., 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. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

This research introduces an innovative solution to address the challenges of bacterial keratitis and alkali burns. Current treatments for bacterial keratitis and alkali burns rely on the frequent use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory eye drops. However, these approaches suffer from poor bioavailability and fluctuating concentrations, leading to limited efficacy and potential drug resistance. Our approach presents an adaptive drug-releasing contact lens responsive to reactive oxygen species (ROS) at ocular inflammation sites, synchronously releasing Levofloxacin and Diclofenac. During storage, minimal drug release occurred, but over 7 days of wear, the lens maintained a continuous, customizable drug release rate based on disease severity. This contact lens had strong antibacterial activity and biofilm prevention, effectively treating bacterial keratitis. When combined with autologous serum, this hydrophilic, flexible lens aids corneal epithelial regeneration, reducing irritation and promoting healing. In summary, this ROS-responsive drug-releasing contact lens combines antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, offering a promising solution for bacterial keratitis and alkali burns., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Attaining elevated thermal conductivity in organic materials stands as a coveted objective, particularly within electronic packaging, thermal interface materials, and organic matrix heat exchangers. These applications have reignited interest in researching thermally conductive organic materials. The understanding of thermal transport mechanisms in these organic materials is currently constrained. This study concentrates on N, N'-dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide (PTCDI-C 8 ), an organic conjugated crystal. A correlation between elevated thermal conductivity and augmented Young's modulus is substantiated through meticulous experimentation. Achievement via employing the physical vapor transport method, capitalizing on the robust C═C covalent linkages running through the organic matrix chain, bolstered by π-π stacking and noncovalent affiliations that intertwine the chains. The coexistence of these dynamic interactions, alongside the perpendicular alignment of PTCDI-C 8 molecules, is confirmed through structural analysis. PTCDI-C 8 thin film exhibits an out-of-plane thermal conductivity of 3.1 ± 0.1 W m -1  K -1 , as determined by time-domain thermoreflectance. This outpaces conventional organic materials by an order of magnitude. Nanoindentation tests and molecular dynamics simulations elucidate how molecular orientation and intermolecular forces within PTCDI-C 8 molecules drive the film's high Young's modulus, contributing to its elevated thermal conductivity. This study's progress offers theoretical guidance for designing high thermal conductivity organic materials, expanding their applications and performance potential., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Modern microelectronics and emerging technologies such as wearable electronics and soft robotics require elastomers to integrate high damping with low thermal resistance to avoid damage caused by vibrations and heat accumulation. However, the strong coupling between storage modulus and loss factor makes it generally challenging to simultaneously increase both thermal conductance and damping. Here, a strategy of introducing hierarchical interaction and regulating fillers in polybutadiene/spherical aluminum elastomer composites is reported to simultaneously achieve extraordinary damping ability of tan δ > 1.0 and low thermal resistance of 0.15 cm 2  K W -1 , which surpasses state-of-the-art elastomers and their composites. The enhanced damping is attributed to increased energy dissipation via introducing the hierarchical hydrogen bond interactions in polybutadiene networks and the addition of spherical aluminum, which also functions as a thermally conductive filler to achieve low thermal resistance. As a proof of concept, the polybutadiene/spherical aluminum elastomer composites are used as thermal interface materials, showing effective heat dissipation for electronic devices in vibration scenarios. The combination of outstanding damping performance and extraordinary heat dissipation ability of the elastomer composites may create new opportunities for their applications in electronics., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)