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A liquid-cooled garment with active cooling function can make up for deficiency of the human thermoregulatory system and passive thermal insulation of the firefighting protective suit. Fabrics treated at different inlet temperatures and pipeline intervals were applied in multilayered liquid-cooled fabric assemblies (LCFAs). The heat absorbed by the skin and the second-degree burn time were evaluated by the stored energy test under low heat radiation. Results indicated that the thermal protective performance of the LCFAs was significantly improved, with the second-degree burn time increasing more than 50% on average. There was a strong negative correlation between the thermal protective performance and cooling effect under different pipeline intervals, while the negative correlation was weak for different inlet temperatures. The results gained from this study may provide valuable insight for design of the inlet temperature and pipeline interval of a liquid-cooled system in the firefighting protective suit.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between choriocapillaris flow deficit percentage (CC FD%) by swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and 3-year risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression and diabetic macular edema (DME) development., Design: Prospective, observational cohort study., Methods: A total of 903 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) without DR or with mild nonproliferative DR (NPDR) free of DME at baseline were followed up annually for 3 years. All participants underwent standard 7-field fundus photography and spectral-domain OCT. SS-OCTA was used for retinal and choriocapillaris imaging and 3 × 3-mm 2 macular CC FD% was quantified. Univariate and multivariate logistic models were used to evaluate the association between CC FD% and 2 or more steps of DR progression and DME development. The additional predictive value of CC FD% for outcome events was assessed using C statistic, net reclassification index (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement index (IDI)., Results: Over 3 years, 295 of 1805 eyes (16.34%) developed DR progression, and 118 eyes (6.54%) developed DME. A higher average CC FD% was correlated with DR progression (odds ratio [OR], 3.41 per SD increase, 95% CI: 2.65-4.39, P < .001) and DME development (OR, 1.37 per SD increase, 95% CI: 1.06-1.77, P = .016) after adjusting for confounders. In the ETDRS regions, increased CC FD% in all fields was associated with DR progression; however, increased CC FD% in the inferior field was associated with DME development. Compared with the models based on established risk factors, the addition of average CC FD% significantly improved the C statistics for DR progression (0.712 to 0.777, P < .001) and DME occurrence (0.743 to 0.773, P = .044). The estimated NRIs and IDIs (all >0) indicated that the addition of CC FD% led to a significant improvement in the discriminative performance for end points., Conclusion: CC FD% is independently associated with DR progression and DME development in the Chinese T2DM population and provides incremental predictive value beyond traditional risk factors and retinal microvascular parameters. Further inclusion of CC FD% in DR prediction models helps guide population-based screening and personalized management., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hypertension might be a modifiable risk factor for neurodegeneration diseases. However, the associations between blood pressure (BP), arterial stiffness index and retinal neurodegeneration remain unclear., Methods: This study used cross-sectional data from the United Kingdom BioBank (UKB) and longitudinal data from the Chinese Ocular Imaging Project (COIP). The macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness (mGCIPLT) and macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were measured using spectral domain optical coherence tomography imaging. Swept-source optical coherence tomography was performed to obtain the longitudinal trajectory of the mGCIPLT and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in the COIP cohort. Multivariable linear models were used to analyze the associations between BP and retinal measurements., Results: In a cross-sectional analysis of 22 801 participants from UKB, thinner mGCIPLT was related to higher systolic BP (β: -0.103 [-0.146 to -0.061]; P <0.001), and higher diastolic BP (β: -0.191 [-0.265 to -0.117]; P <0.001), and was significantly associated with higher mean arterial pressure (β: -0.174 [-0.238 to -0.109]; P <0.001) and higher mean pulse pressure (β: -0.080 [-0.139 to -0.020]; P =009). In a longitudinal analysis of 2012 eligible COIP participants, higher levels of baseline systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, and mean pulse pressure were associated with faster thinning in mGCIPLT and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (all P <0.001). The strongest association was the effect of mean arterial pressure on mGCIPLT (β: -0.118 [-0.175 to -0.061]; P <0.001). The results of the analysis of macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were consistent with those of mGCIPLT., Conclusions: BP levels were independently and consistently associated with various retinal neurodegenerative exacerbations.

Seaweeds are a good source of bioactive lipids and are known for their nutritional benefits, making them a valuable food source. Despite their dietary significance and nutritional importance, there are limited reports on comprehensive lipidome analysis of lipids with antioxidant properties. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the lipid profiles of five commonly consumed Japanese dietary seaweeds using non-targeted liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). A total, of 304 molecular species from four major lipid classes were detected and characterized by MS/MS analysis. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed distinct lipid molecular compositions in kombu and sea mustard compared to hijiki, mozuku, and laver seaweeds. Kombu has been shown to contain large amounts of antioxidants, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and a high health promotion index compared to other seaweeds. Hierarchical cluster correlations indicated the predominance of glycerophospholipids (GPs) and glycerolipids (GLs) in sea mustard and kombu. As a result, dietary seaweeds have great potential as antioxidants and health-promoting foods for human consumption due to their high levels of PUFA-rich GPs and GLs. Unsaturated triacylglycerols are predominant in hijiki, whereas other health-beneficial lipids, such as monogalactosyldiacylglycerol and sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerols, are predominant in sea mustard. This study provides a detailed characterization of lipids and their comparative fingerprints in seaweeds, demonstrating the potential use of dietary seaweeds in biotechnological and industrial applications involving the development of functional food products.

Infection caused by antibiotic-resistant microorganisms (ARMs) has been declared a global threat to public health. Polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) formed by antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and synthetic PNPs against ARM infections are emerging. PNPs are also considered to be a promising natural biological preservative that prevents microbial spoilage through food processing and preservation. We engineered CNMs, a novel nanocomposite antibacterial agent based on chitosan nanoparticles and AMP microcin J25. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the comprehensive antimicrobial activity, potential antimicrobial mechanism, and anti-inflammatory activity of CNMs. We demonstrated that CNMs harbor excellent bactericidal activity against clinical foodborne pathogens and ARMs. CNMs caused fast mortality against different growth phases of tetracycline (Tet)-resistant enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) and significantly killed Tet-resistant ETEC in food biological environments. Mechanistically, CNMs have the ability to bind lipopolysaccharides (LPS), neutralize endotoxin, and promote diaphragm permeability by damaging the cell membrane. CNMs did not cause mouse RAW264.7 cell cytotoxicity. Notably, CNMs significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of RAW264.7 macrophages induced by LPS. The LPS-induced inflammatory response was significantly ameliorated by CNMs by reducing the levels of nitric oxide and proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-1β, Toll-like receptor 4, and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), in LPS-challenged RAW264.7 macrophages. CNMs downregulated the NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting inflammatory responses upon LPS stimulation. Taken together, CNMs could be applied as effective antimicrobial/anti-inflammatory agents with lower cytotoxicity in food, medicine, and agriculture to prevent bacterial contamination and infection, respectively., 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 © 2022 Haitao, Yifan, Mingchao and Shuaijuan.)

The high incidence and mortality of acute myocardial infarction (MI) drastically threaten human life and health. In the past few decades, the rise of reperfusion therapy has significantly reduced the mortality rate, but the MI diagnosis is still by means of the identification of myocardial injury markers without highly specific biomarkers of microcirculation disorders. Ferroptosis is a novel reported type of programmed cell death, which plays an important role in cancer development. Maintaining iron homeostasis in cells is essential for heart function, and its role in the pathological process of ischemic organ damages remains unclear. Being quickly detected through blood tests, circulating endothelial cells (CECs) have the potential for early judgment of early microcirculation disorders. In order to explore the role of ferroptosis-related genes in the early diagnosis of acute MI, we relied on two data sets from the GEO database to first detect eight ferroptosis-related genes differentially expressed in CECs between the MI and healthy groups in this study. After comparing different supervised learning algorithms, we constructed a random forest diagnosis model for acute MI based on these ferroptosis-related genes with a compelling diagnostic performance in both the validation (AUC = 0.8550) and test set (AUC = 0.7308), respectively. These results suggest that the ferroptosis-related genes might play an important role in the early stage of MI and have the potential as specific diagnostic biomarkers for MI., 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 © 2021 Yifan, Jianfeng and Jun.)

Problems: An outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) infection is now widespread in multiple countries. Compared with adult patients, elderly patients have not received enough attention. The aim of the meta-analysis was to assess the clinical characteristics of elder patients with COVID-19., Methods: A deep literature search was performed in the databases through August 21, 2020. Risk ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using analysis models., Results: Three studies including 2046 infected patients were precisely evaluated, and the results show that the elderly group has a higher risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than the younger patients. Their total white blood cells are higher than that of the younger patients, and their lymphocytes are relatively reduced compared with the younger patients., Conclusion: We comprehensively assessed the clinical characteristics of patients of different ages with COVID-19 and found that elder patients had a high risk of chronic cardiovascular and metabolism comorbidities. The characteristic clinical manifestations and laboratory examinations of elderly patients support their excessive inflammation and weak immune defenses against 2019-nCoV. All these findings provide important information for understanding the general clinical characterization of the aging immune defense against the virus and enhancing the public awareness of the prevention and treatment of elder patients in the COVID-19 pandemic., (Copyright © 2020 Yifan and Jun.)

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), a method of transcriptome sequencing at the single-cell level, has recently emerged as a revolutionary technology in the field of biomedical research. Compared to conventional gene expression profiling in bulk, scRNA-seq resolves biological differences among individual cells and enables the identification of rare cell populations that are easily overlooked. This review introduces the method of scRNA-seq, summarizes its applications in the field of cardiovascular disease research, and discusses existing limitations and prospects for future applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Recent progress in bioresorbable radio frequency electronics and engineered bacteria has promised the prospect of realizing a transient microbot (TM) system for therapeutic applications. The inorganic or organic miniature robots will dissolve into the human body after completing the required tasks and cause no side-effect. In this paper, we propose a potential architecture of a TM system for transporting pharmaceutical compounds inside the body, and analyze the system using a micro-to-macro cross-scale communication model. The remote controllability and tangibility of a TM essentially lead to a touch-communication (TouchCom) paradigm. Externally maneuverable and trackable TMs are responsible for the delivery of drug particles (information molecules in the TouchCom context). The loading/injection and unloading of the drug correspond to the transmitting and receiving processes in the TouchCom framework. Subsequently, we investigate simulation tools for the propagation and transient characteristics of TMs in the blood vessels. We also define the propagation delay, path loss, as well as angular and delay spectra of targeting intensity, which are parallel to their counterpart concepts in the conventional wireless channel. Finally, our approach is illustrated with comprehensive simulation studies of targeted drug delivery by using the proposed analytical framework integrating robotics and communications at crossover length scales. The proposed methodology may find important applications in the design and analysis of TM-assisted administration of pharmaceutical compounds.

Objective: This study investigates the effect of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) on different stages of condylar three-dimensional position and provides a theoretical basis for clinical application., Methods: The cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 108 TMJOA patients were analyzed and divided into four stages based on the stage standard of osteoarthrosis X-ray performance proposed by Xuchen Ma in 2005. A total of 28 defect-free temporomandibular joint disorders were used as the control group. Differences in condylar position and condylar axis horizontal angle were evaluated and compared., Results: No significant differences were found in terms of sagittal relationship, but condylar axis horizontal angle showed a significant difference (F = 3.872, P = 0.005). The horizontal angle values of stage 1 in the TMJOA group were lower than those in stages 2 and 3 (P = 0.027, P = 0.000), whereas the horizontal angle values of stage 2 and control groups were lower than those of stage 3 group (P = 0.004, P = 0.047)., Conclusion: Condylar horizontal angle differed in each stage of TMJOA, but no significant difference between the parasagittal positions of the condyles was observed in each stage.