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ABSTRACT Bi-functional antibacterial material was prepared by co-grafting N-halamine and quaternary ammonium salt monomers from cellulose fiber. The grafted fiber was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The N-halamine derived from the precursor 4-[(acryloxy)methyl]-4-ethyl-2-oxazolidinone via chlorination treatment and the oxidative chlorine (Cl+) leaching behavior were investigated. The antibacterial activities of singly (only QAs-functionalized or only Cl+-releasing) and dual (QAs-functionalized and Cl+-releasing) functional cellulose fibers were tested against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. Compared to singly functionalized formulations, the bi-functional cellulose fiber exhibited excellent and rapid bactericidal performance against both E. coli and S. aureus. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40070. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of triply-responsive copolymer hydrogel was firstly synthesized via free radical polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide, 4-[(4-(acryloyloxy)ethoxy) phenylazo]benzoic acid (AEPAZA), a water-soluble azobenzene-containing comonomer, and crosslinker. The properties of the hydrogel were subsequently investigated by UV-Vis absorption spectrometry, differential scanning calorimetry, and gravimetry. UV-Vis spectra showed that the copolymer hydrogel had a reasonable tran-cis photoisomerization rate upon UV irradiation and a relatively slow recovery rate in dark. The critical solution temperature (CST) of the copolymer hydrogel decreased with increasing of AEPAZA content and subsequently shifted higher value after UV irradiation. Meanwhile, the phase transitions profile became slower and broader with the incorporation of AEPAZA, which could be partly counterbalanced by UV irradiation. The CST could also be affected by the pH value of buffer solution. In addition, equilibrium swelling behavior clearly showed that the swelling ratio could be modulated by temperature, light, and pH. These stimuli-responsive properties should be very important for controlled release delivery system. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a severe complication of diabetes mellitus, posing significant challenges in terms of early prevention, clinical diagnosis, and treatment. Consequently, it has emerged as a major contributor to end-stage renal disease. The glomerular filtration barrier, composed of podocytes, endothelial cells, and the glomerular basement membrane, plays a vital role in maintaining renal function. Disruptions in podocyte function, including hypertrophy, shedding, reduced density, and apoptosis, can impair the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier, resulting in elevated proteinuria, abnormal glomerular filtration rate, and increased creatinine levels. Hence, recent research has increasingly focused on the role of podocyte injury in DN, with a growing emphasis on exploring therapeutic interventions targeting podocyte injury. Studies have revealed that factors such as lipotoxicity, hemodynamic abnormalities, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired autophagy can contribute to podocyte injury. This review aims to summarize the underlying mechanisms of podocyte injury in DN and provide an overview of the current research status regarding experimental drugs targeting podocyte injury in DN. The findings presented herein may offer potential therapeutic targets and strategies for the management of DN associated with podocyte injury. [Display omitted] • Podocyte injury: A pivotal factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). • Mechanisms underlying podocyte injury in DN: Lipotoxicity, hemodynamic abnormalities, oxidative stress, mitochondrial and autophagy dysfunction. • Therapeutic interventions targeting podocyte injury in DN: A comprehensive review of experimental drugs. • Refining the understanding of the intricate mechanism of podocyte injury in DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient thermal management in electric devices is highly essential for ensuring the reliability and durability of electronics. This study aims to investigate the thermal performance and optimization of metal foam PCM-based heat sink for thermal management units. Different design parameters, such as PCM types (RT31, RT42, and RT55), metal foam porosities (85%, 90%, and 95%), and metal foam materials, are studied to determine heat sink optimal parameters, considering various critical temperatures: 40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C and 70 °C. The volume-averaged method is used to simulate the heat transfer, phase change, and fluid flow within the heat sink unit. Heat transfer between PCM and metal foam is established using a thermal non-equilibrium model. The results show that the usage of metal foam is conducive to the thermal performance enhancement of heat sinks. Among the three parameters, PCM types show a considerable effect on thermal performance of heat sinks, e.g., the maximum operation time of heat sinks with RT31 is about 5 times that of heat sinks with RT55 for the critical temperature of 40 °C. Among all the cases, heat sinks using RT31 and aluminum foam perform optimally, which can achieve the optimal design of heat sinks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the low thermal conductivity of PCM, the enhancement of thermal performance becomes a crucial issue for the application of PCM-based heat sinks in electronic device cooling. To address this, efficient and integrative PCM-based heat sinks using fin and structured porous material (SPM) are designed and fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM). This work aims to investigate thermal performance of PCM-based heat sinks and the role of fin and SPM used as thermal conductivity enhancers (TCEs). The enhanced heat transfer mechanisms in PCM-based heat sinks using different types of TCEs are determined, and parametric analysis is conducted considering various volume fractions of TCEs (10 %, 15 %, and 20 %). Moreover, the effects of heating power levels and convective heat transfer coefficients on thermal behavior of PCM-based heat sink are analyzed. The results indicate that incorporating SPM in heat sink enhances thermal performance more effectively than using fins for an equivalent TCE fraction. Both heating power and convective heat transfer coefficient have a significant on thermal performance. This research demonstrates the potential of the novel heat sink with SPM in cooling electronic devices and provides the experimental and numerical database for the optimal design and future application of PCM-based heat sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel ultrasonic vibration device with a tungsten needle is proposed to improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of 1Cr12Ni3MoVN alloy fabricated by directed energy deposition process, in which the ultrasound is transmitted to the molten pool via direct contact between the tungsten needle and molten pool. • The proportion of columnar crystals in the DEDed samples assisted by ultrasonic vibration is decreased and the size of grains is reduced from 139 μm2 to 52 μm2, accompanied by the elongation increased by 53.8%. • The distribution of velocity, pressure and temperature in the molten pool, the motion low of the cavitation bubble wall, and the temperature gradient and solidification growth rate are analyzed numerically to investigate the effect of UV in the molten pool. • The dendritic crystal is broken and the thermodynamic conditions is changed due to the effect of cavitation and acoustic streaming induced by ultrasonic vibration in molten pool which reduces the temperature gradient and the solidification rate, and promotes the formation of fine equiaxed crystal characteristics. Due to the rapid melting and solidification during directed energy deposition (DED) process, the defects and columnar crystals are likely to generate in the deposition layers, which reduce the quality and performance of the whole parts. Therefore, in order to improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of 1Cr12Ni3MoVN alloy manufactured by DED method, ultrasonic vibration (UV) has been employed to assist directed energy deposition process in this work. The results indicate that the high-intensity ultrasonic vibration can weaken the epitaxy growth tendency of crystal grains, and significantly improve plasticity while keeping an approximate strength. In addition, a two-dimensional numerical model is established to simulate the effect of ultrasonic vibration in the molten pool. The simulation results show that ultrasonic vibration remarkably improves the flow velocity and pressure in the molten pool, inducing the cavitation effect that breaks dendritic crystal and affects crystal characteristics. Meanwhile, the acoustic streaming effect changes the thermodynamic conditions and promotes high-temperature diffusion, which uniforms temperature distribution and reduces the temperature gradient in the molten pool. Thus the reduced temperature gradient G and raised solidification growth rate R promote the formation of fine equiaxed crystal characteristics after UV treatment. The product G × R increases and the ratio G/R decreases after UV treatment, resulting in the formation of fine equiaxed crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injectable and biodegradable alginate-based composite gel scaffolds doubly integrated with hydroxyapatite (HAp) and gelatin microspheres (GMs) were cross-linked via in situ release of calcium cations. As triggers of calcium cations, CaCO 3 and glucono- d -lactone (GDL) were fixed as a mass ratio of 1:1 to control pH value ranging from 6.8 to 7.2 during gelation. Synchronously, tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) was encapsulated into GMs to enhance bioactivity of composite gel scaffolds. The effects of HAp and GMs on characteristics of gel scaffolds, including pH value, gelation time, mechanical properties, swelling ratio, degradation behavior and drug release, were investigated. The results showed that HAp and GMs successfully improved mechanical properties of gel scaffolds at strain from 0.1 to 0.5, which stabilized the gel network and decreased weight loss, as well as swelling ratio and gelation time. TH could be released from this composite gel scaffold into the local microenvironment in a controlled fashion by the organic/inorganic hybrid of hydrogel network. Our results demonstrate that the HAp and GMs doubly integrated alginate-based gel scaffolds, especially the one with 6% (w/v) HAp and 5% (w/v) GMs, have suitable physical performance and bioactive properties, thus provide a potential opportunity to be used for bone tissue engineering. The potential application of this gel scaffold in bone tissue engineering was confirmed by encapsulation behavior of osteoblasts. In combination with TH, the gel scaffold exhibited beneficial effects on osteoblast activity, which suggested a promising future for local treatment of pathologies involving bone loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many medical and chemical applications require the precise supply of antimicrobial components in a controlled manner at the location of mature biofilm deposits. This work reports a facile strategy to fabricate nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) coencapsulating the antibacterial ligand (lysine carbon dots, Lys-CDs) and targeted drug (folic acid, FA) in one pot to improve antibiofilm efficiency against established biofilms. The resulting products are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, powder x-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The results show that Lys-CDs could coordinate with Zn2+ and the adding of FA inhibits the coordination of Lys-CDs with central ions of Zn. The Lys-CDs and FA are successfully exposed with the NMOFs disintegrating in the acid environment of bacterial metabolites. We are surprised to find a sharp increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the bacterial cells by FA functionalizing NMOFs, which undoubtedly enhance the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity. The as-synthesized ZIF-8-based nanocomposites also show the peroxidase-like activity in an acid environment, and produce extremely active hydroxyl radicals resulting in the improved antibacterial and antibiofilm activity. The possible mechanisms of antibacterial activities indicate that the presence of FA is significant in the sense of targeting bacteria. This study shows a novel approach to construct acid stimulation supply system which may be helpful for the research of antibiofilms. [Display omitted] • Acid-activated ROS generator with folic acid targeting was prepared. • The nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple one-pot method. • The introduction of folic acid resulted in a sharp increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) inside the bacterial cells. • The nanocomposites exhibited a excellent antibiofilm activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Low-drug resistance CQD AG decorated injectable self-healing hydrogel was prepared. • The CQD AG can enhance mechanical performances of the hydrogel. • The hydrogel exhibited a superior antibiofilm activity. • The hydrogel was non-cytotoxicity and non-hemolysis. • The hydrogel could anti-inflammation and accelerate the wound healing in vivo. Local bacterial infection remains an increasingly severe threat to human health worldwide, and infection control is still a challenging task in clinics. Systemic administration of antibiotics usually causes adverse effects and bacterial resistance. Multi-functions hydrogel without drug-resistance is highly desired. Herein, we first synthesize antibacterial carbon quantum dots (CQD AG) with low-drug resistance using gentamicin sulfate and diammonium citrate as precursors. Then carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)-mixed CQD AG is reacted with oxidized dextran (ODex) through the Schiff base linkage to yield hydrogel network. Hydrogel decorated with 2 mg/mL CQD AG (CQD AG2 -hydrogel) shows multi-functions including inherent self-healing, injectable, stretchable, compressive property, pH-dependent release of CQD AG and especially inhibiting biofilm formation, which are beneficial for treating bacterial infections. Besides, it is important that CQD AG2 -hydrogel exhibits good cytocompatibility while sterilizing. In vivo antibacterial and wound healing evaluations demonstrate CQD AG2 -hydrogel have the effect of anti-inflammation and promoting wound repair, which is manifested in wound healing rate, granulation tissue thickness and collagen disposition. The result indicates that the CQD AG2 -hydrogel is excellent candidate for full-thickness skin wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The antibacterial carbon dot could directly form a hydrogel with a polysaccharide. • The carbon dot/polymer hydrogel showed strong self-healing property. • Hydrogel dressings exerted excellent antibacterial properties. Bacterial infection is one of the most formidable problems in wound healing, which inflicts severe pain on patients while causing wound ulceration. Here, we prepared an injectable self-healing carbon dot hydrogel with outstanding antibacterial activity only using ε-poly(L-lysine) carbon dot (PL-CD) and oxidized dextran (ODA). The particle size of PL-CD prepared by pyrolysis of poly- l -lysine was about 3 nm. Moreover, PL-CD with abundant -NH 2 on its surface could not only act as nodes to connect ODA through Schiff base to construct PL-CD@ODA hydrogel network, but also offer excellent antibacterial properties. As the contacting and releasing antibacterial action of the PL-CD@ODA hydrogel, nearly 100 % of the 107 CFU/mL of S. aureus was killed after 10 min of contacting. In addition, PL-CD@ODA hydrogel showed flexible injectability and extremely strong self-healing properties after being severely damaged. When 1000 % shear stress applied to the hydrogel, complete healing could be achieved within a few seconds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Persistent endodontic infections (PEIs) mediated by bacterial biofilm mainly cause persistent periapical inflammation, resulting in recurrent periapical abscesses and progressive bone destruction. However, conventional root canal disinfectants are highly damaging to the tooth and periodontal tissue and ineffective in treating persistent root canal infections. Antimicrobial materials that are biocompatible with apical tissues and can eliminate PEIs-associated bacteria are urgently needed., Methods: Here, ε-poly (L-lysine) derived carbon quantum dots (PL-CQDs) are fabricated using pyrolysis to remove PEIs-associated bacterial biofilms., Results: Due to their ultra-small size, high positive charge, and active reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capacity, PL-CQDs exhibit highly effective antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis ( E. faecalis ), which is greatly dependent on PL-CQDs concentrations. 100 µg/mL PL-CQDs could kill E. faecalis in 5 min. Importantly, PL-CQDs effectively achieved a reduction of biofilms in the isolated teeth model, disrupting the dense structure of biofilms. PL-CQDs have acceptable cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility in vitro and good biosafety in vivo., Discussion: Thus, PL-CQDs provide a new strategy for treating E. faecalis -associated PEIs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 Xu et al.)

Background and Objective: Osteoporotic fractures significantly impact individuals's quality of life and exert substantial pressure on the social pension system. This study aims to develop prediction models for osteoporotic fracture and uncover potential risk factors based on Electronic Health Records (EHR)., Methods: Data of patients with osteoporosis were extracted from the EHR of Xinhua Hospital (July 2012-October 2017). Demographic and clinical features were used to develop prediction models based on 12 independent machine learning (ML) algorithms and 3 hybrid ML models. To facilitate a nuanced interpretation of the results, a comprehensive importance score was conceived, incorporating various perspectives to effectively discern and mine critical features from the data., Results: A total of 8530 patients with osteoporosis were included for analysis, of which 1090 cases (12.8%) were fracture patients. The hybrid model that synergistically combines the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and XGBoost algorithms demonstrated the best predictive performance in terms of accuracy and precision (above 90%) among all benchmark models. Blood Calcium, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), C-reactive Protein (CRP), Apolipoprotein A/B ratio and High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were statistically found to be associated with osteoporotic fracture., Conclusions: The hybrid machine learning model can be a reliable tool for predicting the risk of fracture in patients with osteoporosis. It is expected to assist clinicians in identifying high-risk fracture patients and implementing early interventions., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Adhesive hydrogels, playing an essential role in stretchable electronics, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and so forth, upon functioning often need to adhere to various substrates in wet conditions and simultaneously exhibit antibacterial/antioxidant properties while possessing the intrinsic stretchability and elasticity of the hydrogel network intact. Therefore, simple approaches to conveniently access adhesive hydrogels with multifunctional surfaces are being pursued. Herein, a facile strategy has been proposed to construct multifunctional adhesive hydrogels via surface engineering of a multifunctional carbon dot (CD)-decorated polymeric thin layer by dynamic bond exchange. By this strategy, a double cross-linked network hydrogel of polyacrylamide (PAM) and oxidized dextran (ODA) was engineered with a unique dense layer over the Schiff base hydrogel matrix by aqueous solution immersion of PA-120, versatile CDs derived from tannic acid (TA) and ε-polylysine (PL). Without any additional agents, the PA-120 CDs with residual polyphenolic/catechol and amine moieties were incorporated into the surface structure of the hydrogel network by the combined action of the Schiff base and hydrogen bonds to form a dense surface layer that can exhibit high wet adhesive performance via the amine-polyphenol/catechol pair. The armor-like dense architecture also endowed hydrogels with considerably enhanced tensile/compression properties and excellent antioxidant/antibacterial abilities. Besides, the single-sided modified Janus hydrogel and completely surface-modified hydrogel can be flexibly developed through this approach. This strategy will provide new insights into the preparation and application of surface-modified hydrogels featuring multiple functions and tunable interfacial properties.

This paper focuses on enhancing the performance of electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) by improving the dispersion of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), especially for the methanol formation with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a support. The promising CNTs-supported CoPc hybrid was prepared based on ball milling technique, and the surface morphology was characterized by means of those methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). Then, the synergistic effect of CNTs and ball milling on CO 2 RR performance was analyzed by those methods of cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), gas chromatography (GC), and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 HNMR). Subsequently, the reduction mechanism of CO 2 on ball-milled CoPc/CNTs was revealed based on the DFT calculations. The results showed that the electrocatalyst CoPc/CNTs hybrid prepared with sonication exhibited a conversion efficiency of CO 2 above 60% at -1.0 V vs. RHE, accompanied by the Faradaic efficiencies of nearly 50% for CO and 10% for methanol, respectively. The addition of CNTs as the support improved the utilization efficiency of CoPc and reduced the transfer resistance of species and electrons. Then the ball-milling method further improved the dispersion of CoPc on CNTs, which resulted in the fact that the methanol efficiency was raised by 6% and partial current density was increased by nearly 433%. The better dispersion of CoPc on CNTs adjusted the reduction pathway of CO 2 and resulted in the enhancement of methanol selectivity and catalytic activity of CO 2 . The probable pathway for methanol production was proposed as CO 2  → *CO 2 -  → *COOH → *CO → *CHO → *CH 2 O → *OCH 3  → CH 3 OH. This suggests the significance of the ball-milling method during the preparation of better supported catalysts for CO 2 RR towards those high-valued products., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Mussels can form tough and long-lasting adhesions to organic and inorganic surfaces in saline and impactive severe aquatic environments. Similar to mussel adhesion, dentin bonding occurs in a wet environment. However, unlike mussels, it is difficult to achieve long-lasting bonds with dentin. Moreover, water is considered a major hindrance in dentin bonding. Inspired by the synergistic effect of cationic lysine (Lys) and catechol on the elimination of the hydration layer during mussel adhesion, a catechol- and Lys-functionalized polymerizable polymer (catechol-Lys-methacrylate [CLM]) was synthesized to replicate the complex synergy between amino acids and catechol. The bond-promoting potential of 5 ​mg/mL CLM primer was confirmed using an in vitro wet dentin-bonding model, which was characterized by an improvement in bond strength and durability. CLM can adhere to wet demineralized dentin, with Lys acting as a molecular vanguard to expel water. Subsequently, a myriad of interfacial interactions can be obtained by introducing the catechol group into the interface. Additionally, tough and long-lasting adhesion, similar to that formed by mussels, can be achieved by grafting CLM onto type I collagen via covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, Van der Waals interactions, and cation-π interactions, which can enhance the mechanical and chemical stability of collagen, increase the enzymatic resistance of collagen, and provide additional physical/chemical adhesion to dentin bonds. Catechol- and cationic Lys-functionalized polymers can improve the stability of the resin-dentin interface under wet conditions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Key Message: Abscisic acid induced the expression of AsKIN during the recovery period of garlic cryopreservation. AsKIN was identified as a gene involved in cold and osmotic stress resistance. Cryopreservation has been proven to be effective in removing viruses from garlic. However, oxidative damage in cryopreservation has a significant impact on the survival after preservation. Abscisic acid (ABA) has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and promote the survival after cryopreservation. However, it is not clear which genes play important roles in this process. In this study, we added ABA to the dehydration step and analyzed the transcriptomic divergences between the ABA-treated group and the control group in three cryogenic steps (dehydration, unloading and recovery). By short time-series expression miner (STEM) analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), the recovery step was identified as the period of significant changes in gene expression levels in cryopreservation. The addition of ABA promoted the upregulated expression of microtubule-related genes in the recovery step. We further identified AsKIN as a hub gene in the recovery step and verified its function. The results showed that overexpression of AsKIN enhanced the tolerance of Arabidopsis to oxidative stress in cryopreservation, influenced the expression of genes in response to cold and osmotic stress and promoted plant growth after stress. The AsKIN gene is likely to be involved in the plant response to cold stress and osmotic stress. These results reveal the molecular mechanisms of ABA in cryopreservation and elucidate the potential biological functions of the kinesin-14 subfamily., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There is a significant need for magnetite-silver nanocomposites that exhibit durable and recyclable antimicrobial activity. In this study, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 NPs) coated with ethylenediamine-modified chitosan/polyacrylic acid copolymeric layer (Fe 3 O 4 @ECS/PAA) were fabricated. Subsequently, directly deposited silver (Ag) NPs procedure was carried out to form the antibacterial heterodimers of Fe 3 O 4 @ECS/PAA-Ag NPs. The composition and morphology of the resultant nanostructures were confirmed by FT-IR, XRD, TEM and TGA. The overall length of the heterodimers was approximately 45 nm, in which the mean diameter of Fe 3 O 4 @ECS/PAA NPs reached up to 35 nm, and that of Ag NPs was around 15 nm. The mass fraction of silver NPs in the nanocomposites was about 63.1%. The obtained Fe 3 O 4 @ECS/PAA NPs exhibited good colloidal stability, and excellent response to additional magnetic field, making the NPs easy to recover after antibacterial tests. In particular, the Fe 3 O 4 @ECS/PAA-Ag NPs retained nearly 100% biocidal efficiency (10 6 -10 7  CFU/mg nanoparticles) for both Gram-negative bacteria E. coli and Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus throughout ten cycles without washing with any solvents or water, exhibiting potent and durable antibacterial activity.

The structures and electronic properties of low-energy neutral and anionic Mg n (n = 3-20) clusters have been studied by utilizing a widely adopted CALYPSO structure searching method coupled with density functional theory calculations. A large number of low-energy isomers are optimized at the B3PW91 functional with the 6-311+G(d) basis set. The optimized geometries clearly indicate that a structural transition from hollow three-dimensional configurations to filled-cage-like structures occurs at n = 16 for both neutral and anionic clusters. Based on the anionic ground state structures, photoelectron spectra are simulated using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and compared with experimental results. The good agreement validates that the current ground state structures, obtained from the symmetry-unconstrained searches, are true global minima. A detailed chemical bonding analysis distinctly indicates that the Mg 17 cluster is the first neutral locally π-aromatic homonuclear all-metal cluster, which perfectly satisfies Hückel's well-known 4N + 2 rule.

Spinal muscular atrophy is a devastating motor neuron disease characterized by severe cases of fatal muscle weakness. It is one of the most common genetic causes of mortality among infants aged less than 2 years. Biomarker research is currently receiving more attention, and new candidate biomarkers are constantly being discovered. This review initially discusses the evaluation methods commonly used in clinical practice while briefly outlining their respective pros and cons. We also describe recent advancements in research and the clinical significance of molecular biomarkers for spinal muscular atrophy, which are classified as either specific or non-specific biomarkers. This review provides new insights into the pathogenesis of spinal muscular atrophy, the mechanism of biomarkers in response to drug-modified therapies, the selection of biomarker candidates, and would promote the development of future research. Furthermore, the successful utilization of biomarkers may facilitate the implementation of gene-targeting treatments for patients with spinal muscular atrophy., (Copyright © 2025 Copyright: © 2025 Neural Regeneration Research.)