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High glucose (HG) induced endothelial senescence is related to endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients. Humanin, a member of mitochondrial derived peptides (MDPs), is thought to contribute to aging-related cardiovascular protection. The goal of the study is to explore the pathogenesis of HG-induced endothelial senescence and potential anti-senescent effects of Humanin. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were exposed to glucose to induce senescence, determined by β-galactosidase staining and the expressions of p21, p53, and p16. A clinically relevant dose of HG (15 mM, HG) induced endothelial senescence after 72 h incubation without elevated apoptosis. HG-induced senescence was attributed to the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by SIRT6 downregulation, as ROS inhibitor N-acetyl cysteine blocked HG-induced senescence, while inactivation of SIRT6 increased ROS levels and promoted senescence. Strikingly. pretreatment with [Gly14]-Humanin (HNG) antagonized the downregulation of SIRT6 in response to HG and alleviated ROS production and cell senescence. HG-induced reduction of SIRT6 results in ROS overproduction and endothelial senescence. Humanin protects against HG-induced endothelial senescence via SIRT6. This study provides new directions for biological products related to Humanin to be a potential candidate for the prevention of vascular aging in diabetes., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (JD-LK-2022-095-01, July 28, 2022). Consent to participate: All methods in this study were conducted according to the guidelines and regulations of the Declaration of Helsinki, and all informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Viral pneumonia (VP) often leads to the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in hospitalized patients. The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence of DVT in discharged patients with VP, and whether new and old DVT differ in transverse relaxation time., Methods: In this prospective cohort study in Wuhan, China, 338 consecutive discharged VP patients from February 2021 to March 2023 who underwent T2 weighted Sampling Perfection with Application Optimized Contrast Evolution (SPACE) were recruited to detect DVT. T2 mapping and T2* mapping were performed for the patients with DVT detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The minimum, maximum, mean of T2 time and T2* time of DVT were recorded as T2min, T2max, T2mean, T2*min, T2*max, and T2*mean, respectively. Clinical data and laboratory findings were compared between new and old DVT cases, which were defined based on the examination results before and after discharge. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare transverse relaxation time parameters between new and old DVT., Results: Twelve percent of VP patients (40/338) developed new DVT after discharge. Thirty-three out of 104 DVTs did not resolve after discharge. Compared with patients with new DVT, patients with old DVT were older (67 vs. 59 years, P=0.003); and had a higher proportion of bedridden time >72 hours (72.7% vs. 37.0%, P<0.001). Patients with old DVT had a lower lymphocyte count (0.67×10 9 /L vs. 0.97×10 9 /L, P=0.01), higher C-reactive protein (59 vs. 35 mg/L, P=0.019), and higher levels of D-dimer (6.7 vs. 0.9 µg/mL, P<0.001) than patients with new DVT. Patients with old DVT received more invasive mechanical ventilation (30.3% vs. 7.4%, P<0.001) and had a higher proportion of acute respiratory distress syndrome (75.8% vs. 51.9%, P<0.001), and a higher proportion of cardiac injury (39.4% vs. 14.8%, P=0.033) than patients with new DVT. T2min, T2max, T2mean, and T2*max of new DVT were significantly greater than old DVT (17.6±10.4 vs. 13.2±5.9 ms, 94.9±44.9 vs. 42.3±23.6 ms, 46.8±24.0 vs. 25.0±12.6 ms, 22.5±12.4 vs. 10.7±3.5 ms, P<0.05 for all). There was no significant difference in T2*min or T2*mean between new and old DVT (3.2±0.4 vs. 3.1±0.4 ms, 8.2±4.9 vs. 5.5±1.5 ms, P>0.05 for both)., Conclusions: T2 weighted SPACE magnetic resonance (MR) is valuable in the follow-up of thrombosis of discharged VP patients. T2 mapping distinguishes between new and old DVT., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/qims-23-1607/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Carrier transport capacity with high mobility and long-range diffusion length holds particular significance for the advancement of modern optoelectronic devices. Herein, we have unveiled the carrier dynamics and transport properties of a pristine violet phosphorus (VP) nanosheet by a transient absorption microscopy. Under the excitation (2.41 eV) above the exciton band, two photoinduced absorption peaks with the energy difference of approximately 520 meV emerge within a broadband transient absorption background which originates from the prompt generation of free carriers and the concomitant formation of excitons (lifetime of 467.21 ps). This observation is consistent with the established band-edge model of VP. Intriguingly, we have determined the ambipolar diffusion coefficient and mobility of VP to be approximately 47.32 cm 2 ·s -1 and 1798 cm 2 ·V -1 ·s -1 , respectively, which further indicate a long-range carrier transport of approximately 2.10 μm. This work unveils the significant carrier transport capacity of VP, highlighting its potential for future optoelectronic and excitonic applications.

Developing high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction/oxygen evolution reaction (HER/OER) holds great significance for efficient water splitting. This work presents a two-stage metal-organic thermal evaporation strategy for the fabrication of Ru-based catalysts (Ru/NF) through growing ruthenium (Ru)/ruthenium dioxide (RuO 2 ) nanoparticles (NPs) on nickel foam (NF). The optimal Ru/NF shows remarkable performance in both the HER (26.1 mV) and the OER (235.4 mV) at 10 mA cm -2 in an alkaline medium. The superior OER performance can be attributed to the synergistic interaction between Ru and RuO 2 , facilitating fast alkaline water splitting. Density functional theory studies reveal that the resulting Ru/RuO 2 with the (110) crystal surface reinforces the adsorption of oxygen on RuO 2 , while metallic Ru improves water dissociation in alkaline electrolytes. Besides, Ru/NF requires only 1.50 V at 10 mA cm -2 for overall water splitting, surpassing 20 wt% Pt/C/NF||RuO 2 /NF. This work demonstrates the promising potential of a thermal evaporation approach for designing stable Ru-based nanomaterials loaded onto conductive substrates for high performance overall water splitting.

There are few studies on the impact of postoperative pain management (such as Acute Pain Service, APS) on the prognosis of patients, especially the research on large samples, even less data on Chinese patients. It is reported that only 25.12 % of hospitals in China have established APS or similar teams, and less than 10 % of them are responsible for the whole process of postoperative analgesia services. Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology has established a professional APS team led by anesthesiologists (TJ-APS), and has a standardized workflow and management system. Based on the TJ-APS standardized postoperative pain management, the incidence and adverse effects of postoperative pain in different types of surgical patients were analyzed. In total, 107,802 patients receiving intravenous PCA from the Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology were selected between January 2016 and December 2021, which were under TJ-APS standardized postoperative analgesia process, postoperative analgesia strategy based on the principle of "low opioid, multimodal, specialization and individualization", as well as regular ward rounds and 24-h on call on-duty system. We assessed the incidence and adverse effects of postoperative pain in different types of surgical patients. Based on the TJ-APS standardized postoperative pain management, the incidence of poor postoperative analgesia in patients with intravenous PCA is significantly lower than that reported in the current literature (20 %), and mainly occurs in biliary-pancreatic surgery, extrahepatic surgery and gastrointestinal surgery. The overall incidence of adverse effects was 5.52 %, of which nausea and vomiting was the highest, especially among gynecological tumors and gynecological patients, which were 10.75 % and 8.68 % respectively, but both were lower than the level reported in the current literature (20 %). This APS multimodal management and analgesia process can provide reference and guidance for PCA management of postoperative acute pain., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Objective: To create and authenticate MRI-based radiomic signatures to identify dorsal root ganglia (DRG) lesions in post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) patients generalizable and interpretable., Method: This prospective diagnostic study was conducted between January 2021 and February 2022. Lesioned DRG in patients with PHN and normal DRG in age-, sex-, height-, and weight-matched healthy controls were selected for assessment and divided into two groups (8:2) randomly: training and testing sets. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator algorithm was employed to generate feature signatures and construct a model, followed by the assessment of model efficacy using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), as well as sensitivity and specificity metrics., Results: The present investigation involved 30 patients diagnosed with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), consisting of 18 males and 12 females (mean age 60.70 ± 10.18 years), as well as 30 healthy controls, comprising 18 males and 12 females (mean age 58.13 ± 10.54 years). A total of 98 DRG were randomly divided into two groups (8:2), namely a training set ( n  = 78) and a testing set ( n  = 20). Five radiomic features were chosen to construct the models. In the training dataset, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.847, while the sensitivity and specificity were 71.79 and 97.44%, respectively. In the test dataset, the AUC was 0.87, and the sensitivity and specificity were 80.00 and 100.00%, respectively., Conclusion: An MRI-based radiomic signatures model has the capacity to uncover the micro-change of damaged DRG in individuals afflicted with postherpetic neuralgia., 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 © 2023 Cao, Wen, Yu, Zheng, Wu and Zhang.)

This study employs bibliometric analysis through CiteSpace to comprehensively evaluate the status and trends of MANF (mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor) research spanning 25 years (1997-2022). It aims to fill the gap in objective and comprehensive reviews of MANF research. MANF-related studies were extracted from the Web of Science database. MANF publications were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed for various factors by CiteSpace, including publication volume, journals, countries/regions, institutions, and authors. Keywords and references were visually analyzed to unveil research evolution and hotspot. Analysis of 353 MANF-related articles revealed escalating annual publications, indicating growing recognition of MANF's importance. High-impact journals such as the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Journal of Biological Chemistry underscored MANF's interdisciplinary significance. Collaborative networks highlighted China and the USA's pivotal roles, while influential figures and partnerships drove understanding of MANF's mechanisms. Co-word analysis of MANF-related keywords exposed key evolutionary hotspots, encompassing neurotrophic effects, cytoprotective roles, MANF-related diseases, and the CDNF/MANF family. This progression from basic understanding to clinical potential showcased MANF's versatility from cellular protection to therapy. Bibliometric analysis reveals MANF's diverse research trends and pathways, from basics to clinical applications, driving medical progress. This comprehensive assessment enriches understanding and empowers researchers for dynamic evolution, advancing innovation, and benefiting patients. Bibliometric analysis of MANF research. The graphical abstract depicts the bibliometric analysis of MANF research, highlighting its aims, methods, and key results., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a prevalent, intricate, and intractable form of neuropathic pain. The available evidence indicates that alterations in the gut microbiota are significant environmental determinants in the development of chronic neuropathic pain. Nevertheless, the correlation between the gut microbiota and PHN remains elusive. A cross-sectional study was performed on a cohort of 27 patients diagnosed with PHN and 27 matched healthy controls. Fecal samples were collected and subjected to microbiota analysis using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Comparable levels of bacterial richness and diversity were observed in the gut microbiota of PHN patients and healthy controls. A significant difference was observed in 37 genera between the two groups. Furthermore, the LEfSe method revealed that the abundance levels of Escherichia-Shigella, Streptococcus, Ligilactobacillus, and Clostridia&#95;UCG-014&#95;unclassified were elevated in PHN patients, while Eubacterium&#95;hallii&#95;group, Butyricicoccus, Tyzzerella, Dorea, Parasutterella, Romboutsia, Megamonas, and Agathobacter genera were reduced in comparison to healthy controls. Significantly, the discriminant model utilizing the predominant microbiota exhibited efficacy in distinguishing PHN patients from healthy controls, with an area under the curve value of 0.824. Moreover, Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated noteworthy correlations between various gut microbiota and clinical symptoms, including disease course, anxiety state, sleep quality, heat pain, pain intensity, and itching intensity. Gut microbiota dysbiosis exists in PHN patients, microbiome differences could be used to distinguish PHN patients from normal healthy individuals with high sensitivity and specificity, and altered gut microbiota are related to clinical manifestations, suggesting potentially novel prevention and therapeutic directions of PHN., (© 2023. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: The relationship between abdominal adipose tissue and osteoporosis is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of abdominal adipose tissue with bone mineral density (BMD) among a nationally representative sample of US middle-aged adults., Material and Methods: This study included 1498 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2014 and 2017-2018. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to measure BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck, as well as to assess abdominal adipose mass by categorizing total adipose tissue (TAT) into visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). Linear regression was used to assess the relationship between abdominal adipose tissue and BMD, and logistic regression and generalized additive model were used to assess the associations of abdominal adipose tissue with the development of low BMD., Results: In our study, men accounted for 51.3%, and the mean age and body mass index for men and women were 49.3 and 49.6 years, and 23.9 and 28.3 kg/m 2 , respectively. In the univariate model, we found that abdominal adipose mass was positively associated with BMD at femoral neck and spine in both genders. In the multivariate model, among men, a negative correlation was observed between TAT and SAT and BMD at the femoral neck. Additionally, higher masses of TAT, SAT, and VAT were found to significantly increase the risk of low BMD at both the femoral neck and lumbar spine. In contrast, there was no significant association between abdominal adipose mass and BMD in middle-aged women, regardless of menopausal status., Conclusions: Our finding suggested that abdominal adipose tissue, regardless of its location (SAT or VAT), may have a negative impact on BMD in middle-aged men independently of body weight, but this relationship was not observed in women. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and investigate potential mechanisms underlying these associations., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To assess changes of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal nerves in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and investigate the correlation between DRG morphology and clinical symptoms in PHN patients using magnetic resonance neurography (MRN)., Methods: In this case-control study, forty-nine lesioned DRG in 30 patients and 49 normal DRG in 30 well-matched (age, sex, height, weight) healthy controls were assessed. Clinical symptoms of patients (pain, allodynia, itching, and numbness) were assessed. MRN features (DRG volume (V DRG ), the largest diameter (D max ) of spinal nerves, signal intensity of DRG and spinal nerves (M-value)) were measured in all participants. Multilinear regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the DRG morphology and clinical symptoms in patients., Results: The volume and relative M-value of lesioned DRG in patients were significantly higher than those on the same side of healthy controls ( p = 0.013, p < 0.001, respectively). The mean D max and relative M-value of spinal nerves on the lesioned side were significantly higher than those on the contralateral and same side of healthy controls ( p < 0.0001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.0011, p = 0.0053, respectively). No difference was found between the mean V DRG of the lesioned and contralateral sides. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that disease duration was independent risk factor for the maximum rate of V DRG differences ( p = 0.013)., Conclusions: DRG and spinal nerves on the lesioned side are swollen during PHN. Disease duration is an independent risk factor for morphological differences in the lesioned DRG of PHN patients. This study provides important guidance for individualized treatments of PHN., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 Cao et al.)

Single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) transformations provide more possibilities for phase transitions, which have attracted great attention in crystal engineering. In this paper, we report a series of reversible SCSC transformations between nanoscale two-dimensional layered double hydroxide (LDH) crystals and three-dimensional metal-organic framework crystals. They can proceed not only in solution systems but also on the surface of solid-state polyacrylonitrile films and fibers. Specifically, reversible SCSC transformations can be carried out between nanoscale ZIF-67 and Co-LDH. The Co-LDH nanomaterials displayed excellent oxygen evolution reaction performance. This work has good universality and scalability, which provides a novel avenue for the synthesis of crystal materials and is of great significance for the recycling of resources.

All-optical terahertz (THz) modulators have received tremendous attention due to their significant role in developing future sixth-generation technology and all-optical networks. Herein, the THz modulation performance of the Bi 2 Te 3 /Si heterostructure is investigated via THz time-domain spectroscopy under the control of continuous wave lasers at 532 nm and 405 nm. Broadband-sensitive modulation is observed at 532 nm and 405 nm within the experimental frequency range from 0.8 to 2.4 THz. The modulation depth reaches 80% under the 532 nm laser illumination with a maximum power of 250 mW and 96% under 405 nm illumination with a high power of 550 mW. The mechanism of the largely enhanced modulation depth is attributed to the construction of a type-II Bi 2 Te 3 /Si heterostructure, which could promote photogenerated electron and hole separation and increase carrier density dramatically. This work proves that a high photon energy laser can also achieve high-efficiency modulation based on the Bi 2 Te 3 /Si heterostructure, and the UV-Visible control laser may be more suitable for designing advanced all-optical THz modulators with micro-level sizes.

Background: NTRK1 gene, encoding TrkA, is essential for the nervous system and drives a variety of biological processes, including pain. Given the unsatisfied analgesic effects of some new drugs targeting NTRK1 in clinic, a deeper understanding for the mechanism of NTRK1 in neurons is crucial., Methods: We assessed the transcriptional responses in SH-SY5Y cells with NTRK1 overexpression using bioinformatics analysis. GO and KEGG analyses were performed, PPI networks were constructed, and the functional modules and top 10 genes were screened. Subsequently, hub genes were validated using RT-qPCR., Results: A total of 419 DEGs were identified, including 193 upregulated and 226 downregulated genes. GO showed that upregulated genes were mainly enriched in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, protein folding in ER, etc ., and downregulated genes were highly enriched in a series of cellular parts and cellular processes. KEGG showed DEGs were enriched in protein processing in ER and pathways associated with cell proliferation and migration. The finest module was dramatically enriched in the ER stress response-related biological process. The verified seven hub genes consisted of five upregulated genes (COL1A1, P4HB, HSPA5, THBS1, and XBP1) and two downregulated genes (CCND1 and COL3A1), and almost all were correlated with response to ER stress., Conclusion: Our data demonstrated that NTRK1 significantly influenced the gene transcription of ER stress response in SH-SY5Y cells. It indicated that ER stress response could contribute to various functions of NTRK1 -dependent neurons, and therefore, ER stress response-associated genes need further study for neurological dysfunction implicated in NTRK1 ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 Jiao et al.)

Introduction: PRKCG mutations have been implicated in the pathogenesis of spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14), which is a rare autosomal dominant disease marked by cerebellar degeneration, dysarthria, and nystagmus. Until now, there has never been a report of patients with mutations of c.1232G>C worldwide. Case description: We report a case of a 30-year-old Chinese man with episodic dystaxia, speech disorder, and cognitive impairment; however, his father exclusively exhibited a speech disorder regardless of the same mutation. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a heterozygous c.1232G>C (p.G411A) variant of PRKCG . Conclusion: This case presents an extended genotype and phenotype of SCA14, and emphasizes the importance of gene sequencing in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia., 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 © 2023 Sun, Tang, Cao, Shao and Sun.)

Introduction: Mannitol is the most widely used hyperosmolar agent during neurosurgical procedures. However, its use can lead to serious hyperkalemia with altered cardiac conduction., Case Presentation: Here we report a case in which a 40-min cardiac arrest was caused by mannitol-induced hyperkalemia during craniotomy. In addition, we conducted a literature review through a PubMed (MEDLINE) search of the relevant literature published so far. Details of all cases are presented and discussed. The results suggest that male patients or patients with uncontrolled diabetes might be at higher risk to develop this phenomenon. The results also suggest that the high dose and rapid rate of infusion of mannitol might contribute to mannitol-induced hyperkalemia., Conclusion: Physicians should be aware of the existence of mannitol-induced hyperkalemia. Although the mechanism of this complication is not well established, it is prudent to administer mannitol cautiously, especially in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Continuous electrocardiogram monitoring and frequent measurements of serum electrolytes can help to detect and treat possible life-threatening events induced by mannitol-induced hyperkalemia early., 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., (© 2022 Zheng, Cao, Gao, Li, Wan and Luo.)

Herpes zoster is not common in multiple myeloma (MM) patients treated with lenalidomide-based regimens. We report an MM patient in his late 60s who received lenalidomide as maintenance treatment and whose condition was complicated with refractory postherpetic neuralgia. The patient received antiviral treatment and analgesia immediately after the diagnosis of herpes zoster. Two months later, the patient received acupuncture, radiofrequency treatment, and even spinal cord stimulation, which failed to relieve the pain. Consequently, we performed high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical and thoracic nerves. Then, stellate ganglion block, left C5/C6/C7/C8 nerve root block, and left thoracic 1, 2 paravertebral nerve block were performed with the assistance of real-time ultrasound. The pain was immediately relieved after treatment; however, the symptoms reappeared 2 days later. At 5 months after treatment, the patient still experienced severe pain. We suggest that MM patients complicated with postherpetic neuralgia are refractory to treatment. Starting nerve block therapy, pulsed radiofrequency, and other interventional therapies as early as possible could be a more optimal treatment plan for these patients.

Previous studies found that exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) was associated with an increased risk of incident stroke, but few studies have been conducted for relatively low NO 2 pollution areas. In this study, the short-term effects of NO 2 on the risk of incident stroke in a relatively low-pollution area, Enshi city of Hubei Province, China, were investigated through time-series analysis. Daily air-pollution data, meteorological data, and stroke incidence data of residents in Enshi city from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018 were collected. A time-series analysis using a generalised additive model (GAM) based on Poisson distribution was applied to explore the short-term effects of low-level NO 2 exposure on the risk of incident stroke and stroke subtypes, as well as possible age, sex, and seasonal differences behind the effects. In the GAM model, potential confounding factors, such as public holidays, day of the week, long-term trends, and meteorological factors (temperature and relative humidity), were controlled. A total of 9122 stroke incident cases were included during the study period. We found that NO 2 had statistically significant effects on the incidence of stroke and ischemic stroke, estimated by excess risk (ER) of 0.37% (95% CI: 0.04-0.70%) and 0.58% (95% CI: 0.18-0.98%), respectively. For the cumulative lag effects, the NO 2 still had a statistically significant effect on incident ischemic stroke, estimated by ER of 0.61% (95% CI: 0.01-1.21%). The two-pollutant model showed that the effects of NO 2 on incident total stroke were still statistically significant after adjusting for other air pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , CO, and O 3 ). In addition, the effects of NO 2 exposure on incident stroke were statistically significant in elderly (ER = 0.75%; 95% CI: 0.11-1.40%), males (ER = 0.47%; 95% CI: 0.05-0.89%) and cold season (ER = 0.83%; 95% CI: 0.15-1.51%) subgroups. Our study showed that, as commonly observed in high-pollution areas, short-term exposure to low-level NO 2 was associated with an increased risk of incident stroke, including ischemic stroke. Males and elderly people were more vulnerable to the effects of NO 2 , and the adverse effects might be promoted in the cold season.

This Communication demonstrates a novel and in situ simultaneous cavitation-doping (SCD) approach to construct bimetallic metal-doped cobalt metal-organic framework hollow nanospheres (CoM-MOF HNSs, with M = Ru or Fe). The key point of the SCD approach is the careful balance between the kinetics of Co-MOF being etched and the coordinative growth of a more stable CoM-MOF shell induced by Lewis acid (MCl 3 , with M = Ru or Fe). Our work provides a new method to synthesize bimetallic hollow MOFs and benefits the development of electrocatalysts.

The chromatographic fingerprint of 14 batches of Artemisia rupestris L. samples were established in this study. The constituents of ten components in Artemisia rupestris L. were determined using quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker (QAMS) and the external standard method (ESM). Due to their stability and accessibility, chlorogenic acid and linarin were used as references to calculate the relative correction factors (RCFs) of apigenin-C-6,8-pentoside-hexoside, apigenin-C-6,8-di-pentoside, luteolin, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, chrysosplenetin B, and sbsinthin, based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The value calculated by QAMS was consistent with that of the ESM, and the reproducibility of RCFs was found to be reliable. In conclusion, simultaneous determination of the ten components by the QAMS method and chromatographic fingerprint analysis were feasible and accurate in evaluating the quality of Artemisia rupestris L. and can be used as reference in traditional Chinese medicine quality control.

Background: Dysregulation in gut microbiota and host cometabolome contributes to the complicated pathology of ulcerative colitis (UC), while Zuo-Jin-Wan (ZJW), a traditional Chinese medicine has shown therapeutic effects against UC with its underlying mechanism remains elusive., Purpose: This study utilized an integrated analysis combining gut microbiome and host cometabolism to disclose the potential therapeutic mechanism of ZJW on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in rats., Methods: We first evaluated the therapeutic effects of ZJW treatment in DSS-induced rat model. 16S rRNA sequencing, 1 H NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics and Spearman correlation analysis were conducted to explore the potential therapeutic mechanism during the treatment., Results: Our results showed that UC symptoms in ZJW rats were significantly attenuated. Marked decline in microbial diversity in ZJW group was accompanied by its correspondent function adjustment. Specific enrichment of genus Bacteroides, Sutterella, Akkermansia and Roseburia along with the major varying amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism were observed meantime. Metabolic data further corroborated that ZJW-related metabolic changes were basically gathered in amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate/energy metabolism and lipid metabolism. Of note, some biochemical parameters were deeply implicated with the discriminative microbial genera and metabolites involved in tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and amino acid metabolism, indicating the microbiome-metabolome association in gut microbiota-metabolite-phenotype axis during UC treatment of ZJW., Conclusion: For the first time, integrated microbiome-metabolome analysis depicted that ZJW could alleviate DSS-induced UC in rats via a crosstalk between gut microbiota and host cometabolites., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Background: In this case report, we described the past history, clinical manifestations, genetic characteristics and cognitive evaluation of a boy with congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) who developed autism spectrum disorder (ASD)., Case Presentation: The boy had an early onset of CIPA at the age of 48 months, and was later diagnosed with ASD at 5 years old. Developmental delays in communication, social skills and the presence of maladaptive behaviors were observed in the patient. Professional treatments significantly improved the developmental delays., Conclusions: This case demonstrated that ASD may develop in children with CIPA, and pediatricians should be aware that if they suspect or identify a child with CIPA that they should also be screened for ASD using similar examination and diagnostic tools as shown in the present report. Moreover, therapeutic interventions for ASD was helpful for the remission of both diseases., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Previous studies on the soft coral Lobophytum sarcophytoides (Lobophytum sp.) are mainly about small molecules, and there has been no systematic research on polysaccharides. In the study, a novel polysaccharide (LCPs-1-A) with immunoenhancing functions was successfully extracted and purified from the soft coral Lobophytum sp. After preliminary analysis, our data indicated that LCPs-1-A was composed of glucose and had a molecular weight of 4.90 × 10 6  Da. Moreover, our findings showed that LCPs-1-A could promote the proliferation and phagocytosis of RAW264.7 cells, stimulate the production of NO and ROS, and increase the mRNA expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, which indicated that LCPs-1-A had a good immunoenhancing activity. Through further studies, we found that LCPs-1-A might play an immunoenhancing role through the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Therefore, our results demonstrated that LCPs-1-A might be a natural immunostimulant for use in medical and food industries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Belt-shaped metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received extensive attention because of their unique structure. In this Communication, Fe-MOF nanobelts were synthesized by a solvothermal method with Fe 2+ as the metal source and could not be obtained by using Fe 3+ as the metal source. The final result shows that Fe 2+ played a transitional role in the process of achieving belt-shaped and cubelike structural changes. Our work provides an idea for the synthesis of belt-shaped MOFs and promotes the development of electrocatalysts.

Controlling the morphology of highly homogeneous nanoribbons is one of the main goals for synthesizing catalysts with excellent activity and durability. In this Communication, platinum (Pt) nanoribbons were synthesized by a one-pot method. We used ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F) as the regulator, under 8 atm of hydrogen (H 2 ), to synthesize zigzag-shaped two-dimensional Pt nanoribbons. Benefiting from their unique morphology, the Pt nanoribbons display superior electrocatalytic activity and stability.

Developing the highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reactions (OERs), as vital half reactions of water splitting, is crucial for renewable energy technology. The electrocatalysts based on multi-component and hierarchically structured non-noble metal hydr(oxy)oxide materials are of great prospects. Herein, we report an efficient strategy at low temperatures for synthesizing amorphous iron-doped cobalt-molybdenum ultrathin hydroxide (Fe-CoMo UH) nanosheets. Benefiting from the ultrathin amorphous structure and multi-metal coordination, Fe-CoMo UH nanosheets exhibit outstanding performance for OERs with a low overpotential of 245 mV at 10 mA cm -2 , a small Tafel slope of 37 mV dec -1 and an excellent stability for 90 h. The mass activity of Fe-CoMo UH is higher than that of commercial Ir/C and most of the transition metal hydroxide catalysts. This work provides a feasible consideration for the construction of promising efficient non-noble metal catalysts.

Critical patients with COVID-19 are thought to be at high risk of developing chronic pain. However, the exact nature and mechanisms of COVID-19-related chronic pain remain largely unknown. Here, we describe clinical features, treatments and outcome of herpes zoster as well as postherpetic neuralgia in a 70-year-old woman with critical COVID-19. The patient had a history of type 2 diabetes and myasthenia gravis. She developed herpes zoster in the right 10 to 12 lumbar dermatomes in the recovery period of COVID-19. Intravenous (250 mg 3 times a day) and then oral (400 mg 5 times a day) acyclovir was used for antiviral therapy. Pregabalin (75 mg orally twice a day) and ibuprofen was used for analgesia. Her skin lesions resolved 21 days after the onset of rash. However, she continued to have persistent pain in the same dermatomal distribution. After the dosage of pregabalin was increased to 150 mg orally twice a day, her pain was partially relieved. During the telephone follow-up 4 months after herpes zoster eruption, the patient still complained intermittent pain in the right 10 to 12 lumbar dermatomes. Our case draws attention to postherpetic neuralgia in COVID-19 patients and provides a targeted suggestion for this kind of patients., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Cao et al.)

Metallic sulfides have emerged as highly active, durable, and robust electrocatalysts for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to their intriguing electronic and catalytic properties. One of the important strategies to further enhance their HER performance is to build multimetallic nanostructures by tuning the electronic state. Here we combine multimetallic structures and metal sulfides, and report an efficient strategy for the in situ surface-derivation of molybdenum sulfide nanosheets (MoS 2 NSs) on Ag-Pd-Mo alloy nanowires (AgPdMo NWs) to form AgPdMo/MoS 2 NWs. The heterostructure incorporates AgPdMo NWs with high conductivity and MoS 2 NSs with abundant active sites, which act synergistically in alkaline solution. The as-tuned AgPdMo/MoS 2 NWs exhibit Pt-like electrocatalytic performance for the HER, with a small overpotential of 54 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 and a low Tafel slope of 72 mV dec -1 . The present work demonstrates a potential strategy for designing heterostructures with multimetallic composition by in situ surface-derivation with enhanced performance in water splitting.

In this manuscript, we utilize a facile and efficient step-by-step strategy to synthesize three-layered C@TiO2@MoS2 hierarchical nanocomposites. These novel hybrids serve as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The designed structure, in which MoS2 nanosheets are uniformly grown on TiO2 coated carbon hollow spheres, can enhance the electrical conductivity of electrodes, shorten the diffusion length of Li+ ions, alleviate the expansion of electrode materials and provide more active sites for lithium ion storage. As anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the C@TiO2@MoS2 hierarchical nanocomposites exhibit a high initial specific capacity (1687 mA h g-1) and good cycling performance (993.2 mA h g-1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g-1). Furthermore, the C@TiO2@MoS2 electrode exhibits high rate capacities of 963, 860, 806, 743, 703, 664 and 633 mA h g-1 at different current densities of 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 mA h g-1, respectively. The electrochemical performances stated above prove that the as-prepared C@TiO2@MoS2 nanocomposites can be promising anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

In this manuscript, we synthesize a porous three-dimensional anode material consisting of molybdenum dioxide nanodots anchored on nitrogen (N)/sulfur (S) co-doped reduced graphene oxide (GO) (3D MoO 2 /NP-NSG) through hydrothermal, lyophilization and thermal treatment. First, the NP-NSG is formed via hydrothermal treatment using graphene oxide, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and thiourea as the co-dopant for N and S, followed by calcination of the N/S co-doped GO in the presence of ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate to obtain the 3D MoO 2 /NP-NSG product. This novel material exhibits a series of out-bound electrochemical performances, such as superior conductivity, high specific capacity, and excellent stability. As an anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the MoO 2 /NP-NSG electrode has a high initial specific capacity (1376 mAh g -1 ), good cycling performance (1250 mAh g -1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g -1 ), and outstanding Coulombic efficiency (99% after 450 cycles at a current density of 1 A g -1 ). Remarkably, the MoO 2 /NP-NSG battery exhibits exceedingly good rate capacities of 1021, 965, 891, 760, 649, 500 and 425 mAh g -1 at different current densities of 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 mA g -1 , respectively. The superb electrochemical performance is owed to the high porosity of the 3D architecture, the synergistic effect contribution from N and S co-doped in the reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and the uniform distribution of MoO 2 nanodots on the rGO surface.

Purpose: To figure out plasma homocysteine (Hcy) status in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) and overt hypothyroidism (OH) compared with healthy subjects, and the effect of levothyroxine (L-T4) on plasma homocysteine status in patients with hypothyroidism., Methods: PubMed Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library were used to identify eligible studies. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale was used to assess the quality of selected studies. All analyses were performed using the STATA, version 12 software., Results: Our meta-analysis indicated that plasma Hcy concentrations elevated in OH patients without L-T4 treatment compared with healthy subjects. However, this elevation was not observed in the comparison between patients withSH without L-T4 treatment and healthy subjects. Moreover, plasma Hcy levels were found to be higher in patients with OH without L-T4 treatment than in patients with SH without L-T4 treatment. Finally, plasma Hcy concentrations decreased after L-T4 treatment in patients with SH or OH., Conclusions: Plasma Hcy status is associated with the severity of hypothyroidism and L-T4 treatment is helpful for patients with hypothyroidism to reduce the plasma Hcy levels.

A simple and scalable coordination-derived method for the synthesis of porous Co3O4 hollow nanospheres is described here. The initially formed coordination-driven self-assembled aggregates (CDSAAs) could act as the precursor followed by calcination treatment. Then the porous hollow Co3O4 nanospheres are obtained, in which the primary Co3O4 nanoparticles are inter-dispersed. When the nanospheres are used as anode materials for lithium storage, they show excellent coulombic efficiency, high lithium storage capacity and superior cycling performance. In view of the facile synthesis and excellent electrochemical performance obtained, this protocol to fabricate special porous hollow frameworks could be further extended to other metal oxides and is expected to improve the practicality of superior cycle life anode materials with large volume excursions for the development of the next generation of LIBs.

The ubiquitous vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase), a multisubunit proton pump, is essential for intraorganellar acidification. Here, we hypothesized that V-ATPase is involved in the pathogenesis of kidney tubulointerstitial fibrosis. We first examined its expression in the rat unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model of kidney fibrosis and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-mediated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in rat proximal tubular epithelial cells (NRK52E). Immunofluorescence experiments showed that UUO resulted in significant upregulation of V-ATPase subunits (B2, E, and c) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in areas of tubulointerstitial injury. We further observed that TGF-β1 (10 ng/ml) treatment resulted in EMT of NRK52E (upregulation of α-SMA and downregulation of E-cadherin) in a time-dependent manner and significant upregulation of V-ATPase B2 and c subunits after 48 h and the E subunit after 24 h, by real-time PCR and immunoblot analyses. The ATP hydrolysis activity tested by an ATP/NADH-coupled assay was increased after 48-h TGF-β1 treatment. Using intracellular pH measurements with the SNARF-4F indicator, Na(+)-independent pH recovery was significantly faster after an NH(4)Cl pulse in 48-h TGF-β1-treated cells than controls. Furthermore, the V-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 partially protected the cells from EMT. TGF-β1 induced an increase in the cell surface expression of the B2 subunit, and small interfering RNA-mediated B2 subunit knockdown partially reduced the V-ATPase activity and attenuated EMT induced by TGF-β1. Together, these findings show that V-ATPase may promote EMT and chronic tubulointerstitial fibrosis due to increasing its activity by either overexpression or redistribution of its subunits.

Traditionally important in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and synthetic dye industries, C-N coupling has proved useful for the preparation of a number of valuable organic compounds. Here, a new method for the direct one-pot reductive C-N coupling from carbonyl and aromatic nitro compounds is described. Employing ultrathin platinum nanowires as the catalyst and hydrogen as the reducing agent, N-alkylamines were achieved in high yields. Debenzylation products were not detected after prolonged reaction times. Time-dependent analysis, ReactIR spectroscopy and DFT calculations revealed that the C-N coupling proceeded through a different mechanism than traditional "reductive amination." N-Alkylamines were directly obtained by intermolecular dehydration over platinum nanowires under a hydrogen atmosphere, instead of intramolecular water elimination and imine hydrogenation., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Iron oxide coated platinum nanowires (Pt@Fe(2)O(3)NWs) with a diameter of 2.8 nm have been prepared by the oxygen oxidation of FePt NWs in oleylamine. These "cable"-like NWs were characterised by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. These Pt@Fe(2)O(3) NWs were used as "non-support" heterogeneous catalysts in oxidation of olefins and alcohols. The results revealed that it is an active and highly selective catalyst. Styrene derivatives were tested with molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant, with benzaldehyde successfully obtained from styrene in an absolute yield of 31%, whereas the use of tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the sole oxidant in the oxidation of alcohols led to yields of more than 80% of the corresponding ketone or aldehyde. This unsupported catalyst was found to be more active (TOF=96.5 h(-1)) than other reported Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticle catalysts and could be recycled multiple times without any notable decrease in activity. Our findings will extend the use of such nanomaterial catalysts to new catalytic systems., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A novel ultrathin platinum nanowire with uniform length and a diameter of 1.5 nm was synthesized by acidic etching of FePt nanowire in methanol. This nanowire was characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) data indicated that the main plane is (111). The ability of this nanowire to catalyze the heterogeneous hydrogenation of nitroaromatics to give the corresponding amines has been investigated. The catalyst showed satisfactory activity in various solvents under mild conditions and showed excellent stability. The catalytic performance was also evaluated in the one-pot reduction of nitroaromatics and amidation with carboxylic acids under a hydrogen atmosphere at 100 °C. These methods for the hydrogenation of nitroaromatics and the direct amidation of nitroaromatics with carboxylic acids are simple, economical, and environmentally benign, and have practical advantages for the synthesis of amines and amides without the production of toxic byproducts., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)