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AbstractPurpose This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided RFA and MWA in the treatment of unifocal PTMC.Methods This retrospective study included 512 patients with 512 unifocal papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTMCs) who underwent RFA (n = 346) and MWA (n = 166) between January 2021 and December 2021. The volumes of the ablation areas were measured during follow-up, and the volume reduction rates were evaluated. The ablation duration, volume of hydrodissection, and ablation-related complications were also compared between the groups.Results All lesions received complete ablation and no local or distant recurrences were observed in the two groups. A larger volume of isolation liquid was used for RFA than for MWA (p = 0.000). Hoarseness occurred in seven patients who underwent RFA (p = 0.102). At the 1-week follow-up, the mean volume of the areas ablated by RFA was smaller than that of the areas ablated by MWA (p = 0.049). During follow-ups at months 3, 9, 12, 15, and 18, the mean volumes of the ablated areas were larger in the RFA group than in the MWA group (all, p

Chitosan (CS) has been extensively studied in wound care for its intrinsic hemostatic and antibacterial properties. However, CS has limiting hemostasis applications on account of its drawbacks such as poor adhesion in humid environments and water solubility at neutral pH. CS-based biomaterials, inspired by mussel-adhesive proteins, serve as a suggested platform by biomedical science. The reports show that the mussel-inspired CS-based hemostatic structure has negligible toxicity and excellent adhesiveness. Biomedicine has witnessed significant progress in the development of these hemostatic materials. This review summarizes the methods for the modification of CS by mussel-inspired chemistry. Moreover, the general method for preparation of mussel-inspired CS-based biomaterials is briefly discussed in this review. This work is expected to give a better understanding of opportunities and challenges of the mussel-inspired strategy for the functionalization of CS-based biomaterials in hemostasis and wound healing. This review is hoped to provide an important perspective on the preparation of mussel-inspired CS-based hemostatic materials.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage caused by trauma can easily lead to death. Efficient and safe hemostatic materials are an urgent and increasing need for hemostatic research. Following a trauma, wound healing is induced by various cellular mechanisms and proteins. Hemostatic biomaterials that can not only halt bleeding quickly but also provide an environment to promote wound healing have been the focus of research in recent years. Mussel-inspired nanoparticle composite hydrogels have been propelling the development of hemostatic materials owing to their unique advantages in adhesion, hemostasis, and bacteriostasis. This review summarizes the hemostatic and antimicrobial fundamentals of polydopamine (PDA)-based nanomaterials and emphasizes current developments in hemorrhage-related PDA nanomaterials. Moreover, it briefly discusses safety concerns and clinical application problems with PDA hemostatic nanomaterials.

Obtaining adequate resection margins in small intestinal necrotic tissue remains challenging due to the lack of intraoperative feedback. Here, we used hyperspectral imaging (HSI), an imaging technique for objective identification, combined with deep learning methods for automated small intestine tissue classification. As part of a prospective experimental study, we recorded hyperspectral datasets of small intestine biopsies from seven white rabbits. Based on the differences in the spectral characteristics of normal and ischemic necrotic small intestinal tissues in the wavelength range of 400–1000 nm, we applied deep learning techniques to objectively distinguish between these two types of tissues. The results showed that three-dimensional convolutional neural networks were more effective in extracting both spectral and spatial features of small intestine tissue hyperspectral data for classification. The combination of a deep learning model and HSI provided a new idea for the objective identification of ischemic necrotic tissue in the small intestine.

A series of thermo- and light-responsive copolymers of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and 6-[4-(4-methoxy phenyl azo)-phenoxyl-hexyl methacrylate) (AzoMA) (PNIPAM-b-PAzoMA) were synthesized via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical polymerization. The resulting copolymers had a narrow molecular weight distribution range of 1.06–1.24, in which Mn changed regularly with the monomer concentration. Subsequently, the diblock copolymers were successfully modified on the surface of iron oxide nanoparticles through the interaction between the chemical bonds to prepare Fe3O4@(PNIPAM-b-PAzoMA) nanoparticles. The size of fabricated nanoparticles with excellent thermo-sensitivity and photo-sensitivity was controlled at about 40–50 nm. Cell viability assays suggested that the nanoparticles showed no significant cytotoxicity and potential drug delivery in the tumor microenvironment.

Background: Helicobacter pylori is a chronic pathogenic bacteria that causes gastric mucosal damage through various host-related and pathogen-related factors. Thus, a single gene research cannot fully explain its pathogenicity. Purpose of the study: It is necessary to establish a Helicobacter pylori pathogenic gene transcription factor regulatory network (TFRN) and study its central nodes. Results: The expression data of Helicobacter pylori pathogenic genes were obtained through GEO Datasets of NCBI. The genes were screened using linear model-empirical Bayesian statistics in R language Limma package combined with the conventional t-test; the results identified 1231 differentially expressed genes. The functional analysis (gene ontology-analysis) and signal pathway analysis (pathway-analysis) of differentially expressed genes were performed using the DAVID and KEGG databases, respectively. The pathogenic gene regulatory network was constructed by integrating transcriptional regulatory element database (TRED); the disease-related analysis of the pathogenic genes was conducted using the DAVID annotation tool. Five pathogenic genes (Nos2, Il5, Colla1, Tnf, and Nfkb1) and their transcription factors (Jun, Cebpa, Egrl, Ppara, and Il6) were found to suppress the host immune function and enhance the pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori by regulating the host immune system. Conclusions: This effect was largely mediated via three signaling pathways: Tnf pathway, PI3K Akt pathway, and Jak–STAT pathway. The pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori is closely related to the body's immune and inflammatory system. A better understanding of the correlation of the pathogenic factors with the host immune and inflammatory factors may help to determine the precise pathogenic mechanism of H. pylori infection.How to cite: Bai Y, Li W, Xu G, et al. A bioinformatics approach revealed the transcription factors of Helicobacter pylori pathogenic genes and their regulatory network nodes. Electron J Biotechnol 2020;45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2020.04.002.

Due to the great potential in extending propagation distance and enhancing the link reliability, amplify and forward (AF) cooperative communications have attracted much attention recently. However, the existing studies mainly focus on the energy consumption analysis and optimization, and also the channels used in communications are based on Rayleigh/Rician fading model, and/or it was usually supposed that the channel state information (CSI) is known or can be acquired by a training sequence. In this paper, blind signal detection for AF cooperative communication systems based on time division multiple access (TDMA) is studied, in which the channels are modeled as frequency selective fading and the CSI are unknown. A blind signal detection algorithm of partial amplify and forward (PAF) cooperative communication is proposed based on semidefinite relaxation (SDR). This method can recover the data without the training sequence and need not to implement blind equalization for the unknown channels. With the correlation between data of different links, the proposed method can obtain the optimal solution efficiently and achieve better performance of signal detection than the traditional algorithm. By simulations, the energy consumption efficiency as well as the overall system performance of the proposed strategy are verified.

Thermo-, pH- and glucose-responsive polymeric nanoparticles are of great interest in developing a self-regulated drug delivery system. The novel core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized by self-assembly of a phenylboronic acid-based block copolymer poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly(3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid) (PNIPAM136-b-PAPBA16) and a fluorescent complex glucosamine-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)/Eu(III) (GA-PNIPAM)/Eu(III) based on the cross-linking between PBA- and GA-containing blocks in this work. The nanoparticles can be tuned via thermo-induced collapse or glucose-induced swelling at appropriate pH and temperatures; they had an average kinetic radius was about 80nm, and which showed excellent fluorescence. MTT assays revealed the nanocarriers had no significant cytotoxic response of the micelle when it was observed in the cell line over the concentration range from 0.1 to 1000 μg/ml at any exposure times.

A dimeric Keggin-type phosphotungstate (ODA)10[(PW11FeO39)2O]·9H2O (abbreviated as ODA10[(PW11Fe)2], ODA = octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide) was synthesized and investigated comprehensively its antitumor activity on MCF-7 and A549 cells. The dimeric structure and amorphous morphology were characterized by FT-IR, UV-vis-DRS, SEM and XRD. The in vitro MTT assay of ODA10[(PW11Fe)2] showed anticancer activity on MCF-7 and A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and the IC50 values for MCF-7 and A549 cells at 48 h were 5.83 μg/ml and 3.23 μg/ml, respectively. The images of the ODA10[(PW11Fe)2]-treated cells observed by inverted biological microscope exhibited the characteristic morphology of apoptosis. Flow cytometric analysis showed cell apoptosis and cycle arrested at S phase induced by ODA10[(PW11Fe)2]. The above results illuminated the main mechanism of the antitumor action of ODA10[(PW11Fe)2] on MCF-7 and A549 cells, indicating that this dimeric phosphotungstate is a promising anticancer drug.

This contribution reports the syntheses, structural analyses and properties of europium (Eu3+)- and terbium (Tb3+)-based coordination complexes of poly(N-isopropyl,N-methylacrylamide-stat-N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (poly(iPMAm-stat-DMAm)) copolymer, named as poly-Eu(III) and poly-Tb(III), respectively. In greater detail, poly(iPMAm85-stat-DMAm15) is first prepared by random copolymerization of N-isopropyl,N-methylacrylamide (iPMAm) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAm) via group transfer polymerization (GTP). Next, poly(iPMAm85-stat-DMAm15) is used as the polymer matrix for chelating with Eu3+ and Tb3+ cations at its side amide groups, to produce poly-Eu(III) and poly-Tb(III). Their structural characterizations by FT-IR spectroscopy and XPS confirm the formation of polymeric complexes. The study on their fluorescence emission characteristics and luminescence lifetime demonstrates that Poly-Eu(III) shows four strong emission peaks at 578, 593, 622, and 651 nm, which are responsible for the electron transitions from the excited 5D0 state to the multiplet 7FJ (J = 0, 1, 2, 3) states, respectively, and poly-Tb(III) also displays four emission peaks at 489, 545, 588, and 654 nm, mainly due to the electron transitions of 5D4 → 7Fi (i = 6, 5, 4, 3). The luminescence lifetimes of poly-Eu(III) (τpoly-Eu(III)) and poly-Tb(III) (τpoly-Tb(III)) are determined to be 4.57 and 7.50 ms, respectively. In addition, in aqueous solutions, poly-Eu(III) and poly-Tb(III) are found to exhibit thermoresponsivity, with their cloud temperatures (Tcs) locating around 36.4 and 36.8 °C, respectively. Finally, the cytotoxicity study on the human colon carcinoma cells LoVo and DLD1 suggests that the luminescent Eu3+ and Tb3+ in the chelated state with poly(iPMAm-stat-DMAm) show much better biocompatibility and lower toxicity than their inorganic salts.

In polarization-multiplexed (PolMux) coherent optical communication systems, adaptive blind equalizer is efficient in demultiplexing and mitigating intersymbol interference (ISI). A novel blind algorithm based on Information Entropy and fuzzy logic is proposed, in which the Renyi's $\alpha$ entropy is adopted to measure the uncertainty of error between the desired and estimated probability density function (PDF). The nonparametric PDF estimator of Parzen window method is employed to estimate the PDF of symbols. Meantime, a fuzzy-logic tuning unit is designed to adjust the kernel size of Parzen window, which leads to fast convergence rate and small steady mean-square error. By simulation in PolMux-16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) coherent systems, the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are verified.

A strategy for preparing composite micelles (CM) containing both cisplatin(IV) [CisPt(IV)] prodrug and capecitabine using a co-assembly method is described in this study. The CM are capable of an effective release of the anticancer drug cisplatin(II) [CisPt(II)] and capecitabine via acid hydrolysis once they are internalized by cancer cells. Moreover, the CM display a synergistic effect in vitro and the combination therapy in the micellar dosage form leads to reduced systemic toxicity and enhanced antitumor efficacy in vivo.

Regioselective modification of d-glucosamine (2-amino-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranose, GA) through C-1 and C-2 positions to synthesized thermo-responsive D-Glucosamine-poly(N-iso-propylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was investigated for the first time. Two different schemes of the synthesis for GA derivatives (GA-PNIPAM (i) and (ii)) with well-defined structures using 3,4,6-tri-o-acetyl-2-deoxy-2-phthalimido-β-d-glucopyranose and 1,3,4,6-tetra-o-acetyl-2-amino-2-deoxy-β-d-glucopyranose intermediates were examined. The GA-PNIPAM (ii) had an amino at C-2 position, while there was a hydroxyl in GA-PNIPAM (i) at this position. Both the resulting oligomers (i) and (ii) had a narrow dispersity, and no significant cytotoxic response of copolymers (i) and (ii) was observed in the cell line over the concentration range from 0.1 μg/mL to 1000 μg/mL at any of the exposure times. In addition, it was discovered that GA-PNIPAM (i) and (ii) inhibited the proliferation of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells HepG2 as the concentration and the time changed, and the inhibitory activity of polymer (ii) was higher than that of he (i). The results suggest that the GA-PNIPAM polymers show excellent biocompatibility in vitro.