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Due to the serious detrimental impact on human health, antibiotic pollution particularly tetracyclines residues has become a serious problem. Herein, a multiple response fluorescent probe consisted of dual-emission carbon dots and Eu 3+ (D-CDs@Eu 3+ ) is designed for the determination and discrimination of tetracyclines (TCs). Specifically, the carboxyl and amidogen group of dual-emission carbon dots (D-CDs) can coordinate with Eu 3+ to form the D-CDs@Eu 3+ . Upon adding TCs, the fluorescence intensities of D-CDs at 405 nm and 495 nm are quenched due to inner filter effect (IFE) and the localization of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (L-FRET) between the D-CDs@Eu 3+ and TC. Simultaneously, the D-CDs@Eu 3+ may chelate with TCs to enhance the occurrence of antenna effect, while the characteristic peaks of Eu 3+ at 590 nm and 615 nm are enhanced. On these bases, the TCs detection is achieved with low detection limits from 46.7 to 72.0 nM. Additionally, through the distinct efficiencies of L-FRET, the discrimination of TCs is achieved. Moreover, a novel centrifugated lateral flow assay strips (CLFASs) device is developed by integrating the D-CDs@Eu 3+ , lateral flow assay strips and smartphone using RGB variations for TCs detection, achieving remarkable recoveries (98.6-103.7 %) in real samples. Therefore, this CLFASs device provides a reliable approach for the TCs detection, demonstrating potential applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Trace detection of foodstuff pigments have gained increasing attention because of their close association with biological and environmental processes. Herein, we propose an innovative bimodal excitation nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) for ratiometric sensing of new coccine (NC) pigment, which are synthesized by using melamine and o-phenylenediamine as precursors via solvothermal treatment. With the increase of the N-CDs concentration, N-CDs exhibit not only a concentration-dependent tunable color behavior, but also a novel aggregation-induced bimodal excitation phenomenon. Considering this distinctive bimodal excitation behavior, a ratiometric sensor based on N-CDs has been developed for the detection of the NC in different organic solvents due to the inner filter effect and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The intensity ratio of two excitation signals is linear with the NC concentration in the range of 0.032-100 µM, and the limit of detection is as low as 32.1 nM. Meanwhile, we realize the design of multicolor-emission N-CDs/polymer films. All in all, this work presents a novel kind view of the mechanism of distinctive bimodal excitation of N-CDs, and further proposes an innovative ratiometric method for the screening analysis of NC in food samples and environmental pollutants., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Over the past decade, several studies on the microvascular invasion (MVI) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been published. However, they have not quantitatively analyzed the remarkable impact of MVI. Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the field is now needed. This study aims to analyze the evolution of HCC-MVI research and to systematically evaluate the scientific outputs using bibliometric citation analysis., Methods: A systematic search was conducted on the Web of Science Core Collection on 2 May 2022 to retrieve studies on HCC-MVI published between 2013 and 2022. Then, a bibliometric analysis of the publications was performed using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and other visualization tools., Results: A total of 1,208 articles on HCC MVI were identified. Of these, China (n = 518) was the most prolific country, and Fudan University (n = 90) was the most notable institution. Furthermore, we observed that Lau Wan Yee participated in most studies (n = 26), and Frontiers in Oncology (IF2020:6.24) published the highest number of documents (n = 49) on this subject, with 138 publications. The paper "Bray F, 2018, CA-CANCER J CLIN, V68, P394" has the highest number of co-cited references, with 119 citations. In addition, the top three keywords were "survival", "recurrence", and "microvascular invasion". Moreover, the research hot spots and frontiers of HCC-MVI for the last 3 years included imaging characteristics and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy studies., Conclusions: This study comprehensively summarized the most significant HCC-MVI documents from past literature and highlighted key contributions made to the advancement of this subject and the advancement of this field over the past decade. The trend of MVI research will gradually shift from risk factors and prognosis studies to imaging characteristics and TACE therapy studies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 He, Zou, Sun, Yang, Lei, Xu, Liu, Yin and Li.)

Background: Icariin (ICA) can promote the migration and bone formation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. This study explored a potential role of ICA in recruiting stem cell niches (SCNs) within the intervertebral disc region (ISN)-derived stem cells (ISN-SCs) to treat intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD)., Materials and Methods: EdU staining, transwell, and wound healing tests were used to analyze the function of ICA on ISN-SCs proliferation and migration ability. Simultaneously, the IVDD rat model was constructed by the acupuncture and divided into Sham, Sham + ICA, IVDD, and IVDD + ICA groups. H&E and PAS staining were performed to detect the pathological changes of IVDD tissues. Immunofluorescence was performed to discover relevant marker expression on the surface of stem cells in the IVDD tissues. Western blot and qPCR were executed to find the protein and mRNA expression of related cytokines in the IVDD tissues., Results: ISN-SCs treated with 1 μM ICA obtained the better ability of proliferation and migration. H&E staining showed that the annulus fibrosus in the IVDD group was obviously hyperplasia with cavities and fissures; the nucleus pulposus was reduced. PAS staining showed that the content of polysaccharides was significantly reduced in the nucleus pulposus of IVDD group. However, the ICA treatment alleviated the pathological trends of the IVDD tissues. Simultaneously, ICA treatment increased significantly the expression of stem cells and IGF-1, TGF-β, SDF-1, CCL-5, Collagen I, Collagen II, Aggrecan, and SOX9 in IVDD tissues., Conclusions: ICA treatment promoted the migration of stem cell in IVDD by increasing the expression of chemotactic cytokines, including IGF-1, TGF-β, SDF-1, and CCL-5., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Electrochemical reduction of O 2 (oxygen reduction reaction; ORR) provides an opportunity to achieve the commercial application of clean energy, but it remains challenging, so the rational design of inexpensive and efficient electrocatalysts is required. Palladium-based electrocatalysts have emerged as a class of the most promising candidates for the ORR, which could accelerate O 2 adsorption, dissociation, and electron transfer. However, the metal Pd atoms tend to aggregate into nanoparticles, driven by the tendency of the metal surface free energy to decrease, which significantly reduces the atom utilization efficiency and the catalytic performance. Herein, a facile double solvent impregnation method is developed for the synthesis of highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles supported on hollow carbon spheres (Pd-HCS), which could act as efficient electrocatalysts for the ORR in basic solution. Systematic investigation reveals that the nitrogen-containing and oxygen-containing functional groups (especially -COOH groups) are essential for achieving the homogenous dispersion of Pd nanoparticles. Significantly, the optimized Pd-HCS electrocatalyst with homogeneously dispersed Pd nanoparticles and Pd-N sites delivers high electrocatalytic activity for the ORR and excellent stability, without significant decay in onset potential and half-potential and good resistance to methanol crossover. This work offers a new route for the rational design of efficient ORR electrocatalysts toward advanced materials and emerging applications., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objective: To evaluate the analgesic effect of vertebral cancellous bone infiltration anaesthesia during percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP)., Methods: Patients treated with vertebral cancellous bone infiltration anaesthesia (intervention group) or local anaesthesia alone (control group) during PVP at our institution during 2016-2018 were reviewed. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score before the operation, during establishment of the puncture channel, during pressure changes in the vertebral body (e.g., when removing or inserting pushers or needle cores), during bone cement injection, immediately after the operation, and at 2 h and 1 day postoperatively were compared between the groups. The patient's satisfaction with the operation was recorded and compared between groups., Results: A total of 112 patients were enrolled (59 cases in the intervention group and 53 cases in the control group). There was no difference in the VAS score between the groups before the operation or during establishment of the intraoperative puncture channel (P > 0.05). The VAS score in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group during pressure changes in the vertebral body (removal or insertion of puncture needle cores or pushers) and bone cement injection (P < 0.05). Immediately after the operation and at 2 h postoperatively, the pain in the intervention group was also significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the groups at 1 day postoperatively (P > 0.05). The patient satisfaction rate was 88% (52/59) in the intervention group and 67% (35/53) in the control group (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Vertebral cancellous bone infiltration anaesthesia may effectively relieve intraoperative pain and improve the surgical experience of patients without affecting the clinical effect of surgery.

Lipid vesicle is spherical membranous structure with a concave surface on the inside. When a beam of light illuminates a lipid vesicle, the light reflected from the vesicular concave membrane can be focused to have higher intensity and generate enhanced effects. By observing and simulating light reflected from giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), the intensity distribution of the light reflected from a spherical concave lipid membrane was investigated. The reflected light had focused characteristics. Its intensity was concentrated 10,000 times and even exceeded the intensity of incident light in a confined region, creating another effective light source in the lipid vesicle. The fluorescence quenching of sulfo-Cy5 encapsulated in spherical GUVs was stronger than that of the outside solution when irradiated by a 632.8 nm laser. When irradiated with ultraviolet light C (UVC), the damage to plasmid DNA encapsulated with spherical GUVs was greater than that of pure plasmid DNA solution and plasmid DNA mixed with lipid membrane fragments. Therefore, in addition to the effects of incident light, the focused light reflected from GUVs could generate incremental effects on encapsulated photoreactive materials if the spherical structure of the lipid membrane was maintained. These results proved that concave lipid membranes of spherical vesicles can focus light and utilize it to generate enhanced effects. The capability of light focusing and its influence on DNA may provide new insights for understanding the function of lipid membranes in cellular life., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study., Objective: To evaluate the effect of time to first ambulation on recurrence after percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD)., Methods: From July 2017 to August 2018, 90 patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation underwent PELD surgery. According to the initial walking time, i.e., the time until the patient could walk after the operation, the operations were divided into three groups: early stage, middle stage, and late stage. The follow-up period was 3 months, and complete follow-up data were obtained. The visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores before the operation, at first ambulation, 1 month after the operation, and 3 months after the operation and the recurrence and incidence rates of high magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal in the vertebral endplate area were recorded after the operation., Results: The success rate was 100% for these 90 cases. The VAS and ODI scores at the first ambulation after the operation significantly improved compared with those before the operation, and the difference was statistically significant. The improvements in the lumbar VAS and ODI scores of the middle- and late-stage groups were better than that of the early-stage group at 1 and 3 months after the operation, and the differences were statistically significant; however, there was no significant difference between the middle- and late-stage groups. The postoperative recurrence rate and rate of high MRI signal in the vertebral endplate area were significantly higher in the early-stage group than in the other two groups, and the difference was statistically significant., Conclusion: The time to first ambulation after PELD is an important factor affecting the curative effect of the operation. Early ambulation may be one of the factors affecting recurrence after PELD.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect of the second puncture and injection technique during a percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) procedure., Methods: Patients treated with a second puncture and injection (group A) or a single puncture and injection (group B) during PVP at our institution during 2010-2017 were reviewed. Vertebral height loss, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Oswestry disability index (ODI), adjacent vertebral fractures, and cement leakage were compared between the groups., Results: A total of 193 patients were enrolled (86 cases in group A, 107 cases in group B). The follow-up period was 15.64 (12-20) months. The loss of anterior (group A 0.01 ± 0.03; group B 0.14 ± 0.17) and middle (group A 0.13 ± 0.12; group B 0.16 ± 0.11) vertebral height in group B was significantly higher than that in group A (P < 0.05). The VAS score and ODI were also significantly higher in group B than in group A at the final follow-up; the VAS score and ODI in group B were 1.65 ± 0.70 and 14.50 ± 4.16, respectively, and those in group A were 1.00 ± 0.74 and 12.81 ± 4.02, respectively (P < 0.05). Three patients in group A and two in group B experienced adjacent vertebral fractures. Regarding mild, moderate, and severe cement leakage, there were 25 (29%), 5 (5%), and 0 cases, respectively, in group A and 28 (26%), 3 (2.8%), and 1 (0.009%) case, respectively, in group B (P > 0.05)., Conclusions: The second puncture and injection technique may effectively increase the dispersion of cement, thus preventing recompression of the cemented vertebral body, and it does not increase the risk of cement leakage or adjacent vertebral fracture.

Rationale: Peliosis hepatis (PH), which is characterized by blood-filled cavities in the liver, is a rare disease. Its diagnosis depends on postoperative pathological examinations and immunohistochemistry., Patient Concerns: A 44-year-old female complained of right-middle upper abdominal pain and distension for 1 month, with occasional vomiting and fever., Diagnosis: Because of the similar imaging features, the patient was initially misdiagnosed as cystic echinococcosis (CE). The immunoassay of echinococcosis was negative. Irregular hepatectomy was performed. Eventually, the patient was diagnosed with PH based on postoperative histopathology and immunohistochemistry., Interventions: The patient underwent hepatectomy. Then, the cystic lesion was collected for intraoperative pathological examination. Thus, the blood liquid was extracted from the cystic lesion. Pringle maneuver was administered to prevent bleeding, and then the whole cystic lesion was removed., Outcomes: She recovered smoothly and there was no relapse occurred during 6 months' follow-up., Lessons: It is difficult to differentiate PH from CE and other hepatic diseases due to the lack of special imaging features. Pathological examinations and immunohistochemistry can provide a confirmed diagnosis of PH.

Objective: To assess contraceptive uptake and method choice among women living with HIV (WLHIV) attending an HIV care clinic serving most-at-risk women in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, before and after the implementation of family planning (FP) services., Methods: Semistructured questionnaires were administered to clients before (July, 2011) and after (July, 2012) FP service implementation with provision of contraceptive methods (pills, injectables, implants, and intrauterine device [IUD])., Results: Among 250 and 249 clients interviewed before and after implementation respectively, 24.5% of women reported selling sex for money during the last 6 months before and 35.3% after implementation. Awareness about contraceptive methods significantly increased among clients postimplementation. Among sexually active women, male condom remained the contraceptive method of choice with an overall condom use during the last 6 months at 91% postimplementation vs. 95.6% preimplementation (P = 0.11). Although the use of noncondom FP methods increased but not significantly (16.4% after vs. 12.6% before implementation, P = 0.8), the use of dual method (condom plus another method) remained low and did not significantly increase after implementation (14.8% after vs. 11.0% before, P = 0.28)., Conclusions: Our results show that FP practices of WLHIV attending an HIV care clinic for most-at-risk populations did not significantly change after integration on-site provision of a wide range of FP methods. Innovative strategies and further research are needed to better understand how to promote the use of noncondom FP methods and prevent unwanted pregnancies and abortions among most-at-risk women and WLHIV.