Search

Shao-hua Ren,1,2 Ya-fei Qin,1,2 Hong Qin,1,2 Hong-da Wang,1,2 Guang-ming Li,1,2 Yang-lin Zhu,1,2 Cheng-lu Sun,1,2 Bo Shao,1,2 Jing-yi Zhang,1,2 Jing-peng Hao,3 Hao Wang1,2 1Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2Tianjin General Surgery Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Anorectal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hao Wang, Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +01186-22-60362502, Email hwangca272@hotmail.comBackground: The prognostic value of m6A-related genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its correlation with the immune microenvironment still requires further investigation.Methods: Consensus clustering by m6A related genes was used to classify 374 patients with HCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then we performed the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to construct the m6A related genes model. The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets were used to verify and evaluate the model. ESTIMATE, CIBERSORTx, the expression levels of immune checkpoint genes, and TIDE were used to investigate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the response to immunotherapy. Gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), and gene-drug sensitivity were also analyzed.Results: By expression value and regression coefficient of five m6A related genes, we constructed the risk score of each patient. The patients with a higher risk score had a considerably poorer prognosis in the primary and validated cohort. For further discussing TME and the response to immunotherapy, we divided the entire set into two groups based on the risk score. Our findings implied that the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were proportional to the risk scores, which seemed to contradict that patients with higher scores had a poor prognosis. Further, we found that the high-risk group had higher expression of PD-L1, CTLA-4, and PDCD1, indicating immune dysfunction, which may be a fundamental reason for poor prognosis. This was further reinforced by the fact that the low-risk group responded better than the high-risk group to monotherapy and combination therapy.Conclusion: The m6A related risk score is a new independent prognostic factor that correlates with immunotherapy response. It can provide a new therapeutic strategy for improving individual immunotherapy in HCC.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, N6-methyladenine, tumor immune microenvironment, immunotherapy, drug sensitivity

Li-Xiao Zhou,1 Cheng-Lin Sun,1 Li-Juan Wei,1 Zhi-Min Gu,1 Liang Lv,1 Yalong Dang21Department of Ophthalmology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 2Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaObjective: To investigate the cognitive impairment in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Methods: Relevant articles were identified through a search of the following electronic databases through October 2015, without language restriction: 1) PubMed; 2) the Cochrane Library; 3) EMBASE; 4) ScienceDirect. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 12.0 software. Standardized mean differences with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. All of the included studies met the following four criteria: 1) the study design was a case–control or randomized controlled trial (RCT) study; 2) the study investigated cognitive function in the patient with AMD; 3) the diagnoses of AMD must be provided; 4) there were sufficient scores data to extract for evaluating cognitive function between cases and controls. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale criteria were used to assess the methodological quality of the studies.Results: Of the initial 278 literatures, only six case–control and one RCT studies met all of the inclusion criteria. A total of 794 AMD patients and 1,227 controls were included in this study. Five studies were performed with mini-mental state examination (MMSE), two studies with animal fluency, two studies with trail making test (TMT)-A and -B, one study with Mini-Cog. Results of the meta-analysis revealed lower cognitive function test scores in patients with AMD, especially with MMSE and Mini-Cog test (P≤0.001 for all). The results also showed that differences in the TMT-A (except AMD [total] vs controls) and TMT-B test had no statistical significance (P>0.01). The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale score was ≥5 for all of the included studies. Based on the sensitivity analysis, no single study influenced the overall pooled estimates.Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests lower cognitive function test scores in patients with AMD, especially with MMSE and Mini-Cog test. The other cognitive impairment screening tests, such as animal fluency test and TMT, need more studies to assess.Keywords: age-related macular degeneration; cognitive impairment; meta-analysis; mini mental state examination

Feng Gao,2 Peng Jing,2 Jian Liu,2 Yuanfei Lu,1 Peicheng Zhang,2 Wei Han,1 Guoliang Liu,1 Ning Ru,2 Guanghui Cui,2 Chenglin Sun,1 Yebing Che,1 Huaming Zhang,1 Qnglong Hu,3 Huan-you Wang,4 Yingli Wu,2 Changjiang Guan,2 Qiang Fu,1 Zhenlu Ma,2 Baofa Yu1–3 1Jinan Baofa Cancer Hospital, Jinan, People's Republic of China; 2TaiMei Baofa Cancer Hospital, Dongping, People's Republic of China; 3Beijing Baofa Cancer Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, UCSD School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USAPurpose: To compare the therapeutic effects of ultra-minimum incision personalized intratumoral chemoimmunotherapy (UMIPIC) with intratumoral chemotherapy (ITCT) in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinomas and to analyze the effect of hapten as an immune booster.Materials and methods: Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinomas were treated with UMIPIC or ITCT with the same therapeutic procedure; the UMIPIC method had a proprietary regimen including an oxidant, a cytotoxic drug, and hapten, while ITCT delivered the same drug excluding hapten. Of 339 patients in total, 119 of the UMIPIC patients (n=214) had response data and 214 had survival data, and of the ITCT patients (n=125), 61 had response data and 125 had survival data. Tumor response was assessed with a computed tomography scan 6–8 weeks after the initial treatment; the survival rate was evaluated by follow-up visits. Tumor size was classified as small (10 cm); tumor sizes with liver function categorized using Child–Pugh class (A and B) were analyzed by correlation with overall survival.Results: The response rates (complete response + partial response + stable disease) were 78.68% and 81.52% in the UMIPIC and ITCT groups, respectively, with no statistically significant difference; however, the median overall survival was 7 months for UMIPIC (test) and 4 months for ITCT (control), respectively (P

Changling Sun,1,3,* Xueling Wang,1,* Zhaozhu Zheng,2 Dongye Chen,1 Xiaoqin Wang,2 Fuxin Shi,1 Dehong Yu,1 Hao Wu11Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Xinhua Hospital, Ear Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine on Ear and Nose Diseases, Shanghai, 2National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University, Suzhou, 3Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, The Fourth People’s Hospital of Wuxi City, Wuxi, People’s Republic of China*These authors have contributed equally to this workAbstract: This study aimed to investigate the sustained drug release properties and hearing protection effect of polyethylene glycol-coated polylactic acid (PEG-PLA) stealth nanoparticles loaded with dexamethasone (DEX). DEX was fabricated into PEG-PLA nanoparticles using an emulsion and evaporation technique, as previously reported. The DEX-loaded PEG-PLA nanoparticles (DEX-NPs) had a hydrodynamic diameter of 130±4.78 nm, and a zeta potential of -26.13±3.28 mV. The in vitro release of DEX from DEX-NPs lasted 24 days in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4), 5 days in artificial perilymph (pH 7.4), and 1 day in rat plasma. Coumarin 6-labeled NPs placed onto the round window membrane (RWM) of guinea pigs penetrated RWM quickly and accumulated to the organs of Corti, stria vascularis, and spiral ganglion cells after 1 hour of administration. The DEX-NPs locally applied onto the RWM of guinea pigs by a single-dose administration continuously released DEX in 48 hours, which was significantly longer than the free DEX that was cleared out within 12 hours after administration at the same dose. Further functional studies showed that locally administrated single-dose DEX-NPs effectively preserved outer hair cells in guinea pigs after cisplatin insult and thus significantly attenuated hearing loss at 4 kHz and 8 kHz frequencies when compared to the control of free DEX formulation. Histological analyses indicated that the administration of DEX-NPs did not induce local inflammatory responses. Therefore, prolonged delivery of DEX by PEG-PLA nanoparticles through local RWM diffusion (administration) significantly protected the hair cells and auditory function in guinea pigs from cisplatin toxicity, as determined at both histological and functional levels, suggesting the potential therapeutic benefits in clinical applications.Keywords: stealth nanoparticles, dexamethasone, single-dose administration, cisplatin-induced hearing loss

Baofa Yu,1–3 Yuanfei Lu,1 Feng Gao,2 Peng Jing,2 Han Wei,1 Peicheng Zhang,2 Guoliang Liu,1 Ning Ru,2 Guanghui Cui,2 Xinhai Xu,1 Chenglin Sun,1 Changjiang Guan,2 Yebing Che,1 Yingli Wu,2 Zhenlu Ma,2 Qiang Fu,1 Jian Liu,2 Huan-You Wang4 1Jinan Baofa Cancer Hospital, Jinan, 2TaiMei Baofa Cancer Hospital, Dongping, 3Beijing Baofa Cancer Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USAAim: The objective of the study reported here was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of hapten-enhanced chemoimmunotherapy in the treatment of advanced lung cancer by ultra-minimum incision personalized intratumoral chemoimmunotherapy (UMIPIC) and to analyze the effect of this immune booster.Materials and methods: A total of 97 patients with advanced lung cancer were treated with UMIPIC or intratumoral chemotherapy (ITCT). UMIPIC was delivered intratumorally in combination with a proprietary therapeutic regimen composed of three components – an oxidant, a cytotoxic drug, and hapten. ITCT applied using the same procedures and regimen, only without hapten. All data from the two groups were reviewed and analyzed. A total of 55 patients were treated with UMIPIC and 42 with ITCT. Patient responses were assessed with computed tomography scan 4–6 weeks after treatment, and all of the patients were followed until their deaths.Results: Median overall survival was 11.23 months in the UMIPIC (test) group and 5.62 months in the ITCT (control) group (P

Tetracycline (TC) is one of the most important therapeutic drugs that is widely used in hospitals. However, its harmful effects on human health and various ecosystems cannot be ignored. Owing to its poor metabolic activity and low biodegradability, TC commonly discharges as the parent compound and accumulates readily in sludges and soils by precipitation from wastewater, which can induce the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria; therefore, it has been listed as one of the new pollutants with potential ecotoxicological risk. The control measures and environmental management of TC pollutants in environmental water samples require precise determination of TC pollutant concentrations. Carbon dots (CDs) are an emerging type of fluorescent material with numerous advantages such as easy preparation, low cost, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility. Consequently, they have attracted widespread attention in the field of TC detection. Herein, we synthesized TE-CDs with good blue-fluorescence performance via flow-assisted melt polymerization using tricarboxylic acid and ethylenediamine as raw precursors. The morphology and structure of the prepared TE-CDs were characterized. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that the prepared TE-CDs were well dispersed, with an average diameter of (2.43±0.48) nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that the TE-CDs had an amorphous carbon structure. Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterizations showed that the surface of the TE-CDs was rich in hydrophilic groups, such as amino, hydroxyl, and carboxyl groups, which indicated that TE-CDs had good water solubility and were advantageous for detecting TC in medical wastewater. Subsequently, the optical properties of the TE-CDs were investigated. The fluorescence emission spectra of the TE-CDs were recorded at various excitation wavelengths. The emission spectra of the TE-CDs exhibited excitation wavelength dependence and when the excitation wavelength changes from 300 nm to 400 nm, their fluorescence intensity decreased to varying degrees. The TE-CDs exhibited optimal fluorescence intensity at an excitation wavelength of 368 nm, while the emission wavelength was 448 nm. TC could effectively quench the blue fluorescence of the CDs, and by utilizing this property, the detection of TC concentration could be achieved. After the addition of TC, the fluorescence of the system immediately reached an extreme value, and no significant change was observed within 10 min. An incubation time of 20 s was selected to obtain precise results. Additionally, the TE-CDs exhibited stable fluorescence intensity over a wide pH range. The fluorescence stability of the TE-CDs was investigated, and no significant change in fluorescence intensity was observed after standing for 10 d, indicating that the prepared TE-CDs had excellent fluorescence stability. The fluorescence intensity of the TE-CDs decreased to varying degrees within the range of 2-200 mg/L TC until complete quenching occurred. TC mass concentration in the range of 4-20 mg/L showed a good linear relationship ( R 2 =0.9978) with the fluorescence quenching intensity of the TE-CDs. The limit of detection was 0.2 mg/L. A preliminary investigation was undertaken to explore the quenching mechanism of the TE-CDs fluorescence by TC. Upon addition of TC, a significant reduction in the fluorescence lifetime of the TE-CDs was observed. During the quenching process, no new substances were observed by UV absorption spectroscopy. Additionally, no significant changes in the 1 H NMR spectra of the TE-CDs were noted before and after the addition of TC, indicating the absence of an interaction between the TE-CDs and TC. Therefore, the quenching mechanism may involve dynamic quenching. The selectivity and anti-interference ability of the developed method were evaluated; in the presence of interfering substances, TC quenched the fluorescence of the TE-CDs, indicating that the TE-CDs had good selectivity and anti-interference performance towards TC. The method was applied to the quantitative detection of TC in medical wastewater, with recoveries of 96.5%-119.8% and relative standard deviations of 0.8%-2.6%. In conclusion, the analytical performance of the proposed method is comparable with that of previously reported detection methods; moreover, the method has the advantages of low operational cost, simple preparation process, time-saving, and good repeatability. Therefore, the TE-CDs can be used as chemical sensors for the detection of TC in medical wastewater and have good practical applications.

Background: Chronic rejection (CR) is a significant obstacle to long-term allograft survival. Oxymatrine (OMT) is a prominent bioactive compound widely utilized in traditional Chinese medicine for the management of inflammatory disorders and it has considerable potential as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of CR., Methods: Well-established major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II mismatched B6 mice. C-H-2 bm12 -to-C57BL/6 mouse transplantation was used as a CR model. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry, and Masson's trichrome staining were used to assess pathological changes in the grafts, and the percentages of immune cells were determined by flow cytometry. The effects of OMT on the regulation of CD4 + T cell differentiation and cytokine secretion were verified in vitro., Results: OMT effectively alleviated pathological graft damage, characterized by chronic changes in intimal lesions, vasculopathy, and fibrosis and significantly prolonged cardiac allograft survival. OMT exerted its immunomodulatory effects by inhibiting T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 17 (Th17) cell differentiation while promoting Treg differentiation both in vivo and in vitro. Further studies revealed that OMT inhibited the phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which is a potential mechanism underlying its immunosuppressive effects. OMT also inhibited the activation of B cells and the production of donor-specific antibody (DSA). In addition, OMT effectively alleviated chronic changes in fibrosis in cardiac allografts, and these changes may be related to the inhibition of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-Smad 2/3 pathway., Conclusions: OMT attenuated CR by modulating the immune response and inhibiting graft fibrosis. Further in-depth investigations of OMT may provide valuable insights into the development of novel therapeutic strategies for CR inhibition., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest ☒ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interestsHao Wang reports was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Hao Wang reports was provided by Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin. Hao Wang reports financial support was provided by Science and Technology Project of Tianjin Health Commission. Hao Wang reports financial support was provided by Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project. Xu Lan reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Yongchang Gao reports financial support was provided by Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and the Tianjin Natural Science Foundation. If there are other authors, they 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) plays a critical role in organic optoelectronic materials. However, developing facile and effective strategies to achieve high-efficiency energy harvesting of chromophores with aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) remains an appealing yet challenging task, that has not yet been explored. Herein, a subtly strategy, crystallization-induced precise co-assembly (CIPCA) involving a molecular "lightening agent," to effectively improve FRET efficiency of ACQ chromophores is developed. Bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPA) and bis(phenylethynyl)naphthacene (BPN) with significant ACQ effect are chosen as representative FRET donor and acceptor, respectively, and weakly-fluorescent octafluoronaphthalene (OFN) acted as the "lightening agent." Thanks to precise co-assembly with OFN, the PLQY of solid BPA is enhanced by 107%, and the BPN powder can be unprecedentedly lighted. More importantly, through such powerful CIPCA, the monotonous and weak emission for BPA@BPN can be remarkably regulated to colorful and much brighter ones with FRET efficiency improvement of as high as 180-270%. An in-depth understanding of FRET regulation is elucidated through a precise correlation of the supramolecular structures and properties. Such achievements allow to successfully fabricate distinct multi-stimuli-responsive fluorescent patterns and highly-emissive colorful flowers with high flexibility. This research provides an efficient strategy to improve the FRET efficiency of ACQ pairs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Exosomes derived from endometrial regenerative cells (ERC-Exos) can inherit the immunomodulatory function from ERCs, however, whether ERC-Exos exhibit such effect on inflammatory bowel diseases with mucosal immune dysregulation has not been explored. Insulin-like growth factor-Ⅱ (IGF2) is considered to possess the potential to induce an anti-inflammatory phenotype in immune cells. In this study, the contribution of IGF2 in mediating the protective efficacy of ERC-Exos on colitis was investigated., Methods: Lentiviral transfection was employed to obtain IGF2-specific knockout ERC-Exos (IGF2 -/- -ERC-Exos). Experimental colitis mice induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) were divided into the phosphate-buffered saline (untreated), ERC-Exos-treated and IGF2 -/- -ERC-Exos-treated groups. Colonic histopathological analysis and intestinal barrier function were explored. The infiltration of CD4 + T cells and dendritic cells (DCs) were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry. The maturation and function of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) in different exosome administrations were evaluated by flow cytometry, ELISA and the coculture system, respectively., Results: Compared with the untreated group, ERC-Exos treatment significantly attenuated DSS-induced weight loss, bloody stools, shortened colon length, pathological damage, as well as repaired the weakened intestinal mucosal barrier, including promoting the goblet cells retention, restoring the intestinal barrier integrity and enhancing the expression of tight junction proteins, while the protective effect of exosomes was impaired with the knockout of IGF2 in ERC-Exos. Additionally, IGF2-expressing ERC-Exos decreased the proportions of Th1 and Th17, increased the proportions of Treg, as well as attenuated DC infiltration and maturation in mesenteric lymph nodes and lamina propria of the colitis mice. ERC-Exos were also observed to be phagocytosed by BMDCs and IGF2 is responsible for the modulating effect of ERC-Exos on BMDCs in vitro., Conclusions: Exosomes derived from ERCs can exert a therapeutic effect on experimental colitis with remarkable alleviation of the intestinal barrier damage and the abnormal mucosal immune responses. We emphasized that IGF2 plays a critical role for ERC-Exos mediated immunomodulatory function and protection against colitis., 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 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Large or repeated mechanical loads degrade polymeric materials by accelerating chain fragmentation. This mechanochemical backbone fracture usually occurs by homolysis of otherwise inert C-C, C-O and C-S bonds, generating highly reactive macroradicals. Because backbone fracture is detrimental on its own and the resulting macroradicals can initiate damaging reaction cascades, a major thrust in contemporary polymer mechanochemistry is to suppress it, usually by mechanochemical release of "hidden length" that dissipates local molecular strain. Here we summarize an emerging complementary strategy of channelling mechanochemically generated macroradicals in reaction cascades to form new load-bearing chemical bonds, which enables local self-healing or self-strengthening, and/or to generate mechanofluorescence, which could yield detailed quantitative molecular understanding of how material-failure-inducing macroscopic mechanical loads distribute across the network. We aim to identify generalizable lessons derivable from the reported implementations of this strategy and outline the key challenges in adapting it to diverse polymeric materials and loading scenarios.

With the intensification of global environmental pollution and resource scarcity, hydrogen has garnered significant attention as an ideal alternative to fossil fuels due to its high energy density and nonpolluting nature. Consequently, the urgent development of electrocatalytic water-splitting electrodes for hydrogen production is imperative. In this study, a superwetting selenide catalytic electrode with a peony-flower-shaped micronano array (MoS 2 /Co 0.8 Fe 0.2 Se 2 /Ni x Se y /nickel foam (NF)) was synthesized on NF via a two-step hydrothermal method. The optimal catalytic activity of cobalt-iron selenide was achieved by adjusting the Co/Fe ratio. The intrinsic catalytic activity of the electrodes was enhanced by incorporating transition metal selenides, which then served as a precursor for the subsequent loading of MoS 2 nanoflowers on the surface to fully expose the active sites. Furthermore, the superwetting properties of the electrode accelerated electrolyte penetration and electron/mass transfer, while also facilitating bubble detachment from the electrode surface, thereby preventing "bubble shielding effect". This resulted in superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, as well as overall water splitting capabilities. In a 1.0 M KOH solution, the electrode required only 166 and 195 mV overpotential to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm -2 for OER and HER, respectively. When functioning as a bifunctional catalytic electrode, only 1.60 V of voltage was necessary to drive the electrolyzer to reach a current density of 10 mA cm -2 . Moreover, laboratory simulations of wind and solar energy-driven water splitting validated the feasibility of establishing a sustainable energy-to-hydrogen production chain. This work provides new insights into the preparation of low-overpotential, high-catalytic-activity superhydrophilic and underwater superaerophobic catalytic electrodes by rationally adjusting elemental ratios and exploring changes in electrode surface wettability.

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.

Introduction: Older adults with cancer facing competing treatments must prioritize between various outcomes. This study assessed health outcome prioritization among older adults with cancer starting chemotherapy., Methods: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial addressing vulnerabilities in older adults with cancer. Patients completed three validated outcome prioritization tools: 1) Health Outcomes Tool: prioritizes outcomes (survival, independence, symptoms) using a visual analog scale; 2) Now vs. Later Tool: rates the importance of quality of life at three times-today versus 1 or 5 years in the future; and 3) Attitude Scale: rates agreement with outcome-related statements. The authors measured the proportion of patients prioritizing various outcomes and evaluated their characteristics., Results: A total of 219 patients (median [range] age 71 [65-88], 68% with metastatic disease) were included. On the Health Outcomes Tool, 60.7% prioritized survival over other outcomes. Having localized disease was associated with choosing survival as top priority. On the Now vs. Later Tool, 50% gave equal importance to current versus future quality of life. On the Attitude Scale, 53.4% disagreed with the statement "the most important thing to me is living as long as I can, no matter what my quality of life is"; and 82.2% agreed with the statement "it is more important to me to maintain my thinking ability than to live as long as possible"., Conclusion: Although survival was the top priority for most participants, some older individuals with cancer prioritize other outcomes, such as cognition and function. Clinicians should elicit patient-defined priorities and include them in decision-making., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: The purpose of this prospective longitudinal study was to evaluate the changes in brain surface gyrification in older long-term breast cancer survivors 5-15 years after chemotherapy treatment., Methods: Older breast cancer survivors aged ≥ 65 years treated with chemotherapy (C+) or without chemotherapy (C-) 5-15 years prior and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited (time point 1 (TP1)) and followed up for 2 years (time point 2 (TP2)). Study assessments for both time points included neuropsychological (NP) testing with the NIH Toolbox cognition battery and cortical gyrification analysis based on brain MRI., Results: The study cohort with data for both TP1 and TP2 consisted of the following: 10 participants for the C+ group, 12 participants for the C- group, and 13 participants for the HC group. The C+ group had increased gyrification in six local gyral regions including the right fusiform, paracentral, precuneus, superior, middle temporal gyri and left pars opercularis gyrus, and it had decreased gyrification in two local gyral regions from TP1 to TP2 (p < .05, Bonferroni corrected). The C- and HC groups showed decreased gyrification only (p < .05, Bonferroni corrected). In the C+ group, changes in right paracentral gyrification and crystalized composite scores were negatively correlated (R = -0.76, p = .01)., Conclusions: Altered gyrification could be the neural correlate of cognitive changes in older chemotherapy-treated long-term breast cancer survivors., (© 2024 The Author(s). Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Purpose: This study aimed to assess whether physical functional decline in older women with early-stage breast cancer is driven by cancer, chemotherapy, or a combination of both., Methods: We prospectively sampled three groups of women aged ≥ 65: 444 with early-stage breast cancer receiving chemotherapy (BC Chemo), 98 with early-stage breast cancer not receiving chemotherapy (BC Control), and 100 non-cancer controls (NC Control). Physical function was assessed at two timepoints (T1 [baseline] and T2 [3, 4, or 6 months]) using the Physical Functioning Subscale (PF-10) of the RAND 36-item Short Form. The primary endpoint was the change in PF-10 scores from T1 to T2, analyzed continuously and dichotomously (Yes/No, with "yes" indicating a PF-10 decline > 10 points, i.e., a substantial and clinically meaningful difference)., Results: Baseline PF-10 scores were similar across all groups. The BC Chemo group experienced a significant decline at T2, with a median change in PF-10 of -5 (interquartile range [IQR], -20, 0), while BC Control and NC Control groups showed a median change of 0 (IQR, -5, 5; p < 0.001). Over 30% of BC Chemo participants had a substantial decline in PF-10 vs. 8% in the BC Control and 5% in the NC Control groups (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: In this cohort of older adults with early-stage breast cancer, the combination of breast cancer and chemotherapy contributes to accelerated functional decline. Our findings reinforce the need to develop interventions aimed at preserving physical function, particularly during and after chemotherapy., Implications for Cancer Survivors: The high prevalence of accelerated functional decline in older women undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy underscores the urgency to develop interventions aimed at preserving physical function and improving health outcomes., Clinical Trial: NCT01472094, Hurria Older PatiEnts (HOPE) with Breast Cancer Study., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Rationale: Desmoid tumor (DT) is a rare soft tissue tumor that can occur anywhere in the body. Abdominal wall DT presents unique clinical challenges due to its distinctive manifestations, treatment modalities, and the lack of biomarkers for diagnosis and recurrence prediction, making clinical decisions exceedingly complex., Patient Concerns: A 32-year-old female who underwent radical resection combined with patch reinforcement for rectus abdominis DT, successfully alleviating abdominal discomfort, with no recurrence during the 6-month follow-up after surgery., Diagnoses: Based on the imaging studies and medical history, the patient underwent radical surgical resection. Histopathology reveals that the tumor cells predominantly composed of proliferative fibroblasts with local collagen deposition. The lesional cells show positive staining for β-catenin, indicating a diagnosis of DT., Interventions: The patient underwent radical surgical resection with patch reinforcement to repair the abdominal wall defect. Pathology confirmed negative margins, achieving an R0 resection, and genetic testing identified a T41A mutation in CTNNB1. Consequently, no additional adjuvant therapy was administered postoperatively., Outcomes: The patient was discharged with the incision healing well after 3 days postoperation. Upon reexamination 6 months later, no recurrence or adverse complications were observed., Lessons: Abdominal wall DT treatment requires personalized plans from multidisciplinary team discussions. Genetic testing plays a crucial role in identifying novel biomarkers for abdominal wall DT. We have once again demonstrated the significant clinical significance of CTNNB1 mutations in the diagnosis and progression of abdominal wall DT. Additionally, genes such as CCND1, CYP3A4, SLIT1, RRM1, STIM1, ESR2, UGT1A1, among others, may also be closely associated with the progression of abdominal wall DT. Future research should delve deeper into and systematically evaluate the precise impact of these genetic mutations on treatment selection and prognosis for abdominal wall DT, in order to better guide patient management and treatment decisions., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been demonstrated as a sustainable energy utilization method for waste mechanical energy and self-powered system. However, the charge dissipation of frictional layer materials in a humid environment severely limits their stable energy supply. In this work, a new method is reported for preparing polymer film as a hydrophobic negative friction material by solution blending poly(vinylidene fluoride- co -hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), doping with titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles, and further surface patterning modification. The P-TENG composed of the PVDF-HFP/PVC/TiO 2 composite film with optimized hydrophobic performance (WCA = 124°) achieved an output voltage of 235 V and a short-circuit current of 35 μA, which is approximately three times that of the bare PVDF-HFP-based TENG. Under charge excitation, the transferred charge of the P-TENG can reach 35 nC. When the external load resistance is 5.5 MΩ, the output peak power density can reach 1.4 W m -2 . Meanwhile, the hydrophobic surface layer with a rough surface structure enables the device to overcome the influence of water molecules on charge transfer in a humid environment, quickly recover, and maintain a high output. The P-TENG can effectively monitor finger flexibility and strength and realize real-time evaluation of the exercise state and hand fatigue of the elderly and rehabilitation trainers. It has broad application prospects in self-powered intelligent motion sensing, soft robotics, human-machine interaction, and other fields.

Ionogel-based sensors have gained widespread attention in recent years due to their excellent flexibility, biocompatibility, and multifunctionality. However, the adaptation of ionogel-based sensors in extreme environments (such as humid, acidic, alkaline, and salt environments) has rarely been studied. Here, thermoplastic polyurethane/carbon nanotubes-ionic liquids (TPU/CNTs-ILs) ionogels with a complementary sandpaper morphology on the surface were prepared by a solution-casting method with a simple sandpaper as the template, and the hydrophobic flexible TPU/CNTs-ILs ionogel-based sensor was obtained by modification using nanoparticles modified with cetyltrimethoxysilane. The hydrophobicity improves the environmental resistance of the sensor. The ionogel-based sensor exhibits multimode sensing performance and can accurately detect response signals from strain (0-150%), pressure (0.1-1 kPa), and temperature (30-100 °C) stimuli. Most importantly, the hydrophobic TPU/CNTs-ILs ionogel-based sensors can be used not only as wearable strain sensors to monitor human motion signals but also for information transfer, writing recognition systems, and underwater activity monitoring. Thus, the hydrophobic TPU/CNTs-ILs ionogel-based sensor offers a new strategy for wearable electronics, especially for applications in extreme environments.

Soil microorganisms are pivotal in the global carbon cycle, but the viruses that affect them and their impact on ecosystems are less understood. In this study, we explored the diversity, dynamics, and ecology of soil viruses through 379 metagenomes collected annually from 2010 to 2017. These samples spanned the seasonally thawed active layer of a permafrost thaw gradient, which included palsa, bog, and fen habitats. We identified 5051 virus operational taxonomic units (vOTUs), doubling the known viruses for this site. These vOTUs were largely ephemeral within habitats, suggesting a turnover at the vOTU level from year to year. While the diversity varied by thaw stage and depth-related patterns were specific to each habitat, the virus communities did not significantly change over time. The abundance ratios of virus to host at the phylum level did not show consistent trends across the thaw gradient, depth, or time. To assess potential ecosystem impacts, we predicted hosts in silico and found viruses linked to microbial lineages involved in the carbon cycle, such as methanotrophy and methanogenesis. This included the identification of viruses of Candidatus Methanoflorens, a significant global methane contributor. We also detected a variety of potential auxiliary metabolic genes, including 24 carbon-degrading glycoside hydrolases, six of which are uniquely terrestrial. In conclusion, these long-term observations enhance our understanding of soil viruses in the context of climate-relevant processes and provide opportunities to explore their role in terrestrial carbon cycling., (© 2024 The Author(s). Environmental Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The phyllosphere is a vital yet often neglected habitat hosting diverse microorganisms with various functions. However, studies regarding how the composition and functions of the phyllosphere microbiome respond to agricultural practices, like nitrogen fertilization, are limited. This study investigated the effects of long-term nitrogen fertilization with different levels (CK, N90, N210, N330) on the functional genes and pathogens of the rice phyllosphere microbiome. Results showed that the relative abundance of many microbial functional genes in the rice phyllosphere was significantly affected by nitrogen fertilization, especially those involved in C fixation and denitrification genes. Different nitrogen fertilization levels have greater effects on fungal communities than bacteria communities in the rice phyllosphere, and network analysis and structural equation models further elucidate that fungal communities not only changed bacterial-fungal inter-kingdom interactions in the phyllosphere but also contributed to the variation of biogeochemical cycle potential. Besides, the moderate nitrogen fertilization level (N210) was associated with an enrichment of beneficial microbes in the phyllosphere, while also resulting in the lowest abundance of pathogenic fungi (1.14 %). In contrast, the highest abundance of pathogenic fungi (1.64 %) was observed in the highest nitrogen fertilization level (N330). This enrichment of pathogen due to high nitrogen level was also regulated by the fungal communities, as revealed through SEM analysis. Together, we demonstrated that the phyllosphere fungal communities were more sensitive to the nitrogen fertilization levels and played a crucial role in influencing phyllosphere functional profiles including element cycling potential and pathogen abundance. This study expands our knowledge regarding the role of phyllosphere fungal communities in modulating the element cycling and plant health in sustainable agriculture., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Nickel stands out as one of the prevalent heavy metal ionic pollutants found in water. It is urgent to devise a simple, efficient, budget-friendly, highly-selective and proficient method for detecting Ni(II). This work reports an approach to design a nanofluidic diode for the ultrasensitive and label-free detection of nickel ions based on layer-by-layer assembly of polyarginine (PA) and polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) on the inner surface of asymmetric nanochannels. We can tune the adsorption/desorption characteristics of the asymmetric nanochannels for Ni 2+ by adjusting the pH changes, i.e. , the PA-γ-PGA modified nanochannels adsorb Ni 2+ at pH 6 and desorb at pH 3 in aqueous solution. This pivotal adjustment facilitates the reusable and specific detection of nickel ions with a detection limit of 1 × 10 -8 M. Moreover, the system demonstrates commendable stability and recyclability, enhancing its practical applicability. This innovative system holds promise for recognizing and detecting nickel ions in diverse environments such as water, blood, and cells. The robust performance and adaptability of our proposed system instill confidence in its potential for future applications.

Marine macroalgae are increasingly recognized for their significant biological and economic potential. The key to unlocking this potential lies in the efficient degradation of all carbohydrates from the macroalgae biomass. However, a variety of polysaccharides (alginate, cellulose, fucoidan, and laminarin), are difficult to degrade simultaneously in a short time. In this study, the brown alga Saccharina japonica was found to be rapidly and thoroughly degraded by the marine bacterium Agarivorans albus B2Z047. This strain harbors a broad spectrum of carbohydrate-active enzymes capable of degrading various polysaccharides, making it uniquely equipped to efficiently break down both fresh and dried kelp, achieving a hydrolysis rate of up to 52%. A transcriptomic analysis elucidated the presence of pivotal enzyme genes implicated in the degradation pathways of alginate, cellulose, fucoidan, and laminarin. This discovery highlights the bacterium's capability for the efficient and comprehensive conversion of kelp biomass, indicating its significant potential in biotechnological applications for macroalgae resource utilization.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a pathogen that causes severe abortions in sows and high piglet mortality, resulting in huge economic losses to the pig industry worldwide. The emerging and novel PRRSV isolates are clinically and biologically important, as there are likely recombination and pathogenic differences among PRRSV genomes. Furthermore, the NADC34-like strain has become a major epidemic strain in some parts of China, but the characterization and pathogenicity of the latest strain in Inner Mongolia have not been reported in detail. In this study, an NADC34-like strain (CHNMGKL1-2304) from Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia was successfully isolated and characterized, and confirmed the pathogenicity in pigs. The phylogenetic tree showed that this strain belonged to sublineage 1.5 and had high homology with the strain JS2021NADC34. There is no recombination between CHNMGKL1-2304 and any other domestic strains. Animal experiments show that the CHNMGKL1-2304 strain is moderately virulent to piglets, which show persistent fever, weight loss and high morbidity but no mortality. The presence of PRRSV nucleic acids was detected in both blood, tissues, nasal and fecal swabs. In addition, obvious pathological changes and positive signals were observed in lung, lymph node, liver and spleen tissues when subjected to hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry (IHC). This report can provide a basis for epidemiological investigations and subsequent studies of PRRSV.

This work presents a study of the thermally induced aggregation of perylene diimide (PDI) and naphthalene diimide (NDI) derivatives modified with oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) chains in aqueous solution. Water-soluble and flexible OEG side chains were introduced into the π-core of glutamate-modified NDI and PDI structures, and the aggregation process was modulated by heating or cooling in water. Interestingly, a rare opposite temperature response of fluorescent behavior from the two amphiphilic chromophores was revealed, in which the PDI exhibited fluorescent enhancement, while fluorescent quenching upon temperature increase was observed from the NDI assembly. The mechanism of thermally induced aggregation is clearly explained by studies with various spectroscopic techniques including UV-visible, fluorescence, 1 H NMR, 2D NMR spectroscopy, and SEM observation as well as control experiments operated in DMSO solution. It is found that although similar J -aggregates were formed by both amphiphilic chromophores in aqueous solution, the temperature response of the aggregates to temperature was opposite. The degree of PDI aggregation decreased, while that of NDI increased upon temperature rising. This research paves a valuable way for understanding the complicated supramolecular behaviors of amphiphilic chromophores.

Background: Older women with breast cancer frequently experience toxicity-related hospitalizations during adjuvant chemotherapy. Although the geriatric assessment can identify those at risk, its use in clinic remains limited. One simple, low-cost marker of vulnerability in older persons is fall history. Here, the authors examined whether falls prechemotherapy can identify older women at risk for toxicity-related hospitalization during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer., Methods: In a prospective study of women >65 years old with stage I-III breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, the authors assessed baseline falls in the past 6 months as a categorical variable: no fall, one fall, and more than one fall. The primary end point was incident hospitalization during chemotherapy attributable to toxicity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between falls and toxicity-related hospitalization, adjusting for sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric covariates., Results: Of the 497 participants, 60 (12.1%) reported falling before chemotherapy, and 114 (22.9%) had one or more toxicity-related hospitalizations. After adjusting for sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric characteristics, women who fell more than once within 6 months before chemotherapy had greater odds of being hospitalized from toxicity during chemotherapy compared to women who did not fall (50.0% vs. 20.8% experienced toxicity-related hospitalization, odds ratio, 4.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.66-11.54, p = .003)., Conclusions: In this cohort of older women with early breast cancer, women who experienced more than one fall before chemotherapy had an over 4-fold increased risk of toxicity-related hospitalization during chemotherapy, independent of sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric factors., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.)

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess changes in hippocampal volume and shape in older long-term breast cancer survivors who were exposed to chemotherapy 5-15 years prior., Methods: This study recruited female long-term breast cancer survivors aged 65 years or older with a history of chemotherapy (C+), age-matched breast cancer survivors who did not receive chemotherapy (C-), and healthy controls (HC). The participants were recruited 5-15 years after chemotherapy at time point 1 (TP1) and were followed up for 2 years at time point 2 (TP2). Assessments included hippocampal volume and shape from brain MRI scans and neuropsychological (NP) tests., Results: At TP1, each of the three groups was comprised of 20 participants. The C+ group exhibited a hippocampal volume loss estimated in proportion with total intracranial volume (ICV) in both the left and right hemispheres from TP1 to TP2. Regarding the hippocampal shape at TP1, the C+ group displayed inward changes compared to the control groups. Within the C+ group, changes in right hippocampal volume adjusted with ICV were positively correlated with crystalized composite scores ( R = 0.450, p = 0.044). Additionally, in C+ groups, chronological age was negatively correlated with right hippocampal volume adjusted with ICV ( R = -0.585, p = 0.007)., Conclusion: The observed hippocampal volume reduction and inward shape deformation within the C+ group may serve as neural basis for cognitive changes in older long-term breast cancer survivors with history of chemotherapy treatment., 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 © 2024 Daniel, Deng, Patel, Sedrak, Young, Kim, Razavi, Sun, Root, Ahles, Dale and Chen.)

Dearomative spirocyclization reactions represent a promising means to convert arenes into three-dimensional architectures; however, controlling the regioselectivity of radical dearomatization with nonactivated arenes to afford the spirocyclizative 1,2-difunctionalization other than its kinetically preferred 1,4-difunctionalization is exceptionally challenging. Here we disclose a novel strategy for dearomative 1,2- or 1,4-amidoximation of (hetero)arenes enabled by direct visible-light-induced homolysis of N-NO bonds of nitrosamides, giving rise to various highly regioselective amidoximated spirocycles that previously have been inaccessible or required elaborate synthetic efforts. The mechanism and origins of the observed regioselectivities were investigated by control experiments and density functional theory calculations., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Purpose: To assess white matter microstructural changes in older long-term breast cancer survivors 5-15 years post-chemotherapy treatment., Methods: Breast cancer survivors aged 65 years or older who underwent chemotherapy (C+) and who did not undergo chemotherapy (C-) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled at time point 1 (TP1) and followed for 2 years for time point 2 (TP2). All participants underwent brain MRI with diffusion tensor images and neuropsychological (NP) testing with the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analysis was performed on the diffusion tensor images to assess white matter microstructural changes with the fractional anisotropy (FA) parameter., Results: There were significant longitudinal alterations in FA within the C+ group over time. The C+ group showed diminished FA in the body and genu of corpus callosum, anterior corona radiate, and external capsule on both the whole brain and region of interest (ROI) based analyses after p < 0.05 family-wise error (FWE) correction. However, there were no significant group differences between the groups at TP1. Additionally, at TP1, a positive correlation (R = 0.58, p = 0.04) was observed between the FA value of the anterior corona radiata and the crystallized composite score in the C+ group., Conclusions: Brain white matter microstructural alterations may be the underlying neural correlates of cognitive changes in older breast cancer survivors who had chemotherapy treatment years ago., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

To explore the influence of wind speed on the quality of tobacco in this study, we employed a heat pump-powered intensive curing barn and a three-stage curing process. By evaluating the influence of fan parameters on the quality of tobacco leaves at different curing stages, the optimal wind speed was determined. After adopting the optimized wind speed process, the degradation of macromolecular substances was faster, the accumulation of aroma substances was delayed to 55 °C, and the accumulation was more complete. Among them, the contents of reducing sugar and total sugar in flue-cured tobacco leaves were 22.25% and 29.2%, respectively, which were lower than those in the control group. The sugar was converted into more aroma substances, and the total amount of neutral aroma substances was 48.82% higher than that of the control group. The content of related aroma substances increased significantly. The content of petroleum ether extract related to aroma substances increased by 0.93% compared with the control group. The macromolecular substances were degraded more fully than the control group, such as the starch content decreased to 1.56%. The results of metabolomics showed that the contents of aldehydes, heterocyclic compounds, alcohols, ketones and esters increased significantly in different degrees after this process. These results show that the optimization of wind speed parameters can significantly improve the baking quality of tobacco leaves. This study provides a reference for the optimization of the flue-cured tobacco baking process., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

With the rapid development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), the exploration of self-powered, flexible, and wearable electronic devices has attracted widespread attention. However, the choice of tribomaterials and high humidity environment have a significant impact on the triboelectricity of TENG. Therefore, we prepared a composite fabric (HPC) with superhydrophobic and conductive properties, which was used simultaneously as a tribopositive material and electrode for the construction of promising wearable TENGs. Specifically, the loading of polydopamine, carbon nanotubes, and polypyrrole on the surface of the cotton fabric makes it have not only conductivity but also enhanced tribopositive polarity. Then, cetyltrimethoxysilane was selected to modify it to obtain superhydrophobicity. Compared with the common TENGs with a separate tribolayer and electrode, the integrated HPC-TENG shows the advantages of simpler structure and lighter wear. Moreover, compared with the unmodified fabric-based TENG, the performance of the proposed HPC-TENG is improved by nearly 7.2 times, and the maximum power density can reach 2.6 W m -2 . This remarkable output can be attributed to the combination of strong electron-giving groups, high electrical conductivity, and abundant micro- and nanorough structure of the HPC fabric. More importantly, due to the water repellency of the fabric surface, the high output performance can be maintained under high humidity conditions. In addition, HPC-TENG has potential applications as pressure sensors for human motion status monitoring and multichannel sensing for smart game blanket entertainment. The newly designed HPC-TENG offers a new strategy for the development of superhydrophobic fabrics with an electrical conductivity, energy harvesting, and self-powered sensor.

Artificial solid-state nanochannels have garnered considerable attention as promising nanofluidic tools for ion/molecular detection, DNA sequencing, and biomimicry. Recently, nanofluidic devices have emerged as cost-effective detection tools for heavy metal ions by modifying stimuli-responsive materials. In this work, high-purity glycyl-l-histidyl-l-lysine (GHK) peptide is synthesized by using 7-diphenylphosphonooxycoumarin-4-methanol (DPCM) as a protecting group and auxiliary carrier by homogeneous synthesis of photocleavable groups. Subsequently, we developed a GHK-modified asymmetric nanochannel nanofluidic diode by covalently attaching the GHK peptide to the inner surface of the nanochannels. This modification facilitated specific recognition and ultra-trace level detection of Cu 2+ ions, achieving a detection limit of 10 -15 M. Due to the robust complexing ability between Cu 2+ and GHK peptide, the GHK-modified asymmetric nanochannels can form GHK-Cu complexes on the inner surface of nanochannels when Cu 2+ passes through the nanochannels. This results in changes of current-potential ( I - V ) properties, which facilitated Cu 2+ detection. Theoretical calculations confirmed the high affinity of the GHK peptide for Cu 2+ , thereby ensuring excellent Cu 2+ selectivity. To evaluate the applicability of our system for detecting Cu 2+ in real-world scenarios, we analyzed the concentration of Cu 2+ in tap water. The GHK-Cu complexes could be dissociated by adding EDTA to the solution, enabling the regeneration and reuse of this ultrasensitive and label-free Cu 2+ detection system using GHK-modified asymmetric multi-nanochannels. We anticipate that the GHK-modified asymmetric nanochannels will find future applications in the label-free detection of Cu 2+ in domestic water.

Our knowledge of viral sequence space has exploded with advancing sequencing technologies and large-scale sampling and analytical efforts. Though archaea are important and abundant prokaryotes in many systems, our knowledge of archaeal viruses outside of extreme environments is limited. This largely stems from the lack of a robust, high-throughput, and systematic way to distinguish between bacterial and archaeal viruses in datasets of curated viruses. Here we upgrade our prior text-based tool (MArVD) via training and testing a random forest machine learning algorithm against a newly curated dataset of archaeal viruses. After optimization, MArVD2 presented a significant improvement over its predecessor in terms of scalability, usability, and flexibility, and will allow user-defined custom training datasets as archaeal virus discovery progresses. Benchmarking showed that a model trained with viral sequences from the hypersaline, marine, and hot spring environments correctly classified 85% of the archaeal viruses with a false detection rate below 2% using a random forest prediction threshold of 80% in a separate benchmarking dataset from the same habitats., (© 2023. ISME Publications B.V.)

As a sustainable, clean, and friendly technology with a minimal carbon footprint when treating seawater or wastewater, interfacial solar vapor generation (ISVG) technology is a great alternative to traditional desalination and water purification methods (e.g., reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration). So far, it presents tremendous potential for applications in realizing desalination of seawater or brine, wastewater treatment, and so forth. However, the precipitated salt particles during conventional ISVG inevitably block the evaporator surface, resulting in the degradation of photothermal conversion and decrease of evaporation rate. Herein, a multi-functional non-contact Janus hollow evaporator based on copper foam was prepared, which was assembled by a hydrophobic light-to-heat conversion layer and a hydrophilic interfacial water evaporation layer as two separate parts. Accordingly, the precipitated salt in the ISVG system does not block the photothermal interface, increasing the stability of solar capture and reusability of the evaporator. Notably, the hollow structure of the evaporator has a local interfacial heating effect, endowing the evaporation system with a high seawater evaporation rate of 2.249 kg m -2 h -1 . The evaporator is capable of stable operation for 10 h under 1 sun illumination even when evaporating concentrated brine (15 wt %). Moreover, the evaporation rate of water under one sun irradiation reached 2.284 kg m -2 h -1 and the solar-to-vapor efficiency reached 96.6%. Not only that, the evaporator was able to successfully purify wastewater containing dyes and heavy metal ions. The multi-functional Janus hollow interfacial solar evaporator will provide inspiration for upcoming research on the production of safety water.

Perturbations of mitochondrial proteostasis have been associated with aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and recently with hypoxic injury. While examining hypoxia-induced mitochondrial protein aggregation in C. elegans, we found that sublethal hypoxia, sodium azide, or heat shock-induced abundant ethidium bromide staining mitochondrial granules that preceded evidence of protein aggregation. Genetic manipulations that reduce cellular and organismal hypoxic death block the formation of these mitochondrial stress granules (mitoSG). Knockdown of mitochondrial nucleoid proteins also blocked the formation of mitoSG by a mechanism distinct from the mitochondrial unfolded protein response. Lack of the major mitochondrial matrix protease LONP-1 resulted in the constitutive formation of mitoSG without external stress. Ethidium bromide-staining RNA-containing mitochondrial granules were also observed in rat cardiomyocytes treated with sodium azide, a hypoxia mimetic. Mitochondrial stress granules are an early mitochondrial pathology controlled by LONP and the nucleoid, preceding hypoxia-induced protein aggregation., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Glycolysis is the key hallmark of cancer and maintains malignant tumor initiation and progression. The role of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification in glycolysis is largely unknown. This study explored the biological function of m6A methyltransferase METTL16 in glycolytic metabolism and revealed a new mechanism for the progression of Colorectal cancer (CRC)., Methods: The expression and prognostic value of METTL16 was evaluated using bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. The biological functions of METTL16 in CRC progression was analyzed in vivo and in vitro. Glycolytic metabolism assays were used to verify the biological function of METTL16 and Suppressor of glucose by autophagy (SOGA1). The protein/RNA stability, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and RNA pull-down assays were used to explore the potential molecular mechanisms., Results: SOGA1 is a direct downstream target of METTL16 and involved in METTL16 mediated glycolysis and CRC progression. METTL16 significantly enhances SOGA1 expression and mRNA stability via binding the "reader" protein insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 1 (IGF2BP1). Subsequently, SOGA1 promotes AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) complex ubiquitination, inhibits its expression and phosphorylation, thus upregulates pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4), a crucial protein controlling glucose metabolism. Moreover, Yin Yang 1 (YY1) can transcriptionally inhibit the expression of METTL16 in CRC cells by directly binding to its promoter. Clinical data showed that METTL16 expression is positively correlated to SOGA1 and PDK4, and is associated with poor prognosis of CRC patients., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that METTL16/SOGA1/PDK4 axis might be promising therapeutic targets for CRC., (© 2023. The Author(s).)