Efficient and Accurate Brain Tumor Classification Using Hybrid MobileNetV2-Support Vector Machine for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Diagnostics in Neoplasms.

Background/objectives: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) plays a vital role in brain tumor diagnosis by providing clear visualization of soft tissues without the use of ionizing radiation. Given the increasing incidence of brain tumors, there is an urgent need for reliable diagnostic tools, as misdiagnoses can lead to harmful treatment decisions and poor outcomes. While machine learning has significantly advanced medical diagnostics, achieving both high accuracy and computational efficiency remains a critical challenge.

The U-shaped correlation between serum VD concentration and systemic immune-inflammatory index: results from the NHANES database prospective cohort study.

Background: Vitamin D (VD) plays a critical role in regulating systemic inflammation, but its correlation with the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the relationship between serum VD concentration, dietary VD intake, and SII using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Methods: Data from NHANES 2007-2018 and NHANES 2007-2020 were analyzed for serum VD levels and dietary VD intake, respectively.

FcRn-dependent IgG accumulation in adipose tissue unmasks obesity pathophysiology.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is traditionally recognized as a plasma protein that neutralizes antigens for immune defense. However, our research demonstrates that IgG predominantly accumulates in adipose tissue during obesity development, triggering insulin resistance and macrophage infiltration. This accumulation is governed by neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-dependent recycling, orchestrated in adipose progenitor cells and macrophages during the early and late stages of diet-induced obesity (DIO), respectively.

SMAC mimetics induce human macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells.

Macrophages engulf apoptotic bodies and cellular debris as part of homeostasis, but they can also phagocytose live cells such as aged red blood cells. Pharmacologic reprogramming with the SMAC mimetic LCL161 in combination with T cell-derived cytokines can induce macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells in mouse models. Here we extend these findings to encompass a wide range of monovalent and bivalent SMAC mimetic compounds, demonstrating that live cell phagocytosis is a class effect of these agents.

In Situ Transition of Amorphous Carbon to Graphite-like Structures Using MXene as a Template for Fast and Long-Lasting Macrosuperlubricity.

Achieving fast and long-lasting superlubricity in two-dimensional (2D) materials under high-stress conditions is challenging due to their susceptibility to structural deformations, limited load-bearing capacity, oxidation, and thermal degradation. This study introduces an innovative strategy by utilizing a composite of MXene and H-DLC, where, under high-stress conditions, H-DLC acts as a preferential energy-absorbing phase. MXene serves as a template to rapidly and continuously transform the absorbed energy into graphene-like structures, forming an in situ heterogeneous MXene/graphene-like interface.

Novel detoxifier of spironolactone against triptolide-induced hepatotoxicity through inhibition of RPB1 degradation.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Triptolide is a major bioactive and toxic ingredient isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii (T. wilfordii) Hook F. It exhibits potent antitumor, immunosuppressive, and anti-inflammatory biological activities; however, its clinical application is hindered by severe systemic toxicity.

Maintaining the 2D Structure of MXene via Self-Assembled Monolayers for Efficient Lubrication in High Humidity.

MXene is considered as a promising solid lubricant due to facile shearing ability and tuneable surface chemistry. However, it faces challenges in high-humidity environments where excessive water molecules can significantly impact its 2D structure, thus deteriorating its lubricating properties. In this work, the self-assembled monolayers are formed on MXene by surface chlorination (MXene-Cl) and fluorination (MXene-F), and their friction behaviors in high/low humidity are investigated.

Small molecule conjugates with selective estrogen receptor agonism promote anti-aging benefits in metabolism and skin recovery.

Estrogen is imperative to mammalian reproductivity, metabolism, and aging. However, the hormone activating estrogen receptor (ERs) can cause major safety concerns due to the enrichment of ER in female tissues and certain malignancies. In contrast, ER is more broadly expressed in metabolic tissues and the skin.

Pedicled flap versus skin graft for great toe defect repair after wrap-around flap transfer.

This study compared the clinical outcomes of tibial-sided digital artery pedicled flap from the second toe versus full-thickness skin grafting to repair great toe defects after wrap-around flap transfers. The pedicled flap resulted in better pain scores and aesthetic outcomes.

IgG is an aging factor that drives adipose tissue fibrosis and metabolic decline.

Aging is underpinned by pronounced metabolic decline; however, the drivers remain obscure. Here, we report that IgG accumulates during aging, particularly in white adipose tissue (WAT), to impair adipose tissue function and metabolic health. Caloric restriction (CR) decreases IgG accumulation in WAT, whereas replenishing IgG counteracts CR's metabolic benefits.

Intratumoral delivery of a Tim-3 antibody-encoding oncolytic adenovirus engages an effective antitumor immune response in liver cancer.

Background And Purpose: The use of oncolytic viruses as a gene therapy vector is an area of active biomedical research, particularly in the context of cancer treatment. However, the actual therapeutic success of this approach to tumor elimination remains limited. As such, the present study was developed with the goal of simultaneously enhancing the antitumor efficacy of oncolytic viruses and the local immune response by combining the Ad-GD55 oncolytic adenovirus and an antibody specific for the TIM-3 immune checkpoint molecule (α-TIM-3).

Numerical simulation and experiment of double chamber brake based on CFD.

The artillery firing process will instantly produce high-temperature and high-pressure gunpowder gas, this process will produce shock waves. The gunpowder gas has a limited effect on the projectile during the firing and ballistic after-effects period, however, it has a very obvious effect on the stability of the gun body, and the reduction of the stability of the gun body directly affects the firing accuracy and the safety of the firing personnel. Based on the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), numerical simulation is carried out, and the structure and flow parameters of the muzzle flow field are obtained by using three-dimensional Euler's control equation, gas equation of state, and k-epsilon model, as well as dynamic mesh technology.

A glimpse of the connection between PPARγ and macrophage.

Nuclear receptors are ligand-regulated transcription factors that regulate vast cellular activities and serve as an important class of drug targets. Among them, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptor family and have been extensively studied for their roles in metabolism, differentiation, development, and cancer, among others. Recently, there has been considerable interest in understanding and defining the function of PPARs and their agonists in regulating innate and adaptive immune responses and their pharmacological potential in combating chronic inflammatory diseases.

Deciphering the decline of metabolic elasticity in aging and obesity.

Organisms must adapt to fluctuating nutrient availability to maintain energy homeostasis. Here, we term the capacity for such adaptation and restoration "metabolic elasticity" and model it through ad libitum-fasting-refeeding cycles. Metabolic elasticity is achieved by coordinate versatility in gene expression, which we call "gene elasticity.

Correlation between the setting of gating window width and setup accuracy in left breast cancer radiotherapy based on deep inspiration breath hold.

Personalized precision irradiation of patients with left-sided breast cancer is possible by examining the setup errors of 3- and 4-mm gated window widths for those treated with deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) treatment. An observational study was performed via a retrospective analysis of 250 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 60 left-breast cancer patients who underwent whole-breast radiotherapy with the DIBH technique between January 2021 and 2022 at our hospital. Among them, 30 patients had a gated window width of 3 mm, while the remaining 30 had a gated window width of 4 mm; both groups received radiotherapy using DIBH technology.

PPARγ Acetylation in Adipocytes Exacerbates BAT Whitening and Worsens Age-Associated Metabolic Dysfunction.

Aging and obesity are the two prominent driving forces of metabolic dysfunction, yet the common underlying mechanisms remain elusive. PPARγ, a central metabolic regulator and primary drug target combatting insulin resistance, is hyperacetylated in both aging and obesity. By employing a unique adipocyte-specific PPARγ acetylation-mimetic mutant knock-in mouse model, namely aKQ, we demonstrate that these mice develop worsened obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and glucose intolerance as they age, and these metabolic deregulations are resistant to intervention by intermittent fasting.

Functional and aesthetic recovery of the second toe defect using a wrap-around pedicled flap from the great toe.

We report the results of using a fibula-sided digital artery pedicled flap from the great toe to cover the second toe free flap donor site, which avoids delayed wound healing, and prevents pain and skin ulceration. This study included 15 patients who had second toe wrap-around free flaps to reconstruct thumb and finger defects. All 15 pedicled flaps used to cover the defect healed uneventfully.

Establishment and validation of a nomogram based on coagulation parameters to predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer.

Background: In recent years, multiple coagulation and fibrinolysis (CF) indexes have been reported to be significantly related to the progression and prognosis of some cancers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to comprehensively analyze the value of CF parameters in prognosis prediction of pancreatic cancer (PC).

Methods: The preoperative coagulation related data, clinicopathological information, and survival data of patients with pancreatic tumor were collected retrospectively.

Unraveling the pathophysiology of schizophrenia: insights from structural magnetic resonance imaging studies.

Background: Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the global population. In addition to the complex etiology, linking this illness to genetic, environmental, and neurobiological factors, the dynamic experiences associated with this disease, such as experiences of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and abnormal behaviors, limit neurological consensuses regarding mechanisms underlying this disease.

Methods: In this study, we recruited 72 patients with schizophrenia and 74 healthy individuals matched by age and sex to investigate the structural brain changes that may serve as prognostic biomarkers, indicating evidence of neural dysfunction underlying schizophrenia and subsequent cognitive and behavioral deficits.

Transforming Growth Factor-β Blockade in Pancreatic Cancer Enhances Sensitivity to Combination Chemotherapy.

Background & Aims: Transforming growth factor-b (TGFb) plays pleiotropic roles in pancreatic cancer, including promoting metastasis, attenuating CD8 T-cell activation, and enhancing myofibroblast differentiation and deposition of extracellular matrix. However, single-agent TGFb inhibition has shown limited efficacy against pancreatic cancer in mice or humans.

Methods: We evaluated the TGFβ-blocking antibody NIS793 in combination with gemcitabine/nanoparticle (albumin-bound)-paclitaxel or FOLFIRINOX (folinic acid [FOL], 5-fluorouracil [F], irinotecan [IRI] and oxaliplatin [OX]) in orthotopic pancreatic cancer models.