Entropy-Repaired Solvation Structure Strategy for High-Efficiency Phosphate-Based Localized High-Concentration Electrolytes in Potassium Batteries.

The safety and cycling stability of potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are deeply associated with potassium-ion electrolytes. However, due to the weak Lewis acidity of potassium ions, localized high-concentration electrolytes in PIBs are prone to excessive weak solvation. Herein, we propose an entropy repair strategy for the solvation structure of potassium ions and systematically design a moderately weakly solvated high-entropy localized high-concentration electrolyte.

Lipoic Acid Nanoparticles Exert Effective Antiatherosclerosis Effects through Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Pathways.

Oxidative stress and inflammation are key pathological features of atherosclerotic plaques. Numerous nanomedicines have been developed to alleviate oxidative stress and reduce inflammation within plaques. However, nonbioactive carrier materials reduce the bioavailability of nanomedicines and may pose potential biological toxicity.

Remodeling the tumor immune microenvironment through hydrogel encapsulated G-Rh2 vaccine and systemic immunotherapy.

Ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) is a vital bioactive compound in Traditional Chinese Medicine, celebrated for its strong pharmacological properties, particularly its potent antitumor effects. However, its poor water solubility and limited bioavailability have necessitated the development of a novel drug delivery method. In this study, we utilized an indocyanine green carboxylic acid-hydroxypropyl cellulose-abietic acid-bovine serum albumin hydrogel (ICG-HPC-AA/BSA hydrogel) as a tumor vaccine to enhance the permeability, retention, and tumor-targeted therapeutic efficacy of G-Rh2.

Development of a manganese complex hyaluronic acid hydrogel encapsulating stimuli-responsive Gambogic acid nanoparticles for targeted Intratumoral delivery.

Gambogic acid is a natural compound with anticancer properties and is effective for many tumors. But its low water solubility and dose-dependent side effects limit its clinical application. This study aims to develop a novel drug delivery system for intratumoral delivery of gambogic acid.

Design of a single-center, phase II trial to explore the efficacy and safety of 'R-ISV-RO' treatment in advanced tumors.

The authors' preclinical study has confirmed that RO adjuvant (composed of TLR 7 agonists [imiquimod/R837] and OX40 agonists) injected into local lesions induces the regression of both primary tumor and distant metastasis. The authors propose to realize local control and exert abscopal effect through an 'R-ISV-RO' strategy plus anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody in advanced tumors. This study is a single-center, exploratory, phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of R-ISV-RO plus anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody in advanced tumors.

Imaging Features of Invasive Fungal Rhinosinusitis: A Systematic Review.

Fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS) includes non-invasive and invasive subtypes with the latter having significant morbidity and mortality. This systematic review aims to identify the imaging features most correlated with invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFRS) and present a checklist of these features to aid diagnosis. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, and Science Direct were searched from inception to May 2023, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines.

Pantoprazole and Vonoprazan Performed Well in Preventing Peptic Ulcer Recurrence in Low-Dose Aspirin Users.

Background: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) administration is associated with an elevated risk of recurring peptic ulcer (PU) and gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage.

Aims: This systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of diverse medications in preventing the recurrence of PU and GI hemorrhage in patients with a history of PU receiving long-term LDA therapy.

Methods: This systematic review and network meta-analysis followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023406550).

Comment on Golčić et al. Evaluation of Systemic Treatment Options for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours. 2023, , 4081.

We carefully read the article written by Golčić et al. "Evaluation of Systemic Treatment Options for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours" [..

CT synthesis from CBCT using a sequence-aware contrastive generative network.

Computerized tomography (CT) synthesis from cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) is a key step in adaptive radiotherapy. It uses a synthetic CT to calculate the dose to correct and adjust the radiotherapy plan in a timely manner. The cycle-consistent adversarial network (Cycle GAN) is commonly used in CT synthesis tasks but it has some defects: (a) the premise of the cycle consistency loss is that the conversion between domains is bijective, but the CBCT and CT conversion does not fully satisfy the bijective relationship, and (b) it does not take advantage of the complementary information between multiple sets of CBCTs for the same patient.

Bivalent Gadolinium Ions Forming Injectable Hydrogels for Simultaneous In Situ Vaccination Therapy and Imaging of Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is the classic soft tissue sarcomas (STS) first-line treatment drug, while dose-dependent myelosuppression and cardiotoxicity limit its application in clinic. This research intends to apply DOX, which is also an inducer of immunogenic cell death as a part for "in situ vaccination" and conjointly uses PD-1 inhibitors to enhance antitumor efficacy. In order to achieve the sustained vaccination effect and real-time monitoring of distribution in vivo, the in situ forming and injectable hydrogel platform with the function of visualization is established for local delivery.

Neglected intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses: A comparative study of pulmonary right-to-left shunts in patients with patent foramen ovale.

Objective: Pulmonary right-to-left shunt (P-RLS) and patent foramen ovale right-to-left shunt (PFO-RLS) often appear in combination, and there are often differences and connections between them. Intrapulmonary arteriovenous anastomoses (IPAVAs), as part of P-RLS, are often overlooked because there are no technologies to detect and identify them. This study aimed to further clarify the incidence and characteristics of P-RLS with the help of contrast transesophageal echocardiography (c-TEE) and contrast transthoracic echocardiography (c-TTE), providing a reference for clinically relevant research and patent foramen ovale (PFO) management disposal decisions.

Calf muscle pump tensing as a novel maneuver to improve the diagnostic performance of detecting patent foramen ovale during transesophageal echocardiography.

Objective: The Valsalva maneuver is the most sensitive provocative maneuver for patent foramen ovale detection. However, nearly half of patients are unable to perform the Valsalva maneuver well. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of calf muscle pump tensing (TENSE) as a novel patent foramen ovale (PFO) provocative maneuver and to evaluate the diagnostic value for PFO and the effect on right-to-left shunt volume compared with the Valsalva maneuver.

Nanomodified Switch Induced Precise and Moderate Activation of CAR-T Cells for Solid Tumors.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a transformative treatment against advanced malignancies. Unfortunately, once administrated in vivo, CAR-T cells become out of artificial control, and fierce response to CAR-T therapy may cause severe adverse events, represented by cytokine-release syndrome and on-target/off-tumor effects. Here, a nanomodified switch strategy is developed, leading to sustained and precise "on-tumor only" activation of CAR-T cells.

Effectiveness of polyene phosphatidylcholine and its combination with other drugs in patients with liver diseases based on real-world research.

Objectives: Polyene phosphatidylcholine (PPC) is a widely used hepatoprotective drug. We aim to explore the effectiveness of PPC in patients with liver diseases based on real-world research, and compare with other hepatoprotective drugs.

Methods: This was a 'three-phase' retrospective study, including a descriptive study, a self-control case study, and a specific-disease cohort study.

Outcomes With Multidisciplinary Cardiac Rehabilitation in Post-acute Systolic Heart Failure Patients-A Retrospective Propensity Score-Matched Study.

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recommended for patients with acute heart failure (HF). However, the results of outcome studies and meta-analyses on CR in post-acute care are varied. We aimed to assess the medium- to long-term impact of CR and ascertain the predictors of successful CR.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate induces suppression of testosterone biosynthesis via Sertoli cell-derived exosomal/miR-9-3p downregulating StAR expression in Leydig cells.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is associated with male reproductive disorder, but the related mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we used in vivo and in vitro models to explore the role of Sertoli cell-derived exosomes (SC-Exo)/miR-9-3p/StAR signaling pathway on PFOS-induced suppression of testosterone biosynthesis. Forty male ICR mice were orally administrated PFOS (0.

Treatment Adherence to Nucleos(t)ide Analogs in Chinese Patients with Hepatitis B Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a crucial risk factor in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Antiviral therapy is very important for patients with HBV-related HCC. To maintain undetectable level of HBV DNA, patients must take nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs) appropriately and regularly.

CT synthesis from MRI using multi-cycle GAN for head-and-neck radiation therapy.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guided Radiation Therapy is a hot topic in the current studies of radiotherapy planning, which requires using MRI to generate synthetic Computed Tomography (sCT). Despite recent progress in image-to-image translation, it remains challenging to apply such techniques to generate high-quality medical images. This paper proposes a novel framework named Multi-Cycle GAN, which uses the Pseudo-Cycle Consistent module to control the consistency of generation and the domain control module to provide additional identical constraints.

Human Microfibrillar-Associated Protein 4 (MFAP4) Gene Promoter: A TATA-Less Promoter That Is Regulated by Retinol and Coenzyme Q10 in Human Fibroblast Cells.

Elastic fibers are one of the major structural components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in human connective tissues. Among these fibers, microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) is one of the most important microfibril-associated glycoproteins. MFAP4 has been found to bind with elastin microfibrils and interact directly with fibrillin-1, and then aid in elastic fiber formation.

The Interrelationship between Ventilatory Inefficiency and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Terms of Cardiovascular Outcomes in Heart Failure Outpatients.

The relationship between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and cardiovascular (CV) outcome is documented in patients with low LVEF. Ventilatory inefficiency is an important prognostic predictor. We hypothesized that the presence of ventilatory inefficiency influences the prognostic predictability of LVEF in heart failure (HF) outpatients.

Efficacy of Type 2 PRRSV vaccine against challenge with the Chinese lineage 1 (NADC30-like) PRRSVs in pigs.

The objective of the present study was to determine the cross-protection of Ingelvac PRRS MLV against challenge with the new lineage 1 PRRSV emerged in China in pigs. Two lineage 1 PRRSV strains (FJZ03 and FJWQ16 originated from recombination event between NADC30 and JXA1-like strain). We found that pigs vaccinated with the vaccine were protected against challenge with the FJZ03 as shown by fewer days of clinical fever, reduced lung pathology scores, lower PRRS virus load in the blood and developed broadly neutralizing antibodies with high titers to FJZ03.

Expression and characterization of albumin fusion protein canine IFNγ-CSA in baculovirus-insect cell expression system.

In this study, canine IFNγ was fused by a flexible linker with canine serum albumin to construct the fusion protein IFNγ-CSA for the purpose to design a long-acting canine IFNγ. The fusion protein was successfully expressed in baculovirus-infected Sf9 insect cells and was purified by salting-out and ion exchange chromatography. The IFNγ-CSA fusion possessed potent anti-viral assay against vesicular stomatitis virus in cultured cells.

Albumin fusion improves the pharmacokinetics and in vivo antitumor efficacy of canine interferon gamma.

Interferon (IFN)-γ plays an important role in antiviral, anti-proliferative, immunomodulatory and pro-inflammatory activities. However, the short therapeutic half-life of IFN-γ lessens its efficacy. Albumin fusion strategy is one of the most effective ways to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of cytokines.

The effect of home-based program and outpatient physical therapy in patients with head and neck cancer: A randomized, controlled trial.

Objectives: Physical therapy improves outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) but home-based program (HBP) has not yet been investigated thoroughly. This study compared a HBP with outpatient physical therapy (OPT).

Methods: This trial categorized patients with primary HNC into OPT and HBP groups.