Opioid-Sparing Anesthesia for Open Total Pancreatectomy and Splenectomy Using the External Oblique Intercostal (EOI) Block: A Case Report.

The external oblique intercostal (EOI) block is a relatively new fascial plane block that had been described for upper abdominal surgery. While it has had relatively good analgesia efficacy in the literature for various upper abdominal surgeries, it has yet to be proven to be effective as the sole analgesia technique. We present a 74-year-old Chinese female patient undergoing an open total pancreatectomy and splenectomy using the bilateral EOI block as the primary analgesia technique.

Axillary serratus anterior plane block as a novel approach to anesthetizing the intercostobrachial nerve for upper arm arteriovenous fistula creation surgery-three case reports.

Background: Current regional anesthesia techniques used to anesthetize the intercostobrachial nerve (ICBN) for upper arm surgery either lack reliability or have increased procedural risks. Safer and more reliable regional anesthetic techniques are required to block the ICBN effectively. Here, we introduce a novel "axillary serratus anterior plane (A-SAP) block" for anesthetizing the ICBN to allow surgical anesthesia for upper arm arteriovenous fistula (UA-AVF) creation.

Thermally Driven Dynamic Behaviors in Polymeric Vesicles.

Stimuli-responsive polymeric vesicles offer a versatile platform for mimicking dynamic cell-like behaviors for synthetic cell applications. In this study, thermally responsive polymeric droplets derived from poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butylene oxide) (PEO-PBO) polymersomes, aiming to create synthetic cell models that mimic key biological functions are developed. Upon heating, the nanoscale vesicles undergo fusion, transforming into sponge-like microscale droplets enriched with membrane features.

DeepAptamer: Advancing high-affinity aptamer discovery with a hybrid deep learning model.

Oligonucleotide aptamers are typically identified through a rigorous and time-consuming process known as systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), which requires 20 to 30 iterative rounds to eliminate non/weak binding sequences and enrich tight binding sequences with high affinity. Moreover, inherent experimental biases and non-specific interactions within SELEX could inadvertently exclude high-affinity candidates, leading to a high failure rate. To address these challenges, we proposed DeepAptamer for identifying high-affinity sequences from unenriched early SELEX rounds.

Classifications of triple-negative breast cancer: insights and current therapeutic approaches.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and challenging type of cancer, characterized by the absence of specific receptors targeted by current therapies, which limits effective targeted treatment options. TNBC has a high risk of recurrence and distant metastasis, resulting in lower survival rates. Additionally, TNBC exhibits significant heterogeneity at histopathological, proteomic, transcriptomic, and genomic levels, further complicating the development of effective treatments.

Corrigendum to "Hydrogen peroxide as a mitigation against sp. Bloom" [Aquaculture, Volume 577, 15 December 2023, 739932].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.

Acute Sophora alkaloid poisoning in Hong Kong.

Sophora alkaloids, including matrine, oxymatrine, and sophoridine, are quinolizidines found in plants used in traditional Chinese medicine such as Sophora flavescens and Sophora tonkinensis. Reports on acute Sophora alkaloid poisoning in humans outside of mainland China are lacking. This study aimed to characterize the clinical presentations, management, and outcomes of acute poisoning involving Sophora alkaloids in Hong Kong.

Is Thermal Pulsation Therapy Effective for Dry Eyes Before and After Cataract Surgery? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a primary cause of evaporative dry eye disease (DED), which is often exacerbated by cataract surgery due to surgical trauma and inflammation. Thermal pulsation therapy (TPT) aims to enhance meibomian gland function and relieve dry eye symptoms. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of TPT in managing dry eye symptoms associated with cataract surgery.

Same-Slide Spatial Multi-Omics Integration Reveals Tumor Virus-Linked Spatial Reorganization of the Tumor Microenvironment.

The advent of spatial transcriptomics and spatial proteomics have enabled profound insights into tissue organization to provide systems-level understanding of diseases. Both technologies currently remain largely independent, and emerging same slide spatial multi-omics approaches are generally limited in plex, spatial resolution, and analytical approaches. We introduce IN-situ DEtailed Phenotyping To High-resolution transcriptomics (IN-DEPTH), a streamlined and resource-effective approach compatible with various spatial platforms.

3D-printed aberration-free terahertz metalens for ultra-broadband achromatic super-resolution wide-angle imaging with high numerical aperture.

Terahertz (THz) lens constitutes a vital component in the THz system. Metasurfaces-based THz metalenses and classical bulky lenses are severely constrained by chromatic/ spherical aberration and the diffraction limit. Consequently, achromatic super-resolution THz lenses are urgently needed.

Ambient PM exposure and tuberculosis reactivation: a cross-sectional study in an intermediate burden city.

Hong Kong is an intermediate tuberculosis (TB) endemicity city dominated by reactivation diseases. A cross-sectional study on the clinical and epidemiologic data of newly diagnosed TB cases was conducted in such a setting, to examine the association between ambient PM and TB reactivation. After the exclusion of cases most likely resulting from recent infection, four distinct TB population phenotypes were delineated by latent class analysis based on their reactivation risk and clinical profiles ( = 2,153): '' (26%), '' (34%), '' (19%) and '' (21%).

P-cadherin mechanoactivates tumor-mesothelium metabolic coupling to promote ovarian cancer metastasis.

Cancer adhesion to the mesothelium is critical for peritoneal metastasis, but how metastatic cells adapt to the biomechanical microenvironment remains unclear. Our study demonstrates that highly metastatic (HM), but not non-metastatic, ovarian cancer cells selectively activate the peritoneal mesothelium. HM cells exert a stronger adhesive force on mesothelial cells via P-cadherin, an adhesion molecule abundant in late-stage tumors.

Childhood Trauma Across the Schizophrenia Spectrum: A Comparison of Schizotypal Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia.

Background: The etiology of schizophrenia involves both biological and environmental risk factors. Studying childhood trauma in disorders along the schizophrenia spectrum, including schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), can inform early risk and protective factors for psychosis. However, no study has directly compared childhood trauma between SPD and schizophrenia.

The link between Empathy and Forgiveness: Replication and extensions Registered Report of McCullough et al. (1997)'s Study 1.

McCullough et al. [McCullough, M. E.

Deficiency of muscle-generated brain-derived neurotrophic factor causes inflammatory myopathy through reactive oxygen species-mediated necroptosis and pyroptosis.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (commonly known as myositis) is a group of immune-related diseases characterized by muscle damage, weakness, and fatigue with unknown causes. Although overactivated innate immunity is a widely believed cause of myositis onset, the mechanism that provokes and maintains a high immune response in myositis patients is still unclear. This study aims to test if brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) deficiency per se is sufficient to cause myositis and determine its underlying mechanism.

Estrogen Regulates Mitochondrial Activity Through Inducing Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression in Skeletal Muscle.

Estrogen is an essential hormone for the development and functional activities of reproductive organs. Recent studies showed that estrogen signaling is also an important regulator of lipid and glucose metabolism in a number of tissues, but the molecular mechanism is not fully understood. We report here that estrogen is a stimulator of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) synthesis in the skeletal muscle.

Localized release of muscle-generated BDNF regulates the initial formation of postsynaptic apparatus at neuromuscular synapses.

Growing evidence indicates that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is produced in contracting skeletal muscles and is secreted as a myokine that plays an important role in muscle metabolism. However, the involvement of muscle-generated BDNF and the regulation of its vesicular trafficking, localization, proteolytic processing, and spatially restricted release during the development of vertebrate neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) remain largely unknown. In this study, we first reported that BDNF is spatially associated with the actin-rich core domain of podosome-like structures (PLSs) at topologically complex acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters in cultured Xenopus muscle cells.

The impact of the door-to-antivenom time on the resolution of coagulopathy caused by green pit viper bite-a retrospective cohort study.

Trimeresurus albolabris (green pit viper) accounts for 95% of human venomous snakebites in Hong Kong and the Green Pit Viper antivenin has become the only antivenom available. Little is known about the impact of early antivenom administration on the duration of venom-induced coagulopathy. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the impact of the door-to-antivenom time (DTAT) on the duration of such coagulopathy.

Electrode-Dependent and Tunable Sub-to-Super-Linear Responsivity in Mott Material-Enabled Near-Infrared Photodetectors for Advanced Near-Sensor Image Processing.

Brain-like intelligence is ushering humanity into an era of the Internet of Perceptions (IoP), where the vast amounts of data generated by numerous sensing nodes pose significant challenges to transmission bandwidth and computing hardware. A recently proposed near-sensor computing architecture offers an effective solution to reduce data processing delays and energy consumption. However, a pressing need remains for innovative hardware with multifunctional near-sensor image processing capabilities.