Microfluidic 3D printing hydrogels based on fish liver decellularized extracellular matrix for liver regeneration.

Liver tissue engineering offers potential in liver transplantation, while the development of hydrogels for scalable scaffolds incorporating natural components and effective functionalities is ongoing. Here, we propose a novel microfluidic 3D printing hydrogel derived from decellularized fish liver extracellular matrix for liver regeneration. By decellularizing fish liver and combining it with gelatin methacryloyl, the hydrogel scaffold retains essential endogenous growth factors such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans.

Aberrant controllability of functional connectome during working memory tasks in patients with schizophrenia and unaffected siblings.

Background: Working memory deficit, a key feature of schizophrenia, is a heritable trait shared with unaffected siblings. It can be attributed to dysregulation in transitions from one brain state to another.

Aims: Using network control theory, we evaluate if defective brain state transitions underlie working memory deficits in schizophrenia.

Ultrasonography, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computer tomography features of hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma and hepatic sarcoma: a retrospective study of 23 cases.

Background: Hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma (HSC) and hepatic sarcoma (HS) are rare malignancies. Without pathology, the differential diagnosis between these two tumors is difficult due to their frequent overlaps in clinical presentations and imaging features. Currently, there are limited analyses about the ultrasound (US), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computer tomography (CECT) characteristics of HSC and HS.

Emerging Functional Porous Scaffolds for Liver Tissue Engineering.

Liver tissue engineering holds promising in synthesizing or regenerating livers, while the design of functional scaffold remains a challenge. Owing to the intricate simulation of extracellular matrix structure and performance, porous scaffolds have demonstrated advantages in creating liver microstructures and sustaining liver functions. Currently, various methods and processes have been employed to fabricate porous scaffolds, manipulating the properties and morphologies of materials to confer them with unique supportive functions.

Biomimetic Vascularized iPSC-Hepatocyte Spheroids for Liver Regeneration.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell derived hepatocytes (hiPSC-heps) hold promising value for acute liver failure (ALF) treatment, while their therapeutic efficacy is usually limited by low cell bioactivity and untargeted in vivo accumulation. Here, inspired by vascularity supporting cellular architectures in the tissues and organs, a novel vascularized hiPSC-heps spheroid based on microfluidic microcapsules is presented for liver repair via orthotopic transplantation. The microcapsules are comprised of aqueous cores that facilitate hiPSC-hep aggregating into spheroids, and hybrid hydrogel shells of sodium alginate and hyaluronic acid methacryloyl (HAMA).

Persistent humid climate favored the Qin and Western Han Dynasties in China around 2,200 y ago.

The Qin and Western Han dynasties (221 BCE to 24 CE) represent an era of societal prosperity in China. However, due to a lack of high-resolution paleoclimate records it is still unclear whether the agricultural boost documented for this period was associated with more favorable climatic conditions. Here, multiparameter analysis of annually resolved tree-ring records and process-based physiological modeling provide evidence of stable and consistently humid climatic conditions during 270 to 77 BCE in northern China.

Clinical and Multimodal Imaging Features of Hepatic Inflammatory Pseudotumors: A Two-Center Retrospective Study.

Objectives: Current literature on imaging characteristics of hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor (HIPT) is limited. This study aimed to analyze the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features in HIPT and compare them with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI).

Methods: A total of 83 patients with histologically proven HIPT from two medical institutions were included in this study.

A Meta-Learning Approach for Classifying Multimodal Retinal Images of Retinal Vein Occlusion With Limited Data.

Purpose: To propose and validate a meta-learning approach for detecting retinal vein occlusion (RVO) from multimodal images with only a few samples.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we formulate the problem as meta-learning. The meta-training dataset consists of 1254 color fundus (CF) images from 39 different fundus diseases.

Biomimetic Liver Lobules from Multi-Compartmental Microfluidics.

Engineered liver lobule is highly practical in hepatic disease treatment, while constructing a 3D biomimetic lobule with a heterogeneous architecture on a large scale is challenging. Here, inspired by the natural architectural construction of hepatic lobules, biomimetic hepatic lobules are proposed with coaxially through-pores for nutrient exchange via microfluidic technology. This multi-channel microfluidic chip is made by parallelly installing capillaries.

Development and evaluation of a large language model of ophthalmology in Chinese.

Background: Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, have considerable implications for various medical applications. However, ChatGPT's training primarily draws from English-centric internet data and is not tailored explicitly to the medical domain. Thus, an ophthalmic LLM in Chinese is clinically essential for both healthcare providers and patients in mainland China.

The 3-year follow-up of a fully biodegradable implantable device closure for perimembranous ventricular septal defects in children using echocardiography.

Objects: The aim of this study was to investigate the morphologic changes of a novel fully biodegradable implantable device after closing a perimembranous ventricular septal defect (Pm-VSD) and to evaluate the effect of the occluder on the myocardial function in patients during a 3-year follow-up period.

Methods: One-year, 2-year, and 3-year follow-ups were carried out after implantation with a total of 30 Pm-VSD patients who had successful closure by the fully biodegradable occluder. In total, 30 healthy children were enrolled as controls.

A connectome-based model of delusion in schizophrenia using functional connectivity under working memory task.

Delusion is an important feature of schizophrenia, which may stem from cognitive biases. Working memory (WM) is the core foundation of cognition, closely related to delusion. However, the knowledge of neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between WM and delusion in schizophrenia is poorly investigated.

Viral Mimicking Polyplexes as Hierarchical Unpacking Vectors for Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment.

Nano-delivery systems hold great promise for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Current research efforts are primarily focused on enhancing their targeting capabilities and efficacy. Here, this study proposes a novel viral-mimicking ternary polyplexes system for the controlled delivery of the anti-inflammatory drug Cyclosporin A (CsA) to effectively treat RA.

The neural compensation phenomenon in schizophrenia with mild attention deficits during working memory task.

Background: Working memory (WM) and attention are essential cognitive processes, and their interplay is critical for efficient information processing. Schizophrenia often exhibits deficits in both WM and attention, contributing to function impairments. This study aims to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between WM impairments and attention deficits in schizophrenia.

Biomimetic hepatic lobules from three-dimensional imprinted cell sheets.

Liver-tissue engineering has proven valuable in treating liver diseases, but the construction of liver tissues with high fidelity remains challenging. Here, we present a novel three-dimensional (3D)-imprinted cell-sheet strategy for the synchronous construction of biomimetic hepatic microtissues with high accuracy in terms of cell type, density, and distribution. To achieve this, the specific composition of hepatic cells in a normal human liver was determined using a spatial proteogenomics dataset.

Interaction effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension on left atrial function: a three-dimensional echocardiography study.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension (HT) often coexist and contribute to left atrial (LA) functional abnormalities. The aim of the present study was to explore whether there is a potential interaction effect between T2DM and HT on LA function.

Methods: A total of 135 patients (45 with T2DM only, 45 with HT only, and 45 with both T2DM and HT) were enrolled and compared to 45 age- and sex-matched controls.

Microfluidic Encapsulation of Exosomes Derived from Lipopolysaccharide-Treated Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Hyaluronic Acid Methacryloyl to Restore Ovarian Function in Mice.

Premature ovarian failure (POF) features an upward incidence nowadays, and the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs)-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) have shown applied values in the recovery of ovarian function. Here, a novel exosome-encapsulated microcarrier prepared by microfluidic technology for ovarian repair after chemotherapy damage is presented. The exosomes derived from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-preconditioned hUC-MSCs are encapsulated with hyaluronic acid methacryloyl (HAMA) via microfluidic electrospray, which is named HAMA/MSC-Exos.

Engineering Heterogeneous Tumor Models for Biomedical Applications.

Tumor tissue engineering holds great promise for replicating the physiological and behavioral characteristics of tumors in vitro. Advances in this field have led to new opportunities for studying the tumor microenvironment and exploring potential anti-cancer therapeutics. However, the main obstacle to the widespread adoption of tumor models is the poor understanding and insufficient reconstruction of tumor heterogeneity.

Bioadhesive Microcarriers Encapsulated with IL-27 High Expressive MSC Extracellular Vesicles for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treatment.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy is a promising candidate for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment, while overcoming the limitations of naive seeding cells function and realizing efficient intestinal targeting remains a challenge. Here, a bioadhesive microparticle carrying interleukin-27 (IL-27) MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC EVs) is developed to treat IBD. The MSC EVs prepared through lentivirus-mediated gene transfection technology show ideal anti-inflammatory and damage repair function.

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and the language network: Putative compensatory reorganization in unaffected siblings.

Language-related symptoms, such as disorganized, impoverished speech and communicative behaviors, are one of the core features of schizophrenia. These features most strongly correlate with cognitive deficits and polygenic risk among various symptom dimensions of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, unaffected siblings with genetic high-risk fail to show consistent deficits in language network (LN), indicating that either (1) polygenic risk has no notable effect on LN and/or (2) siblings show compensatory changes in opposing direction to patients.

Association between urinary IPM3 and the presence of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases: a cross-sectional study.

Our study aims to investigate the association of urinary IPM3 and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) in general adults. A total of 1775 participants were enrolled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Urinary levels of IPM3 were measured by LC/MS as exposure to isoprene.

Ultrasound-Responsive Oxygen-Carrying Pollen for Enhancing Chemo-Sonodynamic Therapy of Breast Cancer.

The tumor-suppressing efficacy of either chemotherapeutics or gaseous drugs has been confirmed in treating the triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), while the efficacy of single treatment is usually dissatisfactory. Herein, a novel ultrasound responsive natural pollen delivery system is presented to simultaneously load chemotherapeutics and gaseous drugs for synergistic treatment of TNBC. The hollow structure of pollen grains carries oxygen-enriched perfluorocarbon (PFC), and the porous spinous process structure adsorbs the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) (PO/D-PGs).

Ultrasound-responsive matters for biomedical applications.

Ultrasound (US) is a biofavorable mechanical wave that has shown practical significance in biomedical fields. Due to the cavitation effect, sonoluminescence, sonoporation, pyrolysis, and other biophysical and chemical effects, a wide range of matters have been elucidated to be responsive to the stimulus of US. This review addresses and discusses current developments in US-responsive matters, including US-breakable intermolecular conjugations, US-catalytic sonosensitizers, fluorocarbon compounds, microbubbles, and US-propelled micro- and nanorobots.