Altered hippocampal effective connectivity predicts BMI and food approach behavior in children with obesity.

Objective: The vicious circle model of obesity proposes that the hippocampus plays a crucial role in food reward processing and obesity. However, few studies focused on whether and how pediatric obesity influences the potential direction of information exchange between the hippocampus and key regions, as well as whether these alterations in neural interaction could predict future BMI and eating behaviors.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, a total of 39 children with excess weight (overweight/obesity) and 51 children with normal weight, aged 8 to 12, underwent resting-state fMRI.

Integrated photonic MEMS switch for visible light.

Visible-light integrated photonics serve applications inaccessible to conventional (C- and O-band) silicon photonics, including trapped-ion and neutral atom quantum experiments, biophotonics, and displays. Despite demonstrations of increasingly advanced functionalities and levels of integration, the development of low-power, monolithically integrated, visible-light switches and phase shifters remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we demonstrate an integrated photonic, electrostatic MEMS-actuated Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch for the visible spectrum.

c-di-GMP inhibits rRNA methylation and impairs ribosome assembly in the presence of kanamycin.

Cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) is a ubiquitous bacterial secondary messenger with diverse functions. A previous Escherichia coli proteome microarray identified that c-di-GMP binds to the 23S rRNA methyltransferases RlmI and RlmE. Here we show that c-di-GMP inhibits RlmI activity in rRNA methylation assays, and that it modulates ribosome assembly in the presence of kanamycin.

Enhancing MaaS user satisfaction through strategic marketing: The synergy of sustainability and service experience.

As urbanization intensifies and the need for sustainable transportation grows, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) emerges as a promising solution to urban mobility challenges. This study seeks to explore the underlying mechanisms of MaaS from a sustainability perspective and to assess its impact on service experience and user satisfaction. Additionally, it examines how user satisfaction influences the broader adoption of MaaS.

Seipin Deficiency Impairs Motor Coordination in Mice by Compromising Spinal Cord Myelination.

The integrity of the myelin sheath of the spinal cord (SC) is essential for motor coordination. Seipin is an endoplasmic reticulum transmembrane protein highly expressed in adipose tissue and motor neurons in the SC. It was reported Seipin deficiency induced lipid dysregulation and neurobehavioral deficits, but the underlying mechanism, especially in SC, remains to be elucidated.

Astragali Radix-Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma medicine pair prevents cardiac remodeling by improving mitochondrial dynamic balance.

Astragali Radix (AR) and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma (NR) are frequently employed in cardiovascular disease treatment. However, the efficacy of the AR-NR medicine pair (AN) in improving cardiac remodeling and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate AN's cardioprotective effect and potential mechanism on cardiac remodeling using transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mice and angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) and fibroblasts in vitro.

Enhanced K-storage kinetics for N-doped carbon via controllable dedoping strategy.

As a potential alternative to next-generation LIBs, carbonous materials have garnered significant attention as anode materials for potassium-ion batteries due to their low cost and environmental friendliness. However, carbonaceous materials cannot fulfill the demand of anode for PIBs, due to volume expansion and poor stability during charging/discharging process. It is well-known that N doping can provide active sites for K-storage, and expand the layer distance between graphite layers.

Highly stable lithium metal anodes enabled by bimetallic metal-organic frameworks derivatives-modified carbon cloth.

Lithium (Li) metal anodes hold great promise for next-generation secondary batteries with high energy density. Unfortunately, several problems such as Li dendrite growth, low Coulombic efficiency and poor cycle life hinder the commercialization of Li metal anodes. Herein, we design a highly lithiophilic carbon cloth host modified with Sn-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) (ZnSn-CC) directly derived from a bimetallic ZnSn metal-organic framework (ZnSn-MOF), which boosts uniform Li plating/stripping during charge-discharge and effectively protects the Li metal anode.

Extracellular matrix cancer-associated fibroblasts promote stromal fibrosis and immune exclusion in triple-negative breast cancer.

The impact of high heterogeneity of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) immunotherapy response has not been fully elucidated, restricting progress in precision immuno-oncology. We integrated single-cell transcriptomic data from 18 TNBC patients and analyzed fibroblast subpopulations. Extracellular matrix CAFs (ecmCAFs) were identified as a fibroblast subpopulation with distinct ECM-associated characteristics.

Endothelial FOXM1 and Dab2 promote diabetic wound healing.

Diabetes mellitus can cause impaired and delayed wound healing, leading to lower extremity amputations; however, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor-dependent (VEGF-dependent) angiogenesis remain unclear. In our study, the molecular underpinnings of endothelial dysfunction in diabetes are investigated, focusing on the roles of disabled-2 (Dab2) and Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1) in VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) signaling and endothelial cell function. Bulk RNA-sequencing analysis identified significant downregulation of Dab2 in high-glucose-treated primary mouse skin endothelial cells.

A systematic review of the relationship between taste and personality traits: Phenomena and possible mechanisms.

Individuals exhibit variability in taste preferences, and personality plays a role in those variations. This study provides a comprehensive review of the relationship between taste preferences and personality traits, focusing on the five basic tastes (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami) and spiciness. Through a systematic review of the literature from the past 30 years, 24 of 2182 articles were selected using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocol.

Metacavities by harnessing the linear-crossing metamaterials.

The formed optical cavity mode intensively relies on the size and geometry of optical cavity. When the defect or impurity exists inside the cavity, the formed cavity mode will be destroyed. Here, we propose a metacavity consisting of arrays of linear-crossing metamaterials (LCMMs) with abnormal dispersion, where each LCMM offers both the directional propagation channel for all incident angles and the negative refraction across its neighboring LCMMs.

Functional and effective connectivity between reward and inhibitory control networks underlying subclinical binge eating.

Background: Knowledge is growing on the essential role of neural circuits involved in aberrant cognitive control and reward sensitivity for the onset and maintenance of binge eating.

Aims: To investigate how the brain's reward (bottom-up) and inhibition control (top-down) systems potentially and dynamically interact to contribute to subclinical binge eating.

Method: Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 30 binge eaters and 29 controls while participants performed a food reward Go/NoGo task.

The Association Between Psychological Capital and Self-Management Behaviors in Men with Gout: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southwest China.

Purpose: Gout is a common, chronic inflammatory joint disease, and men are more likely to suffer from gout. Improving patient self-management behaviors is a priority in gout healthcare. Psychological capital is associated with self-management behaviors in chronic diseases and can be improved through a number of interventions.

Efficacy and safety of consolidative thoracic radiotherapy after first-line chemoimmunotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) has shown potential benefits in improving local control and overall survival (OS) in chemotherapy-responsive small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cases. However, its role in the era of chemoimmunotherapy remains underexplored. In the current era of immunotherapy, this study evaluated the efficacy and safety of consolidative TRT (cTRT) in patients with extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) and assessed its impact on OS.

Atomically precise silver-based bimetallic clusters for electrocatalytic urea synthesis.

Electrocatalytic urea synthesis from CO and nitrate holds immense promise as a sustainable strategy, but its complicated synthesis steps and controversial C-N coupling mechanism restrict the design of efficient catalysts. Atomically precise metal cluster materials are ideal model catalysts for investigating the C-N coupling issues. Here we synthesize two atomically precise bimetallic clusters, AgPd(PTFE)(TPP) and AgAu(PTFE)(DPPP), both with icosahedral cores and similar ligands.

Purification, crystal structural characterization of porcine kidney dipeptidyl peptidase IV (PkDPP-IV) and its interaction with oyster derived inhibitory peptide ILAPPER.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) is an important target enzyme for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Increasing researchers try to screen DPP-IV inhibitory peptides while the cost of DPP-IV is high. In this study, PkDPP-IV was efficiently purified by acid precipitation, ammonium sulfate salting out and gel filtration chromatography with a purification of 283.

Shape-controlled asymmetric bowl-like PDA@Au substrates for sensitive SERS detection of anabolic androgenic steroids.

The widespread accumulation of androgenic steroid endocrine disruptors in water and food has garnered increasing attention due to their significant risks to ecosystems and human health. These steroids, which cannot be completely eliminated, highlight the urgent need for advanced detection technologies. In this study, we present a novel emulsion-induced interface-anisotropic assembly strategy to synthesize bowl-like mesoporous polydopamine (PDA) particles, which exhibit high sensitivity in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection.

Polydopamine Nanohydrogel Decorated Adhesive and Responsive Hierarchical Microcarriers for Deafness Protection.

Cisplatin-induced ototoxicity is attributed to the aberrant accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the inner ear. Antioxidants represented by α-lipoic acid (ALA) have been demonstrated to scavenge ROS in the cochlea, while effective delivery of these agents in vivo remains a major challenge. Here, a novel polydopamine (PDA) nanogel decorated adhesive and responsive hierarchical microcarriers for controllable is presented ALA delivery and deafness prevention.

Skeletal muscle-specific Bambi deletion induces hypertrophy and oxidative switching coupling with adipocyte thermogenesis against metabolic disorders.

Skeletal muscle plays a significant role in both local and systemic energy metabolism. The current investigation aims to explore the role of the Bambi gene in skeletal muscle, focusing on its implications for muscle hypertrophy and systemic metabolism. We hypothesize that skeletal muscle-specific deletion of Bambi induces muscle hypertrophy, improves metabolic performance, and activates thermogenic adipocytes via the reprogramming of progenitor of iWAT, offering potential therapeutic strategies for metabolic syndromes.

Identification of novel phenolic inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicine against toxic α-synuclein aggregation via regulating phase separation.

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder without cure, is characterized by the pathological aggregation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) in Lewy bodies. Classic deposition pathway and condensation pathway contribute to α-Syn aggregation, and liquid-liquid phase separation is the driving force for condensate formation, which subsequently undergo liquid-solid phase separation to form toxic fibrils. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a long history in treating neurodegenerative disease; herein, we identified chemicals from herbs that inhibit α-Syn aggregation.

Spiking-PhysFormer: Camera-based remote photoplethysmography with parallel spike-driven transformer.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) can help camera-based remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) in measuring cardiac activity and physiological signals from facial videos, such as pulse wave, heart rate and respiration rate with better accuracy. However, most existing ANN-based methods require substantial computing resources, which poses challenges for effective deployment on mobile devices. Spiking neural networks (SNNs), on the other hand, hold immense potential for energy-efficient deep learning owing to their binary and event-driven architecture.

Expression, purification and immunogenicity analyses of receptor binding domain protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from delta variant.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The receptor binding domain (RBD), located at the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, contains most of the neutralizing epitopes during viral infection and is an ideal antigen for vaccine development. In this study, bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence data of SARS-CoV-2 RBD protein for the better understanding of molecular characteristics was performed.

Photonics-assisted analog windowing and matched filtering.

In this paper, we propose an integrated method for windowing and matched filtering in the analog domain based on microwave photonic technology, which utilizes dispersion regulation of optical waveguide to achieve the windowing processing of broadband signals in the optical domain and the surface acoustic wave filter (SAWF) to achieve the following matched filtering processing in the radio frequency (RF) domain, thus realizing their integration processing in the analog domain. The proposed method is validated by simulation and experiment, in which the integrated processing of matched filtering and windowing in the analog domain for a linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal with a bandwidth of 1 GHz is carried out and the peak to sidelobe ratio (PSLR) of the output signal is -19.55 dB and the mainlobe width (MLW) broadens to 0.

Total hip arthroplasty in hip tuberculosis: a systematic review.

Objectives: Tuberculosis of the hip joint is a common form of bone tuberculosis that can cause severe joint destruction and affect quality of life. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an important way to treat hip joint-related diseases. In recent years, THA has been applied to treat tuberculosis of the hip joint and has achieved certain results.