Publications by authors named "Hou C"

Background: Due to the global prevalence of opioid drugs, postsurgical prescriptions can lead to substantial opioid consumption, highlighting the increasing need for alternative medications. Alternative medicines can markedly lessen the usage of opioids after surgery, but the variety and notable side effects of these alternatives require meticulous experimental support.

Objective: This study explored the efficacy and safety of ulinastatin for alleviating postsurgical pain, for reducing the need for opioids, and for inclusion in conventional treatment methods.

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Objective: To investigate the relationship between uric acid to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) and circulating α-klotho levels in U.S. adults.

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Climate change and eutrophication are accelerating ocean deoxygenation, leading to a global decline in oxygen levels. The East China Sea, frequently experiencing deoxygenation events, harbors diverse microbial communities. However, the response of these communities to the changing deoxygenation dynamics remains poorly understood.

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Background: This study explores the utilization patterns of premium and nonpremium intraocular lenses (IOLs) under Taiwan's National Health Insurance, given the potential out-of-pocket expenses incurred by cataract surgery patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional, population-based analysis was performed on patients who underwent IOL implantation between 2016 and 2020. IOLs were categorized into nonpremium and premium, with the latter further divided based on function.

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Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) can inhibit ice crystal growth. The ice-binding mechanism of AFPs remains unclear, yet the hydration shells of AFPs are thought to play an important role in modulating the binding of AFPs and ice. Here, we performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of an AFP from Choristoneura fumiferana (CfAFP) at four different temperatures, with a focus on analysis at 240 and 300 K, to investigate the dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of hydration shells around ice-binding surfaces (IBS) and non-ice-binding surfaces (NIBS).

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Article Synopsis
  • Tactile and pain perception are crucial for biological skin to identify and react to environmental threats, but integrating these functions into flexible electronics has been challenging.
  • Researchers propose a nerve-like device that includes a pressure sensor made from conductive fabric and ionic hydrogel, mimicking the transition from touch to pain.
  • This device also features a sensation management module that alters signals similar to biological neurons, improving applications in soft robotics, prosthetics, and enhancing human-machine interactions.
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Upcycling waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has attracted intensive research interests. This simultaneously alleviates plastic pollution and achieves a waste-to-resource strategy. Waste PET water bottles were used to fabricate value-added activated carbon (AC) electrodes for capacitive deionization (CDI).

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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains the most lethal central nervous system cancer with poor survival and few targeted therapies. The GBM tumor microenvironment is complex and closely associated with outcomes. Here, we analyzed the cell-cell communication within the microenvironment and found the high level of cell communication between GBM tumor cells and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs).

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Cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) is a major enzyme that produces hydrogen sulfide (HS). Herein, we report how CSE plays a previously unknown role in regulating the antioxidant effects of the mitochondria in human umbilical vein endothelial cells by releasing HS nearby under stress conditions. We found that HS partially promoted angiogenesis in the endothelial cells through the AKT/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (AKT/NRF2) signaling pathway.

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In biological systems, solitary organisms or eusocial groups, the metabolic rate often scales allometrically with systems' size, when they are inactive, and the scaling becomes nearly isometric when the systems are active. Here I propose a hypothesis attempting to offer a departing point for a general joint understanding of the difference in the scaling powers between inactive and active states. When the system is inactive, there exist inactive components, which consume less energy than the active ones, and the larger the system is, the larger the fraction of the inactive components, which leads to sublinear scaling.

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Hydrolytic enzymes are essential components in second-generation biofuel technology and food fermentation processes. Nanozymes show promise for large-scale industrial applications as replacements for natural enzymes due to their distinct advantages. However, there remains a research gap concerning glycosidase nanozymes.

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Much research describes gut microbiota in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) for that the composition of the intestinal microbiome or its metabolites can directly participate in the development of endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and its adverse complications. Salidroside, a natural phenylpropane glycoside, exhibits promising biological activity against the progression of ASCVD. Recent studies suggested that the gut microbiota played a crucial role in mediating the diverse beneficial effects of salidroside on health.

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Background: Moral distress occurs in daily nursing work and plagues nurses. Improving the level of moral courage is one of the main strategies to reduce moral distress, and low levels of moral courage may lead to nurse burnout, increased turnover, and reduced quality of care.

Methods: Nine electronic databases in Chinese and English were searched for the level of moral courage among nurses, including PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, CNKI, Wan fang, Wei pu, CBM and Cochrane Library, for the period from the date of database creation to April 5, 2023.

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  • Aristolochic acids (AAs) are linked to an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to their ability to influence cell death processes.
  • The study revealed that AAs interact with the p53 protein in liver cancer cells, disrupting its normal function, specifically affecting ferroptosis and the regulation of key genes like GADD45A and NRF2.
  • This interaction leads to down-regulation of GADD45A and up-regulation of NRF2, ultimately promoting tumor growth by inhibiting ferroptosis, suggesting that targeting NRF2 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for liver cancer.
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Sodium cyclamate in Baijiu is a key item in the China National Food Safety Supervision and Inspection Plan. A simple, economical, sensitive, and reliable method is urgently needed for routine analysis and internal quality control. A method based on high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) was developed for the determination of sodium cyclamate in Baijiu by -phthalaldehyde derivatization.

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  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of developing pulmonary hypertension (PH), but the exact mechanisms behind this connection are not well understood and there is no reliable animal model for research.
  • This study successfully created a stable rat model of CKD-PH by performing 5/6 nephrectomy combined with a high-salt diet, followed by dynamic evaluations of hemodynamics and pathological changes in various organs.
  • Results indicated that CKD-PH rats exhibited significant pulmonary arterial hypertension, right ventricular hypertrophy, dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), decreased ACE2 expression in the lung endothelium, and distinct serum metabolic profiles compared to control rats.
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Vivipary is a prominent feature of mangroves, allowing seeds to complete germination while attached to the mother plant, and equips propagules to endure and flourish in challenging coastal intertidal wetlands. However, vivipary-associated genetic mechanisms remain largely elusive. Genomes of two viviparous mangrove species and a non-viviparous inland relative were sequenced and assembled at the chromosome level.

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Cancer immunotherapy has been regarded as a promising strategy for cancer therapy by blocking immune checkpoints and evoking immunity to fight cancer, but its efficacy seems to be heterogeneous among patients. Manipulating the gut microbiota is a potential strategy for enhancing the efficacy of immunotherapy. Here, we report that MS-20, also known as "Symbiota®", a postbiotic that comprises abundant microbial metabolites generated from a soybean-based medium fermented with multiple strains of probiotics and yeast, inhibited colon and lung cancer growth in combination with an anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD1) antibody in xenograft mouse models.

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The solar-driven overall water splitting (2HO→2H + O) is considered as one of the most promising strategies for reducing carbon emissions and meeting energy demands. However, due to the sluggish performance and high H cost, there is still a big gap for the current photocatalytic systems to meet the requirements for practical sustainable H production. Economic feasibility can be attained through simultaneously generating products of greater value than O, such as hydrogen peroxide (HO, 2HO→H + HO).

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Electrochemical water splitting stands out as a promising avenue for green hydrogen production, yet its efficiency is fundamentally governed by the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, we investigated the growth mechanism of CoFe hydroxide formed by in situ self-corrosion of iron foam for the first time and the significant influence of dissolved oxygen in the immersion solution on this process. Based on this, the CoP-FeP/IF heterostructure catalytic electrode demonstrates exceptional OER activity in a 1 M KOH electrolyte, with an overpotential of only 253 ± 4 mV (@10 mA cm), along with durability exceeding 1000 h.

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There is growing interest in the contribution of ultrafine particles to air quality, climate, and human health. Ultrafine particles are of central significance for the influence of radiative forcing of climate change by involving in the formation of clouds and precipitation. Moreover, exposure to ultrafine particles can enhance the disease burden.

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Nickel cobaltate/NiCo-layered double hydroxides (NiCoO/NiCo-LDH) as energy storage materials offer considerable potential for various applications. However, many of current methods for synthesizing NiCoO/NiCo-LDH suffer from long synthesis times, complex preparation process, and high temperatures and high pressures. In this study, we present a green, simple, and efficient approach known as assisted liquid-phase plasma electrolysis, which realizes the rapid fabrication of ultra-fine NiCoO/NiCo-LDH nanoparticle-decorated electrospun carbon nanofibers (NiCoO/NiCo-LDH/CNFs) composites.

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Background And Objectives: Instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) is a new invasive indicator of myocardial ischaemia, and its diagnostic performance is as good as the "gold standard" of myocardial ischaemia diagnosis: fractional flow reserve (FFR). iFR can be approximated by iFR, which is calculated based on noninvasive coronary CT angiography (CTA) images and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). However, the existing methods for calculating iFR fail to accurately simulate the resting state of the coronary artery, resulting in low computational accuracy.

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Article Synopsis
  • The paper introduces a micromachined thermal convective accelerometer designed for low power consumption and high reliability, utilizing a heater and two thermistors.
  • It operates by heating a chip above ambient temperature and measuring temperature changes caused by acceleration, showcasing impressive performance in experiments.
  • With the ability to measure accelerations over 80 m/s and a linear sensitivity of 110.69 mV/g, this accelerometer is suitable for applications demanding accurate acceleration detection in energy-efficient conditions.
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