Reliable Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis for Pediatrics Using Machine Learning and Explainable AI.

As the demand for early and accurate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increases, the integration of machine learning (ML) and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is emerging as a critical advancement that promises to revolutionize intervention strategies by improving both accuracy and transparency. This paper presents a method that combines XAI techniques with a rigorous data-preprocessing pipeline to improve the accuracy and interpretability of ML-based diagnostic tools. Our preprocessing pipeline included outlier removal, missing data handling, and selecting pertinent features based on clinical expert advice.

Hofmeister-Effect-Driven Hybrid Glycerogels for Perfect Wide-Temperature Shape Fixity and Shape Recovery in Soft Robotics Applications.

Shape memory gels have emerged as crucial elements in soft robotics, actuators, and biomedical devices; however, several problems persist, like the trade-off between shape fixity and shape recovery, and the limited temperature range for their application. This article introduces a new class of shape memory hybrid glycerogels (GGs) designed to address these limitations. The well-modulated internal structure of the GGs, facilitated by the Hofmeister salting-out effect, strategically incorporates a higher crystallite content, abundant crosslinking points, and a high elastic modulus.

Efficacy and safety of BVAC-C in HPV type 16- or 18-positive cervical carcinoma who failed 1st platinum-based chemotherapy: a phase I/IIa study.

Background: BVAC-C, a B cell- and monocyte-based immunotherapeutic vaccine transfected with recombinant HPV E6/E7, was well tolerated in HPV-positive recurrent cervical carcinoma patients in a phase I study. This phase IIa study investigates the antitumor activity of BVAC-C in patients with HPV 16- or 18-positive cervical cancer who had experienced recurrence after a platinum-based combination chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Patients were allocated to 3 arms; Arm 1, BVAC-C injection at 0, 4, 8 weeks; Arm 2, BVAC-C injection at 0, 4, 8, 12 weeks; Arm 3, BVAC-C injection at 0, 4, 8, 12 weeks with topotecan at 2, 6, 10, 14 weeks.

Inhibition of topoisomerase I shapes antitumor immunity through the induction of monocyte-derived dendritic cells.

Understanding the rationale of combining immunotherapy and other anticancer treatment modalities is of great interest because of interpatient variability in single-agent immunotherapy. Here, we demonstrated that topoisomerase I inhibitors, a class of chemotherapeutic drugs, can alter the tumor immune landscape, corroborating their antitumor effects combined with immunotherapy. We observed that topotecan-conditioned TC-1 tumors were occupied by a vast number of monocytic cells that highly express CD11c, CD64, and costimulatory molecules responsible for the favorable changes in the tumor microenvironment.

High-Throughput Growth of Wafer-Scale Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenide via Vertical Ostwald Ripening.

For practical device applications, monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) films must meet key industry needs for batch processing, including the high-throughput, large-scale production of high-quality, spatially uniform materials, and reliable integration into devices. Here, high-throughput growth, completed in 12 min, of 6-inch wafer-scale monolayer MoS and WS is reported, which is directly compatible with scalable batch processing and device integration. Specifically, a pulsed metal-organic chemical vapor deposition process is developed, where periodic interruption of the precursor supply drives vertical Ostwald ripening, which prevents secondary nucleation despite high precursor concentrations.

Enhanced Immunogenicity of Engineered HER2 Antigens Potentiates Antitumor Immune Responses.

For cancer vaccines, the selection of optimal tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) that can maximize the immunogenicity of the vaccine without causing unwanted adverse effects is challenging. In this study, we developed two engineered Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) antigens, K965 and K1117, and compared their immunogenicity to a previously reported truncated HER2 antigen, K684, within a B cell and monocyte-based vaccine (BVAC). We found that BVAC-K965 and BVAC-K1117 induced comparable antigen-specific antibody responses and antigen-specific T cell responses to BVAC-K684.

Double-Hydrophobic-Coating through Quenching for Hydrogels with Strong Resistance to Both Drying and Swelling.

In recent years, various hydrogels with a wide range of functionalities have been developed. However, owing to the two major drawbacks of hydrogels-air-drying and water-swelling-hydrogels developed thus far have yet to achieve most of their potential applications. Herein, a bioinspired, facile, and versatile method for fabricating hydrogels with high stability in both air and water is reported.

GITR Agonism Triggers Antitumor Immune Responses through IL21-Expressing Follicular Helper T Cells.

Although treatment with the glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor-related protein (GITR) agonistic antibody (DTA-1) has shown antitumor activity in various tumor models, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that interleukin (IL)-21-producing follicular helper T (Tfh) cells play a crucial role in DTA-1-induced tumor inhibition. The administration of DTA-1 increased IL21 expression by Tfh cells in an antigen-specific manner, and this activation led to enhanced antitumor cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity.

Differentiation of c-Kit CD24 natural killer cells into myeloid cells in a GATA-2-dependent manner.

Myeloid progenitor cells have generally been considered the predominant source of myeloid cells under steady-state conditions. Here we show that NK cells contributed to a myeloid cell lineage pool in naïve and tumor-bearing mice. Using fate tracing of NKp46 cells, we found that myeloid cells could be derived from NK cells.

Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Dictate the Memory Differentiation of CD8 T Cells During Acute Infection.

Monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) have been shown to robustly expand during infection; however, their roles in anti-infectious immunity remain unclear. Here, we found that moDCs were dramatically increased in the secondary lymphoid organs during acute LCMV infection in an interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-dependent manner. We also found that priming by moDCs enhanced the differentiation of memory CD8 T cells compared to differentiation primed by conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) through upregulation of Eomesodermin (Eomes) and T cell factor-1 (TCF-1) expression in CD8 T cells.

Hard ferromagnetic van-der-Waals metal (Fe,Co)GeTe: a new platform for the study of low-dimensional magnetic quantum criticality.

The widely-studied ferromagnetic van-der-Waals (vdW) metal FeGeTe has great promise for studies of quantum criticality in the 2D limit, but is limited by a relatively high Curie temperature in excess of 200 K. To help render the quantum critical point achievable in such a system within the reach of practically possible tuning methods, we have grown single crystals of a variant of (Fe,Co)GeTe with useful physical properties for both this purpose and the wider study of low-dimensional magnetism and spin transport. (Fe,Co)GeTe is found through x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy to have an equivalent crystal structure to FeGeTe, with a random distribution of the cobalt dopant sites.

Conductive Tough Hydrogels with a Staggered Ion-Coordinating Structure for High Self-Recovery Rate.

Conductive hydrogels are attracting increasing attention owing to their great potential for applications in flexible devices. For practical use, these high-water-content materials should not only show good conductivity but also be strong, stretchable, tough, and elastic. Herein, we describe a class of novel conductive tough hydrogels based on strong staggered Fe-carboxyl coordinating interactions.

Highly efficient and flexible photodetector based on MoS-ZnO heterostructures.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS) and tungsten diselenide (WSe), have recently attracted attention for their applicability as building blocks for fabricating advanced functional materials. In this study, a high quality hybrid material based on 2D TMD nanosheets and ZnO nanopatches was demonstrated. An organic promoter layer was employed for the large-scale growth of the TMD sheet, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) was utilized for the growth of ZnO nanopatches.

Roles of NKT cells in cancer immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapy has emerged as an effective therapeutic strategy to treat cancer. Among diverse immune populations, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells have shown potent antitumor activity by linking innate and adaptive immune systems. Upon activation by lipid antigens on CD1d molecules, iNKT cells rapidly produce various cytokines and trigger antitumor immunity directly or indirectly by activating other antitumor immune cells.

GM-CSF Promotes Antitumor Immunity by Inducing Th9 Cell Responses.

GM-CSF as an adjuvant has been shown to promote antitumor immunity in mice and humans; however, the underlying mechanism of GM-CSF-induced antitumor immunity remains incompletely understood. In this study, we demonstrate that GM-CSF potentiates the efficacy of cancer vaccines through IL9-producing Th (Th9) cells. GM-CSF selectively enhanced Th9 cell differentiation by regulating the COX2-PGE pathway while inhibiting the differentiation of induced regulatory T (iTreg) cells and GM-CSF-activated monocyte-derived dendritic cells converted tumor-specific naïve Th cells into Th9 cells, and delayed tumor growth by inducing antitumor CTLs in an IL9-dependent manner.

Unraveling the Structural and Electronic Properties of Graphene/Ge(110).

The direct growth of graphene on a semiconducting substrate opens a new avenue for future graphene-based applications. Understanding the structural and electronic properties of the graphene on a semiconducting surface is key for realizing such structures; however, these properties are poorly understood thus far. Here, we provide insight into the structural and electronic properties of graphene grown directly on a Ge(110) substrate.

Hydrogel bowls for cleaning oil spills on water.

We demonstrate a hydrogel bowl capable of selectively and rapidly collecting spilled oil while floating on water. The bowl has macroscopic openings in its sidewall, and its surface is first coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and then with diffusion pump oil, which imparts exceptional hydrophobic, oleophilic, and high oil wettability properties. The use of a hydrogel makes it possible to obtain surface hydrophobicity and oleophilicity, while also being inexpensive, eco-friendly, and easy to fabricate.

A diffusion-driven fabrication technique for anisotropic tubular hydrogels.

A bio-inspired, simple, and versatile diffusion-driven method to fabricate complex tubular hydrogels is reported. The controlled diffusion of small ions from a pre-designed core hydrogel through a biopolymer reservoir solution causes the self-gelation of biopolymers with an anisotropic ordered structure on the surface of the core hydrogel. By controlling the concentration, diffusion time, and flow direction of the ions, as well as the size and shape of the core, various types of complex tubular-shaped hydrogels with well-defined 3D architectures were fabricated.

Activation of NKT Cells in an Anti-PD-1-Resistant Tumor Model Enhances Antitumor Immunity by Reinvigorating Exhausted CD8 T Cells.

PD-1-based cancer immunotherapy is a successful example of immune checkpoint blockade that provides long-term durable therapeutic effects in patients with cancer across a wide spectrum of cancer types. Accumulating evidence suggests that anti-PD-1 therapy enhances antitumor immunity by reversing the function of exhausted T cells in the tumor environment. However, the responsiveness rate of patients with cancer to anti-PD-1 therapy remains low, providing an urgent need for optimization and improvement.

Characterization of Edge Contact: Atomically Resolved Semiconductor-Metal Lateral Boundary in MoS.

Despite recent efforts for the development of transition-metal-dichalcogenide-based high-performance thin-film transistors, device performance has not improved much, mainly because of the high contact resistance at the interface between the 2D semiconductor and the metal electrode. Edge contact has been proposed for the fabrication of a high-quality electrical contact; however, the complete electronic properties for the contact resistance have not been elucidated in detail. Using the scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques, the edge contact, as well as the lateral boundary between the 2D semiconducting layer and the metalized interfacial layer, are investigated, and their electronic properties and the energy band profile across the boundary are shown.

IL-21-mediated reversal of NK cell exhaustion facilitates anti-tumour immunity in MHC class I-deficient tumours.

During cancer immunoediting, loss of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) in neoplasm contributes to the evasion of tumours from host immune system. Recent studies have demonstrated that most natural killer (NK) cells that are found in advanced cancers are defective, releasing the malignant MHC-I-deficient tumours from NK-cell-dependent immune control. Here, we show that a natural killer T (NKT)-cell-ligand-loaded tumour-antigen expressing antigen-presenting cell (APC)-based vaccine effectively eradicates these advanced tumours.

Extremely Stretchable and Fast Self-Healing Hydrogels.

Dynamic crosslinking of extremely stretchable hydrogels with rapid self-healing ability is described. Using this new strategy, the obtained hydrogels are able to elongate 100 times compared to their initial length and to completely self-heal within 30 s without external energy input.

Enhanced performance in capacitive force sensors using carbon nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites with high dielectric properties.

Force sensors have attracted tremendous attention owing to their applications in various fields such as touch screens, robots, smart scales, and wearable devices. The force sensors reported so far have been mainly focused on high sensitivity based on delicate microstructured materials, resulting in low reproducibility and high fabrication cost that are limitations for wide applications. As an alternative, we demonstrate a novel capacitive-type force sensor with enhanced performance owing to the increased dielectric properties of elastomers and simple sensor structure.

Finite element study on the anatomic transtibial technique for single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

The anatomic transtibial (TT) technique is proposed as a new approach for single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Geometric models of the anatomic TT and anteromedial (AM) portal techniques were fabricated with a reconstructed knee joint model and virtual surgical operations. Grafts of 7 mm diameter were modeled and inserted into tunnels drilled in each model.