Reliability of high-quantity human brain organoids for modeling microcephaly, glioma invasion and drug screening.

Brain organoids offer unprecedented insights into brain development and disease modeling and hold promise for drug screening. Significant hindrances, however, are morphological and cellular heterogeneity, inter-organoid size differences, cellular stress, and poor reproducibility. Here, we describe a method that reproducibly generates thousands of organoids across multiple hiPSC lines.

Comparison of Revision and Redislocation Rates After First-Time Anterior Shoulder Instability Between Subluxators and Dislocators: A Midterm Outcome Study.

Background: Anterior shoulder instability is a common pathology seen especially in young men and highly active patient populations. Subluxation is a commonly encountered clinical issue, yet little is known about the effects of first-time subluxation compared with dislocation on shoulder stability and clinical outcomes after surgical stabilization.

Purpose: To compare revision and redislocation rates as well as patient-reported outcomes (PROs) between subluxators and dislocators after a first-time anterior shoulder instability event.

BHLH Transcription Factor TCF21 Inhibits Myofibroblast Formation and Cardiac Fibrosis.

Background: TCF21 (transcription factor 21) is a bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) protein required for the developmental specification of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) from epicardial progenitor cells that surround the embryonic heart. In the adult heart, TCF21 is expressed in tissue-resident fibroblasts and is downregulated in response to injury or stimuli leading to myofibroblast differentiation. These findings led to the hypothesis that TCF21 regulates fibroblast differentiation in the adult mammalian heart to affect fibrosis.

Effects of Extracted Pulse Proteins on Lipid Targets for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Many clinical practice guidelines recommend dietary pulses for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The impact of extracted pulse proteins remains unclear. We therefore conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the effect of extracted pulse proteins on therapeutic lipid targets.

Outcomes Following Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation for Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus at 10-Year Follow-Up: A Retrospective Review.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes following autologous osteochondral transplantation (AOT) for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) at a minimum of 10-year follow-up.

Design: Retrospective chart review identified patients who underwent AOT for the treatment of OLT. Pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were obtained in all patients.

Flexible Highly Thermally Conductive PCM Film Prepared by Centrifugal Electrospinning for Wearable Thermal Management.

Personal thermal management materials integrated with phase-change materials have significant potential to satisfy human thermal comfort needs and save energy through the efficient storage and utilization of thermal energy. However, conventional organic phase-change materials in a solid state suffer from rigidity, low thermal conductivity, and leakage, making their application challenging. In this work, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was chosen as the phase-change material to provide the energy storage density, polyethylene oxide (PEO) was chosen to provide the backbone structure of the three-dimensional polymer network and cross-linked with the PEG to provide flexibility, and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used to improve the mechanical and thermal conductivity of the material.

MUF-n-Octadecane Phase-Change Microcapsules: Effects of Core pH and Core-Wall Ratio on Morphology and Thermal Properties of Microcapsules.

Phase change energy storage microcapsules were synthesized in situ by using melamine-formaldehyde-urea co-condensation resin (MUF) as wall material, n-octadecane (C18) as core material and styryl-maleic anhydride copolymer (SMA) as emulsifier. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis were used to study the effects of emulsifier type, emulsifier dosage, core-wall ratio and pH on the morphology and thermal properties of microcapsules. The results show that the pH of core material and the ratio of core to wall have a great influence on the performance of microcapsules.

Neuron-Inspired Flexible Phase Change Materials for Ambient Energy Harvesting and Respiration Monitoring.

The global energy crisis and climate change pose unprecedented challenges. Wearable devices with personal thermoregulation and energy harvesting hold great promise for achieving energy savings and human thermal comfort. Here, inspired by neurons, a novel phase change material (PCM) is reported for efficient energy harvesting and respiratory monitoring via a self-assembly strategy.

Preparation and Properties of Thermoregulated Seaweed Fibers Based on Magnetic Paraffin wax@calcium Carbonate Microcapsules.

In order to enhance the application of thermoregulated materials, magnetic phase change microcapsules were prepared using a self-assembly method. Paraffin wax was chosen for its fine thermoregulation properties as the core material, while FeO nanoparticles doped in calcium carbonate served as the hybrid shell material. The microcapsules were then blended with sodium alginate and processed into seaweed fibers through wet spinning.

Flexible AIE/PCM composite fiber with biosensing of alcohol, fluorescent anti-counterfeiting and body thermal management functions.

Alcohol sensing plays a critical role in medical detection and personal health management. AIE materials with high sensitivity, selectivity and fast response have been widely used in biosensing, but their application in the field of alcohol sensing still needs further research and development. Furthermore, developing flexible phase change materials (PCMs) is significant for the research of human-body thermal management.

The prognostic analysis and a machine-learning based disease-specific survival state model in pulmonary large-cell neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Background: Pulmonary large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (PLCNEC) is a rare and highly malignant lung cancer. Due to the paucity of data from clinical studies, its clinical characteristics and treatment remain controversial. The present study explored factors influencing the prognosis and survival outcomes of patients with PLCNEC and developed a dependable prognostic model using machine learning.

MRI Predicts Residual Disease and Outcomes in Watch-and-Wait Patients with Rectal Cancer.

Background MRI plays a crucial role in restaging locally advanced rectal cancer treated with total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT); however, prospective studies have not evaluated its ability to accurately select patients for nonoperative management. Purpose To evaluate the ability of restaging MRI to predict oncologic outcomes and identify imaging features associated with residual disease (RD) after TNT. Materials and Methods This was a secondary analysis of the Organ Preservation in Rectal Adenocarcinoma (OPRA) trial, which randomized participants from April 2014 to March 2020 with stages II or III rectal adenocarcinoma to undergo either induction or consolidation TNT.

Mosaic sarbecovirus nanoparticles elicit cross-reactive responses in pre-vaccinated animals.

Immunization with mosaic-8b (nanoparticles presenting 8 SARS-like betacoronavirus [sarbecovirus] receptor-binding domains [RBDs]) elicits more broadly cross-reactive antibodies than homotypic SARS-CoV-2 RBD-only nanoparticles and protects against sarbecoviruses. To investigate original antigenic sin (OAS) effects on mosaic-8b efficacy, we evaluated the effects of prior COVID-19 vaccinations in non-human primates and mice on anti-sarbecovirus responses elicited by mosaic-8b, admix-8b (8 homotypics), or homotypic SARS-CoV-2 immunizations, finding the greatest cross-reactivity for mosaic-8b. As demonstrated by molecular fate mapping, in which antibodies from specific cohorts of B cells are differentially detected, B cells primed by WA1 spike mRNA-LNP dominated antibody responses after RBD-nanoparticle boosting.

Supramolecular assembly of polycation/mRNA nanoparticles and in vivo monocyte programming.

Size-dependent phagocytosis is a well-characterized phenomenon in monocytes and macrophages. However, this size effect for preferential gene delivery to these important cell targets has not been fully exploited because commonly adopted stabilization methods for electrostatically complexed nucleic acid nanoparticles, such as PEGylation and charge repulsion, typically arrest the vehicle size below 200 nm. Here, we bridge the technical gap in scalable synthesis of larger submicron gene delivery vehicles by electrostatic self-assembly of charged nanoparticles, facilitated by a polymer structurally designed to modulate internanoparticle Coulombic and van der Waals forces.

Topographic Measurement of the Subretinal Pigment Epithelium Space in Normal Aging and Age-Related Macular Degeneration Using High-Resolution OCT.

Purpose: A micrometer scale hyporeflective band within the retinal pigment epithelium basal lamina - Bruch's membrane complex (RPE-BL-BrM) was topographically measured in aging and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: In a prospective cross-sectional study, 90 normal eyes from 76 subjects (range = 23-90 years) and 53 dry AMD eyes from 47 subjects (range = 62-91 years) were enrolled. Isotropic volume raster scans over 6 mm × 6 mm (500 × 500 A-scans) were acquired using a high-resolution (2.

The Protective Efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Candidate B.1.351V against Several Variant Challenges in K18-hACE2 Mice.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) with increased transmissibility and partial resistance to neutralization by antibodies has been observed globally. There is an urgent need for an effective vaccine to combat these variants. Our study demonstrated that the B.

Blood protein assessment of leading incident diseases and mortality in the UK Biobank.

The circulating proteome offers insights into the biological pathways that underlie disease. Here, we test relationships between 1,468 Olink protein levels and the incidence of 23 age-related diseases and mortality in the UK Biobank (n = 47,600). We report 3,209 associations between 963 protein levels and 21 incident outcomes.

Medication-Induced Weight Change Across Common Antidepressant Treatments : A Target Trial Emulation Study.

Background: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed medications, but evidence on comparative weight change for specific first-line treatments is limited.

Objective: To compare weight change across common first-line antidepressant treatments by emulating a target trial.

Design: Observational cohort study over 24 months.