Chemokines and lymphocyte homing in Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that typically presents with lymphocyte, dendritic cell, and macrophage infiltration of exocrine gland ducts and the formation of ectopic germinal centers. The interactions of lymphocyte homing receptors and addressins and chemokines and their receptors, such as α4β7/MAdCAM-1, LFA-1/ICAM-1, CXCL13/CXCR5, CCL25/CCR9, CX3CL1/CX3CR1, play important roles in the migration of inflammatory cells to the focal glands and the promotion of ectopic germinal center formation in SS. A variety of molecules have been shown to be involved in lymphocyte homing, including tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon (IFN)-α, IFN-β, and B cell activating factor.

Disease Duration Affects the Clinical Phenotype of Primary Sjögren Syndrome: A Medical Records Review Study of 952 Cases.

Objectives: To investigate the impact of disease duration on clinical phenotypes in Chinese patients with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) and examine the correlation between clinical phenotypes and onset age, age at diagnosis, and disease duration.

Methods: Data from 952 patients diagnosed with pSS in China between January 2013 and March 2022 were analyzed based on medical records. Patients were categorized into 3 groups based on disease duration: short (<5 years), moderate (≥5 and <10 years), and long (≥10 years) group.

Network pharmacology-based strategy to investigate the mechanisms of artemisinin in treating primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: The study aimed to explore the mechanism of artemisinin in treating primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) based on network pharmacology and experimental validation.

Methods: Relevant targets of the artemisinin and pSS-related targets were integrated by public databases online. An artemisinin-pSS network was constructed by Cytoscape.

A bibliometric analysis of primary Sjögren's syndrome-associated lymphoma from 1991 to 2022.

Background: Patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) take a higher risk of developing lymphoma, which is the most frequent cause of death in pSS. Based on this situation, the number of publications focusing on pSS-associated lymphoma has been growing. Nevertheless, the extent, range, and nature of available research in this field have not been systematically summarized.

Liquid Metal Actuators: A Comparative Analysis of Surface Tension Controlled Actuation.

Liquid metals, with their unique combination of electrical and mechanical properties, offer great opportunities for actuation based on surface tension modulation. Thanks to the scaling laws of surface tension, which can be electrochemically controlled at low voltages, liquid metal actuators stand out from other soft actuators for their remarkable characteristics such as high contractile strain rates and higher work densities at smaller length scales. This review summarizes the principles of liquid metal actuators and discusses their performance as well as theoretical pathways toward higher performances.

Anti-SSA/SSB-negative primary Sjögren's syndrome showing different clinical phenotypes: a retrospective study of 934 cases.

Background: Currently, only a few studies have described the general characteristics of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) who tested negatives for anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibodies. We aimed to further investigate the clinical characteristics of these patients in a large sample.

Methods: Data from patients with pSS who were treated at a tertiary hospital in China between 2013 and 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.

Sex Difference in Primary Sjögren Syndrome: A Medical Records Review Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to study clinical and biological differences between men and women with primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) in China and perform a literature review to confirm if the clinical phenotypes are affected by sex in patients with pSS.

Methods: Data from 961 patients with pSS treated at a tertiary hospital in China between January 2013 and March 2022 were analyzed based on medical records. Clinical characteristics, including disease manifestations and serological parameters of the disease, were compared between men and women with pSS using the Mann-Whitney U test and χ 2 test.

Knowledge mapping of autophagy in osteoarthritis from 2004 to 2022: A bibliometric analysis.

Background: Autophagy in osteoarthritis (OA) has become an active area of research with substantial value and potential. Nevertheless, few bibliometric studies have systematically analyzed the available research in the field. The main goal of this study was to map the available literature on the role of autophagy in OA and identify global research hotspots and trends.

Reconfigurable Electrical Networks within a Conductive Hydrogel Composite.

Soft materials that exhibit compliance, programmability, and reconfigurability can have a transformative impact as electronic skin for applications in wearable electronics/soft robotics. There has been significant progress in soft conductive materials; however, achieving electrically controlled and reversible changes in conductivity and circuit connectivity remains challenging. To overcome this limitation, a soft material architecture with reconfigurable conductive networks of silver flakes embedded within a hydrogel matrix is presented.

Research on Herbal Therapies for Osteoarthritis in 2004-2022: A Web of Science-Based Cross-Sectional Bibliometric Analysis.

Objective: The extent, range, and nature of available research in the field of herbal therapies for osteoarthritis (OA) have not been systematically analyzed. This study aimed to map the literature available on herbal therapies for OA and identify global hotspots and trends in this field.

Methods: Studies on herbal therapies for OA published between 2004 and 2022 were searched from the Web of Science Core Collection.

Muscle-Inspired Linear Actuators by Electrochemical Oxidation of Liquid Metal Bridges.

Progress in artificial muscles relies on new architectures that combine soft matter with transduction mechanisms for converting controlled stimuli into mechanical work. Liquid metal, in particular eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn), is promising for creating an artificial muscle since it is intrinsically deformable and capable of generating significant force and shape change through low voltage stimulation. In this work, a muscle-inspired structure for designing liquid metal actuators is presented, where EGaIn droplets are configured with copper pads to linearly contract.

Liquid Crystal Elastomer with Integrated Soft Thermoelectrics for Shape Memory Actuation and Energy Harvesting.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have attracted tremendous interest as actuators for soft robotics due to their mechanical and shape memory properties. However, LCE actuators typically respond to thermal stimulation through active Joule heating and passive cooling, which make them difficult to control. In this work, LCEs are combined with soft, stretchable thermoelectrics to create transducers capable of electrically controlled actuation, active cooling, and thermal-to-electrical energy conversion.

Soft actuators by electrochemical oxidation of liquid metal surfaces.

The surface energy of liquid metals can be electrochemically controlled over a wide range of values - from near zero to 500 mJ m- using a low voltage potential (∼1 V). This enables the ability to create soft-matter actuators that exhibit a high work density on small scales. We demonstrate that a liquid metal (LM) meniscus wetted between two copper pads can function as an electrochemical soft actuator whose force and shape are controllable by tuning the LM surface energy.