An Activatable Semiconducting Nanoprobe for Early and Accurate Diagnosis of Liver Injury.

Liver injury, caused by factors like viral hepatitis and drug overdose, poses a significant health risk, with current diagnostic methods lacking specificity, increasing the need for more precise molecular imaging techniques. Herein, we present an activatable semiconducting liver injury reporter (SLIR) for early and accurate diagnosis of liver injury. The SLIR, which is composed of semiconducting polymers with an electron-withdrawing quenching segment, remains nonfluorescent until it encounters biothiols such as cysteine in the liver.

An Injectable Photothermal-Fusing Hydrogel: Achieving Temperature-Controllable Mild Photothermal Therapy to Reverse Chemotherapy-Induced Immune Tolerance.

Mild photothermal therapy (M-PTT) can induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) to reverse the immune tolerance caused by low-dose chemotherapy. However, it still needs convenient strategies to control temperature during M-PTT. In this work, the phase change material lauric acid (LA, melting point 43 °C) was introduced to construct nanoparticles loaded with deferoxamine mesylate (DFO) and cisplatin (CDDP), which were mixed into a supramolecular hydrogel formed by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/tannic acid (TA)/Fe to obtain FeTP@DLD/DLC.

Self-Sulfhydrated, Nitro-Fixed Albumin Nanoparticles as a Potent Therapeutic Agent for the Treatment of Acute Liver Injury.

Exogenous polysulfhydryls (R-SH) supplementation and nitric oxide (NO) gas molecules delivery provide essential antioxidant buffering pool components and anti-inflammatory species in cellular defense against injury, respectively. Herein, the intermolecular disulfide bonds in bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecules were reductively cleaved under native and mild conditions to expose multiple sulfhydryl groups (BSA-SH), then sulfhydryl-nitrosylated (R-SNO), and nanoprecipitated to form injectable self-sulfhydrated, nitro-fixed albumin nanoparticles (BSA-SNO NPs), allowing albumin to act as a NO donor reservoir and multiple sulfhydryl group transporter while also preventing unfavorable oxidation and self-cross-linking of polysulfhydryl groups. In two mouse models of ischemia/reperfusion-induced and endotoxin-induced acute liver injury (ALI), a single low dosage of BSA-SNO NPs (-nitrosothiols: 4 μmol·kg) effectively attenuated oxidative stress and systemic inflammation cascades in the upstream pathophysiology of disease progression, thus rescuing dying hepatocytes, regulating host defense, repairing microcirculation, and restoring liver function.

Organic Semiconducting Sono-Metallo-Detonated Immunobombs for Ultrasensitized Domestication of Immunosuppressive Cells.

Cancer immunotherapy harnesses the immune system to combat cancer, yet tumors often evade immune surveillance through immunosuppressive cells. Herein, we report an organic semiconducting sono-metallo-detonated immunobomb (SMIB) to spatiotemporally tame immunosuppressive cells in situ. SMIB consists of an amphiphilic semiconducting polymer (SP) with a repeatable thiophene-based Schiff base serving as an iron ion chelator (Fe).

Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Agitation Among Older Adults Living with Dementia in Macao: A Pilot Study.

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of bright light therapy on agitation in older adults with dementia in Macao. This study involved 31 participants: 10 in the outdoor light treatment group, 11 in the indoor light-box treatment group, and 10 in the control group. Significant reductions in agitation were observed in the two treatment groups over four weeks compared to the control group.

The relationship between marital status and cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults: the multiple mediating effects of social support and depression.

Background: Marital status is a potentially essential factor for cognitive impairment. Relevant research examining the potential pathways through which the marital status of spouseless older people is associated with cognitive impairment needs to be more adequate. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the serial mediating effects of various forms of social support and depression between marital status and cognitive impairment in older Chinese people.

Ceftazidime-Avibactam Combination Therapy versus Monotherapy for the Treatment Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Purpose: Since the introduction of ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) in the Chinese market, accumulating clinical evidence has substantiated its efficacy in the treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB). Nevertheless, an ongoing debate persists concerning the choice between monotherapy and combination therapy when devising clinical anti-infection protocols.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective, single-center observational study enrolled patients with CR-GNB infections who received CZA treatment between December 2019 and August 2023.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Rice Grain Shape and Weight in Different Environments.

Drought is one of the key environmental factors affecting the growth and yield potential of rice. Grain shape, on the other hand, is an important factor determining the appearance, quality, and yield of rice grains. Here, we re-sequenced 275 accessions and then conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on six agronomic traits with the 404,411 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived by the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) for each trait.

Genome-wide association and epistasis studies reveal the genetic basis of saline-alkali tolerance at the germination stage in rice.

Introduction: Saline-alkali stress is one of the main abiotic factors limiting rice production worldwide. With the widespread use of rice direct seeding technology, it has become increasingly important to improve rice saline-alkali tolerance at the germination stage.

Methods: To understand the genetic basis of saline-alkali tolerance and facilitate breeding efforts for developing saline-alkali tolerant rice varieties, the genetic basis of rice saline-alkali tolerance was dissected by phenotyping seven germination-related traits of 736 diverse rice accessions under the saline-alkali stress and control conditions using genome-wide association and epistasis analysis (GWAES).

Can Population Mobility Make Cities More Resilient? Evidence from the Analysis of Baidu Migration Big Data in China.

Knowledge spillover and capital agglomeration caused by population migration behavior are of great significance for improving the carrying capacity and adaptability of the urban economy and promoting high-quality economic development. Based on the big data collected on urban migration during the Spring Festival travel period, this paper constructs geographic, economic and geo-economic matrices, introduces two instrumental variables, and uses a spatial econometric model to investigate the mechanism between population mobility and urban economic resilience. The results show that (1) urban economic resilience exhibits spatial correlation, and the correlation order is geo-economic matrix > economic matrix > geography matrix; (2) the economic resilience of inflow areas is significantly affected by the net inflow of population, and the urban economic resilience index increases by 0.

Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of salt tolerance in Apocynum venetum.

Apocynum venetum is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with tolerance to various abiotic stresses, especially, salinity. However, only a few studies have investigated the salt-tolerant mechanism of this non-halophyte under salt stress at phenotypic and physiological levels. To explore the molecular mechanism of salinity tolerance in A.

Ceftazidime-Avibactam Resistance in Sequence Type 11 Due to a Mutation in Plasmid-Borne to , in Henan, China.

Purpose: Carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) represents a serious problem worldwide. Herein, we describe the evolution of ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) resistance by sequencing clinical isolates from a patient with CRKP infection undergoing CZA treatment.

Patients And Methods: In this study, six CRKP strains were isolated from sputum and blood samples of a patient with CRKP infection after intracerebral hemorrhage.

Sustained Release Systems for Delivery of Therapeutic Peptide/Protein.

Peptide/protein therapeutics have been significantly applied in the clinical treatment of various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, . owing to their high biocompatibility, specificity, and therapeutic efficacy. However, due to their immunogenicity, instability stemming from its complex tertiary and quaternary structure, vulnerability to enzyme degradation, and rapid renal clearance, the clinical application of protein/peptide therapeutics is significantly confined.

Recent advances of nanomedicine-based strategies in diabetes and complications management: Diagnostics, monitoring, and therapeutics.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by the presence of chronic hyperglycemia driven by insulin deficiency or resistance, imposing a significant global burden affecting 463 million people worldwide in 2019. This review has comprehensively summarized the application of nanomedicine with accurate, patient-friendly, real-time properties in the field of diabetes diagnosis and monitoring, and emphatically discussed the unique potential of various nanomedicine carriers (e.g.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and early miscarriage in women undergoing fertilization-embryo transfer.

Various factors have been reported to be associated with early miscarriages, including microbial infection, chemical toxicity, maternal disorders and genetic abnormalities. In the present study, a prospective cohort study was conducted to investigate whether urinary concentrations of hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) were associated with early pregnancy loss in women undergoing fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Risk of spontaneous pregnancy loss in patients exposed to PAHs was analysed using 40 patients who had experienced early pregnancy loss compared to 40 who had normal live births.

Trends in global clinical trial registration: an analysis of numbers of registered clinical trials in different parts of the world from 2004 to 2013.

Objectives: To analyse developments (and their causes) in the number and proportion of clinical trials that were registered in different parts of the world after the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) announced in 2004 that it would require registration of clinical trials as a condition for publication.

Setting: The International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP).

Design: The ICTRP database was searched for all clinical trials that were registered up to 31 December 2013.