Retinal Vascular Morphology Reflects and Predicts Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: Evidences from Eye-Brain Imaging Analysis.

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) involves ischemic white matter damage and choroid plexus (CP) dysfunction for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production. Given the vascular and CSF links between the eye and brain, this study explored whether retinal vascular morphology can indicate cerebrovascular injury and CP dysfunction in SVD. We assessed SVD burden using imaging phenotypes like white matter hyperintensities (WMH), perivascular spaces, lacunes, and microbleeds.

Multimodal radiomics based on lesion connectome predicts stroke prognosis.

Background: Stroke significantly contributes to global mortality and disability, emphasizing the critical need for effective prognostic evaluations. Connectome-based lesion-symptom mapping (CLSM) identifies structural and functional connectivity disruptions related to the lesion, while radiomics extracts high-dimensional quantitative data from multimodal medical images. Despite the potential of these methodologies, no study has yet integrated CLSM and multimodal radiomics for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

CmPPR4 gene controls drought resilience in melon ecotypes.

Global climate change has rendered drought stress an increasing threat to sustainable crop production. Melon (Cucumis melo) crop is widely cultivated worldwide, and has been classified into two subspecies C. melo ssp.

Disturbed neurovascular coupling in patients with white matter hyperintensities: potential biomarker for cognitive impairment.

Purpose: To explore the neurovascular mechanisms of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs)-related cognitive impairment by introducing a neurovascular biomarker, neurovascular coupling (NVC).

Methods: We applied resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging combined with arterial spin labeling to investigate the NVC dysfunctional patterns in patients with pure WMHs. Partial correlation, mediation, and exploratory subgroup analyses were adopted to explore the relationship among WMHs, NVC dysfunction, and cognitive decline.

Decoupling Electrolytic Water Splitting by an Oxygen-Mediating Process.

Decoupled water electrolysis systems, incorporating a reversible redox mediator that allows for the construction of membrane-free electrolyzers, have emerged as a promising approach to produce high-purity hydrogen with remarkable flexibility. The key factor crucial for practical applications lies in the development of mediator electrodes that possess suitable redox potential, high redox capacity, excellent cycling reversibility and stability. Herein, we introduce a novel concept of oxygen-mediating redox mediators (ORMs) employing BiO as an example material, which are capable of sequestering oxygen during the hydrogen evolution reaction and subsequently releasing it to generate oxygen gas under alkaline conditions.

Prebiotics enhance the immunomodulatory effect of DALI02 by regulating intestinal homeostasis.

The colonization ability of DALI02 and the promoting effect of fermented prebiotics have been studied. This study aims to evaluate the systemic immunomodulatory effects of DALI02 and DALI02 + Prebiotics on cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed rats. We found that DALI02 and DALI02 + Prebiotics, especially DALI02 + Prebiotics, exhibited significant restorative effects on the immunocompromised state in rats ( < .

Association between cathepsins and skin cancers: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Several cathepsins have been identified as being involved in the development of cancer. Nevertheless, the connection between cathepsins and skin cancers remained highly elusive.

Methods: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed to investigate the causal association between cathepsins and skin malignancies.

Early Detection and Noninvasive Staging of Kidney Dysfunction by a PEGylated Conventional Fluorophore via GFR-Sensitive Renal Transport.

Noninvasive fluorescence imaging of renal function is a valuable technique for understanding kidney disease progression and the development of renal medicine. This technique requires sensitive imaging probes for reporting renal dysfunction accurately at early stage. Herein, a molecularly engineered imaging probe (800CW-PEG-COOH) was synthesized by simply PEGylating conventional near-infrared fluorophore IRDye800CW with NH-PEG-COOH (molecular weight ∼2100 Da) for early detection and staging of renal dysfunction through noninvasive real-time kidney imaging.

Treatment outcomes in tinnitus patients are associated with brain functional network: Evidence from connectome gradient and gene expression analysis.

The neuroimaging mechanisms underlying differences in the outcomes of sound therapy for tinnitus patients remain unclear. We hypothesize that abnormal hierarchical architecture is the neuro-biomarker for treatment outcome explanation. We conducted functional connectome gradient analyses on resting-state functional MRI images that acquired before intervention to investigate differences among the patients with effective treatment (ET, n = 27), ineffective treatment (IT, n = 41), and healthy controls (HC, n = 59).

Synergetic sludge conditioning by US enhanced Fe activated sodium persulfate: Physicochemical properties and mechanisms.

Efficient dewatering of sewage sludge is an energy- and carbon-saving procedure for sludge treatment in wastewater treatment facilities. The ultrasound-coupled divalent iron ion activated persulfate process can effectively promote sludge dewatering and improve organic substance content. Under the action of ultrasound (US 50 w/L), divalent iron ions (Fe) 200 mg/g (TS), and persulfate (PDS) 200 mg/g (TS) for 60 min, the capillary suction time (CST) was reduced by 79.

Developing a prognostic model for skin melanoma based on the persistent tumor mutation burden and determining IL17REL as a therapeutic target.

Background: One popular and well-established marker for the immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) response is tumor mutation burden (TMB). Persistent TMB (pTMB), a subset of TMB, provides a better indicator to predict patient ICB therapy outcomes, as shown by some studies. Immune checkpoint drugs have significantly changed how melanoma is treated in recent years.

Detail-preserving image warping by enforcing smooth image sampling.

Multi-phase dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging image registration makes a substantial contribution to medical image analysis. However, existing methods (e.g.

Photovoltaic-driven Ni(ii)/Ni(iii) redox mediator for the valorization of PET plastic waste with hydrogen production.

Electrocatalytic valorization of PET plastic waste provides an appealing route by converting intermittent renewable energy into valuable chemicals and high-energy fuels. Normally, anodic PET hydrolysate oxidation and cathodic water reduction reactions occur simultaneously in the same time and space, which increases the challenges for product separation and operational conditions. Although these problems can be addressed by utilizing membranes or diaphragms, the parasitic cell resistance and high overall cost severely restrict their future application.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants Show Attenuated Neurovirulence Compared with the Wild-Type Strain in Elderly Human Brain Spheroids.

Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron variants still causes neurological complications in elderly individuals. However, whether and how aging brains are affected by Omicron variants in terms of neuroinvasiveness and neurovirulence are unknown. Here, we utilize resected paracarcinoma brain tissue from elderly individuals to generate primary brain spheroids (BSs) for investigating the replication capability of live wild-type (WT) strain and Omicron (BA.

Serum uric acid is associated with midbrain enlarged perivascular spaces: Results from Multi-modality Medical imaging sTudy bAsed on KaiLuan Study (META-KLS).

Background: Serum uric acid (SUA) is a major cause of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Whether and to what extent the excess risk of enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) conferred by SUA is unknown. The study was conducted to investigate the association between SUA and EPVS in different brain regions.

Association between Body Mass Index and Brain Health in Adults: A 16-Year Population-Based Cohort and Mendelian Randomization Study.

The cumulative effect of body mass index (BMI) on brain health remains ill-defined. The effects of overweight on brain health across different age groups need clarification. We analyzed the effect of cumulative BMI on neuroimaging features of brain health in adults of different ages.

g-CN modified with non-precious metal Al with LSPR as an efficient visible light catalyst.

The issue of water pollution has emerged as a formidable challenge, prompting a pressing need for solutions. The utilization of metal nanoparticles with surface plasmon resonance and semiconductor composite photocatalysts is regarded as a highly effective approach to solve this problem. g-CN is an effective catalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants.

Lightweight RepVGG-Based Cross-Modality Data Prediction Method for Solid Rocket Motors.

Solid rocket motors (SRMs) have been popularly used in the current aerospace industry. Performance indicators, such as pressure and thrust, are of great importance for rocket monitoring and design. However, the measurement of such signals requires high economic and time costs.

Synovial fluid exosome-derived miR-182-5p alleviates osteoarthritis by downregulating TNFAIP8 and promoting autophagy through LC3 signaling.

Objective: To investigate the role of exosomal miRNAs from synovial fluid (SF) in osteoarthritis (OA) patients and investigate the underlying molecular mechanism.

Methods: Degenerated knee tissues were collected from male and female OA patients. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the differences in the expression of inflammatory indicators, including TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10, between the degenerative and injury groups.

Size-Dependent Transport of Nanoparticles: Implications for Delivery, Targeting, and Clearance.

Understanding the transport of nanoparticles provides guidelines for designing nanomedicines with higher efficacy and fewer side effects. Among many factors, the size of nanoparticles plays a key role in controlling their transport behaviors due to the existence of various physiological size thresholds within the body and size-dependent nano-bio interactions. Encouraged by the evolving discoveries of nanoparticle-size-dependent biological effects, we believe that it is necessary to systematically summarize the size-scaling laws of nanoparticle transport .

Self-supporting, hierarchically hollow structured NiFe-PBA electrocatalyst for efficient alkaline seawater oxidation.

Seawater electrolysis, taking advantage of the huge seawater resource, holds great promise for sustainable hydrogen generation. Compared to conventional water electrolysis, seawater electrolysis is more challenging because of the more complex and corrosive electrolyte and competitive side reactions, which necessitates the development of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts. In this study, a self-supporting, highly porous NiFe-PBA (Prussian-blue-analogue) electrocatalyst with a hierarchically hollow nanostructure is introduced, which exhibits impressive catalytic performance towards the oxygen evolution in alkaline seawater electrolytes.