Impact of intrarenal arterial lesions on prognosis of IgA nephropathy: insights from a retrospective cohort study.

Background: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) presents a challenging spectrum of outcomes, often complicated by intrarenal arterial/arteriolar lesions (IALs) in affected individuals. Despite their clinical relevance, existing criteria for classifying and assessing the severity of these lesions remain undefined. This study aimed to establish semi-quantitative assessment criteria for grading IALs and to evaluate their prognostic significance in patients with IgAN.

Ability and utility of the Physician Well-Being Index to identify distress among Chinese physicians.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of mental stress among physicians, reliable screening tools are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the capability of the Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI) in identifying distress and adverse consequences among Chinese physicians.

Methods: This cross-sectional online survey recruited 2803 physicians from Southern Mainland China snowball sampling between October and December 2020.

A review in analytical progress for house dust mite allergens.

House dust mite (HDM) allergens are one of the most important causes of allergenic diseases in the indoor environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined risk thresholds for Group I HDM allergens as a concentration of 2 and 10 μg/mL in dust for producing asthma risk and polar asthma attacks, respectively. Continuing exposure to high concentrations of HDM allergens greatly increases the risk of developing allergic diseases.

Revealing a Heavy-Atom Assisted Rotation Mechanism in the H + NHCl Multi-Channel Reaction.

Identifying atomic-level mechanisms in elemental chemical reactions is crucial for understanding complex reaction processes. This study focuses on the typical multichannel H + NHCl reaction, which plays a significant role in environmental science. High-level ab initio calculations determined seven distinct reaction pathways, leading to three product channels: H + NHCl, HCl + NH, and Cl + NH.

StZIP2 promotes root growth by improving the transport efficiency of zinc in potato(Solanum tuberosum L.).

Zinc is an essential trace element for plant growth and development. Zinc transporters play an important role in regulating zinc homeostasis in plants. In this study, the potato cultivar 'Atlantic' was used as experimental material to analyze the expression characteristics of the StZIP2 gene in different potato tissues under zinc deficiency stress.

OMEGA-guided DNA polymerases enable random mutagenesis in a tunable window.

Targeted random mutagenesis is crucial for breeding, directed evolution, and gene function studies, yet efficient tools remain scarce. Here, we present obligate mobile element guided activity (OMEGA)-R, an innovative targeted random mutagenesis system that integrates SpyCatcher-enIscB and PolI3M-TBD-SpyTag, outperforming existing state-of-the-art technologies in key metrics, such as protein size, mutagenesis efficiency, window length, and continuity. OMEGA-R achieves a dramatic enhancement of on-target mutagenesis, reaching a rate of 1.

An Overview of Predictive Biomarkers and Detection Approaches for Immunotherapy Response in GI Malignancies.

This review provides an in-depth exploration of the evolving role of immunotherapy in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, with a particular focus on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their associated predictive biomarkers. We present a detailed analysis of established biomarkers, such as PD-L1, microsatellite instability (MSI), tumor mutational burden (TMB), and the tumor microenvironment (TME), as well as emerging biomarkers, including gut microbiota and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The predictive value of these biomarkers in guiding clinical decision-making and optimizing immunotherapy outcomes is thoroughly discussed.

Photoredox Nickel-Catalyzed Coupling/Controllable Defluorination: Access to α-Fluoroarylacetic Amides and Acetates.

Herein, an electron donor-acceptor complex (EDA)-enabled photoredox nickel-catalyzed coupling/controllable defluorination domino sequence has been successfully developed, providing an efficient route to a series of α-fluoroarylacetic esters and amides. This methodology accommodates a diverse array of commercially available aryl bromides and chlorodifluoroaryl carboxylic acid derivatives as suitable substrates. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest that the reaction is initiated by photoinduced EDA-enabled/nickel-catalyzed direct cross-electrophile coupling, with further defluorination proceeding through the generation of EDA complexes, facilitating a controllable reductive defluorination process.

In situ global mapping of protein perturbations via protein abundance and conformation analysis.

Background: Traditional studies of protein responses to external stimuli primarily focus on changes in protein abundance, often overlooking the critical role of protein conformational alterations. To address this gap, we developed Protein Abundance and Conformation Analysis (PACA), an integrative method that quantifies both protein abundance and conformational changes. PACA combines conventional quantitative proteomics for abundance measurements with Target Response Accessibility Profiling (TRAP), a technique that captures conformational changes in situ by applying reductive dimethylation to label accessible lysine residues in living cells before lysis.

One-step colorimetric immunosensing of foodborne bacteria using static magnet driven magnetophoretic separation and dual noble metal decorated magnetic nanobeads.

Background: Immunomagnetic separation is essential for screening pathogenic bacteria to prevent food poisoning. However, free immunomagnetic nanobeads (IMNBs) coexist with IMNB-bacteria conjugates (IBCs) after traditional immunomagnetic separation resulting in the infeasibility for IMNBs on IBCs to further act as signal label in bacterial detection. Although we have demonstrated that magnetophoretic separation at a high flowrate could separate IBCs from IMNBs, partial IMNBs were still found with IBCs due to chaotic flows and resulted in inevitable interferences.

Impacts of short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants on outpatient visits for respiratory diseases in children: a time series study in Yichang, China.

Background: There is growing evidence that the occurrence and severity of respiratory diseases in children are related to the concentration of air pollutants. Nonetheless, evidence regarding the association between short-term exposure to air pollution and outpatient visits for respiratory diseases in children remains limited. Outpatients cover a wide range of disease severity, including both severe and mild cases, some of which may need to be transferred to inpatient treatment.

Mechanisms of cognitive impairment associated with cerebral infarction.

Cerebral infarction is a common type of stroke with high incidence and disability rates, and most patients experience varying degrees of cognitive impairment. The manifestations and severity of post-infarction cognitive impairment are influenced by multiple interacting factors, and its pathophysiological mechanisms are highly complex, involving pericyte degeneration, excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), overproduction of glutamate, and overactivation of autophagy. After cerebral infarction, abnormal pericyte function activates neuroinflammation and facilitates the entry of inflammatory mediators into the brain; detachment of pericytes from blood vessels disrupts the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.

ZNF667 alleviates the inflammatory damage in intervertebral disc degeneration via inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway.

Objectives: With the aging population, the incidence of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is increasing every year. The pathogenesis of IDD is complex, and there are currently no effective treatment options. This study aims to investigate the specific function and underlying mechanism of zinc finger protein 667 (ZNF667) in the inflammatory damage of nucleus pulposus cells in IDD.

RPT: An integrated root phenotyping toolbox for segmenting and quantifying root system architecture.

The dissection of genetic architecture for rice root system is largely dependent on phenotyping techniques, and high-throughput root phenotyping poses a great challenge. In this study, we established a cost-effective root phenotyping platform capable of analysing 1680 root samples within 2 h. To efficiently process a large number of root images, we developed the root phenotyping toolbox (RPT) with an enhanced SegFormer algorithm and used it for root segmentation and root phenotypic traits.

Single-centre, randomised and double-blind clinical trial on the efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in preventing and treating primary headache in children and adolescents: a study protocol.

Introduction: Primary headaches pose a significant burden on children and adolescents, highlighting the need for effective non-pharmacological interventions. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a non-invasive modality that has demonstrated efficacy in adult populations with primary headaches and has shown safety in adolescents with mental health disorders. However, its effectiveness in managing acute headache episodes and preventing recurrences in paediatric populations remains underexplored.

Metabolomic analysis suggests thiamine monophosphate as a potential marker for mesenchymal stem cell transplantation outcomes in patients with SLE.

Objective: The objective of this research is to identify metabolic markers associated with successful treatment by evaluating the effect of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation (MSCT) on the metabolic profiles of patients with SLE.

Methods: Plasma samples were collected from 20 patients with SLE before and after MSCT. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to distinguish pretreatment and post-treatment groups and pathway analysis for identifying involved metabolic pathways.

GmEXPA11 facilitates nodule enlargement and nitrogen fixation via interaction with GmNOD20 under regulation of GmPTF1 in soybean.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) provides 50-60% of the nitrogen for plant growth and development, while its application is restricted for the deficiency of functional gene in biological breeding. Expansin can enlarge the plant cells through loosening the cell wall, which has a great breeding potential for legumes BNF improvement. In the present study, a cell wall α-subfamily expansin, GmEXPA11, was isolated and analyzed in soybean nodule growth and nitrogen fixation process.

Synthesis and evaluation of demethylzeylasteral derivatives as potential anticancer therapies for colon cancer: In vitro antiproliferation, cell cycle arrest analyses, network pharmacology investigations, and molecular docking studies.

A series of novel demethylzeylasteral derivatives 1-3 was synthesized by performing modifications on the aldehyde groups at the C-4 positions. Subsequently, the anti - proliferative activities of derivatives 1-3 was evaluated using three human cancer cell line models (HCT116, SKOV3, and HepG2) and the CCK - 8 assay. Compared with demethylzeylasteral, derivative 2 exhibited a remarkable inhibitory effect on HCT116 (4.

1-Octen-3-ol exacerbates depression-induced neurotoxicity via the TLR4/NF-κB and Nrf2/HO-1 pathways.

1-Octen-3-ol is a volatile compound widely found in various fungi and plants, and studies have suggested its potential role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the mechanism by which 1-octen-3-ol induces neural injury in rats remains unclear. In this study, we used aerosolized 1-octen-3-ol to treat depressive model rats to investigate its effects on neural injury behaviors and neurophysiology in SD rats.

Rapidly separable bubble microneedle-patch system present superior transdermal mRNA delivery efficiency.

Traditional mRNA vaccine formulation loaded by lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) has several shortcomings in clinical application, including the need for cryopreservation, discomfort associated with intramuscular injections, and the risk of liver aggregation. Dissolvable microneedles (DMNs), as a novel transdermal drug delivery platform, can overcome the skin barrier to deliver drugs directly into the skin in a minimally invasive manner. However, mRNA-LNP is unstable and easily degraded during the solidification of DMN.

Research progress in the extraction, purification, structural features, biological activities, and structure-activity relationships from Prunella vulgaris polysaccharides.

Prunella vulgaris L., a globally recognized medicinal and edible plant, has been extensively used in China for over 2000 years, possessing the efficacy of clearing liver-fire, brightening the eyes, dispersing the knot, and reducing swelling. Phytochemical studies have shown that Prunella vulgaris contains various biologically active compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenes, polysaccharides, and phenolic acids.

Facile preparation of lac terpene acid based heat setting adhesive with improved performances.

As a by-product of shellac resin, the high-value utilization of lac terpene acid (LTA) is a major challenge. In this study, a novel adhesive material, designated as A-LTA, was developed through a facile synthesis reaction between LTA and melamine, demonstrating significantly enhanced performance characteristics. The A-LTA adhesive, owing to its diverse functional groups, demonstrates exceptional cross-linking and polymerization capabilities under elevated temperatures, resulting in the formation of multiple chemical bonds and a highly dense network structure.