Publications by authors named "Peng Ai"

A non-experimental approach to developing high-performance EMI shielding materials is urgently needed to reduce costs and manpower. In this investigation, a multimodal data fusion neural network model is proposed to predict the EMI shielding performances of silver-modified four-pronged zinc oxide/waterborne polyurethane/barium ferrite (Ag@F-ZnO/WPU/BF) aerogels. First, 16 Ag@F-ZnO/WPU/BF samples with varying Ag@F-ZnO and BF contents were successfully prepared using the pre-casting and directional freezing techniques.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The OmicShare tools platform is a user-friendly online resource for data analysis and visualization, encompassing 161 bioinformatic tools. Users can easily track the progress of projects in real-time through an overview interface. The platform has a powerful interactive graphics engine that allows for the custom-tailored modification of charts generated from analyses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: VS-505 (AP301), an acacia and ferric oxyhydroxide polymer, is a novel fiber-iron-based phosphate binder. This two-part Phase 2 study evaluated the tolerability, safety and efficacy of oral VS-505 administered three times daily with meals in treating hyperphosphatemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD).

Methods: In Part 1, patients received dose-escalated treatment with VS-505 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A theoretical study explores bilayer carbon nitride (bi-CN) as a new host material for lithium-selenium (Li-Se) batteries, utilizing first-principles calculations.
  • The AA- and AB-stacking configurations of bi-CN effectively reduce the movement of high-order polyselenides through strong bonding and physical confinement, while also improving adsorption capacity compared to traditional electrolytes.
  • Enhanced electrical conductivity and reduced energy barriers for the decomposition of LiSe in bilayer CN demonstrate its potential to improve electrochemical performance and address the shuttle effect in Li-Se batteries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Gout is a painful type of arthritis linked to complex inflammatory and immune responses, with unclear mechanisms behind flare-ups and remissions.
  • Research using advanced techniques identified that specific immune cells, particularly HLA-DQA1+ nonclassical monocytes, are crucial in triggering gout flares and maintaining inflammation, while T regulatory cells (Tregs) play a key role in controlling inflammation during remission.
  • The study underscores significant changes in various immune cell activities and metabolic processes during gout episodes, suggesting that targeting these immune responses could help prevent future gout attacks and worsening of the condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Paraquat (PQ) has been used as an herbicide worldwide because of its potent activity against weeds. However, it is highly toxic to humans. The very high fatality of PQ poisoning is due to its inherent toxicity and the lack of any effective treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Researchers have investigated the causal effect between serum uric acid (SUA) concentrations and kidney function for decades, but studies produced inconsistent results. This study aimed to clarify the bidirectional causal effects between SUA concentrations and kidney function and to explore the potential ethnic disparities by conducting a -ethnic Mendelian randomization study in European, African, and Asian ancestries.

Materials And Methods: The summary-level data for this study were obtained from the Global Urate Genetics Consortium, CKDGen Consortium, UK Biobank, and Japan Biobank for different outcomes and exposures, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a heterogeneous cell population that plays a crucial role in remodeling the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, through the integrated analysis of spatial and single-cell transcriptomics data across six common cancer types, we identified four distinct functional subgroups of CAFs and described their spatial distribution characteristics. Additionally, the analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from three additional common cancer types and two newly generated scRNA-seq datasets of rare cancer types, namely epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), expanded our understanding of CAF heterogeneity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To investigate the association between esomeprazole pharmacokinetics and CYP2C19 gene polymorphisms in a cohort of 95 healthy Chinese participants. A cohort of 95 participants was assembled and stratified into 2 distinct groups, receiving either 20 or 40 mg of esomeprazole through oral administration. The subjects encompassed 17 poor metabolizers, 47 intermediate metabolizers, and 31 rapid metabolizers, and their genotypes were ascertained using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As a prominent feature of gout, monosodium urate (MSU) crystal deposition induces gout flares, but its impact on immune inflammation in gout remission remains unclear. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we characterize the transcription profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) among intercritical remission gout, advanced remission gout, and normal controls. We find systemic inflammation in gout remission with MSU crystal deposition at the intercritical and advanced stages, evidenced by activated inflammatory pathways, strengthened inflammatory cell-cell interactions, and elevated arachidonic acid metabolic activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hyperuricemia is prevalent in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) concentrations have been considered an independent risk factor for the onset of CKD. However, the relationship between SUA concentrations and long-term health outcomes among patients with CKD remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Gout is a metabolic disease that can result in the formation of gout stones. It is essential to promptly identify and confirm the type of gout stone to alleviate pain and inflammation in patients and prevent complications associated with gout stones. Traditional detection methods, such as X-ray, ultrasound, CT scanning, and blood uric acid measurement, have limitations in early diagnosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Rare diseases affect a small number of people and are becoming a global public health priority, prompting more attention and investment from governments for research and drug development.
  • In China, clinical trials for rare diseases have increased significantly, with 481 trials conducted from 2013 to 2022, and a notable 80% rise in 2016 following a supportive policy; however, the number of trials remains lower than in the US, Europe, and Japan.
  • While progress has been made in China’s rare disease clinical research, there are still challenges, including a limited variety of drugs being tested and a need for further development to catch up with more advanced countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Baseline findings from the China Dialysis Calcification Study (CDCS) revealed a high prevalence of vascular calcification (VC) among patients with end-stage kidney disease; however, data on VC progression were limited.

Objectives: To understand the progression of VC at different anatomical sites, identify risk factors for VC progression, and assess the association of VC progression with the risk of cardiovascular events and death among patients receiving maintenance dialysis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study was a 4-year follow-up assessment of participants in the CDCS, a nationwide multicenter prospective cohort study involving patients aged 18 to 74 years who were undergoing hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the accuracy for joint application of inflammatory cytokines in diagnosis of gout flare by comparison with peripheral blood cells.

Methods: We collected the clinical data of 96 acute gout patients and 144 remission gout patients, and compared the levels of peripheral blood cells, inflammatory cytokines and blood biochemistry indexes between acute and remission gout. We respectively assessed the area under curves (AUCs) for single and multiple inflammatory cytokines including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and single and multiple peripheral blood cells including platelet (PLT), white blood cell (WBC), percentages of neutrophils (N%), lymphocytes (L%), eosinophils (E%), basophils (B%) in diagnosis of acute gout by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP) is very common and sometimes refractory to treatment in hemodialysis patients. In a trial conducted in Japan, nalfurafine, effectively reduced itching of treatment-resistant CKD-aP. Our present bridging study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nalfurafine in Chinese cohort with refractory CKD-aP.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) is an early pathogenic colonizer in periodontitis, but the host response to infection with this pathogen remains unclear. In this study, we built an F.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a severe public health problem associated with a disordered gut microbiome. However, the functional alterations of microbiota and their cross talk with metabolism pathways based on disease severity remain unclear.

Results: We performed metagenomics and untargeted metabolomics in a cohort of 68 patients with CKD of differing severities and 20 healthy controls to characterize the complex interplay between the gut microbiome and fecal and serum metabolites during CKD progression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study aimed to develop a simple, sensitive, and selective Liquid chromatography with a Mass spectroscopic method for simultaneous quantification of a recombinant bifunctional hirudin (r-RGD-Hirudin, Bifunctional Hirudin, BFH) in human plasma and verify its effectiveness.

Methods: The analytes and the internal standards from human plasma were extracted using the solid-phase extraction technique. The reconstituted samples were chromatographed on Waters C column (BEH 50 × 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Excessive alkalization will increase the incidence of nephrolithiasis. Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO) and potassium sodium hydrogen citrate (PSHC) are commonly used drugs for urinary alkalization. We designed a trial to compare PSHC with NaHCO in the urine alkalization for the Chinese healthy participants and to explore the effects of PSHC and NaHCO on circadian rhythms of urine pH value.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As carbon-based nanomaterials, water-soluble C derivatives have potential applications in various fields of biomedicine. In this study, a water-soluble fullerene C derivative bearing alanine residues (Ala-C) was synthesized. The effects of Ala-C on neural stem cells (NSCs) as seed cells were explored.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Little is known about the impact of haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We compared HRQoL between conventional in-centre HD and home-based PD in 1082 newly diagnosed kidney failure patients.

Methods: This was an open-label, randomised, non-inferiority trial of adult patients with a diagnosis of end-stage kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤ 15 mL/min/1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Protein-bound uremic toxins (PBUTs) are reported to be one of the major culprits in chronic kidney disease-cardiovascular disease (CKD-CVD) development, yet its mechanism is not fully clear. Our previous study confirmed elevated expression of integrin-β1 (ITGβ1) in vascular smooth muscle cells of uremic patients. Thus, this study aimed to explore the relationship between PBUTs and ITGβ1 in uremic vasculature injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Scaffold materials, neurotrophic factors, and seed cells are three elements of neural tissue engineering. As well-known self-assembling peptide-based hydrogels, RADA16-I and modified peptides are attractive matrices for neural tissue engineering. In addition to its neuroprotective effects, cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) has been reported to promote the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF