Prevalence and risk factors of pre-frailty and frailty in hemodialysis patients in central China.

The current study was to explore the prevalence and risk factors elements of pre-frailty and frailty among patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in central China. A cross-sectional, multi-institutional investigation was conducted. From March to May 2024, using the convenience sampling method, a total of 408 HD patients from four hospitals in Xiangyang, China, were recruited for this study.

Optical and Dielectrical Properties of Opal Water Content Determination Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy.

The optical and dielectric properties of opals with different water contents were investigated using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The refractive indices and absorption coefficients showed different trends due to the different water contents. The effective medium theory was used to extract the intrinsic dielectric permittivity of opal from opal-polytetrafluoroethylene mixtures.

Chromatin State Maps of Blood Pressure-Relevant Renal Segments Reveal Potential Regulatory Role for SNPs.

Background: Hypertension or elevated blood pressure (BP) is a worldwide clinical challenge and the leading primary risk factor for kidney dysfunctions, heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease. The kidney is a central regulator of BP by maintaining sodium-water balance. Multiple genome-wide association studies revealed that BP is a heritable quantitative trait, modulated by several genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors.

Expert consensus on sequential surgery following conversion therapy based on combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors and antiangiogenic targeted drugs for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (2024 edition).

Up to half of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, for which effective treatment options are lacking, resulting in a poor prognosis. Over the past few years, the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-angiogenic targeted therapy has proven highly efficacious in treating advanced HCC, significantly extending patients' survival and providing a potential for sequential curative surgery. After sequential curative hepatectomy or liver transplantation following conversion therapy, patients can receive long-term survival benefits.

Millihertz-linewidth self-injection-locked semiconductor laser based on a hollow FP cavity.

An ultra-narrow-linewidth laser is a core device in fields such as optical atomic clocks, quantum communications, and microwave photonic oscillators. This paper reports an ultra-narrow-linewidth self-injection locked semiconductor laser, which is realized through optical feedback from a high-Q (258 million) Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity constructed with three mirrors, generating an output power of 12 mW. Employing a delay self-heterodyne method based on a signal source analyzer, the phase noise of the laser is -129 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset frequency, with an intrinsic linewidth of 3 mHz.