Assessment of combined serum sST2 and AFP levels in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used diagnostic serum biomarker, but it still has limited accuracy in detecting HCC, suggesting the necessity of seeking more ideal biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity. Soluble growth stimulation gene 2 (sST2) form of growth stimulating expression gene 2 (ST2), is expressed in various organs and can bind competitively to interleukin 33 (IL-33).

The impact of digital communication and offline social interactions on depressive symptoms in Chinese older people.

Background: In a special period of lack of offline social interaction (pandemic), the mentality of older people is changing quietly. This study aims to dissect the impact of these changes on their mental health.

Method: Utilizing data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS 2020), this research included 7,784 participants aged over 60 years.

Enhance Fe(III) reduction in sludge fermentation for vivianite formation using exogenous H assisted by activated carbon.

Vivianite, a notable secondary mineral formed through dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR), demonstrates great potential in addressing both eutrophication and phosphorus deficiency. However, the presence of competition for electrons from the methanogenic pathway and the low rates of Fe(III) reduction limit the creation of vivianite. In this research, H was utilized as electron donor assisted by activated carbon (AC) to promote Fe(Ⅲ) reduction with FePO as electron acceptors.

The use of ectopic volar fibroblasts to modify skin identity.

Skin identity is controlled by intrinsic features of the epidermis and dermis and their interactions. Modifying skin identity has clinical potential, such as the conversion of residual limb and stump (nonvolar) skin of amputees to pressure-responsive palmoplantar (volar) skin to enhance prosthesis use and minimize skin breakdown. Greater keratin 9 () expression, higher epidermal thickness, keratinocyte cytoplasmic size, collagen length, and elastin are markers of volar skin and likely contribute to volar skin resiliency.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in patients with diabetes mellitus has high incidence, especially in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for IPA in patients with T2DM. A total of 66 patients with T2DM were included, including 21 IPA and 45 non-IPA patients, from January 2022 to December 2022.

A genome-wide association study of panicle blast resistance to in rice.

Unlabelled: Rice blast, caused by (), is one of the most serious diseases worldwide. Developing blast-resistant rice varieties is an effective strategy to control the spread of rice blast and reduce the reliance on chemical pesticides. In this study, 477 sequenced rice germplasms from 48 countries were inoculated and assessed at the booting stage.

Sono-blasting Triggered Cascading-Amplification of Oxidative Stress for Enhanced Interventional Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Interventional therapy is widely regarded as a highly promising treatment approach for nonsurgical liver cancer. However, the development of drug resistance and tolerance to hypoxic environments after embolization can lead to increased angiogenesis, enhanced tumor cell stemness, and greater invasiveness, resulting in metastasis and recurrence. To address these challenges, a novel approach involving the use of lecithin and DSPE-PEG comodified Ca loaded (NH)SO (LDCNSO) drug in combination with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) has been proposed.

Deciphering the tumor immune microenvironment from a multidimensional omics perspective: insight into next-generation CAR-T cell immunotherapy and beyond.

Tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) consists of intra-tumor immunological components and plays a significant role in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and response to therapy. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell immunotherapy has revolutionized the cancer treatment paradigm. Although CAR-T cell immunotherapy has emerged as a successful treatment for hematologic malignancies, it remains a conundrum for solid tumors.

Assessment of the reversibility of resistance in the absence of antibiotics and its relationship with the resistance gene's fitness cost: a genetic study with mcr-1.

Background: The intensive use of antibiotics has resulted in strong natural selection for the evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but whether, and under what circumstances, the removal of antibiotics would result in a rapid reduction in AMR has been insufficiently explored. We aimed to test the hypothesis that in the simple, yet common, case of AMR conferred by a single gene, removing antibiotics would quickly reduce the prevalence of resistance if the AMR gene imposes a high fitness cost and costless resistance is extremely rare among its proximal mutants.

Methods: In this genetic study, to test our hypothesis, we used the mcr-1 gene in Escherichia coli, which confers resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin, as a model.

Serotonin modulates infraslow oscillation in the dentate gyrus during Non-REM sleep.

Synchronous neuronal activity is organized into neuronal oscillations with various frequency and time domains across different brain areas and brain states. For example, hippocampal theta, gamma and sharp wave oscillations are critical for memory formation and communication between hippocampal subareas and the cortex. In this study, we investigated the neuronal activity of the dentate gyrus (DG) with optical imaging tools during sleep-wake cycles.

A novel nomogram and prognostic factor for metastatic soft tissue sarcoma survival.

Background: This study represented the inaugural effort to develop predictive survival nomograms for metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (mSTS) patients in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Method: From the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program database, we extracted 3078 eligible patients with mSTS between 2016 and 2022. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, univariate and multivariable Cox analyses, and univariate and multivariable logistic analyses were conducted.

A Comprehensive Review on Circulating cfRNA in Plasma: Implications for Disease Diagnosis and Beyond.

Circulating cfRNA in plasma has emerged as a fascinating area of research with potential applications in disease diagnosis, monitoring, and personalized medicine. Circulating RNA sequencing technology allows for the non-invasive collection of important information about the expression of target genes, eliminating the need for biopsies. This comprehensive review aims to provide a detailed overview of the current knowledge and advancements in the study of plasma cfRNA, focusing on its diverse landscape and biological functions, detection methods, its diagnostic and prognostic potential in various diseases, challenges, and future perspectives.

ADAR1 promotes cisplatin resistance in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by regulating BRCA2 expression through A-to-I editing manner.

Aberrant A-to-I RNA editing, mediated by ADAR1 has been found to be associated with increased tumourigenesis and the development of chemotherapy resistance in various types of cancer. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a highly aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis, and overcoming chemotherapy resistance poses a significant clinical challenge. This study aimed to clarify the roles of ADAR1 in tumour resistance to cisplatin in iCCA.

The seeds of its regulation: Natural antisense transcripts as single-gene control switches in neurodegenerative disorders.

Several proteins play critical roles in vulnerability or resistance to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Regulation of these proteins is critical to maintaining healthy neurohomeostasis. In addition to transcription factors regulating gene transcription and microRNAs regulating mRNA translation, natural antisense transcripts (NATs) regulate mRNA levels, splicing, and translation.

Development and validation of a nomogram to predicting the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Purpose: With the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors used widely in clinic, it becomes very necessary to anticipate whether patients would benefit from it. We aimed to develop a nomogram to evaluate the efficacy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 in NPC patients.

Methods: Totally 160 NPC patients were enrolled in the study.

Platycodon D protects human nasal epithelial cells from pyroptosis through the Nrf2/HO-1/ROS signaling cascade in chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Pyroptosis has been demonstrated being closely associated with the inflammatory progression in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). However, platycodon D (PLD) has emerged as a key anti-inflammatory mediator in the inflammatory progression of various respiratory diseases. This study aims at investigating whether PLD could reduce inflammatory progression of CRS by inhibiting pyroptosis.

GOLPH3 promotes tumor malignancy via inhibition of ferroptosis by upregulating SLC7A11 in cholangiocarcinoma.

Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) has been reported as an oncogene in various tumors; however, the role and function of GOLPH3 and its relevant molecular mechanism in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) are unclear. Herein, GOLPH3 expression in CCA tissues was observed to be significantly higher than that in paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. Clinicopathological analysis showed that GOLPH3 expression correlated positively with the tumor-node-metastasis stage.

Accurate detection of influenza A virus by use of a novel cross-priming isothermal amplification-based point-of-care assay.

Influenza virus is known to cause respiratory tract infections of varying severity in individuals of all ages. The EasyNAT Rapid Flu assay is a newly developed diagnostic test that employs cross-priming isothermal amplification (CPA) to detect and differentiate influenza A and B viruses in human nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. The aim of this study is to determine the performance characteristics of the EasyNAT Rapid Flu assay for rapid detection of influenza virus.

A sodium alginate intervention strategy to enhance therapeutic effects of bone-targeted alpha therapy via remodeling RaCl distribution.

Radium-223 dichloride is the first approved alpha particle-emitting radiopharmaceutical for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer with symptomatic bone metastases and no known visceral metastases. A large percentage of intestinal enrichment and a slow clearance rate were the main causes of gastrointestinal adverse events after RaCl administration. The molecular weight of sodium alginate in aqueous solution was determined to be 656 kDa.

Exosomes from adipose-derived stem cells restore fibroblast function and accelerate diabetic wound healing.

Background: Diabetes is common yet challenging chronic disease, that affects a wide range of people around the world. Complex cellular environments around diabetic wounds tend to damage the function of effector cells, including vascular endothelial cells (VECs), fibroblasts and epithelial cells. This study aims to analyze the differences between diabetic wounds and normal skin as well as whether adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) exosome could promote healing of diabetic wound.