The persistent emergence of COVID-19 variants and recurrent waves of infection worldwide underscores the urgent need for vaccines that effectively reduce viral transmission and prevent infections. Current intramuscular (IM) COVID-19 vaccines inadequately protect the upper respiratory mucosa. In response, we have developed a nonadjuvanted, interferon-armed SARS-CoV-2 fusion protein vaccine with IM priming and intranasal (IN) boost sequential immunization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrganoid technology provides a transformative approach to understand human physiology and pathology, offering valuable insights for scientific research and therapeutic development. Human gastric organoids, in particular, have gained significant interest for applications in disease modeling, drug discovery, and studies of tissue regeneration and homeostasis. However, the lack of standardized quality control has limited their extensive clinical applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
January 2025
Purpose: Fungal keratitis (FK) remains a treatment challenge, necessitating new therapeutic targets. Piezo1, a mechanosensitive ion channel, regulates calcium signaling and immune cell function. This study investigates its role in macrophage-mediated antifungal responses in FK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe designed a SiO@C/MnO composite material with ultrafine particle size using a simple sol-gel method and calcination process. SiO and MnO components produce a mutual suppression effect during the charge/discharge process to mitigate volume expansion and maintain the long-term stability of composite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSwift and efficient enrichment and isolation of extracellular vesicles (EVs) are crucial for enhancing precise disease diagnostics and therapeutic strategies, as well as elucidating the complex biological roles of EVs. Conventional methods of isolating EVs are often marred by lengthy and laborious processes. In this study, we introduce an innovative approach to enrich and isolate EVs by leveraging the capabilities of DNA nanotechnology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/purpose: High gold (Au) alloys have many advantages, such as good mechanical properties and stable chemical properties for dental restoration. The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the effect of zirconia (ZrO)-magnesia (MgO)-based investment combined with an argon arc vacuum pressure (Ar-arc VP) casting process on the recasting of high Au alloys.
Materials And Methods: The recasting Au alloys were compared between the control group of conventional SiO-based investment/horizontal centrifugal (HC) casting and the experimental group of ZrO-MgO-based investment/Ar-arc VP die casting.
Background/purpose: Computer-assisted implant surgery (CAIS) is increasingly performed to reduce deviations in implant position. Dynamic CAIS or navigation systems provide instant display of implant drilling instruments and patient positions directly on the computer monitor. Augmented reality (AR) technology allows operators to visualize real-time information projected onto the lenses of AR glasses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study aims to identify self-management behavior profiles in multimorbid patients, and explore how workload, capacity, and their interactions influence these profiles.
Patients And Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. In the quantitative phase (August 2022 to May 2023), data were collected from 1,920 multimorbid patients across nine healthcare facilities in Zhejiang Province.
Background: Ferroptosis is a cell death process that depends on iron and reactive oxygen species. It significantly contributes to cardiovascular diseases. However, its exact role in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is still unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To determine the effect of dexmedetomidine on the ED and ED of sufentanil in patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) after cesarean section.
Patients And Methods: Parturients who underwent elective cesarean section (n = 80) were randomly assigned to either the sufentanil group (S group) or the dexmedetomidine-sufentanil combination group (DS group). Patients in the S group received a combination of sufentanil, 5 mg of tropisetron, and saline, whereas patients in the DS group were administered 1.
Chemoresistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a significant challenge in treating colorectal cancer (CRC). Novel combined regimens to thwart chemoresistance are therefore urgently needed. Herein, we demonstrated that the combination of Avenanthramide A (AVN A) and 5-FU has significant therapeutic advantages against CRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCervical cancer, the most common gynecological malignancy, significantly and adversely affects women's physical health and well-being. Traditional surgical interventions and chemotherapy, while potentially effective, often entail serious side effects that have led to an urgent need for novel therapeutic methods. Photothermal therapy (PTT) has emerged as a promising approach due to its ability to minimize damage to healthy tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxaliplatin (OXA), a platinum-based chemotherapeutic agent, remains a mainstay in first-line treatments for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the eventual development of OXA resistance represents a significant clinical challenge. In the present study, we demonstrate that the aldo-keto reductase 1C1 (AKR1C1) is overexpressed in CRC cells upon acquisition of OXA resistance, evident in OXA-resistant CRC cell lines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCutaneous photoaging, induced by chronic exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, typically manifests as alterations in both the physical appearance and functional properties of the skin and may predispose individuals to cancer development. Recent studies have demonstrated the reparative potential of exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells in addressing skin damage, while specific reports highlight their efficacy in ameliorating skin photoaging. However, the precise role of exosomes derived from human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (HFMSC-Exos) in the context of cutaneous photoaging remains largely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/purpose: SimEx-Plus (EPED. Inc) was already a mature augmented reality (AR) dental training simulator that allowed students to have a high quality dental education practice. Now the EPCAD software has been further developed into a comprehensive computer-aided design software.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSite density and turnover frequency are the two fundamental kinetic descriptors that determine the oxygen reduction activity of iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe-N-C) catalysts. However, it remains a grand challenge to simultaneously optimize these two parameters in a single Fe-N-C catalyst. Here we show that treating a typical Fe-N-C catalyst with ammonium iodine (NH4I) vapor via a one-step chemical vapor deposition process not only increases the surface area and porosity of the catalyst (and thus enhanced exposure of active sites) via the etching effect of the in-situ released NH3, but also regulates the electronic structure of the Fe-N4 moieties by the iodine dopants incorporated into the carbon matrix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that regular conical helices of poly(-phenylene) (PPP) chains can be constructed inside the confined space of single-walled carbon nanocones (CNCs). The translocation displacement of the PPP chain combined with the change of the system total potential energy including each energy component and structural parameters of the formed conical helix is discussed to deeply explore the microstructure evolution, driving forces and dynamic mechanisms. In addition, the influence of chain length, cone angle, temperature, chain number, linked position of benzene rings and the form of Lennard-Jones potential on the helical encapsulation is further studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModulating the electronic properties of VSiN with high Curie temperature to realize an ideal half-metal is appealing towards spintronic applications. Here, by using first-principles calculations, we propose alloying the VSiN monolayer via substitutive doping of transition metal atoms (Sc-Ni, Y-Mo) at the V site. We find that the transition metal atom (except the Ni atom) doped VSiN systems have dynamical and thermal stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate the current status of life stress and hypertension among couples of childbearing age across diverse economic regions in China, and to explore relevant influencing factors. This study was a cross-sectional study, with subjects from the "Research on the standardized system of comprehensive prevention and control of birth defects based on preconception-prenatal-postnatal whole chain". From February to May 2021, urban and rural couples of childbearing age (18-49 years old) from Beijing, Henan, and Gansu provinces were enrolled, representing the eastern, central, and western regions of China, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Radiotherapy plus temozolomide followed by adjuvant temozolomide was the standard treatment for high-grade gliomas. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness and safety of the addition of apatinib in patients with high-grade gliomas after surgery.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients with high-grade glioma [World Health Organization (WHO) grade III or IV] treated with apatinib and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) after surgery from October 2017 to February 2021 were reviewed.
Immunogenic cell death (ICD) of tumor cells, which is characterized by releasing immunostimulatory "find me" and "eat me" signals, expressing proinflammatory cytokines and providing personalized and broad-spectrum tumor antigens draws increasing attention in developing a tumor vaccine. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the influenza virus (IAV) is efficient enough to induce ICD in tumor cells and an extra modification of IAV components such as hemeagglutinin (HA) will be helpful for the ICD-induced cells to elicit robust antitumor effects; in addition, to evaluate whether the membrane-engineering polylactic coglycolic acid nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) simulating ICD immune stimulation mechanisms hold the potential to be a promising vaccine candidate, a mouse melanoma cell line (B16-F10 cell) was infected with IAV rescued by the reverse genetic system, and the prepared cells and membrane-modified PLGA NPs were used separately to immunize the melanoma-bearing mice. IAV-infected tumor cells exhibit dying status, releasing high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and exposing calreticulin (CRT), IAV hemeagglutinin (HA), and tumor antigens like tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Health education, weight control and exercise therapy are recognised treatment options for the non-surgical management of knee osteoarthritis (KOA); however, the pain and muscle fatigue associated with exercise make it difficult for patients to initially adhere. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) massage is an important complementary and alternative therapy that can effectively address these deficiencies. According to TCM theory and preliminary clinical practice, loosening of the muscles while pointing to acupoints can promote the recovery of KOA.
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