Development and external validation of an early prediction model to identify irresponsive patients and prognosis of UDCA treatment in primary biliary cholangitis.

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is the first-line treatment for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), but 20-40% of patients do not respond well to UDCA. We aimed to develop and validate a prognostic model for the early prediction of patients who nonresponse to UDCA. This retrospective analysis was conducted among patients with primary biliary cholangitis(N = 257) to develop a predictive model for early-stage nonresponse to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy.

The Oral Microbial Ecosystem in Age-Related Xerostomia: A Critical Review.

Xerostomia is a widespread condition among the elderly, impacting as many as 50% of individuals within this demographic. This review aims to analyze the association between age-related xerostomia and the oral microbial ecosystem. Xerostomia not only induces discomfort but also heightens the susceptibility to oral diseases, including dental caries and infections.

The relationship between probiotics and prebiotics, kidney dysfunction and mortality - Results from a longitudinal cohort study and Mendelian randomization.

Introduction: The benefits of probiotics/prebiotics consumption on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mortality remains controversial.

Objectives: This study investigates the association of probiotics/prebiotics consumption with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and mortality.

Methods: Clinical data were retrieved from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2016 database.

The arch myth: investigating the impact of flat foot on vertical jump height: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The necessity to exclude flat foot when selecting athletes is a controversial issue. This study aimed to investigate whether flat foot affects vertical jump.

Methods: The quality of the literature was assessed using the observational study quality assessment tool provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care in Australia.

Inhalable nanocatalytic therapeutics for viral pneumonia.

Pneumonia is a ubiquitous disease caused by viral and bacterial infections, characterized by high levels of reactive oxygen species in inflamed areas. Therapeutic strategies targeting reactive oxygen species levels in pneumonia have limited success due to the intricate nature of lung tissues and lung inflammatory responses. Here we describe an inhalable, non-invasive therapeutic platform composed of engineered cerium-based tannic acid nanozymes bound to a self-assembling peptide.

Mechanical Extrusion of the Plasma Membrane to Generate Ectosome-Mimetic Nanovesicles for Lung Targeting.

Extracellular vehicles (EVs) are naturally occurring nanocarriers that participate in the transportation of biologics between cells. Despite their potential in drug delivery, their optimal use in therapy remains a challenge, which comes from the difficulty in preparation scale-up and cargo loading efficiency. As a membrane-enclosed nanoscale system, EVs are reluctant to be transfected with cargos and purified by conventional methods.

Rapid Microfluidic Biosensor for Point-of-Care Determination of Rheumatoid Arthritis via Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibody Detection.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes extensive damage to multiple organs and tissues and has no known cure. This study introduces a microfluidic detection platform that combines a microfluidic reaction chip with a micro-spectrometer to accurately detect the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP Ab) biomarker, commonly associated with arthritis. The surface of the microfluidic reaction chip is functionalized using streptavidin to enable the subsequent immobilization of biotinylated-labeled cyclic citrullinated peptide (biotin-CCP) molecules through a streptavidin-biotin reaction.

A new model based on preoperative AFP, albumin, and tumor burden score for predicting microvascular invasion in early-stage HCC.

Microscopic vascular invasion (MVI) has been demonstrated as a strong risk factor associated with tumor recurrence and poor overall survival among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after resection, but the preoperative prediction of MVI is still challenging. We aimed to build and validate a novel model to predict MVI in the preoperative setting. We retrospectively collected 857 patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0 or A HCC who underwent primary resection at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Hospital between January 2001 and June 2016.

Synthesis of self-pillared pentasil zeolites without organic templates and seeds.

Self-pillared pentasil (SPP) zeolites have received considerable interest due to their distinctive intergrowth structure, while the precise process and mechanism for the formation of SPP zeolites remain obscure. Herein, SPP zeolites (ZSM-5) have been successfully synthesized by pre-aging an Al-rich gel without employing any organic templates or seeds for the first time. The as-synthesized SPP zeolites possess a notably high external surface area while the micropores for Ar adsorption are partially blocked by excess Na, which can be fully recovered by Mg or H exchange.

The diagnostic accuracy of urine-derived exosomes for bladder cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Urine-derived exosomes could potentially be biomarkers for bladder cancer (BC) diagnosis. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the diagnostic worth of urine-derived exosomes in BC patients through a meta-analysis of diverse studies.

Methods: A systematic search was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane, and CNKI databases to obtain the literature concerning the diagnosis of BC via urine-derived exosomes.

Biomechanical Analysis of Rectus Femoris Kinesio Taping Effects on Post-Muscle Fatigue Stop-Jump Task Performance.

: This study aims to compare the effects of kinesio tape (KT) on the rectus femoris muscle in athletes and novices under pre- and post-fatigue conditions. : Nineteen male volunteers took part, and fatigue was assessed using the Borg CR10 Scale. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected using Vicon MX13+ infrared cameras (250 Hz) and Kistler force platforms (1500 Hz), respectively.

Interdisciplinary Innovations and Applications of Bionics and Bioengineering in Kinesiology.

Kinesiology, as an interdisciplinary field, emphasizes the study of human physical activity, with a particular focus on biomechanics and sports science [...

Impact of concurrent MASLD on early-stage HCC following curative resection in chronic hepatitis B.

In 2023, a new nomenclature, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), replaced the term non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). With the global rise in MASLD prevalence, concurrent MASLD and chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are becoming increasingly common. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical impact of concurrent MASLD on long-term survival outcomes in patients with CHB-related early-stage HCC following curative resection.

Alternations of the gut microbiota and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio after biologic treatment in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprising Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex disease with multifactorial etiology. The intestinal dysbiosis have been investigated to play an important role in IBD pathogenesis and disease activity. The aim of our study was to analyze the intestinal microbiota composition in IBD across different severity levels and the impact of biologic therapy on microbiota modulation.

The Citron homology domain of MAP4Ks improves outcomes of traumatic brain injury.

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202511000-00027/figure1/v/2024-12-20T164640Z/r/image-tiff The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinases (MAP4Ks) signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in axonal regrowth and neuronal degeneration following insults. Whether targeting this pathway is beneficial to brain injury remains unclear.

A single-chain fab derived drug conjugate for HER2 specific delivery.

Despite the development of antibody-drug conjugates, the fragment Fab-based drug conjugates offer some unique capabilities in terms of safety, clearance, penetration and others. Current methods for preparing Fab drug conjugates are limited by the availability and stability of Fab proteins, leaving reports on this rare. Here, we found that a single-chain scaffold of Fab enables stabilization of the paired structure and supports high-yield expression in bacteria cytoplasm.

Endovascular management of intracranial carotid blowout syndrome in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: Carotid blowout syndrome is a serious complication of head and neck cancer (HNC) that may involve the intracranial or extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA). Although parent artery occlusion (PAO) is the major endovascular treatment for intracranial carotid blowout syndrome (iCBS), the efficacy of using a balloon-expandable coronary stent-graft (BES) remains unclear.

Methods: This was a quasi-randomized trial, prospective study that included patients with iCBS treated by BES or PAO between 2018 and 2024.

FS-iTFET: advancing tunnel FET technology with Schottky-inductive source and GAA design.

In this paper, we introduce a novel Forkshape nanosheet Inductive Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor (FS-iTFET) featuring a Gate-All-Around structure and a full-line tunneling heterojunction channel. The overlapping gate and source contact regions create a strong and uniform electric field in the channel. Furthermore, the metal-semiconductor Schottky junction in the intrinsic source region induces the required carriers without the need for doping.

Anti-bacterial effects, and metabolites derived from bifidobacterial fermentation of an exopolysaccharide of Cs-HK1 medicinal fungus.

This study was to investigate the antibacterial effects and metabolites derived from bifidobacterial fermentation of an exopolysaccharide EPS-LM produced by a medicinal fungus Cordyceps sinensis, Cs-HK1. EPS-LM was a partially purified polysaccharide fraction which was mainly composed of Man, Glc and Gal at 7.31:12.

O-PTIR spectroscopy for characterizing active pharmaceutical ingredient specific particle size distributions of nasal spray suspension products.

Evaluation of the particle size distribution (PSD) of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in nasal suspension products is challenging due to the presence of both API and excipients. To characterize these intricate formulations, it is essential to have sophisticated analytical methods that offer high spatial resolution and the ability to chemically pinpoint and map out the presence of API particles. However, such advanced techniques have not been documented for nasal formulations yet.

Preservation of vision by transpalpebral electrical stimulation in mice with inherited retinal degeneration.

Introduction: The potential neuroprotective and regenerative properties of electrical stimulation (ES) were studied in rhodopsin knockout mice ( ), a murine model of inherited retinal degeneration. The study focused on assessing the impact of varying ES frequencies on visual functions and photoreceptor cell survival in mice.

Methods: To elucidate the impact of electrical stimulation on cone survival, mice received either sham or transpalpebral ES using biphasic ramp or rectangular waveforms at 100 µA amplitude, starting at six weeks of age.

Therapeutic effect of Sheng Mai San, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, on inflammatory bowel disease via inhibition of NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome signaling.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a globally emergent chronic inflammatory disease which commonly requires lifelong care. To date, there remains a pressing need for the discovery of novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents against this disease. Sheng Mai San (SMS) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription with a long history of use for treating and deficiency and recent studies have shown that SMS exhibits anti-inflammatory potential.