P2YR-IGFBP2 signaling: new contributor to astrocyte-neuron communication.

In a recent article published in Nature Communications (Shigetomi et al Nat Commun 15(1):6525, 2024), Shigetomi et al. identified that upregulated astrocytic purinergic P2Y receptors (P2YR), acting via the downstream molecule, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2), play a crucial role in neuronal hyperexcitability. In epilepsy and stroke models, P2YR-IGFBP2 signaling was found to mediate astrocyte-driven neuronal hyperexcitability and so is a new contributor to astrocyte-neuron communication.

Impact of surgery versus follow-up on psychological distress in patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules: A prospective observational study.

Purpose: To investigate whether surgery is more effective than follow-up in reducing psychological distress for patients with observable indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs) and to assess if psychological distress can serve as a potential surgical indication for IPNs.

Methods: This prospective observational study included 341 patients with abnormal psychometric results, as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Of these, 262 patients opted for follow-up and 79 chose surgery.

A Facile Approach to Tetracyclic Indolines: Highly Diastereoselective [4+2] Annulation of Indoles with Bicyclic N-Substituted Cyclobutanes.

A new stereoselective [4+2] annulation method for constructing tetracyclic indolines by reacting indoles with bicyclic N-substituted cyclobutanes has been developed. Using Sc(OTf) as a catalyst, a series of tetracyclic indolines with four continued stereogenic carbon centers have been obtained in ≤86% yields as single diastereomers. This reaction offers an accessible way for the rapid construction of the core structures of biologically active natural products like paucidirinine, deethylibophyllidine, and ibophyllidine.

Electromembrane extraction of multi-class prohibited/restricted veterinary drugs from food samples - Exploring liquid membrane composition.

Effective monitoring of veterinary drug residues in food is essential for legislation compliance and food safety, yet remains challenging due to low concentrations and complex matrices. This study introduced a miniaturized 96-well electromembrane extraction (EME) technique for pre-concentration and isolation 80 prohibited/restricted veterinary drugs from honey samples. Three liquid membranes were developed and characterized: V1 ("V" for veterinary), a mixture of 2-undecanone and 0.

Development and validation of a prediction model for intrapartum fever related to chorioamnionitis in parturients undergoing epidural analgesia.

Intrapartum fever is a common complication in parturients undergoing epidural analgesia (EA), significantly increasing the incidence of maternal and infant complications. This study aims to develop and validate a prediction model for intrapartum fever related to chorioamnionitis (IFTC) in parturients undergoing epidural analgesia. A total of 596 parturients with fever (axillary temperature ≥ 38℃) who received EA from January 2020 to December 2023 were included and randomly assigned to the training set (N = 417) and the validation set (N = 179) according to the ratio of 7:3.

Pupil dilation and behavior as complementary measures of fear response in Mice.

The precise assessment of emotional states in animals under the combined influence of multiple stimuli remains a challenge in neuroscience research. In this study, multi-dimensional assessments, including high-precision pupil tracking and behavioral analysis, were conducted to investigate the combined effects of fear stimuli and drug manipulation on emotional responses in mice. Mice exposed to foot shocks showed typical freezing and flight behaviors, but neither of these measures could effectively distinguish between dexmedetomidine, isoflurane, and saline groups.

Electrical stimulation as an adjunctive therapy for diabetic ulcers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Diabetic ulcers are chronic wounds that are notoriously difficult to treat, leading to significant physical and psychological distress and increased healthcare costs. Their multifactorial aetiology necessitates long-term interdisciplinary collaboration and various complementary treatment measures. While numerous studies suggest that electrical stimulation (ES) positively impacts diabetic ulcer healing, the robustness and consistency of these findings require further evaluation to optimize clinical application.

Voluntary running exercise promotes maturation differentiation and myelination of oligodendrocytes around Aβ plaques in the medial prefrontal cortex of APP/PS1 mice.

Background: Previous studies have reported that running exercise could improves myelinization in hippocampus. However, the effects of running exercise on the differentiation and maturation of oligodendrocytes, and myelination surrounding Aβ plaques in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain have not been reported.

Methods: Forty 10-month-old male APP/PS1 AD mice were randomly divided into the AD group and the AD running (AD+RUN) group, while 20 age-matched wild-type littermate mice were included in the WT group.

The Chemical Recovery of PMMA into Monomer.

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), commonly known as plexiglass, is widely used in the areas of aircraft, automobile, construction and transplants, due to its high mechanical strength, good corrosion resistance, and excellent compatibility with human tissue. With the increase in production and usage of PMMA, the vast accumulation of PMMA waste has posed a challenge to the recycling of PMMA waste. However, at present, only less than 10 % of PMMA is recycled each year.

Ligand-enabled Ni-catalysed dicarbofunctionalisation of alkenes with diverse native functional groups.

The transition metal-catalysed dicarbofunctionalisation of unactivated alkenes normally requires exogenous strong coordinated directing groups, thus reducing the overall reaction efficiency. Here, we report a ligand-enabled Ni(II)-catalysed dicarbofunctionalisation of unactivated alkenes with aryl/alkenyl boronic acids and alkyl halides as the coupling partners with a diverse range of native functional groups as the directing group. This dicarbofunctionalisation protocol provides an efficient and direct route towards vicinal 1,2-disubstituted alkanes using primary, secondary, tertiary amides, sulfonamides, as well as secondary and tertiary amines under redox-neutral conditions that are challenging to access through conventional methods.

SERS-based CRISPR/Cas12a assays for protein biomarker prostate-specific antigen detection.

Sensitive and accurate detection of protein biomarkers is crucial for disease diagnosis, especially for early diagnosis. Here, we describe surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based CRISPR/Cas12a assays (S-CRISPR) for protein biomarker detection. Firstly, an S-CRISPR-driven enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (S-CasLISA) was developed utilizing a capture antibody coated on a microplate to recognize the target and a detection antibody labeled with active DNA to trigger the activity of CRISPR/Cas12a.

Signed graph embedding via multi-order neighborhood feature fusion and contrastive learning.

Signed graphs have been widely applied to model real-world complex networks with positive and negative links, and signed graph embedding has become a popular topic in the field of signed graph analysis. Although various signed graph embedding methods have been proposed, most of them still suffer from the generality problem. Namely, they cannot simultaneously achieve the satisfactory performance in multiple downstream tasks.

FBXL16: a new regulator of neuroinflammation and cognition in Alzheimer's disease through the ubiquitination-dependent degradation of amyloid precursor protein.

Background: Activating the ubiquitin-proteasome system to dismantle disease- related proteins such as tau, β-amyloid, APP, and α-synuclein is an important focus in the research of neurodegenerative proteinopathy. By analyzing the serum RNA extracted from wild-type and Alzheimer's disease (AD) transgenic mice at different ages (4, 8, and 12 months), this study revealed a new protective role of FBXL16 in AD, primarily through facilitating the degradation of disease-related proteins via the ubiquitin proteasome system.

Methods: Proteomic analysis were conducted using protein lysates from HEK293 cells overexpressing FBXL16 to identify potential interacting proteins that interact with FBXL16.

Effect of Different Addition Amounts of Capsaicin on the Structure, Oxidation Sites, and Gel Properties of Myofibrillar Proteins under Oxidative Conditions.

This study aimed to explore the mechanism influencing different addition amounts of capsaicin on the gel characteristics and microstructure of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels under conditions induced by hydroxyl free radicals (•OH). Results indicate that adding capsaicin can improve the gelling characteristics of the MPs. With an increased amount of capsaicin added, the oxidation of MPs by •OH decreased, and the number of oxidation sites decreased.

Intrauterine balloon tamponing combined with mid-section loop ligation for postpartum hemorrhage: a retrospective analysis.

Introduction: Considering the effective treatment of postpartum hemorrhage, intrauterine balloon tamponed can apply pressure from the inside of the uterus, and uterine compression suture can apply pressure from the outside of the uterus. Although combining the two methods can enhance the effectiveness of hemostasis, there is a paucity of studies reporting on outcome. The aim of this study was to report a surgical protocol for postpartum hemorrhage by intrauterine balloon tamponing combined with mid-section loop ligation and its subsequent effects on the uterus.

Immunotherapy in operable non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of efficacy between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and perioperative immunotherapy.

Background: A series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the promising prospect of immunotherapy in operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and further changed the clinical practice. However, current studies still yet to answer which immunotherapy mode is the optimal strategy, and there is currently a lack of direct comparison between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and perioperative immunotherapy ("sandwich mode", including neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and adjuvant immunotherapy). Thus, we conducted a network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the efficacy between neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and perioperative immunotherapy.

The effects of Tai Chi and Baduanjin on breast cancer patients: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Tai Chi and Baduanjin are nonpharmacological interventions that are widely applied among cancer patients.

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the effect of Tai Chi and Baduanjin on breast cancer patients by summarizing and pooling the results of previous studies.

Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library and several databases were searched up to December 1, 2023, to identify high-quality RCTs.

Quality problems in clinical practice guidelines and guideline appraisal studies: Should we tolerate or eradicate?

Background: Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument have been widely used by scholars around the world to assess the methodological quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). We sought to identify items or domains that are commonly scored low in the assessment, and to systematically review the issues that emerged when evaluators used the AGREE II tool for guideline quality assessment.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted to identify articles published in medically relevant databases from 2022 to 2023 regarding the use of the AGREE II tool for the assessment of CPGs.

Understanding of Wetting Mechanism Toward the Sticky Powder and Machine Learning in Predicting Granule Size Distribution Under High Shear Wet Granulation.

The granulation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has attracted widespread attention, there is limited research on the high shear wet granulation (HSWG) and wetting mechanisms of sticky TCM powders, which profoundly impact the granule size distribution (GSD). Here we investigate the wetting mechanism of binders and the influence of various parameters on the GSD of HSWG and establish a GSD prediction model. Permeability and contact angle experiments combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to explore the wetting mechanism of hydroalcoholic solutions with TCM powder.

Rational Design of ZnO/ScCF Heterostructure with Tunable Electronic Structure for Water Splitting: A First-Principles Study.

Heterostructures are highly promising photocatalyst candidates for water splitting due to their advanced properties than those of pristine components. The ZnO/ScCF heterostructure was designed in this work, and its electronic structure was investigated to explore its potential for water splitting. The assessments of binding energy, phonon spectrum, ab initio molecular dynamics, and elastic constants provide strong evidence for its stability.

Regulation of CD8+ T cells by lipid metabolism in cancer progression.

Dysregulation of lipid metabolism is a key characteristic of the tumor microenvironment, where tumor cells utilize lipids for proliferation, survival, metastasis, and evasion of immune surveillance. Lipid metabolism has become a critical regulator of CD8+ T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity, with excess lipids in the tumor microenvironment impeding CD8+ T-cell activities. Considering the limited efficacy of immunotherapy in many solid tumors, targeting lipid metabolism to enhance CD8+ T-cell effector functions could significantly improve immunotherapy outcomes.