Publications by authors named "WU K"

Article Synopsis
  • Alcohol is the most widely consumed and abused psychoactive drug, yet the brain mechanisms behind its effects are not fully understood.
  • Researchers identified a protein called TMEM132B, which acts as an auxiliary subunit for GABA receptors, influencing their functioning and how alcohol impacts them.
  • In experiments with mice lacking TMEM132B, researchers found decreased GABA transmission and heightened compulsive alcohol consumption, suggesting TMEM132B-GABA interactions are important for understanding alcohol’s effects and related behaviors.
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Extending lasing wavelengths to the mid-infrared (MIR) spectrum is vital for both civilian and military applications; however, it remains challenging when employing oxide nonlinear optical crystals. In this study, we report the generation of MIR nanosecond pulses via difference frequency generation (DFG) with a near-IR pump using a newly designed langasite (LGS) crystal, La(NbTa)GaO (LGNT), which incorporates birefringence dispersion management techniques with LaGaNbO (LGN) as a template. Due to the improved effective nonlinear coefficients and the maintained IR cutoff relative to LGN, the tunable DFG laser in LGNT extended from 4.

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  • Meniscal injuries are prevalent among young, active individuals, and surgical options like meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) are increasingly being used to address these injuries and restore function.
  • A thorough review of literature on MAT was conducted, including 41 studies, where most were rated as having 'Critically Low' to 'Low' confidence; patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) showed positive short-term results, but concerns about study quality were prevalent.
  • The review calls for improved research quality, focusing on long-term outcomes, effective surgical techniques, and specific patient criteria to better understand MAT's impact, especially in pediatric populations.
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Installing coordinately unsaturated Fe-N-C structural units on polymer-composite-derived N-doped carbon offers highly active Fe-N sites for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in tumor cells. An NHCl-driven high-temperature etching method was employed for the formation of FeSA950NC with coordinately unsaturated single Fe-atoms in an Fe-N(sp)-C structural unit together with N vacancies () and sp defects. The carbonization of Fe-phen@ZIF-8 at 800 °C for 30 min under argon, followed by grinding Fe-ZIF-8@RF-urea with NHCl at 950 °C for 2 hours, resulted in sp carbon defects and sites with coordination unsaturation in Fe-N due to NHCl decomposition to NH and HCl, which produced substantial internal stress for etching the carbon matrix.

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We disclose herein an unprecedented Pd-catalyzed difluorocarbene transfer reaction, which assembles a series of structurally interesting chiral spiro ketones with generally over 90% ee. Commercially available BrCFCOK serves as the difluorocarbene precursor, which is harnessed as a user-friendly and safe carbonyl source in this transformation. Preliminary mechanistic studies exclude the formation of free CO in the reaction process, and importantly, we also find that BrCFCOK outcompete gaseous CO and several common CO surrogates in this asymmetric process.

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  • Pathological cardiac hypertrophy, commonly seen in heart diseases, can be treated more effectively with combination therapies using natural compounds like Harmine and Selenomethionine (SE).
  • Harmine helps reduce cardiac hypertrophy, while SE improves cardiac health by mitigating autophagy-related damage.
  • Their co-therapy has shown significant improvements in reducing hypertrophy markers in lab tests and mouse models, with findings indicating they primarily work by inhibiting glycolytic activity.
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Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common type of malignant abdominal tumor in children; it exhibits a high degree of malignancy, grow rapidly, and is prone to metastasis. This study aimed to construct a prognosis model based on anoikis-related genes (ARGs) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes (ERGs) for WT patients; we assessed the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and treatment efficacy, as well as identifying potential therapeutic targets. To this end, we downloaded transcriptome sequencing data and clinical data for WT and normal renal cortices and used R to construct and validate the prognostic model based on ARGs and ERGs.

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The composite dietary antioxidant index (CDAI) serves as a valuable instrument for evaluating the intake of dietary antioxidants. This research aims to clarify the connection between CDAI and the risk of female infertility by analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2018. Participants underwent two 24-h dietary recall interviews to calculate CDAI.

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Nitrate and nitrite are widely present in industrial wastewater and domestic sewage, so electrocatalytic reduction of both nitrate and nitrite to ammonia synthesis is considered to be a sustainable development approach. Pd nanostructures have attracted much attention because of their high activity in catalyzing the nitrate electrochemical reduction reaction. Here we prepare Pd nanocube and octahedron for the electrochemical reduction of nitrate and nitrite.

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  • * In a study involving 14 Chinese patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis, all showed initial clinical response to 45 mg of upadacitinib after eight weeks, with a clinical remission rate of 28.6% and some improvement in endoscopic evaluations.
  • * While upadacitinib demonstrated short-term effectiveness and safety, with some adverse events noted, further research is necessary to assess its long-term effects for patients.
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Background: Immunotherapy faces a major challenge in treatment resistance, highlighting the need for efficacy biomarkers identification. The tumor microenvironment (TME) significantly influences treatment outcomes, necessitating molecular TME exploration to address immunotherapy resistance.

Methods: The study initially pinpointed IL7R as a pivotal TME gene and then examined its impact on TME's CD8 + T cells at the single-cell level.

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The design of inducibly assembling protein nanomaterials is an outstanding challenge. Here, we describe the computational design of a protein filament formed from a monomeric subunit which binds a peptide ligand. The cryoEM structure of the micron scale fibers is very close to the computational design model.

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Objectives: Silicone oil (SO) is a commonly used intraocular tamponade in the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). SO emulsification is a common complication after SO injection. This study aimed to investigate correlations between SO emulsification signs on ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and the real number/size of SO droplets.

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Background: Chronic noise exposure poses a remarkable public health concern, drawing attention to its impacts on the brain. Ferroptosis is involved in several brain-related diseases. However, the role of ferroptosis in the effects of chronic noise on the brain remains elusive.

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Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a typical marker in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) indicating poor prognosis. Pathological examination by artificial image acquisition and analysis, as the main diagnostic method for LNM, often takes a week or longer which may cause great anxiety of the patient and also retard timely treatment. However, there are few efficient fast LNM diagnosis methods in clinical applications currently.

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Immunity debt for various viral infections was reported globally in the post-COVID-19 era, but the data about influenza are lacking. This study collected data from Taiwan's CDC Open Data Portal. We analyzed the weekly number of influenza hospitalizations from January 2017 to May 2024.

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Background: Offspring hypertension arising from adverse maternal conditions can be mitigated through dietary nutritional supplementation, including resveratrol. Previously, we identified derivatives of resveratrol butyrate ester (RBE), specifically 3,4'-di-O-butanoylresveratrol (ED2) and 3-O-butanoylresveratrol (ED4), demonstrating their superior antioxidant capabilities compared to RBE itself. This study sought to assess the protective impact of maternal supplementation with ED2 or ED4 on offspring hypertension in a rat model subjected to a high-fructose (HF) diet during pregnancy and lactation.

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Maxim is a high-value species of fruit oil with edible, abundant linoleic acid and polyphenols. is described as a dioecious species, and the flowers are male; female and bisexual flowers are produced on separate plants. In order to explore the flower types of , the morphology of its flowers and inflorescence were investigated in this study.

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Despite the fact that doping nanoparticles into insulating transformer oil has proven to be an effective method of enhancing its dielectric and electrical properties, it remains unclear how different types and surface conditions of nanoparticles may affect their dielectric and electrical properties. Therefore, the effect of doping various types of BN nanoparticles (nanosphere, nanotube, and nanosheet) in insulating mineral oil (MO) on the diffusion properties of water molecules and electrical properties across the BN/MO interface was investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations. Our results show that different surface morphology and grafted functional groups in different types of BN nanoparticles have a significant impact both on the water diffusion behavior and the interfacial potential barrier across the interface between BN and MO.

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Non-dairy creamer is a class of microencapsulated powdered fats and oils that are widely used in the food industry. However, the oils used in it are hydrogenated vegetable oils, which contain large amounts of saturated fatty acids and are extremely harmful to the human body. This study investigated the effects of replacing hydrogenated vegetable oil with walnut oil to prepare walnut non-dairy creamer on lipid levels and intestinal microorganisms in mice.

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This comprehensive review investigates the pivotal role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cataract formation and evaluates the potential of antioxidant therapies in mitigating this ocular condition. By elucidating the mechanisms of oxidative stress, the article examines how ROS contribute to the deterioration of lens proteins and lipids, leading to the characteristic aggregation, cross-linking, and light scattering observed in cataracts. The review provides a thorough assessment of various antioxidant strategies aimed at preventing and managing cataracts, such as dietary antioxidants (i.

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This study aimed to assess the effects of substituting zinc oxide with terminalia chebula extract (TCE) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune function, and intestinal health in weaned pigs. Initially, 72 weaned Duroc × Landrace × Large White piglets, 28 days old with an initial weight of 7.43 ± 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Ferroptosis, a type of cell death linked to iron levels, may play a role in HIV-related brain issues and neurocognitive impairment, showing potential variation by sex.
  • Researchers studied ferritin levels (specifically FTH1 and FTL) and lipid peroxidation markers in 324 people with HIV, discovering that higher ferritin levels were linked to better cognitive function, particularly in women.
  • The positive effects of ferritins on cognitive performance were noted to last for up to five years, indicating that they may protect against brain damage caused by ferroptosis, but larger studies are needed to validate these findings and understand the mechanisms involved.
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This study prepared enzymatic theabrownins (TBs-e), alkaline theabrownins (TBs-a), and Pu-erh tea theabrownins (TBs-f), and investigated whether different preparation processes affected the structures, nonvolatile metabolites, and biofunctional activities of TBs. Structural characterization revealed that TBs were polymeric phenolic compounds rich in hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. Nontargeted metabolomics revealed that amino acids were the primary nonvolatile metabolites in TBs-e and TBs-a, accounting for over 70 % of the total nonvolatile content.

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Neuropathic pain (NP) is caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory system and is characterized by abnormal hypersensitivity to stimuli and nociceptive responses to non-noxious stimuli, affecting approximately 7-10% of the general population. However, current first-line drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and opioids have limitations, including dose-limiting side effects, dependence, and tolerability issues. Therefore, developing new interventions for the management of NP is urgent.

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