The Sensory Abnormality Mediated Partially the Efficacy of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Treating Comorbid Sleep Disorder in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children.

Sleep disorder emerges as a common comorbidity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the interaction between the core symptoms of ASD and its sleep disorder remains unclear. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was used on the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to investigate the efficacy of rTMS on the core symptoms of ASD and comorbid sleep problems as well as the mediation role of the ASD symptoms between rTMS intervention and sleep improvement. A total of 41 Chinese children with ASD and who met the criteria in the fifth edition of the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were recruited, and 39 of them (mean age: 9.

Sleep Problems Influence Emotional/Behavioral Symptoms and Repetitive Behavior in Preschool-Aged Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Unique Social Context of China.

Sleep disturbances are common in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but research on this topic is still limited in China. In the current study, we evaluated the prevalence of sleep problems in preschool-aged children with ASD and to examine the correlations between sleep disturbances and emotional/behavioral symptoms and repetitive behavior in the unique social context of China. This study recruited 475 preschool-aged children aged 3-6 years old, including 252 children with ASD (mean age 5.

Three-Dimensional Printing-Assisted Fabrication of Stent Graft to Reconstruct the Total Aortic Arch.

Purpose: There is a high incidence of complications after conventional open thoracic aortic arch replacement. Stent graft thoracic endovascular repair for aortic aneurysms has few complications. Vascular variability of the aortic arch branch is high and individualized aortic arch stent graft is required.

Hybrid procedure for treating adult congenital heart disease with valvular heart disease in two patients.

Background: The traditional approach for adult congenital heart disease combined with valvular disease is surgical treatment under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). This approach has a high incidence of postoperative complications, especially in patients with pulmonary hypertension and old age. We present two patients in whom the hybrid procedure was used to treat congenital malformations, followed by valve formation and replacement surgery.

Enhancing Antitumor Efficacy by Simultaneous ATP-Responsive Chemodrug Release and Cancer Cell Sensitization Based on a Smart Nanoagent.

The exploitation of smart nanoagents based drug delivery systems (DDSs) has proven to be a promising strategy for fighting cancers. Hitherto, such nanoagents still face challenges associated with their complicated synthesis, insufficient drug release in tumors, and low cancer cell chemosensitivity. Here, the engineering of an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-activatable nanoagent is demonstrated based on self-assembled quantum dots-phenolic nanoclusters to circumvent such challenges.

Polyphenol-Inspired Facile Construction of Smart Assemblies for ATP- and pH-Responsive Tumor MR/Optical Imaging and Photothermal Therapy.

Smart assemblies have attracted increased interest in various areas, especially in developing novel stimuli-responsive theranostics. Herein, commercially available, natural tannic acid (TA) and iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe O NPs) are utilized as models to construct smart magnetic assemblies based on polyphenol-inspired NPs-phenolic self-assembly between NPs and TA. Interestingly, the magnetic assemblies can be specially disassembled by adenosine triphosphate, which shows a stronger affinity to Fe O NPs than that of TA and partly replaces the surface coordinated TA.

Repeatable deep-tissue activation of persistent luminescent nanoparticles by soft X-ray for high sensitivity long-term in vivo bioimaging.

Persistent luminescent nanoparticles (PLNPs) have emerged as important nanomaterials for biological imaging as a result of complete avoidance of tissue auto-fluorescence. However, the imaging sensitivity and long-term in vivo imaging are still limited due to the persistent luminescence that is rapidly decayed in vivo after an ex vivo excitation. To address this limitation, in vivo activation of PLNPs is highly desired.

Functionalization of metal nanoclusters for biomedical applications.

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are emerging as a new class of functional nanomaterials in the area of biological sensing, labelling, imaging and therapy due to their unique physical and chemical properties, such as ultrasmall size, HOMO-LUMO transition, strong luminescence together with good photostability and biocompatibility. A recent surge of interest in this field is the surface functionalization of these metal NCs through which one can tailor their physicochemical properties, such as stability in solution, and strong luminescence, as well as their biodistribution and toxicity in biological systems, which in turn can empower these functionalized NCs with desirable targeting, imaging, and therapeutic ability for biomedical applications. In this review, we first introduce the functionalization strategies for the metal NCs developed in the past few years, followed by highlighting some biomedical applications of these functionalized metal NCs.

Plant Polyphenol-Assisted Green Synthesis of Hollow CoPt Alloy Nanoparticles for Dual-Modality Imaging Guided Photothermal Therapy.

Theranostic nanomedicines that integrate diagnostic and therapeutic moieties into a single nanoscale platform are playing an increasingly important role in fighting cancer. Here, a facile and green synthetic strategy for hollow CoPt alloy nanoparticles (HCPA-NPs) using plant polyphenols as assisted agents is reported for the first time. This novel strategy enables size-controlled synthesis of HCPA-NPs through the control of the molecular sizes of polyphenols.

Co₉ Se₈ nanoplates as a new theranostic platform for photoacoustic/magnetic resonance dual-modal-imaging-guided chemo-photothermal combination therapy.

A new theranostic platform is developed based on biocompatible poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-Co9 Se8 nanoplates. These PAA-Co9 Se8 nanoplates are successfully utilized for photoacoustic imaging (PAI)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dual-modal imaging. Moreover, the PAA-Co9 Se8 -DOX shows pH-responsive chemotherapy and enables the combination of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy to receive superior antitumor efficacy.

Preventive effect of pidotimod on reactivated toxoplasmosis in mice.

As one of food-borne parasitic diseases, toxoplasmosis entails the risk of developing reactivation in immunocompromised patients. The synthetic dipeptide pidotimod is a potent immunostimulating agent that improves the immunodefenses in immunodepression. To investigate the efficacy of pidotimod as a preventive treatment, we used a murine model of reactivated toxoplasmosis with cyclophosphamide (CY)-induced immunosuppression.

Topological insulator bismuth selenide as a theranostic platform for simultaneous cancer imaging and therapy.

Employing theranostic nanoparticles, which combine both therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities in one dose, has promise to propel the biomedical field toward personalized medicine. Here we investigate the theranostic properties of topological insulator bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) in in vivo and in vitro system for the first time. We show that Bi2Se3 nanoplates can absorb near-infrared (NIR) laser light and effectively convert laser energy into heat.

[Kinetic distribution of cyst-forming Chinese isolate of Toxoplasma gondii in mice].

Objective: To determine the kinetics of infection and cyst formation in CD1 mice following oral infection with cyst-forming Chinese isolate of Toxoplasma gondii TgCtwh1(genotype China 1, ToxoDB#9).

Methods: 50 CD1 female mice were obtained from specific pathogen-free (SPF) mouse colony in the Vital River Laboratories (VRL), Beijing. Mice were randomly divided into 10 groups each with 5 mice.

Label-free and fluorescence turn-on aptasensor for protein detection via target-induced silver nanoclusters formation.

A simple turn-on and homogeneous aptasensor, which relies on target induced formation of silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs), was developed for the determination of platelet-derived growth factor B-chain homodimer (PDGF-BB). The aptasensor contains two hairpin DNA probes termed as P1 and P2. P1 consists of the aptamer sequence of PDGF-BB.

A graphene oxide (GO)-based molecular beacon for DNA-binding transcription factor detection.

A GO-based molecular beacon assay was developed for rapid, sensitive and cost-efficient detection of transcription factor proteins. Furthermore, this assay can be employed for screening inhibitors of transcription factor proteins.

Enzyme-free fluorescence aptasensor for amplification detection of human thrombin via target-catalyzed hairpin assembly.

Aptamers have many advantages, such as simple synthesis, good stability, high binding affinity and wide applicability, making them suitable candidates for protein detection. Since the disease-related protein may be present in very small amounts in biological samples, the development of amplification paths for aptasensors is essential. In this paper, we develop a simple and enzyme-free amplified aptasensor for protein detection via target-catalyzed hairpin assembly.

Tim-2 up-regulation and galectin-9-Tim-3 pathway activation in Th2-biased response in Schistosoma japonicum infection in mice.

T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain (Tim) family, a new gene that expresses on the surface of T cells, plays a critical role in regulation of T cells response. Previous data have shown that Tim-3 expressed on Th1 cells promotes itself apoptosis. Tim-2 is preferentially up-regulated during Th2 differentiation and functions as a potent costimulatory molecule for T-cell immunity.

Enzyme-free signal amplification in the DNAzyme sensor via target-catalyzed hairpin assembly.

A simple, highly sensitive and enzyme-free DNAzyme sensor based on target-catalyzed hairpin assembly is developed, which permits detection of 0.1 pM target DNA. Furthermore, this DNAzyme sensor is capable of detecting target DNA in real samples because of its high selectivity.

Nicking enzyme based homogeneous aptasensors for amplification detection of protein.

A simple and highly sensitive homogeneous aptasensor is developed, which relies on nicking enzyme. The sensitivity of this newly proposed aptasensor is about three orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional homogeneous aptasensors. Furthermore, it is capable of detecting target protein in real samples.

Evaluation of recombinant SjLAP and SjFBPA in detecting antibodies to Schistosoma japonicum.

Objective: To investigate the early response of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses to Schistosoma japonicum infection in mice by using the recombinant proteins, S. japonicum leucine aminopeptidase (rSjLAP) and S. japonicum fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate aldolase (rSjFBPA), and evaluate the potential of rSjLAP and rSjFBPA in diagnosis as well as in assessment of therapeutic efficacy in human schistosomiasis.

Serological proteome-oriented screening and application of antigens for the diagnosis of Schistosomiasis japonica.

Schistosomiasis remains a major parasitic disease, with 200 million people infected and 779 million people at risk worldwide. The lack of reliable diagnostic techniques makes this disease difficult to control. In an attempt to discover useful candidates for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis, proteomics in combination with western blotting were employed in this study.