Elevated Plasma Soluble (Pro)renin receptor as a potential indicator for heart failure.

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that sPRR [a truncated soluble form of (pro)renin receptor] levels may reflect the severity of several diseases, including kidney disease, hypertension, and heart failure (HF). Although previous studies using cohorts primarily consisting of HF patients with reduced ejection fraction revealed that increased plasma sPRR levels may be a promising evaluative indicator for HF, definitive information on the relationship between plasma sPRR levels and HF patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is still insufficient and scarce. In the present study, we further clarified the status of plasma sPRR levels in HF patients by meta-analysis.

[Research progress in prevention and treatment of vascular calcification with traditional Chinese medicine].

Vascular calcification is a pathological stage involved in the occurrence and development of cardiovascular diseases, seriously threatening human life and health. At present, few drugs can completely reverse or cure vascular calcification in clinical practice. The pathogenesis of vascular calcification mainly involves the disturbance of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, autophagy dysfunction, loss of endogenous calcium inhibition, and the apoptosis, cytokine storm, cell osteoblastic transdifferentiation, and stromal vesicle release induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress.

The effect of nasopharyngeal obstruction on the olfactory bulb volume and olfactory sulcus depth in children : First author.

Purpose: Smell ability is associated with nasopharyngeal obstruction. Herein, we evaluated the effect of nasopharyngeal obstruction by adenoid hypertrophy on the olfactory bulb (OB) volume and olfactory sulcus (OS) depth in children.

Methods: A total of 135 children who were candidates for brain magnetic resonance imagining scanning were enrolled in the study.

Decreased plasma ELABELA level as a novel screening indicator for heart failure: a cohort and observational study.

The predictive power of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is limited by its low specificity in patients with heart failure (HF). Discovery of more novel biomarkers for HF better diagnosis is necessary and urgent. ELABELA, an early endogenous ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor APJ (Apelin peptide jejunum, Apelin receptor), exhibits cardioprotective actions.

BF Tailoring Solvation Chemistry of Ether-Based Electrolytes to Construct Stable Electrode/Electrolyte Interfaces for Sodium-Ion Full Batteries.

The ether-based electrolytes show excellent performance on anodes in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), but they still show poor compatibility with the cathodes. Here, ether electrolytes with NaBF as the main salt or additive were applied in NFM//HC full cells and showed enhanced performance than the electrolyte with NaPF. Then, BF was found to have a stronger interaction with Na, which could reduce the solvation of Na with the solvent, thus inducing the formation of the cathode electrolyte interface (CEI) and solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layers rich in inorganic species.

Gabapentinoids for the treatment of stroke.

Gabapentinoid drugs (pregabalin and gabapentin) have been successfully used in the treatment of neuropathic pain and in focal seizure prevention. Recent research has demonstrated their potent activities in modulating neurotransmitter release in neuronal tissue, oxidative stress, and inflammation, which matches the mechanism of action via voltage-gated calcium channels. In this review, we briefly elaborate on the medicinal history and ligand-binding sites of gabapentinoids.

Breaking the Solubility Limit of LiNO in Carbonate Electrolyte Assisted by BF to Construct a Stable SEI Film for Dendrite-Free Lithium Metal Batteries.

Lithium (Li) metal is regarded as a potential candidate for the next generation of lithium secondary batteries, but it has poor cycling stability with the broadly used carbonate-based electrolytes due to the uncontrollable dendritic growth and low Coulombic efficiency (CE). LiNO is an effective additive and its limited solubility (<800 ppm) in carbonate-based electrolytes is still a challenge, as reported. Herein, using BF (Lewis acid) is proposed to enhance the solubility of LiNO in carbonate-based electrolytes.

Microbiome Alteration in Lung Tissues of Tuberculosis Patients Revealed by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing and Immune-Related Transcriptional Profile Identified by Transcriptome Sequencing.

This study explored alterations in the respiratory microbiome and transcriptome after infection in tuberculosis (TB) patients. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was adopted to reveal the microbiome in lung tissues from 110 TB and 25 nontuberculous (NonTB) patients. Transcriptome sequencing was performed in TB tissues ( = 3), tissues adjacent to TB (ParaTB, = 3), and NonTB tissues ( = 3) to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and functional pathways.

Tiliroside Protects against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Kidney Injury via Intrarenal Renin-Angiotensin System in Mice.

Tiliroside, a natural flavonoid, has various biological activities and improves several inflammatory diseases in rodents. However, the effect of Tiliroside on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) and the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the potential renoprotective effect of Tiliroside on LPS-induced AKI in mice.

Etiologic characteristics revealed by mNGS-mediated ultra-early and early microbiological identification in airway secretions from lung transplant recipients.

Background: Post-operative etiological studies are critical for infection prevention in lung transplant recipients within the first year. In this study, mNGS combined with microbial culture was applied to reveal the etiological characteristics within one week (ultra-early) and one month (early) in lung transplant recipients, and the epidemiology of infection occurred within one month.

Methods: In 38 lung transplant recipients, deep airway secretions were collected through bronchofiberscope within two hours after the operation and were subjected to microbial identification by mNGS and microbial culture.

Case Report: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing applied in diagnosing psittacosis caused by infection.

Background: is the causative agent of psittacosis in humans, while its rapid identification is hampered due to the lack of specificity of laboratory testing methods.

Case Presentation: This study reports four cases of infection after contact with a domestic parrot, all belonging to the same family. Common manifestations like fever, cough, headache, nausea, and hypodynamia appeared in the patients.

Effect of HER2-low expression on neoadjuvant efficacy in operable breast cancer.

Objective: To investigate the effects of HER2-low expression (HER2-low) and HER2-zero expression (HER2-0) on the pathological complete response (pCR) rate and survival of patients following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: Eighty-six patients were followed up. Patients were divided into HER2-0 (immunohistochemistry (IHC) score of 0 (IHC0)) and HER2-low (IHC1+ or IHC2+/in situ hybridization non-amplified (ISH-)) groups according to the IHC detection of puncture tissues.

Uncovering the Redox Shuttle Degradation Mechanism of Ether Electrolytes in Sodium-Ion Batteries and its Inhibition Strategy.

Ether-based electrolytes exhibit excellent performance when applied in different anode materials of sodium ion batteries (SIBs), but their exploration on cathode material is deficient and the degradation mechanism is still undiscovered. Herein, various battery systems with different operation voltage ranges are designed to explore the electrochemical performance of ether electrolyte. It is found for the first time that the deterioration mechanism of ether electrolyte is closely related to the "redox shuttle" between cathode and low-potential anode.

Differential regulation of autophagy on urine-concentrating capability through modulating the renal AQP2 expression and renin-angiotensin system in mice.

Autophagy, a cellular process of "self-eating," plays an essential role in renal pathophysiology. However, the effect of autophagy on urine-concentrating ability in physiological conditions is still unknown. This study aimed to determine the relevance and mechanisms of autophagy for maintaining urine-concentrating capability during antidiuresis.

The Diagnostic Challenge and Prognosis of Autoimmune Encephalitis in Children: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Background: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is an immune-mediated encephalitis; nevertheless, its diagnosis in children remains challenging. This study aimed to reveal the clinical characteristics, diagnostic processes, and therapeutic outcomes of AE in children.

Methods: A total of 18 children with AE were enrolled.

Evaluation of the metagenomic next-generation sequencing performance in pathogenic detection in patients with spinal infection.

Spinal infection is a rarely occurred pathology, whose diagnosis remains a major challenge due to the low sensitivity of culturing techniques. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a novel approach to identify the pathogenic organisms in infectious diseases. In this study, mNGS technology was adopted for pathogenic detection in spinal infection from the tissue and pus samples.

Peritumoral scaffold neutralizes tumor pH for chemotherapy sensitization and metastasis inhibition.

The abnormal metabolism of rapidly growing tumors can create an acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) that renders cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy and further facilitates endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress to promote metastasis. Here, we developed a combination strategy consisting of (1) peritumorally injected scaffold that alleviates TME acidosis, and (2) intravenously injected nanoparticles that delivers anti-cancer agents to tumor. Concurrent treatment with these two drug delivery systems profoundly delayed the growth of primary tumor and reduced the spontaneous metastasis to lung in an orthotopic breast cancer mouse model.

Mitochondria-Targeted Delivery of Camptothecin Based on HPMA Copolymer for Metastasis Suppression.

Poor anti-metastasis effects and side-effects remain a challenge for the clinical application of camptothecin (CPT). Mitochondria can be a promising target for the treatment of metastatic tumors due to their vital roles in providing energy supply, upregulating pro-metastatic factors, and controlling cell-death signaling. Thus, selectively delivering CPT to mitochondria appears to be a feasible way of improving the anti-metastasis effect and reducing adverse effects.

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations.

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended genome-wide association meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3255 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12 488 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.

Inhibiting Mn Migration by Sb-Pinning Transition Metal Layers in Lithium-Rich Cathode Material for Stable High-Capacity Properties.

Owing to the interacted anion and cation redox dynamics in Li MnO , the high energy density can be obtained for lithium-rich manganese-based layered transition metal (TM) oxide [Li Ni Mn O , LNMO]. However, irreversible migration of Mn ions and oxygen release during highly de-lithiation can destroy its layered structure, leading to voltage and capacity decline. Herein, non-TM antimony (Sb) is pinned to the TM layer of LNMO by a facile sol-gel method.

Map-based cloning and functional analysis revealed ABCC2 is responsible for Cry1Ac toxin resistance in Bombyx mori.

Bt toxins are parasporal crystals produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). They have specific killing activity against various insects and have been widely used to control agricultural pests. However, their widespread use has developed the resistance of many target insects.