Exploring using HBsAg to predict interferon treatment course to achieve clinical cure in chronic hepatitis B patients: a clinical study.

Objective: Although pegylated interferon α-2b (PEG-IFN α-2b) therapy for chronic hepatitis B has received increasing attention, determining the optimal treatment course remains challenging. This research aimed to develop an efficient model for predicting interferon (IFN) treatment course.

Methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis B, undergoing PEG-IFN α-2b monotherapy or combined with NAs (Nucleoside Analogs), were recruited from January 2018 to December 2023 at Tianjin Third Central Hospital.

Distinct Behavioural and Brain Response Profiles Between Arithmetic Word Problem Solving and Sentence Comprehension in Third and Fourth Graders.

Word problems are essential for math learning and education, bridging numerical knowledge with real-world applications. Despite their importance, the neural mechanisms underlying word problem solving, especially in children, remain poorly understood. Here, we examine children's cognitive and brain response profiles for arithmetic word problems (AWPs), which involve one-step mathematical operations, and compare them with nonarithmetic word problems (NWPs), structured as parallel narratives without numerical operations.

[Metabolites differences between plaque biofilms of children with different levels of dental caries].

Purpose: To explore the differences between plaque biofilms of children with different caries activities via metabolomics.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted to investigate the oral health-related behaviors of children in caries-free (CF), low level of early childhood caries(LECC) and high level of early childhood caries (HECC) groups and to collect supragingival plaque biofilms. Untargeted metabolomics was used to detect the compositions of plaque biofilm metabolites in three groups.

Bibliometric and visualized analysis on global trends and hotspots of TAK1 in regulated cell death: 1999 to 2024.

Background: Regulated cell death (RCD) is a genetically controlled form of cell death that plays an important role in organogenesis, tissue remodeling, and pathogenesis of cancers. Transforming growth factor-beta-activation kinase 1 (TAK1) is a member of the serine/threonine protein kinase family, which can respond to internal and external stimuli and participate in inflammatory responses through multiple signaling pathways and cellular processes. In the last two decades, the regulatory roles of TAK1 at the crossroads of multiple RCD pathways, including apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and PANoptosis were revealed by 801 articles retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database.

In Situ Oxidative Ring-Opening of Calix[8]arene to Construct Stable Bismuth-Oxo Clusters with Exposed Catalytic Sites for Specific Electroreduction of CO to HCOOH.

Nanocluster catalysts typically face challenges in balancing stability with catalytic efficiency. This study introduces a unique bismuth-oxo cluster, solely protected by two ring-opened calixarenes, which demonstrates not only enhanced structural stability but also superior catalytic performance in the sustained conversion of CO to HCOOH via electrocatalysis. For the first time, we reveal that under specific solvothermal conditions, -butylcalix[8]arene (TBC[8]) can undergo in situ oxidative cleavage of its C-C bond, leading to ring-opened polyphenolic molecules.

Advancements in calixarene-protected titanium-oxo clusters: from structural assembly to catalytic functionality.

This review explores calixarenes, a prominent family of third-generation supramolecules celebrated for their distinct hollow, cavity-shaped structures. These macrocycles are intricately assembled by linking multiple phenolic units orthogonally through methylene (-CH-), sulfur (-S-), or sulfonyl (-SO-) bridges. This structural framework plays a pivotal role in the intricate assembly of nanoclusters, significantly advancing the field of cluster chemistry.

Ameliorates Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Disorders in Diabetic Mice by Regulating Bile Acid Metabolism via the Gut-Liver Axis.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic syndrome characterized by chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and islet cell damage. The prevention of T2DM and its associated complications is an urgent public health issue that affects hundreds of millions of people globally. Numerous studies suggest that disturbances in gut metabolites are important driving forces for the pathogenesis of diabetes.

Increased adrenal steroidogenesis and suppressed corticosteroid responsiveness in critical COVID-19.

Background: The effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on adrenal endocrine metabolism in critically ill patients remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the alterations in adrenal steroidogenic activity, elucidate underlying mechanisms, provide in situ histopathological evidence, and examine the clinical implications.

Methods: The comparative analyses of the adrenal cortices from 24 patients with fatal COVID-19 and 20 matched controls were performed, excluding patients previously treated with glucocorticoids.

Evidence-based practice attitudes, knowledge and skills of nursing students and nurses, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim/objective: This study aims to carry out a meta-analysis of attitudes, knowledge, and skills level of nursing students and nurses in EBP, providing a reference for optimizing EBP education strategies.

Background: At present, no meta-analysis has been performed to quantitatively synthesize the attitudes, knowledge and skill levels of nursing students and nurses toward EBP. This makes it difficult to precisely identify the true level of EBP among nurses, implying that there is no evidence to support the adoption of EBP teaching strategies approaches.

Disorganized adrenocortical zonational structure in COVID-19 patients: Implications of critical illness duration.

Aberrant adrenal function has been frequently reported in COVID-19 patients, but histopathological evidence remains limited. This retrospective autopsy study aims to scrutinize the impact of COVID-19 duration on adrenocortical zonational architecture and peripheral corticosteroid reactivity. The adrenal glands procured from 15 long intensive care unit (ICU)-stay COVID-19 patients, 9 short ICU-stay COVID-19 patients, and 20 matched controls.

Copper Metabolism and Cuproptosis: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Copper is an essential trace element, and plays a vital role in numerous physiological processes within the human body. During normal metabolism, the human body maintains copper homeostasis. Copper deficiency or excess can adversely affect cellular function.

Autopsy analysis reveals increased macrophage infiltration and cell apoptosis in COVID-19 patients with severe pulmonary fibrosis.

Clinical data indicates that SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced respiratory failure is a fatal condition for severe COVID-19 patients. However, the pathological alterations of different types of respiratory failure remained unknown for severe COVID-19 patients. This study aims to evaluate whether there are differences in the performance of various types of respiratory failure in severe COVID-19 patients and investigate the pathological basis for these differences.

The assembly of [MoOS] based on polydentate phosphonate templates and their proton conductivity.

The assembly of [MoOS] units depends on the configuration of polydentate phosphonic acid templates, leading to novel topologies with enhanced nuclearity and complexity. The variation of the assembled structures also gives rise to distinct proton-conducting properties.

Contrast-enhanced US to Improve Diagnostic Performance of O-RADS US Risk Stratification System for Malignancy.

Background The Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) has limited specificity for malignancy. Contrast-enhanced US can help distinguish malignant from benign lesions, but its added value to O-RADS has not yet been assessed. Purpose To establish a diagnostic model combining O-RADS and contrast-enhanced US and to validate whether O-RADS plus contrast-enhanced US has a better diagnostic performance than O-RADS alone.

An improved hyperspectral sensing approach for the rapid determination of copper ion concentrations in water environment using short-wavelength infrared spectroscopy.

Copper ion is one of the hazardous pollutants often present in industrial wastewater or acid mine drainage that is regarded as a primary environmental challenge. Hyperspectral remote sensing has a long tradition in water quality monitoring. However, its application in heavy metal detection is relatively similar, and the detection is highly influenced by water turbidity or total suspended matter (TSM), requiring research efforts to improve accuracy and generalize the applicability of this technique.

ZBP1-Mediated Necroptosis: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.

Cell death is a fundamental pathophysiological process in human disease. The discovery of necroptosis, a form of regulated necrosis that is induced by the activation of death receptors and formation of necrosome, represents a major breakthrough in the field of cell death in the past decade. Z-DNA-binding protein (ZBP1) is an interferon (IFN)-inducing protein, initially reported as a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) sensor, which induces an innate inflammatory response.

IDO-1 inhibitor INCB24360 elicits distant metastasis of basal extruded cancer cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Neoplastic cells of non-immunogenic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) express indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO-1), an immunosuppressive enzyme. The metabolites of IDO-1 in cancers provide one-carbon units that annihilate effector T cells, and recruit immunosuppressive cells. In this study we investigated how IDO-1 affected the neoplastic cell behaviors in PDACs.

Squamous-columnar junction of Von Ebner's glands may be a significant origin of squamous cell carcinomas in the base of the tongue.

Objectives: The histological origin of base of the tongue (BOT) carcinomas is still elusive, and most studies have been focusing on the lingual tonsil. In this study, we sought to identify the existence of the squamous-columnar junction (SCJ) in the human Von Ebner's glandular duct and explored the potential of that in forming squamous cell carcinomas in BOT.

Materials And Methods: The specific genomes of BOT carcinoma were acquired and screened out by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database analysis.

Activation of CCL21-GPR174/CCR7 on cardiac fibroblasts underlies myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The mechanisms underlying myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury are not fully understood. This study aims to explore key candidate genes and potential therapeutic targets for treatment of myocardial I/R injury. The transcriptional profiles of ventricular myocardium during cardiac arrest, ischemia, and reperfusion were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database.