Variants in NLRP2 and ZFP36L2, non-core components of the human subcortical maternal complex, cause female infertility with embryonic development arrest.

The subcortical maternal complex (SCMC), which is vital in oocyte maturation and embryogenesis, consists of core proteins (NLRP5, TLE6, OOEP), non-core proteins (PADI6, KHDC3L, NLRP2, NLRP7), and other unknown proteins that are encoded by maternal effect genes. Some variants of SCMC genes have been linked to female infertility characterized by embryonic development arrest. However, so far, the candidate non-core SCMC components associated with embryonic development need further exploration and the pathogenic variants that have been identified are still limited.

Causal association between cystatin C and diabetic retinopathy: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Objective: To explore the causal relationship between cystatin C levels and different stages of diabetic retinopathy through Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods: The MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit provided the Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data related to cystatin C (exposure). GWAS data for outcomes [DR, proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), severe non-proliferative background diabetic retinopathy (SNPBDR)] were sourced from the FinnGen.

Association of vitamin B6 intake with the risk and prognosis of diabetic retinopathy: a NHANES-based study.

Clinical Relevance: Investigating the role of dietary vitamin B6 intake in the risk and prognosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) could facilitate the management of DR.

Background: This study aimed to assess the association between dietary vitamin B6 intake and the risk of DR and further explore the association between vitamin B6 intake and mortality in patients with DR.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study gained data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006 and 2007-2008.

Long-term PM exposure and early-onset diabetes: Does BMI link this risk?

Objective: Limited studies investigated the association between high-level fine particulate matter (PM) pollution and early-onset diabetes, leaving the possible metabolic mechanisms unclear. We assessed the association of cumulative PM exposure with diabetes, including early-onset, in high-pollution areas of China and explored whether metabolic factors mediated this association.

Methods: 124,204 participants (≥18 years) from 121 counties in Hunan province, China, were enrolled between 2005 and 2020, with follow-up until 2021.

Review on chronic metabolic diseases surrounding bile acids and gut microbiota: What we have explored so far.

Bile acid, the final product of cholesterol breakdown, functions as a complex regulator and signaling factor in human metabolism. Chronic metabolic diseases pose significant medical challenges. Growing research underscores bile acids' capacity to enhance metabolism via diverse pathways, regulating disorders and offering treatment potential.

Nonselective beta-adrenoceptor blocker use and risk of Parkinson's disease: from multiple real-world evidence.

Background: People with hypertension have a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD), epidemiological evidence suggests that multiple antihypertensives may affect the occurrence and development of PD with inconsistent results. With multisource data, we sought to determine whether specific antihypertensive classes elevated or reduced the risk for PD.

Methods: We used a mixed methods approach that combines 4 methodologies.

Clinical prognostic value of OSGIN2 in gastric cancer and its proliferative effect in vitro.

This study explored the promoting effect of oxidative stress-induced growth inhibitor family member 2(OSGIN2) on gastric cancer (GC) through public databases and in vitro experiments. The potential relationship between OSGIN2 expression, prognosis, functional enrichment of associated differential genes, immune infiltration, and mutational information in gastric cancer were comprehensively investigated using bioinformatics analysis. OSGIN2 was knocked down using small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection for subsequent cell function testing.

Green Synthesis, Surface Activity, Micellar Aggregation, and Foam Properties of Amide Quaternary Ammonium Surfactants.

A series of amide quaternary ammonium surfactants with the formula C HCONH(CH)N(CH)·CHCO ( = 9, 11, 13, 15) were synthesized using a fatty acid, ,-dimethylethylenediamine, and a green reagent dimethyl carbonate. A comparative study of the four surfactants in terms of surface activity, aggregation characteristics, and foam properties was conducted. The results show that these amide quaternary ammonium surfactants reduce the surface tension of water to a minimum value of 23.

The difference of human gut microbiome in colorectal cancer with and without metastases.

Metastasis of colorectal cancer is deemed to be closely related to the changes in the human gut microbiome. The purpose of our study is to distinguish the differences in gut microbiota between colorectal cancer with and without metastases. Firstly, this study recruited colorectal cancer patients who met the established inclusion and exclusion criteria in the Oncology Department of Zhejiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from February 2019 to June 2019.

Preparation of Piper nigrum Microcapsules by Spray Drying and Optimization with Response Surface Methodology.

To overcome the problems of incomplete flavor components from Piper nigrum extract and the Piper nigrum product easy deterioration in the storage process, microcapsules of the whole Piper nigrum were prepared by spray-drying combined with enzymatic hydrolysis. Under the best conditions for the microencapsulation obtained by the response surface methodology, which have been determined as the ratio of core and wall material (1:0.2, w/w), proportion of wall materials (starch sodium octenyl succinate : maltodextrin : xanthan gum) (1:1:0.

The new exploration of pure total flavonoids extracted from as a new therapeutic agent to bring health benefits for people.

The peel and fruit of varieties have been a raw material for some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Pure total flavonoids from . (PTFC), including naringin, hesperidin, narirutin, and neohesperidin, have been attracted increasing attention for their multiple clinical efficacies.

Chinese Medical Students' Acceptance and Use of e-Health Services.

A web-based survey was conducted among 238 Chinse medical students to examine their acceptance and use of e-Health services. Chinese medical students are found to have limited experience and low satisfaction with current e-Health services, which indicates an urgent need to improve e-Health practice training based on a consumer-centered model of health care.

More than Carbazole Derivatives Activate Room Temperature Ultralong Organic Phosphorescence of Benzoindole Derivatives.

The mechanism of carbazole (Cz)-based phosphors is still unclear since its isomer (1H-benzo[f]indole, Bd) is discovered in 2020. Herein, the successful synthesis of four Cz/Bd derivatives is reported, named as 2CzBr, CzBdBr, 2BdBr, and 3Bd, and the general mechanism for their ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) is provided. Bd and its derivatives give double groups of phosphorescence, including the short-wavelength phosphorescence with a short lifetime and the ultralong phosphorescence at long wavelengths, assigned to their neutral molecules and radical cations, respectively.

Influence of Inorganic Salts and pH on Surface Activity of Biodegradable Amido Gemini Amine Oxide Surfactant.

The present study was designed to provide information regarding the influences of pH and inorganic salts on the surface activity of the amido Gemini amine oxide surfactants, the formula of which was C H CONH(CH)NO(CH)-(CH)-(CH)NO(CH)NHCOC H (n=11, 13, 15, and 17). Their biodegradability was also investigated. The results showed that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the corresponding surface tension (γ) changed regularly with the increase of the mass concentration of NaCl and CaCl.

Multiresponsive Tetra-Arylethene-Based Fluorescent Switch with Multicolored Changes: Single-Crystal Photochromism, Mechanochromism, and Acidichromism.

In this article, we report a simple tetra-arylethene-based fluorescent switch TPS═C4 modified with a flexible alkyl chain by the Schiff base structure. The incorporation of C═N retains the excellent photochromic property of tetra-arylethene and endows TPS═C4 with new multiresponsiveness of mechanochromism and acidichromism and multicolor changes. TPS═C4 shows remarkable mechanochromism from a deep blue emission at 420 nm to bright blue with a new shoulder band at 450 nm, which arises from the force-induced phase transition from the crystal state to an amorphous form.

Selective Expression of a Carbazole-Phenothiazine Derivative Leads to Dual-mode AIEE, TADF and Distinctive Mechanochromism.

In this article, we report a newly designed D-A-D' derivative (CNCzPTZ), which displays selective expression of chromophores. This enables CNCzPTZ with solvatochromism, rare dual-mode AIEE properties, solid-state dual-emissions with phosphorescence and distinctive mechanochromism.CNCzPTZ exhibits dual-mode AIEE properties, since the emission band abruptly shifts from 550 nm to 500 nm as the water fraction increases.

Multicolored fluorescence variation of a new carbazole-based AIEE molecule by external stimuli.

In this article, we design and synthesize a new carbazole-based molecule, Cz2CN, with a twisted D-A structure, using the carbazole group as the donor and a dicyanoethylene fragment as the acceptor. Such a twisted D-A structure endows Cz2CN with two characteristic emission bands, LE emission and ICT emission. Cz2CN exhibits AIEE, solvatochromism, and different responses to anisotropic shearing force and isotropic hydrostatic pressure, due to the sensitivity of ICT emission to aggregation, solvent polarity and mechanical force.

Enhanced blood-brain-barrier penetrability and tumor-targeting efficiency by peptide-functionalized poly(amidoamine) dendrimer for the therapy of gliomas.

Glioblastoma is one of the most common primary tumor types of central nervous system (CNS) with high malignance and lethality. Although many treatment options are currently available, the therapy of brain cancers remains challenging because of blood-brain-barrier (BBB) which prevents most of the chemotherapeutics into the CNS. In this work, a poly(amidoamine) dendrimer-based carrier was fabricated and modified with angiopep-2 (Ang2) peptide that has been demonstrated to bind to low density lipoprotein receptor-relative protein-1 (LRP1) on the endothelial cells of BBB and could therefore induce BBB penetration of the carrier.

Crystal-State Photochromism and Dual-Mode Mechanochromism of an Organic Molecule with Fluorescence, Room-Temperature Phosphorescence, and Delayed Fluorescence.

A D-A-D' type pure organic molecule, named ODFRCZ, has unique triple-emission character covering fluorescence, phosphorescence, and delayed fluorescence (DF). The phosphorescence of ODFRCZ has a rather long lifetime of about 350 ms at room temperature. One dimer of ODFRCZ with enhanced parallel molecular packing acts more effectively to prompt ISC processes, which further generates room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), owing to the larger transition dipole moment and closer energy level between S and T .

A Mechanochromic and Photochromic Dual-Responsive Co-assembly with Multicolored Switch: A Peptide-Based Dendron Strategy.

In this contribution, we report a unique co-assembly composed of pyrene and spiropyran that were linked separately at the focal point of the same peptide-based dendron (Phe-Glu), in which the dendrons offer driving forces for the coaggregation. A series of co-assemblies with different weight ratios (Py-Phe-Glu/SP-Phe-Glu) were prepared and the morphology could be tuned. It is found that the resulting stable co-assembled organogel is double switchable triggered by light and heat.

Pressure-induced emission band separation of the hybridized local and charge transfer excited state in a TPE-based crystal.

We herein report a newly synthesized simple molecule, named TPE[double bond, length as m-dash]C4, with twisted D-A structure. TPE[double bond, length as m-dash]C4 showed two intrinsic emission bands ascribed to the locally excited (LE) state and the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) state, respectively. In the crystal state, the LE emission band is usually observed.

A Single Crystal with Multiple Functions of Optical Waveguide, Aggregation-Induced Emission, and Mechanochromism.

A novel single crystal, PyB, is produced in a high yield by the simple method of connecting a pyrene unit and a rhodamine B moiety together. PyB shows multiple functions of aggregation-induced emission, low-loss optical waveguiding, and tricolored mechanochromism. The crucial point for fabricating such a multifunctional single crystal is selecting the C═N group as a spacer, which simplifies the synthetic procedure, confines the molecular conformation to develop single crystals, and allows one to dynamically observe the color variation in situ and quantitatively analyze the effect of applied pressures.

An Enzyme-Responsive Nanogel Carrier Based on PAMAM Dendrimers for Drug Delivery.

G4 PAMAM dendrimer molecules were modified via covalently conjugating RGDC, RAADyC, and PEG chains on the periphery (Mac-1), by which a nanogel drug carrier with enzyme-sensitivity (NG-1) was constructed through an oxidation reaction by using NaIO4 to initiate the chemical cross-link of the functional groups on the periphery of dendrimers. Mac-1 and NG-1 both had a spherelike shape with a relatively uniform size of 20 nm for Mac-1 and 50 nm for NG-1 as evidenced by TEM, SEM, and DLS measurements. NG-1 showed much higher drug loading capacity as compared with that of Mac-1 although the cavities in the dendritic structure were used to encapsulate drug molecules as reported in many literatures.

A Mechanochromic Single Crystal: Turning Two Color Changes into a Tricolored Switch.

The single crystal of M-4-B was obtained by attaching the boron of BH3 to the amine linker between a tetraphenylethylene (TPE) unit and rhodamine B. M-4-B showed a novel sequential tricolor switching from dark blue to bluish-green and to a reddish color upon grinding. The boron atom played a key role in developing the single crystal.