Casein-grape seed proanthocyanidins complexes stabilized Pickering emulsion gels based on Lycium Barbarum seed oil with excellent mechanical properties and oxidation resistance.

Pickering emulsion gels received extensive attention in encapsulating fat-soluble substances such as Lycium barbarum seed oil (LBSO). However, the gels presented poor mechanical properties, otherwise, their physical encapsulation cannot inhibit lipid peroxidation. Herein, grape seed proanthocyanidins (OPCs) and casein (CAS) complexes interacted through hydrogen and covalent bonds were proposed to build Pickering emulsion gels and encapsulate LBSO, which changed the secondary structures of CAS and further enhanced emulsifying ability, oxidation resistance, and gelling performance.

Omeprazole and its analogs exhibit insecticidal potencies as inhibitors of insect choline acetyltransferase.

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) is crucial for acetylcholine synthesis and regulates diverse functions in numerous biological processes. Omeprazole, an inhibitor on human ChAT, was evaluated here on insect ChAT as a potential inhibitor, as well as its insecticidal potency on Nilaparvata lugens, a major insect pest on rice. The evaluation also included omeprazole analogs and α-NETA, in order to explore a superior leading compound targeting on insect ChAT.

Pesticides enhance maternal care in the wolf spider by inhibiting HSD3B, an enzyme for progesterone synthesis.

Natural enemies are essential for the integrated pest management (IPM) strategy in insect pest control. However, chemical pesticides remain the primary method for insect pest control, diminishing natural enemies and causing environmental contamination. The wolf spider (Pardosa pseudoannulata), a major enemy in agro-ecosystem, exhibits maternal care (MC) behaviors such as eggsac-carrying and pulli-carrying, which are crucial for population growth.

NOX4 deficiency improves the impaired viability, inhibited the apoptosis and suppressed autophagy of DHEA-treated ovarian granulosa cells through inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress via inactivating PERK/ATF4 pathway.

Background: PCOS is the most prevalent endocrine and metabolic problem in women of reproductive age. This current study was formulated to thoroughly expound the ovary-protecting effects of NOX4 deficiency in PCOS and probe into the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the protective effects of NOX4 deficiency against DHEA injury in ovarian GCs.

Methods: KGN cells were subjected to 20 nM DHEA for 48 h to establish PCOS cellular model.

Deciphering spatial domains from spatially resolved transcriptomics through spatially regularized deep graph networks.

Background: Recent advancements in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) have opened up unprecedented opportunities to explore gene expression patterns within spatial contexts. Deciphering spatial domains is a critical task in spatial transcriptomic data analysis, aiding in the elucidation of tissue structural heterogeneity and biological functions. However, existing spatial domain detection methods ignore the consistency of expression patterns and spatial arrangements between spots, as well as the severe gene dropout phenomenon present in SRT data, resulting in suboptimal performance in identifying tissue spatial heterogeneity.

stMMR: accurate and robust spatial domain identification from spatially resolved transcriptomics with multimodal feature representation.

Background: Deciphering spatial domains using spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) is of great value for characterizing and understanding tissue architecture. However, the inherent heterogeneity and varying spatial resolutions present challenges in the joint analysis of multimodal SRT data.

Results: We introduce a multimodal geometric deep learning method, named stMMR, to effectively integrate gene expression, spatial location, and histological information for accurate identifying spatial domains from SRT data.

Clinical outcomes of microwave ablation for solitary T1N0M0 papillary thyroid carcinoma: a more than 5-year follow-up study.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of microwave ablation (MWA) for solitary T1N0M0 papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and compare them between T1a and T1b disease.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 136 patients with solitary T1N0M0 PTC who were treated with MWA and followed up for more than 5 years. Outcomes were compared between patients with T1a and T1b disease.

SRPNet: stroke risk prediction based on two-level feature selection and deep fusion network.

Background: Stroke is one of the major chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with high morbidity, disability and mortality. The key to preventing stroke lies in controlling risk factors. However, screening risk factors and quantifying stroke risk levels remain challenging.

A Comparative and Prospective Study of Corneal Consumption and Corneal Biomechanics After SMILE and FS-LASIK Performed on the Contralateral Eyes With High Myopic Astigmatism.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the actual corneal consumption and subsequent corneal biomechanical changes after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) in eyes with high myopic astigmatism.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized study on high myopic astigmatic eyes, 74 patients with similar refractive error received SMILE in one eye and FS-LASIK in the contralateral eye were enrolled. The central stromal reduction was calculated by preoperative and postoperative central stromal thickness (CST) measurements by the RTVue optical coherence tomography (OCT).

The mRNA Stability of PIEZO1, Regulated by Methyltransferase-Like 3 via N6-Methylation of Adenosine Modification in a YTH Domain Family 2-Dependent Manner, Facilitates the Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major ocular complication of diabetes caused by chronic hyperglycemia, which leads to incurable blindness. Currently, the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions is limited. This study aimed to investigate the function of piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 1 (PIEZO1) and its potential regulatory mechanism in DR progression.

Phosphoproteomic analysis reveals the mechanisms of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes attenuate renal aging.

Aging is a critical biological process, with particularly notable impacts on the kidneys. Exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) are capable of transferring various bioactive molecules, which exhibit beneficial therapeutic effects on kidney diseases. This study demonstrates that exosomes derived from hUC-MSCs ameliorate cellular senescence in the kidneys of naturally aging mice.

Sodium caseinate/gellan gum emulsion gels for zeaxanthin dipalmitate delivery: Preparation, characterization, and gelation mechanism.

The emulsion gel composed of proteins and polysaccharides exhibits significant potential as a targeted delivery system for bioactives in the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, a composite emulsion was prepared by using sodium caseinate (NaCas) and gellan gum (GG), which was subsequently crosslinked with transglutaminase (TG), glucono-δ-lactone (GDL), and calcium ions (Ca) to form emulsion gels. The physicochemical properties of the NaCas/GG emulsion gels were characterized to verify the effects of zeaxanthin dipalmitate encapsulation and protection, and a possible mechanism was discussed.

Corneal Epithelial Remodeling Following Cylinder Correction With SMILE or FS-LASIK: A Contralateral Comparative Study.

Purpose: To compare the corneal epithelial remodeling in eyes with high astigmatism that had small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK).

Methods: Seventy-four patients with myopic astigmatism of greater than -2.00 diopters (D) and little binocular difference in spherical equivalent were included in this contralateral comparative study.

SpaGRA: Graph augmentation facilitates domain identification for spatially resolved transcriptomics.

Recent advances in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) have provided new opportunities for characterizing spatial structures of various tissues. Graph-based geometric deep learning have gained widespread adoption for spatial domain identification tasks. Currently, most methods define adjacency relation between cells or spots by their spatial distance in SRT data, which overlooks key biological interactions like gene expression similarities, and leads to inaccuracies in spatial domain identification.

Enhancing the Efficiency of Flexible, Large-Area, ITO-Free Organic Photovoltaic Devices.

The development of flexible ITO-free devices is crucial for the industrial advancement of organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology. Here, a novel ITO-free device architecture is proposed, and ITO-free OPV devices are realized on glass substrates with performance comparable to that of ITO-based devices. It is also demonstrated that the performance of ITO-free devices on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates is limited due to the higher surface roughness of PET, leading to high voltage losses, low device quantum efficiency, and high device leakage current.

Preoperative diagnostic value of multimodal spectral CT for patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing radiofrequency ablation.

Objective: Delayed enhancement cardiac computed tomography (CT) empowers the diagnosis of left atrial appendage thrombus while limited to scanning heterogeneity. We optimized the spectral CT scan and post-process protocols, incorporating delayed enhancement and spectral iodine analysis to discriminate left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus with better morphological relationships between the left atrium, pulmonary vein, and esophagus.

Methods: A total of 278 consecutive patients were retrieved from January 2019 to June 2023.