Ultralow Voltage High-Performance Nanocellulose-Based Electro-Ionic Actuators for Soft Robots.

High-performance eco-friendly soft actuators showing large displacement, fast response, and long-term operational capability require further development for next-generation bioinspired soft robots. Herein, we report an electro-ionic soft actuator based on carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CCNC) and carboxylated cellulose nanofibers (CCNF), graphene nanoplatelets (GN), and ionic liquid (IL). The actuator exhibited exceptional actuation performances, achieving large displacements ranging from 1.

A multi-view contrastive learning and semi-supervised self-distillation framework for early recurrence prediction in ovarian cancer.

Objective: This study presents a novel framework that integrates contrastive learning and knowledge distillation to improve early ovarian cancer (OC) recurrence prediction, addressing the challenges posed by limited labeled data and tumor heterogeneity.

Methods: The research utilized CT imaging data from 585 OC patients, including 142 cases with complete follow-up information and 125 cases with unknown recurrence status. To pre-train the teacher network, 318 unlabeled images were sourced from public datasets (TCGA-OV and PLAGH-202-OC).

Free and bound phenolic profiles and antioxidant ability of eleven marine macroalgae from the South China Sea.

Marine macroalgae are of broad interest because of their abundant bioactive phenolic compounds. However, only a few previous studies have focused on bound phenolic compounds. In this study, there were significant differences in total phenolic content, total phlorotannin content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant ability in free and bound forms, as well as in their bound-to-free ratios, among 11 marine macroalgal species from the South China Sea.

Quantitative Assessment and Regulation of Passage and Entrance Attraction Efficiency of Vertical-Slot Fishway on Heishuihe River in Southwest China.

Fish passage facilities are essential for restoring river connectivity and protecting ecosystems, effectively balancing economic and ecological benefits. Systematic and comprehensive monitoring, assessment, and optimized management are therefore crucial. This study quantitatively evaluated the entire upstream migration process of fish from the downstream river to the entrance and exit of the fishway and investigated the upstream movement patterns of fish under various environmental factors.

Characteristic of pancreatic involvement in melioidosis: Case report and literature review.

Background: Intra-abdominal abscesses are a frequent manifestations of melioidosis whereas pancreas is barely affected by this condition. Herein, by delving into the clinical manifestations, diagnostic processes, and the ultimate clinical outcome, we report a case of an unusual presentation of pancreatic melioidosis in a Chinese patient, aiming to shed light on a diagnosis that is not commonly associated with the pancreas.

Case Presentation: The patient, a 32-year-old male farmer, suffered from persistent burning pain in his upper abdomen, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fever and other symptoms, presented to the clinic.

Self-standing bacterial cellulose-reinforced poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) doped with graphene oxide composite electrodes for high-performance ionic electroactive soft actuators.

Flexible electrode films with good film-forming properties, large deformation ability, high conductivity, and strong charge and discharge capabilities are crucial for ionic electroactive polymer soft actuators. However, there are still challenges in preparing high-quality electrode films that can combine well with the intermediate polyelectrolyte to form high-performance soft actuators. Herein, we propose an advanced sandwich ionic electroactive actuator utilizing self-standing bacterial cellulose (BC) reinforced poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PP) doped with graphene oxide (GO) conductive composite electrodes and a Nafion ion-exchange membrane a hot-pressing method.

Testicular dysfunction and "its recovery effect" after cadmium exposure.

In recent years, with the acceleration of industrialization, the decline of male fertility caused by heavy metal pollution has attracted much attention. However, whether the inhibition of testicular function after cadmium exposure is reversible remains to be studied. In this study, we constructed rat models of cadmium exposure and dis-exposure, and collected relative samples to observe the changes of related indicators.

YTHDF1-CLOCK axis contributes to pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation through LLPS.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification has been implicated in many cell processes and diseases. YTHDF1, a translation-facilitating m6A reader, has not been previously shown to be related to allergic airway inflammation. Here, we report that YTHDF1 is highly expressed in allergic airway epithelial cells and asthmatic patients and that it influences proinflammatory responses.

Heme oxygenase-1 alleviates allergic airway inflammation by suppressing NF-κB-mediated pyroptosis of bronchial epithelial cells.

Allergic asthma development and pathogenesis are influenced by airway epithelial cells in response to allergens. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an inducible enzyme responsible for the breakdown of heme, has been considered an appealing target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. Herein, we report that alleviation of allergic airway inflammation by HO-1-mediated suppression of pyroptosis in airway epithelial cells (AECs).

Efficacy and safety of agomelatine in epilepsy patients with sleep and mood disorders: An observational, retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of agomelatine for treating the sleep and mood disorders in epilepsy patients.

Methods: Retrospective data were derived from 113 epilepsy patients for at least 8 weeks. All the subjects were divided into two groups, one was treated with agomelatine, the other was treated with escitalopram.

Radiomics signatures for predicting the Ki-67 level and HER-2 status based on bone metastasis from primary breast cancer.

This study explores the potential of radiomics to predict the proliferation marker protein Ki-67 levels and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) status based on MRI images of patients with spinal metastasis from primary breast cancer. A total of 110 patients with pathologically confirmed spinal metastases from primary breast cancer were enrolled between Dec. 2017 and Dec.

Effects of RNA silencing during antagonism between citrus exocortis viroid and citrus bark cracking viroid in Etrog citron (Citrus medica).

Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd) and citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) are two important viroids that infect citrus plants and frequently occur as mixed infections in orchards. However, the mechanism of antagonism between the two viroids in mixed infections remains unclear. The CEVd/CBCVd-citron system and small RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) were used to study the antagonism.

Cadmium exposure-induced rat testicular dysfunction and its mechanism of chronic stress.

Cadmium is a common environmental pollutant in daily life, the toxic mechanisms of chronic cadmium exposure on the testes have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the effects of cadmium exposure on male reproductive health and its mechanism. The results showed that cadmium exposure led widened interstitial spaces, abnormal seminiferous tubule morphology, and decreased Leydig cell numbers.

Determinants of international Korean language promotion: A cross-country analysis.

This study investigates the determinants of the international promotion of the Korean language at the cross-country level. The analysis is based on candidate data drawn from the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) and uses a cross-country panel data model to measure how several factors affect Korea's international promotion. To mitigate sample selection bias, we estimated the model using the Heckman two-step method.

Efficacy and safety of zonisamide as the first additional treatment in Chinese patients with focal or secondary bilateral tonic-clonic seizures: An observational ,prospective study.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of zonisamide (ZNS) as the first additional treatment for focal or secondarily bilateral tonic-clonic seizure (sBTCS).

Methods: A total of 118 patients between 18 and 75 years of age with focal or sBTCS were recruited from multiple hospitals in Shandong province between May 13, 2021, and February 16, 2022. All received ZNS as the first additional treatment after clinical judgment.

Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviate Rat Knee Osteoarthritis via Activating Wnt/ β-catenin Signaling Pathway.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease characterized by joint cartilage degeneration, destruction, and osteogenic hyperplasia. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) have attracted increasing research interest due to their high clonogenic, proliferative, and migratory potential, as well as their improved secretion of relevant chondrogenic factors. This study evaluated the therapeutic potential and underlying mechanism of hUC-MSCs in alleviating pathological symptoms of OA.

A Putative TRAPα Protein of Microsporidia Exhibits Non-Canonical Alternative Polyadenylation in Transcripts.

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites that have significantly reduced genomes and that have lost most of their introns. In the current study, we characterized a gene in microsporidia , annotated as (). The homologous of TRAPα are a functional component of ER translocon and facilitates the initiation of protein translocation in a substrate-specific manner, which is conserved in animals but absent from most fungi.