Stimulation of dorsal root ganglion with low-intensity focused ultrasound ameliorates pain responses through the GABA inhibitory pathway.

Aims: Chronic pain is a critical public health issue that severely impacts quality of life and poses significant treatment challenges, particularly due to the risk of adverse effects associated with pharmacological therapies. The search for effective non-invasive treatment alternatives has become increasingly relevant. Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) has been identified as an effective non-invasive strategy for pain management, although the underlying mechanism remains unclear.

Adipose Stem Cells Prevent Esophageal Strictures After Extensive Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection-Experimental Research.

Background And Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a pivotal technique for excision of early-stage esophageal tumors. However, its primary complication, postoperative esophageal stricture, is a significant challenge owing to the absence of effective preventive measures. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) have emerged as a promising treatment modality to address this concern.

Aerobic exercise training attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice by decreasing the methylation level of METTL3-associated m6A RNA in cardiomyocytes.

Background And Aims: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) presents a significant global health challenge, with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) being a major pathophysiological contributor and lacking effective interventions. While aerobic exercise training (AET) enhances cardiovascular health, its protective mechanism in MIRI remains elusive. This study aims to elucidate the protective effect of AET in MIRI and its underlying mechanism.

Evaluating a new obesity indicator for stroke risk prediction: comparative cohort analysis in rural settings of two nations.

Background: While the TyG index has been studied in relation to stroke risk, there is a lack of research integrating fat distribution indicators like Body Roundness Index (BRI) and Fat Mass Index (FMI). Additionally, comparative studies across multiple regions are scarce. This study investigates the association between obesity-related parameters and stroke incidence, examining the mediation effects of multimorbidity, using data from rural areas in China and the United Kingdom.

The Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination and Infection on the Exacerbation of Myasthenia Gravis.

Objectives: Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder that can exacerbate for various reasons, including vaccination and infection. This study aimed to investigate the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for MG patients, factors influencing MG exacerbation after COVID-19 infection (MECI), the course and prognosis of MECI, and the impact of COVID-19 vaccine on infected MG patients.

Methods: Patients were enrolled from the MG database in the Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University.

Dual impacts of serine/glycine-free diet in enhancing antitumor immunity and promoting evasion via PD-L1 lactylation.

The effect of the serine/glycine-free diet (-SG diet) on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear; meanwhile, programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors are less effective for most CRC patients. Here, we demonstrate that the -SG diet inhibits CRC growth and promotes the accumulation of cytotoxic T cells to enhance antitumor immunity. Additionally, we also identified the lactylation of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumor cells as a mechanism of immune evasion during cytotoxic T cell-mediated antitumor responses, and blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway is able to rejuvenate the function of CD8+ T cells recruited by the -SG diet, indicating the potential of combining the -SG diet with immunotherapy.

DDX3 is critical for female fertility via translational control in oogenesis.

DEAD-box RNA helicase 3 (DDX3) and its homologs play a vital role in translation initiation by unwinding secondary structures of selected mRNAs. The human DDX3 gene is located on the sex chromosomes, so there are DDX3X and DDX3Y. DDX3X is ubiquitously expressed in almost all tissues and critical for embryonic development, whereas DDX3Y is only expressed in the testis and essential for male fertility.

Photocatalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste into Syngas by ZnS/GaO Z-Scheme Heterojunction.

The photocatalytic conversion of plastic waste into value-added products using solar energy presents a promising approach for promoting environmental sustainability. Nonetheless, the emission of CO during the conventional photocatalytic degradation process remains a major hurdle that impedes its further development. In this study, we propose an efficient photocatalytic conversion of polyethylene plastic into syngas (CO+H mixtures) by using a ZnS/GaO Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst.

Association Between Indices of Peripheral Blood Inflammation and Cavitary Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Objective: To explore inflammation markers of C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII), and systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI) in the differential diagnosis of cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) from non-cavitary PTB.

Methods: This retrospective study included 1233 patients with PTB, 518 patients were diagnosed with cavitary PTB as case group, while 715 patients which diagnosed with non-cavitary PTB were selected as control group. The clinical data of patients was collected and the levels of inflammation indices were measured.

The RAAS system SNPs polymorphism is associated with essential hypertension risk in rural areas in northern China.

Epidemiological evidence has shown that genetics and environment are associated with the risk of hypertension. However, the specific SNP effects of a cluster of crucial genes in the RAAS system on the risk of hypertension are unclear. A case-control study was performed on the baseline participants of Environment and Chronic Disease in Rural Areas of Heilongjiang China (ECDRAHC) study.

Analyte-Induced Specific Regulation of Light-Responsive COF-Cu Nanozyme Activity for Ultrafast Thiram Colorimetric Sensing.

A light-responsive covalent-organic framework (COF) nanozyme, which integrates the advantages of the COF structure and light-stimulated nanozyme catalysis, is a class of sensing star materials with wide application prospects. However, the sensing methods based on light-responsive COF nanozymes are relatively single at present. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new sensing strategies to broaden its application in chemical sensing and achieve highly efficient detection.

Association between penultimate ejaculatory abstinence and sperm quality: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Ejaculatory abstinence (EA) duration influences semen parameters. However, the impact of penultimate ejaculatory abstinence (PEA) on conventional and functional sperm parameters remains underexplored.

Method: A cross-sectional study recruited 1,503 men from a reproductive center between November 2023 and July 2024.

NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated disruption of mitochondrial homeostasis in alveolar macrophages contributes to ozone-induced acute lung inflammatory injury.

Ozone (O ), a prevalent atmospheric pollutant, can induce lung injury. However, the molecular mechanisms of O -induced acute lung inflammatory injury remain unclear. In this study, we investigate the abnormal changes in and molecular mechanism of mitochondrial homeostasis in alveolar macrophages (AMs) in O -induced acute lung inflammatory injury mice.

A Universal Strategy to Enhance Polarization Performance and Anode Reversal Tolerance by Polyaniline-Coated Carbon Support for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells.

Anode cell reversal typically leads to severe carbon corrosion and catalyst layer collapse, which significantly compromises the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, three types of commercial carbon supports with various structures are facilely coated by polyaniline (PANI) and subsequently fabricated into reversal-tolerant anodes (RTAs). Consequently, the optimized PANI-coated catalyst RTAs demonstrate enhanced polarization performance and improved reversal tolerance compared to their uncoated counterparts, thus confirming the universality of this coating strategy.

Interleukin-11Rα2 in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus affects depression-related behaviors and the AKT-BDNF pathway.

Depression is a widespread emotional disorder with complex pathogenesis. An essential function of the hypothalamus is to regulate emotional disorders. However, further investigation is required to identify the pathogenic genes and molecular mechanisms that contribute to the onset of depression within the hypothalamus.

Distribution, characteristics, and ecological risks of microplastics in the Hongyingzi sorghum production base in China.

Microplastics (MPs), an emerging pollutant of global concern, have been studied in the Hongyingzi sorghum production base. In this study, we investigated MPs in the surface soil (0-10 cm) and deeper soil (10-20 cm) in the Hongyingzi sorghum production base. Pollution characterization and ecological risk evaluation were conducted.

A Semantic-Consistent Few-Shot Modulation Recognition Framework for IoT Applications.

The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to the widespread adoption of the IoT networks in numerous digital applications. To counter physical threats in these systems, automatic modulation classification (AMC) has emerged as an effective approach for identifying the modulation format of signals in noisy environments. However, identifying those threats can be particularly challenging due to the scarcity of labeled data, which is a common issue in various IoT applications, such as anomaly detection for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and intrusion detection in the IoT networks.

SLC25A12 inhibits Japanese encephalitis virus replication by interacting with the NS1 and enhancing the type I interferon response.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne, zoonotic orthoflavivirus causing human encephalitis and reproductive disorders in pigs. Cell-intrinsic antiviral restriction factors are the first line of defense that prevent a virus from establishing a productive infection, while the molecular mechanism of the virus-host interaction is still not fully understood. Our in vitro experiments demonstrated that the Solute Carrier Family 25 Member 12 (SLC25A12) interacted with the JEV nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) and inhibited JEV replication.

Endoscopic resection for non-ampullary duodenal subepithelial lesions: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) and pre-cutting endoscopic mucosal resection (pEMR) in treating non-ampullary duodenal subepithelial lesions (NADSELs) and to evaluate the clinical utility of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) before endoscopic resection (ER).

Methods: In this retrospective single-centre cohort study, we compared the clinical outcomes of patients with NADSELs who underwent ESD or pEMR between January 2014 and June 2023. The accuracies of EUS in determining the pathological type and origin of the lesions were evaluated using postoperative histopathology as the gold standard.