Potential roles of cigarette smoking on gut microbiota profile among Chinese men.

Background: Cigarette smoking is posited as a potential factor in disrupting the balance of the human gut microbiota. However, existing studies with limited sample size have yielded inconclusive results.

Methods: Here, we assessed the association between cigarette smoking and gut microbial profile among Chinese males from four independent studies (N total = 3308).

Genetic mapping of serum metabolome to chronic diseases among Han Chinese.

Serum metabolites are potential regulators for chronic diseases. To explore the genetic regulation of metabolites and their roles in chronic diseases, we quantified 2,759 serum metabolites and performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) among Han Chinese individuals. We identified 184 study-wide significant (p < 1.

Peptide-based CAR-NK cells: A novel strategy for the treatment of solid tumors.

CAR-T cell therapy has been proven to be effective on hematological tumors, although graft-versus-host disease and cytokine release syndrome(CRS) limit its application to a certain extent. However, CAR-T therapy for solid tumors met challenges, among which the lack of tumor-specific antigens (TSA) and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) are the most important factors. CAR-NK could be a good alternative to CAR-T in some ways since they can induce mild CRS and are independent of HLA-matching, but the efficacy of CAR-NKs remains limited in solid tumors.

Lens-related ocular changes in fetal rats following in-utero exposure to elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor.

Background And Objective: Elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI) is a drug treatment for cystic fibrosis that is debatable for use in pregnant women. Fetal ocular changes following prenatal exposure and while breastfeeding to ETI have been reported. The aim of this study was to assess eye development in rat fetuses following in-utero exposure to ETI.

Epidemiology, Process of Care, and Associated Outcomes of Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in China: Results From a Prospective, Multicenter, Population-Based Registry.

Objectives: To comprehensively describe the incidence, process of care, outcomes, and variation among different age groups of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in China.

Design: The Baseline Investigation of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (BASIC-OHCA) is a prospective, multicenter, population-based registry of emergency medical services (EMS)-assessed OHCA in China.

Setting: A total of 25 monitoring sites of all seven geographical regions were included, covering a pediatric population (age ≤ 19) of around 22.

PCBP1/2 and TDP43 Function as NAT10 Adaptors to Mediate mRNA acC Formation in Mammalian Cells.

Massive numbers of modified bases in mRNAs sculpt the epitranscriptome and play vital roles in RNA metabolism. The only known acetylated RNA modification, N-4-acetylcytidine (acC), is highly conserved across cell types and among species. Although the GCN5-related acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) functions as an acC writer, the mechanism underlying the acetylation process is largely unknown.

Mapping the gut microbial structural variations in healthy aging within the Chinese population.

Mapping gut microbial structural variants (SVs) during human aging may provide fundamental knowledge and mechanistic understanding of the gut microbiome's relationship with healthy aging. We characterize gut microbial SVs from 3,230 Chinese participants, identifying key SVs associated with aging, healthy aging, and age-related chronic diseases. Our findings reveal a pattern of copy number loss in aging-related SVs, with 35 core SVs consistently detected.

Variations in Oil Occurrence State and Properties during High-Speed Stirring Treatment of Oily Sludge.

Oily sludge (OS) has long been regarded as a hazardous waste, and improper disposal may lead to serious environmental concerns and human health risks. Despite various methods having been proposed and applied to the treatment of OS, the oil occurrence states and properties in sludge are rarely characterized, which may directly link to the selection and effectiveness of treatment methods. Here, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), gas chromatography (GC), and four components (SARA) analysis were utilized to characterize the changes in the oil occurrence states and compositions in OS samples before and after high-speed stirring (HSS) treatment.

An optimized method for dose-effect prediction of traditional Chinese medicine based on 1D-ResCNN-PLS.

We introduce a one-dimensional (1D) residual convolutional neural network with Partial Least Squares (1D-ResCNN-PLS) to solve the covariance and nonlinearity problems in traditional Chinese medicine dose-effect relationship data. The model combines a 1D convolutional layer with a residual block to extract nonlinear features and employs PLS for prediction. Tested on the Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction datasets, the model significantly outperformed conventional models, achieving high accuracies, sensitivities, specificities, and AUC values, with considerable reductions in mean square error.

Associations of metabolic heterogeneity of obesity with the risk of dementia in middle-aged adults: three prospective studies.

Background: The associations of different obesity and metabolic phenotypes during midlife with the risk of incident dementia remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations between metabolic heterogeneity of obesity and long-term risk of dementia.

Methods: We conducted prospective analyses from three cohorts, including the UK Biobank (UKB), Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, and Framingham Offspring Study (FOS).

Hepatitis B virus in oocytes and embryos: pregnancy outcomes and children's health.

Objective: To investigate whether the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in oocytes and embryos affects pregnancy outcomes for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (ET) as well as is related to the vertical transmission of HBV to children.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: A university-affiliated fertility center.

Sensitive detection of persulfate by a novel self-powered electrochemical sensor with carbon cloth electrodes modified with tin-doped cobalt tetroxide.

The accurate and rapid detection of persulfate concentration is important for environmental decontamination and human health protection. In this work, a novel self-powered electrochemical sensor for the sensitive monitoring of persulfate was developed, which utilized cobalt tetroxide (CoO@CC) or tin-doped cobalt tetroxide (SnCoO@CC) cathode as the sensing element and anode with electrogenic microorganisms as the power supplier. The CoO@CC and SnCoO@CC electrodes were fabricated by in situ growing nanostructured CoO or SnCoO catalysts on carbon cloth.

Fullerene Derivatives for Tumor Treatment: Mechanisms and Application.

Fullerenes hold tremendous potential as alternatives to conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy for tumor treatment due to their abilities to photodynamically kill tumor cells, destroy the tumor vasculature, inhibit tumor metastasis and activate anti-tumor immune responses, while protecting normal tissue through antioxidative effects. The symmetrical hollow molecular structures of fullerenes with abundant C=C bonds allow versatile chemical modification with diverse functional groups, metal clusters and biomacromolecules to synthesize a wide range of fullerene derivatives with increased water solubility, improved biocompatibility, enhanced photodynamic properties and stronger targeting abilities. This review introduces the anti-tumor mechanisms of fullerenes and summarizes the most recent works on the functionalization of fullerenes and the application of fullerene derivatives in tumor treatment.

Association of age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus with the risks of the morbidity of cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality: Evidence from a real-world study with a large population-based cohort study.

Aims: To investigate the impact of diagnosis age of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on subsequent adverse outcomes within the Chinese population.

Methods: 549,959 eligible T2DM patients were included from Ningbo and Jinhua city in Zhejiang province, China. Standardized ratio was used to evaluate the risks of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, cancer and all-cause death in different T2DM diagnosis age groups.

Puerarin ameliorates colitis by direct suppression of macrophage M1 polarization in DSS mice.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease primarily affecting the colon and rectum. The clinical symptoms of UC include persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain, and rectal bleeding, with chronic inflammation often limited to the mucosal layer of the colon. Macrophages play a significant role in the pathogenesis of UC in response to the presence of gut microbiota.

Opposite effects of soil pH on bacteria and fungi β diversity in forests at a continental scale.

Soil microbial diversity is crucial for regulating biogeochemical cycles, including soil carbon (C) dynamics and nutrient cycling. However, how climate, plants, and soil properties influence the microbiome in forests remains unclear, especially at the continental scale, hindering us to better understand forest C-climate change feedback. Here, we investigated the spatial patterns of microbial diversity across China's forests and explored the controlling factors of microbial β diversity and network complexity.

The role of CFTR in the eye, and the effect of early highly effective modulator treatment for cystic fibrosis on eye health.

Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a protein that plays a crucial role in various human organs, including the respiratory and digestive systems. Dysfunctional CFTR is the key variant of the lethal genetic disorder, cystic fibrosis (CF). In the past decade, highly effective CFTR modulator therapies, including elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor, have revolutionised CF management by correcting the underlying molecular defect to improve patient outcomes and life expectancy.

Association between factors in life course and physiological dysregulation among the middle-aged and older population in Zhoushan city of Zhejiang province.

Objective: To analyze the associations between factors in life course and physiological dysregulation in the middle-aged and elderly population in Zhoushan city of Zhejiang province, and the mediating roles of lifestyle and mental health.

Methods: A total of 1553 island residents aged ≥45 years were enrolled from the Zhejiang Metabolic Syndrome Cohort Zhoushan Liuheng Sub-cohort. The demographic information, life course information, lifestyle, and mental health information of participants were documented, and blood samples were collected.

Selectively Extending the Curved Side of N-Doped Hexa-peri- hexabenzocoronene.

A curved nanographene, conceptually by insertion of nitrogen into a trapezoidal planar nanographene at the edge was synthesized by π-extension of the nitrogen-doped hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene. This N-doped nanographene exhibited a π-electronic concave face containing a nonaromatic azepine ring in the middle with a size of 14.0 Å length and 4.

QACDes: QoS-aware context-sensitive design of cyber-physical systems.

There is a lot of confusion and ambiguity regarding the quantification of the Quality of Service (QoS) of a system, especially for cyber-physical systems (CPS) involved in automating or controlling the operations in built environments and critical urban infrastructures, such as office buildings, factories, transportation systems, smart cities, etc. In these cases, the QoS, as experienced by human users, depends on the context in which they (i.e.