Precision Metal Nanoclusters Meet Proteins: Crafting Next-Gen Hybrid Materials.

Metal nanoclusters (NCs), owing to their atomic precision and unique molecule-like properties, have gained widespread attention for applications ranging from catalysis to bioimaging. In recent years, proteins, with their hierarchical structures and diverse functionalities, have emerged as good candidates for functionalizing metal NCs, rendering metal NC-protein conjugates with combined and even synergistically enhanced properties featured by both components. In this Perspective, we explore key questions regarding why proteins serve as complementary partners for metal NCs, the methodologies available for conjugating proteins with metal NCs, and the characterization techniques necessary to elucidate the structures and interactions within this emerging bionano system.

Massively parallel barcode sequencing revealed the interchangeability of capsule transporters in .

Multidrug/oligosaccharidyl-lipid/polysaccharide (MOP) family transporters are essential in glycan synthesis, flipping lipid-linked precursors across cell membranes. Yet, how they select their substrates remains enigmatic. Here, we investigate the substrate specificity of the MOP transporters in the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) synthesis pathway in .

Melatonin-Loaded Hydrogel Modulates Circadian Rhythms and Alleviates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation to Promote Wound Healing.

Circadian rhythm disruption, commonly caused by factors such as jet lag and shift work, is increasingly recognized as a critical factor impairing wound healing. Although melatonin is known to regulate circadian rhythms and has potential in wound repair, its clinical application is limited by low bioavailability. To address these challenges, we developed an alginate-based dual-network hydrogel as a delivery system for melatonin, ensuring its stable and sustained release at the wound site.

A Varying-Coefficient Additive Hazard Model for Recurrent Events Data.

The additive hazard model, which focuses on risk differences rather than risk ratios, has been widely applied in practice. In this paper, we consider an additive hazard model with varying coefficients to analyze recurrent events data. The model allows for both varying and constant coefficients.

Persistent Effects of Landscape Context on Recruitment Dynamics During Secondary Succession of Tropical Forests.

Large-scale reforestation is promoted as an important strategy to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. A persistent challenge for efforts to restore ecosystems at scale is how to accelerate ecological processes, particularly natural regeneration. Yet, despite being recognized as an important barrier to the recovery of diverse plant communities in tropical agricultural landscapes, the impacts of dispersal limitation on natural regeneration in secondary forests-and especially how this changes as these forests grow older-are still poorly studied.

Chain Mediating Effect of Social Support and Trust in Physician on Stroke Caregivers' Decision Self-Efficacy and Decision Conflict.

To explore the chain mediating role of social support and trust in between decision self-efficacy and decision conflict of stroke caregivers. Convenient sampling was used to select stroke caregivers who were admitted to the department of neurology, neurosurgery and rehabilitation in a four-3A hospital in Henan Province from September 2023 to April 2024. General information questionnaire, Decisional Self-efficacy Scale, Social Support Scale, Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale and Decisional Conflict Scale were adopted.

Rare regression of congenital brainstem high-grade glioma: case report and literature review.

Congenital infantile brainstem high-grade gliomas (HGGs) are extremely rare. Given the limited literature characterizing this disease, management of these tumors remains challenging. Brainstem HGGs are generally associated with extremely poor prognosis.

Changes in Cerebral Hemodynamic Among Patients With Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder Receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Task-Related Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

There remains a scarcity of studies to evaluate the treatment effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) offers a cost-effective method to measure cerebral hemodynamics. This study used fNIRS to evaluate the effect of ECT in patients suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (manic phase).

Incense Use and the Risk of Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have shown that daily exposure to incense smoke is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular mortality, which suggests that chronic exposure to incense could be linked to atherosclerosis. We studied the association between home incense use and the risk of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), the most severe outcome of peripheral arterial disease.

Methods: We used data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which recruited 63,257 Chinese participants 45-74 years old from 1993-1998.

Reflections on COVID-19: A Literature Review of SARS-CoV-2 Testing.

Although the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ended, there are still many important lessons we can learn, as the pandemic profoundly affected every area of laboratory practice. During the pandemic, extensive changes to laboratory staffing had to be implemented, as many healthcare institutions required regular screening of all healthcare staff. Several studies examined the effectiveness of different screening regimens and concluded that repeated testing, even with lower sensitivity tests, could rival the performance of gold-standard RT-PCR testing in the detection of new cases.

Optimization of CuO/GaO Heterojunction Diodes for High-Voltage Power Electronics.

This study optimizes the CuO/GaO heterojunction diodes (HJDs) by tailoring the structural parameters of CuO layers. The hole concentration in the sputtered CuO was precisely controlled by adjusting the Ar/O gas ratio. Experimental investigations and TCAD simulations were employed to systematically evaluate the impact of the CuO layer dimension and hole concentration on the electrical performance of HJDs.

Longitudinal Outcomes of Patients with Aortic Stenosis Stratified by Sex: An Asian Perspective.

Background: Severe aortic stenosis (AS) stratified by sex has been increasingly studied in the European population. Sex-specific outcomes in Asian patients with AS remain poorly defined. Hence, we aimed to study the clinical characteristics and impact of sex in moderate-to-severe AS, undergoing both invasive and conservative interventions in an Asian cohort over 10 years.

Cross-Linked Self-Standing Graphene Oxide Membranes: A Pathway to Scalable Applications in Separation Technologies.

The large-scale implementation of 2D material-based membranes is hindered by mechanical stability and mass transport control challenges. This work describes the fabrication, characterisation, and testing of self-standing graphene oxide (GO) membranes cross-linked with oxides such as FeO, AlO, CaSO, NbO, and a carbide, SiC. These cross-linking agents enhance the mechanical stability of the membranes and modulate their mass transport properties.

Pandemic preparedness in Vietnam: a review of health system resilience and areas for improvement.

In this viewpoint, we explore Vietnam's health system vulnerabilities and its national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as critical areas of health system resilience, including health financing, workforce distribution, information systems, and governance. While Vietnam achieved early success through strong governance and mass vaccination campaigns, the pandemic revealed weaknesses in resource procurement, workforce imbalance, and limitations of its health information system. There are challenges in ensuring the rapid disbursement of financial resources and reliance on imported medical supplies, which delayed response times.

Relationship between handgrip strength and timed up-and-go test on hospitalization costs in older adults: a population-based study.

Background: Weak handgrip strength and slow timed up-and-go (TUG) time are known risk factors for hospitalization among older adults; however, few studies have investigated the relationships between these physical tests and future hospitalization costs.

Methods: We used data from 13,613 participants in the population-based Singapore Chinese Health Study who underwent assessment for handgrip strength and TUG time at a mean age of 74 years. Hospitalization costs for the subsequent year, among those who survived for at least one year thereafter, were ascertained via linkage with administrative healthcare finance data.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and atrial fibrillation: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and diagnosis interplay.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are increasingly prevalent cardiovascular conditions, particularly among the elderly population. These two conditions share common risk factors and often coexist, leading to a complex interplay that alters the clinical course of each other. The pathophysiology of HFpEF is multifaceted and intricately linked, with atrial disease serving as a common pathophysiological pathway.

Beyond Polymerization: In Situ Coupled Fluorination Enables More Stable Interfaces for Solid-State Lithium Batteries.

In situ polymerization strategies hold great promise for enhancing the physical interfacial stability in solid-state batteries, yet (electro)chemical degradation of polymerized interfaces, especially at high voltages, remains a critical challenge. Herein, we find interphase engineering is crucial for the polymerization process and polymer stability and pioneer an in situ polymerization-fluorination (Poly-FR) strategy to create durable interfaces with excellent physical and (electro)chemical stabilities, achieved by designing a bifunctional initiator for both polymerization and on-surface lithium donor reactions. The integrated in situ fluorination converts LiCO impurities on LiNiCoMnO (NCM811) surfaces into LiF-rich interphases, effectively inhibiting the aggressive (de)lithiation intermediates and protecting the interface from underlying chemical degradation, thereby surpassing the stability limitations of polymerization alone.

Homozygous missense variant in causes early-onset neurodegeneration, leukoencephalopathy and autoinflammation.

Biallelic pathogenic variants in cause a fatal autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by recurrent autoinflammation, hypomyelination, progressive neurodegeneration, microcephaly, failure to thrive, liver dysfunction, respiratory chain defects and accumulation of glycogen in skeletal muscle. No missense variants in have been reported to date.We report a 6-year-old boy with microcephaly, global developmental delays, lower limb spasticity with hyperreflexia, epilepsy, abnormal brain MRI, failure to thrive, recurrent fevers and transaminitis.

The Ethics of Ozempic and Wegovy.

Semaglutide, sold under the brand names of Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, is one of the most popular drugs on the market. Manufactured by Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is the newest in a family of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists used most commonly to treat type II diabetes. To date, the results of semaglutide for the treatment of type II diabetes have been overwhelmingly positive.

Leptospirosis, melioidosis, and rickettsioses in the vicious circle of neglect.

The global priorities in the field of infectious diseases are constantly changing. While emerging viral infections have regularly dominated public health attention, which has only intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous bacterial diseases have previously caused, and continue to cause, significant morbidity and mortality-deserving equal attention. Three potentially life-threatening endemic bacterial diseases (leptospirosis, melioidosis, and rickettsioses) are a huge public health concern especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Rapid Charge Transfer Endowed by Heteroatom Doped Z-Scheme Van Der Waals Heterojunction for Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Constructing heterojunctions between phase interfaces represents a crucial strategy for achieving excellent photocatalytic performance, but the absence of sufficient interface driving force and limited charge transfer pathway leads to unsatisfactory charge separation processes. Herein, a doping-engineering strategy is introduced to construct a In─N bond-bridged InS nanocluster modified S doped carbon nitride (CN) nanosheets Z-Scheme van der Waals (VDW) heterojunctions (InS/CNS) photocatalyst, and the preparation process just by one-step pyrolysis using the pre-coordination confinement method. Specifically, S atoms doping enhances the bond strength of In─N and forms high-quality interfacial In─N linkage which serves as the atomic-level interfacial "highway" for improving the interfacial electrons migration, decreasing the charge recombination probability.