Rapid synthesis of manganese dioxide nanoparticles for enhanced biocompatibility and theranostic applications.

Manganese dioxide (MnO), lauded for its biocompatibility and distinctive optical and physical characteristics, has become an indispensable material in the biomedical field, showing immense potential in disease detection, treatment, and prevention. Particularly, the ability of MnO nanoparticles to oxidize glutathione (GSH) to its oxidized form has positioned them as pivotal players in GSH sensing. However, conventional preparation methods, whether top-down or bottom-up, often result in nanoparticles that require multi-step processing and modification to achieve good dispersion in physiological conditions, which is both time-consuming and complex.

A free-radical initiator-based carrier-free smart nanobomb for targeted synergistic therapy of hypoxic breast cancer.

Thermodynamic therapy (TDT) is a promising alternative to photodynamic therapy (PDT) by absorbing heat through thermosensitive agents (TSAs) to generate oxygen-irrelevant highly toxic free radicals. Therefore, TDT can be a perfect partner for photothermal therapy (PTT) to achieve efficient synergistic treatment of anoxic tumors using a single laser, greatly simplifying the treatment process and overcoming hypoxia limitations. However, the issues of how to improve the stability and delivery efficiency of TSAs still need to be addressed urgently.

Proton Beam Therapy for a Rare Anaplastic Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma: Case Report and Literature Review.

Anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is a rare, aggressive WHO grade III tumor that primarily affects children and young adults. Despite surgery being the primary treatment, achieving complete tumor removal is often difficult due to its infiltrative nature, necessitating additional therapies like proton beam therapy (PBT). PBT, known for its precision in targeting tumors while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue, has shown promise in treating malignant gliomas.

Innovative surgical and stress-stimulated rat model of ligamentum flavum hypertrophy.

Background And Purpose: Animal models of LFH are still in the exploratory stage. This study aimed to establish a reliable, efficient, and economical model of LFH in rats for the study of human ligamentum flavum (LF) pathological mechanisms, drug screening, development, improvement of surgical treatment, disease prevention, and other aspects.

Methods And Materials: Forty rats were divided into an experimental group and a sham group of 20 rats.

Ongoing invasions by American bullfrogs and red-eared sliders in the Republic of Korea.

Invasive species can be unpredictable in their ability to adapt and spread across novel landscapes. American bullfrogs () and red-eared sliders () have become invasive in South Korea since their introduction in the 1970s through the food and pet trades. One of the first steps to their population regulations is to determine each species' distribution in the country, which will allow for the identification of at-risk areas.

Advancing band structure simulations of complex systems of C, Si and SiC: a machine learning driven density functional tight-binding approach.

We present a machine learning (ML) workflow for optimizing electronic band structures using density functional tight binding (DFTB) to replicate the results of costly hybrid functional calculations. The workflow is trained on carbon, silicon, and silicon carbide systems, encompassing bulk, slab, and defect geometries. Our method accurately reproduces hybrid functional results by applying a DFTB-ML scheme to train and predict the scaling parameters of two-center integrals and on-site energies, which is particularly accurate for electronic band structures near the Fermi energy.

ATP Binding and Inhibition of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Interactions.

Recent studies have shown that ATP at high physiological concentrations (>5 mM) can inhibit liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) driven by interactions between intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). However, the mechanism underlying such inhibitory effect still remains elusive. Here, we used all-atom molecular dynamics simulation to study the interaction of ATP with two typical IDPs (i.

Probing the structural transformation and bonding of metal-boride clusters MB (M = La, Ta, Re, Ir).

Theoretical investigations using density functional theory (DFT) and wavefunction theory (WFT) have been performed to understand the geometric and electronic structures, chemical bonding, and structural transformation of 5d6s-metal doped triboron clusters MB (M = La, Ta, Re, Ir; = 1, 3, 5, 7). Global-minimum structural searches find that early-metal doped MB (M = La, Ta) clusters adopt a two-dimensional (2D) planar structure, with σ- and π-type delocalized molecular orbitals (MOs) consisting of M-5d and B-2p atomic orbitals (AOs) identified by chemical bonding analysis. In contrast, late-metal doped MB (M = Re, Ir) clusters prefer three-dimensional (3D) structures of near-pyramidal and triangular pyramid geometries, respectively, which exhibit enhanced stability involving σ- and δ-type M(5d)-B(2p) interactions.

Temporal trends of liver cancer burden, comparative analysis of risk factors and trend forecasts to 2024 in China, USA, the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia: an analysis based on multiple data sources from Global Burden of Disease 2019, the Global Cancer Observatory, and Cancer Incidence in Five Continents.

Background: Liver cancer represents a significant burden of disease globally, with variations in liver cancer status among countries. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the epidemiological burden of liver cancer in four representative countries - China, the USA, the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia - and cover the highest number of incidence cases, the highest prevalence rates and the burden in developed countries. In addition, we intended to predict the trends in liver cancer in these countries over the next six years.

Global infectious disease surveillance: bridge a 30-metre gap between the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The global aviation industry faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the international civil aviation industry now has strong incentives to prevent and control future pandemics. It is almost unbelievable that the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is located right next to the headquarters of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Bulk photovoltaic effect in a two-dimensional ferroelectric semiconductor α-InSe.

The bulk photovoltaic effect, arising from the separation of charge carriers driven by crystal symmetry, is an intriguing physical phenomenon that has been attracting broad interest in the field of photovoltaic applications due to its junction-free nature and potential to surpass the Shockley-Queisser limit. The photovoltaic applications of conventional ferroelectric materials with wide bandgaps (2.7-4 eV) are limited due to their low photocurrent densities and weak photovoltaic response in the visible light region.

Automated Machine Learning of Interfacial Interaction Descriptors and Energies in Metal-Catalyzed N and CO Reduction Reactions.

The applications of machine learning (ML) in complex interfacial interactions are hindered by the time-consuming process of manual feature selection and model construction. An automated ML program was implemented with four subsequent steps: data distribution analysis, dimensionality reduction and clustering, feature selection, and model optimization. Without the need of manual intervention, the descriptors of metal charge variance (Δ) and electronegativity of substrate (χ) and metal (δχ) were raised up with good performance in predicting electrochemical reaction energies for both nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) and CO reduction reaction (CORR) on metal-zeolites and MoS surfaces.

Eu-Doped TiO Coatings One-Step Preparation Enhance Macrophage Polarization and Osseointegration of Implants.

The controllable regulation of immune and osteogenic processes plays a critical role in the modification of biocompatible materials for tissue regeneration. In this study, titanium dioxide-europium coatings (MAO/Eu) were prepared on the surface of a titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) a one-step process combining microarc oxidation (MAO) and doping. The incorporation of Eu significantly improved the hydrophilic and mechanical properties of the TiO coatings without altering their morphology.

N-Alkylation of 1,2,3-Triazoles with Ethers under Thermodynamical Control.

Herein, a relay strategy incorporating oxidative cross dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) and N- to N-isomerization is disclosed for the formal N-selective alkylation of triazoles with ethers under thermodynamic control conditions. By taking advantage of the different thermodynamical stabilities of N- and N-alkylated triazoles (3.65 kcal/mol), the initially formed N-isomers can be converted into their more stable N-isomers when reaching thermodynamic equilibrium.

Encapsulation of perovskite quantum dots in CAU-17 organic frameworks for stable photocatalysis.

In this study, MAPbBr was encapsulated within a porous metal-organic framework (CAU-17) ligand-assisted reprecipitation, which enhanced the perovskite's photocatalytic stability. This encapsulation approach not only stabilises the photocatalytic performance of MAPbBr but also enables further enhancement of its catalytic efficiency through halogen anion group modification. Results from various characterisation demonstrate that the CAU-17/MAPbBrCl composites possess excellent properties, achieving a tetracycline degradation efficiency of up to 92%.

A backtracking heuristic algorithm for two-dimensional strip packing with rotation.

A backtracking heuristic algorithm (BHA) was proposed for a two-dimensional rectangular strip packing problem with rotations and without guillotine cutting, which has many applications. An improved fitness strategy was used to select the fittest rectangle to be packed on a strip with a certain height. Next, a backtracking constructive heuristic was repeatedly used at a higher height until all the rectangles were packed.

Effect of Gadolinium Doping on the Optical and Magnetic Properties of Red-Emitting Dual-Mode Carbon Dot-Based Probes for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Bioimaging probes based on carbon dots (CDs) can become a useful replacement for existing commercial probes, benefiting clinical diagnostics. While the development of dual-mode CD-based probes for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provides the ability for photoluminescence (PL) detection at the same time, is ongoing, several challenges have to be addressed. First, most of the CD-based probes still emit at shorter wavelengths (blue/green spectral range), which is harmful to biological objects or have very low PL intensity in the biological window of tissue transparency (red/near-infrared spectral range).

Arginase 1 genetic variation is associated with the risk of vascular complications in type 2 diabetes.

Objective: This study aims to explore the association between arginase 1 (ARG1) genetic variation and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2DM) vascular complications, a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetics.

Methods: ARG1, a risk gene for cardiovascular disease, was identified from GEO datasets GSE22255 and GSE58294. The ENCODE database identified four candidate single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci.

Carbon dots derived from organic drug molecules with improved therapeutic effects and new functions.

Carbon dots (CDs) are new types of fluorescent nanomaterials with particle diameters of 1∼10 nm and have excellent photoluminescence (PL) properties, good biocompatibility, simple preparation methods and numerous raw materials; consequently, they are promising in the biomedical field. In recent years, to overcome drug resistance and toxic side effects of traditional organic drugs, the synthesis of CDs from drug molecules has become an effective strategy, which produces CDs with the same therapeutic effects as the raw drugs and even possessing new properties. At present, many CDs derived from organic drugs have been developed, which can be classified according to their sources such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and guanidine drugs.

Nanostructured Quasiplanar Heterointerface for a Highly Stable and Ultrafast Switching Flexible Inorganic Electrochromic Smart Window.

Electrochromic (EC) technology can adjust optical properties under electrical stimulation with broad applications in smart windows, displays, and camouflage. However, significant challenges remain in developing inorganic EC films with high durability, rapid response, and mechanical flexibility due to intrinsic brittleness and dense microstructure. Herein, a nanostructured quasiplanar heterointerface (Q-PHI) is first introduced into the electrode/EC interlayer to realize a robust, ultrafast switching tungsten trioxide (WO) EC film.

Organic Micropollutants in Waterways of a Large-Scale Water Diversion Project: Insights from Nontarget Screening and "Community" Analysis.

Large-scale water diversion projects are essential for meeting the needs of water-stressed regions, necessitating an evaluation of their impact on water quality and aquatic ecosystems. This study provides the first snapshots of organic micropollutants (OMPs) along the 1466 km Eastern Route of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Using nontarget analysis with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry, we identified and quantified 357 OMPs from water samples collected during the water diversion period (WDP) and the nonwater diversion period (NWDP).

Fluorine-Free Nanofiber/Network Membranes with Interconnected Tortuous Channels for High-Performance Liquid-Repellency and Breathability.

The excessive use of fluoride in fibrous membranes poses significant bioaccumulative threats to the environment and human health. However, most existing membranes used in protective clothing and desalination systems show high fluorine dependence and inevitable trade-offs between liquid repellency and breathability. Herein, fluorine-free bonded scaffolded nanofiber/network membranes are developed using the electro-coating-netting technique to achieve high-performance liquid-repellency and breathability.

Multivariate contaminated normal linear mixed models applied to Alzheimer's disease study with censored and missing data.

The article proposes a robust approach to jointly modeling multiple repeated clinical measures with intricate features. More specifically, we aim to expand the scope of the multivariate linear mixed model by using the multivariate contaminated normal distribution. The proposed model, called the multivariate contaminated normal linear mixed model with censored and missing responses (MCNLMM-CM), is designed to handle minor outliers effectively, while simultaneously accommodating censored measurements and intermittent missing responses.

Contribution of the dopaminergic system in toxoplasmic encephalitis neuroimmunopathogenesis.

(), a parasitic intracellular protozoan, can establish a chronic infection in the host brain and cause significant neuropathology. The current study aimed to determine the role of Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH), Dopamine Receptor D1 (D1R), Nuclear Receptor Related-1 (Nurr1), and Dopamine Transporter (DAT) expression in the neuroimmunopathogenesis of toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) at 15, 30, 45, and 60 days after infection with . Additionally, the study investigated whether there was a correlation between the markers on these critical days, which had yet to be explored.

Molecular Cocrystal Strategy for Retinamorphic Vision with UV-Vis-NIR Perception and Fast Recognition.

Neuromorphic vision sensors capable of multispectral perception and efficient recognition are highly desirable for bioretina emulation, but their realization is challenging. Here, we present a cocrystal strategy for preparing an organic nanowire retinamorphic vision sensor with UV-vis-NIR perception and fast recognition. By leveraging molecular-scale donor-acceptor interpenetration and charge-transfer interfaces, the cocrystal nanowire device exhibits ultrawide photoperception ranging from 350 to 1050 nm, fast photoresponse of 150 ms, high specific detectivity of 8.