Comparative assessment of cadmium(II) carrier-effects derived by polyethylene microplastics with heterogeneous sources.

Microplastics (MPs), as wastes derived from various plastic commodities, have distinct heterogeneity in their sources. The overlook of MP sources may decrease the prediction reliability of their carrier-effects and the execution efficiency of their refined control. Hence, this study focuses the influence of source heterogeneity on the Cd(II) carrier-effect of MPs, aiming to improve the insights on Cd(II)-pollution pattern reshaped by MPs.

Human Neural Stem Cells Reduce Hypoxia-Ischemic Neurological Impairment Through the Regulation of Inflammatory M1/M2 Microglias in Rats.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the therapeutic efficacy and migration of human neural stem cell (hNSC) therapy in a rat model of moderate to severe Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

Methods: hNSCs were transplanted into the brain ventricle of HIE-induced rats. The levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), immunohistochemistry of M1 and M2 cells counts, as well as the apoptosis of hNSCs were conducted after 10 days transplantation.

Automated Identification of Stroke Thrombolysis Contraindications from Synthetic Clinical Notes: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Introduction: Timely thrombolytic therapy improves outcomes in acute ischemic stroke. Manual chart review to screen for thrombolysis contraindications may be time-consuming and prone to errors. We developed and tested a large language model (LLM)-based tool to identify thrombolysis contraindications from clinical notes using synthetic data in a proof-of-concept study.

Rural Hospital Performance in Guideline-Recommended Ischemic Stroke Thrombolysis, Secondary Prevention, and Outcomes.

Background: Existing data suggested a rural-urban disparity in thrombolytic utilization for ischemic stroke. Here, we examined the use of guideline-recommended stroke care and outcomes in rural hospitals to identify targets for improvement.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients (aged ≥18 years) treated for acute ischemic stroke at Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals from 2017 to 2019.

In acute ICH, minimally invasive surgery improved functional outcome at 180 d.

Pradilla G, Ratcliff JJ, Hall AJ, et al; ENRICH trial investigators. N Engl J Med. 2024;390:1277-1289.

Cerebral Microbleeds in Critically Ill Patients with Respiratory Failure or Sepsis: A Scoping Review.

Background: Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) have been described in critically ill patients with respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), or sepsis. This scoping review aimed to systematically summarize existing literature on critical illness-associated CMBs.

Methods: Studies reporting on adults admitted to the intensive care unit for respiratory failure, ARDS, or sepsis with evidence of CMBs on magnetic resonance imaging were included for review following a systematic search across five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Scopus, and Web of Science) and a two-stage screening process.

NeRF-In: Free-Form Inpainting for Pretrained NeRF With RGB-D Priors.

Neural radiance field (NeRF) has emerged as a versatile scene representation. However, it is still unintuitive to edit a pretrained NeRF because the network parameters and the scene appearance are often not explicitly associated. In this article, we introduce the first framework that enables users to retouch undesired regions in a pretrained NeRF scene without accessing any training data and category-specific data prior.

Risk of type 2 diabetes after diagnosed gestational diabetes is enhanced by exposure to PM2.5.

Background: Air pollution and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are both associated with increased diabetes mellitus (DM) occurrence. However, whether air pollutants modify the effects of GDM on the occurrence of DM has been unknown. This study aims to determine whether the effect of GDM on DM development can be modified by exposure to ambient air pollutants.

Wumei pills attenuates 5-fluorouracil-induced intestinal mucositis through Toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation factor 88/nuclear factor-κB pathway and microbiota regulation.

Background: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy can kill tumor cells and improve the survival rate of cancer patients. However, they can also damage normal cells and cause serious intestinal toxicity, leading to gastrointestinal mucositis[1]. Traditional Chinese medicine is effective in improving the side effects of chemotherapy.

FrictShoes: Providing Multilevel Nonuniform Friction Feedback on Shoes in VR.

Many haptic feedback methods have been proposed to enhance realism in virtual reality (VR). However, friction on the feet in VR, which renders feedback as if walking on different terrains or ground textures or stepping on objects is still less explored. Herein, we propose a wearable device, FrictShoes a pair of foot accessories, to provide multilevel nonuniform friction feedback to feet.

Effects of delay to stroke unit admission in patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Objective: To determine the association between delay in transfer to a central stroke unit from peripheral institutions and outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients with acute stroke, admitted to a comprehensive stroke center (CSC) from three emergency departments (EDs), between 2016 and 2018. The primary outcomes were length of stay, functional status at 3 months, discharge destination, and time to stroke investigations.

Geographical Variations of the Minimum Mortality Temperature at a Global Scale: A Multicountry Study.

Background: Minimum mortality temperature (MMT) is an important indicator to assess the temperature-mortality association, indicating long-term adaptation to local climate. Limited evidence about the geographical variability of the MMT is available at a global scale.

Methods: We collected data from 658 communities in 43 countries under different climates.

Differential Mortality Risks Associated With PM2.5 Components: A Multi-Country, Multi-City Study.

Background: The association between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and mortality widely differs between as well as within countries. Differences in PM2.

ClipGen: A Deep Generative Model for Clipart Vectorization and Synthesis.

This article presents a novel deep learning-based approach for automatically vectorizing and synthesizing the clipart of man-made objects. Given a raster clipart image and its corresponding object category (e.g.

Clinical characteristics and plasma antibody titer of patients with COVID-19 in Zhejiang, China.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first affected humans in China on December 31, 2019 (Shi et al., 2020). Coronaviruses generally cause mild, self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections in humans, such as the common cold, pneumonia, and gastroenteritis (To et al.

Ambient carbon monoxide and daily mortality: a global time-series study in 337 cities.

Background: Epidemiological evidence on short-term association between ambient carbon monoxide (CO) and mortality is inconclusive and limited to single cities, regions, or countries. Generalisation of results from previous studies is hindered by potential publication bias and different modelling approaches. We therefore assessed the association between short-term exposure to ambient CO and daily mortality in a multicity, multicountry setting.

Projections of excess mortality related to diurnal temperature range under climate change scenarios: a multi-country modelling study.

Background: Various retrospective studies have reported on the increase of mortality risk due to higher diurnal temperature range (DTR). This study projects the effect of DTR on future mortality across 445 communities in 20 countries and regions.

Methods: DTR-related mortality risk was estimated on the basis of the historical daily time-series of mortality and weather factors from Jan 1, 1985, to Dec 31, 2015, with data for 445 communities across 20 countries and regions, from the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Research Network.

Association of age-related macular degeneration on fracture risks among osteoporosis population: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Objectives: Visual impairment is an important risk factor for fracture in the elderly population. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in elderly people. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between AMD and incident fractures in patients with osteoporosis (OS).

Ambient air pollution and asthma onset in Taiwanese adults.

Background: Ambient nitrogen dioxide is associated with asthma occurrence in adults in Western countries. However, two recent large-scale studies have provided inconclusive results regarding this association. Moreover, the association remains unknown in an Asian population.

Acute carotid stenting in patients undergoing thrombectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The benefit of acute carotid stenting compared with no acute stenting on clinical outcomes among patients with tandem lesions (TL) undergoing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) remains unknown.

Methods: We conducted a a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing acute carotid stenting versus no stenting among TL patients undergoing EVT with regards to 90 day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH), and mortality. Four reviewers screened citations for eligibility and two assessed retained studies for risk of bias and data extraction.

[Effect of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) in improving stability of essential oils and its application].

Essential oils are easy to cause oxidative damage, chemical transformation or polymerization, and have some intrinsic problems, such as instability, low water solubility and low bioavailability, which restrict their application in the fields of product development. Nanostructured lipid carriers(NLCs) can overcome some of the restrictions of other colloidal carriers, such as emulsions, liposomes, polymer nanoparticles and solid lipid nanoparticles. NLC is an efficient and stable delivery system for bioactive substances.

Second-line Hormonal Therapy for the Management of Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer: a Real-World Data Study Using a Claims Database.

We evaluated the efficacy of second-line hormonal therapy for treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in a real-world retrospective study. We conducted a population-based real-world cohort study of 258 mCRPC patients between 2014 and 2018 using the Chang Gung Research Database (CGRD) of Taiwan. The second-line hormonal therapy included abiraterone acetate and enzalutamide.

Short term association between ozone and mortality: global two stage time series study in 406 locations in 20 countries.

Objective: To assess short term mortality risks and excess mortality associated with exposure to ozone in several cities worldwide.

Design: Two stage time series analysis.

Setting: 406 cities in 20 countries, with overlapping periods between 1985 and 2015, collected from the database of Multi-City Multi-Country Collaborative Research Network.

Periconceptional exposure to air pollution and congenital hypospadias among full-term infants.

Background: Evidence regarding whether prenatal exposure to air pollution increases the risk of hypospadias remains limited. The aim of the study is to evaluate the association between exposure to ambient air pollution during early pregnancy and the incidence of hypospadias.

Methods: We conducted a 1:10 case-control study using the Taiwanese Birth Registry database.