In-vivo pilot study to assess a new plant-based cosmetic formulation containing Ziziphus joazeiro bark extract and Apium graveolens seed extract for the improvement of dandruff while enhancing scalp microbiome balance and barrier function in subjects with oily to dry sensitive scalps.

Objective: Dandruff is one of the most common dermatological conditions, which occurs in about 50% of human individuals confined only to the scalp. Microbiome studies indicate a bacterial and fungal microbiota shift compared to a healthy scalp. While antifungal treatments are effective in improving clinical signs and symptoms of scalp dandruff, maintaining a healthy scalp microbiome balance is also crucial for long-term scalp health.

Alternating Donor-Acceptor Thienoacenes Featuring Up to 23 Linearly Fused Rings.

A group of ladder-type imide-functionalized thienoacenes including , , , and , featuring 9, 16, and 23 linearly fused rings, respectively, were readily synthesized through stitching thienannulation of polyalkyne precursors composed of alternating naphthalene diimide (NDI) and -phenylenediyne units. A single crystal of , with a molecular length of 33.8 Å, was obtained, representing the longest reported single crystal of a linear thienoacene.

Geographical origin discrimination of Chenpi using machine learning and enhanced mid-level data fusion.

Chenpi, or dried tangerine peel, is a traditional Chinese ingredient valued in medicine and edible for its digestive and respiratory benefits. The geographical origin of Chenpi is important, as it can impact its quality, active compounds and market value. This study develops a strategy to distinguish Chenpi samples on its origin.

B: a complete coating icosahedral B core-shell structure.

Using first-principles calculations, this study unveils a spherically aromatic core-shell B@B structure featuring a B icosahedral core, which is the smallest complete coating icosahedral B core-shell B cluster to date. Detailed orbital and bonding analyses reveal that the icosahedral B core exhibits prominent superatomic behavior with the electronic configuration 1S1P1D1F.

Leaf Transpirational Cooling and Thermal Tolerance Vary Along the Spectrum of Iso-Anisohydric Stomatal Regulation in Sand-Fixing Shrubs.

Transpirational cooling is crucial for plant thermal regulation to avoid overheating; however, during prolonged and/or acute heat stress it often necessitates stomatal closure to reduce the risk of hydraulic failure due to dehydration. The intricate interplay between thermal regulation, water transport and use may govern plant performance in water-limited and simultaneously heat-stressed environments, yet this remains inadequately understood. Here, in a common garden, we evaluated the functional associations among physiological characteristics related to leaf thermoregulation, heat tolerance, xylem water transport, and stomatal regulation in eight shrub species commonly used for fixing active sand dunes in northern China.

Photoinduced formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of two electron-deficient olefins and its application to the synthesis of lucidumone.

Electronically mismatched Diels-Alder reaction between two electron-deficient components is synthetically useful and yet underdeveloped under thermal conditions. Herein, a photoinduced formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of enone with a variety of electron-deficient dienes is described. Key to the success of this stepwise methodology relies on a C - C bond cleavage/rearrangement of the cyclobutane based overbred intermediate via diversified mechanistic pathways.

Ag@Mg@Ag: a three-layer matryoshka structure with symmetry.

The C fullerene, renowned for its soccer ball-like high-symmetry configuration, has attracted extensive interest. As research on C progresses, the synthesis of diverse C derivatives and the exploration of embedding varying numbers of atoms within the carbon cage, ranging from singular atoms to entire molecules, have emerged. This trend has prompted investigations into potential high-symmetry structures formed by incorporating main group or transition metal elements.

Designing injectable dermal matrix hydrogel combined with silver nanoparticles for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infected wounds healing.

Hydrogel-based delivery systems have now emerged as a pivotal platform for addressing chronic tissue defects, leveraging their innate capacity to suppress pathogenic infections and facilitate expedited tissue regeneration. In this work, an injectable hydrogel dressing, termed AgNPs-dermal matrix hydrogel (Ag@ADMH), has been designed to expedite the healing process of wounds afflicted with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), featuring sustained antibacterial efficacy. The synthesis of the hydrogel dressing entailed a self-assembly process of collagen fibers within an acellular dermal matrix to construct a three-dimensional scaffold, encapsulated with plant polyphenol-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).

Catalytic Generation of Pyridyl Radicals via Electron Donor-Acceptor Complex Photoexcitation: Synthesis of 2-Pyridylindole-Based Heterobiaryls.

We report the catalytic generation of pyridyl radicals through photoexcitation of the electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex, which enables the C2-selective heteroarylation of indole under ambient conditions. In this manifold, catalytic triarylamine and chloropyridine aggregate into an EDA complex in the presence of an inorganic base, making readily available chloropyridines good precursors for the generation of diverse pyridyl radicals. Given the broad reaction scope, this catalytic EDA complex protocol provides robust access to heterobiaryl scaffolds that are widely present in biologically important molecules.

Discovery and genetic characterization of novel paramyxoviruses from small mammals in Hubei Province, Central China.

Paramyxoviruses are a group of single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses, some of which are responsible for acute human disease, including parainfluenza virus, measles virus, Nipah virus and Hendra virus. In recent years, a large number of novel paramyxoviruses, particularly members of the genus , have been discovered in wild mammals, suggesting that the diversity of paramyxoviruses may be underestimated. Here we used hemi-nested reverse transcription PCR to obtain 190 paramyxovirus sequences from 969 small mammals in Hubei Province, Central China.

Coupled hydraulics and carbon economy underlie age-related growth decline and revitalisation of sand-fixing shrubs after crown removal.

Crown removal revitalises sand-fixing shrubs that show declining vigour with age in drought-prone environments; however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap by comparing the growth performance, xylem hydraulics and plant carbon economy across different plant ages (10, 21 and 33 years) and treatments (control and crown removal) using a representative sand-fixing shrub (Caragana microphylla Lam.) in northern China.

Experimental recognition of vortex beams in oceanic turbulence combining the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm and convolutional neural network.

In underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC), vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) can improve channel capacity but are vulnerable to oceanic turbulence (OT), leading to recognition errors. To mitigate this issue, we propose what we believe to be a novel method that combines the Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm-based recovery with convolutional neural network (CNN)-based recognition (GS-CNN). Our experimental results demonstrate that superposed Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams with small topological charge are ideal information carriers, and the GS-CNN remains effective even when OT strength 2 is high up to 10 .

Covalent immobilization of lipase on magnetic biochar for one-pot production of biodiesel from high acid value oil.

Magnetic biochar was synthesized via chelation of Fe with carboxymethyl cellulose and pyrolysis for covalently immobilizing Eversa® Transform lipase. The magnetic biochar had 75.8 mg/g lipase loading that was 54.

Interstitial pneumonia combined with nocardia cyriacigeorgica infection: A case report.

Background: Nocardia infection is a relatively uncommon disease, with no reports among patients with interstitial pneumonia. Due to its atypical clinical symptoms and chest computed tomography (CT) findings and the frequent yielding of negative results by conventional cultures, it poses challenges for timely diagnosis and treatment.

Case Summary: A 63-year-old female patient presented to our hospital in July 2022 with a 3-mo history of intermittent cough and poor appetite, accompanied by a 2-wk long duration of headaches.

Novel Isomer of Volleyballene ScC.

The Stone-Wales defect is a well-known and significant defective structure in carbon materials, impacting their mechanical, chemical, and electronic properties. Recently, a novel metal-carbon nanomaterial named Volleyballene was discovered, characterized by a C-C bond bridging two carbon pentagons. Using first-principles calculations, a stable Stone-Wales-defective counterpart of Volleyballene, exhibiting symmetry, has been proposed by rotating the C-C bond by 90°.

PA-E18G substitution in influenza A virus confers resistance to ZX-7101, a cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor.

Cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN) in the polymerase acidic protein (PA) of influenza A virus (IAV) represents a promising drug target due to its critical role in viral gene transcription. The CEN inhibitor, baloxavir marboxil (BXM), was approved in Japan and the US in 2018 and several other countries subsequently. Along with the clinical use of BXM, the emergence and spread of IAV variants with reduced susceptibility to BXM have aroused serious concern.

[Short-term efficacy of three root canal filling methods in endodontic treatment of chronic periapical inflammation].

Purpose: To provide a reference basis for clinical selection of a reasonable and effective root canal treatment by comparing the short-term clinical efficacy of three root canal filling methods in the treatment of chronic periapical inflammation.

Methods: One hundred and twenty patients with chronic periapical inflammation who received root canal filling between October 2019 and October 2020 were randomly divided into 3 groups, with 40 patients in each group. All patients received root canal filling, group A was filled with iRoot SP paste by matched-taper single cone obturation technique, group B was filled with AH-plus paste by warm vertical condensation, and group C filled with AH-plus paste by cold lateral condensation.

Integrated mRNA sequence optimization using deep learning.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic has catalyzed the rapid development of mRNA vaccines, whereas, how to optimize the mRNA sequence of exogenous gene such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike to fit human cells remains a critical challenge. A new algorithm, iDRO (integrated deep-learning-based mRNA optimization), is developed to optimize multiple components of mRNA sequences based on given amino acid sequences of target protein. Considering the biological constraints, we divided iDRO into two steps: open reading frame (ORF) optimization and 5' untranslated region (UTR) and 3'UTR generation.

Anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy CT103A in relapsed or refractory AQP4-IgG seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders: phase 1 trial interim results.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) have great potentials in autoimmune diseases and could be novel therapeutics for relapsed/refractory neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the CT103A, a self-developed BCMA-targeting CAR construct against BCMA, in patients with AQP4-IgG seropositive NMOSD, an ongoing, investigator-initiated, open-label, single-arm, phase 1 clinical trial is conducted at our center. In total, 12 patients were administered with a CAR-BCMA infusion.

Associations between abdominal obesity and the risk of stroke in Chinese older patients with obstructive sleep apnea: Is there an obesity paradox?

Background And Purpose: Abdominal obesity (AO) is a well-known independent risk factor for stroke in the general population although it remains unclear in the case of the elderly, especially in Chinese older patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), considering the obesity paradox. This study aimed to investigate the association between AO and stroke among Chinese older patients with OSA.

Methods: Data were collected from January 2015 to October 2017, and 1,290 older patients (age 60-96 years) with OSA (apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 5 events/h on polysomnography) were consecutively enrolled from sleep centers at six hospitals, evaluated for AO defined as waist circumference (WC) using the standardized criteria for the Chinese population, and followed up prospectively for a median period of 42 months.

Association between Serum Cystatin C levels and long-term cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality in older patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

To investigate the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and baseline serum cystatin C (Cys-C) concentration and to explore the association between baseline serum Cys-C and long-term cardiovascular outcomes and mortality in older patients with OSA. Between January 2015 and October 2017, a total of 1107 consecutive eligible older patients (≥60 years) with OSA were included in this multicenter, prospective cohort study, and baseline demographics, clinical characteristics, sleep parameters, and follow-up outcomes were collected. Participants were divided into different groups based on baseline serum Cys-C levels.