Ultra-processed food intake and brain health in middle-aged and older adults.

Objective: The escalating burden of neurodegenerative diseases underscores the urgent need to identify modifiable dietary risks. Given the increasing prevalence of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in modern diets and their links to various chronic diseases, this study investigates their associations with neurodegeneration and alterations in brain structure.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

The association of metabolic syndrome components with chronic kidney disease in patients with hypertension: a community-based cohort study.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a well-established risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially in hypertensive patients. These patients are more likely to exhibit additional components of MS, further elevating their risk of developing CKD. This study aimed to investigate the association between the components of MS and the risk of CKD in hypertensive patients.

Progress of mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes in targeted delivery of antitumor drugs.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently being used in clinical trials for the treatment of a wide range of diseases and have a wide range of applications in the fields of tissue engineering and regeneration. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles containing a variety of components such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids, which are widely present in biological fluids and have the functions of participating in intercellular information transfer, immune response and tissue repair, and can also be used as carriers to target and deliver tumors to improve therapeutic effects. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived Exosomes (MSC-Exos), which have the advantages of low immunogenicity and high tumor homing ability, have attracted much attention in targeted drug delivery.

Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exosomes Regulate Ferroptosis via ATF3 to Attenuate Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Objective: During acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ferroptosis occurs in cardiomyocytes, leading to ventricular remodeling. To investigate the influence of exosomes (Exo) derived from adipose mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) on cardiomyocytes, a therapeutic approach to resolve AMI may be discovered.

Methods: The Exo of AD-MSCs was isolated and identified, and internalized into cardiomyocytes.

Developmental validation of the AGCU EX-38 typing system: a comprehensive forensic tool for enhanced genetic identification.

The necessity for developing the AGCU EX-38 typing system arises from the ever-increasing demand for more accurate and comprehensive forensic tools. Traditional kits with fewer STRs often fall short in complex cases requiring higher resolution. The AGCU EX-38 typing system incorporates 35 autosomal STRs, including extended CODIS loci as well as additional non-CODIS loci (D6S1043, D19S3045, D3S3045, D7S3048, D11S2368, D4S2366, D8S1132, D15S659, Penta D, Penta E, D6S447, D3S1744, D14S608, D18S535).

Technical note: Y-chromosome short tandem repeat inconsistent typing for loci Y_GATA_H4, DYS481, DYS444, DYS635, DYS437, DYS533 and DYS570.

Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) loci have significant research and application value in individual identification, parentage testing, kinship determination and genealogical DNA analysis due to their unique genetic characteristics. Currently, various commercial STR typing kits have used in forensic detection, which greatly promoting the scientific application of STR in criminal investigation and judicial trials. However, due to the complexity and specificity of biological samples, the special STR typing in the sample poses certain difficulties for the construction of DNA databases.

A sample of the Moon's far side retrieved by Chang'e-6 contains 2.83-billion-year-old basalt.

Remote sensing observations have shown that the far side of the Moon (lunar farside) has different geology and rock composition to those of the nearside, including the abundances of potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus (collectively known as KREEP). The Chang'e-6 (CE-6) spacecraft collected samples from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the farside and brought them to Earth. We used lead-lead and rubidium-strontium isotope systems to date low-titanium basalt in a CE-6 sample, finding a consistent age of 2830 (±5) million years.

Parents' intention to vaccinate their preschool children against COVID-19: Combining the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior.

The vaccination rate of COVID-19 in preschool children is low, and parents' intention to vaccinate their children is also low due to multiple factors. This study aimed to establish an integrated model based on the Health Belief Model (HBM)and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to explore the factors influencing parents' intention to vaccinate their preschool children with the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. A total of 1264 parents of preschool children from 10 kindergartens participated in this study.

Modified dietary fiber from soybean dregs by fermentation alleviated constipation in mice.

Soybean dregs are the main by-product obtained from the processing of soy products and are good sources of dietary fiber (DF). This study showed that the soluble DF content increased from 4.97% to 18.

Precise design and synthesis of hollow CoS@CoNi-LDH heterostructure for high-performance supercapacitors.

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and metal sulfides (MSs) have been widely used as promising electrode materials for supercapacitors, and the rational architectural design of MS/LDH heterogeneous structures is critical to optimize large energy storage. Herein, a precisely designed hollow CoS nanotubes@CoNi-LDH nanosheet heterostructure on Ni foam, facilely prepared by an ingenious strategy in this CoS nanoarray was first used as the self-sacrificing template and metal source to synthesize Co-ZIF-67 polyhedron to form the CoS@ZIF-67 heterostructure, and then CoS@ZIF-67 was etched successfully using Ni ions to form the final CoS@CoNi-LDH/NF core-shell nanoarray. This synthetic strategy to fabricate the heterostructure is conducive to boosting the structural stability, modifying the electric structure and regulating the interfacial charge transfer.

Dose-response relationship between Chinese visceral adiposity index and type 2 diabetes mellitus among middle-aged and elderly Chinese.

Introduction: China has the largest population of diabetic patients (about 116 million) in the world. As a novel model of the fat index for Chinese people, the Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) was considered a reliable indicator to assess the dysfunction of visceral fat. This study aimed to explore the dose-response relationship between CVAI and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Chinese population, considering CVAI as a continuous/categorical variable.

Joint association of smoking and physical activity with mortality in elderly hypertensive patients: A Chinese population-based cohort study in 2007-2018.

Background: Although associations of physical activity and smoking with mortality have been well-established, the joint impact of physical activity and smoking on premature mortality among elderly hypertensive population was still unclear. This study aimed to assess association of physical activity, smoking, and their interaction with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk in elderly hypertensive patients.

Methods: We included 125,978 Chinese hypertensive patients aged 60-85 years [mean (SD) age, 70.

Comparative endoscopic techniques of medial rectus muscle retraction for approaching intraconal tumors: Our experience with five cases.

Objective: To examine the role of transnasal endoscopic approaches in the management of intraconal tumors and demonstrate the use of an eyelid speculum in comparison with different techniques of medial rectus muscle (MRM) retraction.

Methods: Retrospective data of five patients with intraconal tumors operated on and followed up by the senior authors between December 2019 and April 2022 was collected. Presenting symptoms, technical details, imaging and histology findings, outcomes, and complications were evaluated.

Bedside gastrointestinal ultrasound combined with acute gastrointestinal injury score to guide enteral nutrition therapy in critically patients.

Background: To use gastric ultrasound to evaluate function and to determine the start time of enteral nutrition (EN) in patients with acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI).

Methods: We reviewed records from 105 patients who suffered AGI levels two (AGI II). We recorded several data points, including ultrasonographic transverse area of gastric antrum (CSA), left descending colonic or right ascending colonic diameter (Diam), peristatic frequency (Peri), EN start time, EN dose, prealbumin (PA), and EN complications.

Performance of artificial intelligence-based coronary artery calcium scoring in non-gated chest CT.

Objectives: To evaluate the risk category performance of artificial intelligence-based coronary artery calcium score (AI-CACS) software used in non-gated chest computed tomography (CT) on three types of CT machines, considering the manual method as the standard.

Methods: A total of 901 patients who underwent both chest CT and electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated non-contrast-enhanced cardiac CT with the same equipment within a 3-month period were enrolled in the study. AI-CACS software was based on a deep learning algorithm and was trained on multi-vendor, multi-scanner, and multi-hospital anonymized data from the chest CT database.

Time-varying association between body mass index and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension.

Background: Relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the time-varying association between BMI in patients with hypertension and all-cause mortality.

Methods: This population-based cohort study included 212,394 Chinese adults with hypertension from 2007 to 2015 and was followed up until death, loss-to-follow-up, or December 31, 2018.

Do plaque-related factors affect the diagnostic performance of an artificial intelligence coronary-assisted diagnosis system? Comparison with invasive coronary angiography.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of plaque-related factors on the diagnostic performance of an artificial intelligence coronary-assisted diagnosis system (AI-CADS).

Methods: Patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) were retrospectively included in this study. The degree of stenosis in each vessel was collected from CCTA and ICA, and the information on plaque-related factors (plaque length, plaque type, and coronary artery calcium score (CAC)) of the vessels with plaques was collected from CCTA.