Retinal Photoreceptors and Arterioles Alterations Detected using Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy in Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy.

Methods: Thirty subjects were recruited in the Guangdong Diabetic Retinopathy Multiple-omics Study (GD-RMOS). Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) was adopted for image acquisition. An AI-based algorithm conducted quantitative analyses of photoreceptor morphology, including cone density, spacing, and regularity.

Antimicrobial activity and mechanistic insights of AMP-17 against drug-resistant and its efficacy in wound infection management.

Introduction: Chronic wound infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria have emerged as a global health challenge, affecting millions of patients annually and imposing a substantial economic and societal burden. However, current therapeutic approaches exhibit limited efficacy in treating drug-resistant wound infections, highlighting an urgent need for novel treatment strategies. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the antimicrobial peptide-17 (AMP-17) exhibits potent antibacterial activity, suggesting its potential as a promising anti-infective agent.

Tensile Mechanical Properties and Edge Defect-Driven Degradation in Bilayer Graphene.

Bilayer graphene attracts significant attention due to its unique electronic structure and excellent physical properties, with its mechanical performance being crucial for understanding deformation mechanisms and assessing application reliability. The mechanical properties of bilayer graphene measured by atomic force microscopy currently exhibit considerable scatter and show clear deviations from theoretical predictions. In situ tensile testing is widely regarded as a more reliable and authoritative approach for evaluating the mechanical properties of two-dimensional materials.

Assessment of ovarian dysfunction induced by environmental toxins: a systematic review.

Objective: This study systematically assess the potential impact of various environmental pollutants as chemical, airborne, and heavy metal on ovarian function in women, focusing on ovarian reserve such as anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and antral follicle count (AFC) as well as hormone levels like follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (E2). By reviewing epidemiological evidence, this research aims to elucidate the reproductive toxicity of these pollutants and provide scientific support for public health policy to protect reproductive health in women of childbearing age.

Methods: Following the PRISMA-P guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to include all relevant studies up to July 30, 2024.

Perinatal ischemic stroke in an infant with factor VII deficiency: A CARE-compliant case report.

Rationale: Hemophilia, an inherited bleeding disorder, is rarely caused by congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency, occurring in 1 in 500,000 patients. Oftentimes, the presenting symptom of newborns with congenital FVII deficiency is intracranial hemorrhage, which can lead to adverse neurological outcomes.

Patient Concerns: A 2-day-old male infant, born late preterm, presented with symptoms of coffee-ground emesis, lethargy, and feeding difficulties.

MIR124 polygenic risk and functional connectivity of the striatum in patients with bipolar disorder: mediation by childhood trauma.

Background: Both genetic and environmental factors can influence brain function in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). This study aimed to investigate the aberrant functional connectivity (FC) of the striatum and its relationship with the polygenic risk score (PRS) of MicroRNA-124 (MIR124) and experiences of childhood trauma.

Methods: The study recruited 80 patients with BD and 54 healthy controls (HCs).

Relationships between depression and difficulties in emotion regulation among first-year college students: a network analysis approach.

Background: Depression and difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) may co-occur in first-year college students due to the transition from high school to college environment. However, the intricate interaction dynamics between depression and difficulties in emotion regulation symptoms are unclear. This study employed network analysis to examine the network structure of depression and difficulties in emotion regulation among first-year college students.

Combined cancer immunotherapy with lipid nanoparticle delivery of oligo-based cGAS-agonistic adjuvant and peptide or mRNA vaccines.

Therapeutic vaccines are promising for cancer immunotherapy in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Though lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) hold great potential to deliver cancer therapeutic vaccines, LNPs delivering peptide or mRNA vaccines often induce suboptimal T cell responses. Type I interferon (IFN-I) responses can enhance antigen presentation and potentiate T cell responses.

Oxidative stress gene expression in ulcerative colitis: implications for colon cancer biomarker discovery.

There is a complex interrelationship between colorectal cancer (CRC) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This study aimed to identify key molecules and pathways involved in the co-occurrence of CRC and UC, as well as the role of oxidative stress in disease progression, through bioinformatics analysis of public RNA sequencing databases. We downloaded datasets from public repositories and conducted gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), screening for oxidative stress-related differentially expressed genes (OXSRDEGs) to evaluate their diagnostic potential.

A photosynthetic egg based oxygen-releasing platform to promote angiogenesis and tissue regeneration in diabetic wounds.

Diabetic wounds represent a longstanding global health challenge attributable to tissue hypoxia resulting from impaired microcirculation, which impedes crucial physiological processes essential for wound healing, such as cell proliferation and migration. Oxygen-releasing biomaterials present a novel avenue for tissue reoxygenation therapy, offering advantages over conventional hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Herein, we developed a microcosmic oxygen-releasing platform (MORP) named photosynthetic egg by utilizing egg white hydrogel with inherent bioactive factors for regenerative strength and electrostatic adsorbedbringing photosynthetic oxygen production.

Association of wearable device-measured physical activity with full-course diabetic retinopathy and retinal traits: insights from the middle-aged and older adult cohort.

Purpose: To assess accelerometer-measured physical activity (PA) in patients with all stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and investigate its association with specific retinal structural metrics.

Methods: This extensive cohort study included 13,600 participants with an average age of 56.39 years.

Analyses of Human papillomavirus, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, herpes simplex virus 2 and coinfections among male outpatients in Kunming, China.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as human papillomavirus (HPV), Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) significantly affect male reproductive health. Coinfections among these pathogens may aggravate disease severity, yet data on their prevalence among male outpatients remain scarce. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of UU, HSV2, NG, CT, and HPV infections and coinfections in the external genitalia of male outpatients in Kunming, Yunnan.

Diversity in the composition of pleural cavity and oral cavity microbiota in different bacterial empyema.

Introduction: Recent studies have proposed primary empyema and demonstrated a correlation between it and the microbial composition of the oral cavity. However, no study has systematically characterized the differences in microbial composition between primary and secondary empyema. Furthermore, the correlation between the characteristics of empyema and oral microbiota remains to be explored.

Learning-based multi-material CBCT image reconstruction with ultra-slow kV switching.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to perform multiple () material decomposition with deep learning method for spectral cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging based on ultra-slow kV switching.ApproachIn this work, a novel deep neural network called SkV-Net is developed to reconstruct multiple material density images from the ultra-sparse spectral CBCT projections acquired using the ultra-slow kV switching technique. In particular, the SkV-Net has a backbone structure of U-Net, and a multi-head axial attention module is adopted to enlarge the perceptual field.

Association and dynamic change of fecal calprotectin with sepsis associated liver dysfunction in adults with sepsis.

Fecal calprotectin (FC) is a biomarker of gut inflammation but its association with sepsis associated liver dysfunction (SALD) is unclear. This single-center, prospective cohort study investigated the relationship between FC and SALD in adults with sepsis. FC concentrations were measured on days 1 (FC1) and 3 (FC3).

X-ray-Responsive Semiconducting Polymer siRNA Nanosystems for Orthotopic Glioma Treatment via Silencing the Immunosuppressive Signal.

Gliomas are the most lethal types of adult brain tumors with a devastating prognosis, but many therapies have failed to exert good therapeutic benefits because of the extremely hypoxic and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. To address these challenges, we herein present a semiconducting polymer (SP)-based small interfering RNA (siRNA) nanosystem with the loading of oxygen self-supplying perfluorohexane (PFH) and conjugation of siRNA via a singlet oxygen (O)-cleavable linker. The nanosystems are further camouflaged with a macrophage membrane to obtain the final RM@SPN-siRNA.

A hypoxia-activated and tumor microenvironment-remodeling nanoplatform for augmenting sonodynamic-chemodynamic-chemotherapy of breast cancer.

The tumor microenvironment (TME) offers a promising approach to enhancing cancer therapy by altering the conditions that support tumor growth and immune evasion. However, tumors are highly heterogeneous, and the TME can vary greatly even within different regions of the same tumor. Moreover, tumors can have evolving resistance mechanisms that limit the effectiveness of therapies.

New strategy for the enhanced electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate: Construction of charge polarization by interfacial engineering.

Modulating the adsorption of nitrate ions and intermediates is an effective strategy to enhance the electrocatalytic performance on the conversion of NO to NH. Here, a CuNi/NiFeP/Nickel foam (NF) nanosheet array electrode with heterointerfaces was designed and synthesized to achieve high-performance nitrate reduction to ammonia (NRA). The interfacial charge polarization at the heterointerface between CuNi and NiFeP induces an electron deficiency on the Cu surface, enhancing the adsorption of nitrate ions.

Correlation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels during pregnancy with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a major class of contaminants in recent years. Pregnant women are more susceptible to the influence of these compounds, which could heighten the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study aims to conduct an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the correlation between PFAS exposure during pregnancy and the risk of developing GDM and delve into their dose-response relationship.

Sex-specific habenular dysconnectivity in patients with late-life depression.

There are significant sex differences in the prevalence, symptom presentation, treatment response and brain abnormalities of patients with late-life depression (LLD). The functional connectivity of the habenula has been associated with depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments in patients with LLD. However, sex differences in habenular functional connectivity patterns among LLD patients remain unclear.

More Active Hair Growth in Human Scalp Psoriasis and Mouse Psoriasis: Evidence for the Same "Switch-On" of Psoriasis and Hair Growth.

Our findings indicate that psoriasis lesions are associated with increased hair presence, which suggests a common activation mechanism linking psoriasis and hair follicle dynamics, and psoriatic lesion-induced scratching might be an additional stimulative factor of hair growth, warranting further investigation into the role of the Wnt pathway.

Drug functional remapping: a new promise for tumor immunotherapy.

The research and development of new anti-cancer drugs face challenges such as high costs, lengthy development cycles, and limited data on side effects. In contrast, the clinical safety and side effects of traditional drugs have been well established through long-term use. The development or repurposing of traditional drugs with potential applications in cancer treatment offers an economical, feasible, and promising strategy for new drug development.

The relationship between "microbiota-gut-brain" axis and depression: Chronic stress-induced inflammation.

This study aims to investigate the pathogenesis of depression in mice using the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model, with a particular focus on the changes in inflammatory gene networks and inflammatory factor levels under the condition of gut microbiota dysbiosis. The results indicate that CUMS-induced mice exhibited significant depressive-like behaviors. Specifically, they displayed reduced sucrose intake in the sucrose preference test, decreased central area distance and time in the open field test, and reduced percentage of entries and time spent in the open arm in the elevated plus maze test.