Activity of upper-limb muscles during therapeutic climbing: a cross-sectional comparison between fractured and healthy individuals.

Background: Therapeutic climbing (TC) is an emerging physical therapy with demonstrated benefits for musculoskeletal rehabilitation, but its impact on upper-limb muscle activity remains unclear. Existing research predominantly focuses on healthy individuals, leaving muscle recruitment strategies in patients with upper-limb injuries largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate upper-limb muscle activity in patients with unilateral upper-limb injuries and healthy individuals across six TC exercises.

NIR-Responsive Plasmonic PtSb Alloys with Strong p-d Orbital Hybridization for Synergistic Photothermal-Catalytic Therapy.

Developing platinum (Pt)-based nanostructures with strong near-infrared (NIR) plasmonic response and catalytic activity remains challenging for efficient photothermal-catalytic therapy, due to their poor optical tunability in the NIR region. Here, orbital-engineered PtSb nanoalloys are reported that exhibit broadband NIR plasmonic resonance and enhanced peroxidase (POD)-like activity, driven by strong p-d orbital hybridization between Pt and Sb. Finite-difference time-domain simulations further confirm the presence of localized surface plasmon resonance and enhanced electromagnetic field distribution in PtSb nanocrystals (NCs).

Multiple amplifications of NIR-I ECL signals of AuPtAg nanoclusters and applications in fast detections of noradrenaline.

NIR-I electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is emerging as highly sensitive detection strategy due to its low background at the ambient conditions. Nonetheless, the applications of current NIR-I ECL nanoprobes are limited to the harsh synthetic/testing condition, high toxicity, low signal, and poor biocompatibility. In this study, glutathione/lipoic acid-protected trimetallic AuPtAg nanoclusters (GSH/LA/AuPtAg NCs) are demonstrated as an efficient nanoprobe with strong ECL signals around 850 nm in the presences of triethylamine.

Melamine-Modified Metal-Organic Framework as Novel Electrochemiluminescence Enhancer for Single-Electrode Multiplex cTnI Immunosensor.

The single-electrode electrochemical system (SEES) has emerged as a significant advancement in electrochemiluminescence (ECL), offering enhanced multiplexing efficiency, simplified operation, and reduced fabrication costs. In this study, melamine-modified naphthalene-substituted UiO-66 nanocrystal (Me-UiO-66-NDC) was used as a novel enhancer of Ru(bpy) ECL based on a SEES. The modification of the electrode with Me-UiO-66-NDC remarkably enhanced Ru(bpy) anodic ECL.

Trunk Neuromuscular Impairment Following Spinal Cord Injury: Insights into Bidirectional and Nonlinear Corticomuscular Coupling.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to disruptions in trunk motion patterns due to alterations in trunk neuromuscular control, with these changes remaining incompletely understood. This study investigates how SCI alters bidirectional and nonlinear trunk corticomuscular coupling (CMC). Seventeen SCI individuals and eighteen healthy controls experienced unexpected sagittal seated perturbations at 70% of their maximal acceptable intensity.

Effects of external ankle support and dual-tasking on gait in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability.

Background: Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability (CLAI) is a common condition that significantly impacts patient outcomes, necessitating optimal rehabilitation management. The present study aims to assess the therapeutic efficacy of McConnell taping, McDavid A101 semi-rigid ankle braces, and dual-tasking on gait patterns in individuals with CLAI, thereby informing evidence-based rehabilitation protocols.

Methods: Employing a self-controlled pre-post design, the study included individuals with CLAI treated at our facility, paired with an equal number of healthy controls.

Etching-Based Chiroplasmonic Sensing with Helicoid Au Nanocrystals for Anti-Interference Biochemical Detection.

Plasmonic nanomaterials with intrinsic chiral morphology represent a profound and intriguing topic in sensing applications due to their ultrasensitive chiral structure-dependent chiroptical activity. Here, an HO-assisted etching strategy is reported, enabling the tunable chiroptical activity of chiral helicoid Au nanocrystals by varying size and morphology. This approach forms the foundation of a chiroplasmonic sensing method leveraging the chiroptical signal response induced by morphological changes.

Interfacial Water Structure Modulation on Unconventional Phase Non-Precious Metal Alloy Nanostructures for Efficient Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia in Neutral Media.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) has been recognized as a sustainable route for nitrate removal and value-added ammonia (NH) synthesis. Regulating the surface active hydrogen (*H) behavior is crucial but remains a formidable challenge, especially in neutral electrolytes, greatly limiting the highly selective NH formation. Herein, we report the controlled synthesis of heterophase hcp/fcc non-precious CuNi alloy nanostructures for efficient NH electrosynthesis in neutral media.

Unveiling a novel nanozyme cofactor: a highly activated Fe-CDs-derived colorimetric sensor array for comprehensive authentication of diverse tea products.

Tea has antioxidant, anti-aging, hypotensive, and other functions. The tea polyphenol profile is of great significance for the identification and quality control of diverse tea products. Herein, an iron-doped carbon dots (Fe-CDs) with peroxidase-like activity was synthesized to construct a colorimetric sensor array for the tea polyphenols analysis in a complex matrix.

Enantioselective synthesis of chiroplasmonic helicoidal nanoparticles by nanoconfinement in chiral dielectric shells.

Helicoid metal nanoparticles with intrinsic chirality have unveiled tailorable properties and unlocked many chirality-related applications across various fields. Nevertheless, the existing strategies for enantioselective synthesis of helicoid metal nanoparticles have been predominantly limited to gold. Here, we demonstrate a robust and versatile strategy for the enantioselective synthesis of helicoid nanoparticles beyond gold, leveraging chiral nanoconfinement provided by chiral SiO or nanoshells.

Enhanced transdermal delivery of pioglitazone hydrochloride via conductive hydrogel microneedles combined with iontophoresis.

The conventional oral administration of pioglitazone for Type II diabetes management is frequently compromised by hepatic first-pass metabolism and associated systemic adverse effects, necessitating the development of enhanced transdermal delivery approaches. This study developed a transdermal drug delivery system combining conductive hydrogel microneedles and iontophoresis to improve the transdermal delivery of pioglitazone hydrochloride (PIO) and its therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of type II diabetes. The microneedles, fabricated using poly(methyl vinyl ether--maleic anhydride) as the main matrix material, exhibited excellent conductivity, mechanical strength, and high drug loading capacity.

Multifaceted Antipathogenic Activity of Two Novel Natural Products, Chermesiterpenoid B and Chermesiterpenoid B Seco Acid Methyl Ester, Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes both acute and chronic infections due to its virulence factors, biofilm formation and the ability to suppress the host immune system. Quorum sensing (QS) plays a key role in regulating these pathogenic traits and also downregulates the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) in host cells. In this study, we isolated two novel natural products from the jellyfish-derived fungus Penicillium chermesinum, chermesiterpenoid B (Che B) seco acid methyl ester (Che B ester) and Che B.

Machine learning based finite element analysis for personalized prediction of pressure injury risk in patients with spinal cord injury.

Background And Objective: Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), are prone to pressure injury (PI) in the soft tissues of buttocks. Early prediction of PI holds the potential to reduce the occurrence and progression of PI. This study proposes a machine learning model to predict soft tissue stress/strain and evaluate PI risk in SCI patients.

Effect of Eight-Week Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation Combined with Lat Pull-Down Resistance Training on Improving Pull-Up Performance for Male College Students.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of 8-week transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) combined with resistance training (RT) on pull-up performance in male college students. Twenty-five male college students were randomly assigned to either RT combined with anodal tDCS stimulation (RT + tDCS) or RT alone (RT). Participants of both groups engaged in lat pull-down training programs for 8 weeks, with the RT + tDCS group receiving 20 min tDCS before each RT session.

The trunk segmental motion complexity and balance performance in challenging seated perturbation among individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background: Motion complexity is necessary for adapting to external changes, but little is known about trunk motion complexity during seated perturbation in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). We aimed to investigate changes following SCI in trunk segmental motion complexity across different perturbation directions and how they affect postural control ability in individuals with SCI.

Methods: A total of 17 individuals with SCI and 18 healthy controls participated in challenging sagittal-seated perturbations with hand protection.

Unconventional hexagonal open Prussian blue analog structures.

Prussian blue analogs (PBAs), as a classical kind of microporous materials, have attracted substantial interests considering their well-defined framework structures, unique physicochemical properties and low cost. However, PBAs typically adopt cubic structure that features small pore size and low specific surface area, which greatly limits their practical applications in various fields ranging from gas adsorption/separation to energy conversion/storage and biomedical treatments. Here we report the facile and general synthesis of unconventional hexagonal open PBA structures.

Eight-week lat pull-down resistance training with joint instability leads to superior pull-up endurance performance and reduced antagonist coactivation in recreationally active male college students.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of an 8-week lat pull-down resistance training program with joint instability on pull-up performance in male college students. Thirty-four healthy recreationally active male college students were randomly assigned to either the joint instability resistance training (IRT) or traditional resistance training (TRT) group. Participants of the TRT and IRT groups performed lat pull-down training on stable and joint instability conditions for 8 weeks, respectively.

Patternable chiral Au nanocrystal-doped composite films for information encryption: the role of optical rotation.

Optical information encryption technology has garnered significant attention in currency security, information protection, and personal identification. While optical metasurfaces are considered ideal platforms for information encryption, their high cost and time-intensive fabrication processes have limited their widespread applications. To address this, emergent chiroptical nanomaterials offer new opportunities for information encryption through their polarization capabilities.

Chiral plasmonic-dielectric coupling enables strong near-infrared chiroptical responses from helicoidal core-shell nanoparticles.

Helicoid plasmonic nanoparticles with intrinsic chirality are an emerging class of artificial chiral materials with tailorable properties. The ability to extend their chiroplasmonic responses to the near-infrared (NIR) range is critically important for biomedical and nanophotonic applications, yet the rational design of such materials remains challenging. Herein, a strategy employing chiral plasmon-dielectric coupling is proposed to manipulate the chiroptical responses into the NIR region with high optical anisotropy.

Mechanical impact of regional structural deterioration and tissue-level compensation on proximal femur trabecular bone.

Introduction: Osteoporosis-induced changes in bone structure and composition significantly reduce bone strength, particularly in the human proximal femur. This study examines how these changes affect the mechanical performance of trabecular bone to enhance diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies.

Methods: A proximal femur sample was scanned using micro-CT at 40 μm resolution.

Enantioselective Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering by Chiral Au Nanocrystals with Finely Modulated Chiral Fields and Internal Standards.

The chiral discrimination of enantiomers is crucial for drug screening and agricultural production. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is proposed for discriminating enantiomers benefiting from chiral plasmonic materials. However, the mechanism of enantioselective SERS is unclear, and fluctuating SERS intensities may result in errors.

Smart Cushions with Machine Learning-Enhanced Force Sensors for Pressure Injury Risk Assessment.

Prolonged sitting can easily result in pressure injury (PI) for certain people who have had strokes or spinal cord injuries. There are not many methods available for tracking contact surface pressure and shear force to evaluate the PI risk. Here, we propose a smart cushion that uses two-dimensional force sensors (2D-FSs) to measure the pressure and shear force in the buttocks.