ctDNA detects residual disease after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and guides adjuvant therapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The diagnostic accuracy of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for detecting molecular residual disease (MRD) after multimodal treatment remains unclear. In a prospective cohort of 132 patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) followed by clinical response evaluation and surgery, tumor-informed personalized-panel and fixed-panel ctDNA assays are applied to serial blood samples. Personalized ctDNA assay demonstrates a superior baseline detection rate (99.

Application of Fe-CuO bimetallic oxide nanozyme-based colorimetric sensing for highly sensitive detection of tetracycline: theoretical and experimental studies.

This research establishes a competitive colorimetric detection platform for tetracycline (TC) residue analysis in milk and aqueous matrices, with implications for assessing antibiotic-derived health risks in dairy and potable water systems. According to the developed colorimetric competitive reaction model, steady-state kinetic analysis revealed that the Fe-doped CuO (Fe-CuO) nanozymes exhibit higher substrate affinity and faster reaction kinetics than conventional enzymes. The catalytic system utilized a bimetallic nanozyme composed of Fe-CuO, which exhibited enhanced catalytic performance, using 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as the color-changing substrate.

Recent Progress in Flexible Wearable Sensors Utilizing Conductive Hydrogels for Sports Applications: Characteristics, Mechanisms, and Modification Strategies.

Conductive hydrogels demonstrate substantial potential for flexible wearable sensors in motion monitoring, owing to their unique physicochemical properties; however, current implementations still confront persistent challenges in long-term stability, sensitivity, response speed, and detection limits under complex dynamic conditions, which material innovations are urgently required to resolve. Consequently, this paper comprehensively reviews the recent advancements in conductive hydrogel-based flexible wearable sensors for sports applications. The paper examines the conductivity, self-adhesion, self-repair, and biocompatibility of conductive hydrogels, along with detailed analyses of their working principles in resistance, capacitance, piezoelectric, and battery-based sensing mechanisms.

Evaluating advance peace in Fresno, California: An interrupted times series analysis of a community-based gun violence intervention.

Background: Gun violence is a critical public health issue, contributing to the disproportionate burden of health inequities among racially and economically marginalized populations. Advance Peace, a community-driven gun reduction program that integrates street outreach workers to interrupt conflicts with trauma-informed programming to provide mentorship and support for young people at the center of urban gun violence, may be a strategy to reduce gun violence and build healthy communities. We assessed whether the implementation of Advance Peace in Fresno, California was associated with a reduction in gun-related violence, including homicides and assaults.

Assessing the impact of long-term captivity on Saiga Antelope calcaneus mechanical characteristics by three-dimensional finite element simulation.

Background: This study investigates the mechanical properties of the calcaneus bone in saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) compared to sheep (Ovis aries) to assess the impact of long-term captivity on bone characteristics. Mechanical testing was conducted to determine the compressive elastic modulus (E) and ultimate stress (σ) of cancellous and cortical bone. Additionally, finite element analysis (FEA) based on 3D models from Micro-CT scans was used to simulate stress distribution during running at full speed in saiga antelope.

Cholecystitis and cholangiocarcinoma: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Over the past few decades, the global incidence of cholangiocarcinoma has risen overall. In particular, the incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma increased by 109% over a ten-year period, rising from 0.67 per 100,000 in 2007 to 1.

The underexplored effects of economic transition on intellectual property rights protection: An economic geography perspective.

As an institutional guarantee of technology and innovation, intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection at the national and supranational level has long been an important focus of economics and politics. However, very few studies have examined IPRs protection in the fields of geography and urban studies. Thus, this study aims to investigate IPRs protection within evolutionary economic geography (EEG) by highlighting the effect of economic transition.

Screening Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Chinese Adults: Optimizing STOP-Bang and NoSAS Cutoff Values.

BACKGROUND This retrospective study of 3129 individuals aimed to screen obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with the modified STOP-Bang questionnaire (SBQ) and Neck, Obesity, Snoring, Age, Sex (NoSAS) scores, establish more appropriate cutoff values for these 2 questionnaires in Chinese patients, and investigate whether adding minimum oxygen saturation (LSpO2) as an item could improve the ability of these questionnaires. MATERIAL AND METHODS We collected polysomnography data, demographic data, anthropometric measurements, and the SBQ and NoSAS scores from 3129 participants. The ability of the SBQ and NoSAS score with different cutoff values to detect OSA was assessed.

Multispectrum Electromagnetic Response in FeNiHo/C Heterodimensional Structure for Microwave Absorption and Multimode Photodetection.

Multispectrum response technology is the key to developing multifunctional electromagnetic devices in cross-field applications. Traditional methods rely on integrating complex multi-material systems, leading to bulkier and costlier devices. Here, a hierarchical heterodimensional structure composed of FeNiHo alloy and carbon matrix achieves autonomous multispectrum-coupling electromagnetic response between microwave and ultraviolet through polar interface engineering.

Review anti-swelling hydrogels from natural polysaccharide polymers: Emerging core materials for underwater wearable motion sensors.

Owing to the rapid advancement of wearable electronics and soft robotics, anti-swelling hydrogels have attracted considerable interest for underwater motion sensing because of their outstanding stability under aqueous conditions. Herein, this review first catalogues polysaccharide-based building blocks employed to engineer anti-swelling hydrogels, then systematically discuss structural design strategies and review recent advances in their application to motion sensing. This review first summarizes the use of natural polysaccharides-including chitosan and sodium alginate-for preparing anti-swelling hydrogels.

Biomass-derived carbon quantum dots as fluorescent probes for biosensing: a review.

The conversion of biomass waste into value-added carbon quantum dots (CQDs) has been recognized as a green synthetic pathway in CQD manufacturing. The distinctive nanostructure of biomass-derived carbon quantum dots (BCQDs) confers superior fluorescence properties and biocompatibility, rendering them highly promising as fluorescent probes for biosensing applications. The preparation of BCQD fluorescent probes using biomass as the primary carbon source not only realizes the high-quality recycling of waste resources but also has excellent biocompatibility and fluorescence emission stability, which has received great attention from researchers.

Engineered nerve guide conduit enhances peripheral nerve regeneration by modulating the microenvironment through macrophage-triggered cascade reactions.

Nerve regeneration after peripheral nerve injury (PNI) depends on exogenous and endogenous pro-healing signals in the microenvironment. Maintaining immune system homeostasis and remodeling the regenerative microenvironment are crucial prerequisites for promoting nerve regeneration. Here, a double-layer PSM/Gel-SC(IL-4) nerve guide conduit was fabricated by photocrosslinking poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and methacrylic acid-sodium alginate (SAMA) hydrogel as the outer layer, with GelMA encapsulating IL-4 overexpressing Schwann cells as the inner layer.

Binocular laser scanning imaging-based disordered object recognition method.

This paper takes industrial robot disordered object grasping as its research background and proposes an object recognition method based on binocular laser three-dimensional (3D) scanning imaging for the characteristics of grasping objects with complex structures, single surface colors, and scattered stacking. First, to address the issue of incomplete data in the 3D reconstruction of stacked scenes caused by self-obscuration and mutual occlusion of objects, this paper proposes a binocular laser scanning 3D imaging method that utilizes a rapid fusion of multi-source point cloud data. Secondly, this paper reports improved point cloud matching of a pose estimation algorithm based on the point pair feature (PPF) to achieve accurate pose estimation of scattered stacked objects.

The secreted elicitor protein VmHrp1 from Valsa mali activates plant immunity through RLP26 to enhance disease resistance.

Pathogenic fungi, such as Valsa mali, secrete effector proteins to suppress host immunity and promote infection. Plants counteract these attacks through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) that detect pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and activate immune responses. This study reports the identification and characterization of a hypersensitive response-inducing protein (VmHrp1) that comes from V.

Time-variant spatial masking for real-time single-photon imaging against strong ambient light.

Real-time single-photon imaging of the accurate reflectivity and depth is a challenge under strong ambient light. We propose a novel, to our knowledge, method to enhance the reflectivity image guided by the depth image and introduce a time-variant spatial mask (TV-SM) to optimize the global incident light flux. The proposed method dynamically loads the TV-SM onto a spatial light modulator (SLM) to achieve fast reconstruction.

Developing a novel aging assessment model to uncover heterogeneity in organ aging and screening of aging-related drugs.

Background: The decline in organ function due to aging significantly impacts the health and quality of life of the elderly. Assessing and delaying aging has become a major societal concern. Previous studies have largely focused on differences between young and old individuals, often overlooking the complexity and gradual nature of aging.

Identification of regulatory sequences in Aca11 and Aca13 for detection of anti-CRISPR and protein-protein interaction.

Anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins are frequently co-encoded with the anti-CRISPR associated (Aca) proteins, which act as repressors for regulating Acr expression within acr-aca operons. We previously identified three aca genes (aca11-13) from Streptococcus mobile genetic elements, but their regulatory mechanisms remained unclear. Here, we showed that Aca11 and Aca13 mediate bidirectional regulation in acr-aca operons through recognition of their inverted repeat (IR) sequences within the acr promoters.

Study of Aroma Characteristics and Establishment of Flavor Molecular Labels in Fermented Milks from Different Fermentation Strains.

The aroma of fermented milk products is a key determinant of consumer preference. This study investigates the impact of different lactic acid strains on the aroma characteristics of fermented milk, identifies key volatile compounds, and establishes odor molecule labels to guide strain selection and modification. Sensory evaluation, dynamic headspace sampling (DHS), and gas chromatography olfactometry-mass spectrometry (GC-O-MS) were used to analyze 23 milk samples prepared with various lactic acid bacteria strains.

300,000-year-old wooden tools from Gantangqing, southwest China.

Evidence of Early and Middle Pleistocene wooden implements is exceptionally rare, and existing evidence has been found only in Africa and western Eurasia. We report an assemblage of 35 wooden implements from the site of Gantangqing in southwestern China, which was found associated with stone tools, antler billets (soft hammers), and cut-marked bones and is dated from ~361,000 to ~250,000 years at a 95% confidence interval. The wooden implements include digging sticks and small, complete, hand-held pointed tools.

Orbital Coupling-Engineered Coordination-Unsaturated CuAg Nanochains Drives Spontaneous Electrocatalytic Acetylene Semihydrogenation and Zn-CH Batteries.

Electrocatalytic semihydrogenation of acetylene (CH) offers a mild and sustainable pathway for ethylene production, yet it faces critical challenges including competitive C─C coupling for 1,3-butadiene due to insufficient proton supply and hydrogen evolution under high current densities. To address these limitations, we design a coordination-unsaturated CuAg bimetallic catalyst with cross-linked nanochains (CuAg CNCs), which synergistically regulates proton dynamics, maintaining high activity from 0.1 to 0.

Mechanisms of the impact of exercise intervention on college students' mental health: a longitudinal experimental study using swimming as an example.

Introduction: With the growing prevalence of mental health issues among college students, there is a pressing need for effective and accessible intervention strategies. This study explores the potential of swimming as a structured intervention to improve students' emotional well-being, social adaptation, and academic stress management.

Methods: A 15-week swimming intervention program was implemented among 44 college students, who were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (swimming intervention) or a control group (no intervention).

Formation Mechanisms and Kinetic Modeling of Key Aroma Compounds During Qidan Tea Roasting.

Understanding the changes in tea aroma and non-volatile substances during roasting is essential for optimizing tea processing and enhancing tea quality. In this study, the Carbon Module Labeling (CAMOLA) technique was employed to simulate the roasting conditions of Qidan, thereby elucidating the formation pathway of the theanine-glucose Maillard system. Combined with sensory evaluation, the results indicated that the floral and fruity aromas of Qidan tea decreased, while the woody, roasted, smoky, and herbal aromas increased with prolonged roasting time.

Graphene Oxide-Modulated Nanocellulose/Polyacrylamide/Sodium Alginate Hierarchical Network Hydrogel for Flexible Sensing.

The application of hydrogels in flexible sensing has received increasing attention, but the simultaneous preparation of hydrogels with good structural stability, strain sensing sensitivity, freezing resistance, and drying resistance remains a challenge. Based on this, a GG-nanocellulose/sodium alginate/polyacrylamide composite hydrogel with a hierarchical network structure was constructed by one-step synthesis by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) and glycerol into the hydrogel. The hydrogel remained structurally intact after 100 compression cycles.

Unusual phenomenon in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: declining alpha-fetoprotein levels despite disease progression.

In advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), some patients exhibit declining serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels despite disease progression. We investigated the characteristics, outcomes, and potential causes of this unusual phenomenon. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 139 patients with advanced HCC with baseline AFP ≥ 20 ng/mL, treated systemically and/or locally between March 2021 and May 2023.