Plug-and-Play Centrifuge-Only Device for Rapid Sepsis Diagnosis.

Sepsis is a time-critical condition causing over 13 million deaths annually, with each hour of treatment delay in patients with septic shock increasing mortality by 8%. Rapid pathogen identification is crucial, yet current workflows depend on multiple culture steps that delay pathogen identification and targeted treatment by days. A plug-and-play, fully automated centrifuge tube is presented that isolates and concentrates bacteria directly from blood or blood culture using only conventional lab centrifuges.

U-FISH: a fluorescent spot detector for imaging-based spatial-omics analysis and AI-assisted FISH diagnosis.

Imaging-based spatial-omics advances biomedical discoveries with subcellular resolution and high sensitivity, but accurately identifying signal spots from diverse images remains challenging. We develop U-FISH, a deep learning method that enhances images for consistent spot detection across various spatial-omics data. We establish a comprehensive FISH image dataset from seven spatial-omics methods.

X-ray near-field multi-slice ptychography for in-situ imaging.

In-situ imaging of chemical reactions can provide valuable insight into nanoparticle growth and structural evolution. Hard X-ray imaging is an excellent tool for this purpose, as it combines high spatial resolution with high penetration depth, allowing for realistic reaction environments. While far-field ptychography is a well-established method at synchrotron radiation sources, its near-field analog has received less attention.

Subjective cognitive decline in major depressive patients is associated with altered entropy and connectivity changes of temporal and insular region.

Depressive cognitive impairment is seen in a significant number of patients with depression. However, it remains challenging to differentiate between patients with amnestic (those with subjective cognitive impairment complaints) and non-amnestic major depressive disorder, highlighting the urgent need for additional objective tools to help classify these patients more accurately. We analyzed cognitive state, alterations in regional entropy and functional connectivity measures of the brain between patients with major depression and healthy controls.

Monitoring nucleoside metabolism in living cells with a nucleobase analogue fluorescence lifetime imaging.

To overcome challenges in fluorescence labelling of RNA inside living cells we have recently introduced a direct approach using the fluorescent nucleobase analogue 2CNqA. Here we demonstrate its potential for use in fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) to investigate nucleoside metabolism and for metabolic RNA labelling.

The Phoneme as a Cognitive Tool.

All of the world's spoken languages make consistent use of a relatively narrow set of contrastive speech sounds-phonemes. Here, we argue that phonemes constitute cognitive tools, supporting, guiding, and extending speaker cognitive capacities. We outline commonalities between phonemes and other cognitive tools, which include tendencies in their usage based on biological constraints, their extensive variation across cultural lineages, their criticality to the efficient transmission of information, and their importance in the scaffolding of various cognitive capacities.

Bioacoustic fundamental frequency estimation: a cross-species dataset and deep learning baseline.

The fundamental frequency (F0) is a key parameter for characterising structures in vertebrate vocalisations, for instance defining vocal repertoires and their variations at different biological scales ( population dialects, individual signatures). However, the task is too laborious to perform manually, and its automation is complex. Despite significant advancements in the fields of speech and music for automatic F0 estimation, similar progress in bioacoustics has been limited.

Trends in organic peroxide (ROOR) formation in the reactions of C1-C4 alkyl peroxy radicals (RO) in gas.

Organic peroxy radicals (RO) are important intermediates in aerobic systems such as Earth's atmosphere. The existence of a channel producing dialkyl peroxides (ROOR) in their self- and cross-reactions (, between the same or different radicals) has long been debated and considered a theoretical "key problem in the atmospheric chemistry of peroxy radicals". Over the past decade, observations have suggested that this channel could be an important source of condensable compounds and, ultimately, new aerosol particles in Earth's atmosphere.

Simulation of drug transport in airway surface liquid considering mucus flow and ciliary interaction.

The effective delivery of pharmaceuticals to the respiratory tract is significantly influenced by the three-dimensional covalent network structure of mucus and the motility of cilia within the airway surface liquid (ASL). This study investigates the dissolution and absorption of three distinct drugs-Salbutamol sulfate (SAL), Tiotropium bromide (TIO), and Rifampicin (RIF)-in the ASL, focusing on individual particles of each drug with an initial diameter of 5 µm. A three-dimensional numerical model that characterizes mucus as a nonlinear viscoelastic fluid was employed for this analysis.

Redox-responsive self-targeting carrier-free nanotherapeutic agent with ROS storm for enhancing tumor oxidative stress.

The synergistic therapy of ROS storm and chemotherapy based on nanotherapeutic agent can achieve the efficient oncotherapy. Nevertheless, low drug payload, poor tumor targeting, and undesirable side effect have greatly impeded the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) storm in tumor site. Herein, both the chemo-drug methotrexate (MTX, a specific targeting ligand towards folate receptors) and D-α-tocopherol succinate (TOS) are covalently linked by redox-responsive disulfide bond to obtain a self-targeting prodrug (termed as TOS-SS-MTX).

An anti-CEA affibody showing high-definition staining in human pancreatic cancer tissue sections and selective tumor targeting in vivo.

We report development and characterization of small non-immunoglobulin affibody affinity proteins directed to the highly glycosylated human carcinoembryonic antigen-related adhesion molecule 5 (CEACAM5, CEA), and their use in immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses of human pancreatic cancer samples and for in vivo tumor imaging. A total of nineteen unique anti-CEA affibodies were identified from large phage display libraries constructed using combinatorial protein engineering of a small 58 amino acid three-helix bundle protein domain. Molecular modeling suggested that all enriched clones share a binding surface with several clustered tryptophan residues interacting with a hydrophobic patch in the N1 domain of CEA centered around a phenylalanine residue.

Structural and biochemical basis for activity of Aspergillus nidulans α-1,3-glucanases from glycoside hydrolase family 71.

The microbial polysaccharide α-1,3-glucan is an important component of fungal cell walls and dental plaque biofilms, contributing to microbial virulence and biofilm resilience. Glycoside hydrolase family 71 (GH71) includes α-1,3-glucan degrading enzymes which could be exploited for biotechnological applications; however, the family is presently poorly understood. To increase our understanding of GH71, we have performed a phylogenetic analysis of the family and detailed biochemical analysis of two of the five GH71 enzymes encoded by Aspergillus nidulans (AnGH71B and -C).

The Functional Characterization of an AA10 Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenase from 2-40 for Enhanced Chitin Biodegradation.

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) represent copper-dependent enzymes pivotal in breaking down resilient polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin by means of oxidation, creating more accessible sites for glycoside hydrolases. To elevate the conversion efficiency of chitin, an AA10 LPMO was identified from the genome of 2-40 and heterologously expressed. The optimal pH for the activity of recombinant LPMO10A is 9.

The Influence of Heat Treatment Process on the Residual Ferrite in 304L Austenitic Stainless Steel Continuous Casting Slab.

This study investigates the distribution characteristics of residual ferrite in 304L austenitic stainless steel continuous casting slab and the impact of heat treatment processes on its content. Through optical microscopy (OM), thermodynamic calculation software (Thermo-Calc) and heat treatment experiments, it is found that the residual ferrite content along the thickness direction at the width center of the slab exhibits an "M"-shaped distribution-lowest at the edges (approximately 3%) and highest near the center (approximately 13%). Within the triangular zone of the slab, the residual ferrite content varies between 1.

Mechanism of Bao Gan Ning decoction in attenuating hepatic fibrosis via modulation of the gut microbiome and PPAR/CYP7A1-mediated bile acid metabolism.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Timely intervention in hepatic fibrosis (HF) is imperative to reduce mortality associated with cirrhosis and prevent progression to hepatocellular carcinoma. Bao Gan Ning Decoction (BGN), a Traditional Chinese Medicine formula, demonstrates therapeutic efficacy against HF. However, its mechanism of action remains incompletely defined.

Shear response of pyramidal lattice sandwich cores with tailored I-beam struts.

This research paper investigates the shear response of pyramidal lattice (PL) sandwich cores, where square-shaped strut cross-sections are geometrically modified into I-beam-like configurations. These PL sandwich cores are 3D printed via Digital Light Processing (DLP), and their shear performance is experimentally and numerically evaluated for various I-beam-like strut cross-sections. The measurements reveal that PL structures with I-beam struts outperform conventional square-beam structures in terms of shear modulus (+ 13%), shear strength (+ 11%) and gravimetric energy (+ 24%).

Static spectral cues serve as perceptual anchors in vowel recognition across a broad range of fundamental frequencies.

At high fundamental frequencies (fos), wide harmonic spacing can obscure typical formant cues. This study investigates the role of static spectral cues in maintaining vowel identity under such conditions. We resynthesized steady-state versions of eight German vowels (/i, y, e, ø, ɛ, a, o, u/) across fos ranging from 220 to 880 Hz from previously identifiable spoken vowels, preserving their gross spectral shapes.

Machine learning method for predicting line-shapes of Fano resonances induced by bound states in the continuum.

We consider resonances induced by symmetry protected bound states in the continuum in dielectric gratings with in-plane mirror symmetry. It is shown that the shape of the resonance in transmittance is controlled by two parameters in a generic formula which can be derived in the framework of the coupled mode theory. It is numerically demonstrated that the formula encompasses various line-shapes including asymmetric Fano, Lorentzian, and anti-Lorentzian resonances.

Protruding Objects in the Membrane Lung Outlet May Increase Thrombogenicity: Fluid Dynamical Insights.

Thrombosis in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuit components remains a challenge. Besides blood state and surface properties, flow plays a critical role in hemostasis. In this work, we aimed to study the fluid dynamics of a membrane lung (ML) outlet due to its complex design with pins protruding into the blood flow stream (temperature sensor and cap of purge line), with respect to the potential risk of flow-induced coagulation activation.

Culture-free detection of bacteria from blood for rapid sepsis diagnosis.

Approximately 50 million people suffer from sepsis yearly, and 13 million die from it. For every hour a patient with septic shock is untreated, their survival rate decreases by 8%. Therefore, rapid detection and antibiotic susceptibility profiling of bacterial agents in the blood of sepsis patients are crucial for determining appropriate treatment.

Microstructure and corrosion resistance of hybrid additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V via laser powder bed fusion.

Over the last decade, the Hybrid Additive Manufacturing (HAM) approach has been introduced to synergistically combine the design flexibility of Additive Manufacturing (AM) with the larger build volume and faster production rates offered by conventional manufacturing methods. In this work, Ti-6Al-4V powder was printed on the conventional machined Ti-6Al-4V substrate by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), and the corrosion behavior was studied in 3.5 wt.

Wood-specific modification of glucuronoxylan can enhance growth in Populus.

Xylem cells are surrounded by primary and secondary cell walls. Formation of primary walls is regulated by the cell wall integrity surveillance system, but it is unclear if the deposition of secondary walls is similarly regulated. To study this question, we introduced to aspen three different enzymes cleaving cell wall-localized xylan and we suppressed xylan synthase components either ubiquitously or specifically during secondary wall formation using Populus trichocarpa GT43B promoter.

SPRING, an effective and reliable framework for image reconstruction in single-particle Coherent Diffraction Imaging.

Coherent Diffraction Imaging (CDI) is an experimental technique to image isolated structures by recording the scattered light. The sample density can be recovered from the scattered field through a Fourier Transform operation. However, the phase of the field is lost during the measurement and has to be algorithmically retrieved.

Notoginsenoside R2 attenuates hepatic fibrosis via STAT3-dependent hepatic stellate cells senescence induction and inflammatory microenvironment suppression.

Background: Hepatic fibrosis (HF) continues to be a significant global health concern, substantially contributing to morbidity and mortality due to the absence of effective therapeutic options. This study examines the pharmacological effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of Notoginsenoside R2 (R2) in mitigating HF, aiming to find a new multifunctional candidate for therapeutic application.

Methods: An integrative methodology utilizing network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation was implemented.

A call to standardize the nomenclature of human fetal membrane at the feto-maternal interface.

Despite being one of the largest intrauterine tissues in surface area, the fetal membrane that lines the intrauterine cavity is often overlooked, forgotten, or misidentified in clinical and basic science research. The feto-maternal interface is comprised of the fetal membrane (fetal component) and decidua parietalis (maternal component), which lines the intrauterine cavity and provides essential mechanical, immune, hormonal, and transport support to maintain pregnancy. Fetal membrane plays an important role in triggering and regulating labor via complex signaling cascades.