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Background: Some cancer patients derive limited benefit from anti-angiogenic therapy or discontinuation due to adverse reactions. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) plays an important role in regulating angiogenesis in tumors. This study aims to evaluate the association of VEGFR2 polymorphisms with clinical outcomes of anti-angiogenic drugs (AADs) in cancer patients., Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to Dec 26, 2023. Studies accessing the association of VEGFR2 polymorphisms with efficacy and/or safety of AADs in patients with solid tumor were included., Results: A total of 32 studies encompassing 7075 patients were identified. The T allele of rs2305948 (C > T) was significantly associated with worse progression-free survival and overall survival, especially in Asians, patients with the dominant model (CT/TT vs. CC), bevacizumab-treated patients, colorectal cancer patients, and non-small cell lung cancer patients. The C allele of rs2071559 (T > C) was markedly associated with worse PFS and OS, specifically in the dominant model (CC/CT vs. TT), apatinib-treated patients, and non-small cell lung cancer patients. The A allele of rs1870377 (T > A) was significantly associated with improved PFS, particularly in patients with renal cell carcinoma. However, this A allele also significantly increased the risk of hypertension. No significant associations were observed for rs2305948 (G > A), rs11133360 (T > C), and rs12505758 (T > C) with the clinical outcomes of AADs., Conclusion: Among VEGFR2 polymorphisms, rs2305948 (C > T) and rs2071559 (T > C) were associated with a high risk of disease progression and death, rs1870377 (T > A) was associated with improved PFS but an increased risk of hypertension., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interest All authors declare no conflict of interest in the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Survivors of childhood cancer (CCS) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated malignancies. Although HPV vaccination is recommended for these groups, parental acceptance remains uncertain., Procedure: We recruited caregivers of female CCS/HSCT aged ≥9 years from the Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC) vaccination clinic. Caregivers of females who were at least 6 months post treatment, off immunosuppressants, and disease-free were eligible. Caregivers completed a questionnaire assessing demographics, HPV knowledge, and their willingness to vaccinate their daughters., Results: Of the 219 caregivers enrolled, 195 (89.0%) completed the survey. Among the children of caregivers who responded, 44.6% (87/195) had undergone HSCT. All respondent caregivers lacked awareness that the HPV vaccine was recommended for their daughters. Willingness to vaccinate was endorsed by 65.1% (127/195) of caregivers, and was significantly associated with a household income over ¥50,000 (p = 0.02), the mother's HPV vaccination status (p < 0.001), and their daughter receiving any vaccination post therapy (p = 0.02). The most common reasons for vaccine refusal included concerns about its impact on the child's primary disease (64.7%, 44/68), vaccine safety (58.8%, 40/68), and the belief that their child was too young for HPV vaccination (50.0%, 34/68). Only 15 of the 127 (11.8%) caregivers who initially expressed willingness to vaccinate their children had actually initiated vaccination., Conclusion: A substantial minority of Chinese caregivers of female CCS/HSCT are hesitant to vaccinate their daughters against HPV. Addressing caregivers' knowledge deficits and misperceptions about vaccine safety and barriers to accessing HPV vaccination is important to improve uptake., (© 2025 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Plant functional traits and trial-error method have been used successfully in suitable species screening for vegetation restoration on tropical coral island ecosystems. However, there remains controversy about which functional traits should be used as key indicators for plant screening, and the feasibility of classifying plant types through functional traits. Here we determined 25 structural and physiological traits of a total of 56 plant species in a tropical mainland nursery and a tropical coral island, comparing differences of each trait between the two habitats. We attempted to study plant adaptations based on restoration needs and life forms, and then selected suitable species based on key functional traits related with survival performance. We found that leaf thickness, plant height, palisade and spongy tissue thickness, were four key traits in future tropical coral island restoration species screening, and listed nine suitable species from our species pool. Contrary to nursery plants employing the acquisitive strategy under sufficient resources, island plants featured more resilient leaf structure and higher antioxidant capacity, exhibiting a tolerance strategy to better cope with stresses. Meanwhile, plant functional traits rather than restoration needs or life forms are more fundamental in studying species adaptation. Plants adjusted traits from growth to tolerance strategy in the harsh island habitat, and using key functional traits is an accurate and efficient way for screening suitable species in the revegetation of degraded tropical coral islands., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinicopathological features of primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) and enhance preoperative diagnosis., Methods: MRI and clinicopathological information of 12 cases proved PHA were reviewed. Summarize the MRI characteristics of PHA combined with literature reviews., Results: Among 12 cases (6 males and 6 females; age range, 23-70 years; mean, 53.3 years), one presented as a large mass, two as a diffuse infiltrating tumor, and nine as a mixed pattern of large masses with multiple nodules, all involving both lobes of the liver and ranging from 0.1 cm to 11 cm in diameter. A total of 63 lesions were analyzed, including 21 masses and 42 nodules. 13 masses (61.9%) demonstrated intratumoral hemorrhage. 18 masses (85.7%) demonstrated heterogeneous patchy, ring-shaped, septate, or irregular shaped enhancing foci on late arterial phase (LAP). On dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), 14 masses (66.7%) showed a centripetal or centrifugal pattern of incomplete progressive enhancement. 6 nodules (14.3%) appeared intratumoral hemorrhage. 31 nodules (73.8%) showed no enhancing foci on LAP images and 27 nodules (64.3%) showed enhancement pattern of complete filling, either centripetal or centrifugal pattern. Moreover, 12 cases (100%) exhibited prominent vessels within or adjacent to at least one lesion., Conclusion: PHA exhibits diverse appearances on MRI. Typical MRI signs include multifoci with intratumoral hemorrhage, prominent vessels within or adjacent to the foci, as well as varied degrees of progressive enhancement with incomplete filling in dominant masses of PHA., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Determining the time since deposition (TsD) of body fluid stains can provide crucial criminal information to forensic researchers. Although there are studies on inferring residual time through DNA and RNA markers, this requires high sample quality, and microorganisms, as a new type of marker with individual and tissue identification capabilities, have the potential for body fluid recognition and TsD inference. Blood and semen are the most common types of bodily fluid stains at crime scenes, but research on the inference of the TsD of these two types of stains through microorganisms still needs to be explored. Thus, this study collected samples of body fluid stains exposed indoors for up to 56 days and selected several microorganisms that were both liquid specific and related to residual time inference in blood (Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas) and semen (Gardnerella) stains via 16 S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Furthermore, the microorganisms' ability to infer TsD was verified using qPCR in validation group samples stored under the same conditions, and two multiple logistic regression models were constructed. The average absolute deviation of differences between the predicted and actual retention times of the three types of body fluids in the test set using two estimation methods was 2.15 and 2.06 days, respectively. In conclusion, this study has discovered four novel microorganisms related to the retention time of blood and semen and has preliminarily constructed the TsD prediction models, providing a new direction for future forensic research on the inference of TsD in blood and semen stains., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: This study was conducted with the approval of the IRB of school of Basic Medical Science, Central South University (No. 2021-KT07). Research involving human participants and/or animals: This study involves human participants. Informed consent: All participants were included after providing written informed consent. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interest., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Straw degradation was slow under low temperature environments. A cold-tolerant consortium LHWA was constructed by Bacillus cereus, Acinetobacter lwoffii, Penicillium griseofulvum, and Talaromyces funiculosus. The consortium and culture conditions were optimized. Under 4 °C cultivation, liquid fermentation showed a 55.52 % straw weight loss rate after 30 days with inoculum (8.4 %, w/v), peptone (0.4 %, w/v) and Fe 2+ concentration (0.06 %, w/v); solid fermentation showed 58.36 % straw weight loss rate after 60 days. According to transcriptomic analysis, the mechanism of cold resistance in B. cereus is to improve the fluidity of the cell membrane, including changing the composition of fatty acids, increasing the expression of cold stress response proteins and cold shock proteins. The constructed consortium LHWA significantly improved the straw degradation efficiency under cold environments., (Copyright © 2024 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with accelerated epigenetic aging over time among the Hispanic/Latino population remains unknown. This study examined the longitudinal association between ACEs and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), as well as potential effect modifiers, among a sample of Hispanic/Latino adults., Methods: We analyzed 960 Hispanic/Latino adults with DNA methylation (DNAm) profile data from two visits (approximately six years apart) sampled from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). We used PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPace, a biomarker for the pace of biological aging, to calculate epigenetic aging deviations. Linear mixed models were fit to estimate the association between ACEs and EAA measured by each epigenetic aging measure, adjusting for sex, age, and parental highest education level. Sex and nativity were also assessed as potential effect modifiers., Results: A one-unit increase in ACE score was associated with a 0.16-year (95 %CI: 0.06, 0.26, p = 0.002) higher GrimAge acceleration (AgeAccelGrim) at Visit 1. Among US-born individuals, a one-unit increase in ACE score was associated with a 0.35-year (95 %CI: 0.12, 0.58, p = 0.003) higher AgeAccelGrim and 0.01-biological year/calendar year (95 %CI: 0.01, 0.02, p = 0.0003) higher DunedinPACE at Visit 1, but statistically significantly weaker associations were found among foreign/US-territory born individuals (p for interaction=0.039 in AgeAccelGrim and 0.001 in DuendinPACE). No association was found between ACEs and the rate of change in EAA between two visits., Conclusion: ACEs are associated with a higher EAA over time among Hispanic/Latino adults at a constant rate. Hispanic/Latino born in the US are more susceptible to the increased EAA related to ACEs compared with those born in a foreign country or US territory., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Decorin (DCN) is a member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan family within the extracellular matrix, playing a role in the growth and development of hair follicle (HF). Exosomes serve as significant mediators of intercellular communication and are involved in the cyclic regeneration of HF. Exosomes derived from dermal papilla cells (DPC-Exos) are essential for the cycling and regrowth of HF. The present study demonstrated that DCN treatment significantly enhances the proliferation of DPCs, thereby promoting hair follicle growth. miRNA sequencing revealed 442 differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs. The regulatory mechanism of exosomal miR-129-2-3p, an up-regulated differential miRNA, was further investigated. The study identified its role in transporting DPCs to HFSCs through DPC-Exos. miR-129-2-3p has been shown to suppress the expression of genes associated with HF growth and development, lower the expression of genes and proteins downstream of the TGF-β signaling pathway, promote HFSC proliferation, and decrease HFSC apoptosis. Furthermore, miR-129-2-3p displayed an antagonistic effect on activating the TGF-β/SMAD3 signaling pathway induced by SRI-011381. The findings indicate that DCN-mediated DPC-Exos influence HF growth and development through the miR-129-2-3p/SMAD3/TGF-β regulatory axis. These results may facilitate novel strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of human hair disorders, in addition to enhancing industrial wool production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Here, a facile self-assembly strategy was used to fabricate octenyl succinic anhydride starch (OSAS) nano micelles for encapsulation of K-carrageenan comprising curcumin (Cur) (KC/Cur-OSAS). KC/Cur-OSAS was used as a multipurpose edible food packaging coating on grapes. The characteristics, storage stability, photoactivated antibacterial properties and antimicrobial mechanisms of KC/Cur-OSAS were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated the potential photoactivated antibacterial performance of KC/Cur-OSAS gel coating, with an antibacterial efficacy of more than of 99 % against S. aureus and E. coli. Moreover, the coating showed good biocompatibility and 3D printing potential, and could reduce dewatering, prevent nutrient degradation, inhibit bacterial proliferation, increase nutritional content, maintain food quality, and extend the shelf life of food by more than 3 days, when conserved at a temperature of 25 °C. Hence, the light-driven KC/Cur-OSAS coatings prepared in this has great potential for improving nutrient loading and extending the shelf life of perishable food and can be used for developing food packaging and preservation materials., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There is strong evidence connecting increased serum lipid levels to cardiovascular disorders, including atherosclerosis. Statins is prescribed as the primary medication to decrease lipid levels. Recent research has demonstrated that hydrogen possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties by modulating the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α, ultimately leading to the preservation of lipid homeostasis. Magnesium hydride (MgH2) is a prolonged stable hydrogen storage medium, which can be utilized to investigate its synergistic lipid-lowering effect with statins and its detailed molecular mechanism, both in vivo and in vitro. To ascertain the safety and efficacy of MgH2, we executed a comprehensive research of its influence on both physiological and pathological metrics. We noted a substantial diminution in lipid levels when MgH2 was integrated with atorvastatin, as attested by oil red staining. Furthermore, we scrutinized the regulatory effect of MgH2 on cytochrome P450 3A, which is a metabolic enzyme of statins, and discovered that it could be reduced by the MgH2. Concluding from our results, we propose that MgH2 inhibits the expression of cytochrome P450 3A in the liver and exerts an auxiliary lipid-lowering effect by increasing the blood concentration of statins. By augmenting our comprehension of MgH2's role in ameliorating lipid metabolism, we aspire to develop more promising therapies in the future., (Copyright © 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Medical Gas Research.)

Rapid control of hemorrhage is vital in first-aid and surgery. As representative of emergency hemostatic materials, inorganic porous materials achieve rapid hemostasis through concentrating protein coagulation factors by water adsorption to accelerate the coagulation reaction process, however their efficacy is often limited by the insufficient contact of material with blood and the lack of blood clot strength. Herein, we report an ultrafast dispersing and in situ gelation sponge (SG/DB) based on anchoring interface effect for hemorrhage control using freeze drying method after mixing fish scale gel (SG) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) pre-crystallized diatom biosilica (DB). This design retains the hierarchical porous structure of DB in SG matrix, and granting the SG/DB the capability to disperse ultrafast, achieving dissolution in both water and blood within 3 s. The DB and SG released by disintegration of SG/DB can activate intrinsic coagulation pathway and strengthen fibrin clot gelation through the anchoring interface effect, even realizing coagulation of anticoagulant whole blood without calcium ion activation. Animal studies showed 10%T-SG/DB has superior hemostatic properties to various commercially available hemostatic materials (rat liver and artery, 100 s; rabbit liver, artery, and heart, 3.2, 4.6, and 2.9 min, respectively), reducing bleeding by 30 % compared to QuikClot Combat Gauze®, and is easily removable without residue., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosure: There are no conflicts of interest.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide, with its progression closely tied to the tumor microenvironment. To address the limitations and adverse effects of conventional therapies, algal polysaccharides and their nanoparticle derivatives have emerged as promising and effective anti-breast cancer agents. These bioactive compounds, derived from algae, are distinguished by their natural origin, non-toxicity, and significant medical relevance. Notably, algal polysaccharide-based nanoparticles exhibit advantageous properties such as hydrophilicity, biodegradability, prolonged circulation, and selective accumulation in tumor tissues. This review explores the relationship between the structural attributes of algal polysaccharides and their therapeutic efficacy. It further highlights the advantages of algal polysaccharide-based nanoparticles as drug delivery systems, particularly their potential in tumor targeting and overcoming multidrug resistance, thereby providing a theoretical foundation for their application in breast cancer treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competition is ubiquitous and an important driver of tree mortality. Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs, including soluble sugars and starch) and C-N-P stoichiometries are affected by the competitive status of trees and, in turn, physiologically determine tree growth and survival in competition. However, the physiological mechanisms behind tree mortality caused by intraspecific competition remain unclear. Here, we ask how the performance (growth vigour) of trees in intraspecific competition relates to NSC and C-N-P stoichiometry traits. Through the field surveys at neighbourhood levels, we demonstrated that competition is responsible for tree mortality in an even-aged Pinus massoniana forest. The whole NSCs and C-N-P stoichiometries of trees in different growth vigour classes (i.e., flourishing, moderate, and dying) were then analysed to elucidate how trees fail in competition. We found that (1) the concentrations of NSCs and their components in stems, coarse roots and fine roots were constant across tree growth vigour classes, but were significantly lower in the leaves, twigs and branches of moderate and dying trees than those of flourishing trees, and (2) the C, N and P concentration and their respective ratios were constant in all the tissues across tree growth vigour classes, but the nitrogen stoichiometric homeostasis index (H N ) of flourishing trees was significantly higher than that of moderate and dying trees. The results demonstrated that both carbohydrate deficiency and low stoichiometric homeostasis are potential physiological drivers underlying tree mortality caused by intraspecific competition. This study also emphasizes the importance of considering stoichiometric homeostasis in research on tree competition and forest dynamics., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

HER2-positive gastric cancer (GC), a unique molecular subtype, has garnered significant interest in recent years. Here, we review clinical trial data on advanced HER2-positive GC from the past 15 years. Trastuzumab plus standard chemotherapy remain the first-line treatment. The initial survival benefits conferred by immune checkpoint inhibitors plus trastuzumab and standard chemotherapy are encouraging. The combination of ramucirumab and mono-chemotherapy, as well as the antibody conjugated drug trastuzumab deruxtecan, is the recommended second-line regimen. Treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors plus ramucirumab and mono-chemotherapy shows promise. Despite the limited treatment options for third line and beyond, development of novel therapeutic strategies is expected. Although clinical cure of advanced HER2-positive GC is unlikely, current clinical studies offer valuable insight into regimens that prolong survival., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This article is concerned with the deterministic finite automaton-mode-dependent (DFAMD) exponential stability problem of impulsive switched memristive neural networks (SMNNs) with aperiodic asynchronous attacks and the network covert channel. First, unlike the existing literature on SMNNs, this article focuses on DFA to drive mode switching, which facilitates precise system behavior modeling based on deterministic rules and input characters. To eliminate the periodicity and consistency constraints of traditional attacks, this article presents the multichannel aperiodic asynchronous denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, allowing for the diversity of attack sequences. Meanwhile, the network covert channel with a security layer is exploited and its dynamic adjustment is realized jointly through the dynamic weighted try-once-discard (DWTOD) protocol and selector, which can reduce network congestion, improve data security, and enhance system defense capability. In addition, this article proposes a novel mode-dependent hybrid controller composed of output feedback control and mode-dependent impulsive control, with the goal of increasing system flexibility and efficiency. Inspired by the semi-tensor product (STP) technique, Lyapunov-Krasovskii functions, and inequality technology, the novel exponential stability conditions are derived. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed approach., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Consensus regarding the hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for colorectal cancer (CRC) regimen remains elusive. In this study, patient-derived tumor organoids from CRC were utilized as a preclinical model for in vitro drug testing of HIPEC regimens commonly used in clinical practice. This approach was used to facilitate the clinical formulation of HIPEC., Method: Tumor tissues and corresponding clinical data were obtained from patients diagnosed with CRC at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University. Qualified samples were cultured and passaged. We aimed to assess the sensitivity of in vitro hyperthermic perfusion using five different regimens, i.e. mitomycin C, mitomycin C combined with cisplatin, mitomycin C combined with 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and oxaliplatin combined with 5-fluorouracil., Results: Tumor organoids obtained from 46 patients with CRC were cultured, and in vitro hyperthermic perfusion experiments were conducted on 42 organoids using five different regimens. The average inhibition rate of mitomycin C was 85.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 80.4-89.9%), mitomycin C combined with cisplatin was 85.5% (95% CI 80.2-90.7%), mitomycin C combined with 5-fluorouracil was 65.6% (95% CI 59.6-71.6%), oxaliplatin was 37.9% (95% CI 31.5-44.3%), and oxaliplatin combined with 5-fluorouracil was 40.7% (95% CI 33.9-47.5%)., Conclusion: In vitro hyperthermic perfusion demonstrates that the inhibition rate of mitomycin C, both alone and in combination with cisplatin, surpasses that of the combination of mitomycin C with 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin. In clinical practice, the combination of mitomycin C and cisplatin can be regarded as the optimal choice for HIPEC in CRC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Effective communication is essential in delivering high-quality patient care, and in recent years, resident education has expanded to focus on nontechnical skills and communication training. The "Everything DiSC" model is a communication inventory tool used to help employers and employees gain insight into how an individual may communicate within a team and how others may perceive similarities and differences in communication styles, comprising of Dominance (D), Influence (i), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C). In this report, we describe our experience mapping the DiSC model to the Kern 6-step framework for curriculum development and summarize residents' feedback several years following its implementation., Design: A general needs assessment was conducted to identify the problem of a lack of a formalized communication and leadership education and performed a general needs assessment. A curriculum was developed for a single academic surgical residency program to address development of nontechnical skills. We designed the leadership curriculum to be given over 4 sessions, with topics including from leadership styles, working within groups, feedback, and wellness. We utilized the DiSC tool, which is a 79-question survey, to establish communication styles of each of our residents and to determine the DiSC style., Setting: This study was conducted at a single academic institution within a surgical residency training program., Participants: This study included surgical residents at a single academic surgical training program., Results: The initial needs assessment survey was completed by 28 of 36 residents, with all residents surveyed (100%) agreeing that communication training was important. In contrast, only 21% agreed that they had received adequate training on communication during residency. 28 residents completed the DiSC Year-in-Review Survey, which indicated that overall, the residents felt that DiSC was useful throughout the year. The majority of residents listed learning and understanding other people's communication style as what they appreciated most about the DiSC sessions., Conclusions: The inclusion of behavioral assessment tools within surgical residency education can provide an opportunity for residents to evaluate their communication techniques and provide a gained awareness across various settings. Continued focus on communication skills, such as with the use of the DiSC model, can enhance patient care at any institution providing such training. This leadership curriculum aided our surgical residency program and can likely facilitate similar value within other training institutions., (Copyright © 2025 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Effective coalbed methane extraction is a key strategy for boosting natural gas production and storage in addition to raising the safety of the production standard of coal mines. In order to examine the effects of important variables such as pore parameters, desorption rate under temperature and pressure conditions, and seepage capacity on coalbed methane production during the coalbed methane extraction process. The low-temperature nitrogen adsorption tests (LTN 2 A), methane adsorption/desorption experiments at various temperatures, and the changes in the desorption rate constants, the initial desorption rate, and the desorption rate decay index with temperature and pressure were quantitatively analyzed. And COMSOL software was used to simulate the seepage characteristics of coalbed methane under various reservoir pressures. The results demonstrated that the large interior pore volumes of the samples are beneficial for gas adsorption. Because of its better pore connectivity, the QL sample had a desorption amount that was 55.65% and 48.01% higher at 313.15 and 333.15 K than the WJB sample. The three parameters of k , V 1 and k t are at a high level with increasing temperature; hence, the desorption rate peaks at 333.15 K and pressures between 1 and 4 MPa. Furthermore, the WJB sample is more sensitive to the temperature than the QL sample. The COMSOL simulation shows that the methane pressure inside the reservoir can be released better when the reservoir pressure is below 10 MPa. The Darcy seepage rate is fast and stable, which is favorable for the seepage of coalbed methane. The findings show a relationship between the desorption and seepage properties of CBM and its pore structure, which may offer empirical and theoretical support for the successful development of the CBM.

This was a retrospective which explored the effects of psychological nursing in combination with Guizhifuling capsule on the mental state and postoperative pain of induced abortion patients. From January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023, 90 patients with induced abortion in Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University were included, and randomly divided into a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). The CG accepted routine nursing and Guizhifuling capsule. In contrast, the EG accepted routine nursing, psychological nursing, and Guizhifuling capsule. Patients' psychological condition, postoperative pain, quality of life, compliance along with nursing satisfaction in two groups was compared. After intervention, relative to the CG, the EG presented lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores, lower pain scores when patients were awake under anesthesia, 0.5 h after surgery and 1 h after surgery, higher SF-36 scores, as well as higher total compliance and nursing satisfaction rates. We conclude that psychological nursing combined with Guizhifuling capsule can relieve the mental state, reduce the postoperative pain, and enhance the quality of life of women undergoing induced abortion., Competing Interests: The Authors declared no conflict of interest, (African Journal of Reproductive Health © 2025.)

A series of polyaryl-substituted fluoranthenes is built in good to excellent yields via Earth-abundant metal-catalyzed [2 + 2+ 2] cycloaddition of 1,6-diynes with alkynes is developed. This method runs smoothly using a cheap catalytic system (CoI 2 /dppe/Zn) as the catalyst. Generally, this strategy exhibits low cost, high efficiency, good atom economy, and good functional group tolerance. Additionally, both terminal alkynes, especially heteroaryl-substituted acetylenes, and internal alkyne, tolerate smoothly in this work. Furthermore, the photophysical properties of the selected fluoranthenes is also investigated.

Monolayer two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged as leading candidates for next-generation electronic devices beyond silicon, owing to their atomically thin structure and superior electrostatic control. However, their integration into industrial applications remains limited due to high densities of lattice defects and challenges in achieving stable and effective doping. In this work, we present a passivation and doping technique that significantly recovers and enhances the electrical properties of monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ). Our defect-facilitated (NH 4 ) 2 S surface passivation approach has achieved robust enhancements in both the on-state and off-state performance of monolayer WSe 2 p-type field-effect transistors (p-FETs), enhancing channel mobility 3-fold, reaching a subthreshold slope ( SS min ) value of 70 mV/dec, on-currents of 110 μA/μm, and I max / I min > 10 9 , while maintaining stability across a range of conditions. Furthermore, we establish a strong correlation between device off-state performance and the full width at half-maximum (fwhm) of the Raman characterization peak. The defect engineering approach, combined with (NH 4 ) 2 S treatment at room temperature, offers a viable pathway for passivation and substitutional doping, advancing the potential for improved charge transport in future 2D TMD-based electronic devices.

Objective: This study developed and validated a stacked ensemble machine learning model to predict the risk of acute kidney injury in patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by sepsis., Design: A retrospective study based on patient data from public databases., Participants: This study analysed 1295 patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by septicaemia from the US Intensive Care Database., Methods: From the MIMIC database, data of patients with acute pancreatitis and sepsis were obtained to construct machine learning models, which were internally and externally validated. The Boruta algorithm was used to select variables. Then, eight machine learning algorithms were used to construct prediction models for acute kidney injury (AKI) occurrence in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. A new stacked ensemble model was developed using the Stacking ensemble method. Model evaluation was performed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), precision-recall (PR) curve, accuracy, recall and F1 score. The Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) method was used to explain the models., Main Outcome Measures: AKI in patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by sepsis., Results: The final study included 1295 patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by sepsis, among whom 893 cases (68.9%) developed acute kidney injury. We established eight base models, including Logit, SVM, CatBoost, RF, XGBoost, LightGBM, AdaBoost and MLP, as well as a stacked ensemble model called Multimodel. Among all models, Multimodel had an AUC value of 0.853 (95% CI: 0.792 to 0.896) in the internal validation dataset and 0.802 (95% CI: 0.732 to 0.861) in the external validation dataset. This model demonstrated the best predictive performance in terms of discrimination and clinical application., Conclusion: The stack ensemble model developed by us achieved AUC values of 0.853 and 0.802 in internal and external validation cohorts respectively and also demonstrated excellent performance in other metrics. It serves as a reliable tool for predicting AKI in patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by sepsis., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.)

A distinguishing characteristic of Josephson junctions (JJs) is their nonlinear current-voltage response, which fulfills the requirements for superconducting quantum computing. Achieving atomically sharp interfaces between superconductors and weak links in JJs can realize the superconductivity proximity effect, advancing the investigation of intrinsic properties in unconventional superconductors and their potential applications. Here, a contamination-free approach to fabricating planar JJs using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is presented. The self-assembled Bi buffer layer forms a ladder-like framework on Si (111) 7 × 7 reconstructions, consisting of a wetting layer of Bi interspersed with Bi crystalline islands. Upon depositing Pb on this Bi buffer layer, Pb atoms dominantly nucleate on the Bi wetting layer, bypassing the Bi islands to form arrayed JJs. The selective area growth of Pb thin films is attributed to the higher nucleation densities for Pb on the Bi wetting layer compared to Bi crystalline islands. In situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements reveal the superconducting correlations within the interior of junctions. The study establishes an in-vacuo deposition method for fabricating pristine JJs, facilitating the potential investigation of emergent superconducting phenomena in designed heterostructures., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Rationale and Objectives: Accurate identification of microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is crucial for treatment and prognosis. Single-modality and feature fusion models using manual segmentation fail to provide insights into MVI. This study aims to develop a DeepLab V3+ model for automated segmentation of HCC magnetic resonance (MR) images and a decision fusion model to predict MVI and early recurrence (ER)., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 209 HCC patients (146 in the training and 63 in the test cohorts). The performance of DeepLab V3+ for HCC MR image segmentation was evaluated using Dice Loss and F1 score. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) assessed feature extraction reliability. Spearman's correlation analyzed the relationship between tumor volumes from automated and manual segmentation, with agreement evaluated using Bland-Altman plots. Model performance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis. A nomogram predicted ER of HCC after surgery, with Kaplan-Meier analysis for 2-year recurrence-free survival (RFS)., Results: The DeepLab V3+ model demonstrated high segmentation accuracy, with strong agreement in feature extraction (ICC: 0.802-0.999). The decision fusion model achieved AUCs of 0.968 and 0.878 for MVI prediction, and the nomogram for predicting ER yielded AUCs of 0.782 and 0.690 in the training and test cohorts, respectively, with significant RFS differences between the risk groups., Conclusion: The DeepLab V3+ model accurately segmented HCC. The decision fusion model significantly improved MVI prediction, and the nomogram offered valuable insights into recurrence risk for clinical decision-making., Availability of Data and Materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Evidence regarding the associations between co-exposure to multiple metals and diabetes risk was scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of multiple metals with diabetes risk using multiple statistical methods. This cross-sectional study included 192 diabetic patients and 189 healthy subjects. We employed inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine the plasma concentrations of 18 metals. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, logistic regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were applied to evaluate associations of multiple metals with diabetes risk comprehensively. These models consistently suggested that aluminium and selenium were positively associated with diabetes risk, while manganese, rubidium, and lead were negatively associated with diabetes risk. Age-specific differences of selenium and sex-specific differences of manganese in diabetes risk were also observed based on stratified analyses. According to RCS analyses, we obtained dose-response relationships between metals and diabetes risk:(1) there were inverted U-shaped associations of plasma aluminium and selenium with diabetes risk, with the threshold close to 20.5µg/L and 75.9µg/L, respectively (both P for overall < 0.05; both P for non-linearity < 0.05). (2) There were L-shaped associations of rubidium and lead with diabetes risk, with the turning point close to 144.5µg/L and 2.5µg/L, respectively (both P for overall < 0.05; both P for non-linearity < 0.05). (3) Manganese was linearly and negatively correlated with diabetes risk when concentrations of manganese were less than approximately 4.2 μg/L (P for overall < 0.05; P for non-linearity = 0.268). The BKMR model also revealed a negative combined effect of metal mixtures on diabetes risk and potential interactions between six pairs of metals (aluminium-manganese, aluminium-selenium, aluminium-rubidium, aluminium-lead, manganese-selenium, and manganese-rubidium). In summary, we need to pay attention to the role of low plasma levels of aluminium, selenium, manganese, rubidium, and lead in diabetes, especially regarding their safety windows., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The long-term effects and outcomes of human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remain poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the extended safety and efficacy of MSC treatment in severe patients with COVID-19 who participated in our earlier randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, with follow-up conducted over 3 years., Methods: One hundred patients with severe COVID-19 were randomized to receive either an MSC infusion (n = 65, 4 × 10 7 cells/dose, on days 0, 3, and 6) or a placebo, with both groups receiving the standard of care. At 36 months post-MSC therapy, patients were followed up to long-term safety and efficacy, particularly the effects of MSC therapy on persistent COVID-19 symptoms. Evaluated outcomes included lung imaging results, 6-min walking distance (6-MWD), pulmonary function test results, quality of life scores based on the Short Form-36 (SF-36) health survey, Long COVID symptoms, new-onset comorbidities, tumor marker levels, and rates of COVID-19 reinfection., Results: Three years post-treatment, 46.94% (23/49) of patients in the MSC group and 34.48% (10/29) in the placebo group showed normal findings on computed tomography (CT) images (odds ratio [OR] = 1.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.65-4.34). The general health (GH) score from the SF-36 was higher in the MSC group (67.0) compared to the placebo group (50.0), with a difference of 12.86 (95% CI: 1.44-24.28). Both groups showed similar results for total lung severity scores (TSS), 6-MWD, pulmonary function tests, and Long COVID symptoms. No significant differences between groups were observed in new-onset complications (including tumorigenesis) or tumor marker levels. After adjusting for China's dynamic zero-COVID-19 strategy, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection rates were 53.06% (26/49) in the MSC group and 67.86% (19/28) in the placebo group (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.20-1.41)., Conclusions: These findings support the long-term safety of MSC therapy in patients with severe COVID-19 over 3 years. MSC treatment may offer potential benefits for lung recovery and improved quality of life in patients experiencing Long COVID symptoms., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04288102. Registered 28 February 2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04288102 ., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: (1) Title of the approved project: “Treatment with human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).” (2) Name of the institutional approval committee or unit: the Ethics Committee of the Fifth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital. (3) Approval number: 2020–013-D. (4) Date of approval: February 24, 2020. Informed consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all candidates or their legal representatives before the screening process and initiation of any research. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: WQY, TYD, and YZ are current employees of Wuhan Optics Valley Zhongyuan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. All authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: α5-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α5-nAChR) participates in chronic stress-promoted lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression. Neuropilin and tolloid-like 2 (NETO2) contributes to fear expression and extinction, which is related to tumorigenesis. CHRNA5 (encoding α5-nAChR) gene profiling revealed a reduction in NETO2 expression following CHRNA5 knockdown. Nevertheless, the connection between α5-nAChR and NETO2 in LUAD progression induced by chronic stress remains unclear., Methods: RNA-Seq and bioinformatics database were used for analyzing the expression as well as correlation of α5-nAChR, together with NETO2 in LUAD. α5-nAChR and NETO2 expression were detected using immunohistochemistry in LUAD tissue microarrays, chronic restraint stress (CRS) and chronic unpredictable stress (CUMS) mice tissues. In lung adenocarcinoma A549 and H1299 cells, the expression of α5-nAChR, NETO2, p-CAMKII, p-STAT3 and vimentin induced by acetylcholine/nicotine was examined by western blot. The interaction of α5-nAChR with NETO2 in lung adenocarcinoma cells was detected by Co-immunoprecipitation assay and modeled using molecular docking. EdU assay and colony formation assay were conducted to evaluate cell proliferation, while wound healing assay as well as transwell assay assessed the migration and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells., Results: α5-nAChR expression was related to NETO2 expression, low survival rate, staging as well as smoking status in LUAD dataset as well as tissue microarrays. The correlation between α5-nAChR and NETO2 was validated in nude mice xenograft tissues. α5-nAChR as well as NETO2 expression correlated in CRS and CUMS mice tissues. In vitro, acetylcholine/nicotine mediated NETO2, p-CAMKII, p-STAT3 and vimentin expression via α5-nAChR. α5-nAChR interacted with NETO2 as well as CAMKII in LUAD cells. α5-nAChR/NETO2 signaling contributed to LUAD cell proliferation, migration and invasion., Conclusions: The above results uncover a new chronic stress-promoted LUAD signaling pathway: α5-nAChR/NETO2 axis contributes to chronic stress-promoted LUAD cell proliferation, migration and invasion., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This research was approved by the Ethics committee of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University and conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki (approval NO. JNCH2021-77). The research utilizing human tissue samples was conducted in accordance with the approval of the ethics committee of Shanghai Outdo Biotech (approval NO. SHXC2021YF01). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients prior to participation. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Study Question: Could real-time monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the embryology laboratory provide meaningful early warning for potential harm from the environment?, Summary Answer: Even in a laboratory environment with a total VOC concentration lower than the recommendation of the Cairo Consensus, the real-time monitored VOC concentrations are associated with changes in embryo morphological parameters., What Is Known Already: VOCs have been considered a key environmental detriment in embryology laboratories. However, the current VOC thresholds established by the Cairo consensus were based on the practical experience of air pollution cases, and a scientifically derived threshold is lacking., Study Design, Size, Duration: The study included 7076 oocyte collection (OPU) cycles carried out between June 2020 and December 2022 in the Center for Reproductive Medicine of the affiliated Chenggong Hospital of Xiamen University, 6306 of which resulted in at least one embryo transfer (ET) attempt during the study. VOC monitoring data were recorded every 10 min. The average and peak concentrations of total VOCs and formaldehyde during culture were associated with embryo parameters and implantation following the first ET attempt of the cycle in generalized estimating equations and generalized additive models., Main Results and the Role of Chance: Real-time monitoring of VOCs showed a dynamic of VOC concentration in the laboratory. The concentration reached peaks during the working hours of the days and working days of the week and fell quickly at night and on weekends. The average concentrations of VOCs during the culture period were linearly associated with decreased early cleavage (OR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.99), decreased Day 3 compaction (OR 0.51, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.83), increased asymmetry (OR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.25), and increased grade C trophectoderm (TE) (OR 1.99, 95% CI: 1.32, 3.01). On the other hand, increased Day 3 arrest, delayed blastocyst formation, and decreased grade A TE showed a non-linear association with VOCs, suggesting a possible threshold of effect. In the first transfer attempt, negative associations were observed between maximal formaldehyde concentrations and pregnancy in both fresh transfer (RR 0.971, 95% CI: 0.94, 0.99) and freeze-all frozen-thawed ET (RR 0.959, 95% CI: 0.92, 0.99) cycles., Limitations, Reasons for Caution: The sensitivity and specificity of the monitor are not comparable to the standard protocols, such as chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Due to the lack of ability to identify the chemical nature of the components of VOCs, the toxicity and source of the VOCs were largely unknown. The representative sampling of the laboratory air may not necessarily reflect the exposure of embryos., Wider Implications of the Findings: While the environment of the embryology laboratory has been significantly improved, the data suggested that a low VOC level could still be a concern. Due to the dynamic of VOC concentration in the laboratory air, periodic monitoring may fail to capture the increased VOC levels and give an early alarm., Study Funding/competing Interest(s): This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 22176159], the Xiamen Medical Advantage subspecialty construction project [grant number 2018296], and the Wu Jieping Medical Foundation [grant number 320.6750.2024-6-14]. All authors declare no competing interests., Trial Registration Number: N/A., (© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Amyloid fibrils have emerged as excellent templates and building blocks for the development of ordered functional materials with considerable potential in biomedical applications. Here, lysozyme amyloid fibrils (Lys-AFs) are employed as templates for the in situ synthesis of ceria nanozymes (Lys-AFs-Ceria) with ultrafine dimensions, an optimized Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ ratio, and uniform distribution on the fibril surface, addressing the challenges of low catalytic efficiency and high susceptibility to aggregation typical of traditional methods. As a proof of concept, it is further applied Lys-AFs-Ceria to develop hydrogel/microneedle for treating bacteria-infected diabetic wounds via non-covalent interactions between polyphenols and amyloid fibrils incorporating glucose oxidase (GOX). The hydrogel/microneedle facilitates superoxide dismutase and catalase cascade catalysis by Lys-AFs-Ceria, and integrates GOX-mediated glucose consumption, synergistically achieving glucose reduction, reactive oxygen species elimination, and hypoxia alleviation in the diabetic wound infection microenvironment. In addition to antibacterial properties and tissue regeneration promotion of Lys-AFs scaffold, Lys-AFs-Ceria regulates macrophages polarization toward an anti-inflammatory M2 state. Collectively, these attributes contribute to the enhanced efficacy of diabetic wound healing, with in vivo studies demonstrating increased healing efficiency following a single application, and more in general an effective strategy toward high-catalytic and stable nanozymes., (© 2025 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Water pollution by dyes is a serious environmental issue of modern society that needs to be addressed effectively. Herein, a promising adsorbent, i.e., 3D composite aerogel, was developed by using reduced graphene oxide and silk fibroin (rGO-SF) via hydrothermal and freeze-drying techniques. The efficiency of the prepared aerogel toward methylene blue (MB) dye adsorption was explored in batch adsorption experiments. A study revealed the adsorption capacity of rGO-SF120 as 249.89 mg/g toward methylene blue (MB) dye. The aerogel also selectively adsorbs MB over other dyes, such as rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene orange (MO). The adsorption process was mainly chemical (as data fitted well to both pseudo-second-order and Elovich kinetic models) and followed the Langmuir model, indicating that it formed a single layer of dye on its surface. Overall, the rGO-SF120 aerogel is an effective and potential candidate for treating dye-loaded water with high efficiency.

Maladaptive kidney repair after injury is associated with a loss of mitochondrial homeostasis, but the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. Moreover, it remains unclear whether this mitochondrial change contributes to maladaptive kidney repair or the development of chronic kidney problems after injury. Here, we report that the transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC1α), a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, was persistently downregulated during maladaptive kidney repair after repeated low-dose cisplatin nephrotoxicity or unilateral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Administration of the PGC1α activator ZLN005 after either kidney injury not only preserved mitochondria but also attenuated kidney dysfunction, tubular damage, interstitial fibrosis, and inflammation. PGC1α downregulation in these models was associated with p53 activation. Notably, knockout of p53 from proximal tubules prevented PGC1α downregulation, attenuated chronic kidney pathologies and minimized functional decline. Inhibition of p53 with pifithrin-α, a cell permeable p53 inhibitor, had similar effects. Mechanistically, p53 bound to the PGC1α gene promoter during maladaptive kidney repair and this binding was suppressed by pifithrin-α. Together, our results indicate that p53 is induced during maladaptive kidney repair to repress PGC1α transcriptionally, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction for the development of chronic kidney problems. Activation of PGC1α and inhibition of p53 may improve kidney repair after injury and prevent the development of chronic kidney problems., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The current traditional treatment for bacterial infections is to treat them with antibiotics, and the misuse of antibiotics can lead to an increase in bacterial resistance. In contrast, the development of new antibiotics is much slower than the speed of adaptation of drug-resistant bacteria, making it necessary to develop a drug that does not rely on antibiotics. Therefore, based on the advantages of photothermal therapy, NIR II-responsive gold hollow nanorods (GHNRs) were developed to overcome the limitation of bacterial drug resistance in conventional bacterial therapy. GHNRs can quickly respond to a 980 nm laser with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 41.78%. The high temperature produced by GHNRs can effectively kill Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , providing a new strategy for the clinical treatment of bacterial infectious diseases without antibiotic dependence.

The objective of this study is to explore the association of plasma metal concentrations with impaired cognitive function in different genotypes of ATG7 using multiple models. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural China among 994 individuals aged 30 years or older. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Genetic analysis focused on two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the autophagy-related gene ATG7 (rs2606757 and rs8154). Plasma concentrations of metals were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Restricted cubic splines were used to explore the association between serum metal concentration and the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment in individuals with various genotypes. Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) models were used to explore the interactions between individual metals. In a restricted cubic spline model, there is a nonlinear relationship between plasma concentration of Cd and the occurrence of cognitive impairment in individuals carrying the AA (P of Nonlinear = 0.008) and AT (P of Nonlinear = 0.007) genotypes at the rs2606757. However, in people carrying the TT genotype at the rs2606757 locus, the concentration of metals in plasma was not significantly associated with cognitive impairment (P of Nonlinear = 0.534). The results of the BKMR model are consistent with those of the restricted cubic spline model. The TT genotype at rs2606757 in ATG7 appears to confer greater cognitive resilience against Cd-induced cognitive damage. These findings highlight the importance of considering gene-environment interactions in the context of cognitive impairment and suggest potential avenues for preventing cognitive decline in individuals exposed to Cd. Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms underlying these interactions., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: The study protocol was approved by the medical ethics committee of Guilin Medical University (No. 20180702–3), and the subjects who participated in the study signed an informed consent form. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations, that is, the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent to Participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent to Publish: Patients signed informed consent regarding publishing their data and photographs. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) generally has a favorable prognosis. However, more than 30% of early-stage LUAD cases relapse within 5 years of initial treatment, even following complete removal of the primary tumor. Identification of the factors contributing to early-stage LUAD metastasis is needed to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies. Here, we found upregulation of xylosyltransferase 1 (XYLT1), a glycosyltransferase that initiates biosynthesis of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) chains, in metastatic recurrent lesions of early-stage LUAD, which correlated with poor prognosis. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that XYLT1 promoted LUAD cell survival and metastasis by activating the NF-κB pathway. Mechanistically, XYLT1 interacted with IκBα and facilitated biosynthesis of sGAG-conjugated IκBα, which enhanced the interaction between IκBα and IKKs to promote proteasomal degradation of IκBα. These results illustrate that proteoglycan modification-mediated activation of NF-κB signaling is a driver of early-stage LUAD metastasis, providing a possibility for detection and intervention of early LUAD metastasis.

NiTi shape memory alloys produced via additive manufacturing are suffering low tensile strength, low total elongation, and unstable superelasticity, thus failing to meet the requirements of practical applications. Here, we report an strategy to substantially and synergistically improve the strength, ductility, and superelasticity of NiTi produced by laser powder bed fusion through establishing high-density Ni-rich local chemical inhomogeneity (LCI) entities within B2 matrix. Compared with other documented microstructures such as long-range ordered Ni 4 Ti 3 precipitates, the present Ni-rich LCI entities are unique to increase the resistance against dislocation slip, facilitate stress-induced martensitic transformation, and most importantly, relieve local stress concentration around micro-pore defects and entity interfaces. This specialized microstructure endows tensile superelasticity, i.e., tensile ultimate strength of 958.7 MPa, total tensile elongation of 11.2%, superelastic strain exceeding 7%, and superior cyclic stability. The results advance our capabilities in fabricating high-performance superelastic SMAs with complex geometries through additive manufacturing and LCI engineering., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, characterized by high genetic and cellular heterogeneity, especially within the tumor microenvironment., Objective: This study integrates single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) with genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using Bayesian deconvolution and machine learning techniques to unravel the genetic and functional complexity of lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells., Methods: We performed scRNA-seq and GWAS analysis to identify critical cell populations affected by genetic variations. Bayesian deconvolution and machine learning techniques were applied to investigate tumor progression, prognosis, and immune-epithelial cell interactions, particularly focusing on immune checkpoint markers such as PD-L1 and CTLA-4., Results: Our analysis highlights the importance of genes like SLC2A1, which regulates glucose metabolism and correlates with tumor invasiveness and poor prognosis. Immune-epithelial interactions suggest a suppressive tumor microenvironment, potentially hindering immune responses. Additionally, machine learning models identify core prognostic genes such as F12, GOLM1, and S100P, which are significantly associated with patient survival., Conclusions: This comprehensive approach provides novel insights into lung adenocarcinoma biology, emphasizing the role of genetic and immune factors in tumor progression. The findings support the development of personalized therapeutic strategies targeting both tumor cells and the immune microenvironment., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

We investigated the ability of 40 left-hemisphere brain-lesioned individuals with various diagnoses of aphasia to temporally synchronize the audio of a spoken word to its congruent video using a maximum-likelihood adaptive psychophysical procedure. We found a statistically significant effect of aphasia type, not explained by lesion volume, on measures of audiovisual (AV) synchrony. Brain-lesioned individuals with no symptoms of aphasia, and those with conduction aphasia performed on the synchrony task more similarly to age-matched neurotypical controls, whereas those with anomic aphasia performed the poorest. In addition, we examined the correlation between this ability and AV integration (fusion) and observed a significant correlation between measures of AV synchrony and fusion. An ROI analysis of stroke lesion maps showed that damage to the left posterior temporal regions adversely affected AV processing, although whole-brain univariate lesion-symptom mapping analyses did not yield any significant results. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the functional relationship between different AV processes in multimodal integration and their underlying cortical networks in the human brain., (© 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)

The global aging trend has posed significant challenges, rendering healthcare for older adults a crucial focus in medical research. Among the numerous health concerns related to aging, vascular aging and dysfunction are important risk factors and underlying causes of age-related diseases. Histone methylation and demethylation, which are involved in gene expression and cellular senescence, are closely associated with the occurrence and development of vascular aging. Consequently, this review aimed to identify the role of histone methylation in the pathogenesis of vascular aging and its potential for treating age-related vascular diseases and provided new insights into therapeutic strategies targeting the vascular system., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Massive of macrophages are recruited to the injured nerve to remove the axonal and myelin debris for creating a conducive micro-environment for nerve regeneration. However, the fate of macrophages after the debris clearing remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that the number of macrophages in the crush injured sciatic nerve of mice peaked at 7 days post injury (dpi) and then decreased significantly in the late stage of nerve injury. Mechanismly, the macrophage elimination was primarily attributed to TGF-β/Smad3 signaling dependent macrophage-myofibroblast transition (MMT), rather than apoptosis or out-migration. Furthermore, MMT caused collagen deposition is conducive to nerve regeneration. Both macrophage depletion via clodronate liposomes and MMT blockade using TGF-β/Smad3 inhibitor significantly reduced collagen deposition and impaired functional nerve regeneration. In summary, the present study indicates that TGF-β/Smad3 regulated MMT contributes to macrophage elimination and functional recovery in the injury nerve., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by the progressive stenosis of the intracranial internal carotid artery and the development of a collateral network in the brain. As medical imaging technology and artificial intelligence have advanced, various imaging methods have been widely used in the clinical diagnosis of MMD. In this study, we conducted bibliometric visualization of research papers about MMD and radiological features between 2000 and 2024, intending to explore the development status quo, hotspots, and future developments and contributing to studies on imaging in diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases., Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection was chosen as the source of publications for this study. By using VOSviewer and CiteSpace, articles were analyzed in terms of authors, countries, institutions, references, keywords, cited literatures, and so on., Results: We retrieved a collection of 1003 articles that substantiate a progressively ascendant trend in articles over the past 24 years. Japan, South Korea, and China were three major countries in this field. China's Capital Medical University was the leader in publication output, followed by Hokkaido University from Japan and Seoul National University from South Korea. The three authors with the most publications were Miki Fujimura, Teiji Tominaga, and Dong Zhang. World Neurosurgery was the journal with the most publications (85), while Stroke was the journal with the most co-citations (3305) in this field. Excluding MMD, the top three most frequently occurring keywords were "revascularization", "stroke", and "magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)". "High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI)", "digital subtraction angiography (DSA)", and "vessel wall imaging" were the top three keywords of recent interest in the field of radiological features., Conclusion: This article provides a scientific perspective from which researchers, especially doctors in neurosurgery and radiodiagnosis departments can visually find out about important trends and new areas of research directions in the field of MMD and radiological features., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

This review article delves into the multifaceted role of lactylation modification in antitumor therapy, revealing the complex interplay between lactylation modification and the tumor microenvironment (TME), metabolic reprogramming, gene expression, and immunotherapy. As an emerging epigenetic modification, lactylation has a significant impact on the metabolic pathways of tumor cells, immune evasion, gene expression regulation, and sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs. Studies have shown that lactylation modification significantly alters the development and therapeutic response of tumors by affecting metabolites in the TME, immune cell functions, and signaling pathways. In the field of immunotherapy, the regulatory role of lactylation modification provides a new perspective and potential targets for tumor treatment, including modulating the sensitivity of tumors to immunotherapy by affecting the expression of immune checkpoint molecules and the infiltration of immune cells. Moreover, research progress on lactylation modification in various types of tumors indicates that it may serve as a biomarker to predict patients' responses to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Overall, research on lactylation modification provides a theoretical foundation for the development of new tumor treatment strategies and holds promise for improving patient prognosis and quality of life. Future research will further explore the application potential of lactylation modification in tumor therapy and how to improve treatment efficacy by targeting lactylation modification., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. No funding was received for this study, and there are no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The authors confirm that the research presented in this manuscript was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Dysphagia-related safety incidents encompass near-miss events, no-harm occurrences, or harmful incidents associated with oral or enteral feeding methods. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the incidence rates of dysphagia-related safety incidents in older adults across various feeding methods., Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL databases to identify studies reporting dysphagia-related safety incidents in older adults. The feeding methods analyzed included oral feeding, nasogastric (NG) tube feeding, and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube feeding. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized studies, and cohort studies were included. The analysis adhered to the PRISMA guidelines, and meta-analytic outcomes were presented with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)., Results: A total of 30 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. The overall incidence rates of safety incidents were 13.8% for oral feeding, 23.9% for NG tube feeding, and 26.5% for PEG tube feeding. Aspiration pneumonia emerged as the most prevalent safety incident across all feeding methods, with incidence rates of 12.0% for oral feeding, 20.6% for NG tube feeding, and 12.4% for PEG tube feeding. Tube feeding methods were associated with diarrhea and wound infection. Additionally, specialized safety incidents were observed for each feeding method: suffocation in oral feeding; gastroesophageal reflux in NG tube feeding; and tube blockage, tube dislodgment, tube leakage, vomiting, nausea, site pain, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and peritonitis in PEG tube feeding., Conclusions: Dysphagia-related safety incidents in older adults demonstrated considerable variability in type and frequency across different feeding methods. Understanding these differences could provide healthcare professionals with valuable insights for targeted risk prediction and proactive management strategies to mitigate such incidents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Objective: To explore the impact of life rules (including individual's life habits and life patterns, such as diet, sleep, and learning styles) on mental health and behavioral problems among adolescent and youth students after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Sichuan, China and analyze the influencing factors of life rules., Methods: An online survey was conducted in middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities in Sichuan Province, China, from December 14, 2022, to February 28, 2023. Demographic information, COVID-19 epidemic-related questions, behavioral and mental health information were collected. Pearson chi-square tests and One-way ANOVA were used to compare the differences of drinking/smoking, suicidal ideation and attempts, internet addiction, anxiety, depression and PTSD among groups with different life rules. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of life rules., Results: A total of 82,873 eligible participants (aged 12-24 years) were included in this study, 40,519 participants (48.9%) reported that their life rules were partially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and 6,461 participants (7.8%) reported that their life rules were severely disrupted. A total of 61.2% of participants partially recovered their life rules, and 8.6% of participants did not recover their life rules. There were statistically significant differences among different groups in terms of drinking/smoking habits, frequency of drinking/smoking in the past year, volume of drinking/smoking, internet addiction, anxiety and depression symptoms, PTSD, suicidal ideation and attempts (all P < 0.01). There were significant differences in the degree of impact and recovery of life rules among different genders, residence, grade, family economic level, home study status, academic level, infection and isolation status (all P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Adolescent and youth students with disrupted life rules during and after the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly more mental health and behavioral problems. Targeted and specific psychosocial interventions should be urgently needed to reduce the mental health and behavioral problems among students., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study protocol was approved by the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University (No: 2022–1790). Written informed consent had be obtained from all participants and their schools. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Background: Severe hepatic steatosis can exacerbate Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), potentially leading to early graft dysfunction and primary non-function. In this study, we investigated the heterogeneity of different subpopulations of Urine-derived stem cells (USCs) to explore the most suitable cell subtype for treating severe steatotic liver IRI., Methods: This study utilized scRNA-seq and Bulk RNA-seq to investigate the transcriptional heterogeneity between Spindle-shaped USCs (SS-USCs) and Rice-shaped USCs (RS-USCs). Additionally, rat fatty Liver transplantation (LT) model, mouse fatty liver IRI model, and Steatotic Hepatocyte Hypoxia-Reoxygenation (SHP-HR) model were constructed. Extracellular vesicles derived from SS-USCs and RS-USCs were isolated and subjected to mass spectrometry analysis. The therapeutic effects of Spindle-shaped USCs Exosomes (SS-USCs-Exo) and Rice-shaped USCs Exosomes (RS-USCs-Exo) were explored, elucidating their potential mechanisms in inhibiting ferroptosis and alleviating IRI., Results: Multiple omics analyses confirmed that SS-USCs possess strong tissue repair and antioxidant capabilities, while RS-USCs have the potential to differentiate towards specific directions such as the kidney, nervous system, and skeletal system, particularly showing great application potential in renal system reconstruction. Further experiments demonstrated in vivo and in vitro models confirming that SS-USCs and SS-USCs-Exo significantly inhibit ferroptosis and alleviate severe fatty liver IRI, whereas the effects of RS-USCs/RS-USCs-Exo are less pronounced. Analysis comparing the proteomic differences between SS-USCs-Exo and RS-USCs-Exo revealed that SS-USCs-Exo primarily inhibit ferroptosis and improve cellular viability by secreting exosomes containing Glutathione Peroxidase 4 (GPX4) protein. This highlights the most suitable cell subtype for treating severe fatty liver IRI., Conclusions: SS-USCs possess strong tissue repair and antioxidant capabilities, primarily alleviating ferroptosis in the donor liver of fatty liver through the presence of GPX4 protein in their exosomes. This highlights SS-USCs as the most appropriate cell subtype for treating severe fatty liver IRI., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All human urine samples were obtained with informed donor consent and under the approval of IRB of Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China (Title of an ethical approved project, “Human Spindle-shaped Urine-derived Stem Cell Exosomes Alleviate Severe Fatty Liver Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury by Inhibiting Ferroptosis via GPX”, Approval number, KY2018-036-02 and date of approval, July 5, 2021). All experimental protocols were approved and carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations of the Ethics Committee of Qingdao University, China (Title of an ethical approved project, “Exosomes Derived from Spindle-Shaped USCs Inhibit Fatty Liver Ischemia–Reperfusion Injury by Enhancing GPX4”, Approval number, 20210310C57BL4220211010061; 20210310SD4220211010062, and date of approval, March 1, 2021). All investigations were conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Port transport efficiency has become an urgent issue that needs to be improved, especially the coordination among truck drivers during peak hours. Previous studies mainly focus on one-way container transportation logistics issues, but container movements often occur simultaneously in both directions in practice. Therefore, this study aims to minimize truck companies' operational costs by establishing an optimization model for external truck scheduling. This model takes soft time windows and an appointment feedback mechanism into consideration. Building upon the traditional Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm, this paper introduces an adaptive version of the ACO algorithm. The improved Ant Colony Optimization algorithm (IACO) incorporates a time window width impact factor and a time deviation consideration into its state transition rules, enhancing its adaptability. Furthermore, by integrating Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), the algorithm intelligently tunes the pheromone and heuristic factors of ACO, achieving automatic parameter optimization. Through case studies, we have demonstrated the superior performance of this algorithm in addressing relevant problems. The results show that, in terms of truck operational costs, the improved algorithm reduces costs by 10.96% and 3.02% compared to traditional Ant Colony Optimization and Variable Neighborhood Search algorithms, respectively, and by 4.89% compared to manual scheduling. These results demonstrate that the adaptive Ant Colony Optimization algorithm exhibits clear advantages in optimization capability and stability. The algorithm effectively allocates truck tasks within each time window, thereby reducing fleet costs, improving truck turnover efficiency, mitigating port congestion, and ultimately enhancing container logistics efficiency, achieving the goals of peak shaving and valley filling., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2025 Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The intricate regulatory roles of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), including PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), have been increasingly recognized in the modulation of cellular functions and are associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases, notably cancer. However, the specific dysregulation patterns of sncRNAs in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) have yet to be fully delineated, highlighting a significant gap in our current understanding. To elucidate the expressional dynamics of sncRNAs for patients with NMIBC, we characterized the profile of piRNAs and miRNAs by next-generation sequencing. We identified the differentially expressed sncRNAs between tumor and paracancerous tissues and characterized their distribution along the genome. We further revealed a set of immune-related piRNAs and dysregulated miRNAs that might be associated with NMIBC pathogenesis. Differentially expressed piRNAs were predominantly localized at the long arms of chromosomes 13, 1, and 6. Notably, the targets of specific piRNAs, including piR-hsa-2215234, piR-hsa-105306, piR-hsa-102066, and piR-hsa-236465, show significant associated with antigen processing and presentation pathway. Additionally, differentially expressed miRNAs are mainly located on chromosome 14 and their target genes tend to be involved in cancer-related pathways, suggesting their potential regulatory roles in NMIBC. Collectively, this study revealed the global sncRNA dysregulation in NMIBC, and the identified sncRNAs are implicated in the modulation of both immune and cancer pathways, suggesting their contribution to the pathogenesis and potential targets for immunotherapy., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: We ensure the authenticity of research data and the absence of unethical research activities. All patients signed informed consent forms. Our study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

GeTe has good thermoelectric performance at relatively high temperatures, but the low-symmetry structure near room temperature and phase transition limit its service stability for power generation applications. Here, the thermoelectric properties and mechanical hardness of GeTe are improved by microstructure manipulation and phase transition engineering. The incorporation of Cr, Pb, and Sb into the GeTe lattice modulates the phase transition, increasing the cubic phase fraction from 49% to 73% at 300 K. These modifications introduce shear strains and refined herringbone structures, enhancing phonon scattering while simultaneously improving carrier mobility through dislocation accumulation and band convergence. Consequently, the optimal materials achieve a maximum zT of 2.1 at 700 K and an average zT of 1.5 across the 300-773 K temperature range, along with a Vickers hardness of 1.88 GPa. Paired with n-type PbTe, the fabricated seven-pair module achieves a superior efficiency of 9.7% under a 500 K temperature gradient. This study demonstrates microstructure manipulation is a promising strategy for GeTe-based thermoelectric applications., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)