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Aims/Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a traditional risk factor for heart failure (HF), and glycated albumin (GA) is a marker to assess short‐term glycemic control. Whether GA has prognostic significance in patients with HF remains unclear. Materials and Methods: A total of 717 patients with HF were enrolled in the prospective cohort study. Patients were grouped by the normal upper limit of GA (17%). Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to evaluate the association between GA and prognosis. Results: During a mean follow‐up of 387 days, 232 composite endpoint events of hospitalization for HF or all‐cause death occurred. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a higher rate of adverse events in the higher GA group (GA >17%; log‐rank test P < 0.001). GA was an independent predictor of adverse events, both as a continuous variable (per 1% change: hazard ratio [HR] 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00–1.06, P = 0.030) and as a categorical variable (GA >17%: HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03–1.80, P = 0.032). Restricted cubic splines showed a linear association between GA and adverse events (P for non‐linearity = 0.231). There was no significant difference in adverse outcome risk between those with diabetes and GA ≤17% and those without diabetes, whereas the prognosis was worse in those with diabetes and GA >17% (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.16–2.11, P = 0.004). Compared to the group with normal levels of GA and glycated hemoglobin, the group with GA >17% and glycated hemoglobin >6.5% had a higher risk of adverse events (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.06–2.10, P = 0.022). Conclusions: GA was an independent predictor of HF prognosis. Combining GA and glycated hemoglobin might improve the predictive power of adverse outcomes in patients with HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The chicken has been a representative model organism to study embryonic development in birds, however important differences exist among this class of species. As a representative of one of oldest existing clades of birds, the African ostrich (Struthio camelus), has the largest body among birds, and has two toes. Our purpose is to establish the corresponding stages in ostrich embryo development that match the well‐established HH system of the chicken to facilitate comparative studies between the ostrich and other birds to better understand differences in development. Results: Here we describe in detail the middle period of embryonic development using microscopic images and skeletal staining. We found that clear morphological differentiation between the ostrich and the chicken begins at stage 26. Bird limb cartilage first form in stage 25, while the development of the limb skeletons differs after stage 31. Calcification of limb skeletons in the chicken was completed faster. The first and second toes of the ostrich disappear at stages 36 and 38, respectively. Conclusions: This study should greatly aid ostrich‐related developmental and morphological research and provide a reference for studying the development and evolution of avian limb skeletons, including molecular research. Questions that can now be addressed include studies into the fusion of tarsometatarsal skeleton, ossification, and digit loss. Key Findings: The stages of ostrich development are defined.Comparison of embryonic development between ostrich and chicken.Continuously record and describe limb bone development in the ostrich and chicken.Limb cartilage first forms in both species at stage 25.The unique degenerated first and second toes of the ostrich is completed by stages 36 and 38, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vast tunable optical components are realized based on dynamic reconfigurations of the incident wavefronts, such as beam steering and tunable lens. However, the dominant paradigm of current wavefront reconfiguration technologies relies on complex control systems with degrees of freedom much larger than output wavefronts, e.g., beam steering based on spatial light modulator or phased array antennas. Here, a new paradigm for dynamic reconfiguration of arbitrary output wavefronts using control systems with the same degrees of freedom is proposed. As an example, a wavefront transformer is demonstrated using an in‐plane two‐degree‐of‐freedom (2DOF) mechanical actuation system of metasurface doublet for semi‐omnidirectional beam steering, which measures a 6‐kHz modulation speed and a 131.2° × 131.2° field of view. This paradigm can be applied to metasurface transformers for dynamic wavefront reconfiguration with any control system for vast applications, such as tunable lens, beam steering, and dynamic beam profiler, just to name a few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colistin is a potent antibiotic but its severe side effects including nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity are the roadblock for their wide use in clinics. To solve this problem, we synthesized a new prodrug, mannose‐maltose‐colistin conjugate, termed MMCC that can reversibly mask the five amines of colistin that are primarily responsible for the toxicity. The deliberated design of disulfide‐based self‐immolative linker warranted the reversibly release of the pristine amines of colistin on demand without sacrificing antimicrobial efficacy. Once MMCC was delivered in cells, reducing agents cleaves the disulfide bond and release the pristine amines. The targeting ligands of maltose and mannose were grafted on colistin conjugate for targeting delivery of colistin to bacteria and macrophages, respectively. Taken together, MMCC as a new class of antimicrobial biomaterials, demonstrates its great potential for the treatment of intracellular bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) is a common problem that can affect bladder structure and function. Currently, there is no effective drugs available to prevent BOO‐induced remodeling. Previous reports have demonstrated that the pathogenesis of BOO is associated with macrophage infiltration and polarization, which is physiologically dependent on colony‐stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF‐1R) activation. Here we utilized a highly selective CSF‐1R inhibitor, GW2580, to determine its preventive effects on BOO‐induced remodeling. Methods: A total of 24 Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham, BOO + vehicle, and BOO + GW2580 group. GW2580 or vehicle control was administrated by oral gavage at daily doses of 40 mg/kg for 6 weeks. Bladder samples were collected for histopathology, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, western blotting, and flow cytometry analysis. Results: Our results demonstrated that bladder fibrosis was ameliorated by GW2580 compared with the vehicle group (22.01% ± 5.13% vs. 32.15% ± 7.24%, p < 0.01). Furthermore, treatment with GW2580 induced an inhibition of macrophage infiltration (4.41% ± 1.28% vs. 13.57% ± 3.42%, p < 0.001) and M2 macrophage polarization (10.67% ± 4.15% vs. 28.59% ± 6.38%, p < 0.001). There was also a decrease of profibrotic F4/80+ α‐smooth muscle actin+ (α‐SMA+) macrophage to myofibroblast transition (9.11% ± 2.58% vs. 17.33% ± 4.01%, p < 0.001) and CD163+TGF‐β1+ cells (7.68% ± 2.10% vs. 14.17% ± 4.09%, p < 0.01) in the GW2580 group when compared with the vehicle group. Conclusions: In summary, our findings showed that GW2580 is a worthwhile candidate for a follow‐up study to test in the treatment of BOO‐induced remodeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ru‐based nanomaterials are promising alternatives to Pt electrocatalysts for green hydrogen energy generation, and crystal phase engineering holds the key to unlocking their catalytic potential to new heights. However, controllable phase regulation on Ru‐alloys remains a formidable challenge, and unraveling the crystal phase‐related electrocatalytic performance is of great significance. Herein, RuNi nanoparticles are successfully synthesized with an unconventional face‐centered cubic (fcc) phase via a facile route. Comprehensive transmission electron microscopy confirmed the structural characteristics of the fcc‐RuNi and electrochemical analyses indicate the impressive electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction of fcc‐RuNi. Notably, the anomalous fcc‐RuNi nanoparticles possess an extraordinarily low overpotential of 16 mV in hydrogen evolution. Density functional theory calculations indicate that these nanoparticles are energetically conducive to intermediate desorption and H2O dissociation. This study enhances comprehension of phase regulation in Ru‐based nanostructures and will propel phase engineering in diverse catalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioorthogonal reactions have widespread applications in biological systems, and development of new bioorthogonal reactions has been of great interest over the past two decades. In this work, the design and synthesis of a family of fluorinated dibenzocyclooctynes (FDIBOs) are reported. The electron‐deficient nature of fluorine atoms significantly accelerated the reaction of cyclooctynes in 1,3‐dipolar cycloadditions, with either benzyl azide or ethyl diazoacetate, compared to conventional dibenzocyclooctyne (DIBO). In addition, FDIBOs showed unique trackable properties owing to the high NMR sensitivity of the naturally abundant 19F isotope. Biological molecules, including a monosaccharide, a peptide, and a protein, were tested with FDIBOs, and these reactions could be easily monitored by 19F NMR spectroscopy to evaluate the progress of the conjugation reactions. In addition, labeling of live cells was also demonstrated with metabolically modified bacteria to expand the possible applications of FDIBOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes is considered as a risk for cognitive decline, which is characterized by neurodegenerative alteration and innate immunity activation. Recently, complement 3 (C3), the critical central component of complement system, has been reported to play a key role in neurodegenerative alterations under pathological condition. Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) activation is confirmed to mediate several inflammatory cytokines production. However, whether C3 activation participates in the diabetic neuropathology and whether this process is regulated by RAGE activation remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the role of C3 in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic mice and high glucose‐induced primary astrocytes and the underlying modulatory mechanisms. The decreased synaptophysin density and increased C3 deposition at synapses were observed in the diabetic brain compared to the control brain. Furthermore, the elevated C3 was co‐localized with GFAP‐positive astrocytes in the diabetic brain slice in vivo and high glucose‐induced astrocytes culture in vitro. Diabetes/high glucose‐induced up‐regulation of C3 expression at gene, protein and secretion levels, which were attenuated by pre‐treatment with RAGE, p38MAPK and NF‐κB inhibitors separately. These results demonstrate that high glucose induces C3 up‐regulation via RAGE‐ p38MAPK‐NF‐κB signalling in vivo and in vitro, which might be associated with synaptic protein loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting quantum dots from environmental erosion is the key to the success of their application in LED. Here, we report a sol‐gel processed quantum dots‐silica monolith (QD ‐ SM) with enhanced stability from alcohol soluble quantum dots. On‐chip type LED with luminous efficiency up to 80.25 lm/W was fabricated using such QD ‐ SM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]