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Wound infections may disrupt the normal wound-healing process. Large amounts of antibiotics are frequently used to prevent pathogenic infections; however, this can lead to resistance development. Biomaterials possessing antimicrobial properties have promising applications for reducing antibiotic usage and promoting wound healing. Silk sericin (SS) has been increasingly explored for skin wound healing applications owing to its excellent biocompatibility and antioxidant, antimicrobial, and ultraviolet-resistant properties. In recent years, SS-based composite biomaterials with a broader antimicrobial spectrum have been extensively investigated and demonstrated favorable efficacy in promoting wound healing. This review summarizes various antimicrobial agents, including metal nanoparticles, natural extracts, and antibiotics, that have been incorporated into SS composites for wound healing and elucidates their mechanisms of action. It has been revealed that SS-based biomaterials can achieve sustained antimicrobial activity by slow-release-loaded antimicrobial agents. The antimicrobial-loaded SS composites may promote wound healing through anti-infection, anti-inflammation, hemostasis, angiogenesis, and collagen deposition. The manufacturing methods, benefits, and limitations of antimicrobial-loaded SS materials are briefly discussed. This review aims to enhance the understanding of new advances and directions in SS-based antimicrobial composites and guide future biomedical research.

The alloy element Nb plays an important role in improving the performance of zirconium alloys in nuclear reactors. The effect mechanism of Nb doping on mechanical and thermodynamic properties was investigated using experimental and theoretical methods. The results of this study showed us that Nb doping refines grains and enhances hardness. The hardness increases from 2.67 GPa of pure Zr to 2.99 GPa of Zr1.5Nb. Depending on the first-principles calculations, the hardness decreases with the increase in the Nb concentration in the Zr matrix, namely from 2.45 Gpa of pure Zr to 1.78 GPa of Zr1.5Nb. If the first-principles calculations indicate that the hardness decreases with the increase in the Nb concentration in the Zr matrix, grain refinement or defects could play a major role in the increase in hardness. Furthermore, regarding the effect of Nb doping on thermal expansion coefficients, the increase in Nb content causes the thermal expansion coefficients to decrease, which might stem from the strong binding energy between Nb and Zr atoms. The thermal conductivities of three samples show similar changing trends, indicating that thermal conductivity begins to decrease at room temperature and reaches a minimum value of around 400 °C. The thermal conductivity of pure zirconium samples is consistently higher, is more obvious than that of Nb-doped samples in the test range, and decreases with an increase in the doping concentration. The possible reasons for this might stem from the distortion of the Zr matrix due to Nb substitution doping and grain refinement, both of which cause phonon propagation scattering and thus hinder the propagation of phonons. The results obtained herein may be useful for the development of advanced nuclear fuels and waste forms that utilize zirconium in applications beyond their current usage.

Objective To estatblish a real-time fluorescence imaging method for observing arterial blood spiral laminar flow. Methods Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into vein angiography group (femoral vein injection, 1 mL/kg) and low-dose arteriography group (abdominal aortic injection, 0.1 mL/kg). The low-dose arteriography group was further divided into fluorescein sodium group, rhodamine B group, FITC-dextran group and quantum dot group (n=7 for each group). The dynamic images were captured with high-speed camera. The fluorescence region was calibrated by image threshold segmentation algorithm and morphological post-processing algorithm. The axial velocity and tangential velocity of helical blood flow in rat femoral artery were measured, and the screw pitch and shear force were calculated. Results Compared with the vein angiography group, the low-dose arteriography group clearly showed the clockwise spiral laminar flow in the femoral artery of rats. In the FITC-dextran group, the axial velocity of blood spiral laminar flow was (198.4±112.7)mm/s, and the tangential velocity was(3.3±0.8)mm/s.The screw pitch was (126.1±76.3)mm, and the shear force was (9.5±5.6)Pa. The injections were repeated three times for each rat, and there was no significant difference among each injection. Conclusions Real-time fluorescence imaging can be used to observe arterial blood spiral laminar flow in vivo and to quantitatively analyze the hemodynamic characteristics of spiral laminar flow.

Abstract Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for dysbiosis‐related diseases. However, the clinical practice of crude fecal transplants presents limitations in terms of acceptability and reproductivity. Consequently, two alternative solutions to FMT are developed: transplanting bacteria communities or virome. Advanced methods for transplanting bacteria mainly include washed microbiota transplantation and bacteria spores treatment. Transplanting the virome is also explored, with the development of fecal virome transplantation, which involves filtering the virome from feces. These approaches provide more palatable options for patients and healthcare providers while minimizing research heterogeneity. In general, the evolution of the next generation of FMT in global trends is fecal microbiota components transplantation which mainly focuses on transplanting bacteria or virome.

IntroductionAs the aging of the population continues to deepen, the pressure on social pensions is gradually increasing, and the issue of assistance has become a problem that must be solved. With the development of science and technology, people’s living standard is constantly improving. The older-adult care services expected by the older-adult are wider than meeting the basic daily needs of individuals. The current industry should also consider combining modern science and technology with the older-adult care service industry to serve older-adult better and enable older-adult care service providers to move towards the service needs that make people happier and healthier. This research is about constructing and evaluating China’s older-adult care services smart supply chain.MethodsBased on the research results of previous scholars, this paper divides the Sun construction of the smart supply chain of China endowment service into four aspects: policy aspect, economic aspect, social aspect, and technical aspect; the four significant elements are divided into the first-level indicators, and 16 second-level indicators are divided under the first-level indicators. The importance and satisfaction of each evaluation index were obtained by distributing questionnaires to the managers who study the supply chain and the employees who are related to the old-age service.Results and discussionAfter the reliability analysis, the importance-performance analysis (IPA) quadrant analysis chart of the evaluation index was constructed using importance-performance analysis. The index of creating a smart supply chain system for China’s old-age service is given priority, the supply chain system of China’s old-age care service is further improved, and the social security of China’s old-age service is enlarged.

Ultrasonic dental scalers are indispensable instruments for efficient dental cleaning through the generation of cavitation. To gain valuable insights and enhance the cavitation cleaning effects, a numerical investigation is conducted using the finite element method via ABAQUS. Numerical results are compared with the experimental cavitation image for a scaler undergoes vibrations near a wall. We then analyse how the amplitude, frequency, and cross-sectional shape of the scaler affect cavitation generation. Numerical results indicate that cavitation is more pronounced for a scaler oscillating near a nearly rigid boundary than a soft boundary. It increases with the vibration amplitude because of higher ultrasonic energy transferring to the liquid and generating stronger pressure waves. The resonant frequency of the scaler coincides with the maximum cavitation and scaler tip amplitude. Reducing the dimension of the cross-section of the scaler in its oscillation direction increases both the scaler tip amplitude and the cavitation generated. This finding offers a potential design approach for enhancing the scaler cavitation and its cleaning effects. These insights provide practical guidance for optimising dental scaler settings, which can improve oral hygiene and prevent complications related to dental implants.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA integration is an incidental event in the virus replication cycle and occurs in less than 1% of infected hepatocytes during viral infection. However, HBV DNA is present in the genome of approximately 90% of HBV-related HCCs and is the most common somatic mutation. Whole genome sequencing of liver tissues from chronic hepatitis B patients showed integration occurring at random positions in human chromosomes; however, in the genomes of HBV-related HCC patients, there are integration hotspots. Both the enrichment of the HBV-integration proportion in HCC and the emergence of integration hotspots suggested a strong positive selection of HBV-integrated hepatocytes to progress to HCC. The activation of HBV integration hotspot genes, such as telomerase (TERT) or histone methyltransferase (MLL4/KMT2B), resembles insertional mutagenesis by oncogenic animal retroviruses. These candidate oncogenic genes might shed new light on HBV-related HCC biology and become targets for new cancer therapies. Finally, the HBV integrations in individual HCC contain unique sequences at the junctions, such as virus-host chimera DNA (vh-DNA) presumably being a signature molecule for individual HCC. HBV integration may thus provide a new cell-free tumor DNA biomarker to monitor residual HCC after curative therapies or to track the development of de novo HCC.

Neurointervention surgery is an important method for diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and related brain scientific research. Robot⁃assisted neurointervention surgery can improve the minimally invasive and accurate interventional surgery, which is an important research direction. At present, the navigation technology of neurointervention surgery has gradually developed from the traditional optical navigation to MRI navigation, the interventional materials have developed from rigid puncture needle to active flexible puncture needle, and the surgical path planning and navigation technology and the surgical robot control technology have also been developing. This paper summarizes the four key technologies mentioned above and reviews the research progress of robot⁃assisted neurointervention surgery to promote its clinical application.

While the Internet has been profoundly changing how people participate in politics and is reshaping their political expressions in authoritarian countries, its exact effects remain ambiguous. This paper studies how Internet access and use influence public trust in local officials in authoritarian China. By using two-period panel survey data and combining difference-in-difference with propensity score matching, we find that, compared to Internet non-users, the Internet new-users show significantly lower political trust in local government officials. Further empirical evidence indicates that its causal mechanism primarily lies in the macro-structure of urban-rural heterogeneity and the micro-process of people's changing cognition and raised expectations. Our results substantially strengthen the argument that the diffusing power of the Internet is weakening the political legitimacy of authoritarian regimes like China., Author(s): Yu You [sup.1] , Sha Yu [sup.2] , Shukang Xiao [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.12955.3a, 0000 0001 2264 7233, School of Public Affairs, Xiamen University, , 361005, Xiamen, Fujian, [...]

Cancer is a borderless global health challenge that continues to threaten human health. Studies have found that oxidative stress (OS) is often associated with the etiology of many diseases, especially the aging process and cancer. Involved in the OS reaction as a key transcription factor, Nrf2 is a pivotal regulator of cellular redox state and detoxification. Nrf2 can prevent oxidative damage by regulating gene expression with antioxidant response elements (ARE) to promote the antioxidant response process. OS is generated with an imbalance in the redox state and promotes the accumulation of mutations and genome instability, thus associated with the establishment and development of different cancers. Nrf2 activation regulates a plethora of processes inducing cellular proliferation, differentiation and death, and is strongly associated with OS-mediated cancer. What’s more, Nrf2 activation is also involved in anti-inflammatory effects and metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and multidrug resistance. Nrf2 is highly expressed in multiple human body parts of digestive system, respiratory system, reproductive system and nervous system. In oncology research, Nrf2 has emerged as a promising therapeutic target. Therefore, certain natural compounds and drugs can exert anti-cancer effects through the Nrf2 signaling pathway, and blocking the Nrf2 signaling pathway can reduce some types of tumor recurrence rates and increase sensitivity to chemotherapy. However, Nrf2’s dual role and controversial impact in cancer are inevitable consideration factors when treating Nrf2 as a therapeutic target. In this review, we summarized the current state of biological characteristics of Nrf2 and its dual role and development mechanism in different tumor cells, discussed Keap1/Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway and its downstream genes, elaborated the expression of related signaling pathways such as AMPK/mTOR and NF-κB. Besides, the main mechanism of Nrf2 as a cancer therapeutic target and the therapeutic strategies using Nrf2 inhibitors or activators, as well as the possible positive and negative effects of Nrf2 activation were also reviewed. It can be concluded that Nrf2 is related to OS and serves as an important factor in cancer formation and development, thus provides a basis for targeted therapy in human cancers.

The cultivation of vocational core competencies is one of the essential guarantees to realizing students’ overall development. It is also a key quality and ability to promote students’ adaptation to lifelong development and career requirements. In this study involving 844 higher vocational students in Beijing, we analyzed the effect of vocational core competencies on innovative behavior. We find that sophisticated relationships exist between vocational core competencies, creative self-efficacy, innovative behaviors, and core self-evaluation. Innovative behavior positively correlated with vocational core competencies, in which creative self-efficacy has a partial mediating effect, positively regulated by core self-evaluation. Thus, higher vocational colleges should emphasize developing vocational core competencies systems and cultivating students’ innovative behaviors to promote all-around development.

Information disclosure, participatory governance, and collaborative innovation are open government data’s (OGD) main goals. Understanding the preconditions that enable the efficient and effective implementation of OGD initiatives is essential for achieving their overall objectives. Therefore, determining its influencing factors helps improve platform quality, prevent misunderstanding, and realize the purpose of OGD. Based on the literature, this study established a user-oriented conceptual model of OGD into which technology acceptance theory was integrated. This model constructed a data analysis model with the number of downloads of OGD platform data as the response variable and the explanatory variables comprising OGD quality score, linked data density, time to inception, and five others. Sixty-one cases of OGD platforms in Chinese prefecture-level cities were analyzed. The results indicated that the effectiveness of OGD was positively correlated with OGD quality score, time to inception, and the number of employees in the case cities. Network density and average disposable income of citizens had non-significant impacts on effectiveness. Strategies for improving the effectiveness of OGD platforms in China were discussed.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus (sensu stricto). The parasite affects a wide range of livestock and wild animals. In this study, the population diversity of the Echinococcus species was investigated based on mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5) genes. In addition to this, β-tubulin gene isoforms of Echinococcus granulosus were amplified to determine the resistance against benzimidazoles. For this purpose, 40 cyst samples from cattle (n = 20) and buffaloes (n = 20) were collected from the main abattoir of Sialkot. DNA extraction was performed using Qiagen Blood and Tissue Kits. Amplification was performed through PCR. Each amplicon was confirmed by GelRed™ stained agarose gel (2%). Samples were sequenced in a DNA analyzer and viewed for any misread nucleotide by using MEGA (v.11). Corrections in nucleotide sequence and multiple sequence alignment were made through the same software. NCBI-BLAST was used for sample specific sequences to identify them as belonging to a particular species. Diversity indices were estimated using DnaSP (v.6) while phylogenetic analysis was inferred using the Bayesian method using MrBayes (v.1.1). β-tubulin gene isoforms sequence analysis was performed to find out the candidate gene causing benzimidazole resistance. All 40 isolates were found positive for E. granulosus. BLAST-based searches of sequences of each isolate for each gene (nad5 and cytb) confirmed their maximum similarity with the G1 genotype. Overall, high haplotype diversity (Hd nad5 = 1.00; Hd cytb = 0.833) and low nucleotide diversity (π nad5 = 0.00560; π = cytb = 0.00763) was identified based on diversity indices. For both the genes, non-significant values of Tajima’s D (nad5 = −0.81734; cytb = −0.80861) and Fu’s Fs (nad5 = −1.012; cytb = 0.731) indicate recent population expansion. Bayesian phylogeny-based results of nad5 and cytb sequences confirmed their genotypic status as distinct from other Echinococcus species. This study shed light on the status of benzimidazole resistance in Echinococcus granulosus for the very first time from Pakistan. The findings of this study will significantly add in the information available on genetic diversity of Echinoccous granulosus based on cytb and nad5 genes sequences.