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The present study aimed to investigate the association between the expression of metastasis‑associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) long non‑coding RNA (lncRNA) and the recurrence of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to elucidate the potential mechanisms of MALAT1 in vitro. Between 1 June 1, 2010 and December 30, 2016, NSCLC tumor tissues and adjacent non‑cancerous tissues were obtained from 120 patients with NSCLC, who had undergone surgical resection at Taizhou Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Linhai, China). The total RNA of tissues and cells were extracted and the expression of MALAT1 was determined using a wound healing assay and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In addition, MALAT1 expression in A549 cells was silenced using small interfering RNA. The proliferation, migration and invasion of cells were then assessed using a CellTiter 96 kit and Transwell assays. MALAT1 expression was significantly increased in NSCLC samples compared with expression in adjacent non‑cancerous tissues. Furthermore, the expression of MALAT1 in patients with NSCLC that exhibited recurrence was markedly higher than in those that did not. The results of the present study also demonstrated significant associations between high expression of MALAT1 and female sex, Tumor‑Node‑Metastasis advanced stage, vessel invasion, pathological differentiation and recurrence of patients with NSCLC. The proliferative, migratory and invasive abilities of MALAT1‑silenced A549 cells were significantly decreased compared with those of control cells. MALAT1 expression was significantly increased in NSCLC tissues and was revealed to serve a role in the progression of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A marked increase in the incidence rate of scarlet fever imposed a considerable burden on the health of children aged 5 to 15 years. The main purpose of this study was to depict the spatiotemporal epidemiological characteristics of scarlet fever in Jiangsu Province, China in order to develop and implement effective scientific prevention and control strategies.Methods: Smoothed map was used to demonstrate the spatial distribution of scarlet fever in Jiangsu Province. In addition, a retrospective space-time analysis based on a discrete Poisson model was utilized to detect clusters of scarlet fever from 2005 to 2015.Results: During the years 2005-2015, a total of 15,873 scarlet fever cases occurred in Jiangsu Province, with an average annual incidence rate of 1.87 per 100,000. A majority of the cases (83.67%) occurred in children aged 3 to 9 years. Each year, two seasonal incidence peaks were observed, the higher occurring between March and July, the lower between November and the following January. The incidence in the southern regions of the province was generally higher than that in the northern regions. Seven clusters, all of which occurred during incidence peaks, were detected via space-time scan statistical analysis. The most likely cluster and one of the secondary clusters were detected in the southern and northern high endemic regions, respectively.Conclusion: The prevalence of scarlet fever in Jiangsu Province had a marked seasonality variation and was relatively endemic in some regions. Children aged 3 to 9 years were the major victims of this disease, and kindergartens and primary schools were the focus of surveillance and control. Targeted strategies and measures should be taken to reduce the incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An analytical model including the face sheet/core coupling effect is proposed. • The impact response of multilayer foam core sandwich panel is predicted. • The impact resistance of multilayer sandwich panel overmatches monolayer one. • The effect of local stiffness on the energy absorption capacity is illuminated. [Display omitted] This paper focuses on the analytical and experimental investigations on the low-velocity impact response of multilayer foam core sandwich panels with composite face sheets. Taking into account the reinforcement of face sheets by foam cores, an energy-based analytical model for multilayer sandwich panels was developed to predict contact force, impactor displacement and energy absorption. The predictions were validated by experimental results. The impact resistance of the multilayer sandwich panel is superior to that of monolayer one with the same mass under the low-velocity impact. Adjusting the local stiffness close to the top face sheet can further improve the energy absorption of multilayer sandwich panels; however, the maximum contact force will be increased. This finding suggests that the design of multilayer foam core sandwich panels needs to carefully consider the requirements according to the cases in engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic coccus that has been implicated as the cause of a wide range of clinical disease syndromes in swine and other domestic animals. S. suis has also been implicated in disease in humans, especially among abattoir workers, swine and pork handlers. Here we report a case of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome(STSS) caused by S. suis in a 59-year-old man. Despite of intensive treatment, the patient died of shock with multiple organ failure 14 h after admission. One bacterial isolate obtained from blood culture was identified to the species level by biochemical tests and serological tests as S. suis serotype 2. Identification was confirmed by PCR amplification of genes encoding 16sRNA of S. suis and the capsule of S. suis serotype 2(cps 2J). Genes encoding virulence factors were also detected. An investigation to identify the source of S. suis revealed that several days before admission the affected man had been handling sick pigs or their meat. Transmission may occur through breaks in the skin of feet with tinea due to that no measures for personal protection was taken. This case should highten awareness of the potential for occupational exposure and human infection with S. suis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in urine are a promising source for developing non-invasive biomarkers. However, urine concentration and content are highly variable and dynamic, and actual urine collection and handling often is nonideal. Furthermore, patients such as those with prostate diseases have challenges in sample collection due to difficulties in holding urine at designated time points. Here, we simulated the actual situation of clinical sample collection to examine the stability of EVs in urine under different circumstances, including urine collection time and temporary storage temperature, as well as daily urine sampling under different diet conditions. EVs were isolated using functionalized EVtrap magnetic beads and characterized by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), western blotting, electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry (MS). EVs in urine remained relatively stable during temporary storage for 6 hours at room temperature and for 12 hours at 4 °C, while significant fluctuations were observed in EV amounts from urine samples collected at different time points from the same individuals, especially under certain diets. Sample normalization with creatinine reduced the coefficient of variation (CV) values among EV samples from 17% to approximately 6% and facilitated downstream MS analyses. Finally, based on the results, we applied them to evaluate potential biomarker panels in prostate cancer by data-independent acquisition (DIA) MS, presenting the recommendation that can facilitate biomarker discovery with nonideal handling conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A gold nanoparticle (AuNP)‐based mimic enzyme with selectivity and applicability in practical glucose detection of drinks and blood glucose is constructed by combining adjacent hydroxyls‐bindable aminophenylboronic acid and molecular imprinting technology, which also lead to a 270‐fold enhanced catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) by increasing the affinity to substrate and introducing heptadecafluoro‐n‐octyl bromide nanoemulsion as an oxygen donor at the same time. More details can be found in article number 1801070 by Lin Fan, Yu Zhang, and co‐workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the competitive advantages, inorganic nanoparticle mimic enzymes exhibit inherent disadvantages of limited catalytic efficiency and lacking selectivity. Here, a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)‐based mimic enzyme with significantly enhanced glucose selectivity and catalytic activity is constructed and demonstrated for the first time. Aminophenylboronic acid is employed to increase the affinity to glucose, as well as build molecular imprinted polymer shells to realize the selectivity for template molecules of glucose. Besides that, heptadecafluoro‐n‐octyl bromide nanoemulsion with the function of providing oxygen is introduced to gain a further improvement in catalytic activity, which successfully enhances the catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) up to about 270‐fold. Based on the demonstrated catalytic properties, AuNP‐based glucose oxidase mimics are successfully applied in practical glucose detection of drinks and blood glucose. Gold nanoparticle‐based enzyme mimics with selectivity and applicability in practical glucose detection of drinks and blood glucose are constructed by combining adjacent hydroxyls‐bindable aminophenylboronic acid and molecular imprinting technology. This leads to 270‐fold enhanced catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) by increasing the substrate affinity and introducing heptadecafluoro‐n‐octyl bromide nanoemulsion as an oxygen donor at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neolithic jades excavated from southern China often exhibit a serious corrosion phenomenon called "Whitening", where the jade mineral aggregates have lost compact textures and transform into loose white powders, which cause a substantial decline in mechanical strength and the jades cannot remain intact. Meanwhile, a glossy hyaline layer with a more compact and uniform structure can be observed on the surface of some whitened jades, exert great influence in the integral structure strength of the jades and can be considered as highly significant natural reinforcing materials. The recent excavation of a workshop for jade processing in Zhejiang Province provided us with a great opportunity to investigate the deteriorated jades and the taphonomic environmental conditions associated with it. In this study, analyses of morphology and compositions revealed that the glassy layer is a composition of geopolymers with silica-alumina gels as the major components, which can also be found between mineral grains of jade crystals closest to the surface. Notably, some jade fragments with a yellowish infusion were found to be mechanically stronger compared to other jades unearthed from the same context, which may be explained by the consolidate effect of iron ions in the soil. These results have demonstrated the remarkable protective properties of soil colloids, and thus proposed that by using soil colloids as templates, consolidants with the natural compatibility with jades synthesized by chemical precipitations of charged inorganic colloidal particles can be a promising solution for jade conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate lncRNAs acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) involved in oncogenesis and progression of HCC. Different expressed lncRNAs, microRNAs, and mRNAs (DElncRNAs, DEmiRNAs, DEmRNAs), downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, were identified by edgeR package. CeRNA network was constructed based on miRcode, TargetScan, and miRTarBase. Target DEmRNAs were annotated by KEGG pathway and GO analysis. Negatively correlated lncRNA-miRNA pairs were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient, simultaneously, overall survival (OS) were evaluated. The expression of these lncRNAs were examined in HCC cell lines and tissues through qRT-PCR. 1070 DElncRNAs, 147 DEmiRNAs and 1993 DEmRNAs were acquired. CeRNA network was successfully established, including 27 lncRNAs, 5 miRNAs, and 30 mRNAs significantly correlated with OS. The DEmRNAs were significantly enriched in "Cell Cycle" and "pathways in cancer". Six lncRNAs and 2 miRNAs were negatively correlated. These lncRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. These observations will provide a novel perspective to elucidate HCC pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving metal nanoparticles with high peroxidase activity and visible-light plasmonic property for lateral flow immunoassay has attracted extensive attention in the industry. However, the major challenge lies in establishing a general and robust preparation strategy. In this contribution, we developed a citrate-capped trimetallic Au@Ag–Pt nanorattle by employing seed-mediated growth and galvanic replacement reaction under a convenient condition, which can be translated directly to industrialized production. The rattle-like architecture empowers the Au@Ag–Pt NPs peroxidase-like activity while retaining the plasmonic property with intense color in the visible-light range. According to testing requirements, Au@Ag–Pt NPs-LFIA provides two colorimetric modes: low-sensitivity mode based on the color from their intrinsic plasmonic property and the high-sensitivity mode based on the nanozyme-triggered chromogenic reaction. Human cardiac troponin I (cTnI), one of the most specific markers for cardiac injury, was chosen as the detection model. Mainly, ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of human cTnI was successfully achieved as low as ∼20 pg mL−1. This strategy is robust to guarantee the stability and repeatability of the peroxidase activity without exact control, which can directly dock with the industrialized production of traditional LFIA strips and be readily adapted for on-demand clinical diagnosis. A class of citrate-capped trimetallic Au@Ag–Pt nanorattles with high peroxidase activity and visible-light plasmonic property is designed by employing seed-mediated growth and galvanic replacement reaction under a convenient condition, which can be translated directly to the industrialized production of LFIA. Ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of human cTnI was successfully achieved as low as ∼20 pg mL−1 using nanozyme-based Au@Ag–Pt NPs-LFIA. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bladder Cancer (BC) is the tenth most common cancer worldwide and the most malignant disease of the urinary system. The development of effective biomarkers and detection methods is of great significance for BC diagnosis and monitoring. This study demonstrated a microscopic imaging method for multiplexed detecting BC microRNAs (miRNAs) based on core-shell-shell bifunctional magnetic fluorescent beads (MFBs), with the integration of catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated DNA polymerization. Assembled with quantum dots and magnetic nanoparticles, MFBs were utilized as the dual-functional carriers for optical encoding and magnetic separation. By introducing CHA-TdT cascade amplification, three encoded MFBs presented distinct changes of emissive-color, which could be decoded by the common fluorescence microscope. The strategy could reach femtomolar level for the detection of single miRNA, showing a wide linear dynamic range (6 logs). Point-mutation discrimination capability was also achieved for precise miRNA analyses. Moreover, this MFB-CHA-TdT strategy was capable of detecting BC-related miRNAs in clinical serum specimens, showing a great consistence with qRT-PCR. Overall, this work enabled multiplexed detection of miRNAs with ideal sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, which could be applied to the clinical detection and early diagnosis of BC. [Display omitted] • Bifunctional magnetic quantum dot microbeads with CHA-TdT cascade amplification were applied in microRNAs detection. • This method had high sensitivity and specificity. • Multiplexed analysis of serum microRNAs in bladder cancer, provided an ideal consistence with qRT-PCR (R2 > 0.97). • This method provided a potential approach for early diagnosis and motoring of bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Microfluidics-based magnetic structure color hydrogel microcarrier is proposed. • The microcarrier had high sensitivity and specificity for multiplex analysis. • The microcarrier can detect sample with extremely low volume (as low as 10 μL). • The magnetic control effect improves the sensitivity and efficiency of detection. • The microcarriers are potential for the diagnosis of bladder cancer. Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors of the urinary system with a significantly increased incidence in recent years. Tumor biomarkers detection with high specificity and sensitivity bears great significance in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Here, we propose a novel microfluidics-based magnetically responsive structural color hydrogel microcarrier as the multiplex detection platform, with the advantages of easy accessibility and high sensitivity. The resin material with the superior mechanical property was applied to prepare the inverse opal as the framework, in whose gaps perfused with a multifunctional hydrogel composed of polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), acrylic acid (AA) and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles. The composition enabled the microcarrier with high mechanical strength, low non-specific molecular adhesion, and directional magnetic motion ability, which significantly improved the detection efficiency of the platform. The results demonstrated that our detection system had good sensitivity and reliable specificity in the multiplex analysis of bladder cancer-related protein nuclear matrix protein 22, human bladder tumor antigen and fructose-1,6-diphosphate. Furthermore, the microcarriers were proved to have an ideal application prospect in clinical diagnosis and monitoring. Therefore, magnetically responsive structural color hydrogel microcarriers were suitable for the construction of liquid chips for bladder cancer protein markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bladder cancer (BC) is the tenth most prevalent malignancy globally, presenting significant clinical and societal challenges because of its high incidence, rapid progression, and frequent recurrence. Presently, cystoscopy and urine cytology serve as the established diagnostic methods for BC. However, their efficacy is limited by their invasive nature and low sensitivity. Therefore, the development of highly specific biomarkers and effective non-invasive detection strategies is imperative for achieving a precise and timely diagnosis of BC, as well as for facilitating an optimal tumor treatment and an improved prognosis. microRNAs (miRNAs), short noncoding RNA molecules spanning around 20-25 nucleotides, are implicated in the regulation of diverse carcinogenic pathways. Substantially altered miRNAs form robust functional regulatory networks that exert a notable influence on the tumorigenesis and progression of BC. Investigations into aberrant miRNAs derived from blood, urine, or extracellular vesicles indicate their potential roles as diagnostic biomarkers and prognostic indicators in BC, enabling miRNAs to monitor the progression and predict the recurrence of the disease. Simultaneously, the investigation centered on miRNA as a potential therapeutic agent presents a novel approach for the treatment of BC. This review comprehensively analyzes biological roles of miRNAs in tumorigenesis and progression, and systematically summarizes their potential as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, as well as therapeutic targets for BC. Additionally, we evaluate the progress made in laboratory techniques within this field and discuss the prospects.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the main type of primary liver cancer. This study aimed to develop a basement membrane (BM) related lncRNAs risk signature to evaluate the prognosis of HCC patients. We screened differentially expressed BM-related lncRNAs (DE-BMRlncRNAs) for risk evaluation, and identified six DE-BMRlncRNAs (AC072054.1, NUP50-DT, AC026412.3, AC109322.2, POLH-AS1 and LINC00595) for prognostic risk signature. HCC patients were divided to high or low risk according to median risk score. Our prognostic model predicted that patients with higher risk score had worse prognosis. We also created a nomogram to assist clinical decision-making according to risk score and clinicopathological features. Meanwhile, we confirmed the expression of six lncRNAs in HCC tissue and cells. POLH-AS1 knockdown inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC cells. In conclusion, we established a predictive model based on BMRlncRNAs to predict the prognosis of HCC. Our findings offer a rationale to further explore BM-related biomarkers for HCC., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Lili Qu reports financial support was provided by Jiangsu Provincial Medical Association Laboratory Medicine Research Special Fund Project. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Bladder cancer (BC) occurrence and progression are accompanied by alterations in microRNAs (miRNAs) expression levels. Simultaneous detection of multiple miRNAs contributes to the accuracy and reliability of the BC diagnosis. In this work, wrinkled silica nanoparticles (WSNs) were applied as the microreactor for multiplex miRNAs analysis without enzymes or nucleic acid amplification. Conjugated on the surface of WSNs, the S9.6 antibody was adopted as the universal module for binding DNA/miRNA duplexes, regardless of their sequence. Furthermore, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) was labeled with quantum dots (QDs) for identifying a given miRNA to form QDs-ssDNA/miRNA, which enabled the specific capture of the corresponding QDs on the wrinkled surface of WSNs. Based on the detection of fluorescence signals that were ultimately focused on WSNs, target miRNAs could be sensitively identified to a femtomolar level (5 fM) with a wide dynamic range of up to 6 orders of magnitude. The proposed strategy achieved high specificity to obviously distinguish single-base mutation sequences and possessed multiplex assay capability. Moreover, the assay exhibited excellent practicability in the multiplex detection of miRNAs in clinical serum specimens.