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The electrochromic hydrogel with high stretchability, fast response and good cyclic stability was prepared by loading polyoxometalate (P 2 W 18) into AG/P(AAm-AAc) double-network hydrogel. The construction of the double network endows the hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties. [Display omitted] • The electrochromic hydrogel shows good mechanical properties with the fracture stress of 60.63 kPa and the fracture strain of 1582.34 %. • The electrochromic hydrogel changes from colorless to blue with the optical contrast up to 65.54 % at 700 nm. • The electrochromic hydrogel has a coloring time (T c) of 9.2 s and a fading time (T b) of 11.4 s. In this study, a novel electrochromic hydrogel AG/P(AAm-AAc)/P 2 W 18 was prepared by loading polyoxometalate K 6 P 2 W 18 ·10H 2 O (P 2 W 18) into a double-network hydrogel formed with agar (AG) and copolymer of polyacrylamide (PAAm) and polyacrylic acid (PAAc). The mechanical properties of hydrogels can be tuned by adjusting the proportion of PAAc in the copolymer P(AAm-AAc). Electrochromic hydrogel shows the best mechanical properties when the proportion of PAAc is 10 % (AG/P(AAm-AAc)-10/P 2 W 18), and the maximum elongation at break and the fracture stress are about 2.0 and 2.5 times higher than that of pure PAAm. P 2 W 18 gives good electrochromic properties to the hydrogels without the addition of electrolytes. Under the external voltage, the electrochromic hydrogel changes from colorless to blue with the optical contrast up to 65.54 % at 700 nm. The electrochromic device based on this hydrogel is simple in structure, easy to manufacture and highly stretchable, which has good application potential in the field of wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclophosphamide (CY) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent that is associated with severe side effects, such as hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. However, the extent, mechanisms and potential prevention and treatment strategies of CY-induced acute hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity are largely unknown. In this study, we determined the existence and extent of CY-induced acute hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, and demonstrated the effect of ALDH2 on CY-induced acute tissue toxicity and related mechanisms. Adult male C57BL/6J (wide-type, WT) and ALDH2 −/− (KO) mice were divided into four groups: WT, WT + CY, KO + CY and WT + CY + Alda-1. Biochemical analysis showed that plasma ALT was increased by 35.8% in KO + CY group and decreased by 21.1% in WT + CY + Alda-1 group compared to WT + CY group ( P < 0.05, respectively). However, there was no significant difference among WT, WT + CY and KO + CY groups regarding plasma renal marker enzymes, including blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and cystatin C (CysC). Levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and toxic aldehydes (acrolein, 4-hydroxynonenol and malondialdehyde) were increased significantly in KO + CY group and decreased significantly in WT + CY + Alda-1 group compared to WT + CY group ( P  < 0.05, respectively). These findings demonstrate that CY could induce acute hepatotoxicity without nephrotoxicity, and ALDH2 plays a protective role in CY-induced acute hepatotoxicity. The underlying mechanisms are associated with attenuating oxidative stress and detoxifying reactive aldehydes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The efficacy and safety of subxiphoid thoracoscopic thymectomy (SVATS) for early thymoma are unknown. The purposes of this meta-analysis were to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of SVATS for early thymoma, to compare it with unilateral intercostal approach video thoracoscopic surgery (IVATS) thymectomy, and to investigate the clinical efficacy of modified subxiphoid thoracoscopic thymectomy (MSVATS) for early anterior mediastinal thymoma. Methods: Original articles describing subxiphoid and unilateral intercostal approaches for thoracoscopic thymectomy to treat early thymoma published up to March 2023 were searched from PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and analyzed for heterogeneity. Clinical data were retrospectively collected from all Masaoka stage I and II thymoma patients who underwent modified subxiphoid and unilateral intercostal approach thoracoscopic thymectomies between September 2020 and March 2023. The operative time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperative drainage, extubation time, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative visual analog pain score (VAS), and postoperative complications were compared, and the clinical advantages of the modified subxiphoid approach for early-stage anterior mediastinal thymoma were analyzed. Results: A total of 1607 cases were included in the seven studies in this paper. Of these, 591 cases underwent SVATS thymectomies, and 1016 cases underwent IVATS thymectomies. SVATS thymectomy was compared with IVATS thymectomy in terms of age (SMD = − 0.09, 95% CI: −0.20 to − 0.03, I2 = 20%, p = 0.13), body mass index (BMI; SMD = − 0.10, 95% CI: −0.21 to − 0.01, I2 = 0%, p = 0.08), thymoma size (SMD = − 0.01, 95% CI: −0.01, I2 = 0%, p = 0.08), operative time (SMD = − 0.70, 95% CI: −1.43–0.03, I2 = 97%, p = 0.06), intraoperative bleeding (SMD = − 0.30. 95% CI: −0.66–0.06, I2 = 89%, p = 0.10), time to extubation (SMD = − 0.34, 95%CI: −0.73–0.05, I2 = 91%, p = 0.09), postoperative hospital stay (SMD = − 0.40, 95% CI: −0.93–0.12, I2 = 93%, p = 0.13), and postoperative complications (odds ratio [OR] = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.42–2.12, I2 = 57%, p = 0.88), which were not statistically significantly different between the SVATS and IVATS groups. However, the postoperative drainage in the SVATS group was less than that in the IVATS group (SMD = − 0.43, 95%CI: −0.84 to − 0.02, I2 = 88%, p = 0.04), and the difference was statistically significant. More importantly, the postoperative VAS was lower in the SVATS group on days 1 (SMD = − 1.73, 95%CI: −2.27 to − 1.19, I2 = 93%, p < 0.00001), 3 (SMD = − 1.88, 95%CI: −2.84 to − 0.81, I2 = 97%, p = 0.0005), and 7 (SMD = − 1.18, 95%CI: −2.28 to − 0.08, I2 = 97%, p = 0.04) than in the IVATS group, and these differences were statistically significant. A total of 117 patients undergoing thoracoscopic thymectomy for early thymoma in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Second Hospital of Jilin University were retrospectively collected and included in the analysis, for which a modified subxiphoid approach was used in 42 cases and a unilateral intercostal approach was used in 75 cases. The differences between the two groups (MSVATS vs. IVATS) in general clinical characteristics such as age, sex, tumor diameter, Masaoka stage, Word Health Organization (WHO) stage, and intraoperative and postoperative conditions, including operative time, postoperative drainage, extubation time, postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative complication rates, were not statistically significant (p > 0.05), while BMI, intraoperative bleeding, and VAS on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7 were all statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the MSVATS group compared with the IVATS group. Conclusion: The meta-analysis showed that the conventional subxiphoid approach was superior in terms of postoperative drainage and postoperative VAS pain scores compared with the unilateral intercostal approach. Moreover, the modified subxiphoid approach had significant advantages in intraoperative bleeding and postoperative VAS pain scores compared with the unilateral intercostal approach. These results indicate that MSVATS can provide more convenient operation conditions, a better pleural cavity view, and a more complete thymectomy in the treatment of early thymoma, indicating that is a safe and feasible minimally invasive surgical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclophosphamide (CY)-induced acute cardiotoxicity is a common side effect which is dose dependent. It is reported that up to 20% of patients received high dose of CY treatment suffered from acute cardiac dysfunction. However, the effective intervention strategies and related mechanisms are still largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the effects of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), an important endogenous cardioprotective enzyme, on CY-induced acute cardiotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms. It was found that ALDH2 knockout (KO) mice were more sensitive to CY-induced acute cardiotoxicity, presenting as higher serum levels of creatine kinase-MB isoform and lactate dehydrogenase, and significantly reduced myocardial contractility compared with C57BL/6 (WT) mice. In addition, cardiac cell death, especially necrosis, was obviously increased in ALDH2 KO mice compared with WT mice after CY treatment. Furthermore, accumulation of toxic aldehydes such as acrolein and 4-HNE and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the myocardium were significantly elevated after CY in ALDH2 KO mice. Importantly, ALDH2 activation by Alda-1 pretreatment markedly attenuated CY-induced accumulation of toxic aldehydes, cardiac cell death and cardiac dysfunction, without affecting CY's anti-tumor efficacy. In conclusion, the cardioprotective effects of ALDH2 activation against CY-induced acute cardiotoxicity are exerted via reducing toxic aldehydes accumulation and potentially interrupting the acrolein-ROS-aldehydes vicious circles, and thus alleviates myocardial cell death, without antagonizing the anti-tumor efficacy of CY. Therefore, ALDH2 might be a promising prevention and treatment target for CY-induced acute cardiotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photochromic hydrogels have broad prospects in wearable optoelectronic technology, rewritable information storage technology, biological imaging agents and chemical sensors, etc. However, it is still a challenge to develop photochromic hydrogels with high transparency, mechanical properties, fast response, stability and color reversibility. In this study, a novel photochromic hydrogel (PAAm/SA-Mo7) was prepared by loading ammonium molybdate (Mo7) into a double-network hydrogel of polyacrylamide (PAAm) and sodium alginate (SA) through a facile one-step method. The introduction of SA and Mo7 significantly improved the mechanical properties of hydrogels, and the maximum elongation and breaking energy are 27.5 and 86 times higher than those of pure PAAm. Furthermore, the photochromic hydrogels have fast response and stable reversible color change. The coloring process of hydrogels can be precisely controlled by the time and intensity of UV irradiation, and the fading process can also be controlled by temperature. The photochromic hydrogel can be applied to self-erasing rewritable media and information storage. This work provides a new approach for the development of flexible wearable optoelectronic materials. • Fast response and low cost photochromic hydrogels were prepared by a simple one-step method. • Photochromic hydrogels show high toughness with the maximum elongation up to 3300%. • The photochromic process can be precisely controlled by the intensity and exposure time of UV light. • Self-erasing rewritable media and information storage can be realized upon the UV light excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]