Conjugated polymer dots (Pdots) have shown potential in the biomedical fields due to their optical properties and customizable design. However, the limited research on the biotoxicity of Pdots hinders their further application and translation. Lipophilic Pdots are prone to adsorbing specific proteins, leading to targeted tissue accumulation. Therefore, lipophilic fluorescent Pdots (Bare-Pdots) are synthesized using the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) to systematically evaluate their biodistribution and biotoxicity in stem cells, zebrafish embryos, and mice. It is observed that Bare-Pdots are readily internalized by cells and adhered to the embryonic chorion. Additionally, Bare-Pdots exhibit a distinct distribution in brown adipose tissue and heart, closely associated with phagocytosis of capillary endothelial cells involved in lipid metabolism. Notably, injection of Bare-Pdots at 5mgkg-1results in dysfunction of brown adipose tissue and an increased risk of obesity 90days post-injection. Furthermore, hydrophilic COOH-Pdots and NH2-Pdots with reduced lipophilicity are synthesized using amphiphilic ligands. NH2-Pdots show similar distribution but lower biotoxicity compared to Bare-Pdots. Nevertheless, injection of COOH-Pdots at 5mgkg-1 causes a decrease in white blood cells and renal tubular damage. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing dosage to ensure the safe use of Pdots in preclinical applications.

This study investigates the synthesize of activated carbon for carbon dioxide adsorption using palm kernel shell (PKS), a by-product of oil palm industry. The adsorbent synthesis involved a simple two-step carbonization method. Firstly, PKS was activated with potassium oxide (KOH), followed by functionalization with magnesium oxide (MgO). Surface analysis revealed that KOH activated PKS has resulted in a high specific surface area of 1086 m2/g compared to untreated PKS (435 m2/g). However, impregnation of MgO resulted in the reduction of surface area due to blockage of pores by MgO. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated that PKS-based adsorbents exhibited minimal weight loss of less than 30% up to 500 °C, indicating their suitability for high-temperature applications. CO2 adsorption experiments revealed that PKS-AC-MgO has achieved a higher adsorption capacity of 155.35 mg/g compared to PKS-AC (149.63 mg/g) at 25 °C and 5 bars. The adsorption behaviour of PKS-AC-MgO was well fitted by both the Sips and Langmuir isotherms, suggesting a combination of both heterogeneous and homogeneous adsorption and indicating a chemical reaction between MgO and CO2. Thermodynamic analysis indicated a spontaneous and thermodynamically favourable process for CO2 capture by PKS-AC-MgO, with negative change in enthalpy (- 0.21 kJ/mol), positive change in entropy (2.44 kJ/mol), and negative change in Gibbs free energy (- 729.61 J/mol, - 790.79 J/mol, and - 851.98 J/mol) across tested temperature. Economic assessment revealed that the cost of PKS-AC-MgO is 21% lower than the current market price of commercial activated carbon, indicating its potential for industrial application. Environmental assessment shows a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (381.9 tCO2) through the utilization of PKS-AC-MgO, underscoring its environmental benefits. In summary, the use of activated carbon produced from PKS and functionalised with MgO shows great potential for absorbing CO2. This aligns with the ideas of a circular economy and sustainable development.

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of inappropriate tight glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions in New York City, and to identify factors associated with this practice. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the INSIGHT Clinical Research Network. The study population included 11,728 and 15,196 older adults in New York City (age ≥ 75 years) with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and at least one other chronic medical condition, in 2017 and 2022, respectively. The main outcome of interest was inappropriate tight glycemic control, defined as HbA1c <7.0% (<53 mmol/mol) with prescription of at least one high-risk agent (insulin or insulin secretagogue). The proportion of older adults with inappropriate tight glycemic control decreased by nearly 19% over a five-year period (19.4% in 2017 to 15.8% in 2022). There was a significant decrease in insulin (27.8% in 2017; 24.3% in 2022) and sulfonylurea (29.4% in 2017; 21.7% in 2022) medication prescription, and increase in use of GLP-1 agonists (1.8% in 2017; 11.4% in 2022) and SGLT-2 inhibitors (5.8% in 2017; 25.1% in 2022), among the total population. Factors associated with inappropriate tight glycemic control in 2022 included history of heart failure (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.38), chronic kidney disease ([aOR] 1.93), colorectal cancer ([aOR] 1.38), acute myocardial infarction ([aOR] 1.28), "other" ([aOR] 0.72) or "unknown" ([aOR] 0.72) race, and a point increase in BMI ([aOR] 0.98). We found an encouraging trend toward less use of high-risk medication strategies for older adults with type 2 diabetes and multiple chronic conditions. However, one in six patients in 2022 still had inappropriate tight glycemic control, indicating a need for continued efforts to optimize diabetes management in this population.

Our study aimed to (1) validate the accuracy of nursing mobility documentation and (2) identify the most effective timings for behavioural mapping. We monitored the mobility of 55 inpatients using behavioural mapping throughout a nursing day shift, comparing the observed mobility levels with the nursing charting in the electronic health record during the same period. Our results showed a high level of agreement between nursing records and observed mobility, with improved accuracy observed particularly when documentation was at 12 PM or later. Behavioural mapping observations revealed that the most effective timeframe to observe the highest levels of patient mobility was between 10 AM AND 2 PM. To truly understand patient mobility, comparing nursing charting with methods like behavioural mapping is beneficial. This comparison helps evaluate how well nursing records reflect actual patient mobility and offers insights into the best times for charting to capture peak mobility. While behavioural mapping is a valuable tool for auditing patient mobility, its high resource demands limit its regular use. Thus, determining the most effective times and durations for observations is key for practical implementation in hospital mobility audits. Nurses are pivotal in ensuring patient mobility in hospitals, an essential element of quality care. Their role involves safely mobilizing patients and accurately charting their mobility levels during each shift. For nursing practice, this research underscores that nurse charting can accurately reflect patient mobility, and highlights that recording the patient's highest level of mobility later in the shift offers a more precise representation of their actual mobility. Strobe. No Patient or Public Contribution.

The direct generation of conducting paths within an insulating surface represents a conceptually unexplored approach to single-layer electrical conduction that opens vistas for exciting research and applications fundamentally different from those based on specific layered materials. Herein we report surface channels with single-layer -COOH functionality patterned on insulating n-octadecyltrichlorosilane monolayers on silicon that exhibit unusual ionic-electronic conduction when equipped with ion-releasing silver electrodes. The strong dependence of charge transport in such channels on their lateral dimensions (nanosize, macro-size), the type (p, n) and resistivity (doping level) of the underlying silicon substrate, the nature of the insulating spacer layer between the conducting channel and the silicon surface, and the postpatterning chemical manipulation of channel's -COOH functionality allows designing channels with variable resistivities, ranging from that of a practical insulator to some unexpectedly low values. The unusually low resistivities displayed by channels with nanometric widths and micrometer-millimeter lengths are attributed primarily to enhanced electronic transport within ultrathin nanowire-like silver metal films formed along their conductive paths. Function-structure correlations derived from a comprehensive analysis of electrical, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectral data suggest an unconventional mode of conduction in these channels, which has yet to be elucidated, apparently involving coupled ionic-electronic transport mediated and enhanced by interfacial electrical interactions with charge carriers located outside the conducting channel and separated from those carrying the measured current. These intriguing findings hint at effects akin to Coulomb pairing in the proposed mechanisms of excitonic superconductivity in interfacial nanosystems structurally related to the present metalized surface channels.

Do hyperactive kisspeptin neurons contribute to abnormally high LH secretion and downstream hyperandrogenemia in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-like conditions and can inhibition of kisspeptin neurons rescue such endocrine impairments? Targeted inhibition of endogenous kisspeptin neuron activity in a mouse model of PCOS reduced the abnormally hyperactive LH pulse secretion and hyperandrogenemia to healthy control levels. PCOS is a reproductive disorder characterized by hyperandrogenemia, anovulation, and/or polycystic ovaries, along with a hallmark feature of abnormal LH hyper-pulsatility, but the mechanisms underlying the endocrine impairments remain unclear. A chronic letrozole (LET; aromatase inhibitor) mouse model recapitulates PCOS phenotypes, including polycystic ovaries, anovulation, high testosterone, and hyperactive LH pulses. LET PCOS-like females also have increased hypothalamic kisspeptin neuronal activation which may drive their hyperactive LH secretion and hyperandrogenemia, but this has not been tested. Transgenic KissCRE+/hM4Di female mice or littermates Cre- controls were treated with placebo, or chronic LET (50 µg/day) to induce a PCOS-like phenotype, followed by acute (once) or chronic (2 weeks) clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) exposure to chemogenetically inhibit kisspeptin cells (n = 6 to 10 mice/group). Key endocrine measures, including in vivo LH pulse secretion patterns and circulating testosterone levels, were assessed before and after selective kisspeptin neuron inhibition and compared between PCOS groups and healthy controls. Alterations in body weights were measured and pituitary and ovarian gene expression was determined by qRT-PCR. Acute targeted inhibition of kisspeptin neurons in PCOS mice successfully lowered the abnormally hyperactive LH pulse secretion (P < 0.05). Likewise, chronic selective suppression of kisspeptin neuron activity reversed the previously high LH and testosterone levels (P < 0.05) down to healthy control levels and rescued reproductive gene expression (P < 0. 05). N/A. Ovarian morphology was not assessed in this study. Additionally, mouse models can offer mechanistic insights into neuroendocrine processes in PCOS-like conditions but may not perfectly mirror PCOS in women. These data support the hypothesis that overactive kisspeptin neurons can drive neuroendocrine PCOS-like impairments, and this may occur in PCOS women. Our findings complement recent clinical investigations using NKB receptor antagonists to lower LH in PCOS women and suggest that pharmacological dose-dependent modulation of kisspeptin neuron activity may be a valuable future therapeutic target to clinically treat hyperandrogenism and lower elevated LH in PCOS women. This research was supported by NIH grants R01 HD111650, R01 HD090161, R01 HD100580, P50 HD012303, R01 AG078185, and NIH R24 HD102061, and a pilot project award from the British Society for Neuroendocrinology. There are no competing interests.

Older adults with dementia often face the risk of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use. The quality of PIM evaluation is hindered by researchers' unfamiliarity with evaluation criteria for inappropriate drug use. While traditional machine learning algorithms can enhance evaluation quality, they struggle with the multilabel nature of prescription data. This study aimed to combine six machine learning algorithms and three multilabel classification models to identify correlations in prescription information and develop an optimal model to identify PIMs in older adults with dementia. This study was conducted from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. We used cluster sampling to obtain prescription data from patients 65 yearsand older with dementia. We assessed PIMs using the 2019 Beers criteria, the most authoritative and widely recognized standard for PIM detection. Our modeling process used three problem transformation methods (binary relevance, label powerset, and classifier chain) and six classification algorithms. We identified 18,338 older dementia patients and 36 PIMs types. The classifier chain + categorical boosting (CatBoost) model demonstrated superior performance, with the highest accuracy (97.93%), precision (95.39%), recall (94.07%), F1 score (95.69%), and subset accuracy values (97.41%), along with the lowest Hamming loss value (0.0011) and an acceptable duration of the operation (371s). This research introduces a pioneering CC + CatBoost warning model for PIMs in older dementia patients, utilizing machine-learning techniques. This model enables a quick and precise identification of PIMs, simplifying the manual evaluation process.

Lettuce holds a prominent position in the year-round supply of vegetables, offering a rich array of health-beneficial substances, such as dietary fiber, phenolic compounds, lactucopicrin and lactucin. As such, its flavor has garnered increasing attention. Balancing the enhancement of beneficial compounds with the reduction of undesirable taste is a key focus of scientific research. To investigate short-term management to improve the nutritional quality and flavor of lettuce, combinations of different light intensities (200, 500 and 800 μm ol m-2 s-1) and temperatures (10 and 22 °C) were applied separately to 'Lollo Rosso' and 'Little Butter Lettuce' for 7 days before harvest. The results obtained showed that increasing light intensity at low temperatures decreased nitrate content and increased soluble sugar, soluble protein, anthocyanin and phenolic compound content. In the case of lettuce flavor, the bitterness-related metabolites such as lactucin and lactucopicrin were reduced with high light intensity at a low temperature of 10 °C. With this combination, the fructose and glucose contents increased, significantly improving lettuce flavor. Higher light intensity combined with low temperature for 7 days before harvest effectively improved the nutritional quality and flavor of lettuce, suggesting its great potential for use in horticultural practices. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

We report a simple and highly sensitive colorimetric method for the detection and quantification of proteins, based on the aggregation of ascorbic acid (AA) capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by proteins. The interactions between our AuNPs and nine different proteins of various sizes and shapes (cytochrome C (12 kDa), lysozyme (14.3 kDa), myoglobin (17 kDa), human serum albumin (66 kDa), bovine serum albumin (66.4 kDa), human transferrin (80 kDa), aldolase (160 kDa), catalase (240 kDa), and human H-ferritin (500 kDa)) generated similar AuNPs-protein absorption spectra in a concentration-dependent manner in the range of 1-15 nM. Upon the addition of a protein, the UV-visible spectra of AuNPs-protein conjugates shifted from 524 nm for the AuNps alone to longer wavelength (600-750 nm) due to the presence of one of these proteins. This bathochromic shift is accompanied by a color change from a cherry red, to dark purple, and then light grey or colorless if excess protein has been added, indicating the formation of AuNPs-protein conjugates followed by protein-induced aggregation of the AuNPs. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images revealed uniformly distributed spherical nanoparticles with an average size of 27.5 ± 15.2 nm, increasing in size to 39.6 ± 12.9 nm upon the addition of a protein, indicating the formation of AuNPs-protein conjugates in solution. A general mechanism for the protein-induced aggregation of our AuNPs is proposed. The consistent behavior observed with the nine proteins tested in our study suggests that our assay can be universally applied for the quantification of pure proteins in a solution, regardless of size, shape, or molecular weight.

Objective: To conduct bibliometric analysis of the application of inorganic nanomaterials to autoimmune diseases to characterize current research trends and to visualize past and emerging trends in this field in the past 15 years. Methods: The evolution and thematic trends of the application of inorganic nanomaterials to autoimmune diseases from January 1, 1985, to March 15, 2024, were analyzed by bibliometric analysis of data retrieved and extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. A total of 734 relevant reports in the literature were evaluated according to specific characteristics such as year of publication, journal, institution, country/region, references, and keywords. VOSviewer was used to build co-authorship analysis, co-occurrence analysis, co-citation analysis, and network visualization. Some important subtopics identified by bibliometric characterization are further discussed and reviewed. Result: From 2009 to 2024, annual publications worldwide increased from 11 to 95, an increase of 764%. ACS Nano published the most papers (14) with the most citations (1372). China (230 papers, 4922 citations) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (36 papers, 718 citations) are the most productive and influential country and institution, respectively. The first 100 keywords were co-clustered to form four clusters: (1) the application of inorganic nanomaterials in drug delivery, (2) the application of inorganic nano-biosensing to autoimmune diseases, (3) the use of inorganic nanomaterials for imaging applied to autoimmune diseases, and (4) the application of inorganic nanomaterials in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Combination therapy, microvesicles, photothermal therapy (PTT), targeting, diagnostics, transdermal, microneedling, silver nanoparticles, psoriasis, and inflammatory cytokines are the latest high-frequency keywords, marking the emerging frontier of inorganic nanomaterials in the field of autoimmune diseases. Sub-topics were further discussed to help researchers determine the scope of research topics and plan research directions. Conclusion: Over the past 39 years, the application of inorganic nanotechnology to the field of autoimmune diseases shows extensive cooperation between countries and institutions, showing a continuous increase in the number of reports in the literature, and has clinical translation prospects. Future research should further improve the safety of inorganic nanomaterials, clarify the mechanism of action of nanomaterials, establish a standardized nanomaterial preparation and performance evaluation system, and ultimately achieve the goal of early detection and precise treatment of autoimmune diseases.