Bilirubin biosensors for liver disease management.

Analysis of the distribution of adenosine and guanosine on fermented soybean cryosections by MALDI-MSI.

Selenoureido-N-alkyl-3,4,5-trihydroxypiperidines: probing their dual-target role in Gaucher disease.

Practical management of rheumatic immune-related adverse events occurring with immune checkpoint inhibitors: A narrative review.

Rationale: Extensive leukocyte diapedesis is a defining step in inflammation and contributes critically to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). Infiltrating leukocytes amplify local inflammation and exacerbate myocardial damage. However, the upstream control of the trans-endothelial migration step remains incompletely understood. Methods: Peripheral blood myeloid cells were isolated from MI/RI patients and healthy donors to examine MAP3K3 expression and its correlation with cardiac markers. Mouse MI/RI models were established to investigate MAP3K3 expression of myeloid cells in the heart. Myeloid-specific Map3k3 deficiency mice were used to evaluate the impact of MAP3K3 depletion on MI/RI severity and on myeloid cell diapedesis from the bone marrow. RNA sequencing and various manipulations of the MAP3K3/TAL1/JAM-A axis were used to elucidate its role in diapedesis. Finally, the therapeutic potential of pazopanib, a MAP3K3 inhibitor, was evaluated in the mouse MI/RI model. Results: MAP3K3 expression was upregulated in both monocytes and neutrophils from MI/RI patients and was positively correlated with the severity of MI/RI. In mice, MAP3K3 in cardiac myeloid cells peaked at day 3 post-MI/RI. Myeloid cell-specific depletion of MAP3K3 alleviated MI/RI by reducing the infiltration of myeloid cells into cardiac tissue. Functionally, MAP3K3 facilitated myeloid cell de-adhesion and transmigration across endothelial barriers. Further mechanistic studies identified the MAP3K3/TAL1/JAM-A signaling pathway as a key regulator of myeloid cell diapedesis. MAP3K3 phosphorylates TAL1 at Ser-122, leading to its ubiquitination and attenuating its transcriptional repression of F11r (encoding JAM-A). Through JAM-A, MAP3K3 promotes integrin internalization, thereby enhancing de-adhesion and myeloid cell transmigration. Treatment with pazopanib, a MAP3K3 inhibitor, ameliorated MI/RI injury and reduced myeloid cell diapedesis into the heart by blocking MAP3K3 phosphorylation activity. Conclusions: MAP3K3 orchestrates myeloid cell diapedesis via a TAL1/JAM-A dependent program during MI/RI. Targeting MAP3K3, exemplified by pazopanib, may offer a therapeutic strategy for MI/RI and related inflammatory conditions.

Effect of humidity on microwave-based direct air capture under fluidization.

The roles of extracellular vesicles including "oviductosomes" in normal reproduction and related pathological conditions.

Neutrophils and periodontitis: From pathological mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities.

Reducing the detection limit of the radon monitor with less humidity influence based on electrostatic collection method and CR-39 detector.

A comprehensive genome-wide association study and genomic prediction in olive flounder for assessing disease resistance to Enteromyxum leei.

Background: The transition from the term non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to steatotic liver disease (SLD), an umbrella term for several related conditions, offers benefits, particularly in identifying cardiometabolic risk factors more effectively. However, the impact of alcohol consumption on liver disease progression remains significant, leading to the recognition of a new entity: MetALD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease with moderate alcohol intake). Aim: This study aimed to compare characteristics associated with liver disease progression in diabetic patients diagnosed with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) versus those with MetALD. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 286 diabetic patients were followed for 12 months. All patients underwent transient elastography (TE) and ultrasound to assess hepatic steatosis. Participants were classified into MASLD and MetALD groups. The performance of fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) were also evaluated. Results: MASLD was diagnosed in 58.2% (167 patients), of whom 4.9% (7 patients) had TE values suggestive for liver cirrhosis. Among those with MetALD, 17.6% (21 patients) had TE values compatible with advanced fibrosis. MASLD subjects presented a slight decrease in liver fibrosis values from 6.58 ± 2.27 kPa to 6.03 ± 1.57 kPa in the 12 months. On the contrary, MetALD subjects had an increase of liver stiffness measurements (LSM) values from 11.83 ± 6.27 kPa to 12.24 ± 8.66 kPa. Conclusions: in diabetic patients, the coexistence of moderate alcohol intake and cardiometabolic risk factors (MetALD) is associated with more advanced liver fibrosis and impaired long-term glycemic control, compared to MASLD alone.

In vitro testing of ventricular assist devices, constructing a mock circulation system that reproduces physiological cardiac function, is critical. However, current ventricular simulators often lack biomimetic fidelity and may introduce hemolysis and coagulation risks during prolonged operation, affecting hemocompatibility assessment. This study proposes a motor-driven torsional 3D-printed left ventricular simulator to reconstruct the hemodynamics of severe heart failure and related pathological conditions. The system integrates a 3D-printed elastic ventricular model with programmable torsional actuation, allowing the simulation of various cardiac conditions by adjusting the motor torsion angle and rotational speed, peripheral resistance and compliance. Fresh porcine blood was circulated for 4 h in a closed-loop system, with periodic measurements of plasma-free hemoglobin (PfHb), thrombin–antithrombin complex (TAT), and P-selectin. The results show that the system successfully reproduces typical hemodynamic features of severe heart failure, while hemolysis and coagulation markers remain low. After 4 h, PfHb was below 20 mg/dL, with no significant platelet activation or thrombosis. This study demonstrates that the proposed system enhances biomimicry while maintaining excellent hemocompatibility, offering a reliable platform for in vitro performance and safety evaluation of ventricular assist devices.

ABSTRACT Background Feasibility concerns around non-pharmacological interventions can be a barrier against clinical research in individuals with mania. Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial using blue-blocking vs lightly-tinted glasses, we interviewed participants who were hospitalized with mania and clinicians to gather insight on feasibility of recruitment and acceptability and implementation of tinted glasses according to the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) framework using a grounded theory approach. Semi-structured interviews with 24 participants and 10 clinicians were conducted. Results The central theory of “research readiness for a dark therapy trial” was developed from six main themes identified from participant interviews: motivation, patient-centred approach, benefits of participating, research understanding, efficacy of intervention and challenges. The central theory of “supportive of blue-blocking glasses” was developed from five themes identified from clinician interviews: importance and benefits of clinical research, clinician-patient interactions, acceptability of research for participants, documentation and challenges. Discussion This study identified themes from the experiences of participants and clinicians of the clinical trial that contribute to the feasibility and acceptability of blue-blocking glasses as an intervention for mania. The results of this qualitative study will inform implementation practices for clinical trials investigating non-pharmacological interventions for hospitalized individuals with mania and related acute psychiatric conditions which affect judgement.

Several health conditions are known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aim to systematically identify medical conditions that are associated with subsequent development of AD by leveraging the growing resources of electronic health records (EHRs). This retrospective cohort study used de-identified EHRs from two independent databases (MarketScan and VUMC) with 153million individuals to identify AD cases and age- and gender-matched controls. By tracking their EHRs over a 10-year window before AD diagnosis and comparing the EHRs between AD cases and controls, we identified medical conditions that occur more likely in those who later develop AD. We further assessed the genetic underpinnings of these conditions in relation to AD genetics using data from two large-scale biobanks (BioVU and UK Biobank, total N = 450,000). We identified 43,508 AD cases and 419,455 matched controls in MarketScan, and 1,320 AD cases and 12,720 matched controls in VUMC. We detected 406 and 102 medical phenotypes that are significantly enriched among the future AD cases in MarketScan and VUMC databases, respectively. In both EHR databases, mental disorders and neurological disorders emerged as the top two most enriched clinical categories. More than 70 medical phenotypes are replicated in both EHR databases, which are dominated by mental disorders (e.g., depression), neurological disorders (e.g., sleep orders), circulatory system disorders (e.g. cerebral atherosclerosis) and endocrine/metabolic disorders (e.g., type 2 diabetes). We identified 19 phenotypes that are either associated with individual risk variants of AD or a polygenic risk score of AD. In this study, analysis of longitudinal EHRs from independent large-scale databases enables robust identification of health conditions associated with subsequent development of AD, highlighting potential opportunities of therapeutics and interventions to reduce AD risk.

ABSTRACT This study examines how institutional structures, workplace conditions, and individual agency interact to sustain teacher educators’ careers in Chile’s stratified, market-oriented higher education system. Employing survey data from 70 teacher educators from a public and traditional private university, it integrates De Vos et al’.s sustainable career model with Archer’s theory of agency to identify predictors of self-perceived career agency. Results show that collegiality and work–life balance mediate the effects of institutional structures, while career mechanisms and organisational transparency predict agency only when relational conditions are strong. Although the private university offered a more supportive work environment, agency did not differ significantly by institutional type. The findings reveal that teacher educators’ career agency emerges through relational and contextual conditions, not only individual disposition, extending sustainable career research in Global South settings and emphasising the need for organisational contexts that nurture enduring professional growth.

Predicting cellular responses to genetic perturbations is critical for advancing our understanding of gene regulation. While single-cell CRISPR perturbation assays such as Perturb-seq provide direct measurements of gene function, the scale of these experiments is limited by cost and feasibility. This motivates the development of computational approaches that can accurately infer responses to unmeasured perturbations from related experimental data. We introduce dbDiffusion, a generative framework that integrates diffusion models with classifier-free guidance derived from perturbation information, operating in latent space through a variational autoencoder. Diffusion models are probabilistic generative models that approximate data distributions by reversing a Markovian diffusion process, progressively denoising Gaussian noise into structured outputs. By exploiting biological similarities in gene expression profiles and relationships among perturbations, dbDiffusion enables the conditional generation of gene expressions for previously unobserved perturbations. In contrast to competing approaches, dbDiffusion does not rely on Large Language Model or foundation models, which have been found to yield unsatisfactory results. Rather, it leverages embeddings derived from measured perturbations to generalize to unseen perturbations, effectively transferring information across related experimental conditions. In benchmarking against state-of-the-art methods on Perturb-seq datasets, dbDiffusion demonstrates superior accuracy in predicting perturbation responses. A methodological innovation of dbDiffusion is the integration of prediction-powered inference, which corrects for biases inherent in generative models and enables statistically rigorous downstream tasks, including the identification of differentially expressed genes. By combining deep generative modeling with principled inference, dbDiffusion establishes a scalable computational framework for predicting and analyzing transcriptomic perturbation responses, significantly extending the utility of Perturb-seq experiments.

Crohn’s disease (CD) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are clinically distinct but pathogenetically related conditions in which significant abnormalities in autophagy are observed. The aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of three key autophagy-related genes, i.e., BECN1 (macroautophagy), PINK1 (mitophagy), and LAMP2 (chaperone-mediated autophagy) in tissue samples from patients with CD and CRC. The study material included samples from 48 patients with CD (n = 96 biopsy samples) and 87 patients with CRC (n = 87 tumors; n = 87 normal paired controls). Transcriptomic analyses were performed using Affymetrix HG-U133A microarrays. They were confirmed by RT-qPCR. The Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc analysis (α = 0.05) and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used for statistical evaluation. Expression of BECN1 and LAMP2 was significantly decreased in both CD and CRC compared to the controls (p = 0.009; p = 0.023, respectively). However, PINK1 showed significantly higher expression levels in CD compared to CRC and the controls (p < 0.001). The clinical stages of CRC (I–IV) did not significantly affect the expression of the analyzed genes. The study findings confirm the presence of common abnormalities in autophagy in CD and CRC, with decreased macroautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy, with the compensatory activation of mitophagy. BECN1, PINK1, and LAMP2 expressions may have a diagnostic and therapeutic value in the context of chronic inflammation and colorectal carcinogenesis.

Metal halide perovskite single-crystal thin films (SCTFs) show great promise for high-stability optoelectronic applications since their long-range ordered stacking with large grains, few grain boundaries, and low defect density. However, their growth always requires high temperatures due to the inverse temperature solubility of the precursors, which increases the production costs, and decreases the crystal area and quality. Here, an assisting solvent strategy is developed to achieve in situ growth of large-area and high-quality perovskite SCTFs at low temperatures. Tetrahydrofuran serves as the assisting solvent in γ-butyrolactone to hydrogen bond with the precursor to improve the saturation solubility at room temperature. The resulting SCTFs show a maximum area of over 10 mm2, a low defect density of 4.42 × 1012 cm-3, and superior optoelectronic properties. The as-fabricated self-powered photodetectors exhibit a high detectivity of 4.01 × 1012 Jones, a large linear dynamic range of 127dB, and reproducible photocurrent response. Moreover, the devices show long-term stability in humid conditions, maintaining approximately 90% of the initial photocurrents after being stored for nearly 120 days in 60% relative humidity conditions. Our work not only presents state-of-the-art perovskite photodetectors with superior stability, but also demonstrates the huge potential of perovskite SCTFs in optoelectronic applications.

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) imposes a substantial psychological burden. Pro­longed treatment, social stigma, and uncertainty can precipitate anxiety and depressive symptoms. Psycho-oncology offers transferable constructs—especially fear of cancer (including fear of recurrence) and emotion regulation—that may illuminate analogous mech­anisms in TB. To synthesize evidence on (i) psychological distress, stigma, and emotion regulation among people with TB; (ii) conceptual overlaps between fear of cancer and chron­ic-illness anxiety; and (iii) implications for psycho-oncology–informed care pathways in TB. Narrative review guided by SANRA quality principles and informed by PRISMA-ScR transparency standards. Searches of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (2015–2025) combined terms for tuberculosis, fear of cancer/recurrence, emotion regulation, stigma, self-esteem, and coping. Inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed, open-access, English-lan­guage studies addressing psychosocial constructs in TB, cancer, or closely related chronic conditions. Ten eligible studies were thematically synthesized. Four convergent themes emerged. (1) Psychological distress and stigma in TB: Internalized/anticipated stigma are consistently associated with anxiety, depression, and poorer quality of life; higher self-es­teem buffers these effects. (2) Fear of cancer and emotion-regulation mechanisms: Adaptive strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, acceptance) reduce fear-related distress; maladaptive strategies (rumination, avoidance, self-blame) amplify it. (3) Cross-disease psychosocial parallels: Trans-diagnostic patterns link fear, control beliefs, and interpersonal regulation to resilience and adherence across TB and oncology. (4) Intervention implications: Multi­level approaches—counselling, peer/family support, stigma-reduction toolkits, and cultur­ally attuned mind–body practices—target shared mechanisms and may improve well-being and treatment engagement. Fear-related processes and emotion regulation constitute a com­mon psychological architecture across TB and cancer. A psycho-oncological lens clarifies how stigma, self-concept, and regulatory strategies shape distress, resilience, and adherence in TB. Integrating routine psychological screening, brief emotion-regulation interventions, interpersonal supports, and culturally sensitive practices into TB services could strengthen outcomes and advance a biopsychosocial standard of care. This review expands the psy­cho-oncological paradigm to infectious disease contexts.

Reconfigurable metasurfaces seamlessly integrate physical and digital spaces and hold significant application prospects in 5G networks and the upcoming 6G technology. Despite rapid technological advancements, integrating full-space beam control and stealth capabilities within a single metasurface operating in the terahertz (THz) band, while achieving software-customizable electromagnetic regulation capabilities, remains a major challenge. In this paper, an omnidirectional optically controlled terahertz reconfigurable metasurface (OOCTRM) is proposed, which integrates three modes: reflective regulation, transmissive regulation, and electromagnetic stealth. This metasurface exhibits a series of dynamic functions, including full-space multi-beam regulation and dynamic modulation of multi-mode orbital angular momentum (OAM). Additionally, a multifunctional beam control system featuring the collaborative design of a physical sensing layer, an algorithm optimization layer, and a real-time interaction layer is proposed herein. The system we proposed can dynamically and independently regulate full-space THz beams in a software-defined manner. At the real-time interaction layer, we designed a visual interface that enables real-time monitoring of coding states, beam regulation, and other related conditions. This study is expected to offer a promising approach for manipulating transmitted terahertz beams via light-controlled reconfigurable metasurfaces and holds great potential for integrated stealth communication systems, intelligent sensing, and terahertz wireless communications.