A reversible implantable memristor for health monitoring applications.

Conventional implantable electronics based on von Neumann architectures encounter significant limitations in computing and processing vast biological information due to computational bottlenecks. The memristor with integrated memory-computing and low power consumption offer a promising solution to overcome the computational bottleneck and Moore's law limitations of traditional silicon-based implantable devices, making them the most promising candidates for next-generation implantable devices. In this work, a highly stable memristor with an Ag/BaTiO3/MnO2/FTO structure was fabricated, demonstrating retention characteristics exceeding 1200 cycles and endurance above 1000 s. The device successfully exhibited three-stage responses to biological signals after implantation in SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats. Importantly, the memristor perform remarkable reversibility, maintaining over 100 cycles of stable repetition even after extraction from the rat. This study provides a new perspective on the biomedical application of memristors, expanding the potential of implantable memristive devices in intelligent medical fields such as health monitoring and auxiliary diagnostics.

Establishment and validation of an artificial intelligence-based model for real-time detection and classification of colorectal adenoma.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention requires early detection and removal of adenomas. We aimed to develop a computational model for real-time detection and classification of colorectal adenoma. Computationally constrained background based on real-time detection, we propose an improved adaptive lightweight ensemble model for real-time detection and classification of adenomas and other polyps. Firstly, we devised an adaptive lightweight network modification and effective training strategy to diminish the computational requirements for real-time detection. Secondly, by integrating the adaptive lightweight YOLOv4 with the single shot multibox detector network, we established the adaptive small object detection ensemble (ASODE) model, which enhances the precision of detecting target polyps without significantly increasing the model's memory footprint. We conducted simulated training using clinical colonoscopy images and videos to validate the method's performance, extracting features from 1148 polyps and employing a confidence threshold of 0.5 to filter out low-confidence sample predictions. Finally, compared to state-of-the-art models, our ASODE model demonstrated superior performance. In the test set, the sensitivity of images and videos reached 87.96% and 92.31%, respectively. Additionally, the ASODE model achieved an accuracy of 92.70% for adenoma detection with a false positive rate of 8.18%. Training results indicate the effectiveness of our method in classifying small polyps. Our model exhibits remarkable performance in real-time detection of colorectal adenomas, serving as a reliable tool for assisting endoscopists.

Evaluation of hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, skin irritation and allergy, and antimicrobial properties of active fraction from the ethanol extract of Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Rob.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Chromolaenaodorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Rob, a perennial herb, has been traditionally utilized as a herbal remedy for treating leech bites, soft tissue wounds, burn wounds, skin infections, and dento-alveolitis in tropical and subtropical regions. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study was to analyze the active fraction of C. odorata ethanol extract and investigate its hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and antimicrobial properties. Additionally, the safety of the active fraction as an external preparation was assessed through skin irritation and allergy tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The leaves and stems of C. odorata were initially extracted with ethanol, followed by purification through AB-8 macroporous adsorption resin column chromatography to yield different fractions. These fractions were then screened for hemostatic activity in mice and rabbits to identify the active fraction. Subsequently, the hemostatic effect of the active fraction was assessed through the bleeding time of the rabbit ear artery in vivo and the coagulant time of rabbit blood in vitro. The anti-inflammatory activity of the active fraction was tested on mice ear edema induced by xylene and rat paw edema induced by carrageenin. Furthermore, the active fraction's promotion effect on wound healing was evaluated using a rat skin injury model, and skin safety tests were conducted on rabbits and guinea pigs. Lastly, antimicrobial activities against two Gram-positive bacteria (G+, Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis) and three Gram-negative bacteria (G-, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were determined using the plate dilution method. RESULTS: The ethanol extract of C. odorata leaves and stems was fractionated into 30%, 60%, and 90% ethanol eluate fractions. These fractions demonstrated hemostatic activity, with the 30% ethanol eluate fraction (30% EEF) showing the strongest effect, significantly reducing bleeding time (P < 0.05). A concentration of 1.0 g/mL of the 30% EEF accelerated cutaneous wound healing in rats on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th day post-operation, with the healing effect increasing over time. No irritation or allergy reactions were observed in rabbits and guinea pigs exposed to the 30% EEF. Additionally, the 30% EEF exhibited mild inhibitory effect on mice ear and rat paw edema, as well as antimicrobial activity against tested bacteria, with varying minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. CONCLUSIONS: The 30% EEF demonstrated a clear hemostatic effect on rabbit bleeding time, a slight inhibitory effect on mice ear edema and rat paw edema, significant wound healing activity in rats, and no observed irritation or allergic reactions. Antibacterial activity was observed against certain clinically isolated bacteria, particularly the G- bacteria. This study lays the groundwork for the potential development and application of C. odorata in wound treatment.

[Role of Fibroblast Growth Factor 7 in Craniomaxillofacial Development]. / æˆçº¤ç»´ç»†èƒžç”Ÿé•¿å› å­7åœ¨é¢ é¢Œé¢å‘è‚²ä¸­çš„ä½œç”¨.

Craniomaxillofacial development involves a series of highly ordered temporal-spatial cellular differentiation processes in which a variety of cell signaling factors, such as fibroblast growth factors, play important regulatory roles. As a classic fibroblast growth factor, fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) serves a wide range of regulatory functions. Previous studies have demonstrated that FGF7 regulates the proliferation and migration of epithelial cells, protects them, and promotes their repair. Furthermore, recent findings indicate that epithelial cells are not the only ones subjected to the broad and powerful regulatory capacity of FGF7. It has potential effects on skeletal system development as well. In addition, FGF7 plays an important role in the development of craniomaxillofacial organs, such as the palate, the eyes, and the teeth. Nonetheless, the role of FGF7 in oral craniomaxillofacial development needs to be further elucidated. In this paper, we summarized the published research on the role of FGF7 in oral craniomaxillofacial development to demonstrate the overall understanding of FGF7 and its potential functions in oral craniomaxillofacial development.

Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of a digital technology-driven hierarchical healthcare screening pattern in China.

Utilization of digital technologies for cataract screening in primary care is a potential solution for addressing the dilemma between the growing aging population and unequally distributed resources. Here, we propose a digital technology-driven hierarchical screening (DH screening) pattern implemented in China to promote the equity and accessibility of healthcare. It consists of home-based mobile artificial intelligence (AI) screening, community-based AI diagnosis, and referral to hospitals. We utilize decision-analytic Markov models to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of different cataract screening strategies (no screening, telescreening, AI screening and DH screening). A simulated cohort of 100,000 individuals from age 50 is built through a total of 30 1-year Markov cycles. The primary outcomes are incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and incremental cost-utility ratio. The results show that DH screening dominates no screening, telescreening and AI screening in urban and rural China. Annual DH screening emerges as the most economically effective strategy with 341 (338 to 344) and 1326 (1312 to 1340) years of blindness avoided compared with telescreening, and 37 (35 to 39) and 140 (131 to 148) years compared with AI screening in urban and rural settings, respectively. The findings remain robust across all sensitivity analyses conducted. Here, we report that DH screening is cost-effective in urban and rural China, and the annual screening proves to be the most cost-effective option, providing an economic rationale for policymakers promoting public eye health in low- and middle-income countries.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of fluoride varnish application in preventing Root caries in elderly persons: a Markov simulation study.

BACKGROUND: Root caries are prevalent issues that affect dental health, particularly among elderly individuals with exposed root surfaces. Fluoride therapy has shown effectiveness in preventing root caries, but limited studies have addressed its cost-effectiveness in elderly persons population. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a fluoride treatment program for preventing root caries in elderly persons within the context of Chinese public healthcare. METHODS: A Markov simulation model was adopted for the cost-effectiveness analysis in a hypothetical scenario from a healthcare system perspective. A 60-year-old subject with 23 teeth was simulated for 20 years. A 5% sodium fluoride varnish treatment was compared with no preventive intervention in terms of effectiveness and cost. Tooth years free of root caries were set as the effect. Transition probabilities were estimated from the data of a community-based cohort and published studies, and costs were based on documents published by the government. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated to evaluate cost-effectiveness. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the influence of data uncertainty. RESULTS: Fluoride treatment was more effective (with a difference of 10.20 root caries-free tooth years) but also more costly (with a difference of ¥1636.22). The ICER was ¥160.35 per root caries-free tooth year gained. One-way sensitivity analysis showed that the risk ratio of root caries in the fluoride treatment group influenced the result most. In the probabilistic sensitivity analysis, fluoride treatment was cost-effective in 70.5% of the simulated cases. CONCLUSIONS: Regular 5% sodium fluoride varnish application was cost-effective for preventing root caries in the elderly persons in most scenarios with the consideration of data uncertainty, but to a limited extent. Improved public dental health awareness may reduce the incremental cost and make the intervention more cost-effective. Overall, the study shed light on the economic viability and impact of such preventive interventions, providing a scientific basis for dental care policies and healthcare resource allocation.

Alterations in the immune landscape characterized by inflammatory activation and immune escape within 12 h after trauma.

BACKGROUND: Trauma is statistically a significant cause of mortality among patients across countries. Nevertheless, the precise correlation between genetic diagnostic markers and the intricate mechanism of trauma remains indistinct. METHODS: Our study exclusively centered on trauma patients and selected three trauma-related datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, all of which had blood samples collected within post-traumatic 12 h. Differential gene screening, the WGCNA and Cytoscape software were employed to analyze the two datasets, with a particular emphasis on the top 100 genes selected based on MCC algorithm scores. A logistic diagnostic model was constructed by analyzing the intersection genes in the third dataset, leading to the identification of diagnostic biomarkers with high efficiency. The global immune landscape of these patients was extensively investigated using a multidimensional approach. Meanwhile, the underlying pathological and physiological mechanisms associated with early trauma status are summarized by integrating existing literature. RESULTS: Out of these two GEO datasets, 21 overlapping genes were identified and incorporated into in the logistic diagnostic model constructed in the GSE36809 dataset. A panel of 9 genes was uncovered as a diagnostic biomarker, and their expression and correlation were subsequently verified. Additionally, by virtue of various algorithms, the findings revealed an upregulation of neutrophil expression and a downregulation of CD8+ T cell expression, indicating characteristic early trauma-induced inflammation activation and immune suppression. The correlation observed between the feature genes and immune cells serves to validate the exceptional diagnostic capability of these 9 genes in identifying trauma status and their promising potential for patients who could benefit from targeted immune interventions. Drawing from these findings, the discussion section offers insights into the underlying pathological and physiological mechanisms at play. CONCLUSION: Our research has discovered a novel diagnostic biomarker and unveiled its association with post-traumatic immune alterations. This breakthrough enables accurate and timely diagnosis of early trauma, facilitating the implementation of appropriate healthcare interventions.

Hospital response to a new case-based payment system in China: the patient selection effect.

Providers have intended and unintended responses to payment reforms, such as China's new case-based payment system, i.e. Diagnosis-Intervention Packet (DIP) under global budget, that classified patients based on the combination of principal diagnosis and procedures. Our study explores the impact of DIP payment reform on hospital selection of patients undergoing total hip/knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) or with arteriosclerotic heart disease (AHD) from July 2017 to June 2021 in a large city. We used a difference-in-differences approach to compare the changes in patient age, severity reflected by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and a measure of treatment intensity [relative weight (RW)] in hospitals that were and were not subject to DIP incentives before and after the DIP payment reform in July 2019. Compared with non-DIP pilot hospitals, trends in patient age after the DIP reform were similar for DIP and non-DIP hospitals for both conditions, while differences in patient severity grew because severity in DIP hospitals increased more for THA/TKA (P = 0.036) or dropped in non-DIP hospitals for AHD (P = 0.011) following DIP reform. Treatment intensity (measured via RWs) for AHD patients in DIP hospitals increased 5.5% (P = 0.015) more than in non-DIP hospitals after payment reform, but treatment intensity trends were similar for THA/TKA patients in DIP and non-DIP hospitals. When the DIP payment reform in China was introduced just prior to the pandemic, hospitals subject to this reform responded by admitting sicker patients and providing more treatment intensity to their AHD patients. Policymakers need to balance between cost containment and the unintended consequences of prospective payment systems, and the DIP payment could also be a new alternative payment system for other countries.

Highly-dispersed 2D NiFeP/CoP heterojunction trifunctional catalyst for efficient electrolysis of water and urea.

The electrocatalytic production of "green hydrogen", such as through the electrolysis of water or urea has been vigorously advocated to alleviate the energy crisis. However, their electrode reactions including oxygen evolution reaction (OER), urea oxidation reaction (UOR), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) all suffer from sluggish kinetics, which urgently need catalysts to accelerate the processes. Herein, we design and prepare an OER/UOR/HER trifunctional catalyst by transforming the homemade CoO nanorod into a two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin heterojunction nickel-iron-cobalt hybrid phosphides nanosheet (NiFeP/CoP) via a hydrothermal-phosphorization method. Consequently, a strong electronic interaction was found among the Ni2P/FeP4/CoP heterogeneous interfaces, which regulates the electronic structure. Besides the high mass transfer property of 2D nanosheet, Ni2P/FeP4/CoP displays improved OER/UOR/HER performance. At 10 mA cm-2, the OER overpotential reaches 274 mV in 1.0 M KOH, and the potential of UOR is only 1.389 V in 1.0 M KOH and 0.33 M urea. More strikingly, the two-electrode systems for electrolysis water and urea-assisted electrolysis water assembled by NiFeP/CoP could maintain long-term stability for 35 h and 12 h, respectively. This work may help to pave the way for upcoming research horizons of multifunctional electrocatalysts.

Microbiome and lung cancer: carcinogenic mechanisms, early cancer diagnosis, and promising microbial therapies.

Microbiomes in the lung, gut, and oral cavity are correlated with lung cancer initiation and progression. While correlations have been preliminarily established in earlier studies, delving into microbe-mediated carcinogenic mechanisms will extend our understanding from correlation to causation. Building upon the causative relationships between microbiome and lung cancer, a novel concept of microbial biomarkers has emerged, mainly encompassing cancer-specific bacteria and circulating microbiome DNA. They might function as noninvasive liquid biopsy techniques for lung cancer early detection. Furthermore, potential microbial therapies have displayed initial efficacy in lung cancer treatment, providing multiple avenues for therapeutic intervention. Herein, we will discuss the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways through which microbes influence lung cancer initiation and development. Additionally, we will summarize recent findings on microbial biomarkers as a member of tumor liquid biopsy techniques and provide an overview of the latest advances in various microbe-assisted/mediated therapeutic approaches for lung cancer.

Exploring the causal relationship between immune cells and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a bi-directional Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: The potential pathogenic mechanism of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is widely recognized to involve immune dysregulation. However, the current pool of studies has yet to establish a unanimous agreement regarding the correlation between various types of immune cells and IPF. METHODS: By conducting a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis using publicly available genetic data, the study examined the causal relationship between IPF and 731 immune cells. To ensure the reliability of the results, combined sensitivity analyses and inverse Mendelian analyses were conducted. Moreover, within subgroups, multivariate Mendelian randomization analyses were utilized to investigate the autonomous causal connection between immune cell characteristics and IPF. RESULTS: After adjusting for false discovery rate, it was discovered that 20 immunophenotypes exhibited a significant association with IPF. After subgrouping for multivariate Mendelian randomization analysis, there were six immunophenotypes that remained significantly associated with IPF. These included CD33 + HLA DR + CD14dim (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.99, P = 0.033), HLA DR + NK (OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.98, P = 0.017), CD39 + CD8 + T cell %T cell (OR = 0.93, 95% CI 0.88-0.99, P = 0.024), CD3 on activated & secreting Treg (OR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.84-0.98, P = 0.026), PDL-1 on CD14- CD16 + monocyte (OR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.84-0.95, P = 8 × 10-4), and CD45 on CD33 + HLA DR + CD14- (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15, P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: Our study reveals a noteworthy association between IPF and various immune cells, providing valuable insights for clinical research and aiding the advancement of immunologically-based therapeutic strategies.

TipDet: A multi-keyframe motion-aware framework for tip detection during ultrasound-guided interventions.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Automatic needle tip detection is important in real-time ultrasound (US) images that are utilized to guide interventional needle puncture procedures in clinical settings. However, due to the spatial indiscernibility problem caused by the severe background interferences and the tip characteristics of small size, being grayscale and indistinctive appearance patterns, tip detection in US images is challenging. METHODS: To achieve precise tip detection in US images against spatial indiscernibility, a novel multi-keyframe motion-aware framework called TipDet is proposed. It can identify tips based on their short-term spatial-temporal pattern and long-term motion pattern. In TipDet, first, an adaptive keyframe model (AKM) is proposed to decide whether a frame is informative to serve as a keyframe for long-term motion pattern learning. Second, candidate tip detection is conducted using a two-stream backbone (TSB) based on their short-term spatial-temporal pattern. Third, to further identify the true one in the candidate tips, a novel method for learning the long-term motion pattern of the tips is proposed based on the proposed optical-flow-aware multi-head cross-attention (OFA-MHCA). RESULTS: On the clinical human puncture dataset, which includes 4195 B-mode images, the experimental results show that the proposed TipDet can achieve precise tip detection against the spatial indiscernibility problem, achieving 78.7 % AP0.1:0.5 and 8.9 % improvement over the base detector at approximately 20 FPS. Moreover, a tip localization error of 1.3±0.6 % is achieved, exceeding the existing method. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed TipDet can facilitate a wider and easier application of US-guided interventional procedures by providing robust and precise needle tip localization. The codes and data are available at https://github.com/ResonWang/TipDet.

Coupling speckle noise suppression with image classification for deep-learning-aided ultrasound diagnosis.

Objective. During deep-learning-aided (DL-aided) ultrasound (US) diagnosis, US image classification is a foundational task. Due to the existence of serious speckle noise in US images, the performance of DL models may be degraded. Pre-denoising US images before their use in DL models is usually a logical choice. However, our investigation suggests that pre-speckle-denoising is not consistently advantageous. Furthermore, due to the decoupling of speckle denoising from the subsequent DL classification, investing intensive time in parameter tuning is inevitable to attain the optimal denoising parameters for various datasets and DL models. Pre-denoising will also add extra complexity to the classification task and make it no longer end-to-end.Approach. In this work, we propose a multi-scale high-frequency-based feature augmentation (MSHFFA) module that couples feature augmentation and speckle noise suppression with specific DL models, preserving an end-to-end fashion. In MSHFFA, the input US image is first decomposed to multi-scale low-frequency and high-frequency components (LFC and HFC) with discrete wavelet transform. Then, multi-scale augmentation maps are obtained by computing the correlation between LFC and HFC. Last, the original DL model features are augmented with multi-scale augmentation maps.Main results. On two public US datasets, all six renowned DL models exhibited enhanced F1-scores compared with their original versions (by 1.31%-8.17% on the POCUS dataset and 0.46%-3.89% on the BLU dataset) after using the MSHFFA module, with only approximately 1% increase in model parameter count.Significance. The proposed MSHFFA has broad applicability and commendable efficiency and thus can be used to enhance the performance of DL-aided US diagnosis. The codes are available athttps://github.com/ResonWang/MSHFFA.

Regulating Lipid Metabolism via Mitochondrial Dynamics in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer Stem Cells.

BACKGROUND: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a sub-population of cancer cells present in many kinds of malignant tumors that have the potential for self-proliferation and differentiation. These cells have been demonstrated as the main cause of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Strong evidence indicates that CSCs prefer reprogrammed fatty acid ß-oxidation over oxidative phosphorylation for sustaining energy supply. Although mitochondrial dynamics participate in the regulation of cancer stemness, the correlation between the inhibition of mitochondrial fission and the regulation of lipid metabolism in CSCs remains poorly understood. METHODS: The human tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) cell lines CAL27 and SAS were used to obtain the CSCs by 3D Spheroid Culture. Then,western blot methods, RT-PCR and flow cytometry analysis were used to identify the TSCC CSCs. Next, Immunofluorescence method, transmission electron microscopy detection and western blot methods were used to evaluate the mitochondrial morphology and the quantity of lipid droplets (LDs). Lastly, lipidomic analysis was applied to explored the lipidomic alterations of TSCC CSCs with different mitochondrial morphology. RESULTS: Here, we show that the quantity of lipid droplets containing intracellular triglyceride (TG) can be decreased by regulating mitochondrial morphology. Lipidomic analysis using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) also compared alterations in lipid metabolites in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) CSCs, TSCC cells (non-CSCs), and CSCs with different mitochondrial morphology. Discriminant lipids of statistical significance were successfully annotated, including phosphatidylcholines (PCs), phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs), sphingomyelins (SMs), triacylglycerols (TGs), phosphatidylglycerols (PGs), phosphatidylserines (PSs), lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs), and lysophosphatidylethanolamines (LPEs). CONCLUSION: This study provides a deeper insight into the alterations of lipid metabolism associated with TSCC CSCs, non-CSCs and CSCs regulated by mitochondrial dynamics and thus serves as a guide toward novel targeted therapies.

Integrated Single-cell and Bulk RNA Sequencing Analysis Cross Talk between Ferroptosis-related Genes and Prognosis in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Ferroptosis is a new type of programmed apoptosis and plays an important role in tumour inhibition and immunotherapy. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to explore the potential role of ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) and the potential therapeutic targets in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). METHODS: The transcription data of OCSCC samples were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database as a training dataset. The prognostic FRGs were extracted by univariate Cox regression analysis. Then, we constructed a prognostic model using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox analysis to determine the independent prognosis FRGs. Based on this model, risk scores were calculated for the OCSCC samples. The model's capability was further evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Then, we used the GSE41613 dataset as an external validation cohort to confirm the model's predictive capability. Next, the immune infiltration and somatic mutation analysis were applied. Lastly, single-cell transcriptomic analysis was used to identify the key cells. RESULTS: A total of 12 prognostic FRGs were identified. Eventually, 6 FRGs were screened as independent predictors and a prognostic model was constructed in the training dataset, which significantly stratified OCSCC samples into high-risk and low-risk groups based on overall survival. The external validation of the model using the GSE41613 dataset demonstrated a satisfactory predictive capability for the prognosis of OCSCC. Further analysis revealed that patients in the highrisk group had distinct immune infiltration and somatic mutation patterns from low-risk patients. Mast cell infiltrations were identified as prognostic immune cells and played a role in OCSCC partly through ferroptosis. CONCLUSION: We successfully constructed a novel 6 FRGs model and identified a prognostic immune cell, which can serve to predict clinical prognoses for OCSCC. Ferroptosis may be a new direction for immunotherapy of OCSCC.

Dual interfacing with metallic cobalt boosts the electron shuttle of CdS-carbide nanoassemblies.

Harnessing accelerated interfacial redox, thus boosting charge separation, is of great importance in photocatalytic solar hydrogen generation. In effect, nanoassembling non-noble metallic phases in CdS-based systems and elucidating their role in photocatalysis hold the key to eventually boosting electron shuttle in the field. Here we combine an efficient in-situ exsoluted metallic Co0 nanoparticles on a carbides matrix (CMG) with CdS (CdS@CoCMG) for photogeneration of hydrogen. The metallic cobalt phase exhibits strong binding at the CdS-carbide dual interfaces, forming the accelerated "electron converter" mechanism validated by charge transfer kinetics and achieving two orders of magnitude faster hydrogen production (44.42 mmol g-1 h-1) relative to CdS (0.43 mmol g-1 h-1). We propose that the unique catalyst configuration enable the directional electron-relay photocatalysis via harnessing interfaces between Co0 phase, carbides, and CdS clusters, which eventually boosts the redox process and charge separation of the integrated system, leading to high H2 production rates in the suspension.

Metabolomic and physiological analysis of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in response to saline and alkaline stress.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a leguminous forage widely grown worldwide. Saline and alkaline stress can affect its development and yield. To elucidate the physiological mechanisms of alfalfa in response to saline and alkaline stress, we investigated the growth and physiological and metabolomic changes in alfalfa under saline (100 mM NaCl) and alkaline (100 mM Na2CO3, NaHCO3) stress. At the same Na+ concentration, alkaline stress caused more damage than that caused by saline stress. A total of 65 and 124 metabolites were identified in response to saline and alkaline stress, respectively. Determination of gene expression, enzyme activity, substance content, and KEGG enrichment analysis in key pathways revealed that alfalfa responded to saline stress primarily by osmoregulation and TCA cycle enhancement. Flavonoid synthesis, TCA cycle, glutamate anabolism, jasmonate synthesis, and cell wall component synthesis increased as responses to alkaline stress. This study provides important resources for breeding saline-alkaline-resistant alfalfa.

Incidence of and risk factors for suspected and definitive glaucoma after bilateral congenital cataract surgery: a 5-year follow-up.

AIMS: To report the incidence and associated risk factors for developing suspected and definitive glaucoma after bilateral congenital cataract (CC) removal with a 5-year follow-up. METHODS: Secondary analysis of a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Bilateral CC patients who had undergone cataract surgery between January 2011 and December 2014 at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre were recruited. Suspected glaucoma was defined as persistent ocular hypertension requiring medical treatment. Definitive glaucoma was defined as accompanied by the progression of glaucomatous clinical features. According to postoperative lens status in 5 years follow-up: 130 eyes in the aphakia group; 219 in the primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation group and 337 in the secondary IOL implantation group. The Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were used to explore the cumulative incidence and risk factors for suspected and definitive glaucoma. RESULTS: Three hundred fifty-one children (686 eyes) with bilateral CCs were enrolled in the study. The mean age at surgery was 1.82±2.08 years, and the mean follow-up duration was 6.26±0.97 years. Suspected and definitive glaucoma developed at a mean time of 2.84±1.75 years (range 0.02-7.33 years) postoperatively. The cumulative incidence of suspected and definitive glaucoma was 9.97% (35 of 351 patients), including 6.12% (42 eyes) for definitive glaucoma and 2.48% (17 eyes) for suspected glaucoma. Microcornea (HR 4.103, p<0.0001), CC family history (HR 3.285, p=0.001) and initial anterior vitrectomy (HR 2.365 p=0.036) were risk factors for suspected and definitive glaucoma. Gender, age at surgery, intraocular surgery frequency, length of follow-up and frequency of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminumaluminium garnet laser were non-statistically significant. Primary IOL implantation was a protective factor (HR 0.378, p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Identifying suspected and definitive glaucoma after bilateral CC surgery can lower the risk of secondary blindness in children. Patients with related risk factors need to pay more attention and thus reach early intervention and treatment during clinical practice. Primary IOL implantation may be a potential protective factor, need more clinical trials to be verified. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04342052.

Comparing the impact of three-dimensional digital visualization technology versus traditional microscopy on microsurgeons in microsurgery: a prospective self-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Emerging three-dimensional digital visualization technology (DVT) provides more advantages than traditional microscopy in microsurgery; however, its impact on microsurgeons' visual and nervous systems and delicate microsurgery is still unclear, which hinders the wider implementation of DVT in digital visualization for microsurgery. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Forty-two microsurgeons from the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center were enrolled in this prospective self-controlled study. Each microsurgeon consecutively performed 30 min conjunctival sutures using a three-dimensional digital display and a microscope, respectively. Visual function, autonomic nerve activity, and subjective symptoms were evaluated before and immediately after the operation. Visual functions, including accommodative lag, accommodative amplitude, near point of convergence and contrast sensitivity function (CSF), were measured by an expert optometrist. Heart rate variability was recorded by a wearable device for monitoring autonomic nervous activity. Subjective symptoms were evaluated by questionnaires. Microsurgical performance was assessed by the video-based Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (OSATS) tool. RESULTS: Accommodative lag decreased from 0.63 (0.18) diopters (D) to 0.55 (0.16) D ( P =0.014), area under the log contrast sensitivity function increased from 1.49 (0.15) to 1.52 (0.14) ( P =0.037), and heart rate variability decreased from 36.00 (13.54) milliseconds (ms) to 32.26 (12.35) ms ( P =0.004) after using the DVT, but the changes showed no differences compared to traditional microscopy ( P >0.05). No statistical significance was observed for global OSATS scores between the two rounds of operations [mean difference, 0.05 (95% CI: -1.17 to 1.08) points; P =0.95]. Subjective symptoms were quite mild after using both techniques. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of DVT-based procedures on microsurgeons includes enhanced accommodation and sympathetic activity, but the changes and surgical performance are not significantly different from those of microscopy-based microsurgery. Our findings indicate that short-term use of DVT is reliable for microsurgery and the long-term effect of using DVT deserve more consideration.