Shenfu injection improves isoproterenol-induced heart failure in rats by modulating co-metabolism and regulating the trimethylamine-N-oxide - inflammation axis.

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition that progressively worsens and continues to be a major financial burden and public health concern. The "gut-heart" axis provides an innovative perspective and therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating heart failure. Shenfu injection (SFI) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine-based treatment demonstrating potential as a therapeutic strategy for heart failure. However, the precise therapeutic mechanisms of SFI in heart failure are not completely characterized. In this study, HF models were established utilizing subcutaneous multipoint injection of isoproterenol (ISO) at a dosage of 5 mg kg-1·d-1 for 7 days. Serum levels of inflammatory biomarkers were quantified using protein microarrays. Rat feces were analyzed using untargeted metabolomics research and 16S rRNA sequencing. The link between gut microbiota and metabolites was examined using a MetOrigin and Spearman correlation analysis. Our results show that Shenfu injection effectively enhances cardiac function in rats with ISO-induced heart failure by potentially modulating pro-/anti-inflammatory imbalance and reducing serum and urine Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels. Moreover, SFI significantly increases the abundance of Bacteroidota at the phylum level, thereby improving disrupted gut microbiota composition. Additionally, SFI supplementation enriches specific genera known for their capacity to produce short-chain fatty acids. SFI was found to be associated with three key metabolic pathways, as revealed by fecal metabonomics analysis, including the pentose phosphate pathway, pyrimidine metabolism, and purine metabolism. Metabolite tracing analysis revealed that Taurine and hypotaurine metabolism was found to be specific to the microbial community. The biosynthesis of Pyrimidine metabolism, Purine metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, Naphthalene degradation, Pantothenate, and CoA biosynthesis were identified as co-metabolic pathways between microbes and host. The Spearman correlation analysis was also significantly correlated to differentially expressed metabolites regulated by SFI and the gut microbiota. These results suggest that SFI improves ISO-induced heart failure by modulating co-metabolism and regulating the TMAO-inflammation axis.

Bioinformatics analysis of an immunotherapy responsiveness-related gene signature in predicting lung adenocarcinoma prognosis.

Background: Immune therapy has become first-line treatment option for patients with lung cancer, but some patients respond poorly to immune therapy, especially among patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Novel tools are needed to screen potential responders to immune therapy in LUAD patients, to better predict the prognosis and guide clinical decision-making. Although many efforts have been made to predict the responsiveness of LUAD patients, the results were limited. During the era of immunotherapy, this study attempts to construct a novel prognostic model for LUAD by utilizing differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among patients with differential immune therapy responses. Methods: Transcriptome data of 598 patients with LUAD were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, which included 539 tumor samples and 59 normal control samples, with a mean follow-up time of 29.69 months (63.1% of patients remained alive by the end of follow-up). Other data sources including three datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed, and the DEGs between immunotherapy responders and nonresponders were identified and screened. Univariate Cox regression analysis was applied with the TCGA cohort as the training set and GSE72094 cohort as the validation set, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression were applied in the prognostic-related genes which fulfilled the filter criteria to establish a prognostic formula, which was then tested with time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Enriched pathways of the prognostic-related genes were analyzed with Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses, and tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), tumor mutational burden, and drug sensitivity tests were completed with appropriate packages in R (The R Foundation of Statistical Computing). Finally, a nomogram incorporating the prognostic formula was established. Results: A total of 1,636 DEGs were identified, 1,163 prognostic-related DEGs were extracted, and 34 DEGs were selected and incorporated into the immunotherapy responsiveness-related risk score (IRRS) formula. The IRRS formula had good performance in predicting the overall prognoses in patients with LUAD and had excellent performance in prognosis prediction in all LUAD subgroups. Moreover, the IRRS formula could predict anticancer drug sensitivity and immunotherapy responsiveness in patients with LUAD. Mechanistically, immune microenvironments varied profoundly between the two IRRS groups; the most significantly varied pathway between the high-IRRS and low-IRRS groups was ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis, which correlated closely with the TP53 and TTN mutation burdens. In addition, we established a nomogram incorporating the IRRS, age, sex, clinical stage, T-stage, N-stage, and M-stage as predictors that could predict the prognoses of 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival in patients with LUAD, with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.718, 0.702, and 0.68, respectively. Conclusions: The model we established in the present study could predict the prognosis of LUAD patients, help to identify patients with good responses to anticancer drugs and immunotherapy, and serve as a valuable tool to guide clinical decision-making.

The relationship between boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety in college students: variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches.

Objective: To explore the relationship among boredom proneness, the behavioral inhibition system, and anxiety among college students based on variable-centered and person-centered analytic approaches. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,102 college students from a university in Hebei Province using the Boredom Proneness Questionnaire (BPQ) for College Students, the Behavioral Inhibition System Scale (BIS), and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7). Results: The results reveal that boredom proneness was negatively correlated with scores on the behavioral inhibition system (r = -0.100, p < 0.01), and positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.457, p < 0.001), while the behavioral inhibition system was positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.086, p < 0.01). In the variable-centered analyses study, it was found that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediated the association between boredom proneness and anxiety. In the person-centered analyses study, three subtypes were identified: the high boredom-low inhibition group (9.35%), the moderate boredom-inhibition group (66.70%), and the low boredom-high inhibition group (23.95%). Individuals in these subtypes showed significant differences in anxiety scores (F = 4.538, p < 0.05), with the low boredom-high inhibition group scoring the highest. Conclusion: The results showed that the behavioral inhibition system partially mediates the relationship between boredom proneness and anxiety in college students; boredom proneness and the behavioral inhibition system exhibit group heterogeneity, with distinct classification features closely related to anxiety.

Nebulized milk exosomes loaded with siTGF-ß1 ameliorate pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting EMT pathway and enhancing collagen permeability.

Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) is a fatal disease in the interstitial lung associated with high mortality, morbidity, and poor prognosis. Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) is a fibroblast-activating protein that promotes fibrous diseases. Herein, an inhalable system was first developed using milk exosomes (M-Exos) encapsulating siRNA against TGF-ß1 (MsiTGF-ß1), and their therapeutic potential for bleomycin (BLM)-induced PF was investigated. M-siTGF-ß1 was introduced into the lungs of mice with PF through nebulization. The collagen penetration effect and lysosomal escape ability were verified in vitro. Inhaled MsiTGF-ß1 notably alleviated inflammatory infiltration, attenuated extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and increased the survival rate of PF mice by 4.7-fold. M-siTGF-ß1 protected lung tissue from BLM toxicity by efficiently delivering specific siRNA to the lungs, leading to TGF-ß1 mRNA silencing and epithelial mesenchymal transition pathway inhibition. Therefore, M-siTGF-ß1 offers a promising avenue for therapeutic intervention in fibrosis-related disorders.

A predictive model for therapy failure in chronic myeloid leukemia patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

Although tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy has markedly improved the survival of people with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), 20-30% of people still experienced therapy failure. Data from 1,955 consecutive subjects with chronic-phase CML diagnosed by the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommendations from 1 center receiving initial TKI imatinib or a second-generation (2G-) TKI therapy were interrogated to develop a clinical prediction model for TKI therapy failure. This model was subsequently validated in 3,454 subjects from 76 other centers. Using the predictive clinical co-variates associated with TKI therapy failure, we developed a model that stratified subjects into low-, intermediate- and high-risk subgroups with significantly different cumulative incidences of therapy failure (p < 0.001). There was good discrimination and calibration in the external validation dataset, and the performance was consistent with that of the training dataset. Our model had the better prediction discrimination than the Sokal and ELTS scores did, with the greater time-dependent area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve (AUROC) values and a better ability to re-defined the risk of therapy failure. Our model could help physicians estimate the likelihood of initial imatinib or 2G-TKI therapy failure in people with chronic-phase CML.

Contribution of complexed Fe(â ¡) oxygenation to norfloxacin humification and stabilization: Producing and trapping of more humified products.

Organic pollutants polymerization in advanced oxidation processes or environmental matrices has attracted increasing attention, but little is known about stabilization of the polymerization products. The results in this work revealed the contribution of Fe(Ⅱ) oxygenation to stabilization of the products from norfloxacin (NOR) humification. It was found that upon oxygenation of Fe(Ⅱ) complexed by catechol (CT), NOR polymerized into the products with larger molecular weight through nucleophilic addition. Around 83.9-89.7 % organic carbon (OC) can be retained in the reaction solution and the precipitates at different Fe(II)/CT molar ratio. In this system with humification potential, the produced hydroxyl radical (HO•) dominantly modified, instead of decomposed, the structure of transformation products (TPs). TPs with diversified side chains were formed through hydroxylation and ring-opening, leading to the more humified products. In the subsequent Fe(Ⅱ) oxidative precipitation, Fe-TPs composites were formed as spherical particle clusters, which could steadily incorporate OC species with molecular fractionation. Specifically, lignin-like, tannins-like, condensed aromatic and high-molecular-weight TPs were preferentially preserved in the precipitates, while the recalcitrant aliphatic products mainly retained in the solution. These findings shed light on the role of Fe(Ⅱ) oxygenation in stabilizing the products from pollutants humification, which could strengthen both decontamination and organics sequestration.

High-efficient M-NC single-atom catalysts for catalytic ozonation in water purification: Performance and mechanisms.

Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation (HCO) holds promise in water purification but suffers from limited accessible metal sites, metal leaching, and unclear structure-activity relationships. This work reported M-NC (M=Co, Ni, Fe, and Mn) single-atom catalysts (SACs) with high atomic efficiency and minimal metal release. The new HCO systems, especially the Co-based system, exhibited impressive performance in various refractory contaminant removal, involving various reactive species generation, such as •OHads, •OHfree, *O, and 1O2. For sulfamethoxazole removal, the normalized kobs for Co-NC, Ni-NC, Fe-NC, and Mn-NC were determined as 13.53, 3.94, 3.55, and 4.13 min-1·mMmetal-1·g·m-2 correspondingly, attributed to the abundant acid sites, faster electron transfer, and lower energy required for O3 decomposition and conversion. The metal atoms and hydroxyl groups, individually serving as Lewis and Bronsted acid sites (LAS and BAS), were the primary centers for •OH generation and O3 adsorption. The relationships between active sites and both O3 utilization and •OH generation were found. LAS and BAS were responsible for O3 adsorption, while strong LAS facilitated O3 conversion into •OH. Theoretical calculations revealed the catalytic mechanisms involved O3→ *O→ *OO→ O3•-→ •OH. This work highlights the significance of SAC design for HCO and advances the understanding of atomic-level HCO behavior.

Development of prognostic signatures and risk index related to lipid metabolism in ccRCC.

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a metabolic disorder characterized by abnormal lipid accumulation in the cytoplasm. Lipid metabolism-related genes may have important clinical significance for prognosis prediction and individualized treatment. Methods: We collected bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data of ccRCC and normal samples to identify key lipid metabolism-related prognostic signatures. qPCR was used to confirm the expression of signatures in cancer cell lines. Based on the identified signatures, we developed a lipid metabolism risk score (LMRS) as a risk index. We explored the potential application value of prognostic signatures and LMRS in precise treatment from multiple perspectives. Results: Through comprehensive analysis, we identified five lipid metabolism-related prognostic signatures (ACADM, ACAT1, ECHS1, HPGD, DGKZ). We developed a risk index LMRS, which was significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients. There was a significant correlation between LMRS and the infiltration levels of multiple immune cells. Patients with high LMRS may be more likely to respond to immunotherapy. The different LMRS groups were suitable for different anticancer drug treatment regimens. Conclusion: Prognostic signatures and LMRS we developed may be applied to the risk assessment of ccRCC patients, which may have potential guiding significance in the diagnosis and precise treatment of ccRCC patients.

Growth factor-functionalized titanium implants for enhanced bone regeneration: A review.

Titanium and titanium alloys are widely favored materials for orthopedic implants due to their exceptional mechanical properties and biological inertness. The additional benefit of sustained local release of bioactive substances further promotes bone tissue formation, thereby augmenting the osseointegration capacity of titanium implants and attracting increasing attention in bone tissue engineering. Among these bioactive substances, growth factors have shown remarkable osteogenic and angiogenic induction capabilities. Consequently, researchers have developed various physical, chemical, and biological loading techniques to incorporate growth factors into titanium implants, ensuring controlled release kinetics. In contrast to conventional treatment modalities, the localized release of growth factors from functionalized titanium implants not only enhances osseointegration but also reduces the risk of complications. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the types and mechanisms of growth factors, along with a detailed exploration of the methodologies used to load growth factors onto the surface of titanium implants. Moreover, it highlights recent advancements in the application of growth factors to the surface of titanium implants (Scheme 1). Finally, the review discusses current limitations and future prospects for growth factor-functionalized titanium implants. In summary, this paper presents cutting-edge design strategies aimed at enhancing the bone regenerative capacity of growth factor-functionalized titanium implants-a significant advancement in the field of enhanced bone regeneration.

Plerixafor-based mobilization and mononuclear cell counts in graft increased the risk of engraftment syndrome after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Engraftment syndrome (ES) is one of the most common complications in the early phase after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT), and we aimed to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for ES patients receiving ASCT in the era of plerixafor-based mobilization. A total of 294 were enrolled, and 16.0% (n = 47) experienced ES after ASCT. The main clinical manifestations were fever (100%), diarrhea (78.7%), skin rash (23.4%), and hypoxemia/pulmonary edema (12.8%). Plerixafor-based mobilization was associated with higher counts of CD3+ cells, CD4+ cells, and CD8+ cells in grafts. In univariate analysis of the total cohort, age ≥60 years, receiving ASCT at complete remission (CR), higher number of mononuclear cell (MNC), CD3+ cell counts, CD4+ cells as well as CD8+ cells transfused and plerixafor-based mobilization were associated with ES after ASCT. Multivariate analysis showed that age ≥60 years (P = .0014), receiving ASCT at CR (P = .002), and higher number of MNC transfused (P = .026) were associated with ES in total cohort. In plasma cell disease subgroup, age ≥60 years (P = .013), plerixafor-based mobilization (P = .036), and receiving ASCT at CR (P = .002) were associated with ES. Patients with more risk factors had a higher risk of ES. The 1-year probabilities of relapse, non-relapse mortality, and survival were comparable between patients with and without ES. Thus, plerixafor-based mobilization may influence the composition of T lymphocytes in grafts and increase the risk of ES, particularly in patients with plasma cell disease.

The ubiquitin ligase STUB1 suppresses tumorigenesis of renal cell carcinomas through regulating YTHDF1 stability.

STIP1 homology and U-box protein 1 (STUB1), a crucial member of the RING family E3 ubiquitin ligase, serves dual roles as an oncogene and a tumor suppressor in various human cancers. However, the role and mechanism of STUB1 in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) remain poorly defined. Here, we identified YTHDF1 as a novel STUB1 interaction partner using affinity purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS). Furthermore, we revealed that STUB1 promotes the ubiquitination and degradation of YTHDF1. Consequently, STUB1 depletion leads to YTHDF1 up-regulation in renal cancer cells. Functionally, STUB1 depletion promoted migration and invasion of ccRCC cells in a YTHDF1-dependent manner. Additionally, depletion of STUB1 also increased the tumorigenic potential of ccRCC in a xenograft model. Importantly, STUB1 expression is down-regulated in ccRCC tissues, and its low expression level correlates with advanced tumor stage and poor overall survival in ccRCC patients. Taken together, these findings reveal that STUB1 inhibits the tumorigenicity of ccRCC by regulating YTHDF1 stability.

Tissue-Penetrating Ultrasound-Triggered Hydrogel for Promoting Microvascular Network Reconstruction.

The microvascular network plays an important role in providing nutrients to the injured tissue and exchanging various metabolites. However, how to achieve efficient penetration of the injured tissue is an important bottleneck restricting the reconstruction of microvascular network. Herein, the hydrogel precursor solution can efficiently penetrate the damaged tissue area, and ultrasound triggers the release of thrombin from liposomes in the solution to hydrolyze fibrinogen, forming a fibrin solid hydrogel network in situ with calcium ions and transglutaminase as catalysts, effectively solving the penetration impedance bottleneck of damaged tissues and ultimately significantly promoting the formation of microvascular networks within tissues. First, the fibrinogen complex solution is effectively permeated into the injured tissue. Second, ultrasound triggered the release of calcium ions and thrombin, activates transglutaminase, and hydrolyzes fibrinogen. Third, fibrin monomers are catalyzed to form fibrin hydrogels in situ in the damaged tissue area. In vitro studies have shown that the fibrinogen complex solution effectively penetrated the artificial bone tissue within 15 s after ultrasonic triggering, and formed a hydrogel after continuous triggering for 30 s. Overall, this innovative strategy effectively solved the problem of penetration resistance of ultrasound-triggered hydrogels in the injured tissues, and finally activates in situ microvascular networks regeneration.

Enhanced hydrodechlorination of 4-chlorophenol through carboxymethylcellulose-modified Pd/Fe nanosuspension synthesized by one-step methods.

Palladized iron (Pd/Fe) represents one of the most common modification strategies for nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI). Most studies prepared Pd/Fe by reducing iron salts and depositing Pd species on the surface of pre-synthesized nZVI, which can be called the two-step method. In this study, we proposed a one-step method to obtain Pd/Fe by the concurrent formation of Fe0 and Pd0 and investigated the effects of these two methods on 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) removal, with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) coated as a surface modifier. Results indicated that the one-step method, not only streamlined the synthesis process, but also Pd/Fe-CMCone-step, synthesized by it, exhibited a higher 4-CP removal rate (97.9%) compared to the two-step method material Pd/Fe-CMCtwo-step (82.4%). Electrochemical analyses revealed that the enhanced activity of Pd/Fe-CMCone-step was attributed to its higher electron transfer efficiency and more available reactive species, active adsorbed hydrogen species (Hads*). Detection of intermediate products demonstrated that, under the influence of Pd/Fe-CMCone-step, the main route of 4-CP was through hydrodechlorination (HDC) to form phenol and H* was the main active specie, supported by EPR tests, quenching experiments and product analysis. Additionally, the effects of initial 4-CP concentration, initial pH, O2 concentration, anions such as Cl-, SO42-, HCO3-, and humic acid (HA) were also investigated. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that Pd/Fe-CMCone-step, synthesized through the one-step method, is a convenient and efficient nZVI-modifying material suitable for the HDC of chlorinated organic compounds.

High-efficient separation of deoxyribonucleic acid from pathogenic bacteria by hedgehog-inspired magnetic nanoparticles microextraction.

Efficient separation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) through magnetic nanoparticles (MN) is a widely used biotechnology. Hedgehog-inspired MNs (HMN) possess a high-surface-area due to the distinct burr-like structure of hedgehog, but there is no report about the usage of HMN for DNA extraction. Herein, to improve the selection of MN and illustrate the performance of HMN for DNA separation, HMN and silica-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2) were fabricated and compared for the high-efficient separation of pathogenic bacteria of DNA. Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are typical Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and are selected as model pathogenic bacteria. To enhance the extraction efficiency of two kinds of MNs, various parameters, including pretreatment, lysis, binding and elution conditions, have been optimized in detail. In most separation experiments, the DNA yield of HMN was higher than that of Fe3O4@SiO2. Therefore, a HMN-based magnetic solid-phase microextraction (MSPE) and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were integrated and used to detect pathogenic bacteria in real samples. Interestingly, the HMN-based MSPE combined qPCR strategy exhibited high sensitivity with a limit of detection of 2.0 × 101 CFU mL-1 for E. coli and 4.0 × 101 CFU mL-1 for S. aureus in orange juice, and 2.8 × 102 CFU mL-1 for E. coli and 1.1 × 102 CFU mL-1 for S. aureus in milk, respectively. The performance of the proposed strategy was significantly better than that of commercial kit. This work could prove that the novel HMN could be applicable for the efficient separation of DNA from complex biological samples.

Comparison of the Efficacy Among Nilotinib, Dasatinib, Flumatinib and Imatinib in Newly Diagnosed Chronic-Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients: A Real-World Multi-Center Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: There are limited data comprehensively comparing therapy responses and outcomes among nilotinib, dasatinib, flumatinib and imatinib for newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia in a real-world setting. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from patients with chronic-phase CML receiving initial a second-generation tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (2G-TKI, nilotinib, dasatinib or flumatinib) or imatinib therapy from 77 Chinese centers were retrospectively interrogated. Propensity-score matching (PSM) analyses were performed to to compare therapy responses and outcomes among these 4 TKIs. RESULTS: 2,496 patients receiving initial nilotinib (n = 512), dasatinib (n = 134), flumatinib (n = 411) or imatinib (n = 1,439) therapy were retrospectively interrogated in this study. PSM analyses indicated that patients receiving initial nilotinib, dasatinib or flumatinib therapy had comparable cytogenetic and molecular responses (p = .28-.91) and survival outcomes including failure-free survival (FFS, p = .28-.43), progression-free survival (PFS, p = .19-.93) and overall survival (OS) (p values = .76-.78) but had significantly higher cumulative incidences of cytogenetic and molecular responses (all p values < .001) and higher probabilities of FFS (p < .001-.01) than those receiving imatinib therapy, despite comparable PFS (p = .18-.89) and OS (p = .23-.30). CONCLUSION: Nilotinib, dasatinib and flumatinib had comparable efficacy, and significantly higher therapy responses and higher FFS rates than imatinib in newly diagnosed CML patients. However, there were no significant differences in PFS and OS among these 4 TKIs. These real-world data may provide additional evidence for routine clinical assessments to identify more appropriate therapies.

Passively Q-switched Nd3+ solid-state lasers with hexakis-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene and graphdiyne as saturable absorbers.

In this paper, two-dimensional Graphdiyne and Hexakis-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene nanosheets were prepared using the liquid-phase exfoliation method and were then successfully applied to 1.06 µm passively Q-Switched all-solid-state lasers. The Hexakis-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene was applied for the first time in passively Q-Switched all-solid-state lasers, as we know. For Graphdiyne, the Q-Switched pulse achieved a narrowest pulse width of 415 ns, a maximum repetition frequency of 244.2 kHz, a maximum pulse energy of 133.53 nJ, and peak power of 321.77 mW was obtained. While, the narrowest pulse width, maximum repetition frequency, maximum pulse energy, and peak power for Hexakis-[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene are approximately 398.4 ns, 297.1 kHz, 89.61 nJ, and 220.39 mW respectively. The findings demonstrate the promising potential of both candidates as saturable absorbers for signal modulation in solid-state lasers.

Study on Laser Polishing of Ti6Al4V Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting.

Laser-based additive manufacturing has garnered significant attention in recent years as a promising 3D-printing method for fabricating metallic components. However, the surface roughness of additive manufactured components has been considered a challenge to achieving high performance. At present, the average surface roughness (Sa) of AM parts can reach high levels, greater than 50 µm, and a maximum distance between the high peaks and the low valleys of more than 300 µm, which requires post machining. Therefore, laser polishing is increasingly being utilized as a method of surface treatment for metal alloys, wherein the rapid remelting and resolidification during the process significantly alter both the surface quality and subsurface material properties. In this paper, the surface roughness, microstructures, microhardness, and wear resistance of the as-received, continuous wave laser polishing (CWLP), and pulsed laser polishing (PLP) processed samples were investigated systematically. The results revealed that the surface roughness (Sa) of the as-received sample was 6.29 µm, which was reduced to 0.94 µm and 0.84 µm by CWLP and PLP processing, respectively. It was also found that a hardened layer, about 200 µm, was produced on the Ti6Al4V alloy surface after laser polishing, which can improve the mechanical properties of the component. The microhardness of the laser-polished samples was increased to about 482 HV with an improvement of about 25.2% compared with the as-received Ti6Al4V alloy. Moreover, the coefficient of friction (COF) was slightly reduced by both CWLP and LPL processing, and the wear rate of the surface layer was improved to 0.790 mm3/(N∙m) and 0.714 mm3/(N∙m), respectively, under dry fraction conditions.

Governance of Friedrich-Wintgen bound states in the continuum by tuning the internal coupling of meta-atoms.

Bound state in the continuum (BIC) is a phenomenon that describes the perfect confinement of electromagnetic waves despite their resonant frequencies lying in the continuous radiative spectrum. BICs can be realized by introducing a destructive interference between distinct modes, referred to as Friedrich-Wintgen BICs (FW-BICs). Herein, we demonstrate that FW-BICs can be derived from coupled modes of individual split-ring resonators (SRR) in the terahertz band. The eigenmode results manifest that FW-BICs are in the center of the far-field polarization vortices. Quasi-BIC-I keeps an ultrahigh quality factor (Q factor) in a broad momentum range along the Γ-X direction, while the Q factor of the quasi-BIC-II drops rapidly. Our results can facilitate the design of devices with high-Q factors with extreme robustness against the incident angle.

A review of 17 cases of mesenteric panniculitis in Zhengzhou Ninth People's Hospital in China.

PURPOSE: Mesenteric panniculitis (MP) represents the uncommon, benign and chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the mesenteric adipose tissues. Its etiology, diagnosis and treatment remain unnoticed. Our report focused on shedding more lights on this condition. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen MP patients were identified by searching the electronic medical record system in the Zhengzhou Ninth People's Hospital using the search terms "Mesenteric panniculitis" from October 2015 to March 2023. All cases were diagnosed with MP through computed tomography (CT). Their clinical features and treatments were analyzed. RESULTS: There were altogether 17 cases enrolled for this analysis. The male to female ratio was 8:9, and the median age at diagnosis was 64 (range: 37-96) years. There were 15 patients (88.2%) showing abdominal pain to varying degrees. The proportions of symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fever were 23.5%, 23.5% and 41.2%, respectively. Neoplastic disease was present in 3 patients (17.6%). Meanwhile, 9 patients (52.9%) had gallstones, 3 (17.6%) had cholecystitis and 1 (5.9%) had gallbladder polyps. Six patients (35.3%) received antibiotics treatment only and 1 (5.9%) received oral antibiotics and prednisone. One patient (5.9%) received antibiotics followed by prednisone treatment, because the symptoms were significantly relieved after antibiotic treatment, while the disease recurred soon after, and the symptoms improved again after prednisone treatment. The abdominal pain in 9 patients (52.9%) was relieved spontaneously. Two patients (11.8%) died, including one due to respiratory failure caused by pneumonia and the other one because of pancreatic cancer with lung and liver metastases. CONCLUSION: MP is a poorly understood chronic inflammatory disease. Patients often have abdominal pain as the main symptom, accompanied by comorbidities in the gallbladder, and the prognosis is usually good after correct diagnosis and treatment, Therefore, the present report aims to promote the awareness among clinicians of patients with non-classic abdominal symptoms, so as to avoid misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis.

White matter hyperintensity burden and collateral circulation in acute ischemic stroke with large artery occlusion.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden and pial collaterals in acute strokes caused by intracranial large artery occlusion treated with mechanical thrombectomy in the anterior circulation, focusing on stroke subtypes. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy between December 2019 and June 2022 were retrospectively screened. The Fazekas scale assessed WMH burden. Pial collaterals were categorized as either poor (0-2) or good (3-4) based on the Higashida score. A multivariable analysis was used to determine the relationship between WMH burden and pial collaterals. Subgroup analyses delved into associations stratified by stroke subtypes, namely cardioembolism (CE), tandem lesions (TLs), and intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS). RESULTS: Of the 573 patients included, 274 (47.8%) demonstrated poor pial collaterals. Multivariable regression indicated a strong association between extensive WMH burden (Fazekas score of 3-6) and poor collaterals [adjusted OR 3.04, 95% CI 1.70-5.46, P < 0.001]. Additional independent predictors of poor collaterals encompassed ICAS-related occlusion (aOR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.76, P = 0.014), female sex (aOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.41-0.96, P = 0.031), and baseline Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography scores (aOR 0.80, 95% CI 0.74-0.88, P < 0.001). Notably, an interaction between extensive WMH burden and stroke subtypes was observed in predicting poor collaterals (P = 0.001), being pronounced for CE (adjusted OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.21-4.37) and TLs (adjusted OR 5.09, 95% CI 2.32-11.16), but was absent in ICAS (adjusted OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.65-2.36). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy for anterior circulation large artery occlusion, extensive WMH burden correlates with poor pial collaterals in embolic occlusion cases (CE and TLs), but not in ICAS-related occlusion.