An ultra-deep TSV technique enabled by the dual catalysis-based electroless plating of combined barrier and seed layers.

Silicon interposers embedded with ultra-deep through-silicon vias (TSVs) are in great demand for the heterogeneous integration and packaging of opto-electronic chiplets and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. Considering the cost-effective and reliable manufacturing of ultra-deep TSVs, the formation of continuous barrier and seed layers remains a crucial challenge to solve. Herein, we present a novel dual catalysis-based electroless plating (ELP) technique by tailoring polyimide (PI) liner surfaces to fabricate dense combined Ni barrier/seed layers in ultra-deep TSVs. In additional to the conventional acid catalysis procedure, a prior catalytic step in an alkaline environment is proposed to hydrolyze the PI surface into a polyamide acid (PAA) interfacial layer, resulting in additional catalysts and the formation of a dense Ni layer that can function as both a barrier layer and a seed layer, particularly at the bottom of the deep TSV. TSVs with depths larger than 500 µm and no voids are successfully fabricated in this study. The fabrication process involves low costs and temperatures. For a fabricated 530-µm-deep TSV with a diameter of 70 µm, the measured depletion capacitance and leakage current are approximately 1.3 pF and 1.7 pA at 20 V, respectively, indicating good electrical properties. The proposed fabrication strategy can provide a cost-effective and feasible solution to the challenge of manufacturing ultra-deep TSVs for modern 3D heterogeneous integration and packaging applications.

Small Feature-Size Transistors Based on Low-Dimensional Materials: From Structure Design to Nanofabrication Techniques.

For several decades after Moore's Law is proposed, there is a continuous effort to reduce the feature-size of transistors. However, as the size of transistors continues to decrease, numerous challenges and obstacles including severe short channel effects (SCEs) are emerging. Recently, low-dimensional materials have provided new opportunities for constructing small feature-size transistors due to their superior electrical properties compared to silicon. Here, state-of-the-art low-dimensional materials-based transistors with small feature-sizes are reviewed. Different from other works that mainly focus on material characteristics of a specific device structure, the discussed topics are utilizing device structure design including vertical structure and nano-gate structure, and nanofabrication techniques to achieve small feature-sizes of transistors. A comprehensive summary of these small feature-size transistors is presented by illustrating their operation mechanism, relevant fabrication processes, and corresponding performance parameters. Besides, the role of small feature-size transistors based on low-dimensional materials in further reducing the small footprint is also clarified and their cutting-edge applications are highlighted. Finally, a comparison and analysis between state-of-art transistors is made, as well as a glimpse into the future research trajectory of low dimensional materials-based small feature-size transistors is briefly outlined.

METTL3-mediated N6-methyladenosine modification of STAT5A promotes gastric cancer progression by regulating KLF4.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the predominant post-transcriptional RNA modification in eukaryotes and plays a pivotal regulatory role in various aspects of RNA fate determination, such as mRNA stability, alternative splicing, and translation. Dysregulation of the critical m6A methyltransferase METTL3 is implicated in tumorigenesis and development. Here, this work showed that METTL3 is upregulated in gastric cancer tissues and is associated with poor prognosis. METTL3 methylates the A2318 site within the coding sequence (CDS) region of STAT5A. IGF2BP2 recognizes and binds METTL3-mediated m6A modification of STAT5A through its GXXG motif in the KH3 and KH4 domains, leading to increased stability of STAT5A mRNA. In addition, both METTL3 and IGF2BP2 are positively correlated with STAT5A in human gastric cancer tissue samples. Helicobacter pylori infection increased the expression level of METTL3 in gastric cancer cells, thereby leading to the upregulation of STAT5A. Functional studies indicated that STAT5A overexpression markedly enhances the proliferation and migration of GC cells, whereas STAT5A knockdown has inhibitory effects. Further nude mouse experiments showed that STAT5A knockdown effectively inhibits the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer in vivo. Moreover, as a transcription factor, STAT5A represses KLF4 transcription by binding to its promoter region. The overexpression of KLF4 can counteract the oncogenic impact of STAT5A. Overall, this study highlights the crucial role of m6A in gastric cancer and provides potential therapeutic targets for gastric cancer.

Mitral Geometry on the Mechanism of Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVE: The mechanism of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) is complex in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We aimed to evaluate the impact of mitral valve geometry on LVOTO by echocardiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population comprised 177 consecutive patients with HCM. Morphological findings of left ventricular hypertrophy and LVOTO-related abnormalities were assessed by comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography. Aortomitral angle, mitral leaflet length, and coaptation height were measured and analyzed at rest. Multivariable stepwise forward logistic regression analysis was performed to identify geometric predictors of LVOTO. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-seven patients had an LVOT gradient ≥30 mm Hg. Multivariable logistic regression showed that aortomitral angle (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.95, P < .001), coaptation height (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.41-2.72, P < .001), and accessory mitral valve chordae tendineae (OR, 13.1; 95% CI, 4.32-39.95; P < .001) were independently associated with LVOTO. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the area under the curve of mitral coaptation height was higher (area under the curve = 0.815) than the other 2 indicators (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Mitral coaptation height, aortomitral angle, and accessory mitral valve chordae tendineae were important predictors of SAM and LVOTO in HCM independent of septal hypertrophy.

In-situ synthesized MgIn2S4/CdWO4 type-II heterojunction as a light-driven photoelectrochemical sensor for ultrasensitive detection of catechol in environmental water samples.

As an essential chemical intermediate, catechol (CC) residues may have adverse effects on human health. Herein, an effective and facile photoelectrochemical sensor platform based on MgIn2S4/CdWO4 composite is constructed for monitoring CC. MgIn2S4 increases light absorption range and activity, while CdWO4 enhances photoelectronic stability, and the type-II heterojunction formed can significantly enhance photocurrent response. Due to the autoxidation process, CC is converted into oligomeric products, which increase the spatial site resistance and attenuate the overall photocurrent response. It is worth noting that the cauliflower-like structure of MgIn2S4 can provide a large specific surface area, and the presence of Mg2+ promotes autoxidation, thus providing a suitable condition for detecting CC. Under optimal conditions, the MgIn2S4/CdWO4/GCE photoelectrochemical sensor has a prominent linear relationship in the range of CC concentration from 2 nM to 7 µM, with a limit of detection of 0.27 nM. With satisfactory selectivity, excellent stability, and remarkable reproducibility, this sensor provides a crucial reference value for effectively and rapidly detecting pollutants in environmental water samples.

Conductive MXene/Polymer Composites for Transparent Flexible Supercapacitors.

Transparent flexible energy storage devices are limited by the trade-off among flexibility, transparency, and charge storage capability of their electrode materials. Conductive polymers are intrinsically flexible, but limited by small capacitance. Pseudocapacitive MXene provides high capacitance, yet their opaque and brittle nature hinders their flexibility and transparency. Herein, the development of synergistically interacting conductive polymer Ti3C2Tx MXene/PEDOT:PSS composites is reported for transparent flexible all-solid-state supercapacitors, with an outstanding areal capacitance of 3.1 mF cm-2, a high optical transparency of 61.6%, and excellent flexibility and durability. The high capacitance and high transparency of the devices stem from the uniform and thorough blending of PEDOT:PSS and Ti3C2Tx, which is associated with the formation of O─H…O H-bonds in the composites. The conductive MXene/polymer composite electrodes demonstrate a rational means to achieve high-capacity, transparent and flexible supercapacitors in an easy and scalable manner.

Chinese text dual attention network for aspect-level sentiment classification.

English text has a clear and compact subject structure, which makes it easy to find dependency relationships between words. However, Chinese text often conveys information using situational settings, which results in loose sentence structures, and even most Chinese comments and experimental summary texts lack subjects. This makes it challenging to determine the dependency relationship between words in Chinese text, especially in aspect-level sentiment recognition. To solve this problem faced by Chinese text in the field of sentiment recognition, a Chinese text dual attention network for aspect-level sentiment recognition is proposed. First, Chinese syntactic dependency is proposed, and sentiment dictionary is introduced to quickly and accurately extract aspect-level sentiment words, opinion extraction and classification of sentimental trends in text. Additionally, in order to extract context-level features, the CNN-BILSTM model and position coding are also introduced. Finally, to better extract fine-grained aspect-level sentiment, a two-level attention mechanism is used. Compared with ten advanced baseline models, the model's capabilities are being further optimized for better performance, with Accuracy of 0.9180, 0.9080 and 0.8380 respectively. This method is being demonstrated by a vast array of experiments to achieve higher performance in aspect-level sentiment recognition in less time, and ablation experiments demonstrate the importance of each module of the model.

Modern techniques in addressing facial acne scars: A thorough analysis.

BACKGROUND: Facial acne scars are a prevalent concern, leading to the development of various treatment modalities. OBJECTIVES: This review aims to explore the latest advancements in the treatment of facial acne scars, focusing on both surgical and non-surgical methods. METHODS: The non-surgical treatments reviewed include topical medications (such as retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids) and non-invasive procedures (like microdermabrasion and chemical peels). Surgical options discussed are punch excision, subcision, and fractional laser treatments. RESULTS: Combination therapy, integrating both surgical and non-surgical approaches, is frequently utilized to achieve optimal results in scar improvement. CONCLUSION: Recent advancements in the treatment of facial acne scars provide promising options for individuals seeking improvement. However, these treatments have associated risks and potential adverse effects, highlighting the importance of consulting a dermatologist before beginning any treatment regimen.

Multilayer Ti3 C2 -CNTs-Au Loaded with Cyclodextrin-MOF for Enhanced Selective Detection of Rutin.

In this work, multi-layer Ti3 C2 - carbon nanotubes - gold nanoparticles (Ti3 C2 -CNTs-Au) and cyclodextrin metal-organic framework - carbon nanotubes (CD-MOF-CNTs) have been prepared by in situ growth method and used to construct the ultra-sensitive rutin electrochemical sensor for the first time. Among them, the large number of metal active sites of Ti3 C2 , the high electron transfer efficiency of CNTS, and the good catalytic properties of AuNPs significantly enhance the electrochemical properties of the composite carbon nanomaterials. Interestingly, CD-MOF has a unique host-guest recognition and a large number of cavities, molecular gaps, and surface reactive groups, which gives the composite outstanding accumulation properties and selectivity for rutin. Under the optimized conditions, the constructed novel sensor has satisfactory detection performance for rutin in the range of 2 × 10-9 to 8 × 10-7  M with a limit of detection of 6.5 × 10-10  M. In addition, the sensor exhibits amazing anti-interference performance against rutin in some flavonoid compounds and can be used to test natural plant samples (buckwheat, Cymbopogon distans, and flos sophorae immaturus). This work has promising applications in the field of environmental and food analysis, and exploring new directions for the application of Mxene-based composites.

Boosting the Faraday Efficiency of Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis via the Strain Effect Induced by Interfacial Hybrid Formation between BN and Carbon Nanotubes.

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) is a highly promising alternative to the Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, but its commercial development is limited by the high bond energy of N2 molecules and the presence of the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, a metal-free composite electrocatalyst of boron nitride (h-BNNs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was explored through the interfacial hybridization of h-BNNs and CNTs, which showed a highly improved eNRR Faraday efficiency (FE) of 63.9% and an NH3 yield rate of 36.5 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 at -0.691 V (vs RHE). New chemical bonds of C-B and C-N were observed, indicating a strong interaction between CNTs and h-BNNs. According to the Raman spectra and the optimized model of h-BNNs/CNTs, an obvious strain effect between h-BNNs and CNTs was supposed to play a significant role in the highly improved FE, compared with the FE of h-BNNs alone (4.7%). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further showed that h-BNNs/CNTs had lower energy barriers in eNRR, giving them higher N2 to NH3 selectivity, while h-BNNs have lower energy barriers in the HER. This work shows the important role of the strain effect in boosting the selectivity in the eNRR process.

Exogenous drug-induced mouse models of atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by intense pruritus. AD is harmful to both children and adults, but its pathogenic mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated. The development of mouse models for AD has greatly contributed to its study and treatment. Among these models, the exogenous drug-induced mouse model has shown promising results and significant advantages. Until now, a large amount of AD-related research has utilized exogenous drug-induced mouse models, leading to notable advancements in research. This indicates the crucial significance of applying such models in AD research. These models exhibit diverse characteristics and are highly complex. They involve the use of various strains of mice, diverse types of inducers, and different modeling effects. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive comparative studies on exogenous drug-induced AD mouse models, which hinders researchers' ability to choose among these models. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the features and mechanisms associated with various exogenous drug-induced mouse models, including the important role of each cytokine in AD development. It aims to assist researchers in quickly understanding models and selecting the most suitable one for further investigation.

Transformer guided self-adaptive network for multi-scale skin lesion image segmentation.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, skin lesion has become a major public health concern, and the diagnosis and management of skin lesions depend heavily on the correct segmentation of the lesions. Traditional convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated promising results in skin lesion segmentation, but they are limited in their ability to capture distant connections and intricate features. In addition, current medical image segmentation algorithms rarely consider the distribution of different categories in different regions of the image and do not consider the spatial relationship between pixels. OBJECTIVES: This study proposes a self-adaptive position-aware skin lesion segmentation model SapFormer to capture global context and fine-grained detail, better capture spatial relationships, and adapt to different positional characteristics. The SapFormer is a multi-scale dynamic position-aware structure designed to provide a more flexible representation of the relationships between skin lesion characteristics and lesion distribution. Additionally, it increases skin lesion segmentation accuracy and decreases incorrect segmentation of non-lesion areas. INNOVATIONS: SapFormer designs multiple hybrid transformers for multi-scale feature encoding of skin images and multi-scale positional feature sensing of the encoded features using a transformer decoder to obtain fine-grained features of the lesion area and optimize the regional feature distribution. The self-adaptive feature framework, built upon the transformer decoder module, dynamically and automatically generates parameterizations with learnable properties at different positions. These parameterizations are derived from the multi-scale encoding characteristics of the input image. Simultaneously, this paper utilizes the cross-attention network to optimize the features of the current region according to the features of other regions, aiming to increase skin lesion segmentation accuracy. MAIN RESULTS: The ISIC-2016, ISIC-2017, and ISIC-2018 datasets for skin lesions are used as the basis for the experiment. On these datasets, the proposed model has accuracy values of 97.9 %, 94.3 %, and 95.7 %, respectively. The proposed model's IOU values are, in order, 93.2 %, 86.4 %, and 89.4 %. The proposed model's DSC values are 96.4 %, 92.6 %, and 94.3 %, respectively. All three metrics surpass the performance of the majority of state-of-the-art (SOTA) models. SapFormer's metrics on these datasets demonstrate that it can precisely segment skin lesions. Notably, our approach exhibits remarkable noise resistance in non-lesion areas, while simultaneously conducting finer-grained regional feature extraction on the skin lesion image. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the integration of a transformer-guided position-aware network into semantic skin lesion segmentation results in a notable performance boost. The ability of our proposed network to capture spatial relationships and fine-grained details proves beneficial for effective skin lesion segmentation. By enhancing lesion localization, feature extraction, quantitative analysis, and classification accuracy, the proposed segmentation model improves the diagnostic efficiency of skin lesion analysis on dermoscopic images. It assists dermatologists in making more accurate and efficient diagnoses, ultimately leading to better patient care and outcomes. This research paves the way for advances in diagnosing and treating skin lesions, promoting better understanding and decision-making in the clinical setting.

Series of Desloratadine Platinum(IV) Hybrids Displaying Potent Antimetastatic Competence by Inhibiting Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Arousing Immune Response.

Metastasis is the major obstacle to the survival of cancer patients. Herein, a series of new desloratadine platinum(IV) conjugates with promising antiproliferative and antimetastatic activities were developed and evaluated. The candidate complex caused significant DNA damage and stimulated mitochondrial apoptosis through the Bcl-2/Bax/caspase3 pathway. Then, it suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in tumors effectively through NMT-1/HPCAL1 and ß-catenin signaling. Subsequently, the angiogenesis was inhibited with the downregulation of key proteins HIF-1α, VEGFA, MMP-9, and CD34. Moreover, the antitumor immunity was effectively aroused by the synergism of EMT reversion and decrease of the histamine level; then, the macrophage polarization from M2- to M1-type and the increase of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were triggered simultaneously in tumors.

Ubiquitin-specific Protease 35 Promotes Gastric Cancer Metastasis by Increasing the Stability of Snail1.

Deubiquitinase (DUB) dysregulation is closely associated with multiple diseases, including tumors. In this study, we used data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases to analyze the expression of 51 ubiquitin-specific proteases (USPs) in gastric cancer (GC) tissues and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. The Kaplan-Meier Plotter database was used to analyze the association of the differentially expressed USPs with the overall survival of patients with GC. The results showed that five USPs (USP5, USP10, USP13, USP21, and USP35) were highly expressed in GC tissues and were associated with poor prognosis in patients with GC. Because the epithelial-mesenchymal transition enables epithelial cells to acquire mesenchymal features and contributes to poor prognosis, we investigated whether these USPs had regulatory effects on the key epithelial-mesenchymal transition transcription factor Snail1. Our results showed that USP35 exhibited the most significant regulation on Snail1. Overexpression of USP35 increased and its knockdown decreased Snail1 protein levels. Mechanistically, USP35 interacted with Snail1 and removed its polyubiquitinated chain, thereby increasing its stability. Furthermore, USP35 promoted the invasion and migration of GC cells depending on its DUB activity. USP35 knockdown exhibited the opposite effect. Snail1 depletion partially abrogated the biological effects of USP35. Experiments using nude mouse tail vein injections indicated that wild-type USP35, but not the catalytically inactive USP35-C450A mutant, dramatically enhanced cell colonization and tumorigenesis in the lungs of mice. In addition, USP35 positively correlated with Snail1 expression in clinical GC tissues. Helicobacter pylori infection increased USP35 and Snail1 expression levels. Altogether, we found that USP35 can deubiquitinate Snail1 and increase its expression, thereby contributing to the malignant progression of GC. Therefore, USP35 may serve as a viable target for GC treatment.

Probing the Strain Direction-Dependent Nonmonotonic Optical Bandgap Modulation of Layered Violet Phosphorus.

Recent theoretical investigations have well-predicted strain-induced nonmonotonic optical band gap variations in low-dimensional materials. However, few two-dimensional (2D) materials are experimentally confirmed to exhibit nonmonotonic optical band gap variation under varying strain. Here, a strain-induced nonmonotonic optical bandgap variation in violet phosphorus (VP) nanosheets is observed, as evidenced by photoluminescence spectroscopy, which is reported in a few other 2D materials in knowledge. The optical bandgap variations are characterized to show the modulation rates of 41 and -24 meV/% with compression and tensile strains, respectively. Remarkably, first-principle calculations predict and clarify the nonmonotonic modulation accurately, highlighting its relationship with the strain direction-dependent asymmetric distribution of conduction band minimum wavefunctions, demonstrating that this unique nonmonotonic optical bandgap modulation is determined by the distinctive crystal structure of VP. This work provides a deep insight into the design of 2D materials toward optoelectronic and photoelectrochemical applications via strain engineering.

Application of Cut-and-Sew Technique in Thoracoscopic Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery and Concomitant Maze Procedure

ABSTRACT Introduction: Atrial fibrillation is one of the common complications of mitral valve disease. Currently, in the absence of freezing equipment, it's still impossible to fully conduct a minimally invasive Cox-maze IV procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. Methods: We analyzed the clinical data of 28 patients who underwent thoracoscopic minimally invasive mitral valve full maze surgery in our hospital from October 2021 to September 2022; 13 patients were male and 15 were female, three suffered from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and 25 suffered from permanent atrial fibrillation; average age was 61.88±8.30 years, and mean preoperative left atrial diameter was 47.12±8.34 mm. Isolation of left atrial posterior wall (box lesion) was completed in all patients by cut-and-sew technique and bipolar clamp ablation. Results: For these subjects, the median cardiopulmonary bypass time was 169 (109.75-202.75) minutes, aortic cross-clamping time was 106 (77.75-125.50) minutes, and ventilator assistance time was 6.5 (0-10) hours. Among them, eight subjects had the endotracheal tubes removed immediately after surgical operation. Three subjects were in the blanking period; two subjects still had atrial fibrillation at three months after operation, one of whom resumed sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion therapy; and all the remaining 23 subjects had sinus rhythm. Conclusion: The minimally invasive cut-and-sew technique for electrical isolation of left pulmonary veins can improve sinus conversion rate of patients suffering from both mitral valve disease and atrial fibrillation. In selected subjects, it is safe and has good results in the short-term postoperative period.

Glutathione-Responsive Organosilica Hybrid Nanosystems for Targeted Dual-Starvation Therapy in Luminal Breast Cancer.

Starvation therapy is an innovative approach in cancer treatment aimed at depriving cancer cells of necessary resources by impeding tumor angiogenesis or blocking the energy supply. In addition to the commonly observed anaerobic glycolysis energy supply mode, adipocyte-rich tumor tissue triggers the fatty acid energy supply pathway, which fuels the proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells. To completely disrupt these dual-energy-supply pathways, we developed an exceptional nanoreactor. This nanoreactor consisted of yolk-shell mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (YSMONs) loaded with a fatty acid transport inhibitor (Dox), conjugated with a luminal breast-cancer-specific targeting aptamer, and integrated with a glucose oxidation catalyst (GOx). Upon reaching cancer cells with the assistance of the aptamer, the nanoreactor underwent a structural collapse of the shell triggered by the high concentration of glutathione within cancer cells. This collapse led to the release of GOx and Dox, achieving targeted delivery and exhibiting significant efficacy in starving therapy. Additionally, the byproducts of glucose metabolism, gluconic acid and H2O2, enhanced the acidity and reactive oxygen species levels of the intracellular microenvironment, inducing oxidative damage to cancer cells. Simultaneously, released Dox acted as a potent broad-spectrum anticancer drug, inhibiting the activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A and exerting marked effects. Combining these effects ensures high anticancer efficiency, and the "dual-starvation" nanoreactor has the potential to establish a novel synergistic therapy paradigm with considerable clinical significance. Furthermore, this approach minimizes damage to normal organs, making it highly valuable in the field of cancer treatment.

Application of Cut-and-Sew Technique in Thoracoscopic Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery and Concomitant Maze Procedure.

INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation is one of the common complications of mitral valve disease. Currently, in the absence of freezing equipment, it's still impossible to fully conduct a minimally invasive Cox-maze IV procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical data of 28 patients who underwent thoracoscopic minimally invasive mitral valve full maze surgery in our hospital from October 2021 to September 2022; 13 patients were male and 15 were female, three suffered from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and 25 suffered from permanent atrial fibrillation; average age was 61.88±8.30 years, and mean preoperative left atrial diameter was 47.12±8.34 mm. Isolation of left atrial posterior wall (box lesion) was completed in all patients by cut-and-sew technique and bipolar clamp ablation. RESULTS: For these subjects, the median cardiopulmonary bypass time was 169 (109.75-202.75) minutes, aortic cross-clamping time was 106 (77.75-125.50) minutes, and ventilator assistance time was 6.5 (0-10) hours. Among them, eight subjects had the endotracheal tubes removed immediately after surgical operation. Three subjects were in the blanking period; two subjects still had atrial fibrillation at three months after operation, one of whom resumed sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion therapy; and all the remaining 23 subjects had sinus rhythm. CONCLUSION: The minimally invasive cut-and-sew technique for electrical isolation of left pulmonary veins can improve sinus conversion rate of patients suffering from both mitral valve disease and atrial fibrillation. In selected subjects, it is safe and has good results in the short-term postoperative period.

How social media usage affects psychological and subjective well-being: testing a moderated mediation model.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of literature demonstrates that social media usage has witnessed a rapid increase in higher education and is almost ubiquitous among young people. The underlying mechanisms as to how social media usage by university students affects their well-being are unclear. Moreover, current research has produced conflicting evidence concerning the potential effects of social media on individuals' overall well-being with some reporting negative outcomes while others revealing beneficial results. METHODS: To address the research gap, the present research made an attempt to investigate the crucial role of social media in affecting students' psychological (PWB) and subjective well-being (SWB) by testing the mediating role of self-esteem and online social support and the moderation effect of cyberbullying. The data in the study were obtained from a sample of 1,004 college students (483 females and 521 males, Mage = 23.78, SD = 4.06) enrolled at 135 Chinese universities. AMOS 26.0 and SPSS 26.0 as well as the Process macro were utilized for analyzing data and testing the moderated mediation model. RESULTS: Findings revealed that social media usage by university students was positively associated with their PWB and SWB through self-esteem and online social support, and cyberbullying played a moderating role in the first phase of the mediation process such that the indirect associations were weak with cyberbullying reaching high levels. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the importance of discerning the mechanisms moderating the mediated paths linking social media usage by young adults to their PWB and SWB. The results also underline the importance of implementing measures and interventions to alleviate the detrimental impacts of cyberbullying on young adults' PWB and SWB.

A series of ligustrazine platinum(IV) complexes with potent anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic properties that exert chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic effects.

The development of novel anticancer drugs with antiproliferative and antimetastatic activities is of great importance in the pharmaceutical field. Herein, a series of ligustrazine (LSZ) platinum(IV) complexes with chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic effects were designed, prepared and evaluated as antitumor agents for the first time. Complex 4 with potent antitumor activities both in vitro and in vivo was screened out as a candidate. Notably, it displays significantly more effective anti-metastatic activities than the platinum(II) drugs cisplatin and oxaliplatin. Mechanism detection discloses that it causes serious DNA damage and increases the expression of γ-H2AX and P53. Then, the apoptosis of tumor cells is promoted by activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway Bcl-2/Bax/caspase-3 and causing autophagy via modulating LC3-I/II and P62 expression. Furthermore, the immune therapeutic responses are significantly elevated by blocking HIF-1α, ERK 1/2 and COX-2 pathways to reduce PD-L1 expression, and further increasing CD3+ and CD8+ T cells to elevate T cell immunity in tumors. Tumor metastasis is blocked by the synergistic functions of DNA damage, hypoxia modulation and immune activation.