Association between widowhood and cognitive function among Chinese older adults with hearing impairment: the moderating effect of social support and participation.

BACKGROUND: Older adults with hearing impairments are vulnerable to cognitive impairment. Although previous reports suggest a correlation between widowhood and cognitive impairment, further investigation is needed to elucidate the effect of widowhood on cognitive function and the moderating effects of social support and participation on widowhood-related cognitive impairment in this vulnerable demographic. METHODS: The study's data were sourced from the nationally representative Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) for the years 2011, 2014, and 2018. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the association between widowhood and cognitive function among older adults. Multivariate logistic regression examined the effect of widowhood on the likelihood of experiencing various levels of cognitive impairment in older adults with hearing impairments. A moderating effect model explored the roles of social support and participation in mitigating widowhood-related cognitive impairment. RESULTS: The cognitive function of older adults with hearing impairment was found to be lower than that of those without hearing impairment. Widowhood was significantly negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in older adults, both with (Coef. = -0.898) and without (Coef.: = -0.680) hearing impairments. A stronger association was observed between widowhood and declining cognitive function among older adults with hearing impairment. Specifically, widowhood may be more likely to significantly increase the likelihood of moderate and severe cognitive impairment (RRR = 1.326, 1.538) among older adults with hearing impairments. Social support and social participation significantly moderated the cognitive impairment associated with widowhood among hearing-impaired older adults. These forms of support and engagement are buffers against the risk of widowhood-related cognitive impairment among this demographic. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that widowhood is significantly associated with cognitive impairment in older adults with hearing impairment. Social support and participation help mitigate this risk. Strategies should prioritize early screening, specialized cognitive rehabilitation, comprehensive care, and enhancing social support and participation to maintain cognitive health in this vulnerable population following widowhood.

Restricting Linker Rotation in Nanocages of ZIF-8 Membranes using Crown Ether "Molecular Locks" for Enhanced Propylene/Propane Separation.

ZIF-8 membranes have long been prized for their exceptional C3H6/C3H8 separation performance. On the other hand, ZIF-8 has structural flexibility, where the external pressure triggers channel expansion, potentially deteriorating the molecular sieving ability. Here, we demonstrate a reliable strategy to fine-tune the flexible pore structure of ZIF-8 by embedding crown ether within a ZIF-8 membrane. Benzo-15-crown-5 (15C5) was selected as the cavity occupant and perfectly confined in the sodalite (SOD) cage of ZIF-8. The 15C5 molecules, which have a size comparable to the nanocage, impose a spatial constraint on linker rotation, enabling the phase transition to a rigid structure in the flexible ZIF-8. The corresponding 15C5@ZIF-8 membranes achieve an ultrahigh C3H6/C3H8 selectivity of 220, outperforming that of most membranes. Unlike their flexible counterparts, the resulting membranes manifest a positive increase in the C3H6/C3H8 separation factor with elevated pressure, securing a record-high C3H6/C3H8 separation factor of 331 under 7 bar. More importantly, extraordinary separation stability was demonstrated with continuous measurement, which is highly desirable for practical applications.

Impact of pulmonary rehabilitation on exercise capacity, health-related quality of life, and cardiopulmonary function in lung surgery patients: a retrospective propensity score-matched analysis.

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation is considered beneficial for patients undergoing lung surgery, yet its specific impacts on exercise capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and cardiopulmonary function require further elucidation. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of PR on these outcomes in patients undergoing lung surgery using a retrospective propensity score-matched analysis. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 420 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent lung surgery from January 2022 to May 2024. Among these, 84 patients received PR while 336 did not (control group). Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 1:1 ratio yielded 46 patients in each group. Baseline characteristics, spirometry, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, respiratory muscle strength, HRQL, and muscle measurements were assessed pre-and post-surgery. Results: Before PSM, significant differences existed between groups, with the PR group being older and having different pulmonary function baselines. After PSM, groups were well-balanced. Postoperatively, the PR group showed significant improvements in FEV1/FVC (64.17% vs. 50.87%, p < 0.001), FEV1 (2.31 L/min vs. 1.75 L/min, p < 0.001), and predicted FVC percentage (88.75% vs. 68.30%, p < 0.001). Cardiovascular responses showed a lower CI during exercise in the PR group post-PSM (6.24 L/min/m2 vs. 7.87 L/min/m2, p < 0.001). In terms of exercise capacity, the PR group had higher maximal WR percentage (104.76% vs. 90.00%, p = 0.017) and peak VO2 (1150.70 mL/min vs. 1004.74 mL/min, p = 0.009). PR also resulted in less leg soreness and lower total CAT scores postoperatively. Muscle measurements indicated significantly smaller reductions in ΔHUESMCSA and percentage change in the PR group. Conclusion: Pulmonary rehabilitation significantly enhances exercise capacity, HRQL, and cardiopulmonary function in patients undergoing lung surgery. It also mitigates postoperative muscle loss, underscoring its importance in the postoperative management of lung surgery patients.

Identifying the importance of PCK1 in maintaining ileal epithelial barrier integrity in Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease (CD) is marked by disruption of intestinal epithelial barrier, with unclear underlying molecular mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate key genes regulating the intestinal barrier in CD patients. METHODS: Differential gene expression analysis and gene set enrichment analysis were conducted to identify potential key genes involved in CD within the GEO database. Single-cell RNA sequencing from ileum samples in GSE134809 of 59,831 inflamed and uninflamed cells from 11 CD patients and microarray data from ileal tissues in GSE69762 (3 controls and 4 CD patients) and GSE75214 (11 controls and 51 CD patients) with GSE179285 (49 uninflamed and 33 inflamed from CD patients) as the validation set. Protein-protein interaction and logistic regression analyses identified key downregulated genes in CD. A key gene was then investigated through immunohistochemistry of ileal tissues from 5 CD patients and in the Caco-2 cell line with RNA interference and treatment with IFN-γ and TNF-α to stimulate inflammation. RESULTS: Single-cell RNA-seq identified 33 genes and microarray identified 167 genes with significant downregulation in inflamed CD samples. PCK1 was identified and validated as one of the most promising candidate genes. Reduced PCK1 expression was evident in inflamed ileal tissues. In vitro, knockdown of PCK1 resulted in decreased cell viability, increased apoptosis, and reduced nectin-2 production, while combination of IFN-γ and TNF-α significantly reduced PCK1. CONCLUSIONS: PCK1 is downregulated in inflamed ileal tissues of CD patients and may be a key factor in maintaining epithelial integrity during inflammation in Crohn's disease.

Zr(OH)4-Catalyzed Semi-Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene with Terminal Zr-O-H as Active Site: Inactive for Free Styrene.

In the field of industrial semi-hydrogenation of trace alkynes amidst alkene feedstocks, the pivotal challenge lies in circumventing the hydrogenation of alkenes. Herein, we present Zr(OH)4 as an innovative catalyst for the semi-hydrogenation of phenylacetylene, demonstrating remarkable selectivity towards styrene (>96%), while exhibiting inactivity towards free styrene. Notably, Zr(OH)4 achieves a 95% conversion of quasi-industry 1 mol% phenylacetylene within styrene, with a mere 0.44% styrene loss. Experimental and theoretical results confirm both terminal Zr-O-H and bridge Zr-O-H can dissociate H2, while the terminal Zr-O-H plays a crucial role on activating phenylacetylene through the sequential hydrogenation process of C6H5C≡CH→C6H5C=CH2→C6H5CH=CH2. The high rate of phenylacetylene removal is attributed to its strong adsorption capacity, while Zr(OH)4 has a significantly weaker adsorption capacity for styrene.

Does "National Civilized City" policy mitigate air pollution in China? A spatial Durbin difference-in-differences analysis.

"National Civilized City" (NCC) is regarded as China's highest honorary title and most valuable city brand. To win and maintain the "golden city" title, municipal governments must pay close attention to various key appraisal indicators, mainly environmental ones. In this study we verify whether cities with the title are more likely to mitigate SO2 pollution. We adopt the spatial Durbin difference-in-differences (DID) model and use panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018 to analyze the local (direct) and spillover effects (indirect) of the NCC policy on SO2 pollution. We find that SO2 pollution in Chinese cities is not randomly distributed in geography, suggesting the existence of spatial spillovers and possible biased estimates. Our study treats the NCC policy as a quasi-experiment and incorporates spatial spillovers of NCC policy into a classical DID model to verify this assumption. Our findings show: (1) The spatial distribution of SO2 pollution represents strong spatial spillovers, with the most highly polluted regions mainly situated in the North China Plain. (2) The Moran's I test results confirms significant spatial autocorrelation. (3) Results of the spatial Durbin DID models reveal that the civilized cities have indeed significantly mitigated SO2 pollution, indicating that cities with the honorary title are acutely aware of the environment in their bid to maintain the golden city brand. As importantly, we notice that the spatial DID term is also significant and negative, implying that neighboring civilized cities have also mitigated their own SO2 pollution. Due to demonstration and competition effects, neighboring cities that won the title ostensibly motivates local officials to adopt stringent policies and measures for lowering SO2 pollution and protecting the environment in competition for the golden title. The spatial autoregressive coefficient was significant and positive, indicating that SO2 pollution of local cities has been deeply affected by neighbors. A series of robustness check tests also confirms our conclusions. Policy recommendations based on the findings for protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development are proposed.

A mix & act liposomes of phospholipase A2-phosphatidylserine for acute brain detoxification by blood‒brain barrier selective-opening.

In the treatment of central nervous system disease, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major obstruction to drug delivery that must be overcome. In this study, we propose a brain-targeted delivery strategy based on selective opening of the BBB. This strategy allows some simple bare nanoparticles to enter the brain when mixed with special opening material; however, the BBB still maintains the ability to completely block molecules from passing through. Based on the screening of BBB opening and matrix delivery materials, we determined that phospholipase A2-catalyzed 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine liposomes can efficiently carry drugs into the brain immediately. At an effective dose, this delivery system is safe, especially with its effect on the BBB being reversible. This mix & act delivery system has a simple structure and rapid preparation, making it a strong potential candidate for drug delivery across the BBB.

Wi-CHAR: A WiFi Sensing Approach with Focus on Both Scenes and Restricted Data.

Significant strides have been made in the field of WiFi-based human activity recognition, yet recent wireless sensing methodologies still grapple with the reliance on copious amounts of data. When assessed in unfamiliar domains, the majority of models experience a decline in accuracy. To address this challenge, this study introduces Wi-CHAR, a novel few-shot learning-based cross-domain activity recognition system. Wi-CHAR is meticulously designed to tackle both the intricacies of specific sensing environments and pertinent data-related issues. Initially, Wi-CHAR employs a dynamic selection methodology for sensing devices, tailored to mitigate the diminished sensing capabilities observed in specific regions within a multi-WiFi sensor device ecosystem, thereby augmenting the fidelity of sensing data. Subsequent refinement involves the utilization of the MF-DBSCAN clustering algorithm iteratively, enabling the rectification of anomalies and enhancing the quality of subsequent behavior recognition processes. Furthermore, the Re-PN module is consistently engaged, dynamically adjusting feature prototype weights to facilitate cross-domain activity sensing in scenarios with limited sample data, effectively distinguishing between accurate and noisy data samples, thus streamlining the identification of new users and environments. The experimental results show that the average accuracy is more than 93% (five-shot) in various scenarios. Even in cases where the target domain has fewer data samples, better cross-domain results can be achieved. Notably, evaluation on publicly available datasets, WiAR and Widar 3.0, corroborates Wi-CHAR's robust performance, boasting accuracy rates of 89.7% and 92.5%, respectively. In summary, Wi-CHAR delivers recognition outcomes on par with state-of-the-art methodologies, meticulously tailored to accommodate specific sensing environments and data constraints.

The Failure Mechanism of Micro Thermoelectric Devices under the Action of the Temperature Field.

The micro thermoelectric device (m-TED) boasts features such as adjustable volume, straightforward structure, and precise, rapid temperature control, positioning it as the only current solution for managing the temperature of microelectronic systems. It is extensively utilized in 5G optical modules, laser lidars, and infrared detection. Nevertheless, as the size of the m-TED diminishes, the growing proportion of interface damages the device's operational reliability, constraining the advancement of the m-TED. In this study, we used commercially available bismuth telluride materials to construct the m-TED. The device's reliability was tested under various temperatures: -40, 85, 125, and 150 °C. By deconstructing and analyzing the devices that failed during the tests, we discovered that the primary cause of device failure was the degradation of the solder layer. Moreover, we demonstrated that encapsulating the device with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) could effectively delay the deterioration of its performance. This study sparks new insights into the service reliability of m-TEDs and paves the way for further optimizing device interface design and enhancing the device manufacturing process.

Urticaria in infants: A single-institution retrospective study.

Urticaria in infants can cause significant anxiety in parents, especially if a trigger cannot be identified. In a retrospective study of 246 infants seen for urticaria of unknown etiology at Boston Children's Hospital, 88.2% had resolution of urticaria within 6 weeks. The etiology of urticaria was ultimately established in 62.6% (72/115) of acute urticaria and 12.5% (2/16) of chronic urticaria cases with follow-up data. Pediatric healthcare providers can counsel families that while etiology of urticaria is never determined in over 40% of infants, symptoms are most likely to resolve spontaneously.

UBR5 forms ligand-dependent complexes on chromatin to regulate nuclear hormone receptor stability.

Nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) are ligand-binding transcription factors that are widely targeted therapeutically. Agonist binding triggers NR activation and subsequent degradation by unknown ligand-dependent ubiquitin ligase machinery. NR degradation is critical for therapeutic efficacy in malignancies that are driven by retinoic acid and estrogen receptors. Here, we demonstrate the ubiquitin ligase UBR5 drives degradation of multiple agonist-bound NRs, including the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA), retinoid x receptor alpha (RXRA), glucocorticoid, estrogen, liver-X, progesterone, and vitamin D receptors. We present the high-resolution cryo-EMstructure of full-length human UBR5 and a negative stain model representing its interaction with RARA/RXRA. Agonist ligands induce sequential, mutually exclusive recruitment of nuclear coactivators (NCOAs) and UBR5 to chromatin to regulate transcriptional networks. Other pharmacological ligands such as selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) degrade their receptors through differential recruitment of UBR5 or RNF111. We establish the UBR5 transcriptional regulatory hub as a common mediator and regulator of NR-induced transcription.

Negatively charged phospholipids doped liposome delivery system for mRNA with high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) has become one of the most potential drugs in recent years. However, efficient and safe delivery of fragile and easily degradable mRNA is a major challenge. Appropriate delivery system (DS) determines the final effect of mRNA. Cationic lipids play a crucial and decisive role in the entire DS, but also cause huge biosafety problems due to the high toxicity. In this study, a new DS for mRNA delivery that combines negatively charged phospholipids was developed in order to neutralize the positive charge and thus increase the safety. Further, the factors affecting mRNA transfection from cell to animal were investigated. The mRNA DS with optimum condition of lipid composition, proportions, structure, and transfection time was synthesized. Adding an appropriate amount of the anionic lipid to liposomes could increase the safety while maintaining the original transfection efficiency. For transporting mRNA in vivo, requirements regarding the mRNA encapsulation and releasing rate should be further considered to optimize DS design and preparation.

The efficacy and mechanism of vonoprazan-containing triple therapy in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

Purpose: Vonoprazan (VPZ) produces a strong acid-inhibitory effect, which can potentially eradicate Helicobacter Pylori (H. pylori). We aimed to assess whether a 14-day VPZ-containing triple therapy was safe and effective in the Chinese population and the potential mechanism. Methods: Enrolled patients confirmed to be infected with H. pylori were randomly divided into four groups: VPZ + doxycycline + furazolidone, VPZ + doxycycline + amoxicillin, esomeprazole (EPZ) + bismuth + doxycycline + furazolidone, and EPZ + colloidal bismuth + doxycycline + amoxicillin for 14 days. The eradication rate, medication adherence, and incidence of adverse events (AEs) were evaluated. Inhibition of H. pylori by VPZ and EPZ in vitro was assessed. H. pylori treated with appropriate concentrations of VPZ and EPZ were sequenced by transcriptome analysis to explore the antibacterial mechanism. Results: A higher eradication rate were observed in VPZ-containing triple therapy. No obvious differences were observed in medication adherence or the incidence of AEs. VPZ had no direct inhibitory effect on H. pylori, whereas EPZ directly inhibited H. pylori may through downregulated genes related to the ribosome. Conclusion: In the Chinese population, 14-day VPZ-containing triple therapy was safe and more effective and can be used clinically as first-line H. pylori treatment. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT05097846.

Effects of visceral adipose tissue on anti-tumour necrosis factor-α in Crohn's disease.

Background: It remains unclear whether visceral adipose tissue (VAT) can predict the response of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) to anti-tumour necrosis factor-α (anti-TNF-α) therapy. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether VAT predicts the efficacy of infliximab (IFX) for different sites of CD and its relationship with serum TNF-α levels and IFX serum trough concentration. Design: This is a multicentre retrospective study. Methods: Patients with CD treated with IFX from January 2014 to January 2021 were included. The perimeter of the visceral adipose area was obtained by a Computed Tomography (CT) scan. Participants were classified according to the lesion site (L1, L2, and L3) and visceral fat area. The participants were divided into colon-uninvolved non-visceral obesity (L1-VATL), colon-uninvolved visceral obesity (L1-VATH), colon-involved non-visceral obesity (L2 + L3-VATL), and colon involved visceral obesity (L2 + L3-VATH) groups. The end points of this study were set as disease remission status at 6 and 12 months. Results: The final cohort included 140 patients. Regarding efficacy at 6 and 12 months, there was a significant difference between L1-VATL (73.8% versus 36.8%, p = 0.006) and L1-VATH (81.0% versus 47.4%, p = 0.008) groups. In the analysis of serum TNF-α levels and IFX serum trough concentrations, there was a significant difference between L1-VATL and L1-VATH (59.5 pg/mL versus 236.0 pg/mL, pTNF-α = 0.006), (10.0 µg/mL versus 0.4 µg/mL, pIFX = 0.000), and L1-VATH and L2 + L3-VATH (78.7 pg/mL versus 118.6 pg/mL, pTNF-α = 0.031), (0.4 µg/mL versus 6.40 µg/mL, pIFX = 0.017). Conclusion: In L1 patients, the VAT level predicted the efficacy of IFX, with high VAT values indicating poor efficacy. The VAT level may be a useful radiological marker to predict the efficacy of IFX in patients with various types of CD.

Risk assessment based on dose-responsive and time-responsive genes to build PLS-DA models for exogenously induced lung injury.

Xenobiotics can easily harm human lungs owing to the openness of the respiratory system. Identifying pulmonary toxicity remains challenging owing to several reasons: 1) no biomarkers for pulmonary toxicity are available that might help to detect lung injury; 2) traditional animal experiments are time-consuming; 3) traditional detection methods solely focus on poisoning accidents; 4) analytical chemistry methods hardly achieve universal detection. An in vitro testing system able to identify the pulmonary toxicity of contaminants from food, the environment, and drugs is urgently needed. Compounds are virtually infinite, whereas toxicological mechanisms are countable. Therefore, universal methods to identify and predict the risks of contaminants can be designed based on these well-known toxicity mechanisms. In this study, we established a dataset based on transcriptome sequencing of A549 cells upon treatment with different compounds. The representativeness of our dataset was analyzed using bioinformatics methods. Artificial intelligence methods, namely partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models, were employed for toxicity prediction and toxicant identification. The developed model predicted the pulmonary toxicity of compounds with a 92 % accuracy. These models were submitted to an external validation using highly heterogeneous compounds, which supported the accuracy and robustness of our developed methodology. This assay exhibits universal potential applications for water quality monitoring, crop pollution detection, food and drug safety evaluation, as well as chemical warfare agent detection.

A fast-acting brain-targeted nano-delivery system with ultra-simple structure for brain emergency poisoning rescue.

Treatment for acute brain conditions remains a major challenge owing to the unavailability of antidotes, especially for organophosphorus compounds, exposure to which leads to rapid death. Despite recent advances in brain-targeted nano delivery systems (BTNDS), the traditional ones which have been developed will likely not lead to the quick release of an antidote, which is essential to counteract fast neurotoxic effects. Herein, we present a BTNDS using thermosensitive liposomes, without the need for functionalization, to obtain a platform for brain-targeted delivery, which has a simple structure and thus can be easily synthesized and scaled-up. The brain-targeting effect of BTNDS was amplified by phospholipase A2 (PLA2), an inflammatory biomarker. The combination of PLA2 and BTNDS significantly improved brain targeting, leading to an excellent emergency rescue effect - 83- and 4.8-fold better cerebral AChE reactivation response and survival time, respectively. These findings provide a promising strategy to generate a facile, druggable, and effective BTNDS.

Uneven phosphoric acid interfaces with enhanced electrochemical performance for high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

Ultrahigh mass transport resistance and excessive coverage of the active sites introduced by phosphoric acid (PA) are among the major obstacles that limit the performance of high-temperature polymer fuel cells, especially compared to their low-temperature counterparts. Here, an alternative strategy of electrode design with fibrous networks is developed to optimize the redistribution of acid within the electrode. Via structural tailoring with varied electrospinning parameters, uneven migration of PA with dispersed droplets is observed, subverting the immersion model of conventional porous electrode. Combining with experimental and calculation results, the microscaled uneven PA interfaces could not only provide extra diffusion pathways for oxygen but also minimize the thickness of PA layers. This electrode architecture demonstrates enhanced electrochemical performance of oxygen reduction within the PA phase, resulting in a 28% enhancement of the maximum power density for the optimally designed electrode as cathode compared to that of a conventional one.

Contrast-enhanced harmonic endoscopic ultrasound (CH-EUS) MASTER: A novel deep learning-based system in pancreatic mass diagnosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Distinguishing pancreatic cancer from nonneoplastic masses is critical and remains a clinical challenge. The study aims to construct a deep learning-based artificial intelligence system to facilitate pancreatic mass diagnosis, and to guide EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in real time. METHODS: This is a prospective study. The CH-EUS MASTER system is composed of Model 1 (real-time capture and segmentation) and Model 2 (benign and malignant identification). It was developed using deep convolutional neural networks and Random Forest algorithm. Patients with pancreatic masses undergoing CH-EUS examinations followed by EUS-FNA were recruited. All patients underwent CH-EUS and were diagnosed both by endoscopists and CH-EUS MASTER. After diagnosis, they were randomly assigned to undergo EUS-FNA with or without CH-EUS MASTER guidance. RESULTS: Compared with manual labeling by experts, the average overlap rate of Model 1 was 0.708. In the independent CH-EUS video testing set, Model 2 generated an accuracy of 88.9% in identifying malignant tumors. In clinical trial, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for diagnosing pancreatic masses by CH-EUS MASTER were significantly better than that of endoscopists. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were respectively 93.8%, 90.9%, 100%, 100%, and 83.3% by CH-EUS MASTER guided EUS-FNA, and were not significantly different compared to the control group. CH-EUS MASTER-guided EUS-FNA significantly improved the first-pass diagnostic yield. CONCLUSION: CH-EUS MASTER is a promising artificial intelligence system diagnosing malignant and benign pancreatic masses and may guide FNA in real time. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04607720.

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of metal ions in food and water by using a multicolor sensor array and chemometrics.

Rapid and accurate detection of toxic metal ions is the key to combating food contamination and environmental pollution. In sensor arrays, gold nanoparticles play a crucial role in monitoring metal ions based on surface plasmon resonance. However, identifying metal ions with unknown concentrations in a complex system through this assay is difficult because of its monotonous color change and weak anti-interference ability. To overcome these limitations, a sensitive, flexible, low-cost, and multicolor sensor array was designed herein. The applicability of the sensor array for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of metal ions in food and water was also verified. The developed sensor array could classify 14 metal ions (Cu2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Cr3+, Co2+, Ba2+, K+, Tl+, Pb2+, and Hg2+) of unknown concentration with an accuracy of 100%. In addition, partial least squares models were established to quantify Tl+, Pb2+, and Hg2+ in water and rice samples, with square correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.9991, 0.9742, and 0.9731, respectively. This method can be used for accurate quantitative and qualitative analyses of heavy metal ions in water and food.

An in vitro nerve agent brain poisoning transwell model for convenient and accurate antidote evaluation.

Nerve agent (NA) can inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) causing seriously injury at extremely low doses. However, the cruel reality is that the lack of effective cerebral antidotes for treatment of NA poisoning. There is an urgent requirement for the large-scale evaluation and screening of antidotes. An effective NA antidote should include two characteristics: a) to permeate the blood-brain barrier (BBB); 2) to reactivate the inhibited AChE in brain. Existing methods for evaluating reactivators in vitro can only examine the reactivation effect, while the current Transwell model can only evaluate the drug penetration performance for crossing the barrier. In this work, brain microvascular endothelial cells (RBMECs) were inoculated to establish a Transwell model. AChE, NAs and antidotes of reactivators were added into the different chambers to simulate central poisoning and peripheral drug administration. This method can evaluate the reactivation ability and brain penetration ability of compounds at same time, which is a rapidly and accurately way for drug preliminary screening. In addition to small-molecule drugs, a liposomal nanoantidote loaded with the reactivator Asoxime chloride (HI-6)was prepared. This nanoantidote show high reactivation rate against the NA (sarin), evaluated by both this modified model in vitro and animal test, gaining the consistence results.