Browse Articles

Effect of mechanical circulatory support on outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock secondary to acute myocardial infarction

Sex dictates IL-17A regulation: Inflammatory determinants in males versus a potassium-linked metabolic axis in females

Background Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a key Th17 cytokine involved in mucosal defense and chronic inflammation and serves as an important biomarker and therapeutic target in autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Emerging evidence indicates that immune regulation may differ by sex, which may influence disease susceptibility, biomarker interpretation, and treatment response. However, few studies have examined sex-specific determinants of IL-17A. This study aimed to identify the sociodemographic, clinical, and inflammatory correlates of circulating IL-17A, with a specific focus on elucidating sex-specific determinants. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in a cohort of adults attending routine clinic from Livingstone University Teaching Hospital in Zambia. Plasma levels of IL-17A and a panel of inflammatory cytokines were measured. Sociodemographic, metabolic and clinical data, including HIV status and ART regimen, were collected. Sex-stratified multiple linear regression models were used to identify independent correlates of IL-17A levels with statistical significance p < 0.05. Results A total of 225 participants were recruited, comprising 71 males and 154 females, with median ages 50 (41, 59) vs. 48 (40, 58) years, respectively. Distinct sex-specific factors associated with IL-17A were identified. In males, IL-17A levels were significantly associated with a recognized inflammatory cytokine network, including positive correlations with IL-6 (Beta: 43.96, 95% CI: 30.58–57.34, p < 0.001) and IL-1β (Beta: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.02–0.03, p < 0.001), and a negative association with IFN-γ (Beta: −1.21, 95% CI: −1.65 – −0.77, p < 0.001). However, living with HIV was not a predictor of IL-17A (Beta: −1248.07, 95% CI: −2752.35–256.21, p = 0.101). Among females, none of the cytokines or HIV status predicted IL-17A; instead, plasma potassium (Beta: 9.81, 95% CI: 5.31–14.30, p < 0.001) was the only significant determinant of IL-17A. Conclusion The determinants of IL-17A are fundamentally different between males and females. These findings underscore the importance of considering biological sex as a key variable in immunology research. They suggest that IL-17A may require sex-specific interpretation as a biomarker of inflammation, particularly in HIV-associated and cardiometabolic conditions, and highlight the potential for sex-tailored therapeutic strategies targeting IL-17A-related pathways. Further studies are needed to validate these findings and explore their mechanistic and clinical implications.

Failure mechanism and control technology for the surrounding rock of retreat roadways beneath remnant coal pillars in close-distance coal seams

Can knowledge reclassification accelerate technological innovation?

Technological knowledge evolves not only through the generation of new ideas, but also through the reinterpretation of existing ones. Reinterpretations lead to changes in the classification of knowledge, that is, reclassification. This study investigates the relationship between reclassification and the rate of technological change both empirically and analytically. Drawing on patent data as a proxy for technological knowledge, I discuss two empirical patterns: (i) more recent patents are more likely to get reclassified and (ii) larger technological classes acquire proportionally more reclassified patents. These patterns are then used to formulate an analytical model of knowledge accumulation, which can be solved exactly to describe the relationship between reclassification and growth rates in detail and to make further predictions about related knowledge quantities. These predictions are supported across all major technology domains, implying a strong link between reclassification and the pace of technological advancement. In sum, the model allows for a better understanding of both the magnitude and shape of technological growth patterns. More generally, it connects various seemingly unrelated knowledge quantities, providing a basis for knowledge-intrinsic explanations of growth patterns.

A Robust Metal‐Organic Framework With ‘Molecular Gates’ for Efficient Separation of Ethane From Ethylene

ABSTRACT Ethane‐selective sorbents can enable single‐step purification of ethylene but remain elusive to date. We report a Zn‐based metal‐organic framework ( ZAI‐3N ) decorated with amino‐based ‘molecular gates’ that exhibit highly selective adsorption of C 2 H 6 over C 2 H 4 . Upon activation, ZAI‐3N (zinc‐adenine‐3‐aminoisonicotinic acid) features contractions of both Zn─N bonds and pores (from 2.009 to 1.914 Å and from 4.88 × 3.40 to 3.47 × 2.75 Å 2 , respectively). At 313 K and 1 bar, ZAI‐3N exhibits an exceptional ratio of 10.6 for C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 uptakes and a benchmark selectivity of 11.7, outperforming state‐of‐the‐art porous solids. Synchrotron X‐ray powder diffraction and modelling reveal that the methyl group in C 2 H 6 can trigger amino rotation and facilitate gate opening, while π‐electrons of C 2 H 4 hinder such a process with a notably increased barrier (～5 and 11 kJ mol −1 , respectively). Dynamic breakthrough experiments confirm the efficient separation of C 2 H 6 /C 2 H 4 (v/v = 5/5 and 1/9), affording C 2 H 4 with a high purity of 99.4% in single step with excellent recyclability and an C 2 H 4 productivity of 10.3 mL g −1 . This work demonstrates the judicious choice of ‘molecular gate’ as a promising protocol for challenging industrial gas separations.

Risk-managed safety screening via stability-constrained reachability tubes for vehicle handling

Assessing spider fear: Validity of a novel computerized behavioral avoidance test

Spider phobia is one of the most common specific phobias and can be highly detrimental to one’s quality of life. To evaluate the efficacy of treatments, reliable pre- and post-treatment assessments are needed. Behavioral avoidance tests (BATs), where one is asked to approach a spider, are commonly used as such measures. With the increasing popularity of computerized interventions, there is a demand for quick assessments for fear of spiders, that can be completed using computers or smartphones. Here, we tested the validity of a novel computerized BAT (cBAT) that we introduced in our previous work. In this cBAT, participants unblurred three images of spiders up to a point where they still felt comfortable viewing them. We expected that the cBAT would be moderately to strongly correlated with established measures for fear of spiders. Our analysis revealed that the cBAT showed moderate convergent and concurrent validity through correlations with self-report questionnaires indicating spider fear, and with a real-life BAT, respectively. However, the latter was no longer observed in a follow-up. While the cBAT facilitates ease of application and has a quick, straightforward participant task, we conclude that the cBAT is a limited measure for fear of spiders and might not fully capture the complexity of spider-related avoidance behavior compared to tasks that simulate real-life scenarios more closely. We propose the development of a refined cBAT that maintains an easily applicable participant task.

Bletilla striata polysaccharides promote the proliferation and migration of human gingival fibroblasts on titanium surfaces via the PI3K/AKT pathway: a preliminary in vitro study

Facilitating the measurement and treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) and understanding caregiver burden using wearable devices in Rural Taiwan—Protocol for a dyadic feasibility pilot study

Introduction Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevalence rises with societal ageing. In clinical care, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)—including depression, agitation/aggression, apathy, and sleep disturbance—worsen patients’ quality of life and substantially increase caregiver burden, more significantly than the cognitive symptoms. Standard BPSD assessments rely on caregiver-rated questionnaires that are cross-sectional and may be biased when caregivers are themselves older adults. Device-based measures (e.g., research-grade wrist actigraphy) can provide objective longitudinal data and novel features. In parallel, therapeutic wearables may improve sleep and mood in adults, and might improve BPSD if accepted by people living with dementia. Methods This dyadic pilot study will recruit 20 participants (n = 10 AD patients; n = 10 caregivers) from outpatient services and affiliated day-care/dementia hubs in rural Taiwan. Participants will wear Geneactiv continuously for 8 weeks and Re-Timer ≥30 min/day for 4 weeks. Device-based data will be processed with GGIR, a well validated R-package designed for processing accelerometer data. Questionnaire assessments include Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Neuropsychiatry Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q), Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), and a semi-structured interview based on the Taiwanese version of Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (T-QUEST) at prespecified timepoints. Discussion Wearable devices may facilitate the measurement and treatment of specific BPSD, as well as reduce caregiver burden. If proven feasible even in rural Taiwan where both digital and health literacy and resources are limited, this model will inform how device-based dementia care model can be considered and applied in the context of global ageing.

Electrochemically Driven Enzymatic Oxidative Desymmetrization for the Enantioselective Construction of Silicon Stereocenter

ABSTRACT Chiral silicon‐stereogenic organosilanes are finding increasingly widespread applications in pharmaceutical science and biomedical materials. However, the enzymatic construction of silicon chiral centers remains underdeveloped. Here, we report the integration of thiamine diphosphate (ThDP)‐dependent radical biocatalysis and mediated electrochemical oxidation to unlock non‐natural enzymatic oxidative desymmetrization, enabling the highly enantioselective synthesis of silicon stereocenters. Using symmetric silane dialdehydes as substrates, variants of benzaldehyde lyase from Pseudomonas fluorescens ( Pf BAL) together with ferrocene methanol (FcMeOH) as a redox mediator facilitate selective oxidation. This method features a broad substrate scope, producing a range of enantioenriched silicon‐containing carboxylic acids with excellent enantioselectivity (22 examples, up to >99.5% ee). Mechanistic investigations confirm substrate binding, explain the origin of enantioselectivity, and validate the mediated electron transfer pathway. This study expands the enzyme reactivity repertoire by merging electrochemical synthesis with biocatalysis, establishing an effective biocatalytic strategy for constructing silicon chirality.

Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of a context-specific patient-reported Schizophrenia Disease Burden Scale incorporating socioeconomic and cultural contexts

Relationship of glycemic variability with delirium and mortality among critically ill elderly patients with sepsis: A retrospective matched cohort study

Objective The associations of glycemic variability (GV) with the occurrence of delirium and 90-day and 180-day mortality in critically ill patients with sepsis remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of glycemic variability with the development of delirium and death. Method This study employed a retrospective analysis of elderly sepsis patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for the first time. Patients were categorized into two groups based on their GV: a high-risk group (< 21.399%) and a low-risk group (≥21.39%). The relationship between GV and delirium was assessed via logistic regression and restricted cubic splines. Cox regression was employed to analyze the relationship between GV and patients’ 90-day and 180-day mortality. Results This study included 12228 elderly patients who were diagnosed with sepsis. The high-risk group presented a significantly elevated risk of delirium (27.9% vs 22.1%) and higher 90-day (40.0% vs 30.1%) and 180-day (46.0% vs 35.7%) mortality rates (all p < 0.001). The increase in GV was approximately nonlinear with increasing risk of delirium. In addition, high GV was associated with the greatest risk among delirium (OR = 1.122, 95% CI 1.023–1.230), 90-day mortality (HR = 1.149, 95% CI 1.07–1.227) and 180-day mortality (HR = 1.153, 95% CI 1.085–1.224) in elderly sepsis patients. Conclusion GV is independently associated increased risk of delirium and 90-day and 180-day mortality in elderly sepsis patients, indicating that GV can serve as a biomarker for identifying at higher risk of delirium and mortality in sepsis patients.

L-histidine in nontronite: stability under Martian-like UV irradiation to assist life detection on Mars

Threshold-adaptive pruning with multi-key homomorphic encryption for communication-efficient secure federated learning

Under the federated learning framework, frequent parameter interactions between edge devices and servers result in communication inefficiency, while conventional encryption methods fail to resist multi-node collusion attacks. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an optimized federated learning scheme integrating adaptive channel pruning with multi-key homomorphic encryption. First, we construct a dynamic threshold determination mechanism that automatically calibrates channel pruning rates through precision feedback during the pre-pruning phase, achieving the optimal balance between model compression and accuracy, while significantly reducing communication bandwidth consumption compared to traditional algorithms. Second, based on the Brakerski-Gentry-Vaikuntanathan (BGV) multi-key fully homomorphic encryption architecture, we design a distributed public-key encryption protocol that enables aggregation servers to securely fuse multi-source model parameters without decryption, resisting collusion attacks from up to C  − 1 nodes (where C denotes the total number of devices). Experiments on MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets demonstrate that our scheme significantly reduces communication overhead through two complementary mechanisms: adaptive pruning reduces both the computational burden of local training and the volume of parameters transmitted per round, while multi-key BGV encryption ensures privacy-preserving aggregation without decryption. This work provides a novel technical pathway for privacy-preserving federated learning in resource-constrained scenarios.

Asymmetric Synthesis of NOSPIN Derivatives

ABSTRACT The spirobiindane scaffold represents one of the most important privileged structures for developing chiral catalysts and ligands. However, 7‐amino‐7′‐hydroxyl‐1,1′‐spirobiindane (NOSPIN)—a key spirobiindane precursor for diverse chiral catalysts and ligands—lacks efficient synthetic methods, and its asymmetric synthesis remains an unmet challenge. In this work, we develop a concise and efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of 3,3′‐Diaryl‐NOSPINs. The success of this strategy relies on two key steps: a highly enantioselective and diastereoselective rhodium‐catalyzed double conjugate arylation, and a diastereoselective and chemoselective Friedel–Crafts‐type reaction of free aniline. Furthermore, we demonstrated the utility of the newly synthesized scaffold in divergent catalyst/ligand synthesis and showcased the superior performance of the corresponding ligand in asymmetric catalysis. This work represents the first asymmetric synthesis of NOSPINs and provides a practical approach to this privileged structure, paving the way for its broader application.

Mineralogical and geochemical properties of mudstones in the Maden Complex around Elazig and Bingöl (Turkey)

The impact of COVID-19 on longevity trends and disparities among Native Americans and Whites in the Four Corners States

Prior research has shown suboptimal health and longevity among Native Americans in the Four Corners region of the United States, which encompasses Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Our study (1) investigates how life expectancy trends and disparities changed among non-Hispanic Native Americans and Whites in the Four Corners States (FCS) during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) examines the extent to which longevity changes are directly attributable to COVID-19, relative to other causes of death. Data sources include mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Life expectancy at birth for four race-sex groups in the FCS (Native American and White females and males) was calculated using abridged life table procedures, both pre-pandemic (2018−19) and peak pandemic (2020−22). Gaps in life expectancy between groups (and changes within groups) were decomposed into multiple causes of death to determine which causes contributed most to life expectancy gaps and changes across time periods. Life expectancy declined in the FCS over the study period; whereas Native American male and female longevity decreased by 7.33 years and 6.76 years, respectively, White male and female longevity decreased by 2.11 years and 1.72 years, respectively. Results indicate that the peak pandemic life expectancy gap between Native Americans and Whites widened by over 5 years, regardless of sex. Although COVID-19 was the single largest contributor to longevity changes within and between groups, causes of death related to drug and alcohol use also made notable contributions, especially among Native Americans. Restoring longevity to pre-pandemic levels in the FCS will require improved management of COVID-19 as well as heightened attention to the deleterious role of substance use in indigenous communities.

Ru Nanowires for Effective Low‐Temperature CO ₂ Methanation in the Aqueous Phase

ABSTRACT The Sabatier reaction is a cornerstone for carbon‐neutral fuel synthesis, yet conventional catalytic systems face persistent challenges: hot‐spot‐driven deactivation due to high operating temperatures (over 473 K), parasitic CO byproducts generated from competing reverse water‐gas shift (RWGS) reactions, and limited catalyst durability under intense exothermic conditions. Here, we present an aqueous‐phase methanation system enabled by grain boundary‐rich ruthenium nanowires (Ru NWs) that overcome these limitations. Three‐dimensional free‐rotating Ru NWs, stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone, achieve 99% CH 4 selectivity at just 353 K while fully suppressing undesired RWGS activity. First‐principles simulations reveal that aqueous solvation elevates the energy barriers for *CO desorption and dissociation relative to *HCOO hydrogenation, thereby shifting the reaction pathway decisively toward methanation. This work establishes a new strategy for robust, low‐temperature Sabatier catalysis in water, offering a scalable route for power‐to‐gas applications under mild and sustainable conditions.

Oleuropein attenuates cardiac fibrosis via modulation of TGF-β1/Smad pathway in diabetic cardiomyopathy rat model

Abstract Cardiac fibrosis is a key pathological feature of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), contributing to progressive cardiac dysfunction. Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1), via Smad2/3 signaling pathway, promotes fibrotic gene expression. Oleuropein (OL), a major phenolic constituent of olive products, exhibits significant antioxidant properties and contributes to cardiovascular protection. This study aimed to investigate the anti-fibrotic effects of OL in a rat model of DCM and its modulation of the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway, using Losartan as a positive control. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups: control, DCM, DCM + OL (40 mg/kg), and DCM + Losartan (10 mg/kg). DCM was induced via high-fat diet (HFD) and a single low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injection (40 mg/kg). Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. Histological evaluation included hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) and Masson trichrome staining. Cardiac biomarkers, oxidative stress markers, and fibrosis-related markers were analyzed using RT-qPCR, immunohistochemistry, and western blotting. DCM rats exhibited cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis. OL treatment significantly improved cardiac function, reduced collagen and fibronectin (FN) deposition, and downregulated TGF-β1, Smad2/3, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen types I/III, matrix metalloproteinases-2/9 (MMPs), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1), while enhancing Smad7 expression. Besides, OL demonstrated notable antioxidant and antidiabetic effects. In conclusion, OL alleviates cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction in DCM, potentially through modulation of the TGF-β1/Smad signaling, highlighting its therapeutic promise in diabetic cardiac complications.

A novel Z-number based multi-stage assessment framework for problem-based learning in practical courses

Confronting the growing disparity between standardized evaluation systems and personalized competency development in practical education, this study proposes a novel data-driven framework integrating Multi-Criteria Group Decision Making (MCGDM) to enhance curriculum assessment within Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environments. Specifically, the framework incorporates Z-number theory to effectively capture the uncertainty and reliability inherent in expert evaluations, addressing the challenges posed by subjective and imprecise human judgments. The well-established Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC) method is extended through the integration of Z-number modeling to enhance robustness in ranking and decision-making processes. A multi-stage assessment process is designed, encompassing a Pass check phase, a Score determination phase, and a Grading phase, aligned with the pedagogical principles of PBL. Furthermore, a hybrid Entropy-Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) weighting scheme under Z-number representation is introduced to objectively determine the importance of evaluation criteria, considering both information dispersion and inter-criteria correlation. The proposed method is applied to a real-life case study involving 24 students, evaluated by multiple stakeholder groups, including peer teams, instructors, and industry experts. Sensitivity and comparative analyses suggest that the proposed framework provides a robust and reliability-aware assessment procedure within the studied course context. The findings indicate its potential to support a more transparent and structured evaluation process, although broader generalizability requires further validation across cohorts, courses, and institutions.