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Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is perceived as a candidate of synthetic articular cartilage, whose real-world applications have been hindered by poor mechanical and biotribological properties. One-step gelation method was used herein for the synthesis of a biomimetic PVA-BA/PEG hydrogel with porous bilayer structure. Importantly, two layers were integrated closely and both showed porous network. The upper layer of this hydrogel could show high compressive tangent modulus to resist deformation during friction; in the meantime, its bottom layer was able to prevent the leakage of interstitial water and increase the consumption of load. Due to porous high-water-content hydrogel bulk inside bottom layer, this cast-dry PVA-BA/PEG hydrogel could show close to 70% of water-retention capacity. On the other hand, the complexation of BA and PVA greatly strengthened the stability of the polymer network for the PVA-BA/PEG hydrogel. Therefore, the PVA-BA/PEG hydrogel could achieve an excellent combination of high mechanical properties and low friction coefficient. When the addition of BA was 1.4 wt %, the tensile strength of the PVA-BA/PEG hydrogel reached 4.41 MPa at an elongation of 573% and its compressive tangent modulus was 4.6 MPa at a strain of 60%. The COF of the hydrogel under water lubrication or calf serum was very low even at a high load, which is of high application potential for the articular cartilage repair.

This study aims to develop a high-precision and efficient body-fitted mesh framework for fluid topology optimization, focusing on minimizing flow resistance in incompressible steady Newtonian fluid systems. Different from traditional fixed-mesh methods that suffer from blurred fluid–solid interfaces and numerical dispersion, the proposed work integrates adjoint-based sensitivity analysis, level-set interface evolution, and adaptive body-fitted mesh updating to realize an accurate boundary description and a balanced precision–efficiency performance. The key technologies of body-fitted meshes (initialization, adaptive updating, quality control, and numerical discretization) are elaborated on to form a complete optimization framework. Numerical verification using two classic benchmark problems shows that, compared to traditional non-body-fitted meshes, the proposed method accurately captures the fluid–solid interface, reduces the number of mesh elements by 40–60%, improves computational efficiency by over 30%, and balances numerical precision with cost. These results demonstrate that body-fitted meshing is a promising strategy for high-fidelity and efficient fluid topology optimization.

On the purpose of improving the surface wettability and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy for artificial joints, we designed a novel ‘soft (hydrogel layer)–hard (porous Ti6Al4V alloy substrate)’ structure, which was fabricated by laser texturing, surface dopamine modification and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel casting. Characterization results revealed that the PVA hydrogel layer could be attached to Ti6Al4V alloy successfully, and the LTi–DA–PVA specimen obtained a hydrophilic surface with a static water contact of 32°. It is worth noting that compared to the pristine Ti6Al4V alloy, the friction coefficient of the LTi–DA–PVA specimen could be as low as 0.01, which is similar to that of natural cartilage. This result was attributed to the synergistic effect of the high load-bearing capacity of the lower Ti6Al4V substrate and the good biphasic lubrication of the upper PVA hydrogel layer. In addition, the introduction of dopamine could significantly improve the interfacial bonding performance between the substrate and the hydrogel layer. This work provides an effective method for improving the surface wettability and tribological properties of Ti6Al4V as artificial joints.

Background and Objectives: In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards and changes in dietary patterns, dietary knowledge and food preference have been playing an increasingly crucial role in health. The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between dietary knowledge, food preference, and long-short term health status among Chinese adults aged 18-70. Methods and Study Design: This study employed cross- sectional data from the 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey obtained from 4822 adults. We utilized self- assessed health status as an indicator of long-term health status and utilized sickness in the last four weeks as a measure of short-term health status. Taking advantage of ordered probit regression, long-term health status was regressed on all predictors, while the binary logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing short- term health status. The propensity score matching is employed to account for potential selection bias in analysis, thereby increasing the robustness and credibility of results. Results: The analysis revealed that dietary knowledge and food preference can improve an individual's long-term health status significantly. However, there is no evidence to show that short-term health status is affected by food preference. Furthermore, dietary knowledge is negatively associated with short-term health status. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of dietary education and healthy eating habits in improving the long-term health status of Chinese adults. The study suggests implications for public health strategies aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of Chinese adults.

The cyclic GMP–AMP synthase–stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS–STING) pathway is essential for regulating immune responses in tumours. The molecular processes regulating its activation in pancreatic cancer remain elusive. We demonstrate that ribosomal protein L6 (RPL6) directly interacts with cGAS, hence initiating cGAS–STING signalling in malignant pancreatic cells. Data mining from open-access sources demonstrated a strong positive connection between RPL6 abundance and immune cell infiltration. The forced expression of RPL6 greatly boosted the production of interferon-β in pancreatic cancer cells. In addition, diaphanous-related formin 3 (DIAPH3) reduced RPL6 protein levels by disrupting its interaction with the deubiquitinase OTUD4. Our results demonstrate that RPL6-mediated stimulation of cGAS–STING signalling profoundly influences immune control in pancreatic cancer, highlighting this pathway as a potential therapeutic target.

Hybrid rice breeding for exploiting hybrid vigor, heterosis, has greatly increased grain yield. However, the heterosis-related genes associated with rice grain production remain largely unknown, partly because comprehensive mapping of heterosis-related traits is still labor-intensive and time-consuming. Here, we present a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping method, GradedPool-Seq, for rapidly mapping QTLs by whole-genome sequencing of graded-pool samples from F 2 progeny via bulked-segregant analysis. We implement this method and map-based cloning to dissect the heterotic QTL GW3p6 from the female line. We then generate the near isogenic line NIL-FH676:: GW3p6 by introgressing the GW3p6 allele from the female line Guangzhan63-4S into the male inbred line Fuhui676. The NIL-FH676:: GW3p6 exhibits grain yield highly increased compared to Fuhui676. This study demonstrates that it may be possible to achieve a high level of grain production in inbred rice lines without the need to construct hybrids. Developing hybrid rice cultivars requires time consuming random crossing. Here, the authors develop a new next generation sequencing-based quantitative trait locus mapping method to dissect heterotic gene OsMADS1 and demonstrate the feasibility of pyramiding two genes to achieve large heterotic effect.

Lubricin in synovial fluid is the primary boundary lubricant for articular cartilage. Its excellent boundary lubricating capability comes from its unique bottlebrush structure. In this study, a biomimetic polymer containing 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) was synthesized. This polymer is structurally similar to lubricin and achieves a water-trapping capacity similar to that of lubricin through the design of the pMPC moiety. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging indicates that changes in the molecular chain length and concentration lead to different self-assembled polymer structures. The lateral force between the AFM probe and silicon surface covered by the polymer demonstrates that the self-assembled structure of polymer molecules on the surface affects its boundary lubrication ability. When polymers are adsorbed onto the surface of articular cartilage to replace natural lubricin, the system exhibits extremely low friction ( 0.028) under boundary film–liquid mixed lubrication conditions, which is close to the coefficient of friction (COF, 0.024) of natural lubricin under the same conditions. The study of this biomimetic polymer provides a strategy for lubricating damaged cartilage during the initial stages of osteoarthritis development.

PurposeSome atypical vertebral hemangiomas (VHs) may mimic metastases on routine MRI and can result in misdiagnosis and ultimately to additional imaging, biopsy and unnecessary costs. The purpose of this study is to assess the utility of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) on account of field-of-view optimized and constrained undistorted single shot (FOCUS) in distinguishing atypical VHs and vertebral metastases.MethodsA total of 25 patients with vertebral metastases and 25 patients with atypical VHs were confirmed by clinical follow-up or pathology. IVIM-DWI imaging was performed at different b values (0, 30, 50, 100, 150, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 mm2/s). IVIM parameters [the true diffusion coefficient (D), pseudodiffusion coefficient (D*), standard apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and perfusion fraction (f)] were calculated and compared between two groups by using Student’s t test. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed.ResultsQuantitative analysis of standard ADC and D parameters showed significantly lower values in vertebral metastases when compared to atypical hemangiomas [ADC value: (0.70 ± 0.12) × 10–3 mm2/s vs (1.14 ± 0.28) × 10–3 mm2/s; D value: (0.47 ± 0.07) × 10–3 mm2/s vs (0.76 ± 0.14) × 10–3 mm2/s, all P < 0.01]. The sensitivity and specificity of D value were 93.8% and 92.3%, respectively.ConclusionThe standard ADC value and D value may be used as an indicator to distinguish vertebral metastases from atypical VHs. FOCUS IVIM-derived parameters provide potential value in the quantitatively differentiating vertebral metastases from vertebral atypical hemangiomas.

Clinically, it is very difficult to distinguish between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) in the period of depression. Increasing evidence shows that the insula plays an important role in depression. We aimed to compare the resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of insular subregions in patients with MDD and BD in depressive episodes (BDD), who had never experienced manic or hypomanic episodes when they were scanned to identify biomarkers for the identification of two diseases. We recruited 21 BDD patients, 40 MDD patients and 70 healthy controls (HC). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was performed. BDD patients had never had manic or hypomanic episodes when they were scanned, and the diagnoses were determined by follow-up. We divided the insula into three parts including the ventral anterior insular cortex (v-AIN), dorsal anterior insular cortex (d-AIN), and posterior insula (PI). The insular-based rsFC was compared among the three groups, and an analysis of the correlation between the rsFC value and Hamilton depression and anxiety scales was carried out. BDD and MDD patients demonstrated decreased rsFC from the v-AIN to the left superior/middle frontal gyrus compared with the HC group. Versus MDD and HC groups, BDD patients exhibited decreased rsFC from the v-AIN to the area in the left orbital frontal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus (included temporal pole), from the PI to the right lateral postcentral gyrus and from all three insular subregions to the somatosensory and motor cortex. Meanwhile, a correlation between the rsFC value of the PI-right lateral postcentral gyrus and anxiety score was observed in patients. Our findings show BDD and MDD patients have similar decreases in insular connectivity in the dorsal lateral frontal regions, and BDD patients have specific decreased insular connectivity, especially in the somatosensory and motor cortex, which may be used as imaging evidence for clinical identification.

Background The triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) are emerging metabolic biomarkers associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, their combination prognostic value in patients with critical chronic heart failure (CHF) remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the combined predictive effect of these two biomarkers and clarify their interactive patterns in this association. Methods 1,238 patients were recruited via the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database, with a median age of 71 years. Multivariable Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were employed to explore associations between TyG, AIP, and mortality. Mediation analysis was applied to assess their bidirectional mediation effects. Additionally, we developed a machine learning-driven prediction model, which was further utilized to evaluate the two indicators’ incremental predictive value. Results 1,238 patients were included, with 478 (38.61%) dying during follow-up. Fully adjusted Cox regression models revealed that the high TyG and high AIP group was associated with the highest risk of mortality relative to the low TyG and low AIP group (14-day HR 2.18, 95% Cl: 1.44–3.31; 365-day HR 1.92, 95% Cl: 1.38–2.68). ROC analyses demonstrated that the combined TyG-AIP outperformed either marker alone in predicting mortality at all follow-up observation time points (all P  < 0.05). Mediation analysis revealed that TyG mediated the effect of AIP on mortality across all time frames, with a more pronounced effect at 365 days (65.47%) than at 14 days (37.32%). In contrast, AIP served as a mediator in the association between TyG and short-term mortality only (14-day: 30.39%; 30-day: 25.76%). The random forest model confirmed that the incorporation of both the TyG index and AIP remarkably improved predictive capability, corroborating their combined incremental value. Conclusion Combined elevation of TyG and AIP was independently related to an elevated risk of mortality in patients with critical CHF. Combined assessment of these biomarkers may facilitate the early recognition of high-risk subjects and support stage-specific metabolic interventions. Graphical abstract