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This work presents a system developed to determine changes in the impedance of an eddy current probe placed above a conductive disc containing two layers of different diameters. In the first step, an analytical model was derived with an employment of the truncated region eigenfunction expansion (TREE) method. The final formula for the probe impedance change was presented in a closed form, which makes it possible to implement it in any programming language or computer algebra system. The mathematical model was implemented in MATLAB and used to design probes and to determine the optimal test parameters. In the next step, two eddy current probes with a single coil with different geometric dimensions were constructed. Impedance measurements were carried out using an LCR meter for three sets of double-layer discs. The tested discs were made of materials with different electrical conductivities. The upper and lower layers of the disc also differed in terms of the geometric dimensions, i.e., the diameter and thickness. The tests were performed for the operating frequency of the probe ranging from 1 kHz to 10 kHz. In all cases, a very good agreement was obtained between the measurement and the calculation results. Both the error in the changes in resistance and the error in the changes in reactance did not exceed 3.5%.

Optoelectronic neuromodulation has transformed neuroscience research and holds great promise for treating neurological disorders. However, conventional optoelectronic methods rely on ultraviolet/visible light, which poorly penetrates tissue and typically necessitates surgically implanted optical fibers for deep‐brain stimulation. Here, a heterostructure is presented that integrates near‐infrared (NIR)‐excitable upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and broadband‐absorbing CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs). This nanostructure converts deeply penetrating 980 nm NIR light into localized electrical stimuli, enabling immediate and precise modulation of neuronal activity without implants. In vitro, NIR illumination of this heterostructure reliably increases the firing rate of wild‐type dopaminergic (DA) neurons in acute brain slices. Importantly, in vivo, transcranial NIR stimulation of the heterostructure in the secondary motor cortex (M2) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) modulates neuronal activity, triggers turning behavior, and promotes dopamine release. Moreover, it exhibits negligible neuroinflammation and structural stability in brain tissue over at least four weeks. By integrating a stable heterostructure for efficient NIR‐driven photocurrent generation, the method offers a non‐genetic, minimally invasive platform for precise neuromodulation in wild‐type animals. The Single‐Nanostructured Optoelectronic Vehicle for neuromodulation Activation (SNOVA) establishes a paradigm for non‐genetic, implant‐free neuromodulation. By integrating NIR‐excitable UCNPs with broadband‐absorbing perovskite QDs, SNOVA efficiently converts deeply penetrating light into localized electric fields that modulate neuronal ion dynamics, trigger behavioral responses, and enable precise, minimally invasive deep‐brain modulation.

Cracks that occur in concrete surfaces are numerous and diverse, and different cracks will affect road safety in different degrees. Accurately identifying pavement cracks is crucial for assessing road conditions and formulating maintenance strategies. This study improves the original U-shaped convolutional network (U-Net) model through the introduction of two innovations, thereby modifying its structure, reducing the number of parameters, enhancing its ability to distinguish between background and cracks, and improving its speed and accuracy in crack detection tasks. Additionally, datasets with different exposure levels and noise conditions are used to train the network, broadening its predictive ability. A custom dataset of 960 road crack images was added to the public dataset to train and evaluate the model. The test results demonstrate that the proposed U-Net-FML model achieves high accuracy and detection speed in complex environments, with MIoU, F 1 score, precision, and recall values of 76.4%, 74.2%, 84.2%, and 66.4%, respectively, significantly surpassing those of the other models. Among the seven comparison models, U-Net-FML has the strongest overall performance, highlighting its engineering value for precise detection and efficient analysis of cracks.

Treatments of osteolytic lesions due to malignant metastasis remain one of the major clinical challenges. The residual tumor cells after surgical resections and an acidic tumor microenvironment are unfavorable for osteogenic induction. Bortezomib (BTZ), a proteasome inhibitor used in chemotherapy, also has an osteogenic potential in concentration- and Ca 2+ -dependent manners. In this study, controlled delivery of BTZ in a novel bifunctional scaffold based on nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) and sodium alginate (SA) nanocomposite, namely BTZ/nHA@SA, has been explored. By smartly adjusting microenvironments, a sustainable release of Ca 2+ from nHA could be achieved, which was not only able to cross-link SA but also to regulate the switch between the dual functions of tumor inhibition and bone regeneration of BTZ to promote the osteogenic pathway. The freeze-dried BTZ/nHA@SA scaffold has excellent interconnectivity, is capable to promote the attachment and proliferation of mouse embryonic osteoblast precursor cells, as well as effectively induces breast cancer cell death in vitro. Furthermore, in vivo, studies using a mouse tumor model and a rabbit femoral defect model showed that the BTZ/nHA@SA scaffold could promote tumor ablation, and also enhance bone repair. Therefore, the BTZ/nHA@SA scaffold has unique dual functions of inhibiting tumor recurrence and promoting bone tissue regeneration simultaneously. This smart bi-functional scaffold offers a promising novel approach for oncological treatments by synchronously orchestrating tumor inhibition and tissue regeneration for the repair of neoplastic bone defects.

Nanocatalysts mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) based therapy has been exploited as an alternative therapeutic modality of tumor with high specificity and minimal side effects. However, the treatment outcome is limited by the efficiency of local catalytic reaction. Herein, we report a novel type of core-shell hybrid nanoparticles (CaCO 3 @MS), consisting of CaCO 3 and MnSiO x , for synergistic tumor inhibition combining enhanced catalytic effect and calcium overload. In this system, MnSiO x serves as catalysts with glutathione (GSH) responsive Mn 2+ ions release functionality. CaCO 3 nanoparticles play three important roles, including carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) donor, pH modulator, and Ca 2+ overload agent. It is found that the CaCO 3 nanoparticles can induce CO 2 production and pH increase in acidic tumor environment, both of which promote Mn 2+ mediated ROS generation. And simultaneous release of Ca 2+ ions from CaCO 3 triggers calcium overload in tumor, which functions collaboratively with excessive ROS to induce cancer cell apoptosis. The results demonstrate that after treatment with CaCO 3 @MS, a remarkable tumor inhibition was achieved both in vitro and in vivo , while no clear toxic effect was observed. This study has therefore provided a feasible effective approach to improve catalytic therapeutic efficacy by an “exogenous CO 2 delivery” strategy for combinational tumor therapy.

Background Together with rapid urbanization, ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) exposure has become a growing health threat. However, little is known about the urban–rural disparities in the health implications of short-term NO 2 exposure. This study aimed to compare the association between short-term NO 2 exposure and hospitalization for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among urban and rural residents in Shandong Province, China. Then, this study further explored the urban–rural disparities in the economic burden attributed to NO 2 and the explanation for the disparities. Methods Daily hospitalization data were obtained from an electronic medical records dataset covering a population of 5 million. In total, 303,217 hospital admissions for CVD were analyzed. A three-stage time-series analytic approach was used to estimate the county-level association and the attributed economic burden. Results For every 10-μg/m 3 increase in NO 2 concentrations, this study observed a significant percentage increase in hospital admissions on the day of exposure of 1.42% (95% CI 0.92 to 1.92%) for CVD. The effect size was slightly higher in urban areas, while the urban–rural difference was not significant. However, a more pronounced displacement phenomenon was found in rural areas, and the economic burden attributed to NO 2 was significantly higher in urban areas. At an annual average NO 2 concentration of 10 μg/m 3 , total hospital days and expenses in urban areas were reduced by 81,801 (44,831 to 118,191) days and 60,121 (33,002 to 86,729) thousand CNY, respectively, almost twice as much as in rural areas. Due to disadvantages in socioeconomic status and medical resources, despite similar air pollution levels in the urban and rural areas of our sample sites, the rural population tended to spend less on hospitalization services. Conclusions Short-term exposure to ambient NO 2 could lead to considerable health impacts in either urban or rural areas of Shandong Province, China. Moreover, urban–rural differences in socioeconomic status and medical resources contributed to the urban–rural disparities in the economic burden attributed to NO 2 exposure. The health implications of NO 2 exposure are a social problem in addition to an environmental problem. Thus, this study suggests a coordinated intervention system that targets environmental and social inequality factors simultaneously.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy with the hallmark of immunodeficiency, including dysfunction of T cells, NK cells, and APCs. Dysfunctional APCs have been reported to play a key role in promoting MM progression. However, the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, single‐cell transcriptome analysis of dendritic cells (DC) and monocytes from 10 MM patients and three healthy volunteers was performed. Both DCs and monocytes were divided into five distinct clusters, respectively. Among them, monocyte‐derived DCs (mono‐DC) were shown to develop from intermediate monocytes (IM) via trajectory analysis. Functional analysis showed that, compared with healthy controls, conventional DC2 (cDC2), mono‐DC, and IM of MM patients exhibited impaired antigen processing and presentation capacity. Moreover, reduced regulon activity of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) was found in cDC2, mono‐DC and IM of MM patients according to single‐cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC) analysis, while the downstream mechanisms were distinct. Specifically in MM patients, cathepsin S (CTSS) was markedly downregulated in cDC2, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II transactivator (CIITA) was significantly decreased in IM, in addition both CTSS and CIITA were downregulated in mono‐DC based on differentially expressed genes analysis. In vitro study validated that knockdown of Irf1 downregulated Ctss and Ciita respectively in mouse DC cell line DC2.4 and mouse monocyte/macrophage cell line RAW264.7, which ultimately inhibited proliferation of CD4+ T cells after being cocultured with DC2.4 or RAW264.7 cells. This current study unveils the distinct mechanisms of cDC2, IM, and mono‐DC function impairment in MM, offering new insight into the pathogenesis of immunodeficiency. Via single‐cell sequencing, we found the potential role of IRF1 in regulating antigen presentation function in multiple myeloma, through regulating cathepsin S (CTSS) in cDC2, MHC class II transactivator (CIITA) in IM and both CTSS and CIITA in mono‐DC.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), presenting spatial and temporal control of ROS generation triggered by ultrasound field, has attracted considerable attention in tumor treatment. However, its therapeutic efficacy is severely hindered by the intrinsic hypoxia of solid tumor and the lack of smart design in material band structure. Here in study, fine α-Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles armored with Pt nanocrystals (α-Fe 2 O 3 @Pt) was investigated as an alternative SDT agent with ingenious bandgap and structural design. The Schottky barrier, due to its unique heterostructure, suppresses the recombination of sono-induced electrons and holes, enabling superior ROS generation. More importantly, the composite nanoparticles may effectively trigger a reoxygenation phenomenon to supply sufficient content of oxygen, favoring the ROS induction under the hypoxic condition and its extra role played for ultrasound imaging. In consequence, α-Fe 2 O 3 @Pt appears to enable effective tumor inhibition with imaging guidance, both in vitro and in vivo. This study has therefore demonstrated a highly potential platform for ultrasound-driven tumor theranostic, which may spark a series of further explorations in therapeutic systems with more rational material design. Graphical Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to determine the longitudinal profile of serum sST2 (soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2), IL‐33 (interleukin‐33) and NT‐proBNP (N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide) concentrations in twin pregnancies with pre‐eclampsia (PE) and those normotensive twins. The secondary objective was to test whether the change of serum sST2,IL‐33 and NT‐proBNP is related to PE in twin pregnancies. This is a longitudinal nested case–control study and all 156 dichorionic (DC) pregnancies were from a prospective cohort of twin pregnancies who received antenatal care and gave two live births at Peking University Third Hospital between October 2017 and September 2020. Four to five milliliters of peripheral blood of each pregnant woman were collected during the following three intervals: (1) 6–11+6 weeks; (2) 24–27+6 weeks; (3) 28–31+6 weeks. We found that sST2 and NT‐proBNP levels increased as pregnancy progressed in normotensive twin pregnancies and further increased in PE group, while no differences were found in IL‐33 levels throughout pregnancy. Then the correlation of biomarker levels with the occurrence of PE was assessed. Our results indicated that combining maternal serum sST2 and NT‐proBNP levels yielded the highest predictive value on the occurrence of PE significantly higher than the predictive value of any markers alone. Interestingly, the predictive value of second trimester (AUC = 0.876, 95%CI 0.824–0.928, LR−0.338, LR+7.67, p < 0.001)was higher than that of early‐third trimester (AUC = 0.832, 95%CI 0.769–0.896, LR−0.29, LR+3.845, p < 0.001). Serum sST2 and NT‐proBNP concentrations during second and early‐third trimester were associated with the occurrence of PE in twin pregnancies.

Nanoparticles, presenting catalytic activity to induce intracellular oxidative species, have been extensively explored for tumor treatment, but suffer daunting challenges in the limited intracellular H 2 O 2 and thus suppressed therapeutic efficacy. Here in this study, a type of composite nanoparticles, consisting CaO 2 core and Co-ferrocene shell, is designed and synthesized for combinational tumor treatment. The findings indicate that CaO 2 core can be hydrolyzed to produce large amounts of H 2 O 2 and calcium ions at the acidic tumor sites. Meanwhile, Co-ferrocene shell acts as an excellent Fenton catalyst, inducing considerable ROS generation following its reaction with H 2 O 2 . Excessive cellular oxidative stress triggers agitated calcium accumulation in addition to the calcium ions released from the particles. The combined effect of intracellular ROS and calcium overload causes significant tumor inhibition both in vitro and in vivo.