Lu Cao

Accurate monitoring of the blood glucose concentration is critically important for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of diabetes. In this paper， an optical blood glucose sensing method is proposed on the basis of silicon-based waveguide Bragg grating (WBG). This method involves the reaction between glucose oxidase fixed on the cladding of the waveguide and glucose, which causes a local refractive index change, resulting in a shift in the WBG reflection center wavelength, enabling the quantitative detection of blood glucose concentration. Nevertheless, during measurement, optical blood glucose sensors are susceptible to spectral drifts caused by environmental temperature variations, leading to a decrease in sensing accuracy. To address this issue, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) WBG sensor for glucose concentration measurement is proposed and implemented. Two types of WBG blood glucose sensors, namely, bilateral and slit sensors, are designed, incorporating an athermalization design to enhance system stability and environmental robustness. By employing a compensating material with a negative thermo-optic coefficient (TOC) and optimizing various waveguide structural parameters, temperature-induced drift is effectively suppressed, which enables the design of bilateral and slit WBG glucose sensors with both glucose sensing and temperature compensation capabilities. The experimental results show that the bilateral WBG glucose sensor exhibits a refractive index sensitivity of 161 nm/refractive index unit (RIU) and a temperature sensitivity of 7.27 pm/°C within a glucose concentration range of 0–2.6 mg/mL. The slit WBG glucose sensor has a refractive index sensitivity of 242.3 nm/RIU and a temperature sensitivity of 2.37 pm/°C within the 0–2.8 mg/mL glucose concentration range.

Silicon photonic biosensors can be fabricated via standard CMOS microfabrication techniques, with many sensing sites integrated on the same chip. In this work, we report the design and validation of a cascaded 1 × 4 racetrack-shaped microring resonator (rsMRR) based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI), optimizing key parameters, such as the waveguide width, coupling gap, and ring radius. Moreover, we comprehensively characterize the sensing performance of the rsMRR. The experimental results show that the resonator achieves a sensitivity of 117 nm/RIU within a glucose concentration range of 03.3 mg/mL. Compared with traditional structures, this design reduces optical loss through its racetrack-shaped layout, reaching a quality factor (Q-factor) of 510, and has advantages such as high integration density, anti-interference capability, and miniaturization. This work reveals the potential of silicon-based rsMRRs for practical glucose-sensing applications.

Traditional electrical pressure sensors are prone to electromagnetic interference; however, the emergence of optical pressure sensors offers a novel means of fabricating flexible devices. A pressure sensor based on a polymer optical waveguide is presented in this article that incorporates three cascaded microring resonators (MRRs) for enhanced sensitivity and accuracy. The sensor was fabricated from a polymer with a low Young’s modulus to achieve flexibility and enhanced sensitivity. The wavelength change in the output spectrum of the sensor was utilized to precisely measure the pressure applied to the device, and the structural parameters and the cascaded array of MRRs were optimized to improve the sensitivity of the pressure sensor. The experimental results show that the sensor has a sensitivity of 21.86 pm/kPa within the pressure range of 0–20 kPa with an accuracy of 1 kPa. The proposed MRR array pressure sensor exhibits high sensitivity and excellent linearity, and can be easily integrated into a device, indicating considerable application potential for wearable optical sensing.

With the rapid development of new generations of antitumor therapies, the average survival time of cancer patients is expected to be continuously prolonged. However, these therapies often lead to cardiotoxicity, resulting in a growing number of tumor survivors with cardiovascular disease. Therefore, a new interdisciplinary subspecialty called “cardio-oncology” has emerged, aiming to detect and treat cardiovascular diseases associated with tumors and antitumor therapies. Recent studies have highlighted the role of ferroptosis in both cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases. The balance between intracellular oxidative stress and antioxidant defense is crucial in regulating ferroptosis. Tumor cells can evade ferroptosis by upregulating multiple antioxidant defense pathways, while many antitumor therapies rely on downregulating antioxidant defense and promoting ferroptosis in cancer cells. Unfortunately, these ferroptosis-inducing antitumor therapies often lack tissue specificity and can also cause injury to the heart, resulting in ferroptosis-induced cardiotoxicity. A range of cardioprotective agents exert cardioprotective effects by inhibiting ferroptosis. However, these cardioprotective agents might diminish the efficacy of antitumor treatment due to their antiferroptotic effects. Most current research on ferroptosis only focuses on either tumor treatment or heart protection but rarely considers both in concert. Therefore, further research is needed to study how to protect the heart during antitumor therapies by regulating ferroptosis. In this review, we summarized the role of ferroptosis in the treatment of neoplastic diseases and cardiovascular diseases and also attempted to propose further research directions for ferroptosis in the field of cardio-oncology.

As an electro-optic signal modulation device, the Mach–Zehnder (MZ) electro-optic modulator has potential applications in electrocardiogram (ECG) weak signal modulation. We propose a hybrid silicon/polymer asymmetric MZ electro-optic modulator that has the advantages of low half-wave voltages and low loss. The proposed modulator functions in the 1550 nm band, and it is mainly composed of two 3 dB multimode interference couplers, a bent waveguide, a modulation waveguide and a phase shifter. The loss of the multimode interference coupler is -0.43 dB at a device size of 4 μm × 19.3 μm. The core device size is 160 μm × 700 μm. The initial working state of the modulator is in the linear region, which can directly realize the linear modulation of voltage. Under the simulation condition of γ ₃₃ =18.3 pm/V, the results show that the modulator has a low loss of -3.4 dB and a low half-wave voltage amplitude of 3.0 V.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors have been shown to inhibit pyroptosis and apoptosis, which play important roles in the development and progression of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the potential effect of PCSK9 inhibitors on the prevalence of CI-AKI after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to determine whether PCSK9 inhibitors are associated with the prevalence of CI-AKI. The medical records of 309 (mean age, 63.35 years; 71.84% male) patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent PCI at our institution were retrospectively analyzed. Overall, 149 and 160 patients were assigned to the evolocumab and control groups, respectively. Serum creatinine levels were examined preoperatively and 24–72 h postoperatively and compared between groups. Data were grouped according to the occurrence of CI-AKI, and a univariate analysis was conducted to exclude suspected influencing factors that led to CI-AKI occurrence. After adjusting for confounding factors, a logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between evolocumab administration (independent variable) and CI-AKI occurrence (dependent variable). The prevalence of CI-AKI was significantly lower in the evolocumab group (6.7%) than in the control group (20.0%; ). We further evaluated the correlation between exposure factor and outcome. The relative risk(RR) between the use of evolocumab and the occurrence of CI-AKI was 0.34(95% CI 0.17-0.66,p<0.01).This result indicate a significant association between the use of evolocumab and a reduction in the incidence of CI-AKI.The logistic regression analysis results revealed that evolocumab was significantly associated with CI-AKI. The use of PCSK9 inhibitors, hydration therapy, and statin administration appears promising for preventing CI-AKI in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing PCI.

We established a rabbit iliac artery restenosis model to explore the impact of Telmisartan on the expression of Connexin43 (Cx43) and neointimal hyperplasia. Thirty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: control group (n = 10), restenosis group (n = 10), and Telmisartan group (n = 10). The restenosis model was established by high-cholesterol diet combined with double-balloon injury of iliac arteries. In addition, Telmisartan at 5 mg/(kg day) was administered to the rabbits of Telmisartan group on the second day after the second balloon injury. All rabbits were killed at the end of the experiment followed by institution policy. Before sacrifice, blood samples were obtained to test serum angiotensinII (AngII). Iliac arteries were isolated for morphological analysis and determining the expression of Cx43 by HE staining, immunohistochemical analysis, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western Blotting analysis. Then, the local AngII levels of arteries were measured by radioimmunoassay. As compared with controls, the expression of Cx43 mRNA (0.98 ± 0.08) vs. (1.27 ± 0.17), P < 0.01), and Cx43 protein [(0.75 ± 0.08) vs. (0.90 ± 0.08), P < 0.05] of restenosis group were increased, which were significantly higher than those of Telmisartan group [Cx43 mRNA: (1.27 ± 0.17) vs. (1.00 ± 0.20), P < 0.01; Cx43 protein: (0.90 ± 0.08) vs. (0.82 ± 0.05), P < 0.05]. Furthermore, The intima thickness [(266.12 ± 70.27) vs. (2.85 ± 0.19) μm, P < 0.01] and the local AngII [(115.6 ± 15.7) vs. (90.1 ± 7.7), P < 0.05] of restenosis group were raised when compared with controls. Telmisartan group exhibited thinner intima compared with restenosis group [(68.22 ± 24.37) vs. (266.12 ± 70.27), P < 0.01]. However, the local AngII levels between these two groups were approximate. In addition, the plasma concentration of AngII was not significantly different among three groups. In conclusion, Telmisartan can inhibit the expression of connexin43 and neointimal hyperplasia in iliac artery restenosis model.

To evaluate the correlation between the severity of coronary artery lesion and multiple risk factors of events of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with coronary arteriography (CAG) in Tianjin. A retrospective study was conducted. One thousand six hundred and twenty-nine patients with CHD as diagnosed with CAG in Tianjin Chest Hospital were enrolled in the study. Using the SYNTAX score to evaluate the outcomes of CAG, The patients wer divided into three groups, i.e. low (0-22, n=962), medium (23-32, n=446) and high (≥ 33, n=221) score groups. The relationship between the severity of CHD patients analysis. The single factor analysis results showed that the severer the coronary artery lesion, the higher the SYNTAX score, the higher the proportion of patients having one of single risk factors (old, male, smoking, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, blood lipid abnormality), the lower the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and the higher the low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) level, fibrinogen (FIB) content, and body mass index (BMI, all P<0.01). The logistic regression analysis showed that male, old age, hypertension, typed 2 diabetes mellitus, TC were the independent risk factors in aggravating the severity of CHD. Hypertension [ odds ration (OR)=3.947, 95% confidence interval (95% CL) 1.45-10.704, P<0.001] and type 2 diabetes mellitus (OR=5.760, 95% CI 2.549-13.018, P<0.001) were the two most prominent predictors for CHD, while HDL-C was the protective factor for CHD (OR=0.541, 95% CI 0.295-0.992, P=0.992, P=0.004). CONCLUSION. The severity of CHD was closely related to CHD was closely related to various risk factors, among them hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus were the most predominant risk factors of CHD. Therefore it should be emphasized that clinicians should control blood pressure, blood glucose, and also blood lipid level in CHD patients to prevent cardiac event.