High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has emerged as a game-changing breast-conserving therapeutic modality owing to its dual functions of non-invasive tumor ablation and immunity activation. However, its low focal gain in the target region results in residual tumor tissue after ablation. Inspired by the exceptional acoustic response of bone tumor to HIFU, we developed bone-derived hydroxyapatite (HA)-mineralized metal-organic frameworks (designated as AZSH MOFs) as sonosensitizer that co-encapsulated Zn2+, hypoxic-activated prodrug AQ4N, and STING agonist SR-717 for acoustic-immunological synergistic therapy. AZSH MOFs enabled targeted delivery of HA to mimic bone tumor-like acoustic environment, markedly amplified HIFU energy deposition in the breast tumor tissue, and thus achieved more thorough ablation and local hypoxic. The exacerbated hypoxic selectively activated AQ4N to trigger immunogenic cell death. Meanwhile, Zn2+ with SR-717 upregulated stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway to promote intratumoral infiltration of immune cells, and ultimately relieved the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Thus, AZSH MOFs not only improve ablation efficiency of HIFU but also treat residual tumor via enhanced multilevel immune activation, offering valuable insights to facilitate the extensive clinical application of HIFU technology.
Xiaomei Xie, Qi Wang, Hanlin Song et al.· Materials Today Bio· 0 citations
As the internationalization of higher education intensifies — particularly under China’s “Double First-Class” initiative — Chinese scholars are increasingly expected not only to publish in English but also to perform effectively in high-stakes spoken genres such as conference talks, keynote lectures, and doctoral defences. Yet pragmatic features such as hedging remain a persistent barrier, often leading to pragmatic failure in real-time interactions. This study addresses this challenge through an integrated approach that couples corpus-based diagnostics with pedagogical design. Specifically, it investigates the use of lexical verb hedges in Chinese scholars’ spoken academic English by comparing a self-compiled Chinese Scholars’ Academic Spoken English Corpus (CASEC; 696,009 words; 279 events) with the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE; 1,848,364 words; 152 events). Following Granger’s reappraised Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis 2.0, MICASE is treated not as a native-speaker benchmark but as one Anglo-American reference variety against which typical L2 patterns can be described. Quantitative analysis revealed that Chinese scholars significantly underused individualized stance markers (e.g., I think) and significantly overused collective, consensus-building markers (e.g., We see). Qualitative analysis interprets these patterns through the lens of cross-cultural pragmatics and genre constraints, suggesting a rhetorical strategy oriented toward collective harmony and the diffusion of authorial responsibility. Crucially, the study moves beyond diagnosis to propose a “diagnosis-to-treatment” pipeline, culminating in a step-by-step Data-Driven Learning (DDL) module complete with full classroom worksheets. The pedagogical design aims to raise scholars’ pragmatic awareness and enhance their international academic communication competence.
Yinchu Wang, Yang Yu, Hanlin Song et al.· PLoS ONE· 0 citations
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