have triggered serious threats to the survival and development of mankind. Consequently, exploring novel materials with task-specific applications is of fundamental importance for the sustainable development of economy and society. The burgeoning progress of nanomaterials in recent years has demonstrated that porosity is one of the essential factors in determining material properties for possible breakthroughs in their applications. Therefore, porous materials are playing important roles in many well-established applications and emerging technologies for challenging social and economic issues due to their intrinsic characteristics of large surface areas, open channels, and the possible control over the pore environment. According to International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the pores of porous materials are classified into three categories by their pore sizes: micropores are smaller than 2 nm, mesopores are in the range of 2-50 nm, and macropores are larger than 50 nm. [1] Their pore walls include the organic skeleton (e.g., porous polymers, organic porous cages, and supramolecular organic frameworks), the inorganic skeleton (e.g., zeolites, porous carbons, and mesoporous silica), and the hybrid skeleton (e.g., metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)).Among the developed porous materials, porous polymers have attracted an increasing level of research interest owing to their potential to integrate the advantages of both porous materials and polymers. [2,3] Table 1 lists the characteristic structural features and properties of porous polymers, and gives a systematic comparison to other typical porous materials, such as zeolites, porous carbons, and MOFs. Porous polymers, zeolites, porous carbons, and MOFs share a number of features such as high permanent porosities, large surface areas, and designable pores and voids. However, they are different in several important aspects. The major advantages of porous polymers over many other porous materials are their chemical diversity and easy processability. Compared to zeolites and porous carbons, the synthesis of porous polymers is generally more versatile and can be approached in a way that conforms to the concept of rational materials design. Similar to MOFs, porous polymers inherit the excellent chemical and physical tunability afforded by the versatility of organic chemistry. Furthermore, Exploring advanced porous materials is of critical importance in the development of science and technology. Porous polymers, being famous for their all-organic components, tailored pore structures, and adjustable chemical components, have attracted an increasing level of research interest in a large number of applications, including gas adsorption/storage, separation, catalysis, environmental remediation, energy, optoelectronics, and health. Recent years have witnessed tremendous research breakthroughs in these fields thanks to the unique pore structures and versatile skeletons of porous polymers. Here, recent milestones in the diverse applications of porous polymers are presented, ...

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Background: The traditional anti-inflammation disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) have limited therapeutic effects in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. We previously reported the safety and efficacy of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) treatment in RA patients that were observed for up to 8 months after UC-MSC infusion. The aim of this study is to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of UC-MSC along with DMARDs for the treatment of RA. Methods: 64 RA patients aged 18-64 years were recruited in the study. During the treatment, patients were treated with 40 mL UC-MSC suspension product (2 × 10 7 cells/ 20 mL) via intravenous injection immediately after the infusion of 100 mL saline. The serological markers tests were used to assess safety and the 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) to assess efficacy. Results: 1 year and 3 years after UC-MSC cells treatment, the blood routine, liver and kidney function and immunoglobulin examination showed no abnormalities, which were all in the normal range. The ESR, CRP, RF of 1 year and 3 years after treatment and anti-CCP of 3 years after treatment were detected to be lower than that of pretreatment, which showed significant change (P < 0.05). Health index (HAQ) and joint function index (DAS28) decreased 1 year and 3 years after treatment than before treatment (P < 0.05). Conclusion: UC-MSC cells plus DMARDs therapy can be a safe, effective and feasible therapeutic option for RA patients.

Nanoscale metal‐organic frameworks (NMOFs) have attracted increasing attention for biomedical applications due to their large specific surface area, good biocompatibility, adjustable structures, and diverse functions. By choosing appropriate metal ions and ligands, NMOFs can be synthesized and regulated to assist the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, acting as imaging agents, drug carriers, and cancer therapeutic agents. This review summarizes the recent advances of NMOFs in synthesis, biocompatibility, imaging, and applications in cancer therapies. Among these, the term “biocompatibility” is used to outline their various biological characteristics, and it is mainly discussed from the aspects of size and surface properties of NMOFs. The imaging section mainly emphasizes the application advantages of NMOFs as imaging agents in magnetic resonance, computed tomography, and fluorescence imaging. The applications of NMOFs in four cancer therapies, including phototherapy, radiotherapy, microwave therapy, and ultrasonic therapy, are addressed, especially for thermal and dynamic therapy. Finally, the prospects and challenges of NMOFs in imaging and cancer therapies are also discussed.

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layers has attracted remarkable attention in recent years for surgical challenge and undesirable treatment outcomes. The destruction of the muscular layer is difficult to be sutured and injury of the serosal membrane could induce obvious viscera adhesion. [5,6] In the past few decades, tension-free repair operation is recommended as the standard treatment for soft-tissue defects like abdominal wall defects, in which different types of patches have been widely used. [1,[7][8][9] Traditional synthetic meshes with high strength, light weight, and anti-deformation (e.g., polypropylene (PP) and polyester meshes) have been widely used for tension-free repair of soft-tissue defects. But these meshes could result in severe visceral adhesion and undesirable wound healing, because of an obvious foreign body reaction (Figure 1a). [10][11][12] One of the most common approaches to solve the problem of visceral adhesion is to develop composite patches with anti-adhesion barriers. [9,13] For example, Parietex composite (PCO) mesh has been successfully designed to prevent visceral adhesion by coating an anti-adhesive collagen-based barrier on polyester mesh. [14,15] Nevertheless, these polyester or PP-based composite meshes could cause undesirable wound healing, due to their inherent unsatisfied inflammation response and lack of suitable microstructure for cells to migrate and grow. [16,17] Moreover, the collagen-based barrier would swell and cause deformation of composite meshes in an abdominal wet environment [18] (Figure 1b). Currently, the Implantable meshes used in tension-free repair operations facilitate treatment of internal soft-tissue defects. However, clinical meshes fail to achieve anti-deformation, anti-adhesion, and pro-healing properties simultaneously, leading to undesirable surgery outcomes. Herein, inspired by the peritoneum, a novel biocompatible Janus porous poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (JPVA hydrogel) is developed to achieve efficient repair of internal soft-tissue defects by a facile yet efficient strategy based on top-down solvent exchange. The densely porous and smooth bottom-surface of JPVA hydrogel minimizes adhesion of fibroblasts and does not trigger any visceral adhesion, and its loose extracellular-matrix-like porous and rough top-surface can significantly improve fibroblast adhesion and tissue growth, leading to superior abdominal wall defect treatment to commercially available PP and PCO meshes. With unique anti-swelling property (maximum swelling ratio: 6.4%), JPVA hydrogel has long-lasting anti-deformation performance and maintains high mechanical strength after immersion in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 14 days, enabling tolerance to the maximum abdominal pressure in an internal wet environment. By integrating visceral anti-adhesion and defect pro-healing with anti-deformation, the JPVA hydrogel patch shows great prospects for efficient internal soft-tissue defect repair.

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