Multiple system atrophy is a rare, debilitating, adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder that manifests clinically as a diverse combination of parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia, and autonomic dysfunction. It is pathologi...
详细信息
Multiple system atrophy is a rare, debilitating, adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder that manifests clinically as a diverse combination of parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia, and autonomic dysfunction. It is pathologically characterized by oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions containing abnormally aggregated alpha-synuclein. According to the updated Movement Disorder Society diagnostic criteria for multiple system atrophy, the diagnosis of clinically established multiple system atrophy requires the manifestation of autonomic dysfunction in combination with poorly levo-dopa responsive parkinsonism and/or cerebellar syndrome. Although symptomatic management of multiple system atrophy can substantially improve quality of life, therapeutic benefits are often limited, ephemeral, and they fail to modify the disease progression and eradicate underlying causes. Consequently, effective breakthrough treatments that target the causes of disease are needed. Numerous preclinical and clinical studies are currently focusing on a set of hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases to slow or halt the progression of multiple system atrophy: pathological protein aggregation, synaptic dysfunction, aberrant proteostasis, neuronal inflammation, and neuronal cell death. Meanwhile, specific biomarkers and measurements with higher specificity and sensitivity are being developed for the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy, particularly for early detection of the disease. More intriguingly, a growing number of new disease-modifying candidates, which can be used to design multi-targeted, personalized treatment in patients, are being investigated, notwithstanding the failure of most previous attempts.
A new type of composite photocatalyst material was successfully prepared through the ultrasound-assisted coprecipitation method precipitate of zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanomaterials on peach wood activated carbon (PAC). The...
详细信息
A new type of composite photocatalyst material was successfully prepared through the ultrasound-assisted coprecipitation method precipitate of zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanomaterials on peach wood activated carbon (PAC). The optimization of ZnS@PAC demonstrates excellent photocatalytic performance by using the response surface method (RSM), which is essential for improving photocatalytic performance. In this model it was found that the photocatalytic degradation of enrofloxacin (ENR) increased with microwave heating power and ZnS concentration, whereas it decreased with increasing activation time. The RSM model predicts that under certain conditions (microwave heating power 800 W, activation time 3 h, ZnS 0.5 mol center dot L-1), the maximum degradation rate of ENR in livestock and poultry wastewater is 97.81%. By empirical testing under the optimum conditions with 97.35% degradation the accuracy of the designed model was proven using RSM and the mechanism of the photocatalytic process was studied.
BackgroundAttentional bias modification training (ABMT) is commonly employed to regulate negative attentional bias (NAB) and, in turn, to prevent or alleviate depressive symptoms. Recent advancements in attention swit...
详细信息
BackgroundAttentional bias modification training (ABMT) is commonly employed to regulate negative attentional bias (NAB) and, in turn, to prevent or alleviate depressive symptoms. Recent advancements in attention switch theory have facilitated the development of a novel training paradigm that may enhance the efficacy of such *** total of fifty-seven college students were assigned to two groups: one exhibiting NAB and the other without. Both groups underwent training with a novel paradigm integrating theta rhythm with the traditional dot-probe task (DPT). The DPT was also administered as a pre- and post-test *** individuals with NAB, rhythmic DPT effectively alleviates their NAB. Additionally, within the training procedure's DPT, flashing negative stimuli elicits faster responses when the probe appears at the positive stimulus' location. Baseline attention scores can negatively predict changes in subsequent corresponding attentional *** study presents a novel training paradigm-the theta rhythm-based DPT-that effectively modifies NAB. The mechanism underlying this intervention may be driven by positive salient stimuli at the critical trough, facilitating the switch of attention from negative to positive stimuli.
Osteochondral defects pose an enormous challenge, and no satisfactory therapy is available to date due to the hierarchy of the native tissue consisting of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Constructing a scaff...
详细信息
The brake ring, an essential buffer and energy dissipator within flexible protection systems for mitigating dynamic impacts from rockfall collapses, presents notable design challenges due to its significant deformatio...
详细信息
The brake ring, an essential buffer and energy dissipator within flexible protection systems for mitigating dynamic impacts from rockfall collapses, presents notable design challenges due to its significant deformation and strain characteristics. This study introduces a highly efficient and precise neural network model tailored for the design of brake rings, utilizing BP neural networks in conjunction with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms. The paper studies the key geometric parameters, including ring diameter, tube diameter, wall thickness, and aluminum sleeve length, with performance objectives centered on starting load, maximum load, and energy dissipation. A comprehensive dataset comprising 576 samples was generated through the integration of full-scale tests and simulations, which facilitated the training of the neural network for accurate forward predictions linking physical parameters to performance outcomes. Furthermore, a PSO-based reverse design model was developed to enable effective back-calculation from desired performance outcomes to specific geometric configurations. The BP neural network exhibited high accuracy, evidenced by a fit of 0.991, and the mechanical performance of the designed products aligned with target values in over 90% of cases, with all engineering errors remaining within acceptable limits. The proposed method significantly reduces the design time to under 5 seconds, thereby vastly improving efficiency in comparison to traditional approaches. This advancement offers a rapid and reliable reference for the design of critical components in flexible protection systems. Copyright (c) 2024 by The Hong Kong Institute of Steel Construction. All rights reserved.
In this work, a dynamic surrogate modeling approach is presented for reliability analysis of turbine blades with thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) under combined high and low cycle fatigue (CCF) loadings. Initially, a t...
详细信息
In this work, a dynamic surrogate modeling approach is presented for reliability analysis of turbine blades with thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) under combined high and low cycle fatigue (CCF) loadings. Initially, a three-dimensional model encompassing TBCs, turbine blades and flow fields is built to investigate the stress distribution at turbine blade surface using numerical analysis method of fluid-thermal-solid coupling. Following that, an improved seagull optimization algorithm-based backpropagation neural network (ISOA-BPNN) is developed by integrating the strengths of seagull optimization algorithm (SOA) and BP neural network. Furthermore, the probabilistic CCF estimation of turbine blades with TBCs is considered as a numerical case to evaluate the developed approach under the consideration of the uncertainties in material properties and loading conditions. The results reveal that the application of TBCs reduces the maximum stress at the blade mortise position, and the proposed ISOA-BPNN holds great prediction accuracy and computational speed for reliability analysis.
Tooth enamel,a highly mineralized tissue covering the outermost area of teeth,is always damaged by dental caries or *** enamel rarely repairs or renews itself,due to the loss of ameloblasts and dental epithelial stem ...
详细信息
Tooth enamel,a highly mineralized tissue covering the outermost area of teeth,is always damaged by dental caries or *** enamel rarely repairs or renews itself,due to the loss of ameloblasts and dental epithelial stem cells(DESCs)once the tooth *** human teeth,mouse incisors grow continuously due to the presence of DESCs that generate enamel-producing ameloblasts and other supporting dental epithelial *** ready accessibility of mouse DESCs and wide availability of related transgenic mouse lines make mouse incisors an excellent model to examine the identity and heterogeneity of dental epithelial stem/progenitor cells;explore the regulatory mechanisms underlying enamel formation;and help answer the open question regarding the therapeutic development of enamel *** the present review,we update the current understanding about the identification of DESCs in mouse incisors and summarize the regulatory mechanisms of enamel formation driven by *** roles of DESCs during homeostasis and repair are also discussed,which should improve our knowledge regarding enamel tissue engineering.
In this work, three different particle sizes of hydroxyapatites (HA) were synthesized, and these three types of HA were combined with poly(amino acid) (PAA) to form composites (PAA/HA) by phase separation technique. X...
详细信息
In this work, three different particle sizes of hydroxyapatites (HA) were synthesized, and these three types of HA were combined with poly(amino acid) (PAA) to form composites (PAA/HA) by phase separation technique. XRD, FT-IR, SEM, EDS, and XPS analyses were utilized to characterize the structure and morphology of the synthesized three HA particles and composites. Results revealed that HAs with three different particle sizes (short rod (HA1), long rod in nanoscale (HA2), and long rod in micron level (HA3)) were successfully prepared and there was an interface interaction between PAA and HA in composites. Mechanical tests showed that the difference of HA in size played an important role in mechanical performance of the composites. Furthermore, the long rod nano-HA showed the highest enhancement in flexural yield strength at 81.3% for PAA/HA2 compared with pure PAA. After 28 days of immersion in PBS, PAA, and its composites showed good stability, and the mechanical performance of all composites were remained unchanged. The cell culture results showed all composites were cytocompatible, cells attached on the materials well with excellent morphology. Thus, it could be concluded that particle size influenced mechanical properties of PAA/HA composites, without impacting their cytocompatibility and degradation behavior.
Purpose Combining biodegradable chelating agents with phytoextraction is an efficient technique to amend metal-contaminated soils, but most studies have addressed remediation efficiency rather than a comprehensive und...
详细信息
Purpose Combining biodegradable chelating agents with phytoextraction is an efficient technique to amend metal-contaminated soils, but most studies have addressed remediation efficiency rather than a comprehensive understanding of the interactions among plant stress, metal accumulation, and metal bioavailability. This study aimed to investigate the effects of biodegradable chelating agents on improving the efficiency of phytoextraction for cobalt (Co)-contaminated soil by sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima (L.)) and to explore the interrelationships among plant stress, Co accumulation, and Co bioavailability. Materials and methods Sweet alyssum (three plants per pot) was grown in pots containing soil with Co added at 0, 40, and 60 mg kg(-1), respectively. After 70 days of growth, we added four biodegradable chelating agents (EDDS, NTA, CA, and OA) at various concentrations (0, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 mmol kg(-1)). The plants were harvested after 7 days, and the biomass, reactive oxygen species (ROS) parameters, Co concentrations of the shoot and root, and available Co content in the soil were analyzed. Results and discussion The results demonstrate that chelating agents significantly (p < 0.05) improved the phytoextraction capability of sweet alyssum and influenced plant growth and stress. The capability of EDDS to activate Co was higher than that of other chelating agents at identical concentrations in Co-contaminated soils. Furthermore, we observed that a moderate concentration (40 mg kg(-1)) of Co could promote plant growth and that high concentrations of Co (60 mg kg(-1)) and EDDS (7.5 mmol kg(-1)) cause enhanced stress to plant growth, even resulting in lower shoot Co accumulation than that in the moderate EDDS treatment (5.0 mmol kg(-1)). Conclusions The present study demonstrates that the application of EDDS may be a better choice for Co phytoextraction than NTA, CA, and OA;nevertheless, a high concentration of EDDS may enhance the negative effects on plant growth,
The conversion of fast-twitch fibers into slow-twitch fibers within skeletal muscle plays a crucial role in improving physical stamina and safeguarding against metabolic disorders in individuals. Grape seed proanthocy...
详细信息
The conversion of fast-twitch fibers into slow-twitch fibers within skeletal muscle plays a crucial role in improving physical stamina and safeguarding against metabolic disorders in individuals. Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) possesses numerous pharmacological and health advantages, effectively inhibiting the onset of chronic illnesses. However, there is a lack of research on the specific mechanisms by which GSPE influences muscle physiology and gut microbiota. This study aims to investigate the role of gut microbiota and their metabolites in GSPE regulation of skeletal muscle fiber type conversion. In this experiment, 54 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups: basal diet, basal diet supplemented with GSPE, and basal diet supplemented with GSPE and antibiotics. During the feeding period, glucose tolerance and forced swimming tests were performed. After euthanasia, samples of muscle and feces were collected for analysis. The results showed that GSPE increased the muscle mass and anti-fatigue capacity of the mice, as well as the expression of slow-twitch fibers. However, the beneficial effects of GSPE on skeletal muscle fibers disappeared after adding antibiotics to eliminate intestinal microorganisms, suggesting that GSPE may play a role by regulating intestinal microbial structure. In addition, GSPE increased the relative abundance of Blautia, Muribaculaceae, and Enterorhabdus, as well as butyrate production. Importantly, these gut microbes exhibited a significant positive correlation with the expression of slow-twitch muscle fibers. In conclusion, supplementation with GSPE can increase the levels of slow-twitch fibers by modulating the gut microbiota, consequently prolonging the duration of exercise before exhaustion.
暂无评论