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The stimuli-sensitive and biodegradable hydrogels are promising biomaterials as controlled drug delivery systems for diverse biomedical applications. In this study, we construct hybrid hydrogels combined with peptide-based bis-acrylate and acrylic acid (AAc). The peptide-based bis-acrylate/AAc hybrid hydrogel displays an interconnected and porous structure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation and exhibits pH-dependent swelling property. The biodegradation of hybrid hydrogels was characterized by SEM and weight loss, and the results showed the hydrogels have a good enzymatic biodegradation property. The mechanical and cytotoxicity properties of the hydrogels were also tested. Besides, triclosan was preloaded during the hydrogel formation for drug release and antibacterial studies. In summary, the peptide-based bis-acrylate/AAc hydrogel with stimuli sensitivity and biodegradable property may be excellent candidates as drug delivery systems for antibacterial wound dressing application.

Food allergies are a serious food safety and public health issue. Soybean, dairy, aquatic, poultry, and nut products are common allergens inducing allergic reactions and adverse symptoms such as atopic dermatitis, allergic eczema, allergic asthma, and allergic rhinitis. Probiotics are assumed as an essential ingredient in maintaining intestinal microorganisms’ composition. They have unique physiological roles and therapeutic effects in maintaining the mucosal barrier, immune function, and gastrointestinal tract, inhibiting the invasion of pathogenic bacteria, and preventing diarrhea and food allergies. Multiple pieces of evidence reveal a significant disruptive effect of probiotics on food allergy pathology and progression mechanisms. Thus, this review describes the allergenic proteins as an entry point and briefly describes the application of probiotics in allergenic foods. Then, the role of probiotics in preventing and curing allergic diseases by regulating human immunity through intestinal flora and intestinal barrier, modulating host immune active cells, and improving host amino acid metabolism are described in detail. The anti-allergic role of probiotics in the function and metabolism of the gastrointestinal tract has been comprehensively explored to furnish insights for relieving food allergy symptoms and preventing food allergy.

Humid hydrophobic ionic liquids—widely used as electrolytes—have narrowed electrochemical windows due to the involvement of water, absorbed on the electrode surface, in electrolysis. In this work, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to explore effects of adding Li salt in humid ionic liquids on the water adsorbed on the electrode surface. Results reveal that most of the water molecules are pushed away from both cathode and anode, by adding salt. The water remaining on the electrode is almost bound with Li + , having significantly lowered activity. The Li + -bonding and re-arrangement of the surface-adsorbed water both facilitate the inhibition of water electrolysis, and thus prevent the reduction of electrochemical windows of humid hydrophobic ionic liquids. This finding is testified by cyclic voltammetry measurements where salt-in-humid ionic liquids exhibit enlarged electrochemical windows. Our work provides the underlying mechanism and a simple but practical approach for protection of humid ionic liquids from electrochemical performance degradation. Water adsorbed on the electrode surface of electrochemical energy storage devices narrows the electrochemical windows. Combining atomistic simulations and cyclic voltammetry experiments the authors demonstrate an approach to expand the voltage window of humid ionic liquids based on the addition of lithium salt.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a technology that provides electrical stimulation to the cervical vagus nerve and can be applied in the treatment of a wide variety of neuropsychiatric and systemic diseases. VNS exerts its effect by stimulating vagal afferent and efferent fibers, which project upward to the brainstem nuclei and the relayed circuits and downward to the internal organs to influence the autonomic, neuroendocrine, and neuroimmunology systems. The neuroimmunomodulation effect of VNS is mediated through the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway that regulates immune cells and decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines. Traditional and non-invasive VNS have Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications for patients with drug-refractory epilepsy, treatment-refractory major depressive disorders, and headaches. The number of clinical trials and translational studies that explore the therapeutic potentials and mechanisms of VNS is increasing. In this review, we first introduced the anatomical and physiological bases of the vagus nerve and the immunomodulating functions of VNS. We covered studies that investigated the mechanisms of VNS and its therapeutic implications for a spectrum of brain disorders and systemic diseases in the context of neuroimmunomodulation.

Particle-based methods have been increasingly attractive for solving biofluid flow problems, because of the ease and flexibility in modeling complex structure fluids afforded by the methods. In this review, we focus on popular particle-based methods widely used in red blood cell (RBC) simulations, including dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). We introduce their basic ideas and formulations, and present their applications in RBC simulations which are divided into three classes according to the number of RBCs in the simulation: a single RBC, two or multiple RBCs, and RBC suspension. Furthermore, we analyze their advantages and disadvantages. On weighing the pros and cons of the methods, a combination of the immersed boundary (IB) method and some forms of smoothed dissipative particle hydrodynamics (SDPD) methods may be required to deal effectively with RBC simulations.

Curcumin is a compound extracted from the Curcuma longa L, which possesses a wide range of pharmacological effects. However, few studies have collected scientific evidence on its dual effect on angiogenesis. The present review gathered the fragmented information available in the literature to discuss the dual effect and possible mechanisms of curcumin on angiogenesis. Available information concerning the effect of curcumin on angiogenesis is compiled from scientific databases, including PubMed and Web of Science using the key term (curcumin and angiogenesis). The results were reviewed to identify relevant articles. Related literature demonstrated that curcumin has antiangiogenesis effect via regulating multiple factors, including proangiogenesis factor VEGF, MMPs, and FGF, both in vivo and in vitro, and could promote angiogenesis under certain circumstances via these factors. This paper provided a short review on bidirectional action of curcumin, which should be useful for further study and application of this compound that require further studies.

In this study, two chlorophyll A/B binding protein (CAB) genes ( CsCP1 and CsCP2 ) in tea plant were cloned. The proteins encoded by these genes belong to the external or internal antenna proteins of PS II, respectively. They may be the targets of physiological regulation for tea leaf cell PS II because they all contain multiple functional domains and modifiable sites. The CAB gene family in the tea genome consists of 25 homologous genes. We measured the expression patterns of ten genes in the CsCP1 and CsCP2 subfamily under six different stresses. CsCP1 expression was inhibited in response to 6 kinds of stress; CsCP2 expression was slightly upregulated only after cold stress and ABA treatment. However, the expression levels of CSA016997 and CSA030476 were upregulated significantly in the six stresses. The results suggested that the 10 CAB genes may have different functions in tea leaves. Moreover, changes in the expression of the 10 genes under stress appear to be related to ABA- and MeJA-dependent signalling pathways, and their responses to MeJA treatment is faster than those to ABA. In addition, we introduced our experiences for cloning the genes in the context of complex genomes.

To evaluate the stiffness of the sciatic nerve by shear wave elastography (SWE) and to determine whether SWE can be used to predict diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) in a patient with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Sixteen patients (thirty-two lower limbs) with unilateral DFU were studied retrospectively. The ultrasonographic parameters including cross-sectional area (CSA) of sciatic nerve, intraneural blood flow, peak systolic velocity (Vmax) and resistive index (RI) in the intraneural artery of the sciatic nerve, and the SWE stiffness value of the sciatic nerve were measured. The examinations of arteries of the lower limbs were also performed by ultrasound. According to the presence or absence of DFU, the 32 lower limbs were divided into two groups: the DFU group and the non-DFU group. The ultrasonographic parameters were compared between these two groups. There was no significant difference ( > 0.05) between the two groups for CSA, intraneural blood flow, Vmax and RI in the intraneural artery of the sciatic nerve, and numbers of severe artery stenosis or full occlusion of the artery in the lower limbs. However, SWE stiffness values in the sciatic nerve in the DFU group are higher than the non-DFU group ( < 0.05). When the SWE stiffness values were used for prediction of DFU in patients with DPN, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.727 (95% CI: 0.541-0.868). When the best SWE stiffness value of 24.48 kPa was taken as a cutoff for prediction of DFU, the sensitivity was 62.50% (95% CI: 35.4-84.8%), and the specificity was 75% (95% CI: 47.6-92.7%). Sciatic nerve stiffness is significantly higher in lower limbs with DFU. SWE is a noninvasive imaging method that may be used to evaluate sciatic nerve stiffness, then potentially predict DFU in patients with DPN.

In tumor metastasis, the margination and adhesion of tumor cells are two critical and closely related steps, which may determine the destination where the tumor cells extravasate to. We performed a direct three-dimensional simulation on the behaviors of the tumor cells in a real microvascular network, by a hybrid method of the smoothed dissipative particle dynamics and immersed boundary method (SDPD-IBM). The tumor cells are found to adhere at the microvascular bifurcations more frequently, and there is a positive correlation between the adhesion of the tumor cells and the wall-directed force from the surrounding red blood cells (RBCs). The larger the wall-directed force is, the closer the tumor cells are marginated towards the wall, and the higher the probability of adhesion behavior happen is. A relatively low or high hematocrit can help to prevent the adhesion of tumor cells, and similarly, increasing the shear rate of blood flow can serve the same purpose. These results suggest that the tumor cells may be more likely to extravasate at the microvascular bifurcations if the blood flow is slow and the hematocrit is moderate.

Purpose Previous studies suggest an association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cognitive impairment. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between the diverse stages of CKD and the cognitive performance of elderly American adults. Methods Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014 were used. Multivariate adjusted logistic regression, subgroup analysis, and the restricted cubic spline model were used to assess the associations of CKD stage and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with cognitive performance. The measures used to evaluate cognitive function included the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) test, the Animal Fluency test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST). Results This study included 2234 participants aged ≥ 60 years. According to the fully adjusted model, stages 3–5 CKD were significantly associated with the CERAD test score (OR = 0.70, 95% CI [0.51, 0.97], p  = 0.033), the Animal Fluency test score (OR = 0.64, 95% CI [0.48, 0.85], p  = 0.005), and the DSST score (OR = 0.60, 95% CI [0.41, 0.88], p  = 0.013). In addition, the incidence of poor cognitive function increased with decreasing eGFR, especially for individuals with low and moderate eGFRs. Both the DSST score ( p nonlinearity < 0.0001) and the Animal Fluency test score ( p nonlinearity = 0.0001) had nonlinear dose–response relationships with the eGFR. However, a linear relationship was shown between the eGFR and CERAD test score ( p nonlinearity = 0.073). Conclusions CKD, especially stages3–5 CKD, was significantly associated with poor cognitive performance in terms of executive function, learning, processing speed, concentration, and working memory ability. All adults with CKD should be screened for cognitive impairment.