Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived intestinal organoids (hIOs) form 3D structures organized into crypt and villus domains, making them an excellent in vitro model system for studying human ...intestinal development and disease. However, hPSC-derived hIOs still require in vivo maturation to fully recapitulate adult intestine, with the mechanism of maturation remaining elusive. Here, we show that the co-culture with human T lymphocytes induce the in vitro maturation of hIOs, and identify STAT3-activating interleukin-2 (IL-2) as the major factor inducing maturation. hIOs exposed to IL-2 closely mimic the adult intestinal epithelium and have comparable expression levels of mature intestinal markers, as well as increased intestine-specific functional activities. Even after in vivo engraftment, in vitro-matured hIOs retain their maturation status. The results of our study demonstrate that STAT3 signaling can induce the maturation of hIOs in vitro, thereby circumventing the need for animal models and in vivo maturation.
In the present study, we investigated the effects of type 2 diabetes-induced hyperglycemia on the integrity of the blood–brain barrier and tight junction markers in the rat hippocampus. ...Forty-week-old diabetic (Zucker diabetic fatty, ZDF) rats and littermate control (Zucker lean control, ZLC) rats were used in this study. We evaluated the integrity of the blood–brain barrier by measuring sodium fluorescein extravasation and blood vessel ultrastructure. In addition, tight junction markers, such as zona occludens-1, occludin and claudin-5, were quantified by western blot analysis. ZDF rats showed significantly increased sodium fluorescein leakage in the hippocampus. Tight junction markers, such as occludin and claudin-5, were significantly decreased in the hippocampi of ZDF rats compared to those of ZLC rats. In addition, ZDF rats showed ultrastructural changes with phagocytic findings in the blood vessels. These results suggest that chronic untreated diabetes impairs the permeability of the hippocampal blood–brain barrier by down-regulating occludin and claudin-5, indicating that chronic untreated diabetes may cause hippocampus-dependent dysfunction.
Fiber‐shaped supercapacitors (FSSCs) are the most state‐of‐the‐art power supplies suitable for wearable devices, but the intrinsically limited cylindrical space of fibers restricts their high ...electrochemical performance, which must be overcome with a delicate and systematic architectural process. Here, a simple but effective 3D architectural strategy for fabricating FSSCs with high performance and flexibility is proposed. Highly conductive liquid crystal spun carbon nanotube fiber (CNTF) is an excellent 1D core fiber for the electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide (GO). The deposited GO forms a vertical 3D structure on the CNTF (VG@CNTF), which can be successfully preserved by a consecutive coating of pseudocapacitive active materials onto the surface of VG. Notably, a solid‐state asymmetric FSSC shows an outstanding performance of 65 Wh kg−1 at 100 kW kg−1 and exceptional stability and flexibility (capacitance retention of 98.60% at bending angles of 90° and 93.1% after 5000 bending cycles). This work can provide new insight into the development of high‐performance FSSCs for practical wearable applications.
A simple but effective 3D architectural strategy for fabricating fiber‐shaped supercapacitors (FSSCs) with high electrochemical performance and flexibility using electrochemical deposition is reported. The prepared FSSCs show superior energy density and power density. This study highlights the great possibility of 3D architectured FSSCs for future wearable applications.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have emerged as highly effective antimicrobial agents against multidrug‐resistant (MDR) pathogens. This study aims to employ green chemistry principles for AgNP synthesis ...involving phytochemical‐rich extract from Glycyrrhiza glabra roots. The approach highlights using renewable feedstocks, safer chemicals, minimum byproducts, and process scale‐up. The synthesis of AgNPs was assessed using a surface plasmon resonance band at 420 nm, and structural properties were characterized using TEM, x‐ray diffraction, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This method enables the production of high‐yield dispersions of AgNPs with desired physicochemical characteristics, including dark yellow solution, size (~20 nm), spherical to an oval shape, crystal structure, and stable colloidal properties. The antimicrobial activity of AgNPs was investigated against the MDR bacteria strains of gram‐positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram‐negative (Escherichia coli). This work reveals that the antimicrobial activity of AgNPs can be influenced by bacterial cell wall components. The results demonstrate the strong interaction between AgNPs and E. coli, exhibiting a dose‐dependent antibacterial response. The green approach facilitated the safer, facile, and rapid synthesis of colloidal dispersions of AgNPs, providing a sustainable and promising alternative to conventional chemical and physical methods. Furthermore, the effect of AgNPs on various growth parameters, including seed germination, root and shoot elongation, and dry weight biomass, was assessed for mung bean seedlings. The results revealed phytostimulatory effects, suggesting the promising prospects of AgNPs in the nano‐priming of agronomic seeds.
Research Highlights
Glycyrrhiza glabra root extract enabled rapid, high‐yield, and eco‐friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).
Spectrophotometric analysis examined the optical properties, scalability, and stability of AgNPs.
Transmission electron microscopy provided insights into the size, shape, and dispersity of AgNPs.
Scanning electron microscopy revealed significant damage to gram‐negative bacterial cell morphology and membrane integrity.
AgNPs were found to enhance seed germination, seedling growth, and biomass yield of Vigna radiata.
Illustration of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesis protocol and bacterial cells treated with AgNPs. field emission scanning electron microscopy images reveal AgNPs efficiently disintegrate bacterial cell wall components and cause leakage of intracellular fluids.
Background: Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) plays an important role in preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, LAAO may interact unfavorably with left atrial (LA) ...compliance and reservoir function and thus increase the risk of heart failure (HF). The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of subsequent HF after successful LAAO.Methods and Results: A total of 98 patients (mean age 70±9 years, 68% male) who had undergone LAAO were included. The primary endpoint was unexpected HF admission after LAAO. During a mean period of 36±26 months, 16 of the 98 patients (16%) experienced hospital HF admission. In multivariate analysis, higher E/e’ (hazard ratio HR 1.11, 95% confidence interval CI 1.02–1.20, P=0.014), higher left ventricular mass index (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00–1.03, P=0.023), history of HF (HR 4.78, 95% CI 1.55–14.7, P=0.006), and lower LA strain (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.70–0.93, P=0.003) were independently associated with hospital HF admission. Patients with LAAO had a significantly higher incidence of subsequent HF than the control group after propensity score matching (P=0.046).Conclusions: LAAO increases the occurrence of HF, and it is not uncommon after successful LAAO. A previous history of HF, left ventricular mass index, E/e’, and abnormal LA strain are independently associated with the development of HF. These parameters should be considered before attempting LAAO.
Cryptotanshinone (CT), a diterpene that is isolated from
Bunge, exhibits anti-cancer, anti-oxidative, anti-fibrosis, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here, we examined whether CT administration ...possess a hepatoprotective effect on chronic ethanol-induced liver injury. We established a chronic alcohol feeding mouse model while using C57BL/6 mice, and examined the liver sections with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Oil Red O (ORO) staining. Further, we analyzed the lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, oxidative stress, and inflammation genes by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunoblotting in in vivo, and in vitro while using HepG2 and AML-12 cells. CT treatment significantly ameliorated ethanol-promoted hepatic steatosis, which was consistent with the decreased hepatic triglyceride levels. Interestingly, CT activated the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (
), sirtuin 1 (
), and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (
) proteins. Importantly, compound C (
inhibitor) significantly blocked the CT-mediated reduction in TG accumulation, but not Ex52735 (
inhibitor), which suggested that CT countering ethanol-promoted hepatic steatosis is mediated by
activation. Furthermore, CT significantly inhibited cytochrome P450 2E1 (
) and enhanced both the expression of antioxidant genes and hepatic glutathione levels. Finally, CT inhibited the ethanol-induced inflammation in ethanol-fed mice and HepG2 cells. Overall, CT exhibits a hepatoprotective effect against ethanol-induced liver injury by the inhibition of lipogenesis, oxidative stress, and inflammation through the activation of
and
and the inhibition of
. Therefore, CT could be an effective therapeutic agent for treating ethanol-induced liver injury.
A vehicular network is composed of an in-vehicle network (IVN) and Internet of Vehicles (IoV). IVN exchanges information among in-vehicle devices. IoV constructs Vehicle-to-X (V2X) networks outside ...vehicles and exchanges information among V2X elements. These days, in-vehicle devices that require high bandwidth is increased for autonomous driving services. Thus, the spread of data for vehicles is exploding. This kind of data is exchanged through IoV. Even if the Ethernet backbone of IVN carries a lot of data in the vehicle, the explosive increase in data from outside the vehicle can affect the backbone. That is, the transmission efficiency of the IVN backbone will be reduced due to excessive data traffic. In addition, when IVN data traffic is transmitted to IoV without considering IoV network conditions, the transmission efficiency of IoV is also reduced. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an IoV access gateway to controls the incoming data traffic to the IVN backbone and the outgoing data traffic to the IoV in the network environment where IVN and IoV are integrated. Computer simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed system, and the proposed system shows better performance in the accumulated average transmission delay.
Introduction
The eradication rates for Helicobacter pylori have decreased in Korea although the prevalence of this bacterium has also decreased. Antibiotic resistance is likely to be a crucial factor ...in H. pylori eradication success, and we therefore mapped these resistance patterns nationwide in Korea.
Materials and Methods
Five hundred and ninety adult subjects were prospectively enrolled from 2017 to 2018 from 15 centers across six geographic areas of Korea. A total of 580 biopsy tissues had been sampled from these patients during an upper endoscopy and were frozen at −80°C and delivered to a central laboratory. The agar dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin for each H. pylori isolate.
Results
The culture success rate was 60.2% (349/580). Resistance rates against clarithromycin, metronidazole, amoxicillin, tetracycline, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were 17.8%, 29.5%, 9.5%, 0%, 37.0%, and 37.0%, respectively. The geographic distribution of metronidazole and quinolone resistance was highly variable. Some subjects had multiple H. pylori strains in the antrum and body of the stomach and showed a heterogeneous resistance profile between these anatomic areas. The H. pylori multidrug resistance (MDR) rate was 25.2% (88/349) among amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, tetracycline, and quinolone and 11.2% (39/349) among four of these major antibiotics except for quinolone. The Seoul and Chungcheong areas showed a relatively lower MDR rate.
Conclusion
The antibiotic resistance of H. pylori differs by drug and geographic area in Korea. Detailed nationwide antibiotic resistance mapping is needed to develop an effective H. pylori eradication strategy.
The nonthermal effects on the variation of the Shannon entropy for the atomic states are investigated in astrophysical Lorentzian plasmas. The screened atomic wave functions, energy eigenvalues, and ...effective screening lengths for the hydrogen atom in Lorentzian plasmas are obtained by the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The Shannon entropies for the ground and excited states in astrophysical Lorentzian plasmas are also obtained as functions of the spectral index, effective screening lengths, and plasma parameters including the radial and angular parts. It is shown that the nonthermal characters of the Lorentzian plasma suppresses the entropy changes in the ground state as well as in the excited states. In addition, it is found that the entropy change in excited states is more effective than that in the ground state in Lorentzian astrophysical plasmas. Moreover, it is shown that the entropy change is independent of the magnetic quantum number of the state because the angular parts of Shannon entropy are unchanged due to the influence of nonthermal character and plasma screening in astrophysical Lorentzian plasmas.
Electrochemical oxidative radical trifluoromethylation/semipinacol rearrangement sequences of alkenyl alcohols were developed in this study. This approach is environmentally benign and uses the ...shelf-stable Langlois reagent as a trifluoromethyl radical precursor and electrons as the oxidizing reagents. The present protocol offers a facile route to prepare β-trifluoromethylated ketone derivatives.
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