Glial activation and neuroinflammation play significant roles in apoptosis as well as in the development of cognitive and memory deficits. Neuroinflammation is also a critical feature in the ...pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases. Previously, hesperetin has been shown to be an effective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. In the present study, in vivo and in vitro analyses were performed to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of hesperetin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, neuronal apoptosis and memory impairments. Based on our findings, LPS treatment resulted in microglial activation and astrocytosis and elevated the expression of inflammatory mediators such as phosphorylated-Nuclear factor-κB (p-NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the cortical and hippocampal regions and in BV2 cells. However, hesperetin cotreatment markedly reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines by ameliorating Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4)-mediated ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1/glial fibrillary acidic protein (Iba-1/GFAP) expression. Similarly, hesperetin attenuated LPS-induced generation of reactive oxygen species/lipid per oxidation (ROS/LPO) and improved the antioxidant protein level such as nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Haem-oxygenase (HO-1) in the mouse brain. Additionally, hesperetin ameliorated cytotoxicity and ROS/LPO induced by LPS in HT-22 cells. Moreover, hesperetin rescued LPS-induced neuronal apoptosis by reducing the expression of phosphorylated-c-Jun N-terminal kinases (p-JNK), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (Bax), and Caspase-3 protein and promoting the Bcl-2 protein level. Furthermore, hesperetin enhanced synaptic integrity, cognition, and memory processes by enhancing the phosphorylated-cAMP response element binding protein (p-CREB), postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD-95), and Syntaxin. Overall, our preclinical study suggests that hesperetin conferred neuroprotection by regulating the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway against the detrimental effects of LPS.
We present a hand-and-foot-based multimodal interaction approach for handheld devices. Our method combines input modalities (i.e., hand and foot) and provides a coordinated output to both modalities ...along with audio and video. Human foot gesture is detected and tracked using contour-based template detection (CTD) and Tracking-Learning-Detection (TLD) algorithm. 3D foot pose is estimated from passive homography matrix of the camera. 3D stereoscopic and vibrotactile are used to enhance the immersive feeling. We developed a multimodal football game based on the multimodal approach as a proof-of-concept. We confirm our systems user satisfaction through a user study.
The aim of the present study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the 8-item short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) in a large ...sample of European older adults. Data from The European Social Survey (ESS Round 6 Edition 1.1) provided the basis for this study (5,774 Males and 7,258 Females). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a single factor structure. The results from multi-group confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the factor structure of the CES-D 8 is invariant across sexes, including invariance of item intercepts, item residuals, and item factor loadings. Moreover, the results provided support for the nomological validity of the scale. These results suggest that the shorter 8-item CES-D scale is a valid and reliable instrument of depression and extends the list of available instruments for screening depression among older adults.
, once considered a low-category pathogen, has emerged as an obstinate infectious agent. The scientific community is paying more attention to this pathogen due to its stubbornness to last resort ...antimicrobials, including carbapenems, colistin, and tigecycline, its high prevalence of infections in the hospital setting, and significantly increased rate of community-acquired infections by this organism over the past decade. It has given the fear of pre-antibiotic era to the world. To further enhance our understanding about this pathogen, in this review, we discuss its taxonomy, pathogenesis, current treatment options, global resistance rates, mechanisms of its resistance against various groups of antimicrobials, and future therapeutics.
Enterobacter cloacae (E. cloacae) is an emerging nosocomial pathogen that had acquired antibiotic resistance against multiple classes of antibiotics. The current study was aimed to isolate and ...characterize lytic bacteriophage against E. cloacae. The bacteriophage EBP was isolated from a sewage water sample using E. cloacae as a host strain by double‐layer agar technique. EBP was found stabile at a wide range of temperatures (25, 37, 60, and 80°C) and pH (5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) with antibacterial activity up to 24 h of infection. The latent period of EBP was 20 min with a burst size of 252 phages per cell. It showed a narrow host range and infected 12/21 (57%) isolates of E. cloacae tested. It has helical symmetry with a head size of 105 and 120 nm long tail with contractile sheath. The EBP has 179.1 kb long double‐stranded DNA genome with 44.8% GC content. Majority of identified ORFs (187/281) were encoding putative proteins with unknown function. Necessary replication enzymes, structural proteins, and lytic enzymes were detected in the genome of EBP. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that EBP closely resembles with Coronobacter phage vB_CsaM_IeN, vB_CsaM_IeE, vB_CsaM_IeB, and Citrobacter phage Margaery. Based on electron microscopy and molecular characterization, EBP was classified as a Myoviridae phage.
Hesperetin is a bioactive flavonoid in the body, produced from hesperidin. No comprehensive studies have shown its protective effects in neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we hypothesized that ...hesperetin may protect the mice brain against Aβ-induced neurodegeneration. Twenty-four hours after intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ1-42, the treated group was injected hesperetin. For in vitro experiments, HT22 and BV-2 cells were used. Immunoblot, immunofluorescence, and behavioral analyses were used to evaluate the different parameters. Our results indicated that hesperetin significantly attenuated oxidative stress, as assessed by the expression of Nrf2/HO-1 and LPO and ROS assays, in the hippocampus, cortex, and in vitro HT22 cells. Similarly, activated glial cells were regulated by hesperetin, as assessed by the expression of GFAP and Iba-1. Moreover, the expression of TLR4, p-NF-κB, and downstream targets was analyzed; the results showed that hesperetin reinstated the expression of these markers. The effects of hesperetin were further confirmed by using specific TLR4 and p-NF-κB inhibitors in BV-2 cells. Next, we evaluated Aβ pathology in the cortex, hippocampus, and HT22 cells, showing that hesperetin significantly reduced the Aβ pathology. Furthermore, the antiapoptotic effects of hesperetin were assessed, which showed strong antiapoptotic effects. Overall, the neuroprotective effect of hesperetin was found to be a multipotent effect, involving the inhibition of oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, apoptotic cell death, and cognitive consolidation. Given antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic potentials against Aβ-induced neurodegeneration and memory impairment, hesperetin may be a promising therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s disease–like neurological disorders.
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•This work produces porous and ultralong Pt-In2O3 porous nanofibers using electrospinning and chemical soaking firstly.•The well-distributed Pt NPs can maintain the ultrasmall size in ...the surface of In2O3 PNTs without any protection.•The Pt-In2O3 PNTs sensor shows excellent acetone sensing properties compared to the pristine In2O3 PNTs.•The as-prepared sensor exhibits excellent gas sensing properties than other sensors based on In2O3 in previous reports.
Here, we demonstrate a facile design and simple fabrication of acetone gas sensors based on one-dimensional (1D) porous platinum (Pt)-doped In2O3 nanofiber structure. Be first to try to immerse electrospun polystyrene (PS) nanofibers (NFs) into a precursor solution followed by an annealing process, the as-prepared composite NFs can readily turn into Pt-In2O3 porous NFs. The obtained Pt-In2O3 porous NFs exhibit the mesoporous size of 4–6 nm and high specific surface area of 212.3 m2 g-1. We observed that the spillover effect of Pt nanoparticles and the large-surface-area of the porous structure can effectively enhance catalytic sensing response to acetone with a lower limit of 10 part-per-billion (ppb) at a low working temperature of 180 °C. More importantly, the proposed NFs-based sensor shows rapid response and recovery time (6/9 s), higher selectivity toward acetone against other interfering gases, reversibility and time stability (50 days) compared to its counterparts. In addition, the proposed sensor shows a fast response and recovery time, maintaining 70% of the initial response even in 85% relative humidity (RH) environment. These results demonstrate the potential feasibility that the Pt-In2O3 porous NFs act as a promising sensing platform for monitoring acetone at ppb levels in human breath.
Optimization is an art that is best performed by a well-tuned algorithm. Nature – instead of being fully deterministic – is evolutionary, vibrant and resourceful. The nature-inspired algorithms use ...the best combination and evolution strategy in a given situation. In this work, a new metaheuristic algorithm is developed by using social behavior in human dynasties. The motivation, conceptual framework, mathematical model, pseudocode and working of the algorithm are described in this paper and the adjoining papers. The proposed dynastic optimization algorithm (DOA) has evolved with the wind turbine micrositing (WTM) problem in mind. The proposed DOA has been successfully applied to the traditional WTM and encouraging results have been obtained. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach is equally viable as other existing algorithms, like the Genetic algorithm (GA) and Differential evolution algorithm (DEA). The main advantage of the proposed DOA is that it is simple, unique, fast, unbiased and versatile in comparison with others. The validation of results has been made with respect to a few other mainstream algorithms in the literature, besides statistical sensitivity analysis is also performed. The 95% confidence interval forecasts for the power enhancement and cost reduction by using DOA against GA and DEA are encouraging and guarantee an adequate amount of mean increase in power output and a considerable average cost reduction.
•The proposed metaheuristic optimization algorithm is inspired from human dynasties.•Full application is made to the Wind Turbine Micrositing (WTM) problem.•The mathematics, pseudocode, working, advantages and application are discussed.•The DOA reveals superior results as compared to the GA and DEA.•95% confidence bounds indicate that future forecasts are encouraging.
Well-established studies have shown an elevated level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that induces oxidative stress in the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patient’s brain and an animal model of AD. Herein, ...we investigated the underlying anti-oxidant neuroprotective mechanism of natural dietary supplementation of anthocyanins extracted from Korean black beans in the amyloid precursor protein/presenilin-1 (APP/PS1) mouse model of AD. Both in vivo (APP/PS1 mice) and in vitro (mouse hippocampal HT22 cells) results demonstrated that anthocyanins regulate the phosphorylated-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (p-PI3K/Akt/GSK3β) pathways and consequently attenuate amyloid beta oligomer (AβO)-induced elevations in ROS level and oxidative stress via stimulating the master endogenous anti-oxidant system of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) pathways and prevent apoptosis and neurodegeneration by suppressing the apoptotic and neurodegenerative markers such as activation of caspase-3 and PARP-1 expression as well as the TUNEL and Fluoro-Jade B-positive neuronal cells in the APP/PS1 mice. In vitro ApoTox-Glo™ Triplex assay results also showed that anthocyanins act as a potent anti-oxidant neuroprotective agent and reduce AβO-induced neurotoxicity in the HT22 cells via PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 signaling. Importantly, anthocyanins improve memory-related pre- and postsynaptic protein markers and memory functions in the APP/PS1 mice. In conclusion, our data suggested that consumption and supplementation of natural-derived anti-oxidant neuroprotective agent such as anthocyanins may be beneficial and suggest new dietary-supplement strategies for intervention in and prevention of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD.
Soil microorganisms might be assessed for their capabilities of plant growth promotion in order to identify heat tolerant strategies for crop production. The planned study was conducted to determine ...the potential of heat tolerant plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in mitigating heat stress effects in tomato. Bacillus cereus was evaluated for plant growth promoting activities and assessed for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC-deaminase) (0.76–C0.9 μM/mg protein/h), and exopolysaccharide (0.66–C0.91 mg/mL) under normal and heat stressed conditions. Plant growth regulators were evaluated through High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Bacterial inoculation effects on important physiological and biochemical parameters were evaluated under normal and heat stressed conditions in growth chamber. The morphological-physiological traits significantly revealed drastic effects on both of un-inoculated tomato varieties under heat stress conditions. Bacterial augmentation significantly promoted shoot, root length, leaf surface area, fresh and dry weight. Heat stress enhanced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production and cleavage of ACC into a-ketobutyrate and ammonia due to ACC-deaminase producing bacteria that significantly reduced the adverse effects of heat on tomato growth. In conclusion, the applied plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) bacterial strain proved as potential candidate for improving tomato crop growing under heat stressed conditions. However, it is highly suggested to validate the current results by conducting field trials.
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