Background/aim
The cold receptor, transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8), has been reported to be expressed in esophageal vagal afferents. Esophageal infusion of menthol modulates ...esophageal perception in reflux patients via TRPM8, but the effects of menthol on esophageal motility are not well investigated. This study aimed to test the hypothesis whether the infusion of menthol into the esophagus could affect esophageal peristaltic characteristics.
Methods
Eighteen healthy adults (men 13, mean age 27) underwent high‐resolution manometry (HRM) using a catheter with the injection port located in mid‐esophagus. Primary peristalsis was performed with ten wet swallows, while secondary peristalsis was generated by 10 rapid air injections. Two different sessions were randomly performed including acute administration of menthol (3 mM) and the placebo.
Results
Menthol significantly decreased upper esophageal (UES) pressure of primary peristalsis than the placebo (p = 0.019). There was no difference in distal contractile integral (p = 0.33), distal latency (p = 0.86), basal lower esophageal sphincter pressure (p = 0.19), or 4‐second integrated relaxation pressure (p = 0.75) between menthol and placebo. Menthol significantly decreased the frequency of secondary peristalsis subsequent to the administration of menthol during rapid injections with 20 mL air (p = 0.04).
Conclusions
Intraluminal infusion of menthol reduces UES basal pressure and inhibits peristaltic frequency of secondary peristalsis. The data suggest that the triggering of secondary peristalsis is probably modulated by TRPM8‐sensitive mechanoreceptors; however, the activation of TRPM8 from menthol does not alter esophageal motility following deglutition or distension‐induced secondary peristalsis.
This study utilized HRM to evaluate the physiological effects of menthol on esophageal peristalsis in healthy adults. The results showed that esophageal infusion of menthol could inhibit peristaltic frequency of secondary peristalsis as induced by rapid air distension. Additionally, there appears to be a distinct effect of menthol on primary peristalsis characterized by reduced UES basal pressure.
Background/Aim
Reflux episodes and postreflux swallow‐induced peristaltic wave (PSPW) index are useful impedance parameters that can augment the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). ...However, manual analysis of pH‐impedance tracings is time consuming, resulting in limited use of these novel impedance metrics. This study aims to evaluate whether a supervised learning artificial intelligence (AI) model is useful to identify reflux episodes and PSPW index.
Methods
Consecutive patients underwent 24‐h impedance‐pH monitoring were enrolled for analysis. Multiple AI and machine learning with a deep residual net model for image recognition were explored based on manual interpretation of reflux episodes and PSPW according to criteria from the Wingate Consensus. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to measure the strength of inter‐rater agreement of data between manual and AI interpretations.
Results
We analyzed 106 eligible patients with 7939 impedance events, of whom 38 patients with pathological acid exposure time (AET) and 68 patients with physiological AET. On the manual interpretation, patients with pathological AET had more reflux episodes and lower PSPW index than those with physiological AET. Overall accuracy of AI identification for reflux episodes and PSPW achieved 87% and 82%, respectively. Inter‐rater agreements between AI and manual interpretations achieved excellent for individual numbers of reflux episodes and PSPW index (ICC = 0.965 and ICC = 0.921).
Conclusions
AI has the potential to accurately and efficiently measure impedance metrics including reflux episodes and PSPW index. AI can be a reliable adjunct for measuring novel impedance metrics for GERD in the near future.
Inter‐rater agreements between artificial intelligence (AI) and manual interpretations achieved excellent for individual numbers of reflux episodes and postreflux swallow‐induced peristaltic wave (PSPW): Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.965 and 0.921, respectively.
Organic/inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites are promising optoelectronic materials due to their unique structure, excellent properties, and fascinating potential applications in lighting, ...photovoltaic, etc. However, perovskite materials are very sensitive to moisture and polar solvent, which greatly hinders their practical applications. Here, highly luminescent perovskite–polystyrene composite beads with uniform morphology are prepared via a simple swelling–shrinking strategy. This process is carried out only in nonpolar toluene and hexane without the addition of any polar reagents. As a result, the as‐prepared composite beads not only retain high luminescence but also exhibit superior water‐resistant property. The composites emit strong luminescence after being immersed into water over nine months. Moreover, even in some harsh environments such as acid/alkali aqueous solution, phosphate buffer solution, and Dulbecco's modified eagle medium biological buffers, they still preserve high luminescence. The applications in light‐emitting diodes and cellular labeling agents are also carried out to demonstrate their ultrastability.
Highly luminescent perovskite–polystyrene composite beads with uniform morphology are prepared by packing perovskite quantum dots in crosslinked polystyrene beads via swelling in toluene and then shrinking the beads in hexane. The composite not only retains high luminescence but also exhibits superior water resistance.
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common chronic complications of diabetes. Symptoms of DPN mainly include spontaneous intractable pain that is diffuse and continuous and can ...last from several weeks to several months. DPN is associated with a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. Its pathogenesis is not fully understood, and clinical treatment is focused on relieving its clinical symptoms, as well as improving blood sugar control and cardiovascular risk factors. DPN and its clinically effective treatments need to be studied. This study discusses the treatment methods and pathogenesis of DPN, summarizes the related research progress, and attempts to provide a reference for DPN research.
In this population-based propensity score matched (PSM) cohort study, we aimed to investigate the risk of developing dementia with the use of acid suppressants, including proton pump inhibitors ...(PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2 antagonists). Cohorts of PPI users (n = 2,778), H2 antagonist users (n = 6,165), and non-users (n = 86,238) were selected from a dataset covering the years 2000 to 2010 in Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients in the three groups were PSM at a ratio of 1:1 within each comparison cohort (CC). Three CCs were created: (1) PPI users compared to non-users (CC1, n = 2,583 pairs); (2) H2 antagonist users compared to non-users (CC2, n = 5,955 pairs); and (3) PPI users compared to H2 antagonist users (CC3, n = 2,765 pairs). A multivariable robust Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk of developing dementia. The multivariable analysis results show that the aHR of developing dementia during the follow-up period was 0.72 (CC1: 95% CI = 0.51-1.03, P = 0.07) for PPI users and 0.95 (CC2: 95% CI = 0.74-1.22, P = 0.69) for H2 antagonist users, when compared to non-users. Between the patients using acid suppressants, there was no difference between PPI and H2 antagonist users in the risk of developing dementia (CC3: aHR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.58-1.17, P = 0.28). In conclusion, no association was observed between the use of acid suppressants and the risk of developing dementia in any of the three CCs. Further, randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm this relationship.
Unlike most ancient microRNAs, which conservatively target homologous genes across species, microRNA827 (miR827) targets two different types of SPX (SYG1/PHO81/XPR1)-domain-containing genes, NITROGEN ...LIMITATION ADAPTATION (NLA) and PHOSPHATE TRANSPORTER 5 (PHT5), in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa to regulate phosphate (Pi) transport and storage, respectively. However, how miR827 shifted its target preference and its evolutionary history are unknown.
Based on target prediction analysis, we found that in most angiosperms, miR827 conservatively targets PHT5 homologs, but in Brassicaceae and Cleomaceae it preferentially targets NLA homologs, and we provide evidence for the transition of target preference during Brassicales evolution. Intriguingly, we found a lineage-specific loss of the miR827-regulatory module in legumes.
Analysis of miR827-mediated cleavage efficiency and the expression of PHT5 in A. thaliana indicated that accumulation of mutations in the target site and the exclusion of the target site by alternative transcriptional initiation eliminated PHT5 targeting by miR827.
Here, we identified a transition of miR827 target preference during plant evolution and revealed the uniqueness of miR827-mediated regulation among conserved plant miRNAs. Despite the change in its target preference, upregulation of miR827 by Pi starvation and its role in regulating cellular Pi homeostasis were retained.
The strong strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling found in thin-film ME heterostructures has attracted an ever-increasing interest and enables realization of a great number of integrated ...multiferroic devices, such as magnetometers, mechanical antennas, RF tunable inductors and filters. This paper first reviews the thin-film characterization techniques for both piezoelectric and magnetostrictive thin films, which are crucial in determining the strength of the ME coupling. After that, the most recent progress on various integrated multiferroic devices based on thin-film ME heterostructures are presented. In particular, rapid development of thin-film ME magnetometers has been seen over the past few years. These ultra-sensitive magnetometers exhibit extremely low limit of detection (sub-pT/Hz
) for low-frequency AC magnetic fields, making them potential candidates for applications of medical diagnostics. Other devices reviewed in this paper include acoustically actuated nanomechanical ME antennas with miniaturized size by 1-2 orders compared to the conventional antenna; integrated RF tunable inductors with a wide operation frequency range; integrated RF tunable bandpass filter with dual H- and E-field tunability. All these integrated multiferroic devices are compact, lightweight, power-efficient, and potentially integrable with current complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, showing great promise for applications in future biomedical, wireless communication, and reconfigurable electronic systems.
Background and Aim
The aim of this study is to identify gastric cancer burden in Indigenous Taiwanese peoples and conduct a project to evaluate how to reduce the disparities most effectively in ...Indigenous communities.
Methods
First, we quantified the health disparities in gastric cancer in Indigenous peoples using data from the cancer registries during the period of 2006–2014. Second, we identified parameters that might be associated with Helicobacter pylori infection or help identify a good eradication strategy.
Results
Gastric cancer incidence (24.4 vs 12.3 per 100 000 person‐years) and mortality rates (15.8 vs 6.8 per 100 000 person‐years) were higher in Indigenous than in non‐Indigenous, with 2.19‐fold (95% confidence interval CI: 2.06–2.33) and 2.47‐fold (2.28–2.67) increased risk, respectively. In Indigenous communities, H. pylori infection was more prevalent in Indigenous than in non‐Indigenous (59.4% vs 31.5%, P < 0.01). Regression analyses consistently showed that either the mountain or plain Indigenous had 1.89‐fold (95% CI: 1.34–2.66) and 1.73‐fold (95% CI: 1.24–2.41) increased risk for H. pylori infection, respectively, as compared with non‐Indigenous, adjusting for other baseline characteristics. The high infection rates were similarly seen in young, middle‐aged, and older adults. Program eradication rates using clarithromycin‐based triple therapy were suboptimal (73.7%, 95% CI: 70.0–77.4%); the habits of smoking (1.70‐fold, 95% CI: 1.01–2.39) and betel nut chewing (1.54‐fold, 95% CI: 0.93–2.16) were associated with the higher risk of treatment failure.
Conclusion
Gastric cancer burden is higher in Indigenous Taiwanese peoples than in their non‐Indigenous counterparts. Eliminating the prevalent risk factor of H. pylori infection is a top priority to reduce this health disparity.
This study used robot-based practices to develop an activity that incorporated the 6E model. The sixth-grade students learned interdisciplinary knowledge about how to use Arduino electronic ...components, microcontrollers, and hands-on tools to make a "Crab Robot." In addition, the students learned how to use Scratch programming language to control the robot and complete the "Crab Robot Crossing the Road" task. The study implemented a quasi-experimental design to examine whether the students who learned the robot-based activity using the 6E model acquired better learning motivation, learning performance, computational thinking ability, and hands-on ability than those who learned the activity through lectures. This study adopted purposive sampling to select 70 sixth-grade students from four classes, which were divided into the experimental group (6E model) and the control group (lectures). The experiment was conducted over a period of 18 weeks (for a total duration of 1,440 minutes). The results from the pretests-posttests showed that both groups of students improved their learning motivation, learning performance, computational thinking ability, and hands-on ability; however, the experimental group's scores were significantly better. More importantly, this study provides a pedagogy manuscript for instructors who want to teach mechatronics programs and programming design education.
Disorder and non-Hermiticity dramatically impact the topological and localization properties of a quantum system, giving rise to intriguing quantum states of matter. The rich interplay of disorder, ...non-Hermiticity, and topology is epitomized by the recently proposed non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulator that hosts a plethora of exotic phenomena. Here we experimentally simulate the non-Hermitian topological Anderson insulator using disordered photonic quantum walks, and characterize its localization and topological properties. In particular, we focus on the competition between Anderson localization induced by random disorder, and the non-Hermitian skin effect under which all eigenstates are squeezed toward the boundary. The two distinct localization mechanisms prompt a non-monotonous change in profile of the Lyapunov exponent, which we experimentally reveal through dynamic observables. We then probe the disorder-induced topological phase transitions, and demonstrate their biorthogonal criticality. Our experiment further advances the frontier of synthetic topology in open systems.
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