National Diabetes Education Program of NIH, Mayo Clinic and American Diabetes Association recommend eggplant-based diet as a choice for management of type 2 diabetes. The rationale for this ...suggestion is the high fiber and low soluble carbohydrate content of eggplant. We propose that a more physiologically relevant explanation lies in the phenolic-linked antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory potential of eggplant which could reduce hyperglycemia-induced pathogenesis. Results from this study indicate that phenolic-enriched extracts of eggplant with moderate free radical scavenging-linked antioxidant activity had high α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and in specific cases moderate to high angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Inhibition of these enzymes provide a strong biochemical basis for management of type 2 diabetes by controlling glucose absorption and reducing associated hypertension, respectively. This phenolic antioxidant-enriched dietary strategy also has the potential to reduce hyperglycemia-induced pathogenesis linked to cellular oxidation stress. These results provide strong rationale for further animal and clinical studies.
Articular cartilage is a load-bearing tissue that lines the surface of bones in diarthrodial joints. Unfortunately, this avascular tissue has a limited capacity for intrinsic repair. Treatment ...options for articular cartilage defects include microfracture and arthroplasty; however, these strategies fail to generate tissue that adequately restores damaged cartilage. Limitations of current treatments for cartilage defects have prompted the field of cartilage tissue engineering, which seeks to integrate engineering and biological principles to promote the growth of new cartilage to replace damaged tissue. To date, a wide range of scaffolds and cell sources have emerged with a focus on recapitulating the microenvironments present during development or in adult tissue, in order to induce the formation of cartilaginous constructs with biochemical and mechanical properties of native tissue. Hydrogels have emerged as a promising scaffold due to the wide range of possible properties and the ability to entrap cells within the material. Towards improving cartilage repair, hydrogel design has advanced in recent years to improve their utility. Some of these advances include the development of improved network crosslinking (e.g. double-networks), new techniques to process hydrogels (e.g. 3D printing) and better incorporation of biological signals (e.g. controlled release). This review summarises these innovative approaches to engineer hydrogels towards cartilage repair, with an eye towards eventual clinical translation.
The scale and capabilities of single-cell RNA-sequencing methods have expanded rapidly in recent years, enabling major discoveries and large-scale cell mapping efforts. However, these methods have ...not been systematically and comprehensively benchmarked. Here, we directly compare seven methods for single-cell and/or single-nucleus profiling-selecting representative methods based on their usage and our expertise and resources to prepare libraries-including two low-throughput and five high-throughput methods. We tested the methods on three types of samples: cell lines, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and brain tissue, generating 36 libraries in six separate experiments in a single center. To directly compare the methods and avoid processing differences introduced by the existing pipelines, we developed scumi, a flexible computational pipeline that can be used with any single-cell RNA-sequencing method. We evaluated the methods for both basic performance, such as the structure and alignment of reads, sensitivity and extent of multiplets, and for their ability to recover known biological information in the samples.
3D bioprinting is a promising approach for the repair of cartilage tissue after damage due to injury or disease; however, the design of 3D printed scaffolds has been limited by the availability of ...bioinks with requisite printability, cytocompatibility, and bioactivity. To address this, we developed an approach termed in situ crosslinking that permits the printing of non-viscous, photocrosslinkable bioinks via the direct-curing of the bioink with light through a photopermeable capillary prior to deposition. Using a norbornene-modified hyaluronic acid (NorHA) macromer as a representative bioink and our understanding of thiol-ene curing kinetics with visible light, we varied the printing parameters (e.g., capillary length, flow rate, light intensity) to identify printing conditions that were optimal for the ink. The printing process was cytocompatible, with high cell viability and homogenous distribution of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) observed throughout printed constructs. Over 56 days of culture in chondrogenic media, printed constructs increased in compressive moduli, biochemical content (i.e., sulfated glycosaminoglycans, collagen), and histological staining of matrix associated with cartilage tissue. This generalizable printing approach may be used towards the repair of focal defects in articular cartilage or broadly towards widespread biomedical applications across a range of photocrosslinkable bioinks that can now be printed.
In the current study, three different types of cheese, cheddar, feta, and Roquefort, were screened to determine the variations in phenolic-linked antioxidant activity and the potential to inhibit key ...enzymes relevant to type 2 diabetes and related hypertension. The cheese samples were assayed for total phenolic content, related antioxidant activity, and inhibition of α-glucosidase, pancreatic α-amylase inhibitory activity, and the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-I inhibitory activity. The three fungal-enriched Roquefort cheese samples had the highest total phenolic content. The phenolic content in the herb cheese was slightly but not significantly higher compared to plain cheese. Roquefort cheese samples had the highest antioxidant-linked DPPH (free radical) scavenging activity and as expected DPPH radical scavenging activity was higher in the herb cheese compared to plain cheese. All samples had some α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities, with cranberry-enriched cheese having the highest activities. However, no correlation to soluble phenolic content was observed. All the cheese samples had very high anti-ACE-I inhibitory activity, indicating no correlation to phenolic content and activity was even high in 10× diluted samples. The highest ACE-I inhibitory activity was observed in plain and herb-enriched cheddar cheese as well as cranberry-enriched cheese. These studies indicate that cranberry-enriched cheese had the best potential for inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase relevant for type 2 diabetes management, whereas any cheese product had potential for ACE-I inhibition linked to hypertension management, indicating likely the role of other factors such as peptides from cheese fermentation.
This research is focused on screening of different types of commercial plain, herbal, fruit, and fungal-enriched to provide a strong biochemical rationale for further design of functional cheese products for anti-type 2 diabetic and relevant hypertension management. A better understanding of these functional attributes provides a strong biochemical rationale for design
in vivo and clinical studies from which right design of functional food can be established.
It is generally accepted that extreme space weather events tend to be related to strong flares and fast halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In the present paper, we carefully identify the chain of ...events from the Sun to the Earth induced by all 12 X‐class flares that occurred in 2002. In this small sample, we find an unusual high rate (58%) of solar sources with a longitude larger than 74°. Yet all 12 X‐class flares are associated with at least one CME. The fast halo CMEs (50%) are related to interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) at L1 and weak Dst minimum values (more than −51 nT), while five (41%) of the 12 X‐class flares are related to solar proton events (SPEs).
We conclude that (i) all 12 analyzed solar events, even those associated with fast halo CMEs originating from the central disk region, and those ICMEs and SPEs were not very geo‐effective. This unexpected result demonstrates that the suggested events in the chain (fast halo CME, X‐class flares, central disk region, ICME, and SPE) are not infallible proxies for geo‐effectiveness. (ii) The low value of integrated and normalized southward component of the interplanetary magnetic field (
Bz*) may explain the low geo‐effectiveness for this small sample. In fact,
Bz* is well correlated to the weak Dst and low auroral electrojet activity. Hence, the only space weather impact at Earth in 2002 we can explain is based on
Bz* at L1.
Key Points
We discussed geo‐effectiveness of the 12 X‐class flare‐CMEs in 2002 based on the available observations
They failed to evoke strong disturbances since weak interplanetary magnetic field southward components
The usual solar proxies (complex active region, X‐class flare, and fast halo CME) are not sufficient to forecast geo‐effectivity in 2002
Introduction
There are animal models associating dopamine dysfunction with behavioral impairments that model attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Erythropoietin (EPO) has trophic effects ...on dopaminergic neurons.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to examine the Erythropoietin (EPO) plasma levels and determine whether there was any correlation between plasma EPO levels and clinical characteristics of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD).
Methods
Plasma EPO levels were measured in 78 drug naïve children with ADHD and in 81 healthy children. The severity of ADHD symptoms was determined by scores on the Korean ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS) in children and healthy controls.
Results
The ADHD group consisted of 64 boys and 14 girls, and the healthy control group of 31 boys and 50 girls. The median plasma EPO levels in ADHD children was 12.9 mIU/mL, whereas it was 12.0 mIU/mL in the healthy controls. This difference was not statistically significant. Participants in the highest tertiles of plasma EPO had a 1.49 times higher risk of ADHD than those in the lowest tertile, and those in the second highest tertile had a 2.39 times higher risk of ADHD than those in the lowest tertile. Plasma EPO levels correlated positively with some K-ARS scores, including hyperactivity-impulsivity score and total score. The significant difference in hyperactivity-impulsivity score comparing participants in the second highest with those in the lowest tertile. total K-ARS score was significantly higher in the second highest tertile of plasma EPO compared to those in the lowest tertile.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that plasma EPO levels were related to some ADHD symptoms, which could be used in the monitoring of the disorder. Further studies are required to clearly understand the source and role of EPO in ADHD.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
For almost 20 years the physical nature of globally propagating waves in the solar corona (commonly called “EIT waves”) has been controversial and subject to debate. Additional theories have been ...proposed over the years to explain observations that did not agree with the originally proposed fast-mode wave interpretation. However, the incompatibility of observations made using the
Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(EIT) onboard the
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
with the fast-mode wave interpretation was challenged by differing viewpoints from the twin
Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory
spacecraft and data with higher spatial and temporal resolution from the
Solar Dynamics Observatory
. In this article, we reexamine the theories proposed to explain EIT waves to identify measurable properties and behaviours that can be compared to current and future observations. Most of us conclude that the so-called EIT waves are best described as fast-mode large-amplitude waves or shocks that are initially driven by the impulsive expansion of an erupting coronal mass ejection in the low corona.
We investigate the solar phenomena associated with the origin of the solar energetic particle (SEP) event observed on 2013 April 11 by a number of spacecraft distributed in the inner heliosphere over ...a broad range of heliolongitudes. We use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and white-light coronagraph observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory, and the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory spacecraft (STEREO-A and STEREO-B) to determine the angular extent of the EUV wave and coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the origin of the SEP event. We show that the west flank of the CME-driven shock propagating at high altitudes above the solar surface was most likely the source of the particles observed near Earth, but it did not leave any EUV trace on the solar disk.
Massively parallel single-cell RNA sequencing can precisely resolve cellular diversity in a high-throughput manner at low cost, but unbiased isolation of intact single cells from complex tissues such ...as adult mammalian brains is challenging. Here, we integrate sucrose-gradient-assisted purification of nuclei with droplet microfluidics to develop a highly scalable single-nucleus RNA-seq approach (sNucDrop-seq), which is free of enzymatic dissociation and nucleus sorting. By profiling ∼18,000 nuclei isolated from cortical tissues of adult mice, we demonstrate that sNucDrop-seq not only accurately reveals neuronal and non-neuronal subtype composition with high sensitivity but also enables in-depth analysis of transient transcriptional states driven by neuronal activity, at single-cell resolution, in vivo.
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•We report “sNucDrop-seq,” a massively parallel single-nucleus RNA-seq method•sNucDrop-seq reveals neuronal subtype composition in adult mammalian brain regions•sNucDrop-seq enables the dissection of transient transcriptional states•sNucDrop-seq enables mapping of cell-type-specific response to PTZ-induced seizures
Hu et al. developed sNucDrop-seq, a highly scalable single-nucleus RNA-seq method that resolves cell-type heterogeneity and enables the dynamics of transient transcriptional states to be analyzed with single-cell resolution in freshly isolated or frozen mammalian tissues. This allows mapping of seizure-induced transcriptional responses at single-cell resolution in mammalian brains.
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