Silicate-based bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGN) are gaining increasing attention in various biomedical applications due to their unique properties. Controlled synthesis of BGN is critical to their ...effective use in biomedical applications since BGN characteristics, such as morphology and composition, determining the properties of BGN, are highly related to the synthesis process. In the last decade, numerous investigations focusing on BGN synthesis have been reported. BGN can mainly be produced through the conventional melt-quench approach or by sol-gel methods. The latter approaches are drawing widespread attention, considering the convenience and versatility they offer to tune the properties of BGN. In this paper, we review the strategies of sol-gel processing of BGN, including those adopting different catalysts for initiating the hydrolysis and condensation of silicate precursors as well as those combining sol-gel chemistry with other techniques. The processes and mechanism of different synthesis approaches are introduced and discussed in detail. Considering the importance of the BGN morphology and composition to their biomedical applications, strategies put forward to control the size, shape, pore structure and composition of BGN are discussed. BGN are particularly interesting biomaterials for bone-related applications, however, they also have potential for other biomedical applications, e.g. in soft tissue regeneration/repair. Therefore, in the last part of this review, recently reported applications of BGN in soft tissue repair and wound healing are presented.
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•Sol-gel based approaches for BGN synthesis reviewed•Comparison of different sol-gel based methods for BGN production•Parameters controlling size, shape, porosity and composition of BGN discussed•Overview of biomedical applications of BGN besides bone regeneration
Maotai‐flavor liquor is one of the three basic traditional Chinese baijiu and is also the most famous baijiu in the world. Guizhou Maotai baijiu is the representative of Maotai‐flavor liquor, which ...has a long history of culture and is prepared using unique brewing methods. However, the main flavor of Maotai‐flavor liquor as well as the mechanism by which its aroma is produced is unclear. In this review, the Da‐qu production and fermentation processes for Maotai‐flavor liquor are briefly described along with the flavoring constituents of Maotai‐flavor liquor that have been recently reported. In addition, the volatile compounds and the aroma derived from Maotai‐flavor liquor are discussed. Finally, the microorganisms for the high‐temperature Daqu and fermentation processes of Maotai‐flavor liquor are discussed.
Practical Application
Maotai is one of the most famous baijiu in China and the most valuable in the market. However, it is unclear what is the key flavor of Maotai and what microbial metabolism is produced. So, if we can figure out the key flavor substances of Maotai baijiu, we can use the various technology to explore the microbes that produce this flavor to understand the mechanism of the production of Maotai. This will not only achieve breakthroughs in academic value, but also bring higher value to Maotai. On this basis, we can brew Maotai baijiu with better quality according to the fermentation mechanism of Maotai.
It's time to rethink the way networking stacks are implemented and leveraged for next-generation Internet applications. NeuroStack (nStack) is a nimble, extendable transport protocol framework and ...runtime that enables application-transparent and dynamic new protocol engagement and adaption.
This paper proposes a novel dual-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) filter technique. Based on the conventional dual-mode SIW structure, further investigation is performed. Multiple ...transmission zeros can be obtained at one side or both sides of the passband for an SIW cavity. Therefore, flexible design and high performance response can be available for dual-mode SIW filter. A dual-mode SIW bandpass filter with quasi-elliptic response and a dual-mode SIW diplexer with asymmetric channel response are simulated, fabricated, and measured to demonstrate and verify the novel property.
Aberrant function of cell cycle regulators results in uncontrolled cell proliferation, making them attractive therapeutic targets in cancer treatment. Indeed, survival of many cancers exclusively ...relies on these proteins, and several specific inhibitors are in clinical use. Although the ubiquitin-proteasome system is responsible for the periodic quality control of cell cycle proteins during cell cycle progression, increasing evidence clearly demonstrates the intimate interaction between cell cycle regulation and selective autophagy, important homeostasis maintenance machinery. However, these studies have often led to divergent rather than unifying explanations due to complexity of the autophagy signaling network, the inconsistent functions between general autophagy and selective autophagy, and the different characteristics of autophagic substrates. In this review, we highlight current data illustrating the contradictory and important role of cell cycle proteins in regulating autophagy. We also focus on how selective autophagy acts as a central mechanism to maintain orderly DNA repair and genome integrity by degrading specific cell cycle proteins, regulating cell division, and promoting DNA damage repair. We further discuss the ways in which selective autophagy may impact the cell cycle regulators, since failure to appropriately remove these can interfere with cell death-related processes, including senescence and autophagy-related cell death. Imbalanced cell proliferation is typically utilized by cancer cells to acquire resistance. Finally, we discuss the possibility of a potent anticancer therapeutic strategy that targets selective autophagy or autophagy and cell cycle together.
Mesoporous silica-based materials, especially mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), are being highly considered for biomedical applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering, not only ...because of their bioactivity and biocompatibility but also due to their tunable composition and potential use as drug delivery carriers owing to their controllable nanoporous structure. Numerous researches have reported that MBGs can be doped with various therapeutic ions (strontium, copper, magnesium, zinc, lithium, silver, etc.) and loaded with specific biomolecules (e.g., therapeutic drugs, antibiotics, growth factors) achieving controllable loading and release kinetics. Therefore, co-delivery of ions and biomolecules using a single MBG carrier is highly interesting as this approach provides synergistic effects toward improved therapeutic outcomes in comparison to the strategy of sole drug or ion delivery. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art in the field of mesoporous silica-based materials used for co-delivery of ions and therapeutic drugs with osteogenesis/cementogenesis, angiogenesis, antibacterial and anticancer properties. The analysis of the literature reveals that specially designed mesoporous nanocarriers can release multiple ions and drugs at therapeutically safe and relevant levels, achieving the desired biological effects (in vivo, in vitro) for specific biomedical applications. It is expected that this review on the ion/drug co-delivery concept using MBG carriers will shed light on the advantages of such co-delivery systems for clinical use. Areas for future research directions are identified and discussed.
Many studies in literature focus on the potential of single drug or ion delivery by mesoporous silica-based materials, exploiting the bioactivity, biocompatibility, tunable composition and controllable nanoporosity of these materials. Recenlty, studies have adopted the “dual-delivery” concept, by designing multi-functional mesoporous silica-based systems which are capable to deliver both biologically active ions and biomolecules (growth factors, drugs) simultaneously in order to achieve synergy of their complementary therapeutic activities. This review summarizes the state of the art in the field, with focus on osteogenesis/cementogenesis, angiogenesis, antibacterial and anticancer properties, and discusses the challenges and prospects for further progress in this area, expecting to generate broader interest in the technology for applications in disease treatment and regenerative medicine.
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The step of urbanization and modern civilization fosters different functional zones in a city, such as residential areas, business districts, and educational areas. In a metropolis, people commute ...between these functional zones every day to engage in different socioeconomic activities, e.g., working, shopping, and entertaining. In this paper, we propose a data-driven framework to discover functional zones in a city. Specifically, we introduce the concept of latent activity trajectory (LAT), which captures socioeconomic activities conducted by citizens at different locations in a chronological order. Later, we segment an urban area into disjointed regions according to major roads, such as highways and urban expressways. We have developed a topic-modeling-based approach to cluster the segmented regions into functional zones leveraging mobility and location semantics mined from LAT. Furthermore, we identify the intensity of each functional zone using Kernel Density Estimation. Extensive experiments are conducted with several urban scale datasets to show that the proposed framework offers a powerful ability to capture city dynamics and provides valuable calibrations to urban planners in terms of functional zones.
The proliferation of trajectory data in various application domains has inspired tremendous research efforts to analyze large-scale trajectory data from a variety of aspects. A fundamental ingredient ...of these trajectory analysis tasks and applications is distance measures for effectively determining how similar two trajectories are. We conduct a comprehensive survey of the trajectory distance measures. The trajectory distance measures are classified into four categories according to the trajectory data type and whether the temporal information is measured. In addition, the effectiveness and complexity of each distance measure are studied. The experimental study is also conducted on their effectiveness in the six different trajectory transformations.
Background and Purpose
Short‐chain fatty acids are fermentation end products produced by gut bacteria, which have been shown to ameliorate inflammatory bowel diseases and allergic asthma. However, ...the mechanism involved remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of sodium butyrate (SB) on LPS‐induced mastitis model.
Experimental Approach
Effects of increasing doses of SB on blood‐milk barrier function and inflammation are studied in BALB/c mice with LPS‐induced mastitis. The underlying mechanisms of anti‐inflammatory effects of SB were further investigated in LPS‐stimulated mouse mammary epithelial cells (mMECs).
Key Results
The results show that SB decreased LPS‐induced disruption in mammary tissues, infiltration of inflammatory cells and the levels of TNF‐α, IL‐6 and IL‐1β. SB up‐regulated the tight junction proteins occludin and claudin‐3 and reduced blood‐milk barrier permeability in LPS‐induced mastitis. Studies in vitro revealed that SB inhibited LPS‐induced inflammatory response by inhibition of the NF‐κB signalling pathway and histone deacetylases in LPS‐stimulated mMECs.
Conclusions and Implications
In our model, SB protected against LPS‐induced mastitis by preserving blood‐milk barrier function and depressing pro‐inflammatory responses, suggesting the potential use of SB as a prophylactic agent to protect blood‐milk barrier function in mastitis.
Ischemic stroke (IS) is a detrimental neurological disease with limited treatments options. It has been challenging to define the roles of brain cell subsets in IS onset and progression due to ...cellular heterogeneity in the CNS. Here, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to comprehensively map the cell populations in the mouse model of MCAO (middle cerebral artery occlusion). We identified 17 principal brain clusters with cell-type specific gene expression patterns as well as specific cell subpopulations and their functions in various pathways. The CNS inflammation triggered upregulation of key cell type-specific genes unpublished before. Notably, microglia displayed a cell differentiation diversity after stroke among its five distinct subtypes. Importantly, we found the potential trajectory branches of the monocytes/macrophage’s subsets. Finally, we also identified distinct subclusters among brain vasculature cells, ependymal cells and other glia cells. Overall, scRNA-seq revealed the precise transcriptional changes during neuroinflammation at the single-cell level, opening up a new field for exploration of the disease mechanisms and drug discovery in stroke based on the cell-subtype specific molecules.
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