Monocytes/macrophages (MMs), mononuclear phagocytes, have been implicated in stroke-induced inflammation and injury. However, the presence of pro-inflammatory Ly-6Chigh and antiinflammatory Ly-6Clow ...monocyte subsets raises uncertainty regarding their role in stroke pathologic assessment. With recent identification of the spleen as an immediate reservoir of MMs, this current study addresses whether the spleen-derived MMs are required for stroke pathologic assessment. We observed that the spleen was contracted in poststroke animals and the contraction was accompanied by decreased number of Ly-6Chigh and Ly-6Clow subsets in the spleen. The deployment of these subsets from the spleen temporally coincided with respective increases in the ischemic brain. Compared to mice with the spleen, mice receiving a splenectomy just before the stroke displayed less accumulation of Ly-6Chigh and Ly-6Clow MMs in the brain. Despite the reduced accumulation of both subsets, infarct size and swelling were not reduced in the asplenic mice. The dissociative findings of infarct size and extent of MM infiltration in the postischemic brain indicate minimal involvement of spleen-derived total MMs in acute infarct development. Selective Ly-6Chigh or Ly-6Clow MM targeting is suggested to address the contribution of the individual subset to acute stroke pathologic assessment.
Previous research has established the usefulness of remotely sensed vegetation index (VI) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to characterize the spatial dynamics of ...agriculture in the state of Mato Grosso (MT), Brazil. With these data it has become possible to track MT agriculture, which accounts for ~85% of Brazilian Amazon soy production, across periods of several years. Annual land cover (LC) maps support investigation of the spatiotemporal dynamics of agriculture as they relate to forest cover and governance and policy efforts to lower deforestation rates. We use a unique, spatially extensive 9-year (2005-2013) ground reference dataset to classify, with approximately 80% accuracy, MODIS VI data, merging the results with carefully processed annual forest and sugarcane coverages developed by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research to produce LC maps for MT for the 2001-2014 crop years. We apply the maps to an evaluation of forest and agricultural intensification dynamics before and after the Soy Moratorium (SoyM), a governance effort enacted in July 2006 to halt deforestation for the purpose of soy production in the Brazilian Amazon. We find the pre-SoyM deforestation rate to be more than five times the post-SoyM rate, while simultaneously observing the pre-SoyM forest-to-soy conversion rate to be more than twice the post-SoyM rate. These observations support the hypothesis that SoyM has played a role in reducing both deforestation and subsequent use for soy production. Additional analyses explore the land use tendencies of deforested areas and the conceptual framework of horizontal and vertical agricultural intensification, which distinguishes production increases attributable to cropland expansion into newly deforested areas as opposed to implementation of multi-cropping systems on existing cropland. During the 14-year study period, soy production was found to shift from predominantly single-crop systems to majority double-crop systems.
Enzyme-based biosensing devices have been extensively developed over the last few decades, and have proven to be innovative techniques in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a variety of ...target substrates over a wide range of applications. Distinct advantages that enzyme-based biosensors provide, such as high sensitivity and specificity, portability, cost-effectiveness, and the possibilities for miniaturization and point-of-care diagnostic testing make them more and more attractive for research focused on clinical analysis, food safety control, or disease monitoring purposes. Therefore, this review article investigates the operating principle of enzymatic biosensors utilizing electrochemical, optical, thermistor, and piezoelectric measurement techniques and their applications in the literature, as well as approaches in improving the use of enzymes for biosensors.
Abstract
Countless studies in animals have shown how housing environments and behaviors can significantly affect anxiety and brain health, giving valuable insight as to whether this is applicable in ...the human context. The relationship between housing, behavior, brain health, and mental wellbeing in humans remains poorly understood. We therefore explored the interaction of housing quality, weekend/holiday sedentary behavior, brain structure, and anxiety in healthy Japanese adults. Whole-brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods based on gray matter volume and fractional anisotropy were used as markers for brain health. Correlation tests were conducted, and then adjusted for multiple comparisons using the False Discovery Rate method. Housing quality and weekend/holiday sedentary behavior were associated with fractional anisotropy, but not with gray matter volume. Fractional anisotropy showed significant associations with anxiety. Lastly, both weekend/holiday sedentary behavior and housing quality were indirectly associated with anxiety through fractional anisotropy. These results add to the limited evidence surrounding the relationship among housing, behavior, and the brain. Furthermore, these results show that behavior and housing qualities can have an indirect impact on anxiety through neurobiological markers such as fractional anisotropy.
Spatial understanding of osteoarticular deformities of the foot and ankle is vital to correct diagnosis and therapeutic decision making. Poor reproducibility in conventional standing radiography in ...three orthogonal views has driven the development of weight-bearing computed tomography (WBCT) technology over the last decade. We analyzed the available literature on WBCT imaging in patients with foot and ankle disorders by performing a literature review of relevant clinical studies in multiple databases including PubMed, MedLine, and Scopus from January 1999 to October 2017. WBCT imaging allows correct evaluation of foot and ankle anatomy with the patient in a standing position, providing images with high spatial resolution, short image acquisition time, low dose of radiation, and costs which are similar to other available imaging technologies. This diagnostic tool can be used for decision making in the treatment of deformities of the ankle, hindfoot, midfoot, and forefoot. Level of Evidence III; Systematic review of level III studies.
A consensus regarding which implant-abutment connection type would perform best in the anterior maxilla is lacking.
The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the best implant-abutment ...connection type for anterior single-tooth implants considering esthetics, success, and survival rates.
An electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases to identify clinical studies on single-tooth implants with external and internal hexagon, and/or Morse taper connections. These studies needed to describe at least one of the following outcomes: esthetic score, survival/success rate, or marginal bone loss. The included studies and reports were assessed for bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool.
Of the 891 articles identified, 29 were selected and analyzed. The most common technical complications were abutment screw loosening and crown-cement loosening, while dehiscence and recession were the most common biological complications. The most frequent complications were dehiscence for external hexagon, crown-cement loosening for the internal hexagon, and ceramic fracture for the Morse taper. Esthetics were favorable for all connections, but the internal hexagon performed better. However, better results for marginal bone loss, success, and survival were found for the Morse taper. The global annual failure rate was 0.90% and 0.2% for Morse taper, 0.3% for external hexagon, and 2.2% for internal hexagon.
This review suggests that Morse taper performs better for survival, success, and marginal bone loss. Internal hexagon performed better for esthetic parameters. Additional controlled studies are needed to provide stronger evidence because the evidence generated in this study was considered low.
Unhealthy lifestyles are damaging to the brain. Previous studies have indicated that body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake, short sleep, smoking, and lack of exercise are negatively associated with ...gray matter volume (GMV). Living alone has also been found to be related to GMV through lowered subjective happiness. However, to our knowledge, no GMV study has dealt with these unhealthy lifestyles simultaneously. By our analyses based on 142 healthy Japanese participants, BMI, alcohol intake, living alone, and short sleep were negatively associated with the gray-matter brain healthcare quotient (GM-BHQ), an MRI-based normalized GMV, after controlling for age, sex, and facility, not only individually but also when they were entered into a single regression model. Moreover, there were small but significant differences in the proportion of the variance for GM-BHQ explained by variables in a regression model (measured by R squared) between when these unhealthy variables were entered in an equation at the same time and when they were entered separately, with the former larger than the latter. However, smoking and lack of exercise were not significantly associated with GM-BHQ. Results indicate that some kinds of unhealthy lifestyles are somewhat harmful on their own, but may become more noxious to brain condition if practiced simultaneously, although its difference may not be large. To our knowledge, this study is the first to show that overlapping unhealthy lifestyles affects the brains of healthy adults.
Intestinal bacteria may influence lung homeostasis via the gut-lung axis. We conducted a single-center, quadruple-blinded, randomized trial in adult symptomatic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid19) ...outpatients. Subjects were allocated 1:1 to probiotic formula (strains Lactiplantibacillus plantarum KABP022, KABP023, and KAPB033, plus strain Pediococcus acidilactici KABP021, totaling 2 × 10
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colony-forming units (CFU)) or placebo, for 30 days. Co-primary endpoints included: i) proportion of patients in complete symptomatic and viral remission; ii) proportion progressing to moderate or severe disease with hospitalization, or death; and iii) days on Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Three hundred subjects were randomized (median age 37.0 years range 18 to 60, 161 53.7% women, 126 42.0% having known metabolic risk factors), and 293 completed the study (97.7%). Complete remission was achieved by 78 of 147 (53.1%) in probiotic group compared to 41 of 146 (28.1%) in placebo (RR: 1.89 95 CI 1.40-2.55; P < .001), significant after multiplicity correction. No hospitalizations or deaths occurred during the study, precluding the assessment of remaining co-primary outcomes. Probiotic supplementation was well-tolerated and reduced nasopharyngeal viral load, lung infiltrates and duration of both digestive and non-digestive symptoms, compared to placebo. No significant compositional changes were detected in fecal microbiota between probiotic and placebo, but probiotic supplementation significantly increased specific IgM and IgG against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) compared to placebo. It is thus hypothesized this probiotic primarily acts by interacting with the host's immune system rather than changing colonic microbiota composition. Future studies should replicate these findings and elucidate its mechanism of action (Registration: NCT04517422).
Abbreviations: AE: Adverse Event; BMI: Body Mass Index; CONSORT: CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; CFU: Colony-Forming Units; eDRF: Electronic Daily Report Form; GLA: Gut-Lung Axis; GSRS: Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale; hsCRP: High-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein; HR: Hazard Ratio; ICU: Intensive Care Unit; OR: Odds Ratio; PCoA: Principal Coordinate Analysis; RR: Relative Risk; RT-qPCR: Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction; SARS-CoV2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SpO
2
: Peripheral Oxygen Saturation; WHO: World Health Organization
OBJECTIVES:To perform a complete immunological characterization of compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome in patients with sepsis and to explore the relationship between these changes and ...clinical outcomes of 28-day mortality and secondary infections.
DESIGN:Prospective single-center study conducted between April 2011 and December 2012.
SETTING:ICUs from Hospital Universitario San Vicente Fundación at Medellin, Colombia.
PATIENTS:One hundred forty-eight patients with severe sepsis.
INTERVENTIONS:None.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:At days 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, and 28, we determined the expression of HLA-DR in monocytes and the apoptosis and the proliferation index in T lymphocytes, as well as the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, interleukin-10, and transforming growth factor-β in both plasma and cell culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The mean percentage of HLA-DR was 60.7 at enrollment and increased by 0.9% (95% CI, 0.7–1.2%) per day. The mean percentage of CD4 T cells and CD8 T cells AV+/7-AAD– at enrollment was 37.2% and 20.4%, respectively, but it diminished at a rate of –0.5% (95% CI, –0.7% to –0.3%) and –0.3% (95% CI, –0.4% to –0.2%) per day, respectively. Plasma levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 were 290 and 166 pg/mL and decreased at a rate of –7.8 pg/mL (95% CI, –9.5 to –6.1 pg/mL) and –4 pg/mL (95% CI, –5.1 to –2.8 pg/mL) per day, respectively. After controlling for confounders, only sustained plasma levels of interleukin-6 increase the risk of death (hazard ratio 1.003; 95% CI, 1.001–1.006).
CONCLUSIONS:We found no evidence to support a two-phase model of sepsis pathophysiology. However, immunological variables did behave in a mixed and time-dependent manner. Further studies should evaluate changes over time of interleukin-6 plasma levels as a prognostic biomarker for critically ill patients.
•Lactation did not change blood-brain barrier permeability in basal conditions.•Lactation reduced hippocampal extravasation of tracers after KA lesioning.•Claudin-5 and occludin were affected by KA ...in the hippocampus of virgin and lactating rats.•Zonula occludens-1 was not affected by KA-induced lesion to virgin and lactating rats.
Diminished sensitivity to kainic acid (KA) lesioning action is present in the hippocampus of the lactating dam. Given that KA can alter blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, we investigated whether lactation would protect BBB permeability after treatment with this neurotoxin. Adult virgin or lactating (13–15 days pp) female Wistar rats were injected with an i.p. (10 mg/kg b.w.) or i.c.v. (100 ng/1 μl) KA dose. Control groups received a similar volume of vehicle. BBB permeability was assessed by an injection of fluorescent FITC-conjugated dextran tracer (40 kDa, 50 mg/500 μl) or of 4% Evans blue dye (500 μl), given 24 h after KA administration. Extravasation of dye or tracer was detected in virgin but not in lactating rats exposed to KA. In particular, increased extravasation of FITC-dextran was detected in the hippocampal subfields CA1 and CA3 and in the cerebral cortex of virgin rats that received KA, while lactating rats showed increased label for FITC-dextran only in the cerebral cortex. Western blot analysis of tight junction proteins showed a decrease of claudin-5 and occludin but not of zonula occludens-1 in the hippocampus of both virgin and lactating rats. These results allow us to conclude that the BBB of lactating rats is less sensitive to KA lesioning action in comparison to that of virgin rats by mechanisms different than those of tight junction proteins.
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