Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiome composition alterations affect neurodegeneration through neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we evaluate gut ...microbiota alterations and host cytokine responses in a population of Taiwanese patients with PD.
Fecal microbiota communities from 80 patients with PD and 77 age and gender-matched controls were assessed by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Diet and comorbidities were controlled in the analyses. Plasma concentrations of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-13, IL-18, GM-CSF, IFNγ, and TNFα were measured by a multiplex immunoassay and relationships between microbiota, clinical characteristics, and cytokine levels were analyzed in the PD group. We further examined the cytokine changes associated with the altered gut microbiota seen in patients with PD in another independent cohort of 120 PD patients and 120 controls.
Microbiota from patients with PD was altered relative to controls and dominated by Verrucomicrobia, Mucispirillum, Porphyromonas, Lactobacillus, and Parabacteroides. In contrast, Prevotella was more abundant in controls. The abundances of Bacteroides were more increased in patients with non-tremor PD subtype than patients with tremor subtype. Bacteroides abundance was correlated with motor symptom severity defined by UPDRS part III motor scores (rho = 0.637 95% confidence interval 0.474 to 0.758, P < 0.01). Altered microbiota was correlated with plasma concentrations of IFNγ and TNFα. There was a correlation between Bacteroides and plasma level of TNFα (rho = 0.638 95% CI: 0.102-0.887, P = 0.02); and a correlation between Verrucomicrobia abundance and plasma concentrations of IFNγ (rho = 0.545 95% CI - 0.043-0.852, P = 0.05). The elevated plasma cytokine responses were confirmed in an additional independent 120 patients with PD and 120 controls (TNFα: PD vs. control 8.51 ± 4.63 pg/ml vs. 4.82 ± 2.23 pg/ml, P < 0.01; and IFNγ: PD vs. control: 38.45 ± 7.12 pg/ml vs. 32.79 ± 8.03 pg/ml, P = 0.03).
This study reveals altered gut microbiota in PD and its correlation with clinical phenotypes and severity in our population. The altered plasma cytokine profiles associated with gut microbiome composition alterations suggest aberrant immune responses may contribute to inflammatory processes in PD.
The literature to date has predominantly focused on the benefits of ethical leader behaviors for recipients (e.g., employees and teams). Adopting an actor-centric perspective, in this study we ...examined whether exhibiting ethical leader behaviors may come at some cost to leaders. Drawing from ego depletion and moral licensing theories, we explored the potential challenges of ethical leader behavior for actors. Across 2 studies which employed multiwave designs that tracked behaviors over consecutive days, we found that leaders' displays of ethical behavior were positively associated with increases in abusive behavior the following day. This association was mediated by increases in depletion and moral credits owing to their earlier displays of ethical behavior. These results suggest that attention is needed to balance the benefits of ethical leader behaviors for recipients against the challenges that such behaviors pose for actors, which include feelings of mental fatigue and psychological license and ultimately abusive interpersonal behaviors.
Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) structure offers numerous structural benefits, and has been widely used in civil engineering structures. This paper reviews the development of the family of ...concrete-filled steel tubular structures to date and draws a research framework on CFST members. The research development on CFST structural members in most recent years, particularly in China, is summarized and discussed. The current design approaches from various countries are examined briefly. Some projects in China utilizing CFST members are also introduced. Finally, some concluding remarks are made for CFST members.
•We summarize various types of CFST members.•We advise research framework and a recent research review on CFST members.•We present various projects using CFST members in China.
Consistent (pause-free) quality of service is required in peer-to-peer (P2P) video streaming systems. In this paper, we aim to eliminate the problem of playback pauses in such systems via the use of ...positive incentives for peers to contribute high upload rates. We model our problem as a market, where the market stakeholders consist of multiple content providers, advertisement providers, and network peers; the positive incentives for peers in the market are reduced advertisement (ad) viewing durations. From a system design perspective, one of our primary goals is to compute the market equilibria that include appropriate ad viewing durations, offering sufficient incentives for network peers to continue contributing. Our simulation-based studies demonstrate that we mitigate the "playback pause" problem for peers by up to 80% as compared to existing approaches, generate sufficient utility for advertisers to be part of the market, and enable content providers to achieve their desired utility by providing sufficient incentives for all peers to stay in the system without violating ad provider agreements.
It is demonstrated that carbon quantum dots derived from curcumin (Cur‐CQDs) through one‐step dry heating are effective antiviral agents against enterovirus 71 (EV71). The surface properties of ...Cur‐CQDs, as well as their antiviral activity, are highly dependent on the heating temperature during synthesis. The one‐step heating of curcumin at 180 °C preserves many of the moieties of polymeric curcumin on the surfaces of the as‐synthesized Cur‐CQDs, resulting in superior antiviral characteristics. It is proposed that curcumin undergoes a series of structural changes through dehydration, polymerization, and carbonization to form core–shell CQDs whose surfaces remain a pyrolytic curcumin‐like polymer, boosting the antiviral activity. The results reveal that curcumin possesses insignificant inhibitory activity against EV71 infection in RD cells half‐maximal effective concentration (EC50) >200 µg mL−1 but exhibits high cytotoxicity toward RD cells (half‐maximal cytotoxic concentration (CC50) <13 µg mL−1). The EC50 (0.2 µg mL−1) and CC50 (452.2 µg mL−1) of Cur‐CQDs are >1000‐fold lower and >34‐fold higher, respectively, than those of curcumin, demonstrating their far superior antiviral capabilities and high biocompatibility. In vivo, intraperitoneal administration of Cur‐CQDs significantly decreases mortality and provides protection against virus‐induced hind‐limb paralysis in new‐born mice challenged with a lethal dose of EV71.
Biocarbon quantum dots: a simple one‐step dry heating allows the synthesis of carbon quantum dots derived from curcumin. The obtained carbon quantum dots possess strong antiviral activity against enterovirus 71 through different mechanisms.
White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the causative agent of white spot syndrome (WSS), a disease that has led to severe mortality rates in cultured shrimp all over the world. The WSSV is a large, ...ellipsoid, enveloped double-stranded DNA virus with a wide host range among crustaceans. Currently, the main antiviral method is to block the receptor of the host cell membrane using recombinant viral proteins or virus antiserum. In addition to interference with the ligand-receptor binding, disrupting the structure of the virus envelope may also be a means to combat the viral infection. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are carbonaceous nanoparticles that have many advantageous characteristics, including small size, low cytotoxicity, cheap, and ease of production and modification. Polyamine-modified CQDs (polyamine CQDs) with strong antibacterial ability have been identified, previously. In this study, polyamine CQDs are shown to attach to the WSSV envelope and inhibit the virus infection, with a dose-dependent effect. The results also show that polyamine CQDs can upregulate several immune genes in shrimp and reduce the mortality upon WSSV infection. This is first study to identify that polyamine CQDs could against the virus. These results, indeed, provide a direction to develop effective antiviral strategies or therapeutic methods using polyamine CQDs in aquaculture.
An ideal solar-thermal absorber requires efficient selective absorption with a tunable bandwidth, excellent thermal conductivity and stability, and a simple structure for effective solar thermal ...energy conversion. Despite various solar absorbers having been demonstrated, these conditions are challenging to achieve simultaneously using conventional materials and structures. Here, we propose and demonstrate three-dimensional structured graphene metamaterial (SGM) that takes advantages of wavelength selectivity from metallic trench-like structures and broadband dispersionless nature and excellent thermal conductivity from the ultrathin graphene metamaterial film. The SGM absorbers exhibit superior solar selective and omnidirectional absorption, flexible tunability of wavelength selective absorption, excellent photothermal performance, and high thermal stability. Impressive solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency of 90.1% and solar-to-vapor efficiency of 96.2% have been achieved. These superior properties of the SGM absorber suggest it has a great potential for practical applications of solar thermal energy harvesting and manipulation.
Institutional theory is an increasingly utilized theoretical lens for entrepreneurship research. However, while institutional theory has proven highly useful, its use has reached a point that there ...is a need to establish a clearer understanding of its wide–ranging application to entrepreneurship research. Therefore, we will initially review the existing entrepreneurship literature that employs institutional theory to both understand the current status of the field, its current shortcomings, and where we need to move in the future. We then summarize and discuss the articles in this special issue and how they contribute to this process of advancing institutional theory and its application in entrepreneurship research.
Halide perovskites have gained tremendous attention in the past decade owing to their excellent properties in optoelectronics. Recently, a fascinating property, ferroelectricity, has been discovered ...in halide perovskites and quickly attracted widespread interest. Compared with traditional perovskite oxide ferroelectrics, halide perovskites display natural advantages such as structural softness, low weight, and easy processing, which are highly desirable in applications pursuing miniaturization and flexibility. This review focuses on the current research progress in halide perovskite ferroelectrics, encompassing the emerging materials systems and their potential applications in ferroelectric photovoltaics, self‐powered photodetection, and X‐ray detection. The main challenges and possible solutions in the future development of halide perovskite ferroelectric materials are also attempted to be pointed out.
Halide perovskite ferroelectrics display natural advantages of structural softness and low weight, which are highly desirable in applications pursuing miniaturization and flexibility. This review focuses on the current research progress in halide perovskite ferroelectrics, encompassing the emerging materials systems and their potential applications. The main challenges and possible solutions in the future development of these ferroelectrics are also highlighted.
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