Abstract
Context
The key gut microbial biomarkers for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and how dysbiosis causes insulin resistance and PCOS remain unclear.
Objective
To assess the characteristics ...of intestinal flora in PCOS and explore whether abnormal intestinal flora can affect insulin resistance and promote PCOS and whether chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) can activate intestinal farnesoid X receptor (FXR), improving glucose metabolism in PCOS.
Setting and design
The intestinal flora of treatment-naïve PCOS patients and hormonally healthy controls was analyzed. Phenotype analysis, intestinal flora analysis, and global metabolomic profiling of caecal contents were performed on a letrozole-induced PCOS mouse model; similar analyses were conducted after 35 days of antibiotic treatment on the PCOS mouse model, and glucose tolerance testing was performed on the PCOS mouse model after a 35-day CDCA treatment. Mice receiving fecal microbiota transplants from PCOS patients or healthy controls were evaluated after 10 weeks.
Results
Bacteroides was significantly enriched in treatment-naïve PCOS patients. The enrichment in Bacteroides was reproduced in the PCOS mouse model. Gut microbiota removal ameliorated the PCOS phenotype and insulin resistance and increased relative FXR mRNA levels in the ileum and serum fibroblast growth factor 15 levels. PCOS stool-transplanted mice exhibited insulin resistance at 10 weeks but not PCOS. Treating the PCOS mouse model with CDCA improved glucose metabolism.
Conclusions
Bacteroides is a key microbial biomarker in PCOS and shows diagnostic value. Gut dysbiosis can cause insulin resistance. FXR activation might play a beneficial rather than detrimental role in glucose metabolism in PCOS.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is emerging as the hottest information tracing technology in supply chain management with its inherent ability to reveal item-level product information. Although ...the beneficial aspects for retailers have been studied in greater detail, RFID tags can be beneficially utilized in a manufacturing context. Unlike a majority of case study-based literature in this area, this paper takes a different perspective by modeling item-level information visibility in general. Specifically, this is accomplished through reduced randomness, as a function of the scale of the information system, the distribution of the sample space, the control variables and the production functions. In order to discover the optimal procedure that utilizes item-level information, we extend the basic model to cover multiple periods. Appropriate example scenarios are simulated accordingly to verify the results and to show evidence supporting the generality and robustness of the model.
Neuroinflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) is an important subject of neuroimmunological research. Emerging evidence suggests that neuroinflammation is a key player in various neurological ...disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases and CNS injury. Neuroinflammation is a complex and well‐orchestrated process by various groups of glial cells in CNS and peripheral immune cells. The cross‐talks between various groups of glial cells in CNS neuroinflammation is an extremely complex and dynamic process which resembles a well‐orchestrated symphony. However, the understanding of how glial cells interact with each other to shape the distinctive immune responses of the CNS remains limited. In this review, we will discuss the joint actions of glial cells in three phases of neuroinflammation, including initiation, progression, and prognosis, the three movements of the symphony, as the role of each type of glial cells in neuroinflammation depends on the nature of inflammatory cues and specific course of diseases. This perspective of glial cells in neuroinflammation might provide helpful clues to the development of the early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of the various CNS diseases.
Main Points
Neuroinflammation in the CNS is well orchestrated by different groups of glial cells and immune cells.
Neuroinflammation reflects joint actions of glial cells in three phases of neuroinflammation, including initiation, progression and prognosis.
Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) are single-stranded, covalently closed RNA molecules that are ubiquitous across species ranging from viruses to mammals. Important advances have been made in the biogenesis, ...regulation, localization, degradation and modification of circRNAs. CircRNAs exert biological functions by acting as transcriptional regulators, microRNA (miR) sponges and protein templates. Moreover, emerging evidence has revealed that a group of circRNAs can serve as protein decoys, scaffolds and recruiters. However, the existing research on circRNA-protein interactions is quite limited. Hence, in this review, we briefly summarize recent progress in the metabolism and functions of circRNAs and elaborately discuss the patterns of circRNA-protein interactions, including altering interactions between proteins, tethering or sequestering proteins, recruiting proteins to chromatin, forming circRNA-protein-mRNA ternary complexes and translocating or redistributing proteins. Many discoveries have revealed that circRNAs have unique expression signatures and play crucial roles in a variety of diseases, enabling them to potentially act as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This review systematically evaluates the roles and mechanisms of circRNAs, with the hope of advancing translational medicine involving circRNAs.
NiMo alloys are efficient electrocatalysts in alkaline water electrolyzer for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Metals are usually considered to be stable during the cathodic process. However, ...the actual behaviors of Mo in the NiMo alloys are unexplored. Here, we present the instability of Mo in the Ni4Mo alloy as a highly efficient HER electrocatalyst in an alkaline medium. Mo in Ni4Mo is oxidized and dissolved in the form of MoO42− first. The dissolved MoO42− will re‐adsorb on the electrode surface and polymerize. Theoretical calculations indicate that the adsorption of the dimer Mo2O72− can promote the HER activity of metal Ni. The addition of MoO42− to the electrolyte can not only repair the durability of Ni4Mo alloy, but also facilitate the HER activity of pure metal of Ni, Fe, and Co. Our findings provide insight into the structural transformation mechanism and performance‐enhanced origin of cathodic materials under the reaction conditions.
NiMo alloys, as one of the most efficient electrocatalysts in the alkaline electrolyzer, are unstable during the alkaline hydrogen evolution. An in situ transformation including oxidative dissolution of Mo in the form of MoO42−, the re‐adsorption of MoO42−, the polymerization of MoO42− to Mo2O72−, and the activity promotion by the Mo2O72− is presented.
Purely organic room temperature phosphorescence, especially in aqueous solution, is attracting increasing attention owing to its large Stokes shift, long lifetime, low preparation cost, low toxicity, ...good processing performance advantages, and broad application value. This review mainly focuses on macrocyclic (cyclodextrin and cucurbituril) hosts, nanoassembly, and macromolecule (polyether) confinement-driven RTP. As an optical probe, the assembly and the two-stage assembly strategy can realize the confined purely organic RTP and achieve energy transfer and light-harvesting from fluorescence to delayed fluorescence or phosphorescence. This supramolecular assembly is widely applied for luminescent materials, cell imaging, and other fields because it effectively avoids oxygen quenching. In addition, the near-infrared excitation, near-infrared emission, and
in situ
imaging of purely organic room temperature phosphorescence in assembled confinement materials are also prospected.
Purely organic room temperature phosphorescence, especially in aqueous solution, is attracting increasing attention owing to its large Stokes shift, long lifetime, low preparation cost, low toxicity, good processing performance advantages, and broad application value.
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an attractive strategy for the large‐scale production of renewable hydrogen from water. Developing cost‐effective, active and stable semiconducting ...photoelectrodes is extremely important for achieving PEC water splitting with high solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency. Perovskite oxides as a large family of semiconducting metal oxides are extensively investigated as electrodes in PEC water splitting owing to their abundance, high (photo)electrochemical stability, compositional and structural flexibility allowing the achievement of high electrocatalytic activity, superior sunlight absorption capability and precise control and tuning of band gaps and band edges. In this review, the research progress in the design, development, and application of perovskite oxides in PEC water splitting is summarized, with a special emphasis placed on understanding the relationship between the composition/structure and (photo)electrochemical activity.
Among the most important classes of materials for the application as electrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting are perovskite oxides. In this Review, recent progress about the development of high‐performance perovskite oxide based electrodes for PEC water splitting is discussed. The design strategies, challenges and perspectives of perovskite oxides as electrodes for PEC water splitting are also presented.
Unveiling the active phase of catalytic materials under reaction conditions is important for the construction of efficient electrocatalysts for selective nitrate reduction to ammonia. The origin of ...the prominent activity enhancement for CuO (Faradaic efficiency: 95.8 %, Selectivity: 81.2 %) toward selective nitrate electroreduction to ammonia was probed. 15N isotope labeling experiments showed that ammonia originated from nitrate reduction. 1H NMR spectroscopy and colorimetric methods were performed to quantify ammonia. In situ Raman and ex situ experiments revealed that CuO was electrochemically converted into Cu/Cu2O, which serves as an active phase. The combined results of online differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) and DFT calculations demonstrated that the electron transfer from Cu2O to Cu at the interface could facilitate the formation of *NOH intermediate and suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction, leading to high selectivity and Faradaic efficiency.
Ammonia boost: CuO NWAs are efficient nitrate electroreduction catalysts for the selective synthesis of ammonia. In situ experiments revealed that CuO was electrochemically converted into Cu/Cu2O, which serves as an active phase. The electron transfer at the interface of Cu/Cu2O could facilitate the formation of *NOH intermediate and suppress the competitive H2 production.
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The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is crucial for the physiology and pathology of all the organs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) maintains the homeostasis of RAS as a negative ...regulator. Recently, ACE2 was identified as the receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the coronavirus that is causing the pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since SARS-CoV-2 must bind with ACE2 before entering the host cells in humans, the distribution and expression of ACE2 may be critical for the target organ of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, accumulating evidence has demonstrated the implication of ACE2 in the pathological progression in tissue injury and several chronic diseases, ACE2 may also be essential in the progression and clinical outcomes of COVID-19. Therefore, we summarized the expression and activity of ACE2 in various physiological and pathological conditions, and discussed its potential implication in the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the progression and prognosis of COVID-19 patients in the current review.
The huge land areas in China provide highly diverse habitats for macrofungi. Of these macrofungi, many are directly related to people’s daily life and have been utilized by ancient Chinese for at ...least 6800 years. In this study, we evaluate the current known resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi. A total of 1662 taxa are summarized, and all species names and their authorities have been checked and corrected according to authentic mycological databases. Among the 1662 taxa, 1020, 692, and 480 are considered to be edible, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms, respectively. A few of edible macrofungi in China are commonly used for commercial production. All known medicinal functions are labeled for medicinal species. The most common medicinal functions possessed by Chinese macrofungi are antitumor or anticancer, followed by antioxidant and antimicrobial. A total of 277 Chinese macrofungi are edible simultaneously with certain medicinal functions and without known toxicity. These species could be treated as “Gold Mushrooms”. Contrarily, 193 edible and/or medicinal species are also recognized as poisonous mushrooms. To avoid poisoning caused by these species, ingestion either in a proper way or in small amounts is important. However, the mycotoxins metabolized by these poisonous species could be a huge wealth of natural products yet to be explored. How to utilize these Chinese macrofungal resources is a critical to benefit humans worldwide.
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