Metabolic syndrome and acute pancreatitis: Current status and future prospects.

Rising incidence of a complicated disorder with a multifarious etiology is acute pancreatitis. Growing numbers of cases of acute pancreatitis are linked to obesity, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and other metabolic diseases. Trends driven by better living standards and unhealthy lifestyle choices both in China and abroad.

Intranasal HD-Ad-FS vaccine induces systemic and airway mucosal immunities against SARS-CoV-2 and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants in mice and hamsters.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has highlighted the demand for vaccines that are safe and effective in inducing systemic and airway mucosal immunity against the aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this study, we developed a novel helper-dependent adenoviral vector-based COVID-19 mucosal vaccine encoding a full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (HD-Ad-FS). Through intranasal immunization (single-dose and prime-boost regimens), we demonstrated that the HD-Ad-FS was immunogenic and elicited potent systemic and airway mucosal protection in BALB/c mice, transgenic ACE2 (hACE2) mice, and hamsters.

Inhibition of FoxO1 ameliorates hepatic steatosis and hepatitis in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis mice through regulation of gut microbiota.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the role of forkhead box O1 (FoxO1) inhibitor AS1842856 (AS) in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) mice and the potential mechanisms.

Methods: Mice were given methionine-choline-sufficient (MCS), or methionine- and choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 5 weeks, along with AS (60 mg/kg) or vehicle gavage treatment (0.2 mL/day).

Ciceribacter sichuanensis sp. nov., a plant growth promoting rhizobacterium isolated from root nodules of soybean in Sichuan, China.

The fast-growing rhizobia-like strains S101 and S153, isolated from root nodules of soybean (Glycine max) in Sichuan, People's Republic of China, underwent characterization using a polyphasic taxonomy approach. The strains exhibited growth at 20-40 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 4.0-10.

Prediction of air pollutant concentrations based on the long short-term memory neural network.

In recent years, environmental problems caused by air pollutants have received increasing attention. Effective prediction of air pollutant concentrations is an important way to protect the public from harm. Recently, due to extreme climate and social development, the forest fire frequency has increased.

Mdivi1 ameliorates mitochondrial dysfunction in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by inhibiting JNK/MFF signaling.

Background And Aims: Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a crucial role in the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 (Mdivi1) is a potential inhibitor of dynamin-related protein (Drp1) and mitochondrial fission. However, the therapeutic effect of Mdivi1 against NASH and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.

Engineering siRNA-loaded and RGDfC-targeted selenium nanoparticles for highly efficient silencing of DCBLD2 gene for colorectal cancer treatment.

Effective and safe delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) by nanomaterials to cancer cells is one of the main challenges in cancer treatment. In this study, we constructed the selenium nanoparticles conjugated with RGDfC (one tumor-targeted polypeptide) to prepare a biocompatible gene vector (RGDfC-SeNPs) and then loaded with siDCBLD2 to synthesize the RGDfC-Se@siDCBLD2 for colorectal cancer (CRC) therapy. As expected, RGDfC-SeNPs could enhance the cellular uptake of siDCBLD2 in human HCT-116 colon cancer cells by targeting polypeptide RGDfC on the surface of colon cancer cells.

Pattern recognition receptors in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and progression to hepatocellular carcinoma: An emerging therapeutic strategy.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive lipid accumulation and has become the leading chronic liver disease worldwide. NAFLD is viewed as the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, ranging from simple steatosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) to advanced fibrosis, eventually leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The pathogenesis of NAFLD progression is still not clear.

Synthesis of conjugated segment-based cyclic polymers for direct imaging of the cyclic molecular topology.

Conjugated polyacetylene-based monocyclic and bicyclic polymers were synthesized by blocking-cyclization metathesis polymerization using short ladderphanes as the initial motif and multi-cyclizing unit, and fully characterized to elucidate the cyclic characteristics and good photoelectric properties. Importantly, the molecular topology of rationally designed cyclic polymers was directly observed without a tedious post-modification treatment.

The Feasibility of Modelling the Crown Profile of Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laser Scanning Data.

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) laser scanning, as an emerging form of near-ground light detection and ranging (LiDAR) remote sensing technology, is widely used for crown structure extraction due to its flexibility, convenience, and high point density. Herein, we evaluated the feasibility of using a low-cost UAV-LiDAR system to extract the fine-scale crown profile of . Specifically, individual trees were isolated from LiDAR point clouds and then stratified from the point clouds of segmented individual tree crowns at 0.

Preparation of dummy molecularly imprinted polymers based on dextran-modified magnetic nanoparticles FeO for the selective detection of acrylamide in potato chips.

Novel dummy magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (dex-MMIPs) were prepared for highly selective recognition and fast enrichment of acrylamide (AA) in potato chips. Propionamide (PA) was used as dummy template molecule and the FeO nanoparticles modified with carboxymethyl dextran were developed as supports. Methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (EGDMA) were chosen as the functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively.

Corrigendum #2 to "Effects of Chronic Exposure to Sodium Arsenite on Expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 Proteins in the Epididymis of Rats".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2017/2597256.].

Electrochemical determination of dopamine using a glassy carbon electrode modified with a nanocomposite consisting of nanoporous platinum-yttrium and graphene.

A nanoporous platinum-yttrium alloy (NP-PtY) was fabricated by dealloying ribbons of a PtYAl alloy. Owing to the high porosity and the synergistic effect of Y in the Pt backbone, the NP-PtY exhibits superior structural stability, reproducibility and electrocatalytic activity. An electrochemical sensor was developed for the highly sensitive and selective detection of dopamine (DA) based on the use of a glassy carbon electrode modified with NP-PtY alloy and graphene.

Corrigendum to "Effects of Chronic Exposure to Sodium Arsenite on Expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 Proteins in the Epididymis of Rats".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2017/2597256.].

Effects of Chronic Exposure to Sodium Arsenite on Expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 Proteins in the Epididymis of Rats.

Objective: To study the expressions of VEGF and VEGFR2 at protein level in the epididymis of rats with arsenism.

Methods: Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: the high dose arsenic infected group (60.0 mg/L in water), the middle dose arsenic infected group (12.

Facile Synthesis of Nanoporous Pt-Y alloy with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity and Durability.

Recently, Pt-Y alloy has displayed an excellent electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and is regarded as a promising cathode catalyst for fuel cells. However, the bulk production of nanoscaled Pt-Y alloy with outstanding catalytic performance remains a great challenge. Here, we address the challenge through a simple dealloying method to synthesize nanoporous Pt-Y alloy (NP-PtY) with a typical ligament size of ~5 nm.

Phosphorus-doped helical carbon nanofibers as enhanced sensing platform for electrochemical detection of carbendazim.

A combined chemical vapor deposition with high-pressure annealing has been developed for the production of phosphorus-doped helical carbon nanofibers (P-HCNFs). The resulting P-HCNFs have a large specific surface area, well-defined three-dimensional hierarchical helical structure and rapid apparent heterogeneous electron transfer. Based on the high electrocatalytic activity, the P-HCNFs were used to develop an amperometric sensor for carbendazim detection.

Speckle Reduction in 3D Optical Coherence Tomography of Retina by A-Scan Reconstruction.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a micrometer-scale, cross-sectional imaging modality for biological tissue. It has been widely used for retinal imaging in ophthalmology. Speckle noise is problematic in OCT.

A cloud-based system for automatic glaucoma screening.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the use of automatic computer-based systems for the detection of eye diseases including glaucoma. However, these systems are usually standalone software with basic functions only, limiting their usage in a large scale. In this paper, we introduce an online cloud-based system for automatic glaucoma screening through the use of medical image-based pattern classification technologies.

Dual-responsive vesicles formed by an amphiphile containing two tetrathiafulvalene units in aqueous solution.

The first example of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-based vesicle fabricated in water solution with 1 vol.% tetrahydrofuran that could be prevented by chemical oxidant Fe(ClO4)3 or electron-deficient cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) tetracation cyclophane (CBPQT(4+)) is described.

Effect of long-term organic removal on ion exchange properties and performance during sewage tertiary treatment by conventional anion exchange resins.

This study evaluated the long-term dissolved organic matter (DOM), phosphorus and nitrogen removal performance of a commercially available conventional anion exchange resin (AER) from actual secondary effluent (SE) in a sewage treatment plant based on a pilot-scale operation (2.2 m(3) d(-1), 185 cycles, 37,000 bed volume, 1.5 years).

Potential contribution of inorganic ions to whole effluent acute toxicity and genotoxicity during sewage tertiary treatment.

Two acute toxicity tests (luminescent bacteria assay and cladoceran assay) and one genotoxicity test (broad bean assay) were used to evaluate whole effluent toxicity during the standard anion exchange resin-based pilot-scale sewage tertiary treatment that stably achieved significant dissolved organic carbon and inorganic ions reduction. The effect of six representative inorganic ions (i.e.

Highly sensitive colorimetric sensor for Hg(2+) detection based on cationic polymer/DNA interaction.

The detection of ultralow concentrations of mercury is a currently significant challenge. Here, a novel strategy is proposed: the colorimetric detection of Hg(2+) based on the aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) driven by a cationic polymer. In this three-component system, DNA combines electrostatically with phthalic diglycol diacrylate (PDDA) in a solution of AuNPs.

Local patch reconstruction framework for optic cup localization in glaucoma detection.

Optic cup localization/segmentation has attracted much attention from medical imaging researchers, since it is the primary image component clinically used for identifying glaucoma, which is a leading cause of blindness. In this work, we present an optic cup localization framework based on local patch reconstruction, motivated by the great success achieved by reconstruction approaches in many computer vision applications recently. Two types of local patches, i.