Telemedicine facilitates medical care for hospitalized patients in quarantine.

Background/purpose: Telemedicine is an innovative medical care system that facilitates visual communication between patients and healthcare workers (HCWs), mainly in a community-based setting. We investigated the clinical effectiveness of in-patient telemedicine care for patients in quarantine for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We conducted a prospective study to include patients with mild-to-moderate severity of COVID-19 and their primary-care HCWs.

Multimodal Attention Network for Dementia Prediction.

The early identification of an individual's dementia risk is crucial for disease prevention and the design of insurance products in an aging society. This study aims to accurately predict the future incidence risk of dementia in individuals by leveraging the advantages of neural networks. This is, however, complicated by the high dimensionality and sparsity of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes when utilizing data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance, which includes individual profiles and medical records.

Recommendation on an updated standardization of serum magnesium reference ranges.

Purpose: Serum magnesium is the most frequently used laboratory test for evaluating clinical magnesium status. Hypomagnesemia (low magnesium status), which is associated with many chronic diseases, is diagnosed using the serum magnesium reference range. Currently, no international consensus for a magnesemia normal range exists.

Quality assurance of integrative big data for medical research within a multihospital system.

Background: The need is growing to create medical big data based on the electronic health records collected from different hospitals. Errors for sure occur and how to correct them should be explored.

Methods: Electronic health records of 9,197,817 patients and 53,081,148 visits, totaling about 500 million records for 2006-2016, were transmitted from eight hospitals into an integrated database.

Real-Time Identification of Irrigation Water Pollution Sources and Pathways with a Wireless Sensor Network and Blockchain Framework.

Real-time identification of irrigation water pollution sources and pathways (PSP) is crucial to ensure both environmental and food safety. This study uses an integrated framework based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and the blockchain technology that incorporates a directed acyclic graph (DAG)-configured wireless sensor network (WSN), and GIS tools for real-time water pollution source tracing. Water quality sensors were installed at monitoring stations in irrigation channel systems within the study area.

Magnesium-responsive genes are downregulated in diabetic patients after a three-month exercise program on a bicycle ergometer.

Background: Exercise is an effective therapy for the management of diabetes because it helps regulate glucose and magnesium homeostasis. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which exercise exerts effects on magnesium transport remain unclear. This study investigated the expression of genes encoding magnesium transporters (GMTs) after a three-month exercise program in diabetic patients.

Extraction of gray-scale intensity distributions from micro computed tomography imaging for femoral cortical bone differentiation between low-magnesium and normal diets in a laboratory mouse model.

Previous studies have shown that the geometric development of femoral trabecular bone is affected by insufficient dietary intake of magnesium. However, it is not clear whether the development of femoral cortical bone can be quantitatively evaluated according to a diet with inadequate magnesium supplementation. Therefore, we used a micro computed tomography (CT) imaging approach with a laboratory mouse model to explore the potential application of texture analysis for the quantitative assessment of femoral cortical bones.

Fecal microbiota transplantation confers beneficial metabolic effects of diet and exercise on diet-induced obese mice.

Diet and exercise are conventional methods for controlling body weight and are linked to alterations in gut microbiota. However, the associations of diet, exercise, and gut microbiota in the control of obesity remain largely unknown. In the present study, using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), normal fat diet (NFD), exercise and their combination resulted in improved metabolic profiles in comparison to sedentary lifestyle with high fat diet (HFD).

Late administration of high-frequency electrical stimulation increases nerve regeneration without aggravating neuropathic pain in a nerve crush injury.

Background: High-frequency transcutaneous neuromuscular electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is currently used for the administration of electrical current in denervated muscle to alleviate muscle atrophy and enhance motor function; however, the time window (i.e. either immediate or delayed) for achieving benefit is still undetermined.

Manipulating the Temperature of Sulfurization to Synthesize α-NiS Nanosphere Film for Long-Term Preservation of Non-enzymatic Glucose Sensors.

In this study, alpha nickel sulfide (α-NiS) nanosphere films have been successfully synthesized by electroplating the nickel nanosheet film on the indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate and sulfuring nickel-coated ITO glass substrate. First, we electrodeposited the nickel nanosheet films on the ITO glass substrates which were cut into a 0.5 × 1 cm size.

Down-Regulated Expression of Magnesium Transporter Genes Following a High Magnesium Diet Attenuates Sciatic Nerve Crush Injury.

Background: Magnesium supplementation has potential for use in nerve regeneration. The expression of some magnesium transporter genes is reflective of the intracellular magnesium levels.

Objective: To assess the expression of various magnesium transporter genes as they relate to neurological alterations in a sciatic nerve injury model.

NP-StructurePredictor: Prediction of Unknown Natural Products in Plant Mixtures.

Identification of the individual chemical constituents of a mixture, especially solutions extracted from medicinal plants, is a time-consuming task. The identification results are often limited by challenges such as the development of separation methods and the availability of known reference standards. A novel structure elucidation system, NP-StructurePredictor, is presented and used to accelerate the process of identifying chemical structures in a mixture based on a branch and bound algorithm combined with a large collection of natural product databases.

Modulation of mitochondrial dynamics by treadmill training to improve gait and mitochondrial deficiency in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive degenerative central nervous system disorder that particularly impairs motor function. As PD advances, gait disorders become more pronounced and are often difficult to treat with current pharmacological therapies. Physical activity improves both mobility in and the daily living activities of patients with PD.

Peptide-mediated delivery of donor mitochondria improves mitochondrial function and cell viability in human cybrid cells with the MELAS A3243G mutation.

The cell penetrating peptide, Pep-1, has been shown to facilitate cellular uptake of foreign mitochondria but further research is required to evaluate the use of Pep-1-mediated mitochondrial delivery (PMD) in treating mitochondrial defects. Presently, we sought to determine whether mitochondrial transplantation rescue mitochondrial function in a cybrid cell model of mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) disease. Following PMD, recipient cells had internalized donor mitochondria after 1 h, and expressed higher levels of normal mitochondrial DNA, particularly at the end of the treatment and 11 days later.

Intermittent parathyroid hormone improve bone microarchitecture of the mandible and femoral head in ovariectomized rats.

Background: Intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) can be used to treat osteoporosis of the spine and hip. However, whether it can be used to treat osteoporosis of the mandible is unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of applying intermittent PTH to ovariectomized rats on the trabecular bone microarchitecture of the mandible and femoral head.

Attenuating trabecular morphology associated with low magnesium diet evaluated using micro computed tomography.

Objective: The literature shows that bone mineral density (BMD) and the geometric architecture of trabecular bone in the femur may be affected by inadequate dietary intake of Mg. In this study, we used microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) to characterize and quantify the impact of a low-Mg diet on femoral trabecular bones in mice.

Materials And Methods: Four-week-old C57BL/6J male mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups and supplied either a normal or low-Mg diet for 8weeks.

Prevention of Axonal Degeneration by Perineurium Injection of Mitochondria in a Sciatic Nerve Crush Injury Model.

Background: Axon degeneration leads to cytoskeletal disassembly, metabolism imbalance, and mitochondrial dysfunction during neurodegeneration or nerve injury.

Objective: In this study, we assess the possibility of mitigating axon degeneration by local injection of mitochondria in a crushed sciatic nerve.

Methods: Sciatic nerve explants cocultured with mitochondria were assessed for the optimal dosage in local injection and nerve regeneration potential.

HIF-1α triggers long-lasting glutamate excitotoxicity via system x in cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) controls many genes involved in physiological and pathological processes. However, its roles in glutamatergic transmission and excitotoxicity are unclear. Here, we proposed that HIF-1α might contribute to glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity during cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion (CIR) and investigated its molecular mechanism.

Cinnamomum cassia essential oil and its major constituent cinnamaldehyde induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-3 cells.

Cinnamomum cassia essential oil (CC-EO) has various functional properties, such as anti-microbial, hypouricemic, anti-tyrosinase and anti-melanogenesis activities. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-cancer activities of CC-EO and its major constituent, cinnamaldehyde, in human oral squamous cell carcinoma HSC-3 cells. Determination of the cell viability, apoptotic characteristics, DNA damage, cell cycle analysis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential, cytosolic Ca level and intracellular redox status were performed.

Allogeneic/xenogeneic transplantation of peptide-labeled mitochondria in Parkinson's disease: restoration of mitochondria functions and attenuation of 6-hydroxydopamine-induced neurotoxicity.

Although restoration of mitochondrial function in mitochondrial diseases through peptide-mediated allogeneic mitochondrial delivery (PMD) has been demonstrated in vitro, the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of PMD in Parkinson's disease (PD) has yet to be determined. In this study, we compared the functionality of mitochondrial transfer with or without Pep-1 conjugation in neurotoxin (6-hydroxydopamine, 6-OHDA)-induced PC12 cells and PD rat models. We injected mitochondria into the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) of the PD rats after subjecting the nigrostriatal pathway to a unilateral 6-OHDA lesion for 21 days, and we verified the effectiveness of the mitochondrial graft in enhancing mitochondrial function in the soma of the substantia nigra (SN) neuron through mitochondrial transport dynamics in the nigrostriatal circuit.

Transferring Xenogenic Mitochondria Provides Neural Protection Against Ischemic Stress in Ischemic Rat Brains.

Transferring exogenous mitochondria has therapeutic effects on damaged heart, liver, and lung tissues. Whether this protective effect requires the symbiosis of exogenous mitochondria in host cells remains unknown. Here xenogenic mitochondria derived from a hamster cell line were applied to ischemic rat brains and rat primary cortical neurons.

Low Magnesium Exacerbates Osteoporosis in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients with Diabetes.

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of serum Mg on bone mineral metabolism in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with or without diabetes. A total of 56 CKD patients not receiving dialysis were recruited and divided into two groups, one group of 27 CKD patients with diabetes and another group of 29 CKD patients without diabetes. Biochemical determinations were made, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was measured.

Improved neurological outcome by intramuscular injection of human amniotic fluid derived stem cells in a muscle denervation model.

Purpose: The skeletal muscle develops various degrees of atrophy and metabolic dysfunction following nerve injury. Neurotrophic factors are essential for muscle regeneration. Human amniotic fluid derived stem cells (AFS) have the potential to secrete various neurotrophic factors necessary for nerve regeneration.