Gut microbiota dysbiosis: The potential mechanisms by which alcohol disrupts gut and brain functions.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a high-risk psychiatric disorder and a key cause of death and disability in individuals. In the development of AUD, there is a connection known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis, where alcohol use disrupts the gut barrier, resulting in changes in intestinal permeability as well as the gut microbiota composition, which in turn impairs brain function and worsens the patient's mental status and gut activity. Potential mechanisms are explored by which alcohol alters gut and brain function through the effects of the gut microbiota and their metabolites on immune and inflammatory pathways.

Mastering the surface strain of platinum catalysts for efficient electrocatalysis.

Platinum (Pt) has found wide use as an electrocatalyst for sustainable energy conversion systems. The activity of Pt is controlled by its electronic structure (typically, the d-band centre), which depends sensitively on lattice strain. This dependence can be exploited for catalyst design, and the use of core-shell structures and elastic substrates has resulted in strain-engineered Pt catalysts with drastically improved electrocatalytic performances.

Deposition of Atomically Thin Pt Shells on Amorphous Palladium Phosphide Cores for Enhancing the Electrocatalytic Durability.

As an excellent electrocatalyst, platinum (Pt) is often deposited as a thin layer on a nanoscale substrate to achieve high utilization efficiency. However, the practical application of the as-designed catalysts has been substantially restricted by the poor durability arising from the leaching of cores. Herein, by employing amorphous palladium phosphide (a-Pd-P) as substrates, we develop a class of leaching-free, ultrastable core-shell Pt catalysts with well-controlled shell thicknesses and surface structures for fuel cell electrocatalysis.

protects PC12 cells from 6-hydroxydopamine-induced neuronal damage: A serum pharmacological study.

Accumulating evidence has already indicated that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) possesses tremendous potential for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Astragalus, also named Huangqi, is a famous traditional medical herb that can be applied to treat cerebral ischemia and prevent neuronal degeneration. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored.

Is pronator quadratus repair necessary to improve outcomes after volar plate fixation of distal radius fractures? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to compare functional outcomes with or without pronator quadratus (PQ) repair after volar plate fixation of distal radius fractures.

Methods: An electronic search was conducted for PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and Google Scholar databases up to 15th January 2020. Both retrospective case-control and randomised control trials (RCTs) were included.

Amorphous CrWO-Modified WO Nanowires with a Large Specific Surface Area and Rich Lewis Acid Sites: A Highly Efficient Catalyst for Oxidative Desulfurization.

The oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of fuel oils is of great significance for environmental protection, and the development of efficient ODS heterogeneous catalysts is highly desired. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a novel material of amorphous CrWO-modified WO (a-CrWO/WO) nanowires (3-6 nm) with a large specific surface area of 289.5 m·g and rich Lewis acid sites.

Manipulation of Electron Transfer between Pd and TiO for Improved Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Performance.

The urgent need of catalysts with improved performances toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still one of the crucial issues for the water splitting electrocatalysis. Herein, we exhibit that the HER activity of the Pd nanocubes could be improved by selecting the appropriately shaped titania nanocrystals as support. In particular, we used Pd nanoparticles with (100)-facet exposed to show that the HER performance of Pd cubes can be improved in both acidic and alkaline electrolyte media when combined on the anatase TiO nanocrystals.

Real-Time Visualization of Solid-Phase Ion Migration Kinetics on Nanowire Monolayer.

Ion migration has been recognized as a critical step in determining the performance of numerous devices in chemistry, biology, and material science. However, direct visualization and quantitative investigation of solid-phase ion migration among anisotropic nanostructures have been a challenging task. Here, we report an in-situ ChemTEM method to quantitatively investigate the solid-phase ion migration process among coassembled nanowires (NWs).

Up-regulated miR-374a-3p relieves lipopolysaccharides induced injury in CHON-001 cells via regulating Wingless-type MMTV integration site family member 5B.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a frequent and incurable joint disease, inducing significant pain and seriously threatening to human health. It has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles on cancers and inflammatory diseases via cooperating with genes. However, the effect of miR-374a-3p/Wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5B (WNT5B) pair in OA remains to be explored.

Plasmonic-Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction of Silver/Graphene Electrocatalysts.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of paramount importance in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells due to its sluggish kinetics. In this work, a plasmon-induced hot electrons enhancement method is introduced to enhance ORR property of the silver (Ag)-based electrocatalysts. Three types of Ag nanostructures with differently localized surface plasmon resonances have been used as electrocatalysts.

Intraoperative Raman-Guided Chemo-Photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Advanced Disseminated Ovarian Cancers.

Abdominal miliary spread and metastasis is one of the most aggressive features in advanced ovarian cancer patients. The current standard treatment of advanced ovarian cancer is cytoreductive surgery (CRS) combined with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). However, most patients cannot receive optimal CRS outcomes due to the extreme difficulty of completely excising all microtumors during operation.

Nanoscale kinetics of asymmetrical corrosion in core-shell nanoparticles.

Designing new materials and structure to sustain the corrosion during operation requires better understanding on the corrosion dynamics. Observation on how the corrosion proceeds in atomic scale is thus critical. Here, using a liquid cell, we studied the real-time corrosion process of palladium@platinum (Pd@Pt) core-shell nanocubes via transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

AgPO electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction: enhancement from positive charge.

We have demonstrated AgPO as an active non-Pt electrocatalyst with enhanced activity compared with Ag for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Density functional theory reveals that better ORR performance of Ag atoms on AgPO surface than that on pure silver surface originates from more appropriate oxygen adsorption on positively charged Ag atoms. Further study of the surface geometry of AgPO including tetrahedron, rhombic dodecahedron and cube indicates that the highest density of Ag and appropriate oxygen adsorption on {110} surface of rhombic dodecahedral AgPO lead to the highest ORR activity, which is about 12 times that of Pt catalysts from a commercial perspective.

[Quantitative evaluation of the degrees of traditional Chinese medicine qualitative syndromes of osteoporosis].

Objective: To establish a quantitative estimate model for diagnosing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes of patients with osteoporosis.

Methods: Symptoms and signs of osteoporosis and methodology related to syndrome research were collected by reviewing medical literature. The symptoms and sighs were quantitatively classified into three, two or one category according to a 100-mm visual analog scale.

[A study of diagnostic criteria for traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in osteoporosis].

Objective: To establish diagnostic criteria for common traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes in osteoporosis.

Methods: Based on the collection and analysis of related medical literature, clinical investigation, and expert discussion, a draft of preliminary diagnostic criteria for the basic syndromes of TCM in patients with osteoporosis was formulated. Then it was used in clinic for verification and revised repeatedly until a formal version of diagnostic criteria was satisfactorily achieved.

Pedicle screw fixation against burst fracture of thoracolumbar vertebrae.

Objective: To analyze the application of vertebral pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of burst fracture of thoracolumbar vertebrae.

Methods: A total of 48 cases (31 males and 17 females, aged from 18-72 years, mean: 41.3 years) with thoracolumbar vertebrae burst fracture were treated by pedicle screw system since January 2004.

[Stress distribution on the femoral neck at different abduction angles of the hip joint: a finite element analysis].

Objective: To analyze the stress distribution and its changes of the femoral neck at different abduction angles of the hip joint to provide biomechanical evidence for the treatment of hip joint disease.

Methods: A three-dimensional finite element model of the femoral head region was reconstructed on the basis of data available in the dataset of No.1 Virtual Male Chinese.

Functional proteome of bones in rats with osteoporosis following ovariectomy.

Osteoporosis is a chronic condition chiefly affecting postmenopausal women, in whom the skeleton loses a significant percentage of its mineralized mass and mechanical resiliency, thereby becoming prone to fracture. Although the effect of the loss of estrogen on bone metabolism has been documented, its mechanism is still poorly understood. In the present proteomic study, we characterized the effect of estrogen deficiency on protein expression in rat bones.