Manta rays use wing-like pectoral fins for intriguing oscillatory swimming. It provides rich inspiration for designing potentially fast, efficient, and maneuverable soft swimming robots, which, however, have yet to be realized. It remains a grand challenge to combine fast speed, high efficiency, and high maneuverability in a single soft swimmer while using simple actuation and control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBioinspir Biomim
November 2024
This paper presents a numerical investigation into the aerodynamic characteristics and fluid dynamics of a flying snake-like model employing vertical bending locomotion during aerial undulation in steady gliding. In addition to its typical horizontal undulation, the modeled kinematics incorporates vertical undulations and dorsal-to-ventral bending movements while in motion. Using a computational approach with an incompressible flow solver based on the immersed-boundary method, this study employs topological local mesh refinement mesh blocks to ensure the high resolution of the grid around the moving body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost of the traditional fluorescent molecules have the advantages of high fluorescence quantum yield, good stability, and excellent structural adjustability, but they exhibit the characteristics of fluorescence quenching caused by aggregation, which restricts their application in aqueous solutions or solids. The excellent luminescence properties and photosensitive potential of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials in a condensed state have made them widely concerned in the scientific research field, so it is very challenging to regulate the transformation of traditional aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) fluorophores into AIE fluorophores. In this study, the traditional coumarin fluorophore was used as a matrix.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dysregulation of bile acids (BAs) has been reported in alcohol-associated liver disease. However, the causal relationship between BA dyshomeostasis and alcohol-associated liver disease remains unclear. The study aimed to determine whether correcting BA perturbation protects against alcohol-associated liver disease and elucidate the underlying mechanism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsect wings are flexible structures that exhibit deformations of complex spatiotemporal patterns. Existing studies on wing deformation underscore the indispensable role of wing deformation in enhancing aerodynamic performance. Here, we investigated forward flight in bluebottle flies, flying semi-freely in a magnetic flight mill; we quantified wing surface deformation using high-speed videography and marker-less surface reconstruction and studied the effects on aerodynamic forces, power and efficiency using computational fluid dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOtolaryngol Head Neck Surg
November 2024
Objective: Pulse-synchronous tinnitus (PST) has been linked to multiple anatomical variants of the central venous outflow tract (CVOT) including sigmoid sinus (SS) dehiscence and diverticulum. This study investigates flow turbulence, pressure, and wall shear stress along the CVOT and proposes a mechanism that results in SS dehiscence and PST.
Study Design: Case series.
Int J Lab Hematol
December 2024
Introduction: In recent years, the correlation between CD117 antigen and the prognosis of hematological malignancies has been demonstrated. However, there is limited literature on the clinical significance of CD117 antigen in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the clinical features and prognostic significance of CD117 in APL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomimetics (Basel)
April 2024
Cicadas are heavy fliers well known for their life cycles and sound production; however, their flight capabilities have not been extensively investigated. Here, we show for the first time that cicadas appropriate backward flight for additional maneuverability. We studied this flight mode using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations based on three-dimensional reconstructions of high-speed videos captured in a laboratory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to construct an imaging genomics nomogram based on intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) to predict the status of the alpha thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X-linked (ATRX) gene in patients with brain gliomas. We retrospectively analyzed routine MR and IVIM-DWI data from 85 patients with pathologically confirmed brain gliomas from January 2017 to May 2023. The data were divided into a training set (N=61) and a test set (N=24) in a 7:3 ratio.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolic syndrome (MetS) is a worldwide challenge that is closely associated with obesity, nonalcoholic liver disease, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Boosting nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) presents great potential in preventing MetS. However, the function of nuclear NAD in the development of MetS remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the interaction of a two-manta-ray school using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The baseline case consists of two in-phase undulating three-dimensional manta models arranged in a stacked configuration. Various vertical stacked and streamwise staggered configurations are studied by altering the locations of the top manta in the upstream and downstream directions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The objective of this study was to identify potential biomarkers for predicting response to MSC therapy by pre-MSC treatment plasma proteomic profile in severe COVID-19 in order to optimize treatment choice.
Methods: A total of 58 patients selected from our previous RCT cohort were enrolled in this study. MSC responders (n = 35) were defined as whose resolution of lung consolidation ≥ 51.
Background: The hepatoprotective effect of interleukin 22 (IL-22) has been reported in several models of liver injuries, including alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). However, the intestinal role of IL-22 in alcoholic hepatitis remains to be elucidated.
Methods: Intestinal IL-22 levels were measured in mice fed with alcohol for 8 weeks.
Background: Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has potential therapeutic effects for patients with end-stage liver diseases. However, a consensus on the efficacy and safety of MSCs has not been reached.
Methods: A systemic literature review was conducted by searching the Cochrane Library and PubMed databases for articles that evaluated the impact of MSC therapy on the outcomes among patients with end-stage liver disease.
Background: COVID-19 is a global pandemic. Understanding the immune responses in pregnant women recovering from COVID-19 may suggest new therapeutic approaches.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study between March 1, 2020, and September 1, 2020.
Background: The innovative combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO) has established a new chapter of curative approach in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The disease characteristics and prognostic influence of additional cytogenetic abnormalities (ACA) in APL with modern therapeutic strategy need to be elucidated.
Methods: In the present study, we retrospectively investigated disease features and prognostic power of ACA in 171 APL patients treated with ATRA-ATO-containing regimens.
Given growing interest in emulating dolphin morphology and kinematics to design high-performance underwater vehicles, the current research effort is dedicated to studying the hydrodynamics of dolphin-like oscillatory kinematics in forward propulsion. A computational fluid dynamics method is used. A realistic three-dimentional surface model of a dolphin is made with swimming kinematics reconstructed from video recording.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCytokine release syndrome (CRS) is an acute systemic inflammatory reaction in which hyperactivated immune cells suddenly release a large amount of cytokines, leading to exaggerated inflammatory responses, multiple organ dysfunction, and even death. Although palliative treatment strategies have significantly reduced the overall mortality, novel targeted treatment regimens with superior therapy efficacy are urgently needed. Vascular endothelial cells (ECs) are important target cells of systemic inflammation, and their destruction is considered to be the initiating event underlying many serious complications of CRS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the value of a nomogram based on multiparametric and multiregional MR images to predict Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) gene mutations in glioma.
Data And Methods: The authors performed a retrospective analysis of 110 MR images of surgically confirmed pathological gliomas; 33 patients with IDH1 gene Mutation (IDH1-M) and 77 patients with Wild-type IDH1 (IDH1-W) were divided into training and validation sets in a 7:3 ratio. The clinical features were statistically analyzed using SPSS and R software.
Lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) has emerged as a significant component of cellular signaling pathway by which autophagy or cell death is regulated under many pathological situations including alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). However, the mechanisms involved in the regulation of LMP in ALD remain obscure. Recently, we demonstrated that lipotoxicity serves as a causal factor to trigger LMP in hepatocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGastric cancer tissue‑derived mesenchymal stem cells (GC‑MSCs) play a critical role in facilitating gastric cancer metastasis. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) and metabolic reprogramming have been found to be extensively involved in the malignant progression of tumors, including gastric cancer. However, the biological role and potential mechanisms of GC‑MSC‑derived circRNAs in metabolic reprogramming remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor microenvironment and metabolic reprogramming are critical for tumor metastasis. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are widely involved in the formation of tumor microenvironment and present oncogenic phenotypes to facilitate lymph node metastasis (LNM) in response to small extracellular vesicles (sEV) released by gastric cancer (GC) cells. However, whether metabolic reprograming mediates transformation of BM-MSCs remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain white matter (WM) networks have been widely studied in neuropsychiatric disorders. However, few studies have evaluated alterations in WM network topological organization in patients with methamphetamine (MA) dependence. Therefore, using machine learning classification methods to analyze WM network topological attributes may give new insights into patients with MA dependence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProbiotics and synbiotics supplementation have been shown to play potential roles in animal production. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary probiotics and synbiotics supplementation to sows during gestation and lactation and to offspring pigs (sow-offspring) on offspring pigs' growth performance and meat quality. Sixty-four healthy Bama mini-pigs were selected and randomly allocated into four groups after mating: the control, antibiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF