Unveiling the potential of African fermented cereal-based beverages: Probiotics, functional drinks, health benefits and bioactive components.

Traditionally, dairy products have been the primary medium for delivering probiotics to humans. However, despite their numerous health benefits, such as nutrient supply and prevention and treatment of certain diseases, there are limitations to their use in many regions, including Africa. These limitations arise from allergens, lactose intolerance, hypercholesterolemia effects, the need for vegetarian options, cultural food taboos against milk, and religious beliefs.

Unraveling the gut microbiota's role in Rheumatoid arthritis: dietary pathways to modulation and therapeutic potential.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a significant global health issue. Recent research highlights the gut microbiota's critical role in RA's development, noting how dietary factors can alter these microbial communities. This has led to an increased focus on how the gut microbiota (GM) influences RA and the potential for dietary ingredients to offer anti-RA benefits by modifying GM.

Cobalt oxide coupled with graphitic carbon nitride composite heterojunction for efficient Z-scheme photocatalytic environmental pollutants degradation performance.

The CoO/g-CN Z-scheme composite heterojunction has been effectively built in a facile sonication-assisted hydrothermal manner. The as-synthesized optimal 0.2 M CoO/g-CN (GCO2) composite photocatalysts (PCs) revealed admirable degradation efficiency towards methyl orange (MO, 65.

Effect of metal doping and non-metal loading on light energy driven degradation of organic dye using ZnO nanocatalysts.

Photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes is seen as a viable technique for addressing environmental and energy concerns simultaneously. Therefore, the primary requirement is the creation of a better catalyst with adequate product selectivity for removal efficiency under solar light. Herein, pure ZnO and Cu (0.

Use of peptide-modified nanoparticles as a bacterial cell targeting agent for enhanced antibacterial activity and other biomedical applications.

Bacterial pathogens have posed a serious threat to human health because they are difficult to be eliminated inside cells. Here, an effective design of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) modified with antimicrobial peptides and loaded with gentamicin (Gen) was reported with enhanced antibacterial activity and cellular internalization ability. The results showed that the drug loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency of OVTp12-modified NPs were 7.

Electrospun Polyurethane-Gelatin Composite: A New Tissue-Engineered Scaffold for Application in Skin Regeneration and Repair of Complex Wounds.

Wound healing is vital for patients with complex wounds including burns. While the gold standard of skin transplantation ensures a surgical treatment to heal wounds, it has its limitations, for example, insufficient donor sites for patients with large burn wounds and creation of wounds and pain when harvesting the donor skin. Therefore, tissue-engineered skin is of paramount importance.

User-Customized, Multicolor, Transparent Electrochemical Displays Based on Oxidatively Tuned Electrochromic Ion Gels.

Transparent displays have emerged as a class of cutting-edge electronics. Here, we propose user-customized, design-it-yourself (DIY) transparent displays based on electrochromic (EC) ion gels including viologens. To achieve multiple colors and enhance the functionality of EC displays (ECDs), the incorporation of several EC chromophores is inevitable.

Online registry for nationwide database of Helicobacter pylori eradication in Korea: Correlation of antibiotic use density with eradication success.

Background: The Helicobacter pylori eradication rate has decreased with increasing antibiotic resistance. We conducted a prospective, nationwide, multicenter registry study to monitor the real status of H. pylori eradication therapy and to investigate the association between eradication success and antibiotic use density in Korea.

Promotion of dermal regeneration using pullulan/gelatin porous skin substitute.

Tissue-engineered dermal substitutes represent a promising approach to improve wound healing and provide more sufficient regeneration, compared with current clinical standards on care of large wounds, early excision, and grafting of autografts. However, inadequate regenerative capacity, impaired regeneration/degradation profile, and high cost of current commercial tissue-engineered dermal regeneration templates hinder their utilization, and the development of an efficient and cost-effective tissue-engineered dermal substitute remains a challenge. Inspired from our previously reported data on a pullulan/gelatin scaffold, here we present a new generation of a porous pullulan/gelatin scaffold (PG2) served as a dermal substitute with enhanced chemical and structural characteristics.

A Pilot Project of Systematic Tuberculosis Screening in the Elderly in a South Korean Province.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infectious disease in South Korea causing substantial disease burden, particularly in the elderly. This study aimed to identify the case detection rate of mobile TB screening for the elderly conducted in the Jeollanam-do region and to analyze risk factors of active TB.

Methods: We screened the elderly population (≥65 years old) in Jeollanam-do from August to December 2017.

Electrostatic-Force-Assisted Dispensing Printing of Electrochromic Gels for Low-Voltage Displays.

In this study, low-voltage, printed, ion gel-based electrochromic devices (ECDs) were successfully fabricated. While conventional dispensing printing provides irregularly printed electrochromic (EC) gels, we improved the adhesion between the printed gel and the substrate by applying an external voltage. This is called electrostatic-force-assisted dispensing printing.

Voltage-Tunable Multicolor, Sub-1.5 V, Flexible Electrochromic Devices Based on Ion Gels.

Voltage-tunable multicolor electrochromic devices (ECDs) are fabricated based on flexible ion gels consisting of copolymers and ionic liquids as an electrolyte layer. Dimethyl ferrocene (dmFc) is incorporated into the gel, which serves as an anodic species. In this study, two electrochromic (EC) materials, monoheptyl viologen (MHV) and diheptyl viologen (DHV), are employed and show significantly different EC behavior despite the similar chemical structure.

Growth behavior of endothelial cells according to electrospun poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) fiber diameter as a tissue engineering scaffold.

Investigating the effect of electrospun fiber diameter on endothelial cell proliferation provides an important guidance for the design of a fabric scaffold. In this study, we prepared biodegradable poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) fibrous nonwoven mats with different fiber diameters ranged from 200 nm to 5 µm using the electrospinning technique. To control the fiber diameters of PLGA mats, 4 mixture solvents [hexafluoro-2-propanol, 2,2,2,-trifluoroethanol:dimethylformamide (9:1), 2,2,2,-trifluoroethanol:hexafluoro-2-propanol (9:1), chloroform] were used.

Fabrication and characterization of thermoresponsive polystyrene nanofibrous mats for cultured cell recovery.

Rapid cell growth and rapid recovery of intact cultured cells are an invaluable technique to maintain the biological functions and viability of cells. To achieve this goal, thermoresponsive polystyrene (PS) nanofibrous mat was fabricated by electrospinning of PS solution, followed by the graft polymerization of thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(PIPAAm) on PS nanofibrous mats. Image analysis of the PS nanofiber revealed a unimodal distribution pattern with 400 nm average fiber diameter.

Association rule mining and network analysis in oriental medicine.

Extracting useful and meaningful patterns from large volumes of text data is of growing importance. In the present study we analyze vast amounts of prescription data, generated from the book of oriental medicine to identify the relationships between the symptoms and the associated medicines used to treat these symptoms. The oriental medicine book used in this study (called Bangyakhappyeon) contains a large number of prescriptions to treat about 54 categorized symptoms and lists the corresponding herbal materials.

PLLA-collagen and PLLA-gelatin hybrid scaffolds with funnel-like porous structure for skin tissue engineering.

In skin tissue engineering, a three-dimensional porous scaffold is necessary to support cell adhesion and proliferation and to guide cells moving into the repair area in the wound healing process. Structurally, the porous scaffold should have an open and interconnected porous architecture to facilitate homogenous cell distribution. Moreover, the scaffolds should be mechanically strong to protect deformation during the formation of new skin.

Preparation of porous collagen scaffolds with micropatterned structures.

Porous collagen scaffolds with micropatterned structures are manufactured using preformed ice micropattern templates. The scaffolds show precisely controlled pore structures and micropattern structures of bioactive substances, which can be tethered by designing a program.

Differentiation of PC12 cells in three-dimensional collagen sponges with micropatterned nerve growth factor.

Micropatterning of biological cues is important for the guided formation of neuronal outgrowth and neuronal differentiation. Nerve growth factor (NGF) was micropatterned in a three-dimensional collagen sponges by using micropatterned ice lines that were composed of collagen and NGF. The micropatterned ice lines were prepared by a dispersing machine.

Spatially guided angiogenesis by three-dimensional collagen scaffolds micropatterned with vascular endothelial growth factor.

Successful regeneration of large and highly functionalized tissue and organs depends on the ability to guide blood vessel formation with three-dimensional scaffolds. Angiogenic growth factors have the potential to stimulate blood vessels in scaffolds. However, simply incorporating angiogenic growth factors in a random fashion may lead to uncontrolled blood vessel generation, which ultimately results in poor blood vessel network function and uneven growth of engineered tissue.

Preparation of Open Porous Hyaluronic Acid Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Using the Ice Particulate Template Method.

A novel method to fabricate highly interconnected porous hyaluronic acid (HA) scaffolds with open surface pore structures was developed by using embossed ice particulates as a template. HA sponges were cross-linked by water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC) and the optimal cross-linking condition was analyzed by infrared spectroscopy. Cross-linking with 50 mM WSC in a 90% (v/v) ethanol/water solvent mixture assured the highest degree of cross-linking and most stable structure and, therefore, was used to cross-link the HA sponges.