Astrocyte neuronal metabolic coupling in the anterior cingulate cortex of mice with inflammatory pain.

Chronic pain is a major global concern, with at least 1 in 5 people suffering from chronic pain worldwide. Mounting evidence indicates that neuroplasticity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a critical step in the development of chronic pain. Previously, we found that chronic pain and fear learning are both associated with enhanced neuronal excitability and cause similar neuroplasticity-related gene expression changes in the ACC of male mice.

Automatic identification of clinically important species by artificial intelligence-based image recognition: proof-of-concept study.

While morphological examination is the most widely used for identification in clinical laboratories, PCR-sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS are emerging technologies in more financially-competent laboratories. However, mycological expertise, molecular biologists and/or expensive equipment are needed for these. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI), especially image recognition, is being increasingly employed in medicine for fast and automated disease diagnosis.

Engineering of heterobifunctional biopolymers for tunable binding and precipitation of Strep-Tag proteins and virus-like nanoparticles.

Affinity precipitation is a powerful separation method in that it combines the binding selectivity of affinity chromatography with precipitation of captured biomolecules via phase separation triggered by small changes in the environment, e.g., pH, ionic strength, temperature, light, etc.

Effects of Cell-Adhesive Ligand Presentation on Pentapeptide Supramolecular Assembly and Gelation: Simulations and Experiments.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex, hierarchical material containing structural and bioactive components. This complexity makes decoupling the effects of biomechanical properties and cell-matrix interactions difficult, especially when studying cellular processes in a 3D environment. Matrix mechanics and cell adhesion are both known regulators of specific cellular processes such as stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

Understanding how transmembrane domains regulate interactions between human BST-2 and the SARS-CoV-2 accessory protein ORF7a.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID, replicates at intracellular membranes. Bone marrow stromal antigen 2 (BST-2; tetherin) is an antiviral response protein that inhibits transport of viral particles after budding within infected cells. RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 use various strategies to disable BST-2, including use of transmembrane 'accessory' proteins that interfere with BST-2 oligomerization.

The Interaction Mechanism of Intramuscular Gene Delivery Materials with Cell Membranes.

It has been confirmed that skeletal muscle cells have the capability to receive foreign plasmid DNA (pDNA) and express functional proteins. This provides a promisingly applicable strategy for safe, convenient, and economical gene therapy. However, intramuscular pDNA delivery efficiency was not high enough for most therapeutic purposes.

Patients' Perspectives, Factors, and Patterns of eHealth Use in Kidney Transplant Recipients.

Introduction: eHealth supports the delivery of relevant health information and management of chronic disease. However, little is known about patients' perspectives and the determinants of eHealth use among kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: Kidney transplant recipients aged 18 years and older from 3 transplant units in Australia and the Better Evidence and Translation in Chronic Kidney Disease consumer network completed a survey with free-text responses relating to eHealth uptake.

Stakeholder preferences for attributes of digital health technologies to consider in health service funding.

Objectives: Health service providers are currently making decisions on the public funding of digital health technologies (DHTs) for managing chronic diseases with limited understanding of stakeholder preferences for DHT attributes. This study aims to understand the community, patient/carer, and health professionals' preferences to help inform a prioritized list of evaluation criteria.

Methods: An online best-worst scaling survey was conducted in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom to ascertain the relative importance of twenty-four DHT attributes among stakeholder groups using an efficient incomplete block design.

Perspectives of Kidney Transplant Recipients on eHealth: Semistructured Interviews.

Unlabelled: The acceptability and impact of eHealth on patient outcomes may be limited if their concerns and priorities are not addressed. This study aimed to describe the perspectives and experiences of eHealth among kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 adult kidney transplant recipients from New South Wales, Australia (urban and regional), in ambulatory clinics.

The Progress of Non-Viral Materials and Methods for Gene Delivery to Skeletal Muscle.

Since Jon A. Wolff found skeletal muscle cells being able to express foreign genes and Russell J. Mumper increased the gene transfection efficiency into the myocytes by adding polymers, skeletal muscles have become a potential gene delivery and expression target.

Effect of health literacy and shared decision-making on choice of weight-loss plan among overweight or obese participants receiving a prototype artificial intelligence robot intervention facilitating weight-loss management decisions.

Implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical decision-making is still in early development. We developed an AI robot intervention prototype with a health literacy-friendly interface that uses interactive voice response (IVR) surveying to assist in decision-making for weight loss. The weight-specific health literacy instrument (WSHLI) and Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDMQ) were used to measure factors influencing weight-loss decisions.

Impact of fish consumption on all-cause mortality in older people with and without dementia: a community-based cohort study.

Background: Increased fish consumption reduces the risk of dementia. However, it is unknown whether fish consumption reduced all-cause mortality in people with dementia. The purpose of the study is to investigate the association of fish consumption with all-cause mortality in older people with dementia versus those without dementia.

Engineering human liver fatty acid binding protein for detection of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of synthetic fluorinated chemicals with surface active and water-repellent properties. The combination of wide-spread use in numerous consumer and industrial products and extended biological half-lives arising from strong carbon-fluorine bonds has led to significant accumulation of PFAS in humans. As most human interaction with PFAS comes from ingestion, it is important to be able to detect PFAS in drinking water as well as in agricultural water.

Reactive Astrocytes: Critical Players in the Development of Chronic Pain.

Chronic pain is associated with long term plasticity of nociceptive pathways in the central nervous system. Astrocytes can profoundly affect synaptic function and increasing evidence has highlighted how altered astrocyte activity may contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic pain. In response to injury, astrocytes undergo a shift in form and function known as reactive astrogliosis, which affects their release of cytokines and gliotransmitters.

Perspectives of solid organ transplant recipients on medicine-taking: Systematic review of qualitative studies.

Medicine-taking among transplant recipients is a complex and ubiquitous task with significant impacts on outcomes. This study aimed to describe the perspectives and experiences of medicine-taking in adult solid organ transplant recipients. Electronic databases were searched to July 2020, and thematic synthesis was used to analyze the data.

Can nanoparticles and nano‒protein interactions bring a bright future for insulin delivery?

Insulin therapy plays an essential role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. However, frequent injections required to effectively control the glycemic levels lead to substantial inconvenience and low patient compliance. In order to improve insulin delivery, many efforts have been made, such as developing the nanoparticles (NPs)-based release systems and oral insulin.

Molecular Evolution of Human Coronavirus 229E in Hong Kong and a Fatal COVID-19 Case Involving Coinfection with a Novel Human Coronavirus 229E Genogroup.

Compared to other human coronaviruses, the genetic diversity and evolution of human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) are relatively understudied. We report a fatal case of COVID-19 pneumonia coinfected with HCoV-229E in Hong Kong. Genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-229E from a nasopharyngeal sample of the patient showed that the SARS-CoV-2 strain HK13 was most closely related to SARS-CoV-2 type strain Wuhan-Hu-1 (99.

Haemorrhage rates of ruptured and unruptured brain arteriovenous malformation after radiosurgery: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Objectives: The present nationwide population-based cohort study aims to assess the effectiveness of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) on ruptured and unruptured brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) by evaluating the haemorrhage rates.

Design: A nationwide, retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).

Impact of Air Pollution on Cognitive Impairment in Older People: A Cohort Study in Rural and Suburban China.

Background: The impact of air pollution on cognitive impairment in older people has not been fully understood. It is unclear which air pollutants are the culprit.

Objective: We assessed the associations of six air pollutants and air quality index (AQI) with cognitive impairment.

Rare/cryptic Aspergillus species infections and importance of antifungal susceptibility testing.

Background: The number of patients infected with Aspergillus rose dramatically in recent years. However, studies on the clinical spectrum and antifungal susceptibilities of non-classical (non-fumigatus, non-flavus, non-niger and non-terreus) pathogenic Aspergillus species are very limited.

Objectives: We examined the clinical spectrum and antifungal susceptibilities of 34 non-duplicated, non-classical Aspergillus isolates collected from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

A Rapid, Simple, Inexpensive, and Mobile Colorimetric Assay COVID-19-LAMP for Mass On-Site Screening of COVID-19.

To control the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent its resurgence in areas preparing for a return of economic activities, a method for a rapid, simple, and inexpensive point-of-care diagnosis and mass screening is urgently needed. We developed and evaluated a one-step colorimetric reverse-transcriptional loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (COVID-19-LAMP) for detection of SARS-CoV-2, using SARS-CoV-2 isolate and respiratory samples from patients with COVID-19 ( = 223) and other respiratory virus infections ( = 143). The assay involves simple equipment and techniques and low cost, without the need for expensive qPCR machines, and the result, indicated by color change, is easily interpreted by naked eyes.

eHealth Interventions for Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Lack of support for self-management may contribute to adverse health outcomes. eHealth has the potential to support self-management, but evidence in solid organ transplantation remains unclear. This review aims to evaluate the benefits and harms of eHealth interventions to support self-management in solid organ transplant recipients.

The proper strategy to compress and protect plasmid DNA in the Pluronic L64-electropulse system for enhanced intramuscular gene delivery.

Intramuscular expression of functional proteins is a promising strategy for therapeutic purposes. Previously, we developed an intramuscular gene delivery method by combining Pluronic L64 and optimized electropulse, which is among the most efficient methods to date. However, plasmid DNAs (pDNAs) in this method were not compressed, making them unstable and inefficient .