Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Derived Exosomes Attenuates Experimental Periodontitis in Mice Partly by Delivering miRNAs.

Introduction: Periodontitis is the most common non-communicable disease in humans. The main challenge in the treatment of periodontitis is to effectively control periodontal inflammation and promote tissue repair. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes (hucMSCs-exo) have been reported to modulate inflammatory responses and promote tissue repairment mainly through miRNAs in several diseases.

Discovery and biological evaluation of carborane-containing derivatives as TEAD auto palmitoylation inhibitors.

Transcriptional enhanced associate domain (TEAD) proteins are key downstream effectors of the Hippo signaling pathway that play a crucial role in various cell processes including tissue development, regeneration, cell proliferation and cancer. TEADs contain a hydrophobic auto-palmitoylation pocket that can bind palmitic acid and stabilize TEADs from being degraded. Inhibitors targeting this palmitoylation pocket typically consist of hydrophobic pharmacophores.

Fluoride induces spermatocyte apoptosis by IP3R1/MCU-mediated mitochondrial calcium overload through MAMs.

Excessive fluoride exposure has been shown to induce diminished sperm quality and mitochondrial dysfunction. The interaction between mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is critical for regulating mitochondrial function in spermatogenic cells. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the molecular events involved in mitochondria-associated ER membranes (MAMs) in mice exposed to 25, 50, and 100 mg/L NaF for 60 days, and in GC-2spd treated with 1.

A real-world study to observe the efficacy and safety of Lutai Danshen Baishao Granules for improving melasma.

Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine categorizes melasma into various syndromes, one of which is the kidney-deficiency and blood-stasis syndrome. Different Chinese medicines are used for each syndrome to achieve a personalized treatment approach, resulting in a more effective outcome. The study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of Lutai Danshen Baishao Granules (LDBG) in alleviating melasma and to compare the effects of LDBG in patients with and without kidney-deficiency and blood-stasis syndrome through a real-world, large-sample investigation.

Effects of exercise on high-density lipoprotein levels in middle-aged and older individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of exercise on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in middle-aged and older individuals.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE, including meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of exercise on HDL-C levels in middle-aged and older individuals.

Results: Forty-two trials were analyzed.

Mitochondrial apoptosis in response to cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury.

In patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), thrombolytic therapy and revascularization strategies allow complete recanalization of occluded epicardial coronary arteries. However, approximately 35% of patients still experience myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, which contributing to increased AMI mortality. Therefore, an accurate understanding of myocardial I/R injury is important for preventing and treating AMI.

Chameleon-inspired molecular imprinted polymer with bicolored states for visual and stable detection of diethylstilbestrol in water and food samples.

A novel biomimetic molecular imprinted polymer chip with fluorescence (FL) and structural (STR) states, inspired by color patterns of chameleon skin, is fabricated for detecting diethylstilbestrol (DES). The chip features a regularly structured, non-closed-packed (NCP) colloidal photonic crystal (CPC) lattice made monodisperse MIP spheres containing fluorescence poly ionic liquid (FPIL) pigments. The FL color originates from FPIL pigments and is further enhanced by the Purcell effect, while the STR color results from the periodic arrangement of the NCP CPC structure.

[Literature research and discussion on properties of a new oversea-introduced traditional Chinese medicine Malaysian ginseng(Tongkat Ali)].

Tongkat Ali(Eurycoma longifolia Jack.) is a medicinal plant of Simaroubaceae in Southeast Asia, with centuries of medicinal history. Rich clinical and pharmacological research results have been attained for this plant, which demonstrates diverse and definite effects and high safety, showcasing advantages and broad market prospects to be introduced as a new medicinal plant.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Potential Mechanism of Hook.f. & Thomson in Lowering Serum Uric Acid by Reducing Inflammatory State Through CCR7 Target.

Hook.f. & Thomson (CC) is a traditional medicinal herb with multiple biological activities.

An fMRI dataset in response to large-scale short natural dynamic facial expression videos.

Facial expression is among the most natural methods for human beings to convey their emotional information in daily life. Although the neural mechanisms of facial expression have been extensively studied employing lab-controlled images and a small number of lab-controlled video stimuli, how the human brain processes natural dynamic facial expression videos still needs to be investigated. To our knowledge, this type of data specifically on large-scale natural facial expression videos is currently missing.

NMC-4 Ameliorates Depression-Like Behavior and Neuroinflammation Caused by Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress.

Depression is a prevalent mental disorder, but the side effects of antidepressants also make depressed patients resistant. Effective and safe antidepressants should be developed from traditional herbs, with the aim of reducing the side effects of antidepressants and improving the efficacy of drugs. In this study, the new macamide compound-4 (NMC-4) was synthesized for the first time, addressing the problem of difficult extraction, isolation, and low content of natural macamide.

Large-scale parameters framework with large convolutional kernel for encoding visual fMRI activity information.

Visual encoding models often use deep neural networks to describe the brain's visual cortex response to external stimuli. Inspired by biological findings, researchers found that large receptive fields built with large convolutional kernels improve convolutional encoding model performance. Inspired by scaling laws in recent years, this article investigates the performance of large convolutional kernel encoding models on larger parameter scales.

A single-cell sequence analysis of mouse subcutaneous white adipose tissue reveals dynamic changes during weaning.

Adipose tissue development begins in the fetal period, and continues to expand after birth. Dysregulation of adipose tissue during weaning may predispose individuals to lifelong metabolic disorders. However, the developmental remodeling of adipose tissue during weaning remains largely unexplored.

Boosting the immunogenicity of the CoronaVac SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine with Huoxiang Suling Shuanghua Decoction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Introduction: In light of the public health burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting the safety and immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines is of great concern. Numerous Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations have shown to beneficially modulate immunity. Based on pilot experiments in mice that showed that supplementation with Huoxiang Suling Shuanghua Decoction (HSSD) significantly enhances serum anti-RBD IgG titers after inoculation with recombinant SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD protein, we conducted this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial aimed to evaluate the potential immunogenicity boosting effect of oral HSSD after a third homologous immunization with Sinovac's CoronaVac SARS-CoV-2 (CVS) inactivated vaccine.

PlaqueNet: deep learning enabled coronary artery plaque segmentation from coronary computed tomography angiography.

Cardiovascular disease, primarily caused by atherosclerotic plaque formation, is a significant health concern. The early detection of these plaques is crucial for targeted therapies and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This study presents PlaqueNet, a solution for segmenting coronary artery plaques from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images.

1-Phosphate receptor agonists: A promising therapeutic avenue for ischemia-reperfusion injury management.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) - a complex pathological condition occurring when blood supply is abruptly restored to ischemic tissues, leading to further tissue damage - poses a significant clinical challenge. Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors (S1PRs), a specialized set of G-protein-coupled receptors comprising five subtypes (S1PR1 to S1PR5), are prominently present in various cell membranes, including those of lymphocytes, cardiac myocytes, and endothelial cells. Increasing evidence highlights the potential of targeting S1PRs for IRI therapeutic intervention.

A dual-energy CT reconstruction method based on anchor network from dual quarter scans.

Compared with conventional single-energy computed tomography (CT), dual-energy CT (DECT) provides better material differentiation but most DECT imaging systems require dual full-angle projection data at different X-ray spectra. Relaxing the requirement of data acquisition is an attractive research to promote the applications of DECT in wide range areas and reduce the radiation dose as low as reasonably achievable. In this work, we design a novel DECT imaging scheme with dual quarter scans and propose an efficient method to reconstruct the desired DECT images from the dual limited-angle projection data.

Dynamical alterations of brain function and gut microbiome in weight loss.

Objective: Intermittent energy restriction (IER) is an effective weight loss strategy. However, little is known about the dynamic effects of IER on the brain-gut-microbiome axis.

Methods: In this study, a total of 25 obese individuals successfully lost weight after a 2-month IER intervention.

Integrative metabolomic and network pharmacological analysis reveals potential mechanisms of Hook.f. & Thomson in alleviating potassium oxonate-induced asymptomatic hyperuricemia in rats.

Hook.f. & Thomson (CC), a herb of the genus (family Brassicaceae), has a rich historical usage in China for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

Brain Functional Representation of Highly Occluded Object Recognition.

Recognizing highly occluded objects is believed to arise from the interaction between the brain's vision and cognition-controlling areas, although supporting neuroimaging data are currently limited. To explore the neural mechanism during this activity, we conducted an occlusion object recognition experiment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During magnet resonance examinations, 66 subjects engaged in object recognition tasks with three different occlusion degrees.

Adversarial robustness in deep neural networks based on variable attributes of the stochastic ensemble model.

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have been shown to be susceptible to critical vulnerabilities when attacked by adversarial samples. This has prompted the development of attack and defense strategies similar to those used in cyberspace security. The dependence of such strategies on attack and defense mechanisms makes the associated algorithms on both sides appear as closely processes, with the defense method being particularly passive in these processes.

Intermittent energy restriction changes the regional homogeneity of the obese human brain.

Background: Intermittent energy restriction (IER) is an effective weight loss strategy. However, the accompanying changes in spontaneous neural activity are unclear, and the relationship among anthropometric measurements, biochemical indicators, and adipokines remains ambiguous.

Methods: Thirty-five obese adults were recruited and received a 2-month IER intervention.