Oxytocin Differentially Modulates Amygdala Responses during Top-Down and Bottom-Up Aversive Anticipation.

The ability to successfully regulate negative emotions such as fear and anxiety is vital for mental health. Intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) has been shown to reduce amygdala activity but to increase amygdala-prefrontal cortex connectivity during exposure to threatening stimuli suggesting that it may act as an important modulator of emotion regulation. The present randomized, between-subject, placebo-controlled pharmacological study combines the intranasal administration of OXT with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an explicit emotion regulation paradigm in 65 healthy male participants to investigate the modulatory effects of OXT on both bottom-up and top-down emotion regulation.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for L-malate production anaerobically.

Background: L-malate is one of the most important platform chemicals widely used in food, metal cleaning, textile finishing, pharmaceuticals, and synthesis of various fine chemicals. Recently, the development of biotechnological routes to produce L-malate from renewable resources has attracted significant attention.

Results: A potential L-malate producing strain E.

Large calcified renal artery aneurysm in the renal sinus misdiagnosed as an intrapelvic calculus followed by mistakenly performed PCNL: a case report.

Background: Renal artery aneurysms (RAAs) are rare and usually asymptomatic, and some RAAs can be associated with calcifications, which may lead to misdiagnoses as renal calculi, which are then mistakenly treated.

Case Presentation: A 69-year-old female patient was admitted to the hospital with no discomfort and was diagnosed with a large right renal calculus. The ultrasound and computed tomography urography (CTU) scan suggested a large calculus in the right pelvis with hydrops of the kidney.

Sound absorption theory for micro-perforated panel with petal-shaped perforations.

Micro-perforated panel (MPP) absorbers with circular perforations are used in many noise control applications due to their attractive wide-brand sound absorption performance. Different from a common MPP with circular perforations, a unique type of MPP absorber with petal-shaped perforations is proposed. The sound absorption theory for the MPP with petal-shaped perforations is developed by accurately considering the fluid velocity in the petal-shaped perforation hole.

Characterization of Acetamiprid Biodegradation by the Microbial Consortium ACE-3 Enriched From Contaminated Soil.

Microbial consortia are ubiquitous in nature and exhibit several attractive features such as sophisticated metabolic capabilities and strong environmental robustness. This study aimed to decipher the metabolic and ecological characteristics of synergistic interactions in acetamiprid-degrading consortia, suggesting an optimal scheme for bioremediation of organic pollutants. The microbial consortium ACE-3 with excellent acetamiprid-degrading ability was enriched from the soil of an acetamiprid-contaminated site and characterized using high-throughput sequencing (HTS).

The blood protective effect of autologous platelet separation in aortic dissection.

Objective: This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the blood protective effect of autologous platelet separation in operations for acute aortic dissection.

Methods: A total of 130 patients with acute aortic dissection were enrolled into the present study. The average age of these patients was 52.

Designing Synthetic Microbial Consortia for Biofuel Production.

Synthetic microbial consortia could efficiently produce biofuels from lignocellulose through labor division between different species. However, the incompatible growth conditions between lignocellulose degraders and biofuel producers might limit the overall conversion efficiency. We discuss recent examples of biofuel production using microbial consortia and suggest steps toward realistic implementation.

Perspectives for the microbial production of ethyl acetate.

Ethyl acetate is one of the short-chain esters and widely used in the food, beverage, and solvent areas. The ethyl acetate production currently proceeds through unsustainable and energy intensive processes, which are based on natural gas and crude oil. Microbial conversion of biomass-derived sugars into ethyl acetate may provide a sustainable alternative.

The acoustic radiation force of a focused ultrasound beam on a suspended eukaryotic cell.

Although ultrasound tools for manipulating and permeabilizing suspended cells have been available for nearly a century, accurate prediction of the distribution of acoustic radiation force (ARF) continues to be a challenge. We therefore developed an analytical model of the acoustic radiation force (ARF) generated by a focused Gaussian ultrasound beam incident on a eukaryotic cell immersed in an ideal fluid. The model had three layers corresponding to the nucleus, cytoplasm, and membrane, of a eukaryotic cell.

[Establishment and clinical testing of pancreatic cancer Faster R-CNN AI system based on fast regional convolutional neural network].

To investigate the effectiveness of an enhanced CT automatic recognition system based on Faster R-CNN for pancreatic cancer and its clinical value. In this study, 4 024 enhanced CT imaging sequences of 315 patients with pancreatic cancer from January 2013 to May 2016 at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University were collected retrospectively, and 2 614 imaging sequences were input into the faster R-CNN system as training dataset to create an automatic image recognition model, which was then validated by reading 1 410 enhanced CT images of 135 cases of pancreatic cancer.In order to identify its effectiveness, 3 750 CT images of 150 patients with pancreatic lesions were read and a followed-up was carried out.

[Clinicopathological features and gene phenotypes of benign metastasizing leiomyoma].

To study the clinicopathological features, immunophenotypes and MED12 gene status in benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML). Nine cases of BML diagnosed at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from 2012 to 2018 were collected, and the radiologic and histologic features were analyzed. The protein expression of leiomyosarcoma-related driver genes, including RB1, PTEN,ATRX,p16,p53, as well as ER,PR,CD34,FH, and Ki-67 were detected using immunohistochemistry, and the mutation status of MED12 gene exon 2 was detected by Sanger sequencing.

Berberine Attenuates Arterial Plaque Formation in Atherosclerotic Rats with Damp-Heat Syndrome via Regulating Autophagy.

Purpose: Berberine (BBR) is an effective component of Huanglian and has shown to attenuate atherosclerosis (AS); however, the detailed mechanism of BBR-mediated protective actions against AS remains elusive. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of BBR on aortic atherosclerotic plaque stability and the expression of autophagy-related proteins in AS rats with damp-heat syndrome or yang deficiency.

Methods: Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into (1) control (CON); (2) damp-heat syndrome atherosclerosis (AS + DH); (3) yang deficiency syndrome atherosclerosis (AS + YX); (4) damp-heat syndrome atherosclerosis + BBR (AS + DH + BBR); (5) yang deficiency syndrome, atherosclerosis + BBR (AS + YX + BBR); and (6) damp-heat syndrome, atherosclerosis + BBR + 3-methyladenine (AS + DH + BBR + 3-MA) (n = 5/group) groups.

Immobilization and Purification of Enzymes With the Novel Affinity Tag ChBD-AB From SYBC-H1.

A new protein immobilization and purification system has been developed based on the improved plasmid vectors, designated pETChBD-X, which contained the gene coding for two novel chitin-binding domains ChBD-AB, factor Xa cleavage site and adapted for gene fusions. The ChBD-AD from SYBC-H1 was used as a novel affinity tag to anchor fusion proteins to chitin granules. The granules carrying the ChBD-AD fusion proteins can be isolated by a simple centrifugation step and used directly for some applications.

The Effect of Fibers With Different Degrees of Polymerization on Human Gut Bacteria.

Human gut bacteria contribute significantly to human health and several studies have evaluated the effects of dietary fibers on human gut bacterial ecology. However, the relationship between different degrees of fiber polymerization and human gut bacteria is unknown. Here, we analyzed three fiber substrates with different degrees of polymerization, namely carboxymethylcellulose, β-glucans, and galactooligosaccharides.

Folic acid attenuates high-fat diet-induced steatohepatitis deacetylase SIRT1-dependent restoration of PPARα.

Background: Folic acid has been shown to improve non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but its roles in hepatic lipid metabolism, hepatic one-carbon metabolism, and gut microbiota are still unknown.

Aim: To demonstrate the role of folic acid in lipid metabolism and gut microbiota in NASH.

Methods: Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into three groups: Chow diet, high-fat diet (HFD), and HFD with folic acid administration.

Relationship between Fundamental Movement Skills and Physical Activity in Preschool-Aged Children: A Systematic Review.

Preschool-aged children are in a critical period of developing fundamental movement skills (FMS). FMS have a close link with physical activity (PA). This study aimed to systematically review the associations between FMS and PA in preschool-aged children.

Catalytic exchange of hydrogen isotopes intensified by two-phase stratified flow in wettability designable microchannels.

This work develops a reliable method to achieve stratified flow in squared cross-section microchannels by endowing the four channel walls with very different wettabilities. The gas-liquid flows are studied experimentally in six kinds of microchannels with different wetting partitions on the channel walls, where occurrence of the stratified flow is found to strongly depend on the wetting partition and the individual flow rate of gas or liquid. Among them, the microchannel possessing three hydrophobic and one hydrophilic walls (3S1H) shows great potential in facilitating liquid phase catalytic exchange (LPCE) of hydrogen isotopes.

Quality of life and influencing factors of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Northeast China.

Purpose: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease with a high disability rate, resulting in severe family and social burden. The aim of treatment is to improve the health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the QoL of patients with RA in Northeast China and analyze its influencing factors.

Genome Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa KT1115, a High Di-rhamnolipid-Producing Strain with Strong Oils Metabolizing Ability.

In this study, a wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain KT1115 with the capability of converting rapeseed oils into di-rhamnolipids, a class of biosurfactants with extensive application potential, was successfully isolated and characterized. Di-rhamnolipids production by microorganism culture provided a mild, eco-friendly, and secure approach for surfactants production instead of conventional chemical synthesis. However, few studies have been attempted to explore the metabolic mechanism behind the high di-rhamnolipids production by P.

Enhanced rhamnolipids production using a novel bioreactor system based on integrated foam-control and repeated fed-batch fermentation strategy.

Background: Rhamnolipids are the best known microbial-derived biosurfactants, which has attracted great interest as potential ''green" alternative for synthetic surfactants. However, rhamnolipids are the major contributors to severe foam problems, which greatly inhibit the economics of industrial-scale production. In this study, a novel foam-control system was established for ex situ dealing with the massive overflowing foam.

Photocatalytic removal of elemental mercury via Ce-doped TiO catalyst coupling with a novel optical fiber monolith reactor.

Reduction of mercury emission from coal combustion is a serious task for public health and environmental societies. Herein, Ce-doped TiO (Ce/TiO) catalyst coupling with a novel optical fiber monolith reactor was applied to efficiently remove elemental mercury (Hg) from coal-fired flue gas. Under the optimal operation condition (i.

Fluorescence imaging of lysosomal hydrogen selenide under oxygen-controlled conditions.

Hydrogen selenide (HSe), a central metabolite of Se supplements, displays critical biological functions in many physiological and pathological processes. To better understand its comprehensive function, especially those exerted in subcellular organelles, the development of specific assays is urgently needed. However, the methodology to detect HSe is poorly developed.

Elastography for the diagnosis of high-suspicion thyroid nodules based on the 2015 American Thyroid Association guidelines: a multicenter study.

Background: An accurate diagnosis for high-suspicion nodules based on the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines would reduce unnecessary invasive examinations. Elastography is a useful tool for discriminating benign and malignant thyroid nodules. The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic efficiency of elastography for high-suspicion thyroid nodules based on the 2015 ATA guidelines in the Chinese population.