Luteolin (Lut) and apigenin (Apn), flavones present in various edible plants, exhibit diverse antioxidant and pharmacological activities but have limited in vivo efficacy due to low water solubility and poor bioavailability. Here, we generated luteolin and apigenin monophosphate derivatives (LutPs and ApnPs) individually via microbial biotransformation. We then characterized their physicochemical properties and evaluated their in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetics and bioavailability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrimethylamine -oxide (TMAO), a gut microbiome-derived metabolite, participates in the atherogenesis and vascular stiffening that is closely linked with cardiovascular (CV) complications and related deaths in individuals with kidney failure undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) therapy. In these patients, arterial stiffness (AS) is also an indicator of adverse CV outcomes. This study assessed the correlation between serum TMAO concentration quantified with high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry and central AS measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) in patients with chronic PD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectra (MALDI-TOF MS) with machine learning (ML) has been explored for predicting antimicrobial resistance. This study evaluates the effectiveness of MALDI-TOF MS paired with various ML classifiers and establishes optimal models for predicting antimicrobial resistance and the presence of mecA gene among Staphylococcus aureus.
Materials And Methods: Antimicrobial resistance against tier 1 antibiotics and MALDI-TOF MS of S.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal cancer with a growing global incidence and is often associated with poor prognosis due to its tendency to metastasize. Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) 1 is a transmembrane protein found in various cancer cells and is associated with the spread of cancer and poor prognosis. Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) is a chemokine that significantly affects the cell motility of various cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntradialytic hypotension significantly affects patient safety and clinical outcomes during hemodialysis. Despite various pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions, effective management remains elusive. In this report, we detail a case of intradialytic hypotension in a male patient in his 40s, undergoing hemodialysis with a history of polycystic kidney disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToll-like receptors (TLRs) are vital components of the innate immune system, serving as the first line of defense against pathogens by recognizing a wide array of molecular patterns. This review summarizes the critical roles of TLRs in immune surveillance and disease pathogenesis, focusing on their structure, signaling pathways, and implications in various disorders. We discuss the molecular intricacies of TLRs, including their ligand specificity, signaling cascades, and the functional consequences of their activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To outline the epidemiology of puerperal mastitis caused by methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and evaluate the effect of an infection control bundle on its incidence.
Methods: A surge in MRSA puerperal mastitis was noted in a community hospital in September 2009. MRSA samples from mastitis cases and the environment underwent typing using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC), gene encoding surface protein A (), accessory gene regulator (), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
We investigate the interactions between an array of three-level atoms and two photon fields with distinct frequencies employing quantum electrodynamics (QED). The control beam, as expected, has a considerably higher intensity than the probe beam, and the probe photon's eigenstate notably then appears as a distinctive dressed Bloch wave. We calculate the dispersion relation and quantum amplitude of the probe photons for their transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to investigate the relationship of four chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) biomarkers, including intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), soluble klotho, and fetuin-A, with aortic stiffness in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, comparing those with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). A total of 213 patients (mean age 58 ± 14 years; 81 (38.0%) patients with DM) were enrolled.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a broad application in healthcare, with Danshen being a notable herb used in Eastern medicine for cancer treatment. This study aims to explore the relationship between Danshen use and cardiovascular risks among bladder cancer patients. Patients were selected based on a confirmed diagnosis of bladder cancer with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria to control for certain comorbidities and treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells involves the interaction between the viral spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Given that the spike protein evolves rapidly to evade host immunity, therapeutics that block ACE2 accessibility, such as spike decoys, could serve as an alternative strategy for attenuating viral infection. Here, we constructed a drug screening platform based on oral epithelial cells to rapidly identify peptides or compounds capable of blocking the spike-ACE2 interaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisruptions in glucose metabolism are frequently observed among patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) who utilize glucose-containing dialysis solutions. We aimed to investigate the relationship between glucometabolic indices, including fasting glucose, insulin resistance, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), PD-related glucose load, and icodextrin usage, and aortic stiffness in PD patients with and without diabetic mellitus (DM). This study involved 172 PD patients (mean age 58.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAchieving a substantial blockade radius is crucial for developing scalable and efficient quantum communication and computation. In this theoretical study, we present the enhancement of the Rydberg blockade radius by utilizing Förster resonance. This phenomenon occurs when the energy difference between two initial Rydberg states closely matches that between the corresponding final Rydberg states, giving rise to a resonant energy transfer process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDark-state polaritons (DSPs) based on the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency are bosonic quasiparticles, representing the superpositions of photons and atomic ground-state coherences. It has been proposed that stationary DSPs are governed by the equation of motion closely similar to the Schrödinger equation and can be employed to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) with transition temperature orders of magnitude higher than that of the atomic BEC. The stationary-DSP BEC is a three-dimensional system and has a far longer lifetime than the exciton-polariton BEC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel cardiovascular stress biomarker known as galectin-3 might be useful for anticipating adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The objective of the current investigation was to assess the association between serum galectin-3 levels and aortic stiffness (AS) in 196 patients on peritoneal dialysis. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent examination and a cuff-based volumetric displacement were employed to determine the levels of serum galectin-3 and the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been classified into 6 phases A-F according to the present risk factors in sequence of genes, environments, autoimmunity, arthralgia and joint swelling. To clarify the ultrasound synovitis scores in at-risk patients (phases C-E) and RA (phase F).
Methods: Patients who had been experiencing hand joint symptoms for at least 6 weeks and asymptomatic patients with positive rheumatoid factor and/or anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies were enrolled.
Bladder cancer is a leading human malignancy worldwide. Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 is an oncogenic transcription factor commonly hyperactivated in most human cancers, including bladder cancer. Notably, preclinical evidence has validated STAT3 blockade as a promising therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThrough quantum electrodynamics (QED) we investigate the interactions between a three-level atom and two photon fields under perturbation limit. The dispersion relation and (relative) transmission of the probe photons are obtained by calculating the corresponding Feynman diagrams. The quantum interference in this three-level system such as Fano resonance and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) can be tuned by varying the intensities of the control and probe beams.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study proposed an energy harvester that combines an eccentric pendulum with Wiegand wires to harvest the kinetic energy of a rotating plate. The energy harvester converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy to power sensors mounted on the rotating plate or wheel. The kinetic model is derived from the Euler-Lagrange equation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSarcopenia is frequently encountered in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). We evaluated and compared the diagnostic performance of a strength, assistance walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, and falls (SARC-F) questionnaire, SARC-F combined with calf circumference (SARC-CalF), and calf circumference (CC) for screening sarcopenia among patients undergoing PD. We measured the appendicular skeletal muscle mass, evaluated using a multifrequency bioimpedance spectroscopy device, handgrip strength, and 6-m gait speed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present Rydberg-state electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) measurements examining the effects of laser polarization, magnetic fields, laser intensities, and the optical density of the thermal Rb medium. Two counter-propagating laser beams with wavelengths of 480 nm and 780 nm were employed to sweep the spectrum across the Rydberg states |33D〉 and |33D〉. An analytic transmission expression well fits the Rydberg-EIT spectra with multiple transitions under different magnetic fields and laser polarization after accounting for the relevant Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, Zeeman splittings, and Doppler shifts.
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