Probing the diagnostic values of plasma cf-nDNA and cf-mtDNA for Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy.

Background: Cell loss and mitochondrial dysfunction are key pathological features of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA). It remains unclear whether disease-specific changes in plasma circulating cell-free nuclear DNA (cf-nDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) occur in patients with PD and MSA. In this study, we investigated whether plasma cf-nDNA, cf-mtDNA levels, as well as cf-mtDNA integrity, are altered in patients with PD and MSA.

Plasma circulating cell-free DNA integrity and relative telomere length as diagnostic biomarkers for Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy: a cross-sectional study.

In clinical specialties focusing on neurological disorders, there is a need for comprehensive and integrated non-invasive, sensitive, and specific testing methods. Both Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy are classified as α-synucleinopathies, characterized by abnormal accumulation of α-synuclein protein, which provides a shared pathological background for their comparative study. In addition, both Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy involve neuronal death, a process that may release circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) into the bloodstream, leading to specific alterations.

Tofu wastewater as a carbon source flowing into municipal wastewater treatment plants for reductions of costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Wastewater treatment processes significantly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Municipal wastewater treatment also faces challenges related to low strength and a low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio. This study investigates the high-carbon tofu wastewater flowing into municipal sewers for co-treatment at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) directly, with the goal of enhancing nitrogen removal and reduce GHG emissions.

The encapsulation rate and pH sensitivity of arsenic were improved in liposome nanoparticles by the calcium acetate gradient method.

The study proposed improving the arsenic encapsulation efficiency (EE) in liposomes and make it pH responsive. Liposomes were prepared using the ethanol injection method (EIM), thin film dispersion method (TFM) and CAGM with sodium arsenite (NaAsO). The orthogonal experimental was used to optimize the preparation conditions of the CAGM.

Plasma level of alpha-synuclein oligomers as a biomarker for isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder diagnosis and progression: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Alpha-synuclein oligomers (o-α-syn) are pivotal in the pathogenesis of α-synucleinopathy. Isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) serves as an early indicator of the disease, offering insights into disease mechanisms and early intervention. Nevertheless, the diagnostic and predictive potential of o-α-syn in iRBD remains largely unexplored.

Evolution and influencing factors of coastal resilience in the East China Sea.

The coastal zone serves as a crucial hub for economic and population concentration. Amid the context of high-intensity development and global climate change, uncertain risks from diverse sources-including extreme weather events (i.e.

Severe chemical pneumonitis by vanadium pentoxide responded well to aggressive steroid therapy.

The optimal treatment of acute chemical pneumonitis remains controversial. Here we report a healthy man with severe chemical pneumonitis caused by accidental inhalation of vanadium pentoxide. He presented with acute respiratory distress and received aggressive steroid therapy on arrival.

Reduced Surface Trap States of PbS Quantum Dots by Acetonitrile Treatment for Efficient SnO-Based PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells.

The solution-phase ligand-exchange strategy offers a simple pathway to prepare PbS quantum dots (QDs) and their corresponding solar cells. However, the production of high-quality PbS QDs with reduced surface trap state density for efficient PbS QD solar cells (QDSCs) still faces challenges. As the hydroxyl group (-OH) has been demonstrated to be the primary source of the surface trap states on PbS QDs in the general oleic acid method, here, we present an effective and facile strategy for reducing the surface -OH content of PbS QDs by using acetonitrile (ACN) as precipitant to wash the surface of QDs, which significantly decreases the trap state density and enables the preparation of superior PbS QDs.

Prediction of surgical outcomes in severe encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis using a computed tomography scoring system.

Background/purpose: Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare and potential lethal complication of peritoneal dialysis characterized by bowel obstruction. Surgical enterolysis is the only curative therapy. Currently, there are no tools for predicting postsurgical prognosis.

Role of the gut microbiota and their metabolites in hemodialysis patients.

High serum phosphate levels in chronic kidney disease (CKD) are linked to adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease progression, and all-cause mortality. This study is aimed to find out which microorganisms or microbial functions have a significant impact on higher calcium-phosphorus product (Ca x P) after they undergo hemodialysis (HD) treatment. samples from 30 healthy controls, 15 dialysis patients with controlled Ca xP (HD), and 16 dialysis patients with higher Ca xP (HDHCP) were collected to perform in 16S amplicon sequencing.

Innate cocaine-seeking vulnerability arising from loss of serotonin-mediated aversive effects of cocaine in rats.

Cocaine blocks dopamine reuptake, thereby producing rewarding effects that are widely studied. However, cocaine also blocks serotonin uptake, which we show drives, in rats, individually variable aversive effects that depend on serotonin 2C receptors (5-HT2CRs) in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg), a major GABAergic afferent to midbrain dopamine neurons. 5-HT2CRs produce depolarizing effects in RMTg neurons that are particularly strong in some rats, leading to aversive effects that reduce acquisition of and relapse to cocaine seeking.

The PD-ROBOSCORE: A difficulty score for robotic pancreatoduodenectomy.

Background: Difficulty scoring systems are important for the safe, stepwise implementation of new procedures. We designed a retrospective observational study for building a difficulty score for robotic pancreatoduodenectomy.

Methods: The difficulty score (PD-ROBOSCORE) aims at predicting severe postoperative complications after robotic pancreatoduodenectomy.

Alisol B 23-acetate adjusts bile acid metabolisim via hepatic FXR-BSEP signaling activation to alleviate atherosclerosis.

Background: Postmenopausal women have a high incidence of atherosclerosis. Phytosterols have been shown to have cholesterol-lowering properties. Alisa B 23-acetate (AB23A) is a biologically active plant sterol isolated from Chinese herbal medicine Alisma.

Evaluation of illness severity of neonate infectious pneumonia and neurobehavioral development through ultrasonography under adaption algorithm.

Objectives: To explore the diagnostic effect of ultrasound imaging on the illness severity, and to analyze neurobehavioral development of neonates with Infectious Pneumonia (IPN), Self- Adaptation (SD), and Spatial Smoothing (SS) technologies were adopted to build SDSS. Then, the WFFSF algorithm based on Wiener Filtering (WF) and Feature Space Fusion (FSF) and the SNRP-FSF algorithm based on Signal-to-noise ratio post-filtering (SNRP) and FSF were introduced for comparison.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-two neonates were divided into group without respiratory failure (S1) and respiratory failure group (S2).

A potential microbiological approach to the evaluation of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction.

Earthquakes occur thousands of times every day around the world. They are naturally destructive seismic events and often result in soil liquefaction. Soil microbiota plays a vital role in soil environments and may serve as an effective indicator to assess soil liquefaction after earthquakes.

Lyapunov exponents for Hamiltonian systems under small Lévy-type perturbations.

This work is to investigate the (top) Lyapunov exponent for a class of Hamiltonian systems under small non-Gaussian Lévy-type noise with bounded jumps. In a suitable moving frame, the linearization of such a system can be regarded as a small perturbation of a nilpotent linear system. The Lyapunov exponent is then estimated by taking a Pinsky-Wihstutz transformation and applying the Khas'minskii formula, under appropriate assumptions on smoothness, ergodicity, and integrability.

Liuwei Dihuang formula protect endothelial cells from apoptosis by up-regulating expression of estrogen receptor-α.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Liuwei Dihuang formula ( LWDHF) on endothelial cells, and to study the mechanism behind the action of modulating expression of estrogen receptors.

Methods: Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was applied to induce the apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The concentration of nitric oxide (NO), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS) were measured by assay kits.

Synaptic Adaptations at the Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus Underlie Individual Differences in Cocaine Avoidance Behavior.

Although cocaine is powerfully rewarding, not all individuals are equally prone to abusing this drug. We postulate that these differences arise in part because some individuals exhibit stronger aversive responses to cocaine that protect them from cocaine seeking. Indeed, using conditioned place preference (CPP) and a runway operant cocaine self-administration task, we demonstrate that avoidance responses to cocaine vary greatly between individual high cocaine-avoider and low cocaine-avoider rats.

The gut microbiota during the progression of atherosclerosis in the perimenopausal period shows specific compositional changes and significant correlations with circulating lipid metabolites.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is exacerbated in the perimenopausal period, which significantly increases the incidence rate of cardiovascular disease. The disruption of the gut microbiota has been associated with AS or menopause, but the specific changes of AS-associated gut microbiota in the perimenopausal period remain largely unknown. As lipid abnormalities are mainly responsible for AS, the relationship between lipid metabolism abnormalities and gut microbiota disruptions during menopause is rarely reported hitherto.

Novel insights: Dynamic foam cells derived from the macrophage in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis can be regarded as a chronic disease derived from the interaction between disordered lipoproteins and an unsuitable immune response. The evolution of foam cells is not only a significant pathological change in the early stage of atherosclerosis but also a key stage in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis. The formation of foam cells is mainly caused by the imbalance among lipids uptake, lipids treatment, and reverse cholesterol transport.

Estrogen prevent atherosclerosis by attenuating endothelial cell pyroptosis via activation of estrogen receptor α-mediated autophagy.

Excessive inflammation and the pyroptosis of vascular endothelial cells caused by estrogen deficiency is one cause of atherosclerosis in post-menopausal women. Because autophagy is highly regulated by estrogen, we hypothesized that estrogen can reduce vascular endothelial cell pyroptosis through estrogen receptor alpha (ERα)-mediated activation of autophagy to improve atherosclerosis in post-menopausal stage. Aortic samples from pro-menopausal and post-menopausal women with ascending aortic arteriosclerosis were analyzed, and bilateral ovariectomized (OVX) female ApoE-/- mice and homocysteine (Hcy)-treated HUVECs were used to analyze the effect of estrogen supplementation therapy.

Alleviation of lead toxicity and phytostimulation in perennial ryegrass by the Pb-resistant fungus Trichoderma asperellum SD-5.

Lead (Pb), a highly toxic metal ion, is detrimental to plants and humans. Existing botanical techniques for Pb-contaminated soil remediation are limited in their efficiency. Here, we investigated the use of the fungus Trichoderma asperellum Samuels, Lieckf & Nirenberg SD-5, which we identified previously as being Pb-resistant, for phytoremediation and for its effects on plant growth, Pb adsorption, and physiological responses in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.