Dysbiosis characteristics of gut microbiota in cerebral infarction patients.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the dysbiosis characteristics of gut microbiota in patients with cerebral infarction (CI) and its clinical implications.

Methods: Stool samples were collected from 79 CI patients and 98 healthy controls and subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing to identify stool microbes. Altered compositions and functions of gut microbiota in CI and its correlation with clinical features were investigated.

G9a Promotes Invasion and Metastasis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer through Enhancing Focal Adhesion Kinase Activation via NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Potential roles of euchromatic histone methyltransferase 2 ( or G9a) in invasion and metastasis are not well understood in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we investigated the effect and underlying mechanisms of G9a and therapeutic implications of targeting G9a in the invasion and metastasis of NSCLC. Overexpression of G9a significantly enhanced proliferation and invasion, while knockdown of G9a drastically suppressed growth and metastasis of A549 and H1299 NSCLC cells.

High resolution computed tomography for the diagnosis of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia: a study from multiple medical centers in western China.

Background: To evaluate the role of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in the diagnosis of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia and to provide experience in the early detection and diagnosis of 2019-nCoV pneumonia.

Methods: Seventy-two patients confirmed to be infected with 2019-nCoV from multiple medical centers in western China were retrospectively analyzed, including epidemiologic characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory findings and HRCT chest features.

Results: All patients had lung parenchymal abnormalities on HRCT scans, which were mostly multifocal in both lungs and asymmetric in all patients, and were mostly in the peripheral or subpleural lung regions in 52 patients (72.

Correction to: Osteopontin/secreted phosphoprotein-1 behaves as a molecular brake regulating the neuroinflammatory response to chronic viral infection.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

An inexpensive apparatus for up to 97% continuous-flow parahydrogen enrichment using liquid helium.

Nuclear spin hyperpolarization derived from parahydrogen can enable nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging with sensitivity enhancements exceeding four orders of magnitude. The NMR signal enhancement is proportional to 4x-1, where x is the parahydrogen mole fraction. For convenience, many labs elect to carry out the ortho-para conversion at 77 K where 50% enrichment is obtained.

Construction of a Mex3c Gene-Deficient Mouse Model to Study C-FOS Expression in Hypothalamic Nuclei and Observe Morphological Differences in Embryonic Neural Tube Development.

BACKGROUND This study utilized CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to construct a Mex3c gene-deficient mouse model, and studied C-FOS expression in hypothalamic nuclei. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty Mex3c-/+ mice, 30 mice in the normal group, and 30 Mex3c-/+ mice were randomly divided into control, leptin, and ghrelin groups according to different intraperitoneal injections. HE and Nissl staining were performed to observe the morphology of hypothalamic nerve cells.

ZNF750 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of melanoma cells through modulating the Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway.

Introduction: The abnormal expression of Zinc Finger Protein 750 (ZNF750) has been reported in neoplastic diseases. This study investigated the functional role of ZNF750 in the progression of melanoma.

Material And Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to detect the expression levels of ZNF750 in patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma.

Mex3c mutation affects lactation through impairing milk ejection in female mice.

Mouse Mex3c encodes RNA-binding proteins of variant length through alternative splicing. Its mutation results in multiple defects including growth retardation, perturbed energy balance, and defective antiviral innate immunity. Here we report that Mex3c mutation affects mammary gland development and lactation in female mice.

Generating anthropomorphic phantoms using fully unsupervised deformable image registration with convolutional neural networks.

Purpose: Computerized phantoms have been widely used in nuclear medicine imaging for imaging system optimization and validation. Although the existing computerized phantoms can model anatomical variations through organ and phantom scaling, they do not provide a way to fully reproduce the anatomical variations and details seen in humans. In this work, we present a novel registration-based method for creating highly anatomically detailed computerized phantoms.

Real-Time Hierarchical Supervoxel Segmentation via a Minimum Spanning Tree.

Supervoxel segmentation algorithm has been applied as a preprocessing step for many vision tasks. However, existing supervoxel segmentation algorithms cannot generate hierarchical supervoxel segmentation well preserving the spatiotemporal boundaries in real time, which prevents the downstream applications from accurate and efficient processing. In this paper, we propose a real-time hierarchical supervoxel segmentation algorithm based on the minimum spanning tree (MST), which achieves state-of-the-art accuracy meanwhile at least 11× faster than existing methods.

Factors associated with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes in Germany: results from German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008-2011.

Introduction: To identify characteristics of people with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes (T2D) among adults in Germany.

Research Design And Methods: The study population comprised participants aged 40-79 years of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults 2008-2011. Glycemic status was categorized as undiagnosed T2D (glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) ≥48 mmol/mol (6.

Three-dimensional regions-of-interest-based intra-operative four-dimensional soft tissue perfusion imaging using a standard x-ray system with no gantry rotation: A simulation study for a proof of concept.

Purpose: Many interventional procedures aim at changing soft tissue perfusion or blood flow. One problem at present is that soft tissue perfusion and its changes cannot be assessed in an interventional suite because cone-beam computed tomography is too slow (it takes 4-10 s per volume scan). In order to address the problem, we propose a novel method called IPEN for Intra-operative four-dimensional soft tissue PErfusion using a standard x-ray system with No gantry rotation.

Emerging Role of IL-10 in Hypertrophic Scars.

Hypertrophic scars (HS) arise from traumatic or surgical injuries and the subsequent abnormal wound healing, which is characterized by continuous and histologically localized inflammation. Therefore, inhibiting local inflammation is an effective method of treating HS. Recent insight into the role of interleukin-10 (IL-10), an important anti-inflammatory cytokine, in fibrosis has increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of HS and has suggested new therapeutic targets.

Osteopontin/secreted phosphoprotein-1 behaves as a molecular brake regulating the neuroinflammatory response to chronic viral infection.

Background: Osteopontin (OPN) as a secreted signaling protein is dramatically induced in response to cellular injury and neurodegeneration. Microglial inflammatory responses in the brain are tightly associated with the neuropathologic hallmarks of neurodegenerative disease, but understanding of the molecular mechanisms remains in several contexts poorly understood.

Methods: Micro-positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging using radioligands to detect increased expression of the translocator protein (TSPO) receptor in the brain is a non-invasive tool used to track neuroinflammation in living mammals.

Vibrational spectral and structural characterization of multicomponent ternary co-crystal formation within acetazolamide, nicotinamide and 2-pyridone.

Ternary co-crystal, as a novel co-crystal design strategy developed on the basis of binary co-crystal, could be used to improve the physicochemical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) efficiently. However, it is difficult to obtain specific ternary co-crystals since such ternary one involves complex assembly of three different molecules. There are few reports on the micro-molecular structure respect of specific ternary co-crystal systems.

Long-term medical treatment of patients with severe burns at exposed sites.

Background: Body parts such as the face and hands are highly exposed during daily life and burns may accumulate in these areas. In addition, residual wounds, scar hyperplasia and contracture often exist in the late stage of a deep burn in these areas, which may affect patients' appearance, movements, and mental health. However, inadequate attention has been paid to this issue which can result in problems, such as difficulty in healing, possibility of carcinoma, chronic pain and a heavy mental burden.

SOLLID - a single centre study to develop methods to investigate the effects of low radiation doses within nuclear medicine, to enable multicentre epidemiological investigations.

There is continuing debate concerning the risks of secondary malignancies from low levels of radiation exposure. The current model used for radiation protection is predicated on the assumption that even very low levels of exposure may entail risk. This has profound implications for medical procedures involving ionising radiation as radiation doses must be carefully monitored, and for diagnostic procedures are minimised as far as possible.

[Estimating prevalent microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus in Germany. Analysis of statutory health insurance data in 2012 and 2013].

Background: Data sources for the systematic and ongoing analysis of prevalence of microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus are limited in Germany. For the first time, we estimated the complications prevalence based on claims data of all statutory health insurance (SHI) providers according to the Data Transparency Act.

Methods: Health claims data of the reporting years 2012 and 2013 were analyzed.

State of the Art and Future Perspectives in Advanced CMOS Technology.

The international technology roadmap of semiconductors (ITRS) is approaching the historical end point and we observe that the semiconductor industry is driving complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) further towards unknown zones. Today's transistors with 3D structure and integrated advanced strain engineering differ radically from the original planar 2D ones due to the scaling down of the gate and source/drain regions according to Moore's law. This article presents a review of new architectures, simulation methods, and process technology for nano-scale transistors on the approach to the end of ITRS technology.

Introducing the GEV Activation Function for Highly Unbalanced Data to Develop COVID-19 Diagnostic Models.

Fast and accurate diagnosis is essential for the efficient and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently disrupting the whole world. Despite the prevalence of the COVID-19 outbreak, relatively few diagnostic images are openly available to develop automatic diagnosis algorithms. Traditional deep learning methods often struggle when data is highly unbalanced with many cases in one class and only a few cases in another; new methods must be developed to overcome this challenge.

Vibrational Spectroscopic Investigation into Novel Ternary Eutectic Formed between Pyrazinamide, Fumaric Acid, and Isoniazid.

To improve the efficacy of anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) therapy, drug-drug co-crystallization stands for an alternative approach to settle the tuberculosis problem. Directly co-crystallizing two typical parent anti-TB drugs (pyrazinamide, PZA and isoniazid, INH) into a single binary co-crystal could not be obtained successfully. Multicomponent eutectic are highly effective and useful for enhancing the dissolution rate, bioavailability, and physical stability of the poorly water-soluble active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) drugs, when the attempts of forming a binary co-crystal have failed.

PET imaging of soluble epoxide hydrolase in non-human primate brain with [F]FNDP.

Purpose: Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a promising candidate positron emission tomography (PET) imaging biomarker altered in various disorders, including vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), stroke, and depression, known to regulate levels of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and play an important role in neurovascular coupling. [F]FNDP, a PET radiotracer for imaging sEH, was evaluated through quantitative PET imaging in the baboon brain, radiometabolite analysis, and radiation dosimetry estimate.

Methods: Baboon [F]FNDP dynamic PET studies were performed at baseline and with blocking doses of the selective sEH inhibitor AR-9281 to evaluate sEH binding specificity.

Insights into Ion Occupancy Manipulation of Fe-Co Oxide Free-Standing Cathodes for Li-O Batteries with Enhanced Deep Charge Capability and Long-Term Capability.

The merits of Li-O batteries due to the huge energy density are shadowed by the sluggish kinetics of oxygen redox and massive side reactions caused by conductive carbon and a binder. Herein, Fe-Co inverse spinel oxide nanowires grown on Ni foam are fabricated as carbon-free and binder-free cathodes for Li-O batteries. Superior high rate cycle durability and deep charge capability are obtained.

Effects of Preparation Methods on the Thermoelectric Performance of SWCNT/BiTe Bulk Composites.

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/BiTe composite powders were fabricated via a one-step in situ reductive method, and their corresponding bulk composites were prepared by a cold-pressing combing pressureless sintering process or a hot-pressing process. The influences of the preparation methods on the thermoelectric properties of the SWCNT/BiTe bulk composites were investigated. All the bulk composites showed negative Seebeck coefficients, indicating n-type conduction.