Efficacy of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on liver enzymes, lipid profiles, and inflammation in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: There is a contradiction in the use of microbiota-therapies, including probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics, to improve the condition of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this review was to evaluate the effect of microbiota-therapy on liver injury, inflammation, and lipid levels in individuals with NAFLD.

Methods: Using Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for articles on the use of prebiotic, probiotic, or synbiotic for the treatment of patients with NAFLD up to March 2024.

On the role of asymmetric molecular geometry in high-performance organic solar cells.

Although asymmetric molecular design has been widely demonstrated effective for organic photovoltaics (OPVs), the correlation between asymmetric molecular geometry and their optoelectronic properties is still unclear. To access this issue, we have designed and synthesized several symmetric-asymmetric non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) pairs with identical physical and optoelectronic properties. Interestingly, we found that the asymmetric NFAs universally exhibited increased open-circuit voltage compared to their symmetric counterparts, due to the reduced non-radiative charge recombination.

Versatile Sequential Casting Processing for Highly Efficient and Stable Binary Organic Photovoltaics.

Forming an ideal bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology is a critical issue governing the photon to electron process in organic solar cells (OSCs). Complementary to the widely-used blend casting (BC) method for BHJ construction, sequential casting (SC) can also enable similar or even better morphology and device performance for OSCs. Here, BC and SC methods on three representative donor:acceptor (D:A) blends are utilized, that is, PM6:PC BM, PM6:IT-4F and PM6:L8-BO.

High-Efficiency ITO-Free Organic Photovoltaics with Superior Flexibility and Upscalability.

Developing indium-tin-oxide (ITO)-free flexible organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with upscaling capacity is of great significance for practical applications of OPVs. Unfortunately, the efficiencies of the corresponding devices lag far behind those of ITO-based rigid small-area counterparts. To address this issue, an advanced device configuration is designed and fabricated featuring a top-illuminated structure with ultrathin Ag as the transparent electrode.

Synergistic Effects of Chlorination and Branched Alkyl Side Chain on the Photovoltaic Properties of Simple Non-Fullerene Acceptors with Quinoxaline as the Core.

To date, the fused-ring electron acceptors show the best photovoltaic performances, and the development of simple non-fullerene acceptors via intramolecular noncovalent interactions can reduce synthetic costs. In this work, four simple non-fullerene acceptors with an A-D-A'-D-A configuration (QCIC1, QCIC2, QCIC3, and QCIC4) were synthesized. They contained the same conjugated backbone (A': quinoxaline; D: cyclopentadithiophene; A: dicyano-indanone) but different halogen atoms and alkyl side chains.

Hierarchically micro-mesoporous β-cyclodextrin polymers used for ultrafast removal of micropollutants from water.

Persistent organic pollutants, including plasticizers, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupters, have posed a serious threat to water safety and human health. Addressing this problem calls out new materials of purifying water with high efficiency. Here, a series of cross-linked β-cyclodextrin polymers (β-CDPs) with hierarchically micro-mesoporous structure and high surface area were first synthesized by introducing polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) and used for adsorptive removal of organic micropollutants from water.

Use of propidium monoazide and increased amplicon length reduce false-positive signals in quantitative PCR for bioburden analysis.

Rapid microbiological methods (RMMs) as an alternative to conventional cultivation-based bioburden analysis are receiving increasing attention although no single technology is currently able to satisfy the needs of the health care industry. Among the RMMs, quantitative PCR (qPCR) seems particularly suited. Its implementation is, however, hampered by false-positive signals originating from free DNA in PCR reagents or from dead cells in the samples to be analysed.

Use of image-based flow cytometry in bacterial viability analysis using fluorescent probes.

This protocol was developed to utilize imaging flow cytometry (IFCM) in combination with fluorescent dyes to both enumerate and analyze morphological features of live and dead cells in a mixed live/dead bacterial sample. The fluorescent dyes used in this protocol include 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA), which indicates the functional activity of esterase inside viable bacterial cells, and DRAQ7, a dye that exploits membrane-compromised bacterial cells to enter and stain the cell. The live cell population stained with CFDA emits a fluorescent green color while the dead cell population stained with DRAQ7 emits a fluorescent red color, which allows the two populations to be distinctively separated by the IFCM system.

Synergistic effects of sodium chloride, glucose, and temperature on biofilm formation by Listeria monocytogenes serotype 1/2a and 4b strains.

Biofilm formation by Listeria monocytogenes is generally associated with its persistence in the food-processing environment. Serotype 1/2a strains make up more than 50% of the total isolates recovered from food and the environment, while serotype 4b strains are most often associated with major outbreaks of human listeriosis. Using a microplate assay with crystal violet staining, we examined biofilm formation by 18 strains of each serotype in tryptic soy broth with varying concentrations of glucose (from 0.

Competition of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 1/2a and 4b strains in mixed-culture biofilms.

The majority of Listeria monocytogenes isolates recovered from foods and the environment are strains of serogroup 1/2, especially serotypes 1/2a and 1/2b. However, serotype 4b strains cause the majority of human listeriosis outbreaks. Our investigation of L.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated from environmental sources differ significantly in acetic acid resistance compared with human outbreak strains.

A number of studies on the influence of acid on Escherichia coli O157:H7 have shown considerable strain differences, but limited information has been reported to compare the acid resistance based on the different sources of E. coli O157:H7 isolates. The purpose of this study was to determine the survival of E.