A critical review on effects of artificial sweeteners on gut microbiota and gastrointestinal health.

Artificial sweeteners have emerged as popular alternatives to traditional sweeteners, driven by the growing concern over sugar consumption and its associated rise in obesity and metabolic disorders. Despite their widespread use, the safety and health implications of artificial sweeteners remain a topic of debate, with conflicting evidence contributing to uncertainty about their long-term effects. This review synthesizes current scientific evidence regarding the impact of artificial sweeteners on gut microbiota and gastrointestinal health.

Best evidence summary for the management of exercise in patients with central venous access devices.

Background: Central venous access devices (CVAD) are widely used in patient care, providing an essential, reliable pathway for patients to receive chemotherapy, long-term infusions, and nutritional support. However, a system of exercise management has not been developed in patients with CVAD.

Purpose: To evaluate and summarize the evidence for management exercise in patients with CVAD and provide guidance for clinical practice.

Could less be enough: sublobar resection vs lobectomy for clinical stage IA non-small cell lung cancer patients with visceral pleural invasion or spread through air spaces.

Background: While recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that sublobar resection is non-inferior to lobectomy, the comparative efficacy of these procedures remains uncertain for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; ≤ 3 cm) exhibiting invasive features postoperatively, such as visceral pleural invasion (VPI) or spread through air spaces (STAS).

Materials And Methods: To identify eligible studies, a comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science was conducted through 25 July 2024. Studies were screened according to predefined criteria in accordance with PRISMA guidelines.

Non-enhanced abbreviated MRI as a periodic surveillance protocol for colorectal liver metastases compared with contrast-enhanced CT: a prospective observational study.

Background: Adopting appropriate noninvasive radiological method is crucial for periodic surveillance of liver metastases in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients after surgery, which is closely related to clinical management and prognosis. This study aimed to prospectively enroll stage II-III CRC patients for the surveillance of liver metastases, and compare the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT) and non-enhanced abbreviated MRI (NE-AMRI) during this process.

Methods: 587 CRC patients undergoing radical resection of the primary tumor were evaluated by 1 to 3 rounds of surveillance tests, consisting of abdominal CE-CT and contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) within 7 days at 6-month intervals.

MutualDTA: An Interpretable Drug-Target Affinity Prediction Model Leveraging Pretrained Models and Mutual Attention.

Efficient and accurate drug-target affinity (DTA) prediction can significantly accelerate the drug development process. Recently, deep learning models have been widely applied to DTA prediction and have achieved notable success. However, existing methods often encounter several common issues: first, the data representations lack sufficient information; second, the extracted features are not comprehensive; and third, most methods lack interpretability when modeling drug-target binding.

In Vitro and In Vivo Anticancer Activities of Water-Soluble Ru(II)(η6--cymene) Complexes via Activating Apoptosis Central Regulators and Possibilities of New Antitumor Strategies in Triple Negative Breast Cancers.

In this study, we synthesized 12 monofunctional tridentate ONS-donor salicylaldimine ligand ()-based Ru(II) complexes with general formula [(Ru()(-cymene)]·Cl (-), characterized by H NMR, C NMR, UV, FT-IR spectroscopy, HR-ESI mass spectrometry, and single-crystal X-ray analysis showing ligand's orientation around the Ru(II) center. All 12 of these 12 complexes were tested for their anticancer activities in multiple cancer cells. The superior antitumor efficacy of , , and was demonstrated by reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, impaired proliferative capacity, and disrupted redox homeostasis, along with enhanced apoptosis through caspase-3 activation and downregulation of Bcl-2 expression.

IGF2BP3 is upregulated in endometrial cancer and tightly regulates the growth of drug-resistant endometrial cancer cells via HMGA1.

Objective: Endometrial cancer (EC) is a malignant tumor with various histological subtypes and molecular phenotypes. The evaluation of drug resistance is important for cancer treatment. Progesterone resistance is the major challenge in EC.

Design, Synthesis and Anti-Inflammatory Evaluation of 3-Substituted 5-Amidobenzoate Derivatives as Novel P2Y Receptor Antagonists via Structure-Guided Molecular Hybridization.

The P2YR is activated by UDP and UDP glucose and is involved in many human inflammatory diseases. Based on the molecular docking analysis of currently reported P2YR antagonists and the crystallographic overlap study between PPTN and compound , a series of 3-substituted 5-amidobenzoate derivatives were designed, synthesized, and identified as promising P2YR antagonists. The optimal compound (methyl 3-(1-benzo[]imidazol-2-yl)-5-(2-(-tolyl) acetamido)benzoate, IC = 0.

Application of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Parameters of Metastatic Axillary Lymph Nodes in Breast Cancer Patients in Predicting the Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Early Stage.

Background: To investigate the performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) parameters of metastatic axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) before and after two courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients in predicting the efficacy of NAC.

Methods: A total of 41 postoperative breast cancer patients were selected. All patients underwent NAC, and ALN biopsy was positive before chemotherapy.

Sophoricoside Inhibited Glioblastoma Cell Progression Through Activated AMP-Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK).

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor, with a mean survival of less than 2 years. Unique brain structures and the microenvironment, including blood-brain barriers, put great challenges on clinical drug development. Sophoricoside (Sop), an isoflavone glycoside isolated from seeds of Sophora japonica L.

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Pontederia cordata L. provides insights into its rapid adaptation and variation of flower colors.

Pontederia cordata L. is an aquatic ornamental plant native to the Americas, but has been widely distributed in South Asia, Australia, and Europe. The genetic mechanisms behind its rapid adaptation and spread have not yet been well understood.

I-Catalyzed benzylation of NH-sulfoximines with diarylmethanes and alkylarenes.

A practical transition metal-free approach for the selective benzylation of NH-sulfoximines has been disclosed by using simple elemental iodine as the catalyst and -butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the terminal oxidant. Comparing with known methods for the construction of -benzylated sulfoximines, our protocol shows broad substrate scope with respect to both diarylmethanes and alkylarenes, and can be conducted in air with good functional group tolerance.

PP2A Attenuates Thoracic Aneurysm and Dissection in Mouse Models of Marfan Syndrome.

Background: Recent studies show that hyperactivation of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) signaling plays a causal role in the development of thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection. Modulation of PP2A (protein phosphatase 2A) activity has been shown to be of significant therapeutic value. In light of the effects that PP2A can exert on the mTOR pathway, we hypothesized that PP2A activation by small-molecule activators of PP2A could mitigate AA progression in Marfan syndrome (MFS).

Flaxseed powder supplementation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a growing public health problem worldwide, and dietary interventions have important potential in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD. Moreover, previous animal studies have shown that flaxseed has a good improvement effect in animal NAFLD models. : Assess whether flaxseed powder could improve the liver lipid content in patients with NAFLD.

Interfacial engineering-induced electronic state modulation in Ru/MoS heterostructures for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction.

In traditional binary heterojunction catalysts, mismatched energy band structures lead to higher electron transfer barriers. By reducing the work function difference a ternary Ru-RuS/MoS heterostructure, we developed a HER catalyst with remarkable activity (17 mV@10 mA cm) and excellent stability (300 h@500 mA cm).

Preparation and characterization of tildipirosin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for the treatment of intracellular infections.

To enhance the antibacterial efficacy of tildipirosin against (S.A.) infections, optimized solid lipid nanoparticles loaded with tildipirosin (SLN-TD) were developed, using docosanoic acid (DA), octadecanoic acid (OA), hexadecanoic acid (HA), and tetradecanoic acid (TA) as lipid components.

Recognizing drivers' sleep onset by detecting slow eye movement using a parallel multimodal one-dimensional convolutional neural network.

Slow eye movements (SEMs) are a reliable physiological marker of drivers' sleep onset, often accompanied by EEG alpha wave attenuation. A parallel multimodal 1D convolutional neural network (PM-1D-CNN) model is proposed to classify SEMs. The model uses two parallel 1D-CNN blocks to extract features from EOG and EEG signals, which are then fused and fed into fully connected layers for classification.

N1 derived lipoteichoic acid alleviates insulin resistance in association with modulation of the gut microbiota and amino acid metabolism.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of heat-killed N1 (HK-N1) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) derived from it on alleviating insulin resistance by modulating the gut microbiota and amino acid metabolism. High-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were administered live bacteria or HK-N1, and the results demonstrated that HK-N1 significantly reduced epididymal adipocyte size and serum low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and improved insulin resistance by increasing the YY peptide and glucagon-like peptide levels. HK-N1 also modulated the gut microbiome composition, enhancing microbiota uniformity and reducing the abundance of , and .

Extraversion and the Brain: A Coordinate-Based Meta-Analysis of Functional Brain Imaging Studies on Positive Affect.

Objective: Extraversion is a fundamental personality dimension that contributes to an individual's overall health and well-being. Many studies have examined the neural bases of extraversion but these results are inconsistent. This study adopted a meta-analysis approach to examine the brain activity correlates of extraversion by incorporating functional neuroimaging studies in the context of positive affect/emotional stimuli.

Effect of surgical treatment on relative tibial external rotation in patients with recurrent patellar dislocation.

Background: In the knee joints of patients with recurrent patellar dislocation (RPD), an increased relative tibial external rotation (rTER) is often observed. However, the changes in this parameter pre- and postoperatively remain unclear.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to reveal preoperative and postoperative changes in rTER in patients with RPD.

Polarity-sensitive pyrene fluorescent probes for multi-organelle imaging in living cells.

Polarity-sensitive probes (PAS) were synthesized through the attachment of azetidine and sulfonyl substituents to the pyrene fluorescent core. The emission peaks and fluorescence lifetimes of these PAS probes exhibit high sensitivity to polarity, enabling the visualization of microenvironmental characteristics and dynamics across multiple organelles.

Chlorin e6: a promising photosensitizer of anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects in PDT.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the activation of photosensitizers (PSs) by visible laser light at the target site to catalyze the production of reactive oxygen species, resulting in tumor cell death and blood vessel closure. The efficacy of PDT depends on the PSs, the amount of oxygen, and the intensity of the excitation laser. PSs have been extensively researched, and great efforts have been made to develop an ideal photosensitizer.

Lumbar intervertebral disc calcification with massive herniation: a case report.

An 18-year-old female patient presented with a 1-month history of low back pain, which had worsened and was accompanied by radiating pain in the right lower limb for half a month. She was admitted to our hospital with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings suggesting calcification of the L3/4 disc and a large intraspinal mass at the L2-4 level. The patient's symptoms did not improve with conservative treatment, and her muscle strength rapidly declined.

BMP4-GPX4 can improve the ferroptosis phenotype of retinal ganglion cells and enhance their differentiation ability after retinal stem cell transplantation in glaucoma with high intraocular pressure.

Activation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) 4 signaling promotes the survival of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) after acute injury. In this study, we investigated the role of the BMP4 signaling pathway in regulating the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in a mouse glaucoma model and its potential application in retinal stem cell. Our results demonstrate that BMP4-GPX4 not only reduces oxidative stress and iron accumulation but also promotes neuroprotective factors that support the survival of transplanted RSCs into the host retina.