Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis of oligosaccharides and iridoid glycosides in rat plasma: Pharmacokinetic characterization of previously overlooked oligosaccharides from Radix Rehmanniae.

Radix Rehmanniae (RR) is a widely used herb in traditional Chinese Medicine with properties of tonifying the kidneys and nourishing the blood. Both raw and processed RR are effective for the treatment of diabetes in clinical practice. Oligosaccharides and iridoid glycosides are the primary active components responsible for the anti-diabetic effects of RR.

The course of physical fitness and nutritional status in patients following prehabilitation before esophageal cancer surgery: Results from the PRIOR study.

Introduction: This study evaluates the course of physical fitness and nutritional status during curative therapy for esophageal cancer, after implementation of a prehabilitation program. Additionally, the impact of baseline physical fitness level and severe postoperative complications on the course of individual patients were explored.

Materials And Methods: This multicenter, observational cohort study included patients with esophageal cancer following curative treatment.

Evaluating Online and Offline Health Information With the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Background: The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) is a reliable and validated instrument for assessing the understandability and actionability of patient education materials. It has been applied across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts, enabling cross-field and cross-national material quality comparisons. Accumulated evidence from studies using the PEMAT over the past decade underscores its potential impact on patient and public action.

Postoperative evaluation of interleukin-8 and C1q/TNF-related protein-12 in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Objective: Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is one of the most frequently performed surgeries worldwide. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery induces an inflammatory response. Interleukin-8 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.

3D genomic features across >50 diverse cell types reveal insights into the genomic architecture of childhood obesity.

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, along with the associated common comorbidities of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life. Motivated by evidence for a strong genetic component, our prior genome-wide association study (GWAS) efforts for childhood obesity revealed 19 independent signals for the trait; however, the mechanism of action of these loci remains to be elucidated. To molecularly characterize these childhood obesity loci, we sought to determine the underlying causal variants and the corresponding effector genes within diverse cellular contexts.

Nucleosome repositioning in cardiac reprogramming.

Early events in the reprogramming of fibroblasts to cardiac muscle cells are unclear. While various histone undergo modification and re-positioning, and these correlate with the activity of certain genes, it is unknown if these events are causal or happen in response to reprogramming. Histone modification and re-positioning would be expected to open up chromatin on lineage-specific genes and this can be ascertained by studying nucleosome architecture.

Enhanced Discovery of Alternative Proteins (AltProts) in Mouse Cardiac Development Using Data-Independent Acquisition (DIA) Proteomics.

Alternative proteins (AltProts) are a class of proteins encoded by DNA sequences previously classified as noncoding. Despite their historically being overlooked, recent studies have highlighted their widespread presence and distinctive biological roles. So far, direct detection of AltProt has been relying on data-dependent acquisition (DDA) mass spectrometry (MS).

Knowledge of and perception towards eclampsia among women and men in Unguja Island, Zanzibar: A qualitative study.

Background: Eclampsia is among the primary causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in Zanzibar. Many women and men are not aware of the signs, symptoms and causes of eclampsia and may have different explanatory models. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the community understanding of pre-eclampsia, as a key stage to improve maternal and perinatal health in Unguja Island, Zanzibar.

Strong Enhancement of Light Emission in Core-Shell InGaN/GaN Multi-Quantum-Well Nanowire Light-Emitting Diodes by Incorporating Graphene Quantum Dots.

One-dimensional (1D) vertical nitrides are highly attractive for light-emitting diode (LED) applications because they are useful for overcoming the drawbacks of conventional GaN planar structures. However, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of GaN multi-quantum-well (MQW) nanowire (NW) LEDs, typical 1D GaN structures, is still too low to replace standard planar LEDs. Here, we report a phenomenon of light amplification from core-shell InGaN/GaN NW LEDs by incorporating graphene quantum dots (GQDs).

Soil quality indicator-based land productivity modelling for agricultural sustainability.

Rapid population expansion has made food security a global concern for humanity, necessitating a sustainable assessment of natural resources. Well evaluated and managed soil is one of the most significant resources that can assist close the gap between supply and demand for food to attain food security. A precise assessment of land productivity (LP) is essential for sustainable land use management.

Estimating the burden of underdiagnosis within England: A modelling study of linked primary care data.

Introduction: Undiagnosed chronic disease has serious health consequences, and variation in rates of underdiagnosis between populations can contribute to health inequalities. We aimed to estimate the level of undiagnosed disease of 11 common conditions and its variation across sociodemographic characteristics and regions in England.

Methods: We used linked primary care, hospital and mortality data on approximately 1.

How can modeling responsibly inform decision-making in malaria?

When models are used to inform decision-making, both their strengths and limitations must be considered. Using malaria as an example, we explain how and why models are limited and offer guidance for ensuring a model is well-suited for its intended purpose.

Air quality and the risk of acute atrial fibrillation (EP-PARTICLES study): A nationwide study in Poland.

Aim: Air pollution remains the single largest environmental health risk factor, while atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia globally. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between short-term exposure to air pollution and acute AF admissions.

Methods: Individual data on AF hospitalization in the years 2011-2020 were collected from the National Health Fund in Poland (ICD-10: I48.

TiO(OH) Nanosheets with Catalytic Antioxidative Activity Alleviate Oxidative Injury in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the most lethal complications of diabetes and is induced by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cardiomyocytes due to sustained high glucose levels, leading to cardiac oxidative damage and final sudden death. Drugs and antioxidants currently applied to the clinical therapy of DCM fail to scavenge ROS efficiently, resulting in compromised therapeutic efficacy. Herein, a nanocatalytic antioxidative therapeutic strategy is proposed for DCM treatment.

Thermal Enhanced Electrokinetic Bacterial Transport in Porous Media.

Soil bacterial communities are crucial to various ecosystem services, with significant implications for environmental processes and human health. Delivering functional bacterial strains to target locations enhances the preferred ecological features. However, the delivery process is often constrained by limited bacterial transport through low-permeability soil.

Atomic-Level Stoichiometry Control of Ferroelectric HfZrO Thin Films by Understanding Molecular-Level Chemical Physical Reactions.

HfO-based thin films have garnered significant interest for integrating robust ferroelectricity into next-generation memory and logic chips, owing to their applicability with modern Si device technology. While numerous studies have focused on enhancing ferroelectric properties and understanding their fundamentals, the fabrication of ultrathin HfO-based ferroelectric films has seldom been reported. This study presents the concept of atomic-level stoichiometry control of ferroelectric HfZrO films by examining the molecular-level interactions of precursor molecules in the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process through theoretical calculations.

Interventions to Reduce Mental Health Stigma in Young People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Mental health stigma is a considerable barrier to help-seeking among young people.

Objective: To systematically review and meta-analyze randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of interventions aimed at reducing mental health stigma in young people.

Data Sources: Comprehensive searches were conducted in the CENTRAL, CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases from inception to February 27, 2024.

Comparative analysis of kidney function prediction: traditional statistical methods vs. deep learning techniques.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a significant public health challenge, with rates consistently on the rise. Enhancing kidney function prediction could contribute to the early detection, prevention, and management of CKD in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate whether deep learning techniques, especially those suitable for processing missing values, can improve the accuracy of predicting future renal function compared to traditional statistical method, using the Japan Chronic Kidney Disease Database (J-CKD-DB), a nationwide multicenter CKD registry.

In Silico Structural Insights into a Glucanase from Clostridium perfringens and Prediction of Structural Stability Improvement Through Hydrophobic Interaction Network and Aromatic Interaction.

Glucanases are widely applied in industrial applications such as brewing, biomass conversion, food, and animal feed. Glucanases catalyze the hydrolysis of glucan to produce the sugar hemiacetal through hydrolytic cleavage of glycosidic bonds. Current study aimed to investigate structural insights of a glucanase from Clostridium perfringens through blind molecular docking, site-specific molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and binding energy calculation.

Quality Control and Validation Issues in LC-MS-Based Metabolomics.

Metabolic profiling performed using untargeted metabolomics of different, complex biological samples aims to apply agnostic/holistic, hypothesis-free, analysis of the small molecules that are present in the analyzed sample. This approach has been the center of major investments and dedicated efforts from the research community for many years. However, limitations and challenges remain, particularly with regard to the validation and the quality of the obtained results.

Systematic evaluation of adhesives for implant fixation in multimodal functional brain MRI.

Objective: Invasive multimodal fMRI in rodents is often compromised by susceptibility artifacts from adhesives used to secure cranial implants. We hypothesized that adhesive type, shape, and field strength significantly affect susceptibility artifacts, and systematically evaluated various adhesives.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-one adhesives were applied in constrained/unconstrained geometries and imaged with T2*-weighted EPI at 7.

Nisin A Treatment to Protect Honey Bee Larvae from European Foulbrood Disease.

European foulbrood (EFB) is a bee larvae-specific infectious disease and the causative pathogen is Melissococcus plutonius. Broad-spectrum antibiotics have classically been used in many countries to control the pathogens; however, their use in apiaries was discontinued in several countries due to concerns regarding the health of bees and humans. Therefore, the development of alternative treatments for use in apiaries that are safe for bees and humans is essential.

Comparison of Random Forest and Stepwise Regression for Variable Selection Using Low Prevalence Predictors: A case Study in Paediatric Sepsis.

Introduction: Variable selection is a common technique to identify the most predictive variables from a pool of candidate predictors. Low prevalence predictors (LPPs) are frequently found in clinical data, yet few studies have explored their impact on model performance during variable selection. This study compared the Random Forest (RF) algorithm and stepwise regression (SWR) for variable selection using data from a paediatric sepsis screening tool, where 18 out of 32 predictors had a prevalence < 10%.

Evaluation of Fenton-like reaction for sorption and degradation of kasugamycin in the presence of biochar.

Although the use of biochar as an adsorbent for the removal of various pollutants from wastewater is well established, the use of biochar/modified biochar for the scavenging of antibiotics from aqueous media in the Fenton-like system receives less attention. The highest kasugamycin (KSM) adsorption capacity (5.0 mg g) was obtained from the pristine biochar at the lowest initial pH of 3 in Fenton-like system.

Toxicological problems of tattoo removal: characterization of femtosecond laser-induced fragments of Pigment Green 7 and Green Concentrate tattoo ink.

Femtosecond lasers represent a novel tool for tattoo removal as sources that can be operated at high power, potentially leading to different removal pathways and products. Consequently, the potential toxicity of its application also needs to be evaluated. In this framework, we present a comparative study of Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser irradiation, as a function of laser power and exposure time, on water dispersions of Pigment Green 7 (PG7) and the green tattoo ink Green Concentrate (GC), which contains PG7 as its coloring agent.