Effect of Shenqi millet porridge on gastrointestinal function decline.

Objective: To explore the effect of Shenqi millet porridge on treating gastrointestinal function decline.

Methods: Clinical data of 72 patients with gastrointestinal function decline were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into an observation group (n=36, treated with Shenqi millet porridge) and a control group (n=36, treated with Changweikang granule) according to the treatment methods.

Gemini surfactant-like peptide-based nanocages with β-sheet-enhanced stability and encapsulation efficiency of hydrophobic anticancer drugs.

Peptide-based scaffolds have been widely applied to drug delivery because of their ease and high yields of synthesis, well-defined structure, biocompatibility, diversity, tunability of properties, and molecular recognition abilities. However, the stability of peptide-based nanostructures highly depends on the intermolecular assembling manner, , α-helix based coiled coils, β-sheet. Inspired by the robust protein fibril structures in amyloidosis, herein we constructed a β-sheet-forming gemini surfactant-like peptide to self-assemble into nanocages with the help of molecular dynamics simulation.

Clinical characteristics and psychoacoustic analysis of acute and chronic subjective tinnitus.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the demographics, clinical characteristics, and psychoacoustic status of subjective tinnitus patients to explore the factors associated with acute and chronic tinnitus in the general hospitals of Shanghai.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the clinical characteristics and psychoacoustic status of subjective tinnitus patients with history greater than 1 month. Data were collected during January 2021 and January 2022 from eight general hospitals in five districts of Shanghai, China.

Double design of host and guest synergistically reinforces the Na-ion storage of sulfur cathodes.

Development of room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries is significantly hampered by the shuttle effect of soluble intermediates and intrinsically sluggish conversion kinetics. In this work, a double design host and guest strategy (, implantation of a polar VO adsorbent into a carbon substrate and selenium doping of a sulfur guest) is proposed to synergistically reinforce the electrochemical properties of sulfur electrodes in sodium ion storage. The VO adsorbent efficiently immobilizes sulfur species strong polar-polar interactions, while the selenium dopant improves the electronic conductivity of sulfur cathodes and accelerates the redox conversion of sulfur cathodes.

SnO mesoporous nanoparticle-based gas sensor for highly sensitive and low concentration formaldehyde detection.

Indoor air quality detection, especially formaldehyde (HCHO) detection, is of great importance in practical application. A key limitation of promoting gas-sensing devices is the lack of sensing materials with high sensing sensitivity and selectivity. In this study, SnO mesoporous nanoparticles are fabricated by a facile hydrothermal route with a subsequent acid etching process.

Prevention of quality characteristic decline in freeze-thawed cultured large yellow croaker () using flammulina velutipes polysaccharide.

To investigate the cryoprotective effect of flammulina velutipes polysaccharide (FVP) on the quality characteristics in freeze-thawed cultured large yellow croaker, 0.050%, 0.075%, and 0.

Development of a metabolism-related signature for predicting prognosis, immune infiltration and immunotherapy response in breast cancer.

Breast cancer (BRCA) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and among the top causes of cancer deaths globally. The abnormality of the metabolic process is an important characteristic that distinguishes cancer cells from normal cells. Currently, there are few metabolic molecular models to evaluate the prognosis and treatment response of BRCA patients.

Anode optimization strategies for aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have received much research attention due to their advantages of safety, non-toxicity, simple manufacture, and element abundance. Nevertheless, serious problems still remain for their anodes, such as dendrite development, corrosion, passivation, and the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction due to their unique aqueous electrolyte system constituting the main issues that must be addressed, which are blocking the further advancement of anodes for Zn-ion batteries. Herein, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the problems that exist for the zinc anode, summarize the main failure types and mechanisms of the zinc anode, and review the main modification strategies for the anode from the three aspects of the electrolyte, anode surface, and anode host.

Clinical value of video-assisted single-lumen endotracheal intubation and application of artificial intelligence in it.

Visualization techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) are currently used for intubation device. By providing airway visualization during tracheal intubation, the technologies provide safe and accurate access to the trachea. The ability of AI to automatically identify airways from images of intubation device makes it attractive for use in intubation devices.

Design and evaluation of a multimodal balance training system.

Objective: Current balance training systems are designed exclusively for one particular type of training and assessment. Additionally, they comprise monotonous training programs. Therefore, patients in different stages of rehabilitation must use different balance training models from different manufacturers, resulting in high treatment cost.

Using simulation modelling and systems science to help contain COVID-19: A systematic review.

This study systematically reviews applications of three simulation approaches, that is, system dynamics model (SDM), agent-based model (ABM) and discrete event simulation (DES), and their hybrids in COVID-19 research and identifies theoretical and application innovations in public health. Among the 372 eligible papers, 72 focused on COVID-19 transmission dynamics, 204 evaluated both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions, 29 focused on the prediction of the pandemic and 67 investigated the impacts of COVID-19. ABM was used in 275 papers, followed by 54 SDM papers, 32 DES papers and 11 hybrid model papers.

Creating peptide-based bioactivities: from assembly to origami.

DNA origami has created complex structures of various spatial dimensions. However, their versatility in terms of function is limited due to the lower number of the intrinsic building blocks, nucleotides, compared with the number of amino acids. Therefore, protein origami has been proposed and demonstrated to precisely fabricate artificial functional nanostructures.

Inhibitory effects of pH, salinity, and tea polyphenols concentration on the specific spoilage organisms isolated from lightly-salted large yellow croaker ().

and were identified as specific spoilage organisms (SSOs) isolated from the refrigerated lightly-salted large yellow croaker (). In this work, the inhibitory effects of pH, salinity, and tea polyphenols concentration on both strains were investigated. Modified Gompertz models were used to estimate the kinetic parameters (maximum specific growth rate) and (duration of lag phase) of the two strains under different conditions, demonstrating that their growth rates decreased with the decrease of pH as well as the increase of salinity and tea polyphenols concentration, and the growths of both strains stopped while the salinity and tea polyphenols concentration increased to 0.

A novel pyroptosis-related gene signature for predicting laryngeal carcinoma prognosis.

Pyroptosis, a newly-defined mode of cell death related to inflammation, is closely related to cancers but has not yet been studied in laryngeal carcinoma (LC). We investigated pyroptosis in LC and constructed a prognostic model. Using RNA sequencing data, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LC and normal tissues to construct a prognostic risk model.

Synthesis of CuP/SnO composites for degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride in wastewater.

Antibiotic drugs have become dominating organic pollutants in water resources, and efficient removal of antibiotic drugs is the priority task to protect the water environment. CuP/SnO photocatalysts of various CuP loadings (10-40 wt% CuP) were synthesized using a combination of hydrothermal synthesis and a partial annealing method. Their photocatalytic activity was tested for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) degradation under visible light irradiation.

Effects of TiO doping on the performance of thermochemical energy storage based on MnO/MnO redox materials.

A thermochemical energy storage (TCES) system can adjust problems of unstable energy supply for solar concentrating power plants. MnO/MnO system is a promising TCES system, but it has the problem of a difficult reoxidation process. In this paper, TiO was doped into the manganese oxide TCES system to solve this problem and the factors which influence the performance of this method were analyzed.

Femtosecond-scale all-optical switching in oxyfluorogallate glass induced by nonlinear multiphoton absorption.

Herein, all-optical switching based on a new type of oxyfluorogallate glass with high switching efficiency and ultrafast response time was reported in the near-infrared wavelength range, which is of great importance for applications in optical telecommunication. The structural and optical properties, as well as the nonlinear optical effects, of the oxyfluorogallate glass were investigated, demonstrating a good figure of merit applicable to nonlinear optical devices. Using pump-probe experiments, we found that the switching time in the oxyfluorogallate glass due to nonlinear multiphoton absorption was approximately 350 fs, which was limited by the pulse duration of the near-infrared probe pulse.

MoS-assisted Fe/peroxymonosulfate oxidation for the abatement of phenacetin: efficiency, mechanisms and toxicity evaluation.

In this study, molybdenum disulfide (MoS) was chosen as a co-catalyst to enhance the removal efficiency of phenacetin (PNT) in water by a ferrous ion-activated peroxymonosulfate (Fe/PMS) process. Operating parameters, such as the initial solution pH and chemical dose on PNT degradation efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under an initial pH of 3, an Fe dose of 25 μM, a PMS dose of 125 μM and a MoS dose of 0.

Rapid electrochemical detection of MiRNA-21 facilitated by the excellent catalytic ability of Pt@CeO nanospheres.

Pt@CeO nanospheres (NSs) were first synthesized by simply mixing Ce(NO) and KPtCl under the protection of pure argon at 70 °C for 1 h, which exhibited excellent catalytic ability toward hydrogen peroxide (HO). An electrochemical biosensor was successfully developed using Pt@CeO NSs as a capture probe for the ultra-sensitive and fast detection of miRNA-21, a new type of biomarker for disease diagnostics, especially for cancer. During the step-by-step construction process of the RNA sensor, Pt@CeO NSs were functionalized with streptavidin (SA) to obtain SA-Pt@CeO NSs through amide bonds.

A frogspawn-like Ag@C core-shell structure for an ultrasensitive label-free electrochemical immunosensing of carcinoembryonic antigen in blood plasma.

A three-dimensional (3D) frogspawn-like structure was achieved by simply coating nano-carbon outside silver nanospheres (Ag@C NFS) and used as a probe to capture the anti-carcinoembryonic antigen for the electrochemical immunosensing of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a typical biomarker of several diseases such as gastric cancer, intestinal cancer and colon cancer. Moreover, Ag@C nanocables (Ag@C NCs) were aslo synthesized. By comparison, the globular 3D frogspawn-like structure endowed Ag@C NFS with a larger surface area, which is preferred to improve the capability of loading antibodies, higher water solubility, better biocompatibility and improved electrical conductivity, which was likely attributed to the synergistic effects of Ag and crystalline graphite carbon and the different structure with more hydroxyl groups exposed.

Tetramethylpyrazine: an electrolyte additive for high capacity and energy efficiency lithium-oxygen batteries.

Lithium-oxygen batteries have attracted great attention in recent years owing to their extremely high theoretical energy density, however, factors such as low actual capacity and poor rate performance hinder the practical application of lithium-oxygen batteries. In this work, a novel electrolyte additive, tetramethylpyrazine (TMP), is introduced into an electrolyte system to enhance the electrochemical performance of the lithium-oxygen batteries. TMP does not undergo its own redox reaction within the charge-discharge voltage range, which will not affect the electrochemical stability of the electrolyte.

Lanthanide-doped bismuth-based nanophosphors for ratiometric upconversion optical thermometry.

Nanothermometry could realize stable, efficient, and noninvasive temperature detection at the nanoscale. Unfortunately, most applications of nanothermometers are still limited due to their intricate synthetic process and low-temperature sensitivity. Herein, we reported a kind of novel bismuth-based upconversion nanomaterial with a fast and facile preparation strategy.

Evaporation behavior of Pa in FLiBeZr molten salt.

In thorium molten salt reactors (TMSR), Pa is an important intermediate nuclide in the conversion chain of Th to U, its timely separation from the fuel salt is critically important for both the thorium-uranium (Th-U) fuel cycle and the neutron economy of the reactor. In this study, the evaporation behavior of Pa in the FLiBeZr molten salt was investigated during a vacuum distillation process. The separation characteristics between Pa and the major components of the fuel (salt and fission products) were evaluated in a calculation of the separation factors between these components.

BSA-encapsulated cyclometalated iridium complexes as nano-photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of tumor cells.

Photodynamic therapy is a promising treatment method. The development of suitable photosensitizers can improve therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we report three iridium complexes (Ir1, Ir2, and Ir3), and encapsulate them within bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form nano-photosensitizers (Ir1@BSA, Ir2@BSA, and Ir3@BSA) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumor cells.

Influences of a standardized food matrix and gastrointestinal fluids on the physicochemical properties of titanium dioxide nanoparticles.

The fast-growing applications of engineered titanium dioxide nanoparticles (e-TiO-NPs) in the food and pharmaceutical industry in production, packaging, sensors, nutrient delivery systems, and food additives enhance the possibility of oral exposure. Physicochemical transformations may occur when e-TiO-NPs are incorporated into a food matrix and pass through the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT), which may redefine the toxic effects of the e-TiO-NPs. In this study, a standardized food model (SFM) and simulated gastrointestinal fluids have been used to study the fate of e-TiO-NPs following a three-step digestion model , and a case study was carried out to assess the toxicity of the digested e-TiO-NPs using an cellular model.