The gut-brain axis underlying hepatic encephalopathy in liver cirrhosis.

Up to 50-70% of patients with liver cirrhosis develop hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which is closely related to gut microbiota dysbiosis, with an unclear mechanism. Here, by constructing gut-brain modules to assess bacterial neurotoxins from metagenomic datasets, we found that phenylalanine decarboxylase (PDC) genes, mainly from Ruminococcus gnavus, increased approximately tenfold in patients with cirrhosis and higher in patients with HE. Cirrhotic, not healthy, mice colonized with R.

An Amorphous Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Polymer with Both High Charge Carrier Mobility and Luminescence Quantum Efficiency.

Organic semiconducting polymers play a pivotal role in the development of field-effect transistors (OFETs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), owing to their cost-effectiveness, structural versatility, and solution processability. However, achieving polymers with both high charge carrier mobility (μ) and photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (Φ) remains a challenge. In this work, we present the design and synthesis of a novel donor-acceptor π-conjugated polymer, TTIF-BT, featuring a di-Thioeno[3,2-b] ThioenoIndeno[1,2-b] Fluorene (TTIF) backbone as the donor component.

Research Progress on the Posterior Midline Lumbar Spinous Process-Splitting Approach.

The traditional posterior median approach laminectomy is widely used for lumbar decompression. However, the bilateral dissection of paraspinal muscles during this procedure often leads to postoperative muscle atrophy, chronic low back pain, and other complications. The posterior midline spinous process-splitting approach (SPSA) offers a significant advantage over the traditional approach by minimizing damage to the paraspinal muscles.

Molecular Ferroelectrics for Highly Sensitive Detection Toward Low-Frequency Sound Recognition.

Human hearing cannot sensitively detect sounds below 100 Hz, which can affect the physical well-being and lead to dizziness, headaches, and nausea. Piezoelectric acoustic sensors still lack sensitivity to low-frequency sounds owing to the low piezoelectric coefficient or high elastic modulus of materials. The low elastic modulus and substantial piezoelectric coefficient of molecular ferroelectric materials make them excellent candidates for acoustic sensors.

Economic Value of Informal Care: Contingent Valuation From the Perspective of Caregivers and Care Recipients in China.

We estimated the monetary value of informal care from the perspectives of informal caregivers and care recipients in China using the contingent valuation method. Data were obtained from a specially designed survey of 1458 informal caregivers and 972 care recipients. The mean for caregivers' willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing informal care by 1 h per week was CNY32.

Gallic acid alleviates exercise-induced muscle damage by inhibiting mitochondrial oxidative stress and ferroptosis.

Background: Skeletal muscle injury caused by excessive exercise is one of the most commonly seen clinical diseases. It is indispensable to explore drugs for treating and relieving skeletal muscle injury. Gallic acid (GA) is a polyphenolic extract that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant biological activities.

Silibinin alleviates acute liver failure by modulating AKT/GSK3β/Nrf2/GPX4 pathway.

Silibinin (Sil) is a major bioactive component of silymarin, extracted from the fruit and seeds of Silybum marianum. Silibinin meglumine (SM) is a water-soluble derivative of silibinin that has shown significant potential in liver fibrosis. However, the potential effects and underlying mechanisms of SM on acute liver failure (ALF) are still not fully understood.

Mechanism of Traditional Chinese medicine extract in the treatment of diabetic erectile dysfunction.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Diabetic erectile dysfunction (DED) is a prevalent but often overlooked microvascular complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with strong associations to cardiovascular disease. The pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction (ED) in T2DM patients is more intricate than in non-diabetic individuals, likely involving multiple pathogenic mechanisms such as endothelial dysfunction, vascular alterations, neuropathy, and oxidative stress. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has long been utilized in the management of DED, drawing on an extensive body of clinical experience.

Automated gradation design of natural waste gravel soil stabilized by composite soil stabilizer based on a novel DNNSS-APDM-PFC model.

The utilization of natural waste gravel soil as base course material contributes to environmental protection and carbon emission reduction. The purpose of this research is to establish a new model for automated gradation design of the composite soil stabilizer-stabilized waste gravel soil (CSSWGS). A gradation range of CSSWGS has been proposed.

Demand, utilization, and supply of community smart senior care services for older people in China.

Objective: Although smart senior care services offer numerous benefits, they have not yet gained widespread acceptance among the general populace, particularly seniors. Numerous related issues have surfaced, with the structural imbalance between supply and demand being most prominent. Currently, there is a lack of research distinguishing between the various categories of demand for smart ageing services and the associated behaviors of older individuals.

Developing 3D bioprinting for organs-on-chips.

Organs-on-chips (OoCs) have significantly advanced biomedical research by precisely reconstructing human microphysiological systems with biomimetic functions. However, achieving greater structural complexity of cell cultures on-chip for enhanced biological mimicry remains a challenge. To overcome these challenges, 3D bioprinting techniques can be used in directly building complex 3D cultures on chips, facilitating the engineering of organ-level models.

Burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults aged 70 years and older, 1990-2021: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Background: Life expectancy at age 70 has continued to rise globally over the past 30 years. However, a comprehensive assessment of the burden of COPD in older adults is lacking. We aimed to estimate the burden of COPD and its attributable risk factors among adults aged ≥70 years.

Comparative transcriptome analyses of different orthosiphon aristatus tissues reveal differentially expressed genes associated with flavonoid biosynthesis.

Orthosiphon aristatus (O. aristatus) has been used as a popular traditional folk medicine for the treatment of kidney disease. Recent studies have shown that O.

Tuning into urban birdsong: enhancing nature connectedness with an AI-powered wearable.

The rapid urbanization has led to the loss of natural spaces and a subsequent disconnection between humans and nature, negatively affecting residents' well-being and environmental awareness. There is a a growing interest in leveraging technology to address this gap in Human-Computer Interaction. This article introduces GoChirp, an AI-powered wearable device for enhancing nature relatedness within urban landscapes.

Damage analysis and grading control technology of surrounding rock in high geo-stress roadway.

To investigate the failure mechanism and establish stability control methods for surrounding rock in high geo-stress roadways, this study incorporated the brittle failure characteristics of the surrounding rock mass into a unified strength criterion, developing an elastic-plastic theoretical model to represent rock damage and fracture. Using this model, analytical expressions for the damage rupture radius and stress field distribution are derived, leading to the proposal of a grading control method. The analysis of calculation examples reveals that an increase in stress, damage degree, and the brittleness coefficient of the rock mass results in the expansion of both the plastic damage and damage residual zones.

Room-Temperature, Strong Emission of Momentum-Forbidden Interlayer Excitons in Nanocavity-Coupled Twisted van der Waals Heterostructures.

The emission efficiency of interlayer excitons (IEs) in twisted 2D heterostructures has long suffered from momentum mismatch, limiting their applications in ultracompact excitonic devices. Here, we report strong room-temperature emission of momentum-forbidden IE in 30°-twisted MoS/WS heterobilayers. Utilizing a plasmonic nanocavity, the Purcell effect boosts the IE emission intensity in the cavity by over 2 orders of magnitude.

Flexible Piezoresistive Film Pressure Sensor Based on Double-Sided Microstructure Sensing Layer.

Flexible thin-film pressure sensors have garnered significant attention due to their applications in industrial inspection and human-computer interactions. However, due to their ultra-thin structure, these sensors often exhibit lower performance, including a narrow pressure response range and low sensitivity, which constrains their further application. The most commonly used microstructure fabrication methods are challenging to apply to ultra-thin functional layers and may compromise the structural stability of the sensors.

An Investigation into High-Accuracy and Energy-Efficient Novel Capacitive MEMS for Tire Pressure Sensor Application.

Tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMSs) are essential for maintaining driving safety by continuously monitoring critical tire parameters, such as pressure and temperature, in real time during vehicle operation. Among these parameters, tire pressure is the most significant, necessitating the use of highly precise, cost-effective, and energy-efficient sensing technologies. With the rapid advancements in micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology, modern automotive sensing and monitoring systems increasingly rely on MEMS sensors due to their compact size, low cost, and low power consumption.

In-Motion Forward-Forward Backtracking Fine Alignment Based on Displacement Observation for SINS/GNSS.

To solve the problem of slow convergence seen in the traditional fine alignment algorithm based on linear Kalman filtering, a forward-forward backtracking fine alignment algorithm for SINS is proposed after reanalyzing the fine alignment model in this paper. First, the forward-forward backtracking fine alignment model in initial navigation frame was derived. The displacement vector of the carrier in the initial navigation frame solved by GNSS positioning was utilized as the observation of the fine alignment model.

Advances in Soil Amendments for Remediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soils: Mechanisms, Impact, and Future Prospects.

Heavy metal contamination is a critical factor contributing to soil degradation and poses significant environmental threats with profound implications for ecosystems and human health. Soil amendments have become an effective strategy to address these challenges by reducing heavy metal hazards and remediating contaminated soils. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of recent advancements in soil amendments for heavy metal-contaminated soils, with a focus on natural, synthetic, natural-synthetic copolymer, and biological amendments.

Disentangling the Relationship Between Urinary Metal Exposure and Osteoporosis Risk Across a Broad Population: A Comprehensive Supervised and Unsupervised Analysis.

: Limited evidence links urinary metal exposure to osteoporosis in broad populations, prompting this study to cover this knowledge gap using supervised and unsupervised approaches. : This study included 15,923 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning from 1999 to 2020. Urinary concentrations of nine metals-barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), cesium (Cs), molybdenum (Mo), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), thallium (Tl), and tungsten (Tu)-were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Pharmacotherapy of Liver Fibrosis and Hepatitis: Recent Advances.

Liver fibrosis is a progressive scarring process primarily caused by chronic inflammation and injury, often closely associated with viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), drug-induced liver injury, and autoimmune liver disease (AILD). Currently, there are very few clinical antifibrotic drugs available, and effective targeted therapy is lacking. Recently, emerging antifibrotic drugs and immunomodulators have shown promising results in animal studies, and some have entered clinical research phases.

Genome-Wide Analysis Reveals Key Genes and MicroRNAs Related to Pathogenic Mechanism in .

is a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause a neglected tropical disease called Lymphatic filariasis. However, the genome of was not well studied, making novel drug development difficult. This study aims to identify microRNA, annotate protein function, and explore the pathogenic mechanism of by genome-wide analysis.

A D-Band Dual-Polarized High-Gain LTCC-Based Reflectarray Antenna Using SIW Magnetoelectric-Dipole Elements.

This paper presents a D-band dual linear-polarized wideband high-gain reflectarray (RA) antenna using low-temperature co-fired-ceramic (LTCC) technology. The proposed element comprises a dual-polarized magnetoelectric (ME) dipole and a multilayer slot-coupling substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) phase-delay structure, which are organized in accordance with the receiving/reradiating (R/R) principle. The coverage of phase shifts for both orthogonal polarizations is set to be greater than 360 degrees by varying the length of the phase-delay structure.

Enhancing Resistive Switching in AlN-Based Memristors Through Oxidative AlO Layer Formation: A Study on Preparation Techniques and Performance Impact.

Aluminum nitride (AlN) with a wide band gap (approximately 6.2 eV) has attractive characteristics, including high thermal conductivity, a high dielectric constant, and good insulating properties, which are suitable for the field of resistive random access memory. AlN thin films were deposited on ITO substrate using the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique.