Impact of High-Temperature Feeds on Gut Microbiota and MAFLD.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of non-obese MAFLD on the gut microbiota and metabolic pathways caused by high-temperature processed meals. It was decided to divide the eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats into three groups: the control group, the dry-fried soybeans (DFS) group, and the high-fat diet (HFD) group. Following the passage of twelve weeks, a series of physical, biochemical, histological, and microbiological examinations were carried out. There were distinct pathological abnormalities brought about by each diet. The DFS diet was found to cause the development of fatty liver and to demonstrate strong relationships between components of the gut microbiota, such as Akkermansia and Mucispirillum, and indices of liver health. Diet-induced changes in the gut microbiome have a significant impact on liver pathology in non-obese patients with metabolically altered liver disease (MAFLD), which suggests that dietary interventions that target gut microbiota could be used to manage or prevent the illness.

A novel laboratory-based nomogram for assessing infection presence risk in acute-on-chronic liver failure patients.

Accurate assessment of infection presence risk level, timely diagnosis, and effective control are critical for decreasing mortality of Acute­on­chronic liver failure (ACLF). We aimed to develop and validate a novel diagnostic model to accurately assess infection presence risk level in ACLF patients. 185 ACLF patients with/without infection were enrolled, and their demographic, physical findings, immune-inflammatory, hepatic function, metabolism, and coagulation-fibrinolysis indicators were analyzed. Regression analysis was performed to identify the independent diagnostic parameters, which were further used to establish diagnostic models with a nomogram for visual. An area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), calibration plots, clinical impact curves, decision curve analysis, and net reclassification index were used to evaluate and identify the best model. An external validating cohort was introduced to verify the diagnostic accuracy. We screened out white blood cell (WBC) count, LYM%, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and D-dimer for assessing infection presence risk levels in ACLF patients. WBD (WBC + BUN + D-dimer) was established and proposed as a novel diagnostic model for infection presence risk levels assessment in ACLF patients with an AUROC of 0.803 (95%CI 0.723-0.883), 0.885 (95%CI 0.786-0.984) in training and external cohorts, respectively. In stratification analysis by ACLF etiology and stages, WBD achieved an AUROC of 0.791 (95%CI 0.691-0.891) and 0.873 (95%CI 0.78-0.966) in HBV-related and early-stage patients, respectively. Whereas a higher AUROC of 0.905 (95%CI 0.807-1.00) in the early-stage of HBV-related ACLF patients indicated its optimum application scope. WBD, a novel laboratory-based nomogram, can serve as a decision-making support tool for clinicians to assess infection presence risk levels in ACLF patients.

Local Photothermal Effect Enabling Ni3 Bi2 S2 Nanoarray Efficient Water Electrolysis at Large Current Density.

In terms of the large-scale hydrogen production by water electrolysis, achieving the bifunctional electrocatalyst with high efficiency and stability at high current densities is of great significance but still remains a grand challenge. To address this issue, herein, one unique hybrid electrode is synthesized with the local photothermal effect (LPTE) by supporting the novel ternary nickel (Ni)bismuth (Bi)sulfur (S) nanosheet arrays onto nickel foam (Ni3 Bi2 S2 @NF) via a one-pot hydrothermal reaction. The combined experimental and theoretical observations reveal that owing to the intrinsic LPTE action of Bi, robust phase stability of Ni3 Bi2 S2 as well as the synergistic effect with hierarchical configuration, upon injecting the light, the as-prepared Ni3 Bi2 S2 exhibits remarkably improved efficiency of 44% and 35% for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. Such enhanced values are also comparable to those performed in working media heated to 80 °C. In addition, the overall water splitting system by using Ni3 Bi2 S2 @NF as bifunctional electrodes only delivers an ultralow voltage of 1.40 V at 10 mA cm-2 under LPTE, and can be stable more than 36 h at 500-1000 mA cm-2 . More broadly, even worked at 0-5 °C, alkaline simulated seawater and high salt seawater, the electrodes still show apparent LPTE effect for improving catalytic efficiency.

A strategy for preparing high-efficiency and economical catalytic electrodes toward overall water splitting.

Electrolyzing water technology to prepare high-purity hydrogen is currently an important field in energy development. However, the preparation of efficient, stable, and inexpensive hydrogen production technology from electrolyzed water is a major problem in hydrogen energy production. The key technology for hydrogen production from water electrolysis is to prepare highly efficient catalytic, stable and durable electrodes, which are used to reduce the overpotential of the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction of electrolyzed water. The main strategies for preparing catalytic electrodes include: (i) choosing cheap, large specific surface area and stable base materials, (ii) modulating the intrinsic activity of the catalytic material through elemental doping and lattice changes, and (iii) adjusting the morphology and structure to increase the catalytic activity. Based on these findings, herein, we review the recent work in the field of hydrogen production by water electrolysis, introduce the preparation of catalytic electrodes based on nickel foam, carbon cloth and new flexible materials, and summarize the catalytic performance of metal oxides, phosphides, sulfides and nitrides in the hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions. Secondly, parameters such as the overpotential, Tafel slope, active site, turnover frequency, and stability are used as indicators to measure the performance of catalytic electrode materials. Finally, taking the material cost of the catalytic electrode as a reference, the successful preparations are comprehensively compared. The overall aim is to shed some light on the exploration of high-efficiency and economical electrodes in energy chemistry and also demonstrate that there is still room for discovering new combinations of electrodes including base materials, composition lattice changes and morphologies.

Comparison of efficacy and safety of ilaprazole and esomeprazole both in initial treatment regimen and retreatment regimen of Helicobacter pylori infection in chronic gastritis.

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of ilaprazole and esomeprazole both in initial treatment regimen and retreatment regimen of H. pylori infection in chronic gastritis and to explore risk factors for eradication failure. A total of 330 patients with chronic gastritis who were confirmed of H. pylori infection were enrolled in this study. 290 of them were initially treated patients and the 40 remained were patients with retreatment. Eradication assessment was performed at least four weeks after the completion of eradication therapy. Results showed that the eradication rates of the ilaprazole group and esomeprazole group were 91.4 % and 88.4 % for per-protocol (PP) analysis (p=0.41) and 89.0 % and 86.2 % for intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (p=0.48) in initially treated patients. Meanwhile, they were 75.0 % and 72.2 % for PP analysis (p=0.85) and 75.0 % and 70.0 % for ITT analysis (p=0.72) in patients with retreatment. The differences were not statistically significant. There was also no significant difference in safety between the two drugs. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that demographic factors such as age, gender, alcohol, smoking, coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) did not affect eradication rates. However, patients with higher DOB values and patients with atrophic gastritis had significantly lower eradication rates than patients with lower DOB values and with non-atrophic gastritis whether the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) in eradication regimens was ilaprazole or esomeprazole. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the efficacy and safety of ilaprazole and esomeprazole were not significantly different both in initial treatment regimen and retreatment regimen of H. pylori infection in chronic gastritis and DOB values and type of chronic gastritis were to be independent risk factors for eradication failure. In addition, we discovered that a new quadruple regimen containing furazolidone and minocycline which achieved good efficacy and safety can be a promising option for retreatment of H. pylori infection.