Study on the Tribological Properties of Multilayer Concentric Hexagonal Laser Texturing on Rubber Surfaces of Screw Pumps.

Given the friction and drag reduction effects observed in various biological hexagonal structures in nature, a new design was implemented on the rubber surface of the stator of a submersible screw pump. This design featured a multilayer concentric hexagonal groove structure. Furthermore, a composite multilayer hexagonal structure integrating grooves and pits was also developed and applied. This study investigated the influence of groove layer number, groove depth, pit depth, and multilayer hexagonal groove texture arrangement on the rubber surface flow characteristics. Additionally, the pressure field state, the degree of influence on the oil film-bearing capacity, and the biomimetic and hydrodynamic lubrication theories were tested using the finite element analysis method. Tribological experiments were conducted on nanosecond laser-processed rubber textures under simulated liquid lubrication conditions, reflecting actual shale oil well experiments. These experiments aimed to investigate the influence of multilayer hexagonal shape parameters on the tribological characteristics of the stator-rotor friction pair of a submersible screw pump. The results indicated that with a constant overall size, a multilayer hexagonal structure with ~0.1 mm groove depth enhanced the oil film-bearing capacity, providing significant friction and drag reduction. For composite textures, a deeper pit depth within the study area enhanced the oil film-bearing capacity. Furthermore, a gradient arrangement of groove textures featuring wider outer grooves and shallower depth exhibited superior performance in terms of bearing capacity.

Nitrate trend reversal in Dutch dual-permeability chalk springs, evaluated by tritium-based groundwater travel time distributions.

Historical use of fertilizer and manure on farmlands is known to have a lasting impact on ecosystems and water resources, but few studies assess the legacy of nitrate pollution on groundwater and surface water after farming applications were reduced. We studied the response of nitrate in spring water to a reduction of nitrogen fertilizer applications in agriculture realized since the mid-1980s. We assessed the travel time distribution of groundwater based on a time series of tritium measurements for 90 springs and small brooks that drain a dual porosity chalk aquifer. The travel time distributions were constrained using the tritium data in combination with time series of nitrate concentrations, applying a shape-free travel time distribution model. A clear trend reversal of nitrate concentrations was observed and simulated for springs with a large fraction of young water (< 30 years old) whereas the nitrate response in springs with relatively older water was attenuated and delayed. We conclude that obtaining a time series of tritium data helps to constrain age distributions of water that is discharged from dual permeability aquifers. The fraction of water aged <30 years was a meaningful parameter to distinguish between different types of springs. Nitrate trends in springs that drain large fractions of young water (> 0.6) show higher peak concentrations, shorter lag-time between leaching and outflow peaks and steeper declines after trend reversal, relative to trends in springs which are dominantly fed by older groundwater. The study thus shows that the nitrate legacy of groundwater systems is strongly determined by the range of their travel time distributions, and trend reversal in receiving springs and surface waters may appear within 10 to 15 years after measures to reduce nitrate losses from farming.

Hypolipidemic effect of polysaccharide from Sargassum fusiforme and its ultrasonic degraded polysaccharide on zebrafish fed high-fat diet.

Sargassum fusiforme is a brown seaweed that grows abundantly along the rocky coastlines of Asian countries. The polysaccharides derived from Sargassum fusiforme (SFPS) have received much interest due to their various bioactivities, such as hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and antioxidant activities. In this study, we extracted and purified SFPS, and obtained the ultrasonic degradation product (SFPSUD). The lipid regulatory effects of SFPS and SFPSUD were investigated in a zebrafish model fed a high-fat diet. The results showed that SFPS significantly decreased the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG), and increased the activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic lipase (HL). SFPSUD was more effective than the SFPS in reducing the TC and TG levels in zebrafish, as well as increasing the LPL and HL activities. Histopathological observations of zebrafish livers showed that SFPSUD significantly improved lipid metabolism disorder in the hepatocytes. The possible lipid-lowering mechanism in zebrafish associated with SFPS and SFPSUD may involve acceleration of the lipid metabolism rate by increasing the activities of LPL and HL. Thus, SFPSUD could be tested as a highly effective hypolipidemic drug. Our results suggest that SFPS and SFPSUD have potential uses as functional foods for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia. Ultrasound can be effectively applied to degrade SFPS to improve its physicochemical properties and bioactivities.

Erratum: Editorial: Towards a new 3Rs era in experimental research.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1404294.].

Understanding the Meat-Masculinity Link: Traditional and Non-Traditional Masculine Norms Predicting Men's Meat Consumption.

Conformity to masculinity ideology predicts men's meat consumption and willingness to reduce their meat intake, but it is unknown which specific masculine norms account for these relationships. This study investigated which traditional and non-traditional masculine norms predict meat consumption, red and processed meat consumption, and willingness to reduce meat consumption in 557 Australian and English males. Men who support the use of physical violence and place high importance on sex ate more meat. Willingness to reduce was highest among men with gender egalitarian views. Targeting these specific masculine norms may be important for mitigating men's overconsumption of meat.

Hawthorn with "homology of medicine and food": a review of anticancer effects and mechanisms.

Over the past few years, there has been a gradual increase in the incidence of cancer, affecting individuals at younger ages. With its refractory nature and substantial fatality rate, cancer presents a notable peril to human existence and wellbeing. Hawthorn, a medicinal food homology plant belonging to the Crataegus genus in the Rosaceae family, holds great value in various applications. Due to its long history of medicinal use, notable effects, and high safety profile, hawthorn has garnered considerable attention and plays a crucial role in cancer treatment. Through the integration of modern network pharmacology technology and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a range of anticancer active ingredients in hawthorn have been predicted, identified, and analyzed. Studies have shown that ingredients such as vitexin, isoorientin, ursolic acid, and maslinic acid, along with hawthorn extracts, can effectively modulate cancer-related signaling pathways and manifest anticancer properties via diverse mechanisms. This review employs network pharmacology to excavate the potential anticancer properties of hawthorn. By systematically integrating literature across databases such as PubMed and CNKI, the review explores the bioactive ingredients with anticancer effects, underlying mechanisms and pathways, the synergistic effects of drug combinations, advancements in novel drug delivery systems, and ongoing clinical trials concerning hawthorn's anticancer properties. Furthermore, the review highlights the preventive health benefits of hawthorn in cancer prevention, offering valuable insights for clinical cancer treatment and the development of TCM with anticancer properties that can be used for both medicinal and edible purposes.

A big data scheme for heart disease classification in map reduce using jellyfish search flow regime optimization enabled Spinalnet.

BACKGROUND: The disease related to the heart is serious and can lead to death. Precise heart disease prediction is imperative for the effective treatment of cardiac patients. This can be attained by machine learning (ML) techniques using healthcare data. Several models on the basis of ML predict and identify disease in the heart, but this model cannot manage a huge database because of the deficiency of the smart model. This paper provides an optimized SpinalNet with a MapReduce model to categorize heart disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to design a big data approach for heart disease classification using the proposed Jellyfish Search Flow Regime Optimization (JSFRO)-based SpinalNet. METHOD: The binary image conversion is applied on Electrocardiogram (ECG) images for converting the image to binary image. MapReduce model is adapted, in which the mappers execute feature extraction and the reducer performs heart disease classification. In the mapper phase, the features like statistical features, shape features and temporal features are extracted and in reducer, the SpinalNet with JSFRO is considered. Here, the training of SpinalNet is done with JSFRO, which is produced by the unification of Jellyfish Search Optimization (JSO) and Flow Regime Optimization (FRO). METHOD: The JSFRO-based SpinalNet offered effectual performance with the finest accuracy of 90.8%, sensitivity of 95.2% and specificity of 93.6%.

Can the Dose of Belimumab be Reduced in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of dose reduction in patients with SLE treated with belimumab (BEL) in Spain, analyze treatment modalities, and determine impact on control of disease activity. METHODS: Retrospective longitudinal and multicentre study of SLE patients treated with BEL. Data on disease activity, treatments and outcomes were recorded before and after reduction (6-12 months), and they were compared. RESULTS: A total of 324 patients were included. The dose was reduced in 29 patients (8.9%). The dosing interval was increased in 9 patients receiving subcutaneous BEL and in 6 patients receiving intravenous BEL. The dose per administration was reduced in 16 patients.Pre-reduction status was remission (2021 DORIS) in 15/26 patients (57.7%) and LLDAS in 23/26 patients (88.5%). After reduction, 2/24 patients (8.3%) and 3/22 patients (13.6%) lost remission at 6 months and 12 months, respectively (not statistically significant [NS]). As for LLDAS, 2/23 patients (8.7%) and 2/21 patients (9.5%) lost their status at 6 and 12 months, respectively (NS). Significantly fewer patients were taking glucocorticoids (GCs) at their 12-month visit, although the median dose of GCs was higher at the 12-month visit (5 [0.62-8.75] vs 2.5 [0-5] at baseline). CONCLUSION: Doses of BEL can be reduced with no relevant changes in disease activity-at least in the short term-in a significant percentage of patients, and most maintain the reduced dose. However, increased clinical or serologic activity may be observed in some patients. Consequently, tighter post-reduction follow-up is advisable.

Impact of cavity shave margins in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ undergoing conserving breast surgery.

Aim: The main challenge during breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is to obtain clear margins, especially in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) due to the absence of well-defined nodules. Many surgical approaches have been used in an attempt to reduce the positive margin rate. The aim of this retrospective study is to compare the cavity shave margin technique with standard surgery and the intraoperative evaluation of surgical margins. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study analyzing margin status, need for re-excision, and surgical time in a cohort of 227 patients who underwent surgery from September 2016 to September 2022. Results: In patients subjected to cavity shaving, we reported a significant reduction in positive margins of 17.1% versus 28.7% (p-value = 0.042). Also, a difference in terms of surgical re-excision was reported as p-value = 0.039 (12.4% versus 23.8%, respectively, for the cavity shave and control group). In the multivariate analysis, intraoperative evaluation of the margins was a risk factor for margins re-excision (Wald = 4.315, p = 0.038, OR: 2.331 [95% CI: 1.049-5.180]). Surgical time was lower in patients subjected to cavity shaves (p = 0.024), and the relative mean time was 68.4 min ± 37.1 min in the cavity shave group versus 93.9 min ± 40.6 min in the control group. Conclusion: The cavity shave margin technique in conserving breast surgery results in a reduction in positive margin rate, surgical re-excision, and operative time.

The Differential Impact of Medical Therapy and Lifestyle Modification on Cardiovascular Health and Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Events: A Narrative Review.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to be a worldwide health concern, requiring effective strategies for risk reduction. This article explores the extensive collaboration between medical therapy and lifestyle modifications in the management of CVDs, aiming to interpret whether a single approach holds the key to reducing major cardiovascular events. In the realm of pharmaceutical therapy, statins, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and antiplatelet agents have shown significant effectiveness, as evidenced by landmark trials such as Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) and Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE). Concurrently, lifestyle adjustments, encompassing physical activity, dietary changes, and management of stress, emerge as indispensable elements in cardiovascular care. The article discusses the pivotal role of patient adherence, tailored approaches, and the synergistic impact of combining medical therapy and lifestyle modifications. Challenges, such as socioeconomic disparities and uncertainties in lipid management, underscore the need for ongoing research and precision medicine. Digital health interventions offer novel avenues for personalized care. Despite advancements, uncertainties persist regarding the optimal balance between medical and lifestyle interventions in lowering major cardiovascular event risks. This article emphasizes the ongoing evolution of cardiovascular care, highlighting the imperative need for evidence-based guidelines tailored to individual patient needs.

Recovery Animals in Toxicology Studies: An Innovation and Quality Consortium Perspective on Best Practices With Case Study Examples.

The inclusion of recovery animals in nonclinical safety studies that support clinical trials is undertaken with a wide diversity of approaches even while operating under harmonized regulatory guidance. While empirical evaluation of reversibility may enhance the overall nonclinical risk assessment, there are often overlooked opportunities to reduce recovery animal use by leveraging robust scientific and regulatory information. In the past, there were several attempts to benchmark recovery practices; however, recommendations have not been consistently applied across the pharmaceutical industry. A working group (WG) sponsored by the 3Rs Translational and Predictive Sciences Leadership Group of the IQ Consortium conducted a survey of current industry practice related to the evaluation of reversibility/recovery in repeat dose toxicity studies. Discussion among the WG representatives included member company strategies and case studies that highlight challenges and opportunities for continuous refinements in the use of recovery animals. The case studies presented in this paper demonstrate increasing alignment with the Society of Toxicologic Pathology recommendations (2013) towards (1) excluding recovery phase cohorts by default (include only when scientifically justified), (2) minimizing the number of recovery groups (e.g., control and one dose level), and (3) excluding controls in the recovery cohort by leveraging external and/or dosing phase data. Recovery group exclusion and decisions regarding the timing of reversibility evaluation may be driven by indication, modality, and/or other scientific or strategic factors using a weight of evidence approach. The results and recommendations discussed present opportunities to further decrease animal use without impacting the quality of human risk assessment.

Boosting Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction of CoFe-Layered Double Hydroxides Nanosheets via Co-Coordination Mechanism of W-Doping and Oxygen Defect Engineering.

While surface defects and heteroatom doping exhibit promising potential in augmenting the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), their performance remains unable to rival that of the costly Pt-based catalysts. Yet, the concurrent modification of catalysts by integrating both approaches stands as a promising strategy to effectively address the aforementioned limitation. In this work, tungsten dopants are introduced into self-supported CoFe-layered double hydroxides (LDH) on nickel foam using a hydrothermal method, and oxygen vacancies (Ov) are further introduced through calcination. The analysis results demonstrated that tungsten doping reduces the Ov formation energy of CoFeW-LDH. The Ov acted as oxophilic sites, facilitating water adsorption and dissociation, and reducing the barrier for cleaving HO─H bonds from 0.64 to 0.14 eV. Additionally, Ov regulated the electronic structure of CoFeW-LDH to endow optimized hydrogen binding ability on tungsten atoms, thereby accelerating alkaline Volmer and Heyrovsky reaction kinetics. Specifically, the abundance of Ov induced a transition of tungsten from a six-coordinated to highly active four-coordinated structure, which becomes the active site for HER. Consequently, an ultra-low overpotential of 41 mV at 10 mA cm-2, and a low Tafel slope of 35 mV dec-1 are achieved. These findings offer crucial insights for the design of efficient HER electrocatalysts.

Enzymatic Hydrolysis Optimization of Yak Whey Protein Concentrates and Bioactivity Evaluation of the Ultrafiltered Peptide Fractions.

Yak whey protein concentrates (YWPCs) have good functional properties, but there is still a gap in the study of their peptides. In this study, peptides were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis, and the bioactivity of each ultrafiltration fraction was evaluated using an optimal process. YWPCs were isolated and purified from yak milk as the raw material. Alkaline protease, trypsin, and papain were used to hydrolyze YWPCs. The protease with the highest degree of hydrolysis (DH) and peptide concentration was selected as the most suitable enzyme. The effects of pH, temperature, time, and the enzyme-to-substrate ratio (E/S) on the DH and peptide concentration were investigated, and response surface methodology was utilized to optimize the hydrolysis process. The hydrolysate was separated using ultrafiltration membranes with molecular weight cut-offs of 10 kDa, 5 kDa, 3 kDa, and 1 kDa. The bioactivity of each ultrafiltration component was analyzed, including the inhibition rates of α-amylase and xanthine oxidase (XOD) activities and the scavenging rates of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) cation radicals. The results indicated that alkaline protease was the best enzyme for hydrolyzing YWPCs. The peptide concentration in the YWPC hydrolysate was the highest (17.21 mg/mL) at a pH of 8 and a concentration of 7500 U/g, after 2.5 h at 62 °C. The enzymatic hydrolysate was ultrafiltered to yield four peptide fractions, of which the <1 kDa peptides exhibited the highest α-amylase inhibitory activity (22.06%), XOD inhibitory activity (17.15%), and ABTS cationic free radical scavenging rate (69.55%). This demonstrates the potential of YWPC hydrolyzed peptides for hypoglycemic, uric acid-lowering, and antioxidant applications, providing a theoretical basis for the high-value utilization of YWPCs.

Reading room assistants to reduce workload and interruptions of radiology residents during on-call hours: Initial evaluation.

PURPOSE: To determine how much timesaving and reduction of interruptions reading room assistants can provide by taking over non-image interpretation tasks (NITs) from radiology residents during on-call hours. METHODS: Reading room assistants are medical students who were trained to take over NITs from radiology residents (e.g. answering telephone calls, administrative tasks and logistics) to reduce residents' workload during on-call hours. Reading room assistants' and residents' activities were tracked during 6 weekend dayshifts in a tertiary care academic center (with more than 2.5 million inhabitants in its catchment area) between 10 a.m. and 5p.m. (7-hour shift, 420 min), and time spent on each activity was recorded. RESULTS: Reading room assistants spent the most time on the following timesaving activities for residents: answering incoming (41 min, 19%) and outgoing telephone calls (35 min, 16%), ultrasound machine related activities (19 min, 9%) and paramedical assistance such as supporting residents during ultrasound guided procedures and with patients (17 min, 8%). Reading room assistants saved 132 min of residents' time by taking over NITs while also spending circa 31 min consulting the resident, resulting in a net timesaving of 101 min (24%) during a 7-hour shift. The reading room assistants also prevented residents from being interrupted, at a mean of 18 times during the 7-hour shift. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the implementation of reading room assistants to radiology on-call hours could provide a timesaving for residents and also reduce the number of times residents are being interrupted during their work.

The forced activation of asexual conidiation in Aspergillus niger simplifies bioproduction.

Aspergillus niger is an efficient cell factory for organic acids production, particularly l-malic acid, through genetic manipulation. However, the traditional method of collecting A. niger spores for inoculation is labor-intensive and resource-consuming. In our study, we used the CRISPR-Cas9 system to replace the promoter of brlA, a key gene in Aspergillus conidiation, with a xylose-inducible promoter xylP in l-malic acid-producing A. niger strain RG0095, generating strain brlAxylP. When induced with xylose in submerged liquid culture, brlAxylP exhibited significant upregulation of conidiation-related genes. This induction allowed us to easily collect an abundance of brlAxylP spores (>7.1 × 106/mL) in liquid xylose medium. Significantly, the submerged conidiation approach preserves the substantial potential of A. niger as a foundational cellular platform for the biosynthesis of organic acids, including but not limited to l-malic acid. In summary, our study offers a simplified submerged conidiation strategy to streamline the preparation stage and reduce labor and material costs for industrial organic acid production using Aspergillus species.

A new integrated strategy for high purity pinolenic acid production from Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc seed oil and evaluation of its hypolipidemic activity in vivo.

Pinolenic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid present only in Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc seed oil. In order to solve the structural instability problem of polyunsaturated fatty acids, pinolenic acid of P. koraiensis seed oil was effectively isolated and purified by the integrated strategy of ethyl esterification followed by urea inclusion for the first time. Under the optimal conditions after the Box-Benhnken Design experimental, ethyl pinolenate with high purity 94.95% could be obtained, and the average content of PNAEE can still reach 86.18%. Then ethyl pinolenate was characterized by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared, and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, results showed that ethyl pinolenate was successfully prepared. In addition, the hypolipidemic activity of ethyl pinolenate had been tested in vivo and showed that ethyl pinolenate had obvious hypolipidemic activity. The new strategy for high purity ethyl pinolenate production from P. koraiensis seed oil possesses great potential in food healthy field in the future.

Cavity Shave Margins in Breast Conservative Surgery a Strategy to Reduce Positive Margins and Surgical Time.

Background: Resection of additional tissue circumferentially around the cavity left by lumpectomy (cavity shave) was suggested to reduce rates of positive margins and re-excision. Methods: A single center retrospective study which analyzed margins status, re-excision, and surgical time in patients who underwent breast conserving surgery and cavity shave or intraoperative evaluation of resection margins. Results: Between 2021 and 2023, 594 patients were enrolled in the study. In patients subjected to cavity shave, a significant reduction in positive, focally positive, or closer margins was reported 8.9% vs. 18.5% (p = 0.003). No difference was reported in terms of surgical re-excision (p < 0.846) (5% vs. 5.5%). Surgical time was lower in patients subjected to cavity shave (<0.001). The multivariate analysis intraoperative evaluation of sentinel lymph node OR 1.816 and cavity shave OR 2.909 were predictive factors for a shorter surgical time. Excluding patients subjected to intraoperative evaluation of sentinel lymph node and patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, patients that underwent the cavity shave presented a reduced surgical time (67.9 + 3.8 min vs. 81.6 + 2.8 min) (p = 0.006). Conclusions: Cavity shaving after lumpectomy reduced the rate of positive margins and it was associated with a significant reduction in surgical time compared to intraoperative evaluation of resection margins.

Lignin reduction in sugarcane by performing CRISPR/Cas9 site-direct mutation of SoLIM transcription factor.

Genetic engineering of plant cell walls is limited for reducing lignocellulose recalcitrance, so mild and/or green-like pretreatment is still required for sequential enzymatic saccharification. Here, we report a method to reduce lignin content in sugarcane stalks using the CRISPR/Cas 9 technique. Three target sequences of SoLIM were designed and fused to pRGEB32. The cassette constructs were introduced into sugarcane calli cv. KK3 through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. We produced one base substitution and one insertion line for the 1st target site; two insertions, one deletion, and one base substitution for the 2nd target site; and one base substitution and insertion for the 3rd target site. qRT-PCR analysis of SoLIM, SoPAL, SoC4H, and SoCAD showeded that downregulation of SoLIM by single nucleotide insertions or deletions reduced the expression of SoPAL, SoC4H, and SoCAD. Consequently, the edited lines contained 9.74 to 51.46% less lignin content compared to that in the wild-type plants. The syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratio of the edited lines ranged between 0.23 and 0.49, while the wild-type was 0.22. The histochemical evaluation and scanning electron microscopy of the cell walls supported this observation. A low lignin content sugarcane will provide a better feedstock for second-generation bioethanol production.

Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) in childhood and adolescence - a disease with many faces. / Die Chronische Nicht Bakterielle Osteomyelitis (CNO) im Kindes- und Jugendalter ­ eine Erkrankung mit vielen Gesichtern.

BACKGROUND: Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) is a chronic inflammatory skeletal disease that affects particularly children and adolescents and is often diagnosed with a delay. With whole-body MRI, early diagnosis of this disease is possible in many cases. Since children and adolescents frequently present with non-specific complaints for outpatient radiological diagnosis, every radiologist should have basic knowledge of this complex clinical picture. MATERIALS: In this review the basics and current findings regarding the disease are discussed. Unusual courses are also presented. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: With knowledge of the radiographic and MR tomographic characteristics of the mostly multifocal bone lesions, the diagnosis of CNO can be reliably made in many cases. In particular, the early use of whole-body MRI plays an important role. Thus, therapeutic delays and resulting complications and the number of unnecessary biopsies for diagnosis can be reduced.