Influence of glycan structure on the colonization of Streptococcus pneumoniae on human respiratory epithelial cells.

Virtually all living cells are encased in glycans. They perform key cellular functions such as immunomodulation and cell-cell recognition. Yet, how their composition and configuration affect their functions remains enigmatic. Here, we constructed isogenic capsule-switch mutants harboring 84 types of capsular polysaccharides (CPSs) in Streptococcus pneumoniae. This collection enables us to systematically measure the affinity of structurally related CPSs to primary human nasal and bronchial epithelial cells. Contrary to the paradigm, the surface charge does not appreciably affect epithelial cell binding. Factors that affect adhesion to respiratory cells include the number of rhamnose residues and the presence of human-like glycomotifs in CPS. Besides, pneumococcal colonization stimulated the production of interleukin 6 (IL-6), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and monocyte chemoattractantprotein-1 (MCP-1) in nasal epithelial cells, which also appears to be dependent on the serotype. Together, our results reveal glycomotifs of surface polysaccharides that are likely to be important for colonization and survival in the human airway.

The role of PPARγ in intermittent hypoxia-related human umbilical vein endothelial cell injury.

PURPOSE: Patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) have a high incidence of vascular endothelial injury. The most important pathophysiological feature of OSA is chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH). This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of CIH-related vascular endothelial injury. METHODS: IH exposure was applied to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). After modeling, cell viability, the expression levels of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ), apoptosis-associated proteins and mitochondrial division fusion proteins, and the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were assessed via Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), western blotting, fluorescent microscope, and flow cytometry, respectively. Rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist), tempo (the mitochondrial-specific antioxidant), and tempo combined with PPARγ interfering RNA were used to treat HUVECs, respectively. RESULTS: After IH exposure, cell viability and levels of MMP decreased, cell apoptosis and ROS levels increased, and the expression levels of PPARγ decreased. Both tempo and rosiglitazone pretreatment ameliorated cell apoptosis and improved cell viability. In addition, mitochondrial function became better after tempo pretreatment. PPARγ interference reversed the protective effects of tempo on IH-related mitochondrial function injury and cell injury. CONCLUSIONS: PPARγ regulated the apoptosis and cell viability of IH-treated HUVECs by altering mitochondrial function. This finding clarifies the mechanism of CIH-related vascular endothelial injury.

Tumor-mutation burden as a marker for immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer: the case report and literature review.

Pancreatic cancer is digestive cancer with limited therapeutic options and a poor outcome. Pancreatic cancer has a high mortality rate, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. The median survival after metastasis of the disease is less than 6 months. Studies have revealed that the standard treatment, including palliative chemotherapy or immunotherapy, is not significantly effective for pancreatic cancer. Herein, we report a case of pancreatic cancer who benefited from a combination of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Refractory hypokalemia caused by cetuximab with advanced colorectal cancer patients: the case series and literature review.

Cetuximab is the first-line treatment for advanced metastatic colon cancer. But cetuximab can cause electrolyte disturbances, including hypomagnesemia and hypokalemia. Among them, hypokalemia is often caused by hypomagnesemia, not directly caused by cetuximab. This article reports two cases of refractory hypokalemia caused by cetuximab without hypomagnesemia. The two patients had no abnormalities in serum potassium before cetuximab treatment. The occurrence of hypokalemia was clearly correlated with the cetuximab, and they were significantly improved after stopping or reducing the dose. At the same time, the appearance of hypokalemia is significantly related to the efficacy of cetuximab. They have received 37 and 35 cycles of cetuximab-related therapy, with condition stable periods of 12.8 and 15.1 months, respectively. Obviously, our report refutes the above view. In our opinion, hypokalemia, a side effect of cetuximab, may be directly caused by it, rather than secondary to hypomagnesemia. Similar to hypomagnesemia, the appearance of hypokalemia often indicates a better curative effect of cetuximab.

Time trend prediction and spatial-temporal analysis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Guizhou Province, China, during 2014-2020.

BACKGROUND: Guizhou is located in the southwest of China with high multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) epidemic. To fight this disease, Guizhou provincial authorities have made efforts to establish MDR-TB service system and perform the strategies for active case finding since 2014. The expanded case finding starting from 2019 and COVID-19 pandemic may affect the cases distribution. Thus, this study aims to analyze MDR-TB epidemic status from 2014 to 2020 for the first time in Guizhou in order to guide control strategies. METHODS: Data of notified MDR-TB cases were extracted from the National TB Surveillance System correspond to population information for each county of Guizhou from 2014 to 2020. The percentage change was calculated to quantify the change of cases from 2014 to 2020. Time trend and seasonality of case series were analyzed by a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model. Spatial-temporal distribution at county-level was explored by spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial-temporal scan statistic. RESULTS: Guizhou has 9 prefectures and 88 counties. In this study, 1,666 notified MDR-TB cases were included from 2014-2020. The number of cases increased yearly. Between 2014 and 2019, the percentage increase ranged from 6.7 to 21.0%. From 2019 to 2020, the percentage increase was 62.1%. The seasonal trend illustrated that most cases were observed during the autumn with the trough in February. Only in 2020, a peak admission was observed in June. This may be caused by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions being lifted until May 2020. The spatial-temporal heterogeneity revealed that over the years, most MDR-TB cases stably aggregated over four prefectures in the northwest, covering Bijie, Guiyang, Liupanshui and Zunyi. Three prefectures (Anshun, Tongren and Qiandongnan) only exhibited case clusters in 2020. CONCLUSION: This study identified the upward trend with seasonality and spatial-temporal clusters of MDR-TB cases in Guizhou from 2014 to 2020. The fast rising of cases and different distribution from the past in 2020 were affected by the expanded case finding from 2019 and COVID-19. The results suggest that control efforts should target at high-risk periods and areas by prioritizing resources allocation to increase cases detection capacity and better access to treatment.

Effect of Inhibiting p38 on HuR Involving in ß-AChR Post-transcriptional Mechanisms in Denervated Skeletal Muscle.

Previous studies reported that RNA-binding protein human antigen R (HuR) mediates changes in the stability of AChR ß-subunit mRNA after skeletal muscle denervation; also, p38 pathway regulated the stability of AChR ß-subunit mRNA in C2C12 myotubes. However, the relationship between HuR and p38 in regulating the stability of AChR ß-subunit mRNA have not been clarified. In this study, we wanted to examine the effect of inhibiting p38 on HuR in denervated skeletal muscle. Denervation model was built and 10% DMSO or SB203580 were administered respectively follow denervation. Tibialis muscles were collected in 10% DMSO-administered contralateral (undenervated) leg, 10% DMSO-administered denervated leg, SB203580-administered contralateral (undenervated) leg, and SB203580-administered denervated leg, respectively. P38 protein, ß-AChR mRNA and protein, HuR protein, ß-AChR mRNA stability, and HuR binding with AChR ß-subunit mRNAs were measured. Results demonstrated that the administration of SB203580 can inhibit the increase of ß-AChR protein expression and mRNA expression and stability, and RNA-binding protein human antigen R (HuR) expression, in cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions in skeletal muscle cells following denervation. Importantly, we observed that SB203580 also inhibited the increased level of binding activity between HuR and AChR ß-subunit mRNAs following denervation. Collectively, these results suggested that inhibition of p38 can post-transcriptionally inhibit ß-AChR upregulation via HuR in denervated skeletal muscle.

Distortion of homeostatic signaling proteins by simulated microgravity in rat hypothalamus: A(16) O/(18) O-labeled comparative integrated proteomic approach.

Microgravity generates oxidative stress in central nervous system, causing distortion of various vital signaling cascades involved in many homeostatic functions. Here, we performed comparative (16) O/(18) O labeled integrated proteomic strategy to observe the differential expression of signaling proteins involved in homeostasis. In this study, rat-tail suspension model is employed to induce simulated microgravity in CNS. By wide proteomic analysis, total of 35 and 97 significantly differentially expressed proteins were found by HPLC/ESI-TOF and HPLC-Q-TOF analysis, respectively. Among the total of 132 proteins quantified, 25 proteins were found related to various signaling cascades. Protein Thy-1, 14-3-3 gamma, 14-3-3 epsilon, 14-3-3 theta, 14-3-3 eta, and 14-3-3 beta/alpha proteins, calmodulin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type-II subunit beta were found upregulated under the influence of simulated microgravity. These proteins are found involved in disrupting homeostatic pathways like sleep/wake cycle, drinking behavior, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical regulation and fight and/or flee actions under stress. Furthermore, MS results for protein Thy-1 were verified by Western blot analysis showing the quantification accuracy of MS instruments. Results presented here will serve as means to understand the mechanism of action of microgravity and further reference for future detailed study of consequences of microgravity on astronauts and their possible countermeasures.

Investigating highly replicated asthma genes as candidate genes for allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Asthma genetics has been extensively studied and many genes have been associated with the development or severity of this disease. In contrast, the genetic basis of allergic rhinitis (AR) has not been evaluated as extensively. It is well known that asthma is closely related with AR since a large proportion of individuals with asthma also present symptoms of AR, and patients with AR have a 5-6 fold increased risk of developing asthma. Thus, the relevance of asthma candidate genes as predisposing factors for AR is worth investigating. The present study was designed to investigate if SNPs in highly replicated asthma genes are associated with the occurrence of AR. METHODS: A total of 192 SNPs from 21 asthma candidate genes reported to be associated with asthma in 6 or more unrelated studies were genotyped in a Swedish population with 246 AR patients and 431 controls. Genotypes for 429 SNPs from the same set of genes were also extracted from a Singapore Chinese genome-wide dataset which consisted of 456 AR cases and 486 controls. All SNPs were subsequently analyzed for association with AR and their influence on allergic sensitization to common allergens. RESULTS: A limited number of potential associations were observed and the overall pattern of P-values corresponds well to the expectations in the absence of an effect. However, in the tests of allele effects in the Chinese population the number of significant P-values exceeds the expectations. The strongest signals were found for SNPs in NPSR1 and CTLA4. In these genes, a total of nine SNPs showed P-values <0.001 with corresponding Q-values <0.05. In the NPSR1 gene some P-values were lower than the Bonferroni correction level. Reanalysis after elimination of all patients with asthmatic symptoms excluded asthma as a confounding factor in our results. Weaker indications were found for IL13 and GSTP1 with respect to sensitization to birch pollen in the Swedish population. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variation in the majority of the highly replicated asthma genes were not associated to AR in our populations which suggest that asthma and AR could have less in common than previously anticipated. However, NPSR1 and CTLA4 can be genetic links between AR and asthma and associations of polymorphisms in NPSR1 with AR have not been reported previously.

Epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of syphilis among blood donors in Huzhou.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors for syphilis in Huzhou City, and to provide data to support the design of more effective health counselling and screening measures for blood donors. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to analyse the demographic characteristics and seropositivity of syphilis among blood donors from 2019 to 2021. The differences in the serological status of syphilis among different populations under different demographic factors were compared, and conditional logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for syphilis. RESULTS: The seropositivity rate of syphilis among blood donors in Huzhou City was 133/100,000, which decreased year by year. There were significant differences in the syphilis seropositivity rate among different groups in terms of age, education level, occupation, household registration, marital status and blood donation history (P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression model showed that all six factors, including age, education level, occupation, household registration, marital status and blood donation history, had significant effects on syphilis infection (P < 0.01), with OR values and 95% CIs of 2. 387 (1.381-4.127), 3.607 (1.609-8.086), 2.784 (1.657-4.679), 5.074 (1.865-13.804), 11.177 (3.481-35.888), and 11.244 (3.940-32.091), respectively. CONCLUSION: There is room for improvement in pre-donation health counselling and screening of high-risk populations. Timely monitoring and updating of demographic data for specific high-risk populations is essential.

The influence of demographic and lifestyle factors on blood donation delay among student population: a retrospective study.

Objective: This study analysed blood donation deferral trends, reasons and demographic/lifestyle characteristics among students in Huzhou City. The aim was to understand the health status of students and reduce the deferral rate. Methods: Data on blood donation deferral among students in Huzhou City from 2018 to 2022 were collected and analysed. Deferral trends and main reasons were investigated. Using demographic and lifestyle data from 2,619 cases in 2022, a risk prediction model for deferral was constructed. Results: The deferral rate among students in Huzhou City from 2018 to 2022 was 12.60% (p = 0.000, 95%CI: 12.14-13.06%), showing a significant increasing trend. Temporary deferral was the main reason, with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood pressure (BP) and haemoglobin (Hb) as the main deferral factors. ALT had a deferral rate of 5.23% (4.92-5.53%), BP 3.30% (3.06-3.55%), and Hb 2.92% (2.68-3.15%). Demographic and lifestyle characteristics in 2022 showed no significant differences between education level, household registration and deferral rate (p > 0.05). However, age, sex, blood donation history, sleep quality, diet and mental state had variable effects on ALT, BP, and Hb deferrals (p < 0.05). Logistic regression showed that sex, blood donation history, sleep quality, diet and mental status were independent risk factors for ALT deferral (p < 0.05), with odds ratios (ORs) of 5.057, 2.735, 1.594, 3.679, and 1.957, respectively. Age, blood donation history, sleep quality and mental state were independent risk factors for BP deferral (p < 0.05), with ORs of 0.256, 3.658, 6.042, and 1.812, respectively. Gender, blood donation history and diet were independent risk factors for Hb deferral (p < 0.05), with ORs of 0.244, 0.542, and 3.103, respectively. Conclusion: Students' health problems require attention. Effective health education should improve self-health management and pre-donation health behaviour to encourage regular blood donation.

Acute aortic dissection caused by fruquintinib for metastatic colorectal cancer-a case report and literature review.

Background: Fruquintinib is a highly selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR). At present, it has been approved for third-line therapy for advanced metastatic colorectal cancer in China. Like other small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, adverse reactions such as hand-foot syndrome, hypertension and cardiotoxicity may be seen. However, acute aortic dissection caused by fruquintinib has not been reported so far. Case Description: Here, we report a case of aortic dissection. The patient, a 61-year-old man with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer, without history of hypertension or other risk factors for aortic dissection, received fruquintinib as the third line of treatment. Six weeks after oral fruquintinib treatment, the patient developed acute aortic dissection, and the occurrence of the adverse effect was determined to be probably related to the use of fruquintinib. This article focuses on the potential pathogenesis of fruquintinib-induced active dissection. Conclusions: We reported the first case of fruquintinib-associated aortic dissection, and discussed the possible mechanism of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-VEGFR signal pathway (VSP) inhibitors leading to aortic dissection. As a new drug, fruquintinib brings not only clinical benefits, but also brings some adverse reactions. Clinicians must be vigilant to the cardiovascular toxicity caused by small molecular tyrosine kinase inhibitors, especially the severe cardiovascular toxicity, and strengthen monitoring and management.

Pertussis immunisation strategies to optimise infant pertussis control: A narrative systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Countries routinely offering acellular pertussis vaccine, where long-term protection is not sustained, have the challenge of selecting an optimal schedule to minimise disease among young infants. We conducted a narrative systematic review and synthesis of information to evaluate different pertussis immunisation strategies at controlling pertussis disease, hospitalisation, deaths, and vaccine effectiveness among young infants. METHODS: We conducted a review of the literature on studies about the primary, booster, and/or maternal vaccination series and synthesised findings narratively. Countries offering the first three doses of vaccine within six-months of life and a booster on or before the second year or life were defined as accelerated primary and booster schedules, respectively. Countries offering primary and booster doses later were defined as extended primary and booster schedules. All search results were screened, and articles reviewed and reconciled, by two authors. The Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Intervention tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias. FINDINGS: A total of 98 studies were included in the analyses and the following recurring themes were described: timing of vaccination, vaccine coverage, waning immunity/vaccine effectiveness, direct and indirect effectiveness, switching from an accelerated to extended schedule, impact of changes in testing. The risk of bias was generally low to moderate for most studies. CONCLUSION: Comparing schedules is challenging and there was insufficient evidence to that one schedule was superior to another. Countries must select a schedule that maintains high vaccine coverage and reduced the risk of delaying the delivery vaccines to protect infants.

Toll-like receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with allergic rhinitis: a case control study.

BACKGROUND: The Toll-like receptor proteins are important in host defense and initiation of the innate and adaptive immune responses. A number of studies have identified associations between genetic variation in the Toll-like receptor genes and allergic disorders such as asthma and allergic rhinitis. The present study aim to search for genetic variation associated with allergic rhinitis in the Toll-like receptor genes. METHODS: A first association analysis genotyped 73 SNPs in 182 cases and 378 controls from a Swedish population. Based on these results an additional 24 SNPs were analyzed in one Swedish population with 352 cases and 709 controls and one Chinese population with 948 cases and 580 controls. RESULTS: The first association analysis identified 4 allergic rhinitis-associated SNPs in the TLR7-TLR8 gene region. Subsequent analysis of 24 SNPs from this region identified 7 and 5 significant SNPs from the Swedish and Chinese populations, respectively. The corresponding risk-associated haplotypes are significant after Bonferroni correction and are the most common haplotypes in both populations. The associations are primarily detected in females in the Swedish population, whereas it is seen in males in the Chinese population. Further independent support for the involvement of this region in allergic rhinitis was obtained from quantitative skin prick test data generated in both populations. CONCLUSIONS: Haplotypes in the TLR7-TLR8 gene region were associated with allergic rhinitis in one Swedish and one Chinese population. Since this region has earlier been associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis in a Danish linkage study this speaks strongly in favour of this region being truly involved in the development of this disease.

Primordial odontogenic tumor with prominent calcifications.

Primordial odontogenic tumor (POT) is a rare mixed odontogenic tumor composed of primitive ectomesenchyme similar to the dental papilla. The outer surface consists of columnar/cuboidal odontogenic epithelium similar to the inner enamel epithelium, and there is no hard tissue formation. Until now, 27 cases have been reported in the English literature. This article describes the clinicopathological characteristics of one case of POT, representing the oldest patient (aged 26 years) reported to date.

An anoikis-based signature for predicting prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma with machine learning.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy with high mortality worldwide. Despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment in recent years, there is still an urgent unmet need to explore the underlying mechanisms and novel prognostic markers. Anoikis has received considerable attention because of its involvement in the progression of human malignancies. However, the potential mechanism of anoikis-related genes (ANRGs) involvement in HCC progression remains unclear. Methods: We use comprehensive bioinformatics analyses to determine the expression profile of ANRGs and their prognostic implications in HCC. Next, a risk score model was established by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) Cox regression analysis. Then, the prognostic value of the risk score in HCC and its correlation with clinical characteristics of HCC patients were further explored. Additionally, machine learning was utilized to identify the outstanding ANRGs to the risk score. Finally, the protein expression of DAP3 was examined on a tissue microarray (TMA), and the potential mechanisms of DAP3 in HCC was explored. Results: ANRGs were dysregulated in HCC, with a low frequency of somatic mutations and associated with prognosis of HCC patients. Then, nine ANRGs were selected to construct a risk score signature based on the LASSO model. The signature presented a strong ability of risk stratification and prediction for overall survival in HCC patients.Additionally, high risk scores were closely correlated with unfavorable clinical features such as advanced pathological stage, poor histological differentiation and vascular invasion. Moreover, The XGBoost algorithm verified that DAP3 was an important risk score contributor. Further immunohistochemistry determined the elevated expression of DAP3 in HCC tissues compared with nontumor tissues. Finally, functional analyses showed that DAP3 may promote HCC progression through multiple cancer-related pathways and suppress immune infiltration. Conclusion: In conclusion, the anoikis-based signature can be utilized as a novel prognostic biomarker for HCC, and DAP3 may play an important role in the development and progression of HCC.

Fundamental Properties and Self-Healing Performance of Repair Mortar with Solid Capsules Made Using Inorganic Reactive Powder.

Self-healing cement composites are generally produced by using materials such as inorganic powders, bacteria pellets, and microcapsules. Among them, inorganic powder-type healing materials tend to decrease in healing performance over time because they react relatively quickly. Accordingly, this study encapsulated self-healing inorganic reactive powders in solid capsules (SC) in order to delay their reaction. The capsule surface was coated with a membrane to prevent moisture from permeating it. SC were utilized to provide the self-healing effect to the repair mortar. SC were mixed at three rates (0%, 5%, and 10%) by the binder mass of the repair mortar. The fundamental properties, including rheology, table flow, strength, and length change, and the self-healing performance of the self-healing repair mortar mixes were investigated. It was found that the rheological and mechanical properties of the repair mortar decreased slightly as the amount of SC increased. On the other hand, for a crack width of 0.25 mm and crack inducing age of 28 days, the healing performance of repair mortar specimens containing SC was at least 20 pt% better than that of plain repair mortar after a healing period of 28 days.

A Study on the Healing Performance of Mortar with Microcapsules Using Silicate-Based Inorganic Materials.

Advancements in material science have led to the development of various self-healing concrete technologies. Among these is the use of microcapsule-based self-healing materials. This study evaluated the effects of self-healing microcapsules on the quality and healing properties of mortar. A silicate-based inorganic material mixture was used as the healing material tested with ordinary Portland cement. Accordingly, the effects of microcapsules (MCs) on the rheological, mechanical, and healing properties of mortar were determined. The mixing of MCs reduced the plastic viscosity and yield stress of the cement composite material owing to the particle properties of the MCs. The reduction was in proportion to the mixing ratio. The evaluation results show that the unit water permeability decreased owing to the healing reaction immediately after crack initiation. The healing rate was more than 95% at 7 days of healing age when more than 3% of MCs was mixed. This study provides a reference for the optimal mixing rate of MCs to achieve an ideal concrete healing rate.

Preparing an ATP/P (n-BuMA-St)/Fe3 O4 Oil-Absorbing Resin Composite via a Double Pickering Emulsion Template Method and Elucidation of Its Properties.

Numerous methods have been used for preparing porous materials; however, these techniques can not uniformly incorporate inorganic additives into the pore structure. Therefore, a novel method has been presented to fabricate an oil-absorbing resin composite with three-dimensional porous structure by using a double Pickering emulsion template. First, an oil-in-water-in-oil double Pickering emulsion was prepared using attapulgite (ATP) and modified Fe3 O4 . Second, the Pickering emulsion was employed as a template to synthesize the ATP/P(n-BuMA-St)/Fe3 O4 oil-absorbing resin composite by utilizing butyl methacrylate (n-BuMA) and styrene (St) as comonomers, divinylbenzene as the crosslinking agent, and benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. Finally, the oil absorption performance of the resin composite was explored. The oil absorption ratio of the resin goes up to 754.75 %, while its oil retention rate approximately equals 84 %; when the mass ratio of St and poly (butyl methacrylate) is 2 : 1, the mass percentages of crosslinking agent, initiator, emulsifier, and ATP are observed to be 2 %, 0.4 %, 3 %, and 0.6 %, respectively. Overall, this work provides a novel strategy for preparing an oil-absorbing composite resin, which is expected to be popularized and utilized for oil spill remediation and oily wastewater treatment.

An Experimental Study on the Healing Performance of Complex Capsules Using Multiphase Inorganic Materials for Crack Self-Healing of Cement Mortars.

Recently, a self-healing technique capable of repairing cracks in structures has emerged. Among various self-healing technologies, self-healing capsules can be largely classified into two types, depending on the phase of the core material: solid capsules, in which the core material is a powder; and microcapsules, in which the core material is a liquid. Solid capsules and microcapsules have different mechanisms, and their capsule sizes are also distinctly different. This suggests that each has advantages and disadvantages. Most of the studies known to date have utilized single capsules. However, if one uses a mixture of the two types of capsules, it is possible to highlight the strengths of each capsule and compensate for the weaknesses. Therefore, in this study, the first research on complex capsules that mixed solid capsules and microcapsules was attempted. As a result of the experiment, the complex capsule slightly reduced the fluidity of the mortar, but the effect was not significant. Moreover, the complex capsule tended to reduce the compressive strength of the mortar. In particular, it was found that the effect of solid capsules on the reduction in compressive strength among complex capsules was greater than that of microcapsules. Conversely, the healing performance increased when the ratio of solid capsules in the complex capsules was large.

Neisseria species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis.

Neisseria species are frequently identified in the bronchiectasis microbiome, but they are regarded as respiratory commensals. Using a combination of human cohorts, next-generation sequencing, systems biology, and animal models, we show that bronchiectasis bacteriomes defined by the presence of Neisseria spp. associate with poor clinical outcomes, including exacerbations. Neisseria subflava cultivated from bronchiectasis patients promotes the loss of epithelial integrity and inflammation in primary epithelial cells. In vivo animal models of Neisseria subflava infection and metabolipidome analysis highlight immunoinflammatory functional gene clusters and provide evidence for pulmonary inflammation. The murine metabolipidomic data were validated with human Neisseria-dominant bronchiectasis samples and compared with disease in which Pseudomonas-, an established bronchiectasis pathogen, is dominant. Metagenomic surveillance of Neisseria across various respiratory disorders reveals broader importance, and the assessment of the home environment in bronchiectasis implies potential environmental sources of exposure. Thus, we identify Neisseria species as pathobionts in bronchiectasis, allowing for improved risk stratification in this high-risk group.