Contributions of repeated learning to memory in humans: insights from single-neuron recordings in the hippocampus and amygdala.

Despite the well-established phenomenon of improved memory performance through repeated learning, studies investigating the associated neural mechanisms have yielded complex and sometimes contradictory findings, and direct evidence from human neuronal recordings has been lacking. This study employs single-neuron recordings with exceptional spatial-temporal resolution, combined with representational similarity analysis, to explore the neural dynamics within the hippocampus and amygdala during repeated learning. Our results demonstrate that in the hippocampus, repetition enhances both representational specificity and fidelity, with these features predicting learning times. Conversely, the amygdala exhibits heightened representational specificity and fidelity during initial learning but does not show improvement with repetition, suggesting functional specialization of the hippocampus and amygdala during different stages of the learning repetition. Specifically, the hippocampus appears to contribute to sustained engagement necessary for benefiting from repeated learning, while the amygdala may play a role in the representation of novel items. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interplay between these brain regions in memory processes. Significance statement  For over a century, understanding how repetition contributes to memory enhancement has captivated researchers, yet direct neuronal evidence has been lacking, with a primary focus on the hippocampus and a neglect of the neighboring amygdala. Employing advanced single-neuron recordings and analytical techniques, this study unveils a nuanced functional specialization within the amygdala-hippocampal circuit during various learning repetition. The results highlight the hippocampus's role in sustaining engagement for improved memory with repetition, contrasting with the amygdala's superior ability in representing novel items. This exploration not only deepens our comprehension of memory enhancement intricacies but also sheds light on potential interventions to optimize learning and memory processes.

Low-Frequency Evolution Mechanism of Customized HEAs-Based Electromagnetic Response Modes Manipulated by Carbothermal Shock.

An emerging carbothermal shock method is an ultra-convenient strategy for synthesizing high-entropy alloys (HEAs), in which the intelligent combination of carbon support and HEAs can be serve as a decisive factor for interpreting the trade-off relationship between conductive gene and dielectric gene. However, the feedback mechanism of HEAs ordering degree on electromagnetic (EM) response in 2-18 GHz has not been comprehensively demystified. Herein, while lignin-based carbon fiber paper (L-CFP) as carbon support, L-CFP/FeCoNiCuZn-X with is prepared by carbothermal shock method. The reflection loss of -82.6 dB with thickness of 1.31 mm is achieved by means of pointing electron enrichment within L-CFP/FeCoNiCuZn HEAs heterointerfaces verified by theoretical calculations. Simultaneously, low-frequency evolution with high-intensity and broadband EM response relies on a "sacrificing" strategy achieved by construction of polymorphic L-CFP/semi-disordered-HEAs heterointerfaces. The practicality of L-CFP/FeCoNiCuZn-X in complex environments is given prominence to thermal conductivity, hydrophobicity, and electrocatalytic property. This work is of great significance for insightful mechanism analysis of HEAs in the application of electromagnetic wave absorption.

Dietary factors and the risk of atopic dermatitis: a Mendelian randomisation study.

Previous studies have revealed an association between dietary factors and atopic dermatitis (AD). To explore whether there was a causal relationship between diet and AD, we performed Mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis. The dataset of twenty-one dietary factors was obtained from UK Biobank. The dataset for AD was obtained from the publicly available FinnGen consortium. The main research method was the inverse-variance weighting method, which was supplemented by MR‒Egger, weighted median and weighted mode. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed to ensure the accuracy of the results. The study revealed that beef intake (OR = 0·351; 95 % CI 0·145, 0·847; P = 0·020) and white bread intake (OR = 0·141; 95 % CI 0·030, 0·656; P = 0·012) may be protective factors against AD. There were no causal relationships between AD and any other dietary intake factors. Sensitivity analysis showed that our results were reliable, and no heterogeneity or pleiotropy was found. Therefore, we believe that beef intake may be associated with a reduced risk of AD. Although white bread was significant in the IVW analysis, there was large uncertainty in the results given the wide 95 % CI. Other factors were not associated with AD in this study.

Genetic insights into the gut microbiota and risk of facial skin aging: A Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: A growing number of experimental studies have shown an association between the gut microbiota (GM) and facial skin aging. However, the causal relationship between GM and facial skin aging remains unclear to date. METHODS: We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the potential causal relationship between GM and facial skin aging. MR analysis was mainly performed using the inverse-variance weighting (IVW) method, complemented by the weighted median (MW) method, MR-Egger regression, and weighted mode, and sensitivity analysis was used to test the reliability of MR analysis results. RESULTS: Eleven GM taxa associated with facial skin aging were identified by IVW method analysis, Family Victivallaceae (p = 0.010), Genus Eubacterium coprostanoligenes group (p = 0.038), and Genus Parasutterella (p = 0.011) were negatively associated with facial skin aging, while Phylum Verrucomicrobia (p = 0.034), Family Lactobacillaceae (p = 0.017) and its subgroups Genus Lactobacillus (p = 0.038), Genus Parabacteroides (p = 0.040), Genus Eggerthella (p = 0.049), Genus Family XIII UCG001 (p = 0.036), Genus Phascolarctobacterium (p = 0.027), and Genus Ruminococcaceae UCG005 (p = 0.012) were positively associated with facial skin aging. At Class and Order levels, we did not find a causal relationship between GM and facial skin aging. Results of sensitivity analyses did not show evidence of pleiotropy and heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm the causal relationship between GM and facial skin aging, providing a new perspective on delaying facial aging.

E3 Ubiquitin Ligase FBXO3 Drives Neuroinflammation to Aggravate Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.

Ischemic stroke, one of the most universal causes of human mortality and morbidity, is pathologically characterized by inflammatory cascade, especially during the progression of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. F-Box Protein 3 (FBXO3), a substrate-recognition subunit of SKP1-cullin 1-F-box protein (SCF) E3 ligase complexes, has recently been proven to be severed as an underlying pro-inflammatory factor in pathological processes of diverse diseases. Given these considerations, the current study aims at investigating whether FBXO3 exerts impacts on inflammation in cerebral I/R injury. In this study, first, it was verified that FBXO3 protein expression increased after a middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and was specifically expressed in neurons other than microglia or astrocytes. Meanwhile, in mouse hippocampal neuronal cell line HT22 cells, the elevation of FBXO3 protein was observed after oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) treatment. It was also found that interference of FBXO3 with siRNA significantly alleviated neuronal damage via inhibiting the inflammatory response in I/R injury both in vivo and in vitro. The FBXO3 inhibitor BC-1215 was used to confirm the pro-inflammatory effect of FBXO3 in the OGD/R model as well. Furthermore, by administration of FBXO3 siRNA and BC-1215, FBXO3 was verified to reduce the protein level of Homeodomain-Interacting Protein Kinase 2 (HIPK2), likely through the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), to aggravate cerebral I/R injury. Collectively, our results underline the detrimental effect FBXO3 has on cerebral I/R injury by accelerating inflammatory response, possibly through ubiquitylating and degrading HIPK2. Despite the specific interaction between FBXO3 and HIPK2 requiring further study, we believe that our data suggest the therapeutic relevance of FBXO3 to ischemic stroke and provide a new perspective on the mechanism of I/R injury.

Photoreduction of carbon dioxide and photodegradation of organic pollutants using alkali cobalt oxides MCoO2 (M = Li or Na) as catalysts.

The recycling of lithium batteries should be prioritized, and the use of discarded alkali metal battery electrode materials as photocatalysts merits research attention. This study synthesized alkali metal cobalt oxide (MCoO2, M = Li or Na) as a photocatalyst for the photoreduction of CO2 and degradation of toxic organic substances. The optimized NaCoO2 and LiCoO2 photocatalysts increased the photocatalytic CO2-CH4 conversion rate to 21.0 and 13.4 µmol g-1 h-1 under ultraviolet light irradiation and to 16.2 and 5.3 µmol g-1 h-1 under visible light irradiation, which is 17 times higher than that achieved by TiO2 P25. The rate constants of the optimized reactions of crystal violet (CV) with LiCoO2 and NaCoO2 were 2.29 × 10-2 and 4.35 × 10-2 h-1, respectively. The quenching effect of the scavengers and electron paramagnetic resonance in CV degradation indicated that active O2•-, 1O2, and h+ play the main role, whereas •OH plays a minor role for LiCoO2. The hyperfine splitting of the DMPO-•OH and DMPO-•CH3 adducts was aN = 1.508 mT, aHß = 1.478 mT and aN = 1.558 mT, aHß = 2.267 mT, respectively, whereas the hyperfine splitting of DMPO+• was aN = 1.475 mT. The quenching effect also indicated that active O2•- and h+ play the main role and that •OH and 1O2 play a minor role for NaCoO2. The hyperfine splitting of the DMPO-•OH and DMPO+• adducts was aN = 1.517 mT, aHß = 1.489 mT and aN = 1.496 mT, respectively. Discarded alkali metal battery electrode materials can be reused as photocatalysts to address environmental pollution.

A New Therapeutic Trend: Natural Medicine for Ameliorating Ischemic Stroke via PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by sudden arterial occlusion, which is characterized by a high morbidity, mortality, and disability rate. It is one of the most important causes of nervous system morbidity and mortality in the world. In recent years, the search for new medicine for the treatment of IS has become an attractive research focus. Due to the extremely limited time window of traditional medicine treatment, some side effects may occur, and accompanied by the occurrence of adverse reactions, the frequency of exploration with natural medicine is significantly increased. Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/Protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway is a classical pathway for cell metabolism, growth, apoptosis, and other physiological activities. There is considerable research on medicine that treats various diseases through this pathway. This review focuses on how natural medicines (including herbs and insects) regulate important pathophysiological processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and the role it plays in improving IS. We found that many kinds of herbal medicine and insect medicine can alleviate the damage caused by IS through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Moreover, the prescription after their combination can also achieve certain results. Therefore, this review provides a new candidate category for medicine development in the treatment of IS.

Extracting Effective Image Attributes with Refined Universal Detection.

Recently, image attributes containing high-level semantic information have been widely used in computer vision tasks, including visual recognition and image captioning. Existing attribute extraction methods map visual concepts to the probabilities of frequently-used words by directly using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Typically, two main problems exist in those methods. First, words of different parts of speech (POSs) are handled in the same way, but non-nominal words can hardly be mapped to visual regions through CNNs only. Second, synonymous nominal words are treated as independent and different words, in which similarities are ignored. In this paper, a novel Refined Universal Detection (RUDet) method is proposed to solve these two problems. Specifically, a Refinement (RF) module is designed to extract refined attributes of non-nominal words based on the attributes of nominal words and visual features. In addition, a Word Tree (WT) module is constructed to integrate synonymous nouns, which ensures that similar words hold similar and more accurate probabilities. Moreover, a Feature Enhancement (FE) module is adopted to enhance the ability to mine different visual concepts in different scales. Experiments conducted on the large-scale Microsoft (MS) COCO dataset illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Highly Site Selective Formal [5+2] and [4+2] Annulations of Isoxazoles with Heterosubstituted Alkynes by Platinum Catalysis: Rapid Access to Functionalized 1,3-Oxazepines and 2,5-Dihydropyridines.

Platinum-catalyzed formal [5+2] and [4+2] annulations of isoxazoles with heterosubstituted alkynes enabled the atom-economical synthesis of valuable 1,3-oxazepines and 2,5-dihydropyridines, respectively. Importantly, this Pt catalysis not only led to unique reactivity dramatically divergent from that observed under Au catalysis, but also proceeded via unprecedented α-imino platinum carbene intermediates.

Unsupervised Modality-Transferable Video Highlight Detection With Representation Activation Sequence Learning.

Identifying highlight moments of raw video materials is crucial for improving the efficiency of editing videos that are pervasive on internet platforms. However, the extensive work of manually labeling footage has created obstacles to applying supervised methods to videos of unseen categories. The absence of an audio modality that contains valuable cues for highlight detection in many videos also makes it difficult to use multimodal strategies. In this paper, we propose a novel model with cross-modal perception for unsupervised highlight detection. The proposed model learns representations with visual-audio level semantics from image-audio pair data via a self-reconstruction task. To achieve unsupervised highlight detection, we investigate the latent representations of the network and propose the representation activation sequence learning (RASL) module with k-point contrastive learning to learn significant representation activations. To connect the visual modality with the audio modality, we use the symmetric contrastive learning (SCL) module to learn the paired visual and audio representations. Furthermore, an auxiliary task of masked feature vector sequence (FVS) reconstruction is simultaneously conducted during pretraining for representation enhancement. During inference, the cross-modal pretrained model can generate representations with paired visual-audio semantics given only the visual modality. The RASL module is used to output the highlight scores. The experimental results show that the proposed framework achieves superior performance compared to other state-of-the-art approaches.

Lignin-modified graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes for photocatalytic H2O2 production and degradation of brilliant black BN.

As a renewable aromatic compound with enormous production potential, lignin has various potential high-value utilization pathways, but the success achieved in the field of photocatalysis is limited. Herein, this work prepares a new type of photocatalyst by modifying Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanotubes (CNT) with self-assembled lignin nanospheres for the photocatalytic production of H2O2 and the degradation of azo dyes. Under light conditions, lignin enhances the production of H2O2 through oxygen reduction and collaborates with carbon nitride tubes to generate O2- and 1O2. Furthermore, carbon nitride tubes form electron-rich regions with lignin, promoting the transfer of electrons from adsorbed aromatic pollutants to this region, thereby facilitating their degradation. The experimental results indicate that the addition of 5 % lignin significantly enhances the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of azo dyes, with a degradation rate 1.87 times higher than that of the original carbon nitride tubes. Furthermore, CNL also have excellent degradation ability to pollutants in actual wastewater. This study provides new insights and prospects for the high-value utilization of lignin, enabling it to be used as a photocatalytic co-catalyst to participate in the photocatalytic degradation of environmental pollutants.

Association of dietary carbohydrate and fiber ratio with postmenopausal bone mineral density and prevalence of osteoporosis: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the associations of carbohydrate to dietary fiber ratio with bone mineral density (BMD) and the prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study retrieved the data of 2829 postmenopausal women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Weighted univariable logistic regression models were used to investigate the correlations of carbohydrate, dietary fiber, or carbohydrate to fiber ratio with osteoporosis. RESULTS: Higher dietary fiber intake was correlated with decreased odds ratio of osteoporosis [odds ratio(OR) = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93 to 0.99]. The odds ratio of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women was elevated as the increase of carbohydrate to fiber ratio (OR = 1.80, 95%CI: 1.10 to 2.96). Carbohydrate to fiber ratio >17.09 was related to increased odds ratio of osteoporosis (OR = 1.63, 95%CI: 1.04 to 2.56). Compared to the carbohydrate to fiber ratio ≤11.59 group, carbohydrate to fiber ratio >17.09 was associated with decreased total femur BMD (ß = -0.015, 95%CI: -0.028 to -0.001) and femur neck BMD (ß = -0.020, 95%CI: -0.033 to -0.006) in postmenopausal women. The femur neck BMD in postmenopausal women was decreased with the increase of carbohydrate to fiber ratio (ß = -0.015, 95%CI: -0.028 to -0.001). CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women, a high carbohydrate/fiber ratio >17.09 is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis and lower hip BMD and high fiber intake is associated with less osteoporosis and higher hip BMD.

Effect of different non-pharmacologic placebo treatments on migraine prevention: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Placebo control plays an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. Specifying differential effects of various placebo controls on migraine prevention would be essential in the explanation of preventive treatment for migraine and the indirect comparison between different prophylactic therapeutics. OBJECTIVES: To access the impact of different non-pharmacologic placebo types on different outcomes in migraine patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials, Embase, and Web of Science databases from the date of creation to June 19, 2023. Randomized controlled trials of migraine that included sham intervention of acupuncture or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) or repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) or transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) were conducted. The primary outcome was the migraine days, and the secondary outcomes were the number of migraine attacks, headache days, headache frequency, and responder's rate. Placebo effects were assessed using five individual placebos for network meta-analysis, using mean differences to measure the relative effect of pair-wise comparisons between interventions. RESULT: A total of 50 trials with 4880 subjects were included. Twenty-seven trials were evaluated for low risk of bias. The results of indirect comparisons show that sham rTMS and sham tDCS had optimal and similar effects in reducing migraine days; sham acupuncture has the greatest effect on reducing the number of migraine attacks and relieving headache frequency; sham rTMS had a highly significant advantage in reducing headache days compared with the other placebo controls. CONCLUSION: Based on the network meta-analysis results, we found that sham acupuncture had the greatest effect on migraine prophylaxis. The strong placebo effect of sham acupuncture should be considered when assessing the therapeutic effect.

Healthy dietary patterns, genetic risk, and gastrointestinal cancer incident risk: a large-scale prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Dietary patterns have been associated with several cancers, especially gastrointestinal cancer (GIC). However, whether a healthy dietary pattern could modify the risk of GIC among people with different genetic backgrounds is not clear. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate how dietary patterns and genetic susceptibility contribute to the risk of GIC independently and jointly. METHODS: This large-scale prospective cohort study included 105,463 participants in UK Biobank who were aged 40-72 y and cancer-free at baseline. Dietary intake (Oxford WebQ) was used to calculate dietary pattern scores including dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) score and healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI). Genetic risk was quantified by a polygenic risk score (PRS) comprising 129 known GIC-associated loci. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to estimate the associations of dietary patterns and PRS with GIC incidence after adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 11.70 y, 1,661 participants were diagnosed with GIC. DASH and hPDI were associated with 20% and 36% reductions, respectively, in GIC risk. Low PRS was associated with a 30 % decrease in GIC risk (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.79). Participants with healthy dietary scores at high-genetic risk had a lower GIC risk with HR of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.98) for DASH and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.52, 0.84) for hPDI than those with unhealthy dietary score. Participants with both high-dietary score and low-genetic risk showed the lowest risk of GIC, with HR of 0.58 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.75) for DASH and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.58) for hPDI. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to DASH and hPDI were associated with a lower risk of some gastrointestinal cancers, and these 2 dietary patterns may partly compensate for genetic predispositions to cancer. Our results advance the development of precision medicine strategies that consider both dietary patterns and genetics to improve gastrointestinal health.

Reprogramming Exosomes to Escape from Immune Surveillance for Mitochondrial Protection in Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Background: Therapeutic interventions such as synthetic drugs and microRNA (miR) modulators have created opportunities for mitigating hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (HIRI) by alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction. However, delivering multi-therapeutic ingredients with low toxicity to hepatocytes still lags behind its development. Methods: In this study, we endowed exosomes with delivery function to concentrate on hepatocytes for multidimensionally halting mitochondria dysfunction during HIRI. Concretely, exosomes were reprogrammed with a transmembrane protein CD47, which acted as a "camouflage cloak" to mimic the "don't eat me" mechanism to escape from immune surveillance. Besides, HuR was engineered bridging to the membrane by fusing with CD47 and located in the cytoplasm for miR loading. Results: This strategy successfully delivered dual payloads to hepatocytes and efficiently protected mitochondria by inhibiting the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) and upregulating mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), respectively. Conclusions: The reprogramming of exosomes with CD47 and HuR for targeted delivery of CsA and miR inhibitors represents a promising therapeutic strategy for addressing HIRI. This approach shows potential for safe and effective clinical applications in the treatment of HIRI.

Reprogramming exosomes for immunity-remodeled photodynamic therapy against non-small cell lung cancer.

Traditional treatments against advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high morbidity and mortality continue to be dissatisfactory. Given this situation, there is an urgent requirement for alternative modalities that provide lower invasiveness, superior clinical effectiveness, and minimal adverse effects. The combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and immunotherapy gradually become a promising approach for high-grade malignant NSCLC. Nevertheless, owing to the absence of precise drug delivery techniques as well as the hypoxic and immunosuppressive characteristics of the tumor microenvironment (TME), the efficacy of this combination therapy approach is less than ideal. In this study, we construct a novel nanoplatform that indocyanine green (ICG), a photosensitizer, loads into hollow manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanospheres (NPs) (ICG@MnO2), and then encapsulated in PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies (anti-PD-L1) reprogrammed exosomes (named ICG@MnO2@Exo-anti-PD-L1), to effectively modulate the TME to oppose NSCLC by the synergy of PDT and immunotherapy modalities. The ICG@MnO2@Exo-anti-PD-L1 NPs are precisely delivered to the tumor sites by targeting specially PD-L1 highly expressed cancer cells to controllably release anti-PD-L1 in the acidic TME, thereby activating T cell response. Subsequently, upon endocytic uptake by cancer cells, MnO2 catalyzes the conversion of H2O2 to O2, thereby alleviating tumor hypoxia. Meanwhile, ICG further utilizes O2 to produce singlet oxygen (1O2) to kill tumor cells under 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) irradiation. Furthermore, a high level of intratumoral H2O2 reduces MnO2 to Mn2+, which remodels the immune microenvironment by polarizing macrophages from M2 to M1, further driving T cells. Taken together, the current study suggests that the ICG@MnO2@Exo-anti-PD-L1 NPs could act as a novel drug delivery platform for achieving multimodal therapy in treating NSCLC.

Forging Fenton-like system to functionalize electron/hole enrichment regions for ATZ photocatalytic degradation.

Independent functional regions for electrons and holes enrichment are usually driven by the construction of multiple heterostructures, which is difficult to achieve fine-controlling, resulting in the limited photocatalytic activity. TiO2-based photocatalysts with suitable forbidden band widths are promising for wide application prospects, where the construction of Schottky heterojunctions is the trick to achieve directional migration of electrons and holes. Here, a regionalized surface modification method of H-TiO2 with oxygen vacancy (Ov) and defects for efficient carrier separation was reported, in which interspersed Ag nanoparticles and SiO2 layers serve as electron/hole enrichment regions, respectively. Meanwhile, SiO2 can be served as adsorption sites for photocatalytic oxidation of small-molecule pollutants, while Ag nanoparticles with H+ adsorption capacity and reasonable guide band position can be used as an engine of Fenton-like reactions to cyclically generate the active substance H2O2 to participate in the reduction reaction. The degradation efficiency of Ag-SiO2-H-TiO2 (ASHT) can be increased by 159% for pesticide atrazine (ATZ). The superoxide radicals generated by electrons and oxygen in ASHT also generate H2O2, which promotes the centralized generation of hydroxyl radicals to improve photocatalytic performance. The structural design strategy of ASHT provides a new concept for the process of ring-opening reactions of benzene-containing contaminants in water and conversion to small molecules which will eventually be rapidly mineralized.

Highly efficient peroxymonosulfate activation on Fe-N-C catalyst via the collaboration of low-coordinated Fe-N structure and Fe nanoparticles for enhanced organic pollutant degradation.

Supporting Fe catalysts on N doped carbon (Fe-N-C) renders a promising way towards peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for water decontamination, but constructing high-efficiency Fe-N-C remains challenging due to the insufficient understanding of the structure-performance relationship. Herein, the N doped carbon nanotube supported Fe catalysts (Fe-NCNT) were prepared towards PMS activation for organic pollutants removal, in which the Fe-N coordination number and Fe species were tuned through changing the pyrolysis temperature to study their roles in PMS activation. Results showed increasing the pyrolysis temperature converted the Fe-N4 structure in Fe-NCNT to low-coordinated Fe-N3 structure and produced Fe nanoparticles (FeNP, encapsulated in carbon). The Fe-NCNT with Fe-N3 and FeNP exhibited a remarkably high specific activity (0.119 L min-1 m-2), which was 1.8 times higher than that of Fe-NCNT with only Fe-N4 and obviously outperformed those of the state-of-the-art PMS activators. The low-coordinated structure and FeNP promoted the PMS reduction on Fe2+ of Fe-Nx for •OH and SO4•- production, which served as major oxidants for pollutants degradation. The experimental results and theoretical calculation corroborated the low-coordinated structure and FeNP jointly enhanced the PMS adsorption and electron density on Fe center, which accelerated electron transfer from Fe center to PMS for radical production.

Natural flavonoids alleviate glioblastoma multiforme by regulating long non-coding RNA.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common primary malignant brain tumors in adults. Due to the poor prognosis of patients, the median survival time of GBM is often less than 1 year. Therefore, it is very necessary to find novel treatment options with a good prognosis for the treatment or prevention of GBM. In recent years, flavonoids are frequently used to treat cancer. It is a new attractive molecule that may achieve this promising treatment option. Flavonoids have been proved to have many biological functions, such as antioxidation, prevention of angiogenesis, anti-inflammation, inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, and protection of nerve cells. It has also shown the ability to regulate long non-coding RNA (LncRNA). Studies have confirmed that flavonoids can regulate epigenetic modification, transcription, and change microRNA (miRNA) expression of GBM through lncRNA at the gene level. It also found that flavonoids can induce apoptosis and autophagy of GBM cells by regulating lncRNA. Moreover, it can improve the metabolic abnormalities of GBM, interfere with the tumor microenvironment and related signaling pathways, and inhibit the angiogenesis of GBM cells. Eventually, flavonoids can block the tumor initiation, growth, proliferation, differentiation, invasion, and metastasis. In this review, we highlight the role of lncRNA in GBM cancer progression and the influence of flavonoids on lncRNA regulation. And emphasize their expected role in the prevention and treatment of GBM.

Risk factors of systemic lupus erythematosus: an overview of systematic reviews and Mendelian randomization studies.

BACKGROUND: The etiology of systemic lupus erythematosus is complex and incurable. A large number of systematic reviews have studied the risk factors of it. Mendelian randomization is an analytical method that uses genetic data as tool variables to evaluate the causal relationship between exposure and outcome. OBJECTIVE: To review the systematic reviews and Mendelian randomization studies that focused on the risk factors of systemic lupus erythematosus and shed light on the development of treatments for its prevention and intervention. METHODS: From inception to January 2022, we systematically searched MEDLINE (via PubMed) and Embase for related systematic reviews and Mendelian randomization studies. Extract relevant main data for studies that meet inclusion criteria. The quality of systematic reviews was assessed by using Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR-2). Finally, the risk factors are scored comprehensively according to the results' quantity, quality, and consistency. RESULTS: Our study involved 64 systematic reviews and 12 Mendelian randomization studies. The results of systematic reviews showed that diseases (endometriosis, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis), lifestyle (smoking, drinking, vaccination), and gene polymorphism influenced the incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus. The results of Mendelian randomization studies identified the role of disease (periodontitis, celiac disease), trace elements (selenium, iron), cytokines (growth differentiation factor 15), and gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. CONCLUSION: We should pay attention to preventing and treating systemic lupus erythematosus in patients with endometriosis, celiac disease, and periodontitis. Take appropriate dietary supplements to increase serum iron and selenium levels to reduce the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus. There should be no excessive intervention in lifestyles such as smoking and drinking.