Recent Advancements on Spin Engineering Strategies for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reactions.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a widely employed half-electrode reaction in oxygen electrochemistry, in applications such as hydrogen evolution, carbon dioxide reduction, ammonia synthesis, and electrocatalytic hydrogenation. Unfortunately, its slow kinetics limits the commercialization of such applications. It is therefore highly imperative to develop highly robust electrocatalysts with high activity, long-term durability, and low noble-metal contents. Previously intensive efforts have been made to introduce the advancements on developing non-precious transition metal electrocatalysts and their OER mechanisms. Electronic structure tuning is one of the most effective and interesting ways to boost OER activity and spin angular momentum is an intrinsic property of the electron. Therefore, modulation on the spin states and the magnetic properties of the electrocatalyst enables the changes on energy associated with interacting electron clouds with radical absorbance, affecting the OER activity and stability. Given that few review efforts have been made on this topic, in this review, the-state-of-the-art research progress on spin-dependent effects in OER will be briefed. Spin engineering strategies, such as strain, crystal surface engineering, crystal doping, etc., will be introduced. The related mechanism for spin manipulation to boost OER activity will also be discussed. Finally, the challenges and prospects for the development of spin catalysis are presented. This review aims to highlight the significance of spin engineering in breaking the bottleneck of electrocatalysis and promoting the practical application of high-efficiency electrocatalysts.

Modulated Electronic Structure of Co3O4 by Single Atoms for Efficient Anodic Oxygen Evolution in Acid.

The challenge of the practical application of a water electrolyzer system lies in the development of low-manufacturing cost, highly active, and stable electrocatalysts to replace the noble metal ones, in order to enable environmentally friendly hydrogen production on a large scale. Herein, a facile method is proposed for boosting the performance of Co3O4 through the incorporation of large-sized single atoms. Due to the larger ionic radius of rare earth metals than that of Co, the incorporation elongates the bond length of Co─O, resulting in the narrowed d-p band centers and the high spin configuration, which is favorable for the interaction and charge transfer with absorbent (*OH). As a result, the Ce-incorporated Co3O4 with the longest Co─O bond length exhibits the best oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance, specifically, the turnover frequency is over 17 times higher than that of pristine Co3O4 nanosheet under an overpotential of 400 mV. Powered by a commercial Si solar cell, a two-electrode solar water-splitting device combining Ce-incorporated Co3O4 and Pt delivers a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 13.53%. The strategy could provide a new insight for improving the performance of OER electrocatalysts in acid toward practical applications.

Ce Single-Atom Incorporation Enhances the Oxygen Evolution Reaction of Co3O4 in Acid.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays an important role in energy conversion processes such as water electrolysis and metal-air batteries. At present, finding a high-performance and low-cost catalyst for the OER in acidic media remains a great challenge. It is therefore important to develop efficient, robust, and inexpensive electrocatalysts by replacing noble metal-based catalysts with transition-metal electrocatalysts. Herein, we propose a facile method for incorporating Ce-metal single atoms into Co3O4 nanosheets to boost their OER activity and stability. Owing to the enhanced charge transfer and improved electronic structure resulting from Ce incorporation, the obtained Ce single-atom-doped Co3O4 nanosheet exhibits greatly enhanced OER performance. It achieves a 10 mA cm-2 current density under a low overpotential of 348 mV in a 0.5 M H2SO4 solution with excellent stability, outperforming the state-of-the-art non-noble electrocatalysts recently reported in acid.

The alleviative effect of C-phycocyanin peptides against TNBS-induced inflammatory bowel disease in zebrafish via the MAPK/Nrf2 signaling pathways.

INTRODUCTION: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an incurable and highly complex chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affecting millions of people worldwide. C-phycocyanin (C-PC) has been reported to possess outstanding anti-inflammatory activities and can effectively inhibit various inflammation-related diseases. Whether C-PC-derived bioactive peptides can inhibit intestinal inflammation is worth research and consideration. METHODS: The inhibition activities of three anti-neuroinflammatory peptides were evaluated using 2-4-6-trinitrobenzen sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced zebrafish colitis model. Subsequently, the abilities of peptides to promote gastrointestinal motility were also examined. The changes in the intestinal pathological symptoms and ultrastructure of intestinal, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and antioxidant enzymes were then determined after co-treatment with peptides and TNBS. Transcriptome analysis was used to investigate the underlying ameliorating TNBS-induced colitis effects molecular mechanisms of better activity peptide. Furthermore, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and molecular docking techniques verified the mRNA sequencing results. RESULTS: Three peptides, MHLWAAK, MAQAAEYYR and MDYYFEER, which significantly inhibit macrophage migration, were synthesized. The results showed that these peptides could effectively alleviate the inflammatory responses in the TNBS-induced zebrafish model of colitis. In addition, co-treatment with TNBS and C-PC peptides could decrease ROS production and increase antioxidant enzyme activities in zebrafish larvae. Moreover, MHLWAAK had the most significantly therapeutic effects on colitis in zebrafish. The transcriptome analysis suggests that the effect of MHLWAAK on TNBS-induced colitis may be associated with the modulation of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway associated genes. In addition, molecular docking was conducted to study the prospective interaction between peptides and the key proteins that streamline the Nrf2 and MAPK signaling pathways. IL-6, JNK3, TNF-α, KEAP1-NRF2 complex and MAPK may be the core targets of MHLWAAK in treating colitis. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the three C-PC-derived peptides could ameliorate TNBS-induced colitis in zebrafish, and these peptides might be a promising therapeutic candidate for UC treatment.

The Peptide LLTRAGL Derived from Rapana venosa Exerts Protective Effect against Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Zebrafish Model by Regulating Multi-Pathways.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with unknown pathogenesis which has been gradually considered a public health challenge worldwide. Peptides derived from Rapana venosa have been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect. In this study, peptide LLTRAGL derived from Rapana venosa was prepared by a solid phase synthesis technique. The protective effects of LLTRAGL were studied in a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced zebrafish colitis model. The underlying mechanisms of LLTRAGL were predicted and validated by transcriptome, real-time quantitative PCR assays and molecular docking. The results showed that LLTRAGL reduced the number of macrophages migrating to the intestine, enhanced the frequency and rate of intestinal peristalsis and improved intestinal inflammatory damage. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis indicated the key pathways (NOD-like receptor signal pathway and necroptosis pathway) that link the underlying protective effects of LLTRAGL's molecular mechanisms. In addition, the related genes in these pathways exhibited different expressions after TNBS treatment. Finally, molecular docking techniques further verified the RNA-sequencing results. In summary, LLTRAGL exerted protective effects in the model of TNBS-induced colitis zebrafish. Our findings provide valuable information for the future application of LLTRAGL in IBD.

Virus-mediated GHS-R1a expression in the basolateral amygdala blocks extinction of conditioned taste aversion memory in rats.

Ghrelin is an orexigenic gastric hormone that promotes feeding behaviors and regulating energy homeostasis in both humans and rodents. Our previous studies have shown that ghrelin, when locally infused into the basolateral amygdala (BLA), blocks both acquisition and extinction of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) memory in rats. In this study, we further investigated the effect of virus-mediated overexpression of ghrelin receptor growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHS-R1a) in BLA pyramidal neurons on CTA memory processes. We found that upregulation of GHS-R1a expression in BLA pyramidal neurons repressed CTA extinction while it had no effect on CTA acquisition. In addition, we reported that local infusion of the endogenous GHS-R1a antagonist, liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP2), in the BLA abolished the inhibitory effect of increased GHS-R1a on CTA memory extinction. Those findings provide new supportive evidence that ghrelin/GHS-R1a signaling in the BLA circuit shapes emotional memory processes.

Modulation of IrO6 Chemical Environment for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution in Acid.

The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limits the commercialization of oxygen electrochemistry, which plays a key role in renewable energy technologies such as fuel cells and electrolyzers. Herein, a facile and practical strategy is developed to successfully incorporate Ir single atoms into the lattice of transition metal oxides (TMOs). The chemical environment of Ir and its neighboring lattice oxygen is modulated, and the lattice oxygen provides lone-pair electrons and charge balance to stabilize Ir single atoms, resulting in the enhancement of both OER activity and durability. In particular, Ir0.08 Co2.92 O4 NWs exhibit an excellent mass activity of 1343.1 A g-1 and turnover frequency (TOF) of 0.04 s-1 at overpotentials of 300 mV. And this catalyst also displays significant stability in acid at 10 mA cm-2 over 100 h. Overall water splitting using Pt/C as the hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst and Ir0.08 Co2.92 O4 NWs as the OER catalyst takes only a cell voltage of 1.494 V to achieve 10 mA cm-2 with a perfect stability. This work demonstrates a simple approach to produce highly active and acid-stable transition metal oxides electrocatalysts with trace Ir.

Characteristics of biological control and mechanisms of Pseudomonas chlororaphis zm-1 against peanut stem rot.

BACKGROUND: Peanut stem rot is a serious plant disease that causes great economic losses. At present, there are no effective measures to prevent or control the occurrence of this plant disease. Biological control is one of the most promising plant disease control measures. In this study, Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp. aurantiaca strain zm-1, a bacterial strain with potential biocontrol properties isolated by our team from the rhizosphere soil of Anemarrhena asphodeloides, was studied to control this plant disease. METHODS: We prepared extracts of Pseudomonas chloroaphis zm-1 extracellular antibacterial compounds (PECEs), determined their antifungal activities by confrontation assay, and identified their components by UPLC-MS/MS. The gene knockout strains were constructed by homologous recombination, and the biocontrol efficacy of P. chlororaphis zm-1 and its mutant strains were evaluated by pot experiments under greenhouse conditions and plot experiments, respectively. RESULTS: P. chlororaphis zm-1 could produce extracellular antifungal substances and inhibit the growth of Sclerotium rolfsii, the main pathogenic fungus causing peanut stem rot. The components of PECEs identified by UPLC-MS/MS showed that three kinds of phenazine compounds, i.e., 1-hydroxyphenazine, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA), and the core phenazine, were the principal components. In particular, 1-hydroxyphenazine produced by P. chlororaphis zm-1 showed antifungal activities against S. rolfsii, but 2-hydroxyphenazine did not. This is quite different with the previously reported. The extracellular compounds of two mutant strains, ΔphzH and ΔphzE, was analysed and showed that ΔphzE did not produce any phenazine compounds, and ΔphzH no longer produced 1-hydroxyphenazine but could still produce PCA and phenazine. Furthermore, the antagonistic ability of ΔphzH declined, and that of ΔphzE was almost completely abolished. According to the results of pot experiments under greenhouse conditions, the biocontrol efficacy of ΔphzH dramatically declined to 47.21% compared with that of wild-type P. chlororaphis zm-1 (75.63%). Moreover, ΔphzE almost completely lost its ability to inhibit S. rolfsii (its biocontrol efficacy was reduced to 6.19%). The results of the larger plot experiments were also consistent with these results. CONCLUSIONS: P. chlororaphis zm-1 has the potential to prevent and control peanut stem rot disease. Phenazines produced and secreted by P. chlororaphis zm-1 play a key role in the control of peanut stem rot caused by S. rolfsii. These findings provide a new idea for the effective prevention and treatment of peanut stem rot.

Sulfur-Induced Vacancies in Ba2Bi1.4Nb0.6O6 Promoting Photocatalytic Tetracycline Hydrochloride Degradation.

Solar-driven photodegradation has attracted great attention, given that it provides a promising solution for eliminating antibiotics in aqueous environments, due to its environmental friendliness and economic feasibility. However, solar conversion efficiencies are restricted by insufficient sunlight absorption and ineffective charge separation/transfer. Herein, the incorporation of sulfur into Ba2Bi1.4Nb0.6O6 nanorods brings about O and S vacancies, leading to significantly enhanced light absorption and charge separation/transport efficiency by almost 4 times. As a result, the obtained material exhibits greatly improved photocatalytic degradation efficiency for tetracycline hydrochloride under visible light irradiation with outstanding stability. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency is highest among the state-of-the-art photocatalysts for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation. This work paves a promising pathway to develop highly efficient photocatalysts with a narrow band gap.

Protective effect of C-phycocyanin and apo-phycocyanin subunit on programmed necrosis of GC-1 spg cells induced by H2 O2.

C-phycocyanin (C-PC) is an effective antioxidant and has an important value in medical research. Oxidative stress is considered to be one of the main underlying mechanisms of cell death, and reducing oxidative stress is one of the strategies to enhance germ cell viability. Herein, we investigated the protective effect and the mechanism of C-PC and apo-phycocyanin subunit on oxidative stress damage induced by H2 O2 in GC-1 spg cells. C-PC genes were cloned into the pGEX-4T-1 vectorand transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 to achieve the efficient expression of C-PC subunit. GC-1 spg cells were treated with 600 µM H2 O2 for 24 h to establish the oxidative stress damage model. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8. The degree of oxidative stress was detected by testing Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated utilizingby 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescent-diacetate (DCFH-DA). Mitochondrial membrane potential was determined by JC-1. Cell necrosis rate was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI. Expression of protein was detected by western blot. We found that C-PC and GST-CPC ß significantly inhibited H2 O2 -induced oxidative damage of GC-1 spg cells, improved the ability of antioxidation, reduced ROS overproduction, and mitochondrial membrane potential loss, and inhibited the RIP-1/RIP-3/ p-MLKL signaling pathway to reduce the necrosis rate. The results demonstrated that C-PC played a protective role against H2 O2 -induced cell damage, especially its ß subunit. This study provides a theoretical basis for C-PC as a potential protective agent of reproductive system.

Clinical efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation for patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinic study.

BACKGROUND: Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is characterized by the condition that bacteria overgrowth in the small intestine. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been applied as an effective tool for reestablishing the structure of gut microbiota. However, whether FMT could be applied as a routine SIBO treatment has not been investigated. METHODS: In this trial, 55 SIBO patients were enrolled. All participants were randomized in two groups, and were given FMT capsule or placebo capsules once a week for 4 consecutive weeks. Measurements including the lactulose hydrogen breath test gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as fecal microbiota diversity were assessed before and after FMT therapy. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal symptoms significantly improved in SIBO patients after treatment with FMT compared to participants in placebo group. The gut microbiota diversity of FMT group had a significant increase, while placebo group showed none. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that applying FMT for patients with SIBO can alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms, indicating that FMT may be a promising and novel therapeutic regimen for SIBO. Trial registry This study was retrospectively registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial registry on 2019.7.10 (ID: ChiCTR1900024409, http://www.chictr.org.cn ).

Co-delivery of CPP decorated doxorubicin and CPP decorated siRNA by NGR-modified nanobubbles for improving anticancer therapy.

A combination of doxorubicin (DOX) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) is proven effective for the reverse of multidrug resistance. However, rapid degradation and poor cellular internalization of siRNA hinder their synergistic action. To improve the combination effect, asparagine-glycine-arginine peptide (NGR) -modified nanobubbles (NBs) containing cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) decorated DOX and CPP decorated c-myc siRNA were constructed. Diameters of these NBs were about 245 nm and zeta potentials were about -3 mV. Encapsulation efficiencies (EE) of DOX exceeded 80%. Release of DOX could be triggered by ultrasound (US) since above 80% DOX was released from NBs after sonication while less than 5% DOX was discharged without treatment of US. These NBs were considered stable during 24 h since the decrease of particle size was no more than 10 nm, variances of EE were less than 5%, and changes of transmission (ΔT) were less than 3%. More drugs in formulation decorated with CPP and NGR were accumulated in the tumor when combined with sonication. The evident synergistic action of DOX, siRNA, NBs, and US was verified in mice with strong antitumor efficacy. Taken together, NGR-modified NBs containing CPP-DOX and CPP-siRNA are able to realize time- and spatial-controlled drug delivery and show potential application prospects.

Ghrelin/GHS-R1a signaling plays different roles in anxiety-related behaviors after acute and chronic caloric restriction.

The brain-gut hormone ghrelin and its receptor GHS-R1a, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a, regulates diverse functions of central nervous system including stress response and mood. Both acute and chronic caloric restrictions (CR) were reported to increase endogenous ghrelin level meanwhile regulate anxiety-related behaviors; however, the causal relationship between CR-induced ghrelin elevation and anxiety are not fully established. Here, we introduced an acute (24 h) and a chronic (10wks) CR procedure to both GHS-R1a KO (Ghsr-/-) mice and WT (Ghsr+/+) littermates, and compared their anxiety-related behaviors. We found that acute CR induced anxiolytic and anti-despairing behaviors in Ghsr+/+ mice but not in Ghsr-/- mice. Ad-libitum refeeding abolished the effect of acute CR on anxiety-related behaviors. In contrast, chronic CR for 10wks facilitated despair-like behavior meanwhile inhibited anxiety-like behavior in Ghsr+/+ mice. GHS-R1a deficiency rescued despair-like behavior while did not affect anxiolytic response induced by chronic CR. In addition, we found elevated interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum of Ghsr+/+ mice after chronic CR, but not in Ghsr-/- mice. Altogether, our findings indicated that acute CR and chronic CR have different impacts on anxiety-related behaviors, and the former is dependent on ghrelin/GHS-R1a signaling while the latter may not always be. In addition, our findings suggested that GHS-R1a-dependent elevation in serum IL-6 might contribute to increased despair-like behavior in chronic CR state.

Ethanol Extract of Campsis grandiflora Flower and Its Organic Acid Components Have Inhibitory Effects on Autoinducer Type 1 Quorum Sensing.

Chinese herbs are a useful resource bank for natural drug development, and have attracted considerable attention to exploit quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs). This study was designed to screen QSIs from raw Chinese herb materials. Of the 38 common herbs examined, the ethanol extract of Campsis grandiflora flower had the strongest QSI activity. The C. grandiflora flower ethanol extract (CFEE) was purified by HPD600, and the QSI activities were examined in further detail. CFEE inhibited violacein production of Chromobacterium violaceum 026 in a dose-dependent manner, and inhibit the swarming abilities of Escherichia coli K-12 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Furthermore, CFEE could inhibited biofilm formation and destroyed mature biofilms of E. coli K-12 and P. aeruginosa PAO1. The composition of CFEE was determined by UPLC-MS/MS to distinguish active QSI compounds, and 21 compounds were identified. In addition to gallic acid and caffeic acid, two organic acids, malic acid and succinic acid, were confirmed for the first time to have autoinducer type 1 QSI activities. Therefore, CFEE is a potential QSI that could be used as a novel antimicrobial agent and should be considered for medicinal development.

Association Between Environmental Factors and Oral Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Loads: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study in China.

Background: Oral Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) status reflects host EBV activity and potentially links to EBV-associated diseases, however, factors influencing oral EBV loads or reactivation, such as environmental exposures or host factors, are not fully understood. Methods: A 2-stage, multicenter, cross-sectional study of 6558 subjects from 21 administrative cities of southern China and 3 populations from representative geographical areas in China (referred to as the south, north, and northeastern populations) was performed. The relationships between demographical factors and environmental exposures to EBV loads were analyzed by logistic regression models. Results: Current smoking, with a dose-response effect, was found to be strongly associated with higher oral EBV loads in the pooled data, with an odds ratio of 1.58 (95% confidence interval, 1.39-1.79), as well as in each of the separate populations. The odds ratio increased to 3.06 when current smokers in southern China were compared to never smokers in northern China. Additionally, higher oral EBV loads tended to be detected in older participants, male participants, and participants in southern China. Conclusions: This study provided evidence linking the effect of host-environmental factors, particularly smoking, to oral EBV activity. It could strengthen our understanding of the possible causal roles of EBV-related diseases, which may help to prevent or mitigate EBV-associated diseases.

Core-shell photoanode developed by atomic layer deposition of Bi2O3 on Si nanowires for enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Core-shell nanowire (NW) arrays, which feature a vertically aligned n-type Si NW core and a p-type α-Bi2O3 shell, are developed as a highly efficient photoanode that is suitable for water splitting. The morphology and structure of the heterostructure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The deposition of Bi2O3 nanolayers on the surface of the smooth Si NWs causes the surface of the NWs to become rough. The as-prepared core-shell NW photoelectrode has a relatively low reflectance in the visible light region, suggesting good light absorption. The core-shell NW arrays show greatly improved photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance. Photoelectrochemical stability for over 16 h under constant light illumination and fixed bias potential was achieved, illustrating the good stability of this core-shell NW photoanode. These Si/Bi2O3 core-shell NW arrays effectively combine the light absorption ability of the Si NWs and the wide energy gap and chemical stability of Bi2O3 for water splitting. This study furthers the attempts to design photoanodes from low-cost, abundant materials for applications in water splitting and photovoltaics.

In vitro evaluation of the effects of various additives and polymers on nerve growth factor microspheres.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of various additives or polymers on the in vitro characteristics of nerve growth factor (NGF) microspheres. MATERIALS AND METHODS: NGF microspheres were fabricated using polyethylene glycol (PEG), ovalbumin (OVA), bovine serum albumin (BSA) or glucose as protein protectors, and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) or poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/PLGA blends as encapsulation materials. RESULTS: Encapsulation efficiencies of the NGF microspheres with various additives or polymers were not more than 30%. A comparative study revealed that OVA was somewhat superior over others, and was thus chosen as the protective additive in subsequent experiments. Polymer analysis showed that NGF release from 1:1 PLA (η = 0.8):PLGA (75/25, η = 0.45) microspheres lasted for 90 d with a burst release rate of 12.7%. About 40% of the original bioactivity was retained on the 28th day, while 10% was left on the 90th day. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The combination of OVA as an additive and the PLA/PLGA blend as the coating matrix is suitable for encapsulation of NGF in microspheres for extended release.

Efficacy of acupuncture as adjunct therapy for sleep disorders in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to summarize existing clinical studies through a systematic review to explore the efficacy of acupuncture in treating sleep disorders in PD patients. METHODS: According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we retrieved the papers through 30 April 2023 from eight databases. The experimental group was treated with acupuncture plus conventional therapy, while the control group was treated with conventional therapy alone or combined with sham acupuncture. The sleep quality was the primary outcome. A team of researchers meticulously performed literature screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment following the Cochrane Handbook. A meta-analysis was synthesized using Review Manager Version 5.4 software if feasible. The quality of the evidence was assessed by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) tool. RESULTS: A total of 973 papers were identified, with 15 papers involving 957 patients were included in this systematic review. The results showed that acupuncture interventions included manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, moxibustion and bleeding, with 1-7 times every week implemented during 2-12 weeks. Acupuncture as an adjunct therapy compared to conventional therapy alone showed better effect in sleep quality and overall symptoms of PD. Risk of bias assessment showed deficiencies in blinding and allocation concealment. All included studies were synthesized in a meta-analysis, as the result of which, acupuncture improved PDSS scores(MD =16.57; 95% CI, 7.24-25.90; I2 = 97%) and effective rate for sleep disorders (OR = 5.91; 95% CI, 1.71-20.39; I2 = 54%); meanwhile, acupuncture reduced UPDRS scores(MD = -4.29; 95% CI, -6.54 - -2.03; I2 = 77%) and improved effective rate for PD (OR = 3.22; 95% CI, 1.81-5.72; I2 = 0%). The quality of evidence ranged from low to moderate by GRADE. CONCLUSION: This study provides initial evidence that acupuncture as an adjunct therapy might be associated with improvement of sleep disorders in PD. Due to the lack of high-quality studies, larger sample size studies with sham acupuncture groups should be conducted in future. REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022364249 (PROSPERO).

Research progress on emulsion vaccine adjuvants.

Vaccination is the most cost-effective method for preventing various infectious diseases. Compared with conventional vaccines, new-generation vaccines, especially recombinant protein or synthetic peptide vaccines, are safer but less immunogenic than crude inactivated microbial vaccines. The immunogenicity of these vaccines can be enhanced using suitable adjuvants. This is the main reason why adjuvants are of great importance in vaccine development. Several novel human emulsion-based vaccine adjuvants (MF59, AS03) have been approved for clinical use. This paper reviews the research progress on emulsion-based adjuvants and focuses on their mechanism of action. An outlook can be provided for the development of emulsion-based vaccine adjuvants.