The effects of visual art therapy on adults with depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Depression constitutes a pervasive global mental health concern and stands as a principal determinant of elevated suicide rates worldwide. Recent empirical investigations have showcased the significant potential of visual art therapy (VAT) in ameliorating symptoms among individuals with depression. Nevertheless, specific studies have yielded findings marked by inconclusiveness, underscoring the imperative need for further research to comprehensively establish its efficacy. This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of extant research, to ascertain the efficacy and effect size of VAT as an intervention for adults with depressive symptoms. A comprehensive search was conducted across 10 databases. The search encompassed articles published from the inception of these databases up until October 18, 2023. Two researchers screened the literature in accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria and performed a thorough quality assessment. The original data and the data obtained from the literature were extracted for further analysis. The statistical analysis of the data was performed using Stata 17.0 software. fifteen studies were included, encompassing a total of 932 participants. The outcomes of meta-analysis unveiled a statistically significant effect of VAT in diminishing depressive symptoms among adults (SMD = -0.73; 95% CI, -1.07 to -0.39; p < 0.001; 15 randomised controlled trials (RCTs); low-quality evidence). The subgroup analysis indicated that VAT exhibited heightened effectiveness among adults below 65 years of age, with interventions lasting ≤12 weeks demonstrating superior efficacy. Additionally, sensitivity analysis underscored the robustness and reliability of the findings. VAT appears to alleviate depressive symptoms among adults. Existing research indicates that the effectiveness of VAT is influenced by factors, such as intervention population characteristics and intervention duration. However, to comprehensively probe the efficacy of VAT, future studies should strive for larger sample sizes, multicentre collaborations, and long-term follow-ups.

Therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanisms of Gastrodia elata polysaccharides on dextran sulfate sodium-induced inflammatory bowel disease in mice: Modulation of the gut microbiota and improvement of metabolic disorders.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal disease, and an imbalance in the gut microbiota is a critical factor in its development. Gastrodia elata (G. elata), an Orchidaceae plant, is recognized for its nutritional and medicinal value. Studies have shown that G. elata polysaccharides (GBP) have anti-inflammatory properties that may ameliorate IBD. However, the therapeutic effects of GBP on gut microbiota metabolism remain unknown. Therefore, we aimed to examine the therapeutic potential of G. elata extract and GBP in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced IBD mice. GBP demonstrated the best therapeutic effect by reducing IBD symptoms in mice to the greatest extent. Administering GBP resulted in significant increases in the relative abundances of bacteria with potential anti-inflammatory effects, such as Ligilactobacillus and Alloprevotella, and decreases in the levels of bacteria associated with proinflammatory responses, such as Bacteroides and Escherichia-Shigella. Furthermore, 36 significant differential metabolites between the model and GBP groups were identified in feces, which were mainly enriched in amino acid metabolism, including tryptophan and cysteine, vitamin B6 metabolism and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Consequently, investigating the metabolic regulation of the gut microbiota is a promising approach to evaluate the therapeutic effect of GBP on IBD.

Facile fabrication of a high-efficient and biocompatibility biocatalyst for bisphenol A removal.

In this study, we developed a smart microfluidic device to prepare biocatalyst HRP-pCBMA. HRP-pCBMA is composed of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and zwitterionic polymers poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA), and could be applied to biodegrade bisphenol A (BPA) efficiently. Compared to free HRP, HRP-pCBMA exhibited an obviously enhanced degrading capability for 1 mM BPA with 99.42% degradation efficiency within 20 min, even being superior to 20-fold amount of free HPR. Besides, HRP-pCBMA displayed high stability against the abrupt changes of environmental factors (temperature, pH and organic solvents), and HRP-pCBMA exhibited a relatively high BPA degradation rate of more than 90% even after 10 cycles. The Kcat and Vmax values of HRP-pCBMA were both 7-fold higher than that of free HRP, indicating significant improvement of the catalytic activity. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity assay indicated HRP-pCBMA has excellent biocompatibility. These results demonstrated that HRP-pCBMA possessed great potential in the bioremediation of BPA.

Effects of stochastic parametrization on extreme value statistics.

Extreme geophysical events are of crucial relevance to our daily life: they threaten human lives and cause property damage. To assess the risk and reduce losses, we need to model and probabilistically predict these events. Parametrizations are computational tools used in the Earth system models, which are aimed at reproducing the impact of unresolved scales on resolved scales. The performance of parametrizations has usually been examined on typical events rather than on extreme events. In this paper, we consider a modified version of the two-level Lorenz'96 model and investigate how two parametrizations of the fast degrees of freedom perform in terms of the representation of extreme events. One parametrization is constructed following Wilks [Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 131, 389-407 (2005)] and is constructed through an empirical fitting procedure; the other parametrization is constructed through the statistical mechanical approach proposed by Wouters and Lucarini [J. Stat. Mech. Theory Exp. 2012, P03003 (2012); J. Stat. Phys. 151, 850-860 (2013)]. The two strategies show different advantages and disadvantages. We discover that the agreement between parametrized models and true model is in general worse when looking at extremes rather than at the bulk of the statistics. The results suggest that stochastic parametrizations should be accurately and specifically tested against their performance on extreme events, as usual optimization procedures might neglect them.

A facile modification to improve the biocompatibility and adsorbability of activated carbon with zwitterionic hydrogel.

In this work, poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) hydrogel (pCBMA) was employed to modify the activated carbon (AC) for improving the biocompatibility and adsorption capacity of AC in biological environments. First, size-controlled hydrogel beads and hydrogel coated AC (pCBMA-AC) were fabricated with a homemade device, and the preparation conditions were optimized. Then the physical and biological properties of pCBMA-AC with different diameters were investigated. 2 mm pCBMA-AC dispalyed excellent stability with leakage rate only 0.16% after 72 h shaking incubation, as well as remarkable biocompatibility with merely 0.13% hemolysis rate and 3.41% cell death, while 14.72% and 70.11% for the bare AC, respectively, indicating the acceptable lower hemolysis and cytotoxicity according to ISO 10993. Furthermore, the adsorption capacities of pCBMA-AC were evaluated in biological environments with methylene blue as model molecules. The pCBMA-AC displayed 93.50% and 97.32% adsorption rates in BSA solution and FBS, respectively, but only 70.33% and 40.26% for the uncoated AC. These results indicated that pCBMA endows AC remarkable biocompatibility and adsorption capacity, which could extend the applications of AC in biological environments.

Poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate)-functionalized magnetic composite particles: A biofriendly support for lipase immobilization.

In this work, poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) as an extremely hydrophilic polymer was modified on superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (pCB-Fe3O4), which were employed to immobilize porcine pancreatic lipase. The properties of immobilized lipase were investigated in comparison with the free enzyme counterpart. Enzymatic stability, reusability, and activity of the immobilized lipase were found significantly superior to that of the free lipase. In particular, at an elevated temperature of 60°C, the immobilized lipase retained 50% of its initial activity after 150min, while the free enzyme displayed only one-third activity of the immobilized enzyme. Besides, the immobilized lipase retained >60% of its initial activity after 7 cycles. Furthermore, the value of Kcat/Km indicated the catalytic efficiency of the immobilized lipase was increased by 50% compared to that of the free one. The pCB-Fe3O4 particles displayed non-cytotoxicity, while the naked Fe3O4 particles caused only 50% viability of NIH 3T3 cells. These results showed that pCB-Fe3O4 composite particles had higher efficiency and improved stability for lipase immobilization, which are more promising for industrial scale up of biocatalytic systems with excellent biocompatibility.