AnnoView enables large-scale analysis, comparison, and visualization of microbial gene neighborhoods.

The analysis and comparison of gene neighborhoods is a powerful approach for exploring microbial genome structure, function, and evolution. Although numerous tools exist for genome visualization and comparison, genome exploration across large genomic databases or user-generated datasets remains a challenge. Here, we introduce AnnoView, a web server designed for interactive exploration of gene neighborhoods across the bacterial and archaeal tree of life. Our server offers users the ability to identify, compare, and visualize gene neighborhoods of interest from 30 238 bacterial genomes and 1672 archaeal genomes, through integration with the comprehensive Genome Taxonomy Database and AnnoTree databases. Identified gene neighborhoods can be visualized using pre-computed functional annotations from different sources such as KEGG, Pfam and TIGRFAM, or clustered based on similarity. Alternatively, users can upload and explore their own custom genomic datasets in GBK, GFF or CSV format, or use AnnoView as a genome browser for relatively small genomes (e.g. viruses and plasmids). Ultimately, we anticipate that AnnoView will catalyze biological discovery by enabling user-friendly search, comparison, and visualization of genomic data. AnnoView is available at http://annoview.uwaterloo.ca.

Predictors of return to work among postoperative patients with colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the status of return to work and identify predictors of return to work among Chinese postoperative patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Conducted in two tertiary hospitals in China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 210 postoperative patients with colorectal cancer were included in the study. MAIN MEASURES: Two hundred and ten postoperative patients with colorectal cancer who were working at the time of their diagnosis were assessed with the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Cancer Fatigue Scale, and Social Impact Scale. Descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression analysis, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis in SPSS 26.0. RESULTS: Around a third of participants (n = 74, 35.2%) returned to work after surgery. Multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that more family income (odds ratio (OR) = 5.769, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.666-19.972), time span after surgery 5-10 months, and ≥10 months (OR = 3.546, 95% CI = 1.084-11.598; OR = 3.077, 95% CI = 1.074-8.818), with a stoma (OR = 0.221, 95% CI = 0.075-0.653), psychological distress (OR = 0.912, 95% CI = 0.843-0.987), cancer fatigue (OR = 0.924, 95% CI = 0.872-0.978), and stigma (OR = 0.928, 95% CI = 0.886-0.971) were significantly associated with return to work. CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of patients with colorectal cancer did not return to work within 1 year after diagnosis. Those with shorter postoperative time, lower family income, stoma, greater psychological stress, higher level of cancer fatigue, and more stigma may have a higher risk in delayed work resumption.

Research on Monitoring Assistive Devices for Rehabilitation of Movement Disorders through Multi-Sensor Analysis Combined with Deep Learning.

This study aims to integrate a convolutional neural network (CNN) and the Random Forest Model into a rehabilitation assessment device to provide a comprehensive gait analysis in the evaluation of movement disorders to help physicians evaluate rehabilitation progress by distinguishing gait characteristics under different walking modes. Equipped with accelerometers and six-axis force sensors, the device monitors body symmetry and upper limb strength during rehabilitation. Data were collected from normal and abnormal walking groups. A knee joint limiter was applied to subjects to simulate different levels of movement disorders. Features were extracted from the collected data and analyzed using a CNN. The overall performance was scored with Random Forest Model weights. Significant differences in average acceleration values between the moderately abnormal (MA) and severely abnormal (SA) groups (without vehicle assistance) were observed (p < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were found between the MA with vehicle assistance (MA-V) and SA with vehicle assistance (SA-V) groups (p > 0.05). Force sensor data showed good concentration in the normal walking group and more scatter in the SA-V group. The CNN and Random Forest Model accurately recognized gait conditions, achieving average accuracies of 88.4% and 92.3%, respectively, proving that the method mentioned above provides more accurate gait evaluations for patients with movement disorders.

Association Between the Serum Iron and Acute Cognitive Impairment After Stroke: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Complications such as cognitive impairment are common in stroke victims. The goal of this study was to see if there was a link between blood iron levels and post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) within 2 weeks after stroke. METHODS: A total of 313 patients with ischemic stroke were recruited and separated into two groups: PSCI (n = 202) and non-PSCI (n = 111). The Mini-mental state examination scale was used to evaluate the cognitive status within 2 weeks after stroke (acute phase). The serum iron levels were divided into 4 layers: Q1 ≤ 11.7 µmol/L, Q2 11.8-15.1 µmol/, Q3 15.2-19.3 µmol/L, Q4 ≥ 19.4 µmol/L, respectively. The connection between serum iron and PSCI was then investigated further using binary logistic regression, which was adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: The difference in serum iron levels between the PSCI and non-PSCI group was initially conducted by the Mann-Whitney test, and a significant difference was found (14.5 (11.0-17.8) vs. 16.9 (13.7-21.8), p < .001), with no confounders being adjusted. After adjusting for confounding factors, the binary regression analysis showed that the Q4 layer showed the lowest risk of PSCI, with the Q1 layer being the reference. (odds ratio (OR) = 0.297, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.136-0.649, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: A decreased risk of early-onset PSCI was linked to high serum iron levels. Low serum iron levels were found to be a risk factor for acute cognitive impairment following stroke, which could help physicians identify and take intervention measures early to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment after stroke.

The HALP (hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet) score is associated with early-onset post-stroke cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: The HALP score (hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet) is a novel indicator that measures systemic inflammation and nutritional status. The goal of this study was to look into the relationship between the HALP score and post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) in people who had an acute ischemic stroke (AIS). METHODS: A total of 592 individuals with ischemic stroke were included in the research, and the PSCI (n = 382) and non-PSCI (n = 210) groups were determined using the Mini-Mental State Examination scale 2 weeks following the stroke. HALP score was computed by the formula: hemoglobin (g/L) × albumin (g/L) × lymphocytes (/L) / platelets (/L), and was split into three layers according to the tertiles. The connection between the HALP and cognitive results was investigated by binary logistic regression. RESULTS: The PSCI group's HALP score was much lower than the non-PSCI group's (p < 0.001). The HALP score was divided into three layers: T1 ≤ 34.0, T2 34.1-49.4, and T3 ≥ 49.5, respectively. In the binary regression analysis, taking the T3 layer as the reference, the T1 layer showed the highest risk of PSCI after adjusting for confounding factors (odds ratio (OR) = 1.965, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.237-3.122, p = 0.004), while there was no increased risk of PSCI in the T2 layer (OR = 1.538, 95%CI = 0.983-2.404, p = 0.059). CONCLUSION: Low HALP score at admission was found to be correlated with early-onset PSCI and may help clinicians in the early identification of high-risk patients.

Barriers and facilitators to pressure injury prevention in hospitals: A mixed methods systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically synthesize research evidence on barriers and facilitators to pressure injury prevention in hospital settings. METHODS: A systematic literature review of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research was undertaken using PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library. Studies that reported barriers or/and facilitators to pressure injury prevention in the acute care settings and published in English from 2008 to 2022 were included. Studies were excluded if they were conducted in residential care facilities and nursing homes, or other long-term community care settings. Two authors independently screened articles against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality appraisal was conducted by two authors by using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Reported results were mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework to identify the barriers and facilitators to pressure injury prevention. RESULTS: A total of 78 studies were included. There were 65 quantitative studies, 11 qualitative studies, and two mix-methods studies. The most salient Theoretical Domains Framework domains identified in this review were "Knowledge", "Skills", "Environmental Context and Resources", "Optimism", "Social/Professional Role and Identity", and "Social influences". CONCLUSION: The barriers and facilitators to pressure injury prevention in hospital settings identified in this systematic review were diverse, and included issues at both individual and organizational level. Healthcare organizations can address the barriers and facilitators from the influential Theoretical Domains Framework domains. Future research is required to investigate the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions that specifically target these barriers and facilitators to pressure injury prevention.

Psychometric properties of the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS) among Chinese perinatal women: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present work was to cross-culturally adapt the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS) and use a descriptive cross-sectional design to evaluate its psychometric properties in Chinese perinatal women. METHODS: Brislin's translation theory was applied to translate the PoDLiS, with subsequent cultural adaptation. The reliability and validity of the PoDLiS were determined using a questionnaire in 635 Chinese perinatal women. RESULTS: Good internal consistency was found (omega coefficient, 0.894) for the Chinese version of the Postpartum Depression Literacy Scale (PoDLiS-C), with omega coefficients of the six dimensions of 0.865, 0.870, 0.838, 0.777, 0.837 and 0.794, and a test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.874. The item-level content validity index (CVI) ranged from 0.8 to 1 while the scale-level CVI was 0.968. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) determined satisfactory construct validity of the PoDLiS-C, with the six-factor model explaining 60.76% of the total variance, demonstrating good model fit (likelihood ratio χ2/df, 1.003; goodness-of-fit index, 0.916; adjusted goodness-of-fit index, 0.901; comparative fit index, 0.999; incremental fit index, 0.999; root mean square error of approximation, 0.003; and standardized root mean square error of approximation, 0.0478). CONCLUSIONS: The PoDLiS-C has adequate psychometric properties. This tool could be used to assess the postpartum depression literacy of perinatal women in Chinese-speaking populations.

Pressure injury prevalence and risk factors in Chinese adult intensive care units: A multi-centre prospective point prevalence study.

Despite increasing preventive efforts, pressure injury still occurs in intensive care patients. This study was aimed to describe pressure injury prevalence, risk factors, and prevention practices in adult intensive care patients. This was a multi-centre, one-day, prospective point prevalence study in which a total of 198 intensive care units from 21 provinces in China participated. Overall and ICU-acquired prevalence in intensive care patients were 12.26% and 4.31%, respectively. Consistent with earlier reports, almost half of the ICU-acquired pressure injuries were at stage I, one-fourth were at stage 2, and the most common body sites for pressure injuries were sacral and heel region. Risk factors identified were consistent with prior studies. Repositioning was the most commonly used pressure injury prevention strategy, followed by alternating pressure mattresses/overlays, floating heels, and air-filled mattresses/overlays. These reflect a good level of adherence to recommended international pressure injury prevention clinical practice guidelines. The results provide a baseline reference for overall and ICU-acquired prevalence among adult intensive care patients in China. Future research on what contributed to the lower pressure injury incidence in China needs to be conducted to inform healthcare organisations on their future preventive strategies for pressure injury prevention.

Comparative HPLC-MS/MS-based pharmacokinetic studies of multiple diterpenoid alkaloids following the administration of Zhenwu Tang and Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata extracts to rats.

Abstracts Zhenwu Tang (ZWT) is a traditional Chinese medicine that is primarily composed of Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata (FZ) and diterpenoid alkaloids are believed to be the pharmacologically active compounds of ZWT. In this study, the pharmacokinetic profiles of hypaconitine, mesaconitine, aconitine, benzoylmesaconitine, benzoylaconitine, and benzoylhypacoitine were assessed in rats following intragastric ZWT administration. Furthermore, differences in the pharmacokinetic profiles of these six alkaloids were assessed as a function of rat sex and the administration of ZWT or FZ extracts to these animals. Plasma levels of these alkaloids were quantified via HPLC-MS/MS. Significant differences in key pharmacokinetic parameters were observed when comparing rats administered FZ or ZWT. Relative to FZ extract treatment, ZWT administration was associated with Cmax and AUC0-∞ values of benzoylmesaconitine that were about 3.5 and 5.5 times higher. Considerable variations in hypaconitine pharmacokinetic parameters were also revealed between female and male rats. The Cmax and AUC0-∞ of hypaconitine were about 2.5- and 2.7-fold elevated in female rats in comparison with male rats. These results suggested that the other compounds within ZWT can enhance the absorption of benzoylmesaconitine, while hypaconitine exhibits higher bioavailability in female rats, as compared with male rats.

Extraction of triterpenoid compounds from Ganoderma Lucidum spore powder through a dual-mode sonication process.

Development of drug products from natural sources enable advantageous treatment and therapy options. Bioactive compounds in Ganoderma lucidum spore powder (GLSP) are known for vast antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Herein, we studied the use of dual-probe ultrasound to extract triterpenoids from GLSP and further investigated the bioactivity of resulting products. FTIR results confirm the presence of key peaks although dual-probe ultrasound varied extraction efficacy. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize extraction conditions (55:28 for solvent to solid ratio, 10.38 s of ultrasound time and 94% v/v of ethanol concentration). HPLC-Q-TOF-MS confirmed the presence of nine different compounds and in vitro tests confirm good biocompatibility. Extracts are shown to inhibit DPPH radicals, reaching a maximum (61.09 ± 1.38%) at triterpenoid concentrations of 600 µg/mL. Dual-mode assisted extraction provides an enhanced approach for active embedded fiber production on a scale favorable to industry when using optimized process parameters. Furthermore, triterpenoid extracts show antibacterial properties on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with potential in antibacterial and anticancer applications.

Production of triterpenoid compounds from Ganoderma lucidum spore powder using ultrasound-assisted extraction.

When ingested as a dietary supplement, Ganoderma lucidum spore powders (GLSP) provide various health benefits such as enhanced immunity, liver protection and anti-cancer effects. In this study, triterpenoid extraction from GLSP was achieved using an ultrasound-assisted process which was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was also compared to the most conventional chemical extraction method. For UAE, optimum extraction conditions were found to be ethanol concentration = 95% v/v; solvent to solid ratio = 50:1 mL/g; ultrasound time = 5.4 min; ultrasound power = 564.7 w, and ultrasound probe distance = 8.2 cm. At optimal UAE conditions, no significant differences were found between experimental (0.97 ± 0.04 %) and predicted values (99%); which indicates appreciable correlation at the 97% confidence interval. The findings show the application of Box-Behnken design (BBD) to predict and optimize triterpenoid yield for UAE of triterpenoid from GLSP. Furthermore, glucose consumption was 2.68 times that of control samples when tested with insulin-resistant HepG2 cell, showing potential use in type 2 diabetes. In addition, triterpenoid extracts show good biocompatibility and inhibition of antioxidant activity.

Mechanistic investigation of the electricity and gallic acid synergistically accelerated Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle for the degradation of carbamazepine.

This study investigated the application of a natural plant polyphenol, gallic acid (GA) to form complex with iron to promote the redox cycle of Fe(III)/Fe(II) under neutral initial pH conditions in the electrochemical (EC) system for activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to efficiently degrade carbamazepine (CBZ). Results demonstrated that the synergistic effects of GA and EC significantly improved the removal efficiency, and the EC/GA/Fe(III)/PMS system effectively removed 100% of CBZ within a wide initial pH range of 3.0-7.0. The optimum stoichiometric ratio of GA to Fe(III) was found as 2:1. Investigations including quenching experiment, chemical probe analysis, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis were conducted to identify the primary reaction radicals as •OH, SO4•-, along with the 1O2 and Fe(IV). In the EC/GA/Fe(III)/PMS system, the synergistic effect of GA and electrochemistry led to a remarkable enhancement in the generation of •OH. Furthermore, the complexation reduction mechanism of GA and Fe(III) was proposed based on experimental and instrumental analyses, which demonstrated that the semi-quinone products of GA were the main substances promoting the Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle. Mass spectrometry results showed that CBZ generated 27 byproducts during degradation, with formic acid as the main product of GA. The degradation efficiency of the EC/GA/Fe(III)/PMS system remained stable and excellent, exhibiting remarkable performance in the presence of various inorganic anions, including Cl- and NO3-, as well as naturally occurring organic compounds such as fulvic acid (FA). Overall results indicated that the EC/GA/Fe(III)/PMS system can be applied to effectively treat practical wastewater treatment without requirement of pH adjustment.

Unveiling the molecular complexity of proliferative diabetic retinopathy through scRNA-seq, AlphaFold 2, and machine learning.

Background: Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), a major cause of blindness, is characterized by complex pathogenesis. This study integrates single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), machine learning, and AlphaFold 2 methods to explore the molecular level of PDR. Methods: We analyzed scRNA-seq data from PDR patients and healthy controls to identify distinct cellular subtypes and gene expression patterns. NMF was used to define specific transcriptional programs in PDR. The oxidative stress-related genes (ORGs) identified within Meta-Program 1 were utilized to construct a predictive model using twelve machine learning algorithms. Furthermore, we employed AlphaFold 2 for the prediction of protein structures, complementing this with molecular docking to validate the structural foundation of potential therapeutic targets. We also analyzed protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and the interplay among key ORGs. Results: Our scRNA-seq analysis revealed five major cell types and 14 subcell types in PDR patients, with significant differences in gene expression compared to those in controls. We identified three key meta-programs underscoring the role of microglia in the pathogenesis of PDR. Three critical ORGs (ALKBH1, PSIP1, and ATP13A2) were identified, with the best-performing predictive model demonstrating high accuracy (AUC of 0.989 in the training cohort and 0.833 in the validation cohort). Moreover, AlphaFold 2 predictions combined with molecular docking revealed that resveratrol has a strong affinity for ALKBH1, indicating its potential as a targeted therapeutic agent. PPI network analysis, revealed a complex network of interactions among the hub ORGs and other genes, suggesting a collective role in PDR pathogenesis. Conclusion: This study provides insights into the cellular and molecular aspects of PDR, identifying potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets using advanced technological approaches.

Barriers and facilitators of adherence to evidence-based pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline among intensive care nurses: A cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: To explore intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' perceptions of their adherence to pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline and identify the perceived barriers and facilitators that influence evidence-based pressure injury prevention practices in Chinese tertiary hospitals. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY/DESIGN: This was a multi-site, quantitative, cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire with three sections: participant demographic information, adherence to pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline, and barriers to and facilitators of pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline implementation. SETTING: Thirty-three adult ICUs in 16 tertiary general hospitals in 5 major cities in Liaoning Province, China. RESULTS: In total, 473 nurses responded to the survey. The mean score for adherence to pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline was 159.06 ± 20.65, with 65.3 % reporting good adherence. Multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated that smaller ICU size (ß = -0.114, p = 0.012) and having participated in training on pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline (ß = 0.149, p = 0.001) were statistically significantly associated with better adherence. ICU nurses identified the low priority given to pressure injury prevention as the top barrier. The top three facilitators were awareness of evidence-based practice, the current documentation format for pressure injury risk/nursing interventions, and leadership support. CONCLUSION: ICU nurses' adherence to pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline was satisfactory, and they reported low-to-moderate barriers and moderate facilitators. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Participating in training on pressure injury prevention clinical practice guideline was a predictor of ICU nurses' adherence. Therefore, it is highly recommended that healthcare organisations consider providing training to nurses and address the barriers identified to improve nurses' adherence to evidence-based pressure injury prevention guidelines.

Re-expression of microRNA-150 induces EBV-positive Burkitt lymphoma differentiation by modulating c-Myb in vitro.

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is a highly aggressive B-cell lymphoma that includes two forms of BL differing in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection status, EBV-positive and EBV-negative. Although many efforts, such as high-intensity, short-duration combination chemotherapy, have been devoted to improving therapy for this rapidly proliferating neoplasm, there are still significant treatment-associated toxicities. Therefore, there remains a need for novel effective therapeutic strategies. MicroRNAs play a role in "fine tuning" the physiological and pathological differentiation process, by which cells can rapidly regulate dynamic events such as cell-lineage decisions and morphogenesis. This unique miRNA feature shifts the traditional one drug target paradigm to a novel one drug multiple targets paradigm. Here, we found that BL cell lines showed an extremely low expression of microRNA-150 (miR-150), and then restored miR-150 expression at physiologic levels in BL cell lines Daudi, Raji, BJAB, and Ramos. The results showed that re-expression of miR-150 reduced proliferation of Daudi and Raji cells. Furthermore, Daudi and Raji, both of which are of EBV-positive germinal center B-cell origin, transduced with miR-150 can be rescued to differentiate toward B-cell terminal stage. However, no significant changes were observed in BJAB or Ramos cells, which are of EBV-negative germinal center B-cell origin. Of note, re-expression of miR-150 also resulted in decreasing c-Myb protein levels. Additionally, c-Myb knockdown in Daudi and Raji cell lines recapitulated the partial characteristics similar to that caused by re-expression of miR-150. Taken together, our findings show that miR-150 can induce EBV-positive BL differentiation by targeting c-Myb.

Direct Measurement of Negative Capacitance in Ferroelectric/Semiconductor Heterostructures.

Negative capacitance (NC) is now an attractive research topic owing to its potential applications. For better integration, investigation about the phenomenon and mechanism of NC in ferroelectric materials on semiconductor substrates is important. In this work, ferroelectric BaTiO3 (BTO) films are deposited on the low-resistance Si(100) substrates to constitute Pt/BTO/p-Si/Pt samples with the metal/ferroelectric/semiconductor/metal (MFSM) structure, on which NC are directly measured at low frequencies with a large DC bias. Because of the unique asymmetric interface, the NC value is tunable by the polarity and magnitude of the DC bias. Analysis based on the impedance and ferroelectric characteristics reveals that, in addition to the displacement current related to the electric polarization, there is also relaxation current caused by interface charge injection and oxygen vacancy migration. This work provides another idea for studying miniaturized and low-energy devices utilizing NC, which is of great significance for the development of silicon-based ferroelectric devices.

Chemical composition and biological evaluation of the essential oil of the flowering aerial parts of Aegopodium alpestre Ledeb.

Aegopodium alpestre Ledeb (A. alpestre) is a plant known for its fragrant smell and has been traditionally used to treat influenza. However, despite its widespread use, there is no research on its flowering aerial parts. This study aims to contribute to the understanding the flowering aerial parts by investigating its volatile oil. The essential oil was extracted through hydrodistillation and analysed using GC-MS. The analysis identified 54 compounds, which accounted for 95.16% of the oil composition. The major components are germacrene D (31.68%), ß-caryophyllene (16.07%), and (E)-ß-farnesene (7.99%). To evaluate the antioxidant activity of volatile oil, six antioxidant experiments were conducted. The results indicated that volatile oil exhibited significant 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt and hydroxyl radical scavenging abilities. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of volatile oil was assessed against four common pathogenic bacteria. The findings demonstrated that volatile oil displayed potent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Aerogenic bacterium.

A high propensity for excessive daytime sleepiness independent of lifestyle is associated with cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults.

Objective: The relationship between excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and cognitive performance of older adults remains unclear, especially when a healthy lifestyle is considered. The study aimed to explore the association between EDS in passive and active situations and general cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Two hundred and seventy-one older adults aged 60 and above were recruited from the community cohort in Shangrao. All study participants were free of depression and dementia. The Chinese version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (CESS) was used to evaluate EDS. Using the item scores of CESS, the presence of EDS among all study participants were grouped as non-EDS, passive situation-related EDS (PSR-EDS), active situation-related EDS (ASR-EDS), and high sleep propensity (HSP). The Hong Kong Brief Cognitive Test (HKBC) was used to assess cognitive function. Chinese healthy lifestyle metrics were scored based on AHA Life Simple-7. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between the presence of EDS and cognitive function. Results: The PSR-EDS (n = 29, 20.8 ± 5.3) and the HSP groups (n = 21, 19.8 ± 4.8) scored lower with HKBC than in the non-EDS group (n = 213, 23.2 ± 4.9). The subdomain performance of language in the HSP group was poorer than in the non-EDS group (ps < 0.05). Relative to non-EDS, HSP (OR = 3.848, 95% CI = 1.398-10.591) was associated with an increased risk of poor cognitive performance after adjusting age, sex, education, and healthy lifestyle metrics. Conclusion: High propensity for excessive daytime sleepiness, irrespective of lifestyle, is associated with poorer cognitive performance among community-dwelling older adults. The findings may provide empirical evidence to support sleepiness intervention for reducing the risk of cognitive decline.

Schisandrin protects against ulcerative colitis by inhibiting the SGK1/NLRP3 signaling pathway and reshaping gut microbiota in mice.

BACKGROUND: According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the fruit of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill. (SC) is an important traditional Chinese medicine that can be used to treat diarrhea. Despite the increasing research on the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant aspects of SC, the studies on the anti-ulcerative colitis of Schisandrin (SCH), the main constituent of SC, are relatively few. METHODS: The mice used in the study were randomly distributed into 6 groups: control, model, 5-ASA, and SCH (20, 40, 80 mg/kg/d). The mice in the model group were administered 3% (w/v) dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) through drinking water for 7 days, and the various parameters of disease activity index (DAI) such as body weight loss, stool consistency, and gross blood were measured. ELISA was used to detect inflammatory factors, and bioinformatics combined with transcriptome analysis was done to screen and verify relevant targets. 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the composition of the gut microbiota(GM), while mass spectrometry was done to analyze the changes in the content of bile acids (BAs) in the intestine. RESULTS: Mice treated with SCH experienced significant weight gain, effectively alleviating the severity of colitis, and decreasing the levels of inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-18, IL-6, and other related proteins (NLRP3, Caspase-1, SGK1) in UC mice. Furthermore, the analysis of GM and BAs in mice revealed that SCH increased the relative abundance of Lactobacilli spp, reduced the relative abundance of Bacteroides, and promoted the conversion of primary BAs to secondary BAs. These effects contributed to a significant improvement in the DSS-induced GM imbalance and the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. CONCLUSION: It seems that there is a close relationship between the SCH mechanism and the regulation of SGK1/NLRP3 pathway and the restoration of GM balance. Therefore, it can be concluded that SCH could be a potential drug for the treatment of UC.

Hybridization chain reaction cascaded amplification platform for sensitive detection of pathogen.

Rapid, sensitive, and accurate identification of pathogens is vital for preventing and controlling fish disease, reducing economic losses in aquaculture, and interrupting the spread of food-borne diseases in human populations. Herein, we proposed a hybridization chain reaction (HCR) cascaded dual-signal amplification platform for the ultrasensitive and specific detection of pathogenic microorganisms. A couple of specific primers for target bacterial 16S rRNAs were used to obtain amplified target single-stranded DNAs (AT-ssDNA). Then, AT-ssDNA initiated HCR amplification along with the opening of fluorophore (FAM) and a quencher (BHQ1) labeled hairpin reporter probe (H1), and the FAM fluorescence signal recovered. The proposed strategy could achieve a detection limit down to 0.31 CFU/mL for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), 0.49 CFU/mL for Escherichia coli (E. coli) in buffer, and a linear range from 1 to 1 × 106 CFU/mL for S. aureus, 1 to 1 × 107 CFU/mL for E. coli. Furthermore, this platform enabled sensitive and precise detection of pathogenic microorganisms in complex samples such as fish blood and different organ tissues (large intestine, gallbladder, heart, liver, ren, gill, skin), which shows great potential in disease prevention and control in aquatic products.