Assessment of optimal combinations of therapeutic probiotics for depression, anxiety, and stress.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating data show that probiotics may be beneficial for reducing depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. However, the best combinations and species of probiotics have not been identified. The objective of our study was to assess the most effective combinations and components of different probiotics through network meta-analysis. METHOD: A systematic search of four databases, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Embase, was conducted from inception to 11 January 2024. The GRADE framework was used to assess the quality of evidence contributing to each network estimate. RESULTS: We deemed 45 trials eligible, these included 4053 participants and 10 types of interventions. The quality of evidence was rated as high or moderate. The NMA revealed that Bifidobacterium exhibited a greater probability of being the optimal probiotic species for improving anxiety symptoms (SMD = -0.80; 95% CI -1.49 to -0.11), followed by Lactobacillus (SMD = -0.49; 95% CI -0.85 to -0.12). In addition, for multiple strains, compared with the other interventions, Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium (SMD = -0.41; 95% CI -0.73 to -0.10) had a positive effect on depression. CONCLUSION: The NMA revealed that Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium had prominent efficacy in the treatment of individuals with anxiety, depression, and combination of Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium had a similar effect. With few direct comparisons available between probiotic species, this NMA may be instrumental in shaping the guidelines for probiotic treatment of psychological disorders.

Dynamical Slowing-Down in an Ultrafast Photoinduced Phase Transition.

Complex systems, which consist of a large number of interacting constituents, often exhibit universal behavior near a phase transition. A slowdown of certain dynamical observables is one such recurring feature found in a vast array of contexts. This phenomenon, known as critical slowing-down, is well studied mostly in thermodynamic phase transitions. However, it is less understood in highly nonequilibrium settings, where the time it takes to traverse the phase boundary becomes comparable to the timescale of dynamical fluctuations. Using transient optical spectroscopy and femtosecond electron diffraction, we studied a photoinduced transition of a model charge-density-wave (CDW) compound LaTe_{3}. We observed that it takes the longest time to suppress the order parameter at the threshold photoexcitation density, where the CDW transiently vanishes. This finding can be captured by generalizing the time-dependent Landau theory to a system far from equilibrium. The experimental observation and theoretical understanding of dynamical slowing-down may offer insight into other general principles behind nonequilibrium phase transitions in many-body systems.

Internal Nanostructure Diagnosis with Hyperbolic Phonon Polaritons in Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

Imaging materials and inner structures with resolution below the diffraction limit has become of fundamental importance in recent years for a wide variety of applications. We report subdiffractive internal structure diagnosis of hexagonal boron nitride by exciting and imaging hyperbolic phonon polaritons. On the basis of their unique propagation properties, we are able to accurately locate defects in the crystal interior with nanometer resolution. The precise location, size, and geometry of the concealed defects are reconstructed by analyzing the polariton wavelength, reflection coefficient, and their dispersion. We have also studied the evolution of polariton reflection, transmission, and scattering as a function of defect size and photon frequency. The nondestructive high-precision polaritonic structure diagnosis technique introduced here can be also applied to other hyperbolic or waveguide systems and may be deployed in the next-generation biomedical imaging, sensing, and fine structure analysis.

Efficiency of Launching Highly Confined Polaritons by Infrared Light Incident on a Hyperbolic Material.

We investigated phonon-polaritons in hexagonal boron nitride-a naturally hyperbolic van der Waals material-by means of the scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy. Real-space nanoimages we have obtained detail how the polaritons are launched when the light incident on a thin hexagonal boron nitride slab is scattered by various intrinsic and extrinsic inhomogeneities, including sample edges, metallic nanodisks deposited on its top surface, random defects, and surface impurities. The scanned tip of the near-field microscope is itself a polariton launcher whose efficiency proves to be superior to all the other types of polariton launchers we studied. Our work may inform future development of polaritonic nanodevices as well as fundamental studies of collective modes in van der Waals materials.

Independent self-construal mediates the association between CYP19A1 gene variant and subjective well-being.

Testosterone and estrogen are involved in self-related behavioral dispositions and experiences of subjective well-being. In this study, we investigated to what extent the aromatase (CYP19A1) gene, which encodes an enzyme in converting testosterone into estrogen, contributes to subjective well-being and in another self-related disposition: independent and interdependent self-construal. In study 1, a meta-analysis showed that the GG genotype of CYP19A1 (a G/A substitution at Val80, rs700518) was associated with higher testosterone and lower estradiol. In study 2, an empirical study of individuals with the GG (n=115), AG (n=286) and AA (n=193) genotypes indicated that individuals with the GG genotype exhibited higher independent self-construal and higher subjective well-being. The association between the GG genotype of CYP19A1 Val80 and subjective well-being was mediated by the independent self-construal. Our findings reinforce the idea that personality traits such as independent self-construal explain the link between genetic variant and subjective well-being.

Electronic transport of encapsulated graphene and WSe2 devices fabricated by pick-up of prepatterned hBN.

We report high quality graphene and WSe2 devices encapsulated between two hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) flakes using a pick-up method with etched hBN flakes. Picking up prepatterned hBN flakes to be used as a gate dielectric or mask for other 2D materials opens new possibilities for the design and fabrication of 2D heterostructures. In this Letter, we demonstrate this technique in two ways: first, a dual-gated graphene device that is encapsulated between an hBN substrate and prepatterned hBN strips. The conductance of the graphene device shows pronounced Fabry-Pérot oscillations as a function of carrier density, which implies strong quantum confinement and ballistic transport in the locally gated region. Second, we describe a WSe2 device encapsulated in hBN with the top hBN patterned as a mask for the channel of a Hall bar. Ionic liquid selectively tunes the carrier density of the contact region of the device, while the hBN mask allows independent tunability of the contact region for low contact resistance. Hall mobility larger than 600 cm(2)/(V·s) for few-layer p-type WSe2 at 220 K is measured, the highest mobility of a thin WSe2 device reported to date. The observations of ballistic transport in graphene and high mobility in WSe2 confirm pick-up of prepatterned hBN as a versatile technique to fabricate ultraclean devices with high quality contact.

Intrinsic electronic transport properties of high-quality monolayer and bilayer MoS2.

We report electronic transport measurements of devices based on monolayers and bilayers of the transition-metal dichalcogenide MoS2. Through a combination of in situ vacuum annealing and electrostatic gating we obtained ohmic contact to the MoS2 down to 4 K at high carrier densities. At lower carrier densities, low-temperature four probe transport measurements show a metal-insulator transition in both monolayer and bilayer samples. In the metallic regime, the high-temperature behavior of the mobility showed strong temperature dependence consistent with phonon-dominated transport. At low temperature, intrinsic field-effect mobilities approaching 1000 cm(2)/(V·s) were observed for both monolayer and bilayer devices. Mobilities extracted from Hall effect measurements were several times lower and showed a strong dependence on density, likely caused by screening of charged impurity scattering at higher densities.

Optimal probiotic combinations for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Probiotic administration is a promising therapy for improving conditions in NAFLD patients. This network meta-analysis aimed to compare and estimate the relative effects of probiotic interventions and identify the optimal probiotic species for the treatment of NAFLD (Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) patients. METHODS: The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to 29 January 2024 to identify RCTs that were published in English. The GRADE framework was used to assess the quality of evidence contributing to each network estimate. RESULTS: A total of 35 RCTs involving 2212 NAFLD patients were included in the analysis. For primary outcomes, Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium + Streptococcus exhibited the highest probability of being the finest probiotic combination in terms of enhancing acceptability as well as reducing AST (SMD: -1.95 95% CI: -2.90, -0.99), ALT (SMD = -1.67, 95% CI: -2.48, -0.85), and GGT levels (SMD = -2.17, 95% CI: -3.27, -1.06). In terms of the secondary outcomes, Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium + Streptococcus was also the best probiotic combination for reducing BMI (SMD = -0.45, 95% CI: -0.86, -0.04), LDL levels (SMD = -0.45, 95% CI: -0.87, -0.02), TC levels (SMD = -1.09, 95% CI: -1.89, -0.29), and TNF-α levels (SMD = -1.73, 95% CI: -2.72, -0.74). CONCLUSION: This network meta-analysis revealed that Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium + Streptococcus may be the most effective probiotic combination for the treatment of liver enzymes, lipid profiles, and inflammation factors. These findings can be used to guide the development of a probiotics-based treatment guideline for NAFLD since there are few direct comparisons between different therapies.

[Application value of multiple phase subtraction imaging of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in common breast tumor].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application value of multiple phase subtraction imaging of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in common breast tumor. METHODS: All radiographic and MRI data of 72 patients with histological proved common breast tumor were analyzed retrospectively. Prior to an injection of gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (GD-DTPA), 3D mask scans were performed. Then 9 consecutive phases of imaging were acquired. After the drawing of time-signal intensity curve, he first and second phases were selected to perform subtraction with the mask, rebuild 3D maximum intensity projection and analyze the application value of subtracted and 3D maximum intensity projection (MIP) reformation images. Chi-square test was used for the analyses of benign and malignant breast tumors. RESULTS: There were 83 lesions in 72 patients. Among 18 cases of fibro adenoma, 23 lesions had no tumor vessel. For the detecting ratio of lesions, the first and second phase subtraction imaging had no statistics difference. Only one intraductal papilloma with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) had tumor vessel in 4 intraductal papilloma patients. Among 5 DCIS cases, one of them had small curved tumor vessel. And 51 lesions were found in 45 infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) cases. Tumor vessels could be seen in all IDC cases. And 37 cases had multiple tumor vessels while 8 cases had single tumor vessel. When the first phase was used for subtraction, 36 lesions were found. On the other hand, 51 lesions were found in the second phase subtraction. There were significant differences between them. CONCLUSION: No significant differences exist in benign breast tumor on differential phase subtraction images of DCE-MRI, but there are significant differences in malignant breast tumor. It is very important to detect the lesions and show the tumor vessels by rebuilding multiple phase subtraction.

Contamination status of paralytic shellfish toxins in shellfish from Southeastern China in 2017-2021.

Harmful algal blooms is a widespread problem in aquatic ecosystems, in particular dinoflagellates that produce PSTs which are harmful to animal and human health. To explore the contamination status of PSTs in shellfish in the Southeastern China, a total of 2355 shellfish samples were analyzed by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) to study the toxin profiles of the 10 PSTs collected from the southeast coast of China from 2017 to 2021. From 2355 shellfish samples, 257 were detected (10.91%), with the highest value in samples of Perna viridis. Among the six source areas in China, the samples from Fujian recorded the highest detected rate (15.28%). PSTs were found in Fuzhou, Ningde, Quanzhou, Putian, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen, with Quanzhou and Fuzhou having the highest and lowest detection rates of 15.28% and 4.23%, respectively. Saxitoxin (STX), neosaxitoxin (neoSTX), gonyautoxin (GTX1, GTX2, GTX3, GTX4), N-sulfocarbamoyl toxin (GTX5), and decarbamoyl toxin (dcSTX, dcGTX2, dcGTX3) were detected, and GTX5 and dcGTX2 were dominant. In addition, the samples containing PSTs were mostly concentrated in May to August. The study confirms the risks of PSTs to shellfish consumers in the region. It will offer a great foundation for future monitoring of marine toxins and protecting the health of seafood consumers in China. This is the first detailed evaluation of PSTs occurrences and their profiles in shellfish from the Southeastern China over a period of multiple years. HIGHLIGHTS: 2355 mussels from China were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS for PSTs in 2017-2021. The predominant PSTs were GTX5, neoSTX and dcGTX2. Arca granosa and Crassostyea gigas exhibited higher levels than other shellfish. Shellfish containing PSTs were mostly concentrated in May to August. Maximum detected level in shellfish was 2137.10 ug STXeq/kg.

Effects of flaxseed powder in improving non-alcoholic fatty liver by regulating gut microbiota-bile acids metabolic pathway through FXR/TGR5 mediating.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is gradually becoming one of the most common and health-endangering diseases. Flaxseed powder (FLA) is rich in α-linolenic acid, dietary fiber, lignans, and other active ingredients, which have lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects. Here, we investigated whether the FLA improves host metabolism by gut bacteria modulation and further bile acid modulation in mice fed a high-fat diet. At the end of the experiment, we found that FLA can significantly reduce the body weight, body fat content, and serum TG, LDL-C, and TNF-α levels of mice, and improve liver steatosis. FLA intervention has a significant effect on preventing and regulating the gut flora disturbance caused by HFD. FLA intervention affects bile acid metabolism in the intestine and causes significant changes in functional bile acids, which can play a lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory role by activating the intestinal Fxr- Fgfr4-Cyp7a1 and Tgr5-Tlr4-Tnfα pathways.

m6 A mRNA methylation: Biological features, mechanisms, and therapeutic potentials in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

As the most common internal post-transcriptional RNA modification in eukaryotic cells, N6-methyladenosine (m6 A) performs a dynamic and reversible role in a variety of biological processes mediated by methyltransferases (writers), demethylases (erasers), and m6 A binding proteins (readers). M6 A methylation enables transcriptome conversion in different signals that regulate various physiological activities and organ development. Over the past few years, emerging studies have identified that mRNA m6 A regulators defect in ß-cell leads to abnormal regulation of the target mRNAs, thereby resulting in ß-cell dysfunction and loss of ß-cell identity and mass, which are strongly associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) pathogenesis. Also, mRNA m6 A modification has been implicated with insulin resistance in muscles, fat, and liver cells/tissues. In this review, we elaborate on the biological features of m6 A methylation; provide a comprehensive overview of the underlying mechanisms that how it controls ß-cell function, identity, and mass as well as insulin resistance; highlight its connections to glucose metabolism and lipid metabolism linking to T2DM; and further discuss its role in diabetes complications and its therapeutic potentials for T2DM diagnosis and treatment.

Investigation of Negative Bias Temperature Instability Effect in Nano PDSOI PMOSFET.

The Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) effect of partially depleted silicon-on-insulator (PDSOI) PMOSFET based on 130 nm is investigated. First, the effect of NBTI on the IV characteristics and parameter degradation of T-Gate PDSOI PMOSFET was investigated by accelerated stress tests. The results show that NBTI leads to a threshold voltage negative shift, saturate drain current reduction and transconductance degradation of the PMOSFET. Next, the relationship between the threshold voltage shift and stress time, gate bias and temperature, and the channel length is investigated, and the NBTI lifetime prediction model is established. The results show that the NBTI lifetime of a 130 nm T-Gate PDSOI PMOSFET is approximately 18.7 years under the stress of VG = -1.2 V and T = 125 °C. Finally, the effect of the floating-body effect on NBTI of PDSOI PMOSFET is investigated. It is found that the NBTI degradation of T-Gate SOI devices is greater than that of the floating-body SOI devices, which indicates that the floating-body effect suppresses the NBTI degradation of SOI devices.

Impact of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia during daily care: A meta-analysis.

To assess the effect of aerobic exercise (AZ) on global cognition and different cognition domains in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) in daily care. Selection of the literature was done through the Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the effect of AZ on cognition of SZ patients. All assessment indicators were subjected to sensitivity analysis to test the stability of the result. Subgroup analysis was conducted on study type, follow-up time, supervisor and control method. Totally, 23 articles enrolling 1014 participants were included. The global cognition of SZ patients was improved after 6 months of follow-up. AE guided by an occupational therapist improved the global cognition of SZ patients. AE was associated with improved verbal learning and memory, reasoning and problem solving (SMD: 0.375, 95%CI: 0.009 to 0.741, P = 0.045). However, effects on speed of processing, attention/vigilance, work memory, visual learning and memory, social cognition were not significant. The effect of AE training on global cognition may be maintained over the long-term, and be domain specific. Patients with SZ can do AE guided by professional occupational therapist in their daily lives settings.

Impact of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia during daily nursing: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of aerobic exercise (AE) on cognition function in people with schizophrenia (SZ) during daily nursing. METHODS: The literature search will be conducted via PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Weighted mean difference (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) will be adopted to calculate the association between AE and cognitive function in patients with SZ. Publication bias will be performed by Begg test. When there is publication bias, "cut-and-fill method" will be adopted to adjust publication bias. Sensitivity analysis will be used to test the stability of the result. When the heterogeneity is large (I2 ≥ 50%), meta regression will be used to explore the source of inter-study heterogeneity. When the heterogeneity is large (I2 ≥ 50%) and the results are statistically significant (P < .05), age, sex, duration of disease, duration of intervention, amount of exercise per week, improvement of cardiopulmonary health, and other factors will be sub-analyzed. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis will evaluate the impact of aerobic exercise on cognitive function in patients with SZ during daily nursing on the basis of existing evidence. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: 10.17605/OSF.IO/C8ABX.

Deep-Learning-Enabled Fast Optical Identification and Characterization of 2D Materials.

Advanced microscopy and/or spectroscopy tools play indispensable roles in nanoscience and nanotechnology research, as they provide rich information about material processes and properties. However, the interpretation of imaging data heavily relies on the "intuition" of experienced researchers. As a result, many of the deep graphical features obtained through these tools are often unused because of difficulties in processing the data and finding the correlations. Such challenges can be well addressed by deep learning. In this work, the optical characterization of 2D materials is used as a case study, and a neural-network-based algorithm is demonstrated for the material and thickness identification of 2D materials with high prediction accuracy and real-time processing capability. Further analysis shows that the trained network can extract deep graphical features such as contrast, color, edges, shapes, flake sizes, and their distributions, based on which an ensemble approach is developed to predict the most relevant physical properties of 2D materials. Finally, a transfer learning technique is applied to adapt the pretrained network to other optical identification applications. This artificial-intelligence-based material characterization approach is a powerful tool that would speed up the preparation, initial characterization of 2D materials and other nanomaterials, and potentially accelerate new material discoveries.

Asthma drugs counter-regulate interleukin-8 release stimulated by sodium sulfite in an A549 cell line.

BACKGROUND: Clinical manifestations suggest that air pollution may induce deterioration of respiratory health. Some air pollutants, including sulfite, may play a role in the exacerbation of asthma. Sulfites are formed at bronchial mucosa from inhaled sulfur dioxide. It has been previously reported that sodium sulfite (Na(2)SO(3)) has pro-inflammatory properties and enhances neutrophil adhesion to A549 cells. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) plays a critical role in attracting inflammatory cells and is an excellent marker of pulmonary cell activation. To date, there have not been any reports on the effect of asthma drugs on the suppression of IL-8 production induced by sulfite in A549 cells or the involvement of specific signal transduction pathways. Thus, our study assessed the effects of salmeterol, fluticasone, and montelukast on human epithelial lung cell inflammation as well as the inhibitors in different signal transduction pathways. METHODS: A549 human lung epithelial cells were cultured under the following conditions: (1) treated with sodium sulfite (0, 100, 500, 1000, 2500 uM) for 16 hours; (2) cultured for 1 hour in the presence of SB203580, PD98059, SP600125, or wedeloactone, then co-incubated with sodium sulfite for another 16 hours; (3) cultured for 4 hours in the presence of salmeterol, fluticasone, or montelukast, then stimulated with sodium sulfite at a concentration of 1000 uM for 16 hours. We collected the supernatants from the above conditions and performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the IL-8 concentration. RESULTS: IL-8 production increased after treatment with sodium sulfite at 1000 to 2500 uM (p

The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism impacts moral permissibility of impersonal harmful behaviors.

Inspired by the roles of serotonin in an emotional aversion to harmful actions, we examined to what extent serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT)-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), a proxy for measuring serotonin function, underpinned the individual differences in moral judgment through cross-sectional analysis and two-wave comparison. The cross-sectional analysis with a larger cohort (N = 1197) showed that the SS carriers of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism, corresponding to the low ratio of serotonin recycling from the synaptic cleft, rated impersonal harmful actions (e.g. flipping a switch to divert a train to hit one person instead of five people) as more permissible as compared with the L-allele carriers. The two-wave comparison with a subsample from the larger cohort (N = 563) indicated that the association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and moral permissibility of impersonal harmful actions was stable from wave 1 to wave 2. Thus, these findings highlight the importance of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism to harmful moral behaviors.

5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met are not associated with alexithymia: New evidence and meta-analyses.

BACKGROUNDS: Alexithymia refers to the difficulties in identifying and describing one's own emotions, lacking of imagination, and an externally oriented thinking style. Studies up to date have examined the associations of 5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms with alexithymia. However, the previous findings were mixed. METHODS: We replicated the associations by scoring on alexithymia with the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and genotyping the polymorphisms of 5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met in a large population of college students (N = 1698). Moreover, we also meta-analyzed the associations with five samples (N = 7517) for the 5-HTTLPR and with five samples (N = 2186) for the COMT Val158Met. RESULTS: Neither the replicated study nor the meta-analyses indicated the 5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met were associated with alexithymia. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the 5-HTTLPR and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms are not associated with alexithymia. However, genetic-environmental studies with different ethnicity and psychopathology should be carried in future.

OXTR rs53576 polymorphism impacts interpersonal adaptability: Dispositional forgiveness as a mediator.

Polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene have been shown to be related to individual differences in social skills that are important for building and maintaining social relationships, such as the capability to efficiently process social information and regulate emotions. However, what remains unclear is the potential roles of OXTR polymorphisms in interpersonal adaptability, namely the ability to cope with the situational demands of interpersonal interactions. In this study, we examined the roles of OXTR rs53576 polymorphism in interpersonal adaptability, empathic perception, and dispositional forgiveness in a cohort of 573 college freshmen. The results indicated that the scores on interpersonal adaptability and dispositional forgiveness, apart from empathic perception, increased as functions of the number of G alleles of OXTR rs53576. Moreover, dispositional forgiveness, but not empathic perception, mediated the association between OXTR rs53576 and interpersonal adaptability. The findings highlight the influences of the OXTR gene on adaptive interpersonal interactions, especially when individuals face changing social situations.