Association Between Gut and Nasal Microbiota and Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review.

Allergic rhinitis is a chronic non-infectious inflammation of the nasal mucosa mediated by specific IgE. Recently, the human microbiome has drawn broad interest as a potential new target for treating this condition. This paper succinctly summarizes the main findings of 17 eligible studies published by February 2024, involving 1044 allergic rhinitis patients and 954 healthy controls from 5 countries. These studies examine differences in the human microbiome across important mucosal interfaces, including the nasal and intestinal areas, between patients and controls. Overall, findings suggest variations in the gut microbiota between allergic rhinitis patients and healthy individuals, although the specific bacterial taxa that significantly changed were not always consistent across studies. Due to the limited scope of existing research and patient coverage, the relationship between the nasal microbiome and allergic rhinitis remains inconclusive. The article discusses the potential immune-regulating role of the gut microbiome in allergic rhinitis. Further well-designed clinical trials with large-scale recruitment of allergic rhinitis patients are encouraged.

Harnessing Nuclear Energy to Gold Nanoparticles for the Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy of Glioblastoma.

Nuclear fission reactions can release massive amounts of energy accompanied by neutrons and γ photons, which create a mixed radiation field and enable a series of reactions in nuclear reactors. This study demonstrates a one-pot/one-step approach to synthesizing radioactive gold nanoparticles (RGNP) without using radioactive precursors and reducing agents. Trivalent gold ions are reduced into gold nanoparticles (8.6-146 nm), and a particular portion of 197Au atoms is simultaneously converted to 198Au atoms, rendering the nanoparticles radioactive. We suggest that harnessing nuclear energy to gold nanoparticles is feasible in the interests of advancing nanotechnology for cancer therapy. A combination of RGNP applied through convection-enhanced delivery (CED) and temozolomide (TMZ) through oral administration demonstrates the synergistic effect in treating glioblastoma-bearing mice. The mean survival for RGNP/TMZ treatment was 68.9 ± 9.7 days compared to that for standalone RGNP (38.4 ± 2.2 days) or TMZ (42.8 ± 2.5 days) therapies. Based on the verification of bioluminescence images, positron emission tomography, and immunohistochemistry inspection, the combination treatment can inhibit the proliferation of glioblastoma, highlighting the niche of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) attributed to RGNP and TMZ.

NeuTHOR Station-A Novel Integrated Platform for Monitoring BNCT Clinical Treatment, Animal and Cell Irradiation Study at THOR.

(1) Background: A well-established Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) facility includes many essential systems, which are the epithermal neutron beam system, on-line monitoring system (OMS), QA/QC (quality assurance or quality control) system, boron concentration (BC) measurement system, and treatment planning system (TPS). Accurate data transmission, monitoring, and deposition among these systems are of vital importance before, during, and after clinical, animal, and cell BNCT irradiation. This work developed a novel integrated platform NeuTHOR Station (NeuTHORS) for BNCT at Tsing Hua Open-pool Reactor (THOR). Apart from the data of the OMS and QA/QC system, the data of BC and TPS can be loaded on NeuTHORS before BNCT clinical, animal, and cell irradiation. (2) Methods: A multi-paradigm computer programming language c# (c sharp) was used to develop the integrated platform NeuTHORS. The design of NeuTHORS is based on the standard procedures of BNCT treatment or experiment at THOR. Moreover, parallel testing with OMS-BNCT (the former OMS) and QA/QC of THOR was also performed for more than 70 times to verify the validation of NeuTHORS. (3) Results: According to the comparisons of the output, NeuTHORS and OMS-BNCT and QA/QC of THOR show very good consistency. NeuTHORS is now installed on an industrial PC (IPC) and successfully performs the monitoring of BNCT Treatment at THOR. Patients' f BC and TPS data are also input into NeuTHORS and stored on IPC through an internal network from BC measurement room and TPS physicist. Therefore, the treatment data of each patient can be instantaneously established after each BNCT treatment for further study on BNCT. NeuTHORS can also be applied on data acquisition for a BNCT-related study, especially for animal or cell irradiation experiments. (4) Conclusions: A novel integrated platform NeuTHOR Station for monitoring BNCT clinical treatment and animal and cell irradiation study has been successfully established at THOR. With this platform, BNCT radiobiology investigations will be efficiently performed and a thorough data storage and analysis system of BNCT treatments or experiments can thus be systematically built up for the further investigation of BNCT at THOR.

Improved H-adsorption ability of Cu in CuNi alloy nanodots toward the efficient photocatalytic H2-evolution activity of TiO2.

Compared with the noble metal Pt, the non-noble metal Cu as a cocatalyst exhibits a low hydrogen-evolution activity owing to its weak Cu-H bond (11 kcal mol-1), which inhibits hydrogen adsorption on Cu atoms for the hydrogen-evolution reaction of photocatalysts. Considering that the introduction of Ni with a strong Ni-H bond into Cu is beneficial for strengthening the H-adsorption ability of Cu, in this paper, the low-cost transition-metal Ni was directly introduced into Cu to form CuNi alloy nanodots as photocatalytic cocatalysts to enhance the hydrogen-evolution rate of TiO2. The CuNi alloy nanodots (2-3 nm) were photodeposited on the surface of a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-modified TiO2 photocatalyst to generate CuNi-rGO/TiO2 by the pre-adsorption of Cu2+ and Ni2+ ions on graphene oxide (GO). Photocatalytic hydrogen-production data manifested that the CuNi-rGO/TiO2 photocatalyst achieved the highest hydrogen-production rate (10 411 µmol h-1 g-1), which was 53.7, 38.7, 1.8, and 2.2 times higher than that of pure TiO2, rGO/TiO2, Cu-rGO/TiO2, and Ni-rGO/TiO2, respectively. Density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations and mechanistic investigation showed that the introduction of Ni into Cu to form CuNi alloy nanodots improved the H-adsorption ability of Cu and optimized the H-adsorption free energy close to zero (0.046 eV) for boosting the hydrogen production rate of TiO2. This research presents a promising design of bimetallic alloy structures as H2-production cocatalysts for efficient photocatalysts.

AgNPs reduce reproductive capability of female mouse for their toxic effects on mouse early embryo development.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely applied in the field of personal protection for their powerful toxic effects on cells, and recently, a new type of vaginal gel with AgNPs is used to protect the female reproductive tract from microbes and viruses. However, a high risk of AgNPs to the fetus and the underlying mechanism of AgNPs to interfere in embryo development still remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated the impact of two drugs of vaginal gel with AgNPs on reproductive capability of the female mouse by animal experiment. Then, kinetics of AgNPs affecting embryo development was investigated by in vitro embryos culturing, and cell membrane potential (CMP) of zygotes was analyzed by DiBAC4(3) staining. Results indicated that one of the drugs of vaginal gel certainly injured embryo development in spite of no apparent histological change found in ovaries and uteruses of drug-treated mice. In vitro embryo culturing discovered that the toxic effect of AgNPs on embryo development presented particle sizes and dose dependent, and AgNP treatment could rapidly trigger depolarization of the cell membrane of zygotes. Moreover, AgNPs changed the gene expression pattern of Oct-4 and Cdx2 in blastocysts. All these findings suggest that AgNPs can interfere with normal cellular status including cell membrane potential, which has not been noticed in previous studies on the impact of AgNPs on mammalian embryos. Thus, findings of this study alarm us the risk of applying vaginal gel with AgNPs in individual caring and protection of the female reproductive system.

AgNPs reduce reproductive capability of female mouse for their toxic effects on mouse early embryo development.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely applied in the field of personal protection for their powerful toxic effects on cells, and recently, a new type of vaginal gel with AgNPs is used to protect the female reproductive tract from microbes and viruses. However, a high risk of AgNPs to the fetus and the underlying mechanism of AgNPs to interfere in embryo development still remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated the impact of two drugs of vaginal gel with AgNPs on reproductive capability of the female mouse by animal experiment. Then, kinetics of AgNPs affecting embryo development was investigated by in vitro embryos culturing, and cell membrane potential (CMP) of zygotes was analyzed by DiBAC4(3) staining. Results indicated that one of the drugs of vaginal gel certainly injured embryo development in spite of no apparent histological change found in ovaries and uteruses of drug-treated mice. In vitro embryo culturing discovered that the toxic effect of AgNPs on embryo development presented particle sizes and dose dependent, and AgNP treatment could rapidly trigger depolarization of the cell membrane of zygotes. Moreover, AgNPs changed the gene expression pattern of Oct-4 and Cdx2 in blastocysts. All these findings suggest that AgNPs can interfere with normal cellular status including cell membrane potential, which has not been noticed in previous studies on the impact of AgNPs on mammalian embryos. Thus, findings of this study alarm us the risk of applying vaginal gel with AgNPs in individual caring and protection of the female reproductive system.

The impact of building height on urban thermal environment in summer: A case study of Chinese megacities.

The quantitative relationship between the spatial variation of building's height and the associated land surface temperature (LST) change in six Chinese megacities is investigated in this paper. The six cities involved are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Based on both remote sensing and building footprint data, we retrieved the LST using a single-channel (SC) algorithm and evaluate the heating/cooling effect caused by building-height difference via correlation analysis. The results show that the spatial distribution of high-rise buildings is mainly concentrated in the center business districts, riverside zones, and newly built-up areas of the six megacities. In the urban area, the number and the floor-area ratio of high to super high-rise buildings (>24m) account for over 5% and 4.74%, respectively. Being highly urbanized cities, most of urban areas in the six megacities are associated with high LST. Ninety-nine percent of the city areas of Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Tianjin are covered by the LST in the range of 30.2~67.8°C, 34.8~50.4°C, 25.3~48.3°C, 29.9~47.2°C, 27.4~43.4°C, and 33.0~48.0°C, respectively. Building's height and LST have a negative logarithmic correlation with the correlation coefficients ranging from -0.701 to -0.853. In the building's height within range of 0~66m, the LST will decrease significantly with the increase of building's height. This indicates that the increase of building's height will bring a significant cooling effect in this height range. When the building's height exceeds 66m, its effect on LST will be greatly weakened. This is due to the influence of building shadows, local wind disturbances, and the layout of buildings.

Relationships among hope, meaning in life, and post-traumatic growth in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the relationships among hope, meaning in life, and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design. METHODS: Between October 2018-September 2019, 221 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient completed the questionnaires including sociodemographic information, Chinese Version of Herth Hope Index, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and Post-traumatic Growth Inventory. Descriptive analysis, Spearman's correlation analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the ridge regression analysis were used for analysis. RESULTS: Spearman's correlation analysis showed that hope and meaning in life were positively interrelated with PTG (r = 0.20-0.45, r = 0.36-0.54, p < 0.01). Ridge regression analysis results showed that hope, meaning in life, time since diagnosis, habitation, medical insurance, and monthly income could explain 47.30% of the variance in PTG (F = 33.863, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease experienced a slightly positive change in meaning in life and a moderate degree of hope and PTG. Results suggested that hope and meaning in life were positively connected with PTG. Therefore, enhancing hope and meaning in life might be crucial for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to promote PTG. IMPACT: The findings added better understanding of relationships among hope, meaning in life, and post-traumatic growth in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which can help nurse give interventions in the early stage of disease diagnosis.

Establishment of a trimodality analytical platform for tracing, imaging and quantification of gold nanoparticles in animals by radiotracer techniques.

This study aims to establish a (198)Au-radiotracer technique for in vivo tracing, rapid quantification, and ex vivo visualization of PEGylated gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in animals, organs and tissue dissections. The advantages of GNPs lie in its superior optical property, biocompatibility and versatile conjugation chemistry, which are promising to develop diagnostic probes and drug delivery systems. (198)Au is used as a radiotracer because it simultaneously emits beta and gamma radiations with proper energy and half-life; therefore, (198)Au can be used for bioanalytical purposes. The (198)Au-tagged radioactive gold nanoparticles ((198)Au-GNPs) were prepared simply by irradiating the GNPs in a nuclear reactor through the (197)Au(n,γ)(198)Au reaction and subsequently the (198)Au-GNPs were subjected to surface modification with polyethylene glycol to form PEGylated (198)Au-GNPs. The (198)Au-GNPs retained physicochemical properties that were the same as those of GNP before neutron irradiation. Pharmacokinetic and biodisposition studies were performed by intravenously injecting three types of (198)Au-GNPs with or without PEGylation into mice; the γ radiation in blood specimens and dissected organs was then measured. The (198)Au-radiotracer technique enables rapid quantification freed from tedious sample preparation and shows more than 95% recovery of injected GNPs. Clinical gamma scintigraphy was proved feasible to explore spatial- and temporal-resolved biodisposition of (198)Au-GNPs in living animals. Moreover, autoradiography, which recorded beta particles from (198)Au, enabled visualizing the heterogeneous biodisposition of (198)Au-GNPs in different microenvironments and tissues. In this study, the (198)Au-radiotracer technique facilitated creating a trimodality analytical platform for tracing, quantifying and imaging GNPs in animals.

Kinetics and tissue distribution of neutron-activated zinc oxide nanoparticles and zinc nitrate in mice: effects of size and particulate nature.

Although zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) have been applied in nanotechnology, their kinetics and tissue distribution in vivo are unknown. Here we compared the kinetics and tissue distribution of 10 nm (65)ZnONPs, 71 nm (65)ZnONPs and (65)Zn(NO(3))(2) in mice after intravenous injection. The areas under the curves and the half-lives in the second compartment of (65)Zn(NO(3))(2) were greater than those of (65)ZnONPs; the kinetic parameters were similar for both (65)ZnONPs. However, the tissue distributions for the three forms were different. ZnONPs preferentially accumulated in the liver and spleen at 24 h. At day 28, (65)Zn concentration was highest in bone and the proportion of recovered (65)Zn radioactivity was highest in the carcass; these had the same ranking, 10 nm (65)ZnONPs > 71 nm (65)ZnONPs>  (65)Zn(NO(3))(2). Although more than 80% of the 10 nm (65)ZnONPs had been excreted by day 28, greater amounts of the 10 nm (65)ZnONPs than the 71 nm (65)ZnONPs or (65)Zn(NO(3))(2) had accumulated in other organs (brain, lung, heart and kidneys). Zn ions seem to have a longer half-life in the plasma, but ZnONPs show greater tissue accumulation. Although the size of the ZnONPs had no obvious effect on the kinetics, nevertheless the smaller ZnONPs tended to accumulate preferentially in some organs.

The use of radioactive zinc oxide nanoparticles in determination of their tissue concentrations following intravenous administration in mice.

The increasing uses of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) in coatings, paints, personal care products and many other products increase the possibility of the body's exposure to ZnONPs. Accurate and quantitative profiling on the tissue distribution and body clearance of ZnONPs, which is an important factor to clarify the acute and chronic safety concerns of ZnONPs, is interfered by the abundance of the body's endogenous zinc moiety. In this report, radioactive zinc oxide nanoparticles (R-ZnONPs) generated from neutron activation were employed for the in vivo bio-distribution studies using mice as the animal model. Gamma-ray emitting radioactive R-ZnONPs were produced from neutron activation. Zeta potentials of the ZnONPs before and after the neutron irradiation remained about the same, and R-ZnONPs largely remained its original nano-particulate form after neutron irradiation. After intravenous administration into ICR mice, R-ZnONPs exhibited a primary retention in lung (43.6% injected dose (ID)/g tissue wet weight) for the first hour and began to be translocated to intestinal tract for feces excretion at a later stage. This type of labeling free and radioactive nanoparticles retains the surface property and can be a convenient protocol for studying bio-distribution of nanoparticles in pristine chemical form.