Potassium affects the association between dietary intake of vitamin C and NAFLD among adults in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Although the association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and vitamin C has been well studied, the effects of dietary potassium intake on this relationship are still unclear. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of dietary potassium intake on the association between vitamin C and NAFLD. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional learn about with 9443 contributors the usage of 2007-2018 NHANES data. Multiple logistic regression evaluation has been utilized to check out the affiliation of dietary vitamin C intake with NAFLD and advanced hepatic fibrosis (AHF). Subsequently, we plotted a smoothed match curve to visualize the association. Especially, the analysis of AHF was conducted among the NAFLD population. In addition, stratified evaluation used to be developed primarily based on demographic variables to verify the steadiness of the results. Effect amendment by way of dietary potassium intake used to be assessed via interplay checks between vitamin C and NAFLD in the multivariable linear regression. RESULTS: In this cross-sectional study, we found that vitamin C was negatively related to NAFLD and AHF. The relationship between vitamin C and NAFLD was different in the low, middle and high potassium intake groups. Furthermore, potassium intake significantly modified the negative relationship between vitamin C and NAFLD in most of the models. CONCLUSION: Our research showed that potassium and vitamin C have an interactive effect in reducing NAFLD, which may have great importance for clinical medication.

Impact of age, sex, and thyroid autoimmunity on the association between selenium intake and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: The association between dietary selenium(Se) intake and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains controversial. The present study aimed to investigate this association using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database for the years 2007-2012. METHODS: Three thousand seventy three individuals aged 20 years and above were eligible for inclusion in this cross-sectional study. The average age of the participants was 50.74 years and the proportions of males and females were nearly equal (49.12% vs. 50.88%). The odds ratios (OR) of the association between dietary Se intake (log2-transformed) and T2DM were examined through the multivariate logistic regression model. Subgroup analyses were conducted based on age, sex, and thyroid autoimmunity to assess the potential impact of these variables on the relationship. Fitted smoothing curves and threshold effect analysis were conducted to describe the nonlinear relationship. RESULTS: In the fully adjusted model, a significant positive association between Se intake and T2DM was observed (OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.90, p = 0.0017). After stratifying the data by age, sex, and thyroid autoimmunity, a significant positive association between Se intake and T2DM was observed in individuals under 65 years of age, males, and those with negative thyroid autoimmunity. A two-segment linear regression model was analyzed for sex stratification, revealing a threshold effect in males with an inflection point of 90.51 µg, and an inverted U-shaped relationship in females with an inflection point of 109.90 µg, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study found a positive relationship between Se intake and the prevalence of T2DM. This association is particularly significant in younger individuals, males, and those with negative thyroid autoimmunity. Our results should be validated in future large prospective studies in different populations.

Multifunctional nanofibrous mats: toward antibacterial and anti-inflammatory applications, and visual bacterial diagnosis.

In most circumstances, wounds face the challenges of bacterial invasions and inappropriate inflammatory responses when they lack proper wound management. Endowing dressings with both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functions is a compelling strategy for resolving the above issues. However, seizing the right moment to change the dressings and providing satisfactory management of wounds are still urgently required. Herein, an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory nanofibrous mat is proposed by encapsulating antibiotic gentamicin sulfate (GS) and anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen (IB) into nanofibers via a coaxial electrospinning technique and is further decorated with Prussian blue nanocrystals (PBNCs) to enhance anti-inflammatory activity and, more importantly, to monitor bacterial infections and guide dressing changes in a timely manner. Such a nanofibrous mat releases most of the therapeutic drugs within 120 min and reveals excellent antibacterial activity and anti-inflammatory ability. Specifically, it can destroy both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), as well as conspicuously reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. In addition, the nanofibrous mat can be used for point-of-use diagnosis of living bacteria relying on the naked eye or color analysis, which exhibits the potential of monitoring wound infection and guiding dressing changes promptly. This finding demonstrates the theranostic applications of multifunctional nanofibrous mats in wound healing.

The Stokes Shift and Exciton Fine Structure in Strongly Confined CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanoplatelets.

The Stokes shift is negligible in bulk perovskites but large in two-dimensional (2D) CsPbBr3 perovskites. The issue has attracted a lot of discussion, but it remains controversial. Here, we report the temperature-dependent absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanoplatelets (NPLs). We observe a temperature-dependent Stokes shift changing from 26 to 41 meV. This phenomenon was attributed to the exciton fine structure according to the great difference in peak width. The triple bright exciton levels all participate in the absorption process and result in a wide absorption peak, while only the lowest exciton level contributes to photon emission and exhibits a relatively narrow PL peak. The PL decay curves also present the characterization of bright and dark exciton couplings at low temperatures. The splitting of triple bright excitons is induced by the morphology anisotropy of the 2D structure, so the large Stokes shift is proposed to be an intrinsic property of 2D perovskites.

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol modifies the association between blood lead and uric acid: results from NHANES 2005-2016.

BACKGROUND: The association between blood lead (PbB) and uric acid (SUA) remains unclear in US adults without a high level of lead exposure. Additionally, the effects of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) modifying this association are still unclear. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of modification of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on the association between PbB and SUA. METHOD: This research analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2005 to 2016. Through several screenings, 18,578 participants over the age of 20 were eligible for the analysis. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the association between PbB and SUA. By having stratified participants based on the HDL-C intake category (low HDL-C intake < 50 mg/dl; high HDL-C intake ≥ 50 mg/dl), effect modification by HDL-C was assessed through a likelihood ratio test between PbB and SUA. RESULT: Multivariable linear regression indicated that PbB positively affects SUA (ß = 0.19, 95% CI 0.16-0.22). The relationship between PbB and SUA was different in the low and high HDL-C intake group (ß 0.12 95% Cl 0.08-0.16 vs. ß 0.26 95% Cl 0.22 ~ - 0.30). Furthermore, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol significantly modified the relationship between PbB and SUA in all models which indicates that the interaction of lead exposure and HDL-C is more dangerous than the sum of the individual effects. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood lead have an interactive effect on increasing uric acid, which may have great importance for clinical medication.

Personalized optimal nutrition lifestyle for self obesity management using metaalgorithms.

Precision medicine applies machine learning methods to estimate the personalized optimal treatment decision based on individual information, such as genetic data and medical history. The main purpose of self obesity management is to develop a personalized optimal life plan that is easy to implement and adhere to, thereby reducing the incidence of obesity and obesity-related diseases. The methodology comprises three components. First, we apply catboost, random forest and lasso covariance test to evaluate the importance of individual features in forecasting body mass index. Second, we apply metaalgorithms to estimate the personalized optimal decision on alcohol, vegetable, high caloric food and daily water intake respectively for each individual. Third, we propose new metaalgorithms named SX and SXwint learners to compute the personalized optimal decision and compare their performances with other prevailing metalearners. We find that people who receive individualized optimal treatment options not only have lower obesity levels than others, but also have lower obesity levels than those who receive 'one-for-all' treatment options. In conclusion, all metaalgorithms are effective at estimating the personalized optimal decision, where SXwint learner shows the best performance on daily water intake.

Dietary Magnesium Intake Modifies the Association Between Vitamin D and Systolic Blood Pressure: Results From NHANES 2007-2014.

Introduction: Although the association between blood pressure and vitamin D has been well studied, the effects of dietary magnesium intake on this relationship are still unclear. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of dietary magnesium intake on the association between vitamin D and blood pressure. Methods: The present study analyzed data from the continuous the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2014. We included 8,799 participants aged 20 years or older. Multivariable linear regression was performed to assess the association between vitamin D and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Dietary magnesium intake was stratified by low magnesium intake (<299 mg/d) and high magnesium intake (≥299 mg/d). Effect modification by dietary magnesium intake was assessed through interaction tests between vitamin D and SBP in the multivariable linear regression. Results: In this cross-sectional study, we found that vitamin D was negatively related to SBP, but not to DBP. The relationship between vitamin D and SBP was different in the low and high magnesium intake group (ß: -0.25 95%Cl: -0.4~0.07 vs ß: -0.32 95%Cl: -0.52~-0.12). Furthermore, magnesium intake significantly modified the negative relationship between vitamin D and SBP in most of the models. Conclusion: Our research showed that magnesium and vitamin D have an interactive effect in reducing SBP, which may have great importance for clinical medication.

Dietary Magnesium Intake Affects the Association Between Serum Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Circulating vitamin D concentrations have been associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Magnesium has also been reported to be associated with lower T2D risk. Besides, magnesium is an essential cofactor for vitamin D activation. However, the effect of dietary magnesium intake on the association between vitamin D and the risk of T2D has not been studied comprehensively. Therefore, we designed this cross-sectional study to assess the effect modification of magnesium intake on the association between vitamin D and risk of T2D. Research Design and Methods: The present study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) continuously from 2007 to 2014, involving 10,249 participants. By having stratified participants based on magnesium intake category (low magnesium intake <267 mg/day; high magnesium intake: ≥267 mg/day), we further evaluated the difference (interaction test) between the relationship of vitamin D with the risk of T2D among low magnesium intake participants and high magnesium intake participants using weighted multivariable logistic regression. Results: In this cross-sectional study, the association of serum vitamin D with the incidence of T2D appeared to differ between the low magnesium intake group and the high magnesium intake group (OR: 0.968, 95%Cl: 0.919-1.02 vs. OR: 0.925, 95%Cl: 0.883-0.97). Furthermore, there was evidence of interaction between vitamin D levels and magnesium intake on decreasing the incidence of T2D (p-value for interaction = 0.001). Conclusions: The results of our study indicated that magnesium intake might affect the association of serum vitamin D with the risk of T2D. Such a finding requires further randomized controlled trials to provide more evidence.

A deep learning integrated radiomics model for identification of coronavirus disease 2019 using computed tomography.

Since its first outbreak, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been rapidly spreading worldwide and caused a global pandemic. Rapid and early detection is essential to contain COVID-19. Here, we first developed a deep learning (DL) integrated radiomics model for end-to-end identification of COVID-19 using CT scans and then validated its clinical feasibility. We retrospectively collected CT images of 386 patients (129 with COVID-19 and 257 with other community-acquired pneumonia) from three medical centers to train and externally validate the developed models. A pre-trained DL algorithm was utilized to automatically segment infected lesions (ROIs) on CT images which were used for feature extraction. Five feature selection methods and four machine learning algorithms were utilized to develop radiomics models. Trained with features selected by L1 regularized logistic regression, classifier multi-layer perceptron (MLP) demonstrated the optimal performance with AUC of 0.922 (95% CI 0.856-0.988) and 0.959 (95% CI 0.910-1.000), the same sensitivity of 0.879, and specificity of 0.900 and 0.887 on internal and external testing datasets, which was equivalent to the senior radiologist in a reader study. Additionally, diagnostic time of DL-MLP was more efficient than radiologists (38 s vs 5.15 min). With an adequate performance for identifying COVID-19, DL-MLP may help in screening of suspected cases.

Free and self-trapped exciton emission in perovskite CsPbBr3 microcrystals.

The all-inorganic perovskite CsPbBr3 has been capturing extensive attention due to its high quantum yield in luminescence devices and relatively high stability. Its luminescence is dominated by free exciton (FE) recombination but additional emission peaks were also commonly observed. In this work, a CsPbBr3 microcrystal sample in the orthorhombic phase was prepared by the chemical vapor deposition method. In addition to the FE peak, a broad emission peak was found in this sample and it was attributed to self-trapped excitons (STEs) based on its photophysical properties. The STE emission can only be observed below 70 K. The derived Huang-Rhys factor is ∼12 and the corresponding phonon energy is 15.3 meV. Its lifetime is 123 ns at 10 K, much longer than that of FE emission. The STE emission is thought to be an intrinsic property of CsPbBr3.

Characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Jinan, China.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) is continuously and rapidly circulating at present. Asymptomatic patients have been proven to be contagious and thus pose a significant infection control challenge. Here we describe the characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Jinan, Shandong province, China. A total of 47 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were recruited. Among them, 11 patients were categorized as asymptomatic cases. We found that the asymptomatic patients in Jinan were relatively young and were mainly clustered cases. The laboratory indicators and lung lesion on chest CT were mild. No special factors were found accounting for the presence or absence of symptoms. The presence of asymptomatic patients increased the difficulty of screening. It is necessary to strengthen the identification of such patients in the future.

Ultrafast star-shaped acoustic micromixer for high throughput nanoparticle synthesis.

We present an acoustically actuated microfluidic mixer, which can operate at flowrates reaching 8 ml min-1, providing a 50-fold improvement in throughput compared to previously demonstrated acoustofluidic approaches. The device consists of a robust silicon based micro-mechanical oscillator, sandwiched between two polymeric channels which guide the fluids in and out of the system. The chip is actuated by application of an oscillatory electrical signal onto a piezoelectric disk coupled to the substrate by adhesive. At the optimal frequency, this acoustofluidic system can homogenise two fluids with a relative mixing efficiency of 91%, within 4.1 ms from first contact. The micromixer has been used to synthesize two different systems: Budesonide nanodrugs with an average diameter of 80 ± 22 nm, and DNA nanoparticles with an average diameter of 63.3 ± 24.7 nm.

Mechanism of Single-Photon Upconversion Photoluminescence in All-Inorganic Perovskite Nanocrystals: The Role of Self-Trapped Excitons.

The efficient single-photon upconversion photoluminescence (UCPL) feature of lead halide perovskite semiconductors makes it promising for developing laser cooling devices. This is an attractive potential application, but the underlying physics still remains unclear so far. By using the all-inorganic CsPbX3 (X = Br, I) nanocrystal samples, this phenomenon was investigated by photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL under different temperatures and various excitation conditions. A broad emission band located at the low-energy side of the free exciton (FE) peak was detected and deduced to be from the self-trapped exciton (STE). The lifetime of STE emission was found to be 171 ns at 10 K, much longer than that of FE. The UCPL phenomenon was then attributed to thermal activation of transformation from STEs to FEs, and the energy barrier was derived to be 103.7 meV for CsPbBr3 and 45.2 meV for CsPb(Br/I)3, respectively. The transformation also can be seen from the fluorescence decay processes.

The stabilization mechanism and size effect of nonpolar-to-polar crystallography facet tailored ZnO nano/micro rods via a top-down strategy.

A simple and efficient top-down strategy, the chemical vapor etching method, is reported for synthesizing corrugated ZnO nano/micro rods (NRs). The stabilization mechanism of this unique nanostructure has been determined through a combination of aberration-corrected field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and first-principles calculations. The experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations, and a remarkable nonpolar-to-polar surface faceting transition is demonstrated. The corrugated-shaped structure results from the remarkable stability of the defect-induced reconstructions (O vacancy, Zn-Zn dimer), which makes the high-index polar {303[combining macron]1} and {101[combining macron]1[combining macron]} planes lower in energy compared to the nonpolar {101[combining macron]0} plane. Based on the results of first-principles surface calculations, a general formula is established to provide an accurate description of the unusual size effect of the length of the corrugated unit vs. the NR diameter, and it also offers direct explanations for certain experimental observations. The present study deepens our atomic-level understanding of the detailed structure and stability of polar surface decorated corrugated ZnO NRs, and points to a viable path towards designing polar-stable wurtzite structures.