Liquid Metal-Based Electrode Array for Neural Signal Recording.

Neural electrodes are core devices for research in neuroscience, neurological diseases, and neural-machine interfacing. They build a bridge between the cerebral nervous system and electronic devices. Most of the neural electrodes in use are based on rigid materials that differ significantly from biological neural tissue in flexibility and tensile properties. In this study, a liquid-metal (LM) -based 20-channel neural electrode array with a platinum metal (Pt) encapsulation material was developed by microfabrication technology. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that the electrode has stable electrical properties and excellent mechanical properties such as flexibility and bending, which allows the electrode to form conformal contact with the skull. The in vivo experiments also recorded electroencephalographic signals using the LM-based electrode from a rat under low-flow or deep anesthesia, including the auditory-evoked potentials triggered by sound stimulation. The auditory-activated cortical area was analyzed using source localization technique. These results indicate that this 20-channel LM-based neural electrode array satisfies the demands of brain signal acquisition and provides high-quality-electroencephalogram (EEG) signals that support source localization analysis.

Folic Acid Protects against Hyperuricemia in C57BL/6J Mice via Ameliorating Gut-Kidney Axis Dysfunction.

Emerging lines of research evidence point to a vital role of gut-kidney axis in the development of hyperuricemia (HUA), which has been identified as an increasing burden worldwide due to the high prevalence. The involved crosstalk which links the metabolic and immune-related pathways is mainly responsible for maintaining the axial homeostasis of uric acid (UA) metabolism. Nowadays, the urate-lowering drugs only aim to treat acute gouty arthritis as a result of their controversial clinical application in HUA. In this study, we established the HUA model of C57BL/6J mice to evaluate the effectiveness of folic acid on UA metabolism and further explored the underlying mechanisms. Folic acid attenuated the kidney tissue injury and excretion dysfunction, as well as the typical fibrosis in HUA mice. Molecular docking results also revealed the structure-activity relationship of the folic acid metabolic unit and the UA transporters GLUT9 and URAT1, implying the potential interaction. Also, folic acid alleviated HUA-induced Th17/Treg imbalance and intestinal tissue damage and inhibited the active state of the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, which is closely associated with the circulating LPS level caused by the impaired intestinal permeability. Furthermore, the changes of intestinal microecology induced by HUA were restored by folic acid, including the alteration in the structure and species composition of the gut microbiome community, and metabolite short-chain fatty acids. Collectively, this study revealed that folic acid intervention exerted improving effects on HUA by ameliorating gut-kidney axis dysfunction.

Health-related quality of life in advanced colorectal cancer patients in China: a nationwide hospital-based survey.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in China, and most CRC patients have already reached an advanced stage by the time of initial diagnosis. Due to the loss of health as a result of cancer, it has consequence on the treatment which may affect the psychophysical and social impairment of CRC patients. These indicators (psychophysical, function and social impairment) affect the health-related quality of life (HRQOL). There are limited studies that focus on advanced CRC patients in China. This study aimed to assess the HRQOL and its associated factors of advanced CRC patients in China. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, nationwide, hospital-based, and multi-center survey. According to the traditional administrative district definition, we selected 19 hospitals in 7 regions by multi-stage stratified sampling in China. For each eligible CRC patient with stage III or IV in the selected hospitals, socio-demographics, clinical information, and HRQOL were collected based on patients' self-reporting and/or medical records between March 2020 and March 2021. Patients completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Colorectal (FACT-C) plus-traditional Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ)-9. Results: A total of 4,589 CRC patients (mean age 60.1 years, including 2,730 males and 1,859 females) were included. The total score of HRQOL in population was 128.2±24.70. There were significant differences in the overall score of HRQOL in gender, education level, occupation, region, disease type, and disease stage (P<0.05). The score of HRQOL was better in males, undergraduates and above, unemployed/laid-off, and southwestern and central China. Multivariate analysis showed that education level, occupation, location, number of hospitals visited and treatment methods, and gender were associated with utilities of CRC patients. Conclusions: The HRQOL is an important outcome measure for CRC patients. The HRQOL scores differed according to socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and findings of these factors were associated with education level, occupation, region, number of visited and treatment methods, and gender.

Hypoglycemic and Hypolipidemic Activity of Polygonatum sibiricum Fermented with Lactobacillus brevis YM 1301 in Diabetic C57BL/6 Mice.

Polygonatum sibiricum (PS) has been used as herbal medicine to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, how lactic acid fermentation of PS influences glucose and lipid metabolism remains unclear. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of PS fermented with Lactobacillus brevis YM 1301 (YM 1301) in streptozotocin and high-fat diet-induced T2DM mice. Biochemical analysis revealed that supplementation with metformin, PS, or fermented Polygonatum sibiricum (FPS) lowered the fasting blood glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of diabetic mice. FPS showed relatively more potency to reduce the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance and glycated hemoglobin than PS. Moreover, a high dosage of FPS protected against glucose intolerance and insulin resistance by increasing the ratio of phosphor-AKT/AKT. Histological examination and quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that dietary FPS ameliorated the lipid accumulation in liver and white adipose tissue (WAT) by inhibiting lipogenesis, enhancing lipolysis, and fatty acid oxidation. FPS exhibited greater efficacy than PS on improving the transcriptional expression of adipose triacylglyceride lipase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1, and uncoupling protein 1. In addition, FPS exerted a striking anti-inflammatory effect by suppressing the expression of interleukin 6, interleukin 1ß, tumor necrosis factor-α, and transforming growth factor-ß in WAT of diabetic C57BL/6 mice. Finally, FPS supplementation enhanced the activation of AMPK. In conclusion, these results suggest that the FPS may be more promising than PS as a potential therapeutic agent for diabetes and obesity.

Comparative evaluation and design of a G-triplex/thioflavin T-based molecular beacon.

Both G-quadruplex (G4) and G-triplex (G3) can bind thioflavin T (ThT) to light up the fluorescence of ThT. G4/ThT and G3/ThT can be used as fluorescent indicators to construct a label-free molecular beacon (MB). In this work, we present a comparative perspective of G3/ThT-based MB and G4/ThT-based MB. The results showed that the G3/ThT-based MB had higher sensitivity and faster response speed than the G4/ThT-based MB. Furthermore, we systematically studied the effect of stem length and varying pairs on the response of the G3/ThT-based MB, and then proposed one rational design of the G3/ThT-based MB. This work demonstrates that the shorter G3 is more suitable for constructing the MB stem. This present work opens a promising way to develop a sensitive, simple and homogeneous biosensing method.

In situ thermal fabrication of copper sulfide-polymer hybrid nanostructures for tunable plasmon resonance.

Here, a novel strategy for fabricating plasmonic-polymer hybrid nanostructures via the in situ thermal synthesis of copper sulfide (CuS) nanocrystals within poly(N-vinyl caprolactam)-based microgels is presented. In particular, the carboxyl groups inside the microgels enriched Cu2+ ions via electrostatic interaction, which further facilitated the nucleation inside the microgel matrix. The increase in nanocrystals' sizes with more added precursors indicated nanocrystals' continuous growth. The plasmon resonances in CuS nanocrystals were obtained due to the high-density free carriers in the covellite CuS. Both the sizes and the plasmon resonances of the as-synthesized CuS nanocrystals could be modulated by adjusting the amount of precursor. The fabricated hybrid nanostructures possessed good temperature responsivity, adjustable loading capacity, good colloidal stability, and pH dependent plasmon resonance. Furthermore, effective photothermal conversion performance was obtained under the illumination of a 980 nm NIR laser for controlling the phase transition of microgels, revealing promising potential in remotely controlled release of drugs.

Using naturalistic driving study data to investigate the impact of driver distraction on driver's brake reaction time in freeway rear-end events in car-following situation.

INTRODUCTION: The rear-end crash is one of the most common freeway crash types, and driver distraction is often cited as a leading cause of rear-end crashes. Previous research indicates that driver distraction could have negative effects on driving performance, but the specific association between driver distraction and crash risk is still not fully revealed. This study sought to understand the mechanism by which driver distraction, defined as secondary task distraction, could influence crash risk, as indicated by a driver's reaction time, in freeway car-following situations. METHOD: A statistical analysis, exploring the causal model structure regarding drivers' distraction impacts on reaction times, was conducted. Distraction duration, distraction scenario, and secondary task type were chosen as distraction-related factors. Besides, exogenous factors including weather, visual obstruction, lighting condition, traffic density, and intersection presence and endogenous factors including driver age and gender were considered. RESULTS: There was an association between driver distraction and reaction time in the sample freeway rear-end events from SHRP 2 NDS database. Distraction duration, the distracted status when a leader braked, and secondary task type were related to reaction time, while all other factors showed no significant effect on reaction time. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis showed that driver distraction duration is the primary direct cause of the increase in reaction time, with other factors having indirect effects mediated by distraction duration. Longer distraction duration, the distracted status when a leader braked, and engaging in auditory-visual-manual secondary task tended to result in longer reaction times. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Given drivers will be distracted occasionally, countermeasures which shorten distraction duration or avoid distraction presence while a leader vehicle brakes are worth considering. This study helps better understand the mechanism of freeway rear-end events in car-following situations, and provides a methodology that can be adopted to study the association between driver behavior and driving features.