Identification of Factors on Blood Selenium Levels in the US Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for humans and its low or high concentration in vivo is associated with the high risk of many diseases. It is important to identify influential factors of Se status. The present study aimed to explore the association between several factors (Se intake, gender, age, race, education, body mass index (BMI), income, smoking and alcohol status) and blood Se concentration using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2020 data. Demographic characteristics, physical examination, health interviews and diets were compared among quartiles of blood Se concentration using the Rao-Scott χ2 test. Se levels were compared between the different groups of factors studied, measuring the strength of their association. A total of 6205 participants were finally included. The normal reference ranges of blood Se concentration were 142.3 (2.5th percentile) and 240.8 µg/L (97.5th percentile), respectively. The mean values of dietary Se intake, total Se intake and blood Se concentration of the participants were 111.5 µg/day, 122.7 µg/day and 188.7 µg/L, respectively, indicating they were in the normal range. Total Se intake was the most important contributor of blood Se concentration. Gender, race, education status, income, BMI, smoking and alcohol status were associated with blood Se concentration.

Levels of trace metals and their impact on oocyte: A review.

Trace metals play a vital role in a variety of biological processes, but excessive amounts can be toxic and are receiving increasing attention. Trace metals in the environment are released from natural sources, such as rock weathering, volcanic eruptions, and other human activities, such as industrial emissions, mineral extraction, and vehicle exhaust. Lifestyle, dietary habits and environmental quality are the main sources of human exposure to trace metals, which play an important role in inducing human reproductive infertility. The purpose of this review is to summarize the distribution of various trace metals in oocyte and to identify the trace metals that may cause oocyte used in the design and execution of toxicological studies.

Enhancing insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes mellitus using apelin-loaded small extracellular vesicles from Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells: a novel therapeutic approach.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), characterized by ß-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance (IR), presents considerable treatment challenges. Apelin is an adipocyte-derived factor that shows promise in improving IR; however, it is limited by poor targeting and a short half-life. In the present study, engineered small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) loaded with apelin were used to address the limitations of the therapeutic application of apelin. METHODS: WJ-MSCs were transduced to obtain engineered sEVs loaded with overexpressed apelin (apelin-MSC-sEVs) and the control sEVs (MSC-sEVs). T2DM mice were injected with apelin-MSC-sEVs and MSC-sEVs, and blood glucose monitoring, glucose and insulin tolerance tests, confocal microscopy, and immunocytochemical analysis were performed. IR models of 3T3-L1 adipocytes were employed to detect GLUT4 expression in each group using western blotting; the affected pathways were determined by measuring the changes in Akt and AMPK signaling and phosphorylation. RESULTS: Upon successful engineering, WJ-MSCs demonstrated significant overexpression of apelin. The genetic modification did not adversely impact the characteristics of sEVs, ranging from surface protein markers, morphology, to particle size, but generated apelin-overexpressed sEVs. Apelin-MSC-sEVs treatment resulted in notable enhancement of Akt and AMPK pathway activities within 3T3-L1 adipocytes and adipose tissues of T2DM mice. Furthermore, the apelin-loaded sEVs significantly reduced plasma glucose levels, increased pancreatic ß-cell proliferation, improved insulin and glucose tolerance, and modulated pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles, compared to mice treated with the control sEVs. CONCLUSION: Our study developed novel genetically engineered apelin-loaded sEVs derived from WJ-MSCs, and demonstrated their potent role in augmenting insulin sensitivity and regulating inflammatory responses, highlighting their therapeutic promise in T2DM management. The findings open new avenues for the development of clinically viable treatments for T2DM in humans using the apelin-loaded sEVs.

Numerical Simulation of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel Prepared via Thermally Initiated Frontal Polymerization.

Traditional polymer curing techniques present challenges such as a slow processing speed, high energy consumption, and considerable initial investment. Frontal polymerization (FP), a novel approach, transforms monomers into fully cured polymers through a self-sustaining exothermic reaction, which enhances speed, efficiency, and safety. This study focuses on acrylamide hydrogels, synthesized via FP, which hold significant potential for biomedical applications and 3D printing. Heat conduction is critical in FP, particularly due to its influence on the temperature distribution and reaction rate mechanisms, which affect the final properties of polymers. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of heat conduction and chemical reactions during FP is presented through the establishment of mathematical models and numerical methods. Existing research on FP hydrogel synthesis primarily explores chemical modifications, with limited studies on numerical modeling. By utilizing Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) data on the curing kinetics of polymerizable deep eutectic solvents (DES), this paper employs Malek's model selection method to establish an autocatalytic reaction model for FP synthesis. In addition, the finite element method is used to solve the reaction-diffusion model, examining the temperature evolution and curing degree during synthesis. The results affirm the nth-order autocatalytic model's accuracy in studying acrylamide monomer curing kinetics. Additionally, factors such as trigger temperature and solution initial temperature were found to influence the FP reaction's frontal propagation speed. The model's predictions on acrylamide hydrogel synthesis align with experimental data, filling the gap in numerical modeling for hydrogel FP synthesis and offering insights for future research on numerical models and temperature control in the FP synthesis of high-performance hydrogels.

Phosphonylacylation of Alkenes Enabled by Visible-Light-Induced N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis.

Herein, we report the phosphonylacylation of alkenes via visible-light-induced N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis to afford a series of γ-ketophosphonates in moderate to good yields. This protocol features mild conditions, free of photocatalyst, and good compatibility of functional groups. The excited Breslow enolate intermediate was proposed to undergo single-electron transfer with oxime phosphonate to generate the corresponding ketyl radical and phosphonyl radical.

Deep-HPI-pred: An R-Shiny applet for network-based classification and prediction of Host-Pathogen protein-protein interactions.

Host-pathogen interactions (HPIs) are vital in numerous biological activities and are intrinsically linked to the onset and progression of infectious diseases. HPIs are pivotal in the entire lifecycle of diseases: from the onset of pathogen introduction, navigating through the mechanisms that bypass host cellular defenses, to its subsequent proliferation inside the host. At the heart of these stages lies the synergy of proteins from both the host and the pathogen. By understanding these interlinking protein dynamics, we can gain crucial insights into how diseases progress and pave the way for stronger plant defenses and the swift formulation of countermeasures. In the framework of current study, we developed a web-based R/Shiny app, Deep-HPI-pred, that uses network-driven feature learning method to predict the yet unmapped interactions between pathogen and host proteins. Leveraging citrus and CLas bacteria training datasets as case study, we spotlight the effectiveness of Deep-HPI-pred in discerning Protein-protein interaction (PPIs) between them. Deep-HPI-pred use Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) models for HPI prediction, which is based on a comprehensive evaluation of topological features and neural network architectures. When subjected to independent validation datasets, the predicted models consistently surpassed a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.80 in host-pathogen interactions. Remarkably, the use of Eigenvector Centrality as the leading topological feature further enhanced this performance. Further, Deep-HPI-pred also offers relevant gene ontology (GO) term information for each pathogen and host protein within the system. This protein annotation data contributes an additional layer to our understanding of the intricate dynamics within host-pathogen interactions. In the additional benchmarking studies, the Deep-HPI-pred model has proven its robustness by consistently delivering reliable results across different host-pathogen systems, including plant-pathogens (accuracy of 98.4% and 97.9%), human-virus (accuracy of 94.3%), and animal-bacteria (accuracy of 96.6%) interactomes. These results not only demonstrate the model's versatility but also pave the way for gaining comprehensive insights into the molecular underpinnings of complex host-pathogen interactions. Taken together, the Deep-HPI-pred applet offers a unified web service for both identifying and illustrating interaction networks. Deep-HPI-pred applet is freely accessible at its homepage: https://cbi.gxu.edu.cn/shiny-apps/Deep-HPI-pred/ and at github: https://github.com/tahirulqamar/Deep-HPI-pred.

Light-Responsive Supramolecular Liquid-Crystalline Metallacycle for Orthogonal Multimode Photopatterning.

The development of multimode photopatterning systems based on supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs) is considerably attractive in supramolecular chemistry and materials science, because SCCs can serve as promising platforms for the incorporation of multiple functional building blocks. Herein, we report a light-responsive liquid-crystalline metallacycle that is constructed by coordination-driven self-assembly. By exploiting its fascinating liquid crystal features, bright emission properties, and facile photocyclization capability, a unique system with spatially-controlled fluorescence-resonance energy transfer (FRET) is built through the introduction of a photochromic spiropyran derivative, which led to the realization of the first example of a liquid-crystalline metallacycle for orthogonal photopatterning in three-modes, namely holography, fluorescence, and photochromism.

Two haplotype-resolved genome assemblies for AAB allotriploid bananas provide insights into banana subgenome asymmetric evolution and Fusarium wilt control.

Bananas (Musa spp.) are one of the world's most important fruit crops and play a vital role in food security for many developing countries. Most banana cultivars are triploids derived from inter- and intraspecific hybridizations between the wild diploid ancestor species Musa acuminate (AA) and M. balbisiana (BB). We report two haplotype-resolved genome assemblies of the representative AAB-cultivated types, Plantain and Silk, and precisely characterize ancestral contributions by examining ancestry mosaics across the genome. Widespread asymmetric evolution is observed in their subgenomes, which can be linked to frequent homologous exchange events. We reveal the genetic makeup of triploid banana cultivars and verify that subgenome B is a rich source of disease resistance genes. Only 58.5% and 59.4% of Plantain and Silk genes, respectively, are present in all three haplotypes, with >50% of genes being differentially expressed alleles in different subgenomes. We observed that the number of upregulated genes in Plantain is significantly higher than that in Silk at one-week post-inoculation with Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), which confirms that Plantain can initiate defense responses faster than Silk. Additionally, we compared genomic and transcriptomic differences among the genes related to carotenoid synthesis and starch metabolism between Plantain and Silk. Our study provides resources for better understanding the genomic architecture of cultivated bananas and has important implications for Musa genetics and breeding.

From microscope to micropixels: A rapid review of artificial intelligence for the peripheral blood film.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its application in classification of blood cells in the peripheral blood film is an evolving field in haematology. We performed a rapid review of the literature on AI and peripheral blood films, evaluating the condition studied, image datasets, machine learning models, training set size, testing set size and accuracy. A total of 283 studies were identified, encompassing 6 broad domains: malaria (n = 95), leukemia (n = 81), leukocytes (n = 72), mixed (n = 25), erythrocytes (n = 15) or Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (n = 1). These publications have demonstrated high self-reported mean accuracy rates across various studies (95.5% for malaria, 96.0% for leukemia, 94.4% for leukocytes, 95.2% for mixed studies and 91.2% for erythrocytes), with an overall mean accuracy of 95.1%. Despite the high accuracy, the challenges toward real world translational usage of these AI trained models include the need for well-validated multicentre data, data standardisation, and studies on less common cell types and non-malarial blood-borne parasites.

Glycine and N-Acetylcysteine (GlyNAC) Combined with Body Weight Support Treadmill Training Improved Spinal Cord and Skeletal Muscle Structure and Function in Rats with Spinal Cord Injury.

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a frequent complication after spinal cord injury (SCI) and can influence the recovery of motor function and metabolism in affected patients. Delaying skeletal muscle atrophy can promote functional recovery in SCI rats. In the present study, we investigated whether a combination of body weight support treadmill training (BWSTT) and glycine and N-acetylcysteine (GlyNAC) could exert neuroprotective effects, promote motor function recovery, and delay skeletal muscle atrophy in rats with SCI, and we assessed the therapeutic effects of the double intervention from both a structural and functional viewpoint. We found that, after SCI, rats given GlyNAC alone showed an improvement in Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scores, gait symmetry, and results in the open field test, indicative of improved motor function, while GlyNAC combined with BWSTT was more effective than either treatment alone at ameliorating voluntary motor function in injured rats. Meanwhile, the results of the skeletal muscle myofiber cross-sectional area (CSA), hindlimb grip strength, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) immunostaining analysis demonstrated that GlyNAC improved the structure and function of the skeletal muscle in rats with SCI and delayed the atrophication of skeletal muscle.

Entanglement generation and steering implementation in a double-cavity-magnon hybrid system.

We demonstrate a scheme for the generation of bipartite and tripartite entanglement, as well as he implementation of stable and controllable long-distance one-way and asymmetric two-way steering in a cavity-magnon hybrid system. This system consists of a magnon mode and two coupled microwave cavities. The first cavity is driven by a flux-driven Josephson parametric amplifier, which generates squeezed vacuum fields, and is coupled to the other cavity through optical tunneling interaction. The second cavity and magnon mode are coupled through magnetic dipole interaction. We find that under weak coupling between the two cavities, and strong coupling between the second cavity and magnon mode, remote controllable one-way steering and tripartite entanglement can be achieved. Our scheme may have potential applications in quantum information.

Entanglement enhancement and EPR steering based on a PT-symmetric-like cavity-opto-magnomechanical hybrid system.

We investigate the enhancement of entanglement and EPR steering in a parity-time(PT-) symmetric-like cavity-opto-magnomechanical system. The system consists of an optical cavity, a magnon mode in a ferromagnetic crystal, a phonon mode, and a microwave cavity. Our findings demonstrate that microwave-cavity gain significantly boosts distant quantum entanglement and greatly improves the robustness of bipartite entanglement against environment temperature. Additionally, we observe an enhancement of tripartite entanglement within the system and uncover the phenomenon of entanglement transfer. Notably, we also achieve one-way steering and two-way asymmetric steering in the system. This study offers insights into the integration of traditional optomechanics and cavity magnomechanics, presenting a novel approach to manipulate asymmetric quantum steering between two distant macroscopic objects. The implications of our research extend to the fields of quantum state preparation and quantum information.

The Associations of Vitamin D Level with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components Among Adult Population: Evidence from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2018.

Background and Purpose: Vitamin D can both stimulate and inhibit adipogenesis, indicating that associations of the vitamin D level with some metabolic disorders may be nonlinear. This cross-sectional study aims to explore potential nonlinear associations of the 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] level with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components. Methods: Adults without previously diagnosed specific noncommunicable disease were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2018 (n = 870). Their demographic, physical, and laboratory data were obtained. The associations of serum 25(OH)D with MetS and its components were analyzed using logistic regression. Restricted cubic spline was applied to flexibly model the nonlinear association if the nonlinearity test was statistically significant. Results: The 25(OH)D level was inversely associated with risk of MetS [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.986; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.978-0.993] and most MetS components, but not with the risk of raised triglycerides (adjusted OR = 0.996; 95% CI = 0.988-1.005). The association of serum 25(OH)D with central obesity risk was significantly nonlinear (P for the nonlinearity test: 0.037). The OR for risk of central obesity decreased rapidly with increase in serum 25(OH)D concentration until the concentration reached 50 nmol/L, and then, the intensity of decrease in OR slowed down. Conclusions: Vitamin D is inversely associated with MetS, but not all MetS components. A nonlinear association between the vitamin D level and risk of central obesity has been found for the first time among the adult population, which reflects the complex roles of vitamin D in lipid metabolism. Although vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmol/L) was defined to avoid abnormal calcium and phosphorus metabolism, preventing its deficiency may also be beneficial for reduction of central obesity risk.

The association of prediabetes with dietary patterns, life behavior and cardiovascular risk factors among adult population without previously diagnosed non-communicable diseases.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Prediabetes and its risk factors are difficult to recognize because there may be no clear symptoms in that stage of diabetes mellitus (DM) progression. This cross-sectional study aims to examine associations between prediabetes and potential risk factors among adult population without previously diagnosed non-communicable diseases. METHODS AND RESULTS: Study participants (n = 30823) were selected all over China. Their dietary, life behavior and laboratory data were obtained through questionnaires, physical examination or biochemical measurement. Factor analysis was applied to identify dietary patterns. Non-proportional odds model was applied to analyze associations between those data and stages of DM progression. The prevalence of prediabetes and DM was 20.6% and 4.5%, respectively. Two dietary patterns were identified: the first pattern was characterized by high consumption of diverse plant- and animal-based food items, and the second pattern was characterized by high consumption of starchy food items. The risk of prediabetes was inversely associated with sufficient sleep duration (OR: 0.939, 95% CI: 0.888-0.993) and the second pattern (OR: 0.882, 95% CI: 0.850-0.914), but not significantly associated with the first pattern (OR: 1.030, 95% CI: 0.995-1.067). High density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with DM risk (OR: 0.811, 95% CI: 0.667-0.986) but not prediabetes (OR: 1.035, 95% CI: 0.942-1.137). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of undetected prediabetes was high among adult population, and some factors may exert different effects on different stages of DM progression. Dietary diversity, which was reflected by the first pattern to a certain extent, may be not significantly associated with risk of prediabetes.

Construction of Covalent Organic Cages with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics from Metallacages for Mimicking Light-Harvesting Antenna.

A series of covalent organic cages built from fluorophores capable of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) were elegantly prepared through the reduction of preorganized M2 (LA )3 (LB )2 -type metallacages, simultaneously taking advantage of the synthetic accessibility and well-defined shapes and sizes of metallacages, the good chemical stability of the covalent cages as well as the bright emission of AIE fluorophores. Moreover, the covalent cages could be further post-synthetically modified into an amide-functionalized cage with a higher quantum yield. Furthermore, these presented covalent cages proved to be good energy donors and were used to construct light-harvesting systems employing Nile Red as an energy acceptor. These light-harvesting systems displayed efficient energy transfer and relatively high antenna effect, which enabled their use as efficient photocatalysts for a dehalogenation reaction. This research provides a new avenue for the development of luminescent covalent cages for light-harvesting and photocatalysis.

Functionalized nickel(II)-iron(II) dithiolates as biomimetic models of [NiFe]-H2ases.

To develop the structural and functional modeling chemistry of [NiFe]-H2ases, a series of new biomimetics for the active site of [NiFe]-H2ases have been prepared by various synthetic methods. Treatment of the mononuclear Ni complex (pnp)NiCl2 (pnp = (Ph2PCH2)2NPh) with (dppv)Fe(CO)2(pdt) (dppv = 1,2-(Ph2P)2C2H2, pdt = 1,3-propanedithiolate) and KPF6 gave the dicarbonyl complex [(pnp)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)2(dppv)](PF6)2 ([1](PF6)2). Further treatment of [1](PF6)2 and [(dppe)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)2(dppv)](BF4)2 (dppe = 1,2-(Ph2P)2C2H4) with the decarbonylation agent Me3NO and pyridine afforded the novel sp3 C-Fe bond-containing complexes [(pnp)Ni(SCH2CH2CHS)Fe(CO)(dppv)]PF6 ([2]PF6) and [(dppe)Ni(SCH2CH2CHS)Fe(CO)(dppv)]BF4 ([3]BF4). More interestingly, the first t-carboxylato complexes [(pnp)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)(t-O2CR)(dppv)]PF6 ([4]PF6, R = H; [5]PF6, R = Me; [6]PF6, R = Ph) could be prepared by reactions of [1]PF6 with the corresponding carboxylic acids RCO2H in the presence of Me3NO, whereas further reactions of [4]PF6-[6]PF6 with aqueous HPF6 and 1.5 MPa H2 gave rise to the µ-hydride complex [(pnp)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)(µ-H)(dppv)]PF6 ([7]PF6). Except for H2 activation by t-carboxylato complexes [4]PF6-[6]PF6 to give a µ-hydride complex ([7]PF6), the sp3 C-Fe bond-containing complex [2]PF6 was found to be a catalyst for proton reduction to H2 under CV conditions. Furthermore, the chemical reactivity of the µ-hydride complex [7]PF6 displayed in the e- transfer reaction with FcPF6 in the presence of CO, the H2 evolution reaction with the protonic acid HCl, and the H- transfer reaction with N-methylacridinium hexafluorophosphate ([NMA]PF6) was systematically studied. As a result, a series of the expected products such as H2, ferrocene, the dicarbonyl complex [1](PF6)2, the µ-chloro complex [(pnp)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)(µ-Cl)(dppv)]PF6 ([8]PF6), the t-MeCN-coordinated complex [(pnp)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)(t-MeCN)(dppv)](PF6)2 ([9](PF6)2) and the H- transfer product AcrH2 were produced. While all the newly prepared model complexes were structurally characterized by spectroscopic methods, the molecular structures of some of their representatives were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

LipidA-IDER to Explore the Global Lipid A Repertoire of Drug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria.

With the global emergence of drug-resistant bacteria causing difficult-to-treat infections, there is an urgent need for a tool to facilitate studies on key virulence and antimicrobial resistant factors. Mass spectrometry (MS) has contributed substantially to the elucidation of the structure-function relationships of lipid A, the endotoxic component of lipopolysaccharide which also serves as an important protective barrier against antimicrobials. Here, we present LipidA-IDER, an automated structure annotation tool for system-level scale identification of lipid A from high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MS2) data. LipidA-IDER was validated against previously reported structures of lipid A in the reference bacteria, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using MS2 data of variable quality, we demonstrated LipidA-IDER annotated lipid A with a performance of 71.2% specificity and 70.9% sensitivity, offering greater accuracy than existing lipidomics software. The organism-independent workflow was further applied to a panel of six bacterial species: E. coli and Gram-negative members of ESKAPE pathogens. A comprehensive atlas comprising 188 distinct lipid A species, including remodeling intermediates, was generated and can be integrated with software including MS-DIAL and Metabokit for identification and semiquantitation. Systematic comparison of a pair of polymyxin-sensitive and polymyxin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from a human patient unraveled multiple key lipid A structural features of polymyxin resistance within a single analysis. Probing the lipid A landscape of bacteria using LipidA-IDER thus holds immense potential for advancing our understanding of the vast diversity and structural complexity of a key lipid virulence and antimicrobial-resistant factor. LipidA-IDER is freely available at https://github.com/Systems-Biology-Of-Lipid-Metabolism-Lab/LipidA-IDER.

Iminoacylation of Alkenes via Photoredox N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis.

The iminoacylation of alkenes via photoredox N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis is developed with the employment of alkene-tethered α-imino-oxy acids and acyl imidazoles. The corresponding substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrroles were afforded in moderate to good yields with good to high diastereoselectivities in most cases. The reaction involves the 5-exo-trig radical cyclization of an alkene-tethered iminyl radical and the following coupling with a ketyl radical from acyl imidazole under NHC catalysis.