Effect of exercise intervention on smoking cessation: a meta-analysis.

Background: Exercise has emerged as an effective approach to promote individual health and has shown potential in aiding smoking cessation. However, the specific benefits of exercise in smoking cessation remain unclear, and conflicting findings across studies may be attributed to variations in study populations and intervention characteristics. This study aims to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of exercise interventions on tobacco dependence in smokers and assess the effectiveness of exercise in facilitating smoking cessation. Methods: A comprehensive search was performed in databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and Scopus to identify relevant randomized controlled trials published before 30 October 2022. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed during the review process. The quality of evidence (QoE) was assessed with GRADE (grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluations) methodology. Results: Acute exercise was found to significantly reduce smoking cravings [MD = -1.84, 95% CI (-2.92, -0.76), p < 0.001; SMD = -1.64, 95% CI (-2.22, -1.05), p < 0.001] and alleviate most withdrawal symptoms in smokers. However, there was no significant difference in the smoking cessation rate between the exercise group and the control group (p > 0.05). Exercise was associated with increased positive mood [SMD = 0.36, 95% CI (0.14, 0.58), p = 0.001] and reduced negative mood in smokers [SMD = -0.26, 95% CI (-0.39, -0.12), p < 0.001]. Conclusion: Acute exercise interventions effectively reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms in smokers. However, long-term exercise interventions do not significantly improve the smoking cessation rate. Exercise can help reduce negative mood and enhance positive mood in smokers. Smokers with high levels of tobacco dependence may derive less benefit from exercise. Factors such as literature quality, exercise intervention characteristics, and exercise adherence may influence the effectiveness of interventions. Trial registration: This research protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/). Registration number: CRD42022326109.

Synthesis of stable γ-phase MnS1-xSex nanoflakes with inversion symmetry breaking.

Inversion symmetry breaking plays a critical role in the formation of magnetic skyrmions. Therefore, for the application of skyrmion-based devices, it is important to develop novel engineering techniques and explore new non-centrosymmetric lattices. In this paper, we report the rational synthesis of stable γ-phase MnS1-xSex (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.45) nanoflakes with an asymmetric distribution of the elemental content, which persists on inversion symmetry breaking. The temperature dependence of resonant second-harmonic generation characterization reveals that a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure exists in our as-grown γ-phase MnS1-xSex with spatial-inversion symmetry breaking. By tuning the parameters of nucleation temperature and growth time, we produced a detailed growth phase diagram, revealing a controllable as-grown structure evolution from γ-phase wurtzite-type to α-phase rock-salt type structure of MnS1-xSex nanoflakes. Our work provides a new playground to explore novel materials that have broken inversion symmetry.

Quantum simulation of tunable and ultrastrong mixed-optomechanics.

We propose a reliable scheme to simulate tunable and ultrastrong mixed (first-order and quadratic optomechanical couplings coexisting) optomechanical interactions in a coupled two-mode bosonic system, in which the two modes are coupled by a cross-Kerr interaction and one of the two modes is driven through both the single- and two-excitation processes. We show that the mixed-optomechanical interactions can enter the single-photon strong-coupling and even ultrastrong-coupling regimes. The strengths of both the first-order and quadratic optomechanical couplings can be controlled on demand, and hence first-order, quadratic, and mixed optomechanical models can be realized. In particular, the thermal noise of the driven mode can be suppressed totally by introducing a proper squeezed vacuum bath. We also study how to generate the superposition of coherent squeezed state and vacuum state based on the simulated interactions. The quantum coherence effect in the generated states is characterized by calculating the Wigner function in both the closed- and open-system cases. This work will pave the way to the observation and application of ultrastrong optomechanical effects in quantum simulators.

Spectrometric detection of weak forces in cavity optomechanics.

We propose a spectrometric method to detect a classical weak force acting upon the moving end mirror in a cavity optomechanical system. The force changes the equilibrium position of the end mirror, and thus the resonance frequency of the cavity field depends on the force to be detected. As a result, the magnitude of the force can be inferred by analyzing the single-photon emission and scattering spectra of the optomechanical cavity. Since the emission and scattering processes are much faster than the characteristic mechanical dissipation, the influence of the mechanical thermal noise is negligible in this spectrometric detection scheme. We also extent this spectrometric method to detect a monochromatic oscillating force by utilizing an optomechanical coupling modulated at the same frequency as the force.

Quantum entanglement maintained by virtual excitations in an ultrastrongly-coupled-oscillator system.

We study the effect of quantum entanglement maintained by virtual excitations in an ultrastrongly-coupled harmonic-oscillator system. Here, the quantum entanglement is caused by the counterrotating interaction terms and hence it is maintained by the virtual excitations. We obtain the analytical expression for the ground state of the system and analyze the relationship between the average excitation numbers and the ground-state entanglement. We also study the entanglement dynamics between the two oscillators in both the closed- and open-system cases. In the latter case, the quantum master equation is microscopically derived in the normal-mode representation of the coupled-oscillator system. This work will open a route to the study of quantum information processing and quantum physics based on virtual excitations.

Genome shuffling and ribosome engineering of Streptomyces virginiae for improved virginiamycin production.

The production of virginiamycin (VGM) from Streptomyces virginiae was improved by genome shuffling and ribosome engineering companied with a high-throughput screening method integrating deep-well cultivation and the cylinder-plate detecting. First, a novel high-throughput method was developed to rapidly screen large numbers of VGM-producing mutants. Then, the starting population of genome shuffling was obtained through ultraviolet (UV) and microwave mutagenesis, and four mutants with higher productivity of VGM were selected for genome shuffling. Next, the parent protoplasts were inactivated by UV and heat when a fusant probability was about 98%. Streptomycin resistance was used as an evolutionary pressure to extend positive effects on VGM synthesis. Finally, after five rounds of genome shuffling, a genetically stable strain G5-103 was obtained and characterized to be able to yield 251 mg/L VGM, which was 3.1- and 11.6-fold higher than that of the mutant strain UV 1150 and the wild-type strain, respectively.

Exercise improves nicotine reward-associated cognitive behaviors and related α7 nAChR-mediated signal transduction in adolescent rats.

The adolescent brain is vulnerable to long-lasting cognitive disturbances resulting from nicotine exposure. Although exercise has been used as an intervention for ameliorating cognitive deficits in various disorders, the effect on cognitive changes induced by nicotine exposure and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise on nicotine reward-associated cognitive behaviors in adolescent rats subjected to nicotine conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP). Male adolescent rats were trained on the Go/NoGo task, then subjected to nicotine CPP, and then randomly separated into four groups: sedentary (SED), high- (HE), moderate- (ME), and low-intensity (LE) exercise. Rats in exercise groups performed treadmill running 30 min daily for 10 days. Results showed that MEs had shorter escape latencies in the Morris water maze (MWM) test compared to SEDs. Although time spent and distance swam in the target quadrant significantly increased in both the MEs and HEs, the number of target quadrant crosses increased significantly only in MEs. MEs and HEs showed higher performance accuracy on NoGo and lower scores on CPP tasks. Expression of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and downstream signaling molecules increased in MEs in prefrontal cortex but not hippocampus, with α7 nAChRs expression positively associated with NoGo accuracy and MWM probe test performance, but negatively correlated with CPP scores. The findings of this study suggest that moderate-intensity exercise can improve nicotine induced cognitive behaviors, and implicates prefrontal cortical α7 nAChR-mediated signal transduction as a possible mechanism.

Sex differences in drug addiction and response to exercise intervention: From human to animal studies.

Accumulated research supports the idea that exercise could be an option of potential prevention and treatment for drug addiction. During the past few years, there has been increased interest in investigating of sex differences in exercise and drug addiction. This demonstrates that sex-specific exercise intervention strategies may be important for preventing and treating drug addiction in men and women. However, little is known about how and why sex differences are found when doing exercise-induced interventions for drug addiction. In this review, we included both animal and human that pulled subjects from a varied age demographic, as well as neurobiological mechanisms that may highlight the sex-related differences in these potential to assess the impact of sex-specific roles in drug addiction and exercise therapies.

Identification of three antigen epitopes on the nucleocapsid protein of the genotype C of bovine parainfluenza virus type 3.

Bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (BPIV3) is an important respiratory tract pathogen for both young and adult cattle. So far, three genotypes A, B and C of BPIV3 have been described on the basis of genetic and phylogenetic analysis. But fine mapping of epitopes of BPIV3 is scant and the antigenic variations among the three genotypes of BPIV3 have not been reported. Nucleocapsid protein (NP) is the most abundant protein in the virion and highly conserved in BPIV3, which is crucial for the induction of protective immunity in host. To identify antigenic determinants of BPIV3 NP, a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was tested against a series of overlapping recombinant NP fragments expressed in Escherichia coli. Firstly, six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against NP of the genotype C of BPIV3 (BPIV3c) were generated by using the purified BPIV3c strain SD0835 as immunogen and the recombinant NP of SD0835 as screening antigen. Then three antigen epitopes were identified with the six mAbs. One epitope (91)GNNADVKYVIYM(102) was recognized by mAb 5E5. The mAbs 7G5, 7G8, 7G9, and 7H5 were reactive with another epitope (407)FYKPTGG(413). The third epitope (428)ESRGDQDQ(435) was reactive with mAb 6F8. Further analysis showed that the epitope (91-102 amino acids [aa]) was the most conserved and reactive with mAb 5E5 for all three genotypes of BPIV3 and HPIV3. The epitope (407-413 aa) was relatively conserved and reactive with mAbs 7G5, 7G8, 7G9, and 7H5 for BPIV3a, BPIV3c and HPIV3, but not reactive with BPIV3b. The epitope (428-435 aa) was less conserved and was reactive only with mAb 6F8 for BPIV3a and BPIV3c. These results suggested that there were evident antigenic variations among the three genotypes of BPIV3 and HPIV3. The mAb 6F8 could be used to detect BPIV3a and BPIV3c. The mAbs 7G5, 7G8, 7G9, and 7H5 might be used for differentiate BPIV3a, BPIV3c and HPIV3 from BPIV3b. The mAb 5E5 might be used for detecting all three types of BPIV3 and HPIV3. The results in this study would have potential applications in the development of suitable diagnostic techniques for BPIV3, which was prevalent in China.

Hypoxic conditioned medium from rat cerebral cortical cells enhances the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells mainly through PI3-K/Akt pathways.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of hypoxic conditioned media from rat cerebral cortical cells on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro, and to study the roles of PI3-K/Akt and JNK signal transduction pathways in these processes. METHODS: Cerebral cortical cells from neonatal Sprague-Dawley rat were cultured under hypoxic and normoxic conditions; the supernatant was collected and named 'hypoxic conditioned medium' (HCM) and 'normoxic conditioned medium' (NCM), respectively. We detected the protein levels (by ELISA) of VEGF and BDNF in the conditioned media and mRNA levels (by RT-PCR) in cerebral cortical cells. The proliferation (number and size of neurospheres) and differentiation (proportion of neurons and astrocytes over total cells) of NSCs was assessed. LY294002 and SP600125, inhibitors of PI3-K/Akt and JNK, respectively, were applied, and the phosphorylation levels of PI3-K, Akt and JNK were measured by western blot. RESULTS: The protein levels and mRNA expressions of VEGF and BDNF in 4% HCM and 1% HCM were both higher than that of those in NCM. The efficiency and speed of NSCs proliferation was enhanced in 4% HCM compared with 1% HCM. The highest percentage of neurons and lowest percentage of astrocytes was found in 4% HCM. However, the enhancement of NSCs proliferation and differentiation into neurons accelerated by 4% HCM was inhibited by LY294002 and SP600125, with LY294002 having a stronger inhibitory effect. The increased phosphorylation levels of PI3-K, Akt and JNK in 4% HCM were blocked by LY294002 and SP600125. CONCLUSIONS: 4%HCM could promote NSCs proliferation and differentiation into high percentage of neurons, these processes may be mainly through PI3-K/Akt pathways.

Intra- and intermolecular Se···X (X = Se, O) interactions in selenium-containing heterocycles: 3-benzoylimino-5-(morpholin-4-yl)-1,2,4-diselenazole.

In the selenium-containing heterocyclic title compound {systematic name: N-[5-(morpholin-4-yl)-3H-1,2,4-diselenazol-3-ylidene]benzamide}, C13H13N3O2Se2, the five-membered 1,2,4-diselenazole ring and the amide group form a planar unit, but the phenyl ring plane is twisted by 22.12 (19)° relative to this plane. The five consecutive N-C bond lengths are all of similar lengths [1.316 (6)-1.358 (6) Å], indicating substantial delocalization along these bonds. The Se···O distance of 2.302 (3) Å, combined with a longer than usual amide C=O bond of 2.252 (5) Å, suggest a significant interaction between the amide O atom and its adjacent Se atom. An analysis of related structures containing an Se-Se···X unit (X = Se, S, O) shows a strong correlation between the Se-Se bond length and the strength of the Se···X interaction. When X = O, the strength of the Se···O interaction also correlates with the carbonyl C=O bond length. Weak intermolecular Se···Se, Se···O, C-H···O, C-H···π and π-π interactions each serve to link the molecules into ribbons or chains, with the C-H···O motif being a double helix, while the combination of all interactions generates the overall three-dimensional supramolecular framework.