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An ultra-high sensitivity pH sensor based on vertical organic electrochemical transistors (vOECT) with extended gate was proposed. The vOECT, which exhibited high transconductance (gm), was for the first time used in the preparation of a pH sensor. The extended gate was modified by electrochemical deposition of polyaniline (PANI) using the cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. Open circuit potential (OCP) measurements were used to optimize the scan rate, showing a super-Nernstian sensitivity at all scan rates. The pH sensor based on vOECT with extended gate was investigated at different pH levels, and it exhibited an ultra-high sensitivity of 3363.6 µA/pH in the pH range 5-9, which was about 36 times greater than the maximum current sensitivity (91 µA/pH) of other transistor-based pH sensors, to the best of our knowledge. This pH sensor performed excellently in terms of reversibility, long-term stability, and selectivity. To confirm the reliability of the pH sensor, we conducted measurements on real samples using this pH sensor and compared the results with those obtained from a standard pH meter. The ultra-high sensitivity pH sensor based on vOECT with extended gate offers a sensitive and promising alternative in environmental monitoring, food safety, chemistry, clinical diagnostics, and bio-sensing applications.
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BACKGROUND: Teleultrasound provides an effective solution to problems that arise from limited medical resources, a lack of local expertise, and scenarios where the risk of infection is high. This study aims to explore the feasibility of the application of a 5G-powered robot-assisted teleultrasound diagnostic system in an intensive care unit. METHODS: In this study, the robot-assisted teleultrasound diagnostic system MGIUS-R3 was used. Using 5G network technology, the doctor manipulates the robotic arm to perform teleultrasound examination. The doctor can adjust parameters via the teleultrasound control panel, and real-time transmission of audio, video and ultrasound images can facilitate simultaneous communication between both parties. All patients underwent robot-assisted teleultrasound examination and bedside ultrasound examination of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidney, as well as assessment for pleural effusion and abdominal effusion. We evaluated the feasibility of the application of the robot-assisted teleultrasound diagnosis system in the intensive care unit in terms of consultation duration, image quality, and safety. We also compared diagnostic consistency and differences. RESULTS: Apart from one patient who was excluded due to severe intestinal gas interference and poor image quality, a total of 32 patients were included in this study. Every patient completed all relevant examinations. Among them, 20 patients were male; 12 were female. The average age of the patients was 61 ± 20 years. The average duration of teleultrasound diagnosis was 17 ± 7 min. Of the 32 patients, 26 had positive results, 6 had negative results, and 5 had inconsistent diagnoses. The overall diagnostic results were basically the same, and there were no differences in diagnostic levels between the two. The overall average image quality score was 4.73 points, which represented a high-quality image. After robot-assisted teleultrasound examination, no significant changes were observed in the vital signs of patients as compared to before examination, and no examination-related complications were found. CONCLUSION: The 5G-powered robot-assisted teleultrasound diagnostic system was associated with the benefits of clear images, simple operation, relatively high levels of consistency in terms of diagnostic results, higher levels of safety, and has considerable application value in the intensive care unit.
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Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Robóticos/normas , Telemedicina/normas , Ultrassonografia/instrumentação , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Humanos , Unidades de Terapia Intensiva/organização & administração , Unidades de Terapia Intensiva/estatística & dados numéricos , Internet , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Robóticos/instrumentação , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Robóticos/estatística & dados numéricos , Telemedicina/métodos , Telemedicina/estatística & dados numéricos , Ultrassonografia/métodosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in peripheral blood has become a promising noninvasive biomarker. However, the diagnostic potential of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway-related ctDNA for liver cancer is controversial. Here, we aimed to access the diagnostic potential and clinicopathological features of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway-related ctDNA in liver cancer and provide data support for its clinical diagnosis and treatment. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify the relevant studies. The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the QUADAS-2 tool. The bivariate linear mixed models were used. RESULTS: The AUC (area under the curve), pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.77, 0.42 and 0.98, respectively. The findings suggested that control type, sample source, research methods and thresholds were the potential sources of heterogeneity (p < 0.05). Additionally, this study also found that there were significant correlations between the hypermethylation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway-related ctDNA and tumor size, TNM stage, distant metastasis, and HBV infection(p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway-related ctDNA had the better diagnostic potential for liver cancer and might be an effective complementary tool for serum AFP assays in the early diagnosis of liver cancer. PROSPERO: (No. CRD42023404984).[Figure: see text].
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The measurement of portal venous pressure (PVP) has been extensively studied, primarily through indirect methods. However, the potential of ultrasound-guided percutaneous transhepatic PVP measurement as a direct method has been largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the accuracy, safety, and feasibility of this approach. METHODS: In vitro, the experiment aimed to select a needle that could accurately transmit pressure, had a small inner diameter and was suitable for liver puncture, and performed on 20 healthy New Zealand white rabbits. An ultrasound-guided percutaneous transhepatic portal vein puncture was undertaken to measure PVP. Additionally, free hepatic venous pressure (FHVP) and wedged hepatic venous pressure (WHVP) were measured under digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The correlation between the two methods was assessed. Enroll study participants from October 18, 2023 to November 11, 2023 with written informed consent. Five patients were measured the PVP under ultrasound guidance before surgery to determine the feasibility of this measurement method. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the results obtained using 9 different types of needles (P > 0.05). This demonstrated a great repeatability (P < 0.05). The 22G chiba needle with small inner diameter, allowing for accurate pressure transmission and suitable for liver puncture, was utilized for percutaneous transhepatic PVP measurement. There were positive correlations between PVP and HVPG (r = 0.881), PVP and WHVP (r = 0.709), HVPG and WHVP (r = 0.729), IVCP and FHVP (r = 0.572). The PVP was accurately and safely measured in 5 patients with segmental hepatectomy. No complications could be identified during postoperative ultrasound. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous transhepatic portal venous puncture under ultrasound guidance is accurate, safe and feasible to measure portal venous pressure. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This study has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with registration number ChiCTR2300076751.
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Estudos de Viabilidade , Pressão na Veia Porta , Veia Porta , Animais , Coelhos , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Veia Porta/diagnóstico por imagem , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Ultrassonografia de Intervenção/métodos , Adulto , Fígado/diagnóstico por imagem , Fígado/cirurgia , Fígado/irrigação sanguínea , Punções/métodos , Ultrassonografia/métodos , Idoso , Angiografia Digital/métodos , Determinação da Pressão Arterial/métodosRESUMO
PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of percutaneous puncture guided by a 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G)-based telerobotic ultrasound system in phantom and animal experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the phantom experiment, 10 simulated lesions were punctured, once at each of two angles for each lesion, under the guidance of a telerobotic ultrasound system and ultrasound-guided freehand puncture. Student's t test was used to compare the two methods in terms of puncture accuracy, total operation duration, and puncture duration. In the animal experiment, under the guidance of the telerobotic ultrasound system, an 18G puncture needle was used to puncture 3 target steel beads in the liver, right kidney, and right gluteal muscle, respectively. The animal experiment had no freehand ultrasound-guided control group. After puncture, a CT scan was performed to verify the position of the puncture needle in relation to the target, and the complications and puncture duration, etc., were recorded. RESULTS: In the phantom experiment, the mean accuracies of puncture under telerobotic ultrasound guidance and conventional ultrasound guidance were 1.8 ± 0.3 mm and 1.6 ± 0.3 mm (P = 0.09), respectively; therefore, there was no significant difference in the accuracy of the two guide methods. In the animal experiment, the first-attempt puncture success (the needle tip close to the target) rate was 93%. Polypnea occurred during one puncture. No other intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. CONCLUSION: Puncture guided by a 5G-based telerobotic ultrasound system has shown good feasibility and safety in phantom and animal experiments.
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Estudos de Viabilidade , Imagens de Fantasmas , Punções , Ultrassonografia de Intervenção , Animais , Ultrassonografia de Intervenção/métodos , Fígado/diagnóstico por imagem , Fígado/cirurgia , Rim/diagnóstico por imagem , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios X/métodosRESUMO
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most economically important infectious diseases of pigs worldwide. Vaccination and various management measures have been implemented to control PRRS. However, due to high genetic diversity and insufficient understanding of the pathogenesis and immunological mechanisms, PRRS is still a challenge to the pig industry. Therefore, it is important to develop novel strategies to combat PRRS virus (PRRSV) infection. In this study, our data show that tylvalosin, a third-generation animal-specific macrolide, could inhibit PRRSV replication in MARC-145 cells, and suppress the PRRSV-induced NF-κB activation and cytokines expression. The pig infection experiment further demonstrated that tylvalosin could significantly reduce the virus loads in serum and tissues, and alleviate lung lesions of pigs infected with highly pathogenic PRRSV strains. The fever and loss of daily gain (LoDG) of the pigs were decreased as well. Considering the feature of immune suppression of PRRSV, a combination of tylvalosin with the immunopotentiator Poria cocos polysaccharides (PCP) was developed. Pig experiment showed this combination had a better therapeutic efficacy against PRRSV infection than tylvalosin and PCP alone in attenuating lung lesions, alleviating fever, and suppressing cytokines production. This study suggests that tylvalosin has significant antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects against PRRSV infection, and the combination of tylvalosin and PCP provides a promising strategy for PRRS treatment.
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This study determined the physical and mechanical characteristics of fresh black fungus during the harvesting season to provide basic data for the development of mechanical equipment for black fungus harvesting and processing. We have conducted a comprehensive test of black fungus cultivars "Heishan". The mono-factor separation force experiments of black fungus and black fungus virgulate medium were conducted. It was noted that the tension angle was an important factor affecting the separation force, which was mainly distributed between 1.06 and 3.65 N. Besides, the average value of Poisson's ratio of black fungus was measured to be 0.445 in the tensile test of black fungus leaves using image recognition and analysis techniques, with a test error within 2.5%; and the average value of tensile elastic modulus and shear elastic modulus of black fungus leaves was 0.947 MPa and 0.327 MPa, respectively; we also found that the average tensile strength at the root of black fungus was not significantly different from that at the leaf, which was around 0.436 MPa. In addition, it was obtained that the height and thickness dimensions of black fungus in the picking season conformed to a normal distribution, and concentrated around 34.39mm and 0.92mm respectively.
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Fenômenos Mecânicos , Módulo de Elasticidade , Elasticidade , Estações do Ano , Estresse Mecânico , Resistência à TraçãoRESUMO
Developing nonantibiotic livestock growth promoters attracts intensive interest in the post-antibiotic era. In this study, we investigated the growth-promoting efficacy of Zhenqi granules (ZQ) in pigs and further explored the possible mechanisms by transcriptomics analysis. Weaned piglets (52 days old with an average body weight of 17.92 kg) were fed with diets supplemented with different doses of ZQ (0 g/kg, 1 g/kg, and 2 g/kg) for 30 days and continued observations for an additional 32 days after removing ZQ from the diets. Compared with the control group, the average daily gain, carcass weight, average back fat thickness, and fat meat percentage of the group supplemented with 1 g/kg of ZQ showed a significant increase, and the feed/gain ratio was lower. The group supplemented with 2 g/kg of ZQ also showed a significant increase in average daily gain and average backfat thickness. A transcriptomics analysis revealed that the supplementation of ZQ at 1 g/kg upregulated the expression of genes related to collagen biosynthesis and lipid biosynthesis in skeletal muscle and liver. This effect was primarily through upregulating the mRNA levels of structural proteins and lipid-related enzymes. This study demonstrates the growth-promoting efficacy of ZQ and provides some insights of the mechanism of growth promotion.
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Due to the emergence of multi-drug resistant microorganisms, the development and discovery of alternative eco-friendly antimicrobial agents have become a top priority. In this study, a simple, novel, and valid green method was developed to synthesize Litsea cubeba essential oil-silver nanoparticles (Lceo-AgNPs) using Lceo as a reducing and capping agent. The maximum UV absorbance of Lceo-AgNPs appeared at 423 nm and the size was 5-15 nm through transmission electron microscopy result. The results of Fourier transform infrared and DLS showed that Lceo provided sufficient chemical bonds for Lceo-AgNPs to reinforce its stability and dispersion. The in vitro antibacterial effects of Lceo-AgNPs against microbial susceptible multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were determined. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of Lceo-AgNPs against E. coli were 25 and 50 µg/ml. The MIC and MBC of Lceo-AgNPs against MRSA were 50 and 100 µg/ml, respectively. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that the amount of bacteria obviously decreased and the bacteria cells were destroyed by Lceo-AgNPs. In vivo research disclosed significant wound healing and re-epithelialization effects in the Lceo-AgNPs group compared with the self-healing group and the healing activity was better than in the sulfadiazine silver group. In this experiment, Lceo-AgNPs has been shown to have effects on killing multidrug-resistant bacteria and promoting wound healing. This study suggested Lceo-AgNPs as an excellent new-type drug for wound treatment infected with multidrug-resistant bacteria, and now expects to proceed with clinical research.
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The two-component system BaeSR participates in antibiotics resistance of Escherichia coli. To know whether the outer membrane proteins involve in the antibiotics resistance mediated by BaeSR, deletion of acrB was constructed and the recombined plasmid p-baeR was introduced into E. coli K12 and K12â³acrB. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antibacterial agents were determined by 2-fold broth micro-dilution method. Gene expressions related with major outer membrane proteins and multidrug efflux pump-related genes were determined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results revealed that the MICs of K12ΔacrB to the tested drugs except for gentamycin and amikacin decreased 2- to 16.75-folds compared with those of K12. When BaeR was overexpressed, the MICs of K12ΔacrB/p-baeR to ceftiofur and cefotaxime increased 2.5- and 2-fold, respectively, compared with their corresponding that of K12â³acrB. At the same time, the expression levels of ompC, ompF, ompW, ompA and ompX showed significant reduction in K12ΔacrB/p-baeR as compared with K12â³acrB. Moreover, the expression levels of ompR, marA, rob and tolC also significantly 'decreased' in K12ΔacrB/p-baeR. These findings indicated that BaeR overproduction can decrease cephalosporins susceptibility in acrB-free E. coli by decreasing the expression level of outer membrane proteins.
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Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Proteínas da Membrana Bacteriana Externa/metabolismo , Cefalosporinas/farmacologia , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/efeitos dos fármacos , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Transativadores/metabolismo , Proteínas da Membrana Bacteriana Externa/genética , Cefotaxima/farmacologia , Farmacorresistência Bacteriana/genética , Escherichia coli/genética , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/genética , Regulação Bacteriana da Expressão Gênica , Hidrolases/genética , Hidrolases/metabolismo , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana/métodos , Proteínas Associadas à Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/genética , Proteínas Associadas à Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/metabolismo , Porinas/genética , Porinas/metabolismo , Transativadores/genéticaRESUMO
PURPOSE: The present study investigated the value of ultrasomics signatures in the preoperative prediction of the pathological grading of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via machine learning. METHODS: A total of 193 patients were collected from three hospitals. The patients from two hospitals (n = 160) were randomly divided into training set (n = 128) and test set (n = 32) at a 8:2 ratio. The patients from a third hospital were used as an independent validation set (n = 33). The ultrasomics features were extracted from the tumor lesions on the ultrasound images. Support vector machine (SVM) was used to construct three preoperative pathological grading models for HCC on each dataset. The performance of the three models was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. RESULTS: The ultrasomics signatures extracted from the grayscale ultrasound images could successfully differentiate between high- and low-grade HCC lesions on the training set, test set, and the independent validation set (p < 0.05). On the test set and the validation set, the combined model's performance was the highest, followed by the ultrasomics model and the clinical model successively (p < 0.05). Their AUC (along with 95 %CI) of these models was 0.874(0.709-0.964), 0.789(0.608-0.912), 0.720(0.534-0.863) and 0.849(0.682-0.949), 0.825(0.654-0.935), 0.770(0.591-0.898), respectively. CONCLUSION: Machine learning-based ultrasomics signatures could be used for noninvasive preoperative prediction of pathological grading of HCC. The combined model displayed a better predictive performance for pathological grading of HCC and had a stronger generalization ability.
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Carcinoma Hepatocelular , Neoplasias Hepáticas , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/diagnóstico por imagem , Humanos , Neoplasias Hepáticas/diagnóstico por imagem , Aprendizado de Máquina , Curva ROC , Estudos Retrospectivos , UltrassonografiaRESUMO
The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial mechanisms of phenolic acids as natural approaches against multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli). For that purpose, five phenolic acids were combined with each other and 31 combinations were obtained in total. To select the most potent and effective combination, all of the obtained combinations were examined for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and it was found that the compound phenolic acid (CPA) 19 (protocatechuic acid, hydrocinnamic acid, and chlorogenic acid at concentrations of 0.833, 0.208, and 1.677 mg/mL, respectively) showed better efficacy against E. coli compared to other combinations. Furthermore, based on tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomics, the treatment of CPA 19 significantly downregulated the proteins associated with resistance (Tsr, Tar, CheA, and CheW), OmpF, and FliC of multidrug-resistant E. coli. At the same time, we proved that CPA 19 improves the sensitivity of E. coli to antibiotics (ceftriaxone sodium, amoxicillin, fosfomycin, sulfamonomethoxine, gatifloxacin, lincomycin, florfenicol, cefotaxime sodium, and rifampicin), causes the flagellum to fall off, breaks the structure of the cell wall and cell membrane, and leads to macromolecules leaks from the cell. This evidence elaborated the potential therapeutic efficacy of CPA 19 and provided a significant contribution to the discovery of antibacterial agents.
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Semiaquilegia adoxoides (DC.) Makino is a herbal medicine and it is recorded that its water extract can be used to treat acute diseases caused by bacterial infections. In order to understand the polysaccharide of Semiaquilegia adoxoides (DC.) Makino (SMP), FT-IR and HPLC methods were performed to determine the basic chemical structure and monosaccharide compositions of SMP. The antioxidant capacity of SMP was analyzed by monitoring both the scavenging rate of DPPH and ABTS free radical. To investigate the effects of SMP on the acute bacterial disease, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of SMP on E. coli or S. aureus were detected; meanwhile, mice were administrated with SMP for 7 days and then infected with E. coli or S. aureus, and the parameters were measured at the 9th day. Results showed that SMP was a furanose which was mainly composed of glucose (60.3%) and had certain antioxidant activities. Both MIC values of SMP on E. coli and S. aureus were 250 ml/mL, which means that SMP has no direct antibacterial effects. The mice experiments revealed that SMP had potential effects on immunomodulatory by reducing WBC and the expression of serum IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α and increasing IgM of E. coli or S. aureus infected mice. These findings supported the effect of Semiaquilegia adoxoides (DC.) Makino in folk use with scientific evidence.
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Composite films of xylan and polyvinyl alcohol were produced with citric acid as a new plasticizer or a cross-linking agent. The effects of citric acid content and polyvinyl alcohol/xylan weight ratio on the mechanical properties, thermal stability, solubility, degree of swelling and water vapor permeability of the composite films were investigated. The intermolecular interactions and morphology of composite films were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and SEM. The results indicated that polyvinyl alcohol/xylan composite films had good compatibility. With an increase in citric acid content from 10% to 50%, the tensile strength reduced from 35.1 to 11.6 MPa. However, the elongation at break increased sharply from 15.1% to 249.5%. The values of water vapor permeability ranged from 2.35 to 2.95 × 10(-7)g/(mm(2)h). Interactions between xylan and polyvinyl alcohol in the presence of citric acid become stronger, which were caused by hydrogen bond and ester bond formation among the components during film forming.