Short-chain fatty acids: bridges between diet, gut microbiota, and health.

In recent years, gut microbiota has become a hot topic in the fields of medicine and life sciences. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the main metabolites of gut microbiota produced by microbial fermentation of dietary fiber, play a vital role in healthy and ill hosts. SCFAs regulate the process of metabolism, immune, and inflammation and have therapeutic effects on gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, as well as antitumor properties.

DLFFNet: A new dynamical local feature fusion network for automatic aortic valve calcification recognition using echocardiography.

Background And Objective: Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is a strong predictor of adverse cardiovascular events and is correlated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis. Generally, AVC is identified by echocardiography using visual "eyeballing", which results in huge differences between observers and requires a long time to learn. Therefore, accurately identifying AVC from echocardiographic images is a challenging task due to the interference of various factors.

Renal-hepatic-pancreatic dysplasia-1 with a novel NPHP3 genotype: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Renal-hepatic-pancreatic dysplasia type 1 (RHPD1) is a rare sporadic and autosomal recessive disorder with unknown incidence. RHPD1 is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in NPHP3, which encode nephrocystin, an important component of the ciliary protein complex.

Case Presentation: In this case report, we describe a male newborn who was confirmed by ultrasound to have renal enlargement with multiple cysts, pancreatic enlargement with cysts, and increased liver echogenicity, leading to the clinical diagnosis of RHPD.

Gut Microbiome-Mediated Alteration of Immunity, Inflammation, and Metabolism Involved in the Regulation of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the leading causes of end-stage liver disease, leading to a rapidly growing global public health burden. The term "gut microbiome (GM)" refers to the approximately 100 trillion microbial cells that inhabit the host's gastrointestinal tract. There is increasing evidence that GM is involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and may be a potential target for intervention.

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor protects mice against hepatocellular carcinoma by ameliorating intestinal dysbiosis and attenuating inflammation.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The gut microbiota can help maintain healthy metabolism and immunity. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a critical factor in promoting health and homeostasis; it promotes intestinal immunity, stimulates bone marrow precursors to generate macrophage colonies, and enhances the antibacterial and antitumor activity of circulating monocytes.

NRP1 is a Prognostic Factor and Promotes the Growth and Migration of Cells in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) participates in cancer cell proliferation and metastasis as a multifunctional co-receptor by interacting with multiple signaling pathways. However, few studies have addressed the precise function and prognosis analysis of NRP1 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). We aimed to study the correlations between NRP1 and clinicopathological characteristics and NRP1 effect on ICC cell line functions.

Intestinal Flora as a Potential Strategy to Fight SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread rapidly worldwide, seriously endangering human health. In addition to the typical symptoms of pulmonary infection, patients with COVID-19 have been reported to have gastrointestinal symptoms and/or intestinal flora dysbiosis. It is known that a healthy intestinal flora is closely related to the maintenance of pulmonary and systemic health by regulating the host immune homeostasis.

Neuropilin1 silencing impairs the proliferation and migration of cells in pancreatic cancer.

Background: Neuropilin1 (NRP1) participates in cancer cell proliferation, migration, and metastasis as a multifunctional co-receptor by interacting with multiple signal pathways, but few studies have addressed the precise function of NRP1 in pancreatic cancer (PACA) cells. We aimed to study whether NRP1 gene silencing involved in the proliferation and migration of PACA cells in vitro.

Methods: A lentiviral vector expressing NRP1 shRNA was constructed and transfected into human PACA cells (CFPAC-1 and PANC-1).

Regioselective 1,2-addition of allenamides with N-haloimides: synthesis of 2-halo allylic aminal derivatives.

A strategy for the synthesis of 2-halo allylic aminal derivatives through regioselective 1,2-addition of allenamides with N-haloimides is presented. This reaction was conducted under very mild conditions and gave up to 99% yield. Moreover, the obtained halides allow functional group diversification by palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions, which could act as potential intermediates for the synthesis of valuable compounds.

[Parameter sensitivity of simulating net primary productivity of Larix olgensis forest based on BIOME-BGC model].

Model based on vegetation ecophysiological process contains many parameters, and reasonable parameter values will greatly improve simulation ability. Sensitivity analysis, as an important method to screen out the sensitive parameters, can comprehensively analyze how model parameters affect the simulation results. In this paper, we conducted parameter sensitivity analysis of BIOME-BGC model with a case study of simulating net primary productivity (NPP) of Larix olgensis forest in Wangqing, Jilin Province.

[Influence of fruit size of Camellia meiocarpa on growth of oil tea weevil, Curculio chinensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)].

The relationship between mature larval mass of oil tea weevil (Curculio chinensis) and fruit volume of its host plant oil tea (Camellia meiocarpa) was fitted with Logistic equation in order to understand the restriction of host fruit size on large larval growth and development of the weevil. The results showed that the larval mass increased with the increasing host fruit volume, which was in good conformity with the Logistic model. The weevil larval growth followed the principle of diminishing marginal utility, and it could be divided into two periods, the fast-growing period (<3.

CHL1 is involved in human breast tumorigenesis and progression.

Neural cell adhesion molecules (CAM) play important roles in the development and regeneration of the nervous system. The L1 family of CAMs is comprised of L1, Close Homolog of L1 (CHL1, L1CAM2), NrCAM, and Neurofascin, which are structurally related trans-membrane proteins in vertebrates. Although the L1CAM has been demonstrated play important role in carcinogenesis and progression, the function of CHL1 in human breast cancer is limited.

Molecular clone and expression of a NAD+-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase isozyme gene from the halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina.

Glycerol is an important osmotically compatible solute in Dunaliella. Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) is a key enzyme in the pathway of glycerol synthesis, which converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to glycerol-3-phosphate. Generally, the glycerol-DHAP cycle pathway, which is driven by G3PDH, is considered as the rate-limiting enzyme to regulate the glycerol level under osmotic shocks.

A natural functionally graded biocomposite coating--human enamel.

Human enamel has been found to be a coating with excellent mechanical performance, and has undergone extensive investigation and discussion. However, most of the reported studies consider the enamel as a homogeneous anisotropic biocomposite. The current study illustrated the graded properties of the biocomposite from its functional load-bearing direction.

An evaluation of dental operative simulation materials.

The study was to evaluate the performance of different materials used in dental operative simulation and compare them with those of natural teeth. Three typical phantom teeth materials were compared with extracted permanent teeth by a nanoindentation system and evaluated by students and registered dentists on the drilling sensation of the materials. Moreover, the tool life (machinability) of new cylindrical diamond burs on cutting the sample materials was tested and the burs were observed.

A comparison of pressure generated by cordless gingival displacement techniques.

Statement Of Problem: Handling properties of cordless gingival displacement materials is not well understood, resulting in incorrect use. Insufficient displacement of the gingival margin may result in a poor impression.

Purpose: This study investigated the pressure generated by a cordless displacement paste with respect to different techniques.

Development of a dental model hardener.

The paper presents a novel method of strengthening dental gypsum materials by infiltrating with a low-viscosity autopolymerising monomer. Gypsum specimens were infiltrated with diluted butyl-cyanoacrylate monomer at different concentrations. Nanoindentation was employed to measure their hardness and elastic modulus.

Expression of three sHSP genes involved in heat pretreatment-induced chilling tolerance in banana fruit.

Background: Banana fruit is highly susceptible to chilling injury. In previous research it was shown that heat pretreatment of banana fruit at 38 °C for 3 days before storage at a chilling temperature of 8 °C for 12 days prevented increases in visible chilling injury index, electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content and also decreases in lightness and chroma, indicating that heat pretreatment could effectively alleviate chilling injury of banana fruit. However, little is known about the role of small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) in postharvest chilling tolerance of banana fruit.

[Establishment and primary application of sandwich ELISA method to detect tenascin-C].

Aim: To establish a sandwich method to detect tenascin-c on the basis of preparation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against tenascin-C (TN-C).

Methods: The ascites of three stains of mAbs (No. 1A8, 3H7 and 4D6) were prepared and purified.

A novel polymer infiltrated ceramic for dental simulation.

Simulation of tooth preparation using rotary cutting instruments is viewed as beneficial and essential in dental training. Various types of materials have been used for simulation systems in dental preclinical training. However, the phantom tooth materials used for simulation have not changed significantly for decades and they are acknowledged to be different from natural teeth.

A novel polymer infiltrated ceramic dental material.

Objectives: To evaluate the mechanical behavior of a prototype porous ceramic interpenetrating polymer-ceramic material containing 15-20% polymer.

Methods: After sample preparation, elastic modulus, hardness, stress-strain relationship and indentation creep response were measured by a nanoindentation system. Fracture toughness was measured by the single-edge-notched beam (SENB) method.