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Distinct neuronal vulnerability and metabolic dysfunctions are characteristic features of fast-progressing Alzheimer's patients with Lewy bodies

COVID-19 and neuropathy in type 2 diabetes

Abstract This study investigated the risk factors for COVID-19 and its impact on diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Patients with T2D underwent assessments with the NICE post-COVID questionnaire, DN4 questionnaire, vibration perception threshold (VPT), and corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) before and 11.0 ± 8.9 months after developing COVID-19. Of 76 participants with T2D, 35 (46.1%) developed COVID-19, of whom 8 (22.9%) developed severe COVID-19 and 9 (25.7%) developed long-COVID. The development of COVID-19 was associated with lower systolic blood pressure (P < 0.05). The presence and severity of DPN were not associated with developing COVID-19, severe COVID-19, or long-COVID (P = 0.42–0.94). Women were eight times more likely to develop long-COVID (P < 0.05) and elevated body weight, LDL, and VPT were associated with the development of long-COVID (P < 0.05 − 0.01). The long-COVID group exhibited significant changes in triglycerides and LDL (P < 0.05 for both) and body weight (P < 0.01) at follow-up. Their impact on clinical and neuropathy measures was comparable in patients with and without COVID-19 (P = 0.08–0.99). There was a significant reduction in corneal nerve measures (P < 0.05-0.0001) in patients with and without COVID-19. A low systolic blood pressure, altered lipids, body weight, higher VPT, and gender may determine the impact of COVID-19 in patients with T2D, but there was no evidence of an impact of COVID-19 on the development or progression of DPN.

Resveratrol reduces RVLM neuron activity via activating the AMPK/Sirt3 pathway in stress-induced hypertension

Error control method using crossed axes strategy in the five-axis thread milling process

Viperin expression leads to downregulation of mitochondrial genes through misincorporation of ddhCTP by mitochondrial RNA polymerase

Genetic editing of primary human dorsal root ganglion neurons using CRISPR-Cas9

Binding mode between peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase and the peptidyl-A76 moiety of the substrate

Comparative analysis of ensemble learning techniques for enhanced fatigue life prediction

A high-throughput assay platform to discover small molecule activators of the phospholipase PLC-γ2 to treat Alzheimer's disease

GA BP prediction model for energy consumption of steel rolling reheating furnace

Characterization of quinazolinone calcilytic therapy for autosomal dominant hypocalcemia type 1 (ADH1)

Influence of exogenously applied k-carrageenan at various concentrations on plant growth, phytochemical content, macronutrients, and essential oils of Ocimum basilicum

Abstract Food safety and security are now among the most urgent problems to be resolved as the world’s population continues to grow. Intensive agriculture is required to meet the demands of a growing population and guarantee greater agricultural yield. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are an essential part of intensive farming. Their extensive use accelerates the depletion of other important and minor nutrients, resulting in poor soil fertility and nutritional imbalance. There are serious health and environmental hazards associated with several of these hazardous agricultural chemicals. In context, for the first time, this study represents an innovative experiment exploring the impact of exogenously applied k-carrageenan on plant growth, physiological parameters, phytochemical content, macronutrients, and essential oil percentage in Ocimum basilicum plants. The investigation assessed the effect of varying k-carrageenan levels; 0.30, 0.60, 0.90, and 1.20 mM versus untreated control. The findings revealed that all k-carrageenan treatments significantly enhanced growth indicators compared to the control. The phytochemical analysis demonstrated that foliar application of k-carrageenan, particularly at 1.20 mM, significantly enhanced total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total carbohydrate and essential oil percentage compared to the untreated control. O. basilicum essential oils show rich, nuanced flavors with higher levels of Methyl cinnamate, Camphor, trans-methyl cinnamate, Eucalyptol, Linalool, and β-Caryophyllene among treatments. Treatment effects were also observed in the macroelements content of Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). k-carrageenan-induced alterations were noted in the contents of essential oil compounds. These results suggest that k-carrageenan can be a growth-promoting agent and significantly enhance essential oil yield, particularly in O. basilicum plants.

IRDiRC perspectives on the application of digital biomarkers in therapeutic development for rare diseases

Stress-induced changes in endogenous TP53 mRNA 5′ regulatory region

Impact of different capping materials extracts on proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of cultured human dental pulp stem cells

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effects of four bioactive capping material extracts on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells. Four capping material extracts were evaluated in this study [Harvard MTA (calcium silicate), Retro MTA (calcium zirconia complex material), Activa Bioactive Base/Liner (bioactive glass-based material) and an experimental MCP-based pulp capping material). The materials prepared according to their manufacturers’ instructions in the form of discs. Each material disc was placed into one insert of a 6-well plate and covered with Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium to produce extracts at 1:1 ratio. Human dental pulp stem cells represent the negative control group, cells cultured in osteogenic media represent the positive control group, while cells cultured on the tested extracts represent the test groups. Each specimen was assessed in triplicate by three independent assays. The proliferation of stem cells was evaluated via MTT assay and cell viability was determined by measuring optical density. Osteogenic differentiation was assessed via the alizarin red stain test by measuring the H-score and calcium concentration. The proliferation and osteogenic differentiation data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc multiple comparison test (p ≤ 0.05). Regarding MTT assay results, osteogenic media was significantly greater than calcium zirconia complex and MCP-based material. In comparison with negative control and calcium zirconia complexes, calcium silicate significantly increased the optic density. Alizarin red staining revealed significantly low H-scores and calcium concentrations in the four tested capping materials in comparison with control group. The calcium concentration of calcium silicate material was significantly greater than the remaining tested materials.Calcium silicate-based materials seem to have the most reliable performance concerning the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells. Newly introduced resin-based materials have shown acceptable results but need further investigation. The present study had a few limitations; mainly the need to perform more laboratory evaluations and in vivo studies.

Inefficient maturation of disease-linked mutant forms of the KCC2 potassium-chloride cotransporter correlates with predicted pathogenicity

Design of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate against Vibrio cholerae

Insights into the transcriptional regulation of CD22 in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Pupillary responses to bright and dark stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit difficulties in sensory processing, including visual hypersensitivity such as photophobia. This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying photophobia in participants with ASD by analyzing pupillary responses. To achieve this, we examined the amplitude and velocity gradient (latency) of these responses. Pupillary responses were recorded using an eye-tracking system in participants with ASD (n =  17) and typically developing (TD) (n =  23). Stimuli alternated between bright (89.03 cd/m2) and dark (0.07 cd/m2) conditions following a dim state (2.75 cd/m2) with intervals of five seconds in Experiment 1 and 30 seconds in Experiment 2. The sensory profile test (AASP-J) showed that hypersensitivity was significantly defined in the ASD group than in the TD group. The pupillary response in the ASD group often featured missing values due to blinking during rapid alternation between bright and dark conditions, resulting in a decrease in the total number of participants. Specifically, only eight of the 17 participants in the ASD group and 20 of the 23 participants in the TD group remained for analysis in Experiment 1, and in Experiment 2, 15 of the 17 participants in the ASD group and 20 of the 23 participants in the TD group remained for analysis. In the dim state, pupillary diameter was large in the ASD and TD group in both experiments, while the pupil diameter decreased in the TD group in Experiment 2. In both experiments, maximum amplitude and its latency showed no significant differences between the two groups. However, the velocity gradient for the early mydriatic process in the dark condition was significantly faster in the ASD group. ASD individuals with hypersensitivity tend to have large pupil diameters under the dim state, as well as rapid dilation in the dark condition. These results may suggest a problem in the sympathetic nervous system, which controls pupil constriction.

Mathematical modelling and sliding characteristics analysis on the spherical movable teeth for the toroidal drive

Abstract Toroidal drives combine a planetary gear drive with a worm gear drive. Furthermore, in toroidal drives, the planetary gear teeth are movable. The motion of spherical movable teeth for planetary gears affects the friction, wear and transmission efficiency of the meshing surface, but this effect has not been thoroughly studied to date. This study involved a kinematic analysis of planetary gear teeth. Frenet-fram was first introduced into the toroidal drive to describe the motion of spherical movable teeth. A contact analysis of the spherical movable teeth was carried out, and a mathematical model of rolling–sliding motion between the spherical movable teeth and the central worm spiral groove was established via the conversion mechanism method. The instantaneous velocity formula and relative sliding velocity formula at the meshing points of movable teeth were derived. The influence of the system parameters on the sliding velocity was analysed, and several useful conclusions were drawn. These results can provide a theoretical foundation for subsequent research on the friction loss and transmission efficiency of toroidal drives.