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This study aimed to elucidate the causal genetic relationships between iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted using the "TwoSampleMR" and "MendelianRandomization" packages in R. The random-effects inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary approach. We performed sensitivity analyses to test the reliability of the results. The random-effects IVW analysis revealed that there was no genetic causal relationship between iron (P = 0.429, odds ratio [OR] 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.919 [0.746–1.133]), copper (P = 0.313, OR 95% CI = 0.973 [0.921–1.027]), zinc (P = 0.633, OR 95% CI = 0.978 [0.891–1.073]), or magnesium (P = 0.218, OR 95% CI = 0.792 [0.546–1.148]) and RA. Sensitivity analysis verified the reliability of the results. Therefore, there is no evidence to support a causal relationship between iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium intake at the genetic level and the development of RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, a configurable NbOx memristor is achieved that can be configured as an artificial synapse or neuron after fabrication by controlling the forming compliance current (FCC). When the FCC ≤ 2 mA, the memristors exhibit the resistive‐switching (RS) property, enabling multiple types of synaptic plasticity, including short‐term potentiation, paired‐pulse facilitation, short‐term memory, and long‐term memory. When the FCC ≥ 3 mA, the memristors can be electroformed and exhibit the threshold switching (TS) property with excellent endurance (>1012), thus achieving various biological neuron characteristics, such as threshold‐triggering, strength‐modulation of spike frequency, and leaky integrate‐and‐fire. This enables the successful implementation of a spiking Pavlov's dog that employs the spikes as information carrier by connecting an RS NbOx memristor as artificial synapse and a TS memristor as artificial neuron in series. Furthermore, a fully NbOx memristors‐based single‐layer spiking neural network is simulated. It is first found that, due to the forgetting property of synapse, the recognition accuracy for the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology handwritten digits is increased from 85.49% to 91.45%. This study provides a solid foundation for the development of neuromorphic machines based on the principles of the human brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathological manifestations of osteoarthritis (OA) involve the destruction of articular cartilage, synovial sac thickening, subchondral osteosclerosis and osteophyte formation. The types of cells involved in OA include chondrocytes, osteoblasts, osteoclasts, synovial fibroblasts, T cells, macrophages, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). There are many effects of immune cells in OA, and innate immune cells such as dendritic cells and macrophages have significant roles in the pathogenesis of OA. On the other hand, the role of adaptive immune cells such as T-cell subsets, B-cell subsets, and NK cells is important in OA pathogenesis. MSCs not only play a key role in the dynamic balance and repair of OA tissue but also inhibit the immune system. Therefore, MSCs are a new potential therapeutic agent for OA. This review mainly summarizes the effects of various immune cells and cytokines on different cells in OA to find new effective therapeutic targets for OA therapy based on the immune system and cytokine activity sites to prevent the development of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Certain growth factors (GFs) are associated with constipation, but few studies has analyzed the causal associations between the two. Therefore, this study used two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to systematically analyze the causal associations between GF levels and constipation based on data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Methods: Both GF and constipation data were obtained from European populations. GFs, as an exposure variable, were obtained from a genetic map of the human plasma proteome containing 3,301 samples, another GWAS dataset on 90 circulating proteins containing 30,931 samples, and a GWAS dataset containing 3,788 samples. Constipation, as an outcome variable, was obtained from the FinnGen project containing 26,919 cases and 282,235 controls and another UK Biobank dataset containing 3,328 cases and 459,682 controls. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms strongly associated with GFs were regarded as instrumental variables. Inverse-variance weighting, MR-Egger regression, weight median, simple mode, and weight mode methods were used to determine genetic associations. Cochran's Q test, Egger intercept, and Mendelian Randomization Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier tests were used to analyze sensitivity. Results: The IVW analysis based on FinnGen showed that NGFI-A-binding protein 2 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 were inversely associated with constipation, and that fibroblast growth factor 7 and transforming growth factor beta receptor II levels were positively associated with constipation. The IVW analysis based on UK Biobank showed that proheparin-binding epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor AA, and vascular endothelial growth factor 121 were inversely associated with constipation. Conclusion: This study showed that some GFs are genetically associated with the risk of constipation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Yang, Xu, Wan, Xie, Yu, Fang, Wang and Xu.)