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Studies suggest that a low level of circulating human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is a risk factor for ischemic injury and coronary artery disease (CAD). Consumption of S-allylcysteine (SAC) is known to prevent CAD. However, the protective effects of SAC on the ischemic injury are not yet clear. In this study, we examined whether SAC could improve blood flow recovery in ischemic tissues through EPC-mediated neovasculogenesis. The results demonstrate that SAC significantly enhances the neovasculogenesis of EPCs in vitro. The molecular mechanisms for SAC enhancement of neovasculogenesis include the activation of Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase signaling cascades. SAC increased the expression of c-kit, β-catenin, cyclin D1, and Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) proteins in EPCs. Daily intake of SAC at dosages of 0.2 and 2 mg/kg body weight significantly enhanced c-kit protein levels in vivo. We conclude that dietary consumption of SAC improves blood flow recovery and prevents ischemic injury by inducing neovasculogenesis in experimental models.

The processes that define mammalian physiology evolved millions of years ago in response to ancient signaling molecules, most of which were acquired by ingestion and digestion. In this way, evolution inextricably linked diet to all major physiological systems including the nervous system. The importance of diet in neurological development is well documented, although the mechanisms by which diet-derived signaling molecules (DSMs) affect cognition are poorly understood. Studies on the positive impact of nutritive and non-nutritive bioactive molecules on brain function are encouraging but lack the statistical power needed to demonstrate strong positive associations. Establishing associations between DSMs and cognitive functions like mood, memory and learning are made even more difficult by the lack of robust phenotypic markers that can be used to accurately and reproducibly measure the effects of DSMs. Lastly, it is now apparent that processes like neurogenesis and neuroplasticity are embedded within layers of interlocked signaling pathways and gene regulatory networks. Within these interdependent pathways and networks, the various transducers of DSMs are used combinatorially to produce those emergent adaptive gene expression responses needed for stimulus-induced neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Taken together, it appears that cognition is encoded genomically and modified by epigenetics and epitranscriptomics to produce complex transcriptional programs that are exquisitely sensitive to signaling molecules from the environment. Models for how DSMs mediate the interplay between the environment and various neuronal processes are discussed in the context of the food-brain axis.

Spectroscopy has become prominent in medical surveillance due to its low cost, speed, and nondestructive testing. However, the issue of class unbalance in medical data causes existing algorithms to favor the majority classes, leading to their malfunction. This study attempts to propose a parallel type method based on two modified feature selection methods to achieve visible spectral discrimination of unbalanced urine specific gravity (USG) data. Firstly, the root mean square error (RMSE) of successive projections algorithm (SPA) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) were modified by increasing weight coefficients. Then, SPA, CARS, modified SPA (mSPA), modified CARS (mCARS), tandem connection of SPA and CARS (CARS-SPA), tandem connection of mSPA and CARS (mCARS mSPA), parallel connection of SPA and CARS (CARS + SPA), and parallel connection of mSPA and CARS (mCARS + mSPA) were used to select characteristic wavelengths from the full spectrq. Finally, based on the variable subsets extracted by each method, the random forest (RF) models were established to verify the performance of the parallel strategy and modification method. The results showed that the RF model of mCARS + mSPA achieved effective discrimination of USG with high accuracy (92.81%), high sensitivity (0.9270), and high resolution (0.9280). It means that a parallel hybrid based on two modified feature selection methods can effectively select feature wavelengths beneficial for minority class recognition, achieving the mining of spectral features of unbalanced data. At the same time, this study also provides a novel example of the strategy of parallel feature selection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of male infertility (MI) is rising annually. However, the lifestyle and occupational exposure factors contributing to MI remain incompletely understood. This study explored the effects of self-reported lifestyle and occupational exposure factors on semen quality. Among 1060 subjects invited to participate, 826 were eligible. The participants’ general characteristics, lifestyle, and occupational exposure factors were collected immediately before or after semen evaluation through an online questionnaire. Initially, univariate analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the abovementioned factors and semen quality. The results indicated significant associations between low semen quality and various factors, including age, BMI, infertility type and duration, abstinence time, semen and sperm parameters, smoking, alcohol consumption, irregular sleep habits, and frequent exposure to high temperatures and chemicals at work (p < 0.05). Then, multivariate analysis was conducted to identify factors independently associated with low semen quality. Adjustment for relevant confounders was achieved by including factors with a p-value < 0.25 from univariate analyses as covariates in the binomial and ordered logistic regression models. The results suggested that alcohol consumption was a positive factor for sperm concentration (odds ratio [OR] = 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.36–0.99; p = 0.045). The groups with a BMI ≥ 24 and <28 kg/m2 showed a significant decrease in sperm progressive motility when compared to the reference group (BMI < 24 kg/m2) (OR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.46–0.87, p = 0.005). In addition, the groups that drank green tea <1 time/week (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.05–2.2) and 1–4 times/week (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.02–2.54) exhibited significantly increased sperm DFI values compared with the group that drank green tea 5–7 times/week. In conclusion, these findings underscore the importance of maintaining a normal weight and regularly consuming green tea for men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbohydrate antigen 24-2 (CA242) as a biomarker played critical roles in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Herein, a quenching-typed electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on resonance energy transfer strategy was proposed for ultrasensitive CA242 detection. CdS NCs exhibited good electrochemiluminescence performance, which was used as an ECL energy donor, while COFs with a porous structure presenting UV-vis light absorption was used as an energy acceptor, which could significantly quench the ECL signal of CdS NCs. The sandwich-type immunosensor was constructed with thiolated CdS NCs as substrates for primary antibody (Ab1) immobilization and functionalized COFs as the carrier to immobilize secondary antibody (Ab2). With CA242 antigen captured, the distance between CdS NCs and COFs was closed and the electron transfer path shortened, leading to the quenching of the ECL signal of CdS NCs. Under optimal conditions, the proposed immunosensor represented wide linearity, and the detection limit was in the range from 0.001 U mL−1 to 1000 U mL−1. At the same time, the detection limit of CA242 antigen was 0.000183 U mL−1 (S/N = 3). The immunosensor exhibited its feasibility for the detection of CA242 and lays a good foundation for the high sensitivity sensing of other disease biomarkers in clinical diagnosis in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise association between lncRNA H19 and ferroptosis in the context of atherosclerosis remains uncertain.This study is to clarify the underlying process and propose novel approaches for the advancement of therapeutic interventions targeting atherosclerosis.Assessment of ferroptosis, which entails the evaluation of cell viability using CCK-8 and the quantification of intracellular MDA, GSH, and ferrous ions. Simultaneously, the protein expression levels of assessed by western blot analysis, while the expression level of lncRNA H19 was also determined. Furthermore, HAECs that were cultured with ox-LDL were subjected to Fer-1 interference. HAECs were exposed to ox-LDL and then transfected with H19 shRNA and H19 overexpression vector pcDNA3.1. The level of ferroptosis in the cells was then measured. Then, HAECs were subjected to incubation with ox-LDL, followed by transfection with H19 shRNA and treated with Erastin to assess the levels of ferroptosis, cell viability, and inflammatory factor production. and the ability for blood vessel development.The survival rate of HAECs in the ox-LDL group was much lower. Ox-LDL resulted in an upregulation of ACSL4 expression in HAECs, while the expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4 decreased.lncRNA H19 enhances ferroptosis and exacerbates arterial endothelial cell damage induced by LDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public bicycle systems (PBSs) serve as the 'last mile' of public transportation for urban residents, yet the problem of the difficulty in borrowing and returning bicycles during peak hours remains a major bottleneck restricting the intelligent and efficient operation of public bicycles. Previous studies have proposed reasonable models and efficient algorithms for optimizing public bicycle scheduling, but there is still a lack of consideration for actual road network distances between stations and the temporal characteristics of demand at rental points in the model construction process. Therefore, this paper aims to construct a public bicycle dispatch framework based on the spatiotemporal characteristics of borrowing and returning demands. Firstly, the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of borrowing and returning demands for public bicycles are explored, the origin–destination (OD) correlation coefficients are defined, and the intensity of connections between rental point areas is analyzed. Secondly, based on the temporal characteristics of rental point demands, a random forest prediction model is constructed with weather factors, time characteristics, and rental point locations as feature variables, and station bicycle-borrowing and -returning demands as the target variable. Finally, bicycle dispatch regions are delineated based on actual path distances between stations and OD correlation coefficients, and a public bicycle regional dispatch optimization method is established. Taking the PBS in Ningbo City as an example, the balancing optimization framework proposed in this paper is validated. The results show that the regional dispatch optimization method proposed in this paper can achieve optimized dispatch of public bicycles during peak hours. Additionally, compared with the Taboo search algorithm (TSA), the genetic algorithm (GA) exhibits a 11.1% reduction in rebalancing time and a 40.4% reduction in trip cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the microstructure and deformation mode-sensitive piezoelectric performance of waterborne polyurethane (WPU)-based hybrid nanocomposite films reinforced with 0-dimensional barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles and 2-dimensional boron nitride (BN) nanosheets. To this end, anionic WPU-based hybrid nanocomposites, including 40 wt % hybrid fillers composed of different BT/BN contents (BN content of 0–10 wt %), are fabricated via a sequential process of aqueous dispersion casting, hot pressing, and electric poling. The BT nanoparticles are characterized as agglomerated in the WPU matrix, while BN nanosheets are randomly distributed. The dielectric constant and loss values are highest for the nanocomposite film with only 40 wt % BT loading, and they decrease with the increment of the relative BN content in 40 wt % hybrid fillers. Under the compression deformation mode, the piezoelectric outputs (voltage, current, and power) of the nanocomposite films decrease with the increment in the relative BN content of the hybrid fillers. On the other hand, under the bending deformation mode, the piezoelectric outputs increased with the increment in the BN loading in the hybrid fillers up to 7 wt %. This deformation mode-sensitive piezoelectric performance of the hybrid nanocomposite films is associated with the difference in dipole moment directions between BT nanoparticles and BN nanosheets. In addition, the WPU/BT/BN-based hybrid nanocomposite films exhibit piezoelectric sensing performance depending on the compressive stress (5–30 kPa) as well as the bending curvature radius (3–15 mm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]