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Inflammation is a complex physiological response involving various cellular and molecular events. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is usually in the form of HSO3− and SO32− under physiological conditions, plays a crucial role in the regulation of inflammation and diseases. Frequency upconversion luminescence (FUCL) can realize the unique anti-Stokes process of long-wavelength excitation to short-wavelength emission; thus, it is a highly promising optical method for in vivo imaging due to its deep tissue penetration, low photo-damage, etc. Therefore, we developed a near-infrared FUCL NIRX-1 probe for the detection of HSO3−. NIRX-1 had a fast response (80 s), a low detection limit (0.43 μM), and high selectivity towards HSO3−. In addition, NIRX-1 had deep light penetration ability due to the near-infrared excitation at 808 nm and was able to detect HSO3− in living cells and mice. Lastly, NIRX-1 was employed in the imaging of HSO3− in an inflammation mouse model through FUCL imaging techniques. All these features make NIRX-1 a good candidate for the investigation of SO2-associated physiological and pathological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the correlation between vestibular symptoms and headache in patients with migraine, and to explore the diagnostic value of vestibular symptoms in migraine. Methods Consecutive patients who visited our outpatient department of neurology due to a principal complaint of headache during January to December 2019 were recruited in this study. According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (ICHD-3), these patients with primary headache were divided into the episodic migraine group, chronic migraine group and tension-type headache group, and those with episodic migraine were assigned into low-, medium-and high-frequency groups. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect their information on the clinical symptoms. The vestibular symptoms were identified according to the standard of vestibular symptoms in vestibular migraine. Results There were 424 patients recruited, including 222 in the episodic migraine group, 174 in the chronic migraine group and 28 in the tension-type headache group. Vestibular symptoms accounted for 25.3% and 3.6% in the migraine group and tension-type headache group, respectively. The frequency of vestibular symptoms was higher in the chronic migraine group (31.0%) than the episodic migraine group (20.7%) (P=0.019). The medium-frequency group (with a headache frequency of 2~8 d per month) had the largest number of patients (125/222), with most typical migraine features and accompanying symptoms. In the time correlation between vestibular symptoms and headache, 68.8% of the patients in the low-frequency group had separate attacks of headache and vestibular symptoms. The simultaneous attack of headache and vestibular symptoms was higher in the high-frequency group and the chronic migraine group than the low-frequency group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Vestibular symptoms occur frequently in patients with chronic migraine, suggesting that vestibular symptoms may be associated with the chronicity of migraine.

Bay areas have experienced a rapid development in their city integration and tourism industry over the past decade. However, city integration has rarely been studied in the tourism literature along with its dimensions and impact on tourism development. Therefore, this study examines city integration and its effects on tourism development from the perspective of residents in the Greater Bay Area, China. Through a qualitative research method with 73 semi-structured interviews, this study identified five dimensions of the effects of city integration on tourism development were also determined, including resource, community, product, marketing and economic dimensions. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of the findings were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the critical success factors is common in tourism research because it can bring many benefits to the tourism industry. Related research is mainly concentrated in accommodation, events, ecotourism, catering, travel agencies, wine tourism, urban tourism, and business tourism. Entertainment tourism is becoming increasingly popular. However, research on the critical success factors of entertainment tourism destination has been overlooked. This study examined these factors from the supply-side perspective with the aim to discover the critical success factors of entertainment tourism in Macau using qualitative research method. The data is collected from managers in the entertainment tourism industry. Eight CSFs, with a total of 21 sub-factors from data collected from semi-structured interviews are observed. These CSFs are product, financial and economic support, service quality, planning and policy, facility and transportation, marketing, human resources and security. The result also indicates the strength of these identified factors in improving and sustaining the development of entertainment tourism. Furthermore, the implications of the success of such development are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) measurements of neurogranin (Ng) have emerged as a promising biomarker for cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) allele is by far the most consistent genetic risk factor for AD. However, it is not known whether the pathophysiological roles of Ng in MCI or AD are related to APOE ε4. We stratified 250 participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database into cognitively normal (CN) ε4 negative (CN ε4−), CN ε4 positive (CN ε4+), MCI ε4 negative (MCI ε4−), MCI ε4 positive (MCI ε4+), AD ε4 negative (AD ε4−), and AD ε4 positive (AD ε4+). CSF Ng levels were significantly increased in APOE ε4 carriers compared to APOE ε4 non-carriers with MCI. In addition, CSF Ng identified MCI ε4+ versus CN ε4−, but not MCI ε4− versus CN ε4−. Similarly, CSF Ng negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores at baseline in the MCI ε4+ group. Our findings support the use of CSF Ng as a biomarker of synaptic pathology for AD. We propose that the roles of CSF Ng in the pathophysiology of MCI may be related to APOE ε4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions of keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) with chromium nitrate, potassium dichromate, and chromate were investigated using fluorescence, UV-vis absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy under simulated physiological conditions. The experimental results showed that the different forms of chromium could quench the intrinsic fluorescence of KLH following a static quenching mechanism rather than by dynamic collision, which indicated that a Cr-KLH complex was formed. The Stern-Volmer quenching constants for the interaction indicated that the binding reaction of KLH with Cr(VI) was stronger the binding of KLH with Cr(III). The thermodynamic values for binding of Cr(VI) to KLH are ΔH > 0 and ΔS > 0. By contrast, the values for the interaction of Cr(III) with KLH are ΔH < 0 and ΔS < 0. The results of synchronous fluorescence, UV-vis absorption and CD spectroscopy showed that the α-helical secondary structure and conformation of KLH were altered by different forms of chromium. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the acidity of aspartic acid, the N, N′-diasparitic acid-3, 4, 9, 10-perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (NAAPD) was synthesized and characterized. Previous studies have examined the self-assembly behaviours of NAAPD mainly using atomic force microscopy at various pH levels. The present study sought to examine the characteristics and dynamics of NAAPD assembly using scanning probe microscopy. Our experimental results suggest that the assembly of NAAPD nanostructures may be regulated by pH. This phenomenon may be attributed to the deprotonation and properties of the carboxyl groups within aspartic acid, which is consistent with the interactions revealed from studies using scanning tunnelling microscopy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]