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Green chemistry has been a rising topic in environmental sustainability, with a focus on the waste and consumption reduction of chemical and biomedical industries. Traditional chemical handling processes require tools that contact chemical reagents to produce vast amounts of residues and disposals. This study presents a contactless chemical mixing system that integrates acoustic droplet ejection and levitation techniques. First, the acoustic droplet ejection system creates a droplet in mid-air from a designated liquid reservoir by focusing acoustic energy at the liquid-air junction. The droplet levitation system captures and transports the droplet along a predetermined path by shifting the focal points of the acoustic standing waves. This facilitates contactless mixing of chemicals in a defined ratio. Notably, this study employs piezoelectric discs in an acoustic droplet ejection system to eject droplets from liquids. The relationship between the duration of the driving bursts and height and size of ejected droplets was also investigated. The proposed acoustic standing wave levitation system captures droplets with weights between 2.8 and 5.2 mg. To assess the reliability of the proposed system, 25 droplets were sequentially generated and transported to the mixing well without failure. The root mean square error between the collected and expected liquid weights was only 0.098 mg. The proposed system offers a promising solution for reducing waste and promoting environmentally friendly practices in chemical and biomedical laboratories., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: [Chih-Hsien Huang reports financial support was provided by National Science and Technology Council. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper]., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Previously, we reported that H157Y, a rare coding variant on exon 3 of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 gene ( TREM2 ), was associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in a Han Chinese population. To date, how this variant increases AD risk has remained unclear. In this study, using CRISPR-Cas9-engineered BV2 microglia, we tried to investigate the influence of the Trem2 H157Y variant on AD-related microglial functions. For the first time, we revealed that the Trem2 H157Y variant inhibits microglial phagocytosis of amyloid-β, promotes M1-type polarization of microglia, and facilitates microglial release of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α. These findings provide new insights into the cellular mechanisms by which the TREM2 H157Y variant elevates the risk of AD.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of neurodegenerative disorder. There are few effective medications for halting the progression of AD. Telmisartan (TEL) is a widely used anti-hypertensive drug approved by FDA. Aside from treating hypertension, TEL has been revealed to provide protection against AD. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear., Objective: To investigate the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of TEL against AD., Methods: Eight-month-old APP/PS1 mice were administered with 5 mg/kg TEL once per day for 4 successive months. Nesting test, Y-maze test, and Morris water maze test were employed to assess the cognitive and executive functions. Neuronal and synaptic markers, amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress in the brains were measured. Specifically, components involved in Aβ production and degradation pathway were analyzed to explore the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of TEL against Aβ pathology. The primary microglia were used to uncover the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of TEL in AD. Additionally, the preventive effect of TEL against AD were investigated using 4-month-old APP/PS1 mice., Results: TEL treatment ameliorated cognitive and executive impairments, neuronal and synaptic injury, Aβ pathology, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress in APP/PS1 mice. The favorable effects of TEL on Aβ pathology were achieved by inhibiting enzymatic Aβ production and facilitating enzymatic and autophagic Aβ degradation. Meanwhile, the anti-inflammatory effects of TEL were accomplished via microglial PPARγ/NLRP3 pathway. The administration of TEL prior to symptom onset prevented AD-related cognitive decline and neuropathologies., Conclusion: TEL represents a promising agent for AD prevention and treatment.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term effect of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) using clopidogrel plus aspirin versus aspirin monotherapy after intravenous thrombolysis on functional outcomes in patients with minor stroke., Methods: Patients with acute ischemic stroke with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≤ 5 who received either DAPT or aspirin monotherapy following recombinant tissue plasminogen activator intravenous thrombolysis were studied. Data recorded between January 2017 and December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The primary efficacy outcome was functional improvement at 1 year, measured by a 1-point decrease across modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores. Secondary outcomes included complete rehabilitation (mRS = 0), an excellent outcome (mRS = 0-1), and a favorable outcome (mRS = 0-2) at 1 year, as well as the rates of stroke recurrence and all-cause mortality within 1 year., Results: A total of 238 patients were included, and follow-up data were available for 205 patients (86.1%). The distribution of 1-year outcomes on the mRS favored DAPT over aspirin monotherapy (adjusted common odds ratio (OR), 2.19; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12-4.28; p = 0.022). Patients who received DAPT, compared with those receiving aspirin alone, were more likely to achieve complete rehabilitation (adjusted OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.21-4.95; p = 0.013) at the 1-year follow-up. Additionally, the percentages of an excellent outcome and a favorable outcome did not differ, and the rates of stroke recurrence and all-cause mortality were comparable during the 1-year follow-up., Conclusions: Clopidogrel with aspirin following intravenous thrombolysis was associated with improved functional outcome at the 1-year follow-up for patients with minor stroke, and it did not increase the stroke recurrence rate and mortality.

Background: Evidence for the effect of dietary sodium intake on the risk of cardiovascular disease has been controversial. One of the main explanations for the conflicting results lies in the great variability associated with measurement methods for sodium intake. Spot urine collection is a convenient method commonly used for sodium estimation, but its validity for predicting 24-h urinary sodium excretion at the individual level has not been well evaluated among the general population. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of the Kawasaki, the International Cooperative Study on Salt, Other Factors, and Blood Pressure (INTERSALT), and the Tanaka formulas in predicting 24-h urinary sodium excretion by using spot urine samples in Chinese adults. Design: We analyzed the relative and absolute differences and misclassification at the individual level from 3 commonly used methods for estimating sodium intake among 141 Chinese community residents. Results: The mean measured 24-h sodium excretion was 220.8 mmol/d. The median (95% CIs) differences between measured sodium and those estimated from the Kawasaki, INTERSALT, and Tanaka methods were 6.4 mmol/d (-17.5, 36.8 mmol/d), -67.3 mmol/d (-96.5, -46.9 mmol/d), and -42.9 mmol/d (-59.1, -24.8 mmol/d), respectively. The proportions of relative differences >40% with the Kawasaki, INTERSALT, and Tanaka methods were 31.2%, 41.1%, and 22.0%, respectively; and the absolute difference for the 3 methods was >51.3 mmol/d (3 g salt) in approximately half of the participants. The misclassification rate was 63.1% for the Kawasaki method, 78.7% for the INTERSALT method, and 66.0% for the Tanaka method at the individual level. Conclusion: The results from our study do not support the use of spot urine to estimate 24-h urinary sodium excretion at the individual level because of its poor performance with respect to misclassification. This trial was registered at www.chictr.org.cn as ChiCTR-IOR-16010278., (© 2017 American Society for Nutrition.)

Background: MicroRNAs, small noncoding RNA molecules, can regulate mammalian cell growth, apoptosis and differentiation by controlling the expression of target genes. The aim of this study was to investigate the function of miR-323-5p in the glioma cell line, U251., Materials and Methods: After over-expression of miR-323- 5p using miR-323-5p mimics, cell growth, apoptosis and migration were tested by MTT, flow cytometry and cell wound healing assay, respectively. We also assessed the influence of miR-323-5p on the mRNA expression of IGF- 1R by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR), and on the protein levels by Western blot analysi. In addition, dual-luciferase reporter assays were performed to determine the target site of miR-323-5p to IGF-1R 3'UTR., Results: Our findings showed that over-expression of miR-323-5p could promote apoptosis of U251 and inhibit the proliferation and migration of the glioma cells., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that increased expression of miR-323-5p might be related to glioma progression, which indicates a potential role of miR-323-5p for clinical therapy.