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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), requires a combination of procedures and tests in diagnosis and discrimination. This study aimed to delineate specific serum metabolomic biomarkers that diagnose IBD and differentiate IBD subgroups. Serum samples and clinical metadata of the participants, IBD patients and Normal Controls (NC), were collected. Untargeted and targeted metabolomic analyses by high-resolution mass spectrometry and multivariate statistical approaches were applied. Further, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, pathways, and network analyses were conducted. Distinct clustering separated IBD patients from the NC, although the CD and UC subgroups overlapped in the non-targeted profiling. Targeted metabolomics revealed elevated tryptophan and indole-3-acetic acid levels and reduced primary-to-secondary bile acid ratios in both CD and UC patients. The differences in specific tryptophan metabolites between CD and UC were identified. The ROC analysis underscored the discriminatory power of the biomarkers (AUC values: NC vs. CD = 0.9738; NC vs. UC = 0.9887; UC vs. CD = 0.7140). Pathway analysis revealed alterations in glycerolipid metabolism, markedly differentiating UC from CD. Network analysis correlated metabolomic markers with the clinical phenotypes of IBD. Serum metabolomic biomarkers can precisely identify IBD, discriminate IBD subtypes, and further reveal the phenotypes of IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim in the current study was to determine the in vitro and in vivo synergistic antiinflammatory and antiallergic effect associated with the IL-12 production of guaijaverin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) complex (GEC) and ILS-F-2301 (2:8 extract of Psidium guajava and Camellia sinensis). Compared to EGCG alone, GEC showed synergistic inhibition of nitric oxide (NO), inducible NO synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2 by 3.8, 5.1, and 4.1%, respectively. The downregulation of interleukin-12 (IL-12) by 2,4-dinitrophenyl-human serum albumin conjugate/DNP-immunoglobulin E or ovalbumin (OVA) was synergistically increased by GEC by about 7.5% or 5.4% compared to EGCG alone. The level of downregulation of IL-12 in plasma increased by 100 mg/kg with ILS-F-2301 (28.7%) when compared to the OVA/Alu-treated group. Also, GEC synergistically increased by GEC by about 7.5% or 5.4% compared to EGCG alone. The level of down and cyclooxygenase C synergistically inhibited p-Akt, PI3K, mTOR, p-STAT6, and GATA3 by 4.9%, 4.1%, 19.2%, 23.8%, and 35.3%, respectively, while increasing the expressions of p-STAT1 and T-bet (showing 53.3% and 9.4% activation) when compared to EGCG alone. In an allergenic rhinitis mouse model, 100 mg/kg of ILS-F-2301 was shown to inhibit p-Akt, PI3K, mTOR, p-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK), p-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK), and p-p38 by 23.3%, 43.8%, 17.2%, 32.2%, 29.1%, and 41.8% when compared to the OVA/Alu-sensitized group. Taken together, our findings suggest that ILS-F-2301 may have potential as a functional food for alleviating antiallergic rhinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The symmetry reduction of molecular shape of cationic chromophores as a design strategy to develop organic terahertz (THz) generators is used. Electron donating group (EDG) with an asymmetric shape is introduced into two types of cationic styryl‐quinolinium chromophores, leading to the development of several novel non‐centrosymmetric crystals with high macroscopic optical nonlinearity. In contrast, when an EDG with a symmetric shape is introduced, centrosymmetric crystal structure is obtained in all investigated crystals. For THz wave generation, crystals based on asymmetrically shaped EDG exhibit several optimal crystal characteristics, including a plate‐shape morphology, a large size, and an in‐plane polar axis. Furthermore, over the entire range of molecular phonon vibrations, 0.5–4 THz, the steric hindrance group in the asymmetrically shaped EDG has a strong influence on the suppression of THz phonon vibrations, leading to a low THz absorption coefficient. The crystals based on asymmetrically shaped EDG generate an ≈40 times stronger THz electric field than the inorganic ZnTe crystal and very broad THz spectra, extending up to 16 THz. Thus, the symmetry reduction of the molecular shape of cationic chromophores through the introduction of an asymmetrically shaped EDG is an effective design approach for the development of novel organic THz crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rodents are recognized as major reservoirs of numerous zoonotic pathogens and are involved in the transmission and maintenance of infectious diseases. Furthermore, despite their importance, diseases transmitted by rodents have been neglected. To date, there have been limited epidemiological studies on rodents, and information regarding their involvement in infectious diseases in the Republic of Korea (ROK) is still scarce. Methodology/Principal findings: We investigated rodent-borne pathogens using nested PCR/RT-PCR from 156 rodents including 151 Apodemus agrarius and 5 Rattus norvegicus from 27 regions in eight provinces across the ROK between March 2019 and November 2020. Spleen, kidney, and blood samples were used to detect Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group, Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira interrogans, and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV). Of the 156 rodents, 73 (46.8%) were infected with Bartonella spp., 25 (16.0%) with C. burnetii, 24 (15.4%) with L. interrogans, 21 (13.5%) with A. phagocytophilum, 9 (5.8%) with SFTSV, and 5 (3.2%) with Borrelia afzelii. Co-infections with two and three pathogens were detected in 33 (21.1%) and 11 rodents (7.1%), respectively. A. phagocytophilum was detected in all regions, showing a widespread occurrence in the ROK. The infection rates of Bartonella spp. were 83.3% for B. grahamii and 16.7% for B. taylorii. Conclusions/Significance: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of C. burnetii and SFTSV infections in rodents in the ROK. This study also provides the first description of various rodent-borne pathogens through an extensive epidemiological survey in the ROK. These results suggest that rodents harbor various pathogens that pose a potential threat to public health in the ROK. Our findings provide useful information on the occurrence and distribution of zoonotic pathogens disseminated among rodents and emphasize the urgent need for rapid diagnosis, prevention, and control strategies for these zoonotic diseases. Author summary: Rodents live almost everywhere in the world, adapt to extremely diverse habitats, and transmit various infectious diseases to humans and other animals. All six pathogens were detected in rodents. Our findings demonstrated that 66.7% (104/156) of rodents were infected with at least one pathogen. We also observed differences in the pathogens detected in rodents by province. These results provide evidence that rodents play an important role in the transmission of SFTSV. Although we did not screen for all rodent-borne diseases, these data provide information about emerging rodent-borne diseases disseminated in the ROK and emphasize the risk of occurrence of rodent-borne diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprehensively reviews sensors and sensing devices developed or/and proposed so far utilizing two smart materials: electrorheological fluids (ERFs) and magnetorheological materials (MRMs) whose rheological characteristics such as stiffness and damping can be controlled by external stimuli; an electrical voltage for ERFs and a magnetic field for MRMs, respectively. In this review article, the MRMs are classified into magnetorheological fluids (MRF), magnetorheological elastomers (MRE) and magnetorheological plastomers (MRP). To easily understand the history of sensing research using these two smart materials, the order of this review article is organized in a chronological manner of ERF sensors, MRF sensors, MRE sensors and MRP sensors. Among many sensors fabricated from each smart material, one or two sensors or sensing devices are adopted to discuss the sensing configuration, working principle and specifications such as accuracy and sensitivity. Some sensors adopted in this article include force sensors, tactile devices, strain sensors, wearable bending sensors, magnetometers, display devices and flux measurement sensors. After briefly describing what has been reviewed in a conclusion, several challenging future works, which should be undertaken for the practical applications of sensors or/and sensing devices, are discussed in terms of response time and new technologies integrating with artificial intelligence neural networks in which several parameters affecting the sensor signals can be precisely and optimally tuned. It is sure that this review article is very helpful to potential readers who are interested in creative sensors using not only the proposed smart materials but also different types of smart materials such as shape memory alloys and active polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the significance of active suspension systems for vehicles with lower chassis compared to conventional ones, aiming at the development of future automobiles. Conventional linear MR (magnetorheological) dampers were found inadequate in ensuring sufficient vibration control because the vehicle's chassis becomes lowered in the unmanned vehicles or purposed-based vehicles. As an alternative, a rotary type of MR damper is proposed in this work. The proposed damper is designed based on prespecified design parameters through mathematical modeling and magnetic field analyses. Subsequently, a prototype of the rotary MR damper identical to the design is fabricated, and effectiveness is shown through experimental investigations. In configuring the experiments, a proportional-integral (PI) controller is employed for current control to reduce the response time of the damper. The results presented in this work provide useful guidelines to develop a new type of MR damper applicable to various types of future vehicles' suspension systems with low distance from the tire to the body floor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]