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This study focused on the effect of a typical phenolic inhibitor, vanillin, on the growth and ethanol production of Starmerella bacillaris R5, as well as the effect of varying levels of glucose on its growth and fermentation performance. The results indicated that when the vanillin concentration was fixed at 3 g/L, increasing glucose concentration in the medium from 2% to 6% shorten the lag phage by 25.92%, increased the specific growth rate by 82.1%, and the ethanol conversion rate by 17.88%. Further analysis showed that increased glucose concentration resulted in an increase in the proportion of cells containing reactive oxygen species (ROS), a decrease in membrane permeability, and a reduction in intracellular H2O2 content. In addition, the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) increased by 58%, 35.5%, and 2.3 times, respectively. Intracellular glycerol content increased by 1.82 times. The activity of pyruvate kinase (PK), related to glucose metabolism, decreased by 54.5%, and the activity of hexokinase (HK) and 6-phosphate glucose dehydrogenase (6-PGDH) increased by 4.16 and 11.8 times, respectively. The content of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) increased by 19.4%. The gene expression levels of hexokinase (HK), 6-phosphate fructose kinase (PFK), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH3), 6-phosphate glucose dehydrogenase (PGD), ethanol dehydrogenase (ADH5), pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and glycerol dehydrogenase 1 (GCY1) were up-regulated by 4.6, 2.5, 13.9, 12.2, 17.5, 34.8, and 34.9 times, respectively. In summary, increasing glucose concentration increased the activity of intracellular antioxidant enzymes, attenuated oxidative damage, and provided more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reducing powder to cope with environmental stress, thereby increasing the conversion rate of ethanol. The results of this study could provide new ideas for utilizing S. bacillaris for bioethanol production.

Porphyromonas gingivalis , a gram-negative oral anaerobe among more than more than 500 bacterial species that colonizing the oral cavity, is involved in the pathogenesis and prototypic polybacterial consortium of periodontitis. It is mainly found in oral infections and rarely present in other organ diseases. Here, we describe a 43-year-old man with underlying diabetes who developed hematogenous disseminated severe pneumonia after P. gingivalis had invaded the blood. Next-generation sequencing of early alveolar lavage fluid and blood samples confirmed the diagnosis. The patient’s lung infection improved after targeted antimicrobial treatment. He was successfully weaned from ventilatory support and transferred to the general ward. This case illustrates bacterial entry into the bloodstream of a patient with diabetes who had periodontal disease but did not maintain oral hygiene, leading to severe pneumonia. Periodontal disease is often ignored by the public, and it is difficult for critical care physicians to link severe pneumonia with periodontal disease. Thus, this case represents an important warning to critical care clinicians.

Abstract Background Overt eosinophilic peritonitis (EP) is a relatively uncommon complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), although not rare. Here we reported a case of EP relieved after changing dialysate. Case presentation A 28-year old male patient developed cloudy PD effluents within the first month after PD started. Cytological study of PD effluents showed elevated white blood cells and polynuclear cells. Bacteria culture of PD effluents repeated for several times were all negative, and no pathogen was found by metagenomics next generation sequencing (mNGS). Antibiotic therapy for 28-day was ineffective. Based on these and increased eosinophils in peritoneal fluid, he was finally diagnosed as EP. PD dialysate was changed (consists of the same buffer agent and electrolytes, but is packed in bags that do not contain PVC), and the patient’s PD effluent became clear. Of note, EP did not relapse 5 months later when the patient started to use the former PD solution again. Conclusion Although PD effluent turbidity almost always represents infectious peritonitis, there are other differential diagnoses including EP. For patients with cloudy fluid accompanied by mild symptoms who do not response to antibiotic therapy, it is reasonable to consider the possibility of this disease. EP tends to heal spontaneously, however, antihistamines or glucocorticoids are required sometimes to avoid catheter obstruction. For patients with no obvious incentives, replacement of dialysate may be useful.

Biomineralization is a phenomenon that involves the deposition of inorganic ions onto organic substrates, resulting in the formation of hard tissue materials. Tumor mineralization, on the other hand, encompasses two key aspects: tumor calcification and tumor iron mineralization. The occurrence of spontaneous tumor calcification and regional lymph node calcification in colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and glioblastoma has been established as a favorable prognostic factor in clinical settings. Building upon this understanding, we propose the concept and advance the development of a compound that artificially induces bionic mineralization around the surface of cancer cells. This process has demonstrated exceptional efficacy in inhibiting the growth and metastasis of cervical, breast, and lung tumors. Moreover, it has exhibited outstanding performance in the early-stage diagnosis of cancer. Consequently, we anticipate that this concept holds significant potential for cancer-targeted mineralization therapy and diagnosis, offering a novel avenue for the development of anticancer drugs.

The use of ferronickel slag powder (FNSP) as a cementitious additional material has been supported by numerous reports. FNSP concrete has the same shortcomings as ordinary concrete, including low hardness. In this study, in order to make FNSP concrete more durable, end-hooked type steel fibers were incorporated. To understand how various elements affect the mechanical properties of steel fibers, an experiment was carried out on the mechanical properties of steel FNSP concrete (SFNSPC). FNSP's principal ingredients, with a particle size distribution ranging from 0.5 to 100 μm and a sheet-like powder shape, are CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, and others, according to tests conducted on the material's microstructure and composition. Then, eighteen mix proportions were developed, comprising six distinct FNSP replacement rate types and three distinct steel fiber content types. Crucial metrics were evaluated and analyzed, including the relationship among the toughness, tensile strength, and compressive strength as well as slump, splitting tensile strength, compressive strength, and uniaxial compressive stress–strain curve of SFNSPC. The results showed that the slump of SFNSPC under different FNSP replacement rates decreased with increasing steel fiber volume. Steel fibers have a small but positive effect on SFNSPC's compressive strength; nonetheless, as FNSP replacement rates increased, SFNSPC's slump gradually decreased, though not by much. These results show that FNSP is a viable alternative cementitious material in terms of strength. Specifically, the splitting tensile strength of SFNSPC improves with an increase in steel fiber content, and the pace at which SFNSPC strength drops with an increase in the FNSP replacement rate. With varying mix proportions, the stress–strain curve trend of SFNSPC remains mostly constant, and steel fibers improve the compressive toughness of SFNSPC. After adding 0.5% and 1.0% steel fibers, the toughness index of concrete with different FNSP replacement rates increased by 8–30% and 12–43%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ascertaining the total body water (V), usually obtained by the Watson formula or bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS), is crucial for the calculation of Kt/V in patients with peritoneal dialysis (PD). The aim of our study was to compare two different methods of determining V and explore which one is suitable for clinical application. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. V was determined using the Watson formula (Vwat) and BIS (Vbis). The differences between Vbis and Vwat and between Kt/Vbis and Kt/Vwat were assessed. The patients were allocated to different groups according to the Kt/Vwat and Kt/Vbis values. Clinical parameters were compared between these groups to investigate which method of obtaining the Kt/V value was more suitable. Results: 150 patients on PD were included. Vwat was significantly higher than Vbis, apart from in female patients with volume overload. Consequently, weekly Kt/Vwat was lower than Kt/Vbis in these patients. A significant negative correlation between mean Vwat-Vbis and overhydration values was also found. Moreover, through uniform manifold approximation and projection analysis, a clustering tendency between patients in the adequate group with both Kt/Vwat and Kt/Vbis > =1.7 and patients in the inconsistent group with Kt/Vwat <1.7 and Kt/Vbis > =1.7 was identified, suggesting that their clinical features were similar. There were significant differences between Vwat and Vbis and between Kt/Vwat and Kt/Vbis. Kt/Vwat may underestimate small-solute dialysis adequacy in most cases. Kt/Vbis instead of Kt/Vwat could be accounted for in creating individualized dialysis prescriptions if the patient has no obvious clinical symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using the principles of porous media seepage mechanics and solute transport theories, a seepage–erosion theory model was developed to uncover the dynamics of mud and water inrush in fault rupture zones during the construction of tunnels. This model consists of a mass conservation equation, a flow transformation equation, a porosity evolution equation, and a permeability evolution equation. These components illustrate the interaction between seepage–erosion particle loss and the transformation of seepage flow patterns throughout the mud and water inrush evolution in the fault fracture zone. This model proves to be effective in illustrating the catastrophic process of mud and water inrushes within tunnels located in fault rupture zones. To address the spatial and temporal variations, the implicit difference and Galerkin finite element schemes were utilized, and the Newton–Raphson iteration method was applied to handle the nonlinear attributes of the equations. The theoretical model underwent further development and numerical simulations were performed using COMSOL multi-field coupling software. A comparison with existing indoor water inrush mud model test results validated the effectiveness of our model. The theoretical model was then applied to the Yong Lian tunnel scenario within the fault rupture zone. This computational analysis exposed the sequence of flow pattern transformations and the instability in seepage–erosion evolution within the fault rupture zone, ultimately leading to the emergence of mud and water inrush disasters. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for addressing tunnel engineering challenges related to underwater inrush disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the stress wave propagation and attenuation laws in heterogeneous materials such as rock and concrete are investigated by equating these materials to periodic materials through the viscoelastic analogy method. Firstly, the relaxation functions and stress response curves of the periodic materials are obtained by using a novel numerical inverse transformation method based on the viscoelastic analogy theory. Then, an experimental study of stress wave propagation in slender concrete rods was carried out on a Hopkinson pressure rod platform. The results show that there is a significant attenuation trend of the stress wave during 10 times of reflections. Comparison of the numerical inverse transform results with the experimental results shows that the decay rate in the experiment is faster than that predicted by simple viscosity. Finally, the effects of geometric dispersion and frictional dissipation of energy are considered in ABAQUS finite element simulations. The finite element analysis results show that inherent viscosity in heterogeneous materials can partially explain the stress wave attenuation in concrete. The viscoelastic simulation method effectively predicts stress wave attenuation in heterogeneous materials and provides theoretical insights for engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain extraction is an important prerequisite for the automated diagnosis of intracranial lesions and determines, to a certain extent, the accuracy of subsequent lesion identification, localization, and segmentation. To address the problem that the current traditional image segmentation methods are fast in extraction but poor in robustness, while the Full Convolutional Neural Network (FCN) is robust and accurate but relatively slow in extraction, this paper proposes an adaptive mask-based brain extraction method, namely AMBBEM, to achieve brain extraction better. The method first uses threshold segmentation, median filtering, and closed operations for segmentation, generates a mask for the first time, then combines the ResNet50 model, region growing algorithm, and image properties analysis to further segment the mask, and finally complete brain extraction by multiplying the original image and the mask. The algorithm was tested on 22 test sets containing different lesions, and the results showed MPA = 0.9963, MIoU = 0.9924, and MBF = 0.9914, which were equivalent to the extraction effect of the Deeplabv3+ model. However, the method can complete brain extraction of approximately 6.16 head CT images in 1 second, much faster than Deeplabv3+, U-net, and SegNet models. In summary, this method can achieve accurate brain extraction from head CT images more quickly, creating good conditions for subsequent brain volume measurement and feature extraction of intracranial lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]