-
Journal of Fish Diseases Jul 2024In this study, the "milky disease" model of Eriocheir sinhensis was constructed via intramuscular injection with the pathogenic yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata. The...
In this study, the "milky disease" model of Eriocheir sinhensis was constructed via intramuscular injection with the pathogenic yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata. The dynamic pathological changes of E. sinensis after injection were elucidated with two staining methods (haemotoxylin-eosin and alcian blue periodic acid-Schiff) and fluorescence in situ hybridization technology. Anatomical observation revealed three stages of the "milky disease": no clinical signs (1-4 days after infection), the appearance of signs of disease (5-7 days), and significant liquefaction (10 days). Histological observation also revealed three stages of the disease: yeast diffusion (1-2 days after infection), yeast slow development (3-4 days), and yeast rapid proliferation (5 days). And FISH technique was suitable for the early detection of infection with M. bicuspidata in E. sinensis. We found that M. bicuspidata spread to the whole body of the crab through the haemolymph and developed into fungal septicaemia. These results elucidate the systemic pathological characteristics of "milky disease" in E. sinensis and suggest the pathogenic mechanism of M. bicuspidata.
PubMed: 38950086
DOI: 10.1111/jfd.13993 -
PloS One 2024This study investigates the phenomena of semantic drift through the lenses of language and situated simulation (LASS) and the word frequency effect (WFE) within a timed...
This study investigates the phenomena of semantic drift through the lenses of language and situated simulation (LASS) and the word frequency effect (WFE) within a timed word association task. Our primary objectives were to determine whether semantic drift can be identified over the short time (25 seconds) of a free word association task (a predicted corollary of LASS), and whether more frequent terms are generated earlier in the process (as expected due to the WFE). Respondents were provided with five cue words (tree, dog, quality, plastic and love), and asked to write as many associations as they could. We hypothesized that terms generated later in the task (fourth time quartile, the last 19-25 seconds) would be semantically more distant (cosine similarity) from the cue word than those generated earlier (first quartile, the first 1-7 seconds), indicating semantic drift. Additionally, we explored the WFE by hypothesizing that earlier generated words would be more frequent and less diverse. Utilizing a dataset matched with GloVe 300B word embeddings, BERT and WordNet synsets, we analysed semantic distances among 1569 unique term pairs for all cue words across time. Our results supported the presence of semantic drift, with significant evidence of within-participant, semantic drift from the first to fourth time (LASS) and frequency (WFE) quartiles. In terms of the WFE, we observed a notable decrease in the diversity of terms generated earlier in the task, while more unique terms (greater diversity and relative uniqueness) were generated in the 4th time quartile, aligning with our hypothesis that more frequently used words dominate early stages of a word association task. We also found that the size of effects varied substantially across cues, suggesting that some cues might invoke stronger and more idiosyncratic situated simulations. Theoretically, our study contributes to the understanding of LASS and the WFE. It suggests that semantic drift might serve as a scalable indicator of the invocation of language versus simulation systems in LASS and might also be used to explore cognition within word association tasks more generally. The findings also add a temporal and relational dimension to the WFE. Practically, our research highlights the utility of word association tasks in understanding semantic drift and the diffusion of word usage over a sub-minute task, arguably the shortest practically feasible timeframe, offering a scalable method to explore group and individual changes in semantic relationships, whether via the targeted diffusion of influence in a marketing campaign, or seeking to understand differences in cognition more generally. Possible practical uses and opportunities for future research are discussed.
Topics: Semantics; Humans; Male; Language; Female; Adult; Cues; Young Adult
PubMed: 38950044
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305568 -
Biomacromolecules Jul 2024Cholesteric mesophases based on cellulose ethers, such as ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose, have been studied widely for their remarkable ability to display...
Cholesteric mesophases based on cellulose ethers, such as ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose, have been studied widely for their remarkable ability to display macroscopic structural color. However, the typical time scales involved in the multiscale self-assembly of cholesteric liquid crystals, from individual nanoscale helical arrangements to discrete microscopic domains, and their dependence on the gel's viscoelastic properties remain underexplored. Here, we establish a quantitative relationship between the kinetics of structural color formation after shear deformation and cholesteric order development at the nano- and microscales. Utilizing rheology in tandem with static and time-resolved reflectivity measurements, we underscore the strong influence of polymer diffusivity and chain elasticity on self-assembly kinetics in cholesteric cellulose ether gels. We show that our phenomenological model can be employed to assess the structure-property relationships of multiple polysaccharide systems, elucidating key design guidelines for the development and processing of structurally colored cholesteric mesophases.
PubMed: 38949966
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00411 -
Dental and Medical Problems 2024Despite the superiority of glass-ionomer cements (GICs) over composites in treating white spot lesions (WSLs), there is still a concern about their preventive and...
BACKGROUND
Despite the superiority of glass-ionomer cements (GICs) over composites in treating white spot lesions (WSLs), there is still a concern about their preventive and antibacterial properties. Efforts have been made to improve the strength of their bond to demineralized enamel, fluoride release and antibacterial properties by adding nanoparticles of chitosan, which seems to be a promising method.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the present study was to assess the antibacterial effect, the microshear bond strength (μSBS) to enamel at the WSL area, and the fluoride and nano-chitosan release after modifying the polyacrylic acid liquid phase of a traditional GIC with different nano-chitosan volumes.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 120 samples were prepared, and then divided into 4 groups (n = 30): G1 - non-modified GIC, which served as a control group, while G2, G3 and G4 were modified with different nano-chitosan volumes (50%, 100% and 150%, respectively). Microshear bond strength was assessed using a universal testing machine (UTM) after storage in distilled water for 24 h. Fluoride and nanochitosan release was measured with the use of spectrophotometers at different time points (initially, and at 1 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks) after storage in distilled water. The antibacterial effect against the Streptococcus aureus strain was assessed with the agar diffusion test. The data was statistically analyzed.
RESULTS
After 24-hour storage, G2 recorded a slight, yet non-significant, increase in the μSBS values (4.1 ±0.94 MPa) as compared to G1 (3.9 ±1.30 MPa). With regard to fluoride release, the amount recorded for G1 was significantly greater at the end of the 24-hour storage period (0.70 ±0.30 μmf/cm2) than modified nano-chitosan GIC groups; G1 was followed by G4 (0.54 ±0.34 μmf/cm2). The highest amount of nano-chitosan release after 24-hour storage was noted for G3 (0.85 ±0.00 μmf/cm2). The highest inhibition zone value was recorded for G2.
CONCLUSIONS
Glass-ionomer cement modified with 50% nano-chitosan was shown to positively affect μSBS and the antibacterial effect, while modification with 150% nano-chitosan significantly increased fluoride release.
Topics: Chitosan; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Glass Ionomer Cements; Dental Caries; In Vitro Techniques; Fluorides; Humans; Nanoparticles; Shear Strength; Dental Enamel; Materials Testing; Dental Bonding
PubMed: 38949834
DOI: 10.17219/dmp/158835 -
Chemistry, An Asian Journal Jul 2024Photoswitchable lipids, particularly azobenzene-derivatized phosphatidylcholine (azoPC) lipids, offer a unique mechanism for reversible modification of membrane...
Photoswitchable lipids, particularly azobenzene-derivatized phosphatidylcholine (azoPC) lipids, offer a unique mechanism for reversible modification of membrane properties upon exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Through all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we explore how UV irradiation-induced trans-to-cis photoisomerization(TCPI) of AzoPC lipid influences the structure and dynamics of a lipid membrane, composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and cholesterol with similar composition to that of the DOXIL®. Structural and dynamical analyses of two states of the membrane, 'dark' state (containing cis-azoPC lipid) and 'bright' state (containing 85% cis-azoPC and 15% trans-azoPC lipids) reveal that the TCPI reduces membrane packing density and increases diffusivity of lipids. We have demonstrated an enhanced intercalation of doxorubicine (DOX), an anticancer drug, in the 'bright' state of the membrane compared to that in 'dark' state. This study - elucidating the complex interplay between lipid composition, photoswitching, and lipid-drug interactions - contribute to the design of lipid-based systems for targeted drug delivery and biomedical applications.
PubMed: 38949780
DOI: 10.1002/asia.202400416 -
International Journal of Cancer Jul 2024Gliomas are primary brain tumors and are among the most malignant types. Adult-type diffuse gliomas can be classified based on their histological and molecular...
Gliomas are primary brain tumors and are among the most malignant types. Adult-type diffuse gliomas can be classified based on their histological and molecular signatures as IDH-wildtype glioblastoma, IDH-mutant astrocytoma, and IDH-mutant and 1p/19q-codeleted oligodendroglioma. Recent studies have shown that each subtype of glioma has its own specific distribution pattern. However, the mechanisms underlying the specific distributions of glioma subtypes are not entirely clear despite partial explanations such as cell origin. To investigate the impact of multi-scale brain attributes on glioma distribution, we constructed cumulative frequency maps for diffuse glioma subtypes based on T1w structural images and evaluated the spatial correlation between tumor frequency and diverse brain attributes, including postmortem gene expression, functional connectivity metrics, cerebral perfusion, glucose metabolism, and neurotransmitter signaling. Regression models were constructed to evaluate the contribution of these factors to the anatomic distribution of different glioma subtypes. Our findings revealed that the three different subtypes of gliomas had distinct distribution patterns, showing spatial preferences toward different brain environmental attributes. Glioblastomas were especially likely to occur in regions enriched with synapse-related pathways and diverse neurotransmitter receptors. Astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas preferentially occurred in areas enriched with genes associated with neutrophil-mediated immune responses. The functional network characteristics and neurotransmitter distribution also contributed to oligodendroglioma distribution. Our results suggest that different brain transcriptomic, neurotransmitter, and connectomic attributes are the factors that determine the specific distributions of glioma subtypes. These findings highlight the importance of bridging diverse scales of biological organization when studying neurological dysfunction.
PubMed: 38949756
DOI: 10.1002/ijc.35068 -
ELife Jul 2024Secreted chemokines form concentration gradients in target tissues to control migratory directions and patterns of immune cells in response to inflammatory stimulation;...
Secreted chemokines form concentration gradients in target tissues to control migratory directions and patterns of immune cells in response to inflammatory stimulation; however, how the gradients are formed is much debated. Heparan sulfate (HS) binds to chemokines and modulates their activities. In this study, we investigated the roles of HS in the gradient formation and chemoattractant activity of CCL5 that is known to bind to HS. CCL5 and heparin underwent liquid-liquid phase separation and formed gradient, which was confirmed using CCL5 immobilized on heparin-beads. The biological implication of HS in CCL5 gradient formation was established in CHO-K1 (wild-type) and CHO-677 (lacking HS) cells by Transwell assay. The effect of HS on CCL5 chemoattractant activity was further proved by Transwell assay of human peripheral blood cells. Finally, peritoneal injection of the chemokines into mice showed reduced recruitment of inflammatory cells either by mutant CCL5 (lacking heparin-binding sequence) or by addition of heparin to wild-type CCL5. Our experimental data propose that co-phase separation of CCL5 with HS establishes a specific chemokine concentration gradient to trigger directional cell migration. The results warrant further investigation on other heparin-binding chemokines and allows for a more elaborate insight into disease process and new treatment strategies.
Topics: Chemokine CCL5; Animals; Heparitin Sulfate; Humans; Cricetulus; CHO Cells; Mice; Chemotaxis; Heparin; Phase Separation
PubMed: 38949655
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.93871 -
Translational Vision Science &... Jul 2024To evaluate the relationships among morphology, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and retinal sensitivity of photocoagulated lesions more than 1 year after panretinal...
PURPOSE
To evaluate the relationships among morphology, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and retinal sensitivity of photocoagulated lesions more than 1 year after panretinal photocoagulation in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and good vision.
METHODS
This retrospective cohort study included patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy who had undergone panretinal photocoagulation more than 1 year ago. The photocoagulated lesions were classified according to FAF levels: group A, no FAF; group B, diffuse FAF; group C, white-dotted centers with diffuse FAF; group D, white-dotted centers without FAF; and group E, controls. The main outcome measures were FAF, retinal sensitivity, and morphology of the photocoagulated lesions.
RESULTS
The median sensitivity values and number of photocoagulated lesions in groups A (n = 37), B (n = 39), C (n = 4), D (n = 15), and E (n = 39) were 0 dB, 18.0 dB, 13.9 dB, 0.3 dB, and 21.5 dB, respectively. EZ lines were absent in 93.5%, 18.1%, 50%, 93.3%, and 0% of lesions in groups A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The inner retinal layer was damaged in 45.2%, 3.0%, 50%, 73.3%, and 0% lesions in groups A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Statistically significant between-group differences were observed in the retinal sensitivities of the photocoagulated lesions, presence of EZ lines, and damage to the inner retinal layer (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
The photoreceptors in most photocoagulated lesions with diffuse FAF retain their morphology and function.
TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE
Using fundus autofluorescence, the damage to photoreceptors after panretinal photocoagulation in patients with diabetes can be estimated in a noninvasive manner. This process can help in determining the need for additional panretinal photocoagulation.
Topics: Humans; Diabetic Retinopathy; Retrospective Studies; Female; Male; Middle Aged; Retina; Aged; Visual Acuity; Fundus Oculi; Fluorescein Angiography; Adult; Laser Coagulation; Optical Imaging
PubMed: 38949634
DOI: 10.1167/tvst.13.7.1 -
The Journal of Chemical Physics Jul 2024Water confined within nanochannels with specific functionalities serves as the foundation for a variety of emerging nanofluidic applications. However, the structure and...
Water confined within nanochannels with specific functionalities serves as the foundation for a variety of emerging nanofluidic applications. However, the structure and dynamics of the confined liquid are susceptibly influenced by practically hard-to-avoid defects, yet knowledge of this fact remains largely unexplored. Here, using extensive molecular dynamics simulations, we elucidate the significant influence of geometric and charge defects on one-dimensional confined water. We show that the two types of defects can both reshape the water density distribution by constraining the translocation of water molecules along the circumferential direction. In addition to structural alterations, collective translocation and rotation of water slabs arise during transportation under external pressure. Below the temperature threshold marking the initiation of liquid-solid transition, the geometric defect retards water diffusion through a pinning effect, while the charge defect induces an anti-freezing effect. The latter is attributed to the electrostatic interaction between the charge defect and water molecules that hinders the formation of a stable hydrogen bond network by disrupting molecular dipole orientation. Consequently, this behavior results in a reduction in the number and lifetime of hydrogen bonds within the phase transition interval. The distinct roles of the two types of defects could be utilized to control the structure and dynamics of confined liquids that may result in distinct functionalities for nanofluidic applications.
PubMed: 38949586
DOI: 10.1063/5.0216298 -
Medical Physics Jul 2024Measuring non-parametric intravoxel mean diffusivity distributions (MDDs) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a sensitive method for detecting intracellular...
BACKGROUND
Measuring non-parametric intravoxel mean diffusivity distributions (MDDs) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a sensitive method for detecting intracellular diffusivity changes during physiological alterations. Histological and molecular glioma classifications are essential for prognosis and treatment, with distinct water diffusion dynamics among subtypes.
PURPOSE
We developed a data-driven approach using a fully connected network (FCN) to enhance the speed and stability of calculating MDDs across varying SNRs, enable tumor microstructural mapping, and test its reliability in identifying MIB-1 labeling index (LI) levels and molecular status of gliomas.
METHODS
An FCN was trained to learn the mapping between the simulated diffusion decay curves and the ground truth MDDs. We performed 5 000 000 simulation curves with various diffusivity components and random SNR . Eighty percent of simulation curves were used for the FCN training, 10% for validation, and the others were external tests for the FCN performance evaluation. In vivo data were collected to evaluate its clinical reliability. One hundred one patients (44 years 14, 67 men) with gliomas and six healthy controls underwent a 3.0 T MRI examination with a spin echo-echo planar imaging (SE-EPI) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence. The trained FCN was employed to calculate MDDs of each brain voxel by voxel. We used the Fuzzy C-means algorithm to cluster the MDDs of tumor voxels, facilitating the characterization of distinct glioma tissues. Quantitative assessments were conducted through sectional integrals of the MDDs, demarcated by six bands to derive signal fractions ( ) and diffusivities of the maximum peaks ( ). Cosine similarity scores (CSS) were used for MDD similarity. ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U test were used for difference analysis. Logistic regression and area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) were used for classification evaluation.
RESULTS
The simulation results showed that the FCN-based MDD approach (FCN-MDD) achieved higher CSS than non-negative least squares-based MDD (NNLS-MDD). For in vivo data, the spectra of ET and NET obtained by FCN-MDD are more distinguishable than NNLS-MDD. Fraction maps delineate the characteristics of different tumor tissues (enhancing and non-enhancing tumor, edema, and necrosis). showed a positive and negative correlation with MIB-1 respectively ( , all ). The AUC of for predicting MIB-1 LI levels was 0.900 (95% CI, 0.826-0.974), versus 0.781 (0.677-0.886) of ADC. The highest AUC of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status, assessed by a logistic regression model ( ) was 0.873 (95% CI, 0.802-0.944).
CONCLUSION
The proposed FCN-MDD method was more robust to variations in SNR and less reliant on empirically set regularization values than the NNLS-MDD method. FCN-MDD also enabled qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the composition of gliomas.
PubMed: 38949565
DOI: 10.1002/mp.17280