Search Results (96)

Lactoferrin (LF), a multifunctional glycoprotein found abundantly in bovine colostrum, is known for its regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we investigated the wound healing and immunomodulatory effects of colostrum-derived exosome-encapsulated lactoferrin (EV-exoLF) on dermal fibroblasts. EV-exoLF was isolated and characterized via nanoparticle tracking analysis and flow cytometry. Functional assays demonstrated that EV-exoLF significantly promoted fibroblast viability and migration in both mouse NIH/3T3 and human HS-68 cell lines. Furthermore, EV-exoLF reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and IL-6) and phosphorylated JNK in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated fibroblasts. These findings suggest that EV-exoLF not only enhances fibroblast-mediated wound closure but also mitigates inflammation, highlighting its therapeutic potential in skin regeneration. Colostrum-derived exosomal lactoferrin may serve as a promising natural, cell-free strategy for managing inflammatory skin conditions and improving wound healing outcomes. Full article

In conventional hydrology, a short-duration design rainstorm is typically used to estimate the design discharge in urban sewer systems. The reason for using a short duration is that engineers believe the time of concentration in urban watersheds is relatively small. The short-duration hyetograph is supposed to generate a flow hydrograph that accurately reflects the rainfall-runoff processes. In this study, we developed a street-sewer runoff model for an urban district of 2470 hectares. Detailed field flooding records were utilized to verify the stormwater model’s capability for inundation simulations. Subsequently, different rainfall series extracted from the recorded rainstorm data were used to investigate the causes of flooding corresponding to different durations of rainstorms. The results indicate that a 90 min main concentrated rainstorm causes small-scale flooding only; however, a 24 h rainfall series results in an extensive range of inundations. We further conducted similar short- and long-duration hyetograph tests in 16 urban drainage partitions (ranging from 2.3 to 193.5 hectares) to confirm the above findings. The results indicate that the maximum discharge in most partitions can only be found when the hyetograph duration exceeds 1080 min, which essentially contradicts previous engineering designs in urban watersheds in Taiwan. Full article

Predicting the risk of root fractures following root canal therapy requires diagnosis of the dental history and status of patients. However, dental history is a kind of categorical data type that is not easy to combine with numerical data to obtain good performance in deep learning. The accuracy of support vector machine (SVM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) is 71.7% and 73.1%, respectively. In this study, a three-stage fusion neural network (TSFNN) is proposed to improve the multiple types of clinical data in the dental field based on ANNs. Clinical data were obtained from 145 teeth, comprising 97 fractured teeth and 48 nonfractured teeth. Each dataset contained 17 items, which were divided into 10 categorical items and 7 numerical items. TSFNN combines numerical and categorical NN with batch normalization and embedding layer techniques and can produce the accuracy of 82.1% and a 19.1% improvement in F1-score. It shows impressive performance in predicting the risk of root fracture. Furthermore, due to the limited amount of clinical data, it is believed that such a pilot study can effectively improve the results when the amount of clinical data is insufficient. Full article

The changes in the physicochemical properties of fermented black bean dregs (FBBD) coated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solution (0–3%) and pectin solution (0–3%) on a fluidized bed were analyzed. The Carr index of the FBBD powder decreased from 55.4 ± 0.3% to 7.5 ± 0.4% after coating with CMC solution (3%) and to 11.3 ± 1.6% after coating with pectin solution (3%) for 120 min. After coating with CMC solution (3%) for 120 min, the proportion of medium-sized particles decreased significantly with the increased duration of the coating process, whereas the proportion of large-sized particles increased. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy showed that the particle size significantly increased and the surface changed from rough to smooth. The L* and b* values of the powder samples decreased from 45.5 ± 0.1 and 17.2 ± 0.1 to 32.9 ± 0.2 and 15.3 ± 0.1, respectively, whereas the a* value increased from 7.6 ± 0.1 to 8.9 ± 0.1; thus, the sample color changed from bright to dark and tended toward bluish and reddish colors. The wettability and solubility of the powder samples increased significantly with the increased duration of the coating process, but the water-holding capacity decreased. Moreover, FBBD coated with pectin solution (3%) and CMC solution (3%) on a fluidized bed for 120 min exhibited similar physicochemical properties. Thus, FBBD powder exhibited favorable flowability, wettability, and solubility after 120 min of coating with CMC solution (3%) or pectin solution (3%). Full article

Many coastal coal-fired power plants utilize seawater flue gas desulfurization (SWFGD) systems, which may pose risks of heavy metal attachment on suspended sediments. Understanding variations in suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is therefore useful for controlling marine pollution. We studied two power plants as examples of discharging SSC using continuous measurement techniques. Monitoring sites at intake and discharge points and the surrounding coastal areas of the power plants was conducted across seasons. The first case study, Linkou Power Plant, is located in a high-SSC region influenced by monsoon winds and wave activity. Results indicate that SSC levels at all the monitoring sites are correlated with environmental factors of wind and wave conditions, with strong positive correlations observed between the intake and discharge points. In contrast, the Dalin Power Plant is located within an international harbor, where the SSC levels are generally low; however, sudden increases in SSC are observed at the intake point due to disturbances from vessel activities. These sudden increases are not evident at the discharge point, suggesting a sink of SSC may occur within the system. These results demonstrate that the two studied power plants have limited effects on the increase in SSC; the SSC in the discharge point is mainly related to the SSC input at the intake point. Effective management of SSC at the intake may help mitigate coastal pollution caused by SSC discharge and reduce the risk of harmful substances adhering to suspended solids in the discharging wastewater. Full article

Angiosperms are the largest group of land plants with ~375,000 species, which are classified into ~416 families and ~13,000 genera; they exhibit tremendous morphological and physiological diversities and are important members of diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Angiosperms have attracted continuous efforts to describe and understand these diversities in a framework of interrelationships—the phylogeny, which provides strong support for angiosperm classifications and relies on morphological, anatomical, and increasing molecular markers. Today, great advances in sequencing technology have led to the generation of tens of thousands of gene sequences for individual species, facilitating angiosperm phylogenetic reconstruction with high resolution at both deep and shallow levels. In this review, we present recent insights into angiosperm phylogeny based on relatively large numbers of nuclear genes, encompassing the ordinal scale of early-divergent and backbone branches, eudicots and their major subclades, asterids and rosids, as well as monocots. We further delve into intra-order cases such as Caryophyllales (Eudicots) and Alismatales (Monocots), along with intra-family relationships for some of the largest families (e.g., Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae) and those with economic importance (such as Brassicaceae, Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Rosaceae). Furthermore, we briefly highlight the importance of nuclear phylogeny in addressing key evolutionary questions, including the origin and divergence of angiosperms, the evolution of morphological and other characters, gene duplication and other aspects of gene family evolution. Finally, we discuss possible future trends of angiosperm phylogenomics. Full article

Background: A commonly observed phenomenon is that although the players in a baseball team have received the same training content and volume, their batting performance is quite different. As no optimal solution exists for this problem at present, this study attempted to explore the potential of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) to reduce anxiety and improve batting performance in university baseball players. Materials and Methods: A total of 18 college baseball players were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. Both groups answered questionnaires and had their physiological signals and batting performance measured on the first and last days of the experiment (i.e., days 0 and 10, respectively). Only the experimental group received HRVB training between the first and last days (10 days in total). Results: The results showed that before training, no significant differences were found in physiological, psychological, or performance parameters between the two groups. Compared to the control group, following HRVB training, the experimental group showed a notable decrease in cognitive anxiety (before HRVB: 23.56 ± 4.07; after HRVB: 20.11 ± 4.78; p < 0.05) and their batting performance improved significantly (batting score increased from 9.8 ± 11.7 to 19.8 ± 12.0 after HRVB; p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study validated that the use of HRVB can help to improve batting performance and reduce anxiety in college baseball players. Therefore, HRVB can be applied before competition matches, helping the players to perform better. Full article

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) causes hand, foot, and mouth disease in infants and children with potential for fatal complications such as encephalitis and acute flaccid myelitis. This study examined the long-term immunity conferred by EV71vac, an inactivated EV-A71 vaccine adjuvanted with aluminum phosphate, in children from the age of 2 months to <6 years, for up to 5 years after the first immunization. A total of 227 participants between 2 months and <6 years of age who had previously received either EV71vac or placebo in the phase two clinical study were enrolled. Subjects were divided into age groups: 2 years to <6 years (Group 2b), 6 months to <2 years (Group 2c), and 2 months to <6 months (Group 2d). At Year 5, the neutralizing antibody titers against the B4 subgenotype remained high at 621.38 to 978.20, 841.40 to 1159.93, and 477.71 to 745.07 for Groups 2b, 2c, and 2d, respectively. Cross-neutralizing titers at Year 5 remained high against B5 and C4a subgenotypes, respectively. No long-term safety issues were reported. Our study provides novel insights into the long-term immunity conferred by EV71vac in children aged from two months to six years, particularly in those who received EV71vac between two and six months of age. Full article

We treated dry black bean dreg fermentation products with radio-frequency (RF) waves. With RF treatment (RF output power of 3 kW and electrode gap of 12 cm), a sample was dried within 1 h, which would take 10 h to dry via hot-air drying at 60 °C (sample weight reduction from 100 to 28.2 g). RF treatment thus accelerated fermented black bean dreg drying approximately 10-fold. The fermented black bean dregs were dried for 60 min at a fixed RF output power of 3 kW with different electrode gaps (12, 16, and 20 cm). Samples treated with electrode gaps of 12 and 16 cm were completely dried. When the fermented black bean dregs were dried for 60 min with an RF output power of 3 kW with a 16 cm electrode gap, their water activity decreased from 0.98 to 0.65. Colorimetric analysis showed that the sample color darkened significantly (ΔE = 5.73 ± 2.71), whereas its solubility (28.8 ± 0.1%) and antioxidant capacity (EC₅₀ = 51.7 ± 0.7 mg/mL) increased. In addition, deglycosylated isoflavone daidzein content significantly increased, whereas that of the glycosylated isoflavone genistin decreased. These results reveal that RF application can efficiently dry fermented black bean dregs. Full article

Probiotics are posited to enhance exercise performance by influencing muscle protein synthesis, augmenting glycogen storage, and reducing inflammation. This double-blind study randomized 88 participants to receive a six-week intervention with either a placebo, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis LY-66, Lactobacillus plantarum PL-02, or a combination of both strains, combined with a structured exercise training program. We assessed changes in maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max), exercise performance, and gut microbiota composition before and after the intervention. Further analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of probiotics on exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD), muscle integrity, and inflammatory markers in the blood, 24 and 48 h post-intervention. The results demonstrated that all probiotic groups exhibited significant enhancements in exercise performance and attenuation of muscle strength decline post-exercise exhaustion (p < 0.05). Notably, PL-02 intake significantly increased muscle mass, whereas LY-66 and the combination therapy significantly reduced body fat percentage (p < 0.05). Analysis of intestinal microbiota revealed an increase in beneficial bacteria, especially a significant rise in Akkermansia muciniphila following supplementation with PL-02 and LY-66 (p < 0.05). Overall, the combination of exercise training and supplementation with PL-02, LY-66, and their combination improved muscle strength, explosiveness, and endurance performance, and had beneficial effects on body composition and gastrointestinal health, as evidenced by data obtained from non-athlete participants. Full article

A novel coagulase-negative Staphylococcus strain (H164^T) was isolated from soymilk in Taiwan. Comparative sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the H164^T strain is a member of the genus Staphylococcus. We used multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) and phylogenomic analyses to demonstrate that the novel strain was closely related to Staphylococcus gallinarum, Staphylococcus nepalensis, Staphylococcus cohnii, and Staphylococcus urealyuticus. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between H164^T and its closest relatives were <95% and <70%, respectively. The H164^T strain could also be distinguished from its closest relatives by the fermentation of _d-fructose, _d-maltose, _d-trehalose, and _d-mannitol, as well as by the activities of α-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase. The major cellular fatty acids were C15:0 iso and C15:0 anteiso, and the predominant menaquinones were MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids and predominant menaquinones were C_15:0 iso and C_15:0 anteiso and MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. In conclusion, this strain represents a novel species, named Staphylococcus hsinchuensis sp. nov., with the type strain H164^T (=BCRC 81404^T = NBRC 116174^T). Full article

The recent surge in interest surrounds the analysis of physiological signals with a non-linear dynamic approach. The measurement of entropy serves as a renowned method for indicating the complexity of a signal. However, there is a dearth of research concerning the non-linear dynamic analysis of respiratory signals. Therefore, this study employs a novel method known as intrinsic entropy (IE) to assess the short-term dynamic changes in thoracoabdominal movement patterns, as measured by respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP), during various states such as resting, step test, recovery, and iso-volume maneuver (IVM) trials. The findings reveal a decrease in IE of thoracic wall movement (TWM) and an increase in IE of abdominal wall movement (AWM) following the IVM trial. This suggests that AWM may dominate the breathing exercise after the IVM trial. Moreover, due to the high temporal resolution of IE, it proves to be a suitable measure for assessing the complexity of thoracoabdominal movement patterns under non-stationary states such as the step test and recovery. The results also demonstrate that the instantaneous complexity of TWM and AWM can effectively capture instantaneous changes during non-stationary states, which may prove valuable in understanding the respiratory mechanism for healthcare purposes in daily life. Full article

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a higher prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a pivotal role. We examined the impact of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on EPC function in response to tissue ischemia. Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J male mice were divided into sham operation and subtotal nephrectomy (SNx) groups, received hindlimb ischemic operation after seven weeks, then randomly received G-CSF or PBS intervention for four weeks with weekly follow-ups. SNx mice had significantly reduced limb reperfusion, decreased plasma EPC mobilization, and impaired angiogenesis in ischemic hindlimbs compared to the control group. However, G-CSF increased IL-10 and reversed these adverse changes. Additionally, ischemia-associated protein expressions, including IL-10, phospho-STAT3, VEGF, and phospho-eNOS, were significantly downregulated in the ischemic hindlimbs of SNx mice versus control, but these trends were reversed by G-CSF. Furthermore, in cultured EPCs, G-CSF significantly attenuated the decrease in EPC function initiated by indoxyl sulfate through IL-10. Overall, we discovered that G-CSF can improve EPC angiogenic function through a hypoxia/IL-10 signaling cascade and impede neovascular growth in response to ischemia of SNx mice. Our results highlight G-CSF’s potential to restore angiogenesis in CKD patients with PAD via EPC-based methods. Full article

5-FU-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and oxaliplatin-based CRT are commonly used therapies for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). However, patients with a high expression of ERCC1 have a worse prognosis than those with a low expression. In this study, we investigated the effect of XPF–ERCC1 blockers on chemotherapy and 5-FU-based CRT and oxaliplatin (OXA)-based CRT in colorectal cancer cell lines. We investigated the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 5-FU, OXA, XPF–ERCC1 blocker, and XPF–ERCC1 blocker, and 5-FU or OXA combined and analyzed the effect of XPF–ERCC1 blocker on 5-FU-based CRT and oxaliplatin-based CRT. Furthermore, the expression of XPF and γ-H2AX in colorectal cells was analyzed. In animal models, we combined the XPF–ERCC1 blocker with 5-FU and OXA to investigate the effects of RC and finally combined the XPF–ERCC1 blocker with 5-FU- and oxaliplatin-based CRT. In the IC₅₀ analysis of each compound, the cytotoxicity of the XPF–ERCC1 blocker was lower than that of 5-FU and OXA. In addition, the XPF–ERCC1 blocker combined with 5-FU or OXA enhanced the cytotoxicity of the chemotherapy drugs in colorectal cells. Furthermore, the XPF–ERCC1 blocker also increased the cytotoxicity of 5-FU-based CRT and OXA -based CRT by inhibiting the XPF product DNA locus. In vivo, the XPF–ERCC1 blocker was confirmed to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of 5-FU, OXA, 5-FU-based CRT, and OXA CRT. These findings show that XPF–ERCC1 blockers not only increase the toxicity of chemotherapy drugs but also increase the efficacy of combined chemoradiotherapy. In the future, the XPF–ERCC1 blocker may be used to improve the efficacy of 5-FU- and oxaliplatin-based CRT. Full article

Tumor necrosis factor superfamily 14 (TNFSF14) is also known as the LT-related inducible ligand (LIGHT). It can bind to the herpesvirus invasion mediator and lymphotoxin-β receptor to perform its biological activity. LIGHT has multiple physiological functions, including strengthening the synthesis of nitric oxide, reactive oxygen species, and cytokines. LIGHT also stimulates angiogenesis in tumors and induces the synthesis of high endothelial venules; degrades the extracellular matrix in thoracic aortic dissection, and induces the expression of interleukin-8, cyclooxygenase-2, and cell adhesion molecules in endothelial cells. While LIGHT induces tissue inflammation, its effects on angiogenesis after tissue ischemia are unclear. Thus, we analyzed these effects in the current study. In this study, the animal model of hind limb ischemia surgery in C57BL/6 mice was performed. Doppler ultrasound, immunohistochemical staining, and Western blotting were employed to analyze the situation of angiogenesis. In addition, human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were used for in vitro studies to analyze the possible mechanisms. The results in the animal study showed that LIGHT injection inhibited angiogenesis in ischemic limbs. For the in vitro studies, LIGHT inhibited the expression of integrins and E-selectin; decreased migration and tube formation capabilities, mitochondrial respiration, and succinate dehydrogenase activity; and promoted senescence in EPCs. Western blotting revealed that the impairment of EPC function by LIGHT may be due to its effects on the proper functioning of the intracellular Akt signaling pathway, endothelial nitrite oxide synthase (eNOS), and mitochondrial respiration. In conclusion, LIGHT inhibits angiogenesis after tissue ischemia. This may be related to the clamped EPC function. Full article