RESUMEN

Hypertension is a frequent comorbidity in patients with heart failure; therefore, blood pressure management for these patients is widely recommended in medical guidelines. Bee pollen and postbiotics that contain inactivated probiotic cells and their metabolites have emerged as promising bioactive compounds sources, and their potential role in mitigating cardiovascular (CV) risks is currently being unveiled. Therefore, this preliminary study aimed to investigate the impact of a lactic-fermented bee pollen postbiotic (FBPP) on the CV microbiota via in vitro tests. A new isolated Lactobacillus spp. strain from the digestive tract of bees was used to ferment pollen, obtaining liquid and dried atomized caps postbiotics. The modulating effects on a CV microbiota that corresponds to the pathophysiology of hypertension were investigated using microbiological methods and qPCR and correlated with the metabolic profile. Both liquid and dried FBPPs increased the number of the beneficial Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. bacteria by up to 2 log/mL, while the opportunistic pathogen E. coli, which contributes to CV pathogenesis, decreased by 3 log/mL. The short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profile revealed a significant increase in lactic (6.386 ± 0.106 g/L) and acetic (4.284 ± 0.017 g/L) acids, both with known antihypertensive effects, and the presence of isovaleric acid, which promotes a healthy gut microbiota. Understanding the impact of the FBPP on gut microbiota could lead to innovative strategies for promoting heart health and preventing cardiovascular diseases.

RESUMEN

Molecular doping has conventionally been an effective way to improve the electrical-transport performances in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), while corresponding mechanisms associated with specific doping techniques have been less investigated and discussed in detail. Here, based on ultrathin dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT) single crystals, robust transconductance enhancements are realized in OFETs upon surface molecular doping realized via van der Waals epitaxially growing crystalline 1,3,4,5,7,8-hexafluoro-tetracyanonaphthoquinodimethane (F6TCNNQ) onto the single crystal's surface. It is proposed that it is the mobility modulation effect (MME) from the interactions between charge-transfer interface and gate electric field, that contributes to more weighted bulk carriers, and finally improves charge-transport performances. The evaluations are further supported by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) surface potential characterizations, which manifest the gate-induced more delocalized holes near the charge-transfer interfaces. Space-charge-limited current (SCLC) investigations, numerical calculations, and theoretical mobility modeling are also performed to corroborate the analysis. This study can deepen the understanding of charge transport in doped semiconductors and provide effective ways for optimizing the electrical performance of organic devices.

RESUMEN

In this study, the physical properties of F ion-implanted GaN were thoroughly studied, and the related electric-field modulation mechanisms in ion-implanted edge termination were revealed. Transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the ion-implanted region maintains a single-crystal structure even with the implantation of high-energy F ions, indicating that the high resistivity of the edge termination region is not induced by amorphization. Alternately, ion implantation-induced deep levels could compensate the electrons and lead to a highly resistive layer. In addition to the bulk effect, the direct bombardment of high-energy F ions resulted in a rough and nitrogen-deficient surface, which was confirmed via atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The implanted surface with a large density of nitrogen vacancies can accommodate electrons, and it is more conductive than the bulk in the implanted region, which is validated via spreading resistance profiling and conductive AFM measurements. Under reverse bias, the implanted surface can spread the potential in the lateral direction, whereas the acceptor traps capture electrons acting as space charges, shifting the peak electric field into the bulk region in the vertical direction. As a result, the Schottky barrier diode terminated with high-energy F ion-implanted regions exhibits a breakdown voltage of over 1.2 kV.

RESUMEN

The modulation effect has been widely investigated to tune the electronic state of single-atomic M-N-C catalysts to enhance the activity of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the in-depth study of modulation effect is rarely reported for the isolated dual-atomic metal sites. Now, the catalytic activities of Fe-N4 moiety can be enhanced by the adjacent Pt-N4 moiety through the modulation effect, in which the Pt-N4 acts as the modulator to tune the 3d electronic orbitals of Fe-N4 active site and optimize ORR activity. Inspired by this principle, we design and synthesize the electrocatalyst that comprises isolated Fe-N4 /Pt-N4 moieties dispersed in the nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (Fe-N4 /Pt-N4 @NC) and exhibits a half-wave potential of 0.93 V vs. RHE and negligible activity degradation (ΔE1/2 =8 mV) after 10000 cycles in 0.1 M KOH. We also demonstrate that the modulation effect is not effective for optimizing the ORR performances of Co-N4 /Pt-N4 and Mn-N4 /Pt-N4 systems.

RESUMEN

The modulating effect of 2-O-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-l-ascorbic acid (AA-2ßG), a natural derivative of ascorbic acid from the fruits of Lycium barbarum, on mice gut microbiota was investigated in the present study. It was found that AA-2ßG was able to adjust the structure of mice gut microbiota, elevated the relative abundances of Verrucomicrobia, Porphyromonadaceae, Verrucomicrobiaceae, and Erysipelotrichaceae, and meanwhile reduced the relative abundances of Firmicutes, Lachnospiraceae, Rikenellaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Bdellovibrionaceae, Anaeroplasmataceae, and Peptococcaceae. Through the linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis, the key microbiota that were found to be significantly changed after long-term consumption of AA-2ßG were Ruminococcaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Rikenellaceae. In addition, AA-2ßG could upregulate pro-inflammatory cytokines, promote tight junctions between intestinal cells, facilitate the generation of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and upregulate the mRNA expression level of SCFAs receptors, indicating that AA-2ßG might promote organism health. The results demonstrated that AA-2ßG might maintain organism health by modulating gut microbiota.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

AIMS: Brown ring disease (BRD) is an infection of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum due to the pathogen Vibrio tapetis. During BRD, clams are facing immunodepression and shell biomineralization alteration. In this paper, we studied the role of pH on the growth of the pathogen and formulated hypothesis on the establishment of BRD by V. tapetis. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, we monitored the evolution of pH during the growth of V. tapetis in a range of pH and temperatures. We also measured the pH of Manila clam haemolymph and extrapallial fluids (EPFs) during infection by V. tapetis. We highlighted that V. tapetis modulates the external pH during its growth, to a value of 7·70. During the development of BRD, V. tapetis also influences EPFs and haemolymph pH in vitro in the first hours of exposure and in vivo after 3 days of infection. CONCLUSIONS: Our experiments have shown a close interaction between V. tapetis CECT4600, a pathogen of Manila clam that induces BRD, and the pH of different compartments of the animals during infection. These results indicate that the bacterium, through a direct mechanism or as a consequence of physiological changes encountered in the animal during infection, is able to interfere with the pH of Manila clam fluids. This pH modification might promote the infection process or at least create an imbalance within the animal that would favour its persistence. This last hypothesis should be tested in future experiment. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study is the first observation of pH modifications in the context of BRD and might orient future research on the fine mechanisms of pH modulation associated with BRD.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the immunological activities of EPS-1 in the non-specific immune response and specific immune response of chickens. In vitro, the results showed that EPS-1 could increase the proliferation and cytokine secretion (IL-2, IL-4, IFN-γ and TNF-α) of spleen lymphocytes, expression of key surface molecules (MHC II, CD11c, CD40 and CD86) and cytokine secretion (TNF-α and IL-10) of matured chBM-DCs, phagocytic rate of matured chBM-DCs, and enhance the maturation and stimulating capacity of chBM-DCs. In vivo, EPS-1 could also prompt the HI antibody titer, boost the peripheral lymphocyte proliferation, enhance the release of cytokine products in blood (IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-2) and duodenum (IL-17 and sIgA) of chickens. These results indicated that EPS-1 may have the potential as a powerful immune adjuvant in the treatment of chicken diseases.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

We fabricate two-layer (TL) silicon nanowires (NW) field-effect transistors (FETs) with a liquid gate. The NW devices show advanced characteristics, which reflect reliable single-electron phenomena. A strong modulation effect of channel conductivity with effectively tuned parameters is revealed. The effect opens up prospects for applications in several research fields including bioelectronics and sensing applications. Our results shed light on the nature of single trap dynamics which parameters can be fine-tuned to enhance the sensitivity of liquid-gated TL silicon nanowire FETs.

RESUMEN

AIM: This study explored whether nociceptive (NS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation and psychological distress were predictive of pain 6 months after primary total knee replacement. PATIENTS & METHODS: ANS and NS regulation, psychological distress and self-reported pain, stiffness and function were evaluated preoperatively in 56 patients. Pain severity measured 6 months after surgery was used as the primary outcome in an analysis of covariance model. RESULTS: The data of 47 patients (85.5%) could be analyzed. Postoperative pain severity 6 months after surgery was significantly associated with reduced heart rate variability and tended to be related to a lower conditioned pain modulation effect, but the latter only in females. CONCLUSION: Due to the small sample size the results must be interpreted with caution. A dysregulation of ANS and NS may be predictive of pain severity 6 months after total knee replacement. The impact of the conditioned pain modulation effect could be sex specific.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Even when performing invariant behavioral task repeatedly on invariant physical stimuli, our behavioral performance always changes as manifested in varying response times (RTs), which is associated with fluctuations in attentional control and thus the underlying self-organization states of the human brain. In a visuospatial task of the present fMRI study, physical stimuli differed across six levels of spatial scope, but were kept invariant within each level. The slower RTs with larger spatial area attended suggested higher demands on visuospatial attention. The slower RTs within each level, however, implicated worse attentional control since both the task and the physical stimuli were kept invariant within each level. The imaging results showed that slower RTs within each of the six levels were associated with higher but later activations in the frontoparietal network, and higher but later deactivations in the default-mode network (DMN). These findings thus for the first time suggested that the within-level variance of attentional control corresponded to dynamic changes in the frontoparietal network and the DMN, in terms of not only the height but also the latency of neural activity. Moreover, although the two networks are anti-correlated in terms of the height of neural activity, they are tightly coupled in terms of the temporal dynamics. Based on the current results, we proposed a tentative hypothesis on the optimal working mode of the frontoparietal attentional control system in the human brain: even a lower height of neural activity in frontoparietal network can significantly improve behavioral performance as long as it starts relatively early.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

The Poggendorff illusion refers to the phenomenon that the human brain misperceives a diagonal line as being apparently misaligned once the diagonal line is interrupted by two parallel edges, and the size of illusion is negatively correlated with the angle of interception of the oblique, i.e. the sharper the oblique angle, the larger the illusion. This optical illusion can be produced by both real and illusory contour. In this fMRI study, by parametrically varying the oblique angle, we investigated the shared and specific neural mechanisms underlying the Poggendorff illusion induced by real and illusory contour. At the behavioral level, not only the real but also the illusory contours were capable of inducing significant Poggendorff illusion. The size of illusion induced by the real contour, however, was larger than that induced by the illusory contour. At the neural level, real and illusory contours commonly activated more dorsal visual areas, and the real contours specifically activated more ventral visual areas. More importantly, examinations on the parametric modulation effects of the size of illusion revealed the specific neural mechanisms underlying the Poggendorff illusion induced by the real and the illusory contours, respectively. Left precentral gyrus and right middle occipital cortex were specifically involved in the Poggendorff illusion induced by the real contour. On the other hand, bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and right lateral occipital complex (LOC) were specifically involved in the Poggendorff illusion induced by the illusory contour. Functional implications of the above findings were further discussed.

Asunto(s)