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Noninvasive extracellular pH (pHe) mapping with Biosensor Imaging of Redundant Deviation in Shifts (BIRDS) using MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) has been demonstrated on 3T clinical MR scanners at 8 ×8×10 mm3 spatial resolution and applied to study various liver cancer treatments. Although pHe imaging at higher resolution can be achieved by extending the acquisition time, a postprocessing method to increase the resolution is preferable, to minimize the duration spent by the subject in the MR scanner. In this work, we propose to improve the spatial resolution of pHe mapping with BIRDS by incorporating anatomical information in the form of multiparametric MRI and using an unsupervised deep‐learning technique, Deep Image Prior (DIP). Specifically, we used high‐resolution T1, T2, and diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) MR images of rabbits with VX2 liver tumors as inputs to a U‐Net architecture to provide anatomical information. U‐Net parameters were optimized to minimize the difference between the output super‐resolution image and the experimentally acquired low‐resolution pHe image using the mean‐absolute error. In this way, the super‐resolution pHe image would be consistent with both anatomical MR images and the low‐resolution pHe measurement from the scanner. The method was developed based on data from 49 rabbits implanted with VX2 liver tumors. For evaluation, we also acquired high‐resolution pHe images from two rabbits, which were used as ground truth. The results indicate a good match between the spatial characteristics of the super‐resolution images and the high‐resolution ground truth, supported by the low pixelwise absolute error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reactive astrocytes participate in various pathophysiology after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), including neuroinflammation, glymphatic–lymphatic system dysfunction, brain edema, BBB disruption, and cell death. Astrocytes transform into two new reactive phenotypes with changed morphology, altered gene expression, and secretion profiles, termed detrimental A1 and beneficial A2. This study investigates the effect of 67LR activation by PEDF-34, a PEDF peptide, on neuroinflammation and astrocyte polarization after the experimental SAH. Methods: A total of 318 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were used in experiments in vivo, of which 272 rats were subjected to the endovascular perforation model of SAH and 46 rats underwent sham surgery. 67LR agonist (PEDF-34) was administrated intranasally 1 h after SAH. 67LR-specific inhibitor (NSC-47924) and STAT1 transcriptional activator (2-NP) were injected intracerebroventricularly 48 h before SAH. Short- and long-term neurological tests, brain water content, immunostaining, Nissl staining, western blot, and ELISA assay were performed. In experiments in vitro, primary astrocyte culture with hemoglobin (Hb) stimulation was used to mimic SAH. The expression of the PEDF-34/67LR signaling pathway and neuro-inflammatory cytokines were assessed using Western blot, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry assays both in vivo and in vitro. Results: Endogenous PEDF and 67LR expressions were significantly reduced at 6 h after SAH. 67LR was expressed in astrocytes and neurons. Intranasal administration of PEDF-34 significantly reduced brain water content, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and short-term and long-term neurological deficits after SAH. The ratio of p-JNK/JNK and p-STAT1/STAT1 and the expression of CFB and C3 (A1 astrocytes marker), significantly decreased after PEDF-34 treatment, along with fewer expression of TNF-α and IL-1β at 24 h after SAH. However, 2-NP (STAT1 transcriptional activator) and NSC-47924 (67LR inhibitor) reversed the protective effects of PEDF-34 in vivo and in vitro by promoting A1 astrocyte polarization with increased inflammatory cytokines. Conclusion: PEDF-34 activated 67LR, attenuating neuroinflammation and inhibiting astrocyte A1 polarization partly via the JNK/STAT1 pathway, suggesting that PEDF-34 might be a potential treatment for SAH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Family history is one of the strongest risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) while studies about the clinical phenotype of familial IBD are limited. This study aimed to compare the phenotypic features of familial Crohn's disease (CD) with sporadic CD. Methods: Familial CD was defined as CD patients having one or more first, second, third, fourth degree, or above relatives with CD. Sporadic CD patients hospitalized during the same period were matched 1:3 by age and gender. Differences in clinical characteristics, phenotype distribution, extraintestinal manifestations, and complications at diagnosis, as well as treatment regimen and surgery, were compared between familial and sporadic CD. Results: The familial CD was associated with a higher rate of past appendectomy history (P = 0.009), more intestinal perforation at onset (P = 0.012), more MRI results of anal lesion (P = 0.023), and gastrointestinal perforation (P = 0.040) at diagnosis, higher rate of past intestinal surgery history (P = 0.007), more number of intestinal surgeries (P = 0.037), longer duration of follow-up (P = 0.017), lower rate of taking biologicals for current maintenance (P = 0.043), lower tendency to upgrade to biologicals during follow-up (P = 0.013), higher possibility to experience gastrointestinal obstruction (P = 0.047), and abdominal abscess during follow-up (P = 0.045). Conclusion: Familial CD is associated with a more aggressive clinical phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the fermentation process of dehulled flaxseed fermented milk was optimized by single factor test and response surface method, and its storage stability was studied by using dehulled flaxseed pure milk and whole milk as the main raw materials. The results showed that the optimum preparation conditions of solidified dehulled flaxseed fermented milk were as follows: the volume ratio of dehulled flaxseed pure mike Lo whole milk was 3:7, the sucrose addition was 74 g/L, the fermentation agent was 2. 3 g/L, the β-cyclodextrin addition was 2.0 g/L, the fermentation temperature was 42 °C, the fermentation time was 8 h. In addition, under the optimized conditions, the titratable acidity of fermented milk after 21 days of storage was 84 °T, pH 4. 3, water holding capacity was 84. 03%, viable count was 2.44 x 108 CFU/g, hardness was 1.07 N, elasticity was 0.63 mm, chewiness was 0.45 N, viscosity was 0.71 N, cohesiveness was 0.66. The coagulated fermented milk was milky while in color, uniform in texture, no whey precipitation, had the aroma of flaxseed and good stability. The results provided research ideas and data reference for the fermentation process and storage characteristics evaluation of plant-based fermented milk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and simple method for detecting Cu2+ in the water source was proposed by using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) based on the Ag@SiO2/Au core–shell composite. The Ag@SiO2 SERS tag was synthesized by a simple approach, in which Ag nanoparticles were first embedded with Raman reporter PATP and next coated with a SiO2 shell. The Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles had strong stability even in a high-concentration salty solution, and there were no changes to their properties and appearance within one month. The Ag@SiO2/Au composite was fabricated through a controllable self-assemble process. L-cysteine was decorated on the surface of a functionalized Ag@SiO2/Au composite, as the amino and carboxyl groups of it can form coordinate covalent bond with Cu2+, which shows that the Ag@SiO2/Au composite labelled with L-cysteine has excellent performance for the detection of Cu2+ in aqueous media. In this study, the SERS detection of Cu2+ was carried out using Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles, and the limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.1 mg/L was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemically converting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into valuable fuels and renewable chemical feedstocks is considered a highly promising approach to achieve carbon neutrality. In this work, a robust interfacial built-in electric field (BEF) has been successfully designed and created in Bi/Bi 2 Te 3 nanowires (NWs). The Bi/Bi 2 Te 3 NWs consistently maintain over 90% Faradaic efficiency (FE) within a wide potential range (-0.8 to -1.2 V), with HCOOH selectivity reaching 97.2% at -1.0 V. Moreover, the FE HCOOH of Bi/Bi 2 Te 3 NWs can still reach 94.3% at a current density of 100 mA cm -2 when it is used as a cathode electrocatalyst in a flow-cell system. Detailed in situ experiments confirm that the presence of interfacial BEF between Bi and Bi/Bi 2 Te 3 promotes the formation of *OHCO intermediates, thus facilitating the production of HCOOH species. DFT calculations show that Bi/Bi 2 Te 3 NWs increase the formation energies of H* and *COOH while reducing the energy barrier for *OCHO formation, thus achieving a bidirectional optimization of intermediate adsorption. This work provides a feasible scheme for exploring electrocatalytic reaction intermediates by using the BEF strategy.

Introduction: Acute kidney injury is associated with worse outcomes after cardiac surgery. The haemodynamic goals to ameliorate kidney injury are not clear. Low post-operative renal perfusion pressure has been associated with acute kidney injury in adults. Inadequate oxygen delivery may also cause kidney injury. This study evaluates pressure and oximetric haemodynamics after paediatric cardiac surgery and their association with acute kidney injury., Materials and Methods: Retrospective case-control study at a children's hospital. Patients were < 6 months of age who underwent a Society of Thoracic Surgery-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Surgery categories ≥ 3. Low renal perfusion pressure was time and depth below several tested thresholds. The primary outcome was serum creatine-defined acute kidney injury in the first 7 days., Results: Sixty-six patients (median age 8 days) were included. Acute kidney injury occurred in 36%. The time and depth of renal perfusion pressure < 42 mmHg in the first 24 hours was greater in acute kidney injury patients (94 versus 35 mmHg*minutes of low renal perfusion pressure/hour, p = 0.008). In the multivariable model, renal perfusion pressure < 42 mmHg was associated with acute kidney injury (aOR: 2.07, 95%CI: 1.25-3.82, p = 0.009). Mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, and measures of inadequate oxygen delivery were not associated with acute kidney injury., Conclusion: Periods of low renal perfusion pressure (<42 mmHg) in the first 24 post-operative hours are associated with acute kidney injury. Renal perfusion pressure is a potential modifiable target that may mitigate the impact of acute kidney injury after paediatric cardiac surgery.