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Precisely controlled digital pulse plays a crucial role in various cutting-edge testing applications. This paper introduces an innovative approach to digital pulse generation utilizing an FPGA transceiver, with the AMD evaluation board ZCU102 serving as a demonstrative platform. In the normal mode, the transmitter generates a serial bit stream, enabling the generation of single or repeated pulses with configurable width and period. In the high precision mode, an internal dedicated phase interpolator enhances the configuration step size for width and period by up to 64 times, providing finer phase shift capability. The demonstration system operates at a line rate of 10 Gbps, achieving a resolution of 100 ps in normal mode and 1.5625 ps in high precision mode. This paper details the design methodology, presents test results for pulse width uncertainty and non-linearity, and showcases achieved period jitter and time interval error jitter as small as around 1 ps. • A novel digital pulse generator is implemented with GTH transceiver in AMD FPGA. • Transceiver can produce digital pulse by controlling the sent bits with low jitter. • Resolution can be further enhanced by phase interpolator in the transceiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction This study aimed to investigate dental pulp responses to novel bioactive glass (BG) pulp capping materials after direct pulp capping in vivo . Methods Novel BG pulp capping materials are composed of powder and fluid. The powder is BG (82.36% SiO 2 , 15.36% CaO, and 2.28% P 2 O 5 ), and the fluid is provided in 2 kinds: (1) phosphate buffer solution (BG-PB) and (2) phosphate buffer solution with the addition of 1 wt% sodium alginate (BG-PB-SA). After mixing the powder and fluid, BG-PB and BG-PB-SA were prepared. Cavities with mechanical pulp exposure were prepared on maxillary first molars of Wistar rats. The exposures were randomly capped with BG-PB, BG-PB-SA, or mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). After 1 ( n = 6) and 4 weeks ( n = 8), maxillary segments were obtained and prepared for histologic analysis with a scoring system. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests with the significance set at .05. Results After 1 week, few inflammatory cells were present in the BG-PB, BG-PB-SA, and MTA groups. Moreover, a thin layer of newly generated matrix was observed in most specimens. After 4 weeks, all specimens from the 3 groups formed a heavy dentin bridge. BG-PB and BG-PB-SA groups exhibited no or slight inflammatory response, whereas the MTA group exhibited a slight to moderate inflammatory response. No significant difference was observed in pulp inflammation and dentin formation among the 3 groups at either time point ( P > .05). Conclusions When used as a pulp capping agent, BG-PB and BG-PB-SA had similar favorable cellular and inflammatory pulp responses to those of MTA. Therefore, BG is a promising pulp capping material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Upon DNA stimulation, cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) synthesizes the second messenger cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) that binds to the STING, triggering antiviral interferon-β (IFN-β) production. However, it has remained undetermined how hosts regulate cGAS enzymatic activity after the resolution of DNA immunogen. Here, we show that Akt kinase plays a negative role in cGAS-mediated anti-viral immune response. Akt phosphorylated the S291 or S305 residue of the enzymatic domain of mouse or human cGAS, respectively, and this phosphorylation robustly suppressed its enzymatic activity. Consequently, expression of activated Akt led to the reduction of cGAMP and IFN-β production and the increase of herpes simplex virus 1 replication, whereas treatment with Akt inhibitor augmented cGAS-mediated IFN-β production. Furthermore, expression of the phosphorylation-resistant cGAS S291A mutant enhanced IFN-β production upon DNA stimulation, HSV-1 infection, and vaccinia virus infection. Our study identifies an Akt kinase-mediated checkpoint to fine-tune hosts’ immune responses to DNA stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Acanthopanax senticosides B is a monomer of Acanthopanax senticosus saponins. Previous reports showed that Acanthopanax senticosus saponins exhibit antioxidant action and cardiac protection. However, whether Acanthopanax senticosides B has cardiac protection remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of Acanthopanax senticosides B on oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) of cardiomyocytes. As revealed from the results, when the cardiomyocytes were exposed to H2O2 for designed time and concentration, the percentage of survival cells was down significantly, the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the content of cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased markedly. These results indicated that the cells were subjected to oxidative damage. Treatment with Acanthopanax senticosides B prior to H2O2 (100μM) exposure can increase cell viability significantly, lessen H2O2-induced cardiomyocyte morphological change, and inhibit augmentation of LDH activity in culture media and cellular MDA content markedly. Our results demonstrated that Acanthopanax senticosides B (400μg/ml and 200μg/ml) can protect cells against oxidative injury of H2O2 (100μM). Furthermore, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, catalase and the content of reduced glutathione (GSH) of cardiomyocytes were also raised by Acanthopanax senticosides B. Taken together, the study implicated that Acanthopanax senticosides B protects cardiomyocytes against oxidative-stress injury induced by H2O2 through reduction of lipid peroxidation and enhancement of the activity of antioxidant defense. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To investigate how BBIBP-CorV vaccination affecting antibody responses upon heterologous Omicron infection. 440 Omicron-infected patients were recruited in this study. Antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and nucleoprotein of both wild-type (WT) and Omicron were detected by ELISA. The clinical relevance was further analyzed. BBIBP-CorV vaccinated patients exhibited higher anti-RBD IgG levels targeting both WT and Omicron than non-vaccinated patients at different stages. By using a 3-day moving average analysis, we found that BBIBP-CorV vaccinated patients exhibited the increases in both anti-WT and Omicron RBD IgG from the onset and reached the plateau at Day 8 whereas those in non-vaccinated patients remained low during the disease. Significant increase in anti-WT RBD IgA was observed only in vaccinated patients. anti-Omicron RBD IgA levels remained low in both vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients. Clinically, severe COVID-19 only occurred in non-vaccinated group. anti-RBD IgG and IgA targeting both WT and Omicron were negatively correlated with virus load, hospitalization days and virus elimination in vaccinated patients. BBIBP-CorV vaccination effectively reduces the severity of Omicron infected patients. The existence of humoral memory responses established through BBIBP-CorV vaccination facilitates to induce rapid recall antibody responses when encountering SARS-CoV-2 variant infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open reading frame 45 (ORF45) of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) causes sustained activation of p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK), which is crucial for KSHV lytic replication, but the exact functional roles remain to be determined. To characterize the biological consequence of persistent RSK activation by ORF45, we screened known cellular substrates of RSK. We found that ORF45 induced phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4B (eIF4B), increased its assembly into translation initiation complex, and subsequently facilitated protein translation. The ORF45/RSK-mediated eIF4B phosphorylation was distinguishable from that caused by the canonical AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin/ribosomal S6 kinase and MEK/ERK/RSK pathways because it was resistant to both rapamycin (an mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor) and U1026 (an MEK inhibitor). The rapamycin and U1026 doubly insensitive eIF4B phosphorylation was induced during KSHV reactivation but was abolished if either ORF45 or RSK1/2 were ablated by siRNA, a pattern that is correlated with reduced lytic gene expression as we observed previously. Ectopic expression of eIF4B but not its phosphorylation-deficient mutant form increased KSHV lytic gene expression and production of progeny viruses. Together, these results indicated that ORF45/RSK axis-induced eIF4B phosphorylation is involved in translational regulation and is required for optimal KSHV lytic replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of psychological disorders and associated factors at different stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in China.Methods: The mental health status of respondents was assessed via the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale.Results: 5657 individuals participated in this study. History of chronic disease was a common risk factor for severe present depression (OR 2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.82-2.66, p < 0.001), anxiety (OR 2.41, 95% CI, 1.97-2.95, p < 0.001), and insomnia (OR 2.33, 95% CI, 1.83-2.95, p < 0.001) in the survey population. Female respondents had a higher risk of depression (OR 1.61, 95% CI, 1.39-1.87, p < 0.001) and anxiety (OR 1.35, 95% CI, 1.15-1.57, p < 0.001) than males. Among the medical workers, confirmed or suspected positive COVID-19 infection as associated with higher scores for depression (confirmed, OR 1.87; suspected, OR 4.13), anxiety (confirmed, OR 3.05; suspected, OR 3.07), and insomnia (confirmed, OR 3.46; suspected, OR 4.71).Limitation: The cross-sectional design of present study presents inference about causality. The present psychological assessment was based on an online survey and on self-report tools, albeit using established instruments. We cannot estimate the participation rate, since we cannot know how many potential subjects received and opened the link for the survey.Conclusions: Females, non-medical workers and those with a history of chronic diseases have had higher risks for depression, insomnia, and anxiety. Positive COVID-19 infection status was associated with higher risk of depression, insomnia, and anxiety in medical workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Nerve growth factor (NGF) shows neuroprotection while it is hard to cross the blood-brain barrier due to its large molecular weight. Our study used intranasal delivery of NGF to treat the experimental epilepsy. Methods The seizure was induced by injection of pentylenetetrazol (40 mg/kg) into the rat. Based on the behavior performance, the successful models were randomized into control and NGF groups, given medium or NGF intranasally, respectively. The onset and duration of seizure were recorded. The neuron loss was assessed by immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining. The expressions of Caspase-3, p75R and TrkA were measured by western blotting. Results Intranasal NGF significantly reduced the seizure onset and shortened the seizure duration. Intranasal NGF alleviated the neuron loss in the epileptic brain. The number of TUNEL-positive cells in the NGF group was less than that in the control group ( P < 0.05). Overexpression of Caspase-3 and activation of p75R induced by seizure were inhibited by intranasal NGF. Conclusion Intranasal NGF protected neurons in the epileptic brain by inactivation of p75R/Caspase pathway. Intranasal NGF may be a novel therapeutic strategy for epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. α-Synuclein (α-syn) oligomers play a critical role in the progression of PD. Baicalein, a typical flavonoid compound, can inhibit the formation of the α-syn oligomers, and disaggregate existing α-syn oligomers in vitro . However, whether baicalein could inhibit or disaggregate α-syn oligomers in vivo has not been investigated. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the inhibitory effects of baicalein on α-syn oligomers in vivo and to explore the possible mechanisms of such inhibition. A chronic PD mouse model was created by continuous intragastric administration of rotenone (5 mg/kg, 12 weeks). Baicalein (100 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected from 7 week to 12 week. Our result showed that the amount of α-syn, changes in the levels of the striatal neurotransmitters, and the behavioral changes found in the chronic PD mouse model were prevented after the baicalein injections. Although baicalein did not decrease α-syn mRNA expression, α-syn oligomers were significantly decreased in the ileum, thoracic spinal cord, and midbrain. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that baicalein could prevent α-syn monomers from the oligomer formation in vitro . Taken together, these results suggest that baicalein could prevent the progression of α-syn accumulation in PD mouse model partly by inhibiting formation of the α-syn oligomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking advantage of the biocompatibility and biodegradability of calcium carbonate, a simple method was introduced to synthesize the calcium carbonate microparticles with different morphologies, including hollow (H-calcium), flower-like (P-calcium) and peanut-like (P-calcium). The possible formation mechanisms of these kinds of calcium carbonate microparticles were discussed in this study. Initially, the aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was possibly hydrolyzed, and octa(amino-propylsilsesquioxane) (R-NH 3 + ) was obtained. The R-NH 3 + might guide the CaCO 3 nanoparticles to form multiple calcium carbonate microparticles in aqueous phase because of their positive potential. Furthermore, the final treatments were very essential to obtain the calcium carbonate microparticles with satisfactory shape with this method. The XRD and FTIR results revealed the components and crystalline phase of these products. The morphologies were characterized by SEM and TEM. Furthermore, the potential value of these kinds of microparticles was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]