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Background: Osteoclasts are integral to the advancement of osteoporosis (OP), and their generation under conditions of oxidative stress (OS) involves various pathways. However, the specific mechanism through which the natural antioxidant kaempferol (KAE) mitigates the influence of OS on osteoclasts remains somewhat uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the effect of KAE on osteoclast formation under OS and explore its possible mechanism. Methods: Zebrafish were used to observe the effects of KAE on OP and OS. OP and OS "double disease targets" network pharmacology were used to predict the action target and mechanism of KAE on OP under OS. The effects of KAE on osteoclast differentiation induced by OS were evaluated using RWA264.7 cells induced by LPS. To elucidate the potential mechanism, we detected the expression of related factors and target genes during induction. Results: The presence of KAE exhibited potential in improving the conditions of OP and OS in zebrafish. KAE can reduce the OS of RAW 264.7 cells stimulated by LPS, inhibit the formation of osteoclasts, and change the level of related factors of OS, and reduce the increase of TRAP. The utilization of network pharmacology and target gene expression assay revealed that KAE exerted a down‐regulatory effect on the expression of proto‐oncogene tyrosine protein kinase (SRC), nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB), Serine/Threonine Kinase‐1 (AKT1), Nitric Oxide Synthase 3 (NOS3) and Matrix Metallopeptidase‐2 (MMP2). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, KAE may effectively mitigate OS and impede the formation of osteoclasts through the SRC/NF‐κB‐AKT/NOS3 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mobile edge computing (MEC), mobile devices can choose to offload their tasks to edge servers for execution, thereby effectively reducing the completion time of tasks and energy consumption of mobile devices. However, most of the data transfer brought by offloading relies on wireless communication technology, making the private information of mobile devices vulnerable to eavesdropping and monitoring. Privacy leakage, especially the location and association privacies, can pose a significant risk to users of mobile devices. Therefore, protecting the privacy of mobile devices during task offloading is important and cannot be ignored. This paper considers both location privacy and association privacy of mobile devices during task offloading in MEC and targets to reduce the leakage of location and association privacy while minimizing the average completion time of tasks. To achieve these goals, we design a privacy-preserving task offloading scheme to protect location privacy and association privacy. The scheme is mainly divided into two parts. First, we adopt a proxy forwarding mechanism to protect the location privacy of mobile devices from being leaked. Second, we select the proxy server and edge server for each task that needs to be offloaded. In the proxy server selection policy, we make a choice based on the location information of proxy servers, to reduce the leakage risk of location privacy. In the edge server selection strategy, we consider the privacy conflict between tasks, the computing ability, and location of edge servers, to reduce the leakage risk of association privacy plus the average completion time of tasks as much as possible. Simulated experimental results demonstrate that our scheme is effective in protecting the location privacy and association privacy of mobile devices and reducing the average completion time of tasks compared with the-state-of-art techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel cost-effective and distributed in-band optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring method using a widely tunable optical bandpass filter and optical power measurements, which employs the Gaussian process regression and is proved to be insensitive to fiber nonlinearity, chromatic dispersion, and optical amplifier type. This method is verified in a 9-channel 10 Gbaud NRZ-QPSK coherent optical transmission system with 50-GHz channel intervals. When there are no add–drop filters or wavelength selective switches in the transmission link, the maximum OSNR deviation, the root-mean-squared error (RMSE), and the mean absolute error (MAE) are less than 0.21 dB, 0.041 dB, and 0.021 dB, respectively, in the OSNR range of 1–29 dB. Instead, when there exist the above optical filtering elements in the transmission link, the maximum OSNR deviation, the RSME, and the MAE are less than 0.24 dB, 0.041 dB, and 0.021 dB, respectively, in the OSNR range of 4–31 dB. Besides, the OSNR monitor based on the novel method can eliminate the necessity to know the transmission information and is more convenient to use because no calibration is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constipation is a clinical condition characterized by reduced intestinal motility, dry and hardened stool, and prolonged retention. Common constipation medicines are less stable, and prolonged use can lead to dependency and side effects. Cistanche deserticola Ma , a well-known Traditional Chinese Medicine, is frequently used to alleviate constipation. In this study, we established a loperamide-induced constipation model in mice to investigate the effects of Cistanche polysaccharides (CDPS) and to explore its underlying pharmacological mechanism. The serum levels of inflammatory factors, gastrointestinal hormones and neurotransmitters of mice were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Intestinal tight junction integrity was evaluated using immunohistochemistry, and Western blot was used to detect tight junction protein levels. Gut microbial community structure and metabolite content were determined using 16S rRNA sequencing and metabolomics analysis. Oral CDPS enhanced the intestinal tight junction integrity, improved barrier function of intestinal mucosa, reduced inflammation, restored intestinal microbiota balance, and regulated metabolite levels. Notably, CDPS increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria, including Prevotellaceae UCG-001 , Odoribacter , Clostridiales vadin BB60 group, Alistipes , Lactobacillaceae , and Rikenellaceae , while decreasing the abundance of harmful bacteria such as Parabacteroides and Proteobacteria. In summary, CDPS may prevent and treat constipation by modulating intestinal flora composition, influencing metabolite profiles, and reinforcing mucosal barrier function., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2024.)

Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Previous studies have reported that TB susceptibility can be caused by vitamin D deficiency, which is affected by polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor ( VDR ) gene. However, these results have been inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to investigate the association between VDR polymorphisms and TB susceptibility., Methods: We systematically searched for relevant literature in PubMed, Embase, and Medline databases through December 31st, 2022. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were made to ensure that HIV-negative population is the targeted subjects. The pooled odds ratio ( OR ) and 95% confidence interval ( CI ) were then used to assess the strength of the association, and the quality of the included articles was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Potential sources of heterogeneity were evaluated based on subgroup and meta-regression analyses., Results: In our meta-analysis, we found that the FokI polymorphism in the VDR gene was associated with increased TB susceptibility in the allele and recessive genotype models ( OR f vs. F = 1.235, 95% CI : 1.035-1.475; OR ff vs. Ff + FF = 1.317, 95% CI : 1.005-1.727. Further subgroup analysis based on ethnicity demonstrated the association with the risk of TB in all genotype models of the FokI polymorphism for Han population. Meta-regression analysis also indicated that ethnicity could be a potential source of heterogeneity in the FokI and BsmI polymorphisms in the VDR gene. However, publication year was another source of heterogeneity for the Taq I polymorphism., Conclusion: In summary, the Fok I polymorphism in the VDR gene was found to increase the risk of TB in the HIV-negative population, both overall and in Asian populations. The findings presented in this paper could provide clues for preventing TB from the perspective of vitamin D supplementation, which is a controversial topic in the field of medicine and health., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Tao, Xiao, Wang, Hu, Suo, Long, Liu, Luo, Hong, Zhao and Li.)

Microstructured polarization beam splitters (PBSs) have attracted much interest in recent years. Here, a ring double-core photonic crystal fiber (PCB) PSB (PCB-PSB) with an ultrashort, broadband, and high extinction ratio (ER) was designed. The effects of the structural parameters on the properties were analyzed by the finite element method, which revealed that the optimal length of the PSB was 19.08877 µm and the ER was -324.257 d B . The operating bandwidth for an ER of less than -20 d B is 440 nm, and the wavelength range spans the full E + S + C + L + U band between 1,320 and 1,760 nm. The fault and manufacturing tolerance of the PBS was demonstrated for structural errors of ±1 % . Moreover, the influence of temperature on the performance of the PBS was determined and discussed. Our results show that a PBS has excellent potential in optical fiber sensing and optical fiber communications.