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Endothelial dysfunction is characterized by disturbances in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and increased circulating asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) due to the enormous release of free radicals. Increased circulating ADMA may cause endothelial dysfunction and a variety of clinical disorders, such as liver and kidney disease. Young male Sprague-Dawley rats at postnatal day 17 ± 1 received continuous ADMA infusion via an intraperitoneal pump to induce endothelial dysfunction. Four groups of rats (n = 10 per group) were allocated: control, control and resveratrol, ADMA infusion, and ADMA infusion and resveratrol groups. Spatial memory, NLR family pyrin-domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, cytokine expression, tight junction proteins in the ileum and dorsal hippocampus, and microbiota composition were examined. We found cognitive deficits; increased NLRP3 inflammasome in the plasma, ileum, and dorsal hippocampus; decreased ileum and dorsal hippocampal cytokine activation and tight junction proteins; and microbiota composition alterations in the ADMA-infusion young male rats. Resveratrol had beneficial effects in this context. In conclusion, we observed NLRP3 inflammasome activation in peripheral and central dysbiosis in young male rats with increased circulating ADMA, and found that resveratrol had beneficial effects. Our work adds to the mounting evidence that inhibiting systemic inflammation is a promising therapeutic avenue for cognition impairment, probably via the gut-brain axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the improvement in children's acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) care, the survival rate in children ALL has improved much. Methotrexate (MTX) plays an essential role in the success of children's ALL treatment. Since hepatotoxicity is commonly reported in individuals treated with intravenous or oral MTX, our study further examined the hepatic effect following intrathecal MTX treatment, which is an essential treatment for leukemia patients. Specifically, we examined the pathogenesis of MTX hepatotoxicity in young rats and explored the impact of melatonin treatment in protection against MTX hepatotoxicity. Successfully, we found that melatonin was able to protect against MTX hepatotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper ions (Cu2+) play an indispensable role in both the human body and eco-environment, so it is crucial to create simple, highly sensitive and selective sensors to recognize Cu2+ ions. In this work, three efficient iridium(III) complexes, [(L1)2Ir(Czdtc)] (Ir1, L1 = 6-phenylnicotinaldehyde), [(L2)2Ir(Czdtc)] (Ir2, L2 = 6-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)nicotinaldehyde) and [(L3)2Ir(Czdtc)] (Ir3, L3 = 6-(4-methoxyphenyl)nicotinaldehyde) comprising a four-membered Ir–S–C–S ring backbone with 9H-carbazole-9-carbodithioate (Czdtc) as ancillary ligands, were synthesized within 10 minutes at room temperature, and developed as efficient chemical sensors to detect Cu2+ ions. Ir1–Ir3 exhibited broad emission bands peaking between 575 and 593 nm with PLQY in the range of 0.34–0.70 and lifetimes ranging from 1.3 to 1.8 μs. In acetonitrile solution, they showed a sensitive response to Cu2+ ions with a low detection limit on the order of 10−7 M with a stoichiometric ratio of 1 : 1, and distinct colorimetric changes (from orange-red to greenish-yellow) were observed by the naked eye. Nanofibrous films decorated with these complexes fabricated using the electrospinning technology could realize on-site detection of Cu2+ ions, based on an obvious contrasting luminescence color different from the background under a 365 nm UV lamp. Nanofibrous films decorated with the fast synthesized Ir1–Ir3 could be used as solid-phase sensing devices with low-cost, high efficiency and portability, providing a promising prospect for the detection of Cu2+ ions in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Coxsackievirus A9 (CA9) was one of the most prevalent serotype of enteroviral infections in Taiwan in 2011. After several patient series were reported in the 1960s and 1970s, few studies have focused on the clinical manifestations of CA9 infections. Our study explores and deepens the current understanding of CA9. Methods We analyzed the clinical presentations of 100 culture-proven CA9-infected patients in 2011 by reviewing their medical records and depicted the CA9 phylogenetic tree. Results Of the 100 patients with culture-proven CA9 infections, the mean (SD) age was 4.6 (3.4) years and the male to female ratio was 1.9. For clinical manifestations, 96 patients (96%) had fever and the mean (SD) duration of fever was 5.9 (3.4) days. Sixty one patients (61%) developed a skin rash, and the predominant pattern was a generalized non-itchy maculopapular rash without vesicular changes. While most patients showed injected throat, oral ulcers were found in only 19 cases (19%), among whom, 6 were diagnosed as herpangina. Complicated cases included: aseptic meningitis (n=8), bronchopneumonia (n=6), acute cerebellitis (n=1), and polio-like syndrome (n=1). Phylogenetic analysis for current CA9 strains is closest to the CA9 isolate 27-YN-2008 from the border area of mainland China and Myanmar. Conclusions The most common feature of CA9 during the 2011 epidemic in Taiwan is generalized febrile exanthema rather than herpangina or hand, foot, and mouth disease. Given that prolonged fever and some complications are possible, caution should be advised in assessing patients as well as in predicting the clinical course.

A simple aqueous‐phase synthesis of PbSe nanocubes with tunable sizes has been developed by first preparing a Na2SeSO3 stock solution through dissolution of selenium powder in a solution of Na2SO3 at 90–100 °C for 30 min, and adding part of this solution to a mixture of lead acetate and acetic acid at room temperature with stirring for only 5–8 min to complete the nanocrystal growth. Adjusting the volume of acetic acid and Na2SeSO3 solution added enabled the size of the nanocrystals to be tuned, with average edge lengths of 13 to 121 nm attained. Changes in solution color revealed very different crystal growth rates for the 13 and 121 nm nanocubes. The PbSe cubes exhibit size‐dependent absorption bands in the ultraviolet and visible‐light region; the band positions show progressive redshifts with increasing particle size. Slight photocatalytic activity upon 532 nm laser irradiation of the nanocubes suggests the presence of higher energy levels in the band structure of PbSe. The synthetic conditions can be easily scaled up to obtain a large quantity of PbSe nanocubes for applications. Crystal growth: By adding a solution of Na2SeSO3 to an aqueous mixture of lead acetate and acetic acid, PbSe nanocubes with average edge lengths of 13–121 nm can be synthesized at room temperature in just 5–8 minutes (see figure). The synthetic conditions allow easy scale up for the mass production of PbSe nanocubes, which have shown potential in photocatalytic degradation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]