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In this study, polylactic acid (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) were used to fabricate composite materials with different raster orientations by a 3D printing process. The idea of this study came from the fact that in nature, many plants have vertical or horizontal lines on their leaves or branches. The authors made use of the composite material of a material structure under a thermal effect to achieve the material concept. Finally, their characteristics were observed by applying a thermal effect, tensile tests (to evaluate toughness), and a dynamic mechanical analysis (tan [delta] to evaluate energy absorption). After a thermal effect (temperature) from a heat source was applied, it was found that the material exhibited negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) characteristic. A single material with two layers on 0[degrees] raster orientation of a material in this study had the maximum tan [delta] (energy absorption), an NPR, and toughness regardless of the kind of material. Among the composite materials, 0[degrees] raster orientation of them also had a larger NPR, and the absolute value of Poisson's ratio decreased as the temperature increased. Highlights * The innovative two-layer composite material fabricated by 3D printing. * The material characteristics with various raster orientations are discussed. * PLA0 has the largest tan [delta], toughness, and negative Poisson's ratio. KEYWORDS 3D printing, additive manufacturing, composite material, energy absorption, negative Poisson's ratio, raster orientation, thermal effect, 1 | INTRODUCTION Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a method of additive manufacturing (AM); it is also called rapid prototyping (RP) because it can quickly fabricate good finished products. The stereolithographic [...]

Objective To preliminarily investigate the association between changes in intestinal microbiota and oral microbiota of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) patients and early gastrointestinal acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD), and try to explore potentially effective biomarkers and provide theoretical basis for early prediction and intervention of gastrointestinal aGVHD. Methods Ten acute leukemia patients who developed gastrointestinal aGVHD within 1 month after receiving allo-HSCT in Department of Hematology of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital from September 2021 to June 2023 were enrolled, and their fecal samples and saliva samples before and after the aGVHD were collected.16S rRNA sequencing analysis was applied for the differential changes in intestinal and oral microbiota before and after the development of early gastrointestinal aGVHD. Results ① A decrease in Bacteroides spp.and an increase in Enterococcus spp.and Enterobacteriaceae spp.in the intestinal microbiota were positively correlated with the occurrence of early upper gastrointestinal aGVHD (P < 0.05), whereas no significant difference was observed in the overall microbial diversity of the oral microbiota (P>0.05).② LEfSe analysis of the intestinal microbiota before and after gastrointestinal aGVHD revealed an increase in Klebsiella spp.and Enterococcus spp.and a decrease in Escherichia coli; In the oral microbiota, LEfSe analysis revealed 10 microbial markers with significant difference, of which Gamma proteobacteria was the most significant.③ The difference in β-diversity of the intestinal microbiota was significant (P=0.03), whereas there was no significant difference in the α-and β-diversity of the oral microbiota. Conclusion Significant differences are found in intestinal microbiota before and after the occurrence of early gastrointestinal aGVHD in patients after Allo-HSCT, and the occurrence may have a correlation with the chang in oral microbiota.

Radiation-induced brain injury (RBI) is a common long-term complication of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and seriously affects the quality of life and overall survival of patients. In the era of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), the long-term complications after radiotherapy, especially RBI, are becoming increasingly concerning because a number of treated patients with NPC obtain long-term survival. At present, the understanding of RBI is still being explored, and its pathogenesis and treatment methods are continuously updated. This article reviews the research progress of RBI in patients with NPC.

Objective To investigate the effects of niclosamide on S100A4 expression and pathological angiogenesis of hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) in rats. Methods Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into control group (Sham group, n=6), common bile duct ligation (CBDL) group (n=18) and niclosamide treatment group (NIC group, n=6). The rats of the NIC group were gavaged with niclosamide suspension for 1 week since the first day of the third week after modelling, and the rats were dissected at the end of the fifth week to assess the pathological changes and disease progression of liver and lung tissues by HE and Masson staining. Immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the location and intensity of S100A4 and CD31 expression in the lung of rats. The expression of S100A4 at mRNA and protein levels was detected using qPCR and Western blotting. Pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) were treated with small interfering RNA (siRNA) serum of HPS rats and nichosamide, respectively, and their effects on cell migration and tube-forming abilities were observed. Results Both mRNA and protein expression of S100A4 in lung tissue of the CBDL group rats were increased with disease progression, and the expression levels were higher than those in the Sham group (P < 0.000 1); The lung mRNA and protein levels of S100A4 were lower in the NIC group than the CBDL group at the 5th week, but still higher than those in the Sham group. After knockdown of S100A4 using siRNA in PMVECs, the migration and tube-forming abilities were reduced when compared with the NC group (P < 0.000 1). HE staining displayed that pulmonary pathological changes were milder in the NIC group than the CBDL group at the 5th week, while no such effect was found in the liver tissues. Masson staining showed that hepatic fibrosis was not obviously ameliorated in the NIC group. The migration and tube-forming abilities of the cells was significantly increased in the CBDL group after the 5 weeks of serum stimulation compared to the Sham rats, while niclosamide treatment reversed this phenomenon (P < 0.000 1). Conclusion S100A4 can accelerate the progression of HPS by promoting pulmonary micro-angiogenesis in HPS rats, and niclosamide inhibits the expression of S100A4 in the lung and thus delays the progression of HPS.

In order to summarize the current status and evolution of surimi research in China and globally, 944 and 1 082 research paper published in the period of 2009 to 2021 were retrieved using the keywords: yumi (in Chinee) and surimi from the China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WOS) databases and were test mined for the number of research papers, authors, countries, institutions and journals using CiteSpace and the online bibliometric analysis platform. Moreover, data visual analysis was carried out by plotting keyword clustering, time line and burstness maps. It was found that there has been increasing interest in surimi research. The number of surimi research papers indexed in CNKI and WOS has shown an increasing trend in the period from 2009 to 2021, and most papers were published in the top journals in the food field. China has published 441 research papers in English, ranking first in the world, accounting for 37.99% of the world’s total, followed by Thailand, the United States and Japan. The close cooperation between authors and research institutions in different regions and countries has formed an international academic community. The research content has shifted from the macroscopic field to the microscopic field, and the research hotspots have changed from processing technology and surimi quality to preservation and antifreezers. At present, “protein” “myosin” and “secondary structure” have become new keywords and the research content has reached the molecular level. The time zone analysis showed that the keywords “sensory evaluation” and “quality” span the entire research period and have become the cornerstones of surimi research. In conclusion, surimi research is still in an active stage and will have a bright future.

Background: Out of the MYR 14 billion of fuel subsidy, the top 20% households (T20) in the country enjoy MYR 8 billion compared to MYR 6 billion of the fuel subsidy restructure enjoyed by the low income (B40) households. As the Malaysian government has started to restructure the fuel subsidy scheme in December 2022 when the national economy began to recover post coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, this study is in need as it highlights the key concerns of B40 and middle 40% (M40) households to the government. This research aims to determine key factors affecting fuel subsidy restructure effectiveness from the perspective of B40 and M40 households in Malaysia post COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 150 questionnaires were disseminated to Malaysia B40 and M40 households. The questionnaire was completed by 105 households with no missing value. This paper utilized cross-sectional design to examine factors that contribute to fuel subsidy restructure in Malaysia post COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Efficient targeting and social protection were the most important factor that contribute to the effectiveness of fuel subsidy restructure in Malaysia. Conclusions: This research serves as the pioneer research to provide valuable insights to the Malaysian government to effectively restructure fuel subsidy initiative towards creating greater social protection, efficient targeting and better governance and administrative capacity in improving the quality of life of the B40 and M40 households.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of blebbistatin, a non-muscle myosin Ⅱ (NMⅡ) inhibitor, on inflammatory injury of lung tissue after chronic common bile duct ligation (CBDL) in rats. Methods A total of 55 SPF male SD rats (200~220 g) were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely control group (Sham, n=11), high CBDL group (model group, n=22) and blebbistatin treatment after high CBDL group (treatment group, n=22). The treatment group was intraperitoneally injected with blebbistatin at a dose of 5 mg/kg once a day for a week, while the model group was only given the solvent (PEG-300∶saline=1∶1). The changes of lung tissue were observed with HE staining. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of myeloperoxidase (MPO), IL-6, TNF-α, and superoxide dismutase (SOD3) in the lung tissues. The expression levels of MPO, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, LY6B, CD163, and vascular endothelium related factor CD31 were also determined by immunohistochemical assay. Results The lung injury at the 3rd week after CBDL presented a large number of inflammatory cells infiltration, accompanied by local alveolar space and pulmonary interstitial hemorrhage. Immunohistochemical results demonstrated that the numbers of MPO positive cells, LY6B positive cells and CD163 positive cells were all increased significantly in the model group as compared with the Sham group (P < 0.01), with enhanced expression of IL-1β and TNF-α (P < 0.01). Western blotting results confirmed the up-regulated levels of MPO, IL-6 and SOD3 in the model group than the sham group (P < 0.05). In comparison with the model group, the treatment group showed decreased numbers of MPO positive cells, LY6B positive cells, and CD163 positive cells (P < 0.01), and declined levels of inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α (P < 0.01). Western blotting indicated as well that the expression of MPO, IL-6 and TNF-α in the treatment group was reduced greatly (P < 0.05). Moreover, at the 5th week after surgery, the lung injury mainly manifested as pulmonary microvascular dilation, which was more severe in the model group than the Sham group (P < 0.01), while the severity of pulmonary microvascular dilatation was remarkably milder after treatment (P < 0.01). Conclusion Blebbistatin can effectively inhibit the infiltration of inflammatory cells in lung tissue, reduce pneumonia injury and alleviate pulmonary microvascular dilatation after CBDL.