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Background: The relationships between BUNCr (blood urea nitrogen and creatinine ratio) and cognitive function, as well as depressive symptoms, remain unclear. We aim to investigate the association between BUNCr and cognition, as well as depressive symptoms, and to identify the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Methods: We utilized data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2015 to 2020. Cognitive function was assessed using the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status (TICS) scale, while depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10). We employed multivariate linear regression models to examine the association between BUNCr and cognitive function, as well as depressive symptoms. Additionally, causal mediation analysis was conducted to identify potential mediation effects of depressive symptoms between BUNCr and cognition. Results: We observed a negative association between BUNCr and cognitive function (coefficient: -0.192; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.326 ∼ -0.059) and a positive relationship between BUNCr and depressive symptoms (coefficient: 0.145; 95% CI: 0.006 ∼ 0.285). In addition, the causal mediation analysis revealed that depressive symptoms (proportion mediated: 7.0%) significantly mediated the association between BUNCr and cognition. Conclusion: Our study has unveiled that BUNCr is inversely associated with cognitive function and positively linked to depressive symptoms. Moreover, we found that depressive symptoms significantly mediated the association between BUNCr and cognition. These findings provide new evidence and insights for the prevention and management of cognitive function and dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the predictive value of three scoring systems based on diffusion weighted imaging in basilar artery occlusion patients after endovascular treatment. Methods: We analyzed clinical and radiological data of patients with basilar artery occlusion from January 2010 to June 2019, with modified Rankin Scale of 0–2 and 3–6 defined as favorable outcome and unfavorable outcome at three months. Diffusion weighted imaging posterior circulation ASPECTS Score (DWI pc-ASPECT Score), Renard diffusion weighted imaging Score, and diffusion weighted imaging Brainstem Score were used to evaluate the early ischemic changes. Results: There were a total of 88 basilar artery occlusion patients enrolled in the study after endovascular treatment, with 33 of them getting a favorable outcome. According to the analysis, the time from onset to puncture within 12 h (odds ratio: 4.34; 95% confidence interval: 1.55–12.16; P = 0.01), presence of collateral flow via PCoA (odds ratio: 0.31; 95%CI: 0.12–0.79; P = 0.01) or between PICA and SCA (odds ratio: 0.18; 95%CI: 0.07–0.47; P = 0.00), equal or less than 15 points on baseline NIHSS (area under the curve 0.79, 95% CI 0.69–0.89; sensitivity = 69.1%, specificity = 81.8%; P = 0.00), and equal or less than 1.5 points on diffusion weighted imaging Renard score (area under the curve 0.63, 95% CI 0.51–0.75; sensitivity = 83.6%, specificity = 39.4%; P = 0.046) were independently associated with favorable outcome. Conclusions: Renard diffusion weighted imaging score may be an independent predictor of functional outcome in basilar artery occlusion patients after endovascular treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Glyphosate‐resistant goosegrass has recently evolved and is homozygous for the double mutant of EPSPS (T102I, P106S or TIPS). These same mutations combined with EPSPS overexpression, have been used to create transgenic glyphosate‐resistant crops. Arabidopsis thaliana (Wt EPSPS Ki ∼ 0.5 μM) was engineered to express a variant AtEPSPS‐T102I, P106A (TIPA Ki = 150 μM) to determine the resistance magnitude for a more potent variant EPSPS that might evolve in weeds. RESULTS: Transgenic A. thaliana plants, homozygous for one, two or four copies of AtEPSPS‐TIPA, had resistance (IC50 values, R/S) as measured by seed production ranging from 4.3‐ to 16‐fold. Plants treated in reproductive stage were male sterile with a range of R/S from 10.1‐ to 40.6‐fold. A significant hormesis (∼ 63% gain in fresh weight) was observed for all genotypes when treated at the initiation of reproductive stage with 0.013 kg ha–1. AtEPSPS‐TIPA enzyme activity was proportional to copy number and correlated with resistance magnitude. CONCLUSIONS: A. thaliana, as a model weed expressing one copy of AtEPSPS‐TIPA (300‐fold more resistant), had only 4.3‐fold resistance to glyphosate for seed production. Resistance behaved as a single dominant allele. Vegetative tissue resistance was 4.7‐fold greater than reproductive tissue resistance and was linear with gene copy number. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a series of studies, effects of Na+ substitution on the thermal evolution of cesium-based geopolymers on heating were studied. A series of sodium-substituted cesium-based geopolymers, Cs(1− x)Na xGPs (where x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4), were prepared and treated at 1300°C for 2 hours to obtain the corresponding ceramic products. The thermal evolution process was disclosed by virtue of a variety of technical, including TG- DTA, thermal shrinkage, XRD analysis, SEM, and TEM investigation. The results indicated that unheated Cs(1− x)Na xGPs was not completely amorphous after the substitution of Na+ and the crystallinity of Cs(1− x)Na xGPs gradually increased with the rise of sodium content. Meanwhile, the average particle sizes of Cs(1− x)Na xGPs also increased evidently with increases in sodium substitution. The final product after heat treatment mainly consisted of pollucite (CsAlSi2O6) and amorphous glass phase. The particle size of pollucite grain gradually decreased as more Cs+ were replaced maybe owing to the role of Na+ in the nucleation process of pollucite. Two forms of Na+ present in the final products: A small portion was present in the pollucite grains due to Na+ partial occupied the crystallographic sites of Cs+; and the rest were present in the amorphous glass phase among the pollucite grains. The average coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of resulting Cs(1− x)Na xGPs ceramics increased from 4.80×10-6 K−1 ( x=0) to 7.26×10−6 K−1 ( x=0.4) with increases in sodium substitution, which could be due to the amorphous glass phase had a relatively higher CTE than that of pollucite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) to enhance the oral bioavailability of praziquantel (PZQ). SLN loaded with PZQ were produced by ultrasound technique. The characteristics of PZQ-SLN were studied in detail. The concentration of PZQ in plasma was determined using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography after oral administration of PZQ-SLN and control PZQ tablets (PZQ-TAB) in rats respectively. The results showed that PZQ-SLN had an average diameter 110 nm with Zeta potential of -66.3 mV. The encapsulation efficiency of PZQ was about 80%. In vitro drug release fitted the Weibull distribution equation. There were two peaks in the PZQ concentration-time curves in plasma after oral administration of PZQ-SLN. The first peak might be caused by free drug and that adsorbed onto the surface of PZQ-SLN. The second peak was indicative of gut uptake of PZQ-SLN. The AUC(0-infinity) value of PZQ after oral administration of SLN was 4.1 fold higher than that obtained with the PZQ-TAB. The MRT of PZQ-SLN was also significantly enhanced, resulting in an about twofold increase compared with PZQ-TAB. Thus, the oral bioavailability of PZQ-SLN increased significantly compared to PZQ-TAB, and the results indicate that SLN can be a promising drug carrier for PZQ.

The highly stereoselective synthesis of a chiral silylphospholane has been described, which can be advantageously used as a building block under base-free conditions for the construction of diphosphines related to DuPHOS. The utility of silylphospholane is shown in the synthesis of a new bisphospholane ligand 1 (MalPHOS), which is characterized by a maleic anhydride backbone. The ligand forms with Rh(I) a complex with a larger bite angle P-Rh-P than the analogue Me-DuPHOS complex. Both complexes have been tested in the asymmetric hydrogenation of unsaturated alpha- and beta-amino acid precursors of pharmaceutical relevance. In several cases, the new catalyst was superior in comparison to the Me-DuPHOS complex, in particular when (Z)-configured beta-acylamido acrylates were used as substrates.