Adherence to DASH dietary pattern is inversely associated with osteoarthritis in Americans.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common diseases that cause disability among older adults. The objective of this study was to assess the association between adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and OA in American adults. This study included adults (≥ aged 20 years) who participated in the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2016 in the United States. Adherence to the DASH score was calculated from 8 food groups. Higher scores indicate better adherence to the DASH dietary pattern. Among the 21,901 participants included in this study, 10.26% reported having OA. Results of our multivariable logistic regression indicated a statistically significant inverse association between DASH score tertiles and OA. The adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.00 (ref), 0.89 (0.72; 1.10), and 0.78 (0.60; 1.00) across increasing DASH score tertiles (P for trend = 0.045). In this representative sample of American adults, greater adherence to the DASH dietary pattern was associated with lower likelihood of having OA

Cognitive impairment in sporadic cerebral small vessel disease:A systematic review and meta-analysis

This paper is a proposal for an update on the characterization of cognitive impairments associated with sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). We pose a series of questions about the nature of SVD-related cognitive impairments and provide answers based on a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published data from 69 studies. Although SVD is thought primarily to affect executive function and processing speed, we hypothesize that SVD affects all major domains of cognitive ability. We also identify low levels of education as a potentially modifiable risk factor for SVD-related cognitive impairment. Therefore, we propose the use of comprehensive cognitive assessments and the measurement of educational level both in clinics and research settings, and suggest several recommendations for future research

Cellular basis of urothelial squamous metaplasia: roles of lineage heterogeneity and cell replacement

Although the epithelial lining of much of the mammalian urinary tract is known simply as the urothelium, this epithelium can be divided into at least three lineages of renal pelvis/ureter, bladder/trigone, and proximal urethra based on their embryonic origin, uroplakin content, keratin expression pattern, in vitro growth potential, and propensity to keratinize during vitamin A deficiency. Moreover, these cells remain phenotypically distinct even after they have been serially passaged under identical culture conditions, thus ruling out local mesenchymal influence as the sole cause of their in vivo differences. During vitamin A deficiency, mouse urothelium form multiple keratinized foci in proximal urethra probably originating from scattered K14-positive basal cells, and the keratinized epithelium expands horizontally to replace the surrounding normal urothelium. These data suggest that the urothelium consists of multiple cell lineages, that trigone urothelium is closely related to the urothelium covering the rest of the bladder, and that lineage heterogeneity coupled with cell migration/replacement form the cellular basis for urothelial squamous metaplasia

In Situ Study the Dynamics of Blade-Coated All-Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Formation and Impact on Photovoltaic Performance of Solar Cells

All-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have achieved impressive progress by employing acceptors polymerized from well performing small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors. Herein, the device performance and morphology evolution in blade-coated all-PSCs based on PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends prepared from two different solvents, chlorobenzene (CB), and ortho-xylene (o-XY) are studied. The absorption spectra in CB solution indicate more ordered conformation for PF5–Y5. The drying process of PBDBT:PF5–Y5 blends is monitored by in situ multifunctional spectroscopy and the final film morphology is characterized with ex situ techniques. Finer-mixed donor/acceptor nanostructures are obtained in CB-cast film than that in o-XY-cast ones, corresponding to more efficient charge generation in the solar cells. More importantly, the conformation of polymers in solution determines the overall film morphology and the device performance. The relatively more ordered structure in CB-cast films is beneficial for charge transport and reduced non-radiative energy loss. Therefore, to achieve high-performance all-PSCs with small energy loss, it is crucial to gain favorable aggregation in the initial stage in solution

Biochar-based fertilizer: Supercharging root membrane potential and biomass yield of rice

Biochar-based compound fertilizers (BCF) and amendments have proven to enhance crop yields and modify soil properties (pH, nutrients, organic matter, structure etc.) and are now in commercial production in China. While there is a good understanding of the changes in soil properties following biochar addition, the interactions within the rhizosphere remain largely unstudied, with benefits to yield observed beyond the changes in soil properties alone. We investigated the rhizosphere interactions following the addition of an activated wheat straw BCF at an application rates of 0.25% (g·g−1 soil), which could potentially explain the increase of plant biomass (by 67%), herbage N (by 40%) and P (by 46%) uptake in the rice plants grown in the BCF-treated soil, compared to the rice plants grown in the soil with conventional fertilizer alone. Examination of the roots revealed that micron and submicron-sized biochar were embedded in the plaque layer. BCF increased soil Eh by 85 mV and increased the potential difference between the rhizosphere soil and the root membrane by 65 mV. This increased potential difference lowered the free energy required for root nutrient accumulation, potentially explaining greater plant nutrient content and biomass. We also demonstrate an increased abundance of plant-growth promoting bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere. We suggest that the redox properties of the biochar cause major changes in electron status of rhizosphere soils that drive the observed agronomic benefits

Effective and fast-screening route to evaluate dynamic elastomer-filler network reversibility for sustainable rubber composite design

.The introduction of self-healing and reprocessability into conventional vulcanized rubbers has been recognized as a promising strategy to promote elastomer circularity. However, the reversibility and recovery of cross-linking polymer networks have often been assessed by static mechanical testing, which highly limits the understanding of the underlying microscale mechanisms. In this work, we investigated the network recovery of natural rubber (NR)/carbon black (CB) nanocomposites using Fourier transform (FT) rheology coupled with large amplitude oscillation shear (LAOS) technology across linear and nonlinear regimes (0.01–500%). The self-healing process of the rubber composite networks was monitored by using a programmed time–temperature oscillation shear measurement. The role of CB particle size in the filler network recovery was also discussed from the perspective of strain-induced crystallization of NR. Coupling FT-rheology and LAOS analysis, two distinct nonlinear enhancement behaviors beyond the linear viscoelastic regime were detected in the rubber nanocomposites, which were ascribed to the filler network disruption followed by the polymer network deformation. The relationship of the nonlinearity parameter I3/1 as a function of strain amplitude was selected to quantify the nonlinear rheological responses, where the role of the filler and polymer on the network recovery can therefore be differentiated. This work provides an efficient method to evaluate the self-healing and reprocessability of cross-linked rubbers and offers a fast-screen route for formulation development and sustainable rubber composite design

Oral dosing of rodents using a palatable tablet

Rationale: Delivering orally bioavailable drugs to rodents is an important component to investigating that route of administration in novel treatments for humans. However, the traditional method of oral gavage requires training, is stressful, and can induce oesophageal damage in rodents. Objectives: To demonstrate a novel administrative technique – palatable gelatine tablets – as a stress-free route of oral delivery. Methods: 24 male Lister hooded rats were sacrificed for brain tissue analysis at varying time-points after jelly administration of 30 mg/kg of the wake-promoting drug modafinil. A second group of 22 female rats were tested on locomotor activity after 30 mg/kg modafinil, or after vehicle jellies, with the locomotor data compared to the brain tissue concentrations at the corresponding times. Results: Modafinil was present in the brain tissue at all time-points, reducing in concentration over time. The pattern of brain tissue modafinil concentration is comparable to previously reported results following oral gavage. Modafinil-treated rats were more active than control rats, with greater activity during the later time-periods – similar to that previously reported following intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg modafinil. Conclusions: Palatable jelly tablets are an effective route of administration of thermally-stable orally-bioavailable compounds, eliminating the stress/discomfort and health risk of oral gavage and presenting as an alternative to previously reported palatable routes of administration where high protein and fat levels may adversely affect appetite for food reward, and uptake rate in the gastrointestinal tract.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe