Application and challenges of a metaverse in medicine

Metaverse has been confirmed as a relatively amorphous concept of innovation, which refers to technological advancement. Metaverse, i.e., a coalition between reality world and virtual world, has created significant significance and convenience in education, communication, economy, etc. The COVID-19 outbreak has stimulated the growth of metaverse applications in medicine. The above-mentioned technology has broad applications while comprising online remote medical treatment, online conferences, medical education, preparation of surgical plans, etc. Moreover, technical, security, and financial challenges should be tackled down by the future widespread use of metaverse. Metaverse is limitlessly promising, and it will exert a certain effect on future scientific and technological advancements in the medical industry. The review article primarily aims to summarize the application of the metaverse in medicine and their challenge in the future of medicine

Analysis of drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis patients with positive sputum tuberculosis culture in Northeast China

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the drug resistance status of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Jilin Province.Methods: A retrospective survey was conducted on 395 sputum culture TB-positive patients admitted to the tuberculosis hospital in Jilin Province in 2019. Sputum samples were cultured in acidic Roche medium. Drug sensitivity testing was conducted using the proportional method. Sensitivity was reported if the percentage of drug resistance was less than 1%, and resistance was reported if the percentage was ≥1%. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0.Results: 395 tuberculosis patients with positive sputum tuberculosis culture were included in the study, with 102 being initially treated and 293 being retreated. The study population consisted of 283 males and 112 females. Sex, age, nationality, occupation, marital status, diabetes comorbidity, initial treatment, normal health status, BCG vaccine vaccination, smoking, and alcohol consumption were considered as factors that may affect the rate of multidrug resistance. And only the history of treatment (initial treatment) was associated with multidrug resistance (p = 0.032). This indicates that retreatment is the most significant risk factor for the occurrence of multidrug resistance in tuberculosis. The multidrug resistance rate in retreated patients is 3.764 times higher than that in initially treated patients.Conclusion: The prevalence of multidrug-resistant is higher in retreated patients compared to initially treated patients in the study population. Multidrug resistance is only associated with the treatment history (initial retreatment) and not with other factors

A novel type 2 diabetes risk allele increases the promoter activity of the muscle-specific small ankyrin 1 gene

Genome-wide association studies have identified Ankyrin-1 (ANK1) as a common type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility locus. However, the underlying causal variants and functional mechanisms remain unknown. We screened for 8 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ANK1 between 2 case-control studies. Genotype analysis revealed significant associations of 3 SNPs, rs508419 (first identified here), rs515071, and rs516946 with T2D (P 0.80); subsequent analysis indicated that the CCC haplotype associated with increased T2D susceptibility (OR 1.447, P < 0.001). Further mapping showed that rs508419 resides in the muscle-specific ANK1 gene promoter. Allele-specific mRNA and protein level measurements confirmed association of the C allele with increased small ANK1 (sAnk1) expression in human skeletal muscle (P = 0.018 and P < 0.001, respectively). Luciferase assays showed increased rs508419-C allele transcriptional activity in murine skeletal muscle C2C12 myoblasts, and electrophoretic mobility-shift assays demonstrated altered rs508419 DNA-protein complex formation. Glucose uptake was decreased with excess sAnk1 expression upon insulin stimulation. Thus, the ANK1 rs508419-C T2D-risk allele alters DNA-protein complex binding leading to increased promoter activity and sAnk1 expression; thus, increased sAnk1 expression in skeletal muscle might contribute to T2D susceptibility

Shu-Xie decoction alleviates oxidative stress and colon injury in acute sleep-deprived mice by suppressing p62/KEAP1/NRF2/HO1/NQO1 signaling

Introduction: Sleep disorders are common clinical psychosomatic disorders that can co-exist with a variety of conditions. In humans and animal models, sleep deprivation (SD) is closely related with gastrointestinal diseases. Shu-Xie Decoction (SX) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antidepressant properties. SX is effective in the clinic for treating patients with abnormal sleep and/or gastrointestinal disorders, but the underlying mechanisms are not known. This study investigated the mechanisms by which SX alleviates SD-induced colon injury in vivo.Methods: C57BL/6 mice were placed on an automated sleep deprivation system for 72 h to generate an acute sleep deprivation (ASD) model, and low-dose SX (SXL), high-dose SX (SXH), or S-zopiclone (S-z) as a positive control using the oral gavage were given during the whole ASD-induced period for one time each day. The colon length was measured and the colon morphology was visualized using hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E) staining. ROS and the redox biomarkers include reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were detected. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), molecular docking, immunofluorescence and western blotting assays were performed to detect the antioxidant signaling pathways.Results: ASD significantly increased FBG levels, decreased colon length, moderately increased the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the colon mucosa, altered the colon mucosal structure, increased the levels of ROS, GSH, MDA, and SOD activity compared with the controls. These adverse effects were significantly alleviated by SX treatment. ASD induced nuclear translocation of NRF2 in the colon mucosal cells and increased the expression levels of p62, NQO1, and HO1 transcripts and proteins, but these effects were reversed by SX treatment.Conclusion: SX decoction ameliorated ASD-induced oxidative stress and colon injury by suppressing the p62/KEAP1/NRF2/HO1/NQO1 signaling pathway. In conclusion, combined clinical experience, SX may be a promising drug for sleep disorder combined with colitis

Engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li-rich layered oxide porous microspheres for high-rate lithium ion battery cathode

Abstract(#br)Lithium-rich layered oxides always suffer from low initial Coulombic efficiency, poor rate capability and rapid voltage fading. Herein, engineering oxygen vacancies in hierarchically Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 porous microspheres (L@S) is carried out to suppress the formation of irreversible Li 2 O during the initial discharge process and improve the Li + diffusion kinetics and structural stability of the cathode mateiral. As a result, the prepared L@S cathode delivers high initial Coulombic efficiency of 92.3% and large specific capacity of 292.6 mA h g −1 at 0.1 C. More importantly, a large reversible capacity of 222 mA h g −1 with a capacity retention of 95.7% can be obtained after 100 cycles at 10 C. Even cycled at ultrahigh rate of 20 C, the L@S cathode can..

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world