μ-Actetato-1:2κ2 O:O′-tribromido-2κ3 Br-(5,5,7,12,12,14-hexa­methyl-1,4,8,11-tetra­aza­cyclo­tetra­deca-1,7-diene-1κ4 N)dizinc(II)

In the title compound, [Zn2Br3(CH3COO)(C16H32N4)], one ZnII atom has a distorted square-planar coordination formed by the four macrocyclic N atoms with an acetate O atom in the apical position and the other ZnII atom has a tetra­hedral coordination environment formed by three Br atoms and one O acetate atom. The two ZnII atoms are linked by an acetate bridge. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked into centrosymmetric dimers with graph-set motifs R 2 2(16) by an N—H⋯Br inter­action. The mol­ecular configuration is stabilized by an intra­molecular N—H⋯Br hydrogen bond

GCN-Based Linkage Prediction for Face Clustering on Imbalanced Datasets: An Empirical Study

In recent years, benefiting from the expressive power of Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs), significant breakthroughs have been made in face clustering. However, rare attention has been paid to GCN-based clustering on imbalanced data. Although imbalance problem has been extensively studied, the impact of imbalanced data on GCN-based linkage prediction task is quite different, which would cause problems in two aspects: imbalanced linkage labels and biased graph representations. The problem of imbalanced linkage labels is similar to that in image classification task, but the latter is a particular problem in GCN-based clustering via linkage prediction. Significantly biased graph representations in training can cause catastrophic overfitting of a GCN model. To tackle these problems, we evaluate the feasibility of those existing methods for imbalanced image classification problem on graphs with extensive experiments, and present a new method to alleviate the imbalanced labels and also augment graph representations using a Reverse-Imbalance Weighted Sampling (RIWS) strategy, followed with insightful analyses and discussions. The code and a series of imbalanced benchmark datasets synthesized from MS-Celeb-1M and DeepFashion are available on https://github.com/espectre/GCNs_on_imbalanced_datasets.Comment: 7 page

Preparation and Characterization of a Lecithin Nanoemulsion as a Topical Delivery System

Purpose of this study was to establish a lecithin nanoemulsion (LNE) without any synthetic surfactant as a topical delivery vehicle and to evaluate its topical delivery potential by the following factors: particle size, morphology, viscosity, stability, skin hydration and skin penetration. Experimental results demonstrated that an increasing concentration of soybean lecithin and glycerol resulted in a smaller size LNE droplet and increasing viscosity, respectively. The droplet size of optimized LNE, with the glycerol concentration above 75% (w/w), changed from 92 (F10) to 58 nm (F14). Additionally, LNE, incorporated into o/w cream, improved the skin hydration capacity of the cream significantly with about 2.5-fold increase when the concentration of LNE reached 10%. LNE was also demonstrated to improve the penetrability of Nile red (NR) dye into the dermis layer, when an o/w cream, incorporated with NR-loaded LNE, applied on the abdominal skin of rat in vivo. Specifically, the arbitrary unit (ABU) of fluorescence in the dermis layer that had received the cream with a NR-loaded LNE was about 9.9-fold higher than the cream with a NR-loaded general emulsion (GE). These observations suggest that LNE could be used as a promising topical delivery vehicle for lipophilic compounds

Advances in understanding of health-promoting benefits of medicine and food homology using analysis of gut microbiota and metabolomics

The health-promoting benefits of medicine and food homology (MFH) are known for thousands of years in China. However, active compounds and biological mechanisms are unclear, greatly limiting clinical practice of MFH. The advent of gut microbiota analysis and metabolomics emerge as key tools to discover functional compounds, therapeutic targets, and mechanisms of benefits of MFH. Such studies hold great promise to promote and optimize functional efficacy and development of MFH-based products, for example, foods for daily dietary supplements or for special medical purposes. In this review, we summarized pharmacological effects of 109 species of MFH approved by the Health and Fitness Commission in 2015. Recent studies applying genome sequencing of gut microbiota and metabolomics to explain the activity of MFH in prevention and management of health consequences were extensively reviewed. We discussed the potentiality in future to decipher functional activities of MFH by applying metabolomics-based polypharmacokinetic strategy and multiomics technologies. The needs for personalized MFH recommendations and comprehensive databases have also been highlighted. This review emphasizes current achievements and challenges of the analysis of gut microbiota and metabolomics as a new avenue to understand MFH

Effects of the TLR4/Myd88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway on NLRP3 Inflammasome in Coronary Microembolization-Induced Myocardial Injury

Background/Aims: Coronary microembolization (CME) is a common complication of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); Myocardial inflammation, caused by CME, is the main cause of cardiac injury. TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling plays an important role in the development of myocardial inflammation, but its effects on CME remain unclear. To assess the cardiac protective effects of TAK-242 (TLR4 specific inhibitor) on CME-induced myocardial injury, and explore the underlying mechanism. Methods: Cardiac function, serum c-troponin I level, microinfarct were examined by cardiac ultrasound, myocardial enzyme assessment, HBFP staining. The levels of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling and NLRP3 inflammasome pathway were detected by ELISA, qRT-PCR and western blot. Results: The results showed inflammatory responses in the myocardium after CME, with increased expression levels of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-18. Meanwhile, TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling and the NLRP3 inflammasome were involved in the inflammatory process. TAK-242 administration before CME effectively inhibited the inflammatory response in the rat myocardium after CME and reduced myocardial injury, mainly by inhibiting TLR4/ MyD88/NF-κB signaling and reducing NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In addition, in vitro assays with neonatal rat cardiomyocytes further confirmed that TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling was significantly activated in the inflammatory response of LPS-induced cardiomyocytes, via activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Inhibition of TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling resulted in increased survival of cardiomyocytes mainly by reducing the release of inflammatory cytokines and decreasing NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Conclusions: TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling participates in the inflammatory response of the myocardium after CME, activating the NLRP3 inflammasome, promoting the inflammatory cascade, and aggravating myocardial injury. Blocking TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling may help reduce myocardial injury and improve cardiac function after CME

Turnover intention and coping strategies among older nursing assistants in China: a qualitative study

IntroductionWith the increasing aging population, older nursing assistants have made significant contributions to institutional eldercare. However, there is a high turnover rate among these workers, and it is crucial to address this issue and find ways to stabilize the workforce. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing turnover intention and coping strategies among older nursing assistants, in order to provide targeted assistance and guidance to reduce their intention to resign and ultimately lower the turnover rate.MethodsQualitative research methods were employed to conduct semi-structured interviews with older nursing assistants in Changsha. The data obtained from these interviews were then analyzed using a phenomenological analysis approach and NVIVO (QSR International, Doncaster, Australia) software version 11.0.ResultsIt is found that several factors influence turnover intention among older nursing assistants. Which include work pay, work environment, professional identity, external motivation, and work pressure. Additionally, the coping strategies employed by these individuals in relation to their intention to resign include self-regulation, seeking support, self-improvement, and exploring motivation.DiscussionIt is also evident from our study that reducing the turnover intention of older nursing assistants requires a collaborative effort from older adult care institutions, functional departments, and eldercare nursing assistants themselves. By addressing the factors influencing turnover intention and providing support and resources for coping strategies, we can work towards stabilizing the workforce and improving institutional eldercare

Nanoscale insight into the exfoliation mechanism of graphene with organic dyes: effect of charge, dipole and molecular structure

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