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This research aims to investigate the encapsulation and controlled release effect of the newly developed self-assembling peptide R-LIFE-1 on exosomes. The gelling ability and morphological structure of the chiral self-assembling peptide (CSAP) hydrogel were examined using advanced imaging techniques, including atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and cryo-scanning electron microscopy. The biocompatibility of the CSAP hydrogel was assessed through optical microscopy and fluorescent staining. Exosomes were isolated via ultrafiltration, and their quality was evaluated using Western blot analysis, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The controlled release effect of the CSAP hydrogel on exosomes was quantitatively analyzed using laser confocal microscopy and a BCA assay kit. The results revealed that the self-assembling peptide R-LIFE-1 exhibited spontaneous assembly in the presence of various ions, leading to the formation of nanofibers. These nanofibers were cross-linked, giving rise to a robust nanofiber network structure, which further underwent cross-linking to generate a laminated membrane structure. The nanofibers possessed a large surface area, allowing them to encapsulate a substantial number of water molecules, thereby forming a hydrogel material with high water content. This hydrogel served as a stable spatial scaffold and loading matrix for the three-dimensional culture of cells, as well as the encapsulation and controlled release of exosomes. Importantly, R-LIFE-1 demonstrated excellent biocompatibility, preserving the growth of cells and the biological activity of exosomes. It rapidly formed a three-dimensional network scaffold, enabling the stable loading of cells and exosomes, while exhibiting favorable biocompatibility and reduced cytotoxicity. In conclusion, the findings of this study support the notion that R-LIFE-1 holds significant promise as an ideal tissue engineering material for tissue repair applications.
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Exosomes , Delayed-Action Preparations , Hydrogels , Microscopy, Electron, Scanning , PeptidesABSTRACT
Intermittent exotropia(IXT)is a common ophthalmic disease with high incidence, variable deviation, and varying degrees of impaired binocular visual function. The defect of binocular visual function is related to the changes of visual cortex. IXT involves the functional changes of many brain regions, including the cortical areas related to binocular fusion. After correcting the eye position, the abnormal changes of cerebral cortex still exist in some patients with IXT, and the recovery of binocular vision is still difficult. In order to solve these problems, visual perception training is gradually applied to the postoperative reconstruction of binocular visual function in patients with IXT. Visual perception training repairs the visual cortex from the brain level, improving the ability of the visual cortex to process information by constantly stimulating the visual center, thus repairing the visual central function, so that patients can obtain good binocular visual function, stabilize the eye position and reduce recurrence. This article reviews the mechanism of binocular visual impairment and the role of visual perception training in the treatment of IXT. It is hoped to provide more evidence for visual perception training to reconstruct postoperative binocular visual function and reduce the recurrence rate in patients with IXT.
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Objective To compare the regulating effect of electrically stimulating different parts of the auri-cle on the cardiac vagus nerve in rats, and to explore the basic neural mechanism. Methods The tragus, concha auriculae and helix of 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats were stimulated at different intensities ( 0-16 mA) and with differ-ent durations ( 0-15 min) and any changes in the heart rate were observed. One week later, the rats were randomized into a tragus injection group, a concha auriculae injection group, a helix injection group and a control group, each of 6. The rats of the first three groups were injected with 2 μL of cholera toxin subunit B conjugate AF555 ( CTB-AF555) at the right auricle, while the control group was injected with the same amount of aseptic phosphate-buffered saline at the right tragus. Five days later, all of the rats were sacrificed and their right superior and inferior ganglia and the whole bulbus medullae were resected to observe the fluorescent labeling sites. Results The rats'heart rate declined with longer and more intense stimulation of the tragus or concha auriculae, but not with stimulation of the he-lix. With stimulation of the same duration, a significant decrease was observed in the heart rate when the tragus and concha auriculae were stimulated at 10, 12, 14 or 16 mA compared with when the helix was stimulated at the same intensities. The heart rate when the concha auriculae was stimulated at 12 mA was significantly slower than when the tragus was stimulated at the same intensity. At identical stimulus intensities, the heart rate slowed significantly more when the tragus was stimulated for 6 to 15 minutes and the concha auriculae for 4 to 15 minutes compared with stimu-lating the helix for the same length of time. And compared with stimulating the tragus for 6 to 10 minutes, the heart rate decreased significantly more when the concha auriculae was stimulated for the same length of time. All of the rats in the tragus and concha auriculae injection groups displayed nerve tracer in their superior and inferior ganglia. In the tragus injection group, CTB-AF555 was observed in the nucleus tractus solitarius ( NTS) of 3 of the 6 rats. In the concha auriculae injection group it was observed in 4 of the 6. In the helix injection group, CTB-AF555 was observed in the nucleus of the spinal tract in 5 of the 6 rats, but no nerve tracer was found in their superior or inferior ganglia or in the NTS. Conclusion Electrical stimulation of the tragus and concha auriculae can regulate the functioning of the cardiac vagus nerve, but stimulating the helix cannot. This is partly because the nerve signals in tragus or concha auriculae stimulation and the cardiac sensory nerve signal are integrated in the inferior ganglion and then analyzed and processed in the bulbar center to monitor the heart.
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@#Keratoconus(KC)is a progressive corneal thinning disease which can cause the conical appearance, scar growth and vision loss <i>via</i> corneal ectasia. Various factors were demonstrated to be related to its etiology, including the genetic factors and the environmental factors(<i>i.e.</i> the friction of eyelids and eyeball, the friction of contact lens and eyeball and the UV irradiation). In addition to the genetic and environmental factors, the inflammation cytokines has been reported as another key factor to the pathogenesis of keratoconus, thus received more attention recently. This paper then reviews the recent advances on the effect of inflammation cytokines on pathogenesis of keratoconus. The motivation of this work is to provide important guidance and thoughts for the treatment of keratoconus.
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OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of mental health,job burnout and mental fatigue in mental workers.METHODS: A total of 276 mental workers in 11 research institutes in Ningxia were selected as research subjects by convenient sampling method. The questionnaire survey was carried out using the scales of Self-Reporting Inventory( SCL-90),Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and Mental Fatigue subscale of Fatigue Scale-14 to investigate the workers' mental health,job burnout and mental fatigue. RESULTS: The scores of SCL-90 and job burnout in mental workers were( 142. 4 ± 42. 2) and( 41. 8 ± 10. 5). The medium( P25,P75) mental fatigue total score was [3. 0( 2. 0,4. 0) ].The correlation analysis showed that the total score of SCL-90 was positively correlated with that of mental fatigue and job burnout( P < 0. 01). The job burnout was the intermediate variable between mental fatigue and mental health( 43. 4% of the total effect). The dimension of low sense of accomplishment was the regulating variable. CONCLUSION: Job burnout plays an intermediate role between mental fatigue and mental health in mental workers. The low sense of accomplishment plays a regulatory role.
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Near infrared spectroscopy ( NIRS) is capable of determining water contents in oils. However, too much moisture contents in the oils will scatter rather than absorb the NIRS. This may cause greater measurement error. For this reason, a nonionic surfactant (Span-80) was screened to make the water in the oils evenly dispersed into small droplets. The NIRS analysis was subsequently employed to build support vector regression ( SVR ) model of the water content. In this experiments, the upper limit of the water content determination was improved from the conventional 0. 1% to 1. 0% ( V/V) by the oil-water stabilization. Applying successive projection algorithm, 15 valid variables (2. 9% of the original ones) from 511 NIRS variables were selected. With the proposed SVR model, the measurement precision criteria for the validation dataset were root mean squares error percentage 2 . 93%, correlation coefficient 0 . 9944 , and relative percent derivation 9 . 4732%.
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Objective To study the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt at household level based on the salt surveillance results from 2004 to 2011,and to provide a scientific basis for setting up appropriate control strategies to iodine deficiency disorders.Methods Iodized salt monitoring results in Hainan Province from 2004 to 2011 were collected with retrospective method.Coverage rate of iodized salt,qualified rate of iodized salt and consumption rate of qualified iodized salt were calculated at the provincial,city(county) levels and on geographic distribution (coastal,plains and mountains).Qualified iodized salt criteria was set as (35 ± 15)mg/kg,unqualified iodized salt criteria was set as 5 to ＜ 20 mg/kg or ＞ 50 mg/kg,and criteria of non-iodized salt was set as ＜ 5 mg/kg.Results From 2004 to 2011,at provincial level,the median of iodized salt was raised from 30.25 mg/kg to 32.14 mg/kg; the iodized salt coverage rate,the qualified rate of iodized salt and the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was raised from 77.81％ (4780/6143) to 96.06％ (5890/6132),90.48％ (4325/4780) to 98.72％(5815/5890),and 70.41％(4325/6143) to 94.83％(5815/6132),respectively.From 2004 to 2011,at city (county) level,the proportion of iodized salt coverage rate that higher than 90.00％,of qualified rate of iodized salt that higher than 95.00％ and of consumption rate of qualified iodized salt that higher than 90.00％ was raised from 44.45％(8/18) to 88.89％(16/18),16.67％(3/18) to 100.00％(18/18),and 22.22％(4/19) to 88.89％(16/18),respectively.The iodized salt coverage rate in the coastal and plain townships was raised from 70.55％(1440/2041) to 95.02％(1869/1967),and 75.36％ (1762/2338) to 96.24％(2331/2422),respectively.The iodized salt coverage rate in mountainous townships maintained at 89.46％ (1578/1764)-97.46％ (1690/1734) in the 8 years.There were 2 counties where the iodized salt coverage rate was less than 90％.There were 9 and 4 townships,where the iodized salt coverage rate was less than 90％ in coastal and plain townships,respectively,in 2011.Conclusions The rate of qualified iodized salt has been raised in Hainan Province,but part of coastal and plain townships (towns) are still serious in non-iodized salt problem.Comprehensive intervention on iodine deficiency disorders should be strengthened in these areas.
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Objective To estimate the impact of universal salt iodization on child intelligence quotient (IQ) development in Hainan province. Methods In this is a cross-section study from September in 2008 to April in 2009,the observation group was historical iodine deficiency ward which includes 2 counties and 6 townships,and the control group was non-historical ward which includes 6 counties and 9 townships. Comparison of child IQ distribution according to different geographical housing position(plain,mountainous area,coast),age and sex based on the result of urine iodine examination and the IQ test of children between 8 and 10 years old. Results The median of urinary iodine of children in the observation group was 196.2μg/L which was 2.13 times of the urinary iodine median in the control group(91.9μg/L). The average IQ of children in the observation group was 94.7 which was 8.5 higher than the control group(86.2) ; IQ≤69 rate in this group was 7.7%(91/1179),and it was 8.9 percentage point lower than the control group[16.6%(253/1520)]; IQ≥ 110 rate of the group was 18.3%(216/1179),and it was 10.0 percentage point higher than the control group[8.3%(126/1520)]. The average IQ of children living in mountainous area(83.1) was the lowest in the control group. It was 3.5 and 5.1 lower than that of the children living in the plain(86.6) and coastal area(88.2) respectively; the IQ≤69 rate of children living in mountainous area [20.5%(91/443)]was the highest,and it was 3.8 and 7.1 percentage point higher than that of the children living in the plain [16.7% (89/533)]and coastal areas [13.4% (73/544)]respectively. The average IQ of children aged 8 (97.4) was similar to those aged 9(95.9) in the observation group which was 6.8 and 5.3 higher than that of the children aged 10(90.6) in the same group respectively; However,the average IQ of children aged 8,9 and 10 was close in the control group(86.8,86.3 and 85.6). The average IQ of boys(96.2) was 3.1 higher than that of the girls(93.1),and their IQ≤69 rate[6.3%(37/590)]was 2.9 percentage point lower than that of the girls[9.2% (54/589)]in the observation group. On the other hand,the average IQ(87.2) of boys was 2.1 higher than that of the girls(85.1),and IQ≤69 rate[14.5%(114/787)]was 4.5 percentage point lower than that of the girls [19.0%(139/733)]in the control group. The average IQ of children with different housing geographical position,age and sex in observation group was 5.0-12.4 higher than that of the control group; their IQ≤69 rate was 7.7-13.2 percentage point lower than that of the control group; their IQ≥110 rate was 5.6-13.0 percentage point higher than that of the control group. Conclusions Supplementing salt iodization can improve child intelligence. Supplementing iodine can increase the child IQ and reduce the child mental retardation.
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Objective To know the prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders(IDD) and the implementation of control measures against the disorders in high-risk areas of Hainan province. Methods Typical sampling principle was used. Eight townships with lower coverage rate of iodized salt were chosen in IDD high-risk counties of Hainan. New cretinism cases were screened among children aged 10 years and under. Intelligence quotient (IQ)value, urinary iodine (UI) concentration and thyroid gland size (by palpation and B ultrasonic) were investigated in children aged 8 to 10 years and questionnaire was also carried out among students from grade 5 in elementary school. Edible salt and urine of women of childbearing age were collected to detect iodine levels, respectively,questionnaire was also carried out among the women of childbearing age. The UI was determined by As3-Ce4+ catalytic spectrophotometer, the salt iodine level was determined using self-quantitative kit. IQ values were measured by the Combined Raven Test in China (CRT-C2). Results Seventy-two townships were investigated in three consecutive years, 7937 children aged 8 to 10 years, 1797 women of childbearing age and 4128 students of grade 5 were included in the survey. One child was diagnosed as suspected new cretinism case. The coverage rate of iodized salt was increased from 44.6%(629/1411) in 2007 to 92.1%(1688/1832) in 2009. The goiter rate was dropped from 5.9% (269/4548), 6.0% (274/4548) in 2007 to 1.6% (24/1461), 0.1% (2/1461) in 2009 bypalpation, and by B-ultrasound, respectively, in children aged 8 to 10 years. The median urinary iodine(MUI) was found to be increased from 97.4 μg/L in 2007 to 165.0 μg/L in 2009, and the percentage of UI less than 50.0 μg/L, and 100.0 μg/L were dropped from 21.4%(973/4548), 51.2%(2329/4548) in 2007 to 7.5 %(110/1461), 23.4%(342/1461) in 2009, respectively. The MUI of women of childbearing age was found to be elevated from 73.7 μg/L in 2007 to 126.1 μg/L in 2009, and the value was also increased from 55.7 μg/L to 121.5 μg/L in pregnant women, but these values were still lower than 150.0 μg/L The pass rate of the questionnaire of IDD controlling among the students of grade 5 and the women of childbearing age was raised from 29.8% (446/1495) ,24.1% (179/742) in 2007 to 65.8%(732/1112), 72.1%(264/366) in 2009, respectively. The mean IQ of children was 90.4±16.0, and the percentage of IQ value less than 69 was 12.6% (1000/7937). Conclusions The diseased state of IDD has improved in the high-risk counties of disorders in Hainan province, but the pregnant women are still iodine deficient. Iodine supplimentation should be promoted among pregnant women.