Distinctive subgingival microbial signatures in older adults with different levels of cognitive function.

AIM: To examine association between subgingival microbial signatures and levels of cognitive impairment in older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analysed subgingival plaque samples and 16S ribosomal RNA sequences for microbiota among 165 participants (normal controls [NCs]: 40, subjective cognitive decline [SCD]: 40, mild cognitive impairment [MCI]: 49 and dementia: 36). RESULTS: The bacterial richness was lower among individuals with worse cognitive function, and subgingival microbial communities differed significantly among the four groups. Declining cognitive function was associated with decreasing relative abundance of genera Capnocytophaga, Saccharibacteria_genera_incertae_sedis, Lautropia and Granulicatella, and increasing abundance of genus Porphyromonas. Moreover, there were differentially abundant genera among the groups. Random forest model based on subgingival microbiota could distinguish between cognitive impairment and NC (AUC = 0.933, 95% confidence interval 0.873-0.992). Significant correlations were observed between oral microbiota and sex, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score and Mini-Mental State Examination score. Partial correlation analysis showed that Leptotrichia and Burkholderia were closely negatively associated with the MoCA score after adjusting for multiple covariates. Gene function was not significantly different between SCD and NC groups, whereas three homozygous genes were altered in MCI patients and two in dementia patients. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate an association between the composition, function and metabolic pathways of subgingival microbiota and different levels of cognitive function among older individuals. Future cohort studies should assess its diagnostic usefulness for cognitive impairment.

Investigating the association between inflammation mediated by mushroom consumption and mild cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults.

Background: Chronic inflammatory stimulation is a major risk factor for mild cognitive impairment. Mushroom consumption and inflammatory factors may play an important role in the pathogenesis of mild cognitive impairment. Additionally, consuming mushrooms can reduce the levels of inflammatory cytokines and preserve cognitive function. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between mushroom consumption and serum inflammatory cytokines and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Binary logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between mushroom consumption and MCI in 550 participants. Subsequently, mediation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between mushroom consumption, inflammatory factors, and the Montreal Cognitive assessment (MoCA) score in 248 participants. Results: Mushroom consumption was associated with MCI (odds ratio = 0.623, 95% confidence interval = 0.542-0.715, P < 0.001). The association between mushroom intake and MCI was mediated by interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and the MoCA score was 12.76% and 47.59%, respectively. Conclusion: A high intake of mushrooms was associated with a low risk of MCI. Serum inflammatory factors including IL-6 and hs-CRP play a partial mediating role between mushroom intake and the MoCA score, and the underlying mechanism needs to be further explored.

Energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index and cognitive function in Chinese older adults: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Diet can regulate systemic inflammation, which may play an important role in the development and progression of cognitive impairment and dementia. To explore the relationship between the dietary inflammatory potential and cognitive ability. A total of 2307 adults aged 60 years or older were recruited from the Fujian Provincial Hospital (Fujian, China). Dietary inflammatory properties were analyzed using the energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (E-DII). The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to assess cognitive function. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were fit to assess the associations between variables. The MCI subjects with the highest E-DII scores had a higher risk of AD compared to subjects with the lowest E-DII scores (OR = 1.98, 95%CI = 1.49-2.64, P for trend < 0.001). Subjects with the highest E-DII levels were at increased risk of cognitive impairment compared to those with the lowest E-DII levels (OR = 1.56, 95%CI = 1.25-1.93, P for trend < 0.001). The link between E-DII and cognitive impairment was significant in a nonlinear dose response analysis (P for nonlinear = 0.001). Higher E-DII scores were associated with an increased risk of developing AD or cognitive impairment. These findings may contribute to the effective prevention of cognitive impairment by constructing a multidisciplinary synergistic prevention strategy and controlling dietary inflammation levels.

Structure, Antiferroelectricity and Energy-Storage Performance of Lead Hafnate in a Wide Temperature Range.

Lead hafnate (PbHfO3) has attracted a lot of renewed interest due to its potential as antiferroelectric (AFE) material for energy storage. However, its room temperature (RT) energy-storage performance has not been well established and no reports on the energy-storage feature of its high-temperature intermediate phase (IM) are available. In this work, high-quality PbHfO3 ceramics were prepared via the solid-state synthesis route. Based on high-temperature X-ray diffraction data, the IM of PbHfO3 was found to be orthorhombic, Imma space group, with antiparallel alignment of Pb2+ ions along the [001]cubic directions. The polarization-electric field (P-E) relation of PbHfO3 is displayed at RT as well as in the temperature range of the IM. A typical AFE loop revealed an optimal recoverable energy-storage density (Wrec) of 2.7 J/cm3, which is 286% higher than the reported data with an efficiency (η) of 65% at 235 kV/cm at RT. A relatively high Wrec value of 0.7 J/cm3 was found at 190 °C with an η of 89% at 65 kV/cm. These results demonstrate that PbHfO3 is a prototypical AFE from RT up to 200 °C, making it a suitable material for energy-storage applications in a wide temperature range.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Molecular Functions of B3 Superfamily in Oil Biosynthesis in Olive (Olea europaea L.).

The plant B3 gene superfamily contains a large number of transcription factors playing a vital role in both vegetative growth and reproductive development in plants. Although several B3 genes have been well studied, molecular functions of the B3 genes in olive are largely unknown. In our study, a total of 200 B3 genes were identified in olive genome based on RNA-seq and comparative genomic analyses and further classified into five groups (i.e., REM, RAV, LAV, HSI, and ARF) based on phylogenetic analysis. Results of gene structure and motif composition analyses revealed diversified functions among these five groups of B3 genes. Results of genomic duplication and syntenic analyses indicated the gene expansion in the B3 genes. Results of gene expression based on both transcriptomics and relative expression revealed the tissue-biased expression patterns in B3 genes. The results of the comparative expression analysis of B3 genes between two olive cultivars with high and low oil contents identified several potential REM genes which may be involved in oil biosynthesis in olive. Based on the comprehensive characterization of the molecular structures and functions of B3 genes in olive genome, our study provided novel insights into the potential roles of B3 transcription factors in oil biosynthesis in olive and lays the groundwork for the functional explorations into this research field.

[Current status of oral health literacy and its influencing factors among adult orthodontic patients].

PURPOSE: To investigate the current status of oral health literacy among adult orthodontic patients and analyze its influencing factors. METHODS: Totally 163 adult orthodontic patients were recruited by convenience sampling method from November 2021 to February 2022 at the Department of Oral and Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, Center of Craniofacial Orthodontics in Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital. General information questionnaire, Chinese version of Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD-14), Chinese version of Self-Efficacy Scale for Self-care (SESS) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were applied. SPSS 21.0 software package was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean score of oral health literacy in adult orthodontic patients was (48.74±5.54), and the lowest score were obtained in concern (6.80±1.19) and support (6.40±1.59) dimensions. Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that adult orthodontic patients' consultation self-efficacy, social support utilization, family or friends' orthodontic history and objective support were the influencing factors of oral health literacy. CONCLUSIONS: The oral health literacy in adult orthodontic patients is at a middle to high level, but concern and support literacy need to be improved. Strengthening consultation self-efficacy, objective support and utilization of social support can improve adult orthodontic patients' oral health literacy. Attention should be paid to patients who have no relatives or friends with history of orthodontic treatment.

Jia-ga-song-tang protection against alcoholic liver and intestinal damage.

Gut-liver axis and cellular homeostasis play key roles in alcohol liver disease (ALD). Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is a stress-sensitive guarantor of cellular homeostasis. We investigated whether the beneficial effects and underlying mechanisms of Jia-ga-song Tang (JGST) against ALD were associated with gut-liver axis and cellular homeostasis. A predictive network depicting the relationship between Jia-Ga-Song-Tang (JGST) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD) was designed by Network pharmacology. Next, 5% v/v Lieber-DeCarli alcohol liquid diet was used to establish the ALD. JGST protected the liver damage, repaired the intestines to alleviate the Two-hit on the liver, and balanced the cellular homeostasis. It was manifested in repairing the liver and intestinal pathological structure, reducing serum ALT, AST, and liver TG, TC, MDA, CAT, and increasing liver GSH, and intestine GSH-Px. JGST mainly inhibited the liver mRNA levels of HO-1, NQO1, GCLC, FASN, and PPARα and activated the intestinal mRNA levels of HO-1 and NQO1, while inhibiting the liver protein levels of HO-1, NQO1. Furthermore, LPS and LBP in the plasma and the expression of inflammatory factors such as IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-6, TGFß1, CD14, and Myd88 were reduced after treatment to prove that JGST protects the liver from Two-hit. Ethanol was used to intervene in HepG2 and IEC-6 to establish an ALD cell model and treated by Germacrone, ML385, and TBHQ. repaired the intestinal barrier, and inhibited Nrf2 in IEC-6, but protect the HepG2 by activating Nrf2 to balance cellular homeostasis. Our results reinforce that JGST provides an effective protective method for alcoholic liver disease (ALD) by regulating Gut-liver axis and cellular homeostasis.

Network-based pharmacological study of the mechanism of kaiyuzhongyutang in the treatment of tubal fimbria obstruction.

To apply a network pharmacological approach to explore the targets and possible mechanisms of Kai Yu Zhong Yu Tang (KYZYT) in the treatment of tubal fimbria obstruction. The target information of KYZYT was extracted from TCMSP and HERB database. Genes related to tubal fimbria obstruction were searched using the GENECARD database. Target protein network maps (PPI) were drawn using string database analysis and Cytoscape 3.7.1 software. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and gene function analysis (GO) enrichment analysis were performed with the help of Perl language and biological program package in R language. To explore the multiple pharmacological mechanisms of action of KYZYT in the interventional treatment of tubal fimbria obstruction and to lay the foundation for further experimental validation. Through the collection and analysis of multiple databases, 355 biological targets of KYZYT were identified. 168 targets of tubal fimbria obstruction were obtained from disease database. The "drug-component" and "drug-target" networks of KYZYT were constructed, and the protein interaction network (PPI) of overlapping targets was analyzed to identify the key targets of the drug affecting the disease. In addition, KEGG pathway analysis and GO enrichment analysis were performed on the overlapping targets to explore the mechanism of KYZYT in the treatment of tubal fimbria obstruction. KYZYT has the characteristics of multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway in the treatment of tubal fimbria obstruction, which provides new ideas and scientific basis for further clarification of the molecular mechanism.

Different oral and gut microbial profiles in those with Alzheimer's disease consuming anti-inflammatory diets.

The number of people living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing alongside with aging of the population. Systemic chronic inflammation and microbial imbalance may play an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. Inflammatory diets regulate both the host microbiomes and inflammatory status. This study aimed to explore the impact of inflammatory diets on oral-gut microbes in patients with AD and the relationship between microbes and markers of systemic inflammation. The dietary inflammatory properties and the oral and gut microorganisms were analyzed using the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and 16S RNA in 60 patients with AD. The α-diversity was not related to the DII (p > 0.05), whereas the ß-diversity was different in the oral microbiomes (R2 = 0.061, p = 0.013). In the most anti-inflammatory diet group, Prevotella and Olsenella were more abundant in oral microbiomes and Alistipes, Ruminococcus, Odoribacter, and unclassified Firmicutes were in the gut microbiomes (p < 0.05). Specific oral and gut genera were associated with interleukin-6 (IL)-6, complement 3 (C3), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), IL-1ß, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, anti-inflammatory diets seem to be associated with increased abundance of beneficial microbes, and specific oral and gut microbial composition was associated with inflammatory markers.

Effects of oral health intervention strategies on cognition and microbiota alterations in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease: A randomized controlled trial.

We explored the effects of an oral health intervention on the oral microbiome and cognitive function of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) and determined the influence on disease progression. Sixty-six patients with mild AD were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups and received a 24-week oral health intervention and routine care, respectively. Data were collected at baseline and week 24. 16 S rRNA sequencing was used to analyze oral microbiota. After 24 weeks of oral health intervention, Kayser-Jones Brief Oral Health Status Examination (BOHSE), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Nursing Home Adjustment Scale (NHAS), and Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-ADL (ADCS-ADL) scores were different between groups (p < 0.05). Subgingival plaque in patients with AD showed significant differences in the diversity and abundance of oral microbiomes, with a higher abundance of normal oral flora in the intervention group. We found oral health intervention strategies are effective in modifying subgingival microbiota differences and slowing cognitive decline in mild AD patients.

A comparison of the composition and functions of the oral and gut microbiotas in Alzheimer's patients.

Objective: Alterations in the oral or gut microbiotas have been reported in patients with subjective and mild cognitive impairment or AD dementia. However, whether these microbiotas change with the severity of the AD spectrum (mild, moderate, and severe AD) remains unknown. Thus, we compared alterations in the composition and gene functions of the oral and gut microbiota between different phases of AD. Methods: We recruited 172 individuals and classified these into three groups: healthy controls (n = 40), a mild AD group (n = 43) and a moderate AD group (n = 89). Subgingival plaques and fecal samples were collected from all individuals. Then, we conducted 16S ribosomal RNA. sequencing to analyze the microbiotas. Results: In order of the severity of cognition impairment (from normal to mild and to moderate AD), the oral abundances of the phyla Firmicutes and Fusobacteria showed a gradual upwards trend, while the abundance of the Proteobacteria phylum gradually decreased. In contrast, the abundance of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla in the gut decreased progressively, while that of the Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Actinobacteria phyla increased gradually. Key differences were identified in the microbiomes when compared between the mild AD and moderate AD groups when applying the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) algorithm. LEfSe analysis revealed alterations that were similar to those described above; furthermore, different bacterial taxa were associated with MMSE scores and age. KEGG analysis showed that the functional pathways associated with the oral microbiota were mainly involved in membrane transport and carbohydrate metabolism, while the gene functions of the fecal microbiota related to metabolism of amino acids, energy, cofactors and vitamins; identified significant differences among the three groups. Venn diagram analysis revealed that the number of genera that were present in both the oral and gut microbiota increased progressively from NC to mild AD and then to moderate AD. Conclusions: This study is the first to report a comparative analysis of the oral and fecal microbiota of patients with mild and moderate AD. The compositions and functions of the oral and gut microbiotas differed when compared between different stages of AD.

Construction and Electrochemical Properties of Solid-state Supercapacitors with Redox Additives.

Adding redox additives to conventional electrolytes is considered to be an effective method to improve electrochemical performance of the supercapacitors, which is ascribed to the additional Farady capacitance derived from the reversible redox reaction. Here, the influence of K3 Fe(CN)6 on electrochemical properties for single electrode system and the assembled solid-state supercapacitor are investigated. The carbon felt (CF) electrode in the mixed solution of K3 Fe(CN)6 /KCl exhibits remarkable specific capacitance of 2.45 F cm-2 after 5000 cycles, obviously much higher than conventional electrolyte KCl. The capacitance retention and the coulombic efficiency of the solid-state supercapacitor maintains 86.5% and 97% after 2500 cycles, symmetric supercapacitor shows a high energy density of 58 mWh L-1 at power density of 660 mW L-1 . Furthermore, the solid-state SCs exhibit excellent flexibility and four supercapacitors are capable of lighting up an LED lamp, demonstrating the potential of practical applications of the as-prepared solid-state SCs.

Active and passive defects in tetragonal tungsten bronze relaxor ferroelectrics.

Tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) based oxides constitute a large family of dielectric materials which are known to exhibit complex distortions producing incommensurately modulated superstructures as well as significant local deviations from their average symmetry. The local deviations produce diffuse scattering in diffraction experiments. The structure as well as the charge dynamics of these materials are anticipated to be sensitive to defects, such as cation or oxygen vacancies. In this work, in an effort to understand how the structural and charge dynamical properties respond to these two types of vacancy defects, we have performed measurements of dielectric susceptibilities and single crystal diffraction experiments of two types of TTB materials with both 'filled' (Ba2NdFeNb4O15and Ba2PrFeNb4O15) and 'unfilled' (Sr0.5Ba0.5Nb2O6) cation sublattices. We also perform these measurements before and after oxygen annealing, which alters the oxygen vacancy concentrations. Surprisingly, we find that many of the diffuse scattering features that are present in the unfilled structure are also present in the filled structure, suggesting that the random fields and disorder that are characteristic of the unfilled structure are not responsible for many of the local structural features that are reflected in the diffuse scattering. Oxygen annealing clearly affected both color and dielectric properties, consistent with a diminishment of the oxygen vacancy concentration, but had little effect on observed diffuse patterns.

PRDM1 Drives Human Primary T Cell Hyporesponsiveness by Altering the T Cell Transcriptome and Epigenome.

T cell hyporesponsiveness is crucial for the functional immune system and prevents the damage induced by alloreactive T cells in autoimmune pathology and transplantation. Here, we found low expression of PRDM1 in T cells from donor and recipients both related to the occurrence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Our systematic multiomics analysis found that the transcription factor PRDM1 acts as a master regulator during inducing human primary T cell hyporesponsiveness. PRDM1-overexpression in primary T cells expanded Treg cell subset and increased the expression level of FOXP3, while decreased expression had the opposite effects. Moreover, the binding motifs of key T cell function regulators, such as FOS, JUN and AP-1, were enriched in PRDM1 binding sites and that PRDM1 altered the chromatin accessibility of these regions. Multiomics analysis showed that PRDM1 directly upregulated T cell inhibitory genes such as KLF2 and KLRD1 and downregulated the T cell activation gene IL2, indicating that PRDM1 could promote a tolerant transcriptional profile. Further analysis showed that PRDM1 upregulated FOXP3 expression level directly by binding to FOXP3 upstream enhancer region and indirectly by upregulating KLF2. These results indicated that PRDM1 is sufficient for inducing human primary T cell hyporesponsiveness by transcriptomic and epigenetic manners.

[Analysis of information needs of patients with dentofacial deformities at different stages of treatment].

PURPOSE: To investigate the treatment experience and information needs of patients with dentofacial deformities in the process of surgical program design, surgical treatment and postoperative rehabilitation. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with dentofacial deformities at different treatment stages from March to July 2019 were selected for semi-structured interview. Colaizzi content analysis method and QSR NVivo 12.0 software were used to analyze and code the data, as well as extract the theme and genus. RESULTS: Three themes and eight categories were extracted, including① information needs in different treatment stages, mainly specific content of information needs at pre-operative preparation stage, orthognathic perioperative stage and post-operative rehabilitation stage; ② information support methods, i.e., diversified information support methods and patients' recognition of internet information;③ patients' cognition difference,namely the difference between patients' psychological expectation and the results of operation. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the treatment characteristics of orthognathic surgery and individual cognitive differences of patients, there is a large demand for information support at different stages of treatment. However, the current information support mode is limited, so it is necessary to further improve and provide scientific, professional and targeted information support for patients with dentofacial deformities.

Ferroelectric phase-transition frustration near a tricritical composition point.

Phase transition describes a mutational behavior of matter states at a critical transition temperature or external field. Despite the phase-transition orders are well sorted by classic thermodynamic theory, ambiguous situations interposed between the first- and second-order transitions were exposed one after another. Here, we report discovery of phase-transition frustration near a tricritical composition point in ferroelectric Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3. Our multi-scale transmission electron microscopy characterization reveals a number of geometrically frustrated microstructure features such as self-assembled hierarchical domain structure, degeneracy of mesoscale domain tetragonality and decoupled polarization-strain relationship. Associated with deviation from the classic mean-field theory, dielectric critical exponent anomalies and temperature dependent birefringence data unveil that the frustrated transition order stems from intricate competition of short-range polar orders and their decoupling to long-range lattice deformation. With supports from effective Hamiltonian Monte Carlo simulations, our findings point out a potentially universal mechanism to comprehend the abnormal critical phenomena occurring in phase-transition materials.

Intrahepatic cholestasis induced by α-naphthylisothiocyanate can cause gut-liver axis disorders.

Clinical studies have shown that Intrahepatic cholestasis is closely related to intestinal injury. The gut-liver axis theory suggests that the intestine and liver are closely related, and that bile acids are important mediators linking the intestine and liver. We compared two cholestasis models: a single injection model that received a single subcutaneous ANIT injection (75 mg/kg), and a multiple subcutaneous injection model that received an injection of ANIT (50 mg/kg) every other day for 2 weeks. We used Transmetil (ademetionine 1,4-butanedisulfonate) to relieve intrahepatic cholestasis in the multiple injection group. In the multiple injection group, we found increased hepatic bile duct hyperplasia, increased fibrosis of the liver, increased small intestine inflammation and oxidative damage, increased harmful bile acids, decreased bile acids transporter levels. After treatment with Transmetil, the liver and gut injuries were relieved. These results suggest that intrahepatic cholestasis can cause disorders of the gut-liver axis.

Research progress on shared decision making in maxillofacial plastic surgery and aesthetic surgery / 口腔疾病防治

@#Shared decision making (SDM) refers to two-way communication between doctors and patients. SDM helps surgeons decide the most suitable treatment plan for patients based on the medical evidence and the preferences of patients. A standardized clinical process and decision assistant tools, such as verbal tools, graphic tools, and patient decision aids, can help the shared decision-making work effectively. Since the sense of facial aesthetics is individual and there are multiple treatment options in plastic surgery, facial aesthetic surgery is suitable for the application of SDM. In addition, medical service centers can also meet the personalized needs of patients, provide high-quality medical services for patients and achieve better treatment results with SDM. SDM has not been introduced into the clinical practice of maxillofacial plastic surgery in China, and its development is facing many difficulties, such as the lack of decision aid tools, the limited time of diagnosis, and the lack of doctor-patient communication. Research and development of standard SDM clinical implementation path guides and decision aid tools will be beneficial to the application and development of SDM in the field of maxillofacial plastic surgery in China.

Nitrogen-Enriched Reduced Graphene Oxide for High Performance Supercapacitor Electrode.

Nitrogen-enriched reduced graphene oxide electrode material can be successfully prepared through a simple hydrothermal method. The morphology and microstructure of ready to use electrode material is measured by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Physical characterizations revealed that nitrogen-enriched reduced graphene oxide electrode material possessed high specific surface area of 429.6 m² · g-1, resulting in high utilization of electrode materials with electrolyte. Electrochemical performance of nitrogen-enriched reduced graphene oxide electrode was also investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in aqueous in 6 M KOH with a three-electrode system, which displayed a high specific capacitance about 223.5 F · g-1 at 1 mV · s-1. More importantly, nitrogenenriched reduced graphene oxide electrode exhibited outstanding stability with 100% coulombic efficiency and with no specific capacitance loss under 2 A · g-1 after 10000 cycles. The supercapacitive behaviors indicated that nitrogen-enriched reduced graphene oxide can be a used as a promising electrode for high-performance super-capacitors.