Chlorogenic acid (Chl), isochlorogenic acid A (Isochl A), and isochlorogenic acid B (Isochl B) are naturally occurring phenolic compounds, which have been shown to exert a regulatory effect on lipid metabolism. However, the mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. Herein, we investigated the inhibitory effects and underlying mechanisms of these three phenolic compounds on oleic acid (OA)-induced HepG2 cells and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed zebrafish. Lipid accumulation and triacylglycerol levels increased in OA-induced cells, which was attenuated by Chl, Isochl A, and Isochl B. Moreover, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) decreased, while superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels increased by Chl, Isochl A and Isochl B treatment. Western blot analysis demonstrated that Chl, Isochl A and Isochl B reduced the expression of lipogenesis-related protein, including fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Moreover, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha gamma (PPARα) was increased by Chl, Isochl A, and Isochl B treatment. In addition, our results indicated that Chl, Isochl A and Isochl B decreased lipid profiles and lipid accumulation in HFD-fed zebrafish. Thus, these findings highlight the potential of Chl, Isochl A, and Isochl B as effective agents for treating or/and ameliorating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Amino acids are vital components of the serum-free medium that influence the expansion and function of NK cells. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between amino acid metabolism and expansion and cytotoxicity of NK cells. Based on analyzing the mino acid metabolism of NK-92 cells and Design of Experiments (DOE), we optimized the combinations and concentrations of amino acids in NK-92 cells culture medium. The results demonstrated that NK-92 cells showed a pronounced demand for glutamine, serine, leucine, and arginine, in which glutamine played a central role. Significantly, at a glutamine concentration of 13 mM, NK-92 cells expansion reached 161.9 folds, which was significantly higher than 55.5 folds at 2.5 mM. Additionally, under higher glutamine concentrations, NK-92 cells expressed elevated levels of cytotoxic molecules, the level of cytotoxic molecules expressed by NK-92 cells was increased and the cytotoxic rate was 68.42%, significantly higher than that of 58.08% under low concentration. In view of the close relationship between glutamine metabolism and intracellular redox state, we investigated the redox status within the cells. This study demonstrated that intracellular ROS levels in higher glutamine concentrations were significantly lower than those under lower concentration cultures with decreased intracellular GSH/GSSG ratio, NADPH/NADP+ ratio, and apoptosis rate. These findings indicate that NK-92 cells exhibit improved redox status when cultured at higher glutamine concentrations. Overall, our research provides valuable insights into the development of serum-free culture medium for ex vivo expansion of NK-92 cells.

Yeast extract serves as a source of nutritional components essential for human dietary requirements, feed formulations, and the vital growth factors and nutrients necessary for microorganisms. However, the production cost of yeast extract using cultivated active dry yeast is relatively high. This study aims to utilize the autolysis of discarded yeast post beer brewing to produce yeast extract. The concentration, temperature, pH, and time conditions are systematically optimized. It reveals that the yield of amino nitrogen and solids in the extract was increased by 3.3% and 20.9% under the optimized conditions (1.2% wall-breaking enzyme, 1% yeast extract enzyme, and a hydrolysis time of 24 h) than that of the documented 4.03% and 69.05%. Additionally, a comparative analysis with commercially available yeast powder demonstrates that the yeast extract derived from this study adequately fulfills the nutritional requirements for microbial growth. Hence, the utilization of discarded beer yeast presents an opportunity for the valuable reclamation of waste yeast, showcasing promising potential applications.

Blastocystis sp. is a prevalent protistan parasite found globally in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and various animals. This review aims to elucidate the advancements in research on axenic isolation techniques for Blastocystis sp. and their diverse applications. Axenic isolation, involving the culture and isolation of Blastocystis sp. free from any other organisms, necessitates the application of specific media and a series of axenic treatment methods. These methods encompass antibiotic treatment, monoclonal culture, differential centrifugation, density gradient separation, micromanipulation and the combined use of culture media. Critical factors influencing axenic isolation effectiveness include medium composition, culture temperature, medium characteristics, antibiotic type and dosage and the subtype (ST) of Blastocystis sp. Applications of axenic isolation encompass exploring pathogenicity, karyotype and ST analysis, immunoassay, characterization of surface chemical structure and lipid composition and understanding drug treatment effects. This review serves as a valuable reference for clinicians and scientists in selecting appropriate axenic isolation methods.

Introduction: Aging is an important process to improve the quality of cigar, but the effect of aging with media on cigar has not been reported.Therefore, this study aimed to prepare different aging media and clarify the influence of media on cigar quality. Methods: Effective media were first screened by sensory evaluation, then the effects of aging media on the chemical composition and microbial community of cigar were investigated. Results: The results showed that: 1) As aging media, coffee formula and cocoa formula could optimize the smoke and aroma characteristics of cigar, and 30 days was the appropriate period for cigar aging. 2) Aging with coffee or cocoa media could increase the content of amino acids, non-volatile organic acids, malic acid and aroma components. Particularly, the content of aroma components increased from 2.48 mg g-1 (W-30) to 3.21 mg g-1 (C-30) and 3.70 mg g-1 (K-30), respectively. 3) Aging with coffee can improve the diversity of bacteria and fungi on the cigar surface and change the succession rule of bacterial community. In contrast, aging with cocoa had no significant effect on microbial diversity of cigar. Discussion: In this study, the influence of aging media on cigar quality was analyzed multidimensionally for the first time, which provided a reference for the development of new aging media and technologies to improve cigar quality.

Influential work has confirmed screen inferiority in reading tasks that reading on screen is less productive than reading on paper. Recent researches suggest that poor cognitive performance in screen environments may be primarily due to cognitive defects rather than technological flaws. Although some studies have explored screen inferiority in reasoning tasks from cognitive and metacognitive perspectives, related theories have yet to be enriched. Here, we found that screen inferiority exists in reasoning performance regardless of the test format (multiple-choice VS. open-ended), which may result from shallow processing consistent with the previous findings. However, meta-reasoning monitoring showed screen inferiority only in the multiple-choice test format. Our results indicate that the screens exhibit robust inferiority in reasoning scores, while the influence of the media on meta-reasoning may vary with external triggers. Our research may shed light on how to conduct efficient reasoning in the screen age.

BACKGROUND: Genetic abnormalities in embryos are responsible for most miscarriages and repeated embryo implantation failures, so a reliable preimplantation genetic screening method is urgently needed. Non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing (niPGT) is a potential method for embryo genetic diagnosis. However, the value of its application is controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate and validate the diagnostic value of niPGT in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
METHODS: This review used the \"Preferred Reporting Items\" as a systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic test accuracy (PRISMA-DTA) statement. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, and Cochrane Library up to May 2022 to retrieve non-invasive preimplantation gene detection studies. The eligible research quality was evaluated following the quality assessment study-2 system for diagnostic accuracy. The pooled receiver operator characteristic curve (SROC) and the area under SROC (AUC) were used to evaluate diagnostic performance quantitatively. Threshold effect, subgroup analysis, and meta-regression analysis were used to explore the source of heterogeneity. Deeks\' funnel plots and sensitivity analyses were used to test the publication bias and stability of the meta-analysis, respectively.
RESULTS: Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC were 0.84 (95% CI 0.72-0.91), 0.85 (95% CI 0.74-0.92), and 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.93), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the spent culture medium (SCM) subgroup had higher sensitivity and lower specificity than the SCM combined with the blastocoel fluid (BF) subgroup. Subgroup analysis showed that the study sensitivity and specificity of < 100 cases were higher than those of ≥ 100. Heterogeneity (chi-square) analysis revealed that sample size might be a potential source of heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis and Deeks\' funnel plots indicated that our results were relatively robust and free from publication bias.
CONCLUSIONS: The present meta-analysis indicated that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of niPGT in preimplantation genetic testing were 0.84, 0.85, and 0.91, respectively. niPGT may have high detection accuracy and may serve as an alternative model for embryonic analysis. Additionally, by subgroup analysis, we found that BF did not improve the accuracy of niPGT in embryos. In the future, large-scale studies are needed to determine the detection value of niPGT.

Ceftazidime/avibactam (CZA) is an alternative antibiotic used for the treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). However, the CZA-resistant CRE strains have been detected worldwide. Therefore, it is critical to screen CZA-resistant CRE strains in colonized patients or a specific population so as to rapidly implement infection control measures to limit their transmission. In this study, we developed a Salmonella-Shigella (SS) CZA-selective medium and assessed its performance to screen for clinical CZA-resistant CRE isolates in both pure-strain specimens and stool samples. A total of 150 non-duplicated isolates, including 75 CZA-susceptible and 75 CZA-resistant CRE pathogens, were tested by using the broth microdilution method and the SS CZA medium, respectively. The bacterial suspensions were serially diluted in the SS CZA medium, which showed excellent screening performance in both pure CZA-resistant CRE strain and the stool samples with the lowest detection limit of 101-102 and 101-103 CFU/ml, respectively. Notably, none of the susceptible isolates showed growth even at the highest dilution concentration of 108 CFU/ml. Most importantly, the SS CZA medium demonstrated excellent performance in screening simulated clinical polymicrobial specimens. Moreover, its screening performance was unaffected by the different resistance determinants for tested isolates. Cumulatively, our data suggest that the SS CZA medium can be used as a promising selective medium to screen CZA-resistant CRE, irrespective of their resistance mechanisms.

In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the medium based on the Plackett-Burman and Central-Composite Designs for the production of pullulan using a novel strain of Auerobasidium pullulans CJ001 isolated from sea mud from Eastern China for the first time. NaCl, K2HPO4, and (NH4)2SO4 were found to have significant effects on pullulan production using the Plackett-Burman Design. The concentrations of the three above mentioned compounds were further optimized using the Central-Composite Design. Results showed that the final concentration of medium optimized using RSM was 1.98g/L NaCl, 0.77g/L K2HPO4, and 1.0g/L (NH4)2SO4. Production of pullulan reached 26.13g/L under the optimized medium. The structure of pullulan was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

The mechanism and nitrogen removal performance of anammox process under different concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ were explored from the perspective of molecular biology analysis based on the metabolic changes of the second messenger cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP). After 100-day operation, reactor with 98 mg/L Ca2+ and 30 mg/L Mg2+ achieved a higher anammox performance with an average total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency of 85.8%. Under the Mg2+concentration of 30 mg/L, a higher Ca2+ could accelerate anammox process by promoting the amplification of Candidatus Brocadia (0.62%) and production of Diguanylate cyclase (DGC-s: 6.54 × 108 copies/μL DNA) which function was to synthesize c-di-GMP. While under the Ca2+concentration of 49 mg/L, Mg2+ concentration at appropriate rang could promote the degradation process of c-di-GMP. Since Ca2+ had positive linear relationship with TN removal (R2 = 0.96), a higher Ca2+ concentration is recommended in the culture medium. This study provided a potential method for optimization of anammox process.