Context: Gut dysbiosis has been proposed as one of pathologies in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) spectrum. Despite such enthusiasm, the relevant results remain substantially controversial. Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to investigate the differences of gut microbiota (GM) between patients with AD spectrum (including mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and AD) and healthy controls (HC). Data sources: PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane Library from January 2000 to August 2021. Eligibility criteria for study selection: Observational trials and pre-intervention data of intervention trials that investigated the abundance of GM in patients with AD spectrum and HC. Data extraction and synthesis: Two reviewers independently identified articles, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias. The effect sizes were performed by a random-effect, inverse-variance weighted model. The effects of different countries and of clinical stages on GM abundance were also examined. Results: 11 studies consisting of 378 HC and 427 patients with AD spectrum were included in the meta-analysis. Patients with AD, but not MCI, showed significantly reduced GM diversity as compared to HC. We also found more abundance of Proteobacteria , Bifidobacterium and Phascolarctobacterium , but less abundance of Firmicutes , Clostridiaceae , Lachnospiraceae and Rikenellaceae in patients with AD spectrum as compared with HC. The profiles of abundance of Alistipes and Bacteroides in HC and AD spectrum were differentially affected by countries. Finally, when considering clinical stage as a moderator, the comparisons of abundance in Clostridiaceae and Phascolarctobacterium showed large effect sizes, with gradient changes from MCI to AD stage. Limitations: The inclusion of studies originating only from China and the U.S. was a possible limitation. Conclusions: Patients with AD spectrum demonstrated altered GM abundance, which was differentially mediated by countries and clinical stages.

Purpose To determine if surface treatment and cement selection for traditional 3 mol% yttria partially stabilized zirconia (3Y‐PSZ), “translucent” 5 mol% yttria‐stabilized zirconia (5Y‐Z), or lithium disilicate crowns affected their fracture load. Materials and Methods Crowns with 0.8 mm uniform thickness (96, n = 8/group) were milled of 3Y‐PSZ (Lava Plus), 5Y‐Z (Lava Esthetic), or lithium disilicate (e.max CAD) and sintered/crystallized. Half the crowns were either particle‐abraded with 30 µm alumina (zirconias) or etched with 5% hydrofluoric acid (lithium disilicate), and the other half received no surface treatment. Half the crowns from each group were luted with resin‐modified glass ionomer (RMGI, RelyX Luting Plus) and half were luted with a resin cement (RelyX Unicem 2) to resin composite dies. Crowns were load cycled (100,000 cycles, 100 N force, 24°C water) and then loaded with a steel indenter until failure. A three‐way ANOVA examined the effects of material, cement, and surface treatment on fracture load. Post‐hoc comparisons were performed with the Tukey‐Krammer method. Results Fracture load was signficiantly different for materials and cements (p < 0.0001) but not surface treatments (p = 0.77). All lithium disilicate crowns luted with RMGI failed in fatigue loading cycling; 3Y‐PSZ and 5Y‐Z crowns luted with resin showed a higher fracture load compared with RMGI (p < 0.001). With resin cement, there was no signficant difference in fracture load between 5Y‐Z and lithium disiliciate (p = 1) whereas 3Y‐PSZ had a higher fracture load (p < 0.0001). Conclusions Cement type affected fracture load of crowns but surface treatment did not. The 0.8 mm uniform thick crowns tested benefited from using resin cement regardless of type of ceramic material. Crowns fabricated from 5Y‐Z may be particle‐abraded if luted with resin cement.

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This study investigates the extent to which the TiO2/graphene/TiO2 sandwich structure improves the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) over that of DSSCs with the traditional structure. Studies have demonstrated that the TiO2/graphene/TiO2 sandwich structure effectively enhances the open circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current density (Jsc), and photoelectrical conversion efficiency (η) of DSSCs. The enhanced performance of DSSCs with the sandwich structure can be attributed to an increase in electron transport efficiency and in the absorption of light in the visible range. The DSSC with the sandwich structure in this study exhibited a Voc of 0.6 V, a high Jsc of 11.22 mA cm-2, a fill factor (FF) of 0.58, and a calculated η of 3.93%, which is 60% higher than that of a DSSC with the traditional structure.

Routine application of perioperative normovolemic anemia in pediatric LDLT has allowed the sparing use of blood products. Approximately half of our patients (42%) did not require intraoperative blood transfusion; 31% of the patients went home without receiving any blood products except 5% albumin. There were no adverse effects with this maneuver, and graft function was good in all patients.

In this study, polystyrene/nanographite nanocomposite foams were made by different compounding methods, such as direct compounding, pulverized sonication compounding, and in situ polymerization, to understand the effect of the process variables on the morphology of the nanocomposites and their foam. The foam was made by batch foaming using CO 2 as the blowing agent. Various foaming pressures and temperatures were studied. The results indicated that the cell size decreased and the cell morphology was improved with the advanced dispersion of the nanoparticles. Among the three methods, the in situ polymerization method provided the best dispersion and the resulting nanocomposite foam had the finest cell size and the highest cell density. In addition, adding nanoparticles as a nucleating agent can make foams of similar cell size and cell density at a much lower foaming pressure. This result can be explained by the classical nucleation theory. This discovery could open up a new route to produce microcellular foams at a low foaming pressure.