The present meta-analysis suggests that consuming probiotics may improve glucose metabolism by a modest degree, with a potentially greater effect when the duration of intervention is ≥8 weeks, or multiple species of probiotics are consumed.

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Consuming probiotics could reduce body weight and BMI, with a potentially greater effect when multiple species of probiotics were consumed, the duration of intervention was ≥8 weeks, or the objects were overweight.

ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy of probiotic Lactobacillus on serum lipids using a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.MethodsFifteen studies containing 15 trials, with 976 subjects were included. The pooled WMD was calculated by random effects model.ResultsProbiotic Lactobacillus consumption significantly reduced TC by 0.26mmol/l (95% CI, -0.40 to -0.12) and LDL-C by 0.23mmol/l (95% CI, -0.36 to -0.10). Subgroup analysis of trials found significantly reduction of TC using L. plantarum and reduction of LDL-C using L. plantarum or L. reuteri. No significant effects were found on TG and HDL-C levels after supplementation with probiotic Lactobacillus. While, subgroup analysis found significantly beneficial effects on TG and HDL-C by consuming synbiotic food, containing L. sporogenes and inulin.ConclusionConsuming probiotic Lactobacillus, especially L. reuteri and L. plantarm, could reduce TC and LDL-C significantly. The study also suggested significantly beneficial effects on TG and HDL-C by consuming synbiotic food, containing L. sporogenes and inulin.

The effect of gold nanoparticles on lung cancer cells is not yet clear. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity and cell invasion activity of lung cancer cells after treatment with gold nanoparticles and showed that small gold nanoparticles can be endocytosed by lung cancer cells and that they facilitate cell invasion. The growth of A549 cells was inhibited after treatment with 5-nm gold nanoparticles, but cell invasion increased. Endocytosed gold nanoparticles (size, 10 nm) notably promoted the invasion activity of 95D cells. All these effects of gold nanoparticles were not seen after treatment with larger particles (20 and 40 nm). The enhanced invasion activity may be associated with the increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1. In this study, we obtained evidence for the effect of gold nanoparticles on lung cancer cell invasion activity in vitro. Moreover, matrix metalloproteinase 9 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, key modulators of cell invasion, were found to be regulated by gold nanoparticles. These data also demonstrate that the responses of the A549 and 95D cells to gold nanoparticles have a remarkable relationship with their unique size-dependent physiochemical properties. Therefore, this study provides a new perspective for cell biology research in nanomedicine.

The design and control of two types of separation systems using heterogeneous azeotropic distillation have been studied in the literature. One type (e.g., isopropyl alcohol dehydration) is to add a light entrainer (cyclohexane) into the system so that a minimum-boiling ternary azeotrope is formed which can split into two liquid phases in a decanter. This type of system also introduces two additional azeotropes (isopropyl alcohol−cyclohexane and water−cyclohexane), thus dividing the ternary system into three distillation regions. Another type (e.g., acetic acid dehydration) does not contain azeotrope in the original system. However, due to a tangent pinch near the pure water end an entrainer (isobutyl acetate) is added into the system to aid the separation. This type of system has only one binary heterogeneous azeotrope (water−isobutyl acetate); thus there is only one distillation region. In this paper, design and control of a different residue curve map (RCM) type of separation system utilizing heterogeneous azeotropic distillation will be studied. An example of this RCM type is pyridine and water separation using toluene as entrainer. Adding toluene into this system introduces two additional azeotropes, one is minimum-boiling binary heterogeneous azeotrope (water−toluene) and the other one is a binary homogeneous azeotrope (pyridine−toluene). There is no ternary azeotrope for this system. Two alternative design flow sheets are compared in this paper to find the one which is most economical and also meet stringent product purity specifications. A simple overall control strategy of this process has also been developed which requires only one temperature control loop in each column.

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, and the treatment options are limited. Recent studies demonstrated that the promising applications of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as intrinsic therapeutics; however, little is known about the effect of Au-NPs on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. In this paper, the role of Au-NPs on cerebral I/R injury in the rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was investigated using citrate-capped 5 nm and 20 nm Au-NPs. It was found that 20 nm Au-NPs administration led to remarkable amelioration of neurologic deficits and infarction volumes. Further research revealed that 20 nm Au-NPs elevated the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, as well as inhibited I/R induced activation of astrocytes and microglias. Moreover, the expressions of anti-apoptotic proteins were up-regulated and the pro-apoptotic molecules were down-regulated in the post-ischemic brains. These effects were opposite in 5 nm group. The above results showed that the neuroprotection of 20 nm Au-NPs was attributable to its anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effect. This study could provide a novel strategy for the treatment of cerebral I/R injury.

Objectives: The hazards of electrocautery smoke have been known for decades. However, few clinical studies have been conducted to analyze the responsible variables of the smoke production. This study collected clinical smoke samples and systematically analyzed all possible factors. Methods: Thirty diathermy smoke samples were collected during mastectomy and abdominal cavity operations. Samples were analyzed using a gas chromatographer with a flame ionization detector. Data were applied to construct prediction models for chemical production from electrosurgeries to identify all possible factors that impact chemical production during electrosurgery. Results: Toluene was detected in 27 smoke samples (90%) with concentrations of 0.003–0.463 mg/m³ and production of 176.0–2,780.0 ng. Ethyl benzene and styrene were identified in very few cases. General linear regression analysis demonstrates that surgery type, patient age, electrocautery duration and imparted coagulation energy explained 67.63% of the variation in toluene production. Conclusion: Surgery type and patient age are known prior to surgery. In terms of risk precaution, the operating team should pay close attention to exposure when certain positive factors of increasing the chemical production are known in advance.