Background: A 2018 study on the global burden of disease, accidents, and risk factors reported that 1.6 million peo ple died in 2017 due to household air pollution. Poor indoor air quality has been highlighted as a contributing factor to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and exacerbation of asthma and allergies. A 2019 study estimated that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less reduces average life expectancy by 1.8 years, with more severe effects in highly polluted regions. Additionally, a study by Miller et al. (2007) found that prolonged exposure to PM2.5 increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, particularly among women. Direct measurement devices are highly effective in determining indoor PM2.5 concentrations, identifying sources of pollution, tracking pollutant dispersion, and monitoring temporal variations. Studies suggest that direct measurement is an accurate, cost-effective method that provides detailed data suitable for local conditions. Aim: To investigate the indoor air quality of houses and apartments in Darkhan city during the winter season using the Purple Air monitoring device. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a targeted sample of 128 households in Darkhan city. The study examined factors such as stove type, type of coal used, annual and daily coal consumption, frequency of heating, and chimney sealing conditions. To collect data, the Purple Air monitoring device was installed in each house hold for a month, after which it was retrieved. During retrieval, participants completed a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 55 questions across 7 pages at the time of device installation and 25 questions across 3 pages at the time of device retrieval. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Results: A total of 128 households in Darkhan city participated in the study. The average duration of residence in the current home was 9.5 years, with no statistically significant variation. The distribution of housing types was as follows: traditional Mongolian gers (40.6%), houses (39.1%), and apartments (20.3%). The 24-hour average PM2.5 concentration was highest in gers (70.9 μg/m³), followed by houses (46.8 μg/m³) and apartments (22.8 μg/m³), with a statistically significant difference (p=0.0001). PM2.5 levels were most variable in gers, followed by houses and then apartments. House holds using central heating (apartments) had an average 24-hour PM2.5 concentration of 22.8 μg/m³, whereas households using stoves (gers and houses) had a significantly higher concentration of 59.4 μg/m³ (p=0.0001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between traditional and improved stoves. Among study participants, 21.4% reported that someone in their household smoked indoors. Additionally, 86.5% regularly burned incense, candles, or herbs, while 99.2% did not use an air purifier. Conclusion The indoor particulate matter concentration in houses and gers in Darkhan was 59.4μг/m3. Variations in stove types, poor chimney sealing limited space, and frequent gaps and cracks contribute to increased spread of indoor air pollutants.

Background: The prevalence of neck pain among adults worldwide is 4.9-22.3%. It occurs in 34.7% of office workers in industrialized countries. Aim: To study the effect of massage therapy of Mongolian medicine on neck pain Materials and Methods: In this study, a parallel clinical trial design was used, and 50 patients with neck pain were divided into two groups: the treatment group received massage therapy of Mongolian medicine and the control group received exercise therapy, and the treatment results were compared. VAS assessment, NDI, Digital Algometer, and European Quality of Life Questionnaire were used in the study. Results: 52 % of the study participants were male, while 48 % were female, and their mean age was 43.3±21.3. The VAS score for pain assessment was 5.44±0.96 in the treatment group and 5.44±0.96 in the comparison group before treatment, but after the treatment it decreased to 0.80±0.71 in the treatment group and 1.44±0.77 in the comparison group, respectively, which showed a statistically significant difference. Massage therapy of Mongolian medicine has a greater pain-relieving effect than exercise therapy in the treatment of neck pain (p<0.01). The pressure pain threshold was 934±154.60 in the treatment group and 934±154.60 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment, it increased to 1536±22.91 in the treatment group and 1392±83.77 in the comparison group, which was statistically significant (p<0.01). The neck disability index of patients with neck pain was 11.44±2.87 in the treatment group and 11.56±2.55 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment it decreased to 0.84±0.69 in the treatment group and 1.40±0.87 in the comparison group. Although exercise therapy has the effect of reducing the neck disability index, when comparing the treatment results of the two groups, massage therapy of Mongolian medicine had greater effect (p<0.05). European Quality of Life Questionnaire was 8.64±2.25 in the treatment group and 8.16±1.60 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment it was 5.28±0.54 in the treatment group and 7.44±1.23 in the comparison group. Massage therapy of Mongolian medicine has a greater effect on improving the quality of life of people with neck pain compared to exercise therapy (p<0.01). The neck forward bending was 36.60±2.45 in the treatment group and 37.24±2.35 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment, it increased to 42.32±2.14 in the treatment group and 39.32±2.14 in the comparison group, which was statistically significant (p0.01).The neck abduction was 36.20±1.89 in the treatment group and 36.56±2.24 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment, it increased to 42.80±2.06 in the treatment group and 39.76±1.88 in the comparison group, which was statistically significant (p=0.01).The neck left rotation was 60.84±3.77 in the treatment group and 61.56±4.31 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment, it increased to 75.08±3.55 in the treatment group and 67.20±4.29 in the comparison group, which was statistically significant (p0.01). The neck right rotation was 61.80±4.39 in the treatment group and 62.00±4.42 in the comparison group before treatment, but after treatment, it increased to 76.52±2.95 in the treatment group and 68.04±4.46 in the comparison group, which was statistically significant (p0.01).When comparing the treatment results of the two groups, Mongolian medical bariatric surgery was more effective (p<0.01). Conclusions 1. Massage therapy of Mongolian medicine reduces disability index in people with neck pain (p<0.05). 2. Massage therapy of Mongolian medicine has a significant effect on reducing pain and pressure pain threshold in people with neck pain (p<0.01). 3. Massage therapy of Mongolian medicine has the effect of improving the quality of life of people with neck pain (p<0.01).

The original version of this article (Yang et al., 2023) unfortunately contained a mistake. In Acknowledgments, the funding information for the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. LBY21H160001) was wrong. The correct funding should be the Zhejiang Health Science and Technology Project (No. 2022KY682), China.

(+)-Borneol, the main component of "Natural Borneol" in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, is a high-end spice and precious medicine. Plant extraction cannot meet the increasing demand for (+)-borneol, while microbial biosynthesis offers a sustainable supply route. However, its production was extremely low compared with other monoterpenes, even with extensively optimizing the mevalonate pathway. We found that the key challenge is the complex and unusual dephosphorylation reaction of bornyl diphosphate (BPP), which suffers the side-reaction and the competition from the cellular dephosphorylation process, especially lipid metabolism, thus limiting (+)-borneol synthesis. Here, we systematically optimized the dephosphorylation process by identifying, characterizing phosphatases, and balancing cellular dephosphorylation metabolism. For the first time, we identified two endogenous phosphatases and seven heterologous phosphatases, which significantly increased (+)-borneol production by up to 152%. By engineering BPP dephosphorylation and optimizing the MVA pathway, the production of (+)-borneol was increased by 33.8-fold, which enabled the production of 753 mg/L under fed-batch fermentation in shake flasks, so far the highest reported in the literature. This study showed that rewiring dephosphorylation metabolism was essential for high-level production of (+)-borneol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and balancing cellular dephosphorylation is also helpful for efficient biosynthesis of other terpenoids since all whose biosynthesis involves the dephosphorylation procedure.

Stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD1) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of de novo lipogenesis and modulates lipid homeostasis. Although numerous SCD1 inhibitors were tested for treating metabolic disorders both in preclinical and clinic studies, the tissue-specific roles of SCD1 in modulating obesity-associated metabolic disorders and determining the pharmacological effect of chemical SCD1 inhibition remain unclear. Here a novel role for intestinal SCD1 in obesity-associated metabolic disorders was uncovered. Intestinal SCD1 was found to be induced during obesity progression both in humans and mice. Intestine-specific, but not liver-specific, SCD1 deficiency reduced obesity and hepatic steatosis. A939572, an SCD1-specific inhibitor, ameliorated obesity and hepatic steatosis dependent on intestinal, but not hepatic, SCD1. Mechanistically, intestinal SCD1 deficiency impeded obesity-induced oxidative stress through its novel function of inducing metallothionein 1 in intestinal epithelial cells. These results suggest that intestinal SCD1 could be a viable target that underlies the pharmacological effect of chemical SCD1 inhibition in the treatment of obesity-associated metabolic disorders.

Single-cell analysis of phenotypic plasticity could improve the development of more effective therapeutics. Still, the development of tools to measure single-cell heterogeneity has lagged due to difficulties in manipulating and culturing single cells. Here, we describe a single-cell culture and phenotyping platform that employs a starburst microfluidic network and automatic liquid handling system to capture single cells for long-term culture and multi-dimensional analysis and quantify their clonal properties via their surface biomarker and secreted cytokine/growth factor profiles. Studies performed on this platform found that cells derived from single-cell cultures maintained phenotypic equilibria similar to their parental populations. Single-cell cultures exposed to chemotherapeutic drugs stochastically disrupted this balance to favor stem-like cells. They had enhanced expression of mRNAs and secreted factors associated with cell signaling, survival, and differentiation. This single-cell analysis approach can be extended to analyze more complex phenotypes and screen responses to therapeutic targets.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2024.03.030.].

Mesenchymal stem cells are highly regarded for their potential in tissue repair and regenerative medicine due to their multipotency and self-renewal abilities. Recently, mesenchymal stem cells have been redefined as "medical signaling cells," with their primary biological effects mediated through exosome secretion. These exosomes, which contain lipids, proteins, RNA, and metabolites, are crucial in regulating various biological processes and enhancing regenerative therapies. Exosomes replicate the effects of their parent cells while offering benefits such as reduced side effects, low immunogenicity, excellent biocompatibility, and high drug-loading capacity. Dental stem cells, including those from apical papilla, gingiva, dental pulp, and other sources, are key contributors to exosome-mediated regenerative effects, such as tumor cell apoptosis, neuroprotection, angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and immune modulation. Despite their promise, clinical application of exosomes is limited by challenges in isolation techniques. Current methods face issues of complexity, inefficiency, and insufficient purity, hindering detailed analysis. Recent advancements, such as micro-electromechanical systems, alternating current electroosmosis, and serum-free three-dimensional cell cultures, have improved exosome isolation efficacy. This review synthesizes nearly 200 studies on dental stem cell-derived exosomes, highlighting their potential in treating a wide range of conditions, including periodontal diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, and more. Optimized isolation methods offer a path forward for overcoming current limitations and advancing the clinical use of exosome-based therapies.
Exosomes/physiology* ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology* ; Dental Pulp/cytology* ; Stem Cells/cytology* ; Tooth/cytology*

Five new flavan-4-ol glycosides jixueqiosides A-E (1-5) and two new flavan glycosides jixueqiosides F and G (6 and 7), along with twelve known flavan-4-ol glycosides (8-19), were isolated from the roots of Pronephrium penangianum. Comprehensive spectral analyses, X-ray single-crystal diffraction, and theoretical electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations established structures and absolute configurations. A single crystal structure of flavan-4-ol glycoside (14) was reported for the first time, while the characteristic ECD and NMR data for all isolated flavan-4-ol glycosides (1-5 , 8-19) were analyzed, establishing a set of empirical rules. Activity screening of these isolates showed that 8 and 9 could inhibit the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells with IC₅₀ values of 7.93 ? 2.85 ?mol?L^-1 and 5.87 ? 1.58 ?mol?L^-1 (MDA-MB-231), and 2.21 ? 1.38 ?mol?L^-1 and 3.52 ? 1.55 ?mol?L^-1 (MCF-7), respectively. Western blotting and flow cytometry analyses demonstrated that 8 and 9 dose-dependently induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells by up-regulating BAX, activating caspase-3 and down-regulating BCL-2. Additionally, compound 8 affected autophagy-related proteins, increasing the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin-1 levels to inhibit MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation. Moreover, anti-inflammatory studies indicated that 2, 3, 7, 13, 14, and 18 moderately inhibited tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nitric oxide (NO) release.
Humans ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Glycosides/isolation & purification* ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/isolation & purification* ; Flavonoids/isolation & purification* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/isolation & purification* ; Molecular Structure ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/immunology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Interleukin-6/immunology* ; Animals ; Mice