Search

Introduction: Pneumatic tourniquets (PTs) play a crucial role in hemostasis during orthopedic surgery. This study aimed to investigate the current knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of orthopedic operating room personnel concerning the use of PTs. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from Jul. 2023 to Aug. 2023. An online questionnaire was used to collect demographic information and KAP score data of the orthopedic operating room personnel from Hangzhou Regional Hospitals. Results: A total of 336 participants included orthopedic physicians (37.8%), orthopedic nurses (31.5%), anesthesiologists (8.9%), operating room nurses (19.9%) and medical students (1.8%). The median knowledge score was 28.5 (24, 32), with a maximum score of 38; the median attitude score was 31 (28, 35), of a maximum of 35; the median practice score was 41 (36, 44), of a maximum of 45. Correlation analysis showed links between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.388, p<0.001), knowledge and practice (r = 0.401, p<0.001), and attitude and practice (r = 0.485, p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that female gender (OR = 0.294, 95% CI: 0.167–0.520; p<0.001), working in a specialized hospital (OR = 0.420, 95% CI: 0.219–0.803; p = 0.009), and occupation as a surgical anesthesiologist (OR = 3.358, 95% CI: 1.466–7.694; p = 0.004) were associated with better knowledge scores. A higher educational degree (OR = 0.237, 95% CI: 0.093–0.608; p = 0.003) was associated with better practice scores. No previous training was associated with lower knowledge (OR = 0.312, 95% CI: 0.187–0.520; p<0.001) and practice (OR = 0.325, 95% CI: 0.203–0.521; p<0.001) scores. Conclusion: Orthopedic personnel in this study had acceptable knowledge, attitude, and practice concerning the use of PTs; additional training and guidance might enhance proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tangeretin (Tan), a citrus flavonoid, possesses a strong anti-tumor efficacy in various human cancers. However, the precise role of Tan in the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis was performed to observe the Tan-related genes in Tan-treated TE-1 cells. The direct relationship between GLI family zinc finger 2 (GLI2) and the promoter of glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) was predicted by bioinformatics analysis and validated by luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. Cell survival after Tan treatment was assessed by CCK8 assay. Gene expression levels were evaluated by a qRT-PCR, western blot, or immunofluorescence method. Cell migration and invasion were detected by wound-healing and transwell assays. The function of Tan in vivo was examined using xenograft studies. Our data indicated anti-migration and anti-invasion functions of Tan in ESCC cells in vitro. Tan also diminished tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, Tan diminished the expression and transcriptional activity of GLI2 in ESCC cells. Silencing of GLI2 resulted in decreased expression of GPNMB by inhibiting GPNMB transcription via the binding site at the GPNMB promoter at position +(1539–1550). Moreover, Tan down-regulated GPNMB expression in ESCC cells, and re-expression of GPNMB reversed anti-migration and anti-invasion functions of Tan in ESCC cells. Our findings uncover anti-migration and anti-invasion effects of Tan in ESCC cells by down-regulating GPNMB by suppressing GLI2-mediated GPNMB transcription, providing new evidence that Tan can function as a therapeutic agent against ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that pigs (Sus scrofa) were domesticated very early in Neolithic China, but far less is known about the processes by which pig husbandry intensified so that pork became the most important animal protein for humans are less clear. Here, we explore pig feeding practices using the carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of bone collagen, focusing on developments in pig husbandry during the Yangshao period (7000–5000 BP) in the middle Yellow River region of China, and at the site of Xipo (5800–5000 BP) in particular. The results show that the diets of domestic pigs at Xipo were dominated by millet foods. Comparisons with other Yangshao sites in the region show a trend of increasing millet foddering for pigs throughout the Yangshao period. These results, and comparisons of the isotopic data for pigs against those for humans from the Xipo cemetery (5300–5000 BP), suggest that pigs were closely managed by humans. The evidence points to an intensification of Neolithic pig husbandry in the middle Yellow River region from this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neutral theory of biodiversity has emerged as a major null hypothesis in community ecology. The neutral theory may sufficiently well explain the structuring of microbial communities as the extremely high microbial diversity has led to an expectation of high ecological equivalence among species. To address this possibility, we worked with microcosms of two soils; the microcosms were either exposed, or not, to a dilution disturbance which reduces community sizes and removes some very rare species. After incubation for recovery, changes in bacterial species composition in microcosms compared with the source soils were assessed by pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Our assays could detect species with a proportional abundance ≥ 0.0001 in each community, and changes in the abundances of these species should have occurred during the recovery growth, but not be caused by the disturbance per se. The undisturbed microcosms showed slight changes in bacterial species diversity and composition, with a small number of initially low-abundance species going extinct. In microcosms recovering from the disturbance, however, species diversity decreased dramatically (by > 50%); and in most cases there was not a positive relationship between species initial abundance and their chance of persistence. Furthermore, a positive relationship between species richness and community biomass was observed in microcosms of one soil, but not in those of the other soil. The results are not consistent with a neutral hypothesis that predicts a positive abundance-persistence relationship and a null effect of diversity on ecosystem functioning. Adaptation mechanisms, in particular those associated with species interactions including facilitation and predation, may provide better explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eggshell damages lead to economic losses in the egg production industry and are a threat to human health. We examined 49-wk-old Rhode Island White hens (Gallus gallus) that laid eggs having shells with significantly different strengths and thicknesses. We used HiSeq 2000 (Illumina) sequencing to characterize the chicken transcriptome and whole genome to identify the key genes and genetic mutations associated with eggshell calcification. We identified a total of 14,234 genes expressed in the chicken uterus, representing 89% of all annotated chicken genes. A total of 889 differentially expressed genes were identified by comparing low eggshell strength (LES) and normal eggshell strength (NES) genomes. The DEGs are enriched in calcification-related processes, including calcium ion transport and calcium signaling pathways as reveled by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Some important matrix proteins, such as OC-116, LTF and SPP1, were also expressed differentially between two groups. A total of 3,671,919 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 508,035 Indels were detected in protein coding genes by whole-genome re-sequencing, including 1775 non-synonymous variations and 19 frame-shift Indels in DEGs. SNPs and Indels found in this study could be further investigated for eggshell traits. This is the first report to integrate the transcriptome and genome re-sequencing to target the genetic variations which decreased the eggshell qualities. These findings further advance our understanding of eggshell calcification in the chicken uterus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat productivity may affect the stability of consumer-resource systems, through both ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. We hypothesize that coevolving consumer-resource systems show more stable dynamics at intermediate resource availability, while very low-level resource supply cannot support sufficiently large populations of resource and consumer species to avoid stochastic extinction, and extremely resource-rich environments may promote escalatory arms-race-like coevolution that can cause strong fluctuations in species abundance and even extinction of one or both trophic levels. We tested these ideas by carrying out an experimental evolution study with a model bacterium-phage system (Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 and its phage SBW25Φ2). Consistent with our hypothesis, this system was most stable at intermediate resource supply (fewer extinction events and smaller magnitude of population fluctuation). In our experiment, the rate of coevolution between bacterial resistance and phage infectivity was correlated with the magnitude of population fluctuation, which may explain the different in stability between levels of resource supply. Crucially, our results are consistent with a suggestion that, among the two major modes of antagonistic coevolution, arms race is more likely than fluctuation selection dynamics to cause extinction events in consumer-resource systems. This study suggests an important role of environment-dependent coevolutionary dynamics for the stability of consumer-resource species systems, therefore highlights the importance to consider contemporaneous evolutionary dynamics when studying the stability of ecosystems, particularly those under environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in the world, and their origins, development, and expansion are complex. Many genetic studies have shown that Han Chinese can be divided into two distinct groups: northern Han Chinese and southern Han Chinese. The genetic history of the southern Han Chinese has been well studied. However, the genetic history of the northern Han Chinese is still obscure. In order to gain insight into the genetic history of the northern Han Chinese, 89 human remains were sampled from the Hengbei site which is located in the Central Plain and dates back to a key transitional period during the rise of the Han Chinese (approximately 3,000 years ago). We used 64 authentic mtDNA data obtained in this study, 27 Y chromosome SNP data profiles from previously studied Hengbei samples, and genetic datasets of the current Chinese populations and two ancient northern Chinese populations to analyze the relationship between the ancient people of Hengbei and present-day northern Han Chinese. We used a wide range of population genetic analyses, including principal component analyses, shared mtDNA haplotype analyses, and geographic mapping of maternal genetic distances. The results show that the ancient people of Hengbei bore a strong genetic resemblance to present-day northern Han Chinese and were genetically distinct from other present-day Chinese populations and two ancient populations. These findings suggest that the genetic structure of northern Han Chinese was already shaped 3,000 years ago in the Central Plain area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complete picture of the evolution of miRNA combinatorial regulation requires the synthesis of information on all miRNAs and their targets. MiR156 and miR529 are two combinatorial regulators of squamosa promoter binding protein-like (SBP-box) genes. Previous studies have clarified the evolutionary dynamics of their targets; however, there have been no reports on the evolutionary patterns of two miRNA regulators themselves to date. In this study, we investigated the evolutionary differences between these two miRNA families in extant land plants. Our work found that miR529 precursor, especially of its mature miRNA sequence, has a higher evolutionary rate. Such accelerating evolution of miR529 has significantly effects on its structural stability, and sequence conservation against existence of itself. By contrast, miR156 evolves more rapidly in loop region of the stable secondary structure, which may contribute to its functional diversity. Moreover, miR156 and miR529 genes have distinct rates of loss after identical duplication events. MiR529 genes have a higher average loss rate and asymmetric loss rate in duplicated gene pairs, indicating preferred miR529 gene losses become another predominant mode of inactivation, that are implicated in the contraction of this family. On the contrary, duplicated miR156 genes have a low loss rate, and could serve as another new source for functional diversity. Taken together, these results provide better insight into understanding the evolutionary divergence of miR156 and miR529 family in miRNA combinational regulation network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the expression profile and clinical significance of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with primary gout and healthy control subjects. Human lncRNA microarrays were used to identify the differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs in primary gout patients (n = 6) and healthy control subjects (n = 6). Bioinformatics analyses were performed to predict the roles of differently expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression levels of 8 lnRNAs in 64 primary gout patients and 32 healthy control subjects. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the correlation between these eight lncRNAs and the laboratory values of gout patients. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the diagnostic value of the lncRNAs identified in gout. The microarray analysis identified 1479 differentially expressed lncRNAs (879 more highly expressed and 600 more lowly expressed), 862 differentially expressed mRNAs (390 more highly expressed and 472 more lowly expressed) in primary gout (fold change > 2, P < 0.05), respectively. The bioinformatic analysis indicated that the differentially expressed lncRNAs regulated the abnormally expressed mRNAs, which were involved in the pathogenesis of gout through several different pathways. The expression levels of TCONS_00004393 and ENST00000566457 were significantly increased in the acute gout flare group than those in the intercritical gout group or healthy subjects (P<0.01). Moreover, inflammation indicators were positive correlated with TCONS_00004393 and ENST00000566457 expression levels. The areas under the ROC curve of ENST00000566457 and NR-026756 were 0.868 and 0.948, respectively. Our results provide novel insight into the mechanisms of primary gout, and reveal that TCONS_00004393 and ENST00000566457 might be as candidate targets for the treatment of gout flare; ENST00000566457 and NR-026756 could effectively discriminate between the gout and the healthy control groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited data are available on clinical outcomes of people living with HIV (PLWH) in China, especially after the implementation of the 2016 national treatment guideline. The objective of the current study is to examine the treatment patterns, clinical outcomes and their associated factors among PLWH in Guangxi, China before and after this new guideline. Methods: Data from three community-based projects conducted at different time points over a period of six years (2012–2017) in Guangxi were analyzed in our study. The interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Measures of clinical outcomes were retrieved from the patients’ medical records. Descriptive analysis was employed to display treatment patterns and the time trends of clinical outcomes. Chi-square test or ANOVA was used to compare the differences in background characteristics and treatment history between different levels of clinical outcomes. Results: Among the pooled sample of 4224 participants, 77.3% were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), the median CD4 count was 328 cells/mm3, and 82.5% were virally suppressed. An increasing trend in both ART coverage (from 72.1% to 91.2%) and CD4 count (from 318 cells/mm3 to 357 cells/mm3) was observed over time in the three samples, while rates of viral suppression did not show a similar trend. A number of socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., female gender, younger age, Han ethnicity, and employment) and treatment-related variables (e.g., longer durations of HIV diagnosis and ART uptake, lower prevalence of comorbidity, fewer treatment interruptions, and more knowledge on ART) were associated with improved clinical outcomes. Conclusions: We observed a high rate of viral suppression and increasing trends in ART coverage and CD4 count over six years in Guangxi, China. However, suboptimal clinical outcomes continue to be a problem, particularly among some subgroups of PLWH. Future clinical management strategies should be tailored for PLWH with different sociodemographic characteristics and treatment trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhythmic nature of insulin secretion over the 24h cycle in pancreatic islets has been mostly investigated using transcriptomics studies showing that modulation of insulin secretion over this cycle is achieved via distal stages of insulin secretion. We set out to measure β-cell exocytosis using in depth cell physiology techniques at several time points. In agreement with the activity and feeding pattern of nocturnal rodents, we find that C57/Bl6J islets in culture for 24h exhibit higher insulin secretion during the corresponding dark phase than in the light phase (Zeitgeber Time ZT20 and ZT8, respectively, in vivo). Glucose-induced insulin secretion is increased by 21% despite normal intracellular Ca2+ transients and depolarization-evoked exocytosis, as measured by whole-cell capacitance measurements. This paradox is explained by a 1.37-fold increase in beta cell insulin content. Ultramorphological analyses show that vesicle size and density are unaltered, demonstrating that intravesicular insulin content per granule is modulated over the 24h cycle. Proinsulin levels did not change between ZT8 and ZT20. Islet glucagon content was inversely proportional to insulin content indicating that this unique feature is likely to support a physiological role. Microarray data identified the differential expression of 301 transcripts, of which 26 are miRNAs and 54 are known genes (including C2cd4b, a gene previously involved in insulin processing, and clock genes such as Bmal1 and Rev-erbα). Mouse β-cell secretion over the full course of the 24h cycle may rely on several distinct cellular functions but late night increase in insulin secretion depends solely on granule insulin content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a potent pro-inflammatory mediator and its expression is up-regulated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Tristetraprolin (TTP) is implicated in regulation of TNF-α expression; however, whether TTP is involved in cigarette smoke-induced TNF-α expression has not been determined. Methods: TTP expression was examined by western blot analysis in murine alveolar macrophages and alveolar epithelial cells challenged without or with cigarette smoke extract (CSE). TNF-α mRNA stability, and the decay of TNF-α mRNA, were determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. TNF-α protein levels were examined at the same time in these cells. To identify the molecular mechanism involved, a construct expressing the human beta-globin reporter mRNA containing the TNF-α 3’-untranslated region was generated to characterize the TTP targeted site within TNF-α mRNA. Results: CSE induced TTP down-regulation in alveolar macrophages and alveolar epithelial cells. Reduced TTP expression resulted in significantly increased TNF-α mRNA stability. Importantly, increased TNF-α mRNA stability due to impaired TTP function resulted in significantly increased TNF-α levels in these cells. Forced TTP expression abrogated the increased TNF-α mRNA stability and expression induced by CSE. By using the globin reporter construct containing TNF-α mRNA 3’-untranslated region, the data indicate that TTP directly targets the adenine- and uridine-rich region (ARE) of TNF-α mRNA and negatively regulates TNF-α expression at the post-transcriptional level. Conclusion: The data demonstrate that cigarette smoke exposure reduces TTP expression and impairs TTP function, resulting in significantly increased TNF-α mRNA stability and excessive TNF-α expression in alveolar macrophages and epithelial cells. The data suggest that TTP is a novel post-transcriptional regulator and limits excessive TNF-α expression and inflammatory response induced by cigarette smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a head and neck cancer type. In this study, we introduced a novel inflammation- and nutrition-based prognostic system, referred to as COR-BMI (Combination of red blood cell distribution width and body mass index), for LSCC patients. Methods: A total of 807 LSCC patients (784 male and 23 female, 22–87 y of age) who underwent surgery were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. The patients were stratified by COR-BMI into three groups: COR-BMI (0) (RDW ≤ 13.1 and BMI ≥ 25); COR-BMI (1) (RDW ≤ 13.1 and BMI < 18.5 or 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25; RDW > 13.1 and 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 or BMI ≥ 25); or COR-BMI (2) (RDW > 13.1 and BMI < 18.5). Cox regression models were used to investigate the association between COR-BMI and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rate among LSCC patients. Results: The 5-y, 10-y, and 15-y CSS rates were 71.6%, 60.1%, and 55.4%, respectively. There were significant differences among the COR-BMI groups in age (< 60 versus ≥ 60 y; P = 0.005) and T stage (T1, T2, T3, or T4; P = 0.013). Based on the results, COR-BMI (1 versus 0: HR = 1.76; 95% CI = 0.98–3.15; 2 versus 0: HR = 2.91; 95% CI = 1.53–5.54, P = 0.001) was a significant independent predictor of CSS. Conclusion: COR-BMI is a novel inflammation- and nutrition-based prognostic system, which could predict long-term survival in LSCC patients who underwent surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research found that Tiron was an effective antioxidant that could act as the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger or alleviate the acute toxic metal overload in vivo. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of Tiron on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 expression in human dermal fibroblast cells. Western blot and ELISA analysis revealed that Tiron inhibited ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced protein expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3. Real-time quantitative PCR confirmed that Tiron could inhibit UVB-induced mRNA expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3. Furthermore, Tiron significantly blocked UVB-induced activation of the MAPK signaling pathway and activator protein (AP)-1 in the downstream of this transduction pathway in fibroblasts. Through the AP-1 binding site mutation, it was found that Tiron could inhibit AP-1-induced upregulation of MMP-1 and MMP-3 expression through blocking AP-1 binding to the AP-1 binding sites in the MMP-1 and MMP-3 promoter region. In conclusion, Tiron may be a novel antioxidant for preventing and treating skin photoaging UV-induced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators in various biological processes. However, to date, no systematic characterization of lncRNAs has been reported in the silkworm Bombyx mori. In the present study, we generated eighteen RNA-seq datasets with relatively high depth. Using an in-house designed lncRNA identification pipeline, 11,810 lncRNAs were identified for 5,556 loci. Among these lncRNAs, 474 transcripts were intronic lncRNAs (ilncRNAs), 6,250 transcripts were intergenic lncRNAs (lincRNAs), and 5,086 were natural antisense lncRNAs (lncNATs). Compared with protein-coding mRNAs, silkworm lncRNAs are shorter in terms of full length but longer in terms of exon and intron length. In addition, lncRNAs exhibit a lower level of sequence conservation, more repeat sequences overlapped and higher tissue specificity than protein-coding mRNAs in the silkworm. We found that 69 lncRNA transcripts from 33 gene loci may function as miRNA precursors, and 104 lncRNA transcripts from 72 gene loci may act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). In total, 49.47% of all gene loci (2,749/5,556) for which lncRNAs were identified showed sex-biased expression. Co-expression network analysis resulted in 19 modules, 12 of which revealed relatively high tissue specificity. The highlighted darkgoldenrod module was specifically associated with middle and posterior silk glands, and the hub lncRNAs within this module were co-expressed with proteins involved in translation, translocation, and secretory processes, suggesting that these hub lncRNAs may function as regulators of the biosynthesis, translocation, and secretion of silk proteins. This study presents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of silkworm lncRNAs and provides an invaluable resource for genetic, evolutionary, and genomic studies of B. mori. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal corpus callosum (CC) has been reported in childhood trauma-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the nature of white matter (WM) integrity alterations in the CC of young adult-onset PTSD patients is unknown. In this study, 14 victims of a coal mine gas explosion with PTSD and 23 matched coal miners without experiencing the coal mine explosion were enrolled. The differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) within 7 sub-regions of the CC were compared between the two groups. Compared to the controls, PTSD coal miners exhibited significantly reduced FA values in the anterior sub-regions of the CC (P < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected), which mainly interconnect the bilateral frontal cortices. Our findings indicated that the anterior part of the CC was more severely impaired than the posterior part in young adult-onset PTSD, which suggested the patterns of CC impairment may depend on the developmental stage of the structure when the PTSD occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is no highly effective chemotherapy for malignant gliomas to date. We found that dimethylaminomicheliolide (DMAMCL), a selective inhibitor of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem/progenitor cells, inhibited the growth of glioma cells. Methods: The distribution of DMAMCL in brain was analyzed by an ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) system. The anti-tumor evaluations of DMAMCL in vitro were performed by MTT, FACS and RT-PCR. In vivo, the mixture of C6 cells and matrigel was injected into caudatum, and the anti-tumor activity of DMAMCL was evaluated by tumor growth and rat survival. The toxicity of DMAMCL was evaluated by body weight, daily food intake, hematological or serum biochemical analyses, and histological appearance of tissues. Results: The IC50 values of DMAMCL against the C6 and U-87MG cell lines in vitro were 27.18 ± 1.89 μM and 20.58 ± 1.61 μM, respectively. DAMMCL down-regulated the anti-apoptosis gene Bcl-2 and increased apoptosis in C6 and U-87MG cells in a dose-dependent manner. In a C6 rat tumor model, daily administration of DMAMCL for 21 days reduced the burden of C6 tumors by 60% to 88% compared to controls, and more than doubled the mean lifespan of tumor-bearing rats. Distribution analysis showed that the DMAMCL concentration was higher in the brain than in plasma. Evaluations for toxicity revealed that oral administration of DMAMCL at 200 or 300 mg/kg once a day for 21 days did not result in toxicity. Conclusions: These results suggest that DMAMCL is highly promising for the treatment of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]