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BACKGROUND: At present, there are many surgical methods for the treatment of episodic patellar dislocation, and it is still unclear which surgical method can provide appropriate meniscus and patellofemoral joint stress. OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of different surgical methods simulating episodic patellar dislocation in three-dimensional finite element software on the stress of knee meniscus and patellofemoral joint surface under different flexion conditions. METHODS: Acquire the knee joint CT and MRI of patients with episodic patellar dislocation and import them into Mimics and Geomagic to extract the model, then use Soildworks to complete the 0 °, 30 °, 60 °, 90 ° and 120 °buckling construction of the model, for each model, medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction, medial retinaculum plication, lateral retinaculum release, medial patellofemoral ligament combined with medial patellotibial ligament reconstruction, medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction combined with lateral retinaculum release be operation respectively.Finally, the model is imported into the mechanical software Ansys for biomechanical analysis, and the stress results of knee meniscus and patellofemoral joint surface are output. RESULTS : The medial patellofemoral ligament combined with medial patellotibial ligament reconstruction has the smallest meniscus stress compared with other methods. The medial patellofemoral ligament combined with medial patellotibial ligament reconstruction and the medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction combined with the lateral retinaculum release have smaller stress on the patellofemoral joint surface compared with the other three methods. CONCLUSION :The medial patellofemoral ligament combined with medial patellotibial ligament reconstruction can provide well patellofemoral contact stress and meniscus stress, effectively restore the stability of the knee joint, and delay the purpose of joint and cartilage degeneration.Medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction combined with lateral retinaculum release can also provide better patellofemoral joint stress, but the meniscus stress is slightly higher, so we should be alert to the complications related to the meniscus after surgery.Due to the high stress between patellofemoral joints and meniscus, the medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction should prevent the risk of redislocation and the high incidence of patellofemoral osteoarthritis.

Torula phytolaccae Y.X. Li, C.F. Liao & Doilom, sp. nov. (FIGURE 2) Index Fungorum number: IF559683; Facesoffungi number: FoF 11438 Etymology:—Name refers to the host genus Phytolacca on which the fungus was collected. Holotype:— ZHKU 22-0056 Saprobic on dead stems of Phytolacca acinosa. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Colonies effuse, dense, velvety, black on the host. Mycelium 2–3 µm thick, immersed to superficial on the substrate, septate, branched, smooth to minutely verruculose, brown. Conidiophores 10–24 µm long × 3–7 µm wide (x = 18.5 × 5 µm, n = 15), semi-macronematous, mononematous, flexuous, unbranched, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to subcylindrical, consisting of 1–3 cells or reduced to conidiogenous cells, pale brown, arising from lateral and terminal on a hypha. Conidiogenous cells 4–6.7 µm long × 5–7.7 µm diam. (x = 5.3 × 6.5 µm, n = 20), monoblastic, lateral to terminal, dark brown to black, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to cupulate. Conidia (9–)20–34(−63) × 5–9 (x = 27 × 6 µm, n = 40), phragmosporous, solitary to catenate, acrogenous, straight or slightly curved, dark brown to black, verrucose, 2–12-septate, predominantly 3–5-septate, rounded at both ends, mostly subcylindrical, composed of subglobose cells, constricted at the septa, subhyaline to pale brown at the apex, thick-walled. Culture characteristics: —Colonies on PDA reaching 28–30 mm diam. after 14 days at 25 ˚C, medium dense, mycelium partly immersed to superficial, flat or effuse, edge entire, cottony, hairy at the centre, initially floccose at the centre with white and brown aerial mycelia, greyish green circle at the edge with pale creamy outward, becoming a purple-red circle, whitish at the margin from above; greenish-grey the centre with pale creamy outward from below, without pigment produced in PDA. Asexual morph did not produce on PDA at 25 ˚C within 2 months. Material examined:— CHINA. Yunnan Province: Kunming City, 25.1339867°N 102.7418331°E, on dead stems of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. (Phytolaccaceae), 28 June 2019, C.F. Liao (ZHKU 22-0056, holotype); ex-type living culture ZHKUCC 22-0107, ibid., living culture ZHKUCC 22-0108. Notes:—In our multi-locus phylogeny, Torula phytolaccae clusters with T. herbarum (CBS 246.57), T. hollandica (CBS 220.69) and T. pluriseptata (MFLUCC 14-0437), but forms a distinct branch with 98% ML, 92% MP and 1.00 PP values (FIGURE 1). The description of T. herbarum CBS 246.57 is unavailable for morphological comparison, but the type strain CPC 24114 resided in a phylogenetically unrelated clade. Torula phytolaccae differs from T. hollandica in having more septa of conidia (2–12 vs. 2–4) and different conidial pigmentation (dark brown to black vs. pale to reddish brown) (Crous et al. 2015). Torula phytolaccae differs from T. pluriseptata in having longer conidiophores (10–24 µm vs. 2.8–4.3 µm) and larger conidiogenous cells (4–6.7 µm long × 5–7.7 µm diam. vs. 3–3.5 µm long × 3.8– 4.6 µm diam.) (Li et al. 2018). In addition, T. phytolaccae has subhyaline to pale brown, verrucose cells at the apex of conidia, which were absent in T. hollandica and T. pluriseptata (Crous et al. 2015, Li et al. 2017). Torula phytolaccae resembles T. monilis in having doliiform conidiogenous cells and verrucose conidia comprising subglobose cells, but differs in having more septa of conidia (2–12 vs. 3), different conidial pigmentation (dark brown to black vs. brown), longer conidiophores (10–24 µm vs. 14 µm) (Crous et al. 2015). A morphological comparison of T. phytolaccae and similar species is also provided in TABLE 2. Based on morphology and phylogenetic evidence, here we introduce Torula phytolaccae as a novel species from Phytolacca acinose., Published as part of Li, Yan-Xia, Doilom, Mingkwan, Dong, Wei, Liao, Chun-Fang, Manawasinghe, Ishara Sandeepani & Xu, Biao, 2023, A taxonomic and phylogenetic contribution to Torula: T. phytolaccae sp. nov. on Phytolacca acinosa from China, pp. 1-17 in Phytotaxa 584 (1) on pages 9-10, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.584.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7624055, {"references":["Crous, P. W., Carris, L. M., Giraldo, A., Groenewald, J. Z., Hawksworth, D. L., Hemandez-Restrepo, M., Jaklitsch, W. M., Lebrun, M. H., Schumacher, R. K., Stielow, J. B., van der Linde, E. J., Vilcane, J., Voglmayr, H. & Wood, A. R. (2015) The Genera of Fungi - fixing the application of the type species of generic names - G 2: Allantophomopsis, Latorua, Macrodiplodiopsis, Macrohilum, Milospium, Protostegia, Pyricularia, Robillarda, Rotula, Septoriella, Torula, and Wojnowicia. IMA Fungus 6: 163 - 198. https: // doi. org / 10.5598 / imafungus. 2015.06.01.11","Li, J. F., Phookamsak, R., Jeewon, R., Bhat, D. J., Mapook, A., Camporesi, E., Shang, Q. J., Chukeatirote, E., Bahkali, A. H. & Hyde, K. D. (2017) Molecular taxonomy and morphological characterization reveal new species and new host records of Torula species (Torulaceae, Pleosporales). Mycological Progress 16: 447 - 461. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / s 11557 - 017 - 1292 - 2"]}

Torula phytolaccae Y.X. Li, C.F. Liao & Doilom, sp. nov. (FIGURE 2) Index Fungorum number: IF559683; Facesoffungi number: FoF 11438 Etymology:—Name refers to the host genus Phytolacca on which the fungus was collected. Holotype:— ZHKU 22-0056 Saprobic on dead stems of Phytolacca acinosa. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Colonies effuse, dense, velvety, black on the host. Mycelium 2–3 µm thick, immersed to superficial on the substrate, septate, branched, smooth to minutely verruculose, brown. Conidiophores 10–24 µm long × 3–7 µm wide (x = 18.5 × 5 µm, n = 15), semi-macronematous, mononematous, flexuous, unbranched, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to subcylindrical, consisting of 1–3 cells or reduced to conidiogenous cells, pale brown, arising from lateral and terminal on a hypha. Conidiogenous cells 4–6.7 µm long × 5–7.7 µm diam. (x = 5.3 × 6.5 µm, n = 20), monoblastic, lateral to terminal, dark brown to black, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to cupulate. Conidia (9–)20–34(−63) × 5–9 (x = 27 × 6 µm, n = 40), phragmosporous, solitary to catenate, acrogenous, straight or slightly curved, dark brown to black, verrucose, 2–12-septate, predominantly 3–5-septate, rounded at both ends, mostly subcylindrical, composed of subglobose cells, constricted at the septa, subhyaline to pale brown at the apex, thick-walled. Culture characteristics: —Colonies on PDA reaching 28–30 mm diam. after 14 days at 25 ˚C, medium dense, mycelium partly immersed to superficial, flat or effuse, edge entire, cottony, hairy at the centre, initially floccose at the centre with white and brown aerial mycelia, greyish green circle at the edge with pale creamy outward, becoming a purple-red circle, whitish at the margin from above; greenish-grey the centre with pale creamy outward from below, without pigment produced in PDA. Asexual morph did not produce on PDA at 25 ˚C within 2 months. Material examined:— CHINA. Yunnan Province: Kunming City, 25.1339867°N 102.7418331°E, on dead stems of Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. (Phytolaccaceae), 28 June 2019, C.F. Liao (ZHKU 22-0056, holotype); ex-type living culture ZHKUCC 22-0107, ibid., living culture ZHKUCC 22-0108. Notes:—In our multi-locus phylogeny, Torula phytolaccae clusters with T. herbarum (CBS 246.57), T. hollandica (CBS 220.69) and T. pluriseptata (MFLUCC 14-0437), but forms a distinct branch with 98% ML, 92% MP and 1.00 PP values (FIGURE 1). The description of T. herbarum CBS 246.57 is unavailable for morphological comparison, but the type strain CPC 24114 resided in a phylogenetically unrelated clade. Torula phytolaccae differs from T. hollandica in having more septa of conidia (2–12 vs. 2–4) and different conidial pigmentation (dark brown to black vs. pale to reddish brown) (Crous et al. 2015). Torula phytolaccae differs from T. pluriseptata in having longer conidiophores (10–24 µm vs. 2.8–4.3 µm) and larger conidiogenous cells (4–6.7 µm long × 5–7.7 µm diam. vs. 3–3.5 µm long × 3.8– 4.6 µm diam.) (Li et al. 2018). In addition, T. phytolaccae has subhyaline to pale brown, verrucose cells at the apex of conidia, which were absent in T. hollandica and T. pluriseptata (Crous et al. 2015, Li et al. 2017). Torula phytolaccae resembles T. monilis in having doliiform conidiogenous cells and verrucose conidia comprising subglobose cells, but differs in having more septa of conidia (2–12 vs. 3), different conidial pigmentation (dark brown to black vs. brown), longer conidiophores (10–24 µm vs. 14 µm) (Crous et al. 2015). A morphological comparison of T. phytolaccae and similar species is also provided in TABLE 2. Based on morphology and phylogenetic evidence, here we introduce Torula phytolaccae as a novel species from Phytolacca acinose.

Additional file 7: Supplementary Table 7. mRNA–TF interaction network.

Additional file 3: Supplementary Table 3. Autophagy-related genes in Kawasaki disease.

Additional file 2: Supplementary Table 2. Autophagy-related genes.

Additional file 8: Supplementary Table 8. mRNA–drug network.

Additional file 6: Supplementary Table 6. mRNA–miRNA interaction network.

This study aims to investigate how exercise-induced myocardial hypertrophy preconditioning affects cardiac fibroblasts in the context of myocardial fibrosis, a chronic disease that can cause cardiac arrhythmia and heart failure. Heart failure was induced in male C57BL/6 mice via Transverse aortic constriction, and some mice were given swimming exercise before surgery to test the effects of exercise-induced myocardial hypertrophy preconditioning on myocardial fibrosis. Myocardial tissue was evaluated for fibrosis, senescent cells, and apoptotic cells. Myocardial fibroblasts from rats were cultured and treated with norepinephrine to induce fibrosis which were then treated with si-Nrf2 and analyzed for markers of fibrosis, senescence, apoptosis, and cell proliferation. Exercise-induced myocardial hypertrophy preconditioning reduced myocardial fibrosis in mice, as shown by decreased mRNA expression levels of fibrosis-related indicators and increased cell senescence. In vitro data indicated that norepinephrine (NE) treatment increased fibrosis-related markers and reduced apoptotic and senescent cells, and this effect was reversed by pre-conditioning in PRE+NE group. Preconditioning activated Nrf2 and downstream signaling genes, promoting premature senescence in cardiac fibroblasts and tissues isolated from preconditioned mice. Moreover, Nrf2 knockdown reversed proapoptotic effects, restored cell proliferation, reduced senescence-related protein expression, and increased oxidative stress markers and fibrosis-related genes, indicating Nrf2‘s crucial role in regulating oxidative stress response of cardiac fibroblasts. Exercise-induced myocardial hypertrophy preconditioning improves myocardial fibrosis which is Nrf2-dependent, indicating the protective effect of hypertrophy preconditioning. These findings may contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions to prevent or treat myocardial fibrosis.

Additional file 5: Supplementary Table 5. Protein–protein interaction network.

Additional file 4: Supplementary Table 4. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses.

Additional file 1: Supplementary Table 1. Primer sequences for quantitative real-time PCR.

The properties and functions of BMSCs were altered by the diabetic microenvironment, and its mechanism was not very clear. In recent years, the regulation of the function of BMSCs by microRNA has become a research hotspot, meanwhile, HOX genes also have been focused on and involved in multiple functions of stem cells. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-139-5p in diabetes-induced BMSC impairment. Since HOXA9 may be a target gene of miR-139-5p, we speculated that miR-139-5p/HOXA9 might be involved in regulating the biological characteristics and the function of BMSCs in diabetes. We demonstrated that the miR-139-5p expression was increased in BMSCs derived from STZ-induced diabetic rats. MiR-139-5p mimics were able to inhibit cell proliferation, and migration and promoted senescence and apoptosis in vitro. MiR-139-5p induced the down-regulated expression of HOXA9 and c-Fos in BMSCs derived from normal rats. Moreover, miR-139-5p inhibitors reversed the tendency in diabetic-derived BMSCs. Further, gain-and-loss function experiments indicated that miR-139-5p regulated the functions of BMSCs by targeting HOXA9 and c-Fos. In vivo wound model experiments showed that the downregulation of miR-139-5p further promoted the epithelialization and angiogenesis of diabetic BMSC-mediated skin. In conclusion, induction of miR-139-5p upregulation mediated the impairment of BMSCs through the HOXA9/c-Fos pathway in diabetic rats. Therefore, miR-139-5p/HOXA9 might be an important therapeutic target in treating diabetic BMSCs and diabetic complications in the future.

Structure from Motion (SfM) is key to mixed computer vision and photogrammetry applications. However, the fast-growing needs for large-scale SfM bring challenges to current SfM solutions. Unlike traditional global and incremental SfM solutions, hierarchical SfM approaches demonstrate promising potential in effectively reconstructing large-scale image sets by dividing the image set into multiple image clusters, reconstructing each cluster separately, and gradually merging partial models into a complete model. However, current hierarchical SfM approaches still suffer from the following problems: accurate image clustering without ancillary information; automatic quality evaluation of each reconstruction unit and unreliable partial reconstruction removal; effective and efficient reconstruction of each image cluster; robust and accurate cluster merging considering the merging order and the handling of images taken with the same camera but divided into different clusters. These unstable factors limit the robustness and accuracy of hierarchical SfM approaches on different unstructured image sets. To systematically improve the performance of hierarchical SfM, we propose a novel robust hierarchical structure from motion (RHSfM) method for large-scale image sets, which does not rely on any additional information, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS). (1) We develop an automatic image clustering method based on image correlation and present a dynamic adjustment strategy, obtaining reliable image clustering results. (2) We remove the poor reconstructions by introducing multiple quality evaluation standards. (3) We put forward a fast incremental SfM algorithm that optimizes the image adding mode with an image pre-screening strategy and gets rid of the dependence by the proposed dynamic adjustment strategy. (4) We achieve accurate cluster merging by creating an optimal merging list and employing a stepwise global optimization strategy that merges structures first and then cameras. Significantly, the entire process is fully automated with only a few input parameters, and the final result is not sensitive to these parameters. We verify our method on various real image sets that cover different image conditions, different scenes, and different image scales, especially two large-scale image sets with 121,506 and 153,396 images, respectively. The experimental results reveal that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art SfM systems Colmap, 3DF Samantha, and Metashape in terms of robustness, accuracy, and efficiency. In particular, only our method successfully reconstructed all the seven challenging datasets. For the five datasets that the other systems can also reconstruct, our method obtains the highest accuracy, which is 25 percent better than the best result of the comparable methods on average; for the remaining two datasets, the accuracy of our method is higher than 0.75 pixels. Moreover, the efficiency of our method is about 18, 4.85, and 0.25 times faster than Colmap, 3DF Samantha, and Metashape averagely on the experimental image sets, respectively. After all, our contribution provides a comprehensive and practical solution for large-scale SfM.

Tricholoma tianshanense Z.X. Zhao, J.G. Song & B. Xu sp. nov.— FIGURES 2, 3 MycoBank: MB842138 Etymology:—Species epithet based on the Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang, China, where the species was collected. Diagnosis:—Characterized by fairly inconspicuous, cottony-woolly ring, red to brownish-red scales gradually thinning out towards the marginal zone on the pileus, rarely clamped, guttulated basidiospores. Holotype:— CHINA, Xinjiang Province, Hejing county, Dalongchi Park (42°27′34″N, 80°22′51″E), alt. 2650 m, on rich soil with continuous and thick moss cover in a coniferous forest dominated by plants of Picea schrenkiana Fisch. & C.A.Mey., 11 Sept. 2020, Z. X. Zhao & B. Xu, HMUT 1112. GenBank accession numbers:—ITS: OL584020, LSU: OL584019 (not used in the analyses). Description:— Pileus 4–9 cm in diam, at first hemispherical to convex with involute margin, later convex to planodepressus, breaking up into appressed soon in central part, ± confluent fibrilloso-scales, which are red, to brownish red, scales gradually thinning out towards the marginal zone; margin slightly incurved, thin and sharp, sometimes torn. Lamellae emarginate, whitish to cream-colored, somewhat sinuate, rather close to medium spaced. Stipe 50–100 × 20–25 mm, solidus, cylindrical or tapering downwards, with a persistent but fairly inconspicuous, cottony-woolly ring on the upper part of the stipe, whitish and granulose scales above ring, below ring with irregular, light red to dark red fibrilloso-scales. Flesh whitish, solid; Odor very strong, especially when being fresh, like perfume; taste unknown. Basidiospores (4.5–)5.0–5.9(–7) × (4–)4.6–5(˗6) μm [n=50, Q=(1.02–)1.08–1.50(–1.57), Q=1.29 ± 0.12], broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid, non-amyloid, hyaline, guttulate, thin-walled, smooth. Basidia (29–)30–41(–45) × 5–8 μm, clavate, 4-spored, rarely 2-spored, hyaline, sterigmata up to 4 μm long. Pleurocystidia / cheilocystidia undetermined. Lamellar trama regular, hyaline, parallel, thin-walled hyphae 5–10 µm diam., sometimes branched. Pileipellis cutis, composed of hyaline, cylindrical, thin-walled hyphae 6–17 µm diam., sometimes branched. Stipitipellis formed by cylindrical 5–12 µm wide hyphae. Clamps present but rare. Ecology & Habitat:—Solitary to scattered on soil with thick mosses cover in forests dominated by Picea schrenkiana, fruiting in summer at alt 2650 m. Distribution:—Currently known only Hejing county, Xinjiang Province, China. Additional specimen examined:— CHINA. Xinjiang Province, Hejing (42°27′34″N, 80°22′51″E), alt. 2650 m, on rich soil with continuous and thick moss cover in a coniferous forest dominated by plants of Picea schrenkiana, 11 Sept 2020, Z. X. Zhao & B. X., HMUT 1114. GenBank accession numbers:—ITS: OL584021, LSU: OL584017 (not used in the analyses)., Published as part of Zhao, Zhen-Xi, Song, Jia-Ge, Senanayake, Indunil C., Wu, Dong-Sheng, Wang, Guo-Qing & Xu, Biao, 2022, Tricholoma tianshanense sp. nov., in Tricholoma sect. Caligata from Tianshan Mountains in China evidenced by morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses, pp. 22-30 in Phytotaxa 549 (1) on pages 26-27, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.549.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/6605290

Key to known species in Tricholoma sect. Caligata 1. Clamps present but rare............................................................................................................................................... T. tianshanense 1. Clamps absent or not observed...........................................................................................................................................................2 2. Basidia 22–38 × 4.5–6.5 µm, narrowly clavate, mostly 2–4 sterigmata.............................................................. T. mesoamericanum 2. Basidia narrowly clavate, 4 sterigmata...............................................................................................................................................3 3. Basidiospores inamyloid......................................................................................................................................... T. fulvocastaneum 3. Basidiospores nonamyloid or unknown.............................................................................................................................................4 4. Basidiospores 5–7.5 × 3.5–5.5 μm, white in mass, ellipsoidal to subglobose............................................................. T. magnivelare 4. Basidiospores broadly ellipsoid..........................................................................................................................................................5 5. Odour strong, like that Inocybe corydalina, taste sweetish-bitter to bitter...................................................................... T. caligatum 5. Odour different...................................................................................................................................................................................6 6. Sweet citrus fruit odor and raw green bean flavor.............................................................................................................. T. colposii 6. Fragrant, distinctive............................................................................................................................................................................7 7. Pileus up to 210 mm diam, convex or broadly umbonate when young, expanding to plano-convex, at first whitish, disc and fibrils becoming ochraceous to brownish with age............................................................................................................... T. murrillianum 7. Pileus up to 100 mm diam, hemispherical to convex.........................................................................................................................8 8. Pileus surface white to pale creamy when young, brown to brownish-ochraceous with age........................................ T. anatolicum 8. Pileus surface fibrillose-scales scales.................................................................................................................................................9 9. Lamellae emarginate, with even to somewhat eroded edges, at first whitish, with age sometimes with orange brown spots, rather close to medium spaced.......................................................................................................................................................... T. ilkkae 9. Lamellae close, straight, whitish, anastomosing..............................................................................................................................10 10. Stipe 6–15 cm long, with a persistent but fairly inconspicuous annulus on the upper part, below the ring concolorous with the pileus, with dark brown, thin appressed scales................................................................................................................ T. dulciolens 10. Stipe 6–10 cm long, 1.2–1.6 diam, cylindrical, solid with a cottony-woolly annulus on the upper part, below the ring brown, thin appressed scales........................................................................................................................................................ T. bakamatsutake, Published as part of Zhao, Zhen-Xi, Song, Jia-Ge, Senanayake, Indunil C., Wu, Dong-Sheng, Wang, Guo-Qing & Xu, Biao, 2022, Tricholoma tianshanense sp. nov., in Tricholoma sect. Caligata from Tianshan Mountains in China evidenced by morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses, pp. 22-30 in Phytotaxa 549 (1) on page 28, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.549.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/6605290

Background : Renewable energies are in great demand because of the shortage of traditional fossil energy and the associated environmental problems. Ni and Se-based materials are recently studied for energy storage and conversion owing to their reasonable conductivities and enriched redox activities as well as abundance. However, their electrochemical performance is still unsatisfactory for practical applications. Objective: To enhance the capacitance storage of Ni-Se materials by modification of their physiochemical properties with Fe. Methods: A two-step method was carried out to prepare FeNi-Se loaded reduced graphene oxide (FeNi-Se/rGO). In the first step, metal salts and graphene oxide (GO) were mixed under the basic condition and autoclaved to obtain hydroxide intermediates. As a second step, selenization process was carried out to acquire FeNi-Se/rGO composites. Results: X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD), nitrogen adsorption at 77K, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were carried out to study the structures, porosities and the morphologies of the composites. Electrochemical measurements revealed that FeNi-Se/rGO notably enhanced capacitance than the NiSe/G composite. This enhanced performance was mainly attributed to the positive synergistic effects of Fe and Ni in the composites, which not only had an influence on the conductivity of the composite but also enhanced redox reactions at different current densities. Conclusion: NiFe-Se/rGO nanocomposites were synthesized in a facile way. The samples were characterized physicochemically and electrochemically. NiFeSe/rGO giving much higher capacitance storage than the NiSe/rGO explained that the nanocomposites could be an electrode material for energy storage device applications.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Metabolic reprogramming has been recognized as a core feature in HCC. In line with this idea, we verified that increased miR‐23a inhibited STAT5A expression and promoted glucose metabolism through activated AKT phosphorylation in HCC. This new signaling pathway may offer new treatment target for HCC patients., Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Here, we identified that increased miR‐23a expression in HCC tissues was associated with worse survival. More importantly, we found that STAT5A was a target of miR‐23a, whose levels significantly decreased in tumor tissues. Stable expression of STAT5A in Huh7 cells suppressed glucose metabolism and tumor growth. Finally, this study showed that increased miR‐23a negatively regulated STAT5A, which further activated AKT signaling to enable rapid metabolism for accelerated tumor growth in HCC. Taken together, our results demonstrated that the miR‐23a‐STAT5A‐AKT signaling pathway is critical to alter glucose metabolism in HCC and may offer new opportunities for effective therapy.

Devices capable of deterministically manipulating the photonic entanglement are of paramount importance, since photons are the ideal messengers for quantum information. Here, we report a Rydberg-atom-based entanglement filter that preserves the desired photonic entangled state and deterministically blocks the transmission of the unwanted ones. Photonic entanglement with near-unity fidelity can be extracted from an input state with an arbitrarily low initial fidelity. The protocol is inherently robust, and succeeds both in the Rydberg blockade regime and in the interaction-induced dissipation regime. Such an entanglement filter opens new routes toward scalable photonic quantum information processing with multiple ensembles of Rydberg atoms., Comment: 10 pages for manuscript with 4 figures, 16 pages for Supplementary information with 7 figures and 2 tables

Additional file 1: The online version contains supplementary material including full-length blots images of western blot results.

Additional file 1. Table S1. Percentage distribution of test band intensity score against wild-type Pf in 200 parasites/��l (%). Table S2. Percentage distribution of test band intensity score against wild-type Pv in 200 parasites/��l (%).

Additional file 1.

The increasing numbers of infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens highlight the urgent need for new alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides have the potential to be promising alternatives to antibiotics because of their effective bactericidal activity and highly selective toxicity. The present study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial, antibiofilm, and anti-adhesion activities of different CTP peptides (CTP: the original hybrid peptide cathelicidin 2 (1-13)-thymopentin (TP5), CTP-NH2: C-terminal amidated derivative of cathelicidin 2 (1-13)-TP5, CTPQ: glutamine added at the C-terminus of cathelicidin 2 (1-13)-TP5) by determining the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs), minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs), propidium iodide uptake, and analysis by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy). The results showed that CTPs had broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against different gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, with MICs against the tested strains varying from 2 to 64 μg/mL. CTPs at the MBC (2 × MIC 64 μg/mL) showed strong bactericidal effects on a standard methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain ATCC 43300 after co-incubation for 6 h through disruption of the bacterial membrane. In addition, CTPs at 2 × MIC also displayed effective inhibition activity of several S. aureus strains with a 40–90% decrease in biofilm formation by killing the bacteria embedded in the biofilms. CTPs had low cytotoxicity on the intestinal porcine epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2) and could significantly decrease the rate of adhesion of S. aureus ATCC 43300 on IPEC-J2 cells. The current study proved that CTPs have effective antibacterial, antibiofilm, and anti-adhesion activities. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of the possible antibacterial and antibiofilm mechanisms of CTPs, which might be an effective anti-MDR drug candidate.

Reading small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) videos is a tedious task for clinicians, and a new method should be applied to solve the situation.To develop and evaluate the performance of a convolutional neural network algorithm for SBCE video review in real-life clinical care.In this multicenter, retrospective diagnostic study, a deep learning neural network (SmartScan) was trained and validated for the SBCE video review. A total of 2927 SBCE examinations from 29 medical centers were used to train SmartScan to detect 17 types of CE structured terminology (CEST) findings from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. SmartScan was later validated with conventional reading (CR) and SmartScan-assisted reading (SSAR) in 2898 SBCE examinations collected from 22 medical centers. Data analysis was performed from January 25 to December 31, 2021.An artificial intelligence-based tool for interpreting clinical images of SBCE.The detection rate and efficiency of CEST findings detected by SSAR and CR were compared.A total of 5825 SBCE examinations were retrospectively collected; 2898 examinations (1765 male participants [60.9%]; mean [SD] age, 49.8 [15.5] years) were included in the validation phase. From a total of 6084 CEST-classified SB findings, SSAR detected 5834 findings (95.9%; 95% CI, 95.4%-96.4%), significantly higher than CR, which detected 4630 findings (76.1%; 95% CI, 75.0%-77.2%). SmartScan-assisted reading achieved a higher per-patient detection rate (79.3% [2298 of 2898]) for CEST findings compared with CR (70.7% [2048 of 2298]; 95% CI, 69.0%-72.3%). With SSAR, the mean (SD) number of images (per SBCE video) requiring review was reduced to 779.2 (337.2) compared with 27 910.8 (12 882.9) with CR, for a mean (SD) reduction rate of 96.1% (4.3%). The mean (SD) reading time with SSAR was shortened to 5.4 (1.5) minutes compared with CR (51.4 [11.6] minutes), for a mean (SD) reduction rate of 89.3% (3.1%).This study suggests that a convolutional neural network-based algorithm is associated with an increased detection rate of SBCE findings and reduced SBCE video reading time.

PURPOSE To compare the survival outcomes of neoadjuvant three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (RT) followed by hepatectomy with hepatectomy alone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT). PATIENTS AND METHODS A randomized, multicenter controlled study was conducted from January 2016 to December 2017 in patients with resectable HCC and PVTT. Patients were randomly assigned to receive neoadjuvant RT followed by hepatectomy (n = 82) or hepatectomy alone (n = 82). The modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) guidelines were used to evaluate the therapeutic effects of RT. The primary end point was overall survival. The expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients’ serum before RT and in surgical specimens was correlated with response to RT. RESULTS In the neoadjuvant RT group, 17 patients (20.7%) had partial remission. The overall survival rates for the neoadjuvant RT group at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months were 89.0%, 75.2%, 43.9%, and 27.4%, respectively, compared with 81.7%, 43.1%, 16.7%, and 9.4% in the surgery-alone group ( P < .001). The corresponding disease-free survival rates were 56.9%, 33.0%, 20.3%, and 13.3% versus 42.1%, 14.9%, 5.0%, and 3.3% ( P < .001). On multivariable Cox regression analyses, neoadjuvant RT significantly reduced HCC-related mortality and HCC recurrence rates compared with surgery alone (hazard ratios, 0.35 [95% CI, 0.23 to 0.54; P < .001] and 0.45 [95% CI, 0.31 to 0.64; P < .001]). Increased expressions of IL-6 in pre-RT serum and tumor tissues were significantly associated with resistance to RT. CONCLUSION For patients with resectable HCC and PVTT, neoadjuvant RT provided significantly better postoperative survival outcomes than surgery alone. IL-6 may predict response to RT in these patients.

Singlet fission (SF) materials are a kind of promising material for breaking the solar cell efficiency limit. Here we rebuild the four-electron spin Hamiltonian under our coordinate system and present an improved model described by the population evolution equations on fluorescence decay (FD) dynamics that contain several detailed physical processes. The improved model for total random molecular orientation gives a more consistent fitting on the experimental data [G. B. Piland et al., J. Phys. Chem. C, 2013, 117, 1224] about time-resolved FD of amorphous rubrene thin films in the presence of a strong magnetic field. The fitting can reflect the relative rates of the real physical processes. Further on, our results show two kinds of magnetic field effect for the variety of two molecular relative orientations with respect to each other and the magnetic field by investigating the singlet projection and FD dynamics of the system.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients usually develop extensive and progressive vascular calcification, and lots of calcification inhibitors as well as procalcifying factors are involved in the process. However, the mechanisms of vascular calcification in ESRD patients are still ill-defined. In the present study, we found that the plasma exosomes derived from ESRD patients (ESRD-Ex) promoted calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) significantly, while plasma exosomes from renal transplant recipients (RTR-Ex) could partially attenuate VSMCs calcification. Moreover, the protein concentration of ESRD-Ex was significantly higher than plasma exosomes from the normal health control group (Nor-Ex) and RTR-Ex, and the content of both matrix gla protein (MGP) and Fetuin-A, the calcification inhibitors, were prominently lower in ESRD-Ex than those in Nor-Ex. The content of Annexin-A2, one of the calcification promoters, was significantly higher in ESRD-Ex and RTR-Ex than that in Nor-Ex. However, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) and receptor activator for nuclear factor-κB ligand (Rankl) had no significant difference among the three groups. In addition, the content of Fetuin-A in RTR-Ex was higher than that in ESRD-Ex, although it was still lower than that in Nor-Ex. Furthermore, the levels of both Fetuin-A and MGP in plasma exosomes were negatively while the levels of Annexin-A2 in plasma exosomes was positively correlated to coronary artery calcification scores (CACS). These results indicated that ESRD-Ex significantly promoted VSMCs calcification, while renal transplantation could partially attenuate the procalcification effect of exosomes. Fetuin-A and MGP were decreased, but Annexin-A2 was increased in ESRD-Ex, and renal transplantation could increase the level of Fetuin-A rather than MGP.

Additional file of Oral health status of 12-year-old children in Lisu minority ethnic group in China: a cross-sectional study

Introduction Upper lumbar burst fractures (L1or L2) are often followed by bilateral pedicle screw fixation at the level of fracture using posterior short-segment pedicle instrumentation. However, it can aggravate the trauma to the fractured vertebra. We have introduced a modified technique of posterior short-segment instrumentation for the treatment of upper lumbar burst fracture. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and radiologic results of modified technique versus conventional technique using posterior short-segment pedicle instrumentation in the treatment of upper lumbar burst fractures. Methods The data from 64 patients with upper lumbar burst fracture who had undergone posterior short-segment instrumentation from April 2014 to November 2018 in our clinic were evaluated in the present retrospective study. All the patients were divided into 2 groups according to the surgical technique, including 27 patients (modified order of intraoperative pedicle screw placement) in modified group and 37 patients (conventional order of intraoperative pedicle screw placement) in conventional group. The clinical outcomes and radiological parameters were evaluated preoperatively, postoperatively, at 3-month follow-up and final follow-up.Results Technical success was achieved in all 64 patients. The operation time of modified group(130.4±32.4min) is significantly longer than conventional group (115.3±26.8min, pppppConclusions Modified technique and conventional technique of posterior short-segment pedicle screw fixation for upper lumbar burst fractures both provided immediate stability and reduction of post-traumatic segmental kyphosis. In addition, modified technique of posterior short-segment pedicle screw fixation seems to be a promising method for upper lumbar burst fractures because it led to better reduction of fractured vertebra than in patients who received conventional technique.

Background End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients usually develop extensive and progressive vascular calcification, and lots of calcification inhibitors as well as pro-calcifying factors are involved in the process. However, the mechanisms of vascular calcification in ESRD patients are still ill-defined. Methods The participants in the study were selected at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, and the plasma exosomes derived from ESRD patients (ESRD-Ex), renal transplant recipients (RTR-Ex), and the normal health control group (Nor-Ex) were isolated by ExoQuick-TC kit. Transmission electron microscopy and molecular size analysis were used to assess the morphology and size of exosomes. Alizarin Red S staining was carried out to detect calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Protein levels of Fetuin-A, matrix gla protein (MGP), Annexin-A2, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2), and receptor activator for nuclear factor-κ B ligand (Rankl) were measured by Western Blot analysis and the contents of that were detected using ELISA. Coronary artery calcification scores (CACS) were quantified via Agaston and analysed by Siemens CaScoring software. Results Compared with Nor-Ex, the ESRD-Ex promoted calcification of VSMCs significantly, and RTR-Ex could attenuate VSMCs calcification. Moreover, the protein concentration of ESRD-Ex was significantly higher than Nor-Ex and RTR-Ex, and the content of both MGP and Fetuin-A, the calcification inhibitors, were prominently lower in ESRD-Ex than those in Nor-Ex. The content of Annexin-A2, one of the calcification promoters, was significantly higher in ESRD-Ex and RTR-Ex than that in Nor-Ex. But, BMP-2 and Rankl had no significant difference among the three groups. In addition, the content of Fetuin-A in RTR-Ex was higher than that in ESRD-Ex, though it was still lower than in Nor-Ex. Furthermore, the content of both plasma Fetuin-A and MGP were negatively while that of Annexin-A2 was negatively correlated to CACS. Conclusions These results indicated that ESRD-Ex significantly promoted VSMCs calcification while renal transplantation could partially attenuate the effect of exosomes. Fetuin-A and MGP were decreased but Annexin-A2 was increased in ESRD-Ex, and renal transplantation could increase the level of Fetuin-A rather than MGP.

The risk of a zoonotic pandemic disease threatens hundreds of millions of people. Emerging infectious diseases also threaten livestock and wildlife populations around the world and can lead to devastating economic damages. China and the USA-due to their unparalleled resources, widespread engagement in activities driving emerging infectious diseases and national as well as geopolitical imperatives to contribute to global health security-play an essential role in our understanding of pandemic threats. Critical to efforts to mitigate risk is building upon existing investments in global capacity to develop training and research focused on the ecological factors driving infectious disease spillover from animals to humans. International cooperation, particularly between China and the USA, is essential to fully engage the resources and scientific strengths necessary to add this ecological emphasis to the pandemic preparedness strategy. Here, we review the world's current state of emerging infectious disease preparedness, the ecological and evolutionary knowledge needed to anticipate disease emergence, the roles that China and the USA currently play as sources and solutions to mitigating risk, and the next steps needed to better protect the global community from zoonotic disease.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains an intractable disease despite numerous advancements made in the available treatments over recent decades. Therefore, investigation of the underlying pathogenesis of HCC is urgently required. Our previous microarray result showed that SCIN was generally downregulated in 23 paired tumor/normal tissues. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry were performed in the present study in order to detect the expression of scinderin (SCIN). Lentivirus-mediated gene delivery was used in order to produce SCIN-manipulated cell lines. MTT and crystal violet assays were performed in order to investigate cell growth, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis was used in order to determine cell cycle distribution. SCIN was downregulated in HCC samples, and low SCIN expression predicted the poor prognosis of patients with HCC. Notably, SCIN may have the potential to serve as an independent risk factor for overall survival (3-year overall survival rate of 28.6 and 10.3% in high SCIN expression and low SCIN expression groups, respectively) and disease-free survival (3-year recurrence rate of 71.4 and 84.6% in high SCIN expression and low SCIN expression groups, respectively) in HCC. SCIN inhibited HCC cell proliferation both in vitro and in subcutaneous tumor formation assay. Furthermore, SCIN decreased the levels of phosphorylated STAT3, thereby downregulating cyclin A1 levels in HCC cells. The results of the present study demonstrate the tumor suppressive role of SCIN in HCC, providing a candidate strategy to treat this disease.

Additional file 1: Table S1. The echocardiographic parameters of the control group, Dox group, Dox+Exo group, Dox+Vector group and Dox+AAV group (n=5 each group).

Additional file 1. Additional figures.

Background Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) has proven to be associated with morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. However, whether PM2.5 could promote the formation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is unclear. Present study aimed to explore the relationship between PM2.5 exposure and AAA development. Methods Ang Ⅱ-infused apoe−/− mice were treated with PM2.5 or saline by intranasal instillation. Four weeks later, histological and immunohistological analyses were used to evaluate the effect of PM2.5 on AAA formation. Human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) were also employed to further analyze the adverse effect of PM2.5 in vitro. Results We found that PM2.5 could significantly increase the AAA incidence, the maximal abdominal aortic diameter and could promote the degradation of elastin. Additionally, the expression of senescence markers, P21 and P16 were also enhanced after PM2.5 exposure. We also found that PM2.5 significantly increased the AAA related pathological changes, MMP2 and MCP-1 expression in HASMCs. Meanwhile, PM2.5 could increase the expression of senescence markers P21, P16 and SA-β-gal activity, also the reactive oxygen species levels in vitro. Conclusions PM2.5 promoted the formation of AAA in an Ang Ⅱ-induced AAA model. The underlying mechanism might be cellular senescence after PM2.5 exposure.

To improve the efficiency of photocatalysts, a composite of CeO2-quantum dots/Cu2O (CeO2-QDs/Cu2O) was prepared through a one-step hydrothermal procedure in alkaline carbonate solution with Cu2(OH)2CO3 and Ce(NO3)3. 6H2O as precursors and glucose as reducing agent. The morphologies and structures of the prepared photocatalysts were well characterized utilizing Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectrophotometer (DRS). The results indicated that the CeO2-QDs with 5 to 10 nm diameters were well dispersed and had a good contact with Cu2O. As observed in the photocatalytic experiments, Rhodamine B could be degraded more effectively under simulated sunlight using CeO2-QDs/Cu2O as the photocatalysts. Also, the obtained photocatalytic kinetics constant was higher than that in the experiments using CeO2 or Cu2O nano particles as photocatalysts. The enhanced photocatalytic activities might be attributed to the efficient separation of photo-generated charge carriers with the help of the p-n heterojunction and the morphology of quantum dots.

BACKGROUND: A new staging system for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) was developed by incorporating the good points of the BCLC classification of HCC, and by improving on the currently existing classifications of HCC associated with PVTT. METHODS: Univariate and multivariate analysis with Wald χ(2) test were used to determinate the clinical prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in patients with HCC and PVTT in the training cohort. Then the conditional inference trees analysis was applied to establish a new staging system. RESULTS: A training cohort of 2,179 patients from the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital and a validation cohort of 1,550 patients from four major liver centers in China were enrolled into establishing and validating a new staging system. The system was established by incorporating liver function, general health status, tumor resectability, extrahepatic metastasis and extent of PVTT. This staging system had a good discriminatory ability to separate patients into different stages and substages. The median OS for the two cohorts were 57.1 (37.2–76.9), 12.1 (11.0–13.2), 5.7 (5.1–6.2), 4.0 (3.3–4.6) and 2.5 (1.7–3.3) months for the stages 0 to IV, respectively (P

Hepatic vein tumour thrombus (HVTT) is a major determinant of survival outcomes for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). An Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital (EHBH)-HVTT model was established to predict the prognosis of patients with HCC and HVTT after liver resection, in order to identify optimal candidates for liver resection.Patients with HCC and HVTT from 15 hospitals in China were included. The EHBH-HVTT model with contour plot was developed using a non-linear model in the training cohort, and subsequently validated in internal and external cohorts.Of 850 patients who met the inclusion criteria, there were 292 patients who had liver resection and 198 who did not in the training cohort, and 124 and 236 in the internal and external validation cohorts respectively. Contour plots for the EHBH-HVTT model were established to predict overall survival (OS) rates of patients visually, based on tumour diameter, number of tumours and portal vein tumour thrombus. This differentiated patients into low- and high-risk groups with distinct long-term prognoses in the liver resection cohort (median OS 34·7 versus 12·0 months; P 0·001), internal validation cohort (32·8 versus 10·4 months; P = 0·002) and external validation cohort (15·2 versus 6·5 months; P = 0·006). On subgroup analysis, the model showed the same efficacy in differentiating patients with HVTT in peripheral and major hepatic veins, the inferior vena cava, or in patients with coexisting portal vein tumour thrombus.The EHBH-HVTT model was accurate in predicting prognosis in patients with HCC and HVTT after liver resection. It identified optimal candidates for liver resection among patients with HCC and HVTT, including tumour thrombus in the inferior vena cava, or coexisting portal vein tumour thrombus.La trombosis tumoral de la vena hepática (hepatic vein tumour thrombus, HVTT) es un determinante importante de los resultados de supervivencia en pacientes con carcinoma hepatocelular (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC). Se desarrolló el modelo llamado Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital (EHBH)-HVTT para predecir el pronóstico de los pacientes con HCC y HVTT después de la resección hepática (liver resection, LR), con el fin de identificar los candidatos óptimos para LR entre estos pacientes. MÉTODOS: Se incluyeron pacientes con HCC y HVTT de 15 hospitales en China. El modelo EHBH-HVTT con gráfico de contorno se desarrolló utilizando un modelo no lineal en la cohorte de entrenamiento, siendo posteriormente validado en cohortes internas y externas.De 850 pacientes que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión, hubo 292 pacientes en el grupo LR y 198 pacientes en el grupo no LR en la cohorte de entrenamiento, y 124 y 236 en las cohortes de validación interna y externa. Los gráficos de contorno del modelo EHBH-HVTT se establecieron para predecir visualmente las tasas de supervivencia global (overall survival, OS) de los pacientes, en función del diámetro del tumor, número de tumores y del trombo tumoral de la vena porta (portal vein tumour thrombus, PVTT). Esto diferenciaba a los pacientes en los grupos de alto y bajo riesgo, con distinto pronóstico a largo plazo en las 3 cohortes (34,7 versus 12,0 meses, 32,8 versus 10,4 meses y 15,2 versus 6,5 meses, P 0,001). En el análisis de subgrupos, el modelo mostró la misma eficacia en la diferenciación de pacientes con HVTT, con trombo tumoral en la vena cava inferior (inferior vena cava tumour thrombus, IVCTT) o en pacientes con PVTT coexistente. CONCLUSIÓN: El modelo EHBH-HVTT fue preciso para la predicción del pronóstico en pacientes con HCC y HVTT después de la LR. Identificó candidatos óptimos para LR en pacientes con HCC y HVTT, incluyendo IVCTT o PVTT coexistente.

Arterial calcification is a common cardiovascular disease that initiates from a process of osteoblastic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that microRNAs play an important role in regulating arterial calcification. miR-204 was significantly downregulated in calcified human renal arteries from patients with uremia; calcified arteries of mice, due to 5/6 nephrectomy with a high-phosphate diet (5/6 NTP); and in VSMCs induced by high phosphate concentration. The overexpression of miR-204 alleviated the osteoblastic differentiation of VSMCs. Bisulphite sequencing PCR revealed that CpG sites upstream of miR-204 DNA were hypermethylated in calcified VSMCs; in calcified arteries of mice, due to 5/6 NTP; and in calcified renal artery tissues from patients with uremia. Moreover, increased DNMT3a resulted in the hypermethylation of miR-204 in high phosphate concentration-induced VSMCs, whereas 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine could restore the expression of miR-204 in high phosphate concentration-induced VSMCs. Moreover, we found that DNMT3a was the target of miR-204, and the methylation ratio of miR-204 was decreased significantly, meaning that the expression of miR-204 was restored when DNMT3a was knocked down by using DNMT3a small interfering RNA, resulting in abrogation of the effect of high phosphate concentration on VSMC calcification. The progress of arterial calcification is regulated by the miR-204/DNMT3a regulatory circuit.

DEP domain containing 1 (DEPDC1) is recently reported to be overexpressed in several types of human cancer; however the role of DEPDC1 in prostate cancer remains to be investigated. Herein, we identified that the DEPDC1 mRNA and protein expression levels were dramatically increased in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of DEPDC1 promoted, but depletion of DEPDC1 inhibited cell proliferation by regulating the G1-S phase cell cycle transition. Importantly, we found that DEPDC1 was essential for the tumor growth and formation of bone metastases of prostate cancer cells in vivo. Finally, we demonstrated that DEPDC1 interacted with E2F1 and increased its transcriptional activity, leading to hyper-activation of E2F signaling in prostate cancer cells. Our findings reveal an oncogenic role of DEPDC1 in prostate cancer progression via activation of E2F signaling, and suggest DEPDC1 might be a potential therapeutic target against the disease.

For the first time, a novel strategy is developed to couple photocatalytic oxidation with photocatalytic reduction to achieve one-pot conversion of rhodamine (RhB) to methanol and ethanol by using rGO/SrTi0.95Fe0.05O3−δ photocatalyst. In the approach, RhB was photocatalytically degraded to CO2 and water, and then the as-obtained CO2 was converted into CH3OH and C2H5OH by means of photocatalytic reduction under simulated sunlight irradiation. Photocatalytic experimental results show the 1%rGO/SrTi0.95Fe0.05O3−δ has the best photocatalytic activity among the as-prepared catalysts and the corresponding product rate of CH3OH and C2H5OH is 10.76 and 6.14 μmol g−1 h−1, respectively, with a 1.53% apparent quantum efficiency. Furthermore, a photocatalytic mechanism was proposed to explain the detailed process of one-pot conversion of RhB into hydrocarbons. The present work gives a good example to combine the photodegradation of RhB with photoreduction of CO2 and proposes a new method to simultaneously tackle the problems of environmental pollution and energy crisis.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a characteristic index of water quality, and reflects many factors, such as the economic development and protection policies of watershed. In this study, surface water samples were collected from four watersheds with different levels of urbanization in Ningbo. The DOM was analyzed using an excitation-emission matrix combined with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) to explore the relationship between land-use and DOM. The results show that the urbanization level affected both the amount and the composition of the DOM in the studied watersheds. The concentrations of DOM evaluated by dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in urban areas (DOC=3.18 mg·L

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) on the prognosis of patients undergoing liver resection (LR) for primary liver malignancies (PLC).The recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients undergoing LR with and without PVTT for three primary liver malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and hepato-cholangio carcinoma (CHC) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis.In total, 3775 patients with PLC who underwent LR were included in this study. The incidence of PVTT in patients undergoing LR with HCC, IHC and CHC were 46%, 20%, and 17%, respectively. The median RFS and OS were significantly better for patients with HCC as compared to ICC or CHC (16 vs 11 vs 13 months; 21 vs 16 vs 18 months, respectively; P 0.001). However, the presence of PVTT resulted in similarly poor RFS and OS in these 3 subgroups of patients (9 vs 8 vs 8 months, P = 0.062; 14 vs 13 vs 12 months, respectively, P = 0.052).Although the prognosis of patients with PLC varied by histological subtype, once PVTT occurred, survival outcomes after LR were similarly poor across all three subgroups.