Search

Facing an increasingly competitive market, enterprises need correct decisions to solve operational problems in a timely manner to maintain their competitive advantages. In this context, insufficient information may lead to an overfitting phenomenon in general mathematical modeling methods, making it difficult to ensure good analytical performance. Therefore, it is important for enterprises to be able to effectively analyze and make predictions using small data sets. Although various approaches have been developed to solve the problem of prediction, their application is often limited by insufficient observations. To further enforce the effectiveness of data uncertainty processing, this study proposed an aggregating prediction model for management decision analysis using small data sets. Compared with six popular approaches, the results from the experiments show that the proposed method can effectively deal with the small data set prediction problem and is thus an appropriate decision analysis tool for managers.

To evaluate the effects of dietary nano‐selenium (Nano‐Se) on antioxidant capacity and hypoxia tolerance of grass carp fed with high‐fat diet, experimental fishes were fed Nano‐Se supplemented diets at doses of 0 (Control), 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and 1.2 mg/kg for 10 weeks. After feeding trial, a part of the fishes were exposed to hypoxia stress. Results showed that the survival ratio of grass carp significantly increased in 0.6 and 0.9 mg/kg Nano‐Se group, and the content of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) significantly decreased in 0.6–1.2 mg/kg Nano‐Se groups compared with the control group. In addition, dietary Nano‐Se significantly enhanced glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity and reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in fishes fed diets with 0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg Nano‐Se. Dietary Nano‐Se significantly elevated mRNA expression of GPX1 and catalase (CAT) by promoting the mRNA expression of NF‐E2‐related nuclear factor 2 (Nrf2) in the hepatopancreas. After hypoxia stress, the GPX and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were significantly enhanced, and the MDA content and mortality rate consequently decreased in fishes fed diets with 0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg Nano‐Se. In summary, these results suggested that optimal Nano‐Se in diet enhanced the antioxidant capacity and hypoxia tolerance of grass carp.

Introduction. To investigate the contribution and mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome expression in human wounds in diabetes mellitus and in high glucose induced macrophages. Methods. In the present study, we compared the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome in debridement wound tissue from diabetic and nondiabetic patients. We also examined whether high glucose induces NLRP3 inflammasome expression in cultures THP-1-derived macrophages and the influence on IL-1β expression. Results. The expressions of NLRP3, caspase1, and IL-1β, at both the mRNA and protein level, were significantly higher in wounds of diabetic patients compared with nondiabetic wounds (P<0.05). High glucose induced a significant increase in NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β expression in THP-1-derived macrophages. M1 macrophage surface marker with CCR7 was significantly upregulated after high glucose stimulation. SiRNA-mediated silencing of NLRP3 expression downregulates the expression of IL-1β. Conclusion. The higher expression of NLRP3, caspase1, and secretion of IL-1β, signaling, and activation might contribute to the hyperinflammation in the human diabetic wound and in high glucose induced macrophages. It may be a novel target to treat the DM patients with chronic wound.

Yinhua Miyanling Tablet (YMT), the Chinese formula, has long been administrated in clinical practice for the treatment of acute pyelonephritis and acute urocystitis. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of YMTin vitroand to evaluate the association between anti-inflammation and innate immune response. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated using Ficoll density gradient centrifugation and then were stimulated by Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The differential gene expression of inflammation-related genes after drug administration was assessed using PCR array, and the protein levels of differential genes were measured by ELISA and Western blot. The result showed that YMT significantly inhibited the expression of NLRP3, Caspase-1, and the downstream cytokine IL-1βand suppressed the production of inflammatory mediators TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and MCP-1 in a dose-dependent manner compared to the LPS groupP<0.01. The finding indicated that YMT exhibited anti-inflammatory effectin vitroby suppressing the NLRP3/Caspase-1 inflammasome, and that may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Based on the mechanisms by which Wee1 inhibitor and cisplatin played their own role, a promising strategy of Wee1 inhibitor combined with cisplatin was proposed, which was investigated in gastric cancer (GC). Either Wee1 inhibitor AZD1775 or cisplatin alone had a certain inhibitory effect on in vitro cell proliferation; however, the inhibitory effect was more significant when AZD1775 combined with cisplatin in vitro and in vivo. The underlying mechanisms unveiled that the increased DNA damage indicated by increased γH2AX protein, as well as augmented cell apoptosis indicated by upregulated proapoptotic proteins, was responsible for the significant inhibitory effect of AZD1775 plus cisplatin. Moreover, compared to any single drug, in vitro cell migration and invasion abilities were further attenuated by AZD1775 combined with cisplatin. There were suggestive results that the potentiated cytotoxicity between AZD1775 and cisplatin deserved a deep exploration in the future.

Oncostatin M (OSM) has been reported to stimulate angiogenesis by upregulating VEGF and bFGF, implying that it could be a therapeutic strategy in treating ischemic diseases. The present study was aimed at investigating whether OSM could improve cardiac function via prompting angiogenesis following myocardial infarction (MI). Wild type (WT) and Oβknock-out (Oβ−/−) mice were, respectively, randomized into sham group, MI + vehicle group, and MI + OSM group. WT mice displayed significantly impaired cardiac function after MI. OSM treatment attenuated cardiac dysfunction in WT MI mice, while Oβdeletion abrogated the protective effects. Besides, OSM attenuated heart hypertrophy and pulmonary congestion evidenced by decreased heart weight/body weight and lung weight/body weight ratio. Further, reduction of apoptosis and fibrosis in infarct border zone was observed in OSM treated WT MI mice compared with vehicle. Moreover, in WT mice subjected to MI, OSM treatment significantly increased capillary density along with upregulation of p-Akt and angiogenic factors VEGF and bFGF in comparison with vehicle, and this phenomenon was not found in Oβ−/−mice. In conclusion, OSM treatment preserved cardiac function, inhibited apoptosis and fibrosis, and stimulated angiogenesis via upregulating VEGF and bFGF in infarct border zone of ischemic myocardium, indicating that OSM could be a novel therapeutic target for MI.

The electric field intensity distribution and the phase velocity distribution of a slit in laser beams with different parameters are analyzed. Using three-dimensional test particle simulation, the laser beam with a slit induced acceleration of electrons with different initial momenta is investigated. Contrary to anticipation, the maximum net energy gain is not monotone increasing as the incoming momentum increasing. Based on the field structure and analysis, we gave an explanation for this.

Epidemiological studies have verified the critical role that antioxidative stress plays in protecting vascular endothelial cells. The aims of the present study were to investigate the antioxidative activities and differential regulation of nuclear erythroid-related factor 2- (Nrf2-) mediated gene expression by Xueshuan Xinmaining Tablet (XXT), a traditional Chinese medicine with the effect of treating cardiovascular diseases. The antioxidative activities of XXT were investigated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), a PCR array, and western blotting. Our results indicated that XXT exhibited potent antioxidative activities by suppressing the levels of hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We were also conscious of strong Nrf2-mediated antioxidant induction. XXT enhanced the expressions of Keap1, Nrf2, and Nrf2-mediated genes, such as glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM), NAD(P)H: quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in HUVECs. In summary, XXT strongly activated Nrf2 and its downstream regulated genes, which may contribute to the antioxidative and vascular endothelial cell protective activities of XXT.

Xueshuan Xinmaining Tablet (XXT), the Chinese formula, has long been administered in clinical practice for the treatment of cerebral thrombosis and coronary heart disease. In this study, we aimed to study the effect and the molecular mechanism of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Rat models of cold coagulation blood stasis were induced with ice-water bath and epinephrine to assess the amelioration of blood stasis by XXT. Microarray technique was used to identify gene expression from the model and XXT-treated rats. In addition, Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qPCR) was performed to verify the microarray results. The results showed that XXT had a good therapeutic effect on blood stasis by reducing the whole blood viscosity (WBV), plasma viscosity (PV), increasing PT, APTT and TT, and by inhibiting platelet aggregation. Genes were differentially expressed in rats among the model group and the XXT-pretreated groups. XXT ameliorated blood stasis by regulating the expressions of F13a1, Car1, and Tbxa2r.