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Endotoxemia induces lung injury. We assessed the therapeutic efficacy between triple cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α], interleukin-1β [IL-1β], and IL-6) inhibition (mediated by KCF18 peptide) and single cytokine (TNF-α) inhibition (mediated by SEM18 peptide) on alleviating lung injury in the early phase of endotoxemia. Mice receiving endotoxin (Endo group), endotoxin plus KCF18 (EKCF group), or endotoxin plus SEM18 (ESEM) were monitored and euthanized at 24 h after endotoxin. Our data demonstrated altered lung function (decreases in tidal volume, minute ventilation, and dynamic compliance; and by contrast, increases in airway resistance and end expiration work) and histology (increases in injury scores, leukocyte infiltration, vascular permeability, and tissue water content) in the Endo group with significant protection observed in the EKCF and ESEM groups (all p < 0.05). Levels of inflammation (macrophage activation and cytokine upregulations), oxidation (lipid peroxidation), necroptosis, pyroptosis, and apoptosis in EKCF and ESEM groups were comparable and all were significantly lower than in the Endo group (all p < 0.05). These data demonstrate that single cytokine TNF-α inhibition can achieve therapeutic effects similar to triple cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 inhibition on alleviating endotoxin-induced lung injury, indicating that TNF-α is the major cytokine in mediating lung injury in the early phase of endotoxemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of ergonomics is a vital competency for all peripheral nerve block operators. The essence of physical ergonomics for peripheral nerve block procedures can be summarised into three significant components: brain, musculoskeletal and needling. The first component includes strategies to optimise visuospatial neuroprocessing using equipment configuration. The second component reflects the careful planning of posture and position to improve procedural technique and reduce physical fatigue. The final component focuses on strategies to achieve needle beam alignment for optimal needle visualisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity complicates sepsis and increases the mortality of sepsis. We examined the effects of exosomes (from human placenta choriodecidual membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells, pcMSCs) on preventing sepsis in obesity and the mitigating role of hsa-let-7i-5p microRNA. Obese mice (adult male C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks) received normal saline (HFD), endotoxin (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (ip); HFDLPS), endotoxin with exosomes (1 × 108 particles/mouse, ip; HLE), or endotoxin with let-7i-5p microRNA inhibitor-pretreated exosomes (1 × 108 particles/mouse, ip; HLEi). Our data demonstrated that the 48-h survival rate in the HLE (100%) group was significantly higher than in the HFDLPS (50%) and HLEi (58.3%) groups (both p < 0.05). In the surviving mice, by contrast, levels of liver injury (injury score, plasma aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase concentrations, tissue water content, and leukocyte infiltration in liver tissues; all p < 0.05), inflammation (nuclear factor-κB activation, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α activation, macrophage activation, and concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and leptin in liver tissues; all p < 0.05), and oxidation (malondialdehyde in liver tissues, with p < 0.001) in the HLE group were significantly lower than in the HFDLPS group. Levels of mitochondrial injury/dysfunction and apoptosis in liver tissues in the HLE group were also significantly lower than in the HFDLPS group (all p < 0.05). Inhibition of let-7i-5p microRNA offset the effects of the exosomes, with most of the aforementioned measurements in the HLEi group being significantly higher than in the HLE group (all p < 0.05). In conclusion, exosomes mitigated endotoxin-induced mortality and liver injury in obese mice, and these effects were mediated by let-7i-5p microRNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is poor as more than half of the patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. The outcomes have greatly improved in the recent two decades due to the introduction of target therapy. Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement is the second most common driver mutation found in lung cancer, and several ALK inhibitors have shown excellent efficacy. However, head-to-head randomized controlled trials of these agents are lacking. We conducted this systematic review and network meta-analysis to indirectly compare the currently available ALK inhibitors. In summary, lorlatinib had the highest probability of the best progression-free survival in first-line treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC, followed by low-dose (300 mg twice daily) alectinib, high-dose (600 mg twice daily) alectinib, brigatinib, ensartinib, and ceritinib. Lorlatinib was associated with the best objective response rate and the highest probability of grade 3–5 adverse effects. Low-dose alectinib had the best safety profile. Several anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors (ALKIs) have demonstrated excellent efficacy on overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and also better adverse effect (AE) profiles compared to cytotoxic chemotherapy in advanced stage anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in phase III randomized clinical trials (RCTs). We conducted this systematic review and network meta-analysis to provide a ranking of ALKIs for treatment-naïve ALK-positive patients in terms of PFS, ORR, and AEs. In addition, a sub-group analysis of treatment benefits in patients with baseline brain metastasis was also conducted. Contrast-based analysis was performed for multiple treatment comparisons with the restricted maximum likelihood approach. Treatment rank was estimated using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA), as well as the probability of being the best (Prbest) reference. All next-generation ALKIs were superior to crizotinib in PFS but lorlatinib and brigatinib had increased AEs. The probability of lorlatinib being ranked first among all treatment arms was highest (SUCRA = 93.3%, Prbest = 71.8%), although there were no significant differences in pairwise comparisons with high- (600 mg twice daily) and low- (300 mg twice daily) dose alectinib. In subgroup analysis of patients with baseline brain metastasis, low-dose alectinib had the best PFS (SUCRA = 87.3%, Prbest = 74.9%). Lorlatinib was associated with the best ranking for ORR (SUCRA = 90.3%, Prbest = 71.3%), although there were no significant differences in pairwise comparisons with the other ALKIs. In addition, low-dose alectinib had the best safety performance (SUCRA = 99.4%, Prbest = 97.9%). Lorlatinib and low-dose alectinib had the best PFS and ORR in the overall population and baseline brain metastasis subgroup, respectively. Low-dose alectinib had the lowest AE risk among the available ALKIs. Further head-to-head large-scale phase III RCTs are needed to verify our conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) mitigated pulmonary hypertension progression in rats. Pulmonary hypertension was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of monocrotaline (60 mg/kg). MgSO4 (100 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered daily for 3 weeks, from the seventh day after monocrotaline injection. Adult male rats were randomized into monocrotaline (MCT) or monocrotaline plus MgSO4 (MM) groups (n = 15 per group); control groups were maintained simultaneously. For analysis, surviving rats were euthanized on the 28th day after receiving monocrotaline. The survival rate was higher in the MM group than in the MCT group (100% versus 73.3%, p = 0.043). Levels of pulmonary artery wall thickening, α-smooth muscle actin upregulation, right ventricular systolic pressure increase, and right ventricular hypertrophy were lower in the MM group than in the MCT group (all p < 0.05). Levels of lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial injury, inflammasomes and cytokine upregulation, and apoptosis in the lungs and right ventricle were lower in the MM group than in the MCT group (all p < 0.05). Notably, the mitigation effects of MgSO4 on pulmonary artery wall thickening and right ventricular hypertrophy were counteracted by exogenous calcium chloride. In conclusion, MgSO4 mitigates pulmonary hypertension progression, possibly by antagonizing calcium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity complicates sepsis and increases the mortality of sepsis. We examined the effects of exosomes (from human placenta choriodecidual membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells, pcMSCs) on preventing sepsis in obesity and the mitigating role of hsa-let-7i-5p microRNA. Obese mice (adult male C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks) received normal saline (HFD), endotoxin (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (ip); HFDLPS), endotoxin with exosomes (1 × 10 8 particles/mouse, ip; HLE), or endotoxin with let-7i-5p microRNA inhibitor-pretreated exosomes (1 × 10 8 particles/mouse, ip; HLEi). Our data demonstrated that the 48-h survival rate in the HLE (100%) group was significantly higher than in the HFDLPS (50%) and HLEi (58.3%) groups (both p < 0.05). In the surviving mice, by contrast, levels of liver injury (injury score, plasma aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase concentrations, tissue water content, and leukocyte infiltration in liver tissues; all p < 0.05), inflammation (nuclear factor-κB activation, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α activation, macrophage activation, and concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and leptin in liver tissues; all p < 0.05), and oxidation (malondialdehyde in liver tissues, with p < 0.001) in the HLE group were significantly lower than in the HFDLPS group. Levels of mitochondrial injury/dysfunction and apoptosis in liver tissues in the HLE group were also significantly lower than in the HFDLPS group (all p < 0.05). Inhibition of let-7i-5p microRNA offset the effects of the exosomes, with most of the aforementioned measurements in the HLEi group being significantly higher than in the HLE group (all p < 0.05). In conclusion, exosomes mitigated endotoxin-induced mortality and liver injury in obese mice, and these effects were mediated by let-7i-5p microRNA.

One of the leading global public-health burdens is metabolic syndrome (MetS), despite the many advances in pharmacotherapies. MetS, now known as "developmental origins of health and disease" (DOHaD), can have its origins in early life. Offspring MetS can be programmed by various adverse early-life conditions, such as nutrition imbalance, maternal conditions or diseases, maternal chemical exposure, and medication use. Conversely, early interventions have shown potential to revoke programming processes to prevent MetS of developmental origins, namely reprogramming. In this review, we summarize what is currently known about adverse environmental insults implicated in MetS of developmental origins, including the fundamental underlying mechanisms. We also describe animal models that have been developed to study the developmental programming of MetS. This review extends previous research reviews by addressing implementation of reprogramming strategies to prevent the programming of MetS. These mechanism-targeted strategies include antioxidants, melatonin, resveratrol, probiotics/prebiotics, and amino acids. Much work remains to be accomplished to determine the insults that could induce MetS, to identify the mechanisms behind MetS programming, and to develop potential reprogramming strategies for clinical translation.

Based on the well-established biopotential theory, we hypothesize that the high frequency spectral information, like that higher than 100Hz, of the EEG signal recorded in the off-the-shelf EEG sensor contains muscle tone information. We show that an existing automatic sleep stage annotation algorithm can be improved by taking this information into account. This result suggests that if possible, we should sample the EEG signal with a high sampling rate, and preserve as much spectral information as possible., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest.

The preparation of TiO(2) nanocrystallite powders coated with and without 9 mol% ZnO has been studied for cosmetic applications in sunscreens by a co-precipitation process using TiCl(4) and Zn(NO(3))(2)·6H(2)O as starting materials. XRD results show that the phases of anatase TiO(2) and rutile TiO(2) coexist for precursor powders without added ZnO (T-0Z) and calcined at 523 to 973 K for 2 h. When the T-0Z precursor powders are calcined at 1273 K for 2 h, only the rutile TiO(2) appears. In addition, when the TiO(2) precursor powders contain 9 mol% ZnO (T-9Z) are calcined at 873 to 973 K for 2 h, the crystallized samples are composed of the major phase of rutile TiO(2) and the minor phases of anatase TiO(2) and Zn(2)Ti(3)O(8). The analyses of UV/VIS/NIR spectra reveal that the absorption of the T-9Z precursor powders after being calcined has a red-shift effect in the UV range with increasing calcination temperature. Therefore, the TiO(2) nanocrystallite powders coated with 9 mol% ZnO can be used as the attenuate agent in the UV-A region for cosmetic applications in sunscreens.