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AbstractThis study aims to explore the mechanisms of the inhibitory effect of kaempferol on the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC) cells through network pharmacology prediction and experimental verification. It identifies core targets via PPI network analysis and finds that kaempferol binds to these targets well. In vitro experiments showed that kaempferol could inhibit the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of GC cells. Western blotting indicated kaempferol may reduce AKT and GSK3β phosphorylation, leading to lower expression of invasion-related genes SRC, MMP9, CXCR4, KDR, and MMP2. Overall, kaempferol may prevent migration and invasion of GC cells via the AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aminoglycosides exhibit ototoxicity by damaging mitochondria, which in turn generate reactive oxygen species that induce hair cell death and subsequent hearing loss. It is well known that damaged mitochondria are degraded by mitophagy, an important mitochondrial quality control system that maintains mitochondrial homeostasis and ensures cell survival. However, it is unclear whether dysregulation of mitophagy contributes to aminoglycoside-induced hair cell injury. In the current study, we found that PINK1-PRKN-mediated mitophagy was impaired in neomycin-treated hair cells. Our data suggested that mitochondrial recruitment of PRKN and phagophore recognition of damaged mitochondria during mitophagy were blocked following neomycin treatment. In addition, the degradation of damaged mitochondria by lysosomes was significantly decreased as indicated by the mitophagic flux reporter mt-mKeima. Moreover, we demonstrated that neomycin disrupted mitophagy through transcriptional inhibition of Pink1 expression, the key initiator of mitophagy. Moreover, we found that neomycin impaired mitophagy by inducing ATF3 expression. Importantly, treatment with a mitophagy activator could rescue neomycin-treated hair cells by increasing mitophagy, indicating that genetic modulation or drug intervention in mitophagy may have therapeutic potential for aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss. Abbreviations: AAV: adeno-associated virus; ABR: auditory brainstem response; ATF3: activating transcription factor 3; ATOH1/MATH1: atonal bHLH transcription factor 1; BafA1: bafilomycin A1; CCCP: carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone; COX4I1/COXIV: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4I1; CTBP2/RIBEYE: C-terminal binding protein 2; DFP: deferiprone; EGFP: enhanced green fluorescent protein; FOXO3: forkhead box O3; GRIA2/GLUR2: glutamate receptor, ionotropic, AMPA2 (alpha 2); HC: hair cell; HSPD1/HSP60: heat shock protein 1 (chaperonin); IHC: inner hair cell; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MYO7A: myosin VIIA; OPTN: optineurin; OMM: outer mitochondrial membrane; PRKN: parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase; PINK1: PTEN induced putative kinase 1; RT-qPCR: real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction; TOMM20/TOM20: translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20; TUNEL: Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) dUTP nick-end labeling; USP30: ubiquitin specific peptidase 30; XBP1: X-box binding protein 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Oto-Laryngologica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Oto-Laryngologica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Oto-Laryngologica is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The modulation of aggregation behaviour of ionic liquids (ILs) in aqueous media is one of the important research topics. In the present work, aggregation behaviour of 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([C12mim]Br) modulated by beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) has been investigated by using conductivity, volume, fluorescence, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results suggested that the addition of β-CD significantly affects the aggregation of [C12mim]Br in aqueous solutions. For example, the apparent critical micelle concentration increases with the increase of β-CD concentration; the average micellar size reduced with the increasing concentration of β-CD, and the process for micelle formation of [C12mim]Br in aqueous β-CD solution is driven by entropy at lower temperature, while driven by enthalpy at higher temperature. It is expected that findings in this study would shed light on the potential applications of IL in supramolecular chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aminoglycosides are toxic to sensory hair cells (HCs). Macroautophagy/autophagy is an essential and highly conserved self-digestion pathway that plays important roles in the maintenance of cellular function and viability under stress. However, the role of autophagy in aminoglycoside-induced HC injury is unknown. Here, we first found that autophagy activity was significantly increased, including enhanced autophagosome-lysosome fusion, in both cochlear HCs and HEI-OC-1 cells after neomycin or gentamicin injury, suggesting that autophagy might be correlated with aminoglycoside-induced cell death. We then used rapamycin, an autophagy activator, to increase the autophagy activity and found that the ROS levels, apoptosis, and cell death were significantly decreased after neomycin or gentamicin injury. In contrast, treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or knockdown of autophagy-related (ATG) proteins resulted in reduced autophagy activity and significantly increased ROS levels, apoptosis, and cell death after neomycin or gentamicin injury. Finally, after neomycin injury, the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine could successfully prevent the increased apoptosis and HC loss induced by 3-MA treatment or ATG knockdown, suggesting that autophagy protects against neomycin-induced HC damage by inhibiting oxidative stress. We also found that the dysfunctional mitochondria were not eliminated by selective autophagy (mitophagy) in HEI-OC-1 cells after neomycin treatment, suggesting that autophagy might not directly target the damaged mitochondria for degradation. This study demonstrates that moderate ROS levels can promote autophagy to recycle damaged cellular constituents and maintain cellular homeostasis, while the induction of autophagy can inhibit apoptosis and protect the HCs by suppressing ROS accumulation after aminoglycoside injury. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background and aim:Several recent studies showed that the genetic polymorphisms in the PNPLA3 region (rs738408, rs738409, rs2294918, rs2294919 and rs2281135) were with related to various kinds of liver diseases. We analyzed the five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for major HBV outcomes in Han Chinese. Methods:A total of 2410 samples were involved and peripheral blood samples were collected in this study. The SNPs in the PNPLA3 region were genotyped by using Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Results:Our study indicated the clear relationship between the PNPLA3 rs2294918, rs2294919 and HBV-related HCC after control for the effects of sex, drinking and smoking. Health subjects with the PNPLA3 rs2294919 TC genotype would have a 0.605 (95%CI: 0.413, 0.886;p = .010) times lower odds of having HCC, and those with the rs2294918 AG genotype would have a 1.872 (95%CI: 1.256, 2.792;p = .002) times higher odds of having HCC, whereas the values of sex, age, drinking and smoking were fixed. In addition, CA haplotype of the haplotype block of rs738409 and rs2281135 was also associated with HBV-related HCC. Conclusions:Our study suggested that PNPLA3 loci (rs2294918, rs2294919) were associated with HBV-related HCC in Han Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common type of peripheral vertigo. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the Semont maneuver (SM) for BPPV treatment, compared with other methods. Methods:Studies were selected in relevant databases under pre-defined criteria up to June 2015. The Cochrane evaluation system was used to assess the quality of the studies. Effect size was indicated as a risk-ratio (RR) with corresponding 95% confidential interval (CI). Statistical analysis was conducted under a randomized- or fixed-effects model. Sub-group analysis was performed. Results:Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis. All of the studies presented a low attrition bias, but a high selection and reporting bias. SM had a much higher recovery rate (SM vs no treatment: RR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.97–3.44,p < 0.01; SM vs sham: RR = 4.89, 95% CI = 3.01–7.94,p < 0.01), and lower recurrence rate than those from controls (SM vs no treatment: RR = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.04–0.31,p < 0.01). Overall, SM had similar outcomes with Epley maneuver (EM) and Brandt-Daroff exercise (BDE) in terms of recovery rate, recurrence rate, and side-effects. Conclusion:SM is as effective as EM and BDE for BPPV treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Conclusion: Down-regulation of ECD may associate with infiltrative tumor growth and result in poor prognosis. However, ECD expression is not significantly associated with tumor metastasis.Aim: To investigate the prognostic role of E-cadherin (ECD) expression in laryngeal cancer.Methods: In a clinical study, a total of 79 laryngeal cancer patients who received surgery were included in this study. The expression of ECD in laryngeal cancer tissue was detected by immumohistochemical staining. In anin vitrostudy, ECD up-regulated cells (Ad-ECD) and ECD down-regulated cells (sh-ECD) were cultured, along with interference by siRNA. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. In anin vivostudy, nude mice were injected with Ad-ECD, sh-ECD, and Hep-2 cells. The ECD expression and tumor metastasis in the brain, liver, and lung tissues were detected.Results: Clinical data showed that expression of ECD was statistically correlated with survival rate (p < 0.05), but not with other clinical characteristics, such as age, gender, lymphatic metastasis, and TNM staging. ECD was down-regulated in sh-ECD cells and the down-regulation significantly reduced apoptosis of Hep-2 cells. Tumor growth was significantly inhibited in the Ad-ECD group. Except the tumor tissue, no positive ECD expression or significant tumor cells were found in the brain, liver, and lung tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: This study investigated correlations between polymorphisms in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes and the risk of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). Methods. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the DNA MMR genes MLH3 (rs175080), PMS1 (rs5742933), PMS2 (rs1059060), MSH3 (rs26279), MSH5 (rs1150793, rs2075789) and MSH6 (rs1042821) were detected using the SNaPshot method in 250 PHC cases and in 308 patients without PHC in the Han population in northern China. Results. The AA genotype in MLH3 (rs175080) increased the risk of PHC (odds ratio [OR] = 3.424; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.097–10.689). The AG and GG genotypes in MSH3 (rs26279) increased the risk of PHC (OR: 1.644 and 3.300; 95% CI: 1.112–2.428 and 1.765–6.168, respectively). The AA genotype in MSH5 (rs2075789) increased the risk of PHC (OR: 9.229; 95% CI: 1.174–72.535). The CT genotype in MSH6 (rs1042821) reduced the risk of PHC (OR: 0.629; 95% CI: 0.428–0.924). Conclusions. Our study suggests that polymorphisms in MLH3 (rs175080), MSH3 (rs26279), MSH5 (rs2075789) and MSH6 (rs1042821) may be independent risk factors for PHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity. It may occur due to existence of other mental or physical diseases or from the medications for those illnesses. It is one of the leading sources of disability. Among these physical diseases, epilepsy is widely recognized as one of the main causes of depression. Patients with epilepsy are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms, and the suicide rates in patients with epilepsy have been reported to be much higher than in the general population. However, due to fears of lowering seizure threshold and adverse drug interactions between antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs, physician are reluctant to place patients with epilepsy on antidepressant medication. As a result, the question has been raised that what the best managements should be used to treat epileptic patients with depression. In this review, the currently used medications for antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs were summarized by their working targets in order to establish appropriate pharmacological management of depression and epilepsy. Despite the complex relationship between epilepsy and depression, coadministration of antidepressants and AEDs can still be done safely and effectively under the conditions of good clinical management. The ideal antidepressants for people with epilepsy should be efficacious but with few adverse effects, which will not antagonize GABAergic mechanisms or interfere with plasma anticonvulsant concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

□Trace cadmium(II) in environmental samples was separated and enriched in an automated fashion using a diphenylcarbazone-functionalized silica gel mini-column coupling with sequential injection. Cadmium was determined using a multicomponent system involving the analyte, potassium iodide, ethyl violet, and polyvinyl alcohol. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range for cadmium(II) was 0.015–0.50 µ g mL−1, and the detection limit was 0.012 µ g mL−1. The relative standard deviation of 11 determinations for 0.1 and 0.2 µ g mL−1standard solutions was smaller than 3.5%. This method was applied for the determination of cadmium(II) in water, plant, soil, and electroplating wastewater. No statistically significant differences in the results were observed between the reported method and those obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry. The analysis was performed within 13 min and a total reagent volume of only 0.14 mL (0.07 mL of eluent and 0.07 mL of reagents) was consumed in each determination of cadmium(II). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising income inequality in China has attracted social attentions, especially since SWUFE published the unbelievably high Gini coefficient in December 2012. In order to answer the question how large income inequality in current China is, this paper compares existing different Gini coefficients estimated from four different household surveys, which are the NBS household survey, the CHIP survey, the CHFS of SWUFE, and the CFPS of Peking University, and then assesses these household surveys themselves. The relevant evidences indicate that the national Gini coefficient in current China is between 0.47~0.52. The sampling defects of the CHFS are significantly major and that the national Gini coefficient of 0.61 published by SWUFE is seriously overestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, an organic-reagent-free method was described for the determination of Cr(VI) and Fe(III) by double-system double-wavelength sequential injection technique with a single sample injection. In this approach, the determination of Cr(VI) was based on the detection of a blue unstable intermediate compound resulting from the reaction of Cr(VI) with hydrogen peroxide, and the determination of Fe(III) was based on the color reaction of Fe(III) with thiocyanate in acidic medium. Sequential injection analysis (SIA) parameters, including spacer solution volume, aspiration order, aspiration volumes, flow rate, acid medium, solution acidity, and reagent concentrations, were optimized. The linear range for the determination was 3.0–60.0 μg mL−1for Cr(VI) and 1.0–40.0 μg mL−1for Fe(III), respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.6 μg mL−1for Cr(VI) and 0.2 μg mL−1for Fe(III), and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 2.0 μg mL−1for Cr(VI) and 0.67 μg mL−1for Fe(III). The total volume of the reagent consumed in each determination was only 0.11 mL. The proposed method was applied to the simultaneous determination of Cr(VI) and Fe(III) in electroplating wastewater and environmental waters. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry. The recoveries were in the range of 97.5–101.1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To detect genetic cause of two Chinese siblings (patient 1 and 2) with Pendred syndrome. Design: Patients and their parents underwent clinical and genetic evaluations. To identify genetic mutations, sequencing of SLC26A4 was carried out. Study sample: Two siblings and their parents. Results: Clinical evaluations showed that patient 1 suffered from bilateral postlingual progressive sensorineural hearing loss with enlarged vestibular aqueduct and slight diffuse multinodular goiter with euthyroid, and patient 2 suffered from bilateral prelingual progressive sensorineural hearing loss with enlarged vestibular aqueduct and no goiter with euthyroid. Furthermore, the sequence analysis of SLC26A4 indicated that either of the two siblings presented a compound heterozygote for the c.919A>G mutation in the splice site of intron 7 and for the c.1548insC mutation in exon 14. Their mother was a heterozygous carrier of the splice site mutation in intron 7, and their father was a heterozygous carrier of the insertion mutation in exon 14. Conclusions: Mutation analysis identified a compound heterozygous mutation (c.919A>G/c.1548insC) in SLC26A4 in two Chinese siblings with Pendred syndrome. Also, c.1548insC was first reported in the Chinese population. Although the two siblings from the same family carried the same genotype, they presented different phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solvothermal reaction of the flexible ligand 1,6-bi(benzotriazole)hexane (BBTH) with CuCl generated a 3-D hybrid solid, {[CuCl]2(BBTH)}n (1), which was investigated by elemental analysis, FT-IR, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), X-ray single-crystal diffraction, TG/DTA, and photoluminescence measurements. Compound 1 crystallizes in the tetragonal system, space group I4(1)/a, a = b = 17.636(2) Å, c = 13.5345(15) Å, V = 4209.6(9) Å3, Z = 8. The distorted tetrahedral geometry of Cu(I) is defined by two chlorides and two N donors from different BBTH ligands. Adjacent copper atoms are connected by μ2-Cl to give a 1-D zigzag inorganic chain, and further linked by BBTH ligands via μ4-bridging, forming the 3-D hybrid structure of 1. Cu(I) atoms and BBTH ligands can be regarded as two kinds of non-equivalent 4-connected nodes, which lead to an unusual topological network with Schlafli symbol of (32.8.92.10)2(32.82.92). Compound 1 exhibits high thermal stability and shows strong red fluorescence emission at 538 nm in the solid state at ambient temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influences of additives, Ceraflour 991® (low molar mass polyethylene), Ceraflour 993® (low molar mass polyamide), and poly (1,4-butylene sebacate), on the crystallization of poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and polarized optical microscopy. It was revealed that these additives could substantially accelerate the crystallization of PEN at low temperature due to an improvement of molecular motion of PEN. They can be attributed to a kind of nucleating promoter. They also enhance the crystallization rate of PEN at high temperature; this could be caused by phase separation between additive and PEN. The separated microdroplets of the additives serve as heterogeneous nuclei to initiate primary nucleation. In the high temperature region, however, Ceraflour 993 is much more effective to accelerate nucleation than others, and it acts as if it is also a nucleating agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]