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OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis aims to assess the susceptibility to and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease (AIRD) and following AIRD drug use.\ud \ud MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included observational and case-controlled studies assessing susceptibility and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with AIRD as well as the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 with or without use of steroids and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs).\ud \ud RESULTS: Meta-analysis including three studies showed that patients with AIRD are not more susceptible to COVID-19 compared to patients without AIRD or the general population (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: 0.58 to 2.14). Incidence of severe outcomes of COVID-19 (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 0.76 to 2.35) and COVID-19 related death (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.68 to 2.16) also did not show significant difference. The clinical outcomes of COVID-19 among AIRD patients with and without csDMARD or steroid showed that both use of steroid (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 0.96 to 2.98) or csDMARD (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 0.63 to 3.08) had no effect on clinical outcomes of COVID-19.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: AIRD does not increase susceptibility to COVID-19, not affecting the clinical outcome of COVID-19. Similarly, the use of steroids or csDMARDs for AIRD does not worsen the clinical outcome.

Consisting of 6 radiating elements and a 3×3 Butler matrix, a novel tri-beam antenna system is proposed in this paper. The radiating element consists of two U-shaped arms and coupled strips, which shows a wide impedance characteristic. Three branch line couplers and four -90° phase shifters are combined into 3×3 Butler matrix as a beam-forming network (BFN). In order to avoid the crossover of transmission lines, one main line of a 1.76dB coupler is designed and located between two 3dB couplers. With this arrangement, the signal from one input port can be divided into three output signal with equal amplitude and specify phase differences of 0°, +120° and -120°. Furthermore, a 2×3 antenna array is connected with this BFN for three orthogonal beams. Measured results show that three beams at θ=0°, 40° and -40° are produced when different input ports are excited.

This article aims to explore the expression and mechanism of miR-10a-5p in pancreatic cancer. MiR-10a-5p mimic, MiR-10a-5p inhibitor and negative control were transfected into human pancreatic cancer cell line SW1990. Real-time quantitative PCR technology was used to analyze the expression level of miR-10a-5p in pancreatic cancer tissues and cells. The proliferation, invasion and apoptosis of SW1990 cells in each group were detected by CCK-8 analysis, Transwell analysis, TUNEL method and flow cytometry. Targetscan7.2 was used to predict the target protein of MiR-10a-5p, and the expression of related proteins was detected by Western blot analysis. The results showed that the expression of miR- 10a-5p in cancer tissues of patients with pancreatic cancer was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues (P0.05). The expression of miR-10a-5p in cancer cells increased significantly, which could promote the proliferation and invasion of SW1990 cells and inhibit apoptosis (P0.05). Overexpression of miR-10a-5p can regulate the expression of BDNF and SEMA4C. miR-10a-5p can promote the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer by regulating the BDNF / SEMA4C pathway, and may become a molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer in the future.

To explore the effect of hypoxia on the Twist1 expression in epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the cervical cancer cells.In this study, we simulated the normoxia and hypoxia environment, where HeLa cells were cultured, respectively. Cell invasion ability was measured by the transwell assay, while the GLI-1 protein and mRNA expressions were measured by Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot assays. After that, HeLa cells were transfected with the GLI-1-specific siRNA, followed by the measurement of mRNA and protein expressions using RT-PCR and Western blot assays, as well as the cell invasion ability by the transwell assay.We found that in hypoxic environment, GLI-1 was up-regulated in HeLa cells, with enhanced invasion ability. However, silencing the expression of GLI-1 could reverse the up-regulation of GLI-1 compromising the invasion ability of HeLa cells.Hypoxia may account for the increased invasion of HeLa cells, which is realized by the up-regulated GLI-1.

The aim of the present study was to determine the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of dihydromyricetin (DHM) on the AGS human gastric cancer cells and their underlying mechanisms. The effects of DHM on AGS cells were evaluated by using 3-(4, 5-di-methylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), lactate dehydrogenase, and Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) double-staining assays. The underlying mechanisms were determined by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrated that DHM significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited AGS cell proliferation and induced cell cytotoxicity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Additionally, Annexin V/PI double-staining assay showed that DHM promoted cell apoptosis in both, early and late stages. Furthermore, DHM also regulated the expression of apoptotic genes such as p53 and B-cell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In conclusion, this is the first report demonstrating the anticancer and pro-apoptosis effects of DHM on AGS human gastric cancer cells. The results strongly suggest that DHM may be a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of gastric cancer.

The crystal structure of the title compound, [SmCl2{C2H4N2(CH2C5H4N)4}]ClO4, at room temperature was solved and compared with the previously determined structure of [EuIIICl2(R-tppn)]ClO4 [where R-tppn is N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)-(R)-propylenediamine]. The Sm3+ ion is eight-coordinated through the six N atoms of the N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine ligand and two Cl− ions. The coordination is best described as dodecahedral with some important distortions.

Surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy have been the mainstay of colorectal cancer treatment. There is however current intense research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as novel or additional treatment methods for colorectal cancer. This article reviews the current use of TCM in colorectal cancer so as to increase the awareness of colorectal surgeons. The pathogenesis of colorectal cancer according to TCM is discussed. TCM has been used successfully during the perioperative period to relieve intestinal obstruction, reduce postoperative ileus and reduce urinary retention after rectal surgery. Good results have been reported in the treatment of the complications of chemotherapy and radiation enterocolitis. Favourable results have also been shown in the use of TCM either alone or in combination with chemotherapy to treat advanced colorectal cancer. Molecular studies have shown some TCM compounds to reduce tumour cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. Although the reported results of TCM have been exciting thus far, problems of lack of consensus on treatment regimes and questions on the reliability, validity and applicability of published studies prevent its widespread use. There is now an urgent need for colorectal surgeons to work with TCM physicians in the continuing research on this 6,000-year-old art so as to realize its full potential for our patients.

We investigate the effect of contact potential between Au, CuOx and Au-CuOx, and pentacene thin films by Kevin Probe microscopy Compared to the Au contact, although the injection barrier is lower for CuOx contact, the extraction barrier is higher, and the total contact resistance is only slightly smaller. The better performance of CuOx contact device results from the doping effect from the p-type CuOx. The introduction of additional Au top layer deposited on the thin CuOx layer lowersthe extraction barrier and facilitates better carrier transfer, which further reduces the contact resistance. Therefore, both the apparent mobility and channel mobility are the best in the device with Au-CuOx double layer contact.

We calculate the masses of the $1^{-+}$ four quark states which decay dominantly into $\rho\pi$ and $\eta\pi$ respectively by QCD sum rules approach. We include the zero mode contribution and find it plays an important role in the sum rules. We predict that the masses of the states $\eta\pi$ and $\rho\pi$ both are 1.4-1.5 GeV. This is close to the experimental candidates $\pi_1(1370)$ and $\pi_1(1440)$., Comment: 5 pages, 4 Postscript figures

We construct the heavy baryonic currents by using the Bethe-Salpeter wave functions in the heavy quark limit. We discuss the one-loop renormalization of these heavy baryonic currents as well as their two-point correlators up to the order $1/M_h$. For a special case, we do the QCD sum rule for masses of the doublet (3/2,5/2)., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

We calculate the radiative corrections to the current-current correlator of the hybrid current $g\bar q(x)\gamma_{\nu}iG_{\mu\nu}^aT^aq(x)$. Based on this new result we use the QCD sum rule approach to estimate lower bounds on the masses of the $J^{PC}$=$1^{-+}$ and $0^{++}$ light hybrids.

The micronuclei (MN) of peripheral blood lymphocytes from radiation-exposed people were monitored with the binucleated lymphocyte micronucleus assay (CBMN). MN rates in people with radiation-disease, radiation exposed and a control group were 12.57/1000, 4.20/1000 and 3.26/1000, respectively. The MN rate of patients with radiation-disease was significantly higher than those of other groups (P0.01). The difference between the radiation-exposed group and control group was not significant (P0.05). Meanwhile, chromosome aberrations (CA) of 3 groups were determined. The results were similar to those seen while the MN assay. CA rates were 2.06%, 0.93% and 0.69%, respectively. CA rate of the radiation-disease group was significantly higher than that of other groups (P0.05, P0.01). The difference between the radiation-exposed group and the control group was not significant (P0.05). The study indicates that the CBMN assay is a rapid, sensitive and accurate method which can be used to monitor a large population exposed to radiation.