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MicroRNA-139-5p (miR-139-5p) plays a crucial role in cancer’s onset and progression and is considered a tumor suppressor gene. However, the biological functions and mechanism of miR-139-5p in the tumorigenicity in Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has received insufficient investigation. We investigated the miR-139-5p expression in lung cancer tissues and the adjacent normal lung tissues, in 54 NSCLC patients. Additionally, the miR-139-5p target gene was predicted by bioinformatics analysis and then confirmed by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. The biological functions of miR-139-5p and the target gene have been investigated, in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Finally, the anti-tumor effects of miR-139-5p were corroborated by tumor formation assay in nude mice and progression-free survival analysis in another 144 NSCLC patients. MiR-139-5p was down-regulated, and inversely correlated with DNA topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2A), in both NSCLC tissues and cells. In vitro, miR-139-5p overexpression suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion by down-regulating TOP2A in normal human bronchial epithelioid cells and NSCLC cell lines. It also induced apoptosis in NSCLC cell lines. In vivo, miR-139-5p up-regulation and the TOP2A mRNA down-regulation were significantly correlated, with longer progression-free survival times in 144 NSCLC patients. Moreover, miR-139-5p overexpression mitigated the xenograft tumor formation. MiR-139-5p inhibited growth and metastasis in NSCLC cell lines via direct TOP2A targeting. Low miR-139-5p expression showed a significant correlation with poor prognosis in NSCLC patients. These results highlight the effect of miR-139-5p on NSCLC, suggesting that miR-139-5p is a promising biomarker for NSCLC prognosis and an exceptional candidate for further therapeutic exploration.

Annealing and cyclic voltammetry (CV) are essential for the activation of amorphous alloy ribbons. Various amorphous alloy ribbons have been activated in the fields of environmental catalysts using either annealing or CV. However, the combination of the two methods for improving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance has rarely been reported. This combination is expected to significantly improve the OER performance of amorphous ribbons. Here, we developed an "annealing +CV-activation" integrated strategy to treat a free-standing NiFeBSiP ribbon, which as an efficient and stable oxygen-evolving electrode. The "annealing +CV-activation" strategy induces the nanocrystallization and oxidation effects on the surface of the NiFeBSiP ribbon. The effects significantly increase the electron transfer ability, the Ni/Fe/P oxidation state and the surface area of the NiFeBSiP ribbon, which consequently leads to enhancing the OER performance. As a result, the treated ribbon exhibits a low overpotential of 269 mV at 10 mA cm

Background Micro- and nanoplastic pollution has become a global environmental problem. Nanoplastics in the environment are still hard to detect because of analysis technology limitations. It is believed that when microplastics are found in the environment, more undetected nanoplastics are around. The current “microplastic exposure” is in fact the mixture of micro- and nanoplastic exposures. Therefore, the biological interaction between organisms among different sizes of micro- and nanoplastics should not be neglected. Results We measured the biodistribution of three polystyrene (PS) particles (50 nm PS, PS50; 500 nm PS, PS500; 5000 nm PS, PS5000) under single and co-exposure conditions in mice. We explored the underlying mechanisms by investigating the effects on three major components of the intestinal barrier (the mucus layer, tight junctions and the epithelial cells) in four intestine segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon) of mice. We found that the amounts of both PS500 and PS5000 increased when they were co-exposed with PS50 for 24 h in the mice. These increased amounts were due primarily to the increased permeability in the mouse intestines. We also confirmed there was a combined toxicity of PS50 and PS500 in the mouse intestines. This manifested as the mixture of PS50 and PS500 causing more severe dysfunction of the intestinal barrier than that caused by PS50 or PS500 alone. We found that the combined toxicity of PS micro- and nanoplastics on intestinal barrier dysfunction was caused primarily by reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated epithelial cell apoptosis in the mice. These findings were further confirmed by an oxidants or antioxidants pretreatment study. In addition, the combined toxicity of PS micro- and nanoplastics was also found in the mice after a 28-day repeated dose exposure. Conclusions There is a combined toxicity of PS50 and PS500 in the mouse intestines, which was caused primarily by ROS-mediated epithelial cell apoptosis in the mice. Considering that most recent studies on PS micro- and nanoplastics have been conducted using a single particle size, the health risks of exposure to PS micro- and nanoplastics on organisms may be underestimated.

Background Increasing evidences have showed that neuroimaging markers of SVD can predict the short-term outcome of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). It is unclear that whether neuroimaging markers of SVD are also associated with short-term outcomes of minor cerebrovascular events. In the present study, we investigate neuroimaging markers of SVD in order to explore their roles in prediction of short-term outcome in patients with minor cerebrovascular events. Methods Consecutive first-ever stroke patients (n = 546) from the Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were enrolled. A total of 388 patients were enrolled according to minor cerebrovascular events definition (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score ≤ 3) and exclusion criteria. MRI scans were performed within 7 days of stroke onset, and then neuroimaging markers of SVD including WMH, lacunes, cerebral microbleeds (CMB), and perivascular spaces (PVS), SVD burden scores were assessed. We completed baseline characteristics and evaluated the relationships of short-term outcomes to SVD neuroimaging markers and SVD scores. The 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was thought as primary outcome and was dichotomized as good functional outcome (mRS 0–1) and poor outcome (mRS 2–6). Secondary outcomes were stroke progression and stroke recurrence. Results Higher age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) upon admission, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (LP-PLA2) and lacunes, Fazekas score were correlated with poor functional outcome (P P = 0.036) was found to be associated with poor outcome at 90 days. Higher Fazekas and SVD scores were not associated with stroke progression or stroke recurrence. Conclusion WMH can predict the poor functional outcome of minor cerebrovascular events. Adding other neuroimaging markers of SVD and total SVD burden score, however, does not improve the prediction, which indicated WMH can as neuroimaging markers for guiding the treatment of minor cerebrovascular events.

Highlights l COVID-19 mortality risk factors were similar to those of SARS and MERS. l Advanced age, hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease, increased LDH, CRP, neutrophils and BUN and decreased albumin were positively correlated with COVID-19 mortality. l The laboratory indicators of poor outcomes with the highest degrees of difference were similar among the three coronavirus diseases. l Low lymphocyte subtype counts might be a factor in COVID-19 mortality., SUMMARY Objective: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic. This systematic review compares mortality risk factors including clinical, demographic and laboratory features of COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The aim is to provide new strategies for COVID-19 prevention and treatment. Methods: We performed a systematic review with meta-analysis, using five databases to compare the predictors of death for COVID-19, SARS and MERS. A random-effects model meta-analysis calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: 845 articles up through 11/4/2020 were retrieved, but only 28 studies were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that males had a higher likelihood of death than females (OR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.56-2.13). Age (OR = 7.86, 95% CI 5.46-11.29), diabetes comorbidity (OR = 3.73, 95% CI 2.35-5.90), chronic lung disease (OR = 3.43, 95% CI 1.80-6.52) and hypertension (OR = 3.38, 95% CI 2.45-4.67) were the mortality risk factors. The laboratory indicators lactic dehydrogenase (OR = 37.52, 95% CI 24.68-57.03), C-reactive protein (OR = 12.11, 95% CI 5.24-27.98), and neutrophils (OR = 17.56, 95% CI 10.67-28.90) had stronger correlations with COVID-19 mortality than with SARS or MERS mortality. Consolidation and ground-glass opacity imaging features were similar among COVID-19, SARS, and MERS patients. Conclusions: COVID-19’s mortality factors are similar to those of SARS and MERS. Age and laboratory indicators could be effective predictors of COVID-19 mortality outcomes.

CdMoO4 nano-octahedra were grown in situ at room temperature by reverse-microemulsion. Energy evolution from this growth process was monitored using microcalorimetry. The microcalorimetric heat flow (MCHF) curve showed a characteristic endothermic peak for the initial reaction, and double discontinuous exothermic peaks for the subsequent crystal growth. Combined with complementary characterization techniques, the evolution of morphology and size of the CdMoO4 nano-octahedra were correlated with the MCHF peaks. Calculations based on the microcalorimetric results at 298.15 K provided rate constants of 7.56×10−5 s−1 for the reaction and nucleation process and 1.59×10−4 s−1 for the crystallization process.