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Aim: To develop a Cancer Patient Suicidal Ideation Scale (CAPASIS) and test its reliability and validity. Patients & methods: An initial CAPASIS was developed. Clinical assessment was conducted using an adjusted initial scale with 239 cancer patients for item reduction and 253 for scale validation. Results: Item selection analyses resulted in 22 items. The revised model fits were acceptable (normal chi-square [ χ2/ df] = 1.919; standardized root mean residual [SRMR] = 0.057; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.060; goodness fit index [GFI] = 0.882; adjusted goodness fit index [AGFI] = 0.844; Tucker–Lewis index [TLI] = 0.898; comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.915; incremental fit index [IFI] = 0.917). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.911. Conclusion: The CAPASIS has good validity and reliability, with a six-factor structure of ‘entrapment’, ‘defeat', ‘isolation', ‘hopelessness', ‘burdensomeness' and ‘humiliation', which can help identify patients with suicidal ideation.

The creation of an environmentally friendly synthesis method for silver nanomaterials (AgNPs) is an urgent concern for sustainable nanotechnology development. In the present study, a novel straightforward and green method for the preparation of silver nanoparticle/reduced graphene oxide (AgNP/rGO) composites was successfully developed through the combination of phytosynthesis, continuous flow synthesis and microwave-assistance. Oriental persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) extracts were used as both plant reducing and capping agents for fast online synthesis of AgNP/rGO composites. The experimental parameters were optimized and the morphologies of the prepared materials were investigated. The characterization results reveal that spherical AgNPs were quickly synthesized and uniformly dispersed on rGO sheets using the proposed online system. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed that phenols, flavonoids, and other substances in the plant extracts played a decisive role in the synthesis of AgNP/rGO composites. Using sodium borohydride (NaBH4) degradation of p-nitrophenol (4-NP) as a model, the catalytic activity of the prepared AgNP/rGO materials was evaluated. The complete degradation of 4-NP was achieved within 12 min through the use of AgNP/rGO materials, and the composite had a much better catalytic activity than the bare AgNPs and rGO had. Compared with the conventional chemical method, our online method is facile, fast, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Li Wang, Na Zhao, Li Zhou, Juan Tong, Lei Xue, Lei Zhang, Yongsheng Han, Xingbing Wang, Liangquan Geng, Baolin Tang, Huilan Liu, Weibo Zhu, Xiaoyan Cai, Xin Liu, Xiaoyu Zhu, Zimin Sun, Changcheng Zheng Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Changcheng ZhengDepartment of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Lujiang Road No. 17, Hefei, 230001, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/Fax +86-551-62284476Email zhengchch1123@ustc.edu.cnBackground: There is great uncertainty in the treatment of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which leads to great challenges in treatment decision. The aim of this study is to find more suitable induction therapy and consolidation therapy for elderly AML patients.Methods: A total of 149 consecutive newly diagnosed elderly AML patients (aged ≥ 60 years) who received induction chemotherapy in our medical center from January 2015 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.Results: After the first induction treatment, the complete remission/or complete remission with incomplete hematologic recovery (CR/CRi) rates in the standard-intensity chemotherapy group was significantly higher than that in the low-intensity chemotherapy group (58.2% vs 32.9%, p = 0.003). Compared with the low-intensity chemotherapy, the incidence of severe infection in the standard-intensity chemotherapy was significantly increased (p < 0.001), but the early mortality was comparable. One hundred and seven patients received minimal residual disease (MRD) examination after the first induction treatment; and MRD was negative accounting for 51.9% in the standard-intensity chemotherapy group, while only 32.7% in the low-intensity group (p = 0.05). The 2-year-overall survival (OS) of patients in standard-intensity induction chemotherapy group (37.2%) was slightly higher than that in low-intensity induction chemotherapy group (23.4%) (p = 0.075). Eighty-one CR/CRi patients received intermediate or high dose cytarabine (n = 35) or sequential chemotherapy regimens (n = 46) as consolidation treatment. The 2-year OS and event-free survival (EFS) of patients in the intermediate or high-dose cytarabine group were significantly higher than those in the sequential chemotherapy regimens group (73.0% vs 38.5%, p = 0.002; 54.8% vs 35.0%, p = 0.035).Conclusion: Our results showed that standard-intensity induction chemotherapy can significantly improve the CR rate for elderly AML patients, and does not increase the early mortality; consolidation therapy with intermediate or high-dose cytarabine can significantly improve EFS and OS for elderly AML patients achieved CR.Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia, elderly patients, minimal residual disease, standard-intensity chemotherapy, intermediate or high dose cytarabine

Understanding factors associated with disease severity and mortality from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was critical for effective risk stratification. We aimed to investigate the association between biomarkers of clinical laboratory tests, including serum C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid protein (SAA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and D-dimer (DD) and poor prognosis of COVID-19. We have searched many studies on COVID-19 on PubMed (Medline), Web of Science and Cochrane until 1 March 2021. The interest of this study was original articles reporting on laboratory testing projects and outcome of patients with COVID-19 that comprises mortality, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), need for care in an intensive care unit (ICU), and severe COVID-19. After synthesizing all data, we performed meta-analysis of random effects, and determined mean difference (MD) and standard mean difference at the biomarker level for different disease severity. A total of 7,739 patients with COVID-19 were pooled from 32 studies. CRP was significantly associated with poor prognosis of COVID-19 (SMD = 0.98, 95% CI = (0.85, 1.11), p < .001). Elevated SAA was associated with an increased composite poor outcome in COVID-19 (SMD = 1.06, 95% CI = (0.39, 1.72), p = .002). An elevated LDH was associated with a composite poor outcome (SMD = 1.18, 95% CI = (1.00, 1.36), p < .001). Patients with a composite poor outcome had a higher DD level (SMD = 0.91, 95% CI = (0.79, 1.02), p < .001). This meta-analysis showed that elevated serum CRP, SAA, LDH, and DD were associated with a poor outcome in COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Combined hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CCA) is defined as a single nodule showing differentiation into HCC and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and has a poor prognosis. AIM To develop a radiomics nomogram for predicting post-resection survival of patients with cHCC-CCA. METHODS Patients with pathologically diagnosed cHCC-CCA were randomly divided into training and validation sets. Radiomics features were extracted from portal venous phase computed tomography (CT) images using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression and random forest analysis. A nomogram integrating the radiomics score and clinical factors was developed using univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression. Nomogram performance was assessed in terms of the C-index as well as calibration, decision, and survival curves. RESULTS CT and clinical data of 118 patients were included in the study. The radiomics score, vascular invasion, anatomical resection, total bilirubin level, and satellite lesions were found to be independent predictors of overall survival (OS) and were therefore included in an integrative nomogram. The nomogram was more strongly associated with OS (hazard ratio: 8.155, 95% confidence interval: 4.498-14.785, P < 0.001) than a model based on the radiomics score or only clinical factors. The area under the curve values for 1-year and 3-year OS in the training set were 0.878 and 0.875, respectively. Patients stratified as being at high risk of poor prognosis showed a significantly shorter median OS than those stratified as being at low risk (6.1 vs 81.6 mo, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION This nomogram may predict survival of cHCC-CCA patients after hepatectomy and therefore help identify those more likely to benefit from surgery.

Piper longum is a well-known spice and traditional medicine. It was revealed to possess anti-diabetic activity, but few information about its active component and underlying mechanism could be available. In this study, retrofractamides A (1) and C (2) isolated from P. longum showed potent inhibitory activity against PTP1B. Therefore, the potential mechanism was predicted by network pharmacology and molecular docking. PI3K/AKT was obtained as the most remarkable pathway against type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and AKT1 and GSK3β were yielded as the top two core targets of retrofractamides A (1) and C (2). Molecular docking of compounds with AKT1 and GSK3β showed strong binding affinity between them. Additionally, cellular experiments with a L6 cell model was conducted to further verify the above predictions. Results indicated that retrofractamides A (1) and C (2) exerted anti-diabetic effect via activating PI3K/AKT pathway, and they promoted glucose consumption, glucose uptake, glycogen synthesis and glycolysis.

BACKGROUND Mediastinal mature teratoma is the most common histological type of primary extragonadal germ cell tumor. In this report, we describe a rare case of giant mature teratoma located primarily in the anterior mediastinum and causing partial atelectasis of the upper and middle lobes of the right lung, as well as extrinsic compression of the right atrium. CASE SUMMARY A 31-year-old male with a giant mediastinal mature teratoma presented with progressive exertional dyspnea and chest pain for 1 mo. Computed tomography of the chest indicated the diagnosis of anterior mediastinal teratoma. The patient underwent right uniportal anterior approach video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). En bloc resection of the giant teratoma, wedge resection of the upper and middle lobes of the right lung, resection of the thymus and partial excision of the pericardium were successfully performed. The pathological diagnosis revealed a mature cystic teratoma with foreign-body reaction that was closely related to the right lung, atrium dextrum, superior vena cava and ascending aorta. An atrophic thymic tissue was also discovered at the external teratoma surface. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 7. CONCLUSION This is the first report of the use of uniportal VATS for complete resection of a teratoma in combination with wedge resection of the right upper and middle lung lobes and partial resection of the pericardium.

Objective Given that the presence of insurance may affect the risk of suicide mortality in cancer patients, we aimed to examine the association in a population-based study using the Surveillance, Epidemiologic, and End Results (SEER) database. Study design A retrospective analysis of data from the SEER database. Methods We conducted a retrospective study using the SEER database. Hazard ratios (HRs), adjusted HRs (aHRs), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of suicide death were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the risk of suicide mortality among the cohorts. Results Multivariable analysis revealed that cancer patients without insurance had an increased risk of suicide death compared with patients with private insurance (aHR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.01–1.72), whereas no significant result was observed in patients with any Medicaid (aHR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.93–1.30; P = 0.27). In addition, the stratified analysis indicated that the risk of suicide death in patients in the uninsured and Medicaid groups presented with localized stage of disease (aHR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.02, 1.69), White (aHR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.05, 1.71), and American Indian/Alaska Native and Asian/Pacific Islander (aHR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.08, 3.30) were greater than insured patients. Conclusion Overall, our results indicated that insurance status was a statistically significant predictor of suicide death in patients with cancer. Healthcare providers should identify those patients at high risk of suicide and provide appropriate mental health and psychosocial oncology services in time.

Background:. The prevalence of skin diseases and diabetes mellitus (DM) are prominent around the world. The current scope of knowledge regarding the prevalence of skin diseases and comorbidities with type 2 DM (T2DM) is limited, leading to limited recognition of the correlations between skin diseases and T2DM. Methods:. We collected 383 subjects from the Da Qing Diabetes Study during the period from July 9th to September 1st, 2016. The subjects were categorized into three groups: Normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and T2DM. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of skin diseases were recorded and investigated. Results:. In this cross-sectional study, 383 individuals with ages ranging from 53 to 89-year-old were recruited. The overall prevalence of skin diseases was 93.5%, and 75.7% of individuals had two or more kinds of skin diseases. Additionally, there were 47 kinds of comorbid skin diseases in patients with T2DM, of which eight kinds of skin diseases had a prevalence >10%. The prevalence of skin diseases in NGT, IGT, and T2DM groups were 93.3%, 91.5%, and 96.6%, respectively; stratified analysis by categories showed a statistically significant difference in “disturbances of pigmentation” and “neurological and psychogenic dermatoses”. The duration of T2DM also significantly associated with the prevalence of “disturbances of pigmentation” and “neurological and psychogenic dermatoses”. Subsequently, the prevalence of “disturbances of pigmentation” was higher in males than females in NGT (P

To develop and validate a deep learning (DL) model based on quantitative analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) images that predicts early recurrence (ER) after thermal ablation (TA) of colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM).Between January 2010 and May 2019, a total of 207 consecutive patients with CRLM with 13,248 slice images at three dynamic phases who received CEUS within 2 weeks before TA were retrospectively enrolled in two centres (153 for the training cohort (TC), 32 for the internal test cohort (ITC), and 22 for the external test cohort (ETC)). Clinical and CEUS data were used to develop and validate the clinical model, DL model, and DL combining with clinical (DL-C) model to predict ER after TA. The performance of these models was compared by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) with the DeLong test.After a median follow-up of 56 months, 49% (99/207) of patients experienced ER. Three key clinical features (preoperative chemotherapy (PC), lymph node metastasis of the primary colorectal cancer (LMPCC), and T stage) were used to develop the clinical model. The DL model yielded better performance than the clinical model in the ETC (AUC: 0.67 for the clinical model, 0.76 for the DL model). The DL-C model significantly outperformed the clinical model and DL model (AUC: 0.78 for the DL-C model in the ETC; both, p0.001).The model based on CEUS can achieve satisfactory prediction and assist physicians during the therapeutic decision-making process in clinical practice.• This is an exploratory study in which ablation-related contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) data from consecutive patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) were collected simultaneously at multiple institutions. • The deep learning combining with clinical (DL-C) model provided desirable performance for the prediction of early recurrence (ER) after thermal ablation (TA). • The DL-C model based on CEUS provides guidance for TA indication selection and making therapeutic decisions.

Due to their unique properties, paper-based biosensors have attracted attention as inexpensive devices for on-site analysis. To achieve fast and sensitive detection of analytes, immobilization of enzymes with high apparent activities on paper is highly desirable; however, this is challenging. Herein, we report an improved approach to attach a malathion degrading enzyme, PoOPHM9, on paper via an interlocking network of Pluronic F127 (PF127)–poly(acrylic acid)–enzyme conjugates. The addition of PF127 improved retention of enzymatic activity as the apparent kinetic constant Vmax of the immobilized enzyme increased two-fold compared with the paper prepared without PF127. The PF127–poly(acrylic acid)–PoOPHM9 papers provided rapid colorimetric detection of malathion at 0.1–50 mM. The detection was completed within 5 min using a smartphone and image analysis software. As a proof-of-concept, malathion-contaminated water, plant, and apple samples were analyzed with the papers successfully. This material is promising for on-site rapid analysis of malathion-contaminated samples.

Along with the environmental protection policies becoming strict in China, the air pollution control devices (especially selective catalytic reduction (SCR)) are widely equipped in coal-fired power plants. The installation and run of these devices will inevitably affect mercury (Hg) species distribution in coal fired by-products such like fly ash (FA) and gypsum. In this work, a new on-line coupling system based on atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) with a home-made chromatographic workstation was successfully developed to identify Hg species through thermal programmed desorption (TPD). The influences of matrix, furnace temperature, and carrier gas flow on analytical performance were investigated and the parameters were optimized. The FA and gypsum samples from coal-fired power plants equipped with SCR were collected and the mercury species were analyzed by the developed coupling system. HgCl

Recent investigations have revealed that puerarin (PU) alleviates cadmium (Cd)-caused hepatic damage via inhibiting oxidative stress. Mitochondria are dynamic organelles and play a critical part in regulating the occurrence of oxidative stress, but the role of mitochondria in the protection of PU against hepatocellular damage caused by Cd exposure remains unknown. Thus, this study was aimed to clarify this issue using mouse hepatocyte AML-12 cell line. Transmission electron microscopy analysis firstly showed that PU prevents Cd-induced mitochondrial ultrastructure damage. Mitochondrial network image analysis by confocal microscopy revealed that PU exerts the protection against Cd-induced cytotoxicity via restoring mitochondrial network fragmentation. Also, mitochondrial dynamic protein expression profiles showed that enhanced fission protein levels and inhibited fusion protein levels in Cd-treated cells were significantly reversed by PU, suggesting the protective effect of PU against Cd-induced mitochondrial fission. Moreover, changes of intracellular ATP level and protein levels of key regulators involving in mitochondrial biogenesis indicated that Sirtuin-1(Sirt1) pathway may be involved in the protection of Cd-impaired mitochondrial function by PU. Next, Sirt1 protein levels in treated cells were effectively regulated by genetic knockdown or chemical agonist SRT1720. Accordingly, alleviation of Cd-induced mitochondrial fission assays and cell viability by PU was markedly regulated by SRT1720 or Sirt1 knockdown, suggesting the indispensable role of Sirt1 in this process. Collectively, these findings highlight that PU prevents Cd-induced mitochondrial fission to alleviate cytotoxicity via Sirt1-dependent pathway, which provide novel evidences to fully understand the hepatoprotective action of PU against heavy metal toxicity.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment for acute icteric hepatitis. Method: Forty patients with acute icteric hepatitis were randomized into a treatment group and a control group (20 in each group). Oral liver-protecting medicine was administrated for the control group. In the treatment group, acupuncture with Yinlingquan-SP9, Yanglingquan-GB34, Zhusanli-ST36, Sanyinjiao-SP6, and Taichong-LR3 was added. The clinical efficacies and serum liver enzymes, including (TB, ALT, and GGT) were evaluated. Result: The total effective rate was 94.7% in the treatment group and 85.0% in the control group respectively, which differed significantly different(P

DJ-1 (also called PARK7) is a multifunctional redox-sensitive protein that is protective against oxidative stress-induced cell death. TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a major protein component of pathological inclusions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Reducing aberrant aggregation of TDP-43 is a potential approach to prevent cell death. To investigate whether DJ-1 might inhibit TDP-43 aggregation to exert a protective effect in oxidative stress-induced injury, we tested the protein level and subcellular localization of TDP-43 and DJ-1 in SH-SY5Y cells transfected with wild-type DJ-1, DJ-1 mutant (L166P) cDNA, or DJ-1 siRNA. We show that oxidative stress induced by paraquat leads to the formation of cytosolic TDP-43 aggregation in SH-SY5Y cells. DJ-1 overexpression decreases paraquat-induced cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 in SH-SY5Y cells and protects against paraquat-induced cell death. Transfection of DJ-1 L166P mutant or DJ-1 siRNA leads to increased cytosolic aggregation of TDP-43 in paraquat-treated SH-SY5Y cells and promotes cell death. These data suggest that DJ-1 may protect against oxidative stress-induced cell death through the suppression of cytoplasmic TDP-43 aggregation.

The incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC) have always been among the highest in the world, although the diagnosis and treatment are becoming more and more advanced. At present, the main reason is that patients have acquired drug resistance after long-term conventional drug treatment. An increasing number of evidences confirm the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are a group of special cells in cancer, only a small part of cancer cells. These special cell populations are not eliminated by chemotherapeutic drugs and result in tumor recurrence and metastasis after drug treatment. CSCs have the ability of self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation, which is associated with the occurrence and development of cancer. CSCs can be screened and identified by related surface markers. In this paper, the characteristic surface markers of CSCs in CRC and the related mechanism of drug resistance will be discussed in detail. A better understanding of the mechanism of CSCs resistance to chemotherapy may lead to better targeted therapy.

Threonine aspartase 1 (TASP1) was reported to function in the development of cancer. However, the regulatory mechanism of TASP1 in gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. In this study, we determined the expression of TASP1 in tissues of GC patients, GC cells by qRT-PCR, and western blot and assessed the relationship between TASP1 and GC cell proliferation and migration via CCK-8 and transwell assay. It was found that the expression of TASP1 in GC tissues or GC cell lines was significantly higher than that in normal adjacent tissues or normal cells. The proliferation and migration of GC cells were inhibited upon TASP1 knockdown. Mechanism investigation revealed that TASP1 promoted GC cell proliferation and migration through upregulating the p-AKT/AKT expression. TASP1 induced GC cell migration via the epithelial -mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. In conclusion, TASP1 promotes GC progression through the EMT and AKT/p-AKT pathway, and it may serve as a new potential biomarker and therapeutic target for GC.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has become a concern because of its high recurrence rate and metastasis rate, low early diagnosis rate and poor therapeutic effect. At present, various studies have shown that autophagy is closely connected with the occurrence and progression of CRC. Autophagy is a highly cytosolic catabolic process involved in lysosomes in biological evolution. Cells degrade proteins and damaged organelles by autophagy to achieve material circulation and maintain cell homeostasis. Moreover, microRNAs are key regulators of autophagy, and their mediated regulation of transcriptional and post‐transcriptional levels plays an important role in autophagy in CRC cells. This review focuses on the recent research advances of how autophagy and related microRNAs are involved in affecting occurrence and progression of CRC and provides a new perspective for the study of CRC treatment strategies., Regulatory relationship between miRNAs and autophagy in CRC. Autophagy consists of a series of activities, such as phagophore formation, elongation, autophagosome and fusion with lysosome to form autolysosome. MiRNAs exert dual regulatory effects on autophagy pathways related to CRC through indirect or direct pathways. In the figure, the purple box represents autophagy‐related proteins, which indirectly regulate the autophagy process (eg, Bcl‐2, mTOR), the green box represents autophagy‐associated proteins, which are directly involved in the occurrence or formation of autophagy (eg, Beclin 1, LC3), and the yellow box represents the cellular process.

The DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is encoded by the protein kinase, DNA-activated, catalytic polypeptide ( PRKDC) gene. DNA-PKcs plays a major role in nonhomologous end joining DNA repair, and it has been identified to be an important factor in tumor progression and metastasis. DNA-PKcs may have opposite effects in diseases, depending on the cell and tissue types. In this review, we discuss its role in various tumors. High levels of DNA-PKcs are directly associated with prognosis, neoplasm recurrence rates, and overall survival. Our results suggest that DNA-PKcs may serve as a therapeutic target for advanced malignancies.

Sunscreen chemicals, such as benzophenones (BPs), are common environmental contaminants that are posing a growing health concern due to their increasing presence in water, fish, and human systems. Benzoresorcinol (BP1), oxybenzone (BP3), and dioxybenzone (BP8) are the most commonly used BPs for their ability to protect from sunburn by absorbing a broad spectrum of ultraviolet radiation. In this study, zebrafish larvae were used as an in vivo model to investigate the potential risks and molecular mechanisms of the toxic effects of BPs. The effects of these BPs on the gene expression in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway, estrogen receptor pathway, and sex differentiation were detected using quantitative real-time PCR. All BPs were found to function as agonists of the estrogen receptors α and β1, indicating that these BPs likely undergo similar molecular metabolism in vivo, whereby they can activate cytochrome P450 genes and promote the expression of CYP19A and DMRT1. Furthermore, the gene expression profile of larvae after BP3 exposure was evaluated using a whole transcriptome sequencing approach. BP3 affected estradiol biosynthesis and sex differentiation. It also regulated gonadotropin-releasing hormone, thus interfering with the endocrine system. As a xenobiotic toxicant, BP3 upregulated the expression of cytochrome P450 genes (CYP1A and CYP3A65) and glutathione metabolism-related genes (GSTA, GSTM, and GSTP). It also interfered with the nervous system by regulating the calcium signaling pathway. These findings will be useful for understanding the toxicity mechanisms and metabolism of BPs in aquatic organisms and promote the regulation of these chemicals in the environment.

Senescence of renal tubular epithelial cells plays an important role in diabetic nephropathy, but the mechanism is unknown. Metformin may alleviate diabetic nephropathy by reducing this senescence. This study is aimed at clarifying the effects and mechanism of metformin on the senescence of renal tubular epithelial cells in diabetic nephropathy. We found that metformin reduced the expression of senescence-associated gene P21 in high-glucose-induced (30 mmol/L) renal tubular epithelial cells and decreased the β-galactosidase positive staining rate (decreased 16%, p<0.01). Metformin was able to reduce senescence by upregulating the expression of RNA-binding protein MBNL1 and miR-130a-3p and reducing STAT3 expression. MBNL1 prolonged the half-life of miR-130a-3p, and miR-130a-3p could negatively regulate STAT3 by binding to its mRNA 3′UTR. In db/db diabetic mice, we found an enhanced senescence level combined with low expression of MBNL1 and miR-130a-3p and high expression of STAT3 compared with db/m control mice during nephropathy development. Meanwhile, metformin (200 mg/kg/day) could increase the expression of MBNL1 and miR-130a-3p and decreased STAT3 expression, thus reducing this senescence in db/db mice. Our results suggest that metformin reduces the senescence of renal tubular epithelial cells in diabetic nephropathy via the MBNL1/miR-130a-3p/STAT3 pathway, which provided new ideas for the therapy of this disease.

It is very necessary to produce bio-activated carbon for special use with easy procedure and low cost. One kind of huge surface area microporous bio-material was successfully prepared from agricultural residues (peanut shell, Arachis hypogaea Linn.) and beneficially applied to control elemental mercury (Hg0) in simulated coal-fired flue gas in this study. The possible effects of experimental factors including activator, reaction temperature, and flue components were investigated. The physicochemical properties of the prepared adsorbents were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the peanut shell activated carbon presented excellent Hg0 removal efficiency near 90% at 150 °C. The characterization analysis indicated that the removal characteristics were governed by both physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. The chemisorbed mercury on the activated carbon was mainly distinguished into mercuric chloride (HgCl2) and mercuric oxide (HgO). The presence of C-Cl and O* promoted Hg0 into HgCl2 and HgO. Zinc chloride could not only improve the micropore quantity of activated carbon but also have remarkably positive effects on the elemental mercury removal. This study provided a practical and easy preparation method of bio-activated carbon for Hg0 removal with low cost.

The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms of hypoxia-induced apoptosis of GC-2spd (GC-2) cells. The GC-2 cells were treated with or without hypoxia for 12, 24, 48, and 72 h. Apoptosis of GC-2 cells was detected using TUNEL and flow cytometry. Fluorescence microscopic was used to observe the autophagy of GC-2 cells. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α), apoptosis-related protein and marker protein of autophagy levels were measured by Western blotting. Hypoxia induced apoptosis and autophagy of GC-2 cells, and increased expression of HIF-1α, LC3-II, Beclin-1, and pro-apoptotic protein, but reduced p62 and anti-apoptotic protein level. Meanwhile, hypoxia-induced HIF-1α mediated expression of apoptosis and autophagy-related protein in GC-2 cell. Furthermore, autophagy regulated hypoxia-induced apoptosis of GC-2 cell. Our data suggest that hypoxia induces apoptosis of GC-2 cell by activation of autophagy involving activation of the apoptosis signaling pathway under the hypoxic condition.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Background: Weight status and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are rising public health concerns. An increasing number of reports indicate that individuals with ASD may have unhealthy weight status, but the evidence is mixed. To understand the weight status in individuals with ASD and provide strategies for prevention and intervention, we describe the protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at assessing the prevalence of obesity, overweight, and underweight in ASD. Methods: A broad range of key bibliographic databases including MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Cochrane, and ISI Web of Science will be searched to identify studies reporting the prevalence of obesity, overweight, and underweight in patients with ASD. Retrieved records will be independently screened by 2 authors and relevant estimates will be extracted from studies reporting data on obesity, overweight, and underweight prevalence among individuals with ASD. The assessment of study quality will be conducted primarily using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale and checklist proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Prevalence estimates of obesity and overweight will be separately pooled using random-effects model. The pooled estimates will be summarized and presented by regional groupings. Subgroup analysis will be conducted for variables (such as study setting, participants’ age, and geographical region) across studies, depending on data availability. Between-study heterogeneity will be assessed using the I2 statistic and explored through subgroup analyses. This systematic review and meta-analysis will be reported following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses checklist and the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology statements guidelines for meta-analysis and systematic reviews of observational studies. Results: In this study, we will outline details of the aims and methods on the meta-analysis of weight status of individuals with ASD. Conclusion: The results of this study will summarize the current data of weight status of individuals with ASD. Registration: PROSPERO-National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42019130790).

Magnetic solid-phase extraction is an effective and useful technique to preconcentrate trace analytes from food samples. In this study, a magnetic trimeric chromium octahedral metal-organic framework (Fe3O4-NH2@MIL-101) was fabricated and characterized. Fe3O4-NH2@MIL-101 was applied as an adsorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography to effectively isolate and simultaneously determine six Sudan dyes (Para Red, Sudan I–IV, and Sudan Red 7B) from tomato sauce. Potential factors affecting the MSPE were investigated in detail, and adsorption efficiency of Fe3O4-NH2@MIL-101 was compared with those of conventional adsorbents, such as neutral alumina, HLB, and C18. The developed method facilitated the extraction with using only 3 mg of adsorbent in 2 min. In addition, enhancement factors of 50, linear range of 0.01–25 μg/mL, and detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0.5–2.5 μg/kg were obtained. The intra-day and inter-day recoveries for spiked Sudan dyes were in the range of 72.6%–92.9% and 69.6%–91.6%, respectively, with relative standard deviations of ≤9.2%.

Idiopathic mesenteric phlebosclerosis (IMP) is a rare clinical manifestation of ischemic enteropathy. There are no specific manifestations in the early stages. Digestive symptoms only present in the advanced stage. Diagnosis relies on extensive calcification of the mesenteric venule and extensive intestinal wall thickening via computed tomography (CT) scanning. A 50 years old Chinese woman who had taken herbal medicine for three years was diagnosed with IMP. All treatment after admission was in vain and she died 30 days thereafter. Therefore, when a patient with long-term oral intake of herbal medicine, which contains geniposde, presents with unknown ischemia, abdominal pain, mucinous stools, bloody stools, attention should be paid to screen IMP.

Understanding the physical mechanism of major earthquakes is very important for earthquake prediction and its disaster reduction. The mainstream hypotheses on earthquake mechanism are reviewed in this paper. It is pointed out that the elastic rebound and stick-slip hypotheses, both of which are usually used to explain the mechanism of shallow earthquakes, have some serious drawbacks, and that such hypotheses explaining the mechanism of intermediate and deep earthquakes as the dehydration embrittlement, phase transition instability, shear melting and anticrack-associated faulting, are inconsistent with some observation data. Thus, it is necessary to establish a new hypothesis or theory of earthquake mechanism. The brittle failure theory of multiple locked patches in a seismogenic fault system developed by us since 2010 is introduced in the present study. It is stated by the theory that the progressive failures of locked patch result in the occurrence of earthquakes due to the fault movement. Hereafter, the significant earthquakes occurred at its volume expansion and peak strength points are referred to as characteristic ones. The earthquake cases indicate that the seismogenic processes of shallow, intermediate and deep characteristic earthquakes can be well explained by the theory. We emphasize that both the elastic rebound and stick-slip hypotheses contain the same implicit assumption that there exist locked patches in the seismogenic faults, and that the source body of deep earthquakes is with appropriate environment conditions leading to brittle failures. Moreover, some controversial issues, such as seismic stress drop much less than that of rock failure in the laboratory test, heat flow paradox and Self-Organized Criticality (SOC), are discussed and can be reasonably explained by the theory. The present study shows that the physical mechanism of major earthquakes is attributed to the brittle failures of locked patches.

Cadmium (Cd) is a common heavy metal contamination that is highly toxic to liver. Puerarin (PU), a potent free radical scavenger, has been shown to exert cytoprotective effect in numerous pathological processes. However, whether PU affords protection against Cd-induced hepatotoxicity remains unclear to be known. Here, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of PU on Cd-induced hepatotoxicity in an immortalized mouse hepatocyte line, AML-12. First, Cd-induced cytotoxicity in AML-12 cells was obviously ameliorated by PU treatment. Also, Cd-induced apoptotic cell death was markedly alleviated by PU treatment, evidenced by two methods. Simultaneously, Cd-elevated malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species levels were significantly reduced by PU administration, demonstrating the antioxidant effect of PU against Cd exposure. Moreover, Cd-induced blockage of autophagic flux in AML-12 cells was obviously restored by PU treatment, evidenced by immunoblot analysis of autophagy marker proteins and tandem fluorescent-tagged LC3 method. Resultantly, Cd-induced autophagosome accumulation was significantly alleviated by PU treatment. In conclusion, these observations demonstrate that PU treatment alleviates Cd-induced hepatic cell damage by inhibiting apoptosis and restoring autophagy activity, which is intimately related with its antioxidant activity.

Artificial bee colony (ABC) has a good exploration ability against its exploitation ability. For enhancing its comprehensive performance, we proposed a multistrategy artificial bee colony (ABCVNS for short) based on the variable neighborhood search method. First, a search strategy candidate pool composed of two search strategies, i.e., ABC/best/1 and ABC/rand/1, is proposed and employed in the employed bee phase and onlooker bee phase. Second, we present another search strategy candidate pool which consists of the original random search strategy and the opposition-based learning method. Then, it is used to further balance the exploration and exploitation abilities in the scout bee phase. Last but not least, motivated by the scheme of neighborhood change of variable neighborhood search, a simple yet efficient choice mechanism of search strategies is presented. Subsequently, the effectiveness of ABCVNS is carried out on two test suites composed of fifty-eight problems. Furthermore, comparisons among ABCVNS and several famous methods are also carried out. The related experimental results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness and the superiority of ABCVNS.

High-efficient and economic sorbents are highly desired for arsenic (As) emission control in flue gas from coal-fired power plant. A series of Fe-Mn binary oxides were prepared by a facile method, and their behaviors for gaseous arsenic removal in flue gas were investigated. The binary oxide exhibited a remarkable synergistic effect for arsenic removal compared with Mn or Fe monometallic oxide. The possible effects of CO2, NO, SO2, and O2 on the removal performance were also studied. The adsorption ability was excellent and stable in simulated flue gas conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-performance liquid chromatography atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (HPLC−AFS) coupling system were applied to analyze the species of surface-adsorbed arsenicals and soluble arsenicals. It was confirmed that the good sorption performance resulted from oxidation of As2O3 (As(III)) to As2O5 (As(V)) by Mn oxide and followed by efficient adsorption of As(V) on Fe oxide. Considering the toxicity of pentavalent arsenicals is lower than trivalent arsenicals, the oxidation of arsenic compounds can not only enhance its removal capacity but also decrease the toxicity of arsenicals after capture.

Previous study has demonstrated that mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway is involved in the nephroprotective effect of puerarin (PU) against lead-induced cytotoxicity in primary cultures of rat proximal tubular (rPT) cells. To further clarify how PU exerts its antiapoptotic effects, this study was designed to investigate the role of mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) and subsequent apoptotic events in the process of PU against Pb-induced cytotoxicity in rPT cells. The results showed that Pb-mediated mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening together with mitochondrial cytochrome c release, activations of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and subsequent poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage can be effectively blocked by the addition of PU. Simultaneously, upregulation and downregulation of Bcl-2 and Bax with increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio due to PU administration further alleviated Pb-induced mitochondrial apoptosis. Moreover, PU can reverse Pb-induced ATP depletion by restoring mitochondrial fragmentation to affect ATP production and by regulating expression levels of ANT-1 and ANT-2 to improve ATP transport. In summary, PU produced a significant protection against Pb-induced mitochondrial apoptosis in rPT cells by inhibiting MPTP opening to ameliorate the mitochondrial dysfunction.

The widespread algorithms have deeply reshaped the nature of work, causing new challenges for organizations and individuals. Less studied, however, is the impact of algorithmic management - defined...

Bisperoxovanadium (pyridine-2-carboxyl) [bpV(pic)] is a commercially available PTEN inhibitor. Previous studies from us and others have shown that bpV(pic) confers neuroprotection in cerebral ischemia injury. We set up to determine whether ERK 1/2 activation plays a role in bpV(pic)-induced neuroprotective effect in cerebral ischemia injury. We found that the phosphorylation levels of Akt (p-AKT) and ERK1/2 (p-ERK 1/2) were down-regulated after cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury. The injection of bpV(pic) after injury not only increased the level of p-AKT but also the level of p-ERK 1/2. While the inhibition of PTEN mediated the up-regulatation of p-AKT and p-ERK 1/2 by bpV(pic). Interestingly, the ERK 1/2 activation induced by bpV(pic) was also independent of the inhibition of PTEN. Our results indicate that bpV(pic) protects against OGD-induced neuronal death and promotes the functional recovery of stroke animals through PTEN inhibition and ERK 1/2 activation, respectively. This study suggests that the effect of bpV(pic) on ERK 1/2 signaling should be considered while using bpV(pic) as a PTEN inhibitor. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11064-018-2558-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Based on the brittle failure theory of multiple locked patches in a seismogenic fault system and interplate seismic zoning principle proposed by the authors of this paper, the Islamabad–Kathmandu seismic zone is defined. Through seismogenic period definition and main shock event recognition, the seismogenic process of major/great earthquakes in this seismic zone is analyzed and the future trend of earthquake occurrence is predicted. The results show that the Islamabad–Kathmandu seismic zone is an Mw8.3∼8.6 earthquake hazard zone, and has undergone at least three complete seismogenic periods; the Nepal Mw7.8 earthquake on April 25, 2015 was a representative major earthquake event in the current seismogenic period when the damage of the third locked patch was accumulated to the peak strength point; After the Mw7.3 earthquake in Nepal on May 12, 2015, this seismic zone is already in another critical state of the current seismogenic period, and an Mw8.0∼8.2 earthquake would occur in short-middle term.

Since 1980's, all the developed countries have built up national computer network of education and scientific network, which have been the most important infrastructure of education and scientific research in these countries and facilitate their development. China began to invest in building Cernet (China Education and Research Network) since 1994.Many colleges and universities have set up their own campus network. Liaocheng University set up their own campus network in 1997. In order to ensure high availability, high stability and high security of campus network, network information center staff conducted a lot of practice to explore, finally we find some way for Liaocheng University.

With the popularity of the Internet and the rise of mobile Internet application, the Internet finance is growing rapidly. The Internet finance includes online shopping, mobile payment, online financial management etc. However, there exists security problems in third-party payment, online shopping, online banking, mobile payment, etc. In order to solve the security problems with Internet finance, on the one hand, government should establish and perfect law and regulation systems, standardize network security technology, strengthen the network supervision, and make more effort to crack down Internet crimes; on the other hand, Internet users need to enhance network security awareness, and network security researchers should provide methods and countermeasures to prevent the online frauds.

Stromal derived factor-1α (SDF-1α), a critical chemokine that promotes cell homing to target tissues, was presumed to be involved in the traumatic brain injury cortex. In this study, we determined the expression of SDF-1α in the hippocampus after transection of the fimbria fornix (FF). Realtime PCR and ELISA showed that mRNA transcription and SDF-1α proteins increased significantly after FF transection. In vitro, the expression of SDF-1α in radial glial cells (RGCs) incubated with deafferented hippocampus extracts was observed to be greater than in those incubated with normal hippocampus extracts. The co-culture of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and RGCs indicated that the extracts of deafferented hippocampus induced more NPCs migrating toward RGCs than the normal extracts. Suppression or overexpression of SDF-1α in RGCs markedly either decreased or increased, respectively, the migration of NPCs. These results suggest that after FF transection, SDF-1α in the deafferented hippocampus was upregulated and might play an important role in RGC induction of NPC migration; therefore, SDF-1α is a target for additional research for determining new therapy for brain injuries.

CIGS thin film solar cells on polyimide substrate was a significant developmental direction of solar cells and fabricating high quality CIGS thin film in low temperature was its pivotal technology. The development of manufacturing the CIGS thin film solar cells on polyimide substrate in low temperature was described. The specific principle, manufacturing technique and application prospect were also involved. The problem should be solved in the future progress of CIGS thin film on polyimide substrate was illustrated.

Researches on health monitoring technology of concrete structures by using piezoelectric smart aggregates have achieved a great development. However, the technique is not widely used so far in practical engineering. Because when constructing large-scale structural health monitoring (SHM) system using wire-based sensors, it requires a lot of cables to form a monitoring network, resulting in huge cost of abundant material of wires and labor for wire placement, and the relatively heavy maintenance work in case of failure of the SHM system. A kind of wireless sensor network based on the protocol for Zigbee802.15.4 and the passive piezoelectric smart health monitoring technology is developed in the paper. Through internal load monitoring tests of a concrete bridge model under impact loading, the developed wireless smart aggregate (WSA) health monitoring system is experimentally validated. The finite element method (FEM) is used to simulate the process as the same as the bridge model test, and the numerical results are consistent with those of the experiment. The experimental results show that the developed wireless system is stable and reliable, and can be applied in concrete bridge structure health monitoring under impact loading.

The cost of public rental housing depending on the view of life-cycle has been studied. The construction project life-cycle cost management paradigm consider both of the cost in construction period and the cost in operation period was proposed. The proposed construction of projects cost includes not only the cost of funding sense, should also include environmental costs and social cost. By reducing life-cycle cost of public rental housing, maximize the project value, so the economy and people's livelihood can truly improved.

Torque converter turboshaft is a hydraulic mechanical transmission devices of key components. In a new-mounted hydraulic mechanical transmission, super heavy laden vehicle during the test, the torque converter turboshaft fracture occurs when the vehicle traveling to 13 00 km, resulting in transmission power interruption, chassis parking problems. To achieve accurate positioning of the torque converter turboshaft fracture failure reasons, this paper analyzes the means of optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy, carried out on the fracture failure analysis, then using classical and finite element method to calculate the turboshaft intensity of the strength, and proposed optimization improvement program based on the cause of failure.

Partial interference alignment (PIA) strategies for the K-user interference channel are considered. Two schemes are proposed to align the partial interference for the downlink interference channel in the case ofK>3. In the first scheme, strong interferences are limited as much as possible by aligning the two strongest interferers into a same subspace at the receiver. While the second scheme is to design its precoding matrix (or vector) by selecting the precoder pair which maximizes the chordal distance between designed signal subspace and interference signal subspace in the set of pecoding matrices (or vectors) at each transmitter. Simulation results show that compared with the existing schemes which don’t optimize the precoder, such as Fixed-PIA, the proposed schemes can improve the sum rates significantly by selecting IA forms in multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems.

In this paper, we analyze and point out several weaknesses in the dynamic ID-based remote user authentication schemes using smart card for multi-server environments, and present the countermeasures to enhance the security of the schemes. Taking Li et al.'s scheme for instance, we demonstrate that their scheme does not provide forward secrecy and key privacy for the session keys, and cannot resist offline password guessing attack. Furthermore, the reasons of these security weaknesses are analyzed through extending the attacks to its predecessors. Finally, the improved ideas of local verification and authenticated Diffie-Hellman key agreement are presented to overcome the weaknesses mentioned above.

In order to obtain the sheet metal anisotropy under wide strain range, plane strain compression method with laminated samples is investigated. In the experiments, two laminated samples are introduced, sample 1 is deformed at rolling and thickness direction, and sample 2 is deformed at rolling and transverse direction. In the paper, the ratio of deformation forces obtained from sample 2 (p2 ) to sample1( p1) is used to assess the anisotropy of sheet metal, and verified by analytical method. The results show that the ratio of p2top1 is the function of anisotropic index r, and the anisotropic assessment by this method has a good agreement with that obtained by universal uniaxial tensile test at uniform deformation.

In a phageλgenetic switch model, bistable dynamical behavior can be destroyed due to the bifurcation caused by inappropriately chosen model parameters. Since the values of many parameters with biological significance often cannot be accurately acquired, it is thus of fundamental importance to analyze how and to which extent the system dynamics is influenced by model parameters, especially those parameters pertaining to binding energies. In this paper, we apply a Jacobian method to investigate the relation between bifurcation and parameter uncertainties on a phageλOR model. By introducing bistable range as a measure of system robustness, we find that RNA polymerase binding energies have the minimum bistable ranges among all the binding energies, which implies that the uncertainties on these parameters tend to demolish the bistability more easily. Moreover, parameters describing mutual prohibition between proteins Cro and CI have finite bistable ranges, whereas those describing self-prohibition have infinity bistable ranges. Hence, the former are more sensitive to parameter uncertainties than the latter. These results help to understand the influence of parameter uncertainties on the bifurcation and thus bistability.