Search

This study examined the associations between sensory impairment (SI), lack of social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, and depressive symptoms among Americans aged 50 and above. We employed data from the 2018 and 2020 Health and Retirement Study (N = 13,460) to examine four SI groups: no SI, visual impairment (VI) only, hearing impairment (HI) only, and dual sensory impairment (DSI). First, multilevel models were employed to estimate the associations between SI and depressive symptoms before and during the pandemic using the full dataset (N = 13,460). Second, linear regression models were employed to estimate the moderation effect of lack of social contact during the pandemic using the 2020 wave data only (N = 4,133). Among older adults, 15.60% had VI only, 10.16% had HI only, and 9.66% had DSI. All SI groups reported significantly more depressive symptoms than the no SI group. The differences between older adults with VI and DSI and those without SI regarding depressive symptoms narrowed during the pandemic. There was no statistically significant moderation effect of lack of social contact for SI and depressive symptoms. Older adults with SI faced mental health challenges and demonstrated psychological resilience during the pandemic. Future research should examine other risk factors that may modify the relationship between SI and mental health during public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Characterization of early breast cancer circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may provide valuable information on tumor metastasis. Methods: We used immunomagnetic nanospheres to capture CTCs from the peripheral blood of eight early breast cancer patients and then performed single‐cell RNA sequencing using our proposed bead‐dd‐seq method. Results: CTCs displayed obvious tumor cell characteristics, such as the activation of oxidative stress, proliferation, and promotion of metastasis. CTCs were clustered into two subtypes significantly correlated with the lymph node metastasis status of patients. CTCs in subtype 1 showed a strong metastatic ability because these CTCs have the phenotype of partial epithelial‐mesenchymal transition and enriched transcripts, indicating breast cancer responsiveness and proliferation. Furthermore, DNA damage repair pathways were significantly upregulated in subtype 1. We performed in vitro and in vivo investigations, and found that cellular oxidative stress and further DNA damage existed in CTCs. The activated DNA damage repair pathway in CTCs favors resistance to cisplatin. A checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor sensitized CTCs to cisplatin in mouse models of breast cancer metastasis. Conclusion: The present study dissects the molecular characteristics of CTCs from early‐stage breast cancer, providing novel insight into the understanding of CTC behavior in breast cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anonymous data collection systems are often necessary when assessing sensitive behaviors but can pose challenges to researchers seeking to link participants over time. To assist researchers in anonymously linking participants, we outlined and tested a novel security question linking (security question linking; SEEK) method. The SEEK method includes four steps: (1) data management and standardization, (2) many-to-many matching, (3) fuzzy matching, and (4) rematching and verification. The method is demonstrated in SAS with two samples from a longitudinal study of adolescent dating violence. After an initial assessment during a laboratory visit, participants were asked to complete an online assessment either (a) once, 3 months later (Sample 1, n = 60), or (b) three times at 1-month intervals (Sample 2, n = 140). Demographics, eye color, and responses to nine security questions were used as key variables to link responses from the laboratory and online follow-up assessments. The rates of matched cases were 100% in Sample 1 and from 94.3 to 98.3% in Sample 2. To quantify the confidence in the data quality of successfully matched pairs, we reported the means and standard deviations of the number of matched security questions. In addition, we reported the rank order and counts of the mismatched components in key variables. Results indicate that the SEEK method provides a feasible and reliable solution to link responses in longitudinal studies with sensitive questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that inflammation and oxidative stress are important factors in postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF). Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and apelin have a close relationship with inflammation and oxidative stress. The effect of ACE and apelin on POAF after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) remains a question. The concentrations of serum ACE, angiotensin II (Ang II), apelin, bradykinin (BK), malondialdehyde (MDA), and C reactive protein (CRP) were measured in the perioperative period of OPCABG. The levels of serum ACE in the POAF group were higher than in the no POAF group both preoperatively and postoperatively. Apelin in the POAF group was lower than in the no POAF group. There was a correlation between serum ACE and apelin. Postoperatively, CRP and MDA in the POAF group were higher than in the no POAF group; however, there was no difference before the operation. Preoperative ACE and apelin were both significant and independent risk factors for POAF. In conclusion, the high ACE and low apelin preoperatively led to CRP and MDA being increased postoperatively, which was probably associated with POAF after OPCABG. Apelin may be a new predictor for POAF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effect of music therapy on children with leukemia who have peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC). In this study, we divided 107 patients undergoing PICC into music group (47 cases) and control group (60 cases). The music group received music therapy during PICC, while the control group was given no complementary treatment. The total length of catheterization, the use of sedatives and the changes of pain level and emotion level before and after PICC placement were compared between two groups. Compared with the control group, the total PICC placement time of the music group was significantly shorter (35(30–40) vs. 60(60–60); Z = −8.307; p < 0.001), and the use of sedative medications was also significantly reduced (4.35% (n = 2) vs. 91.84% (n = 45); p < 0.001). Moreover, the pain of catheterization was significantly alleviated. The median difference of pain scores of the music group was significantly less (2(1–3) vs. 5(5–5); p < 0.001). The mood of patients was also improved. The median difference of emotional scores of the music group was significantly more (5(4.75–6) vs. 3(3–3); p < 0.001) than the control group. Music therapy is effective to use in PICC. It can shorten the treatment time, reduce the use of sedative medications, and improve the children's emotion and pain response significantly, which is worth clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetradium trichotomum Lour., is a plant species endemic to tropical South East Asia with particular medicinal importance. However, very little analysis in this plant has been studied up to now from a phytochemical viewpoint. One new amide alkaloid (wuchuyuamide V, 1), as well as two known amide alkaloids-wuchuyuamide III (2), and wuchuyuamide I (3) were obtained from the fruits of T. trichotomum for the first time. The structures of wuchuyuamide V (1) and wuchuyuamide III (2) were unambiguously elucidated by 1D and 2D-NMR spectra, mass spectrometry, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the chief diabetes mellitus complications. Inflammation factors may be one reason for the damage from DM. The purpose of this research is to study the potential protective effects of puerarin on DM and the possible mechanisms of action related to NF-κB signal pathway. Following administration of puerarin to the disease model rat, several changes were observed including the changes of serum biochemical index, improved diastolic dysfunction, and enhanced endogenous antioxidant enzymes activities, further NF-κB signaling activation. Puerarin showed cardio-protective effects on DCM by inhibiting inflammation, and it might be a potential candidate for the treatment of DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrin is an important gastrointestinal hormone produced primarily by G-cells in the antrum of the stomach. It normally regulates gastric acid secretion and is implicated in a number of human disease states, but how its function affects breast cancer (BC) development is not documented. The current study investigated the suppressive effects of gastrin on BC and its underlying mechanisms.Methods: Serum levels of gastrin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and correlation between gastrin level and development of BC was analyzed by chi-square test. Inhibitory effects of gastrin on BC were investigated by CCK-8 assay and nude mice models. Expressions of CCKBR/ERK/P65 in BC patients were determined through immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot. Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank test.Results: The results indicated that the serum level of gastrin in BC patients was lower compared with normal control. Cellular and molecular experiments indicated that reduction of gastrin is associated with inactivation of cholecystokinin B receptor (CCKBR)/ERK/P65 signaling in BC cells which is corresponding to molecular type of estrogen receptor (ER) positive BC. Furthermore, we found that low expression of gastrin/CCKBR/ERK /P65 was correlated to worse prognosis in BC patients. Gastrin or ERK/P65 activators inhibited ER+ BC through CCKBR-mediated activation of ERK/P65. Moreover, combination treatment with gastrin and tamoxifen more efficiently inhibited ER+ BC than tamoxifen alone.Conclusions: We concluded that low serum gastrin is related to increased risk of ER+ BC development. The results also established that CCKBR/ERK/P65 signaling function is generally tumor suppressive in ER+ BC, indicating therapies should focus on restoring, not inhibiting, CCKBR/ERK/P65 pathway activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new isoflavane, suaeglaucin A (1), which was isolated from the herb of Suaeda glauca (Bunge) Bunge, was elucidated as 5,6,8-trimethoxy-7- hydroxycoumaronochromone based on its MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. The structure of compound 1 was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Five known compounds (2-6) were also isolated. All compounds were isolated for the first time from Chenopodiaceae. We found that compounds 2 and 4 possessed moderate antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-Amylase as an important industrial enzyme has been widely used in starch processing, detergent, and paper industries. To improve expression efficiency of recombinant α-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis (B. licheniformis), the α-amylase gene from B. licheniformis was optimized according to the codon usage of Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) and expressed in P. pastoris. Totally, the codons encoding 305 amino acids were optimized in which a total of 328 nucleotides were changed and the G+C content was increased from 47.6 to 49.2%. The recombinants were cultured in 96-deep-well microplates and screened by a new plate assay method. Compared with the wild-type gene, the optimized gene is expressed at a significantly higher level in P. pastoris after methanol induction for 168 h in 5- and 50-L bioreactor with the maximum activity of 8100 and 11000 U/mL, which was 2.31- and 2.62-fold higher than that by wild-type gene. The improved expression level makes the enzyme a good candidate for α-amylase production in industrial use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]