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Rice blast, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most devastating diseases for rice crops, significantly affecting crop yield and quality. During the infection process, M. oryzae secretes effector proteins that help in hijacking the host's immune responses to establish infection. However, little is known about the interaction between the effector protein AvrPik-D and the host protein Pikh, and how AvrPik-D increases disease severity to promote infection. In this study, we show that the M. oryzae effector AvrPik-D interacts with the zinc finger-type transcription factor WG7 in the nucleus and promotes its transcriptional activity. Genetic removal (knockout) of the gene WG7 in transgenic rice enhances resistance to M. oryzae and also results in an increased burst of reactive oxygen species after treatments with chitin. In addition, the hormone level of SA and JA, is increased and decreased respectively in WG7 KO plants, indicating that WG7 may negatively mediate resistance through salicylic acid pathway. Conversely, WG7 overexpression lines reduce resistance to M. oryzae. However, WG7 is not required for the Pikh-mediated resistance against rice blast. In conclusion, our results revealed that the M. oryzae effector AvrPik-D targets and promotes transcriptional activity of WG7 to suppress rice innate immunity to facilitate infection., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization from agricultural lands is a main source of atmospheric reduced nitrogen species (NH x ). Accurately quantifying its contribution to regional atmospheric NH x deposition is critical for controlling regional air nitrogen pollution. The stable nitrogen isotope composition (expressed by δ 15 N) is a promising indicator to trace atmospheric NH x sources, presupposing a reliable nitrogen isotopic signature of NH 3 emission sources. To obtain more specific seasonal δ 15 N values of soil NH 3 volatilization for reliable regional seasonal NH 3 source partitioning, we utilized an active dynamic sampling technique to measure the δ 15 N-NH 3 values volatilized from maize cropping land in northeast China. These values varied from -38.0 to -0.2‰, with a significantly lower rate-weighted value observed in the early period (May-June, -30.5 ± 6.7‰) as compared with the late period (July-October, -8.5 ± 4.3‰). Seasonal δ 15 N-NH 3 variations were related to the main NH 3 production pathway, degree of soil ammonium consumption, and soil environment. Bayesian isotope mixing model analysis revealed that without considering the seasonal δ 15 N variation in soil-volatilized NH 3 could result in an overestimate by up to absolute 38% for agricultural volatile NH 3 to regional atmospheric bulk ammonium deposition during July-October, further demonstrating that it is essential to distinguish seasonal δ 15 N profile of agricultural volatile NH 3 in regional source apportionment.

Most of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are non or weakly emissive due to either the molecular thermal motion-mediated energy dissipation or the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. Herein, we synthesize an imine-linked COF (TFPPy-TPh-COF) with high electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emission and the capability of eliminating the ACQ effect and further construct an ECL sensor for malathion detection. The imine-linked COF is obtained by the condensation reaction of (1,1':3',1″-terphenyl)-4,4″-diamine (TPh) and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-formylphenyl)pyrene (TFPPy), and it has higher ECL efficiency than TFPPy aggregates due to the separation of ACQ luminophores (i.e., TFPPy) from each other by TPh and the restriction of intramolecular motions of TFPPy and TPh to reduce the nonradiative decay. The efficient quenching of ECL is achieved by electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ERET) from the excited state of the TFPPy-TPh-COF to zeolite imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and the steric hindrance of ZIF-8. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) can enzymatically hydrolyze acetylcholine (ACh) to generate acetic acid. The resultant acetic acid can trigger the dissolution of ZIF-8 to produce an enhanced ECL signal. Malathion as an organophosphorus pesticide serves as an AChE inhibitor to prevent the production of acetic acid, inducing the decrease of ECL signal. This sensor displays a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.44 pg/mL and a wide dynamic detection range of 0.01-1000 ng/mL. Furthermore, it can be used to detect other organophosphates pesticides (e.g., methidathion, chlorpyrifos, and paraoxon) and measure malathion in real samples (i.e., pakchoi, lettuce, and apples)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Wei safflower seed oil (WSO) prepared by the cold pressing method and organic solvent extraction method was characterized in this study. The yield of cold-pressed WSO (CP-WSO) was inferior to that of n -hexane-extracted WSO (HE-WSO). The physicochemical properties (refractive index, density, iodine value, insoluble impurities) and fatty acid compositions were similar, and both were rich in linoleic acid. However, CP-WSO had better color and less solvent residue. The type and content of vitamin E in CP-WSO was also superior to that in HE-WSO, which explained the high oxidative stability of CP-WSO in the Rancimat test. Our results provide a reference for the development of Wei safflower seed oil.

Ferroptosis-based nanoplatforms have shown great potential in cancer therapy. However, they also face issues such as degradation and metabolism. Carrier-free nanoplatforms consisting of active drugs can effectively avoid the security issues associated with additional carrier ingredients. Herein, a biomimetic carrier-free nanoplatform (HESN@CM) was designed to treat cancer by modulating cascade metabolic pathways of ferroptosis. CCR2-overexpressing macrophage membrane-modified HESN can target cancer cells via the CCR2-CCL2 axis. The acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) can disrupt the supramolecular interaction of HESN, releasing hemin and erastin. Then, erastin could induce cancer cells ferroptosis by inhibiting system X C - pathways, while hemin, a vital component of blood to transport oxygen, could be broken down by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), increasing the intracellular Fe 2+ concentration to induce cancer cells' ferroptosis further. Meanwhile, erastin could enhance the activity of HO-1, further promoting the release of Fe 2+ from hemin. As a result, HESN@CM demonstrated superior therapeutic efficacy in both primary and metastatic tumors in vitro and in vivo. The carrier-free HESN@CM provided cascade ferroptosis tumor therapy strategies for potential clinical application. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: CCR2-overexpressing biomimetic carrier-free nanoplatform (HESN@CM) was designed for cancer treatment by modulating metabolic pathways of ferroptosis. HESN modified with CCR2-overexpressing macrophage membrane can target tumor cells via the CCR2-CCL2 axis. HESN was composed of hemin and erastin without additional vectors. Erastin could directly induce ferroptosis, while hemin could be broken down by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), increasing the intracellular Fe 2+ concentration to enhance ferroptosis further. Meanwhile, erastin could improve the activity of HO-1, promoting the release of Fe 2+ from hemin. Therefore, HESN@CM with good bioavailability, stability, and simple preparation can realize cascade ferroptosis tumor therapy and have the potential prospect of clinical translation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous research showed the use of supraglottic airways in obstetric anesthesia. The relevant evidence of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) on maternal and neonatal outcomes is still limited. We aimed to assess the maternal and neonatal outcomes when the LMA Supreme was used for cesarean section under general anesthesia., Methods: We included all patients who underwent general anesthesia for cesarean section between January 2010 and December 2019. Propensity score matching was used to reduce potential bias from non-random selection of airway intervention. The primary outcome was adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes defined as maternal regurgitation, aspiration, hypoxemia, and low neonatal Apgar scores. Secondary outcomes included patient admission to the intensive care unit, neonate required tracheal intubation, external cardiac massage, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit., Results: A total of 723 patients were included in the analysis; of whom, 221 received Supreme laryngeal mask airway (LMA group) and 502 were intubated with an endotracheal tube (ETT group). After propensity score matching, 189 patients remained in each group. No episode of regurgitation and aspiration occurred in both groups. There was no difference in the rates of Apgar score below 7 at 1 min (14.3% LMA group vs. 15.3% ETT group, OR 0.931, 95% CI 0.574 to 1.510, P = 0.772) and 5 min (3.7% vs. 4.2%, OR 0.875, 95% CI 0.324 to 2.365, P = 0.792). No difference was observed in the secondary outcomes between the two groups., Conclusion: The LMA Supreme was not associated with higher adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes when compared to an endotracheal tube for cesarean section under general anesthesia. It might be considered an alternative to tracheal intubation in obstetric practice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Geng, Li, Kong and Song.)

5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a novel regulator that can promote plant growth, nitrogen uptake, and abiotic stress tolerance. Its underlying mechanisms, however, have not been fully investigated. In this study, the effects of ALA on morphology, photosynthesis, antioxidant systems, and secondary metabolites in two cultivars of 5-year-old Chinese yew ( Taxus chinensis ) seedlings, 'Taihang' and 'Fujian', were examined under shade stress (30% light for 30 days) using different doses of ALA (0, 30, and 60 mg/L). The findings from our study show that shade stress significantly reduced plant height, stem thickness, and crown width and increased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. However, the application of 30 mg/L ALA effectively mitigated these effects, which further induced the activity of antioxidant enzymes under shade stress, resulting in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) being increased by 10%, 16.4%, and 42.1%, and 19.8%, 20.1%, and 42% in 'Taihang' and 'Fujian', respectively. It also promoted their role in the absorption, conversion, and efficient use of light energy. Additionally, the use of 30 mg/L ALA caused a significant increase in the concentration of secondary metabolites, including polysaccharide (PC), carotenoid (CR), and flavonoids (FA), with increases of up to 46.1%, 13.4%, and 35.6% and 33.5%, 7.5%, and 57.5% in both yew cultivars, respectively, contributing to nutrient uptake. With ALA treatment, the yew seedlings showed higher chlorophyll (total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a and b) levels and photosynthesis rates than the seedlings that received the shade treatment alone. To conclude, the application of 30 mg/L ALA alleviated shade stress in yew seedlings by maintaining redox balance, protecting the photorespiratory system, and increasing organic metabolites, thus increasing the number of new branches and shoots and significantly promoting the growth of the seedlings. Spraying with ALA may be a sustainable strategy to improve the shade-resistant defense system of yew. As these findings increase our understanding of this shade stress response, they may have considerable implications for the domestication and cultivation of yew.

Importance: Progression of myopia in a school-aged population due to home confinement (January to May 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic has been previously reported. A key remaining question was whether the myopia spike in children aged 6 to 8 years persisted., Objective: To investigate the changes in refractive status and prevalence of myopia in school-aged children 1 year after home confinement ended in China., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study with a cohort substudy prospectively evaluated data from school-based photoscreening in Feicheng, China. Children aged 6 to 13 years participated in 8 screenings from 2015 to 2021., Exposures: Noncycloplegic photorefraction was conducted using the Spot Vision photoscreener., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were the differences in spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and prevalence of myopia between 2020 (during home confinement) and 2021 (after home confinement). The SER was recorded for each child, and the prevalence of myopia was calculated annually for each age group., Results: A total of 325 443 children participated in the study (51.4% boys, 48.6% girls; age range, 6 to 13 years). Compared with 2020, the mean SER of children in 2021 increased significantly for those aged 6 (0.42 diopters [D]), 7 (0.41 D), and 8 (0.33 D) years. The prevalence of myopia in 2021 was similar to in 2019 for each age group (aged 6 years: 7.9% vs 5.7%; aged 7 years: 13.9% vs 13.6%; aged 8 years: 29.5% vs 26.2%). Both the prevalence of myopia and mean SER for these children returned to their prepandemic levels., Conclusions and Relevance: Compared with 2020, the prevalence of myopia among children aged 6 to 8 years in the 2021 screenings decreased, and the mean SER returned to prepandemic level. The refractive development in children aged 6 to 8 years may be most susceptible to environmental changes. These findings support the premise that age 6 to 8 years is a critical period for myopia development and suggest a need to focus preventive interventions for myopia control on children in this age range.

Background: There are some uncertainties about the effect of low-power red laser treatment on myopia control for anisometropic myopia in children. To evaluate the effect and safety of low-power red laser treatment on refractive development for anisometropic myopia in children, a contralateral comparison study was conducted., Methods: The more myopic eye of child with anisometropic myopia was treated with low-power red laser treatment (LRL group), the other eye received no treatment other than the wearing of single-focus spectacles (SFS) (SFS Group). The LRL treatment was given at home under parental guidance for 3 minutes each time, twice daily with a minimal interval of 4 hours, 7 days per week, using an equipment that produces red laser of 650 nm wavelength at an illuminance range of roughly 1200-1800 lux and an energy of 0.60 mw for a 4-mm pupil (class I classification)., Results: Among 51 included children, 44 (86.27%) completed the 3-months study, consisting of 15 girls (34.1%) and 29 boys (65.9%). After 3-months axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent refraction (SER) progression were -0.08 mm [95% CI (confidence interval), 0.11 to 0.06 mm] and +0.23 diopter (D) (95% CI, 0.13-0.33 D) for LRL group and +0.08 mm (95% CI, 0.05-0.11 mm) and -0.07 D (95% CI, -0.16-0.03 D) for SFS group. AL and SER progression between the groups varied by 0.17 mm (95% CI, 0.13-0.20 mm) and -0.30 D (95% CI, -0.42 to -0.18 D). There was no visible structural damage on optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans., Conclusions: AL growth, myopia progression, and anisometropia of the binoculars can all be slowed down by LRL treatment. Compared to SER progression, axial elongation is more accurate and simpler to monitor. LRL treatment unrecorded functional and structural damage of binoculus.

Purpose: To explore the associations between anthropometric indicators and refraction in school-aged children in the post-COVID-19 era., Methods: Data were collected from 25,644 children aged 7 to 12 years in 48 elementary schools in Tianjin. The comprehensive examination included height, weight, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), refraction, and calculation of BMI, with a follow-up visit after 6 months. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent refraction (SER) ≤-0.50 diopter (D). Bivariate correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression models were used to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between anthropometric indicators (height, weight, BMI, SBP, and DBP) and refraction., Results: The mean changes in height, weight, BMI, SBP, DBP, and SER of the participants were 4.03 ± 2.18 cm, 3.10 ± 2.39 kg, 0.45 ± 1.16 kg/m 2 , 2.26 ± 14.74 mmHg, 2.18 ± 11.79 mmHg and -0.17 ± 0.51 D, respectively. Overall, height, weight, BMI, SBP, and DBP were all correlated with SER ( r = -0.324, r = -0.234, r = -0.121, r = -0.112, r = -0.066, both p < 0.001), and changes in height and weight were correlated with changes in SER ( r = -0.034, -0.031, both p < 0.001). Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the association of BMI, SBP, and DBP with SER was significant in myopic children but not in non-myopic children. The association between changes in weight and changes in SER was only present in non-myopic children but not in myopic children., Conclusion: Height and weight were negatively correlated with SER in both cross-sectional analysis and longitudinal changes, indicating that children's height, weight and growth rate may be used as a reference indicator for myopia risk prediction and myopia progression monitoring., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Du, Ding, Guo, Abudukeyimu, Wang, Wang, Qi, Ning, Hua, Song, Li, Li, Zhang, Wei and Qian.)

Background: No convincing modalities have been shown to completely prevent postdural puncture headache (PDPH) after accidental dural puncture (ADP) during obstetric epidural procedures. We aimed to evaluate the role of epidural administration of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) in preventing PDPH following ADP, regarding the prophylactic efficacy and side effects., Methods: Between January 2019 and February 2021, patients with a recognized ADP during epidural procedures for labor or cesarean delivery were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the prophylactic strategies for the development of PDPH at a single tertiary hospital. The development of PDPH, severity and duration of headache, adverse events associated with prophylactic strategies, and hospital length of stay postpartum were reported., Results: A total of 105 patients experiencing ADP received a re-sited epidural catheter. For PDPH prophylaxis, 46 patients solely received epidural analgesia, 25 patients were administered epidural HES on epidural analgesia, and 34 patients received two doses of epidural HES on and after epidural analgesia, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the incidence of PDPH across the groups (epidural analgesia alone, 31 [67.4%]; HES-Epidural analgesia, ten [40.0%]; HES-Epidural analgesia-HES, five [14.7%]; P <0.001). No neurologic deficits, including paresthesias and motor deficits related to prophylactic strategies, were reported from at least 2 months to up to more than 2 years after delivery. An overall backache rate related to HES administration was 10%. The multivariable regression analysis revealed that the HES-Epidural analgesia-HES strategy was significantly associated with reduced risk of PDPH following ADP (OR = 0.030, 95% confidence interval: 0.006-0.143; P < 0.001)., Conclusions: The incorporated prophylactic strategy was associated with a great decrease in the risk of PDPH following obstetric ADP. This strategy consisted of re-siting an epidural catheter with continuous epidural analgesia and two doses of epidural HES, respectively, on and after epidural analgesia. The efficacy and safety profiles of this strategy have to be investigated further., (Copyright © 2023 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license.)

Despite revolutionary achievements have been made in clinical cancer therapy, the immune checkpoint blockade regimen still presents limited efficacy on tumors lack of neoantigens exposure. Here, we designed and synthesized an on-demand microwave-controlled ozone release nanosystem to specifically generate reactive oxygen species in tumor mass. By taking advantage of iRGD modification, the synthesized nanosystem can be specifically enriched in the tumor microenvironment and subsequently internalized by tumor cells. Triggered by the low-power microwave, ozone was released from the nanocarriers and inhibited tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Molecular mechanism investigation further unraveled that the released-ozone induced cytolytic cell death through the rapid generation of reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radical. The tumor-specific neoantigen derived from this immunogenic cell death promoted cytotoxic T-lymphocytes infiltration, which provided a fundament for immune checkpoint blockade therapy. In the triple-negative breast cancer animal model, tumor-specific delivery of ozone significantly improved the systematical anti-tumor efficacy of the PD-1 blockade antibody. Notably, tumor-locally confined microwave-controlled release avoided systematic toxicity in the tested animals. Collectively, our nanosystem provides a novel controllable strategy for promoting immune checkpoint blockade therapy, especially in tumor types deficient in infiltrated T-lymphocytes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pickering emulsion gels have potential application as solid fat substitutes and nutraceutical carriers in foods, but a safe and easily available food-derived particle emulsifier is the bottleneck that limits their practical application. In this study, the function of sorghum flour as a particle emulsifier to stabilize the oil-in-water (O/W) Pickering emulsion gels with medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in the oil phase was introduced. Sorghum flour had suitable size distribution (median diameter, 21.47 μm) and wettability (contact angle, 38°) and could reduce the interfacial tension between MCT and water. The oil phase volume fraction ( φ ) and the addition amount of sorghum flour ( c ) had significant effects on the formation of Pickering emulsion gels. When c ≥ 5%, Pickering emulsion gels with φ = 70% could be obtained. Microstructure analysis indicated that sorghum flour not only played an emulsifying role at the O/W interface but also prevented oil droplets from coalescing through its viscous effect in the aqueous phase. With increases in c , the droplet size of the emulsion gel decreased, its mechanical properties gradually strengthened, and its protective effect on β-carotene against UV irradiation also improved.

Based on data mining, an innovative big data analysis platform was utilized to discuss the treatment of cancer in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) by dasatinib, aiming to offer help to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. An integrated gene expression analysis system (IEAS) was firstly constructed to automatically classify data in the online human Mendelian genetic database using clustering algorithms. At the same time, the gene expression profile was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) in the analysis system. In addition, the efficacy of dasatinib in the treatment of patients with advanced CML was then retrospectively analyzed. The results showed that the IEAS system could incorporate the gene expression analysis vectors it contained by JAVA-related technologies, and the generated clustering genes showed similar functions. The clustering algorithm could homogenize data and generate visual clustering heat maps. The analysis results of major elements were diverse under different experimental conditions. The characteristic value of the first major element was the largest. Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) datasets of CML patients were selected from cancer genomic map, including 120 samples and 20,614 mRNA in total. In micro-RNA (miRNA) datasets, there were 202 samples including 1,406 miRNAs. Data were screened by miRNA-mRNA regulation template, and 20 differentially expressed mRNAs were obtained. In conclusion, the proposed IEAS system could mine and analyze the gene expression data. Dasatinib showed good efficacy in the treatment of patients with advanced CML. Besides, it could improve visual queries, and data mining had a broad application prospect in clinical application. Dasatinib was considered to be a good option for patients with advanced CML., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Linlin Song et al.)

Background: Trastuzumab has significantly improved the outcomes of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer over 20 years, and remains a cornerstone of treatment for this subtype today. Higher mortality was reported in underinsured breast cancer, but the mechanism remains unclear. Financial support for trastuzumab has transitioned from no support, to the Breast Cancer Assistant Program (BCAP), and finally, health insurance. Exploring the association between survival outcomes and different financial supports is necessary to further improve the outcomes of HER2-positive breast cancer in resource-limited regions., Methods: A prospective cohort of primary early unilateral HER2-positive breast cancer patients registered between January 2002 and December 2020 was used. Patients were divided into the following 3 groups, based on when they were diagnosed with breast cancer: (I) before 2011 (no financial support); (II) 2011-2017 (BCAP support); and (III) 2018 onwards (health insurance support). Overall survival and invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) were the primary outcomes. The follow-up was performed according the standard procedure. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to explore the association between financial support and prognosis with adjustment of demographic and clinicopathological characteristics, and treatments., Results: A total of 2,972 patients were finally identified. During the median follow-up period of 3.9 years, there were 153 breast cancer-related deaths. When fully adjusted potential covariates, patients supported by the BCAP had a 37% [hazard ratio (HR): 0.63, 95% CI: 0.41-0.96] decreased risk of overall mortality and that of patients covered by health insurance had a 64% decreased of overall mortality (HR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.17-0.74) when compared with those who did not receive any financial support. Lower overall mortality was observed in patients covered by a higher reimbursement rate (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.49-0.94) or the urban scheme (HR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.43-0.86) than those covered by a lower reimbursement rate or the rural scheme. The same trends were also observed for iDFS and breast cancer-specific survival., Conclusions: Our findings revealed the independent role of financial support in improving the survival outcomes of the HER2-positive breast cancer in resource-limited regions and the underneath mechanism., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://gs.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/gs-22-229/coif). XZ reports that this work was supported by the 1.3.5 Project for Disciplines of Excellence, West China Hospital, Sichuan University (No. ZYJC21035 to XZ). TL reports that this work was supported by the Key Research and Development Project of the Science & Technology Department of Sichuan Province (No. 2021YFS0235 to TL). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2022 Gland Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Red raspberry contains a variety of bioactive ingredients and has high edible and medicinal value. Red raspberry extractions (RREs) have strong antioxidant capacity and anticancer ability in vivo and in vitro. This study was to explore the specific mechanism of RREs inhibiting the proliferation of liver cancer HepG2 cells and provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of liver cancer by RREs. HepG2 cells were cultured in vitro, and MTT assay was adopted to detect the effect of RREs on HepG2 cell activity. Colony formation assay was applied to detect the growth and proliferation of cells, cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay was adopted to detect the effect of RREs on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells. The effect of RREs on cell mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated by mitochondrial membrane potential assay kit with JC-1 (JC-1 assay), and western blot was used to detect the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated x (Bax), and Caspase-3), thus investigating the effect of RREs on the molecular mechanism of HepG2 cell apoptosis. The results showed that RREs could inhibit the proliferation activity of HepG2 cells and promote their apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. The level of ROS in HepG2 cells interfered by RREs increased markedly, while the cell mitochondrial membrane potential decreased sharply. As the concentration of HepG2 increased, the mitochondrial membrane potential reduced steeply. Western blot results showed that the expression of apoptosis-related protein Bcl-2 in the RREs treatment group dropped, but the expression of Bax and Caspase-3 rose. In summary, RREs could inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer HepG2 cells and promote their apoptosis. This inhibition might be executed by inducing HepG2 cells to produce ROS, a decrease in Bcl-2/Bax protein ratio, and an obvious reduction in mitochondrial membrane potential., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Linlin Song et al.)

Background: The lymph nodes between the sternocleidomastoid and sternohyoid muscle (LNSS) are not explicitly mentioned in the 2015 American Thyroid Association and 2008 American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) guidelines, but they are easily overlooked in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We prospectively evaluated the clinical significance of the LNSS in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients., Method: In five medical centers, two hundred and thirty-four PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis who underwent 264 neck dissection were enrolled in this study. LNSS was resected and used as a specimen to investigate the relationship of LNSS with several clinicopathological parameters., Result: Of the 264 lateral neck dissections, the average lymph node metastasis rate of LNSS was 23.48%, significantly second only to that in level III (p<0.05). Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a patient age over 45 years (OR 2.155, 95% CI 1.191 to 3.898, p = 0.011), with a tumor located in the inferior lobe of the thyroid (OR 1.517, 95% CI 1.113 to 2.068, p = 0.008), and LN metastasis at levels IIb (OR 2.298, 95% CI 1.121 to 4.712, p = 0.020) and level III (OR 2.408, 95% CI 1.222 to 4.745, p = 0.011) were independent risk factors for LNSS lymphatic metastasis., Conclusion: The LNSS has a high metastatic rate and is easily overlooked. Additional attention should be paid to LNSS, especially in patients over 45 years old and with PTC located in the thyroid's inferior lobe., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. However, the work from the same cohort named “Lymph node metastasis between the superior belly of the omohyoid and internal jugular veins in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients: A prospective and multicenter analysis” was presented as a poster at the recent 89 Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association. That original article is not published or under review., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.)

Purpose: The aim of the study is to compare the femoral triangle (FT) and adductor canal (AC) blocks in terms of the analgesic efficacy and ambulatory outcomes in the context of multimodal analgesia following total knee arthroplasty (TKA)., Methods: Patients presenting for TKA were assigned to a preoperative ultrasound-guided single-injection FT or AC block. Combined spinal and epidural anesthesia with bupivacaine was administered for TKA. Perioperatively a multimodal analgesic regimen was applied up to 48 h after surgery. The primary outcome was the average pain score during movement in the first 24 h postoperatively. The secondary outcomes included pain scores at rest and during movement at postoperative predetermined time points, cumulative opioid consumption in oral morphine equivalents, functional mobility measured by the timed "Up and Go" (TUG) test and muscle strength in the lower extremity., Results: Ninety-eight patients completed the study. Patients in the FT group had lower median pain scores during movement in the first 24 h postoperatively than those in the AC group (1.3 [1.0-3.3] vs. 3.0 [1.7-4.3]; median difference: - 1.0, adjusted 95% CI from - 1.7 to - 0.3, P = 0.010). There were significant differences in the pain scores at rest and during movement at 12 and 24 h postoperatively between the two groups (P = 0.008 and 0.005, respectively). Cumulative oral morphine equivalent consumption in the first and second 24 h postoperatively, Functional mobility reflected by the TUG test and muscle strength in the lower extremity showed no significantly statistically differences between the two groups., Conclusions: The preoperative FT block provided improved analgesic outcomes without compromising functional mobility in the context of multimodal analgesia following TKA compared with the AC block., Trial Registration: https://www.chictr.org.cn . Identifier: ChiCTR-INR-17012716.

Purpose: To study the epidemiology of myopia in school-aged children in Tianjin and the relationship between visual acuity-based screening and refraction-based screening., Method: This school-based prospective cohort study was performed on children from 42 elementary schools and 17 middle schools in Tianjin, China. Totally 14,551 children, ages ranging from 5 to 16 years, were included in this study. Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was determined by logarithmic tumbling E chart. Non-cycloplegic photorefraction was examined by the Spot (v2.1.4) photoscreener. The relationship between the UCVA and refractive error was investigated for different age groups., Results: The overall prevalence of myopia at this school based screen is 78.2%, ranged from 10% at age of 5 to 95% at age of 16. The most dramatic increase in prevalence is from age of 6 (14.8%) to age of 7 (38.5%). The overall prevalence of high myopia is 2.5%. UCVA is found corresponding to spherical equivalent refraction (SER) in a manner of normal distribution and is significantly affected by age. When using UCVA to estimate the prevalence of myopia, the overall sensitivity and specificity are 0.824 and 0.820, respectively. Age-dependent optimal cutoff points and 95% confident intervals of such estimation are reported., Conclusions: Myopia is heavily affecting school-aged children in Tianjin, China. The refraction screening is preferable for myopia screening, whereas the UCVA screening results need to be interpreted in an age-dependent manner for myopia estimation.

Antioxidants induce the proliferation of cancers by decreasing the expression of p53. Propofol, one of the most extensively used intravenous anesthetics, provides its antioxidative activity via activation of the nuclear factor E2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) pathway, but the mechanisms involved in the effects remain unknown. Thus, we aimed to investigate the function of p53 and Nrf2 in the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 following treatment with propofol. The cells were treated with propofol (2, 5 and 10 µg/ml) for 1, 4 and 12 h, and MTT assay was used to evaluate cell proliferation, and a wound healing assay was used to evaluate cell migration. Cell apoptosis, caspase-3 activity, and western blot analysis for p53 and Nrf2 protein were also assessed. Finally, PIK-75, a potent Nrf2 inhibitor, was used to confirm the effects of Nrf2 after treatment with propofol. Treatment of MDA-MB‑231 cells with propofol resulted in increased proliferation and migration in a dose- and time-dependent manner. After treatment with propofol for 12 h, the Nrf2 protein expression was increased, while the percentage of apoptotic cells, caspase-3 activity, and expression of p53 were significantly decreased. Additionally, treatment with the Nrf2 inhibitor increased the percentage of apoptotic cells, inhibited the migration almost completely, and decreased the degree of proliferation, while the expression of p53 was not affected. In conclusion, propofol increased the proliferation of human breast cancer MDA-MB‑231 cells, which was at least partially associated with the inhibition of the expression of p53, and induced cell migration, which was involved in the activation of the Nrf2 pathway.

The activity of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) plays a predominant role in the clearance of HBV. Dendritic cells (DCs) are key antigen-presenting cells and play an important role in the initiation of immune responses. We previously verified that lentiviral vector encoding ubiquitinated hepatitis B core antigen (LV-Ub-HBcAg) effectively transduced DCs to induce maturation, and the mature DCs efficiently induced T cell polarization to Th1 and generated HBcAg-specific CTLs ex vivo. In this study, HBV-specific immune responses of LV-Ub-HBcAg in BALB/c mice (H-2Kd) were evaluated. It was shown that direct injection of LV-Ub-HBcAg increased the production of cytokines IL-2 and IFN-γ, elicited strong antibody responses, and remarkably generated a high percentage of IFN-γ+CD8+ T cells with HBV-specific CTL responses in BALB/c mice. In addition, direct injection of LV-Ub-HBcAg induced potent anti-HBV immune responses, similar to those elicited by in vitro-transduced DCs. In conclusion, the DC-based therapeutic vaccine LV-Ub-HBcAg elicited specific antibody immune responses and induced robust specific CTL activity in vivo., (© The Author 2015. Published by ABBS Editorial Office in association with Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

A new photothermal coupling agent for photothermal ablation (PTA) therapy of tumors is developed based on ultrathin PEGylated W18O49 nanowires. After being injected with the nanowire solution, the in vivo tumors exhibit a rapid temperature rise to 50.0 ± 0.5 °C upon irradiation with NIR laser light at a safe, low intensity (0.72 W cm(-2)) for 2 min (left-hand mouse in the figure),), resulting in the efficient PTA of cancer cells in vivo in 10 min., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Objective: To evaluate the clinical profile of target-controlled infusion-based anesthesia using remifentanil and propofol., Methods: 16 ASA I-II patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled. Remifentanil was set at 7 micrograms.L-1 as target and profol at 3 mg.L-1 throughout the whole procedure. The hemodynamics during induction of anesthesia and recovery profiles were recorded. Arterial blood samples for analysis of remifentanil were taken 15 min after infusion, 20 min after infusion and at time of emergence., Results: After induction of anesthesia, systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased from (144 +/- 27) mm Hg to (101 +/- 18) mm Hg (P < 0.05), mean blood pressure (MBP) decreased from (102 +/- 15) mm Hg to (69 +/- 13) mm Hg (P < 0.05) and heart rate (HR) decreased from (77 +/- 14) beats.min-1 to (63 +/- 12) beats.min-1 (P > 0.05). SBP, MBP and HR remained stable after intubation for 3 min. No patient showed haemodynamic stress to tracheal intubation. Times from stopping administration of anesthetics until full spontaneous respiration, eye opening, tracheal extubation, orientation and discharging from the postanesthetic care unit (PACU) were (12 +/- 6), (9 +/- 4), (13 +/- 6), (15 +/- 5) and (19 +/- 7) min respectively. Measured drug values of remifentanil were (4.6 +/- 9.5) microgram.L-1, (6.6 +/- 11.5) microgram.L-1, (1.2 +/- 8.7) microgram.L-1 respectively., Conclusion: Remifentanil/propofol TCI-based anesthesia achieved the optimal hemodynamic stability during anesthesia induction and maintenance, and better recovery profile from anesthesia. Measured drug values of remifentanil showed a considerable interindividual variation and more lower than the set target.