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Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common urinary disease among the elderly, characterized by abnormal prostatic cell proliferation. Neferine is a dibenzyl isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from Nelumbo nucifera and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-prostate cancer effects. The beneficial therapeutic effects and mechanism of action of neferine in BPH remain unclear.A mouse model of BPH was generated by subcutaneous injection of 7.5 mg/kg testosterone propionate (TP) and 2 or 5 mg/kg neferine was given orally for 14 or 28 days. Pathological and morphological characteristics were evaluated. Prostate weight, prostate index (prostate/body weight ratio), expression of type Ⅱ 5α-reductase, androgen receptor (AR) and prostate specific antigen were all decreased in prostate tissue of BPH mice after administration of neferine. Neferine also downregulated the expression of pro-caspase-3, uncleaved PARP, TGF-β1, TGF-β receptor Ⅱ (TGFBR2), p-Smad2/3, N-cadherin and vimentin. Expression of E-cadherin, cleaved PARP and cleaved caspase-3 was increased by neferine treatment.1–100 μM neferine with 1 μM testosterone or 10 nM TGF-β1 were added to the culture medium of the normal human prostate stroma cell line, WPMY-1, for 24 h or 48 h. Neferine inhibited cell growth and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in testosterone-treated WPMY-1 cells and regulated the expression of androgen signaling pathway proteins and those related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, TGF-β1, TGFBR2 and p-Smad2/3, N-cadherin and vimentin expression were increased but E-cadherin was decreased after 24 h TGF-β1 treatment in WPMY-1 cells. Neferine reversed the effects of TGF-β1 treatment in WPMY-1 cells. Neferine appeared to suppress prostate growth by regulating the EMT, AR and TGF-β/Smad signaling pathways in the prostate and is suggested as a potential agent for BPH treatment.

Research on bullying and victimization has largely focused on univariate analyses on older children. Little is known regarding the bullying and victimization experience of young children with a person-centered approach, especially in Chinese affordable kindergarten settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and underlying profiles of bullying and victimization experiences. The study was based on a sample of 92,528 children aging from 2 to 6 years old enrolled in 582 Chinese affordable kindergartens. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted to identify latent profiles of participants based on their bullying-victimization characteristics. The results suggested that the most common bullying form was physical bullying, followed by verbal bullying, and social bullying. A three-class model was identified from the involved participants: not involved class, physical bully-victim class, and verbal-physical victim class. Male children were more likely to be in the "physical bully-victim" and "verbal-physical victim" class than female children. Children with one or more siblings were more likely than children with no sibling to be in the "physical bully-victim" and "verbal-physical victim" class. Our study suggests that bullying may be prevalent in affordable kindergarten and it is urgent to create a policy framework to identify, intervene and prevent bullying behaviors.

Background: This study was the first attempt to investigate the status of implementation and sustainability of early childhood positive behavior support (PBS) via the lens of implementation science for community-based child care centers in a Midwest state of the United States. Objective: Obtain state-level data and gain insights on PBS implementation and sustainability in target child care centers. Method: Through a total population sampling method, we recruited administrators (N = 94, 12% of the full population) of target child care centers to participate in a survey. Results: The results suggested that the majority of the responding centers (59.57%) had not received PBS professional development (PD) indicating PBS PD opportunities had not been disseminated in the majority of community-based child care centers in the target state. Nearly half of the programs were not implementing PBS practices after they received PBS PD, which raised questions about continuous use of PBS and the return on investment of PBS PD efforts. The results of ANOVA found that the scope of PBS training significantly affected the level of PBS implementation; the type of training significantly affected the level of PBS sustainability. Simple linear regression revealed programs that had a higher level of PBS implementation also had a higher level of PBS sustainability. Conclusions: Using implementation science theories and tools, we developed two preliminary measures to obtain meaningful information about early childhood PBS implementation and sustainability in community-based child care centers. Understanding the factors associated with implementation can provide insights for the improvement of PD programs when disseminating the use of evidence-based PBS practices.

The fundamental plane of black hole activity is a very important tool to study accretion and jets. However, we found that the SEDs of AGNs and XRBs are different in the 2–10 keV energy band, and it seems inappropriate to use 2–10 keV X-ray luminosities to study the fundamental plane. In this work, we use the luminosity near the peak of the blackbody radiation of the active galactic nuclei and black hole binaries to replace the 2–10 keV luminosity. We re-explore the fundamental plane of black hole activity by using the 2500 A˚ luminosity as the peak luminosity of the blackbody radiation of AGNs and 1 keV luminosity as the peak luminosity of the blackbody radiation of XRBs. We compile samples of black hole binaries and active galactic nuclei with luminosity near the peak luminosity of blackbody radiation and study the fundamental plane between radio luminosity (LR), the peak luminosity of blackbody radiation (Lpeak), and black hole mass (MBH). We find that the radio–peak luminosity correlations are L5GHz/LEdd∝(L2500A˚/LEdd)1.55 and L5GHz/LEdd∝(L1keV/LEdd)1.53 for AGN and XRB, respectively, in the radiatively efficient sample, and L5GHz/LEdd∝(L2500A˚/LEdd)0.48 and L5GHz/LEdd∝(L1keV/LEdd)0.53 in the radiatively inefficient sample, respectively. Based on the similarities in radio–peak correlations, we further propose a fundamental plane in radio luminosity, the peak luminosity of blackbody radiation, and black hole mass, which is radiatively efficient: logL5GHz=1.57−0.01+0.01logLpeak−0.32−0.16+0.16logMBH−27.73−0.34+0.34 with a scatter of σR = 0.48 dex, and radiatively inefficient: logL5GHz=0.45−0.01+0.01logLpeak+0.91−0.10+0.12logMBH+12.58−0.38+0.38 with a scatter of σR = 0.63 dex. Our results are similar to those of previous studies on the fundamental plane for radiatively efficient and radiatively inefficient black hole activity. However, our results exhibit a smaller scatter, so when using the same part of blackbody radiation (i.e., the peak luminosity of the blackbody radiation), the fundamental plane becomes a little bit tighter.

Background Escherichia coli is a commonly used faecal indicator bacterium to assess the level of faecal contamination in aquatic habitats. However, extensive studies have reported that sediment acts as a natural reservoir of E. coli in the extraintestinal environment. E. coli can be released from the sediment, and this may lead to overestimating the level of faecal contamination during water quality surveillance. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of E. coli habitat transition from sediment to water on its abundance in the water column. Methods This study enumerated the abundance of E. coli in the water and sediment at five urban lakes in the Kuala Lumpur-Petaling Jaya area, state of Selangor, Malaysia. We developed a novel method for measuring habitat transition rate of sediment E. coli to the water column, and evaluated the effects of habitat transition on E. coli abundance in the water column after accounting for its decay in the water column. Results The abundance of E. coli in the sediment ranged from below detection to 12,000 cfu g–1, and was about one order higher than in the water column (1 to 2,300 cfu mL–1). The habitat transition rates ranged from 0.03 to 0.41 h–1. In contrast, the E. coli decay rates ranged from 0.02 to 0.16 h−1. In most cases (>80%), the habitat transition rates were higher than the decay rates in our study. Discussion Our study provided a possible explanation for the persistence of E. coli in tropical lakes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative study on habitat transition of E. coli from sediments to water column.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare severe cutaneous adverse reaction that involves more than 30% of the body surface area. TEN can be accompanied by a series of systemic symptoms and has a high risk of death. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α inhibitors such as adalimumab and etanercept have been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of TEN in some cases. However, clinical data on the use of TNF-α inhibitors to treat TEN with severe systemic infection are scarce. In the present study, three adult patients who developed TEN with serious active infection were successfully treated with etanercept. One of the three patients had active open pulmonary tuberculosis, and the other two had septicemia and/or fungal sepsis. All patients’ skin lesions significantly improved after several days, and none of the patients developed emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases, adverse reactions, or a similar rash during follow-up. TNF-α inhibitors may be an effective treatment choice for TEN with severe systemic infection. However, further studies with large samples are still required for validation because clinical experience is limited.

This study investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows and economic growth at sectoral levels in Bangladesh, employing a panel study framework. Utilizing sectoral-level panel data spanning six sectors from 2007-08 to 2018-19, the analysis is conducted using Panel Vector Error Correction Model (Panel VECM). Results from panel unit root tests confirm that all variables are integrated of order one I (1), indicating stationarity. The Pedroni panel co-integration test further supports the presence of co-integration among the variables. Notably, the Panel VECM reveals evidence of a unidirectional causal relationship from Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) to Real Foreign Direct Investment (RFDI) across all six sectors of Bangladesh. The findings underscore the significance of formulating pragmatic policies and implementing them effectively to attract FDI across sectors, thereby contributing to the overall economic growth of Bangladesh.