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Thirty-percent supramolecular salicylic acid (SSA), a modified salicylic acid preparation, is a safe and effective treatment for moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris (AV). However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. We aimed to analyze the role of 30% SSA peels on skin microbiota and inflammation in patients with moderate-to-severe AV.A total of 28 patients were enrolled and received 30% SSA peels biweekly for 2 months. The Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) score, skin water content, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), pH, and sebum levels were assessed. Skin microbial samples and perilesional skin biopsies were obtained at the onset and 2 weeks after treatment completion. Samples were characterized using a high-throughput sequencing approach targeting a portion of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene.After treatment, patients showed a significant improvement in their GAGS score and skin barrier indicators (P 0.05). The GAGS score was positively associated with both the sebum concentration (R = 0.3, P = 0.027) and pH (R = 0.39, P = 0.003). Increased expression of caveolin-1 and decreased expression of interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-6, IL-17, transforming growth factor beta, and toll-like receptor 2 were observed in the skin tissue after treatment. The richness and evenness of the cutaneous microbiome decreased after treatment and the Staphylococcus proportion decreased significantly (P 0.05), whereas the Propionibacterium proportion tended to decrease (P = 0.066).On the basis of analyses of the skin barrier and microbiota, we speculate that the 30% SSA peel may have a therapeutic effect in patients with moderate-to-severe AV by improving the skin microenvironment and modulating the skin microbiome, thus reducing local inflammation.

Background: Acne is one of the most common inflammatory skin diseases. Treatment of acne has been challenging due to the multiple factors involved in its pathogenesis. To date, there are several treatments available. They are traditional chemical peeling, laser-based therapy, and so on. Therefore, as several studies reached inconsistent conclusions on which treatment was better, this observational study aimed to compare the efficacy of monotherapy supramolecular salicylic acid (SSA) and the combination of SSA with intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment in acne patients. Methods: 43 patients with acne vulgaris were chosen at the outpatient department of dermatology from October 2019 until December 2020. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1, with a total of 23 patients who underwent SSA 30% combined with IPL, and group 2, which will do monotherapy with SSA 30%. Chemical peeling with SSA 30% treatment will be done every 2 weeks, while IPL treatment will be performed every 4 weeks for a treatment course of 8 weeks. Each individual had a VISIA skin examination and an investigator global assessment (IGA) of acne severity scores every four weeks to evaluate clinical improvement and treatment efficacy. Results: Patients in the SSA 30% + IPL group were mostly female, with comparable baseline VISIA skin scores. During 8-week intervals, the SSA 30%+IPL group presented with a greater improvement in overall skin condition measured by VISIA compared to the SSA 30% alone. Although both groups have a positive effect on skin condition improvement, when it comes to acne, gradual improvement in porphyrins and red areas was more obvious in the combined SSA 30%+IPL group compared to SSA 30% alone. Conclusion: The combination of SSA 30% with IPL compared to SSA 30% alone not only provides better treatment for acne vulgaris but also improves skin rejuvenation.

Background Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects people's life quality. It has been found to be related to many detrimental factors including ultraviolet exposure. However, the association between alcohol consumption and rosacea has long been debated. Aims To elucidate this association, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods We performed a systematic search of the literature published before February 16, 2021 on PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane database and used a meta-analytic approach to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Finally, 14 eligible studies were identified, and alcohol consumption was not found to be a risk factor for rosacea. However, in subgroup analysis, alcohol consumption increased the risk of phymatous rosacea (PhR) and the pooled OR was 4.17 (95% CI = 1.76-9.91). Conclusion Overall, our study showed that alcohol consumption was a risk factor in phymatous rosacea (PhR). More studies of rosacea investigating sex distribution, alcohol intake levels, and types of alcoholic beverages consumed are needed in the future.

It is a challenge to reduce the dielectric loss and increase the tunability of pure barium strontium titanate (BST) films for microwave tunable application because these two properties change simultaneously. Herein, a novel composite of strontium titanate (ST) and potassium-doped BST (KBST) has been designed as ST/KBST/ST sandwich-type film with various ST and KBST layers. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the film exhibits cubic perovskite polycrystalline structure composed of BST and ST phase, mainly grow along (110) crystal plane with average grain size of less than 20 nm and decreasing BST phase/ST phase ratio with increasing film thickness. Scanning electron microscope shows that no interfacial layer can be observed, indicating that ST and KBST are fully compounded. Low dielectric loss and high tunability at -10 – 10 V and stable and excellent dielectric properties at 1 GHz are achieved, meeting the needs of microwave tunable application at high frequency. The surface structures are also studied by other analysis methods, and ST/MgBST/ST sandwich-type film is compared.

Secreted frizzled-related protein 5 (SFRP5) plays a pivotal role in regulating the development of many tissues and organs, however, as an inhibitor of Wnt signaling, the role of SFRP5 in vitiligo remains unknown. Hence, we speculated that SFRP5 might be associated with melanogenesis in melanocytes by regulating Wnt signaling in vitiligo. In this study, we found that SFRP5 was overexpressed in the skin lesions of patients with vitiligo. Compared with that in normal epidermal melanocytes (PIG1), the expression of SFRP5 was increased in vitiligo melanocytes (PIG3V). To investigate the effect of SFRP5 on melanin synthesis, PIG1 cells were infected with recombinant SFRP5 adenovirus (AdSFRP5), and PIG3V cells were infected with recombinant siSFRP5 adenovirus (AdsiSFRP5). The results showed that SFRP5 overexpression inhibited melanin synthesis in PIG1 cells through downregulation of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and its target proteins via suppression of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Accordingly, SFRP5 silencing increased melanin synthesis and activated the Wnt signaling pathway in PIG3V cells. Moreover, SFRP5 overexpression also downregulated the transcriptional activity of T cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) in PIG1 cells. Furthermore, this inhibitory effect of SFRP5 on melanin synthesis was reversed by treatment with the β-catenin agonist, SKL2001. The inhibitory action of SFRP5 in pigmentation was further confirmed in vivo using a nude mouse model. Hence, our results indicate that SFRP5 can inhibit melanogenesis in melanocytes. Additionally, our findings showed that SFRP5 plays a vital role in the development of vitiligo, and thus may serve as a potential therapeutic target for vitiligo.

Increasing evidence indicates that Notch signaling regulates multiple intracellular biological processes in malignant melanoma. Whereas how Notch signaling is transduced to influence melanoma cell behaviors remains largely elusive. Here we show that the Notch signaling downstream target Hey1 promotes migration and invasion of melanoma cells via the GRB2/PI3K/AKT pathway. First, bioinformatics tools, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting analysis showed that the expression of Hey1 is increased in melanoma. Then, both in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that Hey1 promotes the malignant behaviour of the melanoma cells. High-throughput RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that inhibition of Hey1 results in decreased GRB2 expression in melanoma cells. Last, functional experiments confirmed that Hey1 positively regulates GRB2/PI3K/AKT pathway to influence migration and invasion of melanoma cells. In summary, our results suggest that Hey1 promotes the invasion and metastasis of melanoma cells by regulating GRB2/PI3K/AKT pathway. Our study provides potential therapeutics in tumor biology.

Background Primary liver cancer, of which hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for over 90%, is the sixth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is widely performed globally as an effective treatment for HCC patients at intermediate and advanced stages, but the efficiency varies amongst patients. Objective This study aimed to develop models that predict the efficacy of TACE for HCC patients. Methods GSE104580 from Gene Expression Omnibus was used as training and validation sets. Tumor samples were randomly allocated to training and validation sets in a ratio of 7:3. Differentially expressed genes were screened in the training sets, and efficacy-related genes were identified. Their common genes were used in LASSO L1 regression and support vector machine (SVM)-based recursive feature elimination learner to identify the best predictive four genes. After gene screening, we established the predictive model for two sets using SVMs, random forests models, and logistic regression analysis. Result IFIT1, LIN28B, S100A9, and SPARCL1 were significantly related to the efficacy of TACE for HCC patients. The accuracy of the training sets was 90.3%, 100%, and 91.3% using SVMs, random forests models, and logistic regression analysis, respectively. The four-gene predictive signature showed larger area under the curve values (> 80%) after receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, indicating a high predictive capacity. Conclusion The gene-based model constructed in this study acts as a reliable efficacy assessment tool for clinicians and will aid treatment decision-making for HCC patients.

Acne is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with high incidence and recurrence.To study the efficacy of 30% supramolecular salicylic acid (SSA) in the treatment of acne, especially its effect on facial sebum secretion and the skin barrier.Chemical peeling treatment with SSA using self-contrast was performed every 2 weeks for a total of four treatments in 25 patients. VISIA photographs and skin parameter measurements were recorded at every treatment, with a 2-week follow-up after the last treatment. We performed skin biopsy and immunohistochemical staining to detect sterol response element-binding proteins (SREBPs), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), which are important factors involved in the regulation of sebum metabolism.The global acne-grading system (GAGS) score of patients with acne decreased with 30% SSA treatment. The sebum level in the nose (p 0.001), chin (p 0.001), left cheek (p 0.05), and right cheek (p 0.05) improved significantly with increasing number of treatments. The T-zone sebum level (p 0.001) improved more than the U-zone (p 0.01). The VISIA index porphyrin score also reduced (p 0.001). Skin hydration (p 0.001), transepidermal water loss (TEWL) (p 0.05), and pH value (p 0.01)-reflecting the skin barrier-were also improved. Immunohistochemistry showed decreased expression of SREBPs, FAS, and COX2.Peels with 30%SSA effectively treated acne and reduced facial sebum secretion without damaging the skin barrier. Reduction of sebum showed cumulative effect, which suggests that multiple 30%SSA chemical peels are beneficial to acne patients.

Background: Melanoma is a highly invasive and metastatic malignant tumor originating from melanocytes and is associated with a poor prognosis. Surgical resection and chemotherapy are currently the main therapeutic options for malignant melanoma; however, their efficacy is poor, highlighting the need for the development of new, safe, and effective drugs for the treatment of this cancer. Objective: To investigate the effects of alantolactone (ALT) on the proliferative, migratory, invasive, and apoptotic ability of malignant melanoma cells and explore its potential anticancer mechanism. Methods: Melanoma cells (A375 and B16) were treated with different concentrations (4, 6, 8, and 10 μmol/L) of ALT, with DMSO and no treatment serving as controls. The effects of the different concentrations of the drug on cell proliferation were assessed by crystal violet staining and CCK-8 assay. The effects on cell migration and invasion were detected by wound healing and Transwell assays, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the effects of the drug on apoptosis and the cell cycle. ALT target genes in melanoma were screened using network pharmacology. Western blotting was used to measure the expression levels of the proliferation-related protein PCNA; the apoptosisrelated proteins Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3; the invasion and metastasis-related proteins MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, vimentin, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin; and the canonical Wnt signaling pathway-related proteins β-catenin, c-Myc, and p-GSK3β. In addition, an l model of melanoma was established by the subcutaneous injection of A375 melanoma cells into nude mice, following which the effects of ALT treatment on malignant melanoma were determined in vivo. Results: Compared with the controls, the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacity of ALT-treated melanoma cells was significantly inhibited, whereas apoptosis was enhanced (P Conclusion: ALT can effectively inhibit the culture viability, migration, and invasion of A375 and B16 melanoma cells while also promoting their apoptosis. ALT may exert its anti-melanoma effects by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Combined, our data indicate that ALT has the potential as an effective and safe therapeutic drug for the treatment of melanoma.

Aiming at the tracking problem of maneuvering target, a waveform library based on LFM signal is established from the perspective of waveform selection of cognitive radar. The maneuvering target was modeled by constant velocity model (CV) and constant acceleration model (CA), and the signal was filtered by interactive multi-model (IMM) based on Kalman filter. From the perspective of information theory, based on maximizing the mutual information between the target predicted state and the measured state, the optimal waveform library was established. The simulation results show that the waveform library can improve the tracking performance of radar, reduce the redundant waveform and reduce the computation.

Vitiligo is an pigmentation disorder caused by a variety of pathogenic factors; its main pathophysiological conditions include oxidative stress, immune activation, and genetic background. Additionally, DNA methylation is often associated with the pathogenesis of vitiligo; however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In the present study, we used the Human Methylation 850K BeadChip platform to detect DNA methylation changes in the vitiligo melanocytes. We then integrated the results with the transcriptome data of vitiligo melanocytes and lesions to analyse the correlation between differentially methylated levels and differentially expressed genes. The results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between methylation levels and differentially expressed genes. Subsequently, we enriched GO and KEGG based on methylated differentially expressed genes (MDEGs) using R package ClusterProfiler, and the results were closely related to the pathogenesis of vitiligo. In addition, we also constructed a PPI network of MDEGs and excavated three important functional epigenetic modules, involving a total of 12 (BCL2L1, CDK1, ECT2, HELLS, HSP90AA1, KIF23, MC1R, MLANA, PBK, PTGS2, SOX10, and TYRP1) genes. These genes affect melanocyte melanogenesis, cellular oxidative stress and other important biological processes. Our comprehensive analysis results support the significant contribution of the status of DNA methylation modification to vitiligo, which will help us to better understand the molecular mechanism of vitiligo and explore new therapeutic strategies.

Double-layer WS2/hollow carbon composite designed as WS2 growing on nano-sized hollow carbon spheres is used as anodes for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries (LIBs, SIBs) adopting a modified one step in situ hydrothermal method. The hollow carbon spheres significantly increase the specific surface area and electrical conductivity, and thus achieve high specific capacities of 987 mAhg−1 at 100 mAg−1 and 826 mAhg−1 at 1000 mAg−1 for LIBs, and those of 575 mAhg−1 at 100 mAg−1 and 379 mAhg−1 at 1000 mAg−1 for SIBs; and obtain long cycling lives under high current density. Thus, the composite has a great potential application in LIBs and SIBs.