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This large-scale prospective study showed that a significant association between longer duration of daily outdoor walking and reduced osteoporosis risk was found among older adults, particularly among those with a low genetic predisposition to osteoporosis, which highlighted the importance of outdoor walking as a simple, cost-effective adjunct for preventing osteoporosis., Purpose: The available cross-sectional data and small-scale studies indicate that outdoor walking benefits bone metabolism. Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of comprehensive prospective research investigating the enduring correlation between outdoor walking and osteoporosis. This study aims to conduct a prospective analysis of the correlation between outdoor walking and osteoporosis while also examining potential variations influenced by genetic susceptibility to osteoporosis., Methods: 24,700 older adults without osteoporosis at baseline were enrolled. These individuals were followed up until December 31, 2021, during which data on outdoor walking was gathered. The genetic risk score for osteoporosis was comprised of 14 single-nucleotide polymorphisms., Results: 4,586 cases of osteoporosis were identified throughout a median follow-up period of 37.3 months. Those who walked outside for > 30 but ≤ 60 min per day had a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.83 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.72-0.95) for incident osteoporosis, whereas those who walked outside for > 60 min per day had an HR of 0.60 (95% CI: 0.39-0.92). We found that osteoporosis risk exhibited a declining trend in individuals with low genetic risk. Individuals walking outside for > 60 min per day tended to have the lowest overall osteoporosis risk among those with high genetic risk., Conclusions: A significant negative correlation exists between an extended period of daily outdoor walking and osteoporosis incidence risk. This correlation is particularly pronounced among individuals with low genetic risk. The results above underscore the significance of outdoor walking as a simple and economical adjunct to public health programs to prevent osteoporosis., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To study the clinical significance of folate receptor-positive circulating tumor cells (FR+CTCs) in determining malignancy of ground-glass nodules (GGNs) and assess the added value of FR+CTC in the classic GGN evaluation model (Mayo Model)., Methods: Sixty-five patients with single indeterminate GGN were recruited. Twenty-two participants had benign/pre-malignant diseases, and forty-three had lung cancers, as confirmed by histopathology examination. FR+CTC was enumerated by CytoploRare ® Kit. A CTC model was drawn based on the multivariate logistic analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of FR+CTC, CTC model and Mayo model., Results: In the cohort, the mean age of 13 males and 9 females with benign/pre-malignant diseases was 57.7 ± 10.2 years. The mean age of 13 males and 30 females with lung cancers was 53.8 ± 11.7 years. There was no significant difference between the age and the smoking history (P=0.196 and P=0.847, respectively). FR+CTC can effectively differentiate lung cancer from benign/pre-malignant diseases [sensitivity: 88.4%, specificity: 81.8%, the AUCs was 0.8975, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8174-0.9775] in patients with GGN. Multivariate analysis revealed that FR+CTC level, tumor size, and tumor location were independent predictors of GGN malignancy (P<0.05). The prediction model based on these factors showed better diagnostic efficiency than the Mayo model (AUC: 0.9345 vs. 0.6823), yielding superior sensitivity (81.4% vs. 53.5%) and specificity (95.5% vs. 86.4%)., Conclusion: The FR+CTC exhibited a promising potential in determining the malignancy of indeterminate GGNs, and the CTC model's diagnostic efficiency was superior to the Mayo model., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2023.)

Chinese medicine dispensing granules, the result of the efforts to transform Chinese medicinal decoction pieces in China, features portability and ease of storage. Thus, it is destined to be an indispensible dosage form in the modernization drive of Chinese medicine. The Announcement on Ending the Pilot Project of Chinese Medicine Dispensing Granules was released in February 2021 and relevant regulations went into force in November 2021, which marks the a new journey for the development of Chinese medicine dispensing granules and the beginning of the &quot;post-pilot era&quot;. However, it faces the challenges in quality and standard. This study reviewed the history of Chinese medicine dispensing granules, analyzed the technical progress, market, and main problems in development, and proposed suggestions and prospects for its development in the &quot;post-pilot era&quot;, which is expected to serve as a reference for its industry development and rational use.

Background: A more time saving, convenient, reproducible, and scalable method is needed to assess total HIV-1 DNA levels., Methods: Frozen whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples both 200 μl at the same point were used to detect total HIV-1 DNA. Automatic extraction of total HIV-1 DNA was used to ensure the consistency of sample extraction efficiency. The detection reagent was HIV-1 DNA quantitative detection kit and real-time quantitative PCR was utilized., Results: Of the 44 included patients, 42 were male and 2 were female, with a median age of 33 years. Thirty-three cases were collected after receiving antiviral treatment, with a median duration of treatment of 3 months, and the other 11 cases were collected before antiviral treatment. The median viral load was 1.83 log10 copies/mL, the median CD4 and CD8 count were 94 and 680 cells/μL, and the median CD4/CD8 ratio was 0.18. The results of the two samples were 3.02 ± 0.39 log10 copies/10 6 PBMCs in PBMC samples and 3.05 ± 0.40 log10 copies/10 6 PBMCs in whole blood samples. The detection results of the two methods were highly correlated and consistent by using paired t test (P = 0.370), pearson correlation (r = 0.887, P < 0.0001) and intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.887, P < 0.0001) and bland-altman [4.55% points were outside the 95% limits of agreement (- 0.340 ~ 0.390)]., Conclusions: The results of the whole blood sample test for total HIV-1 DNA are consistent with those of PBMC samples. In a clinical setting it is recommended to use whole blood samples directly for the evaluation of the HIV reservoir.

Background: Prenatal stress (PS) can increase the risk of nervous, endocrine and metabolic diseases and induce depression in offspring. Paeoniflorin (PA) is an amorphous glucoside isolated from the aqueous extract of roots of the peony plant (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) and exerts various pharmacological effects in the nervous system., Methods: Male prenatally stressed offspring were used to investigate the antidepression-like effects and possible mechanism of PA. We measured animal behavior, HPA axis, Nissil staining, and Ng expression. Additionally, we assessed the modulation of hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors (GR) nuclear translocation and SNARE complex expression by western blotting., Results: The results showed that administration of PA (15, 30, and 60 mg/kg/day, i.g.) for 28 days markedly increased sucrose intake and decreased the immobility time and the total number of crossings, center crossings, rearing, and grooming in male PS offspring. Moreover, PA significantly reduced the serum corticosterone (CORT), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and hippocampal glutamate (Glu) levels in male PS offspring, which were stimulated by an increase of GR nuclear translocation. Furthermore, PA markedly increased neurogranin (Ng) protein expression in the hippocampus CA3 region in offspring. PA also markedly decreased hippocampal Glu by inhibiting SNAP25, VAMP2, Syntaxin1a and related protein expression; SNARE complex formation; and EAAT2/3, NR1, NR2A, and FKBP5 protein expression., Conclusions: Taken together, the results of this study show that PA has antidepression-like effects in male PS offspring, partially due to the HPA axis, GR dysfunction and Glu transport system., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Prenatal stress (PS) can lead to impaired spatial learning and memory in offspring. Imperatorin (IMP) is a naturally occurring furanocoumarin with many pharmacological properties. However, the effects of IMP on cognitive impairment induced by PS and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated the protective effect of IMP treatment after PS on learning and memory deficits in female offspring at postnatal 60 days. After treating prenatally-stressed offspring with IMP (15 and 30 mg/kg) for 28 days, we found that IMP increased body weight and ameliorated spatial learning and memory and working memory deficits in female offspring rats. Meanwhile, hippocampal Glu and serum corticosterone levels in prenatally-stressed offspring were significantly decreased after IMP administration. Additionally, IMP treatment significantly increased BDNF, TrkB, CaMKII, and CREB mRNA expression in the hippocampus of offspring rats. Furthermore, PS-mediated induction of RKIP protein and mRNA expression and glucocorticoid receptor protein expression in the hippocampus of offspring rats were significantly decreased by IMP treatment, and the protein expression of BDNF and TrkB and relative levels of p-EKR/ERK, p-CaMKIIα/CaMKIIα, and p-CREB/CREB were remarkably increased after IMP treatment. Taken together, IMP can ameliorate PS-induced learning and memory deficits through BDNF/TrkB and ERK/CaMKIIα/CREB signaling pathway and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Prenatal stress (PS) leads to a wide variety of behavioral and emotional aberration observed in later life, particularly in the impairment of spatial learning and memory in offspring. Icariin (ICA) is a naturally occurring furanocoumarin and exhibits many pharmacological properties, including potent improvement on learning and memory., Purpose: We pretend to investigate the improvement of ICA on learning and memory impairment in PS., Methods: Female PS offspring rats were used to explore the effects of ICA on learning and memory impairment. After 28 days of ICA (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg/day) treatment, we measured Morris water maze and 8-Arm Maze, the HPA axis and the related pathway in the hippocampus., Results: We reported that ICA ameliorated the spatial learning and memory and working memory impairment in the female offspring rats. Correspondingly, ICA prevented adverse changes in the dendritic morphology of CA3 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus. ICA significantly decreased the serum adrenocorticotropin, corticotropin-releasing hormone and corticosterone levels in offspring rats exposed to PS, associated with increased GR expression. Additionally, ICA treatment significantly increased the neurogranin (Ng) and c-fos protein expression of hippocampus in the offspring rats. Furthermore, the protein of relative content of p-EKR/ERK, p-CaMKIIα/CaMKIIα, p-CREB/CREB were remarkably increased after ICA treatment in the offspring rats., Conclusion: Taken together, ICA may be an effective therapeutic for learning and memory dysfunction in female offspring exposed to PS, its neuroprotective effect was mediated in part by normalizing the HPA axis and up-regulating of ERK/CaMKIIα/CREB signaling, Ng and c-fos protein., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Xylanases play a crucial role in the degradation of xylan in both terrestrial and marine environments. The endoxylanase XynB from the marine bacterium Glaciecola mesophila KMM 241 is a modular enzyme comprising a long N-terminal domain (NTD) (E44 to T562) with xylan-binding ability and a catalytic domain (CD) (T563 to E912) of glycoside hydrolase family 8 (GH8). In this study, the long NTD is confirmed to contain three different functional regions, which are NTD1 (E44 to D136), NTD2 (Y137 to A193), and NTD3 (L194 to T562). NTD1, mainly composed of eight β-strands, functions as a new type of carbohydrate-binding module (CBM), which has xylan-binding ability but no sequence similarity to any known CBM. NTD2, mainly forming two α-helices, contains one of the α-helices of the catalytic domain's (α/α) 6 barrel and therefore is essential for the activity of XynB, although it is far away from the catalytic domain in sequence. NTD3, next to the catalytic domain in sequence, is shown to be helpful in maintaining the thermostability of XynB. Thus, XynB represents a kind of xylanase with a new domain architecture. There are four other predicted glycoside hydrolase sequences with the same domain architecture and high sequence identity (≥80%) with XynB, all of which are from marine bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis shows that XynB and these homologs form a new group in GH8, representing a new class of marine bacterial xylanases. Our results shed light on xylanases, especially marine xylanases. IMPORTANCE Xylanases play a crucial role in natural xylan degradation and have been extensively used in industries such as food processing, animal feed, and kraft pulp biobleaching. Some marine bacteria have been found to secrete xylanases. Characterization of novel xylanases from marine bacteria has significance for both the clarification of xylan degradation mechanisms in the sea and the development of new enzymes for industrial application. With G. mesophila XynB as a representative, this study reveals a new group of the GH8 xylanases from marine bacteria, which have a distinct domain architecture and contain a novel carbohydrate-binding module. Thus, this study offers new knowledge on marine xylanases., (Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.)

Objective: To investigate the role of Mic60 in cardiac aging. Methods: Wild-type and Mic60(+ /-) male mice at age of 4-6 months (young group, n =6) and 18-20 months (aged group, n =9) were used. H&E and Masson staining of frozen and paraffin sections were subjected to morphologic evaluation of the cardiac tissue samples. SA-β-Gal staining was utilized to detect the activity of senescence-associated β-galactosidase. Western blot was performed to detect the expression of Mic60 and p21 in cardiac tissues. Results: Expression of Mic60 in mouse cardiac tissue increased in an age-dependent manner. Haploid insufficiency of Mic60 resulted in an increased left ventricular wall thickness [(1.32±0.09) mm vs .(1.12±0.09) mm, P <0.05], cardiomyocyte hypertrophy[(474.9±27.6) μm(2) vs .(358.8±48.7) μm(2), P <0.05] and interstitial fibrosis [ (38.24±7.58) ×10(3)μm(2) vs .(25.81±4.12)×10(3)μm(2,) P <0.05], increased activity of SA-β-Gal (2.26±0.24 vs .0.25±0.05, P <0.01) and higher expression of p21 ( P <0.01) in aged mouse cardiac tissue, but not in young mice. Conclusion: Haploid insufficiency of Mic60 leads to cardiac hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, increased activity of SA-β-Gal and higher expression of p21 in aged cardiac tissue in mice, suggesting that Mic60 may prevent cardiac aging.

Objective: A systematic review is conducted to determine the effect of traditional Chinese exercise for patients with stroke., Methods: Studies are obtained from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Web of Science, and CNKI. Only randomized controlled trials were left to evaluate the effects of traditional Chinese exercise for patients with stroke, and with no limits on study data or language. The primary outcome was the Berg balance score (BBS), Functional walking scale. And a random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI)., Results: A total of 9 studies on 820 participants conform to the inclusion criteria, whereas eight studies on 704 participants are used as data sources for the meta-analysis, all trials were published between 2004 and 2013. The BBS indicates that the efficacy of traditional Chinese exercise on balance of patients with stroke is better than that of other training or no training in short term [MD (95%CI) = 11.85 [5.41, 18.30], P < 0.00001]. And the short physical performance battery, Functional walking scale, limit of stability were observed significant differences on balance (p<0.05) and gait (p<0.05) between traditional Chinese exercise and other exercises or no exercise. In addition, there is an article showed that some other form (physiotherapy exercises focused on balance) significantly improved balance ability for stroke patients compared to tai chi chuan practice (Berg test = 0.01, Romberg, and standing on one leg)., Conclusion: In our meta analysis, the positive findings of this study suggest traditional Chinese exercise has beneficial effects on the balance ability in short term. However, we drew the conclusion according to the extreme heterogeneity, and evidence of better quality and from a larger sample size is required. Because of the inconsistent outcomes, there are short of enough good evidence for patients with stroke to prove the effects of traditional Chinese exercise on gait., Systematic Review Registration: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013006474.

Background: Surgical and non-surgical interventions are the two categories for treatment of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). However, there is clinical uncertainty over optimal management. This study aimed to examine the safety and effectiveness of surgical management for treatment of VCFs with osteopenia compared with non-surgical treatment., Methods: We conducted a systematic search through electronic databases from inception to June 2014, with no limits on study data or language. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating surgical versus non-surgical interventions for treatment of patients with VCFs due to osteopenia were considered. Primary outcomes were pain and adverse effects. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled mean difference (MD) or risk ratios with 95% confidence interval (CI)., Results: Sixteen reports (11 studies) met the inclusion criteria, and provided data for the meta-analysis with a total of 1,401 participants. Compared with conservative treatment, surgical treatment was more effective in reducing pain (short-term: MD -2.05, 95% CI -3.55 to -0.56, P=0.007; mid-term: MD -1.70, 95% CI -2.78 to -0.62, P=0.002; long-term: MD -1.24, 95% CI -2.20 to -0.29, P=0.01) and disability on the Roland-Morris Disability score (short-term: MD -4.97, 95% CI -8.71 to -1.23, P=0.009), as well as improving quality of life on the Short-Form 36 Physical Component Summary score (short-term: MD 5.53, 95% CI 1.45 to 9.61, P=0.008) and the Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis score (short-term: MD -5.01, 95% CI -8.11 to -1.91, P=0.002). Indirect comparisons between vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty found no evidence that the treatment effect differed across the two interventions for any outcomes assessed. Compared with the sham procedure, surgical treatment showed no evidence of improvement in pain relief and physical function. Based on these two comparisons, no significant difference between groups was noted in the pooled results for adverse events., Conclusion: Compared to conservative treatment, surgical treatment was more effective in decreasing pain in the short,mid and long terms. However, no significant mid- and long-term differences in physical function and quality of life was observed. Little good evidence is available for surgical treatment compared with that for sham procedure. PV and BK are currently used to treat VCFs with osteopenia, with little difference in treatment effects. Evidence of better quality and from a larger sample size is required before a recommendation can be made., Systematic Review Registration: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013005142.

Background: Trials on sling exercise (SE), commonly performed to manage chronic low back pain (LBP), yield conflicting results. This study aimed to review the effects of SE on chronic LBP., Methods: The randomized controlled trials comparing SE with other treatments or no treatment, published up to August 2013, were identified by electronic searches. Primary outcomes were pain, function, and return to work. The weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated, using a random-effects model., Results: Risk of bias was rated as high in 9 included trials, where some important quality components such as blinding were absent and sample sizes were generally small. We found no clinically relevant differences in pain or function between SE and other forms of exercise, traditional Chinese medical therapy, or in addition to acupuncture. Based on two trials, SE was more effective than thermomagnetic therapy at reducing pain (short-term: WMD -13.90, 95% CI -22.19 to -5.62; long-term: WMD -26.20, 95% CI -31.32 to -21.08) and improving function (short-term: WMD -10.54, 95% CI -14.32 to -6.75; long-term: WMD -25.75, 95% CI -30.79 to -20.71). In one trial we found statistically significant differences between SE and physical agents combined with drug therapy (meloxicam combined with eperisone hydrochloride) but of borderline clinical relevance for pain (short-term: WMD -15.00, 95% CI -19.64 to -10.36) and function (short-term: WMD -10.00; 95% CI -13.70 to -6.30). There was substantial heterogeneity among the two trials comparing SE and thermomagnetic therapy; both these trials and the trial comparing SE with physical agents combined with drug therapy had serious methodological limitations., Interpretation: Based on limited evidence from 2 trials, SE was more effective for LBP than thermomagnetic therapy. Clinically relevant differences in effects between SE and other forms of exercise, physical agents combined with drug therapy, traditional Chinese medical therapy, or in addition to acupuncture could not be found. More high-quality randomized trials on the topic are warranted.

Shortcomings in the dynamic range and the frequency bandwidth of current diagnostic methods mean that measurement of the time-resolved discharge current in a long air gap discharge is still a serious problem. This work presents data from a novel discharge current sensor that takes the parameters required to determine the accuracy of the current measurement into account. The design of a coaxial current sensor with ±0.7% accuracy and a bandwidth of 75 MHz is presented. A digital optical fiber transmission system with a bandwidth that exceeds 100 MHz is used to transmit the signal. To demonstrate the efficiency of the whole system, experiments using a rod-plane discharge geometry with 2 m and 4 m air gap lengths are performed to analyze the measured current data in comparison with that taken from synchronized high-speed photographs. The results demonstrate that the investigated experimental set-up improves substantially the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of long air gap discharges.

Marine xylanases are rather less studied compared to terrestrial xylanases. In this study, a new xylanase gene, xynB, was cloned from the marine bacterium, Glaciecola mesophila KMM241, and expressed in Escherichia coli. xynB encodes a multi-domain xylanase XynB of glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 8. The recombinant XynB comprises an N-terminal domain (NTD) with unknown function and a catalytic domain, which is structurally novel among the characterized xylanases of GH family 8. XynB has the highest identity (38%) to rXyn8 among the characterized xylanases. The recombinant XynB showed maximal activity at pH 6-7 and 35 °C. It is thermolabile and salt-tolerant. XynB is an endo-xylanase that demands at least five sugar moieties for effective cleavage and to hydrolyze xylohexaose and xylopentaose into xylotetraose, xylotriose and xylobiose. NTD was expressed in Escherichia coli to analyze its function. The recombinant NTD exhibited a high binding ability to insoluble xylan and avicel and little binding ability to chitosan and chitin. Since the NTD shows no obvious homology to any known carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) sequence in public databases, XynB may contain a new type of CBM.

Microsatellite marker is one of the frequently used molecular markers. It has been used in the genotype identification, pedigree analysis and estimation of genetic distance. In this paper, five microsatellite markers with high polymorphisms were selected to detect the genetic diversity of seven chicken breeds. The alleles frequencies, polymorphism information content (PIC) and average heterozygosity within each population, and DA genetic distance among breeds were analyzed. The application of microsatellite polymorphisms to the detection of genetic variability and relationship among populations was discussed. Altogether, forty alleles were found in this experiment, and among them the most alleles (10) were detected by ADL0136 and the least (5) were detected by ADL0146. The distribution of alleles was not balanced, each locus having one or more dominant alleles. The average heterozygosity in the Shouguang chicken was the lowest (0.3327), and that in other breeds was also less than 0.4. It can be seen then that microsatellite polymorphisms can be used to reveal the variability within population through calculation of average heterozygosity. The PIC values ranged from 0.6169 (Shouguang chicken) to 0.7027 (Laiwu Black chicken). UPGMA tree was completed through analysis of DA genetic distance. In the tree, the Rizhao Pockmarked and the Jining Hundred chicken were first grouped together with a bootstrap value of 92%, before they were grouped with the Laiwu Black and the Shouguang chickens. The Anoka Yellow and the Guangxi Yellow chicken were grouped together with a bootstrap value of 80%, but the Luxi Fighting chicken had its own branch. In summary, the UPGMA tree well reflected the evolutionary and breeding history of the seven breeds.

Xanthomonas campestris isolated from the blood of a patient with a fever was first reported. Xanthomonas campestris is a bacterium that can cause black rot of some vegetables, such as rape. Chinese cabbage, etc. Human infection due to X. campestris has not been reported so far. The characteristics of this organism, including morphology, staining, physiology and biochemistry were studied. We believe that X. campestris is also one of the opportunistic pathogens, which can infect compromised host.