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Background: Self-efficacy has been recognized as a critical component in people’s participation and maintenance of physical activity. This study aims to validate the Chinese version of the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) among Chinese children and adolescents using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on two primary and two secondary schools in central China. The ESE scale was translated into Chinese (ESE-C) using the standard forward-backward translation method. Data were analyzed using Mplus 8 for the CFA. Results: The final model showed a satisfactory level of goodness-of-fit (CFI = 0.918; TLI = 0.905; SRMR = 0.043; RMSEA = 0.066), indicating a good construct validity of the ESE-C for children and adolescents in mainland China. Furthermore, the final ESE-C model achieved composite reliability values of 0.963 and average variance extraction values of 0.597, indicating sufficient convergent and discriminant validity. Besides, the Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.964, demonstrating excellent internal consistency of the ESE-C scale. Conclusion: The ESE-C scale is a valid instrument for assessing exercise self-efficacy among children and adolescents in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic fibrotic interstitial lung disease characterized by progressive dyspnea and decreased lung function, yet its exact etiology remains unclear. It is of great significance to discover new drug targets for IPF. Methods: We obtained the cis-expression quantitative trait locus (cis-eQTL) of druggable genes from eQTLGen Consortium as exposure and the genome wide association study (GWAS) of IPF from the International IPF Genetics Consortium as outcomes to simulate the effects of drugs on IPF by employing mendelian randomization analysis. Then colocalization analysis was performed to calculate the probability of both cis-eQTL of druggable genes and IPF sharing a causal variant. For further validation, we conducted protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) analysis to reaffirm our findings. Results: The expression of 45 druggable genes was significantly associated with IPF susceptibility at FDR < 0.05. The expression of 23 and 15 druggable genes was significantly associated with decreased forced vital capacity (FVC) and diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLco) in IPF patients, respectively. IPF susceptibility and two significant genes (IL-7 and ABCB2) were likely to share a causal variant. The results of the pQTL analysis demonstrated that high levels of IL-7 in plasma are associated with a reduced risk of IPF (OR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.47–0.97). Conclusion: IL-7 stands out as the most promising potential drug target to mitigate the risk of IPF. Our study not only sheds light on potential drug targets but also provides a direction for future drug development in IPF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of the sarcopenia on the progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) patients who received radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT).Methods: Data on clinicopathological characteristics and nutritional parameters were analyzed and correlated with PFS and OS, retrospectively. Skeletal muscle, subcutaneous, visceral and total fat tissue cross-sectional areas were evaluated on CT images at the midpoint of the 3rd lumbar vertebrae. A total of 213 patients were enrolled in this study.Results: Sarcopenia was significantly associated with subcutaneous fat content. The univariate analysis demonstrated that OS was superior in patients with non-sarcopenia, non-alcohol, NRI ≥ 100, albumin ≥ 40 g/L, TATI > 83.0, SATI > 27.8, VATI > 49, non-anemia, cervical and upper-thoracic ESCC, T stage 1-2, N stage 0-1 and TNM stage I-II. In the multivariate analysis, sarcopenia, albumin, N stage and TNM stage were identified as independent prognostic factors of survival. This study demonstrated that sarcopenia was related to worse PFS and OS in patients with ESCC who received RT or CRT.Conclusions: Sarcopenia is considered to be a useful predictor in patients with ESCC who received RT or CRT. This study also provided a conceptual basis for further prospective research on the application of the sarcopenia for patients receiving RT or CRT for intermediate- and advanced-stage ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of the sarcopenia on the progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) patients who received radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Methods: Data on clinicopathological characteristics and nutritional parameters were analyzed and correlated with PFS and OS, retrospectively. Skeletal muscle, subcutaneous, visceral and total fat tissue cross-sectional areas were evaluated on CT images at the midpoint of the 3rd lumbar vertebrae. A total of 213 patients were enrolled in this study. Results: Sarcopenia was significantly associated with subcutaneous fat content. The univariate analysis demonstrated that OS was superior in patients with non-sarcopenia, non-alcohol, NRI ≥ 100, albumin ≥ 40 g/L, TATI > 83.0, SATI > 27.8, VATI > 49, non-anemia, cervical and upper-thoracic ESCC, T stage 1–2, N stage 0–1 and TNM stage I–II. In the multivariate analysis, sarcopenia, albumin, N stage and TNM stage were identified as independent prognostic factors of survival. This study demonstrated that sarcopenia was related to worse PFS and OS in patients with ESCC who received RT or CRT. Conclusions: Sarcopenia is considered to be a useful predictor in patients with ESCC who received RT or CRT. This study also provided a conceptual basis for further prospective research on the application of the sarcopenia for patients receiving RT or CRT for intermediate- and advanced-stage ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myocarditis, an inflammatory disease of the myocardium, is a serious hazard to human life due to the expansion of inflammatory lesions in the myocardium. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF)-1α and its inhibitor topotecan in the pathogenesis of myocarditis.Methods: H9c2 cardiomyoblasts was stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to simulate myocarditis model in vitro. The levels of myocardial damage markers were determined using commercially available kits. Western blotting was used to evaluate HIF-1α expression after LPS challenge. Then, after HIF-1α silencing, the contents of inflammatory factors were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cell viability was tested by means of a cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry, and the expression of apoptotic proteins was examined using western blot analysis. Subsequently, HIF-1α was overexpressed and topotecan was employed to treat H9c2 cells under LPS exposure condition. The biological functions were detected again.Results: LPS significantly elevated the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I) in supernatant of H9c2 cell lysates. Additionally, LPS led to the notably upregulated expression of HIF-1α. HIF-1α-knockdown markedly decreased the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 compared with the LPS-induced group. Moreover, the cell viability was conspicuously enhanced and cell apoptotic ratio was remarkably reduced, accompanied by downregulated expression of Bax, Bim, caspase 3 and caspase 9 after HIF-1α silencing. Consistently, HIF-1α gain-of-function significantly promoted the production of inflammatory cytokines and cell apoptosis, which was partially counteracted by topotecan administration.Conclusion: To conclude, these findings demonstrated that HIF-1α inhibition by topotecan ameliorates LPS-induced myocarditis in vitro, providing a new approach in the treatment of myocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cell membrane is widely considered as a promising delivery nanocarrier due to its excellent properties. In this study, self-assembled Pseudomonas geniculate cell membranes were prepared with high yield as drug nanocarriers, and named BMMPs. BMMPs showed excellent biosafety, and could be more efficiently internalized by cancer cells than traditional red cell membrane nanocarriers, indicating that BMMPs could deliver more drug into cancer cells. Subsequently, the BMMPs were coated with nanoselenium (Se), and subsequently loaded with Mn2+ ions and doxorubicin (DOX) to fabricate a functional nanoplatform (BMMP-Mn2+/Se/DOX). Notably, in this nanoplatform, Se nanoparticles activated superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) expression and subsequently up-regulated downstream H2O2 levels. Next, the released Mn2+ ions catalyzed H2O2 to highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH), inducing mitochondrial damage. In addition, the BMMP-Mn2+/Se nanoplatform inhibited glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression and further accelerated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Notably, the BMMP-Mn2+/Se/DOX nanoplatform exhibited increased effectiveness in inducing cancer cell death through mitochondrial and nuclear targeting dual-mode therapeutic pathways and showed negligible toxicity to normal organs. Therefore, this nanoplatform may represent a promising drug delivery system for achieving a safe, effective, and accurate cancer therapeutic plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Methods: We conducted a systemic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from 1 January 2000 to 30 August 2020, to identify related studies. We combined the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) to assess the correlation of PD-L1 expression with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). We assessed the quality of the included studies by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). We performed subgroup analyses based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) scoring system, IHC antibodies, sample size, countries, and survival analysis mode. Sensitivity analysis and evaluation of publication bias were also performed. Results: Twelve studies including 991 patients met the criteria. The mean NOS score was 7.42 ± 1.19. Patients with high PD-L1 expression was associated with poorer PFS (HR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.16–3.10; P = 0.011), while there was no association between PD-L1 expression and OS (HR = 1.19; 95% CI = 0.99–1.43; P = 0.070). Subgroup analysis prompted IHC scoring systems, IHC antibodies, and sample size have important effects on heterogeneity. The pooled results were robust according to the sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: The result of this meta-analysis suggested that PD-L1 expression might be a predictive biomarker for EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer treated with EGFR-TKIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the expression and significance of long noncoding RNA NORAD (lncRNA-NORAD) in breast cancer. Methods: Q-PCR was adopted to detect the mRNA expression of lncRNA-NORAD in breast cancer and adjacent tissues, survival analysis to compare the low-expression groups with the Kaplan–Meier method. Knockout of lncRNA-NORAD was adopted to observe the effects on the cell proliferation, migration and invasion of breast cancer in vitro and in vivo. The TGF-β/RUNX2 signaling pathway was observed by Western blot after the knockout of lncRNA-NORAD. Results: Increased expression of lncRNA-NORAD in breast cancer tissues promotes proliferation, invasion and migration of breast cancer cells and correlated with worse prognosis. LncRNA-NORAD activated TGF-β/RUNX2 signaling pathway in breast cancer cells. Conclusions: These results strongly suggested that lncRNA-NORAD might play an important role in breast cancer progression and potentially be a new therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A better understanding of the molecular mechanism involving lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network underlying glioma genesis is beneficial to the treatment of glioma. This study was designed to investigate the role of lncRNA NEAT1, miR-132 and SOX2 interaction in glioma. Methods: Microarray analysis was conducted to identify the differentially expressed lncRNAs in glioma tissues. The expression levels of NEAT1, miR-132 and SOX2 were determined by qRT-PCR and western blot. Proliferation of glioma cells was detected by MTT assay, while migration and invasion were determined by transwell assay. The target relationships were predicted by miRcode algorithm, and confirmed by dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Results: NEAT1 was up-regulated in glioma. Knockdown of NEAT1 inhibited glioma cells' viability, migration and invasion. MiR-132 was down-regulated while SOX2 was up-regulated in glioma cells. NEAT1 negatively regulated the expression of miR-132 in glioma while miR-132 targeted SOX2 to down-regulate its expression. Conclusion: NEAT1 promoted glioma development by promoting SOX2 expression through suppressing miR-132. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Puerperal infection (PI) is a severe threat to maternal health. The incidence and risk of PI should be accurately quantified and conveyed for prior decision-making. This study aims to assess the quality of the published literature on the epidemiology of PI, and synthesize them to identify the temporal trends and risk factors of PI occurring in Mainland China. Methods: This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021267399). Putting a time frame on 2010 to March 2022, we searched Cochrane library, Embase, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, Web of Science, China biology medicine, China national knowledge infrastructure and Chinese medical current contents, and performed a meta-analysis and meta-regression to pool the incidence of PI and the effects of risk factors on PI. Results: A total of 49 eligible studies with 133,938 participants from 17 provinces were included. The pooled incidence of PI was 4.95% (95%CIs, 4.46–5.43), and there was a statistical association between the incidence of PI following caesarean section and the median year of data collection. Gestational hypertension (OR = 2.14), Gestational diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.82), primipara (OR = 0.81), genital tract inflammation (OR = 2.51), anemia during pregnancy (OR = 2.28), caesarean section (OR = 2.03), episiotomy (OR = 2.64), premature rupture of membrane (OR = 2.54), prolonged labor (OR = 1.32), placenta remnant (OR = 2.59) and postpartum hemorrhage (OR = 2.43) have significant association with PI. Conclusions: Maternal infection remains a crucial complication during puerperium in Mainland China, which showed a nationwide temporal rising following caesarean section in the past decade. The opportunity to prevent unnecessary PI exists in several simple but necessary measures and it's urgent for clinicians and policymakers to focus joint efforts on promoting the bundle of evidence-based practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breeding rapeseed varieties with more main inflorescence siliques is an idea for developing rapeseed varieties that are suitable for light and simplified cultivation. The Brassica napus exhibited cluster bud of the main inflorescence (Bnclib) gene. At the fruiting stage, the main inflorescence had more siliques, higher density, and more main inflorescences. Moreover, the top of the main inflorescence bifurcated. Genetic analysis showed that the separation ratio between Bnclib and the wild type in the F2 generation was 3:1, which indicated that the trait was a single-gene-dominant inheritance. Among the 24 candidate genes, only one gene, BnaA03g53930D, showed differential expression between the groups (False discovery rate, FDR ≤ 0.05, |log2FC|≤ 1). qPCR verification of the BnaA03g53930D gene between Huyou 17 and its Bnclib near-isogenic line showed that BnaA03g53930D was significantly differentially expressed in the stem tissue of Huyou 17 and its Bnclib near-isogenic line (Bnclib NIL). The determination of gibberellin (GA), brassinolide (BR), cytokinin (CTK), jasmonic acid (JA), growth hormone (IAA), and strigolactone (SL) content in the shoot apex of Huyou 17 by Bnclib NIL and wild type showed that all six hormones significantly differed between the Bnclib NIL and Huyou 17. It is necessary to conduct further research on the interactions between JA and the other five hormones and the main inflorescence bud clustering in B. napus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the relationship of pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) with coronary artery stenosis using dual-layer spectral detector CT (SDCT).Methods: 99 patients were retrospectively divided into normal group, non-significant stenosis group and significant stenosis group (n = 33 in each group). Fat attenuation index (FAI) 40kev, spectral curve slope (λHU), effective atomic number (Eff-Z) and epicardial fat volume (EFV) were quantitatively evaluated of the narrowest part of the lesion tissue by SDCT.Results: There were significant differences in PCAT parameters on SDCT (FAI40keV, λHU, Eff-Z and EFV) among the three groups (P < 0.05). FAI40keV, λHU, and Eff-Z in significant stenosis group were statistically different from those in normal group and non-significant stenosis group (P < 0.05). FAI40keV, λHU, and Eff-Z in non-significant stenosis group were statistically different from significant stenosis group (P < 0.05). EFV in normal group were significantly lower in non-significant stenosis group and significant stenosis group (P < 0.001). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses identified FAI40keV (OR = 1.50, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.09) and λHU (OR = 6.81, 95%CI 1.87 to 24.86) as independent predictors of significant stenosis. FAI40keV and λHU had quite good discrimination, with an AUC of 0.84 and 0.80 respectively.Conclusion: FAI40keV, λHU, and Eff-Z on SDCT in significant stenosis group were significantly different from normal and non-significant stenosis group while EFV in normal group were significantly different from non-significant stenosis group and significant stenosis group. FAI40kev and λHU were risk factors for significant stenosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction: Mapping and candidate gene analysis of clustered bud on the main inforescence in Brassica napus L Reference 1 Zheng WY, Zhu ZY, Sami A. Mapping and candidate gene analysis of clustered bud on the main inflorescence in Brassica napus L. BMC Plant Biol. 2023; 23: 348. His correct affiliations are Aff1 and Aff2, respectively: 1 College of Agronomy, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China 2 National Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China The original article [[1]] has been corrected. [Extracted from the article]

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare intestinal motility disorder with significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients. The diagnosis of CIPO is difficult, because it is clinically based on the symptoms and signs of bowel obstruction which are similar to the clinical manifestations of other gastrointestinal diseases like short bowel syndrome (SBS). Therefore, it is desirable to identify and establish new laboratory diagnostic markers for CIPO that are reliable and easily accessible. In our study we have identified the ratio of the urinary glutamine and glutamic acid as a promising biomarker for distinguishing suspected CIPO cases and simple SBS cases. The area under ROC curve was 0.83, at cutoff value = 7.04 with sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 92%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) rod system is a novel pedicle-based dynamic stabilization system. This study evaluated clinical and radiographic outcomes of non-fusion surgery by PEEK rod systems for treatment of degenerative lumbar diseases with a 2-year follow-up.Methods: From February 2012 to October 2012, 38 patients who underwent non-fusion surgery using PEEK rod systems were included in the study. Data on Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score and Japanese Orthopaedics Association (JOA) score were collected and radiographs were obtained to evaluate disc height index (DHI) and range of motion (ROM) at each interval.Results: Both JOA and ODI scores significantly improved postoperatively. DHI showed a slight increase immediately after the surgery but gradually dropped below preoperative levels. Mean ROM values changed from 8.8° preoperatively to 1.8° at the 2-year follow-up point. Screw loosening occurred in one case at the 2-year follow-up.Conclusions: The preliminary results indicated a significant improvement in clinical outcomes and advantageous implant safety. The non-fusion procedure using PEEK rod systems might be a viable alternative for treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. The distraction technique needs to be improved for better postoperative DHI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]