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Aim. We sought to profile gut microbiota’s role in combination of Bu Fei Hua Yu (BFHY) with cisplatin treatment. Methods. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) mice model were constructed followed by treatment with cisplatin alone or combined with BFHY. Mice weight and tumor volume were measured during the experiment. And mice cecum were detected by hematoxylin and eosin, cecum contents were collected for Enzyme Linked ImmuneSorbent Assay, and stool were profiled for metagenomic sequencing. Results. Combination of BFHY with cisplatin treatment decreased the tumor growth and relieved the damage of cecum. Expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were decreased compared with cisplatin treatment alone. Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis showed that g_Parabacteroides was downregulated and g_Escherichia and g_Blautia were upregulated after cisplatin treatment. After combination with BFHY, g_Bacteroides and g_Helicobacter were decreased. g_Klebsiella, g_Unclssified_Proteobacteria, and g_Unclssified_Clostridiates were increased. Moreover, heatmap results showed that Bacteroides abundance was increased significantly after cisplatin treatment; BFHY combination treatment reversed this state. Function analysis revealed that multiple functions were slightly decreased in cisplatin treatment alone and increased significantly after combination with BFHY. Conclusion. Our study provided evidence of an efficacy of combination of BFHY with cisplatin on treatment of NSCLC and revealed that gut microbiota plays a role in it. The above results provide new ideas on NSCLC treatment.

Aim. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the expression and clinicopathological significance of complement C1q B chain (C1QB) in cervical cancer. Methods. In total, 120 cervical cancer tissues, as well as 20 samples each of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs), and benign cervical tissue, were collected to evaluate the expression of C1QB protein via immunohistochemical staining. We conducted an integrated analysis of C1QB mRNA expression in cervical cancer using public microarrays and RNA-seq data sets by calculating standard mean differences (SMDs). Simultaneously, we explored the relations of C1QB with clinicopathological parameters and the expression of P16, Ki-67, and P53. Results. The expression of C1QB protein was higher in cervical cancer samples than that in benign cervical tissue, LSIL, and HSIL samples ( p < 0.05 ). A combined SMD of 0.65 (95% CI: [0.52, 0.79], p < 0.001 ) revealed upregulation of C1QB mRNA in cervical cancer. C1QB expression may also be related to the depth of infiltration, lymphovascular invasion, and perineural invasion in cervical cancer ( p < 0.05 ). We also found that C1QB protein expression was positively correlated with P16 and Ki-67 expression in cervical cancer ( p < 0.05 ). The gene set enrichment analysis showed that C1QB may participate in apoptosis and autophagy. A relationship was predicted between C1QB expression and drug sensitivity to cisplatin, paclitaxel, and docetaxel. Conclusion. We confirmed the overexpression of C1QB in cervical cancer at both mRNA and protein levels for the first time. C1QB may serve as an oncogene in the tumorigenesis of cervical cancer, but this possibility requires further study.

Neural tube defect (NTD) is the most common and severe embryopathy causing embryonic malformation and even death associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Leu-Pro-Phe (LPF) is an antioxidative tripeptide isolated from hydrolysates of corn protein. However, the biological activity of LPF in vivo and in vitro remains unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the protective effects of tripeptide LPF against NTD in the high glucose exposure condition and delineate the underlying biological mechanism. We found that LPF alleviated NTD in the high glucose-exposed chicken embryo model. In addition, DF-1 chicken embryo fibroblast was loaded with high glucose for induction of oxidative stress and abnormal O-GlcNAcylation in vitro. LPF significantly decreased accumulation of reactive oxygen species and content of malondialdehyde in DF-1 cells but increased the ratio of reduced glutathione and oxidized glutathione in chick embryo. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity results showed that LPF itself had good free radical scavenging capacity and could enhance antioxidant activity of the cell content. Mechanistic studies suggested that the resistance of LPF to oxidative damage may be related to promotion of NRF2 expression and nuclear translocation. LPF alleviated the overall O-GlcNAcylation level of cellular proteins under high glucose conditions and restored the level of Pax3 protein. Collectively, our findings indicate that LPF peptide could act as a nutritional supplement for the protection of development of embryonic neural tube affected by GDM.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) encompasses a wide range of different non-mainstream therapies that have been increasingly used for the treatment or adjunct treatment of various ailments, with premature ovarian failure (POF) being one of the most common conditions treated with CAM. This review updates the progress of CAM in the treatment of POF, and we focus specifically on reviewing the evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of a range of CAM treatments in POF, including single herbal medicines and their active ingredients, compound Chinese medicines, acupuncture and moxibustion, psychotherapy, exercise, vitamins, massage, and dietary supplements. According to the literature, CAM is very helpful for improving POF symptoms, and we hope to provide some instructive suggestions for clinical treatment and experimental research in the future. However, more clinical trials are needed to prove the safety of CAM.

Objective. To identify and validate effective clinical predictors for the long-term prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. Methods. Cervical cancer patients were retrieved from the TCGA database, and patients’ clinical data were collected and analyzed for the predictive value of long-term prognosis. In the other branch of the study, patients with cervical cancer and admitted to our hospital between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016, were retrieved and followed up for prognosis analysis. Results. In the database patient cohort of our study, 607 cases with cervical cancer were analyzed. Aneuploidy score ( p = 0.012 ), Buffa hypoxia score ( p = 0.013 ), histologic grade ( p = 0.01 ), fraction genome altered >0.4 ( p < 0.001 ), weight > 60 kg ( p < 0.001 ), height > 160 cm ( p = 0.047 ), BMI p = 0.023 ), Winter hypoxia score ( p = 0.002 ), and adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy were good predictors for disease-free survival (DFS), while aneuploidy score ( p = 0.001 ), MSI sensor score > 0.5 ( p = 0.035 ), person neoplasm status ( p < 0.001 ), race ( p = 0.006 ), Ragnum hypoxia score ( p = 0.012 ), weight ( p < 0.001 ), height ( p < 0.001 ), and BMI p = 0.04 ) were good predictors for overall survival (OS). In the admitted patient cohort, age over 60 years old at the time of diagnosis was the only clinical factor influencing the long-term DFS ( p = 0.004 ). TNM stage above III ( p = 0.004 ), body weight > 70 kg ( p < 0.001 ), and complicated with other cancer ( p < 0.001 ) were clinical factor influencing the long-term OS. Conclusions. Clinical factors, especially common to both cohorts, could be used to show the long-term prognosis of cervical cancer.

Purpose. L-carnitine (LC) is considered to have good therapeutic potential for myocardial infarction (MI), but its mechanism has not been clarified. The aim of the study is to elucidate the cardioprotective effects of LC in mice following MI and related mechanisms. Methods. ICR mice were treated with LC for 2 weeks after induction of MI with ligation of left anterior descending artery. Electrocardiographic (ECG) recording and echocardiography were used to evaluate cardiac function. H&E staining, TTC staining, and Masson staining were performed for morphological analysis and cardiac fibrosis. ELISA and immunofluorescence were utilized to detect biomarkers and inflammatory mediators. The key proteins in the Bax/Bcl-2 signaling pathway were also examined by Western blot. Results. Both echocardiography and histological measurement showed an improvement in cardiac function and morphology. Biomarkers such as LDH, NT-proBNP, cTnT, and AST, as well as the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, were decreased in plasma of mice receiving LC treatment after myocardial injury. In addition, the expression of α-SMA as well as the key proteins in the Bax/Bcl-2 signaling pathway in cardiac myocardium were much lower in mice with LC treatment compared to those without after MI. Conclusions. Our data suggest that LC can effectively ameliorate left ventricular (LV) remodeling after MI, and its beneficial effects on myocardial function and remodeling may be attributable at least in part to anti-inflammatory and inhibition of the Bax/Bcl-2 apoptotic signaling pathway.

This paper presents an experimental investigation of acoustic emission (AE) time-frequency characteristics of a water-bearing sandstone specimen in a conventional uniaxial compression test. The main achievements are as follows: (1) The violent fluctuation of AE time domain parameters indicates that the water-bearing sandstone specimen is about to be destroyed. This characteristic provides a theoretical basis for predicting the failure of water-bearing rock in engineering practice. (2) In the elastic phase, the AE b value is the lowest but has a sudden increase after falling into the steady crack propagation phase. In the unsteady crack propagation phase, the AE b value is further increased. This characteristic is of great indicative value for predicting the failure of the water-bearing sandstone specimen. (3) The difference of dominant frequency among the three key points is very small, indicating that the crack initiation and propagation of the water-bearing sandstone specimen has a certain stability in the damage and failure process. But, the two-dimensional frequency spectrum structure of AE waveform signals shows that the closer to failure, the more the number of the frequency spectrum structure peaks. (4) The energy of AE signals is mainly concentrated in the first three frequency bands. The closer to failure, the more the energy proportion of the first three frequency bands is reduced; conversely, the energy proportion of the latter five frequency bands is increased, which leads to more complexity of the failure modes of the water-bearing sandstone specimen.

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is defined as a decline in ovarian function before the age of 40 and is one of the leading causes of infertility in women. The etiology is complex, and the pathogenesis is not clear. The main treatment is hormone replacement therapy, but a growing body of data confirms that such treatment can increase the risk of endometrial disease and cardiovascular disease. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been widely used in patients with POI due to its limited adverse reactions and high efficiency. According to literature reports, CAM therapy for POI mainly includes traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, psychotherapy, dietary supplements, and exercise therapy. This article reviews the application of CAM in the treatment of POI and attempts to determine the therapeutic effects and the mechanisms behind these effects based on existing clinical and experimental studies in order to provide theoretical support for the treatment of POI.

We explored the feasibility and efficacy of a degradable magnesium (Mg) alloy guided bone regeneration (GBR) in the treatment of bone defects after tooth extraction. A GBR membrane (MAR-Gide (MG)) was used to treat a mandibular second molar (M2M)-distal bone defect (DBD). In eight beagle dogs, bilateral mandibular second and fourth premolars were hemi-sected. The distal roots were removed to create a two-wall bony defect of dimension 5 mm × 5 mm × 5 mm to simulate M2M-DBD. Thirty-two bone defects were assigned randomly into four groups according to GBR membranes (MG and Bio-Gide (BG)) applied and the time of killing (3 months and 6 months after surgery). The osteogenesis of bone defects and MG degradation were analyzed using micro-CT, histology (staining, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. MG did not increase the prevalence of infection, wound dehiscence, or subcutaneous emphysema compared with those using BG. Trabecular volume/total volume at 3 months (63.71 ± 10.4% vs. 59.97 ± 8.94%) was significantly higher in the group MG than that in the group BG. Implanted MG was degraded completely within 3 months, and “island-shaped” new bone was found near MG degradation products. A significant difference was not found in vertical bone height or percent of new bone formation (45.44 ± 12.28% vs. 43.49 ± 7.12%) between the groups. The concentration of rare-earth elements in mandibular lymph nodes of the group MG was significantly higher than that of the group BG ( P ≤ 0.017 ) but did not lead to histopathological changes. In summary, MG exhibited good biocompatibility and clinical applicability compared with BG in vivo. The osteogenic effect of MG could be enhanced by regulating the degradation rate of Mg-alloy.

Since a portion of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) do not benefit much from current standard treatments, it is still needed to discover new therapeutic drugs to improve the prognosis of the patients. Considering that Chinese traditional medicine plays a role in inhibiting tumor progression, in this study, we aimed to investigate whether a Chinese herbal formula, Qing Yan Li Ge Tang (QYLGT), has the anticancer activity in NPC cells and explore the underlying mechanism as well. MTT assay, colony formation assay, immunoblotting assay, and DNA laddering assay were performed to assess cell viability, cell colony formation, protein expression, and DNA fragmentation, respectively. Results show that QYLGT was able to inhibit the cell viability and decrease colony formation ability in NPC cells. QYLGT could also increase the formation of intracellular vacuoles and induce the autophagy-related protein expressions, including Atg3, Atg6, and Atg12-Atg5 conjugate in NPC cells. Treatment with an autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine, could significantly recover QYLGT-inhibited cell viability of NPC cells. In addition, QYLGT did not significantly induce apoptosis in NPC cells. We also found that QYLGT had the ability to activate phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. Treatment with PI3K inhibitors, LY294002 and wortmannin, or mTOR inhibitors, rapamycin and Torin 1, could not only recover QYLGT-inhibited cell viability of NPC cells but also inhibit Atg3 expression. Taken together, our results demonstrated that QYLGT could induce autophagic cell death in NPC cells through the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

Rich in valuable reserves, conglomerate reservoirs in China have gradually emerged as a fundamental development source. Currently, research pertaining to the macromechanical properties of crack propagation in conglomerates is conducted either by directly employing various physical tests or by formulating a simplified numerical model for simulation, while disregarding the influence of the conglomerate mesostructure. In this paper, the analysis is performed by adopting techniques such as CT scanning and Particle Flow Code (PFC) numerical simulation. CT scanning is used to identify the mesoscopic structure of the conglomerate, and then, a numerical model is devised in accordance with the CT scanned digital image. Three-point bending simulation experiments are conducted for 3 sets of semicircular conglomerate specimens possessing prefabricated cracks, to analyze the influence of the initiation and evolution of mesostructure on the fracture failure behavior. Research suggests: ① The mesostructure within the conglomerate is complexified due to the presence of gravel. Conglomerate specimens exhibiting different mesostructures tend to diversify the possible modes of destruction of the conglomerate. ② A fluctuation is noticed at peak load under the fracture toughness test. The numerical simulation of the fracture toughness undertaken via the PFC method revealed the reason for the peak load fluctuation during the fracture propagation to be the constant penetration of the cracks into or out of gravel particles. ③ The fracture toughness simulation tests ascertain the existence of certain fracture characteristic units during the fracture propagation process, wherein the evolution of the internal mesostructure considerably influences the macroscopic failure mode of the conglomerate.

In response to the problems of high labor intensity, high risk, and poor reliability of artificial live working, a four-wheel-driven spacer bar replacement mobile operation robot has been designed and developed in this paper, and the corresponding kinematic and dynamics model have been established, based on the established double models, the kinematics and dynamics numerical analysis can be realized through INVENTOR and ADAMS, respectively, based on the established kinematics and dynamics models . The results show that the simulation value of the robot joint displacement, velocity, acceleration, and joint force can be able to meet the requirements of kinematic and dynamic constraints during the robot operation. The robot prototype can meet the requirement of dual-split robot working space and the operation joint force control, which not only extend the robot adaptability to the multisplit lines heterogeneous operation environment but also provide an important theoretical technical support for the exploit of the robot physical prototype. Through the robot kinematics and dynamics analysis, the robot mechanical structure parameters and electrical control parameters have been effectively optimized. The weight and cost of the robot have been reduced by 12% and 15% compared to the existed studies. Finally, the robot principle prototype mobile platform has been developed, and the correctness of robot kinematics and dynamics simulation analysis has been verified through the robot principle prototype mobile platform.

In order to maintain the best performance in flight, a new concept, morphing aircraft, has been proposed, which can change the real-time aerodynamic characteristics under different flight conditions. The key problem is to figure out the response of strong flow instability caused by structure changes during the morphing. To solve this problem, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel tests (WTT) were employed. The results show that the deformation of thickness and camber angle of the airfoil will significantly change the distribution of pressure and result in obvious hysteresis loops of lift and drag. With the increase of deformation frequency and amplitude, the instability increases correspondingly. Moreover, the unsteady effect caused by camber deformation is much stronger than that caused by thickness deformation. In addition, the flow structures on the airfoil, such as the shock strength and boundary separation location, have a delay in response to structure changes. Therefore, there will be a hysteresis between airfoil deformation and aerodynamic characteristics, which means strong flow instability.

There is a high prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, but a Chinese version of cognitive rating scale that is specific and sensitive to PD patients is still lacking. The aims of this study are to test the reliability and validity of a Chinese version of Parkinson’s disease-cognitive rating scale (PD-CRS), establish cutoff scores for diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) and PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), explore cognitive profiles of PD-MCI and PDD, and find cognitive deficits suggesting a transition from PD-MCI to PDD. PD-CRS was revised based on the culture background of Chinese people. Ninety-two PD patients were recruited in three PD centers and were classified into PD with normal cognitive function (PD-NC), PD-MCI, and PDD subgroups according to the cognitive rating scale (CDR). Those PD patients underwent PD-CRS blind assessment by a separate neurologist. The PD-CRS showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.840). Intraclass Correlation coefficient (ICC) of test-retest reliability reached 0.906 (95% CI 0.860–0.935, p<0.001). ICC of inter-rater reliability was 0.899 (95% CI 0.848–0.933, p<0.001). PD-CRS had fair concurrent validity with MDRS (ICC = 0.731, 95% CI 0.602–0.816). All the frontal-subcortical items showed significant decrease in PD-MCI compared with the PD-NC group (p≤0.001), but the instrument cortical items did not (confrontation naming p=0.717, copying a clock p=0.620). All the frontal-subcortical and instrumental-cortical functions showed significant decline in PDD compared with the PD-NC group (p≤0.001). The cutoff value for diagnosis of PD-MCI is 80.5 with the sensitivity of 75.7% and the specificity of 75.0%, and for diagnosis of PDD is 73.5 with the sensitivity of 89.2% and the specificity of 98.9%. Revised Chinese version of PD-CRS is a reliable, acceptable, valid, and useful neuropsychological battery for assessing cognition in PD patients.

The objective of the present study is to develop an age-specific lower extremity finite element model for pedestrian accident simulation. Finite element (FE) models have been used as a versatile tool to simulate and understand the pedestrian injury mechanisms and assess injury risk during crashes. However, current computational models only represent certain ages in the population, the age spectrum of the pedestrian victims is very large, and the geometry of anatomical structures and material property of the lower extremities changes with age for adults, which could affect the injury tolerance, especially in at-risk populations such as the elderly. The effects of age on the material mechanical property of bone and soft tissues of the lower extremities as well as the geometry of the long bone were studied. Then an existing 50th percentile male pedestrian lower extremity model was rebuilt to depict lower extremity morphology for 30- to 70-year-old (YO) individuals. A series of PMHS tests were simulated to validate the biofidelity and stability of the created age-specific models and evaluate the lower extremity response. The development of age-specific lower extremity models will lead to an improved understanding of the pedestrian lower extremity injury mechanisms and injury risk prediction for the whole population in vehicle-pedestrian collision accidents.