Search

Background: This study aims to explore whether serum miR-185-5p levels are related to the injury severity and prognosis of traumatic brain injury patients. Methods: Serum miR-185-5p level was quantified in 120 TBI patients. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was used to grade the damage, and the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) was used to evaluate the prognosis 3 months after TBI. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationship between serum miR-185-5p level and injury severity and prognosis, and the value of serum miR-185-5p level to assess injury severity and prognosis was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Serum miR-185-5p level in moderate and severe TBI patients was higher than in mild TBI patients, and serum miR-185-5p was closely related to GCS score and GOS score. Serum miR-185-5p level higher than 0.36 could distinguish patients with mild to moderate TBI injury, with 72.97% sensitivity and 97.62% specificity, while that higher than 0.43 had 46.34% sensitivity and 91.89% specificity to distinguish moderate to severe TBI patients. Moreover, serum miR-185-5p levels higher than 0.36, with a sensitivity of 96.30% and a specificity of 60.24%, distinguished the poor prognosis of TBI patients. Serum miR185-5p level was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in TBI patients after 3 months and was effective in discriminating adverse outcomes at 3 months. Conclusions: Serum miR-185-5p level was significantly correlated with 3-month injury and adverse prognosis in TBI patients, suggesting that serum miR-185-5p level may be a biomarker that provides supplementary prognostic information and can be used to identify the risk of adverse prognosis in TBI patients.

Volatile chemical products (VCPs) have become an important source of reactive organic gases (ROGs) in urban areas worldwide. Industrial activities can also utilize a large number of VCPs and emit many organic gases into the atmosphere. Due to multiple sampling and measurement challenges, only a subset of ROG species is usually measured for many industrial VCP sources. This study aims to investigate the emissions of ROGs from five industrial VCP sources in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China, including the shoemaking, plastic surface coating, furniture coating, printing, and ship coating industries. A more comprehensive speciation of ROG emissions from these industrial VCP sources was developed by the combination of proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS) and the gas chromatography–mass spectrometer/flame ionization detector (GC–MS/FID). Our study identified oxygenated ROG species (OVOCs) as representative ROGs emitted from these sources, which are highly related to specific chemicals used during industrial activities. Moreover, mass spectra similarity analysis revealed significant dissimilarities among the ROG emissions from industrial activities, indicating substantial variations between different industrial VCP sources. Except for the ship coating industry utilizing solvent-borne coatings, the proportions of OVOCs range from 67 % to 96 % in total ROG emissions and 72 % to 97 % in total OH reactivity (OHR) for different industrial sources, while the corresponding contributions of OVOCs in the ship coating industry are only 16 ± 3.5 % and 15 ± 3.6 %. The industrial VCP sources associated with solvent-borne coatings exhibited a higher ozone formation potential (OFP), reaching as high as 5.5 and 2.7 g O 3 g -1 ROGs for the ship coating and furniture coating industries, primarily due to contributions from aromatics. We find that a few species can contribute the majority of the ROG emissions and also their OHR and OFP from various industrial VCP sources. Our results suggest that ROG treatment devices may have limited effectiveness for all ROGs, with treatment efficiencies ranging from - 12 % to 68 %. Furthermore, we found that ambient measurements in industrial areas have been significantly impacted by industrial VCP sources, and ROG pairs (e.g., methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) / C 8 aromatics ratio) can be utilized as reliable evidence by using high-time-resolution ROG measurements from PTR-ToF-MS. Our study demonstrated the importance of measuring a large number of ROGs using PTR-ToF-MS for characterizing ROG emissions from industrial VCP sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to clarify the value of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) for the early diagnosis of strangulated intestinal obstruction through a meta-analysis.

Gallic acid (GA) and lecithin showed important roles in antioxidant and drug delivery, respectively. A complex synthesized from GA and soybean lecithin (SL-GAC), significantly improved bioavailability of GA and pharmacological activities. However, the antioxidant activity of SL-GAC and its effect on iron-overload-induced liver injury remains unexplored. This study investigates the antioxidant properties of SL-GAC in vitro and in mice, and its remediating effects against liver injury by iron-overloaded. In vitro, free radical scavenging activity, lipid peroxidation inhibition, and ferric reducing power of SL-GAC were measured by absorbance photometry. In vivo, C57BL/6J mice were randomized into 4 groups: control, iron-overloaded, iron-overloaded + deferoxamine, and iron-overloaded + SL-GAC. Treatments with deferoxamine (150 mg/kg/intraperitioneally) and SL-GAC (200 mg/kg/orally) were given to the desired groups for 12 weeks, daily. Iron levels, oxidative stress, and biochemical parameters were determined by histopathological examination and molecular biological techniques. In vitro, SL-GAC showed DPPH and ABTS free radicals scavenging activity with IC50 values equal to 24.92 and 128.36 μg/mL, respectively. In C57BL/6J mice, SL-GAC significantly reduced the levels of serum iron (22.82%), liver iron (50.29%), aspartate transaminase (25.97%), alanine transaminase (38.07%), gamma glutamyl transferase (42.11%), malondialdehyde (19.82%), total cholesterol (45.96%), triglyceride (34.90%), ferritin light chain (18.51%) and transferrin receptor (27.39%), while up-regulated the levels of superoxide dismutase (24.69%), and glutathione (11.91%). These findings encourage the use of SL-GAC to treat liver injury induced by iron-overloaded. Further in vivo and in vitro studies are needed to validate its potential in clinical medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the sources and formation mechanism of oxidized organic nitrogen (OON), field measurements of OON were conducted using an iodide-adduct chemical ionization mass spectrometer equipped with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO-CIMS) during fall of 2018 in the megacity of Guangzhou, China. Using levoglucosan as a tracer of biomass burning emissions, the results show that biomass burning (49±23 %) and secondary formation (51±23 %) accounted for comparable fractions to the total particle-phase OON (pOON) but 24±25 % and 76±25 % to the gas-phase OON (gOON), respectively, signifying the important contribution of biomass burning to pOON and secondary formation to gOON in this urban area. Calculations of production rates of gOON indicated that hydroxyl radical (42 %) and nitrate radical (NO 3) (49 %) oxidation pathways potentially dominated the secondary formation of gOON. A high concentration of NO 3 radicals during the afternoon was observed, demonstrating that the daytime NO 3 oxidation might be more important than the previous recognition. Monoterpenes, found to be major precursors of secondary gOON, were mainly from anthropogenic emissions in this urban area. The ratio of secondary pOON to O x ([O x ] = [O 3 ] + [NO 2 ]) increased as a function of relative humidity and aerosol surface area, indicating that heterogeneous reaction might be an important formation pathway for secondary pOON. Finally, the highly oxidized gOON and pOON with 6 to 11 oxygen atoms were observed, highlighting the complex secondary reaction processes of OON in the ambient air. Overall, our results improve the understanding of the sources and dynamic variation of OON in the urban atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Ca.sup.2+] sparks as the elementary intracellular [Ca.sup.2+] release events are instrumental to local control of [Ca.sup.2+] signaling in many types of cells. Here, we visualized neural [Ca.sup.2+] sparks in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons and investigated possible role of DRG sparks in the regulation of secretion from the somata of the cell. DRG sparks arose mainly from type 3 ryanodine receptor [Ca.sup.2+] release channels on subsurface cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, rendering a striking subsurface localization. Caffeine- or 3,7-dimethyl-1-(2-propynyl)xanthine-induced store [Ca.sup.2+] release, in the form of [Ca.sup.2+] sparks, triggered exocytosis, independently of membrane depolarization and external [Ca.sup.2+]. The spark-secretion coupling probability was estimated to be between 1 vesicle per 6.6 sparks and 1 vesicle per 11.4 sparks. During excitation, subsurface sparks were evoked by physiological [Ca.sup.2+] entry via the [Ca.sup.2+]-induced [Ca.sup.2+] release mechanism, and their synergistic interaction with [Ca.sup.2+] influx accounted for [approximately equal to] 60% of the [Ca.sup.2+]-dependent exocytosis. Furthermore, inhibition of [Ca.sup.2+]-induced [Ca.sup.2+] release abolished endotoxin-induced secretion of pain-related neuropeptides. These findings underscore an important role for [Ca.sup.2+] sparks in the amplification of surface [Ca.sup.2+] influx and regulation of neural secretion. endoplasmic reticulum | ryanodine receptor | exocytosis

This document is a corrigendum for an article titled "Macleaya cordata extracts exert antiviral effects in newborn mice with rotavirus-induced diarrhea via inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway." The authors of the article identified errors in Figure 4B, where two pictures were mistakenly selected as the same picture, and in the images for the 'JAK2/Control' and 'JAK2/Rotavirus' experiments, which appeared to contain overlapping data. The authors were granted permission to repeat the experiments and have provided a revised version of Figure 4. The errors in Figure 4 did not significantly impact the overall results or conclusions of the study. The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused. [Extracted from the article]

Molecular targeted therapy has become an emerging promising strategy in cancer treatment, and screening the agents targeting at cancer cell specific targets is very desirable for cancer treatment. Our previous study firstly found that a secretory peroxidase of class III derived from foxtail millet bran (FMBP) exhibited excellent targeting anti-colorectal cancer (CRC) activity in vivo and in vitro , whereas its underlying target remains unclear. The highlight of present study focuses on the finding that cell surface glucose-regulated protein 78 (csGRP78) abnormally located on CRC is positively correlated with the anti-CRC effects of FMBP, indicating it serves as a potential target of FMBP against CRC. Further, we demonstrated that the combination of FMBP with the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of csGRP78 interfered with the downstream activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in CRC cells, thus promoting the intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell grown inhibition. These phenomena were further confirmed in nude mice tumor model. Collectively, our study highlights csGRP78 acts as an underlying target of FMBP against CRC, uncovering the clinical potential of FMBP as a targeted agent for CRC in the future. Peroxidase from foxtail millet bran restrains the activation of STAT3 pathway through binding to the nucleotide binding domain of csGRP78 abnormally located on colorectal cancer cells (CRC), and promotes the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, resulting in the retardation of CRC progression. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicular emission is an important source for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban and downwind regions. In this study, we conducted a chassis dynamometer study to investigate VOC emissions from vehicles using gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel. Time-resolved VOC emissions from vehicles are chemically characterized by a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) with high frequency. Our results show that emission factors of VOCs generally decrease with the improvement of emission standard for gasoline vehicles, whereas variations of emission factors for diesel vehicles with emission standards are more diverse. Mass spectra analysis of PTR-ToF-MS suggest that cold start significantly influence VOCs emission of gasoline vehicles, while the influences are less important for diesel vehicles. Large differences of VOC emissions between gasoline and diesel vehicles are observed with emission factors of most VOC species from diesel vehicles were higher than gasoline vehicles, especially for most oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) and heavier aromatics. These results indicate quantification of heavier species by PTR-ToF-MS may be important in characterization of vehicular exhausts. Our results suggest that VOC pairs (e.g. C14 aromatics/toluene ratio) could potentially provide good indicators for distinguishing emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles. The fractions of OVOCs in total VOC emissions are determined by combining measurements of hydrocarbons from canisters and online observations of PTR-ToF-MS. We show that OVOCs contribute 7.7% ± 6.2% of gasoline vehicles of the total VOC emissions, while the fractions are significantly higher for diesel vehicles (40-77%), highlighting the importance to detect these OVOC species in diesel emissions. Our study demonstrated that the large number of OVOC species measured by PTR-ToF-MS are important in characterization of VOC emissions from vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]