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Abstract Given that a substantial proportion of the subgroup of COVID-19 patients that face a severe disease course are younger than 60 years, it is critical to understand the disease-specific characteristics of young COVID-19 patients. Risk factors for a severe disease course for young COVID-19 patients and possible non-linear influences remain unknown. Data were analyzed from COVID-19 patients with clinical outcome in a single hospital in Wuhan, China, collected retrospectively from Jan 24th to Mar 27th. Clinical, demographic, treatment and laboratory data were collected from patients' medical records. Uni- and multivariable analysis using logistic regression and random forest, with the latter allowing the study of non-linear influences, were performed to investigate the clinical characteristics of a severe disease course. A total of 762 young patients (median age 47 years, interquartile range [IQR] 38–55, range 18–60; 55.9% female) were included, as well as 714 elderly patients as a comparison group. Among the young patients, 362 (47.5%) had a severe/critical disease course and the mean age was statistically significantly higher in the severe subgroup than in the mild subgroup (59.3 vs. 56.0, Student's t-test: p

Statins are well-tolerated and widely available lipid-lowering medications with neuroprotective effects against traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, whether delayed statin therapy starting in the subacute phase promotes recovery after TBI is unknown. Elongation of the very long-chain fatty acid protein 1 (ELOVL1) is involved in astrocyte-mediated neurotoxicity, but its role in TBI and the relationship between ELOVL1 and statins are unclear. We hypothesized that delayed simvastatin treatment promotes neurological functional recovery after TBI by regulating the ELOVL1-mediated production of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs). ICR male mice received daily intragastric administration of 1, 2 or 5 mg/kg simvastatin on Days 1–14, 3–14, 5–14, or 7–14 after cryogenic TBI (cTBI). The results showed that simvastatin promoted motor functional recovery in a dose-dependent manner, with a wide therapeutic window of at least 7 days postinjury. Meanwhile, simvastatin inhibited astrocyte and microglial overactivation and glial scar formation, and increased total dendritic length, neuronal complexity and spine density on day 14 after cTBI. The up-regulation of ELOVL1 expression and saturated VLCFAs concentrations in the cortex surrounding the lesion caused by cTBI was inhibited by simvastatin, which was related to the inhibition of the mTOR signaling. Overexpression of ELOVL1 in astrocytes surrounding the lesion using HBAAV2/9-GFAP-m-ELOVL1–3xFlag-EGFP partially attenuated the benefits of simvastatin. These results showed that delayed simvastatin treatment promoted functional recovery and brain tissue repair after TBI through the downregulation of ELOVL1 expression by inhibiting mTOR signaling. Astrocytic ELOVL1 may be a potential target for rehabilitation after TBI.

Glyphosate has been used worldwide for nearly 40 years, and 30 types of resistant weeds have been reported. Glyphosate is mass-produced and widely used in China, but few studies and reports on glyphosate-resistant weeds and resistance mechanisms exist. Previous studies found a goosegrass species with high glyphosate resistance from orchards in South China and its glyphosate resistant mechanism was described in this study. The cDNA of 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS, EC 2.5.1.19), the target enzyme of glyphosate, was cloned from the glyphosate-resistant and -susceptible goosegrass, respectively, and referred as EPSPS-R and EPSPS-S. The Pro106 residue was known to be involved in the glyphosate resistance in most goosegrass populations. However, sequence analysis did not find the mutation at the Pro106 residue in the R biotype EPSPS amino acid sequence. The residue 133 and 382 was mutated in the R biotype EPSPS amino acid sequence instead, but it did not affect the EPSPS-S and EPSPS-R genes sensitivities to glyphosate. RT-PCR and Western blot analyses suggested that EPSPS mRNA and protein are mainly present in the shoot tissues both in the R and S goosegrass biotypes. The EPSPS-R rapidly responds to the glyphosate in R-biotype goosegrass and the induced expression was detected at 12 h post glyphosate treatment. The mRNA and protein expression of EPSPS-R increased constantly as the increasing concentration of glyphosate. However, the expression of the EPSPS-S was not induced significantly by glyphosate in the S goosegrass biotype. Quantification of real-time PCR results showed that the copy number of the EPSPS in R-biotype goosegrass was 4.7 times higher than that in the S goosegrass biotype. All the results implied that EPSPS gene amplification might mainly caused the glyphosate resistance of a goosegrass population collected from orchards in South China.

The rapid detection of glyphosate resistance in goosegrass (Eleusine indica) will enhance our ability to respond to new resistant populations of this major weed. Chlorophyll fluorescence (Fluo) and P700 (reaction center chlorophyll of photosystem I) absorbance were analyzed in one biotype of goosegrass that is resistant to glyphosate and in another that remains sensitive to the herbicide. Both biotypes were treated with a foliar spray of glyphosate. Differences in photosystem II maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm), effective photochemical quantum yield (Y(II)), and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) between the biotypes increased over time. Values for Fv/Fm and Y(II) differed between the two biotypes 24 h after treatment (HAT). Differentiated activities and energy dissipation processes of photosystem II (PSII) and energy dissipation processes of photosystem I (PSI) were manifested in the two biotypes 24 HAT with 20 mmol L−1 glyphosate. Differentiated energy dissipation processes of PSI were still apparent 24 HAT with 200 mmol L−1 glyphosate. These results indicate that the Fluo parameters related to PSII activity and energy dissipation and the P700 parameters related to energy dissipation are suitable indicators that enable rapid detection of glyphosate resistance in goosegrass.

The aberrant expression of retinoic acid receptor‑α (RARα) has been reported in various types of cancer. However, its association with the prognosis and development of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) has not yet been determined. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the expression and function of RARα in patients with LSCC. The expression of RARα in LSCC tissues was investigated using immunostaining. An MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis were also performed to investigate the function of RARα in the proliferation and cell cycle of LSCC cells. The expression of RARα was significantly elevated in LSCC tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues (78.1 vs. 6.3%, P<0.05). The overexpression of RARα was associated with poorly differentiated features of LSCC (P<0.05). Furthermore, the downregulation of RARα inhibited the proliferation of LSCC cells, and arrested the cell cycle at the G1 phase via upregulation of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A, which may be associated with inhibition of the protein kinase B signaling pathway. Therefore, the overexpression of RARα may contribute to the development of LSCC through the regulation of the cell cycle. The results of the present study provide evidence that RARα serves an important function in LSCC development and may be a potential therapeutic target or prognostic predictor for LSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Purpose  Dofetilide (DOF), a novel Class III antiarrhythmic drug, prolongs the action potential duration (APD) and shows a positive inotropic effect in guinea pig papillary muscle. The present experiments were designed to study the positive inotropic effect of DOF on rat ventricle and explore its possible mechanism(s). Methods  Hearts from male Wistar rats (260–320 g) were divided into five groups and perfused in Langendorff mode. Ventricular myocytes were enzymatically isolated from male Wistar rats. Whole-cell voltage-clamping technique was used to test the Na+–Ca2+ exchange (NCE) current (I NCX); Calcium transients and cell shortening provoked by field stimulation or using calcium current command waveform were observed synchronously with an ionic imaging system. Results  DOF (0.03–1.0 μM) increased left ventricular function in isolated rat hearts in a concentration-dependent manner. DOF (0.03–1.0 μM) also concentration-dependently increased both inward and outward I NCX in isolated rat ventricular cells. The EC50 values of DOF were 0.149 μM for the inward I NCX and 0.249 μM for outward I NCX, respectively. DOF 0.2 μM significantly enhanced Ca2+ transient and cell shortening in single rat ventricular myocytes driven by field electric stimulation. When the patch clamp system was connected to the ionic imaging system, Ca2+ current (I Ca), Ca2+ transient and cell shortening amplitude in a same cell were recorded synchronously. Application of DOF 0.2 μM had no effect on I Ca, but significantly increased Ca2+ transient and cell shortening. NCX inhibitor KB-R7943 0.6 μM significantly depressed the effects of DOF on Ca2+ transient and cell shortening. Conclusions  We conclude that DOF enhanced contractility of rat ventricular myocytes. The enhancement of NCE may be involved in the positive inotropic action of DOF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier electroencephalographic studies have compared attractive and unattractive faces and between faces with other objects, such as flowers, without revealing if a recognition memory bias toward faces and flowers exists or whether humans exhibit enhanced specific components toward all attractive objects or only toward attractive faces. For objects with similar degrees of attractiveness, we sought to determine if the N170, P1, and N250 reflect upon the attractiveness of faces and flowers and demonstrated by comparing event-related potentials of humans' different perceptual mechanisms recognizing high attractive faces and high attractive flowers. The repeated high attractive faces tended to elicit a larger N170. Simultaneously, the P1 was preferentially associated with the repeated high attractive flowers, but both indicated that the repetitive enhancement effect only occurred on repeated attractive faces. Thus, differences existed in the perceptual mechanisms for processing repeated high attractive faces and repeated high attractive flowers. However, there was no significant difference in N250 between repeated faces and repeated flowers or between high attractive faces and high attractive flowers. Consequently, high attractive faces and high attractive flowers capture the beholder's memory bias in different processing stages. The N170 and P1 components are affected by attractiveness, thereby demonstrating the differences between human perceptual mechanisms in recognizing high attractive faces and objects.