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Objective: To quantitatively analyze image quality of two sets of phantom (CatPhan504 and Cheese) Megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT) images acquired by Helical Tomotherapy with three scanning modes (Fine, Normal and Coarse), and to explore and validate a semi-automatic quality assurance procedure for MVCT images of Helical Tomotherapy., Methods: On Helical Tomotherapy, CatPan504 and Cheese phantoms were scanned with three pitch levels (Fine, Normal, Coarse: 4 mm, 8 mm, 12 mm/circle) respectively. Pylinac, Matlab and Eclipse were used to calculate and compare spatial resolution, noise level and low contrast resolution of images obtained under three scanning modes respectively. The spatial resolution can be evaluated by the blurring of line-pair CT value in the images of CatPhan504's CTP528 module. The noise level can be evaluated by the integral non-uniformity in the images of Cheese's uniformity module. the low contrast resolution can be evaluated by contrast-to-noise ratio of both phantoms' plug-in module, or visibility of the region of interest (Supra-Slice) in the images of CatPhan504's CTP515 module., Results: Analyses on CatPhan504's line pair module(CTP528 module) showed that the first three line pairs(the gap size are 0.500 cm, 0.250 cm and 0.167 cm respectively) could be clearly observed but blurring began to occur from the fourth line pair(the gap size is 0.125 cm) under Coarse mode. Meanwhile, the first four line pairs were all observable under the Normal and Fine modes. Integral non-integrity index(the value negatively correlated with the noise level) were 0.155 7, 0.136 8 and 0.122 9 for Coarse, Normal and Fine modes respectively. None of the Supra-Slice in CatPhan504's CTP515 module could be observed under three imaging modes. Low contrast contrast-to-noise ratio of Cheese phantom was similar under three modes and the insert visibility exhibited nearly linear growth with the increasing difference between CT average value of the insert material and background., Conclusion: Superiority and inferiority of three image modes in terms of the three image quality index was not consistent. Evaluation results above could provide reference for more rational decision on scanning modes selection of helical tomotherapy, which was based on image visualization demands in clinical practice. The proposed method could also provide guidance for similar image quality assessment and periodic quality assurance.

Objective: There is no effective therapy for patients with advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Vandetanib,a novel multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has previously shown antitumor activity in phase Ⅱ studies of patients with advanced MTC. This study was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of vandetanib on advanced MTC. Methods: This study was an open, international multi-center phase Ⅲ clinical trial and the study number was NCT01298323. The single-center study was a sub-group analysis of the international study, which was conducted on 9 pathologically confirmed advanced MTC patients by Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between March 2012 and October 2017. Vandetanib (300 mg) was orally administered daily till death or withdrawal. The efficacy was evaluated according to RECIST criteria and the adverse events were evaluated according to NCI criteria. Results: The objective response rate was 3/9,and the disease control rate was 4/9. The median progression-free survival was 44 months. All patients who had the elevated levels of calcitonin (CTN) and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) before treatment began to show the decreases in the level of CTN and CEA after 3 months and later showed again the increases in the levels of both tumor markers with tumor progression. By ROC curve analysis, CTN was of statistically significance( P< 0.05, 95 %CI 0.558-0.834), but CEA was not( P> 0.05). Adverse events were generally mild (grade 1 or 2),including hypertension (9 cases),skin rash (9 cases), and diarrhea (6 cases). Two patients developed grade 3 elevation of serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase and one patient developed grade 3 elevation of drug-related bowel disease. No grade 4 drug-related adverse event occurred. Conclusions: Vandetanib is effective and well tolerated for patients with locally advanced or metastatic MTC who have no chance for surgery. This indicates the increase of CTN is clinically relevant to disease progression, but the number of patients are extremely low, and, therefore further research is needed. Long-term use of vandetanib may cause resistance.

Background: Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) are a small subset of cells characterized by unlimited self-renewal, cell differentiation, and uncontrollable cellular growth. LCSCs are also resistant to conventional therapies and are thus believed to be held responsible for causing treatment failure of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It has been recently found that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators in HCC. This present study aims to explore the underlying mechanism of how lncRNA DLX6-AS1 influences the development of LCSCs and HCC., Methods: A microarray-based analysis was performed to initially screen differentially expressed lncRNAs associated with HCC. We then analyzed the lncRNA DLX6-AS1 levels as well as CADM1 promoter methylation. The mRNA and protein expression of CADM1, STAT3, CD133, CD13, OCT-4, SOX2, and Nanog were then detected. We quantified our results by evaluating the spheroid formation, proliferation, and tumor formation abilities, as well as the proportion of tumor stem cells, and the recruitment of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) in LCSCs when lncRNA DLX6-AS1 was either overexpressed or silenced., Results: LncRNA DLX6-AS1 was upregulated in HCC. The silencing of lncRNA DLX6-AS1 was shown to reduce and inhibit spheroid formation, colony formation, proliferation, and tumor formation abilities, as well as attenuate CD133, CD13, OCT-4, SOX2, and Nanog expression in LCSCs. Furthermore, downregulation of lncRNA DLX6-AS1 contributed to a reduction in CADM1 promoter methylation via suppression of DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b in LCSCs and inactivating the STAT3 signaling pathway., Conclusion: This study demonstrated that down-regulated lncRNA DLX6-AS1 may inhibit the stem cell properties of LCSCs through upregulation of CADM1 by suppressing the methylation of the CADM1 promoter and inactivation of the STAT3 signaling pathway.

Background: Cardiogenic shock (CS) secondary to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicates management of the condition, and often leads to poor prognosis. Prompt and accurate monitoring of cardiovascular and accompanying hemodynamic changes is crucial in achieving adequate management of the condition. Advances in technology has availed procedures such as pulse index continuous cardiac output (PiCCO), which can offer precise monitoring of cardiovascular functions and hemodynamic parameters. In this study, PiCCO is evaluated for its potential utility in improving management and clinical outcomes among elderly patients with AMI complicated by CS., Aim: To assess whether use of the PiCCO system can improve clinical outcomes in elderly patients with AMI complicated by CS., Methods: Patients from emergency intensive care units (EICU) or coronary care units (CCU) were randomized to receive PiCCO monitoring or not. The APACHE II score, SOFA score, hs-TnI, NT-proBNP, PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio and lactate levels on day 1, 3 and 7 after treatment were compared. The infusion and urine volume at 0-24 h, 24-48 h and 48-72 h were recorded, as were the cardiac index (CI), extravascular lung water index (EVLWI), intrathoracic blood volume index (ITBVI) and global end diastolic volume index (GEDVI) at similar time intervals., Results: Sixty patients with AMI complicated by CS were included in the study. The PiCCO group had a significantly lower APACHE II score, SOFA score, hs-TnI and NT-proBNP levels on day 1, 3 and 7 after treatment. The infusion and urine volume during 0-24 h in the PiCCO group were significantly greater, and this group also showed significantly higher ADL scores. Furthermore, the PiCCO group spent lesser days on vasoactive agents, mechanical ventilation, and had a reduced length of stay in EICU/CCU. Additionally, the CI was significantly higher at 48 h and 72 h in the PiCCO group compared with that at 24 h, and the EVLWI, ITBVI and GEDVI were significantly decreased at 48 h and 72 h., Conclusion: Applying the PiCCO system could improve the clinical outcomes of elderly patients with AMI complicated by CS., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Accurate measurements and assessments of gas adsorption isotherms are important to characterize porous materials and develop their applications. Although these isotherms provide knowledge of the overall gas uptake within a material, they do not directly give critical information concerning the adsorption behaviour of adsorbates in each individual pore, especially in porous materials in which multiple types of pore are present. Here we show how gas adsorption isotherms can be accurately decomposed into multiple sub-isotherms that correspond to each type of pore within a material. Specifically, two metal-organic frameworks, PCN-224 and ZIF-412, which contain two and three different types of pore, respectively, were used to generate isotherms of individual pores by combining gas adsorption measurements with in situ X-ray diffraction. This isotherm decomposition approach gives access to information about the gas uptake capacity, surface area and accessible pore volume of each individual pore, as well as the impact of pore geometry on the uptake and distribution of different adsorbates within the pores.

Objective: To elucidate the effects and mechanism of microRNA-23b (miR-23b) in cervical cancer (CC) progression., Patients and Methods: Fifty-six pairs of CC tissue samples and matched para-carcinoma tissue samples were collected. Meanwhile, human normal cervical epithelial cell and CC cell lines were cultured. The abilities of cell proliferation and migration were detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays and transwell assays. The correlation between sine oculis homeobox 1 (six1) and miR-23b was clarified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The relative protein and mRNA expression were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot. In addition, Xenograft tumor formation assay was performed in this study., Results: MiR-23b was remarkably down-regulated in CC and the low miR-23b expressions were associated with the poor prognosis and worse OS of CC patients. Additionally, the functional assays demonstrated that miR-23b overexpression obviously repressed CC cell proliferation, invasion and migration abilities through the regulation of the AKT/mTOR pathway and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progress. Moreover, the luciferase reporter assay indicated that six1 was one functional target for miR-23b in CC cells, indicating that the inhibitory functions of miR-23b in CC cells were partially regulated by six1. Moreover, miR-23b restoration could prominently repress tumor growth in vivo., Conclusions: MiR-23b suppressed CC progression via directly targeting six1 and affecting AKT/mTOR signaling pathway as well as EMT progress. Therefore, miR-23b/six1 may be promising biomarkers for CC diagnosis and therapy.

Objectives: Patients who present with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and acute transverse myelitis (ATM), either simultaneously or consecutively, are defined as having GBS/ATM overlap syndrome. As this syndrome has been underinvestigated, we performed a literature review to evaluate case reports of GBS/ATM overlap syndrome to facilitate its early diagnosis., Patients and Methods: We searched four scientific literature databases (PUBMED, EMBASE, ELSEVIER and WEB OF SCIENCE) for cases that presented as GBS/ATM overlap syndrome. Eighteen articles that described 23 cases were included, and the clinical and prognostic data were analyzed., Results: Initially, only five (29.4%) patients were diagnosed with GBS/ATM overlap syndrome. Patients with GBS/ATM overlap syndrome presented as four clinical features. First, some of the patients displayed abnormal pyramidal signs, including 29.4% of patients who had positive pyramidal signs or a negative plantar reflex and 17.6% of patients who had signs of areflexia or hyporeflexia combined with positive pyramidal signs. Second, patients suffered pain and respiratory failure at a high rate (43.5% with pain at the onset of the disease, 43.5% with ventilator support, and 47.8% shown with respiratory failure). Third, patients had a partial clinical recovery of immunomodulators, 56.5% of patients had a favorable outcome, 46.2% of patients who received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) combined steroids responded well to the treatment. Four, acute axonal polyneuropathy seemed to be associated with poor outcomes (odds ratio = 3.00, 95% CI = 1.35-6.68, P = 0.01). Abnormalities in spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were detected in all patients, and the most frequently involved segments were the cervical cord (69.6%) and the thoracic cord (69.6%). In addition to spinal cord lesions, in three patients lesions in the medulla and cerebral hemisphere were also observed. The most common prescriptions included a high dose of methylprednisolone at 1 g/day for 3-5 days that was followed by a 6-week course of oral prednisone and IVIG at 0.4 g/kg/day for 5 days., Conclusion: While it is difficult to make an early diagnosis of GBS/ATM overlap syndrome, electrophysiology is helpful in the diagnosis of GBS and spinal cord MRIs are key to identifying ATM. Brain MRIs are also recommended to detect subclinical lesions. The combined use of IVIG and steroids was the most frequent treatment. However, less than half of the patients responded positively to treatment. Acute axonal neuropathy may be a risk factor for a poor prognosis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that low serum iron levels are associated with acute hydrocephalus following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH)., Methods: Patients presenting with ruptured intracranial aneurysms were enrolled in the prospective observational study. Age, sex, history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, symptom onset, Fisher grade, Hunt-Hess grade, aneurysm location, hemoglobin, and serum iron were collected. Acute hydrocephalus was determined within 72 hours after subarachnoid hemorrhage. A propensity-score matching analysis was performed to correct imbalances in patient characteristics between hydrocephalus and non-hydrocephalus groups., Results: A total of 535 patients were included. Incidence of acute hydrocephalus was 20.0%. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, lower serum iron was considered as a risk factor of acute hydrocephalus, as well as delayed ischemic neurologic deficit and lower hemoglobin (P = 0.000). After propensity-score matching, lower serum iron was considered as an independent risk factor for acute hydrocephalus, whereas hemoglobin and delayed ischemic neurologic deficit were not. The matched hydrocephalus group had lower serum iron comparing with the matched non-hydrocephalus group (10.26 ± 5.33 mmol/L vs. 13.44 ± 5.18 mmol/L; P = 0.000). The optimal cut-off value for serum iron levels as a predictor for acute hydrocephalus in patients with aSAH was determined as 13.1 mmol/L in the receiver operating characteristic curve. Furthermore, lower serum iron levels (odds ratio 0.305; 95% confidence interval, 0.178-0.524; P = 0.000) and acute hydrocephalus (odds ratio 0.372; 95% confidence interval, 0.202-0.684; P = 0.001) were predictors of poor outcome, as well as higher Hunt-Hess grade and Fisher grade., Conclusions: Lower serum iron levels after aSAH was a predictor of acute hydrocephalus and unfavorable outcome., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The inverse boundary element method (IBEM) is a powerful tool for realizing sound field reconstruction of sources with arbitrarily-shaped surfaces. In the conventional IBEM, the Tikhonov regularization is generally used and the number of sampling points is required to be larger than that of nodes on the boundary surface to guarantee to obtain a unique solution. Meanwhile, it requires that the minimum discretization interval on the boundary surface should be less than one-sixth wavelength to ensure to obtain enough calculation accuracy. Therefore, the number of sampling points may be dramatically large at high frequencies. In this paper, acoustic radiation modes, which are composed of the eigenvectors of the resistive impedance matrix, are used as the sparse basis of source surface velocities. Based on this sparse basis, sparse regularization is introduced into the IBEM. Compared to the Tikhonov regularization, the sparse regularization can provide a higher accuracy for the reconstruction of source surface velocities and can reduce the number of sampling points by taking advantage of the theory of compressive sensing. Both numerical simulation and experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method. Meanwhile, the effects of the number of sampling points and the signal-to-noise ratio on the reconstruction accuracy are analyzed numerically.

Novel chalcone-dithiocarbamate hybrids were designed, synthesized and evaluated for antiproliferative activity against selected cancer cell lines (MGC803, MCF7, and PC3). Among these analogues, (E)-2-oxo-2-((4-(3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)acryloyl)phenyl)amino)ethyl-4-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-1-carbodithioate (12d) showed the best inhibitory activity against PC3 cells (IC 50  = 1.05 μM). Cellular mechanism studies elucidated 12d could inhibit colony formation, arrest cell cycle at G2/M phase and induce DNA damage against PC3 cells. Compound 12d also induced mitochondrial apoptosis by caspase activation, MMP decrease, ROS production and catalase (CAT) inhibition. Importantly, 12d inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process by regulating EMT-related proteins (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, MMP2, MMP9). These results indicated that 12d is a promising lead compound and deserves further investigation for prevention and treatment of human prostate cancer., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In mammals, tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins have emerged as pivotal players endowed with, directly, antiviral effects and, indirectly, modulatory capacity of the innate immune response. An unprecedented expansion of TRIM family has occurred in fish; however, the functional role of fish TRIM family members remains largely unknown. In this study, we identify a species-specific TRIM gene from crucian carp Carassius auratus , named FTRCA1, phylogenetically similar to the members of finTRIM, a subfamily of TRIM exclusively in teleost fish. FTRCA1 is induced by IFN and IFN stimuli as a typical IFN-stimulated gene. Overexpression of FTRCA1 negatively regulates IFN antiviral response by inhibition of IRF3 phosphorylation; consistently, knockdown of FTRCA1 results in enhanced levels of IRF3 phosphorylation and also IFN expression following poly(I:C) transfection. Whereas FTRCA1 is associated with several pivotal signaling molecules of RIG-I-like receptor pathway, its association with TBK1 results in autophage-lysosomal degradation of TBK1, thus abrogating the downstream IFN induction. Interestingly, FTRCA1 is phosphorylated by TBK1, but this phosphorylation is not required for downregulation of TBK1 protein. Transfection assays indicate that FTRCA1 is likely an E3 ligase with the requirement of RING finger domain, and deletion of N-terminal RING domain or mutation of seven conservative sites abolishes the negative regulatory function of FTRCA1. Collectively, these results illuminate a novel finTRIM-mediated innate immune modulatory pathway, thus providing insights into species-specific regulation of fish IFN response., (Copyright © 2019 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.)

Positioning a diverse set of building blocks in a well-defined array enables cooperativity amongst them and the systematic programming of functional properties. The extension of this concept to porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is challenging since the installation of multiple components in a well-ordered framework requires careful design of the lattice topology, judicious selection of building blocks, and precise control of the crystallization parameters. Herein, we report how we met these challenges to prepare the first quinary MOF structure, FDM-8, by bottom-up self-assembly from two metals, Zn II and Cu I , and three distinct carboxylate- and pyrazolate-based linkers. With a surface area of 3643 m 2  g -1 , FDM-8 contains hierarchical pores and shows outstanding methane-storage capacity at high pressure. Furthermore, functional groups introduced on the linkers became compartmentalized in predetermined arrays in the pores of the FDM-8 framework., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Objective: To observe the clinical effectiveness and safety of fire-needle therapy, an external approach of Chinese medicine in treating plaque psoriasis., Methods: This study was a two-parallel-arm randomized controlled trial. A total of 151 participants with plaque psoriasis were randomly assigned to the fire-needle therapy group (treatment group, 76 cases) or the control group (75 cases) at a 1:1 allocation ratio using SAS software. All participants received Oral Huoxue Jiedu Decoction (, HXJDD) and applied externally vaseline cream twice a day. Participants in the treatment group received fire-needle therapy once weekly for 4 weeks plus HXJDD and vaseline cream applied the same as the control group. The primary outcome measure was Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score, and the secondary outcomes were Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQL), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), as well as Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome score and photos of target lesions. The indices were evaluated before and after treatment., Results: Sixty-eight patients in each group completed the study. The treatment group has not yet achieved significant improvement in PASI score (P>0.05) compared to the control group. However, significant differences were found between the two groups in relieving CM syndrome (P<0.05) and improving quality of life (P<0.05)., Conclusion: Fire-needle appears to be safe and may have benefit for psoriasis, the short-term treatment and small sample size limit the conclusions of this study. Further rigorous randomized controlled trials with longer treatment are recommended.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and caffeine in tea exert anti-obesity effects and induces nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) amelioration. However, previous studies usually performed a high-dose EGCG administration, whereas the insecurity was arisen in recent researches. In this study, we treated obese rats with an elaborate dose-40 mg/kg EGCG, 20 mg/kg caffeine, and the coadministration of them as low dose, which were similar to the daily intake; 160 mg/kg EGCG as high dose, which was the maximum safe dose had touched the contentious edge. The results suggested that the coadministration of EGCG and caffeine exerted more remarkable function on suppressing body weight gain, reducing white adipose tissue weight and decreasing the energy intake than single use. This may be due to the variation in serum lipid profile, oxidative stress, and adipose-derived and inflammatory cytokines. The pathological micrographs showed long-term high-fat diets caused severe NAFLD, but it was ameliorated at different levels by all of the administrations. In summary, low dose of EGCG or caffeine only showed a mild effect of anti-obesity and NAFLD amelioration. The coadministration of them could exert a superior curative effect as well as high dose EGCG but no anxiety regarding safety., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The separation of ethane from ethylene is of prime importance in the purification of chemical feedstocks for industrial manufacturing. However, differentiating these compounds is notoriously difficult due to their similar physicochemical properties. High-performance porous adsorbents provide a solution. Conventional adsorbents trap ethylene in preference to ethane, but this incurs multiple steps in separation processes. Alternatively, high-purity ethylene can be obtained in a single step if the adsorbent preferentially adsorbs ethane over ethylene. We herein report a metal-organic framework, MUF-15 (MUF, Massey University Framework), constructed from inexpensive precursors that sequesters ethane from ethane/ethylene mixtures. The productivity of this material is exceptional: 1 kg of MOF produces 14 L of polymer-grade ethylene gas in a single adsorption step starting from an equimolar ethane/ethylene mixture. Computational simulations illustrate the underlying mechanism of guest adsorption. The separation performance was assessed by measuring multicomponent breakthrough curves, which illustrate that the separation performance is maintained over a wide range of feed compositions and operating pressures. MUF-15 is robust, maintains its performance in the presence of acetylene, and is easily regenerated by purging with inert gas or by placing under reduced pressure.

Six new compounds, hyperpatulones A-F (1-6), along with ten additional known related derivatives (7-16), were isolated from Hypericum patulum (Guttiferae). Their structures were elucidated by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data (IR, UV, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR), X-ray crystallography, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy and Rh 2 (OCOCF 3 ) 4 -induced ECD. All compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities on human HepG-2, HeLa, MCF-7, and A549 cell lines via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Compound 5 exhibited significant cytotoxicities against HepG-2, HeLa and A549 cell lines with IC 50 values of 9.52 ± 0.27, 11.87 ± 0.22 and 12.63 ± 0.12 μM, respectively., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In mammals, virus infection of host cells triggers innate immune response, characterized by induction of interferon (IFN) and downstream IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). The initiation of IFN antiviral response is dependent on host recognition of virus infection. In fish, similar IFN antiviral response is induced in response to RNA or DNA virus infection; however, the detailed mechanisms underlying recognition of a given virus and activation of downstream signaling remain largely unexplored. Using an infection model with Epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells and spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV), a negative sense single-stranded RNA virus, we reported that fish RLR signaling pathway was involved in SVCV-triggered fish IFN response. IFN response was significantly initiated in EPC cells when infected with SVCV, as evidenced by activation of fish IFN promoters, upregulation of IFN and ISGs at mRNA and protein levels. However, function blockade of RIG-I and MDA5, two cytosolic receptors of fish RLR family, significantly attenuated the activation of fish IFN promoters and also the induction of fish IFN and ISGs by SVCV infection. Consistently, SVCV infection-triggered IFN response were blocked in EPC cells when transfected with the dominant negative mutants of pivotal RLR signaling factors, including MAVS, MITA, TBK1, IRF3 and IRF7. These results together shed light on the conservation of RLR-mediated IFN signaling that contributes to fish cells responding to RNA virus infection., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: Recent researches have proved that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in tumorigenesis. In this research, lncRNA TUG1 was explored to identify the role it played in the development of prostate cancer., Patients and Methods: Quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to detect TUG1 expression in both prostate cancer tissue samples and cells. Moreover, the associations between expression level of TUG1 and patients' disease-free survival rate were studied respectively. Next, wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and Western blot assay were used to explore the underlying mechanism., Results: In comparison with TUG1 expression in adjacent tissues, TUG1 expression level was significantly higher in prostate cancer samples, which was closely associated with patients' disease-free survival time. After TUG1 was downregulated, cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells were inhibited in vitro. Moreover, after TUG1 was upregulated, cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells were enhanced in vitro. In addition, after knockdown of TUG1, the mRNA and protein expression of DGCR8 was downregulated, while after overexpression of TUG1, the mRNA and protein expression of DGCR8 was upregulated. Furthermore, it was found that DGCR8 expression positively correlated to TUG1 expression in prostate cancer tissues., Conclusions: Results above showed that TUG1 could enhance cell migration and invasion of prostate cancer by upregulating DGCR8, which may offer a potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer.

Guest-dependent dynamics having both crystal contraction and expansion upon inclusion of various guests is uncovered in a 3D covalent organic framework (COF) prepared with a facile and scalable method. A molecular-level understanding of how the framework adjusts the node geometry and molecular configuration to perform significant contraction and large amplitude expansion are resolved through synchrotron in-house powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Rietveld refinements. We found that the COF adopts a contracted phase at ambient conditions upon capturing moisture and is also adaptive upon inclusion of organic solvents, which is highlighted by a large crystal expansion (as large as 50% crystallographic volume increment and a 3-fold channel size enlargement). With this new knowledge of the structural adaptability, the diverse responses and coherent switchability are thereby presented to pave the way to rational design and deliberate control of dynamic COFs.

The impacts of climate change on biodiversity and its adaptation will directly affect the efficiency of biodiversity conservation. Predicting spatial variation of suitable habitats of threatened species under future climate change has important theoretical and practical significance for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we predicted the suitable distribution of Elaeagnus mollis, an endemic endangered plant in China, under climate change at regional scales. Then, we simulated the spatial variation and migration tend of suitable distribution under different climate change scenarios by spatial analysis. The results from Maxent model showed that the two suitable distribution areas of E. mollis presented different migration trends under the future climate change scenarios: the suitable areas of Lyuliang Mountain would fluctuate slightly in latitudinal direction, while that in Zhongtiao Mountain would migrate to high elevation. Analysis of the spatial pattern change of the suitable areas indicated that the areas with obvious change occurred at the boundary of the suitable areas of E. mollis, including new suitable area and lost suitable area. The new suitable areas were scattered in the marginal of the original, with the increase rate of 9.1% to 20.9%, and the lost suitable areas were concentrated in the northern Lyuliang Mountain suitable areas and the southeast Zhongtiao Mountain suitable areas, with the loss rate of 16.4% to 31.1%. These regions were more sensitive to climate change. Using the classification statistical tool of Zonal, we found that the central points of the Lyuliang Mountain suitable areas showed southward migration trend under the future climate change, with the maximum migration distance of 7.451 km, while the center point of the Zhongtiao Mountain suitable areas showed migration trend to the northwest, with the maximum migration distance of 8.284 km. Our results indicated that the response of E. mollis distribution in Shanxi to climate change was intense.

Parasitoids are insects (usually wasps or flies) that lay eggs within or on other insects (their hosts). Host-feeding parasitoids lay eggs to parasitize the host and feed directly on the host for nourishment. Temperature is the most critical factor affecting insect behavioral responses. Few studies have focused on the impacts of variable temperatures across different life stages on the behaviors of host-feeding parasitoids. This study investigated the effects of temperature experienced during the preadult and adult stages on the life history traits and life table parameters of females of a host-feeding parasitoid, Eretmocerus hayati. Our results show that the temperatures experienced during the preadult and adult stages significantly change life history traits (immature development, adult longevity, host feeding and fecundity). Increasing the preadult temperature resulted in shorter development times for immature stages of the parasitoid, and decreasing the temperature during the adult stage increased reproduction and longevity. Most importantly, we found that host-feeding events changed with temperature rather than life stage. The daily host-feeding ability of the parasitoid increased with increasing temperature at all temperatures except the stress temperature (34 °C). Furthermore, switching temperatures at the immature stage and adult stage can increase the values of life table parameters, with the highest intrinsic rate of increase (r) occurring in the 30/26 °C treatment. This study provides new insight into the mass rearing of parasitic natural enemies.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used to lessen symptoms in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, the effects of PPI therapy on the gastrointestinal microbiota in GERD patients remain unclear. We examined the association between the PPI usage and the microbiota present in gastric mucosal and fecal samples from GERD patients and healthy controls (HCs) using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. GERD patients taking PPIs were further divided into short-term and long-term PPI user groups. We showed that PPI administration lowered the relative bacterial diversity of the gastric microbiota in GERD patients. Compared to the non-PPI-user and HC groups, higher abundances of Planococcaceae, Oxalobacteraceae, and Sphingomonadaceae were found in the gastric microbiota from the PPI-user group. In addition, the Methylophilus genus was more highly abundant in the long-term PPI user group than in the short-term PPI-user group. Despite the absence of differences in alpha diversity, there were significant differences in the fecal bacterial composition of between GERD patients taking PPIs and those not taking PPIs. There was a higher abundance of Streptococcaceae, Veillonellaceae, Acidaminococcaceae, Micrococcaceae, and Flavobacteriaceae present in the fecal microbiota from the PPI-user group than those from the non-PPI-user and HC groups. Additionally, a significantly higher abundance of Ruminococcus was found in GERD patients on long-term PPI medication than that on short-term PPI medication. Our study indicates that PPI administration in patients with GERD has a significant effect on the abundance and structure of the gastric mucosal microbiota but only on the composition of the fecal microbiota., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in protein-coding regions of genes which were previously reported to be associated with nonsyndromic cleft lip, with or without palate involvement (NSCL/P), were investigated. Twelve candidate loci [platelet-derived growth factor C (PDGFC), platelet-derived growth factor subunit A (PDGFA), platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA), glycine receptor alpha 2 (GLRA2), glycine receptor beta (GLRB), ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 4 (ABCA4), MAF bZIP transcription factor B (MAFB), interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6), CCDC26 long non-coding RNA (CCDC26), paired box 7 (PAX7), ventral anterior homeobox 1 (VAX1), and netrin 1 (NTN1)] covering 1.5 Mbp were sequenced in 136 NSCL/P patients and 54 healthy controls. Twenty-five genomic variants identified were further validated in another 400 NSCL/P and 200 controls. Two SNPs in IRF6 showed a protective effect against the development of NSCL/P (rs12405750, OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.41-0.69; and rs2235371, OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.43-0.71). The missense variant, rs2235371, alters the conserved amino acid valine to isoleucine at codon 274 (V274I). We observed that SNPs at IRF6 (rs2235371 and rs12405750) and GLRB (rs73856838 and rs72685584) show consistent interaction effects. The association between the missense SNP rs2235371 in gene IRF6 and NSCL/P suggests that this SNP may play an important role as a risk factor for NSCL/P in the Han Chinese populations. The marginal signal near 4q31 detected in previous genome-wide association studies might be caused by an interaction between the IRF6 and GLRB genes. This interaction needs to be further validated by experimentation in follow-up studies., (© 2018 Eur J Oral Sci.)

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors are associated with a greater incidence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (IAs)., Methods: Patients with intracranial tumors (ITs) undergoing computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance imaging were enrolled in an observational cohort study that prospectively collected age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, cerebral arteriosclerosis, tumor type, tumor location, hydrocephalus, smoking, alcohol intake, CPA tumor size, cerebral aneurysms, and cerebral arteriosclerosis. Patients with the coexistence of IA and ITwere classified as group II, whereas the others with IT as group I., Results: We included 1218 patients with IT for analysis. The incidence of IA was 7.1% (86/1218). A total of 31% of patients with aneurysms had CPA tumors. In a multivariate logistic regression model, a greater incidence of IA was found in female patients (odds ratio [OR] 1.726, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.050-2.836, P=0.031) and in patients with CPA tumors (OR 3.002, 95% CI 1.822-4.947, P=0.000) after adjustment for tumor type, cerebral arteriosclerosis, and age. In female patients, CPA tumors were a unique independent risk factor of a greater incidence of IA (OR 2.270, 95% CI 1.194-4.317, P=0.012). Furthermore, cerebral arteriosclerosis was a unique independent risk factor of IA in patients with CPA tumors (OR 7.626, 95% CI 2.928-19.860, P=0.000)., Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that CPA tumors are associated with a greater incidence of unruptured IAs, especially in female patients. Cerebral arteriosclerosis contributed to elevated risk of IA in patients with CPA tumors., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Multispectral satellite sensors have several limitations with respect to capturing the target's spectral information due to their band setting and number of bands. The hyperspectral reconstruction technique is an effective method to obtain hyperspectral information from multispectral data. In this study, we propose a hyperspectral reconstruction algorithm based on the sparse representation of water remote sensing reflectance. The proposed algorithm was validated for five ocean color sensors (Sentinel-2A MSI, MERIS, MODIS Aqua, GOCI, and ⅦRS) using in situ measured above-water remote sensing reflectance. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the reconstructed and measured spectra for five ocean color sensors were less than 10% and 0.005 sr -1 , respectively. Compared with the spectra reconstruction algorithm based on multi-variable linear regression, the proposed algorithm can obtain the features of complex water remote sensing reflectance without using in situ -measured reflectance for algorithm tuning. In addition, the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is better than the spectra reconstruction algorithm based on multi-variable linear regression. Two spectra reconstruction algorithms were applied to five ocean color sensors to test the applicability of the remotely estimated water constituent concentration. The statistical results for the reconstructed spectral factors and in situ water constituent concentration suggest that the reconstructed reflectance derived by the proposed algorithm has a performance similar to that of in situ -measured hyperspectral reflectance. The reconstructed reflectance derived by the proposed algorithm performs better than the spectra reconstruction algorithm based on multi-variable linear regression. Finally, the proposed algorithm was applied to GOCI data to remotely estimate the chlorophyll-a and total suspended matter concentrations. The accuracy of the water constituent concentration estimated from reconstructed images is better than that using original multispectral images. For the estimation of the chlorophyll-a concentration, the MAPE improved from 80.6% to 51.5% and the RMSE improved from 12.175 μg·L -1 to 7.125 μg·L -1 . For the estimation of total suspended matter, the MAPE improved from 19.1% to 18.8% and the RMSE improved from 29.048 mg·L -1 to 28.596 mg·L -1 .

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy for chronic urinary retention (CUR) following traumatic brain injury (TBI)., Methods: This 2-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) enrolled 86 eligible patients with CUR following TBI. All included patients were randomly allocated to a treatment group (n = 43) or a sham group (n = 43). The administration of NMES or sham NMES, as intervention, was performed for an 8-week period treatment, and 4-week period follow-up. In addition, all subjects were required to undergo indwelling urinary catheter throughout the study period. The primary outcome was assessed by the post-voiding residual urine volume (PV-VRU). The secondary outcomes were evaluated by the voided volume, maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), and quality of life, as assessed by Barthel Index (BI) scale. In addition, adverse events were also recorded during the study period. All primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline, at the end of 8-week treatment, and 4-week follow-up., Results: At the end of 8-week treatment, the patients in the treatment group did not achieve better outcomes in PV-VRU (P = .66), voided volume (P = .59), Qmax (P = .53), and BI scores (P = .67), than patients in the control group. At the end of 4-week follow-up, there were also no significant differences regarding the PV-VRU (P = .42), voided volume (P = .71), Qmax (P = .24), and BI scores (P = .75) between 2 groups. No adverse events occurred in either group., Conclusions: In summary, the findings of this study showed that NMES therapy may not benefit patients with CUR following TBI.

To study the effect of different processes of Crotonis Fructus on fatty oil, total protein and intestinal toxicity, three kinds of processed products (heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum, non-heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum and diluted Crotonis Semen Pulveratum) were prepared. Mice were orally given Crotonis Fructus. The content of DAO and D-lactic acid in the serum were measured by ELISA to investigate the change of intestinal permeability in mice. Western blot was used to determine the expressions of tight junction proteins (occludin, claudin-1) in different intestinal tract, so as to observe the effect of Crotonis Fructus and its processed products on intestinal epithelial barrier. These results showed that Crotonis Fructus could significantly increase the intestinal permeability and reduce the expression of tight junction proteins in duodenum and jejunum, but with little impact on the ileum and colon. The intestinal permeability and the expression of tight junction proteins became normal after processing. However, the order of the toxicity of Crotonis Semen Pulveratum from high to low was non-heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum > diluted Crotonis Semen Pulveratum≈4heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum. According to the results of composition, the composition of fatty oil did not change during the processing, but the content and composition of total protein in Crotonis Semen Pulveratum changed significantly. The order of total protein content from high to low was that non-heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum > heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum > diluted Crotonis Semen Pulveratum. The molecular weight distribution of the total protein bands of non-heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum and diluted Crotonis Semen Pulveratum was consistent, but the composition of total protein of heat Crotonis Semen Pulveratum significantly changed as evidenced by decreased and thin some stripes. This indicated that heating and dilution could reduce the content of total protein, and heating could cause partial protein denaturation and inactivation. In conclusion, both dilution and heating can reduce the toxicity of Crotonis Fructus, but the heating shows a more significant attenuation effect, indicating that heating is the key step in Crotonis Semen Pulveratum preparation., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42 is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria that stimulates plant growth, and enhances resistance to pathogens and tolerance of salt stress. Instead, the mechanistic basis of drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana induced by FZB42 remains unexplored. Here, we constructed an exopolysaccharide-deficient mutant epsC and determined the role of epsC in FZB42-induced drought tolerance in A. thaliana . Results showed that FZB42 significantly enhanced growth and drought tolerance of Arabidopsis by increasing the survival rate, fresh and dry shoot weights, primary root length, root dry weight, lateral root number, and total lateral root length. Coordinated changes were also observed in cellular defense responses, including elevated concentrations of proline and activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase, decreased concentrations of malondialdehyde, and accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in plants treated with FZB42. The relative expression levels of drought defense-related marker genes, such as RD29A , RD17 , ERD1 , and LEA14 , were also increased in the leaves of FZB42-treated plants. In addition, FZB42 induced the drought tolerance in Arabidopsis by the action of both ethylene and jasmonate, but not abscisic acid. However, plants inoculated with mutant strain epsC were less able to resist drought stress with respect to each of these parameters, indicating that epsC are required for the full benefit of FZB42 inoculation to be gained. Moreover, the mutant strain was less capable of supporting the formation of a biofilm and of colonizing the A. thaliana root. Therefore, epsC is an important factor that allows FZB42 to colonize the roots and induce systemic drought tolerance in Arabidopsis .

Stroke is the leading cause of disability and death in the world. Central post-stroke pain (CPSP), a central neuropathic pain syndrome occurring after cerebral stroke, is a serious problem. But on account of the lack of reliable animal models, the mechanisms underlying CPSP remains poorly understood. To better understand of the pathophysiological basis of CPSP, we developed and characterized a new rat model of CPSP. This model is based on a hemorrhagic stroke lesion with intra-thalamic autologous blood (ITAB) injection in the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus. Behavioral analysis demonstrated that the animals displayed a significant decrease in mechanical allodynia threshold. We found a significant increase in P2 × 4 receptor expression in microglia in thalamic peri-lesion tissues post-hemorrhage. The mechanical allodynia in rats with CPSP were reversed by blocking P2 × 4 receptors. A significant alleviation of mechanical allodynia was achieved following the administration of adrenergic antidepressants and antiepileptics. Meanwhile, we found a significant decrease in P2 × 4 receptor expression after treatment with these drugs. Taken together, our results suggest that targeting P2 × 4 receptor may be effective in the treatment of CPSP., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As a common cause of shoulder pain and disability, rotator cuff injury (RCI) represents a debilitating condition affecting an individual's quality of life. Although surgical repair has been shown to be somewhat effective, many patients may still suffer from reduced shoulder function. The aim of the current study was to identify a more effective mode of RCI treatment by investigating the effect of platelet-derived growth factor subunit B (PDGF-B) on tendon-bone healing after RCI repair by modifying bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Surface markers of BMSCs were initially detected by means of flow cytometry, followed by establishment of the rat models and construction of the lentiviral vector. 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide, Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay, alizarin red staining, and oil red O staining were used to provide verification that PDGF-B was indeed capable of promoting BMSC viability, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation capability. Furthermore, biomechanical assessment results indicated that PDGF-B could increase the ultimate load and stiffness of the tendon tissue. Real-time reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis methods provided evidence suggesting that PDGF-B facilitated the expression of tendon-bone healing-related genes and proteins, while contrasting results were obtained after PDGF-B silencing. Taken together, the key findings of the current study provided evidence suggesting that overexpressed PDGF-B could act to enhance tendon-bone healing after RCI repair, thus highlighting the potential of the functional promotion of PDGF-B as a future RCI therapeutic approach., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Seasonality of congenital birth defect could help to identify environmental risk factors. Data concerning the seasonality of the prevalence of microtia are little. This article aims to determine whether births of microtia follow a certain pattern., Methods: Data were obtained from 2669 patients with microtia who were admitted to Second Ear Reconstruction Center of Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science from January 2007 to December 2013. The controls consist of all living births from the Obstetric Department of the Haidian Maternal & Child Health Hospital during the same time. Seasonal variations in months of births were analyzed by using χ test., Results: A total of 2669 patients with microtia and 89,273 healthy living newborns were included in this study. Birth time peak of the patients occurred in autumn, especially in November, compared with the nadir in the spring, especially in April (P G 0.05). The birth time peak of male patients occurred in autumn, too, especially in October and November, While the valley occurred in spring (April, too). However, the seasonality in female patients is not so apparent with the peak occurred in the tail of summer and autumn, especially in August, November, and September orderly, while the valley occurred in March., Conclusions: There is a possible seasonality in birth months and a difference between sexes of patients with microtia in this native Chinese population. This approach could be useful to study the etiology of microtia.

Objective: Emerging evidence has suggested that dysregulation of miR-874-3p may be involved in tumor development and progression in various types of cancers. However, its expression and biological function in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the roles of miR-874-3p in ESCC tumorigenesis and development., Patients and Methods: Quantitative Real Time-PCR was used to detect the expression of related mRNAs and miRNA in both ESCC tissues and cells. Then, statistical analysis was performed to determine the associations of miR-874-3p expression with the clinical features and the prognosis of ESCC. Cells proliferation and metastasis were assessed by cell viability assay and transwell assay. Luciferase reporter assays and Western blot were performed to analyze the regulation of putative target of miR-874-3p., Results: We found that the expressions of miR-874-3p in ESCC tissues and cell lines were much lower than that in normal control, respectively. Also, there is a statistically significance between miR-874-3p expression level and lymph nodes metastasis and clinical stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that decreased miR-874-3p expression was associated with poor overall survival of patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the expression of miR-874-3p was an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients. After miR-874-3p mimics transfection, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were significantly suppressed in the ESCC cells. Mechanistically, STAT3 was confirmed to be the downstream target of miR-874-3p in ESCC cells., Conclusions: We indicate that miR-874-3p could be a new therapeutic target and prognostic marker of ESCC.

Objective: There is little evidence that adjuvant therapy after radical surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) improves recurrence-free survival (RFS) or overall survival (OS). We conducted a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase IV trial evaluating the benefit of an aqueous extract of Trametes robinophila Murr (Huaier granule) to address this unmet need., Design and Results: A total of 1044 patients were randomised in 2:1 ratio to receive either Huaier or no further treatment (controls) for a maximum of 96 weeks. The primary endpoint was RFS. Secondary endpoints included OS and tumour extrahepatic recurrence rate (ERR). The Huaier (n=686) and control groups (n=316) had a mean RFS of 75.5 weeks and 68.5 weeks, respectively (HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.55 to 0.81). The difference in the RFS rate between Huaier and control groups was 62.39% and 49.05% (95% CI 6.74 to 19.94; p=0.0001); this led to an OS rate in the Huaier and control groups of 95.19% and 91.46%, respectively (95% CI 0.26 to 7.21; p=0.0207). The tumour ERR between Huaier and control groups was 8.60% and 13.61% (95% CI -12.59 to -2.50; p=0.0018), respectively., Conclusions: This is the first nationwide multicentre study, involving 39 centres and 1044 patients, to prove the effectiveness of Huaier granule as adjuvant therapy for HCC after curative liver resection. It demonstrated a significant prolongation of RFS and reduced extrahepatic recurrence in Huaier group., Trial Registration: NCT01770431; Post-results., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Eight new matrine-type alkaloids, flavesines G-J (1-4), alopecurine B (5), 7,11-dehydro-oxymatrine (6), 10-oxy-5,6-dehydromatrine (7), and 10-oxysophoridine (8), along with nine known analogues (9-17) were isolated from the roots of Sophora flavescens. Compounds 1-3 are the first natural matrine-type alkaloids with an open-loop ring D, while compound 4 represents an unprecedented dimerization pattern constructed from matrine and piperidine, and 5 is the first example of a matrine-type alkaloid with cleavage of the C-5-C-6 bond. The new structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic data analysis (including NMR, MS, IR, and UV), and the absolute configurations were determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and ECD data. The isolated alkaloids were evaluated for their antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus, and compounds 1, 4, 5, 10, and 14 exhibited comparable antiviral potencies to matrine.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS+ HIPEC) in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from gastric cancer (GCPC). Methods: The clinical data and follow-up results of GCPC patients treated with CRS+ HIPEC were collected for a retrospective analysis. The primary endpoint was survival rate and the secondary endpoint was safety. Results: A total of 110 GCPC patients accepted CRS+ HIPEC, with a median overall survival (OS) of 13.1 months, and with 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of 56.4%, 24.9%, 11.2%, and 7.8%, respectively. The perioperative mortality was 0.9%, and the morbidity of serious adverse events was 8.2%. Univariate analysis showed that gender, tumor marker before surgery, PC type, length of surgery, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, peritoneal cancer index (PCI), completeness of cytoreduction, HIPEC temperature, and ascites had a significant impact on OS. Multivariate Cox-analysis showed that completeness of cytoreduction, ascites, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were independent factors of OS. Conclusion: CRS+ HIPEC improves survival for GCPC patients with normal preoperative tumor markers, low PCI, no ascites and synchronous PC. Stringent patient selection and complete CRS are two key factors for better survival.

Objective: To analysis the treatment effect of the ulnar osteotomy and ring-shaped ligament reconstruction for the treatment of old Monteggia fracture in children by using Meta analyze, and the difference of clinical curative effect was compared in order to provide the basis for the selection of clinical treatment options for old Monteggia fractures in children. Methods: We searched databases such as CNKI, Wanfang database, Medline, PubMed, Embase and Science through computer, at the same time, the references of relevant documents were retrieved manually, and the data processing was carried out by the RevMan5.3 statistical software provided by the Cochrane cooperation network by incorporating the exclusion criteria. The results were obtained and analyzed. Results: A total of 17 standard literature, 438 cases, 224 cases of ulnar osteotomy, 214 cases with ring ligament repair and reconstruction were obtained. The operation scheme, which was mainly based on the lengthening of ulna osteotomy, was superior to the reconstruction of ring ligament reconstruction. The complications and second operation rates of the former was less than that of the latter. Conclusion: The surgical methods for the reconstruction of the ulna osteotomy and the ring-shaped ligament have advantages and disadvantages. The choice of the operative plan for the old Monteggia fracture should be based on the following factors: the time of the old Monteggia fracture formation, the degree of the ulnar and radial deformity and the familiarity of the operative method.

Recently, layered perovskites attracted great attention for its excellent stability and light-emitting property. However, most of them rely on the toxic element lead and their emission quantum yields are generally low. Here, a unique hollow two-dimensional perovskite was developed in which the organic hexamethylene diamines (C 6 H 18 N 2 2+ ) strongly coupled with distorted tin bromide anions (SnBr 6 4- ). This toxic-free low-dimensional tin perovskite exhibits a broadband emission in the visible region with a high luminescence quantum yield of 86%. First-principles calculation indicate the broadband emission is associated with the recombination of self-trapped excitons. And the emission is related to the geometry of tin bromide anions. An ultraviolet light-pumped white light emitting diode with excellent color-rendering index of 94 was fabricated using it together with a commercially available blue phosphor.

Liver injury remains a significant global health problem and has a variety of causes, including oxidative stress (OS), inflammation, and apoptosis of liver cells. There is currently no curative therapy for this disorder. Sanwei Ganjiang Prescription (SWGJP), derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has shown its effectiveness in long-term liver damage therapy, although the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not fully understood. To explore the underlining mechanisms of action for SWGJP in liver injury from a holistic view, in the present study, a systems pharmacology approach was developed, which involved drug target identification and multilevel data integration analysis. Using a comprehensive systems approach, we identified 43 candidate compounds in SWGJP and 408 corresponding potential targets. We further deciphered the mechanisms of SWGJP in treating liver injury, including compound-target network analysis, target-function network analysis, and integrated pathways analysis. We deduced that SWGJP may protect hepatocytes through several functional modules involved in liver injury integrated-pathway, such as Nrf2-dependent anti-oxidative stress module. Notably, systems pharmacology provides an alternative way to investigate the complex action mode of TCM., (Copyright © 2018 China Pharmaceutical University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Two new oleanane-type triterpenoids (1-2), a new ursane-type triterpenoid (3), and a new podocarpane-type diterpenoid (4), together with 20 known compounds (5-24) were isolated from the stems of Celastrus hindsii Benth. Their structures were identified on the basis of the spectral data (HRESIMS, IR, UV, 1D, and 2D NMR) and the absolute configurations were determined by comparison of experimental and calculated ECD data. The structures of 1 and 4 were further confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In addition, all compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antiviral activities against respiratory syncytium virus (RSV) using cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction assay. Compounds 7, 10, 11, 19 and 24 exhibited obvious anti-RSV activity with IC 50 values from 1.55 to 6.25 μM., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background and Objective: We tested the hypothesis that ionized calcium levels at admission are associated with early hematoma expansion and functional outcome in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH)., Methods: Patients presenting with HICH were enrolled in the observational cohort study that prospectively collected age, sex, blood pressure, history of diabetes and smoking, time from symptom onset to initial computed tomography (CT), admission ionized calcium (iCa) and total calcium (tCa), coagulation function, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and postoperative modified Rankin Scale score. Hematoma reconstruction on CT was performed to measure hematoma volumes. Hematoma expansion (HE) was defined as an increase of more than 30% or 6 mL in HICH volume. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to assess for association of iCa level with early HE and functional outcome., Results: We included 111 patients with HICH for analysis. Admission serum iCa was 1.10 mmol/L in patients with HE and 1.17 in patients without HE. Univariate analysis indicated significant difference of GCS, initial HICH volume, iCa, and tCa between the HE and non-HE groups (P < 0.05). Lower admission iCa (less than 1.12 mmol/L) was associated with HE (odds ratio [OR] 0.300, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.095-0.951, P = 0.041) after adjustment for age, blood pressure, GCS score, time to initial CT scan, baseline HICH volume, prothrombin time, and tCa. Furthermore, predictive factors of poor outcome included iCa (OR 0.192, 95% CI 0.067-0.554, P = 0.002) and GCS score (OR 0.832, 95% CI 0.722-0.959, P = 0.011)., Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that lower ionized calcium is associated with early hematoma expansion and poor outcome in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Five novel quinolizidine-based alkaloids (1-5) were obtained from the seeds of Sophora alopecuroides L. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first examples of sparteine-indolizine and matrine-indolizine alkaloids, respectively, whereas 3 and 4 are epimeric normatrine-julolidine alkaloids with unusual skeletons. The structures of these compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism analyses. Hypothetical biosynthetic pathways of 1-5 were proposed. Compound 2 exhibited significant antiviral activity against the hepatitis B virus.

An emission inventory of atmospheric pollutants from crop residue burning in Guangdong for the period 2008-2016 was developed, based on crop yield data. Emissions of species of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)and corresponding ozone formation potential (OFP) in 2016 were also estimated. Results showed that emissions of atmospheric pollutants from crop residue burning in 2013-2016 were lower than in 2008-2012. This was mainly due to the policy of prohibiting open burning of straw and to improvement of rural living standards, which reduced the proportion of straw burning. In 2016, emissions of SO 2 , NO x , NH 3 , CH 4 , EC, OC, NMVOC, CO, and PM 2.5 were 2443.7, 16187.9, 6943.8, 29174.4, 3625.5, 14830.7, 65612.6, 591613.9, and 49463.0 t, respectively. Rice straw burning was the main source of pollutants, accounting for about 68.55% of total pollutant emissions. The five municipalities with highest atmospheric pollutant emissions were Zhanjiang, Maoming, Meizhou, Zhaoqing, and Shaoguan, together accounting for about 58.63% of total emissions. The top 10 VOC species for mass-based emissions consisted of ethylene, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, benzene, ethyne, propylene, ethane, toluene, propane, and propionaldehyde, together contributing 67.91% to total emissions. The top ten OFP-based VOC species were ethylene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propylene, 1-butylene, propionaldehyde, toluene, acrolein, isoprene, and crotonaldehyde, accounting for 80.83% of total OFP.

Ground-level ozone (O 3 ) pollution and drought have become major environmental factors that threaten the normal growth of plants. In this study, we determined the effects of three O 3 concentrations (charcoal-filtered air, CF, non-filtered air, NF and non-filtered air+40 nmol·mol -1 , NF40), two water treatments (well-watered, WW, and mild drought, MD, 60% of WW in volumetric soil water content), and their interactions on the light-saturated photosynthesis rate ( A sat ) and on the activity of antioxidant enzymes and soluble proteins of the poplar '546' ( Populus deltoids cv. 55/56× P. deltoides cv. Imperial). Results showed that A sat significantly decreased with elevated O 3 , and with interactions between O 3 and drought. Drought significantly reduced the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) but did not affect the activities of peroxidase (POD) or ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Reduction ranges in CAT and SOD increased with drought duration. APX activity significantly decreased with increasing O 3 and drought, but soluble protein content did not. Activities of antioxidant enzymes were not significantly affected by elevated O 3 and their interactions. Results provide a scientific basis for protection of poplar plantations in response to increasing O 3 concentrations and drought under environmental changes.

Seven undescribed phloroglucinol derivatives, tomentodiones N-T, and eleven known ones were isolated from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa. Tomentodione N is the first example of a β-triketone unit coupled with an isoamyl alcohol through a furan fused-ring, and tomentodiones N, S, T were three racemates. The undescribed structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction, electronic circular dichroism calculation, and chemical methods. In addition, the isolated compounds were determined for the cytotoxic activities on HeLa cells and anti-inflammatory activities in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00329.].

A method of ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the simultaneous quantification of 33 active components including 26 coumarins and 7 phenolic acid esters in Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix (NRR). Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Kinetex® C 18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm i.d.; 2.6 μm) with a gradient elution in 18 min. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric detection was conducted in the positive and negative ionization modes with multiple reaction monitoring. All of 33 analytes showed good linearity (R 2  ≥ 0.9919) within the test range. The relative standard deviations of the precision, repeatability and stability were not exceeding 4.97%, and the recoveries were in the range of 85.37%-115.00%. The matrix effect on the response of target analyte was not obvious. The validated method was successfully applied to quantify the 33 components in ten batches of NRR samples. Quantitative results showed the coumarins and phenolic acid esters with large difference in level of content in the herb samples. Furthermore, hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were applied to classify and discriminate these samples. The variations of isoimperatorin, notopterol, bergamottin, nodakenin, phenethylferulate were suggested as important indicators of NRR quality. This work may serve for quality identification and comprehensive evaluation of NRR., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: To establish normal values for detection indexes of peripheral skeletal muscle dysfunction (quadriceps femoris) of healthy older subjects, and investigate the functional status of the peripheral skeletal muscle of patients with stable phase COPD., Patients and Methods: Patients with stable phase COPD and healthy subjects of similar age were included. The assessments of strength and myoelectricity of the quadriceps femoris were recorded. The twitch tension of the quadriceps femoris (TwQ), quadriceps maximum voluntary contraction (QMVC), and endurance time (Tf) were measured. The multiple-parameter malnutrition index (MNI) was used for overall evaluation of the nutritional status of patients. The femoral muscle volume was estimated. All subjects were subjected to a routine pulmonary function test including indexes such as FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC (%), and PEF. Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was used to measure the levels of myostatin, tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-like apoptosis-inducing factor (TWEAK), surface active protein D (SPD), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6. The cell immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of nuclear factor Kappa B (NF-κB)., Results: There were significant differences in body weight, BMI, femoral muscle volume, and physical activity scores between the two groups (p<0.01). The MNI of patients in the COPD group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.01). The QMVC of 51 male and 16 female patients decreased. All eight tested cytokines increased in the COPD group but there were only significant differences in four cytokines (p<0.05)., Conclusions: Chronic systemic inflammation is a major risk factor of skeletal muscle dysfunction (SMD) in COPD patients. The levels of SPD, myostatin, TWEAK, and TNF-α decreased significantly in COPD patients.

Objectives: Previous association studies have identified genetic variants in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex as substantial risk factors for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs). However, a great number of genes are located in the HLA region, and thus fine mapping is quite necessary., Methods: Targeted capture sequencing were performed on the whole HLA region in 42 IIM patients and 24 healthy controls. A microarray analysis was applied to analyze gene expression profiles in additional 20 newly diagnosed IIM and five healthy controls., Results: The HLA region was confirmed to be associated with IIMs in Chinese patients. By gene expression profiling and pathway analysis, several genes were identified as candidates for IIM risk factors, including HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DRB5, HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DQB2. Interestingly, p.Y107V of the HLA-DRB1 was predicted to be a potential causal non-synonymous variation for IIMs that may affect the antigen-binding groove of the HLA-II molecule., Conclusions: Our data have revealed novel genetic variations in the HLA region of IIM patients and provide new insight into the pathogenesis and diagnosis of IIMs., (© 2018 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)