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Objective: To investigate the role of Hes1 in migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cervical cancer cells. Methods: Real time quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of Hes1 in four cervical cancer cell lines. Hesl knockdown was performed by siRNA. The effects of down-regulation of Hes1 on migration and invasion in cervical cancer cells were evaluated by transwell assays. The main factors of epithelial-mesenchymal transition effected by Hesl knock down were measured by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Results: The expressions of Hesl mRNA in four cervical cancer cell lines showed statistic differences (χα=10.39, P=0.016). Knockdown of Hes1 led to statistic differences in the numbers of cell passing through the chamber, between SiHa NC group and SiHa 1 group, HeLa NC group and HeLa 1 group (P<0.05, both) in both migration assays and invasion assays. After Hes1 RNA interference, compared to blank and negative control, the expression of E-cadherin was significantly reduced in SiHa and HeLa (both P<0.05), while ZEB1, Slug were induced in SiHa (both P<0.05), and vimentin, Slug were induced in HeLa (both P<0.05). Conclusions: Hes1 may have a role in suppressing migration and invasion in SiHa, HeLa cells, and subsequent down-regulation induces the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, thereby suggesting a possible role in migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells mediated by epithelial-mesenchymal transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to discover more potential antifungal agents, in this study, 21 novel trichodermin derivatives containing conjugated oxime ester (5a–5u) were designed and synthesized and were screened for in vitro antifungal activity. The bioassay tests showed that some of them exhibited good inhibitory activity against the tested pathogenic fungi. Compound 5a exhibited better activity against Pyricularia oryzae and Sclerotonia sclerotiorum than trichodermin, and compound 5j showed particular activity against P.oryzae and Botrytis cinerea. The quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) indicated that log P and hardness were two critical parameters for the biological activities. The result suggested that these would be potential lead compounds for the development of fungicides with further structure modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetuin-B (FETUB) is a glycoprotein mainly synthesized and secreted by the liver. It is involved in many physiological and pathological processes including glucose metabolism, inflammatory response, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, myocardial infarction, tumor and so on. In recent years, FETUB has also been confirmed to play roles in the female reproductive system. FETUB may affect follicular development and play an important role in in vivo and in vitro fertilization. In addition, serum FETUB level is elevated significantly during pregnancy and labor. FETUB expression is changed in a variety of reproductive diseases (polycystic ovary syndrome, gestational diabetes mellitus, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy). In this review, we summarize FETUB related studies in female reproduction, and focus on the roles of FETUB in female reproductive physiology and pathology, in order to provide information for the pathogenesis of reproductive disorders.

Background: Uterine fibroids are common benign gynecological conditions. Patients who experience excessive menstruation, anemia, and pressure symptoms should be administered medication, and severe cases require a total hysterectomy. This procedure is invasive and causes severe postoperative pain, which can affect the patient's postoperative sleep quality and, thus, the recovery process., Aim: To evaluate use of dezocine in patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) for postoperative pain management in patients undergoing total myomectomy., Methods: We selected 100 patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy for uterine fibroids and randomized them into two groups: A control group receiving 0.2% ropivacaine plus 0.06 mg/mL of morphine and an observation group receiving 0.2% ropivacaine plus 0.3 mg/mL of diazoxide in their PCEA. Outcomes assessed included pain levels, sedation, recovery indices, PCEA usage, stress factors, and sleep quality., Results: The observation group showed lower visual analog scale scores, shorter postoperative recovery indices, fewer mean PCEA compressions, lower cortisol and blood glucose levels, and better polysomnographic parameters compared to the control group ( P < 0.05). The cumulative incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the observation group than in the control group ( P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Dezocine PCEA can effectively control the pain associated with total myomectomy, reduce the negative impact of stress factors, and have less impact on patients' sleep, consequently resulting in fewer adverse effects., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Professor ZHANG Qing - ping 's clinical experience and characteristics of acupuncture for peripheral facial paralysis were introduced from three aspects: differentiation of meridians and tendons, treatment by stages, and examples of proven cases. In the treatment of peripheral facial paralysis, Professor ZHANG carefully examines the situation of pathogenic factors and health. In the acute stage, the treatment focuses on eliminating pathogenic factors and supporting the health; in the recovery stage, penetrating needling is recommended with strengthening the health and eliminating pathogenic factors as main purpose; in the sequelae stage, wheat-grain moxibustion is recommended with strengthening the health as main purpose. This treatment plan shows superior clinical efficacy.

Objective: To study the effects of acute and chronic exercise on phosphatidylinositol 3-hydroxy kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(AKT)/glucose transporter 4(GLUT4)signaling pathway in adipose tissue of rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) induced by high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin (STZ)., Methods: A total of 52 SD male rats aged 15 months were randomly divided into normal control group (13) and high-fat group (39), and fed normal and high fat diets. After 8 weeks, the body weight of the high-fat group was higher 20% than that of the normal control group. After a small dose of STZ, the blood glucose level was ＞16.7 mmol/l, and the model was successfully established. The diabetic model group was randomly divided into a diabetic control group (DC, n=13), a diabetic chronic exercise group (DCE, n=13), and a diabetic acute exercise group (DAE, n=13). The DCE group underwent an 8-week swimming exercise and the DAE group performed a one-time swimming exercise. Blood lipids, blood glucose and serum insulin levels were measured, and the contents of fat PI3K, AKT and GLUT4 proteins were determined by Western blot method., Results: The levels of body weight, blood lipids, blood glucose and insulin in the diabetic group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P＜0.01); high density liptein cholesterol(HDL-C) levels were decreased (P＜0.05), and the expressions of PI3K, AKT and GLUT4 protein in adipose tissue were decreased (P＜0.01). After 8 weeks of swimming training, the levels of body weight, blood lipids, blood glucose and insulin all were decreased significantly (P＜0.01); while the level of HDL-C was increased (P＜0.05), and the expressions of PI3K, AKT and GLUT4 protein were increased (P＜0.01). After acute exercise, the levels of blood lipids, blood glucose and insulin were decreased (P＜0.05); the level of HDL-C was increased (P＜0.05), and the expression levels of fat PI3K, AKT and GLUT4 were increased significantly (P＜0.05)., Conclusion: ①High fat diet combined with low-dose STZ induced damage to the PI3K/AKT pathway in adipose tissue of T2DM rats reduced insulin sensitivity. ②Acute and chronic aerobic exercise can improve the disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism through PI3K/AKT pathway, and the chronic exercise is better than acute exercise.

Diffusion kurtosis imaging can be used to assess pathophysiological changes in tissue structure and to diagnose central nervous system diseases. However, its sensitivity in assessing hippocampal differences between patients with Alzheimer's disease and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment has not been characterized. Here, we examined 20 individuals with Alzheimer's disease (11 men and 9 women, mean 73.2 ± 4.49 years), 20 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (10 men and 10 women, mean 71.55 ± 4.77 years), and 20 normal controls (11 men and 9 women, mean 70.45 ± 5.04 years). We conducted diffusion kurtosis imaging, using a 3.0 T magnetic resonance scanner, to compare hippocampal differences among the three groups. The results demonstrated that the right hippocampal volume and bilateral mean kurtosis were remarkably smaller in individuals with Alzheimer's disease compared with those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and normal controls. Further, the mean kurtosis was lower in the amnestic mild cognitive impairment group compared with the normal control group. The mean diffusion in the left hippocampus was lower in the Alzheimer's disease group than in the amnestic mild cognitive impairment and normal control groups, while the mean diffusion in the right hippocampus was lower in the Alzheimer's disease group than in the normal control group. Fractional anisotropy was similar among the three groups. These results verify that bilateral mean kurtosis and mean diffusion are sensitive to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment. This study was approved by the Ethics Review Board of Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China on May 4, 2010 (approval No. 2010(C)-6)., Competing Interests: None

A set of ninety-eight B-Raf V600E inhibitors was used for the development of a molecular docking based QSAR model using linear and non-linear regression models. The integration of docking scores and key interaction profiles significantly improved the accuracy of the QSAR models, providing reasonable statistical parameters ( R train 2 = 0.935, R test 2 = 0.728 and Q CV 2 = 0.905). The established MD-SVR (molecular docking based SMV regression) model as well as model screening of a natural product database was carried out and two natural products (quercetin and myricetin) with good prediction activities were biologically evaluated. Both compounds exhibited promising B-Raf V600E inhibitory activities (ICQuercetin50 = 7.59 μM and ICMyricetin50 = 1.56 μM), suggesting a high reliability and good applicability of the established MD-SVR model in the future development of B-Raf V600E inhibitors with high efficacy.

Objective: To investigate the extent of exposure of non-smoking pregnant women to passive smoking; to undertake interventions on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of those women toward passive smoking; and to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions., Methods: A total of 128 non-smoking pregnant women participated in the survey. Their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards passive smoking were measured by a self-administered questionnaire. A sixteen-week intervention was undertaken., Results: The knowledge and attitudes of the non-smoking pregnant women towards passive smoking improved significantly, as well as their attempts to avoid exposure to the passive smoking brought by their smoking husbands or other family members. Telephone counseling, booklets and doctors' advices were the most acceptable approaches of health education., Conclusion: The comprehensive interventions are effective for improving the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of non-smoking women toward passive smoking.

Background & Objective: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase /protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) signaling pathway is involved in a variety of important cellular functions, including genesis and progression of neoplasms. However, its role in cervical cancer is unclear. This study was to detect the expression of PI3K and Akt proteins in different cervical lesions, and to investigate the correlation of PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathway to biological behaviors of cervical carcinoma., Methods: The expression of PI3K and Akt in 76 specimens of cervical carcinoma,21 specimens of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and 10 specimens of normal cervical epithelium were detected by SP immunohistochemistry. Their correlations to clinicopathologic features of cervical carcinoma were analyzed., Results: The positive rates of PI3K and Akt were significantly lower in normal cervical epithelium and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia than in cervical carcinoma (0.0% and 42.9% vs. 69.7%, P<0.01;10.0% and 52.4% vs. 75.0%,P<0.01). The expression of PI3K and Akt proteins were correlated to clinical stage, pathologic grade and lymph node metastasis(P<0.01), but not to age, the size of primary focus, and histological type(P>0.05).The expression of PI3K protein was positively correlated to the expression of Akt protein(r=0.425,P<0.01)., Conclusion: High expression of PI3K and Akt are involved in proliferation, malignant transformation, invasion and metastasis of cervical carcinoma, both of which may play important roles in the occurrence and development of human cervical carcinoma.

The validation study of the prediction method for indoor air pollution was carried out by comparing the results of emission models based on data obtained in a large and a small emission chamber, with actual measured concentrations. A new decorated room was studied as a case. Emissions of complicated objects and simple surface layer materials were studied respectively in the large and small chamber and emission models were developed. Those models were based on the assumptions regarding mass conservation of substances and the hypothesis that pollutants were well mixed. The emissions of formaldehyde and TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) in the studied room were predicted by the method. The predicted concentration trend of pollutants was in accordance with the measured trend when some air exchange (0.03 ACH, air change per hour) was taken into account. The normalized standard errors of formaldehyde and TVOC pollution prediction were respectively 2.8% and 1.6%. Modeling analysis shows that the contribution to total formaldehyde pollution of the studied room was: furniture > paint > floor; the contribution to total TVOC pollution was: paint > floor > furniture. The results lead to the conclusion that this prediction method can well describe the pollution trend, can assess the contribution of different sources, can guide the choice of building materials and is an effective tool for indoor air pollution assessment and control.