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Microplastic (MP) pollution is a growing global concern-especially in estuarine areas that serve as natural habitats and nurseries for many marine organisms. One such marine organism is the Eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ), which is a reef-forming keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. To understand the potential impacts of MP pollution on the estuary ecosystem, the effects of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) MPs on Eastern oyster larval survival and development were investigated. Three cohorts of larvae were exposed to HDPE MPs with a size of 10-90 µm at a 10 mg/L concentration, after 7 to 11 days of fertilization. After exposure, the number and size of oyster larvae were measured twice a week for approximately 2 weeks until larval settlement. The experiment found that there were no significant differences in the rate of survival between the control and MP-addition treatments. However, we noticed that larval development was significantly delayed with the MP treatment. The percentage of larvae that were ready to settle was 64% with the control treatment compared to 43.5% with the MP treatment. This delay in growth resulted in a delayed larval settlement, which could adversely affect the survival of the Eastern oyster due to the increased risk of predation. The current study demonstrates that MPs could be a risk to the ecology of estuaries, and plastic pollution management is needed for the preservation of these estuaries.

Purpose: Defocus incorporated multiple segments (DIMS) spectacle lenses were reported to slow myopia progression significantly in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The study evaluated their effectiveness in clinical settings., Design: Retrospective study., Participants: Patient records involving use of DIMS and single-vision (SV) spectacle lenses were collected from subsidiary hospitals of Aier Eye Hospital Group., Methods: The spherical equivalent (SE), determined by subjective refraction, was adopted to assess the myopia progression. The strategy of propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to match the confounding baseline characteristics between the 2 groups. The effectiveness was calculated based on the difference of myopia progression of these 2 approaches., Main Outcome Measures: Change in SE., Results: Three thousand six hundred thirty-nine patients with DIMS and 6838 patients with SV spectacles were included. The age of the patients was 6 to 16 years (mean ± standard deviation: 11.02 ± 2.53 years). The baseline SE was between 0.00 and -10.00 diopters (D) (mean ± standard deviation: -2.78 ± 1.74 D). After the PSM, data on 2240 pairs with 1-year follow-up and on 735 pairs with 2-year follow-up were obtained. Significantly slower progression was seen in the DIMS group at both the 1-year (DIMS, -0.50 ± 0.43 D; SV, -0.77 ± 0.58 D; P < 0.001) and 2-year (DIMS, -0.88 ± 0.62 D; SV, -1.23 ± 0.76 D; P < 0.001) subdataset. In the 1-year subdataset, 40% and 19% showed myopia progression of no more than 0.25 D for the DIMS and SV groups, respectively (chi-square, 223.43; P < 0.001), whereas 9% and 22% showed myopia progression of more than 1.00 D for the DIMS and SV groups, respectively (chi-square, 163.38; P < 0.001). In the 2-year subdataset, 33% and 20% showed myopia progression of no more than 0.50 D for the DIMS and SV groups, respectively (chi-square, 31.15; P < 0.001), whereas 12% and 29% showed myopia progression of more than 1.50 D for the DIMS and SV groups (chi-square, 65.60; P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Although the magnitude was lower than that reported in the previous RCT, this large-scale study with diversity of the data sources confirmed the effectiveness of DIMS spectacles to slow myopia progression in clinical practice., Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references., (Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Spontaneous fungal peritonitis (SFP) and fungiascites is less well-recognized and described in patients with liver cirrhosis. The aims of this study were to determine the clinical characteristics, prognosis, and risk factors of cirrhotic patients with SFP/fungiascites and to improve early differential diagnosis with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP)., Methods: This was a retrospective case-control study of 54 cases of spontaneous peritonitis in cirrhotic patients (52 SFP and 2 fungiascites) with fungus-positive ascitic culture. Fifty-four SBP cirrhotic patients with bacteria-positive ascitic culture were randomly enrolled as a control group. A nomogram was developed for the early differential diagnosis of SFP and fungiascites., Results: Hospital-acquired infection was the main cause of SFP/fungiascites. Of the 54 SFP/fungiascites patients, 31 (57.41%) patients carried on with the antifungal treatment, which seemed to improve short-term (30-days) mortality but not long-term mortality. Septic shock and HCC were independent predictors of high 30-day mortality in SFP/fungiascites patients. We constructed a predictive nomogram model that included AKI/HRS, fever, (1,3)-β-D-glucan, and hospital-acquired infection markers for early differential diagnosis of SFP/fungiascites in cirrhotic patients with ascites from SBP, and the diagnostic performance was favorable, with an AUC of 0.930 (95% CI: 0.874-0.985)., Conclusions: SFP/fungiascites was associated with high mortality. The nomogram established in this article is a useful tool for identifying SFP/fungiascites in SBP patients early. For patients with strongly suspected or confirmed SFP/fungiascites, timely antifungal therapy should be administered.

Background and Aim: To develop and validate a novel machine learning-based radiomic model (RM) for diagnosing high bleeding risk esophageal varices (HREV) in patients with cirrhosis., Methods: A total of 796 qualified participants were enrolled. In training cohort, 218 cirrhotic patients with mild esophageal varices (EV) and 240 with HREV RM were included to training and internal validation groups. Additionally, 159 and 340 cirrhotic patients with mild EV and HREV RM, respectively, were used for external validation. Interesting regions of liver, spleen, and esophagus were labeled on the portal venous-phase enhanced CT images. RM was assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC), sensitivity, specificity, calibration and decision curve analysis (DCA)., Results: The AUROCs for mild EV RM in training and internal validation were 0.943 and 0.732, sensitivity and specificity were 0.863, 0.773 and 0.763, 0.763, respectively. The AUROC, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.654, 0.773 and 0.632, respectively, in external validation. Interestingly, the AUROCs for HREV RM in training and internal validation were 0.983 and 0.834, sensitivity and specificity were 0.948, 0.916 and 0.977, 0.969, respectively. The related AUROC, sensitivity and specificity were 0.736, 0.690 and 0.762 in external validation. Calibration and DCA indicated RM had good performance. Compared with Baveno VI and its expanded criteria, HREV RM had a higher accuracy and net reclassification improvements that were as high as 49.0% and 32.8%., Conclusion: The present study developed a novel non-invasive RM for diagnosing HREV in cirrhotic patients with high accuracy. However, this RM still needs to be validated by a large multi-center cohort., (© 2022. Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver.)

HMGA1 has been reported to be aberrantly expressed and correlate with the poor prognosis of many carcinomas. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance and molecular mechanism of HMGA1 as a tumor-suppressing gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Analysis of TCGA dataset by TANRIC website and R2 platform, we found that HMGA1 expression was significantly higher in HCC tissues compared to that in normal liver tissues and was associated with Edmondson grade. Patients with highly expressed HMGA1 had worse overall survival. Gene ontology enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed the potential relationships between HMGA1 and other genes in HCC. We also demonstrated that the downregulation of HMGA1 dramatically suppressed the proliferation and migration of HCC cells. Furthermore, ectopic expression of HMGA1 blocked G0/G1 to S transition. Subsequent investigation characterized HMGA1 as a direct target of miR-195-5p, and miR-195-5p downregulation abrogated the effect of HMGA1 on HCC proliferation, migration, and cell cycle arrest. In addition, we also demonstrated that miR-195-5p downregulation abrogated the effect of HMGA1 on HCC growth in vivo. Taken together, our data provide strong evidence that HMGA1 promotes HCC and is negatively regulated by the tumor-suppressor, miR-195-5p., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the potential utility of [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT for diagnosing primary and metastatic lesions in patients with liver cancer, as well as to compare it with contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT), liver MRI, and [ 18 F]-FDG PET/CT., Methods: We performed a single-center post hoc retrospective analysis of data obtained from a prospective parent study (NCT04416165). This study included 34 patients diagnosed with or suspected hepatic lesions who underwent concomitant [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 and [ 18 F]-FDG/CT scans. Moreover, these patients underwent liver MRI (n = 34) and CE-CT (n = 25). Histopathologic (n = 62) or radiographic follow-up (n = 128) served as the reference standard for the final diagnosis., Results: Among the 34 patients, 20, 12, and 2 patients presented with hepatocellular carcinomas, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, and benign hepatic nodules, respectively. The sensitivities of CE-CT, MRI, [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04, and [ 18 F]-FDG/CT for detecting primary liver tumors were 96%, 100%, 96%, and 65%, respectively. Regarding the diagnosis of all intrahepatic lesions, the per-lesion detection rate of [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT was slightly lower than that of MRI (85% vs. 100%, P = 0.34) and significantly higher than that of [ 18 F]-FDG PET/CT (85% vs. 52%, P < 0.001). Regarding the diagnosis of all malignant lesions (including extrahepatic disease), the tumor detection rate of [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT was 87.4%, which was significantly higher than that of [ 18 F]-FDG PET/CT (65.0%, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the sensitivity of [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT to correctly identify primary liver tumors and metastatic lesions is equivalent to that of CE-CT and liver MRI. Moreover, [ 68 Ga]Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT is better at identifying liver lesions than [ 18 F]-FDG PET/CT, and its use may improve tumor staging, recurrence detection, and implementation of necessary treatment modifications.

Abstract: The present study compared 68Ga-FAPI and 18F-FDG PET/CT in a patient with GSRCC (gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma). In this case, 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT shows much higher tumor-to-background contrast of primary tumor and reveals more metastatic lesions than 18F-FDG PET/CT. This case demonstrates that 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT outperforms 18F-FDG in identifying both primary and metastatic lesions in GSRCC., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 81801735 and grant no. 81701736)., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This prospective study aimed to evaluate the potential usefulness of [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in the oncological evaluation of patients presenting with inconclusive [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT findings., Methods: [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 was performed in patients presenting with inconclusive [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT findings. Tumour uptake was quantified by the maximum standard uptake value (SUV). Histopathology or follow-up imaging served as the standard for the final diagnosis., Results: A total of 68 patients with inconclusive [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT findings underwent additional [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT. Of them, 18 (26.5%) were for discrimination of mass lesions detected on conventional imaging, 6 (8.8%) for detection of the unknown primary site in biopsy-proven metastatic malignancy, 21 (30.9%) for the staging of cancer, and the other 23 (33.8%) for evaluation of suspected disease recurrence. Most of the primary and metastatic lesions demonstrated higher uptake of [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 than did [ 18 F]FDG, which resulted in favourable tumour-to-background contrast in various types of cancer. As a result, [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT identified suspicious mass lesions with an accuracy of 12/18 (66.7%), detected the primary site in 4/6 patients (66.7%) with unknown malignancy, upgraded tumour staging in 7/21 patients (33.3%), and detected disease recurrence in 20/23 patients (87.0%)., Conclusions: In patients undergoing oncological evaluation with inconclusive [ 18 F]FDG PET/CT findings, [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 may have a complementary role in discriminating mass lesions on conventional imaging, locating the primary site of unknown malignancy, modifying tumour staging, and detecting suspected disease recurrence. Nevertheless, careful attention should be paid when reading the [ 68 Ga]Ga-DOTA-FAPI-04 PET/CT images in tumours complicated with inflammation.

A ratiometric fluorescent probe 2-(benzimidazol-2-yl)phenyl phosphoric acid (1) for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is designed and synthesized. The method employs the modulation of the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (HPBI) through the hydroxyl group protection/deprotection reaction. Upon phosphorylated with POCl3 , HPBI shows only an emission peak at 363 nm due to the blockage of ESIPT. However, once selective enzymatic hydrolysis with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in Tris-HCl buffer occurs, the probe 1 is returned to HPBI and the ESIPT process is switched on, which results in a decrease in the emission band at 363 nm and an increase in a new fluorescence peak around 430 nm. The fluorescence intensity ratio at 430 and 360 nm (I430/I360) increases linearly with the activity of ALP up to 0.050 U/mL and the detection limit is 0.0013 U/mL. The proposed probe shows excellent specificity toward ALP., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

There are two isoforms of apolipoprotein B (apoB) in mammals: apoB-100 and apoB-48. The latter is generated by C-to-U editing of apoB mRNA, catalyzed by the apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, namely, catalytic polypeptide 1 (APOBEC-1). Lipid particles containing apoB-48 are cleared from the plasma more rapidly than those containing apoB-100 and thus do not contribute to plaque formation in the arterial wall. In the present study, we analyzed whether curcumin is capable of regulating lipid metabolism by improving the level of apoB mRNA editing. The cytotoxicity of curcumin in hepatocytes was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol‑2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and the levels of APOBEC-1 mRNA and protein were analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. The efficiency of apoB mRNA editing was determined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) products and cloning sequencing analysis. We demonstrated that curcumin concentrations up to 70 µM had no significant cytotoxic effects on primary rat hepatocytes at 24 h. At 15 µM, curcumin significantly increased the expression of APOBEC-1 mRNA and protein, and increased the editing level of apoB mRNA from 3.13 to 7.53%. At 25 µM, curcumin reduced the expression of APOBEC-1; however, it did not affect the apoB mRNA editing level. Our data suggested that curcumin at a concentration of 15 µM raised the level of apoB-48 and reduced the level of apoB-100 by increasing the expression of APOBEC-1 in primary rat hepatocytes; therefore, curcumin may be a novel preventative therapy for atherosclerosis.

To investigate the molecular mechanisms of the effect of curcumin on up-regulation of LDL receptor expression, a sterol regulatory report system was established in Xenopus laevis oocytes by microinjection of a plasmid pLXRN-4SRE-fPA, in which green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene was constructed downstream from the sterol regulatory element-1 (SRE-1), in the nucleus of the oocytes. The oocytes were treated with different kinds of natural medicines: curcumin, tea polyphenols, tanshinone, ligustrazine, ginkgolide, astragalosides. The expression of GFP was induced only by curcumin. In addition, it was also proved that the curcumin can increase the expression of functional LDL receptors in human liver hepatoma cell line HepG2. In conclusion, curcumin may up-regulate the expression of LDL receptor by its effect on SRE pathway.