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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important regulatory role in a variety of malignancies. Nevertheless, the role of circ_0000142 in multiple myeloma (MM) and its regulatory mechanism remains largely unknown. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was employed to detect the expressions of circ_0000142 and miR-610 in MM tissues and cell lines. The expression of AKT3 and apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2, Bax) in MM cells was detected by western blot. The correlation between the expression level of circ_0000142 and the clinicopathological parameters of MM patients was analysed. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were monitored by Cell Counting Kit 8 assay, flow cytometry analysis and Transwell assay, respectively. The dual-luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were employed to verify the targeting relationship between circ_0000142 and miR-610. In this study, it was demonstrated that, circ_0000142 was highly expressed in MM patients, and its high expression level was significantly associated with increased International Staging System and Durie–Salmon stage. Overexpression of circ_0000142 enhanced MM cell proliferation, migration, invasion and suppressed cell apoptosis, while knocking down circ_0000142 had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, circ_0000142 functioned as a competitive endogenous RNA, directly targeting miR-610 and positively regulating AKT3 expression. In brief, circ_0000142 enhances the proliferation and metastasis of MM cells by modulating the miR-610/AKT3 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retraction relates to this paper Liang L, Zheng YW, Wang YL. As verifying the validity of the published work is core to the integrity of the scholarly record, we are therefore retracting the article and the authors were notified of this. [Extracted from the article]

Objective To investigate the clinical and imaging differences between limb - girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B) and immune - mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). Methods Forty-five patients with LGMD2B and 45 patients with IMNM from January 2014 to December 2018 were included. Sex, age of onset, age of diagnosis and time of delay in admission were recorded, and serum creatine kinase (CK) level was measured. Cervical flexion, proximal and distal upper limbs, proximal and distal lower limbs were evaluated by Medical Research Council (MRC) Level 6 and muscle strength percentages were calculated. Skeletal muscle fatty infiltration and edema degree on both thighs were evaluated by MRI. Results The onset age (Z = -3.605, P = 0.000) and diagnosis age (Z = -2.757, P = 0.006) of LGMD2B patients were earlier than those of IMNM patients, while the delay time of admission was longer than that of IMNM patients (Z = -4.749, P = 0.000), the serum CK was higher than that of IMNM patients (Z = -2.247, P = 0.025). The muscle strength of neck flexion (Z = -6.320, P = 0.000) and percentage of muscle strength (t = -6.320, P = 0.000), the muscle strengh of proximal upper extremities (Z = -3.528, P = 0.000) and percentage of muscle strength (t = -3.762, P = 0.000) in IMNM patients were lower than those in LGMD2B patients, while the muscle strengh of distal lower extremity (Z = -3.256, P = 0.001) and percentage of muscle strength (t = -2.883, P = 0.004) in LGMD2B patients were lower than those in IMNM patients. LGMD2B patients had higher muscle fatty infiltration degree in anterior group (Z = -3.119, P = 0.002) and posterior group (Z = -2.534, P = 0.011) of thigh muscle than IMNM patients, but IMNM patients had highter thigh muscle edema degree in posterior group than LGMD2B patients (Z = -3.887, P = 0.000). Conclusions Compared with IMNM patients, LGMD2B patients had earlier onset age, longer delay in diagnosis time, worse muscle strength of distal lower extremities, higher serum CK and more obviously thigh muscle fatty infiltration. In IMNM patients, muscle weakness of neck flexion and proximal upper extremities, thigh muscle edema of posterior group were more obvious. These characteristics contribute to the clinical differentiation of the two diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: miR-4429 acts as an inhibitor in many malignant tumors and participates in the biological processes of them, but the clinical value and potential molecular mechanism of miR-4429 in cervical cancer (CC) are still under investigation. Objective: To analyze the clinical value and molecular mechanism of miR-4429 in CC. Materials and Methods: A qRT-PCR assay was employed to determine the levels of miR-4429 and forkhead-box M1 (FOXM1) in CC tissues, CC cell lines (SiHa, CaSki, ME-180, and C33A) and human normal immortalized epithelial cell lines (HaCaT). The proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis abilities of ME-180 and C33A cells were detected, and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins in the cells were also determined. Results: MiR-4429 acted as a tumor suppressor gene in CC tissues and cells and was linked to lymph node metastasis and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging. The survival analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis, high FIGO staging, and low miR-4429 expression were all related to the unfavorable prognosis of the patients, and the dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that FOXM1 was the target of miR-4429. Both overexpression of miR-4429 and knock-down of FOXM1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of CCCs, and accelerated the apoptosis of them. Conversely, both knockdown of miR-4429 and overexpression of FOXM1 promoted those biological behaviors of the cells. Moreover, the rescue experiment revealed that the overexpression of FOXM1 reversed the influences of miR-4429 overexpression on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of CCCs. Conclusion: miR-4429 acts as a tumor suppressor in CC and can directly target FOXM1 to regulate the proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and EMT of CCCs, so miR-4429 is expected to be a new therapeutic target for CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White matter hyperintensities (WMHs), mainly caused by cerebrovascular injury, may lead to cognitive impairment. In order to identify whether the volume of WMHs is associated with cognitive decline over years, this longitudinal study involved 818 individuals from the ADNI-2 dataset from August 2010 to May 2017. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of WMHs with 8 cognitive domains were explored, using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDRSB), Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive (ADAS-Cog13), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Functional Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ), executive function (ADNI-EF), and memory function (ADNI-Mem). The association analyses were performed using multiple linear regression models, linear mixed models, Spearman rank correlation, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The volumes of WMHs were greater in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia compared with controls (p < 0.001) and mild cognitive impairment (p = 0.006) patients at baseline. The bigger volumes of WMHs correlated with worse performances on ADAS-Cog13 and ADNI-EF (p = 0.029; p = 0.003) at baseline and MMSE, MoCA, CDRSB, ADAS-Cog13, FAQ, and ADNI-Mem (overall p < 0.05) longitudinally, after adjusting for age, sex, educational level, apolipoprotein E ɛ4 genotype, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, infarction, and diagnosis. Additionally, the correlations between the change rate of WMHs and change rates of MMSE, MoCA, CDRSB, FAQ, ADNI-EF, and ADNI-Mem were statistically significant. Furthermore, patients with high WMH volumes showed an increased likelihood of dementia. The results of the study suggest that WMH volume is associated with cognitive decline, and it contributes to the conversion to AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Yan-Li. Wang, Ji. Ma, Yong-Dong. Li, Peng-Xu. Ding, Xin-Wei. Han, Gang. Wu Aims: To evaluate the feasibility of using the Willis covered stent in the management of patients with [...]

Background: The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia (CAIDE) score, a validated tool estimating dementia risk, has been suggested to be associated with accelerated brain atrophy but the imaging biomarkers and AD pathologies remains to be elucidated. We aimed to explore the relationships of CAIDE score with cognition and AD‐related brain changes, including beta‐amyloid (Aβ) deposition and glucose metabolism and the mediation effect of the WMH on these associations. Method: A sample of 1,285 participants underwent CAIDE dementia risk assessment, of these, 958 individuals had a CAIDE score of less than or equal to 8. Memory and executive function were used to measure cognitive performance. We analyzed data using linear mixed‐effects and mediation. Result: CAIDE score was significantly associated with WMH volume, and also had significant association with Aβ deposition, AD‐metabolism, and memory and executive function. WMH volume mediated 6.04%, 12.87%, 6.93% and 7.92% of the total association of CAIDE score with memory, executive function, FDG‐PET and AV45‐PET, respectively. Conclusion: Memory, executive function, AD‐metabolism and Aβ deposition are strongly associated with dementia risk. Besides, the associations could be mediated by WMH volume and whether this represents a causal relationship remains to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically evaluate the clinical effect of pediatric massage on chronic persistent asthma in children. Methods: We searched relevant literatures through PubMed database, Embase database, Cochrane library, Wanfang database, CNKI and VIP database to screen randomized controlled trials that met the inclusion criteria. According to Cochrane bias risk assessment criteria, the quality of the included literature was evaluated. Finally, Stata 15.1 software was used to analyze the extracted data. Results: A total of 18 studies, 1656 participants were included in our Meta analysis. The pooled results showed that pediatric massage therapy could significantly increase clinical efficacy [OR=3.95 (2.88, 5.41), P<0.001], improve lung function [FEV1:SMD=0.90 (0.20, 1.61), P=0.012] and [PEF:SMD=0.74 (0.58, 0.91), P<0.001], reduce asthma attacks [SMD=1.25 (-1.63, -0.87), P<0.001] and upper respiratory tract infections [SMD=-1.39 (-1.63, -1.15), P<0.001]; Conclusion: Pediatric massage therapy has a significant effect in the treatment of chronic persistent asthma in children. It can not only improve the pulmonary function, but also effectively prevent the onset of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrate (NO3−), which is mainly oxidized from NO2 by the OH radical (OH·) and O3 in the atmosphere, is a major component of inorganic aerosols. However, the contributions of the OH· and O3 pathways to NO3− in urban aerosols and the influence of air pollution to both pathways remain unclear. Oxygen isotopes of NO3− were measured for PM2.5 in Beijing in 2014. The Δ17O‐NO3− values (17.0–32.8‰) were significantly higher in winter (27.2 ± 3.6‰) than in summer (24.2 ± 1.3‰). By estimating contributions of O3 to the NOx cycle, the Δ17O values of NO3− endmembers produced via the NO2 + OH· (P1), NO3· + DMS/HC (P2), and N2O5 hydrolysis (P3) pathways were calculated for each observation. The contributions of the three pathways (P1: 32 ± 10%, P2: 34 ± 10%, and P3: 34 ± 20% annually) were calculated using the Stable Isotope Analysis in R model. We found that NO3− formation was dominated by the O3 oxidation pathways (P2 + P3; 68 ± 23% annually, 73 ± 21% in spring, 59 ± 23% in summer, 75 ± 20% in autumn, and 69 ± 22% in winter). Moreover, PM2.5, NO2, and NO3− pollution decreased the importance of the OH· pathway relative to the O3 pathways for NO3− production. However, O3 pollution increased the importance of the OH· pathway relative to the O3 pathways for NO3− production. These results provided a comprehensive analysis on the oxygen isotope records in particulate NO3− for understanding the relative importance of major oxidation pathways of NO2. Atmospheric pollution substantially influenced the pathways of NO2 oxidation to NO3− in city environments. Plain Language Summary: Air pollution is a major environmental and public health issue; to strengthen studies on haze formation mechanisms is a national environment demand. Although monitoring works have been widely conducted on atmospheric particulates, it has long been difficult to quantify production mechanisms of key chemical components. Combined oxygen isotopes (18O, 17O) of nitrate with the Stable Isotope Analysis in R model, we evaluated the fractional contributions of three major oxidation pathways (NO2 + OH· [P1], NO3· + DMS/HC [P2], and N2O5 hydrolysis [P3]) to the NO3− of PM2.5. We found that annually 68 ± 23% of NO3− in PM2.5 at Beijing was produced by the O3 oxidation pathways (P2 + P3). Moreover, PM2.5, NO2, and NO3− pollution decreased the importance of the OH· pathway relative to the O3 pathways for NO3− production. Our results provided a comprehensive analysis on the oxygen isotope records in particulate NO3− for understanding the relative importance of major oxidation pathways of NO2. Atmospheric pollution substantially influenced the pathways of NO2 oxidation to NO3− in city environments. Key Points: Δ17O signatures of NO3− in PM2.5 at Beijing were reportedContributions of major oxidation pathways to NO3− of PM2.5 were evaluatedAir pollution changed the importance of OH· pathway relative to O3 pathways for NO3− production [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) analogs have been designed and synthesized based on the ThDP binding site of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex E1 of Escherichia coli. This study investigated the effect of 66 novel ThDP analogs on rice bacterial brown stripe pathogen Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae strain RS-1. Results indicated that three of the 66 ThDP analogs (designated as 20, 21 and 53) significantly inhibited the in vitro growth of strain RS-1. However, no obvious cell lysis and destruction was found for this rice pathogenic bacterium, which were supported by morphological evidence of transmission electron microscope. In contrast, the three ThDP analogs significantly reduced biofilm formation and the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase of strain RS-1. Furthermore, the differential expression of ThDP target gene and 20 secretion system related genes were revealed by using quantitative real-time PCR. Among these, the expressions of ThDP target gene and VgrG-5 under the treatment of ThDP 20 were strongly induced compared to the control, which indicated that the antibacterial mechanism of ThDP analogs may be mainly due to the changed expression of ThDP target gene and secretion system related genes rather than causing damage to cell membrane. Taken together, the application of synthesized ThDP analogs might be a tractable strategy to overcome the pathogen of rice bacterial brown stripe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of deuterated compounds is increasingly expanding across various fields, making the development of novel deuterium labeling techniques for obtaining deuterated compounds a burgeoning research focus. Carboxylic acids and their derivatives are widely utilized as cost‐effective and readily available materials for obtaining deuterated compounds due to their stable properties. This article presents a comprehensive and concise summary of the research progress in decarboxylative deuteration reactions over the past 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]