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Zhonghao Tang,1,* Minjing Li,1,* Guokun Chu,1 Yan Mou,1 Qi Chen,2 Huili Zhu1 1Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pulmonology Medicine, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Huili ZhuDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail zhuhuili001@126.comQi ChenDepartment of Pulmonology Medicine, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail chenqiywl@shutcm.edu.cnObjective: To explore the correlation of respiratory resistance in stable COPD patients measured by broadband 3-dimensional impulse oscillometry (3D-IOS) and traditional pulmonary function test (PFT). To access the diagnostic value of 3D-IOS in COPD.Methods: A total of 107 COPD patients and 61 healthy subjects as controls were chosen to collect and statistically analyze the data of R5, R5–R20, R20, X5 and Fres measured by broadband 3D-IOS and FEV1%pred, FVC%pred and FEV1/FVC by PFTs. The diagnostic value of broadband 3D-IOS parameters in COPD was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). 3D-colored images used to show dynamic changes of respiratory resistance in COPD.Results: The COPD group showed significant increases in R5, R20, R5–R20 and Fres, and a decrease in X5 (P< 0.05). With the increase of GOLD grade, R5, R5–R20 and Fres increased whereas X5 decreased (P< 0.05). Compared with FEV1%pred, FVC%pred and FEV1/FVC in the COPD group, R5, R5–R20 and Fres were negatively collated (P< 0.05), whereas X5 was positively collated (P< 0.01). R20 was uncorrelated with the traditional lung function parameters (P> 0.05). Fres and FEV1/FVC (r=− 0.467), and X5 and FEV1%pred (r=0.412) showed the strongest correlation. The AUC of R5, R5–R20, X5 and Fres was 0.7808, 0.7659, 0.8947 and 0.9095, respectively. Typical 3D-colored images of COPD displayed a green pattern in the inhalation phase and yellow–red–blue graduation in the expiration phase.Conclusion: R5, R5-R20, X5 and Fres measured by broadband 3D-IOS can reflect the change of respiratory resistance in COPD. And they have good correlation with the traditional lung function parameters (FEV1%pred, FVC%pred, FEV1/FVC). Fres has the highest diagnostic accuracy. Comprehensive analysis of R5, R5–R20, Fres and X5 helps to determine the degree of respiratory obstruction in COPD. X5 and Fres can reflect changes in lung tissue compliance. 3D-colored images can visually show the change of respiratory resistance and reactance in COPD.Keywords: 3-dimensional impulse oscillometry, respiratory resistance, pulmonary function test, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Ming Zhao,1,* Mingxin Zhang,2,* Yonghua Wang,2 Xuecheng Yang,2 Xue Teng,2 Guangdi Chu,2,3 Xinsheng Wang,2 Haitao Niu2 1Department of Urology, Qingdao 8th People’s Hospital, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Urology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Clinical Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Haitao Niu; Xinsheng Wang Email niuht0532@126.com; Wangxs0532@163.comObjective: This study investigated the prognostic value of the preoperative albumin alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer after radical cystectomy.Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective, single-center cohort study among patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who underwent radical cystectomy and urinary diversion at the Department of Urology Surgery of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from 2007 to 2015. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the relationship between preoperative AAPR and outcomes which include OS and CSS and RFS. Survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log rank test.Results: In total, 174 patients were followed up for 1– 125 months, with a median follow-up of 30 months, 93 survived and 81 patients died. The median serum AAPR level in all patients was 0.62 (range: 0.12– 1.67). In multivariate analysis, the preoperative AAPR showed to be associated with overall survival (OS: HR 0.22,95% CI 0.06 to 0.82, P=0.024), cancer-specific survival (CSS: HR 0.12,95% CI 0.02 to 0.63, P=0.013) and recurrence-free survival (RFS: HR 0.15,95% CI 0.03 to 0.82, P=0.029) after adjustment for potential confounders. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that patients with low AAPR tertiles had shorter OS, CSS and RFS than patients with high AAPR tertiles (OS: P< 0.001, CSS: P< 0.001, RFS: P< 0.001). The relationship between AARP and OS, CSS and RFS was linear.Conclusion: Preoperative AAPR may be a potentially valuable prognostic marker in patients who underwent radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.Keywords: albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio, AAPR, muscle-invasive bladder cancer, radical cystectomy, prognosis

Jingfeng Chen,1,2,* Silu Wang,1,* Jiadong Su,1 Guanyu Chu,1 Heyi You,1 Zongjing Chen,1 Hongwei Sun,1 Bicheng Chen,1,3 Mengtao Zhou1 1Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 2Department of Surgery, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, 3Zhejiang Provincial Top Key Discipline in Surgery, Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Interleukin (IL)-32 is a newly discovered cytokine that has multifaceted roles in inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases and participates in cell apoptosis, cancer cell growth inhibition, accentuation of inflammation, and angiogenesis. Here, we investigated the potential effects of IL-32α on epithelial–mesenchymal transition, metastasis, and invasion, and the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. The human pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1 and SW1990 were used. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition-related markers, including E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and Zeb1, as well as extracellular matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including MMP2, MMP7, and MMP9, were detected by immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The activation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling proteins was detected by Western blotting. Wound healing assays, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting were performed to assess cell migration and invasion. The effects of IL-32α on the IL-6-induced activation of JAK2/STAT3 were also evaluated. In vitro, we found that IL-32α inhibits the expressions of the related markers N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and Zeb1, as well as JAK2/STAT3 proteins, in a dose-dependent manner in pancreatic cancer cell lines. Furthermore, E-cadherin expression was increased significantly after IL-32α treatment. IL-32α downregulated the expression of MMPs, including MMP2, MMP7, and MMP9, and decreased wound healing in pancreatic cancer cells. These consistent changes were also found in IL-6-induced pancreatic cancer cells following IL-32α treatment. This study showed that reversion of epithelial–mesenchymal transition, inhibition of invasiveness and metastasis, and activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway could be achieved through the application of exogenous IL-32α. Keywords: EMT, MMPs, IL-32α, JAK2, STAT3

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of supplementing rumen-protected choline with soluble vitamins (RPCSV) on growth performance, plasma profiles, and carcass characteristics in Hanwoo steers. Forty-five steers were fed 0 (T0), 50 (T50), or 100 g (T100) of RPCSV daily for 6 months. The average daily gain was not affected by RPCSV supplementation. The concentrations of total bilirubin (P < 0.05), aspartate glutamyltransferase (P < 0.01), alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.01), glucose (P < 0.01), nonesterified fatty acids (P < 0.05), blood urea nitrogen (P < 0.01), and triglycerides (P < 0.01) differed depending on the RPCSV supplementation period in each treatment group. Backfat thickness (P < 0.05) and yield index (P < 0.01) were affected by RPCSV supplementation. Thus, the results of this study indicated that plasma profiles related to energy, protein, and lipid metabolism increased due to improved liver function with RPCSV supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of fermented carrot by-product diets (FCBD) supplementation in fattening pigs on their growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality. Ninety-six crossed pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc), weighing approximately 76 kg, were divided into four groups of 8 heads (four barrows and four gilts) per pen, and the experiment was replicated thrice. The basal diet (C) was substituted with 3% (T1), 6% (T2) and 9% (T3) FCBD, and pigs were fed the experimental diet for 45 days. Feed efficiency was higher (푃 < 0.05) in T1 and T3 than in C. Quality grade was higher (푃 < 0.05) in T2 and T3 than in C, and the ratio of high-quality grades was higher in treatment groups than in C. Therefore, FCBD supplementation improved quality grade in fattening pigs, and it was expected that an increase in the utilization ratio of FCBD would reduce the cost of animal production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether the one-time application of polymer-coated urea (PCU) before transplanting could simultaneously improve the grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of japonica-indica hybrid rice (JIHR) through a field experiment. The local high-yield JIHR cultivar Chunyou-927 was field grown during the rice-growing seasons in 2019 and 2020. The experiment consisted of three treatments: no nitrogen application (0N), application of conventional urea (CU), and the one-time application of PCU. Grain yield was 1.0–1.3 t/ha higher, and agronomic NUE (kg grain yield increase per kg N applied) was 5.2–5.9 kg/kg higher, respectively, under the PCU treatment compared with the CU treatment across the two study years. When compared with the CU treatment, the PCU treatment could (1) improve root morphological trait, (2) reduce redundant vegetative growth during the early growth period, (3) increase matter production during the mid and late growth period, and (4) increase plant activity during the grain-filling period. Overall, our findings indicate that one-time PCU application before transplanting of the JIHR cultivar holds great promise for increasing grain yield and NUE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have high self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation potentials and low immunogenicity, so they have attracted much attention in the field of regenerative medicine and have a promising clinical application. MSCs originate from the mesoderm and can differentiate not only into osteoblasts, cartilage, adipocytes, and muscle cells but also into ectodermal and endodermal cell lineages across embryonic layers. To design cell therapy for replacement of damaged tissues, it is essential to understand the signaling pathways, which have a major impact on MSC differentiation, as this will help to integrate the signaling inputs to initiate a specific lineage. Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays a vital role in the development of various tissues and organs in the embryo. As a morphogen, Hh not only regulates the survival and proliferation of tissue progenitor and stem populations but also is a critical moderator of MSC differentiation, involving tri-lineage and across embryonic layer differentiation of MSCs. This review summarizes the role of Hh signaling pathway in the differentiation of MSCs to mesodermal, endodermal, and ectodermal cells.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic had a global impact on people life, notably because of lockdown periods. This could particularly affected patients suffering from hip fracture, who could have been more isolated during these periods. We aim at evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 period (including lockdown periods) on quality of life (QOL) in older adult patients 90 days after a surgery for a hip fracture.Subject and methodsAncillary study of the prospective randomized controlled HiFIT study. We compared the QOL measured at 90 days after a hip fracture surgery using the EuroQOL-5 dimensions 3 levels (EQ-5D), the Perceived Quality of life (PQOL) and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) in patients included in the Hifit study before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsThe characteristics of the 161 patients included before and of the 213 included during the COVID period (including 122 (57%) during COVID with containment periods and 91 (43%) during COVID without containment periods) were similar (mean age 84 ± 10 years; 282 (75%) women). The majority (81%) of the patients alive at 90 days had returned to their previous place of residence in both periods. During the COVID period, EQ-5D showed better patient pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression levels. The PQOL happiness was not different, with around 81% of the patient being “happy” or “very happy” during the two periods and the IADL was also similar during the two periods. In the multivariate analysis odd ratios of having poorer outcomes were increased before COVID for pain/discomfort (OR 2.38, 95%CI [1.41–4.15], p = 0.001), anxiety (OR 1.89 [1.12–3.21], p = 0.017) and mobility (1.69 [1.02–2.86], p = 0.044).ConclusionPatient’s quality of life measured using different scales was not altered during the COVID period compared to before COVID, 90 days after a hip fracture. Surprisingly, the Pain/Discomfort and Anxiety dimensions of the EQ-5D questionnaires were even better during the COVID period.Clinical trial registration:https://clinicaltrials.gov/ (NCT02972294).