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Pseudogene-derived long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have become crucial regulators in cancer progression. Extensive research highlights the pivotal role of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in promoting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. As a result, targeting aberrant STAT3 activation presents a promising therapeutic strategy for HCC. Our study aims to identify the key pseudogene-derived lncRNA involved in modulating STAT3 activation and driving HCC progression. Our study is the first to identify a significant upregulation of LOC344887, a pseudogene-derived lncRNA, in HCC tissues. Elevated LOC344887 levels correlated with poor overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), highlighting its potential as a biomarker for HCC. The rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and RT-PCR experiments revealed the expression of a novel LOC344887 transcript, named LOC344887-v2, alongside the annotated RefSeq transcript NR_151491 (LOC344887-v1) in both HCC tissues and hepatoma cell lines. Functional assays demonstrated that LOC344887 enhances cellular migration and invasion, with its variant LOC344887-v2 exhibiting a more pronounced effect. Further, LOC344887 mechanistically regulates STAT3 phosphorylation at tyrosine 705, which is crucial for maintaining STAT3 activation in HCC. Our findings unravel that LOC344887 not only physically interacts with p-STAT3 but also prevents its dephosphorylation by src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase 1 (SHP-1), thereby sustaining oncogenic signaling. In addition, we identified HMGA2 as a target of the LOC344887/SHP-1/STAT3 axis, with higher HMGA2 expression correlating with poorer prognosis in HCC patients. The ability of LOC344887 to regulate HMGA2 through direct binding of STAT3 to its promoter underlines its role in HCC progression. Collectively, these findings elucidate a novel oncogenic role of LOC344887 in HCC and suggest that targeting this lncRNA and its associated pathways may provide novel therapeutic strategies for improving patient outcomes in HCC., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest regarding this article, and have received no funding for this work.

Background: To assess the association between periodontal disease (PD) and the prognosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD)., Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library to identify eligible cohort studies until April 2023. Relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate the strength of the relationship between PD and CKD prognosis using the random-effects model., Results: 10 cohort studies involving 10,144 patients with CKD were selected for the meta-analysis. The summary results indicated that PD was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with CKD (RR:1.32; 95%CI:1.10-1.59; 𝑝 = 0.003). Although no association was observed between PD and the risk of cardiac death in patients with CKD (𝑝 = 0.180), while sensitivity analysis revealed PD may be associated with the risk of cardiac death (RR:1.31; 95%CI:1.05-1.64; 𝑝 = 0.017). In addition, subgroup analyses revealed that the strength of the association of PD with the risks of all-cause mortality and cardiac death varies when stratified by region, male proportion, comparison, CKD stage, and adjusted level., Conclusion: Herein, PD might exert a harmful effect on the subsequent risks of all-cause mortality and cardiac death in patients with CKD., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article., (Copyright © 2024, the Chinese Medical Association.)

The receptor-like kinase (RLK) family of receptors and the associated receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (RLCKs) have expanded in plants because of selective pressure from environmental stress and evolving pathogens. RLCKs link pathogen perception to activation of coping mechanisms. RLK-RLCK modules regulate hormone synthesis and responses, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, Ca 2+ signaling, activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and immune gene expression, all of which contribute to immunity. Some RLCKs integrate responses from multiple receptors recognizing distinct ligands. RLKs/RLCKs and nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeats (NLRs) were found to synergize, demonstrating the intertwined genetic network in plant immunity. Studies in arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) have provided paradigms about RLCK functions, but a lack of understanding of crop RLCKs undermines their application. In this review, we summarize current understanding of the diverse functions of RLCKs, based on model systems and observations in crop species, and the emerging role of RLCKs in pathogen and abiotic stress response signaling., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cancer metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, underscoring the importance of understanding its underlying mechanisms. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a highly malignant type of cancer, was selected as our research model., Material and Methods: We aimed to develop high-metastatic cell lines using in vitro and in vivo selection strategies and identify critical metastasis-related genes through microarray analyses by comparing them with parental cells., Results: Our results showed that the high-metastatic cell lines exhibited significantly stronger invasion abilities than parental cells. Microarray analyses identified cytidine deaminase (CDA), a gene associated with systemic chemotherapy resistance, as one of the overexpressed genes in the high-metastatic cells. Data analysis from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program revealed that while CDA is downregulated in HCC, patients with high CDA expression tend to have poorer prognoses. Cell models confirmed that CDA overexpression enhances cell migration and invasion, whereas CDA knockdown inhibits these abilities. Investigating the key molecules involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), we found that CDA overexpression increases the expression of fascin, N-cadherin, β-catenin, and snail while decreasing E-cadherin expression. Conversely, CDA knockdown produced opposite results. Additionally, we discovered that CDA regulates NF-κB signaling, which controls the expression of N-cadherin, thereby promoting the invasion capability of HCC cells., Conclusions: We isolated highly metastatic cells and identified potential HCC metastasis-related genes. CDA promotes cell invasion by regulating EMT through the NF-κB pathway. Future studies are warranted to explore the potential of CDA as a biomarker for prognosis and therapeutic decision-making., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sorghum anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum sublineola (Cs) is a damaging disease of the crop. Here, we describe the identification of ANTHRACNOSE RESISTANCE GENES (ARG4 and ARG5) encoding canonical nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors. ARG4 and ARG5 are dominant resistance genes identified in the sorghum lines SAP135 and P9830, respectively, that show broad-spectrum resistance to Cs. Independent genetic studies using populations generated by crossing SAP135 and P9830 with TAM428, fine mapping using molecular markers, comparative genomics and gene expression studies determined that ARG4 and ARG5 are resistance genes against Cs strains. Interestingly, ARG4 and ARG5 are both located within clusters of duplicate NLR genes at linked loci separated by ~1 Mb genomic region. SAP135 and P9830 each carry only one of the ARG genes while having the recessive allele at the second locus. Only two copies of the ARG5 candidate genes were present in the resistant P9830 line while five non-functional copies were identified in the susceptible line. The resistant parents and their recombinant inbred lines carrying either ARG4 or ARG5 are resistant to strains Csgl1 and Csgrg suggesting that these genes have overlapping specificities. The role of ARG4 and ARG5 in resistance was validated through sorghum lines carrying independent recessive alleles that show increased susceptibility. ARG4 and ARG5 are located within complex loci displaying interesting haplotype structures and copy number variation that may have resulted from duplication. Overall, the identification of anthracnose resistance genes with unique haplotype stucture provides a foundation for genetic studies and resistance breeding., (© 2023 The Authors. The Plant Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The world is faced with challenges due to a growing aging population and the increasing burden of chronic disease. The acute shortage of nurses and high turnover rates, particularly among novice nurses, are of great concern in many countries. Several studies have shown that turnover intention among nurses is influenced by professional identity and job satisfaction. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined this issue in the context of novice nurses. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between professional identity, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among novice nurses in China. From March 18 to April 23, 2022, a cross-sectional survey was carried out involving 532 novice nurses recruited from four public hospitals in Sichuan Province, China. Among the sample, 526 questionnaires were retrieved, with an effective response rate of 98.87%. The mean scores for turnover intention, professional identity, and job satisfaction were 13.02 ± 3.94, 36.17 ± 7.98, and 111.02 ± 21.46, respectively. High turnover intention was observed among novice nurses, of whom 54.37% (286/526) had high or very high turnover intention. Professional identity and job satisfaction among novice nurses were moderate. In terms of demographic characteristics, "Whether living with relatives" and "Monthly income" had a statistically significant impact on the turnover intention of novice nurses (P < .05). Both professional identity (r = -0.459) and job satisfaction (r = -0.517) were significantly and moderately negatively correlated with turnover intention (P < .01). The results of the multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that variables including "Whether living with relatives," "Professional identity," "Control and responsibility for work," and "Benefits" jointly accounted for 29.9% of the variance related to turnover intention among novice nurses. "Whether living with relatives," "Professional identity," "Control and responsibility for work," and "Benefits" were highly predictive of turnover intention levels among novice nurses. Hence, potential predictors of turnover intention should be considered, and intervention research should be conducted to reduce the level of turnover intention among novice nurses., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at the molecular level holds great promise for several clinical applications. For this goal, the harvest of high-purity, size-sorted CTCs with different subtypes from a blood sample are important. For this purpose, a two-step CTC isolation protocol was proposed, by which the immunomagnetic beads-based cell separation was first utilized to remove the majority of blood cells. After that, an optically induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP) microfluidic system was developed to (1) purify the CTCs from the remaining magnetic microbeads-bound blood cells and to (2) sort and separate the CTCs with different sizes. In this study, the ODEP microfluidic system was designed and fabricated. Moreover, its optimum operation conditions and performance were explored. The results exhibited that the presented technique was able to purify and sort the cancer cells with two different sizes from a tested cell suspension in a high-purity (93.5% and 90.1% for the OECM 1 and HA22T cancer cells, respectively) manner. Overall, this study presented a technique for the purification and sorting of cancer cells with different sizes. Apart from this application, the technique is also useful for other applications in which the high-purity and label-free purification and sorting of cells with different sizes is required.

Through nitrosylation of [Fe-S] proteins, or the chelatable iron pool, a dinitrosyl iron unit (DNIU) [Fe(NO) 2 ] embedded in the form of low-molecular-weight/protein-bound dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNICs) was discovered as a metallocofactor assembled under inflammatory conditions with elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide (O 2 - ). In an attempt to gain biomimetic insights into the unexplored transformations of the DNIU under inflammation, we investigated the reactivity toward O 2 - by a series of DNICs [(NO) 2 Fe(μ- Me Pyr) 2 Fe(NO) 2 ] ( 1 ) and [(NO) 2 Fe(μ-SEt) 2 Fe(NO) 2 ] ( 3 ). During the superoxide-induced conversion of DNIC 1 into DNIC [(K-18-crown-6-ether) 2 (NO 2 )][Fe(μ- Me Pyr) 4 (μ-O) 2 (Fe(NO) 2 ) 4 ] ( 2-K-crown ) and a [Fe 3+ ( Me Pyr) x (NO 2 ) y (O) z ] n adduct, stoichiometric NO monooxygenation yielding NO 2 - occurs without the transient formation of peroxynitrite-derived • OH/ • NO 2 species. To study the isoelectronic reaction of O 2(g) and one-electron-reduced DNIC 1 , a DNIC featuring an electronically localized {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 -{Fe(NO) 2 } 10 electronic structure, [K-18-crown-6-ether][(NO) 2 Fe(μ- Me Pyr) 2 Fe(NO) 2 ] ( 1-red ), was successfully synthesized and characterized. Oxygenation of DNIC 1-red leads to the similar assembly of DNIC 2-K-crown , of which the electronic structure is best described as paramagnetic with weak antiferromagnetic coupling among the four S = 1/2 {Fe III (NO - ) 2 } 9 units and S = 5/2 Fe 3+ center. In contrast to DNICs 1 and 1-red , DNICs 3 and [K-18-crown-6-ether][(NO) 2 Fe(μ-SEt) 2 Fe(NO) 2 ] ( 3-red ) display a reversible equilibrium of " 3 + O 2 - ⇋ 3-red + O 2(g) ", which is ascribed to the covalent [Fe(μ-SEt) 2 Fe] core and redox-active [Fe(NO) 2 ] unit. Based on this study, the supporting/bridging ligands in dinuclear DNIC 1 / 3 (or 1-red / 3-red ) control the selective monooxygenation of NO and redox interconversion between O 2 - and O 2 during reaction with O 2 - (or O 2 ).

Liver cancer is one of the most lethal cancers in the world, mainly owing to the lack of effective means for early monitoring and treatment. Accordingly, there is considerable research interest in various clinically applicable methods for addressing these unmet needs. At present, the most commonly used biomarker for the early diagnosis of liver cancer is alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), but AFP is sensitive to interference from other factors and cannot really be used as the basis for determining liver cancer. Treatment options in addition to liver surgery (resection, transplantation) include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. However, even more expensive targeted drug therapies have a limited impact on the clinical outcome of liver cancer. One of the big reasons is the rapid emergence of drug resistance. Therefore, in addition to finding effective biomarkers for early diagnosis, an important focus of current discussions is on how to effectively adjust and select drug strategies and guidelines for the treatment of liver cancer patients. In this review, we bring this thought process to the drug resistance problem faced by different treatment strategies, approaching it from the perspective of gene expression and molecular biology and the possibility of finding effective solutions.

Sorghum is an important food and feed crop globally; its production is hampered by anthracnose disease caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum sublineola (Cs). Here, we report identification and characterization of ANTHRACNOSE RESISTANCE GENE 2 (ARG2) encoding a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) protein that confers race-specific resistance to Cs strains. ARG2 is one of a cluster of several NLR genes initially identified in the sorghum differential line SC328C that is resistant to some Cs strains. This cluster shows structural and copy number variations in different sorghum genotypes. Different sorghum lines carrying independent ARG2 alleles provided the genetic validation for the identity of the ARG2 gene. ARG2 expression is induced by Cs, and chitin induces ARG2 expression in resistant but not in susceptible lines. ARG2-mediated resistance is accompanied by higher expression of defense and secondary metabolite genes at early stages of infection, and anthocyanin and zeatin metabolisms are upregulated in resistant plants. Interestingly, ARG2 localizes to the plasma membrane when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Importantly, ARG2 plants produced higher shoot dry matter than near-isogenic lines carrying the susceptible allele suggesting an absence of an ARG2 associated growth trade-off. Furthermore, ARG2-mediated resistance is stable at a wide range of temperatures. Our observations open avenues for resistance breeding and for dissecting mechanisms of resistance., (© 2022 The Authors. The Plant Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Pathogenesis in plant diseases is complex comprising diverse pathogen virulence and plant immune mechanisms. These pathogens cause damaging plant diseases by deploying specialized and generic virulence strategies that are countered by intricate resistance mechanisms. The significant challenges that necrotrophs pose to crop production are predicted to increase with climate change. Immunity to biotrophs and hemibiotrophs is dominated by intracellular receptors that recognize specific effectors and activate resistance. These mechanisms play only minor roles in resistance to necrotrophs. Pathogen- or host-derived conserved pattern molecules trigger immune responses that broadly contribute to plant immunity. However, certain pathogen or host-derived immune elicitors are enriched by the virulence activities of necrotrophs. Different plant hormones modulate systemic resistance and cell death that have differential impacts on resistance to pathogens of different lifestyles. Knowledge of mechanisms that contribute to resistance to necrotrophs has expanded. Besides toxins and cell wall degrading enzymes that dominate the pathogenesis of necrotrophs, other effectors with subtle contributions are being identified., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: High prevalence of smartphone addiction among medical students may contribute to adverse physical and mental health outcomes., Aim: To estimate the prevalence of smartphone addiction, and explore the influencing factors and related mental health symptoms of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students., Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis., Methods: PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE were searched for relevant literature from the inception to September 10, 2021. Using Stata software 11.0, the meta-analysis of prevalence and the influencing factors of smartphone addiction were determined with 95% confidence intervals., Results: Nineteen articles, published between 2014 and 2019, were included, producing medical student studies from seven different Asian countries. The included studies were conducted in India ( n  = 11) and Malaysia ( n  = 3), with China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nepal, and Iran each contributing one study. Among a total of 5,497 medical students, the participants included 3,214 females, of whom 2,181 were medical students with smartphone addiction. The prevalence of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students was 41.93% (95% CI [36.24%, 47.72%]). The influencing factors of smartphone addiction among medical students included gender, duration of smartphone use, smartphone function, and marital status. Ten studies (52.63%) explored related mental health symptoms of smartphone addiction among Asian medical students. Smartphone addiction was positively correlated with poor sleep quality ( r  = .17-.31), stress ( r  = .30-.40), anxiety, depression, neuroticism, and general health among Asian medical students., Conclusion: Smartphone addiction is highly prevalent among Asian medical students. Smartphone addiction may adversely affect mental health, resulting in sleep disturbance, stress, anxiety, depression, and neuroticism. It is necessary to take appropriate precautionary actions and interventions to prevent smartphone overuse among medical students.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common primary liver malignancies worldwide. The long-term prognosis for HCC remains extremely poor, with drug resistance being the major underlying cause of recurrence and mortality. The lncRNA colorectal neoplasia differentially expressed (CRNDE) is an epigenetic mediator and plays an important role to drive proliferation and drug resistance in HCC. However, CRNDE as an epigenetic regulator with influences sorafenib resistance in HCC is unclear. Thus, we explore the potential of targeting the CRNDE/p300/YY1 axis as a novel therapeutic strategy to overcome sorafenib resistance of HCC., Method: Detection of the expression level of CRNDE and EGFR in clinical specimens of HCC. CRNDE, EGFR, p300, and YY1expression were altered in HCC cells through transfection with different plasmids, and cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and sorafenib resistance were subsequently observed. Immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation, re-chromatin immunoprecipitation, site-directed mutagenesis, RNA Immunoprecipitation, immune fluorescence, qRT-PCR, and western blotting were performed to uncover the mechanisms of CRNDE regulation. The xenograft nude mice model was used to investigate the tumor growth and sorafenib resistance., Results: In this study, we showed that CRNDE expression is significantly positively correlated with that of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in clinical specimens of HCC and induces proliferation and sorafenib resistance of HCC via EGFR-mediated signaling. Mechanistically, CRNDE stabilized the p300/YY1 complex at the EGFR promoter and simultaneously enhanced histone H3K9 and H3K27 acetylation, which serve as markers of relaxed chromatin. EGFR was positively upregulated by the epigenetic complex, p300/YY1, in a manner dependent on CRNDE expression, leading to enhanced tumor cell proliferation and sorafenib resistance. Furthermore, C646, a p300 inhibitor, suppressed EGFR transcriptional activity by decreasing chromatin relaxation and YY1 binding, which effectively reduced proliferation/sorafenib resistance and prolonged overall survival., Conclusion: Our collective findings support the potential of targeting the CRNDE/p300/YY1 axis as a novel therapeutic strategy to overcome sorafenib resistance of HCC., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Purpose: To assess the efficacy and safety of the Orchid drug-coated balloon (coated with paclitaxel) for the treatment of femoropopliteal artery disease versus percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in Chinese population., Methods: This is a prospective, single center, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial that randomized (1:1) 60 patients (38 men; mean age 68.7 ± 8.8) to drug-coated balloon group ( n  = 30) or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group ( n  = 30). The primary efficacy endpoint was primary patency of the target lesion and clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) at 12 months. The primary safety end point was freedom from perioperative death at 30 days and freedom from limb-related death and major amputation at 12 months., Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. Drug-coated balloon group resulted in higher primary patency (82.8% vs. 48.3%, p  = 0.005) and lower CD-TLR rates (3.5% vs. 27.6%; p  = 0.001) versus percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group at 12 months. The ABI was significantly higher in drug-coated balloon group than percutaneous transluminal angioplasty group (0.86 ± 0.13 vs. 0.72 ± 0.18, p  = 0.025). There were no perioperative death at 30 days, no limb-related death and no major amputation at 12 months in either group., Conclusions: The randomized controlled trial showed superior treatment effect with drug-coated balloon versus percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, with remarkably higher patency and lower CD-TLR rates. The result is consistent with other study and demonstrates the safety and efficacy of the Orchid drug-coated balloon for the treatment of femoropopliteal artery disease.

The typical modern lifestyle contributes to the development of many metabolic-related disorders, as exemplified by metabolic syndrome. How to prevent, resolve, or avoid subsequent deterioration of metabolic disturbances and the development of more serious diseases has become an important and much-discussed health issue. Thus, the question of the physiological and pathological roles of thyroid hormones (THs) in metabolism has never gone out of fashion. Although THs influence almost all organs, the liver is one of the most important targets as well as the hub of metabolic homeostasis. When this homeostasis is out of balance, diseases may result. In the current review, we summarize the common features and actions of THs, first focusing on their effects on lipid metabolism in the liver. In the second half of the review, we turn to a consideration of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a disease characterized by excessive accumulation of fat in the liver that is independent of heavy alcohol consumption. NAFLD is a growing health problem that currently affects ~25% of the world's population. Unfortunately, there are currently no approved therapies specific for NAFLD, which, if left uncontrolled, may progress to more serious diseases, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. This absence of effective treatment can also result in the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an aggressive form of NAFLD that is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States. Because THs play a clear role in hepatic fat metabolism, their potential application in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD has attracted considerable research attention. Studies that have investigated the use of TH-related compounds in the management of NAFLD are also summarized in the latter part of this review. An important take-home point of this review is that a comprehensive understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of THs in liver fat metabolism is possible, despite the complexities of this regulatory axis-an understanding that has clinical value for the specific management of NAFLD.

Purpose: To compare acute, subchronic, and chronic complications between older patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer (HR-LPC) receiving radical prostatectomy (RP) and high-dose intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) combined with long-term hormone therapy (HT)., Patients and Methods: We recruited older patients (≥80 years) with HR-LPC from the Taiwan Cancer Registry database. After propensity score matching, logistic regression analysis was used to compare the acute, subchronic, and chronic complication rates between patients who underwent RP (the RP group) and high-dose IMRT combined with long-term HT (the IMRT+HT group)., Results: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) symptoms and urinary incontinence (UI) were the most common complications over 5 years (BPH symptoms: RP, 17.69%; IMRT+HT, 29.58%; UI: RP, 10.47%; IMRT+HT, 5.50%). Compared with the RP group, the IMRT+HT group had higher odds of BPH symptoms and lower odds of UI and hernia after the 5-year follow-up period. The impotence rates were significantly higher in the IMRT+HT group than in the RP group at 3 months and 1 year after treatment and became nonsignificant after 2 years. At 5 years after treatment, the IMRT+HT group had lower risks of UI (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.88) and hernia (aOR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.11-0.82) and a higher risk of BPH symptoms (aOR, 4.15; 95% CI, 2.82-7.37) than the RP group., Conclusion: IMRT+HT was associated with lower UI and hernia risks than RP. By contrast, RP was associated with fewer complications of BPH over the follow-up period and less impotence during the first year after treatment. Our findings provide important and valuable references for shared decision-making for optimal therapy selection among older men with HR-LPC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wu, Huy, Liao and Huang.)

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), the fifth most widely grown cereal crop globally, provides food security for millions of people. Anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum sublineola is a major disease of sorghum worldwide. We discovered a major fungal resistance locus in sorghum composed of the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptor gene ANTHRACNOSE RESISTANCE GENE1 (ARG1) that is completely nested in an intron of a cis-natural antisense transcript (NAT) gene designated CARRIER OF ARG1 (CARG). Susceptible genotypes express CARG and two alternatively spliced ARG1 transcripts encoding truncated proteins lacking the leucine-rich repeat domains. In resistant genotypes, elevated expression of an intact allele of ARG1, attributed to the loss of CARG transcription and the presence of miniature inverted-repeat transposable element sequences, resulted in broad-spectrum resistance to fungal pathogens with distinct virulence strategies. Increased ARG1 expression in resistant genotypes is also associated with higher histone H3K4 and H3K36 methylation. In susceptible genotypes, lower ARG1 expression is associated with reduced H3K4 and H3K36 methylation and increased expression of NATs of CARG. The repressive chromatin state associated with H3K9me2 is low in CARG-expressing genotypes within the CARG exon and higher in genotypes with low CARG expression. Thus, ARG1 is regulated by multiple mechanisms and confers broad-spectrum, strong resistance to fungal pathogens., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Society of Plant Biologists.)

The molecular mechanisms of quantitative resistance (QR) to fungal pathogens and their relationships with growth pathways are poorly understood. We identified tomato TRK1 (TPK1b Related Kinase1) and determined its functions in tomato QR and plant growth. TRK1 is a receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase that complexes with tomato LysM Receptor Kinase (SlLYK1). SlLYK1 and TRK1 are required for chitin-induced fungal resistance, accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and expression of immune response genes. Notably, TRK1 and SlLYK1 regulate SlMYC2, a major transcriptional regulator of jasmonic acid (JA) responses and fungal resistance, at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Further, TRK1 is also required for maintenance of proper meristem growth, as revealed by the ectopic meristematic activity, enhanced branching, and altered floral structures in TRK1 RNAi plants. Consistently, TRK1 interacts with SlCLV1 and SlWUS, and TRK1 RNAi plants show increased expression of SlCLV3 and SlWUS in shoot apices. Interestingly, TRK1 suppresses chitin-induced gene expression in meristems but promotes expression of the same genes in leaves. SlCLV1 and TRK1 perform contrasting functions in defense but similar functions in plant growth. Overall, through molecular and biochemical interactions with critical regulators, TRK1 links upstream defense and growth signals to downstream factor in fungal resistance and growth homeostasis response regulators., (© 2021 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2021 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Introduction: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance is the treatment goal for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, its rate is extremely low with nucleoside (acid) analogues (NAs) monotherapy. Peginterferon could enhance HBsAg clearance. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of peginterferon alfa-2b (PegIFNα-2b) in NAs-experienced patients with CHB with negative HBeAg and low HBsAg level., Methods: HBeAg-negative patients with CHB who had received NAs therapy over 24 weeks with HBsAg < 1500 IU/mL and HBV DNA < 100 IU/mL were enrolled. Patients received either PegIFNα-2b add-on therapy (n = 108) or continuous NAs monotherapy (n = 75). The primary endpoint was HBsAg clearance rate at week 48., Results: At week 48, serum HBV DNA was undetectable among all PegIFNα-2b add-on therapy patients. Almost all patients maintained HBV DNA suppression in the PegIFNα-2b add-on group (100%, 108/108) and NAs monotherapy group (97.33%, 73/75). Only patients with PegIFNα-2b add-on therapy achieved HBsAg clearance (50.93%, 55/108) and HBsAg seroconversion (48.15%, 52/108) at week 48. Patients with baseline HBsAg < 100 IU/mL achieved the highest HBsAg clearance rate and HBsAg seroconversion rate at week 48 (60.87%, 28/46 and 58.70%, 27/46 respectively). HBsAg clearance and HBsAg seroconversion at week 72 had no significant difference with continuing or discontinuing PegIFNα-2b therapy after 48 weeks of treatment. PegIFNα-2b add-on therapy was well tolerated., Conclusions: PegIFNα-2b add-on therapy increases HBsAg clearance rate and seroconversion rate for HBeAg-negative patients with CHB, particularly for those with lower HBsAg level. It would be unnecessary to prolong PegIFNα-2b duration after 48 weeks of PegIFNα-2b treatment., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Decisions regarding the staging, prognosis, and treatment of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are made after determining their p16 expression levels and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection status., Methods: We investigated the prognostic roles of p16-positive and p16-negative circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their cell counts in HNSCC patients. We enrolled patients with locally advanced HNSCCs who received definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy for final analysis. We performed CTC testing and p16 expression analysis before chemoradiotherapy. We analyzed the correlation between p16-positive and p16-negative CTCs and HPV genotyping, tissue p16 expression status, response to chemoradiotherapy, disease-free survival, and overall survival., Results: Forty-one patients who fulfilled the study criteria were prospectively enrolled for final analysis. The detection rates of p16-positive (>0 cells/mL blood) and p16-negative (≥3 cells/mL blood) CTCs were 51.2% ( n = 21/41) and 70.7%, respectively. The best responses of chemoradiotherapy and the p16 positivity of CTCs are independent prognostic factors of disease progression, with hazard ratios of 1.738 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.031-2.927), 5.497 (95% CI: 1.818-16.615), and 0.176 (95% CI: 0.056-0.554), respectively. The p16 positivity of CTCs was a prognostic factor for cancer death, with a hazard ratio of 0.294 (95% CI: 0.102-0.852)., Conclusions: The p16-positive and p16-negative CTCs could predict outcomes in HNSCC patients receiving definitive chemoradiotherapy. This non-invasive CTC test could help stratify the risk and prognosis before chemoradiotherapy in clinical practice and enable us to perform de-intensifying therapies.

Liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. This mainly reflects the lack of early diagnosis tools and effective treatment methods. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-transcribed RNAs, some of which play important regulatory roles in liver cancer. Here, we discuss microRNAs with key impacts on liver cancer, such as miR-122, miR-21, miR-214, and miR-199. These microRNAs participate in various physiological regulatory pathways of liver cancer cells, and their modulation can have non-negligible effects in the treatment of liver cancer. We discuss whether these microRNAs can be used for better clinical diagnosis and/or drug development. With the advent of novel technologies, fast, inexpensive, and non-invasive RNA-based biomarker research has become a new mainstream approach. However, the clinical application of microRNA-based markers has been limited by the high sequence similarity among them and the potential for off-target problems. Therefore, researchers particularly value microRNAs that are specific to or have special functions in liver cancer. These include miR-122, which is specifically expressed in the liver, and miR-34, which is necessary for the replication of the hepatitis C virus in liver cancer. Clinical treatment drugs have been developed based on miR-34 and miR-122 (MRX34 and Miravirsen, respectively), but their side effects have not yet been overcome. Future research is needed to address these weaknesses and establish a feasible microRNA-based treatment strategy for liver cancer.

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) shows excellent reduction of Cr(Ⅵ), but the passivation on its outer surface can restrict its longevity and performance. To tackle this problem, this work introduced Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, a dissimilatory iron-reducing bacterium, into the chemical reduction system of aged nZVI/biochar (B) and Cr(Ⅵ). The potential synergistic effect of Cr(Ⅵ) reduction of aged nZVI/B and MR-1 was systematically investigated under varying conditions. The results indicated that aged nZVI/B and MR-1 exhibited a synergistic effect at a pH of 7, and the removal rate of Cr(Ⅵ) increased by 51.3%. Further research showed that the synergistic effect could be attenuated with the increase in the initial Cr(Ⅵ) concentration and enhanced with the increase in the MR-1 concentration. The XPS spectra confirmed that Cr(Ⅵ) was mainly removed through reduction. The dissimilatory iron-reducing ability of MR-1 played a key role in enhancing the Cr(Ⅵ) reduction. The reductive dissolution of the oxidation layers not only released reactive sites inside the nZVI, but also reduced Cr(Ⅵ) by producing ferrous ions. Moreover, B promoted the reduction by dispersing the nZVI and mediating the extracellular electron transfer. This study provides a new insight into solving the passivation problem of the long-term application of nZVI for Cr(Ⅵ) removal, which is considered a promising solution for synergistically improving the performance of nZVI in environmental remediation.

Climate change leads to increasing intensity and frequency of extreme rainfalls, especially in Taiwan with steep slopes and rapid currents. Heavy rainfalls trigger serious erosion and landslides on hillslopes, which increase sand concentration in rivers, and thus affect the water quality of reservoirs and the ecohydrological functions of rivers. We take the Zhuoshui River basin as an example and applied the modified Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, SWAT-Twn, to simulate sediment in the basin. In SWAT-Twn, estimation of sediment yield is carried out by integrating the Taiwan Universal Soil Loss Equation (TUSLE) and the landslide simulation. Results of daily streamflow simulation showed that the model performances were above the satisfactory level, while simulations of daily sediment loads showed that the SWAT-Twn model performed better than the official SWAT (SWAT664), in terms of PBIAS of - 46.6 to 16.0% (SWAT-Twn) and - 1.2 to - 107.0% (SWAT664). Two scenarios of land use/cover, scenario 1 with fixed land use/cover and scenario 2 with updated land use/cover in each year, were applied to simulate annual sediment in the river basin for investigating the effects of landslide area variation on sediments. Results of sediment simulation under the two scenarios showed that although updating landslide area may facilitate sediment yield simulation at the subbasin level, the sediment transport equation, Bagnold equation, does not reflect the variation in sediment loads in the watershed. With further modifications, SWAT-Twn is expected to be an effective tool for simulating the impacts of landslide on sediment loads in the watersheds with rainfall-induced landslide., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In maize, the ear shank is a short branch that connects the ear to the stalk. The length of the ear shank mainly affects the transportation of photosynthetic products to the ear, and also influences the dehydration of the grain by adjusting the tightness of the husks. However, the molecular mechanisms of maize shank elongation have rarely been described. It has been reported that the maize ear shank length is a quantitative trait, but its genetic basis is still unclear. In this study, RNA-seq was performed to explore the transcriptional dynamics and determine the key genes involved in maize shank elongation at four different developmental stages. A total of 8145 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 729 transcription factors (TFs). Some important genes which participate in shank elongation were detected via function annotation and temporal expression pattern analyses, including genes related to signal transduction hormones (auxin, brassinosteroids, gibberellin, etc.), xyloglucan and xyloglucan xyloglucosyl transferase, and transcription factor families. The results provide insights into the genetic architecture of maize ear shanks and developing new varieties with ideal ear shank lengths, enabling adjustments for mechanized harvesting in the future.

High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a key element in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation. Mechanical CPR devices have been developed to provide uninterrupted and high-quality CPR. Although human studies have shown controversial results in favor of mechanical CPR devices, their application in pre-hospital settings continues to increase. There remains scant data on the pre-hospital use of mechanical CPR devices in Asia. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective cohort study between September 2018 and August 2020 in an urban city of Taiwan to analyze the effects of mechanical CPR devices on the outcomes of OHCA; the primary outcome was attainment of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Of 552 patients with OHCA, 279 received mechanical CPR and 273 received manual CPR, before being transferred to the hospital. After multivariate adjustment for the influencing factors, mechanical CPR was independently associated with achievement of any ROSC (OR = 1.871; 95%CI:1.195-2.930) and sustained (≥24 h) ROSC (OR = 2.353; 95%CI:1.427-3.879). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that mechanical CPR is beneficial in shorter emergency medical service response time (≤4 min), witnessed cardiac arrest, and non-shockable cardiac rhythm. These findings support the importance of early EMS activation and high-quality CPR in OHCA resuscitation.

Sinolimprichtia alpina var. dissecta is a plant variety which is characterized from S. alpina var. alpina in possessing characteristic, highly dissected bracteoles. In the current study, we have sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of S. alpina var. dissecta using the Illumina sequencing platform. The chloroplast genome is 156,719 bp in length, consisting of a LSC region of 95,625 bp, a SSC region of 10,500 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 25,297 bp. The GC content was 37.7%. A total of 126 unique genes were identified, including 81 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 28 chloroplast genomes indicates that S. alpina var. dissecta is most closely related to Pterygopleurum neurophyllum ., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Introduction: Sepsis is a complication in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) patients associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Early diagnosis of sepsis in ACLF patients can improve prognosis. This study aimed to explore potential effective biomarkers for the early diagnosis of sepsis in ACLF patients., Methods: Ninety-four ACLF patients with sepsis were enrolled from 10 hospitals across China from January 2015 to June 2016 as well as 49 ACLF patients without infection from Xiangya Hospital. The first-day admission data and SOFA score and CLIF-SOFA score were collected. The differences of indicators between groups were compared with Kruskal-Wallis test. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of the selected factors., Results: Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-1 (sTREM-1) and presepsin were significantly higher in ACLF-sepsis patients compared with ACLF patients with no infection (P < 0.001). sTREM-1 and presepsin presented higher diagnostic value in sepsis for ACLF patients compared with other biomarkers [white blood cells (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP)]. Combining sTREM-1 or presepsin with the CLIF-SOFA score increased the diagnostic efficiency (AUC = 0.876 or AUC = 0.913, respectively)., Conclusions: sTREM-1 and presepsin are potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of sepsis in ACLF patients. The combination of presepsin and the CLIF-SOFA score is a promising method for diagnosing sepsis in ACLF patients., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02457637.

Groundwater remediation is difficult because of the complexity of the treatment area and the presence of various pollutants, and it is difficult to achieve using a single process. A combined pump-and-treat (P&T) and in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) system was used to remove dense nonaqueous-phase liquids (DNAPLs) from groundwater at the field scale in this study. The underground water pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen concentration, and SO 4 2- concentration were used as indirect evidence of in situ chemical reactions. Groundwater remediation using the P&T-ISCO process using 1.5% sodium persulfate and 0.03% sodium hydroxide had a remarkable effect on DNAPLs, and the DNAPL diffusion distance was much higher under pumping conditions than under natural conditions. During groundwater remediation, the pollutant concentration positively correlated with the pH, electrical conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentration and negatively correlated with the SO 4 2- concentration. In summary, P&T-ISCO can effectively accelerate DNAPL degradation to give efficient groundwater remediation., Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency-induced thermotherapy (RFiTT) combined with transilluminated powered phlebectomy (TIPP) in the treatment of lower limb varicose veins (VVs) in comparison with high ligation and stripping (HLS) combined with TIPP., Methods: The patients with lower limb VVs were randomly assigned to RFiTT combined with TIPP or HLS combined with TIPP. The primary end point was total closure rate of the great saphenous vein at 12 months. Secondary end points included Venous Clinical Severity Score and 14-item Chronic Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire score changes at 12 months and perioperative complications., Results: The total closure rate of the great saphenous vein at 12 months was slightly lower in the RFiTT group (90.9% [90/99]) than in the HLS group (97.0% [98/101]) but not statistically significant (χ 2  = 0.068; P = .08). Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, duration in hospital, duration in bed, and resumption of activities were statistically significantly better with RFiTT than with HLS. There were no significant differences between the groups in deep venous thrombosis, phlebitis, hematomas, pain, and infection. However, skin pigmentation and paresthesia were statistically significantly better with RFiTT than with HLS. At 12 months, both groups showed similar improvement from baseline in Venous Clinical Severity Score (1.28 ± 0.57 in the RFiTT group vs 1.33 ± 0.61 in the HLS group) and 14-item Chronic Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire score (67.32 ± 1.29 in the RFiTT group vs 67.45 ± 1.32 in the HLS group); however, neither group was superior to the other., Conclusions: RFiTT combined with TIPP is an effective treatment method for lower limb VVs and had a more satisfactory clinical outcome in surgical data, skin pigmentation, and paresthesia than HLS at the 12-month follow-up., (Copyright © 2020 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Our study aimed to study the role of lncRNA TP73-AS1/miR-539/MMP-8 axis in modulating M2 macrophage polarization in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: The gene expression levels of TP73-AS1, miR-539 and MMP-8 were modified by transfection with the overexpression or knockdown vectors. The patient survival rate was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method. The levels of TP73-AS1, miR-539, MMP-8 and M1/2 macrophage polarization markers were analyzed by qRT-PCR, western blot, and flow cytometry. The release of TGF-β1 in the supernatant was determined by ELISA assay. The interaction between TP73-AS1, miR-539 and MMP-8 was analyzed by bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Mouse xenograft model was further established to examine the therapeutic effects of the TP73-AS1 knockdown and miR-539 overexpression in vivo., Results: We found TP73-AS1 and MMP-8 upregulation, and miR-539 downregulation in HCC tissues and cell lines. Lower TP73-AS1 and MMP-8 expressions and higher miR-539 expression were associated with higher survival rate of patients. M2-macrophage markers CD206, Arg-1 and CD163 were significantly upregulated in the tumor tissues. TP73-AS1 negatively and directly regulated miR-539 and knockdown of TP73-AS1 inhibited MMP-8 expression and M2 macrophage polarization. Also, overexpression of miR-539 suppressed M2 macrophage polarization by negatively regulating MMP-8. Furthermore, knockdown of MMP-8 also restrained M2 macrophage polarization via inhibiting TGF-β1 signaling. We also found knockdown of TP73-AS1 or overexpression of miR-539 inhibited HCC tumor growth and M2 macrophage infiltration in vivo., Conclusion: Our study demonstrated lncRNA TP73-AS1 negatively regulated miR-539 to promote MMP-8 expression, which activated TGF-β1 signaling to induce M2 macrophage polarization in HCC., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) is a potentially lethal condition of pregnant women with a high mortality rate. Potential predictors related to postpartum recovery time and prognostic factors of AFLP are still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate potential predictors for prognosis and postpartum recovery time of AFLP., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 76 AFLP patients in our hospital from 2002 to 2017 and investigated potential predictors using univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis., Results: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) was found to be associated with prognosis in AFLP patients (P = 0.005, OR = 26.844). The postpartum recovery time analysis showed that AFLP patients with a age < 25 had the shortest recovery time, but no significant difference (P = 0.134, OR = 5.952). The postpartum recovery time of patients with liver failure (LF) was significantly prolonged compared to those without LF (P = 0.036, OR = 10.052). Cryoprecipitate, and plasma infusion showed no significant effect on prognosis or recovery time. Artificial liver support therapy (ALST) had no effect on prognosis, but it might affect postpartum recovery time with no statistical significance (P = 0.128, OR = 5.470)., Conclusion: HE is a potential predictor for prognosis of AFLP. LF is a potential predictor for postpartum recovery time.

Peripheral nerve injury is a life-changing disability with significant socioeconomic consequences. In this rat model, we propose that partial enzyme digestion can facilitate the functional recovery of a crushed nerve. The sciatic nerves were harvested and in vitro cultured with the addition of Liberase to determine the appropriate enzyme amount in the hyaluronic acid (HA) membrane. Then, the sciatic nerve of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats was exposed, crushed, and then treated with partial enzyme digestion (either 0.001 or 0.002 unit/mm 2 Liberase-HA membrane). The sciatic function index (SFI) for functional recovery of the sciatic nerve was evaluated. After 2 h of in vitro digestion, fascicles and axons were separated from each other, with the cells mobilized. Greater destruction of histology structures occurred in the high enzyme (Liberase-HA membrane at 0.002 unit/mm 2 ) group at 24 h than in the low enzyme (0.001 unit/mm 2 ) group at 48 h. In the SFI evaluation, the improvement in 0.001 unit/mm 2 Liberase group was significantly better than control and 0.002 unit/mm 2 Liberase group. Our study demonstrated that appropriate enzyme digestion had a significantly faster and earlier recovery., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest., (© 2020 Fon-Yih Tsuang et al., published by De Gruyter.)

In articular cartilage-repair, grafts usually fuse unsatisfactorily with surrounding host cartilage. Enzymatic dissociation of cartilaginous matrix to free chondrocytes may benefit fusion. We tested such a hypothesis with human cartilage in vitro , and with porcine cartilage in vivo . Human articular cartilage was collected from knee surgeries, cut into disc-and-ring sets, and randomly distributed into three groups: disc-and-ring sets in Group 1 were left untreated; in Group 2 only discs, and in Group 3 both discs and rings were treated with enzyme. Each disc-and-ring reassembly was cultured in a perfusion system for 14 days; expression of cartilage marker proteins and genes was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and PCR. Porcine articular cartilage from knees was similarly fashioned into disc-and-ring combinations. Specimens were randomly distributed into a control group without further treatment, and an experimental group with both disc and ring treated with enzyme. Each disc-and-ring reassembly was transplanted into subcutaneous space of a nude mouse for 30 days, and retrieved to examine disc-ring interface. In in vitro study with human cartilage, a visible gap remained at disc-ring interfaces in Group 1, yet became indiscernible in Group 2 and 3. Marker genes, including type II collagen, aggrecan and Sox 9, were well expressed by chondrocytes in all specimens, indicating that chondrocytes' phenotype retained regardless of enzymatic treatment. Similar results were found in in vivo study with porcine cartilage. Enzymatic dissociation of cartilaginous matrix promotes fusion of adjacent cartilage. The clinical relevance may be a novel method to facilitate integration of repaired cartilage in joints., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)

A complete chloroplast genome of Actinidia rubus , an endemic shrub in China, was sequenced and identified. The length of genome is 156,573 bp, and the GC content is 37.3%. This genome contains a large single copy (LSC; 88,473 bp) region, a small single copy (SSC; 20,492) region, a pair of inverted repeat (IR; 23,804) regions. A total of 113 unique genes were identified, including 78 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis based on complete chloroplast genome of 10 species showed that Actintdia eriantha was sister to A. rubus ., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Background: The optimal treatment method for femoropopliteal (FP) artery in-stent restenosis (ISR) remains controversial. We assess the efficacy and safety of combination of Rotarex thrombectomy and drug-coated balloon (DCB) for the treatment of FP ISR., Methods: From June 2016 to July 2017, 32 patients with FP ISR who underwent combination of Rotarex thrombectomy and DCB angioplasty were included in a prospective registry. The primary end point was primary patency of the target lesion defined as a peak systolic velocity ratio <2.4 documented by duplex ultrasound at 12 months without clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR). The secondary outcome measure was the rate of major adverse limb events. The primary functional end point was assessed using the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ)., Results: Twenty-nine (90.6%) patients completed 12-month follow-up. Mean ankle-brachial index was 0.45 ± 0.14 at baseline and 0.84 ± 0.12 at 12 months (P < 0.05). The WIQ score was 30.45 ± 21.14 at baseline and 52.68 ± 29.75 at 12 months (P < 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the primary patency rate at 12 months was 86.2% (25/29), and freedom from CD-TLR rate at 12 months was 89.7% (26/29)., Conclusions: The data suggest that combination of Rotarex thrombectomy and DCB for treatment of FP ISR is safe and effective with satisfying primary patency rate and freedom from CD-TLR rate at 12-month follow-up., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: To assess the efficacy and safety of Orchid drug-coated balloon (DCB) for treatment of femoropopliteal (FP) artery in-stent restenosis (ISR) in Chinese patients., Methods: The study is a prospective, single center, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) that randomized (1:1) 74 patients to DCB group (N.=38) and PTA group (N.=36). The primary efficacy endpoint was primary patency of the target lesion at 12 months. Second efficacy endpoint included clinically-driven target-lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) and ABI change at 12 months. The primary safety endpoint included peri-operative death at 30 days, all-cause death, major amputation, and other major adverse events (MAEs) at 12 months. The primary functional endpoint included Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ), quality-of-life measures (EQ-5D) and 6-minute walking test (6MWT)., Results: The DCB group had higher primary patency (87.9% vs. 51.6%; P=0.001) and lower rates of CD-TLR (6.1% vs. 35.5%; P=0.003) than the PTA group at 12 months. There were no peri-operative deaths, and no major amputations at 12 months in two groups. There were 1(2.6%) in the DCB group and 2 (5.6%) in the PTA group of all-cause deaths (P=0.524)., Conclusions: Results from the study showed superior treatment effect with Orchid DCB versus PTA for the treatment of FP ISR, and without an apparent difference in safety.

The evolutionarily conserved octameric exocyst complex tethers secretory vesicles to the site of membrane fusion during exocytosis. The plant exocyst complex functions in cell wall biosynthesis, polarized growth, stress responses, and hormone signaling. In fungal pathogens, the exocyst complex is required for growth, development, and pathogenesis. Endosidin2 (ES2) is known to inhibit exocytosis in plant and mammalian cells by targeting the EXO70 subunit of the exocyst complex. Here we show that an analog of ES2, ES2-14, targets plant and two fungal EXO70s. A lower dosage of ES2-14 than of ES2 is required to inhibit plant growth, plant exocytic trafficking, and fungal growth. ES2-14 treatments inhibit appressorium formation and reduce lesion sizes caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Inhibition of EXO70 by ES2-14 in Botrytis cinerea also reduces its virulence in Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ). Interestingly, ES2-14 did not affect EXO70 localization or transferrin recycling in mammalian cells. Overall, our results indicate that a minor change in ES2 affects its specificity in targeting EXO70s in different organisms and they demonstrate the potential of using ES2-14 to study the mechanisms of plant and fungal exocytosis and the roles of exocytosis in fungus-plant interactions., (© 2019 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.)

Conventional positive and negative selection-based circulating tumor cell (CTC) isolation methods might generally ignore metastasis-relevant CTCs that underwent epithelial-to- mesenchymal transition and suffer from a low CTC purity problem, respectively. To address these issues, we previously proposed a 2-step CTC isolation method integrating a negative selection CTC isolation and subsequent spheroid cell culture. In addition to its ability to isolate CTCs, more importantly, the spheroid cell culture used could serve as a cell culture model mimicking the process of new tumor tissue formation during cancer metastasis. Therefore, it is promising not only to selectively isolate metastasis-relevant CTCs but also to test the potential of cancer metastasis and thus the prognosis of disease. To explore these issues, experiments were performed. The key findings of this study demonstrated that the method was able to harvest both epithelial (E)- and mesenchymal (M)-type CTCs without selection bias. Moreover, both the M-type CTC count and the information obtained from the multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) and MRP5 gene expression analysis of the CTCs isolated via the 2-step CTC isolation method might be able to serve as prognostic factors for progression-free survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: Hypoglycaemia is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Previous studies suggest that hypoglycaemic episodes may occur with other comorbidities, influencing the outcome of recovery. Recognising the predisposing factors for hypoglycaemic episodes in the emergency department is important. Therefore, we investigated the characteristics of and predisposing factors for hypoglycaemia in the emergency department., Methods: Data from 186 patients were retrospectively collected from a medical centre in northern Taiwan. We divided the patients into the advanced-age group (132 patients) and the younger group (54 patients). Associated data collected for statistical analysis included vital signs on arrival, first measured blood glucose level, laboratory results, related comorbidities, length of hospital stay, and survival to discharge., Results: Hypoglycaemia was more frequently observed in women in the advanced-age group than in the younger group. Tachycardia and elevated systolic blood pressure were less predominant in the advanced-age group than younger group. More patients in the advanced-age group had concurrent infection, and more patients in the younger group had liver dysfunction, elevated liver enzymes, liver cirrhosis, and concurrent stroke., Conclusions: Closer attention should be paid to the possibility of infection in patients of advanced age. Liver disease and stroke need to be ruled out in younger patients.

After the first structural characterization of dinuclear dinitrosyl iron complex (DNIC) in 1958 and discovery of natural dinitrosyl iron unit (DNIU) [Fe(NO) 2 ] in 1964-1965, continued investigations on natural and synthetic DNICs explored their ubiquitous functions as (1) a product for nitrosylation of non-heme Fe proteins and chelatable iron pool, (2) a biological vehicle for iron and nitric oxide, (3) a novel redox-active unit for stabilization and activation of small molecules, (4) an electrocatalyst for water splitting, and (5) a precursor for electrodeposition of Fe-containing hybrid material. From a synthetic chemistry perspective, herein, we summarize four synthetic methodologies for preparation of structure-characterized DNICs in the attempt to attract continued development of unexplored DNICs featuring novel functions. As collected from CCDC database, structure-characterized DNICs can be classified into (1) tetrahedral {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 DNICs with C/N/P/O/S/Se/Cl/Br/I ligation modes, (2) five-/six-coordinate {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 DNICs with N/O ligation modes, (3) tetrahedral {Fe(NO) 2 } 10 DNICs with C/Sn/N/P/O/S/H ligation modes, (4) metallothiolate-bound {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 /{Fe(NO) 2 } 10 DNICs, and (5) dinuclear {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 -{Fe(NO) 2 } 9 , {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 -{Fe(NO) 2 } 10 , and {Fe(NO) 2 } 10 -{Fe(NO) 2 } 10 DNICs with thiolate/alkoxide/pyrazolate/CO bridging ligands. After buildup of the DNIU [Fe(NO) 2 ] using NO, NO + , and NO 2 - as alternative sources of nitrosyl ligands, ligand substitution and modification reaction of DNICs, redox interconversion between {Fe(NO) 2 } 9 and {Fe(NO) 2 } 10 cores, and transformation between mononuclear and dinuclear DNICs establish the comprehensive pathways to bridge alternative types of DNICs in the chemical library of structure-characterized DNICs. This review on the synthetic methodology for preparation of DNICs will facilitate the incorporation of DNIU [Fe(NO) 2 ] into (bio)materials for potential applications of DNICs in chemistry, catalysis, biology, and biomedicine.

Soil erosion and landslide triggered by heavy rainfall are serious problems that have threatened water resources in Taiwan watersheds. This study investigated the relationship among streamflow, sediment load, sediment concentration and typhoon characteristics (path and rainfall amount) during 2000-2017 for nine gauging stations in five basins (Tamshui River basin, Zhuoshui River basin, Zengwen River basin, Gaoping River basin, and Hualien River basin) representing the diverse geomorphologic conditions in Taiwan. The results showed that streamflow and sediment load were positively correlated, and the correlation was improved when the sediment load data were grouped by sediment concentration. Among these basins, the Zhuoshui River basin has the highest unit-discharge sediment load and unit-area sediment load. The soil in the upstream was more erodible than the downstream soil during the normal discharge conditions, indicating its unique geological characteristics and how typhoons magnified sediment export. The spatiotemporal variation in sediment loads from different watersheds was further categorized by typhoons of different paths. Although typhoon path types matter, the Zhuoshui and Hualien River basin were usually impacted by typhoons of any path type. The results indicated that sediment concentration, the watershed soil characteristics, and typhoons paths were the key factors for sediment loads. This study can be useful for developing strategies of soil and water conservation implementation for sustainable watershed management.

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in blood circulation play an important role in cancer metastasis. CTCs are generally defined as the cells in circulating blood expressing the surface antigen EpCAM (epithelial cell adhesion molecule). Nevertheless, CTCs with a highly metastatic nature might undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), after which their EpCAM expression is downregulated. In current CTC-related studies, however, these clinically important CTCs with high relevance to cancer metastasis could be missed due to the use of the conventional CTC isolation methodologies. To precisely explore the clinical significance of these cells (i.e., CD45 neg /EpCAM neg cells), the high-purity isolation of these cells from blood samples is required. To achieve this isolation, the integration of fluorescence microscopic imaging and optically induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP)-based cell manipulation in a microfluidic system was proposed. In this study, an ODEP microfluidic system was developed. The optimal ODEP operating conditions and the performance of live CD45 neg /EpCAM neg cell isolation were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the proposed system was capable of isolating live CD45 neg /EpCAM neg cells with a purity as high as 100%, which is greater than the purity attainable using the existing techniques for similar tasks. As a demonstration case, the cancer-related gene expression of CD45 neg /EpCAM neg cells isolated from the blood samples of healthy donors and cancer patients was successfully compared. The initial results indicate that the CD45 neg /EpCAM neg nucleated cell population in the blood samples of cancer patients might contain cancer-related cells, particularly EMT-transformed CTCs, as suggested by the high detection rate of vimentin gene expression. Overall, this study presents an ODEP microfluidic system capable of simply and effectively isolating a specific, rare cell species from a cell mixture.

Two new barium borate carbonates, Ba 3 [B 6 O 10 (OH) 2 ](CO 3 ) (1) and Ba 6 [B 12 O 21 (OH) 2 ](CO 3 ) 2 (2), have been synthesized by high-temperature, high-pressure hydrothermal methods at 460 °C and 600 bar and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, TGA, IR, and MAS 11 B NMR spectroscopy. The descriptors of the fundamental building blocks (FBB) of both structures are 2Δ4□:⟨Δ2□⟩=⟨4□⟩=⟨Δ2□⟩. The FBB of 1 has a chair conformation, and the FBBs of 2 have both chair and boat conformations. Compound 1 adopts a noncentrosymmetric 2D layer structure with the Ba 2+ cations and CO 3 2- anions between the layers, whereas compound 2 has a centrosymmetric 3D framework structure containing 9- and 10-ring channels with the Ba 2+ cations and CO 3 2- anions at the center or on the edges of the channels. The two structures are two of the few examples where the carbonate groups are isolated and occupy their own independent sites.