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Ming-zhe Ma,1–3,* Shu-qiang Yuan,1–3,* Yong-ming Chen,1–3 Zhi-wei Zhou1–3 1State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China; 2Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China; 3Department of Gastric Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: The correlations between lipid profile (lipid molecules and their derivative indexes) and clinical outcome have been widely testified in many carcinomas, but its prognostic value remains unknown in gastric cancer (GC). Our purpose in the study was to comprehensively evaluate the clinical significance of lipid profile in GC.Methods: We retrospectively collected clinical information of 1,201 GC patients who received surgery at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from 2005 to 2010. Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model were performed to determine its prognostic significance.Results: Lipid profile including cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, and ApoB/ApoA1 ratio were analyzed. For the first time, we found ApoB/ApoA1 ratio showed the biggest prognostic potency among all lipid-related variables and could act as an independent prognostic factor in GC. Patients with a high ApoB/ApoA1 ratio (≥1) had a shorter overall survival (hazard ratio: 1.373, 95% confidence interval: 1.123–1.68; P=0.002).Conclusion: Preoperative serum ApoB/ApoA1 ratio might be used as a novel prognostic indicator of GC. Keywords: ApoB/ApoA1 ratio, gastric cancer, prognosis, marker, overall survival

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the role of group identification in shaping collective health behaviors. Using the novel Pronoun-Influenced Collective Health Model - an integrated framework combining elements from health and social psychology theories - we investigated the relationship between online first-person plural pronoun usage and adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures across the United States. Analyzing weekly Google Trends data on English (Study 1) and Spanish (Study 2) first-person pronoun searches, alongside data on adherence to pandemic precautionary measures from early 2020 to late 2022, we found significant positive associations between relative first-person plural pronoun search volumes and adherence to social distancing, stay-at-home orders, vaccination rates, and proactive disease prevention information seeking. These associations remained robust after adjusting for potential confounding factors. A mini meta-analysis (Study 3) confirmed the consistency of our findings, revealing no significant moderation effects by language context or ecological-socio-cultural factors, suggesting broad generalizability. The implications of this research highlight the potential for tracking online collective language as a valuable indicator of and proxy for societal-level health engagement during crises. This novel digital linguistics approach, synergistically combining applied health and social psychology with big data from digital platforms such as Google, offers powerful tools for monitoring collective health actions across linguistic and cultural boundaries during large-scale health crises., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We explored the roles of personal values and value congruence-the alignment between individual and national values-in predicting public support for pandemic restrictions across 20 European countries., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: We analyzed multinational European survey data (N = 34,356) using Schwartz's values theory and person-environment fit theory. Multilevel polynomial regression was employed to assess the linear and curvilinear effects of personal values on policy support. Multilevel Euclidean similarity analysis and response surface analysis were conducted to evaluate the impact of value congruence and delineate nuanced congruence patterns., Results: Findings revealed that extreme levels of security, conformity, stimulation, hedonism, and achievement values were associated with decreased policy support. Value congruence with security, conformity, and benevolence increased support, while congruence with stimulation, hedonism, and achievement reduced it. High congruence between personal and national social focus values significantly boosted policy support. Extreme mismatches in self-direction values amplified support. Societal power exceeding personal power also increased support. Matched levels of hedonism motivated greater support, while stimulation and achievement value (in)congruence showed little impact., Conclusions: We highlight the differential effects of personal values and value congruence on public attitudes toward pandemic restrictions. The findings underscore the importance of considering the interplay between individual and societal values when designing and implementing effective pandemic response strategies., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Advancements in vaccination technologies mitigate disease transmission risks but may inadvertently suppress the behavioral immune system, an evolved disease avoidance mechanism. Applying behavioral immune system theory and utilizing robust big data analytics, we examined associations between rising vaccination coverage and government policies, public mobility, and online information seeking regarding disease precautions. We tested whether cultural tightness-looseness moderates the relationship between mass immunization and disease prevention vigilance. Comprehensive time series analyses were conducted using American data (Study 1) and international data (Study 2), employing transfer function modeling, cross-correlation function analysis, and meta-regression analysis. Across both the US and global analyses, as vaccination rates rose over time, government COVID-19 restrictions significantly relaxed, community mobility increased, and online searches for prevention information declined. The relationship between higher vaccination rates and lower disease prevention vigilance was stronger in culturally looser contexts. Results provide initial evidence that mass immunization may be associated with attenuated sensitivity and enhanced flexibility of disease avoidance psychology and actions. However, cultural tightness-looseness significantly moderates this relationship, with tighter cultures displaying sustained vigilance amidst immunization upticks. These findings offer valuable perspectives to inform nuanced policymaking and public health strategies that balance prudent precautions against undue alarm when expanding vaccine coverage worldwide., (© 2023 The Authors. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Applied Psychology.)

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is marked by hepatic steatosis accompanied by an inflammatory response. At present, there are no approved therapeutic agents for NAFLD. Dendrobium Huoshanense polysaccharide (DHP), an active ingredient extracted from the stems of Dendrobium Huoshanense , and exerts a protective effect against liver injury. However, the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of action DHP against NAFLD remain unclear. DHP was extracted, characterized, and administered to mice in which NAFLD had been induced with a high-fat and high-fructose drinking (HFHF) diet. Our results showed that DHP used in this research exhibits the characteristic polysaccharide peak with a molecular weight of 179.935 kDa and is composed primarily of Man and Glc in a molar ratio of 68.97:31.03. DHP treatment greatly ameliorated NAFLD by significantly reducing lipid accumulation and the levels of liver function markers in HFHF-induced NAFLD mice, as evidenced by decreased serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC) and total triglyceride (TG). Furthermore, DHP administration reduced hepatic steatosis, as shown by H&E and Oil red O staining. DHP also inhibited the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway expression, thereby reducing levels of hepatic proinflammatory cytokines. Besides, untargeted metabolomics further indicated that 49 metabolites were affected by DHP. These metabolites are strongly associated the metabolism of glycine, serine, threonine, nicotinate and nicotinamide, and arachidonic acid. In conclusion, DHP has a therapeutic effect against NAFLD, whose underlying mechanism may involve the modulation of TLR4/NF-κB, reduction of inflammation, and regulation of the metabolism of glycine, serine, threonine, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism., 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 © 2024 Deng, Zhao, Cai, Zhang, Ma, Lv, Jiang, Peng, Wang, Xing and Yu.)

Background: The endoscopic nasojejunal (NJ) placement plays a pivotal role in the nutritional support of critically ill patients. However, the conventional endoscopy-guided tube insertion method presents issues of excessive procedural duration. We have enhanced the traditional endoscopy-guided catheter placement method, enabling a faster and more convenient catheter insertion., Methods: We improved the traditional endoscopically guided technique by incorporating an extra silk thread knot at the 25 cm mark on the jejunal segment of the NJ tube to assist endoscopists in accurate tube placement. We conducted the improved NJ tube placement on critically ill patients in need of enteral nutrition (EN). Laboratory data were retrospectively collected before and after the 7-day period of NJ tube placement and EN treatment to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the improved method., Results: A total of 88 critically ill patients, with an average age of 59.6±15.5 years, and a male ratio of 86.4%, who underwent the improved NJ tube placement method were enrolled into analysis finally, achieving a 100% success rate of NJ tube insertion. The average time for tube insertion was 5.9±2.2 min, with a mean insertion depth of 108.8±12.5 cm. The EN tolerance score was 0.79±0.98. Following 7 days of EN therapy, the patients showed significant improvement in serum albumin levels compared to baseline (36.42 vs. 33.66 g/L, P<0.001)., Conclusions: The improved endoscopically guided NJ tube placement technique is a rapid and safe procedure with excellent patient tolerance. It significantly improves the nutritional status of critically ill patients and facilitates the administration of EN, which requires further validation through randomized controlled trials., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tgh.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tgh-23-87/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: As condoms are effective tools for pathogen-avoidance in sexual intercourse, seeking information about condoms online may be a reactive response to the COVID-19 according to the behavioral immune system theory. Design: Taking an infodemiology perspective, this research employed multilevel analyses to examine how COVID-19 online query data (i.e., Google topic search terms Coronavirus and COVID-19 ) and coronavirus epidemiological data (i.e., COVID-19 cases per million and case fatality rate) would predict condom information seeking behavior online (i.e., Google topic search term Condom ) throughout the pandemic across American states (Study 1) and 102 countries/territories (Study 2), after accounting for death-thought accessibility (i.e., illness-related searches), interest in birth control (i.e., birth-control-related searches), COVID-19 control policy, stay at home behavior, season, religious holidays, yearly trends, autocorrelation, and contextual variables such as HIV prevalence rate and socioeconomic development indicators (GINI index, urbanization, etc.). Results: When there were high levels of COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace in a given week, search volume for condoms increased from the previous week across American states and different countries/territories. By contrast, the effect of actual coronavirus threat was non-significant. Conclusion: Seeking information about condoms online could be a reactive response to high levels of COVID-19 concerns across different populations.

This paper presents two comprehensive studies examining how Schwartz's human values dimensions at the country level predict COVID-19 pandemic severity. Study 1 aggregated survey data across 89 countries from the European Social Survey and World Values Survey to assess societal-level conservation versus openness to change (CON-OTC) and self-enhancement versus self-transcendence (SE-ST) value-continuums. Study 2 developed an innovative archival measurement approach using 10 indicators to estimate these value dimensions for over 180 countries. Both studies employed multilevel modeling to test the relationships between country-level values and COVID-19 severity, measured through epidemiological indicators of transmission speed, case fatality rate, infection prevalence and mortality burden. Results revealed that the CON-OTC and SE-ST value-continuums showed consistent, significant negative associations with transmission speed and infection prevalence before adjusting for modernization, latitude, historical pathogen prevalence and government stringency across both studies. However, after accounting for these socioecological and policy covariates, the CON-OTC value-continuum positively predicted case fatality rate in both studies, implying conservation values could increase COVID-19 lethality. In contrast, across both studies, the SE-ST value-continuum negatively predicted case fatality rate after adjusting for the covariates, suggesting countries prioritizing self-enhancement values exhibited relatively lower pandemic severity and lethality when accounting for developmental, ecological, and policy factors. Accordingly, the studies advance theoretical understanding of how country's value priorities shape COVID-19 impact. Methodologically, these studies contribute through multilevel techniques that account for spatial dependencies, as well as an innovative ecological measurement. Overall, this research demonstrates the value of applying Schwartz's framework at a societal level to predict global health crises and pandemics., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© 2023 The Authors.)

According to the parasite-stress theory, collectivism serves as a trait of ingroup assortative sociality, providing defense against infectious diseases. This study investigated the association between cultural collectivism and COVID-19 severity at the state (Study 1: N = 51), county (Study 2: N = 3,133), and daily (Study 3: N = 52,806) levels from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022. State-level collectivism was assessed using two distinct measures: the U.S. collectivism index, focusing on social interconnectedness and interdependence, and the subjective-culture individualism-collectivism index (reversed), capturing attitudes and beliefs related to religion, abortion, and same-sex marriage. By employing random-intercept multilevel models, the results demonstrated significant and negative effects of state-level collectivism, as measured by the U.S collectivism index, on COVID-19 cases per million, COVID-19 deaths per million, and composite COVID-19 severity index, after controlling for confounding factors, such as socioeconomic development, ecological threats, disease protective behaviors, cultural norms, and political influences. A mini meta-analysis (Study 4: N = 9) confirmed the significance of these effects across studies. These findings supported the proactive role of collectivism in defending against the novel coronavirus in the United States, aligning with the parasite-stress theory of sociality. However, the subjective-culture individualism-collectivism index (reversed) did not exhibit a significant relationship with COVID-19 severity when confounding factors were considered. The high correlation between the subjective-culture individualism-collectivism index (reversed) and the controlled variables suggested shared variance that could diminish its impact on COVID-19 outcomes. Accordingly, the present findings underscore the significance of accounting for confounding factors when examining the association between collectivism and COVID-19 severity at population level. By considering relevant confounding factors, researchers could gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between cultural collectivism and its influence on COVID-19 severity. Overall, this research contributes to our understanding of how cultural collectivism shapes the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, emphasizing the importance of adjusting for confounding effects in population level studies., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant tumour with high mortality, and liver metastasis is one of the main causes of poor prognosis. SLIT- and NTRK-like family member 4 (SLITRK4) plays an important role in the nervous system, such as synapse formation. Our study aimed to explore the functional role of SLITRK4 in GC and liver metastasis., Methods: The mRNA level of SLITRK4 was evaluated using publicly available transcriptome GEO datasets and Renji cohort. The protein level of SLITRK4 in the tissue microarray of GC was observed using immunohistochemistry. Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, transwell migration assays in vitro and mouse model of liver metastasis in vivo was performed to investigate the functional roles of SLITRK4 in GC. Bioinformatics predictions and Co-IP experiments were applied to screen and identify SLITRK4-binding proteins. Western blot was performed to detect Tyrosine Kinase receptor B (TrkB)-related signaling molecules., Results: By comparing primary and liver metastases from GC, SLITRK4 was found to be upregulated in tissues of GC with liver metastasis and to be closely related to poor clinical prognosis. SLITRK4 knockdown significantly abrogated the growth, invasion, and metastasis of GC in vitro and in vivo. Further study revealed that SLITRK4 could interact with Canopy FGF Signalling Regulator 3 (CNPY3), thus enhancing TrkB- related signaling by promoting the endocytosis and recycling of the TrkB receptor., Conclusion: In conclusion, the CNPY3-SLITRK4 axis contributes to liver metastasis of GC according to the TrkB-related signaling pathway. which may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of GC with liver metastasis., (© 2023. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

According to the smoke detector and functional flexibility principles of human behavioral immune system (BIS), the exposure to COVID-19 cues could motivate vaccine uptake. Using the tool of Google Trends, we tested that coronavirus-related searches-which assessed natural exposure to COVID-19 cues-would positively predict actual vaccination rates. As expected, coronavirus-related searches positively and significantly predicted vaccination rates in the United States (Study 1a) and across the globe (Study 2a) after accounting for a range of covariates. The stationary time series analyses with covariates and autocorrelation structure of the dependent variable confirmed that more coronavirus-related searches compared with last week indicated increases in vaccination rates compared with last week in the United States (Study 1b) and across the globe (Study 2b). With real-time web search data, psychological scientists could test their research questions in real-life settings and at a large scale to expand the ecological validity and generalizability of the findings., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Objective: To investigate the causes of ineffectiveness of platelet transfusion with monoclonal antibody solid phase platelet antibody test (MASPAT) matching in patients with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and explore the strategies of platelet transfusion., Methods: A case of donor-specific HLA antibodies (DSA) induced by transfusion which ultimately resulted in transplantation failure and ineffective platelet transfusion with MASPAT matching was selected, and the causes of ineffective platelet transfusion and platelet transfusion strategy were retrospectively analyzed., Results: The 32-year-old female patient was diagnosed as acute myeloid leukemia (high risk) in another hospital with the main symptoms of fever and leukopenia, who should be admitted for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after remission by chemotherapy. In the course of chemotherapy, DSA was generated due to platelet transfusion, and had HLA gene loci incompatible with the donor of the first transplant, leading to the failure of the first transplant. The patient received platelet transfusion for several times before and after transplantation, and the results showed that the effective rate of MASPAT matched platelet transfusion was only 35.3%. Further analysis showed that the reason for the ineffective platelet transfusion was due to the missed detection of antibodies by MASPAT method. During the second hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the DSA-negative donor was selected, and the matching platelets but ineffective transfusion during the primary transplantation were avoided. Finally, the patient was successfully transplanted and discharged from hospital., Conclusions: DSA can cause graft failure or render the graft ineffective. For the platelet transfusion of patients with DSA, the platelet transfusion strategy with matching type only using MASPAT method will miss the detection of antibodies, resulting in invalid platelet transfusion.

Guanylate binding protein 5 (GBP5) is a member of the interferon (IFN)-inducible large guanosine triphosphate hydrolases (GTPase) family that regulates cell-autonomous immunity and malignant tumor transformation. However, its specific roles and underlying mechanisms GBP5 in gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. In this study, we aimed to determine the role GBP5 and underlying mechanism of GBP5 in GC cell progression. Potential oncogenic roles of GBP5 in GC as well as its relationship with the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) were comprehensively evaluated using bioinformatics analysis. Protein expression levels of GBP5 and their correlation with clinicopathological features of patients were assessed using immunohistochemistry. In addition, diverse in vitro functional experiments were performed to identify the functions of GBP5 in GC. Downstream targets of GBP5 were identified using RNA-sequencing analysis and verified using western blotting or quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis in different cell lines. GBP5 expression is commonly upregulated and promotes the proliferation and migration of GC cells. Mechanistically, GBP5 was regulated by the IFNγ-Janus kinase (JAK1)-signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) axis and induced CXCL8 expression. Interestingly, GBP5 -induced CXCL8 regulated the JAK1-STAT1 signaling pathway to form a positive feedback loop. Moreover, GBP5 is closely related to the TIME and may be used as a biomarker for predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy. Our findings revealed a new JAK1-STAT1/GBP5/CXCL8 pathway and highlighted the value of GBP5 as a predictive biomarker and novel target for GC intervention., Competing Interests: None., (AJCR Copyright © 2023.)

Introduction: Past research has shown that psychological states tend to fluctuate across the days of a week, which is referred to as the day-of-week (DOW) effect. This study investigated the DOW effect on liberalism-conservatism among Chinese people by testing two competing hypotheses. According to the cognitive states hypothesis, it was predicted that liberalism would be high on Mondays but gradually decrease to Fridays due to the depletion of cognitive resources over the weekdays. In contrast, the affective states hypothesis predicted the opposite, considering the more positive affect brought by the approaching weekends. Both hypotheses predicted the level of liberalism would peak at weekends., Methods: Data ( n  = 171,830) were collected via an online questionnaire, the Chinese Political Compass (CPC) survey, which includes 50 items to measure people' liberalism-conservatism in three domains (i.e., political, economic, and social)., Results: The results showed the level of liberalism decreased gradually from Mondays until Wednesdays, rebounded from Wednesdays to Fridays, and peaked at weekends., Discussion: The V-shaped pattern suggested that the DOW fluctuation in liberalism-conservatism could derive from the synergy of both cognitive and affective processes, instead of either one alone. The findings have important implications for practice and policy-making, including the recent pilot scheme of 4-day workweek., 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 © 2023 Ye, So, Ng and Ma.)

Background: Chylous ascites (CA) presents a challenge as a relatively common postoperative complication in gastric cancer (GC). Primary conservative therapy involved total parenteral nutrition, continuous low-pressure drainage, somatostatin, and a low-fat diet. Drainage tube (DT) clamping has been presented as a potential alternative conservative treatment for GC patients with CA., Aim: To propose novel conservative treatment strategies for CA following GC surgery., Methods: The data of patients with CA after GC surgery performed at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center between 2006 and 2021 were evaluated retrospectively., Results: 53 patients underwent surgery for GC and exhibited postoperative CA during the study period. Postoperative hospitalization and time of DT removal showed a significant positive association ( R 2 = 0.979, P < 0.001). We further observed that delayed DT removal significantly extended the total and postoperative hospitalization, antibiotic usage duration, and hospitalization cost (postoperative hospitalization: 25.8 d vs 15.5 d, P < 0.001; total hospitalization: 33.2 d vs 24.7 d, P < 0.01; antibiotic usage duration: 10.8 d vs 6.2 d, P < 0.01; hospitalization cost: ¥9.2 × 10 4 vs ¥6.5 × 10 4 , P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that postoperative infection and antibiotic usage were independent factors for delayed DT removal. Furthermore, DT removal times were shorter in seven patients who underwent DT clamping (clamped DT vs normal group, 11.8 d vs 13.6 d, P = 0.047; clamped DT vs delayed group, 13.6 d vs 27.4 d, P < 0.001). In addition, our results indicated that removal of the DT may be possible after three consecutive days of drainage volumes less than 300 mL in GC patients with CA., Conclusion: Infection and antibiotic usage were vital independent factors that influenced delayed DT removal in patients with CA. Appropriate standards for DT removal can significantly reduce the duration of hospitalization. Furthermore, DT clamping might be a recommended option for conservative treatment of postoperative CA., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Personal Focus values (PF = Openness to change values + Self-enhancement values) motivate self-centred behaviours, and Social Focus values (SF = Conservation values + Self-transcendence values) promote self-sacrificial counterparts. This research investigated how a state-level PF-SF value-continuum would explain the geographic variation in COVID-19 severity in the United States., Design: This research estimated state-level values by Google search data (from 2004 to 2019) on value-related words (e.g. family for conservation values) (Study 1a) and archival indicators (e.g. gun ownership rate for security values) (Study 1b). COVID-19 severity was measured by shorter time delay of first documented cases, shorter overall doubling times, higher reproductive ratio and higher case fatality ratio. Hierarchical and multilevel analyses examined how state-level values would predict COVID-19 severity across U.S. states (Studies 1a and 1b) and 3,135 counties (Study 2)., Results: State-level analyses accounting for spatial autocorrelation and covariates (e.g. COVID-19 testing rate, airport traffic, personality, etc.) revealed that the PF-SF value-continuums measured with different methods positively and significantly predicted COVID-19 severity, and the effects of state-level values on county-level COVID-19 severity were significant when county- and state-level covariates were controlled., Conclusion: Social focus values may mitigate the devastating effect of COVID-19 in the United States.

During faunal studies of psammophilic ciliates along the coast of Qingdao, China, several marine karyorelictean species were isolated. Among them, four species within the genus Remanella were investigated, including two species new to science: i.e., R. rugosa , Remanella elongata sp. nov. , Remanella aposinica sp. nov. , and R. unicorpusculata. Remanella rugosa has been reported several times, but this study is the first to provide detailed morphological characters and phylogenetics. Remanella elongata sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by the presence of complex cortical granules, fewer macronuclei, and longer body size. Remanella aposinica sp. nov. differs from its congeners by having 14-17 right lateral ciliary rows and 24-37 dikinetids of intrabuccal kinety. Poorly known Remanella rugosa var. unicorpusculata (Kahl, 1933) Foissner, 1996 should be elevated from subspecies to species level, Remanella unicorpusculata (Foissner, 1996) stat. nov. , based on detailed redescriptions with statistical data, living morphology, infraciliature, and species definitions. Small subunit (SSU) rDNA was sequenced for the four species, and phylogenetic analysis revealed that all known taxa in Remanella formed the outline branch to the genus Loxodes with moderate to high bootstrap support among Remanella lineages.

According to the parasite-stress theory of sociality and the behavioral immune system theory, heightened religiosity serves an anti-pathogen function by promoting in-group assortative sociality. Thus, highly religious countries/territories could have better control of the COVID-19 (proactively avoids disease-threat), and heightened COVID-19 threat could increase religiosity (reactively responds to disease-threat). As expected, country-level religiosity (religion-related online searches ( Allah , Buddhism , Jesus , etc.) and number of total religions/ethnoreligions) negatively and significantly predicted COVID-19 severity (a composite index of COVID-19 susceptibility, reproductive rate, morbidity, and mortality rates) (Study 1a), after accounting for covariates (e.g., socioeconomic factors, ecological factors, collectivism index, cultural tightness-looseness index, COVID-19 policy response, test-to-case ratio). Moreover, multilevel analysis accounting for daily- (e.g., time-trend effect, season) and macro-level (same as in Study 1a) covariates showed that country-level religious searches, compared with the number of total religions/ethnoreligions, were more robust in negatively and significantly predicting daily-level COVID-19 severity during early pandemic stages (Study 1b). At weekly level, perceived coronavirus threat measured with coronavirus-related searches ( corona , covid , covid-19 , etc.), compared with actual COVID-19 threat measured with epidemiological data, showed larger effects in positively predicting religious searches (Study 2), after accounting for weekly- (e.g., autocorrelation, time-trend effect, season, religious holidays, major-illness-related searches) and macro-level (e.g., Christian-majority country/territory and all country-level variables in Study 1) covariates. Accordingly, heightened religiosity could proactively and reactively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe., (© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver malignancy with poor prognosis worldwide. Emerging evidences demonstrated critical roles of lipid de novo synthesis in HCC progression, yet its regulatory mechanisms are not fully understood. Herein, we found that tuftelin 1 (TUFT1), an acidic phosphorylated glycoprotein with secretory capacity, was significantly upregulated in HCC and had an excellent correlation with patient survival and malignancy features. Through database mining and experimental validation, we found that TUFT1 was associated with fatty acid metabolism and promoted lipid accumulation in HCC cells. Further, we found that TUFT1 can interact with CREB1, a transcription factor for hepatic lipid metabolism, and regulate its activity and the transcriptions of key enzymes for lipogenesis. TUFT1 promoted HCC cell proliferation significantly, which was partially reversed by treatment of an inhibitor of CREB1, KG-501. Moreover, TUFT1 promoted the capacity of HCC cell invasion in vitro, which was likely mediated by its association with zyxin, a zinc-binding phosphoprotein responsible for the formation of fully mature focal adhesions on extracellular matrix. We found that TUFT1 can interact with ZYX and inhibit its expression and recruitments to focal complexes in HCC cells. Collectively, our study uncovered new regulatory mechanisms of TUFT1-mediated lipogenesis, cell proliferation, and invasion., Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lei Zhu et al.)

Objective: A dynamic gel loaded with lyophilized platelet-rich plasma-chitosan/difunctionalized polyethylene glycol (LPRP-CP) was prepared to investigate its hemostatic antibacterial and promoting wound healing of scald wounds through in vitro and in vivo experiments., Methods: In this study, normal gauze/blank tablet (Ctrl), LPRP-CP, Chitosan HUCHUANG Powder(Chito P)and ChitoGauze XP PRO group (Chito G group) were set. The hemostatic effect and promoting healing effect of the four groups of materials were evaluated by establishing rabbit ear artery hemorrhage model and superficial Ⅱ° scalded model of skin on the back. The hemostatic time and bleeding amount were calculated and the gross and histological results of scald healing were observed. The antibacterial effect of the four groups of materials was evaluated by antibacterial test in vitro., Results: In the rabbit ear arterial hemorrhage model, the hemostasis of all materials was successful. The hemostatic time of Ctrl, Chito P, LPRP-CP and Chito G groups was 213.33±38.30, 118.33±24.01, 115.00±8.37 and 111.67±11.69 s, respectively. The blood loss was 1233.83±992.27, 346.67±176.00, 193.33±121.47 and 147.50±80.66 mg, respectively. Compared with Ctrl, the hemostasis time of LPRP-CP, Chito P and Chito G group was significantly shorter (P<0.001), and the amount of blood loss of LPRP-CP and Chito G group was decreased (P<0.05). Compared with LPRP-CP, there were no significant differences in hemostatic time and blood loss between Chito P and Chito G group (P>0.05). In the model of superficial Ⅱ° scalded on the back of rabbit, the wound healing rate of LPRP-CP was faster than that of the other three groups at the same time, and the healing effect was perfect. In the antibacterial test in vitro, only LPRP-CP had better anti-S. aureus effect, and all groups had no anti-E. coli effect., Conclusion: LPRP-CP is an excellent hemostatic material for superficial wounds, and has certain antibacterial and wound healing effects, which has a wide academic value and research prospects.

Objective: To establish a new method for synthesizing Lewis blood group antigens, that is, the mimotopes of Lewis blood group antigens were screened by using an alpaca phage display nanobody library., Methods: We selected mimotopes of the Lewis a (le a ) antigen by affinity panning of an alpaca phage display nanobody library using a monoclonal anti-le a antibody. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test the affinity of the positive clones for the monoclonal anti-le a antibody, and the high-affinity positive clones were selected for sequencing and synthesis. Finally, the sensitivity, specificity and reactivity of the synthesized le a mimotope in clinical samples were verified by ELISA., Results: A total of 96 phage clones were randomly selected, and 24 were positive. Fourteen positive clones with the highest affinity were selected for sequencing. The result showed that there were 5 different sequences, among which 3 sequences with the highest frequency, largest difference and highest affinity were selected for expression and synthesis. The sensitivity and specificity of le a mimic antigen by ELISA showed that, the minimum detection limit of gel microcolumn assay (GMA) and ELISA method were 25 times different, and the le a mimic antigen had no cross reacted with the other five unrelated monoclonal antibodies(P<0.001). Finally, 30 clinical plasma samples were analyzed. The mean absorbance of the 15 positive plasma samples was significantly higher than that of the 15 negative plasma samples (P=0.02). However, the positive signal values of the clinical samples were much lower than those of the monoclonal antibodies., Conclusion: A new method of screening le a mimic antigen by using alpaca phage nanoantibody library has been established, which is expected to realize the screening of le a mimotopes, thus realizing the application of high-sensitivity detection methods such as ELISA and chemiluminescence in blood group antibody identification.

On the basis of parasite-stress theory of sociality and behavioral immune system theory, this research examined how concerns regarding the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in cyberspace (i.e., online search volume for coronavirus-related keywords) would predict human reduced dispersal in the real world (i.e., human mobility trends throughout the pandemic) between January 05, 2020 and May 22, 2021. Multiple regression analyses controlling for COVID-19 cases per million, case fatality rate, death-thought accessibility, government stringency index, yearly trends, season, religious holidays, and reduced dispersal in the preceding week were conducted. Meta-regression analysis of the multiple regression results showed that when there were high levels of COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace in a given week, the amount of time people spent at home increased from the previous week across American states (Study 1) and 115 countries/territories (Study 2). Across studies, the associations between COVID-19 concerns and reduced dispersal were stronger in areas of higher historical risks of infectious-disease contagion. Compared with actual coronavirus threat, COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace had significantly larger effects on predicting human reduced dispersal in the real world. Thus, online query data have invaluable implications for predicting large-scale behavioral changes in response to life-threatening events in the real world and are indispensable for COVID-19 surveillance., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Treatment and preventive control strategies for Brucella melitensis (B. melitensis) and Brucella abortus (B. abortus) infection differ. A lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for the rapid typing and detection of brucellosis by using polychromatic dye-doped latex microspheres (LMs) as a labelling material was developed., Methods and Results: This LFIA utilizes a double-antigen sandwich method in which the BP26 protein is used as the diagnostic antigen to detect brucellosis infection and the OMP31 protein is used as the identified antigen to distinguish between bovine and sheep brucellosis. Thus, people and animals infected with brucellosis can be diagnosed according to the different colours of the signals displayed on the detection lines. The results indicated that the accuracy of this assay was found to reach 98%, and the immunochromatographic test strip is highly accurate, shows good sensitivity and can facilitate typing diagnosis, among other features., Conclusions: The established LFIA can distinguish B. melitensis infection from B. abortus infection and produces results in a short period of time while retaining the advantages of LFIAs., Significance and Impact of the Study: This technology lays a foundation for the development of multi-disease test strips and the establishment of methods for rapid, multi-specimen quantitative detection and is thus of great importance for the development of medical diagnostic technologies., (© 2021 Society for Applied Microbiology.)

LncRNA (long noncoding RNA) is often dysregulated in tumors especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the dysregulation mechanism of lncRNAs is largely unknown. Here, we showed that lncRNA lncAY expression was stimulated in HCC by either endogenous or exogenous sulfatide. Elevated lncAY promoted HCC cell migration or angiogenesis, whereas lncAY silence suppressed HCC cell migration and proliferation. Interestingly, the activity of lncAY gene promoter was enhanced by sulfatide. Then Myb and MEF2C were identified as the transcription factors responsible for the stimulation of lncAY promoter activity and transcription by sulfatide. Both Myb and MEF2C enrichment on lncAY promoter was further confirmed, and their occupancy on lncAY promoter was strengthened by sulfatide for Myb or MEF2C was acetylated. Mutant Myb-K456A exhibited reduced acetylation and weak stimulation for lncAY transcription. However, Myb mutation K456/503A prevented Myb from acetylation induced by sulfatide. The mutant Myb K456/503A further was unable to occupy lncAY promoter and enhance lncAY transcription. In conclusion, this study demonstrated lncAY transcription was abnormally upregulated by sulfatide in HCC through Myb/MEF2C to promote HCC progression., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Whether in war or peace, timely, effective and accurate hemostasis is an important measure to improve the survival rate and cure rate of the wounded. All the countries in the world are actively developing different types of hemostatic materials so as to reduce the amount of bleeding in an emergency and create favorable conditions for subsequent transport and treatment. At present, the commercialized hemostatic materials are mainly divided into natural biological, synthetic biological, mineral and coagulation components, but all these materials have their own limitations. In this article, the characteristics of chitosan and its derivatives are reviewed as the representatives of the natural organic macromolecular polysaccharide hemostasis materials. Their molecular structures, biomedical properties, domestic and foreign research and application progress as well as comparison with applications of other hemostatic materials are involved. The further research is prospected for optimization and innovation to develop composite chitosan hemostatic materials with the function of hemostasis, antibiosis, pain relief and promoting wound healing.

This study tested how family ties and religiosity, two extended elements of ingroup assortative sociality, would predict group-level COVID-19 severity in the U.S. and how COVID-19 threat would predict ingroup assortative sociality at a weekly level. Multilevel models which analyzed the state-level archival (e.g., religious participation) and Google trends data (e.g., marriage for family ties; prayer for religiosity) on ingroup assortative sociality showed that religious search volume (from 2004 to 2019) significantly and negatively predicted COVID-19 severity (i.e., shorter time delay of first documented cases, shorter overall doubling times, higher reproductive ratio and higher case fatality ratio) across states (Study 1a) and counties (Study 1b) while search volume for family ties only significantly and negatively predicted county-level COVID-19 severity. Multilevel analyses also found that weekly COVID-19 severity weakly predicted weekly search volume of marriage and religion (Study 2a), but when COVID-19 threat was in the collective consciousness in a given week (i.e., Google search volume for coronavirus within 52 weeks), collective levels of ingroup assortative sociality increased from the previous week (Study 2b). Evidence across studies suggested that religiosity, compared with family ties, could serve a more important role for the U.S. people during the deadly pandemic., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

HM-3, an integrin antagonist, exhibits anti-tumor biological responses and therefore has potential as a therapeutic polypeptide. However, the clinical applications of HM-3 are limited by its short half-life. In this study, we genetically fused human serum albumin (HSA) to the N or C-terminus of HM-3 to improve HM-3 pharmacokinetics. HM-3/HSA proteins were successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris and displayed improved pharmacokinetic properties and stability. Among them, the half-life of HM-3-HSA was longer than HSA-HM-3. In vitro, the IC 50 values of HSA-HM-3 and HM-3-HSA were 0.38 ± 0.14 μM and 0.25 ± 0.08 μM in B16F10 cells, respectively. In vivo, the inhibition rates of B16F10 tumor growth were 36% (HSA-HM-3) and 56% (HM-3-HSA), respectively, indicating antitumor activity of HM-3-HSA was higher than HSA-HM-3. In conclusion, these results suggested that the HM-3/HSA fusion protein might be potential candidate HM-3 agent for treatment of melanoma and when HSA was fused at the C-terminus of HM-3, the fusion protein had a higher stability and activity.

In this study, a facile and environmentally friendly synthesis process was proposed without regular chemical additives. We successfully synthesized spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with glycyrrhizin (GL) by using GL as both a reductant and a stabilizer to reduce chloroauric acid. The obtained NPs were approximately 35 nm in size. The formation of these GL-AuNPs was verified by the presence of a surface plasmon resonance band at 526 nm. We also experimentally determined that in terms of chemical structure, GL can be used as a reducing agent to obtain colloidal gold. The d-glucuronic acid structure, rather than glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), plays an important reducing role in colloidal gold production. From this, we hypothesized that other compounds with sugar structures in Glycyrrhiza may also have the ability to reduce chloroauric acid. To mitigate the high cost and low efficiency of current GL detection methods, we applied AuNPs to the immunochromatographic system. Then, a colloidal gold immunochromatographic test strip based on the indirect competition method was developed for the rapid detection of GL, and the detection limit of this strip was 25 ng mL -1 . The cross-test showed that the strip has high specificity. The test results are consistent with the data obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a coincidence rate of up to 100%. The rapid test strip is simple, fast, highly efficient and inexpensive, making it suitable for large-scale, rapid glycyrrhizin content determination., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The aim of this study was elucidate the inhibitory role of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in liver fibrosis and its possible activation mechanism in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) of mice. We generated a GDF15-neutralizing antibody that can inhibit TGF-β1-induced activation of the TGF-β/Smad2/3 pathway in LX-2 cells. All the mice in this study were induced by carbon tetrachloride and thioacetamide. In addition, primary HSCs from mice were isolated from fresh livers using Nycodenz density gradient separation. The severity and extent of liver fibrosis were evaluated by Sirius Red and Masson staining. The effect of GDF15 on the activation of the TGF-β pathway was detected using dual-luciferase reporter and Western blotting assays. The expression of GDF15 in cirrhotic liver tissue was higher than that in normal liver tissue. Blocking GDF15 with a neutralizing antibody resulted in a delay in primary hepatic stellate cell activation and remission of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride or thioacetamide. Meanwhile, TGF-β pathway activation was partly inhibited by a GDF15-neutralizing antibody in primary HSCs. These results indicated that GDF15 plays an important role in regulating HSC activation and liver fibrosis progression. The inhibition of GDF15 attenuates chemical-inducible liver fibrosis and delays hepatic stellate cell activation, and this effect is probably mainly attributed to its regulatory role in TGF-β signalling., (© 2021 Company of the International Journal of Experimental Pathology (CIJEP).)

Little research has tested the parasite-stress theory of sociality based on a well-framed model of personal values using a multilevel analysis conducted on multinational samples. To robustly examined the validity of this novel theory of cultural evolution, this study used multilevel data of European Social Survey (from 2002 to 2016, 32 countries, N  = 374,730) and World Values Survey (from 2005 to 2014, 80 countries, N  = 173,540) to investigate the relationships between pathogen prevalence and the conflicting values dimensions (Conservation versus Openness to change; Self-enhancement versus Self-transcendence) of the circular model of human values, accounting for the micro- (age, sex, religious belief, education, and income) and macro-level predictors (modernization and cultural similarity). Results did not support the parasite-stress theory at both the country and individual levels when controlling for a composite index of modernization. Across all analyses, modernization remained a significant predictor of values even when controlling for cultural similarity. No conclusions changed when using an alternative parasite stress estimate. These findings support the modernization theory of value-change but challenge the roles of infectious diseases in cultural evolution., (© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2T (UBE2T) is a recently discovered oncogenic protein. Numerous studies reported that UBE2T is highly expressed in various types of human cancer; however, its role in the carcinogenesis and progression of pancreatic cancer remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of UBE2T in pancreatic cancer progression through in vitro experiments in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. The results obtained in the present study demonstrated that UBE2T served an important role in the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, increased expression of UBE2T in human pancreatic cancer tissues and pancreatic cancer cells was observed compared with normal tissues and cells. The effect of upregulating and downregulating UBE2T in pancreatic cancer cell lines was investigated using the MTT, wound-healing and migration and invasion assays. The results demonstrated that overexpression of UBE2T significantly promoted pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion compared with controls. However, UBE2T downregulation resulted in the inhibition of pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In addition, the results demonstrated that UBE2T may promote the epithelial mesenchymal transition in pancreatic cancer cells., (Copyright © 2020, Spandidos Publications.)

In this study, a cascaded watershed system in the Poyang Lake area was selected as the study site, which ranged from the primary tributaries to the lake area (Xiangxi River→Jiazhu River→Ganjiang River→Poyang Lake). The aims of the study were to monitor the P wet deposition and runoff process in the Poyang Lake area and discuss the P transport characteristics at the multi-scale watershed and its impact on phytoplankton community structure in the Poyang Lake. The results showed that the P concentration in the Poyang Lake area exhibited significant seasonal changes. Apart from the Xiangxi River watershed, the concentrations of total phosphorus (TP), dissolved total phosphorus (DTP), and orthophosphate(PO 4 3- ) were higher in the low flow period than in the high flow period at other watersheds. There was a significant correlation between TP concentration and diatom density during the high flow period, and between TP concentration and cryptophyta during the low flow period. The order of the amounts of TP and PO 4 3- transport by runoff under different rain intensities is as follows:light rain > moderate rain > heavy rain. There is a significant difference in the deposition flux between the wet season and the dry season with seasonal change, in which the flux during the wet years was about 2.8 times higher than in the dry years. The export flux of P was also shown to be higher in the high flow than in the low flow period. As watershed size increased, the contribution rate of P export did not increase, indicating that P transported at different scales was not the main source of P in each watershed.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by elevated blood glucose and/or high serum free fatty acids. Chronic hyperlipidemia causes the dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells, which is aggravated in the presence of hyperglycemia (glucolipotoxicity). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been suggested to play key roles in type 1 diabetes mellitus development. However, their roles in glucolipotoxicity-induced beta cell dysfunction are not fully understood. In the present study, we identified the differentially expressed lncRNAs in INS-1 cells exposed to high glucose and palmitate (HG/PA). Among the dysregulated lncRNAs, NONRATT003679.2 (low expression in glucolipotoxicity-treated beta cells (LEGLTBC)) was involved in glucolipotoxicity-evoked rat islet beta cell damage. LEGLTBC functioned as a molecular sponge of miR-34a in INS-1 cells. Additionally, SIRT1 was identified as a target of miR-34a and LEGLTBC promoted SIRT1 expression by sponging miR-34a. The upregulation of LEGLTBC attenuated HG/PA-induced INS-1 cell injury through the promotion of SIRT1-mediated suppression of ROS accumulation and apoptosis. This is the first study to comprehensively identify the lncRNA expression profiling of HG/PA-treated INS-1 beta cells and to demonstrate that LEGLTBC functions as a competing endogenous RNA and regulates miR-34a/SIRT1-mediated oxidative stress and apoptosis in INS-1 cells undergoing glucolipotoxicity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Xiang Kong et al.)

In this study, a connected waterflow watershed system in the Poyang Lake area was selected as the study site, which ranged from the primary tributary to the lake area (Xiangxi River Jiazhu River Ganjiang River Poyang Lake). The aims of the study were to monitor different forms of C and N and evaluate the transport flux of C and N, and then, the transport mechanisms of C and N and the variation characteristics of water quality parameters in Poyang Lake were discussed, with the intent of providing a scientific basis for the comprehensive management of watershed health within the Poyang Lake Basin ecosystem. The main results were as follows. ① The concentrations of C and N in the Poyang Lake watershed exhibited significant seasonal changes, wherein the TIC, TOC, and TC concentrations in the Poyang Lake Basin were higher in the wet season than those in the dry season, and the NO 3 - -N and DTN concentrations were higher in the dry season than those in the wet season. The main reason for the increase of TC in the wet season was the increase of TIC. Most of the TN in the wet season was transported by non-dissolved forms of N, while the TN in the dry period mostly was transported by DTN, and the DTN was mostly in the form of NO 3 - -N. ② The C and N transport fluxes in the Poyang Lake watershed also showed significant seasonal variation. The C transport flux of Xiangxi River was lower during the wet season than that during the dry season, and the C transport flux of Jiazhu River and Ganjiang River was higher during the wet season than that during the dry season. The various forms of N transport flux in Xiangxi River, Jiazhu River, and Ganjiang River watershed were higher in the wet season than those in the dry season. There was a very significant positive correlation between the flux and runoff at the 99% confidence level. ③ The COND, TDS, and pH in the Poyang Lake watershed were lower during the wet season than those during the dry season, while the ORP in the wet season was higher than that in the dry season.

In this paper, low-energy proton irradiation experiments with different cumulative fluences were performed on samples of AISI 420 stainless steel that were either annealed or tempered at 600 or 700 °C. The effects of the cumulative proton irradiation fluence on the evolution of the microstructure of AISI 420 were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Scratch tests were performed using a Tribo Indenter nanomechanical tester, in order to investigate the effects of the cumulative fluence on the tribological properties of the AISI 420 stainless steel. The results indicate that the dislocation density of the microstructure near the surface of the AISI 420 stainless steel increases with higher cumulative proton irradiation fluences. Under the same load, the nanoscale friction coefficient and wear rate both decreased with increasing cumulative proton irradiation fluence. This indicates that the surface hardening effect induced by proton irradiation can diminish the nanoscale friction coefficient and wear rate., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Aim: To elucidate the effect of inhibiting follistatin-like 1 on liver fibrosis and activation of hepatic stellate cells in mice., Methods: We generated a follistatin-like 1 neutralizing antibody that can inhibit TGF-β 1-induced expression of collagen1α1 in primary mouse liver fibroblasts. All of the mice in our study were induced with carbon tetrachloride and thioacetamide. In addition, primary hepatic stellate cells from mice were isolated from fresh livers using density gradient separation. The degree and extent of fibrosis in mouse livers from the different groups were evaluated by Sirius Red and Masson staining. The effect of the follistatin-like 1 neutralizing antibody on proliferation and migration of hepatic stellate cells was detected using CCK-8 and Transwell assays, respectively., Results: Expression of follistatin-like 1 in human cirrhotic liver tissue was higher than that in normal liver tissue. Blocking follistatin-like 1 resulted in a delay of primary hepatic stellate cell activation and down-regulation of the migratory capacity of hepatic stellate cells. Blocking follistatin-like 1 also down-regulated TGF-beta signaling in primary hepatic stellate cells from mice. Finally, inhibition of follistatin-like 1 attenuated liver fibrosis and liver function damage in vivo ., Conclusions: Inhibiting follistatin-like 1 attenuates liver fibrosis and causes a delay in hepatic stellate cell activation. The effect of follistatin-like 1 on liver fibrosis is mainly attributed to its role in regulating TGF-beta signaling., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2018.)

Objective: To observe the effect of herbal-cake-separated moxibustion on blood lipid levels and expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR γ ) and scavenger receptor B 1 (SR-B 1) proteins and genes in liver of hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis rabbits, so as to explore its mechanism underlying anti-atherosclerosis formation., Methods: Forty male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into normal control, model, moxibustion and Simvastatin groups ( n ＝10 rabbits in each group). The hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis model was established by high cholesterol diet and propylthiouracil for 12 weeks. Herbal-cake-separated moxibustion was applied to "Juque" (CV 14), and bilateral "Tianshu" (ST 25), "Fenglong" (ST 40) (point group 1), and bilateral "Xinshu" (BL 15), "Ganshu" (BL 18) and "Pishu" (BL 20) (point group 2). The two groups of points were used alternately. Simvastatin (1.96 mg•kg －1 •d －1 ) mixed in the forage was given to rabbits of the Simva-statin group. Both moxibustion and medication treatments were given once daily for continuous 4 weeks. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in plasma were detected by using an automatic biochemistry analyzer. The expression levels of PPARγ and SR-B 1 proteins and genes in the hepatic tissue were determined by Western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, separately., Results: After modeling, plasma TC, TG and LDL-C levels in the model group were significantly increased ( P <0.01), and the levels of plasma HDL-C and hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 protein and mRNA expression were obviously down-regulated relevant to the normal group ( P <0.01). Compared with the model group, plasma TC, TG and LDL-C levels were significantly decreased ( P <0.01), and plasma HDL-C and hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 protein and mRNA levels were significantly up-regulated in the two treatment groups ( P <0.01, P <0.05)., Conclusion: Herbal-cake-separated moxibustion can regulate blood lipid levels and suppress hyperlipidemia-induced decrease of expression of hepatic PPARγ and SR-B 1 proteins and genes in hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis rabbits, which maybe contribute to its action in anti-atherosclerosis through promoting reversal of cholesterol.

The role of palliative surgery is controversial in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) after tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) therapy.We evaluated safety and clinical outcomes in a single institution series of advanced GIST patients from January 2002 to December 2008.One hundred and fifty-six patients had been recruited, including 87 patients underwent surgical resection and 69 patients kept on TKIs treatment. Four patients had major surgical complications. Median follow-up was 38.3 months, the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients in surgical group were longer than the nonsurgical group, PFS: 46.1 versus 33.8 months (P < .01), OS: 54.8 versus 40.4 months. In the subgroup analysis for the patients received surgery, the median PFS for patients with progression disease, stable disease, and partial response was 33.3, 51.5, and 83.0 months, respectively (P < .01). Median OS was 68.0 months in those with only liver or peritoneal metastases, and 45.3 months in those with both metastases. Median PFS of patients underwent R0/R1 resection was 73.6 months compared with 35.8 months in R2 resection patients (P < .01).Patients with advanced GISTs have prolonged OS after debulking procedures. Surgery for patients who have responsive disease after TKIs treatment should be considered., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Although advanced drugs have benefitted patients, therapeutic success has largely been hampered because of rapid development of resistance. Here we report that PIWI-interacting RNA likes (piR-Ls), a novel type of functional sncRNAs, play key roles in chemoresistance to cisplatin (CDDP)-based chemotherapy in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). piR-L-138 was upregulated upon CDDP-based chemotherapy both in LSCC cells and in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) LSCC models. Further, targeting upregulated piR-L-138 led to increased apoptosis in CDDP-treated LSCC cells and LSCC xenograft mice treated with CDDP. In addition, piR-L-138 directly interacted with p60-MDM2 and inhibited CDDP-activated apoptosis in p53-mutated LSCC. We identified the upregulated piR-L-138 upon CDDP-based chemotherapy, confirmed the enhanced sensitivity of LSCC to agents by targeting the upregulated piR-L-138 both in vitro and in vivo, and revealed mechanisms underlying piR-L-138 in chemoresistance, bolstering a new emerging clinical modality where novel functional piR-Ls provide potential strategies to overcome chemoresistance for patients with LSCC., (Copyright © 2017 Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Science, University of Maryland School of Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we have demonstrated gemcitabine (GEM)-conjugated amphiphilic biodegradable polymeric drug carriers. Our aim was to increase the chemotherapeutic potential of GEM in colon cancer by forming a unique polymer-drug conjugates. The polymer-drug conjugate micelles were nanosized with a typical spherical shape. The GEM-conjugated methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactic acid) (GEM-PL) exhibited a controlled release of drug in both the pH conditions. The developed GEM-PL efficiently killed the HT29 cancers cells in a typical time dependent manner. The clonogenic assay further confirmed the superior anticancer effect of GEM-PL which showed least number of colonies. GEM-PL formulation exhibited a significantly higher apoptosis of cancer cells (∼25%) when stained using Annexin-V/PI kit. Conjugation of GEM to the mPEG-PLA significantly enhanced the blood circulation potential in animal model compared to that of free GEM. GEM-PL could prevent quick elimination of the drug and can provide sufficient time for the greater accumulation of GEM at the tumor sites. GEM-PL showed a remarkable tumor regression effect as evident from the lowest tumor volume in HT-29 containing tumor model. Overall, mPEG-PLA/GEM conjugates showed the potential of polymer-based drug targeting and might hold significant clinical potential in the treatment of colon cancers., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Structural evolution in nanoscale Cu 50 Zr 50 metallic glasses during high-pressure torsion is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Results show that the strong cooperation of shear transformations can be realized by high-pressure torsion in nanoscale Cu 50 Zr 50 metallic glasses at room temperature. It is further shown that high-pressure torsion could prompt atoms to possess lower five-fold symmetries and higher potential energies, making them more likely to participate in shear transformations. Meanwhile, a higher torsion period leads to a greater degree of forced cooperative flow. And the pronounced forced cooperative flow at room temperature under high-pressure torsion permits the study of the shear transformation, its activation and characteristics, and its relationship to the deformations behaviors. This research not only provides an important platform for probing the atomic-level understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of high-pressure torsion in metallic glasses, but also leads to higher stresses and homogeneous flow near lower temperatures which is impossible previously.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) are being implicated in the development of many cancers. Here, we report the discovery of a critical role for the lncRNA GCASPC in determining the progression of gallbladder cancer. Differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs between gallbladder cancer specimens and paired adjacent nontumor tissues from five patients were identified and validated by an expression microarray analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure GCASPC levels in tissues from 42 gallbladder cancer patients, and levels of GCASPC were confirmed further in a separate cohort of 89 gallbladder cancer patients. GCASPC was overexpressed or silenced in several gallbladder cancer cell lines where molecular and biological analyses were performed. GCASPC levels were significantly lower in gallbladder cancer than adjacent nontumor tissues and were associated with tumor size, American Joint Committee on Cancer tumor stage, and patient outcomes. GCASPC overexpression suppressed cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, whereas GCASPC silencing had opposite effects. By RNA pull-down and mass spectrometry, we identified pyruvate carboxylase as an RNA-binding protein that associated with GCASPC. Because GCASPC is a target of miR-17-3p, we confirmed that both miR-17-3p and GCASPC downregulated pyruvate carboxylase level and activity by limiting protein stability. Taken together, our results defined a novel mechanism of lncRNA-regulated cell proliferation in gallbladder cancer, illuminating a new basis for understanding its pathogenicity. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5361-71. ©2016 AACR., (©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Two colepid ciliates, Coleps amphacanthus Ehrenberg, 1833 and Levicoleps biwae jejuensis Chen et al., 2016, were first recorded in China. Their living morphology, infraciliature and small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences were determined using standard methods. The improved diagnosis of Coleps amphacanthus is as follows:cell size about 100×50 μm in vivo, barrel-shaped; 22-28 ciliary rows each composed of about 14-21 monokinetids and two perioral dikinetids; 5-10 caudal cilia; and one terminal contractile vacuole. Levicoleps biwae jejuensis was also investigated, with an improved diagnosis given based on previous and present work. The phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rRNA gene sequences revealed that all Coleps species were grouped together, except for Coleps amphacanthus, which was grouped into a clade of the genus Levicoleps.

One of the most important development directions of the Ti and its alloys is the applications in medical field. Development of new Ti alloys with low elastic modulus and/or favorable biocompatibility plays an important role for promoting its application in medical field. In this work, a new β Ti alloy (Ti-31Nb-6Zr-5Mo, wt.%) was designed for implant material using d-electron alloy design method. Microstructure and tensile properties of the designed alloy after hot rolling (HR) and solution followed by aging treatments (SA) were investigated. Results show that the designed alloy is composed of single β phase. However, microstructural analysis shows that the β phase in the designed alloy separates into Nb-rich and Nb-poor phase regions. The Nb-rich regions in HR specimen are typical elongated fiber texture, but are equiaxed particles with several micrometers in SA specimen. Tensile results show that the designed alloy has low Young's modulus of 44 GPa for HR specimen and 48 GPa for SA specimen which are very close to the extreme of Young's modulus of bulk titanium alloys. At the same time, the designed alloy has favorable plasticity in term of elongation of 26.7% for HR specimen and 20.6% for SA specimen, and appropriate tensile strength over 700 MPa. In short, the designed alloy has low elastic modulus close to that of bone and favorable plasticity and strength which can be a potential candidate for hard tissue replacements., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The identification of cancer-associated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the investigation of their molecular and biological functions are vital for understanding the molecular biology and progression of cancer. The lncRNA-LET, a newly identified lncRNA, was demonstrated to be down-regulated in hepatocellular cancer. However, little is known about its role in gallbladder cancer. In the present study, an obvious down-regulation of lncRNA-LET was observed in gallbladder cancer compared to their adjacent normal tissues. Meanwhile, patients with low expression of lncRNA-LET have significantly poorer prognosis than those with high expression. We confirmed that hypoxia decreased lncRNA-LET levels in gallbladder cancer cells. Moreover, lncRNA-LET overexpression was further validated to inhibit the invasion of gallbladder cancer cells under hypoxic or normoxic conditions in vitro. We demonstrated that lncRNA-LET overexpression conferred a proliferative advantage to tumor cells under hypoxic conditions. The ectopic expression of lncRNA-LET led to the promotion of cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and to the induction of apoptosis under hypoxic conditions. Ectopic expression of LncRNA-LET also suppressed gallbladder tumor growth in vivo. Our findings indicate that lncRNA-LET may represent a prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for gallbladder cancer., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)