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This study investigates an association between obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness concerning their potential effects on cognitive flexibility in young adults from behavioral and neuroelectrical perspectives. Eligible young adults ( N = 140, 18-25 years) were assigned into one of four groups, according to their status of obesity (i.e., body mass index) and cardiorespiratory fitness levels (i.e., estimated maximal oxygen uptake), namely, normal weight with high cardiorespiratory fitness (NH), obese with high cardiorespiratory fitness (OH), normal weight with low cardiorespiratory fitness (NL), and obese with low cardiorespiratory fitness (OL). The task-switching test was utilized, and its induced endogenous (P3) and exogenous (N1) event-related potential components were recorded. Concerning behavioral indices, the NH demonstrated superior behavioral performance across global switching and local switching of the task-switching test compared to individuals with lower cardiorespiratory fitness and obesity (i.e., NL, OH, and OL). Additionally, the OH demonstrated better performance than the OL during the heterogeneous condition. For neuroelectrical indices, the NH had larger mean P3 amplitudes during global and local switching than the other three groups. A larger N1 amplitude was also observed in the NH during local switching than in the OH group. The findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness has beneficial effects on cognitive flexibility, attentional resource allocation, and sensory evaluation in young adults. Furthermore, our research provided novel evidence showing that cardiorespiratory fitness might potentially alleviate the adverse effects of obesity on cognitive flexibility in young adults., 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 Song, Chu, Nien, Li, Wang, Chen, Chang, Yang and Chang.)

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) appear to be significant modulators in various physiological processes. Recently, it is found that circRNA_101996 exerts important roles in various cancers. Our previous studies showed that circRNA_101996 promoted cervical cancer growth and metastasis by regulating miR-8075/TPX2. However, the potential regulatory role of circRNA_101996 in cervical cancer still needs further investigation. Our results in this study suggested that circRNA_101996 was over-expressed in cervical cancer patients. circRNA_101996 up-regulation remarkably assisted cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and cell migration in cervical cancer, while circRNA_101996 knockdown exerted the inverse effects. The molecular investigations indicated that circRNA_101996 could increase the expression level of miR-1236-3p, tripartite motif-containing 37 (TRIM37), through binding to miR-1236-3p and reducing its expression. Moreover, in vivo results demonstrated that circRNA_101996 shRNA can function as a tumor suppressor through down-regulating TRIM37 in cervical cancer. In conclusion, our data indicated that circRNA_101996/miR-1236-3p/TRIM37 axis accelerated cervical cancer development, providing novel insights into cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment., (© 2021 The Authors. The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia on behalf of Kaohsiung Medical University.)

Obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness exhibit negative and positive impacts, respectively, on executive function. Nevertheless, the combined effects of these two factors on executive function remain unclear. This study investigated the combined effects of obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness on response inhibition of executive function from both behavioral and neuroelectric perspectives. Ninety-six young adults aged between 18 and 25 years were recruited and assigned into four groups: the high cardiorespiratory fitness with normal weight (NH), high cardiorespiratory fitness with obesity (OH), low cardiorespiratory fitness with normal weight (NL), and low cardiorespiratory fitness with obesity (OL) groups. The stop-signal task and its induced P3 component of event-related potentials was utilized to index response inhibition. The participants with higher cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., the NH and OH groups) demonstrated better behavioral performance (i.e., shorter response times and higher accuracy levels), as well as shorter stop-signal response times and larger P3 amplitudes than their counterparts with low cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., the NL and OL groups). The study provides first-hand evidence of the substantial effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on the response inhibition, including evidence that the detrimental effects of obesity might be overcome by high cardiorespiratory fitness.

Protein Phosphatase 2C (PP2C) is an important phosphatase-like protein in eukaryotic organisms that can negatively regulate protein kinase cascade abscisic acid (ABA) signal system through phosphorylation and carry out vital roles in various cell processes. The previous study indicated that the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a part of mechanism of glucohexaose-induced resistance in cucumber cotyledons, and CsPP2C80s might play a crucial role in processes related to ROS produce and signal transduction. To identify the mechanism of CsPP2C80s involved in glucohexaose and ABA signaling regulating cell redox status, the effects of glucohexaose and ROS inhibitor pretreatment on endogenous ABA content and ABA signaling genes expression levels of cucumber seedlings were analysed. These results suggest that cucumber CsPP2C80s are involved in ROS accumulation and ABA signal transduction pathway induced by glucohexaose, CsPP2C80s play a positive regulatory role in process of ABA combined with ABA receptors (PYLs) to activate SNF1-related protein kinases 2 (SnRK2s) and regulate NADPH oxidase to produce extracellular hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), providing unequivocal molecular evidence of PP2C-mediated ABA response mechanisms functioning in cell redox status induced by glucohexaose.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), switching from a differentiated to a proliferative phenotype, contribute to various vascular diseases. However, the role of long noncoding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 MALAT1 in the phenotype switching of VSMCs remains unclear. Here, we report that the knockdown of MALAT1 promotes the transformation of smooth muscle cells from a proliferative phenotype to a differentiated phenotype. MALAT1 knockdown inhibited cellular proliferation and migration, leading to significant cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase. MALAT1 was downregulated in bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7)-induced cellular differentiation, while MALAT1 was upregulated in platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)-induced cellular proliferation. PDGF induced the transformation of smooth muscle cells into a proliferative phenotype accompanied by an increase in autophagy. The downregulation of MALAT1 attenuated PDGF-BB-induced proliferation and migration by inhibiting autophagy. MALAT1 could act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to regulate autophagy-related 7 (ATG7) gene expression by sponging miR142-3p. The present study reveals a novel mechanism by which MALAT1 promotes the transformation of smooth muscle cells from contraction to synthetic phenotypes., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST None.

The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a family of abundant and ubiquitous proteins involved in several important primary functions. Cucumbers harbor two TCTP genes, CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2; however, their functional roles remain unclear. In this study, we isolated CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2 (XP-004134215 and XP-004135602, respectively) promoters, full-length cDNA and genomic sequences from Cucumis sativus. Bioinformatics analysis, containing cis-acting elements, structural domains, phylogenetic tree and conserved motifs, suggested the conservation and divergence of CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2, thus providing knowledge regarding their functions. Expression analysis indicated that CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2 exhibited tissue-specific expression and were regulated by biotic or abiotic stresses in C. sativus. Furthermore, CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2 were regulated by ABA and may be associated with the TOR (target of rapamycin) signaling pathway. In a prokaryotic expression analysis, CsTCTP1 and CsTCTP2 showed positive responses to salt and heat stresses and a negative response to drought and HgCl2 stresses. TCTP may exert multiple functions in various cellular processes.

Tripolinolate A (TLA) is recently identified as a new compound from a halophyte plant Tripolium vulgare and has been shown to have significant in vitro activity against the proliferation of colorectal cancer and glioma cells. This study was designed to further investigate the effects of TLA on the proliferation of human normal cells, and the apoptosis and cell cycle in colorectal cancer cells, and the growth of tumors in the colorectal cancer-bearing animals. The data obtained from this study demonstrated that: 1) TLA had much less cytotoxicity in the human normal cells than the colorectal cancer cells; 2) TLA remarkably induced apoptosis in the human colorectal cancer cells and blocked cell cycle at G 2 /M phase, and 3) TLA had significant anti-colorectal cancer activity in the tumor-bearing animals., (Copyright © 2017 China Pharmaceutical University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study examined whether acute moderate intensity exercise results in a general or selective improvement in cognitive function. In addition, multiple stimulus-locked ERP components and serum BDNF levels were assessed to investigate potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying acute exercise effects on select aspects of cognitive performance. Thirty young adults were recruited and participated in exercise and reading control sessions in a counterbalanced order. Following treatments, the Stroop task was administrated, and N1, N2, P3, and N450 components of the ERP waveform were recorded and analyzed. Additionally, blood samples were withdrawn immediately following exercise or rest conditions prior to administration of the Stroop task. Acute exercise facilitated response times for both Stroop congruent and incongruent task conditions, with a similar magnitude of improvement. Larger P3 and reduced N450 amplitudes as well as decreased N450 latency were observed following exercise, but no effects on N1 and N2 components were found. This dose of exercise also did not influence serum BDNF levels. These findings suggest that moderate intensity acute exercise results in a generalized rather than selective improvement in cognition. The facilitation may be related to an increase in attentional or neural resource allocation and conflict detection processes reflected by longer latency endogenous components (P3, N450), but is not influenced by earlier sensory and monitoring processes revealed by earlier ERP components or by serum levels of BDNF., (© 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

The specific demands of a combat-sport discipline may be reflected in the perceptual-motor performance of its athletes. Taekwondo, which emphasizes kicking, might require faster perceptual processing to compensate for longer latencies to initiate lower-limb movements and to give rapid visual feedback for dynamic postural control, while Karate, which emphasizes both striking with the hands and kicking, might require exceptional eye-hand coordination and fast perceptual processing. In samples of 38 Taekwondo athletes (16 females, 22 males; mean age = 19.9 years, SD = 1.2), 24 Karate athletes (9 females, 15 males; mean age = 18.9 years, SD = 0.9), and 35 Nonathletes (20 females, 15 males; mean age = 20.6 years, SD = 1.5), we measured eye-hand coordination with the Finger-Nose-Finger task, and both perceptual-processing speed and attentional control with the Covert Orienting of Visual Attention (COVAT) task. Eye-hand coordination was significantly better for Karate athletes than for Taekwondo athletes and Nonathletes, but reaction times for the upper extremities in the COVAT task-indicative of perceptual-processing speed-were faster for Taekwondo athletes than for Karate athletes and Nonathletes. In addition, we found no significant difference among groups in attentional control, as indexed by the reaction-time cost of an invalid cue in the COVAT task. The results suggest that athletes in different combat sports exhibit distinct profiles of perceptual-motor performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a single bout of exercise on neurocognitive function in preadolescent children and young adults by determining the modulatory role of age and the neuroelectrical mechanism(s) underlying the association between acute exercise and executive function. Twenty preadolescents and 20 young adults completed the Stroop test, and neuroelectrical activity was recorded during two treatment sessions performed in a counterbalanced order. Exercise treatments involved moderate intensity aerobic exercise for 20 min as the main exercise and two 5 min periods of warm-up and cool-down. The control treatment participants read for a similar duration of time. Acute exercise improved participant reaction times on the Stroop test, regardless of Stroop congruency, and greater beneficial effects were observed in young adults compared to those in preadolescents. The P3 amplitudes increased after acute exercise in preadolescents and young adults, but acute exercise induced lower conflict sustained potential (conflict SP) amplitudes in preadolescent children. Based on these findings, age influences the beneficial effect of acute exercise on cognitive performance in general. Furthermore, the event-related brain potential differences attributed to acute exercise provide a potential clue to the mechanisms that differentiate the effects of acute exercise on individuals from preadolescence to young adulthood.

The present study sought to determine whether cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with cognitive function in late-middle-aged adults from event-related desynchronization (ERD) and event-related synchronization (ERS) perspectives. Late-middle-aged adults were categorized into either the high-fitness group or the low-fitness group based on their estimated cardiorespiratory fitness values. The participants completed the Stroop Test, which is comprised of incongruent and neutral conditions, while the brain activities were recoded. The alpha ERD and ERS values based on the equation proposed by Pfurtscheller (1977) were further calculated. The results revealed that the adults with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness demonstrated superior Stroop performance, regardless of Stroop congruency. While these high-fitness adults had less positive upper alpha ERD values in the later epoch window compared to their lower-fitness counterparts, they had greater lower alpha ERD values in the early epoch window. Additionally, in the late epoch window, the high-fitness adults showed less positive lower alpha ERD values on neutral, but not incongruent condition, relative to their low-fitness counterparts. These findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness of the late-middle-aged adults is positively associated with cognitive functioning, especially the cognitive processes related to the inhibition of task-irrelevant information and those processes required the devotion of greater amounts of attentional resources to a given task.

The purpose of the present study was to examine how obesity and cardiovascular fitness are associated with the inhibition aspect of executive function from behavioral and electrophysiological perspectives. One hundred college students, aged 18-25 years, were categorized into four groups of equal size on the basis of body mass index and cardiovascular fitness: a normal-weight and high-fitness (NH) group, an obese-weight and high-fitness (OH) group, a normal-weight and low-fitness (NL) group, and an obese-weight and low-fitness (OL) group. Behavioral measures of response time and number of errors, as well as event-related potential measures of P3 and N1, were assessed during the Stroop Task. The results revealed that, in general, the NH group exhibited shorter response times and larger P3 amplitudes relative to the NL and OL groups, wherein the OL group exhibited the longest response time in the incongruent condition. No group differences in N1 indices were also revealed. These findings suggest that the status of being both normal weight and having high cardiovascular fitness is associated with better behavioral and later stages of electrophysiological indices of cognitive function.

Transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells c4 (NFATc4) is the best-characterized target for the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Aberrant microRNA-29 (miR-29) expression is involved in the development of cardiac fibrosis and congestive heart failure. However, whether miR-29 regulates hypertrophic processes is still not clear. In this study, we investigated the potential functions of miR-29a-3p in endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We showed that miR-29a-3p was down-regulated in ET-1-treated H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Overexpression of miR-29a-3p significantly reduced ET-1-induced hypertrophic responses in H9c2 cardiomyocytes, which was accompanied by a decrease in NFATc4 expression. miR-29a-3p targeted directly to the 3'-UTR of NFATc4 mRNA and silenced NFATc4 expression. Our results indicate that miR-29a-3p inhibits ET-1-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy via inhibiting NFATc4 expression., (Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) possess the potential to differentiate into endothelial cells (EC). DNA methylation plays an important role in cell differentiation during development. However, the role of the DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a in specific arterial differentiation of hMSCs is not clear. Here, we show that the CpG islands in the promoter regions of the EC specification and arterial marker genes were highly methylated in hMSCs based on bisulfite genomic sequencing. Treatment with the DNMT inhibitor 5-aza-dc induced the reactivation of EC specification and arterial marker genes by promoting demethylation of these genes as well as stimulating tube-like structure formation. The hMSCs with stable knockdown of Dnmt1/Dnmt3a were highly angiogenic and expressed several arterial specific transcription factors and marker genes. A Matrigel plug assay confirmed that Dnmt1/Dnmt3a stable knockdown hMSCs enhanced blood vessel formation compared with WT MSCs. We also identified that the transcription factor E2F1 could upregulate the transcription of arterial marker genes by binding to the promoters of arterial genes, suggesting its critical role for arterial specification. Moreover, miRNA gain/loss-of-function analyses revealed that miR152 and miR30a were involved in endothelial differentiation of hMSCs by targeting Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a, respectively. Taken together, these data suggest that Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a are critical regulators for epigenetic silencing of EC marker genes and that E2F1 plays an important role in promoting arterial cell determination. Stem Cells 2016;34:1273-1283., (© 2016 AlphaMed Press.)

This study aimed to clarify the effects of acute exercise and cardiovascular fitness on cognitive function using the Stroop test and event-related desynchronization (ERD) in an aged population. Old adults (63.10 ± 2.89 years) were first assigned to either a high-fitness or a low-fitness group, and they were then subjected to an acute exercise treatment and a reading control treatment in a counterbalanced order. Alpha ERD was recorded during the Stroop test, which was administered after both treatments. Acute exercise improved cognitive performance regardless of the level of cognition, and old adults with higher fitness levels received greater benefits from acute exercise. Additionally, acute exercise, rather than overall fitness, elicited greater lower and upper alpha ERDs relative to the control condition. These findings indirectly suggest that the beneficial effects of acute exercise on cognitive performance may result from exercise-induced attentional control observed during frontal neural excitation., (© 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.)

Purpose: The study aimed to provide evidence-based recommendations for the prescription of a single session of exercise to improve cognitive performance. In particular, the purpose was to determine the dose-response relation between exercise duration and cognitive performance for a moderate-intensity session of aerobic exercise., Methods: Twenty-six healthy young men participated in a reading control treatment and three exercise treatments presented in a random order. The exercise treatments were designed on the basis of the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines and consisted of a 5-min warm-up, a 5-min cooldown, and cycling at moderate intensity (approximately 65% HR reserve) for 10, 20, or 45 min. The Stroop test was administrated after completion of each assigned treatment., Results: Exercise at moderate intensity for 20 min resulted in significantly better cognitive performance, as assessed by shorter response time and higher accuracy. This result was found regardless of the type of cognitive function assessed. In addition, a curvilinear dose-response relation between exercise duration and cognitive performance was observed., Conclusions: An exercise session consisting of a 5-min warm-up, 20 min of moderate-intensity exercise, and a 5-min cooldown improves cognition, whereas shorter or longer durations of moderate exercise have negligible benefits. This study provides the foundation for the prescription of a single session of moderate exercise to facilitate cognitive function in healthy younger adults.

Objective: To explore the applications of imaging examination on rib fracture sites in forensic identification., Methods: Features including the sites, numbers of the processed imaging examination and the first radiological technology at diagnosis in 56 cases of rib fractures from 163 injuries were retrospectively analyzed., Results: The detection rate of the rib fractures within 14 days was 65.6%. The initial detection rate of anterior rib fracture proceeded by X-ray was 76.2%, then 90.5% detected at a second time X-ray, while the detection rate of CT was 66.7% and 80.0%, respectively. The initial detec- tion rate of rib fracture in axillary section proceeded by X-ray was 27.6%, then 58.6% detected at a second time X-ray, while the detection rate of CT was 54.3% and 80.4%, respectively. The initial detection rate of posterior rib fracture proceeded by X-ray was 63.6%, then 81.8% detected at a second time X-ray, while the detection rate of CT was 50.0% and 70.0%, respectively., Conclusion: It is important to pay attention to the use of combined imaging examinations and the follow-up results. In the cases of suspicious for rib fracture in axillary section, CT examination is suggested in such false X-ray negative cases.

Previous studies have demonstrated that JMJD2A is a potential oncogene and is overexpressed in human tumors. However, its role in the endometrial carcinoma remains largely unknown. In this study, we discovered that JMJD2A was overexpressed in endometrial carcinoma, using immunohistochemistry, quantitative real- time polymerase chain reaction, and western blotting. Downregulation of JMJD2A led to reduced endometrial carcinoma RL95-2 and ISK cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis as asessed with cell counting kit-8, cell migration and invasive assays. Collectively, our results support that JMJD2A is a promoter of endometrial carcinoma cell proliferation and survival, and is a potential novel drug target.

Investigation of a Chinese folk medicine, Artemisia dubia (syn. Artemisia subdigitata), has resulted in the isolation of eight new guaianolides (artemdubolides A-H, 1-8), and nineteen known sesquiterpene lactones. Their structures were elucidated primarily on the basis of spectroscopic methods, including extensive 2D NMR experiments. The cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-8 were evaluated against A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma), Colo205 (human colon carcinoma), HepG2 (human hepatoma), and MDA-MB-435 (human melanoma) cell lines. Compounds 2 and 5 showed weak cell growth inhibition of Colo205 and MDA-MB-435 cells., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Two new acorane sesquiterpenes, 10-hydroxyacoronene (1) and 1beta-isopropyl-4beta-methyl-9beta-hydroxy spiro[4.5]dec-6-en-8-one (2), one new natural product, 4-hydroxy-4, 6-dimethyl-1-tetralone (3), and one known acorane sesquiterpene, acoradiepoxide (4) were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Illicium henryi. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated primarily on the basis of analysis of spectroscopic data. In addition, the inhibitory effect on NO production of these compounds were tested. Compounds 1 and 4 exhibited slight inhibitory effects on NO production with IC50 values of 82.4 microg/mL and 76.5 microg/mL, respectively.