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BACKGROUND: Pressure injury (PI) is a local injury of the skin and/or soft tissue located at the bone caused by medical or other equipment and is common in long-term bedridden patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of Urgotul foam dressing in the treatment of stage 3 ∼ 4 PI and deep tissue PI. METHODS: A total of 38 patients with stage 3 ∼ 4 PI and deep tissue PI admitted to Jinan Central Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018 were selected and randomly divided into a control group (dressing change plus silver ion cream dressing) and an observation group (dressing change plus Urgotul Absorb non-border foam dressing), with 19 cases in each group. After 4 weeks of treatment, the pain intensity during dressing change and the treatment efficacy for PI wounds were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were no differences in gender (P= 0.740), age (P= 0.130), single wound area (P= 0.673), consultation department (P= 0.972), stage (P= 0.740), presence of undermining (P= 0.721), deep tissue PI (P= 0.721), and systemic antibiotic therapy (P= 1.000) between the two groups, which were comparable. The treatment effect of the observation group was better than that of the control group (P= 0.003), and the pain score of the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P< 0.001). CONCLUSION: Urgotul Absorb non-border foam dressing has a good effect in the treatment of stage 3 ∼ 4 PI and deep tissue PI and can relieve patients’ pain, and is thus worth promoting.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most incapacitating conditions, with neuropathic pain (NP) as a comorbidity that is the most difficult to treatment. In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been studied more thoroughly in SCI. In this study, based on the construction of the SCI rat model, miR-216a-5p expression was reduced in SCI rats through experimental validation analysis. And human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) overexpressing miR-216a-5p were loaded by constructing thermosensitive hydrogels and transplanted into SCI rats. It was found that the constructed hydrogel system exhibited temperature-dependent phase change behavior and biodegradability, and rats with spinal cord injury showed considerable behavioral recovery and significantly reduced cellular mortality after transplantation. Mechanistic studies revealed that sustained release of miR-216a-5p was able to bind to the 3'UTR of NUDT21 and involve in the regulation of recovery after SCI through modulation of NUDT21, thus greatly increasing recovery after spinal cord injury. Thus, thermosensitive hydrogel-encapsulated human mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing miR-216a-5p provide a microenvironmentally responsive and noninvasive pathway for recovery from spinal cord injury, we hypothesized that miR-216a-5p could be a potential biomarker for neuropathic pain.

Cervical chest pain (CCP), as 1 atypical symptom associated with cervical spondylosis, often overlaps with other chest-related diseases. CCP obviously relieved after ultrasound-guided cervical nerve root block near a herniated disc should be considered as a potential pathologic source. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether coblation discoplasty can alleviate CCP after positive ultrasound-guided nerve root block.From August 2016 to September 2019, 21 patients with high suspicion of CCP experienced over 50% pain relieve after ultrasound-guided diagnostic nerve root block. Through 12 months of follow-up, the primary efficacy was assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS) of CCP, and secondary outcomes included: neck pain VAS, neck disability index (NDI), the proportion of significant CCP relief, the rating of CCP alleviation, the patient satisfaction index (PSI), and analgesic consumption. Adverse events were recorded to evaluate safety.Following postoperative 12 months, a time-course analysis confirmed a robust decline in VAS of CCP (P0.0001), and a similar recovery trend was shown in VAS of neck pain and NDI (P0.0001). After treatment, the number of patients taking analgesics decreased (P0.0001), and around 60% of patients reported notable relief and satisfaction with treatment. No serious complications were observed.After positive ultrasound-guided nerve root block, coblation discoplasty can provide up to 12 months of relief for intractable CCP.

Summary Background The benefit and safety of laparoscopic pancreatoduodenectomy (LPD) for the treatment of pancreatic or periampullary tumours remain controversial. Studies have shown that the learning curve plays an important role in LPD, yet there are no randomised studies on LPD after the surgeons have surmounted the learning curve. The aim of this trial was to compare the outcomes of open pancreatoduodenectomy (OPD) with those of LPD, when performed by experienced surgeons. Methods In this multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial done in 14 Chinese medical centres, we recruited patients aged 18–75 years with a benign, premalignant, or malignant indication for pancreatoduodenectomy. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to undergo either LPD or OPD. Randomisation was centralised via a computer-generated system that used a block size of four. The patients and surgeons were unmasked to study group, whereas the data collectors, outcome assessors, and data analysts were masked. LPD and OPD were performed by experienced surgeons who had already done at least 104 LPD operations. The primary outcome was the postoperative length of stay. The criteria for discharge were based on functional recovery, and analyses were done on a modified intention-to-treat basis (ie, including patients who had a pancreatoduodenectomy regardless of whether the operation was the one they were assigned to). This trial is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov , number NCT03138213 . Findings Between May 18, 2018, and Dec 19, 2019, we assessed 762 patients for eligibility, of whom 656 were randomly assigned to either the LPD group (n=328) or the OPD group (n=328). 31 patients in each group were excluded and 80 patients crossed over (33 from LPD to OPD, 47 from OPD to LPD). In the modified intention-to-treat analysis (297 patients in the LPD group and 297 patients in the OPD group), the postoperative length of stay was significantly shorter for patients in the LPD group than for patients in the OPD group (median 15·0 days [95% CI 14·0–16·0] vs 16·0 days [15·0–17·0]; p=0·02). 90-day mortality was similar in both groups (five [2%] of 297 patients in the LPD group vs six [2%] of 297 in the OPD group, risk ratio [RR] 0·83 [95% CI 0·26–2·70]; p=0·76). The incidence rate of serious postoperative morbidities (Clavien-Dindo grade of at least 3) was not significantly different in the two groups (85 [29%] of 297 patients in the LPD group vs 69 [23%] of 297 patients in OPD group, RR 1·23 [95% CI 0·94–1·62]; p=0·13). The comprehensive complication index score was not significantly different between the two groups (median score 8·7 [IQR 0·0–26·2] vs 0·0 [0·0–20·9]; p=0·06). Interpretation In highly experienced hands, LPD is a safe and feasible procedure. It was associated with a shorter length of stay and similar short-term morbidity and mortality rates to OPD. Nonetheless, the clinical benefit of LPD compared with OPD was marginal despite extensive procedural expertise. Future research should focus on identifying the populations that will benefit from LPD. Funding National Natural Science Foundation of China and Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.

Fresh vegetables are closely associated with foodborne disease outbreaks; however, systematic analysis of the microbiological quality of fresh vegetables and molecular information on foodborne pathogens in fresh produce are poorly reported in China. Here, we evaluated the epidemiological prevalence of coliforms via the most probable number method and characterized Salmonella and ciprofloxacin-resistant (CIP

The aim of this study was to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic surgery (LS) and open surgery (OP) for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) using a large real-world dataset in China.Data of patients with PHC who underwent LS and OP from January 2013 to October 2018, across 10 centers in China, were extracted from medical records. A comparative analysis was performed before and after propensity score matching (PSM) in the LS and OP groups and within the study subgroups. The Cox proportional hazards mixed-effects model was applied to estimate the risk factors for mortality, with center and year of operation as random effects.A total of 467 patients with PHC were included, of whom 161 underwent LS and 306 underwent OP. Postoperative morbidity, such as hemorrhage, biliary fistula, abdominal abscess, and hepatic insufficiency, was similar between the LS and OP groups. The median overall survival (OS) was longer in the LS group than in the OP group (NA vs. 22 months; hazard ratio [HR] 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.39, p = 0.024). Among the matched datasets, OS was comparable between the LS and OP groups (NA vs. 35 months; HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.77-1.26, p = 0.915). The mixed-effect model identified that the surgical method was not associated with long-term outcomes and that LS and OP provided similar oncological outcomes.Considering the comparable long-term prognosis and short-term outcomes of LS and OP, LS could be a technically feasible surgical method for PHC patients with all Bismuth-Corlett types of PHC.

Spared nerve injury (SNI) is an animal model that mimics the cardinal symptoms of peripheral nerve injury for studying the molecular and cellular mechanism of neuropathic pain in mice and rats. Currently, there are two types of SNI model, one to cut and ligate the common peroneal and the tibial nerves with intact sural nerve, which is defined as SNIs in this study, and another to cut and ligate the common peroneal and the sural nerves with intact tibial nerve, which is defined as SNIt in this study. Because the sural nerve is purely sensory whereas the tibial nerve contains both motor and sensory fibers, the SNIt model has much less motor deficit than the SNIs model. In the traditional SNIt mouse model, the common peroneal and the sural nerves are cut and ligated separately. Here a modified SNIt surgery method is described to damage both common peroneal and sural nerves with only one ligation and one cut with a shorter procedure time, which is easier to perform and reduces the potential risk of stretching the sciatic or tibial nerves, and produces similar mechanical hypersensitivity as the traditional SNIt model.

The aim of this study was to present a modified pancreatojejunostomy technique for laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) and to evaluate its safety and reliability.Clinical data from 67 patients who underwent LPD at a single center, from September 2016 to December 2017 were retrospectively collected and analysed. Of these patients, 31 cases were subjected to modified pancreatojejunostomy (modified group), and 36 cases received duct-to-mucosa pancreatojejunostomy (control group) for LPD. We compared and analysed the operative outcomes and postoperative complications between the patients in the two groups.All LPDs were successfully completed. The mean operation time for pancreatojejunostomy in the modified group was obviously lower than that of the control group (30.9 ± 6.6 min vs 45.3 ± 6.1 min, P 0.01), and the total operative time was also shorter (321.8 ± 63.6 min vs 362.2 ± 59.6 min, P 0.05) in the modified group. The overall incidence of postoperative complications was similar (29.0% vs 30.6% P = 0.724). Clinically relevant grade B/C POPF occurred in 2 patients (6.5%) in the modified group and 3 patients (8.3%) in the control group (P = 0.947); All cases were cured using conservative treatment.Our modified pancreatojejunostomy technique is safe, effective and easy to manipulate and learn following LPD.

To present a new pancreaticojejunostomy technique for laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) and to evaluate its safety and reliability.The data of 120 patients who underwent LPD at a single centre from October 2017 to October 2019 were retrospectively analysed. Of these patients, 71 received continuous suture pancreaticojejunostomy, and 49 received "8-character" suture pancreaticojejunostomy for LPD. We compared and analysed the operation time, anastomosis time, and incidence of postoperative complications between the patients in the two groups.All operations were successfully performed, with no transfer to open surgery. The operation time and anastomosis time in the continuous suture group were lower than those in the "8-character" suture group (305.8 ± 60.7 min vs. 354.3 ± 69.1 min; 28.6 ± 6.3 min vs. 39.4 ± 11.9 min P 0.001), and the postoperative hospital stay was also shorter (12.9 ± 3.8 days vs. 15.4 ± 5.8 days P 0.05) in the continuous suture group. There was no significant difference in the pancreatic duct diameter or intraoperative blood loss between the two groups. There was also no significant difference in the incidence of a pancreatic fistula between the continuous suture group and the "8-character" suture group. The data of patients in the continuous suture group with pancreatic duct diameters 3 mm and ≥ 3 mm were statistically analysed. There was no significant difference in the operation time, pancreaticojejunostomy time, postoperative hospital stay, or incidence of pancreatic fistula in the different pancreatic duct diameter groups.Continuous suture of pancreaticojejunostomy in LPD is simple, safe, reliable, and rapid. This technique not only saves the anastomosis time but also suitable for pancreatic ducts 3 mm.

With the development of the new curriculum reform, physical education teaching methods in junior middle schools have changed, but the traditional physical education teaching mode still occupies a dominant position, and the teaching mode is single and the content is tedious, which makes it difficult to arouse students’ interest. Outward bound training is a brand-new form of sports, which can greatly enhance students’ participation and train students’ collective consciousness, and is widely used in physical education. This paper mainly introduces the characteristics of outward bound training, tells the necessity of outward bound training in junior high school physical education, and briefly describes the specific application strategies of outward bound training in physical education.

Objective The aim of the study was to analyze the outcomes of patients who have undergone laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) in China. Summary background data LPD is being increasingly used worldwide, but an extensive, detailed, systematic, multicenter analysis of the procedure has not been performed. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 1029 consecutive patients who had undergone LPD between January 2010 and August 2016 in China. Univariate and multivariate analyses of patient demographics, changes in outcome over time, technical learning curves, and the relationship between hospital or surgeon volume and patient outcomes were performed. Results Among the 1029 patients, 61 (5.93%) required conversion to laparotomy. The median operation time (OT) was 441.34 minutes, and the major complications occurred in 511 patients (49.66%). There were 21 deaths (2.43%) within 30 days, and a total of 61 (5.93%) within 90 days. Discounting the effects of the early learning phase, critical parameters improved significantly with surgeons' experience with the procedure. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the pancreatic anastomosis technique, preoperative biliary drainage method, and total bilirubin were linked to several outcome measures, including OT, estimated intraoperative blood loss, and mortality. Multicenter analyses of the learning curve revealed 3 phases, with proficiency thresholds at 40 and 104 cases. Higher hospital, department, and surgeon volume, as well as surgeon experience with minimally invasive surgery, were associated with a lower risk of surgical failure. Conclusions LPD is technically safe and feasible, with acceptable rates of morbidity and mortality. Nonetheless, long learning curves, low-volume hospitals, and surgical inexperience are associated with higher rates of complications and mortality.

BACKGROUND The development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are associated with obesity and hepatosteatosis. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) regulates metabolic homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of treatment with the adenosine monophosphate (AMP) analog, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) on hepatosteatosis in a mouse model fed a high-fat diet (HFD), and on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in the HFD mouse model. MATERIAL AND METHODS Male C57BL/6 male mice from two weeks of age were fed a high-fat diet, resulting in hepatosteatosis. HFD mice (15-20 per group) were treated with AICAR and without AICAR. HFD mice were treated with DEN, with and without AICAR. Mouse liver tissues were examined histologically using lipid histochemical stains, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. Levels of cytokines, alanine transaminase (ALT), triacylglyceride (TAG), and apoptosis were determined. Western blot was used to detect AMPK, pAMPK, STAT3, and pSTAT3. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detected expression of the ACL, FAS, CD36, ATGL, CPT1, and IL6 genes. RESULTS In the HFD mouse model, AICAR treatment inhibited hepatic lipid synthesis and IL-6 expression. In the DEN-treated mice, AICAR treatment reduced tumorigenesis, IL-6 signaling, and STAT3 activation. Short-term AICAR treatment had no significant effect in advanced HCC. CONCLUSIONS In an HFD mouse model, treatment with AICAR reduced the development of hepatosteatosis, and following treatment with the liver carcinogen, DEN, AICAR reduced the development of HCC. These preliminary findings support further studies on the role of AICAR in fatty liver disease and HCC.

The formation of nebkhas is more complex and more sensitive to environmental changes than non-phytogenic dunes because of the influence of shrubs. To understand the relations between nebkha formation and wind erosion, this study determined the various phases of clustered development and rapid growth of nebkhas in the Qaidam Basin based on statistical analysis of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) aeolian sand ages from multiple nebkha profiles. The results revealed two clustered development phases of nebkhas that approximately correspond to 920 CE and 1460 CE, and revealed three rapid growth phases after nebkhas development that corresponded to approximately 1020, 1300, and 1580 CE. By comparing these phases to well-established paleoclimate records, we determined that these phases of clustered development and rapid growth of nebkhas thereafter all occurred under the cold or cold-dry climate background. Accordingly, we can infer that the cold or cold-dry climate resulted in reduced herbaceous vegetation cover and strong wind erosion, whereas shrubs developed or persisted because of strong adaptability and subsequently intercepted shifting sands. Therefore, the short-term history of wind erosion can be reconstructed in arid and semiarid regions, provided that a sufficient number of OSL ages from nebkha sediments is available.

Background: Swainsonine (SW) is the principal toxic ingredient of locoweeds, and is produced by fungi including Metarhizium anisopliae, Slafractonia leguminicola, and Alternaria oxytropis (found in locoweeds of Oxytropis). Studies of the SW biosynthesis pathway in these fungi have demonstrated the requirement for a swnK gene and the presence of a variety of other SWN cluster genes, but have not determined a precise role for the swnR gene, which encodes a NADB Rossmann-fold reductase, nor if it is necessary for the biosynthesis of SW. In this study, we used homologous recombination (HR) to knock out the swnR gene of M. anisopliae to determine its effect on the SW biosynthesis pathway.Results: The concentration of SW was measured in the fermentation broth of M. anisopliae at 1 d, 3 d, 5 d and 7 d using a Q Exactive Mass Spectrometer. The gene for swnR was detected by RT-qPCR. To determine the role of the swnR gene in the SW biosynthesis pathway of M. anisopliae, we used PEG-mediated homologous recombination (HR) to transform a wild-type strain (WT) with a Benomyl (ben)-resistant fragment to knock out the swnR gene producing a mutant-type strain (MT). A complemented-type (CT) strain was produced by adding a complementation vector that contains the glufosinate (herbicide) resistance (bar) gene as a marker. The content of SW decreased, but was not eliminated in the fermentation broth of the MT strain, and returned to the original level in the CT strain.Conclusions: These results indicate that the swnR gene plays a crucial role in the SW biosynthesis pathway of M. anisopliae, but suggests that another gene in the fungus may share the function of swnR.

IntroductionPancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is one of the most complex abdominal operations to perform, and it is usually conducted for tumours of the periampullary region and chronic pancreatitis. Minimally invasive surgery has been progressively being developed for pancreatic surgery, first with the advent of hybrid-laparoscopy and recently with total laparoscopic surgery. Issues including the safety and efficacy of total laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (TLPD) and open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) are currently being debated. Studies comparing these two surgical techniques are emerging, and large randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking but are clearly required.Methods and analysisTJDBPS01 is a multicentre, prospective, randomised controlled, parallel-group, superiority trial in 14 centres with pancreatic surgery experts who have performed ≥104 TLPDs and OPDs. A total of 656 patients who will undergo PD are randomly allocated to the TLPD group or OPD group in a 1:1 ratio. The trial hypothesis is that TLPD has superior or equivalent safety and advantages in postoperative recovery compared with OPD. The primary outcome is the postoperative length of stay.Ethics and disseminationThe Instituitional Review Board Approval of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has approved this trial and will be routinely monitoring the trial at frequent intervals, as will an independent third-party organisation. Any results from this trial (publications, conference presentations) will be published in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.Trial registration numberNCT03138213

This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of pesticides in surface water (lakes, major rivers and tributaries) and potential discharge sources (fish ponds, livestock and poultry farms, and sewage treatment plants) in Wujin District (northwest of Taihu Lake), Jiangsu province, China. An analytical liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for 38 pesticides, which was applied in the monitoring of 240 surface water samples and 76 potential discharge source samples. Eleven insecticides and five fungicides with temporal and spatial variation were detected in surface water. The total pesticide concentrations in surface water in different seasons were as follows: March > August > June > November. The two most polluting and widespread pesticides were carbendazim (maximum concentration 508 ng L−1, detection rate 100%) and imidacloprid (maximum concentration 438 ng L−1, detection rate 88%). Gehu Lake (S46) and Sanshangang River (S12) were seriously polluted water bodies. Seven insecticides and four fungicides were detected in the potential discharge sources; and their composition changed significantly with the seasons. The concentrations of detected organophosphorus pesticides and neonicotinoids (e.g. acetamiprid in March and dichlorvos in November) in a few non-agricultural planting sources were far greater than those detected in surface water, and hence a few fish ponds, livestock and poultry farms, and sewage treatment plants might be the potential discharge sources of pesticides in the surrounding surface water. The estimated input flux of the studied pesticides from upstream rivers to Taihu Lake was 141.95 kg a−1. Furthermore, more attention should be paid to the medium or high aquatic ecotoxicological risk presented by the levels of organophosphorus pesticides, carbamates, and benzimidazoles.

A recent study reported a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) E2F-mediated cell proliferation enhancing lncRNA (EPEL, human chromosome 4, intergenic region) plays an oncogenic role in lung cancer. We aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA EPEL in gastric cancer. Gene expression was analyzed by RT-qPCR and western blot. Survival analysis was performed by comparing survival curves. Cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were analyzed by CCK-8 and Transwell assays. We found that lncRNA EPEL and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) were both upregulated in gastric cancer. EPEL and RUNX2 were positively correlated in tumor. Patients with high expression level of lncRNA EPEL showed poor survival. LncRNA EPEL and RUNX2 overexpression promoted, while lncRNA EPEL siRNA silencing inhibited the migration, proliferation, and invasion of gastric cancers. In addition, RUNX2 overexpression completely rescued the inhibited cancer cell migration, proliferation, and invasion caused by lncRNA EPEL siRNA silencing. Consistently, EPEL overexpression resulted in upregulated RUNX2 expression, while RUNX2 overexpression did not affect lncRNA EPEL expression. Therefore, lncRNA EPEL may regulate cancer cell behaviors and affect prognosis of gastric cancer by interacting with RUNX2.

Due to the potential ecological and human health risks, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are considered as contaminants of emerging concern. PPCPs can be discharged to the aquatic environment from various sources, including municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), animal feeding operations, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. A major challenge to regional characterization of ecological and human health risks is identification of the environmental emissions of PPCPs. This study established a facile approach for calculation of PPCP emission factors from raw wastewater and wastewater effluent. Using reported concentrations from WWTPs, nine PPCPs, namely carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, ofloxacin, sulfadiazine, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim, were identified as priority contaminants based on environmental significance (i.e., high detection frequency and potential ecological risk) and data availability. Emission factors were calculated for the nine PPCPs in raw wastewater, secondary effluent, and tertiary effluent for low, medium and high emission scenarios according to the concentration distributions of these nine PPCPs. The emission factors were used to estimate the mass of the PPCPs discharged from the nine provinces and two municipalities of the Yangtze River valley. The total mass of the nine PPCPs emitted into the watershed was estimated as 3867 kg, 8808 kg and 21,464 kg for low, medium and high emission scenarios respectively in 2018. Although uncertainty is inevitable in the emission factors, the reported approach provides a viable alternative to top-down and multimedia fugacity estimation strategies that require an abundance of sewershed-, WWTP-, and compound-specific information that is difficult to collect in developing countries.

Plastic pollution has become a pressing issue due to its persistence in the environment. Smaller plastics are more easily ingested, potentially exerting greater influences on organisms. In this study, the effects of polystyrene nanoplastics (NP) on the toxic effects, bioaccumulation, biodegradation and enantioselectivity of ibuprofen (IBU) in algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa were explored. The influences on the growth rate, chlorophyll a, total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation (MDA) were evaluated after 96 h of exposure to a combination of polystryene NP (1 mg L−1) and IBU (5–100 mg L−1). The results indicated that the inhibitory effect of IBU on C. pyrenoidosa growth was alleviated in the presence of NP. For instance, the 96 h-IC50 value for rac-IBU in the treatment lacking NP was 45.7 mg L−1, and the corresponding value in the treatment containing NP was 63.9 mg L−1. The co-exposure of NP led to a significant enhancement of T-AOC and slight reduction of ROS and MDA compared with the individual exposure (IBU) group, suggesting a decreased oxidative stress. In addition, treatment with NP led to a decreased bioaccumulation and accelerated biodegradation of IBU in C. pyrenoidosa and enhanced removal in the medium. The enantioselective toxicity, bioaccumulation and biodegradation of IBU were observed both in the absence and presence of NP. S-IBU exhibited a greater toxicity, and R-IBU was preferentially accumulated and degraded in C. pyrenoidosa. No interconversion of the two enantiomers occurred regardless of the presence of NP. This consequence implied that the influence of coexistent NP should be considered in the environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aquatic environments.

Antibiotic resistance has become a widely concerned issue due to the huge risk on the ecological environment and human health. China has the highest production and consumption of antibiotics than other countries. Thus, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been detected in various environmental settings (e.g., surface water, wastewater, sediment) in China. The occurrence of ARGs in these matrixes was summarized and discussed in this review. Sulfonamide resistance genes and tetracycline resistance genes were the most frequently detected ARGs in China. According to the abundance of these two classes of ARGs in the natural environment, sulfonamide resistance genes seem to be more stable than tetracycline resistance genes. Furthermore, the relationships between ARGs and antibiotics, antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB), heavy metals, and environmental parameters (e.g., pH, organics) were also investigated. Specifically, relative abundance of total ARGs was found to correlate well with concentration of total antibiotics in aqueous phase but not in the solid phase (soil, sediment, sludge, and manure). As for relationship between ARGs and ARB, metals, and environmental parameters in different media, due to complex and variable environment, some exhibit positive correlation, some negative, while others no correlation at all. Three potential risks are discussed in the text: transmission to human, synergistic effect of different ARGs, and variability of ARGs. However, due to the complexity of the environment, more work is needed to establish a quantitative approach of ARG risk assessment, which can provide a theoretical support for the management of antibiotics and the protection of human health.

// Cheng-Rong Xie 1, * , Zhao Li 1, * , Hong-Guang Sun 1, * , Fu-Qiang Wang 1 , Yu Sun 1 , Wen-Xiu Zhao 1 , Sheng Zhang 1 , Wen-Xing Zhao 1 , Xiao-Min Wang 1 , Zhen-Yu Yin 1 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Chronic Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Fujian, P.R. China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Zhen-Yu Yin, e-mail: yinzy@xmu.edu.cn Keywords: EZH2, CHD5, hepatocellular carcinoma, prognosis, invasion Received: March 02, 2015 Accepted: September 20, 2015 Published: October 26, 2015 ABSTRACT Chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 5 (CHD5) acts as a tumor suppressor in many cancers. In the present study, we demonstrated that reduced levels of CHD5 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues were significantly associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. Gain-of-function assays revealed that CHD5 suppressed motility and invasion of HCC cells. Subsequent investigations showed that CHD5 was epigenetically silenced by polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated the trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3) in HCC cells. Furthermore, overexpression of CHD5 repressed enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and activated PRC2 target genes, such as p16 and p21 . Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays also showed that CHD5 and EZH2 bind to each other’s promoters and inhibit transcription. These findings uncovered, for the first time, a mutual suppression regulation between CHD5 and EZH2, which may provide new insights into their potential therapeutic significance for HCC.

Recently, many studies show that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in cancer biology. Although its expression was reported dysregulated during tumorigenesis, the contributions of lncRNAs to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still largely unknown. In particular, the lncRNA CARLo-5 has a functional role in cell-cycle regulation in colon cancer, while the clinical significance and biological function of CARLo-5 in HCC remain unelucidated. In order to fill those study blanks, the expression level of CARLo-5 in human HCC specimens was tested, and its correlation with clinicopathologic features as well as the prognosis for patients with HCC was analyzed. Additionally, MTT, wound healing and transwell assays were employed to investigate the biological function of CARLo-5. The results showed that CARLo-5 levels were significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues compared to ANLT. Besides, high expression of CARLo-5 was associated with liver cirrhosis (P = 0.001), tumor number (P

This study was aimed to investigate the possible role of combination therapy of 3-(5'-hydroxymethyl-2'-furyl)-1-benzylindazole (YC-1) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).The two kinds of HCC HCCLM3 and HepG2 cells were intervened by the RFA and YC-1 respectively to construct the model cell. Then cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were analyzed using the MTT, flow cytometry and transwell assay respectively. Moreover, the cell signal-related protein expression was also analyzed using western blotting.Our results showed that the combination therapy of RFA and YC-1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of the two kinds of cells (P0.05). Besides, cell migration and invasion were inhibited by the combination of RFA and YC-1, followed with the EMT symbols of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and vimentin expression in cells (P0.05). Moreover, the β-catenin signal was activated by the combination treatment.Taken together, the data presented in this study reveals that the novel method about combination of RFA and YC-1 may opposite an improve effect on the treatment of HCC than the RFA single treatment. Also, the combination therapy of RFA and YC-1 may well inhibit the development and metastasis of HCC via preventing the EMT through activating the β-catenin signal.

To assess the persistence and fate of volatile organic compounds in the troposphere, the rate constants for the reaction with ozone (kO3) are needed. As kO3 values are only available for hundreds of compounds, and experimental determination of kO3 is costly and time-consuming, it is of importance to develop predictive models on kO3. In this study, a total of 379 logkO3 values at different temperatures were used to develop and validate a model for the prediction of kO3, based on quantum chemical descriptors, Dragon descriptors and structural fragments. Molecular descriptors were screened by stepwise multiple linear regression, and the model was constructed by partial least-squares regression. The cross validation coefficient QCUM(2) of the model is 0.836, and the external validation coefficient Qext(2) is 0.811, indicating that the model has high robustness and good predictive performance. The most significant descriptor explaining logkO3 is the BELm2 descriptor with connectivity information weighted atomic masses. kO3 increases with increasing BELm2, and decreases with increasing ionization potential. The applicability domain of the proposed model was visualized by the Williams plot. The developed model can be used to predict kO3 at different temperatures for a wide range of organic chemicals, including alkenes, cycloalkenes, haloalkenes, alkynes, oxygen-containing compounds, nitrogen-containing compounds (except primary amines) and aromatic compounds.

Inflammatory and neurotrophic factors are involved in postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), but the association of these factors in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with the level of pain is poorly known. The present study aimed to examine the changes in neurotrophic and inflammatory factors in the CSF of patients with PHN and to study the correlation between these factors and the degree of pain. Fifty patients with PHN and 28 patients with hemifacial spasm (as controls) were recruited between May 2015 and March 2016. CSF levels of inflammatory and neurotrophic factors were measured by ELISA. Compared with controls, patients with PHN had lower CSF levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), neurotrophin (NT)-3, NT-5, and P substance (all P0.05), and higher CSF levels of interleukin (IL)-1β (P=0.050). Among patients with PHN, CSF BDNF levels were positively correlated to IL-8 (r