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Fei-Ran Yang,1,* Si-Yi Li,1,* Xi-Wen Hu,1 Xiu-Rong Li,2 Hui-Jie Li2 1College of First Clinical Medicine, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Hui-Jie Li; Xiu-Rong Li, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jingshi Road, Jinan, Shandong, 250014, People’s Republic of China, Email 2008lihuijie@163.com; szylxr2012@126.comBackground: As the main component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), curcumin is widely used in the treatment of various diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated that curcumin has great potential as a therapeutic agent, but the lack of understanding of the functional mechanism of the drug has hindered the widespread use of the natural product. In the present study, we used comprehensive bioinformatics analysis and in vitro experiments to explore the anti-tumor mechanism of curcumin.Materials and Methods: LUAD mRNA expression data were obtained from TCGA database and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using R software. Functional enrichment analysis was conducted to further clarify its biological properties and hub genes were identified by a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Survival analysis and molecular docking were used to analyze the effectiveness of the hub genes. By an in vitro study, we evaluated whether curcumin could influence the proliferation, migration, and invasion activities of LUAD cells.Results: In this study, 1783 DEGs from LUAD tissue samples compared to normal samples were evaluated. Functional enrichment analysis and the PPI network revealed the characteristics of the DEGs. We performed a topological analysis and identified 10 hub genes. Of these, six genes (INS, GCG, SST, F2, AHSG, and NPY) were identified as potentially effective biomarkers of LUAD. The molecular docking results indicated that curcumin targets in regulating lung cancer may be INS and GCG. We found that curcumin significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LUAD cells and significantly decreased the expression of the INS and GCG genes.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the therapeutic effects of curcumin on LUAD may be achieved through the intervention of INS and GCG, which may act as potential biomarkers for LUAD prevention and treatment.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: lung adenocarcinoma, curcumin, antitumor effect, bioinformatics analysis, TCGA

The synergy between topology and non-Hermiticity in photonics holds immense potential for next-generation optical devices that are robust against defects. However, most demonstrations of non-Hermitian and topological photonics have been limited to super-wavelength scales due to increased radiative losses at the deep-subwavelength scale. By carefully designing radiative losses at the nanoscale, we demonstrate a non-Hermitian plasmonic–dielectric metasurface in the visible with non-trivial topology. The metasurface is based on a fourth order passive parity-time symmetric system. The designed device exhibits an exceptional concentric ring in its momentum space and is described by a Hamiltonian with a non-Hermitian Z3 ${\mathbb{Z}}_{3}$ topological invariant of V = −1. Fabricated devices are characterized using Fourier-space imaging for single-shot k-space measurements. Our results demonstrate a way to combine topology and non-Hermitian nanophotonics for designing robust devices with novel functionalities.

The purpose of this study is to examine preservice Chinese language teachers’ cognition in teaching intercultural communicative competence. In the study we collected data through in-depth interviews with seven preservice teachers in a Master of Education program (Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, TCSL) at a university in Hong Kong SAR, China. The findings indicated that the participants had a relatively positive attitude and inclination toward the development of students’ intercultural communicative competence, while their conceptualizations of culture tended to be static and ambiguous. In addition, the participants’ objectives in teaching intercultural communicative competence were found to be more attitude-than knowledge- or skill-oriented. The study offers valuable insights that preservice language teachers’ cognition plays a crucial role in their future professional development and calls for curricular innovations with intercultural aims in teacher education programs.

This article reports on an inquiry that investigated the development of ba constructions in early childhood Mandarin. All cases of ba construction were extracted from the Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus collected from 168 preschoolers aged 2;6, 3;6, 4;6, and 5;6 (year; month; Li and Tse, 2011). Early Childhood Mandarin Corpus, University of Hong Kong. Data analysis indicated that: (1) Mandarin-speaking children produced a repertoire of 11 types of ba construction, and the children in the youngest age group (age 2;6) were able to produce six types of them; (2) children at 4 years old (age 4;6) experienced a critical developmental period of pragmatic use, and at 5 years old (age 5;6) they had attained cognitive and linguistic maturity in understanding the semantic and syntactic features of ba constructions; and (3) there was a significant age effect on the production of three types of ba construction, but no significant association between the children’s gender and their production of ba constructions. These findings offer fresh insights into understanding Chinese children’s innate capacity to understand the co-occurrence constraints concerning the syntactic, semantic and verb features inherent in ba construction, and their developmental ability to denote telic events by resorting to the appropriate ba sentence patterns.

The detection and imaging of cysteine (Cys) are vital for clinical applications, given its critical role as a biomarker in various diseases. In this study, a cationic fluorescent probe (probe T) was synthesized, featuring benzothiazole as a fluorescent group and acrylate as a Cys recognition site. Compared to other biothiols, probe T specifically detects Cys while targeting mitochondria and nuclei. In addition, probe T has low cytotoxicity and successfully imaged mitochondria and nuclei in MCF-7 cells. The fluorescence intensity ratio (F 560 nm /F 500 nm ) of probe T was linearly correlated with the Cys concentration under 360 nm excitation, and the limit of detection was 60.4 nM. When quantifying Cys in complex biological samples, background interferences often lead to biased quantitative results. To mitigate this, chemometric method based on spectral shape deformation (SSD) theory was used to correct the spectral shape and intensity changes caused by background signals. By combining the SSD model with the ratiometric fluorescence sensing method, it was able to accurately quantify Cys in cell lysate, and the quantitative results were consistent with the kit. Therefore, this method not only provides a new diagnostic tool for the study of Cys-related diseases, but also provides an effective solution for background interference correction., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: This study set out to access the performance of quantitative analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in distinguishing between benign periablational enhancement (BPE) and residual tumor (RT) following radiofrequency ablation (RFA)., Materials and Methods: 165 tumors from 124 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma between 2021 and 2023 underwent RFA, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT), and CEUS in less than 24 hours. Analysis was done on the quantitative parameters from RT and BPE found by CEUS., Results: Complete ablation was obtained in 89.1% of lesions. When compared to BPE, RT had significantly greater peak intensity (PI), time to peak (TTP), area under the curve (AUC), ratio of PI and base intensity (PI/BI), and enhanced intensity (EI) values (all p<0.05). PI, TTP, AUC, PI/BI, and EI had large areas under the receiver operating (ROC) curves. A binary logistic regression analysis, respectively, demonstrated that PI and PI/BI were independent favorable prognostic variables., Conclusions: Multiple parameters of quantitative analysis of CEUS can aid in distinguishing immediately between RT and BPE lesions. PI and PI/BI may be a more promising parameter. Immediate CEUS evaluation following RFA may allow immediate retreatment of RT during the same operation time, which reduces patients' hospital stays and financial costs.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between genetic variants of ERAP1 (OMIM: 606832) and psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) susceptibility in Inner Mongolia Han nationality., Methods: For primary screening, the subjects included 142 PsV cases and 100 healthy controls without psoriasis. The 27 exons of ERAP1 gene were sequenced to screen significant genetic variants. For the validation study, the subjects included 1030 PsV cases and 965 healthy controls. A total of 18 mutations were detected for genetic variants of significance in primary screening and previously reported genetic variants., Results: In primary screening stage, 13 genetic variants of ERAP1 showed an association with psoriasis. A total of 18 genetic variants were typed for the validation, and 12 genetic variants were associated with PsV in Inner Mongolia Han population. Stratified analysis showed significant differences in the allele frequencies of 8 ERAP1 genetic variants in cases with positive family history, and significant differences in allele frequencies among 9 ERAP1 genetic variants in patients with negative family history. A risk haplotype (TCCCTCCAGACC) was significantly associated with PsV, and the most risk haplotype was E730/K528/R127/E56., Conclusion: ERAP1 gene mutation may be associated with PsV and HLA-C*06:02 in Han nationality in Inner Mongolia. A risk haplotype of four-nonsynonymous mutation (E730/K528/R127/E56) is associated with PsV., (© 2024 The Author(s). Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Prolamins, proteins derived from plants, have extensive applications in pharmaceutics and food science. Jiuzao is a byproduct of the Baijiu brewing industry, and is a great source of prolamin. Despite its importance, knowledge regarding the extraction techniques and the properties of prolamin derived from Baijiu Jiuzao (PBJ) remains limited. Reverse micelles (RMs) extraction offers an efficient and cost-effective method for purifying proteins. In the present study, prolamin was extracted from Baijiu Jiuzao using RMs extraction and subsequently characterized in terms of its secondary structure, morphology, and particle size distribution. Our findings indicate that the purified prolamin extracted using further RMs extraction possessed higher α-helix content (+13.25%), forming a large-scale protein network, and narrower particle size distributions compared to the crude prolamin obtained by NaOH-ethanol method. This research suggests that RMs extraction has potential applications in extracting prolamin from brewing industry byproducts, offering an environmentally friendly approach to Baijiu Jiuzao recycling.

Telomerase (TE) is a promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for many cancers. Quantification of TE activity in living cells is of great significance in biomedical and clinical research. Conventional fluorescence-based sensors for quantification of intracellular TE may suffer from problems of fast photobleaching and auto-fluorescence of some endogenous molecules, and hence are liable to produce false negative or positive results. To address this issue, a fluorescence-SERS dual-signal nano-system for real-time imaging of intracellular TE was designed by functionalizing a bimetallic Au@Ag nanostructure with 4-p-mercaptobenzoic acid (internal standard SERS tag) and a DNA hybrid complex consisted of a telomerase primer strand and its partially complimentary strand modified with Rhodamine 6G. The bimetallic Au@Ag nanostructure serves as an excellent SERS-enhancing and fluorescence-quenching substrate. Intracellular TE will trigger the extension of the primer strand and cause the shedding of Rhodamine 6G-modified complimentary strand from the nano-system through intramolecular DNA strand displacement, resulting in the recovery of the fluorescence of Rhodamine 6G and decrease in its SERS signal. Both the fluorescence of R6G and the ratio between the SERS signals of 4-p-mercaptobenzoic acid and Rhodamine 6G can be used for in situ imaging of intracellular TE. Experimental results showed that the proposed nano-system was featured with low background, excellent cell internalization efficiency, good biocompatibility, high sensitivity, good selectivity, and robustness to false positive results. It can be used to distinguish cancer cells from normal ones, identify different types of cancer cells, as well as perform absolute quantification of intracellular TE, which endows it with great potential in clinical diagnosis, target therapy and prognosis of cancer patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Variability of metabolic parameters, such as glycemic variability (GV) and systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV), are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, whether these parameters have additive effects on mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) remains unclear., Methods: We retrospectively enrolled patients with CAD from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV database. The highest tertile of variability was defined as high variability. A variability scoring system was established, which assigned 0 points to tertile 1, 1 point to tertile 2, and 2 points to tertile 3 for GV and SBPV., Results: Among 4237 patients with CAD, 400 patients died in hospital, and 967 patients died during 1-year follow-up. High GV and high SBPV were associated with an increased risk of mortality. The effects of GV and SBPV on in-hospital mortality were partially mediated by ventricular arrhythmias (18.0 % and 6.6 %, respectively). The risk of mortality gradually increased with the number of high-variability parameters and increasing variability scores., Conclusions: GV and SBPV have additive effects on the risk of mortality in patients with CAD hospitalized in the ICU. Ventricular arrhythmias partially mediate the effects of GV and SBPV on in-hospital mortality., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Liver fibrosis scores have been demonstrated to be associated with poor prognosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, no studies have compared the prognostic value of these scores in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with and without diabetes. We retrospectively enrolled 1576 AMI patients who underwent PCI. There were 177 all-cause deaths and 111 cardiac deaths during follow-up (median 3.8 years). The non-alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) showed a better prognostic value than the fibrosis-8 (FIB-8) score (Harrell's C-index: 0.703 vs 0.671, P = .014) and the fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score (Harrell's C-index: 0.703 vs 0.648, P < .001) in the overall population. In the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis, the NFS also had the highest area under the curve across all time points. Consistent results were observed in diabetic and non-diabetic populations. Adding the NFS to traditional cardiovascular risk factors significantly improved the prediction both for all-cause mortality (Harrell's C-index: 0.806 vs 0.771, P < .001) and cardiac death (Harrell's C-index: 0.800 vs 0.771, P = .014). The NFS showed a better prognostic value than the FIB-8 score and the FIB-4 score in patients with AMI undergoing PCI, which might be preferable for estimating the risk of mortality regardless of the presence or absence of diabetes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

In our research on naturally occurring sesquiterpenes, eight shizukaol-type dimers, one chlorahololide-type dimer, and one sarcanolide-type dimer were isolated from the roots of Chloranthus fortunei. As the project was implemented, we accidentally discovered that shizukaol-type dimers can be converted into peroxidized chlorahololide-type dimers. This potential change was discovered after simulations of the changes in corresponding shizukaols showed that three peroxide products were generated ( 1-3 ), indicating that peroxidation reactions occurred. HPLC-HR-MS analysis results obtained for the shizukaol derivatives further demonstrate that the reaction occurred, and the type of substituent of small organic ester moieties at positions C-15' and C-13' of unit B were not decisively related to the reaction. Quantum chemical calculations of the mode dimer further demonstrated this phenomenon. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy of the precursor and production revealed the advantageous yield of 4 β -hydroperoxyl production. Additionally, the potential reaction mechanism was speculated and validated using the free energy in the reaction which successfully explained the feasibility of the reaction. Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity of the precursors and products was evaluated, and the products of peroxidation showed better anti-inflammatory activity.

Background: Stress hyperglycemia and glycemic variability (GV) can reflect dramatic increases and acute fluctuations in blood glucose, which are associated with adverse cardiovascular events. This study aimed to explore whether the combined assessment of the stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) and GV provides additional information for prognostic prediction in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU)., Methods: Patients diagnosed with CAD from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV database (version 2.2) between 2008 and 2019 were retrospectively included in the analysis. The primary endpoint was 1-year mortality, and the secondary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Levels of SHR and GV were stratified into tertiles, with the highest tertile classified as high and the lower two tertiles classified as low. The associations of SHR, GV, and their combination with mortality were determined by logistic and Cox regression analyses., Results: A total of 2789 patients were included, with a mean age of 69.6 years, and 30.1% were female. Overall, 138 (4.9%) patients died in the hospital, and 404 (14.5%) patients died at 1 year. The combination of SHR and GV was superior to SHR (in-hospital mortality: 0.710 vs. 0.689, p = 0.012; 1-year mortality: 0.644 vs. 0.615, p = 0.007) and GV (in-hospital mortality: 0.710 vs. 0.632, p = 0.004; 1-year mortality: 0.644 vs. 0.603, p < 0.001) alone for predicting mortality in the receiver operating characteristic analysis. In addition, nondiabetic patients with high SHR levels and high GV were associated with the greatest risk of both in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 10.831, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.494-26.105) and 1-year mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.830, 95% CI 3.175-10.702). However, in the diabetic population, the highest risk of in-hospital mortality (OR = 4.221, 95% CI 1.542-11.558) and 1-year mortality (HR = 2.013, 95% CI 1.224-3.311) was observed in patients with high SHR levels but low GV., Conclusions: The simultaneous evaluation of SHR and GV provides more information for risk stratification and prognostic prediction than SHR and GV alone, contributing to developing individualized strategies for glucose management in patients with CAD admitted to the ICU., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Aims: The stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) is significantly associated with short-term adverse cardiovascular events. However, the association between SHR and mortality after the acute phase of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains controversial., Methods: This study used data from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV database. Patients with ACS hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) were retrospectively enrolled., Results: A total of 2668 ACS patients were enrolled. The incidence of in-hospital and 1-year mortality was 4.7 % and 13.2 %, respectively. The maximum SHR had a higher prognostic value for predicting both in-hospital and 1-year mortality than the first SHR. Adding the maximum SHR to the SOFA score could significantly improve the prognostic prediction. In the landmark analysis at 30 days, the maximum SHR was a risk factor for mortality within 30 days regardless of whether patients had diabetes. However, it was no longer associated with mortality after 30 days in patients with diabetes after adjustment (HR = 1.237 per 1-point increment, 95 % CI 0.854-1.790)., Conclusions: The maximum SHR was significantly associated with mortality in patients with ACS hospitalized in the ICU. However, caution is warranted if it is used for predicting mortality after 30 days in patients with diabetes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background:  The Age-D-dimer-Albumin (ADA), the CREDO-Kyoto, and the PARIS scores have been established to predict thrombotic events. However, the prognostic performance of these scores compared to the GRACE score in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been reported., Methods:  Consecutive AMI patients treated with PCI were retrospectively enrolled at a teaching hospital in China from January 2016 to December 2019. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality and the secondary endpoint was cardiac death. Harrell's C-index and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were used to compare the prognostic value of these scores with the GRACE score for mortality., Results:  Of the 1,578 patients enrolled, the mean age was 62.5 years, and 23.5% were female. During a median follow-up of 3.8 years, 146 all-cause deaths and 80 cardiac deaths occurred. The ADA score showed a better prognostic performance than the GRACE (Harrell's C-index: 0.800 vs. 0.749; p  = 0.003), the CREDO-Kyoto (Harrell's C-index: 0.800 vs. 0.765; NRI = 0.348, p  < 0.001), and the PARIS scores (Harrell's C-index: 0.800 vs. 0.694; NRI = 0.556, p  < 0.001). In the multivariable Cox regression analysis, the ADA score was independently associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.641 per 10-point increment, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.397-1.929) and cardiac death (HR = 1.636 per 10-point increment, 95% CI: 1.325-2.020). The risk of all-cause mortality and cardiac death increased with the rising of the ADA score., Conclusion:  The ADA score showed a better prognostic performance than the GRACE, the CREDO-Kyoto, and the PARIS scores in patients with AMI undergoing PCI, which was a potential predictive tool for mortality., Competing Interests: None declared., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Xiaoliu Pingyi recipe (XLPYR) has been clinically used for several decades, demonstrating favorable therapeutic effects. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the anti-tumor effects of XLPYR and its regulatory role in the vascular microenvironment through in vivo and in vitro experiment., Materials and Methods: In the in vivo study, a C57BL/6J mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) allografts was established, and various interventions were administered for 14 days (Model group: administered normal saline via oral gavage; Pemetrexed (PEM) group: intraperitoneally injected with a solution of pemetrexed, once every 3d; XLPYR group: administered XLPYR via oral gavage; Combination (COMBI) group: received XLPYR via oral gavage simultaneously with intraperitoneal injection of pemetrexed solution). Tumor volume and weight were then compared among the groups. The impact of XLPYR on the tumor vascular microenvironment was assessed using immunohistochemistry staining. In the in vitro study, XLPYR-containing serum was prepared by oral administration to SD rats. The CCK-8 assay evaluated the effect of the serum on the proliferation of normal lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells and LUAD A549 cells, determining the optimal intervention concentrations. The cell migration and invasion abilities were evaluated using the wound-healing assay and Transwell assay, respectively. Finally, ELISA assay measured VEGF secretion levels in the LUAD cell supernatant, and RT-qPCR and Western Blot were employed to detect differences in HIF-1α, VEGFA, Ang-2, and PI3K/Akt mRNA and protein expression levels in both in vivo and in vitro experiments., Results: In the in vivo study, XLPYR significantly inhibited the growth of mice LUAD allografts, with enhanced anti-tumor effects observed with prolonged drug intervention. Immunohistochemistry staining revealed reduced MVD and increased pericyte coverage in all intervention groups. Regarding vascular function, FITC-Dextran extravasation in the tumor tissues of the Model group was significantly higher than in the intervention groups, particularly with lower extravasation in the COMBI group compared to the PEM group. In the in vitro study, XLPYR demonstrated a time- and concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on LUAD cells, and with greater sensitivity in inhibiting LUAD cells compared to BEAS-2B cells. The wound-healing assay and Transwell assay confirmed that XLPYR significantly suppressed the migration and invasion abilities of LUAD cells. ELISA experiments further revealed a significant decrease in VEGF expression in the supernatant of each intervention group. RT-qPCR and Western Blot results showed consistent findings between the in vivo and in vitro experiments. HIF-1α, VEGFA, and Ang-2 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly downregulated in the PEM group, XLPYR group, and COMBI group. There were no significant differences in the expression of PI3K and Akt mRNA and total protein, but the expression levels of phosphorylated p -PI3K and p -Akt were notably downregulated., Conclusion: XLPYR significantly inhibited C57BL/6J mouse LUAD allograft growth and improved the vascular microenvironment, thereby intervening in tumor angiogenesis and inducing vascular normalization. It suppressed LUAD cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while reducing VEGF concentration in the cell supernatant. The regulatory mechanism may involve inhibiting PI3K/Akt protein phosphorylation and downregulating angiogenesis-related factors, such as HIF-1α, VEGF, and Ang-2., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Eleven previously unreported compounds (1-11), including five diterpenoids (1-5) and six sesquiterpenoids (6-11), together with two known diterpenoids (12-13), have been isolated from the roots of Salvia prattii. Their structures were comprehensively elucidated through spectroscopic methods, and their configurations were established using computational 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance and electronic circular dichroism. Compound 1 was found to be an abietane-type diterpenoid with a novel rearrangement generated from the cleavage of the C-4/5 chemical bond, 20-methyl shift, and the rearrangement of the C-10 side chain. Compounds 2-3 were the third and fourth examples of arrangement seco-norabietanes with a spiro-lactone ring. We evaluated all compounds for their protective effects against alcoholic liver diseases (ALD). Compound 2 exhibited potential protective activity and hence can be used as a novel anti-ALD candidate., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Digital platforms and tech giants have led to a rapid shift in values and traditional ways of working. Although "diligence" has long been essential for work success and promotion, employees in modern companies are reluctant to blindly follow this attitude. Many well-known Western companies, such as Facebook and Google, see fun in the workplace as conducive to productivity and creative behavior. We investigated the associations of fun at work with experienced fun, employees' creative behavior, managers' support for fun, and trust in a Chinese context using different scales. Discriminant validity was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. A total of 508 workers from Taiwan and mainland China participated in the study and completed questionnaires. A key finding was that fun at work was positively related to employees' creative behavior. In addition, moderators of managerial support for fun and trust between the workplace and experienced fun were confirmed. These results can serve as a reference for Chinese managers who want to encourage creative behaviors and prevent negative behaviors in the workplace. In practice, results suggest that fun should be allowed more in the workplace because it could contribute to positive outcomes. However, managers should create a workplace that is fun, allows for creativity, and at the same time leads to high productivity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Helicity-resolved Raman spectroscopy (HRRS) can effectively distinguish the Raman modes of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials by phonon symmetry. In this paper, we systematically investigated the phonon helicity selection of basal and edge planes of MoS 2 bulk by HRRS. We find that the symmetry of the crystal structure changes the helicity selection of the E 1g , E 1 2g , and A 1g modes in the edge plane. The theoretical calculation results confirm that the E 1 2g and A 1g modes of the basal plane exhibit a perfect helicity exchange, and the helicity selections of the E 1 2g and A 1g modes of the edge plane are eliminated or weakened. Our study provides references for phonon helicity selection of 2D layered materials represented by MoS 2 .

Background and Objectives: Circular RNAs were known to play vital role in myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI), while the role of CircZNF609 in MIRI remains unclear. This study was aimed to investigate the function of CircZNF609 in MIRI., Methods: Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) model was established to mimic MIRI in vitro . Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate gene transcripts. Cellular localization of CircZNF609 and miR-214-3p were visualized by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8. TUNEL assay and flow cytometry were applied to detect apoptosis. Lactate dehydrogenase was determined by commercial kit. ROS was detected by DCFH-DA probe. Direct interaction of indicated molecules was determined by RIP and dual luciferase assays. Western blot was used to quantify protein levels. In vivo model was established to further test the function of CircZNF609 in MIRI., Results: CircZNF609 was upregulated in H/R model. Inhibition of CircZNF609 alleviated H/R induced apoptosis, ROS generation, restored cell proliferation in cardiomyocytes and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Mechanically, CircZNF609 directly sponged miR-214-3p to release PTGS2 expression. Functional rescue experiments showed that miR-214-3p/PTGS2 axis was involved in the function of circZNG609 in H/R model. Furthermore, data in mouse model revealed that knockdown of CircZNF609 significantly reduced the area of myocardial infarction and decreased myocardial cell apoptosis., Conclusions: CircZNF609 aggravated the progression of MIRI via targeting miR-214-3p/PTGS2 axis, which suggested CircZNF609 might act as a vital modulator in MIRI., Competing Interests: The authors have no financial conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022. The Korean Society of Cardiology.)

Many studies have proven that autophagy plays a pivotal role in the development of depression and it also affects the expression of GLUT4 in the hypothalamus. Xiaoyaosan has been shown to exert antidepressant effects in a variety of ways, but its underlying mechanism by which Xiaoyaosan regulates autophagy as well as GLUT4 in the hypothalamus remains unclear. Thus, in this study, we established a mouse model of depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and set up autophagy blockade as a control to explore whether Xiaoyaosan exerts antidepressant effect by affecting autophagy. We examined the effects of Xiaoyaosan on behaviors exhibited during the open field test, tail suspension test and sucrose preference test, and the changes in autophagy in hypothalamic neurons as well as changes in GLUT4 and the related indicators of glucose metabolism in CUMS-induced depressive mouse model. We found that CUMS- and 3-MA-induced mice exhibited depressive-like behavioral changes, with decreased LC3 expression and increased p62 expression, suggesting decreased levels of autophagy in the mouse hypothalamus. The expression of GLUT4 was also decreased, and it was closely related to the level of autophagy through Rab8 and Rab10. Nevertheless, after the intervention of Xiaoyaosan, the above changes were effectively reversed. These results show that Xiaoyaosan can regulate the autophagy in hypothalamic neurons and the expression of GLUT4 in depressed mice., 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 Yang, Zhu, Kong, Zou, Ma, Li and Chen.)

Background: Dahuang Zhechong pill (DHZCP) improves the inhibitory immune status of mice with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by regulating Treg/Th1 balance., Hypothesis/purpose: To study the multi-material basis and multi-mechanisms of DHZCP against HCC by regulating Treg/Th1 balance in vitro and in vivo., Methods: UPLC-MS/MS was used to detect the dynamic changes in 29 characteristic components of different polar parts of DHZCP. H&E and TUNEL were used to check pathological condition in HCC mice. The number of CD4 + T, CD8 + T, Treg, Th1, and Th1-like Treg cells was counted by flow cytometry. TGF-β, IL-10, IFN-γ, and TNF-α content were detected by ELISA. α-Ketoglutarate and glutamine levels were detected by Trace1310/TSQ8000 GC-MS/MS. p-Smad2, and p-Smad3 protein levels were detected by WB, mRNA expression of Smad2, alanine-serine-cysteine transporter-2, glutaminase, and glutamate dehydrogenase were detected by RT-PCR. Simca-p multivariate data analysis software was used to evaluate the relationship between the different polar parts of DHZCP and the proportion of Treg cells., Results: Water-soluble (PW) and ethyl acetate (PE) polar parts of DHZCP affected the HCC immune system by inhibiting the differentiation of Tregs, reversing the balance of Treg/Th1, and significantly reduced the tumor volume and weight. However, petroleum ether and n-butanol polar parts had no above actions. The changes in emodin, chrysophanol, aloe vera emodin, emodin-8-O-β-D-glycoside, gallic acid, naringenin, baicalein, wogonin, norwogonin, apigenin, chrysin, glycyrrhizin, formononetin, and palmitic acid were closely related to the changes of Treg cells, which is the main material basis of DHZCP inhibition of Treg differentiation. Additionally, PW mainly inhibit the differentiation of Treg cells by affecting the metabolism of hepatoma cells, improving tumor microenvironment acidity, and glutamine depletion. However, PE inhibited the differentiation of Treg cells mainly by regulating the TGF-β/Smad pathway., Conclusion: In this study, accurate analysis of multi-component was combined with pharmacodynamic evaluations to identify the pharmacodynamic substances of DHZCP in regulating Treg/Th1 balance, and clarified the multi-target mechanism of DHZCP to improve tumor immunity. The study style offers a novel approach for pharmacological research on TCM., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier GmbH.)

Background: Recent studies in cancer biology suggest that metabolic glucose reprogramming is a potential target for cancer treatment. However, little is known about drug intervention in the glucose metabolism of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and its related underlying mechanisms., Methods: The crude realgar powder was Nano-grinded to meets the requirements of Nano-pharmaceutical preparations, and Nano-realgar solution (NRS) was prepared for subsequent experiments. Isolation and characterization of lung cancer stem cells (LCSCs) was performed by magnetic cell sorting (MACS) and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Cell viability and intracellular glucose concentration were detected by MTT assay and glucose oxidase (GOD) kit. Protein expressions related to metabolic reprogramming was detected by ELISA assay. Determination of the expression of HIF-1α and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways was carried out by RT-PCR and western blotting analysis. A subcutaneous tumor model in BALB/c-nu mice was successfully established to evaluate the effects of Nano-realgar on tumor growth and histological structure, and the expression of HIF-1α in tumor tissues was measured by immunofluorescence., Results: Nano-realgar inhibits cell viability and induces glucose metabolism in LCSCs, and inhibits protein expression related to metabolic reprogramming in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Nano-realgar downregulated the expression of HIF-1α and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathways in vitro and in vivo. Nano-realgar inhibits tumor growth and changes the histological structure of tumors through in vivo experiments and consequently inhibits the constitutive activation of HIF-1α signaling., Conclusions: These results reveal that Nano-realgar inhibits tumor growth in vitro and in vivo by repressing metabolic reprogramming. This inhibitory effect potentially related to the downregulation HIF-1α expression via PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the expression pattern of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ZFPM2-AS1 in breast cancer (BC) tissues, and its biological influence on clinical features and prognosis in BC patients., Patients and Methods: ZFPM2-AS1 levels in 52 paired BC tissues and adjacent normal ones were detected. Then, the relationship between ZFPM2-AS1 level and clinical features in BC patients was analyzed. Regulatory effects of ZFPM2-AS1 on proliferative and migratory abilities in MCF-7 and SKBR3 cells were assessed. In addition, in vivo regulation of ZFPM2-AS1 in nude mice bearing BC was evaluated. Finally, the interaction between ZFPM2-AS1 and JMJD6 and the involvement of ZFPM2-AS1 in the development of BC were illustrated., Results: The results showed that ZFPM2-AS1 was upregulated in BC tissues, and its high level was linked to advanced tumor stage, high rates of lymphatic metastasis, and distant metastasis, as well as poor prognosis in BC. The knockdown of ZFPM2-AS1 suppressed proliferative and migratory abilities in BC cells. In addition, JMJD6 was verified to be the downstream gene binding to ZFPM2-AS1, which was highly expressed in BC tissues and positively regulated by ZFPM2-AS1. In vivo knockdown of ZFPM2-AS1 in nude mice bearing BC showed a smaller tumor volume and lower tumor weight than controls. In addition, JMJD6 was downregulated in BC tumors extracted from mice with silenced ZFPM2-AS1., Conclusions: LncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 is upregulated in BC and linked to tumor stage, metastasis, and prognosis in BC patients. It aggravates the malignant development of BC via upregulating JMJD6.

Background: Although several studies have proved the relationship between the prognostic value of miRNA-15a and different types of cancer, the result remains controversial. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the prognostic value of miRNA-15a expression level in human cancers., Methods: We enrolled appropriate literature by searching the databases of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Subsequently, we extracted HRs and their 95% CIs and calculated pooled results of miRNA-15a for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Besides, subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and publication bias were also revealed in this study. We also further validated this meta-analysis using the Kaplan-Meier plotter database., Result: 10 studies, including 1616 patients, were embraced in our meta-analysis. The result showed the lower expression of miRNA-15a significantly predicted adverse OS (HR=2.17, 95% CI: 1.41-3.34), but there is no significant association between the expressing level and DFS in cancer patient (HR=2.04, 95% CI: 0.60-6.88). Based on Kaplan-Meier plotter database, we found the same results in bladder Carcinoma, head-neck squamous cell carcinoma, liver hepatocellular carcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, rectum adenocarcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma, and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, but opposite results were found in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and esophageal carcinoma., Conclusion: Low expressing levels of miRNA-15a indicated poor OS, while miRNA-15a can be used as a prediction biomarker in different cancer types.

Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain induced by either central or peripheral nerve injury. MicroRNAs have been recently linked to many diseases, including neuropathic pain. However, the role of miR-7a in neuropathic pain still remains elusive. Thus, we aim to investigate the effects of miR-7a on neuropathic pain based on the spinal nerve ligation rat model. After establishment of spinal nerve ligation rat models, rats were infected with adeno-associated virus-neurofilament light polypeptide, adeno-associated virus-miR-7a or treated with metformin. The paw withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal latency were assessed afterward, and the expression of miR-7a and neurofilament light polypeptide as well as their interaction was determined. Subsequently, miR-7a was overexpressed or silenced in dorsal root ganglion cells to investigate the role of miR-7a in neuropathic pain. Furthermore, the regulatory effect of neurofilament light polypeptide on neuropathic pain was detected using plasmid overexpressing neurofilament light polypeptide. Spinal nerve ligation rat model exhibited upregulation of neurofilament light polypeptide but downregulation of miR-7a. In addition, neurofilament light polypeptide accumulation or miR-7a inhibition decreased paw withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal latency. Then, neurofilament light polypeptide accumulation or miR-7a inhibition was observed to increase the phosphorylation level of signal transducer and activator of transcription. miR-7a was found to directly target neurofilament light polypeptide and downregulate neurofilament light polypeptide. In addition, inhibiting the signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathway was also revealed to increase paw withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal latency. Collectively, our study demonstrated that miR-7a ameliorated neuropathic pain via blocking the signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathway by repressing neurofilament light polypeptide. These findings, if taken further, can be of important clinical significance in treating patients with neuropathic pain.

Swine influenza viruses (SwIVs) cause considerable morbidity and mortality in domestic pigs, resulting in a significant economic burden. Moreover, pigs have been considered to be a possible mixing vessel in which novel strains loom. Here, we developed and evaluated a novel M2e-multiple antigenic peptide (M2e-MAP) as a supplemental antigen for inactivated H3N2 vaccine to provide cross-protection against two main subtypes of SwIVs, H1N1 and H3N2. The novel tetra-branched MAP was constructed by fusing four copies of M2e to one copy of foreign T helper cell epitopes. A high-yield reassortant H3N2 virus was generated by plasmid based reverse genetics. The efficacy of the novel H3N2 inactivated vaccines with or without M2e-MAP supplementation was evaluated in a mouse model. M2e-MAP conjugated vaccine induced strong antibody responses in mice. Complete protection against the heterologous swine H1N1 virus was observed in mice vaccinated with M2e-MAP combined vaccine. Moreover, this novel peptide confers protection against lethal challenge of A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1). Taken together, our results suggest the combined immunization of reassortant inactivated H3N2 vaccine and the novel M2e-MAP provided cross-protection against swine and human viruses and may serve as a promising approach for influenza vaccine development.

Au, Se and porphyrin are widely used components in the design of anticancer drugs, but their combination has never been referred to. In this work, a Se-modified porphyrin Au(III) complex, [AuTPP-Se]Cl, was designed and synthesized as a potential anticancer agent. This compound exhibits remarkable antiproliferative activity on all the six tested cancer cells. Its potency on HepG2 is even ten times higher than that of CDDP. The synergistic action among Au, Se and porphyrin components was validated. Mechanism study showed that both the induction of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and the arrest of cell cycle contribute to the anticancer activity of [AuTPP-Se]Cl., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Swine influenza (SI) is an acute, highly contagious respiratory disease caused by swine influenza A viruses (SwIVs), and it poses a potential global threat to human health. Classical H1N1 (cH1N1) SwIVs are still circulating and remain the predominant subtype in the swine population in China. In this study, a high-growth reassortant virus (GD/PR8) harboring the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes from a novel cH1N1 isolate in China, A/Swine/Guangdong/1/2011 (GD/11) and six internal genes from the high-growth A/Puerto Rico/8/34(PR8) virus was generated by plasmid-based reverse genetics and tested as a candidate seed virus for the preparation of an inactivated vaccine. The protective efficacy of this vaccine was evaluated in mice and pigs challenged with GD/11 virus. Prime and boost inoculation of GD/PR8 vaccine yielded high-titer serum hemagglutination inhibiting (HI) antibodies and IgG antibodies for GD/11 in both mice and pigs. Complete protection of mice and pigs against cH1N1 SIV challenge was observed, with significantly fewer lung lesions and reduced viral shedding in vaccine-inoculated animals compared with unvaccinated control animals. Our data demonstrated that the GD/PR8 may serve as the seed virus for a promising SwIVs vaccine to protect the swine population.

Novel reassortant H3N2 swine influenza viruses (SwIV) with the matrix gene from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus have been isolated in many countries as well as during outbreaks in multiple states in the United States, indicating that H3N2 SwIV might be a potential threat to public health. Since southern China is the world's largest producer of pigs, efficient vaccines should be developed to prevent pigs from acquiring H3N2 subtype SwIV infections, and thus limit the possibility of SwIV infection at agricultural fairs. In this study, a high-growth reassortant virus (GD/PR8) was generated by plasmid-based reverse genetics and tested as a candidate inactivated vaccine. The protective efficacy of this vaccine was evaluated in mice by challenging them with another H3N2 SwIV isolate [A/Swine/Heilongjiang/1/05 (H3N2) (HLJ/05)]. Prime and booster inoculation with GD/PR8 vaccine yielded high-titer serum hemagglutination inhibiting antibodies and IgG antibodies. Complete protection of mice against H3N2 SwIV was observed, with significantly reduced lung lesion and viral loads in vaccine-inoculated mice relative to mock-vaccinated controls. These results suggest that the GD/PR8 vaccine may serve as a promising candidate for rapid intervention of H3N2 SwIV outbreaks in China.

Aim: To explore the protective effect and the relevant mechanisms of Fufang Biejia Ruangan Pills (FFBJRGP) on hepatic fibrosis in vivo and in vitro., Methods: Hepatic fibrosis was induced by carbon tetrachloride composite factors. Adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal control group; hepatic fibrosis model group; FFBJRGP-treated group at a daily dose of 0.55 g/kg; and colchicine-treated group at a daily dose of 0.1 g/kg. The effects of FFBJRGP on liver function, serum levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), type IV collagen (CIV), type III procollagen (PC III), laminin (LN), histopathology, and expression of transforming growth factor (TGF-β1) and Smad3 in hepatic fibrosis were evaluated in vivo. The effects of FFBJRGP on survival rate, hydroxyproline content and cell cycle distribution were further detected in vitro., Results: Compared with the hepatic fibrosis model group, rats treated with FFBJRGP showed a reduction in hepatic collagen deposition and improvement in hepatic lesions. Compared with those of the model group, the activities of alanine aminotransferase (62.0 ± 23.7 U/L) and aspartate aminotransferase (98.8 ± 40.0 U/L) in the FFBJRGP-treated group were decreased (50.02 ± 3.7 U/L and 57.2 ± 30.0 U/L, respectively, P < 0.01). Compared with those in the model group, the levels of PCIII (35.73 ± 17.90 μg/mL), HA (563.82 ± 335.54 ng/mL), LN (89.57 ± 7.59 ng/mL) and CIV (29.20 ± 6.17 ng/mL) were decreased to 30.18 ± 9.41, 456.18 ± 410.83, 85.46 ± 7.51 and 28.02 ± 9.45 ng/mL, respectively. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting also revealed that expression of TGF-β1 and Smad3 were down-regulated in vivo. Cell proliferation was inhibited, the level of hydroxyproline was decreased compared with the control group (P < 0.01), and the cell cycle was redistributed when exposed to FFBJRGP in vitro., Conclusion: FFBJRGP inhibits hepatic fibrosis in vivo and in vitro, which is probably associated with downregulation of fibrogenic signal transduction of the TGF-β-Smad pathway.

Background: Vaccination is considered as the most effective preventive method to control influenza. The hallmark of influenza virus is the remarkable variability of its major surface glycoproteins, HA and NA, which allows the virus to evade existing anti-influenza immunity in the target population. So it is necessary to develop a novel vaccine to control animal influenza virus. Also we know that the ectodomain of influenza matrix protein 2 (M2e) is highly conserved in animal influenza A viruses, so a vaccine based on the M2e could avoid several drawbacks of the traditional vaccines. In this study we designed a novel tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) based vaccine, which was constructed by fusing four copies of M2e to one copy of foreign T helper (Th) cell epitope, and then investigated its immune responses., Results: Our results show that the M2e-MAP induced strong M2e-specific IgG antibody,which responses following 2 doses immunization in the presence of Freunds' adjuvant. M2e-MAP vaccination limited viral replication substantially. Also it could attenuate histopathological damage in the lungs of challenged mice and counteracted weight loss. M2e-MAP-based vaccine protected immunized mice against the lethal challenge with PR8 virus., Conclusions: Based on these findings, M2e-MAP-based vaccine seemed to provide useful information for the research of M2e-based influenza vaccine. Also it show huge potential to study vaccines for other similarly viruses.

The total partition function was calculated for carbon monoxide with approximation. Using the dipole moment function and the wave function with Morse approximation, we computed the matrix elements of vibrational-rotational transition and absorption coefficient at normal and high temperature. The computed results agreed with the HITRAN database and literature, which shows that the calculation of total partition function and matrix elements of vibrational-rotational transition is reliable. Furthermore, the absorption coefficient and radiant spectrum are also presented at higher temperature of 4 000 and 6 000 K.

Background: Pigs have been implicated as mixing reservoir for the generation of new pandemic influenza strains, control of swine influenza has both veterinary and public health significance. Unlike human influenza vaccines, strains used for commercially available swine influenza vaccines are not regularly replaced, making the vaccines provide limited protection against antigenically diverse viruses. It is therefore necessary to develop broadly protective swine influenza vaccines that are efficacious to both homologous and heterologous virus infections. In this study, two forms of DNA vaccines were constructed, one was made by fusing M2e to consensus H3HA (MHa), which represents the majority of the HA sequences of H3N2 swine influenza viruses. Another was made by fusing M2e and a conserved CTL epitope (NP147-155) to consensus H3HA (MNHa). Their protective efficacies against homologous and heterologous challenges were tested., Results: BALB/c mice were immunized twice by particle-mediated epidermal delivery (gene gun) with the two DNA vaccines. It was shown that the two vaccines elicited substantial antibody responses, and MNHa induced more significant T cell-mediated immune response than MHa did. Then two H3N2 strains representative of different evolutional and antigenic clusters were used to challenge the vaccine-immunized mice (homosubtypic challenge). Results indicated that both of the DNA vaccines prevented homosubtypic virus infections completely. The vaccines' heterologous protective efficacies were further tested by challenging with a H1N1 swine influenza virus and a reassortant 2009 pandemic strain. It was found that MNHa reduced the lung viral titers significantly in both challenge groups, histopathological observation showed obvious reduction of lung pathogenesis as compared to MHa and control groups., Conclusions: The combined utility of the consensus HA and the conserved M2e and CTL epitope can confer complete and partial protection against homologous and heterologous challenges, respectively, in mouse model. This may provide a basis for the development of universal swine influenza vaccines.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess outcomes and safety of consecutive neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB) technique., Design: Retrospective clinical data analysis., Setting: The study was conducted in three pain departments and academic medical center., Patients: The subject of this study was 12 patients with terminal visceral (mostly pancreatic) cancer who failed conservative measures., Interventions: Twelve celiac plexus alcohol neurolytic procedures were performed for pain control after a positive diagnostic block., Materials and Methods: Twelve patients with terminal visceral (mostly pancreatic) cancer who failed conservative measures were managed by consecutive NCPB guided by computed tomography at the pain department of Beijing Xuanwu Hospital between January 2005 and June 2010. The present study evaluated the efficacy of consecutive NCPB technique with regard to pain relief, as well as its adverse effects and complications., Results: The efficacy of consecutive NCPB technique with regard to pain relief was observed by a marked decrease in the visual analog score and in opioid consumption, with preprocedural mean values dropping from (8.7±1.0) and (155±56)mg/day of morphine to (1.8±1.1) and (0)mg/day at the first postprocedural visit, respectively. These results persisted during the 6-month follow-up period or until death. Minor adverse effects (moderate diarrhea and mild hypotension) were frequent (N=3, and N=4, respectively), and severe complications occurred in one patient with a transient paraparesis (N=1). No procedure-related mortality was observed., Conclusions: The consecutive NCPB technique can provide analgesia and the alleviation of the secondary undesirable effects of analgesic drugs resulting from the decrease of morphine consumption in patients with upper abdominal malignancies. In the subject group, the reliability of its analgesic effect is high, with lower rate of severe complications., (Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objective: To study the major social-psychological factors contributing to male juvenile delinquency., Methods: One hundred and thirty-seven cases of male juvenile delinquents (delinquent group) and 145 aged-matched male students (control group) were enrolled in this case-control study. A questionnaire survey was conducted using the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List, the Coping Style Questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale-Chinese version, and the Social Support Rating Scale., Results: The monovariate analysis showed that the total score and the scores of some factors of negative life events, the scores of immature coping styles and family conflicts, and the proportion of broken families in the delinquent group were significantly higher than those in the control group. In contrast, the scores of educational levels, study stress factor in the negative life events, mature coping styles, family environments and social supports were significantly lower in the delinquent group than those in the control group. The multivariate factors analysis showed that 7 variables were enrolled into the discriminatory equations, including negative life events (interpersonal relationship and healthy adaptation), self-condemn styles, family conflicts, subjective supports, objective supports, and utilization of social supports. The total accuracy of this equation was 92.2%., Conclusions: Negative life events in the interpersonal relationship and healthy adaptation, self-condemn styles, family conflicts, and weak social support system may be major social-psychological factors contributing to male juvenile delinquency.

In this study, we decided to use low doses of memantine pretreatment to examine the roles of the immune function in cocaine-supported conditioning. Cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) was used to assess the hedonic value and/or reinforcing efficacy of cocaine and cocaine-supported conditioning. Systemic pretreatment with memantine (20, 2.0, 0.2, and 0.02 mg/kg/injection) 30 min before each cocaine and saline conditioning trial abolished the acquisition of cocaine-induced CPP in mice. Even a total of 0.12 mg/kg memantine pretreatment in three days was effective in diminishing cocaine-induced CPP. Three consecutive days of cocaine conditioning increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) but decreased tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (Acb). Interestingly, pretreatment with memantine at the lowest effective dose (0.02 mg/kg/injection) reversed cocaine conditioning-enhanced IL-6 and -decreased TNF-α levels in these brain regions. Nevertheless, such a memantine dosing regimen did not affect dopamine metabolism in mPFC and Acb. Single memantine (0.02 mg/kg) injection did not acutely affect mouse locomotor activity or cocaine-increased locomotor activity. Similar memantine dosing regimen was ineffective to affect the maintenance of cocaine-induced CPP. Finally, intra-mPFC infusion of recombinant IL-6, but not thalidomide, reversed memantine (0.02 mg/kg/injection × 6)-decreased cocaine-induced CPP. These results, taken together, suggest that cocaine conditioning-enhanced IL-6 in mPFC may be, in part, involved in the acquisition of cocaine-induced CPP. Moreover, an extremely low dose of memantine may decrease the acquisition of cocaine-induced CPP by reversing cocaine conditioning-increased IL-6 levels in mPFC., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pandemic strains of influenza A virus might arise by genetic reassortment between viruses from different hosts. Pigs are susceptible to both human and avian influenza viruses and have been proposed to be intermediate hosts or mixing vessels, for the generation of pandemic influenza viruses through reassortment or adaptation to the mammalian host. In this study, we summarize and report for the first time the coexistence of 10 (A-J) genotypes in pigs in China by analyzing the eight genes of 28 swine H9N2 viruses isolated in China from 1998 to 2007. Swine H9N2 viruses in genotype A and B were completely derived from Y280-like and Shanghai/F/98-like viruses, respectively, which indicated avian-to-pig interspecies transmission of H9N2 viruses did exist in China. The other eight genotype (C-J) viruses might be double-reassortant viruses, in which six genotype (E-J) viruses possessed 1-4 H5-like gene segments indicating they were reassortants of H9 and H5 viruses. In conclusion, genetic diversity of H9N2 influenza viruses from pigs in China provides further evidence that avian to pig interspecies transmission of H9N2 viruses did occur and might result in the generation of new reassortant viruses by genetic reassortment with swine H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 influenza viruses, therefore, these swine H9N2 influenza viruses might be a potential threat to human health and continuing to carry out swine influenza virus surveillance in China is of great significance., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Trapdoor-type orbital fractures usually associated with marked motility restriction are common in the pediatric age group. We reviewed the characterization and surgical outcomes of orbital blow-out fracture in children., Method: This is a retrospective review study. From Jan. 1997 to Dec. 2006, 75 patients under 18 years of age with orbital blow-out fractures were seen in the department of ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. The medical records and computed tomography scans of these patients were reviewed., Results: Forty-one patients were identified whose records were adequate to compare data. The mean age of the patients was 12.7 years and the mean duration of follow-up was 6.5 months. The most common causes of injury were assault (43.9%) and motor vehicle accidents (29.3%). Ninety-five percent of the patients had diplopia and ninety-three percent had extraocular muscle limitation. The incidence of trapdoor fracture in pediatric orbital fracture was 68.3%. Orbital blow-out fractures in these children most frequently involved the isolated orbital floor. The average time to surgical intervention was 23 days after injury; 53.8% patients received immediate (0-2 days) or early (3- 14 days) repair. Improvement from preoperative supraduction limitation was statistically significant in the immediate (0-2 days), early (3-14 days) and delayed (15-30 days) surgical groups., Conclusion: Orbital blow-out fractures in our pediatric patients were usually the result of assault or motor vehicle accident. Surgical repair within one month of injury led to better improvement and more complete resolution of ocular motility limitation and diplopia than late repairs.

Aim: To explore the anti-fibrotic effect of Haobie Yangyin Ruanjian decoction (HYRD) on CCl(4)-induced hepatic fibrosis in rats and its modulation on the transforming growth factor (TGF) beta-Smad signaling pathway., Methods: Fifty-six healthy Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control group (n = 6), CCl(4)-induced hepatic fibrosis group (n = 14) and three treatment groups (the treated rats received HYRD via oral administration at daily dosages of 8.2, 2.5 and 0.82 g/kg, respectively) of HYRD (n = 12, respectively). Experimental hepatic fibrosis was induced by subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride solution (CCl(4) dissolved in peanut oil, 4:6, V/V) with 0.5 mL/100 g body weight for the first time, and then 0.3 mL/100 g body weight twice a week for 8 wk. In the former 2 wk, rats were raised by feedstuff I (80% corn meal, 20% lard, 0.5% cholesterol). After 2 wk, they were raised by feedstuff II (corn meal and 0.5% cholesterol). Except for the control group, 30% alcohol solution was given orally to each rat every other day from the beginning, 1 mL for each rat. Liver function parameters and hepatic hydroxyproline content were detected by chromatometry. Serum levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), type IV collagen (CIV), type III precollagen (PCIII) and laminin (LN) were assayed with radioimmunoassay. Deposition of collagen was observed with hematoxylin-eosin staining and collagen staining. Gene expression of TGFbeta1 and Smad3 were detected with real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively., Results: The serum levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase were increased in the model group compared with the control group (P < 0.01), and they were decreased in the three treatment groups compared with the model group. The serum levels of total protein and albumin were decreased in the model group and increased in the three treatment groups. The hepatic hydroxyproline content and serum levels of PCIII, HA, LN and CIV were markedly increased in the model group compared with the control group, and decreased in the treatment groups. The gene expression of TGFbeta1 and Smad3 was enhanced in the model group compared with the control group, and HYRD could down regulate their expression., Conclusion: HYRD can inhibit hepatic fibrosis induced by CCl(4) in rats, which is probably associated with its down-regulation on fibrogenic signal transduction of TGFbeta-Smad pathway.

Tracing the characters of very ancient proteins represents one of the biggest challenges in the study of origin of life. Although there are no primitive protein fossils remaining, the characters of very ancient proteins can be traced by molecular fossils embedded in modern proteins. In this paper, first the prior findings in this area are outlined and then a new strategy is proposed to address the intriguing issue. It is interesting to find that various molecular fossils and different protein datasets lead to similar conclusions on the features of very ancient proteins, which can be summarized as follows: (i) the architectures of very ancient proteins belong to the following folds: P-loop containing nucleoside triphosphate hydrolases (c.37), TIM beta/alpha-barrel (c.1), NAD(P)-binding Rossmann-fold domains (c.2), Ferredoxin-like (d.58), Flavodoxin-like (c.23) and Ribonuclease H-like motif (c.55); (ii) the functions of very ancient proteins are related to the metabolisms of purine, pyrimidine, porphyrin, chlorophyll and carbohydrates; (iii) a certain part of very ancient proteins need cofactors (such as ATP, NADH or NADPH) to work normally.

Wafer grinding extraction solution was passed through a supported liquid membrane (SLM) that contained PC88A (2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono 2-ethylhexyl ester) as a carrier, to separate gallium from arsenic by selective permeation. The SLM separation process was conducted under various conditions. The kind of membrane supporter, the pH of the feed, the feed concentration, and the HCl content in the strip governed the concentration of gallium and arsenic in the strip phase. The conditions determined as optimal in the laboratory test were used to perform the pilot test. Well separation between gallium and arsenic was performed in both laboratory and pilot tests. Hydrophobic membrane polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) with 0.2 microm pores was the best of three membrane supporters. The most efficient separation was obtained using an acidic feed (pH at 1.8) with 1000 ppm gallium. Over a 12-h period of stripping, the striped Ga concentration increased with the HCl concentration from 0.5 to 2.0 M and then leveled off. The recovery rate in the pilot test exceeded that on the laboratory scale because the membrane area was greater. The pilot test yielded a high recovery percentage of gallium (at 91%) and a low recovery of arsenic (merely 1.3 ppm) in the strip over 72 h.

This work investigates the separation of gallium and arsenic from the wafer grinding extraction solution. The wafer grinding extraction solution was generated using hot and concentrated nitric acid. In this study, adsorption technology was employed to remove the toxic arsenic from the extraction solution. Ferric hydroxide was the adsorbent employed to adsorb arsenic. The effects of pH value, contact time, absorbent dosage, and chloride ion concentration on the efficiency of adsorption of gallium and arsenic were investigated. The optimal conditions for recovering gallium and removing arsenic were a raw pH of 0.2, a contact time of 6min and a ferric hydroxide concentration of 30.4g/L. Additionally, adding chloric ions reduces the residual percentage of gallium (ReGa) and the percentage of arsenic removed (RAs). Under these optimal conditions, ReGa and RAs are 100 and 80%, respectively.

Objective: To investigate the chromosome aberrations and carcinogenicity of CHO-dhfr- cell induced by integration of plasmid containing S+ and Pre S1 fusion gene of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)., Methods: The plasmid pCHBSS1G was constructed with S+ Pre S1 of HBsAg. CHO-dhfr- cells were transformed with this recombinant plasmid DNA and CHO cells lines with integrated DNA were cloned and named GdSS118. The GdSS1 18 cell lines secreting the S+ Pre S1 fusion protein of HBsAg at high level were developed by screening in increased concentration of MTX and MSX in cultured media. To make sample of cells chromosome, the cells integrated DNA were subcutaneously injected into nude mouse., Results: The CHO-dhfr- cell lines integrated with S and Pre S1 fusion protein of HBsAg were developed and named GdSS1-18 cell lines. The frequencies and type of chromosome aberrations of the GdSS1-18 cell lines with different passage generations were 11%, 56% and 29%, respectively, while that of the control CHO-dhfr- cell lines was 6%. There was no change in the mode of chromosomes, both cell lines having 20 chromosome s. Both cell lines were non-oncogenic in nude mouse., Conclusions: The chromosome aberration of CHO-dhfr- cells with integrated DNA were obviously higher than that of the original CHO-dhfr- cells without integrated DNA. Both cell lines were non oncogenic in nude mouse.

Virologic and seroepidemiologic studies were carried out during an epidemic of dengue fever on Hainan Island in 1980. Dengue 3 virus was isolated from 46 of 77 acute phase sera and from 1 of 10 pools of adult Aedes aegypti. Dengue 1 virus virus was isolated from a single acute phase serum. Seroepidemiologic investigations showed that 74% of healthy individuals in the epidemic area had antibody to dengue virus compared to 54% in an area where epidemic dengue had occurred in 1978, and less than or equal to 8% in nonepidemic areas. There were no significant differences in antibody prevalence for different sex and age groups.