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Accumulated evidence suggests that the C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) modulates migration of inflammatory cells in several pathological conditions. This study tested the hypothesis that lack of CCL5 would modulate the recruitment of inflammatory cells to painful, inflamed sites and could attenuate pain in a murine chronic neuropathic pain model. Nociceptive sensitization, immune cell infiltration, multiple cytokine expression, and opioid peptide expression in damaged nerves were studied in wild-type (CCL5 +/+) and CCL5-deficient (CCL5 -/-) mice after partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL). Results indicated that CCL5 -/- mice had less behavioral hypersensitivity after PSNL. Macrophage infiltration and proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and interferon-γ) in damaged nerves following PSNL were significantly decreased in CCL5 -/- mice. Conversely, several antiinflammatory cytokine (IL-4 and IL-10) proteins were significantly increased in CCL5 -/- animals and the expression of enkephalin, β-endorphin, and dynorphin mRNA was significantly lower than in wild-type control mice. These results represent the first evidence that CCL5 is capable of regulating the pathway that controls hyperalgesia at the level of the peripheral injured site in a murine chronic neuropathic pain model. We demonstrated that lack of CCL5 modulated cell infiltration and the proinflammatory milieu within the injured nerve. Attenuated behavioral hypersensitivity in CCL5 -/- mice observed in the current study could be a result of decreased macrophage infiltration, mobilization, and functional ability at injured sites. Collectively, the present study results suggest that CCL5 receptor antagonists may ultimately provide a novel class of analgesics for therapeutic intervention in chronic neuropathic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the protective effect of propofol against hypoxia-induced apoptosis in alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells and to explore whether hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is involved in this process. Primary cultured rat ATII cells were randomly assigned to one of the following four groups, namely, Group C: treated under normoxia (21% O(2)), Group P(20): treated with propofol (20 μM) under normoxia (21% O(2)), Group H: treated under hypoxia (5% O(2)), and Group P(20)-H: pre-treated with propofol (20 μM) before hypoxia exposure (5% O(2)). Apoptosis in ATII cells was detected by Annexin V-FITC binding using FACScan. Expressions of HIF-1α and Bnip3L mRNA and protein in ATII cells were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analysis, respectively. Hypoxia exposure (Group H) significantly increased HIF-1α protein expression (P<0.01 vs. Group C) and significantly promoted apoptosis in ATII cells (P<0.01 vs. Group C). Expression of Bnip3L, a target gene of HIF-1α, was also significantly increased at both mRNA and protein levels in response to hypoxia (P<0.01 vs. Group C). Pretreatment with propofol (20 μM, Group P(20)-H) significantly decreased HIF-1α protein expression (P<0.01 vs. Group H) and significantly inhibited apoptosis in ATII cells (P<0.01 vs. Group H), accompanied by decreased expression of Bnip3L at both mRNA and protein levels (P<0.01 vs. Group H). Propofol (20 μM) can attenuate hypoxia-induced apoptosis in ATII cells and inhibit HIF-1α-hypoxia responsive element (HRE) axis involving Bnip3L, which may partly mediate the cytoprotective effects of propofol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textiles with self-cleaning and anti-icing capabilities in cold climates are essential for outdoor workers and enthusiasts. Superhydrophobic modification of textile surfaces is effective in imparting these characteristics. Although there are numerous methods available for manufacturing superhydrophobic textiles, careful consideration is warranted for environmental concerns over fluorochemicals, stability of superhydrophobic coatings, and fabric breathability. In this work, we utilized biomass resources such as tung oil and behenic acid, along with zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8), to modify cotton fabrics, thereby creating an innovative behenic acid/tung oil/ZIF-8 modified cotton (BTZC) fabric with anti-icing and self-cleaning features. This material manifests a unique nanoflower-shaped surface morphology, demonstrating exceptional superhydrophobicity with a static water contact angle (CA) of 162° and a sliding angle (SA) of 2°. Moreover, BTZC excels in its thermal stability, breathability, and resistance to icing. Equally impressive is its robust stability, as evidenced through rigorous testing under continuous washing and abrasion, sustained high and low temperatures, extreme pH environments, and immersion in various chemical solvents. BTZC presents as a fluorine-free, durable, economically viable alternative for outdoor textile applications, marking substantial progress in the utilization of biomass and metal-organic framework materials in the textile industry and promising implications for value enhancement., 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.)

A substantial proportion of diabetic patients suffer a debilitating and persistent pain state, known as peripheral painful neuropathy that necessitates improved therapy or antidote. Purpurin, a natural anthraquinone compound from Rubia tinctorum L., has been reported to possess antidepressant activity in preclinical studies. As antidepressants have been typically used as standard agents against persistent neuropathic pain, this study aimed to probe the effect of purpurin on neuropathic pain associated with streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes in male C57BL6J mice. The Hargreaves test and the von Frey test were used to assess the pain-like behaviors, shown as heat hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia respectively. Chronic treatment of diabetic mice with purpurin not only ameliorated the established symptoms of heat hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia, but also arrested the development of these pain states given preemptively at low doses. Although purpurin treatment hardly impacted on metabolic disturbance in diabetic mice, it ameliorated exacerbated oxidative stress in pain-associated tissues, improved mitochondrial bioenergetics in dorsal root ganglion neurons and restored nerve conduction velocity in sciatic nerves. Notably, the analgesic actions of purpurin were modified by pharmacologically manipulating redox status and mitochondrial bioenergetics. These findings unveil the analgesic activity of purpurin, an effect that is causally associated with its bioenergetics-enhancing and antioxidant effects, in mice with type 1 diabetes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Problem: No studies have been conducted to examine the relationships between perceived stress, positive/negative dyadic coping, and prenatal depression symptoms in Chinese couples with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)., Background: GDM is a stressful event for pregnant women and their partners, which may result in clinically significant prenatal depression symptoms in couples., Aim: This study aims to examine the relationships and differences in perceived stress, positive/negative dyadic coping, and prenatal depression symptoms between Chinese pregnant women with GDM and their partners and to explore the mediating role of positive/negative dyadic coping., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangzhou, China, from January to October 2021. 402 pairs of GDM couples completed the questionnaires, including the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Chinese version of the Dyadic Coping Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Dyadic data was analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model., Findings: 37.6 % of pregnant women with GDM and 24.6 % of their partners experienced clinically significant prenatal depression symptoms. Depression symptoms in couples mutually influence each other. Perceived stress was directly or indirectly related to their and partners' prenatal depression symptoms in GDM couples, with negative dyadic coping acting as a mediator. Maternal negative dyadic coping was also a partner-mediator., Discussion: The findings of the present study may provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of the effect of the interpersonal interaction between the couples as a dyad on prenatal depression symptoms in Chinese context., Conclusion: There were intrapersonal and interpersonal associations among perceived stress, negative dyadic coping, and prenatal depression symptoms in pregnant women with GDM and their partners. It suggests a need for screening clinically significant prenatal depression symptoms and decreasing perceived stress and negative dyadic coping among couples with GDM with a focus on pregnant women with GDM., 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 Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: CD46 has been revealed to be a key factor in malignant transformation and cancer treatment. However, the clinical significance of CD46 in cervical cancer remains unclear, and this study aimed to evaluate its role in cervical cancer diagnosis and prognosis evaluation., Methods: A total of 180 patients with an initial diagnosis of cervical cancer were enrolled at Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, China. The plasma levels of soluble CD46 (sCD46) and the expression of membrane-bound CD46 (mCD46) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively., Results: CD46 was found to be significantly upregulated in cervical cancer tissues vs. normal tissues, while no CD46 staining was detected in paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. CD46 staining was more pronounced in cancer cells than in stromal cells in situ (in tissues). Moreover, the plasma levels of sCD46 were able to some extent discriminate between cancer patients and healthy women (AUC=0.6847, 95% CI:0.6152-0.7541). Analysis of Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that patients with low CD46 expression had slightly longer overall survival (OS) than patients with high CD46 expression in the tumor microenvironment, but no significant difference. Univariate Cox regression analysis revealed that CD46 ( P =0.034) is an independent risk factor for OS in cervical cancer patients., Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that cervical cancer patients exhibit aberrant expression of CD46, which is closely associated with a poor prognosis, suggesting that CD46 plays a key role in promoting cervical carcinogenesis and that CD46 could serve as a promising potential target for precision therapy for cervical cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Yu, Yuan, Yan, Zhang and Xu.)

Currently, the number of pregnant women at high risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and using assisted reproductive technology (ART) is increasing. The present study aims to explore the relationship between ART and physical activity in Chinese pregnant women at high risk for GDM in early pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a regional teaching hospital in Guangzhou, China, between July 2022 and March 2023. Three hundred fifty-five pregnant women at high risk for GDM in early pregnancy completed the Chinese version of the Pregnant Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ), the Pregnancy Physical Activity Knowledge Scale, the Pregnancy Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Scale, the Pregnancy Physical Activity Social Support Scale, and a sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics data sheet. Compared to women who conceived naturally, women who used ART were more likely to be 35 years or older, unemployed, primigravidae, and to have intentionally planned their pregnancies. Women who used ART had significantly lower levels of physical activity and self-efficacy compared to their counterparts who conceived naturally. Over half (55.6%) of women who used ART reported being physically inactive, and those with lower self-efficacy, as well as the unemployed, were significantly more likely to be inactive. Physical inactivity is a critical clinical issue among women who use ART, especially in the context of GDM risk. Future research should develop and test physical activity programs, including enhancing physical activity self-efficacy for women who use ART. Patient or public contribution: In this study, survey questionnaires were completed by participants among Chinese pregnant women at high risk for GDM in early pregnancy., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The two most commonly used airway management techniques during general anaesthesia are supraglottic airway devices and tracheal tubes. In older patients undergoing elective non-cardiothoracic surgery under general anaesthesia with positive pressure ventilation, we hypothesised that a composite measure of in-hospital postoperative pulmonary complications would be less frequent when a supraglottic airway device was used compared with a tracheal tube. We studied patients aged ≥ 70 years in 17 clinical centres. Patients were allocated randomly to airway management with a supraglottic airway device or a tracheal tube. Between August 2016 and April 2020, 2900 patients were studied, of whom 2751 were included in the primary analysis (1387 with supraglottic airway device and 1364 with a tracheal tube). Pre-operatively, 2431 (88.4%) patients were estimated to have a postoperative pulmonary complication risk index of 1-2. Postoperative pulmonary complications, mostly coughing, occurred in 270 of 1387 patients (19.5%) allocated to a supraglottic airway device and 342 of 1364 patients (25.1%) assigned to a tracheal tube (absolute difference -5.6% (95%CI -8.7 to -2.5), risk ratio 0.78 (95%CI 0.67-0.89); p < 0.001). Among otherwise healthy older patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia with intra-operative positive pressure ventilation of their lungs, there were fewer postoperative pulmonary complications when the airway was managed with a supraglottic airway device compared with a tracheal tube., (© 2023 Association of Anaesthetists.)

Background: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is caused by overdistension of the alveoli by the repetitive recruitment and derecruitment of alveolar units. This study aims to investigate the potential role and mechanism of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a metabolic regulator secreted by the liver, in VILI development., Methods: Serum FGF21 concentrations were determined in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia and in a mouse VILI model. Lung injury was compared between FGF21-knockout (KO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. Recombinant FGF21 was administrated in vivo and in vitro to determine its therapeutic effect., Results: Serum FGF21 levels in patients and mice with VILI were significantly higher than in those without VILI. Additionally, the increment of serum FGF21 in anesthesia patients was positively correlated with the duration of ventilation. VILI was aggravated in FGF21-KO mice compared with WT mice. Conversely, the administration of FGF21 alleviated VILI in both mouse and cell models. FGF21 reduced Caspase-1 activity, suppressed the mRNA levels of Nlrp3, Asc, Il-1β, Il-18, Hmgb1 and Nf-κb, and decreased the protein levels of NLRP3, ASC, IL-1β, IL-18, HMGB1 and the cleaved form of GSDMD., Conclusions: Our findings reveal that endogenous FGF21 signaling is triggered in response to VILI, which protects against VILI by inhibiting the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD pyroptosis pathway. These results suggest that boosting endogenous FGF21 or the administration of recombinant FGF21 could be promising therapeutic strategies for the treatment of VILI during anesthesia or critical care., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Neuroinflammation is a multifactorial condition related to glial cells and neurons activation, and it is implicated in CNS disorders including depression. BDNF is a crucial molecule that related to the pathology of depression, and it is the target of DNA methylation. DNA hydroxymethylation, an active demethylation process can convert 5-mC to 5-hmC by Tets catalyzation to regulate gene transcription. The regulatory function for BDNF gene in response to neuroinflammation remains poorly understood., Methods: Neuroinflammation and depressive-like behaviors were induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration in mice. The microglial activation and cellular 5-hmC localization in the hippocampus were confirmed by immunostaining. The transcripts of Tets and BDNF were examined by qPCR method. The global 5-hmC levels and enrichment of 5-hmC in BDNF gene in the hippocampus were analyzed using dot bolt and hMeDIP-sequencing analysis., Results: LPS administration induced a spectrum of depression-like behaviors (including behavioral despair and anhedonia) and increased expression of Iba-1, a marker for microglia activation, in hippocampus, demonstrating that LPS treatment cloud provide stable model of neuroinflammation with depressive-like behaviors as expected. Our results showed that Tet1, Tet2 and Tet3 mRNA expressions and consequent global 5-hmC levels were significantly decreased in the hippocampus of LPS group compared to saline group. We also demonstrated that 5-hmC fluorescence in the hippocampus located in excitatory neurons identified by CaMK II immunostaining. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the enrichment of 5-hmC in BDNF gene was decreased and corresponding BDNF mRNA was down-regulated in the hippocampus in LPS group compared to saline group., Conclusion: Neuroinflammation-triggered aberrant BDNF gene hydroxymethylation in the hippocampus is an important epigenetic element that relates with depression-like behaviors., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-disordered-breathing with decreased or even suspended ventilation due to upper airway obstruction, which is characterized by intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation. OSA can damage a variety of organ systems, especially the cardiovascular system, seriously affecting the quality of life of patients. Therefore, more attention is paid to the precise assessment of the impairments of the organ systems caused by OSA and the evaluation of indicators, in order to carry out preventive measures as soon as possible. However, due to the limitations of traditional indicators such as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in assessing the severity of disease, it is necessary to explore other alternative indicators to obtain multi-dimensional characteristics of OSA. A promising parameter, hypoxic burden (HB) can better quantify the severity of OSA and capture the disease load of OSA. This review mainly focused on the basic concept, main features, calculating method of HB and its clinical significance in predicting the adverse consequences of OSA, aiming at a better management of patients with OSA.

Dialysis patients with erythropoietin hypo-responsiveness suffered from refractory anemia. Roxadustat reversibly binds and inhibits hypoxia-inducible factor-prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PHD), resulting in increased endogenous EPO which stimulates erythropoiesis, theoretically has an advantage over exogenous EPO in anti-anemia therapy. From September 2019 to October 2020, 32 dialysis patients with hypo-responsiveness to erythropoietin were evaluated. During the 24-week follow-up period, all patients were taken off erythropoietin and switched to roxadustat. Dosage adjustments were administrated according to the fluctuation of hemoglobin level during the treatment. Parameters about anemia, iron metabolism and biochemical indexes were collected, and adverse events were recorded. A total of 31 patients completed the clinical observation, with varying degrees of malnutrition-inflammation. Post treatment, the levels of transferrin and total iron-binding capacity were increased, while that of transferrin saturation and cholesterol decreased. 15 cases (accounting for 48.39%, designated as fulfilled group) met the target level of hemoglobin, while 16 cases (51.61%, non-fulfilled group) did not. The baseline conditions of the above two groups were compared. The levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and serum ferritin in the non-fulfilled group were higher than those in the fulfilled group, and the levels of residual renal function, serum albumin, iron, transferrin and total iron-binding capacity were lower than those in the fulfilled group. Linear regression analysis showed that increase of HsCRP had a negative effect on the improvement of Hb. One case of adverse reaction grade 3 and four cases of grade 2 occurred throughout the study, yet all were relieved after therapy. Significant anti-anemia effects could be achieved in most patients with erythropoietin hypo-responsiveness after treatment with roxadustat, accompanied by relatively mild and rare adverse reactions. The malnutrition-inflammation states of patients may interfere with the anti-anemia effect of roxadustat, and iron utilization is more important than iron storage in anemia improvement., (© 2021. Società Italiana di Medicina Interna (SIMI).)

Purpose: Only few studies have analyzed the global distribution of anesthesia research. This study was designed to reveal the current global research status of anesthesiology., Methods: Articles published between 1999 and 2018 in international journals in the field of anesthesiology were retrieved from the PubMed database. The top 20 ranked countries were identified. The gross domestic product (GDP) of each country was also retrieved to reveal the correlation between research outputs and the economy. The total outputs and outputs per 10 million inhabitants in each country were calculated and compared. To analyze the quality of publications among the top 10 ranked countries, the impact factor (IF), article influence score (AIS), and immediacy index (ImI) were calculated and analyzed. In addition, the keywords of publications were retrieved to conduct co-occurrence analysis in order to determine the research focus in anesthesiology., Results: A total of 112,918 articles were published in 30 selected journals from 1999 to 2018. There was a positive correlation between research outputs and GDP of 10 countries (p < 0.001, r = 0.825). The USA ranked 1st with 21,703 articles, followed by the UK (8393 articles) and Germany (6504 articles). Canada had the highest number of publications per 10 million inhabitants in 2018. The UK had the highest average IF (4.70), average AIS (1.16), and average ImI (1.64) among the 10 countries. The research highlights in the field of anesthesiology included "mechanism and management of pain", "cardiac anesthesia", "pediatric anesthesia and airway management", "analgesia" and "anesthetic agents"., Conclusion: Regarding quantity trend, the output of global production in anesthesiology increased continuously as the number of articles from the high-output countries showed an increasing trend; however, there was still a gap between developing and developed countries in research quality. High-quality research should be encouraged in developing countries., (© 2021. Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

The functionalization of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is an important strategy for broadening its application fields. In the present work, MCC was functionalized by phosphorylation reaction with phytic acid (PA) for enhanced flame retardancy. The conditions of phosphorylation reaction including PA concentration, MCC/PA weight ratio and temperature were discussed, and the thermal degradation, heat release and char-forming properties of the resulting PA modified MCC were studied by thermogravimetric analysis and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry. The PA modified MCC, which was prepared at 90 °C, 50%PA and 1:3 weight ratio of MCC to PA, exhibited early thermal dehydration with rapid char formation as well as low heat release capability. This work suggests a novel strategy for the phosphorylation of cellulose using PA and reveals that the PA phosphorylated MCC can act as a promising flame retardant material.

Maize, Zea mays L., is the most abundant field crop in China. Aphids are the most economically damaging pest on maize, particularly in the maize agri-ecosystems of Jilin Province, northeastern China. Parasitic wasps are important natural enemies of aphids, but limited information exists about their species composition, richness and seasonal dynamics in northeastern China. In this study, the population dynamics of maize aphids and parasitoid wasps were assessed in relation to each other during the summer seasons of two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019. We selected maize fields in the Changchun, Songyuan, Huinan and Gongzhuling areas of Jilin Province. Four species of aphids were recorded from these maize fields: Rhopalosiphum padi (L), Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch), Aphis gossypii Glover and Macrosiphum miscanthi (Takahashi). The dominant species in each of the four areas were R. maids (Filch) and R. padi in Changchun, R. padi in Songyuan, A. gossypii and R. padi in Huinan, and A.gossypii and R. padi in Gongzhuling. We delineated a species complex made up of primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids associated with maize aphids. The primary parasitoids Lysiphlebus testaceipes, Binodoxys communis and Aphelinus albipodus together formed approximately 85.3% of the parasitoid complex. Pachyneuron aphidis, Phaenoglyphis villosa, Syrphophagus taeniatus and Asaphes suspensus made up the hyperparasitoids. Of the primary parasitoids, L. testaceipes was the dominant species (81.31%). Of the hyperparasitoid group, P. villosa was the dominant species (68.42%). Parasitism rates followed the fluctuation of the aphid population. The highest parasitic rate was observed during the peak period of cotton aphids. In this paper, the occurrence dynamics and dominant species of aphids and the dynamics of parasitic natural enemies of aphids in maize fields in Jilin Province are, for the first time, systematically reported. This study provides important information for the establishment and promotion of aphid biological control in maize fields., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Prostaglandin E receptor subtype 4 (EP4) is widely distributed in the heart, but its role in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), particularly in mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) modulation, is yet to be elucidated. In the present study, an EP4 agonist (CAY10598) was used in a rat model to evaluate the effects of EP4 activation on liver I/R and the mechanisms underlying this. I/R insult upregulated hepatic EP4 expression during early reperfusion. In addition, subcutaneous CAY10598 injection prior to the onset of reperfusion significantly increased hepatocyte cAMP concentrations and decreased serum ALT and AST levels and necrotic and apoptotic cell percentages, after 6 h of reperfusion. Moreover, CAY10598 protected mitochondrial morphology, markedly inhibited mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening and decreased liver reactive oxygen species levels. This occurred via activation of the ERK1/2‑GSK3β pathway rather than the janus kinase (JAK)2‑signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT)3 pathway, and resulted in prevention of mitochondria‑associated cell injury. The MPTP opener carboxyatractyloside (CATR) and the ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 also partially reversed the protective effects of CAY10598 on the liver and mitochondria. The current findings indicate that EP4 activation induces ERK1/2‑GSK3β signaling and subsequent MPTP inhibition to provide hepatoprotection, and these observations are informative for developing new molecular targets and preventative therapies for I/R in a clinical setting.

The root-associated bacterial microbiota is closely related to life activities of land plants, and its composition is affected by geographic locations and plant genotypes. However, the influence of plant genotypes on root microbiota in rice grown in northern China remains to be explained. In this study, we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to generate bacterial community profiles of two representative rice cultivars, Nipponbare and IR24. They are planted in Changping and Shangzhuang farms in Beijing and have reached the reproductive stage. We compared their root microbiota in details by Random Forest machine learning algorithm and network analysis. We found that the diversity of rice root microbiota was significantly affected by geographic locations and rice genotypes. Nipponbare and IR24 showed distinct taxonomic composition of the root microbiota and the interactions between different bacteria. Moreover, the root bacteria could be used as biomarkers to distinguish Nipponbare from IR24 across regions. Our study provides a theoretical basis for the in-depth understanding of rice root microbiota in Northern China and the improvement of rice breeding from the perspective of the interaction between root microorganisms and plants.

Background: The International Standards for a Safe Practice of Anesthesia (ISSPA) were developed on behalf of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists and the World Health Organization. It has been recommend as an assessment tool that allows anesthetic providers in developing countries to assess their compliance and needs. This study was performed to describe the anesthesia service in one main public hospital during an 8-month medical mission in Cambodia and evaluate its anesthetic safety issues according to the ISSPA., Methods: We conduct a retrospective study involving 1953 patients at the Preah Ket Mealea hospital. Patient demographics, anesthetic techniques, and complications were reviewed according to the registers of the anesthetic services and questionnaires. The inadequacies in personnel, facilities, equipment, medications, and conduct of anesthesia drugs were recorded using a checklist based on the ISSPA., Results: A total of 1792 patients received general and regional anesthesia in the operating room, while 161 patients receiving sedation for gastroscopy. The patients' mean age was 45.0 ± 16.6 years (range, 17-87 years). The three most common surgical procedures were abdominal (52.0%; confidence interval [CI], 49.3-54.7), orthopedic (27.6%; CI, 25.2-29.9), and urological surgery (14.7%; CI, 12.8-16.6). General anesthesia, spinal anesthesia, and brachial plexus block were performed in 54.3% (CI, 51.7-56.8), 28.2% (CI, 25.9-30.5), and 9.4% (CI, 7.9-10.9) of patients, respectively. One death occurred. Twenty-six items related to professional aspects, monitoring, and conduct of anesthesia did not meet the ISSPA-recommended standards. A lack of commonly used drugs and monitoring equipment was noted, posing major threats to the safety of anesthesia practice, especially in emergency situations., Conclusions: This study adds to the scarce literature on anesthesia practice in low- and middle-income countries such as Cambodia. Future medical assistance should help to strengthen these countries' inadequacies, allowing for the adoption of international standards for the safe practice of anesthesia.

Cotton has the shortcomings of having no antibacterial, antioxidant and ultraviolet (UV) protection properties, which are of great importance for health protection purposes. In the present study, grape seed extract (GSE) mainly composed of proanthocyanins (tannins) was employed to simultaneously import pale colors and the three aforementioned functions to cotton fabric. The tests on the application conditions of GSE showed that pH and GSE concentration had great impact on the color depth of cotton fabric, and the color hue of dyed fabric could be controlled in the absence of pH regulators due to the weakly acidic nature of GSE solution. The fabric dyed with 10%owf (on the weight of fabric) GSE exhibited an excellent inhibition effect towards Escherichia coli , whereas the one dyed with 20%owf GSE had high antioxidant activity of 97%. The fabric dyed with 5%owf GSE offered excellent UV protection. This study reveals that GSE can be used as a functional finishing agent for health protection in cotton textiles in addition to coloration capability.

Background: Transbronchial lung biopsy is an important approach to diagnose peripheral lung cancer, but bronchoscopy based treatment options are limited and poorly studied. A flexible bronchoscopy-guided water-cooled microwave ablation (MWA) catheter was developed to evaluate the feasibility and safety both in ex vivo and in vivo porcine models., Methods: Using direct penetration of the catheter through the surface of ex vivo porcine lung, ablations (n=9) were performed at 70, 80, 90 W for 10 minutes. Temperatures of the catheter and 10, 15, 20 mm away from the tip were measured. Under bronchoscopy conditions in porcine lung, ablations (n=18, 6 in ex vivo and 12 in vivo ) were performed at 80 W for 5 minutes. Computed tomography (CT) was acquired perioperative, 24 hours, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks post ablation. Ablation zones were excised at 24 hours and 4 weeks respectively. Long-axis diameter (Dl) and short-axis diameter (Ds) were measured and tissues were sectioned for pathological examination., Results: In- ex vivo lung, the temperature at 20 mm removed was over 60 °C at 80 W for 288±26 seconds. The ablations under bronchoscopic conditions were successful in- ex vivo and in vivo lung. No complications occurred during the procedures. Coagulation necrosis was visible at 24 hours, and repaired fibrous tissue was seen at 4 weeks., Conclusions: The flexible bronchoscopy-guided water-cooled MWA is feasible and safe. This early animal data holds promise of MWA becoming a potential therapeutic tool for Peripheral Lung Cancers., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2019 Translational Lung Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the correlation between gene polymorphism and opioid efficacy in patients with gastric or intestinal cancer., Patients and Methods: Fifty-nine patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for gastric or intestinal cancer under general anesthesia were included and randomly divided into oxycodone (n=30) and sufentanil groups (n=29) by reproducible random number generation method. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of four alleles: μ-opioid receptor gene OPRM1 A118G, cytochrome P450 (CPY450) enzyme system: CPY3A4*1G, CYP3A5*3, and CYP2D6*10 were detected by PCR-pyrosequencing. Patients in sufentanil group received intravenous sufentanil injection during anesthesia induction, intraoperative maintenance, and postoperative analgesia, while those in oxycodone group received oxycodone. Patients' postoperative VAS score, opioid use, and prevalence of adverse reactions were recorded., Results: The genotype distribution of OPRM1 A118G, CYP3A4*1G, CYP3A5*3, and CYP2D6*10 in Chinese gastric cancer/intestinal cancer patients accorded with the Hardy-Weinberg law (p>0.05). OPRM1 A118G polymorphism correlated with postoperative VAS score and medication dosage, in oxycodone group (p<0.05), while it didn't with those of sufentanil group. The VAS scores in GG group were higher than that in AA group and AG group at T6-T9, (p<0.05); the postoperative pain remedies times in GG group were more than that in the AA and AG groups (p=0.002). CYP3A4*1G polymorphism related to postoperative VAS score, medication dosage and prevalence of adverse reactions in sufentanil group (p<0.05), while it didn't with those of oxycodone group (p>0.05). The total intraoperative medication in AA group was less than that in GG and GA groups (p<0.01), with a higher prevalence of respiratory depression (p=0.01). Nor was there any correlation of CYP3A5*3 and CYP2D6*10 polymorphisms with the efficacy, postoperative VAS score, pain remedies times, postoperative 24 h medication dosage, or prevalence of adverse reactions in oxycodone and sufentanil groups., Conclusions: Gene polymorphism affects the efficacy and adverse reactions of opioids in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastric or intestinal cancer surgery.

Aphid-parasitoid interactions have been widely used as a model system in research studies on the structure and functions of arthropod food web. Research on aphid-parasitoid food webs is hindered by their micromorphological characteristics and the high amount of labor associated with their development. Species-specific primers for cotton aphids and their parasitoids were designed and integrated into two multiplex PCRs and six singleplex PCRs, and all PCRs were optimized to achieve high specificity and sensitivity (100-10,000 DNA copies). One cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) as well as three primary parasitoid and seven hyperparasitoid species or genera were detected using this molecular approach. This group comprises all the primary parasitoids and 97.2-99.6% of the hyperparasitoids reported in cotton fields in northern China. A tritrophic aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid food web was then established. The described method constitutes an efficient tool for quantitatively describing the aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid food webs and assessing the efficiency of the biological control of parasitoids in cotton fields in northern China.

Background: Lateral habenula nucleus (LHb) has recently been noted for its role in stress-induced depressive disorder. Yet little is known about the mechanisms by which external stimuli or depression induces pathological alteration in the LHb., Methods: Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) was employed to model depressive-like behaviors in adult rats. We examined expressions of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) mRNA and protein and global DNA methylation levels in LHb of CUMS-induced depressive rats. Then 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza), a Dnmts inhibitor, was infused into the LHb of native rats to test the effects of hypomethylation in the LHb. The gene expressions in the LHb and the levels of 5-HT and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) were examined in 5-aza infusion rats by quantitative real-time PCR and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively., Results: Rats were exposed to CUMS for 21 days and depressive-like behaviors were induced as expected. We observed significant decrease in mRNA and protein expressions of Dnmt1 and DNA hypomethylation in LHb of depressive rats. These phenomenon suggests that CUMS-induced depressive-like behaviors are related with DNA hypomethylation in the LHb. Local 5-aza infusion into LHb of native rat resulted in global DNA hypomethylation in the LHb and induced depressive-like behaviors which are featured with lack of interest and investment in the environment, behavioral despair and anhedonia. Moreover, DNA hypomethylation in the LHb increased transcription of β calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II and glutamate receptor 1 in the LHb and attenuated the levels of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the DRN. Our data suggested that alteration of DNA methylation in the LHb may control 5-HT neuronal activity in the DRN to regulate emotional state., Conclusions: DNA hypomethylation in the LHb is involved in the development of depressive-like behavior and suitable methylation state contributes to the emotional stabilization., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Impacts of delivery modes on the subsequent risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in pregnant women have not been elucidated., Materials and Methods: Data of women who had undergone cesarean delivery (CD cohort) or vaginal delivery (VD cohort) between January 2000 and December 2012 from Taiwan Health Insurance Database were analyzed. All subjects were tracked until December 31, 2013. For women with multiple deliveries, only the first delivery data were included. Study end point was the diagnosis of new-onset CHD after delivery., Results: In total, 51,765 subjects (CD cohort: n = 17,839; VD cohort: n = 33,926) were included. During 1-14 years of follow-up, the incidence rate of new-onset CHD in the CD cohort was significantly higher than in the VD cohort (1.3% [231/17,839] vs. 0.8% [257/33,926], p < 0.001; effect size: 0.30). Analysis revealed that the subsequent risk of CHD in the CD cohort was significantly higher than in the VD cohort (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.28, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.06-1.55, p = 0.012). We performed sensitivity tests by excluding subjects who had undergone CD due to nonmedical reasons from the CD cohort. The remaining subjects were named as the *CD cohort. Analysis also revealed a higher subsequent risk of CHD in the *CD cohort than in the VD cohort (adjusted HR = 1.32, 95% CI: 1.08-1.60, p = 0.006)., Conclusions: Women who had undergone primary CD, especially those who had undergone CD due to medical reasons, were associated with an ∼30% higher risk of CHD than those who had undergone VD.

Diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) is a prevalent complication in diabetes patients. Neuronal inflammation and activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) are involved in the occurrence of DNP. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Downregulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid B (GABA B ) receptor contributes to the DNP. GABA B receptor interacts with NF- κ B, a downstream signaling factor of TLR4, in a neuropathic pain induced by chemotherapy. In this study, we determined the role of TLR4/Myd88/NF- κ B signaling pathways coupled to GABA B receptors in the generation of DNP. Intrathecal injection of baclofen (GABA B receptor agonist), LPS-RS ultrapure (TLR4 antagonist), MIP (MyD88 antagonist), or SN50 (NF- κ B inhibitor) significantly increased paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) and paw withdrawal thermal latency (PWTL) in DNP rats, while intrathecal injection of saclofen (GABA B receptor blocker) decreased PWT and PWTL in DNP rats. The expression of TLR4, Myd88, NF- κ Bp65, and their downstream components IL-1 and TNF- α was significantly higher in the spinal cord tissue in DNP rats compared to control rats. Following inhibition of TLR4, Myd88, and NF- κ B, the expression of IL-1 and TNF- α decreased. Activation of GABA B receptors downregulated the expression of TLR4, Myd88, NF- κ Bp65, IL-1, and TNF- α . Blockade of GABA B receptors significantly upregulated expression of TLR4, Myd88, NF- κ Bp65, IL-1, and TNF- α . These data suggest that activation of the TLR4/Myd88/NF- κ B signaling pathway is involved in the occurrence of DNP in rats. Activation of GABA B receptor in the spinal cord may suppress the TLR4/Myd88/NF- κ B signaling pathway and alleviate the DNP.

Objective: To describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(HIV/AIDS) in permanent residents and migrants in Shanghai during 2005 to 2015 and provide suggestions for the HIV/AIDS prevention. Methods: The data of HIV/AIDS was collected from the National HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Information Management System based on report date. The population data was collected from the statistical yearbook of Shanghai. Spatial analysis was conducted using the hotspots model in ArcGIS. SaTScan software was employed to determine the distribution of HIV clusters in space, time or both. Results: During 2005 to 2015, a total of 13 498 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported in Shanghai. The prevalence of HIV increased from 0.025/10(5) (450 cases) to 0.093/10(5) (2 236 cases). The prevalence of AIDS increased from 0.002/10(5) (32 cases) to 0.028/10(5) (683 cases). Hotspot analysis showed that the hot spot of incidence of migrants had moved from Hongkou (2005) ( Z= 2.96, P= 0.003) to Changning (2006-2015) (all Z> 1.96, P< 0.05); whereas the hot spot of incidence of permanent residents had moving from Jinshan (2005-2007) (all Z> 2.58, P< 0.01) to downtown area (2006-2015) (all Z> 1.96, P< 0.05). The spatial high clusters of HIV and AIDS were same, including Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning, Jingan, Putuo, Hongkou and Yangpu; The temporal high clusters of HIV cases among permanent residents were 2011 to 2015, and the spatial clusters were Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning, Jingan. The temporal high clusters of HIV cases among migrants were 2014 to 2015, and the spatial clusters was Xuhui, Changning, Jingan. Conclusion: The total HIV/AIDS incidence in Shanghai was clustered in downtown area. The cluster of the incidence of the permanent residents had moving towards that of migrants, indicating the cluster area deserves a close surveillance.

In this study, a Box-Behnken design was used to explore the effect of a new technology on green tea fragrance improvement and to optimize fragrance-improving with a bilayer far-infrared fragrance-improving machine with temperature and humidity control. Based on the results of previous single-factor experiments, the main biochemical composition and sensory evaluation scores of the fragrance-improved samples were used as investigation indices. The new fragrance-improving technology was compared with the traditional far-infrared fragrance-improving process, roller pot fragrance improvement, and hot air rotary fragrance improvement. The results show that the optimal parameter combination of the new technology consists of a temperature of 128.00 °C, relative humidity of 70.00 g/h, and transmission speed of 435.00 r/min. With these process parameters, the amino acids, tea polyphenols, flavonoids, soluble sugar, catechins, and caffeine in the fragrance-improved samples reached 3.86%, 32.29%, 5.59%, 4.45%, 8.97%, and 2.75%, respectively. The quality material weight value was 11.72%. The shape, color, taste, and aroma of the fragrance-improved samples made using these parameters were found to be best, with a sensory quality score of 87.40, which is significantly higher than that of other fragrance-improving methods. The energy consumption was 0.19 RMB/kg, which was reduced by more than 50% compared with the other methods, and the production efficiency was more than 30% higher than the traditional methods. This new far-infrared fragrance-improving technology overcomes the yellowish and grayish color of fragrance-improved tea samples that is caused by the traditional fragrance-improving approach, and will provide technical guidance for actual green tea production., Practical Application: Our proposed approach innovatively integrates humidity and rotational speed as factors for fragrance improvement in Chinese tea process. The findings of this work provide new technical for fragrance improvement processes., (© 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

In the present work, a novel infrared-assisted extraction coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction (IRAE-HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for rapid determination of the volatile components in green tea. The extraction parameters such as fiber type, sample amount, infrared power, extraction time, and infrared lamp distance were optimized by orthogonal experimental design. Under optimum conditions, a total of 82 volatile compounds in 21 green tea samples from different geographical origins were identified. Compared with classical water-bath heating, the proposed technique has remarkable advantages of considerably reducing the analytical time and high efficiency. In addition, an effective classification of green teas based on their volatile profiles was achieved by partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Furthermore, the application of a dual criterion based on the variable importance in the projection (VIP) values of the PLS-DA models and on the category from one-way univariate analysis (ANOVA) allowed the identification of 12 potential volatile markers, which were considered to make the most important contribution to the discrimination of the samples. The results suggest that IRAE-HS-SPME/GC-MS technique combined with multivariate analysis offers a valuable tool to assess geographical traceability of different tea varieties.

The importance of miRNAs in the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) has further been supported by the finding that miRNAs have been identified as potential oncogenes or tumor suppressors in PCa. Indeed, in eukaryotes, miRNAs have been found to regulate and control gene expression by degrading mRNA at the post-transcriptional level. In this study, we investigated the expression of miR-34 family members, miR-34b and miR-34c, in different PCa cell lines, and discussed the molecular mechanism of miR-34b in the invasion and migration of PCa cells in vitro. The difference analyses of the transcriptome between the DU145 and PC3 cell lines demonstrated that both miR-34b and -34c target critical pathways that are involved in metabolism, such as proliferation, and migration, and invasion. The molecular expression of miR-34b/c were lower in PC3 cells. Moreover, over-expression of miR-34b/c in PC3 cells caused profound phenotypic changes, including decreased cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Moreover, the players that regulate expression levels of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), TGF-β receptor 1 (TGF-βR1), and p53 or phosphorylation levels of mothers against decapentaplegic 3 (SMAD3) in the TGF-β/Smad3 signaling pathway have yet to be elucidated, and will provide novel tools for diagnosis and treatment of metastatic PCa., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is a key pest in cotton crops, notably owing to its increasing resistance to commonly used pesticides. Such resistance prompts for the development of integrated pest management (IPM) programs that include novel pesticides being effective against the aphid. In the present study, we assessed lethal and sublethal effects of cycloxaprid, a novel chiral neonicotinoid pesticide developed in China, on A. gossypii. The lethal concentration at 50% (LC 50 ) value of cycloxaprid on A. gossypii was estimated, using the dipping method, at 7.73 mg/L. The impact of a sublethal concentration (LC 10 ) and a lethal concentration (LC 40 ) of cycloxaprid on A. gossypii population growth and feeding behavior (using electrical penetration graph technique [EPG]), and its transgenerational effect were further assessed. Adult longevity and fecundity significantly decreased after exposure to LC 40 or LC 10 of cycloxaprid. Cycloxaprid with sublethal concentrations (especially LC 40 ) had negative effects on phloem ingestion by A. gossypii. Additionally, the offspring of the adults exposed to LC 40 of cycloxaprid had shorter nymphal development duration and adult longevity than the control, and those from LC 10 and LC 40 treatments had lower adult fecundity and net productive rate. We demonstrated that cycloxaprid is a pesticide showing both lethal and sublethal activities, and transgenerational effects on A. gossypii; it may be useful for implementation in IPM programs against this aphid pest., (© 2016 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

Background: Increasing evidence suggests the potential involvement of metalloproteinase family proteins in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain, although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive., Methods: Using the spinal nerve ligation model, we investigated whether ADAM10 proteins participate in pain regulation. By implementing invitro methods, we produced a purified culture of satellite glial cells to study the underlying mechanisms of ADAM10 in regulating neuropathic pain., Results: Results showed that the ADAM10 protein was expressed in calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-containing neurons of the dorsal root ganglia, and expression was upregulated following spinal nerve ligation surgery invivo. Intrathecal administration of GI254023X, an ADAM10 selective inhibitor, to the rats one to three days after spinal nerve ligation surgery attenuated the spinal nerve ligation-induced mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia. Intrathecal injection of ADAM10 recombinant protein simulated pain behavior in normal rats to a similar extent as those treated by spinal nerve ligation surgery. These results raised a question about the relative contribution of ADAM10 in pain regulation. Further results showed that ADAM10 might act by cleaving E-cadherin, which is mainly expressed in satellite glial cells. GI254023X reversed spinal nerve ligation-induced downregulation of E-cadherin and activation of cyclooxygenase 2 after spinal nerve ligation. β-catenin, which creates a complex with E-cadherin in the membranes of satellite glial cells, was also downregulated by spinal nerve ligation surgery in satellite glial cells. Finally, knockdown expression of β-catenin by lentiviral infection in purified satellite glial cells increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that neuron-derived ADAM10 production stimulates peripheral nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain by cleaving E-cadherin in satellite glial cells., (© 2017 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com)

Propofol (2,6‑diisopropylphenol) exerts protective effects on alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells, partly through attenuating hypoxia‑induced apoptosis. Autophagy is involved in the activation of apoptosis. Therefore, the present study investigated the modulating effect of propofol against autophagy in ATII cells under hypoxia. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein expression of the autophagy molecular marker, microtubule‑associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)‑II, under various conditions. The effects of propofol on the accumulation of other autophagy‑associated proteins and apoptosis‑associated proteins were also determined using western blot analysis. The interactions between proteins were determined by co‑immunoprecipitation. Apoptosis of the ATII cells was monitored using FITC‑conjugated AV/PI staining. Furthermore, hypoxia‑inducible factor 1α (HIF 1α) small interfering (si) RNA was designed to construct si‑HIF 1α ATII cells. The efficiency of interference was measured using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analyses. Following pre‑treatment with propofol, the hypoxia‑induced accumulation of LC3‑II, HIF 1α and B‑cell lymphoma‑2 interacting protein 3 (Bnip3) were markedly decreased, accompanied with the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin. In addition, cleaved‑poly ADP‑ribose polymerase was suppressed, and hypoxia‑induced autophagic cell death was inhibited by propofol pre‑treatment. HIF 1α was inhibited by si‑HIF 1α, which simultaneously suppressed Bnip3 and LC3‑II under hypoxia. Taken together, propofol reduced hypoxia‑induced autophagic cell death through reducing the expression of HIF 1α in ATII cells, indicating a novel strategy for modulating autophagy via propofol in hypoxic ATII cells.

Tea is one of the three greatest beverages in the world. In China, green tea has the largest consumption, and needle-shaped green tea, such as Maofeng tea and Sparrow Tongue tea, accounts for more than 40% of green tea (Zhu et al., 2017). The appearance of green tea is one of the important indexes during the evaluation of green tea quality. Especially in market transactions, the price of tea is usually determined by its appearance (Zhou et al., 2012). Human sensory evaluation is usually conducted by experts, and is also easily affected by various factors such as light, experience, psychological and visual factors. In the meantime, people may distinguish the slight differences between similar colors or textures, but the specific levels of the tea are hard to determine (Chen et al., 2008). As human description of color and texture is qualitative, it is hard to evaluate the sensory quality accurately, in a standard manner, and objectively. Color is an important visual property of a computer image (Xie et al., 2014; Khulal et al., 2016); texture is a visual performance of image grayscale and color changing with spatial positions, which can be used to describe the roughness and directivity of the surface of an object (Sanaeifar et al., 2016). There are already researchers who have used computer visual image technologies to identify the varieties, levels, and origins of tea (Chen et al., 2008; Xie et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2017). Most of their research targets are crush, tear, and curl (CTC) red (green) broken tea, curly green tea (Bilochun tea), and flat-typed green tea (West Lake Dragon-well green tea) as the information sources. However, the target of the above research is to establish a qualitative evaluation method on tea quality (Fu et al., 2013). There is little literature on the sensory evaluation of the appearance quality of needle-shaped green tea, especially research on a quantitative evaluation model (Zhou et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2017).

Background: Irisin is a novel exercise-induced myokine involved in the regulation of adipose browning and thermogenesis. In this study, we investigated the potential role of irisin in cerebral ischemia and determined whether irisin is involved in the neuroprotective effect of physical exercise in mice., Materials and Methods: The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used to produce cerebral ischemia in mice. First, the plasma irisin levels and changes in expression of the irisin precursor protein FNDC5 in skeletal muscle were determined post ischemic stroke. Second, the association between plasma irisin levels and the neurological deficit score, brain infarct volume, or plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β in mice with MCAO were evaluated. Third, the therapeutic effect of irisin on ischemic brain injury was evaluated in vivo and in vitro. Recombinant irisin was injected directly into the tail vein 30min after the MCAO operation, and then the effects of irisin treatment on brain infarct volume, neurological deficit, neuroinflammation, microglia activation, monocyte infiltration, oxidative stress and intracellular signaling pathway activation (Akt and ERK1/2) were measured. Irisin was also administered in cultured PC12 neuronal cells with oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD). Finally, to assess the potential involvement of irisin in the neuroprotection of physical exercise, mice were exercised for 2weeks and an irisin neutralizing antibody was injected into these mice to block irisin 1h before the MCAO operation., Results: The plasma irisin concentration and intramuscular FNDC5 protein expression decreased after ischemic stroke. Plasma irisin levels were negatively associated with brain infarct volume, the neurological deficit score, plasma TNF-α and plasma IL-6 concentrations. In OGD neuronal cells, irisin protected against cell injury. In mice with MCAO, irisin treatment reduced the brain infarct volume, neurological deficits, brain edema and the decline in body weight. Irisin treatment inhibited activation of Iba-1 + microglia, infiltration of MPO-1 + monocytes and expression of both TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA. Irisin significantly suppressed the levels of nitrotyrosine, superoxide anion and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in peri-infarct brain tissues. Irisin treatment increased Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, while blockade of Akt and ERK1/2 by specific inhibitors reduced the neuroprotective effects of irisin. Finally, the exercised mice injected with irisin neutralizing antibody displayed more severe neuronal injury than the exercised mice injected with control IgG., Conclusion: Irisin reduces ischemia-induced neuronal injury via activation of the Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways and contributes to the neuroprotective effect of physical exercise against cerebral ischemia, suggesting that irisin may be a factor linking metabolism and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Propofol pretreatment before reperfusion, or propofol conditioning, has been shown to be cardioprotective, while its mechanism is unclear. The current study investigated the roles of endocannabinoid signaling in propofol cardioprotection in an in vivo model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and in in vitro primary cardiomyocyte hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury. The results showed that propofol conditioning increased both serum and cell culture media concentrations of endocannabinoids including anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) detected by LC-MS/MS. The reductions of myocardial infarct size in vivo and cardiomyocyte apoptosis and death in vitro were accompanied with attenuations of oxidative injuries manifested as decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS), malonaldehyde (MDA), and MPO (myeloperoxidase) and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) production. These effects were mimicked by either URB597, a selective endocannabinoids degradation inhibitor, or VDM11, a selective endocannabinoids reuptake inhibitor. In vivo study further validated that the cardioprotective and antioxidative effects of propofol were reversed by selective CB2 receptor antagonist AM630 but not CB1 receptor antagonist AM251. We concluded that enhancing endogenous endocannabinoid release and subsequent activation of CB2 receptor signaling represent a major mechanism whereby propofol conditioning confers antioxidative and cardioprotective effects against myocardial I/R injury.

Catechins are polyphenolic phytochemicals with many important physiological activities that play a multifaceted health care function in the human body, especially in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In this paper, various experimental and clinical studies have revealed the role of catechins in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders, and we review the preventive effects of catechins on cardiovascular disease from the following aspects: Regulating lipid metabolism, regulating blood lipid metabolism, vascular endothelial protection, and reducing blood pressure.

FGF10 is a member of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). We previously showed that FGF10 protects neuron against oxygen-glucose deprivation injury in vitro; however, the effect of FGF10 in ischemic stroke in vivo is unknown. In the present study, we showed that FGF10 was mainly expressed in neurons but not astrocytes, and detected FGF10 in mouse cerebrospinal fluid. The FGF10 levels in neurons culture medium and cell lysate were much higher than those in astrocytes. FGF10 expression in brain tissue and FGF10 level in CSF were increased in mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Administration of FGF10 into lateral cerebroventricle not only decreased MCAO-induced brain infarct volume and neurological deficit, but also reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells and activities of Caspases. Moreover, FGF10 treatment depressed the triggered inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-6) and NF-κB signaling pathway, and increased phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Blockade of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by wortmannin and Akt1/2-kinase inhibitor, partly compromised the neuroprotection of FGF10. However, blockade of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway did not impair the anti-inflammation action of FGF10. Collectively, our results demonstrate that neuron-derived FGF10 ameliorates cerebral ischemia injury via inhibiting NF-κB-dependent neuroinflammation and activating PI3K/Akt survival signaling pathway in mice.

Background: Perioperative hypertension requires careful management. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) have shown efficacy in treating hypertension associated with surgery. However, there is lack of consensus about whether they can prevent mortality and morbidity., Objectives: To systematically assess the benefits and harms of administration of ACEIs or ARBs perioperatively for the prevention of mortality and morbidity in adults (aged 18 years and above) undergoing any type of surgery under general anaesthesia., Search Methods: We searched the current issue of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2014, Issue 12), Ovid MEDLINE (1966 to 8 December 2014), EMBASE (1980 to 8 December 2014), and references of the retrieved randomized trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews., Selection Criteria: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing perioperative administration of ACEIs or ARBs with placebo in adults (aged 18 years and above) undergoing any type of surgery under general anaesthesia. We excluded studies in which participants underwent procedures that required local anaesthesia only, or participants who had already been on ACEIs or ARBs., Data Collection and Analysis: Two review authors independently performed study selection, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane., Main Results: We included seven RCTs with a total of 571 participants in the review. Two of the seven trials involved 36 participants undergoing non-cardiac vascular surgery (infrarenal aortic surgery), and five involved 535 participants undergoing cardiac surgery, including valvular surgery, coronary artery bypass surgery, and cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The intervention was started from 11 days to 25 minutes before surgery in six trials and during surgery in one trial. We considered all seven RCTs to carry a high risk of bias. The effects of ACEIs or ARBs on perioperative mortality and acute myocardial infarction were uncertain because the quality of the evidence was very low. The risk of death was 2.7% in the ACEIs or ARBs group and 1.6% in the placebo group (risk ratio (RR) 1.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44 to 5.85). The risk of acute myocardial infarction was 1.7% in the ACEIs or ARBs group and 3.0% in the placebo group (RR 0.55; 95% CI 0.14 to 2.26). ACEIs or ARBs may improve congestive heart failure (cardiac index) perioperatively (mean difference (MD) -0.60; 95% CI -0.70 to -0.50, very low-quality evidence). In terms of rate of complications, there was no difference in perioperative cerebrovascular complications (RR 0.48; 95% CI 0.18 to 1.28, very low-quality evidence) and hypotension (RR 1.95; 95% CI 0.86 to 4.41, very low-quality evidence). Cardiac surgery-related renal failure was not reported. ACEIs or ARBs were associated with shortened length of hospital stay (MD -0.54; 95% CI -0.93 to -0.16, P value = 0.005, very low-quality evidence). These findings should be interpreted cautiously due to likely confounding by the clinical backgrounds of the participants. ACEIs or ARBs may shorten the length of hospital stay, (MD -0.54; 95% CI -0.93 to -0.16, very low-quality evidence) Two studies reported adverse events, and there was no evidence of a difference between the ACEIs or ARBs and control groups., Authors' Conclusions: Overall, this review did not find evidence to support that perioperative ACEIs or ARBs can prevent mortality, morbidity, and complications (hypotension, perioperative cerebrovascular complications, and cardiac surgery-related renal failure). We found no evidence showing that the use of these drugs may reduce the rate of acute myocardial infarction. However, ACEIs or ARBs may increase cardiac output perioperatively. Due to the low and very low methodology quality, high risk of bias, and lack of power of the included studies, the true effect may be substantially different from the observed estimates. Perioperative (mainly elective cardiac surgery, according to included studies) initiation of ACEIs or ARBs therapy should be individualized.

Calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCCs) play vital roles in a variety of physiological processes. Transmembrane protein 16A (TMEM16A) has been confirmed as the molecular counterpart of CaCCs which greatly pushes the molecular insights of CaCCs forward. However, the detailed mechanism of Ca(2+) binding and activating the channel is still obscure. Here, we utilized a combination of computational and electrophysiological approaches to discern the molecular mechanism by which Ca(2+) regulates the gating of TMEM16A channels. The simulation results show that the first intracellular loop serves as a Ca(2+) binding site including D439, E444 and E447. The experimental results indicate that a novel residue, E447, plays key role in Ca(2+) binding. Compared with WT TMEM16A, E447Y produces a 30-fold increase in EC50 of Ca(2+) activation and leads to a 100-fold increase in Ca(2+) concentrations that is needed to fully activate the channel. The following steered molecular dynamic (SMD) simulation data suggests that the mutations at 447 reduce the Ca(2+) dissociation energy. Our results indicated that both the electrical property and the size of the side-chain at residue 447 have significant effects on Ca(2+) dependent gating of TMEM16A.

Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is one of the most important agricultural pests, with broad host range and cryptic feeding habits in China. Chemosensory behavior plays an important role in many crucial stages in the life of A. lucorum, such as the detection of sex pheromone cues during mate pursuit and fragrant odorants during flowering host plant localization. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are involved in the initial biochemical recognition steps in semiochemical perception. In the present study, a transcriptomics-based approach was used to identify potential OBPs in A. lucorum. In total, 38 putative OBP genes were identified, corresponding to 26 'classic' OBPs and 12 'Plus-C' OBPs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. lucorum OBP proteins are more closely related to the OBP proteins of other mirid bugs as the same family OBP clustering together. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis for the first reported 23 AlucOBPs revealed that the expression level of 11 AlucOBP genes were significantly higher in antennae of both sexes than in other tissues. Three of them were male antennae-biased and six were female antennae-biased, suggesting their putative roles in the detection of female sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. In addition, three, four, two and one AlucOBPs had the highest degree of enrichment in the stylet, head, leg, and in abdomen tissues, respectively. Two other OBPs were ubiquitously expressed in the main tissues, including antennae, stylets, heads, legs and wings. Most orthologs had similar expression patterns, strongly indicating that these genes have the same function in olfaction and gustation.

The effects of Ca(2+), caffeine and polyphenols on the formation of reversible tea sediments (RTS) and irreversible tea sediments (IRS) in green tea infusion were studied. Adding Ca(2+) (2 mmol/l) was found to increase the formation of RTS by 8% and IRS by 92%, while adding chelating ions of Na2EDTA significantly decreased the amount of RTS by 14.6%, but not the amount of IRS. Under acid conditions, Ca(2+) combined with oxalic ions to form indissoluble oxalate that is the principal constituent of IRS, despite the existence of the chelating ions. Decaffeination largely inhibited the formation of RTS (73%) and IRS (60%), even in the presence of Ca(2+). The amount of sediment could be reduced by removing polyphenols using polyvinyl-polypyrrolidone. The results suggest that sediment formation in green tea infusions can be inhibited by lowering the concentration of Ca(2+), caffeine or polyphenols., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aimed to establish response curves between broiler chicken growth parameters and artificial light periods, as opposed to optimizing a lighting regimen for broiler production. Medium-growing broiler chickens were illuminated for periods of 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, or 24 h each day. The BW of the broilers were significantly influenced by light periods ( < 0.05). Moreover, BW responded to light periods in a linear fashion, suggesting that long light periods result in greater BW. In addition, a linear relationship was found between feed intake and light periods. However, the relationship between shank length and light period was quadratic. When the light period was too short (12 h) or too long (24 h), the light stimulus did not enhance shank growth in the broiler chickens ( < 0.05). In addition, a quadratic relationship between the quantity of abdominal adipose tissue and light period suggested that the quantity of abdominal adipose decreases when the period of the light stimulus was too short or too long ( < 0.05). Moreover, a broken-stick analysis suggested that the triiodothyronine (T3) concentration in the blood was minimally affected beyond 18 h ( = 0.267), although a quadratic relationship was found between the period (from 18 to 24 h) and T3 concentrations in the blood. The response curves established in the present study will be valuable for designing future lighting regimes for medium-growing broiler strains.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of structurally related heparin-binding proteins with diverse biological functions. FGFs participate in mitogenesis, angiogenesis, cell proliferation, development, differentiation and cell migration. Here, we investigated the potential effect of FGF10, a member of FGFs, on neuron survival in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) model. In primary cultured mouse cortical neurons upon OGD, FGF10 treatment (100 and 1000 ng/ml) attenuated the decrease of cell viability and rescued the LDH release. Tuj-1 immunocytochemistry assay showed that FGF10 promoted neuronal survival. Apoptosis assay with Annexin V+PI by flow cytometry demonstrated that FGF10 treatment reduced apoptotic cell proportion. Moreover, immunoblotting showed that FGF10 alleviated the cleaved caspase-3 upregulation caused by OGD. FGF10 treatment also depressed the OGD-induced increase of caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities. At last, we found FGF10 triggered heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein expression rather than hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling. Knockdown of HO-1 by siRNA partly abolished the neuroprotection of FGF10 in OGD model. In summary, our observations provide the first evidence for the neuroprotective function of FGF10 against ischemic neuronal injury and suggest that FGF10 may be a promising agent for treatment of ischemic stroke., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Ras association (RalGDS/AF-6) domain family member RASSF5 has been implicated in a variety of key biological processes, including cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. It is believed to play an important role in tumorigenesis as a tumor suppressor in a number of malignancies. Yet, little is known concerning the function and underlying mechanisms of RASSF5 in human osteosarcoma (OS). The expression of RASSF5 was examined by immunohistochemical assay using a tissue microarray in 45 cases of OS tissues. A gain-of-function approach was used to observe the effects of lentiviral vector-mediated overexpression of RASSF5 (Lv-RASSF5) on cell growth, invasion and apoptosis, respectively, as indicated by MTT, Transwell and flow cytometry assays, and the expression levels of mammalian sterile 20-like (MST1) kinase, large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metallopeptidase-9 (MMP-9) and p53 were detected by real-time PCR and western blot assays in OS cells (MG-63 and U-2 OS). The results indicated that the expression of RASSF5 protein was significantly downregulated in OS tissues compared to that in adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCT) (40.0 vs. 73.3%, P=0.002), and had a negative correlation with distant metastasis of the tumor (P=0.01). Overexpression of RASSF5 markedly suppressed cell proliferation and invasion, and induced cell apoptosis in the OS cell lines with increased expression of MST1, LATS1 and p53 and decreased expression of PCNA and MMP-9. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that RASSF5 expression is negatively correlated with distant metastasis of OS, and RASSF5 may function as a tumor suppressor in OS cells through activation of the MST1/LATS1 pathway.

Aims: Spinal cord injury (SCI) can induce excessive astrocyte activation. Hydrogen has been deemed as a novel antioxidant. We investigated whether molecular hydrogen could act as an antiastrogliosis agent during SCI and oxidative injury in experimental rats and cultured astrocytes., Methods: Hydrogen-rich saline (HS, 8 mL/kg, i.p.) was injected every 12 h after SCI in rats. The expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP); the release of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α; and astrogliosis, along with the BBB score, were evaluated. Culturing astrocytes with hydrogen-rich medium, the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), astrogliosis, and the release of proinflammatory cytokines were assessed after H2O2-induced injury., Results: In the HS group, the expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, and GFAP and the proinflammatory cytokines were decreased in local spinal cord on postoperation day (POD) 3; on PODs 7 and 14, reactive astrogliosis was suppressed, and the locomotor function was also improved. Furthermore, hydrogen-rich medium attenuated the intracellular production of ROS (especially HO•), astrogliosis, and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in astrocytes 12 h after H2O2-induced injury., Conclusions: Molecular hydrogen could suppress reactive astrogliosis after contusive SCI and reduce the release of proinflammatory cytokines produced by active astrocytes related to oxidative injury. Thus, molecular hydrogen is potential to be a neuroprotective agent., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The formation and the main chemical components of sediments, including reversible tea sediments (RTS) and irreversible tea sediments (IRS), in concentrated green tea during low-temperature storage were studied. RTS was mainly formed in the first 10 days, and IRS was mainly formed between 20 and 40 days of storage. The RTS were the primary sediment, contributing more than 90% of the total sediment. The RTS comprised of polyphenols, total sugar, caffeine, flavones and proteins, while the IRS mainly comprised of oxalates of Ca, Mg, Ga and Mn. The total mineral content in the IRS (17.1%) was much higher than that in the RTS (2.6%) after 80 days of storage. The Ca, Mg, Mn and Ga contents in IRS were over 1.0% (w/w) each. About 75% of the IRS was soluble in 0.1 M aqueous HCl, with the oxalate accounting for 68%. Minerals and oxalic acid were the crucial factors in the IRS formation., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Characteristic signs of malignant hyperthermia (MH) include unexplained tachycardia, increased end-tidal carbon dioxide (Etco₂) concentration, metabolic and respiratory acidosis, and an increase in body temperature above 38.8°C. We present the case of a patient with highly probable MH. In addition to sinus tachycardia and metabolic and respiratory acidosis, this patient also had a negative arterial to Etco₂ gradient and an increased requirement for minute ventilation to maintain a normal Etco₂ concentration, with signs of increased CO₂ production. Despite these signs of MH, the patient's rectal temperature monitoring equipment did not show an increase in temperature, although the temperature measured in the mouth was increased. This case illustrates the unreliability of measuring rectal temperature as a means of reflecting body temperature during MH and the usefulness of increased CO₂ production signs in helping to diagnose MH., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.)