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Peng-Fei Ma,1,* Lin Zhuo,1,* Li-Ping Yuan,2 Xiao-Hui Qi3 1Department of Gastroenterology, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University at Anhui (Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital), Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University at Anhui (Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital), Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiao-Hui Qi, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University at Anhui (Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital), Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China, Email 15955138424@163.comAbstract: Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections affect approximately one-third of children worldwide. In China, the incidence of HP infection in children ranges from approximately 30% to 60%. In addition to damaging the gastrointestinal tract mucosa, HP infection in children can negatively affect their growth and development, hematology, respiratory and hepatobiliary system, skin, nutritional metabolism, and autoimmune system. However, the rate of HP eradication also fell considerably from the previous rate due to the presence of drug-resistant HP strains and the limited types of antibiotics that can be used in young patients. Vitamin D3 (VitD3) is a steroid hormone that can reduce inflammation in the stomach mucosa induced by HP and can alleviate and eradicate HP through a variety of pathways and mechanisms, including immune regulation and the stimulation of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) secretion and Ca2+ influx, to reestablish lysosomal acidification; thus, these results provide new strategies and ideas for the eradication of drug-resistant HP strains.Keywords: vitamin D3, Helicobacter pylori, immune response, AMPs, Ca2+ channels

The role of circadian rhythm genes (CRGs) in gastric cancer (GC) is poorly understood. This study aimed to develop a CRG signature to improve understanding of prognosis and immunotherapy responses in GC patients. We integrated the The Cancer Genome Atlas-Stomach adenocarcinoma (TCGA-STAD) dataset with CRGs to develop a prognostic signature for GC. The signature's predictive ability was validated using Kaplan-Meier and ROC curves. The CIBERSORT algorithm evaluated immune cell proportions, and tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion score, as well as immune phenotype score, determined the response to immunotherapy for STAD patients. Finally, we assessed signature genes expression using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We developed a 4-CRG signature for STAD, demonstrating accurate prognostic ability. The low-risk group showed increased B cell memory and CD8 + T cells, and decreased M2 Macrophages compared to the high-risk group. Patients in the low-risk group had a higher likelihood of benefiting from immunotherapy. Additionally, gastric cancer tissues exhibited elevated expression of OPN3 and decreased expression of TP53 compared to adjacent tissue. This study successfully established a prognostic signature for CRGs, accurately predicting prognosis and immunotherapeutic response among STAD patients, providing insights for the development of personalized therapeutic strategies for these patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

With the rise of short-form video platforms and the increasing availability of data, we see the potential for people to share short-form videos embedded with data in situ (e.g., daily steps when running) to increase the credibility and expressiveness of their stories. However, creating and sharing such videos in situ is challenging since it involves multiple steps and skills (e.g., data visualization creation and video editing), especially for amateurs. By conducting a formative study (N=10) using three design probes, we collected the motivations and design requirements. We then built VisTellAR, a mobile AR authoring tool, to help amateur video creators embed data visualizations in short-form videos in situ. A two-day user study shows that participants (N=12) successfully created various videos with data visualizations in situ and they confirmed the ease of use and learning. AR pre-stage authoring was useful to assist people in setting up data visualizations in reality with more designs in camera movements and interaction with gestures and physical objects to storytelling.

Surgical resection remains the prefer option for bladder cancer treatment. However, the effectiveness of surgery is usually limited for the high recurrence rate and poor prognosis. Consequently, intravesical chemotherapy synergize with immunotherapy in situ is an attractive way to improve therapeutic effect. Herein, a combined strategy based on thermo-sensitive PLEL hydrogel drug delivery system was developed. GEM loaded PLEL hydrogel was intravesical instilled to kill tumor cells directly, then PLEL hydrogel incorporated with CpG was injected into both groins subcutaneously to promote immune responses synergize with GEM. The results demonstrated that drug loaded PLEL hydrogel had a sol-gel phase transition behavior in response to physiological temperature and presented sustained drug release, and the PLEL-assisted combination therapy could have better tumor suppression effect and stronger immunostimulating effect in vivo. Hence, this combined treatment with PLEL hydrogel system has great potential and suggests a clinically-relevant and valuable option for bladder cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Functional constipation (FC) in children affects their growth, development and quality of life. L-pipecolic acid (L-PA) was decreased in FC children based on gut microbiome and serum metabolomic. In this study, loperamide-induced constipation in mice was used to evaluate the effects of L-PA on constipated mice., Method: 26 FC and 28 healthy children were recruited. Stool samples and serum samples were subjected to 16S rDNA sequencing and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time of flight (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS) approach, respectively. A loperamide-induced mouse constipation model was developed, and all mice were randomly divided into control (Con), loperamide (Lop) and L-PA (Lop + L-PA) treatment groups (6 mice per group). The mice in the Lop + L-PA group were given L-PA (250 mg/kg, once a day) and loperamide; the Lop group was given loperamide for 1 week, and the Con group was given saline. The fecal parameters and intestinal motility of mice in each group were detected. serum 5-HT levels and colon 5-HT expression were detected by ELISA and immunohistochemistry, respectively; qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of AQP3 and 5-HT4R mRNA in each group., Results: 45 differential metabolites and 18 significantly different microbiota were found in FC children. The α and β diversity of gut microbiota in FC children was significantly reduced. Importantly, serum L-PA was significantly reduced in FC children. The KEGG pathway enrichment were mainly enriched in fatty acid biosynthesis, lysine degradation, and choline metabolism. L-PA was negatively associated with Ochrobactrum, and N6, N6, N6-trimethyl-l-lysine was positively associated with Phascolarcrobacterium. In addition, L-PA improved the fecal water content, intestinal transit rate, and increased the serum 5-HT levels in constipated mice. Moreover, L-PA increased the expression of 5-HT4R, reduced AQP3, and regulated constipation-associated genes., Conclusions: Gut microbiota and serum metabolites were significantly altered in children with FC. The abundance of Phascolarctobacterium and Ochrobactrum and serum L-PA content were decreased in FC children. L-PA was found to alleviate the fecal water content, increase intestinal transit rate and the first black stool defecation time. L-PA improved constipation by increasing 5-HT and 5-HT4R expression while down-regulating AQP3 expression., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a major cause of upper digestive tract diseases. However, the relationship between HP infection and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in children has not been fully elucidated. This study investigated the levels of 25(OH)D in children of different ages and with varying degrees of HP infection and immunological features as well as the correlations between 25(OH)D levels in children infected with HP and their ages and degrees of infection., Materials and Methods: Ninety-four children who underwent upper digestive endoscopy were divided into an HP-positive group without peptic ulcers (Group A), an HP-positive group with peptic ulcers (Group B) and an HP-negative control group (Group C). The serum levels of 25(OH)D and immunoglobulin and the percentages of lymphocyte subsets were determined. HP colonization, the degree of inflammation, and the degree of activity were further evaluated by HE staining and immunohistochemical staining in gastric mucosal biopsy., Results: The 25(OH)D level of the HP-positive groups (50.93 ± 16.51 nmol/L) was significantly lower than that of the HP-negative group (62.89 ± 19.18 nmol/L). The 25(OH)D level of Group B (47.79 ± 14.79 nmol/L) was lower than that of Group A (51.53 ± 17.05 nmol/L) and was significantly lower than that of Group C (62.89 ± 19.18 nmol/L). The 25(OH)D level decreased with increasing age, and there was a significant difference between Group C subjects who were ≤5 years old and those who were aged 6-9 years and ≥10 years. The 25(OH)D level was negatively correlated with HP colonization ( r  = -0.411, P  < 0.01) and the degree of inflammation ( r  = -0.456, P  < 0.01). The percentages of lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin levels among Groups A, B and C were not significantly different., Conclusions: The 25(OH)D level was negatively correlated with HP colonization and the degree of inflammation. As the age of the children increased, the level of 25(OH)D decreased, and the susceptibility to HP infection increased., 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., (© 2023 Ma, Dai, Chu, Zhuo, Chen, Cheng, Wu and Yuan.)

When designing infographics, general users usually struggle with getting desired color palettes using existing infographic authoring tools, which sometimes sacrifice customizability, require design expertise, or neglect the influence of elements' spatial arrangement. We propose a data-driven method that provides flexibility by considering users' preferences, lowers the expertise barrier via automation, and tailors suggested palettes to the spatial layout of elements. We build a recommendation engine by utilizing deep learning techniques to characterize good color design practices from data, and further develop InfoColorizer, a tool that allows users to obtain color palettes for their infographics in an interactive and dynamic manner. To validate our method, we conducted a comprehensive four-part evaluation, including case studies, a controlled user study, a survey study, and an interview study. The results indicate that InfoColorizer can provide compelling palette recommendations with adequate flexibility, allowing users to effectively obtain high-quality color design for input infographics with low effort.

This article presents a new approach based on deep learning to automatically extract colormaps from visualizations. After summarizing colors in an input visualization image as a Lab color histogram, we pass the histogram to a pre-trained deep neural network, which learns to predict the colormap that produces the visualization. To train the network, we create a new dataset of  ∼ 64K visualizations that cover a wide variety of data distributions, chart types, and colormaps. The network adopts an atrous spatial pyramid pooling module to capture color features at multiple scales in the input color histograms. We then classify the predicted colormap as discrete or continuous, and refine the predicted colormap based on its color histogram. Quantitative comparisons to existing methods show the superior performance of our approach on both synthetic and real-world visualizations. We further demonstrate the utility of our method with two use cases, i.e., color transfer and color remapping.

Background: It has been proven that gut microbiota alterations are involved in the development of Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP). However, the pathogenesis of HSP hasn't been eluciated. This study was to investigate the impact of gut microbiota from HSP on ASIC3 expression and interactions between microbiota and ASIC3 expression in the development of HSP., Methods: Feces collected from HSP and healthy children at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were made into fecal microbial solutions. Germ-free rats were randomly assigned to either the control or HSP groups. The HSP group of rats were administered the fecal microbiota solution of HSP children, while the control group rats were administered the fecal microbiota solution of healthy children. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) and intestinal propulsion rate of the rats were used to determine visceral sensitivity. Composition of the gut microbiota of HSP children was determined using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. ASIC3 expression in the colon was ascertained through qRT-PCR as well as western blotting analysis., Results: The results showed a reduction in the number of species and abundance in the intestinal microbiota of children with HSP. Visceral sensitivity and intestinal propulsion rate of HSP group rats increased significantly, compared with the control group. Colon ASIC3 mRNA and protein levels in the HSP group were found to be upregulated. The microbiota dysbiosis of HSP patients could stimulate ASIC3 expression in the colon of Germ-free rats, which in turn affected intestinal motility., Conclusions: These results suggested that HSP children had intestinal microbiota disorder, which might affect gut motility by down-regulating colon ASIC3 expression in rats., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background and Objectives: Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) commonly occurs among intensive care unit (ICU) patients and seriously affects the survival rate and long-term quality of life for patients. In this systematic review, we synthesized the findings of previous studies in order to analyze predictors of ICU-AW and evaluate the discrimination and validity of ICU-AW risk prediction models for ICU patients., Methods: We searched seven databases published in English and Chinese language to identify studies regarding ICU-AW risk prediction models. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, evaluated the quality of the included literature, extracted data, and performed a systematic review., Results: Ultimately, 11 studies were considered for this review. For the verification of prediction models, internal verification methods had been used in three studies, and a combination of internal and external verification had been used in one study. The value for the area under the ROC curve for eight models was 0.7-0.923. The predictor most commonly included in the models were age and the administration of corticosteroids. All the models have good applicability, but most of the models are biased due to the lack of blindness, lack of reporting, insufficient sample size, missing data, and lack of performance evaluation and calibration of the models., Conclusions: The efficacy of most models for the risk prediction of ICU-AW among high-risk groups is good, but there was a certain bias in the development and verification of the models. Thus, ICU medical staff should select existing models based on actual clinical conditions and verify them before applying them in clinical practice. In order to provide a reliable basis for the risk prediction of ICU-AW, it is necessary that large-sample, multi-center studies be conducted in the future, in which ICU-AW risk prediction models are verified., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: This study was conducted in order to explore the effect of psychological intervention based on the use of WeChat with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Methods: A total of 65 patients with COVID-19, from two wards, were divided into an experimental group and a control group with the ward as the basic unit. Communication concerning routine treatment and nursing was established between the medical staff and patients in the experimental group via WeChat groups. Within 48 h of admission, at 7 days, and on discharge, all 65 patients completed two self-evaluation questionnaires: the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Hospital stay statistics and a satisfaction survey on discharge were also collated for both groups of patients. Results: The PANAS scores of the experimental group were 26.61 ± 7.99 points on admission, 20.81 ± 5.48 points at 7 days, and 19.58 ± 6.61 points on discharge ( P < 0.05). The scores of HADS in the experimental group were 27.74 ± 9.35 points on admission, 12.19 ± 1.92 points at 7 days, and 11.71 ± 3.64 points on discharge ( P < 0.05). The differences in the PANS and HADS scores between the experimental and control groups at 7 days and on discharge were statistically significant. The discharge satisfaction ratings of the two groups of patients were 99.87 ± 0.34 and 98.68 ± 1.09 points, the difference being statistically significant ( t = 5.827, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Establishing WeChat groups between medical staff and patients with COVID-19 and building a bridge for better communication improved patients' positive mentality and their compliance with doctors, shortened their hospital stay, and promoted their recovery., 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 © 2021 Yuan, Yu, Zhang, Zhang, Jin, Wang, Yang, Huang, Zhang and Tao.)

Objective: To describe the clinical manifestations, neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) cytology and prognosis of Leptomeningeal metastases(LM). Methods: The clinical manifestations, imaging features and CSF cytology of LM patients admitted to Henan Provincial People's Hospital from May 1, 2015 to May 31, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The overall survival (OS) was evaluated by the time from the diagnosis of LM to death. Results: A total of 88 patients with LM were enrolled in the study, and the median age was 59 years (range:28-78 years). There were 42 males (47.7%) and 46 females (52.3%). According to the pathological classification, it was lung cancer in 58 cases (65.9%), gastric cancer in 13 cases (14.8%), breast cancer in 7 cases (8.0%), melanoma in 1 case, esophageal cancer in 1 case, gallbladder cancer in 1 case, renal cell carcinoma in 1 case, double source cancer in 2 cases, and unknown source in 4 cases. The median Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score was 50. LM was the initial manifestation of cancer in 34 patients. All patients had LM-related clinical symptoms, including headache in 73 cases (83.0%), nausea and vomiting in 63 cases (71.6%), abnormal physical and mental behaviors in 37 cases (42.0%), seizure in 41 cases (46.6%). Cranial nerve involvement was observed in 23 patients (39.0%) and spinal nerve involvement in 20(33.9%). There were 61 patients (83.6%) who showed neuroimaging features of LM. Tumor cells or atypical cells were found in 90.8% of patients for the first time, and activated monocytes in 47 cases (54.7%). The median OS was 13.0 weeks (95% CI :2.9-23.1) with the 1-year survival rate of 19.1%. Univariate analysis of survival indicated that lung cancer, lower KPS score, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and whole brain radiotherapy were favorable predictors of survival ( P <0.05). Conclusions: The overall prognosis of LM is poor. Good physical condition, TKIs treatment and whole brain radiotherapy might improve clinical outcomes of LM patients.

Background: Avian paramyxoviruses (APMVs), also termed avian avulaviruses, are of a vast diversity and great significance in poultry. Detection of all known APMVs is challenging, and distribution of APMVs have not been well investigated., Methods: A set of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays for detection of all known APMVs were established using degenerate primers targeting the viral polymerase L gene. The assays were preliminarily evaluated using in-vitro transcribed double-stranded RNA controls and 24 known viruses, and then they were employed to detect 4,346 avian samples collected from 11 provinces., Results: The assays could detect 20-200 copies of the double-stranded RNA controls, and detected correctly the 24 known viruses. Of the 4,346 avian samples detected using the assays, 72 samples were found positive. Of the 72 positives, 70 were confirmed through sequencing, indicating the assays were specific for APMVs. The 4,346 samples were also detected using a reported RT-PCR assay, and the results showed this RT-PCR assay was less sensitive than the assays reported here. Of the 70 confirmed positives, 40 were class I Newcastle disease virus (NDV or APMV-1) and 27 were class II NDV from poultry including chickens, ducks, geese, and pigeons, and three were APMV-2 from parrots. The surveillance identified APMV-2 in parrots for the first time, and revealed that prevalence of NDVs in live poultry markets was higher than that in poultry farms. The surveillance also suggested that class I NDVs in chickens could be as prevalent as in ducks, and class II NDVs in ducks could be more prevalent than in chickens, and class II NDVs could be more prevalent than class I NDVs in ducks. Altogether, we developed a set of specific and sensitive RT-PCR assays for detection of all known APMVs, and conducted a large-scale surveillance using the assays which shed novel insights into APMV epidemiology., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2021 Jin et al.)

Objective: CircRNAs have been proven to be vital during the process of malignant tumors. Their functions in bladder cancer (BCa) process remain largely unclear. This study aims to elucidate the role of circ0041103 in affecting the malignant phenotypes of BCa, and the possible molecular mechanism., Patients and Methods: Circ0041103 expression levels in BCa tissues and cell lines were detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The clinical significance of circ0041103 in influencing tumor size, tumor staging and lymphatic metastasis of BCa was analyzed. Regulatory effects of circ0041103 on proliferative and metastatic capacities of T24 and UM-UC-3 cells were examined through functional experiments. The binding target of circ0041103 and its downstream protein were predicted by online bioinformatic tools, which were further confirmed by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay and Pearson correlation test. The role of circ0041103/miR-107/ FOXK1 axis in regulating BCa process was explored by rescue experiments., Results: Circ0041103 was abnormally upregulated in BCa tissues and cell lines. Its level was higher in BCa tissues with a larger tumor size, or worse tumor staging, or BCa cases with lymphatic metastasis. Knockdown of circ0041103 inhibited proliferative and metastatic capacities of T24 and UM-UC-3 cells. MiR-107 was the binding target of circ0041103, and FOXK1 was the downstream gene of miR-107. Overexpression of circ0041103 could reverse the inhibited proliferative and metastatic capacities of T24 and UM-UC-3 cells overexpressing miR-107., Conclusions: Circ0041103 is upregulated in BCa and predicts a poor prognosis in BCa. It stimulates BCa cells to proliferate and migrate via the miR-107/FOXK1 axis.

Background: Liver metastasis is an indicator of unfavorable responses to immunotherapy in colorectal cancer patients. However, the difference of immune microenvironment between primary tumors and liver metastases has not been well understood., Patients and Methods: Fifty-four colon cancer with liver metastasis patients who received resection of both primary and metastasis lesions have been analyzed. The immune score is based on the density of infiltrating immune cells (CD3+ cell, CD8+ cell, CD11b+ cell, CD11c+ cell, and CD33+ cell) in the center and margin of the tumor. The expression of immune markers between the primary tumor and hepatic metastases was analyzed using Wilcoxon's signed rank test., Results: All the five markers had higher expression in tumor margins than center tumor in both primary tumor and hepatic metastases lesions. The expression of CD11c and CD11b had no difference between metastatic lesions and primary tumor. In tumor margins, except CD11b, all the other 4 markers expressed significantly higher in hepatic metastases than in primary tumor. Intra-tumor, CD3 had higher expression in primary tumor than in hepatic metastases, while CD33 had higher expression in hepatic metastases than in primary tumor. CD8+ CD3+ cells of the total CD8+ cell population in primary tumor was significantly higher than in hepatic metastases (36.42% vs. 24.88%, p = 0.0069)., Conclusions: The immune microenvironment between primary tumor and hepatic metastasis is different. More immunosuppressing cells in liver may partially explain why immunotherapy in colon cancer is less effective with liver metastatic disease.

Objective: To evaluate the value of the diaphragmatic thickening fraction (DTF) combined with the maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) for the prediction of weaning success in mechanically ventilated patients. Methods: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College and on mechanical ventilation for 24 hours from June 2018 to April 2019 were selected as the study subjects. A low-level pressure support ventilation (PSV) method was applied to conduct a spontaneous breathing test (SBT) for 30 minutes after the patients met the screening conditions for clinical weaning; and the patients were weaned when they met the clinical weaning criteria. Before weaning, the patient's MIP was measured. The right hemidiaphragmatic excursion (DE) and the thickness of the diaphragm at the end of inspiration and at the end of exhalation were measured by ultrasound, and the DTF was calculated. The statistical relationship between the DTF, DE and MIP was analyzed. The predictive value for the success of weaning was calculated with the DTF, DE and MIP and was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: A total of 73 patients were included in this study, including 57 patients who were successfully weaned, and 16 patients who experienced failure. The DTF of the successful weaning group (35%, 8%) was significantly higher than that of the failed weaning group (25%±5%), and the difference was statistically significant ( t= 6.401, P< 0.01). The MIP (34±9 cmH(2)O) in the successful weaning group was significantly higher than that in the failed weaning group (23±3 cmH(2)O), and the difference was statistically significant ( t= 7.186, P< 0.01). The ROCs for the DTF, MIP, and diaphragmatic displacement were 0.907, 0.896, and 0.749, respectively. A DTF ≥ 27.78%, with a sensitivity of 92.98%, a specificity of 81.25%, and an AUC of 0.907 (95% CI: 0.816-0.963), was used as the standard to predict the success of weaning. An MIP > 26.5 cmH(2)O, with a sensitivity of 80.7%, a specificity of 93.75%, and an AUC of 0.896 (95% CI: 0.803-0.955), was used as the standard to predict the success of weaning. The AUC of DTF ≥ 27.78% and MIP ≥ 26.5 cmH(2)O was 0.920 (95% CI: 0.832-0.971), and the specificity increased to 87.7%, but the sensitivity was slightly reduced to 87.5%. Conclusions: The DTF and MIP play a crucial role in determining the appropriate time and predicting the outcome of weaning of mechanical ventilation patients. Compared with the DTF and MIP alone, the DTF combined with MIP greatly improved the accuracy of predicting successful weaning.

Highly efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution are essential for aqueous rechargeable Zn-air batteries, which require highly active sites as well as delicate structural design for increasing effective active sites and facilitating mass/electron transfer. Herein, a scalable and facile self-catalyzed growth strategy is developed to integrate highly active Co-N-C sites with 3D brush-like nanostructure, achieving Co-N-C nanobrushes with Co,N-codoped carbon nanotube branches grown on Co,N-codoped nanoparticle assembled nanowire backbones. Systematic investigations suggest that nanobrushes deliver significantly improved electrocatalytic activity compared with nanowire or nanotube counterparts and the longer nanotube branches give the better performance. Benefiting from the increase of accessible highly active sites and enhanced mass transfer and electron transportation, the present Co-N-C nanobrush exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity and durability when used as a bifunctional oxygen catalyst. It enables a rechargeable Zn-air battery with a high peak power density of 246 mW cm -2 and excellent cycling stability. These results suggest that the reported synthetic strategy may open up possibilities for exploring efficient electrocatalysts for diverse applications., (© 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials (N-C mat ) are emerging as low-cost metal-free electrocatalysts for the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), although the activities are still unsatisfactory and the genuine active site is still under debate. We demonstrate that the CO 2 RR to CO preferentially takes place on pyridinic N rather than pyrrolic N using phthalocyanine (Pc) and porphyrin with well-defined N-C mat configurations as molecular model catalysts. Systematic experiments and theoretic calculations further reveal that the CO 2 RR performance on pyridinic N can be significantly boosted by electronic modulation from in-situ-generated metallic Co nanoparticles. By introducing Co nanoparticles, Co@Pc/C can achieve a Faradaic efficiency of 84 % and CO current density of 28 mA cm -2 at -0.9 V, which are 18 and 47 times higher than Pc/C without Co, respectively. These findings provide new insights into the CO 2 RR on N-C mat , which may guide the exploration of cost-effective electrocatalysts for efficient CO 2 reduction., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most important complications&nbsp;of&nbsp;diabetes，&nbsp;and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). While Chromium picolinate (CrPic) supplementation has been found to be effective in treating diabetes, its effects on diabetic-induced nephropathy have not been studied. Therefore, in this study, CrPic (1 mg kg -1 d -1 ) was administered to a DN rat model by oral gavage for eight weeks to investigate its effects. The results show that CrPic supplementation caused a decrease in levels of blood glucose, serum insulin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, and urinary albumin in DN rats. It also reversed renal pathological changes, including renal glomerular sclerosis and interstitial fibrosis. In addition, the oxidative defense system in the kidneys of DN rats was found to be improved; the biological activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) increased; and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) lowered. Immunohistochemical results reveal that the expression levels of renal transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), Smad 2, and Smad 3 decreased significantly in the kidneys of rats in the CrPic-treated group. CrPic administration was thus found to ameliorate diabetic nephropathy in SD rats via an antioxidative stress mechanism, as well the ability to inhibit TGF-β1/Smad2/3 expression. This study suggests that CrPic could be a potential renal-protective nutrient against diabetic nephropathy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript.

Objective: To study the application value of surface electromyography in children with dysphagia., Methods: A total of 20 children with dysphagia were enrolled as the observation group, and 20 healthy children, matched for sex and age, were enrolled as the control group. Surface electromyography was used to record the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state and the state after water swallowing. The two groups were compared in terms of the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state and the state after swallowing 5 mL water. The observation group was observed in terms of the changes in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups after 1 month of rehabilitation treatment. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation of the degree of dysphagia with the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the observation group., Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups in the resting state (P>0.05), while after water swallowing, the observation group had significantly higher electromyography integral values than the control group (P<0.05). The observation group had significant improvements in the clinical symptoms of dysphagia after treatment, with significant reductions in the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups (P<0.05). The severity of dysphagia was positively correlated with the electromyography integral values of the submental and infrahyoid muscle groups (P<0.01)., Conclusions: Surface electromyography is useful in the diagnosis and therapeutic effect evaluation for dysphagia in children.

Purpose: Several studies have reported controversial results about prognosis of gastric cancer in young age patients. The difference may partially result from variable definitions of young age. The aim of this study was to find out the relation between age and prognosis of gastric cancer patients, and to analyze the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors in young gastric cancer patients. Methods: Data queried for this analysis included GC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program database from 1973 to 2014. Gastric cancer patients (N=79,505) diagnosed with an age≥18 were included. By combining patients with similar prognosis, we figured out 3 cutoff values of age, 35 years old, 65 years old and 75 years old. We divided patients into 4 groups: young age patients: 18-34 years; middle-age patients: 35-64 years; elderly patients: 65-74 years; extremely elderly patients: >74 years. GC patients from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) were used as external validation data. Results: The clinicopathological features of young age gastric cancer patients included: poor-differentiated, diffuse type of cancer, and advanced stage at diagnosis. The median survival of patients <35 years old was significantly lower than middle-age patients (35-64 years) and elderly patients (65-74 years) (12 months vs. 15 and 16 months, respectively, both p <0.001). Location of tumor, ethnicity, tumor size, surgery and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors by multivariate analysis in young patients. The poor prognosis for young patients remained valid in the SYSUCC database. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that gastric cancer patients <35 years old had an extremely poor prognosis. Early detection of gastric cancer is of paramount importance in young age people., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

A sensitive full-automated micromagnetic particles (MMPs) based competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) was developed to detect cortisol in milk. Polyclonal antibody (pAb) with good specificity against cortisol was produced. The antigen (cortisol-OVA) was labeled with acridinium ester (cortisol-OVA-AE) as signal tracer. During the detection, the free cortisol in sample will compete with cortisol-OVA-AE for binding to pAb. To capture pAb, MMPs conjugated with goat anti-rabbit IgG was added. The whole immunoassay process (exclude sample pretreatment) was performed by automatic chemiluminescence immunoassay instrument, which could consume less test time (within 40 min) and avoid error from manual operation. The method showed a good detection limit of 0.12 ng/mL, a broad linear range from 0.42 to 72.27 ng/mL for cortisol detection, negligible cross-reactivity with related analogues and satisfied recovery (84.3%-102.3%) for spiked milk samples test. Simultaneously, since the results of proposed method had no significant difference with those of LC-MS/MS, the proposed method was confirmed to have a potential applicability for rapidly monitoring cortisol in the food., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Failure to eradicate hematologic cancer stem cells (hCSCs) associated with resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib mesylate (IM) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients is a clinical challenge that highlights the need for discovering and developing therapeutic strategies that target and eliminate these hCSCs. Herein, we document the essential role of the interplay between histone deacetylases (HDACs), the polycomb group proteins, pluripotency transcription factors and the cell cycle machinery in the viability, oncogenicity and therapy evasion of IM-resistant CD34+/CD38- CML stem cells (CML-SCs). Using the proteotranscriptomic analyses of wild type (WT), CD34+/CD38+ and CD34+/CD38- K562 or KU812 cells, we showed that CD34+/CD38- SC-enriched cells expressed significantly higher levels of CD44, CD133, SOX2, Nanog, OCT4, and c-Myc mRNA and/or protein, compared to the WT or CD34+/CD38+ cells. This overexpression of stemness factors in the CD34+/CD38- cells positively correlates with enhanced expression of HDACs 1-6, cyclins D1/D3, CDK 2, 4 and 6, while inversely correlating with p18, p21 and p27. Enhanced co-expression of MDR1, survivin, and Bcl-2 proteins, supposedly involved in IM-resistance and CML-SC survival, was detected in both CD34+/CD38- and CD34+/CD38+ cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that in synergism with IM, SAHA reverses the tumor-promoting proteotranscriptomic profile noted above and elicits marked inhibition of the CML-SCs by up-regulating hsa-miR-196a expression. This hsa-miR-196a-mediated SC-limiting effect of SAHA is dose-dependent, low-dosed, cell cycle-modulating and accompanied by leukemic SC apoptosis. Interestingly, this anti-SC therapeutic activity of SAHA in vitro was reproduced in vivo using the NOD-SCID mice models., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the publication of this article [1], there was an error in Figs. 2, 3 and 6.

Background: Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease. Inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) are key regulators of apoptosis and are frequently dysregulated in ovarian cancer. Overexpression of IAPs proteins has been correlated with tumorigenesis, treatment resistance and poor prognosis. Reinstalling functional cell death machinery by pharmacological inhibition of IAPs proteins may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy for treatment of ovarian cancer., Methods: CCK-8 and colony formation assay was performed to examine cytotoxic activity. Apoptosis was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and TUNEL assay. Elisa assay was used to determine TNFα protein. Caspase activity assay was used for caspase activation evaluation. Immunoprecipitation and siRNA interference were carried out for functional analysis. Western blotting analysis were carried out to test protein expression. Ovarian cancer cell xenograft nude mice model was used for in vivo efficacy evaluation., Results: APG-1387 demonstrated potent inhibitory effect on ovarian cancer cell growth and clonogenic cell survival. APG-1387 induced RIP1- and TNFα-dependent apoptotic cell death in ovarian cancer through downregulation of IAPs proteins and induction of caspase-8/FADD/RIP1 complex, which drives caspase-8 activation. NF-κB signaling pathway was activated upon APG-1387 treatment and RIP1 contributed to NF-κB activation. APG-1387 induced cytoprotective autophagy while triggering apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells and inhibition of autophagy enhanced APG-1387-induced apoptotic cell death. APG-1387 exhibited potent antitumor activity against established human ovarian cancer xenografts., Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that APG-1387 targets IAPs proteins to potently elicit apoptotic cell death in vitro and in vivo, and provide mechanistic and applicable rationale for future clinical evaluation of APG-1387 in ovarian cancer.

In this study, the kinetics of reactions of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with ten model phenols (including phenol, methylphenols, methoxyphenols, and dihydroxybenzenes) were examined. The oxidation kinetics of these phenols by PMS except for catechol and resorcinol showed autocatalysis in alkaline conditions (pH 8.5 and 10), due to the contribution of singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) produced from PMS activation by quinone intermediates formed from their phenolic parents. The oxidation rates of ortho- and meta-substituted methylphenols and methoxyphenols by PMS were much higher than their para-substituted counterparts under similar conditions. This was attributed to the relatively low yields of quinone intermediates from para-substituted phenols. SMX could be efficiently degraded by PMS in the presence of phenols which showed great autocatalysis when they individually reacted with PMS, and the addition of methanol in excess had negligible influence suggesting that 1 O 2 rather than hydroxyl radical and sulfate radical played an important role. Transformation of SMX by 1 O 2 underwent three pathways including hydroxylation of aniline ring, oxidation of aromatic amine group to generate nitro-SMX, and oxidative coupling to generate azo-SMX and hydroxylated azo-SMX. These results obtained in this work improve the understanding of in situ chemical oxidation using PMS for remediation of subsurface, where phenolic and quinonoid moieties are ubiquitous., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Interleukin (IL)-17 has been reported to play a controversial role in tumor immunity. Our previous studies showed that infiltration of IL-17-producing cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) induced tumor protective immunity by recruiting CD8+T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, and B lymphocytes into the tumor microenvironment. However, the mechanism of IL-17 regulation of tumor-associated neutrophils remains elusive in ESCC. In this study, we therefore evaluated the accumulation of myeloperoxidase (MPO)+ neutrophils and its association with IL-17-producing cells within ESCC tumor nests. We also investigated the effects of IL-17 on the recruitment and antitumor activity of neutrophils. MPO+ neutrophil infiltration was found to predict a favorable prognosis in ESCC patients and was positively correlated with IL-17+ cell density. IL-17 stimulated ESCC tumor cells to release more of the CXC chemokines CXCL2 and CXCL3, which are involved in neutrophil migration. Furthermore, IL-17 potentiates the direct killing capability of neutrophils by enhancing the production of cytotoxic molecules, including reactive oxygen species (ROS), MPO, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), and IFN-γ. Experiments in mice suggested that IL-17 alone might not affect tumor progression in the tumor-bearing host, but IL-17 can inhibit tumor growth by promoting beneficial neutrophil infiltration and activation at tumor sites. As emerging evidence indicates that targeting tumor-associated neutrophils is a strategy for antitumor therapy, our findings reveal a positive contribution of IL-17 to the modulation of neutrophil-mediated antitumor immunity in ESCC. This study provides further understanding of the mechanisms that selectively regulate functional activities of neutrophils, which may be critical for developing new tumor immunotherapy.

Progesterone (P4) is a kind of hormone that can cause neuropathic disturbances in humans when the concentration overpasses a certain degree. In this work, an electrochemical immunosensor capable of detecting P4 sensitively and selectively was developed. Thionine-graphene oxide (Thi-GO) composites with excellent biocompatibility were synthesized and coated to a clear glassy carbon electrode. P4 coating antigen (P4-OVA) was immobilized to the electrode, then sample as well as biotinylated antibody (biotin-P4 Ab) were added. The free P4 can compete with P4-OVA for binding to biotin-P4 Ab. After the further addition of streptavidin-HRP, H 2 O 2 was introduced to develop electrical signal for quantitative determination of P4. After careful optimization of assay conditions, the proposed immunosensor showed a linear range from 0.02 to 20ngmL -1 for P4 in milk samples. The averaged recoveries from spiked samples ranged from 84.0% to 102.0%, which correlated well with standard HPLC-MS/MS. The biosensor also showed good specificity, reproducibility and stability, indicating its potential application in monitoring of P4 in a simple and low cost manner., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) play a crucial role in RA through producing inflammatory cytokines and proteases which could cause cartilage destruction. We showed previously that elevated expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) in RA synovium correlated significantly with the severity of synovitis and the number of infiltrated inflammatory cells. The aims of this study are to detect the roles of TRAF6 in RA-FLSs., Methods: Synovium were collected by closed needle biopsy from inflamed knees of active RA patients, and FLSs were isolated by modified tissue culture method. Expression of TRAF6 and CD55 in RA synivium was tested by double immunofluorescence (IF) staining. TRAF6 in RA-FLSs was inhibited using Lentiviral-TRAF6-shRNA transfection. Real-time PCR and ELISA were used to detect the mRNA expression and secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to detect cell proliferation, flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle, and Annexin V assay was used to detect cell apoptosis., Results: We showed that in the intimal and subintimal area of RA synovium, TRAF6 was expressed obviously not only in CD55+ cells, but also in some other CD55- cells. TRAF6 expression in RA-FLSs was suppressed effectively by Lentiviral-TRAF6-shRNA transfection. Inhibition of TRAF6 in RA-FLSs mitigated the mRNA levels and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and MMPs, such as IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-13, and MMP-3. In addition, it decreased the proliferation of RA-FLSs, blocked RA-FLSs in G0/G1-phase, and inhibited the cells to go into S-phase and G2/M-phase, but not facilitated apoptosis of RA-FLSs., Conclusion: TRAF6 plays direct roles in the pro-inflammatory effects and proliferation of RA-FLSs. TRAF6 may serve as a potential treatment target in RA., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

BACKGROUND Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are ligand-gated cation channels activated by extracellular protons. However, the role of ASICs in kidney diseases remains uncertain. This study investigated ASICs expression in kidney tissues and their role in the development of Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN). MATERIAL AND METHODS The expression of ASIC subunits was examined by immunochemical techniques in the kidney tissue from HSPN patients. Acid-induced ASICs expression in cultured renal tubular epithelial cells was determined by quantitative RT-PCR analysis. The expression of K7 and K18 protein in renal tubular epithelial cells was used to evaluate acid-induced cell injury. In addition, we observed the effect of blocking ASICs on acid-induced cell injury to assess the role of ASICs in renal tubular epithelial cell injury. RESULTS The results showed that ASIC1, ASIC2, and ASIC3 proteins were obviously expressed in renal tubular cells from HSPN patients. ASIC1 expression and 24-h urine protein level were higher in the pathological grade ISKD III group than in the ISKD II group. ASIC1, ASIC2, and ASIC3 mRNA, and K7 and K18 protein expression in cultured renal tubular epithelial cells were increased when exposed to pH 6.5. K7 and K18 protein expression was closely related to ASIC1 expression, and ASICs blockers reduced K7 and K18 protein expression in tubular epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest ASICs are most highly expressed in renal tubular cells of HSPN patients, which is closely related to renal tubular injury. ASICs might be involved in the development of HSPN.

In this work, it was found that the most widely used brominated flame retardant tetrabromobisphenol A (TBrBPA) could be transformed by free chlorine over a wide pH range from 5 to 10 with apparent second-order rate constants from 138 to 3210 M(-1)·s(-1). A total of eight products, including one quinone-like compound (i.e., 2,6-dibromoquinone), two dimers, and several simple halogenated phenols (e.g., 4-(2-hydroxyisopropyl)-2,6-dibromophenol, 2,6-dibromohydroquinone, and 2,4,6-tribromophenol), were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) using a novel precursor ion scan (PIS) approach. A tentative reaction pathway was proposed: chlorine initially oxidized TBrBPA leading to the formation of a phenoxy radical, and then this primary radical and its secondary intermediates (e.g., 2,6-dibromo-4-isopropylphenol carbocation) formed via beta-scission subsequently underwent substitution, dimerization, and oxidation reactions. Humic acid (HA) considerably inhibited the degradation rates of TBrBPA by chlorine even accounting for oxidant consumption. A similar inhibitory effect of HA was also observed in permanganate and ferrate oxidation. This inhibitory effect was possibly attributed to the fact that HA competitively reacted with the phenoxy radical of TBrBPA and reversed it back to parent TBrBPA. This study confirms that chlorine can transform phenolic compounds (e.g., TBrBPA) via electron transfer rather than the well-documented electrophilic substitution, which also have implications on the formation pathway of halo-benzoquinones during chlorine disinfection. These findings can improve the understanding of chlorine chemistry in water and wastewater treatment.

Objective: We investigated the effects of small interference RNA (siRNA) on the cell proliferation inhibition, sensitivity to radiotherapy effects and cell apoptosis. The siRNA used here was specific to the pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG)., Materials and Methods: Vectors containing the specific functional siRNAs for PTTG were designed and constructed. Cells were divided into four groups: (I) blank control group; (II) radiotherapy group: cells were exposed to X-ray radiation; (III) Group PTTG siRNA: transfected with PTTG siRNA; (IV) PTTG siRNA+ radiotherapy group: transfected with PTTG siRNA and then were exposed to X-ray radiation. HEC-1A cells were transfected by the specific interfering plasmids using Lipofectamine 2000 transfection reagent. The PTTG protein expression levels were analyzed using Western blot Cell proliferation was examined by MTT assay and the HEC-1A cell line apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry., Results: Recombinant small interference RNA (siRNA) expression vectors targeting PTTG were successfully constructed. The results of MTT showed that the growth of the HEC-1A cell was negatively influenced after cells were transfected with PTTG siRNA. Furthermore, PTTG siRNA combined with radiotherapy demonstrated more powerful inhibitory effects. Cell apoptosis rates were significantly increased in the radiotherapy group and the PTTG siRNA transfection group when compared to the control group. A more pronounced cell apoptosis rate was observed in the group that was treated with PTTG siRNA combined with radiotherapy., Conclusions: Recombinant small interference RNA (siRNA) expression vector targeting PTTG successfully inhibited the cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in endometrial carcinoma cells and increased the cancer cells vulnerability to the effects of radiation.

Objective: To explore the protective effect and mechanism of total flavones of Bidens pilosa L. (TFB) on IgA1 induced injury of venous endothelial cells in Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) children patients. METHODS Human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVECs) were taken as subject. They were intervened by normal IgA1 and HSP children patients' serum IgA1, and added with different concentrations TFB at the same time. Then they were divided into the blank control group, the normal control group, the HSP IgA1 group, and HSP IgA1 plus TFB (1.0, 0.5, 0.25 mg/mL) groups. Levels of TNF-α and IL-8 in supernate were detected by ELISA. The NO level was detected by nitrate reductase method. mRNA and protein expressions of NF-κB and ICAM-1 in HUVECs were detected by fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western blot respectively., Results: Compared with the normal control group and the blank control group, levels of IL-8, TNF-α, and NO all significantly increased in the HSP group (P < 0.05). Compared with the HSP group, levels of IL-8, TNF-α, and NO significantly decreased after intervention of TFB (1.0 and 0.5 mg/mL; P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Results of fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western blot showed, as compared with the blank control group and the normal control group, mRNA and protein expressions of NF-κB and ICAM-1 in HSP children patients' serum IgA1 induced venous endothelial cells significantly increased with statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the HSP group, mRNA and protein expressions of NF-KB and ICAM-1 were obviously down-regulated after intervention of TFB (1.0, 0.5, 0.25 mg/mL), with statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: TFB could protect vascular damage by inhibiting in vivo high expression of NF-κB, reducing the production of IL-8, TNF-α, and NO in vascular endothelial cells of HSP children patients.

The reactions between peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and quinones were investigated for the first time in this work, where benzoquinone (BQ) was selected as a model quinone. It was demonstrated that BQ could efficiently activate PMS for the degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX; a frequently detected antibiotic in the environments), and the degradation rate increased with solution pH from 7 to 10. Interestingly, quenching studies suggested that neither hydroxyl radical (•OH) nor sulfate radical (SO4•-) was produced therein. Instead, the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) was proved by using two chemical probes (i.e., 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinol and 9,10-diphenylanthracene) with the appearance of 1O2 indicative products detected by electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, respectively. A catalytic mechanism was proposed involving the formation of a dioxirane intermediate between PMS and BQ and the subsequent decomposition of this intermediate into 1O2. Accordingly, a kinetic model was developed, and it well described the experimental observation that the pH-dependent decomposition rate of PMS was first-order with respect to BQ. These findings have important implications for the development of novel nonradical oxidation processes based on PMS, because 1O2 as a moderately reactive electrophile may suffer less interference from background organic matters compared with nonselective •OH and SO4•-.

Background: The transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) is associated with poverty, poor hygiene behaviour, lack of clean water and inadequate waste disposal and sanitation. Periodic administration of benzimidazole drugs is the mainstay for global STH control but it does not prevent re-infection, and is unlikely to interrupt transmission as a stand-alone intervention., Findings: We reported recently on the development and successful testing in Hunan province, PR China, of a health education package to prevent STH infections in Han Chinese primary school students. We have recently commenced a new trial of the package in the ethnically diverse Xishuangbanna autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province and the approach is also being tested in West Africa, with further expansion into the Philippines in 2015., Conclusions: The work in China illustrates well the direct impact that health education can have in improving knowledge and awareness, and in changing hygiene behaviour. Further, it can provide insight into the public health outcomes of a multi-component integrated control program, where health education prevents re-infection and periodic drug treatment reduces prevalence and morbidity.

Background: With more than two billion people infected worldwide, soil-transmitted helminths (STH) are the most widespread infections. To date, STH control efforts rely predominantly on recurrent mass drug administration (MDA), which does not prevent reinfection. Additional public health measures including novel health educational tools are required for more sustained integrated control of STH. We describe the development of an educational cartoon video (The Magic Glasses) targeting STH infections in Chinese schoolchildren and its pilot testing in China.We applied an extensive community-based mixed methods approach involving input from the target group of 9-10 year old schoolchildren and key informants, such as teachers, doctors and parents, in order to identify potential STH infection risks in the study area and to formulate key messages for the cartoon. The development of the educational cartoon included three major steps: formative research, production, and pilot testing and revision., Results: We found that most adults and approximately 50% of the schoolchildren were aware of roundworm (Ascaris) infection, but knowledge of transmission, prevention and treatment of STH was poor. Observations in the study area showed that unhygienic food practices, such as eating raw and unwashed fruit or playing in vegetable gardens previously fertilised with human faeces, posed major STH infection risks., Conclusions: It was crucial to assess the intellectual, emotional, social and cultural background of the target population prior to video production in order to integrate the key messages of the cartoon into everyday situations. Overall, our strategy for the development of the cartoon and its incorporation into a health education package proved successful, and we provide a summary of recommendations for the development of future educational videos based on our experiences in China.

Objective: To investigate T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain-containing molecule-3 (Tim-3) and its ligand galectin-9 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura (HSP) patients., Methods: Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine the mRNA expression of Tim-3 and its ligand galectin-9 in PBMCs from HSP patients. ELISA methods were used to examine the levels of serum IFN-γ and immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1). The Spearman rank test was used for correlation analysis between Tim-3, galectin-9 mRNA expression and serum IFN-γ and IgA1 levels, respectively., Findings: The results showed that Tim-3 and galectin-9 mRNA expression was obviously higher in patients, which was closely correlated with serum IFN-γ and IgA1, respectively., Conclusion: The results suggested that Tim-3/Tim-3L may be related to the pathogenesis of HSP.

Objective: To observe the effect of apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by IgA1 from Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) patients., Method: HUVEC were cultured in 3 different conditional media with IgA1 from HSP patients, normal healthy children and simply the cell culture medium. Serum IgA1 was purified by jacalin affinity chromatography, rates of apoptosis in HUVEC cells at different concentration and different times after incubation with IgA1 were determined by TUNEL method and flow cytometry. Real-time PCR and Western blot methods were used to detect the expression of caspase-3 and Fas, respectively., Result: Apoptosis rate of HUVEC by IgA1 isolated from HSP patients were significantly higher than that of the blank control [(14.77 ± 2.23)% vs. (2.25 ± 0.77)%, P < 0.01] and the apoptosis rate of HUVEC induced by IgA1 from normal healthy children was higher than that of blank control [(7.97 ± 1.48)% vs. (2.25 ± 0.77)%, P < 0.01]. The apoptosis rate of HUVEC induced by IgA1 from HSP was time and concentration-dependent. Moreover IgA1 isolated from HSP patients could significantly increase the caspase-3 and Fas expression (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The IgA1 from HSP patients could induce the apoptosis of HUVEC, which might be related to the progression of HSP.

Objective: To investigate the distribution and expression of apelin in kidney of adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephrotic rats, and to explore the possible association of apelin expression with the development of proteinuria., Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for apelin was used to examine the expression and distribution of apelin in kidney of adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephrotic rats at 7, 14, 21 and 28 d after adriamycin injection. The level of serum apelin at 7, 14, 21 and 28 d after ADR injection was also determined with ELISA methods. Moreover the correlation of urine protein and glomerular expression of apelin was analyzed., Results: The apelin protein was immunohistochemically detected along glomerular basement membrane (GBM) in the kidney of rats and significantly increased compared with normal control rats after ADR injection. The levels of 24 h proteinuria and serum apelin were also elevated after ADR injection. Moreover the production of proteinuria was correlated positively with the expression of apelin in kidney tissue (rs = 0.9427, P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The glomerular expression of apelin increased significantly in ADR rats, which is correlated with urine protein.

Objective: To study the impact of environmental changes on the distribution and the growth and decline of Oncomelania snails in Dongting Lake beaches after the implementation of Three Gorges Project., Methods: T-embankment of Junshan District where there was a greater human factor related to the snail spread and a lake beach named Dongkou of Junshan District where there was a less human factor related to the snail spread were selected as study areas. The various ground elevations were measured and the high points were marked with GPS. The height of vegetation was surveyed regularly, soil moisture content and micro-environment temperature and humidity at different elevations in the lake beaches were detected, and the snail distribution was investigated. Both the longitudinal and retrospective studies were conducted., Results: In 1993, the soil was taken from the lake beach at the elevation of 25 m to build an isolated canal, and this made snail density decline year by year, and no snails have been found since 1998. The elevation of the vegetation in the T-embankment was significantly lower than that in Dongkou, and there was no high rod plant growth. The snails were found in the elevation from 23.5 to 26.5 m where the vegetation was mainly Cyperus spp. The growth of the vegetation was 16.0 to 54.0 cm 30 days after flood withdrew, and the vegetation reached the highest density 60 days after flood withdrew. The snail density was highest at the elevation from 24.5 to 25.5 m, and the elevation of snails and their eggs was lower than that in 1980s. In the dry season, the water content of the soil in Dongkou was from 46.80% to 52.20%, which was more than that in T-embankment, while at the elevation over 26.0 m, the water content was from 21.36% to 29.77%, which was equal to that in T-embankment., Conclusion: Three Gorges Project plays an important role in the control of water level of Dongting Lake, but there is no impact on the snail reproduction and density.

Objectives: Bidens bipinnata L. is well known as a traditional antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic medicine in China. This study was designed to evaluate the role of total extracted flavonoids from B. bipinnata (TFB) in inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines., Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were used to examine the effect of TFB on the production of inflammatory cytokines. The supernatant interleukin (IL)-8, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and nitric oxide (NO) levels of HUVEC were measured with ELISA methods. Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) and fractalkine expression was evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot methods, respectively., Key Findings: We observed that IL-8, TNF-α and NO release of HUVEC incubated with sera from active Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) was significantly increased. TFB intervention may significantly suppressed the supernatant IL-8, TNF-α and NO levels of HUVEC. Similarly, TFB obviously suppressed the NF-κB and fractalkine mRNA and protein expression., Conclusions: These results suggested that TFB may be useful for improving microvascular inflammation in HSP patients., (© 2012 The Authors. JPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.)