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Surgery is considered the gold standard for treating melanoma, but the high recurrence rate after surgery still remains as a major challenge. Therefore, using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug, this study investigated the 3D printing of anticancer drug-loaded hydrogel blend scaffolds for inhibiting post-operation melanoma recurrence and for promoting tissue regeneration. Three-dimensional printing could successfully produce methacrylate-modified chitosan (CSMA) and methylcellulose (MC) hydrogel blend scaffolds. Polymer blend inks exhibited satisfactory printability, and the printed porous scaffolds showed good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Three-dimensionally printed DOX-loaded hydrogel scaffolds displayed controlled drug release, which may effectively prevent/impede tumor recurrence after surgery. Furthermore, combining 3D printing and bioprinting, DOX-loaded and rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (rBMSC)-laden scaffolds were created for assessing local DOX delivery on healthy tissues. Within the 14-day culture period, rBMSCs encapsulated in multilayered scaffolds that were incorporated with DOX displayed rejuvenated cell viability. The 3D printed and bioprinted dual purpose hydrogel scaffolds have the promise of combating tumor recurrence and providing structural support for tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of spin crossover (SCO) with chirality has caught increasing research interest owing to its potential applications in the fields of multifunctional magnetic molecular materials and devices. In this work, we synthesized a pair of homochiral Co(II) SCO complexes and their racemic complex by applying chiral Schiff base terimine ligands modified by naphthyl group. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction results showed that the chiral ligands retained chirality after coordination with Co(II) ion, giving rise to a pair of enantiomeric Co(II) complexes in the RR and SS configurations, respectively. The circular dichroism spectroscopy demonstrated the enantiomeric nature of the homochiral complexes. The enantiomers exhibited similar thermally induced SCO, while the racemate was trapped in the high spin state. The differences in SCO behavior between the homochiral and racemic complexes are attributed to different supramolecular interactions. This work provides a feasible approach to constructing new chiral SCO materials and offers perspectives in developing switchable nonlinear optical magnetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study directly tested the crucial role of intestinal gastrin/CCKBR (cholecystokinin B receptor) in the treatment of salt-sensitive hypertension.Methods: Adult intestine-specific Cckbr-knockout mice (Cckbrfl/flvillin-Cre) and Dahl salt-sensitive rats were studied on the effect of high salt intake (8% NaCl, 6-7 weeks) on intestinal Na+/H+ exchanger 3 expression, urine sodium concentration, and blood pressure. High-salt diet increased urine sodium concentration and systolic blood pressure to a greater extent in Cckbrfl/flvillin-Cre mice and Dahl salt-sensitive rats than their respective controls, Cckbrfl/flvillin mice and SS13BN rats. We constructed gastrin-SiO2 microspheres to enable gastrin to stimulate specifically and selectively intestinal CCKBR without its absorption into the circulation.Results: Gastrin-SiO2 microspheres treatment prevented the high salt-induced hypertension and increase in urine Na concentration by inhibiting intestinal Na+/H+ exchanger 3 trafficking and activity, increasing stool sodium without inducing diarrhea. Gastrin-mediated inhibition of intestinal Na+/H+ exchanger 3 activity, related to a PKC (protein kinase C)-mediated activation of NHERF1 and NHERF2.Conclusions: These results support a crucial role of intestinal gastrin/CCKBR in decreasing intestinal sodium absorption and keeping the blood pressure in the normal range. The gastrointestinal administration of gastrin-SiO2 microspheres is a promising and safe strategy to treat salt-sensitive hypertension without side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium) is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to China. The content of oil in kernels is 52.7% to 58.0%, of which is the source of neuroic acid (3.7-4.4%). (Liang et al. 2022). In recent years, yellowhorn, as a woody oleiferous crop, has been cultivated in northern China (Xiao et al. 2023). In late June 2019, an unknown collar rot was observed on yellowhorn in Tai'an, and Weifang City, Shandong Province, China. Infected plants had dark brown to black lesions at the base of the stem, about 10 to 15 cm from the ground, bark dehiscence and rot, resulting in wilting, withering, and death of plants. The disease incidence in the field was 35-48%. Representative symptomatic samples were collected randomly from the collar of 8 plants, and 24 samples were cut from the diseased tissue into 5 mm square pieces, surface disinfected with 75% alcohol for 30s and then with 0.1% mercury bichloride for 1min, plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated at 28°C in the dark for 2 to 3 days. Isolation frequency of the pathogen from symptomatic collar was 83.3%. The colonies were subcultured three times on PDA to obtained the purified colonies. The colonies appeared flocculent mycelia incubated on PDA at 28°C for 7 days. The color of the surface and the reverse colony was white and cream, respectively. The chlamydosposres were smooth with thick walled, and are formed singly. Microconidia were oval or ellipsoidal, with 0-1 septum; macroconidia end cells curved to slightly, with 3- or 5-septate, and measured 17.3 to 23.1 × 4.9 to 6.5 µm (avg. 21.3 × 5.9 μm, n = 60). The morphological characteristics fit the descriptions of Fusarium spp. (Hafizi et al. 2013; Crespo et al 2019). Genomic DNA extracted from four representative isolates (XSTA4, XSTA7, XSWF6 and XSWF8), and the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of ribosomal DNA, translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α), RNA polymerase I beta subunit (RPB1), and RNA polymerase II beta subunit (RPB2) genes were amplified using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), EF-1/EF-2, RPB-1F/1R, and RPB2-5F2/11aR (O'Donnell et al 2010), respectively. Amplicons were sequenced and compared in GenBank using a BLAST analysis. The ITS sequences (OR672118, OR669008, OR669039, and OR669279) had 100% similarity with the sequences of F. solani (MT560378, MG561938, MN989030 and OP630608, respectively). The EF1-α sequences (OR934984, OR934985, OR934986, and OR934987) matched 100% with the sequences of F. solani (OQ511088, MW332044, MW620166 and MT379886). The RPB-1 sequences (PP896852, PP896853, PP896854, and PP896855) had 100% similarity with the sequences of F. solani (OL474057, OR916019, MT305118 and MT305118, respectively). The RPB2 sequences (PP896856, PP896857, PP896858, and PP896859) matched 100% with the sequences of F. solani (OR371884, OK880266, OP784447 and OL474055, respectively). A phylogenetic analysis based on ITS, RPB2 and EF1-α sequences placed the four obtained isolates within the same clade containing the F. solani isolates A6, 91-84-1 and UCR1780. Pathogenicity tests were carried out in late-June 2020. Fifty 120-day-old healthy seedlings were wounded with 2 mm deep at stems in the collar region of plants at 5 cm above the soil for tested. The seedlings were inoculated on the wound with 3-mm mycelial discs from a 7-day-old culture of each four representative strains of 10 repeated, respectively. Ten seedlings inoculated on the wound with sterile PDA served as control. All plants were grown in an incubator with a 28°C temperature. After 20 days, the stems which were inoculated the representative strain turned brown, with 2 - 5 cm length lesion, and the plants developed typical wilting and withering symptoms which similar to those observed in the field. The control remained asymptomatic. The pathogen was reisolated from the inoculated stems and its identity confirmed with both morphology and using molecular tools. These results indicated that the pathogens of yellowhorn collar rot is F. solani. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. solani causing collar rot of yellowhorn in China.

The study aims to analyze the outcome indicators of randomized controlled trial(RCT) of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in the treatment of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage(HICH) in recent three years, and thus provide suggestions for the future studies in this field. Four English databases, four Chinese databases and two online registration websites of clinical trials were searched. The RCTs published between January 2018 and September 2020 were screened. The risk of bias was assessed and outcome measures were classified. A total of 151 839 articles were retrieved, of which 44 RCTs were included for analysis after screening. The outcome measures of the included RCTs were classified into 7 categories, among which the symptoms/signs category showed the highest reporting rate. National Institute of Health stroke scale(72.73%) was the most frequently reported outcome indicator, while the vo-lume of intracerebral hemorrhage determined by computerized tomography(36.36%) was the most frequently reported lab test outcome. Most studies collect the outcomes at the end of treatment, while 9 studies reported long-term outcomes 3 months or more after onset. Compared with those of international clinical trials, the application of some of the outcomes was reasonable, focusing on patients' symptoms, quality of life and objective outcomes. However, there were still several problems: unclear primary and secondary outcome measures, insufficient attention to long-term prognosis, insufficient attention to social function, few TCM outcomes, lack of measurement blindness and the use of unreasonable composite outcomes. It is recommended that researchers should rationally design the outcome indicators of clinical trials and develop the core outcome set.

To systematically review the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic the-rapy in treating hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage(HICH) patients compared with minimally invasive surgery or basic treatment. In this study, the four Chinese databases, the four English databases, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and ClinicalTrail.gov, all above were systematically and comprehensively retrieved from the time of database establishment to September 10, 2020. Rando-mized controlled trials(RCTs) were screened out according to inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria established in advanced. The methodological quality of included studies was evaluated by the tool named "Cochrane bias risk assessment 6.1". Meta-analysis of the included studies was performed using RevMan 5.4, and the quality of outcome indicators was evaluated by the GRADE system. Finally, 17 studies were included, involving 1 852 patients with HICH, and the overall quality of the included studies was not high. According to Meta-analysis,(1)CSS score of the group of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy was superior to the group of minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy(MD=-3.50,95%CI[-4.39,-2.61],P<0.000 01);(2)NIHSS score of the group of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy was superior to the group of minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy(MD=-4.78,95%CI[-5.55,-4.00],P<0.000 01);(3)the cerebral hematoma volume of the group of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy was superior to the group of minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy(MD=-4.44,95%CI[-5.83,-3.04],P<0.000 01);(4)ADL score of the group of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy was superior to the group of minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy(MD=20.81,95%CI[17.25,24.37],P<0.000 01);(5)the GCS score of the group of acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy was superior to the group of minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy(MD=2.41,95%CI[1.90,2.91],P<0.000 01). The GRADE system showed an extremely low level of evidence for the above outcome indicators. Adverse reactions were mentioned only in two literatures, with no adverse reactions reported. The available evidence showed that acupuncture combined with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy had a certain efficacy in patients of HICH compared with minimally invasive surgery or basic therapy. However, due to the high risk of bias in the included studies, its true efficacy needs to be verified by more high-quality studies in the future.