Evaluation and analysis of risk factors for adverse events of the fractured vertebra post-percutaneous kyphoplasty: a retrospective cohort study using multiple machine learning models.

BACKGROUND: Adverse events of the fractured vertebra (AEFV) post-percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) can lead to recurrent pain and neurological damage, which considerably affect the prognosis of patients and the quality of life. This study aimed to analyze the risk factors of AEFV and develop and select the optimal risk prediction model for AEFV to provide guidance for the prevention of this condition and enhancement of clinical outcomes. METHODS: This work included 383 patients with primary osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) who underwent PKP. The patients were grouped based on the occurrence of AEFV postsurgery, and data were collected. Group comparisons and correlation analysis were conducted to identify potential risk factors, which were then included in the five prediction models. The performance indicators served as basis for the selection of the best model. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed the following independent risk factors for AEFV: kissing spine (odds ratio (OR) = 8.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46-49.02), high paravertebral muscle fat infiltration grade (OR = 29.19, 95% CI 4.83-176.04), vertebral body computed tomography value (OR = 0.02, 95% CI 0.003-0.13, P < 0.001), and large Cobb change (OR = 5.31, 95% CI 1.77-15.77). The support vector machine (SVM) model exhibited the best performance in the prediction of the risk of AEFV. CONCLUSION: Four independent risk factors were identified of AEFV, and five risk prediction models that can aid clinicians in the accurate identification of high-risk patients and prediction of the occurrence of AEFV were developed.

Cerebral-Cerebellar Cortical Activity and Connectivity Underlying Sensory Trick in Cervical Dystonia.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the activity and connectivity of cerebral and cerebellar cortices underlying the sensory trick (ST) effects in patients with cervical dystonia (CD), using electroencephalography (EEG). METHODS: We recruited 15 CD patients who exhibited clinically effective ST and 15 healthy controls (HCs) who mimicked the ST maneuver. EEG signals and multiple-channel electromyography (EMG) were recorded simultaneously during resting and acting stages. EEG source analysis and functional connectivity were performed. To account for the effects of sensory processing, we calculated relative power changes as the difference in power spectral density between resting and the maneuver execution. RESULTS: ST induced a decrease in low gamma (30-50 Hz) spectral power in the primary sensory and cerebellar cortices, which remained lower than in HCs during the maintenance period. Compared with HCs, patients exhibited consistently strengthened connectivity within the sensorimotor network during the maintenance period, particularly in the primary sensory-sensorimotor cerebellum connection. INTERPRETATION: The application of ST resulted in altered cortical excitability and functional connectivity regulated by gamma oscillation in CD patients, suggesting that this effect cannot be solely attributed to motor components. The cerebellum may play important roles in mediating the ST effects.

Investigating the learning self-efficacy of a fully online teaching environment among undergraduate Chinese medical students: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Fully online learning has become a common option in many universities worldwide in the post-COVID-19 era. The study aimed to evaluate the dimensions and characteristics of the fully online learning self-efficacy among Chinese undergraduate medical and nonmedical students. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to August 2023 at Xihua University in China. A stratified cluster sampling method was used to enroll participants of undergraduate students. The Chinese version of the online learning self-efficacy scale (OLSES) was used to collect the demographic information. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and linear regression analyses were conducted in the study. RESULTS: A total of 203 college students were included in the study. One hundred and twenty (59.1%) of the participants were medical students and 83 (40.9%) were nonmedical students, and most of them (64.5%) were from rural areas. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were determined to be 0.90, 0.86, 0.87, and 0.95 for the learning in a fully online environment, time management, technology use subscales, and the whole scale, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis revealed the justifiability of factor analysis. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the majority of the goodness-of-fit indices reached an acceptable threshold (χ2/df = 3.14, RMR = 0.06, RMSEA = 0.10, NFI = 0.84, RFI = 0.80, IFI = 0.89, TLI = 0.85, CFI = 0.90). More than half of the students reported insufficient self-efficacy for learning in a fully online environment and time management, whereas 55.7% showed good self-efficacy for technology use. Although more medical students than non-medical students had higher self-efficacy scores in the three domains of self-efficacy, the proportion of students with good self-efficacy was slightly lower among medical students than non-medical students, with no significant differences between the medical students and nonmedical students. CONCLUSIONS: Most Chinese university students' that participated to our study found self-efficacy for fully online learning as insufficient (results on the three domains, ranging from 36.5 to 55.7%) and had a good level of fully online learning self-efficacy. Medical students and nonmedical students are not differences in the self-efficacy of fully online learning. Thus, pedagogues should take measures to help students including medical and nonmedical improve their self-efficacy in online environment learning, time management and technology use, ultimately enhancing their academic success.

Berberine directly targets AKR1B10 protein to modulate lipid and glucose metabolism disorders in NAFLD.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Berberine (BBR) is the main active component from Coptidis rhizome, a well-known Chinese herbal medicine used for metabolic diseases, especially diabetes for thousands of years. BBR has been reported to cure various metabolic disorders, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the direct proteomic targets and underlying molecular mechanism of BBR against NAFLD remain less understood. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the direct target and corresponding molecular mechanism of BBR on NAFLD is the aim of the current study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: High-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and oleic acid (OA) stimulated HepG2 cells were utilized to verify the beneficial impacts of BBR on glycolipid metabolism profiles. The click chemistry in proteomics, DARTS, CETSA, SPR and fluorescence co-localization analysis were conducted to identify the targets of BBR for NAFLD. RNA-seq and shRNA/siRNA were used to investigate the downstream pathways of the target. RESULTS: BBR improved hepatic steatosis, ameliorated insulin resistance, and reduced TG levels in the NAFLD models. Importantly, Aldo-keto reductase 1B10 (AKR1B10) was first proved as the target of BBR for NAFLD. The gene expression of AKR1B10 increased significantly in the NAFLD patients' liver tissue. We further demonstrated that HFD and OA increased AKR1B10 expression in the C57BL/6 mice's liver and HepG2 cells, respectively, whereas BBR decreased the expression and activities of AKR1B10. Moreover, the knockdown of AKR1B10 by applying shRNA/siRNA profoundly impacted the beneficial effects on the pathogenesis of NAFLD by BBR. Meanwhile, the changes in various proteins (ACC1, CPT-1, GLUT2, etc.) are responsible for hepatic lipogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, glucose uptake, etc. by BBR were reversed by the knockdown of AKR1B10. Additionally, RNA-seq was used to identify the downstream pathway of AKR1B10 by examining the gene expression of liver tissues from HFD-fed mice. Our findings revealed that BBR markedly increased the protein levels of PPARα while downregulating the expression of PPARγ. However, various proteins of PPAR signaling pathways remained unaffected post the knockdown of AKR1B10. CONCLUSIONS: BBR alleviated NAFLD via mediating PPAR signaling pathways through targeting AKR1B10. This study proved that AKR1B10 is a novel target of BBR for NAFLD treatment and helps to find new targets for the treatment of NAFLD by using active natural compounds isolated from traditional herbal medicines as the probe.

Association of Lipoprotein(a) Levels With Myocardial Infarction in Patients With Low-Attenuation Plaque.

BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI). However, the mechanism underlying this association has yet to be fully elucidated. OBJECTIVES: This multicenter study aimed to investigate whether association between Lp(a) and MI risk is reinforced by the presence of low-attenuation plaque (LAP) identified by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). METHODS: In a derivation cohort, a total of 5,607 patients with stable chest pain suspected of coronary artery disease who underwent CCTA and Lp(a) measurement were prospectively enrolled. In validation cohort, 1,122 patients were retrospectively collected during the same period. High Lp(a) was defined as Lp(a) ≥50 mg/dL. The primary endpoint was a composite of time to fatal or nonfatal MI. Associations were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 8.2 years (Q1-Q3: 7.2-9.3 years), the elevated Lp(a) levels were associated with MI risk (adjusted HR [aHR]: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.46-2.49; P < 0.001). There was a significant interaction between Lp(a) and LAP (Pinteraction <0.001) in relation to MI risk. When stratified by the presence or absence of LAP, Lp(a) was associated with MI in patients with LAP (aHR: 3.03; 95% CI: 1.92-4.76; P < 0.001). Mediation analysis revealed that LAP mediated 73.3% (P < 0.001) for the relationship between Lp(a) and MI. The principal findings remained unchanged in the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated Lp(a) augmented the risk of MI during 8 years of follow-up, especially in patients with LAP identified by CCTA. The presence of LAP could reinforce the relationship between Lp(a) and future MI occurrence.

On-line monitoring of membrane fouling based on an improved electrical measurement method.

On-line monitoring of membrane fouling is essential in the water treatment process. Drawbacks such as low-sensitivity and off-line limitations limit the application of existing methods. An on-line monitoring method based on Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) sensors is put forward in this paper. The Particle Swarm Optimization with Simulated Annealing (PSO-SA) algorithm is used in optimizing the topologies of finite element models in order to decrease the ill-posedness of sensitivity matrices. The deep denoising extreme learning machine with an auto-encoder model and the K-singular value decomposition algorithm are used in ERT reconstruction to improve imaging quality. The lift-wavelet is adopted in measuring the permeate flux to improve measuring accuracy. The ERT pixel values of the membrane module and the result of flux are used to analyze the fouling status. The results of membrane fouling experiments demonstrate the following: (1) Based on the local ERT pixels, the "two stage" phenomenon of membrane fouling can be observed. (2) In the early stage, the fouling distribution of the localized membrane module is consistent with its ERT pixels. (3) The deposition process of foulants for the localized membrane module is synchronized with the variation of ERT pixels. (4) The integrity of the membrane module can be detected according to the ERT pixels. Therefore, the novel method can effectively reflect the membrane fouling process, especially in the early stages of membrane fouling.

Synthesis, molecular docking and DFT analysis of novel bis-Schiff base derivatives with thiobarbituric acid for α-glucosidase inhibition assessment.

A library of novel bis-Schiff base derivatives based on thiobarbituric acid has been effectively synthesized by multi-step reactions as part of our ongoing pursuit of novel anti-diabetic agents. All these derivatives were subjected to in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory potential testing after structural confirmation by modern spectroscopic techniques. Among them, compound 8 (IC50 = 0.10 ± 0.05 µM), and 9 (IC50 = 0.13 ± 0.03 µM) exhibited promising inhibitory activity better than the standard drug acarbose (IC50 = 0.27 ± 0.04 µM). Similarly, derivatives (5, 6, 7, 10 and 4) showed significant to good inhibitory activity in the range of IC50 values from 0.32 ± 0.03 to 0.52 ± 0.02 µM. These derivatives were docked with the target protein to elucidate their binding affinities and key interactions, providing additional insights into their inhibitory mechanisms. The chemical nature of these compounds were reveal by performing the density functional theory (DFT) calculation using hybrid B3LYP functional with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The presence of intramolecular H-bonding was explored by DFT-d3 and reduced density gradient (RGD) analysis. Furthermore, various reactivity parameters were explored by performing TD-DFT at CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) method.

Case Report: COVID-19 exacerbates acute lower limb ischemia in patients with popliteal artery entrapment syndrome.

Non-traumatic lower limb ischemic diseases are extremely rare among young people. Clinically, they are mainly seen in the form of popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES). In addition, with the prevalence of COVID-19 infection, more and more studies report that COVID-19 infection may lead to arteriovenous thrombosis, which could cause lower limb ischemia. This case reported that a 31-year-old male amateur football player who developed intermittent claudication after recovering from COVID-19. After 2 months of consultation, he was ultimately diagnosed with PAES. As is well known, PAES is mostly caused by long-term compression of the popliteal artery by abnormal anatomical structures, resulting in thickening of the vascular outer membrane and progression of the disease until intimal damage and thrombosis, leading to lower limb ischemia. During the progression of the disease, there may be multiple factors that accelerate its progression. Therefore, combined with the patient's clinical history and related studies on confirmed thrombosis caused by COVID-19, we can infer that COVID-19 could accelerate the occurrence of PAES.

The role and advantage of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a massive impact on global social and economic development and human health. By combining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with modern medicine, the Chinese government has protected public health by supporting all phases of COVID-19 prevention and treatment, including community prevention, clinical treatment, control of disease progression, and promotion of recovery. Modern medicine focuses on viruses, while TCM focuses on differential diagnosis of patterns associated with viral infection of the body and recommends the use of TCM decoctions for differential treatment. This differential diagnosis and treatment approach, with its profoundly empirical nature and holistic view, endows TCM with an accessibility advantage and high application value for dealing with COVID-19. Here, we summarize the advantage of and evidence for TCM use in COVID-19 prevention and treatment to draw attention to the scientific value and accessibility advantage of TCM and to promote the use of TCM in response to public health emergencies. Please cite this article as: Huang M, Liu YY, Xiong K, Yang FW, Jin XY, Wang ZQ, Zhang JH, Zhang BL. The role and advantage of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(5): 407-412.

A Scd1-mediated metabolic alteration participates in liver responses to low-dose bavachin.

Hepatotoxicity induced by bioactive constituents in traditional Chinese medicines or herbs, such as bavachin (BV) in Fructus Psoraleae, has a prolonged latency to overt drug-induced liver injury in the clinic. Several studies have described BV-induced liver damage and underlying toxicity mechanisms, but little attention has been paid to the deciphering of organisms or cellular responses to BV at no-observed-adverse-effect level, and the underlying molecular mechanisms and specific indicators are also lacking during the asymptomatic phase, making it much harder for early recognition of hepatotoxicity. Here, we treated mice with BV for 7 days and did not detect any abnormalities in biochemical tests, but found subtle steatosis in BV-treated hepatocytes. We then profiled the gene expression of hepatocytes and non-parenchymal cells at single-cell resolution and discovered three types of hepatocyte subsets in the BV-treated liver. Among these, the hepa3 subtype suffered from a vast alteration in lipid metabolism, which was characterized by enhanced expression of apolipoproteins, carboxylesterases, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (Scd1). In particular, increased Scd1 promoted monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) synthesis and was considered to be related to BV-induced steatosis and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) generation, which participates in the initiation of ferroptosis. Additionally, we demonstrated that multiple intrinsic transcription factors, including Srebf1 and Hnf4a, and extrinsic signals from niche cells may regulate the above-mentioned molecular events in BV-treated hepatocytes. Collectively, our study deciphered the features of hepatocytes in response to BV insult, decoded the underlying molecular mechanisms, and suggested that Scd1 could be a hub molecule for the prediction of hepatotoxicity at an early stage.

Empirical study on the construction of a cognitive model of factorization in eighth-grade students.

The construction of cognitive models is the basis for cognitive diagnosis, and the cognitive models will change based on the purpose of the study. According to the purpose of mathematical education, the cognitive factorization model is constructed based on the competence and knowledge dimensions. The factorization cognitive model was preliminarily constructed using expert-defined and literature surveys, and a small-scale test was subsequently carried out. The rationality of the cognitive model was tested through verbal reports and the regression of the item's difficulty through the cognitive attributes. The study included a sample of 72 students from two eighth-grade classes in a junior high school located in Wuhan. A diagnosis was made based on the mastery of factorization knowledge and the level of mathematical operation ability of the eighth graders in the cognitive model. Research 1 demonstrates that the construction of the cognitive factorization model is reasonable. Research 2 shows that approximately 79% of students' mathematics operation ability can reach the level of knowledge understanding, 71% of students can reach the level of knowledge transfer, and only 28% of students can reach the level of knowledge innovation.

Activity Changes of the Peptic Lactoferrin Hydrolysate in Human Gastric Cancer AGS Cells in Response to Cu(II) or Mn(II) Addition.

Lactoferrin is an interesting bioactive protein in milk and can interact with various metal ions of trace elements such as copper, iron, manganese, and others. In this study, a lactoferrin hydrolysate (LFH) was generated from commercial bovine lactoferrin by protease pepsin, fortified with Cu2+ (or Mn2+) at two levels of 0.64 and 1.28 (or 0.28 and 0.56) mg/g protein, respectively, and then measured for the resultant bioactivity changes in the well-differentiated human gastric cancer AGS cells. The assaying results indicated that the LFH and Cu/Mn-fortified products had long-term anti-proliferation on the cells, while the treated cells showed DNA fragmentation and increased apoptotic cell proportions. Regarding the control cells, the cells treated with the LFH and especially Cu/Mn-fortified LFH had remarkably up-regulated mRNA expression of caspase-3 and Bax by respective 1.21-3.23 and 2.23-2.83 folds, together with down-regulated mRNA expression Bcl-2 by 0.88-0.96 folds. Moreover, Western-blot assaying results also indicated that the cells exposed to the LFH and Cu/Mn-fortified LFH (especially Mn at higher level) for 24 h had an enhanced caspase-3 expression and increased ratio of Bax/Bcl-2. It can thus be concluded that the used Cu/Mn-addition to the LFH may lead to increased bioactivity in the AGS cells; to be more specific, the two metal ions at the used addition levels could endow LFH with a higher ability to cause cell apoptosis by activating caspase-3 and increasing the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio.

Identification of several inflammation-related genes based on bioinformatics and experiments.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease of elderly individuals, with an unclear pathogenesis and limited treatment options to date. Inflammation occurs prominently in osteoarthritis, thereby making anti-inflammatory treatments promising in clinical outcomes. Therefore, it is of diagnostic and therapeutic significance to explore more inflammatory genes. METHOD: In this study, appropriate datasets were first acquired through gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), followed by inflammation-related genes through weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). Two machine learning algorithms (random forest-RF and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination, SVM-RFE) were used to capture the hub genes. In addition, two genes negatively associated with inflammation and osteoarthritis were identified. Afterwards, these genes were verified through experiments and network pharmacology. Due to the association between inflammation and many diseases, the expression levels of the above genes in various inflammatory diseases were determined through literature and experiments. RESULT: Two hub genes closely related to osteoarthritis and inflammation were obtained, namely, lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) and pituitary tumour-transforming gene (PTTG1), which were shown to be highly expressed in osteoarthritis according to the literature and experiments. However, the expression levels of receptor expression-enhancing protein (REEP5) and cell division cycle protein 14B (CDC14B) remained unchanged in osteoarthritis. This finding was consistent with our verification from the literature and experiments that some genes were highly expressed in numerous inflammation-related diseases, while REEP5 and CDC14B were almost unchanged. Meanwhile, taking PTTG1 as an example, we found that inhibition of PTTG1 expression could suppress the expression of inflammatory factors and protect the extracellular matrix through the microtubule-associated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: LOXL1 and PTTG1 were highly expressed in some inflammation-related diseases, while that of REEP5 and CDC14B were almost unchanged. PTTG1 may be a potential target for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

AIWW: a new nutrition-screening tool for the oncologic population.

Malnutrition is a common comorbidity among patients with cancer. However, no nutrition-screening tool has been recognized in this population. A quick and easy screening tool for nutrition with high sensitivity and easy-to-use is needed. Based on the previous 25 nutrition-screening tools, the Delphi method was made by the members of the Chinese Society of Nutritional Oncology to choose the most useful item from each category. According to these results, we built a nutrition-screening tool named age, intake, weight, and walking (AIWW). Malnutrition was defined based on the scored patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA). Concurrent validity was evaluated using the Kendall tau coefficient and kappa consistency between the malnutrition risks of AIWW, nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS-2002), and malnutrition screening tool (MST). Clinical benefit was calculated by the decision curve analysis (DCA), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and continuous net reclassification improvement (cNRI). A total of 11,360 patients (male, n=6,024 (53.0%) were included in the final study cohort, and 6,363 patients had malnutrition based on PG-SGA. Based on AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST, 7,545, 3,469, and 1,840 patients were at risk of malnutrition, respectively. The sensitivities of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.910, 0.531, and 0.285, and the specificities were 0.768, 0.946, and 0.975. The Kendall tau coefficients of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.588, 0.501, and 0.326, respectively. The area under the curve of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.785, 0.739, and 0.630, respectively. The IDI, cNRI, and DCA showed that AIWW is non-inferior to NRS-2002 (IDI: 0.002 (-0.009, 0.013), cNRI: -0.015 (-0.049, 0.020)). AIWW scores can also predict the survival of patients with cancer. The missed diagnosis rates of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST were 0.09%, 49.0%, and 73.2%, respectively. AIWW showed a better nutrition-screening effect than NRS-2002 and MST for patients with cancer and could be recommended as an alternative nutrition-screening tool for this population.

Can the establishment of national sanitary cities better resist the impact of COVID-19?

The global spread of COVID-19 has led to profound reflection on building a global public health security system. This paper uses the urban data collected during the COVID-19 epidemic in China in 2020 to evaluate the effect of the National Sanitary City (NSC) policy on the prevention and control of that epidemic at different stages. We found that the NSC policy was able to curb the occurrence and transmission of the epidemic the epidemic effectively after controlling a series of factors such as urban characteristics, population mobility and pathogen transmission. Compared with non-NSCs, the NSCs were better able to control the number of infected people and the infection rate and transmission rate, and this performance was even more impressive when the epidemic gradually entered the sporadic distribution stage. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of the NSC policy on the prevention and control of COVID-19 differs according to the economic development level and population size. To a certain extent, the NSC policy has blocked the spread of viruses by continuously improving the urban medical and health system and strengthening the publicity concerning infectious disease prevention and control knowledge.

[Inheritance, innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine in new era call for scientific supervision].

Pharmaceutical products need to ensure the effectiveness, safety and quality controllability through scientific supervision, and as the broad masses of the people are full of new expectations for the supply of high-quality traditional Chinese medicine products, the reform and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine regulatory policies are also facing new opportunities and new challenges. National Medical Products Administration, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other relevant departments have implemented the requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, vigorously promoted the reform of the regulatory system in line with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, introduced a series of innovative policies, and achieved phased results. Including the new registration classification standards in line with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, encouraging the development of classical formulas and hospital preparations, encouraging the research and development of symptomatic Chinese medicines, and gra-dually improving the "three-combined " evidence system. However, in the face of the development problems of traditional Chinese medicine in the new era, it is still necessary to improve the scientific supervision system, further optimize the management measures for the registration of traditional Chinese medicines based on classical formulas, accelerate the improvement of the standard system for traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, and form management measures to encourage and support the secondary development of traditional Chinese medicines. In terms of scientific supervision of traditional Chinese medicine, it is necessary to follow the characteristics and development laws of traditional Chinese medicine itself, comprehensively consider the characteristics of epochal, scientific and systematic in regulatory policies, and serve the inheritance and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine with scientific supervision.

The UDPase ENTPD5 regulates ER stress-associated renal injury by mediating protein N-glycosylation.

Impaired protein N-glycosylation leads to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which triggers adaptive survival or maladaptive apoptosis in renal tubules in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Therapeutic strategies targeting ER stress are promising for the treatment of DKD. Here, we report a previously unappreciated role played by ENTPD5 in alleviating renal injury by mediating ER stress. We found that ENTPD5 was highly expressed in normal renal tubules; however, ENTPD5 was dynamically expressed in the kidney and closely related to pathological DKD progression in both human patients and mouse models. Overexpression of ENTPD5 relieved ER stress in renal tubular cells, leading to compensatory cell proliferation that resulted in hypertrophy, while ENTPD5 knockdown aggravated ER stress to induce cell apoptosis, leading to renal tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis. Mechanistically, ENTPD5-regulated N-glycosylation of proteins in the ER to promote cell proliferation in the early stage of DKD, and continuous hyperglycemia activated the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) to increase the level of UDP-GlcNAc, which driving a feedback mechanism that inhibited transcription factor SP1 activity to downregulate ENTPD5 expression in the late stage of DKD. This study was the first to demonstrate that ENTPD5 regulated renal tubule cell numbers through adaptive proliferation or apoptosis in the kidney by modulating the protein N-glycosylation rate in the ER, suggesting that ENTPD5 drives cell fate in response to metabolic stress and is a potential therapeutic target for renal diseases.

Wheat authentication：An overview on different techniques and chemometric methods.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal crops and is consumed as a staple food around the globe. Wheat authentication has become a crucial issue over the last decades. Recently, many techniques have been applied in wheat authentication including the authentication of wheat geographical origin, wheat variety, organic wheat, and wheat flour from other cereals. This paper collected related literature in the last ten years, and attempted to highlight the recent studies on the discrimination and authentication of wheat using different determination techniques and chemometric methods. The stable isotope analysis and elemental profile of wheat are promising tools to obtain information regarding the origin, and variety, and to differentiate organic from conventional farming of wheat. Image analysis, genetic parameters, and omics analysis can provide solutions for wheat variety, organic wheat, and wheat adulteration. Vibrational spectroscopy analyses, such as NIR, FTIR, and HIS, in combination with multivariate data analysis methods, such as PCA, LDA, and PLS-DA, show great potential in wheat authenticity and offer many advantages such as user-friendly, cost-effective, time-saving, and environment friendly. In conclusion, analytical techniques combining with appropriate multivariate analysis are very effective to discriminate geographical origin, cultivar classification, and adulterant detection of wheat.

Financial integration and renewable energy consumption in China: do education and digital economy development matter?

Renewable energy is considered vital to addressing the issue of climate change and energy poverty. In recent times, empirics have tried to find the determinants of renewable energy consumption. Hence, the primary focus of the analysis is to estimate the impact of financial integration, education, and ICT on renewable energy consumption in China. In order to get the estimate of the variables, the analysis has applied the quantile ARDL model. The long-run estimates of the financial integration are positively significant at most quantiles, confirming the positive impact of financial integration on renewable energy consumption. Similarly, the long-run estimates of ICT are positively significant in almost all quantiles, confirming that digitalization helps increase renewable energy consumption in China. The long-term effect of education is significant at the higher quantiles. In the short run, the estimated coefficients of financial integration are positively significant at almost all quantiles; however, the estimated coefficients of ICT are positively significant in half quantiles. The short-run results of education are insignificant at most quantiles. In line with these results, several appropriate financial integration, digitalization, and education policies are recommended.