Therapeutic Effects of Lifei Decoction in a Murine Model of COPD Induced by LPS and Cigarette Smoke.

Introduction: The Lifei Decoction (LD) is a commonly utilized Chinese medicine for the treatment of sepsis and bronchial inflammation. However, its therapeutic potential in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the therapeutic efficacy and underlying mechanism of LD in a mouse model of COPD induced by cigarette smoke (CS) combined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Methods: Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining was employed to observe the pathological alterations in lung tissue, while ELISA was utilized for the detection of levels of inflammatory factors in both lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Additionally, Western blot analysis was conducted to assess the expression of p-NF-κB, GDF11, ZO-1, and Occludin-1 proteins. The changes in intestinal flora were evaluated using the viable bacteria count method. Results: The administration of LD demonstrates significant efficacy in mitigating pulmonary tissue damage in a murine model, while concurrently inhibiting the activation of the inflammatory pathway NF-κB to attenuate the levels of pro-inflammatory factors. Moreover, LD exhibits the capacity to enhance the expression of intestinal functional proteins ZO-1 and Occludin-1, thereby rectifying dysbiosis within the gut microbiota. Conclusion: The LD shows great promise as a potential treatment for COPD.

The neural mechanism of non-phase-locked EEG activity in task switching.

Flexible switching between different tasks is an important cognitive ability for humans and it is often studied using the task-switching paradigm. Although the neural mechanisms of task switching have been extensively explored in previous studies using event-related potentials techniques, the activity and process mechanisms of non-phase-locked electroencephalography (EEG) have rarely been revealed. For this reason, this paper discusses the processing of non-phase-locked EEG oscillations in task switching based on frequency-band delineation. First, the roles of each frequency band in local brain regions were summarized. In particular, during the proactive control process (the cue-stimulus interval), delta, theta, and alpha oscillations played more roles in the switch condition while beta played more roles in repeat task. In the reactive control process (post-target), delta, alpha, and beta are all related to sensorimotor function. Then, utilizing the functional connectivity (FC) method, delta connections in the frontotemporal regions and theta connections located in the parietal-to-occipital sites are involved in the preparatory period before task switching, while alpha connections located in the sensorimotor areas and beta connections located in the frontal-parietal cortex are involved in response inhibition. Finally, cross-frequency coupling (CFC) play an important role in working memory among different band oscillation. The present study shows that in addition to the processing mechanisms specific to each frequency band, there are some shared and interactive neural mechanism in task switching by using different analysis techniques.

Core training impacts running athletes' physical capacity / Impactos do treinamento no core sobre a capacidade física em atletas de corrida / Impacto del entrenamiento del core en la capacidad física de los atletas que corren

ABSTRACT Introduction: Core strength training focuses mainly on the muscle group and neuromuscular system of the central area of the human body to gain strength and stability for complex movements. Studies have reported the effect of core training on high-capacity athletes, but there is still a gap regarding the impacts on physical capacity in running athletes. Objective: To study the effects of strength training on athletes' core and the direct impacts on running quality. Methods: Athletes of the men's running team at the athletic training center of the Institute of Physical Education were core strength trained for 10 to 12 weeks. After the period, physical tests, according to predetermined protocols. The data were compared before, after the intervention, and after statistical treatment, and the findings were discussed according to the scientific literature. Results: After 12 weeks of training, among the five sports skills, there was only a significant difference before and after training of body lateral flexion (right side) (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference before and after training of the other four sport skills (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Through the static and dynamic exercises of core strength training, we can effectively improve the proprioception intervention in body movement so that runners can more accurately control their joints and muscles, ensuring movement and postural accuracy. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: O treinamento de força do core concentra-se principalmente no grupo muscular e no sistema neuromuscular da área central do corpo humano, com o propósito de ganho de força e estabilidade para movimentos complexos. Estudos relatam o efeito do treinamento do core em atletas de alta capacidade, porém ainda há uma lacuna quanto aos impactos sobre a capacidade física em atletas de corrida. Objetivo: Estudar os efeitos resultantes do treinamento de força no core dos atletas e os impactos diretos na qualidade da corrida. Métodos: Os atletas da equipe masculina de corrida, no centro de treinamento de atletismo do Instituto de Educação Física, foram treinados com força fundamental por 10 a 12 semanas. Após o período, testes físicos, segundo protocolos pré-determinados, foram executados. Os dados foram comparados antes e após a intervenção, após o tratamento estatístico, os achados foram discutidos segundo a literatura cientifica. Resultados: Após 12 semanas de treinamento, entre as cinco habilidades esportivas, houve apenas diferença significativa antes e depois do treinamento de flexão lateral corporal (lado direito) (P<0,05), e não houve diferença significativa antes e depois do treinamento das outras quatro habilidades esportivas (P > 0,05). Conclusão: Através dos exercícios estáticos e dinâmicos do treinamento de força do core, podemos melhorar efetivamente a intervenção da propriocepção no movimento corporal, para que os corredores possam controlar com mais precisão as articulações e músculos, garantindo a precisão do movimento e postural. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: El entrenamiento de la fuerza del core se concentra principalmente en el grupo muscular y en el sistema neuromuscular de la zona central del cuerpo humano, con el fin de ganar fuerza y estabilidad para los movimientos complejos. Los estudios han informado sobre el efecto del entrenamiento del tronco en los atletas de alta capacidad, pero todavía hay un vacío en cuanto a los impactos en la capacidad física en los atletas que corren. Objetivo: Estudiar los efectos resultantes del entrenamiento de fuerza en el core de los atletas y los impactos directos en la calidad de la carrera. Métodos: Los atletas del equipo masculino de atletismo, en el centro de entrenamiento de atletismo del Instituto de Educación Física, fueron entrenados con fuerza central durante 10 a 12 semanas. Tras el periodo, se ejecutaron pruebas físicas, según protocolos predeterminados. Los datos se compararon antes y después de la intervención, tras el tratamiento estadístico, los resultados se discutieron de acuerdo con la literatura científica. Resultados: Después de 12 semanas de entrenamiento, entre las cinco habilidades deportivas, sólo hubo diferencia significativa antes y después del entrenamiento de la flexión lateral del cuerpo (lado derecho) (P<0,05), y no hubo diferencia significativa antes y después del entrenamiento de las otras cuatro habilidades deportivas (P > 0,05). Conclusiones: A través de ejercicios estáticos y dinámicos de entrenamiento de la fuerza del core, podemos mejorar eficazmente la intervención de la propiocepción en el movimiento del cuerpo, de modo que los corredores puedan controlar con mayor precisión las articulaciones y los músculos, asegurando la precisión del movimiento y la postura. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

The Higher, More Complicated: The Neural Mechanism of Hierarchical Task Switching on Prefrontal Cortex.

Cognitive control is essential to daily life. Task switching is a classical paradigm used to study cognitive control. Previous researchers have studied the representation of different abstract hierarchical rules in the prefrontal cortex and explored the process mechanisms of task switching. However, the differences between the different hierarchical levels of task switching, especially the related neural mechanisms in the prefrontal cortex, are still unclear. This review focuses on and summarizes this issue. The present study suggests that the higher the hierarchical rule shifting or task switching, the more anterior the activation is on the prefrontal cortex. In addition, a high hierarchy of rules or tasks is more abstract, which leads to a larger switching cost.

Impact of hierarchical processing levels on division of labor: neural electrophysiological evidence from a joint rule shifting.

OBJECTIVES: Although previous studies have revealed the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying cognitive control, the neural electrophysiological process in joint task switching has rarely been discussed. Moreover, the hierarchy process remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the neural mechanism of a target when two actors use division of labor between action selections in a joint hierarchical rule-shifting situation. METHODS: The present study employed a joint hierarchical rule shifting paradigm, and each participant was responsible for the selection of one type of action (left key and right key). The cue was the letter 'R' with three features, which indicated the hierarchical rule of the current trial. The target was an Arabic numeral (1-9, except 5). Participants made a magnitude judgement or a parity judgment based on the high and low hierarchical features of cues. RESULTS: The P2 component was smaller in the high-shift condition than in the repeat condition; however, the high-shift condition elicited a larger N2 amplitude than the low-shift and repeat conditions. We believe that the current P2 is related to selective attention to the hierarchical features of rules, and N2 is related to conflict control. In addition, the high-shift condition had the largest P3 amplitude, which indicates that this condition has the largest extent of update and leads to the most unstable association between rule and stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that participants had dynamic brain responses to target stimuli in the joint rule-shifting situation. In other words, participants first confirmed the actor of the current target and then processed the target stimuli themselves.

Breakdancing Movement Based on Image Recognition Promotes Preschool Children's Executive Function and Intervention Plan.

With the continuous development of science and technology, people can apply more and more technology to the cultivation of children's abilities. In the process of cultivating children's ability, the most fancy is the study of executive function, and this is the research topic of this article. In the past, training methods such as music, mindfulness, and exercise have been used in the study of children's executive abilities to promote the development of preschool children's executive functions. While various approaches have had some effect, researchers have been exploring more comprehensive approaches to effective training. This article is aimed at studying how to use image recognition technology to conduct an intervention analysis of breakdancing in promoting the executive function of preschool children. For this reason, this paper proposes image recognition technology based on deep learning neural network and conducts research, analysis, and improvement on related technologies obtained from deep learning. This makes it more suitable for the research topic of this article and design-related experiments and analysis to explore its related performance. The experimental results in this paper show that the improved image recognition technology has improved accuracy by 31.2%. And the performance of its algorithm is also improved by 21%, which can be very effective in monitoring preschool children during breakdancing.

Acylation of antimicrobial peptide-plasmid DNA vectors formulation for efficient gene delivery in cancer therapy.

Antimicrobial peptides/DNA complexes were designed based on AMPs chensinin-1b and its corresponding lipo-chensinin-1b conjugated with an aliphatic acid with different chain lengths and therapeutic genes. The main goal of such a complex includes two aspects: first, antimicrobial peptides deliver therapeutic genes to cancer cells and genes expressed in targeted tissue for cancer gene therapy, and, second, the antimicrobial peptide kills cancer cells when used alone as an anticancer agent. This study presents a model composed of chensinin-1b and its lipo-chensinin-1b and eGFP plasmids, which were used as reporter genes, and the final peptide/eGFP plasmid complexes were analyzed by TEM and DLS. The gene transfection efficiency of the complex was evaluated by a microplate reader, FACS and CLSM. Compared with Lipo2000, the antimicrobial peptide showed specific selectivity for transfection against cancer cells and mammalian cells. The peptides chensinin-1b and lipo-chensinin-1b binding with the eGFP plasmid displayed optimal transfection efficiencies at a mass ratio of 8. In addition, PA-C1b can deliver p53-eGFP plasmids into MCF-7 cancer cells, and the proliferation of cells was inhibited and even caused cell death. Overall, PA-C1b was screened and found to have the highest transfection efficiency for gene delivery and good cellular uptake capability. The in vivo transfection ability of PA-C1b was investigated using a tumor-bearing mouse model, and the transfection efficiency reflected by the fluorescence of expressed GFP was determined by in vivo imaging. Conclusively, the antimicrobial peptide PA-C1b could be used as the nonviral vector with high efficiency for cancer gene therapy.

LncRNA PCAT6 promotes tumor progression in osteosarcoma via activation of TGF-ß pathway by sponging miR-185-5p.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in tumor development of osteosarcoma (OS). LncRNA PCAT6 was involved in the progression of multiple human cancers. However, the biological function of PCAT6 in OS remains largely unknown. We found that PCAT6 was elevated in OS tissues relative to that in their adjacent normal tissues. The upregulation of PCAT6 was positively associated with metastasis status and advanced stages and predicted poor overall and progression-free survivals in patients with OS. Functionally, silencing PCAT6 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of OS cells. Mechanistically, PCAT6, acting as a competitive endogenous RNA, upregulated expression of TGFBR1 and TGFBR2 to activate TGF-ß pathway via sponging miR-185-5p. This study uncovers a novel underlying molecular mechanism of PCAT6-miR-185-5p-TGFBR1/2-TGF-ß signaling axis in promoting tumor progression in OS, which indicates that PCAT6 may serve as a promising prognostic factor and therapeutic target again OS.

A clinical comparison study of three different methods for treatment of transverse patellar fractures.

BACKGROUND: Tension bands structures are widely used to treat transverse patellar fractures. However, many implants-related complications have been reported. The purpose of this study is to evaluate effects and compare complications of three methods used to treat transverse patellar fractures, including titanium cable tension bands, compression screws with titanium cable cerclage, and X-shaped plating technique. METHODS: From January 2010 to March 2016, 120 cases of transverse patellar fracture received open reduction and internal fixation with one of three methods: titanium cable tension band (group A), compression screws with titanium cable cerclage (group B), and X-shaped plating technique (group C). Of these, 108 cases were followed for >2 years. Clinical and radiographic data were retrospectively collected and statistically compared. RESULTS: Final analysis included 108 patients (n = 38 in group A, 36 in B, and 34 in C). Reduction was satisfactory in all patients after surgery. No significant differences were noted in age, gender, time from injury to surgery, postoperative articular step-off, Lysholm score, and range of motion at 24 months among all groups. At final follow-up, 12 (31.6%) symptomatic implant complications were encountered in group A, along with 6 (16.7%) and 2 (5.9%) in groups B and C, respectively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: All three methods could achieve the goal of rigid fixation and early functional rehabilitation. However, the X-plate technique had the lowest risk of symptomatic implant complications and could thus be a safe and effective alternative for internal fixation of transverse patellar fractures.