Manganese (II) sulfate affects the formation of iron-manganese oxides in soil and the uptake of cadmium and arsenic by rice.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) consumption represents a major route of human exposure to cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As), especially in Asia. This study investigated the effects of adding MnSO4 (0, 200, 400, and 800 mg kg-1-1) on the formation of soil Fe/Mn oxides and Cd and As uptake in rice. The application of MnSO4 reduced soil pH, increased Eh, increased the contents of Fe/Mn oxides in the soil, and decreased the total Fe and Mn2+ contents in the porewater. It also led to lower contents of available Cd and As, higher levels of Cd and As bound to Fe/Mn oxides, and higher abundances of Thiobacillus and Syntrophobacter. Furthermore, Mn application increased the Fe and Mn contents in the root Fe/Mn plaque and decreased the grain Cd and As contents. Therefore, Mn application may modify the microbial community and porewater composition in soil, resulting in higher levels of Fe/Mn oxides in soil and Fe/Mn plaque at the root surface and in a lower accumulation of Cd and As in rice grains. Thus, Mn application can be a promising strategy for Cd and As stabilization in soils.

An Automatic Sleep Stage Classification Algorithm Using Improved Model Based Essence Features.

The automatic sleep stage classification technique can facilitate the diagnosis of sleep disorders and release the medical expert from labor-consumption work. In this paper, novel improved model based essence features (IMBEFs) were proposed combining locality energy (LE) and dual state space models (DSSMs) for automatic sleep stage detection on single-channel electroencephalograph (EEG) signals. Firstly, each EEG epoch is decomposed into low-level sub-bands (LSBs) and high-level sub-bands (HSBs) by wavelet packet decomposition (WPD), separately. Then, the DSSMs are estimated by the LSBs and the LE calculation is carried out on HSBs. Thirdly, the IMBEFs extracted from the DSSM and LE are fed into the appropriate classifier for sleep stage classification. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on three public sleep databases. The experimental results show that under the Rechtschaffen's and Kale's (R&K) standard, the sleep stage classification accuracies of six classes on the Sleep EDF database and the Dreams Subjects database are 92.04% and 78.92%, respectively. Under the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) standard, the classification accuracies of five classes in the Dreams Subjects database and the ISRUC database reached 79.90% and 81.65%. The proposed method can be used for reliable sleep stage classification with high accuracy compared with state-of-the-art methods.

[Platelet activation in inflammatory bowel disease].

Platelet lineage suggests that it plays a crucial role in immune responses. In recent years, many studies have found that platelet activation is closely related to the activity of inflammatory bowel disease. Activated platelets can release inflammatory mediators, and express surface molecules that mediate inflammation, interact with leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells. It provides a theoretical basis for antiplatelet drugs to treat the inflammatory bowel disease.

[Effects of Pim-1 inhibitor on mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease induced by TNBS].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of Pim-1 in the pathology of inflammatory bowel disease and the potential effect of Pim-1 inhibitor on treating such disease.
 Methods: Forty-five BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=9): A normal control group, a inflammatory bowel disease group, two different dose of Pim-1 inhibitor treatment groups, and steroidhormone treatment group. The model of inflammatory bowel disease was induced by intracolonic administration of 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzenestdfonic acid (TNBS) and ethanol mixture. Mice were treated with Pim-1 inhibitor [intraperitoneal inject, 5 or 10 mg/(kg.d)] for 5 days and prednisone (intragastric administration, 0.1 mg/d) for 5 days. The DAI, colon length, gross score and pathological grade were evaluated. The expressions of T cell master transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells (T-bet), GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3), RA orphan receptorγ (RORγt) and forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) were measured by Real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively.
 Results: Pim-1 inhibitor and prednisone showed therapeutic effect on acute TNBS colitis in vivo. GATA3 and RORγt were significantly up-regulated in acute TNBS colitis (P<0.05). In contrast, the expression of Foxp3 was suppressed in the inflammatory bowel disease group, whereas it did not cause any significant change in T-bet expression (P>0.05). Administration of Pim-1 inhibitor and prednisone resulted in suppression of GATA3, RORγt expression, and the increase of Foxp3 expression (P<0.05). Administration of Pim-1 inhibitor and prednisone resulted in inhibition of T-bet mRNA expression (P<0.05), but only prednisone could inhibit T-bet protein expression (P>0.05).
 Conclusion: Pim-1 inhibitor significantly suppresses Th2- and Th17-type immune responses. Furthermore, Pim-1 inhibitor could induce T-cell differentiation towards a Treg phenotype. Pim-1 inhibitor has therapeutic effect on acute TNBS colitis.

Widely targeted metabolomics reveals the phytoconstituent changes in Platostoma palustre leaves and stems at different growth stages.

Platostoma palustre (Blume) A. J. Paton is an important edible and medicinal plant. To gain a comprehensive and clear understanding of the variation patterns of metabolites in P. palustre, we employed the UPLC-MS platform along with widely targeted metabolomics techniques to analyze the metabolites in the stems and leaves of P. palustre at different stages. Our results revealed a total of 1228 detected metabolites, including 241 phenolic acids, 203 flavonoids, 152 lipids, 128 terpenes, 106 amino acids, 79 organic acids, 74 saccharides, 66 alkaloids, 44 lignans, etc. As the growth time increased, the differential metabolites (DAMs) mainly enriched in P. palustre leaves were terpenoids, phenolic acids, and lipids, while the DAMs primarily enriched in stems were terpenoids. Compared to stems, there were more differential flavonoids in leaves, and saccharides and flavonoids were significantly enriched in leaves during the S1 and S2 stages. Additionally, we identified 13, 10, and 23 potential markers in leaf, stem, and leaf vs. stem comparison groups. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that arginine biosynthesis was the common differential metabolic pathway in different growth stages and tissues. Overall, this study comprehensively analyzed the metabolic profile information of P. palustre, serving as a solid foundation for its further development and utilization.

Effects of different colors of plastic-film mulching on soil temperature, yield, and metabolites in Platostoma palustre.

Platostoma palustre is an annual herb and an important medicinal and edible plant in southern China. Plastic-film mulching is an effective agronomic practice in the cultivation system of P. palustre, of which black-film mulching is the most common. However, fewer researches have been focused on the use of other colors of plastic films in P. palustre cultivation. In this study, different colors (white, black, red, and green) of plastic film were adopted, and the effects of different colors of plastic film mulching on the soil temperature, yield, and metabolites of P. palustre were investigated. The results showed that the fresh weight of a single plant of the green film treatment was significantly higher than that of the white film treatment (n = top 28). Based on the results of three temperature measurements, the soil temperature was almost the highest in the red film treatment and lowest in the white film treatment. The metabolomic analysis revealed that a total of 103 differential metabolites were identified. Among these, the gluconic acid, deoxyribose, and N-Acetylmannosamine in the red film treatment presented the highest abundance compared with the other treatments, meanwhile, the abundances of the five monosaccharides in the red film treatment were significantly higher than those of the green film treatment. Moreover, the sucrose, trehalose, and D-(+)-trehalose in the green film treatment exhibited the highest abundance, and the abundances of eight different amino acids in the red film treatment were almost the lowest while those in the black film treatment were almost the highest. Further analysis of the membership function values indicated that the black and red film treatments might be more suitable for the cultivation and quality production of P. palustre in comparison with the other two treatments. This study will provide a theoretical basis for improving the efficient cultivation technology of P. palustre and forming a theoretical system of P. palustre film mulching cultivation.

RKIP and 14-3-3ε exert an opposite effect on human gastric cancer cells SGC7901 by regulating the ERK/MAPK pathway differently.

BACKGROUND: Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) inhibits Raf (a key element in the ERK/MAPK pathway) and is regarded as anti-tumoral. In contrast, 14-3-3 is considered protumoral. However, the pathogenetic role of RKIP and 14-3-3ε in gastric cancer is unclear. AIM: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of 14-3-3ε and RKIP on SGC7901, the regulation of the ERK/MAKP pathway by both, and the interaction between the two proteins. METHODS: RKIP and 14-3-3ε genes were introduced into SGC7901 cells using gene cloning technique, then, the bioactivities including the proliferation, migration and invasion of the cells were assessed by MTT and migration assays. ERK/MAKP pathway's activity was examined using real-time quantitative RT-PCR, western blot, immunoprecipitation and 3D-immunolocalization techniques. RESULTS: Our results showed that RKIP inhibited SGC7901 cells' bioactivities whereas 14-3-3ε upregulated them through the involvement of the ERK/MAPK pathway. RKIP inactivated this pathway, but 14-3-3ε activated it. RKIP and 14-3-3ε were co-localized in the cells and interacted with each other; this attributed to their opposite influence on the ERK/MAPK pathway and the cells bioactivities. CONCLUSIONS: The ERK/MAPK pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer; RKIP and 14-3-3ε exert an opposite effect on this pathway and the cells possibly via both direct and indirect reactions with the elements in this pathway. The interaction between RKIP and 14-3-3ε may also contribute to their pathogenetic roles in gastric cancer.

Expression and diagnostic value of miR-142-5p and miR-155-5p in the serum of children with allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in the regulation of allergic rhinitis (AR), but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. OBJECTIVE: This case-control study aimed to measure the expression levels of serum miRNAs in children with AR, to evaluate their potential as diagnostic markers, and investigate the association between miRNAs and IL-4, total nasal symptom score (TNSS), and specific IgE (Artemisia). METHODS: Twenty allergic rhinitis patients and 20 healthy controls were included. The expression levels of serum miR-18a-5p, miR-142-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-3687 were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Serum cytokine levels were measured using IL-4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Nasal symptoms were assessed using the TNSS. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to test the diagnostic ability of the study parameters. RESULTS: The AR case group had a higher serum expression of miR-142-5p, miR-155-5p, and IL-4 than did the control group. However, there were no significant differences in the serum miR-18a-5p and miR-3687 expression levels between the two groups. We found that serum miR-142-5p and miR-155-5p levels were positively correlated with the expression of specific IgE (Artemisia). TNSS did not correlate with miR-142-5p or miR-155-5p levels. In addition, no significant correlation was identified between miR-142-5p and IL-4 expression, whereas miR-155-5p was positively correlated with IL-4 expression. The receiver operating characteristic curve did not look promising. The AUC was around 0.7 and it was not high enough for diagnostic tool. CONCLUSION: The expression levels of serum miR-142-5p and miR-155-5p were upregulated in children with AR; however, they were insufficient as diagnostic tools for AR. MiR-155-5p may be involved in T helper type 2 cell-mediated immune response.

Causal effects from inflammatory bowel disease on liver function and disease: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Accumulating evidence has shown that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have liver function abnormalities and are susceptible to liver diseases. However, the existence of a causal relationship between IBD and liver function or disease remains unclear. Methods: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed using genetic associations from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). These associations encompass ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD), liver function traits, and liver disease phenotypes. The liver function traits comprised hepatic biochemistries, percent liver fat, and liver iron content from the UK Biobank. Furthermore, the liver disease phenotypes included cholelithiasis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in cohorts of European ancestry. The primary estimation used the inverse-variance weighted method, with GWAS of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the UK Biobank serving as a positive control outcome. Results: Genetically predicted UC is causally associated with decreased levels of albumin (ALB) and liver iron content, while genetically predicted CD is causally associated with increased levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Moreover, genetically predicted UC or CD increases the risk of PSC, and CD increases the risk of PBC. Neither UC nor CD causally increases the risk of cholelithiasis and NAFLD. Conclusion: UC affects the levels of ALB and liver iron content, while CD affects the levels of ALP. Both UC and CD increase the risk of PSC, and CD increases the risk of PBC.

Overexpression of soybean microRNA156b enhanced tolerance to phosphorus deficiency and seed yield in Arabidopsis.

microRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs that are key regulatory factors participating in various biological activities such as the signaling of phosphorus deficiency in the plant. Previous studies have shown that miR156 expression was modulated by phosphorus starvation in Arabidopsis and soybean. However, it is not clear whether the over-expression of soybean miR156b (GmmiR156b) can improve a plant's tolerance to phosphorus deficiency and affect yield component traits. In this study, we generated Arabidopsis transgenic lines overexpressing GmmiR156b and investigated the plant's response to phosphorus deficiency. Compared with the wild type, the transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings had longer primary roots and higher phosphorus contents in roots under phosphorus-deficit conditions, but lower fresh weight root/shoot ratios under either phosphorus-deficient or sufficient conditions. Moreover, the GmmiR156b overexpression transgenic lines had higher phosphorus content in shoots of adult plants and grew better than the wide type under phosphorus-deficient conditions, and exhibited increased seed yields as well as strong pleiotropic developmental morphology such as dwarfness, prolonged growth period, bushy shoot/branching, and shorter silique length, suggesting that the transgenic lines were more tolerant to phosphorus deficiency. In addition, the expression level of four SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN LIKE (SPL) genes (i.e., AtSPL4/5/6/15) were markedly suppressed in transgenic plants, indicating that they were the main targets negatively regulated by GmmiR156b (especially AtSPL15) and that the enhanced tolerance to phosphorus deficiency and seed yield is conferred mainly by the miR156-mediated downregulation of AtSPL15.

Inflammatory bowel disease increases the levels of albuminuria and the risk of urolithiasis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in kidney function and increased risk of kidney diseases in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported, but the causal relationship remains unclear. Herein, Mendelian randomization was employed to identify the causal effect of inflammatory bowel disease on kidney function and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), urolithiasis, and IgA nephropathy. METHODS: The International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium provided the summary-level genome-wide association study (GWAS) data that correlates with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). GWAS data for estimated glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine (eGFRcrea), urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR), and CKD were obtained from the CKDGen Consortium, and GWAS data for urolithiasis were obtained from the FinnGen consortium. The summary-level GWAS data for IgA nephropathy were obtained from the meta-analysis of UK-biobank, FinnGen, and Biobank Japan. Inverse-variance weighted was used as the primary estimate. Furthermore, the Steiger test was used to validate the direction of causality. RESULTS: The inverse-variance weighted data revealed that genetically predicted UC significantly increased uACR levels, while genetically predicted CD significantly increased the risk of urolithiasis. CONCLUSIONS: UC increases the levels of uACR, and CD increases the risk of urolithiasis.

The combined treatment of praziquantel with osteopontin immunoneutralization reduces liver damage in Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of osteopontin neutralization treatment on schistosome-induced liver injury in BALB/C mice. We randomly divided 100 BALB/C mice into groups A, B, C, D and group E. Mice in all groups except group A were abdominally infected with schistosomal cercariae to induce a schistosomal hepatopathological model. Mice in group C, D and group E were respectively administered with praziquantel, praziquantel plus colchicine and praziquantel plus neutralizing osteopontin antibody. We extracted mouse liver tissues at 3 and 9 weeks after the 'stool-eggs-positive' day, observed liver histopathological changes by haematoxylin-eosin and Masson trichrome staining and detected the expression of osteopontin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß1) by immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot. We found that praziquantel plus neutralizing osteopontin antibody treatment significantly decreased the granuloma dimension, the percentage of collagen and the expression of osteopontin, α-SMA and TGF-ß1 compared to praziquantel plus colchicine treatment in both the acute and chronic stage of schistosomal liver damage (P<0·05). So we believe that the combined regimen of osteopontin immunoneutralization and anti-helminthic treatment can reduce the granulomatous response and liver fibrosis during the schistosomal hepatopathologic course.

Optimal scan strategy for mega-pixel and kilo-gray-level OLED-on-silicon microdisplay.

The digital pixel driving scheme makes the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) microdisplays more immune to the pixel luminance variations and simplifies the circuit architecture and design flow compared to the analog pixel driving scheme. Additionally, it is easily applied in full digital systems. However, the data bottleneck becomes a notable problem as the number of pixels and gray levels grow dramatically. This paper will discuss the digital driving ability to achieve kilogray-levels for megapixel displays. The optimal scan strategy is proposed for creating ultra high gray levels and increasing light efficiency and contrast ratio. Two correction schemes are discussed to improve the gray level linearity. A 1280×1024×3 OLED-on-silicon microdisplay, with 4096 gray levels, is designed based on the optimal scan strategy. The circuit driver is integrated in the silicon backplane chip in the 0.35 µm 3.3 V-6 V dual voltage one polysilicon layer, four metal layers (1P4M) complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process with custom top metal. The design aspects of the optimal scan controller are also discussed. The test results show the gray level linearity of the correction schemes for the optimal scan strategy is acceptable by the human eye.

[The relationship between waist to stature ratio and hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia in Qingdao].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between waist to stature ratio (WSR) and hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia in Qingdao. METHODS: Data were collected from a 2001 - 2007 Qingdao area diabetes survey, population-based cross-sectional study, and 30 712 Chinese adults aged>18 years old were enrolled. Correlation analysis of BMI, WSR, hip circumference, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio (WHR) with blood glucose, blood pressure, blood lipid were conducted. ROC curve analysis in diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and multivariate logistic regression analysis were also conducted. RESULTS: Anthropometric indicators were related with hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia in both men and women. Comparing with other anthropometric indicators, WSR was found to have the largest area under the ROC curve and the best cut-off point of WSR was 0.52. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, after controlling age, disease history, physical activity, sex, the diabetes hypertension and dyslipidemia risk OR of WSR ≥ 0.52 were largest. CONCLUSIONS: Anthropometric indicators intimately related with cardiovascular risk factors in Qingdao region, and may predict and evaluate the risk of cardiovascular disease. WSR may be the best index for predicting cardiovascular risk factors in Qingdao area. The optimal WSR cut off point for identifying cardiovascular risk factors clustering is 0.52.

[Identification of aberrantly expressed miRNAs in rectal cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To identify aberrantly expressed miRNAs in rectal cancer. METHODS: We used the miRCURY™ Array® LNA microRNA chip (v.14.0) to evaluate miRNA expression levels between rectal cancer tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues; an average change more than 2-fold (and P value less than 0.05) was set as a cutoff level. All 6 paired rectal cancers were classified pathology stage C or D. RESULTS: Eighty-eight miRNAs were up-regulated and 46 miRNAs have been reported in colorectal cancer; 40 miRNAs were down-regulated in rectal cancers and 15 miRNAs have been reported in colorectal cancer. To compare the relative miRNA expression levels as measured by RT-qPCR and chip analysis, we analyzed expression levels of these miRNAs in the cancer tissues. The results showed that miRNA expression (increased or decreased) in the paired benign and tumor tissue was consistent between the two methods in all cases. Expression levels of 6 up-regulated miRNAs (by chip analysis compared to RT-qPCR) varied in a range from -11.9% to 39.1% . Expression levels of 5 down-regulated miRNAs varied in a range from 1.4% to 29.4%. The Pearson correlation of relative miRNAs expression levels was analyzed by cDNA array versus RT-qPCR, and found to be 0.96 (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: miRNA profile in rectal cancer showed unique characteristics, and identified a series of new, aberrantly expressed miRNAs.

Endothelial Dysfunction and Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Population-based studies have suggested that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) might be at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. A meta-analysis was performed on clinical studies to evaluate endothelial function, arterial stiffness, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in patients with IBD, after searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science databases. A random-effects model was used to allow for the pooling of studies and for determination of the overall effect. After exclusion, a total of 41 eligible studies with 2330 patients with IBD and 2032 matched controls were identified and included for the analysis. It was found that cIMT was significantly increased in patients with IBD as compared with that in matched controls (Cohen's d: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.93; I2 = 91.84%). The carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was significantly higher in patients with IBD compared to that in matched controls (Cohen's d: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.98; I2 = 70.03%). The augmentation index was also significantly increased in patients with IBD compared to matched control subjects (Cohen's d: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.63; I2 = 61.37%). Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation was significantly decreased in patients with IBD than that in matched controls (Cohen's d: -0.73; 95% CI: -1.10, -0.36; I2 = 81.02%). Based on the meta-analysis, it was found that patients with IBD exhibit significant endothelial dysfunction, increased arterial stiffness, and cIMT. Thus, patients with IBD may benefit from aggressive risk stratification for cardiovascular diseases.

Examining endothelial function and carotid artery disease in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) might be at an increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The present protocol is developed to review and analyse published data to determine if patients with IBD have an increased CVD burden. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will conduct a systematic review of all observational studies that examine endothelial function, arterial stiffness and carotid intima-media thickness in patients with IBD. Study selection will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, and study quality will be assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. If sufficient data are available, a meta-analysis will be conducted. The overall effect sizes will be estimated using both fixed effects models and random effects models. Statistical heterogeneity will be calculated using Higgin's (I2) tests. Subgroup analyses, conditional number of studies retrieved and their sample size, will be stratified according to participant disease category or gender or disease activity. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethics approval is not required as individual data will not be collected. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and scientific news releases. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021274093.

LncRNA MEG3 promotes osteogenesis of hBMSCs by regulating miR-21-5p / SOD3 axis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the role of long non-coding (Lnc) RNA MEG3 on the osteogenesis of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The binding of miR-21-5p to LncRNA MEG3 and SOD3 was determined using luciferase reporter assay; fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of LncRNA MEG3 at different induction times. hBMSCs were transfected with LncRNA MEG3 overexpression vector and induced for osteoblasts for 14 days. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, and alizarin red staining were used to detect bone differentiation, immunofluorescence assays were used to detect the expression of SOD3 and COL2A1. RESULTS: Luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-21-5p bond to LncRNA MEG3 and SOD3. Flow cytometry analysis showed that hBMSCs were highly pure. After osteogenic induction for 14 days, compared with the control group, the overexpression of LncRNA MEG3 significantly increased the activity of ALP and enhanced the formation of calcium nodules in hBMSCs. The overexpression also increased the expression of COL2A1 and SOD3 significantly (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA MEG3 can promote the osteogenesis and bone regeneration of hBMSCs and increasing the expression of SOD3 and COL2A1 via targeting the miR-21-5p/SOD3 axis.

Diaphanous-related formin subfamily: Novel prognostic biomarkers and tumor microenvironment regulators for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The diaphanous-related formin subfamily includes diaphanous homolog 1 (DIAPH1), DIAPH2, and DIAPH3. DIAPHs play a role in the regulation of actin nucleation and polymerization and in microtubule stability. DIAPH3 also regulates the assembly and bipolarity of mitotic spindles. Accumulating evidence has shown that DIAPHs are anomalously regulated during malignancy. In this study, we reviewed The Cancer Genome Atlas database and found that DIAPHs are abundantly expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD). Furthermore, we analyzed the gene alteration profiles, protein expression, prognosis, and immune reactivity of DIAPHs in PAAD using data from several well-established databases. In addition, we conducted gene set enrichment analysis to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying the roles of DIAPHs in the carcinogenesis of PAAD. Finally, we performed the experimental validation of DIAPHs expression in several pancreatic cancer cell lines and tissues of patients. This study demonstrated significant correlations between DIAPHs expression and clinical prognosis, oncogenic signature gene sets, T helper 2 cell infiltration, plasmacytoid dendritic cell infiltration, myeloid-derived suppressor cell infiltration, ImmunoScore, and immune checkpoints in PAAD. These data may provide important information regarding the role and mechanisms of DIAPHs in tumorigenesis and PAAD immunotherapy.

A Comparison of Doxycycline and Amoxicillin Containing Quadruple Eradication Therapy for Treating Helicobacter pylori-Infected Duodenal Ulcers: A Multicenter, Opened, Randomized Controlled Trial in China.

Background: Increased antibiotic resistance is one of the major factors contributing to the failure of H. pylori eradication. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of doxycycline and amoxicillin, both critical components for bismuth-based quadruple therapy, for the first-line treatment of H. pylori-infected duodenal ulcers. Methods: An open, randomized case-controlled, multicenter trial was conducted in seven hospitals in China. A total of 184 eligible participants were divided into an IDFB (ilaprazole 5 mg, doxycycline 100 mg, furazolidone 100 mg, and bismuth 220 mg bid) or IAFB (ilaprazole 5 mg, amoxicillin 1000 mg, furazolidone 100 mg, and bismuth 220 mg bid) group for 14 days. Both groups were administrated with ilaprazole 5 mg qd for another 14 days. The main outcome was an H. pylori eradication rate; secondary outcomes were ulcer healing, relief of symptoms, and incidence of adverse effects. Results: The H. pylori eradication rates were 85.9% (95% CI 78.6−93.9) in the IDFB vs. 84.8% (95% CI 77.3−92.3) in the IAFB group in ITT analysis (p > 0.05), and 92.9% (95% CI 87.4−98.5) vs. and 91.8% (95% CI 85.8−97.7) in PP analysis (p > 0.05). The overall ulcer healing rates of IDFB and IAFB were 79.1% and 84.7% (p > 0.05), both effective in relieving symptoms. Only nine participants had adverse reactions in this trial (4/92 in IDFB and 5/92 in IAFB). Conclusion: A bismuth quadruple regimen containing doxycycline or amoxicillin could be an effective and safe treatment for H. pylori eradication, while doxycycline replacement is an alternative for participants with penicillin allergy.