MiR-181c-5p Regulates Lung Adenocarcinoma Progression via Targeting PRKN.

Accumulating evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) have a vital effect on lung adenocarcinoma. However, the contributions and possible mechanisms of miR-181c-5p to lung adenocarcinoma remain largely unclear. Our objective is to clarify the potential mechanism by which miR-181c-5p regulates lung adenocarcinoma progression. RT-qPCR was performed to determine the levels of miR-181c-5p in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and cells. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were conducted to evaluate the viability, migration, and invasion of H460 cells, respectively. The putative target association between miR-181c-5p and the Parkin gene (PRKN) was predicted using miRDB and confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. MiR-181c-5p expression was found to be up-regulated in both lung adenocarcinoma tissues and cells. Suppression of miR-181c-5p resulted in the inhibition of viability, migration, and invasion in lung adenocarcinoma cells. PRKN level was negatively related to miR-181c-5p expression and mediated with the miR-181c-5p's functions on lung adenocarcinoma progression. MiR-181c-5p regulates lung adenocarcinoma progression via targeting PRKN, indicating miR-181c-5p is expected to be a diagnostic and predictive marker for lung adenocarcinoma, providing new insights into the development of treatment strategies for lung adenocarcinoma.

Development and validation of an HPLC method for determination of Amikacin in water samples by solid phase extraction and pre-column derivatization.

This work presents a rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of amikacin in water samples with solid phase extraction and pre-column derivatization. Amikacin residue was extracted from water samples with solid phase extraction cartridge. Then the extraction solution was derivatized with 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzotrifluoride in the presence of triethylamine at 70°C in 20 min. The amikacin derivative was separated on a C18 column and detected by application of UV detection at 238 nm. The limit of detection is 0.2 µg/L with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 and linearity is established over the concentration range from 0 to 500.0 µg/L. Recoveries of the amikacin in three types of water samples are from 87.5 % to 99.6 % and RSDs are 2.1 %-4.5 %. This method can be used for the quantification of amikacin residues in water samples.

Preparation and characterization of 1-naphthylacetic acid-silica conjugated nanospheres for enhancement of controlled-release performance.

Chemical pesticides have been widely used to increase the yield and quality of agricultural products as they are efficient, effective, and easy to apply. However, the rapid degradation and low utilization ratio of conventional pesticides has led to environmental pollution and resource waste. Nano-sized controlled-release formulations (CRFs) can provide better penetration through the plant cuticle and deliver the active ingredients efficiently to the targeted tissue. In this paper we reported novel conjugated nanospheres derived from 1-naphthylacetic acid (NNA), 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethyl orthosilicate and their application as a controlled-release plant growth regulator. The NNA and APTES conjugate was prepared through a covalent cross-linking reaction and subsequent hydrolyzation and polycondensation to synthesize NNA-silica nanospheres. The release data indicated that the release of NNA was by non-Fickian transport and increased as particle size decreased. It was also found that the acidity-alkalinity was enhanced and as the temperature increased, the release of the active ingredient was faster. The nanoconjugate displayed a better efficacy in promoting root formation than NNA technical. The present study provides a novel synthesis route for CRFs comprising a pesticide, with long-duration sustained-release performance and good environmental compatibility. This method may be extended to other pesticides that possess a carboxyl group.

[Percutaneous kyphoplasty assisted by three dimensional printing percutaneous guide plate for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures].

OBJECTIVE: To verify the safety of three dimensional printing percutaneous guide plate assisted percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP) in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(OVCFs). METHODS: The clinical data of 60 patients with OVCFs treated by PKP from November 2020 to August 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 24 males and 36 females, aged from 72 to 86 years old with an average of (76.5±7.9) years. Routine percutaneous kyphoplasty was performed in 30 cases (conventional group) and three dimensional printing percutaneous guide plate assisted PKP was performed in 30 cases (guide plate group). Intraoperative pedicle puncture time (puncture needle to posterior vertebral body edge) and number of fluoroscopy, total operation time, total number of fluoroscopy, amount of bone cement injection, and complication (spinal canal leakage of bone cement) were observed. The visual analogue scale (VAS) and the anterior edge compression rate of the injured vertebra were compared before operation and 3 days after operation between two groups. RESULTS: All 60 patients were successfully operated without complication of spinal canal leakage of bone cement. In the guide plate group, the pedicle puncture time was(10.23±3.15) min and the number of fluoroscopy was(4.77±1.07) times, the total operation time was (33.83±4.21) min, the total number of fluoroscopy was(12.27±2.61) times;and in the conventional group, the pedicle puncture time was (22.83±3.09) min and the number of fluoroscopy was (10.93±1.62) times, the total operation time was(44.33±3.57) min, the total number of fluoroscopy was(19.20±2.67) times. There were statistically significant differences in the pedicle puncture time, intraoperative number of fluoroscopy, the total operation time, and the total number of fluoroscopy between the two groups(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in amount of bone cement injection between the two groups(P>0.05). There were no significant differences in VAS and the anterior edge compression rate of the injured vertebra at 3 days after operation between two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Three dimensional printing percutaneous guide plate assisted percutaneous kyphoplasty is safe and reliable, which can reduce the number of fluoroscopy, shorten the operation time, and decrease the radiation exposure of patients and medical staff, and conforms to the concept of precise orthopaedic management.

An End-to-End Lane Detection Model with Attention and Residual Block.

Lane detection, as one of the most important core functions in the autonomous driving environment, is still an open problem. In particular, pursuing high accuracy in complex scenes, such as no line and multiple lane lines, is an urgent issue to be discussed and solved. In this paper, a novel end-to-end lane detection model combining the advantages of attention mechanism and residual block is proposed to address the problem. A residual block alleviates the possible gradient problem. An attention block can help the proposed model centralize on where to focus in the process of learning feature representation, which can make the model itself more sensitive to the feature representation of lane lines through convolutional operations. Additionally, the U-shaped structure with three downsampling operations preserves the image resolution and the original lane line information in the image to the greatest extent. The U-shaped structure can directly output the prediction results to eliminate many complex or unnecessary calculation processes. The experimental results on two public lane detection datasets show that the lane detection performance of the proposed model can achieve high accuracy, and the corresponding weight sizes are only 2.25 M. Finally, to further explain the effectiveness of the proposed model, the unavoidable troubles encountered in the experiment are discussed.

Behavioral Analysis of EEG Signals in Loss-Gain Decision-Making Experiments.

Extraction and analysis of the EEG (electroencephalograph) information features generated during behavioral decision-making can provide a better understanding of the state of mind. Previous studies have focused more on the brainwave features after behavioral decision-making. In fact, the EEG before decision-making is more worthy of our attention. In this study, we introduce a new index based on the reaction time of subjects before decision-making, called the Prestimulus Time (PT), which have important reference value for the study of cognitive function, neurological diseases, and other fields. In our experiments, we use a wearable EEG feature signal acquisition device and a systematic reward and punishment experiment to obtain the EEG features before and after behavioral decision-making. The experimental results show that the EEG generated after behavioral decision due to loss is more intense than that generated by gain in the medial frontal cortex (MFC). In addition, different characteristics of EEG signals are generated prior to behavioral decisions because people have different expectations of the outcome. It will produce more significant negative-polarity event-related potential (ERP) in the forebrain area when the humans are optimistic about the outcomes.

Learning State Assessment in Online Education Based on Multiple Facial Features Detection.

Considering that most of online training is not effectively supervised, this article presents an online leaning state assessment approach which combines blink detection, yawn detection, and head pose estimation. Blink detection is realized by computing the eye aspect ratio and the ratio of closed eye frames to the total frames per unit time to evaluate the degree of eye fatigue. Yawn detection is implemented by computing the aspect ratio of the mouth by using the feature points of the inner lip and combining it with the time of opening mouth to distinguish the mouth state. Head pose estimation is first implemented by calculating the head rotation matrix by matching the feature points of 2D face with the 3D face model and then calculating the Euler angle of the head according to the rotation matrix to evaluate the change of the head pose. Especially in yawn detection, we employ the feature points of inner lips in the calculation of the mouth aspect ratio to avoid the impact of lip thickness of various participants. Furthermore, the blink detection, yawn detection, and head pose estimation are first calculated based on the two-dimensional grayscale image of human face, which could reduce the computational complexity and improve the real-time performance of detection. Finally, combining the values of blinking, yawning, and head pose, multiple groups of experiments are carried out to assess the state of different online learners; then, the learning state is evaluated by analyzing the numerical changes of the three characteristics. Experimental results show that our approach could effectively evaluate the state of online learning and provide support for the development of online education.

Electro-acupuncture for post-stroke cognitive impairment: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A considerable number of stroke survivors suffered from cognitive impairment, and more than one third of stroke survivors are affected at 3 and 12 months after the stroke. Although the published systematic reviews suggest that acupuncture can help improve post-stroke cognitive dysfunction, the power of the results is low due to study limitations. Therefore, this review is necessary to analyze the effect of acupuncture on cognitive impairment after stroke and to provide evidence for cognitive impairment in stroke. METHODS: This study will be carried out in strict accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. According to the pre-established search strategy (PICOS framework), all the literature will be obtained from online databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library, Medline (via PubMed), EMBASE (via embase.com), CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, WanFang Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, and Sino-Med Database from inception until December 31, 2021 with no language limitations. Two reviewers will screen the records and include quality studies according to inclusion criteria independently. The data needed will be extracted independently by 2 authors according to a table of data extraction. Any inconsistencies in literature screening and data collection will be resolved to reach a consensus via discussion with a third author. Risk of bias for each study will be assessed using risk of bias tool. RevMan5.3 will be used to analyze the data. Heterogeneity will be identified and measured by Chi2. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analysis will be carried out. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation will be used to evaluate the evidence for each outcome. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will provide a theoretical basis for the clinical use of electro-acupuncture to treat cognitive dysfunction after stroke. UNIQUE INPLASY NUMBER: INPLASY202210038.

Acupoint injection for nonspecific chronic low back pain: A protocol of systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupuncture injection therapy for the patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) systematically. METHODS: Four English online databases and 4 Chinese online databases will be researched systematically from their inception to December 31, 2018. Reference management software, Endnote X7, will be used to manage and screen the records. After removing the duplicate records, 2 independent reviewers will select the studies that meet the inclusion criteria. "Risk of table" recommend by Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions will be used to judge the quality of the included records. All data will be extracted by 1 reviewer and checked by another reviewer. Any disagree will be addressed via consulting a third reviewer in the above processes. Microsoft Excel will be used to manage and convert data if necessary. The missing data will be obtained via emailing the original authors of included studies. Review Manager (RevMan5.3) will be used to perform the data synthesis if enough data were collected. Otherwise, only the qualitative analysis will be performed. Based on the heterogeneity results, fixed-effect model or random-effect model will be used to estimate the overall effect of acupuncture injection therapy for patients with nonspecific CLBP. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis will be also performed to explore the sources of heterogeneity. If there are enough records included, the publish bias will be assessed by funnel plot. All procedures will be strictly performed in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. CONCLUSION: This review will offer clinical evidence of acupuncture injection therapy for the patients with nonspecific CLBP. PROSPERO RESEARCH REGISTRATION IDENTIFYING NUMBER: CRD42019119158.

Development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatography method for determination of ractopamine residue in pork samples by solid phase extraction and pre-column derivatization.

Ractopamine (RAC) has been approved as a feed additive for swine, cattle or turkey, and is likely to have residue in edible animal products and may pose a potential risk for consumer health. Therefore, it is essential to establish a method to detect the residue of RAC in animal products. This work presents a rapid and sensitive HPLC method for the determination of RAC in pork samples with pre-column derivatization. The RAC derivative was separated on a kromasil C18 column and detected at 284nm with a UV detector. The detection capability (CCß) was 0.078µgg(-1) and the linearity was established over the concentration range of 0.15-100.0µgg(-1). The overall mean recovery in spike range of 0.2µgg(-1) to 100µgg(-1) was 89.9% with the overall mean relative standard deviation of 4.1%. This method can be used for the quantification of RAC in pork samples and help to establish adequate monitoring of the residue of RAC.

Determination of malondialdehyde in biological fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography using rhodamine B hydrazide as the derivatization reagent.

Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a biomarker for lipid peroxidation, and studies of sensitive and selective analytical methods for it are very important for pathological research. The aim of this work was to develop and validate a novel HPLC method for the quantification of MDA in biological fluids using rhodamine B hydrazide (RBH) as the derivatization reagent. After pretreatment and derivatization in acid medium at 50 °C for 40 min, the RBH-derivatized MDA was separated on a Kromasil C18 column at 25 °C and detected by a fluorescence detector at excitation wavelength of 560 nm and emission wavelength of 580 nm. The results showed linearity in the range of 0.8-1500.0 nM with a detection limit of 0.25 nM (S/N = 3). The recovery of MDA from plasma and urine was 91.50 to 99.20%, with a relative standard deviation range of 1.45 to 3.26%. In comparison to other methods reported for the determination of MDA, the proposed method showed superiority in simplicity, more sensitivity, shorter derivatization time, and less interference. The developed method was applied to quantification of MDA in human biological fluids collected from five volunteers with a concentration range of 24.62-245.00 nM.

Preparation and characterization of double-shelled avermectin microcapsules based on copolymer matrix of silica-glutaraldehyde-chitosan.

Controlled release formulation (CRF) of pesticides is highly desirable for attaining the most effective utilization of the pesticide as well as reducing environmental pollution. Due to the selective permeation and protection properties of the semi-permeable membrane, pesticide microcapsules have been widely used. In this work, we developed a novel two-step method for synthesizing highly stable silica-glutaraldehyde-chitosan composite avermectin microcapsules. The silica shell was formed through the hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at the oil droplet-water interface by using TEOS as the silica precursor and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride as a surfactant. Then the silica shell was modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. Chitosan nanospheres were prepared by adjusting the pH value of the solution and then cross-linking with modified silica at the surface of the silica shell in the presence of glutaraldehyde to form double-shelled avermectin microcapsules. The results showed that the resulting microcapsules had a remarkable loading ability for avermectin (about 40% w/w) and can protect avermectin against photo- and thermal degradation effectively. Compared to single-shelled microcapsules, the double-shelled ones had better controlled release properties under all conditions. The present study provides a novel CRF comprising a pesticide which is light-sensitive or high temperature-sensitive, and a method for preparing the improved pesticide formulation so that the pesticide release rate and release period could be adjusted.

Adsorption properties and degradation dynamics of endocrine-disrupting chemical levonorgestrel in soils.

Levonorgestrel, a synthetic progesterone used as an oral contraceptive or emergency contraceptive pill, has been shown to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical. To assess the environmental risk of levonorgestrel, batch experiments and laboratory microcosm studies were conducted to investigate the adsorption and degradation of levonorgestrel in five contrasting soils of China. Freundlich and Langmuir models were applied to sorption data to examine the affinity of levonorgestrel for soils with varying physical and chemical properties. The K(f) of levonorgestrel in the tested soils ranged from 10.79 to 60.92 mg(1-n) L(n) kg(-1) with N between 0.69 and 1.23, and the Q(m) ranged from 18.18 to 196.08 mg/kg. The multiple regression analysis was conducted between K(f) and soil properties. Results indicate that total organic carbon plays a dominant role in the adsorption process. Gibbs free energy values less than 40 kJ/mol demonstrate that levonorgestrel sorption on soils could be considered as a physical adsorption. The degradation of levonorgestrel in five soils was fitted by the first-order reaction kinetics model. The half-lives of levonorgestrel were between 4.32 and 11.55 days. The initial concentration and sterilization experiments illustrated that the degradation rate of levonorgestrel in soil was concentration-dependent and microbially mediated. The low mobility potential of levonorgestrel in soils was predicted by the groundwater ubiquity score (GUS) and retardation factor (R(f)).