A stable and highly luminescent 3D Eu(III)-organic framework for the detection of colchicine in aqueous environment.

The metal-organic framework materials have an important application as sensors. In this work, a microporous three-dimensional (3D) Eu(III)-organic framework (Eu-MOF), [Eu2(3,5-bct)(phen)2(ox)2(H2O)]·H2O, was constructed from 3,5-bis(3'-carboxyphenyl)-1,2,4-triazole (3,5-H2bct), oxalate (ox) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) as a luminescent sensor. The free volume was found to be 15.7% per unit volume ignoring the free water molecules. The Eu-MOF showed bright red light due to the emission at 622 nm (5D0 → 7F2 transition) of the Eu(III) with high quantum yield (QY, 52.51%). The Eu-MOF exerted high luminescence stability in common organic solvents as well as aqueous solutions within a wide pH range from 4 to 11. Based on the luminescent Eu-MOF, the sensing behavior for colchicine in the aqueous environment was studied. Highly selective and sensitive detection (LOD = 2.43 × 10-5 mol L-1) of colchicine was observed by the Eu-MOF even in the presence of potential interfering components. The sensing mechanism for colchicine was investigated by experimental and theoretical results. It is worth noting that a film (Film@Eu-MOF) prepared by loading Eu-MOF showed intense characteristic red light emission under UV light. The luminescence color changed immediately from red to colorless when the Film@Eu-MOF came in contact with colchicine. Highly sensitive and rapid detection of colchicine in wastewater was achieved using this Film@Eu-MOF, which could be identified by the naked eye. The experimental results suggest that the synthesized Eu-MOF has potential application as a luminescent sensing material for pollutants in the environmental system.

Nomogram for predicting the 12-year risk of ADL disability among older adults.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have identified plenty of risk factors for activities of daily living (ADL). However, there are no reliable and widely available prediction models for ADL disability up to now. This study aimed to develop and validate a nomogram for predicting the 12-year risk of ADL disability in older adults. METHODS: Data from 4,809 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and 18,620 participants in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used as training set and validation set, respectively. We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression to screen the predictors and develop the nomogram. The P value, concordance index (C-index), integrated area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve (AUC) and calibration curves were used to validate the nomogram. RESULTS: During 12 years, 30.0% (n = 1,441) participants developed ADL disability in the training set, while the corresponding percentages were 18.5% in the validation set (n = 3,445). After screening, 13 variables were contained in the final prediction model. In ADL nomogram, the C-index and AUC were 0.744 ± 0.013 and 0.793 in internal valid ation, respectively, while in external validation, the C-index and AUC were 0.755 ± 0.009 and 0.796. CONCLUSIONS: This study developed and validated a nomogram that predicts functional disability. The application of the predictive model could have important implications for patient prognosis and health care.

Association of Abnormal Sleep Duration and Sleep Disturbance with Physical Activity in Older Adults: Between- and within-Person Effects.

OBJECTIVES: Sleep is associated with physical activity (PA), yet the nature and directions of this association are less understood. This study aimed to disentangle the long-term temporal sequences between sleep duration/disturbance and PA in older adults, distinguishing between- and within-person effects. DESIGN: Longitudinal panel study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a longitudinal study using 3 waves of data collected in 2008/09 (T1), 2012/13 (T2), and 2016/17(T3) from adults aged ≥50 years in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 10,749 individuals). MEASURES: Sleep duration, sleep disturbance, and PA were assessed by self-reported questionnaires. We used cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) to examine between-person effects and random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) to examine within-person effects. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed a reciprocal relationship between abnormal sleep duration and low PA levels at between-person level (abnormal sleep duration to PA: ßT1-T2 = -0.053, ßT2-T3 = -0.058, all P < .001; PA to abnormal sleep duration: ßT1-T2 = -0.040, ßT2-T3 = -0.045, all P < .05), with abnormal sleep duration being the driving force in the dynamic association. In addition, there was a unidirectional effect of more severe sleep disturbance on lower levels of PA at both between- and within-person levels (between-person level: ßT1-T2 = -0.032, ßT2-T3 = -0.028, all P < .001; within-person level: ßT1-T2 and T2-T3 = -0.031, all P = .011). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study adds novel insights into the temporal directionality of sleep and PA among community-dwelling older adults and highlights poor sleep as a potential risk factor for PA. Intervention strategies should aim to improve sleep to promote PA levels and successful aging.

Bidirectional longitudinal associations between balance performance and depressive symptoms in older adults: A cross-lagged panel model.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the temporal sequences between balance and depressive symptoms is limited, and no studies have compared the strength of each direction. This study aimed to assess the association between balance performance and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults, and further to explore the driving factors in the dynamic association. METHODS: Data were obtained from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). Overall, 3971 community-residing adults aged 50 years or older were assessed at 2004/05, 2008/09, and 2012/13. Balance was measured using three progressively more difficult tasks (side-by-side, semi-tandem, and full-tandem). Depressive symptoms were determined with a dichotomous eight-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Cross-lagged panel models were used to test the reciprocal relationships between balance and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed that earlier poorer balance predicted later worse depressive symptoms consistently across waves (ßW2-W4 = -0.058, P < .05, ßW4-W6 = -0.067, P < .001). Conversely, the higher scores of depressive symptoms at wave 4 predicted lower level of balance at wave 6 (ßW4-W6 = -0.038, P = .018). The cross-lagged effects of balance on depressive symptoms were over all stronger than the reverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add novel insights into the temporal directionality of balance and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults, and suggest that a predominance of balance disorder effects. Interventional strategy should aim to increase balance ability from earlier stages to promote successful aging.

The role of surgery in advanced thymic tumors: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: There is no definitive and detailed treatment guideline for advanced thymic tumors, thus when lymph node and other organ metastasis are present, clinical guidelines recommend chemotherapy-based multidisciplinary treatment. A consensus has been reached that surgery has beneficial effects on partial patients with stage IVA whose metastatic lesions were isolated and resectable, but because of few cases of advanced thymic tumor s and the scarcity of reports, the role of surgery in stage IVB is still unknown. The current study aimed to systematically analyze the role of surgery in advanced thymic tumors based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, with a sufficient number of cases. A secondary aim was to clarify the prognostic value of surgery in advanced thymic tumors. Method: Data derived from a total of 979 patients with advanced thymoma or advanced thymic carcinoma were collected from the SEER database. Propensity score matching was performed to eliminate confounding factors, and Cox regression analyses were conducted to assess prognoses. Results: Patients were assigned to four groups based on pathology and whether surgery was performed; thymoma (surgery), thymoma (no surgery), thymic carcinom a (surgery), and thymic carcinoma (no surgery). Disease-specific survival differed significantly in the thymoma (surgery) and thymoma (no surgery) groups, both before and after propensity score matching (both p < 0.001). Similarly, disease-specific survival differed significantly in the thymic carcinoma (surgery) and the thymic carcinoma (no surgery) groups (p < 0.001 before and p = 0.003 after). No total resection, distant metastasis, and thymic carcinoma were all unfavorable prognostic factors. Conclusions: In the present study surgery had positive effects on advanced thymoma and advanced thymic carcinoma patients who could undergo surgical resection, significantly improving survival times. Total resection of the primary site was the most advantageous form of surgery. The study provides a reference for the clinical treatment of advanced thymic tumors.

Prognostic Significance and Therapeutic Target of CXC Chemokines in the Microenvironment of Lung Adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the most important subtypes of lung cancer and has a high morbidity and mortality. Inflammatory CXC chemokines in tumor microenvironment can stimulate tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis, affecting the prognosis of patients. However, the differential expression profiles, prognostic values, and specific mechanisms of the CXC chemokine family in LUAD have not been clarified. METHODS: Transcriptome expression profile data were extracted from TIMER and TCGA. GEPIA was used to compare the relationship between CXC chemokines and clinicopathologic parameters. The prognostic analysis was performed using a Kaplan-Meier curve in GEPIA. LinkedOmics and TRRUST were applied to conduct the enrichment analysis of the regulatory networks containing the kinase targets, miRNA targets, and transcriptional factor targets. The characteristics of immune infiltration and immune-related clinical outcomes were evaluated with TIMER algorithms. Single-cell RNA sequencing localization analysis of genes as prognostic biomarkers were performed by PanglaoDB. RESULTS: Nine differentially expressed genes were identified in LUAD compared to normal tissues. Aberrant expression of CXCL2 (P =0.0017), CXCL13 (P= 0.0271), CXCL16 (P= 0.016), and CXCL17 (P= 2.14e-5) was significantly correlated with clinical cancer stage. Furthermore, patients with low gene transcription of CXCL 7 (P = 0.017) and high expression of CXCL 17 (P = 0.00045) had a better prognosis in LUAD. We also found that immune cell infiltration was significantly correlated with LUAD microenvironment mediated by CXC chemokines. Cox proportional hazard model test was conducted and indicated that B cell infiltration could prolong the survival of the LUAD patients. CXCL17 exerted anti-tumors effect through pulmonary alveolar type II cells according to single-cell analysis. CONCLUSION: Our research identified the aberrant expression profiles and prognostic biomarkers of CXC chemokines in LUAD. This detailed analysis of the regulatory factor networks for CXC chemokine gene expression may provide novel insights for selecting potential immunotherapeutic targets.

The effect of the enhanced recovery after surgery program on lung cancer surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program is an effective evidence-based multidisciplinary protocol of perioperative care. However, the roles of ERAS in lung cancer surgery remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the short-term impact of the ERAS program on lung resection surgery, especially in relation to postoperative complications. METHODS: A systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases until October 2020 was performed to identify the studies that implemented an ERAS program in lung cancer surgery. The studies were selected and subjected to data extraction by 2 reviewers independently, which was followed by quality assessment. A random effects model was used to calculate overall effect sizes. Risk ratio (RR), risk difference (RD), and standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) served as the summary statistics for meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were subsequently performed. RESULTS: A total of 21 studies with 6,480 patients were included. The meta-analysis indicated that patients in the ERAS group had a significantly reduced risk of postoperative complications (RR =0.64; 95% CI: 0.52 to 0.78) and shortened postoperative length of stay (SMD=-1.58; 95% CI: -2.38 to -0.79) with a significant heterogeneity. Subgroup analysis showed that the risks of pulmonary (RR =0.58; 95% CI: 0.45 to 0.75), cardiovascular (RR =0.73; 95% CI: 0.59 to 0.89), urinary (RR =0.53; 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.88), and surgical complications (RR =0.64; 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.97) were significantly lower in the ERAS group. No significant reduction was found in the in-hospital mortality (RD =0.00; 95% CI: -0.01 to 0.00) and readmission rate (RR =1.00; 95% CI: 0.76 to 1.32). In the qualitative review, most of the evidence reported significantly decreased hospitalization costs in the ERAS group. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of an ERAS program for surgery of lung cancer can effectively reduce risks of postoperative complications, length of stay, and costs of patients who have undergone lung cancer surgery without compromising their safety.

Identification of key genes associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma based on bioinformatics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is an aggressive malignancy and accounts for the majority of cancer-related death worldwide. It is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and entails a poor prognosis for those afflicted. The mechanisms of its pathogenesis and progress remain unclear and require urgent elucidation. This study aimed to identify specific genes and potential pathways associated with the progression and prognosis of EAC using bioinformatics analyses. METHODS: EAC microarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using bioinformatics analysis. The DEGs in TCGA were then analyzed to construct a co-expression network by weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA), and module-clinical trait relationships were analyzed to explore the genes that associated with clinicopathological parameters of EAC. Gene ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways analyses were performed for the cancer-related genes, and a DEG-based protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was used to extract hub genes through Cytoscape plugins. The consensus survival analysis for EAC (OSeac) was performed to identify the prognosis-related genes. The immune infiltration was evaluated by tumor immune estimation resource (TIMER) algorithms, and a risk score prognostic model was established using univariate, multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, and lasso regression analysis. RESULTS: Ultimately, 190 cancer-related DEGs were identified, 6 of which were found to play vital roles in the progression of EAC, including ACTA2, BGN, CALD1, COL1A1, COL4A1, and DCN. The risk score prognostic model consisted of 6 other genes that had an important impact on the prognosis of EAC, including CLDN3, EPB41L4A, ESM1, MT1X, PAQR5, and PLAU. The area under the curve of the prognostic model for predicting the survival of patients at 1, 2, and 3 years was 0.707, 0.702, and 0.726, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified several genes with the potential to become useful targets for the diagnosis and treatment of EAC. The 6-gene-related risk score prognostic model and nomogram based on these genes may be a reliable tool for predicting the prognosis of patients with EAC.

Pathways linking abdominal obesity to poor memory function: Explore the mediating role of hypertension and depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: The negative effect of abdominal obesity on cognitive function has been widely reported, especially on memory function, however, it is unclear how the effect is mediated. We aim to investigate the mediating role of hypertension and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Data were collected from wave 6 (2012-2013) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Abdominal obesity was defined as a waist circumference (WC) ≥88cm for women and ≥102cm for men. Hypertension was determined on the basis of objective blood pressure measurement and previous physician diagnosis. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 8-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CESD) scale. Memory function was measured with the 10-word immediate and delayed recall tests. Baron and Kenny's causal steps and Karlson/Holm/Breen (KHB) method were used to examine the mediating effect. RESULTS: A total of 7,448 participants aged ≥50 years were included in this study. We found a negative effect of abdominal obesity on memory function (ß=-0.047, p=0.031). KHB method identified significant mediating effect of hypertension and depressive symptoms on the relationship between abdominal obesity and memory function, they explained 16.92 and 6.32% of the total effect of abdominal obesity on memory function, respectively. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its cross-sectional design and possibility of residual confounding. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension and depressive symptoms might be possible pathways linking abdominal obesity and poor memory function, suggesting that collaborative interventions of abdominal obesity, hypertension and depressive symptoms are beneficial in maintaining memory function.

ß-transducin repeat-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase inhibits migration, invasion and proliferation of glioma cells.

ß-transducin repeat-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (ß-TrCP) serves as the substrate recognition subunit for the Skp1-Cullin1-F-box protein E3 ubiquitin ligase, which recognizes the double phosphorylated DSG (X)2+nS destruction motif in various substrates that are essential for numerous aspects of tumorigenesis and regulates several important signaling pathways. However, the biological significance of ß-TrCP in glioma progression remains largely unknown. A previous study by the authors demonstrated that the levels of ß-TrCP protein expression in brain glioma tissues were significantly lower compared with non-tumorous tissues and that higher grades of gliomas exhibited lower levels of ß-TrCP expression in comparison with lower glioma grades. In addition, low ß-TrCP expression was associated with poor prognosis in patients with glioma. Subsequently, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of ß-TrCP on migratory, invasive and proliferative abilities of glioma cells. ß-TrCP plasmids were transfected into cultured U251 and U87 glioma cells, and changes in migration, invasion and proliferation were analyzed using wound healing, Transwell and EdU assays. It was identified that the overexpression of ß-TrCP inhibited migration, invasion and proliferation in glioma cells. In summary, these results indicate that ß-TrCP may serve a protective role against the progression of glioma by suppressing cell migration, invasion and proliferation. The potential mechanism of ß-TrCP I glioma cells requires additional investigation.

Expression of WW domain-containing protein 2 is correlated with pathological grade and recurrence of glioma.

OBJECTIVE: WW domain-containing protein 2 (WWP2) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase, which belongs to the NEDD4-like protein family. Recently, it is reported to play a key role in tumorigenesis and development of tumors such as prostate and lung cancer. However, there has been not related report on glioma until now. The aim of this study is to detect the expression of WWP2 and analyze its correlation to the pathological grade and tumor recurrence in patients with glioma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Western blot and immunohistochemistry were separately used to detect the expression of WWP2 protein in 31 brain glioma tissue samples and 80 brain glioma paraffin specimens. The method of Kaplan-Meier was used to analyze the correlation between the WWP2 expression and glioma recurrence. RESULTS: The protein expression level of WWP2 in glioma tissue was significantly higher than that in nontumorous brain tissue (P < 0.05), and the protein expression level of WWP2 in high-grade glioma (Grade III-IV) was significantly higher than that in low-grade glioma (Grade I-II) (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the patients with high WWP2 expression had significantly shorter tumor recurrence time than the patients with low WWP2 expression (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that WWP2 may play a role in the genesis and development of glioma; it may be a potential biomarker to predict pathological grade and tumor recurrence in patients with glioma.

Expression of ß-transducin repeat-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase in human glioma and its correlation with prognosis.

ß-transducin repeat-containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (ß-TrCP) targets a number of substrates essential for specific aspects of tumorigenesis. In addition, ß-TrCP regulates various important signaling pathways. As ß-TrCP is involved in regulating the ubiquitination and degradation of multiple oncogenes and tumor suppressors, the function of ß-TrCP varies between cancer types. At present, the association between ß-TrCP expression and clinicopathological factors in glioma is unknown. Therefore, the current study used western blotting and immunohistochemistry to investigate the expression of ß-TrCP protein in glioma tissue specimens. It was identified that ß-TrCP protein expression levels were significantly lower in glioma compared with non-tumorous human brain tissues. Furthermore, the higher the grade of glioma, the lower the level of ß-TrCP expression. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with low ß-TrCP expression experienced significantly worse overall survival compared with patients with high ß-TrCP expression. The results indicate that downregulation of ß-TrCP may be associated with poor survival in patients with glioma. Together, the current data indicates that ß-TrCP may be applied as a useful indicator of glioma prognosis and may serve as an anticancer therapeutic target for glioma, however further investigation is required.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 22: a novel molecular biomarker in glioma prognosis and therapeutics.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 22 (USP22) exhibits an important function in tumor progression and oncogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of USP22 and the association with its potential targets in patients with glioma. To our knowledge, this is the first study that determines the relationship between USP22 expression and clinicopathological significance in glioma. In our study, USP22 protein levels were detected by Western blot analysis. The protein levels of USP22 in glioma tissues were significantly higher than non-tumors. The immunohistochemistry results showed that USP22 protein was overexpressed in glioma tissues compared with non-tumors. The higher the grade of gliomas, the higher the level of USP22 expression. Further, the results of Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that patients with high USP22 expression had significantly worse overall survival than patients with low expression of USP22. It suggested that USP22 overexpression may be associated with poor prognosis in patients with glioma. It may represent a novel prognostic biomarker or a target for improving the treatment efficiency of patients with glioma.