Regulating cathode surface hydroxyl chemistry enables superior potassium storage.

Potassium vanadium fluorophosphate (KVPO4F) is regarded as a promising cathode candidate for potassium-ion batteries due to its high working voltage and satisfactory theoretical capacity. However, the usage of electrochemically inactive binders and redundant current collectors typically results in inferior electrochemical performance and low energy density, thus implying the important role of rational electrode structure design. Herein, we have reported a scalable and cost-effective synthesis of a cellulose-derived KVPO4F self-supporting electrode, which features a special surface hydroxyl chemistry, three-dimensional porous and conductive framework, as well as super flexible and stable architecture. The cellulose not only serves as a flexible substrate, a pore-forming agent, and a versatile binder for KVPO4F/conductive carbon but also enhances the K-ion migration ability. Benefiting from the special hydroxyl chemistry-induced storage mechanism and electrode structural stability, the flexible freestanding KVPO4F cathode exhibits high-rate performance (53.0% capacity retention with current densities increased 50-fold, from 0.2 C to 10 C) and impressive cycling stability (capacity retention up to 74.9% can be achieved over 1,000 cycles at a rate of 5 C). Such electrode design and surface engineering strategies, along with a deeper understanding of potassium storage mechanisms, provide invaluable guidance for better electrode design to boost the performance of potassium-ion energy storage systems.

Correlation analysis of EGFR gene mutation abundance and the efficacy of targeted therapy with osimertinib in nonsmall cell lung cancer-a case control study.

BACKGROUND: In nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is the primary cancer-causing mutation. But whether the practical effectiveness of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) can be influenced by plasma EGFR mutation abundance when treating patients with advanced NSCLC remains unanswered. Therefore, this research was intended to reveal the connection between plasma EGFR mutation abundance and clinical outcomes in osimertinib-treated patients with advanced NSCLC. METHODS: A total of 120 patients with advanced NSCLC were retrospectively analyzed, and 56 patients with EGFR-mutation-positive NSCLC receiving osimertinib first-line therapy were eventually screened and included. The baseline status and abundance of plasma EGFR in patients with NSCLC were detected by cSMART, and the ratio of 0.1 was the critical value. Imaging examinations were performed every 8-12 weeks for the assessment of tumor response. The relationship between baseline EGFR mutation abundance and clinical outcomes of TKI therapy was analyzed. RESULTS: The objective response rates (ORR) of EGFR-mutant patients in the high-/low-abundance groups were 69.2% and 40.0%, respectively. The high abundance group had an obviously higher ORR than the low abundance group (P = 0.029). A much longer median progression-free survival (mPFS) was demonstrated in patients with high mutation abundance than in patients with low abundance (11.2 months vs 7.1 months, P = 0.0133). As for the median overall survival (mOS), it showed the same trend as mPFS in patients from different groups (15.5 vs 10.7 months, P = 0.0028). The role of plasma mutation abundance as an independent prognostic factor for both PFS (hazard ratios [HR]: 0.30, P = 0.006) and OS (HR: 0.35, P = 0.004) was demonstrated by multivariate Cox regression analysis. CONCLUSION: There is a close connection between plasma EGFR mutation abundance and survival benefit in patients with NSCLC, which can be used for predicting the efficacy of EGFR-TKI targeted therapy. Our study is expected to provide a research basis for screening patients to whom the EGFR-TKI therapy is beneficial.

Enhancing malignancy prediction in thyroid nodules: A multimodal ultrasound radiomics approach in TI-RADS category 4 lesions.

PURPOSE: To explore the diagnostic value of intralesional and perilesional radiomics based on multimodal ultrasound (US) images in predicting the malignant ACR TIRADS 4 thyroid nodules (TNs). METHODS: A total of 297 cases of TNs in patients who underwent preoperative thyroid grayscale US and shear wave elastography (STE) were enrolled (training cohort: n = 150, internal validation cohort: n = 77, external validation cohort: n = 70). Regions of interests (ROIs) were delineated on grayscale US images and STE images, and then an isotropic expansion of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 mm was applied. Predictive models were established using recursive feature elimination-support vector machines (RFE-SVM) based on radiomics features calculated by random forest. RESULTS: The perilesional ROI1.5mm expansion achieved the highest area under curve (AUC) (AUC: 0.753 for grayscale US, 0.728 for STE; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.664-0.743, 0.684-0.739, respectively). The joint model had the highest AUC values of 0.936 in the training dataset, 0.926 in internal dataset, and 0.893 in external dataset. The calibration curve showed good consistency and the decision curve indicated a greater clinical net benefit of the joint model. CONCLUSION: Joint model containing perilesional radiomics (1.5 mm) had significant value in predicting the malignant ACR TIRADS 4 TNs.

Porphyrin-Thiophene Based Conjugated Polymer Cathode with High Capacity for Lithium-Organic Batteries.

Organic electrode materials are promising for next-generation energy storage materials due to their environmental friendliness and sustainable renewability. However, problems such as their high solubility in electrolytes and low intrinsic conductivity have always plagued their further application. Polymerization to form conjugated organic polymers can not only inhibit the dissolution of organic electrodes in the electrolyte, but also enhance the intrinsic conductivity of organic molecules. Herein, we synthesized a new conjugated organic polymer (COPs) COP500-CuT2TP (poly [5,10,15,20-tetra(2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl) porphyrinato] copper (II)) by electrochemical polymerization method. Due to the self-exfoliation behavior, the porphyrin cathode exhibited a reversible discharge capacity of 420 mAh g-1, and a high specific energy of 900 Wh Kg-1 with a first coulombic efficiency of 96 % at 100 mA g-1. Excellent cycling stability up to 8000 cycles without capacity loss was achieved even at a high current density of 5 A g-1. This highly conjugated structure promotes COP500-CuT2TP combined high energy density, high power density, and good cycling stability, which would open new opportunity for the designable and versatile organic electrodes for electrochemical energy storage.

Vacancy-induced catalytic mechanism for alcohol electrooxidation on nickel-based electrocatalyst.

Owing to outstanding performances, nickel-based electrocatalysts are commonly used in electrochemical alcohol oxidation reactions (AORs), and the active phase is usually vacancy-rich nickel oxide/hydroxide (NiOx Hy ) species. However, researchers are not aware of the catalytic role of atom vacancy in AORs. Here, we study vacancy-induced catalytic mechanisms for AORs on NiOx Hy species. As to AORs on oxygen-vacancy-poor ß-Ni(OH)2 , the only redox mediator is electrooxidation-induced electrophilic lattice oxygen species, which can only catalyze the dehydrogenation process (e.g., the electrooxidation of primary alcohol to carboxylic acid) instead of the C-C bond cleavage. Hence, vicinal diol electrooxidation reaction involving the C-C bond cleavage is not feasible with oxygen-vacancy-poor ß-Ni(OH)2 . Only through oxygen vacancy-induced adsorbed oxygen-mediated mechanism, can oxygen-vacancy-rich NiOx Hy species catalyze the electrooxidation of vicinal diol to carboxylic acid and formic acid accompanied with the C-C bond cleavage. Crucially, we examine how vacancies and vacancy-induced catalytic mechanisms work during AORs on NiOx Hy species.

Assessing long-term impacts of cover crops on soil organic carbon in the central US Midwestern agroecosystems.

Cover crops have been reported as one of the most effective practices to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) for agroecosystems. Impacts of cover crops on SOC change vary depending on soil properties, climate, and management practices, but it remains unclear how these control factors affect SOC benefits from cover crops, as well as which management practices can maximize SOC benefits. To address these questions, we used an advanced process-based agroecosystem model, ecosys, to assess the impacts of winter cover cropping on SOC accumulation under different environmental and management conditions. We aimed to answer the following questions: (1) To what extent do cover crops benefit SOC accumulation, and how do SOC benefits from cover crops vary with different factors (i.e., initial soil properties, cover crop types, climate during the cover crop growth period, and cover crop planting and terminating time)? (2) How can we enhance SOC benefits from cover crops under different cover crop management options? Specifically, we first calibrated and validated the ecosys model at two long-term field experiment sites with SOC measurements in Illinois. We then applied the ecosys model to six cover crop field experiment sites spanning across Illinois to assess the impacts of different factors on SOC accumulation. Our modeling results revealed the following findings: (1) Growing cover crops can bring SOC benefits by 0.33 ± 0.06 MgC ha-1  year-1 in six cover crop field experiment sites across Illinois, and the SOC benefits are species specific to legume and non-legume cover crops. (2) Initial SOC stocks and clay contents had overall small influences on SOC benefits from cover crops. During the cover crop growth period (i.e., winter and spring in the US Midwest), high temperature increased SOC benefits from cover crops, while the impacts from larger precipitation on SOC benefits varied field by field. (3) The SOC benefits from cover crops can be maximized by optimizing cover crop management practices (e.g., selecting cover crop types and controlling cover crop growth period) for the US Midwestern maize-soybean rotation system. Finally, we discussed the economic and policy implications of adopting cover crops in the US Midwest, including that current economic incentives to grow cover crops may not be sufficient to cover costs. This study systematically assessed cover crop impacts for SOC change in the US Midwest context, while also demonstrating that the ecosys model, with rigorous validation using field experiment data, can be an effective tool to guide the adaptive management of cover crops and quantify SOC benefits from cover crops. The study thus provides practical tools and insights for practitioners and policy-makers to design cover crop related government agricultural policies and incentive programs for farmers and agri-food related industries.

Glycolysis-related biomarker TCIRG1 participates in regulation of renal cell carcinoma progression and tumor immune microenvironment by affecting aerobic glycolysis and AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a hypermetabolic disease. Abnormal up-regulation of glycolytic signaling promotes tumor growth, and glycolytic metabolism is closely related to immunotherapy of renal cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine whether and how the glycolysis-related biomarker TCIRG1 affects aerobic glycolysis, the tumor microenvironment (TME) and malignant progression of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). METHODS: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA, n = 533) and the glycolysis-related gene set from MSigDB, we identified the glycolysis-related gene TCIRG1 by bioinformatics analysis, analyzed its immunological properties in ccRCC and observed how it affected the biological function and glycolytic metabolism using online databases such as TIMER 2.0, UALCAN, LinkedOmics and in vitro experiments. RESULTS: It was found that the expression of TCIRG1, was significantly increased in ccRCC tissue, and that high TCIRG1 expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and short progression-free interval (PFI). In addition, TCIRG1 expression was highly correlated with the infiltration immune cells, especially CD4+T cell Th1, CD8+T cell, NK cell, and M1 macrophage, and positively correlated with PDCD1, CTLA4 and other immunoinhibitors, CCL5, CXCR3 and other chemokines and chemokine receptors. More importantly, TCIRG1 may regulate aerobic glycolysis in ccRCC via the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, thereby affecting the malignant progression of ccRCC cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the glycolysis-related biomarker TCIRG1 is a tumor-promoting factor by affecting aerobic glycolysis and tumor immune microenvironment in ccRCC, and this finding may provide a new idea for the treatment of ccRCC by combination of metabolic intervention and immunotherapy.

Cannulation via the external jugular vein--An alternative to conventional peripherally inserted central catheterisation for paediatric patients.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe a peripherally inserted central catheterisation (PICC) for paediatric patients with inaccessible access and a high risk of general anaesthesia (GA). METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study involving all paediatric inpatients who performed the PICC via an EJV approach without GA between September 2014 and September 2021 in a provincial key clinical speciality. RESULTS: A total of 290 EJV line placement attempts were performed, and 29 were excluded due to missing placement results, resulting in a sample size of 261. The anatomical localisation, punctures, and catheterisation success rates for this practice were 100%, 100%, and 90.04%, respectively. The placement success rate in children younger than one year was 93.75% (45/48). The median line duration of use was 19 days, with a median length of catheter insertion of 13 cm. The most common complications were catheter malposition (n = 20) and dislodgement (n = 7). CONCLUSION: The PICC via an EJV approach without GA is a feasible and safe practice with acceptable success and complication rates, and low costs. It might be an attractive alternative for obtaining central vascular access for paediatric patients.

Regio- and Chemoselective Formal (4+1) Carbocyclization of Chalcones with Internal Alkynes via Rhodium(III) Catalysis.

A rhodium(III)-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of chalcones with internal alkynes is reported, generating biologically important 3,3-disubstituted 1-indanones along with reusable aromatic aldehydes. This transformation features unique (4+1) reaction mode, excellent regioselectivity in alkyne insertion, broad substrate scope, allows for the construction of quaternary carbon centers, and is scalable. Steric hindrance from substrate and ligand probably controls the chemoselectivity of this carbocyclization. Importantly, this discovery enables a practical two-step protocol switching the overall reaction of acetophenones with internal alkynes from a (3+2) to a (4+1) annulation.

Seroprevalence and humoral immune durability of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Wuhan, China: a longitudinal, population-level, cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Wuhan was the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence and kinetics of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at population level in Wuhan to inform the development of vaccination strategies. METHODS: In this longitudinal cross-sectional study, we used a multistage, population-stratified, cluster random sampling method to systematically select 100 communities from the 13 districts of Wuhan. Households were systematically selected from each community and all family members were invited to community health-care centres to participate. Eligible individuals were those who had lived in Wuhan for at least 14 days since Dec 1, 2019. All eligible participants who consented to participate completed a standardised electronic questionnaire of demographic and clinical questions and self-reported any symptoms associated with COVID-19 or previous diagnosis of COVID-19. A venous blood sample was taken for immunological testing on April 14-15, 2020. Blood samples were tested for the presence of pan-immunoglobulins, IgM, IgA, and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and neutralising antibodies were assessed. We did two successive follow-ups between June 11 and June 13, and between Oct 9 and Dec 5, 2020, at which blood samples were taken. FINDINGS: Of 4600 households randomly selected, 3599 families (78·2%) with 9702 individuals attended the baseline visit. 9542 individuals from 3556 families had sufficient samples for analyses. 532 (5·6%) of 9542 participants were positive for pan-immunoglobulins against SARS-CoV-2, with a baseline adjusted seroprevalence of 6·92% (95% CI 6·41-7·43) in the population. 437 (82·1%) of 532 participants who were positive for pan-immunoglobulins were asymptomatic. 69 (13·0%) of 532 individuals were positive for IgM antibodies, 84 (15·8%) were positive for IgA antibodies, 532 (100%) were positive for IgG antibodies, and 212 (39·8%) were positive for neutralising antibodies at baseline. The proportion of individuals who were positive for pan-immunoglobulins who had neutralising antibodies in April remained stable for the two follow-up visits (162 [44·6%] of 363 in June, 2020, and 187 [41·2%] of 454 in October-December, 2020). On the basis of data from 335 individuals who attended all three follow-up visits and who were positive for pan-immunoglobulins, neutralising antibody levels did not significantly decrease over the study period (median 1/5·6 [IQR 1/2·0 to 1/14·0] at baseline vs 1/5·6 [1/4·0 to 1/11·2] at first follow-up [p=1·0] and 1/6·3 [1/2·0 to 1/12·6] at second follow-up [p=0·29]). However, neutralising antibody titres were lower in asymptomatic individuals than in confirmed cases and symptomatic individuals. Although titres of IgG decreased over time, the proportion of individuals who had IgG antibodies did not decrease substantially (from 30 [100%] of 30 at baseline to 26 [89·7%] of 29 at second follow-up among confirmed cases, 65 [100%] of 65 at baseline to 58 [92·1%] of 63 at second follow-up among symptomatic individuals, and 437 [100%] of 437 at baseline to 329 [90·9%] of 362 at second follow-up among asymptomatic individuals). INTERPRETATION: 6·92% of a cross-sectional sample of the population of Wuhan developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, with 39·8% of this population seroconverting to have neutralising antibodies. Our durability data on humoral responses indicate that mass vaccination is needed to effect herd protection to prevent the resurgence of the epidemic. FUNDING: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, National Natural Science Foundation, and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. TRANSLATION: For the Chinese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Loss of Hes1 in embryonic stem cells caused developmental disorders in retinal pigment epithelium morphogenesis and specification.

Hairy and enhancer of split homolog-1 (Hes1) is a member of an extensive family of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins and plays a crucial role in neurogenesis, myogenesis, hematopoiesis, and sex determination. It has been reported that Hes1 is essential for precursors maintenance, optic cup-stalk boundary maintenance, and morphogenesis of the retina. However, it still reminds questions about the role and mechanism of Hes1 in the development of retinal pigment epithelial cells. In our study, We generated Hes1-/- human embrsyonic stem cells, and attempted to induce them into retinal pigment epithelial cells by our previous protocol, found that the cells induced by Hes1-/- hESCs hardly expressed RPE-related genes, and rarely appeared RPE cell morphology. Additionally, Hes1 may affect the development of RPE cells via Wnt4 pathway by analyzing the RNA-seq data of differently expressed genes between normal RPE cells development and Hes1-/- RPE cells development. Overall, depletion of Hes1 may result in the failure of Wnt4 signal activation, and contributed to the developmental disorder in retinal pigment epithelium morphogenesis and specification.

Synthesis of Isoquinolone, 1,2-Benzothiazine, and Naphtho[1',2':4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine Derivatives via Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed (4 + 2) Annulation.

In this study, we report a novel and efficient synthetic method to construct isoquinolone scaffold via the Rh(III)-catalyzed (4 + 2) annulation of benzamide with an unreported coupling reagent methyl 2-chloroacrylate. Accordingly, other valuable 1,2-benzothiazine and naphtho[1',2':4,5]imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine derivatives are also obtained through a similar synthetic protocol. Thus, our developed method is highlighted by high yield and reaction versatility.

Characteristics of non-stenotic carotid plaque in embolic stroke of undetermined source compared with cardiogenic embolism: a retrospective cross-sectional observational study.

BACKGROUND: Non-stenotic carotid plaque is considered an important etiology of embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). However, only a few previous studies included a negative control group, and the characteristics of non-stenotic carotid plaque in ESUS have yet to be investigated. The objective of this study is to explore the clinical characteristics of ESUS and the correlation between non-stenotic carotid plaque and ESUS. METHODS: This is a single-center, retrospective cross-sectional observational study conducted to compare differences in clinical information among ESUS, CE, and large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA), as well as the prevalence of non-stenotic carotid plaque and non-stenotic carotid plaque with low echo between patients with ESUS and CE in Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital from January 2020 to January 2022. Ultrasound was used to evaluate the characteristics of non-stenotic carotid plaque and vulnerable carotid plaque was defined as plaque with low echo. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the characteristics of non-stenotic carotid plaque and ESUS. The receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of the characteristics of non-stenotic carotid plaque for ESUS. RESULTS: We had a final studying population of 280 patients including 81 with ESUS, 37 with CE, and 162 with LAA. There were no differences in clinical features between ESUS and LAA, but in the comparison of CE and ESUS, there were differences in age, smoking, hypertension, levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol. In ESUS, the prevalence of non-stenotic carotid plaque was more common on the ipsilateral side of stroke than in CE [55 (67.90%) vs. 18 (48.65%), p = 0.046], so was the prevalence of non-stenotic carotid plaque with low echo [38 (46.91%) vs. 5 (13.51%), p < 0.001]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the prevalence of non-stenotic carotid plaque (OR: 4.19; 95% CI: 1.45-12.11; p = 0.008) and the prevalence of non-stenotic carotid plaque with low echo (OR: 5.12; 95% CI: 1.55-16.93; p = 0.007) were, respectively, the independent predictors of ESUS. The results receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that the combination of age, hypertension, and ipsilateral non-stenotic carotid plaque with low echo had the best diagnostic efficiency for ESUS (0.811; 95%CI: 0.727-0.896; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that ipsilateral vulnerable non-stenotic carotid plaque is associated with ESUS in anterior circulation infarction.

Trapping integrated molecular devices via local transport circulation.

Interactions between quantum systems and their environments may always result in inevitable decoherence. Isolation of the quantum system from the undesired environmental noise is a great challenge for ideal quantum information processing. Herein, based on a parallelly shaped control-target molecular nanomagnet structure, we report a novel strategy which decouples the target molecular device from its surrounding conduction baths. By tuning the level differences between the control and target orbitals through external gate voltages, one manipulates both, neither or only the target subsystem to contribute to the quantum transport in sequence, corresponding to an "on-off-on" behavior in the linear conductance. In the off window, a local transport circulation develops, preventing the target device from being disturbed by the itinerant electrons. This finding provides a prospective method for confining integrated quantum devices with high intrinsic fidelity, remarkable tunability, and universal suitability.

Phase transitions induced by exchange coupling, magnetic field, and temperature in a strongly correlated molecular trimer with a triangular topology.

Regulating the physical properties such as the quantum phase and the Kondo effect of molecular electronic devices near critical points may play a key role in increasing the robustness of quantum memory, which is a crucial component in quantum information processing. Molecules with a triangular topology are ideal prototypes to reveal the competition among magnetic frustration, Kondo screening, and local inter-molecule exchange interactions. Herein, motivated by a recent work investigating the single-electron tunneling through a redox-active edge-fused porphyrin trimer by using a Hubbard dimer model [J. O. Thomas, J. K. Sowa, B. Limburg, X. Bian, C. Evangeli, J. L. Swett, S. Tewari, J. Baugh, G. C. Schatz, G. A. D. Briggs, H. L. Anderson and J. A. Mol, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 11121], we studied the phase transition, the electronic transport, and the thermodynamical properties of a real molecular trimer structure organized in a triangular topology, with and without an external magnetic field, and at zero and non-zero temperatures. Both the Hubbard electron-electron interaction and the Heisenberg exchange interaction are fully taken into account, with the aid of the state-of-the-art numerical renormalization group method. Various kinds of Kondo behaviors and quantum phase transitions are demonstrated, due to the competition among the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction, the direct exchange coupling, and the Zeeman effect. Our findings may offer deep insights into the manipulation of the quantum phase and the Kondo behavior in a molecular trimer with a triangular topology.

Correlation anisotropy driven Kosterlitz-Thouless-type quantum phase transition in a Kondo simulator.

The precise manipulation of the quantum states of individual atoms/molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces is one of the most exciting frontiers in nanophysics, enabling us to realize novel single molecular logic devices and quantum information processing. Herein, by modeling an iron phthalocyanine molecule adsorbed on the Au(111) surface with a two-impurity Anderson model, we demonstrate that the quantum states of such a system could be adjusted by the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy Dz. For negative Dz, the ground state is dominated by a parallel configuration of the z component of local spins, whereas it turns to be an antiparallel one when Dz becomes positive. Interestingly, we found that these two phases are separated by a Kosterlitz-Thouless-type quantum phase transition, which is confirmed by the critical behaviors of the transmission coefficient and the local magnetic moment. Both phases are associated with spin correlation anisotropy, thus move against the Kondo effect. When the external magnetic field is applied, it first plays a role in compensating for the effect of Dz, and then it contributes significantly to the Zeeman effect for positive Dz, accompanied by the reappearance and the splitting of the Kondo peak, respectively. For fixed negative Dz, only the Zeeman behavior is revealed. Our results provide deep insights into the manipulation of the quantum phase within a single molecular junction.

Salidroside Promotes Sensitization to Doxorubicin in Human Cancer Cells by Affecting the PI3K/Akt/HIF Signal Pathway and Inhibiting the Expression of Tumor-Resistance-Related Proteins.

Salidroside (Sal), the major active constituent of Rhodiola rosea L., is considered as a potential pro-drug with various activities; however, its role in tumor therapy is not clear. Here, we demonstrated in vitro and in vivo that Sal enhanced the inhibitory activity of doxorubicin (DOX) in drug-resistant cancer cell lines. Our results showed that combination drug treatment (Sal and DOX) significantly decreased cell proliferation, migration, and motility. Besides biological validation, a luciferase-labeled animal tumor xenograft model and bioluminescence imaging (BLI) were applied for assessing the tumor progression. Sal combined with DOX inhibited the growth of HeLa-ADR-luc cells in vivo and downregulated the DOX-induced high expression of MDR1. Also, Sal downregulated the Bcl-2, MMP-2, MMP-9, PI3K, and AKT and upregulated BAX proteins. Sal demonstrated high safety and cardiac protection activity. We discovered that Sal enhances DOX sensitivity through the regulation of PI3K/Akt/HIF-1α and DOX-induced resistance pathways. Our results suggest that Sal could be a novel chemosensitization agent for the treatment of multi-drug-resistance tumors.

A Novel Method to Quantify Penile Arterial Blood Supply Using Shear Wave Elastography During Penile Duplex Ultrasound in Men with Erectile Dysfunction.

BACKGROUND Peak systolic volume (PSV), the essential parameter of penile Doppler ultrasonography (PDU), can reflect the penile artery blood supply. The present study was conducted to explore the correlations between PDU parameters and shear wave elastography (SWE), a feasible technology to measure penile stiffness. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 78 erectile dysfunction (ED) patients and 32 healthy controls were enrolled in our study. The PDU and SWE were performed to each participant simultaneously by a blinded radiologist. The penoscrotal junction was used to measure the PDU parameters and the SWE values. The PDU and SWE measurements were conducted formally at flaccid state and 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 min after intra-cavernous injection (ICI) of vasoactive agents. RESULTS The significant correlation between PSV and SWE value was found in both ED patients (r=-0.748, P<0.001) and healthy controls (r=-0.815, P<0.001). SWE values of corpus cavernosum penis (CCP) decreased significantly with the increase of PSV during penile erection in both the ED patients and healthy controls. When the SWE value of CCP was less than 11.57 kPa, it showed that the penile artery blood supply was sufficient to finish satisfactory sexual intercourse. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.838 and 0.872, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative measurement of SWE values in CCP can reflect the penile arterial blood supply during PDU examination. The SWE technique could be used for evaluating the penile artery blood supply combined with the ICI test, with the advantages of noninvasiveness, simple operation, and excellent repeatability.

Dexamethasone in preventive analgesia alleviates pain and complications after jaw cyst enucleation: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone is widely used in the prevention of postoperative complications in oral surgery and strengthening the analgesic effect after anesthesia, but the efficacy is controversial, and the relationship between postoperative complications and pain is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of dexamethasone in the treatment of jaw cyst and to explore the relationship between postoperative complications and pain. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. 120 patients were divided into two groups, dexamethasone group ( group D) and control group (Group C). All patients were given 0.02 mg·kg-1 of hydromorphone to relieve pain in advance at 10 min before the beginning of operation. Meanwhile, dexamethasone was injected 0.2 mg·kg-1 intravenously in group D and normal saline was injected in group C. The primary endpoint was pain intensity at 2 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h after surgery. The secondary endpoints were the incidence and extent of complications after surgery, including facial swelling and trismus. RESULTS: Compared with group C, the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and occurrence of painful event postoperatively in group D were significantly lower both at rest (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0014) and during mobilization (P < 0.0001 both). The degree of facial swelling and trismus in group D were significantly lower than that in group C at 24 h (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.00022) and 48 h (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.00015) after surgery, but there was no difference at 6 h and 12 h (P = 0.137 and P = 0.083) after surgery. The C-reactive protein (CRP) level at 24 h after operation in group D was lower than group C (P = 0.012), but there was no significant difference in blood glucose concentration between the two groups (P = 0.608). CONCLUSION: Dexamethasone can reduce the degree of facial swelling and trismus after jaw cyst surgery by inhibiting the production of inflammation, which alleviated the postoperative pain of patients significantly. In addition, it did not increase the risk of hyperglycemia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on May 07, 2020 (URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=53344 . Registry number: ChiCTR2000032693). Registered on 07/05/2020.

Short-Term Spinal Cord Stimulation or Pulsed Radiofrequency for Elderly Patients with Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common and severe complication after varicella-zoster infection, especially in elderly patients. PHN is always refractory to treatment. Both pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and short-term spinal cord stimulation (stSCS) have been used as effective analgesia methods in clinic. However, which technique could provide better pain relief remains unknown. Objectives: This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of PRF and stSCS in elderly patients with PHN. Study Design. A prospective, randomized-controlled study. Setting. Department of Pain Management, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. Methods: A total of 70 elderly patients with PHN were equally randomized to the PRF group or stSCS group. Patients in the PRF group received PRF treatment, while patients in the stSCS group received stSCS treatment. The primary outcome was the effective rate. The secondary outcomes included the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), and the pregabalin dosage. All outcomes were evaluated at baseline and at different postoperative time points. Results: At 12 months after surgery, the effective rate reached 79.3% in stSCS group, while 42.1% in PRF group. The effective rate was significantly higher in the stSCS group than in the PRF group at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. VAS scores decreased significantly at each postoperative time point in both groups (P < 0.001). The VAS scores were significantly lower in the stSCS group than in the PRF group at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. SF-36 scores (bodily pain and the physical role) were significantly improved at each postoperative time point in both groups (P < 0.001). The SF-36 scores were significantly higher in the stSCS group than in the PRF group at some postoperative time points. The pregabalin dosage was significantly lower in the stSCS group than in the PRF group at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Limitations. A single-center study with a relatively small sample size. Conclusions: Both PRF and stSCS are effective and safe neuromodulation techniques for elderly patients with PHN. However, stSCS could provide better and longer-lasting analgesic effect compared to PRF.