Efficacy of acupuncture-related therapy in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea: A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: In order to compare and rank the most effective acupuncture therapy for primary dysmenorrhea and provide evidence-based medical support for clinical treatment of this disease. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Information Chinese Journal Service Platform (VIP), China Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from their inception to May 1, 2023. The Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool was used to evaluate bias risk, and the GeMTC package of Stata 15.1 software and R 4.3.1 software was used to perform network Meta-analysis. Results: 70 studies were included, including 5772 patients with primary dysmenorrhea, involving 25 kinds of acupuncture techniques commonly used in clinic. The quality of the included literature was low, most of them did not mention the registration information of clinical trial centers, and the specific sample size estimation method was unclear. Some literature did not explain the specific random method, distribution concealment and blindness, so there was a certain publication bias and small sample effect. Results showed that for improving the clinical effective rate, the top three treatments were salt-separated moxibustion, massotherapy + acupoint patching, acupuncture + heat-sensitive moxibustion. In terms of reducing the visual analogue scale(VAS), the top three treatments were massotherapy + acupoint patching, acupuncture + acupoint patching and warm acupuncture. In terms of alleviating cox menstrual symptom scale (CMSS), the top three treatments were acupuncture + acupoint patching, acupoint patching and point embedding. In relieving TCM symptom score, the top three treatments were acupoint patching + heat-sensitive moxibustion, acupoint patching and moxibustion. Conclusion: Different acupuncture therapies have more advantages than oral analgesics in improving the clinical effective rate, reducing VAS score, reducing CMSS score, and alleviating TCM symptom score. Among them, massage therapy + acupoint patching, acupuncture + acupoint patching and acupoint patching may be the best solutions for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. However, more large-sample, multi-center and high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to demonstrate.

Development of a cell-free toehold switch for hepatitis A virus type I on-site detection.

Picornavirus hepatitis A virus (HAV) is a common cause of hepatitis worldwide. It is spread primarily through contaminated food and water or person-to-person contact. HAV I has been identified as the most common type of human HAV infection. Here, we have developed a cell-free toehold switch sensor for HAV I detection. We screened 10 suitable toehold switch sequences using NUPACK software, and the VP1 gene was used as the target gene. The optimal toehold switch sequence was selected by in vivo expression. The best toehold switch concentration was further found to be 20 nM in a cell-free system. 5 nM trigger RNA activated the toehold switch to generate visible green fluorescence. The minimum detection concentration decreased to 1 pM once combined with NASBA. HAV I trigger RNA could be detected accurately with excellent specificity. In addition, the cell-free toehold switch sensor was verified in HAV I entities. The successful construction of the cell-free toehold switch sensor provided a convenient, rapid, and accurate method for HAV I on-site detection, especially in developing countries, without the involvement of expensive facilities and additional professional operators.

Influence of Mixed Na2O/K2O on Chemical Durability and Spectral Properties of P2O5-Al2O3-BaO-K2O-Na2O-Nd2O3 Phosphate Glasses.

A series of 56P2O5-7.5Al2O3-5.9BaO-(28.56-x)K2O-xNa2O-1.51Nd2O3 phosphate glasses with different Na/(Na+K) ratios, which were specially designed for high-power laser application, were prepared by a high-temperature melting method. Except for the density, refractive index, glass transition temperature, and DC conductivity, the chemical durability and spectral properties, as emphasized by high-power and high-energy laser material, were further measured and analyzed. Regarding the chemical durability, the dissolution rates of these glasses do not show an evident mixed alkali effect with increasing the Na/(Na+K) ratio, although the effect is obvious for the glass transition temperature and DC conductivity. To better understand the nature of the dissolution mechanism, the ionic release concentrations of every element are determined. Both Na and K undergo ion exchange, but the ion exchange rate of K is much larger than that of Na. In terms of the spectral properties, the J-O parameters, emission cross-section, radiation lifetime, fluorescence lifetime, effective bandwidth, fluorescence branching ratio, and quantum efficiency are determined from absorption and emission spectra. The trend of Ω2 deviating from linearity indicates that the coordination environment symmetry of Nd3+ ions and the covalence of Nd-O also present an evident mixed alkali effect. The most important finding is that the emission cross-section and fluorescence lifetime of Nd3+ ions at 1053 nm were not affected by the change in the Na/K ratio. According to the above experimental results, the optimized value of the Na/K ratio was determined, based on which the 56P2O5-7.5Al2O3-5.9BaO-(28.56-x)K2O-xNa2O-1.51Nd2O3 glass maintains a high emission cross-section with good chemical durability.

Complexation-association-extraction spectrophotometric determination of Pt cations based on a multi-reagent analytical system with I- anions and 2-[2-[4-[(2-cyanoethyl)methylamino]phenyl]vinyl]-1,3,3-trimethyl-3H-indolium cations.

A new multi-reagent analytical system with 2-[2-[4-[(2-cyanoethyl)methylamino]phenyl]vinyl]-1,3,3-trimethyl-3H-indolium chloride (CPVTI), which is a styryl hemicyanine cationic dye with good photostability and a high molar absorption coefficient, as its core is first established and utilized successfully to determine the content of Pt ions via a spectrophotometric method. The process involves two treatment steps: adding CPVTI and I solutions to the Pt solution to be detected, and then using butyl acetate for vortex liquid-liquid extraction. A Pt cation can be incorporated into the CPVTI cation with the help of an I- anion, initially converting the Pt cation into a [PtI6]2- complex anion. After forming a [PtI62-·2CPVTI+](aq) ion associate in the aqueous phase, the Pt cation can be extracted selectively by butyl acetate with maximum extraction efficiency, and exists as [PtI62-·2CPVTI+](org) in the extract phase. Via the formation of the iodo-complex of Pt and its ion associate with CPVTI, and the extraction with butyl acetate, Pt is selectively partitioned into the butyl acetate extractant in a step-by-step manner with good interference resistance. In the CPVTI-Pt-I analytical system, the charge state of CPVTI is retained by adjustment with H2SO4; the monovalent CPVTI+ presents a strong spectrophotometric absorbance signal at 530 nm with long-term stability, which allows determination of the Pt content. The system shows a high molar absorption coefficient of 6.52 × 104 L mol-1 cm-1 at 530 nm, a lower limit of detection of 0.07 mg L-1, and a good Sandell's sensitivity of 0.0030 µg cm-2. Mechanistic analysis of the establishment of the system, concentration optimization, standard working curve, system sensitivity and stability, resistance against interference from diverse metal ions, and practical applications are investigated and discussed.

Pretreatment by recyclable Fe3O4@Mg/Al-CO3-LDH magnetic nano-adsorbent to dephosphorize for the determination of trace F- and Cl- in phosphorus-rich solutions.

The magnetic nano-adsorbent Fe3O4@Mg/Al-CO3-LDH (Mg/Al-type layered double hydroxide) with a CO3 2- interlayer anion has been synthesized successfully on Fe3O4 nanoparticles via a urea hydrothermal method. It is confirmed that the nano-adsorbent can adsorb PO4 3- rapidly and efficiently in multi-ion solutions; meanwhile, it did not adsorb any F- and Cl-, even with a high amount of the nano-adsorbent or a longer adsorption time. This behaviour is beneficial for applications to remove PO4 3- in phosphorus-rich solutions, and especially can be utilized to determine trace F- and Cl- anions in phosphorus-rich solutions by physical and chemical analysis methods including ion chromatography without serious interference from PO4 3- for trace determinations. Herein, the hydrothermally synthesized Fe3O4@Mg/Al-CO3-LDH was characterized via SEM, TEM, SAED, XRD, FTIR, magnetic hysteresis loop analysis and adsorption-desorption isotherm analysis. The structure and stability, adsorption mechanism, magnetic saturation value, specific surface area, total pore volume, phosphate adsorption capacity and recyclability are discussed. Using the optimized pretreatment conditions, Fe3O4@Mg/Al-CO3-LDH was utilized successfully to adsorb PO4 3- in real samples and determine trace F- and Cl- accurately by ion chromatography; this would be very beneficial for continuous analysis and on-line tests by physical and chemical analysis methods without interference from PO4 3- in phosphorus-rich samples, leaving F- and Cl- even if in a trace content.

Multivariate systems of nonexpansive operator equations and iterative algorithms for solving them in uniformly convex and uniformly smooth Banach spaces with applications.

We prove some existence theorems for solutions of a certain system of multivariate nonexpansive operator equations and calculate the solutions by using the generalized Mann and Halpern iterative algorithms in uniformly convex and uniformly smooth Banach spaces. The results of this paper improve and extend the previously known ones in the literature.

miR-7-5p overexpression suppresses cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis through inhibiting the ability of DNA damage repair of PARP-1 and BRCA1 in TK6 cells exposed to hydroquinone.

Hydroquinone (HQ), one of the major metabolic products of benzene, is a carcinogen, which induces apoptosis and inhibit proliferation in lymphoma cells. microRNA-7-5p (miR-7-5p), a tumor suppressor, participates in various biological processes including cell proliferation and apoptosis regulation by repressing expression of specific oncogenic target genes. To explore whether miR-7-5p is involved in HQ-induced cell proliferation and apoptosis, we assessed the effect of miR-7-5p overexpression on induction of apoptosis analyzed by FACSCalibur flow cytometer in transfection of TK6 cells with miR-7-5p mimic (TK6- miR-7-5p). We observed an increased apoptosis by 25.43% and decreased proliferation by 28.30% in TK6-miR-7-5p cells compared to those negative control cells (TK6-shNC) in response to HQ treatment. Furthermore, HQ might active the apoptotic pathway via partly downregulation the expression of BRCA1 and PARP-1, followed by p53 activation, in TK6-miR-7-5p cells. In contrast, attenuated p53 and BRCA1 expression was observed in shPARP-1 cells than in NC cells after HQ treatment. Therefore, we conclude that HQ may activate apoptotic signals via inhibiting the tumor suppressive effects of miR-7-5p, which may be mediated partly by upregulating the expression of PARP-1 and BRCA1 in control cells. The increase of miR-7-5p expression further intensified downregulation of PARP-1 and BRCA1 in TK6-miR-7-5p cells, resulting in an increase of apoptosis and proliferation inhibited.

A kind of system of multivariate variational inequalities and the existence theorem of solutions.

Let K be a nonempty closed convex and bounded subset of a reflexive Banach space X. Let [Formula: see text] be N-variables monotone demi-continuous mappings from [Formula: see text] into X. Then: (1) the system of multivariate variational inequalities [Formula: see text] has a solution [Formula: see text]; (2) the set of solutions of this system of multivariate variational inequalities is closed convex in [Formula: see text]; (3) if [Formula: see text] are also strictly monotone, this system of multivariate variational inequalities has a unique solution.

Hydroquinone induces TK6 cell growth arrest and apoptosis through PARP-1/p53 regulatory pathway.

Hydroquinone (HQ), one of the most important metabolites derived from benzene, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) participates in various biological processes, including DNA repair and cell cycle regulation. To explore whether PARP-1 regulatory pathway mediated HQ-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, we assessed the effect of PARP-1 suppression on induction of apoptosis analyzed by FACSCalibur flow cytometer in PARP-1 deficientTK6 cells (TK6-shPARP-1). We observed an increase in the fraction of cells in G1 phase by 7.6% and increased apoptosis by 4.5% in PARP-1-deficient TK6 cells (TK6-shPARP-1) compared to those negative control cells (TK6-shNC cells) in response to HQ treatment. Furthermore, HQ might activate the extrinsic pathways of apoptosis via up-regulation of Fas expression, followed by caspase-3 activation, apoptotic body, and sub G1 accumulation. Enhanced p53 expression was observed in TK6-shPARP-1 cells than in TK6-shNC cells after HQ treatment. In contrast, Fas expression was lower in TK6-shPARP-1 cells than in TK6-shNC cells. Therefore, we conclude that HQ may activate apoptotic signals via Fas up-regulation and p53-mediated apoptosis in TK6-shNC cells. The reduction of PARP-1 expression further intensified up-regulation of p53 in TK6-shPARP-1 cells, resulting in an increased G1→S phase cell arrest and apoptosis in TK6-shPARP-1 cells compared to TK6-shNC cells.

Hydroquinone-induced malignant transformation of TK6 cells by facilitating SIRT1-mediated p53 degradation and up-regulating KRAS.

Hydroquinone (HQ), known as one of the metabolic products of benzene, causes a number of hematologic malignancies. The study evaluated the potential mechanism of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) in HQ-induced TK6 cell malignant transformation. The data of our study show that short term exposure of TK6 cells to HQ led to a decrease expression of SIRT1. Knockdown of SIRT1 sensitized to the HQ-induced apoptosis in vitro and increased the expression of p53, p21 and γ-H2AX. Furthermore, chronic HQ-treated (20µM once a week for 19 weeks) caused carcinogenic transformation and was confirmed by abnormal cell proliferation, matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP9) and subcutaneous tumor formation in nude mice. SIRT1 increased KRAS expression, and decreased H3K9 and H3K18 acetylation, inhibited p53 signaling and the level of caspase-3 in HQ-induced transformation cells. Taken together, these data suggest that SIRT1 is involved in HQ-induced malignant transformation associated with suppressing p53 signaling and activation of KRAS.

ψ-Contraction and [Formula: see text]-contraction in Menger probabilistic metric space.

The purpose of this paper is to present the definition of [Formula: see text]-contractive mapping and to discuss the relation of [Formula: see text]-contractive mappings and [Formula: see text]-contractive mappings. Furthermore, the generalized [Formula: see text]-contraction mapping principle has been proved without the uniqueness condition. Meanwhile, the generalized [Formula: see text]-contraction mapping principle has been obtained by using an ingenious method.

Tunable photoluminescence properties of Sr(1-y)CayMoO4:Sm3+ phosphors (0 ≤ y < 1).

A series of Sr(1-x-y)CayMoO4:xSm(3+) (0 ≤ x ≤ 7 mol% and 0 ≤ y < 1) phosphors was synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction method in air, and their structural and spectroscopic properties were investigated. The optimal doping concentration of Sm(3+) in SrMoO4:Sm(3+) phosphor is 5 mol%. Under excitation with 275 nm, in Sr(1-x-y)CayMoO4:xSm(3+) (0 ≤ x ≤ 7 mol% and 0 ≤ y < 1) phosphors, the emission band of the host was found to overlap with the excitation bands peaking at ~ 500 nm of Sm(3+) ion, and the energy transfer from MoO4 (2-) group to Sm(3+) ion can also be observed. The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) chromaticity coordinates of Sr(0.95-y)CayMoO4:0.05Sm(3+) phosphors with excitation 275 nm varied systematically from an orange (0.4961, 0.3761) (y = 0) to a white color (0.33, 0.3442) (y = 0.95) with increasing calcium oxide (CaO) concentration. However, Sr(0.95-y)CayMoO4:0.05Sm(3+) phosphors with excitation at 404 nm only showed red emission and the energy transfer between MoO4(2-) group to Sm(3+) ion was not observed. The complex mechanisms of luminescence and energy transfer are discussed by energy level diagrams of MoO4(2-) group and Sm(3+) ion.

A single-molecule study of the inhibition effect of Naringenin on transforming growth factor-ß ligand-receptor binding.

With single-molecule fluorescence imaging and single-molecule force measurement, we have found that the natural compound Naringenin exerts an inhibition effect on TGF-ß ligand-receptor interaction, the initial step of TGF-ß signaling.

[Association of interleukin-1B gene polymorphisms with coronary heart disease].

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether polymorphisms in interleukin-1B gene promoter -31 and exon 5 +3953 loci are associated with coronary heart diseases (CHD) in Chengdu Han population. METHODS: Two SNPs of IL-1B gene (+3953C/T and -31T/C) in 100 patients with CHD (CHD group) and 144 healthy controls in Chengdu were analysed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: Two genotypes at IL-1B + 3953 locus (CC and CT) and 3 genotypes at IL-1B -31 locus (CC, TC and TT) were identified. The -31T alleles carriers were associated with a significantly increased risk of CHD as compared with the non-carriers (OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.45-3.09, P < 0.01). Genotypes and allele frequencies at IL-1B + 3953 locus in CHD cases did not differ from the controls. CONCLUSION: IL-1B -31T/C polymorphism may contribute to the risk of developing CHD in Chengdu Han population.

Study of interaction between Smad7 and DNA by single-molecule force spectroscopy.

Smad7 is an antagonist of TGF-beta signaling pathway and the mechanism of its inhibitory effect is of great interest. We recently found that Smad7 could function in the nucleus by binding to the DNA elements containing the minimal Smad binding element CAGA box. In this work, we further applied single-molecule force spectroscopy to study the DNA-binding property of Smad7. Smad7 showed similar binding strength to the oligonucleotides corresponding to the CAGA-containing activin responsive element (ARE) and the PAI-1 promoter, as that of Smad4. However, Smad7 also exhibited a binding activity to the mutant ARE with the CAGA sequence substituted, indicating its DNA-binding specificity is different from other Smads. Moreover, we demonstrated that the MH2 domain of Smad7 had a higher binding affinity to the DNA elements than the full-length Smad7, while the N-terminal domain exhibited an inhibitory effect.

Association of IL-1B gene polymorphisms with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a Chinese population.

AIMS: Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is a multifunctional cytokine that up-regulates the inflammatory response and participates in carcinogenesis, malignant transformation, tumour growth, invasion and metastasis. The IL-1B gene, encoding IL-1beta cytokine, contains several single nucleotide polymorphisms. Previous studies have shown that the polymorphisms of this gene may be associated with an increased risk of some cancers. However, no specific genetic risk factor for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been identified so far and there is no report of the IL-1B gene polymorphisms in relation to NPC. The aim of this study was to test whether the promoter polymorphisms in the IL-1B gene are associated with the risk of NPC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL-1B gene (-511C/T and -31T/C) in 113 patients with NPC and 144 age- and sex-matched controls in a Chinese population were analysed using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism strategy. RESULTS: The IL-1B-31 and -511 loci were in highly linkage disequilibrium, and the -511T allele carriers were associated with a significantly increased risk of NPC as compared with the non-carriers (odds ratio=1.53, 95% confidence interval=1.07-2.17, P=0.018). Genotypes and allele frequencies at the IL-1B-31 locus in NPC cases were not different from the controls. Haplotype analysis showed that the -511T/-31T haplotype of the IL-1B gene conveyed the high risk for NPC compared with the -511C/-31T haplotype (odds ratio=17.09, 95% confidence interval=5.90-49.56, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: This is the first report describing the association between IL-1B gene polymorphisms and NPC, and our data suggest that the IL-1B-511C/T polymorphism and the -511T/-31T haplotype may contribute to the risk of developing NPC in the Chinese population.

Theoretical study of binding interactions and vibrational Raman spectra of water in hydrogen-bonded anionic complexes: (H2O)n- (n = 2 and 3), H2O...X- (X = F, Cl, Br, and I), and H2O...M- (M = Cu, Ag, and Au).

Binding interactions and Raman spectra of water in hydrogen-bonded anionic complexes have been studied by using the hybrid density functional theory method (B3LYP) and ab initio (MP2) method. In order to explore the influence of hydrogen bond interactions and the anionic effect on the Raman intensities of water, model complexes, such as the negatively charged water clusters ((H2O)n-, n = 2 and 3), the water...halide anions (H2O...X-, X = F, Cl, Br, and I), and the water-metal atom anionic complexes (H2O...M-, M = Cu, Ag, and Au), have been employed in the present calculations. These model complexes contained different types of hydrogen bonds, such as O-H...X-, O-H...M-, O-H...O, and O-H...e-. In particular, the last one is a dipole-bound electron involved in the anionic water clusters. Our results showed that there exists a large enhancement in the off-resonance Raman intensities of both the H-O-H bending mode and the hydrogen-bonded O-H stretching mode, and the enhancement factor is more significant for the former than for the latter. The reasons for these spectral properties can be attributed to the strong polarization effect of the proton acceptors (X-, M-, O, and e-) in these hydrogen-bonded complexes. We proposed that the strong Raman signal of the H-O-H bending mode may be used as a fingerprint to address the local microstructures of water molecules in the chemical and biological systems.

[Preparation and identification of monoclonal antibody against human GST-Rta150 fusion protein from Epstein-Barr virus].

OBJECTIVE: To prepare a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against GST-Rta150 fusion protein from EB virus and identify its characteristics. METHODS: BALB/c mouse was rendered immune by GST-Rta150 fusion protein; after that, the spleen cells of immunized mouse were taken to fuse with SP2/0 myeloma cells by a routine method. Then screening for positive hybridoma cells and subclone. Following that, the hybridoma cells were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mouse. The ascites was collected and purified. The prepared mAb was identified by double immunodiffusion method for its subclass; in addition, its titer and specificity were identified by ELISA and Western-blot, respectively. RESULTS: One hybridoma cell line 1A9 which stably secreted mAb against GST-Rta150 fusion protein was obtained. Its Ig subclass belonged to IgG1, the titer degree of the purified mAb being 10(-6). Western-blot analysis showed the mAb could combine with GST-Rta150 fusion protein specially. The titer degree of this hybridoma cell line remained unchanged after frozen in liquid nitrogen (LN) for three months. CONCLUSION: The mAb obtained by this method has powerful specificity and high stability. This work could serve as a foundation on which to study the Rta protein from EB virus and the diagnosis and treatment of EB virus correlated diseases.