Solvent and monomer regulation synthesis of core-shelled magnetic ß-cyclodextrin microporous organic network for efficient extraction of estrogens in biological samples prior to HPLC analysis.

The abnormal estrogens levels in human body can cause many side effects and diseases, but the quantitative detection of the trace estrogens in complex biological samples still remains great challenge. Here we reported the fabrication of a novel core-shell structured magnetic cyclodextrin microporous organic network (Fe3O4@CD-MON) for rapid magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of four estrogens in human serum and urine samples prior to HPLC-UV determination. The uniform spherical core-shell Fe3O4@CD-MONs was successfully regulated by altering the reactive monomers and solvents. The Fe3O4@CD-MONs owned high specific surface area, good hydrophobicity, large superparamagnetism, and abundant extraction sites for estrogens. Under optimal conditions, the proposed MSPE-HPLC-UV method provided wide linearity range (2.0-400 µg L-1), low limits of detection (0.5-1.0 µg L-1), large enrichment factors (183-198), less adsorbent consumption (3 mg), short extraction time (3 min), and good stability and reusability (at least 8 cycles). The established method had also been successfully applied to the enrichment and detection of four estrogens in serum and urine samples with a recovery of 88.4-105.1 % and a relative standard deviation of 1.0-5.9 %. This work confirmed the feasibility of solvent and monomer regulation synthesis of Fe3O4@CD-MON composites, and revealed the great prospects of magnetic CD-MONs for efficient enrichment of trace estrogens in complex biological samples.

Pelvic floor dysfunction and its influencing factors during radiotherapy in cervical cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Radiotherapy can negatively affect the pelvic floor function of patients with cervical cancer; however, the impact of different radiotherapy times and other related factors on pelvic floor function in cervical cancer survivors during radiotherapy remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the status of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) in cervical cancer survivors during radiotherapy and to analyze the factors influencing PFD. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit cervical cancer survivors undergoing radiotherapy from January 2022 to July 2022 at a tertiary first-class hospital located in northeastern China. The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-Short Form 20 was used for participants' self-report of their PFD during radiotherapy. RESULTS: Data from 120 cervical cancer survivors were included in this study. The results showed that the mean PFDI-20 total score was 32.69 ± 7.76. Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis showed that 56.9% of the variance in PFD was explained by age (ß = 0.25, p < 0.001), body mass index (ß = 0.32, p < 0.001), recurrence (ß = 0.29, p < 0.001), number of radiotherapy sessions (ß = 0.39, p < 0.001), and number of deliveries (ß = 0.35, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: It is important to pay more attention to the PFD status of cervical cancer survivors receiving radiotherapy. Future therapeutic approaches should involve early identification of relevant risk factors early to provide patients with personalized care at different stages of radiotherapy for reducing their discomfort and improving their health-related quality of life.

Synthesis of crown ether-based microporous organic networks: A new type of efficient adsorbents for chlorophenols.

Microporous organic networks (MONs) are a booming class of functional materials in elimination of environmental pollutants. However, the limit varieties of MONs still restrict their broad applications. Here we report the synthesis of a novel type of crown ether (CE)-based MONs via the coupling between brominated 18-crown-6 ether and different aromatic alkynyls. The constructed CE-based MONs integrates the good conjugation property of MONs and the inherent host-guest binding sites of CE, allowing the ultrafast and efficient adsorption and removal of a typical environmental priority pollutant 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP). The hydrophobic CE-based MONs can also address the recovery challenge of unstable discrete CE in most organic and inorganic solvents. All CE-based MONs displayed fast adsorption kinetics (< 3 min) and large adsorption capacities (229.1-341.7 mg g-1) for 2,4,6-TCP. The CE-based MONs also gave stable adsorption capacities for 2,4,6-TCP in pH range of 4.0-6.0, NaCl concentration of 0-40 mg L-1, HA concentration of 0-30 mg L-1, or H2O2 ratio of < 5 %. Density functional theory calculation, Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectra evaluation revealed adsorption process involved hydrophobic, π-π and hydrogen bonding interactions. The CE-based MONs also showed favorable reusability and good adsorption for other toxic chlorophenols. This work highlights the potential of CE-based MONs in contaminants elimination.

Predictive Role of the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient and MRI Morphologic Features on IDH Status in Patients With Diffuse Glioma: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) status in clinically diagnosed grade II~IV glioma patients using the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification based on MRI parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and seventy-six patients with confirmed WHO grade II~IV glioma were retrospectively investigated as the study set, including lower-grade glioma (WHO grade II, n = 64; WHO grade III, n = 38) and glioblastoma (WHO grade IV, n = 74). The minimum apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCmin) in the tumor and the contralateral normal-appearing white matter (ADCn) and the rADC (ADCmin to ADCn ratio) were defined and calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis was carried out to evaluate interobserver and intraobserver agreement for the ADC measurements. Interobserver agreement for the morphologic categories was evaluated by Cohen's kappa analysis. The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine whether the ADC measurements and glioma subtypes were related. By univariable analysis, if the differences in a variable were significant (P<0.05) or an image feature had high consistency (ICC >0.8; κ >0.6), then it was chosen as a predictor variable. The performance of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was evaluated using several machine learning models, including logistic regression, support vector machine, Naive Bayes and Ensemble. Five evaluation indicators were adopted to compare the models. The optimal model was developed as the final model to predict IDH status in 40 patients with glioma as the subsequent test set. DeLong analysis was used to compare significant differences in the AUCs. RESULTS: In the study set, six measured variables (rADC, age, enhancement, calcification, hemorrhage, and cystic change) were selected for the machine learning model. Logistic regression had better performance than other models. Two predictive models, model 1 (including all predictor variables) and model 2 (excluding calcification), correctly classified IDH status with an AUC of 0.897 and 0.890, respectively. The test set performed equally well in prediction, indicating the effectiveness of the trained classifier. The subgroup analysis revealed that the model predicted IDH status of LGG and GBM with accuracy of 84.3% (AUC = 0.873) and 85.1% (AUC = 0.862) in the study set, and with the accuracy of 70.0% (AUC = 0.762) and 70.0% (AUC = 0.833) in the test set, respectively. CONCLUSION: Through the use of machine-learning algorithms, the accurate prediction of IDH-mutant versus IDH-wildtype was achieved for adult diffuse gliomas via noninvasive MR imaging characteristics, including ADC values and tumor morphologic features, which are considered widely available in most clinical workstations.

The Associations Between Preoperative Conventional MRI Features and Genetic Biomarkers Status in Newly Diagnosed GBMs: A Clinical Summary and Prognostic Analysis.

AIM: To analyze certain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features as well as six major genetic biomarkers, investigated their associations, and evaluated their prognostic roles in glioblastomas (GBMs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Strict criteria included newly diagnosed GBM with optimal treatments. Simple manual imaging characteristics (tumor side, location, enhancement, diameter, depth, radiographic necrosis, and edema) were obtained from preoperative conventional MRI. Furthermore, all the status of the MGMT promoter, Chromosome 1p and 19q, IDH, TERT, and BRAF in tumor tissues were detected. RESULTS: Among 126 inpatients, 60 cases were selected and enrolled in the study. The status of the MGMT promoter was significantly associated with the grade of radiographic necrosis (p=0.033). The rate of 19q deletion was significantly higher in tumors with the ring-shaped peritumoral edema (PTE) (p=0.035) and in tumors with the ring-enhanced trait (p=0.023). Univariate analysis showed that a low PTE index and MGMT promoter methylation were both unfavorable prognostic factors. While the PTE index statistically dropped out, the status of the MGMT promoter and the depth of the tumor were observed to be independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Based on simple neuroimaging metrics, novel connections between features of preoperative conventional MRI and status of major genetic biomarkers were observed, especially for the MGMT promoter and 19q.

Covalent coupling fabrication of microporous organic network bonded capillary columns for gas chromatographic separation.

Microporous organic networks (MONs) have shown great promise in separation science recently. Exploring novel, simple and convenient strategy to fabricate MONs coated capillary columns for gas chromatography (GC) still remains challenging but desirable for the development of MONs in chromatographic separation. To extend the potential application of MONs in separation science and to further develop novel method for the fabrication of MONs-based capillary columns, here we demonstrate a novel covalent coupling strategy to fabricate uniform MONs bonded capillary columns for GC separation of position isomers and hydrocarbons. The bare capillary column was firstly modified with (3-bromopropyl)trimethoxysilane to provide bromine sites for coupling with alkynyl monomers. The amino- and hydroxyl-functionalized MONs (MON-NH2 and MON-OH) were then directly grown onto the inner wall of the brominated capillary columns via the covalent coupling between bromine and alkynyl groups. The uniform MON-NH2 and MON-OH bonded capillary columns were obtained and showed good resolution for GC separation of dichlorobenzene, chlorotoluene, bromotoluene, and propylbenzene position isomers and many other hydrocarbons including linear alkanes, alkylbenzenes, pinene isomers, cyclohexane and benzene, ketones and aldehydes. The MONs bonded capillary columns also owned good lifetime and precision for dichlorobenzene isomers with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0.2-0.3%, 1.2-2.1%, and 1.7-2.5% for retention time, peak height and peak area, respectively. In addition, the fabricated MON-NH2 and MON-OH bonded capillary columns offered better resolution than commercial InertCap-1, InertCap-5, InertCap-1701 and InertCap-WAX capillary columns for the separation of chlorotoluene and bromotoluene position isomers. These results revealed the feasibility of covalent coupling strategy to fabricate MONs-based stationary phases in GC, highlighting the potential of MONs in separation science.

Thiol-yne Click Post-Modification for the Synthesis of Chiral Microporous Organic Networks for Chiral Gas Chromatography.

Microporous organic networks (MONs) have shown great potential in diverse domains recently. However, the application of MONs in chiral separation or catalysis has been largely lagged due to the lack of chiral MONs and the challenge to synthesize chiral MONs. Here we report a facile thiol-yne click strategy to post-synthesize chiral MONs for the first application in chiral gas chromatography. Three chiral MONs with different chiral centers were rationally designed and synthesized to fabricate their capillary columns for gas chromatographic resolution of various chiral compounds with better resolution than three commercial chiral capillary columns. These results show the great potential of the thiol-yne click strategy for constructing newly chiral MONs and their application in chiral separation.

Systemic Injection of Thalidomide Prevent and Attenuate Neuropathic Pain and Alleviate Neuroinflammatory Response in the Spinal Dorsal Horn.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thalidomide (Tha) has been shown to exert immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. Whether Tha can alleviate spinal nerve ligation (SNL)-induced neuropathic pain (NP) is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of Tha on the SNL-induced NP and further explore the potential analgesic mechanisms of Tha. METHODS: The effects of Tha on SNL-induced mechanical allodynia were assessed by pain behavioral testing. The expressions of the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the microglia marker Iba1 in the spinal dorsal horn were evaluated by immunofluorescence histochemistry. Protein expressions of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in the spinal dorsal horn were tested by Western blot assay. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA or two-way ANOVA. RESULTS: By the pretreatment with a single intraperitoneal injection, the PWMT in SNL+Tha group was significantly increased from day 1 to day 2 after SNL (P < 0.05 compared with SNL+Veh group). By the posttreatment with a single intraperitoneal injection, the PWMT in SNL+Tha group was also significantly increased from day 3 to day 4 after SNL (P < 0.05 compared with SNL+Veh group). By the posttreatment with multiple intraperitoneal injection, both the PWMT and the PWTL in SNL+Tha group were similarly significantly increased from day 3 to day 14 after SNL (P < 0.05 compared with SNL+Veh group). Furthermore, the GFAP and Iba1 expressions and TNF-α levels of the ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn in SNL+Tha group were significantly weaker from day 3 to day 14 after SNL than those in SNL+Veh group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Tha can significantly alleviate NP induced by SNL. The analgesic mechanism may be related to inhibition of astrocyte and microglia activation as well as down-regulation of TNF-α levels in the spinal dorsal horn.

In situ fabrication of microporous organic network coated capillary column for high resolution gas chromatographic separation of hydrocarbons.

Microporous organic networks (MONs) are a new class of porous materials synthesized via Sonogashira coupling reactions between organic building blocks. Here we report an in situ synthesis approach to fabricate MONs coated capillary column for high resolution GC separation of hydrocarbons. The McReynolds constant evaluation reveals the MONs coated capillary is a non-polar column. The MONs coated capillary column shows good resolution for GC separation of diverse important industrial hydrocarbons such as linear and branched alkanes, alkylbenzenes, pinene isomers, ethylbenzene and styrene, cyclohexane and benzene. The MONs coated capillary column gave a high column efficiency of 1542 plates per meter for hexane and good precision for replicate separations of the selected hydrocarbons with the RSDs of 0.2-0.3, 1.5-3.1, and 1.9-3.3% for retention time, peak height and peak area, respectively. The MONs coated capillary also offered better resolution than commercial Inert Cap-1 and Inert Cap-5 capillary columns for hexane and heptane isomers. These results reveal the potential of MONs as novel stationary phases in GC.

Micro-deformation evolutions of the constituent phases in duplex stainless steel during cyclic nanoindentation.

Cyclic elastoplastic deformation behaviors of austenite phase and ferrite phase in a duplex stainless steel were investigate by load-controlled cyclic nanoindentation with a Berkovich indenter. During the tests, the maximum penetration depth per cycle increased rapidly with cycle number at transient state, and reached stable at quasi-steady state. Plastic dissipated energy was quantitatively proved to be the driving force for the propagation of deformation zones during cyclic nanoindentation tests. Transmission electron microscopy combined with FIB was used to reveal the deformation mechanisms of both phases underneath indents with cycles. After quasi-static single loading, nucleation and concentration of dislocations were observed in both austenite phase and ferrite phase under the indenter. After cyclic loading, dislocations propagated to further regions in both phases. Besides, slip bands were generated within single nanoindentation and propagated during the subsequent cyclic nanoindentation. The sizes of the deformation regions for both phases under the indents after cyclic indentation observed by TEM were consistent with those calculated by the expansion model of spherical cavity.

[Advances in studies on pharmacological action of main chemical constituent of Curcuma Zedoary in preventing in-stent restenosis].

Traditional Chinese medicine Curcuma Zedoary ( E'Zhu) contains essential oil, curcuminoid and other effective constituents, with such pharmacological actions as anti-platelet aggregation, lowing blood lipid, anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation. In recent years, studies have showed that certain extracts and chemical components of E'Zhu could mitigate myocardial cell mitochondria injury and protect vascular endothelium by enhancing heme oxygenase-1 activity, inhibit nuclear factor NF-kappaB, target genes interleukin-associated kinase-1 (IRAK-1), tumor necrosis factor receptor-6 (TRAF-6) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), reduce inflammatory infiltration, and inhibit growth factor-induced smooth muscle cells (SMCs) proliferation and migration by impacting oxidation of cellular phosphatases. Due to its different functions in vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, E'Zhu has been applied in drug-eluting stents, with a potential effect in preventing in-stent restenosis and thrombogenesis. In this paper, studies on pharmacological effects and mechanisms of extracts and main chemical constituents from E'Zhu in preventing vascular restenosis were summarized.

Explaining calcium-dependent gating of anoctamin-1 chloride channels requires a revised topology.

RATIONALE: Ca2+ -activated Cl channels play pivotal roles in the cardiovascular system. They regulate vascular smooth muscle tone and participate in cardiac action potential repolarization in some species. Ca2+ -activated Cl channels were recently discovered to be encoded by members of the anoctamin (Ano, also called Tmem16) superfamily, but the mechanisms of Ano1 gating by Ca2+ remain enigmatic. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to identify regions of Ano1 involved in channel gating by Ca2+. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Ca2+ sensitivity of Ano1 was estimated from rates of current activation, and deactivation in excised patches rapidly switched between zero and high Ca2+ on the cytoplasmic side. Mutation of glutamates E702 and E705 dramatically altered Ca2+ sensitivity. E702 and E705 are predicted to be in an extracellular loop, but antigenic epitopes introduced into this loop are not accessible to extracellular antibodies, suggesting this loop is intracellular. Cytoplasmically applied membrane-impermeant sulfhydryl reagents alter the Ca2+ sensitivity of Ano1 E702C and E705C as expected if E702 and E705 are intracellular. Substituted cysteine accessibility mutagenesis of the putative re-entrant loop suggests that E702 and E705 are located adjacent to the Cl conduction pathway. CONCLUSIONS: We propose an alternative model of Ano1 topology based on mutagenesis, epitope accessibility, and cysteine-scanning accessibility. These data contradict the popular re-entrant loop model by showing that the putative fourth extracellular loop (ECL 4) is intracellular and may contain a Ca2+ binding site. These studies provide new perspectives on regulation of Ano1 by Ca2+.