Supramolecular deep eutectic solvent: a powerful tool for pre-concentration of trace metals in edible oil.

The utilization of supramolecular deep eutectic solvent eddy-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction utilizing 2-hydroxypropyl ß-cyclodextrin (SUPRADES) has been identified as a successful method for pre-enriching Cu, Zn, and Mn in vegetable oil samples. Determination of each element was conducted by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after digestion of metal-enriched phases. Various parameters were examined, including the composition of SUPRADES species [2HP-ß-CD: DL-lactic acid], a cyclodextrin mass ratio of 20 wt%, a water bath temperature of 75 °C, an extractor volume of 800 µL, a dispersant volume of 50 µL, and an eddy current time of 5 min. Optimal conditions resulted in extraction rates of 99.6% for Cu, 105.2% for Zn, and 101.5% for Mn. The method exhibits a broad linear range spanning from 10 to 20,000 µg L-1, with determination coefficients exceeding 0.99 for all analytes. Enrichment coefficients of 24, 21, and 35 were observed. Limits of detection ranged from 0.89 to 1.30 µg L-1, while limits of quantification ranged from 3.23 to 4.29 µg L-1. The unique structural characteristics of the method enable the successful determination of trace elements in a variety of edible vegetable oils.

The learning curve for minimally invasive Achilles repair using the "lumbar puncture needle and oval forceps" technique.

INTRODUCTION: An acute Achilles tendon rupture represents a common tendon injury, and its operative methods have been developed over the years. This study aimed to quantify the learning curve for the minimally invasive acute Achilles tendon rupture repair. METHODS: From May 2020 to June 2022, sixty-seven patient cases who received minimally invasive tendon repair were reviewed. Baseline data and operative details were collected. The cumulative summation (CUSUM) control chart was used for the learning curve analyses. Achilles tendon rupture score (ATRS), American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle/hindfoot score, and visual analog scale (VAS) at 3/6/9/12 months were calculated to assess the clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Thirty-six cases underwent at least a year of follow up and were enrolled in this study. The gender ratio and average age were 80.5% and 32.5 years. The linear equation fitted well (R2 = 0.95), and CUSUM for operative time peaked in the 12th case, which was divided into the learning phase (n = 12) and master phase (n = 24). No significant difference was detected between the two groups in clinical variables, except for the operative time (71.1 ± 13.2 min vs 45.8 ± 7.2 min, p = 0.004). Moreover, we detected one case with a suture reaction and treated it properly. CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive Achilles repair provides an opportunity for early rehabilitation. Notably, the learning curve showed that the "lumbar puncture needle and oval forceps" technique was accessible to surgeons.

Elbow dislocation approach for complex elbow fractures: a cadaveric study.

BACKGROUND: Approach need to be considered when surgeons dealt with complex elbow injuries and the choice of the approach is a challenge for surgeons due to the complex anatomy. On the basis of releasing the lateral collateral ligament, we modified the dislocation technique to pursue the superior exposure including not only the distal humeral surface but also the anterior facet of the coronoid process. METHODS: A total of 4 cadaver specimens and 8 elbows were included in the study. Each cadaver provided one elbow for either the elbow dislocation approach or the posterior olecranon approach. The exposed distal articular surface of humerus, humeral capitulum, humeral trochlea, anterior trochlea of distal humerus, posterior trochlea of distal humerus and the ulnar coronoid process surface were marked by image J software and calculated for a comparison for each surgical approach. RESULTS: The total distal humeral surface was exposed as a median of 98.2 (97.6, 99.6)% and 62.0 (58.3, 64.5)% for the elbow dislocation approach and the olecranon osteotomy approach (P < 0.001), the capitulum 100% and 32.4 (28.0, 39.2)% (P < 0.001), the trochlea 93.2(90.1, 96.9)% and 72.5 (65.2, 78.8)% (P < 0.001), the anterior trochlear articular surface 96.0(93.0, 97.4)% and 50.3 (43.6, 59.1)% (P < 0.001), the posterior trochlear articular surface 95.4 (93, 100)% and 100% (P = 0.76) and the articular surface of the coronoid process of ulna 71.3 (66.0, 74.2)% and 0% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: For complex elbow fractures, the technique of elbow dislocation provides complete exposure of the distal humerus surface and a significant portion of the coronoid process surface, facilitating direct visualization for reduction and fixation. Level of evidence Anatomy Study; Cadaver Dissection.

The Role of Combined Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of High- and Low-Virulence FRI Among High-Risk Lower Extremity Fractures.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of infection-related biomarkers in high-risk lower limb injury patients with fracture-related infection (FRI) caused by high-/low-virulence microorganisms. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of patients with high-risk lower extremity fractures (including tibial plateau, calcaneus, and Pilon fractures) who underwent open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) surgery from January 2017 to February 2022. Peripheral blood samples were collected within 24 hours of admission, and the following information was evaluated: gender, age, BMI, smoking, comorbidities, injury information, surgical details, values for serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), as well as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Results: A total of 576 patients receiving lower extremity fracture surgery were included in this study. Fifty-one patients (8.85%) were identified as FRI, and 28 (54.9%) of these 51 cases were further classified as high-virulence group. The median levels of CRP, ESR, NLR, and MLR were significantly higher in the FRI group than in the non-FRI group (p < 0.01). Similarly, the marginally significantly higher levels of CRP and NLR presented in the high-virulence group, compared to the low-virulence group (p < 0.1). The AUC areas of CRP, NLR, and CRP+NLR were 0.826, 0.650, and 0.873, respectively. We calculated the optimal cut-off points for CRP+NLR as diagnostic markers of high-virulent infection was 0.377. Conclusion: This study showed the incidence of FRI in high-risk lower extremity fractures was 8.9%, and identified preoperative serum biomarkers, including CRP, ESR, NLR, and PLR, as useful tools for assisting in the diagnosis of infection. Additionally, the combination of CRP with NLR played a discriminating clinical role in postoperative infections caused by different virulence. Level of Evidence: Clinical study.

Study on the mechanism of let-7a-5p in regulating the proliferation in cervical cancer cells.

PURPOSE: To explore the regulatory effect of let-7a-5p/TGFBR1/Smad3 on the proliferation activity of cervical cancer cells. METHODS: The difference in let-7a-5p expression between normal people and patients with cervical cancer was detected by miREIA assay. The differences of let-7a-5p expression between cervical cancer cell line C33a and adjacent normal epithelial cell line HUCEC were determined by qRT-PCR. RESULTS: miREIA result showed that let-7a-5p concentrations were 178.5 ± 24.3 µg/L in healthy individuals and 106.1 ± 14.8 µg/L in cervical cancer patients (P = 0.0002). qRT-PCR showed that let-7a-5p in cervical cancer tissue (0.57 ± 0.03) was lower than that in adjacent normal tissue (0.84 ± 0.04, P = 0.0107). Compared with normal cervical epithelial cells (HUCEC), the expression of let-7a-5p was lower in cervical cancer cells (C33a, Hela, P = 0.0001). The results of CCK-8 and EDU detection showed that activation of let-7a-5p inhibited the proliferation of C33a (P = 0.00130, P << 0.0001) and Hela (P = 0.00254, P = 0.0066) cells. According to the analysis using Starbase V2.0 online database, let-7a-5p could target TGFßR1 in cervical cancer cell lines, and the let-7a-5p mimic reduces the mRNA expression level of TGFßR1 in cervical cancer cell C33a (P = 0.0067). Western blot results showed that TGFBR1 expression significantly decreased in cervical cancer cells after let-7a-5p mimic treatment (P = 0.0048) and significantly increased after let-7a-5p mimic inhibitor treatment (P = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: let-7a-5p represents the independent novel anti-oncogenes in cervical cancer, which can regulate TGF-ß1/TGFBR1/pSmad3 cell pathway and interfere with the proliferation of cervical cancer cells. Therefore, let-7a-5p can serve as a novel potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cervical cancer.

Differences in and verification of genetic alterations in chemotherapy and immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic melanoma has poor therapeutic response and may present resistance to chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Significant differences are observed in the survival time of patients with metastatic melanoma based on the administration of chemotherapy or immunotherapy; thus, we have explored the important role of specific differential genes between the two therapies in their effect on treatment response in melanoma. METHODS: Metastatic melanoma gene expression data (RNAseq, mutation and methylation) and patient clinical information were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and grouped according to chemotherapy or immunotherapy. The differentially expressed genes of the two groups were further screened for signature genes through a protein-protein interaction network and Lasso-Cox regression model. Then, differences in the treatment response, overall survival, mutation and methylation of characteristic genes were compared. Finally, western blot and real-time qPCR technology were used to detect the expression differences of the signature genes in metastatic melanoma tumor tissues in patients undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy. RESULTS: The overall survival of the chemotherapy-based treatment group was significantly higher than that of the immunotherapy-based group. The immune infiltration level of immature dendritic cells (DCs) in the chemotherapy group was significantly higher than that in the immunotherapy group. Finally, seven signature genes were selected: CCKBR, KCNJ11, NMU, MMP13, ITGA10, IGFBP1 and CEACAM5. The results of these signature genes were significantly differentiated between the chemotherapy and immunotherapy groups in terms of overall survival and disease progression in response to treatment. In addition, differences in the expression of these genes were verified by western blot and real-time qPCR. CONCLUSION: In this study, significant differences in the expression of signature genes were verified. The findings indicate that immature DCs with potential application value should be considered and high mutation sites of signature genes should be identified to reduce the occurrence of treatment resistance.

The effect of Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle nursing management of gynecological surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) (also known as the Daiming cycle) is widely used in surgical management and can standardize nursing management and improve nursing quality. This meta-analysis evaluated the application of the PDCA cycle during nursing management following gynecological surgery. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and other databases were searched for studies on applying the PDCA cycle in nursing management following gynecological and obstetric surgery. Articles published between 2013 to 2020 in English and Chinese were included. The obtained data are subjected to meta-analysis using Stata16.0 analysis software. Reported outcomes included: satisfaction with care, nursing quality evaluation, and assessments using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). RESULTS: A total of 14 articles were included, with a total of 1,629 participants. Meta-analysis showed that satisfaction with gynecological surgery nursing using PDCA cycle management in the intervention groups was higher than in the control groups, OR =6.57 (95% CI, 4.01, 10.76), P<0.001. The perception of nursing quality was higher in the intervention groups than in the control groups, SMD =4.98 (95% CI, 3.32, 6.64, P<0.001. SAS scores of the intervention groups were lower than that of the control groups, SMD =-2.22 (95% CI, -2.80, -1.65), P<0.001. SDS scores of the intervention groups were lower than that of the control groups, SMD =-2.37 (95% CI, -3.15, -1.60), P<0.001. DISCUSSION: The application of PDCA cycle nursing management for gynecological surgery can significantly improve patients' satisfaction with nursing, including the quality of nursing. At the same time, it can effectively reduce the anxiety and depression of surgical patients, which benefits the surgery process. Given these benefits, it has a high likelihood of being incorporated into clinical practice.

TGFß2 is a prognostic-related biomarker and correlated with immune infiltrates in gastric cancer.

TGFß2 is an essential regulator of immune cell functionality, but the mechanisms whereby it drives immune infiltration in gastric cancer remain uncertain. The Oncomine and Tumor Immunoassay Resource (TIMER) databases were used for assessing the expression of TGFß2, after which TIMER was used to explore the relationship between TGFß2 and tumour immune infiltration. Finally, we assessed how TGFß2 expression correlated with the expression of a set of marker genes associated with immune infiltration using TIMER and GEPIA. We determined TGFß2 expression to be significantly correlated with outcome in multiple types of cancer in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), with the effect being particularly pronounced in gastric cancer. Furthermore, elevated TGFß2 expression was found to be significantly correlated with gastric cancer N staging, and with the expression of a variety of immune markers associated with particular immune cell subsets. These results indicate that TGFΒ2 is associated with patient outcome and tumour immune cell infiltration in multiple cancer types. This suggests that TGFß2 is a key factor which governs immune cell recruitment to gastric cancer tumours, potentially playing a vital role in governing immune cell infiltration and thus representing a valuable prognostic biomarker in gastric cancer patients.

The genetic association between type 2 diabetic and hepatocellular carcinomas.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are both major health problems throughout the world. It has been reported that T2DM is an independent risk factor for HCC, although the pathophysiology is still unclear. METHODS: In order to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in T2DM and HCC, gene expression datasets for T2DM (GSE15653), HCC (GSE60502) and metformin-treated cells (GSE69850) were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database repository. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks for the DEGs were constructed and gene clusters selected for functional enrichment analysis. Ten genes with the highest degree of connectivity were selected as hub genes and prognostic analysis together with analysis of gene expression and protein distribution were performed for these genes. Lastly, we investigated associations between the hub genes and genes associated with metformin treatment in hepatocarcinoma cells. RESULTS: In total, 256 common DEGs, including 155 up-regulated genes and 101 down-regulated genes, were identified. Enrichment analyses showed that the genes of the major module were largely associated with the cell cycle. All of the 10 hub genes (CCNA2, CCNB1, MAD2L1, BU1B, RACGAP1, CHEK1, BUB1, ASPM, NCAPG and TTK) have a strong association with lower overall survival in liver cancer patients and four genes (CCNA2, CCNB1, CHEK1 and BUB1) have reduced expression in metformin-treated samples. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a number of genes that may play important roles in the association of T2DM and HCC, including four genes which may be the target of metformin treatment for diabetes and HCC. The specific mechanisms involved remain to be identified.

Clinical significance of miR-33b in glioma and its regulatory role in tumor cell proliferation, invasion and migration.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of microRNA-33b (miR-33b) in glioma patients and its biological function in tumor progression. Materials & methods: Expression of miR-33b was measured using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Diagnostic and prognostic values of miR-33b were assessed by the receiver operating characteristics curve and Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival assay. The functional role of miR-33b was further analyzed. Results: Expression of miR-33b in glioma patients and cells was decreased. Expression of miR-33b had high diagnostic accuracy and could predict a poor prognosis. Overexpression of miR-33b led to suppressed glioma cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Conclusion: Decreased expression of miR-33b serves a promising biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis of glioma, and may be a potential therapeutic target.

Hypoxia­inducible factors in hepatocellular carcinoma (Review).

Maintenance of an appropriate oxygen concentration is essential for the function of the liver. However, in many pathological conditions, and particularly in the tumor microenvironment, cells and tissues are frequently in a hypoxic state. In the presence of hypoxia, the cells adapt to the low oxygen levels through the hypoxia­inducible factor (HIF) pathway. Overgrowth of tumor cells restricts the diffusion of oxygen in tumors, leading to insufficient blood supply and the creation of a hypoxic microenvironment, and, as a consequence, activation of the expression of HIFs. HIFs possess a wide range of target genes, which function to control a variety of signaling pathways; thus, HIFs modulate cellular metabolism, immune escape, angiogenesis, metastasis, extracellular matrix remodeling, cancer stem cells and other properties of the tumor. Given their crucial role in the occurrence and development of tumors, HIFs are expected to become new targets of precise treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

DNA methylation-based prognostic biomarkers of acute myeloid leukemia patients.

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous clonal disease that prevents normal myeloid differentiation with its common features. Its incidence increases with age and has a poor prognosis. Studies have shown that DNA methylation and abnormal gene expression are closely related to AML. METHODS: The methylation array data and mRNA array data are from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Through the GEO data, we identified differential genes from tumors and normal samples. Then we performed Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses on these differential genes. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and module analysis were performed to screen the highest-scoring modules. Next, we used SurvExpress software to analyze the genes in the highest-scoring module and selected potential prognostic genes by univariate and multivariate Cox analysis. Finally, the three genes screened by SurvExpress software were analyzed using the methylation analysis site MethSurv to explore AML associated methylation biomarkers. RESULTS: We found three genes that can be used as independent prognostic factors for AML. These three genes are the low expression/methylation genes ATP11A and ITGAM, and the high expression/low methylation gene ZNRF2. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation and gene expression to identify key epigenetic genes in AML.

A new nomogram from the SEER database for predicting the prognosis of gallbladder cancer patients after surgery.

BACKGROUND: To study the prognostic significance in gallbladder cancer (GBC) patients of the four N stage methods of log odds of positive lymph nodes (LODDS), lymph node ratio (LNR), and N stage in the 7th and 8th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), and to establish a prognostic model of GBC based on LODDS. METHODS: Data of 1,321 patients with GBC who underwent surgical resection of lymph nodes from 2010 to 2014 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We then randomly divided these data into a training set (n=925) and a validation set (n=396). C-index, Akaike information criterion (AIC), and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of LODDS, LNR, and N stage in the 7th and 8th editions of the AJCC. Cox multivariate analysis was performed to determine whether LODDS was an independent prognostic factor, and a nomogram model was established. C-index was used to evaluate the accuracy of the nomogram. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn and the area under the AUC was calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the nomogram in predicting patients' 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that the four methods were all correlated with OS. Through C-index, AIC and AUC, We found that LODDS had the best accuracy of the four methods. C-index and AUC analysis revealed that the nomogram based on LODDS had excellent prognostic ability. All the results were verified in the validation set. CONCLUSIONS: LODDS is an independent prognostic factor for GBC patients, and it is the best N stage in the SEER database. This new nomogram-containing LODDS system is a great model to predict the prognosis of GBC patients.

Determination of seven pyrethroid pesticide residues in vegetables by gas chromatography using carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes as dispersion solid phase extraction sorbent.

A novel carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH) dispersive solid phase extraction (d-SPE) method combined with gas chromatography (GC) with an electron capture detector (ECD) was developed for the determination of seven pyrethroid pesticides in cucumber, spinach, eggplant, tomato and carrot. We optimised d-SPE conditions including the type and volume of the extractant, the type and amount of the sorbent, and shaking time. Under the optimal conditions, the linear range was from 2.0 to 2000 µg kg-1. The recoveries were from 88.5% to 108.2%, with the corresponding RSDs <6%, correlation coefficients 0.9987-0.9998, LOD 0.5-2.9 µg kg-1 and LOQ 1.5-9.7 µg kg-1. The proposed method is simple, fast, and safe, with high recovery and sensitivity, and is applicable to analysis of pyrethroid pesticides in vegetable samples.