Development and validation of risk prediction model for premenstrual syndrome in nurses: results from the nurses-based the TARGET cohort study.

Objective: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) stands as a significant concern within the realm gynecological disorders, profoundly impacting women of childbearing age in China. However, the elusive nature of its risk factors necessitates investigation. This study, therefore, is dedicated to unraveling the intricacies of PMS by focusing on nurses, a cohort with unique occupational stressors, to develop and validate a predictive model for assessing the risk of PMS. Methods: This investigation employed a multi-center cross-sectional analysis drawing upon data from the TARGET Nurses' health cohort. Utilizing online survey versions of the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS), a comprehensive dataset encompassing physiological, social, psychological, occupational, and behavioral variables was collected from 18,645 participants. A stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify independent risk factors for PMS. Furthermore, a refined variable selection process was executed, combining the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) method with 10-fold cross-validation. The visualization of the risk prediction model was achieved through a nomogram, and its performance was evaluated using the C index, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and the calibration curves. Results: Among the diverse variables explored, this study identified several noteworthy predictors of PMS in nurses, including tea or coffee consumption, sleep quality, menstrual cycle regularity, intermenstrual bleeding episodes, dysmenorrhea severity, experiences of workplace bullying, trait coping style, anxiety, depression and perceived stress levels. The prediction model exhibited robust discriminatory power, with an area under the curve of 0.765 for the training set and 0.769 for the test set. Furthermore, the calibration curve underscored the model's high degree of alignment with observed outcomes. Conclusion: The developed model showcases exceptional accuracy in identifying nurses at risk of PMS. This early alert system holds potential to significantly enhance nurses' well-being and underscore the importance of professional support.

Using network pharmacological analysis and molecular docking to investigate the mechanism of action of quercetin's suppression of oral cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This investigation seeks to explore the mechanism of quercetin in oral cancer by incorporating network pharmacology analysis and molecular docking. METHODS: First, we use the network pharmacology analysis to discover possible core targets for quercetin and oral cancer. We subsequently utilized the docking of molecules techniques to calculate the affinities of critical targets and quercetin for verification. RESULTS: TCMSP and the Swiss Target Prediction database found 190 quercetin action targets, while GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, and the Therapeutic Target Database found 8971 oral cancer-related targets. Venny 2.1.0 online software conducted an intersection analysis of quercetin-related target information with information about oral cancer, and 172 putative quercetin-anti-oral cancer targets were examined. Six prospective core targets for quercetin treatment of oral cancer were identified from the PPI network topology analysis of 172 putative therapeutic targets. These targets include AKT1, PIK3R1, MYC, HIF1A, SRC, and HSP90AA1. GO enrichment function analysis showed that 2372 biological processes, 98 cell components, and 201 molecular functions were involved. Through enrichment analysis of the KEGG pathway, 172 signal pathways were obtained. A few examples are PI3K-AKT, HIF-1, IL-17, and other signaling pathways. The molecular docking scores of quercetin and the primary therapeutic targets AKT1, HIF1A, HSP90AA1, MYC, PIK3R1, and SRC are all less than -0.7 points, demonstrating good compatibility between the medicine and small molecules and suggesting that quercetin may affect oral cancer through the primary target. CONCLUSION: This study explores quercetin's mechanism and possible targets for oral cancer treatment, offering novel approaches. Quercetin may be a multitarget medication against oral cancer in the future.

Effects of a Social Media-Based Mind-Body Intervention Embedded With Acupressure and Mindfulness for Stress Reduction Among Family Caregivers of Frail Older Adults: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of frail older adults experience high levels of stress. Mind-body interventions (MBIs) focused on caregiver stress are often limited in teaching approaches, difficult to practice, and costly. A social media-based MBI embedded with mindfulness meditation (MM) and self-administered acupressure (SA) may be effective for family caregivers, offer greater usability, and lead to greater adherence. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and preliminary effects of a social media-based MBI embedded with MM and SA on family caregivers of frail older adults and to investigate the preliminary effects of the intervention using a pilot randomized controlled trial. METHODS: A 2-arm randomized controlled trial design was adopted. Family caregivers of frail older adults (n=64) were randomized into either the intervention group (n=32), receiving 8 weeks of social media-based MM and SA, or the control group (n=32), receiving brief education on caregiving for people with frailty. The primary outcome (caregiver stress) and secondary outcomes (caregiver burden, sleep quality, and mindfulness awareness and attention) were measured using a web-based survey at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and at the 3-month follow-up (T2). RESULTS: The feasibility of the intervention was established with a high attendance rate (87.5%), high usability score (79), and low attrition rate (1.6%). The generalized estimating equation results showed that participants in the intervention group at T1 and T2 experienced a significant improvement in stress reduction (P=.02 and P=.04, respectively), sleep quality (P=.004 and P=.01, respectively), and mindful awareness and attention (P=.006 and P=.02, respectively) compared with the control group. There were no substantial improvements in caregiver burden at T1 and T2 (P=.59 and P=.47, respectively). A focus group session conducted after the intervention had 5 themes: impact on the family caregivers, difficulty in practicing the intervention, the strength of the program, the limitations of the program, and perception of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the feasibility and preliminary effects of social media-based MBI embedded with acupressure and MM on reducing stress among family caregivers of frail older people and enhancing sleep quality and mindfulness levels. A future study with a larger and more diverse sample is proposed to evaluate the longer-term effects and generalizability of the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2100049507; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=128031.

Combination therapy with oncolytic viruses and immune checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas: an approach of complementary advantages.

Squamous cell carcinomas are the most common head and neck malignancies. Significant progress has been made in standard therapeutic methods combining surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the 5-year survival rate remains at 40-50%. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a new strategy for treating head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). Still, the overall response and effective rates are poor, as HNSCCs are 'cold' tumors with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), limiting ICI's beneficial effects. In this case, transforming the tumor suppression microenvironment before using ICIs could be helpful. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) can transform cold tumors into hot tumors, improving the situation. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), oncolytic immunotherapy authorized for advanced melanoma, also showed good safety and antitumor activity in treating head and neck cancer and pancreatic cancer. In combination with pembrolizumab, T-Vec may have more anticancer efficacy than either drug alone. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underpinning OVs and their potential synergism with ICIs could benefit patients with HNSCC.

Ecological Responses of Maize Rhizosphere to Antibiotics Entering the Agricultural System in an Area with High Arsenicals Geological Background.

Metal(loid)s can promote the spread and enrichment of antibiotic resistance in the environmental ecosystem through a co-selection effect. Little is known about the ecological effects of entering antibiotics into the environment with long-term metal(loid)s' resistance profiles. Here, cow manure containing oxytetracycline (OTC) or sulfadiazine (SA) at four concentrations (0 (as control), 1, 10, and 100 mg/kg) was loaded to a maize cropping system in an area with high a arsenicals geological background. Results showed that exogenous antibiotics entering significantly changed the nutrient conditions, such as the concentration of nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and available phosphorus in the maize rhizosphere soil, while total arsenic and metals did not display any differences in antibiotic treatments compared with control. Antibiotics exposure significantly influenced nitrate and nitrite reductase activities to reflect the inhibition of denitrification rates but did not affect the soil urease and acid phosphatase activities. OTC treatment also did not change soil dehydrogenase activities, while SA treatment posed promotion effects, showing a tendency to increase with exposure concentration. Both the tested antibiotics (OTC and SA) decreased the concentration of arsenite and arsenate in rhizosphere soil, but the inhibition effects of the former were higher than that of the latter. Moreover, antibiotic treatment impacted arsenite and arsenate levels in maize root tissue, with positive effects on arsenite and negative effects on arsenate. As a result, both OTC and SA treatments significantly increased bioconcentration factors and showed a tendency to first increase and then decrease with increasing concentration. In addition, the treatments decreased translocation capacity of arsenic from roots to shoots and showed a tendency to increase translocation factors with increasing concentration. Microbial communities with arsenic-resistance profiles may also be resistant to antibiotics entering.

Mechanism of Huoluo Xiaoling Dan in the Treatment of Psoriasis Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

Objective: To explore the mechanism of the action of Huoluo Xiaoling Dan (HLXLD) in the treatment of psoriasis based on network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods: The main active components and targets of HLXLD were collected from CMSP, and the targets related to psoriasis were collected from GeneCards, OMIM, TTD, DisGeNET, and DrugBank. Drug disease target genes were obtained by Venny tools, drug-component-target networks were constructed and analyzed, and pathway enrichment analysis was performed. AutoDockTools is used to connect the core components and the target, and PyMOL software is used to visualize the results. Results: 126 active components (such as quercetin, luteolin, tanshinone IIA, dihydrotanshinlactone, and beta-sitosterol) and 238 targets of HLXLD were screened out. 1,293 targets of psoriasis were obtained, and 123 drug-disease targets were identified. Key targets included AKT1, TNF, IL6, TP53, VEGFA, JUN, CASP3, IL1B, STAT3, PTGS2, HIF1A, EGF, MYC, EGFR, MMP9, and PPARG. Enrichment analysis showed that 735 GO analysis and 85 KEGG pathways were mainly involved in biological processes such as response to the drug, inflammatory response, gene expression, and cell proliferation and apoptosis, as well as signal pathways such as cancer, TNF, HIF-1, and T cell receptor. Molecular docking showed that there was strong binding activity between the active ingredient and the target protein. Conclusions: HLXLD could treat psoriasis through multicomponents, multitargets, and multipathways, which provides a new theoretical basis for further basic research and clinical application.

Review of arginase as a promising biocatalyst: characteristics, preparation, applications and future challenges.

As a committed step in the urea cycle, arginase cleaves l-arginine to form l-ornithine and urea. l-Ornithine is essential to: cell proliferation, collagen formation and other physiological functions, while the urea cycle itself converts highly toxic ammonia to urea for excretion. Recently, arginase was exploited as an efficient catalyst for the environmentally friendly synthesis of l-ornithine, an abundant nonprotein amino acid that is widely employed as a food supplement and nutrition product. It was also proposed as an arginine-reducing agent in order to treat arginase deficiency and to be a means of depleting arginine to treat arginine auxotrophic tumors. Targeting arginase inhibitors of the arginase/ornithine pathway offers great promise as a therapy for: cardiovascular, central nervous system diseases and cancers with high arginase expression. In this review, recent advances in the characteristics, structure, catalytic mechanism and preparation of arginase were summarized, with a focus being placed on the biotechnical and medical applications of arginase. In particular, perspectives have been presented on the challenges and opportunities for the environmentally friendly utilization of arginase during l-ornithine production and in therapies.

Hypoglycemic and lipid lowering effects of theaflavins in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

Theaflavins (TFs) are the characteristic components of black tea and have been widely acknowledged for their health benefits. The current study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanism of TFs, TF1, TF2a and TF3 on glycolipid metabolism in obese mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). Mice were randomly divided into seven groups (n = 8 per group) as follows: low-fat diet (LFD), HFD, HFD + metformin (Met, 100 mg kg-1 d-1), HFD + TFs (TFs, 200 mg kg-1 d-1), HFD + TF1 (TF1, 100 mg kg-1 d-1), HFD + TF2a (TF2a, 100 mg kg-1 d-1), and HFD + TF3 (TF3, 100 mg kg-1 d-1). All groups were studied for 9 weeks continuously. The levels of serum glucose, insulin, TC, TG, LDL and HLD in the plasma, lipid accumulation in the liver, and injury of the liver were investigated. In addition, the effects of TFs and their monomers on the SIRT6/AMPK/SREBP-1/FASN pathway were also evaluated. The results showed that oral administration of TFs, TF1, TF2a and TF3 not only dramatically suppressed weight gain, reduced blood glucose level, and ameliorated insulin resistance but also obviously lowered the levels of serum TC, TG and LDL, suppressed the activities of ALT and AST, and ameliorated hepatic damage in mice fed a HFD when compared to the HFD group. Western blot analysis showed that TFs, TF1, TF2a and TF3 treatments increased the expression of SIRT6 and suppressed the expression levels of SREBP-1 and FASN significantly in mice fed a HFD as compared to the HFD group. The phosphorylation of AMPK in mice fed a HFD was obviously elevated by TF2a and TF3 when compared to the HFD group. These results proved for the first time that TF1, TF2a and TF3 improved the glucolipid metabolism of mice fed a HFD, and activated the SIRT6/AMPK/SREBP-1/FASN signaling pathway to inhibit the synthesis and accumulation of lipids in the liver to ameliorate obesity in mice fed a HFD. These findings indicate that TFs, TF1, TF2a and TF3 as the main functional components of black tea might potentially be used as a food additive for improving glycolipid metabolism and ameliorating obesity, and TF3 may be the best choice.

Hair Selenium Content in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Population.

Selenium (Se) is an essential nutrient element for human health, and middle-aged and elderly people (age ≥ 45 years old) are at higher risk of nutrient deficiency including Se due to their physiological characteristics. This study investigated the hair Se content of middle-aged and elderly people in China with the purpose of providing a reference for prescription of hair Se normal range in this population. In this study, the hair Se content of 2155 middle-aged and elderly people was detected with atomic fluorescence photometry. The participants were recruited from 15 provinces or municipalities spreading from south to north of China with a diverse Se content in soil. Additionally, the relationships between hair Se content with sex, age, and BMI were analyzed. The results found that the median and 95% quantile of hair Se content were 0.36 µg/g and 0.60 µg/g respectively, with a range of 0.08 to 20.04 µg/g in middle-aged and elderly Chinese. The hair Se content mostly concentrated at 0.23~0.48 µg/g in 81.11% of participants. The participants in Guangdong and Hunan provinces had the highest hair Se levels (medians were 0.51 and 0.50 µg/g, respectively), while Henan and Shaanxi provinces had the lowest levels (medians were 0.30 and 0.29 µg/g, respectively). In addition, the Se content of males was higher than that of females (p < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between different ages and BMI (p > 0.05). In conclusion, this study found that the hair Se content of middle-aged and elderly Chinese ranges from 0.08 to 20.04 µg/g, with median and 95% quantile of 0.36 µg/g and 0.60 µg/g, respectively. Our results provide a reference for the establishment of hair Se content in this population and suggest that the differences of region and sex should be considered when setting up the range.

Deposition amount and dissipation kinetics of difenoconazole and propiconazole applied on banana with two commercial spray adjuvants.

A rapid and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of difenoconazole and propiconazole residues in banana matrices was established using GC-MS/MS. The average recovery rates of difenoconazole and propiconazole from various matrices ranged from 76.7% to 94.9%. The relative standard deviation was between 0.9% and 7.4%. The effect of adding organosilicon and mineral oil adjuvants after being applied to the residues of difenoconazole and propiconazole in banana leaves was examined. The initial deposition amount 2 hours after the adjuvant treatment with organosilicon and mineral oil was 1.22-2.13 times higher than that after water treatment. After adding the two spray adjuvants, the residues of the two pesticides at 2 hours on three samples followed the order leaves > soil > fruit. The degradation half-lives of the two pesticides were in the range of 1.91-7.30 days for all the three treatments in two typical banana-growing areas in China. The degradation half-lives of the two pesticides in the water treatment group and the mineral oil treatment group were similar. However, organosilicon could apparently increase the half-life of difenoconazole on banana leaves. The final levels of difenoconazole and propiconazole residues on whole banana fruits were ≤0.1 mg kg-1 (MRL) 14 days after application. The results of this work may aid the safe use of difenoconazole and propiconazole in banana production, especially when used with organosilicon and mineral oil adjuvants.