A clinical study on 3D virtual model-assisted precise navigation for laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is a standard surgical treatment option for renal tumors. Prior to LPN, it is necessary to evaluate the tumor condition and develop a surgical plan using precise imaging. OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical application value of 3D virtual model (3DVM) in LPN. METHODS: A total of 80 patients with renal tumor who underwent LPN were measured. Patients were divided into three cohorts (A, B, C) according to the difficulty of surgery. Each group was further divided into the test and control groups based on the application of preoperative 3DVM. Surgical safety and efficacy were assessed, and a questionnaire was developed to investigate the opinions of patients and physicians on 3DVM. RESULTS: The duration of LPN and intraoperative renal artery occlusion were significantly different between the test and control groups in both cohorts A and B (P< 0.05). In cohort C, the surgical duration, duration of intraoperative renal artery occlusion, length of stay, time to postoperative ambulation, intraoperative bleeding, incidence of postoperative bleeding were significantly between the two groups (P< 0.05). The analysis both of patients and physicians questionnaire scores were statistically significant (P< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: 3DVM contributes to safer and more effective LPN. It benefits both doctors and patients.

The preliminary study of delta checks for immunoglobulins and complements in the clinical laboratory.

BACKGROUND: To determine delta check limits for immunoglobulins and complements in outpatients and inpatients based on patient data and biological variation due to the lack of relevant studies. METHODS: Patient data for IgA, IgG, IgM, IgE, C3, and C4 from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023 was collected from laboratory information system (LIS) in our clinical laboratory of Wuhan Union Hospital, which includes both outpatients and inpatients. The delta difference (DD), delta percent change (DPC), and reference change value (RCV) were calculated based on patient data and biological variation. RESULTS: For DDs, there are significant differences between outpatients and inpatients in C4, IgE, IgG, and IgM. For DPCs, the corresponding analytes which are significantly different are C3, C4, IgE, IgG, and IgM. Two sources of CVI to calculate the RCV of IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, and C4 were applied in this study, which revealed that two kinds of RCVs based on different biological variation databases are similar to each other, but both were smaller than delta check limits based on patient data, except for C4. CONCLUSIONS: The delta check is a useful tool to monitor potential errors which may occur in total testing process. We hope our findings could be helpful for future studies focused on delta checks in immunological analytes.

Rice OsCIPK17-OsCBL2/3 module enhances shoot Na+ exclusion and plant salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis.

Soil salinity is detrimental to plant growth and remains a major threat to crop productivity of the world. Plants employ various physiological and molecular mechanisms to maintain growth under salt stress. Identification of genes and genetic loci underlying plant salt tolerance holds the key to breeding salt tolerant crops. CIPK-CBL pathways regulate adaptive responses of plants (especially ion transport) to abiotic stresses via fine-tuned Ca2+ signal transduction. In this study, we showed that over-expression of OsCIPK17 in Arabidopsis enhanced primary root elongation under salt stress, which is in a Ca2+ dependent manner. Further investigation revealed that, under salt stress, OsCIPK17 transcript level was significantly induced and its protein moved from the cytosol to the tonoplast. Using both Y2H and BiFC, tonoplast-localised OsCBL2 and OsCBL3 were shown to interact with OsCIPK17. Interestingly, over-expressing salt-induced OsCBL2 or OsCBL3 in Arabidopsis led to enhanced primary root elongation under salt stress. In this process, OsCIPK17 was shown recruited to the tonoplast (similar to the effect of salt stress). Furthermore, transgenic Arabidopsis lines individually over-expressing OsCIPK17, OsCBL2 and OsCBL3 all demonstrated larger biomass and less Na + accumulation in the shoot under salt stress. All data combined suggest that OsCIPK17- OsCBL2/3 module is a major component of shoot Na+ exclusion and therefore plant salt tolerance, which is through enhanced Na + compartmentation into the vacuole in the root. OsCIPK17 and OsCBL2/3 are therefore potential genetic targets that can be used for delivering salt tolerant rice cultivars.

Identification of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus isolates in the northwest of Hubei Province, China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne viral disease that is increasingly affecting human being worldwide. The clinical manifestations and mortality rates of SFTS can vary depending on the geographic region and the specific genotype of the SFTS virus (SFTSV). From July 2022 to August 2023, we collected serum samples from 83 patients with suspected SFTSV infection in the northwest of Hubei Province, China. From which, 13 patients tested positive for SFTSV. Phylogenetic analysis of the SFTSV L, M, and S gene segments was performed using the maximum likelihood method to determine the genetic diversity of the isolates. At least 2 SFTSV genotypes (A and F) were identified in the northwest of Hubei Province. The clinical manifestations and laboratory findings on the first day of admission were investigated. Results showed that bleeding and disturbance of consciousness, and significant elevated AST and APTT, are valuable for assessing the prognosis for SFTS patients. This study disclosed the genomic sequences and genotypes of SFTSV spreading in the northwest of Hubei Province for the first time, providing information of genetically etiology for SFTS in the local district. Furthermore, certain symptoms and/or laboratory findings may indicate adverse clinical outcomes, highlighting the importance of identifying the symptoms and monitoring specific laboratory markers. Future research is needed to investigate the threshold values of these markers and to closely observe the indicative symptoms in order to early identify and timely management of critically ill patients within clinical settings.

Capturing subjective cognitive decline with a new combined index in low education patients with Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) refers to self-reported cognitive decline with normal global cognition. This study aimed to capture SCD among low educated patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using a newly established indicator. Methods: We recruited 64 PD patients with low education levels (education ≤12 years) for the study. The presence of SCD was determined based on a Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part I (1.1) score ≥ 1. Spearman analysis and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate factors associated with the PD-SCD group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the new combined index. Results: The prevalence of SCD in PD patients was 43.75%. Low educated PD-SCD patients had higher scores on the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), Parkinson's Fatigue Scale (PFS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), as well as higher scores on the UPDRS-I and UPDRS-II, compared to PD patients without SCD. They also demonstrated poorer performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), particularly in the domains of executive abilities/attention/language. Multivariate binary regression confirmed the significant association between PD-SCD and MoCA-executive abilities/attention/language. Based on these findings, a combined index was established by summing the scores of MoCA-executive abilities, MoCA-attention, and MoCA-language. ROC analysis showed that the combined index could differentiate PD-SCD patients with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.876. A score of 12 or less on the combined index had a sensitivity of 73.9% and a specificity of 76.2% for diagnosing PD-SCD. Conclusion: These low education patients with PD-SCD may exhibit potential PD-related pathological changes. It is important for clinicians to identify PD-SCD patients as early as possible. The newly combined index can help capture these low educated PD-SCD patients, with an AUC of 0.867, and is expected to assist clinicians in earlier identification and better management of PD patients.

Polyphyly of Boehmeria (Urticaceae) congruent with plastome structural variation.

Boehmeria is a taxonomically challenging group within the nettle family (Urticaceae). The polyphyly of the genus has been proposed by previous studies with respect to five genera (Debregeasia, Cypholophus, Sarcochlamys, Archiboehmeria, and Astrothalamus). Extensive homoplasy of morphological characters has made generic delimitation problematic. Previous studies in other plant groups suggest that plastome structural variations have the potential to provide characters useful in reconstructing evolutionary relationships. We aimed to test this across Boehmeria and its allied genera by mapping plastome structural variations onto a resolved strongly supported phylogeny. In doing so, we expanded the sampling of the plastome to include Cypholophus, Sarcochlamys, Archiboehmeria, and Astrothalamus for the first time. The results of our phylogenomic analyses provide strong support for Sarcochlamys as being more closely related to Leucosyke puya than to Boehmeria and for the clustering of Boehmeria s.l. into four subclades. The sizes of the plastomes in Boehmeria s.l. ranged from 142,627 bp to 170,958 bp. The plastomes recovered a typical quadripartite structure comprising 127~146 genes. We observe several obvious structural variations across the taxa such as gene loss and multiple gene duplication, inverted repeat (IR) contraction and wide expansions, and inversions. Moreover, we recover a trend for these variations that the early clades were relatively conserved in evolution, whereas the later diverging clades were variable. We propose that the structural variations documented may be linked to the adaptation of Boehmeria s.l. to a wide range of habitats, from moist broadleaf forests in Asia to xeric shrublands and deserts in Africa. This study confirms that variation in plastome gene loss/duplication, IR contraction/expansion, and inversions can provide evidence useful for the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships.

Superconductivity under pressure in a chromium-based kagome metal.

Superconductivity in a highly correlated kagome system has been theoretically proposed for years (refs. 1-5), yet the experimental realization is hard to achieve6,7. The recently discovered vanadium-based kagome materials8, which exhibit both superconductivity9-11 and charge-density-wave orders12-14, are nonmagnetic8,9 and weakly correlated15,16. Thus these materials are unlikely to host the exotic superconductivity theoretically proposed. Here we report the discovery of a chromium-based kagome metal, CsCr3Sb5, which is contrastingly featured with strong electron correlations, frustrated magnetism and characteristic flat bands close to the Fermi level. Under ambient pressure, this kagome metal undergoes a concurrent structural and magnetic phase transition at 55 K, with a stripe-like 4a0 structural modulation. At high pressure, the phase transition evolves into two transitions, possibly associated with charge-density-wave and antiferromagnetic spin-density-wave orderings. These density-wave-like orders are gradually suppressed with pressure and, remarkably, a superconducting dome emerges at 3.65-8.0 GPa. The maximum of the superconducting transition temperature, Tcmax = 6.4 K, appears when the density-wave-like orders are completely suppressed at 4.2 GPa, and the normal state exhibits a non-Fermi-liquid behaviour, reminiscent of unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality in iron-based superconductors17,18. Our work offers an unprecedented platform for investigating superconductivity in correlated kagome systems.

The complete chloroplast genome of Semiaquilegia danxiashanensis (Ranunculaceae), a rare species endemic to Danxia landform in Guangdong, China.

Semiaquilegia danxiashanensis is currently known only from the type locality, Danxia Mountain, characterized by its spectacular red sandstone cliffscape. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast genome sequence of S. danxiashanensis and inferred its phylogenetic relationships. Total length of the chloroplast genome was 160,548 bp, with an overall GC content of 39%. The chloroplast genome had typical quadripartite structure and contained one LSC region (89,882 bp) and one SSC region (17,386 bp), which were separated by two IRs regions (26,640 bp, respectively). It comprised 133 genes, including 84 protein coding genes, 41 tRNA genes and eight rRNA genes. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis indicated that S. danxiashanensis was sister to S. adoxoides; meanwhile, Semiaquilegia was closely related to both Urophysa and Aquilegia in Ranunculaceae. This study sheds light on the evolutionary history of Semiaquilegia and provides preliminary data for future comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes.

A review of tanshinone compounds in prostate cancer treatment.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant epithelial tumors in men worldwide. PCa patients are initially sensitive to chemotherapy, but patients in the advanced stages of PCa eventually develop resistance, leaving them with limited therapeutic options. Therefore, it is very important to screen new drugs for treating PCa. Salvia miltiorrhiza is a common Chinese herbal medicine used in some Asian countries. It has many functions and is widely used to treat a variety of diseases, including heart diseases and cancers. For the past few years, research has shown that liposoluble constituents of tanshinones (TANs), including cryptotanshinone, TAN IIA, dihydrotanshinone I, and TAN I, exhibit good anticancer activity in PCa. In this study, we review the progress of TAN compounds (cryptotanshinone, TAN IIA, dihydrotanshinone I, and TAN I) in treating PCa over the past decade. These compounds can act on the same molecular mechanisms, as they have a very similar structure; they are also found to work slightly differently in PCa. According to current studies, compared with other TAN compounds, TAN IIA appears to hold more potential for treating PCa. The toxicity, side effects or biodistribution of Salvia miltiorrhiza and these four TANs need to be confirmed with further research. Findings obtained in this study may provide important information for the potential clinical application of cryptotanshinone, TAN IIA, dihydrotanshinone I, and TAN I in the treatment of PCa.

Morphological Structure Identification, Comparative Mitochondrial Genomics and Population Genetic Analysis toward Exploring Interspecific Variations and Phylogenetic Implications of Malus baccata 'ZA' and Other Species.

Malus baccata, a valuable germplasm resource in the genus Malus, is indigenous to China and widely distributed. However, little is known about the lineage composition and genetic basis of 'ZA', a mutant type of M. baccata. In this study, we compared the differences between 'ZA' and wild type from the perspective of morphology and ultrastructure and analyzed their chloroplast pigment content based on biochemical methods. Further, the complete mitogenome of M. baccata 'ZA' was assembled and obtained by next-generation sequencing. Subsequently, its molecular characteristics were analyzed using Geneious, MISA-web, and CodonW toolkits. Furthermore, by examining 106 Malus germplasms and 42 Rosaceae species, we deduced and elucidated the evolutionary position of M. baccata 'ZA', as well as interspecific variations among different individuals. In comparison, the total length of the 'ZA' mitogenome (GC content: 45.4%) is 374,023 bp, which is approximately 2.33 times larger than the size (160,202 bp) of the plastome (GC: 36.5%). The collinear analysis results revealed abundant repeats and genome rearrangements occurring between different Malus species. Additionally, we identified 14 plastid-driven fragment transfer events. A total of 54 genes have been annotated in the 'ZA' mitogenome, including 35 protein-coding genes, 16 tRNAs, and three rRNAs. By calculating nucleotide polymorphisms and selection pressure for 24 shared core mitochondrial CDSs from 42 Rosaceae species (including 'ZA'), we observed that the nad3 gene exhibited minimal variation, while nad4L appeared to be evolving rapidly. Population genetics analysis detected a total of 1578 high-quality variants (1424 SNPs, 60 insertions, and 94 deletions; variation rate: 1/237) among samples from 106 Malus individuals. Furthermore, by constructing phylogenetic trees based on both Malus and Rosaceae taxa datasets, it was preliminarily demonstrated that 'ZA' is closely related to M. baccata, M. sieversii, and other proximate species in terms of evolution. The sequencing data obtained in this study, along with our findings, contribute to expanding the mitogenomic resources available for Rosaceae research. They also hold reference significance for molecular identification studies as well as conservation and breeding efforts focused on excellent germplasms.

OPALIN is an LGI1 receptor promoting oligodendrocyte differentiation.

Leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1 (LGI1), a secretory protein in the brain, plays a critical role in myelination; dysfunction of this protein leads to hypomyelination and white matter abnormalities (WMAs). Here, we hypothesized that LGI1 may regulate myelination through binding to an unidentified receptor on the membrane of oligodendrocytes (OLs). To search for this hypothetic receptor, we analyzed LGI1 binding proteins through LGI1-3 × FLAG affinity chromatography with mouse brain lysates followed by mass spectrometry. An OL-specific membrane protein, the oligodendrocytic myelin paranodal and inner loop protein (OPALIN), was identified. Conditional knockout (cKO) of OPALIN in the OL lineage caused hypomyelination and WMAs, phenocopying LGI1 deficiency in mice. Biochemical analysis revealed the downregulation of Sox10 and Olig2, transcription factors critical for OL differentiation, further confirming the impaired OL maturation in Opalin cKO mice. Moreover, virus-mediated re-expression of OPALIN successfully restored myelination in Opalin cKO mice. In contrast, re-expression of LGI1-unbound OPALIN_K23A/D26A failed to reverse the hypomyelination phenotype. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that OPALIN on the OL membrane serves as an LGI1 receptor, highlighting the importance of the LGI1/OPALIN complex in orchestrating OL differentiation and myelination.

Roles of Sp7 in osteoblasts for the proliferation, differentiation, and osteocyte process formation.

Background: Zinc finger-containing transcription factor Osterix/Specificity protein-7 (Sp7) is an essential transcription factor for osteoblast differentiation. However, its functions in differentiated osteoblasts remain unclear and the effects of osteoblast-specific Sp7 deletion on osteocytes have not been sufficiently studied. Methods: Sp7 floxneo/floxneo mice, in which Sp7 expression was 30 % of that in wild-type mice because of disturbed splicing by neo gene insertion, and osteoblast-specific knockout (Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre) mice using 2.3-kb Col1a1 enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-Cre were examined by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), bone histomorphometry, serum markers, and histological analyses. The expression of osteoblast and osteocyte marker genes was examined by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis. Osteoblastogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and regulation of the expression of collagen type I alpha 1 chain (Col1a1) were examined in primary osteoblasts. Results: Femoral trabecular bone volume was higher in female Sp7 floxneo/floxneo and Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice than in the respective controls, but not in males. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive osteoblastic cells were increased in male Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice, and osteoblast number and the bone formation rate were increased in tibial trabecular bone in female Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice, although osteoblast maturation was inhibited in female Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice as shown by the increased expression of an immature osteoblast marker gene, secreted phosphoprotein 1 (Spp1), and reduced expression of a mature osteoblast marker gene, bone gamma-carboxyglutamate protein/bone gamma-carboxyglutamate protein 2 (Bglap/Bglap2). Furthermore, alkaline phosphatase activity was increased but mineralization was reduced in the culture of primary osteoblasts from Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice. Therefore, the accumulated immature osteoblasts in Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice was likely compensated for the inhibition of osteoblast maturation at different levels in males and females. Vertebral trabecular bone volume was lower in both male and female Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice than in the controls and the osteoblast parameters and bone formation rate in females were lower in Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice than in Sp7 fl/fl mice, suggesting differential regulatory mechanisms in long bones and vertebrae. The femoral cortical bone was thin and porous in Sp7 floxneo/floxneo and Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice of both sexes, the number of canaliculi was reduced, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL)-positive lacunae and the osteoclasts were increased, whereas the bone formation rate was similar in Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre and Sp7 fl/fl mice. The serum levels of total procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP), a marker for bone formation, were similar, while those of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAP5b), a marker for bone resorption, were higher in Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice. Osteoblasts were less cuboidal, the expression of Col1a1 and Col1a1-EGFP-Cre was lower in Sp7 fl/fl;Col1a1-Cre mice, and overexpression of Sp7 induced Col1a1 expression. Conclusions: Our studies indicated that Sp7 inhibits the proliferation of immature osteoblasts, induces osteoblast maturation and Col1a1 expression, and is required for osteocytes to acquire a sufficient number of processes for their survival, which prevents cortical porosity. The translational potential of this article: This study clarified the roles of Sp7 in differentiated osteoblasts in proliferarion, maturation, Col1a1 expression, and osteocyte process formation, which are required for targeting SP7 in the development of therapies for osteoporosis.

Rhein alleviates MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease by suppressing neuroinflammation via MAPK/IκB pathway.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with a rapid increase in incidence in recent years. Existing treatments cannot slow or stop the progression of PD. It was proposed that neuroinflammation leads to neuronal death, making targeting neuroinflammation a promising therapeutic strategy. Our previous studies have demonstrated that rhein protects neurons in vitro by inhibiting neuroinflammation, and it has been found to exhibit neuroprotective effects in Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy, but its neuroprotective mechanisms and effects on PD are still unclear. Methods: PD animal model was induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). ELISA, RT-qPCR, western blot and Immunofluorescence were used to detect the levels of inflammatory cytokines and M1 polarization markers. The protein expression levels of signaling pathways were measured by western blot. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining showed that rhein did not damage the liver and kidney. Two behavioral tests, pole test and rotarod test, were used to evaluate the improvement effect of rhein on movement disorders. The number of neurons in the substantia nigra was evaluated by Nissl staining. Immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to detect tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and α-synuclein. Results: Rhein inhibited the activation of MAPK/IκB signaling pathway and reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) and M1 polarization markers of microglia in vivo. In a mouse model of PD, rhein ameliorated movement disorders, reduced dopaminergic neuron damage and α-synuclein deposition. Conclusion: Rhein inhibits neuroinflammation through MAPK/IκB signaling pathway, thereby reducing neurodegeneration, α-synuclein deposition, and improving movement disorders in Parkinson's disease.

[The use of bronchial occlusion test in a preterm infant with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia complicated by severe lobar emphysema]. / æ”¯æ°”ç®¡å°å µè¯•éªŒåœ¨æ—©äº§å„¿é‡åº¦æ”¯æ°”ç®¡è‚ºå‘è‚²ä¸è‰¯ä¼´ä¸¥é‡è‚ºå¶æ°”è‚¿ä¸­çš„åº”ç”¨1例.

In infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD), severe pulmonary lobar emphysema may occur as a complication, contributing to significant impairment in ventilation. Clinical management of these infants is extremely challenging and some may require lobectomy to improve ventilation. However, prior to the lobectomy, it is very difficult to assess whether the remaining lung parenchyma would be able to sustain adequate ventilation postoperatively. In addition, preoperative planning and perioperative management are also quite challenging in these patients. This paper reports the utility of selective bronchial occlusion in assessing the safety and efficacy of lobectomy in a case of sBPD complicated by severe right upper lobar emphysema. Since infants with sBPD already have poor lung development and significant lung injury, lobectomy should be viewed as a non-traditional therapy and be carried out with extreme caution. Selective bronchial occlusion test can be an effective tool in assessing the risks and benefits of lobectomy in cases with sBPD and lobar emphysema. However, given the technical difficulty, successful application of this technique requires close collaboration of an experienced interdisciplinary team.

Rhein inhibits M1 polarization of BV2 microglia through MAPK/IκB signalling pathway and reduces neurotoxicity caused by neuroinflammation.

BACKGROUND: Rhein is an anthraquinone compound with anti-inflammatory pharmacological activity. It has been found to play a neuroprotective role in neurological diseases, but the neuroprotective mechanism of rhein remains unclear. METHODS: SH-SY5Y cells serving as neuron-like cells and BV2 microglia were used. The toxicity of rhein on BV2 microglia and the viability of SH-SY5Y cells were measured by CCK-8 assay. The mRNA expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines were detected by qPCR and ELISA. Iba1, CD86 and pathway signalling protein in BV2 microglia were assessed by Western blot and immunofluorescence. Apoptosis of SH-SY5Y cells exposed to neuroinflammation was analysed through flow cytometry. RESULTS: Rhein inhibited MAPK/IκB signalling pathways. Further studies revealed that rhein inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1ß and iNOS in BV2 cells and also inhibited the expression of M1 polarization markers Iba1 and CD86 in BV2 cells. Furthermore, rhein reduced the apoptotic rate and restored cell viability of SH-SY5Y cells exposed to neuroinflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that rhein inhibited microglia M1 polarization via MAPK/IκB signalling pathway and protected nerve cells through suppressing neuroinflammation.

TCERG1L hypermethylation is a risk factor of diabetic retinopathy in Chinese children with type 1 diabetes.

AIM: To identify the differential methylation sites (DMS) and their according genes associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) development in type 1 diabetes (T1DM) children. METHODS: This study consists of two surveys. A total of 40 T1DM children was included in the first survey. Because no participant has DR, retina thinning was used as a surrogate indicator for DR. The lowest 25% participants with the thinnest macular retinal thickness were included into the case group, and the others were controls. The DNA methylation status was assessed by the Illumina methylation 850K array BeadChip assay, and compared between the case and control groups. Four DMS with a potential role in diabetes were identified. The second survey included 27 T1DM children, among which four had DR. The methylation patterns of the four DMS identified by 850K were compared between participants with and without DR by pyrosequencing. RESULTS: In the first survey, the 850K array revealed 751 sites significantly and differentially methylated in the case group comparing with the controls (|Δß|>0.1 and Adj.P<0.05), and 328 of these were identified with a significance of Adj.P<0.01. Among these, 319 CpG sites were hypermethylated and 432 were hypomethylated in the case group relative to the controls. Pyrosequencing revealed that the transcription elongation regulator 1 like (TCERG1L, cg07684215) gene was hypermethylated in the four T1DM children with DR (P=0.018), which was consistent with the result from the first survey. The methylation status of the other three DMS (cg26389052, cg25192647, and cg05413694) showed no difference (all P>0.05) between participants with and without DR. CONCLUSION: The hypermethylation of the TCERG1L gene is a risk factor for DR development in Chinese children with T1DM.

A high resolution dilatometer using optical fiber interferometer.

We introduce a high-performance differential dilatometer based on an all-fiber Michelson interferometer at cryogenic temperature with 10-10 resolution in δL/L. It resolves the linear thermal expansion coefficient by measuring the oscillating changes of sample thickness and sample temperature with the interferometer and in situ thermometer, respectively. By measuring the linear thermal expansion coefficient α near the antiferromagnetic transition region of BaFe2As2 as a demonstration, we show that our dilatometer is able to measure thin samples with sub-pm-level length change resolution and mK-level temperature resolution. Despite the residual background thermal expansion of a few nm/K in the measurement results, our new dilatometer is still a powerful tool for the study of phase transition in condensed matter physics, especially has significant advantages in fragile materials with sub-100 µm thickness and being integrated with multiple synchronous measurements and tuning thanks to its extremely high resolution and contactless nature. The prototype design of this setup can be further improved in many aspects for specific applications.

Hepatic artery diameter predicts bleeding risk after gastroesophageal varices treatment: a contrast-enhanced CT study.

OBJECTIVE: Portal hypertension leads to hepatic artery dilatation and a higher risk of bleeding. We tried to identify the bleeding risk after gastroesophageal varices (GOV) treatment using hepatic artery diameter of contrast-enhanced CT. METHODS: Retrospective retrieval of 258 patients with cirrhosis who underwent contrast-enhanced CT from January 2022 to May 2023 and endoscopy within one month thereafter at Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University. Cirrhotic patients before GOV treatment were used as the test cohort (n = 199), and cirrhotic patients after GOV treatment were used as the validation cohort (n = 59). The grading and bleeding risk was classified according to the endoscopic findings. Arterial-phase images of contrast-enhanced CT were used for coronal reconstruction, and the midpoint diameter of the hepatic artery was measured on coronal images. The optimal cutoff value for identifying bleeding risk was analyzed and calculated in the test cohort, and its diagnostic performance was evaluated in the validation cohort. RESULTS: In the test cohort, hepatic artery diameters were significantly higher in high-risk GOV than in low-risk GOV [4.69 (4.31, 5.56) vs. 3.10 (2.59, 3.77), P < 0.001]. With a hepatic artery diameter cutoff value of 4.06 mm, the optimal area under the operating characteristic curve was 0.940 (95% confidence interval: 0.908-0.972), with a sensitivity of 0.887, a specificity of 0.892, a positive predictive value of 0.904, and a negative predictive value of 0.874 for identifying bleeding risk in the test cohort, while in the validation cohort, the sensitivity was 0.885, specificity was 0.939, positive predictive value was 0.920, and negative predictive value was 0.912. CONCLUSION: Hepatic artery diameter has high diagnostic performance in identifying bleeding risk after GOV treatment.

Harnessing tetrahedral framework nucleic acids for enhanced delivery of microRNA-149-3p: A new frontier in oral squamous cell carcinoma therapy.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), a type of malignant tumour that primarily occurs in the oral mucosa, has drawn considerable attention owing to its aggressive growth and potentially high metastatic rate. Surgical resection is the primary treatment method for OSCC and is typically combined with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. microRNA-149-3p (miR-149) is a negative regulator of the Pi3k/Akt pathway and can effectively inhibit the proliferation of tumour cells. However, the application of miR-149 is limited owing to its relatively low efficiency of cellular uptake and poor stability when used alone. To overcome these challenges, this study adopted a novel nucleic acid nanostructured material, tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs). The use of tFNAs as carriers to assemble the T-miR-149 complex reduced the expression of Pi3k and Akt involved in tumorigenesis and alterations in proteins related to cell apoptosis. The results indicated that the bionic drug delivery system has an effective tumour suppressive effect on OSCC in mice, revealing its potential clinical value in the treatment of OSCC.

[Status of outcome measures in randomized controlled trials of kidney-tonifying and blood-activating method in treatment of knee osteoarthritis].

This study assesses the status of outcome measures in the randomized controlled trial(RCT) involving the kidney-tonif-ying and blood-activating method for treating knee osteoarthritis(KOA), aiming to establish a theoretical foundation for the development of a core set of outcome measures in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) treatment of KOA. The relevant articles were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, in addition to ClinicalTrials.gov and the China Clinical Trial Registration Center, with the time interval from inception to August 2023. The RCT of treating KOA with the kidney-tonifying and blood-activating method was included. Two assessors independently conducted literature screening, data collection, and qualitative analysis to compile the outcome measure results. A total of 350 RCTs were included, involving 165 outcome measures with the total frequency of 1 462. These outcome measures were categorized into six domains: symptom and sign measures(23) with the frequency of 718(49.1%), TCM symptom and syndrome measures(3) with the frequency of 53(3.6%), physical examination measures(130) with the frequency of 506(34.6%), quality of life measures(4) with the frequency of 20(1.3%), long-term efficacy measures(2) with the frequency of 6(0.4%), and safety measures(3) with the frequency of 159(10.9%). Additionally, 53 studies used TCM syndrome and symptom scores as indicators of efficacy, employing eight distinct measurement tools. The RCTs involving the kidney-tonifying and blood-activating method for treating KOA had a variety of problems, such as unclear prio-ritization of outcome measures, diversity in measurement tools, absence of standardized assessment criteria for specific measures, and non-standardized usage. These problems affected the research quality and reliability. Hence, it is advisable to draw upon international expertise, improve research design, and merge TCM efficacy characteristics with clinical research to establish a core set of KOA outcome measures aligned with TCM principles.