Uncovering periodontitis-associated markers through the aggregation of transcriptomics information from diverse sources.

Introduction: Periodontitis, a common chronic inflammatory disease, significantly impacted oral health. To provide novel biological indicators for the diagnosis and treatment of periodontitis, we analyzed public microarray datasets to identify biomarkers associated with periodontitis. Method: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE16134 and GSE106090 were downloaded. We performed differential analysis and robust rank aggregation (RRA) to obtain a list of differential genes. To obtain the core modules and core genes related to periodontitis, we evaluated differential genes through enrichment analysis, correlation analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network analysis. Potential biomarkers for periodontitis were identified through comparative analysis of dual networks (PPI network and ceRNA network). PPI network analysis was performed in STRING. The ceRNA network consisted of RRA differentially expressed messenger RNAs (RRA_DEmRNAs) and RRA differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (RRA_DElncRNAs), which regulated each other's expression by sharing microRNA (miRNA) target sites. Results: RRA_DEmRNAs were significantly enriched in inflammation-related biological processes, osteoblast differentiation, inflammatory response pathways and immunomodulatory pathways. Comparing the core ceRNA module and the core PPI module, C1QA, CENPK, CENPU and BST2 were found to be the common genes of the two core modules, and C1QA was highly correlated with inflammatory functionality. C1QA and BST2 were significantly enriched in immune-regulatory pathways. Meanwhile, LINC01133 played a significant role in regulating the expression of the core genes during the pathogenesis of periodontitis. Conclusion: The identified biomarkers C1QA, CENPK, CENPU, BST2 and LINC01133 provided valuable insight into periodontitis pathology.

PMBC: a manually curated database for prognostic markers of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is notorious for its high mortality and heterogeneity, resulting in different therapeutic responses. Classical biomarkers have been identified and successfully commercially applied to predict the outcome of breast cancer patients. Accumulating biomarkers, including non-coding RNAs, have been reported as prognostic markers for breast cancer with the development of sequencing techniques. However, there are currently no databases dedicated to the curation and characterization of prognostic markers for breast cancer. Therefore, we constructed a curated database for prognostic markers of breast cancer (PMBC). PMBC consists of 1070 markers covering mRNAs, lncRNAs, miRNAs and circRNAs. These markers are enriched in various cancer- and epithelial-related functions including mitogen-activated protein kinases signaling. We mapped the prognostic markers into the ceRNA network from starBase. The lncRNA NEAT1 competes with 11 RNAs, including lncRNAs and mRNAs. The majority of the ceRNAs in ABAT belong to pseudogenes. The topology analysis of the ceRNA network reveals that known prognostic RNAs have higher closeness than random. Among all the biomarkers, prognostic lncRNAs have a higher degree, while prognostic mRNAs have significantly higher closeness than random RNAs. These results indicate that the lncRNAs play important roles in maintaining the interactions between lncRNAs and their ceRNAs, which might be used as a characteristic to prioritize prognostic lncRNAs based on the ceRNA network. PMBC renders a user-friendly interface and provides detailed information about individual prognostic markers, which will facilitate the precision treatment of breast cancer. PMBC is available at the following URL: http://www.pmbreastcancer.com/.

Evaluation of the toxicity of clozapine on the freshwater diatom Navicula sp. using the FTIR spectroscopy.

Clozapine is an often prescribed neuroactive pharmaceutical and frequently detected in the aquatic environments. However, its toxicity on low trophic level species (i.e., diatoms) and associated mechanisms are seldom reported. In this study, the toxicity of clozapine on a widely distributed freshwater diatom Navicula sp. was evaluated using the FTIR spectroscopy along with biochemical analyses. The diatoms were exposed to various concentrations of clozapine (0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, 1.00, 2.00, 5.00 mg/L) for 96 h. The results revealed that clozapine reached up to 392.8 µg/g in the cell wall and 550.4 µg/g within the cells at 5.00 mg/L, suggesting that clozapine could be adsorbed extracellularly and accumulated intracellularly in diatoms. In addition, hormetic effects were displayed on the growth and photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a and carotenoid) of Navicula sp., with a promotive effect at concentrations less than 1.00 mg/L while an inhibited effect at concentrations over 2 mg/L. Clozapine induced oxidative stress in Navicula sp., accompanied by decreased levels of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (>0.05 mg/L), in which, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) (at 5.00 mg/L) was increased whereas the activity of catalase (CAT) (>0.05 mg/L) was decreased. Furthermore, FTIR spectroscopic analysis showed that exposure to clozapine resulted in accumulation of lipid peroxidation products, increased sparse ß-sheet structures, and altered DNA structures in Navicula sp. This study can facilitate the ecological risk assessment of clozapine in the aquatic ecosystems.

Cross-modal hashing with missing labels.

Hashing-based cross-modal retrieval methods have become increasingly popular due to their advantages in storage and speed. While current methods have demonstrated impressive results, there are still several issues that have not been addressed. Specifically, many of these approaches assume that labels are perfectly assigned, despite the fact that in real-world scenarios, labels are often incomplete or partially missing. There are two reasons for this, as manual labeling can be a complex and time-consuming task, and annotators may only be interested in certain objects. As such, cross-modal retrieval with missing labels is a significant challenge that requires further attention. Moreover, the similarity between labels is frequently ignored, which is important for exploring the high-level semantics of labels. To address these limitations, we propose a novel method called Cross-Modal Hashing with Missing Labels (CMHML). Our method consists of several key components. First, we introduce Reliable Label Learning to preserve reliable information from the observed labels. Next, to infer the uncertain part of the predicted labels, we decompose the predicted labels into latent representations of labels and samples. The representation of samples is extracted from different modalities, which assists in inferring missing labels. We also propose Label Correlation Preservation to enhance the similarity between latent representations of labels. Hash codes are then learned from the representation of samples through Global Approximation Learning. We also construct a similarity matrix according to predicted labels and embed it into hash codes learning to explore the value of labels. Finally, we train linear classifiers to map original samples to a low-dimensional Hamming space. To evaluate the efficacy of CMHML, we conduct extensive experiments on four publicly available datasets. Our method is compared to other state-of-the-art methods, and the results demonstrate that our model performs competitively even when most labels are missing.

Spot Detection for Laser Sensors Based on Annular Convolution Filtering.

Spot detection has attracted continuous attention for laser sensors with applications in communication, measurement, etc. The existing methods often directly perform binarization processing on the original spot image. They suffer from the interference of the background light. To reduce this kind of interference, we propose a novel method called annular convolution filtering (ACF). In our method, the region of interest (ROI) in the spot image is first searched by using the statistical properties of pixels. Then, the annular convolution strip is constructed based on the energy attenuation property of the laser and the convolution operation is performed in the ROI of the spot image. Finally, a feature similarity index is designed to estimate the parameters of the laser spot. Experiments on three datasets with different kinds of background light show the advantages of our ACF method, with comparison to the theoretical method based on international standard, the practical method used in the market products, and the recent benchmark methods AAMED and ALS.

Soy protein nanoparticles prepared by enzymatic cross-linking with enhanced emulsion stability.

Particle-stabilized emulsions have shown increasing potential application in food emulsion systems. Here, soy protein, an abundant and inexpensive plant-based protein, was used to develop nanoparticles for emulsion stabilizer applications. An enzymatic cross-linking method based on microbial transglutaminase (mTG) was developed for the fabrication of soy protein nanoparticles (SPNPs). The emulsion stability was compared between soy protein isolate (SPI) and three different nanoparticles. The size of SPNPs ranged from 10 nm to 40 nm, depending on the production conditions. The emulsions stabilized by SPNPs were stable for at least 20 days at room temperature, whereas the emulsion that was stabilized by SPI showed a significant creaming and phase separation phenomenon. The SPNPs also showed a higher antioxidant and reducing effect compared to SPI. The use of mTG induced cross-linking resulted in the formation of covalent bonding between protein molecules, and led to the formation of nanoparticles with higher stability. The approaches support the utilization of inexpensive and abundant plant-based resources as emulsion stabilizers in food applications.

Long noncoding RNA MyD88 functions as a promising diagnostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent malignancies. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has some limitations in diagnosing early HCC. Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) showed great potential as tumor diagnostic biomarkers, and lnc-MyD88 was previously identified as a carcinogen in HCC. Here, we explored its diagnostic value as a plasma biomarker. Materials and methods: Quantitative real-time PCR was adopted to detect lnc-MyD88 expression in plasma samples of 98 HCC patients, 52 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, and 105 healthy people. The correlation between lnc-MyD88 and clinicopathological factors was analyzed through chi-square test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, and area under the curve (AUC) of lnc-MyD88 and AFP alone and in combination for the diagnosis of HCC. The relationship between MyD88 and immune infiltration was analyzed by single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithm. Results: Lnc-MyD88 was highly expressed in plasma samples of HCC and hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated HCC patients. Lnc-MyD88 had better diagnostic value than AFP in HCC patients using healthy people or LC patients as control (healthy people, AUC: 0.776 vs. 0.725; LC patients, AUC: 0.753 vs. 0.727). The multivariate analysis showed that lnc-MyD88 had great diagnostic value for distinguishing HCC from LC and healthy people. Lnc-MyD88 had no correlation with AFP. Lnc-MyD88 and AFP were independent diagnostic factors for HBV-associated HCC. The AUC, sensitivity, and Youden index of the combined diagnosis of lnc-MyD88 and AFP combined were higher than those of lnc-MyD88 and AFP alone. The ROC curve of lnc-MyD88 for the diagnosis of AFP-negative HCC was plotted with a sensitivity of 80.95%, a specificity of 79.59%, and an AUC value of 0.812 using healthy people as control. The ROC curve also presented its great diagnostic value using LC patients as control (sensitivity: 76.19%, specificity: 69.05%, AUC value: 0.769). Lnc-MyD88 expression was correlated with microvascular invasion in HBV-associated HCC patients. MyD88 was positively correlated with infiltrating immune cells and immune-related genes. Conclusion: The high expression of plasma lnc-MyD88 in HCC is distinct and could be utilized as a promising diagnostic biomarker. Lnc-MyD88 had great diagnostic value for HBV-associated HCC and AFP-negative HCC, and it had higher efficacy in combination with AFP.

Robust to Rank Selection: Low-Rank Sparse Tensor-Ring Completion.

Tensor-ring (TR) decomposition was recently studied and applied for low-rank tensor completion due to its powerful representation ability of high-order tensors. However, most of the existing TR-based methods tend to suffer from deterioration when the selected rank is larger than the true one. To address this issue, this article proposes a new low-rank sparse TR completion method by imposing the Frobenius norm regularization on its latent space. Specifically, we theoretically establish that the proposed method is capable of exploiting the low rankness and Kronecker-basis-representation (KBR)-based sparsity of the target tensor using the Frobenius norm of latent TR-cores. We optimize the proposed TR completion by block coordinate descent (BCD) algorithm and design a modified TR decomposition for the initialization of this algorithm. Extensive experimental results on synthetic data and visual data have demonstrated that the proposed method is able to achieve better results compared to the conventional TR-based completion methods and other state-of-the-art methods and, meanwhile, is quite robust even if the selected TR-rank increases.

Seasonal variation and sources of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a background site on the Tibetan Plateau.

The study of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in northeastern Tibetan Plateau with fragile ecological environment and complex atmospheric circulation system is blank. To understand the characteristics and sources of persistent organic pollutants in the atmosphere of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, we monitored levels in the central Qilian Mountain. From 2016 to 2017, we collected 45-pair (particle + gas) samples using active air samplers to investigate the sources, transport paths, and their influencing factors. Sources of PAHs were analysed with a source diagnostic model, and atmospheric transport paths were calculated. The concentration range for ∑15PAHs was 439-4666 pg/m3, and the average was 2015 pg/m3. The PAHs in central Qilian Mountain are mainly low molecular weight (LMW) PAHs. Winter concentrations of PAHs were higher than those in summer. The transport of PAHs is mainly affected by westerlies, and there are seasonal differences. Source analysis showed that PAHs mainly came from coal and biomass combustion and vehicle emissions, with seasonal differences. This study clarifies the concentration and seasonal variation of PAHs in the northern Tibetan Plateau, which is conducive to understanding the atmospheric transport process and fate of pollutants. The background site of Qilian Mountains located in the Silk Road economic belt has the value and significance of long-term observation of pollutants.

ASF1B, as an Independent Prognostic Biomarker, Correlates with Immune Infiltrates in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is one of the fastest-growing malignancies globally. The impact of surgical treatment is limited, and molecular targeted therapy has not yielded a consistent efficacy. This warrants for identification of novel molecular targets. The Anti- Silencing Function of 1B histone chaperone (ASF1B) was previously studied in numerous cancers. However, the understanding of its role in HCC is limited. METHODS: The TIMER database was used to analyze the ASF1B expression in pan-cancer and paracarcinoma tissues. ASF1B expression in HCC was confirmed using the HCCDB database, Quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR), and Western Blot (WB) assays. The relationship between clinicopathological parameters and ASF1B expression was analyzed using UALCAN, whereas the prognostic value of ASF1B was evaluated using the GEPIA database. Linkedomics and cBioPortal databases were used to validate the ASF1B co-expression associated with immune infiltration by the TIMER database. Moreover, cell proliferation after ASF1B-knockdown was determined through CCK8 and clone formation assays. RESULTS: ASF1B was highly expressed in HCC tissues, and the expression levels were linked to tumor grade, race, and disease stage. Univariate and multivariate Cox models showed that ASF1B is an independent prognostic factor in HCC. CCK8 and clone formation assays demonstrated that ASF1B promotes cell proliferation. Gene co-expression analysis in Linkedomics demonstrated that HJURP, KIF2C, KIF4A, KIF18B, and KIFC1 expressions were closely associated with ASF1B and immune infiltrate cells. CONCLUSION: This study shows that ASF1B promotes the proliferation of HCC. Besides, ASF1B could be a potential prognostic biomarker for HCC patients.

Chinese experts' consensus on the application of intensive care big data.

The development of intensive care medicine is inseparable from the diversified monitoring data. Intensive care medicine has been closely integrated with data since its birth. Critical care research requires an integrative approach that embraces the complexity of critical illness and the computational technology and algorithms that can make it possible. Considering the need of standardization of application of big data in intensive care, Intensive Care Medicine Branch of China Health Information and Health Care Big Data Society, Standard Committee has convened expert group, secretary group and the external audit expert group to formulate Chinese Experts' Consensus on the Application of Intensive Care Big Data (2022). This consensus makes 29 recommendations on the following five parts: Concept of intensive care big data, Important scientific issues, Standards and principles of database, Methodology in solving big data problems, Clinical application and safety consideration of intensive care big data. The consensus group believes this consensus is the starting step of application big data in the field of intensive care. More explorations and big data based retrospective research should be carried out in order to enhance safety and reliability of big data based models of critical care field.

Effect of dietary flaxseed oil on the prognosis of acute anterior cruciate ligament rupture: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore whether dietary flaxseed oil has effects on acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture prognosis after surgical reconstruction. METHODS: Patients with primary acute ACL rupture diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging and clinical examination were recruited at Quanzhou First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University and randomized to either the placebo group or the flaxseed oil group by computer-generated random numbers. Patients in the placebo group took six corn oil capsules daily, while patients in the flaxseed oil group took six flaxseed oil capsules daily. The outcomes were evaluated by specific scales. RESULTS: Compared to the placebo group, the flaxseed oil group showed significantly higher International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score (P = 0.007) and total Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) (P = 0.0003) after two-year administration. Patients treated with flaxseed oil exhibited a significantly higher rate of return to sporting level before injury (P = 0.04) and a lower rate of occurrence of giving way (P = 0.04) than those in the placebo group. Patients with flaxseed oil showed significantly less severe adverse events on index knee (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: The administration of dietary flaxseed oil enhanced the prognosis of acute ACL rupture.

Identification of Hair Growth Promoting Components in the Kernels of Prunus mira Koehne and Their Mechanism of Action.

The application of the seed oil of Prunus mira Koehne (Tibetan name ཁམབུ།), a plant belonging to the Rosaceae family, for the treatment of alopecia has been recorded in Jingzhu Materia Medica (ཤེལ་གོང་ཤེལ་ཕྲེང་།) (the classic of Tibetan medicine) and Dictionary of Chinese Ethnic Medicine. This study aims to reveal the effective components and mechanism of hair growth promotion in the kernel of Prunus mira Koehne. Network pharmacology was used to predict the mechanism of action and effective components in the treatment of the kernel of Prunus mira Koehne. The contents of amygdalin in 12 batches of the kernel of Prunus mira Koehne were determined by HPLC. An animal model of the depilation of KM mice induced by sodium sulfide was created, and five effective components that promoted hair growth were initially screened. In the study of the effectiveness and mechanism of action, KM and C57BL/6 mice are selected as experimental objects, three screening tests for active components of the kernel of P. mira are performed, and three effective components are screened out from the eight components. HE staining was used to detect the number of hair follicles and the thickness of the dermis. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate the influence of the expression of indicators in the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in skin, including ß-catenin, GSK-3ß, and mRNA and protein expression levels of Cyclin D 1 and LEF 1. The network pharmacology study showed 12 signaling pathways involving 25 targets in the treatment of alopecia by the kernel of Prunus mira Koehne. vitamin E (3.125 mg/cm2/d), ß-sitosterol (0.061 mg/cm2/d), and linoleic acid (0.156 mg/cm2/d) in the kernel of Prunus mira Koehne can promote hair growth in mice, and the mechanism of action may be related to the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

Cyclophosphamide alters the behaviors of adult Zebrafish via neurotransmitters and gut microbiota.

Cyclophosphamide, one of the earliest prescribed alkylating anticancer drugs, has been frequently detected in aquatic environments. However, its effects on fish behavior and associated mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, the behaviors, neurochemicals, and gut microbiota of adult zebrafish were investigated after 2 months of exposure to CP at 0.05, 0.5, 5, and 50 µg/L. Behavioral assays revealed that CP increased locomotion and anxiety, and decreased the cognition of zebrafish. The alteration of neurotransmitters and related gene expressions in the dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid pathways induced by CP may be responsible for the observed changes in locomotion and cognition of adult zebrafish. Meanwhile, CP increased the anxiety of adult zebrafish through the serotonin, acetylcholine, and histamine pathways in the brain. In addition, increased abundances of Fusobacteriales, Reyanellales, Staphylococcales, Rhodobacterals, and Patescibateria in the intestine at the CP-50 treatment were observed. The study has demonstrated that CP affects the locomotion, anxiety, and cognition in zebrafish, which might be linked with the dysfunction of neurochemicals in the brain. This study further suggests that the gut-brain axis might interact to modulate fish behaviors upon exposure to CP (maybe other organic pollutants). Further research is warranted to test this hypothesis.

Altered life history traits and transcripts of molting- and reproduction-related genes by cadmium in Daphnia magna.

Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential element and can be toxic to aquatic organisms at low concentrations. Despite its well-known toxicity to Daphnia magna, the effects of Cd on physiological parameters (heart rate and thoracic limb activity) and molting- and reproduction-related genes are relatively understudied. In this study, D. magna were exposed to 0 (control), 25, 50 and 75 µg L-1 of Cd for 7 d and 21 d to determine the toxicity of Cd. The results showed that the Cd body burden in D. magna was significantly increased with elevated Cd concentrations, up to 13.4 µg Cd/g dry weight (dw) after exposure to 75 µg L-1 for 21 d. After 21 d of exposure, the body length and body weight of D. magna were significantly decreased in all Cd treatments compared to the control. The heart rate and thoracic limb activity were reduced by 4.3-11.7 and 5.0-10.3%, respectively. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased by ~24-37% and the activity of catalase (CAT) was inhibited by ~50% compared to the control. The reproductive parameters (i.e., size of the first brood, the total number of offspring per female and the number of offspring per brood) were remarkably reduced, causing adverse effects on the population dynamics. In addition, the transcripts of genes (cyp314, cyp18a1, ecra, usp, hr3, cut, cht and cht3) related to the molting of D. magna were altered, whereas the transcripts of genes (vtg1, vtg2 and vmo1) related to reproduction were down-regulated. This study helps better understand the effects of Cd at different biological levels.

Chloride intercellular channel 3 suppression-mediated macrophage polarization: a potential indicator of poor prognosis of hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) are characterized by immune paralysis and susceptibility to infections. Macrophages are important mediators of immune responses can be subclassified into two main phenotypes: classically activated and alternatively activated. However, few studies have investigated changes to macrophage polarization in HBV-related liver diseases. Therefore, we investigated the functional status of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from patients with mild chronic hepatitis B (n = 226), HBV-related compensated cirrhosis (n = 36), HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis (n = 40), HBV-ACLF (n = 62) and healthy controls (n = 10), as well as Kupffer cells (KCs) from patients with HBV-ACLF (n = 3). We found that during the progression of HBV-related liver diseases, the percentage of CD163+ CD206+ macrophages increased, while the percentage of CD80+ human leukocyte antigen-DR+ macrophages decreased significantly. MDMs and KCs mainly exhibited high CD163+ CD206+ expression in patients with HBV-ACLF, which predicted poor clinical outcome and higher liver transplantation rate. Transcriptome sequencing analysis revealed that chloride intracellular channel-3 (CLIC3) was reduced in patients with HBV-ACLF, indicating a poor prognosis. To further study the effect of CLIC3 on macrophage polarization, human monocytic THP-1 cell-derived macrophages were used. We found that classical and alternative macrophage activation occurred through nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathways, respectively. CLIC3 suppression inhibited NF-κB activation and promoted the alternative activation. In conclusion, macrophage polarization gradually changed from classically activated to alternatively activated as HBV-related liver diseases progressed. Both CLIC3 suppression and increased alternatively activated macrophage percentage were potential indicators of the poor prognosis of patients with HBV-ACLF.

Prunus mira Koehne in Sichuan, China: Recorded History as a Medicine and Food, Modern Applications, Distribution, and Ethnobotanical Investigations.

Prunus mira Koehne, a Prunus plant in the Rosaceae family, is named ཁམབུ། in Tibetan and "Guang he tao" in Chinese. It is mainly distributed in Tibet Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, and Sichuan Province in China. It is also a rare "living fossil group" of peach genetic resources in the world. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of dysmenorrhea, injury, intestinal dryness, constipation, and other diseases, and is used in Tibetan medicine for the treatment of hair, eyebrows, and beard shedding. In this article, the botanical characteristics, medicinal history, modern applied research, and ethnobotanical investigation of P. mira were recorded and evaluated. P. mira was first recorded in Dumu Materia Medica. P. mira in Sichuan Province is mainly distributed in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and has certain economic and medicinal value. P. mira has high nutritional composition. It is made into high-quality edible oil, cosmetic base oil, fruit juice, fruit wine, fruit vinegar, "Liang guo", and other products. Oleic acid and linoleic acid are the main fat-soluble components of P. mira, which has an anti-inflammatory medicinal value and promotes hair growth. Its longevity and cold resistance can bring great genetic value and play an important role in maintaining peach genetic diversity. At present, there are few studies on the pharmacological effects of specific active components of P. mira and there are also few clinical studies. We can continue to study these aspects in the future. At the same time, products of P. mira have great market potential. All in all, P. mira is very worthy of further research and development.

Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Alone for Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea With Neuroendocrine Alterations in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Spontaneous skull base cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks due to idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) are a rare entity. Patients often present with CSF rhinorrhea, recurrent meningitis, chronic headache, and visual defects, while few patients have been reported to present with neuroendocrine alterations. Endonasal endoscopic repair is the first-line treatment for these leaks at present. However, the relatively high risk of recurrence remains the main cause of reoperation because of elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) after endoscopic surgery and absence of postoperative ICP management. A shunting procedure may stop CSF leakage or relieve symptoms in complex cases, and this is presently well-known as the last-line therapy for CSF liquorrhea. We describe a 29-year-old woman with spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea and neuroendocrine alterations due to IIH, and with no previous history of trauma, tumor, or nasal surgery. The bone defect in the skull base became implicated when the site of the leak was detected by cranial magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography (CT). The patient was successfully managed via ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) alone without endoscopic repair, and neuroendocrine alterations resolved after the shunting procedure.

Severe contralateral carotid stenosis or occlusion drive 30-day risk after carotid endarterectomy.

OBJECTIVES: The significant effects on the treatment of severe carotid stenosis by carotid endarterectomy have been widely recognized. However, it is controversial whether patients with severe contralateral carotid stenosis or occlusion (SCSO) can benefit from carotid endarterectomy surgery. This study aimed to estimate the SCSO effects on early outcomes after carotid endarterectomy with selective shunting. METHODS: Between August 2011 and October 2019, a total of 617 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy with selective shunting were analyzed. SCSO was defined as >70% luminal narrowing of the contralateral extracranial carotid stenosis or occlusion. Of these patients, 116 were categorized into an SCSO group while the rest were assigned to the non-SCSO group. Primary study outcomes were the occurrence of major adverse events, defined as stroke, all-cause mortality, and myocardial infarction during the perioperative period after carotid endarterectomy. Traditional multivariable logistic regression model and logistic regression model adjusted for propensity scores were used to estimate the SCSO effects on primary outcomes. Interaction and stratified analyses were conducted according to age, sex, comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes), preoperative neurological deficit, preoperative symptoms, and shunt use. RESULTS: Mean age was 68.5 ± 9.2 years (86.1% men). Overall major adverse events rate within 30 days was 2.5%. Major adverse events rates in SCSO and non-SCSO groups were 9.5% and 1.6%, respectively. This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). In multivariable regression analysis, patients with SCSO had a higher risk of major adverse events (non-SCSO vs. SCSO: aOR 5.05 [95% CI, 1.78-14.55]). In 342 propensity score matched patients, results were consistent (propensity score: aOR, 3.78 [95% CI, 1.13-12.64]). CONCLUSIONS: SCSO is an independent predictor of 30-day major adverse events. Whether these patients with SCSO are suitable for carotid endarterectomy should be carefully considered.

Cyclophosphamide affects eye development and locomotion in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a broad-spectrum anticancer drug and has been frequently detected in aquatic environments due to its incomplete removal by wastewater treatment facilities and slow degradation in waters. Its toxicity in fish remains largely unknown. In this study, zebrafish eggs <4 h post fertilization (hpf) were exposed to CP at the concentrations from 0.5 to 50.0 µg/L until 168 hpf, and its toxicity was evaluated by biochemical, transcriptomic, and behavioral approaches. The results showed that malformation and mortality rates increased with CP concentrations. The 7-day malformation EC50 and mortality (LC30) by CP were calculated to be 86.8 µg/L and 7.5 mg/L, respectively. Inhibited startle response (light to dark) (a minimal of 19%) and reduced swimming velocity (a minimal of 30%) were observed in the CP-exposed larvae. The thicknesses of retinal ganglion layer, inner plexiform layer, and inner nuclear layer in the retina were increased after exposure to CP. Meanwhile, exposure to CP increased karyorrhexis and karyolysis in the liver tissue. Transcriptomic analysis identified 607 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (159 up-regulated and 448 down-regulated). A significant reduction in the transcripts of sgk1 (the FoxO pathway), jun (the MAPK pathway), and diabloa (apoptosis pathway) were observed in the CP-treated larvae. This study has demonstrated that low concentrations of CP cause malformation, reduced swimming capacity, histopathological alterations in the retina and liver tissues, and interference on transcriptional expressions of key genes associated with different pathways. The ecological risk of CP and other anticancer drugs to aquatic organisms merits future investigation.