Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the endometrium: a retrospective analysis of data from a single center.

BACKGROUND: Neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) originating from the endometrium is rare, and there is limited knowledge regarding its diagnosis and optimal management. In this study, we present our experience with 11 patients with endometrial NEC, aiming to provide guidance for clinical practice. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the clinical, pathological, and treatment data of 11 patients with endometrial NEC who were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2011 to July 2023. The clinicopathological characteristics, treatment and prognosis of these patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 55.0 (39.0-64.0) years, and the median tumor size was 40.0 (33.0-60.0) mm. Irregular vaginal bleeding was the most common symptom observed in 10 out of 11 patients, while metabolic syndrome occurred in only 2 out of 11 patients. Six out of the 11 patients were diagnosed at an early stage. Among the patients, 6 were diagnosed with endometrial NECs, while the remaining patients had a combination of endometrial NEC and other non-NEC endometrial carcinomas. All patients underwent surgery, except for one who received only chemotherapy due to multiple metastases. After surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 5 patients, chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy was given to 3 patients, and 2 patients did not receive any adjuvant therapy. A total of 10 patients completed the follow-up, with a median follow-up time of 51.0 (14.3-81.0) months. Unfortunately, 2 patients died from the disease. CONCLUSION: NECs originating from the endometrium might not be affected by metabolic disorders. Preoperative diagnosis of these tumors was challenging. The primary approach for managing endometrial NEC can be multimodal treatment centered around surgery.

Is robotic-assisted vaginectomy a better choice in vaginal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions than conventional laparoscopic surgery?

BACKGROUND: Vaginectomy has been shown to be effective for select patients with vaginal high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and is favored by gynecologists, while there are few reports on the robotic-assisted laparoscopic vaginectomy (RALV). The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and treatment outcomes between RALV and the conventional laparoscopic vaginectomy (CLV) for patients with vaginal HSIL. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in 109 patients with vaginal HSIL who underwent either RALV (RALV group) or CLV (CLV group) from December 2013 to May 2022. The operative data, homogeneous HPV infection regression rate and vaginal HSIL regression rate were compared between the two groups. Student's t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson χ2 test or the Fisher exact test, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional-hazards models were used for data analysis. RESULTS: There were 32 patients in the RALV group and 77 patients in the CLV group. Compared with the CLV group, patients in the RALV group demonstrated less estimated blood loss (41.6 ± 40.3 mL vs. 68.1 ± 56.4 mL, P = 0.017), lower intraoperative complications rate (6.3% vs. 24.7%, P = 0.026), and shorter flatus passing time (2.0 (1.0-2.0) vs. 2.0 (2.0-2.0), P < 0.001), postoperative catheterization time (2.0 (2.0-3.0) vs. 4.0 (2.0-6.0), P = 0.001) and postoperative hospitalization time (4.0 (4.0-5.0) vs. 5.0 (4.0-6.0), P = 0.020). In addition, the treatment outcomes showed that both RALV group and CLV group had high homogeneous HPV infection regression rate (90.0% vs. 92.0%, P > 0.999) and vaginal HSIL regression rate (96.7% vs. 94.7%, P = 0.805) after vaginectomy. However, the RALV group had significantly higher hospital costs than that in the CLV group (53035.1 ± 9539.0 yuan vs. 32706.8 ± 6659.2 yuan, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Both RALV and CLV can achieve satisfactory treatment outcomes, while RALV has the advantages of less intraoperative blood loss, fewer intraoperative complications rate and faster postoperative recovery. Robotic-assisted surgery has the potential to become a better choice for vaginectomy in patients with vaginal HSIL without regard to the burden of hospital costs.

Copper-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidative/Decarboxylative Phosphorylation of Aryl Acrylic Acids with P(III)-Nucleophiles.

A copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidative/decarboxylative phosphorylation of aryl acrylic acids with P(III)-nucleophiles via the Michaelis-Arbuzov rearrangement for the synthesis of ß-ketophosphine oxides, ß-ketophosphinates, and ß-ketophosphonates is reported. The present reaction could be conducted effectively without the use of a ligand and a base. Various kinds of aryl acrylic acids and P(III)-nucleophiles are tolerated in the transformation, generating the desired ß-keto-organophosphorus compounds as a valuable class of phosphorus-containing intermediates with good to excellent yields. In addition, the possible mechanism and kinetic studies for the reaction have been explored by step-by-step control experiments and competitive experiments, and the results proved that this transformation may follow second-order chemical kinetics as well as involve a radical process.

Flavivirus Entry Inhibitors.

Flaviviruses, including Dengue virus, Zika virus, Yellow fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, cause thousands of deaths and millions of illnesses each year. The large outbreak of ZIKV in 2016 reminds us that flaviviruses can pose a serious threat to human safety and public health as emerging and re-emerging viruses. However, there are no specific drugs approved for the treatment of flavivirus infections. Due to no need to enter the cells, viral entry inhibitors have the unique advantage in suppressing viral infections. Flaviviruses bind to receptors and attach to the cell surface, then enter the endosome in a clathrin-dependent manner and finalizes the viral entry process after fusion with the cell membrane in a low pH environment. Small molecules, antibodies or peptides can inhibit flavivirus entry by targeting the above processes. Here, we focus on flavivirus entry inhibitors with well-defined target and antiviral activity. We hope that our review will provide a theoretical basis for flavivirus treatment and drug research and help to accelerate the clinical application of flavivirus entry inhibitors.

Effect of glucocorticoids combined with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs on the improvement of symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To explore the effect of glucocorticoids combined with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in the treatment of symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Medical records of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated in the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of Yiwu Central Hospital from March 2020 to March 2021 were selected. A total of 38 patients were treated with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs Group-I and 44 patients were treated with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and glucocorticoids Group-II. The symptom improvement of the two groups were compared and analyzed Serological indexes and adverse reactions. Results: Swollen joint counts (SJC), tender joint counts (TJC), rheumatoid arthritis disease activity evaluation form (DAS28) score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, levels of ESR, C-reaction protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor (RF) of Group-II patients were lower than those in Group-I (P<0.05). The adverse reaction rate in Group-II patients was 12.20%, which was similar to that of Group-I patients. There was no significant difference in 9.76% of the patients (P>0.05). Conclusion: The combination of glucocorticoids and disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis is safe can further improve their symptoms and serological indexes, and will not lead to increased adverse reactions.

Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of dengue virus: Identification of the key amino acid that is vital in DENV vaccine research.

BACKGROUND: The antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of dengue virus (DENV) has critically restricted vaccine development. Prior research suggested pr4 as the probable ADE epitope of DENV. METHODS: Chimeric DENV was constructed by replacing the DENV pr4 gene with the corresponding Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) gene to determine whether it can reduce ADE activities. An alanine scanning method and bioinformatics analysis were utilized to identify the amino acid of pr4 that was crucial as an ADE epitope. RESULTS: Chimeric virus reduced ADE and virulence. The amino acids at the following locations on the mutant peptides showed significantly reduced binding ability to prM antibody: pr4.5 (position 5 - leucine), pr4.6 (position 6 - leucine), pr4.7 (position 7 - phenyalanine) and pr4.16 (position 16 - cysteine). The four amino acids had formed a pocket-like structure, which could increase the possibility of binding to an antibody. CONCLUSIONS: ADE activities could be reduced by replacing the DENV pr4 gene with the corresponding JEV gene. Leucine at position 5, leucine at position 6, phenyalanine at position 7 and cysteine at position 16 were the key amino acid sites in the ADE response of DENV. The occurrence of ADE can potentially be reduced by the replacement of key amino acids, hence highlighting its possible contribution to dengue vaccine design, paving a way for future vaccine research.

Nitrogen-doped carbon dots for dual-wavelength excitation fluorimetric assay for ratiometric determination of phosalone.

N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were fabricated in a simple procedure by hydrothermal treatment of cellobiose and urea. When excited at 235 nm or 327 nm, only one emission peak at around 420 nm has been observed. With the addition of phosalone, the excitation band at 235 nm was efficiently quenched within 1 min, while the excitation band at 327 nm showed little change. Accordingly, the fluorescence of the N-CDs-phosalone mixture showed quenching under 254-nm UV light, while nearly no fluorescence quenching could be observed under 365-nm UV light. This phenomenon provides a novel anti-false-positive mechanism for phosalone identification. Therefore, the label-free ratiometric sensor for rapid, naked-eye, and anti-false-positive detection of phosalone was proposed for the first time based on the intrinsic dual-excitation N-CDs. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the linear ranges of the excitation-based ratiometric assay were 0.08~4.0 µg/mL and 4.0~14.0 µg/mL; the limit of detection was 28.5 ng/mL. The as-constructed sensor was applied to detect phosalone residue in actual samples, and results were compared with the standard gas chromatographic (GC) method. The recoveries of the established sensor were between 90.0% and 110.0% with RSD lower than 6.6%, while that for the GC method was between 92.5% and 113.0% with RSD lower than 5.8%. Results reveal that the accuracy (recovery) and precision (RSD) of the as-constructed method are comparable to the standard GC method. In this paper, dual-excitation N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were synthesized by a simply one-step hydrothermal method for the first time. The novel dual-excitation ratiometric sensor based on the sole intrinsic N-CDs was constructed for phosalone sensing.

Avian Influenza A (H7N9) viruses isolated from patients with mild and fatal infection differ in pathogenicity and induction of cytokines.

Since 2013, a novel Influenza A (H7N9) virus strain has continued to circulate within poultry and causing human disease. Influenza A (H7N9) virus results in two types of infection: mild and severe. The different results of clinical findings may be related with host susceptibility and characteristics of the virus itself. In order to investigate potential pathogenesis of Influenza A (H7N9) virus, we performed pathogenecity and cytokines analysis of two isolates, A/Guangdong/6/2013 H7N9 virus (GD-6) from a patient with a mild infection, and A/Guangdong/7/2013 H7N9 virus (GD-7) from a patient with a fatal infection. We found that GD-7 replicated to higher levels than GD-6 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), lung tissues, and mice. Furthermore, GD-7 infection resulted in more severe lung damage in mice lung tissues than GD-6 infection. GD-7 elicited higher levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) than GD-6 did. In conclusion, GD-7 was more pathogenic and induced higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines than GD-6 did.

Replacement of pr gene with Japanese encephalitis virus pr using reverse genetics reduces antibody-dependent enhancement of dengue virus 2 infection.

Severe dengue is more likely found during secondary heterologous dengue virus (DENV) infection or primary infection of infants born to dengue-immune mothers and led to the hypothesis of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). It has been reported that pre-membrane (prM)-reactive antibodies do not efficiently neutralize DENV infection but instead potently promote ADE infection. Meanwhile, these enhancing anti-prM antibodies mainly react with the precursor (pr) peptide. To evaluate the effect of pr gene substitution on neutralization and ADE of DENV infection, a novel chimeric dengue virus (JEVpr/DENV2) was rationally constructed by replacing the DENV pr gene with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) pr gene, based on the full-length infectious complementary DNA (cDNA) clone of DENV2 ZS01/01. We found that chimeric JEVpr/DENV2 showed reduced virulence and good immunogenicity. In addition, anti-JEVpr/DENV2 sera showed broad cross-reactivity and efficient neutralizing activity with all four DENV serotypes and immature DENV2 (ImDENV2). Most importantly, compared with anti-DENV2 sera, anti-JEVpr/DENV2 sera showed significantly reduced enhancing activity of DENV infection in K562 cells. These results suggest that the ADE activities could be reduced by replacing the DENV pr gene with JEV pr gene. These findings may help us better understand the pathogenesis of DENV infection and provide a reference for the development of a vaccine against DENV.

Serial passage of PDCoV in cell culture reduces its pathogenicity and its damage of gut microbiota homeostasis in piglets.

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an enteropathogenic coronavirus that mainly causes diarrhea in suckling piglets, and also has the potential for cross-species transmission. However, there are still no commercial vaccines available to prevent and control PDCoV infection. In this study, PDCoV strain HNZK-02 was serially propagated in vitro for up to 150 passages and the amino acid changes have mainly occurred in the S protein during serial passage which caused structure change. PDCoV HNZK-02-passage 5 (P5)-infected piglets exhibited acute and severe watery diarrhea, an obvious intestinal damage, while the piglets infected with PDCoV HNZK-02-P150 showed no obvious clinical signs, weak intestinal lesions, and lower viral loads in rectal swabs and various tissues. Compared with the PDCoV HNZK-02-P5 infection, HNZK-02-P150 infection resulted in a decrease in intestinal mucosal permeability and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, PDCoV HNZK-02-P5 infection had significantly reduced bacterial diversity and increased relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens, while PDCoV HNZK-02-P150 infection did not significantly affect the bacterial diversity, and the relative abundance of probiotics increased. Furthermore, the alterations of gut microbiota were closely related to the change of pro-inflammatory factor. Metagenomics prediction analysis demonstrated that HNZK-02-P150 modulated the tyrosine metabolism, Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, which coincided with lower inflammatory response and intestinal permeability in the piglets infected with HNZK-02-P150. In conclusion, the PDCoV HNZK-02 was successfully attenuated by serial passage in vitro, and the changes of S gene, metabolic function, and gut microbiota may contribute to the attenuation. The PDCoV HNZK-02-P150 may have the potential for developing live-attenuated vaccine.IMPORTANCEPorcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an enteropathogen causing severe diarrhea, dehydration, and death in nursing piglets, devastating great economic losses for the global swine industry, and has cross-species transmission and zoonotic potential. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines available for PDCoV. In addition, gut microbiota has an important relationship with the development of many diseases. Here, the PDCoV virulent HNZK-02 strain was successfully attenuated by serial passage on cell cultures, and the pathogenesis and effects on the gut microbiota composition and metabolic function of the PDCoV HNZK-02-P5 and P150 strains were investigated in piglets. We also found the genetic changes in the S protein during passage in vitro and the gut microbiota may contribute to the pathogenesis of PDCoV, while their interaction molecular mechanism would need to be explored further.

Microemulsion-Assisted Self-Assembly of Indium Porphyrin Photosensitizers with Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy.

Designing and constructing supramolecular photosensitizer nanosystems with highly efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT) is vital in the nanomedical field. Despite recent advances in forming well-defined superstructures, the relationship between molecular arrangement in nanostructures and photodynamic properties has rarely been involved, which is crucial for developing stable photosensitizers for highly efficient PDT. In this work, through a microemulsion-assisted self-assembly approach, indium porphyrin (InTPP) was used to fabricate a series of morphology-controlled self-assemblies, including nanorods, nanospheres, nanoplates, and nanoparticles. They possessed structure-dependent 1O2 generation efficiency. Compared with the other three nanostructures, InTPP nanorods featuring strong π-π stacking, J-aggregation, and high crystallinity proved to be much more efficient at singlet oxygen (1O2) production. Also, theoretical modeling and photophysical experiments verified that the intermolecular π-π stacking in the nanorods could cause a decreased singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST) compared with the monomer. This played a key role in enhancing intersystem crossing and facilitating 1O2 generation. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that the InTPP nanorods could trigger cell apoptosis and tumor ablation upon laser irradiation (635 nm, 0.1 W/cm2) and exhibited negligible dark toxicity and high phototoxicity. Thus, the supramolecular self-assembly strategy provides an avenue for designing high-performance photosensitizer nanosystems for photodynamic therapy and beyond.

Synthesis of hollow boron nitride nanoboxes with ultrathin walls from cube-like LaB6.

In this study, cube-like LaB6 was synthesized by Mg coreduction of LaCl3 and B20,3. Then, boron nitride nanoboxes (BNNBs) were produced by nitriding cube-like LaB6, and the latter is not only played as boron source, but also as hard template. The results of characterization (transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) indicate that the BN products are hollow structures, the diameter of the nanoboxes is in the range of 200-1000 nm, and the wall thickness of the BN nanoboxes is 16 nm. The specific surface area of BN nanoboxes is 45 m2/g, the pore size is mainly located at 10 nm, and the total pore volume is 0.16 cm3/g. The nitriding of cube-like LaB6 into hollow BNNBs here would provide an alternative route for the synthesis of other hollow BN architectures by other boron-containing materials.

Expression of MCMs in Endometrial Cancer and its Biological Correlation Analysis.

PURPOSE: Minichromosome maintenance (MCM) has been demonstrated to be involved in tumorigenesis and pathogenesis of many cancer types. However, the role of MCMs in endometrial cancer (EC) has not been elucidated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We first employed GEPIA, cBioPortal, and R software to perform the differential expression analysis, survival analysis, and gene alteration analysis of the MCMs family. Then, GSE17025 and GSE63678 datasets and CTPAC were used to verify the mRNA and protein expression levels of MCM4. In addition, the internal mechanism of the MCM4 was investigated by comparing MCM4 expression-correlated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from GEPIA and MCM4-interacted genes from STRING. Last, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed to identify MCM4-related biological processes. RESULTS: Compared with normal tissues, only MCM2 and MCM4 expression were significantly upregulated in EC tissues. High expression of MCM4 was related to worse clinicopathological features and poor prognosis in EC cohorts. Additionally, a certain degree of gene alterations in the MCM2-7 gene was observed. By comparing MCM4 expression-correlated DEGs and MCM4- interacted genes, six genes were obtained: SSRP1, ORC1, GINS1, CDK2, DBF4 and GINS3. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that MCM4 may be involved in regulating the biological processes of DNA replication and the p53 signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: This was the first comprehensive study to disclose the biological effects of MCMs in EC, indicating that MCM4 could be used as a new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for EC.

Prevalence and prognostic role of PD-L1 in patients with gynecological cancers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to evaluate programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression and its prognostic significance in cervical cancer (CC), endometrial cancer (EC) and ovarian cancer (OC). METHODS: Several electronic databases were searched. Fixed effects models or random effects models were employed to calculate the pooled prevalence of PD-L1 positivity and pooled hazard ratios (HRs) as appropriate. Heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. RESULTS: The pooled prevalence of PD-L1 positivity was 58.1%, 33.8% and 37.5% for CC, EC and OC patients, respectively. There were significant differences in the pooled estimates after stratification by PD-L1-positive assessment criteria and antibody clones. PD-L1 positivity was associated with worse OS in CC and EC patients and poorer progression-free survival (PFS) in CC patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of PD-L1-positive expression was considerably high in CC and modestly high in EC and OC patients. PD-L1 expression has the potential to be a prognostic biomarker for predicting the clinical outcomes of patients with CC and EC but not OC.

The surgical treatment of female primary pelvic retroperitoneal tumours: A retrospective study of 99 patients from a single centre in China.

BACKGROUND: To summarise the application of minimally invasive surgery for female primary pelvic retroperitoneal tumours (PPRTs). METHODS: The clinical data of PPRT in a hospital between January 2017 and August 2022 were retrospectively collected. Surgical outcomes for cystic and solid tumours and two minimally invasive techniques were compared. RESULTS: 99 patients were included. Cystic tumours had fewer intraoperative injuries (4.0% vs. 28.0%, p < 0.001) than solid tumours. Robot-assisted laparoscopy (RALS) seemed to have fewer intraoperative complications (8.3% vs. 35.1%, p = 0.156) than conventional laparoscopy (CLS) in solid tumours. For cystic tumours, RALS included larger tumour sizes and longer operative times (p < 0.05), but intraoperative injury was comparable to CLS. RALS exhibited a higher cost than CLS in all tumours. CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive surgery for solid PPRTs tends to be more difficult than for cystic tumours, and RALS has a slight advantage over CLS with respect to short-term PPRT outcomes.

Room-Temperature ZnBr2 -Catalyzed Regioselective 1,6-Hydroarylation of Electron-Rich Arenes to para-Quinone Methides: Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Triarylmethanes.

A mild and efficient Zn(II)-catalyzed regioselective 1,6-hydroarylation of para-quinone methides (p-QMs) with electron-rich arenes protocol is reported. A variety of electron-rich arenes and para-quinone methides are well tolerated under mild conditions, delivering a broad range of triarylmethanes in good to excellent yields. The present method also works well for the hydroarylation of p-QMs with other nucleophiles, such as aniline, indole and phenol derivatives, offering the corresponding triarylmethanes with good yields under the standard conditions. The possible mechanism for the formation of C(sp3 )-C(sp2 ) bonds in hydroarylation reactions has been explored by step-by-step control experiments, and the reaction may follow a second-order manner in a chemical kinetic study.

NbN and NaNbN2 particles: selective solid state synthesis and conduction performance.

Starting from Nb2O5, NaN3 and different metallic reductants such as magnesium or aluminum, cubic NbN and hexagonal NaNbN2 were selectively synthesized in a stainless steel autoclave at 400-700 degrees C. When magnesium was used as a metallic reductant, NbN can be synthesized at 400 degrees C for 10 h. If the metallic reductant was replaced by aluminum, NaNbN2 was obtained at 700 degrees C for 40 h. The structures and morphologies of the samples were derived from X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). FE-SEM images showed that the NbN sample consisted of particles with an average size of about 100 nm, and the NaNbN2 sample is composed of with an average size of 500 nm. Furthermore, the electric resistivity of the obtained samples reveals the obtained NbN sample is a superconductor with transition temperature of 17 K, and the obtained NaNbN2 sample can be classified as a semiconductor.

What Is the Optimal Cut-Off Point of the 10-Item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Screening Depression Among Chinese Individuals Aged 45 and Over? An Exploration Using Latent Profile Analysis.

Background: The main objective of the current study was to gain insight into the heterogeneity and profiles of depressive symptoms in Chinese individuals aged 45 and over and to determine the optimal cut-off point for the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) to provide a reference for future practical application. Methods: The participants were 16,997 Chinese community-dwelling adults aged 45 years or older who completed survey interviews for the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The current study utilised latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct profiles based on participants' responses to CES-D-10 items, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were applied to determine the optimal cut-off point for the CES-D-10 scale. Results: A three-profile solution was suggested as the optimum and included a "minimal depression" group (63.1%), "mild depression" group (23.4%) and "moderate-severe depression" group (13.5%); 36.9% (95% CI: 36.2 ∼ 37.6%) were considered at risk for probable depression. The "minimal depression" group was viewed as "non-cases," and the remaining were viewed as "cases" that served as the reference standard for the ROC analysis, which obtained an AUC value of 97.8% (95% CI: 97.7-98.0%) and identified an optimal cut-off point of 10 (sensitivity:91.93%, specificity: 92.76%, and accuracy: 92.45). Conclusion: The identification of these distinct profiles underscores the heterogeneity in depressive symptoms among Chinese middle-aged and older adults. The CES-D-10 scale was demonstrated to have acceptable psychometric properties, with a cut-off point of 10 recommended for future research and practical application.

Long noncoding RNA BMPR1B-AS1 facilitates endometrial cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by sponging miR-7-2-3p to modulate the DCLK1/Akt/NF-κB pathway.

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) originates from the endometrium and is one of the most common tumors in female patients, and its incidence has continued to increase in recent decades. LncRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis and metastasis of a variety of malignant tumors, which indicates that lncRNAs can be used as tumor diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets. In this study, we analyzed the RNA transcripts of EC cells from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and first reported a novel lncRNA, BMPR1B-AS1, that was more highly expressed in endometrial cancer tissues than in adjacent tissues, and BMPR1B-AS1 could promote endometrial cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. Bioinformatics prediction and experimental results both suggested that BMPR1B-AS1 could modulate the malignant behaviors of endometrial cancer cell lines by sponging miR-7-2-3p to modulate DCLK1, and a DCLK1 inhibitor blocked the activation of the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway. Collectively, this study suggests that the BMPR1B-AS1/miR-7-2-3p/DCLK1 axis contributes to the proliferation and metastasis of endometrial cancer cells via the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway.

Metal-free, Phosphoric Acid-catalyzed Regioselective 1,6-Hydroarylation of para-Quinone Methides with Indoles in Water.

An efficient, cheap and green protocol for the highly regioselective 1,6-hydroarylation of para-quinone methides (p-QMs) with indoles at the C-3 position has been established by phosphoric acid catalysis in water under transition-metal-free reaction conditions. A wide range of indole derivatives and para-quinone methides (p-QMs) are compatible for the reaction, affording the corresponding 1,6-hydroarylation products with good to excellent yields. The possible mechanism of the reaction has been explored through step-by-step control experiments. The protocol is convenient for practical applications, leading to a safe, green and feasible way for the formation of C-3 diarylmethyl functionalized indole derivatives.