Double Droplets Impact an Inclined Superhydrophobic Surface.

The rebound dynamics of double droplets impacting an inclined superhydrophobic surface decorated with macro-ridges are investigated via lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations. Four rebound regions are identified, that is, the no-coalescence-rebound (NCR), the partial-coalescence-rebound of the middle part bounces first (PCR-M), and the side part bounces first (PCR-S), as well as the complete-coalescence-rebound (CCR). The occurrence of the rebound regions strongly depends on the droplet arrangement, the center-to-center distance of the droplets, and the Weber number. Furthermore, the contact time is closely related to the rebound regions. The PCR-M region can significantly reduce the contact time because the energy dissipation in this region may decrease which can promote the rebound dynamic. Intriguingly, the contact time is also affected by the droplet arrangement; i.e., droplets arranged parallel to the ridge dramatically shorten the contact time since this arrangement increases the asymmetry of the liquid film. Therefore, for multidrop impact, the contact time can be effectively manipulated by changing the rebound region and the droplet arrangement. This work focuses on elucidating the wetting behaviors, rebound regions, and contact time of the multiple-droplet impacting an inclined superhydrophobic surface decorated with macro-ridges.

Droplet Impact on Superhydrophobic Mesh Surfaces.

Reducing the contact time of droplet impacts on surfaces is crucial for various applications including corrosion prevention and anti-icing. This study aims to explore a novel strategy that greatly reduces contact time using a superhydrophobic mesh surface with multiple sets of mutually perpendicular ridges while minimizing the influence of the impacting location. The effects of the impact Weber numbers and ridge spacing on the characteristics of the impact dynamics and contact time are studied experimentally. The experimental results reveal that, for the droplet impact on mesh surfaces, ridges can segment the liquid film into independently multiple-retracting liquid subunits. The retracted subunits provide the upward driving force, which may promote the splashing or pancake bouncing of droplets. At this point, the contact time has a negligible sensitivity for the impacting position and is significantly reduced by up to 68%. Furthermore, the time, dynamic pressure, and energy criteria for triggering splashing and pancake bouncing are proposed theoretically. This work provides an understanding of the mechanism and the design guidelines for effectively reducing the contact time of the impacting droplet on superhydrophobic surfaces.

Atomically Precise Ternary Cluster: Polyoxometalate Cluster Sandwiched by Gold Clusters Protected by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes.

Coinage metal (Au, Ag, Cu) cluster and polyoxometalate (POM) cluster represent two types of subnanometer "artificial atoms" with significant potential in catalysis, sensing, and nanomedicine. While composite clusters combining Ag/Cu clusters with POM have achieved considerable success, the assembly of gold clusters with POM is still lagging. Herein, we first designedly synthesized two cluster structural units: an Au3O cluster stabilized by diverse N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands and an amine-terminated POM linker. The subsequent reaction involved amine substitution in the POM linker for the central O atom in the Au3O cluster, resulting in the first ternary composite cluster-a POM cluster sandwiched by two Au clusters protected by NHCs. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and other characteristic methods characterized their atomically precise structures. Furthermore, altering the NHC ligands decreased the number of gold atoms in the sandwich structures, accompanying the different protonated degrees of amine ligand in the terminal end of the POM linker. These composite clusters showed excellent performances in catalytic H2O2 conversion through the synergistic effect between gold clusters and POM clusters. This work opens a new avenue to functional composite metal clusters and would promote their enhanced catalysis applications through intercluster synergistic interactions within composite systems.

Association between positive control in self-perceptions of aging and motoric cognitive risk syndrome among Chinese community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) are important psychosocial factors that lead to a wide range of outcomes including dementia. However, the relationships between positive SPA and motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR) which is a predementia syndrome are still unknown. This study aimed to reveal the associations of positive control and aging awareness of SPA with the risk of MCR and its components. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was conducted among 1137 Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Positive control and aging awareness were defined by two dimensions of SPA (Positive control and Timeline chronic). MCR was determined according to definition. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the associations. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of MCR was 11.5% (mean age = 71.62 ± 5.22). After adjusting for depression, anxiety, and cognitive function, positive control was associated with reduced risk of MCR (OR = 0.624, 95% CI 0.402-0.969, P = 0.036), subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) (OR = 0.687, 95% CI 0.492-0.959, P = 0.027), and gait speed (GS) (OR = 0.377, 95% CI 0.197-0.720, P = 0.003), respectively. Aging awareness was merely related to increased risk of MCR (OR = 1.386, 95% CI 1.062-1.810, P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the crucial associations of positive control and aging awareness with MCR and its components. Our results emphasize that positive belief in control and adaptive aging awareness might be promising targets for preventing MCR.

Chiral {Ni6PW9} Cluster-Organic Framework: Synthesis, Structure, and Properties.

A chiral three-dimensional polyoxometalate cluster-organic framework (POMCOF) H3[(btc)Ni6(µ3-OH)3(H2O)5(B-α-PW9O34)]·17H2O (1, btc = 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylate) has been made under hydrothermal conditions in the absence of amine or chiral starting reagents. 1 shows high stability in CH3CN/DMF (1:3), acidic, and basic solutions with the pH ranging from 2 to 12 for 5 days. The UV-vis reflectance spectra and Mott-Schottky measurements reveal that 1 could be a suitable catalyst for photocatalysis. Visible-light-driven H2 evolution studies have demonstrated that 1 is an ecofriendly, efficient, and recyclable catalyst with a H2 evolution rate of 1058.24 µmol h-1g-1. Nonlinear optical (NLO) measurement reveals that 1 exhibits a second-harmonic generation (SHG) response of about 1.4 times that of KH2PO4 (KDP), indicating that 1 is a potential NLO material as well.

TRIM16 overexpression inhibits the metastasis of colorectal cancer through mediating Snail degradation.

Tripartite motif containing 16 (TRIM16) is a member of the tripartite motif protein family and functions as a potential tumor suppressor in several cancers. However, the specific function and clinical significance of TRIM16 in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In this study, we observed that low TRIM16 expression was detected frequently in primary colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and was closely associated with a better prognosis. Functional studies demonstrate that TRIM16 overexpression notably inhibits the metastasis abilities of CRC in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, our results demonstrated that TRIM16 directly bound and ubiquitinated Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (Snail), an important transcriptional factor of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process suppressing the EMT in CRC. Additionally, our data revealed that the inhibition effect of TRIM16 on cancer metastasis was dependent on Snail degradation. Collectively, our study is the first to report that TRIM16 plays a crucial anti-tumor role in CRC tumorigenesis. We also provided novel evidence that TRIM16 might act as a prognostic and therapeutic target to assess and inhibit CRC progression.

Health information sharing on social media: quality assessment of short videos about chronic kidney disease.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD), which affects about 10% of global population, has become a global public health crisis in recent decades. It is well recognized that health information dissemination could change health behaviors, thereby greatly improving the early diagnosis and prevention of diseases. Due to fast dissemination, wide audience, intuitive and vivid, popularization through short videos has rapidly developed into the new main battlefield of health information. The objective of this study was to describe the properties of the CKD-related health information on short video apps. METHODS: Searching on short video apps with high-frequency words in kidney disease as keywords, the basic information of the uploaders was retrieved and extracted short video. Five quality dimensions, awareness, popularity, utility, validity and quality, of each video were assessed with numeric rating scale (NRS) by five volunteers with CKD and three nephrologists. RESULTS: From the platform of douyin, 65 uploaders and their 3973 short videos of CKD-related health information were investigated in this study. Most information of short videos had relatively high level in awareness, popularity and utility assessment, but some information had relatively low level in validity and quality assessment; 24 (36.9%) uploaders were from governmental hospital (tertiary hospital); 19 uploaders (29.2%) uploaded more than 100 short videos and 49 uploaders (75.4%) updated their videos weekly, and 16 uploaders (24.6%) didn't update short videos more than one month. There were 4 uploaders (6.2%) have more than 1 million follows, and 39 uploaders (60%) had follows less than 10,000. "Lifestyles", "Common symptoms of kidney disease" and "Nephritis or kidney disease" were the three main contents of these short videos. The comprehensive data of uploaders with millions of follows in nephrology specialty were much lower than that of orthopedics and other specialty. CONCLUSION: The validity and quality of short video is still unsatisfactory, and CKD-related health information also need to be led and improved, although the awareness, popularity, and utility of health information about CKD is acceptable. The public should be selective and cautious in seeking CKD information on social media.

Novel evidence for retinoic acid-induced G (Rig-G) as a tumor suppressor by activating p53 signaling pathway in lung cancer.

Lung cancer is one of most common malignancies worldwide. We have previously identified retinoic acid-induced gene G (Rig-G) as a tumor suppressor in not only acute promyelocytic leukemia, but also in other solid tumors. However, the clinical significance of Rig-G and the underlying mechanism(s) for its biological function in lung cancer remain largely unexplored. Herein, we first compared the expression of Rig-G between lung cancer (n = 138) and normal tissues (n = 23), from public-available data sets and our patient cohort. We further analyzed the correlation of Rig-G expression with key clinico-pathological features and survival outcomes in a multi-site clinical cohort of 300 lung cancer patients. Functional studies for Rig-G were performed in cell lines, and an animal model to support clinical findings. We found that Rig-G was frequently downregulated in lung cancer tissues and cell lines, and correlated with poor prognosis in lung cancer patients. Overexpression of Rig-G led to significantly reduced cell growth and suppressed migration in A549 and NCI-H1944 cells, accompanied by reduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Likewise, restoration of Rig-G in Lewis lung carcinoma cells permitted development of fewer cancer metastases versus controls in an animal model. Gene expression profiling results identified p53 pathway as a key downstream target of Rig-G, and p53 inhibition by pifithrin-α caused abrogation of tumor-suppressive effects of Rig-G in lung cancer. In conclusion, we, for the first time, have identified Rig-G as a novel and important tumor suppressor, which may serve as a potential therapeutic target for restoring p53 expression in lung cancer patients.

{Cu8} Cluster-Sandwiched Polyoxotungstates and Their Polymers: Syntheses, Structures, and Properties.

Four inorganic-organic hybrid octa-Cu cluster sandwiched polyoxotungstates (POTs), [Cu8(H2O)2(en)4(B-α-H2SiW9O34)2] (1), [Cu8(H2O)2(en)4(B-α-H2GeW9O34)2] (2), K2[Cu8(en)4(B-α-HSiW9O34)2]·6H2O (3), and K2[Cu8(en)4(B-α-HGeW9O34)2]·2H2O (4) (en = ethylenediamine), were hydrothermally made and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, infrared spectra, powder X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. Structure analysis reveals that the polyoxoanion of 1/2 is a discrete dimer built by two trivalent Keggin [B-α-XW9O34]10- (X = Si/Ge) fragments and one octa-Cu cluster, whereas 3 and 4 display a two-dimensional network built by octa-Cu-sandwiched POT units via substitution of coordinated water on polyanions of 1 and 2 and further expand into a three-dimensional framework via K cation bridges. Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra reveal that 1-4 are potential semiconductor materials. Moreover, its visible light-driven catalytic H2 evolution activity, electrochemical properties, catalysis for oxygenation reactions of thioethers, and magnetic behaviors have been investigated in detail.

Exosomal circPACRGL promotes progression of colorectal cancer via the miR-142-3p/miR-506-3p- TGF-ß1 axis.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Exosome shave emerged as crucial regulators of intercellular communication and that abundant Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are enriched within exosomes. CircRNAs are novel members of noncoding RNAs regulating cancer proliferation and progression. However, the function and regulatory mechanism of cancer-derived exosomal circRNAs in CRC remains unclear. METHODS: CRC cells-derived exosomes were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and western blot. CCK-8, wound healing and transwell assays, and flow cytometry assays were conducted to assess whether exosomes would affect the proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis of CRC cells, respectively. Moreover, we performed the RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR to identify circRNAs in exosome-stimulated CRC cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was used to detect the cellular distribution of circPACRGL. Bioinformatic analyses (StarBase 2.0) were used to pool the miRNA targets of circPACRGL. Luciferase assays were performed to verify the direct interaction. Finally, flow cytometry was used to detect the differentiation of N1-N2 neutrophils. RESULTS: Our study identified a novel CRC-derived exosomal circRNA, circPACRGL. We found circPACRGL was significantly upregulated in CRC cells after tumor-derived exosomes addition. Moreover, circPACRGL serves as a sponge for miR-142-3p/miR-506-3p to facilitate the transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) expression. As a result, circPACRGL promoted CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion, as well as differentiation of N1 to N2 neutrophils via miR-142-3p/miR-506-3p-TGF-ß1 axis. CONCLUSION: Our study, the first to reveal that cancer-derived exosomal circPACRGL plays an oncogenic role in CRC proliferation and metastasis, providing mechanistic insights into the roles of circRNAs in CRC progression and a valuable marker for CRC treatment.

The Effects of the Transforming Growth Factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) Signaling Pathway on Cell Proliferation and Cell Migration are Mediated by Ubiquitin Specific Protease 4 (USP4) in Hypertrophic Scar Tissue and Primary Fibroblast Cultures.

BACKGROUND Hypertrophic scar results from an abnormal repair response to trauma in the skin and involves fibroblasts proliferation with increased collagen deposition. Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) and TGF-ß receptor type I (TGF-ßR1) are involved in tissue repair and are increased by ubiquitin-specific protease 4 (USP4). This study aimed to investigate the effects of TGF-ßR1 and USP4 in human tissue samples of hypertrophic scar and on cell proliferation and cell migration in primary fibroblast cultures in vitro. MATERIAL AND METHODS Skin excision tissue samples with adjacent normal skin were obtained from 15 patients with hypertrophic scar, which provided tissue sections and primary fibroblast culture for analysis. Immunohistochemistry detected the expression of USP4 and TGF-ßR1 in tissue sections. MicroRNA (miRNAs) expression levels were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Western blot was performed to measure protein expression levels. Cultured skin fibroblasts were investigated using immunofluorescence staining. Fibroblast proliferation, apoptosis, and migration were measured with the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, flow cytometry, and a wound-healing assay, respectively. RESULTS The expression of USP4 and TGF-ßR1 in hypertrophic scar were increased compared with normal skin. Fibroblasts cultured from hypertrophic scar tissue showed increased expression of of USP4 and TGF-ßR1. Fibroblast transfection with USP4 short-interfering RNA (siRNA) resulted in reduced fibroblast proliferation and migration, and increased apoptosis. Downregulation of USP4 inhibited the expression of TGF-ßR1 protein and increased the expression levels of Smad7 protein. CONCLUSIONS USP4 regulated the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts by regulating the TGF-ß1 signaling pathway.

Tripterine emerges as a potential anti-scarring agent in NIH/3T3 cells by repressing ANRIL.

Extensive scarring normally causes hypertrophic or keloid scars. This intuitively results in psychosocial distress and reduction in life quality. Tripterine is a bioactive pentacyclic triterpenoid compound while it is still poorly understood whether it possesses an anti-scarring function. NIH/3T3 cells were administrated with tripterine at increased concentrations (0-10 µM). Antisense RNA to INK4 locus (ANRIL) was transformed into NIH/3T3 cells, and the cells transfected with empty vector (mock transfection) were used as negative control. Then, cell viability and migration were profiled by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and 24-Transwell assay. Protein expression was analyzed by Western blot assay. ANRIL was quantified by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). Tripterine administration induced the growth inhibition of NIH/3T3 cells indicated by a trend toward the decreased expression of matrix metallopeptidase (MMPs), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). This process was accompanied by the decreased phosphorylation of p65, inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B alpha (IκBα) and the downregulation of ß-catenin. Moreover, ANRIL expression was notably repressed by tripterine. By contrast, in ANRIL-transfected cells, the effect of tripterine was abolished. Tripterine exhibited an anti-scarring bioactivity in NIH/3T3 cells by inhibiting ANRIL, and this process was accompanied by the blockade of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and ß-catenin cascades.

Enantiomeric Polyoxometalates Based on Malate Chirality-Inducing Tetra-ZrIV-Substituted Keggin Dimeric Clusters.

On the basis of the synergistic strategy of lacunary polyoxometalate structure-directing function and chiral ligand inducting role, two pairs of enantiomeric polyoxotungstates, (NH4)4(TMA)4[Zr4(µ3-O)2(l-/d-mal)2(B-α-HSiW10O37)2] (TMA = tetramethylammonium, mal = malate (C4H5O5); l-mal for 1a, d-mal for 1b) and (NH4)4(TMA)4[Zr4(µ3-O)2(l-/d-mal)2(B-α-PW10O37)2] (l-mal for 2a, d-mal for 2b), and a mesomeric polyoxotungstate, (NH4)3Na2K5[Zr4(µ3-O)2(l-mal)(d-mal)(B-α-SiW10O37)2] (3), were hydrothermally synthesized. 1a, 2a and 1b, 2b respectively exhibit 1-D 21 right- and left-hand helical chains formed by hydrogen-bonding interactions, and 3 forms a 3-D (3,10)-connected framework by Na+/K+ ions with {418.624.83}{43}2 topology. These homochiral compounds represent the first examples of enantiomerically pure ZrIV-substituted Keggin POMs. In this system, {Zr4(µ3-O)2(l-/d-mal)2} clusters transfer chirality from d- or l-mal to Keggin polyoxotungstate dimeric clusters, which was demonstrated by structural comparison between the homochiral architecture and mesomer as well as circular dichroism spectra of enantiomers. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra reveal that 1-3 are potential semiconductor materials. In addition, 1 and 2 exhibit second harmonic generation response with their response intensities of 0.8 times that of KDP.

Method development for analyzing ultratrace polyhalogenated carbazoles in soil and sediment.

In the past few years, polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) have been of increasing concern because their structure is similar to that of legacy POPs. In the present study, an analytical method, including intensive cleanup and fractionation procedures in combination with instrumental parameters, was developed to determine ultratrace polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) in soil and sediment. The eluting sorbents, volume and packing of the column were optimized. Our results showed that 5 g of florisil and 4 g of silica gel under 150 mL of hexane/DCM = 3:1 presented good performance in terms of recovery and repeatability. GC-HRMS, GC-MS/MS (EI-MRM) and GC-MS (EI-SIM) were applied to compare the performance of PHCZ analysis. For sensitivity, EI-MRM presents method detection limits comparable to those of GC-HRMS and much lower than those of EI-SIM. Regarding selectivity, GC-HRMS performed better than the other two techniques since GC-HRMS can reduce interference from perfluorokerosene (PFK) and DDX (DDT, DDE, and DDD) due to its high resolution. GC-HRMS was then further optimized by shortening the run time and modifying the SIM ion. The final method was successfully applied to determine PHCZs in soil and sediment, and the target compounds had almost 100% detection frequency in the samples. The ubiquitous presence of PHCZ in soil and sediment calls for a further investigation of its source, distribution and degradation in the environment.

A Novel Tetrameric Polyoxotantalate Aggregate: {Co8Ta24} Featuring a High-Nuclearity Co8 Cluster.

The first Co-containing polyoxotantalate cluster, [H5Co8Ta24O80]15-, has been obtained. The tetramer has by far the highest degree of polymerization of any polyoxotantalate based on {Ta6O19} and is the largest high-nuclearity Co-cluster-containing polyoxotantalate obtained thus far. The synthesis of new polyoxotantalates has long been a challenging subject in polyoxotantalate chemistry. The findings of this study show the possibility of using Ta-based polyoxometalates as ligands to construct large aggregated structures analogous to the related Nb compounds. Therefore, the work demonstrates exciting progress in the synthesis of new polyoxotantalates.

Assembly of TeO32- Ions Embedded in an Nb/O Cage with Selective Decolorization of Organic Dye.

A novel 24-niobic-2-tellurite, [H2Te2Nb24O72]14-, was isolated by incorporating tellurite anions into a polyoxoniobate cage. The synthesized cluster represents the first example of a sandwich-type polyoxoniobate with the largest telluroniobate aggregate. Furthermore, the hybrid material acts as an efficient catalyst for the decolorization of basic fuchsin.

Beneficial effect of splanchnic nerve transection and harmful effect of vagotomy on acute necrotizing pancreatitis in the dog.

BACKGROUND: The nervous system interacts dynamically with the immune system to modulate inflammation through humoral and neural pathways. However, the influence of visceral nerve (VN) on acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) has drawn little attention. AIM: To investigate the influence of VN on the pathophysiological process of ANP in dogs. METHODS: The dogs were divided into a sham operation (SO) group, ANP group, ANP + vagal nerve trunk transection (VNTT) group, and ANP + greater splanchnic nerve transection (GSNT) group. The VNTT and GSNT groups underwent VNTT and GSNT respectively immediately after ANP induction. The levels of serum pancreatic amylase (AMY), calcium, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HCRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were monitored dynamically and the pathological examinations of the pancreas was performed at postoperative day 7. RESULTS: All serum parameters among the four groups showed no differences before the experiment (p > 0.05). At different postoperative times, the serum TNF-α, IL-1ß, HCRP, and AMY were significantly increased, however, the serum calcium and IL-10 had dropped in the ANP group versus SO group (p < 0.05); an alike variation trend occurred between the VNTT group and ANP group (p < 0.05); an opposite variation trend occurred between the GSNT group and the ANP group (p < 0.05). The pancreas pathological scoring of VNTT group was highest in the four groups (p < 0.05) and GSNT group was lower versus ANP group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The GSNT has been shown to alleviate development of ANP, however, VNTT may exacerbate the ANP.

Conservative treatment and percutaneous catheter drainage improve outcome of necrotizing pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the clinical effects of the maximum conservative treatment algorithm with percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) as the first choice for necrotizing pancreatitis (NP). METHODOLOGY: Retrospectively analyzed NP patients who had fine needle aspiration (FNA) for proven infection of necrosis which was considered an indication for surgery (n=22, group 1) compared to patients subjected to maximum conservative treatment with PCD in NP patients (n=30, group 2). RESULTS: On admission, most baseline data did not show any statistical difference between the two groups, In group 2, all patients were implemented maximum conservative treatment, 25 of 30 patients were cured by PCD (83.3%), open necrosectomy were needed for 3 patients (10.0%) and 2 dead during hospitalization (6.7%). Whereas, in group 1, surgical operation rate was 45.6% and hospital mortality 31.8%, both of the ratios differed significantly compared with group 2 (45.6% vs. 10%, P=0.004; 31.8% vs. 6.7%, P=0.046 respectively). Furthemore, Hospital stay were significantly higher in group 1 compared with group 2 (90±18.5 vs. 39±13.4; P=0.033). CONCLUSIONS: A conservative approach with PCD as the first choice to treatment NP might decrease the rate of surgical operation and mortality, and improve the outcome of NP.

Longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of self-perception of aging in the relationship between frailty and intrinsic capacity: A cross-lagged mediation model.

OBJECTIVES: The causal relationship between intrinsic capacity and frailty in older adults, as well as the underlying temporal mechanisms, remained poorly understood. The study aimed to investigate the causal association between intrinsic capacity and frailty while exploring the potential mediating role of self-perception of aging. MEASUREMENTS: A survey was conducted with a sample of 429 participants who completed measures of intrinsic capacity, self-perception of aging, and frailty at baseline and were followed for one year. The relationships between these variables were assessed using an autoregressive cross-lagged model. RESULTS: The study found reciprocal associations between intrinsic capacity and frailty (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the results indicated that self-perception of aging partially mediated the effect of frailty at baseline (T1) on intrinsic capacity at one-year follow-up (T2) (ß = -0.02, confidence interval: [-0.055, -0.004]). However, the reverse causation was not observed. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study demonstrates a bidirectional causal relationship between intrinsic capacity and frailty in older adults. Self-perception of aging plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. Older adults with a worse level of frailty should be made aware of the potentially vicious cycle related to self-perception of aging, which can negatively affect their intrinsic capacity. Maintaining a positive self-perception of aging may help preserve physical and psychological reserves, maintain intrinsic capacity, and slow the decline of frailty.

Identification and validation of a novel nine-gene prognostic signature of stem cell characteristic in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Currently, cancer stem cells (CSCs) are regarded as the most promising target for cancer therapy due to their close association with tumor resistance, invasion, and recurrence. Thus, identifying CSCs-related genes and constructing a prognostic risk model associated with CSCs may be crucial for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) therapy. Xena Browser was used to download gene expression profiles and clinical data, while MSigDB was used to obtain genes associated with CSCs. Firstly, the non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm was used to cluster the HCC samples based on CSCs-related genes. To evaluate the predictive performance of the risk model, the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier analysis were used. The R package "rms" was used to construct the final nomogram based on risk scores and clinical characteristics. Based on 449 CSCs-related genes, a total of 588 HCC samples from TCGA-LIHC and ICGC-LIRI_JP were classified into four molecular subtypes with marked differences in survival and mRNA stemness index (mRNAsi) between subtypes. Univariate Cox regression, multivariate Cox regression, and LASSO regression analyses were performed on a total of 1417 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between subtypes, and a nine-gene prognostic model was constructed with TTK, ST6GALNAC4, SPP1, SGCB, MEP1A, HTRA1, CD79A, C6, and ATP2A3. In both the training and testing sets and the external validation cohort, the risk model performed well in predicting HCC patients' survival. A nomogram was constructed and had high predictive efficacy in short-term survival. In comparison with the other two prognostic models, our nine-gene signature model performed best. We constructed a nine-gene signature model to predict the survival of HCC patients, which has good predictive efficacy and stability. The model may contribute to guiding the prognostic assessment of HCC patients in clinical practice.