The relationship between the microclimate and efflorescence of revealed mural paintings and the later protection strategy.

Throughout history, there were many fine mural paintings concealed within ancient buildings, hidden beneath layers of plaster, wall or other structure. In recent decades, research and practical efforts had primarily focused on nondestructive diagnosis of these hidden murals and the removal of their surface coverings. However, limited attention had been given to the consequences of overlay removal on mural preservation. This study aims to address this gap by examining the revealed mural paintings in the Prince Shi's Palace as a case study, employing an analysis of mural ontology, investigation into the preservation environment, and simulation experiments to comprehensively analyze the factors contributing to the rapid deterioration of these revealed murals. The findings indicated that certain carbonated lime particles adhered to the mural surface, and in a humid environment, these particles absorbed sulfur dioxide from the atmosphere and converted into calcium sulfate. The strong hygroscopic property of calcium sulfate enhanced the humidity on the surface of murals, thereby increasing their susceptibility to sulfur dioxide absorption. Over time, the murals suffered more sulphate and moisture damage. Additionally, historically inaccurate interventions such as non-breathable shading curtains installation and organic coatings reinforcement exacerbated this deterioration process. Therefore, safeguarding the integrity of these exposed concealed murals necessitated prioritizing the preservation of environmental humidity and acid gas levels.

Effect of drain placement in short-level spinal surgery on postoperative wound infection: A meta-analysis.

In the meta-analysis, we evaluated the efficacy of placing drainage channels following single- or double-level spine surgery in order to decrease the incidence of postoperative injury. We conducted the analysis with the help of four databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science. A review of related studies was carried out after evaluating the quality of the literature against the classification and exclusion criteria set for the trial. Calculation of 95% CI, OR and MD was performed with fixed-effect models. A meta-analysis of the data was carried out with RevMan 5.3. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trial (RCT) did not indicate that there were a statistically significantly different incidence of postoperative wound infections among those who received drainage compared to those who did not receive drainage (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 0.50, 10.41 p = 0.28). Moreover, there were no statistically significant differences in post-operation hematoma (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.27, 5.28 p = 0.81) and visual analogue scale score (MD, -0.01; 95% CI, -1.34, 1.33 p = 0.99). Thus, placing drainage in short-levels of spine operation did not significantly influence the outcome of postoperative wound complications. Nevertheless, because of the limited sample size chosen for this meta-analysis, caution should be exercised when treating these data. More high-quality RCT trials with a large number of samples are required to confirm the findings.

Bio-Inspired Conductive Hydrogels with High Toughness and Ultra-Stability as Wearable Human-Machine Interfaces for all Climates.

Drawing inspiration from Salicornia, a plant with the remarkable ability to thrive in harsh environments, a conductive hydrogel with high toughness and ultra-stability is reported. Specifically, the strategy of pre-cross-linking followed by secondary soaking in saturated salt solutions is introduced to prepare the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel with dual cross-linked dual network structure. It allows the alginate network to achieve complete cross-linking, fully leveraging the structural advantages of the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel. The highest tensile strength of the obtained conductive hydrogel is 697.3 kPa and the fracture energy can reach 69.59 kJ m-2 , significantly higher than human cartilage and natural rubbers. Specially, by introducing saturated salt solutions within the hydrogel, the colligative properties endow the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel with excellent water retention and anti-freezing properties. The prepared conductive hydrogels can work stably in an ambient environment for more than 7 days and still maintain good mechanical behavior and ionic conductivity at -50 °C. Benefiting from the excellent comprehensive performance of conductive hydrogels, wearable human-machine interfaces that can withstand large joint movements and are adapted for extreme environments are prepared to achieve precise control of robots and prostheses, respectively.

Wireless Human-Machine Interface Based on Artificial Bionic Skin with Damage Reconfiguration and Multisensing Capabilities.

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) enable users to interact with machines, thus playing a significant role in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the metaverse. Conventional HMIs are based on bulky and rigid electronic devices, seriously limiting their ductility, damage reconfiguration, and multifunctionality. In terms of replacing conventional HMIs, artificial bionic skins with good ductility, self-reparation, and multisensory ability are promising candidates. Still, they in their present form require innovations in mechanical and sensory properties, especially damage recovery and environmental stability, which seriously affect the service life and result in tons of electric waste. Herein, we present a new type of artificial bionic skin with excellent mechanical performance (>13,000% strain), high environmental stability (-80 to 80 °C), and multiple sensory properties toward strain, stress, temperature, solvent, and bioelectricity. Besides, this new type of artificial bionic skin also exhibits effective reconfiguration ability after damage and recyclability. The as-prepared artificial bionic skin was used as an interactive HMI to collect and distinguish the different sensory stimuli. The electronics assembled by HMI with artificial bionic skin can adhere compliantly on the human body for wireless motion capturing and sensing via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and the Internet. With simple programming, complex human motions can be mimicked in real-time by robots.

LINC00094/miR-19a-3p/CYP19A1 axis affects the sensitivity of ER positive breast cancer cells to Letrozole through EMT pathway.

The endocrine therapy resistance of breast cancer is the difficulty and challenge to be urgently solved in the current treatment. In this study, we examined the effects of noncoding RNA LINC00094 and miR-19a-3p on breast cancer in vivo and in vitro by RT-QPCR, Western Blot, luciferase assay, immunofluorescence and drug sensitivity tests. The plasma level of CYP19A1 in patients with breast cancer resistance was lower than that in drug sensitive patients. Compared with normal subjects, miR-19a-3p was highly expressed in plasma of patients with breast cancer. miR-19a-3p is highly expressed in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells. The expression of miR-19a-3p promoted the migration and EMT of breast cancer cells and reduced the sensitivity of breast cancer to Letrozole. LINC00094 sponge adsorbed miR-19a-3p. LINC00094 promotes the expression of CYP19A1, the target gene of miR-19a-3p, and inhibits the EMT process of breast cancer, ultimately promoting the sensitivity of ER-positive breast cancer cells to Letrozole. This study found a new mechanism of Letrozole sensitivity in ER positive breast cancer.

A rare case report of waldenström macroglobulinemia converted to serum low IgM.

Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare chronic lymphoproliferative disease, accounting for less than 2% of hematological malignancies. It is characterized by plasma cytoid lymphocyte infiltration in bone marrow and abnormal increase of monoclonal IgM in peripheral blood. Only 5%-10% of cases of WM secrete monoclonal IgG and IgA components or do not secrete monoclonal long immunoglobulin. This case is the first to report of serum protein recombination from lgM and Igkappa band mutation to abnormal lgG and Igkappa band after 6 years of treatment in a male patient with WM.

miR-6745-TIMP1 axis inhibits cell growth and metastasis in gastric cancer.

Tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP1) has been reported to act as a tumor oncogene in colon cancer. However, little is known about the biological role of TIMP1 in gastric cancer. In this study, we found that the expression of TIMP1 in GC tissues was upregulated compared with the normal gastric tissues. TIMP1 was confirmed as a direct target of miR-6745 and silencing TIMP1 mimicked the effects of miR-6745 in GC cells. Further mechanism studies have shown that miR-6745 inhibits the Wnt/ß-catenin pathway by targeting TIMP1, thereby inhibiting cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In addition, through the analysis of GC tissues, a negative correlation between miR-6745 and TIMP1 was found in 42 GC tissues. Our findings indicate that the miR-6745-TIMP1 axis regulates Wnt/ßcatenin signaling and participates in GC tumorigenesis and provide a potential therapeutic target for preventing GC progression.

Carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A is a novel diagnostic and predictive biomarker for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1A), the key regulator of fatty acid oxidation, contributes to tumor metastasis and therapeutic resistance. We aimed to identify its clinical significance as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prediction of breast cancer. METHODS: Western blot, ELISA and in silico analysis were used to confirm CPT1A levels in breast cancer cell lines, cell culture medium and breast cancer tissues. Four hundred thirty breast cancer patients, 200 patients with benign breast disease, and 400 healthy controls were enrolled and randomly divided into a training set and a test set with a 7:3 ratio. Training set was used to build diagnostic models and 10-fold cross validation was used to demonstrate the performance of the models. Then test set was aimed to validate the effectiveness of the diagnostic models. ELISA was conducted to detect individual serum CPT1A levels. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated, and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of CPT1A as a biomarker in breast cancer diagnosis. CPT1A levels between post-operative and pre-operative samples were also compared. RESULTS: CPT1A was overexpressed in breast cancer tissues, cell lines and cell culture medium. Serum CPT1A levels were higher in breast cancer patients than in controls and were significantly associated with metastasis, TNM stage, histological grading and molecular subtype. CPT1A levels were decreased in post-operative samples compared with paired pre-operative samples. Moreover, CPT1A exhibited a higher efficacy in differentiating breast cancer patients from healthy controls (training set: area under the curve, AUC, 0.892, 95% CI, 0.872-0.920; test set, AUC, 0.904, 95% CI, 0.869-0.939) than did CA15-3, CEA, or CA125. CONCLUSION: CPT1A is overexpressed in breast cancer and can be secreted out of breast cancer cell. Serum CPT1A is positively associated with breast cancer progression and could serve as an indicator for disease monitoring. Serum CPT1A displayed a remarkably high diagnostic efficiency for breast cancer and could be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of breast cancer.

LncRNA ADAMTS9-AS1 Restrains the Aggressive Traits of Breast Carcinoma Cells via Sponging miR-513a-5p.

PURPOSE: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) exert important functions in the progression of cancers. Currently, we aim to investigate the potential roles of lncRNA ADAM Metallopeptidase with Thrombospondin Type 1 Motif 9 Antisense RNA 1 (ADAMTS9-AS1) in breast carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expressions of ADAMTS9-AS1 and miR-513a-5p in breast carcinoma tissues and cell lines were detected using qRT-PCR. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assays were used to assess the viability and invasive ability of breast cancer cells. The direct interaction between ADAMTS9-AS1 and miR-513a-5p was predicted using bioinformatics tools. The target of miR-513a-5p, ZFP36 Ring Finger Protein (ZFP36) was validated by luciferase assay. The expression of ZFP36 was measured using Western blot assay. Breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells growth in vivo was evaluated using xenograft tumor assay. RESULTS: ADAMTS9-AS1 was downregulated in breast cancer tissues as well as cell lines. Upregulation of ADAMTS9-AS1 suppressed the growth and invasiveness of breast carcinoma cells in vitro as well as inhibiting cellgrowth in vivo. Furthermore, ZFP36 was manifested as the target gene of miR-513a-5p and negatively modulated by ADAMTS9-AS1. In addition, overexpression of ADAMTS9-AS1 neutralized the promoting impact of miR-513a-5p on the aggressiveness of breast cancer cells. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, lncRNA ADAMTS9-AS1 inhibited the aggressive phenotypes of breast carcinoma cells via sponging miR-513a-5p and regulating ZFP36.

Annexin-1 Mimetic Peptide Ac2-26 Suppresses Inflammatory Mediators in LPS-Induced Astrocytes and Ameliorates Pain Hypersensitivity in a Rat Model of Inflammatory Pain.

Ac2-26, a mimetic peptide of Annexin-A1, plays a vital role in the anti-inflammatory response mediated by astrocytes. In this study, we aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms of Ac2-26-mediated anti-inflammatory effect. Specifically, we investigated the inhibitory effects of Ac2-26 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced astrocyte migration and on pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines expressions, as well as one glutathione (GSH) reductase mRNA and total intracellular GSH levels in LPS-induced astrocytes. Additionally, we investigated whether mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway were involved in this process. Finally, we evaluated the analgesic effect of Ac2-26 in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain model. Our results demonstrated that Ac2-26 inhibited LPS-induced astrocytes migration, reduced the production of pro-inflammatory mediators [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1α)] and upregulated GSH reductase mRNA and GSH levels in LPS-induced astrocytes in vitro. This process was mediated through the p38, JNK-MAPK signaling pathway, but not dependent on the NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, the p38 and JNK inhibitors mimicked the effects of Ac2-26, whereas a p38 and JNK activator anisomycin partially reversed its function. Finally, Ac2-26 treatment reduced CFA-induced activation of astrocytes and production of inflammatory mediators in the spinal cord. These results suggest that Ac2-26 attenuates pain by inhibiting astrocyte activation and the production of inflammatory mediators; thus, this work presents Ac2-26 as a potential drug to treat neuropathic pain.

Association of the vitamin D metabolism gene GC and CYP27B1 polymorphisms with cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Nowadays, vitamin D is known to have functions beyond bone formation, including inhibiting angiogenesis and promoting tumor apoptosis. CYP27B1 and group-specific component (GC), the main enzyme responsible for the degradation and transport of active vitamin D, play important role in many cancer-related cellular processes. Relationships between CYP27B1 and GC polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility have been widely investigated, whereas the results are inconsistent. We strictly searched EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, WanFang and CNKI electronic databases for relevant studies exploring the associations of GC (rs4588 and rs7041) and CYP27B1 (rs4646537, rs3782130) polymorphisms with cancer risks according to search strategy. Thirty-two studies published in 13 articles involving 15713 cases and 17304 controls were included. Our analyses suggested that rs4588 and rs7041 polymorphisms were significantly associated with overall cancer risk. Stratification analyses of ethnicity indicated that rs4588 polymorphism significantly increased cancer risk in Caucasians and Asians, while rs7041 polymorphism significantly increased cancer risk in Asians. When studies were stratified by cancer type, our results indicated that rs4588 significantly increased the risk of breast cancer and digestive system tumor, but not in prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, while rs7041 significantly increased the risk of non-small cell lung cancer. Above associations were noteworthy findings as evaluated by false-positive report probabilities (FPRPs). There were no associations of rs4646537 and rs3782130 with overall cancer risks. Associations between CYP27B1 and GC polymorphisms and cancer risks were examined, and additional large samples are necessary to validate our results.

Diagnostic value of circulating miRNA-122 for hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus-associated chronic viral hepatitis.

Background: The liver-specific microRNA-122 (miR-122) has been demonstrated as a powerful and promising biomarker of hepatic diseases. However, the researches on the accuracy of miR122 detection in chronic viral hepatitis have been inconsistent, leading us to conduct this meta-analysis to systematically summarize the diagnostic value of circulating miR-122 in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated chronic viral hepatitis.Methods: A comprehensive literature search (updated to January 30, 2019) in PubMed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, CNKI, Wanfang, and CQVIP databases was performed to identify eligible studies. The sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SPE), positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) were pooled to explore the diagnostic performance of circulating miR-122. Subgroup and threshold effect analysis were further carried out to explore the heterogeneity.Results: Overall, 15 studies were finally included in this meta-analysis according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria. The pooled estimates indicated a moderately high diagnostic accuracy for circulating miR-122, with a sensitivity of 0.92 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.86-0.95], a specificity of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.78-0.89), a PLR of 5.7 (95% CI, 4.7-8.1), a NLR of 0.1 (95% CI, 0.06-0.18), a DOR of 57 (95% CI 25-129), and an AUC of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91-0.95). The subgroup analysis demonstrated that diagnostic accuracy was better for HCV-associated chronic viral hepatitis patients and non-Chinese compared with other subgroups. In addition, we found that serum might be a more promising matrix for detecting the expression of miR-122 than plasma.Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that circulating miR-122 have a relatively high diagnostic value for chronic viral hepatitis detection, especially in the patients with HCV-associated chronic viral hepatitis. However, further large cohort studies are still required to confirm our findings.

Anti-CD47 antibody eliminates bone tumors in rats.

Bone tumor is a rare heterogeneous malignancy. Osteosarcoma is the most common bone tumor with no apparent underlying pathogenesis, and its peak incidence often occurs during puberty. The intensive application of chemotherapy rarely alters the poor prognosis of the patients in advanced stage. Despite intensive chemotherapy in clinical practice, patients still suffer from the poor prognosis, or even progression of bone tumor. We identified integrin-associated protein (IAP) Cluster of Differentiation 47 (CD47) as a target for monoclonal antibody, and use anti-CD47 antibody to block its expression in bone tumors. CD47 was highly expressed in the bone tumor rats when comparing to the healthy rats. Likewise, Western blotting assay revealed a higher protein expression of CD47 in the bone tumor cells when compared to the normal osteoblasts. Further studies have shown the association between the mRNA expression of CD47 and the disordered bone tumors development and decreased rate of overall survival of diseased rats. In addition, blocking the CD47 monoclonal antibody has been shown to drive macrophages to engulf bone tumor cells in vitro and thus inhibiting tumor metastasis in rats. Taken together, the results of this study suggested that CD47 is a key regulator of bone tumor cell metastasis and that targeting inhibition of anti-CD47 may be a new immunotherapy for bone tumors.

The Neuroprotective Effects of Muscle-Derived Stem Cells via Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Spinal Cord Injury Model.

Muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) possess multipotent differentiation and self-renewal capacities; however, the effects and mechanism in neuron injury remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of MDSCs on neuron secondary injury, oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. An in vivo study showed the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score and number of neurons significantly increased after MDSCs' transplantation in spinal cord injury (SCI) rats. An in vitro study demonstrated that MDSCs attenuated neuron apoptosis, and the expression of antioxidants was upregulated as well as the ratio of Bcl-2 and Bax in the MNT (MDSCs cocultured with injured neurons) group compared with the NT (injured neurons) group. Both LC3II/LC3I and ß-catenin were enhanced in the MNT group, while XAV939 (a ß-catenin inhibitor) decreased the expression of nuclear erythroid-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and LC3II/LC3I. Moreover, MDSCs became NSE- (neuron-specific enolase-) positive neuron-like cells with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) treatment. The correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant relation between the level of BDNF and neuron injury. These findings suggest that MDSCs may protect the spinal cord from injury by inhibiting apoptosis and replacing injured neurons, and the increased BDNF and ß-catenin could contribute to MDSCs' effects.

Green tea polyphenols protect spinal cord neurons against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress.

Green tea polyphenols are strong antioxidants and can reduce free radical damage. To investigate their neuroprotective potential, we induced oxidative damage in spinal cord neurons using hydrogen peroxide, and applied different concentrations (50-200 µg/mL) of green tea polyphenol to the cell medium for 24 hours. Measurements of superoxide dismutase activity, malondialdehyde content, and expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins revealed that green tea polyphenol effectively alleviated oxidative stress. Our results indicate that green tea polyphenols play a protective role in spinal cord neurons under oxidative stress.

Gastrodin promotes the secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the injured spinal cord.

Gastrodin, an active component of tall gastrodia tuber, is widely used in the treatment of dizziness, paralysis, epilepsy, stroke and dementia, and exhibits a neuroprotective effect. A rat model of spinal cord injury was established using Allen's method, and gastrodin was administered via the subarachnoid cavity and by intraperitoneal injection for 7 days. Results show that gastrodin promoted the secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in rats with spinal cord injury. After gastrodin treatment, the maximum angle of the inclined plane test, and the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scores increased. Moreover, gastrodin improved neural tissue recovery in the injured spinal cord. These results demonstrate that gastrodin promotes the secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, contributes to the recovery of neurological function, and protects neural cells against injury.

[Study on the mechanism of liesegang pattern development during carbonating of traditional sticky rice-lime mortar].

Liesegang patterns in traditional sticky rice-lime mortar undergoing carbonation were investigated by means of FTIR, XRD and SEM. Results indicate that well-developed Liesegang patterns only occur in the mortar prepared with aged lime and sticky rice. The smaller Ca(OH)2 particle size in aged lime and the control of the sticky rice for the crystallization of calcium carbonate lead to the small pores in this mortar. These small pores can make Ca2+ and CO3(2-) highly supersaturated, which explains the reason why Liesegang pattern developed in the sticky rice-aged lime mortar. The formed metastable aragonite proves that Liesegang pattern could be explained based on the post-nucleation theory.

Protein hairy enhancer of split-1 expression during differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells into neuron-like cells.

Muscle-derived stem cells were isolated from the skeletal muscle of Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats aged 3 days old. Cells at passage 5 were incubated in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% (v/v) fetal bovine serum, 20 µg/L nerve growth factor, 20 µg/L basic fibroblast growth factor and 1% (v/v) penicillin for 6 days. Cells presented with long processes, similar to nerve cells. Connections were formed between cell processes. Immunocytochemical staining with neuron specific enolase verified that cells differentiated into neuron-like cells. Immunofluorescence cytochemistry and western blot results revealed that the expression of protein hairy enhancer of split-1 was significantly reduced. These results indicate that low expression of protein hairy enhancer of split-1 participates in the differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells into neuron-like cells.