MOCS, a novel classifier system integrated multimoics analysis refining molecular subtypes and prognosis for skin melanoma.

PURPOSE: The present investigation focuses on Skin Cutaneous Melanoma (SKCM), a melanocytic carcinoma characterized by marked aggression, significant heterogeneity, and a complex etiological background, factors which collectively contribute to the challenge in prognostic determinations. We defined a novel classifier system specifically tailored for SKCM based on multiomics. METHODS: We collected 423 SKCM samples with multi omics datasets to perform a consensus cluster analysis using 10 machine learning algorithms and verified in 2 independent cohorts. Clinical features, biological characteristics, immune infiltration pattern, therapeutic response and mutation landscape were compared between subtypes. RESULTS: Based on consensus clustering algorithms, we identified two Multi-Omics-Based-Cancer-Subtypes (MOCS) in SKCM in TCGA project and validated in GSE19234 and GSE65904 cohorts. MOCS2 emerged as a subtype with poor prognosis, characterized by a complex immune microenvironment, dysfunctional anti-tumor immune state, high cancer stemness index, and genomic instability. MOCS2 exhibited resistance to chemotherapy agents like erlotinib and sunitinib while sensitive to rapamycin, NSC87877, MG132, and FH355. Additionally, ELSPBP1 was identified as the target involving in glycolysis and M2 macrophage infiltration in SKCM. CONCLUSIONS: MOCS classification could stably predict prognosis of SKCM; patients with a high cancer stemness index combined with genomic instability may be predisposed to an immune exhaustion state.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Diet-Related Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer: Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2018.

Diverse dietary constituents, encompassing both macro- and micronutrient intakes, have established connections with various cancers, though their specific roles in cervical cancer remain unclear. This study explores dietary intake correlations among women aged 30 yrs and above diagnosed with cervical cancer (n = 215), contrasted with women without (n = 860). These populations were selected from the 1999-2018 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The research implemented the univariate analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to estimate the association of 29 variables with cervical cancer, subsequently identifying the most pertinent variables linked to cervical cancer. Six covariates emerged as significantly associated with cervical cancer in univariate analyses (age, race, fiber, magnesium, caffeine, vitamin C) (p < 0.05). In LASSO regression, with the escalating penalty factor (λ), it was discerned that specific covariates, including age, race, fiber, and Vitamin C, consistently remained in the model. Univariate analysis and logistic LASSO regression findings suggested that diets deficient in fiber and vitamin C were related to cervical cancer.

Oxymatrine ameliorated experimental colitis via mechanisms involving inflammatory DCs, gut microbiota and TLR/NF-κB pathway.

It is common knowledge that the crosstalk of gut microbiota (GM) and dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As a major bioactive constituent derived from the root of the Sophora flavescens, Oxymatrine (OMT) was used to treat IBD in China. However, it is still unknown whether OMT ameliorates IBD by regulating the crosstalk between DCs and GM. In the present study, after 10 days of OMT (100 mg/kg/day) treated mice with colitis induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), the change rate of body weight, colon weight, colon weight index, colon length, DAI score and colonic pathological damage scores of colitis mice were significantly ameliorate, followed with fewer ulceration and inflammatory cell infiltration, the increased expression of IL-4 and IL-13, and the decreased expression of CCL-2, IL-33 and IFN-γ. The percents of inflammatory DCs (such as TNF-α+DCs, iNOS+DCs, CXCR5+DCs and E-cadherin+DCs) were markedly decreased, and the GM composition was regulated. Importantly, it is positive correlated between the efficacy of OMT on colitis, GM and inflammatory DCs. Meanwhile, Western blotting assay showed that OMT suppressed the activation of TLR4, Myd88, IRAK4, IRAK1, TRAF6, TAK1, TAB, MKK3, MKK6, P38, NF-κB in the TLR / NF-κB signaling pathway. In summary, OMT exhibits the protective effect against the DSS-induced experimental colitis, which was achieved by regulating the crosstalk of inflammatory DCs and GM, and inhibiting the TLR / NF-κB signaling pathway.

Reliable Co-Prognosability of Decentralized Stochastic Discrete-Event Systems and a Polynomial-Time Verification.

Fault prognosis of discrete-event systems (DESs) aims to predict the occurrence of fault beforehand such that certain protective measures may be adopted before the fault occurs. This article investigates the reliable coprognosability issue for decentralized stochastic DESs (SDESs) facing the possible unavailability of some local agents. The main contributions are as follows. First, we formalize the notion of r -reliable coprognosability for SDESs. In general, an r -reliably coprognosable SDES with n local sites (1 ≤ r ≤ n) can predict the occurrences of faults even though n-r local agents are invalid. Second, we construct a reliable coprognoser from the given stochastic system and present a necessary and sufficient condition for testing r -reliable coprognosability by the reliable coprognoser. Third, due to the exponential complexity of testing r -reliable coprognosability by reliable coprognoser, a reliable coverifier is constructed and an alternate necessary and sufficient condition for verifying r -reliable coprognosability of SDESs by the reliable coverifier is proposed, which is polynomial time.

Reliable predictability of patterns in decentralized discrete-event systems.

Predictability is an important property which is used to predict the failures which is not observable for the sensors straightly before they occur. In an automation system, in addition to the failure caused by a single event, there also exist pattern failures caused by event strings composed of multiple events. In order to prevent some local sites malfunction, the issue of reliable predictability of patterns is considered in this paper, where the prediction information may be distributed at physically separated sites. Our contributions are listed mainly as follows: Firstly, the k-reliable pattern copredictability in decentralized DESs is defined with formal languages. Generally speaking, for a decentralized system where there are r local sites, it is said to be k-reliably pattern copredictable (1≤k≤r) if there are at least r-k+1 local agents which can predict every occurrences of the pattern failure for every pattern failure, it indicates that the prognostication capability will be maintained while r-k local sites in malfunction state. Then two nondeterministic automata respectively named codiagnoser and coverifier from the given system are constructed in this paper, and two algorithms of verifying the reliable copredictability of pattern are presented by constructing the codiagnoser and coverifier respectively for the purpose of attain the capability of prognostication. Especially, two necessary and sufficient conditions under the codiagnoser and coverifier are proposed. Moreover, for the decentralized DESs, the verification algorithm related to the k-reliable pattern copredictability is proposed after presenting the necessary and sufficient conditions for reliable pattern copredictability. It is worth noting that a polynomial complexity algorithm is used in constructing the coverifier and verifying the k-reliable pattern copredictability.

Performance and bacterial community dynamics of hydroponically grown Iris pseudacorus L. during the treatment of antibiotic-enriched wastewater at low/normal temperature.

Antibiotics are widely detected in the water environment, posing a serious threat to the health of humans and animals. The effect of levofloxacin (LOFL) on pollutant removal and the difference in the influence mechanisms at normal and low temperatures in constructed wetlands are worth discussing. A hydroponic culture experiment was designed with Iris pseudacorus L. at low and normal temperatures. LOFL (0-100 µg/L) was added to the systems. The results indicated that the removal of pollutants was affected most by temperature, followed by LOFL concentration. At the same concentration of LOFL, the pollutant removal rate was significantly higher at normal temperature than at low temperature. Low concentrations of LOFL promoted the degradation of pollutants except TN under normal-temperature conditions. Compared with the results at low temperature, the bacterial community richness was higher and the diversity of bacterial communities was lower under normal-temperature conditions. The genera and the function of bacteria were greatly affected by antibiotic concentration, temperature and test time. A series of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics and low temperature were identified in this study. The results will provide valuable information and a reference for our understanding of the ecological effects of LOFL.

Regulatory effect of Zuojin Pill on correlation with gut microbiota and Treg cells in DSS-induced colitis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: As a classic prescription and commercial Chinese patent medicine, Zuojin Pill (ZJP) has been used to treat ulcerative colitis (UC) effectively for many years. However, its mechanism of action remains unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: METHODS: Mice with dextran-sulfate-sodium-induced colitis were treated with ZJP for 7 d. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of ZJP was evaluated by macroscopic and microscopic observation; regulatory T (Treg) cells and their subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry; and the composition of gut microbiota was tested by 16S rRNA analysis. Activation of the phosphoinostide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway was observed by western blotting. RESULTS: The pathological damage was attenuated and expression of proinflammatory cytokines was decreased. While the diversity of intestinal microflora was regulated, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria, and Sphingobacteriia was modified. Meanwhile, the level of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ and PD-L1+ Treg cells improved. These changes maintained a positive correlation which was analyzed statistically. Our results also showed that ZJP inhibited activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: ZJP regulates crosstalk between intestinal microflora and Treg cells to attenuate experimental colitis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Pharmacological mechanism of Sishen Wan® attenuated experimental chronic colitis by inhibiting wnt/ß-catenin pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Sishen Wan (SSW) is a commercial and frequently used Chinese patent medicine listed in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, which is usually used to treat chronic colitis. AIM OF THE STUDY: We explored the pharmacological mechanism of Sishen Wan attenuated experimental chronic colitis by inhibiting Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experimental chronic colitis was induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The therapeutic effect of SSW were analyzed by index of colonic weight, colonic length, pathological score. Cytokines expression were analyzed by ELISA, while the apoptosis level was checked by TUNEL staining. These proteins of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway was analyzed by Western blot assay. RESULTS: Rats with TNBS-induced chronic colitis were treated by SSW for 10 days. The efficacy of SSW was demonstrated by improved macroscopic and microscopic colonic damage. SSW increased the level of ATP in colonic mucosa, while SSW inhibited ß-catenin, ubiquitination of Nemo-like-kinase-associated ring finger protein and T-cell factor, and expression of Wnt/ß-catenin downstream proteins (including c-Myc, cyclo-oxygenase-2, cyclin D1, survivin, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and zipper-interacting protein kinase), and improved lymphoid enhancer factor ubiquitination and ß-TrCP activity, followed by excessive apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: SSW effectively attenuated experimental chronic colitis induced by TNBS, which was realized by inhibition of the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

[Oxymatrine alleviates the inflammatory damage and its mechanism in rats with TNBS-induced colitis].

Objective To investigate the effect of oxymatrine on CD11c+ CD103+ E-cadherin+ cells in rats with colitis induced by a mixture of 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid(TNBS)and ethanol. Methods Forty SPF SD mature male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, including normal group, model group, oxymatrine group (20 mg/kg) and mesalazine group (150 mg/kg). Except the normal group, the other three groups were given a mixture of TNBS and ethanol to establish the colitis model. After the model was established, the rats were treated by drugs for 7 days and the body mass of the rats was weighed daily. After the administration, the colon of the rats was taken to measure the length of the colon and weigh it. The colon mass index was calculated. The pathological damage of colitis rats was tested by HE staining. The levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10), IL-2 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were tested by ELISA, and the frequency of CD11c+ CD103+ E-cadherin+ cells was detected and monitored by flow cytometry. Results After administration, compared with the model group, the body weight of rats in oxymatrine group significantly increased, and the length of the colon significantly increased as well. The weight of the colon and colon mass index significantly decreased. Pathological damage of the colonic mucosa was significantly reduced. The levels of IL-2 and ICAM-1 cytokines significantly went down, and the levels of IL-10 and CD11c+ CD103+ E-cadherin+ cells significantly went up. Conclusion Oxymatrine can alleviate colonic inflammation on laboratory rats by regulating the levels of IL-10, IL-2 and ICAM-1 and increasing the quantity of CD11c+ CD103+ E-cadherin+ cells.

Effect of Puerarin Regulated mTOR Signaling Pathway in Experimental Liver Injury.

It is known that excessive hepatocellular apoptosis is a typical characteristic of hepatic disease, and is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. As the main active component of Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) roots, which is frequently used to treat hepatic diseases, Puerarin (Pue) has been reported to alleviate and protect against hepatic injury. However, it is unclear whether Pue can inhibit mTOR signaling to prevent excessive apoptosis in the treatment of hepatic diseases. In the present study, Pue effectively ameliorated pathological injury of the liver, decreased serum enzyme (ALT, AST, γ-GT, AKP, DBIL, and TBIL) levels, regulated the balance between pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-4, IL-6, and TGF-ß1) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10), restored the cell cycle and inhibited hepatocellular apoptosis and caspase-3 expression in rats with liver injury induced by 2-AAF/PH. Pue inhibited p-mTOR, p-AKT and Raptor activity, and increased Rictor expression in the liver tissues of rats with experimental liver injury. These results indicated that Pue effectively regulated the activation of mTOR signaling pathway in the therapeutic and prophylactic process of Pue on experimental liver injury.

Fabrication of Monodisperse Flower-Like Coordination Polymers (CP) Microparticles by Spray Technique.

In this manuscript, we have developed an efficient spraying method to successfully fabricate a series of flower-like coordination polymers (CP) microparticles, including Co/BDC (1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) metal organic frameworks (MOF) and infinite coordination polymers (ICP) microparticles, as well as Ni-Co/BDC MOF and Zn/DOBDC (2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) MOF. The spraying method has shown high efficiency and universality in synthesizing the flower-like CP. The crystalline structure can be adjusted by varying the solvent composition in the spraying process. SEM observation demonstrated the MOF and ICP microparticles possess the similar flower-like structure, which is composed of nanoflakes with smooth surface, and the flower-like microparticles could be monodisperse with as low as 5% polydispersity. Moreover, the fabrication of the flower-like CP microparticles by spraying has a wide operation window, because there is no need to precisely control the experiment conditions, like solvents, concentration, and spray order. Due to the practicality of spray technique, this work would pave the way for the manufacture of the flower-like materials and have great potential in applications of catalysis, sensor, energy storage, and so on.

Multielectron Effects in the Strong Field Sequential Ionization of Aligned CH3I Molecules.

Strong field sequential ionization of symmetric-top CH3I molecules is studied experimentally by using a combined method of femtosecond laser-induced impulsive alignment and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Both alignment- and angular-dependent ion yields have been measured, and the sequential ionization of a multielectron has been discussed. It is found that the maximum ionization occurs when the polarization of probe laser is perpendicular to the internuclear axis of molecules, and the signal of fragment ion peaks at the polarization of the probe laser is parallel to the internuclear axis of molecules. The angular distribution of ions indicated that ionization of π-type orbitals corresponds to generation of charged parent ions and ionization of σ-type orbitals corresponds to generation of fragment ions. The sequential release of multielectrons for Coulomb explosion channels is studied by analysis of the time evolutions of multicharged In+ (n = 1-4) signals.

Highly Transparent, Conductive, and Bendable Ag Nanowire Electrodes with Enhanced Mechanical Stability Based on Polyelectrolyte Adhesive Layer.

In this paper, a highly transparent, conductive, and bendable Ag nanowire (AgNW)-based electrode with excellent mechanical stability was prepared through the introduction of an adhesive polyelectrolyte multilayer between AgNW networks and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The introduction of the adhesive layer was performed based on a peel-assembly-transfer procedure, and the adhesive polyelectrolyte greatly improved the mechanical stability of the AgNW transparent conductive films (TCFs) without obviously attenuating the morphology and optoelectrical properties of the AgNW networks. The as-prepared AgNW TCFs simultaneously possess high optical transparency, good conductivity, excellent flexibility, and remarkable mechanical stability. It is believed that the proposed strategy would pave a new way for preparing flexible transparent electrodes with a long-term stability, which is significant in the development and practical applications of flexible transparent electronic devices operated in severe environments.

Rotational Dynamics of Quantum State-Selected Symmetric-Top Molecules in Nonresonant Femtosecond Laser Fields.

Rotational dynamics of quantum state selected and unselected CH3I molecules in intense femtosecond laser fields has been studied. The orientation and alignment evolutions are derived from a pump-probe measurement and in good agreement with the numerical results from the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) calculation. The different rotational transitions through nonresonant Raman process have been assigned from the Fourier analysis of the orientation and alignment revivals. These revivals are derived from a pump-probe measurement and in good agreement with the numerical results from the TDSE calculation. For the molecules in rotational state |1, ±1, ∓1⟩, the transitions can be assigned to ΔJ = ±1, ±2, while for thermally populated molecules, the transitions are ΔJ = ±2. Our results illustrate that the orientation and alignment revivals of the rotational quantum-state-selected molecules give a deep insight into the rotational excitation pathways for the transition of different rotational states of molecules in ultrafast laser fields.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Sichuan digging frog Kaloula rugifera (Anura: Microhylidae).

The Sichuan Digging Frog (Kaloula rugifera) belongs to the family Dicroglossidae, which is endemic to northeastern Sichuan and southernmost Gansu provinces, in southwestern China. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of K. rugifera was sequenced. The mitogenome was 17 074 bp in length, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and a non-coding control region. As in other vertebrates, most mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand, except for ND6 and eight tRNA genes which are encoded on the light strand. The overall base composition of the K. rugifera is 29.7% A, 30.3% T, 25.8% C, and 14.2% G. The alignment of the Kaloula species control regions exhibited high genetic variability and rich A + T content. Phylogenetic tree demonstrated that K. rugifera was clustered together with K. borealis and K. verrucosa and they had a close relationship with each other. The complete mitogenome of K. rugifera can provide an important data for the studies on phylogenetic relationship to further explore the taxonomic status of Kaloula species.

Layer-by-layer strippable Ag multilayer films fabricated by modular assembly.

We have developed a new method to fabricate multilayer films, which uses prepared thin films as modular blocks and transfer as operation mode to build up multilayer structures. In order to distinguish it from the in situ fabrication manner, this method is called modular assembly in this study. On the basis of such concept, we have fabricated a multilayer film using the silver mirror film as the modular block and poly(lactic acid) as the transfer tool. Due to the special double-layer structure of the silver mirror film, the resulting multilayer film had a well-defined stratified architecture with alternate porous/compact layers. As a consequence of the distinct structure, the interaction between the adjacent layers was so weak that the multilayer film could be layer-by-layer stripped. In addition, the top layer in the film could provide an effective protection on the morphology and surface property of the underlying layers. This suggests that if the surface of the film was deteriorated, the top layer could be peeled off and the freshly exposed surface would still maintain the original function. The successful preparation of the layer-by-layer strippable silver multilayer demonstrates that modular assembly is a feasible and effective method to build up multilayer films capable of creating novel and attractive micro/nanostructures, having great potential in the fabrication of nanodevices and coatings.

Stirring-assisted assembly of nanowires at liquid-solid interfaces.

The assembly of Ag nanowires on quartz substrates from suspensions of water and ethylene glycol under stirring has been investigated. The introduction of stirring makes a remarkable difference to the assembly morphology. Firstly, the surface coverage of Ag nanowires is increased by a factor of 4 (in water) and 8 (in ethylene glycol) with stirring. Secondly, the Ag nanowires assembled in the stirred ethylene glycol dispersion were highly aligned. The influence of the surface of substrates, solvents and profile of the nanowires on the alignment has been explored, which indicates that stirring is an efficient way to generate nanowire arrays. This study has revealed the great potential of the stirring-assisted assembly technique in producing structurally controlled nanoarchitectures, opening up new opportunities for manufacturing ordered nanomaterials.

Reliable Decentralized Control of Fuzzy Discrete-Event Systems and a Test Algorithm.

A framework for decentralized control of fuzzy discrete-event systems (FDESs) has been recently presented to guarantee the achievement of a given specification under the joint control of all local fuzzy supervisors. As a continuation, this paper addresses the reliable decentralized control of FDESs in face of possible failures of some local fuzzy supervisors. Roughly speaking, for an FDES equipped with n local fuzzy supervisors, a decentralized supervisor is called k-reliable (1 ≤ k ≤ n) provided that the control performance will not be degraded even when n - k local fuzzy supervisors fail. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs is proposed by introducing the notions of M̃uc-controllability and k-reliable coobservability of fuzzy language. In particular, a polynomial-time algorithm to test the k-reliable coobservability is developed by a constructive methodology, which indicates that the existence of k-reliable decentralized supervisors of FDESs can be checked with a polynomial complexity.

Synthesis, characterization, interaction with DNA and cytotoxicity in vitro of novel pyridine complexes with Zn(II).

Four novel Zn(II) complexes [Zn(L(1))(bipy)(H(2)O)(2)].4H(2)O(1), [Zn(L(1))(phen)(H(2)O)(2)].4H(2)O(2), [Zn(L(2))(bipy)(H(2)O)(2)].4H(2)O(3) and [Zn(L(2))(phen)(H(2)O)(2)].4H(2)O (4), where bipy=2,2'-bipyridine, phen=1,10-phenanthroline, L(1)=2,2'-bipyridine 5,5'-dicarboxylic acid, L(2)=2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, have been synthesized and characterized using IR, (1)H NMR, element analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffractometry. The unit cell parameters for the title complex (1), a=7.9621(10)A, b=12.6853(17)A, c=13.3714(17)A, alpha=68.549(2) degrees , beta=79.065(2) degrees , gamma=88.723(2) degrees , V=1232.5(3)A(3), Z=15, space group,P-1(2).complex (4) a=9.5710(5)A, b=14.1140(7)A, c=19.0045(9)A, alpha=90 degrees , beta=99.9920(10) degrees , gamma=90 degrees , V=2528.3(2)A(3), Z=32, space group, P121/n 1(14). The binding of the complexes with fish sperm DNA (FS-DNA) was investigated by electronic absorption spectra and fluorescence spectroscopy, showing that the complexes have the ability of interaction with DNA of intercalative mode. The intrinsic binding constant K of the complexes with FS-DNA is 0.37 x 10(5)M(-1) (1) 0.73 x 10(5)M(-1) (2), 0.98 x 10(5)M(-1) (3), and 1.05 x 10(5)M(-1) (4). The results indicate that the four complexes bound to DNA with different binding affinity, in the order complex 4>3>2>1. Gel electrophoresis assay demonstrates the ability of the complexes to cleave the pBR322 plasmid DNA. The cytotoxic activity of the complexes was tested against four different cancer cell lines. The four complexes exhibited cytotoxic specificity and significant cancer cell inhibitory rate.

Protective effect of N-acetylcysteine against BDE-209-induced neurotoxicity in primary cultured neonatal rat hippocampal neurons in vitro.

Globally, brominated diphenyl ether-209 (BDE-209) is the most widely used polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDEs). It has been reported that BDE-209 induces developmental neurotoxicity in vivo. The purpose of this study was to use an antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), as an antidote for the neurotoxic effect of BDE-209. We used primary hippocampal neurons from rats for the in vitro cultures. BDE-209 was added to the cultures in increasing concentrations and co-cultured with NAC in order to assess the effect of NAC on BDE-209-induced neurotoxicity. We measured cell viability, apoptosis, expression of phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), intracellular calcium content, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. The difference between the BDE-209 groups without NAC and the blank control groups was significant (P<0.05). The difference between the NAC treatment groups and the BDE-209 groups without NAC was also significant (P<0.05), showing that BDE-209 increased apoptosis, the expression of p38 MAPK, the calcium ion concentration, and the ROS level and decreased cell viability. In contrast, NAC reduced the degree of cellular cytotoxicity induced by BDE-209. The results suggested that NAC may be able to attenuate BDE-209-induced neurotoxicity.