Radiotherapy and surgery remain effective treatment options for retroperitoneal MPNST: a retrospective study based on SEER database.

Introduction: The proportion of retroperitoneal malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (RMPNST) in retroperitoneal tumors is less than 5%, but the mortality rate is very high. However, there is no relevant research focused on RMPNST only. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from the SEER database of patients with primary RMPNST from 2000 to 2019, by leveraging the advantages of the Seer database, we can explore the prognosis of such rare diseases. Kaplan-Meier method was used to construct the survival curve, and cox regression model was used to analyze the factors affecting the prognosis of patients. In addition, a model was developed to distinguish high-risk and low-risk patients. Results: This study included a total of 52 patients, with a median survival time of 39 months (95% CI 12.740-65.260) and a 5-year survival rate of 44.2% (95% CI 0.299-0.565). Radiotherapy (p = 0.004, OR: 1.475, 95% CI 0.718-3.033), metastasis disease (p = 0.002, OR: 5.596, 95% CI 2.449-47.079) and surgery (p = 0.003, OR: 5.003, 95% CI 0.011-0.409) were associated with overall survival (OS). The 5-year distant metastasis rate was 36% (95% CI 0.221-0.499). We used the above risk factors to separate patients into high and low groups and evaluate the results through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. This model is beneficial for guiding the selection of treatment strategies. Conclusion: The majority of RMPNST patients have a good prognosis after surgery, and the establishment of high-low group is helpful for clinical decision-making.

The influence of near-infrared therapy on arteriovenous fistula patency in haemodialysis patients: A multicentre, randomised, controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the preferred vascular access for patients undergoing haemodialysis (HD). AVF malfunction remains a major clinical problem and is a significant independent risk factor for death. Although far-infrared (FIR) therapy has been shown to reduce complications and improve the patency rate of AVFs in various studies, it has been cautiously recommended by the Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guidelines for AVF care due to insufficient evidence. Therefore, it is necessary to identify more effective methods for preventing AVF dysfunction. Many in vitro studies and few clinical studies have examined the effects of near-infrared (NIR) therapy on the vasculature. This study will examine the effects of NIR therapy on AVF. METHODS: A randomised, controlled, open-label, multicentre trial will compare the effect of NIR on AVF patency after 1 year of therapy with that of a control group of patients with existing AVF. One group of patients received NIR treatment above their AVFs, whereas the control group received regular care. The primary outcome is the primary fistula patency rate within 12 months. In addition, acute changes in inflammatory, vasodilatory and haemodynamic parameters after a single treatment in the first 40 participants will be examined. This study was registered in the Clinical Trials Registry (ChiCTR2300071305) at https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/. DISCUSSIONS: This study will explore the long-term and acute effects of NIR on AVFs. The study findings will provide information that can be used to develop new technical support for the prevention of AVF dysfunction in patients undergoing haemodialysis.

Globular adiponectin induces esophageal adenocarcinoma cell pyroptosis via the miR-378a-3p/UHRF1 axis.

BACKGROUND: Antiapoptosis is a major factor in the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thus, activation of cell pyroptosis may be an effective option to deal with antiapoptotic cancers such as esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). METHODS: Differential expression of ubiquitin-like versus PHD and ring finger structural domain 1 (UHRF1) in EAC and near normal tissues was analyzed, as well as the prognostic impact on survival in EAC. Also, the same study was done for globular adiponectin (gAD). Simultaneously, the mRNA expression of UHRF1 was observed in different EAC cell lines. Real time cellular analysis (RTCA) was used to detect cell proliferation, and flow cytometry and inverted fluorescence microscopy were used to detect pyroptosis. Biocredit analysis was conducted to observe the correlation between UHRF1 and key pyroptosis proteins. OD values and CCK8 assay were used to determine the effect of miR-378a-3p on EAC cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to detect the correlation between UHRF1, gAD, and miR-378a-3p in EAC cells. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to detect the relevant effects on tumor migration and invasion after inhibiting UHRF1 expression. RESULTS: UHRF1 was negatively correlated with the survival of patients with EAC, while miR-378a-3p showed the opposite effect. Additionally, gAD promoted EAC cell pyroptosis, upregulated miR-378a-3p, and significantly inhibited the proliferation of EAC cells. gAD directly reduced UHRF1 expression in EAC cells by upregulating miR-378a-3p. In cell migration and invasion assays, inhibition of UHRF1 expression significantly suppressed EAC cell metastasis. In animal experiments, we again demonstrated that gAD induced pyroptosis in EAC cells by inhibiting the expression of UHRF1. CONCLUSION: gAD-induced upregulation of miR-378a-3p significantly inhibited the proliferation of EAC by targeting UHRF1. Therefore, gAD may serve as an alternative therapy for chemotherapy- and radiation-refractory EAC or other cancers with the same mechanism of pyroptosis action.

Comparative study of orthopaedic robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery and open surgery for limb osteoid osteoma / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the accuracy and effectiveness of orthopaedic robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery versus open surgery for limb osteoid osteoma.@*METHODS@#A clinical data of 36 patients with limb osteoid osteomas admitted between June 2016 and June 2023 was retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 16 patients underwent orthopaedic robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (robot-assisted surgery group), and 20 patients underwent tumor resection after lotcated by C-arm X-ray fluoroscopy (open surgery group). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the gender, age, lesion site, tumor nidus diameter, and preoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores ( P>0.05). The operation time, lesion resection time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy frequency, lesion resection accuracy, and postoperative analgesic use frequency were recorded and compared between the two groups. The VAS scores for pain severity were compared preoperatively and at 3 days and 3 months postoperatively.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the open surgery group, the robot-assisted surgery group had a longer operation time, less intraoperative blood loss, less fluoroscopy frequency, less postoperative analgesic use frequency, and higher lesion resection accuracy ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in lesion resection time ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up after surgery, with a follow-up period of 3-24 months (median, 12 months) in the two groups. No postoperative complication such as wound infection or fracture occurred in either group during follow-up. No tumor recurrence was observed during follow-up. The VAS scores significantly improved in both groups at 3 days and 3 months after surgery when compared with preoperative value ( P<0.05). The VAS score at 3 days after surgery was significantly lower in robot-assisted surgery group than that in open surgery group ( P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in VAS scores at 3 months between the two groups ( P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Compared with open surgery, robot-assisted resection of limb osteoid osteomas has longer operation time, but the accuracy of lesion resection improve, intraoperative blood loss reduce, and early postoperative pain is lighter. It has the advantages of precision and minimally invasive surgery.

Prediction of brucellosis incidence in Urumqi / 公共卫生与预防医学

Objective To explore the application of seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model in the prediction of brucellosis in Urumqi, and to use this model to predict the incidence trend of brucellosis in Urumqi. Methods The monthly incidence data of brucellosis in Urumqi from January 2010 to December 2021 were selected to construct the ARIMA prediction model. The prediction effect of the model was evaluated by mean standard deviation (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). The monthly incidence of brucellosis in Urumqi in 2022 was predicted by the constructed model. Results The incidence of brucellosis in Urumqi had obvious seasonal distribution, and the cases were concentrated from May to July. ARIMA(1,1,1)(1,0,1)12 was the optimal prediction model, with RMSE=0.883 and MAE=5.24. The monthly incidence of brucellosis in Urumqi in 2022 was predicted to be 7, 4, 4, 6, 9, 9, 10, 7, 7, 5, 5, and 5 cases, respectively. Conclusion ARIMA model can well fit and predict the monthly incidence of brucellosis in Urumqi and provide a basis for the monitoring and prevention of brucellosis.

Effect Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of pulmonary artery endothelial cells and its mechanism / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the effect of Xuefu Zhuyu decoction on transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1 ) -induced endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells ( PMVEC), and further analyze the mechanism related to the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway. Method To construct an EndMT cell model, PMVEC was treated with TGF-β1 (5 μg · L

Analysis of influential factors for purchasing quantity changes in the procurement varieties of the first batch of drug centralized procurement / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To investigate the factors influencing the changes in purchasing quantity in the procurement varieties of the first batch of volume-based drug centralized procurement （hereinafter referred to as centralized procurement）. METHODS Using 25 procurement varieties of the “4+7” policy as research objects， the changes in purchasing quantity of procurement varieties were analyzed before and after the implementation of the “4+7” pilot， renewal and expansion policies. The influential factors were determined from the three levels of drugs， medical institutions and regions； and the multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the influential factors for the changes in the purchasing quantity of procurement varieties. RESULTS Before and after the implementation of the “4+7” pilot， renewal and expansion policies， the purchasing quantity increased by 52.1， －0.2， 85.8 ten thousand DDDs on average， compared with base period. During pilot， renewal and expansion period， DDDc decrease in procurement varieties was positively correlated with the increase in purchasing quantity （P＜0.01）. During the pilot and renewal period， the number of absolutely alternative varieties was positively correlated with the increase in purchasing quantity （P＜0.1）. During the pilot and expansion period， the number of alternative varieties to a certain extent was negatively correlated with the increase in purchasing quantity （P＜0.05）. During the renewal period， the increment of purchasing quantity in tertiary hospitals was smaller than that of primary medical institutions （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS There is a relationship between the decline of DDDc and the changes in the purchasing quantity， that is， the more the drug price dropped， the more the purchasing quantity increased. The number of alternative varieties for centralized procurement will affect the changes in their purchasing quantity， but it is not always stable. With the implementation of the policy， the volume of primary medical institutions gradually exceeds that of tertiary institutions， indicating that the consumption of centralized purchased varieties is transferred to the primary medical institutions， and centralized procurement has promoted the implementation of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system.

Effect of self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency in the association of physical activity and smoking cessation beliefs among college students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To explore the roles of self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency in the relationship between college students physical activity and smoking cessation beliefs, in order to provide a basis for the positive effects of college students physical activity on smoking cessation beliefs.@*Methods@#From May 6 to 23 in 2023, 3 048 students from 10 colleges in Jiangxi Province were recruited and surveyed using the Physical Activity Participation Scale, the Smoking Cessation Self efficacy Scale, the Smoking Rationalization Tendency Scale and the Smoking Cessation Belief Scale. The Harman one way test was adopted for common method bias test. Bias correction was unfolded by Bootstrap method, and 95% confidence intervals of parameter estimates were analyzed using repeated sampling 5 000 times.@*Results@#The results of the sequential mediation model analysis showed that physical activity was positively associated with college students beliefs about smoking cessation ( β =0.17), and physical activity, self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency were positively associated with each other ( β =0.41, 0.08, 0.19) ( P <0.05). Both self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency positively predicted smoking cessation beliefs ( β =0.19, 0.17, P <0.01). Self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency mediated the relationship between physical activity and smoking cessation beliefs, with a mediating effect value of 0.09, accounting for 62.82% of the total effect value (0.15).@*Conclusions@#Self efficacy and smoking rationalization tendency have a serial mediating effect between physical activity and smoking cessation beliefs among college students. Interventions should be actively used to enhance college students beliefs about smoking cessation, promote smoking cessation behaviors.

Association between subthreshold depression and psychotic like experiences with non suicidal self injury among adolescents in Shandong Province / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the association between subthreshold depression, psychotic like experiences (PLEs), and their interactions with non suicidal self injury (NSSI) in adolescents from Shandong, so as to provide a reference for the prevention and early intervention of NSSI in adolescents.@*Methods@#A random cluster sampling method was used to select a total of 6 090 adolescents aged 13-22 from two cities along the coast and inland of Shandong Province. Electronic surveys were administered using the SelfInjurious Behavior Questionnaire, Community Assessment of Psychic Experiencepositive 8 items(CAPE-P8), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale(CES-D). The relationship between subthreshold depression, PLEs, and their interaction with NSSI was analyzed using multivariate Logistic regression.@*Results@#The detection rate of NSSI among adolescents was 21.3%. The highest NSSI reporting rate (27.9%) was found in the age group of 13-15 years.The NSSI reporting rates for those detected with subthreshold depression and PLEs were 49.9% and 30.7%, respectively. Multivariate analysis indicated that individuals with subthreshold depression were 3.47 times more likely to engage in NSSI [OR(95%CI)=3.47(2.68-4.50)]. Those identified with PLEs had 5.32 times higher risk of engaging in NSSI than those without such experiences [OR(95%CI)=5.32(4.10-6.89)]. When both subthreshold depression and PLEs coexist, the risk of engaging in NSSI was 18.47 times higher than in individuals with neither condition [OR(95%CI)=18.47(14.75-23.13)] (P<0.01). The relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), attributable proportion (AP), and synergy index (S) were 11.44, 0.61, and 2.89, respectively, indicating that the combined interaction of subthreshold depression and PLEs accounted for 61% of adolescent NSSI.@*Conclusions@#Subthreshold depression and psychoticlike experiences are associated NSSI in adolescents and exhibit an additive interaction. Alleviating subthreshold depression in adolescents and reducing psychotic experiences may play a positive role in preventing the occurrence of NSSI.

The value of multimodal functional magnetic resonance imaging in differentiating p53abn from p53wt endometrial carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the sixth most common cancer in women. P53 gene expression in patients with endometrial cancer can predict the efficacy and prognosis of patients with neoadjuvant therapy. PURPOSE: To explore the value of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in differentiating p53 abnormal (p53abn) from p53 wild-type (p53wt) EC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data from 47 EC patients, including 14 p53abn cases and 33 p53wt cases, were retrospectively analyzed. The preoperative MRI sequences included amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) imaging, T2 mapping, mDIXON-Quant imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). After post-processing, APT, T2, transverse relaxation rate (R2*), fat fraction (FF) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were obtained. The APT, T2, R2*, FF and ADC values for lesions of the two groups of cases were measured by two observers who were blind to the pathological data. RESULTS: The APT value and R2* value in the p53abn group were higher than those in the p53wt group, while the ADC value was lower (all P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in T2 value and FF value between the two groups (all P > 0.05). The area under curve of APT, R2*, ADC and combined APT + R2*+ADC values for identification of p53abn and p53wt EC were 0.739, 0.689, 0.718 and 0.820, respectively (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: APTw, mDIXON-Quant and DWI techniques can be usedfor quantitative identification of p53abn and p53wt EC. The multimodal MRI provides a new way for preoperative quantitative evaluation of EC molecular typing, which has certain clinical application value.

Multi-step-ahead and interval carbon price forecasting using transformer-based hybrid model.

Accurate and stable carbon price forecasts serve as a reference for assessing the stability of the carbon market and play a vital role in enhancing investment and operational decisions. However, realizing this goal is still a significant challenge, and researchers usually ignore multi-step-ahead and interval forecasting due to the non-linear and non-stationary characteristics of carbon price series and its complex fluctuation features. In this study, a novel hybrid model for accurately predicting carbon prices is proposed. The proposed model combines multi-step-ahead and interval carbon price forecasting based on the Hampel identifier (HI), time-varying filtering-based empirical mode decomposition (TVFEMD), and transformer model. First, HI identifies and corrects outliers in carbon price. Second, TVFEMD decomposes carbon price into several intrinsic mode functions (imfs) to reduce the non-linear and non-stationarity of carbon price to obtain more regular features in series. Next, these imfs are reconstructed by sample entropy (SE). Subsequently, the orthogonal array tuning method is used to optimize the transformer model's hyperparameters to obtain the optimal model structure. Finally, after hyperparameter optimization and quantile loss function, the transformer is used to perform multi-step-ahead and interval forecasting on each part of the reconstruction, and the final prediction result is obtained by summing them up. Five pilot carbon trading markets in China were selected as experimental objects to verify the proposed model's prediction performance. Various benchmark models and evaluation indicators were selected for comparison and analysis. Experimental results show that the proposed HI-TVFEMD-transformer hybrid model achieves an average MAE of 0.6546, 1.3992, 1.6287, and 2.2601 for one-step, three-step, five-step, and ten-step-ahead forecasting, respectively, which significantly outperforms other models. Furthermore, interval forecasts almost always have a PICI above 0.95 at a confidence interval of 0.1, thereby indicating the effectiveness of the hybrid model in describing the uncertainty in the forecasts. Therefore, the proposed hybrid model is a reliable carbon price forecasting tool that can provide a dependable reference for policymakers and investors.

Papermaking wastewater treatment coupled to 2,3-butanediol production by engineered psychrotrophic Raoultella terrigena.

The simultaneous bioremediation and bioconversion of papermaking wastewater by psychrotrophic microorganisms holds great promise for developing sustainable environments and economies in cold regions. Here, the psychrotrophic bacterium Raoultella terrigena HC6 presented high endoglucanase (26.3 U/mL), xylosidase (732 U/mL), and laccase (8.07 U/mL) activities for lignocellulose deconstruction at 15 °C. mRNA monitoring and phenotypic variation analyses confirmed that cold-inducible cold shock protein A (CspA) facilitated the expression of the cel208, xynB68, and lac432 genes to increase the enzyme activities in strain HC6. Furthermore, the cspA gene-overexpressing mutant (strain HC6-cspA) was deployed in actual papermaking wastewater and achieved 44.3%, 34.1%, 18.4%, 80.2% and 100% removal rates for cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, COD, and NO3--N at 15 °C. Simultaneously, 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) was produced from the effluent with a titer of 2.98 g/L and productivity of 0.154 g/L/h. This study reveals an association between the cold regulon and lignocellulolytic enzymes and provides a promising candidate for simultaneous papermaking wastewater treatment and 2,3-BD production.

Printable High-Efficiency and Stable FAPbBr3 Perovskite Solar Cells for Multifunctional Building-Integrated Photovoltaics.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) show great promise for next-generation building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications because of their abundance of raw materials, adjustable transparency, and cost-effective printable processing. Owing to the complex perovskite nucleation and growth control, the fabrication of large-area perovskite films for high-performance printed PSCs is still under active investigation. Herein, the study proposes an intermediate-phase-transition-assisted one-step blade coating for an intrinsic transparent formamidinium lead bromide (FAPbBr3 ) perovskite film. The intermediate complex optimizes the crystal growth path of FAPbBr3 , resulting in a large-area, homogeneous, and dense absorber film. A champion efficiency of 10.86% with high open-circuit voltage up to 1.57 V is obtained with a simplified device architecture of glass/FTO/SnO2 /FAPbBr3 /carbon. Moreover, the unencapsulated devices maintain 90% of their initial power conversion efficiency after aging at 75 °C for 1000 h in ambient air, and 96% after maximum power point tracking for 500 h. The printed semitransparent PSCs, with average visible light transmittance over 45%, demonstrate high efficiencies for both small devices (8.6%) and 10 × 10 cm2 modules (5.55%). Finally, the ability to customize the color, transparency, and thermal insulation properties of FAPbBr3 PSCs makes them high prospects as multifunctional BIPVs.

Apatinib combined with olaparib induces ferroptosis via a p53-dependent manner in ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: PARP inhibitors combined with antiangiogenic drugs have been reported to improve outcomes in BRCA wild-type ovarian cancer patients, the mechanism of the combination is unclear. In this study, we explored the mechanism of apatinib combined with olaparib in the treatment of ovarian cancer. METHODS: In this study, human ovarian cancer cell lines A2780 and OVCAR3 were used as experimental objects, and the expression of ferroptosis-related protein GPX4 after treatment with apatinib and olaparib was detected by Western blot. The SuperPred database was used to predict the target of the combined action of apatinib and olaparib, and the predicted results were verified by Western blot experiment to explore the mechanism of ferroptosis induced by apatinib and olaparib. RESULTS: Apatinib combined with olaparib-induced ferroptosis in p53 wild-type cells, and p53 mutant cells developed drug resistance. The p53 activator RITA sensitized drug-resistant cells to ferroptosis induced by apatinib combined with olaparib. Apatinib combined with olaparib-induced ferroptosis via a p53-dependent manner in ovarian cancer. Further studies showed that apatinib combined with olaparib-induced ferroptosis by inhibiting the expression of Nrf2 and autophagy, thereby inhibiting the expression of GPX4. The Nrf2 activator RTA408 and the autophagy activator rapamycin rescued the combination drug-induced ferroptosis. CONCLUSION: This discovery revealed the specific mechanism of ferroptosis induced by apatinib combined with olaparib in p53 wild-type ovarian cancer cells and provided a theoretical basis for the clinical combined use of apatinib and olaparib in p53 wild-type ovarian cancer patients.

Chinese herbal injection for cardio-cerebrovascular disease: Overview and challenges.

Cardio-cerebrovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and there is currently no optimal treatment plan. Chinese herbal medicine injection (CHI) is obtained by combining traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory and modern production technology. It retains some characteristics of TCM while adding injection characteristics. CHI has played an important role in the treatment of critical diseases, especially cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, and has shown unique therapeutic advantages. TCMs that promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, such as Salvia miltiorrhiza, Carthami flos, Panax notoginseng, and Chuanxiong rhizoma, account for a large proportion of CHIs of cardio-cerebrovascular disease. CHI is used to treat cardio-cerebrovascular diseases and has potential pharmacological activities such as anti-platelet aggregation, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrosis, and anti-apoptosis. However, CHIs have changed the traditional method of administering TCMs, and the drugs directly enter the bloodstream, which may produce new pharmacological effects or adverse reactions. This article summarizes the clinical application, pharmacological effects, and mechanism of action of different varieties of CHIs commonly used in the treatment of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, analyzes the causes of adverse reactions, and proposes suggestions for rational drug use and pharmaceutical care methods to provide a reference for the rational application of CHIs for cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.

Surprising leopard restoration in fragmented ecosystems reveals connections as the secret to conservation success.

The Chinese Loess Plateau has been the cradle of Chinese civilization and the main human settlement in China for thousands of years, where anthropogenic activities are believed to have deeply eroded natural landscapes. After decades of minimal leopard sighting in forests of northern China, due to serious human interference, we recently discovered that the leopard population is recovering. This finding provides hope for successful biodiversity conservation in human-dominated ecosystems. To understand the mechanism of leopard return into such a highly fragmented landscape, we applied the concept of ecological networks (ENs) to identify key factors promoting leopard restoration and quantify the ecological links among habitats. We first determined the existence of a healthy leopard population in the study area based on the size of its home range and presence of breeding individuals. We then innovatively used the relationship between species richness and top predators to generate ENs, and found that the connectivity of ENs had a significant positive interaction with leopard survival. Our study validates the effectiveness of establishing ecologically connected habitats for leopard protection, and highlights the importance of applying ENs for conservation planning in highly fragmented ecosystems. This study provides a successful case for the protection of top predators in human-dominated landscapes.

Inertial label-free sorting and chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear neutrophil in sepsis patients based on microfluidic technology / 生物医学工程学杂志

Reduced chemotactic migration of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) in sepsis patients leads to decreased bacterial clearance and accelerates the progression of sepsis disease. Quantification of PMN chemotaxis in sepsis patients can help characterize the immune health of sepsis patients. Microfluidic microarrays have been widely used for cell chemotaxis analysis because of the advantages of low reagent consumption, near-physiological environment, and visualization of the migration process. Currently, the study of PMN chemotaxis using microfluidic chips is mainly limited by the cumbersome cell separation operation and low throughput of microfluidic chips. In this paper, we first designed an inertial cell sorting chip to achieve label-free separation of the two major cell types by using the basic principle that leukocytes (mainly granulocytes, lymphocytes and monocytes) and erythrocytes move to different positions of the spiral microchannel when they move in the spiral microchannel under different strength of inertial force and Dean's resistance. Subsequently, in this paper, we designed a multi-channel cell migration chip and constructed a microfluidic PMN inertial label-free sorting and chemotaxis analysis platform. The inertial cell sorting chip separates leukocyte populations and then injects them into the multi-channel cell migration chip, which can complete the chemotaxis test of PMN to chemotactic peptide (fMLP) within 15 min. The remaining cells, such as monocytes with slow motility and lymphocytes that require pre-activation with proliferative culture, do not undergo significant chemotactic migration. The test results of sepsis patients ( n=6) and healthy volunteers ( n=3) recruited in this study showed that the chemotaxis index (CI) and migration velocity ( v) of PMN from sepsis patients were significantly weaker than those from healthy volunteers. In conclusion, the microfluidic PMN inertial label-free sorting and chemotaxis analysis platform constructed in this paper can be used as a new tool for cell label-free sorting and migration studies.

Genome-wide identification of bZIP family genes and screening of candidate AarbZIPs involved in terpenoid biosynthesis in Artemisia argyi / 中国中药杂志

Artemisia argyi is an important medicinal and economic plant in China, with the effects of warming channels, dispersing cold, and relieving pain, inflammation, and allergy. The essential oil of this plant is rich in volatile terpenoids and widely used in moxi-bustion and healthcare products, with huge market potential. The bZIP transcription factors compose a large family in plants and are involved in the regulation of plant growth and development, stress response, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as terpenoids. However, little is known about the bZIPs and their roles in A. argyi. In this study, the bZIP transcription factors in the genome of A. argyi were systematically identified, and their physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationship, conserved motifs, and promoter-binding elements were analyzed. Candidate AarbZIP genes involved in terpenoid biosynthesis were screened out. The results showed that a total of 156 AarbZIP transcription factors were identified at the genomic level, with the lengths of 99-618 aa, the molecular weights of 11.7-67.8 kDa, and the theoretical isoelectric points of 4.56-10.16. According to the classification of bZIPs in Arabidopsis thaliana, the 156 AarbZIPs were classified into 12 subfamilies, and the members in the same subfamily had similar conserved motifs. The cis-acting elements of promoters showed that AarbZIP genes were possibly involved in light and hormonal pathways. Five AarbZIP genes that may be involved in the regulation of terpenoid biosynthesis were screened out by homologous alignment and phylogenetic analysis. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of the five AarbZIP genes varied significantly in different tissues of A. argyi. Specifically, AarbZIP29 and AarbZIP55 were highly expressed in the leaves and AarbZIP81, AarbZIP130, and AarbZIP150 in the flower buds. This study lays a foundation for the functional study of bZIP genes and their regulatory roles in the terpenoid biosynthesis in A. argyi.

Effect of Xielitang on TLR4/NF-κB/HIF-1α Signaling Pathway in Mice with Ulcerative Colitis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the protective effect of Xielitang on ulcerative colitis （UC） mice induced by dextran sodium sulfate （DSS） and its possible mechanism. MethodSixty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group， model group， sulfasalazine group and and low-， medium-， and high-dose Xielitang groups. Free drinking DSS solution to build the chronic UC model mice. Except for normal group， other groups were given 1.5% DSS for 3 cycles of drinking （days 1-7， days 22-28 and days 43-49） and distilled water for the rest of the time （days 8-21， days 29-42 and days 50-63）. After the first cycle， corresponding drugs were given for 42 days. The changes of general condition， body weight and disease activity index （DAI） score of mice were daily recorded during the experiment. At the end of the treatment， serum and colon tissue samples were collected， colon length was measured， intestinal weight index and colonic mucosal injury （CMDI） score were calculated. The pathological status of colon tissue was observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The levels of interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-10 （IL-10） and tumour necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The gene and protein expressions of Toll like receptor 4 （TLR4）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB） and hypoxia inducible factor-1α （HIF-1α） in colon tissue was detected by Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot. ResultCompared with the normal group， the body weight， colon length and IL-10 content in the model group were significantly decreased （P<0.01）， DAI score， intestinal weight index， CMDI score， IL-6 and TNF-α contents， and mRNA and protein expression levels of TLR4， NF-κB and HIF-1α in the model group were significantly increased （P<0.01）. Moreover， the structure of colonic mucosa was destroyed and inflammatory cells infiltrated in the model group. Compared with model group， body weight， colon length and IL-10 content in each dose group of Xielitang were significantly increased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， DAI score， intestinal weight index and CMDI score， IL-6 and TNF-α contents， mRNA and protein expression levels of TLR4， NF-κB and HIF-1α were notably decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The pathological injury of colon was obviously alleviated. ConclusionXielitang can significantly improve the inflammatory response of UC mice induced by DSS， and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of TLR4/NF-κB/HIF-1α signaling pathway.

Research progress of polymer self-healing mechanism and its application in biomedicine / 药学学报

Polymer self-healing is mainly based on the molecular structure and interaction of polymers, and some need external stimulation, such as light, heat, pH, etc. In recent years, many studies have found that the self-healing properties of polymers can prolong the life of materials, while maintaining the mechanical properties of polymers after healing. According to the different action modes of polymer materials, it can be divided into autonomous self-healing and non-autonomous self-healing. Among them, autonomous self-healing mainly works through reversible covalent bonds (Schiff base bond, Diels-Alder reaction, hydrazide bond), reversible non-covalent bonds (hydrogen bond, metal-ligand coordination bond, electrostatic interaction, π-π stacking interaction, hydrophobic interaction) and a combination of the two interactions. Drug carriers with unique self-healing properties play an important role in the encapsulation and stable release of biomacromolecules. In this review, the self-healing mechanism of polymers and their applications in the field of biomedicine were briefly summarized and discussed.