Chondroitin sulfate/silk fibroin hydrogel incorporating graphene oxide quantum dots with photothermal-effect promotes type H vessel-related wound healing.

Chronic wounds with bacterial infection present formidable clinical challenges. In this study, a versatile hydrogel dressing with antibacterial and angiogenic activity composite of silk fibroin (SF), chondroitin sulfate (CS), and graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) is fabricated. GOQDs@SF/CS (GSC) hydrogel is rapidly formed through the enzyme catalytic action of horseradish peroxidase. With the incorporation of GOQDs both gelation speed and mechanical properties have been enhanced, and the photothermal characteristics of GOQDs in GSC hydrogel enabled bacterial killing through photothermal treatment (PTT) at ∼51 °C. In vitro studies show that the GSC hydrogels demonstrate excellent antibacterial performance and induce type H vessel differentiation of endothelial cells via the activated ERK1/2 signaling pathway and upregulated SLIT3 expression. In vivo results show that the hydrogel significantly promotes type H vessels formation, which is related to the collagen deposition, epithelialization and, ultimately, accelerates the regeneration of infected skin defects. Collectively, this multifunctional GSC hydrogel, with dual action of antibacterial efficacy and angiogenesis promotion, emerges as an innovative skin dressing with the potential for advancing in infected wound healing.

Tethered Trimeric Small-molecular Acceptors through Aromatic-core Engineering for Highly Efficient and Thermally Stable Polymer Solar Cells.

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) rely on a blend of small molecular acceptors (SMAs) with polymer donors, where thermodynamic relaxation of SMAs poses critical concerns on operational stability. To tackle this issue, tethered SMAs, wherein multiple SMA-subunits are connected to the aromatic-core via flexible chains, are proposed. This design aims to an elevated glass transition temperature (Tg) for a dynamical control. However, attaining an elevated Tg value with additional SMA subunits introduces complexity to the molecular packing, posing a significant challenge in realizing both high stability and power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this study, we initiate isomer engineering on the benzene-carboxylate core and find that meta-positioned dimeric BDY-ß exhibits more favorable molecular packing compared to its para-positioned counterpart, BDY-α. With this encouraging result, we expand our approach by introducing an additional SMA unit onto the aromatic core of BDY-ß, maintaining a meta-position relative to each SMA unit location in the tethered acceptor. This systematic aromatic-core engineering results in a star-shaped C3h-positioned molecular geometry. The supramolecular interactions of SMA units in the trimer contribute to enhancements in Tg value, crystallinity, and a red-shifted absorption compared to dimers. These characteristics result in a noteworthy increase in PCE to 18.24 %, coupled with a remarkable short-circuit current density of 27.06 mA cm-2. More significantly, the trimer-based devices delivered an excellent thermal stability with over 95 % of their initial efficiency after 1200 h thermal degradation. Our findings underscore the promise and feasibility of tethered trimeric structures in achieving highly ordered aggregation behavior and increased Tg value in PSCs, simultaneously improving in device efficiency and thermal stability.

Characterization and gene expression analysis reveal universal stress proteins respond to abiotic stress in Gossypium hirsutum.

BACKGROUND: Universal stress proteins (USPs) are a class of stress-induced proteins that play a crucial role in biotic and abiotic stress responses. These proteins have previously been reported to participate directly in responses to various stress and protect plants against unfavorable environmental conditions. However, there is limited research on USPs in cotton, and systematic characterization of USPs in Gossypium species is lacking. RESULTS: In the present study, the USP genes in Gossypium hirsutum were systematically identified and classified into six distinct subfamilies. The expansion of USPs in Gossypium species is mainly caused by dispersed duplication and whole genome duplication. Notably, the USPs that have expanded through allotetraploidization events are highly conserved in the allotetraploid species. The promoter regions of GhUSPs contain a diverse range of cis-acting elements associated with stress response. The RNA-Seq analysis and RT-qPCR assays revealed a significant induction of numerous GhUSPs expressions in response to various abiotic stresses. The co-expression network of GhUSPs revealed their involvement in stress response. CONCLUSIONS: This study systematically analyzed the biological characteristics of GhUSPs and their response to abiotic stress. These findings serve as a theoretical basis for facilitating the breeding of cotton varieties in future research.

The effect of aerobic dancing on physical fitness and cognitive function in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic-a natural experiment.

During the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the physical activity of older adults is at a lower level. The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of aerobic dancing on physical fitness and cognitive function in older adults. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 34 older adults who were assigned into an aerobic dancing group and a control group. Three dance sessions weekly for 60 â€‹min were scheduled for the aerobic dancing group for a total of 12 weeks. Physical fitness, blood pressure, lipids, glucose, cognitive function were assessed before and after the intervention. Baseline adjusted Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine whether outcome variables varied between groups at pre-test and post-test. Effect size (Cohen's d) was calculated to determine the differences between groups from baseline to post-test. After 12 weeks, we found that the aerobic dancing group showed significant improvement in memory (portrait memory: F â€‹= â€‹10.45, p â€‹= â€‹0.003, d â€‹= â€‹1.18). The Limit of Stability (LOS) parameters in the aerobic dancing group displayed a significant increase after the intervention (right angle: F â€‹= â€‹5.90, p â€‹= â€‹0.022, d â€‹= â€‹0.60; right-anterior angle: F â€‹= â€‹4.23, p â€‹= â€‹0.049, d â€‹= â€‹0.12). Some beneficial effects were found on flexibility, grip strength, balance and subjective well-being (sit and reach: F â€‹= â€‹0.25, p â€‹= â€‹0.62, d â€‹= â€‹-0.40; grip strength: F â€‹= â€‹3.38, p â€‹= â€‹0.08, d â€‹= â€‹0.89; one-legged standing with eyes closed: F â€‹= â€‹1.26, p â€‹= â€‹0.27, d â€‹= â€‹0.50) in the aerobic dancing group. Aerobic dancing training was effective in improving memory and balance ability in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. In the future, aerobic dancing is a promising tool to encourage physical activity in older adults.

Automatic Detection and Association Analysis of Multiple Surface Defects on Shield Subway Tunnels.

The surface defects on a shield subway tunnel can significantly affect the serviceability of the tunnel structure and may compromise operation safety. To effectively detect multiple surface defects, this study uses a tunnel inspection trolley (TIT) based on the mobile laser scanning technique. By conducting an inspection of the shield tunnel on a metro line section, various surface defects are identified with the TIT, including water leakage defects, dislocation, spalling, cross-section deformation, etc. To explore the root causes of the surface defects, association rules between different defects are calculated using an improved Apriori algorithm. The results show that: (i) there are significant differences in different association rules for various surface defects on the shield tunnel; (ii) the average confidence of the association rule "dislocation & spalling → water leakage" is as high as 57.78%, indicating that most of the water leakage defects are caused by dislocation and spalling of the shield tunnel in the sections being inspected; (iii) the weakest rule appears at "water leakage → spalling", with an average confidence of 13%. The association analysis can be used for predicting the critical defects influencing structural reliability and operation safety, such as water leakage, and optimizing the construction and maintenance work for a shield subway tunnel.

Silk fibroin-gelatin photo-crosslinked 3D-bioprinted hydrogel with MOF-methylene blue nanoparticles for infected wound healing.

Photo-crosslinked hydrogel (PH) is an outstanding candidate for three-dimensional (3D) printing as a wound dressing because of its high efficiency in crosslinking and injectability. In this study, methylene blue (MB)-loaded UiO-66(Ce) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized to prevent drug self-aggregation and achieve the photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect for efficient antibacterial action. Then, a composite photocrosslinked silk fibroin (SF)/gelatin hydrogel loaded with MB@UiO-66(Ce) NPs (MB@UiO-66(Ce)/PH) was fabricated. The printability and the improvement of the mechanical properties of the hydrogel by the NPs were clarified. The hydrogel exhibited good biocompatibility and promoted the migration and proliferation of fibroblasts. With the PDT effect of MB@UiO-66(Ce) NPs, the hydrogel showed an excellent antibacterial effect, which became more pronounced as the concentration increased. In vivo study showed that the MB@UiO-66(Ce)/PH could fill the defects without gaps and accelerate the repair rate of full-thickness skin defects in mice. The MB@UiO-66(Ce)/PH with antibacterial properties and tissue healing-promoting ability provides a new strategy involving 3D bioprinting for preparing wound dressings.

Modular-Approach Synthesis of Giant Molecule Acceptors via Lewis-Acid-Catalyzed Knoevenagel Condensation for Stable Polymer Solar Cells.

The operational stability of polymer solar cells is a critical concern with respect to the thermodynamic relaxation of acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) or A-DA'D-A structured small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) within their blends with polymer donors. Giant molecule acceptors (GMAs) bearing SMAs as subunits offer a solution to this issue, while their classical synthesis via the Stille coupling suffers from low reaction efficiency and difficulty in obtaining mono-brominated SMA, rendering the approach impractical for their large-scale and low-cost preparation. In this study, we present a simple and cost-effective solution to this challenge through Lewis acid-catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation with boron trifluoride etherate (BF3 ⋅ OEt2 ) as catalyst. We demonstrated that the coupling of the monoaldehyde-terminated A-D-CHO unit and the methylene-based A-link-A (or its silyl enol ether counterpart) substrates can be quantitatively achieved within 30 minutes in the presence of acetic anhydride, affording a variety of GMAs connected via the flexible and conjugated linkers. The photophysical properties was fully studied, yielding a high device efficiency of over 18 %. Our findings offer a promising alternative for the modular synthesis of GMAs with high yields, easier work up, and the widespread application of such methodology will undoubtedly accelerate the progress of stable polymer solar cells.

The thoracolumbar interfascial block with local anesthesia in osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures treated with percutaneous kyphoplasty provides better analgesia compared with local anesthesia alone: A randomized controlled study.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the thoracolumbar interfascial block (TLIPB) in percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP), and to confirm that the TLIPB further minimizes perioperative pain and residual back pain on the basis of local anesthesia. Method: From April 2021 to May 2022, 60 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures were included in this prospective randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to a local anesthesia group (A group) or a TLIPB on the basis of local anesthesia group (A + TLIPB group) before PKP. Pain level (visual analog scale, VAS), amount of analgesic rescue drugs (parecoxib), operative time, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and complications were assessed and compared between the two groups. Results: Compared with the A group, VAS scores were lower in the A + TLIPB group, respectively, when the trocar punctured the vertebral body (7.4 ± 0.7 vs. 4.5 ± 0.9; P < 0.01), during balloon dilatation (6.6 ± 0.9 vs. 4.6 ± 0.9; P < 0.01), during bone cement injection (6.3 ± 0.6 vs. 4.3 ± 0.8; P < 0.01), 1 h after surgery (3.5 ± 0.7 vs. 2.9 ± 0.7; P < 0.01), and 24 h after surgery (2.5 ± 0.8 vs. 1.9 ± 0.4; P < 0.01). Residual back pain (VAS: 1.9 ± 0.9 vs. 0.9 ± 0.8; P < 0.01) and the incidence of rescue analgesic use (P = 0.02) in the A + TLIPB group were lower compared with the A group. Compared with the A group, mean arterial pressure and heart rate were lower in the A + TLIPB group when the trocar punctured the vertebral body, and with balloon dilatation and bone cement injection; however, there were no statistical differences between the groups 1 and 24 h after surgery. The incidences of bone cement leakage, constipation, and nausea were similar between the two groups. No patient developed infection, neurological injuries, constipation in either group. Conclusion: The addition of the TLIPB to local anesthesia can further minimize perioperative pain and residual back pain, and reduce perioperative rescue analgesic use. When added to local anesthesia, the TLIPB is an effective and safe anesthetic method for PKP. Clinical trial registration: This study has been registered in the Clinical Trial registration: ChiCTR-2100044236.

BRD9-mediated chromatin remodeling suppresses osteoclastogenesis through negative feedback mechanism.

Bromodomain-containing protein 9 (BRD9), a component of non-canonical BAF chromatin remodeling complex, has been identified as a critical therapeutic target in hematological diseases. Despite the hematopoietic origin of osteoclasts, the role of BRD9 in osteoclastogenesis and bone diseases remains unresolved. Here, we show Brd9 deficiency in myeloid lineage enhances osteoclast lineage commitment and bone resorption through downregulating interferon-beta (IFN-ß) signaling with released constraint on osteoclastogenesis. Notably, we show that BRD9 interacts with transcription factor FOXP1 activating Stat1 transcription and IFN-ß signaling thereafter. Besides, function specificity of BRD9 distinguished from BRD4 during osteoclastogenesis has been evaluated. Leveraging advantages of pharmacological modulation of BRD9 and flexible injectable silk fibroin hydrogel, we design a local deliver system for effectively mitigating zoledronate related osteonecrosis of the jaw and alleviating acute bone loss in lipopolysaccharide-induced localized aggressive periodontitis. Overall, these results demonstrate the function of BRD9 in osteoclastogenesis and its therapeutic potential for bone diseases.

Multifunctionalized carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone implant for rapid osseointegration under infected environment.

Carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFRPEEK) possesses a similar elastic modulus to that of human cortical bone and is considered as a promising candidate to replace metallic implants. However, the bioinertness and deficiency of antibacterial activities impede its application in orthopedic and dentistry. In this work, titanium plasma immersion ion implantation (Ti-PIII) is applied to modify CFRPEEK, achieving unique multi-hierarchical nanostructures and active sites on the surface. Then, hybrid polydopamine (PDA)@ZnO-EDN1 nanoparticles (NPs) are introduced to construct versatile surfaces with improved osteogenic and angiogenic properties and excellent antibacterial properties. Our study established that the modified CFRPEEK presented favorable stability and cytocompatibility. Compared with bare CFRPEEK, improved osteogenic differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and vascularization of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) are found on the functionalized surface due to the zinc ions and EDN1 releasing. In vitro bacteriostasis assay confirms that hybrid PDA@ZnO NPs on the functionalized surface provided an effective antibacterial effect. Moreover, the rat infected model corroborates the enhanced antibiosis and osteointegration of the functionalized CFRPEEK. Our findings indicate that the multilevel nanostructured PDA@ZnO-EDN1 coated CFRPEEK with enhanced antibacterial, angiogenic, and osteogenic capacity has great potential as an orthopedic/dental implant material for clinical application.

Promoting lacunar bone regeneration with an injectable hydrogel adaptive to the microenvironment.

Injectable hydrogel is suitable for the repair of lacunar bone deficiency. This study fabricated an injectable, self-adaptive silk fibroin/mesoporous bioglass/sodium alginate (SMS) composite hydrogel system. With controllable and adjustable physical and chemical properties, the SMS hydrogel could be easily optimized adaptively to different clinical applications. The SMS hydrogel effectively showed great injectability and shapeability, allowing defect filling with no gap. Moreover, the SMS hydrogel displayed self-adaptability in mechanical reinforcement and degradation, responsive to the concentration of Ca2+ and inflammatory-like pH value in the microenvironment of bone deficiency, respectively. In vitro biological studies indicated that SMS hydrogel could promote osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. The SMS hydrogel also could improve migration and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Investigations of the crosstalk between osteoblasts and macrophages confirmed that SMS hydrogel could regulate macrophage polarization from M1 to M2, which could create a specific favorable environment to induce new bone formation and angiogenesis. Meanwhile, SMS hydrogel was proved to be antibacterial, especially for gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, in vivo study indicated that SMS could be easily applied for maxillary sinus elevation, inducing sufficient new bone formation. Thus, it is convincing that SMS hydrogel could be potent in a simple, minimally invasive and efficient treatment for the repair of lacunar bone deficiency.

Pyroptosis-related gene-based prognostic signature for predicting the overall survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Purpose: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common oral cancer worldwide. Pyroptosis is a type of programmed cell death mediated by caspase, accompanied by an inflammatory response, and plays an important role in cancer progression. The purpose of this study was to explore and identify potential biomarkers and further elucidate the potential role of cell pyroptosis in OSCC. Methods: We regarded the samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas database as a training dataset, screened differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and further screened out OSCC phenotypic characteristic genes by using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. The analysis of 42 known pyroptosis-related genes showed that Psuch genes were widely expressed, mutated, and methylated in OSCC samples. Results: Through correlation analysis, we identified our OSCC pyroptosis-related DEGs. To further evaluate the prognostic value of pyroptosis-related regulators, we constructed a seven gene-based prognostic signature using Cox univariate analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator Cox regression analysis. Meanwhile, we found that patients in the low-risk group had higher immune infiltration. Moreover, our results also indicated significant differences in sensitivity to cisplatin and gefitinib between the high-risk and low-risk groups. Conclusion: Our study successfully constructed the pyroptosis-related prognostic signature, which might play a potential prediction role in OSCC prognosis. Our findings also suggested that pyroptosis-related regulators might be novel biomarkers for tumor diagnosis and treatment in OSCC.

Bioactive natural compounds as potential medications for osteogenic effects in a molecular docking approach.

Bone defect repair and fracture healing are critical challenges in clinical treatments. Bioactive natural compounds are potential resources for medications for osteogenic effects. We have identified icariin, the effective ingredient of Epimedium pubescens, to promote osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and repair bone defects. To explore more natural compounds with the potential modality for bone repair, in the present study, we employed an icariin-induced gene expression pattern as an osteogenic model and screened the Connectivity Map database for small molecules with gene expression signatures similar to this model. We verified the effectiveness of this molecule docking approach by introducing hydroxycholesterol, the second highest score of the similarity to icariin, into the osteoinductive experiments in vitro and demonstrated its excellent osteogenic effect on BMSCs compared with a BMP-2-positive control group. Based on the compatible result of hydroxycholesterol, subsequently, ginsenoside Rb1 was chosen as the most drug-like natural compound among the molecule docking results from icariin. Finally, ginsenoside Rb1 was demonstrated to promote the expression of osteoblastic genes and ALP activity in vitro and repair the calvarial defect of rats in vivo. The study aimed to provide diverse choices for clinical application in bone repair and functional regeneration.

Association between Dietary Patterns and Physical Fitness among Chinese Children and Adolescents in Shaanxi Province.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the associations between dietary patterns (breakfast, egg, dairy products, and sugared beverage intake frequencies) and physical fitness among Chinese children and adolescents in Shaanxi Province. METHODS: Data were extracted from the Chinese National Survey on Students' Constitution and Health (CNSSCH). The study ultimately included 7305 participants (48.4% male, 51.6% female) aged 6-22 in Shaanxi Province, China. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the association of the frequency of breakfast, egg, dairy product, and sugared beverage intakes with physical fitness. RESULTS: The frequency of breakfast, egg, and dairy product intakes were all independently and positively associated with the level of physical fitness. The frequency of sugared beverage intake was negatively associated with the level of physical fitness. CONCLUSION: Healthier dietary patterns (i.e., higher breakfast, egg, and dairy product intakes and lower sugared beverage intake) were associated with greater physical fitness. Specifically, maintaining a healthy dietary pattern of breakfast, egg, and dairy product intakes can positively affect the strength and endurance performance of children and adolescents. Increased dairy product intake plays a crucial part in boosting the physical fitness total scores of children and adolescents.

Trends in Physical Fitness and Nutritional Status among School-Aged Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Shaanxi, China-A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the characteristics of trends in physical fitness and nutritional status among school-aged students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which could help to develop targeted guidelines and policies for students (adolescents) to promote health during lockdowns resulting from public health emergencies. METHODS: The physical fitness and nutritional status were measured from 2019 to 2021; the correlation between years and grade were analyzed. RESULTS: a declining trend was found in aerobic fitness, strength fitness, speed fitness, and BMI during this lockdown. CONCLUSION: The changes in dietary behavior and the decrease in outdoor physical activities may be the reason for the decline. Furthermore, differences in subjects' growth and limited space at home must be considered in the formulation of exercise and nutritional plans. According to the results of our study, exercise for aerobic fitness should receive more attention when students are enduring a pandemic lockdown. In addition, saying "no" to high-calorie foods in the form of snacking and ultra-processed food was the key to improving subjects' nutritional status.

Diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin on POD3 for the early diagnosis of anastomotic leakage after colorectal surgery: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Anastomotic leakage is one of the most serious complications after colorectal surgery, and a reliable method for early diagnosis is urgently needed. Procalcitonin (PCT) is recently considered a potential biomarker by many studies, but their conclusions in detail are controversial. This meta-analysis was conducted to further explore and verify the diagnostic value of the procalcitonin level on postoperative day 3 (POD3) in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. METHODS: This review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy (PRISMA-DTA) statement. Studies were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) until August 2021. Quality of the studies was scored based on the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2) tool. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and a summary receiver operating characteristics (SROC) curve were used to estimate the diagnostic value. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to further explore the primary source of heterogeneity and the influence of various factors on diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: Eleven studies and 3393 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The derived cutoff value of PCT was 1.12 ng/ml by geometric mean and the pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR and DOR were 0.768 (0.704-0.825), 0.788 (0.774-0.802), 4.600 (3.129-6.763), 0.339 (0.267-0.431) and 18.114 (9.872-33.239), respectively. The computed AUC from the SROC curve was 0.8714, and the Q* index was 0.8019. The results of meta-regression and subgroup analyses showed that the usage of laparoscopic surgery was the major factor in improving the reliability of PCT data, and 0.7-1.3 ng/ml may be the appropriate interval for PCT with the DOR (38.610 (16.324-91.321)) well above the average. CONCLUSIONS: The PCT level on POD3 has potential clinical value in the early diagnosis of AL and exhibits a better diagnostic accuracy in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Cut-off values are recommended at the interval range of 0.7-1.3 ng/ml to ensure accurate diagnosis and safe discharge. Research Registry Registration Number: reviewregistry 1282.

A CT image feature space (CTIS) loss for restoration with deep learning-based methods.

Objective.Deep learning-based methods have been widely used in medical imaging field such as detection, segmentation and image restoration. For supervised learning methods in CT image restoration, different loss functions will lead to different image qualities which may affect clinical diagnosis. In this paper, to compare commonly used loss functions and give a better alternative, we studied a widely generalizable framework for loss functions which are defined in the feature space extracted by neural networks.Approach.For the purpose of incorporating prior knowledge, a CT image feature space (CTIS) loss was proposed, which learned the feature space from high quality CT images by an autoencoder. In the absence of high-quality CT images, an alternate loss function, random-weight (RaW) loss in the feature space of images (LoFS) was proposed. For RaW-LoFS, the feature space is defined by neural networks with random weights.Main results.In experimental studies, we used post reconstruction deep learning-based methods in the 2016 AAPM low dose CT grand challenge. Compared with perceptual loss that is widely used, our loss functions performed better both quantitatively and qualitatively. In addition, three senior radiologists were invited for subjective assessments between CTIS loss and RaW-LoFS. According to their judgements, the results of CTIS loss achieved better visual quality. Furtherly, by analyzing each channel of CTIS loss, we also proposed partially constrained CTIS loss.Significance.Our loss functions achieved favorable image quality. This framework can be easily adapted to other tasks and fields.

The osteogenesis of Ginsenoside Rb1 incorporated silk/micro-nano hydroxyapatite/sodium alginate composite scaffolds for calvarial defect.

Ginsenoside Rb1, the effective constituent of ginseng, has been demonstrated to play favorable roles in improving the immunity system. However, there is little study on the osteogenesis and angiogenesis effect of Ginsenoside Rb1. Moreover, how to establish a delivery system of Ginsenoside Rb1 and its repairment ability in bone defect remains elusive. In this study, the role of Ginsenoside Rb1 in cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis, osteogenic genes expression, ALP activity of rat BMSCs were evaluated firstly. Then, micro-nano HAp granules combined with silk were prepared to establish a delivery system of Ginsenoside Rb1, and the osteogenic and angiogenic effect of Ginsenoside Rb1 loaded on micro-nano HAp/silk in rat calvarial defect models were assessed by sequential fluorescence labeling, and histology analysis, respectively. It revealed that Ginsenoside Rb1 could maintain cell viability, significantly increased ALP activity, osteogenic and angiogenic genes expression. Meanwhile, micro-nano HAp granules combined with silk were fabricated smoothly and were a delivery carrier for Ginsenoside Rb1. Significantly, Ginsenoside Rb1 loaded on micro-nano HAp/silk could facilitate osteogenesis and angiogenesis. All the outcomes hint that Ginsenoside Rb1 could reinforce the osteogenesis differentiation and angiogenesis factor's expression of BMSCs. Moreover, micro-nano HAp combined with silk could act as a carrier for Ginsenoside Rb1 to repair bone defect.

[Effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui (GV 20) and Sishencong (EX-HN 1) on presurgical anxiety in patients with gynecological laparoscopic surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the anti-anxiety effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui (GV 20) and Sishencong (EX-HN 1) in patients with gynecological laparoscopic surgery, and to explore its effect on the anesthetic dosage during anesthesia induction. METHODS: A total of 270 patients with gynecological laparoscopic surgery were randomized into an electroacupuncture group, a medication group and a control group, 90 cases in each group. At 24 h and 2 h before anesthesia induction, electroacupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20) and Sishencong (EX-HN 1) in the electroacupuncture group, with continuous wave, 100 Hz in frequency. At 30 min before anesthesia induction, midazolam of 0.02 mg/kg was given by intravenous drip in the medication group, while 0.9% sodium chloride solution was given by intravenous drip in the control group. At 10 min before anesthesia induction and 6 h after surgery, the scores of 6 item short form of state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI-S6) and visual analogue scale-anxiety (VAS-A) were observed; at 10 min before anesthesia induction (T1) and observer's assessment of alertness/sedation scale (OAA/S) grade 4 (T2), mean artery pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and value of bispectral index (BIS) were recorded; the dosage of propofol at T2 was recorded and the surgery related adverse reactions were compared among the 3 groups. RESULTS: At 10 min before anesthesia induction and 6 h after surgery, the STAI-S6 and VAS-A scores in the electroacupuncture group and the medication group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Values of BIS at T1 and dosage of propofol at T2 in the electroacupuncture group and the medication group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in MAP, HR and surgery related adverse reactions among the 3 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Electroacupuncture at Baihui (GV 20) and Sishencong (EX-HN 1) can effectively relieve the presurgical anxiety in patients with gynecological laparoscopic surgery, and reduce the dosage of propofol, its effect is similar to traditional anti-anxiety drug.

Osteogenic Induction of Low-dose Ipriflavone on Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Extracted from Osteoporosis Rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of ipriflavone (IPF), a synthetic isoflavone plant oestrogen with a structure similar to that of oestradiol, on the osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). METHODS: BMSCs were derived from ovariectomised rats (rBMSCs-OVX) and then induced with or without IPF. Cell cytotoxicity, mineralisation in vitro and osteoblast-specific gene expression of BMSCs were studied. RESULTS: IPF at a concentration of 10-8, 10-7 and 10-6 mol/l exhibited no cytotoxic effect on the proliferation of BMSCs but increased alkaline phosphatase activity and osteoblast-specific gene expression. CONCLUSION: IPF enhances osteogenic differentiation of rBMSCs-OVX partly in vitro, thus its use offers a potential strategy for the treatment of osteoporosis.