Nrf3 alleviates oxidative stress and promotes the survival of colon cancer cells by activating AKT/BCL-2 signal pathway.

Oxidative stress is closely linked to tumor initiation and development, conferring a survival advantage to cancer cells. Therefore, understanding cancer cells' antioxidant molecular mechanisms is crucial to cancer therapy. In this study, we discovered that H2O2-induced oxidative stress increased Nrf3 expression in colon cancer cells. Overexpression of Nrf3 decreased H2O2-mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis. Furthermore, Nrf3 reduced reactive oxygen species levels and malondialdehyde concentrations after H2O2 treatment. Mechanistically, H2O2-mediated cell apoptosis involves multiple signaling proteins, including Akt, bcl-2, JNK, and p38. An increase in Nrf3 expression in colon cancer cells treated with H2O2 partly reversed Akt/Bcl-2 inhibition, whereas it decreased activation of p38 and JNK. In addition, we found that increasing Nrf3 decreased stress-associated chemical-induced cell death, resulting in drug resistance. According to these results, Nrf3 is critical for drug resistance and oxidant adaptation.

Significant perioperative parameters affecting postoperative complications within 30 days following craniotomy for primary malignant brain tumors.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of postoperative complications within 30 days (PC1M) of a craniotomy for the removal of a primary malignant brain tumor has been associated with a poor prognosis. However, it is still unclear to early predict the occurrence of PC1M. This study aimed to identify the potential perioperative predictors of PC1M from its preoperative, intraoperative, and 24-h postoperative parameters. METHODS: Patients who had undergone craniotomy for primary malignant brain tumor (World Health Organization grades III and IV) from January 2011 to December 2020 were enrolled from a databank of Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. The patients were classified into PC1M and nonPC1M groups. PC1M was defined according to the classification by Landriel et al. as any deviation from an uneventful 30-day postoperative course. In both groups, data regarding the baseline characteristics and perioperative parameters of the patients, including a new marker-kinetic estimated glomerular filtration rate, were collected. Logistic regression was used to analyze the predictability of the perioperative parameters. RESULTS: The PC1M group included 41 of 95 patients. An American Society of Anesthesiologists score of > 2 (aOR, 3.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19-8.45; p = 0.021), longer anesthesia duration (aOR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.69-0.88; p < 0.001), 24-h postoperative change in hematocrit by > - 4.8% (aOR, 3.45; 95% CI, 1.22-9.73; p = 0.0019), and 24-h postoperative change in kinetic estimated glomerular filtration rate of < 0 mL/min (aOR, 3.99; 95% CI, 1.52-10.53; p = 0.005) were identified as independent risk factors for PC1M via stepwise logistic regression analysis. When stratified according to the age of ≥ 65 years (OR, 11.55; 95% CI, 1.30-102.79; p = 0.028), the reduction of kinetic estimated glomerular filtration rate was more robustly associated with a higher risk of PC1M. CONCLUSIONS: Four parameters were demonstrated to significantly influence the risk of PC1M in patients undergoing primary malignant brain tumor removal. Measuring and verifying these markers, especially kinetic estimated glomerular filtration rate, would help early recognition of PC1M risk in clinical care.

Nrf3 promotes the proliferation and migration of triple­negative breast cancer by activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR and epithelial­mesenchymal transition.

Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 3 (Nrf3) is increasingly implicated in multiple types of cancer; however, its function in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the role of Nrf3 in TNBC. Compared with adjacent normal tissues, TNBC tissues expressed higher levels of Nrf3, and its expression was negatively correlated with survival time. Additionally, Nrf3 knockdown reduced the proliferation and migration of TNBC cells, whereas overexpression of Nrf3 had the opposite effects in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, functional enrichment of TNBC cells overexpressing Nrf3 allowed for the identification of numerous genes and pathways that were altered following Nrf3 overexpression. Further study showed that overexpression of Nrf3 activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and regulated the expression of proteins associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Nrf3 was found to directly bind to p110α promoter regions, as evidenced by luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Furthermore, PI3K inhibitors partially decreased the proliferation and migration of the Nrf3 overexpressing TNBC cells. In conclusion, Nrf3 enhances cellular proliferation and migration by activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways, highlighting a novel therapeutic target for TNBC.

Machine learning in the evaluation and prediction models of biochar application: A review.

This article reviews recent studies applying machine learning (ML) approaches to biochar applications. We first briefly introduce the general biochar production process. Various aspects are contained, including the biochar application in the elimination of heavy metals and/or organic compounds and the biochar application in environmental and economic scopes, for instance, food security, energy, and carbon emission. The utilization of ML methods, including ANN, RF, and NN, plays a vital role in evaluating and predicting the efficiency of biochar absorption. It has been proved that ML methods can validly predict the adsorption effectiveness of biochar for water heavy metals with higher accuracy. Moreover, the literature proposed a comprehensive data-driven model to forecast biochar yield and compositions under various biomass input feedstock and different pyrolysis criteria. They said a 12.7% improvement in prediction accuracy compared to the existing literature. However, it might need further optimization in this direction. In summary, this review concludes increasing studies that a well-trained ML method can sufficiently reduce the number of experiment trials and working times associated with higher prediction accuracy. Moreover, further studies on ML applications are needed to optimize the trade-off between biochar yield and its composition.

Improved photovoltaic properties of nominal composition CH3NH3Pb0.99Zn0.01I3 carbon-based perovskite solar cells.

Herein, the low-cost and eco-friendly zinc cation (Zn2+) is used to replace part of the lead cation (Pb2+) in methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3). The modified perovskite material, CH3NH3PbxZn1-xI3, is then obtained and successfully applied in the construction of hole-conductor-free perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on carbon counter electrodes. The obtained PSCs with 1 mol% Zn doping dramatically facilitate the formation of dense, high surface coverage perovskite films with large grain size and superior crystallinity. Especially, the power conversion efficiency is up to 15.37%, which is a 14.8% increase, compared to the pristine PSCs. This work finds a superior way to further research lead-reduced PSCs.

[Distraction osteogenesis in correcting facial asymmetry malformation caused by temporomandibular joint ankylosis: a case report].

A facial asymmetry patient caused by temporomandibular joint ankylosis was operated by putting a distraction osteogenesis (DO)-appliance. One week after surgery, the right mandible was distracted. Twenty days after distraction, the height of right mandibular ramus and body increased obviously. Four months after retain of DO-appliance, the right maxilla down-grew automatically and the occluding relation recovered to normal. The DO-appliance was taken out. MEDPOR prosthesis was imbedded in new bone and genioplasty was operated. The facial asymmetry and abnormal occluding relation of the patient were improved obviously.

[Preliminary study of cranio-maxillofacial hard tissue structure feature of young mandibular retrusion orthognathic patients with delaire cephalometric analysis].

OBJECTIVE: To guide the orthodontic diagnosis, treatment planning and prognosis by analyzing the craniofacial morphology and reimbursement mechanism of young patients with mandibular retrusion in Chongqing territory by Delaire cephalometric analysis. METHODS: Both conventional cephalometric analysis and Delaire cephalometric analysis were conducted on the basis of the lateral cephalograms from 56 young mandibular retrusion patients and 40 teenagers with normal occlusion. RESULTS: Decreases in angle SNB, Co-Go, Co-Pog, U1-L1 and increases in angle ANB, angle SN-MP, L1-MP were seen in mandibular retrusion group by conventional cephalometric analysis. Decreases in angle 1, angle 5, (Cp-Oi)/C2 and increases in angle 2, (M-Cp)/C2, angle 3, angle 4 were seen in mandibular retrusion group by Delaire cephalometric analysis. Me-F1 and Me-Met were -8.70 mm +/- 2.48 mm and 5.74 mm +/- 2.58 mm respectively. CONCLUSION: Delaire cephalometric analysis could evaluate cranio-maxillofacial architectural features of mandibular retrusion patients more visually and quantitatively, which suggests that mandibular retrusion is usually caused by the retrusion of mandibular position and the hypodevelopment of mandibule.

[Study of computer-assisted Delaire cephalometric analysis system].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to establish the computer -assisted Delaire cephalometric analysis system with WinCeph8.0 in order to simplify the procedure of manual Delaire cephalometric analysis. METHODS: On the basis of the theory of Delaire cephalometric analysis and the program module of WinCeph8.0, the landmark points and the auxiliary line were defined, the measurement and analysis program were written, then the computer-assisted Delaire cephalometric analysis system was established. Paired t-test and dispersion analysis of the computer-assisted and manual measurements were taken. RESULTS: Computer-assisted Delaire cephalometric analysis system was convenient and accurate to trace the landmark points and the auxiliary line. It was able to proceed the measurement and calculation automatically and display the analysis results. Statistical analysis showed that computer-assisted analysis was more accurate than manual analysis. CONCLUSION: This study provided a convenient, simplified, accurate computer-assisted analysis platform for Delaire cephalometric analysis which facilitated its clinical application.

Expression of mercuric reductase from Bacillus megaterium MB1 in eukaryotic microalga Chlorella sp. DT: an approach for mercury phytoremediation.

A eukaryotic microalga, Chlorella sp. DT, was transformed with the Bacillus megaterium strain MB1 merA gene, encoding mercuric reductase (MerA), which mediates the reduction of Hg2+ to volatile elemental Hg0. The transformed Chlorella cells were selected first by hygromycin B and then by HgCl2. The existence of merA gene in the genomic DNA of transgenic strains was shown by polymerase chain reaction amplification, while the stable integration of merA into genomic DNA of transgenic strains was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. The ability to remove Hg2+ in merA transgenic strains was higher than that in the wild type. The merA transgenic strains showed higher growth rate and photosynthetic activity than the wild type did in the presence of a toxic concentration of Hg2+. Cultured with Hg2+, the expression level of superoxide dismutase in transgenic strains was lower than that in the wild type, suggesting that the transgenic strains faced a lower level of oxidative stress. All the results indicated that merA gene was successfully integrated into the genome of transgenic strains and functionally expressed to promote the removal of Hg2+.