[Effects and mechanisms of negative air ions on blood pressure, oxidative stress and inflammation levels in SHR rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects and possible mechanisms of negative air ions(NAIs) on blood pressure, oxidative stress, and inflammatory status in spontaneous hypertension rats(SHR). METHODS: A total of 60 SHR(half male and half female) were randomly divided into one-month and three-month groups, 30 rats per groups, based on the duration of the intervention. Each group was further randomized into three groups based on the daily intervention time: SHR control group, 2 h NAIs-SHR group, and 6 h NAIs-SHR group, 10 rats per groups. In addition, 20 Wistar Kyoto(WKY)(half male and half female), were randomized into one-month WKY group and three-month WKY group, 10 rats per groups, based on the intervention time. The 2 h NAIs-SHR group and 6 h NAIs-SHR group were exposed to an environment with NAIs concentrations of 4.5×10~4-5×10~4 cm~3 per day for 2 h and 6 h. The WKY group and SHR group were exposed to normal air on a daily basis. Blood pressure of rats in each group was measured every three days, while weight was measured once a week. After sacrificing the rats in the first month and the third month of rearing, wet weight of the organs was weighed. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect 8-hydroxylated deoxyguanosine(8-OHdG), interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-8(IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), nitric oxide(NO) and endothelin-1(ET-1) levels. Reactive oxygen species(ROS) detection kit was used to detect ROS level. Malondialdehyde(MDA) and superoxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione(GSH) and glutathione disulfide(GSSG) were measured by colorimetric analysis. HE staining was conducted to observe the histopathological morphological changes of the thoracic aorta in each group, and Western blot was conducted to detect the thoracic aortap38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p38 MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinases(ERK), c-Jun n-terminal kinase(JNK), c-fos proteins, c-jun proteins and their phosphorylated proteins level. RESULTS: The weight of WKY male mice in the same week age group was higher than that of SHR control group, and there was no significant difference in the weight between the other groups. The coefficient of heart in SHR control group(4.66±0.48) was higher than that in WKY group(3.73±0.15)(P<0.05), while there were no significant differences in the coefficients of brain, kidney, liver and spleen among the groups. Blood pressure in WKY group at the same age was lower than that in SHR group, and blood pressure in SHR control group at 2-5 and 8-11 weeks was higher than that in 2 h NAIs-SHR and 6 h NAIs-SHR groups(P<0.05). HE staining showed that the internal, middle and external membranes of thoracic aorta in 2 h NAIs-SHR group and 6 h NAIs-SHR group were improved to varying degrees compared with those in SHR control group, including disordered internal membrane structure, thickened middle membrane and broken external membrane. In terms of oxidative stress levels, compared with the SHR control group, the ROS(0.66%±0.17%, 0.49%±0.32%) and 8-OHdG((48.29±8.00) ng/mL, (33.13±14.67)ng/mL) levels were lower in the 6 h NAIs-SHR group(P<0.05), while the GSH/GSSG ratio was higher in the one-month 6 h NAIs-SHR group(10.08±4.93). Compared with the 2 h NAIs-SHR group, the ROS level(0.99%±0.19%) was lower in the 6 h NAIs-SHR group(P<0.05). In terms of inflammatory factor levels, compared with the SHR control group, the IL-8 levels((160.44±56.54) ng/L, (145.77±38.39) ng/L) were lower in the 6 h NAIs-SHR group(P<0.05), while the ET-1 level((249.55±16.98) ng/L) was higher in the one-month WKY group. There was no significant difference in NO levels among the groups. The relative expression of p-p38 protein in the thoracic aorta of rats in the one-month SHR control group was lower than that in the WKY group(P<0.05). The relative expression of p-p38 and p-c-fos proteins in the thoracic aorta of rats at three-months was higher in the SHR control group than in the 2 h NAIs-SHR and 6 h NAIs-SHR groups(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The intervention of NAIs at a concentration of 4.5×10~4-5×10~4/cm~3 may regulate the partial oxidation and inflammatory state of SHR rats through the ROS/MAPK/AP1 signaling pathway, thereby reducing their blood pressure level.

Predictive model and risk analysis for peripheral vascular disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients using machine learning and shapley additive explanation.

Background: Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a common complication in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Early detection or prediction the risk of developing PVD is important for clinical decision-making. Purpose: This study aims to establish and validate PVD risk prediction models and perform risk factor analysis for PVD in patients with T2DM using machine learning and Shapley Additive Explanation(SHAP) based on electronic health records. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from 4,372 inpatients with diabetes in a hospital between January 1, 2021, and March 28, 2023. The data comprised demographic characteristics, discharge diagnoses and biochemical index test results. After data preprocessing and feature selection using Recursive Feature Elimination(RFE), the dataset was split into training and testing sets at a ratio of 8:2, with the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique(SMOTE) employed to balance the training set. Six machine learning(ML) algorithms, including decision tree (DT), logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), support vector machine(SVM),extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and Adaptive Boosting(AdaBoost) were applied to construct PVD prediction models. A grid search with 10-fold cross-validation was conducted to optimize the hyperparameters. Metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, G-mean, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) assessed the models' effectiveness. The SHAP method interpreted the best-performing model. Results: RFE identified the optimal 12 predictors. The XGBoost model outperformed other five ML models, with an AUC of 0.945, G-mean of 0.843, accuracy of 0.890, precision of 0.930, recall of 0.927, and F1-score of 0.928. The feature importance of ML models and SHAP results indicated that Hemoglobin (Hb), age, total bile acids (TBA) and lipoprotein(a)(LP-a) are the top four important risk factors for PVD in T2DM. Conclusion: The machine learning approach successfully developed a PVD risk prediction model with good performance. The model identified the factors associated with PVD and offered physicians an intuitive understanding on the impact of key features in the model.

Nitrate losses from forest during snowmelt: An underestimated source in mid-high latitude watershed.

The forest nitrate cycle is a crucial part of the watershed nitrate load but has received limited attention compared to that of agricultural and residential land. Here, we analyzed the status and sources of riverine nitrate fluxes and identified the characteristics and contribution of forest nitrate loss to the riverine system in a mid-high latitude forested watershed using monthly field sampling and a modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with enhanced forest nutrient cycle representation. The results indicate that nitrate losses in the headwater stream and downstream exhibit different seasonal characteristics. The nitrate losses in the headwater stream show a bimodal pattern due to lower temperatures and snowmelt runoff. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that, unlike nitrogen (N) fertilizer-induced nitrate loss in the rainy season, forest loss has a positive effect on headwater stream nitrate concentration during the snowmelt season. The modified SWAT was then utilized to simulate nitrate losses in forest lands. The forest nitrate export per unit area of the headwater stream (1.58 ± 1.78 kg/ha/yr) was observed to be higher than that of the downstream (0.67 ± 0.74 kg/ha/yr) due to high snowmelt and mineralization of active organic N. At watershed scale, forest lands contributed 8.18 ± 3.94 % of the total nitrate losses to the water system in the headwater watersheds during the snowmelt season, representing the highest level within the entire basin. A comparison with forest streams in similar low-temperature conditions worldwide revealed that increasing nitrate loss occurred after extreme cold weather or soil freezing events, with an average increment of 6.32 kg/ha/yr. Therefore, forest nitrate losses should be better characterized and included in future watershed N budgets in low-temperature regions, which might help to reduce the N budget uncertainty and improve watershed management.

[Fraction Characteristic and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Surface Sediments of the Yellow River Mainstream].

Heavy metals(HMs) are highly toxic and do not easily degrade in the environment. They can accumulate in the human body through the food chain, with serious impacts on the ecological environment and human health. In this study, 14 sampling sites along the mainstream of the Yellow River were investigated, and the total content and chemical fractions of six heavy metals(As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in sediments were analyzed. The geo-accumulation index, potential ecological risk index, and risk assessment coding were used to assess the contamination level and bioavailability of HMs in sediment. Principal component analysis and redundancy analysis were used to identify the main sources of HMs. The results showed that the average content of heavy metals was in the order of Cr>Zn>Cu>Pb>As>Cd. Cd had the highest excess rate relative to the background value of each reach, reaching 85.7%. In the sediments, As, Zn, Pb, and Cu were predominantly in the oxidizable fraction(F3:sulfide and organic matter-bound), Cd was mainly occupied by the acid-soluble(F1:exchangeable and carbonate-bound) and a residual fraction(F4:mineral matrix-bound), and Cr was predominantly in the residual fraction. As, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn showed the lowest bioavailability in the upstream, increased in the midstream, and finally decreased in the downstream. The risk assessment showed that Cd, the element with the highest pollution risk level in the Yellow River, was prone to pose a serious threat to the ecological environment and should be prevented and controlled first. The PCA and RDA analyses revealed that fine sediment and total organic matter controlled HMs contamination. Therefore, the prevention and control of soil erosion and sediment migration should be emphasized to control HMs pollution in the Yellow River Basin.

The effect of Saccharomyces boulardii supplementation on Helicobacter pylori eradication in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) supplementation in standard triple therapy (STT) is effective in eradicating Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in children. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effect of S. boulardii supplementation on H. pylori eradication in children. METHODS: We conducted electronic searches in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang database from the beginning up to September 2023. A random-effects model was employed to calculate the pooled relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) through a meta-analysis. RESULTS: Fifteen RCTs (involving 2156 patients) were included in our meta-analysis. Results of the meta-analysis indicated that S. boulardii in combination with STT was more effective than STT alone (intention-to-treat analysis : 87.7% vs. 75.9%, RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.10-1.19, P < 0.00001; per-protocol analysis : 88.5% vs. 76.3%, RR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.10-1.19, P < 0.00001). The S. boulardii supplementation group had a significantly lower incidence of total adverse events (n = 6 RCTs, 9.2% vs. 29.2%, RR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.21-0.48, P < 0.00001), diarrhea (n = 13 RCTs, 14.7% vs. 32.4%, RR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.37-0.56, P < 0.00001), and nausea (n = 11 RCTs, 12.7% vs. 21.3%, RR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40-0.72, P < 0.0001) than STT group alone. Similar results were also observed in the incidence of vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, epigastric discomfort, poor appetite and stomatitis. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence indicated that S. boulardii supplementing with STT could improve the eradication rate of H. pylori, and concurrently decrease the incidence of total adverse events and gastrointestinal adverse events in children.

Market integration and economic growth.

This study empirically examines the interplay between market integration and economic growth across nine cities within the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. The findings indicate that the city cluster's market integration negatively impacts regional economic development and has a negligible effect on the surrounding areas. In response, the research recommends the elimination of market trade barriers and a reduction in local protectionism within the city cluster. Additionally, infrastructure enhancement is essential to leverage the distinct comparative advantages of each city within the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration. An efficient collaboration mechanism is crucial to amplify the collective economic potency of the region.

Diagnostic value of Kaiser score combined with breast vascular assessment from breast MRI for the characterization of breast lesions.

Objectives: The Kaiser scoring system for breast magnetic resonance imaging is a clinical decision-making tool for diagnosing breast lesions. However, the Kaiser score (KS) did not include the evaluation of breast vascularity. Therefore, this study aimed to use KS combined with breast vascular assessment, defined as KS*, and investigate the effectiveness of KS* in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions. Methods: This retrospective study included 223 patients with suspicious breast lesions and pathologically verified results. The histopathological diagnostic criteria were according to the fifth edition of the WHO classification of breast tumors. The KS* was obtained after a joint evaluation combining the original KS and breast vasculature assessment. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used for comparing differences in the diagnostic performance between KS* and KS, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) was compared. Results: There were 119 (53.4%) benign and 104 (46.6%) malignant lesions in total. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of increased ipsilateral breast vascularity were 69.2%, 76.5%, and 73.1%, respectively. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of AVS were 82.7%, 76.5%, and 79.4%, respectively. For all lesions included the AUC of KS* was greater than that of KS (0.877 vs. 0.858, P = 0.016). The largest difference in AUC was observed in the non-mass subgroup (0.793 vs. 0.725, P = 0.029). Conclusion: Ipsilaterally increased breast vascularity and a positive AVS sign were significantly associated with malignancy. KS combined with breast vascular assessment can effectively improve the diagnostic ability of KS for breast lesions, especially for non-mass lesions.

Performance of a superamphiphobic self-cleaning passive subambient daytime radiative cooling coating on grain and oil storage structures.

The thermal performance of a novel exterior coating material for commonly used grain and food-grain oil structures was investigated. Grain structures included a concrete squat silo and a concrete warehouse while the edible oil structure was a concrete sided tank. The exterior coating provided excellent moisture runoff and solar reflectance properties and is best described as a superamphiphobic self-cleaning passive subambient daytime radiative cooling (SSC-PSDRC) coating. The coating exhibited a remarkable subambient daytime cooling effect in various structures in different climatic regions. Compared with the roof surface temperatures of a cool white-coated concrete grain silo and a gray carbon iron-based edible oil storage tank, those of the PSDRC coated top surfaces could be reduced by 37 °C and 33 °C, respectively. The roof surface temperature of a warehouse painted with a cool-white coating-with a solar reflectance of 0.9 and an emissivity of 0.85-and that of a warehouse with the roof installed with aluminised polymer waterproof membranes were 19 °C and 18 °C higher than that of the PSDRC warehouse, respectively. Consequently, the interior temperature of the wheat pile in the PSDRC grain silo was 10 °C lower than that in the control squat silo. With the inner loop flow temperature control system operating, the interior air temperatures of the PSDRC west-facing separate space were 6 °C and 3 °C higher than those of the cool-white coated and control west-facing separate spaces, respectively. Even after the application of PSDRC coating for only a few days, the interior air temperature of the PSDRC oil storage tank was reduced by 38 °C, and the interior temperature of the oil storage tank was reduced by 4 °C. Furthermore, in practical applications, the coating showed impressive superamphiphobic self-cleaning capabilities and super aging resistance. The wide applications of the coating would have far-reaching, global implications for maintaining grain and edible oil products, particularly in the sub-tropical climates.

Application of nursing intervention based on the IKAP model in self-management of patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: To explore the effect of IKAP nursing intervention on the self-management of patients with gastric cancer, so as to improve the patient's disease management ability and healthy behaviors. METHODS: In this retrospective study, a total of 124 patients with gastric cancer were included. The experimental group received the self-management intervention program for gastric cancer patients based on the IKAP model, and the control group only received routine nursing. The psychological status, quality of life, cancer-related symptoms, and self-management ability of the two groups were observed; moreover, multiple regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors of self-management. RESULTS: The nursing intervention based on the IKAP model had obvious effects on patients with gastric cancer. The SUPPH score was improved significantly after nursing intervention in the experimental group, and the improvement was more significant as compared to control group (both P < 0.05). The quality of life was significantly improved in the experimental group as compared with control group. The incidence of partial cancer-related symptoms, such as infection, fatigue and recurrent peptic ulcer in the experimental group was significantly lower after nursing intervention as compared with control group (all P < 0.05). Moreover, the regression analysis showed that being single, divorced or separated, widowed, as well as self-management nursing intervention, and quality of life showed significant correlation with self-management behavior. The multiple regression analysis demonstrated that psychological function (p = 0.003) and self-management nursing intervention (p < 0.0001) were the independent risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing intervention based on the IKAP model for patients with gastric cancer plays a positive role in improving the self-management ability of gastric cancer patients and improving their negative emotions.

Design and manufacture of a radiative cooler to measure the subambient cooling effect and cooling power.

The obscure theory of passive subambient daytime radiative cooling (PSDRC) was deduced in a more understandable way using an arithmetic formula rather than integro-differential equations. Based on two boundary conditions of the equations, an innovative radiative cooler was successfully developed to qualitatively observe PSDRC phenomena and quantitatively characterize the cooling effect and cooling power of radiative cooling coatings (RC coatings). The remarkable subambient temperature reduction over 4.0 °C was successfully achieved in a completely open environment without minimizing the parasitic conduction and convection from the ambient. Prominent PSDRC phenomena could even be observed in such an open environment on very cloudy days, which generally compromise the RC. A much more prominent subambient cooling depression of 10.0 °C was observed when a wind shield was employed to minimize the convection. With suppression of convection, the subambient daytime cooling effect on cloudy days was even more noticeable than that occurred on clear sunny days. The subambient cooling effect was still very remarkable even on clear sunny days in the winter. The average cooling power measured on a clear sunny day was 154.8 ± 9.7 W/m2, corresponding to an average solar irradiance of 680 ± 90 W/m2 with a peak value of ∼820 W/m2. Both the subambient RC effect and the cooling power measured under real weather conditions using the radiative cooler agreed excellently with the theoretical prediction, sufficiently demonstrating the great innovation, validity, and effectiveness of the device.

Diffuse phthalate acid esters losses induced from large amount of agricultural plastic film residues caused low risks for water quality in China during 1991-2017.

Extensive application of agricultural plastic films has resulted in abundant film residues in farmlands. Phthalate acid esters (PAEs) are vital additives of the agricultural plastic film and are easily emitted into soils. However, spatio-temporal variations of diffuse PAEs loss to water bodies have not been explored in China. This study used an integrated estimation framework and high-resolution activity data to conduct a comprehensive inventory of diffuse PAEs loss associated with plastic films of six main crop types in China for 1991-2017. We found that the diffuse PAEs loss induced from agricultural plastic films increased 10.57-46.30 kg over the same time. Di-butyl phthalate (DBP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) accounted for ~75% of the national total loss. High PAEs loss regions are mainly located in Eastern China, the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain, and eastern Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. We proved that PAEs emission, agricultural film residues, surface runoff, precipitation, and soil organic carbon explained 19.64%, 17.50%, 15.45%, 12.88%, and 9.83% of the total variation, respectively. The potential ecological risks to the various aquatic species were assessed to be low. Overall, our results are valuable for addressing severe agricultural plastic film residues and associated pollutant emissions and losses in China.

Synergetic loss of heavy metal and phosphorus: Evidence from geochemical fraction and estuary sedimentation.

The synergetic loss mechanism of heavy metals (HMs) and phosphorus (P), as well as the relationships between their different geochemical fractions remain unclear. This study employs field research, source identification and sedimentary geochemistry in Yellow River basin to investigate the internal mechanisms of the different geochemical fractions, terrestrial source signatures, and synergetic loss fluxes. The average contents of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn and P in the basin were 8.29 mg/kg, 0.15 mg/kg, 47.52 mg/kg, 11.78 mg/kg, 10.65 mg/kg, 46.56 mg/kg and 578.78 mg/kg, respectively. Based on Pearson's correlation and redundancy analyses, the impact factors on the transport of HMs and P, and the internal relationships between different geochemical fractions were analyzed. According to the constant rate of supply (CRS) model, the terrestrial losses of As, Cd, Cr and Cu showed significant positive relationships with the TP flux, with r2 value of 0.981, 0.991, 0.996 and for 0.984, respectively. It has been proven that the extensive fine particles in the Yellow River basin carry a large amount of diffuse pollutants, thus ultimately increasing the estuarine pollutant load. This research provides new insights from the level of microscopic fractions to macroscopic fluxes to investigate the impacts of anthropogenic activity on regional environmental changes.

Ammonia volatilization modeling optimization for rice watersheds under climatic differences.

The ammonia (NH3) volatilization mechanism is complicated with pronounced watershed differences of climate conditions, soil properties, and tillage practices. The watershed NH3 emission dynamics model was developed with the combination of field measurements, Soil Water Assessment Tool and NH3 volatilization algorithms. The temporal NH3 emissions patterns and the watershed NH3 volatilization dynamics were simulated with the improved NH3 volatilization modeling. Five monitoring sites and three case watersheds across China were selected to highlight the impacts of climatic conditions and validated the modeling. The average NH3 emissions of the three watersheds ranged from 14.94 to 120.33 kg N ha-1, which were mainly positively correlated with temperatures (r = 0.56, p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with soil organic carbon content (r = -0.33, p < 0.01). Analysis of similarities indicated that significant differences existed between the watersheds in terms of NH3 volatilization (RANOSIM = 0.758 and 0.834, p < 0.01). These analysis imply that environmental variabilities were more important than N input amounts.

Who Can Get More Happiness? Effects of Different Self-Construction and Experiential Purchase Tendency on Happiness.

This study introduces the self-construction methods of consumers and the tendency characteristics of experiential purchase to study the effects of physical purchase and experiential purchase on wellbeing. The dependent self-builders obtain higher happiness from experiential purchase; however, the independent self-builders get higher happiness from physical purchase. Furthermore, consumers with a high purchase experience get higher happiness from experiential purchase. Consumers with high material consumption tendency get significantly higher happiness than physical purchase from experiential purchase. Consumers with high materialism tendency gain higher happiness in experiential purchase, which is in line with the expectations of self-construction and consumption theories. This study provides the first evidence for the impact of self-construction methods on wellbeing with different consumption choices.

High-Fidelity Determination and Tracing of Small Extracellular Vesicle Cargoes.

Direct tracing of small extracellular vesicle (sEV) cargoes holds unprecedented importance for elucidating the mechanisms involved in intercellular communication. However, high-fidelity determination of sEVs' molecular cargoes in situ has yet to be achieved due to the difficulty in transporting molecular probes into intact sEVs. Herein, a fLuorescent Intracellular-Guided Hairpin-Tetrahedron (fLIGHT) nanoprobe is described for direct visualization of sEV microRNAs in situ. Integrating the advantages of nondestructive sEV penetration via DNA origami and single-nucleotide discrimination as well as wash-free fluorescence readout using a hairpin probe, the proposed approach enables high-fidelity fluorescence visualization of sEVs' microRNA without RNA extraction or leakage, demonstrating the potential of on-site tracing of sEV cargoes. This strategy opens an avenue to establishing universal molecular detection and labeling platforms that can facilitate both sEV-derived fundamental biological studies and molecular diagnostics.

Heavy metal accumulation, geochemical fractions, and loadings in two agricultural watersheds with distinct climate conditions.

The main aim of this study was to explore the effects of climate conditions on the transport and transformation of heavy metals. Sedimentary geochemical analysis and watershed modeling were used to investigate the distinctions between heavy metal pollution under different climate conditions. The results showed that the average concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Pb in sediments of the subtropical watershed (36.64, 0.60, and 133.69 mg/kg, respectively) were higher than those of the temperate watershed (26.58, 0.19, and 23.17 mg/kg, respectively) because of surface runoff-induced heavy metal loadings under higher precipitation. Also, the labile fractions, which mainly originated from anthropogenic sources, showed higher percentages in the subtropical watershed (67.84-91.33%), thereby indicating that the transport of heavy metals was promoted by surface runoff. Moreover, higher percentages of acid-soluble fractions of Cu and Pb (23.55-33.60%) in the subtropical watershed suggested that higher temperatures accelerated the transformation of heavy metal fractions, thus contributing to the transportation of heavy metals. Overall, climate conditions were the dominant factors for the differences between the subtropical and temperate watersheds. The results of this study suggest that the effects of climate conditions on the transport, enrichment, and bioavailability of heavy metals are of great significance. Such effects should therefore be the focus of future studies.

A fluorinated aza-BODIPY derivative for NIR fluorescence/PA/19F MR tri-modality in vivo imaging.

A fluorinated aza-BODIPY derivative BDPF was developed as a small molecule contrast agent, which displayed highly efficient near infrared fluorescence/photoacoustic/19F MR tri-modality tumor imaging.

Combined 3D rapid prototyping and computer navigation facilitate surgical treatment of congenital scoliosis: A case report and description of technique.

RATIONALE: This study describes the technique of combined Orbic 3D navigation (O3DN) and 3D rapid prototyping (3DRP) to assist surgical correction of congenital scoliosis. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 12-year-old boy with congenital scoliosis. His father brought him to our hospital upon noticing the boy's asymmetry of the trunk. DIAGNOSES: Congenital scoliosis. INTERVENTIONS: O3DN and 3DRP were used to assist correction surgery in this patient. OUTCOMES: The Cobb angle of segmental scoliosis (T8-L2) was 46.9° preoperatively and 2.3° at the last postoperative follow-up; correction was 95.1%. The average segmental kyphosis (T5-T12) was 45.2° preoperatively and 18.6° at the postoperative follow-up; correction was 58.9%. The preoperative sagittal imbalance of 56.2 mm was improved to 9.7 mm. The mean distance between the center sacral vertical line and the C7 plumb line was reduced from 5.7 to 4.1 mm. Operative time and bleeding volume was impressively little, with no misplacement of pedicle screws or other surgical complications. LESSONS: Combined 3DRP and O3DN helped achieve satisfactory correction for this case of congenital scoliosis. The application of 3DRP aided by O3DN in surgical treatment of congenital scoliosis can reduce operative time, lessen blood loss, reduce screw misplacement, and avoid neurovascular damage. However, patients' hospital costs were greater. Our lessons learnt are that the relative position between the tracker and the pedicle must be static to ensure the accuracy of the whole system during the entire operation.

Iron chelation inhibits cancer cell growth and modulates global histone methylation status in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and new treatment strategies for CRC are required because of the existing chemotherapy resistance. Iron chelators, which have been used widely for the treatment of iron-overload disease, were reported to exert anti-proliferative effects in cancer. However, the role of iron chelation in CRC was largely unknown. In this study, we found that the iron chelator DFO inhibited CRC cell growth significantly. In addition, the gene expression profile was greatly changed by DFO treatment, and many cell growth-related genes were dysregulated. Further study showed that DFO induced a significant increase in global histone methylation in CRC cells. However, the levels of histone methyltransferases and histone demethylases did not change in response to DFO treatment, implying that the enzymatic activity of these enzymes might be regulated by iron chelation. In conclusion, this study reveals a novel role for DFO in CRC cell growth, and is the first to demonstrate that global histone methylation is modulated by iron chelation in CRC cells.

pH-responsive theranostic nanocomposites as synergistically enhancing positive and negative magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents.

BACKGROUND: The rational design of theranostic nanoprobe to present responsive effect of therapeutic potency and enhanced diagnostic imaging in tumor milieu plays a vital role for efficient personalized cancer therapy and other biomedical applications. We aimed to afford a potential strategy to pose both T1- and T2-weighted MRI functions, and thereby realizing imaging guided drug delivery and targeted therapy. RESULTS: Theranostic nanocomposites Mn-porphyrin&Fe3O4@SiO2@PAA-cRGD were fabricated and characterized, and the nanocomposites were effectively used in T1- and T2-weighted MRI and pH-responsive drug release. Fluorescent imaging also showed that the nanocomposites specifically accumulated in lung cancer cells by a receptor-mediated process, and were nontoxic to normal cells. The r2/r1 ratio was 20.6 in neutral pH 7.4, which decreased to 7.7 in acidic pH 5.0, suggesting the NCs could act as an ideal T1/T2 dual-mode contrast agent at acidic environments of tumor. For in vivo MRI, T1 and T2 relaxation was significantly accelerated to 55 and 37%, respectively, in the tumor after i.v. injection of nanocomposites. CONCLUSION: The synthesized nanocomposites exhibited highly sensitive MRI contrast function no matter in solution, cells or in vivo by synergistically enhancing positive and negative magnetic resonance imaging signals. The nanocomposites showed great potential for integrating imaging diagnosis and drug controlled release into one composition and providing real-time imaging with greatly enhanced diagnostic accuracy during targeted therapy.