Unified Convolutional Sparse Transformer for Disease Diagnosis, Monitoring, Drug Development, and Therapeutic Effect Prediction from EEG Raw Data.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis plays an indispensable role across contemporary medical applications, which encompasses diagnosis, monitoring, drug discovery, and therapeutic assessment. This work puts forth an end-to-end deep learning framework that is uniquely tailored for versatile EEG analysis tasks by directly operating on raw waveform inputs. It aims to address the challenges of manual feature engineering and the neglect of spatial interrelationships in existing methodologies. Specifically, a spatial channel attention module is introduced to emphasize the critical inter-channel dependencies in EEG signals through channel statistics aggregation and multi-layer perceptron operations. Furthermore, a sparse transformer encoder is used to leverage selective sparse attention in order to efficiently process long EEG sequences while reducing computational complexity. Distilling convolutional layers further concatenates the temporal features and retains only the salient patterns. As it was rigorously evaluated on key EEG datasets, our model consistently accomplished a superior performance over the current approaches in detection and classification assignments. By accounting for both spatial and temporal relationships in an end-to-end paradigm, this work facilitates a versatile, automated EEG understanding across diseases, subjects, and objectives through a singular yet customizable architecture. Extensive empirical validation and further architectural refinement may promote broader clinical adoption prospects.

Influencing factors of length of stay among repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders: a longitudinal study in China.

BACKGROUND: Patients with mood disorders usually require repeated and prolonged hospitalization, resulting in a heavy burden on healthcare resources. This study aims to identify variables associated with length of stay(LOS) of repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders and to provide information for optimizing psychiatry management and healthcare resource allocation. METHODS: Electronic medical records (EMRs) of repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders from January 2010 to December 2018 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Chi-square and t-test were adopted to investigate the differences in characteristics between the two groups of short LOS and long LOS. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) was conducted to investigate potential factors influencing LOS. RESULTS: A total of 2,009 repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders were enrolled, of which 797 (39.7%) had a long LOS and 1,212 (60.3%) had a short LOS. Adverse effects of treatment, continuous clinical manifestation, chronic onset type, suicide attempt, comorbidity and use of antidepressants were positively associated with long LOS among all repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders (P < 0.050). For patients with depression, factors associated with long LOS consisted of age, monthly income, adverse effects of treatment, continuous clinical manifestation, suicide attempt and comorbidity (P < 0.050). Whereas, for patients with bipolar disorder (BD), adverse effects of treatment, four or more hospitalizations and use of antidepressants contributed to the long LOS (P < 0.050). Influencing factors of LOS also vary among patients with different effectiveness of treatment. CONCLUSION: The LOS in repeatedly hospitalized patients with mood disorders was influenced by multiple factors. There were discrepancies in the factors affecting LOS in patients with different diagnoses and effectiveness of treatment, and specific factors should be addressed when evaluating the LOS.

Protective effects and mechanism of chemical- and plant-based selenocystine against cadmium-induced liver damage.

Although selenium (Se) and cadmium (Cd) often coexist naturally in the soil of China, the health risks to local residents consuming Se-Cd co-enriched foods are unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of chemical-based selenocystine (SeCys2) on cadmium chloride-induced human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell injury and plant (Cardamine hupingshanensis)-derived SeCys2 against Cd-induced liver injury in mice. We found that chemical- and plant-based SeCys2 showed protective effects against Cd-induced HepG2 cell injury and liver damage in mice, respectively. Compared with Cd intervention group, co-treatment with chemical- or plant-based SeCys2 both alleviated liver toxicity and ferroptosis by decreasing ferrous iron, acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain (ACSL) family member 4, lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 3, reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxide levels, and increasing ACSL3, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11) and glutathione and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) levels. In conclusion, chemical- and plant-based SeCys2 alleviated Cd-induced hepatotoxicity and ferroptosis by regulating SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling and lipid peroxidation. Our findings indicate that potential Cd toxicity from consuming foods grown in Se- and Cd-rich soils should be re-evaluated. This study offers a new perspective for the development of SeCys2-enriched agricultural products.

Effects of selenium-cadmium co-enriched Cardamine hupingshanensis on bone damage in mice.

Selenium (Se) and cadmium (Cd) usually co-existed in soils, especially in areas with Se-rich soils in China. The potential health consequences for the local populations consuming foods rich in Se and Cd are unknown. Cardamine hupingshanensis (HUP) is Se and Cd hyperaccumulator plant that could be an ideal natural product to assess the protective effects of endogenous Se against endogenous Cd-caused bone damage. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed 5.22 mg/kg cadmium chloride (CdCl2) (Cd 3.2 mg/kg body weight (BW)), or HUP solutions containing Cd 3.2 mg/kg BW and Se 0.15, 0.29 or 0.50 mg/kg BW (corresponding to the HUP0, HUP1 and HUP2 groups) interventions. Se-enriched HUP1 and HUP2 significantly decreased Cd-induced femur microstructure damage and regulated serum bone osteoclastic marker levels and osteogenesis-related genes. In addition, endogenous Se significantly decreased kidney fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) protein expression and serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, and raised serum calcitriol (1,25(OH)2D3). Furthermore, Se also regulated gut microbiota involved in skeletal metabolism disorder. In conclusion, endogenous Se, especially with higher doses (the HUP2 group), positively affects bone formation and resorption by mitigating the damaging effects of endogenous Cd via the modulation of renal FGF23 expression, circulating 1,25(OH)2D3 and PTH and gut microbiota composition.

Transfer RNA-derived small RNA tRF-Glu-CTC attenuates neointimal formation via inhibition of fibromodulin.

Neointimal hyperplasia is a pathological vascular remodeling caused by abnormal proliferation and migration of subintimal vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) following intimal injury. There is increasing evidence that tRNA-derived small RNA (tsRNA) plays an important role in vascular remodeling. The purpose of this study is to search for tsRNAs signature of neointima formation and to explore their potential functions. The balloon injury model of rat common carotid artery was replicated to induce intimal hyperplasia, and the differentially expressed tsRNAs (DE-tsRNAs) in arteries with intimal hyperplasia were screened by small RNA sequencing and tsRNA library. A total of 24 DE-tsRNAs were found in the vessels with intimal hyperplasia by small RNA sequencing. In vitro, tRF-Glu-CTC inhibited the expression of fibromodulin (FMOD) in VSMCs, which is a negative modulator of TGF-ß1 activity. tRF-Glu-CTC also increased VSMC proliferation and migration. In vivo experiments showed that inhibition of tRF-Glu-CTC expression after balloon injury of rat carotid artery can reduce the neointimal area. In conclusion, tRF-Glu-CTC expression is increased after vascular injury and inhibits FMOD expression in VSMCs, which influences neointima formation. On the other hand, reducing the expression of tRF-Glu-CTC after vascular injury may be a potential approach to prevent vascular stenosis.

Lactoferrin ameliorated obesity-induced endothelial dysfunction by inhibiting the Tak1/IL-18/eNOS pathway between PVAT and vascular endothelium.

Vascular endothelial dysfunction (ED) is one of the mechanisms underlying obesity-related hypertension. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) surrounds blood vessels and influences the vascular endothelium function. Previous studies have demonstrated the antihypertensive effects of lactoferrin (LF) and its hydrolysates through various mechanisms. However, the effect of LF on ED and PVAT has not yet been investigated. In this study, we examined the influence of LF on ED and PVAT using high-fat diet mice as well as MAEC cells and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Finally, LF supplementation decreases the systolic blood pressure (SBP), serum adhesion molecule (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1), and aorta ROS levels, and improves endothelium-dependent relaxation function in high-fat diet mice. Moreover, LF supplementation down-regulates the Tak1/IL-18/eNOS pathway between PVAT and aorta and enhances the NO generation in high-fat diet mice. In addition, we observe that LF decreases the expression levels of IL-18 and p-Tak1 in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, but fails to influence the eNOS and p-eNOS expression levels in MAEC cells. Finally, the significant associations between LF and IL-18 and SBP and hypertension risk are also observed in obesity children only. These findings provide evidence that the Tak1/IL-18/eNOS pathway between the aorta and PVAT is important in obesity-related ED, and LF may improve ED or even hypertension by down-regulating this pathway.

Lactoferrin Alleviates Ethanol-Induced Injury via Promoting Nrf2 Nuclear Translocation in BRL-3A Rat Liver Cells.

Our previous animal studies found that the preventive effects of lactoferrin (Lf) on alcoholic liver injury (ALI) are associated with nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). To further explore the causality, experiments were performed using rat normal liver BRL-3A cells. Lf treatment reduced ethanol-induced death and apoptosis; meanwhile, Lf treatment alleviated excessive LDH release. These findings confirmed the protection of Lf against ethanol-induced injury in BRL-3A cells. Mechanistically, Lf treatment reversed the reduction in nuclear Nrf2 induced by ethanol without affecting the cytoplasmic Nrf2 level, which led to antioxidant enzyme activity restoration. However, the blocking of Nrf2 nuclear translocation by ML385 eliminated the protective effects of Lf. In a conclusion, Lf protects BRL-3A cells from ethanol-induced injury via promoting Nrf2 nuclear translocation.

Correlation between membrane proteins and sizes of extracellular vesicles and particles: A potential signature for cancer diagnosis.

Extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs) are recognized as ideal liquid biopsy tools for cancer detection, and membrane proteins are commonly used EVP biomarkers. However, bulk analysis of EVP membrane protein biomarkers typically fails to meet the clinical requirement for diagnostic accuracy. We investigated the correlation between the membrane protein expression level, the binding kinetics to aptamers and the sizes of EVPs with interferometric plasmonic microscopy (iPM), and demonstrated the implementation of the correlative signature to determine cancer types. Using EVPs collected from both cell model and clinical plasma samples with liver, lung, breast, or prostate cancer, we found that the selective set of membrane protein expression levels of five protein markers and their binding kinetics were highly heterogeneous across various sizes of EVPs, resulting in the low overall accuracy (<50%) in cancer classification with bulk analysis of all populations. By grouping the EVPs into three subpopulations according to their sizes, the overall accuracy could be increased to about 70%. We further grouped the EVPs into subpopulations with a 10 nm interval in sizes and analysed the correlation between the membrane proteins and sizes with a machine learning algorithm. The results show that the overall accuracy to discriminate cancer types could be improved to 85%. Therefore, this work highlights the significance of size-dependent subtyping of EVPs and suggests that the correlation between the selective set of membrane proteins and sizes of EVP can serve as a signature for clinical cancer diagnosis.

Single-cell DNA methylation and 3D genome architecture in the human brain.

Delineating the gene-regulatory programs underlying complex cell types is fundamental for understanding brain function in health and disease. Here, we comprehensively examined human brain cell epigenomes by probing DNA methylation and chromatin conformation at single-cell resolution in 517 thousand cells (399 thousand neurons and 118 thousand non-neurons) from 46 regions of three adult male brains. We identified 188 cell types and characterized their molecular signatures. Integrative analyses revealed concordant changes in DNA methylation, chromatin accessibility, chromatin organization, and gene expression across cell types, cortical areas, and basal ganglia structures. We further developed single-cell methylation barcodes that reliably predict brain cell types using the methylation status of select genomic sites. This multimodal epigenomic brain cell atlas provides new insights into the complexity of cell-type-specific gene regulation in adult human brains.

The mediating role of job satisfaction and presenteeism on the relationship between job stress and turnover intention among primary health care workers.

BACKGROUND: Turnover problems among primary health care workers are a significant contributor to the shortage of health human resources. This study aims to determine the relationship between job stress and turnover intention among primary health care workers, as well as to examine the mediating effects of job satisfaction and presenteeism on this relationship. METHODS: Stratified random sampling and quota sampling were used to select 703 primary health care workers in Jilin Province, China in January 2020. Validated scales were used to measure turnover intention, job stress, job satisfaction, and presenteeism among primary health care workers. The study utilized a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to test the research hypotheses. RESULTS: The turnover intention score of primary health care workers in Jilin Province was 2.15 ± 1.03, and 19.5% of respondents reported a higher turnover intention. Significant sex and occupation differences were found, with a higher rate of turnover intention for male and doctor groups among primary health care workers. This study also revealed a positive correlation between job stress and turnover intention (ß = 0.235, P < 0.001), a significant negative correlation between job satisfaction and turnover intention (ß= -0.347, P < 0.001), and a significant positive correlation between presenteeism and turnover intention (ß = 0.153, P < 0.001). Moreover, the study revealed a significant indirect effect of job stress on turnover intention which was mediated by job satisfaction (ß = 0.183, P < 0.001) and presenteeism (ß = 0.078, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: We confirmed the positive association between job stress and presenteeism with turnover intention, as well as the negative association between job satisfaction and turnover intention. Moreover, our study confirmed the mediating role of job satisfaction and presenteeism in the relationship between job stress and turnover intention. This study provides scientific evidence to address the turnover problem among primary health care workers.

Precise Identification and Profiling of Surface Proteins of Ultra Rare Tumor Specific Extracellular Vesicle with Dynamic Quantitative Plasmonic Imaging.

Specific detection of tumor-derived EVs (tEVs) in plasma is complicated by nontumor EVs and non-EV particles. To accurately identify tEVs and profile their surface protein expression at single tEV resolution directly with clinical plasma is still an unmet need. Here, we present a Dynamic Immunoassay for Single tEV surface protein Profiling (DISEP), a kinetic assay based on surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) for specific single tEV profiling. DISEP adopts a pair of low-affinity oligonucleotide probes to respectively label EV surface proteins and functionalize an SPRM biosensor interface. tEVs labeled with the oligonucleotide probes possess distinctive binding kinetics from nonspecific particles in plasma, which permits accurate digital plasmonic counting of single EVs. We demonstrate DISEP for recognizing target EVs among 350-fold background plasma particles with high sensitivity (4677 EVs per µL). Clinical plasma samples were analyzed to discriminate between pancreatic cancer patients (n = 40) and healthy donors (n = 45). With a panel of biomarker signatures (EpCAM, HER2, and GPC1), DISEP only requires 10 µL primary sample from each donor to classify tumor patients with an area under the curve of 0.98. DISEP provides a highly specific EV detection and surface protein profiling strategy for early cancer diagnosis.

Twisting, untwisting, and retwisting of elastic Co-based nanohelices.

The reversible transformation of a nanohelix is one of the most exquisite and important phenomena in nature. However, nanomaterials usually fail to twist into helical crystals. Considering the irreversibility of the previously studied twisting forces, the reverse process (untwisting) is more difficult to achieve, let alone the retwisting of the untwisted crystalline nanohelices. Herein, we report a new reciprocal effect between molecular geometry and crystal structure which triggers a twisting-untwisting-retwisting cycle for tri-cobalt salicylate hydroxide hexahydrate. The twisting force stems from competition between the condensation reaction and stacking process, different from the previously reported twisting mechanisms. The resulting distinct nanohelices give rise to unusual structure elasticity, as reflected in the reversible change of crystal lattice parameters and the mutual transformation between the nanowires and nanohelices. This study proposes a fresh concept for designing reversible processes and brings a new perspective in crystallography.

Lactoferrin alleviates Western diet-induced cognitive impairment through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.

Lactoferrin (Lf) has been shown to benefit cognitive function in several animal models. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into the control (CON), Western-style diets (WD), lactoferrin (Lf), and Lf + antibiotics (AB) groups. The Lf group was intragastrically administered with Lf, and the Lf + AB group additionally drank a solution with antibiotics. After 16 weeks of intervention, Lf improved the cognitive function as indicated by behavioral tests. Lf also increased the length and curvature of postsynaptic density and upregulated the related protein expression, suggesting improved hippocampal neurons and synapses. Lf suppressed microglia activation and proliferation as revealed by immunofluorescence analysis. Lf decreased the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and downregulated their protein expressions in the hippocampus region. Lf also inhibited the activation of NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammasomes in the hippocampus. Meanwhile, Lf upregulated the expression of tight junction proteins, and increased the abundance of Bacteroidetes at phylum and Roseburia at genus, which are beneficial for gut barrier and cognitive function. The antibiotics eliminated the effects of long-term Lf intervention on cognitive impairment in the Lf + AB group, suggesting that gut microbiota participated in Lf action. Short-term Lf intervention (2 weeks) prevented WD-induced gut microbiota alteration without inducing behavioral changes, supporting the timing sequence of gut microbiota to the brain. Thus, Lf intervention alleviated cognitive impairment by inhibiting microglial activation and neuroinflammation through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.

Glomerular filtration rate estimated by differing measures and risk of all-cause mortality among Chinese individuals without or with diabetes: A nationwide prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Whether estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) by differing biomarkers are differentially associated with mortality or whether the associations differ by diabetes status remains unclear, especially in Chinese population. METHODS: We included 6995 participants without diabetes (mean age: 60.4 years) and 1543 with diabetes (mean age: 61.8 years). Each eGFR measure was divided into normal (≥90 mL/min/1.73 m2 ), modestly declined (60 to <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 ), and chronic kidney disease (CKD) (<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 ) groups. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) of all-cause mortality associated with each eGFR. RESULTS: Over a follow-up of 7 years, 677 and 215 deaths occurred among individuals without or with diabetes, respectively. Among those without diabetes, all measures of modestly declined eGFR were not associated with mortality, whereas CKD defined by eGFR cystatin C (eGFRcys) and eGFR creatinine (eGFRcr)-cys (HRs were 1.71 and 1.55, respectively) but not by eGFRcr were associated with higher risk of mortality. Among diabetes, all measures of modestly declined eGFR (HRs: 1.53, 1.56, and 2.09 for eGFRcr, eGFRcys, and eGFRcr-cys, respectively) and CKD (HRs: 2.57, 2.99, and 3.92 for eGFRcr, eGFRcys, and eGFRcr-cys, respectively) were associated with higher risk of mortality. Regardless of diabetes status, an addition of eGFRcys or eGFRcr-cys to traditional risk factors lead to a larger improvement in the prediction of all-cause mortality risk than adding eGFRcr. CONCLUSIONS: The association of eGFR with mortality risk appeared to be varied by its measures and by diabetes status among middle-aged and older Chinese, which needs to be considered in clinical practice.

Higher radiation dose on immune cells is associated with radiation-induced lymphopenia and worse prognosis in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: To explore the effective dose to immune cells (EDIC) for better prognosis while avoiding radiation-induced lymphopenia (RIL) in patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Materials and methods: Overall, 381 patients with locally advanced ESCC receiving definitive radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (dRT ± CT) between 2014 and 2020 were included in this study. The EDIC model was calculated by radiation fraction number and mean doses to the heart, lung, and integral body. The correlation between EDIC and clinical outcomes was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression, and risk factors for RIL were determined by logistic regression analysis. Results: The median EDIC was 4.38 Gy. Multivariate analysis revealed that low-EDIC significantly improved the OS of patients when compared with high-EDIC (HR = 1.614, P = 0.003) and PFS (HR = 1.401, P = 0.022). Moreover, high-EDIC was associated with a higher incidence of grade 4 RIL (OR = 2.053, P = 0.007) than low-EDIC. In addition, we identified body mass index (BMI), tumor thickness, and nodal stage as independent prognostic factors of OS and PFS, while BMI (OR = 0.576, P = 0.046) and weight loss (OR = 2.214, P = 0.005) as independent risk factors of grade 4 RIL. In subgroup analyses, the good group had better clinical outcomes than the remaining two groups (P< 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that EDIC significantly correlates with poor clinical outcomes and severe RIL. Optimizing treatment plans to decrease the radiation doses to immune cells is critical for improving the outcomes.

Obesity and cancer: Mouse models used in studies.

There is increasing evidence that obesity is associated with the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. When studying the relationship between obesity and malignant tumors, it is very important to choose an appropriate animal model. However, BALB/c nude mice and other animals commonly used to study tumor xenograft (human-derived tumor cell lines) transplantation models are difficult to induce obesity, while C57BL/6 mice and other model animals commonly used for obesity research are not suitable for tumor xenograft transplantation. Therefore, it is difficult to replicate both obesity and malignancy in animal models at the same time. This review summarizes several experimental animal models and protocols that can simultaneously induce obesity and tumor xenografts.

Correction to: Amelioration of radiation­induced liver damage by p-coumaric acid in mice.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s10068-022-01118-8.].

Treatment of a large area perioral viral herpes infection following noninvasive ventilation: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Alphaherpesvirus belongs to the Herpesviridae family and has large, monopartite double-stranded linear DNA. It mainly infects the skin, mucosa, and nerves, and can affect various hosts, including humans and other animals. Here, we present a case of a patient seen by the gastroenterology department at our hospital who experienced an oral and perioral herpes infection following treatment with a ventilator. The patient was treated with oral and topical antiviral drugs, furacilin, oral and topical antibiotics, local epinephrine injection, topical thrombin powder, and nutritional and supportive care. A wet wound healing approach was also implemented with good response. CASE SUMMARY: A 73-year-old woman presented to the hospital with a chief complaint of "abdominal pain for 3 d with dizziness for 2 d." She was admitted to the intensive care unit for septic shock and spontaneous peritonitis secondary to cirrhosis and was given antiinflammatory and symptomatic supportive treatment. A ventilator was used to assist breathing for acute respiratory distress syndrome, which developed during her admission. A large area of herpes infection appeared in the perioral region 2 d following noninvasive ventilation. The patient was transferred to the gastroenterology department, at which time she had a body temperature of 37.8 C and a respiratory rate of 18/min. The patient's consciousness was intact, and she no longer had abdominal pain or distension, chest tightness, or asthma. At this point, the infected perioral region changed in appearance and was now accompanied by local bleeding with crusting of blood at the wounds. The surface area of the wounds measured approximately 10 cm × 10 cm. A cluster blisters appeared on the patient's right neck, and ulcers developed in her mouth. On a subjective numerical pain scale, the patient reported a pain level of 2. Overall, her diagnoses other than the oral and perioral herpes infection included: (1) Septic shock; (2) spontaneous peritonitis; (3) abdominal infection; (4) decompensated cirrhosis; and (5) hypoproteinemia. Dermatology was consulted regarding the treatment of the patient's wounds; they suggested treatment with oral antiviral drugs, an intramuscular injection of nutritious nerve drugs, and the application of topical penciclovir and mupirocin around the lips. Stomatology was also consulted and suggested the use of nitrocilin in a local wet application around the lips. CONCLUSION: Through multidisciplinary consultation, the patient's oral and perioral herpes infection was successfully treated with the following combined approach: (1) Application of topical antviral and antibiotic treatments; (2) keeping the wound moist with a wet wound healing strategy; (3) systemic use of oral antiviral drugs; and (4) symptomatic and nutritional supportive care. The patient was discharged from the hospital after successful wound healing.

Dual-Channel Pricing Decisions for Product Recycling in Green Supply Chain Operations: Considering the Impact of Consumer Loss Aversion.

With the vigorous rise of online third-party recycling platforms, dual-channel recycling has become the primary recycling mode in the reverse supply chain (RSC). However, as the main body of recycling, consumers have a significant impact on the recycling process, and their behavioral preferences are rarely considered in the pricing decision of the reverse recycling supply chain. Based on the dual-channel RSC, this paper considers the competition among channels. It introduces the loss aversion behavior preference of consumers to establish a dual-channel RSC composed of remanufacturers and online and offline recyclers. This study aims to analyze the impact of consumers' loss aversion behavior on the recycling pricing and profit of each node in the green RSC and discuss the decision of recyclers under consumers' loss aversion behavior. The results show that the deeper consumers' aversion to the loss of recycling price, the lower the recycling price of dual-channel recyclers will be, which will be more conducive to the increase in the profit of online recyclers. However, the profit of remanufacturers will be reduced, and the total amount of recycling will decline. This paper considers the impact of consumer loss aversion behavior on dual-channel reverse supply chain pricing decisions based on prospect theory. It provides references for chain members to set recycling prices to increase people's enthusiasm for recycling and the amount of recycled scrap, contributes to the cause of resource conservation and environmental protection, and improves the economic efficiency of recycling enterprises.

Effect of 3,3'-diselenodipropionic Acid on Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Mice.

3,3'-Diselenodipropionic acid (DSePA), a synthetic organoselenium compound, has received considerable attention because of its antioxidant properties and safety. Its protective effect against dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mouse ulcerative colitis (UC) and the role of T helper 17 (Th17) cell proliferation were investigated. Fifty C57BL/6 male mice were randomly assigned to one of five groups: control (Con), DSePA, DSS, low-dose DSePA (LSe), and high-dose DSePA (HSe). Mice in the DSS, LSe, and HSe groups drank 2% DSS to induce UC, and received normal saline, 1 and 2 mg/mL DSePA solution by intraperitoneal injection, respectively. The DSePA group only received 2 mg/mL DSePA solution. After 5 weeks, DSS challenge induced UC in the mice, which manifested as decreased body weight, shortened colon length, the loss of goblet cells, activated proliferating cells, and multiple signs of intestinal lesions by histological observation, all of which were reversed to varying degrees by DSePA administration. DSS upregulated the colonic protein expression of the macrophage marker F4/80 and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNFα), whereas DSePA administration downregulated the expression of these factors. DSS upregulated the mRNA expression of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt, mainly expressed in Th17 cells), IL-17A, and IL-17F and the levels of IL-17A and IL-17F in the colon, whereas DSePA administration decreased them. No difference was observed between the Con group and the DSePA group without DSS induction. Thus, DSePA administration ameliorated DSS-induced UC by regulating Th17-cell proliferation and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines.