Health outcomes of electronic cigarettes.

ABSTRACT: The usage of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) sparked an outbreak of unidentified vaping-related lung disease in the US during late 2019. With e-cigarettes becoming more and more popular, smokers have more options other than conventional cigarettes. Under these circumstances, a comprehensive evaluation of the general safety of new tobacco and tobacco-related products, represented by e-cigarettes, to human health is necessary. In this review, we summarize the current research on potential negative impacts of e-cigarette exposure on human health. In particular, studies detailing the relationship between e-cigarettes and the digestive system are summarized, with mechanisms mainly including hepatic metabolic dysfunction, impaired gut barrier, and worsened outcomes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although believed to be safer than traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes exert adverse effects on systemic health and induce the development of multiple diseases containing asthma, cardiovascular disease, and IBD. Moreover, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes have a negative impact on the childhood development and increase the risk of arterial stiffness compared to the non-nicotine e-cigarettes. However, non-nicotine e-cigarette components have detrimental effects including promoting liver damage and metabolic disorders.

A population-based study of Helicobacter pylori: Does asymptomatic infection mean no gastroscopic lesions?

OBJECTIVES: We determined the common clinical characteristics of patients infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and investigated the relationship between H. pylori infection, and clinical symptoms, and gastroscopic manifestations. Our focus was specifically on the clinical manifestations in asymptomatic patients. METHODS: We obtained the physical examination data of patients who underwent the 14C urea breath test between January 2018 and December 2020 at our Hospital. Basic demographic data, questionnaire data on clinical symptoms, and clinical examination data of the patients were also collected, and the correlation analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 2863 participants were included in the study. The overall H. pylori infection rate was 26.30%. The clinical symptoms between H. pylori-positive patients and H. pylori-negative patients did not differ significantly (P > .05). However, H. pylori-positive patients exhibited more severe gastroscopic manifestations (P < .001). The 14C urea breath test disintegrations per minute (DPM) values in H. pylori-positive patients correlated with their serum pepsinogen and gastrin-17 levels. With an increase in the DPM value, more combinations of clinical symptoms appeared in the patients. Among H. pylori-positive patients, DPM levels in asymptomatic patients were lower than those in symptomatic patients (P < .001). However, gastroscopic manifestations did not vary significantly between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Patients infected with H. pylori showed no specific gastrointestinal symptoms. Patients with asymptomatic infection showed lower DPM levels, but their gastroscopic manifestations were similar to those of patients with symptomatic infection, and their lesions were more severe than H. pylori-negative people.

Enhanced Charge Balance for Efficient Electroluminescence from Cesium Copper Halides.

Cesium copper halides have the advantages of high photoluminescence quantum efficiency and good stability, making them attractive for replacing toxic lead halides in the field of perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, due to their shallow conduction band and the lack of electron transport layers compatible with it, it remains a great challenge to achieve charge balance in LED devices. This drawback manifests as the accumulation of holes at the interface between the emitting layer and electron transport layer, resulting in nonradiative recombination. Here, we demonstrate an effective approach to address this issue by suppressing hole injection, which is realized through modification of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) layer with polyethylenimine. This leads to cesium-copper-halide LEDs with a high external quantum efficiency of 5.6%, representing an advance in device architecture for efficient electroluminescence from cesium copper halides.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided intraportal injection of autologous bone marrow in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis: A case series.

BACKGROUND: Recently, stem cell therapy has been extensively studied as a promising treatment for decompensated liver cirrhosis (DLC). Technological advances in endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) have facilitated EUS-guided portal vein (PV) access, through which stem cells can be precisely infused. AIM: To investigate the feasibility and safety of fresh autologous bone marrow injection into the PV under EUS guidance in patients with DLC. METHODS: Five patients with DLC were enrolled in this study after they provided written informed consent. EUS-guided intraportal bone marrow injection with a 22G FNA needle was performed using a transgastric, transhepatic approach. Several parameters were assessed before and after the procedure for a follow-up period of 12 mo. RESULTS: Four males and one female with a mean age of 51 years old participated in this study. All patients had hepatitis B virus-related DLC. EUS-guided intraportal bone marrow injection was performed in all patients successfully without any complications such as hemorrhage. The clinical outcomes of the patients revealed improvements in clinical symptoms, serum albumin, ascites, and Child-Pugh scores throughout the 12-mo follow-up. CONCLUSION: The use of EUS-guided fine needle injection for intraportal delivery of bone marrow was feasible and safe and appeared effective in patients with DLC. This treatment may thus be a safe, effective, non-radioactive, and minimally invasive treatment for DLC.

Analysis of living habit risk factors for esophageal cancer in central China: A bi-center case-control study.

Background: Esophageal cancer remains a public health problem in many countries, especially developing countries. The early lifestyle preventive measures mentioned in the treatment guidelines for esophageal cancer are very limited. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors for esophageal cancer in a high-incidence area in China and to provide evidence for clinical intervention in esophageal cancer prevention. Methods: Symptom and lifestyle/habit questionnaires including 19 items were designed. The correlation between the occurrence of esophageal cancer and living habits was analyzed retrospectively through questionnaire survey. A total of 708 subjects (365 esophageal cancer, 343 non-esophageal cancer) enrolled from two hospitals in central China (Linzhou Esophageal Cancer Hospital and The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University) completed symptom and lifestyle/habit questionnaires. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) with consideration of 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The composition ratio analysis showed that the top five lifestyle factors related to esophageal cancer were eating too fast, drinking, hot drinks, smoking and overeating. Univariate analysis showed that 15 factors, including male sex, smoking, drinking, eating too fast, overeating, hot drinks, greasy food, acidic food, hard food, strong tea, coffee, bedtime immediately after meals, eating food before bedtime, difficult defecation, and an overtight belt, were associated with esophageal cancer (all P <0.05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed, drinking (OR 3.609, 95%CI 2.223-5.859; P=0.000); hot drinks (OR 2.672, 95%CI 1.786-3.997; P=0.000); overeating (OR 2.110, 95%CI 1.411-3.154; P=0.000); eating too fast (OR 1.879, 95%CI 1.274-2.772; P=0.001); strong tea (OR 1.882, 95%CI 1.171~3.023; P=0.009); hard food (OR 1.723, 95%CI 1.113-2.667; P=0.015); smoking (OR 1.686, 95%CI 1.045-2.720; P=0.032), which were significantly associated with the development of esophageal cancer. Conclusion: The unhealthy lifestyles of patients in high-incidence areas of esophageal cancer in central China are significantly associated with the incidence of esophageal cancer. Lifestyle changes that address these factors, especially overeating and eating too fast, which are rarely studied or discussed despite being common, may improve esophageal cancer management and treatment outcomes. The present results may be used as a reference for preventive education and treatment.

In Situ Halide Exchange of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskites for Blue Light-Emitting Diodes.

3D perovskites are promising to achieve efficient and bright deep-blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are required for lighting and display applications. However, the efficiency of deep-blue 3D perovskite-based LEDs is limited by high density of defects in perovskites, and their deep-blue emission is not easy to achieve due to the halide phase separation and low solubility of chloride in precursor solutions. Here, an in situ halide exchange method is developed to achieve deep-blue 3D perovskites by spin-coating an organic halide salts solution to treat blue 3D perovskites. It is revealed that the halide-exchange process is mainly determined by halide ion diffusion targeting a concentration equalization, which leads to homogeneous 3D mixed-halide perovskites. By further introducing multifunctional organic ammonium halide salts into the exchange solution to passivate defects, high-quality deep-blue perovskites with reduced trap density can be obtained. This approach leads to efficient deep-blue perovskite LEDs with a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 4.6% and a luminance of 1680 cd m-2 , which show color coordinates of (0.131, 0.055), very close to the Rec. 2020 blue standard. Moreover, the halide exchange method is bidirectional, and blue perovskite LEDs can be achieved with color coordinates of (0.095, 0.160), exhibiting a high EQE of 11.3%.

Sub-Bandgap-Voltage Electroluminescence of Light-Emitting Diodes.

Sub-bandgap-voltage electroluminescence (EL) has been frequently reported in quantum dot, organic, and perovskite light-emitting diodes. Due to the complex physical process across devices, the underlying mechanism is still under intensive debate. Here, based on thermodynamics, we offer an orthodox explanation of sub-bandgap-voltage EL and discuss the applicability of the previously proposed models.

Therapeutic effect of fecal microbiota transplantation on chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depression.

Background and objective: Depression is a complex neuropsychiatric disease with extensive morbidity. Its pathogenesis remains unclear, and it is associated with extremely low rates of cure and complete remission. It is vital to study the pathogenesis of depression to develop effective treatments. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for the treatment of depression in rats. Methods: Thirty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: control, chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) to model depression, and CUMS+FMT. For the CUMS and CUMS+FMT groups, after CUMS intervention (four weeks), the rats were given normal saline or FMT (once/week for three weeks), respectively. Behavior, colonic motility, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing, and untargeted metabolomics on fecal samples were compared between the three rat groups. The following markers were analyzed: 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (Glu), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the hippocampus; glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and interleukin (IL)-6 levels in the serum; and GLP-1, GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R), and serotonin 4 receptor (5-HT4R) levels in colonic tissues. Results: FMT improved symptoms of depression and colonic motility in rats exposed to CUMS. The expression levels of 5-HT, GABA, BDNF, and other biochemical indices, significantly differed among the three groups. Meanwhile, the intestinal microbiota in the CUMS+FMT group was more similar to that of the control group with a total of 13 different fecal metabolites. Conclusion: FMT exerted antidepressant effects on CUMS-induced depression in rats, and the mechanism involved various neurotransmitters, inflammatory factors, neurotrophic factors, and glucagon-like peptides.

Curcumin improves the function of umbilical vein endothelial cells by inhibiting H2O2­induced pyroptosis.

Endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction is one of the initiating factors of atherosclerosis. EC dysfunction is primarily caused by oxidative damage and inflammation. As a classic non­specific antioxidant and anti­inflammatory drug, curcumin has been widely used in studies of lipid metabolism disorders. However, whether curcumin is able to alleviate H2O2­induced EC damage and its related mechanisms has remained to be elucidated. The present study confirmed the protective effects of curcumin on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). A HUVEC injury model was established using H2O2 and the optimal concentrations and time of curcumin to achieve therapeutic effects were explored. Curcumin was observed to inhibit H2O2­induced pyroptosis by inhibiting the activation of NOD­, LRR­ and pyrin domain­containing protein 3. In addition, curcumin improved HUVEC function by restoring αvß3 and reducing endothelin­1 expression. In conclusion, the results of the present study revealed the mechanism through which curcumin inhibits pyroptosis and indicated that curcumin may have a potential utility in treating diseases of EC dysfunction.

High-security OCDM-PON system of 7-core fiber based on CFCM encryption.

In this paper, we propose a high-security orthogonal chirped division multiplexing passive optical network (OCDM-PON) based on three-dimensional (3D) encryption, including the encryption of bitstream, constellation, and subcarriers. Cascaded fractional-order chaotic mapping (CFCM) is used to generate three masking factors to achieve ultra-high-security encryption in three different dimensions. Logistic mapping is used to control the order of the scheme, which effectively increases the key space to 10152 and improves the security performance of the system. The experiment proves the feasibility of the encryption scheme on OCDM after 16 orthogonal amplitude modulation (16QAM). The encrypted 16QAM-OCDM signal transmits data at a rate of 56 Gb/s on a 2-km 7-core optical fiber, and simultaneously transmits the 16QAM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal under the same conditions. It is shown that OCDM-PON is 1.3 dB higher than OFDM-PON in terms of receiver sensitivity when the bit error rate (BER) is 10-3.

Treatment of obstructive jaundice induced by non-hodgkin lymphoma with EUS-guided transgastric anterograde common bile duct stenting: Technical case report and literature review.

Background: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a rare cause of biliary obstruction. The optimum treatment for these patients is unclear. Lymphoma-associated obstructive jaundice is generally managed with open surgery, Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), or Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage. Here, we present the first description of EUS-guided anterograde common bile duct stenting via the stomach for obstructive jaundice associated with NHL. Patient and methods: A 58-year-old male patient who had been undergoing chemotherapy for NHL was admitted to our institution for severe obstructive jaundice. The patient's hepatic function indicators were: alanine aminotransferase 211 U/L, aspartate aminotransferase 301 U/L, total bilirubin 485.6 µmol/L, and direct bilirubin 340.2 µmol/L. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging showed massive lymphomatous lesions filling the peritoneal cavity. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography revealed an external compressive stricture in the superior middle common bile duct and dilation of the intrahepatic and extrahepatic ducts. ERCP was performed unsuccessfully, due to the stricture at the descending junction of the duodenal bulb caused by lymphoma infiltration. So, EUS-guided anterograde common bile duct stenting via the stomach was performed. Results: The patient's bilirubin level decreased significantly in the postoperative period, and no adverse reaction was observed. Computed tomography showed marked shrinking of the abdominal mass after targeted therapy. Conclusions: Our report suggests that early relief of biliary obstruction may be more beneficial to subsequent chemotherapy when symptoms of lymphoma-associated jaundice are persistently aggravating. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage is a safe, effective and timely alternative approach to treat biliary obstruction when ERCP fails, especially in cases of malignancy caused by extrahepatic bile duct space-occupying lesions.

A Ferroptosis-Related lncRNAs Signature Predicts Prognosis and Therapeutic Response of Gastric Cancer.

Background: Accumulating literature demonstrates that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in ferroptosis and gastric cancer progression. However, the predictive value of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs for prognosis and therapeutic response is yet to be elucidated in gastric cancer (GC). Method: The transcriptomic data and corresponding clinical information of GC patients were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. The association between ferroptosis-related lncRNAs and ferroptosis regulators was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. Then, we established a risk predictive model based on the ferroptosis-related lncRNAs using multivariate Cox regression analysis. Furthermore, we performed correlation analysis for the risk score and characteristics of biological processes, immune landscape, stromal activity, genomic integrity, drug response, and immunotherapy efficacy. Results: We constructed a 17-ferroptosis-related-lncRNA signature via multivariate Cox analysis to divide patients into two groups: low- and high-risk groups. The low-risk group was linked to prolonged overall survival and relapse-free survival. The risk score had good predictive ability to predict the prognosis of GC patients compared with other clinical biomarkers. We found that the high-risk group was associated with activation of carcinogenetic signaling pathways, including stromal activation, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) activation, and immune escape through integrated bioinformatics analysis. In contrast, the low-risk group was associated with DNA replication, immune-flamed state, and genomic instability. Additionally, through Spearman correlation analysis, we found that patients in the high-risk group may respond well to drugs targeting cytoskeleton, WNT signaling, and PI3K/mTOR signaling, and drugs targeting chromatin histone acetylation, cell cycle, and apoptosis regulation could bring more benefits for the low-risk group. The high-risk group was associated with poor immunotherapy efficacy. Conclusion: Our study systematically evaluated the role of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs in t tumor microenvironment, therapeutic response, and prognosis of GC. Risk score-based stratification could reflect the characteristic of biological processes, immune landscape, stromal activity, genomic stability, and pharmaceutical profile in GC patients. The ferroptosis-related lncRNA signature could serve as a reliable biomarker to predict prognosis and therapeutic response of patients with GC.

Expression of Ferroptosis-Related Genes Shapes Tumor Microenvironment and Pharmacological Profile in Gastric Cancer.

Background: Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death that occurs as a consequence of lethal lipid peroxidation. A wealth of studies has demonstrated that ferroptosis profoundly modulated numerous biological behaviors of tumor. However, its natural functions in gastric cancer (GC) remain to be explored. Methods: Firstly, a total of over 1,000 GC patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were included in our study. Secondly, 32 ferroptosis-related genes were extracted from the ferrDb website. Then, unsupervised clustering was performed to classify patients into three distinct ferroptosis-related clusters. Subsequently, we systematically and comprehensively explored the biological characteristics of each cluster. Finally, we constructed a scoring system, named ferroptosis score, to quantify each cluster and also investigated the predictive therapeutic value of the ferroptosis score for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Results: Based on the expressions of 32 ferroptosis-related genes, three distinct ferroptosis-related subtypes with various biological characteristics were determined. Integrated analysis showed that cluster 1 is a microsatellite instability (MSI)-like subtype, cluster 2 is an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like subtype, while cluster 3 tends to be a metabolic-like subtype. Prognostic analysis revealed that patients in cluster 2 had a worse overall survival and relapse-free survival. The distribution of the ferroptosis score was significantly different in clusters and gene clusters. The ferroptosis score could predict the biological characteristics of each cluster, the stromal activity, and progression of tumor. The low ferroptosis score group was characterized by the activation of antigen processing and presentation, DNA damage repair pathways, and metabolic pathways, while the high ferroptosis score group was characterized by stromal activation. In response to anticancer drugs, the ferroptosis score was highly negatively associated with drugs targeting MAPK signaling and PI3K/mTOR signaling, while it was positively correlated with drugs targeting the cell cycle, mitosis, and metabolism. Finally, we also proved that the ferroptosis score could serve as a reliable biomarker to predict response to immunotherapy. Conclusion: This work revealed that tumor cells and their surrounding microenvironment could be shaped by varying the activation degrees of ferroptosis. Establishing ferroptosis-related subtypes would guide in predicting the biological features of individual tumors and selecting appropriate treatment protocols for patients.

Construction and preservation of a stable and highly expressed recombinant Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin A with apoptotic activity.

BACKGROUND: H. pylori is closely related to the occurrence and development of various digestive gastritis, peptic ulcer and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. H. pylori is also a class I carcinogen of gastric cancer. VacA is the only exocrine toxin of H. pylori, which plays a very important role in the pathogenesis of H. pylori. The production of VacA in natural circumstances is complex with heavy workload and low yield. Therefore, it is very important to obtain recombinant VacA protein which is stable and biologically active. This study therefore aims to explore the expression, purification and stable storage of VacA toxin of H. pylori in E.coli, and to provide experimental basis for further exploration of the role of VacA in H. pylori -induced inflammation of cancer. RESULTS: A 2502-bp fragment and VacA gene were identified. An 89.7-kDa VacA34-854 recombinant protein was expressed and purified from the recombinant engineering bacteria and was preserved stably in 50 mM acetic acid buffer (pH 2.9). The amount of the recombinant protein was larger in the inclusion bodies than in the supernatant. In addition, after a 24-h culture with VacA recombinant protein, GES-1 cells demonstrated evidence of apoptosis including early nuclear immobilization and clustering under inverted microscope and TEM. It was found that VacA recombinant protein induced apoptosis by TUNEL assay. CONCLUSIONS: A VacA recombinant protein that is stably and highly expressed and possesses pro-apoptotic activity is successfully constructed. The protein is stably preserved in 50 mM acetic acid buffer (pH 2.9).

Lifestyle intervention for gastroesophageal reflux disease: a national multicenter survey of lifestyle factor effects on gastroesophageal reflux disease in China.

BACKGROUND: Poor habits can worsen gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and reduce treatment efficacy. Few large-scale studies have examined lifestyle influences, particularly eating habits, on GERD in China, and research related to eating quickly, hyperphagia, and eating hot foods is quite limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between GERD pathogenesis and lifestyle factors to produce useful information for the development of a clinical reference guide through a national multicenter survey in China. METHODS: Symptom and lifestyle/habit questionnaires included 19 items were designed. The questionnaire results were subjected to correlation analysis relative to GERD symptom onset. A standard proton pump inhibitor (PPI) was advised to correct patients with unhealthful lifestyle habits. RESULTS: A total of 1518 subjects (832 GERD, 686 non-GERD) enrolled from six Chinese hospitals completed symptom and lifestyle/habit questionnaires. The top lifestyle factors related to GERD were fast eating, eating beyond fullness, and preference for spicy food. Univariate analysis showed that 21 factors, including male gender, a supra-normal body mass index (BMI), smoking, drinking alcohol, fast eating, eating beyond fullness, eating very hot foods, and drinking soup, among others, were associated with GERD (p < 0.05). Logistic multivariate regression analysis revealed the following risk factors for GERD [with odds ratios (ORs)]: fast eating (4.058), eating beyond fullness (2.849), wearing girdles or corsets (2.187), eating very hot foods (1.811), high BMI (1.805), lying down soon after eating (1.544), and smoking (1.521). Adjuvant lifestyle interventions improved outcomes over medication alone (z = -8.578, p < 0.001 Mann-Whitney rank sum test). CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle interventions can improve medication efficacy in GERD patients. Numerous habits, including fast eating, eating beyond fullness, and eating very hot foods, were associated with GERD pathogenesis. The present results may be useful as a reference for preventive education and treatment.

[Efficacy of bismuth containing quadruple therapies on Helicobacter pylori eradication in patients with history of antibiotic treatment].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of bismuth containing quadruple therapies on Helicobacter pylori (Hp) eradication in patients with history of antibiotic treatment. 
 Methods: Hp infected patients (n=327) were allocated into 3 groups. Group A (n=52), patients had no antibiotic history and they took medicine of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and livzon triple (clarithromycin, tinidazole, and bismuth); group B (n=80), patients had the antibiotic history except for amoxicillin and clarithromycin, and they were treated with PPI, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and bismuth; group C (n=195), patients suffered failures of Hp therapy or with history of antibiotic abuse, and they were treated with PPI, doxycycline, furazolidone, and bismuth.
 Results: Both the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (group A 63.5%, group B 76.2%, group C 82.6%, P<0.05) and the pre-protocol (PP) analysis (group A 76.7%, group B 92.4%, group C 96.4%, P<0.05) showed significant difference among the 3 groups, revealing higher elimination in group B and C. The side-effects (20.2%) were mild and tolerable (group A, 28.0%; group B, 10.7%; group C, 22.0%).
 Conclusion: Proton pump inhibitors together with the livzon triple regimen have a low rate of Hp eradication and a higher incidence of adverse reactions. The quadruple therapy containing clarithromycin and metronidazole drugs can achieve the satisfactory outcomes based on patient's antibiotic history. For patients with multiple antibiotics, the quadruple therapy containing furazolidone and doxycycline may achieve the satisfactory outcomes, but the adverse resction would be relatively higher.

[Study on lifestyle in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between certain unhealthy lifestyles and the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), thus to provide the lifestyle guidelines for GERD patients.
 Methods: Retrospective study were conducted for 402 GERD and 276 non-GERD out-patients in Department of Gastroenterology, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University from August, 2014 to August, 2015 based on questionnaire survey, then the correlation of unhealthy lifestyles with GERD were analyzed.
 Results: The top 10 common symptoms for GERD were as follows: reflux, acid regurgitation, postprandial fullness, heartburn, swallow obstruction or pain, epigastric burning sensation, paraesthesia pharynges, poststernal pain, chronic laryngopharyngitis, and chronic cough. The top 8 unhealthy habits closely related to GERD were as follows: fast-eating, over-eating, spicy preferred diet, sweets preferred diet, anxious, soup preferred diet, high-fat diet, and hot eating. Single-factor analysis showed that GERD was markedly correlated to gender (male), age (≥60 years), BMI, smoking, alcohol, fast-eating, over-eating, hot-eating, spicy preferred diet, high-fat diet, acid preferred diet, sweets preferred diet, hard food preference, strong tea preference, coffee preference, immediately on bed after meal, difficult defecation, dyscoimesis, anxious, and too tight belt, respectively (P<0.05). Logistic multiple regression analysis indicated that the largest risk factor for GERD was the fast-eating (OR=3.214, 95% CI 2.171 to 4.759, P<0.001) followed by the over-eating (OR=2.936, 95% CI 1.981 to 4.350, P<0.001), elderly population (OR=2.047, 95% CI 1.291 to 3.244, P=0.002), too tight belt (OR=2.003, 95% CI 1.013 to 3.961, P=0.046), and hot-eating (OR=1.570, 95% CI 1.044 to 2.362, P=0.030).
 Conclusion: The elderly people are at high risk for GERD, and unhealthy habits like fast-eating, over-eating, too tight belt, and hot-eating is closely related to GERD. The lifestyles such as chewing food thoroughly, splitting the meals up, warm and cool diet, keeping patients out of the too tight belt are necessary for GERD patients.

CagA promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of GES-1 cells by upregulating TRAF1/4-1BB.

Cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) is one of the most important virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori, and serves a role in H. pylori­mediated tumorigenesis in gastric cancer. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of CagA on the proliferation and apoptosis of GES­1 cells, and the underlying mechanism. A CagA eukaryotic expression plasmid was constructed and transfected into GES­1 cells. The mRNA and protein levels of CagA, tumor necrosis factor receptor­associated factor 1 (TRAF1) and tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 9 (4­1BB) were determined using the reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. Western blot and ELISA analysis was used to detect the release of interleukin (IL)­8. An MTT assay and flow cytometric analysis was used to assess cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. Ectopic expression of CagA markedly increased TRAF1 and 4­1BB mRNA and protein levels in GES­1 cells. CagA increased the expression and release of IL­8 in GES­1 cells. The expression of CagA significantly promoted the proliferation (P<0.05) and inhibited the apoptosis (P<0.05) of GES­1 cells. In conclusion, CagA upregulated TRAF1/4­1BB, thereby promoting the proliferation and inhibiting the apoptosis of GES-1 cells.

Selective Metal-Free Deoxygenation of Unsymmetrical 1,2-Dicarbonyl Compounds by Chlorotrimethylsilane and Sodium Iodide.

For the first time, the combination of chlorotrimethylsilane with NaI is used as a selective reducting system toward 1,2-diketones. This combination is successfully evaluated with several unsymmetrically benzil derivatives, which are reduced in good yields and with a total α-regioselectivity at room temperature. Identification of benzoin intermediates is achieved, and a mechanistic radical process is proposed.