SCUBE1 promotes pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration in acute pulmonary embolism by modulating BMP7.

Objectives: After an episode of acute pulmonary embolism (APE), activated platelets have the ability to release various bioactive factors that can stimulate both proliferation and migration of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). SCUBE1 has been previously reported to engage in platelet-platelet interactions, potentially contributing to the activation of platelets in early onset thrombi. The purpose of this study was to examine the alterations in SCUBE1 expression in PASMCs after APE, as well as understand the mechanism behind these changes. Methods: The platelet-rich plasma samples of both APE patients and healthy individuals were collected. A hyperproliferative model of PASMCs was established by using platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) as a stimulator and various assays were used to investigate how SCUBE1-mediated BMP7 can regulate PDGF-induced PASMC proliferation and migration. Results: Elevated level of SCUBE1 were observed in platelet-rich plasma from patients with APE and in PASMCs induced by PDGF. SCUBE1 interference ameliorated PDGF-driven cell proliferation and migration, and also downregulated PCNA expression. Additionally, mechanistic studies demonstrated that SCUBE1 could directly bind to bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) and enhance BMP7 expression, which completely abolished the impact of SCUBE1 silencing on proliferation and migration ability of PASMCs after PDGF treatment. Conclusion: In the PDGF-induced proliferation of PASMCs, the expression of SCUBE1 and BMP7 was upregulated. Silencing of SCUBE1 impeded PDGF-induced proliferation and migration of PASMCs by restraining BMP7.

Effects of cold atmospheric plasma pre-treatment on maintaining the quality of ready-to-eat drunken red shrimp (Solenocera crassicornis) stored at chilled conditions.

This present study investigated the effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) pre-treatment on the quality of ready-to-eat drunken red shrimp (Solenocera crassicornis) during chilled storage. The shrimp were pre-treated with the CAP at 40 kV and 36 kH for 100 s in a plasma generating equipment before the drunken treatment and compared with an untreated control sample. The results showed that the CAP pre-treatment significantly inhibited the total viable count (TVC) values, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) content, and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity of the drunken shrimp compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, the CAP pre-treatment also significantly maintained the myofibrillar protein (MP) content, texture properties, and a more stable histological structure of muscle fibers compared to the control. High-throughput sequencing results confirmed that the CAP pre-treatment significantly reduced the diversity and abundance of several bacteria in the shrimp. Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) analysis detected that the CAP pre-treatment effectively maintained the stability of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These findings provide valuable theoretical support for the processing and storage of drunken shrimp.

Predictive value of frailty assessment tools in patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancer: An observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have simultaneously compared the predictive value of various frailty assessment tools for outcome measures in patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer surgery. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which assessment tool is most relevant to the prognosis of this population. AIM: To investigate the predictive value of three frailty assessment tools for patient prognosis in patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer surgery. METHODS: This single-centre, observational, prospective cohort study was conducted at the Affiliated Lianyungang Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from August 2021 to July 2022. A total of 229 patients aged ≥ 18 years who underwent surgery for gastrointestinal cancer were included in this study. We collected baseline data on the participants and administered three scales to assess frailty: The comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), Fried phenotype and FRAIL scale. The outcome measures were the postoperative severe complications and increased hospital costs. RESULTS: The prevalence of frailty when assessed with the CGA was 65.9%, 47.6% when assessed with the Fried phenotype, and 34.9% when assessed with the FRAIL scale. Using the CGA as a reference, kappa coefficients were 0.398 for the Fried phenotype and 0.291 for the FRAIL scale (both P < 0.001). Postoperative severe complications and increased hospital costs were observed in 29 (12.7%) and 57 (24.9%) patients, respectively. Multivariate logistic analysis confirmed that the CGA was independently associated with increased hospital costs (odds ratio = 2.298, 95% confidence interval: 1.044-5.057; P = 0.039). None of the frailty assessment tools were associated with postoperative severe complications. CONCLUSION: The CGA was an independent predictor of increased hospital costs in patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancer.

Development and validation of a competitive risk model in patients with rectal cancer: based on SEER database.

BACKGROUND: Rectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies. To predict the specific mortality risk of rectal cancer patients, we constructed a predictive nomogram based on a competing risk model. METHODS: The information on rectal cancer patients was extracted from the SEER database. Traditional survival analysis and specific death analysis were performed separately on the data. RESULTS: The present study included 23,680 patients, with 16,580 in the training set and 7100 in the validation set. The specific mortality rate calculated by the competing risk model was lower than that of the traditional survival analysis. Age, Marriage, Race, Sex, ICD-O-3Hist/Behav, Grade, AJCC stage, T stage, N stage, Surgery, Examined LN, RX SUMM-SURG OTH, Chemotherapy, CEA, Deposits, Regional nodes positive, Brain, Bone, Liver, Lung, Tumor size, and Malignant were independent influencing factors of specific death. The overall C statistic of the model in the training set was 0.821 (Se = 0.001), and the areas under the ROC curve for cancer-specific survival (CSS) at 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.842, 0.830, and 0.812, respectively. The overall C statistic of the model in the validation set was 0.829 (Se = 0.002), and the areas under the ROC curve for CSS at 1, 3, and 5 years were 0.851, 0.836, and 0.813, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The predictive nomogram based on a competing risk model for time-specific mortality in patients with rectal cancer has very desirable accuracy. Thus, the application of the predictive nomogram in clinical practice can help physicians make clinical decisions and follow-up strategies.

Comparative Efficacy of Different Drugs for the Treatment of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: At present, the therapies of dilated cardiomyopathy concentrated on the symptoms of heart failure and related complications. The study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a combination of various conventional and adjuvant drugs in treating dilated cardiomyopathy via network meta-analysis. METHODS: The study was reported according to the PRISMA 2020 statement. From inception through 27 June 2022, the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science databases were searched for randomized controlled trials on medicines for treating dilated cardiomyopathy. The quality of the included studies was evaluated according to the Cochrane risk of bias assessment. R4.1.3 and Revman5.3 software were used for analysis. RESULTS: There were 52 randomized controlled trials in this study, with a total of 25 medications and a sample size of 3048 cases. The network meta-analysis found that carvedilol, verapamil, and trimetazidine were the top three medicines for improving left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Ivabradine, bucindolol, and verapamil were the top 3 drugs for improving left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD). Ivabradine, L-thyroxine, and atorvastatin were the top 3 drugs for improving left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD). Trimetazidine, pentoxifylline, and bucindolol were the top 3 drugs for improving the New York Heart Association classification (NYHA) cardiac function score. Ivabradine, carvedilol, and bucindolol were the top 3 drugs for reducing heart rate (HR). CONCLUSION: A combination of different medications and conventional therapy may increase the clinical effectiveness of treating dilated cardiomyopathy. Beta-blockers, especially carvedilol, can improve ventricular remodeling, cardiac function, and clinical efficacy in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Hence, they can be used if patients tolerate them. If LVEF and HR do not meet the standard, ivabradine can also be used in combination with other treatments. However, since the quality and number of studies in our research were limited, large sample size, multi-center, and high-quality randomized controlled trials are required to corroborate our findings.

Ruthenium polypyridine complexes containing prenyl groups as antibacterial agents against Staphylococcus aureus through a membrane-disruption mechanism.

Four new ruthenium polypyridyl complexes with prenyl groups, [Ru(bpy)2 (MHIP)](PF6 )2 (Ru(II)-1), [Ru(dtb)2 (MHIP)](PF6 )2 (Ru(II)-2), [Ru(dmb)2 (MHIP)](PF6 )2 (Ru(II)-3), and [Ru(dmob)2 (MHIP)](PF6 )2 (Ru(II)-4) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, dtb = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine, dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine, dmob = 4,4'-dimethoxy-2,2'-bipyridine, and MHIP = 2-(2,6-dimethylhepta-1,5-dien-1-yl)-1H-imidazo[4,f][1,10]phenanthroline), were synthesized and characterized. Their antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus were assessed, and the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) value of Ru(II)-2 against S. aureus was only 0.5 µg/mL, showing the best antibacterial activity among them. S. aureus could be quickly killed by Ru(II)-2 in 30 min and Ru(II)-2 displayed an obvious inhibitive effect on the formation of a biofilm, which was essential to avoid the development of drug-resistance. Meanwhile, Ru(II)-2 exhibited a stable MIC value against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The antibacterial mechanism of Ru(II)-2 was probably related to depolarization of the cell membrane, and a change of permeability was associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species, leading to leakage of nucleic acid and bacterial death. Furthermore, Ru(II)-2 hardly showed toxicity to mammalian cells and the Galleria mellonella worm. Finally, murine infection studies also illustrated that Ru(II)-2 was highly effective against S. aureus in vivo.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction combined with early cardiac rehabilitation improves negative mood states and cardiac function in patients with acute myocardial infarction assisted with an intra-aortic balloon pump: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To investigate the clinical effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention combined with early cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) assisted with an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP). Methods: A total of 100 AMI patients with IABP assistance due to hemodynamic instability at Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital were enrolled in the study. The participants were divided into two groups using the random number table method (n = 50 each group). Patients receiving routine CR were assigned to the CR control group, while patients receiving MBSR plus CR were assigned to the MBSR intervention group. The intervention was performed twice a day until the removal of the IABP (5-7 days). Each patient's level of anxiety/depression and negative mood state were evaluated before and after intervention using the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and profiles of mood state scale (POMS). The results of the control and intervention groups were compared. IABP-related complications and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), measured with echocardiography, were also assessed and compared between the two groups. Results: The SAS, SDS, and POMS scores were lower in the MBSR intervention group than in the CR control group (P < 0.05). There were also less IABP-related complications in the MBSR intervention group. LVEF was significantly improved in both groups, but the degree of LVEF improvement was more significant in the MBSR intervention group than in the CR control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: MBSR combined with early CR intervention can assist in alleviating anxiety, depression, and other negative mood states, reduce IABP-related complications, and further improve cardiac function in AMI patients with IABP assistance.

Is the government's direct subsidy to COVID-19 effective?

With the outbreak of COVID-19, governments worldwide have provided direct subsidies to enterprises. This paper aims to identify the motivation behind these subsidies and evaluate their impact. Previous studies have overlooked the discussion of subsidy motivation, and there is still a wide divergence of views among scholars on whether subsidies have a positive effect on firm performance. To test the hypothesis, a fixed effect model is adopted. The study examines 228 Chinese A-share listed companies and confirms that subsidies are primarily attributable to the severity of the pandemic. Moreover, subsidies have a significant positive effect on social performance, particularly for small-scale enterprises. Contrary to the belief that subsidies have a positive effect on firm performance, this study disproves this viewpoint. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for subsidy policy-making during pandemics and outline the boundaries of government intervention in society and the economy.

The Efficacy of Foot Massage for Pain Relief of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Meta-analysis Study.

BACKGROUND: Foot massage may have some potential in improving pain relief in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and this meta-analysis aims to explore the impact of foot massage on pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EMbase, Web of science, EBSCO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched, and we included randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of foot massage on pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, compared with control intervention for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, foot massage was associated with significantly lower pain scores at 60 minutes [mean difference (MD)=-1.19; 95% CI=-2.01 to -0.38; P =0.004), pain scores at 90 minutes (MD=-1.41; 95% CI=-1.73 to -1.10; P <0.00001), pain scores at 120 to 150 minutes (MD=-2.20; 95% CI=-2.49 to -1.90; P <0.00001) and reduced need of additional analgesia (odd ratio=0.04; 95% CI=0.02-0.08; P <0.00001), but demonstrated no obvious effect on pain scores at 10 to 30 minutes (MD=-0.25; 95% CI=-0.79 to 0.29; P =0.37). CONCLUSIONS: Foot massage benefits to improve pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

A comparative study on the taste quality of Mytilus coruscus under different shucking treatments.

Shucking is an indispensable step in the preparation of cooked mussel products, as it facilitates the detachment of meat from the shell. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the effects of boiling, steaming, and microwaving on taste constituents in half-cooked mussel meat. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy revealed the key differential taste components of the different shucking groups. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated the positive effects of saltiness and bitterness on umami taste, while sweetness and sourness had negative effects on umami taste in half-cooked mussel meat. Furthermore, Glu, Asp, Ala, Arg, betaine, malic acid, succinic acid, glycogen, Cl-, Na+, K+, and PO3- 4 were quantitatively determined as the main taste compounds. The steaming shelling group had the most enriched taste components, with the highest equivalent umami concentration compared to the other shelling groups. Hence, steaming shucking may be favored due to abundant tastes and nutrients.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Compounds Containing Lonicera japonica, Chrysanthemum morifolium, and Siraitia grosvenorii Inhibits the Growth of Streptococcus mutans.

Postoperative sore throat (POST) is one of the common complications after endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia. This work attempted to design and screen out the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds containing Lonicera japonica Thunb., Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat., and Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C. Jeffrey ex A. M. Lu et Z. Y. Zhang, and further explored its antibacterial effect on POST. The antibacterial activities of Lonicera japonica, Chrysanthemum morifolium, and Siraitia grosvenorii on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) UA159 was measured. Lonicera japonica (40 mg/mL), Chrysanthemum morifolium (10 mg/mL), and Siraitia grosvenorii (10 mg/mL) effectively inhibited the growth of S. mutans. Then, 5 different TCM compounds were designed using the U5 (53) uniform design experimentation method. TCM compound C3 (50 mg/mL Lonicera japonica, 10 mg/mL Chrysanthemum morifolium, and 15 mg/mL Siraitia grosvenorii) significantly promoted the inhibition zone and inhibited the biofilm formation of S. mutans. In addition, TCM compound C3 exerted great antibacterial effects on S. mutans and had the least effect on cell viability of primary human pharyngeal epithelial cells. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that TCM compound containing Lonicera japonica, Chrysanthemum morifolium, and Siraitia grosvenorii inhibited the growth of S. mutans. Thus, this study provides a theoretical basis for screening out the optimal compatibility of effective components in TCM mouthwash for relieving POST.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of sacubitril-valsartan in the treatment of ventricular remodeling in patients with heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.

Objective: To systematically review the efficacy and safety of sacubitril and valsartan in treating acute myocardial infarction complicated with heart failure and to observe whether it can further improve patients' cardiac function, delay left ventricular remodeling, and reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Methods: Electronic databases including Pubmed, Embase, the Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP were searched. The search period was from the establishment of the database to March 2022 to search for relevant controlled trials. Two investigators independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Revman5.3 and Stata14 software were used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 13 studies, with 6,968 patients were included. Meta-analysis results showed that sacubitril-valsartan increased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and decreased NT-proBNP level was better at 6 months and within 3 months of follow-up compared with the control group (P < 0.00001), but there was no significant difference at the 12-month follow-up (P > 0.05). Sacubitril-valsartan reducing LVEDD [MD = -2.55, 95%CI(-3.21, -1.88), P < 0.00001], LVEDVI [MD = -3.61, 95%CI(-6.82, -0.39), P = 0.03], LVESVI [MD = -3.77, 95%CI(-6.05, -1.49), P = 0.001], and increasing the distance of the 6-min walk test [MD = 48.20, 95%CI(40.31, 56.09), P < 0.00001] were more effective. Compared with ACEI/ARB, the use of ARNI can further reduce the total incidence of adverse cardiovascular events [RR = 0.72, 95%CI(0.62, 0.84), P<0.0001] and the rate of HF rehospitalization [RR = 0.73, 95%CI(0.61, 0.86), P = 0.0002] in patients with acute myocardial infarction and heart failure; there was no significant difference in the incidence of cardiac death, recurrence of myocardial infarction, and malignant arrhythmia between the experimental group and the control group (P > 0.05). In terms of the incidence of adverse reactions, the incidence of cough in ARNI was lower than that in ACEI/ARB group [RR = 0.69, 95%CI(0.60, 0.80), P < 0.00001], but the incidence of hypotension was higher [RR = 1.29, 95%CI(1.18, 1.41), P < 0.00001], and the adverse reactions of hyperkalemia, angioedema and renal insufficiency were not increased (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The use of sacubitril-valsartan sodium in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated with heart failure can significantly improve cardiac function and reverse ventricular remodeling, reducing the risk of re-hospitalization for heart failure. There is no apparent adverse reaction except easy cause hypotension. Systematic trial registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [CRD42022322901].

Circular RNA screening identifies circMYLK4 as a regulator of fast/slow myofibers in porcine skeletal muscles.

The type of myofiber is related to the quality of meat. The slow oxidized myofiber helps to increase the tenderness and juiciness of muscle. Numerous studies have shown that circRNA plays a key role in skeletal muscle development. However, the role of circRNA in porcine skeletal myofiber types is unclear. In this study, we performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to study the differential expression of circRNA in the longissimus dorsi and the soleus muscle. A total of 40,757 circRNAs were identified, of which 181 were significantly different. Interestingly, some circRNAs were involved in metabolism pathways, AMPK, FoxO, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Besides, we focused on a novel circRNA-circMYLK4. By injecting circMYLK4-AAV into piglets, we found that circMYLK4 significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of the slow muscle marker genes. In summary, our study laid an essential foundation for further research of circRNA in myofiber type conversion and higher meat quality.

Charge-reversal nanomedicine based on black phosphorus for the development of A Novel photothermal therapy of oral cancer.

Driven by the lifestyle habits of modern people, such as excessive smoking, drinking, and chewing betel nut and other cancer-causing foods, the incidence of oral cancer has increased sharply and has a trend of becoming younger. Given the current mainstream treatment means of surgical resection will cause serious damage to many oral organs, so that patients lose the ability to chew, speak, and so on, it is urgent to develop new oral cancer treatment methods. Based on the strong killing effect of photothermal therapy on exposed superficial tumors, we developed a pH-responsive charge reversal nanomedicine system for oral cancer which is a kind of classic superficial tumor. With excellent photothermal properties of polydopamine (PDA) modified black phosphorus nanosheets (BP NSs) as basal material, then used polyacrylamide hydrochloride-dimethylmaleic acid (PAH-DMMA) charge reversal system for further surface modification, which can be negatively charged at blood circulation, and become a positive surface charge in the tumor site weakly acidic conditions due to the breaking of dimethylmaleic amide. Therefore, the uptake of oral cancer cells was enhanced and the therapeutic effect was improved. It can be proved that this nanomedicine has excellent photothermal properties and tumor enrichment ability, as well as a good killing effect on oral cancer cells through in vitro cytotoxicity test and in vivo photothermal test, which may become a very promising new model of oral cancer treatment.

Structure-activity relationships and antiproliferative effects of 1,2,3,4-4H-quinoxaline derivatives as tubulin polymerization inhibitors.

Colchicine binding site inhibitors (CBSIs) hold great potential for the treatment of various tumors and they can overcome multidrug resistance which the existing tubulin inhibitors such as paclitaxel and vinorelbine are faced with. Herein, we report the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of tetrahydro-quinoxaline derivatives as colchicine binding site inhibitors. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative activities against HT-29 and Hela cancer cell lines, and most of the target compounds demonstrated moderate to strong activities towards two tumor cell lines. In addition, the structure-activity relationships of these derivatives were also discussed. Among them, compounds 11a and 11b showed the most potent activities. Moreover, compound 11a inhibited the tubulin polymerization in both cell-free and cellular assays. Further profiling of compound 11a revealed that it arrested cell cycle in G2/M and induced cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, molecular docking study proved that compound 11a acted on the colchicine binding site. Therefore, 11a is a promising candidate for the discovery of colchicine binding site inhibitors.

New Advanced Glycation End Products Observed in Rat Urine by Untargeted Metabolomics after Feeding with Heat-Treated Skimmed Milk Powder.

SCOPE: Milk powder is commonly consumed throughout the world. However, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) will form in milk powder during thermal processing and long-term storage. This study aimed to identify such compounds with potential as new urinary biomarkers of intake of heat-treated skimmed milk powder (HSMP). METHODS AND RESULTS: A parallel study is performed with different dosages of HSMP as well as hydrolyzed HSMP and untreated skimmed milk powder (SMP) in 36 rats. The 24-h urine samples on day 7 or 8 are collected and profiled by untargeted UPLC-Qtof-MS metabolomics. Statistical analysis revealed 25 metabolites differentiating SMP and HSMP; nineteen of these structures are proposed as lysine- and arginine-derived AGEs, and heterocyclic compounds. CONCLUSION: These metabolites may potentially serve as biomarkers of food intake pending further validation to assess intakes of heat-processed dairy foods and thus help to elucidate the effects of HSMP consumption or dietary AGEs on human health.

Effect of steam explosion pretreatment on the production of microscale tuna bone power by ultra-speed pulverization.

In this study, a steam explosion pretreatment method was established to prepare tuna bone powder. The conditions were optimized such that steam pressure of 0.6 MPa, reaction time of 5 min, and sample weight of 100 g. The result showed that steam explosion pretreatment would not change the chemical structure of bone powder, however, the median particle size (D50) of the steam explosion pretreated tuna bone powder (SE-TBP) (13.186 µm) was significantly smaller than that of normal biological calcium tuna bone powder (N-TBP) (169.762 µm). The calcium absorption rate (79.75 ± 2.33%) and utilization rate (78.75% ± 2.85%) of the mice fed with SE-TBP were both higher than those of fed with CaCO3 or N-TBP with the same calcium equivalent in the feed. The steam explosion pretreatment method could obtain ideal tuna bone powder in a shorter time, provide a method for deep processing and utilization of tuna bone by-product.

Solvent-free nanoalumina loaded nanocellulose aerogel for efficient oil and organic solvent adsorption.

HYPOTHESIS: Cellulose-based aerogel, due to its rich reserves, environmental friendliness and porous structure, is considered as a new type of adsorbents for treating oil and water pollution. However, the functionalization of cellulose aerogel is still required for the efficient increase of its adsorption performance in wide applications. The combination of nanomaterials could significantly improve the adsorption capability of nanocellulose aerogel. EXPERIMENTS: In this work, nanocomposite aerogels comprising of nanocellulose and nanoalumina (NC/Al2O3) are produced via a solvent-free method and the effect of weight ratios between nanocellulose and nanoalumina on the adsorption properties of NC/Al2O3 aerogels has been studied. FINDINGS: The results reveal that the NC/Al2O3 aerogel with a low density of 5.1 mg cm-3 could obtain the optimal pore microstructures and the highest oil and organic solvent adsorption capacities with the preparation condition under the nanocellulose/nanoalumina weight ratio of 1:0.25 and 0.4 wt% of nanocellulose in aqueous solution. The presence of nanoalumina facilitates the change of microstructure morphologies, the increase of BET specific surface area and the adsorption capacities of NC aerogel. Compared with pure NC aerogel (74.07 ± 1.67, 69.87 ± 1.01, 81.21 ± 3.20, 52.07 ± 1.70, 48.49 ± 1.01, 75.45 ± 3.58 and 87.03 ± 0.46 g g-1 for thiophene, anhydrous ethanol, ethyl acetate, cyclohexane, sesame oil, acetone and dichloromethane, respectively), the NC/Al2O3 aerogel manifests an outstanding adsorption capacity (108.07 ± 0.37, 89.91 ± 4.83, 93.93 ± 3.81, 71.13 ± 2.48, 64.83 ± 2.25, 85.19 ± 3.87 and 117.65 ± 5.68 g g-1, accordingly). By considering the desirable performance features and the convenient fabrication approach, this nanocellulose nanocomposite aerogel might be a feasible alternative for oily waste water recovery and conservation of environment.

miR-324-5p Inhibits C2C12 cell Differentiation and Promotes Intramuscular Lipid Deposition through lncDUM and PM20D1.

Skeletal muscle is an important metabolic organ of the body, and impaired skeletal muscle differentiation can result in a wide range of metabolic diseases. It has been shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in skeletal muscle differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of mmu-miR-324-5p in the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts and lipid droplet deposition in myotubes for future targeted therapies. We found that mmu-miR-324-5p was highly expressed in mouse skeletal muscle. Overexpression of miR-324-5p significantly inhibited C2C12 myoblast differentiation while promoting oleate-induced lipid accumulation and ß-oxidation in C2C12 myoblasts. Conversely, inhibition of mmu-miR-324-5p promoted C2C12 myoblast differentiation and inhibited lipid deposition in myotubes. Mechanistically, mmu-miR-324-5p negatively regulated the expression of long non-coding Dum (lncDum) and peptidase M20 domain containing 1 (Pm20d1) in C2C12 myoblasts. Reduced lncDum expression was associated with a significant decrease in the expression of myogenesis-related genes. Knockdown of mmu-miR-324-5p increased the levels of lncDum and myogenesis-related gene expression. Following oleate-induced lipid deposition in C2C12 myoblasts, overexpression of mmu-miR-324-5p decreased the expression of Pm20d1 while increasing the expression of mitochondrial ß-oxidation and long-chain fatty acid synthesis-related genes. In conclusion, we provide evidence that miR-324-5p inhibits C2C12 myoblast differentiation and promotes intramuscular lipid deposition by targeting lncDum and Pm20d1, respectively.

Effect of the Combination of Ketorolac and Bupivacaine on Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Postoperative Analgesia After Gynecological Laparoscopic Surgery.

BACKGROUND This study assessed the additional benefits of bupivacaine when combined with ketorolac for transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block after gynecological laparoscopic surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS This randomized, observer-blind trial recruited 153 patients who underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to receive bupivacaine combined with ketorolac 15 mg/side for TAP block (TK group), bupivacaine for TAP block and 30 mg postoperative intravenous ketorolac (T group), or 30 mg postoperative intravenous ketorolac alone (C group). The primary endpoints included consumption of sufentanil for 24 h postoperatively, actual press times of the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, and effective press times of the PCA pump, whereas the secondary endpoints included numerical rating scale (NRS) pain scores at rest and during activity, satisfaction with analgesia, episodes of nausea and vomiting and length of hospital stay. RESULTS Sufentanil consumption, actual press times of the PCA pump, and effective press times of the PCA pump were lower in the TK and T groups than in the C group. NRS scores at rest and during activity at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours were significantly lower in the TK and T groups than in the C group. The TK and T groups showed greater satisfaction with analgesia than the C group, while the TK group showed greater overall satisfaction than the C group. Lengths of stay, rates of nausea and vomiting, and venting times did not differ significantly among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS Combined ketorolac and bupivacaine as TAP block improved the effectiveness of analgesia without increasing adverse events. Trial registration number: ChiCTR1900022577.