miR-375 upregulates lipid metabolism and inhibits cell proliferation involved in chicken fatty liver formation and inheritance via targeting recombination signal binding protein for immunoglobulin kappa J region (RBPJ).

Poultry is susceptible to fatty liver which lead to decrease egg production and increase mortality. But the potential molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. In the current study, in combination with transcriptome sequencing and miRNA sequencing data analysis from F1 generation of the normal liver and fatty liver tissues, the differentially expressed miR-375 and its target gene RBPJ were screened and verified. The expression levels of miR-375 and RBPJ gene in the liver between control and fatty liver groups of F0-F3 generation for Jingxing-Huang (JXH) chicken are different significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). And downregulated RBPJ expression can promote TG content and lipid droplets in primary hepatocytes cultured in vitro (P < 0.01). Cell proliferation-related genes, including PMP22, IGF-1, IGF-2, and IGFBP-5, increased or decreased significantly after overexpression or knock-down RBPJ (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), respectively. This study uniquely revealed that miR-375 induced lipid synthesis and inhibited cell proliferation may partly due to regulation of RBPJ expression, thereby involving in fatty liver formation and inheritance in chicken. The results could be useful in identifying candidate genes and revealing the pathogenesis of fatty liver that may be used for disease-resistance selective breeding in chicken.

Quantum teleportation between the narrow armchair graphene nanoribbons with zigzag ends.

We study quantum teleportation between the narrow armchair graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with zigzag ends. Several influences including Coulomb repulsion among electrons, temperature and ribbon length on the output state and teleportation fidelity are discussed in detail. Moreover, we derive the entanglement of the output state and corresponding fidelity as a function of the input and channel entanglement. For practical applications, we also propose a scheme for implementing the single-qubit gates (X, ZandHgates) and two-qubit controlled-NOT gate in GNRs, based on the Bang-Bang control strategy and synchronous step magnetic field.

Pancreaticojejunostomy Conducive to Biological Healing in Minimally Invasive Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

BACKGROUND: Pancreaticojejunostomy, an independent risk factor for pancreatic fistula, is the cause of several postoperative complications of pancreaticoduodenectomy. As suturing in minimally invasive surgery is difficult to perform, more simplified methods are needed to guarantee a safe pancreatic anastomosis. The concept of "biological healing" proposed in recent years has changed the conventional understanding of the anastomosis, which recommends rich blood supply, low tension, and loose sutures in the reconstruction of the pancreatic outflow tract. METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PubMed for articles on pancreaticojejunostomy published between January 2014 and December 2021. After following a due selection process, several techniques developed in accordance with the concept of biological healing that were found suitable for minimally invasive surgery and their related clinical outcomes were described in this review. RESULTS: The incidence of clinically relevant pancreatic fistula associated with the presented techniques did not exceed 15.9%, indicating superior results compared to Cattell-Warren double-layer duct-to-mucosa anastomosis (incidence: approximately 20%). The features and drawbacks of these approaches have been enumerated from the viewpoint of biological healing. CONCLUSIONS: This review described several modified pancreaticojejunostomy techniques with the advantages of a simplified procedure and a lower incidence of pancreatic fistula. Surgeons can choose to apply them in clinical practice to improve patient prognosis.

miR-375 Induced the Formation and Transgenerational Inheritance of Fatty Liver in Poultry by Targeting MAP3K1.

The liver of poultry is the primary site of lipid synthesis. The excessive production of lipids accumulates in liver tissues causing lipid metabolism disorders, which result in fatty liver disease and have a transgenerational effect of acquired phenotypes. However, its specific mechanisms have not yet been fully understood. In this study, the differentially expressed miR-375 as well as its target gene MAP3K1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 1) were screened out by interaction network analysis of microRNA sequencing results and transcriptome profiling in the fatty liver group of the F0-F3 generation (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Furthermore, the results showed that the number of lipid droplets and triglyceride content were significantly decreased after upregulation of miR-375 in primary hepatocyte culture in vitro (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). The MAP3K1 knockdown group exhibited the opposite trends (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). P53, Bcl-x, PMP22, and CDKN2C related to cell proliferation were significantly upregulated or downregulated after knocking down MAP3K1 (p < 0.05). This research uniquely revealed that silencing miR-375 inhibits lipid biosynthesis and promotes cell proliferation, which may be due to the partial regulation of the expression level of MAP3K1, thereby further participating in the transgenerational inheritance process of regulating liver lipid metabolism. These results reveal the pathogenesis of fatty liver in noncoding RNA and provide good candidate genes for breeding progress of disease resistance in chickens.

Dynamics of quantum entanglement in a zigzag graphene nanoribbon.

We study the dynamics of entanglement between two edge spins in a zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) which is thermalized with a reservoir at temperatureT. The results show that the entanglement evolution displays oscillating behaviors in the presence of an external magnetic field. Such oscillating behaviors of entanglement strongly depend on the field frequency and relative location between two inter-edge coupled spins. At some critical field frequencies, the entanglement exhibits a periodic structure. When the temperature is low, the oscillating patterns of entanglement are quite regular and symmetrical. When the temperature is high, the patterns of entanglement evolution occur irregular distortions due to the thermal fluctuations. However, the entanglement between two inter-edge coupled spins in ZGNR still exists a nontrivial value even at room temperature.

The Ras-ERK signaling pathway regulates acetylated activating transcription factor 2 via p300 in pancreatic cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2) regulates the expression of downstream target genes and is phosphorylated by the Ras-extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Acetylation of ATF2 is necessary for this type of regulation. However, the molecular mechanism by which the Ras-ERK pathway mediates the regulation of acetylated ATF2 is unknown. This study investigates the mechanism of Ras-ERK pathway-mediated regulation of acetylated ATF2 in maintaining the characteristic phenotype of pancreatic cancer cells. METHODS: This study was carried out using ASPC-1 and BXPC-3 pancreatic cancer cell lines transfected with the double mutant RasG12V/T35S. The levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 were measured to establish the activated Ras-ERK pathway. The regulation of acetylated ATF2 was examined by detecting the protein level using western blotting, and the effects on cancer cell phenotype were measured using cell viability, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis assays. Also, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays were used to measure the effect on respective downstream target genes. RESULTS: The results showed that RasG12V/T35S reduced the level of acetylated ATF2 in ASPC-1 and BXPC-3 cells. Compared to wild-type ATF2, the mutant ATF2K357Q (which mimics the irreversible acetylated form of ATF2) reduced the cancer cell phenotype and showed decreased enrichment on target genes upon transfection with Ras. Moreover, the level of acetylated ATF2 was regulated by the degradation of p300 through E3 ubiquitin ligase mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2). CONCLUSIONS: Activation of the Ras-ERK pathway regulates acetylated ATF2 through degradation of p300 via a proteasome-dependent pathway, which alters the transcription of downstream target genes responsible for the cancer cell phenotype.

The Ras-ERK1/2 signaling pathway regulates H3K9ac through PCAF to promote the development of pancreatic cancer.

AIMS: The regulation of the Ras-ERK pathway is the crucial point in pancreatic carcinogenesis, and the Ras kinase is an essential regulatory upstream signal molecule of the ERK1/2 pathway. H3K9ac is a vital histone modification, but its specific role in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. This research aims to study whether the modification level of H3K9ac can regulate the characteristic phenotype of the pancreatic cancer cells by affecting the downstream expression, proliferation, migration, and other related genes. MAIN METHODS: The RasG12V/T35S were used to transfect pancreatic cancer cells, and the levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 and H3K9ac were detected by western blotting. The colony formation assay, transwell assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay were used to study cell viability, migration, and the downstream genes of the ERK1/2 pathway. KEY FINDINGS: The results showed that Ras ERK1/2 reduced H3K9ac expression in ASPC-1 cells, and H3K9ac significantly repressed the viability of cells, colony formation, and ASPC-1 cell movement induced by Ras ERK1/2. Besides, HDAC1 silencing increased H3K9ac expression, and changed the effect of Ras ERK1/2 on ASPC-1 cells proliferation, its movement, and mRNAs of ERK1/2 downstream genes. Moreover, Ras ERK1/2 inhibited H3K9ac expression by the degradation of PCAF via MDM2. SIGNIFICANCE: Ras ERK1/2 promotes pancreatic carcinogenesis cell movement, through down-regulating H3K9ac via MDM2 mediated PCAF degradation.

Thermal quantum correlations in zigzag graphene nanoribbons.

Based on the effective spin-ladder model, we compute the negativity and geometric quantum discord (GQD) between two edge spins in zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) thermalized with a reservoir at temperature T (canonical ensemble). The results show that the entanglement only exists in antiferromagnetically coupled spin pairs, and completely vanishes between any two spins at the same ribbon edge. Intriguingly, the dominant entanglement always occurs in the nearest inter-edge coupled spin pairs, which is very robust even at room temperature. By contrast, almost all edge spin pairs can hold non-zero GQD, which strongly depends on the ribbon width. To get further insight into the properties of entanglement, the multiparticle entanglement (ME) shared between three spins is studied. The results show that ME always exists among spins located at different edges, and it is more robust than the corresponding two-spin entanglement in against the temperature. These remarkable properties make ZGNRs very promising for possible applications in quantum information processing.

In situ interface engineering for probing the limit of quantum dot photovoltaic devices.

Quantum dot (QD) photovoltaic devices are attractive for their low-cost synthesis, tunable band gap and potentially high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the experimentally achieved efficiency to date remains far from ideal. Here, we report an in-situ fabrication and investigation of single TiO2-nanowire/CdSe-QD heterojunction solar cell (QDHSC) using a custom-designed photoelectric transmission electron microscope (TEM) holder. A mobile counter electrode is used to precisely tune the interface area for in situ photoelectrical measurements, which reveals a strong interface area dependent PCE. Theoretical simulations show that the simplified single nanowire solar cell structure can minimize the interface area and associated charge scattering to enable an efficient charge collection. Additionally, the optical antenna effect of nanowire-based QDHSCs can further enhance the absorption and boost the PCE. This study establishes a robust 'nanolab' platform in a TEM for in situ photoelectrical studies and provides valuable insight into the interfacial effects in nanoscale solar cells.

Synergism of PARP inhibitor fluzoparib (HS10160) and MET inhibitor HS10241 in breast and ovarian cancer cells.

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi) are promising targeted therapeutics for breast and ovarian cancers bearing a germline BRCA1/2 mutation (BRCA m), and several have already received regulatory approval in the United States. In patients with a BRCA m cancer, PARPi can increase the burden of unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks by blocking PARP activity and trapping PARP1 onto damaged DNA. Resistance to PARP inhibitors can block the formation of DNA double-strand breaks through BRCA-related DNA repair pathway. MET is a hyper-activated receptor tyrosine kinase expressed in multiple cancer types and the activation contributes to resistance to DNA damage-inducing therapeutic drugs. Our previous study showed that MET inhibition by pan-kinase inhibitors has synergism with PARPi in suppressing growth of breast cancer in vitro and in xenograft tumor models. In this study, we validated the inhibitory effect of novel inhibitors, HS10241 (selective MET inhibitor) and HS10160 (PARPi), to their target respectively in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) cells. We further demonstrated that these two inhibitors function synergistically in eliminating TNBC and HGSOC cells; combining with HS10241 increased DNA double-strand breaks induced by HS10160 in cancer cells; and PARP1 tyrosine (Y)-907 phosphorylation (PARP1 p-Y907) can be an effective biomarker as an indicator of MET-mediated PARPi in HGSOC. Our results suggest that the combination of HS10241 and HS10160 may benefit patients bearing tumors overexpressing MET as well as those resistant to single-agent PARPi treatment.

Quantum dissonance in chiral graphene nanoribbons.

Based on the effective spin-ladder model, we study the properties of quantum dissonance (Q) between two edge spins in chiral graphene nanoribbons (CGNRs) thermalized with a reservoir at temperature T, and discuss the influences of relative location between two edge spins, ribbon width, temperature, and on-site Coulomb repulsion (U) on Q. The results show that Q is widely present in Wannier edge states. For intra-edge coupled spin pairs, quantum entanglement (E) is zero, but there still exists considerable value of Q. Interestingly, Q always keeps a constant for entangled edge spin pairs. Considering the thermal effect, it shows that Q always decays with the increasing temperature T, and the decay rate is very sensitive to the intensity of U. Compared Q with E and total quantum correlation (quantum discord, denoted by D), we conjecture that the quantum correlations for a bipartite Wannier edge state in CGNRs satisfy the relation Q ⩽ D-E.

Healthy aging: A bibliometric analysis of the literature.

Due to dramatic growth of the aging population worldwide, there has been an urgent call for a public health strategy to manage healthy aging, with the ultimate goal being advancement of aging research. Considerable progress has been made in uncovering the mystery of aging process using multidisciplinary methods. There is a growing consensus in the field that aging traits which were originally thought to be disparate are likely to be interconnected. Thus, emerging research is needed to incorporate current findings of aging by building multiscale network models. This study reported the network of healthy aging research using bibliometric approaches. Based on the results, aging of the brain and muscle is a primary research focus which is a critical part of the multiscale network regulating the aging process. Among aging-associated diseases, Alzheimer's disease and frailty are among the main research focuses, and emerging work has focused on developing diagnostic tools for these diseases. For research on anti-aging interventions, calorie restriction, physical activity, and anti-aging pharmacology are the main interventions, of which the underlying mechanisms have been comprehensively studied in animal models.

Chinese version of the clinical learning environment comparison survey: Assessment of reliability and validity.

BACKGROUND: Simulation is recommended as a substitute for clinical practice among nursing students. No current guidelines exist regarding the accurate percentage of simulation hours versus clinical practice hours. Comparing simulation with clinical practice is needed so that both strategies can be optimally combined in nursing education. The 29-item Clinical Learning Environment Comparison Survey (CLECS) is validated to compare the traditional and simulated clinical environment in meeting nursing students' learning needs. This type of tool is not available in China. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to translate and test the psychometric properties of CLECS for Chinese undergraduate nursing students. DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. SETTINGS: Two nursing schools in Central and East China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 179 undergraduate nursing students who had participated in both traditional and high fidelity simulated clinical practice were recruited. METHODS: A standard procedure with forward translation, back translation, cultural adaptation and pilot testing was followed to test the CLECS (Chinese version). An exploratory factor analysis was used to establish a modified factor structure of CLECS (Chinese version); a confirmatory factor analysis verified its construct validity. Reliability of the CLECS (Chinese version) was estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Cronbach's alpha coefficients. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analyses explained 61.43% and 60.11% of the total variances in traditional and simulated clinical environment. The proposed factor solution of the CLECS (Chinese version) obtained satisfactory model fit and nesting model between two nursing schools. In the proposed model, ICCs were 0.61 and 0.93, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.75 and 0.95 in the traditional and simulated clinical environment. CONCLUSIONS: The CLECS (Chinese version) showed satisfactory reliability and validity among Chinese undergraduate nursing students. Further validation of the CLECS (Chinese version) is needed in a more representative and larger sample. The CLECS (Chinese version) should be further tested as an effective tool to compare the traditional and simulated clinical practice among Chinese nursing schools.

Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Essential Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture therapy for patients with hypertension. MATERIAL AND METHODS We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Wan-fang Data Database from inception through 29 April 2017. Randomized controlled trials investigating acupuncture therapy for hypertension were included. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for the data analysis. RESULTS A total of 30 RCTs involving 2107 patients were included. The overall methodological quality of the included studies was low. Pooled results demonstrate that acupuncture plus anti-hypertensive drugs is better than anti-hypertensive drugs alone at reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP). The same result was observed for pooled data from experiments that compared acupuncture plus medication to sham acupuncture plus medication at reducing SBP and DBP. However, studies reveal that using acupuncture alone or anti-hypertensive drugs alone do not differ in the effect on lowering blood pressure. Similarly, acupuncture alone also did not differ from sham acupuncture alone, and electroacupuncture versus anti-hypertensive drugs was not significantly different at reducing SBP and DBP. CONCLUSIONS Our systematic review indicates there is inadequate high quality evidence that acupuncture therapy is useful in treating hypertension, as the exact effect and safety of acupuncture therapy for hypertension is still unclear. Therefore, research with larger sample sizes and higher-quality RCTs is still needed.

Surface Energy and Surface Stability of Ag Nanocrystals at Elevated Temperatures and Their Dominance in Sublimation-Induced Shape Evolution.

The surface energy and surface stability of Ag nanocrystals (NCs) are under debate because the measurable values of the surface energy are very inconsistent, and the indices of the observed thermally stable surfaces are apparently in conflict. To clarify this issue, a transmission electron microscope is used to investigate these problems in situ with elaborately designed carbon-shell-capsulated Ag NCs. It is demonstrated that the {111} surfaces are still thermally stable at elevated temperatures, and the victory of the formation of {110} surfaces over {111} surfaces on the Ag NCs during sublimation is due to the special crystal geometry. It is found that the Ag NCs behave as quasiliquids during sublimation, and the cubic NCs represent a featured shape evolution, which is codetermined by both the wetting equilibrium at the Ag-C interface and the relaxation of the system surface energy. Small Ag NCs (≈10 nm) no longer maintain the wetting equilibrium observed in larger Ag NCs, and the crystal orientations of ultrafine Ag NCs (≈6 nm) can rotate to achieve further shape relaxation. Using sublimation kinetics, the mean surface energy of Ag NCs at 1073 K is calculated to be 1.1-1.3 J m-2 .

A novel model for identification of prognostic indicator for clinical outcome of squamous cell lung carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (SCCL) is the most common and aggressive lung tumor with poor clinical outcome. Identification and development of potential genes in prognostic process could be beneficial for clinical management. Sequencing data of 300 SCCL samples at level 3 were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data portal. Single-factor survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Functional annotation was conducted on the high-frequency genes filtered out by 1000 times of the least absolute shrinkage and selectionator operator regression analysis. Meanwhile, multi-factor survival analysis was conducted and ROC curve were produced. Risk coefficient and expression level of each gene were used in the division of high-risk and low-risk genes. The number of high-risk genes of each sample was obtained, and the survival condition of different samples was analyzed. Finally, the number of optimal high-risk genes was obtained. Seven thousand nine hundred ninety-eight differential expressed mRNAs were obtained, and 2041 potential prognostic genes were screened out. Twenty one of the 22 high-frequency genes were showed to have significant impact on prognostic process. Single-factor analysis was performed on the 22 models, and eight efficient models were obtained, and seven among them were proven to be significant. By random testing, ≥5 genes and ≥6 genes were proven to be most stable and ≥6 genes were finally recognized as the beneficial indicator to distinguish lung squamous cell carcinoma. Twenty-two potential genes differentially expressed in lung squamous cell carcinoma were identified as potential prognostic indicator in clinical outcome, and the novel model in this study could be applied in other cancer types.

Quantum correlations in chiral graphene nanoribbons.

We compute the entanglement and the quantum discord (QD) between two edge spins in chiral graphene nanoribbons (CGNRs) thermalized with a reservoir at temperature T (canonical ensemble). We show that the entanglement only exists in inter-edge coupled spin pairs, and there is no entanglement between any two spins at the same ribbon edge. By contrast, almost all edge spin pairs can hold non-zero QD, which strongly depends on the ribbon width and the Coulomb repulsion among electrons. More intriguingly, the dominant entanglement always occurs in the pair of nearest abreast spins across the ribbon, and even at room temperature this type of entanglement is still very robust, especially for narrow CGNRs with the weak Coulomb repulsion. These remarkable properties make CGNRs very promising for possible applications in spin-quantum devices.