Integrative Analysis of Multi-Omic Data for the Characteristics of Endometrial Cancer.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is a frequently diagnosed gynecologic cancer. Identifying reliable prognostic genes for predicting EC onset is crucial for reducing patient morbidity and mortality. Here, a comprehensive strategy with transcriptomic and proteomic data was performed to measure EC's characteristics. Based on the publicly available RNA-seq data, death-associated protein kinase 3, recombination signal-binding protein for the immunoglobulin kappa J region, and myosin light chain 9 were screened out as potential biomarkers that affect the EC patients' prognosis. A linear model was further constructed by multivariate Cox regression for the prediction of the risk of being malignant. From further integrative analysis, exosomes were found to have a highly enriched role that might participate in EC occurrence. The findings were validated by qRT-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blotting. Collectively, we constructed a prognostic-gene-based model for EC prediction and found that exosomes participate in EC incidents, revealing significantly promising support for the diagnosis of EC.

Responses of leaf traits to altitude in Quercus aquifolioides and Sorbus rehderiana on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China.

As the most senstitive plant organs to environmental changes, leaves serve as crucial indicators of plant survival strategies. We measured the morphology, anatomical traits, gas exchange parameters, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of Quercus aquifolioides (evergreen broad-leaved) and Sorbus rehderiana (deciduous broad-leaved) at altitudes of 2600, 2800, 3000, 3200 and 3400 m on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. We explored the similarity and difference in their responses to altitude change and the ecological adaptation strategy. The results showed that as the altitude increased, leaf dry matter content of Q. aquifolioides decreased, that of S. rehderiana increased, leaf size for both species gradually decreased, and the palisade coefficient of Q. aquifolioides showed a decreasing trend, contrasting with the increasing trend in S. rehderiana. As the altitude increased, the thickness of leaves, palisade tissue, spongy tissue, upper epidermis, and lower epidermis of both species increased significantly, with the increment of 22.4%, 4.9%, 45.1%, 23.3%, 19.6%, and 28.2%, 46.9%, 8.9%, 25.9%, 20.8% at altitude of 3400 m, respectively, compared with the altitude of 2600 m. The gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of S. rehderiana significantly increased with increasing altitude, while Q. aquifolioides showed the opposite trend. Leaf anatomical traits, gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of both species displayed considerable plasticity. There were significant correlations among most leaf traits and between leaf traits and altitude. The survival strategy of Q. aquifolioides was more conservative in response to altitude changes, while that of S. rehderiana was more active. Both species adapted to different altitudes by adjusting their own traits.

Epstein-Barr virus-based prognostic model in nodular sclerosis classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

The role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in lymphoma cells of nodular sclerosis classic Hodgkin lymphoma (NScHL) is controversial. Our aim was to explore this and establish a clinically feasible model for risk stratification. We interrogated data from 542 consecutive subjects with NScHL receiving ABVD therapy and demonstrated EBV-infection in their lymphoma cells with EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBERs) in situ hybridization. Subjects were divided into training and validation datasets. As data from the training dataset suggested EBERs-positivity was the only independent prognostic factor for both progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), we developed corresponding prognostic models based on it. Our models showed excellent performance in both training and validation cohort. These data indicate the close association of EBV infection and the outcomes of persons with NScHL receiving ABVD. Additionally, our newly developed models should help physicians estimate prognosis and select individualized therapy.

Construction of a Soft Antifouling PAA/PSBMA Hydrogel Coating with High Toughness and Low Swelling through the Dynamic Coordination Bonding Provided by Al(OH)3 Nanoparticles.

Marine biofouling, resulting from the adhesion of marine organisms to ship surfaces, has long been a significant issue in the maritime industry. In this paper, we focused on utilizing soft and hydrophilic hydrogels as a potential approach for antifouling (AF) coatings. Acrylic acid (AA) with a polyelectrolyte effect and N-(3-sulfopropyl)-N-(methacryloxyethyl)-N,N-dimethylammonium betaine (SBMA) with an antipolyelectrolyte effect were selected as monomers. By adjusting the monomer ratio, we were able to create hydrogel coatings that exhibited low swelling ratio in both fresh water and seawater. The Al(OH)3 nanoparticle, as a physical cross-linker, provided better mechanical properties (higher tensile strength and larger elongation at break) than the chemical cross-linker through the dynamic coordination bonds and plentiful hydrogen bonds. Additionally, we incorporated trehalose into the hydrogel, enabling the repair of the hydrogel network through covalent-like hydrogen bonding. The zwitterion compound SBMA endowed the hydrogel with excellent AF performance. It was found that the highest SBMA content did not lead to the best antibacterial performance, as bacterial adhesion quantity was also influenced by the charge of the hydrogel. The hydrogel with appropriate SBMA content being close to electrical neutrality exhibits the strongest zwitterionic property of PSBMA chains, resulting in the best antibacterial adhesion performance. Furthermore, the pronounced hydrophilicity of SBMA enhanced the lubrication of the hydrogel surface, thereby reducing the friction resistance when applied to the hull surface during ship navigation.

Advancing document-level event extraction: Integration across texts and reciprocal feedback.

The primary objective of document-level event extraction is to extract relevant event information from lengthy texts. However, many existing methods for document-level event extraction fail to fully incorporate the contextual information that spans across sentences. To overcome this limitation, the present study proposes a document-level event extraction model called Integration Across Texts and Reciprocal Feedback (IATRF). The proposed model constructs a heterogeneous graph and employs a graph convolutional network to enhance the connection between document and entity information. This approach facilitates the acquisition of semantic information enriched with document-level context. Additionally, a Transformer classifier is introduced to transform multiple event types into a multi-label classification task. To tackle the challenge of event argument recognition, this paper introduces the Reciprocal Feedback Argument Extraction strategy. Experimental results conducted on both our COSM dataset and the publicly available ChFinAnn dataset demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms previous methods in terms of F1 value, thus confirming its effectiveness. The IATRF model effectively solves the problems of long-distance document context-aware representation and cross-sentence argument dispersion.

Stepwise Alloying in Liquid-like Solid Solutions to Achieve Crystallographic Distortion for Regulating Thermoelectric Transport Behavior.

With the surge of energy consumption, environmental-protection Cu2-xSe thermoelectric materials are increasingly attracting attention. In this work, multilayered structures are constructed in Cu2-xSe solid solutions by alloying (SnSe)0.75(AgBiSe2)0.25, which strongly scatters full-wavelength phonons by carefully regulating the crystallographic distortion. By using the stepwise alloying strategies, crystallographic distortion and the resultant strain fields presented in microstructure were strengthened markedly, which enhanced the phonon scattering. Meanwhile, by adjusting the coalloying content of Ag, Bi, and Sn elements, the carrier and phonon transports were well decoupled in p-type Cu2-xSe, and the thermoelectric performance was significantly enhanced. By optimized power factor as well as depressed heat transport originating from the moderate coalloying, the maximum zT of 1.23 at 750 K was achieved in Cu1.9Se - 1 wt % (SnSe)0.75(AgBiSe2)0.25. This study indicated that the stepwise alloying strategy was a suitable method for optimizing zT of Cu2-xSe.

Effects of slope aspect on soil enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation in subalpine region of wes-tern Sichuan, China.

Exploring the resource limitation of soil microbial metabolism is essential to understand ecosystem functions and processes. However, the spatially divergent patterns and drivers of soil microbial nutrient limitation cha-racteristics in montane ecosystems at small scales, especially at the slope aspect scale, are still unclear. In this study, we measured soil enzyme activities involved in carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycle and quantified the microbial nutrient limitations by enzyme stoichiometry in two representative mountain sites in subalpine region of western Sichuan, including the sunny and shady slopes with different vegetation types (shrubland and forest, respectively) in Miyaluo of Lixian County, and with the same vegetation type (shrubland) in Yakexia of Heishui County. The results showed that soil enzyme activities and their stoichiometric ratios were significantly different between slope aspects in Miyaluo, while the differences were not significant in Yakexia. The stoichiometry ratio of C-, N- and P-acquiring enzymes on the sunny slope of Miyaluo was 1:0.96:0.92, approaching the 1:1:1 ratio at the global scale, but deviated from 1:1:1 on the shady slope of Miyaluo (1:1.39:0.75) and the different slopes of Yakexia (1:1.09:1.35). There was no significant difference in vector length between slope aspects at both sites, indicating no significant effect of slope aspect on the microbial C limitation. The vector angle was significantly higher on the sunny slope (43.6°) than that on the shady slope (28.7°) in Miyaluo, suggesting that the microorganisms were mainly N-limited. Partial least squares path model showed that the vector angle was mainly directly influenced by the soil nutrient ratios. The vector angle ranged from 50.3° to 51.4°, and did not differ between slope aspects in Yakexia. Therefore, differences in vegetation types between slope aspects drove variations in soil enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation through soil properties. It would provide a scientific basis for predicting the spatial pattern of soil enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation.

Umami-BERT: An interpretable BERT-based model for umami peptides prediction.

Umami peptides have received extensive attention due to their ability to enhance flavors and provide nutritional benefits. The increasing demand for novel umami peptides and the vast number of peptides present in food call for more efficient methods to screen umami peptides, and further exploration is necessary. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop deep learning (DL) model to realize rapid screening of umami peptides. The Umami-BERT model was devised utilizing a novel two-stage training strategy with Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) and the inception network. In the pre-training stage, attention mechanisms were implemented on a large amount of bioactive peptides sequences to acquire high-dimensional generalized features. In the re-training stage, umami peptide prediction was carried out on UMP789 dataset, which is developed through the latest research. The model achieved the performance with an accuracy (ACC) of 93.23% and MCC of 0.78 on the balanced dataset, as well as an ACC of 95.00% and MCC of 0.85 on the unbalanced dataset. The results demonstrated that Umami-BERT could predict umami peptides directly from their amino acid sequences and exceeded the performance of other models. Furthermore, Umami-BERT enabled the analysis of attention pattern learned by Umami-BERT model. The amino acids Alanine (A), Cysteine (C), Aspartate (D), and Glutamicacid (E) were found to be the most significant contributors to umami peptides. Additionally, the patterns of summarized umami peptides involving A, C, D, and E were analyzed based on the learned attention weights. Consequently, Umami-BERT exhibited great potential in the large-scale screening of candidate peptides and offers novel insight for the further exploration of umami peptides.

Inhibitory Effect of PPARδ Agonist GW501516 on Proliferation of Hypoxia-induced Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells by Regulating the mTOR Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) agonist GW501516 on the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) induced by hypoxia, in order to search for new drugs for the treatment and prevention of pulmonary vascular remodeling. METHODS: PASMCs were incubated with different concentrations of GW501516 (10, 30, 100 nmol/L) under the hypoxic condition. The proliferation was determined by a CCK-8 assay. The cell cycle progression was analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of PPARδ, S phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2), and cell cycle-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 was detected by Western blotting. Then PASMCs were treated with 100 nmol/ L GW501516, 100 nmol/L mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin and/or 2 µmol/L mTOR activator MHY1485 to explore the molecular mechanisms by which GW501516 reduces the proliferation of PASMCs. RESULTS: The presented data demonstrated that hypoxia reduced the expression of PPARδ in an oxygen concentration- and time-dependent manner, and GW501516 decreased the proliferation of PASMCs induced by hypoxia by blocking the progression through the G0/G1 to S phase of the cell cycle. In accordance with these findings, GW501516 downregulated Skp2 and upregulated p27 in hypoxia-exposed PASMCs. Further experiments showed that rapamycin had similar effects as GW501516 in inhibiting cell proliferation, arresting the cell cycle, regulating the expression of Skp2 and p27, and inactivating mTOR in hypoxia-exposed PASMCs. Moreover, MHY1485 reversed all the beneficial effects of GW501516 on hypoxia-stimulated PASMCs. CONCLUSION: GW501516 inhibited the proliferation of PASMCs induced by hypoxia through blocking the mTOR/Skp2/p27 signaling pathway.

Membrane vesicles from Lactobacillus johnsonii delay osteoarthritis progression via modulating macrophage glutamine synthetase/mTORC1 axis.

AIMS: The manipulation of macrophage recruitment and their shift in the M1/M2 ratio is a promising approach to mitigate osteoarthritis (OA). Nevertheless, the current clinical medication available for OA is only palliative and may result in undesirable outcomes. Hence, it is urgent to explore alternative disease-modifying drug supplement that are both safer and more effective in OA treatment, like probiotic and probiotic-derived membrane vesicles. METHODS: The synovial inflammation and cartilage damage in collagenase-induced OA (CIOA) mice were observed using haematoxylin and eosin, saffron O-solid green and immunohistochemical staining. Bipedal balance test and open field test were conducted to determine the effectiveness of L. johnsonii-derived membrane vesicles (LJ-MVs) in reducing joint pain of CIOA mice. Additionally, Transwell, western blot, and immunological testing were used to examine the effect of LJ-MVs on macrophage migration and reprogramming. Furthermore, a 4D label-free proteomic analysis of LJ-MVs and their parent bacterium was performed, and the glutamine synthetase (GS)/mTORC1 axis in macrophage was verified by western blot. RESULTS: L. johnsonii and its membrane vesicles, LJ-MVs, exhibit a novel ability to mitigate inflammation, cartilage damage, and pain associated with OA. This is achieved by their ability to impede macrophage migration, M1-like polarization, and inflammatory mediators secretion, while simultaneously promoting the M2/M1 ratio in synovial macrophages. The mechanism underlying this effect involves the modulation of macrophage GS/mTORC1 pathway, at least partially. SIGNIFICANCE: Owing to their probiotic derivation, LJ-MVs will be a more dependable and potent disease-modifying drugs for the prevention and therapy of OA in the long run.

(5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide for HIV immunological non-responders receiving ART: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase II study.

Background: Therapeutic approaches to HIV-suppressed immunological non-responders (INRs) remain unsettled. We previously reported efficacy of Chinese herbal Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F in INRs. Its derivative (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8) on CD4 T cell recovery was assessed. Methods: The phase II, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in adults patients with long-term suppressed HIV infection and suboptimal CD4 recovery, at nine hospitals in China. The patients were 1:1:1 assigned to receive oral LLDT-8 0.5 mg or 1 mg daily, or placebo combined with antiretroviral therapy for 48 weeks. All study staff and participants were masked. The primary endpoints include change of CD4 T cell counts and inflammatory markers at week 48. This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04084444) and Chinese Clinical Trial Register (CTR20191397). Findings: A total of 149 patients were enrolled from Aug 30, 2019 and randomly allocated to receiving LLDT-8 0.5 mg daily (LT8, n = 51), 1 mg daily (HT8, n = 46), or placebo (PL, n = 52). The median baseline CD4 count was 248 cells/mm3, comparable among three groups. LLDT-8 was well-tolerated in all participants. At 48 weeks, change of CD4 counts was 49 cells/mm3 in LT8 group (95% confidence interval [CI]: 30, 68), 63 cells/mm3 in HT8 group (95% CI: 41, 85), compared to 32 cells/mm3 in placebo group (95% CI: 13, 51). LLDT-8 1 mg daily significantly increased CD4 count compared to placebo (p = 0.036), especially in participants over 45 years. The mean change of serum interferon-γ-induced protein 10 was -72.1 mg/L (95% CI -97.7, -46.5) in HT8 group at 48 weeks, markedly decreased compared to -22.8 mg/L (95% CI -47.1, 1.5, p = 0.007) in placebo group. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported in 41 of 46 (89.1%) participants in HT8 group, 43 of 51 (84.3%) in LT8, and 42 of 52 (80.7%) in PL group. No drug-related SAEs were reported. Interpretation: LLDT-8 enhanced CD4 recovery and alleviated inflammation in long-term suppressed INRs, providing them a potential therapeutic option. Fundings: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co., Ltd., and the National key technologies R&D program for the 13th five-year plan.

Autoformer-Based Model for Predicting and Assessing Wheat Quality Changes of Pesticide Residues during Storage.

Proper grain storage plays a critical role in maintaining food quality. Among a variety of grains, wheat has emerged as one of the most important grain reserves globally due to its short growing period, high yield, and storage resistance. To improve the quality assessment of wheat during storage, this study collected and analyzed monitoring data from more than 20 regions in China, including information on storage environmental parameters and changes in wheat pesticide residue concentrations. Based on these factors, an Autoformer-based model was developed to predict the changes in wheat pesticide residue concentrations during storage. A comprehensive wheat quality assessment index Q was set for the predicted and true values of pesticide residue concentrations, then combined with the K-means++ algorithm to assess the quality of wheat during storage. The results of the study demonstrate that the Autoformer model achieved the optimal prediction results and the smallest error values. The mean absolute error (MAE) and the other four error values are 0.11017, 0.01358, 0.04681, 0.11654, and 0.13005. The findings offer technical assistance and a scientific foundation for enhancing the quality of stored wheat.

Effects of Protein Components on the Chemical Composition and Sensory Properties of Millet Huangjiu (Chinese Millet Wine).

Millet Huangjiu is a national alcoholic beverage in China. The quality of Chinese millet Huangjiu is significantly influenced by the protein components in the raw materials of millet. Therefore, in this study, the impact of different protein components on the quality of millet Huangjiu was investigated by adding exogenous proteins glutelin and albumin either individually or in combination. The study commenced with the determination of the oenological parameters of different millet Huangjiu samples, followed by the assessment of free amino acids and organic acids. In addition, the volatile profiles of millet Huangjiu were characterized by employing HS-SPME-GC/MS. Finally, a sensory evaluation was conducted to evaluate the overall aroma profiles of millet Huangjiu. The results showed that adding glutelin significantly increased the contents of total soluble solids, amino acid nitrogen, and ethanol in millet Huangjiu by 32.2%, 41.5%, and 17.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the fortification of the fermentation substrate with glutelin protein was found to significantly enhance the umami (aspartic and glutamic acids) and sweet-tasting (alanine and proline) amino acids in the final product. Gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry coupled with multivariate statistical analysis revealed distinct impacts of protein composition on the volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles of millet Huangjiu. Excessive glutelin led to an over-accumulation of alcohol aroma, while the addition of albumin protein proved to be a viable approach for enhancing the ester and fruity fragrances. Sensory analysis suggested that the proper amount of protein fortification using a Glu + Alb combination could enhance the sensory attributes of millet Huangjiu while maintaining its unique flavor characteristics. These findings suggest that reasonable adjustment of the glutelin and albumin contents in millet could effectively regulate the chemical composition and improve the sensory quality of millet Huangjiu.

FEDformer-Based Paddy Quality Assessment Model Affected by Toxin Change in Different Storage Environments.

The storage environment can significantly impact paddy quality, which is vital to human health. Changes in storage can cause growth of fungi that affects grain quality. This study analyzed grain storage monitoring data from over 20 regions and found that five factors are essential in predicting quality changes during storage. The study combined these factors with the FEDformer (Frequency Enhanced Decomposed Transformer for Long-term Series Forecasting) model and k-medoids algorithm to construct a paddy quality change prediction model and a grading evaluation model, which showed the highest accuracy and lowest error in predicting quality changes during paddy storage. The results emphasize the need for monitoring and controlling the storage environment to preserve grain quality and ensure food safety.

Toughening Hydrogels by Forming Robust Hydrazide-Transition Metal Coordination Complexes.

Energy dissipation based on dynamic fracture of metal ligands is an effective way to toughen hydrogels for specific applications in biomedical and engineering fields. Exploration of new kinds of metal-ligand coordinates with robust bonding strength is crucial for the facile synthesis of tough gels. Here a hydrogel toughening strategy based on the formation of robust coordination complexes between the hydrazide ligands and zinc ions is reported. The resultant hydrogels exhibit high strength and toughness at room temperature. Their mechanical properties show temperature dependence due to the dynamic nature of coordination bonds. In addition, the amine group of hydrazides in the gel matrix provides a reactive site for Schiff's base reaction, enabling surface modification without influence on overall mechanical performances of the gel. The hydrazide ligands are easy to synthesize and can coordinate very well with several transition metals. Such a metal-ligand coordination should be suitable to develop tough soft materials with versatile applications.

Er: YAG laser assisted photodynamic therapy for the management of severe oral epithelial dysplasia with innate and adaptive immune responses.

Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) increases the risk of malignant transformation. However, the management of OED is not well defined. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a hypotoxic, highly selective and minimally-invasive operation which reduces morbidity and disfigurement greatly. Additionally, laser ablation guaranteed a better penetration for topical application of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT. Herein, we present a case of a large lesion of oral leukoplakia (OLK) in left tongue dorsum and lateral margin, pathologically manifested as severe epithelial dysplasia (SED). We firstly discussed the feasibility of Er: YAG laser assisted PDT for the treatment of SED in OPMDs. The patient achieved complete remission at 1 year follow-up. Downregulated number of p53 and Ki67 positive cells were observed in the tissues after Er: YAG laser assisted PDT. In addition, increased CD8+ positive cells infiltrated around the tissues and increased natural killer (NK) cells level were detected in the peripheral blood. In summary, Erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Er:YAG) laser assisted PDT is an effective and promising treatment for the management of SED in OPMDs with innate and adaptive immune responses.

A Model for Predicting and Grading the Quality of Grain Storage Processes Affected by Microorganisms under Different Environments.

Changes in storage environments have a significant impact on grain quality. Accurate prediction of any quality changes during grain storage in different environments is very important for human health. In this paper, we selected wheat and corn, which are among the three major staple grains, as the target grains whose storage monitoring data cover more than 20 regions, and constructed a grain storage process quality change prediction model, which includes a FEDformer-based grain storage process quality change prediction model and a K-means++-based grain storage process quality change grading evaluation model. We select six factors affecting grain quality as input to achieve effective prediction of grain quality. Then, evaluation indexes were defined in this study, and a grading evaluation model of grain storage process quality was constructed using clustering model with the index prediction results and current values. The experimental results showed that the grain storage process quality change prediction model had the highest prediction accuracy and the lowest prediction error compared with other models.

Rapid identification of artificial fragrant rice based on volatile organic compounds: From PTR-MS to FTIR.

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from foods can reflect their internal properties. Artificial fragrant rice (AFR) is a fraudulent food product in which the flavor of low-quality rice is artificially enhanced by addition of essence. In this study, proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry, long optical path gas phase FTIR spectroscopy and fiber optic evanescent wave were used to analyze the characteristic mass-charge ratios signal and infrared fingerprint signal of four essence which may be used to make AFR, and the prepared AFR samples with different essence levels (0.001 %-0.3 %) were used to verify the detection performance of the detection methods. The results show that the three detection methods effectively identified AFR containing the minimum recommended dose of essence (≥0.1 %, w/w). The above detection methods can provide detection results in real time without complex sample pretreatment and provide options as rapid screening methods for food regulatory authorities to identify AFR.

The role of multi-layer spiral CT based perfusion imaging in lung cancer radiotherapy assessment in athletic patients

Background and purpose: Lung cancer is one of the chief causes for escalating mortality among female athletes. Oxidative stress in a cell is evident due to surplus production of oxidants because of the hysterical functioning of the system that regulates them. One such secondary product produced due to oxidative stress is malondialdehyde (MDA), a product of lipid peroxidation. To quench the effect of oxidants, an antioxidant system in the cell has a significant role. The imbalance between these two creates oxidative stress.Methods: The present study focused on assessing the oxidative stress ratio and evaluating the levels of malondialdehyde and total antioxidant status (TAS) in breast cancer patients and healthy controls. Blood samples from breast cancer patients and age-matched controls (n= 30 each. MDA and TAS were estimated by pursuing Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substance (TBARS) Assay and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) Assay respectively.Results: The level of MDA in athletic patients was significantly higher (172.7 ± 81.4 nM/mL) than that of controls (77.9 ± 49.5 nM/mL) (p=0.009), whereas the level of TAS in the athletic patients (2551 ± 1298µM/L) was significantly lower to that of the controls (3631 ± 1123µM/L) (P=0.001). In addition, MDA and TAS levels correlated with respect to chemotherapy cycles in patients. Athletic Patients undertaking the final stage of chemotherapy treatment had shown reduced oxidative stress than the athletic patients in initial stage of chemotherapy, presenting a promising recovery pattern.Conclusion: The oxidative stress was evident in athletic patients but the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs. Foods rich in antioxidants could elevate the health and morale of the athletic patients. (AU)

Polymerization-Induced Crystallization of Dopant Molecules: An Efficient Strategy for Room-Temperature Phosphorescence of Hydrogels.

Conventional hydrogels such as polyacrylamide and polyacrylic acid ones seldom exhibit phosphorescences at ambient conditions, which limit their applications as optical materials. We propose and demonstrate here a facile strategy to afford these hydrogels with room-temperature phosphorescence by polymerization-induced crystallization of dopant molecules that results in segregation and confinement of the gel matrix with carbonyl groups and thus clusterization-induced phosphorescence. As a model system, crown ethers (CEs) are dissolved in an aqueous solution of concentrated acrylamide that greatly increases the solubility of CEs. During the polymerization process, CEs crystallize to form large spherulites in the polyacrylamide hydrogel. The crystallization arises from the drastically reduced solubility of CEs after the conversion of monomers to polymers during the gel synthesis. The resultant composite hydrogel with a water content of 67 wt % exhibits extraordinary phosphorescence behavior yet maintains good stretchability and resilience. We found that the partial gel matrix is squeezed and confined by in situ-formed crystals, leading to carbonyl clusters and thus phosphorescence emission. The composite gel shows green phosphorescence with an emission peak at 512 nm and a lifetime of 342 ms. The afterglow emission is detectable by the naked eye for several seconds. This strategy has good universality, as validated in other hydrogels with different polymeric matrices and dopant molecules. The development of hydrogels with good mechanical and phosphorescent properties should merit the design of multifunctional soft machines with applications in biomedical and engineering fields.