[Clinical comparative study on resection and non-resection of the fifth metatarsal to rheumatoid forefoot deformity].

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical effect of the fifth metatarsal head excision and non-excision in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) forefoot deformity reconstruction. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed on 50 patients (76 feet) with moderate to severe forefoot deformity caused by RA treated from May 2015 to January 2019. According to degeneration of the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint,the fifth metatarsal head was retained or excised by wind-like forefoot reconstruction,and divided into the fifth metatarsal head preservation group (preservation group) and the fifth metatarsal head resection group (resection group). Twenty-four female patients in preservation group,aged from 47 to 81 years old with an average of (60.37±8.60) years old;the course of disease ranged from 13 to 22 years with an average of (19.00±3.06) years;body mass index (BMI) ranged from 21 to 28 kg·m-2 with an average of (23.53±2.47) kg·m-2;six patients (6 feet) with moderate hallux valgus deformity and 18 patients (30 feet) with severe hallux valgus deformity;treated with the first metatarsophalangeal joint fusion combined with the second th the fourth metatarsophalangeal joint arthroplasty and the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint cleanup. Twenty-six female patients in resection group were female,aged from 30 to 80 years old with an average of (58.53±13.70) years old;the course of disease ranged from 8 to 25 years with an average of (17.94±3.92) years;BMI raged from 20 to 28 kg·m-2 with an average of (24.60±2.03) kg·m-2;4 patients (4 feet) with moderate bunion valgus deformity and 22 patients (36 feet) with severe bunion valgus deformity;treated by the first metatarsophalangeal joint fusion combined with the second th the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint resection of the metatarsophalangeal head. Operation time and postoperative complications between two groups were observed,hallux valgus angle (HVA),intermetatarsal angles between the first and the second metatarsals (IMAFS),intermetatarsal angles between the first and fifth metatarsals (IMAFF),Japanese Society for Surgery of Foot (JSSF) score before surgery and at the latest follow-up were compared. RESULTS: Fifty patients were followed-up from 14 to 46(25.30±8.83) months in resection group and 12 to 48 with an average of (24.30±11.12) months in preservation group,while no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). There were no significant difference in operation time and postoperative complications between two groups (P>0.05). JSSF scores,HVA,IMAFS and IMAFF in fesection group were improved from (45.09±3.35) points,(38.90±13.67) °,(12.88±1.72) °,(32.50±2.99) ° before operation to (81.60±3.27) points,(15.40±0.90),(9.06±2.27) °,(22.20±1.98) ° at the latest follow-up (P<0.05);preservation group were improved from (47.09±3.96) points,(43.30±12.65) °,(13.99±3.13) °,(33.20±6.14) ° to (83.10±3.66) points,(15.20±1.54) °,(8.99±1.02) °,(24.70±1.88) °,respectively. There were no significant difference in JSSF score,HVA,IMAFS and IMAFF between two groups before operation and the latest follow-up (P>0.05). At the latest follow-up,there were statistically significant differences in pain and deformity in JSSF scores between two groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both rheumatoid anterior foot reconstruction and anterior foot reconstruction fifth metatarsophalangeal joint debridement showed significant improvement in clinical efficacy and imaging results. Compared with rheumatoid prefoot reconstruction,the fifth metatarsophalangeal joint reconstruction for the treatment of moderate and severe deformity of rheumatoid prefoot showed better improvement in pain,but worse improvement in deformity. For the moderate to severe deformity of the forefoot caused by rheumatoid disease,patients with mild to moderate degenerative deformity of the articular surface of the fifth metatarsal phalanges may be considered for use.

Event-triggered distributed optimization of multi-agent systems with time delay.

In this article, the distributed optimization based on multi-agent systems was studied, where the global optimization objective of the optimization problem is a convex combination of local objective functions. In order to avoid continuous communication among neighboring agents, an event-triggering algorithm was proposed. Time delay was also considered in the designed algorithm. The triggering time of each agent was determined by the state measurement error, the state of its neighbors at the latest triggering instant and the exponential decay threshold. Some sufficient conditions for optimal consistency were obtained. In addition, Zeno-behavior in triggering time sequence was eliminated. Finally, a numerical simulation was given to prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Effect of spinal-pelvic sagittal balance on the clinical outcomes after lumbar fusion surgery.

BACKGROUND: Spinal-pelvic sagittal balance is important for maintaining energy-efficient posture in normal and diseased states.Few reports to date have evaluated the effect of spinal-pelvic sagittal balance on clinical outcomes after lumbar interbody fusion in patients with lumbar degenerative diseases (LDD). METHODS: A total of 303 patients treated with posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery for lumbar degenerative disease from January 2012 to December 2019 were enrolled in this retrospective study according to the inclusion criteria. Preoperative and postoperative spinal-pelvic sagittal parameters including pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), sacral slope (SS) and lumbar lordosis (LL) of the patients were evaluated and compared. 163 patients whose postoperative PI-LL ≤ 10° were divided into the spinal-pelvic match group (Group M), while 140 patients were divided into the spinal-pelvic mismatch group (Group MM). Preoperative and postoperative Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for back pain of both groups were compared. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in demographic and surgical data, except for blood loss in surgery. LL, PI, PT and SS of the patients at final follow-up were all statistically different from the preoperative values in the two groups(P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in LL, PI, PT and SS between the two groups before surgery. At the final follow-up, LL, PI and PT differed significantly between the two groups(P < 0.05). Compared with the preoperative results, ODI and VAS of low back in both groups decreased significantly at the final follow-up (P < 0.05). Significant differences in VAS and ODI were found between the two groups at the final follow-up (P < 0.05). The improvement rates of VAS and ODI of Group M are both significantly higher than Group MM. Regression analysis showed that age and spinal-pelvic match had significant effects on the improvement of patients' low back pain at the final follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: lumbar interbody fusion can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with LDD. In terms of outcomes with an average follow-up time of more than 2 years, the spinal-pelvic match has a positive effect on patients' quality of life and the release of low back pain.

[Cross-sectional study on ankle sprain and its related factors in physical education college].

OBJECTIVE: To explore prevalence, risk factors and treatment of ankle sprain of young college student , in order to obtain accurate epidemiological data. METHODS: From March 2019 to May 2019, 552 college students(1 104 sides of anke joints) from Xi'an Physical Education university were enrolled in study according to inclusion and excludion standard, including 309 males and 243 females aged from 16 to 24 years old with an average of (20.9±3.7) years old. Age, gender, and body mass indes(BMI) etc were recorded. Morbidity of acute and chronic ankle sprains of physical students, treatment after the first sprain (cold compress, cast or plaster bracing and medicine), visual analogue scale (VAS) during walking were assessed through ankle sprain questionnaire;Cumberland ankle instability tool (CAIT), Maryland foot score were applied to assess ankle function. Lateral ankle ligament injury was objectively assessed by musculoskeletal ultrasonography. RESULTS: The prevalence of acute ankle sprain(AAS) was 96.20% (531/552), and the incidence of AAS was 59.96% (622/1 104). The prevalence of chronic ankle joint instability(CAI) was 16.85% (93/552), and the incidence of CAI was 8.97% (99/1 104). In the four categories of sports, college student suffered from multiple sprains in performance majors group was 22.20% (14/63), including of aerobicsand dance performance. The incidence of AAS of ball sports was 8.60%(14/163). After the first sprain, most college students(94.4%) were received cold compression, about 60% of them went to hospital;however, only 44.7% students were received standard treatmens(cast or plaster), only 35.3% of them were received hard ankle orthosis. In 552 college students, 44 students were suffered from more than 4 times of ankle sprain, and the total incidence was 7.97% (44/552). Cumberland score was 26.6±2.4, Cumberland score of students sprained ankle joint more than 4 times was (29.2±1.1), suggested it was a risk factor for ankle joint instability. VAS of students sprained ankle joint more than 4 times was higher than that of less than 4 times(P<0.05), Maryland foot score was significantly lower than that of that of <4 times(P<0.05). Musculoskeletal ultrasonography measured the thickness of anterior tibiofibular ligament(ATFL) was (2.41±0.41) mm, and the thickness of calcaneofibular ligament(CFL) was (1.92±0.21) mm, and had no statistical difference(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Ninty-four percent college students had at least once ankle sprain, ankle sprains were more common in erobics and ball sports. After the first sprain, the proportion of cast or plaster treatment was less than 50%. Sprained ankle joint more than 4 times is a risk factor, and musculoskeletal ultrasonography showed thickening of both ATFL and CFL, while no statstical difference.

An Innovative model of magnetically intercalated expanded graphite for calculating radar attenuation performance at 2-18 GHz.

With the emergence of various filtering technologies, the radar jamming efficiency of the technology based on radar cross section is ever lower, therefore cannot meet military requirements. In this context, the jamming technology based on attenuation mechanism has been developed and plays an increasingly important role in disturbing radar detecting. Magnetically expanded graphite (MEG) has excellent attenuation efficiency because it can cause dielectric loss as well as magnetic loss. Moreover, MEG features good impedance matching, which makes more incidence of electromagnetic waves into the material; and its multi-layer structure is conducive for electromagnetic wave reflection and absorption. In this work, the structure model of MEG was established by analyzing the layered structure of expanded graphite (EG) and the dispersion of intercalated magnetic particles. The electromagnetic parameters of thus-modeled MEG were calculated based on the equivalent medium theory; and effects of EG size, magnetic particle type and volume fraction on the attenuation performance were studied by the variational method. It is indicated that MEG with 500-µm diameter has the best attenuation effect and the highest increment of absorption cross section appears at 50% volume fraction of the magnetic particles at 2 GHz. The imaginary part of complex permeability of the magnetic material has the most significant influence on the attenuation effect of MEG. This study provides guidance for the design and application of MEG materials in disturbing radar detecting field.

[Effect of acupuncture combined with low frequency rTMS on comorbid mild-to-moderate depressive disorder and insomnia: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the impacts of acupuncture on depressive mood and sleep quality in patients with comorbid mild-to-moderate depressive disorder and insomnia, and explore its effect mechanism. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with comorbid mild-to-moderate depressive disorder and insomnia were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off). In the observation group, acupuncture and low frequency repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) were combined for the intervention. Acupuncture was applied to Baihui (GV 20), Yintang (GV 24+), Neiguan (PC 6) and Yanglingquan (GB 34), etc., the needles were retained for 30 min; and the intradermal needles were embedded at Xinshu (BL 15) and Danshu (BL 19) for 2 days. After acupuncture, the rTMS was delivered at the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (R-DLPFC), with 1 Hz and 80% of movement threshold, lasting 30 min in each treatment. In the control group, the sham-acupuncture was adopted, combined with low frequency rTMS. The acupoint selection and manipulation were the same as the observation group. In the two groups, acupuncture was given once every two days, 3 times weekly; while, rTMS was operated once daily, for consecutive 5 days a week. The duration of treatment consisted of 4 weeks. Hamilton depression scale-17 (HAMD-17) and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) scores were observed before and after treatment, as well as 1 month after the treatment completion (follow-up period) separately. Besides, the levels of nerve growth factor (BDNF) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the serum were detected before and after treatment in the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment and in follow-up, the HAMD-17 scores were lower than those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.05), and the scores in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the total scores and the scores of each factor of PSQI were reduced in the two groups in comparison with those before treatment except for the score of sleep efficiency in the control group (P<0.05); the total PSQI score and the scores for sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep efficiency and daytime dysfunction in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). In the follow-up, except for the scores of sleep duration and sleep efficiency in the control group, the total PSQI score and the scores of all the other factors were reduced compared with those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.05); the total PSQI score and the scores of sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and daytime dysfunction in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the levels of serum BDNF and GABA were increased in comparison with those before treatment in the observation group (P<0.05), and the level of serum BDNF was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture relieves depressive mood and improves sleep quality in patients with comorbid mild-to-moderate depressive disorder and insomnia. The effect mechanism may be related to the regulation of BDNF and GABA levels and the promotion of brain neurological function recovery.

Rechargeable and highly stable Mn metal batteries based on organic electrolyte.

Mn metal batteries are rarely reported due to the lack of a stable electrolyte. Here, an N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)-based organic electrolyte with stable Mn plating/stripping for over 500 h and high Coulombic efficiency (CE) for a Mn metal battery is presented. The battery-specifically composed of an electrolyte made of DMF and ethylenediamine (EDA), a cathode made of 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylicdiimide (PTCDI), and an anode made of Mn metal-displayed a specific capacity of 105 mA h g-1. These results indicated the effectiveness of our new method for preparing low-cost and highly stable secondary Mn ion batteries.

[Case-control study on Scarf and double metatarsal osteotomy of the first metatarsal for the treatment of hallux valgus deformity].

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical efficacy of scarf osteotomy and double metatarsal osteotomy(DMO) in treating moderate to severe hallux valgus. METHODS: Fifty patients (81 feet) with moderate to severe hallux valgus deformity were treated from January 2017 to December 2019, and were divided into Scarf osteotomy (SO) group or DMO group according to different osteotomy methods. There were 26 patients (44 feet) in SO group, including 1 male and 25 females, aged from 48 to 65 years old with an average of (55.5±4.67) years old;18 patients (30 feet) with moderate and 8 patients (14 feet) with severe. There were 24 patients(37 feet) in DMO group, including 1 male and 23 females, aged from 45 to 62 years old with an average of (52.1±6.8) years old;there were 14 patients (24 feet) with moderate and 10 patients (13 feet) with severe. Hallux valgus angle (HVA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), distal metatarsal articular angle (DMAA) and relative length of the first metatarsal(RLFM) on weight-bearing anteroposterior radiographs before and after operation were compared. American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hallux, metatarsal, and interphalangeal joint scores was used for evaluate clinical effects. Weight bearing time and complications were observed. RESULTS: Fivty patients were followed up. The follow-up time in SO group ranged from 12 to 36 months with an average of(20.50±6.22) months and from 16 to 28 months with an avaerge of(19.80±2.44) months in DMO group while there was no significant difference between two groups(P>0.05). All incision healed at stage I, and osteotomy healed at (20.31±3.17) months after operation. One patient occurred hallux adduction deformity, without transferred metatarsalgia;2 patients occurred metastatic metatarsalgia in DMO group. There were no significant difference in HVA, IMA, DMAA, and AOFAS scores between two groups(P>0.05) before and after operation. There was no significant difference in RLFM between two groups(P>0.05), while had significant difference in RLFM between two groups at final follow-up (P<0.05). Partial weight-bearing time and full weight-bearing time in SO group were significantly earlier than those in DMO group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both of Scarf osteotomy and the first metatarsal biplane osteotomy could effectively treat moderate to severe hallux valgus deformity, with similar imaging and clinical evaluation. However, the relative length of the first metatarsal bone in SO group was longer than that in DMO group after operation, and the time of weight bearing in Scarf osteotomy is earlier than that of double metatarsal osteotomy of the first metatarsal.

[Clinical results of modified medial approach in the treatment of Pilon fracture with medial column compression].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical results of modified medial incision in the treatment o f Pilon fracture with medial column compression and evaluate its safety. METHODS: Thirty-one patients of Pilon fracture with medial column compressiom accepted surgical treatments in the Department of Foot and Ankle at Honghui Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2015 to January 2019. According to the imaging data at admission, 31 cases were diagnosed as closed Pilon fractures, and both preoperative X-ray and 3D CT scan were shown as medial column compressive fractures. All patients underwent modified medial incision with complete data, including 23 males and 8 females;ranging in age from 22 to 65 years old, with an average of (39.5±16.2) years old. All patients underwent modified medial approach combined with other approaches to expose the broken end of fracture. The time from trauma to operation ranging from 7 to 20 days, with a mean of(9.5±5.5) days. The incision and fracture healing were followed up regularly after operation. RESULTS: All patients were followed up with an average of(15.7±5.5) months(ranged, 13 to 25 months). Preoperative and postoperative routine X-ray and 3D CT examination showed anatomical reduction in 8 cases, and the anatomical reduction rate was 25.81%. Up to the latest follow-up, all 31 fractures had achieved bone healing, and the healing time ranged from 11 to 22 weeks, with a mean of (14.3±4.7) weeks. At the latest follow-up, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle and hindfoot scores ranged from 75 to 89, with a mean of 80.5±4.9, 24 patients got a good result, 7 fair. CONCLUSION: The improved medial approach for Pilon fracture can directly expose the posterior medial, medial and anterior medial of the distal tibia. After reduction under direct vision, the medial compressed and collapsed articular surface are fixed. The clinical curative effect is satisfactory and the wound complications are less. It is recommended for Pilon fracture where compression of the medial articular surface is predominant.

The Impact of Young Entrepreneurs' Network Entrepreneurship Education and Management System Innovation on Students' Entrepreneurial Psychology.

The purpose of the study is to solve the problems existing in entrepreneurship education and management under computer technology. The teaching content of entrepreneurship education in colleges and universities is proposed. Since entrepreneurship education is practical, the auxiliary mechanism of entrepreneurship education also needs to be highly integrated with entrepreneurship practice. First, the network entrepreneurship teaching and management system is constructed, and students' entrepreneurial creativity, communication ability, leadership ability, and qualities are taken as the research object. Second, the traditional teaching method, case study method, and scene simulation method are used to analyze and discuss the influence of the entrepreneurial teaching mode, entrepreneurial experience, and entrepreneurial ability on students' entrepreneurial psychology. Finally, the questionnaire survey is used to conduct the relative sample t-test (Student's t-test), and the influence of three teaching methods on students' learning effects is analyzed. The influence of the three teaching methods on students' entrepreneurial psychological states is further analyzed by the statistical method. The experimental results show that the test result of the scene simulation method and the traditional teaching method is 0.584, the test result of the scene simulation method and the case study method is 0.842, and the test result of the case study method and the traditional teaching method is 0.595. This shows that the scene simulation method has a significant impact on students' entrepreneurial psychology and their entrepreneurial ability. In addition, students' cognition of professional status significantly affects their entrepreneurial psychology and attitudes, and the correlation coefficient is 0.576. Therefore, it is suggested that colleges and universities should adopt the scene simulation method to improve the teaching quality of entrepreneurship education and strengthen students' cognition of professional status and their entrepreneurial practice.

An Information-Entropy Position-Weighted K-Mer Relative Measure for Whole Genome Phylogeny Reconstruction.

Alignment methods have faced disadvantages in sequence comparison and phylogeny reconstruction due to their high computational costs in handling time and space complexity. On the other hand, alignment-free methods incur low computational costs and have recently gained popularity in the field of bioinformatics. Here we propose a new alignment-free method for phylogenetic tree reconstruction based on whole genome sequences. A key component is a measure called information-entropy position-weighted k-mer relative measure (IEPWRMkmer), which combines the position-weighted measure of k-mers proposed by our group and the information entropy of frequency of k-mers. The Manhattan distance is used to calculate the pairwise distance between species. Finally, we use the Neighbor-Joining method to construct the phylogenetic tree. To evaluate the performance of this method, we perform phylogenetic analysis on two datasets used by other researchers. The results demonstrate that the IEPWRMkmer method is efficient and reliable. The source codes of our method are provided at https://github.com/ wuyaoqun37/IEPWRMkmer.

Vitexin inhibits APEX1 to counteract the flow-induced endothelial inflammation.

Vascular endothelial cells are exposed to shear stresses with disturbed vs. laminar flow patterns, which lead to proinflammatory vs. antiinflammatory phenotypes, respectively. Effective treatment against endothelial inflammation and the consequent atherogenesis requires the identification of new therapeutic molecules and the development of drugs targeting these molecules. Using Connectivity Map, we have identified vitexin, a natural flavonoid, as a compound that evokes the gene-expression changes caused by pulsatile shear, which mimics laminar flow with a clear direction, vs. oscillatory shear (OS), which mimics disturbed flow without a clear direction. Treatment with vitexin suppressed the endothelial inflammation induced by OS or tumor necrosis factor-α. Administration of vitexin to mice subjected to carotid partial ligation blocked the disturbed flow-induced endothelial inflammation and neointimal formation. In hyperlipidemic mice, treatment with vitexin ameliorated atherosclerosis. Using SuperPred, we predicted that apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease1 (APEX1) may directly interact with vitexin, and we experimentally verified their physical interactions. OS induced APEX1 nuclear translocation, which was inhibited by vitexin. OS promoted the binding of acetyltransferase p300 to APEX1, leading to its acetylation and nuclear translocation. Functionally, knocking down APEX1 with siRNA reversed the OS-induced proinflammatory phenotype, suggesting that APEX1 promotes inflammation by orchestrating the NF-κB pathway. Animal experiments with the partial ligation model indicated that overexpression of APEX1 negated the action of vitexin against endothelial inflammation, and that endothelial-specific deletion of APEX1 ameliorated atherogenesis. We thus propose targeting APEX1 with vitexin as a potential therapeutic strategy to alleviate atherosclerosis.

Identification of Critical Pathways and Hub Genes in LanCL1-Overexpressed Prostate Cancer Cells.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies in urology, especially in developed countries. Our previous studies showed that Lanthionine synthase C-like protein 1 (LanCL1) can promote the proliferation of prostate cancer cells and protect cells from oxidative stress. Also, LanCL1 protects cells by inhibiting the JNK signaling pathway after H2O2 treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our study, we analyzed the data of RNA-seq to identify the DEGs after LanCL1 overexpression. We performed a functional enrichment analysis with gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and a database for annotation, visualization, and integrated discovery (DAVID). We also identified the critical hub gene correlated with disease prognosis by Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 8928 DEGs were identified. Through the analysis of GO and KEGG, we found that DEGs are significantly enriched in categories related to metabolism, cancer-related signaling pathways, and inflammation. The top 15 hub genes were then identified and ranked by degree from the protein-protein interaction network. Survival analysis showed 4 hub genes related to disease prognosis and ICAM1 expression is an independent risk factor for the prognosis. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest the critical genes and pathways that might play key roles after LanCL1 overexpression in prostate cancer. We also provide candidate gene targets that might play important roles in prostate cancer development.

[Responses of seedling growth in subtropical secondary broad-leaved forest to nitrogen and phosphorus addition in Jiulian Mountain, China]. / ä¹è¿žå±±æ¬¡ç”Ÿé˜”å¶æž—å¹¼è‹—ç”Ÿé•¿å¯¹æ°®ç£·æ·»åŠ çš„å“åº”.

An experiment with four treatments of control (CK), N addition (100 kg N·hm-2·a-1), P addition (50 kg P·hm-2·a-1) and N + P (100 kg N·hm-2·a-1 + 50 kg P·hm-2·a-1) were conducted to examine the responses of plant height, ground diameter, crown width, specific leaf area, and mortality of seedlings to N and P addition. Under P addition, growth rates of plant height and ground diameter of seedlings decreased significantly by 45.1% and 30.3%, respectively. Fertilization affected the mortality of main constructive tree species. N addition significantly increased seedling mortality of Castanopsis carlesii to 25.1%. Fertilization treatment significantly increased mortality of Castanopsis fargesii to 25.1%-31.3%, while N addition and P addition signi-ficantly reduced mortality of Schima superba and Machilus nanmu. Fertilization significantly decreased the importance value of S. superba and C. fargesii in the seedling community. N addition and P addition significantly increased the importance value of M. nanmu seedling. The combined N and P addition significantly decreased Shannon index and Simpson index of the seedling community. Seedling growth was mainly affected by soil ammonium, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, canopy openness, and specific leaf area. Seedling mortality was mainly affected by soil ammonium, available phosphorus and canopy openness. Synthetically, N and P addition affected seedling growth mainly by regulating soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability and changing leaf functional trait. It accelerated the death of ectomycorrhizal tree species (C. carlesii and C. fargesii), changed the importance value of constructive species in seedling community, reduced species diversity, and ultimately changed community structure of adult trees in subtropical secondary broad-leaved forest.

Interleukin-4 affects microglial autophagic flux.

Interleukin-4 plays an important protective role in Alzheimer's disease by regulating microglial phenotype, phagocytosis of amyloid-ß, and secretion of anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic cytokines. Recently, increasing evidence has suggested that autophagy regulates innate immunity by affecting M1/M2 polarization of microglia/macrophages. However, the role of interleukin-4 in microglial autophagy is unknown. In view of this, BV2 microglia were treated with 0, 10, 20 or 50 ng/mL interleukin-4 for 24, 48, or 72 hours. Subsequently, light chain 3-II and p62 protein expression levels were detected by western blot assay. BV2 microglia were incubated with interleukin-4 (20 ng/mL, experimental group), 3-methyladenine (500 µM, autophagy inhibitor, negative control group), rapamycin (100 nM, autophagy inductor, positive control group), 3-methyladenine + interleukin-4 (rescue group), or without treatment for 24 hours, and then exposed to amyloid-ß (1 µM, model group) or vehicle control (control) for 24 hours. LC3-II and p62 protein expression levels were again detected by western blot assay. In addition, expression levels of multiple markers of M1 and M2 phenotype were assessed by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, while intracellular and supernatant amyloid-ß protein levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results showed that interleukin-4 induced microglial autophagic flux, most significantly at 20 ng/mL for 48 hours. Interleukin-4 pretreated microglia inhibited blockade of amyloid-ß-induced autophagic flux, and promoted amyloid-ß uptake and degradation partly through autophagic flux, but inhibited switching of amyloid-ß-induced M1 phenotype independent on autophagic flux. These results indicate that interleukin-4 pretreated microglia increases uptake and degradation of amyloid-ß in a process partly mediated by autophagy, which may play a protective role against Alzheimer's disease.

DNA methyltransferase 1 and Krüppel-like factor 4 axis regulates macrophage inflammation and atherosclerosis.

Macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses occur throughout all stages of atherosclerosis. DNA methylation is one of the critical epigenetic mechanisms and is associated with the development of atherosclerosis. The underlying mechanism of epigenetic regulation of macrophage inflammation (M1 activation) remains unclear. Here we aim to study the role of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) in modulating macrophage inflammation and atherosclerosis. DNMT1 expression is up-regulated in THP-1-derived macrophages upon treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Overexpression of DNMT1 promotes the LPS- and IFN-γ-induced M1 activation whereas inhibition of DNMT1 attenuates it. Consistently, DNMT1 expression is elevated in macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques from human and mouse specimens; compared with the Dnmt1wild-type, myeloid Dnmt1 deficiency in mice in an Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout background or receiving AAV-PSCK9 injection and carotid partial ligation results in ameliorated atheroma formation and suppressed plaque inflammation. The promoter regions of atheroprotective Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) are hypermethylated in M1- activated macrophages. DNMT1 down-regulates the expression of KLF4, probably through catalyzing DNA methylation of the promoter regions of KLF4. Gain- and loss-of function study of KLF4 indicates that the DNMT1-mediated macrophage M1 activation is dependent on KLF4. Our data demonstrate a proatherogenic role for DNMT1 as a defining factor in macrophage inflammation both in vitro and in vivo. DNMT1 promotes macrophage M1 activation by suppressing KLF4 expression. Thus macrophage-specific DNMT1 inhibition may provide an attractive therapeutic potential to prevent or reduce atherosclerosis.

The Mammalian Target of Rapamycin and DNA methyltransferase 1 axis mediates vascular endothelial dysfunction in response to disturbed flow.

The earliest atherosclerotic lesions preferentially develop in arterial regions experienced disturbed blood flow, which induces endothelial expression of pro-atherogenic genes and the subsequent endothelial dysfunction. Our previous study has demonstrated an up-regulation of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and a global hypermethylation in vascular endothelium subjected to disturbed flow. Here, we determined that DNMT1-specific inhibition in arterial wall ameliorates the disturbed flow-induced atherosclerosis through, at least in part, targeting cell cycle regulator cyclin A and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). We identified the signaling pathways mediating the flow-induction of DNMT1. Inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) suppressed the DNMT1 up-regulation both in vitro and in vivo. Together, our results demonstrate that disturbed flow influences endothelial function and induces atherosclerosis in an mTOR/DNMT1-dependent manner. The conclusions obtained from this study might facilitate further evaluation of the epigenetic regulation of endothelial function during the pathological development of atherosclerosis and offer novel prevention and therapeutic targets of this disease.

Silencing of HMGA2 promotes apoptosis and inhibits migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells.

The high mobility group protein A2 (HMGA2) has been demonstrated as an architectural transcription factor that is associated with pathogenesis of many malignant cancers; however, its role in prostate cancer cells remains largely unknown. To explore whether HMGA2 participates in the development and progression of prostate cancer, small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted on human HMGA2 was transfected to suppress the HMGA2 expression in prostate cancer PC3 and DU145 cells, and then the cellular biology changes after decreased the expression of HMGA2 was examined. Our results showed that knockdown of HMGA2 markedly inhibited cell proliferation; this reduced cell proliferation was due to the promotion of cell apoptosis as the Bcl-xl was decreased, whereas Bax was up-regulated. In addition, we found that HMGA2 knockdown resulted in reduction of cell migration and invasion, as well as repressed the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and affected the occurrence of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in both cell types. We further found that decreased HMGA2 expression inhibited the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)/Smad signalling pathway in cancer cells. In conclusion, our data indicated that HMGA2 was associated with apoptosis, migration and invasion of prostate cancer, which might be a promising therapeutic target for prostate cancer.

[Difference in inclusion behavior of ß-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin with menthol].

Volatile oils are important active components in traditional Chinese medicine, but their components are complicated and unstable. It is common to use cyclodextrin inclusion technique to improve the stability of volatile oils and make them easier to be prepared. At present, ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) is the most common inclusion material. The evaluation indicators for inclusion technique usually contain the inclusion rate and the oil content in the inclusion compound. However, the articles about the study on selecting inclusion materials for volatile oils were few. In this paper, menthol, the main active ingredient of mint volatile oil, was used as model drug, while ß-CD and hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin (HP-ß-CD) were used as the inclusion materials. Inclusion equilibrium constant (K), solubilization ratio were investigated, and the results were combined with IR, DSC and TG to verify the formation of inclusion complexes. It turned out that in the range of 0-15 mmol•L⁻¹, the solubility of menthol was increased linearly with the increase of HP-ß-CD concentration, with AL-type phase solubility diagram, K=3 188.62 L•mol⁻¹; in the range of 0-12.5 mmol•L⁻¹, the solubility of menthol was increased linearly with the increase of ß-CD concentration, K=818.73 L•mol⁻¹. When the concentration was over 12.5 mmol•L⁻¹, the solubility of menthol appeared to be a negative deviation with the increase of ß-CD concentration, with AN-type solubility diagram. The above results showed that the inclusion behavior was different between ß-CD and HP-ß-CD, laying a foundation for further study on inclusion complexes of volatile oil.

Silencing of HMGA2 suppresses cellular proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer.

The high-mobility group protein A2 (HMGA2) is an architectural transcription factor that plays a crucial role in the development and progression of various malignant cancers. However, the function of HMGA2 in bladder cancer remains largely unknown. Therefore, we aim to investigate the effect of HMGA2 on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of bladder cancer cells. The expression of HMGA2 in human bladder cancer cells was downregulated by small interfering RNA (siRNA). The protein levels of HMGA2 and other related proteins were detected by Western blotting. The cell proliferation and apoptosis were examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 and flow cytometry, respectively. Transwell migration and invasion assays were performed to assess the effect of HMGA2 on the migration and invasion ability of cells. In conclusion, we found that HMGA2 knockdown markedly inhibited cell proliferation; this reduced cell growth was due to the high apoptosis rate of cells, as Bcl-xl was diminished, whereas Bax was upregulated. Moreover, our results showed that silencing of HMGA2 in cancer cells greatly inhibited the cell migration and invasion, decreased the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), and affected the occurrence of EMT. We further found that decreased HMGA2 expression suppressed the transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß)/Smad and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in bladder cancer cells. These results revealed that HMGA2 played an important role in the progression of bladder cancer and might be a novel target for therapy in human bladder cancer.