Predicting disease progression in cirrhotic patients after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt implantation: A sex-stratified analysis.

BACKGROUND: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) has been extensively used to treat portal hypertension-associated complications, including cirrhosis. The prediction of post-TIPS prognosis is important for cirrhotic patients, as more aggressive liver transplantation is needed when the post-TIPS prognosis is poor. AIM: To construct a nutrition-based model that could predict the disease progression of cirrhotic patients after TIPS implantation in a sex-dependent manner. METHODS: This study retrospectively recruited cirrhotic patients undergoing TIPS implantation for analysis. Muscle quality was assessed by measuring the skeletal muscle index (SMI) by computed tomography. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were utilized to determine the association between SMI and disease progression in cirrhotic patients after TIPS implantation. RESULTS: This study eventually included 186 cirrhotic patients receiving TIPS who were followed up for 30.5 ± 18.8 mo. For male patients, the 30-mo survival rate was significantly lower and the probability of progressive events was higher (3.257-fold) in the low-level SMI group than in the high-level SMI group. According to the multivariate Cox analysis of male patients, SMI < 32.8 was an independent risk factor for long-term adverse outcomes after TIPS implantation. A model was constructed, which involved creatinine, plasma ammonia, SMI, and acute-on-chronic liver failure and hepatic encephalopathy occurring within half a year after surgery. This model had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.852, sensitivity of 0.926, and specificity of 0.652. According to the results of the DeLong test, this model outperformed other models (Child-Turcotte-Pugh, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, and Freiburg index of post-TIPS survival) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SMI is strongly associated with poor long-term outcomes in male patients with cirrhosis who underwent TIPS implantation.

Assembly of highly efficient overall CO2 + H2O electrolysis cell with the matchup of CO2 reduction and water oxidation catalyst.

The exploitation of highly active and stable catalysts for reduction of CO2 and water oxidation is one of the approaches to facilitate scalable and sustainable CO2 reduction potentially at the industrial scale. Herein, a feasible strategy to rationally build an overall CO2 + H2O electrocatalytic reaction device is the preparation and matchup of a high-performance CO2 reduction catalyst and low-cost and highly active oxygen anode catalyst. A heterostructured nanosheet, γ-NiOOH/NiCO3/Ni(HCOO)2, exhibited superior catalytic activity in the oxygen evolution reaction, and was integrated with CoPc/Fe-N-C to build an overall CO2 + H2O cell with a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a very low cell voltage of 1.97 V, and the faradaic deficiency of CO2 to CO was maintained at greater than 90% at 1.9 V.

A Novel Manner of Anchoring Cobalt Phthalocyanine on Edge-Defected Carbon for Highly Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Cobalt phthalocyanine anchored on carbon material has attracted an enormous amount of attention due to its superior performance in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. However, the interaction between cobalt phthalocyanine and the carbon substrate remains problematic, and the role of intrinsic carbon defects is unfortunately ignored in the anchoring of cobalt phthalocyanine on carbon. Herein, new interactions between the bridging N atoms of cobalt phthalocyanine and the edge defects of carbon have been discovered, which result in a novel model of anchoring of cobalt phthalocyanine on ketjen black carbon. Such anchored cobalt phthalocyanine has been found to be responsible for superior catalysis for electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO with high selectivity and low overpotential.

Metabolic changes of Neurospora crassa in the presence of oleic acid for promoting lycopene production.

Neurospora crassa has been generally recognized as a safe organism and possesses a remarkable ability to produce yellow-to-orange carotenoids. The present work mainly explored the potential mechanism of exogenous oleic acid on promoting lycopene production in N. crassa. Carbon flux was conducively channelized into the mevalonate metabolic pathway to synthesize more lycopene, associating with the increased levels of acetyl-CoA, NADPH and factors related to the mevalonate pathway. Additionally, exogenous oleic acid boosted the intracellular triacylglycerol production through de novo and ex novo fatty acid synthesis pathways, which contributed to improving the accumulation of lycopene via lipid bodies. Further, the regulated fatty acid profile also enhanced the storage capacity of lipid bodies. Consequently, this study provided an effective strategy to enhance the lycopene production in N. crassa by adding oleic acid to the culture medium and elucidated an extraordinary insight into the potential mechanism.

Consumption of Interesterified Medium- and Long-Chain Triacylglycerols Improves Lipid Metabolism and Reduces Inflammation in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Rats.

Medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCTs) were synthesized from rapeseed oil (RO), one kind of commonly used edible long-chain triacylglycerols (TGs), and then delivered to high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. Compared with RO, MLCT consumption exhibited more potent effects on reducing body and tissue weight gains, plasma TG, and total cholesterol (TC) levels and on improving hepatic TG, TC, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and lipoprteinlipase contents. Meanwhile, lower amounts of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and endotoxin in plasma, lower levels of interleukin-6 and TNF-α, and higher levels of interleukin-10 in both livers and white adipose tissues were detected in MLCT-fed rats. MLCT intake also remarkably suppressed the size of adipocytes and the number of macrophages. In conclusion, our study suggested that the interesterified MLCT was more efficacious in improving the lipid metabolism and inflammation in HFD-induced obese rats than RO.

Changes in cell membrane properties and phospholipid fatty acids of bacillus subtilis induced by polyphenolic extract of Sanguisorba officinalis L.

Sanguisorba officinalis L. (family Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae) is a plant found throughout Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and Eastern Asia. This study demonstrated the antibacterial activity of a purified polyphenolic extract (PPE) from S. officinalis L. against Bacillus subtilis using growth inhibitory and apoptosis assays, and investigated the antibacterial mechanism responsible for changes in cell membrane properties. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggested that PPE altered the cell wall and membrane properties of B. subtilis. Further determination of cell membrane integrity and permeability revealed that B. subtilis membrane integrity was more severely damaged by PPE at the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) than at the minimum bactericidal concentrati on (MBC). Instead, PPE at the MBC reduced cell membrane fluidity by significantly decreasing the proportion of anteiso- and iso-branched phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) from 64.17 ± 0.28% and 27.23 ± 0.03% in the control to 5.57 ± 1.06% and 6.00 ± 1.40%, respectively (P < 0.001). Scanning electron microscopy revealed different effects of PPE on cell morphology, demonstrating that, at the MIC and MBC, PPE exerted antibacterial activity by disrupting the cell membrane and reducing cell membrane fluidity, respectively. Consequently, this study elucidated changes in the bacterial membrane due to exposure to PPE and its potential use as an antimicrobial agent. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The abuse of synthetic chemical preservatives raises food safety concerns; however, plant-derived polyphenolic compounds may be a safe and effective alternative. This study demonstrated the strong antibacterial activity of a purified polyphenolic extract (PPE) of Sanguisorba officinalis L. and revealed its antibacterial mechanism against Bacillus subtilis, suggesting that it may provide a useful antimicrobial agent in food industry applications.

Urban Sustainability Evaluation under the Modified TOPSIS Based on Grey Relational Analysis.

The evaluation of urban sustainability plays a crucial role in the process of the sustainable development of cities. To decrease subjectivity and attain a comprehensive evaluation, this paper develops an evaluation method using the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). First, an evaluation index system including 39 indices and three categories (economic, social, and ecological development) is established; second, based on the index system, a modified TOPSIS, in which the entropy method is used to assign weights to each index according to its evaluation score and grey relation analysis is used to reduce the uncertainty existing in the process of evaluation, is presented to rank the sustainability level of cities. Finally, an example with the sustainability evaluation of 16 cities in the Anhui province of China is introduced to verify the effectiveness of the model.

Integration of microRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the skin of systemic sclerosis patients.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the fibrosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). However, the underlying miRNA-mRNA regulatory network is not fully understood. A systemic investigation of the role of miRNAs would be very valuable for increasing our knowledge of the pathogenesis of SSc. Here, we combined miRNA and mRNA expression profiles and bioinformatics analyses and then performed validation experiments. we identified 21 miRNAs and 2698 mRNAs that were differentially expressed in SSc. Among these, 17 miRNAs and their 33 target mRNAs (55 miRNA-mRNA pairs) were involved in Toll-like receptor, transforming growth factor ß and Wnt signalling pathways. Validation experiments revealed that miR-146b, miR-130b, miR-21, miR-31 and miR-34a levels were higher whereas miR-145 levels were lower in SSc skin tissues and fibroblasts, normal fibroblasts and endothelial cells that were stimulated with SSc serum. ACVR2B, FZD2, FZD5 and SOX2 levels were increased in SSc skin fibroblasts, normal fibroblasts and endothelial cells that were stimulated with SSc serum. We did not identify any negative correlations among these miRNA-mRNA pairs. miR-21 was specifically expressed at higher levels in SSc serum. Six miRNAs and 4 mRNAs appear to play important roles in the pathogenesis of SSc are worth investigating in future functional studies.

A two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded water layer in the structure of a cobalt(III) cubane complex.

A tetranuclear Co(III) oxide complex with cubane topology, tetrakis(2,2'-bipyridine-κ(2)N,N')di-µ2-carbonato-κ(4)O:O'-tetra-µ3-oxido-tetracobalt(III) pentadecahydrate, [Co4(CO3)2O4(C10H8N2)4]·15H2O, with an unbounded hydrogen-bonded water layer, has been synthesized by reaction of CoCO3 and 2,2'-bipyridine. The solvent water molecules form a hydrogen-bonded net with tetrameric and pentameric water clusters as subunits. The Co4O4 cubane-like cores are sandwiched between the water layers, which are further stacked into a three-dimensional metallo-supramolecular network.

Quick staining technique for myeloperoxidase using potassium iodide and oxidized pyronine B.

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) staining has been important for the cytomorphological diagnosis and classification of leukemia. A novel staining method for MPO and its clinical application are presented in the report. Pyronine B (PyB), serving as a chromogenic reagent, was pre-oxidized to obtain stable oxidized Pyronine B solution. The MPO working solution for oxidized pyronine B method consisted of phosphate buffer solution, potassium iodide (KI) solution, and oxidized Pyronine B solution. The positive products of the oxidized Pyronine B method of MPO staining were vibrant red particles located in cytoplasm and the nucleus was stained bluish green. Bone marrow smears from 229 patients with acute leukemia or with grossly normal bone marrow were stained by both oxidized Pyronine B method and the conventional Washburn benzidine staining and a comparison revealed no significant difference in the positive detection rate between the two techniques. The new method eliminates the influence of the varying amount of H2O2 on MPO staining. With this method, the reagents were more stable and the staining procedure was simple and time-saving. This MPO staining technique is a better alternative than the conventional benzidine-based methods.

Poly[[penta-aqua-(µ(4)-pyridine-2,4,6-tri-carboxyl-ato)(µ(3)-pyridine-2,4,6-tri-carboxyl-ato)diterbium(III)] mono-hydrate].

The three-dimensional title coordination polymer, {[Tb(2)(C(8)H(2)NO(6))(2)(H(2)O)(5)]·H(2)O}(n), was hydro-thermally synthesized by reacting the corresponding rare-earth salt with pyridine-2,4,6-tricarb-oxy-lic acid (H(3)ptc). There are two independent Tb(III) atoms in the structure, one of which is nine-coordinated, forming a monocapped NO(8) square-anti-prism and the other is eight-coordinated exhibiting a 4,4-bicapped NO(7) trigonal-prismatic environment. The complex units are inter-connected through the ptc(3-) anions acting in different coordination modes, resulting in a three-dimensional coordin-ation polymer. The crystal structure features extensive O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.

Poly[[triaqua-(µ(3)-pyridine-2,4,6-tricarboxyl-ato)terbium(III)] monohydrate].

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, {[Tb(C(8)H(2)NO(6))(H(2)O)(3)]·H(2)O}(n), contains one Tb(III) ion, one pyridine-2,4,6-tricarboxyl-ate (ptc) anion, three aqua ligands and one lattice water mol-ecule. The Tb(III) ion is nine coordinated by one N and five O atoms from three ptc ligands and by three O atoms from the three aqua ligands in a distorted bicapped trigonal-prismatic geometry. The ptc ligands bridge the Tb(III) ions into a two-dimensional polymeric framework parallel to (100). An extensive O-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding network consolidates the crystal packing.

Diaqua-bis-(l-lactato)magnesium.

In the title compound, [Mg(C(3)H(4)O(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)], the Mg(2+) cation is six-coordinated by four O atoms from two lactate anions and two aqua ligands, completing an MgO(6) distorted octa-hedral geometry. The complex mol-ecules are bridged by O-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions into helical chains parallel to the a axis, which are linked by further O-H⋯O inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional supra-molecular architecture.

Poly[[penta-aqua-(µ(4)-pyridine-2,4,6-tri-carboxyl-ato)(µ(3)-pyridine-2,4,6-tri-carboxyl-ato)disamarium(III)] mono-hydrate].

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, {[Sm(2)(C(8)H(2)NO(6))(2)(H(2)O)(5)]·H(2)O}(n), contains two independent Sm(III) ions, two pyridine-2,4,6-tricarboxyl-ate (ptc) ligands, five aqua ligands and one lattice water mol-ecule. One Sm(III) ion is nine-coordinated by one N and five O atoms from the three ptc ligands and three aqua ligands in a distorted monocapped square antiprismatic geometry, and the other is eight-coordinated by one N and five O atoms from three ptc ligands and two aqua ligands in a 4,4'-bicapped trigonal anti-prismatic geometry. The ptc ligands brigde the Sm(III) ions into a three-dimensional polymeric framework. Extensive O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is observed in the crystal structure.

Poly[µ(4)-glutarato-di-µ(3)-glutarato-bis-(1,10-phenanthroline)diyttrium(III)].

In the title complex, [Y(2)(C(5)H(6)O(4))(3)(C(12)H(8)N(2))(2)](n), three glutarate groups and two 1,10-phenanthroline mol-ecules surround the two Y(III) ions. Both Y(III) ions are coordinated by two N atoms from the 1,10-phenanthroline, seven O atoms from five glutarate groups in a distorted tricapped trigonal-prismatic geometry. The Y(III) ions are bridged by glutarate ligands in three modes, forming a layered, polymeric structure. The resulting layers are assembled by π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid distances = 3.740 (3) and 3.571 (3) Å] into a three-dimensional supra-molecular architecture.

Bis(µ-adamantane-1,3-dicarboxyl-ato-κO,O:O,O)bis-[aqua-(3-carboxy-adam-antane-1-carboxyl-ato-κO)(1,10-phen-an-throline-κN,N')erbium(III)] dihydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the binuclear centrosymmetric title compound, [Er(2)(C(12)H(14)O(4))(2)(C(12)H(15)O(4))(2)(C(12)H(8)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)]·2H(2)O, contains one Er(III) atom, one coordinated water mol-ecule, one 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligand, two differently coordinated adamantane-1,3-dicarboxyl-ate (H(2)L) ligands and one lattice water mol-ecule. The Er(III) ion is eight-coordinated by four O atoms from bridging L(2-), one O atom from HL(-), one O atom from the coordinated water and two N atoms from a phen ligand. Extensive O-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions result in the formation of chains which are further linked into a layer-like network by π-π stacking inter-actions centroid-centroid distance = 3.611 (3) Å] between adjacent phen ligands belonging to neighbouring chains. The carboxy group of the HL(-) ligand is equally disordered over two positions.

Butane-1,2,3,4-tetra-carb-oxy-lic acid-1,10-phenanthroline-water (1/2/2).

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, 2C(12)H(8)N(2)·C(8)H(10)O(8)·2H(2)O, contains one 1,10-phenanthroline mol-ecule, one half-mol-ecule of butane-1,2,3,4-tetra-carb-oxy-lic acid (H(4)BTC) and a water mol-ecule, with the complete tetra-acid generated by crystallographic inversion symmetry. Inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid distances = 3.672 (2) and 3.708 (2) Šform an extensive three-dimensional network, which consolidates the crystal packing.

Ischemic postconditioning protects cardiomyocytes against ischemia/reperfusion injury by inducing MIP2.

Cardiomyocytes can resist ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury through ischemic postconditioning (IPoC) which is repetitive ischemia induced during the onset of reperfusion. Myocardial ischemic preconditioning up-regulated protein 2 (MIP2) is a member of the WD-40 family proteins, we previously showed that MIP2 was up-regulated during ischemic preconditioning (IPC). As IPC and IPoC engaged similar molecular mechanisms in cardioprotection, this study aimed to elucidate whether MIP2 was up-regulated during IPoC and contributed to IPoC-mediated protection against I/R injury. The experiment was conducted on two models, an in vivo open chest rat coronary artery occlusion model and an in vitro model with H9c2 myogenic cells. In both models, 3 groups were constituted and randomly designated as the sham, I/R and IPoC/hypoxia postconditioning (HPoC) groups. In the IPoC group, after 45 min of ischemia, hearts were allowed three cycles of reperfusion/ischemia phases (each of 30 s duration) followed by reperfusion. In the HPoC group, after 6 h of hypoxia, H9c2 cells were subjected to three cycles of 10 minute reoxygenation and 10 minute hypoxia followed by reoxygenation. IPoC significantly reduced the infarct size, plasma level of Lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase MB in rats. 12 h after the reperfusion, MIP2 mRNA levels in the IPoC group were 10 folds that of the sham group and 1.4 folds that of the I/R group. Increased expression of MIP2 mRNA and attenuation of apoptosis were similarly observed in the HPoC group in the in vitro model. These effects were blunted by transfection with MIP2 siRNA in the H9c2 cells. This study demonstrated that IPoC induced protection was associated with increased expression of MIP2. Both MIP2 overexpression and MIP2 suppression can influence the IPoC induced protection.

(µ-Butane-1,2,3,4-tetra-carboxyl-ato)bis-[triaqua-(1,10-phenanthroline)nickel(II)] hexa-hydrate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Ni(2)(C(8)H(6)O(8))(C(12)H(8)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)(6)]·6H(2)O, contains a half of the centrosymmetric dinuclear complex mol-ecule and three uncoordinated water mol-ecules. In the dinuclear mol-ecule, two Ni(II) cations are bridged by the butane-1,2,3,4-tetra-carboxyl-ate (BTC(4-)) anion. Each Ni(II) atom is coordinated by two N atoms from the 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, one O atom from the BTC(4-) anion and three aqua ligands in a distorted octa-hedral geometry. Inter-molecuar O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-ations [centroid-centroid distances = 3.646 (2), 3.781 (2) and 3.642 (2) Å] consolidate the crystal packing.