H2S exposure-induced oxidative stress promotes LPS-mediated hepatocyte autophagy through the PI3K/AKT/TOR pathway.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a common air pollutant and toxic gas, is detrimental to organisms and the environment. Exposure to highly concentrated H2S can induce oxidative stress and autophagy. However, the mechanism underlying the liver damage caused by H2S has not been identified. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the key component of endotoxin, can induce oxidative stress and autophagy. For this experiment, we used one-day-old chickens as model organisms to evaluate the effects of H2S combined with LPS on oxidative stress and autophagy. The four groups (control group, LPS group, H2S group and H2S-LPS group) were observed by electron microscopy, detected by oxidative stress kit, analyzed by quantitative real-time quantitative PCR, and analyzed by Western blot. We found that the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, antioxidant glutathione, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) decreased in the H2S group compared to those in the control group; however, malondialdehyde levels in the H2S group increased. Molecular-level studies showed that the expression of genes associated with the PI3K/ AKT/ TOR pathways in the H2S group decreased, whereas the expression of other autophagy-related genes (Beclin1, ATG5 and the ratio of LC3-II/ LC3-I) increased compared to that in the control group. These findings suggest that H2S caused oxidative stress and induced autophagy through the PI3K/ AKT/ TOR pathway in chicken liver cells. Additionally, exposure to H2S aggravated LPS-induced oxidative stress and autophagy injury. Capsule: Aerial exposure to H2S can cause oxidative stress in chicken livers and induce autophagy through the PI3K/AKT/TOR pathway, and can aggravate LPS-induced oxidative stress and autophagy.

Generative learning facilitated discovery of high-entropy ceramic dielectrics for capacitive energy storage.

Dielectric capacitors offer great potential for advanced electronics due to their high power densities, but their energy density still needs to be further improved. High-entropy strategy has emerged as an effective method for improving energy storage performance, however, discovering new high-entropy systems within a high-dimensional composition space is a daunting challenge for traditional trial-and-error experiments. Here, based on phase-field simulations and limited experimental data, we propose a generative learning approach to accelerate the discovery of high-entropy dielectrics in a practically infinite exploration space of over 1011 combinations. By encoding-decoding latent space regularities to facilitate data sampling and forward inference, we employ inverse design to screen out the most promising combinations via a ranking strategy. Through only 5 sets of targeted experiments, we successfully obtain a Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3-based high-entropy dielectric film with a significantly improved energy density of 156 J cm-3 at an electric field of 5104 kV cm-1, surpassing the pristine film by more than eight-fold. This work introduces an effective and innovative avenue for designing high-entropy dielectrics with drastically reduced experimental cycles, which could be also extended to expedite the design of other multicomponent material systems with desired properties.

[Advance of studies on interaction between active components of natural medicines and lysozymes].

Lysozyme (LYSO), as an alkalescent protein micromolecule in living organisms, exhibits important pharmacological actions such as antibiosis, anti-inflammatory, antivirus and enhancing immunity. LYSO can combine with many exogenous and endogenous substances and carry many drugs. This essay summarizes interaction between different kinds of active components of natural medicines and lysozymes, which is significant to comprehensively understand pharmacological mechanism of natural drugs and their transfer and metabolic process in organisms, optimize molecule structures of drugs and increase bioavailability and biological effects of natural drugs.

Cognitive Enhancing Effect of High-Frequency Neuronavigated rTMS in Chronic Schizophrenia Patients With Predominant Negative Symptoms: A Double-Blind Controlled 32-Week Follow-up Study.

Accumulating studies have shown that high-frequency (HF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may improve cognitive dysfunction of the patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), but with inconsistent results. The present study aims to assess the efficacy of different frequencies of neuronavigated rTMS in ameliorating cognitive impairments and alleviating the psychotic symptoms. A total of 120 patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups: 20 Hz rTMS (n = 40), 10 Hz rTMS (n = 40), or sham stimulation (n = 40) for 8 weeks, and then followed up at week 32. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was performed to assess the cognitive functions of the patients at baseline, at the end of week 8, and week 32 follow-up. Psychotic symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and at the end of week 2, week 4, week 6, week 8, and week 32 follow-up. Our results demonstrated that 20 Hz rTMS treatment produced an effective therapeutic benefit on immediate memory of patients with chronic SCZ at week 8, but not in the 10 Hz group. Interestingly, both 10 Hz and 20 Hz rTMS treatments produced delayed effects on cognitive functions at the 6-month follow-up. Moreover, in both 10 Hz rTMS and 20 Hz rTMS, the improvements in RBANS total score were positively correlated with the reduction of PANSS positive subscore at the 6-month follow-up. Stepwise regression analysis identified that the visuospatial/constructional index, immediate memory index, and prolactin at baseline were predictors for the improvement of cognitive impairments in the patients. Our results suggest that add-on HF rTMS could be an effective treatment for cognitive impairments in patients with chronic SCZ, with a delayed effect. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier-NCT03774927.

High-frequency neuronavigated rTMS effect on clinical symptoms and cognitive dysfunction: a pilot double-blind, randomized controlled study in Veterans with schizophrenia.

Cognitive impairment is a central aspect of schizophrenia (SCZ) that occurs at the onset of the disease and is related to poor social function and outcome in patients with SCZ. Recent literatures have revealed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to be one of the efficient medical interventions for cognitive impairments. However, no study has been conducted to investigate the treatment effectiveness of 20 Hz rTMS with neuronavigation system administered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients with schizophrenia. In this randomized, double-blind and sham-controlled study, 56 patients were enrolled in 20 Hz rTMS (n = 28) or sham stimulation (n = 28) over left DLPFC for 8 weeks. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was performed to measure the cognitive function at baseline and after 8 weeks of rTMS treatment. The positive and negative syndrome scales (PANSS) was performed to assess the clinical symptoms at baseline, after 2-week treatment, 4-week treatment, 6-week treatment, and 8-week treatment. Totally, 15 subjects (seven in active group and eight in sham group) dropped out during the trial and the main findings were from completed 41 patients. At 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks, there were no significant differences in PANSS total score and subscores between the sham and treatment groups. At 8 weeks, the 20 Hz rTMS significantly increased the immediate memory score compared with the sham. Furthermore, the improvement in the immediate memory score was correlated with the decrease in the excitement factor score of the patients with SCZ. Our results suggest that 20 Hz rTMS appears to be an effective treatment for improving the cognitive performance and reducing the clinical symptoms of patients with SCZ.

[Study on the extracting and dried process of Qinxiangzhixie enteric-coated tablet].

OBJECTIVE: To study the optimum extracting and dried process of Qinxiangzhixie enteric-coated tablet. METHODS: With the content of Aesculin and Aescaletin as factor, the optimum extraction process was selected with the orthogonal design. RESULTS: The optimum extraction process conditions were as: decocting for 2 times, with water of 8, 6 times of the drug mixture respectively 1.5 h, 1.0 h respectively. The optimum decompression dried process conditions was as follows :60 degrees C, -0.08 pa. CONCLUSIONS: The experimental results provide the basis for the ascertainment of extraction process of Qinxiang enteric-coated tablet.

[Effect of BMI and WHR on lumbar lordosis and sacrum slant angle in middle and elderly women].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) on lumbar lordosis and sacrum slant angle in the patients with low back pain, and to discuss the theory of low back pain induced by obesity. METHODS: The Roland Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) was answered by 98 middle and elderly women with low back pain, whose body height, body weight, waist circumference, and hip circumference were measured and used to calculate their MBI and WHR. According to BMI, all the cases were divided into normal, overweight and obesity groups. These cases were also divided into noncentral and central obesity groups according to WHR. The lateral X-ray films of the lumbar spine were studied by measuring LCI, Cobb angle, and SSA. The data of all groups were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: LCI, Cobb angle, SSA and RDQ scores in the overweight and obesity groups are significantly higher than those in the normal group. LCI, Cobb angle, SSA, and RDQ scores in the central obesity group are significantly higher than those in the noncentral obesity group. CONCLUSION: BMI exceeding 24 kg/m2 or WHR exceeding 0.85 may increase the measurements of Cobb angle, SSA and RDQ scores. Low back pain may occur because of overweight, obesity, or central obesity. The anatomy foundation of the increasing lumbar lordosis and sacrum slant angle may be the one of reasons of low back pain in obese person.