[The progress of clinical research and treatment of monocular elevation deficiency].

Monocular elevation deficiency (MED) is a functional defect in upward eye movement caused by paralysis, restriction, or a combination of factors. The affected eye experiences limited movement in the upward, nasal, and temporal directions, often accompanied by downward deviation and ptosis. Previously known as double elevator palsy (DEP), MED can result from muscle paralysis responsible for upward movement, restriction of the inferior rectus muscle, or lesions in the supranuclear pathway. The Knapp procedure was once the most commonly used surgical approach for MED. However, in cases involving restriction of the inferior rectus muscle, a staged approach combining inferior rectus muscle weakening and subsequent Knapp procedure is necessary to avoid anterior segment ischemia. This has led to the development of alternative surgical techniques, such as single-rectus muscle transposition, partial tendon transposition, and muscle belly transposition. Differentiating MED subtypes based on the underlying paralysis or restriction etiology is crucial for determining the appropriate surgical plan. This review article summarizes the clinical features, classification, and available surgical options for MED, aiming to provide valuable insights for clinical research and treatment.

[The role and mechanism of lncRNA C9ORF139 targeting miR-24-3P/TAOK1 in regulating the proliferation of acute myeloid leukemia cells].

Objective: To investigate the role and mechanism of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) C9ORF139 targeting micro RNA(miR)-24-3P/TAOK1 in regulating the proliferation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. Methods: AML cells HL-60 and THP-1 were purchased from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and divided into 4 groups:group A was negative control group (siNC group), group B was interference C9ORF139 group (siC9ORF139 group), group C was siC9ORF139+miR-24-3p inhibitor group, and group D was miR-24-3P+TAOK1 overexpression group (oe-TAOK1 group). Real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription PCR was used to detect the expression levels of AML cell lines of HL-60 and THP-1 in four groups. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was performed to measure cell proliferation. Flow cytometry was applied to analyze cell apoptosis. Transwell test was applied to detect cell migration and invasion ability. Western blot was used to detect p-serine/threonine kinase (p-raf) and p-mitogen activation proteinkinase (p-MEK), p-extracellular regulatory protein kinase (p-ERK) expression. The luciferase reporter gene plasmid was constructed to verify the binding ability of C9ORF139,miR-24-3P and TAOK1.Nude mice were inoculated with subcutaneous tumor cells of HL-60 (group A) and HL-60 (group B). Results: After the C9ORF139 gene was knocked down and cultured for 120 h, The cell proliferation ability (0.62±0.02, 0.82±0.02), migration ability (0.22±0.03, 0.05±0.01), invasion ability (0.20±0.02, 0.13±0.03) of group B were all lower than that of group A (1.30±0.02, 1.83±0.07; 0.99±0.02, 0.99±0.02; 1.00±0.01, 1.00±0.01) (all P<0.05). When co-transfected with miR-24-3 inhibitor, cell proliferation ability, migration ability and invasion ability were all higher in group B (all P<0.05). When co-transfected with miR-24-3P and oe-TAOK1 plasmid, cell proliferation ability, migration ability and invasion ability were all higher than group B (all P<0.05).When the C9ORF139 gene in the cells was knocked down, the apoptosis level of group B (28.56±8.07, 17.74±1.91) were higher than those of group A (0.31±0.27, 2.49±0.33)(all P<0.05); when co-transfected with miR-24-3P inhibitor, the apoptosis level (2.34±0.09, 3.06±0.06) were lower than those in group B (all P<0.05); when co-transfected with miR-24-3P and oe-TAOK1 in the plasmid group, the apoptosis level (2.16±1.29, 4.80±0.37) were also lower than those of group B (all P<0.05). In HL-60 and THP-1 cells, when C9ORF139 was not mutated, the luciferase activity of miR-24-3P group was lower than that of the miR-NC group (P<0.05). When the binding site with miR-24-3p in C9ORF139 sequence was mutated, the luciferase activity in miR-24-3p group was equivalent to that in miR-NC group (P>0.05).When TAOK1 was not mutated; the luciferase activity of miR-24-3P group was lower than that of group A (P<0.05). When the binding site with miR-24-3p in TAOK1 sequence was mutated, the luciferase activity in miR-24-3p group was equivalent to that in miR-NC group (P>0.05).When the C9ORF139 gene in HL-60 cells was knocked down and cultured for 72 h, the phosphorylation expression levels of Raf, MEK and ERK molecules in group B were significantly lower than those in group A (all P<0.05). By day 14, the tumor volume in the group A was greater than the tumor cell volume in the group B [(284.49±57.61) vs (125.70±18.64) mm3, P=0.017]. The tumor weight of HL-60 in group A was heavier than that of group B [(847.80±159.36) vs (408.40±113.16) mg, P=0.001]. Conclusions: LncRNA C9ORF139 regulates TAOK1 by sponging miR-24-3P to promote the proliferation, invasion and migration of acute myeloid leukemiacell.In vivo experiments have confirmed that the expression of C9ORF139 can promote the growth of subcutaneous tumors in AML nude mice.

[The clinical values of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as an early predictor of anastomotic leak in postoperative rectal cancer patients].

Objective: To assess the clinical value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in predicting anastomotic leak of postoperative rectal cancer patients. Methods: The clinical data of 787 rectal cancer patients who underwent anterior resection from January 2014 to December 2017 in Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Zhengzhou University were collected. The postoperative numbers of white blood cell (WBS) on postoperative day (POD)1, 3 and 5 were detected, and the NLR was calculated. The relationship of NLR and the incidence of anastomotic leak was analyzed, and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves was calculated. The accuracy of postoperative NLR in predicting the incidence of anastomotic leak was evaluated. Results: WBC counts of patients with leak on POD1, POD3 and POD5 were 13.2×10(9)/L, 9.1×10(9)/L and 8.9×10(9)/L, respectively, while those of patients without leak were 12.9×10(9)/L, 9.0×10(9)/L and 8.8×10(9)/L. The WBC count was not significantly different between patients with or without leak (P>0.05). The average NLR values of patients with or without leak were 13.3 and 11.6 on POD1, 10.9 and 7.6 on POD3, 9.3 and 5.3 on POD5, respectively. The NLR values of patients with leak on POD3 and POD5 were significantly higher than those of patients without leak (P<0.05). The cutoff value of NLR on POD3 was 8.6, the sensitivity and specificity of detecting the leakage was 73.2% and 75.6%, respectively, and the area under curve (AUC) was 0.744. The cutoff value of NLR on POD5 was 5.5, the sensitivity and specificity was 69.6% and 75.5%, the AUC was 0.726. The multivariate analysis result showed that NLR >8.6 was an independent factor for anastomotic leak prediction. Conclusion: Postoperative NLR on day 3 is useful in predicting anastomotic leak and can decrease the incidence of complication in rectal cancer patients who underwent anterior resection.

[Coexisting mutations in NPM1-mutated elderly adults with acute myeloid leukemia].

Objective: To explore the coexisting mutations in NPM1 mutated elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia(AML). Methods: The clinical data of 152 elderly adults(aged≥60 years) and 49 young adults(aged 18-45 years) with AML between June 2013 and December 2018 in outpatient and hospitalized patients of Changzhou Second People's Hospital and Wuxi Second People's Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 51 gene mutations were detected using targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) and sanger sequencing. The general clinical characteristics, the occurrence of coexistence gene mutations, the correlation between coexistence gene mutations and some clinical parameters, and the initial induction remission rate between elderly and young adult AML patients with NPM1 mutations were analyzed and compared. Results: NPM1 mutations were detected in 46 of 152 elderly AML patients. Thirty eight patients (82.6%) with NPM1 mutations carried other gene mutations at the same time, among whom 8 patients (17.4%) carried NPM1 mutations alone, while 14(30.4%) carried 2, 16 (34.8%) carried 3, and 8 (17.4%) carried ≥ 4 mutations. NPM1 mutations frequently co-occurred with FLT3-ITD15 cases (32.6%) , DNMT3A10 (21.7%) , TET26 (13.4%) and FLT3-TKD5 (10.9%) . Compared with young adults with NPM1 mutations, elderly patients had higher TP53, FLT3-TKD rates, lower incidence of DNMT3A, RAS mutation (all P<0.05) and lower coexistence rate of 4 gene mutations (P=0.002).The presence of ≥ 4 mutations was found to be significantly associated with higher white blood level than those in patients with single, double and 3 mutations coexisted in elderly adults AML patients(all P<0.05). With the increase of the amount of mutations, the complete remission(CR) rate decreased gradually after the initial induction. Patients who carried 3 or more mutations showed a lower CR rate than those with single gene mutations (all P<0.05) . Patients who carried>4 genes also showed a significantly lower CR rate than those with double gene mutations (P=0.031). Patients with FLT3-ITD mutations exhibited higher white blood level and lower CR rate than that in nonmutant type group (all P<0.05). The CR rate of patients with DNMT3A mutation was also significantly lower than that with nonmutant type (P=0.033). However, patients with FLT3-TKD mutations showed a higher platelet level than that with nonmutant type (P=0.019). There was no significant difference in CR rate and peripheral blood cell level between TET2 mutated and nonmutant type. Conclusion: NPM1 mutated elderly patients with AML commonly show additional mutations, and the amount and type of coexisting mutations have an influence on the clinical features and CR rate of elderly patients with AML.

Neutron scattering measurements of spatially anisotropic magnetic exchange interactions in semiconducting K0.85 Fe1.54Se2 (TN = 280 K.

We use neutron scattering to study the spin excitations associated with the stripe antiferromagnetic order in semiconducting K(0.85)Fe(1.54)Se(2) (T(N) = 280 K). We show that the spin-wave spectra can be accurately described by an effective Heisenberg Hamiltonian with highly anisotropic inplane couplings at T = 5 K. At high temperature (T = 300 K) above T(N), short-range magnetic correlation with anisotropic correlation lengths are observed. Our results suggest that, despite the dramatic difference in the Fermi surface topology, the inplane anisotropic magnetic couplings are a fundamental property of the iron-based compounds; this implies that their antiferromagnetism may originate from local strong correlation effects rather than weak coupling Fermi surface nesting.

A novel synthetic Cry1Ab gene resists rice insect pests.

A few insect control genes of Bacillus thuringiensis have been modified successfully to increase the expression in plants by replacing rare codons, increasing GC content, and avoiding the DNA elements that could cause premature transcription termination, mRNA instability, and potential methylation. However, the modification process was intricate and often confused researchers. In this study, we adopted a simple method to modify Cry1Ab only by individually replacing its amino acid sequence with corresponding rice-preferred codons based on analysis of 92,188 coding DNA sequences. Unexpectedly, all elements of A+T richness, which terminate or destabilize transcription in plants, were avoided in the newly designed mCry1Ab. However, mCry1Ab had 2 notable features: less synonymous codons and high GC content. mCry1Ab only employed 22 of the 61 codons to encode protein and had an enhanced GC content of 65%. The increase in GC content caused abundant potential methylation signals to emerge in mCry1Ab. To test whether mCry1Ab could be expressed in rice, we transferred it into Oryza japonica variety Wanjing97. Insect bioassays revealed that transgenic plants harboring this gene driven by 2 promoters, CaMV35S and OsTSP I, were highly resistant to rice leaffolder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis). Analysis of R0 to R2 generation plants indicated that the mCry1Ab was inherited stably by the progeny. Our study provided a simple modified method for expressing exogenous genes in rice and confirmed that less synonymous codons and high GC content do not affect transgene expression in rice.

A high-throughput, high-quality plant genomic DNA extraction protocol.

The isolation of high-quality genomic DNA (gDNA) is a crucial technique in plant molecular biology. The quality of gDNA determines the reliability of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. In this paper, we reported a high-quality gDNA extraction protocol optimized for real-time PCR in a variety of plant species. Performed in a 96-well block, our protocol provides high throughput. Without the need for phenol-chloroform and liquid nitrogen or dry ice, our protocol is safer and more cost-efficient than traditional DNA extraction methods. The method takes 10 mg leaf tissue to yield 5-10 µg high-quality gDNA. Spectral measurement and electrophoresis were used to demonstrate gDNA purity. The extracted DNA was qualified in a restriction enzyme digestion assay and conventional PCR. The real-time PCR amplification was sufficiently sensitive to detect gDNA at very low concentrations (3 pg/µL). The standard curve of gDNA dilutions from our phenol-chloroform-free protocol showed better linearity (R(2) = 0.9967) than the phenol-chloroform protocol (R(2) = 0.9876). The results indicate that the gDNA was of high quality and fit for real-time PCR. This safe, high-throughput plant gDNA extraction protocol could be used to isolate high-quality gDNA for real-time PCR and other downstream molecular applications.

[Research progress in the association between tooth loss and cognitive decline in the elderly population].

China is one of the countries with the highest population aging rate in the world, and the oral health of the elderly population has become increasing significant for the realization of healthy aging. Tooth loss is considered as the marker of oral disease burden. In recent years, a growing number of findings have suggested an association between tooth loss and cognitive decline. Also, given that cognitive function plays a crucial role in oral health, future researches should elucidate their bidirectional causal relationship, based on prospective cohort design that regularly monitors tooth loss and cognitive function. This article reviews the current research threads in terms of epidemiological evidences of the association, brain structure and function, and possible bidirectional associations and mechanisms, providing a theoretical basis for promoting healthy aging.

Giant ferroelectric polarization of CaMn7O12 induced by a combined effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and exchange striction.

By extending our general spin-current model to noncentrosymmetric spin dimers and performing density functional calculations, we investigate the causes for the helical magnetic order and the origin of the giant ferroelectric polarization of CaMn7O12. The giant ferroelectric polarization is proposed to be caused by the symmetric exchange striction due to the canting of the Mn4+ spin arising from its strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Our study suggests that CaMn7O12 may exhibit a novel magnetoelectric coupling mechanism in which the magnitude of the polarization is governed by the exchange striction, but the direction of the polarization by the chirality of the helical magnetic order.

Strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and origin of ferroelectricity in Cu2OSeO3.

By performing density functional calculations, we investigate the origin of the Skyrmion state and ferroelectricity in Cu2OSeO3. We find that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions between the two different kinds of Cu ions are extremely strong and induce the helical ground state and the Skyrmion state in the absence and presence of a magnetic field, respectively. On the basis of the general model for the spin-order induced polarization, we propose that the ferroelectric polarization of Cu2OSeO3 in the collinear ferrimagnetic state arises from an unusual mechanism, i.e., the single-spin-site contribution due to the spin-orbit coupling.

Serum retinol-binding protein 4 levels in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) has been reported to be involved in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes. This study was designed to investigate serum levels of RBP4 in patients with type 2 diabetes with and without diabetic retinopathy. Based on ophthalmological examination, 92 patients with type 2 diabetes were divided into three subgroups: those without diabetic retinopathy (NDR; n = 40); those with simple diabetic retinopathy (SDR; n = 37); and those with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR; n = 15). The serum RBP4 level was significantly elevated in individuals with PDR compared with those with NDR or SDR. There was a significant positive correlation between serum RBP4 level and the urine albumin excretion rate (r = 0.219). This study showed that RBP4 may be involved in the process of diabetic retinopathy and may be a novel biomarker for its diagnosis and treatment in diabetic patients.

[Inhibitory Eefects of the novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor BGJ398 against human leukemic cell line KG-1 cells].

Objective: To explore the effects and possible mechanisms of the novel pan-FGFR inhibitor BGJ398 on KG-1 cells in vitro. Methods: Effects of BGJ398 on cells proliferation were detected by CCK-8, the apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-FITC. Reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) analysis was used to detect the expression of apoptosis-related genes B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and caspase-3. Western blotting analysis was performed to explore the proteins expression levels of Bcl-2, caspase-3 and the expression of p-AKT, p-S6K, p-ERK and FGFR1. Results: BGJ398 effectively inhibited cell proliferation by dose-dependent manners. BGJ398(1.4 µmol/L) induced apoptosis of KG-1 cells by 36.4%, compared with 4.5% in the control group(P<0.001). Treatment with BGJ398 at 1.4 µmol/L led to significant increases in the expression levels of caspase-3, and decreases in the expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.005). In accordance with these results, Western blot analysis further confirmed the increased expression of Bcl-2 protein along with elevated caspase-3 activity. In addition, BGJ398 markedly down-regulated FGFR1OP2-FGFR1 fusion protein, p-AKT and p-S6K expression, but not p-ERK expression. Conclusion: Novel pan-FGFR inhibitor BGJ398 substantially suppressed KG-1 cell growth and induced apoptosis by inhibiting the expression of FGFR1, p-AKT, p-S6K and regulating apoptosis-related proteins.

MiR-214 protects MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts against H2O2-induced apoptosis by suppressing oxidative stress and targeting ATF4.

OBJECTIVE: Fragility fracture is one of the common complications of osteoporosis. Elevated oxidative stress-induced apoptosis is thought to be one of the unfavorable factors to osteoblastic dysfunction, which increased the risk of bone fracture. However, the molecular mechanisms for oxidative stress-induced osteoblast cells apoptosis still need to be elucidated. This study aims to investigate the protective function of miR-214 in H2O2-induced apoptosis of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MC3T3-E1 cells were treated with 400 µM H2O2. Flow cytometry was adopted to detect the apoptosis rate; malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx) levels were used to determine the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to test the expression level of miR-214 and ATF4. After transfected MC3T3-E1 cells with miR-214 mimics and inhibitor, RT-PCR was used to detect activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) expression level. RESULTS: H2O2 treatment increased ROS induced intracellular oxidative injury. Flow cytometry showed that 400 µM H2O2 induced the apoptosis of MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, RT-PCR showed decreased expression level of MiR-214. Furthermore, the apoptosis induced by high ROS level was reversed by increased miR-214 expression level. The regulatory ability of MiR-214 to apoptosis is by regulating ATF4 expression. CONCLUSIONS: miR-214 plays a protective role in H2O2 induced MC3T3 osteoblasts apoptosis and its protective effect is proceeded by regulating ROS level and ATF4 expression level.

Domain topology and domain switching kinetics in a hybrid improper ferroelectric.

Charged polar interfaces such as charged ferroelectric walls or heterostructured interfaces of ZnO/(Zn,Mg)O and LaAlO3/SrTiO3, across which the normal component of electric polarization changes suddenly, can host large two-dimensional conduction. Charged ferroelectric walls, which are energetically unfavourable in general, were found to be mysteriously abundant in hybrid improper ferroelectric (Ca,Sr)3Ti2O7 crystals. From the exploration of antiphase boundaries in bilayer-perovskites, here we discover that each of four polarization-direction states is degenerate with two antiphase domains, and these eight structural variants form a Z4 × Z2 domain structure with Z3 vortices and five distinct types of domain walls, whose topology is directly relevant to the presence of abundant charged walls. We also discover a zipper-like nature of antiphase boundaries, which are the reversible creation/annihilation centres of pairs of two types of ferroelectric walls (and also Z3-vortex pairs) in 90° and 180° polarization switching. Our results demonstrate the unexpectedly rich nature of hybrid improper ferroelectricity.

AgNOR and rasp21 expression in gastric mucosal lesions caused by Helicobacter pylori infection.

AIM: To investigate AgNOR and rasp21 expression levels in gastric mucosal lesions caused by Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in order to gain insight into the related biological processes (i.e. tumor-like behavior) and possible underlying mechanism supporting Hp pathogenesis. METHODS: Hp infection was diagnosed in using the standard Campylobacter-like organism test along with Wathin-Starry staining. The expression of AgNOR was detected by the silver colloid staining technique. The expression of rasp21 was detected by monoclonal antibody and immunohistochemical staining using the ABC method. The study included a total of 278 patients with endoscopically- and pathologically-confirmed gastric mucosal lesions, representing chronic superficial gastritis (CSG), chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and gastric cancer. Among these, 146 of the patients were Hp-positive and 132 were Hp-negative. RESULTS: The Hp-positive group of patients showed significantly greater AgNOR in the gastric mucosal lesions than the Hp-negative group, with the exception of the CSG sub-group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The positive rate of rasp21 expression in gastric mucosal lesions in the Hp-positive group was also significantly higher than that in the Hp-negative group, with the exception of the CSG and CAG sub-groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Hp-positive gastric mucosal lesions show biological behaviour of tumors. Hp may act as a promoter to activate the ras gene and to stimulate cell over-proliferation.

[The structure of trijuganone C from Salvia trijuga].

From Salvia trijuga Diels 9 compounds were isolated and eight of them identified as ferruginol, sugiol, triacontanoic acid, tetratriacontanoic acid, octacosanoic acid, hexactecanoic acid, dl-homoserine and parahydroxybenzoic acid. Compound I a red needle crystal C20H20O5, mp 113-114 degrees C is a new diterpenoid related to methyltanshinonate named trijuganone C. Its structure has been proved to be 15, 16-dihydromethyltanshinoate by spectroscopic and chemical means.

[Investigation on the excited state dynamics properties of hemicyanine molecules].

In this paper, the excited state dynamics properties of hemicynine were investigated by using time-resolved fluorescence and 3D fluorescence spectra techniques. The interaction of hemicyanine molecules caused formation of H-aggregates and a blue shift of the 3D fluorescence spectra in interleaving hemicyanine/arachidic acid multilayers. The peak of fluorescence was a red shift along with the time decay. The lifetime of the LB fluorescence was much shorter and the difference of beginning luminescence was less than that of the hemicyanine solution due to the stronger intermolecule interactions in the aggregates.