Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life Using EuroQoL-5 Dimension in Populations With Prediabetes, Diabetes, and Normal Glycemic Levels in Southwest China

Objectives: This study aimed to describe and compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among populations with normal glycemic levels, prediabetes, and diabetes in southwest China and to offer baseline data that can be easily compared to other regions in China or across countries. Methods: A quality of life survey based on the EuroQoL-5 Dimension-5 level (EQ-5D-5L) scale was conducted through face-to-face or telephone interviews. A total of 403 respondents with diabetes, 404 with prediabetes, and 398 with normal blood glucose were enrolled in the survey. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to decrease the bias of three groups, conditioned on age and gender, body mass index (BMI), and household income. For the three groups, we matched two groups first and then matched the result with the third group. Differences among groups were compared by chi-square test one-way ANOVA after adjusting by PSM. Results: In general, the blood glucose of people with diabetes was generally well-controlled in southwest China, but they were often accompanied by the circulatory system and nutritional metabolic diseases. Ninety-nine individuals from each group were matched. The EuroQoL-5 Dimension index of the population with normal glycemic levels, prediabetes, and patients with diabetes was 0.901, 0.948, and 0.897. The EuroQol-visual analog scales (EQ-VAS) scores of each group above were 73.76, 77.45, and 68.34. HRQoL in males was higher than that of females in the three study groups. The results after PSM were consistent with that before matching. Conclusion: There was a general trend that patients were associated with a decline of HRQoL from the prediabetic population, population with normal glycemic levels to diabetic population. Pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression might not be specific for the population with or without diabetes.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of combining traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of hypertension: compound Apocynum tablets combined with Nifedipine sustained-release tablets vs Nifedipine sustained-release tablets alone

Background

We evaluated the long-term cost-effectiveness of antihypertensive traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and to compare the cost-effectiveness of a combined treatment consisting of compound Apocynum tablets and Nifedipine sustained-release tablets with the cost-effectiveness of treatment with Nifedipine sustained-release tablets alone.

Methods

A Markov model was used to simulate the potential incremental cost-effectiveness per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) to be gained from compound Apocynum tablets and Nifedipine sustained-release tablets compared with Nifedipine sustained-release tablets alone. Model parameter estimates were informed by previously published studies. The direct medical costs of outpatients with hypertension were estimated from the health care provider’s perspective. A 5% annual discount rate was applied to both costs and QALYs.

Results

TCMs combined with Nifedipine sustained-release tablets group generated a total 20-year cost of 11,517.94 RMB (US $1739.87), whereas Nifedipine sustained-release tablets alone group resulted in a 20-year cost of 7253.71 RMB (US $1095.73). TCMs combined with Nifedipine sustained-release tablets group resulted in a generation of 12.69 QALYs, whereas Nifedipine sustained-release tablets alone group resulted in 12.50. The incremental cost-utility ratio was 22,443.32 RMB (US $3390.23) per QALY. Considering the threshold of 1 GDP per capita in China in 2018 (US $9764.95), the combination of compound Apocynum tablets and Nifedipine sustained-release tablets was a cost-effective strategy. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed unchanged results over an acceptable range.

Conclusions

Combining Traditional Chinese Medicines with chemical medicines is more cost-effective strategy in the treatment of hypertension.

Development of a new dynamic foveated imager on wide-angle infra-red thermography system to improve local spatial resolution in EAST

A new dynamic foveated imager has been developed and commissioned on the wide-angle infra-red thermography system in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. This technique improves the local spatial resolution by a factor of 2 while maintaining the wide-angle view to ensure safety operation. Taking advantage of the new foveated imager, heat flux splitting under the application of resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) coils has been clearly observed. The results indicate that the toroidal asymmetric power load pattern is closely related to the perturbation field induced by the RMP coils.

Sexual Differences in Physiological and Transcriptional Responses to Salinity Stress of Salix linearistipularis

Willow (Salix), a dioecious plant, is an important ornamental tree species in the world. Salix linearistipularis, a perennial woody plant species naturally distributed on the Songnen Plain saline-alkali land in northeast China, has a high saline condition. To study the sexual differences of S. linearistipularis in salinity tolerance, the physiological and transcriptional responses to salinity were compared between female and male cuttings. Under salinity stress, the female leaves exhibited higher superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities and photosynthetic capacity, and lower H2O2 contents than those of male leaves. Under salinity stress, sodium (Na+) accumulation in female leaves was lower than that in the male leaves. The non-invasive micro-test showed that the net Na+ efflux in the salt-treated female roots was higher than that in male roots. Physiological responses revealed that female cuttings were more tolerant than males, which may be mainly due to females having lower leaf Na+ accumulation and higher root Na+ efflux capacity than males. Transcriptional analyses showed that 108 differentially expressed salt-responsive genes were identified in both female and male roots; most of these showed sexual differences in expression patterns under salinity stress. RNA-seq combined with qPCR analysis showed that the salt-induced expression of four Na+/H+ antiporter (NHX) genes (SlNHX3, 5, 6, 7) in female roots was higher than that in male roots. Transcriptional analyses revealed that the higher Na+ efflux capacity in female roots than in male roots may be closely related to the differential expression of salt-responsive genes, especially NHX genes.

Comparison of cadmium uptake and transcriptional responses in roots reveal key transcripts from high and low-cadmium tolerance ryegrass cultivars

Cadmium (Cd), which seriously affects plant growth and crop production, is harmful to humans. Previous studies revealed ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) exhibits Cd tolerance, and may be useful as a potential hyperaccumulator because of its wide distribution. In this study, the physiological and transcriptional responses of two ryegrass cultivars [i.e., high (LmHC) and low (LmLC) Cd tolerance] to Cd stress were investigated and compared. The Cd tolerance of LmHC was greater than that of LmLC at various Cd concentrations. The uptake of Evans blue dye revealed that Cd-induced root cell mortality was higher in LmLC than in LmHC after a 12-h Cd treatment. Furthermore, the content and influx rate of Cd in LmLC roots were greater than in LmHC roots under Cd stress conditions. The RNA sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR data indicated that the Cd transport regulatory genes (ABCG37, ABCB4, NRAMP4, and HMA5) were differentially expressed between the LmLC and LmHC roots. This expression-level diversity may contribute to the differences in the Cd accumulation and translocation between LmLC and LmHC. These findings may help clarify the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying ryegrass responses to Cd toxicity. Additionally, ryegrass may be able to hyperaccumulate toxic heavy metals during the phytoremediation of contaminated soil.

SETX (senataxin), the helicase mutated in AOA2 and ALS4, functions in autophagy regulation

SETX (senataxin) is an RNA/DNA helicase that has been implicated in transcriptional regulation and the DNA damage response through resolution of R-loop structures. Mutations in SETX result in either of two distinct neurodegenerative disorders. SETX dominant mutations result in a juvenile form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) called ALS4, whereas recessive mutations are responsible for ataxia called ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2). How mutations in the same protein can lead to different phenotypes is still unclear. To elucidate AOA2 disease mechanisms, we first examined gene expression changes following SETX depletion. We observed the effects on both transcription and RNA processing, but surprisingly observed decreased R-loop accumulation in SETX-depleted cells. Importantly, we discovered a strong connection between SETX and the macroautophagy/autophagy pathway, reflecting a direct effect on transcription of autophagy genes. We show that SETX depletion inhibits the progression of autophagy, leading to an accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins, decreased ability to clear protein aggregates, as well as mitochondrial defects. Analysis of AOA2 patient fibroblasts also revealed a perturbation of the autophagy pathway. Our work has thus identified a novel function for SETX in the regulation of autophagy, whose modulation may have a therapeutic impact for AOA2.Abbreviations: 3'READS: 3' region extraction and deep sequencing; ACTB: actin beta; ALS4: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis type 4; AOA2: ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2; APA: alternative polyadenylation; AS: alternative splicing; ATG7: autophagy-related 7; ATP6V0D2: ATPase H+ transporting V0 subunit D2; BAF: bafilomycin A₁; BECN1: beclin 1; ChIP: chromatin IP; Chloro: chloroquine; CPT: camptothecin; DDR: DNA damage response; DNMT1: DNA methyltransferase 1; DRIP: DNA/RNA IP; DSBs: double strand breaks; EBs: embryoid bodies; FTD: frontotemporal dementia; GABARAP: GABA type A receptor-associated protein; GO: gene ontology; HR: homologous recombination; HTT: huntingtin; IF: immunofluorescence; IP: immunoprecipitation; iPSCs: induced pluripotent stem cells; KD: knockdown; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MN: motor neuron; MTORC1: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase complex 1; PASS: PolyA Site Supporting; PFA: paraformaldehyde; RNAPII: RNA polymerase II; SCA: spinocerebellar ataxia; SETX: senataxin; SMA: spinal muscular atrophy; SMN1: survival of motor neuron 1, telomeric; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; TFEB: transcription factor EB; TSS: transcription start site; TTS: transcription termination site; ULK1: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1; WB: western blot; WIPI2: WD repeat domain, phosphoinositide interacting 2; XRN2: 5'-3' exoribonuclease 2.

Neuron-derived exosomes-transmitted miR-124-3p protect traumatically injured spinal cord by suppressing the activation of neurotoxic microglia and astrocytes

Background

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic injury that can cause irreversible motor dysfunction with high disability. Exosomes participate in the transport of miRNAs and play an essential role in intercellular communication via transfer of genetic material. However, the miRNAs in exosomes which derived from neurons, and the underlying mechanisms by which they contribute to SCI remain unknown.

Methods

A contusive in vivo SCI model and a series of in vitro experiments were carried out to explore the therapeutic effects of exosomes. Then, a miRNA microarray analysis and rescue experiments were performed to confirm the role of neuron-derived exosomal miRNA in SCI. Western blot, luciferase activity assay, and RNA-ChIP were used to investigate the underlying mechanisms.

Results

The results indicated that neuron-derived exosomes promoted functional behavioral recovery by suppressing the activation of M1 microglia and A1 astrocytes in vivo and in vitro. A miRNA array showed miR-124-3p to be the most enriched in neuron-derived exosomes. MYH9 was identified as the target downstream gene of miR-124-3p. A series of experiments were used to confirm the miR-124-3p/MYH9 axis. Finally, it was found that PI3K/AKT/NF-κB signaling cascades may be involved in the modulation of microglia by exosomal miR-124-3p.

Conclusion

A combination of miRNAs and neuron-derived exosomes may be a promising, minimally invasive approach for the treatment of SCI.

Exosomal Transfer of LCP1 Promotes Osteosarcoma Cell Tumorigenesis and Metastasis by Activating the JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathway

Increasing evidence indicates that lymphocyte cytosolic protein 1 (LCP1) overexpression contributes to tumor progression; however, its role in osteosarcoma (OS) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the potential effect of LCP1 in OS and the underlying mechanisms. We first demonstrated that LCP1 is upregulated in OS cell lines and tissues. Then, we found that aberrant expression of LCP1 could induce the proliferation and metastasis of OS cells in vitro and in vivo by destabilizing neuregulin receptor degradation protein-1 (Nrdp1) and subsequently activating the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. When coculturing OS cells with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in vitro, we validated that oncogenic LCP1 in OS was transferred from BMSCs via exosomes. Moreover, microRNA (miR)-135a-5p, a tumor suppressor, was found to interact upstream of LCP1 to counteract the pro-tumorigenesis effects of LCP1 in OS. In conclusion, BMSC-derived exosomal LCP1 promotes OS proliferation and metastasis via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway. Targeting the miR-135a-5p/LCP1 axis may have potential in treating OS.

Clinical research of percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction in treatment for chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain: a randomized trial

BACKGROUND

To investigate the clinical effect of percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction in treatment for chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain.

METHODS

A total of 118 patients with chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain were enrolled in our hospital from October 2015 to October 2018 and randomly divided into two groups. Of these patients, 59 received conservative treatment as the control group while 59 patients were treated with percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction as the observation group. Pain score (Visual Analogue Scale, VAS), functional score (Oswestry Disability Index, ODI), treatment score (Japanese Orthopaedic Association, JOA), life quality score (Short Form 36-item Health Survey, SF-36), and lumbar mobility (range of motion, ROM) were evaluated before and after treatment. The treatment effect between two groups was compared.

RESULTS

The VAS score and ODI score at 2, 4, and 12 weeks after treatment and last follow-up in the observation group were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). JOA score, SF-36, and ROM were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Percutaneous spinal nerve posteromedial ramus destruction has a significant effect in treatment for chronic facet arthrogenic low back pain, which can relieve pain, improve function, and enhance quality of life.

MiR-92 overexpression suppresses immune cell function in ovarian cancer via LATS2/YAP1/PD-L1 pathway

PURPOSE

Increasing evidence suggested that microRNA plays an important role in ovarian cancer. In this study, the role of miR-92 in ovarian cancer was investigated.

METHODS

In this study, miR-92 expression in clinical sample was evaluated, role of miR-92 was investigated in vitro, and underlying mechanism was investigated using Chip, co-IP, and western blot.

RESULTS

In this study, we show that miR-92 is overexpressed in ovarian cancer tissue compared with normal cancer tissue. Transfection of miR-92 increased proliferation of ovarian cancer cell, and increased migration capacity and colony formation were observed after miR-92 transfection; we found that expression of LATS2 was decreased by miR-92, and this was further confirmed by luciferase assay, which proved that miR-92 is targeting 3' of the endogenous LATS2 gene. Downregulation of LATS2 resulted in increased translocation of YAP1 and upregulation of PD-L1, which subsequently suppressed NK cell function and promoted T cell apoptosis. Moreover, co-transfection of YAP1-targeted shRNA could relieve miR-92-induced immune suppression effect. Mechanically, immunoprecipitation (IP) was used to show that LATS2 interacted with YAP1 and subsequently limited nuclear translocation of YAP1; chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was used to confirm that YAP1 could bind to enhancer region of PD-L1 to enhance transcription activity of PD-L1.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data revealed a novel mechanism which finally resulted in immune suppression in ovarian cancer.

Arabidopsis V-ATPase d2 Subunit Plays a Role in Plant Responses to Oxidative Stress

Vacuolar-type H⁺-ATPase (V-ATPase), a multisubunit proton pump located on the endomembrane, plays an important role in plant growth. The Arabidopsis thaliana V-ATPase d subunit (VHA-d) consists of two isoforms; AtVHA-d1 and AtVHA-d2. In this study, the function of AtVHA-d2 was investigated. Histochemical analysis revealed that the expression of AtVHA-d1 and AtVHA-d2 was generally highly overlapping in multiple tissues at different developmental stages of Arabidopsis. Subcellular localization revealed that AtVHA-d2 was mainly localized to the vacuole. AtVHA-d2 expression was significantly induced by oxidative stress. Analysis of phenotypic and H₂O₂ content showed that the atvha-d2 mutant was sensitive to oxidative stress. The noninvasive microtest monitoring demonstrated that the net H⁺ influx in the atvha-d2 roots was weaker than that in the wild-type under normal conditions. However, oxidative stress resulted in the H⁺ efflux in atvha-d2 roots, which was significantly different from that in the wild-type. RNA-seq combined with qPCR analysis showed that the expression of several members of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase gene (AtAHA) family in atvha-d2 was significantly different from that in the wild-type. Overall, our results indicate that AtVHA-d2 plays a role in Arabidopsis in response to oxidative stress by affecting H⁺ flux and AtAHA gene expression.

Homeobox B9 integrates bone morphogenic protein 4 with inflammation at atheroprone sites

AIMS

Atherosclerosis develops near branches and bends of arteries that are exposed to disturbed blood flow which exerts low wall shear stress (WSS). These mechanical conditions alter endothelial cells (EC) by priming them for inflammation and by inducing turnover. Homeobox (Hox) genes are developmental genes involved in the patterning of embryos along their anterior-posterior and proximal-distal axes. Here we identified Hox genes that are regulated by WSS and investigated their functions in adult arteries.

METHODS AND RESULTS

EC were isolated from inner (low WSS) and outer (high WSS) regions of the porcine aorta and the expression of Hox genes was analysed by quantitative real-time PCR. Several Hox genes (HoxA10, HoxB4, HoxB7, HoxB9, HoxD8, HoxD9) were significantly enriched at the low WSS compared to the high WSS region. Similarly, studies of cultured human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC) or porcine aortic EC revealed that the expression of multiple Hox genes (HoxA10, HoxB9, HoxD8, HoxD9) was enhanced under low (4 dyn/cm2) compared to high (13 dyn/cm2) WSS conditions. Gene silencing studies identified Hox genes (HoxB9, HoxD8, HoxD9) that are positive regulators of inflammatory molecule expression in EC exposed to low WSS, and others (HoxB9, HoxB7, HoxB4) that regulated EC turnover. We subsequently focused on HoxB9 because it was strongly up-regulated by low WSS and, uniquely, was a driver of both inflammation and proliferation. At a mechanistic level, we demonstrate using cultured EC and murine models that bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) is an upstream regulator of HoxB9 which elicits inflammation via induction of numerous inflammatory mediators including TNF and downstream NF-κB activation. Moreover, the BMP4-HoxB9-TNF pathway was potentiated by hypercholesterolaemic conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Low WSS induces multiple Hox genes that control the activation state and turnover of EC. Notably, low WSS activates a BMP4-HoxB9-TNF signalling pathway to initiate focal arterial inflammation, thereby demonstrating integration of the BMP and Hox systems in vascular pathophysiology.

Non-invasive and real-time proliferative activity estimation based on a quantitative radiomics approach for patients with acromegaly: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Proliferative activity prediction is important for determining individual treatment strategies for patients with acromegaly, and tumor proliferative activity is usually measured by the expression of Ki-67.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the value of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics approach in predicting the Ki-67 index of acromegaly patients.

METHODS

A total of 138 patients with acromegaly were retrospectively reviewed and randomly assigned to primary and validation cohorts. Radiomics features were extracted from MR images, and then the elastic net and recursive feature elimination algorithms were applied to determine critical radiomics features for constructing a radiomics signature. Subsequently, multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to select the most informative clinical features, and a radiomics nomogram incorporating a radiomics signature and selected clinical features was constructed for individual predictions. Twenty-five acromegaly patients were enrolled for multicenter model validation.

RESULTS

Seventeen radiomics features were selected to construct a radiomics signature that achieved an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.96 and 0.89 in the primary cohort and the validation cohort, respectively. A radiomics nomogram that incorporated the radiomics signature and eight selected clinical features was constructed and showed good discrimination and calibration, with an AUC of 0.94 in the primary cohort and 0.91 in the validation cohort. The radiomics signature in the multicenter validation achieved an accuracy of 88.2%. The analysis of the decision curve showed that the radiomics signature and radiomics nomogram were clinically useful for patients with acromegaly.

CONCLUSIONS

The radiomics signature developed in this study could aid neurosurgeons in predicting the Ki-67 index of patients with acromegaly and could contribute to non-invasive measurement of proliferative activity, affecting individual treatment strategies.

Linezolid for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

SETTING: Studies have shown that linezolid (LZD) can be used to treat extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB).OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess existing evidence concerning efficacy and safety of LZD for XDR-TB treatment.DESIGN: The MEDLINE@OVID, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Clinical Trials, Sinomed, CMCI, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases were systematically searched for randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case series or case reports on XDR-TB patients treated with LZD from January 2000 to December 2016. Summary estimates of the rate of sputum culture conversion, treatment success and adverse effects were calculated; data that could not be combined were summarised and described qualitatively. The combined results were examined for heterogeneity, sensitivity and publishing bias.RESULTS: Twenty-two original studies covering a total of 302 patients with XDR-TB fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Pooled estimates for sputum culture conversion and treatment success rates were respectively 93.2% and 67.4% in XDR-TB patients on LZD treatment. The pooled estimates for the rate of myelosuppression, peripheral neuropathy, optic neuritis and adverse reactions of the gastrointestinal tract were respectively 42.5%, 26.0%, 19.0% and 35.0%. Heterogeneity was mostly due to the initial dose of LZD (≤600 mg/d or >600 mg/d), as patients with a high initial dose of LZD were more likely to have myelosuppression (48.4% vs. 24.8%, P = 0.010) and adverse events of the gastrointestinal tract (41.3% vs.15.4%, P = 0.100).CONCLUSION: LZD appears to be effective for XDR-TB, but adverse events are common. An LZD dose of ≤600 mg/d as the initial dose for treating XDR-TB patients is recommended.

Investigation of Plasma cell-free cancer genome chromosomal instability as a tool for targeted minimally invasive biomarkers for primary liver cancer diagnoses

Purpose

To characterize plasma cell‐free cancer genome chromosomal instabilities (CIN) in patients with liver cancer and to evaluate the potential of CIN as minimally invasive biomarkers for primary liver cancer (PLC) diagnoses.

Experimental Design

We collected 196 plasma samples from 172 individuals in two cohorts, a discovery cohort of surgery ineligible PLC patients and a validation cohort of hepatectomy patients with pathological disease confirmations. All samples were subjected to HiSeq X10 sequencing followed by a customized bioinformatics workflow Ultrasensitive Chromosome Aneuploidy Detection (UCAD).

Results

In the discovery cohort, 29 significant copy number changes were identified in plasma from surgery‐ineligible PLC. Twenty‐two (95.7%) surgery‐ineligible liver cancers were identified as harboring copy number changes in at least 1 of 29 segments. Meanwhile 40/41 (97.6%) noncancers harbored no changes. In the validation cohort, 54 (69.4%) surgery‐eligible liver cancers were identified with positive screening, all of which were subsequently confirmed as cancer by pathological examination. Moreover, 26/27 = 96.3% noncancers were identified with negative screening. UCAD‐positive screening was significantly associated with microvascular invasion (OR > 10, 95% CI:[2.53,]), tumor stages B and C (OR = 8.59, 95% CI [1.07, 400]), and tumor size ≥ 3 cm (OR = 5.68, 95% CI [1.43, 28.1]). Furthermore, we collected 29 followed‐up plasma samples from 19 postsurgery patients. Nine (31.0%) postsurgery samples from 6 (31.5%) patients were identified with positive screening. Among them, 3 patients (50.0%) with positive screening were then confirmed as having disease recurrences.

Conclusions

In addition to AFP, plasma cell‐free DNA sequencing is a useful tool for primary liver cancer diagnoses.

Salvianolic Acid A Exhibits Anti-Inflammatory and Antiarthritic Effects via Inhibiting NF-κB and p38/MAPK Pathways

INTRODUCTION

Osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic joint disease, combines with massive inflammation and plays a vital role in cartilage degeneration. The main strategy in clinic is controlling inflammation, thereby treating osteoarthritis. Salvianolic acid A (SAA) is a type of phenolic acid, derived from a traditional chinese herbal medicine Danshen that is extensively used clinically.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We observed the anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic effects of SAA in IL-1β-stimulated cells. We found that SAA evidently decreased the expression of mainly inflammatory factors, exerted the remarkable effects of anti-inflammation and anti-arthritis. Furthermore, SAA inhibited the expression of Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP1, MMP13), and ADAMTS-5 and raised the synthesis of collagen II and aggrecan. Additionally, the results indicated that SAA gave rise to the effects by down-regulation of NF-κB and p38/MAPK pathways.

DISCUSSION

Our study demonstrates that SAA may be a promising anti-inflammatory for the treatment of OA in clinic.

Generative and Discriminative Fuzzy Restricted Boltzmann Machine Learning for Text and Image Classification

The restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) is an excellent generative learning model for feature extraction. By extending its parameters from real numbers to fuzzy ones, we have developed the fuzzy RBM (FRBM) which is demonstrated to possess better generative capability than RBM. In this paper, we first propose a generative model named Gaussian FRBM (GFRBM) to deal with real-valued inputs. Then, motivated by the fact that the discriminative variant of RBM can provide a self-contained framework for classification with competitive performance compared with some traditional classifiers, we establish the discriminative FRBM (DFRBM) and discriminative GFRBM (DGFRBM) that combine both the generative and discriminative facility by adding extra neurons next to the input units. Specifically, they can be trained into excellent stand-alone classifiers and retain outstanding generative capability simultaneously. The experimental results including text and image (both clean and noisy) classification indicate that DFRBM and DGFRBM outperform discriminative RBM models in terms of reconstruction and classification accuracy, and they behave more stable when encountering noisy data. Moreover, the proposed learning models show some promising advantages over other standard classifiers.

USP18 deubiquitinates and stabilizes Twist1 to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition in glioblastoma cells

Aberrant activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway drives the invasion and migration of multiple cancers including glioblastoma (GBM). Clinical interventions focused on inhibiting EMT are of increasing interest in the treatment of GBM. In the present study, we discovered that glioma tissues and cells, especially GBMs show significantly up-modulated ubiquitin-specific protease 18 (USP18) expression. Functionally, decreased USP18 expression attenuated GBM cell invasion and migration through repressing EMT. Moreover, a critical EMT-inducing transcription factor Twist1 that activates EMT, was identified as a downstream target of USP18. Mechanistically, USP18 interacts with Twist1, removes its ubiquitination off, and subsequently stabilizes it. Short hairpin RNA-mediated downregulation of USP18 accelerates Twist1 degradation, resulting in the inhibition of GBM cell invasion and migration in vitro and in a nude mouse model. Importantly, reconstituted expression of Twist1 almost completely rescues the inhibitory effect of USP18 depletion on GBM cell invasion, migration and tumor formation. Clinically, the expression levels of USP18 and Twist1 are positively relevant in GBM specimens, and high expression of USP18 correlates with patient's poor outcome. Finally, our findings unveil the crucial role of USP18 on GBM malignancy. Targeting USP18-Twist1 regulatory axis may open a novel avenue for GBM treatment.

The Involvement of Type 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells in Airway Inflammation of Asthma

The airway inflammatory response is closely associated with asthma. The purpose of this article was to study the roles of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in the process of airway inflammatory response in asthma. We established the asthmatic mice model with intraperitoneal injected ovalbumin medium, then with the flow cytometry analysis, we detected the ILCs and their surface proteins in the mice blood samples, besides, we analyzed the amounts of inflammatory cytokines and secreted proteins in the mice bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood serum. Moreover, Western blot analyzed the proteins in the mice bronchial epithelial tissues. The ILC2 amounts were obviously increased in young asthmatic mice model. And, the proteins CD25 and CCR10 were highly expressed in the sorted ILC2s. Besides, the cytokines interleukin (IL)-5, IL-13, IL-33, CCL22, and CCL27 were abundant in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of asthmatic mice model. And, the secretion of IL-5, IL-13, IL-33, TSLP, and CCL22 in blood serum was much more in asthmatic mice model than in the normal control mice, whereas the secretion of PGD2 was suppressed in asthmatic mice bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood serum. Additionally, the guanine nucleotide-binding proteins Gα12 and Gα13 were upregulated in asthmatic mice bronchial tissues, and the protein SERCA2 was downregulated; moreover, the proteins NFAT, IRF4, and its downstream signal STAT6 were all upregulated in the asthmatic mice bronchial tissues. ILC2s were involved in the response of airway inflammation through secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines to dysregulate the Ca²⁺ homeostasis in airway in the process of asthma. [Figure: see text].

Incorporation of Nickel Ions to Enhance Integrity and Stability of Perovskite Crystal Lattice for High-Performance Planar Heterojunction Solar Cells

Enhancement of integrity and stability of crystal lattice are highly challenging for polycrystalline perovskite films. In this work, a strategy of incorporation of nickel (Ni) ions is presented to modulate the crystal structure of the CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite film. A broad range of experimental characterizations reveal that the incorporation of Ni ions can substantially eliminate the intrinsic halide vacancy defects, since Ni ions have a strong preference for octahedral coordination with halide ions, resulting in significantly improved integrity and short-range order of crystal lattice. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that the stronger chemical bonding interaction between Ni ions and halide ions as well as organic group can improve the stability of the perovskite material. Simultaneously, the surface morphology of the perovskite thin film is also improved by the incorporation of nickel ions. As a result, a planar heterojunction perovskite solar cell incorporated with 1.5% Ni exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 18.82%, which is improved by 25% compared with 14.92% for the pristine device. Simultaneously, the device formed incorpration of 1.5% Ni shows remarkable stability with 90% of the initial efficiency after storage in an air environment for 800 h. The studies provide a new insight into metal-incorporated perovskite materials for various optoelectronic applications.

Mesoporous Carbon Nanoparticles as Multi-functional Carriers for Cancer Therapy Compared with Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

Mesoporous carriers have been widely used to deliver anticancer drugs due to their unique characteristics. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) and mesoporous carbon nanoparticles (MCN) with substantially similar and uniform particle size, specific surface area, and pore size were prepared to compare the photothermal effect, drug loading efficiencies (LE), and drug release properties. In order to improve the dispersion stability and biocompatibility of the carriers, MSN and MCN were grafted with PEG, respectively. The NIR-induced photothermal effect results indicated that MCN had a brilliant photothermal conversion efficiency due to its strong near-infrared absorption capacity, while MSN had no photothermal conversion capability. Moreover, LE of DOX in DOX/MCN-PEG reached 36.58%, higher than that in DOX/MSN-PEG, which was ascribed to non-covalent interaction of π-π stacking and electrostatic attraction. In addition, compared to DOX/MSN-PEG, DOX/MCN-PEG had a significantly increased release rate under NIR laser irradiation due to excellent photothermal conversion capability of MCN-PEG. Furthermore, cell viability assay and cellular uptake experiment results demonstrated that DOX/MCN-PEG showed a synergistic therapeutic effect in the combination of chemotherapy and phototherapy, with a combination index (CI) of 0.238.

Production of bioactive recombinant human myeloid-derived growth factor in Escherichia coli and its mechanism on vascular endothelial cell proliferation

Myeloid‐derived growth factor (MYDGF) is a novel protein secreted by bone marrow cells that features important physiological functions. In recent years, MYDGF has gained considerable interest due to their extensive beneficial effect on cardiac repair and protects cardiomyocytes from cell death. However, its precise molecular mechanisms have not been well elucidated. The purpose of this study was to produce sufficient amount of biologically active recombinant human (rh) MYDGF more economically and effectively by using in vitro molecular cloning techniques to study its clinical application. The prokaryotic expression system of Escherichia coli was established for the preparation of rhMYDGF. Finally, a large amount of high biologically active and purified form of recombinant protein was obtained. Moreover, we investigated the potential mechanism of rhMYDGF‐mediated proliferation and survival in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs). Mechanistically, the results suggested that MAPK/STAT3 and the cyclin D1 signalling pathways are indispensable for rhMYDGF‐mediated HCAEC proliferation and survival. Therefore, this study successfully established a preparation protocol for biologically active rhMYDGF and it may be a most economical way to produce high‐quality active rhMYDGF for future clinical application.

Effects of thermal boundary condition on methane oxidation in landfill cover soil at different ambient temperatures

Microbial aerobic methane oxidation (MAMO) has been considered as an environmental-friendly method for mitigating methane emission from municipal landfill sites. Soil column has in a landfill cover under one-dimensional (1-D) condition. However, most of the published soil column tests failed to simulate 1-D heat transfer due to the use of thermal conductive boundary at the sidewall. In the present study, a heavily instrumented soil column was developed to quantify the effects of thermal boundary condition on the methane oxidation efficiency under different ambient temperatures in landfill cover soil. The sidewall of the soil column was thermally insulated to ensure 1-D heat transport as would have been typically expected in the field condition. Two soil column tests with and without thermal insulation were conducted at a range of controlled ambient temperatures from 15 to 30°C, for studying how soil moisture, matric suction, gas pressure, soil temperature and gas concentration evolve with MAMO. The test results reveal that ignoring thermal insulation in a soil column test would result in a greater loss of soil heat generation by MAMO and hence oxidation efficiency by up to 100% for the range of temperature considered. When the ambient temperature increased to 30°C (but less than the optimum temperature for MAMO), the MAMO efficiency increased abruptly at first but then decreased substantially with time, and this is likely due to the accumulation of biomass generated by MAMO.

Identification of 3 subpopulations of tumor-infiltrating immune cells for malignant transformation of low-grade glioma

Background

Tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) are highly relevant to clinical outcome of glioma. However, previous studies cannot account for the diverse functions that make up the immune response in malignant transformation (MT) from low-grade glioma (LGG) to high-grade glioma (HGG).

Methods

Transcriptome level, genomic profiles and its relationship with clinical practice were obtained from TCGA and CGGA database. The "Cell type Identification By Estimating Relative Subsets Of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT)" algorithm was used to estimate the fraction of 22 immune cell types. We divided the TCGA and CGGA set into an experiment set (n = 174) and a validation set (n = 74) by random number table method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the 22 TIICs' value for MT in LGG. ROC curve was plotted to calculate area under curve (AUC) and cut-off value.

Results

Heterogeneity between TIICs exists in both intra- and inter-groups. Several TIICs are notably associated with tumor grade, molecular subtypes and survival. T follicular helper (TFH) cells, activated NK Cells and M0 macrophages were screened out to be independent predictors for MT in LGG and formed an immune risk score (IRS) (AUC = 0.732, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.657-0.808 cut-off value = 0.191). In addition, the IRS model was validated by validation group, Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and functional enrichment analyses.

Conclusions

The proposed IRS model provides promising novel signatures for predicting MT from LGG to HGG and may bring a better design of glioma immunotherapy studies in years to come.

Ultrafast Evolution of B2E2g - X2E1g Conical Intersection of Benzene Cations by Strong Field Ionization-Photo Fragmentation

Benzene cation is a prototypical complex system that exhibits ultrafast conical intersections of different electronic states located close to the Franck-Condon region, yet little information is available about the dynamics of the cationic excited states. Here we utilize femtosecond time-resolved strong field ionization-photo fragmentation (SFI-PF) method to prepare and probe the electronic states of benzene cations. The transient of both the parent ion and the daughter ions are obtained, which present distinct behaviors at different pulse energies of the SFI laser. The results provide the first experimental evidence of B²E_2g-X²E_1g ultrafast relaxation of benzene cation, which occurs in about 250-270 fs. Our study should pave the way to revealing the ultrafast photochemistry of complex molecular cations.

Triple stimuli-responsive ZnO quantum dots-conjugated hollow mesoporous carbon nanoplatform for NIR-induced dual model antitumor therapy

Aiming at the inefficiency and toxicity in traditional antitumor therapy, a novel multifunctional nanoplatform was constructed based on hollow mesoporous carbon (HMC) to achieve triple stimuli response and dual model antitumor therapy via chemo-photothermal synergistic effect. HMC was used as an ideal nanovehicle with a high drug loading efficiency as well as a near-infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion agent for photothermal therapy. Acid-dissoluble, luminescent ZnO quantum dots (QDs) were used as the proper sealing agents for the mesopores of HMC, conjugated to HMC via disulfide linkage to prevent drug (doxorubicin, abbreviated as Dox) premature release from Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO. After cellular endocytosis, the Dox was released in a pH, GSH and NIR laser triple stimuli-responsive manner to realize accurate drug delivery. Moreover, the local hyperthermia effect induced by NIR irradiation could promote the drug release, enhance cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents, and also directly kill cancer cells. As expected, Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO exhibited a high drug loading capacity of 43%, well response to triple stimuli and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency η of 29.7%. The therapeutic efficacy in 4T1 cells and multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) demonstrated that Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO + NIR had satisfactory chemo-photothermal synergistic effect with a combination index (CI) of 0.532. The cell apoptosis rate of the combined treatment group was more than 95%. The biodistribution and pharmacodynamics studies showed its biosecurity to normal tissues and synergistic inhibition effect to tumor cells. These distinguished results indicated that the Dox/HMC-SS-ZnO nanoplatform is potential to realize efficient triple stimuli-responsive drug delivery and dual model chemo-photothermal synergistic antitumor therapy.

Comprehensive analysis of five long noncoding RNAs expression as competing endogenous RNAs in regulating hepatoma carcinoma

Liver cancer is the most common cancer and is the epitome of a recalcitrant cancer. Increasing evidence shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) were associated with cancer‐related death and could function as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). To explore regulatory roles and potential prognostic biomarkers of lncRNA for liver cancer, RNA‐sequencing expression data were downloaded from the TCGA database and GEO database. A total of 357 patients were randomly divided into a discovery group and a validation group, of which 313 patients can obtain clinical data. In discovery phrase, 58 lncRNAs, 16 miRNAs, and 34 mRNAs were screened to construct the ceRNA network based on 252 patients employed from discovery group. Univariate and multivariate Cox hazard regression analysis model revealed that five lncRNAs (AATK‐AS1, C10orf91, LINC00162, LINC00200, and LINC00501) from 58 lncRNAs were formulated to predict the overall survival (OS). We used the value of gene expression and regression coefficients to construct a risk score based on the five lncRNAs. Next, we validated our model in the GSE116174 dataset (n = 64) and the validation group (n = 94) from TCGA database. Subgroup analysis suggest that the five lncRNAs played critical parts in early stage in cancer from both discovery and validation groups. The five lncRNAs were also found to be associated with immune cells infiltration including CD4⁺ memory activated, NK cells activated and mast cells activated, then the results were also validated according to the validation group. Furthermore, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that these nine coexpressed modules using the method of WGCNA, and many of these pathways are associated with the development and progression of disease. At last, the transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) of the five lncRNAs were predicted, which help us to understand the potential mechanism that the TFBS adjusted the ceRNA network. In summary, the ceRNA regulatory network may contribute to a better understanding of liver cancer mechanism and provide potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Neoadjuvant Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy for Resectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus: A Randomized, Open-Label, Multicenter Controlled Study

PURPOSE

To compare the survival outcomes of neoadjuvant three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (RT) followed by hepatectomy with hepatectomy alone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A randomized, multicenter controlled study was conducted from January 2016 to December 2017 in patients with resectable HCC and PVTT. Patients were randomly assigned to receive neoadjuvant RT followed by hepatectomy (n = 82) or hepatectomy alone (n = 82). The modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) guidelines were used to evaluate the therapeutic effects of RT. The primary end point was overall survival. The expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients’ serum before RT and in surgical specimens was correlated with response to RT.

RESULTS

In the neoadjuvant RT group, 17 patients (20.7%) had partial remission. The overall survival rates for the neoadjuvant RT group at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months were 89.0%, 75.2%, 43.9%, and 27.4%, respectively, compared with 81.7%, 43.1%, 16.7%, and 9.4% in the surgery-alone group (P < .001). The corresponding disease-free survival rates were 56.9%, 33.0%, 20.3%, and 13.3% versus 42.1%, 14.9%, 5.0%, and 3.3% (P < .001). On multivariable Cox regression analyses, neoadjuvant RT significantly reduced HCC-related mortality and HCC recurrence rates compared with surgery alone (hazard ratios, 0.35 [95% CI, 0.23 to 0.54; P < .001] and 0.45 [95% CI, 0.31 to 0.64; P < .001]). Increased expressions of IL-6 in pre-RT serum and tumor tissues were significantly associated with resistance to RT.

CONCLUSION

For patients with resectable HCC and PVTT, neoadjuvant RT provided significantly better postoperative survival outcomes than surgery alone. IL-6 may predict response to RT in these patients.

Publisher Correction: Protein-altering variants associated with body mass index implicate pathways that control energy intake and expenditure in obesity

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Revision of a CHF correlation for PWR under low pressure conditions with only dimensionless parameters as independent variables

Accurate prediction of the critical heat flux (CHF) is one of the key tasks of PWR core design and safety assessment, for the maximal allowable heat flux in the reactor core is limited by CHF. Since CHF in rod bundle cannot be predicted analytically, up-to-date predictive approach is based on empirical correlations related to the local thermal-hydraulic conditions, geometry and power distribution. However, development of CHF correlation for PWR fuel assemblies under low pressure conditions (2–10 MPa) is constrained by limited amount of experimental data points, which builds up in statistics a typical problem of small sample amounts, but requiring simultaneously high prediction accuracy. In our previous study, stepwise regression method was applied to develop a dimensional, empirical CHF correlation for PWR under low pressure conditions, termed as the advanced low pressure CHF correlation (ALPC), which successfully solves the challenge of small sample problem. However, the ALPC correlation still uses dimensional independent variables with less physical meanings, which limits its physical interpretability. In the current study, stepwise regression method was used to develop a revised, dimensionless version of the ALPC CHF correlation. First, various dimensionless, two-phase thermal-hydraulic parameters that might influence CHF were selected as candidate independent variables. With stepwise regression, the form and coefficients of the revised CHF correlation were optimized in a dynamic manner. Compared to the current ALPC correlation, the revised version developed in this study possesses a similar simple form but a much higher prediction accuracy. Revision of the ALPC correlation demonstrates clearly the advantages of utilizing dimensionless parameters as independent variables in CHF correlation, which points out a new direction of developing rod-bundle CHF correlations for engineering purpose.

β1 integrin is a sensor of blood flow direction

Endothelial cell (EC) sensing of fluid shear stress direction is a critical determinant of vascular health and disease. Unidirectional flow induces EC alignment and vascular homeostasis, whereas bidirectional flow has pathophysiological effects. ECs express several mechanoreceptors that respond to flow, but the mechanism for sensing shear stress direction is poorly understood. We determined, by using in vitro flow systems and magnetic tweezers, that β1 integrin is a key sensor of force direction because it is activated by unidirectional, but not bidirectional, shearing forces. β1 integrin activation by unidirectional force was amplified in ECs that were pre-sheared in the same direction, indicating that alignment and β1 integrin activity has a feedforward interaction, which is a hallmark of system stability. En face staining and EC-specific genetic deletion studies in the murine aorta revealed that β1 integrin is activated and is essential for EC alignment at sites of unidirectional flow but is not activated at sites of bidirectional flow. In summary, β1 integrin sensing of unidirectional force is a key mechanism for decoding blood flow mechanics to promote vascular homeostasis.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

Effects of 3.5-23.0 T static magnetic fields on mice: A safety study

People are exposed to various magnetic fields, including the high static/steady magnetic field (SMF) of MRI, which has been increased to 9.4 T in preclinical investigations. However, relevant safety studies about high SMF are deficient. Here we examined whether 3.5-23.0 T SMF exposure for 2 h has severe long-term effects on mice using 112 C57BL/6J mice. The food/water consumption, blood glucose levels, blood routine, blood biochemistry, as well as organ weight and HE stains were all examined. The food consumption and body weight were slightly decreased for 23.0 T-exposed mice (14.6%, P < 0.01, and 1.75-5.57%, P < 0.05, respectively), but not the other groups. While total bilirubin (TBIL), white blood cells, platelet and lymphocyte numbers were affected by some magnetic conditions, most of them were still within normal reference range. Although 13.5 T magnetic fields with the highest gradient (117.2 T/m) caused spleen weight increase, the blood count and biochemistry results were still within the control reference range. Moreover, the highest field 23.0 T with no gradient did not cause organ weight or blood biochemistry abnormality, which indicates that field gradient is a key parameter. Collectively, these data suggest 3.5-23.0 T static magnetic field exposure for 2 h do not have severe long-term effects on mice.

Prostaglandin E2 Regulates Activation of Mouse Peritoneal Macrophages by Staphylococcus aureus through Toll-Like Receptor 2, Toll-Like Receptor 4, and NLRP3 Inflammasome Signaling

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), an essential endogenous lipid mediator for normal physiological functions, can also act as an inflammatory mediator in pathological conditions. We determined whether Staphylococcus aureus lipoproteins are essential for inducing PGE2 secretion by immune cells and whether pattern recognition receptors mediate this process. PGE2 levels secreted by mouse peritoneal macrophages infected with the S. aureus isogenic mutant, lgt::ermB (Δlgt; deficient in lipoprotein maturation), decreased compared with those from macrophages infected with wild-type (WT) S. aureus. Experiments using toll-like receptors 2 (TLR2)-deficient, TLR4-deficient, and NLRP3-deficient mice indicated that these 3 proteins are involved in macrophage PGE2 secretion in response to S. aureus, and lipoproteins were essential for S. aureus invasion and survival within macrophages. Inhibition of endogenous PGE2 synthesis had no effect on bacterial invasion. Exogenous PGE2 inhibited phagocytosis in the WT S. aureus and its isogenic mutant but increased intracellular killing accompanied by enhanced IL-1β secretion. Our data demonstrate that S. aureus can induce macrophage TLR/mitogen-activated protein kinase/NF-κB signaling and that PGE2 treatment upregulates NLRP3/caspase-1 signaling activation. Thus, macrophage PGE2 secretion after S. aureus infection depends on bacterial lipoprotein maturation and macrophage receptors TLR2, TLR4, and NLRP3. Moreover, exogenous PGE2 regulates S. aureus-induced macrophage activation through TLRs and NLRP3 inflammasome signaling.

Interaction and Photodissociation of Electronic Excited States of HS2 in the Ultraviolet Region: A Theoretical Contribution

HS₂ molecules play an important role in the photochemical processes in combustion, atmosphere, and interstellar medium, yet our knowledge about the electronic excited states in the UV region is limited. In this study, we perform high-level ab initio calculations on electronic states of HS₂ using the internally contracted multireference configuration interaction method including the Davidson correction (icMRCI + Q) method. The vertical transition energies, oscillator strengths, electron configurations, and transitions of thirteen electronic states of HS₂ with energy up to 8 eV are calculated at the icMRCI + Q/aug-cc-pv(5 + d)Z level. Based on the calculated potential energy curves, we investigate the interaction and photodissociation mechanism of the electronic states, which should shed some light on the decomposition processes of the gas-phase HS₂ molecules in the ultraviolet region.

The characteristics of internet-based venue sex-seeking and mobility among money boys in Tianjin, China

OBJECTIVES

Internet-based venue sex-seeking is prevalent among money boys (MBs), as is a high degree of mobility, which is crucial for HIV transmission in key populations with high risks of HIV infection. However, correlation studies in MBs are scarce because of the secretive nature of this hard-to-reach subpopulation. We conducted this project to explore the characteristics of MBs.

METHODS

This survey was conducted from December 2014 to June 2015 in Tianjin; a total of 330 MBs were recruited by convenience sampling. Demographic and behavioural data were collected for analysis.

RESULTS

Among the investigated MBs, 38 (11.52%) were HIV positive, 147 (44.55%) reported using internet-based venues to seek sexual partners and 257 (77.88%) had travelled to two or more destinations in the past 6 months. Compared with non-internet-based venue-using MBs, internet-based venue-using MBs were more likely to have part-time employment as MBs, to have a longer duration of working in the sex trade, to engage in finger intercourse and to present a history of substance abuse and sexually transmitted infections. However, internet-based venue-using MBs were less likely to exhibit consistent condom usage and undergo HIV testing. Origin of residence data showed that most MBs were from northern China, with Tianjin, Beijing and Shanghai as the main travel destinations. Mobile MBs were characterized as a group who were fully engaged in the sex trade and frequently took part in sexual activities but had a weak sense of self-protection.

CONCLUSIONS

Internet-based venue sex-seeking and mobility are prevalent in MBs. Renewed efforts in internet-based health promotion and school-based primary health examination programmes may benefit more mobile and/or internet-based venue sex-seeking MBs.

Identification of Transcription Factors Involved in the Regulation of Flowering in Adonis Amurensis Through Combined RNA-seq Transcriptomics and iTRAQ Proteomics

Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors affecting flowering in plants. Adonis amurensis, a perennial herbaceous flower that blooms in early spring in northeast China where the temperature can drop to −15 °C, is an ideal model for studying the molecular mechanisms of flowering at extremely low temperatures. This study first investigated global gene expression profiles at different developmental stages of flowering in A. amurensis by RNA-seq transcriptome and iTRAQ proteomics. Finally, 123 transcription factors (TFs) were detected in both the transcriptome and the proteome. Of these, 66 TFs belonging to 14 families may play a key role in multiple signaling pathways of flowering in A. amurensis. The TFs FAR1, PHD, and B3 may be involved in responses to light and temperature, while SCL, SWI/SNF, ARF, and ERF may be involved in the regulation of hormone balance. SPL may regulate the age pathway. Some members of the TCP, ZFP, MYB, WRKY, and bHLH families may be involved in the transcriptional regulation of flowering genes. The MADS-box TFs are the key regulators of flowering in A. amurensis. Our results provide a direction for understanding the molecular mechanisms of flowering in A. amurensis at low temperatures.

Efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound-guided and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography-guided biliary drainage for malignant biliary obstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided (EUS) biliary drainage was used as an alternative method for patients who failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). In recent years, an increasing number of patients was treated with EUS-biliary drainage (BD), but lack of data was available to value the efficacy and safety between EUS and ERCP. Therefore, a review was needed to evaluate the similarities and differences between the two methods and explored whether EUS-guided biliary drainage could be considered as first-line treatment.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

We searched the Pubmed/Medline, Embase, Web of science, Google scholar, the Cochrane Library and Clinical trials of electronic databases till October 2018 for all English language. Primary outcomes to comparison included technical success, clinical success and adverse events. Secondary outcomes consisted of stent dysfunction requiring reintervention and procedure duration, Data from selected studies were collected to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and standard mean difference (SMD).

EVIDENCE SINTHESIS

We searched 469 studies and at last identified 4 eligible trials. These included a total of 428 patients, 215 in the EUS group and 213 in the ERCP group. There was no difference in technical success (OR, 0.95; 95% CI: 0.45-2.02; I2=0%), clinical success (OR, 0.87; 95% CI: 0.42-1.79; I2=0%) and adverse events between 2 procedures (OR, 0.76; 95% CI: 0.29-2.00; I2=55%) but EUS-BD consisted of lower rate of reintervention (OR, 0.30; 95% CI: 0.14-0.63; I2=0%),and fewer procedure-related adverse events in pancreatitis and cholangitis (OR, 0.14; 95% CI: 0.04-0.51; I2=0%).There was no difference in length of procedure duration, with a pooled standard mean difference of 0.26 (95% CI: -0.15 to 0.66).

CONCLUSIONS

EUS-BD and ERCP-BD in terms of relief of malignant biliary obstruction presented the similarity rate of technical success, clinical success and there is no significant difference in adverse events of two procedures. EUS-BD could be used as a substitute for ERCP-BD, even considered as first-line treatment.