Mir-204 Regulates LPS-Induced A549 Cell Damage by Targeting FOXK2

Objective

To assess whether miR-204 and HA affect A549 cell injury induced by lipopolysaccharide. Material and Methods. A549 cells were treated with hirsutanol A, and cell damage was induced by LPS followed by analysis of cell proliferation by CCK-8, cell apoptosis by flow cytometry, apoptosis-related protein expression by western blot, downstream target of miR-20 by dual-luciferase reporter gene, and inflammatory factors by ELISA and PCR.

Results

LPS can significantly inhibit the viability of A549 cells, induce cell apoptosis, and promote the release of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, while HA pretreatment can target FOXK2 by upregulating miR-204 levels, thereby alleviating apoptosis and promoting cell viability and at the same time inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB.

Conclusions

miR-204 participates in the protection of HA acute lung injury by targeting FOXK2.

Schisandrin A protects against isoproterenol‑induced chronic heart failure via miR‑155

Schisandrin A (Sch A) has a protective effect on cardiomyocytes. Circulating miR-155 levels are related to chronic heart failure (CHF). The present study aimed to clarify the role and the molecular mechanism of Sch A in CHF. C57BL/6JGpt mice were used for an isoproterenol (ISO)-induced CHF model to collect heart samples. Echocardiography was employed to detect heartbeat indicators. The degree of myocardial hypertrophy was evaluated based on the measurement of heart weight (HW), body weight (BW) and tibia length (TL) and the observation using hematoxylin-eosin staining. Sprague-Dawley rats were purchased for the separation of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs), which were treated with ISO for 24 h. Transfection regulated the level of miR-155. The viability of NRVMs was detected via MTT assay. The mRNA and protein levels were measured via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting and immunofluorescence was used to detect the content of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Treatment with ISO resulted in rising left ventricular posterior wall thickness, intra-ventricular septum diastole, left ventricular end diastolic diameter, left ventricular end systolic diameter, HW/BW, HW/TL and falling ejection fraction and fractional shortening, the trend of which could be reversed by Sch A. Sch A ameliorated myocardial hypertrophy in CHF mice. In addition, Sch A inhibited ISO-induced upregulated expressions of atrial natriuretic peptide, B-type natriuretic peptide, B-myosin heavy chain and miR-155 in myocardial tissue. Based on the results in vitro, Sch A had no significant effect on the viability of NRVMs when its concentration was <24 µmol/l. Sch A inhibited the levels of miR-155, α-SMA and the phosphorylation levels of AKT and cyclic AMP response-element binding protein (CREB) in ISO-induced NRVMs, which was reversed by the upregulation of miR-155. Schisandrin A mediated the AKT/CREB signaling pathway to prevent CHF by regulating the expression of miR-155, which may shed light on a possible therapeutic target for CHF.

Effects of medical graphic narratives (patient comic) on Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in patients undergoing coronary angiography and PCI

Background/Introduction

Increasing evidence suggests that patients scheduled for invasive cardiac procedures such as coronary angiography / PCI feel insufficiently informed about the planned procedure.

Purpose

To improve the Patient Informed Consent (IC) before coronary angiography by using “medical graphic narratives” (patient comic) that illustrate central IC-related aspects in a simple and understandable manner.

Methods

A patient comic illustrating central steps of the procedure, risks, treatment alternatives and behavioural measures was created in collaboration with professional scientific visual communicators. In a randomised, controlled, prospective trial, we included 121 patients undergoing coronary angiography/PCI. Patients were randomised to a group that was informed about the procedure using the usual Patient IC approach (official consent form and conversation with physician; Control group) or a group that additionally obtained a patient comic for reading (graphic illustrations of central IC aspects based on the official consent form; Comic group). Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), i.e. satisfaction with and perceived quality of the patient IC, were tested in both groups comparing single items of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) and self-designed single items in both IC groups. Differences were compared using the Fisher's exact test. A p-value &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

PROMs showed significant benefits in favour of the Comic group: Quality of the patient IC was perceived to be “very good” in 45.0% of the Comic group compared to 24.9% of patients in the Control group (p=0.023). Only 23.0% of the patients in the Control group, compared to 40.0% in the Comic group, stated that the IC procedure completely met their expectations (p=0.012). 57.4% in the Control group and 76.7% in the Comic group stated that all of their questions were satisfactorily adressed before the procedure (p=0.015). 43.3% in the Comic group, in contrast to 18.0% in the Control group, declared to feel “very satisfied” with the obtained IC procedure (p=0.002). The acceptance of the patient comic was very high: no patient (0%) expressed feelings of not being taken seriously by reading the patient comic.

Conclusions

Our data confirm pronounced limitations of the usual Patient IC practice before coronary angiography. The use of a patient comic that narratively illustrates central steps of the procedure positively impacts on patient-centered endpoints and significantly improves the patient IC procedure.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Friede Springer Herz Stiftung

Design and expected performance of a variable-radii sinusoidal spiral x-ray spectrometer for the National Ignition Facility

A novel high-resolution x-ray spectrometer for point-like emission sources has been developed using a crystal shape having both a variable major and a variable minor radius of curvature. This variable-radii sinusoidal spiral spectrometer (VR-Spiral) allows three common spectrometer design goals to be achieved simultaneously: 1. reduction of aberrations and improved spectral (energy) resolution, 2. reduction of source size broadening, and 3. use of large crystals to improve total throughput. The VR-Spiral concept and its application to practical spectrometer design are described in detail. This concept is then used to design a spectrometer for an extreme extended x-ray absorption fine structure experiment at the National Ignition Facility looking at the Pb L₃ absorption edge at 13.0352 keV. The expected performance of this VR-Spiral spectrometer, both in terms of energy resolution and spatial resolution, is evaluated through the use of a newly developed raytracing tool, xicsrt. Finally, the expected performance of the VR-Spiral concept is compared to that of spectrometers based on conventional toroidal and variable-radii toroidal crystal geometries showing a greatly improved energy resolution.

[Interference of long noncoding RNA FOXCUT inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and induces mitochondrial injury in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effects of RNA interference of long noncoding RNA FOXCUT on epithelial mesenchymal transformation and mitochondrial function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells.

METHODS

FOXCUT expression levels were detected by RT-PCR in tumor tissues and adjacent tissues from 50 patients with NPC and in NP69, CNE1, CNE2, SUNE2, HER2 and 5-8F cell lines. CNE1 cells were transfected with a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting FOXCUT or a negative control RNA construct (shRNA-NC), and the changes in cell proliferation and morphology were assessed with CCK8 assay, clone formation assay and microscopic observation. An immunofluorescence assay was used to examine the vimentin-positive cells, and the levels of SOD, MDA and LDH in the cells were detected. The changes of mitochondrial membrane potential were detected with flow cytometry, and the expression levels of E-cad, N-cad, vimentin, Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and c-Myc in the cells were detected with Western blotting.

RESULTS

The expression level of FOXCUT was significantly increased in NPC tissues as compared with the adjacent tissues (P < 0.001). Compared with NP69 cells, CNE1, CNE2, SUNE2, HER2 and 5-8F cells all exhibited significantly increased expressions of FOXCUT (P < 0.001). In CNE1 cells, transfection with FOXCUT shRNA significantly inhibited cell proliferation and clone formation (P < 0.001), and caused obvious changes in cell morphology. FOXCUT knockdown significantly decreased the expressions of N-cad and vimentin, increased E- cad expression and the contents of MDA and LDH (P < 0.05), reduced vimentin- positive cells and the activity of SOD, and caused a shift of red fluorescent cells to green fluorescent cells and an increased percentage of green fluorescent cells. FOXCUT knockdown also resulted in significantly increased expressions of Bax/Bcl2 and cleaved Cas3/Cas3 and a lowered expression of c-Myc.

CONCLUSIONS

Interference of FOXCUT can inhibit the proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, enhance oxidative stress, induce mitochondrial function injury, and promote apoptosis in NPC cells, suggesting the potential of FOXCUT interference for targeted treatment of NPC.

[Research and application progress of mechanical measures for oral plaque control]

Effective removal of dental plaque is a key measure to prevent and control common oral diseases and to maintain the long-term effect of dental prostheses. The methods of oral plaque control are mainly depending on mechanical measures, including regular toothbrushing, interdental cleaning and oral irrigation. Toothbrushing is the most common and effective method for mechanical removal of dental plaque.How ever the effect of toothbrushing alone to remove dental plaque is limited. It is necessary to control the interdental plaque using tools such as dental floss and interdental brushes. Oral irrigation is an assistant method to improve oral hygiene. Toothbrushing combined with the use of oral irrigator can significantly improve the removal rate of dental plaque. The present article reviews the research progress of the mechanical plaque control methods and their application results.

[High frequency ultrasound combined with ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy for the diagnosis of primary thyroid lymphoma]

Objective: To investigate the sonographic features of primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL) and to evaluate the clinical significance of ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (US-CNB) in PTL. Methods: A total of 24 patients with suspected PTL in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital from January 2013 to June 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. All cases were confirmed by pathology, of them 23 patients received US-CNB and 1 patient chose operation without US-CNB, including 5 males and 19 females, aged from 39 to 75 years old. The effectiveness and safety of 23 patients with US-CNB were evaluated, and the sonographic features of 20 patients with PTL diagnosed by pathology were analyzed. Descriptive statistical methods were used in the study. Results: In the 23 patients with suspected PTL underwent US-CNB, 18 patients were diagnosed as PTL, 4 patients were respectively diagnosed as subacute thyroiditis, anaplastic carcinoma, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and fibro thyroiditis, and the another patient was hard to diagnose by US-CNB and then was diagnosed as PTL by surgical biopsy. The success rate of US-CNB for diagnosis of PTL was 18/19, and no severe complications occurred in the patients with US-CNB. The other case was diagnosed as PTL by surgical biopsy without US-CNB. Sonographic features of 20 cases with PTL (18 cases diagnosed by US-CNB and 2 cases by surgery or surgery biopsy) were as follows: (1) Most nodules had irregular shapes and unsmooth margins; (2) Hypoechoic or markedly hypoechoic nodules with honeycombed or cord structures were observed in most cases; (3) Calcification was rare; (4) Multiple lesions were common; (5) Abundant intralesional vascularization was commonly observed; (6) Most cases had intensification of posterior acoustic enhancement; (7) Thyroid gland enlargement or with irregular shape; and (8) PTL often accompanied with lymph nodes enlargement in lateral neck or central region. Conclusion: PTL has certain sonographic features, with assistance of US-CNB, more accurate diagnosis of PTL can be obtained.

Application of artificial intelligence in diagnosis of osteoporosis using medical images: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a potentially reliable assistant in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. This meta-analysis aims to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the AI-based systems using medical images. We searched PubMed and Web of Science from inception to June 15, 2020, for eligible articles that applied AI approaches to diagnosing osteoporosis using medical images. Quality and bias of the included studies were evaluated with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. The main outcome was the sensitivity and specificity of the performance of the AI-based systems. The data analysis utilized the R Foundation packages of "meta" for univariate analysis and Stata for bivariate analysis. Random effects model was utilized. Seven studies with 3186 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The overall risk of bias of the included studies was assessed as low. The pooled sensitivity was 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-1.00), and the pooled specificity was 0.95 (95% CI 0.91-0.99). However, high heterogeneity was found in this meta-analysis. The results supported that the AI-based systems had good accuracy in diagnosing osteoporosis. However, the high risk of bias in patient selection and high heterogeneity in the meta-analysis made the conclusion less convincing. The application of AI-based systems in osteoporosis diagnosis needs to be further confirmed by more prospective studies in multi-centers including more random samples from complete patient types.

The multi-optics high-resolution absorption x-ray spectrometer (HiRAXS) for studies of materials under extreme conditions

We report the development of a high-resolution spectrometer for extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies of materials under extreme conditions. A curved crystal and detector in the spectrometer are replaceable such that a single body is employed to perform EXAFS measurements at different x-ray energy intervals of interest. Two configurations have been implemented using toroidal crystals with Ge 311 reflection set to provide EXAFS at the Cu K-edge (energy range 8.9-9.8 keV) and Ge 400 reflection set to provide EXAFS at the Ta L3-edge (9.8-10.7 keV). Key performance characteristics of the spectrometer were found to be consistent with design parameters. The data generated at the National Ignition Facility have shown an ≃3 eV spectral resolution for the Cu K-edge configuration and ≃6 eV for the Ta L3-edge configuration.

[Correlation analysis between serum ferritin level and liver damage in acute stage of dengue fever]

Objective: To investigate the correlation between serum ferritin (SF) level and liver damage in the acute stage of dengue fever. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to analyze 171 cases diagnosed with dengue fever as dengue fever group and 130 healthy patients as control group in Hangzhou 3A grade hospital from July to December 2017. Clinical data, SF and liver function related indicators were collected from both groups: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL) to analyze the correlation between liver damage and SF in patients with dengue fever. Results: ALT, AST, and SF levels were significantly higher in the dengue fever group than those in the healthy control group (Z = 11.553, 15.054 and 15.163, P < 0.001). SF levels were higher in the dengue fever combined with liver damage group than those without the liver damage group (z = 6.930, P < 0.001). However, there was no statistically significant differences in age, gender, peak body temperature, and history of liver disease (P > 0.05). In addition, Spearman's correlation analysis showed that SF was positively correlated with ALT, AST, and TBIL (r = 0.464, 0.531 and 0.315, P < 0.001). Among dengue patients with different SF levels, there were significant difference in ALT, AST levels and incidence of liver damage (H = 14.240 and 17.584, χ(2) = 49.547, P < 0.001). Patients with higher SF levels had higher ALT, AST levels and incidence of liver damage. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that hyperferritinemia (SF≥500 ng/ml) was the risk factor for dengue fever combined with liver damage (OR = 8.120, P < 0.001). Furthermore, ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC for SF to judge dengue fever combined liver damage was 0.846 (95% CI: 0.785-0.908), and the sensitivity and specificity when the SF cut-off value was 1 506 ng/ml were 74.8% and 83.3%. Conclusion: There is a certain correlation between the SF level and the degree of liver damage in acute stage of dengue fever patients, and hyperferritinemia is a risk factor for dengue fever combined with liver damage.

Development of the gas puffing imaging diagnostic on J-TEXT tokamak

Edge turbulence is important for plasma confinement, so the gas puffing imaging (GPI) diagnostic was proposed on the J-TEXT tokamak for the two-dimensional measurement of turbulence in the edge region. GPI is a diagnostic of plasma turbulence that uses a puff of neutral gas at the plasma edge to increase the local visible light emission for improved space-time resolution of plasma fluctuations. Considering the conditions of J-TEXT, the observation area is 21° away from the position of the optical system in the toroidal direction, and the observation area is 10 cm × 10 cm inside and outside the last closed flux surface. To have a lower divergence of the gas flow, the gas puff nozzle is specially designed. An interface has been developed for operation. To photograph the line radiation generated by the neutral gas cloud along the magnetic field lines, the optical system is designed. It is composed of a quartz glass, mirrors, commercial lenses, filters, and high-speed cameras. The high-speed camera can capture the line radiation with a speed up to 180 000 frames/s with 256 pixels × 256 pixels and an exposure time of 5 µs. In a recent experiment, the new GPI diagnostic has obtained some preliminary pictures.

Tunable spin Hall shift of light from graphene-wrapped spheres

Graphene has taken impressive roles in light manipulation and optical engineering. The most attractive advantage of graphene is its tunable conductivity that could be dynamically modulated by various means. In this paper, we show that the spin Hall shift of light is dynamically tunable via changing the Fermi level of the graphene-wrapped spheres. Such tunability is prominent when different modes interfere with each other, such as at the interference of electric and magnetic dipolar modes or at the interference of electric dipolar and electric quadrupole modes. The circular polarization degree in the near field clearly demonstrates the strength of spin-orbit interaction, which is associated with spin Hall shift of light in the far-field. In addition, the spin Hall effect is shown in far-field detection plane and should be observed in experiment. Our results provide insights into how the spin Hall effect could be tuned and add new perspective in designing optical super-resolution imaging techniques.

Simple acupuncture combined with fluoxetine in the treatment of poststroke depression: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Poststroke depression is a common secondary mental disorder after stroke, which increases the recurrence rate and mortality rate after stroke and hinders the recovery of function. As a combination therapy, simple acupuncture combined with fluoxetine has achieved good clinical effect, but there is a lack of evidence-based medicine. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with fluoxetine in the treatment of poststroke depression by meta-analysis.

METHODS

Search Chinese and English databases: China national knowledge infrastructure, VP information Chinese Journal Service Platform, Wanfang, the China Biomedical Database, PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and web of science. A randomized controlled trial of simple acupuncture combined with fluoxetine in the treatment of poststroke depression will be selected. The retrieval time is of the establishment of the database in January 2021. Selected literature is extracted and deleted by 2 researchers, and the quality of the included literature is evaluated. The included literature is analyzed by Meta with RevMan5.3 software.

RESULTS

In this study, the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with fluoxetine in the treatment of post-stroke depression are evaluated by Hamilton Depression scale (HAMD) and its reduction rate, Treatment Emergency Symptom Scale, Self-rating Depression Scale, and Activities of Daily living scale.

CONCLUSION

This study will provide reliable evidence-based evidence for the clinical application of acupuncture combined with fluoxetine in the treatment of post-stroke depression.

OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER

DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/5J896.

[Correlation between midpalatal suture stage on cone-beam CT images and its cervical vertebral maturation stage for 1 076 Chinese children and youth]

Objective: To investigate the correlation between cone-beam CT (CBCT) morphological stage of midpalatal suture (MPS) and cervical vertebral maturation stage (CS) of Chinese children and youth. Methods: This study was a retrospective observational study. A total of 1 076 CBCT images (male: 401, female: 675, age≥ 6.0 years old and<21.0 years old) taken from January 2013 to April 2018 in Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology were included. MPS and CS of each sample were recorded according to previous studies. MPS included five stages: MPS 1, MPS 2, MPS 3, MPS 4s1 (substage), MPS 4s2 (substage), and MPS 5. CS included six stages: CS 1-6. Correlation between MPS and CS (ordinal categorical variables) was investigated by Spearman correlation coefficient and diagnostic test analysis. Results: Spearman coefficient between CS and MPS was 0.803. Diagnostic pairs with the best diagnostic performance include: CS 6-MPS 5, CS 5-MPS 4s2, CS 1-MPS 1, CS 4-MPS 4s1, CS 2-MPS 1, CS 3-MPS 3. The 90.9% (309/340) of individuals at CS 1-3 were at MPS 1-3 and 9.1% (31/340) were at MPS 4s1. The 33.0% (107/324) of individuals at CS 4 were at MPS 3 and 46.6% (151/324) were at MPS 4s1. Conclusions: CS has a close relationship with MPS. Individuals at CS 4 are recommended to take pre-treatment CBCT, so as to estimate feasibility of skeletal expansion with traditional tooth-borne rapid maxillary expansion.