Causal relationship between IgA nephropathy and common neuropsychiatric disorders: A two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis.

Objective: Utilizing two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR), this study seeks to determine the causal relationship between IgA nephropathy and five prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders. By exploring the genetic associations between IgA nephropathy and neuropsychiatric disorders, this research aims to contribute to the prevention of neuropsychiatric disorders in patients with IgA nephropathy.

Methods: Public genome-wide association study databases were searched, with IgA nephropathy as the exposure factor, including 15,587 patients with IgA nephropathy and 462,197 healthy controls.

Plac8-ERK pathway modulation of monocyte function in sepsis.

Sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by infection, is characterized by the dysregulation of immune responses and activation of monocytes. Plac8, a protein, has been implicated in various inflammatory conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Plac8 upregulation on monocyte proliferation and activation in sepsis patients.

Electroacupuncture alleviates intestinal inflammation via a distinct neuro-immune signal pathway in the treatment of postoperative ileus.

Background: The induction of intestinal inflammation as a result of abdominal surgery is an essential factor in postoperative ileus (POI) development. Electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 has been demonstrated to relieve intestinal inflammation and restore gastrointestinal dysmotility in POI. This study aims to elucidate the neuroimmune pathway involved in the anti-inflammatory properties of EA in POI.

Development of integrated smartphone/resistive biosensor for on-site rapid environmental monitoring of organophosphate pesticides in food and water.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides remain a worldwide health concern due to their acute or chronic poisoning and widespread use in agriculture around the world. There is a need for robust and field-deployable tools for onsite detection of OP pesticides in food and water. Herein, we present an integrated smartphone/resistive biosensor for simple, rapid, reagentless, and sensitive monitoring of OP pesticides in food and environmental water.

Genipin Attenuates Sepsis-Induced Splenocyte Apoptosis via the Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dysfunction is characterized by ER stress, which can be triggered by sepsis. Recent studies have reported that lessening ER stress is a promising therapeutic approach to improving the outcome of sepsis. Genipin is derived from gardenia fruit, which is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb for anti-inflammation.

Improvement of the sepsis survival rate by adenosine 2a receptor antagonists depends on immune regulatory functions of regulatory T-cells.

Adenosine shows a significant immunosuppressive effect in sepsis binding to the adenosine 2a receptor (A2aR). Both genetic deletion and pharmacological inhibition of the A2aR may improve survival in sepsis. However, available research on this protective mechanism is quite limited.

Insights into the interaction of CaCl and potato starch: Rheological, structural and gel properties.

High viscosity of starch greatly limit its application in some specific foods, in this work, a novel low-viscosity potato starch (PS) was developed via crosslinking between PS (3 %, w/v) and Ca to investigate the effect of CaCl concentration (0.1-5 % CaCl, w/v) on the rheological behaviors, structural and gel properties of PS. The results showed that peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), and breakdown viscosity (BD) of pasting curves of CaCl-treated PS were significantly reduced compared with the native PS.

The α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonist GTS-21 Improves Bacterial Clearance Regulation of Monocyte Recruitment and Activity in Polymicrobial Septic Peritonitis.

The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway has been identified as an effective pathway to modify inflammatory responses. Here, we verified that delayed administration with a selective α7nAChR agonist GTS-21 enables a more efficient elimination of the offending pathogens, diminished inflammatory response and organ injury, and improved survival rates in the polymicrobial septic peritonitis model. We illustrated that the improved bacterial clearance upon GTS-21 stimulation was accompanied by enhanced recruitment of monocytes into the peritoneal cavity and simultaneously increased phagocytic activity and iNOS expression of these recruited monocytes.

Inhibition of ultraviolet-induced sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus) autolysis by maintaining coelomocyte intracellular calcium homeostasis.

Apoptosis plays a critical role in sea cucumber autolysis. To investigate the ultraviolet (UV)-induced apoptosis, sea cucumbers with and without injection of BAPTA-AM (cytosolic calcium chelator) were exposed to UV (15 W/m) for 30 min. The results showed that UV irradiation caused several changes in sea cucumber coelomocytes, including calcium imbalance, abnormal morphology of endoplasmic reticulum, upregulation of pro-apoptotic proteins CRT, CHOP, and caspases 9 and 3, and downregulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2.

Nanocomplexes of curcumin and glycated bovine serum albumin: The formation mechanism and effect of glycation on their physicochemical properties.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and BSA-glucose conjugates (GBSAⅠ and GBSAⅠI) with different extent of glycation were complexed with curcumin (CUR). The formation mechanism of BSA/GBSA-CUR complexes and the effect of glycation on their physicochemical properties were investigated. Fluorescence quenching and FTIR analysis indicated that the BSA/GBSA-CUR nanocomplexes were formed mainly by hydrophobic interactions.

Fabrication of pea protein-curcumin nanocomplexes via microfluidization for improved solubility, nano-dispersibility and heat stability of curcumin: Insight on interaction mechanisms.

Poor dispersibility of curcumin (cur) in aqueous medium and heat instability are common drawbacks preventing its efficiently practical use. Herein, the aim of this work was to reduce the size of cur crystals to the nanoscale through solid dispersion technique and subsequently stabilize them in an amorphous form. In this work, different ratios of pea protein (PP) to cur (6: 1, 12:1, 18:1 and 24:1, w/w) nano-supernatant (NS) in water were prepared via microfluidization.

Upregulation of COL8A1 indicates poor prognosis across human cancer types and promotes the proliferation of gastric cancer cells.

Gastric cancer (GC) was one of the most common types of the digestive system. COL8A1 was reported to be associated with cancer progression. The present study showed COL8A1 was overexpressed and correlated to shorter overall survival (OS) time across human cancer types.

Rapid Pasteurization of Apple Juice Using a New Ultrasonic Reactor.

A new ultrasonic reactor was used to rapidly inactivate and in apple juice. It was found that high pulp content made ultrasound less lethal to , while it had no significant effect on . When the pulp free apple juice was ultrasonically processed, the 5-log reduction time was 35 s for at 60 °C and 30 s for at 62 °C.

Development of high-fiber wheat bread using microfluidized corn bran.

Microfluidized corn bran is an excellent source of dietary fiber but has not been used to develop high-fiber bread. To develop such bread, it replaced 18, 20, and 22% of flour in the control white bread formula. At the standard water content, the amount of water required to develop a dough consistency of 500 Brabender Units in farinograph tests, the resulting bread had worse microstructure and textural properties, and much smaller loaf volume than the control bread.

Prediction of swelling behavior of crosslinked maize starch suspensions.

Rheological properties of starch are affected by swelling of the granules that is in turn controlled by the degree of crosslinking. A previously developed model for swelling of starch granules was extended to account for electrostatic interactions. Maize starch was crosslinked with sodium trimetaphosphate.

[Safety and efficacy of hand-assisted laparoscopic versus open distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis].

Objective: To systematically assess the safety and efficacy of hand-assisted laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (HALG) versus open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for gastric cancer.

Methods: Chinese or English literature regarding comparison of HALG and ODG were collected by searching in databases (such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang database) between January 1996 and September 2016. The data of operative time, incision length, blood loss, number of harvested lymph nodes, time to flatus, hospital stay, postoperative complication morbidity and long-term outcomes were compared between the two procedures.

Evaluation of Tc-99m-3PRGD2 Integrin Receptor Imaging in the Differential Diagnosis of Breast Lesions and Comparison With Mammography.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate and compare efficacies of Tc-99m-3PRGD2 integrin receptor imaging under variety of conditions for the diagnosis of breast lesions, in addition to comparison with mammography.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-two female patients with established breast lesions were recruited. All patients were examined by Tc-99m-3PRGD2 integrin receptor imaging and mammography.

A Novel Copolymer-Based Functional SPECT/MR Imaging Agent for Asialoglycoprotein Receptor Targeting.

The aim of this study is to develop a copolymer-based single-photon emission computed tomography/magnetic resonance (SPECT/MR) dual-modality imaging agent that can be labeled with both technetium-99m (Tc) and gadolinium (Gd) and target asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) via galactose. Monomers of N-p-vinylbenzyl-6-(2-(4-dimethylamino)benzaldehydehydrazono) nicotinate (VNI) for labeling of Tc, 5,8-bis(carboxymethyl)-3-oxo-11-(2-oxo-2-((4-vinylbenzyl)amino)ethyl)-1-(4-vinylphenzyl)-2,5,8,11-tetraazatridecan-13-oic acid (VDTPA) for labeling of Gd, and vinylbenzyl-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-gluconamide (VLA) for targeting ASGPR were synthesized, respectively. Then the copolymer P(VLA-co-VNI-co-VDTPA) (pVLND) was synthesized and characterized by gel permeation chromatography, dynamic light scattering, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis.

Simultaneous SPECT imaging of multi-targets to assist in identifying hepatic lesions.

Molecular imaging technique is an attractive tool to detect liver disease at early stage. This study aims to develop a simultaneous dual-isotope single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT imaging method to assist diagnosis of hepatic tumor and liver fibrosis. Animal models of liver fibrosis and orthotopic human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were established.

Explicit numerical solutions of a microbial survival model under nonisothermal conditions.

Differential equations used to describe the original and modified Geeraerd models were, respectively, simplified into an explicit equation in which the integration of the specific inactivation rate with respect to time was numerically approximated using the Simpson's rule. The explicit numerical solutions were then used to simulate microbial survival curves and fit nonisothermal survival data for identifying model parameters in Microsoft Excel. The results showed that the explicit numerical solutions provided an easy way to accurately simulate microbial survival and estimate model parameters from nonisothermal survival data using the Geeraerd models.

Clinical features of and risk factors for major depression with history of postpartum episodes in Han Chinese women: A retrospective study.

Background: We sought to investigate the clinical features of and risk factors for recurrent major depression (MD) with history of postpartum episodes (PPD) in Han Chinese women and the differences between first-onset postpartum MD (MD that has its first lifetime depressive episode in the postpartum period) and first-onset non-postpartum MD (MD with history of PPD and has its first lifetime depressive episode in a period other than postpartum).

Methods: Data were derived from the China, Oxford and Virginia Commonwealth University Experimental Research on Genetic Epidemiology (CONVERGE) study (N=6017 cases) and analyzed in two steps. We first examined the clinical features of and risk factors for MD patients with (N=981) or without (N=4410) a history of PPD.

Numerical solution of a microbial growth model applied to dynamic environments.

The Baranyi and Roberts model is one of the most frequently used microbial growth models. It has been successfully applied to numerous studies of various microorganisms in different food products. Under dynamic conditions, the model is implicitly formulated as a set of two coupled differential equations which could be numerically solved using the Runge-Kutta method.

Effect of local mild hypothermia on regional cerebral blood flow in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage assessed by 99mTc-ECD SPECT imaging.

Objective: This study aimed to observe the effect of local mild hypothermia on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) after acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to evaluate its relation to clinical outcome in patients with ICH.

Methods: 36 CT proven ICH patients with Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score of 5 or more were randomly assigned to 2 group: local mild hypothermia with conventional mannitol (Group A) or conventional mannitol (Group B). SPECT study was performed at day 7 after therapy.

Smoking and major depressive disorder in Chinese women.

Objective: To investigate the risk factors that contribute to smoking in female patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and the clinical features in depressed smokers.

Methods: We examined the smoking status and clinical features in 6120 Han Chinese women with MDD (DSM-IV) between 30 and 60 years of age across China. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between clinical features of MDD and smoking status and between risk factors for MDD and smoking status.

[Predictors of local recurrence and survival in primary retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma].

Objective: To investigate the predictors of local recurrence and survival in primary retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma (PRLS).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 46 cases of PRLS between August 2006 and April 2012. There were 9 male and 37 female patients, and they were 30-79 year old (median 49 year old).