Increasing public concern on insomnia during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: An info-demiology study.

Background: Since December 2019, an unexplained pneumonia has broken out in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. In order to prevent the rapid spread of this disease, quarantine or lockdown measures were taken by the Chinese government. These measures turned out to be effective in containing the contagious disease.

Analysis of the resilience level and associated factors among patients with lumbar disc herniation.

This study aims to determine the resilience level and its influence on anxiety among Chinese lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients, and to determine the critical psychological and non-psychological predictors of resilience among LDH patients. Twenty hundred and fifty LDH patients from a tertiary hospital in Jinzhou, China were included in this survey to answer the Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Herth Hope Index (HHI), Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10). The mean resilience level of LDH patients was 61.

Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of social anxiety scale for social media users and cross-sectional investigation into this disorder among college students.

Background: Recent years have seen an increased incidence of social anxiety due to increasing intensive use of social media, especially among young adults.

Objective: The present study aimed to translate the original English version of Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS-SMU) into Chinese, examine its applicability among Chinese College students via reliability and validity indexes, and investigate the influencing factors contributing to SAS-SMU.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a cohort of 1307 Chinese college students, 486 males and 821 females, aged 20.

MiR-410-3p facilitates Angiotensin II-induced cardiac hypertrophy by targeting Smad7.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators in the development of cardiovascular diseases. miR-410-3p was shown to play a protective or detrimental role in the progression in cardiovascular events. However, the exact role and the underlying mechanism of miR-410-3p in cardiac hypertrophy have not been documented.

LNCAROD enhances hepatocellular carcinoma malignancy by activating glycolysis through induction of pyruvate kinase isoform PKM2.

Background: Mounting evidence has suggested the essential role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in a plethora of malignant tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the underlyling mechanisms of lncRNAs remain unidentified in HCC. The present work was aimed to explore the regulatory functions and mechanisms of LncRNA LNCAROD in HCC progression and chemotherapeutic response.

Nicotine induces cardiac toxicity through blocking mitophagic clearance in young adult rat.

Since an outbreak of vaping-related deaths in the US has been reported as a public health crisis, the cardiovascular safety of nicotine nowadays receives increasing attention due to use of tobacco cigarette alternatives, such as electronic cigarettes. However, whether and how nicotine contributes to cardiac detrimental effects are in great controversy, especially less understood in young adult population. We report that chronic nicotine exposure, a major component of Electronic cigarettes, resulted in directly inhibited cardiomyocytes viability, increased cardiac fibrosis, and markedly suppressed cardiac function compared with sham.

Translation of the Chinese Version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire and Its Validation Among College Students: Factor Analysis.

Background: Nomophobia or phobia of no mobile phone is the fear of being without a mobile phone or being unable to contact others via a mobile phone. It is a newly emerging psychiatric disorder among mobile phone users.

Objective: There are no psychometric scales available in China for examining nomophobia, although China has become the largest mobile phone handset consumer market in the world.

Activation of Protein Kinase Cδ Contributes to the Induction of Src/EGF Receptor/ERK Signaling in Ammonia-treated Astrocytes.

Previously, we showed that Src-mediated EGF receptor transactivation/ERK activation mediates ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling, which represents a major component of brain edema in hyperammonemic disorders. Here, we tested the role of PKC in the induction of this signaling pathway and its involvement in ammonia-mediated cell swelling. We found that incubating astrocytes with bisindolylmaleimide (BIM, an inhibitor of classical and novel PKC isoforms) or rottlerin, a PKCδ-specific inhibitor, attenuated the ammonia-induced phosphorylation of EGFR, while GF109203X had no effect on this pathway.

Neuroprotective role of icariin in experimental spinal cord injury via its antioxidant, anti‑neuroinflammatory and anti‑apoptotic properties.

Icariin is a type of flavonoid derived from the Chinese herbal plant Epimedium sagittatum Maxim. Mounting evidence has confirmed the beneficial effects of icariin in neurological diseases, including spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of the present study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of icariin in SCI and the precise underlying mechanism.

Inhibition of cardiotrophin‑1 overexpression is involved in the anti‑fibrotic effect of Astrogaloside IV.

Astragaloside IV (AsIV), one of the major active ingredients in Astragalus membranaceus, has demonstrated remarkable antifibrotic effects via its antioxidative activity. Cardiac fibrosis is an important pathological mechanism during cardiac remodelling associated with heart failure. In the present study, the mechanism underlying the antifibrotic effect of AsIV upon isoprenaline (ISO) stimulation was investigated.

Epidermal growth factor receptor transactivation is involved in the induction of human hepatoma SMMC7721 cell proliferation by insufficient radiofrequency ablation.

Our previous study revealed that insufficient radiofrequency ablation (RFA) promotes the malignancy of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) SMMC7721 cells via the Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-induced overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The aims of the present study were to address the involvement of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transactivation in the enhanced SMMC7721 cell proliferation induced by insufficient RFA, in addition to its association with the CaMKII/ERK/VEGF signaling cascade. SMMC7721 cells were subjected to a 47°C treatment regimen to simulate insufficient RFA.

Astragaloside IV inhibits isoprenaline‑induced cardiac fibrosis by targeting the reactive oxygen species/mitogen‑activated protein kinase signaling axis.

Cardiac fibrosis is considered an important pathological mechanism in the progression of cardiac remodeling and heart failure. Astragaloside IV (AsIV) is a major active ingredient in Astragalus membranaceus. In a preliminary experiment, it was demonstrated that this naturally occurring substance exhibited cardioprotective effects via preventing cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis.

Genistein inhibited ammonia induced astrocyte swelling by inhibiting NF-κB activation-mediated nitric oxide formation.

Our previous study has indicated the involvement of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transactivation in ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling, which represents a major pathogenesis of brain edema in hepatic encephalopathy. In this study, we examined the effect of genistein, a naturally occurred broad-spectrum protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor, on ammonia-induced cell swelling. We found that genistein pretreatment significantly prevented ammonia-induced astrocyte swelling.

Feeble Antipyretic, Analgesic, and Anti-inflammatory Activities were Found with Regular Dose 4'-O-β-D-Glucosyl-5-O-Methylvisamminol, One of the Conventional Marker Compounds for Quality Evaluation of Radix Saposhnikoviae.

Introduction: 4'-O-β-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol (GML) is a conventional marker compound for quality control of Radix Saposhnikoviae. Despite that, neither pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic information is available with regard to GML. As such, the aim of thisstudy was to assess the conventional evaluation indices for the quality of Radix Saposhnikoviae.

Polysaccharide enhances Radix Saposhnikoviae efficacy through inhibiting chromones decomposition in intestinal tract.

Vegetative but not reproductive stage of Saposhnikovia divaricate (Turxz.) schischk possesses pharmacological activities. However, our recent study showed that reproductive S.

Total glycosides of Ranunculus japonius prevent hypertrophy in cardiomyocytes via alleviating chronic Ca(2+) overload.

Objective: To evaluate the in vitro anti-hypertrophic effect of total Glycosides of Ranunculus Japonius (TGRJ).

Methods: Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured and hypertrophy was induced by administrating isoproterenol (ISO, 10 µmol/L) or angiotensin 2 (Ang 2, 1 µmol/L) for 48 hours. In the treatment groups, cells were pretreated with TGRJ (0.

Insufficient radiofrequency ablation promotes human hepatoma SMMC7721 cell proliferation by stimulating vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression.

The aims of the current study were to investigate the influence of insufficient radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on the cell proliferation of the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, SMMC7721, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. SMMC7721 cells were subjected to a 47°C treatment regimen to simulate insufficient RFA, in the presence or absence of KN93 [a specific inhibitor of Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)], PD98059 [a specific inhibitor of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)], or axitinib (a specific inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor]. Cell proliferation was determined using a thiazolyl terazolium assay (MTT).

Astragalus polysaccharide inhibits isoprenaline-induced cardiac hypertrophy via suppressing Ca²⁺-mediated calcineurin/NFATc3 and CaMKII signaling cascades.

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy induced by increased sympathetic drive can subsequently lead to congestive heart failure, which represents the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is an active compound extracted from Chinese herb Astragalus membranaceus (AM), a frequently used "Qi-invigorating" herbal medicine in traditional medicine broadly used for the treatment of cardiovascular and other diseases. Currently, little is known about the effect of APS on cardiac hypertrophy.

Activation of Wnt signaling inhibits the pro-apoptotic role of Notch in gastric cancer cells.

Notch and Wnt signaling play critical roles in the regulation of development and diseases. Several studies have previously reported that Notch may be a therapeutic target in the treatment of various types of human cancer. In this study, we report that activation of Notch1 inhibits the proliferation of BGC-823 gastric cancer cells.