No association between hepatitis C virus infection and risk of colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Background And Aim: There is still uncertainty regarding whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to investigate the potential association between HCV infection and CRC through a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched from the beginning of their inception to October 2023 to find relevant cohort studies on the association between HCV infection and CRC risk.

Quantitative Diagnosis of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease with Ultrasound Attenuation Imaging in a Biopsy-Proven Cohort.

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate the performance of attenuation imaging (ATI) based on ultrasound for detection of hepatic steatosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Materials And Methods: This prospective study was approved by our institutional review board (B2021-092R). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients.

Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals a Large Novel β-Thalassemia Deletion that Removes the Entire Gene.

β-Thalassemia (β-thal) is one of the most common monogenic recessive inherited diseases worldwide. The mutation spectrum of β-thal has been increasingly broadened by various genetic testing methods. The discovery and identification of novel and rare pathogenic thalassemia variants enable better disease prevention, especially in high prevalence regions.

Diagnosis and genetic analysis of a case with Bardet-Biedl syndrome caused by compound heterozygous mutations in the BBS12 gene.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare autosomal recessive ciliopathy, which is caused by mutations mainly in genes encoding BBSome complex and IFT complex. Here, we reported a 21-year-old female with BBS characterized by three primary features including obesity, retinitis pigmentosa sine pigmento and bilateral renal cysts. She also had some secondary features such as diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, subclinical hypothyroidism and mild conductive hearing damage.

Morpheme Transposition of Two-Character Chinese Words in Vertical Visual Fields.

The present study explored the morpheme transposition process of two-character Chinese words in the upper and lower visual fields by adopting a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The results showed that the identification accuracy of canonical words was better in the lower visual field, whereas the accuracy of transposed words was almost identical in the upper and lower visual fields. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between canonical and transposed words at 0°, 2°, 4°, and 6° eccentricities in the upper visual field.

Histone methyltransferase SETDB1 promotes colorectal cancer proliferation through the STAT1-CCND1/CDK6 axis.

Upregulation of histone methyltransferase SET domain bifurcated 1 (SETDB1) is associated with poor prognosis in cancer patients. However, the mechanism of oncogenicity of SETDB1 in cancer is hitherto unknown. Here, we show that SETDB1 is upregulated in human colorectal cancer (CRC) where its level correlates with poor clinical outcome.

Preoperative Thyroid Autoimmune Status and Changes in Thyroid Function and Body Weight After Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Bariatric surgery has emerged as the most effective therapy for morbid obesity. There is increasing evidence that bariatric surgery could alleviate systemic inflammation and influence thyroid function. The current study aimed to investigate the associations of preoperative thyroid autoimmune status with the changes in body weight and thyroid function after bariatric surgery.

Serum folic acid levels are associated with the presence and severity of liver steatosis in Chinese adults.

Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common and strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. The rapid acceleration of the increase in NAFLD prevalence has exceeded the trends observed for obesity, and has been driven by multiple factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the serum levels of folic acid, the endogenous source of methyl groups for DNA methylation, and NAFLD in Chinese adults.

Character Decomposition and Transposition Processes of Chinese Compound Words in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.

Character order information is encoded at the initial stage of Chinese word processing, however, its time course remains underspecified. In this study, we assess the exact time course of the character decomposition and transposition processes of two-character Chinese compound words (canonical, transposed, or reversible words) compared with pseudowords using dual-target rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of stimuli appearing at 30 ms per character with no inter-stimulus interval. The results indicate that Chinese readers can identify words with character transpositions in rapid succession; however, a transposition cost is involved in identifying transposed words compared to canonical words.

Character Decomposition and Transposition of Chinese Compound Words in the Right and Left Visual Fields.

This study investigated the character decomposition and transposition processes of Chinese two-character compound words (canonical and transposed words) and pseudowords in the right and left visual fields using a dual-target rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The results confirmed a right visual field superiority for canonical words, but this advantage vanished for transposed words. The findings further indicated that the same quality of lexical processing could be obtained from the foveal and parafoveal regions of the right and left visual fields, regardless of the character order, but not in the periphery of the right visual field.

Ginseng consumption and risk of cancer: A meta-analysis.

Background: The findings of currently available studies are not consistent with regard to the association between the risk of cancer and ginseng consumption. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate this association by conducting a meta-analysis of different studies.

Methods: To systematically evaluate the effect of ginseng consumption on cancer incidence, six databases were searched, including PubMed, Ovid Technologies, Embase, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chinese VIP Information, from 1990 to 2014.

Spontaneous intratumoural and intraventricular haemorrhage associated with a pilomyxoid astrocytoma in the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region.

Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a rare, low-grade glioma that is recognised as a variant of pilocytic astrocytoma. There have been few reports on this pathologic entity presenting with spontaneous haemorrhage. In this study, we report a rare case of PMA in the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region presenting with intratumoural and intraventricular haemorrhage.

Preparation and evaluation of icariside II-loaded binary mixed micelles using Solutol HS15 and Pluronic F127 as carriers.

An effective anti-cancer drug, icariside II (IS), has been used to treat a variety of cancers in vitro. However, its poor aqueous solubility and permeability lead to low oral bioavailability. The aim of this work was to use Solutol®HS15 and Pluronic F127 as surfactants to develop novel mixed micelles to enhance the oral bioavailability of IS by improving permeability and inhibiting efflux.

The association of liver fat content and serum alanine aminotransferase with bone mineral density in middle-aged and elderly Chinese men and postmenopausal women.

Background: Recent studies have linked non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to a reduced bone mineral density (BMD). We aimed to detect the quantitative association of liver fat content (LFC) and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with BMD in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese population.

Methods: The lumbar spine, hip and whole body BMDs were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Lunar iDXA, GE Healthcare) in 1659 Chinese (755 men and 1028 postmenopausal women) from Shanghai Changfeng community.

Optimization and anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo of baohuoside I incorporated into mixed micelles based on lecithin and Solutol HS 15.

Baohuoside I, extracted from the Herba epimedii, is an effective but a poorly soluble antitumor drug. To improve its solubility, formulation of baohuoside I-loaded mixed micelles with lecithin and Solutol HS 15 (BLSM) has been performed in this study. We performed a systematic comparative evaluation of the antiproliferative effect, cellular uptake, antitumor efficacy, and in vivo tumor targeting of these micelles using non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 cells.

Efficacy of Berberine in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Objectives: A randomized, parallel controlled, open-label clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of a botanic compound berberine (BBR) on NAFLD.

Methods: A randomized, parallel controlled, open-label clinical trial was conducted in three medical centers (NIH Registration number: NCT00633282). A total of 184 eligible patients with NAFLD were enrolled and randomly received (i) lifestyle intervention (LSI), (ii) LSI plus pioglitazone (PGZ) 15mg qd, and (iii) LSI plus BBR 0.

Assessment of liver fat content using quantitative ultrasonography to evaluate risks for metabolic diseases.

Objective: The ultrasound quantitative method for liver fat content (LFC) is a recent established method for non-invasive assessment of liver steatosis. Its use in clinical practice is further explored by investigating the quantitative relationships between LFC measured by quantitative ultrasonography and metabolic diseases in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese population.

Methods: Liver fat content was measured by the quantitative ultrasound method in 4,916 participants from the Shanghai Changfeng Community Study.

Orientation selectivity in cat primary visual cortex: local and global measurement.

In this study, we investigated orientation selectivity in cat primary visual cortex (V1) and its relationship with various parameters. We found a strong correlation between circular variance (CV) and orthogonal-topreferred response ratio (O/P ratio), and a moderate correlation between tuning width and O/P ratio. Moreover, the suppression far from the peak that accounted for the lower CV in cat V1 cells also contributed to the narrowing of the tuning width of cells.

[Evaluation on contribution rate of each component total salvianolic acids and characterization of apparent oil/water partition coefficient].

The difference between three representative components of total salvianolic acids in pharmacodynamic activity were compared by three different pharmacological experiments: HUVECs oxidative damage experiment, 4 items of blood coagulation in vitro experiment in rabbits and experimental myocardial ischemia in rats. And the effects of contribution rate of each component were calculated by multi index comprehensive evaluation method based on CRITIC weights. The contribution rates of salvianolic acid B, rosmarinic acid and Danshensu were 28.

[Advance in studies on anti-cancer activity and mechanism of flavonoids].

Flavonoids are natural products that are ubiquitous in the natural world, with wide physiological activities and low toxic and side effects. In recent years, their anti-tumor effect has caused widespread concern and studies. According to the findings, flavonoids have prominent effects in preventing and treating lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, leukemia, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer and so on.