Identification of fibrosis-associated biomarkers in heart failure and human cancers.

Background: Heart failure (HF) and cancer share common risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms, including fibrosis. Identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets for both conditions is crucial.

Materials And Methods: RNA sequencing data from HF patients were analyzed to identify 12 genes associated with myocardial fibrosis.

Renal denervation ameliorates atrial remodeling in type 2 diabetic rats by regulating mitochondrial dynamics.

There is no effective treatment for diabetes-related atrial remodeling currently. This study aimed to investigate the effects of renal denervation (RDN) on diabetes-related atrial remodeling and explore the related mechanisms. A type 2 diabetes mellitus model was established by high-fat diet feeding and low-dose streptozotocin injection in Sprague‒Dawley rats.

Activated CD4 T cells/Tregs derived immune-metabolism signature provide precise prognosis assessment for gastric cancer and beneficial for treatment option.

Background: The prognostic significance of the ratio of activated CD4 T cells to Tregs infiltrating tumor tissues in gastric cancer (GC) remains unknown.

Materials And Methods: For the quantification of infiltration of immune cells, the ssGSEA algorithm, which is a single sample gene set enrichment analysis, was utilized. Group A was defined as having activated CD4 T cells/Tregs >1, while group B was defined as having activated CD4 T cells/Tregs <1.

Immunotherapy Efficacy-related Risk Classifier Differentiate Prognostic Characteristics of Gastric Cancer-A Large-scale Retrospective Study.

Prognostic signatures related to the efficacy of immunotherapy have not been determined in gastric cancer (GC). We identified the differentially expressed genes between the CR/PR and SD/PD groups with the R package "limma" (false discovery rate <0.05) in the IMvigor210 data set.

Usability of curved keyboard design on the large smartphone: An empirical study.

The curved design is ubiquitous, with a vast user base due to its similarity with in shape to human physiological structure. The curved QWERTY keyboard layout was proposed for one-handed usage on smartphones with ambiguous effects. This study evaluated whether the curved QWERTY could optimize the user experience and input performance on large smartphones better than the traditional straight QWERTY layout.

Real-world systemic sequential therapy with regorafenib for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma: analysis of 93 cases from a single center.

Background: Regorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor and became the first second-line systemic treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following the phase III RESORCE trial. This single-center study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and follow-up results of patients with recurrent HCC treated with regorafenib and discussed the prognostic factors to provide guidance for clinical treatment.

Methods: Ninety-three recurrent HCC patients were enrolled in the research and follow up from December 2017 to December 2020.

Empagliflozin ameliorates cardiac dysfunction in heart failure mice via regulating mitochondrial dynamics.

Empagliflozin has cardioprotective effects in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the mechanism by which empagliflozin protects against HF remains controversial. Study aimed to evaluate the effect of empagliflozin on myocardial fibrosis and cardiac function in HF mice and its possible mechanism.

Removal performance, biotransformation pathways and products of sulfamethoxazole in vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands with different substrates.

For decades, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) has been frequently detected in the aquatic environments due to its high usage and refractory to degradation. Constructed wetland (CW) is regarded as an efficient advanced wastewater technology to eliminate organic pollutants including SMX. In CW system, substrate adsorption and further biodegradation are extremely important in SMX removal; however, the removal performance of SMX by CWs with different substrates varies greatly, and the biotransformation pathways, products, and mechanisms of SMX remain unclear.

A Nomogram for Predicting the Risk of Critical Limb Ischemia in Adults with Hypertension: A Retrospective Study.

Purpose: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) presenting with underlying hypertension (HTN) poses a higher risk of bilateral lower limb amputation than PAD patients without HTN. While the role of HTN management of PAD patients has received limited attention. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of PAD in adults with HTN and explored risk factors for PAD to construct a nomogram for evaluating critical limb ischemia (CLI) and lesion severity.

Pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis molecular subtype derived prognostic signature universal applicable for gastric cancer-A large sample and multicenter retrospective analysis.

Background: Whether pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis (PAN) molecular subtypes exist in gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear.

Methods: Seven independent cohorts including a total of 1901 GC patients were enrolled in our research. TCGA (n = 371) and GSE84437 (n = 433) were combined into one cohort (n = 804) to screen for prognosis-related PAN genes using a univariate Cox regression analysis.

Trimethylamine N-oxide facilitates the progression of atrial fibrillation in rats with type 2 diabetes by aggravating cardiac inflammation and connexin remodeling.

Diabetes is an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). This study aimed to elucidate the pathophysiology of diabetes-related AF from the perspective of the gut microbial metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). In the present study, male rats received either a normal diet to serve as the control group or a high-fat diet/streptozotocin to induce type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Metabolism reprogramming signature associated with stromal cells abundance in tumor microenvironment improve prognostic risk classification for gastric cancer.

Background: Stromal cells play an important role in the process of tumor progression, but the relationship between stromal cells and metabolic reprogramming is not very clear in gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: Metabolism-related genes associated with stromal cells were identified in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GSE84437 datasets, and the two datasets with 804 GC patients were integrated into a training cohort to establish the prognostic signature. Univariate Cox regression analysis was used to screen for prognosis-related genes.

The Effect of Renal Denervation on Cardiac Diastolic Function in Patients with Hypertension and Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation.

Objective: Renal artery denervation (RDN) can treat hypertension and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Hypertension and PAF can affect cardiac diastolic function. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of RDN on cardiac diastolic function in patients with refractory hypertension and PAF.

Comprehensive analysis of metabolic pathway activity subtypes derived prognostic signature in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Metabolic reprogramming is one of the hallmarks of cancer, but metabolic pathway activity-related subtypes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been identified.

Methods: Based on the quantification results of 41 metabolic pathway activities by gene set variation analysis, the training cohort (n = 609, merged by TCGA and GSE14520) was clustered into three subtypes (C1, C2, and C3) with the nonnegative matrix factorization method. Totally 1371 differentially expressed genes among C1, C2, and C3 were identified, and an 8-gene risk score was established by univariable Cox regression analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method, and multivariable Cox regression analysis.

Iron ore or manganese ore filled constructed wetlands enhanced removal performance and changed removal process of nitrogen under sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim stress.

Iron ore and manganese ore were used as substrate of constructed wetlands (CWs) to enhance nitrogen (N) removal. However, the N purification performance in CWs filled with iron or manganese ore under antibiotics stress needs further study. In this study, three groups of CWs filled with river sand, limonite (a kind of iron ore), and manganese ore sand were constructed, which were named as C-CWs, Fe-CWs, and Mn-CWs, respectively.

A Five-Gene Signature Associated With DNA Damage Repair Molecular Subtype Predict Overall Survival for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

DNA damage repair (DDR) is an important mechanism for the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its impact on prognosis has not been fully understood. A total of 904 HCC patients were included in our study, TCGA ( = 370) and GSE14520 ( = 239) were merged into a large-sample training cohort ( = 609). The training cohort was clustered into C1 and C2 based on prognostic DDR-related genes, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between C1 and C2 were identified by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test referred to criteria (|log2FC|≥1 and FDR< 0.

Integrated analysis of 1804 samples of six centers to construct and validate a robust immune-related prognostic signature associated with stromal cell abundance in tumor microenvironment for gastric cancer.

Background: Stromal cells in tumor microenvironment could promote immune escape through a variety of mechanisms, but there are lacking research in the field of gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: We identified differential expressed immune-related genes (DEIRGs) between the high- and low-stromal cell abundance GC samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas and GSE84437 datasets. A risk score was constructed basing on univariate cox regression analysis, LASSO regression analysis, and multivariate cox regression analysis in the training cohort (n=772).

A Ferroptosis and Pyroptosis Molecular Subtype-Related Signature Applicable for Prognosis and Immune Microenvironment Estimation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Due to the heterogeneity of tumors and the complexity of the immune microenvironment, the specific role of ferroptosis and pyroptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not fully understood, especially its impact on prognosis. The training set ( = 609, merged by TCGA and GSE14520) was clustered into three subtypes (C1, C2, and C3) based on the prognosis-related genes associated with ferroptosis and pyroptosis. The intersecting differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among C1, C2, and C3 were used in univariate Cox and LASSO penalized Cox regression analysis for the construction of the risk score.

Renal denervation ameliorates cardiac metabolic remodeling in diabetic cardiomyopathy rats by suppressing renal SGLT2 expression.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of renal denervation (RDN) on diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and explore the related mechanisms. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed high-fat chow and injected with low-dose streptozotocin to establish a DCM model. Six rats served as controls.

Effects and mechanisms of constructed wetlands with different substrates on NO emission in wastewater treatment.

Nitrous oxide (NO) emissions from constructed wetlands (CWs) are accompanying problems and have attracted much attention in recent years. CWs filled with different substrates (gravel, biochar, zeolite, and pyrite) were constructed to investigate the nitrogen removal performance and NO emissions, which named C-CWs, B-CWs, Z-CWs, and P-CWs, respectively. C-CWs showed the poorest nitrogen removal performance in all CWs.

The cardioprotective effect of the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor dapagliflozin in rats with isoproterenol-induced cardiomyopathy.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) has been reported to improve glycemic control. This study was designed to investigate the effects of SGLT2i dapagliflozin (dapa) on cardiomyopathy induced by isoproterenol (ISO) and its potential mechanisms. Fifty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the control (n=10) and the ISO (2.

Identification and validation of a novel immune-related signature associated with macrophages and CD8 T cell infiltration predicting overall survival for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Although the effects of macrophages and CD8 T cell infiltration on clinical outcome have been widely reported, the association between immunity-associated gene with them for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.

Materials And Methods: The ssGSEA served for quantifying the macrophages as well as CD8 T cell infiltration in the HCC samples obtained from TCGA database. Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival assay was used to determine the associations between macrophages and CD8 T cell infiltration with OS.

Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction Exacerbates Neuroinflammation via the TLR4 Pathway in Mice With Heart Failure.

Aims: The present study aimed to investigate alterations in neuroinflammation after heart failure (HF) and explore the potential mechanisms.

Methods: Male wild-type (WT) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-knockout (KO) mice were subjected to sham operation or ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery to induce HF. 8 weeks later, cardiac functions were analyzed by echocardiography, and intestinal barrier functions were examined by measuring tight junction protein expression, intestinal permeability and plasma metabolite levels.

The Phenomenon of Gene Rearrangement is Frequently Associated with TP53 Mutations and Poor Disease-Free Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Purpose: Gene rearrangements (GRs) have been reported to be related to adverse prognosis in some tumours, but the relationship in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains less studied. The objective of our study was to explore the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of HCC patients (HCCs) with GRs (GR-HCCs).

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study included 297 HCCs who underwent hepatectomy and had their tumours sequenced by next-generation sequencing.

Construction and Validation of a Universal Applicable Prognostic Signature for Gastric Cancer Based on Seven Immune-Related Gene Correlated With Tumor Associated Macrophages.

Background: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a critical role in the progression of malignant tumors, but the detailed mechanism of TAMs in gastric cancer (GC) is still not fully explored.

Methods: We identified differentially expressed immune-related genes (DEIRGs) between GC samples with high and low macrophage infiltration in The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets. A risk score was constructed based on univariate Cox analysis and Lasso penalized Cox regression analysis in the TCGA cohort (n=341).