The anti-angiogenesis role of FBXW7 in diabetic retinopathy by facilitating the ubiquitination degradation of c-Myc to orchestrate the HDAC2.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most prevalently occurring microvascular complication in diabetic patients that triggers severe visual impairments. The anti-angiogenesis role of FBXW7 has been identified in breast cancer. Therefore, this study intends to decipher the mechanism of FBXW7 in angiogenesis of DR.

Enzyme-Free Colorimetric Immunoassay for Protein Biomarker Enabled by Loading and Disassembly Behaviors of Polydopamine Nanoparticles.

In this work, a mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticle with biocompatible and reactive surface characteristics was desirably incorporated with high loading capacity and pH-induced disassembly-releasing behavior toward Fe(III) ions to develop an enzyme-free colorimetric immunoassay. The catechol functional network of PDA can act as a scaffold to coordinate with large amounts of Fe(III) ions to form the PDA-Fe(III) NPs whose coordination state can be tailored by changing the pH values. In detail, PDA-Fe(III) NPs can be maintained in a disassembled tri-coordinate state under alkaline conditions while the highly loaded Fe(III) ions can be easily released under acid conditions to react with ferrocyanide for the in situ generation of Prussian blue (PB) NPs.

Selective Trafficking of Light Chain-Conjugated Nanoparticles to the Kidney and Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Specific delivery platforms for drugs to the kidney and diagnostic agents to renal cell carcinoma (RCC) constitute urgent but unfulfilled clinical needs. To address these challenges, we engineered nanocarriers that interact selectively for the first time with proximal tubule epithelial cells (PTECs) in the kidney and with RCC through the interplay between lambda light chains (LCs) attached to PEGylated polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles and the membrane protein megalin. Systemic administration of these light chain-conjugated nanoparticles (LC-NPs) to mice resulted in their specific retention by megalin-expressing PTECs for seven days.

Direct Tumor Killing and Immunotherapy through Anti-SerpinB9 Therapy.

Cancer therapies kill tumors either directly or indirectly by evoking immune responses and have been combined with varying levels of success. Here, we describe a paradigm to control cancer growth that is based on both direct tumor killing and the triggering of protective immunity. Genetic ablation of serine protease inhibitor SerpinB9 (Sb9) results in the death of tumor cells in a granzyme B (GrB)-dependent manner.

Targeting Glutaminolysis: New Perspectives to Understand Cancer Development and Novel Strategies for Potential Target Therapies.

Metabolism rewiring is an important hallmark of cancers. Being one of the most abundant free amino acids in the human blood, glutamine supports bioenergetics and biosynthesis, tumor growth, and the production of antioxidants through glutaminolysis in cancers. In glutamine dependent cancer cells, more than half of the tricarboxylic/critic acid (TCA) metabolites are derived from glutamine.

Distributed Economic MPC for Dynamically Coupled Linear Systems With Uncertainties.

In this article, we propose a novel economic model-predictive control (MPC) algorithm for a group of disturbed linear systems and implement it in a distributed manner. The system consists of multiple subsystems interacting with each other via dynamics and aims to optimize an economic objective. Each subsystem is subject to constraints both on states and inputs as well as unknown but bounded disturbances.

Measurement of red blood cell size based on a lensless imaging system.

The variability in the size of red blood cells (RBCs) is an important additional diagnostic parameter for diseases, which has been established as a part of the complete blood count (CBC). The CBC can be performed using an automated flow cytometer, but it is too bulky and expensive for point-of-care testing. A miniaturized lensless imaging system is a competitive modality for a CBC, that is small and inexpensive.

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics investigation on two different indica rice grains (Oryza sativa L.) under cadmium stress.

Cadmium is a toxic environmental pollutant that is readily absorbed by rice grains and poses serious threats to human health. The selection and breeding of rice varieties with low cadmium accumulation is one of the most economical and ecological methods to reduce cadmium exposure. In this study, two different indica rice grains under cadmium stress were subjected to mass spectrometry-based metabolomics analysis for the first time.

Exogenous IGF-1 alleviates depression-like behavior and hippocampal mitochondrial dysfunction in high-fat diet mice.

Background: Some evidence suggests that depression is more common in obese patients. This fact gives us a hint that obesity might be a promoter of depression, though a conclusion can not be drawn. The aim of the study was: (1) to confirm whether obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD) promotes depression-like behaviors in mice, (2) to explore the protective role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in such behavioral disorder of the animals and (3) to reveal whether mitochondrial mechanism was involved in such protective effect of the reagent.

Biokinetics and biotransformation of paralytic shellfish toxins in different tissues of Yesso scallops, Patinopecten yessoensis.

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are a group of natural toxic substances often found in marine bivalves. Accumulation, anatomical distribution, biotransformation and depuration of PSTs in different tissues of bivalves, however, are still not very well understood. In this study, we investigated biokinetics and biotransformation of PSTs in six different tissues, namely gill, mantle, gonad, adductor muscle, kidney, and digestive gland, in Yesso scallops Patinopecten yessoensis exposed to a toxic strain of dinoflagellate Alexandrium pacificum.

NFATc2-dependent epigenetic upregulation of CXCL14 is involved in the development of neuropathic pain induced by paclitaxel.

Background: The major dose-limiting toxicity of paclitaxel, one of the most commonly used drugs to treat solid tumor, is painful neuropathy. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying paclitaxel-induced painful neuropathy are largely unclarified.

Methods: Paw withdrawal threshold was measured in the rats following intraperitoneal injection of paclitaxel.

Clinical analysis of conformal and intensity-modulated radiotherapy in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

We aimed to provide evidence for radiotherapy treatment regimens in patients with clinically recurrent ovarian cancer. We analyzed the survival and prognostic factors in 43 patients who were treated for recurrent ovarian cancer at 58 tumor sites using three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) during January 2006-December 2017. t years 1, 2, and 3, overall survival (OS) rate was 82.

Method for evaluating the human bioequivalence of acarbose based on pharmacodynamic parameters.

Objective: To explore a method for evaluating the bioequivalence of acarbose based on pharmacodynamic parameters using a single-dose, randomized-sequence, three-way crossover study of acarbose test (T) and reference (R) formulations.

Methods: Baseline-adjusted, pre-dose value deduction, and direct comparison methods were used to evaluate the geometric T/R ratios and 90% confidence intervals (CIs) of the ln-transformed pharmacodynamic parameters to identify the most suitable evaluation system. Twelve participants were randomly divided into three groups to receive treatment in the following sequences: TRR, RTR, and RRT, each including a 7-day washout period between treatment periods.

Interleukin-35 promotes progression of prostate cancer and inhibits anti-tumour immunity.

Background: Interleukin-35 (IL-35) has been reported to play an important role in the progression of cancers. The role of IL-35 in prostate cancer (PCA) is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of IL-35 on PCA and its immunoregulatory effect on PCA.

The calcium concentration of peritoneal dialysis solution modifies levels of key mediators of peritoneal fibrosis.

Background: To explore the effects of different calcium concentrations of peritoneal dialysis solution (PDS) on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and expression of vimentin (VIM), fibroblast-specific protein (FSP1), and E-cadherin.

Materials And Methods: This was a pilot study (#ChiCTR1900021387) conducted from January 2017 to December 2019 at the Hospital. The patients were randomized to undergo CAPD using PDS with a calcium concentration of 1.

Seladelicatulasine A-G, C steroidal glycosides with cholinesterase inhibitory activities from Selaginella delicatula.

Seven undescribed C steroidal glycosides, Seladelicatulasine A-G, including six cholestanol glycosides and one spirostanol glycoside, were isolated from Selaginella delicatula. Their structures were elucidated by 1D/2D NMR spectra and HRESIMS analyses. The absolute configurations of the sugars were determined by enzymatic hydrolysis and GC/MS analyses.

Covalent Modifications of the Bacteriophage Genome Confer a Degree of Resistance to Bacterial CRISPR Systems.

The interplay between defense and counterdefense systems of bacteria and bacteriophages has been driving the evolution of both organisms, leading to their great genetic diversity. Restriction-modification systems are well-studied defense mechanisms of bacteria, while phages have evolved covalent modifications as a counterdefense mechanism to protect their genomes against restriction. Here, we present evidence that these genome modifications might also have been selected to counter, broadly, the CRISPR-Cas systems, an adaptive bacterial defense mechanism.

Crosstalk between RNA mA Modification and Non-coding RNA Contributes to Cancer Growth and Progression.

N6-methyladenosine (mA) is the most common RNA modification and has an important role in normal development and tumorigenesis. The abnormal expression of mA regulators can lead to an imbalance in mA levels in cancer cells, leading to the dysregulated expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that may contribute to cancer development, patient response to chemoradiotherapy, and clinical prognosis. Recent studies demonstrate that non-coding RNAs are involved in epigenetic modification of both DNA and RNA in tumor cells, and may also affect the development and progression of cancer by targeting mA regulators.

Using Climate to Explain and Predict West Nile Virus Risk in Nebraska.

We used monthly precipitation and temperature data to give early warning of years with higher West Nile Virus (WNV) risk in Nebraska. We used generalized additive models with a negative binomial distribution and smoothing curves to identify combinations of extremes and timing that had the most influence, experimenting with all combinations of temperature and drought data, lagged by 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months. We fit models on data from 2002 through 2011, used Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to select the best-fitting model, and used 2012 as out-of-sample data for prediction, and repeated this process for each successive year, ending with fitting models on 2002-2017 data and using 2018 for out-of-sample prediction.

Using machine-learning approach to distinguish patients with methamphetamine dependence from healthy subjects in a virtual reality environment.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether machine learning (ML) can be used to distinguish patients with methamphetamine dependence from healthy controls by using their surface electroencephalography (EEG) and galvanic skin response (GSR) in a drug-simulated virtual reality (VR) environment.

Methods: A total of 333 participants with methamphetamine (METH) dependence and 332 healthy control subjects were recruited between January 2018 and January 2019. EEG (five electrodes) and GSR signals were collected under four VR environments: one neutral scenario and three METH-simulated scenarios.

Reliability of Sonography-based Volume Computer Aided Diagnosis in the Normal Fetal Heart.

Objectives: To explore the inter- and intra-observer reliability of Sonography-based Volume Computer Aided Diagnosis (SonoVCAD) in the display of 8 diagnostic planes of fetal echocardiography and to evaluate its efficiency.

Methods: Three-dimensional volume data sets of the 56 normal singleton fetuses were acquired from a 4-chamber view by using a volume probe. After processing the data sets by using SonoVCAD, 8 cardiac diagnostic planes were displayed automatically.

The historical and current research progress on jujube-a superfruit for the future.

Jujube ( Mill.), or Chinese date, is the most important species of Rhamnaceae, a large cosmopolitan family, and is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in the world. It originates from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the 'mother river' of the Chinese people.

Provincial-level outcomes of China's 'Reducing maternal mortality and eliminating neonatal tetanus' program.

To determine whether the nationwide program 'Reducing maternal mortality and eliminating neonatal tetanus' contributed to the rapid decline in China's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and neonatal tetanus elimination by enhancing hospital delivery, we compared MMR and neonatal tetanus incidence rate (NTR) reductions by province from 2000 to 2013. The difference-in-difference method was used to analyze the program effect. Long-term effects were analyzed relative to MMR and NTR in 2000 and 2002, respectively, while short-term effects in a given year were analyzed relative to MMR and NTR in the preceding year.

Caudal dexmedetomidine in pediatric caudal anesthesia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of caudal dexmedetomidine in pediatric caudal anesthesia (CA).

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embased, and Cochrane Library (from inception to June 2019) for eligible studies. The primary outcomes were the time to first analgesia, time of postoperative eye opening, intraoperative endtidal sevoflurane concentration, and postoperative sedation score.

Synthesis and Biological Activity of Benzamides Substituted with Pyridine-Linked 1,2,4-Oxadiazole.

To find pesticidal lead compounds with high activity, a series of novel benzamides substituted with pyridine-linked 1,2,4-oxadiazole were designed by bioisosterism, and synthesized easily via esterification, cyanation, cyclization and aminolysis reactions. The structures of the target compounds were confirmed by H-NMR, C-NMR and HRMS. The preliminary bioassay showed that most compounds had good larvicidal activities against mosquito larvae at 10 mg/L, especially compound , with a larvicidal activity as high as 100%, and even at 1 mg/L was still 40%; at 50 mg/L, all the target compounds showed good fungicidal activities against the eight tested fungi.