Conditioned Medium of BMSCs Alleviates HO-Induced Oxidative Damage in PC12 Cells Through the LDLR Pathway.

Oxidative damage is pivotal in the pathogenesis and progression of a myriad of neurological disorders. The current study was designed to elucidate the therapeutic potential of conditioned medium from bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSC-CM) and to delineate the underlying mechanisms, using a neuronal oxidative injury model for this purpose. Rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells were exposed to HO to establish an oxidative injury model, followed by treatment with BMSC-CM or co-cultivation with BMSCs in a transwell apparatus.

Adaptation of Natural Killer Cells to Hypoxia: A Review of the Transcriptional, Translational, and Metabolic Processes.

As important innate immune cells, natural killer (NK) cells play an essential role in resisting pathogen invasion and eliminating transformed cells. However, the hypoxic microenvironment caused by disease conditions is an important physicochemical factor that impairs NK cell function. With the increasing prominence of NK cells in immunotherapy, there has been a surge of interest in developing biological means through which NK cells may overcome the inhibition caused by hypoxia in disease conditions.

Design, synthesis, and inhibition of novel ferulic acid derivatives on free fatty acid induced cellular lipid accumulation.

Abnormal accumulation of hepatocyte lipids is a hallmark feature of NAFLD. Ferulic acid (FA), an ingredient with antioxidant activity in Chinese herbs, can be used to treat NAFLD by activating AMPK phosphorylation. In this study, we synthesized ten acrylic acid derivatives .

The different paradigms of NK cell death in patients with severe trauma.

Lymphocyte decline, particularly the depletion of NK cells, is a prominent feature of immunosuppression following severe tissue injury, heightening the susceptibility of severe trauma patients to life-threatening infections. Previous research indicates that the reduction in the number of NK cells is closely associated with the process of cell death. Nonetheless, the precise mechanism of NK cell death remains unknown.

Effectiveness of biological drying for citric acid dewatered sludge: Evaluating the impact of energy-efficient ventilation strategies.

The effectiveness of dehydration and utilization processes for citric acid dewatered sludge is hampered by its high concentrations of polysaccharides, proteins, and water-binding properties of microbial extracellular polymers (EPS). This research explores the efficacy and mechanisms involved in extracting water from this type of sludge using biological drying technology, with varying rates of ventilation. Especially pertinent was the use of low ventilation rates as control variables.

The effect of posterior cruciate ligament tibial avulsion fracture on functional outcomes in knees with concomitant ipsilateral lower limb fractures: a matched-cohort analysis.

Background: At present, the optimal treatment for posterior cruciate ligament tibial avulsion fracture (PCLTAF) combined with concomitant ipsilateral lower limb fractures remains unclear. The present study aimed to assess the preliminary outcomes of treatment for PCLTAF with concomitant ipsilateral lower limb fractures by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF).

Materials And Methods: The medical records of patients who sustained PCLTAF with concomitant ipsilateral lower limb fractures between March 2015 and February 2019 and underwent treatment at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed.

Some Thoughts on the Use of Predictive Probability in Clinical Trials.

In this short note, we express our viewpoint regarding declaring study success based on Bayesian predictive probability of study success.

A semantic analysis-driven customer requirements mining method for product conceptual design.

Precise customer requirements acquisition is the primary stage of product conceptual design, which plays a decisive role in product quality and innovation. However, existing customer requirements mining approaches pay attention to the offline or online customer comment feedback and there has been little quantitative analysis of customer requirements in the analogical reasoning environment. Latent and innovative customer requirements can be expressed by analogical inspiration distinctly.

Gaps of Medication Treatment Management Between Guidelines and Real-World for Inpatients With Type 2 Diabetes in China From Pharmacist's Perspective.

Background: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus remains high in China, and more cardiovascular and cerebrovascular adverse events due to diabetes mellitus are likely to occur in the future.

Objective: To analyze the gap between the current pharmacotherapy management and the guidelines for inpatients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from the perspective of pharmacists so as to provide a reference for optimal pharmacotherapy management methods and models for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional observational study.

Thoracic Spine Fractures with Blunt Aortic Injury: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Characteristics.

Background: The coexistence of thoracic fractures and blunt aortic injury (BAI) is potentially catastrophic and easy to be missed in acute trauma settings. Data regarding patients with thoracic fractures complicated with BAI are limited.

Methods: The authors conducted a prospective, observational, single-center study including patients with thoracic burst fractures.

Cactus-Inspired Janus Membrane with a Conical Array of Wettability Gradient for Efficient Fog Collection.

Fog collection plays an important role in alleviating the global water shortage. Despite great progress in creating bionic surfaces to collect fog, water droplets still could adhere to the microscale hydrophilic region and reach the thermodynamic stable state before falling, which delays the transport of water and hinders the continuous fog collection. Inspired by lotus leaves and cactuses, we designed a Janus membrane that functions to both collect fog from the air and transport it to a certain region.

pH-Responsive Smart Wettability Surface with Dual Bactericidal and Releasing Properties.

Biomaterial-associated infections caused by pathogenic bacteria have important implications on human health. This study presents the design and preparation of a smart surface with pH-responsive wettability. The smart surface exhibited synergistic antibacterial function, with high liquid repellency against bacterial adhesion and highly effective bactericidal activity.

LINC00511/miRNA-143-3p Modulates Apoptosis and Malignant Phenotype of Bladder Carcinoma Cells via PCMT1.

Bladder cancer has easy recurrence characteristics, but its occurrence and development mechanism are still unclear. Non-coding RNA is a kind of RNA that exists widely and cannot be translated into proteins, which has played a key role in the regulation of biological functions of tumor cells. However, the regulation mechanism of non-coding RNA on bladder tumors is not fully understood.

Acute pancreatitis with pulmonary embolism: A case report.

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common critical disease of the digestive system that is often associated with multiple complications. Vascular complications are relatively rare and are one of the causes of death. AP complicated with pulmonary embolism (PE) is even rarer, and there are no reports of AP complicated with PE in elderly patients.

A controllable oil-triggered actuator with aligned microchannel design for implementing precise deformation.

Soft actuators with the integration of facile preparation, rapid actuation rate, sophisticated motions, and precise control over deformation for application in complex devices are still highly desirable. Inspired by the aligned structures of moisture responsive pineal scales, an oil-triggered Janus actuator composed of a smooth hydrophobic surface and a superhydrophobic surface with aligned microchannels by simple laser etching was fabricated successfully, which can deform into various desirable shapes and recover to the original shape when triggered by oil and ethanol molecules. The aligned microchannel design causes different oil spread distances in the longitudinal and transverse directions, resulting in orientation-controlled bending and twisting with large-scale displacement.

Homogeneity assessment for pivotal medical device clinical studies.

A question that routinely arises in medical device clinical studies is the homogeneity across demographic subgroups, geographical regions, or investigational sites of the enrolled patients in terms of treatment effects or outcome variables. The main objective of this paper is to discuss statistical concepts and methods for the assessment of such homogeneity and to provide the practitioner a statistical framework and points to consider in conducting homogeneity assessment. Demographic subgroups, geographical regions, and investigational sites are discussed separately as each has its unique issues.

Resolving neuroinflammation, the therapeutic potential of the anti-malaria drug family of artemisinin.

Artemisinin (Qinghaosu) and its semi-synthetic derivatives have been demonstrated to alleviate neuroinflammatory response in the central nerve system (CNS). In this review, we summarized that artemisinins are capable to treat neuroinflammtion-related CNS diseases in both direct (via regulating inflammatory process in the CNS, exerting anti-oxidative stress and neuroprotective effect, and preventing Aβ accumulation) and indirect (via maintaining BBB integrity, suppressing systemic inflammation and alleviating intestinal inflammtion) manner. However, the precise mechanism of their anti-neuroinflammatory effects and potential neurotoxicity, which hindered further progress in these aspects, remains unclear.

Effect of Ginkgo biloba extract-761 on motor functions in permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion rats.

Background: Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb-761) has been in use to treat variety of ailments including memory loss and emotional disorders usually experienced after ischemic stroke. However, data regarding its protective role in stroke associated motor dysfunction is scarce.

Purpose: The present work was designed to investigate the long-term effects of EGb-761 on the motor dysfunctions associated with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) in rats.

Sex-Specific Outcomes After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: FDA Patient-Level Meta-Analysis of Premarket Clinical Trials.

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a less invasive alternative approach to surgery. Individual randomized clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of TAVR were mostly underpowered for conducting separate analyses for women and men. We pooled data from premarket TAVR clinical trials comparing short (30 days)- and long-term (∼2 years) outcomes by sex.

Antidepressant effects of dammarane sapogenins in chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive mice.

Depression is a common, dysthymic, and psychiatric disorder, resulting in enormous social and economic burden. Dammarane sapogenins (DS), an active fraction from oriental ginseng, has shown antidepressant-like effects in chronic restraint rats and sleep interruption-induced mice, and the present study aimed to further confirm the antidepressant effects of DS in a model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and to explore the underlying mechanism. Oral administration of DS (20, 40, and 80 mg/kg) markedly improved depressant-like behaviors, increasing the sucrose intake in the sucrose preference test and reducing the latency in the novelty-suppressed feeding test, and decreasing the immobility time in both the tail suspension and forced swimming tests, compared with the CUMS mice.

Outcome of a session of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy before endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for problematic and large common bile duct stones.

Aim: To compare the efficacy of a session of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) before endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) ERCP only for problematic and large common bile duct (CBD) stones.

Methods: Adult patients with CBD stones for whom initial ERCP was unsuccessful because of the large size of CBD stones were identified. The patients were randomized into two groups, an "ESWL + ERCP group" and an "ERCP-only" group.

Hydroxyethyl starch resuscitation downregulate pro-inflammatory cytokines in the early phase of severe acute pancreatitis: A retrospective study.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4 on serum pro-inflammatory variables, immunologic variables, fluid balance (FB)-negative(-) rate and renal function in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) patients. From October, 2007 to November, 2008, a total of 120 SAP patients were enrolled in this retrospective study.

Antidepressant-like effects and cognitive enhancement of the total phenols extract of Hemerocallis citrina Baroni in chronic unpredictable mild stress rats and its related mechanism.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Depression induce distressed emotional state and cognitive deficits simultaneously, which both should be improved in the treatment. Hemerocallis citrina Baroni (HC) is a traditional herbal medicine in Eastern-Asia areas and the total phenols extract of HC (HCPE) contains the main active ingredients. It has been reported that HC has the emotional improvement effect.

Implantation of radioactive (125)I seeds improves the prognosis of locally advanced pancreatic cancer patients: A retrospective study.

Locally advanced pancreatic cancer is associated with a very poor prognosis. This study was performed to evaluate whether patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer benefit from (125)I seed implantation. This retrospective study included 224 patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, with 137 patients (61.

Minimally invasive percutaneous catheter drainage versus open laparotomy with temporary closure for treatment of abdominal compartment syndrome in patients with early-stage severe acute pancreatitis.

This study aimed to examine the clinical efficacy of minimally invasive percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) versus open laparotomy with temporary closure in the treatment of abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in patients with early-stage severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Clinical data of 212 patients who underwent PCD and 61 patients who were given open laparotomy with temporary closure in our hospital over the last 10-year period were retrospectively analyzed, and outcomes were compared, including total and post-decompression intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stays, physiological data, organ dysfunction, complications, and mortality. The results showed that the organ dysfunction scores were similar between the PCD and open laparotomy groups 72 h after decompression.