Metabolomic study for essential hypertension patients based on dried blood spot mass spectrometry approach.

Hypertension is an increasingly serious public-health challenge worldwide. The traditional blood pressure measurement method could easily and reliably detect blood pressure. However, the delayed symptom onset may influence the screening of essential hypertension (EH).

Germline mutations in PPFIBP2 are associated with lethal prostate cancer.

Background: Few genes have germline mutations which predispose men to more aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). This study evaluated the contribution of germline loss of function (LOF) variants in PPFIBP2 to risk of lethal PCa.

Methods: A case-case study of 1414 PCa patients with lethal PCa and low-risk localized PCa was performed.

Genetic and neuroattenuation phenotypic characteristics and their stabilities of SA14-14-2 vaccine seed virus.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) live attenuated vaccine SA14-14-2 is the most widely used JE vaccine in the world. Large-scale clinical trials have demonstrated satisfactory safety and efficacy profiles. The establishment of genetic and attenuated neurovirulence characteristics and their stabilities of SA14-14-2 virus are important in relation to vaccine safety in humans.

Effect of task difficulty on blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study in a motion discrimination task.

There is much evidence that neural activity in the human brain is modulated by task difficulty, particularly in visual, frontal, and parietal cortices. However, some basic psychophysical tasks in visual perception do not give rise to this expected effect, at least not in the visual cortex. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activity while systematically manipulating task difficulty in a motion discrimination task, by varying the angular difference between the motion direction of random dots and a reference direction.

Germline mutations in DNA repair genes are associated with bladder cancer risk and unfavourable prognosis.

Objectives: To perform a systematic evaluation of whether germline DNA repair gene mutations in bladder cancer (BCa) are associated with increased risk of BCa and aggressive disease.

Materials And Methods: Germline DNA from 98 patients with BCa was analysed for 54 DNA repair genes using a customized targeted sequencing panel. Population control data were obtained from the public databases the Exome Aggregation Consortium database and the Genome Aggregation Database.

A Systematic Review of Nonpharmacological Interventions for Moderate to Severe Dementia: A Study Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The study is designed as a systematic review on nonpharmacological interventions for patients with moderate to severe dementia. This review will be conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The following databases will be searched: Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, KoreaMED, KMbase, and KISS.

Thymoquinone protects against cardiac damage from doxorubicin-induced heart failure in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Heart failure is a complex end stage result of various cardiovascular diseases, and has a poor prognosis. The mechanisms for the development and progression of heart failure have always been an important topic in cardiovascular research, and previous studies have shown that thymoquinone (TQ) protects against cardiotoxicity and cardiac damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective effects of thymoquinone against cardiac damage in doxorubicin (DOX)-induced heart failure in Sprague-Dawley Rats (SDR).

Cis-Selective Decarboxylative Alkenylation of Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids with Vinyl Arenes Enabled by Photoredox/Palladium/Uphill Triple Catalysis.

An iridium photoredox catalyst in combination with phenanthroline-supported palladium catalyst catalyzes decarboxylative alkenylation of tertiary and secondary aliphatic carboxylic acids with vinyl arenes to deliver β-alkylated styrenes with Z-selectivity. A broad scope of aliphatic carboxylic acids, including amino acids, exhibit as amenable substrates, and external oxidant is not required. The reaction proceeds by synergistic utilization of both energy-transfer and electron-transfer reactivity of iridium photoredox catalyst merging with palladium-catalyzed hydride elimination and insertion.

A Golden Gate and Gateway double-compatible vector system for high throughput functional analysis of genes.

A major research topic nowadays is to study and understand the functions of the increasing number of predicted genes that have been discovered through the complete genome sequencing of many plant species. With the aim of developing tools for rapid and convenient gene function analysis, we have developed a set of "pGate" vectors based on the principle of Golden gate and Gateway cloning approaches. These vectors combine the positive aspects of both Golden gate and Gateway cloning strategies.

Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) of Germline Copy Number Variations (CNVs) Reveal Genetic Risks of Prostate Cancer in Chinese population.

The associations between Prostate cancer (PCa) and germline copy number variations (CNVs) in genome-wide level based on Chinese population are unknown. The objective of this study was to identify possible PCa-risk associated CNV regions in Chinese population. We performed a genome-wide association study for CNV in 1,417 PCa cases and 1,008 controls in Chinese population.

A Cumulative Analysis of Current Evidence for Association between Expression of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Markers and Clinicopathological Outcomes in Patients after Radical Prostatectomy.

Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was reported to have an important effect on malignant metastasis; however, it remained largely unknown if EMT marker expression of neoplastic tissue had predictive value for prognosis of prostate cancer.

Methods: We searched for published studies which measured EMT marker expression and analyzed its association with clinical outcomes of patients after Radical Prostatectomy (RP). We reviewed and pooled-analyzed the association of EMT marker expression and biochemical recurrence-free survival (BFS), as well as the difference in strong or weak expression of EMT markers in tumors of high Gleason score (≥8).

H19 Facilitates Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma Migration and Invasion via Sponging miR-let-7.

The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) H19 has been described to participate in the metastasis of various tumors. Nevertheless, whether H19 promotes or impedes tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) cell migration and invasion remains controversial. Here we found that the expression of H19 was elevated in TSCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues.

A comprehensive evaluation of CHEK2 germline mutations in men with prostate cancer.

Background: Germline mutations in CHEK2 have been associated with prostate cancer (PCa) risk. Our objective is to examine whether germline pathogenic CHEK2 mutations can differentiate risk of lethal from indolent PCa.

Methods: A case-case study of 703 lethal PCa patients and 1455 patients with low-risk localized PCa of European, African, and Chinese origin was performed.

Overexpression of secretagogin promotes cell apoptosis and inhibits migration and invasion of human SW480 human colorectal cancer cells.

Objective: In order to investigate the effect of secretagogin (SCGN) on colorectal cancer (CRC) cells apoptosis, invasion and migration in vitro.

Methods: Expression of SCGN in CRC tissues and the paired adjacent non-tumorous tissues (n = 36) and four human CRC cell lines (HT29, HCT116, SW480 and SW620) were detected. SW480 cells were transfected with the SCGN overexpression plasmid (eGFP-SCGN), si-SCGN-773, and the corresponding negative controls (NCs).

Metabolism of Rhizoma coptidis in Human Urine by Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Background And Objectives: Rhizoma coptidis extract and its alkaloids were reported to exhibit various pharmacological activities. However, pharmacokinetics investigations indicated that the plasma concentrations of the alkaloids were too low to explain their systemic therapeutic actions. Thus, the metabolic profile of Rhizoma coptidis in humans is yet to be fully investigated and the present study aimed to investigate the metabolic profile of Rhizoma coptidis in human urine after oral administration of Rhizoma coptidis extract.

Validation of the novel susceptibility loci for prostate cancer in a Chinese population.

The present study evaluated 23 newly identified susceptibility loci for prostate cancer (PCa) in a Chinese population and assessed whether any validated loci were associated with the genetic risk score (GRS) of PCa in a Chinese population. A total of 1,417 patients with PCa and 1,008 controls were recruited in the present study. The association of each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with PCa risk and PCa aggressiveness was analyzed.

Itraconazole attenuates hepatic gluconeogenesis and promotes glucose uptake by regulating AMPK pathway.

The primarily metabolic abnormality in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the defect in gluconeogenesis and glucose uptake. Itraconazole (ITCZ) is a traditional azole drug with anti-fungal and anticancer properties. However, limited attention has been directed towards the contribution of ITCZ to hepatic gluconeogenesis and glucose uptake in T2DM.

Evaluation of PSA-age volume score in predicting prostate cancer in Chinese population.

This study was performed to evaluate prostate-specific antigen-age volume (PSA-AV) scores in predicting prostate cancer (PCa) in a Chinese biopsy population. A total of 2355 men who underwent initial prostate biopsy from January 2006 to November 2015 in Huashan Hospital were recruited in the current study. The PSA-AV scores were calculated and assessed together with PSA and PSA density (PSAD) retrospectively.

Himawari-8 Satellite Based Dynamic Monitoring of Grassland Fire in China-Mongolia Border Regions.

In this study, we used bands 7, 4, and 3 of the Advance Himawari Imager (AHI) data, combined with a Threshold Algorithm and a visual interpretation method to monitor the entire process of grassland fires that occurred on the China-Mongolia border regions, between 05:40 (UTC) on April 19th to 13:50 (UTC) on April 21st 2016. The results of the AHI data monitoring are evaluated by the fire point product data, the wind field data, and the environmental information data of the area in which the fire took place. The monitoring result shows that, the grassland fire burned for two days and eight hours with a total burned area of about 2708.

Light weight and flexible poly(ether ether ketone) based composite film with excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties for wide-band electromagnetic interference shielding.

This study proposes an efficient method for fabricating a light weight and flexible composite film with excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties for wide-band electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, which was prepared by melt blending and subsequent melt extrusion using poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) as a matrix, multi-walled carbon nanotube wrapped poly(ether sulfone) (wrapped MWCNTs) as a conductive filler, and GENIOPLAST® PELLET S (GPPS, high-temperature lubricant) as a processing aid. GPPS was firstly used in EMI application, to reduce the melt viscosity of PEEK as well as to improve the dispersion of wrapped MWCNTs, which enables it to fabricate a highly efficient EMI shielding (∼74.6 dB mm) PEEK/wrapped MWCNT/GPPS1.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids prevent murine dilated cardiomyopathy by reducing oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte apoptosis.

Mice that lacked manganese-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) activity exhibited the typical pathology of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) on heart function and oxidative stress biomarkers in mice with DCM. In the present study, heart/muscle-specific Mn-SOD-deficient mice (H/M-Sod2) were treated with n-3 PUFA (30 mg/kg/day) for 10 weeks, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in their heart mitochondria and cardiac function was subsequently assessed.

Invasive squamous cell carcinoma: comparison of differentiation grade and tumour depth by anatomical site in 1666 tumours.

Background: Invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) presents with different grades of differentiation and depths of invasion.

Aim: To compare the grade of differentiation, tumour diameter and tumour depth by anatomical site in invasive SCC.

Methods: Retrospective clinical and histopathological data on consecutive cases of SCC came from a clinic in Sydney, Australia were assessed.

An evaluation study of reported pancreatic adenocarcinoma risk-associated SNPs from genome-wide association studies in Chinese population.

Background: Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and a pathway study of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) identified 14 significantly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) along with another 7 promising loci in European, Japanese, and Chinese descents. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential association of these SNPs with PDAC risk in the Chinese population.

Methods: In this Chinese population-based case-control study with 254 cases and 1200 controls, we tested 20 PDAC risk associated SNPs from previous GWAS and one SNP from a pathway-based study.