Safety and efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy with atezolizumab and bevacizumab after radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The effects of postoperative adjuvant therapy for high-risk recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in immunotherapy are still under investigation. This study evaluated the preventive effects and safety of postoperative adjuvant therapy, including atezolizumab, and bevacizumab, against the early recurrence of HCC with high-risk factors.

Methods: The complete data of HCC patients who underwent radical hepatectomy with or without postoperative adjuvant therapy after two-year follow-up were analyzed retrospectively.

Reforming Magnet Waste to Prussian Blue for Sustainable Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Increasing generation of permanent magnet waste has resulted in an urgent need to preserve finite resources. Reforming these wastes as feedstock to produce renewables is an ideal strategy for addressing waste and energy challenges. Herein, our work reports a smart and sustainable strategy to convert iron in magnet wastes into Prussian blue analogues that can serve as cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries.

Improving astaxanthin production in Escherichia coli by co-utilizing CrtZ enzymes with different substrate preference.

Background: The bifunctional enzyme β-carotene hydroxylase (CrtZ) catalyzes the hydroxylation of carotenoid β-ionone rings at the 3, 3' position regardless of the presence of keto group at 4, 4' position, which is an important step in the synthesis of astaxanthin. The level and substrate preference of CrtZ may have great effect on the amount of astaxanthin and the accumulation of intermediates.

Results: In this study, the substrate preference of PCcrtZ from Paracoccus sp.

Engineering CrtW and CrtZ for improving biosynthesis of astaxanthin in Escherichia coli.

This study engineered β-carotene ketolase CrtW and β-carotene hydroxylase CrtZ to improve biosynthesis of astaxanthin in Escherichia coli. Firstly, crtW was randomly mutated to increase CrtW activities on conversion from β-carotene to astaxanthin. A crtW* mutant with A6T, T105A and L239M mutations has improved 5.

The Efficacy and Safety of High-dose Daptomycin in the Treatment of Complicated Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Asians.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of standard-dose (SD) daptomycin with those of high-dose (HD) daptomycin in complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs) in an Asian population.

Materials And Methods: Patients from three medical centers diagnosed with cSSTIs were screened in the clinical information system. Patients included in the analysis were divided into two groups: those who received daptomycin at doses ≥ 6 mg/kg (HD group) and those receiving 4 mg/kg (SD group).

Construction of an alternative glycerol-utilization pathway for improved β-carotene production in Escherichia coli.

Glycerol, which is an inevitable by-product of biodiesel production, is an ideal carbon source for the production of carotenoids due to its low price, good availability and chemically reduced status, which results in a low requirement for additional reducing equivalents. In this study, an alternative carbon-utilization pathway was constructed in Escherichia coli to enable more efficient β-carotene production from glycerol. An aldehyde reductase gene (alrd) and an aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (aldH) from Ralstonia eutropha H16 were integrated into the E.

[Simultaneous determination of 7 benzodiazepines in human plasma by UHPLC-MS/MS].

The study was designed to develop the method for determination of 7 benzodiazepines concentration in human plasma. UHPLC-MS/MS was adopted to analyze plasma with protein precipitated by acetonitrile. Citalopram was used as an internal standard.

Meat intake and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: A meta-analysis.

Background/aims: This meta-analysis is designed to determine the association between meat consumption and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.

Materials And Methods: Search relevant literature published in PubMed, Cochrane before July 2015 without restrictions. Studies were included if relative ratios and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals of the risk of inflammatory bowel disease were reported with respect to meat consumption.

Effect of siRNA on Wisp-1 gene expression, proliferation, migration and adhesion of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Objective: To study the inhibition effect of siRNA on the expression of Wisp-1 gene in Hca-F of mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cells strain and also its effect on the proliferation, migration and adhesion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Methods: Three expression vectors of siRNA were constructed. Lipo2000 was employed to transfect Hca-F cells and Western blot was used to detect the inhibition effect of siRNA on the expression of Wisp-1 gene.

[Effect of beryllium on the morphology and chemical elements of cell membrane of Porphyromonas gingivalis].

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of beryllium (Be²⁺) on the morphology and chemical elements on cell membrane of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), thus to explore the microbiologic mechanisms of periodontal diseases.

Methods: P.

[Factors related to HIV-associated lipodystrophy among patients on antiretroviral therapy].

Unlabelled: To describe the distribution and related risk factors of lipodystrophy (LD)among AIDS patients treated with antiretroviral drugs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 261 AIDS patients treated with antiretroviral drugs. All the subjects were followed in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of two counties in northern Anhui province from May 25 to 30, 2012.

Association of tumor necrosis factor-α gene promoter polymorphism at sites -308 and -238 with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a meta-analysis.

Background And Aim: Environmental and genetic factors play a role in the pathogenesis and natural history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the association between tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α gene promoter polymorphism at sites -308 and -238 and NAFLD susceptibility.

Methods: We performed an extensive search of relevant studies and made a meta-analysis, including eight studies with 837 NAFLD cases and 990 controls in the association between TNF-α -308 polymorphism and NAFLD; and seven studies with 771 cases and 787 controls in TNF-α -238 polymorphism.

[Chemical constituents of Momordica charantia L].

Momordica charantia L. is a vegetable widely cultivated around the world. Its fruits have been used in Asian countries as a folk medicine for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

[Effect of supplemented Taoren Chengqi decoction on NIT-1, a pancreatic beta-cell from a transgenic NOD/Lt mouse].

Objective: To study the effect of Supplemented Taoren Chengqi decoction (STCD) on the secretion of insulin and proliferation of NIT-1.

Method: The effect of STCD and the serum of rat after orally administrating of STCD on the secretion of insulin and proliferation of NIT-1 were studied. The proliferation of NIT-1 was measured by 3H-TdR incorporation and cell counting methods, while the secretion of insulin was measured from the cultured medium by the ultra sensitive rat insulin ELISIA kit.

Cucurbitane triterpenoids from Momordica charantia.

Three new cucurbitane-type triterpenoid saponins, 23-O-beta-D-allopyranosyl-5beta,19-epoxycucurbita-6,24-diene-3beta,22(S),23(S)-triol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), 23-O-beta-D-allopyranosyl-5beta,19-epoxycucurbita-6,24-diene-3beta,22(S),23(S)-triol-3-O-beta-D-allopyranoside (2), and 23-O-beta-D-allopyranosyl-5beta,19-epoxycucurbita-6,24-diene-3beta,19(R), 22(S),23(S)-tetraol-3-O-beta-D-allopyranoside (3), named momordicoside M, N, and O, respectively, along with one known saponin momordicoside L (4), were isolated from the fresh fruits of Momordica charantia. The structures of these saponins were elucidated on the basis of chemical properties and spectral data.