Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Distinct Features of Metabolism Pathways Supporting the Fruit Size and Color Variation of Giant Pumpkin.

Pumpkin () is an important vegetable crop of the Cucurbitaceae plant family. The fruits of pumpkin are often used as directly edible food or raw material for a number of processed foods. In nature, mature pumpkin fruits differ in size, shape, and color.

Antihepatofibrotic effect of Guizhifuling pill on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice.

Objective: To evaluate the protective effects and the underlying mechanism of Guizhifuling pill (, GZFL) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced hepatic fibrosis in mice.

Methods: Male ICR mice by intraperitoneally administered with 20% CCl (mixed 1∶4 in soybean oil) to induce liver fibrosis. Mice that underwent CCl were orally with GZFL.

Protective mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine guizhi fuling pills against carbon tetrachloride-induced kidney damage is through inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation and regulating the intestinal flora.

Background: Chemical or drug-induced kidney damage has been recognized as a critical cause of kidney failure. The oxidative stress, inflammation, and imbalance of intestinal flora caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl) play a fundamental role in chronic kidney damage. Guizhi Fuling pills (GZFL) is a traditional formula consisting of five traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, which can promote blood circulation and improve kidney function.

Guizhi Fuling pill attenuates liver fibrosis and via inhibiting TGF-β1/Smad2/3 and activating IFN-γ/Smad7 signaling pathways.

Liver fibrosis resulting from chronic liver injuries (CLI) is a common health problem globally. Guizhi Fuling pill (GZFL), a modern preparation from traditional Chinese medicine, exhibited anti-dysmenorrhea, anti-inflammatory, and immune-regulative effects. However, the effect of GZFL on liver fibrosis remains unknown.

Structural and Functional Deficits in Patients with Poststroke Dementia: A Multimodal MRI Study.

Although many neuroimaging studies have reported structural and functional abnormalities in the brains of patients with cognitive impairments following stroke, little is known about the pattern of such brain reorganization in poststroke dementia (PSD). The present study was aimed at investigating alterations in spontaneous brain activity and gray matter volume (GMV) in PSD patients. We collected T1-weighted and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 20 PSD patients, 24 poststroke nondementia (PSND) patients, and 21 well-matched normal controls (NCs).

Inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum stress reverses synaptic plasticity deficits in striatum of DYT1 dystonia mice.

Background And Objective: Striatal plasticity alterations caused by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is supposed to be critically involved in the mechanism of DYT1 dystonia. In the current study, we expanded this research field by investigating the critical role of ER stress underlying synaptic plasticity impairment imposed by mutant heterozygous Tor1a in a DYT1 dystonia mouse model.

Methods: Heterozygous Tor1a mouse model for DYT1 dystonia was established.

A Signature of Five Long Non-Coding RNAs for Predicting the Prognosis of Alzheimer's Disease Based on Competing Endogenous RNA Networks.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the functions and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA are largely unclear. Herein, we obtained 3,158 lncRNAs by microarray re-annotation.

TGFβ attenuates cartilage extracellular matrix degradation via enhancing FBXO6-mediated MMP14 ubiquitination.

Objectives: FBXO6, a component of the ubiquitin E3 ligases, has been shown to bind high mannose N-linked glycoproteins and act as ubiquitin ligase subunits. Most proteins in the secretory pathway, such as matrix metalloproteinases, are modified with N-glycans and play important roles in the development of osteoarthritis (OA). However, whether FBXO6 exerts regulatory effects on the pathogenesis of OA remains undefined.

MRI and Bone Scintigraphy for Breast Cancer Bone Metastase: A Meta-analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance image (MRI) and bone scintigraphy (BS) in the diagnosis of breast cancer bone metastases.

Methods: Searching in the databases including PubMed, Embase about the comparative study of MRI and bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis of breast cancer bone metastases during 2000~2018. After we screened further, the extracted effective data were calculated by Meta-Disc 1.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Low Back Pain: Two Cases and Literature Review.

To describe the clinical, electrophysiological, and lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of two cases of atypical Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Methods We reported two GBS variant cases with initial and prominent symptoms of low back pain. We analysed their clinical, electrophysiological, and lumbar MRI features.

Surface Coil Intensity Correction in Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Spinal Metastases.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical application of phased-array surface coil intensity correction in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in spinal metastases.

Methods: 3 phantoms and 50 patients with a corresponding total number of 80 spinal metastases were included in this study. Fast spin echo T1- and T2- weighted MRI with and without surface coil intensity correction was routinely performed for all phantoms and patients.

A retrospective study of congenital osseous anomalies at the craniocervical junction treated by occipitocervical plate-rod systems.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of posterior occipitocervical reconstruction using the anchors of cervical pedicle screws and plate-rod systems for patients with congenital osseous anomalies at the craniocervical junction.

Methods: Twenty patients with congenital osseous lesions who underwent posterior occipitocervical fusion using the anchors of cervical pedicle screws and plate-rod systems for reduction and fixation from 1996 to 2009 were reviewed. The lesions included os odontoideum, occipitalization of the atlas, congenital C2-3 fusion, congenital atlantoaxial subluxation, congenital basilar invagination and combined anomalies.

Sporadic case infected by severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus in a non-epidemic region of China.

We report here a clinical and molecular study on a case suffer from severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) due to a new type of bunyavirus, named SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV), in Zhejiang Province China. The key clinical features of this patient include fever, lymphocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. We carried out a serological and molecular investigation in the indicated case and on relatives with close contact.

Improved bioabsorbability of synthetic hydroxyapatite through partial dissolution-precipitation of its surface.

Even though synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAp) has a chemical composition similar to the mineral phase of bone, it is minimally absorbed and replaced by bone tissue. This could be because HAp is composed of compactly arranged apatite crystals with homogenously large grains. In this study, the surface and non-stoichiometry of the synthetic HAp crystals was modified by partial dissolution and precipitation (PDP) to improve bioabsorbability of HAp.

[Clinical significance of serum differential protein examination in chronic hepatitis B related liver fibrosis].

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of the expression of serum differential protein in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) related liver fibrosis.

Methods: One hundred and ten CHB patients confirmed by liver biopsies were enrolled, 83 for modeling and 27 for verification. According to Ishak staging, 55 patients in the modeling group were with significant liver fibrosis ( F is more than or equal to 3 ) and 28 patients with normal/mild liver fibrosis ( F0-F2 ).

[Low-temperature crystallization on porous titanium and in vivo evaluation on bone-bonding mechanics of the treated titanium].

By the bioactivity technology of Low-Temperature Preparation of Anatase and Rutile Layers on porous Titanium Substrates, CPTi(Commercially pure titanium Phi4.0 mm x 20 mm) was processed and treated as experiment specimens while CPTi was treated as control specimens. Experiment specimens and control specimens were implanted into the holes (4.

[The relationship between the genotype of hepatitis B virus and clinical and liver pathological features of infected patients in the Zhoushan Islands, China].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the genotypes of hepatitis B virus and the clinical and liver pathological features of patients with chronic hepatitis in the Zhoushan Islands.

Methods: One hundred eighty HBV DNA positive chronic hepatitis patients with HBV markers were enrolled in this study. They were at least second generation Zhoushan Island residents.

[A quantitative study of the relationship between levels of liver fibrosis markers in sera and fibrosis stages of liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatic diseases].

Objectives: To study the quantitative relationship between the levels of serum liver fibrosis markers and fibrosis stages of liver tissues in patients with chronic hepatic diseases.

Methods: In 118 patients with chronic hepatitis, fatty liver or cirrhosis, their Serum levels of LN, HA, PCIII and CIV were investigated by EIA and their liver histological changes were studied. The relationship between the levels of serum LN, HA, PCIII and CIV and the degrees of liver tissue fibrosis was analyzed quantitatively by using the SPSS11.

[A comparative study on operation and non-operation in treating fractures of scapular neck].

Objective: To explore the effective method for treatment of fractures of scapular neck.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 30 patients with fractures of scapular neck was done. The patients were treated by operation or by non-operation from May 1994 to May 2003.