Neural mechanism of trigeminal nerve stimulation recovering defensive arousal responses in traumatic brain injury.

The arousal state is defined as the degree to which an individual is aware of themselves and their surroundings, and is a crucial component of consciousness. Trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS), a non-invasive clinical neuromodulation technique, has shown potential in aiding the functional recovery of patients with impaired consciousness. Understanding the specific neuronal subpopulations and circuits through which TNS improves arousal states is essential for advancing its clinical application.

Cardamonin inhibits silicosis development through the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.

Silicosis is one of the most severe occupational diseases characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroblasts activation, and fibrosis in the lung. However, specific drug treatments are lacking. Cardamonin (CDM) has been reported to possess antitumor, anti-inflammatory/fibrotic effects.

Surgical outcomes of robotic-assisted percutaneous fixation for thoracolumbar fractures in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Background: Spinal fractures in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) mainly present as instability, involving all three columns of the spine, and surgical intervention is often considered necessary. However, in AS patients, the significant alterations in bony structure and anatomy result in a lack of identifiable landmarks, which increases the difficulty of pedicle screw implantation. Therefore, we present the clinical outcomes of robotic-assisted percutaneous fixation for thoracolumbar fractures in patients with AS.

Preparation of landscape gardening soil using undersized fraction from aged MSW by EDTA or citric acid coupled with humic acid: Effect assessment, properties, and optimization.

Undersized fraction from aged municipal solid waste (UFAMSW), as a kind of soil-like material, has been proved effective in providing a large amount of organic matter and nutrients for soil and plants. The characteristics and effectiveness of heavy metal pollution removal in UFAMSW attracted tremendous research interest from scientists recently. In this study, the heavy metal removal efficiencies and bioavailability of washing on contaminated UFAMSW were evaluated with three washing reagents including ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), citric acid (CA), and humic acid (HA).

Brain circuits for retching-like behavior.

Nausea and vomiting are important defensive responses to cope with pathogens and toxins that invade the body. The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is important for initiating these responses. However, the molecular heterogeneities and cellular diversities of the NTS occlude a better understanding of these defensive responses.

Effective and low-toxicity: A membrane cleaning method using peroxymonosulfate catalytic chlorination.

In chemical membrane cleaning, the challenge is to efficiently remove irreversible fouling while minimizing the impact on membrane materials. Particularly, traditional hypochlorite cleaning will further lead to the generation of toxic halogenated by-products. To address these issues, a combined system composed of peroxymonosulfate and chloride (PMS/Cl) was applied to clean irreversible-humic-acid-fouled polyethersulfone (PES) membranes.

Trigeminal nerve stimulation restores hippocampal dopamine deficiency to promote cognitive recovery in traumatic brain injury.

Cognitive impairment (CI) is a common neurological disease resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) is an emerging, non-invasive, and effective neuromodulation therapy especially for patients suffering from brain function disorders. However, the treatment and recovery mechanisms of TNS remain poorly understood.

Decellularized matrix for repairing intervertebral disc degeneration: Fabrication methods, applications and animal models.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD)-induced low back pain significantly influences the quality of life, placing a burden on public health systems worldwide. Currently available therapeutic strategies, such as conservative or operative treatment, cannot effectively restore intervertebral disc (IVD) function. Decellularized matrix (DCM) is a tissue-engineered biomaterial fabricated using physical, chemical, and enzymatic technologies to eliminate cells and antigens.

Roles and current applications of S-nitrosoglutathione in anti-infective biomaterials.

Bacterial infections can compromise the physical and biological functionalities of humans and pose a huge economical and psychological burden on infected patients. Nitric oxide (NO) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, whose mechanism of action is not affected by bacterial resistance. S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), an endogenous donor and carrier of NO, has gained increasing attention because of its potent antibacterial activity and efficient biocompatibility.

Macrophage derived miR-7219-3p-containing exosomes mediate fibroblast trans-differentiation by targeting SPRY1 in silicosis.

Silicosis is one of the most serious occupational diseases with the main feature of inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroblasts activation, and large deposition of extracellular matrix in the lung. Increasing evidence indicates that macrophage-derived exosomes may play an important role in the development of silicosis by transferring their loaded microRNAs (miRNAs). Hence we carried out high-throughput sequencing to identify the expression of exosomal miRNA from macrophages exposed to silica or not in the previous study.

Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy versus radiotherapy alone in elderly patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A SEER population-based study.

Currently, the impact of chemotherapy (CT) on survival outcomes in elderly patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) receiving radiation therapy (RT) remains controversial. This retrospective study aims to investigate survival outcomes in a cohort of elderly NPC patients receiving RT alone or together with CT.Clinical data on 529 NPC patients aged 65 years and older extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry (2004-2015) was collected and retrospectively reviewed.

Role of VEGFR2 in Mediating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Under Glucose Deprivation and Determining Cell Death, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammatory Factor Expression.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a postmitotic monolayer located between the neuroretina and choroid, supports the retina and is closely associated with vision loss diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) upon dysfunction. Although environmental stresses are known to play critical roles in AMD pathogenesis and the roles of other stresses have been well investigated, glucose deprivation, which can arise from choriocapillary flow voids, has yet to be fully explored. In this study, we examined the involvement of VEGFR2 in glucose deprivation-mediated cell death and the underlying mechanisms.

A Novel Risk Model Based on Lipid Metabolism-Associated Genes Predicts Prognosis and Indicates Immune Microenvironment in Breast Cancer.

Background: Breast cancer (BRCA) is the most common tumor in women, and lipid metabolism involvement has been demonstrated in its tumorigenesis and development. However, the role of lipid metabolism-associated genes (LMAGs) in the immune microenvironment and prognosis of BRCA remains unclear.

Methods: A total of 1076 patients with BRCA were extracted from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and randomly assigned to the training cohort ( = 760) or validation cohort ( = 316).

Predictive factors for survival following stereotactic body radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumour thrombosis and construction of a nomogram.

Background: We evaluated the treatment response and predictive factors for overall survival (OS) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumour thrombosis (PVTT), who underwent stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Additionally, we developed and validated a personalised prediction model for patient survival.

Methods: Clinical information was retrospectively collected for 80 patients with HCC and PVTT, who were treated with SBRT at the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital) between December 2015 and June 2019.

TGF‑β1: Gentlemanly orchestrator in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (Review).

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a worldwide disease characterized by the chronic and irreversible decline of lung function. Currently, there is no drug to successfully treat the disease except for lung transplantation. Numerous studies have been devoted to the study of the fibrotic process of IPF and findings showed that transforming growth factor‑β1 (TGF‑β1) plays a central role in the development of IPF.

The Usefulness of Pretreatment MR-Based Radiomics on Early Response of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to explore the predictive role of pretreatment MRI-based radiomics on early response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Between January 2016 and December 2016, a total of 108 newly diagnosed NPC patients who were hospitalized in the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences were reviewed. All patients had complete data of enhanced MR of nasopharynx before treatment, and then received two to three cycles of TP-based NAC.

MiR-34a reverses radiation resistance on ECA-109 cells by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway through downregulating the expression of SIRT1.

Background: Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, many ESCC patients relapsed after receiving radiotherapy due to the inherent resistance. The function of miR-34a and SIRT1, as well as the correlation between miR-34a and SIRT1 has been widely claimed in multiple types of malignant tumors.

Pretreatment MRI-Derived Radiomics May Evaluate the Response of Different Induction Chemotherapy Regimens in Locally advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate and compare the performance of radiomics in predicting induction chemotherapy response treated with two different regimens in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: A total of 265 patients with pathologically confirmed locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (stage II-IV), including 115 treated with gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GP group) and 150 treated with docetaxel plus cisplatin (TP group) were retrospectively enrolled. Radiomics features were extracted from the volume of interest delineated in multi-MR sequences on a 3T scanner.

From the Performance to the Essence: The Biological Mechanisms of How Tantalum Contributes to Osteogenesis.

Despite the brilliant bioactive performance of tantalum as an orthopedic biomaterial verified through laboratory researches and clinical practice in the past decades, scarce evidences about the essential mechanisms of how tantalum contributes to osteogenesis were systematically discussed. Up to now, a few studies have uncovered preliminarily the biological mechanism of tantalum in osteogenic differentiation and osteogenesis; it is of great necessity to map out the panorama through which tantalum contributes to new bone formation. This minireview summarized current advances to demonstrate the probable signaling pathways and underlying molecular cascades through which tantalum orchestrates osteogenesis, which mainly contain Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway, BMP signaling pathway, TGF- signaling pathway, and integrin signaling pathway.