From tumor microenvironment to emerging biomarkers: the reshaping of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tumor microenvironment by neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is a cancer with high morbidity and mortality. The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has significantly increased complete response rates and postoperative R0 resection rates after neoadjuvant therapy. These drugs can largely reverse the suppression of the immune system caused by the tumor microenvironment, allowing the reactivation of anti-tumor immune infiltrating cells, significantly improving the patient's tumor microenvironment, and thus preventing tumor development.

Qiliqiangxin capsule alleviates cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction by regulating miR-382-5p/ATF3 axis.

Objective: Qiliqiangxin Capsule (QL) was investigated for its possible role in cardiac hypertrophy in this study.

Methods: QL (0.5 mg/mL) was pre-treated in Neonatal Mouse Ventricular Cardiomyocytes (NMVCs) before induction of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by Angiotensin II (Ang-II).

Comparison of diffusion ranges at different local anesthetic volumes during superior laryngeal nerve block.

Objectives: Ultrasound-guided superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) block is a practical and painless approach to avoid the hemodynamic stress response during endotracheal intubation and relieve sore throat after laryngeal surgery. The main purpose of this study was to establish an optimal dosage of local anesthetic when performing SLN block to help anesthetists balance analgesia and side effects.

Methods: Twenty fresh larynx specimens were obtained immediately after resection and then injected with 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5- mL of a lidocaine-blue dye mixture at bilateral SLN puncture sites.

Iso-E-Codelock: A Rebuilding-free Electrochemical Chip with a Customizable Decoding Probe for Real-Time and Portable Pathogen Diagnostics.

In order to realize portable pathogen diagnostics with easier quantitation, digitization and integration, we develop a ready-to-use electrochemical sensing strategy (Iso-E-Codelock) for real-time detection of isothermal nucleic acid amplification. Bridged by a branched DNA as codelock, the isothermal amplicon is transduced into increased current of an electrochemical probe, holding multiple advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, signal-on response, "zero" background and one-pot operation. Through a self-designed portable instrument (BioAlex PHE-T), the detection can be implemented on a multichannel microchip and output real-time amplification curves just like an expensive commercial PCR machine.

Pharmacological Mechanisms of Kirenol against Ovarian Carcinoma: A Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation Study In Vitro.

Background: Ovarian carcinoma is an aggressive gynecological malignancy. Kirenol, a diterpene compound, has recently gained attention for its potential anticancer properties. However, its exact anti-tumor mechanism remains largely unexplored.

Identification of Clec7a as the therapeutic target of rTMS in alleviating Parkinson's disease: targeting neuroinflammation.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a therapeutic tool in PD. High-throughput sequencing was performed to screen potential therapeutic targets in unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats.

Relationship between depressive symptoms and sleep quality and cognitive inhibition ability in prenatal pregnant women.

Background: Sleep problems and cognitive changes are typical in pregnant women with depressive symptoms. However, the relationship between sleep quality and executive dysfunction remains unclear. This study aims to explore the differences in sleep quality and cognitive inhibition between pregnant women with and without depressive symptoms in the third trimester of pregnancy and investigate the correlations between sleep quality, cognitive inhibition and depressive symptoms.

Sustaining yield and nutritional quality of peanuts in harsh environments: Physiological and molecular basis of drought and heat stress tolerance.

Climate change is significantly impacting agricultural production worldwide. Peanuts provide food and nutritional security to millions of people across the globe because of its high nutritive values. Drought and heat stress alone or in combination cause substantial yield losses to peanut production.

Alleviating insomnia should decrease the risk of irritable bowel syndrome: Evidence from Mendelian randomization.

Associations have been reported between sleep and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, whether there exists a causation between them is still unknown. We employed the Mendelian randomization (MR) design to explore the causal relationship between sleep and IBS.

Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms During the Perinatal Period: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study in China.

Most women in the perinatal period face sleep issues, which can affect their mental health. Only a few studies have focused on sleep trajectories and depressive symptoms of women during the perinatal period in China. This study aims to explore the development trajectory of sleep quality by classifying pregnant women according to the changes in their sleep quality during pregnancy and postpartum and investigate the correlation between different sleep quality trajectory groups and depressive symptoms.

Ultrasound-Guided Block of the Internal Branch of the Superior Laryngeal Nerve Reduces Postoperative Sore Throat Caused by Suspension Laryngoscopic Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Trial.

Objective: Suspension laryngoscopy is commonly used in operative laryngology. Although it is efficient and minimally invasive in most cases, it can lead to postoperative sore throat (POST) and cough. Because of intensive stimulation by the rigid metal suspension laryngoscope, procedures must be implemented under general anesthesia.

Protection by microRNA-7a-5p Antagomir Against Intestinal Mucosal Injury Related to the JNK Pathway in TNBS-Induced Experimental Colitis.

Background: Increasing evidence shows that microRNA-7a-5p (miR-7a-5p) plays an important role in regulating the inflammatory process in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). How miR-7a-5p contributes to this process is poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to examine whether miR-7a-5p regulates 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced inflammatory responses via the JNK pathway.

Characterization of two newly emerged torque teno sus virus isolates from a large-scale pig farm in China, in 2018.

Torque teno sus virus (TTSuV) infection is common in China's pig herd. Although of uncertain pathogenicity, TTSuVs have been reported as a worsening factor of other porcine diseases, including porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD), porcine respiratory diseases complex (PRDC) or porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS). To better understand the genetic diversity in TTSuVs, the complete genomes of two newly emerged isolates, referred to as HeN1-A9 and HeN1-A11, collected from pig samples at a large-scale pig farm in China, were analyzed.

Clinical application of an automatic facial recognition system based on deep learning for diagnosis of Turner syndrome.

Purpose: Automated facial recognition technology based on deep learning has achieved high accuracy in diagnosing various endocrine diseases and genetic syndromes. This study attempts to establish a facial diagnostic system for Turner syndrome (TS) based on deep convolutional neural networks.

Methods: Photographs of 207 TS patients and 1074 female controls were collected from July 2016 to April 2019.

Toward "Smart Canopy" Sorghum: Discovery of the Genetic Control of Leaf Angle Across Layers.

A "smart canopy" ideotype has been proposed with leaves being upright at the top and more horizontal toward the bottom of the plant to maximize light interception and conversion efficiencies, and thus increasing yield. The genetic control of leaf angle has, to date, been studied on one or two leaves, or data have been merged from multiple leaves to generate average values. This approach has limited our understanding of the diversity of leaf angles across layers and their genetic control.

Electric vagal nerve stimulation inhibits inflammation and improves early postoperation cognitive dysfunction in aged rats.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate effects of electric vagal nerve stimulation on early postoperation cognitive dysfunction in aged rats.

Methods: A total of 33 male Sprague Dawley rats were selected and assigned randomly to three groups, control group (C, n = 10), splenectomy group (S, n = 10) and splenectomy+vagal nerve stimulation group (SV, n = 13). Behavior and memory of rats were evaluated by Open Field Test and Morris Water Maze.

Assessing plant performance in the Enviratron.

Background: Assessing the impact of the environment on plant performance requires growing plants under controlled environmental conditions. Plant phenotypes are a product of genotype × environment (G × E), and the Enviratron at Iowa State University is a facility for testing under controlled conditions the effects of the environment on plant growth and development. Crop plants (including maize) can be grown to maturity in the Enviratron, and the performance of plants under different environmental conditions can be monitored 24 h per day, 7 days per week throughout the growth cycle.

Toll-Like Receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 Mediate the IgA Immune Response Induced by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.

IgA plays an important role in mucosal immunity against infectious pathogens; however, the molecular mechanism of IgA secretion in response to infection remains largely unknown, particularly in spp. In this study, we found that the levels of IgA in the peripheral blood serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, nasal mucosa, trachea, hilar lymph nodes, and lung tissues of pigs increased significantly after infection with Furthermore, IgA and CD11c were detected in the lungs and hilar lymph nodes by immunohistochemical analysis, and colocalization of these two markers indicates that CD11c cells play an important role in IgA mucosal immunity induced by To investigate the regulatory mechanism of IgA, we separated mouse dendritic cells (DCs) from different tissues and mouse macrophages from the lungs and then cultured mouse B cells together with either DCs or macrophages In the mouse lung-DC/B (LDC/B) cell coculture, IgA secretion was increased significantly after the addition of whole-cell lysates of The expression of both Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and TLR4 was also upregulated, as determined by mRNA and protein expression analyses, whereas no obvious change in the expression of TLR3 and TLR7 was detected. Moreover, the IgA level decreased to the same as the control group when TLR2 or TLR4 was inhibited instead of TLR8 or TLR7/9.

MiR-125b-5p Inhibitor Might Protect Against Sevoflurane-induced Cognitive Impairments by Targeting LIMK1.

Purpose: Research has shown that exposure to anesthesia might increase the risks of cognitive impairments and learning difficulties. MiR-125b-5p contributed to anesthesia-induced hippocampal apoptosis. However, the role of miR-125b-5p in sevoflurane-induced cognitive impairments remains unclear.

Cathepsin L promotes secretory IgA response by participating in antigen presentation pathways during Mycoplasma Hyopneumoniae infection.

Cathepsin L (CTSL) has been proved to help contain leishmaniasis and mycoplasma infection in mice by supporting cellular immune responses, but the regulatory functions of CTSL on mucosal immune responses haven't been tested and remain undefined. Here, we investigated the effects of CTSL on SIgA responses and invariant chain (Ii) degradations in the co-cultured swine dendritic cells (DCs) and B cells system in vitro. When the cells system were transfected with vector CTSL-GFP or incubated with recombinant CTSL (rCTSL) before they were infected with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M.

The cerebral mechanism of acupuncture for treating knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Acupuncture is safe and effective for reducing the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture for treating KOA are not fully understood.

Methods/design: In total, 108 participants diagnosed with KOA will be recruited. They will be blinded to group assignment and randomized to either verum acupuncture, sham acupuncture or waiting-list groups with 36 patients in each group.

Cerebral mechanism of celecoxib for treating knee pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled parallel trial.

Background: Celecoxib is frequently prescribed to treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but how celecoxib influences the activity of the central nervous system to alleviate chronic pain remains unclear.

Methods: One hundred eight patients with KOA will be enrolled in this study. Patients will be allocated randomly to three groups: the celecoxib group, the placebo group, and the waiting list group.

Efficacy and Safety of Generic Dasatinib as a Second-line Treatment for Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: a Multicenter Retrospective Study in Hubei Province, China.

Dasatinib is a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and it could be used as a second-line treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Yinishu, a generic dasatinib made in China, was approved by the China Food and Drug Administration in 2013 and it costs much less than the patented dasatinib SPRYCEL. The present study aimed to examine the efficacy and safety of Yinishu as a second-line treatment for CML by comparing the baseline clinical characteristics, rates of adverse events and efficacy between Yinishu and SPRYCEL groups.

Down-expression of GOLM1 enhances the chemo-sensitivity of cervical cancer to methotrexate through modulation of the MMP13/EMT axis.

The highly refractory nature of cervical cancer to chemotherapeutic drugs and its epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) are the key reasons contributing to the poor prognosis of this disease. Golgi Membrane Protein 1 (GOLM1), a protein involved in the trafficking of proteins through the Golgi apparatus, has been shown to be oncogenic in a variety of human cancers. Herein, we found GOLM1 was markedly up-regulated in cervical cancer and GOLM1 down-expression enhanced the anti-tumor effect of methotrexate.