Comparison between solid pseudopapillary neoplasms of the pancreas and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with cystic changes using computed tomography.

Background: Solid pseudopapillary neoplasms of the pancreas (SPN) share similar imaging findings with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with cystic changes (PDAC with cystic changes), which may result in unnecessary surgery.

Aim: To investigate the value of computed tomography (CT) in differentiation of SPN from PDAC with cystic changes.

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical and imaging findings of 32 patients diagnosed with SPN and 14 patients diagnosed with PDAC exhibiting cystic changes, confirmed through pathological diagnosis.

Computed tomography-based radiomics diagnostic approach for differential diagnosis between early- and late-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: One of the primary reasons for the dismal survival rates in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is that most patients are usually diagnosed at late stages. There is an urgent unmet clinical need to identify and develop diagnostic methods that could precisely detect PDAC at its earliest stages.

Aim: To evaluate the potential value of radiomics analysis in the differentiation of early-stage PDAC from late-stage PDAC.

MAFLD as part of systemic metabolic dysregulation.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. In recent years, a new terminology and definition of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has been proposed. Compared to the NAFLD definition, MAFLD better emphasizes the pathogenic role of metabolic dysfunction in the development and progression of this highly prevalent condition.

Current status and future trends of the global burden of MASLD.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has emerged as the most common chronic liver disease globally, affecting more than a third of the world's adult population. This comprehensive narrative review summarizes the global incidence and prevalence rates of MASLD and its related adverse hepatic and extrahepatic outcomes. We also discuss the substantial economic burden of MASLD on healthcare systems, thus further highlighting the urgent need for global efforts to tackle this common and burdensome liver condition.

Activity of thonningianin A against Candida albicans in vitro and in vivo.

Fungal infections are increasing rapidly, and antifungal agents used in clinics are limited. Therefore, novel antifungal agents with high efficiency are urgently required. In this study, we investigated the antifungal activity of thonningianin A (THA), a natural compound that is widely found in plants.

Diagnostic accuracy of apparent diffusion coefficient to differentiate intrapancreatic accessory spleen from pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Background: Intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) shares similar imaging findings with hypervascular pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs), which may lead to unnecessary surgery.

Aim: To investigate and compare the diagnostic performance of absolute apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and normalized ADC (lesion-to-spleen ADC ratios) in the differential diagnosis of IPAS from PNETs.

Methods: A retrospective study consisting of 29 patients (16 PNET patients 13 IPAS patients) who underwent preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging together with diffusion-weighted imaging/ADC maps between January 2017 and July 2020 was performed.

Untargeted metabolomics characterization of the resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Background: Diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is difficult due to the lack of specific symptoms and screening methods. Only less than 10% of PDAC patients are candidates for surgery at the time of diagnosis. Thus, there is a great global unmet need for valuable biomarkers that could improve the opportunity to detect PDAC at the resectable stage.

Nicotinamide potentiates amphotericin B activity against .

Amphotericin B (AmB) is a widely used antifungal agent especially for the therapy of systemic fungal infections. However, the severe side effects of AmB often leads to the premature termination of the treatment. So it is imperative to find the drugs that can both reduce the dosage and enhance the antifungal efficacy of AmB.

Clinical Course and Outcome Patterns of Acute-on-chronic Liver Failure: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background And Aims: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is acute decompensation of liver function in the setting of chronic liver disease, and characterized by high short-term mortality. In this study, we sought to investigate the clinical course of patients at specific time points, and to propose dynamic prognostic criteria.

Methods: We assessed the clinical course of 453 patients with ACLF during a 12-week follow-up period in this retrospective multicenter study.

Mangiferin enhances the antifungal activities of caspofungin by destroying polyamine accumulation.

The incidence of fungal infections has increased continuously in recent years. Caspofungin (CAS) is one of the first-line drugs for the treatment of systemic fungal infection. However, the emerging CAS-resistant clinical isolates and high economic cost for CAS administration hamper the wide application of this drug.

Mechanisms of Macrophage Immunomodulatory Activity Induced by a New Polysaccharide Isolated From (Pers.) Fries.

Bladder cancer is one of the most malignant tumors closely associated with macrophage immune dysfunction. The Chinese medicine polyporus has shown excellent efficacy in treating bladder cancer, with minimal side effects. However, its material basis and mechanism of action remain unclear.

Metabonomics on indicate the excessive H3K56ac is involved in the antifungal activity of Shikonin.

Development of antifungal agents with novel mechanism and low toxicity are essential due to the prevalence of the infectious diseases caused by . The current study employed a new research method, which combined the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, to investigate the intrinsic mechanism of Shikonin (SK) against . The levels of 27 metabolites, which mainly involved in histone deacetylation, amino acid synthesis, lipid synthesis, nitrogen metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle, oxidative stress and glycolysis, were remarkably changed upon SK treatment.

Effect of Shikonin Against Biofilms.

Candidiasis is often associated with the formation of biofilms. biofilms are inherently resistant to many clinical antifungal agents and have increasingly been found to be the sources of infections. Novel antifungal agents against biofilms are urgently needed.

Effect of Nicotinamide Against .

Nicotinamide (NAM) has a long history in clinical applications and can be safely used for treating various diseases. In recent years, NAM was found to exhibit antimicrobial activities, inhibiting the growth of , , and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Here we investigated the activity of NAM against , one of the most prevalent human fungal pathogens.

Zinc finger nuclease-mediated precision genome editing of an endogenous gene in hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) using a DNA repair template.

Sequence-specific nucleases have been used to engineer targeted genome modifications in various plants. While targeted gene knockouts resulting in loss of function have been reported with relatively high rates of success, targeted gene editing using an exogenously supplied DNA repair template and site-specific transgene integration has been more challenging. Here, we report the first application of zinc finger nuclease (ZFN)-mediated, nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ)-directed editing of a native gene in allohexaploid bread wheat to introduce, via a supplied DNA repair template, a specific single amino acid change into the coding sequence of acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) to confer resistance to imidazolinone herbicides.

Metabolomic profiling for the identification of potential biomarkers involved in a laboratory azole resistance in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans, one of the most common fungal pathogens, is responsible for several yeast infections in human hosts, being resistant to classically used antifungal drugs, such as azole drugs. Multifactorial and multistep alterations are involved in the azole resistance in Candida albicans. In this study, a FCZ-resistant C.

Two new phenolic glycosides from the stem of Zanthoxylum armatum DC.

Two new phenolic glycoside, 2-methoxy-4-hydroxylphenyl-1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl- (1″ → 6')-β-D-glucopyranoside. (1) and threo-3-methoxy-5-hydroxy-phenylpropanetriol-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), were isolated from the stems of Zanthoxylum armatum. The compounds 1 and 2 showed weak scavenging activity in DPPH free radical assay with IC values of 323 and 114 mM, respectively.

Synthesis and synergistic antifungal effects of monoketone derivatives of curcumin against fluconazole-resistant spp.

Twenty-three monoketone derivatives of curcumin were synthesized to investigate the synergy with fluconazole against fluconazole-resistant spp. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) of the antifungal synergist fluconazole were measured against fluconazole-resistant , and . Most of these compounds showed good synergistic activities against .

[Scenario analysis on sustainable development of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city based on emergy and system dynamics].

Dynamic evaluation of sustainable development is one of the key fundamental parts of the success of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, which is the first eco-city in China constructed by international cooperation. Based on the analysis of nature and economy, function and structure, planning control indices and so on, we constructed a sustainable development evaluation index system and a system dynamics model of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city to explore dynamic trends of its population, material and currency by comprehensive utilization of emergy analysis and system dynamics method. Five scenarios were set up and simulated, including inertial scenario, scientific and technological scenario, economic scenario, environmental scenario and harmonious development scenario.

Loss of RPS41 but not its paralog RPS42 results in altered growth, filamentation and transcriptome changes in Candida albicans.

Although ribosomal proteins (RPs) are components of the ribosome, and function centrally in protein synthesis, several lines of evidence suggest that S4 ribosomal proteins (Rps4ps) can function in other cellular roles. In Candida albicans, ribosomal protein S4 (Rps4p) is encoded by two distinct but highly similar genes, RPS41 (C2_10620W_A) and RPS42 (C1_01640W_A). Previous studies indicated that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae loss of one isoform generated distinct phenotypes.

Enhancement of the antibiofilm activity of amphotericin B by polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors on the activity of amphotericin B (AmB) against Candida albicans biofilms and to clarify the underlying mechanisms. The antibiofilm activity of AmB was significantly enhanced when used in combination with the polyamine biosynthesis inhibitors 1,4-diamino-2-butanone (DAB) and α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO). Further study showed that DAB and DFMO also enhanced the antibiofilm activity of several other antifungal agents.

Au@Ag core/shell nanoparticles as colorimetric probes for cyanide sensing.

We synthesize Au@Ag core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) using a Au NP assisted Tollens reaction. The as-synthesized NPs are used for the colorimetric cyanide sensing with a detection limit of 0.4 μM.

[Rapid detection of four antipertensive chemicals adulterated in traditional Chinese medicine for hypertension using TLC-SERS].

A novel facile method for on-site detection of antipertensive chemicals (e. g. nicardipine hydrochloride, doxazosin mesylate, propranolol hydrochloride, and hydrochlorothiazide) adulterated in traditional Chinese medicine for hypertension using thin layer chromatography (TLC) combined with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was reported in the present paper.

Salvianolic acid A, a polyphenolic derivative from Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge, as a multifunctional agent for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The effects of Salvianolic acid A (Sal A) on the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were investigated. Sal A significantly inhibits amyloid beta [Formula: see text] self-aggregation and disaggregates pre-formed [Formula: see text] fibrils, reduces metal-induced [Formula: see text] aggregation through chelating metal ions, and blocks the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in SH-SY5Y cells. Sal A protects cells against [Formula: see text]-induced toxicity.

Inhibitory effect of Shikonin on Candida albicans growth.

Our study showed that Shikonin (SK) could provide an action against almost all Candida albicans isolates tested. More importantly, to some Fluconazole (FCZ)-resistant Candida albicans, the action of SK (MIC(80) value 4 µg/mL) was shown to be >16 times higher than that of FCZ (MIC(80) >64 µg/mL). To clarify the mechanism underlying this action, we performed a comparative study in untreated control C.