Factors influencing the behavioral intention to use contactless financial services in the banking industry: An application and extension of UTAUT model.

Introduction: Contactless financial services are an innovative exploration of the banking industry to integrate digital technology. This study further modified the UTAUT model based on the theories of trust, perceived risk, and perceived advantage and constructed a conceptual model to examine the influencing factors of the behavior of using contactless financial services. The purpose of this paper is to figure out factors influencing users' behavior intention of contactless financial services, in order to promote use behavior, and boost the further development of contactless financial services. Methods: The model was validated using the data collected through questionnaires. The structural equation modelling (SEM) method was used to validate the research model. We analyzed the generated hypotheses by using AMOS version 23.0. In this study first analyzed the measurement model to test the reliability and validity of the instrument, and then analyzed the structural model to test our research hypotheses. Results: The results reveal that trust and perceived risk are important factors that affect the behavioral intention of contactless financial services; users perceive that contactless financial services have advantages over traditional offline channel, their intention to use contactless financial services will be increased; social influence also has a positive impact on behavioral intention. Discussion: This paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of contactless financial services use behavior but also offers practical insights to government legislative branches and app developers. By providing personalized services and refining the policies and regulations in the digital environment to promote the development of contactless financial services.

Rapid and sensitive detection of superoxide dismutase in serum of the cervical cancer by 4-aminothiophenol-functionalized bimetallic Au-Ag nanoboxs array.

Early, efficient and sensitive detection of serum markers in cervical cancer is very important for the treatment and prognosis to cervical cancer patients. In this paper, a SERS platform based on surface enhanced Raman scattering technology was proposed to quantitatively detect superoxide dismutase in serum of cervical cancer patients. Au-Ag nanoboxs array was made by oil-water interface self-assembly method as the trapping substrate. The single-layer Au-AgNBs array was verified by SERS for possessing excellent uniformity, selectivity and reproducibility. 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) was used as Raman signal molecule, it will be oxidized to dithiol azobenzene under the surface catalytic reaction with the condition of PH = 9 and laser irradiation. The quantitative detection of SOD could be achieved by calculating the change of characteristic peak ratio. When the concentration was from 10 U mL-1-160 U mL-1, the concentration of SOD could be accurately and quantitatively detected in human serum. The whole test was completed within 20 min and the limit of quantitation was 10 U mL-1. In addition, serum samples from the cervical cancer, the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and healthy people were tested by the platform and the results were consistent with those of ELISA. The platform has great potential as a tool for early clinical screening of cervical cancer in the future.

Research and progress of probucol in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

With the development of the social economy over the last 30 years, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is affected by unhealthy living habits and eating styles and has gradually become an increasingly serious public health problem. It is very important to investigate the pathogenesis and treatment of NAFLD for the development of human health. Probucol is an antioxidant with a bis-phenol structure. Although probucol is a clinically used cholesterol-lowering and anti-atherosclerosis drug, its mechanism has not been elucidated in detail. This paper reviews the chemical structure, pharmacokinetics and pharmacological research of probucol. Meanwhile, this paper reviews the mechanism of probucol in NAFLD. We also analyzed and summarized the experimental models and clinical trials of probucol in NAFLD. Although current therapeutic strategies for NAFLD are not effective, we hope that through further research on probucol, we will be able to find suitable treatments to solve this problem in the future.

Structural requirement of RARγ agonism through computational aspects.

CONTEXT: RARγ is a therapeutic target for many skin diseases and has potential in cancer treatment. In the current study, we put forward a comprehensive structure-activity relationship study of third and fourth generations of RARγ agonists, addressing multiple crystal structures of RARγ complexes and approved drugs. Adapalene and Trifarotene, through hybrid strategies including protein contacts Atlas analysis, molecular docking, dynamics simulations, MM-GBSA, ASM, and pharmacophore modeling. Our result revealed crucial amino acids Arg267, Ser278, Phe288, Phe230, Met272, Leu271, and Leu268 within the RARγ pocket, as well as pharmacophore features such as two hydrophobic groups, two aromatic rings, and negative ionic features, which are essential for the binding of RARγ agonists. Based on this study, the binding mechanism of RARγ agonists was elucidated, which will be helpful for the rational design of new RARγ agonists for skin diseases and cancer treatment. METHODS: In this study, Schrödinger suite 2021-2 with OPLS_4 force field, Discovery Studio program 3.0, LigandScout 4.3, and PyMOL are utilized in the investigation.

Targeted multi-platform metabolome analysis and enzyme activity analysis of kiwifruit during postharvest ripening.

Kiwifruit is a climacteric fruit, in which the accumulation of flavor substances mainly occurs at the postharvest ripening stage. However, the dynamic changes in metabolite composition remain poorly understood. Here, targeted multi-platform metabolome analysis based on GC-MS and UPLC-MS/MS and enzyme activity analysis were performed at different postharvest ripening stages of kiwifruit. A total of 12 soluble sugars and 31 organic acids were identified. The main soluble sugars are sucrose, glucose and fructose, which exhibited similar variation tendencies along with the extension of ripening. The main organic acids are citric acid, quinic acid and malic acid, which showed different variation patterns. A total of 48 energy metabolites were identified, which were classified into two groups based on the content variation. The content of substances related to the respiratory metabolic pathway decreased gradually along with postharvest ripening, and there was obvious accumulation of downstream products such as amino acids at the late ripening stage. A total of 35 endogenous hormones were identified, among which seven cytokinins were highly accumulated at the later stage of softening. We further investigated the dynamic changes in the activities of 28 ripening-related enzymes. As a result, the activities of 13 enzymes were highly correlated with changes in starch, total pectin, and soluble sugars, and those of seven enzymes were closely associated with the change in firmness. In conclusion, this study comprehensively describes the dynamic changes in soluble sugars, organic acids, hormones, energy substances, and ripening-related enzyme activities during kiwifruit postharvest ripening, and provides a theoretical basis for the postharvest quality improvement of kiwifruit.

The telomerase reverse transcriptase elongates reversed replication forks at telomeric repeats.

The telomerase reverse transcriptase elongates telomeres to prevent replicative senescence. This process requires exposure of the 3'-end, which is thought to occur when two sister telomeres are generated at replication completion. Using two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis (2D-gels) and electron microscopy, we found that telomeric repeats are hotspots for replication fork reversal. Fork reversal generates 3' telomeric ends before replication completion. To verify whether these ends are elongated by telomerase, we probed de novo telomeric synthesis in situ and at replication intermediates by reconstituting mutant telomerase that adds a variant telomere sequence. We found variant telomeric repeats overlapping with telomeric reversed forks in 2D-gels, but not with normal forks, nontelomeric reversed forks, or telomeric reversed forks with a C-rich 3'-end. Our results define reversed telomeric forks as a substrate of telomerase during replication.

Bioinspired Multiscale Micro-/Nanofiber Network Design Enabling Extremely Compressible, Fatigue-Resistant, and Rapidly Shape-Recoverable Cryogels.

Cryogels with extreme mechanical properties such as ultrahigh compressibility, fatigue resistance, and rapid recovery are attractive in biomedical, environmental remediation, and energy storage applications, which, however, are difficult to achieve in man-made materials. Here, inspired by the multiscale macro-/microfiber network structure of spider web, we construct an ultraelastic chitosan cryogel with interconnected hybrid micro-/nanofibers (CMNF cryogels) via freeze-induced physicochemical cross-linking. Chitosan chains are directionally assembled into high-aspect-ratio microfibers and nanofibers under shear-flow induction, which are further assembled into an interconnected three-dimensional (3D) network structure with staggered microfibers and nanofibers. In this multiscale network, nanofibers connecting the microfibers improve the stability, while microfibers improve the elasticity of the CMNF cryogels through long-range interaction. The synergy of the two-scale fibers endows the CMNF cryogel with extraordinary mechanical properties in comparison to those assembled with single-scale fibers, including its ultrahigh ultimate strain (97% strain with 50 cycles), excellent fatigue resistance (3200 compressing-releasing cycles at 60% compression strain), and rapid water-triggered shape recovery (recovering in ∼1 s). Moreover, the fibrous CMNF cryogel shows excellent functionalization capability via the rapid assembly of nanoscale building blocks for flexible electronics and environmental remediation. Our work thereby demonstrates the potential of this bioinspired strategy for designing gel materials with extreme mechanical properties.

Synthesis of Ni-B Compounds by High-Pressure and High-Temperature Method.

Nickel borides are promising multifunctional materials for high hardness and excellent properties in catalysis and magnetism. However, it is still a blank of intrinsic properties in Ni-B compounds, because crystallization of the single phases of Ni-B compounds with micro-size is a challenge. In this work, single phases of Ni2B (I4/mcm), α-Ni4B3 (Pnma), ß-Ni4B3 (C2/c), and NiB (Cmcm) are synthesized by high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). The results indicate that synthesizing α-Ni4B3 and ß-Ni4B3 requires more energy than Ni2B and NiB. The growth process of Ni-B compounds is that Ni covers B to form Ni-B compounds under HPHT, which also makes the slight excess of B necessary. So, generating homogeneous distribution of starting materials and increasing the interdiffusion between Ni and B are two keys to synthesize well crystallized and purer samples by HPHT. This work uncovers the growth process of Ni-B compounds, which is significant to guide the synthesis of highly crystalline transition metal borides (TMBs) in the future.

Obesity, malnutrition, and the prevalence and outcome of hypertension: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Nutritionally unhealthy obesity is a newly introduced phenotype characterized by a combined condition of malnutrition and obesity. This study aims to explore the combined influence of obesity and nutritional status on the prevalence and outcome of hypertension. Methods: Participants collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database were divided into four subgroups according to their obesity and nutritional conditions, as defined by waist circumference and serum albumin concentration. The lean-well-nourished was set as the reference group. Logistic regression models were applied to evaluate the hypertension risk. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to assess the survival curve and outcome risk of participants with hypertension. Results: A total of 28,554 participants with 10,625 hypertension patients were included in the analysis. The lean-malnourished group showed a lower hypertension risk (odds ratio [OR] 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.94), while the obese-well-nourished condition elevated the risk (OR 1.47, 95% CI: 1.3-1.67). Two malnourished groups had higher mortality risks (HR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.12-1.80 and HR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.03-1.69 for the lean and obese, respectively) than the reference group. The outcome risk of the obese-well-nourished group (HR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.76-1.36) was similar to the lean-well-nourished. Conclusion: Malnutrition was associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension in both lean and obese participants, but it was associated with a worse outcome once the hypertension is present. The lean-malnourished hypertension patients had the highest all-cause mortality risk followed by the obese-malnourished. The obese-well-nourished hypertension patients showed a similar mortality risk to the lean-well-nourished hypertension patients.

[Research of epigallocatechin gallate in delaying chondrocyte senescence].

Objective: To investigate the effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on chondrocyte senescence and its mechanism. Methods: The chondrocytes were isolated from the articular cartilage of 4-week-old Sprague Dawley rats, and cultured with type Ⅱcollagenase and passaged. The cells were identified by toluidine blue staining, alcian blue staining, and immunocytochemical staining for type Ⅱ collagen. The second passage (P2) cells were divided into blank control group, 10 ng/mL IL-1ß group, and 6.25, 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, 100.0, and 200.0 µmol/L EGCG+10 ng/mL IL-1ß group. The chondrocyte activity was measured with cell counting kit 8 after 24 hours of corresponding culture, and the optimal drug concentration of EGCG was selected for the subsequent experiment. The P2 chondrocytes were further divided into blank control group (group A), 10 ng/mL IL-1ß group (group B), EGCG+10 ng/mL IL-1ß group (group C), and EGCG+10 ng/mL IL-1ß+5 mmol/L 3-methyladenine (3-MA) group (group D). After cultured, the degree of cell senescence was detected by ß-galactosidase staining, the autophagy by monodansylcadaverine method, and the expression levels of chondrocyte-related genes [type Ⅱ collagen, matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3), MMP-13] by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, the expression levels of chondrocyte-related proteins (Beclin-1, LC3, MMP-3, MMP-13, type Ⅱ collagen, P16, mTOR, AKT) by Western blot. Results: The cultured cells were identified as chondrocytes. Compared with the blank control group, the cell activity of 10 ng/mL IL-1ß group significantly decreased ( P<0.05). Compared with the 10 ng/mL IL-1ß group, the cell activity of EGCG+10 ng/mL IL-1ß groups increased, and the 50.0, 100.0, and 200.0 µmol/L EGCG significantly promoted the activity of chondrocytes ( P<0.05). The 100.0 µmol/L EGCG was selected for subsequent experiments. Compared with group A, the cells in group B showed senescence changes. Compared with group B, the senescence rate of chondrocytes in group C decreased, autophagy increased, the relative expression of type Ⅱ collagen mRNA increased, and relative expressions of MMP-3 and MMP-13 mRNAs decreased; the relative expressions of Beclin-1, LC3, and type Ⅱ collagen proteins increased, but the relative expressions of P16, MMP-3, MMP-13, mTOR, and AKT proteins decreased; the above differences were significant ( P<0.05). Compared with group C, when 3-MA was added in group D, the senescence rate of chondrocytes increased, autophagy decreased, and the relative expressions of the target proteins and mRNAs showed an opposite trend ( P<0.05). Conclusion: EGCG regulates the autophagy of chondrocytes through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and exerts anti-senescence effects.

Genetically predicted visceral adipose tissue and risk of nine non-tumour gastrointestinal diseases: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have linked visceral adipose tissue (VAT) to gastrointestinal diseases. However, it remains unclear whether these associations reflect causal relationships. METHODS: We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to elucidate the causal effect of VAT on nine non-tumour gastrointestinal diseases. The inverse-variance weighted method was used to perform the MR analyses. Complementary and multivariable MR analyses were performed to confirm the results. RESULTS: Genetically predicted higher VAT was associated with an increased risk of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) (odds ratio [OR], 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.34; P = 3.06 × 10-4), duodenal ulcer (DU) (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.77; P = 0.005), cholelithiasis (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.53-2.00; P = 1.14 × 10-16), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (OR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.87-3.82; P = 6.26 × 10-8). There were suggestive associations between VAT and gastric ulcer (GU) (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.01-1.48; P = 0.035) and acute pancreatitis (AP) (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.52; P = 0.013). However, there was little evidence to support the associations between VAT and inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or chronic pancreatitis. The associations with GORD, GU, and NAFLD remained in the multivariable MR analyses with adjustment for body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence in support of causal associations between VAT and GORD, GU, DU, cholelithiasis, AP, and NAFLD. Moreover, the associations between GORD, GU, and NAFLD were independent of the effect of BMI.

Contrasting the characteristics, sources, and evolution of organic aerosols between summer and winter in a megacity of China.

Organic aerosol (OA) accounts for the largest fraction of fine particles in the ambient atmosphere, however, its formation process remains highly uncertain. Here, with an aim of obtaining insights to OA formation mechanism, we have focused on contrasting the characteristics, sources and evolution of OA of PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 µm) between summer and winter based on two field campaigns of urban Beijing. The results show that secondary OA (SOA) dominates OA mass in PM2.5 both in summer and winter, accounting for 87 % and 74 %, respectively. This is much higher compared to the mass fraction of ~56 % that observed in PM1, indicating an important role of SOA in larger size particles. We also show that, the SOA is becoming more dominant in total OA and our observed high SOA proportion is reconciled with its overall upward trends in recent years. The observed mass concentrations of SOA (less oxidized oxygenated OA, LO-OOA; more oxidized OOA, MO-OOA) in winter are about twice higher than those in summer. The Van-Krevelen diagram implies that the addition of carboxylic acid may be a primary oxidation process of OA in summer, while the addition of alcohol/peroxide may play a dominant role in OA evolution in winter. Our observation and analysis illustrate a more efficient conversion from LO-OOA to MO-OOA through aqueous-phase processes in winter of Beijing. While, in summer, cooking OA may be easier to convert to MO-OOA through photochemical process than other OA factors. We further show that the POA is mainly locally emitted, while the origin of SOA is from both regional transport and locally formed. The results of this study may provide policy basis for the precise control of OA pollution and would also help to improve the accuracy of assessing the environmental and climate effects of OA.

MiR-18a-5p aggravates homocysteine-induced myocardial injury via autophagy. / MiR-18a-5pé€šè¿‡ä»‹å¯¼è‡ªå™¬åŠ é‡åŒåž‹åŠèƒ±æ°¨é ¸è¯±å¯¼çš„å¿ƒè‚ŒæŸä¼¤.

OBJECTIVES: Hyperhomocysteinaemia (Hcy) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. MicroRNA (miR)-18a-5p is closely related to cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to investigate the effects of miR-18a-5p on homocysteine (Hcy)-induced myocardial cells injury. METHODS: H9c2 cells were transfected with miR-18a-5p mimic/miR-18a-5p mimic negative control (NC) or combined with Hcy for intervention, and untreated cells were set as a control group. The transfection efficiency was verified by real-time RT-PCR, and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to determine cell viability. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Western blotting was performed to measure the protein levels of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-I, LC3-II, Beclin1, p62, Bax, Bcl-2, and Notch2. Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to detect the interaction of miR-18a-5p with Notch2. RESULTS: Compared with the control, treatment with Hcy or transfection with miR-18a-5p mimic alone, or combined treatment with Hcy and miR-18a-5p mimic/miR-18a-5p mimic NC significantly reduced the H9c2 cell viability, promoted apoptosis and ROS production, up-regulated the expressions of Bax and Beclin, down-regulated the expressions of Bcl-2, p62, and Notch2, and increased the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I (all P<0.05). Compared with the combined intervention of miR-18a-5p mimic NC and Hcy group, the above indexes were more significantly changed in the combined intervention of miR-18a-5p mimic and Hcy group, and the difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant (all P<0.05). There is a targeted binding between Notch2 and miR-18a-5p. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-18a-5p could induce autophagy and apoptosis via increasing ROS production in cardiomyocytes, and aggravate Hcy-induced myocardial injury. Notch2 is a target of miR-18a-5p.

Contribution of cytokine-mediated prolongation of QTc interval to the multi-hit theory of Torsade de Pointes.

BACKGROUND: Torsade de pointes is a potentially lethal polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmia that can occur in the setting of long QT syndrome (LQTS). LQTS is multi-hit in nature and multiple factors combine their effects leading to increased arrhythmic risk. While hypokalemia and multiple medications are accounted for in LQTS, the arrhythmogenic role of systemic inflammation is increasingly recognized but often overlooked. We tested the hypothesis that the inflammatory cytokine interleukin(IL)-6 will significantly increase the incidence of arrhythmia when combined with other pro-arrhythmic conditions (hypokalemia and the psychotropic medication, quetiapine). METHODS: Guinea pigs were injected intraperitoneally with IL-6/soluble IL-6 receptor and QT changes were measured in vivo. Subsequently, hearts were cannulated via Langendorff perfusion for ex vivo optical mapping measurements of action potential duration (APD90) and arrhythmia inducibility. Computer simulations (MATLAB) were performed to investigate IKr inhibition at varying IL-6 and quetiapine concentrations. RESULTS: IL-6 prolonged QTc in vivo guinea pigs from 306.74 ± 7.19 ms to 332.60 ± 8.75 ms (n = 8, p = .0021). Optical mapping on isolated hearts demonstrated APD prolongation in IL-6- vs saline groups (3Hz APD90:179.67 ± 2.47 ms vs 153.5 ± 7.86 ms, p = .0357). When hypokalemia was introduced, the APD90 increased to 195.8 ± 5.02 ms[IL-6] and 174.57 ± 10.7 ms[saline] (p = .2797), and when quetiapine was added to hypokalemia to 207.67 ± 3.03 ms[IL-6] and 191.37 ± 9.49 ms[saline] (p = .2449). After the addition of hypokalemia ± quetiapine, arrhythmia was induced in 75% of IL-6-treated hearts (n = 8), while in none of the control hearts (n = 6). Computer simulations demonstrated spontaneous depolarizations at ∼83% aggregate IKr inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Our experimental observations strongly suggest that controlling inflammation, specifically IL-6, could be a viable and important route for reducing QT prolongation and arrhythmia incidence in the clinical setting.

Oxygen Vacancy Induced Strong Metal-Support Interactions on Ni/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 Nanorod Catalysts for Promoting Steam Reforming of Toluene: Experimental and Computational Studies.

To develop an efficient Ni-based steam reforming catalyst for tar removal from the products of biomass gasification, Ni/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 nanorods were designed. The Ni/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 nanorod was used as a catalyst in steam reforming of toluene, which was regarded as a model compound of biomass gasification tar. At gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 24,000 h-1 and Ni loading of 5 wt %, the 5Ni/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 nanorod catalyst achieved 100% of toluene conversion at 600 °C. After 10 h of operation, toluene conversion still reached 87.6%, and the carbon deposition rate was only 1.9 mg/gcat h-1. The experimental results demonstrated that the 5Ni/Ce0.8Zr0.2O2 nanorod catalyst showed much higher catalytic activity and coking resistance than other Ni-based catalysts reported in the literature. Through different characterization technologies and density functional theory calculations, it was confirmed that the excellent catalytic performance was attributed to the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) between Ni and the {100} facet of Ce0.8Zr0.2O2. The special surface structure of {100} allowed Ni atoms to anchor to the surface oxygen vacancies and maintained its reduced state by electron transport between surface atoms. The anchored Ni facilitated oxygen vacancies formation and H2O dissociation on the support, while the support modulated the electronic structure of Ni, which promoted its ability to toluene activation.

Near-Theoretical Thermal Conductivity Silver Nanoflakes as Reinforcements in Gap-Filling Adhesives.

The rapid development of highly integrated microelectronic devices causes urgent demands for advanced thermally conductive adhesives (TCAs) to solve the interfacial heat transfer issue. Due to their natural two-dimensional structure and isotropic thermal conductivity, metal nanoflakes are promising fillers blended with polymer to develop high-performance TCAs. However, achieving corresponding TCAs with thermal conductivity over 10 W m-1 K-1 at filler content below 30 vol% remains challenging so far. This longstanding bottleneck is mainly attributed to the fact that most current metal nanoflakes are prepared by "bottom-up" processes (e. g., solution-based chemical synthesis) and inevitably contain lattice defects or impurities, resulting in lower intrinsic thermal conductivities, only 20 - 65% of the theoretical value. Here, a "top-down" strategy by splitting highly purified Ag foil with nanoscale thickness was adopted to prepare two-dimensional Ag nanoflakes with an intrinsic thermal conductivity of 398.2 W m-1 K-1 , reaching 93% of the theoretical value. After directly blending with epoxy, the resultant Ag/epoxy exhibited a thermal conductivity of 15.1 W m-1 K-1 at low filler content of 18.6 vol%. Additionally, in practical microelectronic cooling performance evaluations, the interfacial heat-transfer efficiency of our Ag/epoxy achieved ≈ 1.4 times that of the state-of-the-art commercial TCA. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Clinical practice guidelines on physical activity and exercise for pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus: A systematic review.

AIM: This review aimed to appraise clinical guidelines about exercise for women with gestational diabetes mellitus and summarize consensus and inconsistent recommendations. BACKGROUND: Exercise is an effective non-pharmacological therapeutic for gestational diabetes mellitus, but the variety of relevant clinical practice guidelines is confusing for healthcare professionals. DESIGN: This is a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines. DATA SOURCES: Websites of guideline development institutions, eight literature databases and organizations of obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, and medical sports associations were searched for guidelines published from January 2011 to October 2021. REVIEW METHODS: Two reviewers independently extracted recommendations. Four reviewers assessed guideline quality using the AGREE II instrument independently. RESULTS: Fifteen guidelines were included. All women with diabetes are recommended to exercise during pregnancy. The consistent recommendations were for pre-exercise screening, for 30 min per exercise session on 5 days of the week or every day after meals, exercise at moderate intensity, using aerobic and resistance exercise, and walking. The main non-consistent recommendations included warning signs for women on insulin during exercise, minimum duration per session, intensity assessment, duration and frequency of sessions for strengthening and flexibility exercise and detailed physical activity giving birth. CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines strongly support pregnant women with diabetes to exercise regularly. Research is needed to make non-consistent recommendations clear.

Monocyte to high-density lipoprotein ratio predicts clinical outcomes after acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack.

AIMS: The monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (MHR) has emerged as a novel inflammatory biomarker of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, it has not yet been identified whether MHR can predict the long-term prognosis of ischemic stroke. We aimed to investigate the associations of MHR levels with clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) at 3 months and 1 year. METHODS: We derived data from the Third China National Stroke Registry (CNSR-III). Enrolled patients were divided into four groups by quartiles of MHR. Multivariable Cox regression for all-cause death and stroke recurrence and logistic regression for the poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 3-6) were used. RESULTS: Among 13,865 enrolled patients, the median MHR was 0.39 (interquartile range, 0.27-0.53). After adjustment for conventional confounding factors, the MHR level in quartile 4 was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-1.90), and poor functional outcome (odd ratio [OR], 1.47; 95% CI, 1.22-1.76), but not with stroke recurrence (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.85-1.21) at 1 year follow-up, compared with MHR level in quartile 1. Similar results were observed for outcomes at 3 months. The addition of MHR to a basic model including conventional factors improved predictive ability for all-cause death and poor functional outcome validated by the C-statistic and net reclassification index (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated MHR can independently predict all-cause death and poor functional outcome in patients with ischemic stroke or TIA.

Geographic Differentiation of Essential Oil from Rhizome of Cultivated Atractylodes lancea by Using GC-MS and Chemical Pattern Recognition Analysis.

The rhizome of Atractylodes lancea (RAL) is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) that has been applied in clinical settings for thousands of years. In the past two decades, cultivated RAL has gradually replaced wild RAL and become mainstream in clinical practice. The quality of CHM is significantly influenced by its geographical origin. To date, limited studies have compared the composition of cultivated RAL from different geographical origins. As essential oil is the primary active component of RAL, a strategy combining gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and chemical pattern recognition was first applied to compare the essential oil of RAL (RALO) from different regions in China. Total ion chromatography (TIC) revealed that RALO from different origins had a similar composition; however, the relative content of the main compounds varied significantly. In addition, 26 samples obtained from various regions were divided into three categories by hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). Combined with the geographical location and chemical composition analysis, the producing regions of RAL were classified into three areas. The main compounds of RALO vary depending on the production areas. Furthermore, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were significant differences in six compounds, including modephene, caryophyllene, γ-elemene, atractylon, hinesol, and atractylodin, between the three areas. Hinesol, atractylon, and ß-eudesmol were selected as the potential markers for distinguishing different areas by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). In conclusion, by combining GC-MS with chemical pattern recognition analysis, this research has identified the chemical variations across various producing areas and developed an effective method for geographic origin tracking of cultivated RAL based on essential oils.