Natural Course of Common Bile Duct Microlithiasis.

BACKGROUND: Common bile duct microlithiasis (CBDM) with a diameter of ≤ 3 mm can pass spontaneously without causing any symptoms, but in some cases, it can also cause severe cholangitis and pancreatitis. The optimal strategy for managing CBDM is yet to be determined. METHODS: Data of 154 patients with CBDM were collected and divided into two groups: with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (with ERCP, n = 82) and without ERCP (n = 72). Clinical outcomes, including the incidence of unfavorable outcomes (UOs), such as cholangitis and pancreatitis, were observed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The incidence of UOs was significantly lower in the ERCP group than in the without ERCP group (3.7% vs. 23.6%, respectively, p < 0.001). Moreover, the total number of readmissions was also lower in the ERCP group than in the without ERCP group (p < 0.001). A multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class revealed that endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) and cholecystectomy were associated with a lower risk of UOs. CONCLUSION: The high rate of UOs in CBDM patients without ERCP suggests that its natural clinical course may not be as favorable as previously suggested. This finding implies that efforts should be made to clear the bile ducts.

Modifying a D-A-π-A-D HTM system for higher hole mobility by the meta-substitution strategy to weaken the electron-donating ability of the donor unit: a DFT study.

Tuning the electron-donating ability (EDA) of the donor units of hole transporting materials (HTMs) is an efficient strategy to modulate the optoelectronic properties of HTMs. Based on this strategy, we first theoretically investigated the effects of the EDA of donor units on D-A-π-A-D architectural HTMs. The results show that the enhanced EDA of the donor unit leads to larger hole reorganization energy and poorer molecular stability of HTMs. In contrast, meta-substitution of side groups is an effective strategy to reduce the EDA of the donor unit. We found that the application of the meta-substitution strategy in the D-A-π-A-D system not only successfully improves the molecular stability, but also achieves higher hole mobility by promoting the electronic coupling between the molecular dimers and decreasing the hole reorganization energies simultaneously. Studies on interfacial properties indicate that intermolecular coupling also synergistically enhances the interfacial charge extraction performance and reduces carrier recombination. In conclusion, by utilizing the meta-substitution strategy to reduce the EDA of donor units on D-A-π-A-D architectural HTMs, we successfully designed four superior performance HTMs mD1, mD2, mD3, and mD4.

Ferromagnetic vanadium disulfide VS2 monolayers with high Curie temperature and high spin polarization.

The structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of vanadium disulfide VS2 monolayers were investigated using first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. The results of molecular dynamics simulations and phonon dispersion showed that the VS2 monolayer has good dynamic and thermodynamic stabilities. Based on the results of the band structure, we also explore the effect of carrier concentrations on the spin gap, spin polarization and the direction of the easy magnetic axis. Our results demonstrated that doping an appropriate amount of holes can cause the reversal of the easy magnetic axis and maintain nearly 100% spin polarization, which greatly improves the application possibility of the VS2 monolayer as a spintronic device. The contribution of different orbits to the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect is given in magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, which provides a theoretical basis for explaining the origin of magnetic crystal anisotropy. Based on the MC simulations, we also showed the influences of different parameters (carrier concentrations, magnetic field and crystal field) on the magnetothermal properties of the VS2 monolayer. It is found that the increase of hole doping concentrations can promote the increase of the Curie temperature, while the increase of electron doping concentrations will greatly weaken the Curie temperature. Furthermore, according to the influences of different parameters on the Curie temperature and spin polarization, we conclude that a suitably enhanced magnetic field and appropriate hole concentrations will not only make the system maintain high spin polarization, but also make the system exhibit ferromagnetic properties above room temperature.

Recent advances of bioactive proteins/polypeptides in the treatment of breast cancer.

Proteins do not only serve as nutrients to fulfill the demand for food, but also are used as a source of bioactive proteins/polypeptides for regulating physical functions and promoting physical health. Female breast cancer has the highest incidence in the world and is a serious threat to women's health. Bioactive proteins/polypeptides exert strong anti-tumor effects and exhibit inhibition of multiple breast cancer cells. This review discussed the suppressing effects of bioactive proteins/polypeptides on breast cancer in vitro and in vivo, and their mechanisms of migration and invasion inhibition, apoptosis induction, and cell cycle arrest. This may contribute to providing a basis for the development of bioactive proteins/polypeptides for the treatment of breast cancer.

Significant Differences in the Effects of Nitrogen Doping on Pristine Biochar and Graphene-like Biochar for the Adsorption of Tetracycline.

To improve the adsorption efficiency of pollutants by biochar, preparing graphene-like biochar (GBC) or nitrogen-doped biochar are two commonly used methods. However, the difference in the nitrogen doping (N-doping) effects upon the adsorption of pollutants by pristine biochar (PBC) and GBC, as well as the underlying mechanisms, are still unclear. Take the tetracycline (TC) as an example, the present study analyzed the characteristics of the adsorption of TCs on biochars (PBC, GBC, N-PBC, N-GBC), and significant differences in the effects of N-doping on the adsorption of TCs by PBC and GBC were consistently observed at different solution properties. Specifically, N-doping had varied effects on the adsorption performance of PBC, whereas it uniformly improved the adsorption performance of GBC. To interpret the phenomenon, the N-doping upon the adsorption was revealed by the QSAR model, which indicated that the pore filling (VM) and the interactions between TCs with biochars (Ead-v) were found to be the most important two factors. Furthermore, the density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrated that N-doping slightly affects biochar's chemical reactivity. The van der Waals (vdWs) and electrostatic interactions are the main forces for TCs-biochars interactions. Moreover, N-doping mostly strengthened the electrostatic interactions of TCs-biochars, but the vdWs interactions of most samples remained largely unaffected. Overall, the revealed mechanism of N-doping on TCs adsorption by biochars will enhance our knowledge of antibiotic pollution remediation.

A first-principles study on the electronic, piezoelectric, and optical properties and strain-dependent carrier mobility of Janus TiXY (X ≠ Y, X/Y = Cl, Br, I) monolayers.

Janus transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers (TMDs) have attracted wide attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties since the successful synthesis of the MoSSe monolayer. However, the related studies of Janus monolayers of transition metal halides (TMHs) with similar structures have rarely been reported. In this article, we systematically investigate the electronic properties, piezoelectric properties, optical properties, and carrier mobility of new Janus TiXY (X ≠ Y, X/Y = Cl, Br, I) monolayers using first principles calculations for the first time. These Janus TiXY monolayers are thermally, dynamically, and mechanically stable, and their energy bands near the Fermi level (EF) are almost entirely contributed by the central Ti atom. Besides, the Janus TiXY monolayers exhibit excellent in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric effects, especially with an in-plane piezoelectric coefficient of ∼4.58 pm V-1 for the TiBrI monolayer and an out-of-plane piezoelectric coefficient of ∼1.63 pm V-1 for the TiClI monolayer, suggesting their promising applications in piezoelectric sensors and energy storage applications. The absorption spectra of Janus TiXY monolayers are mainly distributed in the visible and infrared regions, implying that they are fantastic candidates for photoelectric and photovoltaic applications. The obtained carrier mobilities revealed that TiXY monolayers are hole-type semiconductors. Under uniaxial compressive strain, the hole mobilities of these monolayers are gradually improved, indicating that TiXY monolayers have potential applications in the field of flexible electronic devices.

Electronic and thermoelectric properties of semiconducting Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se monolayers with high optical absorption.

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and its derivatives are often focused on as thermoelectric materials around room temperature. In this work, we theoretically predicted two new types of Bi2Te3-based two-dimensional materials Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se using density functional theory (DFT) combined with Boltzmann transport theory. The thermal, dynamic, and mechanical stabilities of Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se monolayers are confirmed using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, phonon dispersion, and elastic constant calculations. The phonon transport properties, including lattice thermal conductivity, group velocity, Grüneisen parameter, converged scattering rate, and phonon lifetimes contributed by different branches, are systematically investigated. The electronic and thermoelectric properties, including carrier mobility (µ), Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical conductivity (σ), power factors, and figure of merit (zT) along the zigzag and armchair directions as a function of carrier concentration at different temperatures, are also investigated. It is found that the Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se monolayers have moderate indirect band gaps (0.92 eV and 1.08 eV at the PBE level, respectively) and low lattice thermal conductivities (4.35 and 5.37 W m-1 K-1 at 300 K, respectively). The largest zT values of Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se monolayers are 0.50 and 0.28 at 300 K and 1.39 and 0.93 at 700 K for p-doping types, respectively. The Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se monolayers are predicted to show high optical absorption peaks at 8 × 105 cm-1 in the visible and near-UV light region, respectively. Our results indicate that both Bi2SSe2 and Bi2S2Se could be promising candidates in energy conversion, solar cells, and optoelectronic devices.

Survival after laparoscopy versus laparotomy for apparent early-stage uterine clear cell carcinoma: Results of a large multicenter cohort study.

Objective: To compare the long-term survival between laparoscopic surgery and open surgery in patients with apparent early-stage uterine clear cell carcinoma (UCCC). Patients and methods: 254 patients with apparent early-stage UCCC were reviewed. Comparisons were made between patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery versus those who underwent open surgery. Baseline data, clinicopathological data, and oncological outcomes were analyzed. 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate were estimated and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was employed to control the confounding factors. Results: 147 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery, and 107 patients were managed by open surgery. No differences in terms of recurrence rate (laparoscopy versus laparotomy: 10.9% versus 12.9%, P=0.842) and recurrence pattern were observed. For patients who underwent open surgery and patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery, the 5-year DFS rates and 5-year OS rate were 75.8% (95% CI: 65.8%-83.2%) and 69.1% (95% CI: 58.8%-77.4%), 66.0% (95% CI: 57.1%-73.5%) and 60.8% (95% CI: 52.0%-68.5%), respectively. The Cox proportional hazards regression model shown that for apparent early-stage UCCC, the approach of surgical staging was not an independent predictor for survival (laparoscopy versus laparotomy: for DFS, aHR=1.06, 95% CI=0.64-1.75, P=0.826; for OS, aHR=1.10, 95% CI=0.72-1.68, P=0.671). Conclusion: For apparent early-stage UCCC, in terms of oncological survival, laparoscopic surgery was as safe as open surgery.

Hydrogen Peroxide Activated by Biochar-Supported Sulfidated Nano Zerovalent Iron for Removal of Sulfamethazine: Response Surface Method Approach.

Biochar (BC)-supported sulfide-modified nanoscale zerovalent iron (S-nZVI/BC) was prepared using the liquid-phase reduction method for the application of the removal of sulfamethazine (SMZ) from water. The reaction conditions were optimized by the Box−Behnken response surface method (RSM). A model was constructed based on the influence factors of the removal rate, i.e., the carbon-to-iron ratio (C/Fe), iron-sulfur ratio (Fe/S), pH, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration, and the influence of each factor on the removal efficiency was investigated. The optimal removal process parameters were determined based on theoretical and experimental results. The results showed that the removal efficiency was significantly affected by the C/Fe ratio and pH (p < 0.0001) but relatively weakly affected by the Fe/S ratio (p = 0.0973) and H2O2 concentration (p = 0.022). The optimal removal process parameters were as follows: 0.1 mol/L H2O2, a pH of 3.18, a C/Fe ratio of 0.411, and a Fe/S ratio of 59.75. The removal rate of SMZ by S-nZVI/BC was 100% under these conditions. Therefore, it is feasible to use the Box−Behnken RSM to optimize the removal of emerging pollutants in water bodies by S-nZVI/BC.

Oncological Safety of Diagnostic Hysteroscopy for Apparent Early-Stage Type II Endometrial Cancer: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To study the oncological safety of diagnostic hysteroscopy for women with apparent early-stage type II endometrial cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 429 women with presumed early-stage type II endometrial cancer were included. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test among patients diagnosed by Dilation & Curettage (D&C) or diagnostic hysteroscopy. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was employed to adjust for potential confounding factors. Results: 160 cases underwent D&C and 269 cases were diagnosed by diagnostic hysteroscopy. The 5-year DFS rate was 72.17% in the diagnostic hysteroscopy group and 76.16% in the D&C group, diagnostic hysteroscopy was not associated with deteriorated 5-year DFS rate (HR 1.25, 95% CI 0.84-1.86, P=0.281). The 5-year OS rate was 67.23% in the diagnostic hysteroscopy group and 70.71% in the D&C group, diagnostic hysteroscopy did not increase the risk of all-cause death (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.78-1.57, P=0.573). Multivariable analysis showed that the method of endometrial sampling was not independently associated with DFS (aHR 1.38, 95% CI 0.92-2.07, P=0.122) and OS (aHR 1.23, 95% CI 0.85-1.77, P=0.272). Conclusion: For apparent early-stage type II endometrial cancer, endometrial sampling by diagnostic hysteroscopy was as safe as D&C.

Does completion of radical hysterectomy improve oncological outcomes of women with clinical early-stage cervical cancer and intraoperative detection of nodal involvement?: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The management of women with clinical early-stage cervical cancer and lymph node involvement detected intraoperatively is heterogeneous and controversial. This paper presents the protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis regarding the management of this specific population of patients. This proposed study aims to answer the question: does completion of radical hysterectomy improve the oncological outcomes of women with clinical early-stage cervical cancer and intraoperatively detected nodal involvement? METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol is drafted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols guidelines, and the proposed study will be conducted in accordance with the standard guidelines of 'Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses' and 'Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology reporting guideline'. Comprehensive literature searches will be performed in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science. The screening of the eligible studies, the extraction of data of interest, and the quality assessment of the included studies will all be independently performed by different members of our team. The primary outcome of this proposed study will be comparing the risk of recurrence or death from cervical cancer and the risk of all-cause death in patients with two different treatments (completion of radical hysterectomy or abandonment of radical hysterectomy); the secondary outcome of this proposed study will be comparing the risk of the grade 3/4 toxicities associated with the two types of management. Given the clinical heterogeneity among the included studies, data on outcomes will be pooled by random-effects models. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using the I2 statistic. The risk of bias for the included studies will be evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale or the Cochrane collaboration's tool. The grade of evidence will be evaluated by two independent members of our team using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations approach. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required because there will no primary data collected. The findings of this proposed study will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021273527.

An Efficient Dopant for Introducing Magnetism into Topological Insulator Bi2Se3.

In this work, we obtained an effective way to introduce magnetism into topological insulators, and successfully fabricated single crystal C-Bi2Se3. The structural, electrical and magnetic properties of non-magnetic element X (B, C and N) doped at Bi, Se1, Se2 and VDW gap sites of Bi2Se3 were studied by the first principles. It is shown that the impurity bands formed inside the bulk inverted energy gap near the Fermi level with C doping Bi2Se3. Due to spin-polarized ferromagnetic coupling, the time inversion symmetry of Bi2Se3 is destroyed. Remarkably, C is the most effective dopant because of the magnetic moment produced by doping at all positions. The experiment confirmed that the remnant ferromagnetism Mr is related to the C concentration. Theoretical calculations and experiments confirmed that carbon-doped Bi2Se3 is ferromagnetic, which provides a plan for manipulating topological properties and exploring spintronic applications.

VEGF-B targeting by aryl hydrocarbon receptor mediates the migration and invasion of choriocarcinoma stem-like cells.

Unlike other members of the VEGF family, the function of VEGF-B in tumor progression remains to be elucidated. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the function of VEGF-B in human choriocarcinoma cells by investigating its detailed effects and molecular mechanisms. VEGF-B and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) expression were evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis and western blot analysis in JEG-3 cells and choriocarcinoma stem-like cells (CSLCs) and their proliferation, migration, and invasion after the transfection of short hairpin RNA VEGF-B, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD; AhR agonist) treatment or StemRegenin 1 (SR1; AhR antagonist) treatment were examined by cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay and Transwell assay. In addition, luciferase reporter analysis and bioinformatics data mining were used to investigate the association between VEGF-B and AhR. Upregulation of VEGF-B and AhR expression was observed in CSLCs. Following VEGF-B knockdown or SR1 treatment, the proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of CSLCs were significantly decreased, contrary to the findings after TCDD treatment. It was also found that AhR enhanced VEGF-B transcriptional activity by binding to the relative promoter region. These observations indicated that VEGF-B may be an oncogene that promotes choriocarcinoma cell migration and invasion targeted by AhR. Therefore, targeting VEGF-B may provide a novel therapeutic opportunity for choriocarcinoma.

Oncological Safety of Laparoscopic Surgery for Women with Apparent Early-stage Uterine Clear Cell Carcinoma: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of different surgical approaches (laparoscopy and laparotomy) on the oncological outcomes of patients with apparent early-stage uterine clear cell carcinoma (UCCC). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Four Chinese teaching hospitals. PATIENTS: A total of 273 women with apparent early-stage UCCC. INTERVENTIONS: All included patients were surgically staged by laparoscopy or laparotomy. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The eligible patients were divided into the laparotomy group and the laparoscopy group. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the effect of surgical approach on DFS and OS. With a median follow-up of 31.0 months, the 3-year DFS rates were 68.82% and 64.27% in the laparotomy group and the laparoscopy group, respectively. The difference in DFS between the 2 groups was not statistically significant (HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.72-1.58; p = .758). In addition, the 3-year OS rate (72.76% vs 73.46%; HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.65-1.72; p = .823) was not different between the 2 groups. Furthermore, multivariable analysis showed that for patients with apparent early-stage UCCC, the approach of surgical staging was not an independent prognostic factor for OS (adjusted HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.78-2.12; p = .321) and DFS (adjusted HR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.73-1.68; p = .621). CONCLUSION: For clinical early-stage clear cell carcinoma of the uterus, staging by laparoscopy is oncologically safe. This needs to be justified by further prospective studies.

Incidence of omental metastasis in uterine serous carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies examining the incidence of omental metastasis in uterine serous carcinoma generally suffered from small sample size, retrospective observational design, and single-center setting. So far, there was no systematic review and meta-analysis available on this topic, we conducted this study to quantitatively synthesize the data relating to this topic. DESIGN: systematic review and meta-analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched up until August 15, 2020. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment. I2 was employed to assess the heterogeneity among the included studies. Effect sizes along with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to analyze outcomes of interest. Funnel plots and the Egger test were used to detect the risk of publication bias. OUTCOME MEASURES: incidence of omental metastasis in uterine serous carcinoma. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies involving 1012 women with uterine serous carcinoma were included in this study. All the included studies were at low risk of bias, and the heterogeneity among them was low. The pooled incidence of overall omental metastasis, occult omental metastasis, and gross omental metastasis in uterine serous carcinoma were 18% (95% CI, 0.15-0.20), 6% (95% CI, 0.04-0.08), and 10% (95% CI, 0.08-0.13), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Uterine serous carcinoma has a high tendency of omental metastasis. The main form of omentum involvement is gross metastasis. However, occult metastasis in the normal-looking omentum is also worthy of note.

Molecular mechanism of the TGF­ß/Smad7 signaling pathway in ulcerative colitis.

Aberrant TGF­ß/Smad7 signaling has been reported to be an important mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of a number of potential anti­colitis agents on intestinal epithelial permeability and the TGF­ß/Smad7 signaling pathway in an experimental model of colitis. A mouse model of colitis was first established before anti­TNF­α and 5­aminosalicyclic acid (5­ASA) were administered intraperitoneally and orally, respectively. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, histological index (HI) of the colon and the disease activity index (DAI) scores were then detected in each mouse. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), immunohistochemical and functional tests, including Evans blue (EB) and FITC­dextran (FD­4) staining, were used to evaluate intestinal mucosal permeability. The expression of epithelial phenotype markers E­cadherin, occludin, zona occludens (ZO­1), TGF­ß and Smad7 were measured. In addition, epithelial myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) expression and activity were measured. Anti­TNF­α and 5­ASA treatments was both found to effectively reduce the DAI score and HI, whilst decreasing colonic MPO activity, plasma levels of FD­4 and EB permeation of the intestine. Furthermore, anti­TNF­α and 5­ASA treatments decreased MLCK expression and activity, reduced the expression of Smad7 in the small intestine epithelium, but increased the expression of TGF­ß. In mice with colitis, TEM revealed partial epithelial injury in the ileum, where the number of intercellular tight junctions and the expression levels of E­cadherin, ZO­1 and occludin were decreased, all of which were alleviated by anti­TNF­α and 5­ASA treatment. In conclusion, anti­TNF­α and 5­ASA both exerted protective effects on intestinal epithelial permeability in an experimental mouse model of colitis. The underlying mechanism may be mediated at least in part by the increase in TGF­ß expression and/or the reduction in Smad7 expression, which can inhibit epithelial MLCK activity and in turn reduce mucosal permeability during the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.

Propranolol Suppresses Proliferation and Migration of HUVECs through Regulation of the miR-206/VEGFA Axis.

Propranolol has been used in the first-line therapy of infantile hemangioma (IH) for a number of years; however, the mechanisms through which propranolol regulates IH are not yet fully understood. In the present study, microRNA (miRNA/miR) sequencing analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) treated with propranolol. Cell viability and apoptosis were detected using CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Cell migration was assessed using wound healing, Transwell, and tube formation assays. Methylation-specific PCR was then used to investigate the promoter methylation status. The levels of oxidative stress indicators, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and malondialdehyde were also detected. Finally, cell cycle analysis was performed using flow cytometry and western blotting. It was observed that propranolol induced the upregulation of miR-206 in HUVECs, which was caused by demethylation of the miR-206 promoter. Moreover, propranolol significantly inhibited the proliferation of HUVECs by inducing apoptosis, while these phenomena were reversed by miR-206 antagomir. VEGFA was found to be a target gene of miR-206. In addition, propranolol notably inhibited the migration and induced G1 arrest of the HUVECs, whereas these results were eliminated by miR-206 antagomir. Collectively, the findings of the present study demonstrated that propranolol may inhibit the proliferation and migration in HUVECs via modulating the miR-206/VEGFA axis. These findings suggest a novel mechanism through which propranolol suppresses the progression of IH.

[Population structure and resource change of Larimichthys polyactis in spring in Zhoushan fishery spawning ground protection area, China]. / 舟山渔场产卵场保护区春季小黄鱼群体结构及资源动态.

We investigated population structure, resource density changes of Larimichthys polyactis and its relationship with environmental factors in spring, based on the survey data of bottom trawl in adjacent sea areas of Zhoushan fishery spawning ground protection area from 2014 to 2019. The results showed that the relationship between body length and body weight of Larimichthys polyactis was W=0.44×10-4×L2.78, and parameter b was less than 3, which indicated that L. polyactis had negative allometric growth in recent years. There was a negative correlation between fullness and body length, with body becoming slender. From 2014 to 2019, body length and weight of L. polyactis were the highest in 2014 and the lowest in 2019. Since 2014, population size of L. polyactis in Zhoushan fishery spawning ground protection area and adjacent sea area had gradually decreased, indicating that the miniaturization of L. polyactis had not altered in recent years. From the perspective of the annual change of resource density, resource density of L. polyactis was higher than that before the establishment of the reserve, indicating that the management and protection of the reserve area played a protective role in the recovery of L. polyactis resources. The fitting results of GAM model showed that water depth and bottom water temperature were the environmental factors closely related to the density distribution of L. polyactis resources. With increasing water depth, the resources showed a fluctuating upward trend and were the highest near the water depth of 60 m. In the range of 12-16 ℃ water temperature, the resources increased with the increases of bottom water temperature. When water temperature was above 16 ℃, resources decreased with the increases of bottom water temperature.