Cerium-Luteolin Nanocomplexes in Managing Inflammation-Related Diseases by Antioxidant and Immunoregulation.

Oxidative stress, characterized by an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the antioxidant defense system, plays a pivotal role in inflammation-related diseases. Excessive ROS levels can induce cellular damage and impair normal physiological functions, triggering the release of inflammatory mediators and exacerbating the inflammatory response, ultimately leading to irreversible tissue damage. In this study, we synthesized cerium ion-luteolin nanocomplexes (CeLutNCs) by coordinating Ce ions with the natural product luteolin, aiming to develop a therapeutic agent with excellent antioxidant and immunoregulation properties for ROS-related inflammation treatment. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the prepared CeLutNCs effectively scavenged excess ROS, prevented cell apoptosis, down-regulated levels of important inflammatory cytokines, regulated the response of inflammatory macrophages, and suppressed the activation of the nuclear factor-κ-gene binding (NF-κB) pathway. In an acute kidney injury (AKI) animal model, CeLutNCs exhibited significant efficacy in improving kidney function, repairing damaged renal tissue, and reducing oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and cellular apoptosis. Moreover, the therapeutic potential of CeLutNCs in an acute lung injury (ALI) model was confirmed through the assessment of inflammatory responses and histopathological studies. This study emphasizes the effectiveness of these metal-natural product coordination nanocomplexes as a promising therapeutic approach for preventing AKI and other diseases associated with oxidative stress.

Effects of perspective taking on attention bias to body-related information among junior high school students with body image disturbance.

Using lexical judgment tasks, the present study explored whether perspective taking affected attention bias to body-related information among junior high school students with body image disturbance. Experiment 1 examined the junior high school students' attention bias to body schema-related words; the results showed the body image disturbance group responded significantly more quickly to negative body schema-related words than positive words, whereas the control group did not show a significant difference between positive and negative words. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to judge whether the positive or negative body schema-related words were suitable to describe themselves, when adopting their own perspective or that of another person. The results showed that reaction times to negative words were significantly shorter than to positive words when adopting a self-perspective. When taking another's perspective, there was no significant difference of reaction time between positive and negative words. This result demonstrated that perspective taking reduced attention bias to negative body schema-related information among junior high school students with body image disturbance. The present research suggests that guiding adolescents to view themselves from different perspectives can help them form a more accurate and objective body image.

Shape-Regulated Photothermal-Catalytic Tumor Therapy Using Polydopamine@Pt Nanozymes with the Elicitation of an Immune Response.

Recently, nanozyme-based photothermal-catalytic therapy has emerged as a promising strategy for antitumor treatment. Extensive research has focused on optimizing the catalytic activity and photothermal conversion performance of nanozymes through size, morphology, and surface property regulations. However, the biological effects of nanozymes, such as cellular uptake and cytotoxicity, resulting from their physicochemical properties, remain largely unexplored. In this study, two types of polydopamine/platinum (PDA@Pt) nanozymes, flower-like (FPDA@Pt) and mesoporous spherical-like (MPDA@Pt), to comprehensively compare their enzyme-mimicking activity, photothermal conversion capacity, and antitumor efficiency are designed. These findings revealed that FPDA@Pt exhibited superior peroxidase-like activity and higher photothermal conversion efficiency compared to MPDA@Pt. This led to enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased heat generation at tumor sites. Importantly, it is observed thatthe flower-like structure of FPDA@Pt facilitated enhanced cellular uptake, leading to an increased accumulation of nanozymes within tumor cells. Furthermore, the light irradiation on tumors also triggered a series of anti-tumor immune responses, further enhancing the therapeutic efficacy. This work provides a possible design orientation for nanozyme-based photothermal-catalytic tumor therapy, highlighting the importance of considering the physicochemical properties of nanozymes to optimize their therapeutic potential in antitumor strategies.

Identification of ID1 and miR-150 interaction and effects on proliferation and apoptosis in ovine granulosa cells.

Granulosa cells (GCs) proliferation and apoptosis play a significantly role in follicular development and atresia. ID1 and miR-150 are involved in cell apoptosis and follicular atresia, but the interaction and function of ID1 and miR-150 in GCs are unclear. This study focuses on ID1 and miR-150 in terms of the interaction and effects on proliferation and apoptosis in ovine granulosa cells. Our findings revealed that ID1 decreased the promoter activity and expression level of oar-miR-150. However, the expression of ID1 was downregulated by miR-150, and ID1 was identified as a target gene of oar-miR-150. miR-150 mimic inhibited proliferation and upregulated apoptosis rate in ovine GCs, while the results of miR-150 inhibitor were opposite. Overexpression of ID1 significantly inhibited ovine GCs proliferation and cell cycle-related genes (CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CCND2, CDC20, and PCNA) expression, whereas knockdown of ID1 promoted cell proliferation and those genes expression. Overexpression of ID1 significantly downregulated mitochondrial membrane potential and Bcl-2 expression in ovine GCs, and upregulated the expression of pro-apoptosis genes Bax, Caspase-3, and Caspase-9, whereas the results of ID1 knockdown were reversed. Collectively, these findings indicate the interaction and the vital role of ID1 and miR-150 on proliferation and apoptosis in ovine granulosa cells, which may suggest a novel target for ovine follicular development and atresia.

Chronic disease diagnosis model based on convolutional neural network and ensemble learning method.

Introduction: Chronic diseases have become one of the main causes of premature death all around the world in recent years. The diagnosis of chronic diseases is time-consuming and costly. Therefore, timely diagnosis and prediction of chronic diseases are very necessary. Methods: In this paper, a new method for chronic disease diagnosis is proposed by combining convolutional neural network (CNN) and ensemble learning. This method utilizes random forest (RF) as the base classifier to improve classification performance and diagnostic accuracy, and then combines AdaBoost to successfully replace the Softmax layer of CNN to generate multiple accurate base classifiers while determining their optimal attributes, achieving high-quality classification and prediction of chronic diseases. Results: To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, real-world Electronic Medical Records dataset (C-EMRs) was used for experimental analysis. The results show that compared with other traditional machine learning methods such as CNN, K-Nearest Neighbor, and RF, the proposed method can effectively improve the accuracy of diagnosis and reduce the occurrence of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. Conclusions: This study will provide effective information for the diagnosis of chronic diseases, assist doctors in making clinical decisions, develop targeted intervention measures, and reduce the probability of misdiagnosis.

Biomineralized Polydopamine Nanoparticle-Based Sodium Alginate Hydrogels for Delivery of Anti-serine/Threonine Protein Kinase B-Rapidly Accelerated Fibrosarcoma siRNA for Metastatic Melanoma Therapy.

Malignant melanoma, as a highly aggressive skin cancer, is strongly associated with mutations in serine/threonine protein kinase B-RAF (BRAF, where RAF stands for rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma). Targeted therapy with anti-BRAF small interfering RNA (siBRAF) represents a crucial aspect of metastatic melanoma treatment. In this study, an injectable hydrogel platform based on sodium alginate (SA), with multifunctions of photothermal and Ca2+-overload cell apoptosis, was explored as a siBRAF carrier for metastatic melanoma therapy. We employed polydopamine nanoparticles (PDAs) as a photothermal core and constructed a calcium phosphate (CaP) shell via biomineralization (PDA@CaP) to load siBRAF (PDA@siBRAF/CaP). The pH-sensitive CaP shell facilitated the release of Ca2+ under the weakly acidic tumor microenvironment, triggering the gelation of PDA@siBRAF/CaP-SA to localized release siBRAF at tumor sites with the interruption of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK (MAPK) pathway. Besides, the continuous release of Ca2+ could also lead to Ca2+-overload cell apoptosis. Moreover, the photothermal effect of PDA regulated the release kinetics, resulting in coordinated therapeutic abilities of individual components in the PDA@siBRAF/CaP-SA hydrogels. Consequently, the effective inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis was achieved in vitro and in vivo using a highly metastatic melanoma cell line B16F10 as the model, by combining photothermal ablation, Ca2+ overload, and BRAF silencing. Our work provides a proof-of-concept for an injectable hydrogel system that simultaneously targets multiple mechanisms involved in melanoma progression and has the potential to be translated into clinical use for the metastatic melanoma therapy.

miR-200b/MYBL2/CDK1 suppresses proliferation and induces senescence through cell cycle arrest in ovine granulosa cells.

Normal growth of granulosa cells (GCs) is essential for follicular development. miR-200b plays a vital role in litter size, estrous cycle, ovulation, and follicular development in sheep. However, it is unclear that the specific effect and regulatory mechanism of miR-200b on ovine GCs. miR-200b mimic inhibited GCs proliferation and induced cellular senescence through downregulating mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), concentration of ATP and mitochondrial respiratory chain complex Ⅰ, and upregulating SA-ß-gal positive rate and ROS production. A total of 597 differentially expressed genes were identified by RNA-Seq in GCs transfected with miR-200b mimic and mimic NC, and they were involved in cell cycle and cellular senescence. miR-200b directly targeted and downregulated MYBL2 and CDK1. Overexpression of MYBL2 promoted GCs proliferation and genes expression (CDK1, CDC20, MAD2L1 and FOXM1), which were suppressed by miR-200b mimic. Furthermore, MYBL2 negatively regulated miR-200b-induced GC senescence. In conclusion, miR-200b/MYBL2/CDK1 regulated proliferation and senescence through cell cycle pathway in ovine granulosa cells. Our study provides a novel insight that miR-200b regulates ovine follicular development.

Synthesis of Ti3C2T x /MnO2 composites for synergistic catalytic/photothermal-based bacterial inhibition.

Human inflammation caused by bacterial infection threatens global public health. The abuse of antibiotics often leads to the development of drug resistance in bacteria. To address this issue, nanozymes with peroxidase-like (POD-like) activity have often been reported for bacteriostasis with the assistance of catalytic substrate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). However, it is difficult to achieve efficient bactericidal outcomes only through exertion of the POD-like activity of nanozymes. Here, MnO2 loaded Ti3C2T x (Ti3C2T x /MnO2) was prepared by a two-step reaction method, in which MnO2 showed high oxidase-like (OXD-like) activity to elevate the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) without H2O2 and Ti3C2T x exhibited high photothermal conversion efficiency to induce hyperthermia. Thus, the obtained Ti3C2T x /MnO2 realized synergistic catalytic/photothermal-based bacterial inhibition, including for Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Importantly, Ti3C2T x /MnO2 with near-infrared light irradiation successfully promoted Staphylococcus aureus-infected wound healing in mouse models, representing an alternative treatment to fight against bacterial infection.

CaCO3-assistant synthesis of pH/near-infrared light-responsive and injectable sodium alginate hydrogels for melanoma synergistic treatment.

Melanoma is an aggressive tumor located in skin with high rates of recurrence and metastasis. Due to the limited traditional therapies, the development of novel strategies against melanoma is urgently quested. To reduce the side effects of traditional administration ways and amplify the killing effect, an injectable sodium alginate (SA)-based hydrogels were developed, in which CaCO3/polydopamine nanoparticles (CaCO3/PDA NPs) were embedded for the synergistic photothermal/calcium ions interference therapy of melanoma. In the study, the formation conditions and mechanical properties of CaCO3/PDA-SA hydrogels were characterized, and their antitumor efficiency and mechanism against mouse melanoma cells were investigated. Wheninjectedintratumorally, CaCO3/PDA-SA fluid was converted into hydrogel in situ through the interaction of pH-sensitive released Ca2+ and alginate chains, which increased the retention time of photothermal agents (CaCO3/PDA NPs) at tumor sites and thereby was more conducive to produce hyperthermia via photothermal conversion to combat melanoma. Moreover, in acidic tumor microenvironment, the residual CaCO3/PDA NPs in hydrogels continuously decomposed and released Ca2+ to destroy the Ca2+ buffering capacity and evoke the mitochondrial Ca2+-overloading, resulting in the inhibition of adenosine triphosphate production to accelerate cell death. Notably, besides the heat elevation, the near-infrared light (NIR) irradiation would further enhance the release of Ca2+ to promote the Ca2+-involved cell death. Therefore, a pH/NIR-responsive and injectable SA-based hydrogels were successfully established and showed enhanced treatment efficacy of melanoma through the synergism of photothermal therapy and calcium ions interference therapy.

Improved stability of ß-carotene by encapsulation in SHMP-corn starch aerogels.

This study aimed to prepare a starch-based aerogel with microporous network structure, and to investigate its physicochemical properties after ß-carotene encapsulation. Corn starch aerogels (CSA) prepared with sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) as a cross-linking agent and ß-carotene encapsulation were evaluated in terms of morphology, long- and short-range molecular order, bioavailability, and stability. After encapsulating ß-carotene, the morphology of SHMP-CSA showed that the aerogels presented agglomeration, and the relative crystallinity increased from 17.2% to 22.2%. The characteristic bands of ß-carotene were not found in the FT-IR pattern, and the short-range molecular order of aerogel was decreased, proving that ß-carotene was well embedded in the aerogel. During the simulated in vitro release process, ß-carotene was almost completely released. After ultraviolet or light irradiation, the retention rate of ß-carotene was much higher than that in the control group. These results demonstrated that SHMP-CSA encapsulation could effectively improve the stability of ß-carotene.

Translation and validation of 17-item Wound-QoL questionnaire in a Chinese population.

We aimed to translate the 17-item questionnaire to measure the quality of life of patients with chronic wounds (Wound-QoL-17) and verify its reliability and validity in the Chinese population. The standard Chinese version of the Wound-QoL-17 was determined through translation, back translation, and cultural adaptation. A total of 121 patients with chronic wounds from the wound center of a tertiary hospital in Beijing were recruited. Through a questionnaire and physical examination, we tested the criterion-related validity, known group validity, structural validity, internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's alpha), and test-retest correlation. A new structure of four factors was extracted by exploratory factor analysis, and the cumulative contribution rate was 72.23%. The total score and that of the four factors, which were significantly correlated with the EuroQol Five Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D) and the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) (P < 0.05), also showed statistically significant differences between patients with different pain grades, with or without wound odour, and between different groups of patients reporting wound changes in the past 2 weeks. Cronbach's alpha was between 0.779 and 0.906, while the test-retest reliability was between 0.532 and 0.802. We concluded that the Chinese Wound-QoL-17 has good reliability and validity and is suitable for evaluating the quality of life of patients with chronic wounds.

Highly Reversible Zinc Anode Enabled by a Cation-Exchange Coating with Zn-Ion Selective Channels.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted extensive attention due to their low cost and high safety. However, the critical issues of dendrite growth and side reactions on the Zn metal anode hinder the commercialization of ZIBs. Herein, we demonstrated that the formation of Zn4SO4(OH)6·5H2O byproducts is closely relevant to the direct contact between the Zn electrode and SO42-/H2O. On the basis of this finding, we developed a cation-exchange membrane of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) coated on the Zn surface to regulate the Zn plating/stripping behavior. Importantly, the PFSA film with abundant sulfonic acid groups could simultaneously block the access of SO42- and H2O, accelerate the Zn2+ ion transport kinetics, and uniformize the electrical and Zn2+ ion concentration field on the Zn surface, thus achieving a highly reversible Zn plating/stripping process with corrosion-free and dendrite-free behavior. Consequently, the PFSA-modified Zn anode exhibits high reversibility with 99.5% Coulombic efficiency and excellent plating/stripping stability (over 1500 h), subsequently enabling a highly rechargeable Zn-MnO2 full cell. The strategy of the cation-exchange membrane proposed in this work provides a simple but efficient method for suppression of side reactions.

Routine replacement versus replacement as clinical indicated of peripheral intravenous catheters: A multisite randomised controlled trial.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the safety of replacing peripheral intravenous catheter as clinically indicated versus routine replacement on patient outcomes in the Chinese context. BACKGROUND: Some evidence from developed countries recommend replacing peripheral intravenous catheter as clinically indicated; however, there is limited evidence from developing countries. DESIGN: A multisite randomised controlled trial. METHODS: The 3050 participants from three hospitals in China were randomly assigned to clinically indicated or routine replacement groups. Patients in the clinically indicated group had the catheters kept in situ until any of the following clinical signs appeared: phlebitis, infiltration, occlusion, displacement, local infection and diagnosed catheter-related bloodstream infection. Patients in the routine replacement group had their peripheral intravenous catheters replaced every 96 hours. The outcomes of phlebitis, infiltration, occlusion, displacement; catheter-related bloodstream infection, all-cause bloodstream infection, and local infection were compared. CONSORT checklist was used to guide the reporting of this RCT. RESULTS: The risk of phlebitis, phlebitis per 1000 catheter days, occlusion, dislodgement, all bloodstream infections, local infection and mortality between the two groups were not significantly different. The risk of infiltration was increased in the clinically indicated group (HR 1.29). There was no catheter-related bloodstream infection reported in either group. Patients' first peripheral intravenous catheter dwelling time and cumulative indwelling time of all peripheral intravenous catheters in the clinically indicated group were significantly longer than the routine replacement group. There was no statistical significant difference in survival times from phlebitis between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In the Chinese context, removing peripheral catheters as clinical indicated did not increase the risk of phlebitis, occlusion, catheter displacement and catheter infection; however, there was an increased infiltration incidence. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: In developing countries, removing peripheral catheters as clinical indicated is feasible, but more frequent observations of infiltration are highly recommended.

m6A Methyltransferase METTL14-Mediated Upregulation of Cytidine Deaminase Promoting Gemcitabine Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal human malignancies. Gemcitabine is widely used to treat pancreatic cancer, and the resistance to chemotherapy is the major difficulty in treating the disease. N 6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification, which regulates RNA splicing, stability, translocation, and translation, plays critical roles in cancer physiological and pathological processes. METTL14, an m6A Lmethyltransferase, was found deregulated in multiple cancer types. However, its role in gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer remains elusive. METHODS: The mRNA and protein level of m6A modification associated genes were assessed by QRT-PCR and western blotting. Then, gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells were established. The growth of pancreatic cancer cells were analyzed using CCK8 assay and colony formation assay. METTL14 was depleted by using shRNA. The binding of p65 on METTL14 promoter was assessed by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Protein level of deoxycytidine kinase (DCK) and cytidine deaminase (CDA) was evaluated by western blotting. In vivo experiments were conducted to further confirm the critical role of METTL14 in gemcitabine resistance. RESULTS: We found that gemcitabine treatment significantly increased the expression of m6A methyltransferase METTL14, and METTL14 was up-regulated in gemcitabine-resistance human pancreatic cancer cells. Suppression of METTL14 obviously increased the sensitivity of gemcitabine in resistant cells. Moreover, we identified that transcriptional factor p65 targeted the promoter region of METTL14 and up-regulated its expression, which then increased the expression of cytidine deaminase (CDA), an enzyme inactivates gemcitabine. Furthermore, in vivo experiment showed that depletion of METTL14 rescue the response of resistance cell to gemcitabine in a xenograft model. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that METTL14 is a potential target for chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer.

Evidence for self-positivity bias in a subliminal self-cue: An event-related potential study.

Previous studies studies indicate that individuals tend to integrate positive information into their self-concept. However, whether such self-positivity bias would still be observed without an explicit self-related cue is unknown. In the present study, 29 participants were asked to evaluate a series of positive and negative trait adjectives, after the participants were presented with their own name or another name subliminally. During the task, their electroencephalograms were recorded. The results showed participants responded faster to positive traits than to negative traits in the self-name cue conditions. In addition, both the latencies and the amplitudes of the N400 showed significant interaction between name-cue and valence in N400 (240-440 ms) amplitudes. The earlier N400 latencies and smaller N400 amplitudes were associated with positive traits in the self-name cue. These results suggested that the self-positivity bias can also be observed in a subliminally presenting self-cue, indicating the robustness of self-positivity bias.

VisCode: Embedding Information in Visualization Images using Encoder-Decoder Network.

We present an approach called VisCode for embedding information into visualization images. This technology can implicitly embed data information specified by the user into a visualization while ensuring that the encoded visualization image is not distorted. The VisCode framework is based on a deep neural network. We propose to use visualization images and QR codes data as training data and design a robust deep encoder-decoder network. The designed model considers the salient features of visualization images to reduce the explicit visual loss caused by encoding. To further support large-scale encoding and decoding, we consider the characteristics of information visualization and propose a saliency-based QR code layout algorithm. We present a variety of practical applications of VisCode in the context of information visualization and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the perceptual quality of encoding, decoding success rate, anti-attack capability, time performance, etc. The evaluation results demonstrate the effectiveness of VisCode.

Genetics and epigenetics of melanoma.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.5093.].

Recent perspectives of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.5107.].

Hospital information technology in home care (Review).

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.3892/etm.2016.3664.].