Implicit weight bias: shared neural substrates for overweight and angry facial expressions revealed by cross-adaptation.

The perception of facial expression plays a crucial role in social communication, and it is known to be influenced by various facial cues. Previous studies have reported both positive and negative biases toward overweight individuals. It is unclear whether facial cues, such as facial weight, bias facial expression perception. Combining psychophysics and event-related potential technology, the current study adopted a cross-adaptation paradigm to examine this issue. The psychophysical results of Experiments 1A and 1B revealed a bidirectional cross-adaptation effect between overweight and angry faces. Adapting to overweight faces decreased the likelihood of perceiving ambiguous emotional expressions as angry compared to adapting to normal-weight faces. Likewise, exposure to angry faces subsequently caused normal-weight faces to appear thinner. These findings were corroborated by bidirectional event-related potential results, showing that adaptation to overweight faces relative to normal-weight faces modulated the event-related potential responses of emotionally ambiguous facial expression (Experiment 2A); vice versa, adaptation to angry faces relative to neutral faces modulated the event-related potential responses of ambiguous faces in facial weight (Experiment 2B). Our study provides direct evidence associating overweight faces with facial expression, suggesting at least partly common neural substrates for the perception of overweight and angry faces.

Shenkang protects renal function in diabetic rats by preserving nephrin expression.

BACKGROUND: Shenkang injection has been used clinically to lower creatinine levels. This study explored the mechanism of Shenkang injection on protecting kidney function from hyperglycemia-mediated damage. METHODS: This study utilized a STreptoZotocin (STZ)-induced rat model of diabetes. In total, 60 rats were randomized into either the control group (n = 15) injected with vehicle or treatment group (n = 45) injected with STZ to induce hyperglycemia. Eight weeks after diabetes onset, diabetic rats were further randomized to receive different treatments for 4 consecutive weeks, including vehicle (diabetic nephropathy group, n = 15), Shenkang (n = 15), or Valsartan (n = 15). At 12 weeks, a series of urine and blood measures were examined and damage to the kidney tissue was examined using histology. Expression of nephrin and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) were characterized using immunohistochemistry and Western blot. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, rats in the diabetic nephropathy group showed significant kidney damage demonstrated by high kidneyindex, high levels of urinary albumin, albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR), blood urea nitrogen as well as histological evidence. Shenkang injection significantly improved kidney function in the diabetic rats by decreasing kidney index, ACR, and serum creatinine. Shenkang treatment also mitigated kidney damage, improved nephrin expression, and decreased TGF-ß1 expression in the kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: Shenkang treatment protected renal function in diabetic rats by increasing nephrin expression, which protects diabetic rats from hyperglycemia-mediated kidney damage.

Orthodontically induced external apical root resorption considerations of root-filled teeth vs vital pulp teeth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this systematic review was to research the difference between root-filled teeth (RFT) and vital pulp teeth (VPT) in orthodontically induced external apical root resorption (EARR) and to offer suggestions for clinicians on therapeutic sequence and timing when considering combined treatment of endodontic and orthodontic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic search of published studies was conducted before November 2022 in PubMed, Web of Science and other databases. Eligibility criteria were based on the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Study design (PICOS) framework. RevMan 5.3 software was used for statistical analysis. Single-factor meta-regression analysis was used to explore the sources of literature heterogeneity, and a random effects model was used for analysis. RESULTS: This meta-analysis comprised 8 studies with 10 sets of data. As there was significant heterogeneity among the studies, we employed a random effects model. The funnel plot of the random effects model exhibited a symmetrical distribution, indicating no publication bias among the included studies. The EARR rate of RFT was significantly lower than that of VPT. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of concurrent endodontic and orthodontic treatment, priority should be given to endodontic therapy, as it serves as the foundation for subsequent orthodontic procedures. The optimal timing for orthodontic tooth movement post-root canal therapy is contingent upon factors such as the extent of periapical lesion resolution and the degree of dental trauma sustained. A comprehensive clinical assessment is essential in guiding the selection of the most suitable approach for achieving optimal treatment outcomes.

Research on obstetric ward planning combining lean thinking and mixed-integer programming.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there are many studies on scheduling methods of patient flow, nurse scheduling, bed allocation, operating room scheduling and other problems, but there is no report on the research methods of how to plan ward allocation from a more macroscopic perspective. OBJECTIVE: Refine and stratify the obstetric ward to provide more accurate medical service for pregnant women and improve the work efficiency of obstetricians and midwives. The problem of how to allocate the number of each type of ward is modeled as a mixed integer programming problem, which maximizes the patient flow of pregnant women in obstetric hospitals. METHODS: The obstetric wards are divided into observation ward, cesarean section ward and natural delivery ward according to lean thinking. CPLEX is used to solve the mixed-integer programming problem of ward allocation. In R software, multivariate Generalized Linear Models (GLM) regression model is used to analyze the influence of each factor on patient flow. RESULTS: The maximum patient flow of each case was obtained by CPLEX, which was 19-25% higher than that of patients without refinement, stratification and planning. GLM regression analysis was carried out on the abovementioned data, and the positive and negative correlation factors were obtained. CONCLUSION: According to lean thinking, obstetric wards are divided into three types of wards. Obstetricians and midwives work more efficiently and get more rest time. Pregnant women also enjoy more detailed medical services. By modeling the delivery ward allocation problem as a mixed-integer programming problem, we can improve the capacity of the service in obstetric hospitals from a macro perspective. Through GLM regression model analysis, it is conducive to improve the obstetric hospital capacity from the perspective of positive and negative correlation factors.

Effects of propofol on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with type-2 diabetes mellitus.

The current study aimed to examine the effects of propofol on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) in rats with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to assess the role of inflammatory mediators. Fifty healthy male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the sham, ischemia-reperfusion (IR), IR plus low, middle and high-dose (6, 12 and 24 mg/kg/h, intravenous) propofol groups. The rats of all the groups were fed a high-sugar and high-fat diet for 8 weeks and streptozotocin (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) was used to establish the T2DM model. Apart from the sham group rats, MIRI was induced by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min, followed by reperfusion for 2 h. Heart rate (HR), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), and the rate of left ventricular pressure increase in early systole (± dp/dtmax) were recorded. Levels of cardiac troponin T (cTnT), nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1), interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were also measured. Myocardial lesions were observed under light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Compared with levels prior to arterial occlusion, HR, LVSP, and ± dp/dtmax were significantly reduced (P<0.05) following occlusion for 30 min and reperfusion for 2 h. The administration of propofol ameliorated the cardiac function of rats as reflected by the increase in HR, LVSP and ± dp/dtmax. In addition, the administration of propofol increased the serum NO concentration, and reduced ET-1 and cTnT levels, as well as levels of inflammatory mediators including IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α. Thus, propofol exerts protective effects against MIRI in T2DM rats by increasing NO and reducing ET-1 and the inflammatory mediators.

Pristimerin attenuates ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice.

Pristimerin has been shown to possess antiinflammatory activity. However, its potential use for asthma induced by airway inflammation has not yet been studied. First, we established a ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic asthma mice model. BALB/c mice were immunized and challenged by OVA. Treatment with pristimerin caused a marked reduction in the levels of OVA-specific IgE, immune cells, and IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 secretion. Histological studies using H&E staining were used to study the alterations in lung tissue. These results were similar to those obtained with dexamethasone treatment. We then investigated which signal transduction mechanisms could be implicated in pristimerin activity by Western blot. The data showed that pristimerin could inhibit MAPKs and NF-κB inflammatory pathways.

[Adenoviral transduction of endostatin gene prevents the liver metastasis of colorectal carcinoma in postoperation].

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevention of colorectal cancer liver metastasis by adenoviral transduction of the endostatin gene. METHODS: The recombinant adenovirus expressing endostatin was constructed. Its biological activities were surveyed in vitro, as determined in human umbilicus vein endothelium cell (HUVEC) proliferation inhibition, and in vivo, by reduction of liver metastasis. RESULTS: HUVEC proliferation was obviously inhibited by the infecting supernatant of recombinant adenovirus. Persistent high serum levels of endostatin in peripheral blood, especially in the liver vein were observed. The production of liver metastasis was intervened. CONCLUSIONS: The single injection in the vein of the recombinant adenovirus realizes the high effective and stable expression of endostatin in general body and liver, which brings about the ideal prevention of liver metastasis.