A new method for nitric oxide (NO) removal was developed by combining dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) and negative pulse corona (NPC). The effects of gas composition (O2, CO2, and H2O) on NO ...removal were investigated with this method, and the effect of alcohols (methanol and ethanol) addition on NO removal was also investigated as well as the reaction mechanisms to enhance the NO removal efficiency. The experimental results showed that O2, CO2, and H2O had obvious inhibition effects on NO removal, and the negative effects were in the following order: O2 > CO2 > H2O. The addition of methanol or ethanol in the reaction system could mitigate the negative effects of O2, CO2, and H2O on NO removal, and also eliminated the production of NO2. The positive effect of alcohols addition with DBD-NPC denitration method was also validated in the simulated flue gas, in which the NOx (NO, NO2) was mainly converted into N2.
The purpose of this study was to compare the use of 3 mobilization techniques--end-range mobilization (ERM), mid-range mobilization (MRM), and mobilization with movement (MWM)--in the management of ...subjects with frozen shoulder syndrome (FSS).
Twenty-eight subjects with FSS were recruited.
A multiple-treatment trial on 2 groups (A-B-A-C and A-C-A-B, where A=MRM, B=ERM, and C=MWM) was carried out. The duration of each treatment was 3 weeks, for a total of 12 weeks. Outcome measures included the functional score and shoulder kinematics.
Overall, subjects in both groups improved over the 12 weeks. Statistically significant improvements were found in ERM and MWM. Additionally, MWM corrected scapulohumeral rhythm significantly better than ERM did.
In subjects with FSS, ERM and MWM were more effective than MRM in increasing mobility and functional ability. Movement strategies in terms of scapulohumeral rhythm improved after 3 weeks of MWM.
It is presently difficult to achieve dental pulp vitality maintenance and regeneration in adult teeth. Dentin destruction results in the exposure of the dental pulp tissue to infectious oral ...environments, thereby triggering continuous severe pulp inflammation that impedes the self-regenerative capacity of the pulp. For these reasons, the regeneration of dentin bridges to block pulp tissue from the oral environment is an indispensable step. Nevertheless, this goal is difficult to achieve using present strategies, because the importance of immunoregulation in the pulp inflammatory microenvironment has been ignored. In our previous study, we found that the nanomaterial dihydrolipoic acid-functionalized gold nanoclusters (DHLA-AuNCs) efficiently regulated inflammatory responses in microglia (resident macrophages in the central nervous system), suggesting that DHLA-AuNCs may induce dentin bridge regeneration by regulating dental pulp macrophage responses. In the present study, we found that DHLA-AuNCs inhibited the M1 phenotype while promoting the M2 phenotype in macrophages in inflammatory conditions
in vitro
. This regulation of the inflammatory environment in dental pulp enhanced the differentiation of human dental pulp stromal cells (hDPC) toward odontoblasts, a beneficial effect on dentin regeneration. DHLA-AuNCs also had a direct role in the differentiation and mineralization of hDPC. These findings suggest that DHLA-AuNCs facilitate dentin regeneration through both efficient immunomodulation and direct induction of stromal cell differentiation/mineralization, providing a potential therapeutic nanomaterial for dentin bridge regeneration, effects that would be beneficial for dental pulp regeneration.
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are immunosuppressive cells that play an important role in immune evasion, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor tolerance and tumour progression. Therefore, MDSCs are ...potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we screened an effective polymorphonuclear MDSC (PMN-MDSC) inhibitor from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Library and evaluated its synergistic antitumour effects with PD-1 inhibitor.
In the present study, we found that PMN-MDSCs accumulate heavily in the spleen and bone marrow of melanoma (B16-F10) tumour-bearing mice. Then, we determined the top 10 key proteins in the upregulated KEGG pathways of PMN-MDSCs in tumour-bearing mice through proteomics and Cytoscape analysis. The key proteins were then used as targets for the screening of PMN-MDSC inhibitors from the traditional Chinese Medicine Library (20000 compounds) through molecular docking and weight calculation of the docking score. Finally, the inhibitory effect of the inhibitor was verified through proteomics and metabolomics analysis in vitro and melanoma (B16-F10) and triple-negative breast cancer (4 T1) mouse tumour models in vivo.
Traditional Chinese medicine saposhnikovia root extract Prim-O-glucosylcimifugin (POG) could bind well to the target proteins and inhibit the proliferation, metabolism and immunosuppressive ability of PMN-MDSCs by inhibiting arginine metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle). POG could also increase CD8 T-lymphocyte infiltration in the tumours and enhance the antitumour effect of PD-1 inhibitor in B16-F10 and 4 T1 mouse tumour models.
POG was successfully screened from the traditional Chinese Medicine library as a PMN-MDSC inhibitor. POG exhibited a good synergistic antitumour effect with PD-1 inhibitor. This study provided a potential option for enhancing the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in clinical applications.
Early neurological deterioration (END) within 72 hours of stroke onset is associated with poor prognosis. Optimising hydration might reduce the risk of END.
To determine in acute ischaemic stroke ...patients if enhanced hydration versus standard hydration reduced the incidence of major (primary) and minor (secondary) END, as whether it increased the incidence of early neurological improvement (secondary), at 72 hours after admissionSample Size Estimate: 244 participants per arm.
A prospective, double-blinded, multicentre, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial conducted at 4 hospitals from April 2014 to July 2020, with data analysed in August 2020. The sample size estimated was 488 participants (244 per arm). Ischaemic stroke patients with measurable neurological deficits of onset within 12 hours of emergency department presentation and blood urea nitrogen/creatinine (BUN/Cr) ratio ≥15 at point of admission were enrolled and randomised to 0.9% sodium chloride infusions of varying rates - enhanced hydration (20 mL/kg body weight, one-third given via bolus and remainder over 8 hours) versus standard hydration (60 mL/hour for 8 hours), followed by maintenance infusion of 40-80 mL/hour for the subsequent 64 hours. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of major early neurological deterioration at 72 hours after admission, defined as an increase in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale of ≥4 points from baseline.
487 participants were randomised (median age 67 years; 287 females). At 72 hours: 7 (2.9%) in the enhanced-hydration arm and 5(2.0%) in the standard-hydration developed major early neurological deterioration (p=0.54). The incidence of minor early neurological deterioration and early neurological improvement did not differ between treatment arms.
Enhanced hydration ratio did not reduce END or improve short term outcomes in acute ischaemic stroke.
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02099383, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02099383).
Objectives
To compare the diagnostic accuracy of diffusion-weighted (DW) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for detecting cervical stromal invasion in endometrial ...cancer.
Methods
Eighty-three consecutive women with endometrial cancer underwent preoperative evaluation in a 3-T unit, including T2-weighted, DW (
b
= 0 and 1000 s/mm
2
), and DCE MR imaging. Two radiologists independently assessed presence of cervical stromal invasion, with histopathological reference as gold standard.
Results
For assessing cervical stromal invasion, the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, respectively for Reader 1/Reader 2, were as follows: DW MR imaging— 95.2 %/91.6 %, 91.7 %/100 %, and 95.8 %/90.1 %; DCE MR imaging— 91.6 %/88 %, 58.3 %/50 %, and 97.2 %/94.4 %. The diagnostic performance of DW MR imaging (Reader 1: areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.98; Reader 2: AUC = 0.97) was significantly higher than that of DCE MR imaging (
p
= 0.009 for Reader 2) or T2-weighted MR imaging (Reader 1:
p
= 0.006; Reader 2:
p
= 0.013). Patients with cervical stromal invasion showed a significantly greater canal width (
p
< 0.0001) and myometrial invasion extent (
p
= 0.006).
Conclusions
DW MR imaging has superior diagnostic performance compared with DCE MR imaging in the detection of cervical stromal invasion.
Key Points
•
DWI demonstrates a higher accuracy than DCE in detecting cervical stromal invasion.
•
Tumour ADC values are similar between patients without or with cervical invasion.
•
Canal widening causes false-negativity on DCE and T2W but not on DWI.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant cancers with poor prognosis and high incidence. Cancer stem cells play a vital role in tumor initiation and malignancy. The degree ...of differentiation of HCC is closely related to its stemness. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA) plays a critical role in inhibiting the degree of malignancy of HCC. At present, the effect of GA on the differentiation and stemness of HCC has not been reported, and its pharmacological mechanism remains to be elucidated. This study evaluated the effect of GA on the stemness of HCC and investigated its targets through proteomics and chemical biology. Results showed that GA can repress stemness and induce differentiation in HCC
. GEO analysis revealed that cell differentiation and stem cell pluripotency were up-regulated and down-regulated after GA administration, respectively. Virtual screening was used to predict the c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) as a direct target of GA. Moreover, chemical biology was used to verify the interaction of JNK1 and GA. Experimental data further indicated that JNK1 inhibits stemness and induces differentiation of HCC. GA exerts its function by targeting JNK1. Clinical data analysis from The Cancer Genome Atlas also revealed that JNK1 can aggravate the degree of malignancy of HCC. The results indicated that, by targeting JNK1, GA can inhibit tumor growth through inducing differentiation and repressing stemness. Furthermore, GA enhanced the anti-tumor effects of sorafenib in HCC treatment. These results broadened our insight into the pharmacological mechanism of GA and the importance of JNK1 as a therapeutic target for HCC treatment.
In flowering plants, pollen formation depends on the differentiation and interaction of two cell types in the anther: the reproductive cells, called microsporocytes, and somatic cells that form the ...tapetum. The microsporocytes generate microspores, whereas the tapetal cells support the development of microspores into mature pollen grains. Despite their importance to plant reproduction, little is known about the underlying genetic mechanisms that regulate the differentiation and interaction of these highly specialized cells in the anther. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a novel TAPETUM DETERMINANT1 (TPD1) gene that is required for the specialization of tapetal cells in the Arabidopsis anther. Analysis of the male-sterile mutant, tpd1, showed that functional interruption of TPD1 caused the precursors of tapetal cells to differentiate and develop into microsporocytes instead of tapetum. As a results, extra microsporocytes were formed and tapetum was absent in developing tpd1 anthers. Molecular cloning of TPD1 revealed that it encodes a small protein of 176 amino acids. In addition, tpd1 was phenotypically similar to excess microsporocytes1/extra sporogenous cells (ems1/exs) single and tpd1 ems1/exs double mutants. These data suggest that the TPD1 product plays an important role in the differentiation of tapetal cells, possibly in coordination with the EMS1/EXS gene product, a Leu-rich repeat receptor protein kinase.
We report 18 spider species of the genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 from a survey in the Qinling Mountains of central China. They belong to four species groups and include seven species new to science: ...Pholcus jiaozuo Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) in the taishan species group; P. luonan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. luoyang Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. lushan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. shangluo Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀), P. weinan Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) and P. yuncheng Yang & Yao, sp. nov. (♂♀) in the yichengicus species group. Detailed diagnoses, descriptions, photomicroscopy images and DNA barcodes of all new species are provided. Our study will make a significant contribution to understanding species diversity and zoogeography of the region.
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