•Patients with KOA have altered static and dynamic functional network connectivity.•KOA have abnormal pain-related information processing of the default mode network, sensorimotor network, cognitive ...control network.•Although abnormalities in dFNCs of KOA patients have been found using the common window size, but the results were not robust.
This study aimed to investigate altered static and dynamic functional network connectivity (FNC) and its correlation with clinical symptoms in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). One hundred and fifty-nine patients with KOA and 73 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects (HS) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and clinical evaluations. Group independent component analysis (GICA) was applied, and seven resting-state networks were identified. Patients with KOA had decreased static FNC within the default mode network (DM), visual network (VS), and cerebellar network (CB) and increased static FNC between the subcortical network (SC) and VS (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Four reoccurring FNC states were identified using k-means clustering analysis. Although abnormalities in dynamic FNCs of KOA patients have been found using the common window size (22 TR, 44 s), but the results of the clustering analysis were inconsistent when using different window sizes, suggesting dynamic FNCs might be an unstable method to compare brain function between KOA patients and HS. These recent findings illustrate that patients with KOA have a wide range of abnormalities in the static and dynamic FNCs, which provided a reference for the identification of potential central nervous therapeutic targets for KOA treatment and might shed light on the other musculoskeletal pain neuroimaging studies.
The association between the serum free light chain (sFLC) ratio and the prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM) patients is controversial.
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between ...the sFLC ratio and the prognosis of MM patients through meta-analysis.
Online public databases were searched to find relevant studies. The retrieval time is limited from the establishment of the database to July 2021. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were compared. The results were described using hazard ratio (HR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI). Qualitative studies were also included.
A total of 9 studies involving 2864 participants were included. A pooled analysis based on four studies including newly-diagnosed MM patients, demonstrated that an abnormal sFLC ratio was associated with poor outcomes of OS (HR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.15-2.90) and PFS (HR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.20-2.90). Three qualitative studies showed that an abnormal sFLC ratio was related with poor outcomes of OS (studies all included newly diagnosed MM patients) and PFS (two studies included newly-diagnosed MM patients and one study included non-newly-diagnosed MM patients). Two studies stated that the sFLC ratio is not associated with OS (both studies included non-newly-diagnosed MM patients) and one study reported that the sFLC ratio is not associated with PFS (study included non-newly-diagnosed MM patients).
sFLC ratio could be used to predict adverse outcomes in newly-diagnosed MM patients, but is not suitable for non-newly-diagnosed MM patients.
Abstract Purpose To identify which non-invasive infection indicators could better predict post-cervical cerclage (CC) infections, and on which days after CC infection indicators should be closely ...monitored. Methods The retrospective, single-center study included 619 single-pregnancy patients from January 2021 to December 2022. Patients were categorized into infected and uninfected groups based on physicians’ judgments of post-CC infections. Registered information included patient characteristics, cervical insufficiency history, gestational age at CC, surgical method (McDonald/Shirodkar), purpose of CC, mid-pregnancy miscarriage/preterm birth, infection history or risk factors, and infection indices on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after CC. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to reduce patient characteristic bias. Statistical analysis of C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil count (NEU), percentage of neutrophil count (NEU_P), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and procalcitonin (PCT) in the infected group compared with the uninfected group was performed using chi-square tests and t-tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to further assess the diagnostic value of CRP, PCT, and CRP-PCT in combination. Results Among the 619 included patients, 206 patients were matched using PSM and subsequently assessed. PCT values on day 1 and day 3 after CC exhibited significant differences between the two groups in two statistical ways ( P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The CRP levels on day 1 were significantly higher in the infected group compared to the uninfected group in two statistical ways ( P < 0.05). On day 3, the mean CRP value was significantly elevated in the infected group compared to the uninfected group ( P < 0.05). Analyses of IL-6, WBC, NEU, and NEU_P did not yield clinically significant results. The area under the ROC curves for CRP, PCT, and CRP-PCT on day 1 and day 3 were all below 0.7. In the preventive CC group, the AUC values of CRP and CRP-PCT obtained on d1 were found to be higher than 0.7, indicating moderate diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion For women after CC surgery, especially of preventive aim, increased serum CRP and PCT levels from post-CC day 1 to day 3 may signal a potential postoperative infection, warranting close monitoring.
This study investigated the effect of adding the compound acidifiers on the intestine health of hybrid grouper ( Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × E. lanceolatus ♂ ) fed diet with higher cottonseed ...protein concentrate (CPC). To assess the benefits of compound acidifiers helping CPC to replace more fish meal (FM) for hybrid grouper, five isonitrogen and isolipid experimental diets were formulated. The five diets consisted of a control diet (FM, 50%) and four experimental diets (27.5% FM, 27.27% CPC), each of which contained compound acidifiers to varying degrees (FCA0, FCA0.05, FCA0.1, and FCA0.2). Each diet was fed to three replicates of each group for 8 weeks. In the FCA0.05 group, the results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in protein efficiency ratio, lipid efficiency ratio, and the activity of digestive enzymes in the intestine ( P < 0.05). In the FCA0.05 group, there was a clearly enhanced expression of anti‐inflammatory cytokines in the intestines ( P < 0.05). In the FCA0.1 group, there may be an increase in the expression of important genes involved in fatty acid metabolism in the intestinal ( P < 0.05). Appropriate compound acidifiers decreased the relative abundance of Vibrio and other harmful bacteria in the intestine flora that were brought by high CPC. In conclusion, when the hybrid grouper was given a diet containing more CPC, the FCA0.05 group was able to promote intestinal development, enhance digestive enzyme activity and feed consumption, raise antioxidant enzyme activity and anti‐inflammatory factor expression, and improve intestinal health.
Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) hold great promise for the repair of the injured heart, but optimal cell production in a fully chemically defined and cost-effective ...system is essential for the efficacy and safety of cell transplantation therapies. In this study, we provided a simple and efficient strategy for cardiac differentiation from hPSCs and performed functional evaluation in a rat model of myocardial infarction. Using a chemically defined medium including four components, recombinant human albumin, ascorbic acid, human transferrin, and RPMI 1640, we developed a manageable and cost-effective protocol for robust generation of CMs from hPSCs. Interestingly, the addition of transferrin helped hPSCs to transit from TeSR-E8 medium to the simple cardiac differentiation medium and successfully initiated mesoderm differentiation without significant cell death. The CM generation efficiency was up to 85% based on cTnT expression. We performed transcriptome profiling from differentiation day 0 to 35, and characterized interesting dynamic change of cardiac genes. CMs derived from transferrin-supplemented simple medium have similar transcriptome and the maturation level compared to those generated in B27 minus insulin medium as well as their in vivo counterparts. Importantly, after transplantation, hPSC-derived CMs survived in the infarcted rat heart, significantly improved the physiological function and reduced fibrosis. Our study offers an easy-to-use and cost-effective method for cardiac differentiation and facilitates the translational application of hPSC-derived CMs for heart repair.
Acupuncture for chronic persistent asthma: a case report Wang, Menglin; Dong, Xiaohui; Liu, Yalan ...
Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society,
02/2022, Volume:
40, Issue:
1
Journal Article
•Replacing fishmeal with dietary Dried Distiller Grains with Solubles (DDGS) was investigated in Litopenaeus vannamei.•DDGS affected growth performance in juvenile L. vannamei after eight weeks of ...study.•DDGS affected the immunity and disease resistance in L. vannamei.•DDGS did not have any severe effect on the gut structure in the L. vannamei.•DDGS at 8 % can cater for the nutritional needs for L. vannamei’s in total shrimp diet.
This research was conducted to assess the effects of replacing fishmeal (FM) with dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) at various levels (D0 (0 %), D2 (2 %), D4 (4 %), D6 (6 %), D8 (8 %), D12 (12 %), and D16 (16 %)) on the growth, proximate body composition, serum biochemical indices, antioxidant activities, histology, and disease resistance in juvenile Pacific whiteleg shrimp. Forty shrimp per tank were stocked in seven different tanks with three replicates of each treatment group with an initial weight of 0.23 ± 0.00 g. Their respective experimental diets were used to feed shrimp for 56 days. The results showed an enhancement in shrimp fed dietary DDGS (D8) diets on the growth performance, including final weight, weight gain, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, glucose, and total antioxidant capacity in the serum (P < 0.05). Decreased FCR and High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol were observed in shrimp fed DDGS (D8) diets in serum compared to D0. No severe changes and significant differences in villus height and intestinal wall thickness were observed in the shrimp hepatopancreas and mid-gut among treatment groups. Furthermore, disease resistance increased in shrimp fed the DDGS diet, with D8 obtaining the lowest mortality rate, 50.9 %, compared to the control group (D0), 68.3 %. In summary, regarding all the factors, replacing FM with DDGS at D8 (8 %) in the shrimp diet could modulate and cater to overall growth performance, health and immunity, histology and disease resistance in shrimp.
To investigate the prospective relationship between macronutrient intake and overweight/obesity, data were collected in the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1991 to 2018. Adults who ...participated in at least two waves of the survey and were not obese at baseline were selected as the study subjects. A total of 14,531 subjects were finally included with complete data. Overweight/obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 24.0 kg/m
. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to analyze the relationship between the percentage of energy intake from macronutrients and BMI and overweight/obesity. The percentages of energy intake from protein and fat showed an increasing trend (
< 0.01), and the percentage of energy intake from carbohydrate showed a decreasing trend (
< 0.01) among Chinese adults between 1991 and 2018. Adjusting for covariates, the energy intake from fat was positively correlated with BMI, while the energy intake from carbohydrates was negatively correlated with BMI. The percentage of energy intake from non-high-quality protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were positively correlated with overweight/obesity. In contrast, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and high-quality carbohydrates were negatively correlated with overweight/obesity. In short, fat, non-high-quality protein, saturated fatty acids (SFA), and PUFA were positively correlated with the risk of obesity, whereas higher carbohydrate, MUFA, and high-quality carbohydrate intake were associated with a lower risk of obesity. Obesity can be effectively prevented by appropriately adjusting the proportion of intake from the three major macronutrients.
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