Using a relational two-stage network data envelopment analysis (DEA) model considering undesirable outputs, this paper evaluates both the process and system performances of industrial environmental governance in China’s 30 provincial-level regions during 1998–2015. Furthermore, this is the first study to apply the spatial econometric models with a geographical distance matrix to investigate the local and spatial spillover effects of environmental regulations on heterogeneous environmental governance performance (i.e. clean production and end-of-pipe treatment performances). The results...

The study aimed to systematically review the existing literature and assess the effects of percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) in patients with mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation (AF) as opposed to sinus rhythm (SR). Eligible studies were identified from six electronic databases before June 2021. The primary outcome was mitral valve area (MVA), and secondary outcomes were hemodynamic measurements, in-hospital complications, and long-term outcomes. Relative risks (RRs) or weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence...

A new dihydroflavone, 2(S)-isookanin-4′-methoxy-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), and a new polyacetylene glucoside, (10S)-tridecane-2E-ene-4,6,8-triyne-1-ol-10-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), along with seven known compounds (3–9), were isolated from the herb of Bidens parviflora Willd. The structures of all the extracted compounds were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, 1 D and 2 D NMR spectra, as well as circular dichroism (CD).

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a class of enzymes with detoxification function. GSTs can be used for the degradation of toxic aromatic compounds, such as dyes. In order to promote their application and cost-effective dye degradation and to understand their structure and function more deeply, we cloned and expressed a gst2 gene from Trametes gibbosa—a white rot fungus. T.gibbosa gst2 has a 672-bp open reading frame (ORF) and encodes 223 amino acids. The recombinant Tg-gst2 in...

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a complex genetic origin, and how immune dysregulation may contribute to ALS etiology remain unclear. Given the roles played by apolipoprotein E (APOE) signaling in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, an improved knowledge of the association between APOE genotypes and ALS risk in Chinese population may help to understand the underlying etiology of the disease. Methods: A retrospective case-control study with participants of Chinese ancestry was conducted, with a total of...

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has a complex genetic origin, and how immune dysregulation may contribute to ALS etiology remain unclear. Given the roles played by apolipoprotein E (APOE) signaling in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, an improved knowledge of the association between APOE genotypes and ALS risk in Chinese population may help to understand the underlying etiology of the disease. Methods: A retrospective case-control study with participants of Chinese ancestry was conducted, with a total of...

Preeclampsia (PE) is a disorder that occurs during the pregnancy and could affect the maternal and perinatal mortality as well as morbidity. The aim of our study is to investigate the associations between the hypertension susceptibility genes ITGA9, MOV10 and CACNB2 with PE in Chinese Han population. A case–control study including 178 PE patients and 202 healthy controls was conducted to assess the associations between three loci (ITGA9 rs155524, MOV10 rs2932538 and CACNB2 rs4373814) and...

Previous studies have detected the association of polymorphisms in oxidative stress-related genes EPHX1 and MnSOD with pre-eclampsia (PE) risk, but the results are inconsistent among studies. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to obtain more conclusive results. Eligible studies were retrieved in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, and CNKI. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized to evaluate the relationship between EPHX1 rs1051740, EPHX1 rs2234922, MnSOD rs4880 polymorphisms, and PE susceptibility in...

To investigate the expression and sources of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein in the maternal–fetal interface of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA), and further to verify the role of HMGB1 in the etiology of URSA. 55 women at early pregnancy with URSA and 55 women undergoing selective termination of normal early pregnancy as control were included. The abortion tissues including villi and decidua were collected. The expression of HMGB1, CD45, CK7,...

Processing with vinegar could enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of Curcuma phaeocaulis Valeton. (Zingiberaceae), a Chinese herbal medicine with anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities. This study investigated the vinegar processing effects by evaluating anti-angiogenic effect and toxicity of C. phaeocaulis through zebrafish and rat models. Zebrafish embryos (AB and FLk-GFP strain) were applied to evaluate toxicity, cardiotoxicity and anti-angiogenic activity of volatile oil, and water decoction of the raw and vinegar-processed C. phaeocaulis. Meanwhile,...

Processing with vinegar could enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of Curcuma phaeocaulis Valeton. (Zingiberaceae), a Chinese herbal medicine with anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities. This study investigated the vinegar processing effects by evaluating anti-angiogenic effect and toxicity of C. phaeocaulis through zebrafish and rat models. Zebrafish embryos (AB and FLk-GFP strain) were applied to evaluate toxicity, cardiotoxicity and anti-angiogenic activity of volatile oil, and water decoction of the raw and vinegar-processed C. phaeocaulis. Meanwhile,...

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a kind of obligate anaerobic gram-positive Bacillus related with intestinal diseases and antibiotic treatment. In present study, the C. difficile genome was studied employing met genomic technology. Genome sequencing identified C. difficile LCL126 has total size of 4,301,949 bp with a 27.97% of GC content. Specifically, 4119 predicted coding genes, 188 repeat sequences, 13 prophages and 8 gene islands were detected. Additionally, gene function analysis aspect of the function annotation,...

Numerous differentially expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified; however, their roles have not been fully elucidated. Since dysregulated circRNAs may have clinical applications, it is vital to study their expression characteristics, function, and mechanism in prostate cancer cells. The role, regulatory mechanism, and expression of hsa_circ_0075542 were analyzed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the expression of hsa_circ_0075542 was downregulated in prostate tumor tissues. The functions of prostate cancer...

Numerous differentially expressed circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified; however, their roles have not been fully elucidated. Since dysregulated circRNAs may have clinical applications, it is vital to study their expression characteristics, function, and mechanism in prostate cancer cells. The role, regulatory mechanism, and expression of hsa_circ_0075542 were analyzed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that the expression of hsa_circ_0075542 was downregulated in prostate tumor tissues. The functions of prostate cancer...

The biological modulatory roles of many circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been validated in glioma. The current study was designed to research the functional mechanism of circ_0001162 in glioma progression. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used for assaying the levels of circ_0001162 and microRNA-936 (miR-936). Cell proliferation and colony formation abilities were evaluated via 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-y1)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and colony formation assay, respectively. Transwell assay was applied to assess cell migration...

The biological modulatory roles of many circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been validated in glioma. The current study was designed to research the functional mechanism of circ_0001162 in glioma progression. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used for assaying the levels of circ_0001162 and microRNA-936 (miR-936). Cell proliferation and colony formation abilities were evaluated via 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-y1)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and colony formation assay, respectively. Transwell assay was applied to assess cell migration...

In order to explore new prediction methods and key genes for gastric cancer. Firstly, we downloaded the 6 original sequencing data of gastric cancer on the Illumina HumanHT-12 platform from Array Expression and Gene Expression Omnibus, and used bioinformatics methods to identify 109 up-regulated genes and 271 down-regulated genes. Further, we performed univariate Cox regression analysis of prognostic-related genes, then used Lasso regression to remove collinearity, and finally used multivariate Cox regression to analyze independent...

In order to explore new prediction methods and key genes for gastric cancer. Firstly, we downloaded the 6 original sequencing data of gastric cancer on the Illumina HumanHT-12 platform from Array Expression and Gene Expression Omnibus, and used bioinformatics methods to identify 109 up-regulated genes and 271 down-regulated genes. Further, we performed univariate Cox regression analysis of prognostic-related genes, then used Lasso regression to remove collinearity, and finally used multivariate Cox regression to analyze independent...

Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths in women due to poor prognosis and high mortality rates. A novel mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA signature linked to prognosis of cervical cancer is needed to help clinicians judge the prognosis of individual patients more accurately. On the basis of GEO datasets, a total of 161 upregulated and 242 downregulated DE-mRNAs were identified firstly. Among them, eight potential biomarkers were found to have prognostic values with...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most common complications after cardiac surgery. However, effective biomarker used for early diagnosis of AKI has not been identified. Platelet-leukocyte aggregates (PLAs) participate in inflammation and coagulation, leading to vascular lesions and tissue destruction. We designed a prospective study to assess whether PLAs can serve as a good biomarker for early diagnosis of AKI after cardiac surgery. Patients with rheumatic heart disease scheduled to undergo valve replacement...

Cancer immunotherapy is a strategy that is moving to the frontier of cancer treatment in the current decade. In this study, we show evidence that 3-(2-nitrophenyl) propionic acid-paclitaxel nanoparticles (NPPA-PTX NPs), act as immunogenic cell death (ICD) inducers, stimulating an antitumor response which results in synergistic antitumor activity by combining anti-PD-L1 antibody (aPD-L1) in vivo. To investigate the antitumor immunity induced by NPPA-PTX NPs, the expression of both ICD marker calreticulin (CRT) and high mobility...

Cisplatin (DDP) is a first-line chemotherapeutic drug applied for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The anticancer activity of DDP is tightly linked to its intracellular uptake. It is unwise to increase the DDP intake by increasing the dose or shortening the dosing interval because of the severe systemic toxicity (nephrotoxicity, ototoxicity and neurotoxicity) in DDP application. The main uptake pathways of DDP include passive diffusion and active transporter transport. Therefore, finding additional...

Koumine (KME) is an active alkaloid extracted from Gelsemium elegans, and its diverse bioactivities have been studied for decades. However, KME exhibits poor solubility and low oral bioavailability, which hampers its potential therapeutic exploitation. This work aimed to develop optimized inclusion complexes to improve the bioavailability of KME. The KME/hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (KME/HP-β-CD) inclusion complexes were prepared by the solvent evaporation method and later optimized using the Box-Behnken design. The optimal KME/HP-β-CD was characterized by scanning electron...

T7 peptide is considered as an antiangiogenic polypeptide. The presents study aimed to further detect the antiangiogenic mechanisms of T7 peptide and determine whether combining T7 peptide and meloxicam (COX-2/PGE2 specific inhibitor) could offer a better therapy to combat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). T7 peptide suppressed the proliferation, migration, tube formation, and promoted the apoptosis of endothelial cells under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions via integrin α3β1 and αvβ3 pathways. Cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, or tube...

Two new alkaloids, taberdines L (1) and M (2), together with six known alkaloids, were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Tabernaemontana divaricata. Taberdine L (1) represents the first optically active natural member of the allo iboga class of alkaloids with the ethyl side chain in a bridgehead position. Their structures including absolute configuration were elucidated by a combination of MS, NMR, and ECD calculation. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of 1 and 2...