Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) -induced adverse events (AEs) have been reported affecting almost all human organs. However, studies about ocular AEs are few. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the risks of ICI-related ophthalmic AEs compare to chemotherapy. Methods: Eligible studies were selected from phase II/III randomized controlled trials investigating ICIs. The data were analyzed by R software and Stata. Odds ratio of treatment-related AE (trAEs) and nonspecific ophthalmic trAEs (NS-trAEs) were lower for PD-1/PD-L1...

Two new dimeric and trimeric sesquiterpene lactones (1–2), and nine known sesquiterpene lactones (3–11) were isolated from the EtOAc phase of the ethanolic extract of Ainsliaea yunnanensis. Their structures were identified by NMR, IR and HR-ESIMS spectroscopic methods, and compound 1 was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction experiment. All the compounds were tested for their cytotoxic, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activities. Compounds 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 showed very significant selective cytotoxic...

Pickering emulsion is widely used in food, drug administration, and cosmetics. In practical applications, surfactants are often co-present with particles, so it is particularly critical to study particle-surfactant interactions. Pickering emulsions were prepared using stearyltrimethylammoniumchloride organic montmorillonite (STAC/MMT) and fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO-3) as stabilizers. Effects of AEO-3 content, STAC/MMT content, oil-water ratio, emulsification temperature, emulsification time on emulsion stability were systematically revealed by studying the particle size distribution and phase volume of the...

The principal goal of the present investigation was to enterprise new and effective drug delivery vesicle for the sustained delivery of local anesthetic lidocaine hydrochloride (LDC), using a novel combination of copolymeric hydrogel with tetrahydroxyborate (COP–THB) to improve bioactivity and therapeutic potential. To support this contention, the physical and mechanical properties, rheological characteristics, and component release of candidate formulations were investigated. An optimized formulation of COP–THB containing LDC to an upper maximum concentration of 1.5%...

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a rather prevalent condition with a chronic inflammatory process, which is hard to cure. Herein, a new antibacterial drug, nitric oxide (NO), was used for the attempt on CRS therapy. To achieve this, a star copolymer (β-CD-PAMAM) consisting of the β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) core and seven PAMAM-G3 arms, which was designed as a low-cytotoxicity and high NO loading carrier, were synthesized and characterizied. The obtained β-CD-PAMAM/NONOate showed the effect in inhibiting and...

Background: COVID-19 has rapidly become a major health emergency worldwide. The characteristic, outcome, and risk factor of COVID-19 in patients with decompensated cirrhosis remain unclear. Methods: Medical records were collected from 23 Chinese hospitals. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis and age- and sex-matched non-liver disease patients were enrolled with 1:4 ratio using stratified sampling. Results: There were more comorbidities with higher Chalson Complication Index (p < 0.001), higher proportion of patients having gastrointestinal bleeding, jaundice, ascites,...

Background: COVID-19 has rapidly become a major health emergency worldwide. The characteristic, outcome, and risk factor of COVID-19 in patients with decompensated cirrhosis remain unclear. Methods: Medical records were collected from 23 Chinese hospitals. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis and age- and sex-matched non-liver disease patients were enrolled with 1:4 ratio using stratified sampling. Results: There were more comorbidities with higher Chalson Complication Index (p < 0.001), higher proportion of patients having gastrointestinal bleeding, jaundice, ascites,...

Preterm birth (PTB) is an immune-inflammatory disease that needs to be resolved. This study aimed to identify the role of interleukin-27 (IL-27), an immunomodulatory factor, in PTB and its associated mechanisms. Here, we analyzed the high-throughput of samples data from the maternal-fetal interface to the peripheral circulation obtained from public databases and reported that the elevated IL-27 was involved with the onset of PTB. Further bioinformatics analyses (e.g. GeneMANIA and GSEA) revealed that IL-27 overexpression...

Lactate blunts the anticancer immune response in breast cancer (BC). However, little is known about the exact effect of lactate transporters such as monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) on immunotherapy. In this study, we investigated the expression status and prognostic value of MCT4 in BC through large-scale transcriptome data. Our results showed that MCT4 was overexpressed in BC, particularly in the basal-like molecular subtype. Overexpression of MCT4 was significantly correlated with high BC lesion grade and...

Inflammation and oxidative stress are crucial in ischemic stroke. Ephedrine (EPH) has been proven to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress effects. The present study analyzes whether EPH possessed neuroprotective effects and explored the underlying mechanisms of EPH based on an experimental model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). We found that intraperitoneal injection with EPH attenuated the neurological deficit, cerebral infarction, and cerebral edema induced by MCAO in rats. Besides, EPH treatment alleviated MCAO-induced brain...

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-prf-10.1177_02676591211031468 for Establishment of a venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a rat model of acute respiratory distress syndrome by Yongnan Li, Jian Huang, Rongzhi Zhang, Shixiong Wang, Xingdong Cheng, Pengbin Zhang, Kerong Zhai, Wei Wang, Debin Liu and Bingren Gao in Perfusion

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-prf-10.1177_02676591211031468 for Establishment of a venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a rat model of acute respiratory distress syndrome by Yongnan Li, Jian Huang, Rongzhi Zhang, Shixiong Wang, Xingdong Cheng, Pengbin Zhang, Kerong Zhai, Wei Wang, Debin Liu and Bingren Gao in Perfusion

In this study, we prepared a folic acid-functionalized SMMC-7721 liver cancer cell membrane (CM)-encapsulated paclitaxel nanocrystals system (FCPN) for hepatoma treatment. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization showed that FCPN was irregular spherical shapes with a particle size larger than 200 nm and a coated thickness of approximately 20 nm. In an in vitro release experiment, FCPN indicated a slowly release effect of paclitaxel (PTX). Cell experiments demonstrated that FCPN was taken up by SMMC-7721 cells...

Drug development can be costly, and the availability of clinical trial participants may be limited either due to the disease setting (rare or pediatric diseases) or due to many sponsors evaluating multiple drugs or combinations in the same patient population. To maximize resource utilization, sponsors may leverage patient-level control data from historical trials. However, in a study with no control arm, it is impossible to evaluate if the historical controls are an appropriate comparator for...

Few mental health assessment tools are available for people with hearing loss (HL) in China. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-Adult Hearing Loss (AAQ-AHL) has been specifically designed to assess psychological inflexibility in adults with HL and may help assess mental health status promptly for targeted psychological interventions. The study aimed to investigate the cross-cultural validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the AAQ-AHL to assess its applicability to teenagers and adults with HL in...

Vascular calcification is a major complication of chronic renal failure, which has been identified as an active process partly driven by osteogenic transition of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Aspirin could prevent cardiomyocyte damage by inducing heat shock response. This study investigates the effect of aspirin on alleviating VSMC calcification. An in vitro VSMC calcification model was established by 10-day calcification induction in osteogenic medium. VSMCs were grouped as following: control group (normal medium), calcified...

One new anthraquinone, questinlin (1), four known anthraquinones (2–5), together with three known benzophenone derivatives (6–8) were isolated from a wetland fungus Aspergillus flavipes PJ03-11. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis, including 1D, 2D NMR (HMQC, HMBC), mass spectrometry, and optical rotation and IR spectra. In addition, the cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines (HepG2, Caco-2 and A549) were evaluated. In this article, Aspergillus flavipes PJ03-11, a wetland...

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can place an immense psychological strain on the infected patient. The psychological distress can linger after the initial recovery from the infection. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of provisional post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with cured COVID-2019. Methods: The baseline survey was conducted from 10 to 25 February 2020 in patients with COVID-19 in a designated hospital. Demographic and clinical characteristics were acquired, and...

Supplemental Material, sj-docx-1-ear-10.1177_01455613211006010 for Montgomery T-Tube Insertion Under ECMO in a Patient With Complete Subglottic Stenosis and Severe Lower Tracheal Collapse by Beibei Jin, Ting Wang, Yuling Wang and Jie Zhang in Ear, Nose & Throat Journal

Rice straw is one of the major agricultural residues that is generated enormously in Asian countries. Thus, it is critical to develop an efficient process of converting this residue into valuable compounds in replacing fossil-based products. Herein, we developed an economically viable cement catalyst to pyrolyze the rice straw into bio-oil and fuel gas in a batch-type reactor. Under the optimized conditions, the maximum bio-oil yield of 41.07 wt.%, and gas yield of 30.53 wt.%...

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) -induced adverse events (AEs) have been reported affecting almost all human organs. However, studies about ocular AEs are few. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the risks of ICI-related ophthalmic AEs compare to chemotherapy. Methods: Eligible studies were selected from phase II/III randomized controlled trials investigating ICIs. The data were analyzed by R software and Stata. Odds ratio of treatment-related AE (trAEs) and nonspecific ophthalmic trAEs (NS-trAEs) were lower for PD-1/PD-L1...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that are closely associated with cancer progression and drug resistance, however, up until now, the involvement of miR-556-5p in regulating cisplatin-sensitivity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been studied. In the present study, we found that miR-556-5p was significantly upregulated in the cisplatin-resistant NSCLC (CR-NSCLC) patients’ tissues and cells, instead of the corresponding cisplatin-sensitive NSCLC (CS-NSCLC) tissues and cells. Further experiments validated that knock-down of miR-556-5p suppressed...

Special electromagnetic field-treated water (SEW) and far-infrared radiation (FIR) can reduce acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in rats inflicted by lipopolysaccharides (LPSs). However, little is known about its underlying molecular mechanism. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) of SEW and FIR interventions were obtained from a proteomics database. A total of 89 DEPs were identified. Enrichment analysis of DEPs was performed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery. These DEPs were associated with the responses...

The main characteristics of panic disorder (PD) include recurrent panic attacks and persistent worry, accompanied by other physical and cognitive symptoms. While recent studies have revealed that gut bacteria play an important role in anxiety and depression, little is known about the relationship between oral microbiota and PD. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore a possible correlation between oral microbiota and PD. We conducted 16S rRNA sequencing to compare differences in the...

β-galactosidase catalyzes lactose hydrolysis and transfers reactions to produce prebiotics such as galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) with potential applications in the food industry and pharmaceuticals. However, there is still a need for improved transgalactosylation activity of β-galactosidases and reaction conditions of GOS production in order to maximize GOS output and reduce production costs. In this study, a β-galactosidase gene, galA, from Bacillus circulans was expressed in Pichia pastoris, which not only hydrolyzed lactose but also had strong...