Hypomethylation of glycine dehydrogenase promoter in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is a new diagnostic marker of hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Glycine dehydrogenase(GLDC) plays an important role in the initiation and proliferation of several human cancers. In this study, we aimed to detect the methylation status of GLDC promoter and its diagnostic value for hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma(HBV-HCC). Methods: We enrolled 197 patients, 111 with HBV-HCC, 51 with chronic hepatitis B(CHB), and 35 healthy controls(HCs). The methylation status of GLDC promoter in peripheral mononuclear cells(PBMCs) was identified by methylation specific polymerase chain reaction(MSP). The mRNA expression was examined using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(q PCR). Results: The methylation frequency of the GLDC promoter was significantly lower in HBV-HCC patients(27.0%) compared to that in CHB patients(68.6%) and HCs(74.3%)( P < 0.001). The methylated group had lower alanine aminotransferase level( P = 0.035) and lower rates of tumor node metastasis(TNM) Ⅲ/Ⅳ( P = 0.043) and T3/T4( P = 0.026). TNM stage was identified to be an independent factor for GLDC promoter methylation. GLDC mRNA levels in CHB patients and HCs were significantly lower than those in HBV-HCC patients( P = 0.022 and P < 0.001, respectively). GLDC mRNA levels were significantly higher in HBV-HCC patients with unmethylated GLDC promoters than those with methylated GLDC promoters( P = 0.003). The diagnostic accuracy of alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) combined with GLDC promoter methylation for HBV-HCC was improved compared with that of AFP alone(AUC: 0.782 vs. 0.630, P < 0.001). In addition, GLDC promoter methylation was an independent predictor for overall survival of HBV-HCC patients( P = 0.038). Conclusions: The methylation frequency of GLDC promoter was lower in PBMCs from HBV-HCC patients than that from patients with CHB and HCs. The combination of AFP and GLDC promoter hypomethylation significantly improved the diagnostic accuracy of HBV-HCC.

Association of acute glycemic parameters at admission with cardiovascular mortality in the oldest old with acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVES Stress-related glycemic indicators,including admission blood glucose(ABG),stress-hyperglycemia ratio(SHR),and glycemic gap(GG),have been associated with worse outcomes after acute myocardial infarction(AMI).However,data regarding their prognostic value in the oldest old with AMI are unavailable.Therefore,this study aimed to investigate the association of stress-related glycemic indicators with short-and long-term cardiovascular mortality(CVM)in the oldest old(≥80 years)with AMI.METHODS In this prospective study,a total of 933 consecutive old patients with AMI admitted to FuWai hospital(Beijing,China)were enrolled.On admission,ABG,SHR,and GG were assessed and all participants were classified according to their quartiles.Kaplan-Meier,restricted cubic splines(RCS),and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between these glycemic indicators and CVM within 30 days and long-term follow-up.RESULTS During an average of 1954 patient-years of follow-up,a total of 250 cardiovascular deaths were recorded.Kaplan-Meier analyses showed the lowest CVM in quartile 1 of ABG and in quartile 2 of SHR and GG.After adjusting for potential covariates,patients in quartile 4 of ABG,SHR,and GG had a respective 1.67-fold(95%CI:1.03-2.69;P=0.036),1.80-fold(95%CI:1.16-2.79;P=0.009),and 1.78-fold(95%CI:1.14-2.79;P=0.011)higher risk of long-term CVM risk compared to those in the reference groups(quartile 1 of ABG and quartile 2 of SHR and GG).Furthermore,RCS suggested a J-shaped relationship of ABG and a Ushaped association of SHR and GG with long-term CVM.Additionally,we observed similar associations of these acute glycemic parameters with 30-day CVM.CONCLUSIONS Our data first indicated that SHR and GG consistently had a U-shaped association with both 30-day and longterm CVM among the oldest old with AMI,suggesting that they may be useful for risk stratification in this special population.

Hypermethylation of thymosinβ4 predicts a poor prognosis for patients with acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure

Background:It has been demonstrated that thymosinβ4(Tβ4)could inflect the severity of acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure(ACHBLF),but the relationship between its methylation status and the prognosis of liver failure is not clear.This study aimed to determine Tβ4 promoter methylation status in patients with ACHBLF and to evaluate its prognostic value.Methods:The study recruited 115 patients with ACHBLF,80 with acute-on-chronic hepatitis B pre-liver failure(pre-ACHBLF),and 86 with chronic hepatitis B(CHB).In addition,there were 36 healthy controls(HCs)from the Department of Hepatology,Qilu Hospital of Shandong University.The 115 patients with ACHBLF were divided into three subgroups:33 with early stage ACHBLF(E-ACHBLF),42 with mid-stage ACHBLF(M-ACHBLF),and 40 with advanced stage ACHBLF(A-ACHBLF).Tβ4 promoter methylation status in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)was measured by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction,and mRNA was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.Results:Methylation frequency of Tβ4 was significantly higher in patients with ACHBLF than in those with pre-ACHBLF,CHB or HCs.However,expression of Tβ4 mRNA showed the opposite trend.In patients with ACHBLF,Tβ4 promoter methylation status correlated negatively with mRNA levels.The 3-month mortality of ACHBLF in the methylated group was significantly higher than that in the unmethylated group.Also,Tβ4 promoter methylation frequency was lower in survivors than in non-survivors.When used to predict the 1-,2-,and 3-month incidence of ACHBLF,Tβ4 methylation status was better than the model for end-stage liver disease(MELD)score.The predictive value of Tβ4 methylation was higher than that of MELD score for the mortality of patients with E-ACHBLF and M-ACHBLF,but not for A-ACHBLF.Conclusions:Tβ4 methylation might be an important early marker for predicting disease incidence and prognosis in patients with ACHBLF.

Effects of LY294002 on the invasiveness of human gastric cancer in vivo in nude mice

AIM: To investigate the effects of class phosphatidy-linositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 on the invasiveness and related mechanisms of implanted tumors of SGC7901 human gastric carcinoma cells in nude mice. METHODS: Nude mice were randomly divided into model control groups and LY294002 treatment groups. On days 5, 10 and 15 after treatment, the inhibitory rate of tumor growth, pathological changes in tumor specimens, expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, CD34 [representing microvessel density (MVD)] and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as well as apoptosis indexes in tumor samples were observed.RESULTS: In this study, we showed that treatingthe tumors with LY294002 could significantly inhibit carcinoma growth by 11.3%, 29.4% and 36.7%, after 5, 10 and 15 d, respectively, compared to the control group. Hematoxylin & eosin staining indicated that the rate of inhibition increased progressively (23.51% ± 3.11%, 43.20% ± 3.27% and 63.28% ± 2.10% at 5, 10 and 15 d, respectively) along with apoptosis. The expression of MMP-2 was also downregulated (from 71.4% ± 1.6% to 47.9% ± 0.7%, 31.9% ± 0.9% and 7.9% ± 0.7%). The same effects were observed in MMP-9 protein expression (from 49.4% ± 1.5% to 36.9% ± 0.4%, 23.5% ± 0.9% and 7.7% ± 0.6%), the mean MVD (from 51.2% ± 3.1% to 41.9% ± 1.5%, 30.9% ± 1.7% and 14.9% ± 0.8%), and the expression of VEGF (from 47.2% ± 3.1% to 25.9% ± 0.5%, 18.6% ± 1.2% and 5.1% ± 0.9%) by immunohistochemical staining.CONCLUSION: The classPI3K inhibitor LY294002could inhibit the invasiveness of gastric cancer cells by downregulating the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, and VEGF, and reducing MVD.

Prognostic potential of the small GTPase Ran and its methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is a common malignant tumor with high mortality. The prognostic significance of Ran, a member of Ras superfamily, remains unclear in HCC patients. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA) database and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource(TIMER), we analyzed the correlations among Ran expression, promoter methylation and immune cell infiltration. We also investigated the Ran expression levels in HCC tissues and normal tissues by using quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Ran m RNA expression was significantly increased in HCC tissues compared with the normal tissues( P < 0.001). Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves showed that Ran expression had predictive value of the 1-, 3-and 5-year overall survival for HCC patients, and the areas under the curves(AUC) were 0.747, 0.634 and 0.704, respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that Ran expression was an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients(HR = 1.492, 95% CI: 1.129-1.971, P = 0.005). We also found a negative relationship between Ran m RNA expression and its promoter methylation( r =-0.36, P < 0.001). High Ran expression and promoter hypomethylation predicted worse overall survival and progression-free survival( P < 0.05) and were involved in the progression of HCC. Ran expression exhibited significant correlations with immune infiltrates and prognostic immune-related genes. Conclusions: The present study provides further insight into the prognosis of HCC, and Ran could serve as a biomarker for predicting the survival of HCC patients.

Continuous Flow Reactor for Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol by Hydrogen Peroxide

The direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol catalyzed by activated carbon-supported Fe （Fe/AC） in acetonitrile using H2O2 as the oxidant was studied in a continuous flow reactor. Results showed that the continuous operation could obtain high phenol yield of 28.1%, coupled with the turnover frequency of 3 h^-1, and high selectivity of 98% under mild condition. The catalyst was characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, Boehm titration, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was observed that iron may interact with the carboxyl group forming iron-carboxylate like species, which act as the active phase. The apparent activation energy obtained by fitting an Arrhenius model to the experimental data was 13.4 kJ/mol. The reaction order was calculated to be about i, 0.2 for benzene and 0.7 for H202.

Role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between self-directed learning readiness and problem-solving ability among nursing students

Objective: Problem-solving should be a fundamental component of nursing education because It is a core ability for professional nurses. For more effective learning, nursing students must understand the relationship between self-directed learning readiness and problem-solving ability. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among self-directed learning readiness, problemsolving ability, and academic self-efficacy among undergraduate nursing students.Methods: From November to December 2016, research was conducted among 500 nursing undergraduate students in Tianjin, China,using a self-directed learning readiness scale, an academic self-efficacy scale, a questionnaire related to problem-solving, and selfdesigned demographics. The response rate was 85.8%.Results: For Chinese nursing students, self-directed learning readiness and academic self-efficacy reached a medium-to-high level,while problem-solving abilities were at a low level. There were significant positive correlations among the students' self-directed learning readiness, academic self-efficacy, and problem-solving ability. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy demonstrated a mediating effect on the relationship between the students' self-directed learning readiness and problem-solving ability.Conclusions: To enhance students' problem-solving ability, nursing educators should pay more attention to the positive impact of self-directed learning readiness and self-efficacy in nursing students' education.

Raman and infrared spectra of complex low energy tetrahedral carbon allotropes from first-principles calculations

Up to now,at least 806 carbon allotropes have been proposed theoretically.Three interesting carbon allotropes(named Pbam-32,P6/mmm,and I43d)were recently uncovered based on a random sampling strategy combined with space group and graph theory.The calculation results show that they are superhard and remarkably stable compared with previously proposed metastable phases.This indicates that they are likely to be synthesized in experiment.We use the factor group analysis method to analyze theirΓ-point vibrational modes.Owing to their large number of atoms in primitive unit cells(32 atoms in Pbam-32,36 atoms in P6/mmm,and 94 atoms in I43d),they have many Raman-and infrared-active modes.There are 48 Raman-active modes and 37 infrared-active modes in Pbam-32,24 Raman-active modes and 14 infrared-active modes in P6/mmm,and 34 Raman-active modes and 35 Raman-and infrared-active modes in I43d.Their calculated Raman spectra can be divided into middle frequency range from 600 cm-1 to 1150 cm-1 and high frequency range above 1150 cm-1.Their largest infrared intensities are 0.82,0.77,and 0.70(D/Å)2/amu for Pbam,P6/mmm,and I43d,respectively.Our calculated results provide an insight into the lattice vibrational spectra of these sp3 carbon allotropes and suggest that the middle frequency Raman shift and infrared spectrum may play a key role in identifying newly proposed carbon allotropes.

Study on pharmacodynamic mechanism of compound Shuanghuanglian in prevention and treatment of pneumonia based on network pharmacology and association analysis

Background:Platform for prediction and analysis of Chinese medicine against coronavirus disease 2019(TCMAntiCOVID-19 V1.0)was used to explore the active ingredients,key targets and mechanisms of the compound coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),It will provide a reference for the clinical application of this prescription as a broad-spectrum agent in the prevention and treatment of pneumonia.It will also win valuable time for finding symptomatic Chinese medicine prescriptions and vaccine research and development.Methods:Set Banxia Tianma Baizhu decoction as the negative control.Qingfei Paidu decoction as the positive control,and use TCMAntiCOVID-19 V1.0 platform to predict the potential efficacy of compound Shuanghuanglian.We used the quantitative evaluation algorithm of multi-target drugs for the network disturbance of disease,by comparing the changes of network topological characteristics before and after drug intervention,and using the disturbance rate to evaluate the drug’s dryness for disease prediction.Using batman-TCM,the credibility card value of the target sets 20,then the target of traditional Chinese medicine composition is predicted,the heterogeneous network of traditional Chinese medicine composition-drug target-disease target is established.The interaction of related network is realized by JavaScript Visualization is realized,and cycloscape is edited.The average connectivity,the average shortest path length,the centrality of connectivity and the centrality of network compactness are calculated by using R’s iGraph package,and nulldistribution is used as the overall distribution to correct the disturbance rate of drugs to the real network,so as to evaluate the stability of network topology and explore its mechanism.Results:The key targets of COVID-19 were Aif1,Ccl2,Cdc20,Cxcl13,Fcer1g,Ido1,Ifng,Il10,Il1rnIl6,Ncf4,Ptger4,Spi1,Tnf,Xcl1;after the intervention,the average connectivity,the average shortest path length,the network connectivity centrality and the network tightness centrality were(2.31e+1),(2.41e+0),(6.21e−1),(1.68e−2)respectively;the total scores of network stability evaluation of drug intervention diseases were 18.29,12.59 and 19.10 respectively.Conclusion:Compound Shuanghuanglian can effectively break the stability of the disease network of COVID-19,and the overall effect of prevention and treatment of COVID-19 is close to that of the positive control Qingfei Paidu decoction,which is significantly better than that of the negative control Banxia Tianma Baizhu decoction.That is because compound Shuanghuanglian mainly acts on Aif1,Ccl2,Cdc20,Cxcl13,Fcer1g and other key targets.Compound Shuanghuanglian plays important role of inhibiting the inflammatory response of patients with COVID-19 and alleviating lung injury,so as to achieve the purpose of treating COVID-19.At the same time,in the initial stage of COVID-19 and other sudden infectious pneumoniausing compound Shuanghuanglian can win valuable time before finding symptomatic Chinese medicine prescription and vaccine research.

Experimental observation of topological Hall effects in compensated ferrimagnet-heavy metal layered structures

The topological Hall effect(THE) as a powerful probe for the experimental observation of topological spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, has been observed in a wide variety of distinct material systems. However, limited experimental observations have been reported for antiferromagnetic(AFM) materials. Here, the THE signals in the AFM state were observed in compensated ferrimagnetic thin films interfaced with heavy metals at the magnetization compensation temperature(TM).Ferrimagnetic CoTb thin films grown on Pt thin films were used in the experiments. The Co Tb films exhibited a magnetization compensation point at which the moments of Co and Tb sublattices canceled each other, giving rise to the AFM state. The temperature(T)-dependent Hall measurements showed anomalous Hall effect(AHE) and THE responses at T≠T_(M) but pure THE responses at T=T_(M). Control measurements and analyses suggest that the THE responses are associated with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction(DMI) rather than the overlapping of different AHE signals in the structure. This work presents the first-ever observation of interfacial DMI-induced THE in AFM metal trilayered systems and demonstrates a new approach for electrical reading of chiral spin textures in AFM thin film-based heterostructures.