A key strategy for raising students’humanistic aptitude is through music education.Culture is the soul of music and the source of innovation in music education.Under the current social education concept,it is advocat...A key strategy for raising students’humanistic aptitude is through music education.Culture is the soul of music and the source of innovation in music education.Under the current social education concept,it is advocated to carry forward excellent traditional and red culture in teaching,hence this paper further explores the path of integrating red culture into music education.The incorporation of the Taihang spirit,the most representative cultural resource in Shanxi,into music education in colleges and universities will promote the concept of Lide Shuren,further enhance students’training,and enable students to fulfill the dual education requirements.展开更多
BACKGROUND Although cytoreductive surgery(CRS)and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy(HIPEC)offer the potential for long-term survival in peritoneal carcinomatosis,outcomes following CRS/HIPEC vary significantly...BACKGROUND Although cytoreductive surgery(CRS)and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy(HIPEC)offer the potential for long-term survival in peritoneal carcinomatosis,outcomes following CRS/HIPEC vary significantly.AIM To identify the clinical factors associated with progression-free survival(PFS)after complete CRS/HIPEC in patients with colorectal/high-grade appendiceal,ovarian,and gastric cancers.METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the risk of recurrence within 1 year after CRS/HIPEC and its impact on overall survival(OS)in patients recruited between 2015 and 2020.Logistic regression models were used to assess the prognostic factors for the risk of recurrence within 1 year.Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between recurrence and OS.RESULTS Of the 80 enrolled patients,39 had an unfavorable PFS(<1 year)and 41 had a favorable PFS(≥1 year).Simple logistic models revealed that the patients with a completeness of cytoreduction score of 0(CC-0)or length of CRS≤6 h had a favorable PFS[odds ratio(OR)=0.141,P=0.004;and OR=0.361,P=0.027,respectively].In multiple logistic regression,achieving CC-0 was the strongest prognostic factor for a favorable PFS(OR=0.131,P=0.005).A peritoneal cancer index score>12 was associated with a lower rate of achieving CC-0(P=0.027).The favorable PFS group had a significantly longer OS(median 81.7 mo vs 17.0 mo,P<0.001).CONCLUSION Achieving CC-0 was associated with a lower early recurrence rate and improved long-term survival.This study underscores the importance of selecting appropriate candidates for CRS/HIPEC to manage peritoneal carcinomatosis.展开更多
Internship is believed to be vital in bridging the gap of theory and practice because of its providing students many realities they couldn’t find on campus. In fact, successful internships can play the role of “win-...Internship is believed to be vital in bridging the gap of theory and practice because of its providing students many realities they couldn’t find on campus. In fact, successful internships can play the role of “win-win-win” triangular partnership among schools, students, and industries, especially to benefit students to well equip themselves for good opportunities in the future career development. However, internship experiences that fail to meet students’ expectation may also discourage them or turn them away from entering the industry. Hence, to be aware of and to avoid the potential gap of students’ expectation cannot be underestimated. The study aimed to explore students’ expectation of internships from an aspect of gender and multiple intelligences expecting to avoid the potential gap beforehand. Subjects were eighty college Hospitality students who were ready to conduct their internships out of campus. They helped to fill out the questionnaires dealing with their personal demographic information, multiple intelligences, and expectations of internship. Findings revealed that genders and multiple intelligences did make a difference in students’ expectations of internship which may bring about frustration or disappointment in their real internship world. Suggestions and implications for the triangular partnership of schools, students, and industries were provided with a better understanding of factors relevant to students’ expectations for a more appropriate internship program to avoid the potential gap in advance.展开更多
Laboratory and field experiments were performed to evaluate the pathogenicity of an isolate of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to the two sympatrically occurring weevil species, Cylas formicarius an...Laboratory and field experiments were performed to evaluate the pathogenicity of an isolate of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to the two sympatrically occurring weevil species, Cylas formicarius and Euscepes postfasciatus. In the laboratory bioassays, suspension of conidia, ≥10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL, caused mortalities > 80% on adults of both weevils in seven days after inoculation. It took longer time 20 days for grain formulation of the isolate adhered on rice grains of ≥5 g/m<sup>2</sup> (10<sup>7</sup> CFU/g) to attain similar mortalities of E. postfasciatus, but no evident mortality was obtained in C. formicarius. The grain formulation was thus less effective on C. formicarius than the suspension. Field trials were carried out over two years from 2013 to 2014, in which adults of E. postfasciatus were released two times during the field experiments for enhancement of damage on plants by this weevil, whereas the other weevil species was left to naturally invade the experimental plots by flying. The results of the experiments revealed in both years that two applications of the isolate in grain formulation, equivalent to 50 kg/hectare, sprayed manually over the ground surface reduced the infestation of plants and tuber damage by weevils of both species as much as the conventional chemical insecticide applications. The occurrences of weevils at harvest were not significantly different among treatments. The potential and possible uses of the fungus are discussed for the management of these two weevil species.展开更多
Purpose: Obtaining high peak bone mass (PBM) and maintaining bone mass is important for the prevention of osteoporosis. This study aimed to examine the regional differences in bone mineral density and factors associat...Purpose: Obtaining high peak bone mass (PBM) and maintaining bone mass is important for the prevention of osteoporosis. This study aimed to examine the regional differences in bone mineral density and factors associated with its acquisition from exercise. Design: The study population included 75 women of 18 - 22 years of age in East Japan and 104 women of 18 - 27 years of age in West Japan. The speed of sound (SOS) of the calcaneus was measured, and the young adult mean (%YAM) was calculated from the SOS. The subjects’ medical history, family history of osteoporosis, and exercise habits were examined using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: There were a significantly greater number of subjects with low %YAM in West Japan. The exercise history and exercise time were significantly higher in West Japan, and the exercise intensity score tended to be higher in East Japan during junior high and high school. A multiple regression analysis by region revealed that the following factors had a significant positive association with the SOS: exercise intensity at elementary school and outdoor sports at junior high school in East Japan;and exercise time at elementary school, muscle mass, and outdoor sports at junior high school in West Japan. On the other hand, exercise time in junior high school in West Japan showed a negative association with the SOS. Conclusions: Regional differences in bone mineral density existed, suggesting a trend toward lower bone mineral density in West Japan. Exercise history and time tended to be higher in West Japan, and exercise intensity scores tended to be higher in East Japan, suggesting that exercise intensity may be more important than exercise time for obtaining bone mineral density.展开更多
AIM: To evaluate the clinic features of eosinophilicgastroenteritis and to examine the diagnosis, treatment,long-term outcome of this disease.METHODS: Charts with a diagnosis of eosinophilicgastroenteritis from 1984 t...AIM: To evaluate the clinic features of eosinophilicgastroenteritis and to examine the diagnosis, treatment,long-term outcome of this disease.METHODS: Charts with a diagnosis of eosinophilicgastroenteritis from 1984 to 2002 at Mackay Memorial Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. There were 15 patients diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis. The diagnosis was established in 13 by histologic evaluation of endoscopic biopsy or operative specimen and in 2 by radiologic imaging and the presence of eosinophilic ascites.RESULTS: All the patients had gastrointestinal symptoms and 12 (80 %) had hypereosinophilia (absolute eosinophil count 1 008 to 31 360/cm3). The most common symptoms were abdominal pain and diarrhea. Five of the 15 patients had a history of allergy. Seven patients had involvement of the mucosa, 2 of muscularis, and 6 of subserosa. One with a history of seafood allergy was successfully treated with an elimination diet. Another patient improved spontaneously after fasted for several days. The remaining 13 patients were treated with oral prednisolone, 10 to 40 mg/day initially,which was then tapered. The symptoms in all the patients subsided within two weeks. Eleven of the 15 patients were followed up for more than 12 months (12 to 104 months,mean 48.7), of whom 5 had relapses after discontinuing steroids (13 episodes). Two of these patients required longterm maintenance oral prednisolone (5 to 10 mg/day).CONCLUSION: Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare condition of unclear etiology characterized by relapses and remissions. Short courses of corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment, although some patients with relapsing disease require long-term low-dose steroids.展开更多
Benign esophageal lesions have a wide spectrum of clinical and pathologic features. Understanding the endoscopic and pathologic features of esophageal lesions is essential for their detection, differential diagnosis, ...Benign esophageal lesions have a wide spectrum of clinical and pathologic features. Understanding the endoscopic and pathologic features of esophageal lesions is essential for their detection, differential diagnosis, and management. The purpose of this review is to provide updated features that may help physicians to appropriately manage these esophageal lesions. The endoscopic features of 2997 patients are reviewed. In epithelial lesions, the frequency of occurrence was in the following order: glycogenic acanthosis, heterotopic gastric mucosa, squamous papilloma, hyperplastic polyp, ectopic sebaceous gland and xanthoma. In subepithelial lesions, the order was as follows: hemangioma, leiomyoma, dysphagia aortica and granular cell tumor. Most benign esophageal lesions can be diagnosed according to their endoscopic appearance and findings on routine biopsy, and submucosal lesions, by endoscopic resection. Management is generally based upon the confidence of diagnosis and whether the lesion causes symptoms. We suggest endoscopic resection of all granular cell tumors and squamous papillomas because, while rare, these lesions have malignant potential. Dysphagia aortica should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dysphagia in the elderly.展开更多
AIM: To compare the efficacy and toxicity of a three-step combination therapy with post-operative radiation alone for locally advanced esophageal cancer.METHODS: Patients with T3-4 and N0-1 esophageal carcinoma from...AIM: To compare the efficacy and toxicity of a three-step combination therapy with post-operative radiation alone for locally advanced esophageal cancer.METHODS: Patients with T3-4 and N0-1 esophageal carcinoma from a number of institutions were non-randomly, prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients underwent single-stage curative en bloc esophagectomy. The patients were then assigned into one of two treatment groups based on treatment consisting of either post-operative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with weekly cisplatin 30 mg/m^2 followed by systemic adjuvant chemotherapy (four monthly cycles of cisplatin 20 mg/m^2 and 5-fluorouracil 1 000 mg/m^2 for five consecutive days), or, post-operative radiation alone. The radiotherapy dose was 55-60 Gy for all patients. Primary end-point of this study was to assess the per-protocol patients' improvement of overall survival benefit. Secondary end-point was designed to evaluate both the per-protocol and intent-totreat patients' outcome of survival. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients (n=30 per group) were enrolled in this study. The two groups were generally comparable for demographic characteristics and hematological and non-hematological toxicities. The CCRT with weekly cisplatin was well tolerated, with significantly better overall survival (30.9 mo vs 20.7 mo; 95% CI, 27.5-36.4 vs 15.2-26.1) and 3-year survival (70.0% vs 33.7%; P=0.003). Low histological grade of tumor (P〈0.001) was associated with favorable survival in these locally advanced patients. CONCLUSION: For locally advanced esophageal cancer, the combination of esophagectomy, post-operative CCRT with weekly cisplatin and systemic adjuvant chemotherapy is well tolerated and effective. A large-scale, prospective randomized trial of this regimen is in progress.展开更多
Soil samples from 4 defined city zones of Nanjing were randomly collected at 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm intervals and size fractions of soil particles were separated from undisturbed bulk soils by low energy dispersion proced...Soil samples from 4 defined city zones of Nanjing were randomly collected at 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm intervals and size fractions of soil particles were separated from undisturbed bulk soils by low energy dispersion procedure. The total contents of Cu and Pb in the different particle size fractions of the urban soils were analyzed by HNO3-HF-HClO4 digestion and flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer determination. The total content of Cu and Pb in soil particle size fractions varied with their size and with city zones as well. Both the content and variation with the size fractions of Pb was bigger than of Cu supporting our previous finding that there was Pb pollution to different degrees in the urban soils although the two elements were generally enriched in clay-sized fraction. Contaminated Pb tended to be preferentially enriched in the size fraction of 2000-250 μm and clay-sized fraction. While the size fractions of the soils from newly developed and preserved area contained smaller amount of Cu and Pb, the partitioning of them in coarse and fine particle size fractions were insignificant compared to that from inner residence and commercial area. The very high Pb level over 150 mg/kg of the fine particle fractions from the soils of the inner city could be a cause of high blood Pb level reported of children from the city as acute exposure to Pb of fine particles of the urban soil might occur by soil ingestion and inhalation by young children. Thus, much attention should be paid to the partitioning of toxic metals in fine soil particles of the urban soils and countermeasures against high health risk of Pb exposure by soil ingestion and dust inhalation should be practiced against the health problem of blood Pb for young children from the cities.展开更多
The Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report and the Second Asia-Pacific Consensus Guidelines strongly recommend eradication of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)in patients with previous gastric neoplasia who have undergon...The Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report and the Second Asia-Pacific Consensus Guidelines strongly recommend eradication of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)in patients with previous gastric neoplasia who have undergone gastric surgery.However,the guidelines do not mention optimal timing,eradication regimens,diagnostic tools,and follow-up strategies for patients undergoing gastrectomy and do not indicate if eradication of H.pylori reduces the risk of marginal ulcer or stump cancer in the residual stomach after gastrectomy.The purpose of this review is to provide an update which may help physicians to properly manage H.pylori infection in patients who have undergone gastric surgery.This review focuses on(1)the microenvironment change in the stomach after gastrectomy;(2)the phenomenon of spontaneous clearance of H.pylori after gastrectomy;(3)the effects of H.pylori on gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia after gastrectomy;(4)incidence and clinical features of ulcers developing after gastrectomy;(5)does eradication of H.pylori reduce the risk of gastric stump cancer in the residual stomach?(6)does eradication of H.pylori reduce the risk of secondary metachronous gastric cancer in the residual stomach?and(7)optimal timing and regimens for H.pylori eradication,diagnostic tools and follow-up strategies for patients undergoing gastrectomy.展开更多
Hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection is a major global health issue.Infection by the HCV can cause acute and chronic liver diseases and may lead to cirrhosis,hepatocellular carcinoma or liver failure.The World Health Orga...Hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection is a major global health issue.Infection by the HCV can cause acute and chronic liver diseases and may lead to cirrhosis,hepatocellular carcinoma or liver failure.The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 3% of the world population have been infected with HCVand the worldwide prevalence is between 1% and 8% in pregnant women and between 0.05% and 5% in children.Following the introduction of blood product screening,vertical transmission becomes the leading cause of childhood HCV infection.The prevalence of pediatric HCV infection varies from 0.05% to 0.36% in developed countries and between 1.8% and 5% in the developing world.All children born to women with antiHCV antibodies should be checked for HCV infection.Though universal screening is controversial,selective antenatal HCV screening on high-risk populations is highly recommended and should be tested probably.Multiple risk factors were shown to increase the possibility of HCV vertical transmission,including coinfections with human immunodeficiency virus,intravenous drug use and elevated maternal HCV viral load,while breastfeeding and HCV genotypes have been studied to have little impact.At present,no clinical intervention has been clearly studied and proved to reduce the HCV vertical transmission risk.Cesarean section should not be recommended as a procedure to prevent vertical transmission,however,breastfeeding is generally not forbidden.The high prevalence of global HCV infection necessitates renewed efforts in primary prevention,including vaccine development,as well as new approaches to reduce the burden of chronic liver disease.Future researches should focus on the interruption of vertical transmission,developments of HCV vaccine and directacting antivirals in infancy and early childhood.展开更多
AIM: To better understand some of the superficial tiny lesions that are recognized as squamous papilloma of the esophagus(SPE) and receive a different pathological diagnosis.METHODS: All consecutive patients with esop...AIM: To better understand some of the superficial tiny lesions that are recognized as squamous papilloma of the esophagus(SPE) and receive a different pathological diagnosis.METHODS: All consecutive patients with esophageal polypoid lesions detected by routine endoscopy at our Endoscopy Centre between October 2009 and June 2014 were retrospectively analysed. We enrolled patients with SPE or other superficial lesions to investigate four key endoscopic appearances(whitish color, exophytic growth, wart-like shape, and surface vessels) and used narrow band imaging(NBI) to distinguish their differences. These series endoscopic images of each patient were retrospectively reviewed by three experienced endoscopists with no prior access to the images. All lesion specimens obtained by forceps biopsy were fixed in formalin and processed for pathological examination. The following data were collected from patient medical records: gender, age, indications for esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and endoscopic characteristics including lesion location, number, color, size, surface morphology, surrounding mucosa, and surface vessels under NBI. Clinicopathological features were also compared.RESULTS: During the study period, 41 esophageal polypoid lesions from 5698 endoscopic examinations were identified retrospectively. These included 24 patients with pathologically confirmed SPE, 11 patients with squamous hyperplasia, three patients with glycogenic acanthosis, two patients with ectopic sebaceous glands, and one patient with a xanthoma. In the χ2 test, exophytic growth(P = 0.003), a wartlike shape(P < 0.001), and crossing surface vessels under NBI(P = 0.001) were more frequently observed in SPE than in other lesion types. By contrast, there was no significant difference regarding the appearance of a whitish color between SPE and other lesion types(P = 0.872). The most sensitive characteristic was wart-like projections(81.3%) and the most specific was exophytic growth(87.5%). Promising positive predictive values of 84.2%, 80.8%, and 82.6% were noted for exophytic growth, wart-like projections, and surface vessel crossing on NBI, respectively.CONCLUSION: The use of three key typical endoscopic appearances- exophytic growth, a wart-like shape, and vessel crossing on the lesion surface under NBI- has a promising positive predictive value of 88.2%. This diagnostic triad is useful for the endoscopic diagnosis of SPE.展开更多
AIM To identify potential anti-cancer constituents in natural extracts that inhibit cancer cell growth and migration. METHODS Our experiments used high dose thymoquinone (TQ) as an inhibitor to arrest LoVo (a human co...AIM To identify potential anti-cancer constituents in natural extracts that inhibit cancer cell growth and migration. METHODS Our experiments used high dose thymoquinone (TQ) as an inhibitor to arrest LoVo (a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line) cancer cell growth, which was detected by cell proliferation assay and immunoblotting assay. Low dose TQ did not significantly reduce LoVo cancer cell growth. Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is an enzyme that is involved in the conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in humans. PGE2 can promote COX-2 protein expression and tumor cell proliferation and was used as a control. RESULTS Our results showed that 20 mu mol/L TQ significantly reduced human LoVo colon cancer cell proliferation. TQ treatment reduced the levels of p-PI3K, p-Akt, p-GSK3 beta, and beta-catenin and thereby inhibited the downstream COX-2 expression. Results also showed that the reduction in COX-2 expression resulted in a reduction in PGE2 levels and the suppression of EP2 and EP4 activation. Further analysis showed that TG treatment inhibited the nuclear translocation of beta-catenin in LoVo cancer cells. The levels of the cofactors LEF-1 and TCF-4 were also decreased in the nucleus following TQ treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with low dose TQ inhibited the COX-2 expression at the transcriptional level and the regulation of COX-2 expression efficiently reduced LoVo cell migration. The results were further verified in vivo by confirming the effects of TQ and/or PGE2 using tumor xenografts in nude mice. CONCLUSION TQ inhibits LoVo cancer cell growth and migration, and this result highlights the therapeutic advantage of using TQ in combination therapy against colorectal cancer.展开更多
AIM To evaluate the association between mortality-to-incidence ratios(MIRs) and health disparities.METHODS In this study, we used the GLOBOCAN 2012 database to obtain the cancer incidence and mortality data for 57 cou...AIM To evaluate the association between mortality-to-incidence ratios(MIRs) and health disparities.METHODS In this study, we used the GLOBOCAN 2012 database to obtain the cancer incidence and mortality data for 57 countries, and combined this information with the World Health Organization(WHO) rankings and total expenditures on health/gross domestic product(e/GDP). The associations between variables and MIRs were analyzed by linear regression analyses and the 57 countries were selected according to their data quality. RESULTS The more developed regions showed high gastric cancer incidence and mortality crude rates, but lower MIR values than the less developed regions(0.64 vs 0.80, respectively). Among six continents, Oceania had the lowest(0.60) and Africa had the highest(0.91) MIR. A good WHO ranking and a high e/GDP were significantly associated with low MIRs(P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively).CONCLUSION The MIR variation for gastric cancer would predict regional health disparities.展开更多
Fe_3O_4-PVDF membranes were prepared by blending of magnetic Fe_3O_4 powders with polyvinylidene fluoride to investigate whether those were usable or not in catalytic membrane reactors. Filtration performances and cat...Fe_3O_4-PVDF membranes were prepared by blending of magnetic Fe_3O_4 powders with polyvinylidene fluoride to investigate whether those were usable or not in catalytic membrane reactors. Filtration performances and catalytic activity of membranes in microwave conditions were measured in separate processes. Composite Fe_3O_4-PVDF membranes were characterized by TG-DTA, FTIR, XRD, SEM and contact angle techniques.Disappearing of α-phases at PVDF was observed with increasing amount of additives from XRD diffraction patterns. Decomposition of polymer fastened due to catalytic effect of Fe_3O_4. Finger-like structures and large number of small pores were observed at the SEM images. Those provided effective transportation of substrate among the active sites of catalyst. At the experiments conducted in batch reactor, 51%, 77%, 66% and 63% benzyl alcohol conversion were recorded for 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% Fe_3O_4-PVDF composite pieces respectively. Catalyst were separated magnetically and reused several times. On the other hand Fe_3O_4 blended PVDF membranes provided improved flux and BSA rejection compared with performance of bare PVDF membrane; 41.6% BSA rejection was obtained with 4% Fe_3O_4-PVDF whereas it was only 6.7% for PVDF. Fe_3O_4-PVDF composites performed high activity for the benzyl alcohol oxidation in batch reactor and also better filtration at filtration cell. These results promise to obtain practical and low cost membrane material for catalytic reactors usable in microwave support to get fast results.展开更多
Purpose: To identify factors related to changes in foot status and foot care in patients with diabetes mellitus participating in an exercise program. Methods: The subjects were 21 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitu...Purpose: To identify factors related to changes in foot status and foot care in patients with diabetes mellitus participating in an exercise program. Methods: The subjects were 21 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (8 males, 13 females). The mean age of the patients was 62.3 ± 12.5 years old. Foot status, physical measurements and daily activities were monitored and several surveys were performed. Results: Changes in foot status were significantly positively correlated with walking at normal speed (r = 0.54, p < 0.05) and fast speed (r = 0.68, p p < 0.05). Foot care showed a significant negative correlation with burden of diet therapy (r = -0.48, p < 0.05) and a significant positive correlation with the self-efficacy of diet therapy (r = 0.65, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Subjects who were fast walkers showed greater changes in foot status. Poor foot care behavior is also related to greater changes in foot status. Regular interventions for foot care are important to improve self-care behavior during an exercise program.展开更多
For the(2+1)-Dimensional HNLS equation,what are the dynamical behavior of its traveling wave solutions and how do they depend on the parameters of the systems? This paper will answer these questions by using the metho...For the(2+1)-Dimensional HNLS equation,what are the dynamical behavior of its traveling wave solutions and how do they depend on the parameters of the systems? This paper will answer these questions by using the methods of dynamical systems.Ten exact explicit parametric representations of the traveling wave solutions are given.展开更多
BACKGROUND The gut-liver axis has attracted much interest in the context of chronic liver disease pathogenesis.Prebiotics such as dietary fibers were shown to attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)by modul...BACKGROUND The gut-liver axis has attracted much interest in the context of chronic liver disease pathogenesis.Prebiotics such as dietary fibers were shown to attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)by modulating gut microbiota.Partially hydrolyzed guar gum(PHGG),a water-soluble dietary fiber,has been reported to alleviate the symptoms of various intestinal diseases and metabolic syndromes.However,its effects on NAFLD remain to be fully elucidated.To determine whether treatment with PHGG attenuates NAFLD development in mice through the gut-liver axis.METHODS Seven-week-old male C57BL/6J mice with increased intestinal permeability were fed a control or atherogenic(Ath)diet(a mouse model of NAFLD)for 8 wk,with or without 5%PHGG.Increased intestinal permeability was induced through chronic intermittent administration of low-dose dextran sulfate sodium.Body weight,liver weight,macroscopic findings in the liver,blood biochemistry[aspartate aminotransferase(AST)and alanine aminotransferase(ALT),total cholesterol,triglyceride,free fatty acids,and glucose levels],liver histology,myeloperoxidase activity in liver tissue,mRNA expression in the liver and intestine,serum endotoxin levels in the portal vein,intestinal permeability,and microbiota and short-chain fatty acid(SCFA)profiles in the cecal samples were investigated.RESULTS Mice with increased intestinal permeability subjected to the Ath diet showed significantly increased serum AST and ALT levels,liver fat accumulation,liver inflammatory(tumor necrosis factor-αand monocyte chemotactic protein-1)and fibrogenic(collagen 1a1 andαsmooth muscle actin)marker levels,and liver myeloperoxidase activity,which were significantly attenuated by PHGG treatment.Furthermore,the Ath diet combined with increased intestinal permeability resulted in elevated portal endotoxin levels and activated toll-like receptor(TLR)4 and TLR9 expression,confirming that intestinal permeability was significantly elevated,as observed by evaluating the lumen-to-blood clearance of fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated dextran.PHGG treatment did not affect fatty acid metabolism in the liver.However,it decreased lipopolysaccharide signaling through the gut-liver axis.In addition,it significantly increased the abundance of cecal Bacteroides and Clostridium subcluster XIVa.Treatment with PHGG markedly increased the levels of SCFAs,particularly,butyric acid,acetic acid,propionic acid,and formic acid,in the cecal samples.CONCLUSION PHGG partially prevented NAFLD development in mice through the gut-liver axis by modulating microbiota and downstream SCFA profiles.展开更多
基金Achievements of“Continuing the Red Bloodline and Inheriting the Spirit of Taihang”by Shanxi Province’s characteristic cultural education brand.
文摘A key strategy for raising students’humanistic aptitude is through music education.Culture is the soul of music and the source of innovation in music education.Under the current social education concept,it is advocated to carry forward excellent traditional and red culture in teaching,hence this paper further explores the path of integrating red culture into music education.The incorporation of the Taihang spirit,the most representative cultural resource in Shanxi,into music education in colleges and universities will promote the concept of Lide Shuren,further enhance students’training,and enable students to fulfill the dual education requirements.
基金the Chang Gung Medical Foundation,No.CMRPG6L0091,No.CMRPG6L0092,and No.CMRPG6L0093.
文摘BACKGROUND Although cytoreductive surgery(CRS)and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy(HIPEC)offer the potential for long-term survival in peritoneal carcinomatosis,outcomes following CRS/HIPEC vary significantly.AIM To identify the clinical factors associated with progression-free survival(PFS)after complete CRS/HIPEC in patients with colorectal/high-grade appendiceal,ovarian,and gastric cancers.METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the risk of recurrence within 1 year after CRS/HIPEC and its impact on overall survival(OS)in patients recruited between 2015 and 2020.Logistic regression models were used to assess the prognostic factors for the risk of recurrence within 1 year.Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between recurrence and OS.RESULTS Of the 80 enrolled patients,39 had an unfavorable PFS(<1 year)and 41 had a favorable PFS(≥1 year).Simple logistic models revealed that the patients with a completeness of cytoreduction score of 0(CC-0)or length of CRS≤6 h had a favorable PFS[odds ratio(OR)=0.141,P=0.004;and OR=0.361,P=0.027,respectively].In multiple logistic regression,achieving CC-0 was the strongest prognostic factor for a favorable PFS(OR=0.131,P=0.005).A peritoneal cancer index score>12 was associated with a lower rate of achieving CC-0(P=0.027).The favorable PFS group had a significantly longer OS(median 81.7 mo vs 17.0 mo,P<0.001).CONCLUSION Achieving CC-0 was associated with a lower early recurrence rate and improved long-term survival.This study underscores the importance of selecting appropriate candidates for CRS/HIPEC to manage peritoneal carcinomatosis.
文摘Internship is believed to be vital in bridging the gap of theory and practice because of its providing students many realities they couldn’t find on campus. In fact, successful internships can play the role of “win-win-win” triangular partnership among schools, students, and industries, especially to benefit students to well equip themselves for good opportunities in the future career development. However, internship experiences that fail to meet students’ expectation may also discourage them or turn them away from entering the industry. Hence, to be aware of and to avoid the potential gap of students’ expectation cannot be underestimated. The study aimed to explore students’ expectation of internships from an aspect of gender and multiple intelligences expecting to avoid the potential gap beforehand. Subjects were eighty college Hospitality students who were ready to conduct their internships out of campus. They helped to fill out the questionnaires dealing with their personal demographic information, multiple intelligences, and expectations of internship. Findings revealed that genders and multiple intelligences did make a difference in students’ expectations of internship which may bring about frustration or disappointment in their real internship world. Suggestions and implications for the triangular partnership of schools, students, and industries were provided with a better understanding of factors relevant to students’ expectations for a more appropriate internship program to avoid the potential gap in advance.
文摘Laboratory and field experiments were performed to evaluate the pathogenicity of an isolate of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to the two sympatrically occurring weevil species, Cylas formicarius and Euscepes postfasciatus. In the laboratory bioassays, suspension of conidia, ≥10<sup>6</sup> CFU/mL, caused mortalities > 80% on adults of both weevils in seven days after inoculation. It took longer time 20 days for grain formulation of the isolate adhered on rice grains of ≥5 g/m<sup>2</sup> (10<sup>7</sup> CFU/g) to attain similar mortalities of E. postfasciatus, but no evident mortality was obtained in C. formicarius. The grain formulation was thus less effective on C. formicarius than the suspension. Field trials were carried out over two years from 2013 to 2014, in which adults of E. postfasciatus were released two times during the field experiments for enhancement of damage on plants by this weevil, whereas the other weevil species was left to naturally invade the experimental plots by flying. The results of the experiments revealed in both years that two applications of the isolate in grain formulation, equivalent to 50 kg/hectare, sprayed manually over the ground surface reduced the infestation of plants and tuber damage by weevils of both species as much as the conventional chemical insecticide applications. The occurrences of weevils at harvest were not significantly different among treatments. The potential and possible uses of the fungus are discussed for the management of these two weevil species.
文摘Purpose: Obtaining high peak bone mass (PBM) and maintaining bone mass is important for the prevention of osteoporosis. This study aimed to examine the regional differences in bone mineral density and factors associated with its acquisition from exercise. Design: The study population included 75 women of 18 - 22 years of age in East Japan and 104 women of 18 - 27 years of age in West Japan. The speed of sound (SOS) of the calcaneus was measured, and the young adult mean (%YAM) was calculated from the SOS. The subjects’ medical history, family history of osteoporosis, and exercise habits were examined using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: There were a significantly greater number of subjects with low %YAM in West Japan. The exercise history and exercise time were significantly higher in West Japan, and the exercise intensity score tended to be higher in East Japan during junior high and high school. A multiple regression analysis by region revealed that the following factors had a significant positive association with the SOS: exercise intensity at elementary school and outdoor sports at junior high school in East Japan;and exercise time at elementary school, muscle mass, and outdoor sports at junior high school in West Japan. On the other hand, exercise time in junior high school in West Japan showed a negative association with the SOS. Conclusions: Regional differences in bone mineral density existed, suggesting a trend toward lower bone mineral density in West Japan. Exercise history and time tended to be higher in West Japan, and exercise intensity scores tended to be higher in East Japan, suggesting that exercise intensity may be more important than exercise time for obtaining bone mineral density.
文摘AIM: To evaluate the clinic features of eosinophilicgastroenteritis and to examine the diagnosis, treatment,long-term outcome of this disease.METHODS: Charts with a diagnosis of eosinophilicgastroenteritis from 1984 to 2002 at Mackay Memorial Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. There were 15 patients diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis. The diagnosis was established in 13 by histologic evaluation of endoscopic biopsy or operative specimen and in 2 by radiologic imaging and the presence of eosinophilic ascites.RESULTS: All the patients had gastrointestinal symptoms and 12 (80 %) had hypereosinophilia (absolute eosinophil count 1 008 to 31 360/cm3). The most common symptoms were abdominal pain and diarrhea. Five of the 15 patients had a history of allergy. Seven patients had involvement of the mucosa, 2 of muscularis, and 6 of subserosa. One with a history of seafood allergy was successfully treated with an elimination diet. Another patient improved spontaneously after fasted for several days. The remaining 13 patients were treated with oral prednisolone, 10 to 40 mg/day initially,which was then tapered. The symptoms in all the patients subsided within two weeks. Eleven of the 15 patients were followed up for more than 12 months (12 to 104 months,mean 48.7), of whom 5 had relapses after discontinuing steroids (13 episodes). Two of these patients required longterm maintenance oral prednisolone (5 to 10 mg/day).CONCLUSION: Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare condition of unclear etiology characterized by relapses and remissions. Short courses of corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment, although some patients with relapsing disease require long-term low-dose steroids.
文摘Benign esophageal lesions have a wide spectrum of clinical and pathologic features. Understanding the endoscopic and pathologic features of esophageal lesions is essential for their detection, differential diagnosis, and management. The purpose of this review is to provide updated features that may help physicians to appropriately manage these esophageal lesions. The endoscopic features of 2997 patients are reviewed. In epithelial lesions, the frequency of occurrence was in the following order: glycogenic acanthosis, heterotopic gastric mucosa, squamous papilloma, hyperplastic polyp, ectopic sebaceous gland and xanthoma. In subepithelial lesions, the order was as follows: hemangioma, leiomyoma, dysphagia aortica and granular cell tumor. Most benign esophageal lesions can be diagnosed according to their endoscopic appearance and findings on routine biopsy, and submucosal lesions, by endoscopic resection. Management is generally based upon the confidence of diagnosis and whether the lesion causes symptoms. We suggest endoscopic resection of all granular cell tumors and squamous papillomas because, while rare, these lesions have malignant potential. Dysphagia aortica should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dysphagia in the elderly.
文摘AIM: To compare the efficacy and toxicity of a three-step combination therapy with post-operative radiation alone for locally advanced esophageal cancer.METHODS: Patients with T3-4 and N0-1 esophageal carcinoma from a number of institutions were non-randomly, prospectively enrolled in the study. All patients underwent single-stage curative en bloc esophagectomy. The patients were then assigned into one of two treatment groups based on treatment consisting of either post-operative concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with weekly cisplatin 30 mg/m^2 followed by systemic adjuvant chemotherapy (four monthly cycles of cisplatin 20 mg/m^2 and 5-fluorouracil 1 000 mg/m^2 for five consecutive days), or, post-operative radiation alone. The radiotherapy dose was 55-60 Gy for all patients. Primary end-point of this study was to assess the per-protocol patients' improvement of overall survival benefit. Secondary end-point was designed to evaluate both the per-protocol and intent-totreat patients' outcome of survival. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients (n=30 per group) were enrolled in this study. The two groups were generally comparable for demographic characteristics and hematological and non-hematological toxicities. The CCRT with weekly cisplatin was well tolerated, with significantly better overall survival (30.9 mo vs 20.7 mo; 95% CI, 27.5-36.4 vs 15.2-26.1) and 3-year survival (70.0% vs 33.7%; P=0.003). Low histological grade of tumor (P〈0.001) was associated with favorable survival in these locally advanced patients. CONCLUSION: For locally advanced esophageal cancer, the combination of esophagectomy, post-operative CCRT with weekly cisplatin and systemic adjuvant chemotherapy is well tolerated and effective. A large-scale, prospective randomized trial of this regimen is in progress.
基金The Key Research Project of Ministry of Education of China(No. 2002012)
文摘Soil samples from 4 defined city zones of Nanjing were randomly collected at 0-5 cm and 5-20 cm intervals and size fractions of soil particles were separated from undisturbed bulk soils by low energy dispersion procedure. The total contents of Cu and Pb in the different particle size fractions of the urban soils were analyzed by HNO3-HF-HClO4 digestion and flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer determination. The total content of Cu and Pb in soil particle size fractions varied with their size and with city zones as well. Both the content and variation with the size fractions of Pb was bigger than of Cu supporting our previous finding that there was Pb pollution to different degrees in the urban soils although the two elements were generally enriched in clay-sized fraction. Contaminated Pb tended to be preferentially enriched in the size fraction of 2000-250 μm and clay-sized fraction. While the size fractions of the soils from newly developed and preserved area contained smaller amount of Cu and Pb, the partitioning of them in coarse and fine particle size fractions were insignificant compared to that from inner residence and commercial area. The very high Pb level over 150 mg/kg of the fine particle fractions from the soils of the inner city could be a cause of high blood Pb level reported of children from the city as acute exposure to Pb of fine particles of the urban soil might occur by soil ingestion and inhalation by young children. Thus, much attention should be paid to the partitioning of toxic metals in fine soil particles of the urban soils and countermeasures against high health risk of Pb exposure by soil ingestion and dust inhalation should be practiced against the health problem of blood Pb for young children from the cities.
文摘The Maastricht IV/Florence Consensus Report and the Second Asia-Pacific Consensus Guidelines strongly recommend eradication of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)in patients with previous gastric neoplasia who have undergone gastric surgery.However,the guidelines do not mention optimal timing,eradication regimens,diagnostic tools,and follow-up strategies for patients undergoing gastrectomy and do not indicate if eradication of H.pylori reduces the risk of marginal ulcer or stump cancer in the residual stomach after gastrectomy.The purpose of this review is to provide an update which may help physicians to properly manage H.pylori infection in patients who have undergone gastric surgery.This review focuses on(1)the microenvironment change in the stomach after gastrectomy;(2)the phenomenon of spontaneous clearance of H.pylori after gastrectomy;(3)the effects of H.pylori on gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia after gastrectomy;(4)incidence and clinical features of ulcers developing after gastrectomy;(5)does eradication of H.pylori reduce the risk of gastric stump cancer in the residual stomach?(6)does eradication of H.pylori reduce the risk of secondary metachronous gastric cancer in the residual stomach?and(7)optimal timing and regimens for H.pylori eradication,diagnostic tools and follow-up strategies for patients undergoing gastrectomy.
文摘Hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection is a major global health issue.Infection by the HCV can cause acute and chronic liver diseases and may lead to cirrhosis,hepatocellular carcinoma or liver failure.The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 3% of the world population have been infected with HCVand the worldwide prevalence is between 1% and 8% in pregnant women and between 0.05% and 5% in children.Following the introduction of blood product screening,vertical transmission becomes the leading cause of childhood HCV infection.The prevalence of pediatric HCV infection varies from 0.05% to 0.36% in developed countries and between 1.8% and 5% in the developing world.All children born to women with antiHCV antibodies should be checked for HCV infection.Though universal screening is controversial,selective antenatal HCV screening on high-risk populations is highly recommended and should be tested probably.Multiple risk factors were shown to increase the possibility of HCV vertical transmission,including coinfections with human immunodeficiency virus,intravenous drug use and elevated maternal HCV viral load,while breastfeeding and HCV genotypes have been studied to have little impact.At present,no clinical intervention has been clearly studied and proved to reduce the HCV vertical transmission risk.Cesarean section should not be recommended as a procedure to prevent vertical transmission,however,breastfeeding is generally not forbidden.The high prevalence of global HCV infection necessitates renewed efforts in primary prevention,including vaccine development,as well as new approaches to reduce the burden of chronic liver disease.Future researches should focus on the interruption of vertical transmission,developments of HCV vaccine and directacting antivirals in infancy and early childhood.
文摘AIM: To better understand some of the superficial tiny lesions that are recognized as squamous papilloma of the esophagus(SPE) and receive a different pathological diagnosis.METHODS: All consecutive patients with esophageal polypoid lesions detected by routine endoscopy at our Endoscopy Centre between October 2009 and June 2014 were retrospectively analysed. We enrolled patients with SPE or other superficial lesions to investigate four key endoscopic appearances(whitish color, exophytic growth, wart-like shape, and surface vessels) and used narrow band imaging(NBI) to distinguish their differences. These series endoscopic images of each patient were retrospectively reviewed by three experienced endoscopists with no prior access to the images. All lesion specimens obtained by forceps biopsy were fixed in formalin and processed for pathological examination. The following data were collected from patient medical records: gender, age, indications for esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and endoscopic characteristics including lesion location, number, color, size, surface morphology, surrounding mucosa, and surface vessels under NBI. Clinicopathological features were also compared.RESULTS: During the study period, 41 esophageal polypoid lesions from 5698 endoscopic examinations were identified retrospectively. These included 24 patients with pathologically confirmed SPE, 11 patients with squamous hyperplasia, three patients with glycogenic acanthosis, two patients with ectopic sebaceous glands, and one patient with a xanthoma. In the χ2 test, exophytic growth(P = 0.003), a wartlike shape(P < 0.001), and crossing surface vessels under NBI(P = 0.001) were more frequently observed in SPE than in other lesion types. By contrast, there was no significant difference regarding the appearance of a whitish color between SPE and other lesion types(P = 0.872). The most sensitive characteristic was wart-like projections(81.3%) and the most specific was exophytic growth(87.5%). Promising positive predictive values of 84.2%, 80.8%, and 82.6% were noted for exophytic growth, wart-like projections, and surface vessel crossing on NBI, respectively.CONCLUSION: The use of three key typical endoscopic appearances- exophytic growth, a wart-like shape, and vessel crossing on the lesion surface under NBI- has a promising positive predictive value of 88.2%. This diagnostic triad is useful for the endoscopic diagnosis of SPE.
基金Supported by (in part) the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence,No.MOHW105-TDU-B-212-133019
文摘AIM To identify potential anti-cancer constituents in natural extracts that inhibit cancer cell growth and migration. METHODS Our experiments used high dose thymoquinone (TQ) as an inhibitor to arrest LoVo (a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line) cancer cell growth, which was detected by cell proliferation assay and immunoblotting assay. Low dose TQ did not significantly reduce LoVo cancer cell growth. Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is an enzyme that is involved in the conversion of arachidonic acid into prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in humans. PGE2 can promote COX-2 protein expression and tumor cell proliferation and was used as a control. RESULTS Our results showed that 20 mu mol/L TQ significantly reduced human LoVo colon cancer cell proliferation. TQ treatment reduced the levels of p-PI3K, p-Akt, p-GSK3 beta, and beta-catenin and thereby inhibited the downstream COX-2 expression. Results also showed that the reduction in COX-2 expression resulted in a reduction in PGE2 levels and the suppression of EP2 and EP4 activation. Further analysis showed that TG treatment inhibited the nuclear translocation of beta-catenin in LoVo cancer cells. The levels of the cofactors LEF-1 and TCF-4 were also decreased in the nucleus following TQ treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with low dose TQ inhibited the COX-2 expression at the transcriptional level and the regulation of COX-2 expression efficiently reduced LoVo cell migration. The results were further verified in vivo by confirming the effects of TQ and/or PGE2 using tumor xenografts in nude mice. CONCLUSION TQ inhibits LoVo cancer cell growth and migration, and this result highlights the therapeutic advantage of using TQ in combination therapy against colorectal cancer.
文摘AIM To evaluate the association between mortality-to-incidence ratios(MIRs) and health disparities.METHODS In this study, we used the GLOBOCAN 2012 database to obtain the cancer incidence and mortality data for 57 countries, and combined this information with the World Health Organization(WHO) rankings and total expenditures on health/gross domestic product(e/GDP). The associations between variables and MIRs were analyzed by linear regression analyses and the 57 countries were selected according to their data quality. RESULTS The more developed regions showed high gastric cancer incidence and mortality crude rates, but lower MIR values than the less developed regions(0.64 vs 0.80, respectively). Among six continents, Oceania had the lowest(0.60) and Africa had the highest(0.91) MIR. A good WHO ranking and a high e/GDP were significantly associated with low MIRs(P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively).CONCLUSION The MIR variation for gastric cancer would predict regional health disparities.
文摘Fe_3O_4-PVDF membranes were prepared by blending of magnetic Fe_3O_4 powders with polyvinylidene fluoride to investigate whether those were usable or not in catalytic membrane reactors. Filtration performances and catalytic activity of membranes in microwave conditions were measured in separate processes. Composite Fe_3O_4-PVDF membranes were characterized by TG-DTA, FTIR, XRD, SEM and contact angle techniques.Disappearing of α-phases at PVDF was observed with increasing amount of additives from XRD diffraction patterns. Decomposition of polymer fastened due to catalytic effect of Fe_3O_4. Finger-like structures and large number of small pores were observed at the SEM images. Those provided effective transportation of substrate among the active sites of catalyst. At the experiments conducted in batch reactor, 51%, 77%, 66% and 63% benzyl alcohol conversion were recorded for 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% Fe_3O_4-PVDF composite pieces respectively. Catalyst were separated magnetically and reused several times. On the other hand Fe_3O_4 blended PVDF membranes provided improved flux and BSA rejection compared with performance of bare PVDF membrane; 41.6% BSA rejection was obtained with 4% Fe_3O_4-PVDF whereas it was only 6.7% for PVDF. Fe_3O_4-PVDF composites performed high activity for the benzyl alcohol oxidation in batch reactor and also better filtration at filtration cell. These results promise to obtain practical and low cost membrane material for catalytic reactors usable in microwave support to get fast results.
文摘Purpose: To identify factors related to changes in foot status and foot care in patients with diabetes mellitus participating in an exercise program. Methods: The subjects were 21 patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (8 males, 13 females). The mean age of the patients was 62.3 ± 12.5 years old. Foot status, physical measurements and daily activities were monitored and several surveys were performed. Results: Changes in foot status were significantly positively correlated with walking at normal speed (r = 0.54, p < 0.05) and fast speed (r = 0.68, p p < 0.05). Foot care showed a significant negative correlation with burden of diet therapy (r = -0.48, p < 0.05) and a significant positive correlation with the self-efficacy of diet therapy (r = 0.65, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Subjects who were fast walkers showed greater changes in foot status. Poor foot care behavior is also related to greater changes in foot status. Regular interventions for foot care are important to improve self-care behavior during an exercise program.
基金Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo under Grant No. 2008A610029
文摘For the(2+1)-Dimensional HNLS equation,what are the dynamical behavior of its traveling wave solutions and how do they depend on the parameters of the systems? This paper will answer these questions by using the methods of dynamical systems.Ten exact explicit parametric representations of the traveling wave solutions are given.
基金Scientific Research(KAKENHI)(C),No.25460958Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,No.20K11513and Adaptable and Seamless Technology Transfer Program through target driven R&D from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.
文摘BACKGROUND The gut-liver axis has attracted much interest in the context of chronic liver disease pathogenesis.Prebiotics such as dietary fibers were shown to attenuate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)by modulating gut microbiota.Partially hydrolyzed guar gum(PHGG),a water-soluble dietary fiber,has been reported to alleviate the symptoms of various intestinal diseases and metabolic syndromes.However,its effects on NAFLD remain to be fully elucidated.To determine whether treatment with PHGG attenuates NAFLD development in mice through the gut-liver axis.METHODS Seven-week-old male C57BL/6J mice with increased intestinal permeability were fed a control or atherogenic(Ath)diet(a mouse model of NAFLD)for 8 wk,with or without 5%PHGG.Increased intestinal permeability was induced through chronic intermittent administration of low-dose dextran sulfate sodium.Body weight,liver weight,macroscopic findings in the liver,blood biochemistry[aspartate aminotransferase(AST)and alanine aminotransferase(ALT),total cholesterol,triglyceride,free fatty acids,and glucose levels],liver histology,myeloperoxidase activity in liver tissue,mRNA expression in the liver and intestine,serum endotoxin levels in the portal vein,intestinal permeability,and microbiota and short-chain fatty acid(SCFA)profiles in the cecal samples were investigated.RESULTS Mice with increased intestinal permeability subjected to the Ath diet showed significantly increased serum AST and ALT levels,liver fat accumulation,liver inflammatory(tumor necrosis factor-αand monocyte chemotactic protein-1)and fibrogenic(collagen 1a1 andαsmooth muscle actin)marker levels,and liver myeloperoxidase activity,which were significantly attenuated by PHGG treatment.Furthermore,the Ath diet combined with increased intestinal permeability resulted in elevated portal endotoxin levels and activated toll-like receptor(TLR)4 and TLR9 expression,confirming that intestinal permeability was significantly elevated,as observed by evaluating the lumen-to-blood clearance of fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated dextran.PHGG treatment did not affect fatty acid metabolism in the liver.However,it decreased lipopolysaccharide signaling through the gut-liver axis.In addition,it significantly increased the abundance of cecal Bacteroides and Clostridium subcluster XIVa.Treatment with PHGG markedly increased the levels of SCFAs,particularly,butyric acid,acetic acid,propionic acid,and formic acid,in the cecal samples.CONCLUSION PHGG partially prevented NAFLD development in mice through the gut-liver axis by modulating microbiota and downstream SCFA profiles.