Explore the vast range of titles available.

Objective Clinical sepsis-associated biomarkers were utilized in a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) septic mouse model to provide a reference for investigating pathophysiological mechanisms and evaluating novel therapeutic interventions for sepsis. Methods Sepsis in mice was induced by CLP, and clinical biomarkers were evaluated (survival rate, blood physiological and biochemical indices, cytokines, hepatorenal function parameters, and blood coagulation). Results The mortality rate was >70%. The body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate decreased within 48 h. Low lactic acid was found at 8 h. The CLP mice showed typical inflammatory symptoms with decreased white blood cells and procalcitonin and increased levels of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-1β, and MIP-2. The platelet count and activated partial thromboplastin time significantly decreased, and the prothrombin time and prothrombin time–international normalized ratio markedly increased. Phenotypes of multiple organ dysfunction were found in the CLP model, including increased liver alanine aminotransferase and aspartate transaminase; significantly reduced total protein, globulin, and serum albumin; increased blood urea nitrogen and creatinine; and decreased blood glucose. Conclusion The clinical features of the CLP mouse model were similar to those of human patients with sepsis.

Background: Acupuncture may be a promising complementary therapy for vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and has been extensively applied in China. However, its potential effects remain uncertain, and the clinical findings are inconsistent. This review aimed to systematically appraise the overall effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating VCI. Methods: To investigate the effects of acupuncture on VCI from inception to February 28, 2021 using randomized clinical trials (RCTs), seven electro-databases [Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), VIP, and Wanfang] were searched. Two independent investigators identified the eligible RCTs and extracted data into predesigned forms. The risk of bias (ROB) within each individual trial was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Meta-analyses were conducted for calculating comparative effects in the RevMan software (version 5.3). The strength of attained evidence was rated using the online GRADEpro approach. Results: A total of 48 RCTs involving 3,778 patients with VCI were included. The pooled data demonstrated that acupuncture was more beneficial for a global cognitive function [mean difference (MD) 1.86, 95% CI 1.19–2.54, p < 0.01] and activities of daily living (MD −3.08, 95% CI −4.81 to −1.35, p < 0.01) compared with western medicine (WM). The favorable results were also observed when acupuncture was combined with WM (MD 2.37, 95% CI 1.6–3.14, p < 0.01) or usual care (UC, MD 4.4, 95% CI 1.61–7.19, p = 0.002) in comparison with the corresponding control conditions. Meanwhile, the subgroup analysis did not indicate a statistical effect difference between manual acupuncture (MA) and electroacupuncture (EA) (inter-group I 2 < 50% and p > 0.1) when comparing acupuncture with WM. There were no significant differences in the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) between the acupuncture group and the control group ( p > 0.05). Owing to the poor methodological quality and considerable heterogeneity among studies, the certainty of the evidence was low or very low. Conclusions: This review suggests that acupuncture as a monotherapy or an adjuvant therapy may play a positive role in improving the cognition and daily performance of VCI patients associated with few side effects. The difference in styles may not significantly influence its effectiveness. More rigorously designed and preregistered RCTs are highly desirable to verify the therapeutic benefits and determine an optimal acupuncture paradigm. The methodological and reporting quality of future researches should be enhanced by adhering to authoritative standardized statements. Systematic Review Registration: [PROSPERO], identifier [No. CRD42017071820].

Chronic shoulder pain (CSP) is the third most common musculoskeletal problem. For maximum treatment effectiveness, most acupuncturists usually choose acupoint in the nonpainful side, to alleviate pain or improve shoulder function. This method is named opposite needling, which means acupuncture points on the right side are selected for diseases on the left side and vice versa. However, the underlying neural mechanisms related to treatment are currently unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether different mechanisms were observed with contralateral and ipsilateral acupuncture at Tiaokou (ST 38) in patients with unilateral CSP. Twenty-four patients were randomized to the contralateral acupuncture group (contra-group) and the ipsilateral acupuncture group (ipsi-group). The patients received one acupuncture treatment session at ST 38 on the nonpainful or painful sides, respectively. Before and after acupuncture treatment, they underwent functional magnetic resonance scanning. The treatment-related changes in degree centrality (DC) maps were compared between the two groups. We found alleviated pain and improved shoulder function in both groups, but better shoulder functional improvement was observed in the contra-group. Increased DC in the anterior/paracingulate cortex and decreased DC in bilateral postcentral gyri were found in the contra-group, while decreased DC in the bilateral cerebellum and right thalamus was observed in the ipsi-group. Furthermore, the DC value in the bilateral anterior/paracingulate cortex was positively correlated with the treatment-related change in the Constant–Murley score. The current study reveals different changes of DC patterns after acupuncture at contralateral or ipsilateral ST 38 in patients with CSP. Our findings support the hypothesis of acupoint specificity and provide the evidence for acupuncturists to select acupoints for CSP.

The working environment for tubing in oil and gas fields is becoming more and more serious due to the exploration of unconventional oil and gas resources, leading to the increasing need for a protective internal coating to be used in tubing. Therefore, a new mica–graphene/epoxy composite coating with different graphene contents (0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 wt.%) was prepared to improve the tubing resistance to a corrosive medium, an autoclave was used to simulate the working environment, and an electrochemical workstation assisted by three-electrodes was used to study the electrochemical characteristics of the coating. The results showed that the addition of a certain amount of graphene into the mica/epoxy coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of the composite coating, and when the graphene content increased, the corrosion resistance of the mica/epoxy coating first increased and then decreased when the corrosion current density of a 35 wt.% 800# mica/epoxy coating with a 0.7 wt.% graphene content was the lowest (7.11 × 10−13 A·cm−2), the corrosion potential was the highest (292 mV), the polarization resistance was the largest (3.463 × 109 Ω·cm2), and the corrosion resistance was improved by 89.3% compared to the coating without graphene. Furthermore, the adhesion of the coating with 0.7 wt.% graphene was also the largest (8.81 MPa, increased by 3.4%) and had the smallest diffusion coefficient (1.566 × 107 cm2·s−1, decreased by 76.1%), and the thermal stability improved by 18.6%. Finally, the corrosion resistance mechanism of the composite coating with different graphene contents at different soaking times was revealed based on the electrochemistry and morphology characteristics other than water absorption and contact angle.

IntroductionKnee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the leading causes of disability. The effectiveness of acupuncture for treating KOA remains controversial. This protocol describes the method of a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for treating KOA.Methods and analysisFour English databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library databases and Web of Science) and four Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, and Wanfang) will be searched from the database inception to 1 September 2021. All randomised controlled trials related to acupuncture for KOA will be included. Extracted data will include publication details, basic information, demographic data, intervention details and patient outcomes. The primary outcome will be pain intensity. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias. Article selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment will be performed in duplicate by two independent reviewers. If the meta-analysis is precluded, we will conduct a descriptive synthesis using a best-evidence synthesis approach. The strength of recommendations and quality of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation working group methodology.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required because individual patient data are not included. This protocol was registered in the international Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews on 25 February 2021. The systematic review and meta-analysis will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The findings will also be disseminated through conference presentations.Trial registration numberCRD42021232177.

Adsorption has been regarded as one of the most efficient and economic methods for the removal of antibiotics from aqueous solutions. In this work, different graphene-based magnetic nanocomposites using a modified solvothermal method were synthesized and employed to remove sulfadiazine (SDZ) from water. The adsorption capacity of the optimal magnetic reduced graphene oxide (MrGO) was approximately 3.24 times that of pure Fe3O4. After five repeated adsorption cycles, the removal rate of SDZ (100 μg/L) by MrGO nanocomposites was still around 89.3%, which was only about a 3% decrease compared to that in the first cycle. Mechanism investigations showed that both chemical and physical adsorption contributed to the removal of SDZ. The excellent adsorption performance and recyclability of MrGO nanocomposites could be attributed to their wonderful 3D interconnected petal-like structures. The MrGO with SDZ could be easily recollected by magnetic separation. The MrGO also exhibited excellent adsorption performance in the purification of real polluted water.

Current research evidence challenges clinical decision-making when acupuncture is taken into consideration in the treatment of cognitive impairment (CI). Aiming to provide some viable recommendations for acupuncture practitioners in dealing with actual clinic issues, an expert consensus study was conducted. A clinical question investigation among 47 acupuncturists yielded 24 initial items. Subsequently, systematic reviews on acupuncture for CI were searched within three online databases. A panel of 30 authoritative experts were requested to respond with agreement, neutrality, or disagreement for each item. Consensus establishment was defined as the percentage of agreement on a given item >80%. Following a 2-round Delphi survey, there were 21 items reaching consensus and three items resulting in no consensus; of which 10 items reached 90∼100% agreement, and 80∼90% expert agreement was achieved for 11 items. These items could be roughly categorized into six domains: (1) therapeutic effects of acupuncture, (2) therapeutic principles, (3) acupoint selection and combination, (4) acupuncture parameters, (5) considerable combined therapies, and (6) possible adverse events. Without ready-made guidelines, this expert consensus may be conducive to guide acupuncturists in implementing clinical acupuncture practice for CI. Moreover, given the lack of high-quality research evidence and plenty of unresolved clinical issues in this field, it is of necessity to carry out more studies to better clarify the treatment algorithm.

Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare and progressive disease. Some patients treated with phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5is) fail to reach treatment goals. As a novel soluble guanylate cyclase agonist, riociguat acts on the same pathway as PDE-5is but functions via different mechanisms. Whether riociguat is more effective and safer than PDE-5is is ambiguous. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of switching from PDE-5is to riociguat among these patients. Methods: Original published articles were retrieved from PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Open Grey and Google Scholar. Studies that assessed the World Health Organization functional class (WHO-FC), 6-min walking distance (6MWD), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), cardiac index (CI) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were collected. Adverse events after switching were evaluated. Results: Ten published studies were included. Compared to PDE-5is, riociguat significantly increased the 6MWD by 26.45 m weighted mean difference (WMD) = 26.45 m, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 9.70–43.2 m, p = 0.002) and improved mPAP (WMD = −3.53, 95% CIs: −5.62–1.44 mmHg, p = 0.0009), PVR (WMD = −130.24 dyn·s·cm −5 , 95% CI −187.43–73.05, p < 0.0001), CIs (WMD = 0.36 L/min·cm −2 , 95% CIs: 0.25–0.47, p < 0.00001) and WHO-FC (OR = 0.11, 95% CIs: 0.08–0.16, p < 0.0001) but not NT-proBNP. In addition, we did not observe the most common side effects during the replacement of riociguat for PDE-5is. Conclusions: Compared to PDE5i, PAH patients benefit more from riociguat in hemodynamics, 6MWD, WHO-FC and biomarkers.

Esophageal cancer is considered as one of the leading malignancies. MicroRNA‐574‐3p (miR‐574‐3p) was used as a postoperative prognostic indicator in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However, the underlying mechanism miR‐574‐3p involvement in esophageal cancer remains unclear. In this study, the expression of miR‐574‐3p was reduced in esophageal cancer tissues and cells. In vitro, miR‐574‐3p mimics and inhibitor were transfected into esophageal cancer cells (TE‐1 and TE‐8 cells) to up‐ or downregulating of miR‐574‐3p. miR‐574‐3p inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion, and promoted apoptosis in esophageal cancer cells. In addition, miR‐574‐3p was confirmed to target family with sequence similarity 3 member C (FAM3C) and mitogen‐activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1). miR‐574‐3p suppressed phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (Raf)/mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) signaling via regulating FAM3C and MAPK1. In vivo, overexpression of miR‐574‐3p suppressed tumor growth in mice. Our findings indicated that miR‐574‐3p repressed proliferation and invasion of esophageal cancer via regulation of FAM3C and MAPK1, which provides a new biomarker for esophageal cancer treatment.

Objective To determine if plasma exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) can predict survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). Methods The study enrolled patients with IPAH that underwent right heart catheterization. Plasma was collected and exosomal miRNAs were extracted. Exosomes were evaluated using transmission electron microscopy, Western blot analysis and particle size distribution analysis. MiRNAs were evaluated using a miRNA microarray and validated using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results This study included 12 patients with IPAH in the study group and 48 patients with IPAH in the validation group. The mean ± SD follow-up duration was 60.3 ± 35.4 months in the overall cohort. The levels of miR-596 were higher in the nonsurvivors compared with the survivors. The levels of miR-596 significantly correlated with survival time, mean right atrial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and cardiac index. High levels of miR-596 and PVR were significantly associated with poor overall survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that exosomal miR-596 (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.119; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.402, 3.203) and PVR (HR = 1.146; 95% CI 1.010, 1.300) were independent predictors of survival. Conclusions High levels of plasma exosomal miR-596 were significantly associated with disease severity and poor prognosis of patients with IPAH.