ObjectiveExisting artificial vision devices can be divided into two types: implanted devices and extracorporeal devices, both of which have some disadvantages. The former requires surgical implantation, which may lead to irreversible trauma, while the latter has some defects such as relatively simple instructions, limited application scenarios and relying too much on the judgment of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide enough security. Here we propose a system that has voice interaction and can convert surrounding environment information into tactile commands on head and neck. Compared with existing extracorporeal devices, our device can provide a larger capacity of information and has advantages such as lower cost, lower risk, suitable for a variety of life and work scenarios. MethodsWith the latest remote wireless communication and chip technologies, microelectronic devices, cameras and sensors worn by the user, as well as the huge database and computing power in the cloud, the backend staff can get a full insight into the scenario, environmental parameters and status of the user remotely (for example, across the city) in real time. In the meanwhile, by comparing the cloud database and in-memory database and with the help of AI-assisted recognition and manual analysis, they can quickly develop the most reasonable action plan and send instructions to the user. In addition, the backend staff can provide humanistic care and emotional sustenance through voice dialogs. ResultsThis study originally proposes the concept of “remote virtual companion” and demonstrates the related hardware and software as well as test results. The system can not only achieve basic guide functions, for example, helping a person with visual impairment to shop in supermarkets, find seats at cafes, walk on the streets, construct complex puzzles, and play cards, but also can meet the demand for fast-paced daily tasks such as cycling. ConclusionExperimental results show that this “remote virtual companion” is applicable for various scenarios and demands. It can help blind people with their travels, shopping and entertainment, or accompany the elderlies with their trips, wilderness explorations, and travels.

Aim To investigate the effects of puerarin on the proliferation,migration,and apoptosis of glio-blastoma cells and the underlying mechanisms.Meth-ods Differentially expressed genes associated with gli-oma and mitochondrial disease were analyzed using the GEO database.Cytotoxicity was detected by CCK-8 as-say.Cell migration was detected by the scratch wound healing assay and Transwell assay.Cell proliferation was assessed by EdU assay.Apoptosis level was meas-ured by TUNEL assay.Mitochondrial membrane poten-tial was detected by Mito-Tracker assay.ATP contents were detected using the ATP kit.The protein expres-sion levels were detected by Western blot.Antitumor efficacy of puerarin was analyzed using subcutaneous xenograft.Results There were 178 genes co-related differentially expressed genes in glioma and mitochon-drial disease.Core genes of co-related differentially ex-pressed genes were screened by GO and KEGG enrich-ment analyses,and the interaction networks.Among them,ubiquitin C(UBC)level was highly expressed in tissues of glioma patients.Puerarin could bind to UBC and reduce UBC expression at the animal and cell levels.Puerarin treatment inhibited the growth of glio-ma and decreased cell proliferation,migration and pro-moted cell apoptosis signals.Meantime,puerarin treat-ment also reduced mitochondrial membrane potentials and ATP contents,and down-regulated the levels of UBC related proteins.Conclusion Puerarin inhibits the proliferation,migration and promotes apoptosis of glioma cells.The mechanism of induction of mitochon-drial dysfunction is involved.

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes of nutritional status by comprehensive nutrition assessment including nutritional risk screening, dietary assessment, blood biochemical index, and body composition in acute leukemia patients who had undergone chemotherapy. METHODS: A total of 169 patients with acute leukemia treated at The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2018 to August 2019 were recruited for this study. Before and after chemotherapy, the NRS-2002 and PG-SGA scales, dietary intake, blood biochemical index and body composition were evaluated to compare the changes of nutritional status. RESULTS: NRS-2002 score and PG-SGA score after chemotherapy were significantly increased than those before chemotherapy (P<0.001). Many patients had insufficient nutritional intake during chemotherapy, and the dietary intake score of patients with induction chemotherapy was significantly lower than that of patients with consolidation chemotherapy (P=0.043). The results of multivariate analysis showed that induction chemotherapy was the independent risk factor for the increase of PG-SGA scores and the decrease of dietary intake (all P<0.05). After chemotherapy, the white blood cell count, hemoglobin, and platelet count were significantly decreased (P<0.001), the prealbumin was significantly increased (P<0.001), and the blood glucose was increased (P=0.04), but albumin was not significantly changed. The weight, body mass index, fat-free mass, skeletal muscle mass and intracellular water were all significantly decreased (P<0.001), and visceral fat area was increased significantly after chemotherapy (P<0.05), especially in newly-diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients after the induction of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION The nutritional status of patients with acute leukemia has undergone significant changes after chemotherapy. A single indicator has limited significance for nutritional status assessment. Comprehensive assessment of nutritional status by multiple tools is worthy of clinical application.
Acute Disease ; Humans ; Induction Chemotherapy/methods* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/drug therapy* ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/drug therapy*

Objective: To investigate hepatic perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) diagnosis and treatment plan. Methods: 24 cases diagnosed with PEComa clinical manifestations, serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), imaging findings, surgical methods, postoperative hospital stay, pathological results and prognosis were analyzed retrospectively from September 2015 to September 2020. Results: Majority of patients were females (79.2%), aged 41.5±11.4 years. Tumors were predominantly located in the right liver (50.0%). 76.7% of the cases were mostly clinically asymptomatic. AFP, CEA and CA199 indices were all negative. CT mostly showed low density tumor in the plain scan phase, enhanced in the enhancement phase, and enhanced and weakened in portal venous and equilibrium phase (66.7%). MRI manifestations of most tumors were hypointense on T₁WI and hyperintense on T₂WI (72.7%). B-ultrasound mostly showed hyperechoic mass in the tumor area with punctate vascular shadow (52.9%). Postoperative hospital stay was 9.0±2.4 days for laparoscopic surgery patients (n=13), 13.4±6.3 days for traditional laparotomy (hereinafter referred to as laparotomy, n=10), and 3 days for 1 patient with microwave ablation. All postoperative pathological results were positive for HMB45 and Melan-A. Follow-up results: 21 cases survived normally, with no tumor recurrence in the recent physical examination; two cases had tumor recurrence and they died two and three years after surgery, and one case was lost to follow-up. Conclusion: Hepatic PEComa more commonly occurs in middle-aged women, with no specific features for tumor markers and clinical manifestations. Some imaging findings are specific, so its features can be combined as a basis for diagnosis. Postoperative pathological examination results can confirm the diagnosis. Therefore, surgery remains the initial treatment plan. Microwave ablation and laparoscopic surgery are recommended as the preferred option because of shorter hospital stays and less trauma than open surgery.
Adult ; Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis* ; Carbohydrates ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Female ; Humans ; Liver/pathology* ; MART-1 Antigen ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasms/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; alpha-Fetoproteins

Objective Yangqing Chenfei Formula - To investigate the effect of (YCF) on epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) Methods in lung tissues of silicosis model rats. Specific pathogen free adult male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group, tetrandrine group and YCF group, with eight rats in each group. The rats in the model group, tetrandrine group and YCF group were intratracheally injected with 1.00 mL of silica suspension with a mass concentration of 50.0 g/L, and the rats in the control group were given an equal volume of 0.9% sodium chloride solution. On the 15th day after modeling, the tetrandrine group was given tetrandrine at a dose of 27.0 mg/kg body weight, the YCF group was given YCF with a dose of 8.91 g/kg body weight, while both the control group and model group were given 2.00 mL 0.9% sodium chloride solution. Gavage wasperformed twice a day in the morning and evening for 14 days. On day 29 of the experiment, after evaluating the tidal volume, - functional residual volume (FRC) and vital capacity of rats in each group, lung tissues were collected, and hematoxylin eosin staining and Masson staining were performed to examine the histopathological changes, and the fibrosis score was evaluated. - - Hydroxyproline level was detected by colorimetry. The expression of type Ⅰ collagen (COL Ⅰ), type Ⅲ collagen (COL Ⅲ), - - - - - - E cadherin (E Cad), N cadherin (N Cad) and α smooth muscle actin (α SMA) protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. - The expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and fibroblast specific protein 1 (FSP 1) was detected by Results immunofluorescence. The lung structure was intact and the alveolar structure was normal in the control group. The alveolar structure was destroyed, the alveolar wall was thickened, and cellular nodules were observed/n the model group. The lung tissue lesions of rats in the tetrandrine group and YCF group were reduced compared with that in the model group, and there was no difference in the degree of lesions between the two groups. The tidal volume, FRC and vital capacity of rats in model P< - P< group decreased (all 0.05), the relative expression of E Cad protein in lung tissue decreased ( 0.05), the fibrosis score and - - - - the level of hydroxyproline, the protein relative expression of COL Ⅰ, COL Ⅲ, N Cad and α SMA in lung tissue increased (all P< - 0.05), while the fluorescence intensity of EpCAM protein decreased, and that of FSP 1 protein increased compared with the P< control group. The tidal volume, FRC and vital capacity of rats in tetrandrine and YCF groups increased (all 0.05), the fibrosis - - - score and the level of hydroxyproline, the protein relative expression of COL Ⅰ, N Cad and α SMA in lung tissue decreased (all P< - P< 0.05), the relative expression of E Cad protein in lung tissues increased ( 0.05), while the EpCAM protein fluorescence - intensity increased and FSP 1 protein fluorescence intensity decreased compared with the model group. The relative expression - P< Conclusion of N Cad protein in lung tissues of YCF group was lower than that of the tetrandrine group ( 0.05). YCF can - improve the lung function, alleviate collagen deposition in lung tissues, and inhibit the epithelial mesenchymal transition in silicosis model rats, and then attenuates the progression of silicotic fibrosis.

According to human carboxylesterase 2(hCE2) inhibitors reported in the literature, the pharmacophore model of hCE2 inhibitors was developed using HipHop module in Discovery Studio 2016. The optimized pharmacophore model, which was validated by test set, contained two hydrophobic, one hydrogen bond acceptor, and one aromatic ring features. Using the pharmacophore model established, 5 potential hCE2 inhibitors(CS-1,CS-2,CS-3,CS-6 and CS-8) were screened from 20 compounds isolated from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora, which were further confirmed in vitro, with the IC_(50) values of 5.04, 5.21, 5.95, 6.64 and 7.94 μmol·L~(-1), respectively. The results demonstrated that the pharmacophore model exerted excellent forecasting ability with high precision, which could be applied to screen novel hCE2 inhibitors from Chinese medicinal materials.
Carboxylesterase/metabolism* ; Humans ; Hydrogen Bonding ; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of moxibustion on proteins related with apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in rats with vascular dementia (VD), and to explore the possible mechanism of moxibustion on improving VD. METHODS: Thirty SD rats were selected from 100 rats (3 rats were excluded) and randomly divided into a normal group and a sham operation group, 15 rats in each group. The remaining 67 rats were treated with ischemia-reperfusion method at bilateral common carotid artery to establish VD model. The 45 rats with successful VD model were randomly divided into a model group, a moxibustion group and a medication group, 15 rats in each group. On the 7th day after successful modeling, the rats in the moxibustion group were treated with suspended moxibustion at "Guanyuan" (CV 4), "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Dazhui" (GV 14), 15 min per acupoint, once a day; there was 1 d of rest after 6 d of moxibustion, and the treatment was given for 4 weeks. The rats in the medication group was treated with nimodipine tablets by gavage, 2 mg/kg per day, 3 times a day for 4 weeks. Before and after intervention, the Morris water maze test was used to detect the escape latency of rats in each group; after the intervention, the TUNEL method was used to detect the apoptosis rate of neurons in hippocampal CA1 area; the immunofluorescence double labeling method was used to detect the number of co-expression positive cells of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)/neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax)/NeuN in hippocampal CA1 area; the immunofluorescence single labeling method was used to detect cytochrome C (cytC) and outer mitochondrial membrane receptor Tom20 (Tom20) in hippocampal CA1 area; the Western blot method was used to detect the p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) in hippocampus. RESULTS: Before intervention, compared with the normal group and the sham operation group, the escape latency in the model group, the moxibustion group and the medication group was prolonged ( CONCLUSION Moxibustion could improve the cognitive function of VD rats, which may be related to reducing the expression of Bax, cytC, Tom20 and PUMA protein in hippocampal CA1 area, promoting the release of Bcl-2 and inhibiting the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Cognition ; Dementia, Vascular/therapy* ; Hippocampus ; Moxibustion ; Neurons ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Purpurolides D-F (1-3), three new polyoxygenated bergamotanes bearing a 6/4/5/5 tetracyclic ring system, were isolated from the endophytic fungus Penicillium purpurogenum IMM 003. Their structures were unambiguously elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic data analyses, C NMR chemical shifts calculations coupled with the DP4+ probability method, and the calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compounds 1-3 showed significant inhibitory activity against pancreatic lipase (PL). The result highlights that the presence of 3-hydroxylated decanoic acid moiety at C-14 is important for increasing the inhibition potency against PL.

OBJECTIVE: To follow up the participants of the randomized clinical trial "Efficacy and Safety of Niaoduqing Particles () for Delaying Moderate-to-Severe Renal Dysfunction", and assess the long-term effects of Niaoduqing Particles on delaying the progression of renal dysfunction. METHODS: Participants, who had previously been randomly assigned to receive Niaoduqing Particles or placebo for 24 weeks (146 cases in each group), were invited to follow-up and all were administered Niaoduqing Particles 5 g thrice daily and 10 g before bedtime for 24 weeks. The primary endpoints were changes in baseline serum creatinine (Scr) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after completion of the open-label treatment period. RESULTS: After the double-blind period, the median (interquartile range) changes in Scr were 1.1 (-13.0-24.1) and 11.7 (-2.6-42.9) μmol/L for the Niaoduqing Particle and placebo groups, respectively (P=0.008), and the median changes in eGFRs were-0.2 (-4.3-2.7) and-2.21 (-5.7-0.8) mL•min•1.73 m, respectively (P=0.016). There were significant differences in the double-blind period changes in renal function between groups. After the open-label period, the median changes in Scr were 9.0 (-10.0-41.9) and 17.5 (-6.0-50.0) μmol/L for the Niaoduqing Particle and placebo groups according to baseline grouping, respectively (P=0.214), and the median changes in eGFRs were-2.3 (-6.4-1.9) and-3.7 (-7.5-1.1) mL•min•1.73 m, respectively (P=0.134). There were no statistical differences in the open-label period changes in renal function between groups. The eGFR reduction of participants who accepted Niaoduqing Particle treatment for 48 weeks was projected to 2.5 mL•min•1.73 m per year. CONCLUSION Niaoduqing Particles appear to have long-term efficacy for patients with moderate-to-severe renal dysfunction. Although there was no statistical difference, the early use of Niaoduqing Paticles seems to ameliorate the worsening of renal function. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR-TRC-12002448).
Adult ; Disease Progression ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; drug effects ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)

Replacement of the native promoter of theglobal regulator LaeA-like gene of Daldinia eschscholzii by a strong gpdA promoter led to the generation of two novel cyclopentenone metabolites, named dalestones A and B, whose structures were assigned by a combination of spectroscopic analysis, modified Mosher's reaction, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Dalestones A and B inhibit the gene expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages.