Objective To investigate the value of serum endothelium-specific molecule-1(Endocan)and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)levels in early prediction and disease evaluation of preg-nancy complicated with pulmonary hypertension(PH).Methods From March 2021 to March 2024,107 preg-nant women with dyspnea,palpitation and other symptoms during pregnancy in this hospital were selected as subjects.According to the results of echocardiography,the patients were divided into PPH group(62 cases)and control group(45 cases),and the relevant clinical data were collected.According to the pulmonary artery pressure measured by echocardiography during pregnancy,PPH group was divided into mild PPH group(35 cases),moderate PPH group(16 cases)and severe PPH group(11 cases).The levels of serum Endocan and NT-proBNP and the incidence of adverse events in each group were compared.The predictive value of Endocan and NT-proBNP for pregnancy complicated with PH was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Compared with the control group,the mild,moderate and severe PPH groups had significant increases in Endocan and NT-proBNP levels(P<0.05).The ROC curve showed that Endocan≥9.07 ng/mL had a sensitivity of 65.7%and a specificity of 91.1%in predicting pregnancy complicated with PH.When NT-proBNP≥51.90 pg/mL,the sensitivity and specificity of predicting pregnancy complicated with PH were 54.3%and 68.9%,respectively.The sensitivity and specificity of Endocan combined with NT-proBNP in pre-dicting pregnancy complicated with PH were 80.0%and 80.0%,respectively.The incidences of heart failure,intensive care unit admission,iatrogenic abortion and preterm birth were significantly higher in the severe PPH group than in the mild and moderate PPH groups(P<0.05).Conclusion The increase of serum En-docan and NT-proBNP levels is related to the occurrence of pregnancy complicated with PH.The detection of serum Endocan and NT-proBNP levels can assist the early prediction of pregnancy complicated with PH and the evaluation of disease severity.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of emodin(EMO)on endoplasmic reticulum stress(ERS)in alveolar macrophages(AMs)of rats with severe acute pancreatitis(SAP)and the underlying mechanism.Forty rats were recruited and randomized into four groups:sham-operation(SO)group,SAP group,4-phenylbutyric acid(4-PBA)group and EMO group.The SAP model was established by retrograde injection of 5%sodium taurocholate into the biliopancreatic duct.HE staining was performed to observe the pathological changes in the pancreas and lung;the wet/dry weight ratio of lung tissue was calculated.Arterial partial pressure of the oxygen(PaO2)and carbon dioxide(PaCO2)were measured;the serum amylase activity and the levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6 were evaluated.TUNEL staining was used to determine the cell apoptosis rate of lung tissue;Western blot was used to detect the protein expression levels of GRP78,ATF6,CHOP,and Caspase-12.Moreover,rat AMs(NR8383)were signed into control(CON)group,lipopolysaccharide(LPS)group,4-phenylbutyric acid(4-PBA)group and EMO group in vitro.Glutathione(GSH)and malondialdehyde(MDA)levels in the cell medium were measured,as were the protein expression levels of GRP78,ATF6,CHOP,and Caspase-12 in AMs.For experiments in vivo,compared with the SO group,the pathological score of pancreatic and lung in SAP rats was increased(P<0.05),the levels of serum amylase activity,IL-6 and TNF-α were increased(P<0.05),the wet/dry weight ratio and apoptosis rate of lung tissue were increased(P<0.05),PaO2 was decreased,PaCO2 was increased(P<0.05),and the protein expression of GRP78,ATF6,CHOP and Caspase-12 were increased in lung tissue(P<0.05).Compared with the SAP group,these indexes mentioned above in the 4-PBA and EMO groups were reversed(P<0.05).For experiments in vitro,compared with the CON group,GSH levels were decreased,and MDA levels were increased in the cell medium of LPS group(P<0.05),and the expression of GRP78,ATF6,CHOP and Caspase-12 proteins were upregulated(P<0.05).Compared with the LPS group,these indexes mentioned above in in cell medium of the 4-PBA and EMO groups were reversed(P<0.05).In conclusion,the protective effect of EMO on pancreatic and lung injury in SAP rats may be closely related to the inhibition of ATF6/CHOP pathway-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in AMs.

CCAAT enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ), as a nuclear transcription factor necessary for the development of liver, airway epithelium, and adipose tissue, plays a vital role in physiological processes related to cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. However, the up-regulation of C/EBPβ activates signal pathways related to inflammatory response, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cell proliferation and invasion, immune response, and angiogenesis by regulating a series of downstream genes transcription promotes the development of lung diseases. Therefore, targeting C/EBPβ may be a potential treatment strategy for lung diseases. This paper summarizes the regulatory effects of C/EBPβ and related signaling pathways in lung infection, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung injury, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer to provide a theoretical basis for the precision medicine of lung diseases.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) is a revolutionary human-computer interaction technology, which includes both BCI that can output instructions directly from the brain to external devices or machines without relying on the peripheral nerve and muscle system, and BCI that bypasses the peripheral nerve and muscle system and inputs electrical, magnetic, acoustic and optical stimuli or neural feedback directly to the brain from external devices or machines. With the development of BCI technology, it has potential application not only in medical field, but also in non-medical fields, such as education, military, finance, entertainment, smart home and so on. At present, there is little literature on the relevant application of BCI technology, the current situation of BCI industrialization at home and abroad and its commercial value. Therefore, this paper expounds and discusses the above contents, which are expected to provide valuable information for the public and organizations, BCI researchers, BCI industry translators and salespeople, and improve the cognitive level of BCI technology, further promote the application and industrial transformation of BCI technology and enhance the commercial value of BCI, so as to serve mankind better.
Brain/physiology* ; Brain-Computer Interfaces ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Technology ; User-Computer Interface

Plant fungal pathogens secrete numerous proteins into the apoplast at the plant-fungus contact sites to facilitate colonization.However,only a few secretory proteins were functionally characterized in Magnaporthe oryzae,the fungal pathogen causing rice blast disease worldwide.Asparagine-linked glycosylation 3(Alg3)is an a-l,3-mannosyltransferase functioning in the N-glycan synthesis of N-glycosylated secretory proteins.Fungal pathogenicity and cell wall integrity are impaired in Aalg3 mutants,but the secreted proteins affected in Aalg3 mutants are largely unknown.In this study,we compared the secretomes of the wild-type strain and the Aalg3 mutant and identified 51 proteins that require Alg3 for proper secretion.These proteins were predicted to be involved in metabolic processes,interspecies interactions,cell wall organization,and response to chemicals.Nine proteins were selected for further validation.We found that these proteins were localized at the apoplastic region surrounding the fungal infection hyphae.Moreover,the N-glycosylation of these proteins was significantly changed in the Aalg3 mutant,leading to the decreased protein secretion and abnormal protein localization.Furthermore,we tested the biological functions of two genes,INV1(encoding invertase 1,a secreted invertase)and AMCase(encoding acid mammalian chinitase,a secreted chitinase).The fungal virulence was significantly reduced,and the cell wall integrity was altered in the Ainv1 and Aamcase mutant strains.Moreover,the N-glycosylation was essential for the function and secretion of AMCase.Taken together,our study provides new insight into the role of N-glycosylated secretory proteins in fungal virulence and cell wall integrity.

Motor imagery (MI) is an important paradigm of driving brain computer interface (BCI). However, MI is not easy to control or acquire, and the performance of MI-BCI depends heavily on the performance of the subjects' MI. Therefore, the correct execution of MI mental activities, ability evaluation and improvement methods play important and even critical roles in the improvement and application of MI-BCI system's performance. However, in the research and development of MI-BCI, the existing researches mainly focus on the decoding algorithm of MI, but do not pay enough attention to the above three aspects of MI mental activities. In this paper, these problems of MI-BCI are discussed in detail, and it is pointed out that the subjects tend to use visual motor imagery as kinesthetic motor imagery. In the future, we need to develop some objective, quantitatively visualized MI ability evaluation methods, and develop some effective and less time-consumption training methods to improve MI ability. It is also necessary to solve the differences and commonness of MI problems between and within individuals and MI-BCI illiteracy to a certain extent.
Algorithms ; Brain-Computer Interfaces ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Imagery, Psychotherapy ; Imagination

Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is a common respiratory disease in clinic, and with a pathological manifestation of pulmonary edema, decreased pulmonary compliance as well as pulmonary epithelial/endothelial cells injury. At present, it was suggested that systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by various causes which play an important role in the occurrence and development of ALI/ARDS. Widely activated neutrophils can migrate to lung tissue and release plenty of proteases in the procedure of SIRS, including neutrophil serine proteases (NSPs), lysozyme, myeloperoxidase and collagenase, which can induce severe lung injury. Meanwhile, NSPs, such as neutrophil elastase (NE), cathepsin G (CG), proteinase 3 (PR3) and neutrophil serine proteinase 4 (NSP4), are important in the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS. Therefore, Serpins may protect lung tissue by inhibiting NSPs. However, the specific mechanism of Serpins is not totally clear. In this article, we will discuss the mechanism of action of NSPs in the inflammatory response of ALI/ARDS, the structural overview of Serpins, the primary role of Serpins in ALI/ARDS,such as the inhibition of NSPs activity, other roles of Serpins in ALI/ARDS, such as the inhibition of inflammatory factor release, regulation of apoptosis and protection of vascular endothelial cells and pulmonary surfactant-associated glycoprotein D (SP-D), and the clinical application of exogenous Serpins in ALI/ARDS to explore the role of Serpins in the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS. The aim is to provide new ideas and strategies for the clinical treatment of ALI/ARDS.

Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is a life-threatening lung disease characterized by refractory hypoxemia. Metabolomics is an emerging discipline for qualitative and quantitative analysis of small molecular weight metabolites in organisms or cells. Mass attention has been paid to its role in disease diagnosis and treatment. Recently, many metabolites based on metabolomics have been proposed as potential biomarkers for early development and prognosis of ALI/ARDS, and provide insights into new targeted interventions. Based on metabolomics, this article discusses the role of endogenous metabolites in the pathogenesis and biomarkers of ALI/ARDS, and summarizes its application in medical therapy.