Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality, characterized by poor prognosis due to its high proliferative and invasive potential. Tumor metabolic reprogramming, particularly involving glucose metabolism, is essential for tumor survival. This study investigates the role of the Hippo pathway effector transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in regulating gluconeogenesis and promoting tumorigenesis in HCC. Methods: TAZ expression in HCC was analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas data and validated in clinical samples and cell lines. TAZ was overexpressed or silenced in HCC cell lines to evaluate its effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. The expression and prognostic relevance of the gluconeogenesis-related genes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PC) were examined, along with their correlation with TAZ expression. Tumor growth was assessed in nude mice. Interactions between TAZ and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) were investigated using co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Results: TAZ was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. TAZ overexpression enhanced proliferation, reduced apoptosis, and promoted migration and invasion. In contrast, PCK1 and G6PC were downregulated in HCC and showed a negative correlation with TAZ expression. Conclusion TAZ modulates gluconeogenesis and accelerates tumor growth, whereas its knockdown attenuates tumor progression. TAZ interacts with GR, suppressing its transcriptional activity on gluconeogenic gene promoters.

Objective To explore the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive function in the elderly population through propensity score matching method.Methods We analyzed the data of 7605 participants aged 60 and above who were included in the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS).The non-substitutable 1∶1 nearest neighbor matching method without caliper value was used for propensity score matching and G-computation was used to estimate the average treatment effect(ATE)of hearing loss on all dimensions of cognitive function.Results Before matching,there were 3626(47.68%)women,with 1409(18.53%)of whom suffering from hearing loss and 3031(39.86%)of whom suffering from cognitive impairment.After matching,1409 subjects were included in the hearing loss group and 1409,in the normal hearing group,with both groups sharing similar distribution of basic demographic characteristics.The results for the average treatment effect of the population indicated that the cognitive function scores of the hearing loss group were lower than those of the normal hearing group,with the overall cognitive function being 0.593 points lower(95%confidence intervel[CI]:-0.916--0.257,P<0.001),orientation being 0.183 points lower(95%CI:-0.302--0.055,P=0.004),immediate memory being 0.150 points lower(95%CI:-0.218--0.085,P<0.001),and language skills being 0.178 points lower(95%CI:-0.303--0.058,P=0.006).The prevalence of cognitive impairment of the hearing loss group was 4.2%higher than that of the normal hearing group(95%CI:0.007-0.077,P=0.020).Conclusion Hearing loss adversely affects the orientation,memory,and language skills of the elderly population and forms a potential risk factor for cognitive impairment in the elderly population.

Medication safety is a top concern for medical institutions. Outpatient prescription standard is designed to standardize prescription, dispensing, and supervision for outpatient and emergency prescriptions at medical institutions. The standard covered prescription authorization management, prescription issuance, prescription dispensing, prescription saving and supervision. These four parts focus on risk exposure of patients′medication safety, and aim at safeguarding patient medication safety, which were formulated according to China′s laws and regulations, domestic and international industrial standards and technical specifications, as well as prescription conditions at medical institutions and experts opinions. The standard covers technical requirements and guidance, management measures and system development, serving as an important basis to guide medical institutions on standardize management of outpatient prescription and emergency prescription.

Objective To investigate any correlation between cognition and auditory event-related potential (ERP) after traumatic brain injury (TBI),and to explore the diagnostic value of the P300 ERP for TBI patients.Methods Thirty TBI patients and 28 healthy subjects were recruited.Their P300 auditory event-related potentials were measured and the Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) was administered.Results The TBI patients' total MoCA scores and their scores on most of the sub-item components were significantly lower than those of the control subjects,though their naming and speech showed no significant difference.The TBI patients had abnormal P300 responses.Their N1,P2,N2 and P3 latencies were significantly longer and their P2 and P3 amplitudes were significantly lower than those of the control group.Stepwise regression and multivariate analysis showed that the P300 latency was significantly associated with delayed memory,impaired visual spatial executive functioning and total MoCA score.Conclusion P300 can be used as a quantitative electrophysiological index for detecting cognitive impairment in patients with TBI.

Acute and chronic infection of sinus could expand to orbital cavity. As the technique and equipment of endoscopic surgery are getting popular and renewal, endoscopic sinus surgery is being used widely and profoundly, which improves the surgical effect of nose and sinus diseases greatly. However, the complications are not decreased rather than traditional surgery. The rate of orbital complication is the highest of all endoscopic sinus surgery. This paper present a case report about orbital complication due to sinusitis or endoscopic sinus surgery and related literature were reviewed.
Endoscopy ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Surgical Procedures ; adverse effects ; Orbital Diseases ; etiology ; Paranasal Sinuses ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Sinusitis ; complications

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the role of outer membrane protein (Omp) F-deficiency and active efflux in the accumulation of hydrophilic fluoroquinolones ciprofloxacin (CPLX) and lomefloxacin (LMLX) in resistant E. coli strains.

METHODSFluoroquinolone accumulation in bacteria and the effect of active efflux were measured by a fluorescence method. The outer membrane proteins of the bacteria were analysed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). E. coli strains in this study included control strains JF701 and JF703 that are OmpC- or OmpF-deficient mutants of E. coli K-12, respectively, and the fluoroquinolone susceptible strain the fluoroquinolone susceptible strain of Escherichia coli (Ecs) and its in vitroselected resistant strains R2 and R256, and the clinical resistant isolates R5 and R6.

RESULTSThe steady-state accumulation concentration of each drug in Ecs appeared to be the same as in JF701, while in the OmpF-deficient strain JF703, it was 1/5 CPLX or 1/2 LMLX lower than that in JF701, but JF703 was still susceptible to fluoroquinolones. On the other hand, compared with susceptible strains, a 2- to 10-fold decrease in the accumulation of each drug was found in the resistant strains except R2, in which the accumulation was slightly higher than in JF703. After the addition of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), accumulation of each drug increased, especially in resistant strains, indicating that the function of the active efflux (pump) system in these bacteria had been enhanced dramatically. Furthermore, both OmpF and OmpC in Ecs, OmpF-deficiency in R2 and R256 and OmpC-deficiency in R5 and R6 were observed.

CONCLUSIONThe decreased accumulation of hydrophilic fluoroquinolones in E. coli involved OmpF-deficiency and active efflux (pump), and the latter may be an important factor.

2,4-Dinitrophenol ; pharmacology ; Anti-Infective Agents ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Ciprofloxacin ; metabolism ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Fluoroquinolones ; Porins ; physiology ; Quinolones ; metabolism ; pharmacology