ABSTRACT The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing and is related to sedentary lifestyles and obesity. Many studies were published on the effect of lifestyle interventions on glucose regulation and delay the onset of diabetes in adults with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or prediabetes. This study aimed to investigate the role of lifestyle interventions in individuals with IGT or prediabetes using a meta-analytic approach. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched from their inception up to January 2020 to select eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The weighted mean difference (WMD; for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-hour plasma glucose (2hPPG)) or relative risk (RR; for the risk of diabetes) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for pooled effect estimates using the random-effects model. Thirteen RCTs involving 3376 individuals with IGT or prediabetes were selected for this meta-analysis. The results showed that lifestyle interventions were associated with lower FPG (WMD: -0.14; 95% CI: -0.24 to -0.05 mmol/L; p=0.004) and 2hPPG (WMD: -0.66; 95% CI: -1.12 to -0.20 mmol/L; p=0.005) in adults with IGT or prediabetes. Moreover, the risk of diabetes was significantly reduced in individuals who received lifestyle interventions (RR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.60-0.95; p=0.015). Lifestyle interventions could help improve glucose dysregulation and prevent the progression of diabetes in adults with IGT or prediabetes. Further large-scale RCTs should be conducted to assess the effects of long-term lifestyle interventions on diabetic complications in adults with IGT or prediabetes.

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Zinc Finger E-box Binding Homeobox 1 (ZEB1) regulation by Micro Ribonucleic acid (miR)-448 on Breast Cancer (BC) cells and their sensitivity to chemotherapy. Methods: miR-448 and ZEB1 mRNA levels in BC and normal tissues were detected by qPCR, and ZEB1 protein was detected by Western Blotting (WB). The correlation between miR-448 and tumor metastasis, clinical staging, and ZEB1 expression was analyzed. MCF-7 cells were transfected or co-transfected with the miR-448 mimic, oe-ZEB1, or their negative controls. Changes in miR-448 and ZEB1 expression were detected by qPCR and WB. Cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assays, invasion changes were analyzed by Transwell assays, and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. Results: miR-448 expression in BC tissues was lower than that in normal tissues, while ZEB1 expression was increased in the former. ZEB1 expression was lower in BC patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without. In patients with clinical stage I-III BC, miR-448 expression decreased with an increase in tumor stage, which was negatively correlated with ZEB1 expression. Upregulation of miR-448 expression can suppress MCF-7 cell proliferation and invasion and promote apoptosis. Upregulation of ZEB1 expression in cells overexpressing miR-448 can partially reverse the inhibition of BC cell growth induced by miR-448. miR-448 can enhance the sensitivity of cells toward paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil. Conclusions: miR-448 suppresses cell proliferation and invasion and promotes apoptosis by targeting ZEB1. Moreover, it can increase the sensitivity of cells toward paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil.

Improving the quality of life of patients with complete spinal cord injuries is an urgent objective of the Chinese Department of Health. For better management of spinal cord injuries, it is necessary to understand the background of the patients. A total of 392 patients aged ≥18 years with traumatic spinal cord injuries (≥1 year of history) were attending the rehabilitation center of the Institutes. A total of 7 (2%) patients reported low quality of life, 200 (51%) patients reported moderate quality of life, 181 (46%) patients reported good quality of life, and 4 (1%) patients reported excellent quality of life. Male patients (P=0.042), patients with college or more education (P=0.039), incomplete spinal cord injuries (P=0.045), paraplegia (P=0.046), and absence of pressure injury (P=0.047) were associated with higher quality of life. A total of 81 (21%) patients were dependent on the caregiver, 85 (22%) patients were highly dependent on the caregiver, 155 (40%) patients were moderately dependent on the caregiver, 60 (15%) patients were mildly dependent on the caregiver, and 11 (2%) patients were independent for activities of daily living. An incomplete spinal cord injury (P=0.045) and paraplegia (P=0.041) were associated with higher independence in activities of daily living of patients. The independence in activities of daily living and quality of life of the Chinese population with complete spinal cord injury and tetraplegia are poor (Level of Evidence: IV; Technical Efficacy Stage: 5).

The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted the mental health of healthcare providers at the frontline. Therefore, we conducted this study to estimate the prevalence rate of anxiety and insomnia and identify associated risk factors among healthcare workers in Jilin, China, during the period from January 25 to February 25, 2020. Zung's Self-Reported Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scale were used to diagnose anxiety and insomnia, respectively. Associated risk factors were identified through a multivariate logistic regression model. A total of 300 healthcare workers were invited and 236 completed the study. Of them, 234 (99.15%) were medical workers, 197 (83.47%) were working at frontline departments, and 159 (67.37%) were fighting against COVID-19. Fifty-seven respondents (24.15%) had anxiety (SAS index score ≥45) and 94 (39.83%) had insomnia (ISI score ≥8). Based on the multivariate analysis, contact with people from Hubei province during work (no vs not clear) [OR=0.25, 95%CI: 0.10-0.61] and personal protective equipment (PPE) (not in place vs in place) [OR=6.22, 95%CI: 2.23-17.40] were significantly correlated with anxiety. PPE (not in place vs in place) was the only significant risk factor of insomnia [OR=10.56, 95%CI: 4.00-27.87]. The prevalence of anxiety and insomnia was high in our study, reflecting the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers. The unavailability of PPE in place was a significant risk factor of both anxiety and insomnia.

Abstract Purpose To reveal the function of miR-134 in myocardial ischemia. Methods Real-time PCR and western blotting were performed to measure the expression of miR-134, nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) and apoptotic-associated proteins. Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) assay, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), Hoechst 33342/PI double staining and flow cytometry assay were implemented in H9c2 cells, respectively. MiR-134 mimic/inhibitor was used to regulate miR-134 expression. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay were utilized to identify the interrelation between miR-134 and NOS3. Rescue experiments exhibited the role of NOS3. The involvement of PI3K/AKT was assessed by western blot analysis. Results MiR-134 was high regulated in the myocardial ischemia model, and miR-134 mimic/inhibitor transfection accelerated/impaired the speed of cell apoptosis and attenuated/exerted the cell proliferative prosperity induced by H/R regulating active status of PI3K/AKT signaling. LDH activity was also changed due to the different treatments. Moreover, miR-134 could target NOS3 directly and simultaneously attenuated the expression of NOS3. Co-transfection miR-134 inhibitor and pcDNA3.1-NOS3 highlighted the inhibitory effects of miR-134 on myocardial H/R injury. Conclusion This present work puts insights into the crucial effects of the miR-134/NOS3 axis in myocardial H/R injury, delivering a potential therapeutic technology in future.

ABSTRACT Altered metabolites level in the biosystems, is the potential cause of cancer, the primary reason of alteration of metabolism is change in nutrient consumption and waste excretion, as a result genetic mutation leads to cancer initiation and progression. Aberration of specific metabolites such as fumarate, succinate, 2-hydroxyglutarate may alter cell signaling. We collected liver and kidney samples and prepared for 1H NMR analysis, then executed NMR spectroscopy. We used a set of domestic R scripts to perform an unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) and a supervised orthogonal signal correction partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OSC-PLS-DA). It signifies class discrimination for getting a clear separation, whereas PCA scores plot signifies the model group kept further away from the control group than drug group on the horizontal axis. In another PCA scores plots, most parts of the control group was overlapping with the drug group but was distant from the model group. Marsdenia tenacissima extract (MTE) (Chines name: Xiao-Ai-Ping, XAP) modulates level of crucial metabolites such as fumarate, lactate, succinate, determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy and their altered level contributes major role in cancer.

In this paper, we present an efficient Newton-like method with fifth-order convergence for nonlinear equations. The algorithm is free from second derivative and it requires four evaluations of the given function and its first derivative at each iteration. As a consequence, its efficiency index is equal to 4√5 which is better than that of Newton's method √2. Several examples demonstrate that the presented algorithm is more efficient and performs better than Newton's method.