Propofol affects the biological behavior of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells via ERK1/2-MMP-2/9 signaling pathway

Purpose: To investigate the effect of propofol on the biological behavior of ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells, and the mechanism of action involved. Methods: SKOV3 cells cultured in vitro were randomly divided into control group, fat emulsion group, low-dose propofol group (LDPG, 25 μmol/L), medium-dose propofol group (MDPG) (50 μmol/L) and high-dose propofol group (HDPG) (100 μmol/L). Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry, while Transwell assay was used to measure the migration and invasion abilities of the cells. The protein levels of ERK1/2, MMP-2, MMP-9 were assayed with Western blotting. Moreover, the cells were transfected with siERK, and the regulatory effect of propofol on ERK1/2-MMP-2/9 signaling pathway was determined. Results: Apoptosis in HDPG was significantly reduced, relative to MDPG, while migration and invasion were enhanced, relative to MDPG (p < 0.05). Moreover, MMP-2, ERK1/2, and MMP-9 proteins were significantly higher in MDPG and HDPG than in control, fat emulsion and LDPGs (p < 0.05), and were upregulated in HDPGs, relative to MDPG (p < 0.05). In contrast, propofol did not up-regulate these proteins in siRNA-treated cells. Conclusion: Propofol enhances the migration, proliferation, and invasive ability SKOV3 cells, and upregulates the expressions of MMP-2, ERK1/2, and MMP-9 in these cells, via a mechanism related to the activation of ERK1/2-MMP-2/9 signaling route. These properties provide novel leads for the development of new drugs for ovarian cancer Keywords: Propofol, ERK1/2-MMP-2/9 signal route, Ovarian cancer, Biological behavio

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Analysis on the Characteristics of Ordinary and More Serious Accidents in Building Projects in China from 2005 to 2016

In China, the frequent safety accidents in building projects seriously affect the sustainable development of construction projects. The paper makes a statistical analysis on the characteristics of ordinary and more serious accidents in building projects from the types of accidents, the trends of development and the characteristics of geographical distribution from 2005 to 2016 in China by using the histogram, trend chart, pie chart and table. It can be concluded that in the recent 12 years, the security situation of construction projects generally fluctuates in a big way and is still not optimistic. Among the five major types of accidents, the electric shock and the lifting accidents have been maintained at a relatively stable and low incidence, and the sloughing accidents have accounted for more than half of the proportion. Accidents concentrated in East China, Central China, North China and Southwest China. The economic development in all provinces and cities in China is positively related to the accident. The greater the total regional economy, the rate of economic growth and the demand for infrastructure construction, the more deaths and accidents in construction projects in the corresponding regions

Analysis on the Characteristics of Ordinary and More Serious Accidents in Building Projects in China from 2005 to 2016

In China, the frequent safety accidents in building projects seriously affect the sustainable development of construction projects. The paper makes a statistical analysis on the characteristics of ordinary and more serious accidents in building projects from the types of accidents, the trends of development and the characteristics of geographical distribution from 2005 to 2016 in China by using the histogram, trend chart, pie chart and table. It can be concluded that in the recent 12 years, the security situation of construction projects generally fluctuates in a big way and is still not optimistic. Among the five major types of accidents, the electric shock and the lifting accidents have been maintained at a relatively stable and low incidence, and the sloughing accidents have accounted for more than half of the proportion. Accidents concentrated in East China, Central China, North China and Southwest China. The economic development in all provinces and cities in China is positively related to the accident. The greater the total regional economy, the rate of economic growth and the demand for infrastructure construction, the more deaths and accidents in construction projects in the corresponding regions

Randomness and diversity matter in the maintenance of the public resources

Most previous models about the public goods game usually assume two possible strategies, i.e., investing all or nothing. The real-life situation is rarely all or nothing. In this paper, we consider that multiple strategies are adopted in a well-mixed population, and each strategy represents an investment to produce the public goods. Past efforts have found that randomness matters in the evolution of fairness in the ultimatum game. In the framework involving no other mechanisms, we study how diversity and randomness influence the average investment of the population defined by the mean value of all individuals' strategies. The level of diversity is increased by increasing the strategy number, and the level of randomness is increased by increasing the mutation probability, or decreasing the population size or the selection intensity. We find that a higher level of diversity and a higher level of randomness lead to larger average investment and favor more the evolution of cooperation. Under weak selection, the average investment changes very little with the strategy number, the population size, and the mutation probability. Under strong selection, the average investment changes very little with the strategy number and the population size, but changes a lot with the mutation probability. Under intermediate selection, the average investment increases significantly with the strategy number and the mutation probability, and decreases significantly with the population size. These findings are meaningful to study how to maintain the public resource

Effects of Bile Acids on Growth Performance and Lipid Metabolism during Chronic Heat Stress in Broiler Chickens

This study aimed to investigate whether dietary bile acid (BA) supplements can improve growth performance and lipid metabolism in heat-stressed broiler chickens. A total of 288 Arbor Acres broilers were blocked by BW and then randomly allocated into 4 treatments at 21 days of age. Birds reared under 32 °C had a higher cloacal temperature (p = 0.01), faster respiratory rate (p p = 0.016), average daily gain (ADG, p = 0.006), final body weight (FBW, p = 0.008), and feed conversion rate (FCR, p = 0.004). In heat stress (HS) birds, the breast muscle rate (p = 0.006) and pH 24 h postmortem (p = 0.065) were lower, and the shear force was higher (p = 0.027). Dietary BA supplements tended to increase the breast muscle rate (p = 0.075) without affecting the growth performance and serum lipids (p > 0.05). Serum total bile acid (TBA) was roughly duplicated after BA supplements (p = 0.001). In the liver, total cholesterol was lower (p = 0.046), and triglycerides were higher (p = 0.04) in the HS birds, whereas the expression of SREBP-1c showed an increasing trend (p = 0.06). In contrast, dietary BA decreased triglycerides and the expressions of hepatic SREBP-1c and FAS in the liver (p < 0.05). In summary, mild HS causes hepatic lipid accumulation without obvious tissue damages, whereas BA has positive effects on relieving abnormal lipid metabolism, indicating that BA as a nutritional strategy has a certain potential in alleviating HS

Andrographolide protects mouse astrocytes against hypoxia injury by promoting autophagy and S100B expression

Andrographolide (ANDRO) has been studied for its immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotection effects. Because brain hypoxia is the most common factor of secondary brain injury after traumatic brain injury, we studied the role and possible mechanism of ANDRO in this process using hypoxia-injured astrocytes. Mouse cortical astrocytes C8-D1A (astrocyte type I clone from C57/BL6 strains) were subjected to 3 and 21% of O2 for various times (0–12 h) to establish an astrocyte hypoxia injury model in vitro. After hypoxia and ANDRO administration, the changes in cell viability and apoptosis were assessed using CCK-8 and flow cytometry. Expression changes in apoptosis-related proteins, autophagy-related proteins, main factors of JNK pathway, ATG5, and S100B were determined by western blot. Hypoxia remarkably damaged C8-D1A cells evidenced by reduction of cell viability and induction of apoptosis. Hypoxia also induced autophagy and overproduction of S100B. ANDRO reduced cell apoptosis and promoted cell autophagy and S100B expression. After ANDRO administration, autophagy-related proteins, S-100B, JNK pathway proteins, and ATG5 were all upregulated, while autophagy-related proteins and s100b were downregulated when the jnk pathway was inhibited or ATG5 was knocked down. ANDRO conferred a survival advantage to hypoxia-injured astrocytes by reducing cell apoptosis and promoting autophagy and s100b expression. Furthermore, the promotion of autophagy and s100b expression by ANDRO was via activation of jnk pathway and regulation of ATG5