Effects of magnesium supplementation on improving hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension in type 2 diabetes: A pooled analysis of 24 randomized controlled trials

BackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated that diabetes is often accompanied with lower magnesium status. However, practical details regarding the influences of magnesium intervention on hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension in type 2 diabetes (T2D) need to be further investigated.MethodsWeb of Science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed were searched for relevant literatures published through April 30, 2022, and high-quality data were pooled to evaluate the effects of magnesium supplementation on glycemic, circulating lipids, and blood pressure control in T2D, and to explore the associated practical details.ResultsPooled analyses of 24 randomized controlled trials with 1,325 T2D individuals revealed that subjects who received magnesium supplementation had statistically significant reductions in fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, with WMD values of –0.20 mM (95% CI: –0.30, –0.09), –0.22% (95% CI: –0.41, –0.03), –7.69 mmHg (95% CI: –11.71, –3.66) and –2.71 mmHg (95% CI: –4.02, –1.40), respectively. Detailed subgroup analyses demonstrated that health status of participants including age, body mass index, country, duration of disease, baseline magnesium level and baseline glycemic control condition as well as magnesium formulation, dosage and duration of intervention influenced the effects of magnesium addition. Dose-effect analysis showed that 279 mg/d for 116 d, 429 mg/d for 88 d and 300 mg/d for 120 d are the average optimal dosages and durations for improving glycemic, circulating lipids, and blood pressure controls, respectively.ConclusionOur findings provide clinically relevant information on the adjuvant therapy of magnesium for improving hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension in T2D

Biomembrane-wrapped gene delivery nanoparticles for cancer therapy

As a promising strategy, gene delivery for cancer treatment accepts encouraging progress due to its high efficacy, low toxicity, and exclusive selectivity. However, the delivery efficiency, specific biological distribution, targeted uptake, and biosafety of naked nucleic acid agents still face serious challenges, which limit further clinical application. To overcome the above bottleneck, safe and efficient functional nanovectors are developed to improve the delivery efficiency of nucleic acid agents. In recent years, emerging membrane-wrapped biomimetic nanoparticles (MBNPs) based on the concept of “imitating nature” are well known for their advantages, such as low immunogenicity and long cycle time, and especially play a crucial role in improving the overall efficiency of gene delivery and reducing adverse reactions. Therefore, combining MBNPs and gene delivery is an effective strategy to enhance tumor treatment efficiency. This review presents the mechanism of gene therapy and the current obstacles to gene delivery. Remarkably, the latest development of gene delivery MBNPs and the strategies to overcome these obstacles are summarized. Finally, the future challenges and prospects of gene delivery MBNPs toward clinical transformation are introduced. The principal purpose of this review is to discuss the biomedical potential of gene delivery MBNPs for cancer therapy and to provide guidance for further enhancing the efficiency of tumor gene therapy

Two sides to every story: the HIF-dependent and HIF-independent functions of pVHL

Abstractvon Hippel–Lindau (VHL) disease is a hereditary cancer syndrome caused by inherited mutations that inactivate the VHL tumour suppressor gene. The VHL locus encodes pVHL, whose best studied function is to bind to and down-regulate the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) family of oxygen-dependent transcription factors. Early efforts have established the fundamental role of HIF in VHL-defective tumorigenesis and in particular renal cell carcinoma. However, recent findings have revealed an alternate side to the story, the HIF-independenttumour suppressor functions of pVHL. These include pVHL's ability to regulate apoptosis and senescence as well as its role in the maintenance of primary cilium and orchestrating the deposition of the extracellular matrix. To what extent these HIF-dependent and HIF-independent functions cooperate in VHL-defective tumorigenesis remains to be determined

Environmental taxes and the effects of partial privatization on environmental R&D, environment and welfare

This paper considers environmental R&D (ER&D) of clean technology for reducing pollutant emissions in a polluting mixed duopoly and analyzes partial privatization’s impacts on ER&D, environment and welfare. In the situation that environmental taxes are exogenously given, it finds that the impacts of privatization policy on ER&D and environment critically depend on the level of environmental damage. However, regardless of the marginal damage, an appropriate partial-privatization policy can increase social welfare. In addition, it also considers an endogenously determined optimal environmental tax and shows that if the marginal damage is high, partial privatization’s impacts on ER&D, environment and social welfare may be not the same as the exogenous environmental tax situatio

Understanding Security Behavior of Real Users: Analysis of a Phishing Study

This paper presents a set of statistical analyses on an empirical study of phishing email sorting by real online users. Participants were assigned to multitasking and/or incentive conditions in unattended web-based tasks that are the most realistic in any comparable study to date. Our three stages of analyses included logistic regression models to identify individual phishing “cues” contributing to successful classifications, statistical significance tests assessing the links between participants’ training experience and self-assessments of success to their actual performance, significance tests searching for significant demographic factors influencing task completion performance, and lastly k-means clustering based on a range of performance measures and utilizing participants’ demographic attributes. In particular, the results indicate that multitasking and incentives create complex dynamics while demographic traits and cybersecurity training can be informative predictors of user security behavior. These findings strongly support the benefits of security training and education and advocate for customized and differentiated interventions to increase users’ success of correctly identifying phishing emails

Breviscapine alleviates MPP+-induced damage and apoptosis of SH-SY5Y cells by activating Nrf2 pathway

Purpose: To investigate the role and mechanism of action of breviscapine (Brp) in 1-methyl-4- phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+)-induced cell injury in human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y.Methods: The injury on SH-SY5Y cells was induced using MPP+. Cell viability and apoptotic ability were determined by CCK8 assay and Annexin V/PI staining, respectively. Protein expressions of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and its related downstream proteins - hemeoxygenase 1(HO-1) and NAD(P)H-quinoneoxido reductase 1(NQO1), were determined using Western blotting.Results: Brp dose-dependently attenuated MPP+ induced reduction in the viability of SH SY5Y cells, but alleviated MPP+-induced oxidative stress (OS) and cell injury, as evidenced by the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and dopaminetransporter (DAT) (p < 0.05). Brp decreased the amount of apoptotic cells induced by MPP+, as well as the protein levels of Bax and cleaved-caspase 3, and also induced the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Brp alleviates MPP+-induced cellular damage and cell apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells by activating Nrf2 pathway. Thus, Brp is a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of PD

Hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma—a single-institution experience with 51 cases

ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to describe the experience at a single institution in the management of hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEHE).MethodsWe included 51 patients with histologically confirmed HEHE. We performed log-rank (Cox–Mantel) survival analyses using Kaplan–Meier methods to test differences in survival between patients in different groups. Univariate Cox regression analyses and multivariate proportional hazards regression model were carried out to identify independent prognostic factors.ResultsDifferent imaging modalities were used to diagnose HEHE with various presentations. Liver resection (LR), liver transplantation (LT), systemic treatment (ST), and surveillance had been used in our study. A significant difference was noted between the LR group and the surveillance group with respect to mean survival (p = 0.006), as was in the LR group and the ST group (p = 0.036), and in surgical approach (LR and LT) and nonsurgical approach (ST and surveillance) (p = 0.008). The mean survival between the ST group and the surveillance group was not significantly different (p = 0.851). LR (p = 0.010) and surgical approach (p = 0.014) were favorable predictors of outcome, while macrovascular invasion (MaVI) (p = 0.037), lung metastasis (p = 0.040), and surveillance (p = 0.033) were poor prognostic factors in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that LR (p = 0.010) and surgical approach (p = 0.014) were independently associated with good OS, while surveillance (p = 0.033) was independently associated with poor OS. After adjusting for confounding factors, patients in the LR group have much better OS than those in the surveillance group (p = 0.013). However, there was no significant difference in OS between the LR group and ST group (p = 0.254), as was in the ST group and the surveillance group (p = 0.857).ConclusionsThe definitive diagnosis of HEHE was dependent on histopathology, and it was not possible to make a specific diagnosis without biopsy because the radiological findings were similar to those in some hepatic malignancies. ST was not recommended for patients who were not candidates for surgical approaches, and surgical approaches should be warranted regardless of disease stage. The retrospective nature and the small size of the data limited the generalizability of the study, designing a worldwide database that contains all data about patients with HEHE independent of their therapy, which was highly recommended

Controlling electron motion with attosecond precision by shaped femtosecond intense laser pulse

We propose the scheme of temporal double-slit interferometer to precisely measure the electric field of shaped intense femtosecond laser pulse directly, and apply it to control the electron tunneling wave packets in attosecond precision. By manipulating the spectra phase of the input femtosecond pulse in frequency domain, one single pulse is split into two sub-pulses whose waveform can be precisely controlled by adjusting the spectra phase. When the shaped pulse interacts with atoms, the two sub-pulses are analogous to the Young's double-slit in time domain. The interference pattern in the photoelectron momentum distribution can be used to precisely retrieve the peak electric field and the time delay between two sub-pulses. Based on the precise characterization of the shaped pulse, we demonstrate that the sub-cycle dynamics of electron can be controlled with attosecond precision. The above scheme is proved to be feasible by both quantum-trajectory Monte Carlo simulations and numerical solutions of three-dimensional time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation.Comment: 10 pages,4 figure

Large vocabulary speech recognition for languages of Africa: multilingual modeling and self-supervised learning

Almost none of the 2,000+ languages spoken in Africa have widely available automatic speech recognition systems, and the required data is also only available for a few languages. We have experimented with two techniques which may provide pathways to large vocabulary speech recognition for African languages: multilingual modeling and self-supervised learning. We gathered available open source data and collected data for 15 languages, and trained experimental models using these techniques. Our results show that pooling the small amounts of data available in multilingual end-to-end models, and pre-training on unsupervised data can help improve speech recognition quality for many African languages