Prolonged administration of total glucosides of paeony improves intestinal immune imbalance and epithelial barrier damage in collagen-induced arthritis rats based on metabolomics-network pharmacology integrated analysis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation and joint damage with complex pathological mechanisms. In recent years, many studies have shown that the dysregulation of intestinal mucosal immunity and the damage of the epithelial barrier are closely related to the occurrence of RA. Total glucosides of paeony (TGP) have been used clinically for the treatment of RA in China for decades, while the pharmacological mechanism is still uncertain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulatory effect and mechanism of TGP on intestinal immunity and epithelial barrier in RA model rats. The results showed that TGP alleviated immune hyperfunction by regulating the ratio of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ in different lymphocyte synthesis sites of the small intestine, including Peyer’s patches (PPs), intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs), and lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs). Specially, TGP first exhibited immunomodulatory effects on sites close to the intestinal lumen (IELs and LPLs), and then on PPs far away from the intestinal lumen as the administration time prolonged. Meanwhile, TGP restores the intestinal epithelial barrier by upregulating the ratio of villi height (V)/crypt depth (C) and expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin). Finally, the integrated analysis of metabolomics-network pharmacology was also used to explore the possible regulation mechanism of TGP on the intestinal tract. Metabolomics analysis revealed that TGP reversed the intestinal metabolic profile disturbance in CIA rats, and identified 32 biomarkers and 163 corresponding targets; network pharmacology analysis identified 111 potential targets for TGP to treat RA. By intersecting the results of the two, three key targets such as ADA, PNP and TYR were determined. Pharmacological verification experiments showed that the levels of ADA and PNP in the small intestine of CIA rats were significantly increased, while TGP significantly decreased their ADA and PNP levels. In conclusion, purine metabolism may play an important role in the process of TGP improving RA-induced intestinal immune imbalance and impaired epithelial barrier

Genome-Wide Identification of MicroRNAs in Response to Low Nitrate Availability in Maize Leaves and Roots

BACKGROUND: Nitrate is the major source of nitrogen available for many crop plants and is often the limiting factor for plant growth and agricultural productivity especially for maize. Many studies have been done identifying the transcriptome changes under low nitrate conditions. However, the microRNAs (miRNAs) varied under nitrate limiting conditions in maize has not been reported. MiRNAs play important roles in abiotic stress responses and nutrient deprivation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we used the SmartArray™ and GeneChip® microarray systems to perform a genome-wide search to detect miRNAs responding to the chronic and transient nitrate limiting conditions in maize. Nine miRNA families (miR164, miR169, miR172, miR397, miR398, miR399, miR408, miR528, and miR827) were identified in leaves, and nine miRNA families (miR160, miR167, miR168, miR169, miR319, miR395, miR399, miR408, and miR528) identified in roots. They were verified by real time stem loop RT-PCR, and some with additional time points of nitrate limitation. The miRNAs identified showed overlapping or unique responses to chronic and transient nitrate limitation, as well as tissue specificity. The potential target genes of these miRNAs in maize were identified. The expression of some of these was examined by qRT-PCR. The potential function of these miRNAs in responding to nitrate limitation is described. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Genome-wide miRNAs responding to nitrate limiting conditions in maize leaves and roots were identified. This provides an insight into the timing and tissue specificity of the transcriptional regulation to low nitrate availability in maize. The knowledge gained will help understand the important roles miRNAs play in maize responding to a nitrogen limiting environment and eventually develop strategies for the improvement of maize genetics

Temporal changes in mental response and prevention patterns, and their impact from uncertainty stress during the transition in China from the COVID-19 epidemic to sporadic infection

An epidemic of a highly lethal disease can overwhelm people emotionally and physically. Little is known about how public mental and preventive patterns changed during the transition from the COVID-19 epidemic to sporadic infection. This study examined changing trends of metal response and behavioral variables, and their impact from uncertainty stress in this process in China. A prospective longitudinal observation design was utilized. There were 7 waves of surveys from COVID-19 epidemic status to the sporadic infection period. Sixty-two participants completed all observation points and were included in the study. The Mann–Kendall Test was used to assess changing trends across the seven observation points. The nonparametric linear mixed effects model was used to examine the association between uncertainty stress and mental and behavioral responses.The mean uncertainty stress did not change significantly over the observation period (Z: −0.911, p > 0.05). This trend was also true for perceived risk, perceived severity, self-efficacy for prevention, and prevention behavior. There was a statistically significant downward trend in irrational beliefs about prevention (Z: −4.993, p < 0.01), sleep (Z: −2.499, p < 0.05), emotions (Z: −5.650, p < 0.01), and lifestyle (Z: −5.978, p < 0.01). The results showed that uncertainty stress was positively associated with irrational beliefs (β: 0.16298, p < 0.01), their sleep (β: 0.02070, p < 0.05), emotions (β: 0.03462, p < 0.01), and lifestyle (β: 0.02056, p < 0.05). High levels of uncertainty stress were negatively associated with self-efficacy for prevention and prevention behavior, β was −1.33210 (p < 0.01) and −0.82742 (p < 0.01). These results may have important policy and disease prevention in post-epidemic times

A mining algorithm of user leader in social network

Mining user leader in social network is an important issue for user influence management.In this paper,a user leader mining algorithm in social network based on user influence assessments is proposed,which comprises aspects as follows:firstly,the model of proposed algorithm and its related definitions are described formally;secondly,a user leadership degree evaluation method is presented based on user influence and user activeness calculation;and finally,the user leader mining algorithm is proposed based on two factors of user leadership degree and user centrality.Furthermore,the experimental results show the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm

Association of smoking with poor health-related quality of life among health-profession students in China: A 31-university multilevel, multivariable analysis

Introduction While many studies have confirmed that smoking is causally associated with various diseases, some have found an association between smoking and human functional impairment. Relationships between smoking and poor healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) have been investigated in general populations. However, these studies have examined only individual-level correlates. This study examined the association between smoking and poor HRQoL, at both the individual and contextual levels, in university settings across China. Methods Large-scale survey sampling was conducted among 11659 healthprofession students from 31 Chinese universities. HRQoL was measured by the EQ-5D instrument. This multilevel, multivariable analysis utilized unadjusted and adjusted methods. Results Prevalence of poor HRQoL in this study was 2.7% (95% CI: 1.9–3.5). Multilevel logistic regression analysis revealed that frequent (OR=3.18; 95% CI: 2.35–4.33) and occasional smokers (OR=2.73; 95% CI: 1.61–4.65) and universities with high (OR=2.68; 95% CI: 1.34–5.35) and medium smoking prevalence (OR=1.49; 95% CI: 0.95–5.35) had excess odds of poor HRQoL compared to their respective referents, non-smokers and universities with a low smoking prevalence. Conclusions This multilevel study provides new evidence that smoking is associated with poor HRQL. Findings underscore the importance of alerting the populace that functional impairment is linked to smoking

Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) in tobacco control in China

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of smoking, second-hand smoke exposure, and attitudes toward tobacco control and cessation training among university students in China

Contextual influences affecting patterns of overweight and obesity among university students: a 50 universities population-based study in China

Abstract Background Many studies have examined childhood and adolescent obesity, but few have examined young adults and the effect of their home and current living environments on prevalence rates. The present study explores contextual factors affecting overweight and obesity among university students in China and, in particular, focuses on how the SES–obesity relationship varies across different geographical contexts. Methods Participants were 11,673 students, who were identified through a multistage survey sampling process conducted in 50 universities. Individual data was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire, and contextual variables were retrieved from a national database. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to examine urban and regional variations in overweight and obesity. Results Overall the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study sample was 9.5% (95% CI 7.7, 11.3%). After controlling for individual factors, both attributes of the home location (regional GDP per capita and rurality) and the current university location (city population) were found to be important, thus suggesting that the different origins of students affect current levels of obesity. At the individual level, while students with more financial resources were more likely to be obese, the extent of this relationship was highly dependent upon area income and city size. Conclusion The results of this study add important insights about the role of contextual factors affecting overweight and obesity among young adults and indicate a need to take into account both past as well as present environmental influences when considering the role of contextual factors in models of the nutrition transition

Does Rural Production–Living–Ecological Spaces Have a Preference for Regional Endowments? A Case of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, China

Production–Living–Ecological Space (PLES) is the functional projection of sustainable development in territory spatial planning. Its rational layout has become the most important task for developing countries to enhance ecological awareness and achieve sustainable goals. This study took the rural areas of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) as an example to analyze the relationship by means of quantitative cumulation between regional endowments (natural factors, location and facilities) and PLES to figure out the preference mechanism. The Boosted Regression Tree model (BRT) was used to obtain the contribution rate of factors and the internal marginal effect between 1980~2018. Our conclusions are as follows: Living space (LS) enjoyed the highest advantage of regional endowment level, followed by production space (PS). Except for the distance to water, other indicators were significantly different in the PLES, and the suitable range of various types was expanded from LS to PS and ecological space (ES). During the transfer, elevation had a universal effect. The process of increasing naturalness was affected by the distance of high-level urban areas, which verified the continuous effect of Chinese ecological civilization. This study clarified the selectivity of regional endowments to PLES, which will greatly guide the direction of regional territory spatial planning and the next step of regional sustainable development