Altered functional connectivity of the thalamus in patients with insomnia disorder after transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation therapy

The pathogenesis of insomnia is related to the dysfunction of the thalamus. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has proved to be effective in treating insomnia. However, whether taVNS alleviates insomnia through modulating thalamus-related functional connectivity remains unclear. To elucidate the instant modulating effects of taVNS on the resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the thalamus, 20 patients with insomnia disorder were recruited to receive taVNS treatment and their resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected immediately before and after stimulation. The fMRI data were compared with 20 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects who received no stimulation and had RSFC fMRI data collected once. RSFC analyses of the thalamus were performed in both groups. In addition to assessing the group differences between ID patients and healthy controls regarding the RSFC of the thalamus, we examined the taVNS-induced changes of RSFC of the thalamus in ID patients. Before taVNS treatment, the ID patients showed increased RSFC of the thalamus with the right insula and inferior frontal gyrus than healthy controls. After taVNS treatment, the RSFC between the thalamus and the right angular gyrus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and precuneus were significantly decreased in patients. This study provides insights into the instant brain effects involving the thalamus-related functional connectivity of taVNS performed on insomnia disorder patients

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

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

The Regulatory Effects of Lateral Hypothalamus Area GABAB Receptor on Gastric Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats

HIGHLIGHTSThe aim of the research was to determine the functional effects and molecular mechanisms of GABAB receptor on ischemia reperfusion-induced gastric injury in rats.The lateral hypothalamus area GABAB receptor attenuated the ischemia reperfusion-induced gastric injury by up-regulating the production of GABA, GABABR, and down-regulating P-GABABR in the brain.This work would provide a new therapeutic strategy for acute gastric injury.Gastric ischemia-reperfusion (GI-R) injury progression is largely associated with excessive activation of the greater splanchnic nerve (GSN). This study aims to investigate the protective effects of GABAB receptor (GABABR) in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) on GI-R injury. A model of GI-R injury was established by clamping the celiac artery for 30 min and then reperfusion for 1 h. The coordinate of FN and LHA was identified in Stereotaxic Coordinates and then the L-Glu was microinjected into FN, GABAB receptor agonist baclofen, or GABAB receptor antagonist CGP35348 was microinjected into the LHA, finally the GI-R model was prepared. The expression of GABABR, P-GABABR, NOX2, NOX4, and SOD in the LHA was detected by western blot, PCR, and RT-PCR. The expression of IL-1β, NOX2, and NXO4 in gastric mucosa was detected by western blot. We found that microinjection of L-Glu into the FN or GABAB receptor agonist (baclofen) into the LHA attenuated GI-R injury. Pretreatment with GABAB receptor antagonist CGP35348 reversed the protective effects of FN stimulation or baclofen into the LHA. Microinjection of baclofen into the LHA obviously reduced the expression of inflammatory factor IL-1β, NOX2, and NOX4 in the gastric mucosa.Conclusion: The protective effects of microinjection of GABABR agonist into LHA on GI-R injury in rats could be mediated by up-regulating the production of GABA, GABABR, and down-regulating P-GABABR in the LHA

2D-QSAR and 3D-QSAR Analyses for EGFR Inhibitors

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an important target for cancer therapy. In this study, EGFR inhibitors were investigated to build a two-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (2D-QSAR) model and a three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) model. In the 2D-QSAR model, the support vector machine (SVM) classifier combined with the feature selection method was applied to predict whether a compound was an EGFR inhibitor. As a result, the prediction accuracy of the 2D-QSAR model was 98.99% by using tenfold cross-validation test and 97.67% by using independent set test. Then, in the 3D-QSAR model, the model with q2=0.565 (cross-validated correlation coefficient) and r2=0.888 (non-cross-validated correlation coefficient) was built to predict the activity of EGFR inhibitors. The mean absolute error (MAE) of the training set and test set was 0.308 log units and 0.526 log units, respectively. In addition, molecular docking was also employed to investigate the interaction between EGFR inhibitors and EGFR

Transcriptional profiling of rice early response to Magnaporthe oryzae identified OsWRKYs as important regulators in rice blast resistance.

Rice blast disease is a major threat to rice production worldwide, but the mechanisms underlying rice resistance to the causal agent Magnaporthe oryzae remain elusive. Therefore, we carried out a transcriptome study on rice early defense response to M. oryzae. We found that the transcriptional profiles of rice compatible and incompatible interactions with M. oryzae were mostly similar, with genes regulated more prominently in the incompatible interactions. The functional analysis showed that the genes involved in signaling and secondary metabolism were extensively up-regulated. In particular, WRKY transcription factor genes were significantly enriched among the up-regulated genes. Overexpressing one of these WRKY genes, OsWRKY47, in transgenic rice plants conferred enhanced resistance against rice blast fungus. Our results revealed the sophisticated transcriptional reprogramming of signaling and metabolic pathways during rice early response to M. oryzae and demonstrated the critical roles of WRKY transcription factors in rice blast resistance

The result of Gene-set enrichment analysis on functional categories.

<p>The result of Gene-set enrichment analysis on functional categories.</p

The sliding window analysis of genes involved in signaling (A) and secondary metabolism (B).

<p>The solid lines represent the percentages of certain functional category in a 500-gene window in IRBL18 (red), IRBL22 (blue) and LTH (green). The blue dotted lines represent the 95% confidence levels.</p