Huiming Cheng

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis and subsequent fractures are common in the chronic hepatitis B (CHB) population, especially in the elderly. This study investigated the effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on postoperative outcomes following hip fracture surgery. METHODS: The study identified elderly patients who underwent hip fracture surgery at three academic tertiary care centres between January 2014 and December 2020. Propensity score matching was performed to compare the outcomes of 1,046 patients with HBV infection to 1,046 controls...

Functional linear regression models have been widely used in the gene association analysis of complex traits. These models retain all the genetic information in the data and take full advantage of spatial information in genetic variation data, which leads to brilliant detection power. However, the significant association signals identified by the high-power methods are not all the real causal SNPs, because it is easy to regard noise information as significant association signals, leading to a false association...

Surface potentials of biomaterials have been shown to regulate cell fate commitment. However, the effects of chirality-patterned potential distribution on macrophage polarization are still only beginning to be explored. In this work, we demonstrated that the chirality-patterned potential distribution of CoFe2 O4 /poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (CFO/P(VDF-TrFE)) films could significantly down-regulate the M1 polarization of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). Specifically, the dextral-patterned surface potential distribution simultaneously up-regulated the expression of M2-related markers of BMDMs...

No effective fungicides are available for the management of Verticillium dahliae, which causes vascular wilt disease. In this study, a star polycation (SPc)-based nanodelivery system was used for the first time to develop a thiophanate-methyl (TM) nanoagent for the management of V. dahliae. SPc spontaneously assembled with TM through hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals forces to decrease the particle size of TM from 834 to 86 nm. Compared to TM alone, the SPc-loaded TM further reduced the colony diameter of V...

Carbon nanotube-based derivatives have attracted considerable research interest due to their unique structure and fascinating physicochemical properties. However, the controlled growth mechanism of these derivatives remains unclear, and the synthesis efficiency is low. Herein, we proposed a defect-induced strategy for the efficient heteroepitaxial growth of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)@hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films. Air plasma treatment was first performed to generate defects on the wall of SWCNTs...

Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) play a critical regulatory role in many plant disease resistance pathways. However, the molecular mechanisms of cotton HSFs involved in resistance to the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae are limited. In our previous study, we identified numerous differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the transcriptome and metabolome of V. dahliae -inoculated Arabidopsis thaliana . In this study, we identified and functionally characterized GhHSFB2a , which is a DEG belonging to HSFs and related to cotton immunity to V...

OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary lesion is frequently seen in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients primarily due to AAV lung involvement or infection, which are hard to differentiate due to their high similarity in clinical manifestations. We aimed to analyze the clinical features of pulmonary lesions consequent to AAV involvement or infection in AAV patients and further identify the markers for differential diagnosis. METHODS: 140 AAV patients who admitted to the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 2016 to July 2021 were included in this study...

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Asymmetric total synthesis of neobraclactone C was finished for the first time using the convergent synthetic strategy in 22 steps in the longest linear sequence from known materials. The key steps include a steric hindrance/hydrogen bond dual-controlled Heck arylation of α,β-unsaturated ketone to construct hemiketal and cis -alkenyl in one step and a CeCl3 -catalyzed tricycle formation.

Heat shock factors (HSFs) play a crucial role in the environmental stress responses of numerous plant species, including defense responses to pathogens; however, their role in cotton resistance to Verticillium dahliae remains unclear. We have previously identified several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Arabidopsis thaliana after inoculation with V. dahliae . Here, we discovered that GhHSFA4a in Gossypium hirsutum (cotton) after inoculation with V. dahliae shares a high identity with a DEG in A. thaliana in response to V...

Microcontaminants in the water environment have received increasing attention due to their adverse effects on human health and wildlife. However, iodinated X-ray contrast media (ICM), a type of microcontaminants, have not yet been systematically documented in source and tap water. This study investigated ICM in water samples via a sampling activity from 25 drinking water sources and their corresponding 30 household taps in south-central Jiangsu Province, China. The total concentrations of ICM ranged from 14...

The fibrocartilage presented on the joint surface was caused by cartilage injury or degeneration. There is still a lack of effective strategies for fibrocartilage. Here, we hypothesized that the fibrocartilage could be viewed as a raw material for the renewal of hyaline cartilage and proposed a previously unidentified strategy of cartilage regeneration, namely, "fibrocartilage hyalinization." Cytoskeleton remodeling plays a vital role in modifying the cellular phenotype. We identified that microtubule stabilization by docetaxel repressed cartilage fibrosis and increased the hyaline cartilage extracellular matrix...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical applications of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) in the identification of pathogens in patients with urinary tract infection (UTI), peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP), central venous catheter related blood infections (CRBIs), and lung infections in the nephrology department. Methods: Midstream urine samples from 112 patients with UTI, peritoneal fluid samples from 67 patients with PDAP, blood samples from 15 patients with CRBI, and sputum specimens from 53 patients with lung infection were collected...

'We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,' President Xi Jinping so declared at the General Debate of the 75th United Nations General Assembly on 22 September 2020. More than 130 countries globally have proposed their own carbon neutrality goals by 2050 or 2060. Thus, carbon neutrality is a collective effort of human societies to cope with the climate crisis. If all countries could follow their own plans and reach carbon neutrality in a few decades, we may have a chance to control global warming within 1...

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been extensively used for the treatment of various diseases in preclinical and clinical trials. In vitro propagation is needed to attain enough cells for clinical use. However, cell aging and viability reduction caused by long-time culture have not been thoroughly investigated, especially for the function of mitochondria and lysosomes. Therefore, this study was designed to detect mitochondrial and lysosomal activity, morphological and functional changes in human umbilical cord MSCs (UMSCs) after long-time culture...

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that patients who have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have an increased risk of postoperative adverse events. However, there is limited information on the effects of antiviral treatment (AVT) on postoperative outcomes following total hip arthroplasties (THAs). METHODS: A multi-center retrospective database query was used to identify patients infected with HBV undergoing THAs between 2012 and 2017. All eligible patients were divided into two cohorts on the basis of AVT before surgery: the treated group and the untreated group...

The properties of leachate from refuse transfer stations (RTSs) in rural China were indefinite. In this study, a total of 14 leachate samples from RTSs in nine provinces of China were characterized for their pH, electric conductivity, chromaticity, concentration of organic substances, nitrogen distribution, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), organic phosphorous pesticide, and heavy metals. The structural composition of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) was also determined. To evaluate the leachate pollution potential in this study, a leachate pollution index was derived and used...

Underground microbial ecosystems have profound impacts on plant health1-5 . Recently, essential roles have been shown for plant specialized metabolites in shaping the rhizosphere microbiome6-9 . However, the potential mechanisms underlying the root-to-soil delivery of these metabolites remain to be elucidated10 . Cucurbitacins, the characteristic bitter triterpenoids in cucurbit plants (such as melon and watermelon), are synthesized by operon-like gene clusters11 . Here we report two Multidrug and Toxic Compound Extrusion (MATE) proteins involved in the transport of their respective cucurbitacins, a process co-regulated with cucurbitacin biosynthesis...

Piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) has demonstrated an ability to promote osteogenesis, and biomaterials with a chirality-patterned topological surface could enhance cellular osteogenic differentiation. In this work, we created a chirality-patterned surface potential distribution of CoFe2 O4 /poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (CFO/P(VDF-TrFE)) membranes to explore their osteogenic response under no change in surface chemical and topology, attempting to further strengthen the ability of the membranes to promote osteogenesis...

Dwarfism is a beneficial trait in many crops. Dwarf crops hold certain advantages over taller crops in lodging resistance, fertilizer tolerance, and yield. Overexpression of CBF/DREB transcription factors can lead to dwarfing in many plant species, but the molecular mechanism of plant dwarfing caused by overexpression of CBF/DREB in upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) remains unclear. In this study, we observed that overexpression of the Ammopiptanthus mongolicus AmCBF1 transcription factor in upland cotton R15 reduced plant height, whereas virus-induced gene silencing of AmCBF1 in the derived dwarf lines L28 and L30 partially restored plant height...