Publications by authors named "Tianming Zhao"

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is distinguished by an uncontrolled systemic pro-inflammatory response caused by the activation of trypsin within the pancreatic tissue, leading to the occurrence of multiple organ failure (MOF). Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-induced pyroptosis represents a form of programmed cell death characterised by robust inflammatory responses. This indicates that directing efforts towards pyroptosis could potentially offer a remedy for SAP and its related MOF.

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α-Tocopherol is a potent natural antioxidant with a variety of biological functions and is widely used in clinical practice. However, the effect and mechanism of α-tocopherol on liver fibrosis remain unknown. The core of liver fibrosis is the activation of hepatic stellate cell (HSC).

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The small intestine (SI) absorbs nutrients and acts as a barrier against pathogens. Diet enables the absorptive function of the SI while maintaining immune homeostasis. But how the SI transmits nutritional signals to the immune response and adapts to dietary intake remains unclear.

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Background: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been validated as a potential treatment for metabolic dysfunction, but its effect on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) has not been well elucidated. This study aims to determine the effect of HBOT on diet-induced MASH in mice.

Method: HBOT (2.

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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, irreversible, and fatal disease with an increasing incidence and limited therapeutic options. It is characterized by the formation and deposition of excess extracellular matrix proteins resulting in the gradual replacement of normal lung architecture by fibrous tissue. The cellular and molecular mechanism of IPF has not been fully understood.

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Gasdermin D (GSDMD) has garnered significant attention primarily for the pore-forming role of its p30 N-terminal fragment (NT-p30) generated during pyroptosis, a proinflammatory form of cell death. However, emerging evidence suggests that the formation of GSDMD-NT pores is reversible, and the activation of GSDMD does not necessarily lead to pyroptosis. Instead, this process may take part either in other forms of cell death, or in various state changes of living cells, including (i) inflammation regulation, (ii) endolysosomal pathway rewiring, (iii) granule exocytosis, (iv) type II immunity, (v) food tolerance maintenance, and (vi) temporary permeability alteration.

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In recent years, with the rapid development of flexible electronics, implantable electronic devices have received increasing attention, and they provide new solutions for medical diagnosis and treatment. To ensure the long-term and stable operation of electronic devices in the internal environment, materials with conductivity, flexibility, biocompatibility, and other properties are in high demand. Hydrogels are polymers with three-dimensional network structures that not only have physical and chemical properties similar to those of biological tissues but can be also modulated by introducing functional groups to regulate the conductivity, adhesion, self-healing, and other functions.

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Background: We performed an umbrella review to synthesize evidence on the effects of physical activity (PA) interventions on indicators of physical and psychological health among children and adolescents, including body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), depressive symptoms, and cognitive function.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched from inception through 31 July 2023. We included meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials exploring the effects of PA interventions on BMI, BP, depressive symptoms, or cognitive function in healthy or general children and adolescents.

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Semi-quantum key distribution (SQKD) allows a quantum user and a classical user to share a string of secret keys, providing support for application scenarios that cannot withstand the high cost of quantum resources. In this paper, we propose what we believe to be the first proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of free space SQKD based on the single-state protocol, which is equipped with polarization encoding scheme employing the method of selective modulation. During the half-hour test time for each operation, the overall experiment obtained the original key rate of 107.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined hospitalization expenses for 30,341 chronic bronchitis patients in Province A, China, analyzing records from 2016 to 2020 to estimate direct medical costs incurred by families.
  • - Findings revealed a significant annual increase in medical expenses, averaging a growth rate of 22.65%, with hospitalization, drug, bed, and test costs being notably higher under Urban Employee Medical Insurance compared to other insurance types.
  • - Average medical costs for patients aged 60-70 rose by 44% during this period, with the highest expenses observed for those hospitalized between 5 to 10 days, reflecting the economic burden of chronic bronchitis on patients and their families.
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Background/objectives: Malnutrition coexisting with abdominal adipose tissue accumulation bring a double burden on prognosis. More recently, the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) has reached a novel consensus concerning the diagnostic criteria, that is, a two-step modality combining nutritional risk screening and subsequent phenotypic/etiologic parameters for comprehensive evaluation in hopes of harmonizing the malnutrition diagnosis. We aimed to elucidate their synergistic impact among inpatients with decompensated cirrhosis concerning long-term mortality.

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The establishment of an early pro-regenerative niche is crucial for tissue regeneration. Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-dependent pyroptosis accounts for the release of inflammatory cytokines upon various insults. However, little is known about its role in tissue regeneration followed by homeostatic maintenance.

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Article Synopsis
  • Previous studies found a link between higher levels of specific types of particulate matter (PM) and increased cardiovascular hospitalizations in New York, even though overall PM levels dropped.
  • This study used STEMI patient data from the University of Rochester to analyze the effects of various PM types, particularly organic carbon, on heart attack rates from 2014 to 2019.
  • The results indicated that while certain traffic-related PM levels did not correlate with STEMI rates during the later years, higher secondary organic carbon levels might still be linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, especially when looking at data from the early period of the study.
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Background: Influenza healthcare encounters in adults associated with specific sources of PM is an area of active research.

Objective: Following 2017 legislation requiring reductions in emissions from light-duty vehicles, we hypothesized a reduced rate of influenza healthcare encounters would be associated with concentrations of PM from traffic sources in the early implementation period of this regulation (2017-2019).

Methods: We used the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) to study adult patients hospitalized (N = 5328) or treated in the emergency department (N = 18,247) for influenza in New York State.

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The adoption and growth of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, especially through the use of Pearson's correlation (PC) for constructing brain functional networks (BFN), has significantly advanced brain disease diagnostics by uncovering the brain's operational mechanisms and offering biomarkers for early detection. However, the PC always tends to make for a dense BFN, which violates the biological prior. Therefore, in practice, researchers use hard-threshold to remove weak connection edges or introduce -norm as a regularization term to obtain sparse BFNs.

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Background: The intestinal-liver axis is associated with various liver diseases. Here, we verified the role of the gut microbiota and macrophage activation in the progression of pyrrolizidine alkaloids-induced hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (PA-HSOS), and explored the possible mechanisms and new treatment options.

Methods: The HSOS murine model was induced by gavage of monocrotaline (MCT).

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Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a complicated inflammatory reaction that impacts the pancreas, often resulting in damage to numerous organs. This disorder encompasses a range of processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and pancreatitis. The hormone melatonin (MT) is primarily secreted by the pineal gland and plays a crucial role in mitigating inflammation, countering the harmful effects of free radicals, and regulating oxidative stress.

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Background: While hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a highly heterogeneous disease with variable oncogenesis mechanisms and biological features, little is understood about differences in distant metastasis (DM) and prognosis between early-onset and late-onset HCC. This study defined early-onset disease as cancer diagnosed at age younger than 50 years and aimed to present a comprehensive analysis to characterize these disparities based on age.

Methods: Information of HCC patients was retrospectively collected from the SEER database and our hospital.

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Article Synopsis
  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its severe form, NASH, are major health issues with no approved drug treatments, and the protein CD36 plays a key role in their progression.
  • The study investigated the effects of O-GlcNAcylation on CD36 in liver tissues, using mouse models and various analytical techniques to understand its influence on CD36 expression and function in the context of NASH.
  • Results showed that increased O-GlcNAcylation not only boosted CD36 levels via the NF-κB signaling pathway but also enhanced its function in uptake of fatty acids, contributing to lipid accumulation, although mutations in specific CD36 sites negated these effects.
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The rapid growth of the Internet of Things and wearable sensors has led to advancements in monitoring technology in the field of health. One such advancement is the development of wearable respiratory sensors, which offer a new approach to real-time respiratory monitoring compared to traditional methods. However, the energy consumption of these sensors raises concerns about environmental pollution.

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Background: Varicella is a mild, self-limited disease caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection. Recently, the disease burden of varicella has been gradually increasing in China; however, the epidemiological characteristics of varicella have not been reported for Anhui Province.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiology of varicella in Anhui from 2012 to 2021, which can provide a basis for the future study and formulation of varicella prevention and control policies in the province.

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Objective: A convenient strategy was developed to recycle selectable markers using Cre/loxP system for constructing Komagataella phaffii strains co-expressing multiple proteins.

Results: A plasmid in this strategy was generated from pPICZαA with integration of lox71-Sh ble-lox66. Firstly, the plasmid was inserted with one target protein gene and then transformed into K.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is recognized as the most aggressive and fatal malignancy. A previous study reported that PDAC patients who exhibit elevated levels of DDX3X have a poor prognosis and low overall survival rate. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is associated with metabolic stress and inflammation in the liver, and the role of the molecule DDX3X in this condition is being investigated.
  • The study involved analyzing human liver tissues and various mouse models with specific DDX3X knockouts to assess its expression and impact on liver health after being subjected to high-fat and nutrient-deficient diets.
  • Results indicated that DDX3X is mainly expressed in macrophages and hepatocytes, and its absence leads to improved liver conditions in certain models, showcasing its complex roles in different cell types during NASH progression.
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