Water-Soluble Silicon Quantum Dots with Quasi-Blue Emission

In this study, water-soluble silicon quantum dots have quasi-blue emission at 390 nm by being capped with 1-vinylimidazole in resese micelles. As-obtained silicon quantum dots have a diameter of 2~5 nm and high crystallinity. The quasi-blue emission of the silicon quantum dots is likely attributed to the polarity of the capping ligands. Moreover, the silicon quantum dots are water-soluble and have photoluminescence nanosecond decay time, suggesting their potential application in biological field.

Video-assisted thoracic surgery left upper lobectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy

A 62-year-old woman was referred to the Thoracic Surgery Department after computed tomography (CT) revealed a 1.0 cm × 1.1 cm mass peripherally in the left upper lobe with spicular formation during her routine medical examination. The nature of the mass was confirmed to be adenocarcinoma by transpercutaneous lung biopsy. No metastasis or contraindication for surgery was found. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) left upper lobectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy was performed. Total surgery time was 80 min and blood loss was 50 mL. Postoperative pathological exam suggested adenocarcinoma, without evidence of lymph node metastasis in any station (T1aN0M0 stage IA). The patient was discharged home on the 10(th) postoperative day.

Azimuthal Anisotropy in U+U and Au+Au Collisions at RHIC

Collisions between prolate uranium nuclei are used to study how particle production and azimuthal anisotropies depend on initial geometry in heavy-ion collisions. We report the two- and four-particle cumulants, v_{2}{2} and v_{2}{4}, for charged hadrons from U+U collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193  GeV and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200  GeV. Nearly fully overlapping collisions are selected based on the energy deposited by spectators in zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs). Within this sample, the observed dependence of v_{2}{2} on multiplicity demonstrates that ZDC information combined with multiplicity can preferentially select different overlap configurations in U+U collisions. We also show that v_{2} vs multiplicity can be better described by models, such as gluon saturation or quark participant models, that eliminate the dependence of the multiplicity on the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions.

Diagnostic dilemma: treatment outcomes of tuberculosis patients with inconsistent rifampicin susceptibility

OBJECTIVE

A retrospective clinical trial to evaluate treatment outcomes in adults with smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) and discordant rifampicin (RMP) resistance results.

DESIGN

A total of 2156 smear-positive TB patients underwent both conventional and Genechip drug susceptibility testing (DST) for RMP resistance. All 49 patients with discordant results treated with either a first-line or second-line regimen were analysed.

RESULTS

Of 30 Type I cases (Genechip-resistant, conventional DST-susceptible) receiving the first-line regimen, 4 had a favourable outcome and 5 failed treatment. The 21 remaining Type I cases were treated with the second-line regimen, of whom 18 had a favourable outcome. Second-line regimen thus resulted in significantly more favourable outcomes than first-line treatment (P = 0.032). Among Type II cases (Genechip-susceptible, conventional DST-resistant), 13/19 received the first-line regimen, and 7 had a favourable outcome. The six Type II cases treated with the second-line regimen all had favourable outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Patients with discordant RMP DST results who receive second-line regimens may have a better clinical response than those treated with the first-line regimen. Patients infected with fluoroquinolone-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were observed to have a significantly higher treatment failure rate.

Association between the abdominal obesity anthropometric indicators and metabolic disorders in a Chinese population

BACKGROUND

Obesity has become a major health problem in contemporary society and it is closely related to many chronic diseases, so it is an important issue for measuring adiposity accurately and predicting its future. Prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity has become one of the key prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we compared the ability of the four anthropometric indicators (body mass index, waist circumstance, waist-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio) to identify metabolic disorders (hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, hyperglycemia and hyperuricemia) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses and to provide evidence for clinical practice.

METHODS

In this large scale cross-sectional study, 13,275 Han adults (including 7595 males and 5680 females) received physical examination between January, 2009 and January, 2010 in Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University were investigated by the means of questionnaire, Meanwhile, the physical examination and serological results were recorded. A package known as Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) was employed to analyse the responses while t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), ROC analysis and chi-square statistical methods were used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

WC, WHtR, WHR and BMI were all significantly (P < 0.001) correlated with all metabolic risk factors regardless of gender. And the area under the curve (AUC) of WHtR was significantly greater than that of WC, BMI or WHR in the prediction of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, hyperglycemia and hyperuricemia.

CONCLUSION

Our data show that WHtR was the best predictor of various metabolic disorders. The diagnostic value in descending order was WHtR > WHR > WC > BMI. Therefore we recommend WHtR in assessment of obese patients, in order to better assess the risks of their metabolic diseases.

Esophageal morphometric and biomechanical changes during aging in rats

BACKGROUND

Human studies have demonstrated aging-related changes in esophagus which may contribute to the increased rate of gastro-esophageal reflux in elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate esophageal morphometric and biomechanical remodeling in aging rats to obtain detailed information about aging-related changes.

METHODS

Twenty-four male Wistar rats, aged from 6 to 22 months, were studied. Morphometric data were obtained by measuring the wall thickness and cross-sectional area. The esophageal diameter and length were obtained from digitized images of the segments at preselected luminal pressure levels and at no-load and zero-stress states. Circumferential and longitudinal stresses (force per area) and strains (deformation) were computed from the length, diameter and pressure data, and from the zero-stress state geometry.

KEY RESULTS

The esophageal parameters such as the weight per unit length, the wall thickness and the wall cross-sectional area increased slightly from 6 to 22 months (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). The opening angle gradually decreased during aging (p < 0.05). The interface between the mucosa-submucosa and muscle layers slightly moved outwards and the neutral axis moved inwards during aging. The stress-strain data showed that the esophageal wall became stiffer circumferentially and longitudinally during aging (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). However, the circumferential wall stiffness showed no further change after 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

A pronounced morphometric and biomechanical remodeling occurred in the rat esophagus during aging.

Cancer stem cells targeting agents--a review

Major current cancer strategies like surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are compromised due to major problem of recurrence, which usually lead to mortality. The widely accepted reason for this is resistance offered by cancer cells towards cancer drugs or inability of a therapeutic procedure to target real culprits viz. cancer-initiating cells (cancer stem cells). So, there is a current need of development of new agents targeting these cancer stem cells in order to overcome resistance to therapeutic procedures. The present review article is focused on new cancer cell targeting agents like salinomycin, apopotin etc and their mechanisms to target cancer stems cells will be discussed.

Cardiac Gab1 deletion leads to dilated cardiomyopathy associated with mitochondrial damage and cardiomyocyte apoptosis

A vital step in the development of heart failure is the transition from compensatory cardiac hypertrophy to decompensated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) during cardiac remodeling under mechanical or pathological stress. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of DCM and heart failure remain incompletely understood. In the present study, we investigate whether Gab1, a scaffolding adaptor protein, protects against hemodynamic stress-induced DCM and heat failure. We first observed that the protein levels of Gab1 were markedly reduced in hearts from human patients with DCM and from mice with experimental viral myocarditis in which DCM developed. Next, we generated cardiac-specific Gab1 knockout mice (Gab1-cKO) and found that Gab-cKO mice developed DCM in hemodynamic stress-dependent and age-dependent manners. Under transverse aorta constriction (TAC), Gab1-cKO mice rapidly developed decompensated DCM and heart failure, whereas Gab1 wild-type littermates exhibited adaptive left ventricular hypertrophy without changes in cardiac function. Mechanistically, we showed that Gab1-cKO mouse hearts displayed severe mitochondrial damages and increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Loss of cardiac Gab1 in mice impaired Gab1 downstream MAPK signaling pathways in the heart under TAC. Gene profiles further revealed that ablation of Gab1 in heart disrupts the balance of anti- and pro-apoptotic genes in cardiomyocytes. These results demonstrate that cardiomyocyte Gab1 is a critical regulator of the compensatory cardiac response to aging and hemodynamic stress. These findings may provide new mechanistic insights and potential therapeutic target for DCM and heart failure.

Unexpected requirement for a binding partner of the syntaxin family in phagocytosis by murine testicular Sertoli cells

Testicular phagocytosis by Sertoli cells (SCs) plays an essential role in the efficient clearance of apoptotic spermatogenic cells under both physiological and pathological conditions. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this unique process is poorly understood. Herein, we report for the first time that α-taxilin protein (TXLNA), a binding partner of the syntaxin family that functions as a central player in the intracellular vesicle traffic, was dominantly expressed in SCs. Induction of apoptosis in murine meiotic spermatocytes and haploid spermatids by busulfan treatment stimulated a significant increase of TXLNA in SCs at day (d) 14 and d 24 after busulfan treatment, respectively. Consistently, TXLNA expression was steadily upregulated when SCs were co-cultured with apoptotic germ cells (GCs). Moreover, using siRNA treatment, we found that ablation of endogenous TXLNA significantly impaired the phagocytotic capacity of SCs and thereby resulted in defective spermiogenesis and reduced fertility during the late recovery after testicular heat stress. Mechanistically, upregulation of TXLNA expression by apoptotic GCs was associated with the stabilization of ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 (ABCA1), a transporter-mediated lipid efflux from SCs and influencing male fertility. TXLNA acted as an upstream suppressor of ABCA1 ubiquitination and thus promoted ABCA1 stability and accumulation following GC apoptosis. We further provide in vitro evidence that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated phosphorylation regulated ABCA1 ubiquitination and was enhanced by TXLNA deficiency during testicular phagocytosis. Taken together, the TXLNA/ABCA1 cascade may serve as an important feedback mechanism to modulate the magnitude of subsequent phagocytotic process of SCs in response to testicular injury.

Psychotropic drugs for the management of cancer-related fatigue: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a common symptom affecting 60-90% of cancer survivors, and effective management for CRF is not yet available. Recently, an increasing number of trials examining the use of psychotropic drugs for the treatment of CRF have been performed, but these trials have yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis aimed at assessing the effect and safety of psychotropic drugs for the management of CRF. Ten eligible trials of the psychotropic drugs methylphenidate and modafinil in a total of 1582 participants treated for CRF were subjected to statistical analyses. A meta-analysis of seven of these studies indicated that methylphenidate was superior to placebo for the treatment of CRF. Another meta-analysis of three studies evaluating modafinil found that this drug was no better than placebo. Adverse events were similar between both methylphenidate and modafinil and the placebo groups. Our meta-analysis indicated that the treatment of CRF with methylphenidate appears to be effective, whereas modafinil provides no benefit. These results of this analysis warrant further trials to confirm the efficacy and safety of psychotropic drugs for the treatment of CRF.

Comparison of antioxidant activities of different parts from snow chrysanthemum (Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.) and identification of their natural antioxidants using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and mass spectrometry and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-sulfonic acid)diammonium salt-based assay

Snow chrysanthemum (Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.), a world-widely well-known flower tea material, has attracted more and more attention because of its beneficial health effects such as antioxidant activity and special flavor. In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS) and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-sulfonic acid)diammonium salt (ABTS) based assay was employed for comparison and identification of antioxidants in different samples of snow chrysanthemum. The results showed that snow chrysanthemum flowers possessed the highest while stems presented the lowest antioxidant capacities. Fourteen detected peaks with antioxidant activity were temporarily identified as 3,4',5,6,7-pentahydroxyflavanone-O-hexoside, chlorogenic acid, 2R-3',4',8-trihydroxyflavanone-7-O-glucoside, flavanomarein, flavanocorepsin, flavanokanin, quercetagitin-7-O-glucoside, 3',5,5',7-tetrahydroxyflavanone-O-hexoside, marein, maritimein, 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, coreopsin, okanin and acetyl-marein by comparing their UV spectra, retention times and MS data with standards or literature data. Antioxidants existed in snow chrysanthemum are quite different from those reported in Chrysanthemum morifolium, a well-known traditional beverage in China, which indicated that snow chrysanthemum may be a promising herbal tea material with obvious antioxidant activity.

Alleviation of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in nude mice by stem cells derived from human first trimester umbilical cord

Cells isolated from human first trimester umbilical cord perivascular layer (hFTM-PV) tissues display the pluripotent characteristics of stem cells. In this study, we examined whether hFTM-PV cells can differentiate into islet-like clusters (ILCs) in vitro, and whether transplantation of the hFTM-PV cells with and without differentiation in vitro can alleviate diabetes in nude mice. The hFTM-PV cells were differentiated into ILCs in vitro through a simple stepwise culture protocol. To examine the in vivo effects of the cells, the hFTM-PV cells with and without differentiation in vitro were transplanted into the abdominal cavity of nude mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. Blood glucose levels, body weight, and the survival probability of the diabetic nude mice were then statistically analyzed. The hFTM-PV cells were successfully induced into ILCs that could release insulin in response to elevated concentrations of glucose in vitro. In transplantation experiments, we observed that mice transplanted with the undifferentiated hFTM-PV cells, embryonic body-like cell aggregations, or ILCs all demonstrated normalized hyperglycemia and showed improved survival rate compared with those without cell transplantation. The hFTM-PV cells have the ability to differentiate into ILCs in vitro and transplantations of undifferentiated and differentiated cells can alleviate STZ-induced diabetes in nude mice. This may offer a potential cell source for stem cell-based therapy for treating diabetes in the future.

Bovine mastitis may be associated with the deprivation of gut Lactobacillus

Bovine mastitis is an economical important microbial disease in dairy industry. Some recent human clinical trials have shown that oral probiotics supplementation could effectively control clinical mastitis, suggesting that the mechanism of mastitis protection might be achieved via the host gut microbiota. We aimed to test our hypothesis that bovine mastitis was related to changes in both the mammary and gut microbial profiles. By quantitative PCR, the milk and faecal microbial profiles of cows with low (<3×10⁵ cells/ml) and high (>1×10⁶ cells/ml) somatic cell count (SCC) were compared. Firstly, we observed drastic differences in both the milk and faecal microbial compositions at genus and Lactobacillus-species levels between the two groups. Secondly, the pattern of faecal microbial community changes of mastitis cows was similar to that of the milk, characterised by a general increase in the mastitis pathogens (Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus) and deprivation of Lactobacillus and its members (L. salivarius, L. sakei, L. ruminis, L. delbrueckii, L. buchneri, and L. acidophilus). Thirdly, only the faecal lactobacilli, but not bifidobacteria correlated with the milk microbial communities and SCC. Our data together hint to a close association between bovine mastitis, the host gut and milk microbiota.

Inhibition of SENP5 by Cucurbitacin B Suppresses Cell Growth and Promotes Apoptosis in Osteosarcoma Cells

Purpose: To investigate the effect of cucurbitacin B on the expression of SUMO-specific proteases (SENP5).Methods: Effect of cucurbitacin B (10-50 mg/mL) on viability of U2OS and Saos-2 cells was determined in a plate reader by recording absorbance at 570 nm. In Western blot analysis, bicinconinic acid (BCA) method was used to determine protein concentration. Flow cytometry was employed to measure DNA content.Results: Ccucurbitacin B treatment inhibits the expression of SENP5 in U2OS and Saos-2 osteosarcoma cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Significant inhibition (p = 0.005) of SENP5 expression was observed at 50 mg/ml from day 10, reaching a maximum on day 20. It also induced a significant decrease (p =  0.005) in mRNA and protein levels of SENP5. The decrease in mRNA and protein levels of SENP5 led to decrease in proliferation of U2OS and Saos-2 cells. The 48 h  cell cultures containing 50 mg of  cucurbitacin B caused induction of apoptosis in 54.72 ± 5.42 % of the total cell population in U2OS cells.  Similarly, in Saos-2  cells, exposure to 50 mg/mL cucurbitacin B increased apoptotic rate from 9.86 ± 8.89 % for 10 mg/mL to 48.54 ± 14.5 % with 50 mg/mL of cucurbitacin B.Conclusion: Cucurbitacin B is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of aggressive malignancy in osteosarcoma.Keywords: Cucurbitacin B, Osteosarcoma, SUMO-specific proteases, Cell proliferation, Apoptosis, Malignancy

Geometrical and morphological optimizations of plasmonic nanoarrays for high-performance SERS detection

Here we present an in-depth and comprehensive study of the effect of the geometry and morphology of nanoarray (NA) substrates on their surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance. The high-quality SERS-active NA substrates of various unit shapes and pitches are assembled through electron beam lithography and fabricated by electron beam physical vapor deposition. Good agreement is found on comparing the Raman scattering results with the integrals of the fourth power of local electric fields from the three-dimensional numerical simulations. A novel type of hybrid NA substrate composed of disordered nanoparticles and a periodic NA is fabricated and characterized. The morphology of NAs has little influence on the SERS performance of hybrid NA substrates and they perform better than both their counterparts pure NA and disordered nanoparticle substrates.

[Research on New Type of Spectral Modulation Polarization Measurement Technology]

Spectral Modulation Polarization Measurement technology (SMPM) is a new type of polarization modulation technology, with an achromatic /4 retarder, a multiple-order retarder and a polarizer the polarization information of incident light can be encoded into the spectral dimension, sinusoidal which amplitude scales with the degree of the linear polarization and phase scales with the angle of the linear polarization can be acquired directly. With a dedicated algorithm for the modulated spectrum, we can get degree and angle of the linear polarization, spectral information and radiation information of the target. This paper expounds the basic principle of SMPM and concrete implementation scheme is proposed. Demodulation algorithm is designed before experimental platform are set up. Experiment which verified the correctness on the SMPM has carried on. The experimental results show the correctness and feasibility of SMPM. Compared with traditional polarization modulate techniques no moving parts and electronic components are including in this scheme. It's also has the advantages of compact and low mass. We can get all the polarization information through one single measurement rather than get Stokes parameters for further calculations. This study provides a new kind of technological approaches for the development of new space polarization detecting sensor.

Allelic polymorphism of KIR2DL2/2DL3 in a southern Chinese population

KIR2DL2 and KIR2DL3 segregate as alleles of the same killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene locus. They have been associated with viral infectious diseases and certain cancers and their allelic information may help to better comprehend mechanisms. The allelic polymorphism of KIR2DL2/2DL3 has been shown to influence their binding specificity and affinity to the HLA-C1 ligands. The present study aims to investigate the distribution of the allelic polymorphism of KIR2DL2/2DL3 in a southern Chinese population using sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP) and PCR-sequence-based typing (SBT) at the entire coding sequence. Of the 306 tested individuals, 1.96% were positive for KIR2DL2 only, 78.10% for KIR2DL3 only, and 19.93% for both KIR2DL2 and 2DL3. KIR2DL3 showed a high degree of diversity in the study population with 15 alleles detected including 8 novel ones. The predominant 2DL3 allele in the study population is 2DL3*00101 (92.81%) followed by 2DL3*00201 (24.18%), 2DL3*023 (4.25%), and 2DL3*00109 (1.31%). The remaining 11 2DL3 alleles all had a frequency below 1%. Three detected 2DL2 alleles were 2DL2*00301 (18.95%), 2DL2*00101 (3.59%), and the novel 2DL2*013 (0.33%). These results provide further insight into the KIR gene diversity in Southern Chinese and may help to better understand the role played by KIR genes in associated diseases.

Induction effect of MicroRNA-449a on glioma cell proliferation and inhibition on glioma cell apoptosis by promoting PKCα

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the expression of microRNA-449a in brain tissue and plasma of patients with glioma and its mechanism of action on glioma cell proliferation and apoptosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

30 cases of gliomas patients were recruited in the study, 12 cases in which with brain tissues excision due to decompression or exposure during the brain surgery were selected as the control group. RT-PCR was used to detect the microRNA-449a expression in brain tissue and peripheral blood of the two groups. Cell proliferation and apoptosis level were further determined after high or low expression of microRNA-145 in human glioma cell line U-251. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect PKCαmRNA and protein level in U-251.

RESULTS

The expression of microRNA-449a in brain tissue or peripheral blood of patients with brain glioma was significantly lower than that of normal people, and the differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Upon interfering with microRNA-449a, the glioma cell proliferation was significantly increased while apoptosis was significantly reduced, the PKCα protein levels were increased significantly and the differences were statistically significant (all p < 0.05); after overexpression of microRNA-449a, the glioma cell proliferation was significantly decreased while the cell apoptosis was significantly increased, the PKCα protein levels were decreased significantly and the differences were statistically significant (all p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of microRNA-449a is low in patients with glioma, which may inhibit the proliferation of glioma and promote its cell apoptosis via affecting the expression of PKCα.