Translocation, enzymatic reduction and toxicity of dimethylarsenate in rice

Dimethylarsenate [DMAs(V)] can be produced by some soil microorganisms through methylation of inorganic arsenic (As), especially in anoxic paddy soils. DMAs(V) is more phytotoxic than inorganic As and can cause the physiological disorder straighthead disease in rice. Rice cultivars vary widely in the resistance to DMAs(V), but the mechanism remains elusive. Here, we investigated the differences in DMAs(V) uptake, translocation, and reduction to dimethylarsenite [DMAs(III)], as well as the effects on the metabolome, between two rice cultivars Mars and Zhe733. We found that Mars was 11-times more resistant to DMAs(V) than Zhe733. Mars accumulated more DMAs(V) in the roots, whereas Zhe733 translocated more DMAs(V) to the shoots and reduced more DMAs(V) to DMAs(III). DMAs(III) was more toxic than DMAs(V). Using heterologous expression and in vitro enzyme assays, we showed that the glutathione-S-transferases OsGSTU17 and OsGSTU50 were able to reduce DMAs(V) to DMAs(III). The expression levels of OsGSTU17 and OsGSTU50 were higher in the shoot of Zhe733 compared to Mars. Metabolomic analysis in rice shoots showed that glutathione (GSH) metabolism was perturbed by DMAs(V) toxicity in Zhe733. Application of exogenous GSH significantly alleviated the toxicity of DMAs(V) in Zhe733. Taken together, the results suggest that Mars is more resistant to DMAs(V) than Zhe733 because of a lower root-to-shoot translocation and a smaller capacity to reduce DMAs(V) to DMAs(III).

[A multicenter study of reference intervals for 15 laboratory parameters in Chinese children]

Objective: To establish comprehensive laboratory reference intervals for Chinese children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional multicenter study. From June 2013 to December 2014, eligible healthy children aged from 6-month to 17-year were enrolled from 20 medical centers with informed consent. They were assessed by physical examination, questionnaire survey and abdominal ultrasound for eligibility. Fasting blood samples were collected and delivered to central laboratory. Measurements of 15 clinical laboratory parameters were performed, including estradiol (E2), testosterone(T), luteinizing hormone(LH), follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH), alanine transaminase(ALT), serum creatinine(Scr), cystatin C, immunoglobulin A(IgA), immunoglobulin G(IgG), immunoglobulin M(IgM), complement (C3, C4), alkaline phosphatase(ALP), uric acid(UA) and creatine kinase(CK). Reference intervals were established according to central 95% confidence intervals for reference population, stratified by age and sex. Results: In total, 2 259 children were enrolled. Finally, 1 648 children were eligible for this study, including 830 boys and 818 girls, at a mean age of 7.4 years. Age- and sex- specific reference intervals have been established for the parameters. Reference intervals of sex hormones increased gradually with age. Concentrations of ALT, cystatin C, ALP and CK were higher in children under 2 years old. Serum levels of sex hormones, creatinine, immunoglobin, CK, ALP and urea increased rapidly in adolescence, with significant sex difference. In addition, reference intervals were variable depending on assay methods. Concentrations of ALT detected by reagents with pyridoxal 5'-phosphate(PLP) were higher than those detected by reagents without PLP. Compared with enzymatic method, Jaffe assay always got higher results of serum creatinine, especially in children younger than 9 years old. Conclusion: This study established age- and sex- specific reference intervals, for 15 clinical laboratory parameters based on defined healthy children.

[Effects of electrospun collagen nanofibrous matrix on the biological behavior of human dental pulp cells]

OBJECTIVE

To compare cell adhesion, proliferation and odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs) on electrospun collagen nanofibrous matrix (Col_NFM) with that on collagen flat film (Col-FF), to investigate the biological effect of collagen nanofibrous matrix on hDPCs.

METHODS

The surface morphology of the two different collagen scaffold was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the contact angle and the swelling ratio were also measured. Then hDPCs were implanted on the two different collagen scaffolds, the cell morphology was observed using SEM and laser scanning microscope (LSM), and cell proliferation was evaluated by the CCK-8 assay. After hDPCs cultured on the two different collagen scaffold with odontoblastic medium for 14 days, the expression of odontoblastic differentiation related genes was detected by real-time PCR, and alizarin red staining was used to test the formation of mineralized nodules.

RESULTS

From the SEM figures, the fibers' diameter of Col_NFM was (884±159) nm, and there were abundant three dimensional connected pore structures between the fibers of Col_NFM, while the surface of Col_FF was completely flat without pore structure. The contact angle at 0 s of Col_NFM was 85.03°±4.45°, and that of Col_FF was 98.98°±5.81°. The swelling ratio of Col_NFM was approximately 3 folds compared with dry weight sample, while that of Col_FF was just 1 fold. Thus Col_NFM indicated better hydrophilicity and swelling property. SEM and LSM showed that hDPCs on Col_NFM presented an irregular and highly branched phenotype, and could penetrate into the nanofibrous scaffold. In contrast, the cells were spread only on the surface of Col_FF with a spindle-shaped morphology. CCK-8 assays showed that hDPCs on Col_NFM showed higher proliferation rate than on Col_FF. After hDPCs were cultured on the two different collagen scaffolds with odontoblastic medium for 14 days, more expressions of odontoblastic differentiation related genes, such as dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) and dentin matrix proten-1 (DMP1) were determined in Col_NFM group (P<0.05), and more mineralization depositions were also observed in Col_NFM group according to the results of alizarin red staining.

CONCLUSION

Col_NFM with nanoscale microstructure achieves better hydrophilic and swelling properties than Col_FF, and hDPCs cultured with Col_NFM present higher activity on cell adhesion, proliferation and odontoblastic differentiation.

[Analysis on influencing factors of deaths from severe heat stroke in Shanghai, 2013-2017]

Objective: To explore the related factors of death from severe heat stroke in Shanghai from 2013 to 2017. Methods: The data of 1 152 patients with severe heat stroke who were divided into survival (n=1 037) and death (n=115) groups including gender, age and heat stroke type (heat cramp, heat exhaustion, heat apoplexy and the mixed type) were collected from meteorological bureau and case report system for high temperature heat stroke in Shanghai from 2013 to 2017. Meanwhile, the meteorological data of the onset date of severe heat stroke cases were collected, including maximum temperature, minimum temperature, daily temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, precipitation and wind speed. The differences of individual and meteorological factors between the two groups were compared, and multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the related factors of death from severe heat stroke. Results: Among 1 152 cases, the mean±SD of age was (56.29±18.95) years old, 843 (73.18%)were male, 962 (83.51%) were in the heat wave period; 322 cases (27.95%) were heat cramp, 170 cases (14.76%) were heat exhaustion, 533 cases (46.27%) were heat apoplexy and 114 cases (9.90%) were the mixed type. Daily average temperature ((32.81±1.99) ℃), daily maximum and minimum temperatures ((38.20±2.24) ℃ and (29.22±1.94) ℃) in survival group were lower than those in death group (all P values<0.001), which were (33.76±1.17) ℃, (39.19±1.31) ℃ and (29.72±1.66) ℃. Daily average relative humidity ((60.36±9.75)%) and daily minimum relative humidity ((41.26±9.71)%) in survival group were higher than those in death group(allP values <0.05), which were (54.59±6.89)% and (35.60±7.24)%. The results of logistic regression analysis suggested that compared with the cases with daily average humidity <60% and a mixed type heat stroke, the death OR (95%CI) values of cases with daily average humidity >60%, heat cramp, heat exhaustion and heat apoplexy were 0.31 (0.18,0.54), 0.13 (0.05,0.34), 0.68 (0.58,2.30) and 0.87 (0.48,1.58). Conclusion: The temperature, relative humidity and the type of heat stroke were the main related factors affecting the prognosis of severe heat stroke.

[Study on the current situation of China's First List of Rare Diseases based on 15 million hospitalizations]

Objective: To investigate and analyze the distribution of 121 diseases of China's First List of Rare Diseases based on hospitalized patients of tertiary hospitals and to explore the current situation of rare diseases in China. Methods: Based on previous data of study from Beijing Society of Rare Diseases, a comparison between China's First List of Rare Diseases and the survey list from the pre-study was performed. Descriptive analysis was carried out on the current situation of rare diseases on hospitalizations in 96 tertiary hospitals from year of 2014 to 2015. Results: Nineteen out of 121 diseases on China's First List of Rare Diseases were not included in the rare diseases survey list of Beijing Society of Rare Diseases. The total number of other 102 rare disease cases was 54 468, accounting for 0.35% of the inpatients during the same period. The top ten most and least cases with rare disease were demonstrated in this study. The number of the top ten most cases was 37 977, accounting for 0.25% of the inpatients during the same period. The number of the top ten least cases was 24, accounting for 0.000 16% of the inpatients during the same period. The top most five types of rare diseases counted on the provinces and municipalities were Beijing, Hunan, Shanghai, Shandong and Guangdong. The top five most cases of rare diseases counted on the provinces and municipalities were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong and Hubei. The age distribution showed that the cases with rare diseases aged 25-64 years accounted for 45.8%, and the cases in children aged 0-14 accounted for 28.6%. The top ten readmission rate ranged from 28.42% to 64.88%. Conclusions: This study preliminarily investigates the number, type, province and municipality distribution, age distribution, and readmission rate of 121 rare diseases from China's First List of Rare Diseases in the hospitalized patients of tertiary hospitals, which provides important data for registration study, medical and drug policy making and other relevant work on rare diseases in China in the future.

[Acute effect of ambient air pollution on small airway lung functions among school children in Shanghai]

Objective: To study the acute effects of compound ambient air pollution on small airway lung functions among school children in Shanghai. Method: A longitudinal survey on lung functions was conducted among 233 school-children from three schools (A, B and C, located in innerring, mid-ring and outer-ring areas). Lung function test was performed once a week for 3 times respectively, among children in school A and B in Dec. 2013 and in school C in Dec. 2014. The fourth lung function test was tested in Jun. 2014 and May 2015 in the respective schools. Results: from the lung function would include items as: forced mid-expiratory flow at 25% of forced vital capacity (MEF(25%)), mid-expiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity (MEF(50%)), mid-expiratory flow at 75% of forced vital capacity (MEF(75%)) and mid-expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of the forced vital capacity (FEF(25%-75%)). Data regarding the daily air quality real-time of PM(2.5), PM(10), SO(2) and NO(2) in Dec. 2013, Dec. 2014, Jun. 2014 and May. 2015 from the three environmental monitoring spots and meteorological data from the Shanghai Meteorological Service system which were physically close to the three schools, were collected simultaneously. Linear mixed effect model was used to examine the levels of correlation between lung function indicators and ambient air pollutants. Results When confounding factors on meteorology and individuals were controlled, the lag effects and accumulated lag effects were found to have existed between the internal quarter rang (IQR) concentration of PM(2.5) and PM(10) in lag2 day and lag02 days, IQR concentration of SO(2) in lag02 day and IQR concentration of NO(2) lag0 day, when small airway lung functions like MEF(25%), MEF(50%), MEF(75%) and FEF(25%-75%)(P<0.05) were inspected. Results from the two air pollutants model analysis showed that SO(2) and NO(2) presenting interactive effects with PM(2.5), PM(10) and lag effects more significant than the individual SO(2) and NO(2), respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion: Contents on the ambient air pollutants as PM(2.5), PM(10), SO(2) and NO(2) were negatively associated with the lung functions in the small airways of children, in Shanghai.

Meta-analysis of TAFI polymorphisms and risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CCVDs) are common and have high rates of morbidity, mortality, and recurrence. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is also known as carboxypeptidase B2 and is encoded by the CPB2 gene; CPB2 polymorphisms have been explored in a variety of studies, but their correlation to the risk of CCVDs remains ambiguous. We examined the hypothesized associations between CPB2 mutations and CCVDs in a general population. We searched, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Science Citation Index, and several Chinese databases without applying any language restrictions. Nine case-control studies were analyzed in the current meta-analysis, and odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The pooled ORs indicated that the CPB2 rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of CCVDs in the allele model (all P values < 0.05). A similar result for the CPB2 rs1926447 C>T polymorphism and CCVDs risk was detected in the allele model (P < 0.05). Ethnicity subgroup analysis implied that the rs3742264 G>A polymorphism was more likely to lead to the development of cerebrovascular disease in Asians (all P values < 0.05), whereas rs1926447 C>T was associated with cardiovascular disease among Africans (all P values < 0.05). These data suggest that the polymorphisms investigated, especially rs3742264 G>A and rs1926447 C>T, have a modest effect on susceptibility to CCVDs.

Role of IL-10 polymorphisms in susceptibility to hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

We conducted a case-control study to investigate the role of three common single nucleotide polymorphisms of IL-10 (-592G/A, -819T/C, and -1082A/C) in the development of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The study included 173 HBV-related HCC patients and 182 healthy controls. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay was applied to assess the sequence variants of interest. Compared with control subjects, HCC patients were more likely to be older (t = 1.94, P = 0.03), have a family history of cancer (chi square = 17.86, P < 0.001), and exhibit higher alanine transaminase (t = 13.32, P < 0.001) and aspartate transaminase (t = 12.63, P < 0.001) levels. Using unconditional logistic regression analyses, we found that the GG genotype of -592G/A was associated with increased risk of HCC [odds ratio (OR) = 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.12-4.38], compared to the AA genotype. Under a dominant model, the AG+GG genotype correlated with HBV-related HCC susceptibility compared to the AA genotype, with an OR (95%CI) of 1.56 (1.02-2.48). Moreover, a recessive model showed the GG genotype to be associated with elevated risk of HCC compared to the AA+AG genotype (OR = 1.85, 95%CI = 1.01-3.47). However, no significant association between the -819T/C and -1082A/C variants and development of HBV-related HCC was observed under codominant, dominant, and recessive models. We conclude that the IL-10 -592G/A polymorphism does play a role in susceptibility to HBV-related HCC under codominant, dominant, and recessive models.

Alterations in microRNA expression profile in rabies virus-infected mouse neurons

Rabies virus (RABV) is known to cause a fatal infection in many mammalian species, yet its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. This study was performed to analyze the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in RABV-infected primary neurons of mice. A total of 53 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in RABV-infected samples compared with mock samples in a time-dependent manner. Among them, the expression of ten miRNAs was validated by real-time RT-PCR. Potential target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted by TargetScan. Further bioinformatics analysis indicated that these predicted targets were overrepresented in neuronal function-related Gene Ontology (GO) terms and biological pathways. The results of this study suggest that RABV may cause neuronal dysfunction by regulating cellular miRNA expression.

Multifunctional nanocomposite based on graphene oxide for in vitro hepatocarcinoma diagnosis and treatment

Because of its unique chemical and physical properties, graphene oxide (GO) has attracted a large number of researchers to explore its biomedical applications in the past few years. Here, we synthesized a novel multifunctional nanocomposite based on GO and systemically investigated its applications for in vitro hepatocarcinoma diagnosis and treatment. This multifunctional nanocomposite named GO-PEG-FA/Gd/DOX was obtained as the following procedures: gadolinium-diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid-poly(diallyl dimethylammonium) chloride (Gd-DTPA-PDDA) as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probe was applied to modify GO by simple physical sorption with a loading efficiency of Gd(3+) up to 0.314 mg mg(-1). In order to improve its tumor targeting imaging and treatment efficiency, the obtained intermediate product was further modified with folic acid (FA). Finally, the nanocomposite was allowed to load anticancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride via π-π stacking and hydrophobic interaction with the loading capacity reaching 1.38 mg mg(-1). MRI test revealed that GO-PEG-FA/Gd/DOX exhibit superior tumor targeting imaging efficiency over free Gd(3+). The in vitro release of DOX from the nanocomposite under tumor relevant condition (pH 5.5) was fast at the initial 10 h and then become relatively slow afterward. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrated that the multifunctional nanocomposite exhibited obviously cytotoxic effect upon cancer cells. Above results are promising for the next in vivo experiment and make it possible to be a potential candidate for malignancy early detection and specific treatment.

Apoptosis of human colon carcinoma HT-29 cells induced by ceramide

AIM: To investigate the effect of exogenous ceramide-induced apoptosis on human colon carcinoma HT-29 cells.

METHODS: Light microscope, transmission electron microscope and fluorescence microscope were used to observe the morphology change of apoptosis in HT-29 cells. Agarose gel electrophoresis was performed to detect the DNA fragment. Mitochondrial function was detected by MTT assay. mRNA expression of Bcl-2 family gene members was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay.

RESULTS: After C₂-ceramide treatment, typical characteristics of apoptosis, such as nuclear chromatin breakage, apoptotic body and DNA ladder, could be observed. After exposure to 50 μmol/L C₂-ceramide for 12 and 24 h, cell apoptosis was 64.1% and 81.3% respectively, which had a time-and dose-effect relationship. Mitochondrial function started to decrease from 6 h after exposure to ceramide. Meanwhile, ceramide up-regulated or down-regulated the mRNA expression of Bcl-2 family gene members.

CONCLUSION: Ceramide induces apoptosis of human colon carcinoma HT-29 cells by affecting the expression of Bcl-2 family gene members and impacting the mitochondrial function.

Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is one of the most important recent inventions in biological imaging. This technology enables noninvasive study of biological specimens in three dimensions with submicrometer resolution. Two-photon excitation of fluorophores results from the simultaneous absorption of two photons. This excitation process has a number of unique advantages, such as reduced specimen photodamage and enhanced penetration depth. It also produces higher-contrast images and is a novel method to trigger localized photochemical reactions. Two-photon microscopy continues to find an increasing number of applications in biology and medicine.

Resolution enhancement in standing-wave total internal reflection microscopy: a point-spread-function engineering approach

The theoretical basis for resolution enhancement in standing-wave total internal reflection microscopy (SW-TIRM) is examined. This technique relies on the formation of an excitation field containing super-diffraction-limited spatial-frequency components. Although the fluorescence generated at the object planes contains high-frequency information of the object distribution, this information is lost at the image plane, where the detection optics acts as a low-pass filter. From the perspective of point-spread-function (PSF) engineering, one can show that if this excitation field is translatable experimentally, the high-frequency information can be extracted from a set of images where the excitation fields have different displacement vectors. We have developed algorithms to combine this image set to generate a composite image with an effective PSF that is equal to the product of the excitation field and the Fraunhofer PSF. This approach can easily be extended to incorporate nonlinear excitation modalities into SW-TIRM for further resolution improvement. We theoretically examine high-resolution imaging based on the addition of two-photon, pump-probe, and stimulated-emission depletion methods to SW-TIRM and show that resolution better than 1/20 of the emission wavelength may be achievable.

In vitro visualization and quantification of oleic acid induced changes in transdermal transport using two-photon fluorescence microscopy

In a novel application of two-photon scanning fluorescence microscopy, three-dimensional spatial distributions of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic fluorescent probes, sulforhodamine B and rhodamine B hexyl ester, in excised full-thickness human cadaver skin were visualized and quantified. Both sulforhodamine B and rhodamine B hexyl ester were observed to lie primarily in the lipid multilamellae region surrounding the corneocytes within the stratum corneum. From the two-photon scanning fluorescence microscopy scans, the changes in the concentration gradient and the vehicle to skin partition coefficient of each probe induced by the oleic acid enhancer action were calculated relative to the control sample (not exposed to oleic acid), and subsequently applied to theoretically derived mathematical expressions of transdermal transport to quantitatively characterize the oleic acid-induced relative changes in the skin diffusion coefficient and the skin barrier diffusion length of the permeant. For the hydrophobic probe rhodamine B hexyl ester, the permeability enhancement was primarily driven by an increase in the vehicle to skin partition coefficient, leading to an increase in the steepness of the concentration gradient across the skin. The primary oleic acid-induced changes in the transport properties of the hydrophilic probe sulforhodamine B included increases in the vehicle to skin partition coefficient and the skin diffusion coefficient. These findings utilizing the two-photon scanning fluorescence microscopy methodology and data analysis described here demonstrate that, in addition to providing three-dimensional images that clearly delineate probe distributions in the direction of increasing skin depth, the subsequent quantification of these images provides additional important insight into the mechanistic changes in transdermal transport underlying the visualized changes in probe distributions across the skin.

Implementation of intensity-modulated laser diodes in time-resolved, pump-probe fluorescence microscopy

We present the implementation of intensity-modulated laser diodes for applications in frequency-domain pump-probe fluorescence microscopy. Our technique, which is based on the stimulated-emission approach, uses two sinusoidally modulated laser diodes. One laser (635 nm) excites the chromophores under study, and the other laser (680 nm) is responsible for inducing stimulated emission from excited-state molecules. Both light sources are modulated in the 80-MHz range but with an offset of 5 kHz between them. The result of the interaction of the pump and the probe beams is that a cross-correlation fluorescence signal at 5 kHz is generated primarily at the focal volume. Microscope imaging at the cross-correlation signal results in images with high contrast, and time-resolved high-frequency information can be acquired without high-speed detection. A detailed experimental arrangement of our methodology is presented along with images acquired from a 4.0-mum-diameter fluorescent sphere and TOTO-3-labeled mouse STO cells. (TOTO-3 is a nucleic acid stain.) Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using sinusoidally modulated laser diodes for pump-probe imaging, creating the exciting possibility of high-contrast time-resolved imaging with low-cost laser-diode systems.

Time-resolved polarization imaging by pump-probe (stimulated emission) fluorescence microscopy

We report the application of pump-probe fluorescence microscopy in time-resolved polarization imaging. We derived the equations governing the pump-probe stimulated emission process and characterized the pump and probe laser power levels for signal saturation. Our emphasis is to use this novel methodology to image polarization properties of fluorophores across entire cells. As a feasibility study, we imaged a 15-microm orange latex sphere and found that there is depolarization that is possibly due to energy transfer among fluorescent molecules inside the sphere. We also imaged a mouse fibroblast labeled with CellTracker Orange CMTMR (5-(and-6)-(((4-chloromethyl)benzoyl)amino)tetramethyl-rhodamine). We observed that Orange CMTMR complexed with gluthathione rotates fast, indicating the relatively low fluid-phase viscosity of the cytoplasmic microenvironment as seen by Orange CMTMR. The measured rotational correlation time ranged from approximately 30 to approximately 150 ps. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of stimulated emission measurements in acquiring high-resolution, time-resolved polarization information across the entire cell.

New time-resolved techniques in two-photon microscopy

Microscopy is traditionally a tool for determining biological structures. Many recent advances in optical microscopy involves the incorporation of spectroscopy techniques to monitor biochemical states of microscopic structures in living cells and tissues. By minimizing tissue photodamage, two-photon excitation microscopy provides a new opportunity to study the dynamics of biological systems on time scales from nanoseconds to hours. This review will focus on a number of these new methods: two-photon time-lapse microscopy, two-photon photoactivation, two-photon correlated spectroscopy, two-photon single particle tracking and two-photon lifetime microscopy.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging by asynchronous pump-probe microscopy

We report the development of a scanning lifetime fluorescence microscope using the asynchronous, pump-probe (stimulated emission) approach. There are two significant advantages of this technique. First, the cross-correlation signal produced by overlapping the pump and probe lasers results in i) an axial sectioning effect similar to that in confocal and two-photon excitation microscopy, and ii) improved spatial resolution compared to conventional one-photon fluorescence microscopy. Second, the low-frequency, cross-correlation signal generated allows lifetime-resolved imaging without using fast photodetectors. The data presented here include 1) determination of laser sources' threshold powers for linearity in the pump-probe signal; 2) characterization of the pump-probe intensity profile using 0.28 microns fluorescent latex spheres; 3) high frequency (up to 6.7 GHz) lifetime measurement of rhodamine B in water; and 4) lifetime-resolved images of fluorescent latex spheres, human erythrocytes and a mouse fibroblast cell stained by rhodamine DHPE, and a mouse fibroblast labeled with ethidium bromide and rhodamine DHPE.

An analysis of prognostic factors in cirrhosis

To develop a more comprehensive index for predicting the prognous of liver cirrhosis. 300 consecutive patients with cirrhosis were studied in terms of survival from 1975 to 1986. Median follow-up period was 5.3 years. A multivariable survival analysis (Cox's regression model) using clinical biochemical data obtained at admission disclosed eight factors of value in predicting prognosis: age, frequency of previous GI bleeding, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, serum albumin, serum bilirubin, hemoglobin and prothrombin time. A prognostic index was constructed for the calculation of the estimated survival probability.

Prevention of type 2 herpes simplex virus induced cervical carcinoma in mice by prior immunization with a vaccine prepared from type 1 herpes simplex virus

Repeated intra-vaginal inoculation of mice with inactivated type 2 herpes simplex virus induced cervical carcinoma in approximately 50% of mice. Prior immunization with subunit vaccine Ac NFU1(S-) BHK reduced the frequency of cervical carcinoma to 19%. Inoculation of mice with a control preparation of uninfected cell extract never induced preinvasive or invasive cervical cancer. There was evidence of an antibody response in every vaccinated and/or innoculated animal. Mice developing cervical cancer had a significantly higher antibody titre to type 2 herpes virus than mice not developing cancer. These results are in general accord with sero-epidemiological studies of preinvasive and invasive cervical carcinoma in human subjects and suggests that this experimental model may be appropriate for further investigation of prevention of human cervical cancer by vaccination.