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Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly aggressive malignant tumor, and, therefore, the prognosis evaluation of this disease is important. Proteasome activator subunit 3 (PSME3) is highly expressed in GC; however, its exact role in GC has yet to be clarified. The gene expression profiles for GC were downloaded to find a candidate prognostic biomarker, and PSME3 was selected. The expression level of the PSME3 gene in GC tissues was analyzed using a public database. The biological processes and signal pathways that PSME3 was involved in were further analyzed. Immunohistochemical staining of 181 GC tissues was performed to detect the expression of the PSME3 protein. The correlation between PSME3 expression and GC prognosis and its clinical and pathological parameters were investigated. It was found that PSME3 mRNA expression was higher in GC than in adjacent gastric tissues, and high PSME3 expression was significantly correlated with tumor stage, histological subtype, lymph node metastasis status, and Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with GC (all p<0.01). Bioinformatics showed that PSME3 mainly played an oncogenic role in the development of GC by regulating the cell cycle and inhibiting apoptosis. The PSME3 protein was overexpressed in 64.6% (117/181) of the analyzed samples, and overexpression of PSME3 was associated with a significantly poor prognosis. In addition, multivariate analysis suggested that PSME3 overexpression, tumor, node, metastasis stage, and tumor size are independent prognostic biomarkers for GC. We conclude that the overexpression of PSME3 was associated with a poor prognosis in patients with GC, and PSME3 might play an oncogenic role in the occurrence and development of GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for lead (Pb) detection in soil is presented. Pb is a dangerous environmental pollutant that is present in soils, posing a health risk to millions of people worldwide, and regular monitoring of Pb contamination in soils is essential to public health. Many sensitive methods for detection of heavy metals in solid matrices exist, but they cannot be performed on-site because they are costly (>$30 per sample), require trained personnel, and many classical sample preparation methods are not safe to bring into the field. We describe an alternative process, combining a safer sample preparation method with electrochemical analysis. The process requires minimal training, making it an attractive overall method for regular environmental screening of Pb in soils. Extract obtained from the soil is pH adjusted and analyzed using a stencil-printed carbon electrode and square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. In this work, a study of 15 neighborhood soils examining the concentration of Pb present post-extraction was performed to demonstrate the method. The limit of detection for the electrochemical analysis was calculated to be 16 ppb—well below the United States Environmental Protection Agency's action limit for Pb in soils (400 mg kg−1 or 4000 ppb)—and third party inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy analysis validated the results obtained in this study to within ±17% on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ophthalmoscopy and its interpretation are complex. We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of smartphone fundoscopy with traditional direct ophthalmoscopy for optic disc interpretation, with e‐learning support. Methods: We conducted a randomised, crossover study of 102 medical students. Students were offered e‐learning for optic disc interpretation. A fundoscopy objective structured clinical examination was conducted after an introductory lecture and 10‐min practical training session on smartphone fundoscopy and traditional ophthalmoscopy. Participants examined patients and simulator slides with a randomised crossover between smartphone [D‐eye (Padova, Italy) or iExaminer (Welch Allyn, Macquarie Park, Australia)] and traditional ophthalmoscopy (Welch Allyn). Optic discs were graded independently by three masked ophthalmologists. The primary outcome was the ability to interpret an optic disc as normal or abnormal. Secondary outcomes included other optic disc aspects; student preferences; and e‐learning performance. Results: Students' agreement with the gold standard for an abnormal or normal disc was significantly greater using a smartphone (74.4%) than with direct ophthalmoscopy (68.1%, p = 0.032). More students preferred smartphone (74%) over direct ophthalmoscopy (26%, p < 0.001). E‐learning led to an improvement in optic disc interpretation scores (mean improvement = 4.5%, 95% CI = 3.7–5.2, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Medical students are more accurate at recognising an abnormal optic disc using smartphone fundoscopy than traditional direct ophthalmoscopy, and have a strong preference for smartphone fundoscopy. E‐learning may improve the interpretation of optic disc abnormalities. Smartphone fundoscopy may mitigate some technical challenges of fundoscopy and reinvigorate use of this valuable clinical examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our pragmatic primary outcome of determining a fundus as normal or abnormal is achievable and appropriate to the non-ophthalmic clinician, and we suggest this should be an assessable basic requirement of medical education. We thank doctors Lu, Wang and Liu for their insights.1 We concur that smartphone fundoscopy (SF) with e-learning fundus interpretation training provides a useful educational and clinical tool in certain settings. Lu and colleagues correctly assert that "Fundus examination is ... one of the key skills for ophthalmologists.". [Extracted from the article]

Background & Aims Common bile duct ligation ( CBDL) rats is an accepted experimental model of hepatopulmonary syndrome ( HPS), defined as liver disease and intrapulmonary vascular dilatation and hypoxaemia. Pulmonary Akt and ERK activation followed by angiogenesis in the later stages of CBDL, contribute to the pathogenesis of HPS. However, the mechanisms behind Akt and ERK activation remain undefined. Pulmonary injury induced by increased bilirubin, endotoxin and inflammatory mediators occurs in the early stages of CBDL. We assessed the effects of relieving pulmonary injury on Akt and ERK activation and on the development of HPS following CBDL. Methods Pulmonary injury, angiogenesis, arterial oxygenation, cell proliferation and, phospho-Akt and ERK1 were evaluated in CBDL animals with or without caspase-3 inhibition (Z-DEVD-FMK). Pulmonary injury was assessed by histology and quantifying apoptosis and aquaporin-1 ( AQP1) levels. Lung angiogenesis was assessed by quantifying AQP1 level, vWF-positive cells and microvessel count. Results Pulmonary apoptosis and caspase-3 activation were markedly increased in the early stages of CBDL. Caspase-3 inhibition alleviated apoptosis, the reduction in AQP1, phospho-Akt and ERK1 levels and pulmonary injury 1 week after CBDL. Caspase-3 inhibition also reduced AQP1, phospho-Akt and ERK1 levels, vWF-positive cells, cell proliferation, microvessel count, and microvascular dilatation and improved arterial oxygenation 3 weeks following CBDL. Conclusions Caspase-3 inhibition alleviates pulmonary injury, thereby preventing angiogenesis as well as the development of HPS in CBDL rats. These effects are related to the regulation of the Akt and ERK1 pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in siphonophore communities between summer and winter in the northern South China Sea and the influence of environmental conditions on their variations were studied. Our results suggested that local coastal upwelling and surface ocean currents driven by the southwest monsoon enhanced the species number and abundance of siphonophores in summer, while the northeast monsoon forced the cold coastal current into the study area, resulting in low species richness and abundance in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality information of Beijiang River, a tributary of Pearl River in Guangdong, China, was analyzed to provide an overview of the hydrochemical functioning of a major agricultural/rural area and an industrial/urban area. Eighteen water quality parameters were surveyed at 13 sites from 2005 to 2006 on a monthly basis. A bivariate correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate the regional correlations of the water quality parameters, while the principal component analysis (PCA) technique was used to extract the most influential variables for regional variations of river water quality. Six principal components were extracted in PCA which explained more than 78% and 84% of the total variance for agricultural/rural and industrial/urban areas, respectively. Physicochemical factor, organic pollution, sewage pollution, geogenic factor, agricultural nonpoint source pollution, and accumulated pesticide usage were identified as potential pollution sources for agricultural/rural area, whereas industrial wastewaters pollution, mineral pollution, geogenic factor, urban sewage pollution, chemical industrial pollution, and water traffic pollution were the latent pollution sources for industrial/urban area. A multivariate linear regression of absolute principal component scores (MLR-APCS) technique was used to estimate contributions of all identified pollution sources to each water quality parameter. High coefficients of determination of the regression equations suggested that the MLR-APCS model was applicable for estimation of sources of most water quality parameters in the Beijiang River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]