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Abstract Background This study aims to assess the recovery patterns and factors influencing outcomes in patients with common peroneal nerve (CPN) injury. Methods This retrospective study included 45 patients with CPN injuries treated between 2009 and 2019 in Jing’an District Central Hospital. The surgical interventions were categorized into three groups: neurolysis (group A; n = 34 patients), nerve repair (group B; n = 5 patients) and tendon transfer (group C; n = 6 patients). Preoperative and postoperative sensorimotor functions were evaluated using the British Medical Research Council grading system. The outcome of measures included the numeric rating scale, walking ability, numbness and satisfaction. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was utilized to determine the optimal time interval between injury and surgery for predicting postoperative foot dorsiflexion function, toe dorsiflexion function, and sensory function. Results Surgical interventions led to improvements in foot dorsiflexion strength in all patient groups, enabling most to regain independent walking ability. Group A (underwent neurolysis) had significant sensory function restoration (P

Abstract Background Gut microbiota plays a significant role in the colorectal cancer (CRC) process. Ectopic colonization of multiple oral bacteria is reportedly associated with CRC pathogenesis and progression, but the details remain unclear. Methods We enrolled a cohort of 50 CRC patients and 52 healthy controls from an East China population. Taxonomic and functional analysis of the fecal microbiota were performed using 16S rDNA (50 + 52 samples) and shotgun metagenomic sequencing (8 + 6 samples), respectively, with particular attention paid to gut‐colonized oral bacteria. Results and Conclusions The results showed more detected bacterial species but lower species evenness within the samples from CRC patients. To determine the specific bacteria enriched in each group, we analyzed their possible protective, carcinogenic, or opportunistic roles in the CRC process. Among the ectopic oral bacteria, we observed a significant increase in the abundance of Fusobacterium and decreased abundance of Prevotella and Ruminococcus in the CRC group. Main differences in the functional composition of these two groups were related to energy metabolism and biosynthesis, especially the glycolytic pathway. Furthermore, we validated the colonization of Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. animalis within CRC tissues and studied its impact on the host intestinal epithelium and tumor cells. With high selectivity for cancerous tissues, this subspecies promoted CRC cell proliferation and induced potential DNA damage.

Abstract Itch is a complex aversive sensory and emotional experience. As a most upsetting symptom in many dermatological and systemic diseases, it lacks efficient treatments. The lateral habenula nucleus (LHb) encodes negative emotions in the epithalamus and has been implicated in pain and analgesia. Nevertheless, the role of the lateral habenula nucleus in the pruritic sensation and emotion remains elusive. Here we defined the crucial role of glutamatergic neurons within the lateral habenula nucleus (GluLHb) in itch modulation in mice. We established histamine-dependent and histamine-independent models of acute pruritus, as well as the acetone-ether-water (AEW) model of chronic pruritus. We first assessed the effects of pruritogen injection on neural activation in both medial and lateral divisions of LHb in vitro. We then demonstrated that the population activity of GluLHb neurons was increased during the acute itch and chronic itch-induced scratching behaviors in vivo. In addition, electrophysiological data showed that the excitability of GluLHb neurons was enhanced by chronic itch. Chemogenetic suppression of GluLHb neurons disrupted both acute and chronic itch-evoked scratching behaviors. Furthermore, itch-induced conditioned place aversion (CPA) was abolished by GluLHb neuronal inhibition. Finally, we dissected the LHb upstream brain regions. Together, these findings reveal the involvement of LHb in processing both the sensational and emotional components of pruritus and may shed new insights into itch therapy.

To address the issue of over-standard short-circuit currents in a power system, it is imperative to enhance the comprehensive performance of the electrical contacts, which serve as the lynchpin of circuit breakers, so as to improve the breaking capacity of high-voltage circuit breakers. Graphene, as the most prominent two-dimensional carbon material in recent years, has garnered widespread applications across various fields. In this study, graphene-enhanced CuW composites for high-voltage circuit breaker electrical contacts were prepared innovatively using integrated vacuum infiltration technology. The innovative graphene-enhanced CuW composites significantly improved the mechanical, electrical, and ablation resistance properties, and have been successfully applied in the 252 kV/63 kA high-voltage SF6 circuit breakers, achieving 20 times effective consecutive full-capacity short-circuit current breaking. It provides a new route for the development and application of high-performance CuW electrical contacts. Looking ahead, it is planned to extend their application to higher voltage grade high-voltage circuit breakers.

With the popularity of IoT devices and cloud technology in the medical industry. Sharing EHRs (Electronic Health Records) among medical institutions improves the accuracy of medical diagnosis and promotes the development of public medical. However, it is difficult to share EHRs among hospitals, and patients typically don’t know about the usage of their health records. In this paper, we propose a patient-controlled EHRs sharing scheme based on cloud computing collaborating blockchain technology. The medical abstract and the access strategy are stored in the blockchain to avoid being tampered with. To achieve the fine-grained access control, we propose the attribute-based encryption scheme and multi-keyword encryption scheme to encrypt EHRs. Moreover, we proposed a node-state-checkable Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus algorithm (sc-PBFT) to prevent the Byzantine nodes from sneaking into the consortium blockchain. First, we check the state of the elected master node to avoid the master node having any malicious records. Then, using pre-prepared, prepare, and commit processes to complete the consensus request submitted by the client. At last, the proposed consensus algorithm evaluates the state of the master node according to the completion of the three-stage process to reduce the impact of the malicious node on the whole consortium blockchain. By doing this, the malicious node will be marked and isolated into the isolation area. The experimental results show that the proposed sc-PBFT algorithm has better handling capability and lower consensus latency. Compared with the PBFT algorithm in the case of Byzantine nodes, sc-PBFT not only improves the robustness of the consortium blockchain network but also improves the handling capability.

Macrophages promote early host responses to infection by releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, and they are crucial to combat amoebiasis, a disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Macrophages elicit pro-inflammatory responses following direct cell/cell interaction of Entamoeba histolytica, inducing NLRP3 inflammasome activation with high-output IL-1β/IL-18 secretion. Here, we found that trophozoites could upregulate peroxiredoxins (Prx) expression and abundantly secrete Prxs when encountering host cells. The C-terminal of Prx was identified as the key functional domain in promoting NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and a recombinant C-terminal domain could act directly on macrophage. The Prxs derived from E. histolytica triggered toll-like receptor 4-dependent activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in a cell/cell contact-independent manner. Through genetic, immunoblotting or pharmacological inhibition methods, NLRP3 inflammasome activation was induced through caspase-1-dependent canonical pathway. Our data suggest that E. histolytica Prxs had stable and durable cell/cell contact-independent effects on macrophages following abundantly secretion during invasion, and the C-terminal of Prx was responsible for activating NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages. This new alternative pathway may represent a potential novel therapeutic approach for amoebiasis, a global threat to millions.

Abstract Background As RNA-seq becomes the assay of choice for measuring gene expression levels, differential expression analysis has received extensive attentions of researchers. To date, for the evaluation of DE methods, most attention has been paid on validity. Yet another important aspect of DE methods, stability, is overlooked and has not been studied to the best of our knowledge. Results In this study, we empirically show the need of assessing stability of DE methods and propose a stability metric, called Area Under the Correlation curve (AUCOR), that generates the perturbed datasets by a mixture distribution and combines the information of similarities between sets of selected features from these perturbed datasets and the original dataset. Conclusion Empirical results support that AUCOR can effectively rank the DE methods in terms of stability for given RNA-seq datasets. In addition, we explore how biological or technical factors from experiments and data analysis affect the stability of DE methods. AUCOR is implemented in the open-source R package AUCOR, with source code freely available at https://github.com/linbingqing/stableDE.

Acesulfame-K, aspartame, cyclamate, neotame, saccharin, and sucralose are highly water-soluble artificial sweeteners (ASs) that are widely used in consumer products and represent a billion USD global market in 2020. In part because they are poorly removed by conventional water treatment, and acesulfame and sucralose also resist biodegradation and advanced oxidation, multiple ASs co-occur in tap water across the globe, generally at ng/L concentrations but also at µg/L concentrations. Through a review of the literature, this is the first research to integrate taste threshold concentrations with concentrations measured in drinking water to assess if consumers’ tap water will taste sweet. The taste threshold concentrations for acesulfame-K, aspartame, cyclamate, neotame, saccharin, and sucralose are 8.94, 6.59, 105.5, 0.24, and 3.49 mg/L, respectively. While reported concentration of artificial sweeteners in tap water are below their known taste thresholds for sweetness and range from ng/L to hundreds of µg/L, binary combinations of ASs can have a more intense sweetness than one artificial sweetener alone, and hard water can enhance the sweetness of acesulfame-K. Additionally, global production and consumption of ASs is expected to increase 2-5% annually; this increase, when coupled with degradation resistance and persistence, will allow AS concentrations to increase in the water cycle. Thus, in order to maintain consumer satisfaction and confidence, the drinking water industry must be vigilant concerning tastants in their tap water at levels and combinations detectable by consumers.

Camellia is the largest and most important genus in the family Theaceae, with many species being of great economic, ornamental and ecological value. However, the phylogenetic resolution of these species has been difficult due to interspecific hybridization and polyploidy. Consequently, the interspecies relationships of the genus Camellia are still hotly debated. In this study, four chloroplast genomic regions (matK, rbcL, ycf1, trnL-F) were used as markers among 161 species representing all four subgenera within this genus to investigate the phylogeny and interspecies relationship of the genus Camellia. The results showed that the 161 species of the genus Camellia could be grouped into 13 clades (A-M). Clades A and B mainly consisted of sect. Camellia. Clades C and I were made up of sect. Theopsis and sect. Eriandria. Clades D and J were composed of species from sect. Thea. Clade F consisted of the sect. Paracamellia species, whilst Clades G and M included sect. Furfuracea species. Clade H contained sect. Tuberculata and most species of sect. Pseudocamellia, whereas Clades K and L comprised the sect. Chrysantha species. These results supported that 161 Camellia species form paraphyletic groups, rather than a monophyletic group. And they demonstrated that the taxonomic position of related species could be resolved to some extent via sequencing markers in organelle genome, thus providing valuable cytoplasmic genetic information or maternal genetic information for accurately identifying species, clarifying taxonomy and reconstructing the phylogeny of various Camellia species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on the restoration of limb movements after central nervous system injury. The researchers used a clinical mouse model, which showed that the surgery could restore skilled forelimb function in adult mice with unilateral cortical lesions by inducing cortical remapping and promoting corticospinal tract sprouting. The results show that surgically rebuilt sensory input triggers neural plasticity for accelerating motor recovery, an approach for treating brain injuries.

Synthesis and structural characterization of a new hexanuclear copper(II) complex, CuII6(bdmap)3Cl6(O)(OH) (bdmap = 1, 3-bis-(dimethylamino)-2-propanolato), confirmed its propeller structure and C3 symmetry. Its core structure, which contains six copper(II) ions and five oxygen atoms, is similar to that of cryptand. Inorganic 'cryptand' contains a proton trapped inside.

A lanthanide(III)-copper(II) or a yttrium(III)-copper(II) metal complex binding 2-methyl-2,4, 6-tris(trifluoromethyl)-1,3-dioxane-4,6-diolato ligand is produced and the crystal structure is examined. Such acetylacetonato ligands bonded to rare earth metals decompose to yield carboxylates under the influence of catalysts such as Lewis bases. This ligand is yielded by the cycloaddition of 1,1, 1-trifluoro-2,2-propanediol, with the metal complex acting as promoter.

In mixed models, the use of robust estimates raises several interesting inferential challenges. One of these challenges arises from the realization that the effect of contamination is to increase the variability in the data, but robust estimates of variance components are usually smaller than their nonrobust counterparts. The robust estimates reflect the variability of the bulk of the data, which is not the same as the variability in the data-generating process. This means that the naive implementation of bootstrap procedures might not work. In this article we consider several bootstrap procedures, including random effect, transformation, and weighted bootstraps. We give conditions for the asymptotic validity of the bootstraps and assess their performance via a small simulation study. Both the transformation and generalized cluster bootstrap perform well and are asymptotically valid under reasonable conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchangeable binary data are often collected in developmental toxicity and other studies, and a whole host of parametric distributions for fitting this kind of data have been proposed in the literature. While these distributions can be matched to have the same marginal probability and intra-cluster correlation, they can be quite different in terms of shape and higher-order quantities of interest such as the litter-level risk of having at least one malformed fetus. A sensible alternative is to fit a saturated model ( Bowman and George, 1995 , Journal of the American Statistical Association 90, 871–879) using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm proposed by Stefanescu and Turnbull (2003, Biometrics 59, 18–24). The assumption of compatibility of marginal distributions is often made to link up the distributions for different cluster sizes so that estimation can be based on the combined data. Stefanescu and Turnbull proposed a modified trend test to test this assumption. Their test, however, fails to take into account the variability of an estimated null expectation and as a result leads to inaccurate p-values. This drawback is rectified in this article. When the data are sparse, the probability function estimated using a saturated model can be very jagged and some kind of smoothing is needed. We extend the penalized likelihood method ( Simonoff, 1983 , Annals of Statistics 11, 208–218) to the present case of unequal cluster sizes and implement the method using an EM-type algorithm. In the presence of covariate, we propose a penalized kernel method that performs smoothing in both the covariate and response space. The proposed methods are illustrated using several data sets and the sampling and robustness properties of the resulting estimators are evaluated by simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing distributions for modeling fetal response data in developmental toxicology such as the beta-binomial distribution have a tendency of inflating the probability of no malformed fetuses, and hence understating the risk of having at least one malformed fetus within a litter. As opposed to a shared probability extra-binomial model, we advocate a shared response model that allows a random number of fetuses within the same litter to share a common response. An explicit formula is given for the probability function and graphical plots suggest that it does not suffer from the problem of assigning too much probability to the event of no malformed fetuses. The EM algorithm can be used to estimate the model parameters. Results of a simulation study show that the EM estimates are nearly unbiased and the associated confidence intervals based on the usual standard error estimates have coverage close to the nominal level. Simulation results also suggest that the shared response model estimates of the marginal malformation probabilities are robust to misspecification of the distributional form, but not so for the estimates of intralitter correlation and the litter-level probability of having at least one malformed fetus. The proposed model is fitted to a set of data from the U.S. National Toxicology Program. For the same dose–response relationship, the fit based on the shared response distribution is superior to that based on the beta-binomial, and comparable to that based on the recently proposed q-power distribution ( Kuk, 2004 , Applied Statistics 53, 369–386). An advantage of the shared response model over the q-power distribution is that it is more interpretable and can be extended more easily to the multivariate case. To illustrate this, a bivariate shared response model is fitted to fetal response data involving visceral and skeletal malformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hexadecapeptide cerebellin is present in the brains of many vertebrate species and is derived from a larger protein, Cbln1 (cerebellin 1 precursor protein) . Although cerebellin has features of a neuropeptide, Cbln1 belongs to the C1q/tumor necrosis factor superfamily of secreted proteins, suggesting that it is the biologically active molecule and the proteolytic events that generate cerebellin serve another function. Therefore, we assessed whether Cbln1 undergoes proteolytic processing and determined what consequences the cleavage events necessary to produce cerebellin have on the structure of Cbln1. Substantial degradation of Cbln1 was evident in the synaptic compartment of cerebellum and lysates of cultured cerebellar neurons and cells transfected with Cbln1 expression vectors. However, only uncleaved Cbln1 containing the cerebellin motif was released and assembled into hexameric complexes. Using yeast two hybrid and mammalian expression systems we show that the cleavages required to produce cerebellin influence the subunit stoichiometry of Cbln1 complexes. Cleavage at the N-terminus of the cerebellin sequence in Cbln1 yields trimeric complexes by separating the trimer-mediating C-terminal C1q domain from conserved N-terminal cysteine residues that mediate higher order oligomerization. Cleavage at the C-terminus of the cerebellin motif disrupts the C1q domain and abolishes subunit interactions. Functional implications of these data are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cbln1 is a cerebellum-specific protein of previously unknown function that is structurally related to the C1q and tumor necrosis factor families of proteins. We show that Cbln1 is a glycoprotein secreted from cerebellar granule cells that is essential for three processes in cerebellar Purkinje cells: the matching and maintenance of pre- and postsynaptic elements at parallel fiber–Purkinje cell synapses, the establishment of the proper pattern of climbing fiber–Purkinje cell innervation, and induction of long-term depression at parallel fiber–Purkinje cell synapses. Notably, the phenotype of cbln1-null mice mimics loss-of-function mutations in the orphan glutamate receptor, GluRδ2, a gene selectively expressed in Purkinje neurons. Therefore, Cbln1 secreted from presynaptic granule cells may be a component of a transneuronal signaling pathway that controls synaptic structure and plasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel osClpD gene, encoding a highly conservative ClpD subfamily member, was first isolated and characterized from Oryza sativa . The full-length cDNA of osClpD gene was 3140 bp and contained a 2884 bp open reading frame encoding a 938 amino acid protein. The phylogenetic tree and blast search showed that OSClpD belonged to the ClpD subfamily of the Hsp100/Clp family, and contained all protein motifs characteristic for the ClpD subfamily of Hsp100/Clp proteins. The real-time quantitative PCR analysis proved that it was inducible by water deficit and temperature stress in vegetative tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new lectin gene was cloned from Zephyranthes candida by using RACE-PCR. The full-length cDNA of Zephyranthes candida agglutinin (ZCA) was 647 bp and contained a 477 bp open reading frame encoding a 159 amino acid protein. Zephyranthes candida lectin gene was found to encode a precursor lectin with signal peptide and had extensive homology with those of other plant lectins. Molecular modeling of ZCA indicated that the three-dimensional structure of ZCA strongly resembles that of the snowdrop lectin, implying ZCA may have the similar insecticidal functions with GNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been established that changes in gene expression occur during cold acclimation in a wide range of plants. Here we present a novel cDNA encoding a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 25 kDa, designated cor25 , from Brassica pekinensis cv. Zaoshu 5 (Chinese cabbage) that was similar with a cold-regulated Arabidopsis thaliana L. gene, cor47 . Protein sequence alignment showed that COR25 had 53.5% of identity with COR47 and 59.6% of identity with ERD10, an Arabidopsis thaliana L. early-responsive gene to dehydration stress. Northern blot analysis revealed that the cor25 expression was cold inducible. Moreover, the transcripts of the cor25 accumulated in plants in response to exogenous application of ABA and water stress. The possible functions of the cold-regulated gene and the mechanism for plants to cope with low temperature are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the ultrafast ring closure energetics and dynamics of cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl derivatives. Ring closure, or cyclopolymerization, upon flash photolysis in alkane solvents; Substitution of a metal carbon monoxide by the side chain functional group; Photocaustic calorimetry; Ring closure before solvent coordination.

Cbln1 and the orphan glutamate receptor GluRδ2 are pre- and postsynaptic components, respectively, of a novel transneuronal signaling pathway regulating synapse structure and function. We show here that Cbln1 is secreted from cerebellar granule cells in complex with a related protein, Cbln3. However, cbln1- and cbln3-null mice have different phenotypes and cbln1 cbln3 double-null mice have deficits identical to those of cbln1 knockout mice. The basis for these discordant phenotypes is that Cbln1 and Cbln3 reciprocally regulate each other's degradation and secretion such that cbln1-null mice lack both Cbln1 and Cbln3, whereas cbln3-null mice lack Cbln3 but have an approximately sixfold increase in Cbln1. Unlike Cbln1, Cbln3 cannot form homomeric complexes and is secreted only when bound to Cbln1. Structural modeling and mutation analysis reveal that, by constituting a steric clash that is masked upon binding Cbln1 in a "hide-and-run" mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum retention, a single arginine confers the unique properties of Cbln3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background To investigate whether PET/CT-guided bone marrow biopsy adds complementary information for evaluation of bone marrow involvement (BMI) in newly diagnosed lymphomas. Methods Patients with newly diagnosed lymphomas that received both 18F-FDG PET/CT and bone marrow biopsy (BMB) were included in this retrospective study. PET/CT classification of bone lesions was classified as isolated, multifocal (2 lesions or more), diffuse (homogeneous uptake of the entire axial skeleton), or negative. BMBs included PET/CT-guided targeted BMB and/or the routine unilateral iliac crest biopsy. Of 34 patients with focal lesions on PET/CT scan, 30 received both PET/CT-guided targeted BMB and iliac crest biopsy, and 4 patients received targeted biopsy without iliac crest biopsy. The final diagnosis of BMI depends on BMB results. Results A total of 299 patients with lymphomas were included. PET/CT classification of bone lesions was isolated (16/5.4%), multifocal (67/22.4%), diffuse (52/17.4%), and negative (164/54.8%). If only positive iliac crest biopsy was considered as the reference standard, the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT for identifying focal and diffuse BMI was 48 and 56%, respectively, and the respective specificities were 70 and 83%. Three of 30 patients (10.0%) with focal lesions on PET/CT were confirmed to be false-positive by targeted BMB, and 25 of 30 patients (83.3%) with focal lesions on PET/CT were confirmed as false-negative by iliac crest biopsy. Conclusion It is insufficient to evaluate BMI in newly diagnosed lymphomas using both 18F-FDG PET/CT and routine iliac crest biopsy. 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging should be performed before BMB. In focal bone lesions, PET/CT-guided targeted BMB may complement the results of possible false-positive PET/CT and false-negative iliac crest biopsy findings. However, in diffuse and negative lesions, iliac crest biopsy cannot be safely omitted.

AIM: To observe the changes of tear film on the patients after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)with corneal flap created by femtosecond laser and microkeratome.METHODS: Totally 150 patients(300 eyes)with myopia received operation of LASIK. Patients were divided into two groups according to the methods of making corneal flap. The patients of group one were assigned to receiving LASIK with corneal flap creation by Intralase femtosecond laser(190 eyes of 95 patients), group two were assigned to receiving LASIK with corneal flap creation by microkeratome(110 eyes of 55 patients). Dry eye symptom score, tear break-up time(BUT), Schirmer Ⅰ test(S I t), corneal fluorescein staining(FL)were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively at 1wk; 1, 3 and 6mo. RESULTS: Dry eye symptom score: there existed obvious differences at 1wk; 1, 3mo between two groups(PP>0.05). BUT: there existed obvious differences at 1wk, 1, 3mo between two groups(PP>0.05). SchirmerⅠ test: there existed obvious differences in the 1wk, 1, 3mo between two groups(PP>0.05). FL: there existed obvious differences in the 1wk, 1, 3mo between two groups(PP>0.05).CONCLUSION: The early stability of tear film decrease after operation in both of the two groups. The dry eye symptoms are lighter and recover faster.

AIM: To observe the changes of tear film on the patients after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)with corneal flap created by femtosecond laser with the different gender.METHODS: The 120 myopic patients(240 eyes)who underwent femtosecond laser surgery LASIK from August to September 2013 were collected, and these patients were followed up for 3mo. The patients were divided into two groups according to the gender, group A was male(110 eyes of 55 patients); group B was female(130 eyes of 65 patients). Dry eye symptom score, tear break-up time(BUT), Schirmer Ⅰ test, corneal fluorescein staining were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively in 1wk,1,2,3mo. RESULTS: Dry eye symptom score: it was statistically significant between two groups after operation in the 1wk,1, 2mo(P=0.000,0.023, 0.030). It had no statistical significance between the two groups in 3mo(P=0.283). BUT: it was statistical significance between two groups after operation in the 1wk,1, 2, 3mo(P=0.000,0.017, 0.026, 0.032). SchirmerⅠ test: it was statistically significant between two groups after operation in the 1wk, 1, 2mo(P=0.012,0.024, 0.018). It had no statistical significance between the two groups in 3mo(P=0.206)Corneal fluorescein staining: it was statistically significant between two groups after operation in the 1wk, 1, 2, 3mo(P=0.022,0.015, 0.036, 0.041).CONCLUSION: The influence of tear film after femtosecond laser surgery for men less than that for women.

AIM:To observe the changes of tear film on the patients after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)with corneal flap created by femtosecond laser with Oculus corneal topography.METHODS:Totally 120 myopic patients(240 eyes)were collected who underwent femtosecond laser surgery LASIK from August to September 2013, and these patients can be followed up for 3mo. Tear break-up time(BUT)and tear meniscus height(TMH)with Oculus corneal topography were recorded preoperatively and postoperatively at 1wk; 1, 2 and 3mo.RESULTS: Oculus BUT: there existed obvious differences(P=0.012, 0.000, 0.023P=0.236>0.05)existed in 3mo compared with the preoperative level. TMH: there existed obvious differences(P=0.025, 0.019, 0.026P=0.375>0.05 )existed in 3mo compared with the preoperative level.CONCLUSION: Femtosecond laser surgery affects the stability of the tear film at a certain time and a certain extent. The mechanism related to many factors. It is temporary and lighted.

The adipose tissue-derived hormone adiponectin improves insulin sensitivity and its circulating levels are decreased in obesity-induced insulin resistance. Here, we report the generation of a mouse line with a genomic disruption of the adiponectin locus. We aimed to identify whether these mice develop insulin resistance and which are the primary target tissues affected in this model. Using euglycemic/insulin clamp studies, we demonstrate that these mice display severe hepatic but not peripheral insulin resistance. Furthermore, we wanted to test whether the lack of adiponectin magnifies the impairments of glucose homeostasis in the context of a dietary challenge. When exposed to high fat diet, adiponectin null mice rapidly develop glucose intolerance. Specific PPARγ/agonists such as thiazolidinediones (TZDs) improve insulin sensitivity by mechanisms largely unknown. Circulating adiponectin levels are significantly up-regulated in vivo upon activation of PPARγ/. Both TZDs and adiponectin have been shown to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the same target tissues. We wanted to address whether the ability of TZDs to improve glucose tolerance is dependent on adiponectin and whether this improvement involved AMPK activation. We demonstrate that the ability of PPARγ agonists to improve glucose tolerance in ob/ob mice lacking adiponectin is diminished. Adiponectin is required for the activation of AMPK upon TZD administration in both liver and muscle. In summary, adiponectin is an important contributor to PPARγ-mediated improvements in glucose tolerance through mechanisms that involve the activation of the AMPK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]