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This study aimed to assess any changes in the plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin ( ADM) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha ( HIF 1a) in patients with varicocele ( VC). Plasma concentrations of ADM and HIF 1a were measured in brachial vein ( BV) and internal spermatic vein ( ISV) of 30 fertile VC subjects and 35 untreated infertile VC patients. The results demonstrated that plasma levels of ADM and HIF 1a were significantly higher in ISV than those in BV in the fertile or infertile group respectively. The values of ADM and HIF 1a in BV or ISV of the infertile group were significantly higher than in BV or ISV of the fertile group respectively. Similar changes in values of reactive oxygen metabolites ( ROM) were observed. Plasma HIF 1a concentration positively correlated with ROM levels. Plasma ADM concentration positively correlated with ROM values and HIF 1a levels in the two groups. Moreover, remarkable improvement in clinical sperm parameters was observed 3 months after surgery for the infertile patients. It is concluded that ADM may participate, along with HIF 1a, in mechanisms that aid spermatogenic cells in adapting to hypoxia. These predictors may have potential in infertility development in VC patients. Furthermore, early surgical repair is extremely important for infertile VC patients with poor semen quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 58-year-old male farmer presented with multiple lesions on the face, trunk and extremities for 10 years. It mentions novel non-frameshift deletion in MVK gene responsible for disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP) in Chinese family. His histopathological examination of the pigmented lesion showed an atrophic epidermis with the presence of rare cornoid lamellae and apoptotic keratinocytes.

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Two-dimensional plate-like FeO nanocrystals and nanoparticles could be synthesized by a simple one-step sonochemical method through ultrasonic irradiation in reverse co-precipitation solution at low temperature. This technique provided a facile and rapid way to prepare FeOnanocrystals with different morphology and size. Magnetite nanoplates were synthesized with only ferrous salt adding into alkali solution, and adding ferric ions with low molar ratio in the metal salts solution would lead to the formation of very small magnetite nanoparticles (∼10 nm). The size of as-prepared magnetite nanoparticles increased with increasing reaction temperature and showed narrow size distribution, the standard deviation less than 2 nm. This investigation indicated that ferric ions had significant influence on the morphology of FeO nanocrystals. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which estimated sediment deposition and erosion rates from Yongkang depression in the karst region of southwest China. The study used Cs-137 fingerprinting method and found that the average deposition rate, deposition amount and specific deposition yield, for the catchments since 1963, were consistent with the actual monitoring data of local runoff plots. The study indicated that the mean specific sediment yields of 20 tons per square kilometer per year can represent the soil loss rate in the karst regions.

A letter to the editor is presented regarding the study on the risk of skin disease epidermolytic hyperkeratosis following the mutation of keratin 10 gene.

Background: Ex vivo expansion of cord blood (CB) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells increases cell dose and may reduce the severity and duration of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia after transplantation. This study's purpose was to establish a clinically applicable culture system by investigating the use of cytokines, serum-free media, and autologous plasma for the expansion of CB cells and the engraftment of expanded product in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice.Study Design and Methods: Enriched CB CD34+ cells were cultured in four media (Iscove's modified Dulbecco's medium with FCS, Gibco; X-Vivo-10, BioWhittaker; QBSF-60, Quality Biological; and StemSpan SFEM, Stem Cell Technologies) with four cytokine combinations (thrombopoietin [TPO], SCF, Flt-3 ligand [FL] with and without G-CSF, and/or IL-6). The effect of autologous CB plasma was also investigated. The read-out measures were evaluated on Days 8 and 12. After expansion at the optimized condition, cultured cells were transplanted into sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice. The engraftment of human CD45+ cells and subsets in the bone marrow, spleen, and peripheral blood was determined.Results: QBSF-60 or StemSpan SFEM supported high yields of early progenitors (CD34+ cells, Conclusion: The data supported the strategy of expansion. The optimized condition may be applicable to clinical expansion for the abrogation or reduction of posttransplant cytopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article about the case of a 16-year-old girl who has keratitis ichthyosis deafness (KID) syndrome associated with Dandy-Walker.