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Natural products are useful tools for biological mechanism research and drug discovery. Due to the excellent tumor cell growth inhibitory profile and sub-nanomolar potency, Coibamide A (CA), an N-methyl-stabilized depsipeptide isolated from marine cyanobacterium, has been considered as a promising lead compound for cancer treatment. However, the molecular anti-cancer mechanism of the action of CA remains unclear. Here, we showed that CA treatment induced caspase-independent cell death in breast cancer cells. CA treatment also led to severe lysosome defects, which was ascribed to the impaired glycosylation of lysosome membrane protein LAMP1 and LAMP2. As a consequence, the autophagosome-lysosome fusion was blocked upon CA treatment. In addition, we presented evidence that this autophagy defect partially contributed to the CA treatment-induced tumor cell death. Together, our work uncovers a novel mechanism underlying the anti-cancer action of CA, which will promote its further application for cancer therapy.

The outbreak of COVID-19 by the end of 2019 has posed serious health threats to humanity and jeopardized the global economy. However, no effective drugs are available to treat COVID-19 currently and there is a great demand to fight against it. Here, we combined computational screening and an efficient cellular pseudotyped virus system, confirming that clinical HDAC inhibitors can efficiently prevent SARS-CoV-2 and potentially be used to fight against COVID-19.

Aurora kinase A (Aurora A) plays a critical role in regulating cell mitotic progression and has been considered as a promising drug target for cancer therapy. To develop a novel molecule targeting Aurora A with high selectivity and efficacy, we designed and synthesized a pyrrole-imidazole polyamide (PIP) Hoechst conjugate, PIP-Ht, targeting to a cell-cycle regulated DNA sequence locating at the promoter of human Aurora A gene (AURKA). PIP-Ht potently suppressed AURKA promoter activities, mRNA expression and protein level, induced tumor cell cycle delay and inhibited tumor cell proliferation in vitro. Furthermore, subcutaneous injection of PIP-Ht into mice bearing human cancer xenografts induced significant tumor growth suppression and cell apoptosis. Collectively, PIP-Ht exhibits the potential as an effective therapeutic candidate for the tumor treatment.

The present study aimed to investigate the role of semaphorin 4D (Sema4D) in bladder cancer cell proliferation and metastasis in vivo and in vitro. Effects of Sema4D modulation on cancer cell viability and clonogenic abilities were assessed by MTT assay and colony formation assay. Cell apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, transwell assays, and wound-healing assays were also assayed. A mouse model of bladder cancer was established to observe the tumorigenesis in vivo. Our data showed that Sema4D was 4-fold upregulated in clinical bladder cancer tissues relative to noncancerous ones and differentially expressed in bladder cancer cell lines. Knockdown of Sema4D in bladder cancer T24 and 5637 cells significantly decreased cell proliferation, clonogenic potential, and motility. On the contrary, overexpression of Sema4D in bladder cancer SV-HUC-1 cells significantly increased cell viability and motility. Concordantly, knockdown of Sema4D impaired while overexpression of Sema4D promoted bladder cancer cell growth rates in xenotransplanted mice. Cell cycle was arrested by modulation of Sema4D. Cell apoptotic rates and the mitochondrial membrane potentials were consistently increased upon knockdown of Sema4D in T24 cells and 5637 cells. Western blotting revealed that epithelial–mesenchymal transition was promoted by Sema4D. The PI3K/AKT pathway was activated upon Sema4D overexpression in SV-HUC-1 cells, while it was inactivated by knockdown of Sema4D in T24 cells. All these data suggest that Sema4D promotes cell proliferation and metastasis in bladder cancer in vivo and in vitro. The oncogenic behavior of Sema4D is achieved by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a type of urinary tumor with a high incidence and is often associated with tumor metastasis. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulates tumorigenesis, progression, and metastasis. However, the role and the predictive value of lncRNA in RCC progression and metastasis have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a newly discovered lncRNA LOC648987 on RCC proliferation and metastasis. LOC648987 was identified by RT-PCR for high expression in human RCC tissues as well as in metastatic RCC tissues. In the cell experiments, we infected the RCC cell lines ACHN and 786-O cells with LOC648987-shRNA and its negative control (shNC). The results showed that the knockdown of LOC648987 inhibited the proliferation of ACHN and 786-O cells and colony formation. The cell cycle and the apoptosis progression of ACHN and 786-O cells were assessed using flow cytometry. The knockdown of LOC648987 significantly inhibited the progression of ACHN and 786-O cells from G0/G1 to S phase and promoted cell apoptosis. The metastasis promoting effects of LOC648987 on ACHN and 786-O cells were verified by transwell migration assays, which depended on vimentin and MMP-9 to regulate the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Finally, the promotion of LOC648987 on RCC tumorigenesis was evaluated in BALb/c nude mice. These data confirmed that lncRNA LOC648987 promoted RCC cell proliferation and tumor metastasis and regulated the expression of EMT-related proteins in RCC cells.

Background There has been an increasing number of children with congenital heart disease that undergo primary or second systemic-pulmonary shunt, while there are few reports on the second systemic-pulmonary shunt. Therefore, this study summarizes the experience of second systemic-pulmonary shunt for congenital heart disease in our hospital. Methods and results Sixty-five children with congenital heart disease who underwent systemic-pulmonary shunt for the second time in our hospital were analyzed. At the early stage after the operation, cyanosis improved and SpO2 significantly increased. One patient died in hospital (1.54%) and the causes of death were aggravated atrioventricular regurgitation, low cardiac output syndrome, and liver failure. Early complications occurred in 18 patients (27.7%). All the children were rechecked in our hospital every 3–6 months and the McGoon index significantly increased. Conclusion Systemic-pulmonary artery shunt can promote pulmonary vascular development, improve cyanosis symptoms, and increase the chance of radical treatment in children with pulmonary vascular dysplasia.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a common saprophytic fungus in the air. It can cause a severe infectious disease called invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). To establish the activation of TLRs/NF-κB signaling pathway in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) model of wild type mouse, three groups of mouse were used in the study; the normal mice; mice infected with A. fumigatus conidia; IPA mouse infected with A. fumigatus conidia. A. fumigatus burden in lung tissue and lung pathology were detected and evaluated in IPA mouse. The levels of TLR2, TLR4 mRNA, and some inflammatory cytokines were investigated. (1) Severe inflammatory responses were found in IPA mice after nose inhalation of A. fumigatus conidia 72 h; In addition, A. fumigatus burden in IPA group was higher than that of normal mice with infection in all time. (2) Compared with normal mice with infection, IPA group displayed a low level of TLR2 mRNA in the early stage of infection, whereas it was strongly expressed in the late stage (120 h and 144 h), the expression level of TLR4 mRNA was always low during A. fumigatus infection; interestingly, the expression level of NF-κB p65 protein was quickly increased in the early stage (24 h) of infection, and then continuously declined. (3) Normal mice with A. fumigatus inoculation expressed high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β) in the early stage of infection. The highest expression levels appeared at 48 or 72 h, and then declined to normal level. Simultaneously, anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 protein was elevated in the late stage of infection. However, IPA mice had a lot secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 protein the early stage of infection, and then displayed a significant decrease in the late stage, whereas the pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β) was slowly secreted in low levels. The abnormal activation of TLRs/NF-κB signaling pathway induced the loss of balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and eventually leads to the incidence and development of IPA. Key words: Aspergillus fumigatus, IPA, TLRs/NF-κB, cytokine, pathogenesis.

The serine/threonine kinase Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) plays a pivotal role in cell proliferation and has been validated as a promising anticancer drug target. However, very limited success has been achieved in clinical applications using existing Plk1 inhibitors, due to lack of sufficient specificity toward Plk1. To develop a novel Plk1 inhibitor with high selectivity and efficacy, we designed and synthesized a pyrrole-imidazole polyamide–Hoechst conjugate, PIP3, targeted to specific DNA sequence in the PLK1 promoter. PIP3 could specifically inhibit the cell cycle–regulated Plk1 expression and consequently retard tumor cell growth. Cancer cells treated with PIP3 exhibited severe mitotic defects and increased apoptosis, whereas normal cells were not affected by PIP3 treatment. Furthermore, subcutaneous injection of PIP3 into mice bearing human cancer xenografts induced significant tumor growth suppression with low host toxicity. Therefore, PIP3 exhibits the potential as an effective agent for targeted cancer therapy. Mol Cancer Ther; 17(5); 988–1002. ©2018 AACR.

BACKGROUND The demand for plasma and plasma products has increased in China, which has a short supply. Compared with whole blood donors, plasma donors and their donation behavior have received less attention. This study aimed to investigate the demographic characteristics and lifestyle habits of Chinese plasma donors. MATERIAL AND METHODS During 2018-2019, information on plasma donors was collected from blood product companies using a 25-item questionnaire, including sex, age, height, weight, blood group, donation frequency, occupation, smoking and drinking, and sleeping and dietary habits. RESULTS Among 15 497 plasma donors, 70.5% were women and 78.5% were aged 46-55 years. Among 4847 plasma donors, the average height of men was 169.5±6.2 cm and the average height of women was 157.0±4.6 cm. In addition, the average weight of men was 67.0±10.4 kg and the average weight of women was 60.0±8.3 kg. The prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥30.0 kg/m²) of all donors was 14.8%; 14.7% of men were obese, and 15% of women were obese. Among all plasma donors, 88.8% were farmers and 60% were frequent donors with a donation history of at least 5 years. Among all donors, 84.0% did not smoke, 67.3% did not drink, and 95.1% reported good sleep quality. All respondents reported healthy dietary habits. CONCLUSIONS Healthy lifestyle habits considerably affect the health of plasma donors and the quality of source plasma. Chinese plasma donors in this study demonstrated imbalances in terms of characteristics, which became more marked with age.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy is the standard treatment for chronic phase (CP)-chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), yet patients in blast crisis (BC) phase of CML are unlikely to respond to TKI therapy. The transcription factor E2F1 is a down-stream target of the tyrosine kinase BCR-ABL1 and is up-regulated in TKI-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSC). Pyrrole imidazole polyamides (PA) are minor groove binders which can be programmed to target DNA sequences in a gene-selective manner. This manuscript describes such an approach with a PA designed to down-regulate E2F1 controlled gene expression by targeting a DNA sequence within 100 base pairs (bp) upstream of the E2F1 consensus sequence. Human BC-CML KCL22 cells were assessed after treatment with PA, TKI or their combination. Our PA inhibited BC-CML cell expansion based on cell density analysis compared to an untreated control after a 48-hour time-course of PA treatment. However, no evidence of cell cycle arrest was observed among BC-CML cells treated with PA, with respect to their no drug control counterparts. Thus, this work demonstrates that PAs are effective in inhibiting E2F1 TF activity which results in a temporal reduction in BC-CML cell number. We envisage that PAs could be used in the future to map genes under E2F1 control in CML LSCs.

// Jianchao Zhang 1 , Ximing Shao 1 , Haiyan Sun 1 , Ke Liu 1 , Zhihao Ding 1 , Juntao Chen 1 , Lijing Fang 1 , Wu Su 1 , Yang Hong 4 , Huashun Li 2, 3 , Hongchang Li 1 1 Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Molecular Biology of Neural Development, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nanomedicine, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China 2 SARITEX Center for Stem Cell Engineering Translational Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine and Advanced Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai 200123, China 3 ATCG Corporation, BioBay, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China 4 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA Correspondence to: Hongchang Li, email: hc.li@siat.ac.cn Huashun Li, email: huashunli@tongji.edu.cn Keywords: NUMB, EMT, TNBC, Notch, metastasis Received: March 26, 2016 Accepted: July 19, 2016 Published: August 05, 2016 ABSTRACT Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with higher rates of early relapse and metastasis, is frequently associated with aberrant activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Nonetheless, how EMT is initiated and regulated during TNBC progression is not well understood. Here, we report that NUMB is a negative regulator of EMT in both human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells. Reduced NUMB expression was significantly associated with elevated EMT in TNBC. Conversely, overexpression of NUMB strongly attenuated the EMT program and metastasis of TNBC cell lines. Interestingly, we showed that NUMB employs different molecular mechanisms to regulate EMT. In normal mammary epithelial cells and breast cancer cells expressing wild-type p53, NUMB suppressed EMT by stabilizing p53. However, in TNBC cells, loss of NUMB facilitated the EMT program by activating Notch signaling. Consistent with these findings, low NUMB expression and high Notch activity were significantly correlated with the TNBC subtype in patients. Collectively, these findings reveal novel molecular mechanisms of NUMB in the regulation of breast tumor EMT, especially in TNBC.

A new methylene blue molecularly imprinted polymer (MB-MIP) was synthesized by inverse microemulsion polymerization with methylene blue (MB) as the imprinted template molecules. It exhibited higher selectivity in comparison with the nonimprinted polymer (NIP), and the maximum adsorption amount of the MB-MIP for MB reached 3628.84 mg g−1, which was even higher than activated carbon at high MB concentrations. Compared with gentian violet (GV) and malachite green (MG), MB-MIP has the highest affinity to MB. In addition, the adsorption property of MB-MIP were well represented by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, the Langmuir isotherm model, and the Weber-Morris model, indicating that the adsorption process is chemical adsorption and the main process of the adsorption rate-controlling step was particle internal diffusion. The adsorption thermodynamic parameters ΔG 0 show that the adsorption process was spontaneous.

The effectiveness of computational tools in determining relative configurations of complex molecules is investigated, using natural products mandelalides A-D and coibamide A, towards a generalized recipe for the scientific community at large. Ultimately, continuing efforts in this vein will accelerate and strengthen relative structure elucidation of complex molecules, such as natural products. Molecular mechanics conformational search, quantum mechanical NMR chemical shift predictions, and DP4 analyses led to confirmation of the revised structures of mandelalides A-D and coibamide A. All chiral centers in the northern hemisphere of mandelalides A-D are inverted with respect to the originally proposed structures, in agreement with recent total syntheses of mandelalide A by Ye, Furstner & Carter. In the case of coibamide A, it was found that Fang & Su's revision, in which both the macrocycle [MeAla(11)] and the side chain [HIV(2)] residues are inverted from l to d, was consistent with the authentic natural product and computations.

Aiming to obtain the more effective pathogen inhibitive ingredients and explore the influence of introducing different heterocyclic units to carvacrol and thymol esters, twenty ester derivatives with different heterocyclic units were synthesized. And the in vitro antifungal activity of title compounds against five plant pathogenic fungi was evaluated by mycelium growth rate method. The results showed that some carvacrol and thymol esters showed good to excellent antifungal activity, and compound 9d (4-bromo-5-isopropyl-2-methylphenyl picolinate) exhibited a broad antifungal spectrum. Preliminary study indicated that the introduction of furan, thiophene and pyridine unit could enhance the antifungal activity of carvacrol and thymol esters against Botrytis cinerea and a bromine atom on the para position of benzene moiety could enhance their antifungal activity.

The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of using the phenolic monoterpenes (PMs) as leading compounds with antifungal activity against plant disease. The in vitro antifungal activities of carvacrol and thymol against seven kinds of plant pathogenic fungi were evaluated on mycelium growth rate method, and the results showed that carvacrol and thymol exhibited broad spectrum antifungal activity. Structure requirement for the antifungal activity of PMs was also investigated. The preliminary conclusion was that phenolic hydroxyl and monoterpene were basic structures for the antifungal activity of PMs, and the position of phenolic hydroxyl showed less effect. Ester derivatives of carvacrol and thymol were more effective than carvacrol and thymol against plant pathogenic fungi. We suggested that carvacrol, thymol and their ester derivatives could potentially be used as new fungicide leading compounds.

This study investigates the effect of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains (NODs) signal pathway in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Mice were randomly divided into three groups: 1) normal mice (control group), 2) normal mice infected with Aspergillus fumigates, 3) normal mice treated with immunosuppressant and inoculated with A. fumigatus (IPA Model). Mice were sacrificed at different time points after inhaling A. fumigatus spores by nose. Their lungs were extracted under sterile condition, and were used to count the fungal colonies; and also the pathological sections of lungs were observed by HE staining. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of the NOD1, NOD2 and RIP2 mRNA of mice lung. Western blot was used to detect the expression of TNF-α. 72 h after inhaling A. fumigatus spores, a large number of hyphae and severe inflammation were found in the lung of IPA model mice group; and the lung burden of IPA mice were more than that of normal+A. fumigatus group at each time points. When compared with normal+A. fumigatus group, the expressions of NOD1 and RIP2 mRNA were persistently descending in IPA model mice group; the expression of NOD2 mRNA was abnormally raised in early stage of infection (24 h), then decreased in the later stage. However, in normal+A. fumigatus group, proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α exhibited high expression at the early stages of infection, and the highest expression levels appeared at 48 or 72 h, then decreased and returned to normal level. In the group of the IPA mouse, proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α were released at slow and low level. Persistently low expression of NOD1 and RIP2, was seen in early excessive activation. Key words: Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domains (NODs), RIP2, pathogenesis.

Natural albumin ligand (fatty acids)-conjugated peptides can rapidly bind to circulating albumin and form complexes to control the release of peptides. The purpose of this study was to prolong the half-life and immune-modulating effects of thymopentin (TP5) by using the albumin binding strategy. We synthesized myristic acid-modified TP5 (TP5-MA) by conjugating a myristic acid-acylated lysine to a permissive site of TP5, which improved the albumin binding affinity of TP5-MA and dramatically enhanced its stability in human plasma. We observed well-preserved bioactivities of TP5-MA in RAW264.7 macrophages using a tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α stimulation assay. Moreover, the prolonged immune-modulating effect of TP5-MA was confirmed by the normalized CD4+/CD8+ ratio in immune-depressed rat models, which resulted in a reduced administration frequency (twice per week). In general, the enhanced pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of TP5-MA make it a promising product for the treatment of immunodeficiency diseases.

Coal-tar pitch was modified with rosin, and carbonization behavior of the modified pitches and optical texture of resultant semi-cokes were studied in this paper. The carbonization behavior was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques, respectively. The optical texture of resultant semi-cokes was characterized by polarized-light microscopy. The results show that there are marked differences in the carbonization behavior of coal-tar pitch and the modified pitches. The modification results in a small decrease in carbonization yield by 1.2–3.2% when rosin content is kept at 5–15 wt.% of coal-tar pitch. The modified pitches have functional groups of cycloparaffin, double bonds, and carboxyl group, which gradually disappear and aromatization degree increases with increasing heat treatment temperature. Moreover, the modification contributes to a notable improvement in the optical texture of resultant semi-cokes which varies from coarse-grained mosaics to domains.

Objective: To compare the therapeutic effect of Compound Recipe Gengniankang (GNK) with that of hormone replacement treatment (HRT) on climacteric female rats with osteoporosis, and to investigate the roles of estrogen and estrogen receptors in the mechanism of osteoporosis.Methods: Climacteric female rats with osteoporosis were chosen and divided into three groups (GNK group, HRT group and control group). Apoptosis of ovarian granulose cells was measured by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferae mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Serum level of estrdiol (E2), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) were determined by the method of radioimmunoassay (RIA). Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCT) technology was used to evaluate the expression of estrogen receptor (ER) in bone. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by double energy X-ray absorption (DEXA).Results: In the climacteric rats, BMD, serum E2, ER mRNA expression in bone decreased remarkably, and serum FSH, LH and apoptosis of ovarian granulose cells increased obviously. After treating with GNK, all the indexes were reversed except serum E2. The increase of E2 was not significant.Conclusion: GNK is effective on climacteric osteoporosis female rats. Its role is performed not by increasing serum E2 but by enhancing ER in the bone and inhibiting apoptosis of ovarian granulose cells. GNK can deter further exhaustion of ovarian function.

This paper devotes a novel micellar structure for cancer theranostics by incorporating magnetic and therapeutic functionalities into a natural sourced targeting polymer vehicle. Heparin-folic acid micelles taking advantage of both excellent loading capability and cancer targeting ability have been employed to simultaneously incorporate superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and doxorubicin through an ultrasonication-assisted microemulsion method. In this system, folic acids not only take the responsibility of micelle construction, but also facilitate cellular uptake due to their specific reorganization by MCF-7 cells over-expressing folate receptors. The obtained micelles exhibit good colloidal stability, a high magnetic content, considerable drug loading and sustained in vitro drug release. These clustered SPIONs exhibited high r2 relaxivity (243.65 mM(-1) s(-1)) and further served as efficient probes for MR imaging. Notably, the transport efficiency of these micelles could be significantly improved under an external magnetic field, owing to their quick magnetic response. As a result, the as-proposed micelle shows great potential in multimodal theranostics, including active targeting, MRI diagnosis and drug delivery.

Carbon ion is the mostly common used particle in heavy ion radiotherapy. In this paper, the carbon ion dose in tumor treatment for human eye was calculated with FLUKA code. An 80 MeV/u carbon beam was irradiated into the human eye from two directions. The first was from the lateral-forward direction, which was a typical therapeutic condition. In this case, a maximum dose was deposited in the tumor volume. In the second a beam was irradiated into eyes from the forward direction to simulate a patient gazing directly into treatment beam during therapy, which may cause a certain medical accident. This method can be used for a treatment plan in heavy ion radiotherapy.

International audience; Iris recognition becomes an important technology in our society. Visual patterns of human iris provide rich texture information for personal identification. However, it is greatly challenging to match intra-class iris images with large variations in unconstrained environments because of noises, illumination variation, heterogeneity and so on. To track current state-of-the-art algorithms in iris recognition, we organized the first ICB Competition on Iris Recognition in 2013 (or ICIR2013 shortly). In this competition, 8 participants from 6 countries submitted 13 algorithms totally. All the algorithms were trained on a public database(e.g. CASIA-Iris-Thousand[3]) and evaluated on an unpublished database. The testing results in terms of False Non-match Rate (FNMR) when False Match Rate (FMR) is 0:0001 are taken to rank the submitted algorithms

Background . Median sternotomy is a conventional approach for correction of cardiac defects for many years; however, the cosmetic result is poor. Therefore, right lateral thoracotomy was tested as an alternative procedure with a better cosmetic outcome. Methods . Between October 1994 and February 1999, 683 patients underwent correction of congenital cardiac malformations during a cardiopulmonary bypass through right lateral thoracotomy involving a shorter incision through the third or the fourth intercostal space. All of the patients were children. The average age was 3.26 ± 1.67 years (range, 4 months to 7 years). The average weight was 13.59 ± 4.37 kg (5 to 40). The patients had various cardiac defects and associated anomalies. Results . Only 2 patients died after operation, 1 from low cardiac output and the other from severe pulmonary infection. The hospital morbidity was lower. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 58.67 ± 35.11 minutes (range, 16 to 430 minutes), the mean aortic cross-clamping time was 35.03 ± 24.84 minutes (range, 3 to 205 minutes). The postoperative average mechanical ventilation time was 19.23 ± 39.11 hours (range, 2 to 391 hours), and the mean postoperative stay was 8.55 ± 12.54 days (range, 5 to 293 days). Conclusions . The right lateral thoracotomy incision is a safe and effective alternative to a median sternotomy for correction of cardiac defects. Advantages of this approach compared with median sternotomy are less injury, maintenance of the continuity and the integrity of the bony thorax, and prevention of the development of "pigeon-chesting." The scar is less visible, hence, the cosmetic result can meet patient expectations. This procedure is consistent with the idea of minimal invasive surgery.

Free and Easy Wanderer Plus (FEWP) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used to treat stress- and depression-related diseases in China. To study the effects of FEWP on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the present study investigated how chronic treatment with FEWP affected rodent behaviors in a modified single-prolonged stress and shock (SPS and S) model, which induces certain behavioral manifestations similar to those seen in PTSD patients. Locomotor activities (LMA), elevated Plus Maze (EPM), and Morris Water Maze (MWM) tests were used to determine its effects on general locomotion, anxiety and cognitive functions following traumatic exposure. The results showed that SPS and S impaired performance in MWM and produced anxiogenic-like effects in EPM, both of which were significantly ameliorated by chronic treatment of FEWP at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg/d. The effects of FEWP were not due to changes in locomotion. The current findings provide strong evidence that FEWP may be a useful drug for treating PTSD. Key words: Single prolonged stress and shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, Morris water maze, open field, elevated plus maze.

This study had conducted a comparative study on storage navel orange with three kinds of storage methods. The effect of preservation with three kinds of storage methods on the storage navel orange long time at room temperature had been discussed through the change trend of main organic content(such as soluble solids content, vitamin C content, total sugar content, titratable acid content), weightlessness rate and rot rate during storage of navel orange.The results showed that the weightlessness rate of navel orange storage by the first storage method was 5.26%, which is greater than the 4%, that was to say, the value of navel orange had been lost; it could storage navel orange long time at room temperature use the second Storage method and third Storage method,further,later method is better than the former.

An antisense oligodeoxynucleotide-doxorubicin conjugate was synthesized by an aminocaproic acid linker. The synthetic conjugate was identified by HPLC analysis and UV-vis spectra. Properties of the conjugate in vitro conditions were investigated. The results demonstrated that the conjugate was remarkably stabilized by doxorubicin. When incubated in Dulbecco Phosphate-Buflered Saline (pH 7.4) at 37 degrees C, the conjugate was more stable than doxorubicin or the mixture of doxorubicin and antisense oligodeoxynucleotide. When incubated in 10% fetal serum at 37 degrees C, the conjugate showed a remarkable stabilization as compared to the unmodified oligodeoxynucleotide. Melting experiments demonstrated that the covalent attachment of doxorubicin strongly stabilized the binding of the oligodeoxynucleotide to its complementary sequence. In addition, in vitro reversion of multidrug resistance by the conjugate was assayed in a human carcinoma cell line (KB-A-1) resisting to doxorubicin. The result showed that the conjugate displayed very high reversal multdrug resistance activity in KB-A-1 cells in vitro. The conjugate lowered the IC50 value from 21.5 microM to 2.2 microM with a fold-reversal factor of 10. In contrast, a slight decrease of the IC50 value was observed when they combined with the "free" antisense oligodeoxynucleotide: the IC50 value was down from 21.5 microM to 16.8 microM. This study suggested that antisense oligodeoxynucleotide-doxorubicin conjugate might be helpful in multidrug resistance reversal.

Multiple Coast Guard commands incorporate a variety of advanced narcotic detection technologies into their normal Law Enforcement routine. Planning calls for new commands to expand their narcotic detection capability via the introduction of additional advanced narcotic detection systems before 1997. The successful integration of new technology is the result of the synergistic relationship between the Research and Development Center and operational units during technology development. This paper will give an overview of the Coast Guard methodology emphasizing the requirements and related issues of law enforcement in the maritime environment. Topics to be discussed include: An overview of the initial research incorporating both operational commands and the Research and Development Center; How the instruments were initially implemented in the field; How the instruments are currently used; How law enforcement officers are currently trained to be equipment operators; Lessons learned from different case studies; and research currently being conducted to support the field law enforcement officer.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

To form an understanding of the environment in which non- intrusive detection and inspection technologies are required to operate, the Narcotic Detection Technology assessment Team has undertaken a series of field studies. These field studies have focused on the phenomenology, fate and behavior of narcotic residue in real world environments. The overall goal of the tests is to give Law Enforcement officers the ability to accurately differentiate between individuals involved in the smuggling process and individuals innocently contaminated with narcotics. The latest filed study in this series was conducted in Miami, FL in February 1996. The field study comprised several individual tests. The first was a contamination and transfer study which focuses on human contamination resulting from contact with actual kilos of cocaine and the mechanism by which this contamination transfers to surrounding objects, if at all. The second was a secondary contamination study which focused on determining the conditions under which cocaine contamination transfers from objects touched by individuals who handled narcotics to innocent passerbys. The third was a persistence study which focused on the persistence of cocaine contamination on people under a variety of conditions. An overview of the tests and their preliminary results will be discussed.

We investigated the effects of oleic acid and linoleic acid on transplanted Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and Ehrlich solid carcinoma in ACR mice. Both acids significantly prolonged the life spans of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma-bearing mice and inhibited the growth of Ehrlich solid carcinoma in mice compared with the findings in untreated control mice. Methyl esters of these acids also prolonged the survival of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma-bearing mice, but they were less effective in lengthening the survival of mice given transplants of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. In addition, gas-chromatography analysis of tumor cell lipids showed that appreciable changes occurred in the fatty acid composition of the tumor cell grown in mice treated with oleic acid or linoleic acid. Linoleic acid caused more pronounced alterations in fatty acid composition of tumor cell lipids than did oleic acid, a feature that parallels the intensity of the cytotoxicity potential of the two free fatty acids. These results suggest that (a) the free carboxyl group of free fatty acids plays a role in killing tumor cells and (b) the modification of the fatty acid composition of tumor cells also correlates with the antitumor effects of oleic and linoleic acids. In addition, these results indicate that free fatty acids may be of tumor-oriented distribution; as a consequence, free fatty acids selectively inhibit the growth of tumor cells.

Pluripotent cells can be derived from different types of somatic cells by nuclear reprogramming through the ectopic expression of four transcription factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. However, it is unclear whether postmitotic neurons are susceptible to direct reprogramming. Here, we show that postnatal cortical neurons, the vast majority of which are postmitotic, are amenable to epigenetic reprogramming. However, ectopic expression of the four canonical reprogramming factors is not sufficient to reprogram postnatal neurons. Efficient reprogramming was only achieved after forced cell proliferation by p53 suppression. Additionally, overexpression of repressor element-1 silencing transcription, a suppressor of neuronal gene activity, increased reprogramming efficiencies in combination with the reprogramming factors. Our findings indicate that terminally differentiated postnatal neurons are able to acquire the pluripotent state by direct epigenetic reprogramming, and this process is made more efficient through the suppression of lineage specific gene expression. STEM CELLS 2011;29:992–1000, National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant NIH HD045022), National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 5R37CA084198), Howard Hughes Medical Institute