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Purpose: To segment the inner macular layers (IML) and compare the discriminating abilities of the macular and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL and pRNFL, respectively) thicknesses in patients with early-stage normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Design: Cross-sectional study Methods: Forty-nine normal subjects and 69 preperimetric glaucoma (PPG) and 60 NTG patients were enrolled. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was used to obtain pRNFL and macular thickness parameters and segment the IML in all subjects. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves were used to compare the diagnostic capabilities of different parameters. Results: The pRNFL, total macular layer (TML), mRNFL, and macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL) were significantly thinner in the NTG group than in the PPG and normal groups. The global and superotemporal pRNFL and the mGCL in the superior outer area were the three best parameters for detecting early NTG. The discriminating capabilities of the superior and inferior mGCL were comparable to those of the corresponding pRNFL (p = 0.573, 0.841). Concerning location, the mGCL had higher AUROCs in the outer sectors (0.863, 0.837) than in the inner sectors (0.747, 0.747). Pearson’s correlation coefficients also revealed significant correlations between the mGCL and pRNFL (superior: r = 0.499, inferior: r = 0.624). The strongest correlation was between the mGCL and mean deviation (MD) (superior: r = 0.434 and inferior: r = 0.402). Conclusions: The diagnostic value of mGCL thickness is comparable to that of pRNFL thickness. IMLs in the outer sectors had better diagnostic capabilities than those in the inner sector for detecting early NTG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to 3,5-dimethylaminophenol (3,5-DMAP), the metabolite of the 3-5-dimethylaniline, was shown to cause high levels of oxidative stress in different cells. The aim of the present work was to observe whether this metabolite can lead to cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, DNA damage and cell cycle changes in non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. 3,5-DMAP caused a dose-dependent increase in cytotoxicity, generation of superoxide (O2-.), inductions in the enzyme activities orchestrating cellular antioxidant balance, increases in lipid peroxidation as well as DNA damage. However, 3,5-DMAP showed significantly lower cytotoxicity towards human lung fibroblast (HLF) cells. 3,5-DMAP also led to molecular events, like inducing apoptotic markers (ie. p53, Bad, Bax and cytochrome c); decreasing anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2) and alterations in cell cycle. Our findings indicate that the cytotoxicity caused by this particular alkylaniline metabolite led to initiation of caspase 3-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, 3,5-DMAP attenuated carcinogenic properties like migration capacity of A549 cells and eventually inhibited growth of A549 cells in an in vivo mouse model. Tumor sections showed that 3,5-DMAP down-regulated c-Myc expression but up-regulated p53 and cytochrome c, all of which might result in tumor growth arrest. Co-treatment with N-acetylcysteine provided reductions in cytotoxicity and positively modulated genetic events induced by 3,5-DMAP in A549 cells. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate 3,5-DMAP may be a potential anti-cancer drug in cancer, due to its self redox cycling properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that aberrant DNA methylation might occur early and commonly in colorectal tumorigenesis. In 111 normal subjects, the mean LINE-1 methylation level of peripheral blood was 81.0 ± 5.7%. Of 143 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, the mean level of LINE-1 methylation was 60.5 ± 12.5%. We defined below 60% as cut-off value of LINE-1 hypomethylation, and 93 cases (65.0%) had LINE-1 hypomethylation in the tumor tissue. LINE-1 hypomethylation was not associated with any other clinical features. There was a trend that LINE-1 hypomethylation tumors were associated with advanced disease, but it did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant association between mutations of 12 genes, MSI-high, EMAST, and LINE-1 hypomethylation level. The median follow-up was 61.2 months. Five-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival curves of patients with LINE-1 hypomethylation tumors were significantly lower than those of patients with normal LINE-1 methylation tumors (p = 0.032 and 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that only TNM staging was an independent prognostic factor for CRC patients including DFS and overall survival (OS). LINE-1 did not impact patients’ outcomes in multivariate analysis including DFS and OS. In conclusion, LINE-1 hypomethylation is marginally related to advanced stage CRC and impacts patients’ outcomes in univariate analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA and RNA samples from blood are the common examination target for non-invasive physical tests and/or biomedical studies. Since high-quality DNA and RNA samples guarantee the correctness of these tests and/or studies, we investigated the effects of storage temperature and storage duration of whole blood on DNA and RNA qualities. Subjects were enrolled to donate blood samples which were stored for different durations and at different temperatures, followed by the examinations on RNA quality, qPCR, DNA quality and DNA methylation. For RNA, we observed obvious quality decline with storage duration longer than 24 hours. Storage at low temperature does not keep RNA samples from degradation. And, storing whole blood samples in freezer dramatically damage RNA. For DNA, quality decline was not observed even with storage duration for 15 days. However, DNA methylation significantly altered with storage duration longer than three days. Storage duration within 24 hours is critical for collecting high-quality RNA samples for next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays (RIN≧8). If microarray assays are expected (RIN≧7), storage duration within 32 hours is acceptable. Although DNA is resistant within 15 days when kept in whole blood, DNA quantity dramatically decreases owing to WBC lysis. In addition, duration for more than three days significantly alter DNA methylation status, globally and locally. Our result provides a reference for dealing with blood samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Transfusion dependent subjects are at a great risk of viral hepatitis infection. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among transfusion-dependent patients in Taiwan. Methods: A total of 140 patients (67 thalassemic patients, 70 hemophilic patients, two patients with hereditary spherocytosis and one patient with von Willebrand disease) were prospectively enrolled to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with viral hepatitis and spontaneous HCV clearance. All patients were tested for HBV and HCV serology and virology. Two consecutive serum samples, at least 1 year apart, were collected to clarify HCV seroclearance. Results: The seropositivity rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), HCV antibody (anti-HCV), and both HBsAg/anti-HCV were 6.4%, 45.7% and 5%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis of factors associated with anti-HCV seropositivity included age (odds ratio/95% confidence interval [OR/CI]: 1.12/1.07–1.18, P<0.001), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (OR/CI: 1.04/1.02–1.06, P<0.001) and platelet counts (OR/CI: 0.995/0.991–0.998, P = 0.002). Age was the only factor independently associated with HBsAg seropositivity (OR/CI: 1.08/1.02–1.14.4, P = 0.007). Compared to patients born before 1992, the seroprevalence of HCV among thalassemic patients decreased dramatically in those born after 1992 (46.0% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.012). The seroprevalence of HCV among hemophilic patients also decreased significantly when comparing patients born before 1987 to those born after 1987 (79.5% vs. 11.5%, p<0.001). Similarly, the seroprevalence of HBV decreased significantly in the post-vaccination cohort compared to its counterpart (13.1%, vs. 1.3%, p = 0.005). The spontaneous clearance of HCV was observed in 25.4% (15/59) of patients, and ALT was the only factor associated with it (OR/CI 0.98/0.96–1.00, P = 0.02). Conclusions: Both HBV and HCV infections are prevalent among transfusion-dependent thalassemic and hemophilic patients in Taiwan. Nevertheless, seroprevalence decreased significantly and dramatically for HCV after universal blood screening and for HBV after implementation of a universal mass vaccination program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the incidence, risk factors and survival of conjunctival acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in adult patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) Methods: This retrospective study included a total of 139 patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT between January 2012 and December 2014 at a tertiary referral hospital. Patients with ocular complaints after allogeneic HSCT or first donor lymphocyte infusion were evaluated by ophthalmologists. The risk factors for conjunctival aGVHD were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. The overall survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Results: Thirteen (9.4%) patients developed conjunctival aGVHD, including eight patients with pseudomembranous conjunctivitis. The cumulative incidence of conjunctival aGVHD was 2.1 cases per 10,000 person-day. The median age at HSCT was 47 years (range, 18 to 66) in all patients and 42 years (range, 24 to 58) in the 13 patients with conjunctival aGVHD. Median time of follow-up after allogeneic HSCT was 353 days (range, 11 to 1184). In univariate analysis, grades II-IV skin aGVHD (P = 0.002) and advanced systemic aGVHD except skin aGVHD (overall grades III-IV) (P = 0.001) were significant predictors for conjunctival aGVHD. In multivariate analysis, grades II-IV skin aGVHD was a significant risk factor (P = 0.04). The severity of conjunctival aGVHD was generally correlated with the systemic aGVHD (P = 0.001). Overall survival was significantly shorter in patients with grades II-IV aGVHD compared to those with grade 0-I (P = 0.01). Survival in patients with conjunctival aGVHD did not differ significantly from those without this complication (P = 0.94). In the subgroup analysis of patients with grades III-IV aGVHD, survival was significantly longer in patients with conjunctival involvement than those without (P = 0.03). Conclusions: The severity of conjunctival aGVHD is correlated with systemic aGVHD, but not with inferior overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are racial and ethnic differences in the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Prior meta-analyses included small samples and very limited non-Caucasian populations. Studies to determine the relationship between transcription factor 7 like-2 (TCF7L2) rs7903146 polymorphism and risk of GDM in Hispanics/Latinos are recently available. The present meta-analysis was to estimate the impact of allele variants of TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism on GDM susceptibility in overall population and racial/ethnic subgroups. Methods: Literature was searched in multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE (Ovid SP), Airiti Library, Medline Complete, and ProQuest up to July 2015. Allelic frequency for TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism in GDM and control subjects was extracted and statistical analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) 2.0 statistical software. The association between TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism and GDM risk was assessed by pooled odd ratios (ORs) using five gene models (dominant, recessive, homozygote, heterozygote, and allele). Stratified analysis based on race/ethnicity was also conducted. The between-study heterogeneity and contribution of each single study to the final result was tested by Cochran Q test and sensitivity analyses, respectively. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger’s linear regression test. Results: A total of 16 studies involving 4,853 cases and 10,631 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Significant association between the T-allele of rs7903146 and GDM risk was observed under all genetic models, dominant model (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.19–1.74), recessive model (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.08–1.70), heterozygous model (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.12–1.53), homozygous model (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.31–2.12), and allele model (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.12–1.53). Stratified analysis by race/ethnicity showed a statistically significant association between rs7903146 polymorphism and susceptibility to GDM under homozygous genetic model (TT versus CC) among whites, Hispanics/Latinos and Asians. Sensitivity analysis showed that the overall findings were robust to potentially influential decisions of the 16 studies included. No significant evidence for publication bias was observed in this meta-analysis for overall studies and subgroup studies. Conclusions: This meta-analysis showed that the T allele of TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism was associated with susceptibility of GDM in overall population in white, Hispanic/Latino and Asian sub-groups. Asians with homozygous TT allele of rs7903146 polymorphism have highest risk of GDM (OR = 2.08) followed by Hispanics/Latinos (OR = 1.80) and whites (OR = 1.51). The highest and lowest frequency of T allele of rs7903146 was found in Malaysia and South Korea, respectively. Future studies are needed to profile genetic risk for GDM among high risk Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess relationships among periodontal conditions, salivary antioxidant levels, and patients’ satisfaction with their prostheses. Methods: This study was conducted at the Division of Prosthodontics, Department of Dentistry, Taipei Medical University Hospital. The periodontal condition of patients was based on an assessment of the plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI). The pH value, flow rate, and buffer capacity of the saliva were estimated. The salivary total antioxidant status (TAS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) level were also determined. Patients’ satisfaction with prosthetic treatments was evaluated using the Chinese version of the short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14C). A multivariate regression model was used to determine whether patients’ satisfaction with prosthetic treatment was affected by their oral health status. Results: In total, 35 edentulous patients were recruited. In the Spearman correlation analysis, salivary pH (r = -0.36, p = 0.03) and the buffer ability (r = -0.48, p<0.01) were associated with OHIP-14C scores. In the multivariate analysis, patients who had a higher GI also had a higher score of physical disabilities (β = 1.38, p = 0.04). Levels of SOD increased with the scores of psychological discomfort (β = 0.33 U/g protein, p = 0.04). Conclusions: This study suggested that both the GI and SOD levels were associated with patients’ satisfaction with prosthetic treatments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to elucidate the relationship between OHIP scores and salivary oxidative markers in edentulous patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for about 90% of esophageal cancer diagnosed in Asian countries, with its incidence on the rise. Cancer stem cell (CSC; also known as tumor-initiating cells, TIC) is inherently resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiation and associates with poor prognosis and therapy failure. Targeting therapy against cancer stem cell has emerged as a potential therapeutic approach to develop effective regimens. However, the suitable CSC marker of ESCC for identification and targeting is still limited. In this study, we screened the novel CSC membrane protein markers using two distinct stemness characteristics of cancer cell lines by a comparative approach. After the validation of RT-PCR, qPCR and western blot analyses, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) was identified as a potential CSC marker of ESCC. ICAM1 promotes cancer cell migration, invasion as well as increasing mesenchymal marker expression and attenuating epithelial marker expression. In addition, ICAM1 contributes to CSC properties, including sphere formation, drug resistance, and tumorigenesis in mouse xenotransplantation model. Based on the analysis of ICAM1-regulated proteins, we speculated that ICAM1 regulates CSC properties partly through an ICAM1-PTTG1IP-p53-DNMT1 pathway. Moreover, we observed that ICAM1 and CD44 could have a compensation effect on maintaining the stemness characteristics of ESCC, suggesting that the combination of multi-targeting therapies should be under serious consideration to acquire a more potent therapeutic effect on CSC of ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut-liver axis is largely involved in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated whether 2, 3, 5, 4′-tetrahydroxy-stilbene-2-O-β--glucoside (TSG) could reverse NAFLD induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and whether it did so via the gut-liver axis. Results showed that TSG could reduce the accumulation of FFA and it did so by reducing the expression of L-FABP and FATP4. TSG regulated gut microbiota balanced and increased the protein expression of ZO-1 and occludin, which could improve the function of the intestinal mucosal barrier and reduce serum LPS content by about 25%. TSG reduced TL4 levels by 56% and NF-κB expression by 23% relative to the NAFLD model group. This suggests that prevention of NAFLD by TSG in HFD-fed rats is mediated by modulation of the gut microbiota and TLR4/NF-κB pathway, which may alleviate chronic low-grade inflammation by reducing the exogenous antigen load on the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemo- and radiotherapy cause multiple forms of DNA damage and lead to the death of cancer cells. Inhibitors of the DNA damage response are candidate drugs for use in combination therapies to increase the efficacy of such treatments. In this study, we show that curcumin, a plant polyphenol, sensitizes budding yeast to DNA damage by counteracting the DNA damage response. Following DNA damage, the Mec1-dependent DNA damage checkpoint is inactivated and Rad52 recombinase is degraded by curcumin, which results in deficiencies in double-stand break repair. Additive effects on damage-induced apoptosis and the inhibition of damage-induced autophagy by curcumin were observed. Moreover, rpd3 mutants were found to mimic the curcumin-induced suppression of the DNA damage response. In contrast, hat1 mutants were resistant to DNA damage, and Rad52 degradation was impaired following curcumin treatment. These results indicate that the histone deacetylase inhibitor activity of curcumin is critical to DSB repair and DNA damage sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the performance of using partial arc (PA) and full arc with avoidance sectors (FAAS) in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) of peripheral lung cancer with flattening filter free (FFF) beams. Methods: Eighteen patients with primary (T1 or T2) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or lung metastatic were selected for this study. Nine patients with a gross tumor volume (GTV) <= 10 cc were designated as the small tumor group. The other nine patients with a GTV between 10 cc and 44 cc were assigned to the large tumor group. The treatment plans were generated in eighteen patients using PA and FAAS techniques, respectively, and delivered with a Varian TrueBeam Linac. Dosimetry of the target and organs at risk (OARs), monitor unit (MU), out-of-field dose, and delivery time were statistically analyzed. Delta4 and portal dosimetry were employed to evaluate the delivery accuracy. Results: For the small tumor group, compared with the PA plans, the FAAS plans significantly achieved a lower MU/fraction, out-of-field dose and a shorter treatment time (p<0.05), but the target dose was slightly higher than that delivered by PA plans (p<0.05). For the large tumor group, the PA plans significantly attained a shorter treatment time (p<0.05), whereas MU/fraction, out-of-field dose and dose to OARs were comparable between the two plans (p>0.05). Furthermore, all plans generated from the eighteen patients achieved a high pass rate in patient-specific quality assurance, with all the gamma indices greater than 97% at the Γ3mm, 3% threshold. Conclusion: This study suggests that the FAAS technique is more beneficial for the small tumor patients undergoing lung SBRT with FFF beams because of its higher treatment efficiency and MU reduction. However, for the large tumor patients, the PA technique is recommended due to its higher treatment efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grouper iridovirus (GIV) belongs to the genus Ranavirus of the family Iridoviridae; the genomes of such viruses contain an anti-apoptotic caspase recruitment domain (CARD) gene. The GIV-CARD gene encodes a protein of 91 amino acids with a molecular mass of 10,505 Daltons, and shows high similarity to other viral CARD genes and human ICEBERG. In this study, we used Northern blot to demonstrate that GIV-CARD transcription begins at 4 h post-infection; furthermore, we report that its transcription is completely inhibited by cycloheximide but not by aphidicolin, indicating that GIV-CARD is an early gene. GIV-CARD-EGFP and GIV-CARD-FLAG recombinant proteins were observed to translocate from the cytoplasm into the nucleus, but no obvious nuclear localization sequence was observed within GIV-CARD. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of GIV-CARD in GK cells infected with GIV inhibited expression of GIV-CARD and five other viral genes during the early stages of infection, and also reduced GIV infection ability. Immunostaining was performed to show that apoptosis was effectively inhibited in cells expressing GIV-CARD. HeLa cells irradiated with UV or treated with anti-Fas antibody will undergo apoptosis through the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways, respectively. However, over-expression of recombinant GIV-CARD protein in HeLa cells inhibited apoptosis induced by mitochondrial and death receptor signaling. Finally, we report that expression of GIV-CARD in HeLa cells significantly reduced the activities of caspase-8 and -9 following apoptosis triggered by anti-Fas antibody. Taken together, these results demonstrate that GIV-CARD inhibits apoptosis through both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy has become a powerful tool to resolve structural information that is not accessible to traditional diffraction-limited imaging techniques such as confocal microscopy. Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) and photoactivation localization microscopy (PALM) are promising super-resolution techniques due to their relative ease of implementation and instrumentation on standard microscopes. However, the application of STORM is critically limited by its long sampling time. Several recent works have been focused on improving the STORM imaging speed by making use of the information from emitters with overlapping point spread functions (PSF). In this work, we present a fast and efficient algorithm that takes into account the blinking statistics of independent fluorescence emitters. We achieve sub-diffraction lateral resolution of 100 nm from 5 to 7 seconds of imaging. Our method is insensitive to background and can be applied to different types of fluorescence sources, including but not limited to the organic dyes and quantum dots that we demonstrate in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heart begins to beat before the brain is formed. Whether conventional hierarchical central commands sent by the brain to the heart alone explain all the interplay between these two organs should be reconsidered. Here, we demonstrate correlations between the signal complexity of brain and cardiac activity. Eighty-seven geriatric outpatients with healthy hearts and varied cognitive abilities each provided a 24-hour electrocardiography (ECG) and a 19-channel eye-closed routine electroencephalography (EEG). Multiscale entropy (MSE) analysis was applied to three epochs (resting-awake state, photic stimulation of fast frequencies (fast-PS), and photic stimulation of slow frequencies (slow-PS)) of EEG in the 1–58 Hz frequency range, and three RR interval (RRI) time series (awake-state, sleep and that concomitant with the EEG) for each subject. The low-to-high frequency power (LF/HF) ratio of RRI was calculated to represent sympatho-vagal balance. With statistics after Bonferroni corrections, we found that: (a) the summed MSE value on coarse scales of the awake RRI (scales 11–20, RRI-MSE-coarse) were inversely correlated with the summed MSE value on coarse scales of the resting-awake EEG (scales 6–20, EEG-MSE-coarse) at Fp2, C4, T6 and T4; (b) the awake RRI-MSE-coarse was inversely correlated with the fast-PS EEG-MSE-coarse at O1, O2 and C4; (c) the sleep RRI-MSE-coarse was inversely correlated with the slow-PS EEG-MSE-coarse at Fp2; (d) the RRI-MSE-coarse and LF/HF ratio of the awake RRI were correlated positively to each other; (e) the EEG-MSE-coarse at F8 was proportional to the cognitive test score; (f) the results conform to the cholinergic hypothesis which states that cognitive impairment causes reduction in vagal cardiac modulation; (g) fast-PS significantly lowered the EEG-MSE-coarse globally. Whether these heart-brain correlations could be fully explained by the central autonomic network is unknown and needs further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulated RNA translation is critical to provide proteins needed to maintain persistent modification of synaptic strength, which underlies the molecular basis of long-term memory (LTM). Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding proteins (CPEBs) are sequence-specific RNA-binding proteins and regulate translation in various tissues. All four CPEBs in vertebrates are expressed in the brain, including the hippocampal neurons, suggesting their potential roles in translation-dependent plasticity and memory. Although CPEB1 and CPEB3 have been shown to control specific kinds of hippocampus-related LTM, the role of CPEB2 and CPEB4 in learning and memory remains elusive. Thus, we generated CPEB4 knockout (KO) mice and analyzed them using several behavioral tests. No difference was found in the anxiety level, motor coordination, hippocampus-dependent learning and memory between the KO mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates. Electrophysiological recordings of multiple forms of synaptic plasticity in the Schaffer collateral pathway-CA1 neurons also showed normal responses in the KO hippocampal slices. Morphological analyses revealed that the CPEB4-lacking pyramidal neurons possessed slightly elongated dendritic spines. Unlike its related family members, CPEB1 and CPEB3, CPEB4 seems to be dispensable for hippocampus-dependent plasticity, learning and memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The flood after a typhoon may lead to increase in patients with cellulitis of lower limbs. However, the microbiological features of these cases are rarely reported. We conducted a study of patients with lower extremity cellulitis after a typhoon followed in southern Taiwan to study the risk factors of cellulitis and the bacteriological features of the patients. Methods: We reviewed all the medical records of cellulitis at emergency departments of two teaching hospitals in southern Taiwan 30 days before and after the landing of Typhoon Morakot and collected data on the demographic and bacteriological characteristics. In addition, we evaluated the relationship between the daily number of patients and the rainfall in the Tainan area. Results: The number of cellulitis patients increased from 183 to 344 during the 30-day period after the typhoon. The number peaked in the third and fourth days and lasted for 3 weeks. The proportion of patients with water immersion of the affected limb was higher after the typhoon (6% vs. 37%, odds ratio [OR]: 9.0, 95% Confidence interval [CI]: 4.7–17.2). We found cultures from the infected limbs with immersion had more polymicrobial (73% vs. 26%, OR: 7.8, 95% CI: 3.2–19.2) and Gram-negative bacilli infection (86% vs. 34%, OR: 11.8, 95% CI: 4.1–34.5). Conclusions: Flood arose from Typhoon Morakot caused increases in cellulitis patients, which lasted for 3 weeks. Antibiotic treatment that were effective to both Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli are recommended for patients with limbs emerged in the water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated inhibition of the phosphorylation of adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) by prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) in prothoracic glands of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We found that treatment with PTTH in vitro inhibited AMPK phosphorylation in time- and dose-dependent manners, as seen on Western blots of glandular lysates probed with antibody directed against AMPKα phosphorylated at Thr172. Moreover, in vitro inhibition of AMPK phosphorylation by PTTH was also verified by in vivo experiments: injection of PTTH into day 7 last instar larvae greatly inhibited glandular AMPK phosphorylation. PTTH-inhibited AMPK phosphorylation appeared to be partially reversed by treatment with LY294002, indicating involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling. A chemical activator of AMPK (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribofuranoside, AICAR) increased both basal and PTTH-inhibited AMPK phosphorylation. Treatment with AICAR also inhibited PTTH-stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis of prothoracic glands. The mechanism underlying inhibition of PTTH-stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis by AICAR was further investigated by determining the phosphorylation of eIF4E-binding protein (4E-BP) and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K), two known downstream signaling targets of the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1). Upon treatment with AICAR, decreases in PTTH-stimulated phosphorylation of 4E-BP and S6K were detected. In addition, treatment with AICAR did not affect PTTH-stimulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, indicating that AMPK phosphorylation is not upstream signaling for ERK phosphorylation. Examination of gene expression levels of AMPKα, β, and γ by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that PTTH did not affect AMPK transcription. From these results, it is assumed that inhibition of AMPK phosphorylation, which lies upstream of PTTH-stimulated TOR signaling, may play a role in PTTH stimulation of ecdysteroidogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a neurophysiologic model of effective public service advertisements (PSAs) and reports two experiments that test the model. In Experiment 1, we show that after watching 16 PSAs participants who received oxytocin, compared to those given a placebo, donated to 57% more causes, donated 56% more money, and reported 17% greater concern for those in the ads. In Experiment 2, we measured adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) and oxytocin levels in blood before and after participants watched a PSA. As predicted by the model, donations occurred when participants had increases in both ACTH and oxytocin. Our results indicate that PSAs with social content that cause OT release will be more effective than those that do not. Our results also explain why some individuals do not respond to PSAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) cells are responsible for aberrant osteoclast (OC) activation. However, when cocultured monocytes, but not OC precursors, with MM cells, we made a novel observation that MM cells inhibited receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL)-induced increase of OC differentiation, OC gene expression, signaling pathways and bone resorption activity. Our results showed that MM cells produced multiple inhibitory cytokines of osteoclastogenesis, such as IL-10, which activated STAT3 signaling and induce OC inhibition. However, cocultures of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) reversed MM-induced OC inhibition. We found that MM cells increased production of MCP-1 from BMSCs and BMSC-derived MCP-1 enhanced OC formation. Mechanistic studies showed that IL-10 downregulated RANK expression in monocytes and thus, inhibited RANKL-induced OC formation. In contrast, MCP-1 upregulated RANK expression and thus, enhanced OC formation. Overall, our studies for the first time demonstrated that MM cell have inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis by producing inhibitory cytokines. Our results further indicate that activation of osteoclastogenesis in bone marrow requests the crosstalk of MM cells, BMSCs and their produced cytokines. Thus, our studies provide evidences that targeting bone marrow microenvironmental cells and/or cytokines may be a new approach to treating MM bone destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provided a cross-tissue comparative analysis of between-subtype molecular commonality for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, glioma, lung squamous carcinoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Our analysis showed that molecular subtypes with similar phenotype or similar clinical outcome could be correlated by their transcriptional profile and pathway profile. Pathway dysregulation across multiple cancer subtypes was also revealed by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Dysregulation of ‘complement and coagulation cascades’ was observed in a total of eleven subtypes across five tissues, implicating that the role of this process in personalized immune-based therapy may be worth further exploring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]