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Background: Notch signaling regulates proliferation, differentiation, and function of dendritic cells, T cells, and mast cells, as well as many other immune cells, which act as important parts in food allergy, Notch signaling may play an important role in food allergy., Objective: To investigate the role of Notch signaling in IgE-mediated food allergy., Methods: An ovalbumin-induced food allergy mouse model was built (cholera toxin as adjuvant) and Notch signaling was blunted by FLI-06 and MW167, which inhibited Notch receptor-expressing phase and the γ-secretase-affecting phase, respectively. Then food allergy indicators, including levels of serum antibodies, cytokines, and degranulation, were examined. Meanwhile, clinical features, such as vascular permeability changes, intestinal permeability changes, body temperature changes, and symptoms, were also observed., Results: After blunting Notch signaling, the levels of serum ovalbumin specific IgE and IgG 1 were decreased significantly, suggesting that blunting Notch signaling inhibited antibody responses. The levels of T H 1 cytokines (interferon-γ) were increased significantly, whereas the levels of T H 2 cytokines (interleukin-4, -5, and -13) were decreased significantly, suggesting T H 2 polarization was suppressed after blunting Notch signaling. The expression of T-bet was significantly increased, whereas the expression of Gata-3 was significantly reduced in both messenger RNA and protein levels, indicating T H 2 polarization was inhibited and T H 1 polarization was enhanced after blunting Notch signaling. Moreover, allergic clinical features of mice were alleviated after blunting Notch signaling., Conclusion: Food allergy was inhibited by blunting Notch signaling through suppressing T H 2 polarization, enhancing T H 1 cell differentiation and promoting T H 1/T H 2 balance in mice. Notch signaling plays a key role in IgE-mediated food allergy., (Copyright © 2016 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The association between plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) 4G/5G polymorphism and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) risk is still contradictory. We thus performed a meta-analysis., Material and Methods: Relevant studies were searched for in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library. An odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the association between PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism and RPL risk., Results: A total of 22 studies with 4306 cases and 3076 controls were included in this meta-analysis. We found that PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased RPL risk (OR=1.89; 95% CI 1.34-2.67; P=0.0003). In the subgroup analysis by race, PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased RPL risk in Caucasians (OR=2.23; 95% CI 1.44-3.46; P=0.0003). However, no significant association was observed in Asians (OR=1.47; 95% CI 0.84-2.59; P=0.18)., Conclusions: In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggests that PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism might be associated with RPL development in Caucasians.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising antitumor treatment that is based on the photosensitizers that inhibit cancer cells by yielding reactive oxygen species (ROS) after irradiation of light with specific wavelengths. As a potential photosensitizer, titanium dioxide (TiO2) exhibits minimal dark cytotoxicity and excellent ultraviolet (UV) light triggered cytotoxicity, but is challenged by the limited tissue penetration of UV light. Herein, a novel near-infrared (NIR) light activated photosensitizer for PDT based on TiO2-coated upconversion nanoparticle (UCNP) core/shell nanocomposites (UCNPs@TiO2 NCs) is designed. NaYF4:Yb(3+),Tm(3+)@NaGdF4:Yb(3+) core/shell UCNPs can efficiently convert NIR light to UV emission that matches well with the absorption of TiO2 shells. The UCNPs@TiO2 NCs endocytosed by cancer cells are able to generate intracellular ROS under NIR irradiation, decreasing the mitochondrial membrane potential to release cytochrome c into the cytosol and then activating caspase 3 to induce cancer cell apoptosis. NIR light triggered PDT of tumor-bearing mice with UCNPs@TiO2 as photosensitizers can suppress tumor growth efficiently due to the better tissue penetration than UV irradiation. On the basis of the evidence of in vitro and in vivo results, UCNPs@TiO2 NCs could serve as an effective photosensitizer for NIR light mediated PDT in antitumor therapy.

A series of Ln(3+) (Ln(3+) = Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+)) ion doped CaNb2O6 (CNO) phosphors have been prepared via the conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction route. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and structure refinement, diffuse reflection, photoluminescence (PL), and fluorescent decay curves were used to characterize the as-prepared samples. Under UV radiation, the CNO host present a broad emission band from about 355 to 605 nm centered around 460 nm originating from the NbO6 octahedral groups, which has spectral overlaps with the excitation of f-f transitions of Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+) in CNO:Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+) samples. They show both host emission and respective emission lines derived from the characteristic f-f transitions of activators, which present different emission colors owing to the energy transfer from the NbO6 group in the host to Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+) with increasing activator concentrations. The decreases of decay lifetimes of host emissions in CNO:Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+) demonstrate the energy transfer from the hosts to Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+)/Sm(3+). The energy transfer mechanisms in CNO:Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+) phosphors have been determined to be a resonant type via dipole-dipole mechanisms. For CNO:Sm(3+), the metal-metal charge transfer transition (MMCT) might contribute to the different variations of decay lifetimes and emission intensity from CNO:Eu(3+)/Tb(3+)/Dy(3+) samples. The best quantum efficiency is 71.2% for CNO:0.01/0.02Dy(3+). The PL properties of as-prepared materials indicate the promising application in UV-pumped white-emitting lighting diodes field.

Objectives: No study systematically has investigated the supportive care needs of general head and neck cancer patients using validated measures. These needs include physical and daily living needs, health system and information needs, patient care and support needs, psychological needs, and sexuality needs. Identifying the unmet needs of head and neck cancer patients is a necessary first step to improving the care we provide to patients seen in our head and neck oncology clinics. It is recommended as the first step in intervention development in the Pan-Canadian Clinical Practice Guideline of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (see Howell, 2009). This study aimed to identify: (1) met and unmet supportive care needs of head and neck cancer patients, and (2) variability in needs according to demographics, disease variables, level of distress, and quality-of-life domains., Methods: Participants were recruited from the otolaryngology-head and neck surgery clinics of two university teaching hospitals. Self-administered questionnaires included sociodemographic and medical questions, as well as validated measures such as the Supportive Care Needs Survey-Short Form (SCNS-SF34), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) and Head and Neck Module (FACT-H&N) (quality of life measures)., Results: One hundred and twenty-seven patients participated in the survey. 68% of them experienced unmet needs, and 25% revealed a clinically significant distress level on the HADS. The highest unmet needs were psychological (7 of top 10 needs). A multiple linear regression indicated a higher level of overall unmet needs when patients were divorced, had a high level of anxiety (HADS subscale), were in poor physical condition, or had a diminished emotional quality of life (FACT-G subscales)., Significance of Results: The results of this study highlight the overwhelming presence of unmet psychological needs in head and neck cancer patients and underline the importance of implementing interventions to address these areas perceived by patients as important. In line with hospital resource allocation and cost-effectiveness, one may also contemplate screening patients for high levels of anxiety, as well as target patients who are divorced and present low levels of physical well-being, as these patients may have more overall needs to be met.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the existence of occlusal interference and masticatory muscle hyperalgesia by exploring the stimulus-response relationship between the duration of occlusal interference and masticatory muscle mechanical withdrawal threshold., Methods: Occlusal interference with 0.4 mm-thick crowns on rat molars was removed under anaesthesia at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 d after wear, and masticatory muscle mechanical withdrawal threshold was tested at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 d., Results: Decreased mechanical withdrawal thresholds were detected in temporal muscles and masseter muscles on both sides following occlusal interference (P < 0.05). After removal of crowns at 2, 3, 4 and 5 d, rats exhibited the similar head withdrawal thresholds as the sham-application control in masticatory muscles on both sides at 10, 14, 14 and 21 d (P > 0.05). No significant differences were detected between the contralateral side with the ipsilateral side (P < 0.05). After removal of crowns at 6 d, rats still exhibited significantly decreased head withdrawal thresholds[right temporal muscle: (1.365±0.018) N; right masseter: (1.437 ± 0.024) N] in masticatory muscles on both sides until the last day of the experiment[the sham-application control: right temporal muscle: (1.554±0.040) N, P < 0.001; right masseter: (1.546±0.019) N, P < 0.001]., Conclusions: The mechanical hyperalgesia can disappear after removal of the occlusal interference at 5 d, and the existence of the occlusal interference is positively correlated with the duration of the mechanical hyperalgesia.