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Summary Background The management of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is a new priority action for the WHO End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy. However, national guidelines on latent tuberculosis infection testing and treatment have not yet been developed in China. Here, we present the results from the 2-year follow-up of a study that aimed to track the development of active disease in individuals with latent tuberculosis infection, identify priority populations for latent infection management, and explore the most suitable latent infection diagnostic approach. Methods A population-based multicentre prospective study was done in four sites in rural China, between 2013 and 2015. The baseline survey in 2013 measured the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) in eligible participants. During the follow-up phase between 2014–15, we assessed individuals who had tuberculosis infection at baseline (QFT-positivity or TST tuberculin reaction size [induration] of ≥10 mm) for the development of active disease through active case finding. Eligible participants included in follow-up survey had a birth date before June 1, 2008 (5 years or older in 2013), and continuous residence at the study site for 6 months or longer in the past year. Participants with current active tuberculosis at baseline survey were excluded. Findings Between Sept 1, 2013, and Aug 31, 2015, 7505 eligible participants (aged 5 years or older) were included in tuberculosis infection test positive cohorts (4455 were QFT positive, 6404 had TST induration ≥10 mm, and 3354 were positive for both tests) after baseline examination. During the 2-year follow-up period, 84 incident cases of active tuberculosis were diagnosed. Of participants who developed active tuberculosis, 75 were diagnosed with latent infection by QFT, 62 were diagnosed by TST, and 53 were diagnosed by both tests. An incidence rate of 0·87 (95% CI 0·68–1·07) per 100 person-years was observed for individuals who tested positive with QFT, 0·50 (0·38–0·63) per 100 person-years for those who tested positive with TST (p Interpretation Our results suggest that high-risk populations in communities in rural China, such as individuals at a high risk of disease reactivation from previous tuberculosis, should be targeted for latent infection screening and treatment with an interferon-γ releasing assay rather than a TST. Funding National Science and Technology Major Project of China, Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China, CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences, and Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen.

Although cloud computing has made significant achievement, it still faces many challenges, such as bad interactive performance and unsatisfying user experience over a long-haul wide-area or wireless network. To address these challenges, we proposed a software-defined stream-based code scheduling framework according to the concept of transparent computing. This framework uses the idea of code streaming to decouple the computation and storage of software codes; this idea also leverages the input/output virtualization technique to support legacy operating systems and application software in a feasible and effective way. The software-defined code scheduling framework allows the computation or storage to be adaptively carried out at appropriate machines with the assistance of performance and capacity monitoring facilities. Thus, the framework can improve application performance and user experiences by executing software codes on a nearer or better machine. We developed a pilot system to investigate the advantages of the proposed framework. Preliminary experimental results show that our approach can achieve better performance than current cloud computing-based systems.

Clinical and experimental data suggest that early insulin therapy could reduce lipotoxicity in subjects and animal models with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the underlying mechanisms need to be clarified. Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), which is negatively regulated by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), plays a critical role in lipotoxicity and insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells. Here, we investigated the effect and molecular mechanism of insulin intervention on the AMPK/SREBP-1c pathway in skeletal muscle cells with chronic exposure to palmitic acid (PA). Male C57BL/6 mice were fed with a high-fat diet for 12 weeks and were then treated with insulin, AMPK inhibitor, or metformin. L6 myotubes incubated with palmitic acid (PA) were treated with insulin or metformin. Dominant-negative AMPKα2 (DN-AMPKα2) lentivirus, AMPKα2 siRNA, or Rho-kinase 1 (ROCK1) siRNA were transfected into PA-treated L6 myotubes. We found that the ability of PA to stimulate SREBP-1c and inhibit AMPK was reversed by insulin in L6 cells. Moreover, DN-AMPKα2 lentivirus and AMPKα2 siRNA were transfected into PA-treated L6 myotubes, and the decrease in SREBP-1c expression caused by insulin was blocked by AMPK inhibition independent of the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-biphosphate-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. The serine/threonine kinase Rho-kinase (ROCK) 1, a downstream effector of the small G protein RhoA, was activated by PA. Interestingly, knockdown of ROCK1 by siRNA blocked the downregulation of AMPK phosphorylation under PA-treated L6 myotubes, which indicated that ROCK1 mediated the effect of insulin action on AMPK. Our study indicated that insulin reduced lipotoxicity via ROCK1 and then improved AMPK/SREBP-1c signaling in skeletal muscle under PA-induced insulin resistance.

Additional file 1 S1: Fitting equations and parameters of computations for percentiles for IAA Doppler indices according to gestational age (GA) in weeks. S3-1: Longitudinal reference percentiles of pulsatility index (PI) for MAA. S3-2: Longitudinal reference percentiles of resistance index (RI) for MAA. S3-3: Longitudinal reference percentiles of systolic: diastolic ratio (S/D) for MAA.

Aims Diminished energy turnover of skeletal muscle is involved in the development of type 2 diabetes. Intensive insulin therapy has been reported to maintain glycaemic control in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, while the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to characterize the contribution of muscular mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) activity to insulin-induced glycaemic control. Materials and methods There were 21 drug naive patients with type 2 diabetes receiving continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for 7 days. Nine nondiabetics matched for age, body mass index, and physical activity were recruited as controls. We applied 31 P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to record in vivo muscular phosphocreatine (PCr) flux in controls and diabetics before and after insulin therapy. The mitochondrial OxPhos rate was calculated as ΔPCr / Δtime during the first 50 seconds after cessation of exercise. Results In drug naive type 2 diabetes, muscular mitochondrial OxPhos rate was restored after insulin therapy. Notably, this alteration was positively associated with the improvements of 1,5-anhydroglucitol, a serum marker for glucose control over the last 1 week, as well as homeostasis model assessment of β cell function and C-peptide/glucose ratio t0 , two indices for basal insulin secretion. Furthermore, patients with diabetes family history and more severe glucotoxicity tend to achieve greater improvement in mitochondrial function by insulin. Conclusions This study provides evidence that intensive insulin therapy facilitates muscular energy metabolism in drug naive type 2 diabetes. It correlates to the recovery of β cell function, contributing to insulin-induced glucose control.

Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a high prevalence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this study, we sought to provide a comprehensive assessment regarding the effects of anti-diabetic agents on NAFLD in patients with T2DM. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with different anti-diabetic agents in T2DM. Observational trials were also recruited to expand our population. Hepatic fat content and liver histology were evaluated as primary outcomes. Pooled estimates were calculated using a fixed effect model. Results One thousand one hundred ninety-six participants in 19 RCTs and 14 non-randomized studies were included. Evidence from RCTs and observational studies suggested that greater hepatic fat content reduction and improved liver histology were seen in thiazolidinediones for 12–72 weeks; glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists had beneficial effects on hepatic fat content after 26–50 weeks intervention, and insulin/metformin combination with 3–7 months improved hepatic fat content. Initiating metformin or dapagliflozin showed no benefit on hepatic fat content or liver histology in 16–48 weeks. Besides, nateglinide for 18 months was reported in a small sample-size RCT to improve hepatic fat content and liver histology. Sitagliptin therapy of 1 year also provided benefit on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis score in an observational study. Conclusions For T2DM with NAFLD, administrating thiazolidinediones and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists seems to provide more identified advances in attenuating hepatic fat content. Further RCTs are warranted to assess the efficacy of various hypoglycemic agents on clinical outcomes associated with NAFLD in T2DM. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Summary Intestinal epithelial stem cells (IESCs) control the intestinal homeostatic response to inflammation and regeneration. The underlying mechanisms are unclear. Cytokine-STAT5 signaling regulates intestinal epithelial homeostasis and responses to injury. We link STAT5 signaling to IESC replenishment upon injury by depletion or activation of Stat5 transcription factor. We found that depletion of Stat5 led to deregulation of IESC marker expression and decreased LGR5+ IESC proliferation. STAT5-deficient mice exhibited worse intestinal histology and impaired crypt regeneration after γ-irradiation. We generated a transgenic mouse model with inducible expression of constitutively active Stat5. In contrast to Stat5 depletion, activation of STAT5 increased IESC proliferation, accelerated crypt regeneration, and conferred resistance to intestinal injury. Furthermore, ectopic activation of STAT5 in mouse or human stem cells promoted LGR5+ IESC self-renewal. Accordingly, STAT5 promotes IESC proliferation and regeneration to mitigate intestinal inflammation. STAT5 is a functional therapeutic target to improve the IESC regenerative response to gut injury., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Loss of STAT5 impairs intestinal stem cell proliferation • Activated STAT5 increases intestinal stem cell regeneration • Activation of cytokine-STAT5 signaling mitigates intestinal inflammation, In this article, Han and colleagues link STAT5 signaling to intestinal stem cell replenishment upon injury. They find that depletion of Stat5 leads to decreased stem cell proliferation, sensitizing mice to irradiation. In contrast, activation of STAT5 accelerates crypt regeneration, conferring resistance to gut injury. Therefore, activation of cytokine-induced STAT5 signaling promotes the regenerative capacity of intestinal stem cells to repair gut injury.

To accommodate the increasing rich multimedia mobile traffics, especially the mobile video traffics, local caching becomes an effective approach to improve the quality of content delivering services in the cellular networks. Mobile devices with large storage capacities and high speed device-to-device (D2D) links become important elements of the local caching system. In this paper, we propose a D2D local caching system under heterogeneous preferences of mobile subscribers (MS), and investigate the utility maximization problem using Stackelberg game solution. In particular, the MSs form different groups, according to their social relationships, and determine the price policies to maximize their utilities, while the video provider (VP) aims to maximize his profits by deciding the rent policies and the budget plan. We investigate the equilibrium of the Stackelberg game in details and propose a water-filling based iterative algorithm to obtain the Stackelberg equilibrium. Extensive results demonstrate efficient performance of the D2D local caching system.

With the advancements of electronic medical equipment, e-healthcare system becomes a promising paradigm to continuously monitor health conditions and remotely diagnose phenomena. Meanwhile, it generates a large volume of health data and poses several security challenges, such as access control and privacy leakage. In this paper, we propose a lightweight and privacy- preserving fog-assisted information sharing scheme (PFHD) for health big data. Specifically, we integrate fog computing into e-healthcare system to pre-process the raw health data and improve the efficiency of health data analysis. Furthermore, to prevent privacy leakage, we design a hierarchical attribute-based encryption method by encrypting the profile and health data with different access policies. In addition, we reduce the computation cost on devices by offloading health data encryption from devices to fog servers. Security discussions show that PFHD can achieve fine- grained health data sharing with privacy preservation. Performance evaluations demonstrate the efficiency of PFHD, especially in terms of encryption computation and storage costs.

The present study investigated the efficacy of percutaneous kyphoplasty and alendronate sodium on thoracolumbar vertebral fracture, and the risk factors leading to the recurrence of fracture. In the present study, a total of 80 patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fracture who were admitted to the Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Southeast University Medical College between January 2014 and March 2016 for combination treatment of percutaneous kyphoplasty and alendronate sodium were enrolled. According to the recurrence of fracture, the patients were divided into two groups, the observation group (patients with fracture recurrence, n=40) and control group (patients with no fracture recurrence, n=40). All patients participated in a 1-year follow-up. The recurrence of fracture and the site of fracture were identified through the clinical symptoms and examination of the spine using magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, comparisons of the time of alleviation in numbness of lower limb and that in pains in waist and legs were carried out. Furthermore, statistics on the adverse reactions during intervention in the two groups were also collected; changes in visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) of pains at different time points in two groups were also observed. One-way analysis and multivariate analysis were performed to identify the relevant risk factors. Alleviation time in numbness of lower legs in patients of the control group was significantly earlier than that in the observation group (P

An early insulin regimen ameliorates glucotoxicity but also lipotoxicity in type 2 diabetes; however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated the role of mitochondria in lipid regulation following early insulin administration in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle cells. Male C57BL/6 mice, fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks, were treated with insulin for 3 weeks, and L6 myotubes cultured with palmitate (PA) for 24 h were incubated with insulin for another 12 h. The results showed that insulin facilitated systemic glucose disposal and attenuated muscular triglyceride accumulation in vivo. Recovery of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation, inhibition of sterol-regulated element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase‑1B (CPT1B) expression were observed after insulin administration. Moreover, increased ATP concentration and cellular energy charge elicited by over-nutrition were suppressed by insulin. Despite maintaining respiratory complex activities, insulin restored muscular uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) protein expression in vitro and in vivo. By contrast, knockdown of UCP3 abrogated insulin-induced restoration of AMPK phosphorylation in vitro. Importantly, the PA-induced decrease in UCP3 was blocked by the proteasome inhibitor MG132, and insulin reduced UCP3 ubiquitination, thereby prohibiting its degradation. Our findings, focusing on energy balance, provide a mechanistic understanding of the promising effect of early insulin initiation on lipotoxicity. Insulin, by recovering UCP3 activity, alleviated energy surfeit and potentiated AMPK-mediated lipid homeostasis in skeletal muscle cells following exposure to PA and in gastrocnemius of mice fed HFD.

The sorption data of an anionic dye on cellulose fiber are often correlated with a log-linear model to determine the internal accessible volume of the fiber to the anionic dye ( V , L/kg) and as such the standard affinity of the anionic dye to the fiber (−Δ μ °, J/mol), but without taking into account the influence of ionized carboxyl groups due to cellulose oxidation ([COO − ] f , mol/kg). In this study, a nonlinear isotherm model was derived by incorporating [COO − ] f , V and −Δ μ ° as three model parameters. A set of classical sorption data of C. I. Direct Blue 1 on bleached cotton was correlated with the nonlinear isotherm model. The nonlinear curve fitting analysis showed that the nonlinear isotherm model was in excellent agreement with the sorption data and robust to determine the values of [COO − ] f , V and −Δ μ ° for describing the sorption behaviors of anionic dyes on cellulose fibers.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Rationale: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is recognized as an emerging treatment through reconstruction of gut microbiota. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which is accompanied by constipation. Here we first reported a patient with Parkinson's disease and constipation that were obviously relieved after FMT. Patient concerns: A 71-year-old male patient presented with 7 years of resting tremor, bradykinesia (first inflicted the upper limbs and subsequently spread to lower limbs), and intractable constipation (defecation needing more than 30 minutes). Diagnoses: Parkinson's disease for 7 years; constipation >3 years. Interventions: The patient had used madopar, pramipexole, and amantadine for anti-Parkinson and showed partially mitigation while laxative therapy for constipation failed. Finally FMT was performed. Outcomes: The patient successfully defecated within 5 minutes and maintained daily unobstructed defecation until the end of follow-up. The patient's tremor in legs almost disappeared at 1 week after FMT but recurred in the right lower extremity at 2 months after FMT. Lessons: Gut microbiota reconstruction may have therapeutic effects for Parkinson's disease patients, especially those who have gastrointestinal symptoms and limited treatment choices.

Although cloud computing has made significant achievement, it still faces many challenges, such as slow interactive performance and unsatisfying user experience over a long-haul wide-area or wireless network. To address these challenges, we proposed a software-defined streaming-based code scheduling framework according to the concept of transparent computing. This framework uses the idea of code streaming to decouple the computation and storage of software codes, this idea also leverages the input/output virtualization technique to support legacy operating systems and application software in a feasible and effective way. The software-defined code scheduling framework allows the computation or storage to be adaptively carried out at appropriate machines with the assistance of performance and capacity monitoring facilities. Thus, the framework can improve application performance and user experiences by executing software codes on a nearer or better machine. We developed a pilot system to investigate the advantages of the proposed framework. Preliminary experimental results show that our approach can achieve a better performance than current cloud computing-based systems.

Objectives. We investigated environmental lead pollution and its impact on children's blood lead levels (BLLs) in a rural area of China. Methods. In 2007, we studied 379 children younger than 15 years living in 7 villages near lead mines and processing plants, along with a control group of 61 children from another village. We determined their BLLs and collected environmental samples, personal data, and information on other potential exposures. We followed approximately 86% of the children who had high BLLs (> 15 μg/dL) for 1 year. We determined factors influencing BLLs by multivariate linear regression. Results. Lead concentrations in soil and household dust were much higher in polluted villages than in the control village, and more children in the polluted area than in the control village had elevated BLLs (87%, 16.4 μg/dL vs 20%, 7.1 μg/dL). Increased BLL was independently associated with environmental lead levels. We found a significant reduction of 5 micrograms per deciliter when we retested children after 1 year. Conclusions. Our data show that the lead industry caused serious environmental pollution that led to high BLLs in children living nearby.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD)-associated pruritus is a common adverse symptom in patients with end-stage renal disease treated by dialysis. Herein, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus among adult dialysis patients was conducted. An electronic search of PubMed, Web of Science, Elsevier, Wanfang, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases was conducted from inception to November 23, 2016, and all cross-sectional studies that reported the prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus in dialysis were collected. The pooled prevalence was estimated by random-effects model. Potential publication bias was evaluated by the funnel plot as well as Begg and Egger tests. After rigorous screening, a total of 42 studies conducted on 11,800 patients were included in this study. The overall prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus among adult dialysis patients was 55% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49–61, I2 = 97.6%), the stratification of which was 55% (95% CI, 45–65, I2 = 94.7%) in men and 55% (95% CI, 46–65, I2 = 93.3%) in women. In hemodialysis (HD) patients, the prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus was 55% (95% CI, 49–62, I2 = 97.9%), while in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, it was 56% (95% CI, 44–68, I2 = 89.9%). The prevalence of CKD-associated pruritus for mean dialysis duration

Because of benefit from the strategy of open source and the strong ability of innovation, Android has become one of the most popular operating systems on mobile platform. While the explosive increase of mobile applications has leaded to several shortages in Android system, such as the limitations in hardware resources, complex and frequent updating of the applications. In this paper, we propose a new kind of mobile application model named Streaming Application Model by absorbing the concept of Transparent Computing. The applications are modularized into some independent components and stored on server. The android devices load and launch the components dynamically. Streaming Application Model can reduce the consumption of hardware resources and take away the complex and frequent application update processes for users, thus improving the user experience in Android devices.

Vascular interventions have become widely adopted for treatment of coronary and peripheral arterial atherosclerosis. Although there is increasing utilization of the new technology, restenosis still retarded the long-term outcome of the intervention. Histological studies have revealed that uninhibited neointimal cells play a vital role in the post-injury response. Among them, the majority of neointimal cell express smooth muscle cell (SMC) markers and thus, it was believed that the SMC in neighborhood migrate into the subintimal space, proliferate and secrete extracellular matrix, therefore contributing to the intimal hyperplasia. Many studies in this thematic review focus on the specifics of the injury, the cytokines and chemokines that drive SMC, and the nature of the migrated SMC. In addition, more studies documented that adventitia is an active participator instead of bystander through geneticlabeling and tracking adventitia in animal model. This brief review focuses on the recent findings of adventitia in vascular response after injury and highlights that multiplineage cells in adventitia contribute to intimal hyperplasia synergistically with SMC.

The high p-type conductivity in Cu-excess CuAlS2 reported from a recent experimental paper is not well understood as it is not supported by earlier theoretical studies. We found that Cu can be heavily doped at the Al site and can form compensated defect bands to shift up the valence band, leading to shallow acceptor levels under a Cu-excess condition. In particular, Zn doping at the Al site in Cu-excess CuAlS2 has been suggested as a promising approach to improving the p-type conductivity in Cu-excess CuAlS2.

Polar codes are a class of codes proposed currently, which can achieve the capacity of binary symmetric channel with low encoding and decoding algorithm. By generalizing the definition of Bhattacharyya parameter in discrete memoryless channel, we discuss the performance of polar codes on wireless communication channels in this paper. We present the special expressions of the parameters for continuous channels (Gaussian and Rayleigh fading channels), including the recursive formulas and the initial values, and we discuss the construction of polar codes for Gaussian and Rayleigh fading channels. We analyze the application of polar codes with the defined parameter over Rayleigh fading channel by transmitting image signals. The simulation results show that polar codes have better performance than that of low density parity-check codes (LDPC) codes with the same simulation condition. It is shown that polar codes will be a good candidate for wireless communication channels.

Informanization, which serves as an important part of the agricultural industry, plays a crucial role in electronic commerce. The agricultural products sales have attracted more and more attention in the research and application field. This paper analyzes the limited factors of developing agricultural products electronic commerce in China, from the perspective of two representative e-commerce cases in Japan, which are “Irodori” in Tokushima prefecture and “Tosasenri” in Kochi prefecture, and put forward a systematic e-commerce mode linked by cooperation organization which includes the government, agricultural economic cooperation organization (AECO), and the third party logistics.

Background: To date no discrete genetic signature has been defined for isolated Dclk1+ tuft cells within the small intestine. Furthermore, recent reports on the functional significance of Dclk1+ cells in the small intestine have been inconsistent. These cells have been proposed to be fully differentiated cells, reserve stem cells, and tumor stem cells. Here we present a discrete "candidate" gene signature of Dclk1+ cells obtained from Dclk1-CreER;Rosa26-YFP mice, which will be a valuable animal model for future work seeking to uncover the latent abilities and functional role of Dclk1 expressing tuft cells and their subsets. Methods: The Dclk1-CreER;Rosa26-YFP compound mice were injected with tamoxifen to induce the expression of YFP driven by Dclk1 promoter. We FACS-sorted Dclk1+ cells from the small intestinal epithelium of Dclk1-CreER;Rosa26-YFP mice. We determined the mRNA expression levels of Dclk1 and other stem cell associated markers (Bmi1 and Lgr5), and pluripotency factors in the isolated Dclk1+ and Dclk1cells. To analyze the expression of key markers of quiescence survival and longevity, mRNA expression of cell cycle regulators and survival factors were analyzed. To explore the clonogenic capacity of the otherwise quiescent cells, we investigated self-renewal capacity in the Dclk1+ and Dclk1population. Results: Following tamoxifen administration, intestines were collected for YFP and Dclk1 staining, and we found that YFP co-localized with Dclk1 expression. Analysis of sorted YFP+ cells demonstrated marked enrichment (~6000 fold) for Dclk1 mRNA compared with YFPcells, confirming successful isolation of Dclk1+ cells. The Dclk1+ population was enriched (~6 fold) for the quiescent putative stem cell marker Bmi1, whereas the Dclk1fraction was enriched ~174 fold for Lgr5. We observed a relatively higher expression of pluripotency genes (~5-80 fold) as well as a significant increase in pro-survival genes (~4-9 fold) and quiescence regulatory markers (~8-24 fold) in the Dclk1+ cells compared to Dclk1cells. A 14-fold increase in self-renewal capability was observed in in vitro isolated Dclk1+ cells by clonogenic assay. The unique genetic profile presented in this study suggests that Dclk1+ cells may be relatively quiescent under normal homeostatic conditions but maintain their pluripotency and metabolic machinery required for survival/longevity through the expression of Cdkn1A, Cdkn1B, Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, and Klf4, Wif1, RelA, Akt and AMPK, and vital regulation of Raptor, Rictor, p53 and Survivin. Conclusion: Taken as a whole, these results provide additional support for the hypothesis that while the majority of Dclk1+ cells are committed tuft cells, they also maintain the molecular capability for stemness in reserve, and could play a role in the maintenance of the stem cell niche in an injury repair environment.