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Objectives: New B-cell markers are needed for monitoring B lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in the era of immunotherapies directed against CD19 and CD22. The expression of leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor subfamily B member 1 (LILRB1) on hematogones in bone marrow (BM) and neoplastic B lymphoblasts has not yet been systematically investigated.Methods: We assessed LILRB1 expression pattern on B cells in 19 control BMs and 22 B-ALL cases by flow cytometry.Results: In all cases, mature B cells and hematogones exhibited a consistent pattern of LILRB1 expression with variable intensity over different stages of maturation, including a characteristic V-shaped pattern on hematogones. While neoplastic B lymphoblasts in all cases expressed LILRB1, the pattern of expression was distinctly abnormal relative to hematogones (loss of the dynamic pattern in all cases and abnormal expression levels in 83% of cases).Conclusions: LILRB1 is a novel diagnostic B-cell marker to aid in distinguishing neoplastic B lymphoblasts from hematogones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To study the association of CREB1 gene with depression and bipolar disorder type II. Methods. Three hundred and sixty-two patients with depression, 381 patients with bipolar disorder type II and 416 healthy subjects were included. There were no significant differences in gender, age and year of education between depression group, bipolar disorder type II group and control group. Patients with severity of depression were evaluated by Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Hypomania Check List-32 was used to screen the history of hypomanic episode of patients with depression and patients with bipolar disorder type II. A total of 2 mL of venous blood was collected from each subject, and whole genome of peripheral blood leukocyte DNA was extracted using a centrifugal column genomic DNA kit. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping of SNaPshot was used to identify the rs10932201 and rs3770704 loci of CREB1 gene, and the effects of SNP on CREB1 expression in brain were analyzed using BRAINEAC database. Results. The genotypes of rs10932201 and rs3770704 of CREB1 gene in the depression group, bipolar disorder type II group and control group were well matched with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05). Linkage disequilibrium analysis showed that there was a strong linkage disequilibrium between rs10932201 and rs3770704 (r²>0.4). At the rs10932201 locus of CREB1 gene, there was a significant difference in allelic frequency between the bipolar disorder type II group and the control group (χ²=4.27, P=0.042); there was no difference in allelic frequency between the depression group and the control group. There were no significant differences in either allelic or genotypic frequency of rs3770704 of CREB1 gene in the depression group and bipolar disorder type II group compared with the control group. In the haplotype constructed between rs10932201 and rs3770704 of CREB1 gene, the frequency of haplotype A-T in the bipolar disorder type II group was 57.5%, which was statistically significant (χ²=4.07,P=0.044). Expression quantitative trait loci analysis showed that rs10932201 was associated with CREB1 gene expression in temporal cortex (P=0.048). Conclusion. The rs10932201 of CREB1 gene is associated with bipolar disorder type II, and may be a risk factor for bipolar disorder type II, not depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) directly interact with the immune system and have potential for immune privilege. Although the microenvironment or niche provides protection for HSCs from immune attack, HSCs are also capable of interacting with the immune system as signal "providers" and signal "receivers". On the one hand, HSCs display surface immune inhibitory molecules to evade the attack from the innate and adaptive immune systems; on the other hand, HSCs are capable of directly sensing the signals from the immune system through their surface receptors. Thus, HSCs are important direct players in the immune system.

Vertical deformation profiles of subterranean geological formations are conventionally measured by borehole extensometry. Distributed strain sensing (DSS) paired with fiber-optic cables installed in the ground opens up possibilities for acquiring high-resolution static and quasistatic strain profiles of deforming strata, but it is currently limited by reduced data quality due to complicated patterns of interaction between the buried cables and their surroundings, especially in upper soil layers under low confining pressures. Extending recent DSS studies, we present an improved approach using microanchored fiber-optic cables—designed to optimize ground-to-cable coupling at the near surface—for strain determination along entire lengths of vertical boreholes. We proposed a novel criterion for soil–cable coupling evaluation based on the geotechnical bearing capacity theory. We applied this enhanced methodology to monitor groundwater-related vertical motions in both laboratory and field experiments. Corroborating extensometer recordings, acquired simultaneously, validated fiber optically determined displacements, suggesting microanchored DSS as an improved means for detecting and monitoring shallow subsurface strain profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twin-roll casting (TRC) of Mg alloys with high Al content has unique advantages and broad development prospects. However, the severe segregation of high-alloyed Mg caused by TRC technology is difficult to solve at present, which restricts its practical application. In this work, the homogenization of coarse segregated phases in a twin-roll cast Mg–8Al–2Sn–1Zn (ATZ821) alloy was successfully achieved by a method combining solid-solution heat treatment and controlled rolling, which is suitable for industrial-scale production. In addition, the evolution of the microstructure was studied in detail. It was found that phases dynamically precipitated and dissolved repeatedly during the hot rolling process, and the evolution of entire second phases can be classified into three stages, i.e., the net dissolution, balancing and net precipitation stages. During the process, the large-size chain-like eutectic phases evolved into a fine and nearly spherical (∼0.4 µm) morphology that was uniformly dispersed in the Mg-matrix due to the thermodynamic coupling and the Ostwald ripening effect. Moreover, a fine grain microstructure (∼4 µm) was obtained. The formidable segregation problem of twin-roll cast Mg alloys with high Al content was solved, which is an important finding for the industrial application of high-alloyed twin-roll cast sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Anxiety disorder is a common mental health disorder. However, there are few safe and fast-acting anxiolytic drugs available that can treat anxiety disorder. We previously demonstrated that the interaction of neuronal NOS (nNOS) with its carboxy-terminal PDZ ligand (CAPON) is involved in regulating anxiety-related behaviours. Here, we further investigated the anxiolytic effects of nNOS-CAPON disruptors in chronic stress-induced anxiety in animals.Experimental Approach: Mice were intravenously treated with nNOS-CAPON disruptors, ZLc-002 or Tat-CAPON12C, at the last week of chronic mild stress (CMS) exposure. We also infused corticosterone (CORT) into the hippocampus of mice to model anxiety behaviours and also delivered ZLc-002 or Tat-CAPON12C on the last week of chronic CORT treatment via pre-implanted cannula. Anxiety-related behaviours were examined using elevated plus maze, open field, novelty-suppressed feeding and light-dark (LD) tests. The level of nNOS-CAPON interaction was determined by co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) and proximity ligation assay (PLA). The neural mechanisms underlying the behavioural effects of nNOS-CAPON uncoupling in anxiety animal models were assessed by western blot, immunofluorescence and Golgi-Cox staining.Key Results: ZLc-002 and Tat-CAPON12C reversed CMS- or CORT-induced anxiety-related behaviours. ZLc-002 and Tat-CAPON12C increased synaptogenesis along with improved dendritic remodelling in CMS mice or CORT-treated cultured neurons. Meanwhile, blocking nNOS-CAPON interaction significantly activated the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB)-brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway, which is associated with synaptic plasticity.Conclusion and Implications: Collectively, these results provide evidence for the anxiolytic effects of nNOS-CAPON uncouplers and their underlying mechanisms in anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A fatigue–oxidation–creep damage model that can take into account the effect of multiaxial cyclic feature on the damage mechanism is proposed under axial-torsional thermo-mechanical fatigue loading. In the proposed model, the effects of non-proportional additional hardening on fatigue, oxidation, and creep damages are considered, and the variation of oxidation damage under different high temperature loading conditions is also described. Moreover, the intergranular creep damage needs to be equivalent to the transgranular damage before accumulating with the fatigue and oxidation damages. The fatigue, oxidation, and creep damages can be expressed as the fractions of fatigue life, critical crack length, and creep rupture time, respectively, which allows the linear accumulation of different types of damages on the basis of life fraction rule. In addition, the proposed model is validated by various fatigue experimental results, including uniaxial thermo-mechanical fatigue, axial-torsional thermo-mechanical fatigue, and isothermal axial-torsional fatigue under proportional and non-proportional loadings. The results showed that the errors are within a factor of 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is reported to associate with abnormal expression of SCF E3 ubiquitin ligases. FBXW10, an F-box protein of the E3 ubiquitin ligases, was abnormally regulated in HCC patients. However, whether FBXW10 is associated with HCC has not yet been evaluated. Here, we analyzed the associations between overall survival and various risk factors in 191 HCC tissues. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that FBXW10 was an independent risk factor related to HCC prognosis. The results showed that FBXW10, gender and tumor state were strongly associated with overall survival in HCC patients. Furthermore, high expression of FBXW10 was associated with poor survival among male HCC patients but not female HCC patients. FBXW10 was more highly expressed in male HCC tissues and more strongly related to vascular invasion in male HCC patients. Consistent with these findings, the male FBXW10-Tg(+) mice were more susceptible to tumorigenesis, changes in regenerative capacity, and liver injury and inflammation but not changes in liver function than FBXW10-Tg(–) mice. FBXW10 promoted cell proliferation and migration in HCC cell lines. Our findings reveal that FBXW10, an independent risk factor for HCC, promotes hepatocarcinogenesis in male patients, and is also a potential prognostic marker in male patients with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)