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Introduction The mortality of rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is still high, as there is no effective therapy. It has been shown that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can induce M2 macrophages, which mediate MSC protection in other experimental inflammation-related organ injury. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of macrophage activation in MSC therapy of rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI. Methods MSCs were injected into glycerol-induced rhabdomyolysis mice. Renal injury was evaluated using the serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, renal pathology and acute tubular necrosis score. The distribution of MSCs was detected using two-photon fluorescence confocal imaging. Immunofluorescence of anti-F4/80 and anti-CD206 was performed to determine macrophages and M2 macrophages in the tissues of the kidney, and M2 macrophage infiltration was also evaluated using western blotting analyses. After depletion of macrophages using clodronate liposomes at the phase of kidney repair, renal injury was reevaluated. RAW 264.7 macrophages were incubated with lipopolysaccharide and co-cultured with MSCs and subsequently visualised using immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry analysis. Finally, disparate phenotype macrophages, including normal macrophages (M0), lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages (M1), and MSC-co-cultured macrophages (M2), were infused into mice with AKI, which were pre-treated with liposomal clodronate. Results In vivo infusion of MSCs protected AKI mice from renal function impairment and severe tubular injury, which was accompanied by a time-dependent increase in CD206-positive M2 macrophage infiltration. In addition, depleting macrophages with clodronate delayed restoration of AKI. In vitro, macrophages co-cultured with MSCs acquired an antiinflammatory M2 phenotype, which was characterised by an increased expression of CD206 and the secretory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10. The concentrations of IL-10, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor a were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Furthermore, macrophage-depleted mice with intramuscular injection of glycerol were subjected to a single injection of different types of RAW 264.7 macrophages. Mice infused with M0 and M1 macrophages suffered a more severe histological and functional injury, while mice transfused with MSC-educated M2 macrophages showed reduced kidney injury. Conclusions Our findings suggested that MSCs can ameliorate rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI via the activation of macrophages to a trophic M2 phenotype, which supports the transition from tubule injury to tubule repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the study was to validate the expression of protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to evaluate its clinicopathological and prognostic significance. Methods: We first conducted a meta-analysis on the mRNA profiling data sets of NSCLC in the Oncomine database. Then, one of the most significantly upregulated tyrosine kinase targets, PTK6, was further validated by immunohistochemistry in 104 primary NSCLC tumors. Furthermore the association between PTK6 expression, the clinical parameters, and overall survival was further analyzed. Results: Using the Oncomine database, we identified a list of tyrosine kinase genes related to NSCLC, among which PTK6 was the second most overexpressed gene (median rank = 915, P = 2.9 x 105). We further confirmed that NSCLC tumors had a higher expression level of PTK6 than normal pulmonary tissues. Moreover, high PTK6 expression correlated positively with shorter overall survival time, but not with other clinicopathological characteristics. In the multivariate Cox regression model, high PTK6 expression was demonstrated to be an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. Conclusion: Our results validated that PTK6 was found to be overexpressed in a proportion of NSCLC samples, and was associated with a poor prognosis, suggesting that this subgroup of NSCLC patients might benefit from PTK6 inhibitors in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the electrical properties of polycrystalline La[sub 0.7-x]Pr[sub x]Sr[sub 0.3]MnO[sub 3]. Insensitivity of resistivity to the rare earth substitution; Role of the spin-order scattering process in resistivity; Observation of structure transition from rhombohedral to orthorhombic phase accompanied with sharp increase in resistivity.

Phages are one of the most diverse and widely distributed organisms on the earth today, and have great advantages in eliminating bacteria, especially multi-drug resistant bacteria that are widespread at present. At present, a variety of bacteriophage products have been well applied in the fields of breeding for food raw materials, farmed animals, foodborne pathogenic bacteria detection, and instant food sterilization. However, the narrow host range and complex interaction mechanism between bacteriophage and host bacteria greatly limit their development as new bacteriostatic agents. The specific binding between bacteriophages and host bacteria depends on the receptor binding proteins on the surface of bacteriophages. Studying the structure, function and mechanism of action of various bacteriophage receptor binding proteins will help in understanding the interaction process between bacteriophage and bacteria. On this basis, phage receptor binding protein modification by genetic engineering and induced culture methods to obtain high-quality broad-spectrum phages has become an important content of phage research. This paper summarizes the current research on different structures of phage receptor binding proteins and various host spectrum expansion schemes in an effort to provide theoretical support for the development and application of bacteriophages in the food industry.

An abstract of the article "AFB vs WLB for Diagnosing Airway Non-Normal Lesions With Inflammatory Changes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" is presented.

Presents a study which described a sol-gel method for the preparation of tin oxide nanoparticles starting from granulated tin. Characteristics of tin oxide; Wet chemical methods that can be used to prepare tin oxide; Analysis of x-ray diffraction patterns of the powders prepared by the sol-gel method.

Signal peptide-CUB-EGF-like domain-containing protein 3 (SCUBE3) is highly expressed in invasive lung cancers. In vitro investigation indicated that SCUBE3 may play a critical role in lung cancer invasion and metastasis. The current study immunohistochemically investigated the expression of SCUBE3 in 119 cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors and this study evaluated its clinical-pathological and prognostic significance. SCUBE3 was found to be up-regulated in NSCLC tissue samples compared to adjacent normal tissue. High SCUBE3 expression was noted in 84/119 (70.6%) of NSCLC tissue samples and was positively correlated with lymph node involvement (p = 0.001) and advanced stages of tumor/lymph node metastasis (TNM) (p = 0.014). Furthermore, high SCUBE3 expression was significantly associated with loss of the epithelial marker E-cadherin (p = 0.0015) and acquisition of expression of the mesenchymal marker vimentin (p = 0.005). Patients with high SCUBE3 expression had significantly a shorter survival time compared to patients with low SCUBE3 expression (p = 0.001), and SCUBE3 expression served as an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients. Results indicated that SCUBE3 might be involved in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and malignant progression in NSCLC. Results also indicated that SCUBE3d may be a potential therapeutic target for lung cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of (GdxDy1−x)Co2 (0–0.55) compounds have been prepared by arc-melting method. In order to determine the phase transition order in these compounds, we have performed some magnetization measurements. Only from the plots of temperature dependence of magnetization and the low-field magnetization isotherms, it is difficult to judge the phase transition order. The low-field Arrott plot is proved to be a more reliable method to characterize the first-order transition and the second-order transition. No first-order transition is observed in (GdxDy1−x)Co2 compounds (x≠0). The result is discussed in the Inoue-Shimizu like model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Some Gd(1−x)In x (x =0.01, 0.02 and 0.03) alloys have been prepared by arc melting. With a small quantity of In atom introduced into Gd, the Curie temperature of these alloys decrease obviously. The magnetic entropy changes and the refrigerant capacities of these alloys have been calculated. The reduced Curie temperature and the possibility of utilizing these alloys as refrigerant in magnetic refrigeration have been discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose We investigated the correlation between the number of examined lymph nodes (ELNs) and correct staging and long-term survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by using large databases and determined the minimal threshold for the ELN count. Methods Data from a Chinese multi-institutional registry and the US SEER database on stage I to IIIA resected NSCLC (2001 to 2008) were analyzed for the relationship between the ELN count and stage migration and overall survival (OS) by using multivariable models. The series of the mean positive LNs, odds ratios (ORs), and hazard ratios (HRs) were fitted with a LOWESS smoother, and the structural break points were determined by Chow test. The selected cut point was validated with the SEER 2009 cohort. Results Although the distribution of ELN count differed between the Chinese registry (n = 5,706) and the SEER database (n = 38,806; median, 15 versus seven, respectively), both cohorts exhibited significantly proportional increases from N0 to N1 and N2 disease (SEER OR, 1.038; China OR, 1.012; both P < .001) and serial improvements in OS (N0 disease: SEER HR, 0.986; China HR, 0.981; both P < .001; N1 and N2 disease: SEER HR, 0.989; China HR, 0.984; both P < .001) as the ELN count increased after controlling for confounders. Cut point analysis showed a threshold ELN count of 16 in patients with declared node-negative disease, which were examined in the derivation cohorts (SEER 2001 to 2008 HR, 0.830; China HR, 0.738) and validated in the SEER 2009 cohort (HR, 0.837). Conclusion A greater number of ELNs is associated with more-accurate node staging and better long-term survival of resected NSCLC. We recommend 16 ELNs as the cut point for evaluating the quality of LN examination or prognostic stratification postoperatively for patients with declared node-negative disease.