Search

Four new species of Liphistius belonging to the birmanicus species group are described from Myanmar based on both sexes: L. kalaw Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀), L. kanpetlet Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀), L. nawngau Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀) and L. rostratus Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀). Currently, Myanmar stands as the westernmost country where Liphistius is distributed, with the new species L. kanpetlet sp. nov. being found in the westernmost region of Myanmar.

Abstract The immunologically “cold” microenvironment of triple negative breast cancer results in resistance to current immunotherapy. Here, we reveal the immunoadjuvant property of gas therapy with cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway activation to augment aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active luminogen (AIEgen)-based photoimmunotherapy. A virus-mimicking hollow mesoporous tetrasulfide-doped organosilica is developed for co-encapsulation of AIEgen and manganese carbonyl to fabricate gas nanoadjuvant. As tetra-sulfide bonds are responsive to intratumoral glutathione, the gas nanoadjuvant achieves tumor-specific drug release, promotes photodynamic therapy, and produces hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Upon near-infrared laser irradiation, the AIEgen-mediated phototherapy triggers the burst of carbon monoxide (CO)/Mn2+. Both H2S and CO can destroy mitochondrial integrity to induce leakage of mitochondrial DNA into the cytoplasm, serving as gas immunoadjuvants to activate cGAS-STING pathway. Meanwhile, Mn2+ can sensitize cGAS to augment STING-mediated type I interferon production. Consequently, the gas nanoadjuvant potentiates photoimmunotherapy of poorly immunogenic breast tumors in female mice.

Abstract Background Although biomedical implants have been widely used in orthopedic treatments, two major clinical challenges remain to be solved, one is the bacterial infection resulting in biofilm formation, and the other is aseptic loosening during implantation due to over-activated osteoclastogenesis. These factors can cause many clinical issues and even lead to implant failure. Thus, it is necessary to endow implants with antibiofilm and aseptic loosening-prevention properties, to facilitate the integration between implants and bone tissues for successful implantation. To achieve this goal, this study aimed to develop a biocompatible titanium alloy with antibiofilm and anti-aseptic loosening dual function by utilizing gallium (Ga) as a component. Methods A series of Ti-Ga alloys were prepared. We examined the Ga content, Ga distribution, hardness, tensile strength, biocompatibility, and anti-biofilm performance in vitro and in vivo. We also explored how Ga3+ ions inhibited the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) and osteoclast differentiation. Results The alloy exhibited outstanding antibiofilm properties against both S. aureus and E. coli in vitro and decent antibiofilm performance against S. aureus in vivo. The proteomics results demonstrated that Ga3+ ions could disturb the bacterial Fe metabolism of both S. aureus and E. coli, inhibiting bacterial biofilm formation. In addition, Ti-Ga alloys could inhibit receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL)-dependent osteoclast differentiation and function by targeting iron metabolism, then suppressing the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, thus, showing their potential to prevent aseptic loosening. Conclusion This study provides an advanced Ti-Ga alloy that can be used as a promising orthopedic implant raw material for various clinical scenarios. This work also revealed that iron metabolism is the common target of Ga3+ ions to inhibit biofilm formation and osteoclast differentiation.

Objective To investigate the clinical and radiological outcomes of distal radius fractures (DRFs) with displaced dorsal ulnar fragments treated with volar locking plate (VLP) and the “poking reduction” technique. Methods Between January 2014 and January 2019, 78 unilateral DRFs with displaced dorsal ulnar fragment (AO type C3) treated with VLP were conducted. According to the reduction technique of the dorsal ulnar fragment, the patients were divided into the conventional reduction (CRG) group (33 patients, 14 males and 19 females, mean age 57.2 ± 12.1 years old) and the “poking reduction” (PRG) group (45 patients, 11 males and 34 females, mean age 60.1 ± 12.4 years old). According to the AO classification, there were 21 cases of C3.1 and 12 of C3.2 in the CPG group, 27 cases of C3.1 and 18 of C3.2 in the PRG group. Clinical and radiographic data were extracted from the electronic medical record system. These data were reviewed for clinical outcomes (range of motion, grip strength), radiological outcomes (volar tilt, radial inclination, radial height, step of articular surface), and postoperative complications. The final functional recovery was evaluated by the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) score. Results The mean duration of follow‐up was 27 months (range from 12 to 56). The average operation time and intraoperative blood loss did not significantly differ between groups (p > 0.05). Postoperative CT examination showed that the step of articular surface in CPG group (0.8 ± 0.3 mm) was larger than that in PRG group (0.5 ± 0.2 mm) (p 0.05) at 3 months postoperatively. At 6 months and 12 months postoperatively, the DASH score was better in PRG group (11.8 ± 2.5 and 10.4 ± 2.0) than in CRG group (13.6 ± 2.7 and 12.2 ± 2.5) (p = 0.004, p = 0.001, respectively). At 12 months postoperatively, wrist range of motion did not significantly differ between groups (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in radiological parameters between the two groups (p > 0.05). The incidence of complications was higher in the CRG group (7/33) than in the PRG group (2/45) (p = 0.009). Conclusion The “poking reduction” technique is a wise option for reduction of dorsal ulnar fragment in DRFs. This innovative technique could restore smoothness of the radiocarpal joint effectively, and the dorsal ulnar fragment could be fixed effectively combined with the volar plate.

We diagnose and describe three new species of the primitively segmented spider genus Liphistius from Thailand, based on male palp and female genital morphology: L. hatyai Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀), L. keeratikiati Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀), and L. inthanon Zhan & Xu, sp. nov. (♂♀). The classification of the three new species of Liphistius is discussed: L. hatyai sp. nov. and L. keeratikiati sp. nov. are assigned to the trang-group, and L. inthanon sp. nov. is placed in the bristowei-group according to male palp and female genital morphology.

Background: Acting as a viral entry for coronavirus to invade human cells, TMPRSS2 has become a target for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection. Before this, TMPRSS2 has presented biological functions in cancer, but the roles remain controversial and the mechanism remains unelucidated. Some chemicals have been reported to be inhibitors of TMPRSS2 and also demonstrated other pharmacological properties. At this stage, it is important to discover more new compounds targeting TMPRSS2, especially from natural products, for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection.Methods: We analyzed the correlation between TMPRSS2 expression, methylation level, overall survival rate, clinical parameters, biological process, and determined the correlation between TMPRSS2 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the tumor and adjacent normal tissue of adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) respectively by using various types of bioinformatics approaches. Moreover, we determined the correlation between TMPRSS2 protein level and the prognosis of LUAD and LUSC cohorts by immunohistochemistry assay. Furthermore, the cancer immunome atlas (TCIA) database was used to predict the relationship between the expression of TMPRSS2 and response to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blocker immunotherapy in lung cancer patients. Finally, the putative binding site of ginsenosides bound to TMPRSS2 protein was built from homology modeling to screen high-potency TMPRSS2 inhibitors.Results: We found that TMPRSS2 recruits various types of immunocytes, including CD8+, CD4+ T cells, B cells and DCs both in LUAD and LUSC patients, and the correlation between TMPRSS2 expression and CD8+ and CD4+ T cells are stronger in LUAD rather than in LUSC, but excludes macrophages and neutrophils in LUAD patient cohorts. These might be the reason that higher mRNA and protein levels of TMPRSS2 are associated with better prognosis in LUAD cohorts rather than in LUSC cohorts. Furthermore, we found that TMPRSS2 was positively correlated with the prognosis in patient nonresponse to anti-PD-1 therapy. Therefore, we made an inference that increasing the expression level of TMPRSS2 may improve the anti-PD-1 immunotherapy efficacy. Finally, five ginsenosides candidates with high inhibition potency were screened from the natural chemical library to be used as TMPRSS2 inhibitors.Conclusion: All these may imply that TMPRSS2 might be a novel prognostic biomarker and serve as a potential immunomodulator target of immunotherapy combination therapies in LUAD patients nonresponse to anti-PD-1 therapy. Also, these findings may suggest we should pay more attention to LUAD patients, especially those infected with COVID-19, who should avoid medicating TMPRSS2 inhibitors, such as ginsenosides to gain prophylactic and therapeutic benefits against COVID-19.

Five Liphistius Schiödte, 1849 species of the primitively segmented spider family Liphistiidae are currently known from Myanmar. Here, we described a new species, Liphistius pyinoolwin sp. nov. (♂♀), which was collected from Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Region, Myanmar, diagnosed based on its genital morphology. The specimens (2♂♂, 5♀♀) collected by Walter C. Sedgwick from Pyin Oo Lwin in 1982 were misidentified as L. birmanicus Thorell, 1897 and are treated here as the newly described species. Accordingly, we described the males of L. birmanicus for the first time, redescribed its female, using newly collected specimens from Yadò, Than Taung and Kalekho Atet townships, Kayin State. We also provided information on the variation in genital morphology of both species, and their relationships within the birmanicus-group of species.

We report three new species of the segmented trapdoor spider genus Qiongthela Xu & Kuntner, 2015 collected from Hainan Island, China based on morphological characters: Q. dongfang sp. nov. (♂♀), Q. nankai sp. nov. (♂♀), Q. yalin sp. nov. (♂♀). We also provide the GenBank accession codes of the DNA barcode gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), of the type specimens of all three new species to aid future identification.

This study reports two new species of the primitively segmented spider genus Songthela from Hunan Province, China, based on morphological characters: S. huangyang sp. nov. (♂♀), S. xiangnan sp. nov. (♂♀). Additional material also facilitates a more accurate description of S. goulouensis (Yin, 2001) with the first description of the male. Nucleotide data for the barcoding gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), is also provided for these three species.

The primitively segmented spider genus Qiongthela Xu & Kuntner, 2015 consists of seven species that are distributed in Hainan Island, China and southern Vietnam. Of the seven species, five are known from Hainan Island. In this study, four more Qiongthela species collected from Hainan Island are diagnosed and described as new to science based on morphological characters: Q. baoting sp. nov. (♂♀), Q. qiongzhong sp. nov. (♂♀), Q. sanya sp. nov. (♂♀), Q. yinggezui sp. nov. (♂♀). To facilitate future identification, the GenBank accession codes of the DNA barcode gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), for all the type specimens are also provided.

With the abuse and misuse of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance has become a challenging issue in the medical system. Iatrogenic and non-iatrogenic infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens pose serious threats to global human life and health because the efficacy of traditional antibiotics has been greatly reduced and the resulting socio-economic burden has increased. It is important to find and develop non-antibiotic-dependent antibacterial strategies because the development of new antibiotics can hardly keep pace with the emergence of resistant bacteria. Gallium (III) is a multi-target antibacterial agent that has an excellent antibacterial activity, especially against MDR pathogens; thus, a gallium (III)-based treatment is expected to become a new antibacterial strategy. However, some limitations of gallium ions as antimicrobials still exist, including low bioavailability and explosive release. In recent years, with the development of nanomaterials and clathrates, the progress of manufacturing technology, and the emergence of synergistic antibacterial strategies, the antibacterial activities of gallium have greatly improved, and the scope of application in medical systems has expanded. This review summarizes the advancement of current optimization for these key factors. This review will enrich the knowledge about the efficiency and mechanism of various gallium-based antibacterial agents and provide strategies for the improvement of the antibacterial activity of gallium-based compounds.

Based on amino polybenzimidazoles with flexible hydrophilic side chains (AmPBI-MOE) and polymeric ionic liquid (PIL), a series of composite membranes (AmPBI-MOE-PIL-X) were fabricated for vanadium redox flow battery applications. Here, 1-Bromo-2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethane was grafted onto amino polybenzimidazole (AmPBI) by the method of halogenated hydrocarbons, and PIL was synthesized from ionic liquids by in situ radical polymerization to build a hydrogen-bonded cross-linked network within the film. The hydrophilic side chain improves the proton conductivity. With the increase in ionic liquids, the vanadium transmittance and the proton conductivity increase. The AmPBI-MOE-PIL-5 membrane not only exhibits a vanadium ions permeability of 0.88 × 10−9 cm2 min−1, which is much lower than Nafion117 (6.07 × 10−8 cm2 min−1), but also shows a very excellent blocking ability for vanadium ion. The AmPBI-MOE-PIL-5 membrane shows excellent performances at 60 mA cm−2, with VE of 87.93% and EE of 82.87%, both higher than that of Nafion117 membrane in VRFB.

Among the eight extant genera of primitively segmented spiders, family Liphistiidae, two are confined to East Asian islands, Heptathela Kishida, 1923 and Ryuthela Haupt, 1983. In this paper, a taxonomic revision of the genus Heptathela (Heptathelinae) from Kyushu and Ryukyu archipelago, Japan is provided. This study follows a multi-tier species delimitation strategy within an integrative taxonomic framework that is presented in a parallel paper, in which diagnosable lineages are considered as valid species. There, the initial hypothesis of species diversity (19) based on classical morphological diagnoses is tested with multiple species delimitation methods aimed at resolving conflict in data. This revision follows those analyses that converge on the species diversity of 20, which includes a pair of cryptic species that would have been undetected with morphology alone. After this revision, eight previously described species remain valid, two junior synonyms are proposed, and 12 new Heptathela species are described based on diagnostic evidence. To ease identification and to hint at putative evolutionary units, Heptathela is divided into three groups. The Kyushu group contains H. higoensis Haupt, 1983, H. kikuyai Ono, 1998, H. kimurai (Kishida, 1920), and H. yakushimaensis Ono, 1998; the Amami group contains H. amamiensis Haupt, 1983, H. kanenoi Ono, 1996, H. kojima sp. nov., H. sumiyo sp. nov., and H. uken sp. nov.; and the Okinawa group contains H. yanbaruensis Haupt, 1983, H. aha sp. nov., H. gayozan sp. nov., H. kubayama sp. nov., H. mae sp. nov., H. otoha sp. nov., H. shuri sp. nov., H. tokashiki sp. nov., H. unten sp. nov., and H. crypta sp. nov. Heptathela helios Tanikawa & Miyashita, 2014 is not assigned to a species group. A combination of diagnostic tools augments the morphological diagnoses that, in isolation, would be prone to error in morphologically challenging groups of organisms.

Two Liphistius species of the primitively segmented spider family Liphistiidae, collected from Loikaw (Kayah State) and Pinlaung (Shan State), Myanmar, are diagnosed and described as new to science based on their genital morphology: Liphistius hpruso sp. nov. (♀), Liphistius pinlaung sp. nov. (♂♀).

Herein four species of the trapdoor spider genus Conothele Thorell, 1878 collected from China are described as new to science based on the female genital morphology: C. baisha sp. n. (Hainan Province), C. baoting sp. n. (Hainan Province), C. linzhi sp. n. (Tibet), and C. jinggangshan sp. n. (Jiangxi Province). For two Hainan species, C. baisha sp. n. and C. baoting sp. n., between which it is difficult to distinguish solely based on female genital morphology, additional diagnoses derived from species-specific nucleotide substitution information and genetic distances using the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I are provided.

A multi-band absorber based on a hybrid metal-graphene metasurface, which is also suitable for detecting surrounding refractive index, is proposed and studied by numerical simulation. The structure combines a metal disc with a graphene plasmon, which greatly enhances the coupling of light and graphene, and realizes multi-band resonance absorption. The simulated results show that three absorption peaks at 23.5 µm, 24.3 µm and 27.8 µm with the maximal absorption of 96.4%, 99.4% and 99.9% have been achieved, respectively. At the same time, under normal incidence, the absorber is not restricted by the polarization angle of the incident light source. Moreover, the light source can be incident obliquely under two polarization conditions, and the absorber of this structure maintains approximately stable absorption within the range of oblique incident 50°. The dynamic adjustment of the absorption peak can be achieved by flexibly changing the Fermi level of graphene. Furthermore, the absorber we proposed can also be used as a refractive index sensor to detect the surrounding refractive index. The sensitivities are 3.98 µm/RIU, 4.13 µm/RIU and 5.06 µm/RIU, and the maximum figure of merit (FOM) is 16.6, 20.7 and 18.1, respectively.

Prey vary dramatically in quality, and maternal diet is generally assumed to substantially influence offspring survivorship, growth, and reproduction in spiders. Numerous studies that have tested this hypothesis have focused exclusively on parental generation or have considered relatively few fitness components of juvenile offspring. However, maternal diet may have a substantial effect on fitness performance beyond juvenile offspring. Here, we investigated the influence of one-time maternal feeding on multiple offspring fitness components, including the survival rate and growth of juvenile offspring as well as the mating and reproductive success of adult offspring in Hylyphantes graminicola, a sheetweb spider with an extremely short lifespan (∼1 month). We fed field-collected adult female spiders two different diets only once immediately before oviposition: midges (Tendipes sp.) only (MO) or flies (Drosophila melanogaster) only (FO). Juvenile offspring of MO females had significantly higher survival rate, faster growth, and larger male size at maturity than FO offspring. Although maternal diet did not significantly influence mating behavior or fecundity of female offspring overall, those of MO females laid eggs earlier and their eggs also hatched earlier and had a higher hatching rate than those of FO females. Intriguingly, one-time maternal feeding was sufficient to have such an influence on offspring fitness even beyond juvenile offspring in H. graminicola. This one-time maternal effect may be widespread in other spiders and other invertebrates with a short lifespan. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

Two species of the purse-web spider genus Atypus Latreille, 1804 collected from Hainan Island, China, are diagnosed and described as new to science based on genital morphology, A. baotingensis sp. n. (♂♀) and A. jianfengensis sp. n. (♀). The DNA barcodes of the two species are also provided for future use.

Four species of the primitive segmented spider genus Qiongthela Xu & Kuntner, 2015 collected from Hainan Island, China are diagnosed and described as new to science based on their genital morphology: Q. bawang sp. n. (♀), Q. jianfeng sp. n. (♂♀), Q. yini sp. n. (♀), Q. wuzhi sp. n. (♂♀). Together with the type species of Qiongthela, Q. baishensis Xu, 2015, five species are found and described from Hainan, China, and seven species are now known in the genus.

Here for the first time the presence of the trapdoor spider genus Conothele Thorell, 1878 (Araneae: Ctenizidae) is reported from mainland China and Laos. Four Conothele species collected from the regions are described as new to science, based on the female genital morphology: C. baiyunensis Xu, Xu & Liu, sp. n. (Guangdong Province), C. daxinensis Xu, Xu & Li, sp. n. (Guangxi Province), C. sidiechongensis Xu, Xu & Liu, sp. n. (Yunnan Province, China and Vietnam), C. yundingensis Xu, Xu & Li, sp. n. (Yunnan Province).

A broadband terahertz (THz) absorber, based on a graphene metasurface, which consists of a layer of ring-porous patterned structure array and a metallic mirror separated by an ultrathin SiO2 dielectric layer, is proposed and studied by numerical simulation. The simulated results show that the absorptivity of the absorber reaches 90% in the range of 0.91–1.86 THz, and the normalized bandwidth of the absorptivity is 68.6% under normal incidence. In the simulation, the effects of the geometric parameters of the structure on the absorption band have been investigated. The results show that the absorber is insensitive to the incident polarization angle for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) under normal incidence. In addition, the absorber is not sensitive to oblique incidence of the light source under TE polarization conditions, and has an approximately stable absorption bandwidth at the incident angle from 0° to 50°. The absorption band can be adjusted by changing the bias voltage of the graphene Fermi level without varying the nanostructure. Furthermore, we propose that a two-layer graphene structure with the same geometric parameters is separated by a dielectric layer of appropriate thickness. The simulated results show that the absorptivity of the two-layer absorber reaches 90% in the range of 0.83-2.04 THz and the normalized bandwidth of the absorptivity is 84.3% under normal incidence. Because of its excellent characteristics based on graphene metamaterial absorbers, it has an important application value in the field of subwavelength photonic devices.

Joint replacement is essential for the treatment of serious joint disease. However, prosthetic failure remains an important clinical issue, with periprosthesis osteolysis (PO), caused by osteoclastic bone resorption induced by wear particles, being the leading cause of failure. Nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 (NFATc1) appears to play an important role in wear particle-induced osteoclastogenesis, with bicarbonate/chloride exchanger, solute carrier family 4, anion exchanger, member 2, (SLC4A2) being upregulated during osteoclastogenesis in an NFATc1-dependent manner. Anion exchange mediated by SLC4A2 in osteoclasts could affect the bone resorption activity by regulating pHi. This study investigated the role and mechanism of SLC4A2 in wear particle-induced osteoclast differentiation and function in vitro. The use of 4, 4′-diisothiocyano-2,2′-stilbenedisulfonic acid (DIDS), an anion exchange inhibitor, suppressed wear particle-induced PO in vivo. Furthermore, controlled release of DIDS from chitosan microspheres can strengthen the PO therapy effect. Therefore, anion exchange mediated by osteoclastic SLC4A2 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of aseptic loosening of artificial joints.

The spider suborder Mesothelae, containing a single extant family Liphistiidae, represents a species-poor and ancient lineage. These are conspicuous spiders that primitively retain a segmented abdomen and appendage-like spinnerets. While their classification history is nearly devoid of phylogenetic hypotheses, we here revise liphistiid genus level taxonomy based on original sampling throughout their Asian range, and on the evidence from a novel molecular phylogeny. By combining morphological and natural history evidence with phylogenetic relationships in the companion paper, we provide strong support for the monophyly of Liphistiidae, and the two subfamilies Liphistiinae and Heptathelinae. While the former only contains Liphistius Schiödte, 1849, a genus distributed in Indonesia (Sumatra), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, we recognize and diagnose seven heptatheline genera, all but three removed from the synonymy of Heptathela: i) Ganthela Xu & Kuntner, gen. n. with the type species G. yundingensis Xu, sp. n. is known from Fujian and Jiangxi, China; ii) a rediagnosed Heptathela Kishida, 1923 is confined to the Japanese islands (Kyushu and Okinawa); iii) Qiongthela Xu & Kuntner, gen. n. with the type species Q. baishensis Xu, sp. n. is distributed disjunctly in Hainan, China and Vietnam; iv) Ryuthela Haupt, 1983 is confined to the Ryukyu archipelago (Japan); v) Sinothela Haupt, 2003 inhabits Chinese areas north of Yangtze; vi) Songthela Ono, 2000 inhabits southwest China and northern Vietnam; and vii) Vinathela Ono, 2000 (Abcathela Ono, 2000, syn. n.; Nanthela Haupt, 2003, syn. n.) is known from southeast China and Vietnam.

In order to resolve better the deep relationships among salticid spiders, we compiled and analyzed a molecular dataset of 169 salticid taxa (and 7 outgroups) and 8 gene regions. This dataset adds many new taxa to previous analyses, especially among the non-salticoid salticids, as well as two new genes – wingless and myosin heavy chain. Both of these genes, and especially the better sampled wingless, confirm many of the relationships indicated by other genes. The cocalodines are placed as sister to lapsiines, in a broader clade with the spartaeines. Cocalodines, lapsiines, and spartaeines are each supported as monophyletic, though the first two have no known morphological synapomorphies. The lyssomanines appear to be non-monophyletic, of three separate groups: (1) Lyssomanes plus Chinoscopus, (2) Onomastus, and (3) the remainder of Old World species. Several previously-inferred relationships continue to be supported: hisponines as sister to the Salticoida, Amycoida as sister to the remaining Salticoida, and Saltafresia as monophyletic. The relationship of Salticus with Philaeus and relatives is now considered well enough corroborated to move the latter into the subfamily Salticinae. A new clade consisting of the Plexippoida + Aelurilloida + Leptorchesteae + Salticinae is recognized. Nungia is found to be an astioid, and Echeclus, Gedea and Diplocanthopoda to be hasariines. The euophryines are corroborated as monophyletic. The agoriines Agorius and Synagelides are salticoids, within the sister group to amycoids, but their further placement is problematical, perhaps because of their nuclear ribosomal genes’ high GC bias, as also seen in the similarly problematic Eupoa.

PurposeThe purpose of this hospital-based case-control study was to evaluate the patient-related risk factors for aseptic loosening after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Chinese patients.MethodsFrom January 2000 to December 2012, 67 patients undergoing THA and TKA who developed aseptic loosening were detected as case subjects and 336 patients without aseptic loosening, matched by the year of index surgery and type of surgery, were selected as controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsThe demographic factors and comorbid conditions associated with a risk-adjusted increase in aseptic loosening (in decreasing order of significance) were a rural place of residence (OR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.21-4.30; p = 0.011), body mass index (BMI) ≥ 28 kg/m(2) (vs. 18.5-28 kg/m(2)) (OR = 2.29; 95% CI: 1.19-4.41; p = 0.013), developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) (OR = 2.91; 95% CI: 1.11-7.66; p = 0.030), tobacco abuse (OR = 2.88; 95% CI: 1.05-7.89; p = 0.039), and age ConclusionsPatients aged

PURPOSE: The purpose of this hospital-based case-control study was to evaluate the risk factors for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) of total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Chinese patients. METHOD: From January 2000 to December 2012, 45 patients undergoing THA and TKA who developed PJI were recruited for case subjects; controls were 252 without PJI, matched by year of index for surgery and type of surgery. Conditional logistic regressions were run to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Demographic factors and comorbid conditions associated with an increased adjusted risk of PJI (in decreasing order of significance) were diabetes (OR = 5.47, 95% CI: 1.77-16.97; p = 0.003), age (65-75 vs. 45-65 years) (OR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.30-8.69; p = 0.013), BMI (≥28 vs. 18.5-28 kg/m2) (OR = 2.77, 95% CI: 1.20-6.40; p = 0.017), place of residence (rural) (OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.13-6.10; p = 0.025) and alcohol abuse (OR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.06-8.23; p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: Patients with diabetes, older age, BMI of ≥28 kg/m2 and alcohol abuse or living in rural areas, had increased PJI risk. Additional systematic large-scale studies are needed to verify these results.

Intraoperative frozen section (FS) is an effective diagnostic test for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). We evaluated the diagnostic characteristics of single- and multiplex-site intraoperative FS, and evaluated the results of single-site FS combined with those of C-reactive protein (CRP) level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for assessing PJI.We studied 156 painful joint arthroplasties in 152 consecutive patients presenting for revision total joint arthroplasty due to PJI. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to determine the optimal cutoff values for CRP level, ESR, and intraoperative FS histopathology. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of the diagnostic tests were assessed using a 2×2 table.We investigated the diagnostic utility of polymorphonuclear leukocyte number (PMN) per high-power field (HPF) on FS. Our data showed that 5 PMNs per HPF is a suitable diagnostic threshold, with a high accuracy in single- and multiplex-site FS. Five PMNs in any 1 of 5 sites had the highest sensitivity of 0.86 and a specificity of 0.96. Five PMNs in every 1 of 5 sites had greater diagnostic utility, with a specificity of 1; however, the sensitivity of this measure fell to 0.62. Five PMNs in single-site FS had a sensitivity of 0.70 and a specificity of 0.94. Five PMNs in single-site FS or CRP level ≥15 mg/L increased the sensitivity to 0.92; however, the specificity decreased to 0.79.Compared with single-site FS, any 1 positive site on multiplex-site FS may improve sensitivity, while every 1 positive site on multiplex-site FS may improve specificity. Five PMNs in any 1 of 5 sites on FS has excellent utility for the diagnosis of PJI. Additional systematic large-scale studies are needed to verify this result.

Chronic pain is the most prominent and disabling symptom of osteoarthritis (OA). Clinical data suggest that subchondral bone lesions contribute to the occurrence of joint pain. The present study investigated the effect of the inhibition of subchondral bone lesions on joint pain.Osteoarthritic pain was induced by an injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) into the rat knee joint. Zoledronic acid (ZOL), a third generation of bisphosphonate, was used to inhibit subchondral bone lesions. Joint histomorphology was evaluated using X-ray micro computed tomography scanning and hematoxylin-eosin staining. The activity of osteoclast in subchondral bone was evaluated using tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining. Joint pain was evaluated using weight-bearing asymmetry, the expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), and spinal glial activation status using glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule-1 (Iba-1) immunofluorescence. Afferent neurons in the DRGs that innervated the joints were identified using retrograde fluorogold labeling.MIA injections induced significant histomorphological alterations and joint pain. The inhibition of subchondral bone lesions by ZOL significantly reduced the MIA-induced weight-bearing deficit and overexpression of CGRP in DRG neurons, GFAP and Iba-1 in the spinal dorsal horn at 3 and 6 weeks after MIA injection; however, joint swelling and synovial reaction were unaffected.The inhibition of subchondral bone lesions alleviated joint pain. Subchondral bone lesions should be a key target in the management of osteoarthritic joint pain.

Background: Acting as a viral entry for coronavirus to invade human cells, TMPRSS2 has become a target for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection. Before this, TMPRSS2 has presented biological functions in cancer, but the roles remain controversial and the mechanism remains unelucidated. Some chemicals have been reported to be inhibitors of TMPRSS2 and also demonstrated other pharmacological properties. At this stage, it is important to discover more new compounds targeting TMPRSS2, especially from natural products, for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection. Methods: We analyzed the correlation between TMPRSS2 expression, methylation level, overall survival rate, clinical parameters, biological process, and determined the correlation between TMPRSS2 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the tumor and adjacent normal tissue of adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) respectively by using various types of bioinformatics approaches. Moreover, we determined the correlation between TMPRSS2 protein level and the prognosis of LUAD and LUSC cohorts by immunohistochemistry assay. Furthermore, the cancer immunome atlas (TCIA) database was used to predict the relationship between the expression of TMPRSS2 and response to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blocker immunotherapy in lung cancer patients. Finally, the putative binding site of ginsenosides bound to TMPRSS2 protein was built from homology modeling to screen high-potency TMPRSS2 inhibitors. Results: We found that TMPRSS2 recruits various types of immunocytes, including CD8+, CD4+ T cells, B cells and DCs both in LUAD and LUSC patients, and the correlation between TMPRSS2 expression and CD8+ and CD4+ T cells are stronger in LUAD rather than in LUSC, but excludes macrophages and neutrophils in LUAD patient cohorts. These might be the reason that higher mRNA and protein levels of TMPRSS2 are associated with better prognosis in LUAD cohorts rather than in LUSC cohorts. Furthermore, we found that TMPRSS2 was positively correlated with the prognosis in patient nonresponse to anti-PD-1 therapy. Therefore, we made an inference that increasing the expression level of TMPRSS2 may improve the antiPD-1 immunotherapy efficacy. Finally, five ginsenosides candidates with high inhibition potency were screened from the natural chemical library to be used as TMPRSS2 inhibitors. Conclusion: All these may imply that TMPRSS2 might be a novel prognostic biomarker and serve as a potential immunomodulator target of immunotherapy combination therapies in LUAD patients nonresponse to anti-PD-1 therapy. Also, these findings may suggest we should pay more attention to LUAD patients, especially those infected with COVID-19, who should avoid medicating TMPRSS2 inhibitors, such as ginsenosides to gain prophylactic and therapeutic benefits against COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]