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Sonic hedgehog subtype medulloblastoma is featured with overactivation of hedgehog pathway and can be targeted by SMO-specific inhibitors. However, the resistance is frequently developed leading to treatment failure of SMO inhibitors. W535L mutation of SMO (SMOIn this study, we profiled transcriptomes, methylomes, and interactomes of MB cells expression SMOWT or SMOW535L in the treatment of DMSO or SMO inhibitor, respectively.Analysis of transcriptomic data indicated that SMO inhibitor disrupted processes of endocytosis and cilium organization in MB cells with SMOTaken together, our work described SMO-related transcriptomes, metabolomes, and interactomes under different SMO status and treatment conditions, identifying CK2 and AKT as therapeutic targets for SHH-subtype MB cells with SMO inhibitor resistance.

In the study, we synthesize a novel auto-catalytic phthalonitrile monomer containing siloxane segments and secondary amino groups. The phthalonitrile monomer has good processability. And the new polymer shows a higher Tg.

With uncontrolled inflammatory progression, acute pancreatitis (AP) can progress to severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). Inflammation and parenchymal cell death are key pathologic responses of AP. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) plays a pro-inflammatory role in AP. Myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88 (MyD88) is the most essential utilized adaptor of TLR4, but its role in AP remains unclear. We investigated the potential role of MyD88 in the pathogenesis of AP.An AP model was induced by administering either cerulein or L-arginine to wild-type or MyD88-deficient mice. Additionally, receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIP1) inhibitor necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) was administered to the MyD88The deletion of MyD88 resulted in more severe acute experimental pancreatitis as assessed by increased amylase and lipase activities, increased pancreatic MPO activity, a reduced anti-inflammatory response, reduced apoptosis, and increased necrosis. Additionally, Nec-1 treatment significantly reduced necrosis in the MyD88The deletion of MyD88 inhibited the TLR4/MyD88-dependent pathway mediated protective immune defense response and enhanced TLR4/MyD88-independent TRIF pathway-mediated pancreatic necrosis, which in turn aggravated the severity of AP. The critical role of MyD88 in immune defense response and cell death indicates that MyD88 represents a potential therapeutic target in the management of AP.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant form of glioma, and the overall survival time of patients with GBM is usually less than 14 months. Therefore, it is urgent to find new and effective medicine for GBM. Recently, marine natural products have been shown to exhibit strong inhibitory effects on cancer cells, providing a new avenue for exploring novel drugs for GBM treatment. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of the Grincamycin (GCN) B-F, newly isolated from marine-derived Streptomyces Lusitanus SCSIO LR32, on GBM cells, and evaluated the mechanism of GCN B on GBM. The results, for the first time, showed that GCN B acted as a potent inhibitor to suppress growth and invasion of two human GBM cell lines U251 and 091214 in vitro. In addition, GCN B could effectively target GSCs in GBM evidenced by attenuated formation of tumor spheres and decrease of several markers of GSCs. Furthermore, we performed gene expression microarray followed by Signal-Net analysis. The result revealed that RHOA and PI3K/AKT axis played critical roles for a GCN B-mediated inhibitory effect on GSCs. Altogether, our findings highlighted GCN B as a promising inhibitor for GSCs via targeting RHOA and PI3K/AKT.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) constitute a large population of glioblastoma and facilitate tumor growth and invasion of tumor cells, but the underlying mechanism remains undefined. In this study, we demonstrate that chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 8 (CCL8) is highly expressed by TAMs and contributes to pseudopodia formation by GBM cells. The presence of CCL8 in the glioma microenvironment promotes progression of tumor cells. Moreover, CCL8 induces invasion and stem-like traits of GBM cells, and CCR1 and CCR5 are the main receptors that mediate CCL8-induced biological behavior. Finally, CCL8 dramatically activates ERK1/2 phosphorylation in GBM cells, and blocking TAM-secreted CCL8 by neutralized antibody significantly decreases invasion of glioma cells. Taken together, our data reveal that CCL8 is a TAM-associated factor to mediate invasion and stemness of GBM, and targeting CCL8 may provide an insight strategy for GBM treatment.

Invasive growth of glioblastoma makes residual tumor unremovable by surgery and leads to disease relapse. Temozolomide is widely used first-line chemotherapy drug to treat glioma patients, but development of temozolomide resistance is almost inevitable. Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of non-apoptotic cell death, is found to be related to temozolomide response of gliomas. However, whether inducing ferroptosis could affect invasive growth of glioblastoma cells and which ferroptosis-related regulators were involved in temozolomide resistance are still unclear. In this study, we treated glioblastoma cells with RSL3, a ferroptosis inducer, in vitro (cell lines) and in vivo (subcutaneous and orthotopic animal models). The treated glioblastoma cells with wild-type or mutant IDH1 were subjected to RNA sequencing for transcriptomic profiling. We then analyze data from our RNA sequencing and public TCGA glioma database to identify ferroptosis-related biomarkers for prediction of prognosis and temozolomide resistance in gliomas. Analysis of transcriptome data from RSL3-treated glioblastoma cells suggested that RSL3 could inhibit glioblastoma cell growth and suppress expression of genes involved in cell cycle. RSL3 effectively reduced mobility of glioblastoma cells through downregulation of critical genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Moreover, RSL3 in combination with temozolomide showed suppressive efficacy on glioblastoma cell growth, providing a promising therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma treatment. Although temozolomide attenuated invasion of glioblastoma cells with mutant IDH1 more than those with wild-type IDH1, the combination of RSL3 and temozolomide similarly impaired invasive ability of glioblastoma cells in spite of IDH1 status. Finally, we noticed that both ferritin heavy chain 1 and ferritin light chain predicted unfavorable prognosis of glioma patients and were significantly correlated with mRNA levels of methylguanine methyltransferase as well as temozolomide resistance. Altogether, our study provided rationale for combination of RSL3 with temozolomide to suppress glioblastoma cells and revealed ferritin heavy chain 1 and ferritin light chain as biomarkers to predict prognosis and temozolomide resistance of glioma patients.

The severity of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (APIP) is correlated with higher risks of maternal and fetal death.To develop a nomogram that could predict moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (MSIP).Patients with APIP admitted to West China Hospital between January 2012 and December 2018 were included in this study. They were divided into mild acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (MAIP) and MSIP. Characteristic parameters and laboratory results were collected. The training set and test set were randomly divided at a ratio of 7:3. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression was used to select potential prognostic factors. A nomogram was developed by logistic regression. A random forest model was used to validate the stability of the prediction factors. Receiver operating characteristic curves and calibration curves were used to evaluate the model's predictive performance.A total of 190 patients were included in this study. A total of 134 patients (70.5%) and 56 patients (29.5%) were classified as having MAIP and MSIP, respectively. Four independent predictors (lactate dehydrogenase, triglyceride, cholesterol, and albumin levels) were identified for MSIP. A nomogram prediction model based on these factors was established. The model had areas under the curve of 0.865 and 0.853 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The calibration curves showed that the nomogram has a good consistency.A nomogram including lactate dehydrogenase, triglyceride, cholesterol, and albumin levels as independent predictors was built with good performance for MSIP prediction.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been increasingly linked to cancer progression. However, the detailed biological functions of circRNAs in prostate cancer (PCa) remain unclear. Using high-throughput circRNA sequencing, we previously identified 18 urine extracellular vesicle circRNAs that were increased in patients with PCa compared with those with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Spearman correlation analysis of the expression levels of the 18 circRNAs between the tumor tissue and matched urine extracellular vesicles in 30 PCa patients showed that circSCAF8 had the highest R2 (R2 = 0.635, P P = 0.022). Mechanistically, circSCAF8 can function by binding to both miR-140-3p and miR-335 to regulate LIF expression and activate the LIF-STAT3 pathway that leads to the growth and metastasis of PCa. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that circSCAF8 contributes to PCa progression through the circSCAF8-miR-140-3p/miR-335-LIF pathway.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and devastating clinical disorder featured by excessive inflammatory responses. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an indispensable molecule for regulating inflammation and immune response in multiple diseases, but the role of STING in the ALI pathogenesis is not well elucidated. In this study, we explored the molecular mechanisms of STING in regulating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury. Mice were pretreated with a STING inhibitor C-176 (15, 30 mg/kg, i.p.) before LPS inhalation to induce ALI. We showed that LPS inhalation significantly increased STING expression in the lung tissues, whereas C-176 pretreatment dose-dependently suppressed the expression of STING, decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, and IL-1β, and restrained the expression of chemokines and adhesion molecule vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (VCAM-1) in the lung tissues. Consistently, in vitro experiments conducted in TNF-α-stimulated HMEC-1cells (common and classic vascular endothelial cells) revealed that human STING inhibitor H-151 or STING siRNA downregulated the expression levels of adhesion molecule and chemokines in HMEC-1cells, accompanied by decreased adhesive ability and chemotaxis of immunocytes upon TNF-α stimulation. We further revealed that STING inhibitor H-151 or STING knockdown significantly decreased the phosphorylation of transcription factor STAT1, which subsequently influenced its binding to chemokine CCL2 and adhesive molecule VCAM-1 gene promoter. Collectively, STING inhibitor can alleviate LPS-induced ALI in mice by preventing vascular endothelial cells-mediated immune cell chemotaxis and adhesion, suggesting that STING may be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ALI.

The exploitation of new photocatalysts based p-n heterojunction is attracting the attention of the researchers due to its high photocatalytic performance. In this study, ZnWO4/BiOBr heterojunction were successfully prepared via a hydrothermal and a simple deposition method. The obtained ZnWO4/BiOBr composite exhibited superior photocatalytic activity towards refractory pollutants tetracycline (TC) degradation. Among, the samples of ZB-2 (Zn/Bi molar ratios is 0.2) exhibited the best photocatalytic performance. Based on the LC–MS analysis, a possible degradation pathway of TC is also suggested. The optical and electrical properties of the obtained materials demonstrated that the fast transfer of electron-hole pairs was achieved in ZnWO4/BiOBr hybrid though constructing a p-n junction. Furthermore, the activity of the catalyst is still high level without significant loss up to four successive cycles. This work provided a new thought for enhanced visible light photocatalytic performance of zinc tungstate.

Rationale: Around 10%-20% patients with glioblastoma (GBM) are diagnosed with more than one tumor lesions or multifocal GBM (mGBM). However, the understanding on genetic, DNA methylomic, and transcriptomic characteristics of mGBM is still limited. Methods: In this study, we collected nine tumor foci from three mGBM patients followed by whole genome sequencing, whole genome bisulfite sequencing, RNA sequencing, and immunohistochemistry. The data were further examined using public GBM databases and GBM cell line. Results: Analysis on genetic data confirmed common features of GBM, including gain of chr.7 and loss of chr.10, loss of critical tumor suppressors, high frequency of PDGFA and EGFR amplification. Through profiling DNA methylome of individual tumor foci, we found that promoter methylation status of genes involved in detection of chemical stimulus, immune response, and Hippo/YAP1 pathway was significantly changed in mGBM. Although both CNV and promoter methylation alteration were involved in heterogeneity of different tumor foci from same patients, more CNV events than promoter hypomethylation events were shared by different tumor foci, implying CNV were relatively earlier than promoter methylation alteration during evolution of different tumor foci from same mGBM. Moreover, different tumor foci from same mGBM assumed different molecular subtypes and mesenchymal subtype was prevalent in mGBM, which might explain the worse prognosis of mGBM than single GBM. Interestingly, we noticed that LIF and CCL2 was tightly correlated with mesenchymal subtype tumor focus in mGBM and predicted poor survival of GBM patients. Treatment with LIF and CCL2 produced mesenchymal-like transcriptome in GBM cells. Conclusions: Together, our work herein comprehensively profiled multi-omics features of mGBM and emphasized that components of extracellular microenvironment, such as LIF and CCL2, contributed to the evolution and prognosis of tumor foci in mGBM patients.

The effect of different types of polymers, partly hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM), hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide (HMPAM) and co-polymer, on the dynamic interfacial tensions (IFTs) of benzyl substituted alkyl sulfobetaine (BSB) against n-alkanes, kerosene and crude oil have been investigated by a spinning drop interfacial tensiometer. The influence of polymer concentration on IFTs was expounded. The experimental results show that betaine has high interfacial activity and the addition of polymer has great influence on both dynamic IFT behaviors and equilibrium values between surfactant solution and n-alkanes mainly by modifying the interfacial molecular arrangement on the interface. However, the addition of polymer affects the dynamic IFTs of surfactant solution against kerosene and crude oil, but has little effect on the equilibrium IFT values. Active substances existing in kerosene and the in situ produced petroleum acidic soaps play a synergistic effect with betaine to reduce the IFTs. The increase of viscosity of aqueous phase caused by polymer influence the adsorption of the surfactant at the interface, slowing down the decrease of IFTs and changing the minimum transient IFT values.

In order to ensure stable, correct and real-time high-speed transmission of indoor visible light communication (VLC), the key modulation and demodulation technologies of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) are studied in this paper. The time-domain synchronization, frequency synchronization and channel equalization of receiver are analyzed and optimized by utilizing short and long training preamble. Moreover, field programmable gate array (FPGA) development board (Xilinx Kintex-7) and Verilog hardware description language are used to realize the design of proposed OFDM-VLC system. Simulation and experiment both verify the feasibility of the hardware designs of this system. The proposed OFDM-based VLC system can process signal in real-time, which can be used in actual VLC application systems.

Let(X, T) be topological space. A vietoris-type topology, called the locally finite topology, is defined on the hyperspace 2X of all closed, nonempty subsets of X . In this paper, we discuss m-compactness of the locally finite topology on hyperspace. And give the important conclusion, therefore this develops E. Micheal, J. Keesling some results.

Certificateless-based signature can eliminate the need of certificates in the Public Key Infrastructure and solve the inherent key escrow problem in the identity-based cryptography. In 2012 Zhang et al. [J. Zhang and J. Mao, An efficient RSA-based certificateless signature scheme, Journal of Systems and Software, vol. 85, pp. 638-642, 2012] proposed the first certificateless signature scheme based on RSA operations and showed that their scheme is provably secure in the random oracle model. However, He et al. [D. He, M.Khan, and S. Wu, On the security of a RSA-based certificateless signature scheme, International Journal of Network Security, vol.16, no.1, pp.78-80, 2014] recently showed that Zhang et al.'s scheme is insecure against a type I adversary who can replace users' public keys. In this paper, we propose an improved version based on RSA which not only keeps the original security properties of the signature, but also is secure against a type I adversary.

In order to obtain the maximum relative density of γ-Ti-46.6Al-1.4Mn-2Mo alloy, the effects of the sintering temperature, heating preservation time and compacting force prepared by hot pressing were studied using Back Propagation (BP) Neural Network. The process parameters were optimized by Genetic Algorithm (GA) contributed by the use of Matlab. The results show that the optimum preparation process for Ti-46.6Al-1.4Mn-2Mo alloy are hot-pressing sintering temperature of 1374oC, heating preservation time of 291 min, compacting force of 37Mpa. The relative density of Ti-46.6Al-1.4Mn-2Mo alloy prepared under the condition is 96.11% (predicted value is 96.87%) with the relative error was only 0.78%. The microstructures of Ti-46.6Al-1.4Mn-2Mo alloy are studied by X-ray, optical microscope and SEM.

This paper reports a high-speed OOK-NRZ visible light communication system using red, green and blue LDs, data rates of 1940Mb/s, 2660Mb/s and 2670Mb/s are obtained over distance of ∼1.5m. All the BERs are below 10-9.

The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the technological viability, basic safety and consequence of central pancreatectomy (CP) with pancreaticogastrostomy in properly chosen sufferers with noncancerous central pancreatic pathology. This research is centered on the infirmary charts of West China hospital. We recruited 20 individuals from 2007 to 2009 diagnosed with benign cancerous growth of pancreatic body and neck. They underwent pancreatic body and neck resection adhering to pancreaticogastrostomy. We carried out central pancreatectomy following pancreaticogastrostomy in 20 patients: 8 with serous cyst adenomas, 11 with mucinous cystadenomas, and 1 with neuroendocrine tumor. The position of all tumors was restricted to body and neck of the pancreas, measuring a mean ± standard deviation of 2.6±1.3cm. The mean post-operative hospital stay was 7 days (ranging from 6 to 16 days).There was no intraoperative additional complications. From a technical perspective, CP is a safe and sound, pancreas-preserving pancreatectomy for non-enucleable non-cancerous pancreatic pathology restricted to the pancreatic body.

Objectives This study aimed to address whether hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is beneficial for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) in early stages. Methods Forty-one patients with SAP were randomized to HES group (n = 20) and the Ringer's lactate (RL) group (n = 21). The groups received 6% HES 130/0.4 for 8 days and RL solution without colloid, respectively. The primary end point was the IAP. The secondary end points were fluid balance, major organ complications, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Heath Evaluation II score, and the serum levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8. Results The characteristics of baseline data were similar in the 2 groups. In the HES group, the IAP was significantly lower in 2 to 7 days, and fewer patients received mechanical ventilation (15.0% vs 47.6%). A negative fluid balance was observed earlier in the HES group than in the RL group (2.5 ± 2.2 vs 4.0 ± 2.5 days). Conclusions Fluid resuscitation with HES in the early stages of SAP can decrease the risk of intra-abdominal hypertension and reduce the use of mechanical ventilation.

The vibration tapping technology has been employed with success on some difficult-to-machine material such as titanium alloy, hardened steel and so on. However, there are very few studies on the application of the torsion vibration tapping in particle reinforced aluminum. The tapping performance of small size thread holes in particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites Al2O3p/Al and SiCp/Al during common tapping and low-frequency vibration tapping using high speed steal(HSS) machine-used taps is researched experimentally in this work. The influence of vibration parameters, e.g. cutting speed V, net forward angle of each stroke LT and times of repeat cutting Q on tapping torque, tool wear, tool life and quality of thread holes is investigated during the experimentation. The results show that the common vibration tapping with small amplitude, relatively high frequency and a lot of repeat cutting times suit to tap the Al2O3p/Al, whereas the step vibration tapping with large amplitude, relatively low frequency and a few repeat cutting times suit to tap the SiCp/Al due to difference performance of the two kinds of material. The influence of Q and LT on the quality of thread holes, tapping torque and tool life is sensitive on the Al2O3p/Al, whereas the influence of V and Q on the quality of thread holes, tool wear and tool life is sensitive on the SiCp/Al. Furthermore, the optimum vibration parameter in the Al2O3p/Al by dry cutting is cutting speed of 400r/min, net forward angle of each stroke of 1.5°, backward angle of each stroke of 45°. The optimum vibration parameter in SiCp/Al by dry cutting is cutting speed of 220r/min, net forward angle of each stroke of 420°, backward angle of each stroke of 430°. From the test results and micrographs, it was observed that the particle could be fractured on the surface finish on tapping processing. The proper vibration tapping parameter can void the adhesion in the tap flute, decrease the tapping torque, improve the quality of thread hole and prolong the tap life.

Objective The purpose was to investigate single nucleotide polymorphism of the vitamin D recepter gene and its possible relationship with colorectal cancer (CRC) in a Chinese population. Methods The vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using endonuclease BsmI and FokI, and direct sequencing in 400 Chinese people, comprised of 200 CRC patients and 200 controls from the same area in China. Results The distribution of alleles (F/f) and genotypes (FF/Ff/ff) of the FokI had no significant difference between CRC patients and normal controls (P > 0.05), while that of the B allele and the BB genotype of the BsmI in CRC patients was significantly lower compared with the control group (0.1625 versus 0.740, P

By establishing C57-BABL/c mice allogeneic skin transplantation model, to analyze the immune system function with the administration of thymosin al (Tal) in mouse after skin transplantation; and to explore the mechanism of specific immune tolerance induced by Tal in vivo.80 C57 mice and 80 BABL/c mice were used as donor and acceptor respectively to establish C57-BABL/c mice allogeneic skin transplantation model and divided into four groups: Group A, control group (without any treatment, n=20); Group B, CsA treatment group (CsA 10 mg/kg, n=20); Group C, Tal treatment group (Tal 400 microg/kg, n=20) and Group D, combination therapy group (CsA 10 mg/kgTalphal 400 microg/kg, n=20). In the three experimental group, the drug of each group were respectively administrated by intraperitoneal injection daily, for 21 d. The survival of skin graft were observed and recorded, the Luminexx MAP for cytokine detection were performed in 1, 7, 14, 21 d after treatment, skin grafts were taking for HE staining, and flow cytometry were performed for lymphocyte phenotype.After transplantation, in 1, 7, 14, 21 d, the cytokine of Group B, C and ID compared to Group A, as well as Group D to BC respectively, shows a decreaing of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-17 value and increasing of IL-10 significantly (P0.05) at the same time point; While no statistical significance shows between Group B and C. Compared with other groups, Group D have a high ratio of CD4/CD8, and a high percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T cells (P0.05).Administrated Tal after transplantation, can decrease the graft damage from T cells, but could not prevent rejection.

To study the clinical significance of CD163 in the diagnosis and the evaluation of severity and prognosis of childhood hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH).Ninety-four children were classified into Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive (n=55) and EBV-negative groups (n=39; control group). The EBV-positive group was subgrouped into infectious mononucleosis (IM; n=47) and HLH (n=8). Serum levels of soluble CD163 were measured using ELISA. Expression of CD163 on mononuclear cells was detected by flow cytometry.The serum levels of soluble CD163 were10 000 ng/mL in all eight HLH patients (30 000 ng/mL in 3 cases). The mean serum levels of soluble CD163 in the HLH group were significantly higher than in the control and IM groups (P0.05). The serum levels of soluble CD163 in EBV-positive children were positively correlated with EBV-DNA copies and serum levels of ferritin and LDH, but were negatively correlated with white blood cell count, neutrophil count, hemoglobin and platelet count. The follow-up after treatment for three HLH patients showed that serum levels of soluble CD163 were significantly reduced, but the soluble CD163 levels rebounded in one patient who was complicated by fungal pneumonia infection.The levels of serum soluble CD163 may be related to the severity in children with HLH. The EBV-positive children with soluble CD163 levels10 000 ng/mL should be considered the possibility of HLH.

Background The objective of this paper was to study antimicrobial activity and safety of Enterococcus faecium KQ 2.6 (E. faecium KQ 2.6) isolated from peacock feces. Methods Agar well diffusion method was adopted in antimicrobial activity assay. Disk diffusion test was used to determine the antibiotic resistance. The identification and virulence potential of E. faecium KQ 2.6 were investigated using PCR amplification. Results The results indicated that cell free supernatant (CFS) of the strain had the good antimicrobial activity against selected gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The biochemical characteristics of antimicrobial substances were investigated. The results indicated that the antimicrobial substances were still active after treatment with catalase and proteinase, respectively. Moreover, the stability of antimicrobial substances did not change after heat treatment at 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80°C for 30 min, respectively. The activity of antimicrobial substances remained stable at 4 and −20°C after long time storage. The antimicrobial activity of CFS was compared with that of the buffer with similar strength and pH. The inhibitory zone of the buffer was apparently smaller than that of CFS, which meant that the acid in CFS was not the only factor that was contributed to antibacterial activity of CFS. The antibiotic resistance and virulence potential were evaluated using disk diffusion test and PCR amplification. The results showed that E. faecium KQ 2.6 did not harbor any tested virulence genes such as gelE, esp, asa1, cylA, efaA and hyl. It was susceptible to most of tested antibiotics except for vancomycin and polymyxin B. Conclusion E. faecium KQ 2.6 may be used as bio-preservative cultures for the production of fermented foods.

Pregnant adult C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to four groups: one sham and three irradiated groups that were exposed to β-irradiation from tritiated water (HTO) by a single intraperitoneal injection on Day 12.5 of gestation. The offspring received cumulative doses of 0.036, 0.071, and 0.213 Gy, respectively. The litters were observed for postnatal growth (body weight, brain weight), the development of four physiologic milestones (pinna detachment, eye opening, testes decent, vaginal opening), the acquisition age of several reflexes (cliff avoidance, air righting) and sensory functions (auditory startle, thermal reflex), movement and coordination functions and activity (pivoting, foot splay, continuous corridor activity), learning and memory performance (shock avoidance, conditioning reflex), and the density of CA1–CA4 hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Modest but significant dose-dependent neuronal death and functional impairment were seen in both 0.071 and 0.213 Gy groups. In conclusion, even prenatal low-dose β-radiation may impair murine central nervous system (CNS) development suggesting the potential importance of minimizing environmental exposure during human pregnancy.

To analysis the effects of Talpha1 on the immune effector molecules in mouse immune system.Sixty five BABL/c mice were divided into four groups: CsA group (n=20), Talpha1 group (n= 20), CsA+Talpha1 group (n=20) and control group (n=5). In the 3 experimental groups, 10 mg/kg CsA, 400 microg/ kg Talpha1, 10 mg/kg CsA+400 microg/kg Talpha1 were respectively administrated by intraperitoneal injection daily. Luminex was performed for cytokine detection at 1 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d day after the above treatments. Lymphocyte culture was prepared with the mouse spleen suspension, and then treated with 0. 25 mg/mL CsA, 10 microg/mL Talpha1 or 0.25 mg/mL CsA+10 microg/mL Talpha1 in vitro, respectively. Three days later, OD values of each treated lymphocyte culture and several cytokines in the culture were measured.Compared with other groups, CsA+Talpha1 group had significant lower IL-1alpha, IL-2, IL-6, IL-17, and significant higher IL-10 at 1 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d after the treatments (P0.05). Three days after the culture, OD value in the control group was significantly higher than that in Talppha1 group, CsA group, and CsA+ Talpha1 group (P0.05). IL-1alpa and IL-6 in the control group were significantly higher than those in the experiment groups (P0.05), while IL-10 in the control group was significantly lower than that in the experiment groups (P0.05). IL-2 and IL-17 were similar.Talpha1 show regulatory effect on the immune effector molecules which could promote Th1 cells transforming to Th2 cells.

The luminescence spectra of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells light-emitting diodes under low level injection current (4 mA) during aging process was investigated for the first time. Comparing the electroluminescence (EL) spectra of LEDs before and after aging time it was found that the peak wavelength and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) decreased with stress time and the changes of EL spectrum had two different stages-drastic decrease at the early stress stage and slow decrease later showing the same trend with the output optical power of LEDs, which indicates that the effective polarization electric field of LEDs becomes weak during the aging process and the change has a clear correlation with the increase of the defects in the multiple quantum wells of LEDs. Electrical measurement revealed that junction capacitance (C(j)) under the same junction voltage (V(j) = 1.8 V) and the junction voltage (V(j)) with the same injection current 1 mA calculated by ac small-signal IV method increased along with aging time, which explicates that the carrier density under the same low injection increases as the aging time increases. Analyses indicate that the polarization field in the quantum well is more seriously screened by the increased carriers captured by defects activated during stress time, the weaker effective polarization electric field makes the tilt of the energy band smaller, the energy radiated through the band edge and the density of energy states of the band edge increase which leads to the behaviors of peak wavelength and the FWHM of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells LEDs under low level injection current.

OBJECTIVE To clarify the roles of organ failure and infection in the outcome of necrotizing pancreatitis. BACKGROUND Results of previous cohort studies that focused on the roles of infection and organ failure in acute pancreatitis are controversial. METHODS In this study, we collected the medical records of 447 patients with necrotizing pancreatitis from January 2009 to June 2012. Data associated with organ failure and infection were analyzed. RESULTS The overall mortality rate was 13% (58/447). Intervention was performed in 223 of 447 patients. Among these 223 patients, 134 were confirmed to be with infected necrosis by a positive culture. The mortality rate was 15% (13/89) in the sterile necrosis group and 18% (24/134) in the infected necrosis group (P = 0.52). A multivariate analysis of death predictors indicated that bacteremia (odds ratio [OR] = 2.76, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23-5.46, P < 0.001), age (OR = 1.07, 95% CI, 1.03-1.11, P < 0.001), American Society of Anesthesiologists class (OR = 3.56, 95% CI, 1.65-7.18, P = 0.001), persistent organ failure in the first week (OR = 16.72, 95% CI, 7.04-32.56, P < 0.001), and pancreatic necrosis (OR = 1.73, 95% CI, 1.14-2.98, P = 0.008) were significant factors. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, the effects of organ failure on mortality are more critical than those of infection. Bacteremia, age, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, persistent organ failure in the first week, and pancreatic necrosis were identified as the predictors of mortality.

Background Uremic pruritus is a common and intractable symptom in patients on chronic hemodialysis, but factors associated with the severity of pruritus remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the associations of metabolic factors and dialysis adequacy with the aggravation of pruritus. Methods We conducted a 5-year prospective cohort study on patients with maintenance hemodialysis. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess the intensity of pruritus. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory parameters, dialysis adequacy (assessed by Kt/V), and pruritus intensity were recorded at baseline and follow-up. Change score analysis of the difference score of VAS between baseline and follow-up was performed using multiple linear regression models. The optimal threshold of Kt/V, which is associated with the aggravation of uremic pruritus, was determined by generalized additive models and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results A total of 111 patients completed the study. Linear regression analysis showed that lower Kt/V and use of low-flux dialyzer were significantly associated with the aggravation of pruritus after adjusting for the baseline pruritus intensity and a variety of confounding factors. The optimal threshold value of Kt/V for pruritus was 1.5 suggested by both generalized additive models and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Conclusions Hemodialysis with the target of Kt/V ≥1.5 and use of high-flux dialyzer may reduce the intensity of pruritus in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Further clinical trials are required to determine the optimal dialysis dose and regimen for uremic pruritus.

Uremic pruritus is common and bothersome in patients receiving either peritoneal dialysis (PD) or hemodialysis (HD). To date, the preferred dialysis modality regarding the alleviation of uremic pruritus remains controversial. We conducted this cross-sectional study to compare the prevalence, intensity, and characteristics of uremic pruritus between PD and HD patients. Patients receiving maintenance dialysis at a referral medical center in Taiwan were recruited. Dialysis modality, patient demographic, clinical characteristics, and laboratory data were recorded. The intensity of uremic pruritus was measured using visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to compare the severity of uremic pruritus between PD and HD patients. Generalized additive models were applied to detect nonlinear effects between pruritus intensity and continuous covariates. A total of 380 patients completed this study, with a mean age of 60.3 years and 49.2% being female. Uremic pruritus was presented in 24 (28.6%) of the 84 PD patients and 113 (38.2%) of the 296 HD patients (P = .12). The VAS score of pruritus intensity was significantly lower among the PD patients than the HD patients (1.32 ± 2.46 vs 2.26 ± 3.30, P = .04). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that PD was an independent predictor for lower VAS scores of pruritus intensity compared with HD (β-value −0.88, 95% confidence interval −1.62 to −0.13). The use of active vitamin D was also an independent predictor for a lower intensity of uremic pruritus, whereas hyperphosphatemia and higher serum levels of triglyceride and aspartate transaminase were significantly associated with higher pruritus intensity. There was a trend toward a less affected body surface area of uremic pruritus in the PD patients than in the HD patients, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = .13). In conclusion, the severity of uremic pruritus was lower among PD patients than HD patients, and PD may provide better alleviation of pruritus symptoms. The result provides a valuable reference for clinicians and patients when choosing a dialysis modality.