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Chlorogenic acid (CA) has been discovered to regulate macrophage polarization in pneumonia. This study aims to analyze the functional mechanism of CA in alveolar macrophage (AM) polarization and provide a theoretical basis for treatment of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp)‐induced pneumonia. Mice were infected with Kp, and treated with CA and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) inhibitor (Selisistat). Mouse survival rate was recorded and bacterial burden was detected. AM polarization and pathologic change of lung tissues were evaluated. Expressions of SIRT1 and HMGB1 and cytokine levels were detected. MH‐S cells were infected with Kp to establish the pneumonia cell model, followed by transfection of si‐SIRT1 and HMGB1 overexpression vector. The HMGB1 expression in the nucleus and cytoplasm was detected. HMGB1 subcellular localization and HMGB1 acetylation level were detected. Kp led to high death rates, SIRT down‐regulation and increases in inflammatory factor level and bacterial burden, and promoted M1 polarization. CA treatment improved mouse survival rate and promoted M2 polarization and SIRT1 expression. SIRT1 decreased HMGB1 acetylation level to inhibit nuclear to the cytoplasm translocation. Silencing SIRT1 or HMGB1 overexpression reversed the effect of CA on Kp‐induced pneumonia. Overall, CA activated SIRT1 to inhibit HMGB1 acetylation level and nuclear translocation, thereby promoting M2 polarization in AMs and alleviating Kp‐induced pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industrial production, the pollution level of industrial smoke and dust is often judged based on Ringelmann scale. An effective method is to monitor the industrial smoke using computer vision system. The accurate segmentation of smoke targets is the key to this system. Since the shape of industrial smoke is variable and similar to cloud, the existing algorithms do not work well in complex scenes, so the accuracy of segmentation needs to be improved. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes an industrial smoke image segmentation method based on FCN-LSTM. On the basis of using fully convolutional network (FCN) to extract spatial features of the image, the time information of the image sequence is extracted by long short-term memory network (LSTM). The dynamic features of smoke and dust are used to distinguish the moving smoke and background, so as to enhance the anti-interference ability in complex scenes. Experiments show that, compared with the FCN, the proposed model can significantly improve the anti-interference ability in complex scenes. The model can effectively overcome the interference from the cloud, and solve the problem of interference points in the segmentation results of FCN. The indicator is increased by up to 8. 04%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide residues have become a healthy threaten of human beings. Among the pesticides, many of them have neurotoxicity. Extracellular Regulated Protein Kinases (ERK) pathway is an important signaling pathway that regulates a variety of downstream progress. In this work, peach (PRUNUS persica) and cherry (PRUNUS cerasus) were sampled from over 300 plantations in China and assessed for the residue risk. In mechanism studies, high‐risk pesticide Avermectin showed a high activity inhibiting three neurotoxicity models, SH‐SY5Y, PC‐12 and SK‐N‐SH cells. At protein levels, ERK pathway proteins and their downstream proteins were obviously down‐regulated. Moreover, the effects of low‐dose Avermectin can be accumulated at protein levels in the low‐dose long‐term chronic toxicology detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) disease is one of the most serious silkworm diseases, and it has caused great economic losses to the sericulture industry. So far, the disease has not been controlled effectively by therapeutic agents. Breeding resistant silkworm varieties breeding may be an effective way to improve resistance to BmNPV and reduce economic losses. A precise resistance-detection method will help to accelerate the breeding process. For this purpose, here we described the individual inoculation method (IIM). Details of the IIM include pathogen BmNPV preparation, mulberry leaf size, pathogen volume, rearing conditions, course of infection, and breeding conditions. Finally, a resistance comparison experiment was performed using the IIM and the traditional group inoculation method (GIM). The incidence of BmNPV infection and the within-group variance results showed that the IIM was more precise and reliable than the GIM.

Apoptosis and autophagy play crucial roles during Bombyx mori metamorphosis and in response to various adverse conditions, including starvation. Recently, calpain, one of the major intracellular proteases, has been reported to be involved in apoptosis and autophagy in mammals. BmATG5 and BmATG6 have been identified tomediate apoptosis following autophagy induced by 20-hydroxyecdysone and starvation in B. mori. However, B. mori calpains and their functions remain unclear. In this study, phylogenetic analysis of calpains from B. mori, Drosophila melanogaster and Homo sapiens were performed and the results showed distinct close relationships of BmCalpain-A/B with DmCalpain- A/B, BmCalpain-C with DmCalpain-C, and BmCalpain-7 with HsCalpain-7. Then, the expression profiles of BmCalpains were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and results showed that expression of BmCalpain-A/B, BmCalpain-C and BmCalpain-7 was significantly increased during B. mori metamorphosis and induced in the fat body and midgut of starved larvae, which is consistent with the expression profiles of BmAtg5, BmAtg6 and BmCaspase-1.Moreover, the apoptosis-associated cleavage of BmATG6 in Bm-12 cells was significantly enhanced when BmCalpain-A/B and BmCalpain-7 were induced by starvation, and was partially inhibited by the inhibitor of either calpain or caspase, but completely inhibited when both types of inhibitors were applied together. Our results indicated that BmCalpains, including BmCalpain-A/B, -C and -7, may be involved in autophagy and apoptosis during B. mori metamorphosis and after starvation, and may also contribute to the apoptosis-associated cleavage of BmATG6.q [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lung epithelial cell dysfunction induced by hyperoxia-associated oxidative stress is a prominent feature involved in the development of acute lung injury (ALI). How the underlying molecular mechanisms contributed to this process are poorly defined. In the present study, we sought to identify the role of miR-124 in hyperoxia-induced cell apoptosis and excessive inflammatory response in pulmonary epithelial cell., Methods: The miR-124 levels in pulmonary epithelial cell were assayed by qRT-PCR. MiR-124 mimics and inhibitors were transfected to gain or loss of miR-124 function. Cell proliferation was analyzed by CCK8 assay. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. The targeted genes were predicted by a bioinformatics algorithm and confirmed by a dual luciferase reporter assay. The protein levels were assayed by western blotting., Results: The results showed that miR-124 was significantly down-regulated in Beas2B cells and primary LECs upon hyperoxia exposure conditions. However, overexpression of miR-124 dramatically attenuated hyperoxia-provoked TLR4, NF-κB and pro-inflammatory cytokines production. In vitro , the cell viability and apoptosis was significantly reversed following transfection with miR-124 mimics in the presence of hyperoxia. Furthermore, the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of CCL2 was bound by miR-124., Conclusion: It was concluded that miR-124 inhibited hyperoxia-induced apoptosis and excessive inflammatory response in Beas2B cells and primary LECs, at least partially, through the inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB/CCL2 signaling cascades., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2018.)

Epalrestat is a noncompetitive and reversible aldose reductase inhibitor used for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. This study assumed that epalrestat had a protective effect on diabetic peripheral nerve injury by suppressing the expression of aldose reductase in peripheral nerves of diabetes mellitus rats. The high-fat and high-carbohydrate model rats were established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Peripheral neuropathy occurred in these rats after sustaining high blood glucose for 8 weeks. At 12 weeks after streptozotocin injection, rats were intragastrically administered epalrestat 100 mg/kg daily for 6 weeks. Transmission electron microscope revealed that the injuries to myelinated nerve fibers, non-myelinated nerve fibers and Schwann cells of rat sciatic nerves had reduced compared to rats without epalrestat administuation. Western blot assay and immunohistochemical results demonstrated that after intervention with epalrestat, the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase gradually increased, but aldose reductase protein expression gradually diminished. Results confirmed that epalrestat could protect against diabetic peripheral neuropathy by relieving oxidative stress and suppressing the polyol pathway.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of half-dose Zenapax for prevention of acute rejection after renal transplantation., Methods: According to the immunosuppressive regimen and renal function after transplantation, patients were divided into 4 groups, namely groups A, B, C, and D of 90, 73, 11 and 13 patients, respectively. Blood creatinine measured 1 week after operation was <176.6 micromol/L in groups A and B, and was >353 micromol/L in groups C and D. Patients in groups A and C were given 25 mg Zenapax (0.5 mg/kg) and MMF 0.75 g before operation, and those in groups B and D had only MMF of 0.75 g. All patients were given Pred, CsA and MMF after operation, and the rejection episodes, the time of acute rejection onset, the rate of rejection reversal and complications were analyzed in the time period of 6 months after operation., Results: After the operation, 13 patients (14.4%) developed acute rejection in group A, 18 (24.6%) in group B, 6 (54.5%) in group C and 7 (53.8%) in group D (P<0.01). The incidence of acute rejection in group B was significantly lower than that in groups C and D groups (P<0.01), and the latter two groups had similar incidence. The time of acute rejection onset ranged from 3 to 9 days postoperatively (mean 6.2-/+3.2 days) in group A, significantly delayed as compared with that in group B (range 2-8 days, mean 4.7-/+3.1 days), group C (range 2-7 days, mean 4.3-/+4.2 days) and group D group (range 2-9 days, mean 3.9-/+3.5 days), but the time was similar between groups B, C, and D (P>0.05). All acute rejection cases in group A was reversed, and the rate of reversal was 88.9% (16/18) in group B, 83.3% in group C, and 71.4% in group D. No significant differences were noted in such complications as infection, vascular injuries or gastrointestinal reactions between the 4 groups (P>0.05)., Conclusion: Zenapax at the dose of 25 mg can safely decrease the risk of acute rejection in patients with good postoperative renal function recovery, but dose not seem effective in patients with delayed graft function recovery.

To investigate the expression of phospholipase C-gamma1 (PLC-gamma1) in mouse embryonic tissues, serial tissue sections were prepared routinely for immunocytochemistry for PLC-gamma1. The results showed that PLC-gamma1 was expressed in the cartilage, skeletal muscles, myocardium, the collecting tubule of the kidney, connective tissues and the brain, suggesting the important role PLC-gamma1 and the related signal pathway may play in the development of mouse embryonic tissues.

Objective: To evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of 3 surgical approaches via superior intermedial margin of the pubis, inferior medial margin of the pubis, and the perineum, respectively, in the treatment of posterior urethral stricture., Methods: Thirty-five adult male corpses were dissected in which the distances from the bulbo-membranous urethra conjunction (D), the apex of prostate (E), and the bladder neck (F) to the superior medial margin of the pubis (A), the inferior medial margin of the pubis (B) and the midpoint of linear distance between the two ischial tuberosities on the perineum (C) were respectively measured and compared. Another 20 adult male corpses were subjected to the 3 surgical approaches as described above and the urethra was exposed to identify the tissues and organs with possible injuries resulted from the surgery, which were evaluated by scoring., Results: The distances measured were as follows: AD=6.5+/-0.5 cm, BD=2.2+/-0.5 cm, CD =3.4+/-0.6 cm, and BD0.05, t=0.13). The angles FAE (beta(1)) =(22.7+/-2.6)(degrees), FBE (beta(2))=(32.9+/-6.4)(degrees), FCE (beta(3))=(15.0+/-3.2)(degrees), and beta(2) beta(1) beta(3) (P=0.05, SNK means). The score for tissue and organ injuries for the approach of the superior medial margin of the pubis was 13, 20 for the approach of inferior medial margin of the pubis, and 15 for perineum approach., Conclusions: In terms of operative field exposure, the best operation approach is via the inferior pubis, followed by superior pubis approach and perineum approach; while in view of the injuries, superior pubis approach is better than the perineum and inferior pubis approaches. The inferior pubis approach should be the primary choice in the treatment of posterior urethral stricture.

Objective: To study a method for using a new drainage stent following complex posterior urethral operation., Methods: Fifty-five patients,15 of whom had complex posterior urethrorectal fistula, 35 had complex posterior stricture or atresia, and 5 had bladder exstrophy, received surgical treatment, after which multihole U-shaped drainage stent was applied., Results: All the patients were normal in micturition and no complications occurred during the follow-up period lasting for 1 to 10 years., Conclusion: Multihole U-shaped drainage stent performs the functions of both stenting and drainage, and is applicable in complex posterior urethral surgery.

Objective: To compare the complications of direct and antirefluxing techniques of ureterointestinal anastomosis in continent urinary diversion., Methods: Sixty-three patients underwent continent urinary diversion. Twenty-four patients were treated by the direct ureteroenteric anastomosis and the others treated by the antirefluxing technique. The follow up studies included following-up the information of ureteric stricture, ureteric reflux, renal function and acute urinary infection. It was assessed for 3 months to 6 years with a mean follow up of 26 months after operation., Results: Of 78 ureters reimplanted using antirefluxing technique. A total of 12 ureters had anastomotic stricture formation postoperatively. Only one of 48 ureters reimplanted using direct anastomoses had anastomotic stricture. The difference between the direct and antirefluxing technique groups was remarkable (chi2 = 4.375, P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the direct and antirefluxing technique groups in regard to ureteric reflux, renal function and acute urinary infection., Conclusions: Antirefluxing anastomoses resulted in obviously higher rate of ureterointestinal anastomotic stricture in comparison with the direct anastomosis. The direct ureteroenteric anastomosis may be the suitable choice for patients undergoing continent urinary diversion.

Objective: To study the interventional therapy for renal graft artery stenosis and aneurysm patients with renal transplantation to further improve the survival rate of the graft., Method: Seven patients with of renal graft artery stenosis received balloon dilatation of the stenotic artery, followed by stent implantation. For renal graft artery aneurysm in another 2 patients, thrombin infusion and stent implantation were respectively performed., Results: The condition was successfully managed in 6 of the 7 patients with renal artery stenosis, whose serum Cr levels dropped to below 106 micromol/L 3 d after the operation. Thrombin infusion in one of the 2 patients with renal artery aneurysm caused thrombus in the renal graft and then aneurysm rupture, resulting in final graft loss. The other aneurysm case was successfully managed with stent implantation., Conclusions: Interventional therapy as balloon dilatation combined with stent implantation is ideal for treating renal graft artery stenosis, and stent implantation constitutes an important management for artery aneurysm in the renal graft.

Pathological changes usually occur independently in the adrenal cortex and medulla because of their distinct embryonic origins, and changes involving both the cortex and medulla are rare. We report 4 cases of corticomedullary mixed pathological changes adrenal glands. CT scanning of the adrenal glands showed unilateral abnormalities in all the 4 cases, 3 of which were diagnosed as aldosteronism and the other pheochromocytoma before surgery. Unilateral adrenalectomy was performed in the 4 patients 3 being cured and discharged. The other 1 had recurrence 18 months postoperatively with suspected pathological changes on the other side. Subsequent pathological examination confirmed the suspicion in both the cortex and medulla of the other adrenal gland. In cases with clinical presentations as simultaneous onset of aldosteronism and catecholamine responses, pathological changes in both the cortex and medulla of the adrenal glands should be considered. Perioperative management of such cases should be the same as that in cases of catecholamine responses, and the diagnosis relies on histopathological examination.

Objective: To study the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal medullary hyperplasia (AMH)., Methods: An retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 8 patients with AMH admitted in our hospital from May 1998 to May 2002 were conducted with a review of the follow-up study., Results: CT scanning of the adrenal gland showed unilateral abnormal appearance in all 8 cases. Diagnoses of AMH in 4 patients and pheochromocytoma in the other 4 patients were established before surgery. All the patients underwent unilateral adrenalectomy, among whom 7 were cured and 1 suffered recurrence 1 month after operation because of medullar hyperplasia in the contralateral adrenal gland., Conclusions: AMH should be differentiated from pheochromocytoma, especially from adrenal nodules shown by catecholamin assay. Definite diagnosis depends on pathological examination and surgical removal through abdominal approach is the best choice of treatment, in which both sides of the adrenal glands should be explored.