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Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), with good biocompatibility and similar mechanical properties to natural bone, is extensively employed in the manufacture of prostheses. However, the precision and mechanical properties of current implants are major challenges for clinical applications. In this study, the effect of pore size, raster angle and printing temperature were investigated on length, width, thickness, material consumption, compressive strength and Young's modulus. Taguchi design of experiment method was used to reduce the number of experiments and optimize the printing process parameters. Finally, predictive analysis was exploited to give the optimal set of process parameters. Experimental results indicated that the approach applied in this work provided more accurate predictions and control of the response variables. The maximum compressive strength and compressive modulus of PEEK scaffolds reached 43.4 MPa and 253.3 MPa, respectively. Therefore, the methodology of present work has the potential to meet the demand of design precision and manufacture of customized bone substitutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was aimed at evaluating the histochemical distribution of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), nonspecific esterase (NSE), peroxidase (POD) and various types of mucous cells in the gill, mantle and hepatopancreas of the ark shell Scapharca subcrenata. The ALP activity was found in the epithelial cells (EP) of the gill filament and the mantle as well as in the basal lamina of the glandular duct in the hepatopancreas. The staining intensity of ALP in the mantle and hepatopancreas was stronger than that in the gill. The NSE activity was detected in the EP in the gill filament, mantle and hepatopancreas, with the hepatopancreas showing a stronger intensity than the gill. The POD activity was located in the EP of the mantle and glandular duct of the hepatopancreas as well as in the connective tissue of the gill. The mantle showed stronger staining intensity of POD than the hepatopancreas. The Alcian blue (pH 2.5) periodic acid Schiff (AB-PAS) histochemical results revealed four types of mucous cells in the gill, mantle and hepatopancreas. Type III cells (nPAS+AB+) and type IV cells (aPAS+AB+) were observed in the gill, mantle and hepatopancreas. Type I cells (PAS+AB-) were not detected in the hepatopancreas but were distributed ubiquitously throughout the gill filament and mantle. Type II cells (PAS--AB+) were not detected in the gill but were distributed ubiquitously in the digestive ducts of the hepatopancreas. KEY WORDS: enzyme activity, mucous cells, histochemical techniques, ark shell, Scapharca subcrenata, INTRODUCTION The bivalve mollusc has various enzymes and mucous cells distributing widely in the host tissues. They play an important role in the growth, development and immune defense of the [...]

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant disease in women worldwide. It is a heterogeneous and complex genetic disease with different molecular characteristics. MAPT-AS1, a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) existing at the anti-sense strand of the MAPT (microtubule associated protein tau) promoter region, was believed to regulate MAPT, which was associated with disease state in Parkinson's disease. But the role of MAPT-AS1 in breast cancer has never been reported. In our study we found that MAPT-AS1 is overexpressed in breast cancer but not in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and that high expression of MAPT-AS1 was correlated with better patient survival. In addition, the level of MAPT-AS1 was correlated with the expression of MAPT, and MAPT was associated with survival time in breast cancer. Our study suggests that MAPT-AS1 may play a role and be a potential survival predictive biomarker in breast cancer. Key words: breast cancer, MAPT-AS1, long non-coding RNA, patient survival. Le cancer du sein est l'affection maligne la plus frequente chez la femme a travers le monde. Il s'agit d'une maladie genetique heterogene et complexe qui presente differentes caracteristiques moleculaires. MAPT-AS1, un long ARN non codant (ARNnm) qui agit comme brin anti-sens dans la region du promoteur de la proteine associee aux microtubules MAPT (<< microtubule associated protein tau >>), est presume reguler MAPT qui a ete associee a la maladie de Parkinson. Toutefois, le role de MAPT-AS1 dans le cancer du sein n'a jamais ete rapporte. Les auteurs ont trouve dans cette etude que MAPT-AS1 est surexprime dans le cancer du sein, mais pas dans le cancer du sein triple negatif, et qu'une expression elevee de MAPT-AS1 etait correlee a une meilleure survie chez les patientes. De plus, le niveau de MAPT-AS1 etait correle avec celui de MAPT, associee a la duree de vie dans lecancer dusein. Leur etude suggere que MAPT-AS1 peut jouerun role dansle cancer du seinet agir commeunpotentiel biomarqueur predictif de la survie. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : cancer du sein, MAPT-AS1, long ARN non codant, survie des patientes., Introduction Breast cancer is the most malignant cancer in females and it is estimated that approximately 252 710 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in [...]

An acute infectious disease of northern sheatfish (Silurus soldatovi) was found in a commercial aquaculture pond in Tianjin, China. Herein, two dominant bacterial strains were isolated from naturally diseased northern sheatfish and identified as Aeromonas veronii and Vibrio cholerae. Seven healthy and seven naturally diseased fish that were collected from the pond were used for the gut microbiota analysis by high‐throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The α‐diversity indices (ACE, Chao 1, and Shannon) did not differ significantly between diseased and healthy fish (p > 0.05), but a significant separation was observed between them when β‐diversity analysis of the bacterial population was performed. The diseased fish demonstrated a significant elevation in the relative abundances of Aeromonas, Vibrio, Blautia, and Megamonas and a decrease in Cetobacterium, Bacteroides, Chryseolinea, Ralstonia, and Pseudomonas compared with healthy fish (p < 0.05). Linear discriminant analysis effect size showed that microbial marker species in the diseased fish were in the order Aeromonadales, the family Aeromonadaceae, and the genus Aeromonas. The functional profiles of the microbial community that were predicted using the PICRUSt2 indicated that the disturbance of gut microbiota caused the alteration of its functional profiles in the diseased fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemocyte types of the Macrobrachium prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii were identified using the methods of flow cytometry and light microscopy. The activities of endoenzymes including peroxidase (POD), phenoloxidase (PO), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in hemocytes were analyzed by cytochemical and biochemical methods. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of the hemocyte was probed according to the accumulation of the cyanine dye, 3',3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide, in the mitochondrial matrix. The results showed that there were three types of circulating hemocytes (hyalinocytes, semigranulocytes, and granulocytes) in M. rosenbergii. Enzymes POD, PO, and ALP were more abundant and active in granulocytes and semigranulocytes than in hyalinocytes. The data associated with MMP showed that the fluorescence intensity in the hemocyte was directly correlated to ceil complexity. The MMP in granulocytes was significantly greater than that in semigranulocytes, and the latter was significantly greater than that in hyalinocytes. KEY WORDS: endoenzymes, mitochondrial membrane potential, hemocyte types, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, INTRODUCTION Freshwater prawns Macrobrachium rosenbergii, having high commercial value and suitability for use in a variety of culture systems, are an important culture fishery species in China and in other [...]

ABSTRACT To investigate the in vitro generation of nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion ([O.sub.2.sup.-]) by Crassostrea ariakensis hemocytes stimulated with rickettsialike organisms (RLOs), RLOs were purified from infected C. [...]

ABSTRACT Light and electron microscopical studies were carried out to characterize the hemocytes of the oyster, Crassostrea ariakensis. Three types of hemocytes were recognized: granulocytes, large hyalinocytes and small hyalinocytes. [...]