Clonal anergy: inhibition of antigen-driven proliferation among single B lymphocytes from tolerant animals, and partial breakage of anergy by mitogens.
Mice were injected with fluoresceinated human gamma globulin (FLU-HGG) either at 2-3 days of age or as pregnant females. At 2 weeks of age, the spleen cells of the injected suckling mice or offspring were fractionated on FLU-gelatin dishes to yield FLU-binding B cells. These B cells were then cloned in microcultures using one of two recently described systems in which single B cells grow in the absence of feeder or filler cells, namely following stimulation with FLU-polymerized flagellin (FLU-POL) and conditioned media containing B cell growth and differentiation factor(s); or mitogenic activation by a mixture of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dextran sulfate (DxS). As such cultures permit visualization of clonal proliferation as well as ultimate harvesting of cultures for assay of hemolytic plaque-forming cells, it was possible to ask whether the lesion in the tolerant state affected the B cell's capacity to divide, to differentiate to antibody secretion, or both. The results indicated that, when stimulated with antigen, the anergic cells could neither divide nor differentiate. However, when the strong mitogen mixture was used, clonal anergy was partially broken. The cells proliferated, and a small proportion of them differentiated into anti-FLU antibody-forming cells. A marked variation in antigen-binding avidity of the FLU-binding cells made it difficult to quantitate the degree of uncoupling of proliferation and differentiation among tolerant, LPS plus DxS-stimulated cells. Nevertheless, a partial reversibility of clonal anergy must affect views on mechanisms of self-tolerance.


Acclimatization through thermal diffusivity tuning of coconut oil - A mode mismatched dual-beam thermal lens study.
Ayurvedic medicinal oils traditionally prepared by blending herbal extracts in different compositions are commonly used for treatment and improving health. The estimation of the thermal properties of medicinal oils is essential for practical applications. The present work aims to expound the ability of medicinal oils for the acclimatization of body temperature by determining its thermal diffusivity and thereby providing a validation to the traditional knowledge. The medicinal oils are prepared by incorporating black pepper (Piper nigrum), aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis), hibiscus bud (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) and Ocimum sanctum in coconut oil base. The samples are subjected to thermal diffusivity study using the mode-mismatched dual-beam thermal lens technique. The study reveals that the incorporation of black pepper (Piper nigrum), having hot potency (Ushna veerya), to the base fluid lowers the thermal diffusivity value, suggesting its potential in heat-trapping. The addition of aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis), hibiscus bud (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), and O. sanctum dissipates heat energy quickly, thus increases the thermal diffusivity of coconut oil revealing a cold potency (Sheeta veerya). The study provides a validation for traditional knowledge and delineates the possiblity of thermal diffusivity tuning of the base fluids. The thermal diffusivity tuning through incorporation of herbal extracts can effectively be used to acclimatize the human body temperature with the surroundings. A higher thermal diffusivity value induces a cooling effect and the lower value causes heating effect. This, opens up the possibility of using thermally tuned oils depending on climate and geographical location.


Past occupational exposure to airborne manganese in a manganese alloy plant.
A retrospective exposure assessment of a group of manganese (Mn) alloy workers was performed in conjunction with a 2004 follow-up study, 14 years after cessation of exposure, to evaluate the long-term effects of occupational Mn exposure on neurobehavioral functions. The ferro- and silico-Mn alloy plant opened in 1973 and closed in 1991. The airborne total Mn (TMn) exposures for job groupings were established using personal sampling data from a 1991 industrial hygiene survey. Historical short-term total dust (TDust) data were used to estimate past TDust exposure for job groupings and plant areas. Relationships between Mn content and TDust from the 1991 survey, supported by sparse historical data, were used to estimate TMn content in the historical TDust data. Results showed past personal TDust exposure levels much higher than those found in 1991. Changes in TDust levels and corresponding TMn levels were a function of changes in ventilation, work practices, and operations, not of product (ferro- or silico-Mn). Relationships between TMn and respirable Mn (RMn) from area sampling in 1991 were used to estimate RMn exposure for the job groups. Work histories for 112 workers were developed from payroll records, questionnaires, and interviews and combined with Mn exposure estimates to develop cumulative exposure indices (CEIs). The TMn CEI ranged from 0.27 mg/m(3)x years to 100.24 mg/m(3)x years, with an AM of 24.40 mg/m(3)x years and a GM of 14.06 mg/m(3)x years. The RMn CEI had an AM of 2.95 mg/m(3)x years and a GM of 1.78 mg/m(3)x years with a range of 0.05-12.03 mg/m(3)x years. Overall average TMn exposure intensity, the TMn CEI divided by time worked in years for each worker, had an AM of 1.6 mg Mn/m(3), a GM of 1.0 mg Mn/m(3), range 0.02-6.2 6 mg Mn/m(3). The results of the 2004 follow-up study showed several concentration-response relationships between TMn CEI and neurobehavioral outcomes, which suggest that increase in cumulative TMn exposure level has long-term consequences on the nervous system.


An attempt to evaluate diagnostic and prognostic significance of blood endogenous ethanol in alcoholics and their relatives.
Endogenous ethanol in the blood of human subjects was measured by gas chromatography. In healthy males, 12-13-year-old boys (sons of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers), and alcoholic inpatients (after cessation of all drugs), the endogenous ethanol levels ranged from 0 to 4.3 mg/l. The results showed no significant differences between the groups. At the period of alcohol withdrawal reactions the concentrations of endogenous ethanol were minimal in patients with delirium tremens and maximal in patients with mild alcohol withdrawal syndrome, the dynamics of this parameter being dependent on the severity of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome and the nature of the drugs prescribed.


Surgical treatment of tachyarrhythmias in patients with both an Ebstein anomaly and a Kent bundle.
The report relates experience with six patients with Kent bundles, five of whom had the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, operated upon for tachyarrhythmias caused by the presence of the pathway. It was successfully divided in four patients, its antegrade conduction capacity interrupted in one, and a failure occurred in the sixth patient. In the three patients who had a Kent bundle with a short effective refractory period for antegrade conduction, the life-endangering potential of the Kent pathway was corrected. To emphasize the complexities of the tachyarrhythmias in Ebstein's anomaly, two patients have mild but controllable postoperative supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVT) due to a Mahaim pathway. The surgical problems encountered in these patients are reviewed.


Risk of partial and complete hydatidiform molar pregnancy in relation to maternal age.
All cases of first histologically confirmed complete and partial moles registered between 1985 and 1999 were identified from the database of a Trophoblastic Disease Registration Centre. The maternal age distribution at diagnosis was calculated for the 7916 molar pregnancies and compared with the maternal age distribution of an unselected population of women from a routine obstetric database. Likelihood ratios were calculated for complete and partial molar pregnancies by maternal age. A positive relationship was found between the risk of molar pregnancy and both upper and lower extremes of maternal age (> or = 45 years and < or = 15 years, respectively). This association, although present for both complete and partial moles, is much greater for complete mole at all maternal ages, and the degree of risk is much greater with older (> or = 45 years) rather than younger (< or = 15 years) maternal age. This study provides, for the first time, data regarding specific risk of partial versus complete hydatidiform mole with maternal age.


Cucurbitacin B controls M2 macrophage polarization to suppresses metastasis via targeting JAK-2/STAT3 signalling pathway in colorectal cancer.
Cucurbitacin B (CuB), extracted from muskmelon pedicel, is a widely available triterpenoid molecule that exerts influence on various biological activities. Modern pharmacological studies have found that cucurbitacin B has many kinds of pharmacological anti-tumor and anti-metastasis functions. To explore the mechanism of anti-tumor and anti-metastasis effect of cucurbitacin B. The effect of cucurbitacin B on the growth of HCT116 and CT-26 was detected by CCK8; apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry and colony formation; the expression of apoptosis-related protein Bax, Bcl-2 and Cleaved-caspase-3 were examined by western Blot. To explore the underlying mechanism of cucurbitacin B against tumor, the Western blot, Immunofluorescence staining, Microscale Thermophoresis assays were used. Multiple molecular biology experiments were applied to validate the effect of polarization of cucurbitacin B-induced macrophages. The supernatant of Cucurbitacin B-induced macrophages and colon cells were co-cultured in vitro, and then transwell and wound healing assay were employed to the related phenotypes. C57BL/6 and BALB/c murine colon cancer model were also used to study the drug effects in vivo. Cucurbitacin B distinctly induced the apoptosis of CRC cells. It was observed that cucurbitacin B not only inhibited the phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3, but also the translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus. Meanwhile, we observed that cucurbitacin B is bound to STAT3. Further experimentation demonstrated that cucurbitacin B reduced the polarization of M2 macrophage by down-regulating JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. Cucurbitacin B-induced M2-like macrophages were found to diminish the migration of CRC cells. In vitro study suggested that cucurbitacin inhibited the CRC cells proliferation via JAK2/STAT3 and suppressed the cell migration by suppressing M2-like macrophages polarization. Consistent with in vitro results, the cucurbitacin B therapy significantly inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in mice. Moreover, in vivo the treatment with cucurbitacin B enhanced anti-tumor immunity by regulating M2-like macrophages and promoted the expression of CD4 and CD8 in tumor microenvironment. Our results proved that cucurbitacin B might be a potential candidate agent for adjuvant therapy in the process of CRC growth and metastasis.


Is semantic priming due to association strength or feature overlap? A microanalytic review.
In a recent meta-analysis, Lucas (2000) concluded that there is strong evidence of an overall pure semantic priming effect but no evidence of priming based purely on association. In the present review, I critically examine the individual studies claiming evidence of featural and associative relations in semantic memory. The most important conclusion is that automatic priming appears to be due to both association strength and feature overlap. Mediated associates provide the strongest evidence of automatic associative priming, whereas functional associates, synonyms, and antonyms instead support priming based on feature overlap. In contrast, automatic priming does not occur for category coordinates or perceptually similar items, at least when presented in the visual modality. The status of other relations, such as collocates, episodic relatives, and script relations, is unclear and requires further experimentation. Implications for current models of semantic representation and priming are discussed.


Utility of synovial calprotectin lateral flow test to exclude chronic prosthetic joint infection in periprosthetic fractures: a prospective cohort study.
The diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) requires a combination of various clinical, laboratory, microbiological and histopathological parameters. A concomitant periprosthetic fracture (PPF) further complicates the diagnosis as it causes a confounding local inflammatory response. Synovial calprotectin has been demonstrated as a promising biomarker of PJI. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of synovial calprotectin for the pre- or intraoperative diagnosis of PJI in PFF. 30 patients with PPF and implant loosening were included in this prospective study. Synovial fluid with white blood cells and percentage of polymorphonuclear neutrophils, serum C-reactive protein, and synovial calprotectin using a lateral-flow assay were tested against the EBJIS definition with adjusted thresholds to account for the local inflammation. 14 patients were postoperatively classified as confirmed infections (ten total hip arthroplasties and fourtotal knee arthroplasties). The calprotectin assay yielded a sensitivity of 0.71 [0.48; 0.95], a specificity of 0.69 [0.46; 0.91], a positive predictive value of 0.67 [0.43; 0.91] and a negative predictive value of 0.73 [0.51; 0.96]. Calprotectin is a promising diagnostic parameter for the detection of a PJI in a PPF. The lateral flow assay offers prompt results, which may further assist the surgeon in addition to already existing parameters of PJI diagnostics to diagnose concomitant PJI in PPF during surgery.


Non-canonical Cajal bodies form in the nucleus of late stage avian oocytes lacking functional nucleolus.
In the somatic cell nucleus, there are several universal domains such as nucleolus, SC35-domains, Cajal bodies (CBs) and histone locus bodies (HLBs). Among them, CBs were described more than 100 years ago; however, we still do not have a final understanding of their nature and biological significance. The giant nucleus of avian and amphibian growing oocytes represents an advantageous model for analysis of functions and biogenesis of various nuclear domains. Nevertheless, in large-sized avian oocytes that contain transcriptionally active lampbrush chromosomes, CB-like organelles have not been identified yet. Here we demonstrate that in the pigeon (Columba livia) oocyte nucleus, characterized by absence of any functional nucleoli, extrachromosomal spherical bodies contain TMG-capped spliceosomal snRNAs, core proteins of Sm snRNPs and the protein coilin typical for CBs, but not splicing factor SC35 nor the histone pre-mRNA 3'-end processing factor symplekin. The results establish that coilin-rich nuclear organelles in pigeon late-stage oocyte are not the equivalents of HLBs but belong to a group of CBs. At the same time, they do not contain the snoRNP/scaRNP protein fibrillarin involved in 2'-O-methylation of snoRNAs and snRNAs. Thus, the nucleus of late-stage pigeon oocytes houses CB-like organelles that have an unusual molecular composition and are implicated in the snRNP biogenesis pathway. These data demonstrate that snRNP-rich non-canonical CBs can form in the absence of nucleolus. We argue that pigeon oocytes represent a new promising model to investigate CB modular organization, functions and formation mechanism.


[Fissures of the posterior labrum and associated lesions: CT arthrogram evaluation].
To describe osseous, chondral and tendinous lesions associated with fissures of the posterior labrum. To better understand the pathological processes leading to fissure of the posterior labrum. Materials and methods. Retrospective study of 43 CT arthrograms performed in 43 patients that showed a fissure of the posterior labrum. The following associated lesions were noted: osseous and chondral remodeling of the humeral head and/or glenoid and articular surface fissures of the rotator cuff. Based on type of associated lesions, patients were separated into one of four pathological subgroups: posterior instability, posterosuperior or internal impingement, anterior instability and isolated fissure of the posterior labrum. Sixteen patients (37.2%) of patients showed posterior instability, 12 (27.9%) showed lesions of internal impingement, and 11 (25.6%) showed lesions of anterior instability. Only 4 patients (9.3%) had an isolated fissure of the posterior labrum. Posterior instability, internal impingement and anterior instability are the main pathologies leading to fissure of the posterior labrum, which seldom occurs in isolation. Evaluation of these associated lesions allows understanding of the underlying pathological processes leading to fissure of the posterior labrum.


Construction and characterization of a forward subtracted library of blue mussels Mytilus edulis for the identification of gene transcription signatures and biomarkers of styrene exposure.
Transcriptional profiling can elucidate adaptive/toxicity pathways participating in achieving homeostasis or leading to pathogenesis in marine biota exposed to chemical substances. With the aim of analyzing transcriptional responses in the mussel Mytilus edulis exposed to the corrosive and putatively carcinogenic hydrocarbon styrene (3-5 ppm, 3days), a forward subtracted (SSH) cDNA library was produced. Female mussels were selected and digestive gland mRNA was isolated. A library with 1440 clones was produced and a total of 287 clones were sequenced, 53% being identified through BlastN analysis against Mytibase and DeepSeaVent databases. Those genes included GO terms such as 'response to drugs', 'immune defense' and 'cell proliferation'. Furthermore, sequences related to chitin and beta-1-3-glucan metabolism were also up-regulated by styrene. Many of the obtained sequences could not be annotated constituting new mussel sequences. In conclusion, this SSH study reveals novel sequences useful to generate molecular biomarkers of styrene exposure in mussels.


The Significant Correlation Between the Density of the Cochlea Otic Capsule and Spine in Hearing Loss Patients.
Osteoporosis and osteopenia are systemic disorders that affect all bones. Osteoporosis in the ear bone and cochlea otic capsule contribute to the occurrence of conduction and sensorineural deaf. The osteoporosis prevalence in RSSA is 38%; meanwhile hearing interference in osteoporosis patients is 66.67%. The femur and spine DXA are the golden standard to calculate the bone mineral density. The temporal bone density can be measured with CT scan using the Hounsfield Unit units. There is a hypothesis that the femur bone mass density can illustrate the temporal bone density. This study aimed to analyzes the correlation between the density of the cochlea otic capsule and the ear bone towards the femur and spine density in patients with reduction in bone density. This was a cross-sectional observational type analytic retrospective study analyzing 30 samples of patients with a reduction in bone density that have HRCT Mastoid examination results during 2017 at RSSA Malang's osteoporosis polyclinic. From 30 samples, most were female with an age range of 51-60 years old. The average femur, spine, ear bone and cochlea otic capsule of the osteoporosis group was lower than the osteopenia group. The spine density was significantly correlated with the otic capsule density. There was a positive significant correlation between the spine density towards the otic capsule density. The lower the spine density, the lower the otic capsule became.


[Study on the chemical constituents of Phryma leptostachya].
To study the chemical constituents of Phryma leptostachya. The chemical constituents were isolated and purified by silica gel column, recrystallization and Pre-RP-HPLC and their structwes were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Five compounds were obtained and identified as ursolic acid (1), quercetin (2), isovanillic acid (3), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (4), adenine arabinoside (5). Compounds 2 - 5 are isolated from this genus for the first time.


Perception and care-seekling behaviour for post partum morbidity among mothers in Enugu south east, Nigeria.
Postpartum Care is necessary to monitor and ensure return to normal of some physiological changes that occurred during pregnancy and delivery, and any abnormalities detected should be treated. The aim of this study is to describe the perception of and care seeking behaviour for maternal morbidity following childbirth among mothers in Enugu, Nigeria and determine if they depend on the socio-demographic characteristics ofmothers. A cross-sectional survey of women who had recent deliveries was done. Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used. Data analysis was by descriptive and inferential statistics at 95% level of confidence and manual content analysis. Three hundred and seventy-one respondents who had, at least, one self-reported morbidity following childbirth were studied. Only approximately 43.1% perceived their symptoms as abnormal and 39.5% sought medical attention for their symptoms. Inaccurate perception was influenced by the severity of symptoms as well as cultural beliefs on what constitutes abnormal symptoms following childbirth. Correct perception of morbidity was dependent on maternal age (p = 0.002) and educational status (p = 0.004) whereas positive care seeking behaviour was dependent on area of residence (p = 0.03). A greater proportion of mothers aged 30 years or below had accurate perception compared to older mothers (p = 0.02). A greater proportion of rural dwellers sought medical attention for their symptoms compared to urban dwellers. Inaccurate perception of, and poor care seeking behaviour for postpartum morbidity were common among a sample of women with recent deliveries in Enugu due largely to cultural beliefs about morbidity following childbirth. Correct perception and positive care seeking behaviour were not enhanced by older age, greater educational attainment of mothers or residence in urban areas.


Baboon Envelope Pseudotyped "Nanoblades" Carrying Cas9/gRNA Complexes Allow Efficient Genome Editing in Human T, B, and CD34+ Cells and Knock-in of AAV6-Encoded Donor DNA in CD34+ Cells.
Programmable nucleases have enabled rapid and accessible genome engineering in eukaryotic cells and living organisms. However, their delivery into human blood cells can be challenging. Here, we have utilized "nanoblades," a new technology that delivers a genomic cleaving agent into cells. These are modified murine leukemia virus (MLV) or HIV-derived virus-like particle (VLP), in which the viral structural protein Gag has been fused to Cas9. These VLPs are thus loaded with Cas9 protein complexed with the guide RNAs. Highly efficient gene editing was obtained in cell lines, IPS and primary mouse and human cells. Here, we showed that nanoblades were remarkably efficient for entry into human T, B, and hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) thanks to their surface co-pseudotyping with baboon retroviral and VSV-G envelope glycoproteins. A brief incubation of human T and B cells with nanoblades incorporating two gRNAs resulted in 40 and 15% edited deletion in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) gene locus, respectively. CD34+ cells (HSPCs) treated with the same nanoblades allowed 30-40% exon 1 drop-out in the WAS gene locus. Importantly, no toxicity was detected upon nanoblade-mediated gene editing of these blood cells. Finally, we also treated HSPCs with nanoblades in combination with a donor-encoding rAAV6 vector resulting in up to 40% of stable expression cassette knock-in into the WAS gene locus. Summarizing, this new technology is simple to implement, shows high flexibility for different targets including primary immune cells of human and murine origin, is relatively inexpensive and therefore gives important prospects for basic and clinical translation in the area of gene therapy.


Spectral sensitivity in jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae).
1. We report here a psychophysical technique for studying the spectral sensitivity of jumping spiders (family Salticidae), based on a newly discovered oculomotor reflex. 2. Our results, obtained from Maevia inclemens (Salticidae), are compatible with electrophysiological findings of retinal cells maximally sensitive in the green and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. 3. Sensitivity to longer wavelengths (greater than 650 nm) has been controversial. In our study jumping spiders are shown to have a broad spectral sensitivity function extending from the ultraviolet (330 nm) to the deep red (700 nm).


Neurobehavioral toxicity of 2,4-D-n-butyl ester (2,4-D ester): tolerance and lack of cross-tolerance.
Daily administration of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-n-butyl ester to rats (2,4-D ester, 150 mg/kg/day SC) initially produced depressions in photocell locomotor activity and increases in landing foot splay. Maximal tolerance developed to these effects following ten days of repeated exposure. By themselves, physostigmine sulfate (0.01-0.10 mg/kg) and (0.3-10.0 mg/kg) n-butanol produced locomotor activity depression in a dose-related manner. n-Butanol produced increases in landing foot splay while physostigmine had no effect at the doses employed. No cross-tolerance was observed between 2,4-D ester and physostigmine sulfate or n-butanol when locomotor activity was the dependent variable. Similarly, a lack of cross-tolerance was observed between 2,4-D ester and n-butanol when landing foot splay was measured. Unlike physostigmine, prior exposure to n-butanol tended to enhance its toxicity upon subsequent exposures, an effect which was blocked when 2,4-D ester was administered between n-butanol exposures.


Prognosis in traumatic basal ganglia haematoma.
Twenty two patients with traumatic basal ganglia haematoma were studied. The mean Glasgow Coma Score on admission was 7. 17 patients had sustained high acceleration/deceleration injuries. The location and size of haematoma did not correlate with prognosis. Outcome was poor in 7 patients, while 8 patients died.


Medical students' positive perception towards vaccination is strongly correlated to protective diphtheria antibody after Td vaccination.
Negative perception towards vaccination is one of the reasons for low coverage of diphtheria immunization in Indonesia. Perception, which is difficult to change, is related to stress level, possibly influences outcome of diseases, and also vaccination. This study aims to identify the correlation between perception of diphtheria vaccination and antibody response after vaccination. This study used secondary data from two unpublished studies on 30 medical interns in Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, West Java, after diphtheria outbreak, from June to July 2019. Antibody level after diphtheria emergency vaccination was measured using ELISA and perception towards vaccination was measured using a questionnaire. Perception towards vaccination was expressed as perception score and was divided into 4 components: perceived threat, benefit, barrier, and cues to action. Higher perception score indicated more positive perception towards vaccination. Diphtheria antibody level was grouped into reliable protection (≥0,10 IU/mL) or unreliable protection (<0,10 IU/mL). Statistical correlation analysis was done with GraphPad Prism version 7.0. Most of our subjects were female. Median age was 22 (20-24) years old. Median time elapsed between vaccination date and measurement of antibody level was 18 (6-18) months. Median antibody level was 0,28 (0,09-3,47) IU/mL. Twenty-three subjects (82,1%) had reliable protection. Subjects with reliable protection had more positive perception compared to unreliable protection (perception score 80,6 ± 5,4 vs 69,0 ± 1,8, p = 0,0001). Subjects with reliable protection had less perceived barrier for vaccination (15,6 ± 2,1 vs 13,0 ± 1,8, p = 0,0083). Perception score showed strong, positive correlation to reliable protection against diphtheria (R = 0,705, p < 0,001). Perceived barrier and threat showed positive correlation to reliable protection (R = 0,489, p = 0,008 and R = 0,402, p = 0,034). In conclusion, perception towards diphtheria vaccination is strongly correlated to protective antibody. Improving perception of vaccination are needed to overcome vaccine hesitancy.


The nonlinear effect of population aging on carbon emission-Empirical analysis of ten selected provinces in China.
Existing related researches have focused on the linear relationship between population aging and carbon emissions, which easily lead to partial understanding of the effect of population aging on carbon emissions. In order to more comprehension of the effect of population aging on carbon emissions, this study explores the nonlinear relationship between population aging and carbon emission through empirical analysis of ten selected provinces in China from 2000 to 2016 using the panel threshold model. In the proposed panel threshold model, carbon emission is set as the explained variable, population aging is set as the core explanatory variable, the levels of population aging and trade openness are set as threshold variables, the levels of economic development, energy consumption structure, industrial structure, and technological innovation are set as the controlling variables, respectively. The results show that population aging has a threshold effect on curbing carbon emission. The levels of population aging and trade openness are two key factors that affect the relationship between population aging and carbon emission. Whether the level of popultion aging is lower or higher than the threshold value of 0.12937, the population aging has a negative coefficient on carbon emissions. Moreover, the higher the level of population aging, the greater the offsetting effect of population aging on carbon emission. When the level of trade openness is below the threshold value of 0.30990, the effect of population aging on carbon emission is negligible. When the level of trade openness is higher than the threshold value of 0.30990, the offesetting effect of population aging on carbon emission begins to appear. In other words, population aging has an offsetting effect on carbon emission when trade openness is in relatively high level, whereas the offsetting effect disappears when trade openness is lower than threshold value.


Beyond MRI: on the scientific value of combining non-human primate neuroimaging with metadata.
Sharing and pooling large amounts of non-human primate neuroimaging data offer new exciting opportunities to understand the primate brain. The potential of big data in non-human primate neuroimaging could however be tremendously enhanced by combining such neuroimaging data with other types of information. Here we describe metadata that have been identified as particularly valuable by the non-human primate neuroimaging community, including behavioural, genetic, physiological and phylogenetic data.


Neural Basis of Prejudice and Prejudice Reduction.
Social prejudices, based on race, ethnicity, gender, or other identities, pervade how we perceive, think about, and act toward others. Research on the neural basis of prejudice seeks to illuminate its effects by investigating the neurocognitive processes through which prejudice is formed, represented in the mind, expressed in behavior, and potentially reduced. In this article, we review current knowledge about the social neuroscience of prejudice regarding its influence on rapid social perception, representation in memory, emotional expression and relation to empathy, and regulation, and we discuss implications of this work for prejudice reduction interventions.


[Polyadenylated RNA and poly-A segments in the splenic cells of mice with virus-induced Rauscher leukemia].
In spleen cells of mice with Rauscher++ leukosis polyadenilation of RNA was impaired: an increase in content of Gya poly(A)+ RNA and a change in the composition of poly-A-segments were observed. In DNA of leukemic and normal cells dA-fragments were found content of which was increased in leukemic cells as compared with normal ones. Leukemic transformation appears to be accompanied by appearance of the additional poly-A-fragments in the cells.


A method for the quantitative assessment of platelet-induced clot retraction and clot strength in fresh and stored platelets.
The changes that occur in platelets as they undergo storage have been documented by aggregometry as well as by flow cytometry. However, one of the most essential platelet functions, the induction of clot retraction, has not been quantitatively assessed in stored platelets. We describe two potentially useful methods, platelet-induced clot retraction and clot strength, to assess effect of storage of platelets in blood banks or of platelet preparations subjected to freezing or freeze-drying. These methods have previously been developed for bedside monitoring of patients receiving c7E3 (Reopro(R)). Platelet-induced clot retraction (PICR) and clot strength were measured with the Hemodyne and Thromboelastograph, respectively. Paired Study: Fresh platelet concentrates (n = 3) were obtained from leukapheresis donors and divided into two equal units; one unit was tested within 4 h of collection and the other stored for 5 days at 22 degrees C in a platelet incubator and tested. Unpaired Study: Fresh platelet concentrates (n = 15) were obtained from leukapheresis donors and tested within 4 h of collection and compared to outdated platelets (n = 30; random or single donor) that had been stored for 5 days at 22 degrees C in a platelet incubator. Alternative Preservation Methods: Lyophilized platelets, platelets chilled to 4 degrees C, platelets frozen at -70 degrees C in 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or in the absence of a cryoprotectant. Paired Study: Stored platelets demonstrated an increase in PICR; the difference was not significant (p = 0.55). There was no difference in clot strength between fresh and outdated platelets (p = 0.90). Unpaired Study: When compared to fresh platelets, stored platelets demonstrated a 2-fold higher PICR (p = 0.0011). On the other hand, there was no difference in the time to onset of PICR (p = 0.08) and there was no difference in clot strength between fresh and outdated platelets (p = 0.14). Alternate Preservation Methods: In contrast, PICR and clot strength were reduced in platelets frozen at -70 degrees C in 5% DMSO and absent in lyophilized platelets, in platelets frozen at -70 degrees C in the absence of cryoprotectants or stored at 4 degrees C. The data indicate that the ability of platelets to induce clot retraction and to enhance clot strength is not altered by storage, despite functional abnormalities in aggregation and agglutination. These data suggest that quantitative measurements of PICR and clot strength may be simple, useful tools for assessing the function of stored platelet concentrates, platelets that have undergone freezing or exposure to alternative buffers and for evaluating platelet functions relevant to PICR.


Decreased miR-187 induces retinal ganglion cell apoptosis through upregulating SMAD7 in glaucoma.
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are commonly experienced optic nerve diseases including glaucoma-induced injury that results in decrease of cell survival. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be elaborated. This present study was to focus on the miR-187 and Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signal and investigated their roles in RGCs apoptosis and proliferation. RGC-5 retinal ganglion cell line was chose in present study and subjected to miR-187 mimic or inhibitor transfection. Cell apoptosis was evaluated using flow cytometry-based Annexin V-PI assay. Cell proliferation was examined using CCK-8. Protein levels of Smad2/3/7 were determined using western blotting. miR-187 negatively regulated cell survival via inhibiting cell apoptosis and promoting cell proliferation. We observed that alteration expression of miR-187 is closely related to phosphorylation levels of Smad2 and Smad3. This correlation is associated with down-regulation of Smad7 induced by miR-187 via targeting Smad7 3'-UTR. From result of co-transfection of Smad7-plasmid and miR-187 mimic or siSmad7 and miR-187 inhibitor, we concluded that cell proliferation and apoptosis was mediated by miR-187/Smad7 axis. In summary, cell internal signal transduction, miR-187 regulating Smad7 expression, plays a vital role in retinal ganglion cell survival.


A faunistic study on the leafhoppers of northwestern Iran (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae).
The leafhopper fauna of northwestern Iran: Azarbaijan-e-Sharghi, Azarbaijan-e-Gharbi and Ardabil provinces is listed from previously published records and from our current work. Sixty-nine species are included with four species (Mogangellastraminea Dlabola, 1957, Doraturastylata (Boheman, 1847), Macrostelessordidipennis (Stål, 1858) and Psammotettixseriphidii Emeljanov, 1962) listed as new for Iran and Balcluthapunctata (Fabricius, 1775), as a new record for the region. A distribution map of the species in northwestern Iran is given.


Interleukin-17D and Nrf2 mediate initial innate immune cell recruitment and restrict MCMV infection.
Innate immune cells quickly infiltrate the site of pathogen entry and not only stave off infection but also initiate antigen presentation and promote adaptive immunity. The recruitment of innate leukocytes has been well studied in the context of extracellular bacterial and fungal infection but less during viral infections. We have recently shown that the understudied cytokine Interleukin (IL)-17D can mediate neutrophil, natural killer (NK) cell and monocyte infiltration in sterile inflammation and cancer. Herein, we show that early immune cell accumulation at the peritoneal site of infection by mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is mediated by IL-17D. Mice deficient in IL-17D or the transcription factor Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), an inducer of IL-17D, featured an early decreased number of innate immune cells at the point of viral entry and were more susceptible to MCMV infection. Interestingly, we were able to artificially induce innate leukocyte infiltration by applying the Nrf2 activator tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ), which rendered mice less susceptible to MCMV infection. Our results implicate the Nrf2/IL-17D axis as a sensor of viral infection and suggest therapeutic benefit in boosting this pathway to promote innate antiviral responses.


Preliminary evidence that cell death may contribute to separation of the trachea from the primitive foregut in the rat embryo.
The embryogenesis of many congenital tracheoesophageal abnormalities has been elucidated poorly, mainly because of an incomplete understanding of the normal mechanism of separation of the primitive foregut into the trachea and esophagus. There has been controversy about the existence and significance of the so-called tracheoesophageal septum. This study investigates the normal mechanism of tracheoesophageal separation in the rat. Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were killed on gestational days 11 to 16, respectively (the day on which the vaginal smear showed sperm was considered day 0 of gestation). Thirty-six embryos (six embryos from each age group) were fixed in 10% formalin. Fixed embryos from gestational day 13, 12, and 11 were sandwiched in melted agar to facilitate proper orientation before being processed. Half of the fetuses from each age group were sectioned serially in a transverse plane and the other half in a sagittal plane. The histological sections were stained with H&E. On gestational day 11, the foregut appears as a ventrodorsal slit in transverse section. Below the primitive pharynx, the epithelial cells on the ventral part of the foregut are actively proliferating, producing two lateral epithelial bulges (primitive bronchial buds). The epithelial cells of the dorsal aspect of the foregut show no sign of active growth. On day 12, the proximal trachea still shares a common lumen with the foregut. The distal trachea, the tracheal bifurcation, and both primary bronchi are recognized easily. At the point of tracheoesophageal separation, there is obvious debris of dead epithelial cells and condensed nuclei. These appearances were specifically located around the so-called tracheoesophageal septum and nearby grooves, resulting in enfolding cristae. There was no cell proliferation or inflammatory response in this region. On gestational day 13, the separation of the trachea and esophagus was almost complete. The present study demonstrates that a specific and consistent pattern of cell death in the region of the "tracheoesophageal septum" produced enfolding cristae that may be part of the mechanism of separation of the trachea and esophagus.


Too advanced for assessment? Advanced materials, nanomedicine and the environment.
Advanced materials, and nanomaterials, are promising for healthcare applications and are in particular in the spotlight of medical innovation since rapidly developed nano-formulated vaccines provide relief in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Further increased rapid growth is to be expected as more and more products are in development and reach the market, beneficial for human health. However, the human body is not a dead end and these products are likely to enter the environment, whereas their fate and effects in the environment are unknown. This part of the life-cycle of advanced medicinal products tends to be overlooked, if the perspective is human-centered and excludes the connectedness of human activity with, and consequences for our environment. Gaps are reviewed that exist in awareness, perspective taking, inclusion of environmental concerns into research and product development and also in available methodologies and regulatory guidance. To bridge these gaps, possible ways forward start to emerge, that could help to find a more integrative way of assessing human and environmental safety for advanced material medicinal products and nanomedicines.


Cranial nerve palsies accompanying pituitary tumour.
We reviewed 12 patients with pituitary tumour and cranial nerve palsy to analyse the clinical characteristics, the radiographic appearances, and the outcome after surgery. All patients had pathologically nonfunctioning macroadenomas with evidence of apoplexy. The third cranial nerve was the most frequently affected, followed by the sixth and fourth cranial nerves. Third cranial nerve palsy manifested as a symptom sequence comprising mydriasis, followed by limitation of gaze and ptosis. These symptoms recovered in reverse order of development. The time taken for recovery of cranial nerve palsy after surgery was significantly correlated with the length of time between the onset of symptoms and surgery. Pituitary apoplexy appears to be the primary cause of cranial nerve palsy with pituitary tumour. Early surgical intervention is most likely to bring about rapid recovery from cranial nerve dysfunction.


Prepubertal testicular tumors: frequently overlooked.
Prepubertal testicular tumors are fundamentally distinct from their adult counterparts. We reviewed our 10-year, two-institution experience with respect to diagnosis and treatment. A retrospective review was performed of all testicular tumors diagnosed between 1996 and 2006 in males younger than 14 years. We analyzed clinical characteristics, diagnostic procedures, treatment methods, histopathologic findings and outcome. Of 15 primary testicular tumors, eight (53%) were germ-cell tumors (three teratomas, two yolk sac tumors, one seminoma, one embryonic carcinoma and one choriocarcinoma), four (27%) tumor-like lesions (epidermoid cysts), two (13%) gonadal stromal tumors (a Leydig and a Sertoli cell tumor), and one (7%) gonadoblastoma with gonadal dysgenesis. All boys were presented with a painless scrotal mass and four (27%) of them with elevated tumor markers. Ten cases (66%) were misdiagnosed by urologists preoperatively and presented for treatment of congenital or acquired scrotal disorders. Twelve children (80%) were treated with radical orchiectomy and three (20%) with a testis-sparing procedure. At a mean 4-year follow-up no patient has presented with recurrent tumor in the residual or contralateral testicle. Postoperative physical examination and scrotal ultrasound were obtained in 14 patients at a median follow-up of 48.2 months, and there was no evidence of tumor progression. One boy with a choriocarcinoma (stage IV) died due to distant metastases. Benign teratoma and epidermoid cysts were the most common prepubertal testicular tumors. Any suspicion of a testicular tumor warrants an inguinal approach to prevent scrotal violation of the tumor. Our limited experience with testis-sparing procedures supports the current trends that organ-confined surgery should be performed for benign lesions such as teratoma, Leydig cell tumor and epidermoid cysts based on frozen biopsy findings.


Auditory functional magnetic resonance in awake (nonsedated) and propofol-sedated children.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is often used in preoperative assessment before epilepsy surgery, tumor or cavernous malformation resection, or cochlear implantation. As it requires complete immobility, sedation is needed for uncooperative patients. The aim of this study was to compare the fMRI cortical activation pattern after auditory stimuli in propofol-sedated 5- to 8-year-old children with that of similarly aged nonsedated children. When possible, children underwent MRI without sedation, otherwise it was induced with i.v. propofol 2 mg·kg(-1) and maintained with i.v. propofol 4-5 mg·kg(-1) ·h(-1) . Following diagnostic MRI, fMRi was carried out, randomly alternating two passive listening tasks (a fairy-tale and nonsense syllables). We studied 14 awake and 15 sedated children. During the fairy-tale task, the nonsedated children's blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal was bilaterally present in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG), Wernicke's area, and Broca's area. Sedated children showed similar activation, with lesser extension to Wernicke's area, and no activation in Broca's area. During the syllable task, the nonsedated children's BOLD signal was bilaterally observed in the STG and Wernicke's area, in Broca's area with leftward asymmetry, and in the premotor area. In sedated children, cortical activation was present in the STG, but not in the frontal lobes. BOLD signal change areas in sedated children were less extended than in nonsedated children during both the fairy-tale and syllable tasks. Modeling the temporal derivative during both the fairy-tale and syllable tasks, nonsedated children showed no response while sedated children did. After auditory stimuli, propofol-sedated 5- to 8-year-old children exhibit an fMRI cortical activation pattern which is different from that in similarly aged nonsedated children.


Intracellular bactericidal activity of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv multiplying in the J-774 macrophage cell line.
Among new fluoroquinolone derivatives, the N-cyclopropylanalogs Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) and ofloxacin (OFLO) have recently been found to have a high in vitro activity against a variety of mycobacteria (2). In this study, we have investigated their action against intracellularly growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. For this purpose, the J-774 macrophage cell line was infected with the H37Rv type strain of M. tuberculosis, and drugs (at their serum level concentrations obtainable in healthy individuals (= 5 micrograms/ml; 8) were added after 2 days of intracellular growth of the bacteria. The bacterial growth during the experimentation was followed both electron microscopically and also by lysing the macrophages at various time intervals, and enumerating the bacterial viable counts after plating the lysate on appropriate media. Both drugs at the concentrations used did not affect macrophage viability (as assessed by trypan blue staining), and were highly bactericidal against the virulent tubercle bacilli multiplying in our J-774 macrophage model.


Immunocytochemical determination of the estrogen-regulated protein Mr 24,000 in primary breast cancer and response to endocrine therapy.
Monoclonal antibodies against an estrogen-regulated Mr 24,000 cytosol protein (p24) were used for immunocytochemical localization of p24 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens from the primary tumor in 103 patients who received endocrine therapy for advanced breast cancer. Sixty-one per cent of the tumors showed p24-positive staining, and this correlated well with the presence of estrogen receptor (ER) (P = 0.00017, chi-square test). Response to endocrine therapy was obtained in 43% of the patients. A statistically significant association between p24 status and response could not be established, while response and ER status were highly correlated (P = 0.0000029, chi-square = 21.6). Discrimination between ER-positive responders and ER-positive non-responders was not possible using p24 staining.


Broadband and Spectrally Selective Photothermal Conversion through Nanocluster Assembly of Disordered Plasmonic Metasurfaces.
Plasmonic metasurfaces have been realized for efficient light absorption, thereby leading to photothermal conversion through nonradiative decay of plasmonic modes. However, current plasmonic metasurfaces suffer from inaccessible spectral ranges, costly and time-consuming nanolithographic top-down techniques for fabrication, and difficulty of scale-up. Here, we demonstrate a new type of disordered metasurface created by densely packing plasmonic nanoclusters of ultrasmall size on a planar optical cavity. The system either operates as a broadband absorber or offers a reconfigurable absorption band right across the visible region, resulting in continuous wavelength-tunable photothermal conversion. We further present a method to measure the temperature of plasmonic metasurfaces via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), by incorporating single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as an SERS probe within the metasurfaces. Our disordered plasmonic system, generated by a bottom-up process, offers excellent performance and compatibility with efficient photothermal conversion. Moreover, it also provides a novel platform for various hot-electron and energy-harvesting functionalities.


Author Correction: HIF1α inhibition facilitates Leflunomide-AHR-CRP signaling to attenuate bone erosion in CRP-aberrant rheumatoid arthritis.
An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.


Screening of differentially expressed proteins in placentas from patients with late-onset preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia (PE) is a severe disease that endangers the safety of mothers and fetuses worldwide. In the absence of specific treatments, more studies on novel predictive and diagnostic biomarkers for PE are required. Data-independent acquisition proteomics, with five biological replicates, was used to investigate the protein expression profiles of placental tissues from patients with PE and normal pregnant women. In total, 52 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified, 34 of them were upregulated and 18 downregulated. Bioinformatics analyses revealed that PE was associated with multiple GO terms and KEGG pathways. Arginase-1 (ARG1), ferritin light chain (FTL), and RNA cytidine acetyltransferase (NAT10) were identified as hub proteins, which were further validated in placental tissues and maternal plasma by western blot and ELISA. FTL expression was significantly lower in the placental tissues and early and late pregnancy plasma of patients with PE compared to that in normal pregnant women. This study is the first to propose that FTL may be a potential predictive and diagnostic biomarker for PE; it provides a proteomics insight for understanding the pathological mechanism of this disease.


Longitudinal and Reciprocal Relationships Between Psychological Well-Being and Smoking.
Smoking cessation treatments currently succeed at a rate of approximately 20%-30%, underscoring the importance of exploring factors that might increase intervention effectiveness. Although negative affect has been studied extensively in relation to smoking cessation, psychological well-being (PWB; eg, life satisfaction, optimism, positive affect, purpose in life) has received little attention. This study tested longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between PWB and smoking status in older adults. Panel data were obtained from the biennial, longitudinal Health and Retirement Study. Using structural equation modeling, we developed cross-lagged models to examine the relationships of PWB in 2006 with smoking status in 2010 and of smoking status in 2006 with PWB in 2010 while controlling for covariates (Ns = 2939-4230, 55% women, 89% white, mean age = 64 years, mean years of education = 13, 25% smokers in 2006 and 21% smokers in 2010). Separate cross-lagged models were developed for each of the PWB variables: life satisfaction, optimism, positive affect, and purpose in life. Greater life satisfaction (standardized path coefficient = -0.04), optimism (standardized path coefficient = -0.07), and positive affect (standardized path coefficient = -0.08) in 2006 predicted a reduced likelihood of smoking in 2010. Being a smoker in 2006 predicted lower life satisfaction (standardized path coefficient = -0.25), optimism (standardized path coefficient = -0.10), positive affect (standardized path coefficient = -0.10), and purpose in life (standardized path coefficient = -0.13) in 2010. Findings warrant further exploration of the relationships between PWB and smoking, and support the incorporation of PWB-boosting components into existing treatments. Given the relatively low success rate of current smoking cessation treatments, the present results suggest that increasing PWB might promote abstinence and therefore warrant consideration as a focus of future cessation treatment research. Moreover, these results suggest that smoking might inhibit PWB, illuminating a negative consequence of smoking not previously identified. Helping smokers increase their PWB may benefit them beyond promoting cessation and contribute to a flourishing society. These results warrant further investigation of PWB and smoking, and support the continued evaluation of PWB-boosting components in smoking cessation treatments.


Rasamsonia, a new genus comprising thermotolerant and thermophilic Talaromyces and Geosmithia species.
The phylogenetic relationship among Geosmithia argillacea, Talaromyces emersonii, Talaromyces byssochlamydoides and other members of the Trichocomaceae was studied using partial RPB2 (RNA polymerase II gene, encoding the second largest protein subunit), Tsr1 (putative ribosome biogenesis protein) and Cct8 (putative chaperonin complex component TCP-1) gene sequences. The results showed that these species form a distinct clade within the Trichocomaceae and Trichocoma paradoxa is phylogenetically most closely related. Based on phenotypic and physiological characters and molecular data, we propose Rasamsonia gen. nov. to accommodate these species. This new genus is distinct from other genera of the Trichocomaceae in being thermotolerant or thermophilic and having conidiophores with distinctly rough walled stipes, olive-brown conidia and ascomata, if present, with a scanty covering. Species within the genus Rasamsonia were distinguished using a combination of phenotypic characters, extrolite patterns, ITS and partial calmodulin and β-tubulin sequences. Rasamsonia brevistipitata sp. nov. is described and five new combinations are proposed.


Performance evaluation of data center service localization based on virtual resource migration in software defined elastic optical network.
Data center interconnection with elastic optical network is a promising scenario to meet the high burstiness and high-bandwidth requirements of data center services. In our previous work, we implemented cross stratum optimization of optical network and application stratums resources that allows to accommodate data center services. In view of this, this study extends the data center resources to user side to enhance the end-to-end quality of service. We propose a novel data center service localization (DCSL) architecture based on virtual resource migration in software defined elastic data center optical network. A migration evaluation scheme (MES) is introduced for DCSL based on the proposed architecture. The DCSL can enhance the responsiveness to the dynamic end-to-end data center demands, and effectively reduce the blocking probability to globally optimize optical network and application resources. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture are experimentally verified on the control plane of our OpenFlow-based enhanced SDN testbed. The performance of MES scheme under heavy traffic load scenario is also quantitatively evaluated based on DCSL architecture in terms of path blocking probability, provisioning latency and resource utilization, compared with other provisioning scheme.


Factors determining self-assembly of hyaluronan.
The conditions determining network-forming and aggregation properties of hyaluronan on the mica surface were studied. The hyaluronan was deposited on the surface from aqueous and saline solutions and attached by a bivalent cation. The morphology of the immobilized assemblies was characterized by atomic force microscopy. The experimental results show that the morphology and size of the aggregates as well as the density of the interconnecting fibrillar network, both made of hyaluronan, at the liquid-solid phase interface are determined not only by its molecular weight or concentration in solution, but also by the dissolution conditions and storage time. These findings extend the current state of knowledge about the conformational variability of this biologically important polymer. Understanding the conformational variability is of great importance, as it governs the physiological functions of hyaluronan, as well as its processability and formulations. That in turn determines its usability in different pharmacological and biomaterial applications.


Three unusual cases of spinal cord injury in childhood.
Three cases of unusual traumatic spinal cord injuries are reported. The cases were referred to the neurosurgical unit of Nancy, one tetraplegia and one paraplegia caused by transfixing wounds which were overlooked after the injury. The transfixing wound caused an associated meningitis with tetraplegia, and in the second case the initial small plural effusion associated with paraplegia even, in a very short while, evoked a possible diagnosis of leukaemia amongst others, until the knowledge of trauma had been ascertained, the child being then immediately transferred to the neurosurgical unit. Spanking, in the last case, was the cause of an important luxation of T12-L1, at first with a complete paraplegia, and was associated with the fact that the child was only seen a few days after by a doctor and immediately referred. The child made a full recovery from his paraplegia.


Toxicokinetics of methyl paraoxon in the dog.
The toxicokinetics of methyl paraoxon, the active metabolite of the organophosphorus insecticide methyl parathion, were studied in non-anaesthetized dogs after intravenous (2.5 mg/kg) and oral (15 mg/kg) administration of methyl paraoxon. After intravenous administration, distribution and elimination occurred very rapidly and using the data from 5 min post-injection, the plasma concentration versus time curves could be fitted to a one-compartment open model. The mean half-life of elimination was 9.7 min, the average volume of distribution 1.76 l/kg and the average plasma clearance 126 ml/kg/min. After oral administration, peak plasma concentrations were obtained within 3-16 min, and the bioavailability varied from 5 to 71%. The hepatic extraction of methyl paraoxon measured in anaesthetized dogs, was high (70-92%). Comparison of the urinary excretion after intravenous and oral administration in two dogs indicated a gastrointestinal absorption of more than 60%. The kinetics of methyl paraoxon were linear in the dose range tested.


Spontaneous dynamical disordering of borophenes in MgB2 and related metal borides.
Layered boron compounds have attracted significant interest in applications from energy storage to electronic materials to device applications, owing in part to a diversity of surface properties tied to specific arrangements of boron atoms. Here we report the energy landscape for surface atomic configurations of MgB2 by combining first-principles calculations, global optimization, material synthesis and characterization. We demonstrate that contrary to previous assumptions, multiple disordered reconstructions are thermodynamically preferred and kinetically accessible within exposed B surfaces in MgB2 and other layered metal diborides at low boron chemical potentials. Such a dynamic environment and intrinsic disordering of the B surface atoms present new opportunities to realize a diverse set of 2D boron structures. We validated the predicted surface disorder by characterizing exfoliated boron-terminated MgB2 nanosheets. We further discuss application-relevant implications, with a particular view towards understanding the impact of boron surface heterogeneity on hydrogen storage performance.


Are you asking the right admission questions when assessing dyspnea?
Dyspnea is an important admission parameter to detect undiagnosed cardiopulmonary conditions. The typical admission question, "Are you short of breath?" can give insufficient or misleading data. A group of clinical research nurses sought to improve dyspnea assessments by using a more accurate measure that would not unduly lengthen the admission process itself. The methodology used to achieve this outcome was research utilization. On admission, 103 patients were given the standard question "Are you short of breath?" followed by 4 Visual Analog Scales of Dyspnea (VASD). These response measures assess the degree of dyspnea in relationship to variable exertion activities on a scale of 0 to 10. All responses to VASD were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that 30% of patients who responded "No" to the shortness of breath query scored 5 or more for dyspnea on the VASD. All scores of 5 or more were reported to the primary care provider for further workup. The results from this project gave impetus to designing a more formal research study that could validate VASD use in clinical admission assessments.


Activation of cyclic AMP second messenger system stimulates secretion of beta-endorphin from fetal hypothalamic cells.
Relatively little is known about physiological regulators of hypothalamic beta-endorphin (END) secretion and mechanisms by which they stimulate secretion. We sought to determine whether activation of the cyclic AMP (cAMP) second messenger pathway was involved in stimulating hypothalamic beta-END secretion from dissociated fetal hypothalamic cells in culture. Forskolin (FSK), a direct activator of adenylate cyclase which stimulates cAMP formation, stimulated immunoreactive (IR)-beta-END secretion. Because FSK can also stimulate independent of increased cAMP formation, we studied dibutyryl cAMP and 8-bromo-cAMP, analogues of cAMP, which also stimulated IR-beta-END secretion. From these studies we conclude: (1) activation of the cAMP second messenger system stimulates IR-beta-END secretion from hypothalamic cells and supports the rationale that endogenous regulators which stimulate this pathway could be involved in the physiological regulation of hypothalamic beta-END secretion; (2) coupling between the cAMP second messenger pathway and stimulation of hypothalamic beta-END secretion which is presumably present at maturity (adulthood) originates at early stages of development (fetal life).


Predictors of response to sleep apnea surgery addressing the lateral pharyngeal wall collapse.
To evaluate the predictive factors for surgical success in sleep apnea surgical techniques addressing the lateral pharyngeal wall. This is a retrospective review of consecutive cases treated by functional expansion pharyngoplasty for OSA. Collected data included patients demographics, ENT physical examination and somnographic data. Furthermore inter pterygoid distance was assessed by CT scans. To determine predictors of surgical success, physical examination, CT findings, polysomnographic and demographic data were compared between the success and failure group. Fifty two patients were enrolled. The mean AHI decreased significantly from 44.3 to 17 (p = 0.001). A total of 33 patients (63.5%) met the surgical success criteria. An inter pterygoid distance longer than 34 mm was the only significant predictor of success. Inter pterygoid distance seems to be a promising parameter associated with the surgical outcomes that should be further studied to be validated as predictor of success.


Endogenous opioid systems regulate growth of neural tumor cells in culture.
Endogenous opioid systems (i.e., opioids and opioid receptors) play a role in neural cancer. Using a tissue culture system of S20Y murine neuroblastoma to assess the effects of opioids on growth, [Met5]-enkephalin was the most potent compound to influence cell replication. With a median effective concentration of 10(-10) M, this peptide inhibited cell proliferation in a stereospecific and naloxone-reversible manner. [Met5]-Enkephalin depressed both DNA synthesis and mitosis. [Met5]-Enkephalin was detected in neuroblastoma cells by radioimmunoassay, and was found to increase in concentration in culture media over time, suggesting that these cells produced the peptide. Immunocytochemistry showed [Met5]-enkephalin-like activity in the cortical cytoplasm, but not the cell nucleus, of neuroblastoma cells. Binding of [3H]-[Met5]-enkephalin specific and saturable, and Scatchard analysis yielded a Kd of 1.2 +/- 0.1 nM and a binding capacity of 50.2 +/- 4.3 fmol/mg protein. [Met5]-Enkephalin also depressed the growth of N115 murine neuroblastoma, SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma, and HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma. These results indicate that [Met5]-enkephalin, a naturally occurring pentapeptide that is derived from proenkephalin A, is a potent inhibitor of cell growth. Since cancer cells produce [Met5]-enkephalin, and contain a binding site to this ligand, endogenous opioid systems appear to control cell proliferation by an autocrine mechanism.


A threshold of 10% for myeloperoxidase by flow cytometry is valid to classify acute leukemia of ambiguous and myeloid origin.
According to WHO 2008 guidelines, an important role is designated for cytoplasmic myeloperoxidase (cMPO) as measured by flow cytometry for classifying acute leukemia of myeloid or ambiguous origin (AML or MPAL). However, no threshold with respect to expression level and percentage positive cells is provided. Since the expression of solely cMPO can change the diagnosis from acute lymphoid leukemia into MPAL in the current WHO 2008, a consensus is needed for the cut-off for cMPO. In this study, we investigated whether or not a cut-off of 10% positivity for cMPO equally defines an acute leukemia as AML or MPAL as compared to a cut-off for cMPO of 20% and compared this with results obtained for Sudan Black B (SBB) staining by cytomorphology. Cell lineage-defining markers and SBB staining were analyzed retrospectively in a cohort of 198 patients who presented with acute leukemia. Eight patients were positive for SBB (>3%), but were considered negative for cMPO (<10%); six patients were negative for SBB (≤ 3%) and positive for cMPO (≥ 10%) staining. In six patients, we found 10-20% cMPO positive leukemic cells. Five of these cases were SBB positive; the sixth patient showed a clear myeloid phenotype without positivity of any lymphoid marker. Using a 10% cut-off instead of 20% would have changed diagnosis from ALL into MPAL in two patients; both cases were SBB positive by morphology. We conclude that a 10% cut-off is a secure lower limit for cMPO expression and can be used independently from SBB expression.


The Nurses That Roared: Nurses From History Who Found Their Voices and Challenged the Status Quo.
In this article, we explore how nurses from history challenged norms of nursing and society, and consider how they can influence and inspire nurses today. We discuss the role of nurses in the fight for women's suffrage, campaigning for the vote, and caring for women who suffered in their fight to achieve it, and present examples of outstanding bravery in the past and present day. The article contains examples of the bravery of some relatively unknown nurses in wartime, who also fought for equality and inclusion, and nurses who challenged the care of marginalized groups, campaigning for improved treatment, sometimes at great personal cost. Finally, we consider the courage of present-day nurses. Drawing on the global campaign of "Nursing Now," we suggest that learning from these exceptional nurses and acknowledging and highlighting their contribution can inspire us to strengthen and promote nursing and to empower women globally.


Factors effecting drug release from inert matrices. Part 1: effects of surfactants on the release of quinine sulfate.
Dissolution rate studies of quinine sulfate from polyamide matrices, in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, are carried out in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, sodium lauryl sulfate and polyoxyethylene (50) stearate surfactants. The results obtained show that dissolution rate is dependent upon the pH of the disolution media and the type and concentration of surfactant. The solubilization effect of surfactants is also examined and the findings are discussed.


Risk factors for kidney disease among HIV-1 positive persons in the methadone program.
Kidney injury is a serious comorbidity among HIV-infected patients. Intravenous drug use is listed as one of the risk factors for impaired renal function; however, this group is rarely assessed for specific renal-related risks. Patients attending methadone program from 1994 to 2015 were included in the study. Data collected included demographic data, laboratory tests, antiretroviral treatment history, methadone dosing and drug abstinence. Patients' drug abstinence was checked monthly on personnel demand. We have evaluated two study outcomes: (1) having at least one or (2) three eGFR < 60 ml/min (MDRD formula). In total, 267 persons, with 2593 person-years of follow-up were included into analyses. At the time of analyses, 251 (94%) were on antiretroviral therapy (ARV). Fifty-two (19.5%) patients had 1eGFR and 20 (7.5%) 3eGFR < 60. In univariate analysis, factors significantly increasing the odds of impaired renal function were: female gender, detectable HIV RNA on ART, age at registration per 5 years older, atazanavir use and time on antiretroviral treatment per 1 year longer. In the multivariate model, only female gender (OR 4.7; p = 0.002), time on cART (OR 1.11; p = 0.01) and baseline eGFR (OR 0.71; p = 0.001) were statistically significant. We have demonstrated a high rate of kidney function impairment among HIV-1 positive patients in the methadone program. All risk factors for decreased eGFR in this subpopulation of patients were similar to those described for general HIV population with very high prevalence in women. These findings imply the need for more frequent kidney function monitoring in this subgroup of patients.


Comparison of reported symptoms of acute myocardial infarction in Mexican Americans versus non-Hispanic whites (the Corpus Christi Heart Project).
This study examines whether there are differences between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in reported symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The symptoms experienced by patients identified in a community-based surveillance program were examined to determine whether between-group differences existed by ethnicity, gender, and diabetic status. Data were available regarding the symptoms of 589 patients, between the ages of 25 and 74 years, who were hospitalized and diagnosed as either having definite or possible AMI in special care units at 1 of 7 hospitals in Corpus Christi, Texas. The most frequently reported symptoms were chest pain (83.2%), chest pressure or discomfort (67.6%), sweating (64.2%), fatigue (62.6%), dyspnea (60.3%), and arm or jaw pain (58.2%). After adjusting for age, diabetes mellitus, and gender, and relative to non-Hispanic whites, Mexican Americans were more likely to report chest pain, upper back pain, and palpitations, and less likely to report arm or jaw pain. Likewise, relative to men, women were more likely to report fatigue, dyspnea, dizziness, upper back pain, palpitations, and cough, and were less likely to report chest pain. Significant differences were also observed when older patients' symptoms were compared with younger patients' symptoms.


Preparation of the bioglass/chitosan-alginate composite scaffolds with high bioactivity and mechanical properties as bone graft materials.
Bioglass/chitosan-alginate (BCA) composite scaffolds with remarkable performance for bone tissue engineering are successfully prepared by freeze-drying method. The influence of the addition amount of sodium alginate (SA) on the microstructure, porosity, pore size, swelling ratio, degradation ratio, mechanical properties and mineralization ability of BCA composite scaffolds is studied and characterized by various techniques of the scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared absorption spectrometer and so on. The results show that the BCA composite scaffolds have the three-dimensional interconnected network structure with the high porosity of 82%-87% and a suitable average pore size of 140-200 μm. With the increase of SA addition, the porosity and pore size of BCA gradually reduced and the thickness of pore wall increased. The swelling and degradation ratios decreased gradually with the raising SA and increased with the prolongation of soaking time in PBS. The mechanical strength of BCA was also significantly enhanced, and the mineralization ability of bioglass was effectively deployed with the adding SA of BCA. The improved performance of BCA may be attributed to the formed 3D network structure, activated bioavailability and crosslinking ability between chitosan and SA. It indicates that BCA composite scaffolds have potential applications in bone issues engineering.


Trends in the use of tracheotomy in the pediatric patient: the Iowa experience.
The role of tracheotomy in airway management in children has been widely discussed. Improved medical care and technology have resulted in improved survival rates, and increased survival rates have been associated with changes in the indications for and the use of tracheotomy. The purpose of this review was to evaluate trends in the use of tracheotomy over a 15-year period. We reviewed the medical charts of patients who underwent tracheotomy from 1975 to 1989 and analyzed them over three 5-year time intervals: Block 1, 1975-79; Block 2, 1980-84; and Block 3, 1985-89. In the defined age group, 305 patients underwent tracheotomy during the study period. Records from 281 patients were analyzed; the remaining charts either were unavailable for review or did not contain adequate documentation of the tracheotomy. We observed an increase in the number of tracheotomies over time, especially in the younger population. Across blocks, median age decreased, duration of tracheotomy increased, and indications for tracheotomy changed. Mean age, duration of tracheotomy, and indications for tracheotomy changed over the 15-year period. Additionally, these parameters were strongly related.


Prevention of child behavior problems through universal implementation of a group behavioral family intervention.
The aim of this mental health promotion initiative was to evaluate the effectiveness of a universally delivered group behavioral family intervention (BFI) in preventing behavior problems in children. This study investigates the transferability of an efficacious clinical program to a universal prevention intervention delivered through child and community health services targeting parents of preschoolers within a metropolitan health region. A quasi-experimental two-group (BFI, n = 804 vs. Comparison group, n = 806) longitudinal design followed preschool aged children and their parents over a 2-year period. BFI was associated with significant reductions in parent- reported levels of dysfunctional parenting and parent-reported levels of child behavior problems. Effect sizes on child behavior problems ranged from large (.83) to moderate (.47). Positive and significant effects were also observed in parent mental health, marital adjustment, and levels of child rearing conflict. Findings are discussed with respect to their implication for significant population reductions in child behavior problems as well as the pragmatic challenges for prevention science in encouraging both the evaluation and uptake of preventive initiatives in real world settings.


Coproduction of single cell protein and lipid from lignocellulose derived carbohydrates and inorganic ammonia salt with soluble ammonia recycling.
Co-production of single cell protein (SCP) and lipid from lignocellulose-derived carbohydrates and inorganic ammonia offers a promising alternative for poultry or aquaculture feeds. An engineered oleaginous yeast Trichosporon cutaneum MP11 showed great potential for producing SCP and lipid from wheat straw and ammonia sulfate with minimum nutrient input. Trichosporon cutaneum MP11 showed stronger SCP and lipid fermentability using dry acid pretreated and biodetoxified wheat straw than using pure sugars. The residual ammonium sulfate in fermentation broth was recycled up to five times, resulting in ∼70% of nitrogen fixation into SCP. The overall yield of SCP and lipid from lignocellulose-derived sugars was 0.15 g/g and 0.11 g/g, respectively. This translates to the production of one ton of SCP (0.56 ton) and lipid (0.44 ton) from 6.6 tons of wheat straw, or one ton of SCP and lipid containing yeast cells (dry) from 4.8 tons of wheat straw.


Electrophoretic characterization of cellular and extracellular proteins from Selenastrum capricornutum cultures degrading benzo(a)pyrene and their identification by UPLC-ESI-TOF mass spectrometry.
Selenastrum capricornutum efficiently degrades benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) but few proteins related to BaP degradation have been identified in this microalgae. So far, it has only been suggested that it could degrade BaP via the monooxygenase and/or dioxygenase pathways. To know more about this fact, in this work, cultures of S. capricornutum incubated with BaP were used to obtain the molecular weights (MWs) of proteins existing in its extra- and cellular extracts by electrophoresis and UPLC-ESI(+)-TOF MS analysis. The results of this proteomic approach indicated that BaP markedly induces the MWs: 6-20, 30, 45, and 65 kDa in cells; 6-20, 30.3, 38-45, and 55 kDa in liquid medium. So, these proteins could be related to BaP biodegradation. An identified protein with monooxygenase activity and rubredoxins (Rds) show to be related to BaP degradation: Rds could participate, together with the monooxygenase in the electron transfer during the formation of monohydroxylated-BaP metabolites. Rds may be also associated with a dioxygenase system that degrades BaP to form dihydrodiol-BaP metabolites. A multi-pass membrane protein was identified too, and it can regulate the transport of molecules like enzymes from inside the cell to the outside environment. At the same time, the presence of a dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase validated the stress caused by the exposure to BaP. It is noteworthy that these findings provide valuable and original information on the characterization of the proteins of S. capricornutum cultures degrading BaP, whose enzymes have so far not been known. It is important to highlight that the functions of the identified proteins can help in understanding the metabolic and environmental behavior of this microalgae, and the extracts containing the degrading enzymes could be utilized in bioremediation applications.


Top-down mass spectrometry of a 29-kDa protein for characterization of any posttranslational modification to within one residue.
A mass difference between the measured molecular weight of a protein and that of its DNA-predicted sequence indicates sequence errors and/or posttranslational modifications. In the top-down mass spectrometry approach, the measured molecular ion is dissociated, and these fragment masses are matched against those predicted from the protein sequence to restrict the locations of the errors/modifications. The proportion of the ion's interresidue bonds that are cleaved determines the specificity of such locations; previously, ubiquitin (76 residues) was the largest for which all such bonds were dissociated. Now, cleavages are achieved for carbonic anhydrase at 250 of the 258 interresidue locations. Cleavages of three spectra would define posttranslational modifications at 235 residues to within one residue. For 24 of the 34 possible phosphorylation sites, the cleavages of one spectrum would delineate exactly all -PO(3)H substitutions. This result has been achieved with electron-capture dissociation by minimizing the further cleavage of primary product ions and by denaturing the tertiary noncovalent bonding of the molecular ions under a variety of conditions.


The role of the intracellular redox state in the regulation of ionic fluxes through the membranes of D-type nerve cells of Lymnea stagnalis.
In an earlier analysis of the ion mechanisms of the redox phenomenon (Puppi et al., 1968, 1976) the question has emerged, whether the redox receptor(s) of membranes are localized on the outer or the inner surfaces or on both. To elucidate this, we have investigated the effects of redox agents applied also intracellularly.


First dinuclear rhodium(II) complexes with triazolopyrimidines and the prospect of their potential biological use.
Five novel rhodium(II) complexes of general formula [Rh2(μ-OOCCH3)4L2], where L is a triazolopyrimidine derivative, in particular dimethyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (dmtp) for (1), 5,7-diethyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (detp) for (2), 7-isobutyl-5-methyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (ibmtp) for (3), 7-hydroxy-5-methyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (HmtpO) for (4) and 5,7-ditertbutyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (dbtp) for (5) are reported. These first representatives of paddle-wheel dirhodium complexes with triazolopyrimidines have been characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy as well as by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Three of the new complexes (1), (2) and (5) were thoroughly screened in vitro for their cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and L929 murine fibroblast cells. Favorably, they show significantly less effective inhibition on the cell growth of L929 than cisplatin under identical conditions. Complexes (1) and (5) display moderate cytotoxic activity (IC50 = 16.3-21.5 μM) against MCF-7 cells which is induced via reactive oxygen species-independent pathways. Extensive studies of rhodium complexes (1), (2) and (5) against microorganisms have shown that the tested compounds exhibit antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) while (5) significantly inhibited the growth of Malassezia furfur. The highest antibacterial, and antifungal activity, was observed for (5).


Methoxyflavones isolated from the whole plant of Scutellaria rubropunctata Hayata var. rubropunctata promote osteoblast differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells.
In this study, we isolated two new methoxyflavones (1 and 2) and eight known methoxyflavones (3-10) from the whole plant of Scutellaria rubropunctata Hayata var. rubropunctata (SR). Based on spectroscopic analyses, the methoxyflavones were identified as 5,8,2',6'-tetramethoxy-6,7-methylenedioxyflavone (1) and 5,2',6'-trimethoxy-6,7-methylenedioxyflavone (2). We reported SR might have effects on promoting osteoblast differentiation and stimulating estrogen receptor (ER) in the previous study. Then, the effects of 1-10 on pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells were investigated, and 1, 2, and 9 were observed to promote alkaline phosphatase activity. To evaluate their effect on osteogenesis-related genes, we performed gene expression analysis using quantitative real-time PCR after treatment of MC3T3-E1 cells with these compounds. Although 2 was only effective at lower concentrations, 1 and 9 upregulated the mRNA levels of Runx2, Osterix, Osteopontin, Osteocalcin, Smad1, and Smad4. These results indicate that 1 and 9 may induce osteoblast differentiation by activating Runx2 via the BMP/Smad pathway and may play a central role in the promotion of osteoblast differentiation by SR. The ER agonist activity of 1-10 were tested using a luciferase reporter assay in HEK293 cells. However, none of the compounds exhibited remarkable activity. Thus, SR may contain other compounds that contribute to its ER agonist activity.


Deep Neural Network and Monte Carlo Tree Search applied to Fluid-Structure Topology Optimization.
This paper shows the application of Deep Neural Network algorithms for Fluid-Structure Topology Optimization. The strategy offered is a new concept which can be added to the current process used to study Topology Optimization with Cellular Automata, Adjoint and Level-Set methods. The design space is described by a computational grid where every cell can be in two states: fluid or solid. The system does not require human intervention and learns through an algorithm based on Deep Neural Network and Monte Carlo Tree Search. In this work the objective function for the optimization is an incompressible fluid solver but the overall optimization process is independent from the solver. The test case used is a standard duct with back facing step where the optimizer aims at minimizing the pressure losses between inlet and outlet. The results obtained with the proposed approach are compared to the solution via a classical adjoint topology optimization code.


Effects of green tea powder on production performance, egg quality, and blood biochemical parameters in laying hens.
The paper aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of green tea powder (GTP) on laying performance, egg quality, and blood biochemical parameters of laying hens. A total of 240 Jingfen No. 6 laying hens (age, 24 wk) were randomly allocated into 4 groups: control group (CON, basal diet), GTP0.5, GTP0.75, and GTP1.0 (basal diet included 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0% GTP, respectively). Each group has 5 replicates with 12 birds each. The feeding trial lasted 8 wk. The results showed that the hen-day egg production rate in GTP0.5 and GTP 0.75 group was higher than that of GTP1.0 group (P < 0.05), hen-day egg production rate in the GTP1.0 group was lower compared to the CON group (P > 0.05), the feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the GTP0.75 group was lower than that in CON and GTP 1.0 group (P < 0.05) during the entire experimental period. Albumen height and Haugh unit were higher in the GTP0.75 and GTP1.0 group compared to the CON group at d 56 (P < 0.05). At the end of experiment, plasma TG content in the GTP0.75 and GTP1.0 group was lower than that in the CON group (P < 0.05), the T-CH concentration in the GTP0.5 and GTP0.75 group was lower compared to the CON group (P < 0.05), plasma LDL-C and CORT concentrations were decreased by dietary GTP supplementation (P < 0.05), the HDL-C and BUN concentrations in the GTP0.75 and GTP1.0 group were higher than that in the CON group (P < 0.05). The antibody titers of H5N1 in the GTP0.75 and GTP1.0 group, and H7N9 in the GTP1.0 group were lower than that in the CON group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary GTP inclusion could affect laying performance, regulate lipid metabolism, and have no favorable influence on antibody titers of H5N1 and H7N9, herein, dietary 0.5% GTP inclusion is suggested for Jingfen No. 6 laying hens during the peak laying period.


Impact of anastomotic leak on recurrence and survival after colorectal cancer surgery: a BioGrid Australia analysis.
There is conflicting evidence regarding the oncological impact of anastomotic leak following colorectal cancer surgery. This study aims to test the hypothesis that anastomotic leak is independently associated with local recurrence and overall and cancer-specific survival. Analysis of prospectively collected data from multiple centres in Victoria between 1988 and 2015 including all patients who underwent colon or rectal resection for cancer with anastomosis was presented. Overall and cancer-specific survival rates and rates of local recurrence were compared using Cox regression analysis. A total of 4892 patients were included, of which 2856 had completed 5-year follow-up. The overall anastomotic leak rate was 4.0%. Cox regression analysis accounting for differences in age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists score and tumour stage demonstrated that anastomotic leak was associated with significantly worse 5-year overall survival (χ 2 = 6.459, P = 0.011) for colon cancer, but only if early deaths were included. There was no difference in 5-year colon cancer-specific survival (χ 2 = 0.582, P = 0.446) or local recurrence (χ 2 = 0.735, P = 0.391). For rectal cancer, there was no difference in 5-year overall survival (χ 2 = 0.266, P = 0.606), cancer-specific survival (χ 2 = 0.008, P = 0.928) or local recurrence (χ 2 = 2.192, P = 0.139). Anastomotic leak may reduce 5-year overall survival in colon cancer patients but does not appear to influence the 5-year overall survival in rectal cancer patients. There was no effect on local recurrence or cancer-specific survival.


Decision-to-delivery interval and neonatal outcomes in intrapartum umbilical cord prolapse.
Rapid delivery is important in cases of umbilical cord prolapse to prevent hypoxic injury to the fetus/neonate. However, the optimal decision-to-delivery interval remains controversial. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between the decision-to-delivery interval in women with umbilical cord prolapse, stratified by fetal heart rate pattern at diagnosis, and neonatal outcome. The database of a tertiary medical center was retrospectively searched for all cases of intrapartum cord prolapse between 2008 and 2021. The cohort was divided into three groups according to findings on the fetal heart tracing at diagnosis: 1) bradycardia; 2) decelerations without bradycardia; and 3) reassuring heart rate. The primary outcome measure was fetal acidosis. The correlation between cord blood indices and decision-to-delivery interval was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Of the total 103,917 deliveries performed during the study period, 130 (0.13%) were complicated by intrapartum umbilical cord prolapse. Division by fetal heart tracing yielded 22 women (16.92%) in group 1, 41 (31.53%) in group 2, and 67 (51.53%) in group 3. The median decision-to-delivery interval was 11.0 min (IQR 9.0-15.0); the interval was more than 20 min in 4 cases. The median cord arterial blood pH was 7.28 (IQR 7.24-7.32); pH was less than 7.2 in 4 neonates. There was no correlation of cord arterial pH with decision-to-delivery interval (Spearman's Ρ = - 0.113; Ρ = 0.368) or with fetal heart rate pattern (Spearman's Ρ = .425; Ρ = .079, Ρ = - .205; Ρ = .336, Ρ = - .324; Ρ = .122 for groups 1-3, respectively). Intrapartum umbilical cord prolapse is a relatively rare obstetric emergency with an overall favorable neonatal outcome if managed in a timely manner, regardless of the immediately preceding fetal heart rate. In a clinical setting which includes a high obstetric volume and a rapid, protocol-based, response, there is apparently no significant correlation between decision-to-delivery interval and cord arterial cord pH.


[welcome to the Château].
Le Château en santé is a community health center in Marseille (13), which has some cousins in France and soon new ones. Its multi-professional medical and social team welcomes residents from surrounding areas. The fight against inequalities in access to care, which are particularly affected people with complex administrative situations is one of his fight.


Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity: the changing roles of Ca(2+)- and cAMP-dependent mechanisms in the insect prothoracic glands during metamorphosis.
The synthesis of ecdysteroids by the lepidopteran prothoracic gland is regulated by a brain neuropeptide hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH). In Manduca sexta glands, PTTH stimulates several events including Ca(2+) influx, Ca(2+)-dependent cAMP generation and the activation of several protein kinases. In the present study, the path by which PTTH stimulates extracellular signal-activated regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation was investigated using PTTH and second messenger analogs. The results indicate that Ca(2+)-dependent processes, other than cAMP generation, play the major role in PTTH stimulation of ERK phosphorylation in larval prothoracic glands, that cAMP-dependent events increase in importance during later development and that PTTH-stimulated ERK phosphorylation is highest in larval glands. The decline in PTTH-stimulated ERK phosphorylation associated with metamorphosis results from decreased ERK levels and an increased basal rate of ERK phosphorylation. The data suggest that the role or importance of components of the PTTH signal transduction cascade are not fixed and can change during development.


Active Video Games in Schools and Effects on Physical Activity and Health: A Systematic Review.
To assess the quality of evidence for the effects of school active video game (AVG) use on physical activity and health outcomes. Online databases (ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) and gray literature were searched. Inclusion criteria were the use of AVGs in school settings as an intervention; assessment of at least 1 health or physical activity outcome; and comparison of outcomes with either a control group or comparison phase. Studies featuring AVGs within complex interventions were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Twenty-two reports were identified: 11 assessed physical activity outcomes only, 5 assessed motor skill outcomes only, and 6 assessed both physical activity and health outcomes. Nine out of 14 studies found greater physical activity in AVG sessions compared with controls; mostly assessed by objective measures in school time only. Motor skills were found to improve with AVGs vs controls in all studies but not compared with other motor skill interventions. Effects of AVGs on body composition were mixed. Study quality was low in 16 studies and moderate in the remaining 6, with insufficient detail given on blinding, participation rates, and confounding variables. There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend AVGs as efficacious health interventions within schools. Higher quality AVG research utilizing randomized controlled trial designs, larger sample sizes, and validated activity measurements beyond the school day is needed.


Oral cancer in northern Thailand.
Statistical material accumulated at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, revealed that oral cancer ranked third in both sexes during 1975-1984 and 1981 alone. In 1987 oral cancer had dropped to rank 7 of cancers of all sites. Since there is evidence of disappearance of traditional chewing and smoking habits in Northern Thailand this may result in changing incidence of oral cancer in this province.


"Unremarkable" recoveries: normalizing adversity and cancer survival.
Much of the existing popular literature suggests that survival from life-threatening diseases encourages a process of self-transformation. Seventeen long-term survivors of metastatic cancer were interviewed about the impact of a life-threatening condition on their life stories. Contrary to the existing literature, which suggests such an event greatly transforms the individual, nearly all of those interviewed for this study framed their unusual recoveries as being largely unremarkable. Traditional North American cultural values, which normalize adversity, appear to bolster the participants' beliefs that one can have control over one's health and can even resist a recurrence of cancer.


The influence of gender and use of barium enema on morbidity in acute appendicitis.
The records of 166 patients with appendicitis were analyzed by sex for time from presentation in the emergency department to surgery. Additionally, the effects of barium enema examinations on these times were noted. Our findings indicate that there was no significant delay in surgery based on gender (P = .42). However, those patients who had barium enema as part of their workup had significantly longer delays from presentation to surgery (P = .00005). These results support the notion that the most appropriate treatment for acute appendicitis is early diagnosis, a short preoperative resuscitation, and early surgical intervention. Barium enema is indicated only when the diagnosis is highly suspect and only if it can be carried out in a timely manner.


Drastically inhibited nZVI-Fenton oxidation of organic pollutants by cysteine: Multiple roles in the nZVI/O2/hv system.
The influence of l-cysteine, a common aliphatic amino acid, on the zero-valent iron (nZVI)/O2 photo-Fenten degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) was investigated in this study. The oxidation rate of RhB in the nZVI/O2/hv system was 91.2% after 40 min under the illumination and oxygen conditions and pH of 3, but when cysteine was introduced into the system, the oxidization process was inhibited. The removal of RhB was only about 50% after 40 min at a cysteine concentration ≥50 μM. It was shown experimentally that, under dark conditions, only 40.5% and 19.8% RhB was removed by the nZVI/O2 and nZVI/O2/cysteine systems, respectively. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and iron dissolving experiments revealed that the addition of cysteine clearly reduced the production of hydroxyl radicals (OH) and Fe2+ and Fe3+. In addition, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrated that cysteine could form hydrogen bonds on the iron surface. These results indicated that the main inhibition mechanism of cysteine was the alleviation of the oxidation of nZVI to Fe2+ and Fe3+ through wrapping the nZVI particles. Moreover, cystine (the oxidized form of CYS) could partly react with OH to regenerate cysteine, which resulted in competition with RhB for OH. Another possible reason for the inhibitory effect of cysteine was the prevention of light utilization. These findings indicate a non-negligible inhibitory trait for heterogeneous Fenton process in wastewater treatment when amino acids are present.