Update on clinical trials of kidney stone repositioning and preclinical results of stone breaking with one system

Our goal is an office-based, handheld ultrasound system to target, detach, break, and/or expel stones and stone fragments from the urinary collecting system to facilitate natural clearance. Repositioning of stones in humans (maximum 2.5 MPa, and 3-second bursts) and breaking of stones in a porcine model (maximum 50 cycles, 20 Hz repetition, 30 minutes, and 7 MPa peak negative pressure) have been demonstrated using the same 350-kHz probe. Repositioning in humans was conducted during surgery with a ureteroscope in the kidney to film stone movement. Independent video review confirmed stone movements (≥ 3 mm) in 15 of 16 kidneys (94%). No serious or unanticipated adverse events were reported. Experiments of burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) effectiveness on breaking human stones implanted in the porcine bladder and kidney demonstrated fragmentation of 8 of 8 stones on post mortem dissection. A 1-week survival study with the BWL exposures and 10 specific-pathogen-free pigs, showed all findings were within normal limits on clinical pathology, hematology, and urinalysis. These results demonstrate that repositioning of stones with ultrasonic propulsion and breaking of stones with BWL are safe and effective.

[Comparative study on different methods of detecting eosinophils in nasal polyps]

Objective: To investigate whether there were differences between the three stains for eosinophil counting in nasal polyps. Method: Three serial sections of formalin-fxed, paraffn-embedded tissues of 23 cases of nasal polyps were stained with Congo red,Chromotrope 2R and conventional HE staining, respectively. The stained sections were converted to digital pathology using a digital slice scanner. The qualitative assessment of the staining results was made in terms of specificity, contrast and background staining. Eosinophils were quantitatively evaluated and statistically analyzed using the Image J Analysis System and GraphPad Prism 5 statistical software. Result: Congo red staining and Chromotrope 2R staining were more specific than conventional HE staining. Chromotrope 2R had the lowest background staining. The majority of Congo red staining (n=20) was lighter in the background than in the conventional HE, while a small number of cases (n=3) background staining slightly stronger. Both Congo red staining and Chromotrope 2R staining had statistically significant differences compared with conventional HE staining (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between Congo red staining and Chromotrope 2R staining (P>0.05). Conclusion: Congo red staining and Chromotrope 2R staining are more suitable for accurate counting of eosinophils, and the use of these two methods contributes to the harmonization of eosinophil count criteria in the ECRSwNP definition.

A novel index using routine clinical parameters for predicting significant liver inflammation in chronic hepatitis B

Identifying the degree of liver inflammation is critical for therapeutic judgement of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, we lack indexes which can accurately predict significant liver inflammation in patients with CHB. This study aimed to develop a simple predictive index for liver inflammation in CHB using routine clinical parameters. A total of 519 patients with CHB who underwent liver biopsy were enrolled and randomly divided into training (n = 346) and validation cohorts (n = 173). Based on routine clinical parameters, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT; P = 0.031) and platelets (PLT; P < 0.001) were identified as independent predictors of significant inflammation by multivariable analysis in the training cohort. Accordingly, the GGT to PLT ratio (GPR) was developed to amplify the opposing effects for predicting liver inflammation. In the training cohort, the AUCs of GPR in predicting significant inflammation were 0.791 (95% CI: 0.742-0.839), 0.783 (95% CI: 0.717-0.849) and 0.791 (95% CI: 0.716-0.867) in the entire patients with CHB, HBeAg-positive CHB patients and HBeAg-negative CHB patients, respectively. The diagnostic performance of GPR for significant inflammation was significantly superior to that of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and GGT in all patients with CHB and HBeAg-positive CHB patients, but was comparable with ALT, AST and GGT in HBeAg-negative CHB patients. In the validation cohort, the diagnostic performance of GPR in assessing significant liver inflammation was also superior to other indexes in all patients with CHB and HBeAg-positive CHB patients, but was comparable with GGT in HBeAg-negative CHB patients. Thus, GPR can be a novel and simple index for predicting significant liver inflammation in CHB, especially for HBeAg-positive CHB.

Two-photon microscopy of Paneth cells in the small intestine of live mice

Paneth cells are one of the principal epithelial cell types in the small intestine, located at the base of intestinal crypts. Paneth cells play key roles in intestinal host-microbe homeostasis via granule secretion, and their dysfunction is implicated in pathogenesis of several diseases including Crohn’s disease. Despite their physiological importance, study of Paneth cells has been hampered by the limited accessibility and lack of labeling methods. In this study, we developed a simple in vivo imaging method of Paneth cells in the intact mouse small intestine by using moxifloxacin and two-photon microscopy (TPM). Moxifloxacin, an FDA-approved antibiotic, was used for labeling cells and its fluorescence was strongly observed in Paneth cell granules by TPM. Moxifloxacin labeling of Paneth cell granules was confirmed by molecular counterstaining. Comparison of Paneth cells in wild type, genetically obese (ob/ob), and germ-free (GF) mice showed different granule distribution. Furthermore, Paneth cell degranulation was observed in vivo. Our study suggests that TPM with moxifloxacin labeling can serve as a useful tool for studying Paneth cell biology and related diseases.

The cAMP responsive element-binding (CREB)-1 gene increases risk of major psychiatric disorders

Bipolar disorder (BPD), schizophrenia (SCZ) and unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) are primary psychiatric disorders sharing substantial genetic risk factors. We previously reported that two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2709370 and rs6785 in the cAMP responsive element-binding (CREB)-1 gene (CREB1) were associated with the risk of BPD and abnormal hippocampal function in populations of European ancestry. In the present study, we further expanded our analyses of rs2709370 and rs6785 in multiple BPD, SCZ and MDD data sets, including the published Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) genome-wide association study, the samples used in our previous CREB1 study, and six additional cohorts (three new BPD samples, two new SCZ samples and one new MDD sample). Although the associations of both CREB1 SNPs with each illness were not replicated in the new cohorts (BPD analysis in 871 cases and 1089 controls (rs2709370, P=0.0611; rs6785, P=0.0544); SCZ analysis in 1273 cases and 1072 controls (rs2709370, P=0.230; rs6785, P=0.661); and MDD analysis in 129 cases and 100 controls (rs2709370, P=0.114; rs6785, P=0.188)), an overall meta-analysis of all included samples suggested that both SNPs were significantly associated with increased risk of BPD (11 105 cases and 51 331 controls; rs2709370, P=2.33 × 10^-4; rs6785, P=6.33 × 10^-5), SCZ (34 913 cases and 44 528 controls; rs2709370, P=3.96 × 10^-5; rs6785, P=2.44 × 10^-5) and MDD (9369 cases and 9619 controls; rs2709370, P=0.0144; rs6785, P=0.0314), with the same direction of allelic effects across diagnostic categories. We then examined the impact of diagnostic status on CREB1 mRNA expression using data obtained from independent brain tissue samples, and observed that the mRNA expression of CREB1 was significantly downregulated in psychiatric patients compared with healthy controls. The protein-protein interaction analyses showed that the protein encoded by CREB1 directly interacted with several risk genes of psychiatric disorders identified by GWAS. In conclusion, the current study suggests that CREB1 might be a common risk gene for major psychiatric disorders, and further investigations are necessary.

[Analysis of preoperative predictive factors and clinical characteristics in patients with parathyroid carcinoma]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and preoperative predictive factors in patients with parathyroid carcinoma. Methods: From January 2010 to December 2016, 150 patients with pathologically and biochemically confirmed primary hyperparathyroidism were enrolled in this study. The clinical data were reviewed to define 28 cases of parathyroid hyperplasia, 14 cases of parathyroid carcinoma (PC), and 108 cases of parathyroid adenoma (PA). The clinical characteristics between PC and PA group were compared and analyzed to explore predictive factors for PC. Results: Patients in PC group were significantly younger than those in PA group (47.9±13.9 vs 57.2±14.6 years, P=0.026). The diameter of tumor in PC group was larger than that in PA group (3.6±1.8 vs 2.2±1.4 cm, P=0.005). The levels of albumin-corrected serum calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) were all higher in PC group than those in PA group (3.4±0.6 vs 2.9±0.3 mmol/l; 1 157.1 vs 201.6 pg/ml; 168 vs 97 IU/L; all P<0.05). PC correlated with age(r=-0.241, P=0.007), albumin-corrected serum calcium (r=0.324, P<0.001), PTH levels (r=0.301, P=0.001), serum AKP (r=0.217, P=0.019) and tumor size(r=0.238, P=0.011). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis showed that the optimum cut-off values as follows: albumin-corrected serum calcium 3.15 mmol/L, serum PTH concentration 1 011 pg/ml and tumor diameter 3.35 cm. These indicators can be helpful in the preoperative diagnosis of PC. Conclusions: Patients with PC were younger than the patients with PA. Albumin-corrected serum calcium, serum PTH concentration, and tumor diameter can be helpful in preoperative diagnosis of PC.

Development of High Pressure Injection Technology for Normal Hydraulic Injection Molding Machines

Previous studies have shown that enhancing injection pressure can help improve the precision and mechanical properties of molding products, and reduce their shrinkage. But for now the ordinary hydraulic injection molding machine cannot generally meet the requirements of high pressure injection. To improve the injection pressure, the pressurizing module and the hydraulic circuit were designed, and their influence on the product quality was explored via molding experiments. The relationship between the system pressure of injection molding machine and the injection pressure was demonstrated. The experimental results showed that the maximum injection pressure of the injection molding machine with the pressurizing module was improved from 204 MPa to 320 MPa, up 56.86 %. The lack of materials, bubbles, sags of products were gradually weakened until finally disappeared with increasing the injection pressure. The pressurizing module was convenient to be assembled into or removed from the injection molding machine without damaging the original structure, and the state of pressurizing or no pressurizing could be transformed easily during the injection molding process. These results indicated that this technology was easy to be popularized and applied.

The regulatory role of SLP-2 and mechanism on CCBE1 gene expression in rectal carcinoma and adjacent lymphatic tube tissues

OBJECTIVE

The incidence of rectal carcinoma (RC) has been increasing recently, and becomes the second most common digestive tumors besides gastric cancer, with a rise in the incidence of RC in younger populations. The early diagnosis and treatment are thus critical for the improvement of survival rate and life quality of patients. Stomatin-like protein 2 (SLP-2) is a type of membrane factor, which is generally found highly expressed in various tumors. Collagen and calcium-binding EGF domain (CCBE1) belongs to lymphatic tube genesis factor. The regulatory role of SLP-2 gene on CCBE1 expression in RC tumor and adjacent lymphatic tube tissues, however, has not been studied.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

52 RC patients were recruited, and tumor and adjacent lymphatic tube tissues were collected. Real-time PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining were used to analyze SLP-2 and CCBE1 expressions. Human lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) were cultured in vitro and were assigned to control, scramble, and SLP-2 siRNA group. MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation, while caspase 3 activity was detected.

RESULTS

SLP-2 and CCBE1 levels were significantly elevated in tumor lymphatic tissues, compared to that in adjacent tissues. Statistically positive correlation between SLP-1 and CCBE2 was found (p<0.05). The downregulation of SLP-2 by siRNA inhibited cell proliferation, elevated caspase3 activity, and decreased CCBE1 expression (p<0.05 compared to control group).

CONCLUSIONS

SLP-2 is up-regulated in RC lymphatic tissues, and is positively correlated with the level of CCBE1, which provides the academic the basis for the development of medicine targeting SLP-2 in the anti-rectal carcinoma therapy.

Pathogenicity characteristics of Enterococcus faecium from diseased black bears

The death of several black bears at the black bear breeding base in Yunnan Pingbian Daweishan is a matter of concern. Multiple black bears exhibited decreased appetite or unusual waste, and some were soporific or suffered from vomiting and anhelation. In order to ascertain the cause of death, 16S rDNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was performed on bacteria isolated from tissue samples obtained from dead bears. The biochemical characteristics of the isolated bacteria were subsequently analyzed using different biochemical test systems. The bacteria can decompose glucose, but it cannot produce gas. The fermentation study of sucrose, lactose, trehalose, glycerol and mannitol yielded positive results; while it was unable to decompose urea or ODC (ornithine decarboxylase). Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) analysis of a ~1500-bp DNA product amplified from the 16S rDNA of the bacterial isolate revealed that Enterococcus faecium from black bears is highly similar to other E. faecium isolates in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, and the highest sequence similarity (99%) was with the reference strain. In addition, mice infected with the E. faecium isolate succumbed to severe damage to the lungs, liver, spleen, myocardium, and kidney tissues. In summary, the isolated E. faecium from dead black bears induced pathological changes in mice.

Nano liquid metal for the preparation of a thermally conductive and electrically insulating material with high stability

Dielectric materials typically demonstrate poor thermal conductivity, which limits their application in emerging technologies in integrated circuits, computer chips, light-emitting diode lamps, and other electronic packaging areas. Using liquid metal microdroplets as inclusions to develop thermal interface materials has been shown to effectively improve thermal pathways, but this type of material may become electroconductive with the application of a concentrated compressive stress. In this study, an isotropic nano-liquid metal thermally-conductive and electrically-insulating material (nLM-THEM) is developed by combining a modified polymer and well-dispersed nanoparticles, achieving an ∼50× increase in thermal conductivity over the base polymer. In addition, the thermal conductivity of nLM-THEMs exhibits no significant change with varying humidity and a stable anti-corrosion effect even in direct contact with aluminum. More importantly, nLM-THEMs demonstrate a stable electrical insulating property upon compressive stress, while conventional micro-LM-THEMs exude liquid metal. This exceptional combination of thermal and electrical insulation properties is enabled by the interconnection of uniform and spherical liquid metal nanoparticles to create more thermally-conductive pathways, and surfactant modified nanoparticles ensure excellent electric insulation. Moreover, this material can achieve passive heat exchange through rapid heat dissipation, which demonstrates its great application potential in the electronic packaging area.

Compared to liquid metal (LM) microdroplets based thermally conductive materials (micro-LM-THEMs), nano LM-THEMs (nLM-THEMs) presents a more stable electric insulating property even upon stress, achieving ~50-fold thermal conductivity over base polymer.