RBC alloimmunization is an important complication of FFP transfusion: A case report of immune anti-D induced by apheresis fresh frozen plasma

UK, Germany as well as the Council of Europe recommendation guide have set limits of RBC in clinical fresh frozen plasma (FFP), but current transfusion guidelines do not get the consensus opinion at recommending the D status of FFP to be considered before transfusion. We report a female group A, D- patient with cerebrovascular disease who was induced to develop IgG immune anti-D which can be detected on the 15th day of hospitalization after the relatively regular time interval of transfusion of 1800ml apheresis FFP. Therefore, in making clinical decisions to transfuse FFP or apheresis FFP, the best choice is considered as the same or compatibility with RhD group, in case Rh immunization can be induced and trigger some potential serious problems in future emergent transfusion or pregnancy, especially in high incidence of D antigen countries.

Clinical trial: prophylactic intravenous alanyl-glutamine reduces the severity of gastrointestinal toxicity induced by chemotherapy--a randomized crossover study

BACKGROUND

Glutamine has been shown in numerous studies to reduce intestinal permeability which can be increased by chemotherapy. However, there have been few reports that conduct on its clinical effect on gastrointestinal toxicity.

AIM

To examine whether prophylactic intravenous alanyl-glutamine dipeptide can ameliorate clinical manifestations of gastrointestinal toxicity induced by chemotherapy.

METHODS

Forty-four patients with gastric or colorectal cancer developing WHO side-effect grading system of grade 2 or higher were randomized to either control group (n = 22) or Gln group (n = 22) during next cycle of chemotherapy. Patients were crossed over to the alternate treatment during chemotherapy cycle 2. In the control group, the patients received the same chemotherapy regimens as screening cycle and in the Gln group, the patients received chemotherapy and alanyl-glutamine. Prophylactic intravenous 20 g of alanyl-glutamine dipeptide was given for 5 days.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, the plasma glutamine level in the Gln group was significantly higher and the plasma endotoxin level was significantly lower. The scores of nausea/vomiting and diarrhoea decreased significantly.

CONCLUSION

Prophylactic intravenous alanyl-glutamine is effective in preventing intestinal permeability disruption induced by chemotherapy and clinical manifestations of gastrointestinal toxicity.

Structural color change in longhorn beetles Tmesisternus isabellae

The elytra of longhorn beetles Tmesisternus isabellae show iridescent golden coloration which stems from long and flat scales imbricated densely on the elytral surface. The scales are able to change coloration from golden in the dry state to red in the wet state with water absorption. Structural characterizations revealed that the iridescent coloration of scales originates from a multilayer in the scale interior. Measurements on both water contact angle and chemical composition indicated that scales are hydrophilic. The change in scale coloration to red in the wet state is due to both the swelling of the multilayer period and water infiltration. The unraveled structural color change and its strategy may not only help us get insight into the biological functionality of structural coloration but also inspire the designs of artificial photonic devices.

K/pi Fluctuations at relativistic energies

We report K/pi fluctuations from Au + Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]= 19.6, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. K/pi fluctuations in central collisions show little dependence on incident energy and are on the same order as those from NA49 at the Super Proton Synchrotron in central Pb + Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=12.3 and 17.3 GeV. We report results for the collision centrality dependence of K/pi fluctuations and results for charge-separated fluctuations. We observe that the K/pi fluctuations scale with the charged particle multiplicity density.

Search for dimuon decays of a light scalar boson in radiative transitions Upsilon-->gammaA0

We search for evidence of a light scalar boson in the radiative decays of the Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) resonances: Upsilon(2S,3S)-->gammaA0, A0-->mu+mu-. Such a particle appears in extensions of the standard model, where a light CP-odd Higgs boson naturally couples strongly to b quarks. We find no evidence for such processes in the mass range 0.212 < or = mA0 < or = 9.3 GeV in the samples of 99 x 10(6) Upsilon(2S) and 122 x 10(6) Upsilon(3S) decays collected by the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B factory and set stringent upper limits on the effective coupling of the b quark to the A0. We also limit the dimuon branching fraction of the etab meson: B(etab-->mu+mu-)<0.9% at 90% confidence level.

Rapid and specific detection of H3 swine influenza virus using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification method

AIM

The main objective of our study is to develop a reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)-based system for rapid and specific detection of H3 swine influenza virus (SIV).

METHODS AND RESULTS

The system, H3 RT-LAMP, contained a set of six novel primers that targeted eight distinct regions of the viral haemagglutinin (HA) gene that are highly conserved among H3 influenza A viruses but not between H3 and other subtypes. H3 RT-LAMP accurately and specifically detected H3 SIV of different isolates from culture and from swine lung samples. The system is at least 10-fold more sensitive than the conventional RT-PCR assay and even comparable to the real-time RT-PCR method, with the detection limit of about one plaque-forming unit per reaction. Of 27 swine lung samples tested, 11 samples were positive in reactions with the RT-LAMP and real-time RT-PCR methods, while only 7 were positive with the conventional RT-PCR assay. Importantly, the assay can be completed within 45 min and is faster than the conventional RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide the first direct evidence that RT-LAMP is highly specific and sensitive for detecting H3 SIV.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

These results suggest that LAMP offers a promising alternative tool for rapid, inexpensive and specific diagnosis of influenza virus infection of swine and other animals in frontline settings.

The correlation of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha and 3 beta with hepatitis B virus replication in the liver of chronic hepatitis B patients

Hepatocyte nuclear factors 4 alpha (HNF4alpha) and 3 beta (HNF3beta) are members of a group of liver-enriched transcription factors (LETFs) that play important roles in regulating the replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Using cell culture and animal models, we showed that HNF4alpha supports HBV replication in nonhepatic cells and HNF3beta inhibits HBV replication. However, the expression of HNF4alpha and HNF3beta in the liver tissue of chronic HBV-infected patients and the relationship between the levels of HNF4alpha and HNF3beta and HBV replication are unclear. In this study, liver biopsy specimens from 86 chronic HBV-infected patients were collected. The expression levels of HNF4alpha, HNF3beta, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) were detected by an immunohistochemical technique and the level of HBV DNA was checked by in situ hybridization with serial sections from liver biopsy tissue samples. We show here that samples with higher levels of HNF4alpha expression also have higher levels of HBsAg, HBcAg and HBV DNA. In contrast, in samples with higher levels of HNF3beta expression, levels of HBsAg, HBcAg and HBV DNA were lower. There was a positive correlation between HNF4alpha expression and HBV replication, and a negative correlation between HNF3beta expression and HBV replication, in the liver of chronic HBV-infected patients. This suggests that HNF4alpha and HNF3beta likely participate in HBV replication in patients with HBV infection, or that HBV replication may somehow influence the expression of HNF4alpha and HNF3beta in the liver.

Measurement of semileptonic B decays into orbitally excited charmed mesons

We present a study of B decays into semileptonic final states containing charged and neutral D1(2420) and D_{2};{*}(2460). The analysis is based on a data sample of 208 fb;{-1} collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B factory at SLAC. With a simultaneous fit to four different decay chains, the semileptonic branching fractions are extracted from measurements of the mass difference Deltam=m(D;{**})-m(D) distributions. Product branching fractions are determined to be B(B;{+}-->D_{1};{0}l;{+}nu_{l})xB(D_{1};{0}-->D;{*+}pi;{-})=(2.97+/-0.17+/-0.17)x10;{-3}, B(B;{+}-->D_{2};{*0}l;{+}nu_{l})xB(D_{2};{*0}-->D;{(*)+}pi;{-})=(2.29+/-0.23+/-0.21)x10;{-3}, B(B;{0}-->D_{1};{-}l;{+}nu_{l})xB(D_{1};{-}-->D;{*0}pi;{-})=(2.78+/-0.24+/-0.25)x10;{-3} and B(B;{0}-->D_{2};{*-}l;{+}nu_{l})xB(D_{2};{*-}-->D;{(*)0}pi;{-})=(1.77+/-0.26+/-0.11)x10;{-3}. In addition we measure the branching ratio Gamma(D_{2};{*}-->Dpi;{-})/Gamma(D_{2};{*}-->D;{(*)}pi;{-})=0.62+/-0.03+/-0.02.

Search for second-class currents in tau;{-} --> omegapi;{-}nu_{tau}

We report an analysis of tau;{-} decaying into omegapi;{-}nu_{tau} with omega --> pi;{+}pi;{-}pi;{0} using a data sample containing nearly 320 x 10;{6}tau pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-Factory. We find no evidence for second-class currents, and we set an upper limit of 0.69% at 90% confidence level for the fraction of second-class currents in this decay mode.

Improved limits on lepton-flavor-violating tau decays to lphi, lrho, lK, and lK

We search for the neutrinoless, lepton-flavor-violating tau decays tau- -->l-}V0, where l is an electron or muon and V0 is a vector meson reconstructed as phi-->K+K-, rho-->pi+pi-, K-->K+pi-, K[over ]-->K-pi+. The analysis has been performed using 451 fb-1 of data collected at an e+e- center-of-mass energy near 10.58 GeV with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage rings. The number of events found in the data is compatible with the background expectation, and upper limits on the branching fractions are set in the range (2.6-19)x10-8 at the 90% confidence level.

Stimulatory effect of components of rose flowers on catalytic activity and mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase in erythrocytes

In the present study, two antioxidant components (polysaccharopeptide complex P(1-a) and condensed tannin P(1-b)) from rose (Rosa rugosa) flowers were each incubated with mouse erythrocytes to investigate their effect on erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities. It was found that the activities of Cu, Zn-SOD and CAT were markedly increased after incubation for 3h with rose flower fractions at the concentration of 500μg/ml. Similar changes were also observed in the erythrocyte gene expression of SOD and CAT. These results show that P(1-a) and P(1-b) are effective antioxidants that increase the activity and the gene expression of SOD and CAT in mouse erythrocytes.

Simvastatin Reduces OX40 and OX40 Ligand Expression in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and in Patients with Atherosclerotic Cerebral Infarction

This study investigated the effect of simvastatin on the expression of OX40 and OX40 ligand (OX40L) in vitro and in vivo. OX40 and OX40L mRNA and protein levels were measured in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively, in response to simvastatin alone or given in combination with interferon-γ, mevalonate or GW9662, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) antagonist. Simvastatin induced down-regulation of OX40 and OX40L mRNA and protein in a concentration-dependent manner, and antagonized the interferon-γ-induced increase in OX40 and OX40L mRNA and protein levels. Mevalonate, but not GW9662, reversed the simvastatin-induced down-regulation of OX40 and OX40L expression, indicating that these effects were mediated through the mevalonate pathway. Serum levels of soluble OX40L and matrix metalloproteinase 9 levels were significantly reduced in patients with atherosclerotic cerebral infarction who were treated for 6 months with routine therapy plus simvastatin ( n = 46) compared with patients receiving routine therapy alone ( n = 30). These findings improve our understanding of the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of simvastatin treatment for atherosclerotic disorders.

Interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibit chondrogenesis by human mesenchymal stem cells through NF-kappaB-dependent pathways

OBJECTIVE

The differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into chondrocytes provides an attractive basis for the repair and regeneration of articular cartilage. Under clinical conditions, chondrogenesis will often need to occur in the presence of mediators of inflammation produced in response to injury or disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 2 important inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), on the chondrogenic behavior of human MSCs.

METHODS

Aggregate cultures of MSCs recovered from the femoral intermedullary canal were used. Chondrogenesis was assessed by the expression of relevant transcripts by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and examination of aggregates by histologic and immunohistochemical analyses. The possible involvement of NF-kappaB in mediating the effects of IL-1beta was examined by delivering a luciferase reporter construct and a dominant-negative inhibitor of NF-kappaB (suppressor-repressor form of IkappaB [srIkappaB]) with adenovirus vectors.

RESULTS

Both IL-1beta and TNFalpha inhibited chondrogenesis in a dose-dependent manner. This was associated with a marked activation of NF-kappaB. Delivery of srIkappaB abrogated the activation of NF-kappaB and rescued the chondrogenic response. Although expression of type X collagen followed this pattern, other markers of hypertrophic differentiation responded differently. Matrix metalloproteinase 13 was induced by IL-1beta in a NF-kappaB-dependent manner. Alkaline phosphatase activity, in contrast, was inhibited by IL-1beta regardless of srIkappaB delivery.

CONCLUSION

Cell-based repair of lesions in articular cartilage will be compromised in inflamed joints. Strategies for enabling repair under these conditions include the use of specific antagonists of individual pyrogens, such as IL-1beta and TNFalpha, or the targeting of important intracellular mediators, such as NF-kappaB.

Measurement of B-->Xgamma decays and determination of |Vtd/Vts|

Using a sample of 383 x 10;{6} BB[over ] events collected by the BABAR experiment, we measure sums of seven exclusive final states B-->X_{d(s)}gamma, where X_{d}(X_{s}) is a nonstrange (strange) charmless hadronic system in the mass range 0.6-1.8 GeV/c;{2}. After correcting for unmeasured decay modes in this mass range, we obtain a branching fraction for b-->dgamma of (7.2+/-2.7(stat)+/-2.3(syst))x10;{-6}. Taking the ratio of X_{d} to X_{s} we find Gamma(b-->dgamma)/Gamma(b-->sgamma)=0.033+/-0.013(stat)+/-0.009(syst), from which we determine |V_{td}/V_{ts}|=0.177+/-0.043.

Improved measurement of B+ --> rho+ rho0 and determination of the quark-mixing phase angle alpha

We present improved measurements of the branching fraction B, the longitudinal polarization fraction f{L}, and the direct CP asymmetry A{CP} in the B meson decay channel B;{+}-->rho;{+}rho;{0}. The data sample was collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. The results are B(B;{+}-->rho;{+}rho;{0})=(23.7+/-1.4+/-1.4) x 10;{-6}, f{L}=0.950+/-0.015+/-0.006, and A{CP}=-0.054+/-0.055+/-0.010, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. Based on these results, we perform an isospin analysis and determine the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa phase angle alpha=arg(-V{td}V{tb};/V{ud}V{ub}) to be (92.4{-6.5};{+6.0}) degrees.

Evidence for X(3872)-->psi(2S)gamma in B(+/-)-->X(3872)K(+/-) decays and a study of B-->cc[over ]gammaK

In a search for B-->cc[over ]gammaK decays with the BABAR detector, where cc[over ] includes J/psi and psi(2S), and K includes K(+/-), K(S)(0), and K(*)(892), we find evidence for X(3872)-->J/psigamma and X(3872)-->psi(2S)gamma with 3.6sigma and 3.5sigma significance, respectively. We measure the product of branching fractions B(B(+/-)-->X(3872)K(+/-))xB(X(3872)-->J/psigamma)=[2.8+/-0.8(stat)+/-0.1(syst)]x10(-6) and B(B(+/-)-->X(3872)K(+/-))xB(X(3872)-->psi(2S)gamma)=[9.5+/-2.7(stat)+/-0.6(syst)]x10(-6).

Observation of two-source interference in the photoproduction reaction AuAu --> AuAurho0

In ultraperipheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions, a photon from the electromagnetic field of one nucleus can fluctuate to a quark-antiquark pair and scatter from the other nucleus, emerging as a rho{0}. The rho{0} production occurs in two well-separated (median impact parameters of 20 and 40 F for the cases considered here) nuclei, so the system forms a two-source interferometer. At low transverse momenta, the two amplitudes interfere destructively, suppressing rho{0} production. Since the rho{0} decays before the production amplitudes from the two sources can overlap, the two-pion system can only be described with an entangled nonlocal wave function, and is thus an example of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. We observe this suppression in 200 GeV per nucleon-pair gold-gold collisions. The interference is 87%+/-5%(stat.)+/-8%(syst.) of the expected level. This translates into a limit on decoherence due to wave function collapse or other factors of 23% at the 90% confidence level.

Direct CP, lepton flavor, and isospin asymmetries in the decays B-->K(*)l+l-

We measure branching fractions and integrated rate asymmetries for the rare decays B-->K(*)l+l-, where l+l- is either e+e- or micro+micro-, using a sample of 384x10(6) BB events collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider. We find no evidence for direct CP or lepton-flavor asymmetries. However, for dilepton masses below the J/psi resonance, we find evidence for unexpectedly large isospin asymmetries in both B-->Kl+l- and B-->K*l+l- which differ, respectively, by 3.2sigma and 2.7sigma, including systematic uncertainties, from the standard model expectations.

Heat-stress-induced damage to porcine small intestinal epithelium associated with downregulation of epithelial growth factor signaling

Extreme heat during certain days of the summer renders pigs susceptible to severe heat stress, which negatively affects their growth performance. We hypothesized that such heat stress impaired the small intestinal mucosa, a site responsible for nutrient absorption. To simulate heat stress, Chinese experimental mini-pigs were treated with 5 h of continual 40 degrees C temperature each day for 10 d in succession. Pigs were killed at 1, 3, 6 and 10 d after treatment, and small intestinal epithelia were sampled for histochemical examination and biochemical analyses. The duodenum and jejunum were seriously damaged within 3 d of initiation of treatment. Subsequent study of the process of jejunum recovery showed that the initiation of recovery started within 6 d following heat stress. Such damage was associated with the downregulation of epithelial growth factor signaling. In conclusion, heat stress induced short-term damage to the epithelium of porcine intestine. Because the intestinal epithelium is crucial for nutrient uptake, such damage should partially account for the impairment of growth performance of pigs under heat stress.

Indications of conical emission of charged hadrons at the BNL relativistic heavy ion collider

Three-particle azimuthal correlation measurements with a high transverse momentum trigger particle are reported for pp, d+Au, and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV by the STAR experiment. Dijet structures are observed in pp, d+Au and peripheral Au+Au collisions. An additional structure is observed in central Au+Au data, signaling conical emission of correlated charged hadrons. The conical emission angle is found to be theta=1.37+/-0.02(stat)-0.07+0.06(syst), independent of p_{ perpendicular}.