Analysis and discrimination of grape spoilage via volatiles: a comparison between long optical path Fourier-transform-infrared spectroscopy and sensor arrays

Infrared spectroscopy and sensor arrays have been used to differentiate the grapes in different spoilage stagesviatheir volatiles.

Calcitonin receptor gene polymorphism in cCinese Xinjiang Han and Uygur women with primary osteoporosis

CONTEXT

Osteoporosis is a systemic disease with a strong genetic component. Calcitonin receptors (CTR) are involved in maintaining calcium homeostasis. There is no consensus whether CTR gene polymorphism plays a role in affecting pathogenesis of osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to investigate genetic susceptibility of calcitonin receptor gene polymorphism (genotypes and allele frequencies) to primary osteoporosis between Han and Uygur patients and healthy controls in the Chinese Xinjiang region.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in an academic hospital.

SUBJECTS

Between 2010 and 2012 a total of 404 female patients with primary osteoporosis (200 Han and 204 Uygur) and 316 healthy control subjects (160 Han and 156 Uygur) were recruited to determine the distribution of C/T single nucleotide polymorphism of the CTR gene. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used at the 1377-bp site.

RESULTS

The frequency of polymorphic C/T alleles of the calcitonin receptor gene in each group fit the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium model. There was no statistically significant difference in genotypes (P = 0.922) or allele frequency (P = 0.654) between the Xinjiang Han postmenopausal osteoporosis patients and the controls. Similarly, there was no difference in genotypes (P = 0.897) or allele frequency (P = 0.825) between Xinjiang Uygur postmenopausal osteoporosis patients and the controls. Moreover, there was no significant difference (P = 0.86) between the combination of both ethnic groups and controls. In contrast, compared to these two ethnic groups, Han CC type accounted for 67.8%, CT 30.0%, and TT 2.2%, whereas Uighur CC type accounted for 55.6%, CT 33.3%, and TT 11.2%, which is statistically significant between Han and Uygur CTR genotypes (P = 0.006). Allele frequency of C accounted for 82.8% and T for 17.2% in Han, whereas C accounted for 72.2% and T for 27.8% in Uygur (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

There was no statistically significant difference in CTR gene nucleotide sequence polymorphisms at 1377-bp between Chinese Xinjiang Han and Uygur patients with primary osteoporosis, suggesting that this CTR gene polymorphism may not affect incidence of osteoporosis. However, there was a significant difference in CTR gene nucleotide sequence polymorphism at the 1377-bp site between Chinese Xinjiang Han and Uygur, but the importance of this difference needs further study.

Evaluation of CT findings for the differentiation of benign from malignant primary retroperitoneal tumors

BACKGROUND

Benign and malignant primary retroperitoneal tumors (RT) have different pathological manifestations, and overlapping imaging characteristics. This study aimed to evaluate the value of computed tomography (CT) for differentiating benign from malignant RT.

METHODS

One hundred and ninety-four patients with clinical and radiographic data were evaluated retrospectively following surgical resection of primary RT. There were 38.1% (n = 74) benign lesions and 61.9% (n = 120) malignant lesions. Categorical variables were tested with a chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for the diagnostic indexes and sensitivity and specificity of CT characteristics.

RESULTS

In univariate analysis, the differences in ill-defined margins, irregular surfaces, long diameter >6.75 cm, short diameter >6.25 cm, and solid or mixed texture had statistical significance; the sensitivity and specificity were 44.2% and 91.9%, 70.0% and 62.2%, 68.8% and 60.7%, 59.7% and 74.2%, 87.5% and 35.1%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, a combination of all the above indexes was the best model for differentiating malignant tumors, resulting in the most accurate diagnosis of malignancies with a sensitivity of 77.2% and a specificity of 81.1% (P < 0.0001) when the score was 4. The differences in other findings including CT attenuation, number, and calcification had no statistical significance. The unique characteristics included the spotted enhancement (mottled high density) in schwannoma (P < 0.0001), adipose tissue in liposarcoma (P < 0.0001) and paravertebral location in neurogenic tumors (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

More accurate differential diagnosis of primary RT can be made through comprehensive analysis of the combined diagnostic indexes of CT. Some specific characteristics of CT can assist in preoperative planning.

In vitro activity of isoimperatorin, alone and in combination, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Previous studies have shown that isoimperatorin (IO), a furanocoumarin isolated from several medicinal plants, has antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv (ATCC 27294). This study demonstrated that IO has antimycobacterial activity against 2 drug-sensitive and 6 drug-resistant isolates, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 50-100 μg ml(-1) and 100-200 μg ml(-1), respectively. IO exhibited synergistic antimycobacterial effects with rifampin (RMP), isoniazid (INH) and ethambutol (EMB) against 6 drug-resistant strains, with fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values of 0·133-0·472, 0·123-0·475 and 0·124-0·25, respectively. The IO/RMP, IO/INH and IO/EMB combination treatments had synergistic effects or no interaction in the 2 drug-sensitive strains and the standard strain ATCC 27294. The synergism of combined drugs against drug-resistant strains was better than drug-sensitive strains. No antagonism was observed in with the aforementioned combinations against all strains tested. IO exhibited relatively low cytotoxicity to Vero cells. Our results indicate that IO may serve as promising a template for future antimycobacterial drug development.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This is the first report on the in vitro synergistic antimycobacterial effects of isoimperatorin (IO) in combination with three first-line drugs: rifampin (RMP), isoniazid (INH) and ethambutol (EMB). The results indicated that the antimycobacterial activity of IO was modest; however, IO was a useful and effective agent against Myco. tuberculosis when it was combined with first-line antimycobacterial drugs and is worthy of further development as a lead compound for the development of novel antimycobacterial therapeutic agents.

Long segmental hyperplasia of interstitial cells of Cajal with giant diverticulum formation

Sporadic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) usually form a well-circumscribed mass. In contrast, diffuse interstitial cell of Cajal (ICC) hyperplasia along the Auerbach plexus without a discrete mass may occur in patients with germline mutations in the NF1, c-KIT or PDGFRA genes. However, sporadic, diffuse ICC hyperplasia without c-KIT or PDGFRA mutations has not been reported. We describe herein one such case, forming a giant diverticulum. A 63-year-old woman with no features of Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) presented with increasing abdominal pain for more than 30 years. A large, diverticulum-like mass in the ileum was resected. Microscopically, a diffuse proliferation of bland spindle cells was seen extending for 12 cm, replacing the muscularis propria and lined by intact mucosa. The spindle cells were CD117+/CD34+/DOG1+/SMA+/Desmin-/S100-. Mutation analyses did not reveal any mutations in c-KIT or PDGFRA. The lesion had two silent mutations in the NF1 gene. It is rare of the diffuse form of sporadic ICC hyperplasia showing diffuse longitudinal microscopic growth completely replacing the muscularis propria, mimicking diffuse ICC hyperplasia in hereditary GIST syndromes, but without solid components and no c-KIT or PDGFRA gene mutations. This peculiar form of sporadic ICC hyperplasia may be related to intestinal dysmotility in this ileal segment and giant diverticulum formation.

Absence of static loop-current magnetism at the apical oxygen site in HgBa2CuO4+δ from NMR

The simple structure of HgBa(2)CuO(4+δ) (Hg1201) is ideal among cuprates for study of the pseudogap phase as a broken symmetry state. We have performed (17)O nuclear magnetic resonance on an underdoped Hg1201 crystal with a transition temperature of 74 K to look for circulating loop currents proposed theoretically and inferred from neutron scattering. The narrow spectra preclude static local fields in the pseudogap phase at the apical site, suggesting that the moments observed with neutrons are fluctuating. The nuclear magnetic resonance frequency shifts are consistent with a dipolar field from the Cu(2+) site.

Long-term self-renewal of human pluripotent stem cells on peptide-decorated poly(OEGMA-co-HEMA) brushes under fully defined conditions

Realization of the full potential of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) in clinical applications requires the development of well-defined culture conditions for their long-term growth and directed differentiation. This paper describes a novel fully defined synthetic peptide-decorated substrate that supports self-renewal of hiPSC in commercially available xeno-free, chemically defined medium. The Au surface was deposited by a poly(OEGMA-co-HEMA) film, using the surface-initiated polymerization method (SIP) with the further step of carboxylation. The hiPSC generated from umbilical cord mesenchymal cells were successfully cultured for 10 passages on the peptide-tethered poly(OEGMA-co-HEMA) brushes for the first time. Cells maintained their characteristic morphology, proliferation and expressed high levels of markers of pluripotency, similar to the cells cultured on Matrigel™. Moreover, the cell adhesion could be tuned by the pattern and peptide concentration on the substrate. This well-defined, xeno-free and safe substrate, which supports long-term proliferation and self-renewal of hiPSC, will not only help to accelerate the translational perspectives of hiPSC, but also provide a platform to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation via SIP technology.

Doping-dependent photon scattering resonance in the model high-temperature superconductor HgBa2CuO4+δ revealed by Raman scattering and optical ellipsometry

We study the model high-temperature superconductor HgBa(2)CuO(4+δ) with electronic Raman scattering and optical ellipsometry over a wide doping range. The dependence of the resonant Raman cross section on the incident photon energy changes drastically as a function of doping, in a manner that corresponds to a rearrangement of the interband optical transitions seen with ellipsometry. This doping-dependent Raman resonance allows us to reconcile the apparent discrepancy between Raman and x-ray detection of magnetic fluctuations in superconducting cuprates. Intriguingly, the strongest variation occurs across the doping level where the antinodal superconducting gap appears to reach its maximum.

An artificial model for studying fluid dynamics in the obstructed and stented ureter

Fluid dynamics in the obstructed and stented ureter represents a non-trivial subject of investigation since, after stent placement, the urine can flow either through the stent lumen or in the extra-luminal space located between the stent wall and the ureteric inner wall. Fluid dynamic investigations can help understanding the phenomena behind stent failure (e.g. stent occlusions due to bacterial colonization and encrustations), which may cause kidney damage due to the associated high pressures generated in the renal pelvis. In this work a microfluidic-based transparent device (ureter model, UM) has been developed to simulate the fluid dynamic environment in a stented ureter. UM geometry has been designed from measurements on pig ureters. Pressure in the renal pelvis compartment has been measured against three variables: fluid viscosity (μ), volumetric flow rate (Q) and level of obstruction (OB%). The measurements allowed a quantification of the critical combination of μ, Q and OB% values which may lead to critical pressure levels in the kidney. Moreover, an example showing the possibility of applying particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology to the developed microfluidic device is provided.