[Prognostic significance of combined TERT and IDH gene mutation analysis in diffusely infiltrating gliomas]

Objective: To investigate the status and prognostic significance of TERT and IDH1/2 genes mutations in diffusely infiltrating gliomas. Methods: Hot spot mutations of TERT and IDH1/2 genes were detected by DNA sequencing in 236 cases of gliomas at West China Hospital from 2012 to 2016, including pilocytic astrocytoma (WHO grade Ⅰ, 16 cases), diffuse astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma (WHO grade Ⅱ, 89 cases), anaplastic astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma (WHO grade Ⅲ, 72 cases) and glioblastoma (WHO grade Ⅳ, 59 cases). The prognostic significance of TERT and IDH1/2 hot spot mutations was evaluated. Results: No IDH or TERT mutations were detected in pilocytic gliomas. TERT promoter mutation frequency was higher in patients aged ≥40 years(60.8%, 93/153) than in patients aged <40 years (32.8%, 22/67; P<0.01). TERT promoter mutation rate was also significantly higher in oligodendroglioma (87.5% , 56/64) than that in astrocytoma(37.8%, 59/156; P<0.01). Young age (<40 years), oligodendroglioma and IDH1 mutation were favorable prognostic factors for diffusely infiltrating astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors. TERT mutation alone was not of prognostic significance. Diffusely infiltrating astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors were divided into four molecular subtypes according to TERT and IDH1 mutation status: IDH(+ )/TERT(+ ), IDH(+ )/TERT(-), IDH(-)/TERT(-) and IDH(-)/TERT(+ ). There was significant prognostic difference among the 4 subtypes. Conclusions: Combined IDH and TERT gene mutation analysis may be useful for prognostic subgrouping. Notably, IDH1 wild-type cases can be further subdivided into TERT(+ ) or (-) subgroups with significant prognostic difference.

VEGFR1 Signaling Regulates IL-4-Mediated Arginase 1 Expression in Macrophages

BACKGROUND

Macrophages undergo polarization or activation in response to environmental stimuli, an essential process for proper immune response. Meanwhile, excessive activation of macrophages causes autoimmune diseases. It is therefore crucial to prevent over-activation of macrophage in order to maintain the proper immune response. Arginase 1 (Arg-1) plays a critical role in coordinating the immune response by regulating availability of arginine.

OBJECTIVE

To understand the mechanism of Arg-1 regulation.

METHODS

Real-time PCR and Western Blot analysis were utilized to examine the Arg-1 levels expressed from the VEGFR1-deleted and VEGFR1-TK-deficient bone marrowderived macrophages (BMDMs).

RESULTS

The VEGFR1-mediated signaling suppressed IL-4-induced Arg-1 expression. Deletion of VEGFR1 resulted in elevated Arg-1 expression and the tyrosine kinase domain of VEGFR1 was required for the suppression. Each of three ligands of VEGFR1, VEGF-A, VEGF-B and PIGF, mediated the inhibition to the similar degree.

CONCLUSION

Our findings identified a novel function of the VEGFR1 signaling in avoiding over-expression of Arginase 1 potentially to maintain the proper innate immune response.

Determination of the maximum tolerated dose of intranasal sufentanil and midazolam in Chinese: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD, the dose of causing 10% respiratory depression) of intranasal sufentanil (SUF) and midazolam (MID) for sedation during gastroscopy by continual reassessment method (CRM).

METHODS

Patients (18-65 years old) scheduled for gastroscopy were recruited in this study. Subjects received intranasal SUF and MID for sedation. The dose of MID (5 mg) was fixed, while the dose of SUF was increased progressively (six incremental doses ranging from 0-0.60 μg/kg, n = 3 for each dose). The first cohort received a conservative, predetermined dose of 5 mg MID and 0 μg/kg SUF, subsequent cohorts received doses of SUF that were determined by the responses of all previous patients using Bayesian-based software. The dose allocated to the next cohort is the one with an updated posterior response probability closest to 10%.

RESULTS

Thirty Chinese patients scheduled for gastroscopy were included. Probability of respiratory depression at each dose was as follows: 5 mg MID + 0 μg/kg SUF, 0.4%; 5 mg MID + 0.1 μg/kg SUF, 0.8%; 5 mg MID + 0.2 μg/kg SUF, 1.8%; 5 mg MID + 0.3 μg/kg SUF, 3.7%; 5 mg MID + 0.4 μg/kg SUF, 9.9%; 5 mg MID + 0.5 μg/kg SUF, 17.8%; 5 mg MID + 0.6 μg/kg SUF, 36.0%.

CONCLUSION

The MTD of intranasal MID and SUF for sedation during gastroscopy causing 10% respiratory depression is 5 mg MID + 0.4 μg/kg SUF, based on CRM.

A semi-nonparametric Poisson regression model for analyzing motor vehicle crash data

This paper develops a semi-nonparametric Poisson regression model to analyze motor vehicle crash frequency data collected from rural multilane highway segments in California, US. Motor vehicle crash frequency on rural highway is a topic of interest in the area of transportation safety due to higher driving speeds and the resultant severity level. Unlike the traditional Negative Binomial (NB) model, the semi-nonparametric Poisson regression model can accommodate an unobserved heterogeneity following a highly flexible semi-nonparametric (SNP) distribution. Simulation experiments are conducted to demonstrate that the SNP distribution can well mimic a large family of distributions, including normal distributions, log-gamma distributions, bimodal and trimodal distributions. Empirical estimation results show that such flexibility offered by the SNP distribution can greatly improve model precision and the overall goodness-of-fit. The semi-nonparametric distribution can provide a better understanding of crash data structure through its ability to capture potential multimodality in the distribution of unobserved heterogeneity. When estimated coefficients in empirical models are compared, SNP and NB models are found to have a substantially different coefficient for the dummy variable indicating the lane width. The SNP model with better statistical performance suggests that the NB model overestimates the effect of lane width on crash frequency reduction by 83.1%.

Down-regulation of JARID1B expression inhibits cell proliferation, induces apoptosis and blocks cell cycle in human acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

OBJECTIVE

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a multi-factorial blood disease with unknown pathogenesis. Histone H3K4 methylation was significantly reduced in ALL patients, whereas jumonji AT-rich interactive domain 1B (JARID1B) was the specific demethylase of H3K4me. This study explores the expression level of JARID1B in ALL patients and down-regulated JARID1B expression in ALL cells to explore the function of JARID1B in ALL.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

JARID1B mRNA expression level in ALL patients was detected by Real-time PCR. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers were selected as control. JARID1B shRNA was transfected with MOLT-4 cells and BALL-1 cells. JARID1B protein expression and H3K4me2 and H3K4me3 levels were detected by Western blot assay. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Bcl-2, Bax, Procaspase 3, and cyclin P21 expressions were evaluated by Western blot assay.

RESULTS

JARID1B mRNA expression in primary bone marrow cells from ALL patients was significantly higher than that of healthy volunteers (p<0.05). The levels of histone H3K4me3 and H3K4me2 were up-regulated after JARID1B shRNA transfection. JARID1B shRNA significantly inhibited the proliferation of MOLT-4 and BALL-1 cells, induced apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle in G0/G1 phase compared with the control group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

JARID1B is highly expressed in ALL. Down-regulating its expression inhibited leukemia cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and blocked cell cycle in G0/G1 phase through histone H3K4 methylation. JARID1B is an oncogene in ALL.

Correction: Physical and compositional analysis of differently cultured 3D human skin equivalents by confocal Raman spectroscopy

Correction for 'Physical and compositional analysis of differently cultured 3D human skin equivalents by confocal Raman spectroscopy' by Y. Dancik, et al., Analyst, 2018, DOI: .

Simple fabrication of Chitosan/Graphene nanoplates composite spheres for efficient adsorption of acid dyes from aqueous solution

A facile method for the fabrication of crosslinked chitosan/graphene nanoplates composite sphere (CS/GNPs) was presented. The obtained samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption activities of CS/GNPs for methyl orange (MO) and acid red 1 (AR1) were evaluated such as the effect of pH and GNPs content, as well as adsorption kinetics and isotherms. In view of practical, the reusability of CS/GNPs was also tested. The resulting adsorption capacity for MO is 230.91mgg^-1 and 132.94mgg^-1 for AR1, respectively. After saturated adsorption, CS/GNPs can be efficiently regenerated and reused with little uptake loss. Therefore, CS/GNPs is the apromising adsorbent with non-toxic, efficient, low-cost and easy to prepare for the dye removal.

Methane production and characteristics of the microbial community in the co-digestion of spent mushroom substrate with dairy manure

Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is a potential biomass material generated during mushroom cultivation. In this study, the methane yield and microbial community resulting from co-digestion of SMS and dairy manure (DM) at different mixing ratios (0:4, 1:1, 3:1, and 1:3), were evaluated. Co-digestion analysis showed that the methane yield from the mixtures was 6%-61% higher than the yield from SMS or DM alone, indicating a synergistic effect of co-digestion of SMS with DM. For the SMS of F.velutipes (SFv) and P.erygii var. tuoliensis (SPt), co-digestion of DM/SMS at a ratio of 1:1 was optimal, but for the SMS of P. eryngi (SPe), co-digestion of DM/SMS at a ratio of 3:1 was ideal. The pH at all co-digestion ratios was in the range of 6.8-8.0, indicating that adding DM could increase the systemic buffering capacity. Methanosaetaceae was shown to be the predominant methanogens present during the co-digestion of DM/SMS.

An adaptive map-matching algorithm based on hierarchical fuzzy system from vehicular GPS data

An improved hierarchical fuzzy inference method based on C-measure map-matching algorithm is proposed in this paper, in which the C-measure represents the certainty or probability of the vehicle traveling on the actual road. A strategy is firstly introduced to use historical positioning information to employ curve-curve matching between vehicle trajectories and shapes of candidate roads. It improves matching performance by overcoming the disadvantage of traditional map-matching algorithm only considering current information. An average historical distance is used to measure similarity between vehicle trajectories and road shape. The input of system includes three variables: distance between position point and candidate roads, angle between driving heading and road direction, and average distance. As the number of fuzzy rules will increase exponentially when adding average distance as a variable, a hierarchical fuzzy inference system is then applied to reduce fuzzy rules and improve the calculation efficiency. Additionally, a learning process is updated to support the algorithm. Finally, a case study contains four different routes in Beijing city is used to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.

A high precision flat crystal spectrometer compatible for ultra-high vacuum light source

We report on a flat crystal spectrometer (FCS) featuring a differently pumped rotary feedthrough and double detectors connected to a crystal chamber by extendable bellows built at the Shanghai EBIT Laboratory. It was designed to overcome defects such as oil contamination, little distance from the detector to the crystal and others of an early FCS equipped at the same laboratory, but still keeps a large detectable angle range of detectors and brings new features and functions such as the Bond method measurement and double-crystal measurement which are based on the two-detector and large bellow design. This new FCS could cover an energy range of measurable photons from 570 eV to 10 keV and reach a vacuum better than 6 × 10^-10 Torr and thus is compatible for coupling directly to ultra-high vacuum light sources. Off-line tests of the FCS were undertaken where Kα x-rays from solid titanium were measured and analyzed. Measurements of transitions in He-like argon ions were performed when the spectrometer was directly connected to Shanghai EBIT, and the width of the x-ray source was monitored simultaneously using an x-ray slit imaging system. An observed spectral line broadening was 0.869 eV corresponding to a resolving power of 3600, including Doppler broadening of the x-ray source. Taking account of the measured source width, we made simulations using the SHADOW 3 code and got a nominal resolving power of 6500 for the spectrometer. This high nominal resolving power is due to a longer distance from the crystal to the detector, comparing with that in the early FCS.

On the development of a semi-nonparametric generalized multinomial logit model for travel-related choices

A semi-nonparametric generalized multinomial logit model, formulated using orthonormal Legendre polynomials to extend the standard Gumbel distribution, is presented in this paper. The resulting semi-nonparametric function can represent a probability density function for a large family of multimodal distributions. The model has a closed-form log-likelihood function that facilitates model estimation. The proposed method is applied to model commute mode choice among four alternatives (auto, transit, bicycle and walk) using travel behavior data from Argau, Switzerland. Comparisons between the multinomial logit model and the proposed semi-nonparametric model show that violations of the standard Gumbel distribution assumption lead to considerable inconsistency in parameter estimates and model inferences.

The association between MICA/MICB polymorphism and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children

MICA/MICB gene polymorphisms are related to several cancers and infectious diseases, but there are no reports on the association between MICA/MICB gene polymorphisms and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. To clarify the association between MICA/MICB gene polymorphisms and infection of RSV in children, we collected fresh blood samples from paediatric patients with and without pneumonia after RSV infection. The MICA/MICB alleles were characterized by PCR sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) and PCR sequence-based genotyping (PCR-SBT), and then, the frequency of the MICA/MICB alleles and haplotypes was calculated. The results showed that the frequencies of MICA*002:01 and MICA-A9 in RSV-infected patients were significantly lower than in controls (9% vs. 20%, pc = 0.04). The allele frequency of MICA*002:01 in pneumonia patients (8%) and nonpneumonia patients (9%) was significantly lower than in controls (20%, pc = 0.02). MICA*002:01-MICB*008(Δrel = 0.616), MICA*009-MICB*016 (Δrel = 0.506), and MICA*045-MICB*014 (Δrel = 0.700) showed linkage disequilibrium in patients infected with RSV. The haplotype frequency of MICA*002:01-MICB*005:02 in RSV-infected patients was significantly lower than in controls (10% vs. 16%, pc = 0.033). In conclusion, allele MICA*002:01/A9 and haplotype MICA*002:01-MICB*005:02 were negatively associated with RSV respiratory tract infections.

[Epidemiological characteristics of HBeAg reversion in chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg seroconversion in Jiangsu province, 2012-2014]

Objective: To understand characteristics and influencing factors of reversion of HBeAg in chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg sero-conversion, and provide epidemiological evidence for the regular management of chronic hepatitis B patients. Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a cohort study was conducted among the chronic hepatitis B patients with sero-conversion of HBeAg in Jiangsu province. Association between participants' demographics, ALT, HBV DNA and incidence of HBeAg reversion was analyzed by Cox regression model. HBV DNA changing trend between patients with HBeAg reversion and patients with persistent HBeAg sero-conversion was compared by repeated measure data variance analysis. Results: In 2012, there were 5 068 HBeAg seroconverted chronic hepatitis B patients aged (51.9 ± 12.8) years enrolled. By 2014, HBeAg had reversed in 121 cases with the rate of 1.3/100 person-years. The probability of HBeAg reversion decreased with the age of the patients. By Cox regression analysis, HBV DNA level was an important influencing factor for the progress of HBeAg reversion. The patients with HBV DNA≥200 000 IU/ml had a higher HBeAg reversion rate DNA (3.8/100 person-years) than those with HBV DNA <2 000 IU/ml (1.1 person-years) (HR=3.44, 95% CI: 1.91-6.20, P=0.000). Compared with the persistent HBeAg sero-conversion group, HBV DNA and ALT showed a more dramatic increase in the HBeAg reversion group (P=0.000). Conclusions: There was a certain HBeAg reversion rate in chronic hepatitis B patients with HBeAg sero-conversion. Younger chronic CHB patients with HBeAg sero-conversion and those with higher HBV DNA lever had higher HBeAg reversion rate. Following up and management of chronic CHB patients with HBeAg sero-conversion is important and helpful for the control of hepatitis B.

[A cohort study on the epidemiological characteristics of HBeAg sero-clearance in HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B patients in Jiangsu province from 2012 to 2014]

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics and influencing factors related to HBeAg sero-clearance in chronic hepatitis B patients so as to provide evidence for regular management on chronic HBV patients. Methods: From 2012 to 2014, a cohort study was conducted among HBeAg positive chronic HBV patients in Jiangsu province. Association between the characteristics and incidence of HBeAg sero-clearance was analyzed by Cox regression method. The changing trend on HBV DNA between patients with HBeAg sero-clearance and those with persistent HBeAg positive status was compared by repeated measure data variance analysis method. Results: In 2012, there were 721 HBeAg positive hepatitis B patients aged (45.2 ± 14.2) years enrolled in this study. By 2014, the follow-up observation period was 1 058 person-years, and 393 cases had lost their HBeAg status, with the rate as 37.2/100 person-years. The HBeAg sero-clearance rate was 32.4/100 person-years in hepatitis B patients who received antiviral treatment. The probability of HBeAg clearance in HBeAg positive hepatitis B patients aged ≥60 year (62.0/100 person-years) was higher than those of aged <20 year (7.0/100 person-years). The rate of HBeAg sero-clearance in HBeAg positive patients with HBV DNA <20 000 IU/ml (75.8/100 person-years) was higher than those whose HBV DNA were ≥200 000 IU/ml (16.1/100 person-years). By Cox regression analysis, the HBV DNA level was an important influencing factor on the progress of HBeAg sero-clearance. Patients with HBV DNA levle as ≥200 000 IU/ml, had a lower HBeAg clearance rate (HR=0.18, 95%CI: 0.13-0.23, P<0.001). Compared to the persistent HBeAg positive group, HBV DNA showed a more dramatic fall in the HBeAg-lost group (P<0.001). Conclusion: The rate of HBeAg sero-clearance among HBeAg positive hepatitis B patients was correlated with age and HBV DNA status of the patients that called for comprehensive management and intervention programs to develop for the HBeAg positive hepatitis B patients with different characteristics.

Attraction of Cerambycid Beetles to Their Aggregation-Sex Pheromones Is Influenced by Volatiles From Host Plants of Their Larvae

Here, we describe a field experiment that tested for attraction of cerambycid beetles to odors from angiosperm hosts, and whether plant volatiles also serve to enhance attraction of beetles to their aggregation-sex pheromones. Traps were baited with a blend of synthesized chemicals that are common pheromone components of species in the subfamilies Cerambycinae and Lamiinae. The source of plant volatiles was chipped wood from trees of three angiosperm species, as well as from one nonhost, gymnosperm species. Bioassays were conducted in wooded areas of east-central Illinois. Traps were baited with the pheromone blend alone, the blend + wood chips from one tree species, wood chips alone, or a solvent control lure. Seven species of cerambycids were significantly attracted to the pheromone blend, with or without wood chips. In two cases, wood chips from angiosperms appeared to enhance attraction to pheromones, whereas they inhibited attraction in another three cases. Pine chips did not strongly influence attraction of any species. Overall, our results suggest that host plant volatiles from wood chips may improve trap catch with synthesized pheromones for some cerambycid species, but the effect is not general, necessitating case-by-case testing to determine how individual target species are affected.

Characterization of retroviral infectivity and superinfection resistance during retrovirus-mediated transduction of mammalian cells

Retroviral vectors including lentiviral vectors are commonly used tools to stably express transgenes or RNA molecules in mammalian cells. Their utilities are roughly divided into two categories, stable overexpression of transgenes and RNA molecules, which requires maximal transduction efficiency, or functional selection with retrovirus (RV)-based libraries, which takes advantage of retroviral superinfection resistance. However, the dynamic features of RV-mediated transduction are not well characterized. Here, we engineered two murine stem cell virus-based retroviral vectors expressing dual fluorescence proteins and antibiotic markers, and analyzed virion production efficiency and virion stability, dynamic infectivity and superinfection resistance in different cell types, and strategies to improve transduction efficiency. We found that the highest virion production occurred between 60 and 72 h after transfection. The stability of the collected virion supernatant decreased by >60% after 3 days in storage. We found that RV infectivity varied drastically in the tested human cancer lines, while low transduction efficiency was partially overcome with increased virus titer, prolonged infection duration and/or repeated infections. Furthermore, we demonstrated that RV receptors PIT1 and PIT2 were lowly expressed in the analyzed cells, and that PIT1 and/or PIT2 overexpression significantly improved transduction efficiency in certain cell lines. Thus, our findings provide resourceful information for the optimal conditions of retroviral-mediated gene delivery.