[Research progress in functional regeneration methods and mechanisms of taste buds]

Gustation is one of the most important human senses. Taste dysfunctions, which may be due to aging, tongue cancer surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, affect life quality. That is why the need for taste bud regeneration has received more attention. At present, research on development and renewal of taste cells provides a basis for taste bud regeneration; molecular mechanisms related to taste bud regeneration are being continuously uncoverd, aiding in the identification of more accurate targets for therapy. New methods such as nerve regeneration, tissue engineering, and cytokine therapy have emerged. The author reviews the mechanism and the latest methods of taste bud regeneration of lingual epithelium, aiming to open new horizions for the prevention and treatment of gustatory diseases, and provide theoretical references for its regeneration.

[Analysis on personal protection in occupational population at high risk for brucellosis and influencing factor in China]

Objective: To understand the current status of personal protection in occupational population at high risk for brucellosis in China and provide evidence for the evaluation of implementation of National Brucellosis Prevention and Control Plan (2016-2020). Methods: Four counties in Shanxi Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were selected to conduct a questionnaire survey in occupational population at high risk for brucellosis from December 2019 to July 2020 by using cross-sectional survey methods. Results: A total of 2 384 persons at high risk for brucellosis were surveyed, and the standardized utilization rate of personal protective equipment (PPE) was 20.13% (480/2 384). The utilization rate of glove, mask, rubber shoe, and work cloth were 38.26% (912/2 384), 31.80% (758/2 384), 32.01% (763/2 384) and 30.87% (736/2 384),respectively. There were significant differences in the utilization rate and standardized utilization rate of the four types of PPE among populations in different age, occupation, educational level and area groups (all P<0.001). The utilization rate and standardized utilization rate of PPE were lower in people over 60 years old, women, farmers, and those with lower educational level. The results of multivariate analysis showed that occupation and area were the influencing factors for the standardized utilization of PPE, the standardized utilization rates of PPE were higher in herdsmen and veterinarians. The standardized utilization rate of PPE in Yanggao County and Huocheng County was significantly higher than that in Zuoyun County and Hunyuan County. Conclusions: The utilization rate of the four types of PPE in occupational population at high risk for brucellosis was not high in China, and the standardized utilization rate was low, lower than the requirement in National Brucellosis Prevention and Control Plan, and there were significant differences among different areas. It is urgent to distribute PPE to occupational population at high risk for brucellosis and carry out health education about PPE utilization. Meanwhile, it is necessary to strengthen information exchange or sharing among different areas.

Learning Skill Characteristics From Manipulations

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has increasingly become the main treatment for coronary artery disease. The procedure requires high experienced skills and dexterous manipulations. However, there are few techniques to model PCI skill so far. In this study, a learning framework with local and ensemble learning is proposed to learn skill characteristics of different skill-level subjects from their PCI manipulations. Ten interventional cardiologists (four experts and six novices) were recruited to deliver a medical guidewire to two target arteries on a porcine model for in vivo studies. Simultaneously, translation and twist manipulations of thumb, forefinger, and wrist are acquired with electromagnetic (EM) and fiber-optic bend (FOB) sensors, respectively. These behavior data are then processed with wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) under 1-10 levels for feature extraction. The feature vectors are further fed into three candidate individual classifiers in the local learning layer. Furthermore, the local learning results from different manipulation behaviors are fused in the ensemble learning layer with three rule-based ensemble learning algorithms. In subject-dependent skill characteristics learning, the ensemble learning can achieve 100% accuracy, significantly outperforming the best local result (90%). Furthermore, ensemble learning can also maintain 73% accuracy in subject-independent schemes. These promising results demonstrate the great potential of the proposed method to facilitate skill learning in surgical robotics and skill assessment in clinical practice.

Doing housework and having regular daily routine standing out as factors associate with physical function in the older people

Background and objectives

Nationwide data were used to explore factors associated with physical function in order to identify interventions that could improve and maintain physical function in the older people.

Methods

The physical function was assessed by gait speed (GS). We selected 2,677 male and 2,668 female older adults (aged ≥60) who could perform the GS test as study subjects. GS was measured by having subjects walk across and back a 10-m course. A gait speed less than 20% that of a reference population (<0.7 m/s) was used as the definition of slow gait speed (SGS). Co-morbidity, polypharmacy, medical expenses, need for care, and hospitalization were used to evaluate health status. A stepwise logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with SGS.

Results

SGS was associated with poorer health status, higher medical cost, lower ranking on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and decreased Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Co-morbidity (OR = 1.81, 1.58-2.07), polypharmacy (OR = 1.47, 1.25-1.74), MMSE <24 (OR = 1.85, 1.54-2.22), and GDS ≥ 11 (OR = 1.40, 1.18-1.65) were associated with SGS. In contrast, doing housework (DHW, OR = 0.43, 0.38-0.49), having a regular daily routine (RDR, OR = 0.64, 0.45-0.91), and current alcohol consumption (OR = 0.74, 0.62-0.90) were inversely associated with SGS. DHW plus having RDR could greatly reduce the risk of SGS (OR = 0.29, 0.19-0.43).

Conclusion

Poor physical function is associated with poorer health status in Chinese older people. Maintaining a regular daily routine and doing some housework may be important factors that can help older people preserve their physical function.

A Novel Zn2Cys6 Transcription Factor, TopC, Positively Regulates Trichodin A and Asperpyridone A Biosynthesis in Tolypocladium ophioglossoides

Asperpyridone A represents an unusual class of pyridone alkaloids with demonstrated potential for hypoglycemic activity, primarily by promoting glucose consumption in HepG2 cells. Trichodin A, initially isolated from the marine fungus Trichoderma sp. strain MF106, exhibits notable antibiotic activities against Staphylococcus epidermidis. Despite their pharmacological significance, the regulatory mechanisms governing their biosynthesis have remained elusive. In this investigation, we initiated the activation of a latent gene cluster, denoted as "top", through the overexpression of the Zn2Cys6 transcription factor TopC in Tolypocladium ophioglossoides. The activation of the top cluster led to the biosynthesis of asperpyridone A, pyridoxatin, and trichodin A. Our study also elucidated that the regulator TopC exerts precise control over the biosynthesis of asperpyridone A and trichodin A through the detection of protein-nucleic acid interactions. Moreover, by complementing these findings with gene deletions involving topA and topH, we proposed a comprehensive biosynthesis pathway for asperpyridone A and trichodin A in T. ophioglossoides.

High-resolution feature based central venous catheter tip detection network in X-ray images

Hospital patients can have catheters and lines inserted during the course of their admission to give medicines for the treatment of medical issues, especially the central venous catheter (CVC). However, malposition of CVC will lead to many complications, even death. Clinicians always detect the malposition based on position detection of CVC tip via X-ray images. To reduce the workload of the clinicians and the percentage of malposition occurrence, we propose an automatic catheter tip detection framework based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). The proposed framework contains three essential components which are modified HRNet, segmentation supervision module, and deconvolution module. The modified HRNet can retain high-resolution features from start to end, ensuring the maintenance of precise information from the X-ray images. The segmentation supervision module can alleviate the presence of other line-like structures such as the skeleton as well as other tubes and catheters used for treatment. In addition, the deconvolution module can further increase the feature resolution on the top of the highest-resolution feature maps in the modified HRNet to get a higher-resolution heatmap of the catheter tip. A public CVC Dataset is utilized to evaluate the performance of the proposed framework. The results show that the proposed algorithm offering a mean Pixel Error of 4.11 outperforms three comparative methods (Ma's method, SRPE method, and LCM method). It is demonstrated to be a promising solution to precisely detect the tip position of the catheter in X-ray images.

[Targeting microRNA-125b inhibited the metastasis of Alisertib resistance cells through mediating p53 pathway]

Objective: To clarify the mechanisms involvement in Alisertib-resistant colorectal cells and explore a potential target to overcome Alisertib-resistance. Methods: Drug-resistant colon cancer cell line (named as HCT-8-7T cells) was established and transplanted into immunodeficient mice. The metastasis in vivo were observed. Proliferation and migration of HCT-8-7T cells and their parental cells were assessed by colony formation and Transwell assay, respectively. Glycolytic capacity and glutamine metabolism of cells were analyzed by metabolism assays. The protein and mRNA levels of critical factors which are involved in mediating glycolysis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were examined by western blot and reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR), respectively. Results: In comparison with the mice transplanted with HCT-8 cells, which were survival with limited metastatic tumor cells in organs, aggressive metastases were observed in liver, lung, kidney and ovary of HCT-8-7T transplanted mice (P<0.05). The levels of ATP [(0.10±0.01) mmol/L], glycolysis [(81.77±8.21) mpH/min] and the capacity of glycolysis [(55.50±3.48) mpH/min] in HCT-8-7T cells were higher than those of HCT-8 cells [(0.04±0.01) mmol/L, (27.77±2.55) mpH/min and(14.00±1.19) mpH/min, respectively, P<0.05]. Meanwhile, the levels of p53 protein and mRNA in HCT-8-7T cells were potently decreased as compared to that in HCT-8 cells (P<0.05). However, the level of miRNA-125b (2.21±0.12) in HCT-8-7T cells was significantly elevated as compared to that in HCT-8 cells (1.00±0.00, P<0.001). In HCT-8-7T cells, forced-expression of p53 reduced the colon number (162.00±24.00) and the migration [(18.53±5.67)%] as compared with those in cells transfected with control vector [274.70±40.50 and (100.00±29.06)%, P<0.05, respectively]. Similarly, miR-125b mimic decreased the glycolysis [(25.28±9.51) mpH/min] in HCT-8-7T cells as compared with that [(54.38±12.70)mpH/min, P=0.003] in HCT-8-7T cells transfected with control. Meanwhile, in comparison with control transfected HCT-8-7T cells, miR-125b mimic also significantly led to an increase in the levels of p53 and β-catenin, in parallel with a decrease in the levels of PFK1 and HK1 in HCT-8-7T cells (P<0.05). Conclusions: Silencing of p53 by miR-125b could be one of the mechanisms that contributes to Alisertib resistance. Targeting miR-125b could be a strategy to overcome Alisertib resistance.

Assembly dynamics of East Asian subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests: New insights from the dominant Fagaceae trees

The dominant species of a biome can be regarded as its genuine indicator. Evergreen broadleaved forests (EBLFs) in subtropical East Asia harbor high levels of species biodiversity and endemism and are vital to regional carbon storage and cycling. However, the historical assembly of this unique biome is still controversial. Fagaceae is the most essential family in East Asian subtropical EBLFs and its dominant species are vital for the existence of this biome. Here, we used the dominant Fagaceae species to shed light on the dynamic process of East Asian subtropical EBLFs over time. Our results indicate high precipitation in summer and low temperature in winter are the most influential climatic factors for the distribution of East Asian subtropical EBLFs. Modern East Asian subtropical EBLFs did not begin to appear until 23 Ma, subsequently experienced a long-lasting development in the Miocene and markedly deteriorated at about 4 Ma, driven jointly by orogenesis and paleoclimate. We also document that there is a lag time between when one clade invaded the region and when its members become dominant species within the region. This study may improve our ability to predict and mitigate the threats to biodiversity of East Asian subtropical EBLFs and points to a new path for future studies involving multidisciplinary methods to explore the assembly of regional biomes.

A Multilayer and Multimodal-Fusion Architecture for Simultaneous Recognition of Endovascular Manipulations and Assessment of Technical Skills

The clinical success of the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is highly dependent on endovascular manipulation skills and dexterous manipulation strategies of interventionalists. However, the analysis of endovascular manipulations and related discussion for technical skill assessment are limited. In this study, a multilayer and multimodal-fusion architecture is proposed to recognize six typical endovascular manipulations. The synchronously acquired multimodal motion signals from ten subjects are used as the inputs of the architecture independently. Six classification-based and two rule-based fusion algorithms are evaluated for performance comparisons. The recognition metrics under the determined architecture are further used to assess technical skills. The experimental results indicate that the proposed architecture can achieve the overall accuracy of 96.41%, much higher than that of a single-layer recognition architecture (92.85%). In addition, the multimodal fusion brings significant performance improvement in comparison with single-modal schemes. Furthermore, the K -means-based skill assessment can obtain an accuracy of 95% to cluster the attempts made by different skill-level groups. These hopeful results indicate the great possibility of the architecture to facilitate clinical skill assessment and skill learning.

Space Squeeze Reasoning and Low-Rank Bilinear Feature Fusion for Surgical Image Segmentation

Surgical image segmentation is critical for surgical robot control and computer-assisted surgery. In the surgical scene, the local features of objects are highly similar, and the illumination interference is strong, which makes image segmentation challenging. To address the above issues, a bilinear squeeze reasoning network is proposed for surgical image segmentation. In it, the space squeeze reasoning module is proposed, which adopts height pooling and width pooling to squeeze global contexts in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. The similarity between each horizontal position and each vertical position is calculated to encode long-range semantic dependencies and establish the affinity matrix. The feature maps are also squeezed from both the vertical and horizontal directions to model channel relations. Guided by channel relations, the affinity matrix is embedded in the original feature space. It captures long-range semantic dependencies from different directions, helping address the local similarity issue. Besides, a low-rank bilinear fusion module is proposed to enhance the model's ability to recognize similar features. This module is based on the low-rank bilinear model to capture the inter-layer feature relations. It integrates the location details from low-level features and semantic information from high-level features. Various semantics can be represented more accurately, which effectively improves feature representation. The proposed network achieves state-of-the-art performance on cataract image segmentation dataset CataSeg and robotic image segmentation dataset EndoVis 2018.

[Epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot and mouth disease among people aged 6 and over in Beijing, 2011-2020]

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) among people ≥6 years old in Beijing from 2011 to 2020. Methods: The incidence data of HFMD cases from 2011 to 2020 were collected from the National Notifiable Infectious Disease Reporting System of China Information for Disease Control and Prevention and the etiological surveillance of HFMD in 29 sentinel hospitals from 16 districts of Beijing. Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the distributions, pathogen constituents, and changes of HFMD cases in Beijing people ≥6 years old. Results: From 2011 to 2020, a total of 38 183 cases of HFMD were reported among people ≥6 years old in Beijing, of which 46 (0.12%) cases were severe. The average annual reported incidence was 19.04/100 000. The ratio of males to females were 1.37∶1(22 064∶16 119). The proportion of HFMD in people ≥6 years old increased from 7.56%(2 606/34 488) in 2011 to 24.54% (546/2 225) in 2020. The average incidence of HFMD was higher in Shunyi district, Yanqing district, and Tongzhou district than in other districts in Beijing. The positive rate of enterovirus in sentinel surveillance was 66.78% (1 976/2 959), the proportion of enterovirus group A 71 (EV-A71) was 45.29% (101/223) in 2014, no EV-A71 positive was detected in 2020, and the proportion of Coxsackievirus A 6 (CV-A6) increased from 15.11% (34/225) in 2016 to 81.08% (60/74) in 2020. Conclusions: From 2011 to 2020, the proportion of cases with HFMD in people ≥6 years old in Beijing increased yearly, and the proportion of EV-A71 positive patients decreased basically. Since 2016, CV-A6 has gradually become the dominant pathogen. More attention should be paid to the epidemic situation and dynamic pathogen changes of hand foot mouth disease in people ≥6 years old.

A Unified Framework for Multi-Guidewire Endpoint Localization in Fluoroscopy Images

OBJECTIVE

In this paper, Keypoint Localization Region-based CNN (KL R-CNN) is proposed, which can simultaneously accomplish the guidewire detection and endpoint localization in a unified model.

METHODS

KL R-CNN modifies Mask R-CNN by replacing the mask branch with a novel keypoint localization branch. Besides, some settings of Mask R-CNN are also modified to generate the keypoint localization results at a higher detail level. At the same time, based on the existing metrics of Average Precision (AP) and Percentage of Correct Keypoints (PCK), a new metric named AP PCK is proposed to evaluate the overall performance on the multi-guidewire endpoint localization task. Compared with existing metrics, AP PCK is easy to use and its results are more intuitive.

RESULTS

Compared with existing methods, KL R-CNN has better performance when the threshold is loose, reaching a mean AP PCK of 90.65% when the threshold is 9 pixels.

CONCLUSION

KL R-CNN achieves the state-of-the-art performance on the multi-guidewire endpoint localization task and has application potentials.

SIGNIFICANCE

KL R-CNN can achieve the localization of guidewire endpoints in fluoroscopy images, which is a prerequisite for computer-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention. KL R-CNN can also be extended to other multi-instrument localization tasks.

Real-Time Multi-Guidewire Endpoint Localization in Fluoroscopy Images

The real-time localization of the guidewire endpoints is a stepping stone to computer-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, methods for multi-guidewire endpoint localization in fluoroscopy images are still scarce. In this paper, we introduce a framework for real-time multi-guidewire endpoint localization in fluoroscopy images. The framework consists of two stages, first detecting all guidewire instances in the fluoroscopy image, and then locating the endpoints of each single guidewire instance. In the first stage, a YOLOv3 detector is used for guidewire detection, and a post-processing algorithm is proposed to refine the guidewire detection results. In the second stage, a Segmentation Attention-hourglass (SA-hourglass) network is proposed to predict the endpoint locations of each single guidewire instance. The SA-hourglass network can be generalized to the keypoint localization of other surgical instruments. In our experiments, the SA-hourglass network is applied not only on a guidewire dataset but also on a retinal microsurgery dataset, reaching the mean pixel error (MPE) of 2.20 pixels on the guidewire dataset and the MPE of 5.30 pixels on the retinal microsurgery dataset, both achieving the state-of-the-art localization results. Besides, the inference rate of our framework is at least 20FPS, which meets the real-time requirement of fluoroscopy images (6-12FPS).

One-Pot Preparation of Peptide-Doped Metal-Amino Acid Framework for General Encapsulation and Targeted Delivery

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), especially those made by biological molecules (bio-MOFs), have been proved to be prospective candidates for biomedical applications. However, a simple and universal bio-MOF to load different substances for precise targeting is still lacking. In this work, we propose a facile one-pot method to prepare a peptide-doped bio-MOF for general encapsulation and targeted delivery. This bio-MOF is constructed by 9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl-modified histidine (Fmoc-His) as a bridging linker that coordinates with Zn2+ ions, denoted as ZFH. The Fmoc-His-Asp-Gly-Arg peptide (Fmoc-HDGR) can be easily doped into the ZFH structure with different ratios to modulate the targeting ability of ZFH-DGR. Containing both hydrophobic Fmoc and hydrophilic His moieties, this framework is compatible with encapsulating various types of payloads, including hydrophobic chemotherapeutic, hydrophilic protein, and positively/negatively charged inorganic nanoparticles. It has also been proved to be highly biocompatible and stable in circulation, exhibit the capabilities to target ανβ3 integrin overexpressed on tumor cells, and trigger drug release in a low pH microenvironment at the tumor site. As a proof of concept, Doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded ZFH-DGR (ZFH-DGR/Dox) demonstrated high cell selectivity between liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and normal liver (L02) cells, which express high and low ανβ3 integrin, respectively. This selectivity endows ZFH-DGR/Dox precise treatment and low toxicity in Heps-bearing liver cancer mice. This work develops a de novo approach to construct a peptide-doped bio-MOF system for universal load, precise delivery, and peptide drug combination therapy in the future.

[A multicenter survey of the accessibility of essential medicines for children in China]

Objective: To investigate the availability, prices and affordability of essential medicines in pediatric population across China, in the hope of improving rational use of medicines. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional survey of medicine prices, availability and affordability was conducted in 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous region across east, south-central part, west and north of China. Data on 42 medicines used in pediatric population, both original and generic, were collected in 55 public hospitals from May 26 to June 2, 2017. Availability was expressed as the percentage of hospitals with stock of the target medicine on the day of data collection,and median price ratio (MPR) was the ratio of price upon investigation to international reference. Based on national minimum daily wage, affordability represents the number of working days needed to earn the expense which covers a standard course using the target medicine. Statistical software SPSS 13.0 was applied for descriptive analysis of availability, MPR and affordability. Results: Mean Availability of original and generic medicine was 33% and 32%, with median MPR being 5.43 and 1.55. Among the 19 medicines with price information for both original and generic product, the median MPR was 7.73 and 2.04 respectively. Regarding the five medicines used to treat four common pediatric diseases (pneumonia,peptic ulcer, congenital hypothyroidism, refractory nephrotic syndrome), the affordability was 0.63 (0.16-6.17) d for generic medicine, and 1.03 (0.16-11.53) d for its original counterpart. Conclusions: The availability to both original and generic products of the 42 medicines used in pediatric population was low in China. The prices of generic medicines seem to be lower and affordability higher than those of original medicines. There is an urgent need to improve the availability and affordability of pediatric medicines.

The hornwort genome and early land plant evolution

Hornworts, liverworts and mosses are three early diverging clades of land plants, and together comprise the bryophytes. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of the hornwort Anthoceros angustus. Phylogenomic inferences confirm the monophyly of bryophytes, with hornworts sister to liverworts and mosses. The simple morphology of hornworts correlates with low genetic redundancy in plant body plan, while the basic transcriptional regulation toolkit for plant development has already been established in this early land plant lineage. Although the Anthoceros genome is small and characterized by minimal redundancy, expansions are observed in gene families related to RNA editing, UV protection and desiccation tolerance. The genome of A. angustus bears the signatures of horizontally transferred genes from bacteria and fungi, in particular of genes operating in stress-response and metabolic pathways. Our study provides insight into the unique features of hornworts and their molecular adaptations to live on land.

Recognition of Endovascular Manipulations using Recurrent Neural Networks

The ability to accurately recognize elementary surgical gestures is a stepping stone to automated surgical assessment and surgical training. In this paper, a long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network is applied to the task of recognizing six typical manipulations in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The manipulation mentioned above is referring to the atomic surgical operation, also called surgeme in many research. Instead of using the video data or kinematic data of surgical instruments, we propose to use the kinematic data of the operator's hand acquired by our wearable data glove to recognize the manipulations. To establish a baseline for comparison, a method based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is applied because HMM is frequently used in the tasks of surgical sequence learning. Two cross-validation schemes are used in our experiments, they both illustrate that our LSTM-based method far outperforms the HMM-based method. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to apply the LSTM recurrent neural network in the field of PCI.

Prevalence of Workplace Physical Violence against Health Care Professionals by Patients and Visitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients and visitors has been a persistent problem worldwide. Prevalence estimates varied vastly across studies and there was a lack of quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies. This review aimed to quantify pooled one-year prevalence estimates at the global and regional levels. A systematic literature search was performed in the databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Embase between 1 January 2000 and 8 October 2018. Studies providing information about one-year prevalence of self-reported workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors were included. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated using Cochran's chi-squared test (Cochran's Q) and I2 values. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. A total of 65 eligible studies reported one-year prevalence estimates for 61,800 health care professionals from 30 countries. The pooled one-year prevalence of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors was 19.33% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16.49%-22.53%) and the overall heterogeneity was high across studies. We noted geographic and staff categories variations for prevalence estimates through subgroup analysis. The meta-regression showed that sample size, type of health care setting, and quality score were significant moderators for heterogeneity. One in five health care professionals experienced workplace physical violence perpetrated by patients or visitors worldwide annually. Practical intervention was needed to ensure safety of health care professionals.

α-Amino Acetal: A Synthetic Intermediate for the Construction of Aza-Polycycles

One-step construction of aza-polycyclic skeletons was realized through double cyclization of the oxocarbenium and carbocation intermediates generated from α-amino acetals, which were designed and synthesized by employing our α-amination protocol of aldehydes. A simple process, a broad substrate range, commercialized materials, and extensive applications demonstrated the generality and effectiveness of this method.

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Technical Skills in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: In Vivo Porcine Studies

OBJECTIVE

Technical skill assessment plays an important role in the professional development of an interventionalist in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, most of the traditional assessment methods are time consuming and subjective. This paper aims to develop objective assessment techniques.

METHODS

In this study, a natural-behavior-based assessment framework is proposed to qualitatively and quantitatively assess technical skills in PCI. In vivo porcine studies were conducted to deliver a medical guidewire to two target coronaries of left circumflex arteries by six novice and four expert interventionalists. Simultaneously, four types of natural behaviors (i.e., hand motion, proximal force, muscle activity, and finger motion) were acquired from the subjects' dominant hand and arm. The features extracted from the behaviors of different skill-level groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test for effective behavior selection. The effective ones were further applied in the Gaussian-mixture-model-based qualitative assessment and Mahalanobis-distance-based quantitative assessment.

RESULTS

The qualitative assessment achieves an accuracy of 92% to distinguish the novice and expert attempts, which is significantly higher than that of using single guidewire motions. Furthermore, the quantitative assessment can assign objective and effective scores for all attempts, indicating high correlation ( R = 0.9225) to those obtained by traditional methods.

CONCLUSION

The objective, effective, and comprehensive assessment of technical skills can be provided by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing interventionalists' natural behaviors in PCI.

SIGNIFICANCE

This paper suggests a novel approach for the technical skill assessment and the promising results demonstrate the great importance and effectiveness of the proposed method for promoting the development of objective assessment techniques.

Prevalence of sleep disturbances in Chinese healthcare professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The current review is a systematic, quantitative meta-analysis aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of sleep disturbances in Chinese healthcare professionals. Furthermore, we explore the possible causes of the inconsistencies in the current estimates.

METHODS

Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published on English (EMBASE, PubMed and Web of Science) and Chinese (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang database and Chinese Science & Technology journal database) databases until 25 May 2018. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS and R software, the prevalence of sleep disturbances was pooled using random-effects model.

RESULTS

A total of 52 studies with 31,749 participants were included. The pooled prevalence of sleep disturbances among Chinese healthcare professionals is 39.2% (95% CI: 36.0%-42.7%). Higher sleep disturbance rates are associated with being female, lower cut-off of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), later survey year, bigger sample size, the standardized assessment tool, being a nurse, and shift work. Sample size and cut-off of PSQI were significant moderators for heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION

Sleep disturbances are common in Chinese healthcare professionals, and their prevalence is much higher than the general population. Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing and treating sleep disturbances among healthcare professionals.

[Analysis of factors related to oil-spilling and establishment of limit standards of Asparagi Radix]

Some samples of Asparagi Radix were collected from medical markets.Colors of Asparagi Radix were observed by human vision and recorded to judge whether samples were degenerative.Water content of Asparagi Radix was determined by a drying method.The chroma value and color difference were determined and calculated by a colorimeter.With the deepening of color,the L*value was decreased and a*and ΔE*values were increased.It showed that the results determined by colorimeter can replace the results of visual observation.An HPLC method was established and used to determine the contents of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(5-HMF) in Asparagi Radix.The results showed the 5-HMF contents were from 0.002 255 to 0.049 14 mg·g-1 in some samples with yellowish-white or yellowish-brown color,significantly increased from 0.080 80 to 0.105 1 mg·g-1 in some samples with brown color,and up to 1.033 mg·g-1 in an oil-spilling sample with dark brown color.This result demonstrated that the 5-HMF contents were significantly increased by accompanied with the deepening of color.There were the significant negatively correlation between the 5-HMF content and the L*value(P<0.01) and positively correlation between the 5-HMF content and the a*or ΔE*value(P<0.01) by the spearman analysis.The oil-spilling and qualified samples were clustered into two alone categories by the cluster analysis.That the limited standards of the 5-HMF content is not higher than 0.02% by HPLC method and of the L*value is not less than 50 by colorimeter method were suggested for Asparagi Radix.It is firstly reported the multiple-factor analysis about oil-spilling and discoloration and the establishment of limited standard of Asparagi Radix.

Formal synthesis of chelamidine alkaloids and their derivatives

A concise two-step operation of α-amination of aldehydes and subsequent Friedel–Crafts/Prins-type cyclization towards accessing tetrahydrobenzo[c]phenanthridine and related structures was developed. In addition, the effectiveness of this protocol was also demonstrated in the formal synthesis of homochelidonine and chelamidine.

Target therapy of TRIM-14 inhibits osteosarcoma aggressiveness through the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway

Osteosarcoma is the most common cause of cancer-associated mortality and the prognosis is yet to be fully elucidated due to the paucity of effective therapeutic targets that significantly influence the quality of life and mean survival rates of patients with osteosarcoma. Studies have showed that tripartite motif-containing (TRIM)-14 is a member of the TRIM protein family that has a vital role in tumor progression and metastasis and promotes angiogenesis, invasion and apoptotic resistance of bone cancer. In this study, a chimeric antibody targeting TRIM-14 (Chanti-TRIM) was constructed and the molecular mechanism of target therapy for TRIM-14 was investigated in osteosarcoma cells and xenograft mice. The growth, migration and invasion properties of U-2OS cells were analyzed following incubation with 10–160 mg/ml Chanti-TRIM. Apoptosis of U-2OS cells was detected after Chanti-TRIM treatment. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9-mediated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signal pathway was analyzed in U-2OS cells treated with Chanti-TRIM. The inhibitory efficacy of Chanti-TRIM was studied in U-2OS-bearing xenograft mice. Our results demonstrated that neutralizing TRIM-14 expression markedly inhibited the growth, migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells, in vitro and in vivo. We found that TRIM-14 depletion decreased cell viability and induced cells apoptosis in vitro. In addition, we identified Chanti-TRIM inhibited growth and promoted apoptosis induced by cisplatin through MMP-9-mediated NF-κB signal pathway. Furthermore, we observed that Chanti-TRIM treatment inhibited osteosarcoma growth in vivo. Histological analysis indicated that apoptotic bodies were increased and NF-κB nuclear translocation factors, including Ikkβ, p65 and IkBα, were decreased in tumors treated by Chanti-TRIM. In conclusion, these results showed that Chanti-TRIM markedly inhibited the progression of osteosarcoma, suggesting Chanti-TRIM may be a potential anti-cancer agent that functions via the activation of the NF-κB pathway for osteosarcoma.

Transformation Optics Approach to Plasmon-Exciton Strong Coupling in Nanocavities

We investigate the conditions yielding plasmon-exciton strong coupling at the single emitter level in the gap between two metal nanoparticles. Inspired by transformation optics ideas, a quasianalytical approach is developed that makes possible a thorough exploration of this hybrid system incorporating the full richness of its plasmonic spectrum. This allows us to reveal that by placing the emitter away from the cavity center, its coupling to multipolar dark modes of both even and odd parity increases remarkably. This way, reversible dynamics in the population of the quantum emitter takes place in feasible implementations of this archetypal nanocavity.

Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids ameliorates neuronal damage and reduces lesion extent in a mouse model of transient ischemic attack

Flavonoids are a major component in the traditional Chinese medicine Radix Ilicis Pubescentis. Previous studies have shown that the administration of Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids is protective in cerebral ischemia. However, to our knowledge, no studies have examined whether the total flavonoids extracted from Radix Ilicis Pubescentis prevent or ameliorate neuronal damage following transient ischemic attacks. Therefore, Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids question and the potential underlying mechanisms. Thus, beginning 3 days before the induction of a mouse model of transient ischemic attack using tert-butyl hydroperoxide injections, mice were intragastrically administered 0.3, 0.15, or 0.075 g/kg of Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids daily for 10 days. The results of spectrophotometric analyses demonstrated that Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids enhanced oxygen free radical scavenging and reduced pathological alterations in the brain. Hematoxylin-eosin staining results showed that Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids reduced hippocampal neuronal damage and cerebral vascular injury in this mouse model of transient ischemic attack. These results suggest that the antioxidant effects of Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids alleviate the damage to brain tissue caused by transient ischemic attack.

Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids combined with mobilization of bone marrow stem cells to protect against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

Previous studies have shown that Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids have a neuroprotective effect, but it remains unclear whether Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids have a synergistic effect with the recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor-mobilized bone marrow stem cell transplantation on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Rat ischemia models were administered 0.3, 0.15 and 0.075 g/kg Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids from 3 days before modeling to 2 days after injury. Results showed that Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids could reduce pathological injury in rats with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. The number of Nissl bodies increased, Bax protein expression decreased, Bcl-2 protein expression increased and the number of CD34-positive cells increased. Therefore, Radix Ilicis Pubescentis total flavonoids can improve the bone marrow stem cell mobilization effect, enhance the anti-apoptotic ability of nerve cells, and have a neuroprotective effect on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

Does reducing gamete co-incubation time improve clinical outcomes: a retrospective study

PURPOSE

The objective of this retrospective study was to determine whether patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) benefit from reducing the gamete co-incubation time.

METHODS

Patients (n = 570) were enrolled, including 281 patients in the reduced incubation time group (2-h incubation) and 289 patients in the standard IVF group (18-h incubation).

RESULTS

The observed outcomes, including the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), implantation rate (IR), live birth rate (LBR), and miscarriage rate (MR), were similar between the two groups. When the data were divided into two subgroups based on the maternal age (≤30 and >30 years), the rates of top-quality embryos (30.83 vs. 25.89 %; p = 0.028), CPR (66.67 vs. 42.11 %; p = 0.013), and IR (41.90 vs. 31.25 %, p = 0.019) of the 2-h incubation group were significantly higher in the younger subgroup. However, for older patients, only a lower MR (7.59 vs. 20.83 %; p = 0.019) was achieved. Reducing the time of incubation still improved the CPR (OR = 1.993, 95 % CI 1.141-3.480) and MR (OR = 3.173, 95 % CI 1.013-9.936) in the younger and older subgroups, respectively, after it was adjusted for potential confounders.

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing incubation time improves the clinical results of IVF, although the LBR is not statistically different between the 2- and 18-h incubation time groups. And the specific clinical outcomes of reducing incubation time varied between the >30-year-old and the ≤30-year-old.

Large-scale phylogenetic analyses reveal multiple gains of actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses in angiosperms associated with climate change

Nitrogen is fundamental to all life forms and is also one of the most limiting of nutrients for plant growth. Several clades of angiosperms have developed symbiotic relationships with actinorhizal bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and increase access to this nutrient. However, the evolutionary patterns of actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses remain unclear to date. Furthermore the underlying environmental pressures that led to the gain of symbiotic actinorhizal nitrogen fixation have never been investigated. Here, we present the most comprehensive genus-level phylogenetic analysis of the nitrogen-fixing angiosperms based on three plastid loci. We found that actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing species are distributed in nine distinct lineages. By dating the branching events, we determined that seven actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing lineages originated during the Late Cretaceous, and two more emerged during the Eocene. We put forward a hypothesis that multiple gains of actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses in angiosperms may have been associated with increased global temperatures and high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide during these two time periods, as well as the availability of open habitats with high light conditions. Our nearly complete genus-level time-tree for the nitrogen-fixing clade is a significant advance in understanding the evolutionary and ecological background of this important symbiosis between plants and bacteria.

Dispersionless Manipulation of Reflected Acoustic Wavefront by Subwavelength Corrugated Surface

Free controls of optic/acoustic waves for bending, focusing or steering the energy of wavefronts are highly desirable in many practical scenarios. However, the dispersive nature of the existing metamaterials/metasurfaces for wavefront manipulation necessarily results in limited bandwidth. Here, we propose the concept of dispersionless wavefront manipulation and report a theoretical, numerical and experimental work on the design of a reflective surface capable of controlling the acoustic wavefront arbitrarily without bandwidth limitation. Analytical analysis predicts the possibility to completely eliminate the frequency dependence with a specific gradient surface which can be implemented by designing a subwavelength corrugated surface. Experimental and numerical results, well consistent with the theoretical predictions, have validated the proposed scheme by demonstrating a distinct phenomenon of extraordinary acoustic reflection within an ultra-broad band. For acquiring a deeper insight into the underlying physics, a simple physical model is developed which helps to interpret this extraordinary phenomenon and predict the upper cutoff frequency precisely. Generations of planar focusing and non-diffractive beam have also been exemplified. With the dispersionless wave-steering capability and deep discrete resolution, our designed structure may open new avenue to fully steer classical waves and offer design possibilities for broadband optical/acoustical devices.

Exon 19 deletion was associated with better survival outcomes in advanced lung adenocarcinoma with mutant EGFR treated with EGFR-TKIs as second-line therapy after first-line chemotherapy: a retrospective analysis of 128 patients

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the specific genotype of exon 19 deletion has a better survival outcome than that of exon 21 substitution in advanced lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR mutant patients that were treated with EGFR-TKIs as second-line therapy after first-line chemotherapy.

METHODS

Between April 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012, the detailed clinical information of 128 patients was screened from the hospital information database of the First Affiliated Hospital and the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University by inclusion/exclusion criteria. Then, a telephone follow-up and a review of all patients' image data were done to obtain the survival information of all patients. After that, all patients' data were processed by IBM(®) SPSS(®) version 19.0.

RESULTS

There were correlations between EGFR mutation status, gross tumor type and PFS or OS according to the Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and log-rank tests. The exon 19 deletions had significantly better survival outcomes in comparison to exon 21 substitutions (median PFS: 8.1 vs. 6.8 months, P = 0.002; median OS: 17.6 vs. 12.5 months, P = 0.000). Stratification analyses of PFS and OS revealed that exon 19 deletions had a survival superior to exon 21 substitutions.

CONCLUSION

Compared with L858R mutation, the genotype of exon 19 deletion had a better survival outcome in terms of PFS and OS in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma treated with EGFR-TKIs as second-line therapy after first-line chemotherapy.

Effects of intravenous analgesia with combined dezocine and butorphanol on postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients

The aim of this study was to observe the analgesic effects of the combination of dezocine and butorphanol on postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients. Forty elderly patients undergoing upper abdominal surgeries or thoracotomies with general anesthesia were randomly divided into the dezocine and butorphanol group or the butorphanol group (20 patients per group). A visual analog scale was used to evaluate analgesia and the degree of malignant vomiting. The Ramsay scoring method was used to evaluate sedation. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate cognitive function. Forty-eight hours after the operation, the pain score of the dezocine and butorphanol group (means ± SD, 1.75 ± 0.44) was lower than that of the butorphanol group (2.25 ± 0.79; P < 0.05), and the nausea and vomiting score of the dezocine and butorphanol group (0) was lower than that of the butorphanol group (0.70 ± 1.30; P < 0.05). Six hours after the operation, the sedative score of the butorphanol group (3.75 ± 0.79) was higher than that of the dezocine and butorphanol group (2.15 ± 0.75; P < 0.05). Compared to 1 day before the operation, the MMSE scores of both groups decreased 6 h after the operation, and the MMSE score of the butorphanol group (15.00 ± 2.00) was lower than that of the dezocine and butorphanol group (20.95 ± 1.54; P < 0.05). Dezocine and butorphanol analgesia had transient effects on postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients, and the effect of the combination was superior than butorphanol only.

Effects of docetaxel plus three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy on microvessel density and apoptosis expression in local advanced squamous non-small-cell lung cancer

We examined the effects of weekly single-agent docetaxel plus three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) on apoptotic index (AI) and microvessel density (MVD) in local advanced non-small-cell lung squamous cancer patients and analyzed the correlation of MVD, AI, and 50% tumor shrinkage time (T0.5) The molecular mechanism of docetaxel radiosensitization was investigated. Sixty untreated patients with stage IIIA or IIIB lung squamous cancer were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: observation (N = 30; 3D-CRT + docetaxel + adjuvant chemotherapy) and control (N = 30; 3D-CRT + adjuvant chemotherapy). From day 1 radiotherapy, the observation group received intravenous docetaxel (36 mg/m(2)) once weekly for 6 weeks. Post-radiotherapy, chemotherapy of docetaxel combined with cisplatin lasted 4-6 cycles in both groups. Before radiotherapy and within 24 h after radiotherapy (20 Gy), bronchoscopic biopsy was performed twice at the same site. To analyze the MVD of tumor specimens with immunohistochemical staining . The AI of lung cancer cells was assessed with TUNEL assay, T0.5 values were calculated. The observation group had significantly lower MVD than the control group (P < 0.05). AI significantly increased before and after treatment in the observation group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The decreased MVD values negatively correlated with T0.5 values (r = -0.624, P < 0.05), whereas the increased AI values did not correlate with the T0.5 values. Docetaxel radiosensitization may occur by decrease in MVD and increase in AI values. Weekly single-agent docetaxel plus 3D-CRT can improve prognosis and quality of life in local advanced non-small-cell lung squamous cancer patients.

Increased GDF9 and BMP15 mRNA levels in cumulus granulosa cells correlate with oocyte maturation, fertilization, and embryo quality in humans

BACKGROUND

Oocyte secreted factors (OSFs), including growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), play an important role in the process of follicular development and oocyte maturation. Since OSFs are expressed in oocytes and cumulus granulosa cells, the aim of the present study was to explore whether the expression levels of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs in cumulus granulosa cells can be used as molecular markers for predicting oocyte developmental potential.

METHODS

Cumulus cells of 2426 cumulus-oocyte complexes were collected from 196 female patients who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and were used for mRNA detection on the egg retrieval day. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between OSF expression and general physiological parameters. Partial correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between OSF expression and oocyte developmental potential. Covariance analysis was used to compare OSF expression among different groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to examine the diagnostic value of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNA for predicting pregnancy.

RESULTS

The expression levels of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs were significantly associated with age, body mass index (BMI), oocyte maturation, normal fertilization, and cleavage rate (P < 0.05). The expression levels of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs in the group with high-quality embryos were significantly higher than those in the group without high-quality embryos (P < 0.05). The expression levels of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs in the pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in the nonpregnancy group (P < 0.05). The cut-off value of GDF9 mRNA for predicting pregnancy was 4.82, with a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 64%. The cut-off value of BMP15 mRNA for predicting pregnancy was 2.60, with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 52%.

CONCLUSIONS

The expression levels of GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs were closely associated with oocyte maturation, fertilization, embryo quality, and pregnancy outcome; therefore, GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs in cumulus granulosa cells may be considered as new molecular markers for predicting oocyte developmental potential.

Series of new β-cyclodextrin-cored starlike carriers for gene delivery

The development of safe and effective β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-cored cationic star gene carriers has attracted considerable attention. In this work, a series of star-shaped hemocompatible CD-PGPP, CD-PGAEPP, and CD-PGAPP vectors composed of β-CD cores and piperazine (PP)-, N-(aminoethyl)piperazine (AEPP)-, or N-(3-aminopropyl)-2-pyrrolidinone (APP)-functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate) arms were successfully proposed and compared for highly efficient gene delivery. Such star carriers possess plentiful secondary amine, tertiary amine, and nonionic hydroxyl groups. CD-PGPP, CD-PGAEPP, and CD-PGAPP were effective in condensing plasmid DNA into nanoparticles, whose sizes were 100-200 nm and positive ζ potentials were 25-40 mV at nitrogen/phosphate (N/P) ratios of 10 and above. CD-PGPP, CD-PGAEPP, and CD-PGAPP showed significantly lower cytotoxicity than control poly(ethylenimine) (PEI; ∼25 kDa). At most N/P ratios, CD-PGAPP exhibited better gene transfection performance than CD-PGPP and CD-PGAEPP particularly in HepG2 cells. More importantly, in comparison with PEI, all of the CD-PGPP, CD-PGAEPP, and CD-PGAPP vectors did not cause undesirable hemolysis.

Integrated fossil and molecular data reveal the biogeographic diversification of the eastern Asian-eastern North American disjunct hickory genus (Carya Nutt.)

The hickory genus (Carya) contains ca. 17 species distributed in subtropical and tropical regions of eastern Asia and subtropical to temperate regions of eastern North America. Previously, the phylogenetic relationships between eastern Asian and eastern North American species of Carya were not fully confirmed even with an extensive sampling, biogeographic and diversification patterns had thus never been investigated in a phylogenetic context. We sampled 17 species of Carya and 15 species representing all other genera of the Juglandaceae as outgroups, with eight nuclear and plastid loci to reconstruct the phylogeny of Carya. The phylogenetic positions of seven extinct genera of the Juglandaceae were inferred using morphological characters and the molecular phylogeny as a backbone constraint. Divergence times within Carya were estimated with relaxed Bayesian dating. Biogeographic analyses were performed in DIVA and LAGRANGE. Diversification rates were inferred by LASER and APE packages. Our results support two major clades within Carya, corresponding to the lineages of eastern Asia and eastern North America. The split between the two disjunct clades is estimated to be 21.58 (95% HPD 11.07-35.51) Ma. Genus-level DIVA and LAGRANGE analyses incorporating both extant and extinct genera of the Juglandaceae suggested that Carya originated in North America, and migrated to Eurasia during the early Tertiary via the North Atlantic land bridge. Fragmentation of the distribution caused by global cooling in the late Tertiary resulted in the current disjunction. The diversification rate of hickories in eastern North America appeared to be higher than that in eastern Asia, which is ascribed to greater ecological opportunities, key morphological innovations, and polyploidy.

Menispermaceae and the diversification of tropical rainforests near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary

• Modern tropical rainforests have the highest biodiversity of terrestrial biomes and are restricted to three low-latitude areas. However, the actual timeframe during which tropical rainforests began to appear on a global scale has been intensely disputed. Here, we used the moonseed family (Menispermaceae), an important physiognomic and structural component of tropical rainforests on a worldwide basis, to obtain new insights into the diversification of this biome. • We integrated phylogenetic, biogeographic and molecular dating methods to analyse temporal and spatial patterns of global diversification in Menispermaceae. • Importantly, a burst of moonseed diversification occurred in a narrow window of time, which coincides with the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Our data also suggest multiple independent migrations from a putative ancestral area of Indo-Malay into other tropical regions. • Our data for Menispermaceae suggest that modern tropical rainforests may have appeared almost synchronously throughout the three major tropical land areas close to, or immediately following, the K-Pg mass extinction.

Short communication: Pheromonicin-SA affects mRNA expression of toll-like receptors, cytokines, and lactoferrin by Staphylococcus aureus-infected bovine mammary epithelial cells

Pheromonicin-SA (Ph-SA) is a newly developed, engineered multidomain peptide that has a bactericidal effect against Staphylococcus aureus. The objective of this study was to characterize innate immune responses by Staph. aureus-stimulated bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC) following treatment with Ph-SA. Primary BMEC from one lactating Holstein cow were isolated and exposed to Staph. aureus for 2 h, and then treated with rifampicin or Ph-SA. Total RNA was isolated from BMEC at 0, 2, 6, 12, and 24 h postinfection, and the mRNA expression of selected genes, including toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and lactoferrin, was quantified by real-time PCR. In the rifampicin group, increases in the expression of mRNA for TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and lactoferrin were observed at 6 h postinfection and in the expression of mRNA for TLR2 but not for TLR4 at 12 h postinfection. In the Ph-SA group, increases in the mRNA expression of TLR2, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and lactoferrin were observed at 6 h postinfection, and an increase in TLR4 mRNA expression was observed at 24 h postinfection. At 24 h postinfection, the mRNA expression of TLR4, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and lactoferrin was higher in the Ph-SA group than in the rifampicin group. In conclusion, Ph-SA might promote the expression of mRNA for TLR2, TLR4, the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α, the chemotactic factor IL-8, and lactoferrin in Staph. aureus-infected BMEC. Moreover, Ph-SA may be of value as an antibiotic in promoting innate immune responses by Staph. aureus-infected bovine mammary epithelial cells.

[Codon usage of Chinese hamster ovary cells.]

BACKGROUND

To investigate the optimal codons of dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) minus Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO dhfr-).

METHODS

A cDNA library of CHO dhfr- containing high abundence mRNA was constructed and protein-coding sequences were obtained after identification and analysis. Codon frequence of CHO dhf- was compared with that of Chinese hamster in CUTG database. Then codon usage variation among cDNA was investigated using correspondence analysis (COA).

RESULTS

Fifty qualified cDNAs from CHO dhfr- were selected, which encodes proteins of high abundence. Comparing with the codon frequence of Chinese hamster, the highest frequence of synonymous codons for amino acids in CHO dhfr- cells were the same as Chinese hamster except that of Arg and Pro. This method of COA identifies the first main factor which can account for the largest fractions (14.7%) of variation among cDNAs. Twenty-two synonymous codons were identified as the optimal codons of CHO cell.

CONCLUSION

CHO dhfr- cell has its own optimal codons, it is suggested that codon bias is one of reasons for functional diversity of different mammal cells and it is an effective stratagy to modification of the codon usage of the foreign gene according to the optimal codons of CHO dhfr- to increase the production of foreign gene.

[AFLP analysis of cotton with fusarium and verticillium wilts from the Huanghe and Changjiang valleys]

Genetic diversity among 101 cottons varieties, including 72 cultivars from the Huanghe valley and 29 cultivars from the Changjiang valley, was investigated using AFLP markers. In total, 20 primer combinations revealed 200 polymorphic bands among the Huanghe valley cottons and 127 polymorphic bands among the Changjiang valley, respectively. Euclidean distance values were calculated using SPSS (11.0) software. Average Euclidean distance value was 4.356 (the Huanghe valley) and 4.391 (the Changjiang valley), respectively. When the value was 15.2, 72 varieties from the Huanghe valley were divided into four groups (the Huanghe valley groups, abbrevate HVGs), including HVG1 (27), HVG2 (19), HVG3 (10) and HVG4 (16). 29 varieties from the Changjiang valley were classified into four groups (the Changjiang valley groups, abbreviate CVGs), including CVG1 (14), CVG2 (4), CVG3 (5) and CVG4 (6). Compared with Euclidean distance matrices and frequency distribution of pairwise Euclidean distances of cottons from the Huanghe and Changjiang valleys, it was showed that there was similar genetic diversity between the cotton cultivars from Huanghe valley and those from Changjiang valley.

Defective T cell activation and autoimmune disorder in Stra13-deficient mice

Stra13, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, is up-regulated upon activation of CD4+ T cells. Here we show that Stra13-deficient mice exhibit defects in several phases of CD4+ T cell activation. In vivo, Stra13 deficiency results in ineffective elimination of activated T and B cells, which accumulate progressively, leading to lymphoid organ hyperplasia. Consequently, aging Stra13-/- mice develop autoimmune disease characterized by accumulation of spontaneously activated T and B cells, circulating autoantibodies, infiltration of T and B lymphocytes in several organs and immune complex deposition in glomeruli. Our studies identify Stra13 as a key regulator of lymphocyte activation that is vital for maintenance of self-tolerance and for constraint of autoimmunity.

[The study of the peritoneal dialyzer with multipriority and its auxiliary spring brush]

This paper introduces the design, principle and clinical applications of the peritoneal dialyzer with multipriority and its auxiliary spring-brush.