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Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, relapsing, and non-specific inflammatory bowel disease. To date, the pathogenesis of UC has not been fully understood. This study aimed to identify crucial genes and related transcription factors in UC by bioinformatic methods.Datasets GSE75214 and GSE48958 were used to identify the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs). GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed using the STRING database. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to screen hub genes using the STRING database and Cytoscape software. The expressions of the identified hub genes were verified using dataset GSE73661, and their correlations with Mayo scores were analyzed using dataset GSE92415. The transcriptional factor (TF) regulatory network of the hubgenes was constructed by Network Analyst.A total of 147 common DEGs, including 114 up-regulated and 33 down-regulated genes, were screened out, among which CXCL9, TIMP1, PTGS2, ICAM1, CXCL1, MMP9, IL1B, CXCL8, and IL6 were identified as hub genes with high degrees in the PPI network. Correlation analysis showed that the expressions of these hub genes were significantly correlated with Mayo scores in UC patients. Finally, RELA, FLI1, and BACH1 were predicted to be the key TFs regulating these nine hub genes.This study systematically analyzed the differential gene expression pattern and associated key TFs in UC, which may provide new insights into the pathogenesis and offer opportunities for discovering novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for UC.

Cronkhite-Canada syndrome is a rare, noninherited gastrointestinal polyposis syndrome associated with characteristic ectodermal abnormalities. This report describes a 60-year-old female who was diagnosed with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome with hypothyroidism after presenting with chronic diarrhea, alopecia, intermittent abdominal pain, generalized gastrointestinal polyposis, hyperpigmentation, and nail dystrophy. Endoscopic examination of the stomach and duodenum showed multiple sessile polyps and mucosal erosion associated with evidence of chronic inflammation. Colonoscopy also revealed mucosal edema and diffuse polyposis.

The design and fabrication of multilayer antireflection (AR) coating based on plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is studied for its applications in optoelectronic devices. Deposition conditions for obtaining SiO2/SiNx thin films with large refractive index difference is determined through systematic study of factors influencing the refractive index of deposited SiNx. Four-layer SiO2/SiNx AR coating is designed to exhibit a reflectivity of less than 10-4 over 70 nm bandwidth. Reflectivity of the thin film structure at the center wavelength of 1550 nm remains less than 5×10-4 when the thickness deviation of any single layer is within ±5 nm from the designed value. Based on the simulation results, SiO2/SiNx multilayer AR coating is deposited on the end facet of a Fabry-Perot laser. By analyzing the output spectra of the laser, the residual reflectivity of the AR coating is determined to be on the order of 10-4 over the wavelength range of 1535—1565 nm.