Search

The purpose of this study was to investigate the bacterial communities of biting midges and ticks collected from three sites in the Poyang Lake area, namely, Qunlu Practice Base, Peach Blossom Garden, and Huangtong Animal Husbandry, and whether vectors carry any bacterial pathogens that may cause diseases to humans, to provide scientific basis for prospective pathogen discovery and disease prevention and control. Using a metataxonomics approach in concert with full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing and operational phylogenetic unit (OPU) analysis, we characterized the species-level microbial community structure of two important vector species, biting midges and ticks, including 33 arthropod samples comprising 3,885 individuals, collected around Poyang Lake. A total of 662 OPUs were classified in biting midges, including 195 known species and 373 potentially new species, and 618 OPUs were classified in ticks, including 217 known species and 326 potentially new species. Surprisingly, OPUs with potentially pathogenicity were detected in both arthropod vectors, with 66 known species of biting midges reported to carry potential pathogens, including Asaia lannensis and Rickettsia bellii, compared to 50 in ticks, such as Acinetobacter Iwoffii and Staphylococcus sciuri. We found that Proteobacteria was the most dominant group in both midges and ticks. Furthermore, the outcomes demonstrated that the microbiota of midges and ticks tend to be governed by a few highly abundant bacteria. Pantoea sp7 was predominant in biting midges, while Coxiella sp1 was enriched in ticks. Meanwhile, Coxiella spp., which may be essential for the survival of Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann, were detected in all tick samples. The identification of dominant species and pathogens of biting midges and ticks in this study serves to broaden our knowledge associated to microbes of arthropod vectors. Biting midges and ticks carry large numbers of known and potentially novel bacteria, and carry a wide range of potentially pathogenic bacteria, which may pose a risk of infection to humans and animals. The microbial communities of midges and ticks tend to be dominated by a few highly abundant bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory properties of gastrodin. However, its specific role and mechanism in the context of osteoarthritis (OA) remain unclear. Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the function and mechanism of gastrodin in both in vivo and in vitro OA models. Materials and Methods: In this study, the targets of gastrodin against osteoarthritis were analyzed using bioinformatics methods. The effect of gastrodin on neutrophil infiltration and inflammatory cytokines in OA synovial tissue was evaluated using H&E staining. The levels of inflammatory cytokines were determined using ELISA and Q-PCR. The extracellular matrix degradation-related proteins and PI3K/AKT/FoxO1 signaling pathway were tested using western blotting. Results: Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the target of gastrodin against OA might act on the FoxO pathway. The use of gastrodin resulted in a significant reduction in the infiltration of neutrophils in the synovial tissue of rats, as observed through H&E staining. Additionally, gastrodin was found to attenuate IL-1β-induced inhibition of chondrocyte viability, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and extracellular matrix degradation. This effect can be attributed to the suppression of PI3K/AKT/FoxO1 by gastrodin. Conclusion: These findings indicate that gastrodin is a treatment for OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two rare 6(D)/5(E) ring-fused meroterpenoids, eupeniacetal A (1) and eupeniacetal B (2), and three new meroterpenoids, 1-methoxy-hydropreaustinoid A1 (3), hydroberkeleyone B (4), and 22-deoxy-10-oxominiolutelide B (5), as well as five known meroterpenoids, 22-deoxyminiolutelide B (6), preaustinoid A1 (7), berkeleyone C (8), berkeleyacetal A (9), and preaustinoid A3 (10), have been isolated, through the aid of LC-MS, from the sponge-derived fungus Eupenicillium sp. 6A-9. The structures of these meroterpenoids were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis, comparison with literature data, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The absolute configurations were assigned by means of TDDFT/ECD and [a]D calculations as well as by X-ray diffraction analysis. These compounds showed inhibitory activity towards TNF-a production in the induced THP-1 cell line but were inactive against normal tumor cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mine power network, about 70 % of total failures are resulted by the leakage fault, because the non neutral grounding is widely used in our country. This directly influences normal production and economic benefit of mine enterprises. By analyzing the leakage fault of mine low voltage power network and using the principle of additional DC source leakage protection, zero sequence voltage, zero sequence current and phase comparison leakage protection, a practical detection circuit is designed and its working principle is analyzed, Experiment verifies its effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing distortion functions in steganography which achieved high undetectability are designed for unprocessed natural image. Nowadays, a large number of images are filtered before transmitting for the sake of beautification. In this situation, existing distortion functions should be improved to fit the properties of these beautified images. This paper proposes a distortion function optimization method for steganography on beautified images. Given an unprocessed image, a popular image beautification software is employed to produce two similar beautified images. One of them is used for embedding and the other one is employed as reference. Guided by the reference, existing distortion functions are improved by distinguishing the embedding costs for ±1 embedding. After embedding, the stego image is closer to the reference, which results in a higher undetectability against steganalysis. Experimental results also proved the increasing of undetectability when examined by modern steganalytic tools.

Objective: To observe the curative effect of porous tantalum rod and Gugutou Huaisiyu Capsule (GHC) for steroid-induced osteonecrosis of femoral head (SONFH)., Methods: A total 60 hips of 50 SONFH patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to grouping time, 25 in each group (30 hips). Patients in the control group were implanted with porous tantalum rod, while those in the treatment group additionally took GHC (5 pills each time, three time per day for 2 successive months; and then twice per day for 4 successive months). Then all patients were followed-up to observe Harris hip score. The curative effect and the femoral head survival time were assessed., Results: A total of 49 patients (59 hips) were followed-up. The Harris hip score of the two groups at the final follow-up was significantly improved after treatment, with statistical difference when compared with before treatment (P < 0.01). Besides, it was higher in the treatment group than in the control group. The curative effect and the survival time were superior in the treatment group, with statistical difference when compared with the control group (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: Porous tantalum rod combined GHC got better effect in treating SONFH. It could significantly improve the function of affected hips and prolong the survival time of femoral head.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women in the world. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) was not only found to play a key role in the development of tumor angiogenesis, but has also been located in tumor cells of a variety of tumors. This study investigated the expression pattern of VEGFR-2 in breast cancer tissue specimens in order to evaluate the role of VEGFR-2 in the prognosis of breast cancer. Expression and localization of VEGFR-2 in tumor cells of breast cancer specimens from 98 invasive breast cancer patients were determined by immunohistochemistry. The relationships between VEGFR-2 expression and clinicopathological features were also analyzed. The results showed that VEGFR-2 expression correlated positively with lymph node (LN) metastasis of breast cancer. Patients with high expression of VEGFR-2 had a significantly worse OS. It was also observed that the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker, including Twist1 and Vimentin, was higher in the tumors with higher VEGFR-2 expression, while the E-cadherin expression was lower in the same tumors, suggesting that VEGFR-2 may serve as a possible mediator of EMT in breast cancer., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Matrix-producing carcinoma (MPC) of the breast is an extremely rare variant of metaplastic breast carcinoma that contains a mixture of epithelial and mesenchymal elements. As overt carcinoma with direct transition to a cartilaginous and/or osseous stromal matrix cells, MPC is of no spindle cells between those two elements. This is the case of a 43 year-old female patient with MPC which coexisted with microglandular adenosis (MGA), atypical MGA (AMGA) and carcinoma in situ arising in MGA (MGACA in situ). MGA is a rare, infiltrative, benign lesion of the breast with an indolent clinical course. Histological evidence of carcinoma arising from MGA has previously been documented. MPC arising in MGA is an extremely rare subtype of breast carcinoma and has been seldom detailed described in the previous studies. This report highlights one such case with cytomorphological and histopathological correlation, along with a review of pertinent literature and differential diagnosis.

Objective: To observe the application effect of minimally invasive decompression, bone graft implantation and metal trabecular bone reconstruction system for early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head and discuss the treatment of hip-salvage operation in early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head;, Methods: From January 2010 to June 2011, 50 patients (62 hips) Which were osteonecrosis of femoral head of early stake,were treated with minimally invasive decompression, bone graft implantation and metal trabecular bone reconstruction system, including 31 males (40 hips), 19 females (22 hip) with an average age of 36.2 years old ranging from 22 to 54 years old. The course of disease was from 6 to 15 months (averaged 10.5 months). Among them, 19 cases (23 hips) were steroid-induced, 25 cases (33 hips) were alcohol-induced, 6 cases (6 hips) were idiopathic; According to ARCO stage, 28 hips were at stage I, 34 hips were at stage II. All of them were diagnosed as femoral head necrosis by imaging examination before operation. Then each patient was followed to assess by Harris hip score, curative effect, and conduct the femoral head survival analysis during the postoperation., Results: All patients had finished operation, the operation time was between 30 and 85 min, intraoperative blood loss was 50 to 220 ml, and 47 cases (58 hips) were follow-up from 24 to 46 months with an average of 34.05 months. As compared with preoperative, the Harris hip score at the last follow-up was improved, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). The Harris hip score, curative effect and survival time of femoral head in ARCO stage I was superior to these in ARCO Stage II, the difference was statistically significant (P< 0.05)., Conclusion: Effect of minimally invasive decompression,bone graft implantation combine with the metal trabecular bone reconstruction system for early stage osteonecrosis of femoral head was good,it could significantly improve the Harris hip score, increase the femoral head survival time, delay the hip replacement, and performance better in ARCO stage I.