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In this present study, a novel method to fabricate bimetallic Fe-Co catalyst supported on waste silica was investigated for the photo-Fenton-like (PFL) degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The uniqueness of this work is on the preparation of the catalyst via fluidized-bed crystallization (FBC) process. Under the optimum conditions of initial pH of 3.0, 3.0 mM of H2O2, and 1.0 g L-1 of FBC-derived Fe-Co/SiO2 catalyst (fFCS), the maximum response for the decoloration and mineralization efficiencies of 20 mg L-1 of MB in 60 min were 100 and 65%, respectively. Compared to the impregnated Fe-Co/SiO2 catalyst, the fFCS catalyst exhibited comparable decoloration and mineralization efficiencies, and relatively lower metal leaching for both iron and cobalt. Superoxide radical was unveiled to be the dominant reactive oxygen species in the PFL system over the fFCS catalyst. The catalysts were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results show the successful incorporation of iron and cobalt on the surface of the SiO2 support material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to evaluate the influence of mammographic breast density at diagnosis on the risk of cancer recurrence and survival outcomes in patients with invasive breast cancer after modified radical mastectomy. Methods: This case-control study included 121 case-control pairs of women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2004 and 2009, and who had undergone modified radical mastectomy and had mammographic breast density measured before or at diagnosis. Women with known locoregional recurrence or distant metastasis were matched by pathological disease stage, age, and year of diagnosis to women without recurrence. Locoregional recurrence was defined as recurrence in the ipsilateral chest wall, or axillary, internal mammary, or supraclavicular nodes. The median follow-up duration was 84.0 months for case patients and 92.9 months for control patients. Results: Patients with heterogeneously dense (50-75% density) and extremely dense (>75% density) breasts had an increased risk of locoregional recurrence (hazard ratios 3.1 and 5.7, 95% confidence intervals 1.1-9.8 and 1.2- 34.9, p = 0.043 and 0.048, respectively) than did women with less dense breasts. Positive margins after surgery also increased the risk of locoregional recurrence (hazard ratio 3.3, 95% confidence interval 1.3-8.3, p = 0.010). Multivariate analysis that included dense breasts (>50% density), positive margin, no adjuvant radiotherapy, and no adjuvant chemotherapy revealed that dense breasts were significant factors for predicting locoregional recurrence risk (hazard ratio 3.6, 95% confidence interval 1.2-11.1, p = 0.025). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that dense breast tissue (>50% density) increased the risk of locoregional recurrence after modified radical mastectomy in patients with invasive breast cancer. Additional prospective studies are necessary to validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is well documented that cancer cells secrete angiogenic factors to recruit and sustain tumor vascular networks. However, little is known about the effects of endothelial cells on the behavior of tumor cells. The study here was to determine the roles of endothelial cells in HCC cell growth, migration and invasion. Methods: A mixture of highly metastatic MHCC97H cells and HUVEC cells, as well as MHCC97H cells alone were subcutaneously injected into nude mice to observe the effects of HUVECs on HCC growth. The biological characteristics of MHCC97H cells respectively treated with conditioned medium (CM) derived from HUVECs and endothelial cell basal medium (EBM) in vitro, such as proliferation, migration and invasion, invasion/metastasis associated gene expression, were comparatively analyzed. Differential cytokines between CM and EBM were screened and identified using human cytokine array. Effects of the interested differential cytokine CCL2, IL-8 and CXCL16 and its related signaling pathways were further investigated in HCC cells. Results: Subcutaneous tumorigenicity of MHCC97H cells in nude mice was promoted by HUVECs and its invasion/ metastasis associated genes were significantly upregulated. The in vitro, proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells treated with CM were all significantly enhanced as compared to those with EBM stimulation. Simultaneously, PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathway in HCC cells were activated by CM. Total of 25 differential cytokines were identified between CM and EBM such as angiopoietin-2, CCL2 (MCP-1), uPA, endostatin, CXCL16, IL-8, pentraxin 3 etc. The selected differential cytokines CCL2, IL-8 and CXCL16 all modulated the expressions of HCC invasion/metastasis genes, especially MMP2 and MMP9. In exposure to CCL2 or CXCL16 alone, upregulation in AKT phosphorylation but no change in ERK phosphorylation were found in MHCC97H cells, moreover the contents of nuclear transcription factor NF-?B were increased as compared to the control. However, no effects on the activation of Akt and ERK pathway in MHCC97H were found in exposure to IL-8. Conclusion: This study expands the contribution of endothelial cells to the progression of HCC. It unveils a new paradigm in which endothelial cells function as initiators of molecular crosstalks that enhance survival, migration and invasion of HCC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an autoimmune disease that typically follows a monophasic course and may affect any age group. The precise population-based incidence of ADEM is still unknown in most countries. In China, there is no ADEM surveillance system. The exact incidence of ADEM is difficult to estimate, and other epidemiological characteristics of ADEM are unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of ADEM in Nanchang, China.Methods: A retrospective investigation was conducted with ADEM patients admitted to second-level and third-level hospitals in Nanchang from 2008 to 2010, aiming to analyse the epidemiologic characteristics of ADEM in the population in Nanchang. ADEM patients, defined as patients who were diagnosed according to the consensus definition of ADEM provided by the International Pediatric MS Study Group, were enrolled in the study. The data were extracted from the ADEM patients' medical records.Results: Forty-seven ADEM patients were investigated. The average annual incidence was 0.31/100,000; the incidence among males (0.31/100,000) was nearly equal to that among females (0.31/100,000). The median age of onset was 25.97 years old, and the peak incidence was observed in the 5- to 9-year-old age group (0.75/100,000), followed by the over-60 age group (0.55/100,000). ADEM occurs throughout the year, but it occurs most frequently in March (n = 7) and least frequently in April and July (both n = 2). The patient numbers are roughly even in the other months. In the 2 months before the onset of ADEM, 15 patients presented with a preceding infection, but none of the patients received a vaccination. An increased number of vaccination was not accompanied by a corresponding increased number of cases of ADEM.Conclusions: The average annual incidence of ADEM was 0.31/100,000 in Nanchang. The incidence among males was nearly equal to that among females. The peak age of onset was 5-9 years old. The peak season of onset was not apparent. There was no evidence of an association between increased number of vaccines administered and number of cases of ADEM in Nanchang, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the study "Study of Visfatin, ASP Level in Obese Children and Their Clinical Significance" by Li Rui-Zhen et al is presented.

Background: Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) infection can induce fatal encephalitis in young children. Clinical reports show that interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of infected patients with brainstem encephalitis are significantly elevated. We used a murine model to address the significance of endogenous IL-6 in EV-A71 infection., Results: EV-A71 infection transiently increased serum and brain IL-6 protein levels in mice. Most importantly, absence of IL-6 due to gene knockout or depletion of IL-6 using neutralizing monoclonal antibody enhanced the mortality and tissue viral load of infected mice. Absence of IL-6 increased the damage in the central nervous system and decreased the lymphocyte and virus-specific antibody responses of infected mice., Conclusions: Endogenous IL-6 functions to clear virus and protect the host from EV-A71 infection. Our study raises caution over the use of anti-IL-6 antibody or pentoxifylline to reduce IL-6 for patient treatment.

Background: The extensile lateral approach (ELA) has been widely performed for displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures (DIACFs), and wound complications remain a significant problem. As a minimal incision technique, the sinus tarsi approach (STA) was designed to overcome this disadvantage. There were already many reports about this approach but the conclusions were not completely consistent. Based on the current evidence, we performed this meta-analysis to compare the STA with ELA in the management of DIACF and expected to draw a certain and meaningful conclusion., Methods: All potentially relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies (CSs) were searched in the databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and ClinicalTrial.gov. The desirable outcomes including wound complications, excellent and good rate, secondary surgery rate and Böhler's angle were extracted. RCT studies were assessed using the Risk of Bias Tool recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration, and cohort studies were evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The data of RCTs and cohorts were pooled respectively using the fixed-effect model or random-effect model. Mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for continuous data, and relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs were calculated for dichotomous data. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed with the Q test and I 2 . Sensitivity analysis was developed to assess the reliability of pooled results., Results: Seven studies including two RCTs and five CSs were eligible for the meta-analysis. No matter RCTs or CSs, the pooled data all showed that STA group had a lower incidence of wound complications than that in the ELA group and no significant difference was found in excellent and good rate and the recovery of Böhler's angle between the two groups. The CSs also showed that the STA group had a lower incidence of secondary surgeries than that in the ELA group., Conclusions: Through a STA, we not only can reduce the problems in wound healing but also achieve nearly the same adequate restoration of DIACF along with the similar functional outcomes compared with through an ELA.

Background: Ring chromosome 18 [r(18)] is formed by 18p- and 18q- partial deletion and generates a ring chromosome. Loss of critical genes on each arm of chromosome 18 may contribute to the specific phenotype, and the clinical spectrum varieties may heavily depend on the extent of the genomic deletion. The aim of this study is to identify the detailed breakpoints location and the deleted genes result from the r18., Case Presentation: Here we describe a detailed diagnosis of a seven-year-old Chinese girl with a ring chromosome 18 mutation by a high-throughput whole-genome low-coverage sequencing approach without karyotyping and other cytogenetic analysis. This method revealed two fragment heterozygous deletions of 18p and 18q, and further localized the detailed breakpoint sites and fusion, as well as the deleted genes., Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a ring chromosome 18 patient in China analyzed by whole-genome low-coverage sequencing approach. Detailed breakpoints location and deleted genes identification help to estimate the risk of the disease in the future. The data and analysis here demonstrated the feasibility of next-generation sequencing technologies for chromosome structure variation including ring chromosome in an efficient and cost effective way.

Background: It is well documented that cancer cells secrete angiogenic factors to recruit and sustain tumor vascular networks. However, little is known about the effects of endothelial cells on the behavior of tumor cells. The study here was to determine the roles of endothelial cells in HCC cell growth, migration and invasion., Methods: A mixture of highly metastatic MHCC97H cells and HUVEC cells, as well as MHCC97H cells alone were subcutaneously injected into nude mice to observe the effects of HUVECs on HCC growth. The biological characteristics of MHCC97H cells respectively treated with conditioned medium (CM) derived from HUVECs and endothelial cell basal medium (EBM) in vitro, such as proliferation, migration and invasion, invasion/metastasis associated gene expression, were comparatively analyzed. Differential cytokines between CM and EBM were screened and identified using human cytokine array. Effects of the interested differential cytokine CCL2, IL-8 and CXCL16 and its related signaling pathways were further investigated in HCC cells., Results: Subcutaneous tumorigenicity of MHCC97H cells in nude mice was promoted by HUVECs and its invasion/metastasis associated genes were significantly upregulated. The in vitro, proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells treated with CM were all significantly enhanced as compared to those with EBM stimulation. Simultaneously, PI3K/Akt and ERK1/2 pathway in HCC cells were activated by CM. Total of 25 differential cytokines were identified between CM and EBM such as angiopoietin-2, CCL2 (MCP-1), uPA, endostatin, CXCL16, IL-8, pentraxin 3 etc. The selected differential cytokines CCL2, IL-8 and CXCL16 all modulated the expressions of HCC invasion/metastasis genes, especially MMP2 and MMP9. In exposure to CCL2 or CXCL16 alone, upregulation in AKT phosphorylation but no change in ERK phosphorylation were found in MHCC97H cells, moreover the contents of nuclear transcription factor NF-κB were increased as compared to the control. However, no effects on the activation of Akt and ERK pathway in MHCC97H were found in exposure to IL-8., Conclusion: This study expands the contribution of endothelial cells to the progression of HCC. It unveils a new paradigm in which endothelial cells function as initiators of molecular crosstalks that enhance survival, migration and invasion of HCC cells.

Background: DNA barcoding technology, which uses a short piece of DNA sequence to identify species, has wide ranges of applications. Until today, a universal DNA barcode marker for plants remains elusive. The rbcL and matK regions have been proposed as the "core barcode" for plants and the ITS2 and psbA-trnH intergenic spacer (PTIGS) regions were later added as supplemental barcodes. The use of PTIGS region as a supplemental barcode has been limited by the lack of computational tools that can handle significant insertions and deletions in the PTIGS sequences. Here, we compared the most commonly used alignment-based and alignment-free methods and developed a web server to allow the biologists to carry out PTIGS-based DNA barcoding analyses., Results: First, we compared several alignment-based methods such as BLAST and those calculating P distance and Edit distance, alignment-free methods Di-Nucleotide Frequency Profile (DNFP) and their combinations. We found that the DNFP and Edit-distance methods increased the identification success rate to ~80%, 20% higher than the most commonly used BLAST method. Second, the combined methods showed overall better success rate and performance. Last, we have developed a web server that allows (1) retrieving various sub-regions and the consensus sequences of PTIGS, (2) annotating novel PTIGS sequences, (3) determining species identity by PTIGS sequences using eight methods, and (4) examining identification efficiency and performance of the eight methods for various taxonomy groups., Conclusions: The Edit distance and the DNFP methods have the highest discrimination powers. Hybrid methods can be used to achieve significant improvement in performance. These methods can be extended to applications using the core barcodes and the other supplemental DNA barcode ITS2. To our knowledge, the web server developed here is the only one that allows species determination based on PTIGS sequences. The web server can be accessed at http://psba-trnh-plantidit.dnsalias.org.

Background: Five DNA regions, namely, rbcL, matK, ITS, ITS2, and psbA-trnH, have been recommended as primary DNA barcodes for plants. Studies evaluating these regions for species identification in the large plant taxon, which includes a large number of closely related species, have rarely been reported., Results: The feasibility of using the five proposed DNA regions was tested for discriminating plant species within Asteraceae, the largest family of flowering plants. Among these markers, ITS2 was the most useful in terms of universality, sequence variation, and identification capability in the Asteraceae family. The species discriminating power of ITS2 was also explored in a large pool of 3,490 Asteraceae sequences that represent 2,315 species belonging to 494 different genera. The result shows that ITS2 correctly identified 76.4% and 97.4% of plant samples at the species and genus levels, respectively. In addition, ITS2 displayed a variable ability to discriminate related species within different genera., Conclusions: ITS2 is the best DNA barcode for the Asteraceae family. This approach significantly broadens the application of DNA barcoding to resolve classification problems in the family Asteraceae at the genera and species levels.

Background: Glycyrrhiza uralensis is one of the most popular medicinal plants in the world and is also widely used in the flavoring of food and tobacco. Due to limited genomic and transcriptomic data, the biosynthetic pathway of glycyrrhizin, the major bioactive compound in G. uralensis, is currently unclear. Identification of candidate genes involved in the glycyrrhizin biosynthetic pathway will significantly contribute to the understanding of the biosynthetic and medicinal chemistry of this compound., Results: We used the 454 GS FLX platform and Titanium regents to produce a substantial expressed sequence tag (EST) dataset from the vegetative organs of G. uralensis. A total of 59,219 ESTs with an average read length of 409 bp were generated. 454 ESTs were combined with the 50,666 G. uralensis ESTs in GenBank. The combined ESTs were assembled into 27,229 unique sequences (11,694 contigs and 15,535 singletons). A total of 20,437 unique gene elements representing approximately 10,000 independent transcripts were annotated using BLAST searches (e-value