Search

Non-cancer deaths are now becoming a great threat to the health of cancer survivors. There are no comprehensive and systematic reports on chronic liver disease and cirrhosis mortality (CLDCM) among patients with digestive system cancers (DSCs). This research aimed to quantitatively assess the risks and patterns of CLDCM among patients with DSCs. From the surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) program, we extracted the data of patients diagnosed with DSCs between 2000 and 2017. Trends in incidence-based mortality rate (IBMR) were calculated using Joinpoint software. The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was obtained based on the reference of the general United States population. The cumulative incidence function curves were constructed by all causes of death. Independent indicators were identified using the multivariate Fine and Gray competing risk model. We included 906,292 eligible patients from the SEER program, of which 3068 (0.34%) died from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (CLDC). The IBMR of CLDC continued to increase during the study period [average annual percent change (APC): 6.7%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.1–8.2] and the SMR was significantly increased (SMR: 3.19; 95% CI 3.08–3.30). The cumulative mortality of CLDC was the lowest in all causes of death. Furthermore, the age at diagnosis, race, gender, marital status, year of diagnosis, SEER stage, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were identified as independent indicators. Better screening, diagnostic and management approaches need to be implemented as a preferred method to protect the liver among patients with DSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, no prospective study has compared the safety and efficacy of band-assisted endoscopic mucosal resection (BA-EMR) with those of endoscopic dissection (ESD) for the treatment of submucosal tumors (SMTs) in the gastric fundus. We aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of BA-EMR with those of ESD for SMTs ≤ 1.5 cm in the gastric fundus. Methods: In total, 62 patients with SMTs ≤ 1.5 cm in the gastric fundus underwent band ligation; the lesions that could be completely ligated were excised using a snare, while others were removed by ESD. Results: Of 62 patients, 42 had their lesions completely ligated by the band and underwent BA-EMR, while 20 had lesions that could not be completely ligated and underwent ESD. The average tumor size was 0.94 ± 0.16 and 1.30 ± 0.16 cm in the BA-EMR and ESD groups, respectively. Compared with ESD, BA-EMR had significantly fewer complications and a significantly shorter mean operating time and hospital stay. Conclusion: BA-EMR is a safe and effective method for small SMTs in the gastric fundus, but is only suitable for SMTs < 1.2 cm. For small SMTs (< 1.2 cm) in the gastric fundus, BA-EMR may simplify the treatment procedure, shorten the operation time, and reduce complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) is the most harmful and pathogenic infectious agent in shrimp aquaculture. Vp28, a protein used to protect hosts against this virus, has successfully been expressed in nine hosts since 2004; however, to date, it has not been used commercially. We constructed transgenic Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 expressing vp28 and enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp) genes simultaneously to enable the easy detection of vp28 expression. GFP has been expressed in cyanobacteria previously and was used in this study to construct transgenic cyanobacteria that can easily be detected. The optimal growth conditions for the transgenic cyanobacteria were determined using a liquid-phase oxygen electrode. At the optimum light intensity, the net photosynthetic rate of the transgenic cyanobacteria increased by 12.6% compared with that of the wild-type. Furthermore, Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 harboring vp28 and vp28-egfp were fed to shrimp in order to protect them against WSSV infection. The cumulative survival rate of the groups fed with transgenic cyanobacteria was 75%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute liver failure is a drastic, unpredictable clinical syndrome with high mortality. Various preventive and adjuvant therapies based on modulating the gut flora have been proposed for hepatic injury. We aimed to explore the preventive and therapeutic effects of Bifidobacterium adolescentis CGMCC15058 on rat liver failure, as well as the potential microecological and immunological mechanisms of those effects. B. adolescentis CGMCC15058 (3 × 109 CFU), isolated from healthy human stool, was gavaged to Sprague-Dawley rats for 14 days. Acute liver injury was induced on the 15th day by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine. After 24 h, liver and terminal ileum histology, liver function, plasma cytokines, bacterial translocation and gut microbiota composition were assessed. We found that pretreatment with B. adolescentis significantly relieved elevated serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bile acid and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein and enhanced the expression of mucin 4 and the tight junction protein zonula occludens-1. B. adolescentis exhibited anti-inflammatory properties as indicated by decreased levels of mTOR and the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, as well as elevated levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukins-10 in the liver. Similar anti-inflammatory signs were also found in plasma. B. adolescentis significantly altered the microbial community, depleting the common pathogenic taxon Proteus and markedly enriching the taxa Coriobacteriaceae, Bacteroidales and Allobaculum, which are involved in regulating the metabolism of lipids and aromatic amino acids. Our findings not only suggest B. adolescentis acts as a prospective probiotic against liver failure but also provide new insights into the prevention and treatment of liver disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is one of the most prevalent and lethal viruses for shrimp, and oral administration of VP28 is a promising approach to protect shrimp against WSSV. Although seven heterologous expression systems have been successful since 2004, no one has been commercialized in shrimp industry. This paper presented the idea of 'both drug and feed from the same feedstock' to develop oral vaccine against WSSV. Filamentous, heterocystous cyanobacterium, Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, was used to express major envelope protein, VP28, for feeding post larvae of shrimp. The expression of vp28 gene in transgenic mutant was analyzed by Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). For vaccination, Litopenaeus vannamei was orally administrated by feeding the wild type and mutants of Anabaena cells for 10 days, and was challenged with WSSV during 10 days post vaccination. The post larvae were fed with the mutant harboring vp28 (10 μg shrimp). The post larvae were divided five groups and their survivals were as follows: (1) negative control (neither vaccination nor challenge), 100 %; (2) positive control (challenge and no vaccination), 0 %; (3) feeding the wild type, 15.5 %; (4) feeding blank, 20.6 %; and (5) feeding the mutant harboring vp28, 68.0 %. Moreover, the post larvae fed the mutant harboring vp28 grew better than no feed. Also, the photosynthetic features indicated the transgenic mutant was easier to cultivate. These data show that transgenic mutant harboring vp28 was favorable not only to use both for drug and feed but also to cultivate in scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the function of a bacterial-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC2) derived from photosynthetically-grown Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a fragment of the pepc2 gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. After optimal induction for 6 h, PEPC activity in the reverse mutant was lower than wild type (0.9 vs. 1.7 U/mg protein), and soluble protein was also lower than wild type (119 vs. 186 mg/g dry wt). In contrast, the total lipid content was increased from 56 (in wild type) to 71 mg/g dry wt, despite the growth rate being slightly diminished. The changes in PEPC activity, soluble protein and total lipid in the forward mutant were the opposite (2.4 U/mg, 230 mg/g, and 44 mg/g dry wt, respectively). Together, these data indicate that PEPC may function as a metabolic pivot in the regulation of protein and lipid accumulation in this alga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a class of stochastic processes, called evolving network Markov chains, in evolving networks. Our approach is to transform the degree distribution problem of an evolving network to a corresponding problem of evolving network Markov chains. We investigate the evolving network Markov chains, thereby obtaining some exact formulas as well as a precise criterion for determining whether the steady degree distribution of the evolving network is a power-law or not. With this new method, we finally obtain a rigorous, exact and unified solution of the steady degree distribution of the evolving network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is applied to investigate the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Cu-8 wt pct Ag alloy subjected to one to four passes via four different routes (A, BA, BC, and C). It is demonstrated that better mechanical properties, a higher fraction of high-angle boundaries, and a smaller grain size can be obtained most rapidly with route A, whereas the specimen processed by route BC contains relatively inhomogeneous microstructure and has poor mechanical properties. The ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of the Cu-Ag alloy processed by route BC saturates after four passes; in contrast, the UTS of the Cu-Ag alloy processed by route A increases continuously in relation to the number of ECAP passes. Based on the experimental results, the strengthening mechanisms of the Cu-8 wt pct Ag alloy processed by different routes as well as the efficiency of different routes in refining the binary alloy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, by considering the stochastic process of the busy period and the idle period, and introducing the unfinished work as a supplementary variable, a new vector Markov process was presented to study the M/G/1 queue again. Through establishing and solving the density evolution equations, the busy-period distribution, and the stationary distributions of waiting tune and queue length were obtained. In addition, the stability condition of this queue system was given by means of an imbedded renewal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vector Gti’IX containing human clotting factor IX cDNAwith intron 1 (hFIX mini-gene or Fi’IX) driven by CMV promoter was constructed based on the mini-adenoviral vector GT2073 (mini-Ad vector) with all viral protein coding sequences deleted. Mini-Ad packaging cell 293Cre4 was first transduced with GTi’IX, and then was transfected with helper-adenovirus AdLC8, thus mini-Ad virions AdGTi’IX were obtained. At the same time, previous normal adenoviral vector pAdSPi’IX containing viral genome and hFIX mini-gene was constructed, and then previous adenovirus (pre-Ad) AdSPi’IX was obtained as control. The ratio of helper-adenovirus among purified virons AdGTi’IX was less than 0.8%. 3T3 cells were transfected with AdGTi’IX and AdSPi’IX at a MOI of 50 per cell and ELISA result showed that transient expression level in vitro was 1.4 ±0.2 μg /106 · 24 h and 1.6 ±0.3 μg/106 · 24 h respectively. Each hemophilia B (FIX knock-out) mouse received celiac injection of 1x1010 pfu AdGTi’IX or AdSPi’IX. The highest expression level of hFIX in mouse plasma was 590 ng/mL and 690 ng/mL respectively, and the expression time lasted for 16 weeks and 9 weeks respectively. The bleeding time reduced from over 30 min to 7.5 min, and 5-min blood lost reduced from 430 μL to 60 μL. The results of anti-Ad IgG assays indicated that immune response triggered by AdGTi’IX was obviously weaker than that triggered by AdSPi’IX. These results indicated that, compared with previous adenovirus (pre-Ad), the mini-Ad vector system prolonged the expression time of hFIX and reduced immune response, thus offering a promising result for further pre-clinical study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report a multiple sequence alignment result on the basis of 10 amino acid sequences of the M protein, which come from different coronaviruses (4 SARS-associated and 6 others known). The alignment model was based on the profile HMM (Hidden Markov Model), and the model training was implemented through the SAHMM (Self-Adapting Hidden Markov Model) software developed by the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a repairable redundant system consisting of two same components with exponential lifetime and general repair time distribution, the probability densities of the system in some state at time t were determined by a group of ordinary and partial differential equations, called density evolution equations. It was proved that the time-dependent solution of the density evolution equations uniquely exists and strongly converges to its steady state density solution by a semi-group method. In this proof, it is not necessary to suppose that the repair rate function is bounded. The technique of the proof is valuable for many density evolution equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the existence, uniqueness, and asymptotic behavior of the solution of the density evolution equation for M/M/∞ model was studied by the semigroup theory of linear operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random iterated function systems (IFSs) is discussed, which is one of the methods for fractal drawing. A certain figure can be reconstructed by a random IFS. One approach is presented to determine a new random IFS, that the figure reconstructed by the new random IFS is the image of the origin figure reconstructed by old IFS under a given affine transformation. Two particular examples are used to show this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the improvement of pure random search is studied. By taking some information of the function to be minimized into consideration, the authors propose two stochastic global optimization algorithms. Some numerical experiments for the new stochastic global optimization algorithms are presented for a class of test problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a new theoretical framework by means of the absorbin Markov process theory for analyzing some stochastic global optimization algorithms. Applying the framework to the pure random search, we prove that the pure random search converges to the global minimum in probability and its time has geometry distribution. We also analyze the pure adaptive search by this framework and turn out that the pure adaptive search converges to the global minimum in probability and its time has Poisson distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Botanical Review is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this letter, we briefly describe a program of self-adapting hidden Markov model (SA-HMM) and its application in multiple sequences alignment. Program consists of two stage optimisation algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new stochastic algorithm for box-constrained global optimization problem. Bacause the level set of objective function is always not known, the authors designed a region containing the current minimum point to replace it, and in order to fit the level set well, this region would be walking and contracting in the running process. Thus, the new algorithm is named as region’s walk and con-traction(RWC). Some numerical experiments for the RWC were conducted, which indicate good property of the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]