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The purpose of the study was to assess the value of admission macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels in predicting clinical outcomes in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients.For this study we recruited 498 STEMI patients after they received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), 40 with stable angina pectoris and 137 healthy participants. Plasma MIF levels were measured at admission and after PCI. The primary end points were in-hospital mortality and major adverse cardio-and/or cerebrovascular events (MACCE) during hospitalization and 3.2-year follow-up period.Admission MIF levels were elevated in 88.4% of STEMI patients over the upper reference limit of healthy controls and it was 3- to 7-fold higher than that in stable angina pectoris and control groups (122 ± 61 vs 39 ± 19 vs 17 ± 8 ng/mL; P0.001). Admission MIF levels were significantly higher in patients who died after myocardial infarction vs survivors. For predicting in-hospital mortality using the optimal cutoff value (127.8 ng/mL) of MIF, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for MIF was 0.820, similar area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values for predicting short-term outcomes were observed for high-sensitivity troponin T, CK-MB, N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide, and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score. Although peak high-sensitivity troponin T and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide also predicted MACCE during the follow-up period, only higher admission MIF levels predicted in-hospital mortality and MACCE during the 3.2-year follow-up. Multivariate regression analysis showed the independent predictive value of a higher admission MIF level (≥ 127.8 ng/mL) on in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 9.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-47.2) and 3.2-year MACCE (hazard ratio, 2.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-5.6).A higher admission MIF level is an independent predictor for in-hospital mortality and long-term MACCE in STEMI patients who underwent PCI.

Background. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) has been detected in coronary plaques. However, the association between serum GGT levels and coronary atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) as detected by optical coherence tomography (OCT) has not been investigated.Methods. We performed a retrospective study of consecutively enrolled CAD patients undergoing preintervention OCT examination during coronary angiography. Plaque vulnerability was defined as the presence of ruptured plaques or thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) upon OCT. The association between serum GGT levels and coronary plaque vulnerability was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results. A total of 142 patients were included in our analysis. OCT examination detected ruptured plaques in 16 patients, nonruptured plaques with TCFA in 17 patients, and nonruptured plaques and non-TCFA in 109 patients. Univariate analyses showed that gender, diabetes, Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were associated with plaque vulnerability (P all < 0.05). Patients grouped according to serum GGT tertiles did not differ statistically in baseline characteristics or OCT findings. Results of multivariate logistic analyses showed that diabetes and diagnosis of ACS were associated with plaque rupture and TCFA (P < 0.05).Conclusions. GGT serum levels were not associated with OCT detected coronary vulnerability in our cohort of CAD patient.

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is one of the common disorders found in women leading to 1% female infertility. Clinical features of POF are hypoestrogenism or estrogen deficiency, increased gonadotropin level, and, most importantly, amenorrhea. With the development of regenerative medicine, human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) therapy brings new prospects for POF. This study aimed to describe the types of MSCs currently available for POF therapy, their biological characteristics, and their mechanism of action. It reviewed the latest findings on POF to provide the theoretical basis for further investigation and clinical therapy.

ObjectivesA combined equation based on white cell count (WCC) and total bilirubin (TB) was assessed for its ability to predict adverse clinical outcomes in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).DesignA single-centre, prospective cohort study.SettingThe First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University.MethodA total of 615 patients with STEMI postprimary PCI were enrolled. WCC and TB were collected at admission. Logistic regression was used to determine the combined equation. The primary endpoints were in-hospital mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which composed of cardiac death, cardiac shock, malignant arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation), severe cardiac insufficiency, non-fatal myocardial infarction, angina pectoris readmission, severe cardiac insufficiency (cardiac III–IV level), stent restenosis and target vessels revascularisation during the hospitalisation and 36 months follow-up period.Result77 patients occurred in MACE during the hospitalisation (17 in-hospital mortality). WCC and TB were taken as an independent variables to make a category of logistic regression analysis of in-hospital MACE, the logistic regression model was: logit (P)=−8.00+0.265 WCC+0.077 TB, the combination of WCC and TB was more valuable on evaluating the in-hospital mortality (area under the curve 0.804, 95% CI 0.678 to 0.929, pConclusionThe combination of WCC and TB is an independent predictor for in-hospital outcomes in patients with STEMI than single detection.

Background. Fibrinogen levels have been associated with coronary plaque vulnerability in experimental studies. However, it has yet to be determined if serum fibrinogen levels are independently associated with coronary plaque vulnerability as detected by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods. Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who underwent coronary angiography and OCT in our department from January 2015 to August 2018 were included in this study. Coronary lesions were categorized as ruptured plaque, nonruptured with thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA), and nonruptured and non-TCFA. Presence of ruptured plaque and nonruptured with TCFA was considered to be vulnerable lesions. Determinants of coronary vulnerability were evaluated by multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results. A total of 154 patients were included in this study; 17 patients had ruptured plaques, 15 had nonruptured plaques with TCFA, and 122 had nonruptured plaques with non-TCFA. Results of univariate analyses showed that being male, diabetes, current smoking, high body mass index (BMI), and clinical diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were associated with coronary vulnerability. No significant differences were detected in patient characteristics, coronary angiographic findings, and OCT results between patients with higher and normal fibrinogen. Results of multivariate logistic analyses showed that diabetes and ACS were associated with TCFA, while diabetes, higher BMI, and ACS were associated with plaque rupture. Conclusions. Diabetes, higher BMI, and ACS are independently associated with coronary vulnerability as detected by OCT. Serum fibrinogen was not associated with coronary vulnerability in our cohort.

Background: Most nursing records in Taiwan have been computerized, resulting in a large amount of unstructured text data. The quality of these records has rarely been discussed. Purpose: This study used a text mining method to analyze the quality of a nursing record system to establish an auditing model and associated tools for nursing records, with the ultimate objective of improving the quality of electronic nursing records. Methods: This study utilized a retrospective method to collect the electronic nursing records of 6,277 patients who had been discharged from the internal medicine departments of a medical center in northern Taiwan from January to June 2014. SAS Enterprise Guide Version 6.1 and SAS Text Miner Version 13.2 software were used to perform text mining. Nursing experts were invited to examine the electronic nursing records. The text mining results were compared against a benchmark that was developed by the experts, and the efficiency of SAS Text Miner was examined using the criteria of specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy. Results: In this study, 27,356 nurse-formulated events were used in the analysis. The results of the nurse-formulated events showed an 8.08% similar error with system-formulated events, 29.72% were identified as necessary and appropriate names, 17.53% were retained, 10.15% involved error event names, and 34.52% were not classified. In this study, the sensitivity of SAS text mining in the training (testing) data set was 96% (95%), and the specificity and accuracy were both 99% (99%). Conclusions: The results of this study show that text mining is an effective approach to auditing the quality of electronic nursing records. SAS Text Miner software was shown to identify inappropriate nursing record content quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, the results of this study may be included in in-service education teaching materials to promote the writing of better nursing records to improve the quality of electronic nursing records.

This study was designed to investigate child abuse and sexual assault in the emergency medical treatment process, child abuse and sexual assault a total of 2014 years of the city informed of 82 accounted for 23 hospital. The use of teamwork and information systems intervention before and after, child abuse and sexual assault for the time required for medical treatment, the effectiveness of valuation step.Project object for child abuse and sexual abuse of patients in the emergency room. I Data were collected using direct observation and retrospective chart review method. The results show medical record was reduced from 11 to 4 step step; time from 1 hour 52 minutes to 46 minutes, greatly enhance emergency service satisfaction.

Gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA) accounts for a majority of gastric cancer population and harbors unfavorable outcome. Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) belongs to the deubiquitinating enzyme family, which could regulate cell growth in human cancers. In the present study, expression of UCH-L1 was evaluated in 196 GCAs by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray and its function on gastric cancer cells was measured. UCH-L1 expression was increased in GCA specimens, compared with their normal tissues and UCH-L1 overexpression is tightly correlated with tumor size and overall TNM stage. Log-rank analysis showed that UCH-L1 positive is reversely associated with cumulative survival (P

Prospero-related homeobox protein (Prox1) plays essential roles in the development of many tissues and organs. In the present study, we show that Prox1 is modified by the small ubiquitin-like protein SUMO-1 in cultured cells. Mutation analysis identified at least four potential sumoylation sites within the repression domain of Prox1. Our data indicate that sumoylation of Prox1 reduces its interaction with HDAC3 and as a result downregulates its corepressor activity. These findings suggest that sumoylation may serve as a novel mechanism for the regulation of Prox1’s corepressor activity.Structured summaryMINT-6787569:PROX1 (uniprotkb:Q92786) physically interacts (MI:0218) with HDAC3 (uniprotkb:O15379) by anti tag coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0007)MINT-6787767:PROX1 (uniprotkb:Q92786) physically interacts (MI:0218) with SUMO-1 (uniprotkb:P63165) by anti tag coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0007)

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is a major proinflammatory effector and regulatory cytokine produced by activated T cells and NK cells. IFN-gamma has been shown to play pivotal roles in fundamental immunological processes such as inflammatory reactions, cell-mediated immunity and autoimmunity. A variety of human disorders have now been linked to irregular IFN-gamma expression. In order to achieve proper IFN-gamma-mediated immunological effects, IFN-gamma expression in T cells is subject to both positive and negative regulation. In this study, we report for the first time the negative regulation of IFN-gamma expression by Prospero-related Homeobox (Prox1). In Jurkat T cells and primary human CD4+ T cells, Prox1 expression decreases quickly upon T cell activation, concurrent with a dramatic increase in IFN-gamma expression. Reporter analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) revealed that Prox1 associates with and inhibits the transcription activity of IFN-,gammapromoter in activated Jurkat T cells. Co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assay demonstrated a direct binding between Prox1 and the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPPARgamma, which is also an IFN-gamma repressor in T cells. By introducing deletions and mutations into Prox1, we show that the repression of IFN-gamma promoter by Prox1 is largely dependent upon the physical interaction between Prox1 and PPPARgamma Furthermore, PPPARgammaantagonist treatment removes Prox1 from IFN-gamma promoter and attenuates repression of IFN-gamma expression by Prox1. These findings establish Prox1 as a new negative regulator of IFN-gamma expression in T cells and will aid in the understanding of IFN-gamma transcription regulation mechanisms.

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 3 (CDKN3) has been reported to promote tumor genesis. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible mechanisms of silence of CDKN3 exerting the suppressive role on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To study the potential function of CDKN3 enrolled in the regulation of ovarian tumor, we monitored the EOC cells SKOV3 and HO8910 behaviors including proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and invasion. First, we found that CDKN3 was frequently over-expressed in EOC. Functional studies showed that silence of CDKN3 inhibited cancer cell proliferation by promoting cell cycle progression in G1 phase, decreased cell invasion and promoted EOC cells apoptosis. Western blot analysis of CDKN3-silence cells revealed down-regulation of DNA-replication and cell cycle related proteins. And, a significant correlation level of CDKN3 was observed which has been demonstrated to be a novel oncogene. These findings indicated that CDKN3 might serve as a useful potential target for treatment of ovarian cancer.

Proteomics was used to identify a protein encoded by ORF 3a in a SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Immuno-blotting revealed that interchain disulfide bonds might be formed between this protein and the spike protein. ELISA indicated that sera from SARS patients have significant positive reactions with synthesized peptides derived from the 3a protein. These results are concordant with that of a spike protein-derived peptide. A tendency exists for co-mutation between the 3a protein and the spike protein of SARS-CoV isolates, suggesting that the function of the 3a protein correlates with the spike protein. Taken together, the 3a protein might be tightly correlated to the spike protein in the SARS-CoV functions. The 3a protein may serve as a new clinical marker or drug target for SARS treatment.

Background Ethnic differences in non-invasive measurements of carotid atherosclerosis are being increasingly reported, but the association between carotid atherosclerosis and different subtypes of hypertension in adult populations is not fully understood in different ethnicities. We aimed to investigate the association of carotid atherosclerosis with different subtypes of hypertension in different ethnicities in Xinjiang, a northwestern province in China. Methods A total of 14,618 participants (5,757 Hans, 4,767 Uygurs, and 4,094 Kazakhs) from 26 villages of seven cities in Xinjiang were randomly selected from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey conducted during 2007 and 2010. A standard questionnaire, a physical examination and biochemical tests were employed. Results The mean common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) for the 14,618 participants was 0.86±0.003 mm. The CIMT gradually increased with age. Men (0.92±0.005 mm) had a higher CIMT than women (0.81±0.004 mm). The Uygur participants (0.82±0.006 mm) had a lower CIMT than the Han (0.88±0.005 mm) and Kazakh participants (0.88±0.005 mm). The overall prevalences of carotid intimal thickening and carotid plaques were 12.4% and 9.7%, respectively. The prevalence of CIMT varied for the different subtypes of hypertension. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed different risk factors for abnormal CIMT in different ethnicities. The associations between abnormal CIMT and the different subtypes of hypertension within different ethnic backgrounds were also different. The risk factors for abnormal CIMT included systolic-diastolic hypertension (SDH) in Han participants (OR: 1.323, 95% CI: 1.100–1.590), SDH (OR: 1.426, 95% CI: 1.160–1.753) and isolated-systolic hypertension (ISH) (OR: 1.844, 95% CI: 1.470–2.313) in Uygur participants, and isolated-diastolic hypertension (IDH) (OR: 1.536, 95% CI: 1.170–2.016) in Kazakh participants. Conclusion There was an ethnic difference in the prevalence of abnormal CIMT in Xinjiang, a northwestern province in China. The associations between abnormal CIMT and the subtypes of hypertension varied among the different ethnic groups. Among the studied populations, Han participants with SDH, Uygur participants with SDH and ISH, and Kazakh with IDH were more likely to suffer carotid atherosclerosis than those with other subtypes of hypertension. Participants with different ethnic backgrounds had different sets of risk factors for abnormal CIMT.

To estimate the current prevalence and epidemiology of isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) among adult populations from different ethnic groups in Xinjiang province and to further establish a theoretical basis for developing personalized therapeutic strategies for hypertensive populations.To analyze the prevalence and risk factors of ISH in different ethnic groups in Xinjiang province, a cluster sampling method was adopted to conduct a cross-sectional study on people aged 35 years and older from the Han, Uygur and Kazakh populations in the Urumqi, Kelamayi, Hetian, Zhaosu, Fukang, Tulufan and Fuhai.A total of 14,618 adults were surveyed with a response rate of 88.80%. The overall prevalence of ISH was 11.95% (men: 10.84% vs women: 12.92%); the prevalence of ISH in women was significantly higher (χ(2) = 15.06, p = 0.00) than that in men. The prevalence varied significantly with age (χ(2) = 822.71, p = 0.00) and increased in the elderly (χ(2) = 769.59, p = 0.00). A logistic regression analysis revealed that age, obesity, diabetes and dyslipidemia are major risk factors for ISH; patients with hypertension combined with obesity or diabetes are at a high risk of ISH.The prevalence of ISH in Xinjiang is higher than average and exhibits a gender difference. There is a trend of increased prevalence with increasing age. Populations with obesity, diabetes or dyslipidemia, and patients who have hypertension combined with obesity and/or diabetes, should be aware of early preventive interventions.

Objectives Little is known about isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) among different ethnicity groups. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for IDH among the major ethnicity population i.e. Han, Uygur and Kazakh in Xinjiang, northwestern part of China. Methods In total, 14,618 adult participants (7,799 males, 6,819 females) were recruited from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey conducted during 2007 and 2010. Blood pressure, body mass index and standard lipid profile and fasting glucose level from plasma were measured. Results The overall prevalence of IDH was 10.8% in the Han, 4.5% in the Uygur and 8.7% in the Kazakh populations. When stratified by gender, IDH prevalence was 9.8% in men and 6.8% in women (P

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene transcription is controlled by viral promoters and enhancers, the activities of which are regulated by a number of cellular factors as well as virally encoded proteins. Negative regulation of HBV cis-element activities by cellular factors has been reported less widely than their activation. In this study, we report that nuclear factor Prospero-related homeobox protein (Prox1) represses HBV antigen expression and genome replication in cultured hepatocytes. By using reporter-gene analysis, three of the four HBV promoters, namely the enhancer II/core promoter (ENII/Cp), preS1 promoter (Sp1) and enhancer I/X promoter, were identified as targets for Prox1-mediated repression. Mechanistic analysis then revealed that, for ENII/Cp, Prox1 serves as a corepressor of liver receptor homologue 1 (LRH-1) and downregulates LRH-1-mediated activation of ENII/Cp, whereas for Sp1, Prox1 partially represses Sp1 activity by interacting directly with hepatocyte nuclear factor 1. Identification of Prox1 as an HBV repressor will help in the understanding of detailed interactions between viral cis elements and host cellular factors and may also form the basis for new anti-HBV intervention therapeutics.

D-chiro-inositol (DCI) is an active compound in tartary buckwheat [Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaench] with an insulin-like bioactivity. The present study was performed to (i) prepare DCI-enriched tartary buckwheat bran extract (TBBE), (ii) evaluate its acute toxicity in mice, and (iii) examine its blood glucose lowering activity in diabetic mice. It was found that steaming buckwheat bran in an autoclave at 1.6 MPa and 120 degrees C for 60 min could significantly enrich the DCI level in TBBE from 0.03 to 0.22% and further to 22% after passage of the TBBE through activated carbon and ion exchange resins. An acute toxicity test demonstrated that the LD 50 of TBBE was >20 g/kg of body weight in mice, suggesting that TBBE was in general nontoxic and safe in mice. Male KK-A(y) mice (type 2 diabetic) and C57BL/6 mice (the control) were used to investigate the antidiabetic activity of TBBE. In KK-A(y) mice, the blood glucose, plasma C-peptide, glucagon, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were significantly higher than those in the C57BL/6 mice. In addition, KK-A(y) mice showed an obvious decrease in insulin immunoreactivity in the pancreas. The present study clearly demonstrated that oral administration of DCI-enriched TBBE could lower plasma glucose, C-peptide, glucagon, triglyceride, and BUN, improve glucose tolerance, and enhance insulin immunoreactivity in KK-A(y) mice.

Background The prevalence and risk factors of congenital heart disease among Xinjiang, northwestern part of China is currently unknown. Methods This multiple-ethnic, community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and distribution of congenital heart disease (CHD) in Xinjiang, northwestern part of China. Four major ethnics, Uygur, Han, Kazak, and Hui children in this region were investigated during February 2010 and May 2012. Results A total of 14,530 children (0–18 yr) were examined. Of these children, 240 (boys, 43.8%, and girls, 56.3%) were identified with CHD, giving an overall prevalence of 16.5‰ (17.7‰ in Uygur, 6.9‰ in Han, 11.4‰ in Kazak, and 38.1‰ in Hui Chinese, respectively). Ventricular septal defect (VSD, 29.2%), atrial septal defect (ASD, 20.8%), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA, 13.7%), acleistocardia (13.7%), Bicuspid aortic valve (7.9%), pulmonary valve stenosis (5.4%), and tetralogy of fallot (TOF, 4.2%) were common cyanotic and cyanotic defects observed. Compared to non-CHD children, children with CHD had a higher percentage of history of abortion, CHD history of family, consanguinity and premature birth (all P

The liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1) belongs to the Fushi tarazu factor 1 nuclear receptor subfamily, and its biological functions are just being unveiled. The molecular mechanism for the transcriptional regulation by LRH-1 is not clear yet. In this report, we use mutagenesis and reporter gene assays to carry out a detailed analysis on the hinge region and the proximal ligand binding domain (LBD) of human (h) LRH-1 that possess important regulatory functions. Our results indicate that helix 1 of the LBD is essential for the activity of hLRH-1 and that the steroid receptor coactivator (SRC)-1 interacts directly with the LBD of hLRH-1 and significantly potentiates the transcriptional activity of hLRH-1. Cotransfection assays demonstrate that overexpressed SRC-1 potentiates hLRH-1 mediated activation of the cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase promoter and increases the transcription of the endogenous cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase in Huh7 cells. The interaction between SRC-1 and hLRH-1 assumes a unique pattern that involves primarily a region containing the glutamine-rich domain of SRC-1, and helix 1 and activation function-2 of hLRH-1 LBD. Mutagenesis and molecular modeling studies indicate that, similar to mouse LRH-1, the coactivator-binding cleft of hLRH-1 LBD is not optimized. An interaction between helix 1 of hLRH-1 LBD and a region containing the glutamine-rich domain of SRC-1 can provide an additional stabilizing force and enhances the recruitment of SRC-1. Similar interaction is observed between hLRH-1 and SRC-2/transcriptional intermediary factor 2 or SRC-3/acetyltransferase. Moreover, transcriptional intermediary factor 2 and acetyltransferase also potentiate the transcriptional activity of hLRH-1, suggesting a functional redundancy among SRC family members. These findings collectively demonstrate an important functional role of helix 1 in cofactor recruitment and reveal a novel molecular mechanism of transcriptional regulation and cofactor recruitment mediated by hLRH-1.

Human hepatitis B virus enhancer II B1 binding factor (hB1F also known as NR5A2, LRH-1, FTF or CPF) is an orphan nuclear receptor and belongs to the fushi tarazu factor I (FTZ-F1) subfamily. It plays important roles in the transcriptional regulation of a number of genes involved in bile acid biosynthesis pathway, hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and liver specific regulatory network. Like other nuclear receptors, hB1F is composed of modular functional domains. We characterized a domain in its hinge region that imposes a strong repression on the transcriptional activity of hB1F, which is important for the function of hB1F on regulating the activity of HBV enhancer II/core promoter. Mutations of the core residues in this domain abrogate the repression. Bioinformatic analysis reveals that the amino acid sequence of this region is highly conserved only among members of the FTZ-F1 subfamily. The repression is observed in five cell lines tested, while the degree of the repression varies greatly, which does not parallel with the expression level of the DEAD box protein of 130 kD (DP103), a potential interacting protein of a homologous domain in the steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1). Moreover, the repression is not affected by the silencing mediator for retinoic acid receptor and thyroid hormone receptor (SMRT) and steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC-1). Collectively, these data suggest a novel regulatory mechanism for the transcriptional activity of hB1F.