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Sepsis is the most common cause of in-hospital deaths, especially from low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aimed to investigate the mortality rate and associated factors from sepsis in intensive care units (ICUs) in an LMIC. We did a multicenter cross-sectional study of septic patients presenting to 15 adult ICUs throughout Vietnam on the 4 days representing the different seasons of 2019. Of 252 patients, 40.1% died in hospital and 33.3% died in ICU. ICUs with accredited training programs (odds ratio, OR: 0.309; 95% confidence interval, CI 0.122–0.783) and completion of the 3-h sepsis bundle (OR: 0.294; 95% CI 0.083–1.048) were associated with decreased hospital mortality. ICUs with intensivist-to-patient ratio of 1:6 to 8 (OR: 4.533; 95% CI 1.621–12.677), mechanical ventilation (OR: 3.890; 95% CI 1.445–10.474) and renal replacement therapy (OR: 2.816; 95% CI 1.318–6.016) were associated with increased ICU mortality, in contrast to non-surgical source control (OR: 0.292; 95% CI 0.126–0.678) which was associated with decreased ICU mortality. Improvements are needed in the management of sepsis in Vietnam such as increasing resources in critical care settings, making accredited training programs more available, improving compliance with sepsis bundles of care, and treating underlying illness and shock optimally in septic patients.

The study is aimed to develop a relevant synbiotic to promote growth performance of the whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. For this, four common natural fiber extracts from Arcera banana, Siamese banana, yellow sweet potato, and white sweet potato were screened for supporting the growth of Lactobacillus sp. which was isolated from whiteleg shrimp intestines with probiotic activity, prebiotic score, and ability to induce bacterial enzyme activities of protease, leu-aminopeptidase, and a-amylase. Results showed that Lactobacillus sp. was able to utilize all extracts from banana and sweet potato as the sole carbon sources. At 24 hours of culture, the growth of Lactobacillus sp. was highest after adding the extract from white sweet potato as the sole carbon source. Considering pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, white sweet potato extract had the highest prebiotic score with a mean of 0.25 as compared with those of V. harveyi with a mean of 0.16. White sweet potato extract induced the highest activities of protease. These results indicated that white sweet potato extract was more suitable for combining with Lactobacillus sp. as a synbiotic for shrimp culture.

In this paper, we propose two effective manners of utilizing skeleton data for human action recognition (HAR). The proposed method on one hand takes advantage of the skeleton data thanks to their robustness to human appearance change as well as the real-time performance. On the other hand, it avoids inherent drawbacks of the skeleton data such as noises, incorrect human skeleton estimation due to self-occlusion of human pose. To this end, in terms of feature designing, we propose to extract covariance descriptors from joint velocity and combine them with those of joint position. In terms of 3-D skeleton-based activity representation, we propose two schemes to select the most informative joints. The proposed method is evaluated on two benchmark datasets. On the MSRAction-3D dataset, the proposed method outperformed different hand-designed features-based methods. On the challenging dataset CMDFall, the proposed method significantly improves accuracy when compared with techniques based on recent neuronal networks. Finally, we investigate the robustness of the proposed method via a cross-dataset evaluation.

Ethyl cellulose (EC) is widely used in the pharmaceutical field as a polymeric excipient to fabricate sustained-release drug delivery systems. To develop a controlled release carrier exploiting the unique characteristic acidic environment of the target tumor site, this study examined the use of EC and lecithin (LC) as a nanoparticulated system. Paclitaxel and dihydroartemisinin were used as model drug combinations. The optimized formulated nanoparticles (NPs) of EC (EC NPs) and EC/LC (EC/LC NPs) were spherical and approximately 130 nm in diameter as determined by dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy analyses. The in vitro drug release from EC/LC NPs exhibited a pH-dependent pattern. In in vitro cell studies, the NPs were taken up by cells, and cell growth was inhibited by drugs released from the formulations. Most importantly, the in vivo anti-tumor study in mice showed a significant reduction in tumor volume after the intravenous administration of EC/LC NPs, suggesting the potential of using EC and LC as controlled and pH-sensitive drug delivery carriers.

This study investigated the efficacy of four Brucella (B.) abortus recombinant proteins, namely adenylate kinase (Adk), nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk), 50S ribosomal protein (L7/L12) and preprotein translocase subunit (SecB), as a combined subunit vaccine (CSV) against B. abortus infection in BALB/c mice. Immunoblotting assay showed that these four recombinant proteins as well as pcold-TF vector reacted individually with Brucella-positive serum, but not with Brucella-negative serum. The peripheral blood CD4+ T cell population was increased in CSV-immunized mice compared to PBS and pcold-TF vector groups. In addition, CSV and pcold-TF groups displayed induced IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies production compared to PBS and RB51 group, whereas IgG2a titer was higher than IgG1 titer in CSV group. The secretion profiles of IgG1 and IgG2a production together with an enhancement of CD4+ T cell population suggested that CSV did not only induce T helper 1 (Th1) T cell immunity but also humoral immunity. Therein, Th1 T cell immunity is more predominant in eliminating intracellular bacteria B. abortus. Furthermore, CSV immunization significantly reduced the bacterial burden in the spleen as well as the spleen weight in comparison to PBS and pcold-TF groups. Altogether, combination of these antigens could be potential to induce protective immunity against B. abortus infection in animals.

Background: Newborns commonly experience pain due to a variety of reasons. Non-nutritive sucking (NNS) is thought to be an effective non-pharmacological method of pain-relief. However, the significant heterogeneity in some systematic reviews limited the certainty of the findings about NNS. Hence, this study was aimed at evaluating the analgesic effect and safety of NNS in healthy term neonates during the heel prick test, using the Neonatal Pain Agitation and Sedation Scale (N-PASS). Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 42 term infants were included: 22 infants in the intervention group (receiving NNS) and 20 infants in the control group (not receiving NNS). In the intervention group, neonates were given a silicone pacifier 120 s before, during, and 120 s after the heel puncture, while neonates in the control group received routine care. Pain-related outcomes were assessed using the N-PASS at 30s, 60s, 90s, and 120s after the heel prick. Any adverse events during the procedure were noted. The Spearman correlation coefficients between the pain scores on the N-PASS and two other scales (NFCS and NIPS) were calculated at all four moments of evaluation. Results: The mean N-PASS pain scores at 30s, 60s, 90s, and 120s after heel prick were significantly lower in the NNS group than in the control group: 4.73 ± 2.78 vs. 7.90 ± 1.52 (p = 0.0002); 3.64 ± 3.06 vs. 5.55 ± 2.95 (p = 0.052); 2.59 ± 3.08 vs. 5.25 ± 3.51 (p = 0.011); and 2.05 ± 2.94 vs. 4.90 ± 3.99 (p = 0.013), respectively. No adverse events were detected in either group. Our findings revealed a strong positive correlation between the pain scores on the N-PASS and two other scales (NFCS and NIPS), which was statistically significant (p

Hand gestures have been shown to be an efficient way for human-machine interaction. Existing approaches usually utilize ambient or head/chest-mounted cameras to capture hand images. This paper presents a new way to capture hand gestures using the wrist-worn camera. The wrist-worn device is designed as a watch with an integrated camera that is much easier and comfortable to wear in daily life context. We then collect a dataset of ten hand postures using the designed prototype by ten subjects. In addition, we deploy state-of-the-art lite CNN models (YOLO family, Single Shot Detector-SSD) as posture detectors and classifiers. Experimental results show that with limited camera angles, the postures are highly distinctive and easily discriminated with the highest performance of 98.85% and 97.40% in terms of precision and recall, which motivates a wide range of applications and new research directions for human-machine interaction, wearables, the Internet of Things (IoT) and so on.

Understanding hand action from the first-person video has emerged recently thanks to its wide potential applications such as hand rehabilitation, augmented reality. The majority of works mainly reply on RGB images. Compared with RGB images, hand joints have certain advantages as they are robust to illuminations and appearance variation. However, previous works for hand action recognition usually employed hand joints that are manually determined. This paper presents a unified framework for both hand pose estimation and hand action recognition from first-person RGB images. First, our framework estimates 3D hand joints from every RGB image using a combination of Resnet and a Graphical convolutional network. Then, an adaptation of a SOTA method PA-ResGCN for the human skeleton is proposed for hand action recognition from estimated hand joints. Our framework takes advantage of efficient graphical networks to model graph-like human hand structure in both phases: hand pose estimation and hand action recognition. We evaluate the proposed framework on the First Person Hand Action Benchmark (FPHAB). The experiments show that the proposed framework outperforms different SOTA methods on both hand pose estimation and hand action recognition tasks.

Despite sharing interleukin‐4 receptor α (IL‐4Rα) in their signaling cascades, IL‐4 and IL‐13 have different functions in atopic inflammation. IL‐13 preferentially participates in the peripheral tissues because tissue‐resident group 2 innate lymphoid cells produce IL‐13 but not IL‐4. In contrast, lymph node T follicular helper cells express IL‐4 but not IL‐13 to regulate B‐cell immunity. The dominant microenvironment of IL‐13 is evident in the lesional skin of atopic dermatitis (AD). The IL‐13‐rich local milieu causes barrier dysfunction by down‐regulating the OVOL1–filaggrin (FLG) axis and up‐regulating the periostin–IL‐24 axis. Genome‐wide association studies also point to the crucial involvement of the IL‐13, OVOL1 and FLG genes in the pathogenesis of AD. Biologics targeting IL‐13, such as the anti‐IL‐4Rα antibody dupilumab and the anti‐IL‐13 antibody tralokinumab, successfully improve AD lesions and further highlight the importance of IL‐13 in the pathogenesis of AD.

To summarize recent topics on type 2 signatures in atopic dermatitis (AD). Therapeutic success of anti-IL-4 receptor antibody dupilumab does suggest that type 2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 have pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of AD. Lesional skin of AD expresses increased levels of IL-4 and IL-13. In parallel, type 2 chemokines such as CCL17, CCL22, and CCL26 are overexpressed in AD, and these chemokines recruit type 2 T cells and eosinophils. IL-4 and IL-13 downregulate the expression of filaggrin and exacerbate epidermal barrier dysfunction. Keratinocytes in barrier-disrupted epidermis produce thymic stromal lymphopoietin, IL-25 and IL-33, which enhance the type 2 immune response. IL-31, released from type 2 T cells, is an essential pruritogenic cytokine. IL-4 and IL-13 amplify the IL-31-mediated neuronal signal. Type 2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 are profoundly associated with three cardinal features of AD: barrier dysfunction, skin inflammation, and chronic pruritus. These findings explain the high efficacy of dupilumab in the treatment of AD.

Chlorins (dihydroporphyrins) are considered, due to their ideal photophysical properties, as attractive photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer and other therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Chlorophyll [Formula: see text], as a naturally occurring chlorin, forms an almost unlimited renewable resource for preparation of potential biologically active chlorin photosensitizers and fluorescence markers. To achieve amphiphilic photosensitizers which might be selectively enriched in tumor cells, we addressed linkage of per se lipophilic chlorophyll derivatives with carbohydrate based hydrophilic aminopolyols.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by skin barrier disruption, type 2 immune dysregulation, chronic pruritus, and abnormal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Tapinarof, an aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulator, has been demonstrated to attenuate the development of AD in clinical studies. Recently, we found that tapinarof upregulated the expression of filaggrin and loricrin, which are essential proteins in skin barrier functions. Paradoxically, tapinarof induced interleukin (IL)-24 secretion by normal human keratinocytes. IL-24 is produced by T helper 2 lymphocytes and keratinocytes following stimulation by type 2 cytokines, and IL-24 is upregulated in the skin of patients with AD. Furthermore, IL-24 contributes to skin barrier disruption and hyperplasia in AD, and it may exacerbate skin inflammatory responses, itch, and S. aureus infection. In this review, we summarized the current findings regarding the detrimental role of IL-24 in AD, thereby suggesting that co-treatment of tapinarof with therapeutics that block IL-24 signaling may represent a promising strategy for managing AD.

Protective efficiency of a combination of four recombinant Brucella abortus (B. abortus) proteins, namely outer membrane protein (Omp) 16, Omp19, Omp28, and 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12 was evaluated as a combined subunit vaccine (CSV) against B. abortus infection in RAW 264.7 cell line and murine model. The immunoreactivity of these four recombinant proteins as well as pCold-TF vector reacted with Brucella-positive serum individually, but not with Brucella-negative serum by immunoblotting assay. CSV-treated RAW 264.7 cells significantly induced production of IFN-γ and IL-12 while decreased IL-10 production at the late stage of infection compared to PBS-treated control cells. In addition, the enhancement of nitric oxide production together with cytokines secretion profile in CSV-treated cells proved that CSV notably activated bactericidal mechanisms in macrophages. Consistently, mice immunized with CSV strongly elicited production of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1 compared to PBS control group. Moreover, the concentration of IFN-γ was >IL-10 and titers of IgG2a were also heightened compared to IgG1 in CSV-immunized mice which suggest that CSV induced predominantly T helper 1 T cell. These results suggest that the CSV used in the present study is a potential candidate as a preventive therapy against brucellosis.

Background We previously elucidated the protective mechanism of Korean red ginseng oil (RGO) against Brucella abortus infection, and our phytochemical analysis revealed that palmitic acid (PA) was an abundant component of RGO. Consequently, we investigated the contribution of PA against B. abortus. Objectives We aimed to investigate the efficacy of PA against B. abortus infection using a murine cell line and a murine model. Methods Cell viability, bactericidal, internalization, and intracellular replication, western blot, nitric oxide (NO), and superoxide (O₂⁻) analyses and flow cytometry were performed to determine the effects of PA on the progression of B. abortus infection in macrophages. Flow cytometry for cytokine analysis of serum samples and bacterial counts from the spleens were performed to determine the effect of PA in a mouse model. Results PA did not affect the growth of B. abortus. PA treatment in macrophages did not change B. abortus uptake but it did attenuate the intracellular survivability of B. abortus. Incubation of cells with PA resulted in a modest increase in sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression. Compared to control cells, reduced nitrite accumulation, augmented O₂⁻, and enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine production were observed in PA-treated B. abortus-infected cells. Mice orally treated with PA displayed a decreased serum interleukin-10 level and enhanced bacterial resistance. Conclusions Our results suggest that PA participates in the control of B. abortus within murine macrophages, and the in vivo study results confirm its efficacy against the infection. However, further investigations are encouraged to completely characterize the mechanisms involved in the inhibition of B. abortus infection by fatty acids.

Here, we explore the potential role of formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) during Brucella abortus infection. FPR2 manipulation affected B. abortus internalization but not its growth within macrophages. During the activation of FPR2 induced by its agonist AGP-8694, a high level of Brucella uptake was accompanied by an increase in ERK phosphorylation, while intracellular survival at 24 h postincubation was observed to be associated with slightly reduced nitrite accumulation but augmented superoxide anion production. Attenuated secretion of IL-6 and IL-10 were observed 48 h postincubation in the bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) treated with the FPR2 antagonist WRW4. An opposite pattern of bacterial uptake was observed upon treatment with the FPR2 antagonist, but no significant changes in the activation of MAPKs or the production of nitrite or superoxide anion were observed. Interestingly, AGP-8694 treatment of mice did not lead to differences in spleen or liver weight but slightly enhanced bacterial proliferation was observed in the spleen. Although the weights of the spleen or liver did not differ, WRW4 treatment led to reduced bacterial proliferation in the spleen. Furthermore, FPR2 antagonist treatment was associated with high serum levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-12, TNF-α, IFN-γ and MCP-1, while the production of TNF-α was inhibited in AGP-8694-treated mice. IL-6 and IL-10 levels were slightly increased in AGP-8694-treated mice at 24 h postinfection. Our findings demonstrated the contribution of FPR2 via manipulating this receptor using its reported agonist AGP-8694 and antagonist WRW4 in both in vitro and in vivo systems. Although activation of the receptor did not consistently induced Brucella infection, FPR2 inhibition may be a promising strategy to treat brucellosis in animals which encourages further investigation.

MNT is a member of the MYC transcription factor network of proteins(1) that must heterodimerize with MYC-associated factor X, or MAX for short, to bind certain DNA recognition motifs in gene promoters that regulate gene expression. Because many target genes that are activated by MYC:MAX dimers are repressed by MNT:MAX dimers, MNT is considered a transcriptional antagonist of MYC.(2) However, the interaction of MNT and MYC goes further, beyond transcriptional antagonism, and governs a multitude of developmental pathways and cell fate decisions that include MNT’s ability to fortify or weaken MYC’s oncogenic potential depending on cell type and biological context.(2) Previous work by Cory’s group pointed to a synergistic interaction of MYC and MNT in neoplastic B-cell development,(3) but the underlying mechanism remained unclear. In this issue of Blood, Nguyen et al(4) have now addressed this knowledge gap with a follow-up study that identified MNT as a promising molecular target for the treatment and prevention of MYC-dependent B-cell neoplasms such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma. This is significant because at this juncture aberrant MYC expression stubbornly resists any attempt at therapeutic targeting.

Aneurism is a stretch, convexity and sacs in artery which is caused by abnormally congenital connective tissue, infection, arterial inflammation or artery wall trauma. True brachial artery aneurysm is relatively rare. There are only some cases that have been reported previously in medical literature. Brachial artery aneurysm might be asymptomatic or revealed by a brachial mass with beating pulse or peripheral ischemia. The diagnosis usually relies on ultrasound and arterial scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main treatment is the surgery which allows cutting the aneurysm and grafted with a part of great saphenous vein by two end-to-end anastomoses. We present a case report of true aneurysm of brachial artery in a 40 years old woman who was treated in Thai Binh Medical University Hospital.

In this study, we investigated the effects of gallic acid (GA) in intracellular signaling within murine macrophages and its contribution to host immunity during Brucella infection. In vitro analysis revealed that GA treatment decreased F-actin content and suppressed p38α phosphorylation level. In vivo analysis showed that GA treatment reduced inflammation and proliferation of Brucella in spleens of mice in comparison to PBS treatment yielding a significant protection unit. For the analysis of immune response, the uninfected GA-treated mice showed increased production of IFN-γ and MCP-1, and the Brucella-infected GA-treated mice showed elevated levels of IL-12p70, TNF, IFN-γ, MCP-1, IL-10 and IL-6 in comparison to negative and positive control groups, respectively. These findings demonstrate the therapeutic effects of GA against Brucella infection through interference on intracellular signaling pathway, induction of cytokine production and protection from bacterial proliferation in spleens of mice.

Severe pruritus is a characteristic feature of atopic dermatitis (AD) and is closely related to its activity. Recent studies have shown that IL-31 is a key determinant of pruritus in AD. Anti-IL-31 receptor alpha (IL-31RA) antibody treatment has also been reported to improve pruritus clinically, subsequently contributing to the attenuation of AD disease activity. Therefore, IL-31 has been thought to be an important cytokine for regulating pruritus and AD disease activity, however, how IL-31 is involved in the immune response in AD has remained largely unknown. Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) and dermal dendritic cells (DCs) derived from bone marrow cells have been reported to play a critical role in AD pathogenesis. LCs and DCs produce Ccl 17 and Ccl 22, which chemoattract Th2 cells, leading to AD development. Therefore, we aimed to clarify how IL-31/IL-31RA interaction affects Ccl 17 and Ccl 22 production. To test this, we analyzed murine bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) stimulated with IL-4, an important cytokine in AD development. We found that IL-31RA expression was upregulated by IL-4 stimulation in a dose-dependent manner in BMDCs. Furthermore, IL-31 upregulates Ccl 17 and Ccl 22 production in the presence of IL-4, whereas IL-31 stimulation alone did not produce Ccl 17 and Ccl 22. These findings suggest that IL-4 mediates IL-31RA expression and IL-31/IL-31RA interaction augments Ccl 17 and Ccl 22 production in BMDCs, which promotes Th2-deviated immune response in AD. Since we previously reported that soybean tar Glyteer, an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligand, impairs IL-4/Stat 6 signaling in BMDCs, we examined whether Glyteer affects IL-31RA expression induced by IL-4 stimulation. Glyteer inhibited upregulation of IL-31RA expression induced by IL-4 stimulation in a dose-dependent manner. Glyteer also inhibited Ccl 17 and Ccl 22 production induced by IL-4 and IL-31 stimulation. Taken together, these findings suggest that Glyteer treatment may improve AD disease activity by impairing IL-31/IL-31RA interaction in DCs.

Population-based studies on Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization are scarce. We examined the prevalence, resistance, and molecular diversity of S. aureus in the general population in Northeast Germany. Nasal swabs were obtained from 3,891 adults in the large-scale population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND). Isolates were characterized using spa genotyping, as well as antibiotic resistance and virulence gene profiling. We observed an S. aureus prevalence of 27.2%. Nasal S. aureus carriage was associated with male sex and inversely correlated with age. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) accounted for 0.95% of the colonizing S. aureus strains. MRSA carriage was associated with frequent visits to hospitals, nursing homes, or retirement homes within the previous 24 months. All MRSA strains were resistant to multiple antibiotics. Most MRSA isolates belonged to the pandemic European hospital-acquired MRSA sequence type 22 (HA-MRSA-ST22) lineage. We also detected one livestock-associated MRSA ST398 (LA-MRSA-ST398) isolate, as well as six livestock-associated methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (LA-MSSA) isolates (clonal complex 1 [CC1], CC97, and CC398). spa typing revealed a diverse but also highly clonal S. aureus population structure. We identified a total of 357 spa types, which were grouped into 30 CCs or sequence types. The major seven CCs (CC30, CC45, CC15, CC8, CC7, CC22, and CC25) included 75% of all isolates. Virulence gene patterns were strongly linked to the clonal background. In conclusion, MSSA and MRSA prevalences and the molecular diversity of S. aureus in Northeast Germany are consistent with those of other European countries. The detection of HA-MRSA and LA-MRSA within the general population indicates possible transmission from hospitals and livestock, respectively, and should be closely monitored.

Brucella as a stealthy intracellular pathogen avoids activation of innate immune response. Here we investigated the contribution of an adenosine receptor, Adora2b, during Brucella infection in professional phagocyte RAW 264.7 cells and in a murine model. Adora2b-deficient cells showed attenuated Brucella internalization and intracellular survival with enhanced release of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12 and MCP-1. In addition, blockade of Adora2b using MRS 1754 treatment in mice resulted in increased total weight of the spleens but suppressed bacterial burden in these organs accompanied by elevated levels of IL-6, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-12 and MCP-1, while reduced IL-10. Overall, we proposed that the Adora2b participates in the successful phagocytic pathway and intracellular survival of Brucella in RAW 264.7 cells, and could be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of acute brucellosis in animals.

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Introduction: Periapical lesions could be granulomas or periapical cysts. All periapical lesions should be initially treated with endodontic therapy as an accurate diagnosis cannot be made through clinical assessment alone. Calcium hydroxide, introduced by Hermann in 1920, has been considered to be a very effective intracanal dressing, especially in necrotic teeth with periapical lesions. This study aims to evaluate clinical outcomes of Calcium hydroxide in treatment of periapical lesions in permanent incisors. Methodology: Descriptive study, interventional study. A total of 21 patients with 30 teeth in Department of Endodontics – Periodontics at Hue Odonto - Stomatology Hospital were included in this study. Results: - In total, after 3 months: healed 16.7%; healing 16.7%; not healed 66.6%. After 6 months: healed 43.3%; healing 30%; not healed 26.7%. Group 1: after 3 months: healed 19.2%; healing 15.4%; not healed 65.4%. After 6 months: healed 46.2%; healing 34.6%; not healed 19.2%. Group 2: after 3 months: healed 0%; healing 25%; not healed 75%. After 6 months: healed 25%; healing 0%; not healed 75%. Conclusions: The use of Calcium hydroxide as an intracanal treatment appeared to facilitate healing in periapical lesions associated with chronic apical periodontitis. This is a cheap and simple therapy associated with a high rate of success. Keywords: Periapical lesions, permanent incisors, Calcium hydroxide

This study develops a new lobe pump rotor profile that significantly improves pump performance. Rotor profiles including two traditional designs and two new designs consist of three segments that are generated by circular or/and epicycloidal curves. This study evaluates the performance of four profiles via volume calculation and flow field analysis, considering to the number of lobes. Results demonstrate that the shapes of rotor surfaces affect pump performance remarkably. An epicycloidal profile provides a much advantage than a circular profile. The new rotor profile with three segments was generated by the curves in order of epicycloidal-circular-epicycloidal (ECE profile) obtained performance of 55% higher than the traditional profiles and the order of circular-epicycloid-circular (CEC profile). The analysis in this study also proves that a multi-lobe design of three or four lobes does not increase pump performance, but provides a more stable output and higher capacity than a two-lobe pump.

Dengue fever is a major health problem in Vietnam, but its incidence differs from province to province. To understand this at the local level, we assessed the effect of four weather components(humidity, rainfall, temperature and sunshine) on the number of dengue cases in nine provinces of Vietnam. Monthly data from 1999 to 2009 were analysed by time-series regression using negative binomial models. A test for heterogeneity was applied to assess the weather-dengue association in the provinces. Those associations were significantly heteroge neous(for temperature, humidity, and sunshine: P, Tropical Medicine and Health, 42(1), pp.25-33; 2014

We investigated the involvement of chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) signaling on the outcome of Brucella (B.) abortus 544 infection in murine macrophages and in a mouse model. CXCR4 manipulation were first evaluated for Brucella invasion and intracellular survival efficiency, mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2, JNK, p38α) activation and generation of nitric oxide (NO), and then in the splenic bacterial proliferation and cytokine production in BALB/c mice. CXCR4 blockade is involved in the successful control of Brucella invasion, reduction of ERK1/2 phosphorylation and inhibition of nitric oxide release from macrophages. Furthermore, using a reported CXCR4-specific antagonist AMD3100 resulted in splenomegaly but attenuated Brucella proliferation in these organs with elevated serum levels of MCP-1, TNF and IL-12. These findings provide insights on the contribution of CXCR4 signaling in the phagocytic pathway and immune modulation during B. abortus infection.

Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent commensal but also a dangerous pathogen, causing many forms of infection ranging from mild to life-threatening conditions. Among its virulence factors are lipoproteins, which are anchored in the bacterial cell membrane. Lipoproteins perform various functions in colonization, immune evasion, and immunomodulation. These proteins are potent activators of innate immune receptors termed Toll-like receptors 2 and 6. This study addressed the specific B-cell and T-cell responses directed to lipoproteins in human S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. 2D immune proteomics and ELISA approaches revealed that titers of antibodies (IgG) binding to S. aureus lipoproteins were very low. Proliferation assays and cytokine profiling data showed only subtle responses of T cells; some lipoproteins did not elicit proliferation. Hence, the robust activation of the innate immune system by S. aureus lipoproteins does not translate into a strong adaptive immune response. Reasons for this may include inaccessibility of lipoproteins for B cells as well as ineffective processing and presentation of the antigens to T cells.

Dynamic rheology, UV/VIS spectrometry with temperature programming cuvette and reaction calorimetry were conducted on cellulose pulp/FeTNa (NaOH solution containing ferric tartaric acid complex) solutions to investigate their thermostability and spinnability. Color of cellulose/FeTNa solutions changed above 90 °C due to the decomposition of the complex. Thermal activity of cellulose/FeTNa solution started above 130 °C induced by water vapor evolution and complex decomposition. Regeneration of cellulose/FeTNa solutions in a non-solvent (acetic acid and Na-gluconate mixture) resulted in transition from cellulose I into cellulose II structure as revealed by WAXS measurements. Wet-spinning attempts of cellulose/FeTNa solutions yielded fiber-like shaped bodies with a brittle structure.

Morphological changes of modal fibers swollen in FeTNa (Fe–tartaric acid–NaOH complex solution) were investigated by means of microscopy. FeTNa solutions had a constant molar ratio of 1:3.28 for Fe:tartaric acid. In FeTNa solutions, Fe and free NaOH concentration were in the range of 0.15–0.55 and 0.4–5 M, respectively. Fiber diameter measurements following 2 min of swelling and swelling rate of modal fiber up to 60 min were studied. Depending on Fe and free NaOH concentrations in FeTNa solutions and fiber swelling time; limited swelling, swelling, disintegration, dramatic swelling and dissolution of modal fibers were observed. Lyocell fibers showed the same morphological changes but mainly in different FeTNa solutions. In addition, uneven swelling was observed for lyocell fibers in selected FeTNa solutions. Morphological changes of viscose fibers were different than that of lyocell and modal fibers, which was attributed to its inhomogeneous (skin-core) fiber structure compared to homogeneous fiber structure of lyocell and modal fibers.

Swelling properties of lyocell fibers in FeTNa (ferric tartaric acid complex) solutions were studied. Concentrations of Fe and free NaOH in FeTNa were varied, while the ratio between FeCl3.6H2O: tartaric acid was kept constant as 1:3.28. The concentration of Fe ion varied from 0.15 to 0.55 M. The free NaOH concentration in FeTNa solutions was chosen as 0.4; 0.8; 1.25; 2.5 and 5 M. Fiber diameter measurements following 2 min of swelling and swelling rate of lyocell fiber up to 60 min were studied. Depending on concentration of Fe and free NaOH in FeTNa solutions and fiber swelling time; swelling, dissolution, disintegration or dramatic swelling were observed. 0.4 and 5 M free NaOH containing FeTNa solutions could only swell the fiber but could not dissolve it. 2.5 M free NaOH containing FeTNa solutions dissolved the fiber in a few minutes. FeTNa solutions containing free NaOH concentration from 0.8 to 1.25 M resulted in either dissolution or limited swelling depending on Fe concentration.

Recognizing intestinal contractions from wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) image sequences provides a non-invasive method of measurement, and suggests a solution to the problems of traditional techniques for assessing intestinal motility. Based on the characteristics of contractile patterns and information on their frequencies, the contractions can be investigated using essential image features extracted from WCE videos. In this study, we proposed a coherent three-stage procedure using temporal and spatial features. The possible contractions are recognized by changes in the edge structure of the intestinal folds in Stage 1 and evaluating similarity features in consecutive frames in Stage 2. In order to take account of the properties of contraction frequency, we consider that the possible contractions are located within windows including consecutive frames. The size of these contraction windows is adjusted according to the passage of the WCE. These procedures aim to exclude as many non-contractions as possible. True contractions are determined through spatial analysis of directional information in Stage 3. Using the proposed method, 81% of true contractions are detected with a 37% false alarm rate for evaluations in the experiments. The overall performance of this method is better than that of previous methods, in terms of both the quality and quantity indices. The results suggest feasible data for further clinical applications.

Background Acylation stimulating protein (ASP) is a potent stimulator of TG synthesis in human adipocytes. Design In the present study, we have analysed plasma ASP and adipsin levels and their relationships to plasma lipids in non-obese and obese groups. Results The results show that the frequency distribution of ASP is skewed but that of adipsin is normal in both groups. In the non-obese population, the mean levels of plasma ASP and adipsin were 20.2 nmol L−1 (median) and 66.6 ± 19 nmol L−1 (mean) respectively. No difference was observed between men and women for each of the parameters. In the obese population, the median plasma ASP was increased by 246% (69.9 nmol L−1) and adipsin by 31% (87.0 ± 22.7 nmol L−1) above that of the control group. Although the levels for men and women were not statistically different for adipsin, the median ASP plasma concentration was 1.9-fold higher in obese women than in obese men (71.8 nmol L−1 vs. 37.6 nmol L−1, P

This paper proposes a method to track abnormalities in successive frames in a capsule endoscopic image sequence. Exact tracking of an abnormality in the gastrointestinal tract is useful in preparing the content for educational systems. However, if the abnormality is de-formable over continuous frames and its features are not highly distinct, it is difficult to track abnormalities precisely. The proposed method uses not only the abnormality image features, but also surrounding features, called supporters. In a capsule endoscopic image sequence, however, both the supporters and the target are difficult to track using only their image features, because these features are indistinguishable. Since estimation using only surrounding features is hard, the proposed method uses triangular constraints among supporters as well. The proposed method is able to track successfully even if the target and supporter features are indistinguishable. Finally, we evaluate the proposed method using eight major types of abnormalities.

This paper describes a technique to enhance a region-of- interest (ROI) in a capsule endoscopy (CE) image. Our aim is to improve distinguishing suspicious regions from normal ones without over-enhancing the image. Given a ROI by physicians, the proposed technique enhances the ROI so that the enhanced region remains as natural as possible. To achieve this, we utilize image features relating to a specific color space dedicated to gastrointestinal (GI) wall regions. The proposed approach starts by utilizing a self-organizing map to handle GI wall color components. The goal of preserving the original color tones is obtainable by using a histogram equalization technique in the proposed color space. As a result, the enhanced images only contain color components inferred from the color gamut of the human small bowel. The results of the proposed method are judged in terms of visual appearance by comparison with images obtained by the conventional enhancement technique.

This study examines the effects of extracellular albumin on hepatic apo B-100 metabolism. To do so, a transformed human liver cell line, HepG2, was used as a hepatocyte model and the concentration of albumin in the medium was varied between 0 and 5 g%. Apo B-100 and apo A1 concentrations in the medium were determined by specific enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and intracellular synthesis of cholesterol ester and triglyceride were determined by addition of appropriate radiolabels to the medium. The data demonstrate that the reduction of extracellular albumin concentration resulted in increased apo B-100 concentration in the medium. Apo A1 secretion, however, was unaffected. While the differences in apo B-100 concentration in the medium were statistically significant (33% +/- 7%, P < 0.0025, 0 g% albumin compared to 5 g% albumin in the medium), the absolute magnitude of the effect under these conditions was relatively modest. Nevertheless, the changes were consistent and evident over incubation periods as long as 8 days. Of interest, although triglyceride synthesis was unaffected, cholesterol ester synthesis changed such that as albumin concentration decreased, synthesis of cholesterol ester increased paralleling the changes in apo B-100 (170% +/- 9%, P < 0.005). These findings were extended by studying interventions which altered cholesterol ester synthesis. Addition of the compound 58-035 (5 micrograms/ml, a specific inhibitor of acylcholesterol acyltransferase activity) resulted in substantial inhibition of cholesterol ester synthesis (39% to 66%, P < 0.025 and P < 0.005, respectively) and apo B-100 concentrations in the medium which decreased by 20% to 28%, P < 0.025. Triglyceride synthesis, in contrast, increased significantly by 32% P < 0.025. Therefore, addition of 58-035 confirmed the previous findings of a parallel relation between cholesterol ester synthesis and apo B-100 concentration in the medium. Nonetheless, albumin still had an additional inhibitory effect on cholesterol ester and apo B-100 secretion. Of interest, when chylomicron remnants (25 micrograms/ml cholesterol), which cause apo B-100 secretion to increase by more than threefold, were added to the medium, albumin now had a more pronounced absolute effect on apo B-100 secretion with a 48% inhibition observed as albumin was increased from 0 to 5 g% in the medium (P < 0.0125). The effect of extracellular albumin on the low density lipoprotein (LDL) pathway was also examined. No differences in non-specific cell association component were detected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The article presents our research results of state management of medical laboratory data of patients in health facilities in Vietnam. And then, we designed a laboratory information system (BK-LIS) which automatically acquired and managed data from the medical laboratory equipments is widely used in medicine today as Hematology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Urine, Microbiological, Endocrine, Cellular Analyzer…. Those test data will be centrally managed at the server in the system. Clinical doctors or medical staffs in hospital can access to the database of this system to review patient information for process diagnosis and treatment.

The diagnostic time required for a full, 8-hour video capsule endoscopy is usually between 45 and 120 min. The aim of this work is to evaluate the diagnostic time required when applying a method that adaptively controlls the image display rate. The advantage of the method is that the sequence can be played at high speed in stable smooth sequences to save time and then decreased at sequences where there are sudden rough changes, in order to assess suspicious findings detail. In this paper, this method is examined under real conditions: 10 sequences were independently evaluated by 4 medical doctors. The methods of evaluation include: 1) the time required for reading a sequence, 2) the percentage of abnormal regions accurately found, and 3) the manipulations of the evaluating physicians. The results indicate that the proposed method reduces diagnostic time to around 10 +/- 1.5% length of the sequence and is of valuable assistance to medical doctors.

Objective— A functional acylation stimulating protein (ASP) receptor, C5L2, has been recently identified in ASP-responsive cells. Impaired ASP-mediated triglyceride synthesis has previously been described in a subset of hyperapolipoprotein B/familial combined hyperlipidemia subjects. Methods and Results— DNA sequencing of C5L2 coding region in 61 unrelated probands identified a heterozygous variant (G968→T) in 1 subject, resulting in Ser323→Ile substitution in the carboxyl terminal region. This variant was not detected in 2176 additional chromosomes by restriction fragment length polymorphism or fluorescence polarization genotyping. Eight family members of the proband were identified with one altered (+/−)C5L2 allele. Nine other family members had the wild-type (+/+)C5L2 sequence. The abnormal allele was associated with increased plasma triglyceride, plasma cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and ASP. Of 23 subjects tested in cell-based ASP bioactivity assays, those with C5L2(+/−) variant (n=2) had a 50% reduction in ASP-stimulated triglyceride synthesis, glucose transport and marked reduction in maximal binding (B max ). By contrast, a C5L2(+/+) family member responded normally, as did hyperapolipoprotein B normal ASP subjects compared with C5L2(+/+) controls (n=6). Conclusion— The S323I variant may alter C5L2 function and might be one molecular basis contributing to familial combined hyperlipidemia.

The risk of premature coronary artery disease is related to an important degree to the number of particles of low density lipoproteins (LDL) in plasma, an estimate given by measurement of LDL apo B. In clinical practise, though it is total, not LDL apo B, which is measured. The purpose of the present study therefore was to compare plasma total and LDL apo B in the presence and absence of moderate hypertriglyceridemia. The results demonstrate that within the range of plasma triglyceride levels examined, i.e., values of triglyceride up to 500 mg/dl, there is close correspondence between total and LDL apo B, with the latter more than 90% of the former. VLDL composition was also examined and two patterns found in hypertriglyceridemic patients: those with normal apo B had markedly lipid enriched VLDL while those with elevated apo B had VLDL which was normal in composition except for a moderate increase in triglyceride content. Thus total apo B within the circumstances studied reflects principally LDL apo B. Moreover measurement of apo B allows distinction between two different forms of hypertriglyceridemia, only one of which - that with an increased LDL particle number - has previous work shown to be associated with increased coronary risk. Total apo B, therefore, provides additional information not available from conventional plasma and lipoprotein lipids which allows more precise physiologic classification and may lead to more rational choice of pharmacologic therapy in normolipidemic and hypertriglyceridemic patients.

• We conducted a population-based descriptive study of medical visits and surgical interventions for otitis media among 3-and 7-year-old children from the Montreal, Canada, area over the period 1981 to 1983. The number of children seen annually for otitis media increased over that time. An increase in the event rate of otitis was observed; there was also an increase in the rate of myringotomy with ventilatory tube insertion. The rate of surgery reached a level, among 3-year-old children in particular (25.0 per 1000 cases of otitis among boys, 23.9 per 1000 cases of otitis among girls), that some authors have termed "epidemic." Comparison of the trends in the rates of surgical interventions and the rates of medical consultations for otitis suggest that most of this so-called surgical epidemic for middle ear effusion is related to a higher frequency of the underlying condition and not to more aggressive patterns of therapy during the years studied. ( AJDC . 1990;144:535-538)

Acylation Stimulating Protein (ASP) is a small (mol wt 14,000), basic (pI 9.0) protein present in human plasma. When examined in vitro with normal human cultured skin fibroblasts and adipocytes, ASP appears to be the most potent stimulant of triglyceride synthesis yet described. In this study, a competitive ELISA assay for ASP has been developed using immunospecific polyclonal antibodies, and ASP levels have been measured in seven normal subjects. Following an oral fat load, a sustained significant increase in ASP occurs, whereas after an oral glucose load, ASP levels do not change significantly. These responses are entirely opposite to those of insulin, which rises sharply but transiently after an oral glucose load but is unchanged after an oral fat load. Both the fasting and peak ASP levels were significantly related to the postprandial lipemia. These data provide the first in vivo evidence that Acylation Stimulating Protein may play an important physiological role in the normal response to an oral fat load.

We have purified to homogeneity and analyzed the amino acid composition of a small (Mr 14,000), basic (pi 9.0) protein from human plasma. This has been named acylation stimulating protein (ASP) because it markedly stimulates triacylglycerol synthesis in human adipocytes. As well, it stimulates triacylglycerol synthesis in human skin fibroblasts cultured from normal individuals. Characteristic saturation curves for the cell metabolic responses to ASP were observed in both cell types with higher stimulation of oleate incorporation into triacylglycerol being observed in adipocytes. The stimulation of triacylglycerol synthesis was much greater with ASP than with insulin. Neither fatty acid binding protein nor albumin was able to mimic the ASP effect.

The control of triglyceride synthesis within the adipocyte is not fully understood. Insulin is considered to be the most potent stimulant of triglyceride synthesis. In this paper, we report on the effect of a small (14000 Da), basic (p I 9.0) protein isolated from human serum. This protein has been called acylation stimulating protein (ASP). It is a potent stimulant of triglyceride synthesis in adipocytes from both normal weight and morbidly obese subjects. Its stimulatory effect on adipocytes is both rapid, occurring between 15–30 min after the start of incubation, and prolonged, lasting for up to 3 hr. Compared to insulin, it is sixfold more potent in its effect on triglyceride synthesis. As well as acting on isolated cells, ASP also has a fourfold stimulatory effect on triglceride synthesis in human adipose microsomes at a concentration of 25 μg/ml. This study indicates that ASP is a potent stimulant of triglyceride synthesis and therefore may play a role in the pathogenesis of morbid obesity.

s Background The lipase subfamilies I.1 and I.2 show more than 33% homology in the amino acid sequences and most members share another common property that their genes are clustered with the secondary genes whose protein products are required for folding the lipase into an active conformation and secretion into the culture medium. In previous studies, the lipase (LipA) and its chaperone (LipB) from Ralstonia sp. M1 were overexpressed in E. coli and the lipase was successfully refolded in vitro. The purpose of this study was to enhance the production of the active lipase LipA from Ralstonia sp. M1 in the heterologous host E. coli without in vitro refolding process, using two-plasmid co-expression systems and dual expression cassette plasmid systems. Results To produce more active lipase from Ralstonia sp. M1 in E. coli without in vitro refolding process but with the help of overexpression of the chaperone (LipB1 and LipB3 corresponding to 56-aa truncated and 26-aa truncated chaperone LipB), six different expression systems including 2 two-plasmid co-expression systems (E. coli BL21/pELipABa + pELipB1k and BL21/pELipABa + pELipB3k) and 4 dual expression cassette plasmid systems (BL21/pELipAB-LipB1a, BL21/pELipAB-LipB3a, BL21/pELipA-LipB1a, and BL21/pELipA-LipB3a) were constructed. The two-plasmid co-expression systems (E. coli BL21/pELipABa + pELipB1k and BL21/pELipABa + pELipB3k) produced the active lipase at a level of 4 times as high as the single expression cassette plasmid system E. coli BL21/pELipABa did. For the first time, the dual expression cassette plasmid systems BL21/pELipAB-LipB1a and BL21/pELipAB-LipB3a yielded 29- and 19-fold production of the active lipase in comparison with the single expression cassette plasmid system E. coli BL21/pELipABa, respectively. Although the lipase amount was equally expressed in all these expression systems (40% of total cellular protein) and only a small fraction of the overexpressed lipase was folded in vivo into the functional lipase in soluble form whereas the main fraction was still inactive in the form of inclusion bodies. Another controversial finding was that the dual expression cassette plasmid systems E. coli BL21/pELipAB-LipB1a and E. coli/pELipAB-LipB3a secreted the active lipase into the culture medium of 51 and 29 times as high as the single expression cassette plasmid system E. coli pELipABa did, respectively, which has never been reported before. Another interesting finding was that the lipase form LipA6xHis (mature lipase fused with 6× histidine tag) expressed in the dual expression cassette plasmid systems (BL21/pELipA-LipB1a and BL21/pELipA-LipB3a) showed no lipase activity although the expression level of the lipase and two chaperone forms LipB1 and LipB3 in these systems remained as high as that in E. coli BL21/pELipABa + pELipB1k, BL21/pELipABa + pELipB3k, BL21/pELipAB-LipB1a, and BL21/pELipAB-LipB3a. The addition of Neptune oil or detergents into the LB medium increased the lipase production and secretion by up to 94%. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated that a dual expression cassette plasmid system E. coli could overproduce and secrete the active chaperone-dependent lipase (subfamilies I.1 and I.2) in vivo and an improved dual expression cassette plasmid system E. coli could be potentially applied for industrial-scale production of subfamily I.1 and I.2 lipases.