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Since 1921, Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has been recognized as an important vaccine to prevent tuberculosis worldwide. Nonetheless, a global analysis of BCG proteome has not been clearly investigated. In this study, we performed an in-depth proteomic analysis of BCG under an in vitro cultivation condition using SDS-PAGE and high resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry. In total, 3434 proteins (35,259 unique peptides) including 512 transmembrane proteins were identified, covering ~87% of the predicted BCG proteome. Seven pseudogene protein products were also obtained and validated by RT-PCR at gene transcript level. Additionally, translational start sites of 832 proteins were confirmed and 186 were extended using N-terminus-derived peptides. The physicochemical characteristics of all identified proteins were determined. Some predominant proteins, including PE and PPE family proteins, lipoproteins, heat shock proteins, transport proteins and low molecular weight protein antigens, are discussed, which represent potential prominent antigens in the humoral and cellular immune response. This study represents the most comprehensive BCG proteome to date, which will likely facilitate the design of vaccination and immunodiagnostic strategies against TB., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Intrahepatic biliary cystadenoma and biliary cystadenocarcinoma are extremely rare neoplasms of the liver. They share similar radiological characteristics, and the clinicopathological features are poorly defined. We aim to provide an algorithm for preoperative differentiation of the two diseases., Methods: Patients who underwent liver resection between May 2001 and May 2011 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital with biliary cystadenoma (20 cases) and biliary cystadenocarcinoma (10 cases) were reviewed., Results: Significant differences were shown in age (P=0.030), gender (P=0.002) and symptom duration (P=0.012). Most biliary cystadenomas occurred in women ≤60 years old (85%), whilst most biliary cystadenocarcinomas occurred in older males (50%). Shorter symptom duration indicated a higher risk of biliary cystadenocarcinoma. Arterial blood flow and wall/nodule enhancement tended to be more common in biliary cystadenocarcinoma, but the difference was not significant (P=0.348). A score system was developed. The case-by-case validation and leave-one-out cross-validation showed an accuracy of 95.5% and 90.9%, respectively. The discriminative accuracy for cases from another hospital during the same period was 90.9%., Conclusions: Older age, male gender, and shorter symptom duration are associated with higher possibility of biliary cystadenocarcinoma. Location and blood supply by radiology might be instrumental but still need further verification., (Copyright © 2011 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A system for automatic null ellipsometric measurement, which uses a new kind of achromatic rhomb-type lambda/4 retarder, is designed and constructed. By use of terbium glass as the modulator's material, a magneto-optical modulator and its driving circuit are constructed. The polarized light is modulated by dc and ac. Combined with an ultra-low noise frequency-selective amplifier and a lock-in amplifier, the null time of the mechanical and photoelectric automatic null system can be less than 15 s. After the error of the mechanical parts is excluded, the repeatability standard deviation S4 of nulling angles can be less than 0.00025 deg.