Age Estimation by Machine Learning and CT-Multiplanar Reformation of Cranial Sutures in Northern Chinese Han Adults.

OBJECTIVES: To establish age estimation models of northern Chinese Han adults using cranial suture images obtained by CT and multiplanar reformation (MPR), and to explore the applicability of cranial suture closure rule in age estimation of northern Chinese Han population. METHODS: The head CT samples of 132 northern Chinese Han adults aged 29-80 years were retrospectively collected. Volume reconstruction (VR) and MPR were performed on the skull, and 160 cranial suture tomography images were generated for each sample. Then the MPR images of cranial sutures were scored according to the closure grading criteria, and the mean closure grades of sagittal suture, coronal sutures (both left and right) and lambdoid sutures (both left and right) were calculated respectively. Finally taking the above grades as independent variables, the linear regression model and four machine learning models for age estimation (gradient boosting regression, support vector regression, decision tree regression and Bayesian ridge regression) were established for northern Chinese Han adults age estimation. The accuracy of each model was evaluated. RESULTS: Each cranial suture closure grade was positively correlated with age and the correlation of sagittal suture was the highest. All four machine learning models had higher age estimation accuracy than linear regression model. The support vector regression model had the highest accuracy among the machine learning models with a mean absolute error of 9.542 years. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of skull CT-MPR and machine learning model can be used for age estimation in northern Chinese Han adults, but it is still necessary to combine with other adult age estimation indicators in forensic practice.

Forensic age estimation in adults by pubic bone mineral density using multidetector computed tomography.

Radiology plays a crucial role in forensic anthropology for age estimation. However, most studies rely on morphological methods. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using pubic bone mineral density (BMD) as a new age estimation method in the Chinese population. 468 pubic bone CT scans from living individuals in a Chinese hospital aged 18 to 87 years old were used to measure pubic BMD. The BMD of the bilateral pubic bone was measured using the Mimics software on cross-sectional CT images and the mean BMD of the bilateral pubic bone was also calculated. Regression analysis was performed to assess the correlation between pubic BMD and chronological age and to develop mathematical models for age estimation. We evaluated the accuracy of the best regression model using an independent validation sample by calculating the mean absolute error (MAE). Among all established models, the cubic regression model had the highest R2 value in both genders, with R2 = 0.550 for males and R2 = 0.634 for females. The results of the best model test showed that the MAE for predicting age using pubic BMD was 8.66 years in males and 7.69 years in females. This study highlights the potential of pubic BMD as a useful objective indicator for adult age estimation and could be used as an alternative in forensic practice when other better indicators are lacking.

Temperature might increase the hospital admission risk for rheumatoid arthritis patients in Anqing, China: a time-series study.

Temperature has been studied in relation to many health outcomes. However, few studies have explored its effect on the risk of hospital admission for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to analyze associations between mean temperature, diurnal temperature range (DTR), temperature change between neighboring days (TCN), and daily admissions for RA from 2015 to 2019 in Anqing, China. Subgroup analyses based on age, gender, rheumatoid factors, and admission route were performed. In total, 1456 patients with RA were hospitalized. Regarding the cumulative-lag effects of extreme cold temperature (5th percentile = 3℃), the risks of admissions for RA were increased and highest at lag 0-11 (RR = 2.68, 95% CI: 1.23-5.86). Exposing to low (5th percentile = 1.9℃) and high (95th percentile = 14.2℃) DTRs both had increased risks of RA admission, with highest RRs of 1.40 (95% CI: 1.03-1.91) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.0-1.53) at lag 0 day, respectively. As for TCN, the marginal risk of admission in RA patients was found when exposed to high TCN (95th percentile = 2.9℃) with the largest single-day effect at lag 10 (RR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.01-1.23). In subgroup analyses, females were more susceptible to extreme cold temperature, low and high DTRs, and high TCN. In regard to extreme cold temperature, significant risk of hospital admission in females only appeared at lag 2 (RR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.02-2.15) and lag 0-2 (RR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.11-4.95). It is clear that RA patients exposed to changing temperature may increase risks of admission.

Bimatoprost-Loaded Silica Shell-Coated Nanoparticles-Laden Soft Contact Lenses to Manage Glaucoma: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.

Currently, glaucoma is managed by frequent instillation of bimatoprost eye drop therapy, which showed very poor ocular bioavailability. Contact lens is widely used as medical device to improve the drug retention on the ocular tissues. However, the traditional methods of drug loading in the contact lens matrix showed high burst release and changes the optophysical properties of the contact lens material. In this paper, a novel bimatoprost-loaded silica shell nanoparticles-laden soft contact lenses were developed to achieve sustain drug delivery without altering the optophysical properties of the contact lens. Silica-shell nanoparticles were prepared using octyltrimethoxysilane (OTMS) and microemulsion. Traditional soaking method (SM-BT), direct bimatoprost loading method (DL-BT), and microemulsion-laden contact lens (ME-BT) were developed for comparison. The silica shell-coated nanoparticles-laden soft contact lenses (SiS-BT) showed improved swelling, transmittance, oxygen permeability, and lysozyme adherence compared to SM-BT, DL-BT, and ME-BT lenses. The DL-BT and ME-BT batch showed high bimatoprost lost/leaching during extraction and sterilization steps, with low cumulative drug release. Also, SiS-BT lens showed sustain bimatoprost release for 96 h. In a rabbit tear fluid model, the SiS-BT lens showed high bimatoprost concentration for 72 h compared to ME-BT lens and eye drop therapy. Based on histopathological studies of cornea, the SiS-BT lens was found to be safe for human applications. The data demonstrated the novel application of silica shell nanoparticles to deliver bimatoprost from the contact lens for extended period of time without altering the optophysical properties of the contact lens.

Metabolomics technology and its applications in agricultural animal and plant research.

Metabolomics is a discipline that uses Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance techniques to identify and quantify all small molecule metabolites in living organisms and biological samples, which relies on sensitive, stable analytical procedures and improving databases. Metabolomics has been widely used in medicine, food science, crop and farm animal research, and other fields. Metabolomics can establish a more direct relationship between changes in the type and content of metabolites and phenotypes. Metabolomics has gradually become a new research method for the analysis of genetic mechanisms of complex traits following genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics with the advances in omics technology. In this review, we firstly introduce common analytical strategies, metabolomics platforms, and metabolomics databases. Then, we review the application of metabolomics in metabolic molecular identification of important economic traits in agricultural animals, disease diagnosis, meat quality and safety detection of animal products. We also introduce the latest achievements in the development, formation and analysis of important traits of animals and plants by using metabolomics, transcriptome, and genomics. Overall, the integrated analysis of metabolomics and other omics can comprehensively explain the genetic mechanism of all kinds of complex traits and help to improve the complete biological process of "mutation-gene-expression-metabolism-phenotype". Metabolomics provides a new method for the mechanism analysis of complex characters and a novel idea for new agricultural breeding.

[Progress on signal pathways related to bone metabolism in animals].

Bone is a hard organ that makes up vertebrate endoskeleton, which plays a role in movement, support and protection for the body. The normal growth and development of bone is in the dynamic balance of bone metabolism, which is composed of bone formation and bone absorption. This balance is very important for maintaining bone mass and mineral homeostasis. In the process of bone growth and metabolism, there are many signaling pathways regulating bone formation and absorption, such as BMP (bone morphogenetic protein)/SMADs, TGF-ß (transforming growth factor ß), Wnt/ß-catenin, OPG (osteoprotegerin)/RANKL (receptor activator of NF-κB ligand)/RANK (receptor activator of NF-κB), FGF (fibroblast growth factor) and Notch signaling pathway. These signaling pathways have complex regulatory mechanisms and are involved in the regulation of bone metabolism. In this review, we summarize the mechanism and research progress of signal pathways that play key regulatory roles in the process of animal bone metabolism, thereby laying a foundation for research in animal bone metabolism.

'I loved him all my life': love, duty and homosexuality in post-liberation China.

This article is born out of an oral history study of 31 elderly homosexual men in four cities in China. It shows the ways in which major events of Chinese history since the birth of the People's Republic in 1949 intervene in personal lives and, in turn, how personal lives are drawn into larger historical events. One of the major themes running through these life narratives is that of love and duty. The interrelationship, as well as the tensions, between duty and love is a central part of the experiences of elderly Chinese homosexual men; their lives have been beset by hardships and duty, as well as by the joys of love, and these have an impact on their health and wellbeing. The experience of one individual, Mr Peng, illustrates the important yet shifting ways in which love and duty have been twinned throughout key life events. His narrative indicates an intricate interweaving of love for family, love for Deng, his male partner of 20 years, and love for his wife, as well as duty to family and to a patron. The inseparable couplet of love and duty served as the source of hardship and pain, but also of protection and great joy.

[Quantitative Identification of Yellow Rust and Powdery Mildew in Winter Wheat Based on Wavelet Feature].

Powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) and stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. Tritici) are two of the most prevalent and serious winter wheat diseases in the field, which caused heavy yield loss of winter wheat all over the world. It is necessary to quantitatively identify different diseases for spraying specific fungicides. This study examined the potential of quantitative distinction of powdery mildew and yellow rust by using hyperspectral data with continuous wavelet transform at canopy level. Spectral normalization was processing prior to other data analysis, given the differences of the groups in cultivars and soil environment. Then, continuous wavelet features were extracted from normalized spectral bands using continuous wavelet transform. Correlation analysis and independent t-test were used conjunctively to obtain sensitive spectral bands and continuous wavelet features of 350～1 300 nm, and then, principal component analysis was done to eliminate the redundancy of the spectral features. After that, Fisher linear discriminant models of powdery mildew, stripe rust and normal sample were built based on the principal components of SBs, WFs, and the combination of SBs & WFs, respectively. Finally, the methods of leave-one-out and 55 samples which have no share in model building were used to validate the models. The accuracies of classification were analyzed, it was indicated that the overall accuracies with 92.7% and 90.4% of the models based on WFs, were superior to those of SFs with 65.5% and 61.5%; However, the classification accuracies of Fisher 80-55 were higher but no different than leave-one-out cross validation model, which was possibly related to randomness of training samples selection. The overall accuracies with 94.6% and 91.1% of the models based on SBs & WFs were the highest; The producer' accuracies of powdery mildew and healthy samples based on SBs & WFs were improved more than 10% than those of WFs in Fisher 80-55. Focusing on the discriminant accuracy of different disease, yellow rust can be discriminated in the model based on both WFs and SBs & WFs with higher accuracy; the user' accuracy and producer' accuracy were all up to 100%. The results show great potential of continuous wavelet features in discriminating different disease stresses, and provide theoretical basis for crop disease identification in wide range using remote sensing image.

Neuroprotective effects of an aqueous extract of Futokadsura stem in an Aß-induced Alzheimer's disease-like rat model.

Futokadsura stem has been traditionally used to dispel wind-damp obstruction syndrome manifested as painful and stiff joints, tendon and muscle spasms, lower back pain, painful knees and pain from external injury. An aqueous extract of Futokadsura stem has previously been found to have neuro-protective effects in vitro. In this study, we aimed to investigate if the Futokadsura stem extract could protect the neuron in the brain of an Aß-induced Alzheimer's Disease (AD)-like rat model by improving the learning and memory ability of the rats. Learning and memory ability of the rats were measured by the Morris water maze test. Neuronal morphology in the hippocampus was examined by HE staining. Expression levels of Aß, TNF-α, IL-6 and synaptophysin (SYP) were measured by immunofluorescence. Nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels were measured by NO and NOS detecting kit. We found that aqueous extract of Futokadsura stem alleviated Aß(25-35)-induced impairment of spatial learning and memory in the AD rats. Furthermore, the extract protected the neurons by decreasing the expression of Aß, TNF-α and IL-6 and the content of NO and NOS in the brain, and increasing the expression of SYP in the hippocampus. Our data indicated that aqueous extract of Futokadsura stem improved the learning and memory ability of AD rats. The neuro-protective effect was accomplished probably by depressing inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain.

[Therapeutic Effect of Autologous Platelet-rich Gel in the Treatment of Chronic Skin Ulcer with Tophus].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of autologous platelet-rich gel (APG) in the treatment of chronic skin ulcer with tophus. METHODS: Four patients of chronic skin ulcer with tophus received routine debridement to remove necrotic tissue and erasion tophus as far as possible,and then received the treatment of APG. RESULTS: All of the patients had their wounds healed after the treatment of APG (one wound was treated twice). The wounds were healed between 8 to 22 d, average (13. 7±6. 8) d, while there were no adverse effects observed. CONCLUSION: Topical therapy with APG may be considered as an effective and safe adjuvant method for the treamtment of chronic skin ulcer with tophus.

Laser treatment for onychomycosis: a review.

It has always been difficult to treat onychomycosis due to decrease ability of topical agents to penetrate the nail and reach the affected nail bed. Oral antifungal have shown good response but due to longer duration course it has potential to cause systemic side effects, leading to patient non-adherence and adverse events. Lasers, therefore, have been suggested for the treatment of onychomycosis due to their minimally invasive nature and the potential for requiring fewer treatment sessions. The aim of writing this article is to review a literature regarding treatment of onychomycosis by laser. This article will discuss about all the available laser treatment options for onychomycosis as well as their currently published, peer-reviewed literature.

Human cardiotoxic drugs delivered by soaking and microinjection induce cardiovascular toxicity in zebrafish.

Cardiovascular toxicity is a major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry and predictive screening models to identify and eliminate pharmaceuticals with the potential to cause cardiovascular toxicity in humans are urgently needed. In this study, taking advantage of the transparency of larval zebrafish, Danio rerio, we assessed cardiovascular toxicity of seven known human cardiotoxic drugs (aspirin, clomipramine hydrochloride, cyclophosphamide, nimodipine, quinidine, terfenadine and verapamil hydrochloride) and two non-cardiovascular toxicity drugs (gentamicin sulphate and tetracycline hydrochloride) in zebrafish using six specific phenotypic endpoints: heart rate, heart rhythm, pericardial edema, circulation, hemorrhage and thrombosis. All the tested drugs were delivered into zebrafish by direct soaking and yolk sac microinjection, respectively, and cardiovascular toxicity was quantitatively or qualitatively assessed at 4 and 24 h post drug treatment. The results showed that aspirin accelerated the zebrafish heart rate (tachycardia), whereas clomipramine hydrochloride, cyclophosphamide, nimodipine, quinidine, terfenadine and verapamil hydrochloride induced bradycardia. Quinidine and terfenadine also caused atrioventricular (AV) block. Nimodipine treatment resulted in atrial arrest with much slower but regular ventricular heart beating. All the tested human cardiotoxic drugs also induced pericardial edema and circulatory disturbance in zebrafish. There was no sign of cardiovascular toxicity in zebrafish treated with non-cardiotoxic drugs gentamicin sulphate and tetracycline hydrochloride. The overall prediction success rate for cardiotoxic drugs and non-cardiotoxic drugs in zebrafish were 100% (9/9) as compared with human results, suggesting that zebrafish is an excellent animal model for rapid in vivo cardiovascular toxicity screening. The procedures we developed in this report for assessing cardiovascular toxicity in zebrafish were suitable for drugs delivered by either soaking or microinjection.

Ondansetron preloading with crystalloid infusion reduces maternal hypotension during cesarean delivery.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article was to investigate the effect of ondansetron preloading with crystalloid infusion after spinal anesthesia during cesarean delivery. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 66 parturient women scheduled for elective caesarean sections were randomly assigned to two groups. Five minutes before spinal anesthesia, Group O patients were injected with 4 mg of ondansetron, while Group S patients were injected with 5 mL physiological saline. Maternal blood pressure and heart rate were measured at 2 minute intervals for 30 minutes. After delivery, umbilical cord blood samples were analyzed. RESULTS: Maternal hypotension and nausea were significantly lower in ondansetron-treated patients versus placebo (p = 0.011 vs. 0.004). Umbilical venous pH was significantly higher in ondansetron-treated patients (p = 0.006), while partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Pco 2) was significantly lower (p = 0.002). Decreases in maternal systolic and mean arterial blood pressures were significantly lower in ondansetron-treated patients (p = 0.008 vs. 0.025), with less requirement for phenylephrine administration compared with controls (p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: Ondansetron preloading combined with crystalloid infusion significantly reduced hypotension and nausea, while improving acid-base status, as well as reducing vasoconstrictor use.

[Prevalence and features of pathogenic bacteria in the department of hematology without bone marrow transplantation in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2010 to 2012].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence, pathogens, and clinical features of infection in consecutive cases from 2010 to 2012 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. METHOD: The incidence, pathogen, treatment, and outcomes of patients with hematological diseases who had positive findings of bacterium in their samples from 2010 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: There were 449 positive samples (5.8%) from 4 890 patients during this period, among which 388 were proved to be with pathogenic bacteria. Samples separated from patients with community-aquired infections accounted for 8.4% of all positive samples. Most community-aquired infections were caused by Gram-negative bacteria (75%), although no multidrug-resistant bacteria was observed. Samples separated from patients with nosocomial infections accounted for 91.6% of all positive samples. Respiratory tract (49.4%) and peripheral blood (32.6%) were the most common samples with positive results. Skin soft tissues (10.4%), and urine (3.7%) were less common samples. Most of the pathogenic bacteria of the nosocomial infections were Gram-negative (66.9%). The most common Gram-negative bacteria included Escherichia coli (13.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.1%), and Klebsiella pneumonia (12.1%), while Staphylococcus aureus (10.4%), Enterococcus faecium (7.0%), and Staphylococcus epidermidis (5.1%) were the most common Gram-positive bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria consisted of most of sputum samples and peripheral blood samples. Samples from the surface of skin wound and anal swab were composed largely by Gram-positive bacteria (63.8%). The detection rates of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumonia/Klebsiella oxytoca, Escherichia coli, and Proteus mirabilis were 24.0%, 87.9% and 38.4%, respectively. The resistance to Acinetobacter baumannii was serious. Multidrug-resistant, extensive drug resistant and pan drug resistant A. baumannii acountted for 74% of all A. Baumannii infections. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia showed low resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, levofloxacin and minocycline. Also, 22 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 9 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Epidermidis were detected, which were only sensitive to vancomycin, teicoplanin, and linezolid. All patients were treated in the haematology wards and most of them were under agranulocytosis or immunosuppression. Finally, 22 patients reached clinical recovery through anti-infective therapy, whereas 49 patients died. Among those deaths, 42 patients attributed to severe infections and infection-associated complications. Fourteen of all the deaths might be infected with drug-resistance bacteria. There were 61 samples proved to be bacteria colonization. Nonfermenters such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia made up for a large amount of bacteria colonization. CONCLUSIONS: The pathogens of nosocomial infections in the hematology ward are mainly Gram-negative bacteria. The incidences and pathogens vary from different infection sites. Nosocomial infection still has a higher mortality rate. Once nonfermenters are detected positive, the pathogenic or colonial bacteria should be distinguished.

GDF10 and IDO1 as a thyroid cancer prognostic biomarker associated with immune infiltration.

Objection: The aim of this work is to screen the immune-related genes to predict the prognosis and provide a new direction of treatment for patients with thyroid cancer (THCA). Methods: The mRNA and clinical features of THCA patients were collected from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. The immune-related genes were obtained from the ImmPort databases. The bio-information methods were performed to screen the differential expression genes (DEGs) and genes related to immunity between the THCA patients and normal individuals. On this basis, the hub prognosis immunity genes were screened by Veen. The related genes were obtained by constructing the protein-protein interaction network. The enrichment analyses were performed based on the protein and protein interaction (PPI) related genes. The hub immune checkpoint was screened by correlation analysis. Finally, the hub gene and the immunity checkpoint-miRNA (or transcription factor, drug) interaction network were constructed. A drug-sensitive analysis also was performed. Results: The GDF10 was screened. The PPI genes were enriched in the TGF-beta signaling pathway, signaling pathways regulating, the pluripotency of stem cells, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and so on. The hub immunity checkpoint IDO1 was obtained. The joint indicator of two hub genes was positively related to the thyroid differentiation score. Three interaction factors were found to be related to the two hub genes, and 7 kinds of drugs screened act on the two hub genes at the same time. Conclusion: This work indicated that immune-related gene GDF10 and immune checkpoint IDO1 are important for the prognosis prediction of THCA patients, and immunity is involved in the proliferation, and differentiation of tumor cells.

Effect of electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC6) on pain and brain orexin 1 receptor in mice with inflammatory pain. / 电针"å† å ³"å¯¹ç‚Žæ€§ç—›å°é¼ è„‘å† é£Ÿæ¬²ç´ 1受体的影响.

OBJECTIVES: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Neiguan" (PC6) on pain response in mice injected with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in the hind paw, so as to investigate the mechanism of orexin 1 receptor (OX1R) -endogenous cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) pathway in acupuncture analgesia. METHODS: A total of 48 male C57BL/6 mice were used in the present study. In the first part of this study, 18 mice were randomized into control, model and EA groups, with 6 mice in each group. In the second part of this study, 30 mice were randomized into control, model, EA, EA+Naloxone, EA+OX1R antagonist (SB33486) groups, with 6 mice in each group. Inflammatory pain model was established by subcutaneous injection of 20 µL CFA solution in the left hind paw. EA (2 Hz, 2 mA ) was applied to bilateral PC6 for 20 min, once a day for 5 consecutive days. The mice in the EA+Naloxone and EA+SB33486 groups were intraperitoneally injected with naloxone (10 mg/kg) or SB33486 (15 mg/kg) 15 min before EA intervention on day 5, respectively. Tail-flick method and Von Frey method were used to detect the thermal pain threshold and mechanical pain threshold of mice. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the expression level of ß-endorphin mRNA in periaqueductal gray (PAG) of mice. The expression of OX1R positive cells in the lateral hypothalamic area (LH) and CB1R positive cells in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) were detected by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the thermal pain threshold and mechanical pain threshold of the model group were decreased (P<0.001), the expression level of ß-endorphin mRNA in PAG was decreased (P<0.001), and the numbers of OX1R positive cells in LH and CB1R positive cells in vlPAG were decreased (P<0.05, P<0.001). Compared with the model group, the thermal pain threshold and mechanical pain threshold of the EA group were significantly increased (P<0.001), and the numbers of OX1R positive cells in LH and CB1R positive cells in vlPAG were increased (P<0.01, P<0.001). Compared with the EA group, the mechanical pain threshold in the EA+SB33486 group was significantly decreased (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference in the mechanical pain threshold between the EA+Naloxone group and EA group, and the numbers of OX1R positive neurons in LH and CB1R positive neurons in vlPAG were decreased in the EA+SB33486 group (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EA at PC6 can achieve analgesic effect on CFA mice by activating the OX1R-CB1R pathway in the brain, and this effect is opioid-independent.

Effect of electroacupuncture on inflammatory response and immune cells in mice with chronic inflammatory pain. / ç”µé’ˆå¯¹æ ¢æ€§ç‚Žæ€§ç—›å°é¼ ç‚Žæ€§ååº”å’Œå ç–«ç»†èƒžçš„å½±å“.

OBJECTIVES: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture(EA) on local inflammatory mediators and macrophage polarization, and immune cells in the spleen of mice with chronic inflammatory pain induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in the hind paw, so as to investigate the immunoinflammatory regulatory mechanisms of EA in relieving pain and swelling in mice with chronic inflammatory pain. METHODS: Thirty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control, model, and EA groups, with 10 mice in each group. Chronic inflammatory pain model were established by subcutaneous injection of 20 µL CFA solution in the left hind paw for 7 consecutive days. After modeling, mice in the EA group received EA at bilateral "Zusanli"(ST36) for 20 min (2 Hz/100 Hz, 1 mA) once a day for 18 consecutive days. Mechanical pain threshold, heat pain thresholds, and paw thickness were measured before and after mode-ling, and after interventions. Western blot was used to detect the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß, and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) in the paw tissue. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the positive expression of M1-type macrophage marker inducible nitric oride synthase (iNOS) and M2-type marker CD206 in the paw, and flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of F4/80+ CD11b+ macrophages, Ly6G+ CD11b+ neutrophils, and CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in the spleen. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, mechanical pain and heat pain thresholds were significantly reduced(P<0.000 1), while paw thickness, expressions of IL-1ß, TNF-α, and NLRP3 in the paw, and positive expression of M1 macrophage marker iNOS in the paw, the proportions of macrophages and neutrophils in the spleen were significantly increased (P<0.000 1, P<0.001) in the model group. Compared with the model group, mechanical pain threshold and heat pain thresholds, CD206 positive expression in the paw, and Treg cell proportion in spleen were significantly increased (P<0.01), while paw thickness, the expressions of IL-1ß, TNF-α and NLRP3 in the paw, as well as the positive expression of M1 macrophage marker iNOS in the paw, the proportions of macrophages and neutrophils in the spleen were significantly reduced (P<0.001, P<0.01, P<0.05)in mice of the EA group after intervention. CONCLUSIONS: EA may alleviate pain and swelling in mice with chronic inflammatory pain by regulating the numbers of macrophages, neutrophils, and Treg cells, as well as promoting M2 polarization of local macrophages and inhibiting the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 protein expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 (MR-1) expression was detected in different malignancies and is associated with poor prognosis. However, its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association of MR-1 expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis in patients with PDAC. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the protein expression of MR-1 and epithelial (E)-cadherin in 87 patients with PDAC. Results showed that MR-1 expression was correlated with histologic grade, tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis (all P <0.05). In addition, MR-1 expression showed a significant inverse correlation with E-cadherin expression (P = 0.002). Furthermore, the variables associated with prognosis were analyzed by Cox's proportional hazards model. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to plot survival curves according to different expression levels of MR-1. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that MR-1 expression was significantly associated with worse disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates in patients with PDAC (both P <0.001). Finally, multivariate analysis demonstrated that MR-1 expression, together with histologic grade, tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, was an independent prognostic factor for both DFS and OS rates in patients with PDAC. MR-1 overexpression was tightly associated with more aggressive tumor behavior and a poor prognosis, indicating that MR-1 is a valuable molecular biomarker for PDAC progression.

Investigation of transferability of BovineSNP50 BeadChip from cattle to water buffalo for genome wide association study.

Cattle and water buffalo belong to the same subfamily Bovinae and share chromosome banding and gene order homology. In this study, we used genome-wide Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip to analyze 91 DNA samples from three breeds of water buffalo (Nili-Ravi, Murrah and their crossbred with local GuangXi buffalos in China), to demonstrate the genetic divergence between cattle and water buffalo through a large single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) transferability study at the whole genome level, and performed association analysis of functional traits in water buffalo as well. A total of 40,766 (75.5 %) bovine SNPs were found in the water buffalo genome, but 49,936 (92.5 %) were with only one allele, and finally 935 were identified to be polymorphic and useful for association analysis in water buffalo. Therefore, the genome sequences of water buffalo and cattle shared a high level of homology but the polymorphic status of the bovine SNPs varied between these two species. The different patterns of mutations between species may associate with their phenotypic divergence due to genome evolution. Among 935 bovine SNPs, we identified a total of 9 and 7 SNPs significantly associated to fertility and milk production traits in water buffalo, respectively. However, more works in larger sample size are needed in future to verify these candidate SNPs for water buffalo.