Clinical efficacy of minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) in the treatment of II° lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis: A retrospective cohort study.

Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) is not suitable for high-grade isthmic spondylolisthesis, whether MIS-TLIF can treat II° lumbar isthmic spondylolisthesis (IS) is still controversial. This retrospective cohort study compared the clinical efficacy of MIS-TLIF and open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (OPEN-TLIF) in the treatment of II° lumbar IS. From January 2017 to January 2023, 101 patients with II° lumbar IS were diagnosed in our hospital and underwent surgical treatment, of which 53 received MIS-TLIF surgery and 48 received OPEN-TLIF surgery. The operation time, blood loss and surgical complications were compared between the 2 groups. The pain, function, reduction rate and fusion rate of the patients were evaluated during follow-up. The amount of intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage, and postoperative hospital stay in the MIS-TLIF group were significantly lower than those in the OPEN-TLIF group were (P < .01). In the MIS-TLIF group, there were 1 case of dural sac injury and 3 cases of lower limb paralysis. The complication rate of MIS-TLIF was lower than the OPEN-TLIF group (P = .032). In the visual analog scale score of low back pain, the MIS-TLIF group was lower than the OPEN-TLIF group after operation and at the last follow-up. There were no significant differences in postoperative leg pain score, slippage rate, and fusion rate between the 2 groups. Compared with OPEN-TLIF, MIS-TLIF has the advantages of better low back pain relief, less trauma, less bleeding and faster recovery, and is worthy of clinical promotion.

Restraint stress induced anxiety and sleep in mice.

In humans and animals, exposure to changes in internal or external environments causes acute stress, which changes sleep and enhances neurochemical, neuroendocrine, and sympathetic activities. Repeated stress responses play an essential role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric diseases and sleep disorders. However, the underlying mechanism of sleep changes and anxiety disorders in response to acute stress is not well established. In the current study, the effects of restraint stress (RS) on anxiety and sleep-wake cycles in mice were investigated. We found that after RS, the mice showed anxiety-like behavior after RS manipulation and increased the amounts of both non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in the dark period. The increase in sleep time was mainly due to the increased number of episodes of NREM and REM sleep during the dark period. In addition, the mice showed an elevation of the EEG power spectrum of both NREM and REM sleep 2 h after RS manipulation. There was a significant reduction in the EEG power spectrum of both NREM and REM sleep during the darkperiod in the RS condition. The expression of the c-Fos protein was significantly increased in the parabrachial nucleus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, central amygdala, and paraventricular hypothalamus by RS manipulation. Altogether, the findings from the present study indicated that neural circuits from the parabrachial nucleus might regulate anxiety and sleep responses to acute stress, and suggest a potential therapeutic target for RS induced anxiety and sleep alterations.

Association between CARD14 gene polymorphisms and psoriasis vulgaris in Hainan Han population based on exon sequencing: A case-control study.

Psoriasis is a serious non-communicable, chronic immune-inflammatory mediated disease affecting about 125 million people worldwide. Its effects go beyond skin manifestation. Through genome-wide association studies, the caspase recruitment domain family member 14 (CARD14) gene and other gene variants have been implicated to have an association with Psoriasis, and as we move towards individualized therapy the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is of great importance. This study aimed to determine whether the CARD14 gene is a susceptible gene for psoriasis vulgaris. In this study, 101 psoriasis patients and 79 healthy controls were subjected to exome sequencing. The CARD14 gene regions upstream and downstream of 1kb were sequenced. SNP-based association analysis and haplotype-based association analysis were performed in SNPs with minimum allele frequency (MAF) greater than 1%. Bioinformatic methods were used to predict the impact of risk loci on gene function. A total of 32 polymorphisms were identified in this study, of which 3 SNPs (1 in exon and 2 in intron) were susceptible to psoriasis (P < .05, OR = 0.19~0.53, 95%CI = 0.05~0.70). Bioinformatics analysis showed that rs144475004 located on the exon led to an amino acid change from aspartate to histidine. On the other hand, results of haplotype-based association analysis showed that 2 haplotypes (CARD14-1 and CARD14-2) were protective haplotypes of the disease (P < .05, OR = 0.18~0.38, 95%CI = 0.05~0.88), the frequencies in healthy controls and patients was 6.96% and 1.49%, respectively. CARD14 gene is associated with susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris in the Hainan Han population.

Clinical Features of COVID-19 Patients in Xiaogan City.

On February 6, 2020, Xiaogan City became the second most seriously affected city with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), outside Wuhan district, Hubei Province, China. The objectives are to study the clinical features of COVID-19 patients and assess the relationship between the severity of COVID-19, age, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. The retrospective data of 134 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in 3 hospitals of Xiaogan City, between February 1 and March 1, 2020, was collected. This study documented COVID-19 patients. Clinical data in terms of body temperature, history of travel, and direct contact with COVID-19 patients, and incubation period was collected. Out of the 134 patients, only 5 required intensive care. Moreover, 2 patients succumbed during this period. The median age of patients was 45 (33-56) years. The most common symptoms at the onset of disease were fever (66.4%), cough (33, 6%), and sore throat (14.7%). Amongst the medicines used, antiviral agents (92.3%) followed by the traditional Chinese medicine (89.5%) were most commonly used. In both the crude and adjusted (I to III) models, odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval for both age and CRP levels were > 1. Moreover, the smooth curve fitting graph reflected that the severity of COVID-19 was positively correlated with both age and CRP levels (all P value < 0.05). The signs and symptoms of COVID-19 patients were fairly moderate. The health care professionals treating the COVID-19 patients should be aware of the increased likelihood of progression to severe COVID-19 in elderly patients and those with high CRP levels.

[Simultaneous determination and analysis of amino acids and nucleosides in Dendrobium by UHPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS].

By using multivariate statistical analysis to evaluate essential quality, and provide scientific basis for their comprehensive utilization, we established an UHPLC-QTRAP-MS/MS method for the fast, precise, efficient determination of 21 kinds of amino acids and 10 kinds of nucleosides in different species of Dendrobium. The analysis was performed on a Waters XBridge Amide column(2.1 mm×100 mm,3.5 µm) with elution by mobile phase of 0.2% formic acid in water-0.2% formic acid in acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min~(-1) with the column temperature at 30 ℃. The target compounds were analyzed by the positive ion multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) mode. The comprehensive evaluation of different species of Dendrobium was carried out by PCA and TOPSIS analysis. All 21 kinds of amino acids and 10 nucleosides showed good linearity among certain concentration range(r>0.999), the RSDs of the stability, precision, and repeatability tests were less than 3.0%. The recovery rate was in the range from 93.31% to 107.5%, and RSD was in the range of 1.1%-3.7%. The comprehensive evaluation index obtained with PCA showed that D. huoshanense was significantly higher than others regarding amino acids and D. officinale has higher nucleosides than other species. The biggest C_i difference of TOPSIS was 68.7%, and comprehensive evaluation showed that D. huoshanense produced the highest comprehensive quality. The method is precise, fast and efficient and can provide reliable basis for further researches and intrinsic quality control of Dendrobium.

Tyrosine Hydroxylase Gene Polymorphisms Contribute to Opioid Dependence and Addiction by Affecting Promoter Region Function.

Mounting evidence shows that drug dependence involves the complex interplay between genetics and the environment. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine (DA) synthesis, which plays an essential role in the development of drug addiction. Noradrenergic dysfunction due to abnormalities TH expression has been implicated in the pathogenesis of drug addiction. We profiled thirteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one VNTR (TCAT repeat, UniSTS:240,639) in 512 cases and 600 healthy Chinese subjects to evaluate the relationship between common variants within the TH gene and opioids dependence (OD) in the Chinese Han population. The single-marker analysis determined that rs10770141 (p < 0.001, OR 1.739, 95% CI 1.302 - 2.323) and rs10770140 (p = 0.002, OR 1.536, 95% CI 1.164 - 2.026) are risk variants for OD. The haplotype-association analyses determined that A-C-C-C was a risk factor (p = 0.006, OR 1.662, 95% CI 1.241 - 2.225) for OD. We also observed a significant association between (TACT)9/9 and the duration of transition from the first time using opioids to the development of opioid dependence (DTFUD) (p = 0.002, OR 2.153, 95% CI 1.319 - 3.513). Taken together, this study suggests that TH gene polymorphisms may contribute to the risk of OD in the Chinese Han population.

Paricalcitol accelerates BACE1 lysosomal degradation and inhibits calpain-1 dependent neuronal loss in APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have revealed that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and vitamin D supplementation may be effective strategy to ameliorate the neurodegenerative process in Alzheimer's disease patients. Paricalcitol (PAL), a low-calcemic vitamin D receptor agonist, is clinically used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism. However, the potential application of PAL for treating neurodegenerative disorders remains unexplored. METHODS: The APP/PS1 mice were intraperitoneally injected with PAL or vehicle every other day for 15 weeks. The ß-amyloid (Aß) production was confirmed using immunostaining and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The underlying mechanism was verified by western blot and immunostaining in vivo and in vitro. FINDINGS: Long-term PAL treatment clearly reduced ß-amyloid (Aß) generation and neuronal loss in APP/PS1 transgenic mouse brains. PAL stimulated the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) possibly through inhibiting sterol regulatory element binding protein-2 (SREBP2); PAL also promoted LRP1-mediated ß-site APP cleavage enzyme 1 (BACE1) transport to late endosomes, thus increasing the lysosomal degradation of BACE1. Furthermore, PAL diminished 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHdG) generation in neuronal mitochondria via enhancing base excision repair (BER), resulting in the attenuation of calpain-1-mediated neuronal loss. INTERPRETATION: The present data demonstrate that PAL can reduce Aß generation through accelerating BACE1 lysosomal degradation and can inhibit neuronal loss through suppressing mitochondrial 8-OHdG generation. Hence, PAL might be a promising agent for treating Alzheimer's disease. FUND: This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (U1608282).

[Cloning and quantitative expression analysis of GMPP gene from Dendrobium huoshanense].

In order to understand the function of GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase(GMPP) function and its regulation in polysaccharide biosynthesis mechanism in Dendrobium. D. huoshanense was used to clone GMPP gene. GMPP gene expression in D. huoshanense,D. officinale and D. moniliforme was also determined by qPCR. The results showed that the length of D. huoshanense GMPP gene c DNA sequence is 1 867 bp,containing 1 245 bp open reading frame(ORF),encoding 415 amino acids. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that D. huoshanense,D. officinale and D. moniliforme are closely related with GMPP taken into consideration. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that GMPP sequence similarity among the three species reached as high as 99%. qPCR results indicated that GMPP genes was highly expressed in stem of D. huoshanense compared with its leaf,flower and root. According to GMPP gene expression profile in D. huoshanense,D. officinale and D. moniliforme grown in Huoshan area,it was clear that GMPP in D. huoshanense showed the highest expression level. Furthermore,our findings of GMPP gene expression profile will facilitate future researches into its polysaccharide biosynthetic mechanism.

Iron and Alzheimer's Disease: From Pathogenesis to Therapeutic Implications.

As people age, iron deposits in different areas of the brain may impair normal cognitive function and behavior. Abnormal iron metabolism generates hydroxyl radicals through the Fenton reaction, triggers oxidative stress reactions, damages cell lipids, protein and DNA structure and function, and ultimately leads to cell death. There is an imbalance in iron homeostasis in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Excessive iron contributes to the deposition of ß-amyloid and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, which in turn, promotes the development of AD. Therefore, iron-targeted therapeutic strategies have become a new direction. Iron chelators, such as desferoxamine, deferiprone, deferasirox, and clioquinol, have received a great deal of attention and have obtained good results in scientific experiments and some clinical trials. Given the limitations and side effects of the long-term application of traditional iron chelators, alpha-lipoic acid and lactoferrin, as self-synthesized naturally small molecules, have shown very intriguing biological activities in blocking Aß-aggregation, tauopathy and neuronal damage. Despite a lack of evidence for any clinical benefits, the conjecture that therapeutic chelation, with a special focus on iron ions, is a valuable approach for treating AD remains widespread.

In vitro and in vivo studies of nematophagous fungi Arthrobotrys musiformis and Arthrobotrys robusta against the larvae of the trichostrongylides.

Six isolates of Arthrobotrys musiformis and five isolates of Arthrobotrys robusta were assessed in in vitro test regarding the capacity of prey larvae of the natural mixed trichostrongylides. In 5 isolates of A. robusta, the decrease percentage of infective larvae (L3) of trichostrongylides ranged from 97.71%-99.98% and for the isolates of A. musiformis, 5 isolates ranged from 97.99%-99.95% and only NF015 isolate 60.72%. In the following, the isolate (NPS045) of A. musiformis was selected to assess its excretion time in feces after oral administration of goats. Regarding L3 reduction rate, results demonstrated by NPS045 at each time point after fungal administration were 31.65% (12 h), 51.25% (24 h), 41.07% (48 h), 6.44% (72 h), 0% (96 h) and (120 h) (p<0.05) respectively, when compared to the control group. In the plates of the treated groups, the presence of the isolate (NPS045) was detected in samples at 12, 24 and 48 h after the fungus dose and 72 h later was not done. All native isolates of nematophagous fungi, including 6 isolates of A. musiformis and 5 isolates of A. robusta were assessed in vivo regarding the capacity of supporting the passage through goat gastrointestinal tract. The 3 isolates of A. musiformis could be able to pass through the digestive tract of goats without complete loss of ability of preying larvae of trichostrongylides in feces and their efficacies ranged from 47.60% to 55.93%. The two isolates of A. robusta survived the passage and the percentage reduction of L3 in feces were 41.96% and 66.97%, respectively. The remaining isolates were negative for both the efficacy of L3 reduction and the fungal examination in feces. In this study, the native isolates whose efficacies are good in vivo test have preliminarily demonstrated to be potential for the biological control of small ruminant parasite.

In vitro predatory activity of Arthrobotrys oligospora and after passing through gastrointestinal tract of small ruminants on infective larvae of trichostrongylides.

In vitro predatory activity of 157 native isolates of Arthrobotrys oligospora from China on larvae of trichostrongylides (Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Haemonchus contortus) in feces of sheep were assessed. The results showed that 135 of tested isolates of A. oligospora reduced the development of trichostrongylide larvae in feces by 90-99.99%, 11 isolates by 80-89.46% and 11 isolates by 14.58-78.82%. To understand their capacity of passing through gastrointestinal tract of sheep, 50 native isolates of A. oligospora were selected and assessed in sheep. Among these isolates, 16 isolates significantly reduced the number of larvae developing in the feces (P < 0.05); their percentage reduction of L3 ranged from 42.87% to 99.51% and the isolates tested were harvested in 5 g sub-samples of from sheep in each treatment group, indicating that these isolates had the capacity of preying larvae of trichostrongylides after the passage through gastrointestinal tract of sheep. The remaining isolates of A. oligospora were not able to survive after passage through gastrointestinal tract of sheep. In the following, the 16 isolates that presented more or less viability after sheep gastrointestinal passage were selected and assessed in goats. The results showed that the 11 isolates out of them could be able to pass through the digestive tract of goats without loss of ability of preying larvae of trichostrongylides in feces and their efficacies ranged from 53.88% to 94.28%, and that the isolates tested were harvested in 5 g sub-samples of feces from goats in each treatment group. In the current study, these isolates which demonstrated outstanding properties in vitro and could survive in the passage through the alimentary tract of sheep and goat should be potential candidates as a possible feed additive.

Screening of different sample types associated with sheep and cattle for the presence of nematophagous fungi in China.

A total of 1502 samples, including feces of sheep (793) and cattle (348), pasture soil (118), dung compost (147) and barn soil (96), were examined between October 2012 and August 2014 to discover potential strains of nematophagous fungi for the biological control of livestock-parasitic nematodes. These samples were collected from 87 sites located in 48 counties of 20 provinces (autonomous regions/municipalities) of China. Fungi were identified down to a species level. Four hundred and seventy-seven isolates, which were distributed in 8 genera and 28 taxa, were identified as nematophagous fungi. Nematode-trapping fungi included 17 species and one unidentified species of Arthrobotrys, two of Dactylella, Drechslerella dactyloides, and Duddingtonia flagrans. Five identified species and two unidentified species of endoparasitic fungi were isolated. The predominant species from all regions were Arthrobotrys oligospora, followed by Arthrobotrys musiformis, Arthrobotrys (Monacrosporium) thaumasiun, and Arthrobotrys (Monacrosporium) microscaphoides. Species with adhesive networks were the most frequently isolated. Among the endoparasitic fungi, Podocrella harposporifera (Harposporium anguillulae) was the most common species, followed by Harposporium lilliputanum and Harposporium arcuatum. Based on Shannon diversity index, the diversity levels of nematophagous fungi were relatively higher in samples associated with cattle, barn soil, and subtropical monsoon climate zone. Three species isolated from this study, namely, Duddingtonia flagrans, Arthrobotrys salina (Monacrosporium salinum), and Arthrobotrys oligospora var. sarmatica, are newly recorded in China, and 20 species (including one unidentified species) are newly recorded in sheep and cattle barn soils worldwide.

Isolation and Characterization of China Isolates of Duddingtonia flagrans, a Candidate of the Nematophagous Fungi for Biocontrol of Animal Parasitic Nematodes.

The nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans has been investigated as a biological agent for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes infecting domestic animals in other countries. However, D. flagrans has not been detected in China. In this study 1,135 samples were examined from 2012 to 2014; 4 D. flagrans isolates (SDH 035, SDH 091, SFH 089, SFG 170) were obtained from the feces of domestic animals and dung compost. The 4 isolates were then characterized morphologically. The SDH 035 strain was characterized by sequencing the ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region. A BLAST search showed that the SDH 035 strain (GenBank KP257593) was 100% identical to Arthrobotrys flagrans (AF106520) and was identified as D. flagrans. The morphological plasticity of the isolated strain and the interaction of this strain with the nematode targets were observed by subjecting the infected trichostrongylide L3 to scanning electron microscopy. At 6 and 8 hr after trichostrongylide L(3) was added, hyphal ramifications were observed and L(3) were captured, respectively. Scanning electron micrographs were obtained at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, and 48 hr, where 0 is the time when trichostrongylide L(3) were first captured by the fungus. The details of the capture process by the fungus are also described. Chlamydospores were observed in the body of L(3) in the late stage of digestion. A sticky substance and bacteria could be observed in contact areas between predation structures and nematode cuticle.

Lipid modulatory activities of Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet are mediated by multiple components within hepatocytes.

To investigate a possible methodology of exploiting herbal medicine and design polytherapy for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), we have made use of Cichorium glandulosum Boiss et Huet (CG), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been proven to be effective in treating hepatic diseases. Here, we report that the extract of CG effectively reduced lipid accumulation under conditions of lipid overloading in vivo and in vitro (in a rat high-fat diet model and a hepG2 cell model of free fatty acid treatment). CG extract also protected hepatocytes from injury and inflammation to aid its lipid-lowering properties (in a rat high-fat diet model and a L02 cell model of acetaminophen treatment). Serum chemistry analysis accompanied by in vitro drug screening confirmed that CG-4, CG-10 and CG-14 are the lipo-effective components of CG. Western blotting analysis revealed that these components can regulate key lipid targets at the molecular level, including CD36, FATP5 and PPAR-α, thus the lipid oxidation and lipid absorption pathways. Finally, we adopted the experimental design and statistical method to calculate the best combination proportion (CG-4: CG-10: CG-14 = 2.065: 1.782: 2.153) to optimize its therapeutic effect.

[Analysis of the protein expression and gene amplification of HER2 in gastric cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical significance of protein expression and gene amplification of HER2 in gastric cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) method were used to detect protein expression and gene amplification of HER2 in 80 specimens of gastric cancer patients. RESULTS: Protein expression of HER2 was negative in 51 cases, (+) in 12 cases, (++) in 12 cases, (+++) in 5 cases, and the positive expression rate was 21.3% (17/80). Seven (8.8%) cases had gene amplification of HER2, including gene critical amplification in 3 (3.8%) cases. The result of IHC was positively correlated with CISH (P<0.05), and the coincidence rate was 85.0% (68/80). HER2 positive expression rate was higher in the gastroesophageal junction carcinoma, poorly differentiated and stage III-IIII gastric cancer (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The gastric cancer tissue has high positive rate of protein expression and gene amplification of HER2, which is closely correlated to the development of gastric cancer.

Bayesian inference for generalized linear mixed model based on the multivariate t distribution in population pharmacokinetic study.

This article provides a fully bayesian approach for modeling of single-dose and complete pharmacokinetic data in a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model. To overcome the impact of outliers and the difficulty of computation, a generalized linear model is chosen with the hypothesis that the errors follow a multivariate Student t distribution which is a heavy-tailed distribution. The aim of this study is to investigate and implement the performance of the multivariate t distribution to analyze population pharmacokinetic data. Bayesian predictive inferences and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm schemes are used to process the intractable posterior integration. The precision and accuracy of the proposed model are illustrated by the simulating data and a real example of theophylline data.

Expression, purification, and characterization of alanine racemase from Pseudomonas putida YZ-26.

Alanine racemase catalyzes the interconversion of D: - and L: -alanine and plays an important role in supplying D: -alanine, a component of peptidoglycan biosynthesis, to most bacteria. Alanine racemase exists mostly in prokaryotes and is generally absent in higher eukaryotes; this makes it an attractive target for the design of new antibacterial drugs. Here, we present the cloning and characterization of a new gene-encoding alanine racemase from Pseudomonas putida YZ-26. An open reading frame (ORF) of 1,230 bp, encoding a protein of 410 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 44,217.3 Da, was cloned into modified vector pET32M to form the recombinant plasmid pET-alr. After introduction into E.coli BL21, the strain pET-alr/E.coli BL21 expressed His(6)-tagged alanine racemase. The recombinant alanine racemase was efficiently purified to homogeneity using Ni(2+)-NTA and a gel filtration column, with 82.5% activity recovery. The amino acid sequence deduced from the alanine racemase gene revealed identity similarities of 97.0, 93, 23, and 22.0% with from P. putida F1, P. putida200, P. aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. The recombinant alanine racemase is a monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 43 kDa. The enzyme exhibited activity with L: -alanine and L: -isoleucine, and showed higher specificity for the former compared with the latter. The enzyme was stable from pH 7.0-11.0; its optimum pH was at 9.0. The optimum temperature for the enzyme was 37°C, and its activity was rapidly lost at temperatures above 40°C. Divalent metals, including Sr(2+), Mn(2+), Co(2+), and Ni(2+) obviously enhanced enzymatic activity, while the Cu(2+) ion showed inhibitory effects.

Object segmentation of database images by dual multiscale morphological reconstructions and retrieval applications.

Processing images for specific targets on a large scale has to handle various kinds of contents with regular processing steps. To segment objects in one image, we utilized dual multiScalE Graylevel mOrphological open and close recoNstructions (SEGON) to build a background (BG) gray-level variation mesh, which can help to identify BG and object regions. It was developed from a macroscopic perspective on image BG gray levels and implemented using standard procedures, thus robustly dealing with large-scale database images. The image segmentation capability of existing methods can be exploited by the BG mesh to improve object segmentation accuracy. To evaluate the segmentation accuracy, the probability of coherent segmentation labeling, i.e., the normalized probability random index (PRI), between a computer-segmented image and the hand-labeled one is computed for comparisons. Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) was carried out to evaluate the object segmentation capability in dealing with large-scale database images. Retrieval precision-recall (PR) and rank performances, with and without SEGON, were compared. For multi-instance retrieval with shape feature, AdaBoost was used to select salient common feature elements. For color features, the histogram intersection between two scalable HSV descriptors was calculated, and the mean feature vector was used for multi-instance retrieval. The distance measure for color feature can be adapted when both positive and negative queries are provided. The normalized correlation coefficient of features among query samples was computed to integrate the similarity ranks of different features in order to perform multi-instance with multifeature query. Experiments showed that the proposed object segmentation method outperforms others by 21% in the PRI. Performing SEGON-enabled CBIR on large-scale databases also improves on the PR performance reported elsewhere by up to 42% at a recall rate of 0.5. The proposed object segmentation method can be extended to extract other image features, and new feature types can be incorporated into the algorithm to further improve the image retrieval performance.

Interleukin 29 enhances expression of Toll receptor 3 and mediates antiviral signals in human keratinocytes.

OBJECTIVE: Interleukin 29 (IL-29) is a class II cytokine and displays numerous immune functions other than its anti-viral and antiproliferation activities. This study is focused on the effect of IL-29 on human keratinocytes (KCs). METHODS: Primary KCs were stimulated by various concentrations of IL-29 for different time periods, and antiviral proteins and TLR3 gene expression were then analyzed by real-time PCR. The signal pathways activated by IL-29 in KCs were detected by western blot. The antiviral activity of IL-29 was determined by methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide, and small interfering RNA knockdown was used to analyze the role of toll receptor 3 (TLR3) in the antiviral activity of IL-29. RESULTS: IL-29 was able to induce expression of antiviral proteins and TLR3 gene expression in KCs. IL-29 pretreatment strongly enhanced herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-induced expression of the interferon ß (IFN-ß) gene and protected the KCs from HSV-1 challenge. The IL-29 antiviral activity was partially dependent on TLR3 expression induced by this cytokine, and mechanistic studies demonstrated that the regulation of TLR3 expression by IL-29 might be partially dependent on Janus kinase /signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STATs) activation. CONCLUSION: IL-29-induced TLR3 expression is involved in antiviral activity of IL-29 in KCs, which suggests a feasible method to cure certain viral infections of the skin.