Fanconi Anemia Complementary Group A (FANCA) Facilitates the Occurrence and Progression of Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) is a serious liver disease worldwide, and its pathogenesis is complicated. AIMS: This study investigated the potential role of FANCA in the advancement and prognosis of LIHC. METHODS: Public databases, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), western blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were employed to measure FANCA expression between tumor and normal samples. The relationship between FANCA expression and prognosis of LIHC patients were examined. Functional enrichment of FANCA-related genes was performed. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the independent prognosis value of FANCA in LIHC. Finally, influence of FANCA knockout on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HepG2 cell was validated with cloning formation, CCK8, and Transwell assays. RESULTS: Expression analysis presented that FANCA had high expression level in LIHC tissues and cells. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that FANCA was of great diagnosis value in LIHC. Clinicopathological analysis revealed that FANCA was significantly greater expressed in the advanced stage than in the early stage of LIHC. Univariate, multivariate, and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis confirmed that high expression of FANCA was strongly associated with poor survival of LIHC patients. In addition, high level of FANCA in LIHC showed a negative association with immunoinfiltrated B cells, T cells, and stromal scores. Moreover, Knockout of FANCA significantly inhibited HepG2 cell proliferative activity, migration, and invasion ability. CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed that high level of FANCA was closely associated with LIHC malignant progression, suggesting its potential utility as a diagnostic, predictive indicator, and therapeutic target.

Resource degradation of pharmacy sludge in sub-supercritical system with high degradation rate of 99% and formic acid yield of 32.44.

In response to the social goal of 'carbon peak and carbon neutral' in the 14th Five-Year Plan of China, this article used Enrofloxacin (ENR), a common antibiotic, as a model compound to study the method of efficiently degrading pharmaceutical sludge and simultaneously producing Formic Acid (FA), hydrogen storage energy, in a sub-supercritical system. The Ni/SnO2 bimetallic catalyst, which was prepared by the equal volume impregnation method, was used for the liquid phase catalysis. As shown by the results, when the reaction temperature was 330°C, and the addition amount of H2O2 was 0.38 mL, the degradation rate of antibiotics could reach 99% after the reaction proceeded for 6 h. In terms of the resource utilization, the yield of FA could reach up to 32.44%. The resource utilization efficiency with Ni/SnO2 catalyst in sub-/supercritical reaction was about 2.5 times higher than that without catalyst. The kinetic reaction model was established to explore the reaction rate of the antibiotic degradation process. In addition, the Ea and the frequency factor of the reaction were 6455 J/mol and 5.78, respectively. As shown by characterization, the prepared Ni/SnO2 bimetallic catalyst had good activity and has already passed repeated stability experiments. In short, this method has broad application prospects in antibiotic catalysis and resource degradation.

Efficacy and Safety of Jianpi Jieyu Decoction for Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Depression of Xin (Heart)-Pi (Spleen) Deficiency Syndrome: A Multi-centre Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jianpi Jieyu Decoction (JJD) for treating patients with mild-to-moderate depression of Xin (Heart)-Pi (Spleen) deficiency (XPD) syndrome. METHODS: In this multi-center, randomized, controlled study, 140 patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome were included from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Botou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2017 to December 2019. They were randomly divided into JJD group and paroxetine group by using a random number table, with 70 cases in each group. The patients in the JJD group were given JJD one dose per day (twice daily at morning and evening, 100 mL each time), and the patients in the paroxetine group were given paroxetine (10 mg/d in week 1; 20 mg/d in weeks 2-6), both orally administration for a total of 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the change of 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) score at week 6 from baseline. The secondary outcomes included the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score, Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Scale (TCMSS), and Clinlcal Global Impression (CGI) scores at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weekends of treatment, HAMD-17 response (defined as a reduction in score of >50%) and HAMD-17 remission (defined as a score of ⩽7) at the end of the 6th week of treatment. Adverse events (AEs) were also recorded. RESULTS: From baseline to week 6, the HAMD-17 scores decreased 10.2 ± 4.0 and 9.1 ± 4.9 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.689). The HAMD-17 response occurred in 60% of patients in the JJD group and in 50% of those in the paroxetine group (P=0.292); HAMD-17 remission occurred in 45.7% and 30% of patients, respectively (P=0.128). The differences of CGI scores at the 6th week were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There were significant differences in HAMD-17 scores between the two groups at 2nd and 4th week (P=0.001 and P=0.014). The HAMA scores declined 8.1 ± 3.0 and 6.9 ± 4.3 points from baseline to week 6 in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.905 between groups). At 4th week of treatment, there was a significant difference in HAMA between the two groups (P=0.037). TCMSS decreased 11.4 ± 5.1, and 10.1 ± 6.8 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.080 between groups). At the 6th week, the incidence of AEs in the JJD group was significantly lower than that in the paroxetine group (7.14% vs. 22.86%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared with paroxetine, JJD was associated with a significantly lower incidence of AEs in patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome, with no difference in efficacy at 6 weeks. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR2000040922).

Brittle culm 3, encoding a cellulose synthase subunit 5, is required for cell wall biosynthesis in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

The cell wall plays an important role in plant mechanical strength. Cellulose is the major component of plant cell walls and provides the most abundant renewable biomass resource for biofuels on earth. Mutational analysis showed that cellulose synthase (CESA) genes are critical in cell wall biosynthesis in cereal crops like rice. However, their role has not been fully elucidated in barley. In this study, we isolated a brittle culm mutant brittle culm 3 (bc3) derived from Yangnongpi 5 ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis in barley. The bc3 mutants exhibited reduced mechanical strength of the culms due to impaired thickening of the sclerenchyma cell wall and reduced cellulose and hemicellulose content in the culms. Genetic analysis and map-based cloning revealed that the bc3 mutant was controlled by a single recessive gene and harbored a point mutation in the HvCESA5 gene, generating a premature stop codon near the N-terminal of the protein. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the HvCESA5 gene is predominantly expressed in the culms and co-expressed with HvCESA4 and HvCESA8, consistent with the brittle culm phenotype of the bc3 mutant. These results indicate that the truncated HvCESA5 affects cell wall biosynthesis leading to a brittle culm phenotype. Our findings provide evidence for the important role of HvCESA5 in cell wall biosynthesis pathway and could be a potential target to modify cell wall in barley.

The Deletion of US3 Gene of Pseudorabies Virus (PRV) ΔgE/TK Strain Induces Increased Immunogenicity in Mice.

Re-emerging pseudorabies (PR) caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV) variant has been prevailing among immunized herds in China since 2011, indicating that commercially available PR vaccine strains couldn't provide complete protection against novel, epidemic PRV variant. Before this study, a gE/TK-gene-deleted virus (PRV ΔgE/TK) was constructed from PRV QYY2012 variant through homologous recombination and Cre/LoxP system. Here, PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 strain was generated by deleting US3 gene based on PRV ΔgE/TK strain using the same method. The growth characteristics of PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 were analogous to that of PRV ΔgE/TK. Moreover, the deletion of US3 gene could promote apoptosis, upregulate the level of swine leukocyte antigen class I molecule (SLA-I) in vitro, and relieve inflammatory response in inoculated BALB/c mice. Subsequently, the safety and immunogenicity of PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 was evaluated as a vaccine candidate in mice. The results revealed that PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 was safe for mice, and mice vaccinated with PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 could induce a higher level of PRV-specific neutralizing antibodies and cytokines, including IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4, also higher level of CD8+ CD69+ Tissue-Resident Memory T cells (TRM). The results show that the deletion of US3 gene of PRV ΔgE/TK strain could induce increased immunogenicity, indicating that the PRV ΔgE/TK/US3 strain is a promising vaccine candidate for preventing and controlling of the epidemic PR in China.

3D Localization of Hand Acupoints Using Hand Geometry and Landmark Points Based on RGB-D CNN Fusion.

Acupoint stimulation has proven to be of significant importance for rehabilitation and preventive therapy. Moxibustion, a kind of acupoint therapy, has mainly been performed by practitioners relying on manual localization and positioning of acupoints, leading to variance in the accuracy owing to human error. Developments in the automatic detection of acupoints using deep learning techniques have proven to somewhat tackle the problem. But the current methods lack depth-based localization and are thus confined to two-dimensional (2D) localization. In this research, a new approach towards 3D acupoint localization is introduced, based on a fusion of RGB and depth convolutional neural networks (CNN) to guide the manipulator. This research aims to tackle the challenge of real-time 3D acupoint localization in order to provide guidance for robot-controlled moxibustion. In the first step, the 3D sensor (Kinect v1) is calibrated and transformation matrix is computed to project the depth data into the RGB domain. Secondly, a fusion of RGB-CNN and depth-CNN is employed, in order to obtain 3D localization. Lastly, 3D coordinates are fed to the manipulator to perform artificially controlled moxibustion therapy. Furthermore, a 3D acupoint dataset consisting of RGB and depth images of hands, is constructed to train, validate and test the network. The network was able to localize 5 sets of acupoints with an average localization error of less than 0.09. Further experiments prove the efficacy of the approach and lay grounds for development of automatic moxibustion robots.

Protective limb remote ischemic post-conditioning against high-intraocular-pressure-induced retinal injury in mice.

AIM: To determine whether limb remote ischemic post-conditioning (LRIC) protects against high-intraocular-pressure (IOP)-induced retinal injury, and to identify underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS: In mice, IOP was increased to 110 mm Hg for 50min and LRIC applied to the unilateral leg for three occlusion cycles (5min/release). Three animal groups (control, high IOP, and high IOP+LRIC) were arranged in this study. Plasma was collected from LRIC treated mice. Retinal histology, oxidative stress were determined by histological section staining and chemical kit. C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and Iba-1 parameters were evaluated by immunofluorescent staining and Western blot. RESULTS: The data showed that LRIC treatment alleviated the retinal histological disorganization and ganglion cell loss induced by high IOP. The CHOP, Iba-1 expression and oxidative stress marker also were inhibited by LRIC treatment. To further explore underlying mechanisms, plasma from LRIC treated animals was intravenously transfused into high-IOP animals. The results showed plasma injection decreased caspase 9 expression and DHE staining signals compared with that in high IOP retinas. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that LRIC treatments exert retinal protective effects against high-IOP injury. Endogenous humoral factors release into the circulation by LRIC may contribute to homeostatic protection by reducing monocyte infiltration and/or microglia activation.

The Clinical Effect of a Combination of Mouse Nerve Growth Factor and Methylcobalamin to Treat Lumbar Disc Herniation with Foot Drop: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF) and methylcobalamin (MeCbl) for the treatment of lumbar disk herniation (LDH) with foot drop. METHODS: A total of 46 patients suffering from LDH with foot drop who underwent transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery in our department from January 2015 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. We divided these patients into two groups according to the different postoperative treatment which independently selected by patients after signing informed consent form: one group of 25 patients was treated with MeCbl alone (Group MeCbl), the other group of 21 patients was treated with a combination of mNGF and MeCbl (Group MeCbl+mNGF). Patient demographics, the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, sensory and muscular strength improvement statistics at 1 week, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, and 12 months postoperatively were recorded. Motor/sensory deficits, sciatica and overall neurological outcome after treatment of MeCbl alone and combination of mNGF and MeCbl were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The follow-up ranged between 12 and 42 months (mean 20.8 months). There were no significant differences between these two groups of patients with respect to sex ratio, age, smoking, diabetes, disease course, section of protruding disc(s), muscular strength of foot dorsiflexion or preoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score (P > 0.05). The VAS scores of Group MeCbl+mNGF were significantly lower than Group MeCbl at 1 week, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, and 12 months postoperatively (4.32 ± 0.75 vs 5.25 ± 0.79,2.65 ± 0.48 vs 3.42 ± 0.52, 1.72 ± 0.36 vs 2.45 ± 0.39, 1.12 ± 0.22 vs 1.52 ± 0.24, P < 0.05). The effective rates of sensory improvement were significantly higher in Group MeCbl+mNGF compared with Group MeCbl at 12-week/12-month follow-up time point (90.48% vs 52.00%,95.24% vs 68.00%, P < 0.05). The effective rate of muscular strength improvement of the two groups did not differ significantly at 1 week after surgery but exhibited statistically significant differences at subsequent time points (61.90% vs 32.00%, 76.19% vs 44.00%, 80.95% vs 48.00%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Application of mNGF had clinical effects on promoting the recovery of neurological function in patients suffering from LDH with foot drop.

Development of an Aerobic Glycolysis Index for Predicting the Sorafenib Sensitivity and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly tumor with high heterogeneity. Aerobic glycolysis is a common indicator of tumor growth and plays a key role in tumorigenesis. Heterogeneity in distinct metabolic pathways can be used to stratify HCC into clinically relevant subgroups, but these have not yet been well-established. In this study, we constructed a model called aerobic glycolysis index (AGI) as a marker of aerobic glycolysis using genomic data of hepatocellular carcinoma from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Our results showed that this parameter inferred enhanced aerobic glycolysis activity in tumor tissues. Furthermore, high AGI is associated with poor tumor differentiation and advanced stages and could predict poor prognosis including reduced overall survival and disease-free survival. More importantly, the AGI could accurately predict tumor sensitivity to Sorafenib therapy. Therefore, the AGI may be a promising biomarker that can accurately stratify patients and improve their treatment efficacy.

New insights on sorafenib resistance in liver cancer with correlation of individualized therapy.

Liver cancer is highly malignant and insensitive to cytotoxic chemotherapy and is associated with very poor patient prognosis. In 2007, the small-molecule targeted drug sorafenib was approved for the treatment of advanced liver cancer. In the subsequent ten years, sorafenib has been the only first-line therapeutic targeted drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a number of clinical studies show that a considerable percentage of patients with liver cancer are insensitive to sorafenib. The number of patients who actually benefit significantly from sorafenib treatment is very limited, and the overall efficacy of sorafenib is far from satisfactory, which has attracted the attention of researchers. Based on previous studies and reports, this article reviews the potential mechanisms of sorafenib resistance (SR) and summarizes the biomarkers and clinicopathological indicators that might be used for predicting sorafenib response and developing personalized therapy.

A retrospective pilot study to examine the feasibility of real-time navigation for laparoscopic liver resections in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma using fusion indocyanine green fluorescence imaging.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recently, PINPOINT, a novel laparoscopic fusion indocyanine green fluorescence imaging (IGFI) system has become available for laparoscopic liver resection. This study aims to characterize fluorescence patterns of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) using the negative counterstaining method in laparoscopic anatomical hepatectomies of ICC. METHODS: Eleven consecutive patients, diagnosed with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and underwent laparoscopic liver resection between April 2017 and December 2018, were retrospectively reviewed. A laparoscopic IGFI navigation system was used to characterize fluorescence patterns of ICC with intraoperative liver segment demarcation by means of negative counterstaining. RESULTS: Fusion IGFI of ICC was successfully obtained from all 11 patients from the surgical specimens. The fluorescence patterns of ICC can be categorized into rim-type fluorescence and segmental fluorescence, depending on tumor growth. In eight patients, indocyanine green fluorescence imaging was used to identify the hepatic lobes or segments by negative counterstaining. In six cases, a valid and persistent demarcation was achieved intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic IGFI system could identify different types of ICC lesions and may facilitate real-time navigation for laparoscopic anatomic liver resection of ICC.

Implicit Attitudes About Agricultural and Aquatic Products From Fukushima Depend on Where Consumers Reside.

Japanese consumers are still hesitant to purchase products from Fukushima, although 7 years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and these products are officially considered safe. In this study, we examined whether Japanese consumers have negative implicit attitudes toward agricultural and aquatic products from the Fukushima region and whether these attitudes are independent of their explicit attitudes. Japanese students completed an implicit association test and a questionnaire to assess their implicit and explicit attitudes toward products from Fukushima relative to another region. The results of two experiments reliably demonstrated that the public has negative implicit attitudes toward Fukushima products, whereas their explicit attitudes are consistently positive. These observations predominantly held for participants living close to Fukushima (Tokyo) as opposed to participants living far away (Hiroshima): Experiment 1 (n = 40). Furthermore, individual differences in aversion to germs contributed to the implicit attitudes; the implicit negative attitudes were attenuated among the participants with a relatively low aversion to germs: Experiment 2 (n = 60). These results suggest that the implicit attitudes associated with the behavioral immune system, which is conceptualized as a suite of psychological mechanisms designed to proactively resist pathogenic threats, may underlie the hesitation to purchase products from Fukushima.

Effects of ethylene and NO on AsA-GSH in lotus under cadmium stress.

Under the background of Cd (50 µmol·L-1) stress, we added ethylene precursor ACC (100 µmol·L-1), ACC + nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NNA (200 µmol·L-1), ACC + nitrate reductase (NR) inhibitor Tu (1 mmol·L-1), ACC + nitric oxide (NO) scavenger PTIO (200 µmol·L-1), NO donor SNP (500 µmol·L-1), SNP + ethylene signal inhibitor STS (100 µmol·L-1) to examine their effects on the damage degree of leaves and response mechanisms of AsA-GSH cycle in lotus 'Weishanhuhonglian'. Results showed toxic symptom of lotus leaves under Cd stress. The relative conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as ascorbic acid (AsA) and glutathione (GSH) contents were significantly increased, but the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) were obviously decreased. Compared with Cd stress, adding ACC significantly increased the damage area of lotus leaves, decreased activities of the above-mentioned four antioxidant enzymes and increased AsA and GSH contents. SNP aggravated the toxic symptom of lotus leaves and decreased GR and MDHAR activities. PTIO significantly relieved the toxic symptom of leaves, increased activities of APX, GR, MDHAR and DHAR, but decreased AsA and GSH contents compared with Cd and ACC treatment. However, the effects of L-NNA and Tu were not as obvious as PTIO's. In comparison with Cd and SNP treatment, STS relieved the toxic symptom of leaves, increased APX, GR, MDHAR and DHAR activities, and decreased AsA and GSH contents. Taken together, these results showed the synergistic effects of ethylene and NO in regulating lotus responses to Cd stress through AsA-GSH cycle.

Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells induced by ethanol extracts of Solanum lyratum Thumb through the mitochondrial pathway.

AIM: To explore the induction effects and mechanism of Solanum lyratum Thumb (ST) on human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells through the mitochondrial pathway. METHODS: The experiments were conducted on three groups: an experimental group (with ST ethanol extracts' concentration being 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/L), a negative control group (with only nutrient solution, 0 mg/L ST ethanol extracts), and a positive control group (2.5 mg/L DDP). The inhibition rate of cell proliferation was checked by using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium method, and cell apoptosis was tested by TUNEL method. Furthermore, RT-PCR was used to examine mRNA expression of Fas, FasL, caspase-8, caspase-3, p53 and Bcl-2 genes. RESULTS: Compared with the negative control group, the inhibition and apoptosis rates of the experimental group with different concentrations of ST extracts on human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells significantly increased (P < 0.05). Besides, the mRNA expression of FasL and Bcl-2 significantly decreased (P < 0.05) while the mRNA expression of Fas, caspase-8, caspase-3 and p53 increased significantly. When compared with the positive control group, the experimental groups with 5 mg/L ST ethanol extracts showed effects similar to the positive control group. CONCLUSION: ST ethanol extracts induced the apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC-7721 cells through up-regulated Fas, caspase-8, caspse-3 and p53, and down-regulated FasL and Bcl-2 in the mitochondrial pathway.

[Raman and EDXRF Study on Overglaze Decorations of Jingdezhen Ceramics].

Overglaze decoration porcelain is an important category of ancient Chinese ceramics, which has significant artistic value and scientific value. Nondestructive analysis methods such as Raman spectroscopy and EDXRF were used to analyze the overglaze decorations on the Jingdezhen ceramic samples of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty. The recipe and color mechanism of the overglaze pigments were discussed according to the chemical composition and phase composition analysis. The study found that dark red overglaze decorations of ancient Honglvcai, Wucai and famille rose in Jingdezhen are colored by hematite, yellow color is lead tin yellow, carmine decoration is colored by gold less than 0. 1 % in concentration, and green decorations are colored by bivalent copper ion. The result also indicates that the effective combination of Raman spectroscopy and EDXRF can play an important role in the deep research on ceramic artifacts, especially for the overglaze decoration pigments which are interveined each other.

[Chemical composition and chromaticity characteristic of purple-gold glaze of Jingdezhen imperial kiln].

Color glaze is one of the four famous traditional ceramics of Jingdezhen, especially for the products from Ming and Qing Dynasties' official kilns which have rich connotation of technology and culture. The chemical composition and chromaticity characteristic of glaze and body of purple-gold glaze samples from Jingdezhen Ming and Qing Dynasties' official kilns were analyzed by energy dispersive X ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and colorimeter. Preliminary study on the composition, formula and chromaticity characteristic of glaze of purple-gold glaze samples of different period was carried out and the intrinsic causes of ifferences were discussed. The result shows that the concentration of magnesium and calcium in purple-gold glaze is different from the other glazes in Jingdezhen in the same time, probably due to the addition of auburn or brown limestone which is rich in magnesium. The purple-gold glaze sample of Ming Dynasty is darker chiefly because the concentration of magnesium and calcium is higher than the sample of Ming Dynasty which led to iron crystal separated, reducing the brightness and glossiness of glaze. In addition, the body of purple-gold glaze samples from Jingdezhen Ming and Qing Dynasties' official kilns has the characteristics of high silicon and low aluminum and the molar ratio of silicon to aluminum of samples from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty declined, showing that the concentration of kaolin of sample's body of Ming dynasty was increased. The result of this experiment fill deficiency in the ceramic science and technology research in our country about purple-gold glaze from Ming and Qing Dynasties' official kilns and provides scientific material for comprehensive understanding of porcelain marking technology and intrinsic value of Jingdezhen official kiln.

Repair of spinal cord injury by inhibition of astrocyte growth and inflammatory factor synthesis through local delivery of flavopiridol in PLGA nanoparticles.

The cell-cycle inhibitor flavopiridol has been shown to improve recovery from spinal cord injury in animal models. However, the systemic dose of flavopiridol has side-effects and the mechanism of action is not clear. This study aimed to develop a strategy for the local delivery of flavopiridol and investigate its mechanisms of action. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were used for the sustained delivery of flavopiridol. The spinal cord was right-hemisectioned and NPs were delivered into the injury site. Transparent spinal cord technology was used for the three-dimensional observation of anterograde tracing. The results showed that flavopiridol NPs had a sustained release of up to 3 days in vitro. Flavopiridol NPs significantly decreased inflammatory factor synthesis by astrocytes, including TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6, while the IL-10 expression was elevated. In vivo study demonstrated that flavopiridol NPs decreased cell-cycle activation, inflammatory expression and glial scarring, and facilitated neuronal survival and regeneration. The cavitation volume was decreased by ~90%. Administration of flavopiridol NPs also improved the motor recovery of injured animals. These findings demonstrated that local delivery of flavopiridol in PLGA NPs improves recovery from spinal cord injury by inhibiting astrocyte growth and inflammatory factor synthesis.

[Research on the composition characteristics of imitated Longquan celadon in Jingdezhen and Longquan celadon].

Longquan celadon not only has been loved widely by the domestic and international ceramic lovers, but also imitated by the kiln workers from different places. Among all of the imitated celadons, the most representative products appeared in Ming and Qing dynasties. This paper used EDXRF to test 38 pieces of Longquan celadon of Song, Yuan and Ming dynasty and imitated Longquan celadon in Jingdezhen of Ming dynasty, combined with firing temperature in order to analyze the different composition characteristics of the bodies and the glaze, evolution rule and formation reasons of these samples in the two different places from the views of time and space. It will be contributed to realising the evolution development, mutual communication and influence of the southern celadon and also provide a scientific basis to get the exact information of the celadon including its time and place of origin and so on.

Cerebrospinal fluid fetuin-A is a biomarker of active multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need for biomarkers in multiple sclerosis (MS) that can reliably measure ongoing disease activity relative to inflammation, neurodegeneration, and demyelination/remyelination. Fetuin-A was recently identified as a potential biomarker in MS cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Fetuin-A has diverse functions, including a role in immune pathways. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to investigate whether fetuin-A is a direct indicator of disease activity. METHODS: We measured fetuin-A in CSF and plasma of patients with MS and correlated these findings to clinical disease activity and natalizumab response. Fetuin-A expression was characterized in MS brain tissue and in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice. We also examined the pathogenic role of fetuin-A in EAE using fetuin-A-deficient mice. RESULTS: Elevated CSF fetuin-A correlated with disease activity in MS. In natalizumab-treated patients, CSF fetuin-A levels were reduced one year post-treatment, correlating with therapeutic response. Fetuin-A was markedly elevated in demyelinated lesions and in gray matter within MS brain tissue. Similarly, fetuin-A was elevated in degenerating neurons around demyelinated lesions in EAE. Fetuin-A-deficient mice demonstrated delayed onset and reduced severity of EAE symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that CSF fetuin-A is a biomarker of disease activity and natalizumab response in MS. Neuronal expression of fetuin-A suggests that fetuin-A may play a pathological role in the disease process.