A false positive serology test of SARS­CoV­2 in a patient with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia: A case report.

The serology test of SARS-CoV-2 is one of the critical assays to make a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The gold immunochromatography assay (GICA) is a common measure to test SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG and IgM. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay are ~>80%. It has been reported that the result of GICA could be compromised in various situations, such as auto-immune diseases, Kawasaki disease, pregnancy or other conditions. However, following the European Hematology Association's consensus statement on the management of Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) patients, serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 specific IgM should not be affected by the total IgM or paraprotein levels. The present study reports a patient with duplicate positive serology tests of SARS-CoV-2 which is hypothesized to be due to monoclonal IgM caused by WM.

Hybrid LPG-FBG Based High-Resolution Micro Bending Strain Sensor.

Sensitivity and reliability are essential factors for the practical implementation of a wearable sensor. This study explores the possibility of using a hybrid high-resolution Bragg grating sensor for achieving a fast response to dynamic, continuous motion and Bragg signal pattern monitoring measurement. The wavelength shift pattern for real-time monitoring in picometer units was derived by using femtosecond laser Bragg grating processing on an optical wave path with long-period grating. The possibility of measuring the demodulation system's Bragg signal pattern on the reflection spectrum of the femtosecond laser precision Bragg process and the long-period grating was confirmed. By demonstrating a practical method of wearing the sensor, the application of wearables was also explored. It is possible to present the applicability of sophisticated micro transformation measurement applications in picometer units.

Gastroprotective Activity of the Total Flavones from Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic Flowers.

BACKGROUND: Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic flower is a medicinal plant for the treatment of diseases in China. The present study was carried out to scientifically validate the gastroprotective activity and clarify the possible mechanism of the total flavones from Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic flower is a medicinal plant for the treatment of diseases in China. The present study was carried out to scientifically validate the gastroprotective activity and clarify the possible mechanism of the total flavones from. METHODS: Gastric ulcer was induced in mice by oral administration of ethanol. The gastroprotective activity of TFA was evaluated by the gastric ulcer index and histological examinations. The gastric tissue was collected in the form of homogenate. The level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH), the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and protein content were measured. Western blotting for the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, TNF-α, and NF-κB(p65) was also carried out. The effect of TFA was compared with that of standard antiulcer drug omeprazole (100 mg/kg). RESULTS: This gastroprotective effect of TFA could be attributed to the increase in the activity of SOD and GSH and decrease in the levels of MDA and also decrease in the levels of Bax, TNF-α, and NF-κB(p65) was also carried out. The effect of TFA was compared with that of standard antiulcer drug omeprazole (100 mg/kg). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrated that TFA could significantly attenuate ethanol-induced gastric injury via antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects.

Comparative physiology and transcriptome analysis allows for identification of lncRNAs imparting tolerance to drought stress in autotetraploid cassava.

BACKGROUND: Polyploidization, pervasive among higher plant species, enhances adaptation to water deficit, but the physiological and molecular advantages need to be investigated widely. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in drought tolerance in various crops. RESULTS: Herein, we demonstrate that tetraploidy potentiates tolerance to drought stress in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Autotetraploidy reduces transpiration by lesser extent increasing of stomatal density, smaller stomatal aperture size, or greater stomatal closure, and reducing accumulation of H2O2 under drought stress. Transcriptome analysis of autotetraploid samples revealed down-regulation of genes involved in photosynthesis under drought stress, and less down-regulation of subtilisin-like proteases involved in increasing stomatal density. UDP-glucosyltransferases were increased more or reduced less in dehydrated leaves of autotetraploids compared with controls. Strand-specific RNA-seq data (validated by quantitative real time PCR) identified 2372 lncRNAs, and 86 autotetraploid-specific lncRNAs were differentially expressed in stressed leaves. The co-expressed network analysis indicated that LNC_001148 and LNC_000160 in autotetraploid dehydrated leaves regulated six genes encoding subtilisin-like protease above mentioned, thereby result in increasing the stomatal density to a lesser extent in autotetraploid cassava. Trans-regulatory network analysis suggested that autotetraploid-specific differentially expressed lncRNAs were associated with galactose metabolism, pentose phosphate pathway and brassinosteroid biosynthesis, etc. CONCLUSION: Tetraploidy potentiates tolerance to drought stress in cassava, and LNC_001148 and LNC_000160 mediate drought tolerance by regulating stomatal density in autotetraploid cassava.

Anti-influenza activity of berberine improves prognosis by reducing viral replication in mice.

Berberine, a natural isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the berberis species, has a wide array of biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and antihelminthic effects. We evaluated the antiviral effect of berberine against influenza A/FM1/1/47 (H1N1) in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that berberine strongly suppressed viral replication in A549 cells and in mouse lungs. Meanwhile, berberine relieved pulmonary inflammation and reduced necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and pulmonary edema induced by viral infection in mice when compared with vehicle-treated mice. Berberine suppressed the viral infection-induced up-regulation of TLR7 signaling pathway, such as TLR7, MyD88, and NF-κB (p65), at both the mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, berberine significantly inhibited the viral infection-induced increase in Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg ratios as well as the production of inflammatory cytokines. Our data provide new insight into the potential of berberine as a therapeutic agent for viral infection via its antiviral activity.

Induction of apomixis by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and genetic identification of apomictic plants in cassava.

Apomixis, or asexual seed formation, is of great value for plant breeding and seed production, and is desirable in modern agriculture, but natural apomixis occurs in cassava at very low frequency. In present study, apomixis was induced by the treatments of female flower buds with 1%, 1.5% and 2% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and the results showed that 1.5% DMSO treatment was most effective for the induction of apomictic seed formation in cassava cultivar SC5 with the highest percentages of fruit set and true apomictic seeds. The germinated seedlings resembled their parents and displayed no morphological characteristics of cassava polyploid. Flow cytometry and chromosome counting showed that these plants were uniform diploids. Analysis of 34 DMSO-induced cassava progenies by the expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers showed that three true apomictic seeds were obtained from the group of SC5 treated with 1.5% DMSO.

Rapid Diagnosis of Soybean Seedling Blight Caused by Rhizoctonia solani and Soybean Charcoal Rot Caused by Macrophomina phaseolina Using LAMP Assays.

A new method of direct detection of pathogenic fungi in infected soybean tissues has been reported here. The method rapidly diagnoses soybean seedling blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani and soybean charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, and features loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The primers were designed and screened using internal transcribed spacers (ITS) as target DNAs of both pathogens. An ITS-Rs-LAMP assay for R. solani and an ITS-Mp-LAMP assay for M. phaseolina that can detect the pathogen in diseased soybean tissues in the field have been developed. Both LAMP assays efficiently amplified the target genes over 60 min at 62°C. A yellow-green color (visible to the naked eye) or intense green fluorescence (visible under ultraviolet light) was only observed in the presence of R. solani or M. phaseolina after addition of SYBR Green I. The detection limit of the ITS-Rs-LAMP assay was 10 pg µl⁻¹ of genomic DNA; and that of the ITS-Mp-LAMP assay was 100 pg µl⁻¹ of genomic DNA. Using the two assays described here, we successfully and rapidly diagnosed suspect diseased soybean samples collected in the field from Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.

Effects of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α silencing on drug resistance of human pancreatic cancer cell line Patu8988/5-Fu.

The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism and the possible approaches of solving drug resistance by silencing hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha of human pancreatic cancer cell line Patu8988/5-Fu cultured in hypoxia. The effective jamming fragment screened by RT-PCR for silencing HIF-1α gene was transfected into pancreatic cancer cells Patu8988/5-Fu through lentivirus. RT-PCR results showed that the effective jamming fragments for HIF-1α in lentivirus transfection was Wtl-mus-1202(C546). Combined MTT with JC-1 fluorescence staining flow cytometric analysis, the concentration of 200 µmol/L CoCl2 for 8 h was chosen to mimic hypoxia cell environment. The drug resistance significantly enhanced in response to hypoxia in Patu8988/5-Fu (p<0.05), and silence HIF-1α could reverse the multidrug resistance (P<0.05). In the Patu8988/5-Fu cells, HIF-1α and MDR1 significantly increased in response to hypoxia (p<0.05). The inhibition of HIF-1α expression synergistically downregulated the expression of the MDR1 gene in Patu8988/5-Fu cells (p<0.05). HIF-1α expression was positively correlated with the MDR1 expression (p<0.05). The upregulation of the HIF-1α and MDR1 gene expression caused by hypoxia was related with the generation of multi-drug resistance of Patu8988/5-Fu, targeted silencing HIF-1α may be a kind of way to reverse the chemotherapy drug resistance.

[Necroptosis: a programmed cell necrosis].

Cell death is one of the basic life properties. A new type of cell death named necroptosis was discovered and became increasingly noticed attention in recent years. Necroptosis has similar morphological characteristics with cell necrosis and is controlled by special signal pathways. The interaction of the receptor interacting protein 1 (RIP1) and 3 (RIP3) plays a crucial important role in the necroptosis signal pathway. The RIP1 determines whether a cell goes survival and death, and the RIP3 determines the pathway of cell death apoptosis or necrosis. This paper summarizes the knowledge about the necroptosis signal pathways and explores its significance in the organ ischemic injury, inflammation and tumor pathogenesis briefly.

The directed differentiation of human iPS cells into kidney podocytes.

The loss of glomerular podocytes is a key event in the progression of chronic kidney disease resulting in proteinuria and declining function. Podocytes are slow cycling cells that are considered terminally differentiated. Here we provide the first report of the directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to generate kidney cells with podocyte features. The iPS-derived podocytes share a morphological phenotype analogous with cultured human podocytes. Following 10 days of directed differentiation, iPS podocytes had an up-regulated expression of mRNA and protein localization for podocyte markers including synaptopodin, nephrin and Wilm's tumour protein (WT1), combined with a down-regulation of the stem cell marker OCT3/4. In contrast to human podocytes that become quiescent in culture, iPS-derived cells maintain a proliferative capacity suggestive of a more immature phenotype. The transduction of iPS podocytes with fluorescent labeled-talin that were immunostained with podocin showed a cytoplasmic contractile response to angiotensin II (AII). A permeability assay provided functional evidence of albumin uptake in the cytoplasm of iPS podocytes comparable to human podocytes. Moreover, labeled iPS-derived podocytes were found to integrate into reaggregated metanephric kidney explants where they incorporated into developing glomeruli and co-expressed WT1. This study establishes the differentiation of iPS cells to kidney podocytes that will be useful for screening new treatments, understanding podocyte pathogenesis, and offering possibilities for regenerative medicine.

[Progress in study on organic anion transporters].

Organic anion transporters (OATs) belong to a family of poly-specific transporters mainly located in barrier epithelia such as renal proximal tubule, brain, liver and placenta. OATs interact with endogenous metabolic end products such as urate and acidic neutrotransmitter metabolites, as well as with a multitude of widely used drugs, including antibiotics, diuretics, antihypertensives and anti-inflammatory drugs. Thereby, OATs play an important role in renal drug elimination and have an impact on pharmacokinetics. This review summarizes current knowledge of the properties and functional roles of the cloned OAT family members detailed in tissue differences in expression and physiologic function, drug-drug interactions, and finally, gender-dependent regulation in health and diseased states.

Collaborative sensing in a distributed PTZ camera network.

The performance of dynamic scene algorithms often suffers because of the inability to effectively acquire features on the targets, particularly when they are distributed over a wide field of view. In this paper, we propose an integrated analysis and control framework for a pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) camera network in order to maximize various scene understanding performance criteria (e.g., tracking accuracy, best shot, and image resolution) through dynamic camera-to-target assignment and efficient feature acquisition. Moreover, we consider the situation where processing is distributed across the network since it is often unrealistic to have all the image data at a central location. In such situations, the cameras, although autonomous, must collaborate among themselves because each camera's PTZ parameter entails constraints on the others. Motivated by recent work in cooperative control of sensor networks, we propose a distributed optimization strategy, which can be modeled as a game involving the cameras and targets. The cameras gain by reducing the error covariance of the tracked targets or through higher resolution feature acquisition, which, however, comes at the risk of losing the dynamic target. Through the optimization of this reward-versus-risk tradeoff, we are able to control the PTZ parameters of the cameras and assign them to targets dynamically. The tracks, upon which the control algorithm is dependent, are obtained through a consensus estimation algorithm whereby cameras can arrive at a consensus on the state of each target through a negotiation strategy. We analyze the performance of this collaborative sensing strategy in active camera networks in a simulation environment, as well as a real-life camera network.

Neural differentiation of patient specific iPS cells as a novel approach to study the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis.

The recent introduction of technologies capable of reprogramming human somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells offers a unique opportunity to study many aspects of neurodegenerative diseases in vitro that could ultimately lead to novel drug development and testing. Here, we report for the first time that human dermal fibroblasts from a patient with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were reprogrammed to pluripotency by retroviral transduction using defined factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC). The MSiPS cell lines resembled human embryonic stem (hES) cell-like colonies in morphology and gene expression and exhibited silencing of the retroviral transgenes after four passages. MSiPS cells formed embryoid bodies that expressed markers of all three germ layers by immunostaining and Reverse Transcriptase (RT)-PCR. The injection of undifferentiated iPS cell colonies into immunodeficient mice formed teratomas, thereby demonstrating pluripotency. The MSiPS cells were successfully differentiated into mature astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons with normal karyotypes. Although MSiPS-derived neurons displayed some differences in their electrophysiological characteristics as compared to the control cell line, they exhibit properties of functional neurons, with robust resting membrane potentials, large fast tetrodotoxin-sensitive action potentials and voltage-gated sodium currents. This study provides for the first time proof of concept that disease cell lines derived from skin cells obtained from an MS patient can be generated and successfully differentiated into mature neural lineages. This represents an important step in a novel approach for the study of MS pathophysiology and potential drug discovery.

[The protective effect of nerve growth factor on PC12 cells to lipopolysaccharide injury].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injury and activation of nuclear factor-kappa B in PC12 cells. METHODS: In order to set injury models, the PC12 cells were incubated in different concentration of LPS. Cells were cultured in the culture and were reduced by LPS, and then cells were treated by NGF of various concentrations. The cell viability was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, cellular morphology was observed under inverted microscope and fluorescence microscope, and the content of NF-kappaB was assessed by RT-PCR. RESULTS: (1) The viability of PC12 cell was decreased with concentration of LPS increasing. (2) The cellular morphology change showed that NGF had an ability to reduce LPS injury. (3) The result of RT-PCR showed that the content of NF-kappaB in LPS injury was more than the normal and treated cell, and the treated one was close to the normal one. CONCLUSION: The reports about NGF in brain cells repair after inflammatory are very small. And our study is about that NGF can protect the PC12 cell from LPS injury, and this mechanism possible bears on the activation of NF-kappaB.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human kidney mesangial cells.

Glomerular injury and podocyte loss leads to secondary tubulointerstitial damage and the development of fibrosis. The possibility of genetically reprogramming adult cells, termed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), may pave the way for patient-specific stem-cell-based therapies. Here, we reprogrammed normal human mesangial cells to pluripotency by retroviral transduction using defined factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-Myc). The kidney iPS (kiPS) cells resembled human embryonic stem-cell-like colonies in morphology and gene expression: They were alkaline phosphatase-positive; expressed OCT3/4, TRA-1 to 60 and TRA-1 to 81 proteins; and showed downregulation of mesangial cell markers. Quantitative (qPCR) showed that kiPS cells expressed genes analogous to embryonic stem cells and exhibited silencing of the retroviral transgenes by the fourth passage of differentiation. Furthermore, kiPS cells formed embryoid bodies and expressed markers of all three germ layers. The injection of undifferentiated kiPS colonies into immunodeficient mice formed teratomas, thereby demonstrating pluripotency. These results suggest that reprogrammed kidney induced pluripotent stem cells may aid the study of genetic kidney diseases and lead to the development of novel therapies.

Can (18)F-FDG PET/CT predict recurrence in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma?

UNLABELLED: The AIM of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) lesions by (18)F-FDG positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (PET/CT) in terms of recurrence. PATIENTS, METHODS: 37 CMM patients (17 men, mean age: 61.7 ± 13.6 years) that underwent PET/CT at presentation were enrolled in this study. Recurrence was determined by histological confirmation or by radiological and clinical follow-up for at least 8 months after curative surgery. Clinical variables such as age, sex, clinical stage, and primary lesion location, thickness, and ulceration, and SUVmax values were analyzed with respect to their usefulness for predicting recurrence. RESULTS: SUVmax was found to be significantly higher in patients with ulceration of primary lesion of CMM (p = 0.004) and in patients with a stage ≥ III (p < 0.000). Patients that experience recurrence had a significantly higher mean SUVmax value (4.9 ± 2.9) than patients who did not (2.1 ± 1.5, p = 0.024). ROC analysis showed that a SUVmax cut-off value 2.2 had high sensitivity (88.9%) and specificity (67.9%) for predicting recurrence. Kaplan-Meier analysis identified ulceration of primary lesion (p = 0.034), stage ≥ III (p = 0.019) and SUVmax ≥ 2.2 (p = 0.002) as predictors of recurrence. However, Cox proportional-hazards analysis showed that only SUVmax (p = 0.025, relative risk 11.063) significantly predicted recurrence. CONCLUSION: Preoperative SUVmax of primary lesion was found to be the most potent predictor of recurrence in CMM patient. Patients with high SUV max of primary lesion should be followed meticulously for recurrence.

Reconstruction of posterior lumbar defects in oncologic patients using two island flaps of the back in series.

Reconstruction of the large lumbar defect is a challenge for plastic surgeons. We report our experience with the reverse latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap for the coverage of large lumbar wounds in 2 oncologic patients. Meanwhile, a pedicled ascending scapular flap was used to aid the donor closure of the musculocutaneous flap. This allows for easy closure of both the donor sites and reduces the donor site morbidity to the minimum. The procedure is highly reliable, and in our opinion, the first option in reconstruction of large lumbar defects, particularly when a large surface coverage is needed.

Tracking and activity recognition through consensus in distributed camera networks.

Camera networks are being deployed for various applications like security and surveillance, disaster response and environmental modeling. However, there is little automated processing of the data. Moreover, most methods for multicamera analysis are centralized schemes that require the data to be present at a central server. In many applications, this is prohibitively expensive, both technically and economically. In this paper, we investigate distributed scene analysis algorithms by leveraging upon concepts of consensus that have been studied in the context of multiagent systems, but have had little applications in video analysis. Each camera estimates certain parameters based upon its own sensed data which is then shared locally with the neighboring cameras in an iterative fashion, and a final estimate is arrived at in the network using consensus algorithms. We specifically focus on two basic problems-tracking and activity recognition. For multitarget tracking in a distributed camera network, we show how the Kalman-Consensus algorithm can be adapted to take into account the directional nature of video sensors and the network topology. For the activity recognition problem, we derive a probabilistic consensus scheme that combines the similarity scores of neighboring cameras to come up with a probability for each action at the network level. Thorough experimental results are shown on real data along with a quantitative analysis.

N-[2-(2-Chloro-phen-yl)-2-hydroxy-ethyl]propan-2-aminium chloride.

In the title compound, C(11)H(17)ClNO(+)·Cl(-), the side chain of the ethyl-amine group is orientated approximately perpendicular to the benzene ring, the dihedral angle between the C/C/N plane of the ethyl-amine group and the benzene plane being 83.5 (3)°. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular O-H⋯Cl and N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds are observed. The crystal studied was an inversion twin with a 0.51 (10):0.49 (10) domain ratio.