Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry-Based Untargeted Metabolomics Reveals the Key Potential Biomarkers for Castor Meal-Induced Enteritis in Juvenile Hybrid Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀ × E. lanceolatus♂).

The intensification of aquaculture to help kerb global food security issues has led to the quest for more economical new protein-rich ingredients for the feed-based aquaculture since fishmeal (FM, the ingredient with the finest protein and lipid profile) is losing its acceptability due to high cost and demand. Although very high in protein, castor meal (CM), a by-product after oil-extraction, is disposed-off due to the high presence of toxins. Concurrently, the agro-industrial wastes' consistent production and disposal are of utmost concern; however, having better nutritional profiles of these wastes can lead to their adoption. This study was conducted to identify potential biomarkers of CM-induced enteritis in juvenile hybrid-grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀ × Epinephelus lanceolatus♂) using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) alongside their growth and distal intestinal (DI) health evaluation. A total of 360 fish (initial weight = 9.13 ± 0.01g) were randomly assigned into three groups, namely, fish-meal (FM) (control), 4% CM (CM4), and 20% CM (CM20). After the 56-days feeding-trial, the DI tissues of FM, CM4, and CM20 groups were collected for metabolomics analysis. Principal components analysis and partial least-squares discriminant-analysis (PLS-DA, used to differentiate the CM20 and CM4, from the FM group with satisfactory explanation and predictive ability) were used to analyze the UPLC-MS data. The results revealed a significant improvement in the growth, DI immune responses and digestive enzyme activities, and DI histological examinations in the CM4 group than the others. Nonetheless, CM20 replacement caused DI physiological damage and enteritis in grouper as shown by AB-PAS staining and scanning electron microscopy examinations, respectively. The most influential metabolites in DI contents identified as the potential biomarkers in the positive and negative modes using the metabolomics UPLC-MS profiles were 28 which included five organoheterocyclic compounds, seven lipids, and lipid-like molecules, seven organic oxygen compounds, two benzenoids, five organic acids and derivatives, one phenylpropanoids and polyketides, and one from nucleosides, nucleotides, and analogues superclass. The present study identified a broad array of DI tissue metabolites that differed between FM and CM diets, which provides a valuable reference for further managing fish intestinal health issues. A replacement level of 4% is recommended based on the growth and immunity of fish.

Influence of different oil sources on growth, disease resistance, immune response and immune-related gene expression on the hybrid grouper (♀ Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × â™‚ E. lanceolatu), to Vibrio parahaemolyticus challenge.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding alternative dietary oils to hybrid grouper fish (♀Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × â™‚E. lanceolatu) on their growth, histological morphology of hepatocytes, disease resistance, immune response, and expression of immune-related genes. Seven experimental fish meal-based isonitrogenous and isolipidic diets were formulated containing 5% fish oil (FO; acting as controls) and various vegetable oils (VOs): corn oil (CO), sunflower oil (SO), tea oil (TO), olive oil (OO), rice oil (RO), and mixed oil (MO); comprising equal amounts of these oils). Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of 40 fish (initial mean body weight ± standard error = 15.09 ± 0.01 g) for eight weeks. The results show that 1) alternative dietary oils had no significant effects on weight gain rate, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and survival rate compared with controls (P > 0.05). The weight gain rate (WGR) and specific growth rate (SGR) of the SO group were lower than in the CO and OO groups. 2) These were no differences in morphological indexes among groups; except for the CO group, in which the condition factor and hepatosomatic index were lower than those in other groups. 3) Compared with controls, the whole-body moisture and crude protein contents in the VO groups were higher, while their crude lipid contents were lower. 4) The fatty acid contents in liver and muscle were affected by lipid type, and the contents of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in liver and muscle in the VO groups were markedly lower than in controls. 5) Compared with control group, VO groups damaged the histological morphology of hepatocytes. 6) After a challenge with the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterium, there were no differences in mortality among groups. However, VO enhanced the activity of non-specific immune enzymes while down-regulating the expression of Nrf2 and inducing the expression of pro-inflammatory factors (IL1ß, TNFα, TLR22, and MyD88) in the kidney. It can be concluded that dietary VO substitution does not affect the growth of fish but damaged the histological morphology of hepatocytes and induced the expression of pro-inflammatory factors in tissues. Finally, OO and CO were recommended as the appropriate lipid replacement for FO.

Entanglement optimization of filtered output fields in cavity optomechanics.

Output entanglement is a key element in quantum information processing. Here, we show how to obtain optimal entanglement between two filtered output fields in a three-mode optomechanical system. First, we obtain the key analytical expression of optimal time delay between the two filtered output fields, from which we can obtain the optimal coupling for output entanglement without time delay. In this case, our linearized analysis predicts that the entanglement saturates to an optimal value as the optomechanical coupling is increased. Furthermore, we obtain the optimal output entanglement with time delay. These results should be very helpful in conceiving new optomechanical schemes of quantum information processing with their efficiency depending critically on the degree of output entanglement.

Recurrence of Giant Cell Tumor of the Spine after Resection: A Report of 10 Cases.

OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical details and further treatments for recurrent spinal giant cell tumors (SGCT), and to analyze the risk factors of recurrence and shed new light on the treatment options and prognosis of recurrent SGCT. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of recurrent SGCT between April 2003 and January 2014 was performed. A total of 10 patients comprising 3 men and 7 women with a mean age of 28.9 years (range, 21-40 years) were included in the study. All complete clinical data, radiographs, CT, MRI, scans and pathological data were reviewed. The tumor locations and the regions involved were evaluated by CT and MRI. The blood supply of the tumors was evaluated by enhanced CT and MRI. The mean follow-up was 81.3 months (range, 35.7-172.1 months). RESULTS: All patients had Enneking stage 3 tumors; 9 (90%) of them had different extents of spinal canal involvement in the primary time period. All patients underwent intralesional resection during their first surgery. Only 1 patient received local adjuvant treatments; no patient underwent selective arterial embolization or used denosumab at that time. Only 1 patient underwent adjuvant radiotherapy postoperatively, and another patient used bisphosphonates. After recurrence, 1 patient was cured using denosumab, and 2 patients' disease was controlled through use of other medical treatments or adjuvant treatments. There were 3 repeated recurrences and 7 repeated surgical procedures were performed in 5 patients. There were 6 intralesional excisions and 1 decompression surgery. The mean relapse-free time after the first surgery was 32.3 months (range, 10.5-62.6 months). The overall mean relapse-free time was 40.2 months (range, 10.5-157 months). No distant metastasis was found in our series. At the final follow-up, 4 patients were disease free, 3 patients' disease was under control, 2 has progressive disease aggravation, while 1 patient died as a result of progression of disease 133.9 months after first surgery. CONCLUSION: Intralesional excision for recurrent spinal giant cell tumors is an effective option that may have satisfactory prognosis. However, the excision and the inactivation of the lesion should be carried out carefully and thoroughly without missing any corners. Early diagnosis of recurrence may be associated with better prognosis. Adjuvant treatments perioperatively and systemic medical treatments can decrease recurrence rates and can have therapeutic effects in the recurrent SGCT.

Prevalence and Related Factors for Myopia in School-Aged Children in Qingdao.

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence and related factors for myopia in school-aged children in the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Qingdao, Eastern China. METHODS: A total of 4890 (aged 10 to 15 years) students were initially enrolled in this study. 3753 (76.75%) students with completed refractive error and questionnaire data were analyzed. The children underwent a comprehensive eye examination. Multiple logistic regression models were applied to assess possible factors associated with myopia. RESULTS: The prevalence of myopia increased as the children's grade increased (χ2 = 560.584, P < 0.001). Low myopia was the main form of myopia in adolescent students (30.22%). With the growth of age, students spent significantly more time on near work (P = 0.03) and less time on outdoor activity (P < 0.001). In multivariate models, only the following variables were significantly associated with myopia: age, two myopic parents, outdoor activity time, and continuous near work without 5 min rest. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of myopia increased as the grade increased. Age, two myopic parents, and continuous near work time without 5 min rest were risk factors for myopia. Outdoor activities had protective effect for myopia.

Open Surgery for Osteoid Osteoma with Three Dimensional C-arm Scan under the Guidance of Computer Navigation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of open surgery for osteoid osteoma with three-dimensional (3-D) C-arm scan under the guidance of computer navigation. METHODS: The clinical data of 14 patients who had undergone 3-D C-arm scan under the guidance of computer navigation during open surgery for osteoid osteoma from March 2012 to June 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. There were nine male and five female subjects aged from 9 to 55 years (mean, 26 years). Eight of the tumors were located in the femur, four in the tibia, one in the humerus and one in the scapula. Preoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) scores ranged from 2 to 6 (mean ± SD, 4.7 ± 1.1). Conventional surgical approaches were used to expose the tumor surfaces depending on their locations. Involved regions were scanned by 3-D C-arm fluoroscopy during the procedure and then the tumors were accurately located and their niduses removed under the guidance of computer navigation. Afterwards, repeat 3-D C-arm scans of the surgical region were performed to confirm tumor eradication. None of the patients received postoperative intravenous analgesia. Eight patients received oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the day of surgery, these drugs being discontinued on the second postoperative day. Postoperative pathological diagnoses were recorded. At the follow-up visits, imaging and VAS scores were obtained to evaluate the therapeutic effect and any evidence of recurrence. RESULTS: All the patients successfully underwent computer navigation-guided surgery. The duration of surgery ranged from 60 to 135 min (mean, 94 min) and the amount of bleeding from 50 to 150 mL (mean, 80 mL). None of the patients needed bone grafting or internal fixation. No complications were seen. All patients were followed up for 4 to 36 months (mean, 16 months). Postoperative pathological diagnoses of osteoid osteoma were made in 12 patients; thus, the rate of pathologically confirmed diagnosis was 86%. VAS scores decrease to an average of 1.4 ± 0.6 3 days after surgery and were zero for all patients 4 months after surgery. No tumor recurrence was found by X-ray or CT scan examination during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The niduses of osteoid osteomas can be eradicated by open surgery with 3-D C-arm scan under the guidance of computer navigation with minimal damage to bone structure and a high rate of pathologically confirmed diagnoses.

Clinical and Radiographic Results of Reconstruction with Fibular Autograft for Distal Radius Giant Cell Tumor.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the result of en bloc resection and reconstruction of the distal radius with a non-vascularized fibular autograft for giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone. METHODS: Between 2005 and 2015, 12 eligible patients (seven males, five females, mean age 31.3 years) with grade III GCT of the distal radius were treated by en bloc resection and reconstruction with non-vascularized proximal fibular autografts in four Chinese institutions (members of Giant Cell Tumor Team of China). The patients had a clinical and radiographic review every 6 months for the first 2 years then annually thereafter. The functional, oncologic and radiological outcomes of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean duration of follow-up was 39.6 months. Bony union was achieved in all cases. None of the patients were dissatisfied with the shape and appearance of the wrist. The mean MSTS score was 25.23 ± 2.38 (range, 22-29). The mean DASH score was 13.0 (range, 6.7-33.3). The average range of motion of the wrist was: 35.8° ± 14.5° of extension, 14.0° ± 8.4° of flexion, 15.5° ± 6.7° of radial deviation, 19.4° ± 10.1° of ulnar deviation, 57.2° ±18.9° of pronation and 44.0° ± 24.8° of supination. The average percentage of grip strength was 55.2% ± 29.0% compared with that of the contralateral side. One localized soft tissue recurrence occurred; it was successfully managed by excision. Lung metastases developed postoperatively in one case and were treated by gamma knife radiotherapy. There was radiographic evidence of radiocarpal arthritis in eleven patients, bone resorption in ten, distal radioulnar joint diastasis in six, ulnar deviation of the wrist in seven, subluxation of the carpal bone in three and dislocation of the carpal bone in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Reconstruction with a non-vascularized proximal fibular autograft is a reasonable option after en bloc resection of the distal radius for giant cell tumor of bone.

[Factors related to therapeutic outcomes of intravenous thrombolysis in stroke patients with different severity].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors related to therapeutic outcomes of intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) of different severity. METHODS: Clinical data of patients with AIS treated with intravenous thrombolysis in the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine between June 2009 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. According to National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), patients were categorized as mild stroke (≤8, n=134), moderate stroke (9-15, n=121) and severe stroke(≥16, n=110). The good outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale ≤ 2. The factors related to functional outcomes and hemorrhagic transformation (HT) were analyzed and compared among 3 groups. RESULTS: Among 365 enrolled patients, good outcomes in 3 groups were 78.4% (105/134), 47.9% (58/121) and 24.5%(27/110), respectively. In patients with mild stroke, age (OR=0.937, 95%CI: 0.898-0.978; P=0.003), baseline NIHSS (OR=0.732, 95%CI:0.564-0.950; P=0.019), onset to needle time (ONT) within 270 min (OR=4.109, 95%CI:1.441-11.719; P=0.008) independently predicted good outcome, while baseline glucose (OR=1.326, 95%CI:1.009-1.743; P=0.043) was independently associated with parenchymal hematoma (PH). In patients with moderate stroke, age (OR=0.954, 95%CI: 0.924-0.984; P=0.003) and baseline NIHSS (OR=0.760, 95%CI: 0.619-0.933; P=0.009) independently predicted good outcome, while atrial fibrillation (OR=3.307, 95%CI: 1.140~9.596; P=0.028) and systolic pressure (OR=0.967, 95%CI: 0.943~0.991; P=0.008) was independently associated with hemorrhagic infaction. Atrial fibrillation (OR=36.972, 95%CI: 1.770-772.462; P=0.02) was independently associated with PH. In patients with severe stroke, baseline NIHSS (OR=0.808, 95%CI:0.677-0.963; P=0.018) independently predicted good outcome, while no independent risk factors of HT was found. CONCLUSION: For different severity of AIS patients, the related factors of functional outcome and HT after thrombolysis were different.

Cancer prediction based on radical basis function neural network with particle swarm optimization.

This paper addresses cancer prediction based on radial basis function neural network optimized by particle swarm optimization. Today, cancer hazard to people is increasing, and it is often difficult to cure cancer. The occurrence of cancer can be predicted by the method of the computer so that people can take timely and effective measures to prevent the occurrence of cancer. In this paper, the occurrence of cancer is predicted by the means of Radial Basis Function Neural Network Optimized by Particle Swarm Optimization. The neural network parameters to be optimized include the weight vector between network hidden layer and output layer, and the threshold of output layer neurons. The experimental data were obtained from the Wisconsin breast cancer database. A total of 12 experiments were done by setting 12 different sets of experimental result reliability. The findings show that the method can improve the accuracy, reliability and stability of cancer prediction greatly and effectively.

Coherent perfect absorption, transmission, and synthesis in a double-cavity optomechanical system.

We study a double-cavity optomechanical system in which a movable mirror with perfect reflection is inserted between two fixed mirrors with partial transmission. This optomechanical system is driven from both fixed end mirrors in a symmetric scheme by two strong coupling fields and two weak probe fields. We find that three interesting phenomena: coherent perfect absorption (CPA), coherent perfect transmission (CPT), and coherent perfect synthesis (CPS) can be attained within different parameter regimes. That is, we can make two input probe fields totally absorbed by the movable mirror without yielding any energy output from either end mirror (CPA); make an input probe field transmitted from one end mirror to the other end mirror without suffering any energy loss in the two cavities (CPT); make two input probe fields synthesized into one output probe field after undergoing either a perfect transmission or a perfect reflection (CPS). These interesting phenomena originate from the efficient hybrid coupling of optical and mechanical modes and may be all-optically controlled to realize novel photonic devices in quantum information networks.

Enhanced anticancer effect of gemcitabine by genistein in osteosarcoma: the role of Akt and nuclear factor-kappaB.

Genistein, a nontoxic flavonoid compound, has potent antitumor activity in various cancer cell lines. This study was designed to investigate whether combination therapy with gemcitabine and genistein enhances antitumor efficacy in osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63 and U2OS). Our results show that significant reduction in cell viability and corresponding induction of apoptosis were observed with combination treatment in both cell lines. On the molecular level, we found that gemcitabine alone can activate nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in osteosarcoma, suggesting the potential mechanism of acquired chemoresistance. In contrast, genistein reversed the cancer's resistance to gemcitabine through the downregulation of NF-kappaB activity and the suppression of Akt. These findings suggest that the combination of gemcitabine and genistein enhanced the antitumor efficacy by abrogating the Akt/NF-kappaB pathway. The marked ability to induce apoptosis with a combination of gemcitabine and genistein suggests that this could be a rational and novel approach for osteosarcoma preclinical and clinical trials.

Caspase-8 dependent osteosarcoma cell apoptosis induced by proteasome inhibitor MG132.

Many researchers have reported that proteasome inhibitors could induce apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells, such as breast cancer cell, lung cancer cell, and lymphoma cell. However, the effect of proteasome inhibitors on osteocsarcoma cells and the mechanisms are seldom studied. In this study, we found proteasome inhibitor MG132 was an effective inducer of apoptosis in human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells. On normal human diploid fibroblast cells, MG132 did not show any apoptosis-inducing effects. Apoptotic changes such as DNA fragment and apoptotic body were observed in MG132-treated cells and MG132 mostly caused MG-63 cell arrest at G(2)-M-phase by cell cycle analysis. Increased activation of caspase-8, accumulation of p27(Kip1), and an increased ratio of Bax:Bcl-2 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were not observed. This suggests that the apoptosis induced by MG132 in MG63 cells is caspase-8 dependent, p27 and bcl-2 family related.