Oncological features and prognosis of colorectal cancer in human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Due to the prolonged life expectancy and increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, the prognosis and pathological features of CRC in HIV-positive patients require examination. AIM: To compare the differences in oncological features, surgical safety, and prognosis between patients with and without HIV infection who have CRC at the same tumor stage and site. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we collected data from HIV-positive and -negative patients who underwent radical resection for CRC. Using random stratified sampling, 24 HIV-positive and 363 HIV-negative patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma after radical resection were selected. Using propensity score matching, we selected 72 patients, matched 1:2 (HIV-positive:negative = 24:48). Differences in basic characteristics, HIV acquisition, perioperative serological indicators, surgical safety, oncological features, and long-term prognosis were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Fewer patients with HIV infection underwent chemotherapy compared to patients without. HIV-positive patients had fewer preoperative and postoperative leukocytes, fewer preoperative lymphocytes, lower carcinoembryonic antigen levels, more intraoperative blood loss, more metastatic lymph nodes, higher node stage, higher tumor node metastasis stage, shorter overall survival, and shorter progression-free survival compared to patients who were HIV-negative. CONCLUSION: Compared with CRC patients who are HIV-negative, patients with HIV infection have more metastatic lymph nodes and worse long-term survival after surgery. Standard treatment options for HIV-positive patients with CRC should be explored.

Carrimycin in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia combined with pulmonary tuberculosis: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is prevalent in immunocompromised populations, including patients with hematologic malignancies, human immunodeficiency virus infections, and chronic diseases. Effective treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) combined with PTB is lacking. These patients show an extremely poor prognosis. Therefore, studies should establish efficient treatment options to improve patient survival and prognosis. CASE SUMMARY: A 60-year-old male with pain in the right side of his chest and a fever for 4 d visited the outpatient department of our hospital. Peripheral blood smear revealed 54% blasts. Following bone marrow examinations, variant APL with TNRC18-RARA fusion gene was diagnosed. Chest computed tomography scan showed bilateral pneumonitis with bilateral pleural effusions, partial atelectasis in the lower lobes of both lungs, and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid gene X-Pert test was positive, indicative of PTB. Carrimycin, ethambutol (EMB), and isoniazid (INH) were administered since he could not receive chemotherapy as the WBC count decreased continuously. After one week of treatment with carrimycin, the patient recovered from fever and received chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was very effective and his white blood cells counts got back to normal. After being given five months with rifampin, EMB and INH and chemotherapy, the patient showed complete remission from pneumonia and APL. CONCLUSION: We report a case of PTB treated successfully with carrimycin with APL that requires chemotherapy.

Impact of wilting and additives on fermentation quality and carbohydrate composition of mulberry silage.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of wilting and additives on the fermentation quality, structural and non-structural carbohydrate composition of mulberry silages. METHODS: The selected LAB strains Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum 'LC279063' (L1), commercial inoculant Gaofuji (GF), and Trichoderma viride cellulase (CE) were used as additives for silage preparation. Silage treatments were designed as control (CK), L1, GF, or CE under three wilting rates, that is wilting for 0, 2 or 4 hours (h). After ensiling for 30 days, the silages were analyzed for the chemical and fermentation characteristics. RESULTS: The results showed that wilting had superior effects on increasing the non-structural carbohydrate concentration and degrading the structural carbohydrate. After ensiling for 30 days, L1 generally had a higher fermentation quality than other treatments, indicated by the lower pH value, acetic acid, propionic acid and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) content, and the higher lactic acid, water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), glucose, galactose, sucrose and cellobiose concentration (p<0.05) at any wilting rate. Wilting could increase the ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid and decrease the content of NH3-N. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that wilting degraded the structural carbohydrate and increased the non-structural carbohydrate; and L1 exhibited better properties in improving fermentation quality and maintaining a high non-structural carbohydrates composition compared with the other treatments.

Fermentation quality and aerobic stability of mulberry silage prepared with lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid.

The objective of this study was to examine the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of mulberry (Morus alba L.) silage prepared with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and propionic acid (PA). The selected LAB strains Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum LC365281 (L1) and L. brevis LC365282 (L2), and commercial inoculant strains L. plantarum Gaofuji (GF) and L. buchneri Fresh (FR), and PA were used as additives for silage preparation. Silage treatments were designed as control, L1, L2, GF, FR, PA, PA + L1, PA + L2, PA + GF, or PA + FR. After 30 days of ensiling, the fermentation quality of silages treated with PA + L1 was improved, with a lower (p < 0.05) pH and NH3 -N content than those of other treatments. During the aerobic exposure, the PA + LAB-treated silages displayed an aerobic stability with stable pH value and lactic acid content. The results confirm that L. plantarum L1 and PA were the best additive combination for ensiling mulberry.

Antihyperglycemic drugs use and new-onset atrial fibrillation: A population-based nested case control study.

Currently, the potential risk of atrial fibrillation associated with antihyperglycemic drug use has been a topic of considerable interest. However, it remains uncertain whether different classes of antihyperglycemic drug therapy are associated with the risk of atrial fibrillation risk. Here, we investigated the association between different classes of antihyperglycemic drugs and new-onset atrial fibrillation (NAF). A case-matched study was performed based on the National Health Insurance Program in Taiwan. Patients who had NAF were considered the NAF group and were matched in a 1:4 ratio with patients without NAF, who were assigned to the non-NAF group. Patients were matched according to sex, age, diabetes mellitus duration, index date, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score. We used multivariate logistic regression controlling for potential confounders to examine the association between different classes of antihyperglycemic drug use and the risk of NAF. Overall, we identified 2,882 cases and 11,528 matched controls for the study. After adjusting for sex, age, comorbidities, and concurrent medications, users of biguanides or thiazolidinediones were at a lower risk of developing NAF when compared with non-users (odds ratio [OR] 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.95 and OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63-0.83, respectively). In contrast, users of insulin were at a higher risk of developing NAF than were non-users (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06-1.35). Sulfonylureas, glinides, α-glucosidase inhibitors, and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors were not associated with developing the risk of NAF. In conclusion, the use of biguanides or thiazolidinediones may be associated with a low risk of NAF, whereas insulin may be associated with a significant increase in the risk of NAF in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus during long-term follow-up. Further prospective randomized studies should investigate which specific class of antihyperglycemic drug treatment for diabetes mellitus can prevent or postpone NAF.

Effects of Wilting and Lactobacillus plantarum Addition on the Fermentation Quality and Microbial Community of Moringa oleifera Leaf Silage.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of wilting and Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) addition on the silage fermentation quality and microbial community of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf silage. Unwilted (direct-cut) or wilted M. oleifera leaves were prepared either with or without LP (1.0 × 106 cfu/g) followed by either 60 or 120 days of ensiling, leading to eight treatment groups. The results showed that lactic acid was the dominant fermentation product, and no butyric acid was detected for any of the treatments. Higher acetic acid and propionic acid were detected during the fermentation of wilted silage compared to unwilted silage. Although NH3-N content increased after wilting, the content was far below 10% of the dry matter (DM). In addition, higher pH was observed after 120 days of ensiling compared to 60 days. Wilting also influenced the bacterial community structure. Lactobacillus was the most dominant genus in unwilted samples while Enterobacteriales, Weissella, and Pantoea were the most dominant genera in wilted samples. Furthermore, the relative abundance of undesirable microorganisms was far below that of lactic acid bacteria in all treatments. In summary, wilting had significant effects on fermentation quality, and it was shown that M. oleifera leaves can undergo quality ensiling directly without the addition of LP.

Overexpression of ovine AANAT and HIOMT genes in switchgrass leads to improved growth performance and salt-tolerance.

Melatonin is a well-known bioactive molecule with an array of health-promoting properties. Here, we detected the physiological function of melatonin in transgenic switchgrass overexpressing the homologous sheep arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase and hydroxyindole O-methyltransferase genes, which catalyze the last two steps of melatonin synthesis. Compared to the wild-type (WT) and transgenic control (EV, expressing the empty vector only) plants, the transgenic switchgrass showed higher melatonin levels. Melatonin was detected in almost all switchgrass tissues, and relatively higher levels were detected in the roots and stems. Besides, melatonin showed diurnal or circadian rhythms in switchgrass similar to that in other species. Furthermore, we also found that melatonin positively affected switchgrass growth, flowering and salt tolerance. The genes related to flowering (APL3, SL1, FT1, FLP3, MADS6 and MADS15) and salt stress resistance (PvNHX1) in transgenic switchgrass exhibited a different expression profiles when compared to the control plants. Our study provided valuable findings that melatonin functions as a promoter in the regulation of switchgrass growth, flowering and salt tolerance.

Antihyperglycemic drugs use and new-onset atrial fibrillation in elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Antihyperglycemic drugs have been linked to new-onset atrial fibrillation (NAF). However, the effect of the different classes of antihyperglycemic drugs on the development of NAF in elderly patients has not been well studied. In this study, we investigated the association between different classes of antihyperglycemic drugs and NAF in elderly patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a nested case-control study performed using the database of National Health Insurance programme in Taiwan. Each participant aged 65 years and older who were NAF from 2005 to 2012 were assigned to the NAF group, whereas case was sex-, age-, diabetes duration-, index date-matched, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score-matched randomly selected participant without NAF were assigned to the non-NAF group. Multivariable logistic regression model was used for the estimation of odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of NAF associated with use of different classes of antihyperglycemic agents. Nonusers served as the reference group. RESULTS: We identified 1958 cases and 7832 controls. The risk of NAF after adjusting for sex, age, comorbidities and concurrent medication was higher among the users of insulin than among the nonusers (OR, 1·58; 95% CI, 1·37-1·82). Patients who took dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors were at lower risk of developing NAF than the nonusers (OR, 0·65; 95% CI, 0·45-0·93). CONCLUSIONS: In this population, use of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor was associated with a low risk of NAF. Insulin use was associated with a significant increase in the risk of NAF during the long-term follow-up.

[Applications of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy in detecting chitin, ergosterol and mycotoxins].

The invasion extent and harmfulness of fungi can be determined by chitin, ergosterol and mycotoxins. It is important to monitor chitin, ergosterol and mycotoxins changes to prevent contamination of forage and feed products, and effectively control the sustainable development of the mildew. Predication of these chemical materials was often completed by laboratory analysis, which was time-consuming and cumbersome and could not reflect the results in time in the past. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is a rapid, convenient, highly efficient, nondestructive and low-cost analytical technique, which has been widely used in various fields such as food field and feed field for quantitative and qualitative analysis. It has a great potentiality of application in quality analysis. In this paper, the principle and the characteristic of NIRS and its applications in food, forage, feed and other agriculture products quality analysis were introduced. Its applications in fungal biomass (chitin, ergosterol) and mycotoxins were mainly reviewed. NIRS was used to quantify chitin, ergosterol and mycotoxins. Calibration equations and validation equations for these materials were developed. It is also expected that NIRS will play a more and more important role in the field of fungi with the establishment of calibration equation and improvement of model database.

[A review on studies and applications of near infrared spectroscopy technique(NIRS) in detecting quality of hay].

The quality of hay can directly affect the price of hay and also livestock productivity. Many kinds of methods have been developed for detecting the quality of hay and the method of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used with consideration of its fast, effective and nondestructive characteristics during detecting process. In the present paper, the feasibility and effectiveness of application of NIRS to detecting hay quality were expounded. Meanwhile, the advance in the study of using NIRS to detect chemical compositions, extent of incursion by epiphyte, amount of toxicant excreted by endogenetic epiphyte and some minim components that can not be detected by using chemical methods were also introduced detailedly. Based on the review of the progresses in using NIRS to detect the quality of hay, it can be concluded that using NIRS to detect hay quality can avoid the disadvantages of time wasting, complication and high cost when using traditional chemical method. And for better utilization of NIRS in practice, some more studies still need to be implemented to further perfect and improve the utilization of NIRS for detecting forage quality, and more accurate modes and systematic analysis software need to be established in times to come.

Progress in Protein Translocation across Mitochondrial Membrane.

About 98% of the 1 000 or so mitochondrial proteins are encoded in the nucleus and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes as precursors, which are then imported into mitochondria. In the present article the import machinery and pathway of mitochondrial proteins located in the matrix or inner membrane are described. Apocytochrome c, precursor of cytochrome c does not possess a cleavable N-terminal presequence and no proteinaceous component responsible for its import has ever been identified. A quite unique translocation pathway of apocytochrome c is also reviewed.

Studies on the Conformation of Apocytochrome c in Different Folding States Inserted into the Membranes.

Correlation between the folding states of the chicken heart apocytochrome c and its membrane insertion ability was studied by the monolayer experiment. The penetration ability of apocytochrome c decreased with its folding. Intrinsic fluorescence emissions of apocytochrome c interacted with soybean phospholipids liposomes suggested that the conformations of apocytochrome c with different folding states in aqueous solution were also different in the membranes. The conformational differences were further characterized by CD spectra of apocytochrome c interacted with DMPC and DMPG liposomes. The results showed that apocytochrome c, which were randomly coiled in aqueous solution, adopted alpha-helical conformations after interaction with DMPG liposome. The apocytochrome c with a folded state in aqueous solution also adopted alpha-helical conformations, but the alpha-helical contents were less than the former. When DMPC liposomes were used, no distinct conformational change was observed.