Comparative studies on ovary and serum hormone levels in silver and blue foxes and their hybrids.

The silver and blue fox appear closely related despite their belonging to different genera, and the male and female fox hybrids are completely sterile in mating inter se or back to either of the parental groups. In the present study, we compared ovarian morphology and serum hormone concentrations among silver foxes, blue foxes, HSBs (silver fox male × blue fox female hybrids) and HBSs (blue fox male × silver fox female hybrids) during the pre-breeding and the breeding period. We found that either the fertile blue and silver foxes or the infertile hybrid foxes showed typical characteristics of ovary, with primordial, primary, secondary, antral and Graafian follicles. The diameters and quantities of different follicle classes in fertile foxes were greater than that in hybrids during the two period, while the thickness of zona pellucida (ZP) represented an opposite trend (P < 0.05). The relative weight of bilateral ovaries in fertile foxes was greater than that in hybrids during the pre-breeding period, while mean serum FSH represented an opposite trend during the breeding period (P < 0.05). The mean serum estradiol in fertile foxes was greater than that in HBS foxes during the pre-breeding period, and greater than hybrids during the breeding period (P < 0.05). These findings indicated that in the infertile hybrid foxes, lower estradiol levels produced by lesser and smaller antral follicles, thicker ZP during the two period, higher FSH levels during the breeding period, could be the basis of interpretations in cases of female fox hybrid infertility.

Shenqihuatan formula reduces inflammation by inhibiting transforming growth factor-beta-stimulated signaling pathway in airway smooth muscle cells.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects and mechanism of Shenqihuatan formula (, SQHT) of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß)-stimulated cell processes in airway remodeling. METHODS: The current study examined cell viability using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Furthermore, a Transwell assay was conducted to detect the ability of cell migration, and apoptosis was detected via flowcytometry. Western Blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to determine the expression levels of apoptosis or inflammation-related factors, such as TGF-ß, Interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-Associated X (Bax), Ras homolog gene family, member A (RhoA), recombinant rho associated coiled coil containing protein kinase 1/2 (ROCK1/2), extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), Snail, and Slug. Finally, the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP-1) were admeasured by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that SQHT inhibited the viability and migration, as well as the the F-actin formation and cytoskeletal reorganization of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) stimulated by TGF-ß. By monitoring the changes of critical regulators in the presence of the formula, it was observed that the expression levels of TGF-ß, IL-1ß, Bcl-2, RhoA, ROCK1/2, ERK1/2, Snail, and Slug were markedly suppressed, whereas Bax expression exhibited the opposite effect. Compared with a well-characterized RhoA pathway inhibitor, Fasudil, SQHT generated equivalent or even higher inhibitory effects on these processes in ASMCs. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these suggested that SQHT can reduce airway inflammation by inhibiting TGF-ß-stimulated signaling pathways in ASMCs. These findings may provide a novel remedy for treating ASMC inflammation, which causes thickening and obstruction of the airway in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Hydration process and microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate cement with nitrate solution.

Magnesium phosphate potassium cement (MKPC) can be potentially used for solidification/stabilization (S/S) treatment of hazardous wastes. The influence of inorganic salts on the hydration process and microstructure of cementitious materials must be considered, especially to assess the performance of the S/S treatment of wastes with a high nitrate content. Hence, in this study, the hydration process and microstructure of MKPC specimens were investigated, along with their variations in compressive strength setting time, pH, and conductivity. The pore structure, phases composition, and elemental composition of the specimens were investigated using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that although the potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution did not affect the formation of struvite-K, it affected the crystallization degree of struvite-K, where its microstructure changed from dense, plate-like and prismatic crystals into loose, cluster-like crystals at higher amounts of nitrate. Furthermore, the addition of nitrate delayed the setting time and slowed the pH growth during the hydration process of the MKPC. The nitrate solution hindered the hydration process of the MKPC specimens and increased their porosity. When the amount of nitrate was less than 5 wt%, the effect of nitrate on the hydration and hardening of the MKPC was small. However, at higher amounts of nitrate, the nitrate ions had a negative effect on the compressive strength development of the MKPC and the hydration process was delayed.

A mRMRMSRC feature selection method for radiomics approach.

Radiomics can convert digital images to mineable data by extracting a huge number of image features. Because of the high dimensions of radiomics features, feature selection is a very important step which affects the performance of the final prediction or classification. In this paper, we propose a feature selection criterion for radiomics analysis of glioma based on Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI). The proposed method named as minimum Redundancy, Maximum Relevance and Maximum Sparse Representation Coefficient (mRMRMSRC) criterion, which take three factors into consideration at the same time: relevance between features and labels with or without the influence of all other features, and redundancy between each couple of features. Different from traditional feature selection method, the mRMRMSRC manifests the best performance compared with the methods based on sparse representation coefficient (SRC), minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR), F_score and ReliefF. We conducted our methods on glioma Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) estimation. The experiment showed that mRMRMSRC produced area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 90% compared with 77%-89% of state-of-art methods.

Towards an IoT-based upper limb rehabilitation assessment system.

Rehabilitation of stroke survivors has been increasing in importance in recent years with increase in the occurrence of stroke. However, current clinical classification assessment is time-consuming while the result is not accurate and varies across physicians. This paper introduces an IoT-based upper limb rehabilitation assessment system for stroke survivors based on wireless sensing sub-system, data cloud, computing cloud and software based on Android platform. The system can automatically perform objective assessment. It is designed for home rehabilitation as well as for the concept of graded rehabilitation therapy.

Automatic measurement of fetal Nuchal translucency from three-dimensional ultrasound data.

The Nuchal translucency (NT), which is the collection of fluid at the back of the fetal neck, is related to chromosomal defects and early cardiac failure in first trimester of pregnancy. In clinic, the thickness of NT is used as an important marker in prenatal screening, and is manually measured by sonographers in the mid-sagittal plane. In this paper, an automatic method based on dynamic programming is proposed to detect the thickness and area of NT in the mid-sagittal plane. Furthermore, the volume of NT in the whole three-dimensional ultrasound data is also measured. A novel cost function for dynamic programming is proposed and results in higher accuracy of NT border detection. As the nuchal translucency is the collection fluid part, higher dimensional markers of NT possess more potential to represent the amount of the fluid.

Effect of a combination of calorie-restriction therapy and Lingguizhugan decoction on levels of fasting blood lipid and inflammatory cytokines in a high-fat diet induced hyperlipidemia rat model.

OBJECTIVE: To combine calorie-restriction therapy (CRT) with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) using Lingguizhugan Decoction and note the effects on expression of inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin (IL)-6] in high-fat-diet induced hyperlipidemia in rats. METHODS: Forty rats were divided randomly and equally into four groups: control group A (regular feeding for 5 weeks); model group B (high-fat diet for 5 weeks), calorie-limited group C (high-fat diet for 5 weeks) and TCM calorie-limit group D (high-fat diet for 5 weeks). After modeling, groups C and D were fasted for 3 days: group C with simple fasting, and group D with TCM fasting. The motion as well as changes in color, body weight, food intake, plasma lipids [low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) along with TNF-α, hs-CRP and IL-6] were measured before and after intervention. RESULTS: Modeled rats were established after five weeks. After 3 days of fasting, compared with group B, blood lipid levels (TG, TC, LDL-C) of groups C and D decreased dramatically. Those of group D decreased more obviously than those of group C. However, the values of TNF-α, hs-CRP and IL-6 showed no obvious difference between each of the three treatment groups. CONCLUSION: CRT can reduce fasting blood lipid levels in rats, but not by reducing the levels of inflammatory cytokines.

Occlusion of middle cerebral artery induces apoptosis of cerebellar cortex neural cells via caspase-3 in rats.

AIM: Occlusion of the middle ferebral artery in rats may cause secondary injury that is not associated with middle ferebral artery feeding zone. This entity has been investigated very rarely. MATERIAL AND METHODS: HE staining method observed the changes of cerebellar cortex after MCAO operation. Electron Microscopy and TUNEL methods observed the apoptosis of neural cells of cerebellar cortex after MCAO in rats. Immunohistochemical analyses method observed the caspase-3 in neural cells of cerebellar cortex. RESULTS: The results of HE staining indicated that no ischemia-necrosis changes of cerebellar cortex tissue were observed after MCAO operation by HE staining. Further experiments by Electron Microscopy and TUNEL assay revealed that the apoptosis of neural cells of cerebellar cortex were induced after MCAO in rats. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analyses showed that caspase-3 played an important role on MCAO-induced apoptosis of neural cells of cerebellar cortex. CONCLUSION: These data showed for the first time that the role of caspase-3 in the mechanism of secondary injury of separated infarction in cerebellar cortex after middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats and it might give a new treatment strategy for individuals with human ischemic stroke.

Rate of knee cartilage loss after partial meniscectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Surgical removal of the meniscus of the knee is thought to be a risk factor for later appearance of knee osteoarthritis (OA). We examined whether there is a difference in cartilage loss in those who undergo a partial meniscectomy compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Eight patients who underwent a meniscectomy (5 partial medial, 3 partial lateral) and 13 controls with normal knee radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had an MRI at baseline and at a mean 28.6 +/- 7.6 months followup. Articular cartilage volumes were determined by processing images acquired in the sagittal plane using T1 weighted fat saturation MRI on an independent work station. RESULTS: The mean +/- SD of percentage rates of cartilage loss from baseline volume were 4.1 +/- 2.8% per year for the meniscectomy subjects and -2.3 +/- 3.0% per year for the controls (difference 6.5% per year, 95% CI 3.7-9.3% per year; p < 0.001). After adjustment for age, body mass index, and sex the difference increased slightly to 6.9% per year (95% CI 3.4-10.3%; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that significant rates of cartilage loss are seen in subjects post partial meniscectomy compared with healthy controls. This may be a useful model in which to examine therapies to prevent OA.