Differences of bioelectrical impedance in the development and healing phase of pressure ulcers and erythema in mouse model.

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are economically burdensome medical conditions. Early changes in pressure ulcers are associated with erythema. In this study, bioelectrical impedance was used to measure the differences between PUs and blanchable erythema. We divided 21 ICR mice into three groups: control, 1000 mmHg-1h, and 1000 mmHg-6h. Healthy skin, blanchable erythema, and PUs were induced on the dorsal skin. The results indicated an immediate increase in impedance, resistance, and reactance values in the pressure group after release, followed by a subsequent decrease until two days after release. Compared with the control group, impedance and reactance significantly increased by 30.9% (p < 0.05) and 30.1% (p < 0.01), respectively, in the 6 h-loading group immediately after release. One and two days after release, the 1 h-loading and 6 h-loading groups exhibited significantly different degrees of decline. One day after release, impedance and resistance decreased by 30.2% (p < 0.05) and 19.8% (p < 0.05), respectively, in the 1 h-loading group; while impedance, resistance, and reactance decreased by 39.2% (p < 0.01), 26.8% (p < 0.01), and 45.7% (p < 0.05), respectively, in the 6 h-loading group. Two days after release, in the 1 h-loading group, impedance and resistance decreased by 28.3% (p < 0.05) and 21.7% (p < 0.05), respectively; while in the 6 h-loading group, impedance, resistance, and reactance decreased by 49.8% (p < 0.001), 34.2% (p < 0.001), and 59.8% (p < 0.01), respectively. One and two days after release the pressure group reductions were significantly greater than those in the control group. Additionally, we monitored changes during wound healing. Distinguishing early PUs from blanchable erythema by noninvasive bioelectrical impedance technology may have applications value in early assessment of PUs.

Sleep impairment in patients with empty nose syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Empty nose syndrome (ENS) is characterized by paradoxical nasal obstruction that usually occurs after turbinate surgery. Patients with ENS may also experience significant psychiatric symptoms and sleep dysfunction, which negatively affect the quality of life of affected subjects. This study aimed to evaluate sleep impairment and sleepiness in patients with ENS. METHODS: Patients with ENS and control participants were recruited prospectively. The Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-25 (SNOT-25), Empty Nose Syndrome 6-item Questionnaire (ENS6Q), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (EpSS), and modified sleep quality index (MSQI) were used to evaluate the participants before and after nasal surgery. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients with ENS and forty-eight age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled. The SNOT-25, ENS6Q, EpSS, and MSQI scores in the ENS group were all significantly higher than those in the control group before and after surgery. After surgery, ENS patients all exhibited significant improvements in SNOT-25, ENS6Q, EpSS, and MSQI scores. Regression analysis revealed that SNOT-25 score was a significant predictor of EpSS and MSQI in preoperative evaluations. ENS patients experiencing daytime sleepiness suffered from significantly more "dryness of nose" and "suffocation" than those not experiencing daytime sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ENS experienced significantly impaired sleep quality and sleepiness. Nasal reconstruction surgery improved the sleep quality of ENS patients. The severity of sleep dysfunction is associated with the severity of ENS symptoms. Recognizing individuals with significant sleep impairment and sleepiness and providing appropriate management are critical issues for ENS patients.

Systematic literature review assessing the overall costs and societal impacts of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in Europe.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease, driven by type 2 inflammation. The condition manifests as moderate-to-severe disease in approximately 20% of adults with AD across Europe and is associated with a substantial burden on patients, society and healthcare systems. However, systematic assessments capturing the totality of disease burden associated with moderate-to-severe AD are limited; therefore, the overall impacts of the disease may be underestimated. A systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out to assess the overall costs of moderate-to-severe AD across Europe, including the financial, societal and humanistic impacts. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were searched to identify relevant studies published between 1 January 2010 and 2 June 2020. Scientific conference proceedings, health technology assessment websites and patient association group websites were also searched for relevant information. Twenty-seven publications, corresponding to 22 unique studies, were included in the analysis. Total costs (direct and productivity losses) reached €20 695 per-person-per-year (PPPY) for adults with uncontrolled symptoms of moderate-to-severe AD. Direct medical costs ranged between €307 and €6993 PPPY; prescription medications and specialist dermatologist visits were the main contributors. Costs increased with disease severity or with uncontrolled disease. Patients with AD also incurred personal costs of €927 per year for healthcare items not reimbursed, which increased by 9% for those with moderate-to-severe forms. Annual work productivity losses comprised most of the total costs reported for adults with moderate-to-severe AD (up to 60.8% of the total burden) and were highest in those with uncontrolled disease (€13 702 PPPY). Patients with moderate-to-severe disease also experienced physical, emotional, and social impacts. The overall costs of moderate-to-severe AD greatly impact on healthcare systems, patients and society. Sustained control of moderate-to-severe AD, through effective treatment and care management, is essential to limit the burden caused by the disease.

Olfaction after endoscopic surgery for sellar and parasellar disease: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Whether endoscopic surgery for sellar/parasellar disease causes significant deficits in olfactory function remains unclear. We aimed to systematically review the olfactory outcomes in such settings based on the evidence up to date. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL were searched through February 1, 2021. Included studies were limited to endoscopic surgery for sellar/parasellar disease with follow-up olfactory function measured by standardized olfactory testing methods or subjective assessment. The primary outcome was the change in olfactory function after surgery assessed by standardized olfactory testing methods. The secondary outcome was the change in subjective olfactory function. Random-effects model was used in obtaining combine effects. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastleâ€"Ottawa scale. Sensitivity analysis was carried out using the leave-one-out approach, and publication bias was assessed using Egger's test. RESULTS: The results show no significant difference in olfaction assessed by standardized olfactory testing methods at 1-3 months post-surgery (880 patients in 16 studies) or at 6-12 months post-surgery (1320 patients in 16 studies) compared to pre-surgery, whereas a significantly lower subjective olfaction at 3 months was observed. In addition, the lack of significant change in olfaction as assessed by standardized olfactory testing methods was observed regardless of whether patients were treated with or without the nasoseptal flap (NSF) harvesting. Heterogeneity and publication bias were observed, whereas sensitivity analysis showed the meta-analysis results are robust. CONCLUSION: The findings of this updated systematic review and meta-analysis support the conclusion that endoscopic surgery for sellar and parasellar pathology may pose no greater risk of olfactory dysfunction. In addition, the current evidence does not support there is an increased risk of diminished olfaction among patients treated with NSF during surgery.

Prognostic impact of circumferential resection margin in esophageal cancer with or without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

The prognostic impact of circumferential resection margin (CRM) in surgically resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has been controversial. This investigation assessed the prognostic impact of CRM in surgically resected pathologic T3 ESCC patients with or without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). We reviewed consecutive p/yp T3 ESCC patients undergoing esophagectomy from two medical centers between January 2009 and December 2016. The cohort was divided into two groups: upfront esophagectomy (upfront surgery) and nCRT followed by esophagectomy (nCRT + surgery). CRM status was assessed and divided into CRM > 1 mm, 0 < CRM < 1 mm, and tumor at CRM. A total of 217 p/yp T3 ESCC patients undergoing esophagectomy (138 patients in the upfront surgery group and 79 in the nCRT + surgery group) were enrolled. In the upfront surgery group, patients with 0 < CRM < 1 mm showed equivalent overall survival to those with CRM > 1 mm (log-rank P = 0.817) and significantly outlived those with tumor at CRM (log-rank P < 0.001). However, in the nCRT + surgery group, CRM > 1 mm failed to show survival superiority to CRM between 0 and 1 mm or involved by cancer (log-rank P = 0.390). In conclusion, a negative CRM, even though being <1 mm, is adequate for pT3 ESCC patients undergoing upfront esophagectomy. In contrast, the CRM status is less prognostic in ypT3 ESCC patients undergoing nCRT followed by esophagectomy.

Effects of individual and partner factors on anxiety and depression in Taiwanese prostate cancer patients: A longitudinal study.

Studies exploring the mediating and predictive factors of anxiety and depression for prostate cancer patients in Eastern countries are scant. Guided by the transactional model of stress and coping, this study determined the predictors and mediators of anxiety and depression in prostate cancer patients. The participants comprised 115 prostate cancer patients and 91 partners. The patients and partners completed questionnaires regarding physical symptoms, disease appraisals, coping behaviours, anxiety and depression in the period before confirmation of treatment decisions and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. The results revealed that partner anxiety engendered a stressful situation and aggravated patient anxiety. Patients' threat appraisals and affective-oriented coping behaviours mediated the relationships between their anxiety levels and those of their partners. The patients' most recent prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and hormonal symptoms were key predictors of their anxiety and depression levels. The patients' harm appraisals mediated the relationships between their most recent PSA levels and hormonal symptoms and depression. Their threat appraisals and affective-oriented coping behaviours mediated the relationships between their hormonal symptoms and anxiety and depression. To manage those key factors, reframing, appraising disease and improving coping behaviours may reduce anxiety and depression levels in prostate cancer patients.

Allergic rhinitis, rather than asthma, is a risk factor for dental caries.

OBJECTIVES: The association between AS (asthma) and dental caries is controversial, while that between allergic rhinitis (AR) and caries has not been established. This study aimed to verify the relationship among AR, AS and dental caries. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Data from Health Insurance Database of the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. PARTICIPANTS: Nine thousand and thirty-eight children born in 2004 were obtained. Their claims data were evaluated from birth to the age of 9 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The frequencies of clinical visits for dental caries were calculated for primary teeth (age 1-5) and for dental transitional period (age 6-9). Differences in the frequencies of clinical visits for caries in AR vs non-AR and AS vs non-AS children were compared. Correlation between AR, AS and caries frequencies was studied, and the influences of AR drugs on the development of caries were evaluated. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding factors and AS case, the frequencies of clinical visits for caries were higher in AR (increased by 13%-25% and P<.001 at different age periods). The AR frequencies significantly correlated with caries frequencies in children with AR. Different AR drugs also correlated with caries formation. After adjusting for confounding factors and AR case, there was no relationship between AS and caries in children. CONCLUSION: Asthma is not associated with dental caries, but AR can increase the frequency of clinical visits for caries. Medications for AR may also play a role in caries formation. Thus, AR may be a risk factor for childhood dental caries.

Risk of Parkinson disease after organophosphate or carbamate poisoning.

AIMS: Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of PD in patients with organophosphate (OP) or carbamate (CM) poisoning by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study involving a cohort of 45 594 patients (9128 patients with a history of OP or CM poisoning and 36 466 control patients) who were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The patients were observed for a maximum of 12 years to determine the rates of new-onset PD, and a Poisson regression model was used to identify the predictors of PD. The cumulative incidence of PD between the two cohorts was plotted through Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: During the study period, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of PD in the OP or CM poisoning patients was 1.36-fold [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.26-1.47] higher than that in the control patients in the multivariable model. The absolute incidence of PD was the highest for the group aged ≥75 years in both cohorts (77.4 vs 43.7 per 10 000 person-years). However, the age-specific relative risk was higher for the group aged <50 years (adjusted IRR=3.88; 95% CI=3.44-4.39). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the likelihood of developing PD is greater in patients with OP or CM poisoning than in those without poisoning. OP or CM poisoning may be an independent risk factor for PD.

Probing weak localization in chemical vapor deposition graphene wide constriction using scanning gate microscopy.

Low-temperature scanning gate microscopy (LT-SGM) studies of graphene allow one to obtain important spatial information regarding coherent transport such as weak localization (WL) and universal conductance fluctuations. Although fascinating LT-SGM results on pristine graphene prepared by mechanical exfoliation have been reported in the literature, there appears to be a dearth of LT-SGM results on chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene whose large scale and flexible substrate transferability make it an ideal candidate for coherent electronic applications. To this end, we have performed LT-SGM studies on CVD-grown graphene wide constriction (0.8 µm), which can be readily prepared by cost-effective optical lithography fully compatible with those in wafer foundry, in the WL regime. We find that the movable local gate can sensitively modulate the total conductance of the CVD graphene constriction possibly due to the intrinsic grain boundaries and merged domains, a great advantage for applications in coherent electronics. Moreover, such a conductance modulation by LT-SGM provides an additional, approximately magnetic-field-independent probe for studying coherent transport such as WL in graphene and spatial conductance variation.

Kefir improves bone mass and microarchitecture in an ovariectomized rat model of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

SUMMARY: Kefir treatment in ovariectomized (OVX) rats could significantly decrease the levels of bone turnover markers and prevent OVX-induced bone loss, deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture, and biomechanical dysfunction that may be due to increase intracellular calcium uptake through the TRPV6 calcium channel. INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to an increased fracture risk. The incidence of osteoporosis increases with age and occurs most frequently in postmenopausal women due to estrogen deficiency, as the balance between bone resorption and bone formation shifts towards increased levels of bone resorption. Among various methods of prevention and treatment for osteoporosis, an increase in calcium intake is the most commonly recommended preventive measure. Kefir is a fermented milk product made with kefir grains that degrade milk proteins into various peptides with health-promoting effects, including immunomodulating-, antithrombotic-, antimicrobial-, and calcium-absorption-enhancing bioactivities. METHODS: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of kefir on osteoporosis prophylaxis in an ovariectomized rat model. A total of 56 16-week-old female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into 7 experimental groups: sham (normal), OVX/Mock, OVX/1X kefir (164 mg/kg BW/day), OVX/2X kefir (328 mg/kg BW/day), OVX/4X kefir (656 mg/kg BW/day), OVX/ALN (2.5 mg/kg BW/day), and OVX/REBONE (800 mg/kg BW/day). After 12-week treatment with kefir, the bone physiology in the OVX rat model was investigated. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the possible transport mechanism involved in calcium absorption using the Caco-2 human cell line. RESULTS: A 12-week treatment with kefir on the OVX-induced osteoporosis model reduced the levels of C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (CTx), bone turnover markers, and trabecular separation (Tb. Sp.). Additionally, treatment with kefir increased trabecular bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb. Th), trabecular number (Tb. N), and the biomechanical properties (hardness and modulus) of the distal femur with a dose-dependent efficacy. In addition, in in vitro assay, we found that kefir increased intracellular calcium uptake in Caco-2 cell through TRPV6 calcium channels and not through L-type voltage-operated calcium channels. CONCLUSION: The protective effect of kefir in the OVX rat model may occur through increasing intracellular calcium uptake through the TRPV6 calcium channel.

Decreased prevalence of dementia associated with statins: a national population-based study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents a progressive decline in cognitive function and loss of short-term memory with age. Several studies have shown that statin, an oral lipid-lowering drug, may reduce the risk of developing dementia. The objective of this study is to explore the association between statin and the development of dementia. METHODS: The data analyzed in this study were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The sample consisted of 123 300 patients ≥ 20 years of age, including 61 650 dementia patients with statin use and 61 650 patients without statin use who were eligible for inclusion in this study. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to measure the effects of statin use on the risk of dementia. RESULTS: The beneficial effect of statin on dementia was significant after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and comorbidities (adjusted hazard ratio of 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.86-0.98). The sex- and age-specific analysis of adjusted hazard ratios showed a higher beneficial effect from statin treatment in women than in men, and the effect became more significant with age. CONCLUSION: Statin therapy may help prevent the development of dementia, and both hydrophilic and lipophilic statins produce similar effects. However, the preventive characters and associated mechanisms must be further explored and identified.

Prevalence, management and outcomes of medically complex vulnerable elderly patients with urinary incontinence in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence, patient-physician communication, treatment and health outcomes associated with urinary incontinence (UI) among the medically complex vulnerable elderly (MCVE) in the United States (US). METHODS: Data from the 2006 to 2012 Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) were used. MCVE patients were aged 65+ years with a HOS VE score ≥ 3. UI was reported as a small, big or no problem. Descriptive statistics were used to assess patient-physician communication and treatment. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to assess the association of small or big UI problems with various outcomes. RESULTS: The annual UI prevalence increased among MCVE [from 35.8% (2006) to 38.6% (2012)]. MCVE with big UI problems communicated with their physicians more often than those with small UI problems (77.9% and 49.6%, respectively); however, treatment of UI remained low (48.5% and 29.1%, respectively). Physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores were lower among MCVE with small or big UI problems compared with those with no UI problems, respectively. The decrements in PCS and MCS scores associated with big UI problems were greater than the decrements associated with any of the other assessed conditions. MCVE with small or big UI problems, respectively, were more likely to report past falls, depression and activity daily living limitations vs. those without UI. The odds of having experienced these outcomes were greater for those with big UI vs. small UI problems. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary incontinence prevalence in the USA increased among MCVE from 2006 to 2012, although treatment of UI remained low. UI problems, particularly big UI problems, adversely impact health outcomes. Efforts to better identify and manage UI among the MCVE are needed.

A Combination of FPU-Net and Feature Clustering Methods for Accurate Segmentation of Femoral Neck in Radiographic Diagnosis.

In this study, we develop an innovative method that assists computer-aided diagnosis in the determination process of the exact location of the femoral neck junction in plain radiographs. Our algorithm consists of two phases, i.e., coarse prediction and fine matching, which are implemented by supervised deep learning method and unsupervised clustering, respectively. In coarse prediction, standard masks are first produced by a specialist and trained in our proposed feature propagation network (FPU-Net) with supervised learning on the femoral neck dataset. In fine matching, the standard masks are first classified into different categories using our proposed three parameters with unsupervised learning. The predicted mask from FPU-Net is matched with each category of standard masks by calculating the values of intersection of union (IOU), and finally the predicted mask is substituted by the standard mask with the largest IOU value. A total of 4320 femoral neck parts in anterior-posterior (AP) pelvis radiographs collected from China Medical University Hospital database were used to test our method. Simulation results show that, on the one hand, compared with other segmentation methods, the method proposed in this paper has a larger IOU value and better suppression of noise outside the region of interest; on the other hand, the introduction of unsupervised learning for fine matching can help in the accurate localization segmentation of femoral neck images. Accurate femoral neck segmentation can assist surgeons to diagnose and reduce the misdiagnosis rate and burden.

A Computer-Assisted Diagnostic Method for Accurate Detection of Early Nondisplaced Fractures of the Femoral Neck.

Nondisplaced femoral neck fractures are sometimes misdiagnosed by radiographs, which may deteriorate into displaced fractures. However, few efficient artificial intelligent methods have been reported. We developed an automatic detection method using deep learning networks to pinpoint femoral neck fractures on radiographs to assist physicians in making an accurate diagnosis in the first place. Our proposed accurate automatic detection method, called the direction-aware fracture-detection network (DAFDNet), consists of two steps, namely region-of-interest (ROI) segmentation and fracture detection. The first step removes the noise region and pinpoints the femoral neck region. The fracture-detection step uses a direction-aware deep learning algorithm to mark the exact femoral neck fracture location in the region detected in the first step. A total of 3840 femoral neck parts in anterior-posterior (AP) pelvis radiographs collected from the China Medical University Hospital database were used to test our method. The simulation results showed that DAFDNet outperformed the U-Net and DenseNet methods in terms of the IOU value, Dice value, and Jaccard value. Our proposed DAFDNet demonstrated over 94.8% accuracy in differentiating non-displaced Garden type I and type II femoral neck fracture cases. Our DAFDNet method outperformed the diagnostic accuracy of general practitioners and orthopedic surgeons in accurately locating Garden type I and type II fracture locations. This study can determine the feasibility of applying artificial intelligence in a clinical setting and how the use of deep learning networks assists physicians in improving correct diagnoses compared to the current traditional orthopedic manual assessments.

Predisposing factors of pituitary hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The clinical features of pituitary adenomas were retrospectively analyzed, focusing on the factors that contribute to the development of pituitary hemorrhage. Although many causes of pituitary adenoma hemorrhage have been identified, it is difficult to distinguish which conditions are truly causative. We determined the independent variables that contribute to pituitary hemorrhage in pituitary adenoma. METHODS: Two hundred and eighty-eight consecutive patients diagnosed as pituitary adenoma were enrolled. These patients underwent tumor removal through endoscopic transsphenoidal approach. The subjects were divided into hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic groups, based on magnetic resonance images and histological findings. The predisposing factors were reviewed in the medical records for all patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the relationships between variables of pituitary adenoma hemorrhage. RESULTS: We investigated 81 patients in whom hemorrhage from pituitary adenoma occurred. The incidence of pituitary hemorrhage was 28.1% (81/288). The predisposing factors surveyed for pituitary hemorrhage were significantly associated with macroadenoma, non-functional adenomas, anticoagulation therapy, end-stage renal disease, dopamine agonist treatment, and underlying malignant disease (all P < 0.05). Sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and previous radiation therapy were not related to pituitary hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: In this pooled cohort, the predisposing factors of pituitary adenoma characteristic for pituitary hemorrhage were macroadenoma and non-functional adenoma. Patients who received dopamine agonist and anticoagulation therapy are implicated as precipitating factors. Underlying end-stage renal disease and malignant disease are also factors that contribute to pituitary adenoma hemorrhage.

The impact of gestational diabetes mellitus on postpartum urinary incontinence: a longitudinal cohort study on singleton pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an independent risk factor for postpartum urinary incontinence in singleton pregnancies. DESIGN: A longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: A single tertiary-care hospital in Taiwan. POPULATION: Pregnant women with term deliveries between 2002 and 2007 (n = 6653) were consecutively recruited. METHODS: Logistic regression models were fitted based on generalised estimating equation methods to derive odds ratios for occurrences of type-specific urinary incontinence in the third trimester and at four time-points over 2 years during the postpartum period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Evaluation of whether GDM is an independent risk factor for postpartum urinary incontinence. RESULTS: The full model analysis revealed that GDM was an independent risk factor for all type-specific urinary incontinence (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 1.97 [1.56-2.51], 3.11 [2.18-4.43] and 2.73 [1.70-4.40] for stress, urge and mixed incontinence, respectively]. Compared with women without GDM, women with GDM tended to exhibit more severe symptoms of stress incontinence for up to 2 years postpartum, whereas for urge or mixed incontinence, more severe symptoms were found only for 6 months postpartum. Evaluation of quality of life using the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire 7 suggested that women with GDM requiring insulin treatment had a higher likelihood of functional impairment than women with GDM requiring conservative treatment only or women without GDM (P < 0.05, by the chi-square test for trend). CONCLUSIONS: GDM was found to be an independent risk factor for postpartum urinary incontinence and had a significant impact on quality of life. Women with GDM should be provided with timely consultation and support once urinary incontinence occurs.

Differentiation of bacteria cell wall using Raman scattering enhanced by nanoparticle array.

We have fabricated surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates based on arrays of silver nanoparticles grown on porous anodic alumina templates. Using this nanotechnology platform, label-free and high-speed detection of bacteria are achieved. SERS spectra of various bacteria including Staphylococcus Aureus (Gram-positive bacterium), Klebsiella Pneumoniae (Gram-negative bacterium), and Mycobacterium Smegmatis (Mycobacterium) were recorded. The highly reproducible SERS-based technological platform is capable of differentiating different kinds of bacteria by PCA, LDA, clustering analysis, and SVM methods, which provides promising opportunity for biosensing of clinical microbes.

Host Genetic Associations with Salivary Microbiome in Oral Cancer.

Despite the growing recognition of a host genetic effect on shaping gut microbiota composition, the genetic determinants of oral microbiota remain largely unexplored, especially in the context of oral diseases. Here, we performed a microbiome genome-wide association study in 2 independent cohorts of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC, n = 144 and 67) and an additional group of noncancer individuals (n = 104). Besides oral bacterial dysbiosis and signatures observed in OSCC, associations of 3 loci with the abundance of genus-level taxa and 4 loci with ß diversity measures were detected (q < 0.05) at the discovery stage. The most significant hit (rs10906082 with the genus Lachnoanaerobaculum, P = 3.55 × 10-9 at discovery stage) was replicated in a second OSCC cohort. Moreover, the other 2 taxonomical associations, rs10973953 with the genus Kingella (P = 1.38 × 10-9) and rs4721629 with the genus Parvimonas (P = 3.53 × 10-8), were suggestive in the meta-analysis combining 2 OSCC cohorts. Further pathway analysis revealed that these loci were enriched for genes in regulation of oncogenic and angiogenic responses, implicating a genetic anchor to the oral microbiome in estimation of casual relationships with OSCC. Our findings delineate the role of host genotypes in influencing the structure of oral microbial communities.

Quercetin attenuates inflammation in human macrophages and adipocytes exposed to macrophage-conditioned media.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is linked to chronic inflammation in white adipose tissue, which is exacerbated by infiltrating macrophages (MΦs). We recently demonstrated that an extract from grape powder (GPE), which is abundant in quercetin (QUE), reduced inflammation in human MΦs and prevented MΦ-mediated inflammation and insulin resistance in human adipocytes. However, we did not know how QUE individually affected these outcomes. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: We examined the extent to which QUE prevents inflammation in human MΦs (that is, differentiated U937 cell line) and cross-talk with human adipocytes (that is, primary cultures of newly differentiated human adipocytes). METHODS AND RESULTS: Treatment of MΦs with QUE attenuated the basal expression of inflammatory genes, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-1ß and interferon-γ inducible protein-10, and cyclooxygenase-2, a marker of prostaglandin production. QUE also attenuated the abundance of phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and c-Jun, and IκBα degradation in MΦs. Furthermore, conditioned media (CM) obtained from MΦs treated with QUE decreased the capacity of this CM to inflame adipocytes and cause insulin resistance as evidenced by decreased: (1) inflammatory gene expression, (2) phosphorylation of JNK and c-Jun, (3) serine residue 307 phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1, 4) protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B gene expression and 5) suppression of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data suggest that QUE is one of the bioactive components of GPE that prevents inflammation in MΦs and MΦ-mediated insulin resistance in adipocytes.