Imaging Factors that Distinguish Between Patients with Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy with Mild to Moderate Cervical Spinal Cord Compression.

BACKGROUND Not all patients with spinal cord compression due to cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) have clinical symptoms and signs. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the imaging findings in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with CSM with mild to moderate cervical spinal cord compression. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective clinical study included 68 patients. Group A (n=30) had no symptoms and signs; group B (n=38) had symptoms and signs of cervical myelopathy. The age, sex, body mass index (BMI), history of steroid treatment, duration of symptoms, number of spondylotic cervical segments, Torg ratio, range of motion (ROM), incidence of cervical segmental instability, overall curvature of the cervical spine, direction of spinal cord compression, and spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity were compared. RESULTS For groups A and B, the Torg ratio was 90.3% and 83.6% (P<0.05), the incidence of cervical segmental instability was 23.3% and 65.8% (P<0.05), and the incidence of a spinal cord high intensity signal was 13.3% and 86.9% (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed myelopathy as a dependent variable, independently associated with cervical segmental instability (OR=5.898, P=0.037), an MRI T2-weighted intramedullary high signal (OR=9.718, P=0.002), and Torg ratio (OR=0.155, P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS Cervical segmental instability, a high intramedullary signal on T2-weighted MRI, and the Torg ratio had the greatest capacity to distinguish between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with CSM with mild to moderate cervical spinal cord compression.

Reconstructing historic and modern potato late blight outbreaks using text analytics.

In 1843, a hitherto unknown plant pathogen entered the US and spread to potato fields in the northeast. By 1845, the pathogen had reached Ireland leading to devastating famine. Questions arose immediately about the source of the outbreaks and how the disease should be managed. The pathogen, now known as Phytophthora infestans, still continues to threaten food security globally. A wealth of untapped knowledge exists in both archival and modern documents, but is not readily available because the details are hidden in descriptive text. In this work, we (1) used text analytics of unstructured historical reports (1843-1845) to map US late blight outbreaks; (2) characterized theories on the source of the pathogen and remedies for control; and (3) created modern late blight intensity maps using Twitter feeds. The disease spread from 5 to 17 states and provinces in the US and Canada between 1843 and 1845. Crop losses, Andean sources of the pathogen, possible causes and potential treatments were discussed. Modern disease discussion on Twitter included near-global coverage and local disease observations. Topic modeling revealed general disease information, published research, and outbreak locations. The tools described will help researchers explore and map unstructured text to track and visualize pandemics.

Effects of acid ionization on the formation mechanism of bimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41s from coal gasification fine residue and evaluation of adsorption capabilities.

The development of synthetic methods to obtain high value-added mesoporous Al-MCM-41 from a low-cost silicon-aluminum source with low toxicity is an active research topic in solid waste resource utilization. In particular, the controlled synthesis of MCM-41 with a two-level pore distribution is a challenging task. In this work, the synthesis of unimodal and bimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41s was achieved using acids with different degrees of ionization from coal gasification fine residue (CGFR) as bulk solid waste generated by the coal gasification process. We determined that the degree of acid ionization affected the self-assembly of inorganic/organic species as well as condensation processes, resulting in some changes of the hexagonal mesoscopic structure. The unimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41 with acetic acid HAc and bimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41s with an inorganic acid environment (HCl, HNO3 or H2SO4) could be effectively prepared in a controllable manner by the silicon and aluminum source obtained at alkali dissolution time 6 h and crystallization conditions at pH 10.5 and 383 K in 72 h. Moreover, the synthesis of Al-MCM-41-HAc with different SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratios (18-89) could also be realized by different alkali dissolution times. And alkali dissolution time (2-24 h) and the crystallization conditions (pH 4.5-11.5, temperatures 373-393 K, and time 48-96 h) also affected the formation of unimodal and bimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41-HAc. In addition, the maximum adsorption amount onto bimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41-H2SO4 (476.19 mg g-1 at 308 K) was larger than that onto unimodal mesoporous Al-MCM-41-HAc (243.90 mg g-1 at 303 K). The mesoporous Al-MCM-41s showed good stability.

Mechanism of the effect of 2, 2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride simulated lipid oxidation on the IgG/IgE binding ability of ovalbumin.

In this work, the mechanism of the effect of lipid oxidation on the IgG/IgE binding ability of ovalbumin (OVA) was investigated via the peroxyl radicals produced by 2, 2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride to simulate lipid oxidation. Results showed that the structure of OVA unfolded partially with an increase in oxidation degree, leading to the exposure of the allergenic epitopes and increasing the IgG/IgE binding ability of OVA. Nine oxidation sites were found on the α-helix, and these sites may unwind the α-helix and expose the allergenic epitopes on the OVA surface, leading to antibody recognition and combination. Consequently, the IgG/IgE binding ability of OVA was increased. In conclusion, the allergenic capacity of OVA can be promoted by modifying peroxyl radical oxidation in processing egg products.

Melatonin prevents sleep deprivation-associated anxiety-like behavior in rats: role of oxidative stress and balance between GABAergic and glutamatergic transmission.

Sleep deprivation (SD) has been shown to induce anxiety-like behavior. Melatonin, an endogenous potent antioxidant, protects neurons from oxidative stress in many disease models. Here we investigated the effect of melatonin against SD-induced anxiety-like behavior and attempted to define the possible mechanisms involved. SD was induced in rats using modified multiple platform model. Melatonin (15 mg/kg) was administered to the rats via intraperitoneal injection. The elevated plus maze test, open field test and light-dark exploration were used to evaluate anxiety-like behavior. Serum corticosterone was measured to determine stress level. Malondialdehyde (MDA) level and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity of amygdala and serum were performed to determine the level of oxidative stress. Levels of protein were detected by means of Western blot. The results showed that SD induces anxiety-like behavior, while melatonin treatment prevented these changes. Serum corticosterone also increased with SD but its levels were normalized by melatonin. In addition, melatonin reversed SD-induced changes in MDA and SOD in both of amygdala and serum. The results of Western blot showed that melatonin attenuated the up-regulation of NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, GluR1 subunit of the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor as well as phosphorylation of GluR1 at Ser831, and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II-alpha in SD rats. Meanwhile, melatonin blocked the down-regulation of γ-aminobutyric acid A-alpha-2 receptor. In conclusion, our results suggest that melatonin prevents anxiety-like behavior induced by SD. The possible mechanism may be attributed to its ability to reduce oxidative stress and maintain balance between GABAergic and glutamatergic transmission.

B7-H4 expression is associated with cancer progression and predicts patient survival in human thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the expression of B7-H4 in human thyroid cancer and determine any association with patient clinicopathological parameters and survival. METHODS: B7-H4 expression in 64 clinical thyroid cancer specimens was assessed with immunohistochemistry. Moreover, B7-H4 mRNA expression in 10 fresh resected specimens were evaluated by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Immunohistochemical staining of CD3 was performed to assess the number of tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes (TILs) in thyroid cancers. RESULTS: Positive B7-H4 immunohistochemical staining was observed in 61 out of 64 (95.3%) specimens of thyroid cancer tissues. Significantly more B7-H4 mRNA copies were found in thyroid cancer tissue than that adjacent normal tissue. Moreover, B7-H4 expression in human thyroid cancer tissues was significantly correlated with patient TNM stages and extrathyroidal extension (P<0.05), being inversely correlated with the number of TILs (P<0.05). The overall survival rate of the patients with higher B7-H4 expression was significantly worse than that of the patients with lower B7-H4 expression. CONCLUSIONS: This present study suggests that high B7-H4 expression is associated with cancer progression, reduced tumor immunosurveillance and worse patient outcomes in human thyroid cancer.

Diagnostic value of stool DNA testing for multiple markers of colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The diagnostic value of stool DNA (sDNA) testing for colorectal neoplasms remains controversial. To compensate for the lack of large-scale unbiased population studies, a meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of sDNA testing for multiple markers of colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenoma. METHODS: The PubMed, Science Direct, Biosis Review, Cochrane Library and Embase databases were systematically searched in January 2012 without time restriction. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model using sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic OR (DOR), summary ROC curves, area under the curve (AUC), and 95% CIs as effect measures. Heterogeneity was measured using the χ(2) test and Q statistic; subgroup analysis was also conducted. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies comprising 5876 individuals were eligible. There was no heterogeneity for CRC, but adenoma and advanced adenoma harboured considerable heterogeneity influenced by risk classification and various detection markers. Stratification analysis according to risk classification showed that multiple markers had a high DOR for the high-risk subgroups of both CRC (sensitivity 0.759 [95% CI 0.711 to 0.804]; specificity 0.883 [95% CI 0.846 to 0.913]; AUC 0.906) and advanced adenoma (sensitivity 0.683 [95% CI 0.584 to 0.771]; specificity 0.918 [95% CI 0.866 to 0.954]; AUC 0.946) but not for the average-risk subgroups of either. In the methylation subgroup, sDNA testing had significantly higher DOR for CRC (sensitivity 0.753 [95% CI 0.685 to 0.812]; specificity 0.913 [95% CI 0.860 to 0.950]; AUC 0.918) and advanced adenoma (sensitivity 0.623 [95% CI 0.527 to 0.712]; specificity 0.926 [95% CI 0.882 to 0.958]; AUC 0.910) compared with the mutation subgroup. There was no significant heterogeneity among studies for subgroup analysis. CONCLUSION: sDNA testing for multiple markers had strong diagnostic significance for CRC and advanced adenoma in high-risk subjects. Methylation makers had more diagnostic value than mutation markers.