Autoimmune astrocytopathy double negative for AQP4-IgG and GFAP-IgG: Retrospective research of clinical practice, biomarkers, and pathology.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the presence of astrocyte antibodies in patients, excluding aquaporin-4 or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibodies, while evaluating associated biomarkers and pathologies. METHODS: Patient serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were tested for antibodies using tissue- and cell-based assays. Neurofilament light chain (NFL) and GFAP in the CSF were detected using single-molecule array (SIMOA). RESULTS: 116 patients accepted SIMOA. Fifteen functional neurological disorders patients without antibodies were designated as controls. Thirty-five patients were positive for astrocyte antibodies (Anti-GFAP: 7; Anti-AQP4: 7; unknown antibodies: 21, designed as the double-negative group, DNAP). The most frequent phenotype of DNAP was encephalitis (42.9%), followed by myelitis (23.8%), movement disorders (19.0%), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like (ALS-like) disease (14.2%). The levels of CSF GFAP and NFL in DNAP were higher than in the control (GFAP: 1967.29 [776.60-13214.47] vs 475.38 [16.80-943.60] pg/mL, p < 0.001; NFL: 549.11 [162.08-2462.61] vs 214.18 [81.60-349.60] pg/mL, p = 0.002). GFAP levels decreased in DNAP (n = 5) after immunotherapy (2446.75 [1583.45-6277.33] vs 1380.46 [272.16-2005.80] pg/mL, p = 0.043), while there was no difference in NFL levels (2273.78 [162.08-2462.61] vs 890.42 [645.06-3168.06] pg/mL, p = 0.893). Two brain biopsy patterns were observed: one exhibited prominent tissue proliferation and hypertrophic astrocytes, with local loss of astrocytes, while the other showed severe astrocyte depletion with loss of neurofilaments around the vessels. Eighteen patients received immunotherapy, and improved except one with ALS-like symptoms. We identified anti-vimentin in this patient. DISCUSSION: There are unidentified astrocyte antibodies. The manifestations of double-negativity are heterogeneous; nevertheless, the pathology and biomarkers remain consistent with astrocytopathy. Immunotherapy is effective.

Transformer fault diagnosis method based on SMOTE and NGO-GBDT.

In order to improve the accuracy of transformer fault diagnosis and improve the influence of unbalanced samples on the low accuracy of model identification caused by insufficient model training, this paper proposes a transformer fault diagnosis method based on SMOTE and NGO-GBDT. Firstly, the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) was used to expand the minority samples. Secondly, the non-coding ratio method was used to construct multi-dimensional feature parameters, and the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) feature optimization strategy was introduced to screen the optimal feature subset. Finally, Northern Goshawk Optimization (NGO) algorithm was used to optimize the parameters of Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT), and then the transformer fault diagnosis was realized. The results show that the proposed method can reduce the misjudgment of minority samples. Compared with other integrated models, the proposed method has high fault identification accuracy, low misjudgment rate and stable performance.

A deep adversarial model for segmentation-assisted COVID-19 diagnosis using CT images.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly around the world, resulting in a global pandemic. Imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) play an essential role in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease since lung infection or pneumonia is a common complication. However, training a deep network to learn how to diagnose COVID-19 rapidly and accurately in CT images and segment the infected regions like a radiologist is challenging. Since the infectious area is difficult to distinguish manually annotation, the segmentation results are time-consuming. To tackle these problems, we propose an efficient method based on a deep adversarial network to segment the infection regions automatically. Then, the predicted segment results can assist the diagnostic network in identifying the COVID-19 samples from the CT images. On the other hand, a radiologist-like segmentation network provides detailed information of the infectious regions by separating areas of ground-glass, consolidation, and pleural effusion, respectively. Our method can accurately predict the COVID-19 infectious probability and provide lesion regions in CT images with limited training data. Additionally, we have established a public dataset for multitask learning. Extensive experiments on diagnosis and segmentation show superior performance over state-of-the-art methods.

Perceived social support, resilience and health self-efficacy among migrant older adults: A moderated mediation analysis.

Migrant older adults become more disadvantaged in health due to aging and migration-related problems. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between perceived social support and health self-efficacy, and to test whether gender moderated the mediating effect of resilience between perceived social support and health self-efficacy among migrant older adults. A total of 184 migrant older adults were recruited from five communities. Resilience played a partial mediating role in the relationship between perceived social support and health self-efficacy. Moreover, age moderated the relationship between resilience and health self-efficacy. The relationship between resilience and health self-efficacy was stronger in male older adults than female ones. These findings provide a better understanding of the effects of perceived social support and resilience on health self-efficacy, which could guide targeted interventions for community health nurses to promote health self-efficacy among migrant older adults.

The prevalence of frailty among community-dwelling older adults with diabetes: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Coexistence of frailty and chronic diseases including diabetes is related to a higher risk of adverse health outcomes. There is an increasing interest in the intersection of diabetes and frailty. Understanding the prevalence of frailty in older adults with diabetes is of great importance. However, estimates of the prevalence of frailty among this population varied widely in the relevant literature. OBJECTIVES: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall prevalence of frailty and prefrailty among community-dwelling older adults with diabetes, and examine the risk factors associated with frailty in this population. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Wiley Cochrane Library, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health were searched from inception to May 30th, 2020. Investigators assessed eligibility, extracted data and evaluated methodological quality. The pooled prevalence of frailty and prefrailty was calculated using the random-effects model. Meta-regression analysis and subgroup analysis were conducted to explore sources of heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of 32 studies met the inclusion criteria, involving 14,450 individuals. The pooled prevalence of frailty and prefrailty in older adults with diabetes was 20.1% (95% CI = 16.0-24.2%) and 49.1% (95%CI = 45.1-53.1%), respectively, with significant heterogeneity across the studies. Frailty was more prevalent in older adults with diabetes than those without diabetes (OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.47-1.77, p < 0.001). The pooled prevalence of frailty was lower in studies using Frailty Phenotype to define frailty (16.3%) and conducted in Asia (14.3%). Female gender and unmarried status were risk factors of frailty among this population. CONCLUSION: Frailty and prefrailty are common in community-dwelling older adults with diabetes. Early screening of frailty and interventions should be integrated into diabetes care for older adults to prevent and reduce the negative effects of frailty at the community level. Better quality longitudinal research is required to examine the temporal relationship between diabetes and frailty.

Effect of peer support intervention on diabetes distress in people with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: To assess the effect of peer support intervention on diabetes distress in people with type 2 diabetes. BACKGROUND: Diabetes distress may be decreased by peer support intervention, but findings about the effect of peer support on diabetes distress have been mixed. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases were searched for randomized controlled trials from inception to 30 June 2018. REVIEW METHODS: Investigators assessed eligibility, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. Standardized mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for pooled effect size. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies included in systematic review and 10 in meta-analysis. In the random-effects model, the pooled effect size showed current peer support intervention did not significantly reduce diabetes distress in type 2 diabetes population compared with usual care. CONCLUSION: High quality and well-designed studies targeting at reducing diabetes distress are needed to further test the effect of peer support intervention on diabetes distress.

Lysinibacillus cresolivorans sp. nov., an m-cresol-degrading bacterium isolated from coking wastewater treatment aerobic sludge.

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, facultatively anaerobic, endospore-forming bacterium (designated strain SC03T) was isolated from the aerobic treatment sludge of a coking plant (Shaoguan City, China). The optimal pH and temperature for growth were pH 7.0 and 35 °C. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain SC03T was related to the genus Lysinibacillus and the similarity between strain SC03T and the most closely related type strain, Lysinibacillus macroides LMG 18474T, was 94.4 %. The genomic G+C content of the DNA of strain SC03T was 41.2 mol%. Chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of strain SC03T to the genus Lysinibacillus. These properties include MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone; iso-C15 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0 as major fatty acids; A4α (l-Lys-d-Asp) as the cell-wall peptidoglycan type; and diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine plus three unknown phospholipids as polar lipids. The phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characters enable the differentiation of strain SC03T from recognized Lysinibacillus species. Thus, strain SC03T represents a novel species of the genus Lysinibacillus, for which the name Lysinibacillus cresolivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SC03T ( = NRRL B-59352T = CCTCC M 208210T).

[Optimization of dissolution process for superfine grinding technology on total saponins of Panax ginseng fibrous root by response surface methodology].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of superfine comminution extraction technology of ginseng total saponins from Panax ginseng fibrous root, and to make sure the optimal extraction condition. METHODS: Optimal condition of ginseng total saponins from Panax ginseng fibrous root was based on single factor experiment to study the effects of crushing degree, extraction time, alcohol concentration and extraction temperature on extraction rate. Response surface method was used to investigate three main factors such as superfine comminution time, extraction time and alcohol concentration. RESULTS: The relationship between content of ginseng total saponins in Panax ginseng fibrous root and three factors fitted second degree polynomial models. The optimal extraction condition was 9 min of superfine comminution time, 70% of alcohol, 50 degrees C of extraction temperature and 70 min of extraction time. Under the optimal condition, ginseng total saponins from Panax ginseng fibrous root was average 94. 81%, which was consistent with the predicted value. CONCLUSION: The optimization of technology is rapid, efficient, simple and stable.

The antidepressant effect of secoisolariciresinol, a lignan-type phytoestrogen constituent of flaxseed, on ovariectomized mice.

Secoisolariciresinol (SECO) is a natural lignan-type phytoestrogen constituent mainly found in flaxseed. It can be metabolized in vivo to mammalian lignans of enterodiol and enterolactone, which have been proven to be effective in relieving menopausal syndrome. Depression is one of the most common symptoms of menopausal syndrome, and is currently treated with estrogen replacement and antidepressant therapy. However, due to the serious side-effects of such agents, there are urgent needs for safer and more tolerable treatments. In this paper, using two classical depression models, the forced swimming test and the tail suspension test, we report the antidepressant effect of SECO on ovariectomized (OVX) mice by intragastric administration for 14 consecutive days at doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg. The results showed that SECO (10 mg/kg) treatment could significantly reduce the duration of immobility of OVX mice in these two models compared with the control group (OVX mice + vehicle), which was similar to the positive control imipramine. In addition, SECO treatment could substantially increase brain monoamine (norepinephrine and dopamine) levels in OVX mice. The present studies showed that SECO can reverse depressive-like behavior and exhibit monoamine-enhancing effects.

[Comparative analysis of Daoyintu (Physical and Breathing Exercise Graph) and Yinshu (Guidance Way)].

Daoyintu (Physical and Breathing Exercise Graph) and Yinshu (Guidance Way) were guiding technique which simultaneously prevailed in the early time of Western Han dynasty. One is a graph, the other is a text, which were combined harmoniously. Mutual corroboration and comparative analysis on their differences from four aspects: content characteristics, related diseases, guiding techniques in the style of animal movements and applied sports apparatus, in general revealed the overview of the guiding techniques and gymnastics of 2000 years ago, which can provide reference for the further study and practical application of health cultivation methods in the future.

[Effects of jieyuwan on HPA axis and immune system in chronic stress models in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of jieyuwan on neuroendocrine-immune of chronic unpredictable stress rats, for identifing its mechanism of action. METHOD: Animals were randomly assigned to six groups: one non-stressed (control) group, one stressed group (CUS + vehicle) , three treatment groups (CUS + Jieyuwan 53, 106, 212 mg x kg(-1), respectively), and one group for imipramine (CUS + imipramine 10 mg x kg(-1)). We used the chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) test in rats to investigated the effects of chronic oral administration (21 days) of Jieyuwan and imipramine (ip) on the sucrose consumption, the relative weight of adrenal and thymus, the concentration of serum corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta measured by ELISA. RESULT: Our results showed that Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to CUS exhibited increased adrenal weight, reduction in thymus weight, less sucrose consumption, and synchronized with higher serum corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta concentration. Chronic treatment with Jieyuwan (53, 106, 212 mg x kg(-1), po, 21 days) could improve locomotion of stressed rat sucrose consumption, turn over the high levels of serum corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta concentration. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic actions of jieyuwan, in some degree, may be related with indirect or direct effects on HPA axis and immune system.

[Textual research on the motives of professionalization of the famous physicians in the past dynasties].

According to the study on the biographies of 106 famous physicians in the past dynasties, their motives of professionalization are summed up and classified into two types, namely, the reasons of themselves and their families. Furthermore, two different types also could be summarized respectively as six and three reasons based on their own conditions. Meanwhile, it shows that many physicians were also influenced by social morals and cultural thoughts in their times. Finally, it concludes that their great interest, intensive motives, and determined attitude to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are very important to their fame and success, which also has practical significance to today's education of TCM.

Antidepressant effects of curcumin in the forced swim test and olfactory bulbectomy models of depression in rats.

Curcuma longa is a major constituent of Xiaoyao-san, the traditional Chinese medicinal formula, which has been used to effectively manage stress and depression-related disorders in China. Curcumin is the active component of curcuma longa, and we hypothesized that curcumin would have an influence on depressive-like behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to confirm the putative antidepressant effect of chronic administrations of curcumin (1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg, p.o.) in the forced swimming test and bilateral olfactory bulbectomy (OB) models of depression in rats. In the first study, chronic treatment with curcumin (14 days) reduced the immobility time in the forced swimming test. In the second experiment, curcumin reversed the OB-induced behavioral abnormalities such as hyperactivity in the open field, as well as deficits in step-down passive avoidance. In addition, OB-induced low levels of serotonin (5-HT), noradrenaline (NA), high 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in the hippocampus were observed, and were completely reversed by curcumin administration. A slight decrease in 5-HT, NA and dopamine (DA) levels was found in the frontal cortex of OB rats which was also reversed by curcumin treatment. These results confirm the antidepressant effects of curcumin in the forced swim and the OB models of depression in rats, and suggest that these antidepressant effects may be mediated by actions in the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems.

The effects of curcumin on depressive-like behaviors in mice.

Curcuma longa is a major constituent of Xiaoyao-san, the traditional Chinese medicinal formula, which has been used effectively to treat depression-related diseases in China. There is no information available about the antidepressant activity of curcumin, the active component of curcuma longa. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of curcumin on depressive-like behaviors in mice, using two animal models of depression. Our results showed that curcumin treatment at 5 and 10 mg/kg (p.o.) significantly reduced the duration of immobility in both the tail suspension and forced swimming tests. These doses that affected the immobile response did not affect locomotor activity. In addition, the neurochemical assays showed that curcumin produced a marked increase of serotonin and noradrenaline levels at 10 mg/kg in both the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Dopamine levels were also increased in the frontal cortex and the striatum. Moreover, curcumin was found to inhibit monoamine oxidase activity in the mouse brain. These findings suggest that the antidepressant-like effects of curcumin may involve the central monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems.

Spectrofluorimetric study of the charge-transfer complexation of certain fluoroquinolones with 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane.

Simple, rapid and sensitive spectrofluorimetric methods are described, for the first time, for the determination of ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR), pefloxacin (PEF) and fleroxacin (FLE). The methods are based on the charge-transfer (CT) reaction of these drugs as n-electron donors with 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) as pi-electron acceptor. TCNQ was found to react with these drugs to produce intensely transfer reaction complexes and the fluorescence intensity of the complexes was enhanced in 21-35 fold higher than that of the studied fluoroquinolones itself. The formation of such complexes was also confirmed by both infrared and ultraviolet-visible measurements. The different experimental parameters that affect the fluorescence intensity were carefully studied. At the optimum reaction conditions, the drug-TCNQ complexes showed excitation maxima ranging from 277 to 284 nm and emission maxima ranging from 451 to 458 nm. Rectilinear calibration graphs were obtained in the concentration range of 0.03-0.9, 0.04-1.2, 0.04-1.3 and 0.08-2.4 microg ml(-1) for CIP, NOR, PEF and FLE, respectively. The developed methods were applied successfully for the determination of the studied drugs in their pharmaceutical dosage forms with a good precision and accuracy compared to official and reported methods as revealed by t- and F-tests.

Tetrandrine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid from Chinese herb Radix, augmented the hypnotic effect of pentobarbital through serotonergic system.

This is the first study of hypnotic activity of tetrandrine (a major component of Stephania tetrandrae) in mice by using synergism with pentobarbital as an index for the hypnotic effect. The results showed that tetrandrine potentiated pentobarbital (45 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced hypnosis significantly by reducing sleep latency and increasing sleeping time in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect was potentiated by 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). In the subhypnotic dosage of pentobarbital (28 mg/kg, i.p.)-treated mice, tetrandrine (60 and 30 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly increased the rate of sleep onset and also showed synergic effect with 5-HTP. Pretreatment of p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA, 300 mg/kg, s.c.), an inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase, significantly decreased pentobarbital-induced sleeping time and tetrandrine abolished this effect. From these results, it should be presumed that serotonergic system may be involved in the augmentative effect of tetrandrine on pentobarbital-induced sleep.

Inhibitory effects of tetrandrine on the serum- and platelet-derived growth factor-BB-induced proliferation of rat aortic smooth muscle cells through inhibition of cell cycle progression, DNA synthesis, ERK1/2 activation and c-fos expression.

Tetrandrine (TET) is a well known naturally occurred nonspecific Ca(2+) channel blocker. It has long been used for the treatment of arrhythmia, hypertension, and occlusive cardiovascular disorders. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of TET on the proliferation of primary cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs). TET significantly inhibited both 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 50 ng/ml platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced proliferation, [(3) H] ]thymidine incorporation into DNA, and p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK1/2) phosphorylation at the concentration of 1.0 and 5.0 microM. Flow cytometry analysis of DNA content in synchronized cells revealed blocking of the FBS-inducible cell cycle progression by TET. In accordance with these findings, TET 5 microM caused a 48% decrease in the early elevation of c-fos expression induced after 10% FBS addition. Furthermore, in contrast to its distinguishable higher potency of Ca(2+) antagonistic activity, verapamil showed lower potent antiproliferative activities than TET. These results suggest that TET can exert antiproliferative effects against mitogenic stimuli for RASMCs in vitro by a mechanism that involves the MAPK pathway, altering cell cycle progression, and the inhibitory action cannot be limited to its Ca(2+) modulation.