Hydronephrosis caused by intrauterine contraceptive device migration: three case reports with literature review.

Translocation of intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) from the uterus rarely occurs, which can lead to serious complications. Here the authors reported three cases of IUD migration from into the ureter, bladder, and peritoneal cavity that caused hydronephrosis, respectively. All the three patients received minimally invasive surgeries and recovered.

Individual and Joint Acute Toxicities of Selected Insecticides Against Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae).

As widely used pesticides, organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid insecticides have different modes of action. In the present study, we evaluated individual and joint acute toxicities of two organophosphates, two pyrethroids, and two neonicotinoids against the second-instar silkworm by feeding silkworm with the insecticide-treated mulberry leaves. The 96-h lethal concentration 50 (LC(50)) values of chlorpyrifos, acephate, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin against silkworm were 3.45 (2.95-4.31), 44.45 (39.34-48.56), 1.27 (1.19-1.35), 2.38 (2.19-2.54), 0.36 (0.30-0.43), and 0.037 (0.033-0.041) mg/liter, respectively. Moreover, the 96-h LC(50) values of 50:50 binary mixtures of insecticides against silkworm ranged from 0.048 (0.043-0.054) to 3.52 (2.09-4.51) mg/liter. In addition, the combination coefficient (Q) values of all tested mixtures ranged from 0.36 to 3.37. According to the obtained Q values, the binary mixture of deltamethrin-chlorpyrifos showed antagonistic effects at 96-h interval, while the other binary mixtures had additive effects. Taken together, our results provided valuable guidelines in assessing the ecological risk of these insecticide mixtures against silkworm.

Elimination of hepatitis B virus surface antigen and appearance of neutralizing antibodies in chronically infected patients without viral clearance.

Seroconversion from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to antibodies against HBsAg (anti-HBs) usually indicates resolution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here, two HBV-infected patients with seroconversion to anti-HBs were found to be persistently positive for HBeAg and HBV DNA. Immunohistology of liver biopsies confirmed the expression of HBV proteins in the liver of one patient. The neutralizing ability of anti-HBs in patient sera was demonstrated by blocking HBV infection of primary tupaia hepatocytes. Analysis of the HBsAg-encoding region of HBV isolates from patients indicated the coexistence of heterogeneous HBV genomes in patients. The majority of recombinant variant HBsAg was reactive in HBsAg assays and was able to bind to anti-HBs. Circulating immune complexes (CIC) of HBsAg in patient sera could be detected by polyethylene glycol precipitation and trypsin digestion. Thus, neutralizing anti-HBs may appear in chronic HBV carriers for long periods but does not necessarily lead to complete viral clearance.

Microencapsulated electric ink using gelatin/gum arabic.

Gelatin/gum arabic (GA) microcapsules were prepared by a convenient one step complex coacervation, in which TiO2 nanoparticles modified by stearic acid (SA) and homodispersed in tetrachloroethylene (TCE) were encapsulated. The modified TiO2 was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and optical microscopy, etc. And the effects of various microencapsulation parameters were also experimentally investigated. It was shown that SA-coated TiO2 nanoparticles are capable of subsidence-resistance in TCE as the SA is bonded to the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles through esterification. In addition, under the optimal encapsulated condition, the microcapsules can be prepared with regular morphology and transparent and smooth surface. Finally, the particles in microcapsules possessed reversible response to dc electric field and the response time is approximately 280 ms.

Disorder effects of left-handed metamaterials with unitary dendritic structure cell.

We demonstrate that the left-handed materials (LHMs) with unity dendritic unit cells arrayed in disorder state present still passband and negative refractive. The resonance behavior of LHMs in disturbed periodic lattice, quasi-periodic lattice and random array are experimentally investigated. Employing amended retrieval method, the LHMs with disordered state exhibits a negative index of refraction. Basing on such LHMs lens, the subwavelength imaging experiment give a clearly point image with a full wave at half maximum width of 0.4 lambda at 9.3 GHz. Similarly, the power field distribution of "N" shaped antenna is measured beyond the diffraction limit.

Containment wells to form hydraulic barriers along site boundaries.

In the field, aquifer remediation methods include pump and treat procedures based on hydraulic control systems. They are used to reduce the level of residual contamination present in the soil and soil pores of aquifers. Often, physical barriers are erected along the boundaries of the target (aquifer) site to reduce the leakage of the released soil contaminant to the surrounding regions. Physical barriers are expensive to build and dismantle. Alternatively, based on simple hydraulic principles, containment wells or image wells injecting clear water can be designed and built to provide hydraulic barriers along the contaminated site boundaries. For brevity, only one pattern of containment well system that is very effective is presented in detail. The study briefly reports about the method of erecting a hydraulic barrier around a contaminated region based on the simple hydraulic principle of images. During the clean-up period, hydraulic barriers can considerably reduce the leakage of the released contaminant from the target site to surrounding pristine regions. Containment wells facilitate the formation of hydraulic barriers. Hence, they control the movement of contaminants away from the site that is being remedied. However, these wells come into play, only when the pumping operation for cleaning up the site is active. After operation, they can be filled with soil to permit the natural ground water movement. They can also be used as monitoring wells.

Inverse Doppler Effects in Pipe Instruments.

Music is older than language, and for most of human history music holds our culture together. The pipe instrument is one of the most popular musical instruments of all time. Built on the foundation of previous flute and flute-like acoustic metamaterial models, we herein report the experimental results of the inverse Doppler effects discovered in two common pipe instruments - recorder and clarinet. Our study shows that the inverse Doppler effects can be detected at all seven pitches of an ascending musical scale when there is a relative motion between a microphone (observer) and abovementioned two pipe instruments (source). The calculated effective refractive indices of these two pipe instruments are negative and varying across a set of pitches, exhibiting a desired characteristic of broadband acoustic metamaterials. This study suggests that recorder and clarinet may be the earliest man-made acoustic metamaterials known so far, offering a new explanation why pipe instruments have enjoyed wide popularity in Europe and Asia over the past hundreds and thousands years. This newly discovered phenomenon would also offer a clue into designing next-generation smart broadband double-negative acoustic metamaterials with varying refractive index.

The immunosuppressive and protective ability of glucose-regulated protein 78 for improvement of alloimmunity in beta cell transplantation.

An insulinoma cell line, NIT-1, transfected with glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) was established, namely NIT-GRP78, and used to study the immunosuppressive and protective ability of GRP78. In extended cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing assay, NIT-1-primed lymphocytes were more cytotoxic in killing beta cells than NIT-GRP78-primed lymphocytes. Severe necrosis was observed only when the NIT-1-primed lymphocytes were cultured with NIT-1 beta cells, but not with NIT-GRP78 cells. In addition, an increase of interleukin (IL)-4 secretion from beta cell-primed splenocytes when GRP78 presence was observed in cytokine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Diabetic mice reached normoglycaemia promptly and gained weight after transplantation of either NIT-1 or NIT-GRP78 cells. However, the recipient mice transplanted with NIT-GRP78 cells lived much longer than those recipients transplanted with NIT-1 cells, which was due apparently to prolonged insulin production by the transplanted NIT-GRP78 cells. In fact, we observed a significant increase of insulin concentration after glucose stimulation of diabetic mice received NIT-GRP78 cells at day 7 post-transplantation. From the results we propose that GRP78 could have a dual function in both protecting NIT-1 cells from CTL-mediated lysis and stimulating a population of T helper 2 cells to down-regulate the immune response to the transplanted beta cells.

Inverse Doppler Effects in Broadband Acoustic Metamaterials.

The Doppler effect refers to the change in frequency of a wave source as a consequence of the relative motion between the source and an observer. Veselago theoretically predicted that materials with negative refractions can induce inverse Doppler effects. With the development of metamaterials, inverse Doppler effects have been extensively investigated. However, the ideal material parameters prescribed by these metamaterial design approaches are complex and also challenging to obtain experimentally. Here, we demonstrated a method of designing and experimentally characterising arbitrary broadband acoustic metamaterials. These omni-directional, double-negative, acoustic metamaterials are constructed with 'flute-like' acoustic meta-cluster sets with seven double meta-molecules; these metamaterials also overcome the limitations of broadband negative bulk modulus and mass density to provide a region of negative refraction and inverse Doppler effects. It was also shown that inverse Doppler effects can be detected in a flute, which has been popular for thousands of years in Asia and Europe.

Slowing down light using a dendritic cell cluster metasurface waveguide.

Slowing down or even stopping light is the first task to realising optical information transmission and storage. Theoretical studies have revealed that metamaterials can slow down or even stop light; however, the difficulty of preparing metamaterials that operate in visible light hinders progress in the research of slowing or stopping light. Metasurfaces provide a new opportunity to make progress in such research. In this paper, we propose a dendritic cell cluster metasurface consisting of dendritic structures. The simulation results show that dendritic structure can realise abnormal reflection and refraction effects. Single- and double-layer dendritic metasurfaces that respond in visible light were prepared by electrochemical deposition. Abnormal Goos-Hänchen (GH) shifts were experimentally obtained. The rainbow trapping effect was observed in a waveguide constructed using the dendritic metasurface sample. The incident white light was separated into seven colours ranging from blue to red light. The measured transmission energy in the waveguide showed that the energy escaping from the waveguide was zero at the resonant frequency of the sample under a certain amount of incident light. The proposed metasurface has a simple preparation process, functions in visible light, and can be readily extended to the infrared band and communication wavelengths.

Spinal toll-like receptor 4-mediated signalling pathway contributes to visceral hypersensitivity induced by neonatal colonic irritation in rats.

BACKGROUND: Although visceral hypersensitivity is a major pathophysiological feature of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), its underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a critical pattern recognition molecule of the innate immune system. In this study, we investigated whether the TLR4/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathway in the spinal cord contributed to the visceral hypersensitivity induced by neonatal colonic irritation (CI) in rats. METHODS: The Sprague-Dawley rat model of IBS was induced by colon irritation on post-natal day (PND) 8, PND10 and PND12. Experiments were conducted in adult rats. TLR4 mRNA and protein, and its downstream signalling molecules, MyD88, inhibitory nuclear factor-kappa B (IκB) and NF-κB protein expressions in L2-S4 spinal segments were detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction as well as Western blotting. TLR4 co-localization was determined by immunohistochemistry. Levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: We found that neonatal CI treatment induced long-lasting visceral hypersensitivity without identifiable structural abnormalities in descending colons of adult rats. Neonatal CI treatment evoked a significant up-regulation of the expressions of TLR4 in glia, MyD88, p-IκB-α and NF-κB in adult rats. Neonatal CI treatment also increased the levels of its downstream inflammatory agents TNF-α and IL-1ß in the L2-S4 regions of the spinal cord of adult rats. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that neonatal CI stimulates the production of IL-1ß and TNF-α through the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signalling pathway in the spinal cord, which contributed to visceral hypersensitivity induced by neonatal CI in rats.

A 10-year retrospective study of free anterolateral thigh flap application in 872 head and neck tumour cases.

The aim of this study was to report the clinical features, reliability, and various applications of free anterolateral thigh (ALT) flaps and to provide a 10-year retrospective review of the application of this flap in head and neck tumour patients. A retrospective study was performed of 872 patients who underwent immediate reconstruction of head and neck tumour-induced defects with ALT flaps between April 2005 and April 2014. The study sample consisted of 609 males and 263 females aged 18-79 years. The shapes and sizes of the flaps were designed individually to meet various demands of reconstruction in the head and neck region. The overall rate of successful reconstruction was 97.4%. The reasons for 57 cases of flap compromise were analyzed. The time to detection of flap crisis was often within the first 8h after surgery (64.9%). One- and two-vein anastomosis strategies in microsurgery were compared, and significant differences were observed in terms of the time to detection of flap compromise and the rate of successful flap salvage. In conclusion, the free ALT flap provides unique features for the reconstruction of oral and facial defects in a reliable and versatile approach. The ALT flap is a favourable and versatile 'workhorse' flap for head and neck reconstruction.

Spastic paraplegia, ataxia, mental retardation (SPAR): a novel genetic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a kindred with a dominantly inherited neurologic disorder manifested either as uncomplicated spastic paraplegia or ataxia, spastic paraplegia, and mental retardation. METHODS: Neurologic examinations and molecular genetic analysis (exclusion of known SCA and HSP genes and loci; and trinucleotide repeat expansion detection [RED]) were performed in six affected and four unaffected subjects in this family. MRI, electromyography (EMG), and nerve conduction studies were performed in three affected subjects. RESULTS: The phenotype of this dominantly inherited syndrome varied in succeeding generations. Pure spastic paraplegia was present in the earliest generation; subsequent generations had ataxia and mental retardation. MRI showed marked atrophy of the spinal cord in all patients and cerebellar atrophy in those with ataxia. Laboratory analysis showed that the disorder was not caused by mutations in genes that cause SCA-1, SCA-2, SCA-3, SCA-6, SCA-7, SCA-8, and SCA-12; not linked to other known loci for autosomal dominant ataxia (SCA-4, SCA-5, SCA-10, SCA-11, SCA-13, SCA-14, and SCA-16); and not linked to known loci for autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) (SPG-3, SPG-4, SPG-6, SPG-8, SPG-9, SPG-10, SPG-12, and SPG-13) or autosomal recessive HSP SPG-7. Analysis of intergenerational differences in age at onset of symptoms suggests genetic anticipation. Using RED, the authors did not detect expanded CAG, CCT, TGG, or CGT repeats that segregate with the disease. CONCLUSIONS: The authors describe an unusual, dominantly inherited neurologic disorder in which the phenotype (pure spastic paraplegia or spastic ataxia with variable mental retardation) differed in subsequent generations. The molecular explanation for apparent genetic anticipation does not appear to involve trinucleotide repeat expansion.

In situ sol-gel preparation of polysaccharide/titanium oxide hybrid colloids and their electrorheological effect.

A new type of organic/inorganic hybrid colloid, made of modified carboxylmethyl starch (CMS) and titanium oxide (TiO(2)), was synthesized by an in situ sol-gel technique. IR spectra analysis shows strong a interaction of functional groups between two components, whose dispersion is almost at the molecular level. Due to the highly active surfaces hybrid particles and their characteristic dielectric behavior in accordance with the previous theoretic calculation, the suspensions of hybrids in silicone oil display a remarkable ER effect. The static yield stress can be above 20 kPa (shear rate 5 S(-1)) under a direct current field of 4 kV/mm at room temperature, much higher than that of simple blends of starch and titanium dioxide. In the meanwhile, the temperature dependence and sedimentation stability were optimized. Based on existing experimental results, we propose that dielectric properties and surface (interface) activity are two necessary conditions fulfilling the requirement of high ER activity. The combination of both factors may effectively reduce the activation energy needed for ERF restructuring.

Preparation of nanocapsules containing the two-phase core materials.

In this study, copolymer nanocapsules containing the two-phase core materials were prepared by mini-emulsion polymerization using styrene (St) and methylmethacrylate (MMA) as comonomer, in which the ZnO nanoparticles organic suspension was prepared by solvothermal synthesis method. The obtained materials were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-visible spectrophotometry and fluorescence spectrometer. The particle size of the prepared ZnO nanoparticles dispersed in the organic solvent was less than 20 nm. The resulting polymer nanocapsules have 100-200 nm in diameter and approximately 10-20 nm in the wall thickness. The surface of the polymer nanocapsules is smooth and clear.

Electrophoretic ink using urea-formaldehyde microspheres.

A kind of electronic ink, which is supported on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass before polymerization, is prepared using urea and formaldehyde resin as wall materials, in which TiO(2) modified with PMMA are dispersed in tetrachloroethylene (TCE) using a mixture of oil blue dyes and charge control additive (span80). Rotary viscometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and optical microscopy are used to characterize the particles, respectively. The electrophoretic mobility of the microcapsules to electric field is also investigated with two parallel electrodes.

The relation between narrow-dispersed microcapsules and surfactants.

Electric ink display is one of the prospect technologies in paper-like display. In this paper, electric ink microcapsules are prepared by means of an in situ polymerization and complex coacervation. In order to obtain the microcapsules in a uniform size distribution, this study focused on the inter-facial tension between tetrachloroethylene and water solution, the dispersion of the core droplets and the microencapsulation with different kind of surfactants. By measuring the inter-facial tensions between water and tetrachloroethylene, it is found that urea-formaldehyde (UF) pre-polymer presents certain surface activity due to the inter-facial tension descending from 43 mN m(-1) to 35 mN m(-1). Because the surface activity of pre-polymer is not valid, the water-soluble emulsifiers can occupy on the surface of the droplets and prevent the UF resin depositing there. The analysis of the size distribution shows that the UF microcapsules are multi-dispersed. Furthermore, the influence of anionic surfactant of SDS on the size distribution of the core droplets is also investigated. The average diameters of the core droplets prepared with 0.005 wt% and 0.012 wt% SDS are approximately 50 microm and 28 microm, respectively. That reveals the existence of SDS not only decreases the droplet diameters, but also makes the size distribution centralized. Because the surface of the core droplets is charged due to the absorption of SDS anionic, the Gelatin and Gum Arabic (GA) coacervating layer is easy to form there. The size of the GA microcapsules prepared with 0.003 wt% SDS is approximately 65 microm. Finally; the responsive behaviour of the microcapsules to electric field is also investigated.

Positional cloning of novel skin-specific genes from the human epidermal differentiation complex.

The epidermal differentiation complex, located on human chromosomal band 1q21, contains at least 20 genes expressed during epidermal differentiation. We constructed a 1.2-Mb YAC contig spanning the SPRR and S100 gene clusters. Restriction mapping and FISH confirmed the colinearity of the contig with the genomic restriction map (A. Volz et al., 1993, Genomics 18:92-99). However, the YAC clones revealed several additional restriction sites not previously detected in genomic DNA, presumably due to CpG methylation. Making use of cDNA selection, we have identified three novel cDNAs, all of which map to the SPRR/IVL region. All three transcripts are expressed at high levels in normal and psoriatic skin, but not in cultured keratinocytes or in a variety of cell lines and human tissues. The molecular cloning of this region provides a valuable tool for identifying additional epidermal differentiation genes and for elucidating the relationship between chromatin structure and gene expression during terminal differentiation.

Effects of calcitonin injected into various brain areas on pain threshold and Ca2+ in rats.

AIM: To study the effects of calcitonin (Cal) injected into different brain areas on pain threshold. METHODS: The analgesic effects of Cal were investigated in rats by the tail-flick test. RESULTS: Cal injected into lateral cerebral ventricle (LCV) or periaqueductal gray (PAG) increased obviously the pain threshold to 49 +/- 22% or to 68 +/- 12% (P < 0.01), respectively. When PAG was blocked with lidocaine, the analgesic effect of Cal injected into LCV was lowered 41 +/- 9%. Cal injected into habenula (Hab) decreased the pain threshold to -30 +/- 5% (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Cal in different rat brain areas induced different effects on pain responses: analgesia or hyperalgesia, and showed that PAG played an important role in the analgesic effect induced by Cal, and the changing of pain threshold was mediated by the Ca2+ in brain.