A toughening mechanism of the strain rate-optimal chain length on polymer-modified calcium silicate hydrates (CSH).

Polymers are known to effectively improve the toughness of inorganic matrices; however, the mechanism at the molecular level is still unclear. In this study, we used molecular dynamics simulations to unravel the effects and mechanisms of different molecular chain lengths of polyacrylic acid (PAA) on toughening calcium silicate hydrate (CSH), which is the basic building block of cement-based materials. Our simulation results indicate that an optimal molecular chain length of polymers contributes to the largest toughening effect on the matrix, leading to up to 60.98% increase in fracture energy. During the uniaxial tensile tests along the x-axis and z-axis direction, the configuration evolution of the PAA molecule determines the toughening effect. As the polymer unfolds and its size matches the defects of CSH, the stress distribution of the system becomes more homogeneous, which favors an increase in toughness. Furthermore, based on our simulation results and a mathematical model, we propose a theory of "strain rate/optimal chain length". This theory suggests that the optimal toughening effect can be achieved when the molecular chain length of the organic component is 1.3-1.5 times the largest defect size of the inorganic matrix. This work provides molecular-scale insights into the toughening mechanisms of an organic/inorganic system and may have practical implications for improving the toughness of cement-based materials.

The effect of anthocyanins supplementation on liver enzymes among patients with metabolic disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

The present study aims to summarize and quantitatively examine the available evidence on the effectiveness of anthocyanin supplementation on liver enzymes among patients with metabolic disorders, by employing a systematic review and meta-analytic approach. Online databases including PubMed/Medline, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched up to June 2020 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the effect of anthocyanin supplementation on serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) among patients with metabolic disorders. To estimate the overall effect of anthocyanin supplementation, we employed the random-effects model. In total, 12 RCTs were included in the systematic review. Pooled analysis did not show any significant changes in ALT (WMD: -0.92 U/L, 95% CI: -4.19 to 2.35, p = .58; I2  = 91.3%) and AST (WMD: -1.22 U/L, 95% CI: -3.43 to 0.99, p = .28; I2  = 87.0) concentrations after supplementation with anthocyanin. The dose and duration of supplementation were the potential sources of heterogeneity among most of the trials. However, subgroup analysis showed that the effect is not statistically significant in all subgroups. Overall, in our study, anthocyanin does not have any effect on liver enzyme levels significantly. However, future high-quality studies are still needed to confirm the results.

Entecavir-induced interferon-λ1 suppresses type 2 innate lymphoid cells in patients with hepatitis B virus-related liver cirrhosis.

The immunomodulatory effects of entecavir (ETV) in anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) therapy have long been recognized. This study aimed to determine the effects of ETV on non-natural killer innate lymphoid cells (non-NK ILCs) in HBV-related liver disease progression. We enrolled treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) patients treated with ETV for 24 months. Before and after therapy, the frequency and cytokine profiles of ILC2s and non-NK ILCs subset homeostasis and their clinical significance were determined, and serial serum interferon (IFN)-λ levels were analysed. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of untreated LC patients were cultured with serum from untreated and ETV-treated LC patients in addition to being subject to IFN-λ1 neutralization and stimulation, and the frequency and cytokine production of ILC2s as well as non-NK ILCs subset ratios were calculated. Furthermore, IFN-λ receptor expression on non-NK ILCs and dendritic cells (DCs) was measured. After 24 months of ETV treatment, the frequency and cytokine production of ILC2s (IL-4, IL-13, IFN-γ, TNF-α) decreased with increased ILC1/ILC2 and decreased ILC2/ILC3 ratios, revealing a close association with disease status in LC patients. Long-term ETV administration-induced serum IFN-λ1 levels were negatively correlated with ILC2s. ETV-treated LC serum culture and IFN-λ1 stimulation yielded similar effects on suppression of ILC2s, and IFN-λ1 neutralization in serum culture partly inhibited this effect. The IFN-λ receptor was detected on DCs but not on non-NK ILCs. In conclusion, ETV suppresses the frequency and cytokine profiles of ILC2s by increasing IFN-λ1 in LC patients.

Use of routine computed tomography scans for detecting osteoporosis in thoracolumbar vertebral bodies.

OBJECTIVE: This study observed the distribution of CT attenuation values for T10-L3 vertebral bodies and derived the Hounsfield unit (HU) thresholds using the quantitative computed tomography (QCT) as a reference to predict osteoporosis and normal bone density. METHODS: We included 482 subjects who were scheduled to undergo CT lung cancer screening and pulmonary nodule follow-up from May 2015 to February 2019. The subjects were scanned with the calibration phantom beneath the back while performing a chest CT scan. The volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and CT attenuation values of T10-L3 vertebral bodies were measured, and the correlation between the two measurements was analyzed. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to determine diagnostic optimal thresholds. RESULTS: A total of 2716 vertebral bodies of 457 participants were measured after exclusion screening. CT attenuation value of each plane's vertebral body showed a strong correlation with vBMD. The optimal threshold of > 141 HU was 93.5% sensitive and 86.1% specific for the recognition of normal BMD. The optimal threshold of < 102.4 HU was 96.9% specific and 82.1% sensitive for distinguishing osteoporosis from osteopenia and normal BMD. The average CT attenuation values of vertebral bodies with compressed and normal morphology were 108.9 ± 20.6 and 136.8 ± 32.2 HU, respectively. CONCLUSION: Sagittal reconstruction of the thoracic vertebrae using routine thoracic CT image combined with CT attenuation value measurements of the spine is valuable for predicting bone mineral density in high-risk populations. The mean CT attenuation values of the vertebral bodies with vertebral compression appearance were lower than that of normal vertebral shape.

Ramie Yield Estimation Based on UAV RGB Images.

Timely and accurate crop growth monitoring and yield estimation are important for field management. The traditional sampling method used for estimation of ramie yield is destructive. Thus, this study proposed a new method for estimating ramie yield based on field phenotypic data obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. A UAV platform carrying RGB cameras was employed to collect ramie canopy images during the whole growth period. The vegetation indices (VIs), plant number, and plant height were extracted from UAV-based images, and then, these data were incorporated to establish yield estimation model. Among all of the UAV-based image data, we found that the structure features (plant number and plant height) could better reflect the ramie yield than the spectral features, and in structure features, the plant number was found to be the most useful index to monitor the yield, with a correlation coefficient of 0.6. By fusing multiple characteristic parameters, the yield estimation model based on the multiple linear regression was obviously more accurate than the stepwise linear regression model, with a determination coefficient of 0.66 and a relative root mean square error of 1.592 kg. Our study reveals that it is feasible to monitor crop growth based on UAV images and that the fusion of phenotypic data can improve the accuracy of yield estimations.

Calcite crystallization in the cement system: morphological diversity, growth mechanism and shape evolution.

Carbonation plays an indispensable role in engineering construction, embracing mineralization, CO2 sequestration and low pH induced corrosion, but the essential mechanism of carbonation occurring in calcium silicate hydrate or portlandite can hardly be interpreted. Observation on how carbonation proceeds at the nano scale is thus critical for a better understanding of its dynamics. Here, using electron microscopy combined with first-principles calculation, a new view on carbonation in the cement system is revealed, considering morphological diversity, growth mechanism and shape evolution. Two types of crystalline forms of calcium carbonate (i.e. cubic and spindle) under room conditions were observed and determined to be calcite, both experimentally and theoretically. The mechanism of morphological evolution of calcite in a cement system was demonstrated based on the theory of aqueous chemistry. The [Ca2+] to [CO3] ratio was the principle cause for the diversity in crystal morphology instead of the types of reactants (i.e. portlandite or calcium silicate hydrates). Excess calcium species in the solution could selectively adsorb on surfaces, resulting in an inhibitive effect on the growth of specific crystal faces, (1 0 4)calcite and (2 1 1[combining macron])calcite in this case. Furthermore, a relationship between relative ionic concentration and the length to diameter ratio was established to predict the shape transformation. This work makes it possible to explore the chemical nature of carbonation from a nano scope rather than being confined to the macroscopic carbonation of concrete.

Activated hepatic stellate cells directly induce pathogenic Th17 cells in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Th17 cells are involved in liver fibrosis by activating hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). We aimed to investigate whether HSCs are able to regulate the function of Th17 cells and to determine the relevant mechanism. Sixty-five patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were enrolled in this study. To determine the effect of HSCs on T cells, naïve CD4+T cells and Th17 cells were sorted from CHB patients and cultured with or without activated-HSCs, and cytokine expression and gene transcription were analyzed. In addition, the regulatory mechanism of HSCs was investigated. ELISA and qRT-PCR showed that Th17 cells from CHB patients were more pathogenic, on the basis of the expression of IL-17A, IL-23R, RORC, CCL20 and CCR6, and meanwhile, they could activate the primary HSCs. Co-culture experiments indicated that activated HSCs dramatically promoted proliferation of CD4+T cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. In addition, they could induce naïve CD4+T cells to become Th17 cells which had a more pathogenic phenotype. Moreover, activated HSCs-mediated induction of Th17 cells might depend on the release of IL-1ß and IL-6 as well as on the COX-PGE2 pathway. Th17 cells cooperated with HSCs in a proinflammatory feedback loop might provide a better understanding of the pathogenic role of Th17 cells in the chronicity of HBV infection.

HMGB1-induced autophagy: a new pathway to maintain Treg function during chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

High-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) protein, as one of the well-known damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs), is enriched in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and has a context-dependent role in autophagy, a highly conserved self-digestive process in response to environmental stress. Recent mouse studies indicate that autophagy is highly active in regulatory T (Treg)-cells. In the present study, we evaluated spontaneous and induced autophagy of peripheral Treg cells from 98 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), by measuring levels of lipidated form of microtubule-associated light chain 3 (LC3-II, marker for closed autophagosomes) and observing autophagic vacuoles (AV) with transmission electron microscope. No significant difference was found in spontaneous autophagy of either Treg or CD4+ naive cells when comparing CHB patients with healthy subjects, apart from CHB-Treg showed significantly higher autophagic activity after activation by anti-CD3-CD28 beads. Besides, incubation of CHB-Treg cells with CHB-serum greatly maintained their autophagic behaviour, which could be significantly diminished by blocking HMGB1 with the neutralizing antibody. Further, we characterized time- and dose-dependent effects by recombinant HMGB1 protein on autophagy of CHB-Treg cells. We also documented a significant up-regulation of HMGB1 and its receptors [toll-like receptor (TLR4), receptor for advanced glycation end-product (RAGE)] in both peripheral and intra-hepatic microenvironments of CHB patients. Moreover, the RAGE-extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) axis and rapamycin-sensitive components of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways were demonstrated in vitro to be involved in HMGB1-induced autophagy of Treg cells. Additionally, HMGB1-induced autophagy could maintain cell survival and functional stability of CHB-Treg cells. Our findings could open new perspectives in developing therapeutic strategies to activate specific anti-HBV immunity by diminishing Treg autophagy.

Molecular dynamics study of solvated aniline and ethylene glycol monomers confined in calcium silicate nanochannels: a case study of tobermorite.

The combination of organic and inorganic materials can result in materials with extraordinary performance. In this work, molecular dynamics was employed to investigate the structure, dynamics, interfacial behavior, and polymerization tendency of two types of monomers, aniline (AN) and ethylene glycol (EG), confined in the nanopores of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel. The interaction mechanism between the polymer and C-S-H gel has been interpreted: the silicate chains can provide nonbridging oxygen sites to accept H-bonds from the hydroxyl in EG and -NH2 functional groups in AN monomers. Due to stronger H-bond interactions, EG monomers are more likely to penetrate deeper into the C-S-H surface and exhibit a more pronounced orientation preference and longer resident time in the interfacial region compared with AN monomers. However, neighboring AN monomers exhibit strong spatial correlation and prefer to aggregate as large clusters, while EG monomers diffuse separately in bulk solution. Dynamically, the diffusion coefficients of monomers in the vicinity of the C-S-H surface were greatly reduced compared with those in the bulk solution due to restriction by H-bonds and attraction to surface calcium ions. Furthermore, with increasing monomer concentration, both monomers achieved greater surface adsorption density and penetration depth, and longer interfacial resident times. Higher concentrations also contributed to increased cluster size for AN monomers. The interaction mechanism in this organic-inorganic system provides useful guidelines for polymer selection, design, and fabrication of C-S-H/polymer nanocomposites.

IL-10-producing regulatory B-cells suppressed effector T-cells but enhanced regulatory T-cells in chronic HBV infection.

Non-specific immune responses to antigens have been demonstrated as being enhanced during chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here, we evaluated the role of interleukin-10 (IL-10)-producing regulatory B-cells (Bregs) in the pathogenesis of HBV-related liver fibrosis (HBV-LF) and assessed their immunoregulatory effects. Sixty-seven patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were enrolled in this study. Numbers and frequencies of peripheral B-cells (memory CD19(+)CD24(hi)CD27(+) cells, immature/transitional CD19(+)CD24(hi)CD38(hi) cells, mature CD19(+)CD24(int)CD38(int) cells) were tested and analysed. Flow cytometry-sorted CD4(+)T cells were cultured with autologous Bregs to elucidate the effects of Bregs on CD4(+)T cells, including effector T and regulatory T-cells (Tregs). The potential immunoregulatory mechanism of Bregs was also investigated. The numbers of total B-cells and Bregs were enriched in CHB patients. The frequency of Bregs was negatively correlated with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and histological inflammation grades (G), but positively correlated with advanced histological fibrosis stages (S) and enhanced HBV replication. The phenotype of Bregs was predominantly characterized as CD19(+)CD24(hi)CD38(hi) In co-culture with Bregs, CD4(+)CD25(-)T cells from CHB patients produced less interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and IL-17 but more IL-4 than CD4(+)CD25(-)T cells alone, whereas their conversions into Tregs and IL-10(+)T cells were enhanced. In addition, Breg depletion in CHB samples dramatically decreased Treg numbers and expression of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), IL-10 and transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß). Moreover, the observed regulatory effect was partly dependent on IL-10 release and cell-to-cell contact. Elevated Bregs can suppress effector T but enhance Treg functions, which might influence immune tolerance in chronic HBV infection.

Expression profiling of cadmium response genes in ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) root.

Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), a perennial herb belongs to Urticaceae family, is a rapid growth and high biomass crop with highly tolerant and accumulative to heavy metals. However, the gene expression and regulation caused by cadmium (Cd) in ramie has not been well studied. In the present study, a gene expression database of ramie root in the absence (control) or presence of 100 µM Cd was established. Solexa high-throughput sequencing technology showed that 3,654,395 and 3,572,333 tags have been obtained from control and Cd treatment respectively. In total, 3887 genes were detected with significant differential expression levels, in which 2883 genes were up-regulated and 1004 genes were down-regulated. Gene ontology and pathway-based analyses were performed to determine and further to understand the biological functions of those differentially expressed genes. Fifteen genes were selected and their expression levels were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR, and twelve of them showed consistent expression patterns with the digital gene expression data. Results on these expression profiling of genes lay the basis for biotechnological modification of new transgenic plants with improved phytoremediation capacity.

Biomimetic Mechanical Robust Cement-Resin Composites with Machine Learning-Assisted Gradient Hierarchical Structures.

Biological materials relying on hierarchically ordered architectures inspire the emergence of advanced composites with mutually exclusive mechanical properties, but the efficient topology optimization and large-scale manufacturing remain challenging. Herein, this work proposes a scalable bottom-up approach to fabricate a novel nacre-like cement-resin composite with gradient brick-and-mortar (BM) structure, and demonstrates a machine learning-assisted method to optimize the gradient structure. The fabricated gradient composite exhibits an extraordinary combination of high flexural strength, toughness, and impact resistance. Particularly, the toughness and impact resistance of such composite attractively surpass the cement counterparts by factors of approximately 700 and 600 times, and even outperform natural rocks, fiber-reinforced cement-based materials and even some alloys. The strengthening and toughening mechanisms are clarified as the regional-matrix densifying and crack-tip shielding effects caused by the gradient BM structure. The developed gradient composite not only endows a promising structural material for protective applications in harsh scenarios, but also paves a new way for biomimetic metamaterials designing.

Potential Gradient-Driven Dual-Functional Electrochromic and Electrochemical Device Based on a Shared Electrode Design.

The integration of electrochromic devices and energy storage systems in wearable electronics is highly desirable yet challenging, because self-powered electrochromic devices often require an open system design for continuous replenishment of the strong oxidants to enable the coloring/bleaching processes. A self-powered electrochromic device has been developed with a close configuration by integrating a Zn/MnO2 ionic battery into the Prussian blue (PB)-based electrochromic system. Zn and MnO2 electrodes, as dual shared electrodes, the former one can reduce the PB electrode to the Prussian white (PW) electrode and serves as the anode in the battery; the latter electrode can oxidize the PW electrode to its initial state and acts as the cathode in the battery. The bleaching/coloring processes are driven by the gradient potential between Zn/PB and PW/MnO2 electrodes. The as-prepared Zn||PB||MnO2 system demonstrates superior electrochromic performance, including excellent optical contrast (80.6%), fast self-bleaching/coloring speed (2.0/3.2 s for bleaching/coloring), and long-term self-powered electrochromic cycles. An air-working Zn||PB||MnO2 device is also developed with a 70.3% optical contrast, fast switching speed (2.2/4.8 s for bleaching/coloring), and over 80 self-bleaching/coloring cycles. Furthermore, the closed nature enables the fabrication of various flexible electrochromic devices, exhibiting great potentials for the next-generation wearable electrochromic devices.

Super-amphiphobic arabic gum-based coatings on textile for on-demand oily and dye wastewater treatment.

Different membrane materials have broadly been constructed for oil-containing water separation, but most of preparation routes involve corrosive or toxic chemicals and especially many materials have only single superwetting property. Herein, a novel and eco-friendly cellulose-based textile membrane is developed by incorporating the composite coating consisting of arabic gum (AG), attapulgite (APT), and iron (Fe) onto cellulose textiles. The functionalized textile is superoleophobic underwater and superhydrophobic underoil. As a result, the textile prewetted with water or oil can be employed to separate light oil layer/water and heavy oil layer/water mixtures, respectively, and the separation efficiency to the two types of mixtures is larger than 98.3 %. Results also reveal that the decorated textile possesses superior stability and recyclability in purifying oily wastewater. More importantly, such coated textile is capable of filtrating water-soluble contaminants (dyes) from polluted water. Due to the versatility and environmental compatibility of product as well as the accessibility as agricultural and forestry product as raw materials, the advanced textiles may offer effective solutions to oily wastewater purification and water-soluble contaminant removal.

Multi-layered cement-hydrogel composite with high toughness, low thermal conductivity, and self-healing capability.

The inherent quasi-brittleness of cement-based materials, due to the disorder of their hydration products and pore structures, present significant challenges for directional matrix toughening. In this work, a rigid layered skeleton of cement slurry was prepared using a simplified ice-template method, and subsequently flexible polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel was introduced into the unidirectional pores between neighboring cement platelets, resulting in the formation of a multi-layered cement-based composite. A toughness improvement of over 175 times is achieved by the implantation of such hard-soft alternatively layered microstructure. The toughening mechanism is the stretching of hydrogels at the nano-scale and deflections of micro-cracks at the interfaces, which avoid stress concentration and dissipate huge energy. Furthermore, this cement-hydrogel composite also exhibits a low thermal conductivity (around 1/10 of normal cement) and density, high specific strength and self-healing properties, which can be used in thermal insulation, seismic high-rise buildings and long-span bridges.

Bioinspired Super Thermal Insulating, Strong and Low Carbon Cement Aerogel for Building Envelope.

The energy crisis has arisen as the most pressing concern and top priority for policymakers, with buildings accounting for over 40% of global energy consumption. Currently, single-function envelopes cannot satisfy energy efficiency for next-generation buildings. Designing buildings with high mechanical robustness, thermal insulation properties, and more functionalities has attracted worldwide attention. Further optimization based on bioinspired design and material efficiency improvement has been adopted as effective approaches to achieve satisfactory performance. Herein, inspired by the strong and porous cuttlefish bone, a cement aerogel through self-assembly of calcium aluminum silicate hydrate nanoparticles (C-A-S-H, a major component in cement) in a polymeric solution as a building envelop is developed. The as-synthesized cement aerogel demonstrates ultrahigh mechanical performance in terms of stiffness (315.65 MPa) and toughness (14.68 MJ m-3 ). Specifically, the highly porous microstructure with multiscale pores inside the cement aerogel greatly inhibits heat transfer, therefore achieving ultralow thermal conductivity (0.025 W m-1 K-1 ). Additionally, the inorganic C-A-S-H nanoparticles in cement aerogel form a barrier against fire for good fire retardancy (limit oxygen index, LOI ≈ 46.26%, UL94-V0). The versatile cement aerogel featuring high mechanical robustness, remarkable thermal insulation, light weight, and fire retardancy is a promising candidate for practical building applications.

[The expression of macrophage migration inhibition factor in pulmonary tissues of smokers with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) in pulmonary tissues of the smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: The subjects were assigned into three groups: non-smokers without COPD (control group, n = 12), smokers without COPD (smoker group, n = 13) and smokers with COPD (COPD group, n = 16). The specimens were obtained from lung tissues as far away from cancer focus as possible (> 5 cm). Real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the expression and distribution of MIF in pulmonary tissues. The relationship between the severity of airflow obstruction and the differential expressions of MIF in lung tissues of the smokers with or without COPD was analyzed. RESULTS: (1) MIF mRNA expression in COPD group (4.87 ± 1.79) was higher than that in the smoker group (2.16 ± 0.72; P < 0.01), which was higher than that in the control group (1.09 ± 0.48; P < 0.01). (2) Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that MIF protein expression in lung tissues of the COPD group (0.277 ± 0.025) was higher than that in the smokers group (0.199 ± 0.034; P < 0.01), which was significantly higher than that in control group (0.130 ± 0.021; P < 0.01). (3) Correlation analysis of MIF mRNA expression in the lung tissues and pulmonary function parameters of forced expired volume in one second (FEV(1)) percentage of predicted (FEV(1) pred)and ratio of FEV(1) to forced vital capacity (FEV(1)/FVC) suggested that MIF mRNA expression in the lung tissues was negatively related with FEV(1) pred (r = -0.578, P < 0.01) and FEV(1)/FVC (r = -0.607, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: MIF expression significantly increases in the smokers with COPD, and MIF level in the lung is positively correlated with airflow limitation. The results suggest that MIF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of smoking-induced COPD.

Detection of all isoforms of human leukocyte antigen G in maternal serum could be clinically applied for prediction of preeclampsa.

OBJECTIVE: Previously, a number of previous studies on human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) and preeclampsia (PE) have demonstrated that expression of HLA-G is significantly reduced in women with PE. However, no study has confirmed whether maternal serum HLA-G could be used as a clinical test when HLA-G1/-G5 isoforms were measured. Therefore, the present study is to develop a novel HLA-G ELISA which is able to detect all isoforms of HLA-G and then to perform a retrospective case-control study to investigate clinical significance of maternal serum HLA-G for predicting PE. METHODS: A recombinant HLA-G fragment which containing partial sequences of HLA-G α1 and α2 domains was constructed to develop two novel monoclonal antibodies against HLA-G. A novel HLA-G sandwich ELISA which could detect all isoforms of HLA-G was developed. By using the ELISA, predictive effectiveness of maternal serum HLA-G in a retrospective case control study was evaluated. RESULTS: At the first trimester and early second trimester, detection of maternal serum HLA-G had the sensitivity of 54.3% and 48.5% and the specificity of 97.8% and 96.3% in the prediction of PE. These were significantly higher than those at the third trimester (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: HLA-G isoforms other than HLA-G1/-G5 are expressed in some pregnant women who have low level or lack HLA-G1/-G5. Measurement of all HLA-G isoforms in maternal serum could be used as a clinical test for early prediction of PE.

Comparison of volumetric methods for tumor measurements on two and three dimensional MRI in adult glioblastoma.

INTRODUCTION: Change in tumor size is a frequent endpoint in cancer clinical trials, but whether change in size should be measured using volume on two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) images is not certain. We compared volumetric measurements on post-contrast 2D and high-resolution 3D T1-weighted MR images (T1WI) in evaluating tumor response in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). METHODS: Tumor volume measurements were performed on 86 MRI studies from 37 adult patients with GBM on post-contrast 5 mm 2D T1WI and isotropic high-resolution T1WI. The means of the two volumes were compared and their association was analyzed. RESULTS: There is no significant difference between volumes measured on 2D and 3D in 86 scans (Z = 0.63, p = 0.53), and a high correlation was revealed between them (r = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.93-0.97, p < 0.001). When the percentage changes were categorized into traditional tumor response criteria (complete response/partial response/stable disease/progressive disease), the kappa coefficient between the volume on 2D and volume on 3D was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.57-1.03, p < 0.05) with an overall agreement of 84%. CONCLUSIONS: Volume on post-contrast 2D T1WI appears comparable to volume on 3D T1WI and should be a practical alternative to volume on 3D in evaluating tumor response.

Therapeutic effects of Yiqi Huoxue prescription on diabetic nephropathy: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated excellent effects in treating diabetic nephropathy, and Yiqi Huoxue prescription has been widely used clinically. In the study, its effects on the kidney function and blood glucose of patients were explored. METHODS: Chinese and English databases including PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Web of Sciences were used to retrieve articles comparing the treatment of diabetic nephropathy using Yiqi Huoxue prescription on the basis of conventional Western medicine treatment (experimental group) and conventional Western medicine treatment alone (control group) published from January 2000 to December 2020. The risk of bias assessment tool of the Cochrane System Review Manual 5.2.2 and the Jadad scale were used to evaluate the quality of the included literature. The outcome indexes were extracted, and the Review Manager 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 13 articles that satisfied the inclusion/exclusion criteria were included in this study. After treatment, compared to the control group, the experimental group exhibited lower urine microalbumin excretion rate (UAER) [mean difference (MD) =-33.94, 95% confidence interval (CI), -42.60 to -25.28, P<0.00001], serum creatinine (SCr) (MD =-7.43, 95% CI, -11.50 to -3.36, P=0.0004), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (SMD =-1.23, 95% CI, -2.49 to 0.03, P=0.04), blood glucose-related indexes [fasting blood glucose (FBG)] (MD =-0.43, 95% CI, -0.87 to 0.01, P=0.03), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (MD =-0.38, 95% CI, -0.68 to -0.08, P=0.01), blood lipid-related indexes [triglycerides (TG)] (MD =-0.44, 95% CI, -0.76 to -0.13, P=0.006), and serum total cholesterol (TC) (MD =-0.37, 95% CI, -0.57 to -0.18, P=0.0002). Furthermore, the experimental group also showed higher effectiveness rate (odds ratio =3.81, 95% CI, 2.71 to 5.35, P<0.00001) after treatment. DISCUSSION: The included literature had low bias risk. Yiqi Huoxue prescription on the basis of conventional Western medicine can significantly improve the renal function and reduce the levels of blood glucose and blood lipids of patients with diabetic nephropathy.