Comparison of the predictive values of MRI-based vertebral bone quality scores for the determination of osteoporosis in different diseases.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to examine the consistency of vertebral bone quality (VBQ) scores for assessing osteoporosis across different etiologies and explore the predictive value of various VBQ scores for fragility vertebral fractures. METHODS: Patients with fragility fractures were matched by age and sex to patients with lumbar degeneration. VBQ scores were calculated in T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Differential analysis of bone quality was performed based on etiology. RESULTS: A total of 96 inpatients were retrospectively enrolled. VBQT1 scores were only sensitive to osteoporotic bone in degenerative group (p < 0.01), failing to identify osteoporosis in fractured group (p > 0.05). For the degenerative group, the area under the curve (AUC) using the VBQT1 scores to differentiate osteoporosis was 0.72. After controlling the confounding variables, only VBQT2 scores were significantly higher in fractured group than degenerative group, with a greater AUC of 0.82 predicting fragility fractures. VBQT1 scores moderately correlated with femoral neck T-scores in degenerative group (r = -0.45, p < 0.01) but not in fractured group (r = -0.24, p > 0.05). VBQT2 scores were not associated with femoral neck T-scores (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to evaluate the effectiveness of VBQs scores in assessing osteoporosis post-fracture. Only non-fractured patients' bone quality is fully susceptible to VBQT1 scores. While VBQT1 scores may not correlate with fragility fractures, VBQT2 scores present a viable alternative.

What are the differences in paraspinal muscle morphometry among degenerative spondylolisthesis patients, isthmic spondylolisthesis patients, and healthy individuals? A propensity score matching analysis.

PURPOSE: To compare the morphometry of paraspinal muscles in patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS), isthmic spondylolisthesis (IS), and healthy individuals. METHODS: Thirty-seven pairs of DS patients were selected using propensity score matching with IS patients, while 37 healthy individuals matched for age, sex, and BMI were selected as controls. The relative cross-sectional area (rCSA), and relative functional cross-sectional area (rfCSA) of paraspinal muscles were measured, and the degree of fatty infiltration (FI) was calculated. Based on occupational differences, the patients were also divided into worker and farmer groups, and the same measurements were taken on them. RESULTS: At the L3/L4 level, the multifidus (MF) FI was greater in the DS and IS groups than in the control group, the erector spinae (ES) rfCSA was higher in the IS group than in the DS and control groups. At the L4/L5 level, MF rfCSA was smaller in the DS and IS groups than in the control group; ES rfCSA was higher in the IS group than in the DS and control groups. At the L5/S1 level, MF rfCSA was smaller in the DS and IS groups than in the control group; ES rfCSA was higher in the IS group than in the DS group. At the L3/L4, L4/L5 level, MF rfCSA were higher in the worker group than in the farmer group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The morphological changes in paraspinal muscles in patients with DS were dominated by selective atrophy of the MF, while in patients with IS, the morphological changes in paraspinal muscle showed selective atrophy of the MF accompanied by compensatory hypertrophy of the ES. The surgeon should consider the morphological differences in paraspinal muscle between different types of lumbar spondylolisthesis when establishing the appropriate surgical program.

A K+-sensitive photonic crystal hydrogel sensor for efficient visual monitoring of hyperkalemia/hypokalemia.

Potassium ions (K+) play crucial roles in many biological processes. Abnormal K+ levels in the body are usually associated with physiological disorders or diseases, and thus, developing K+-sensitive sensors/devices is of great importance for disease diagnosis and health monitoring. Herein, we report a K+-sensitive photonic crystal hydrogel (PCH) sensor with bright structural colors for efficient monitoring of serum potassium. This PCH sensor consists of a poly(acrylamide-co-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-benzo-15-crown-5-acrylamide) (PANBC) smart hydrogel with embedded Fe3O4 colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs), which could strongly diffract visible light and endow the hydrogel with brilliant structural colors. The rich 15-crown-5 (15C5) units appended on the polymer backbone could selectively bind K+ ions to form stable 2 : 1 [15C5]2/K+ supramolecular complexes. These bis-bidentate complexes served as physical crosslinkers to crosslink the hydrogel and contracted its volume, and thus reduced the lattice spacing of Fe3O4 CPCs and blue-shifted the light diffraction, and finally reported on the K+ concentrations by a color change of the PCH. Our fabricated PCH sensor possessed high K+ selectivity and pH- and thermo-sensitive response performances to K+. Most interestingly, the K+-responding PANBC PCH sensor could be conveniently regenerated via simple alternate flushing with hot/cold water due to the excellent thermosensitivity of the introduced PNIPAM moieties into the hydrogel. Such a PCH sensor provides a simple, low-cost and efficient strategy for visualized monitoring of hyperkalemia/hypokalemia, which will significantly promote the development of biosensors.

Responses of soil phosphorus cycling and bioavailability to plant invasion in river-lake ecotones.

The invasion of exotic plants in the river-lake ecotone has seriously affected the nutrient cycling processes in wetland soil. The South American species Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. is rapidly invading the river-lake ecotone in subtropical China, and has become the dominant species in the river-lake ecotone. However, there have been few studies on the effects of A. philoxeroides invasion on soil phosphorus (P) cycling and bioavailability in this ecotone. Here, we measured the bioavailable P fractions, physicochemical properties and nutrient content in the surface soils of the native plant (Zizania latifolia (Griseb.) Turcz and Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) communities and the adjacent invasive A. philoxeroides communities in three river-lake ecotones with different nutrient substrates in the subtropical Dongting Lake basin over a 3-year period to reveal the effects of A. philoxeroides invasion on the morphology and concentrations of soil bioavailable P. The principal coordinate analysis results showed that the A. philoxeroides invasion significantly altered the bioavailable P concentrations in the soil of native plant communities in the different river-lake ecotones, and this effect was not disturbed by the heterogeneity of the soil matrix. However, the effects of invasion into different native plant communities on the fractions of soil bioavailable P were different. Compared with native Z. latifolia and N. nucifera communities, A. philoxeroides invasion increased the concentration of inorganic P by 39.5% and 3.7%, respectively, and the concentration of organic P decreased by 32.7% and 31.9%, respectively. In addition, the invasion promoted P cycling and accumulation in the river-lake ecotone, which resulted in average decreases in the soil N:P and C:P ratios of 7.9% and 12.5%, respectively. These results highlight the impact of exotic plant invasions on nutrient cycling in wetland ecosystems in the river-lake ecotone, and this process may be detrimental to the late recovery of native plants.

An Access Control System Based on Blockchain with Zero-Knowledge Rollups in High-Traffic IoT Environments.

The access control (AC) system in an IoT (Internet of Things) context ensures that only authorized entities have access to specific devices and that the authorization procedure is based on pre-established rules. Recently, blockchain-based AC systems have gained attention within research as a potential solution to the single point of failure issue that centralized architectures may bring. Moreover, zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology is included in blockchain-based AC systems to address the issue of sensitive data leaking. However, current solutions have two problems: (1) systems built by these works are not adaptive to high-traffic IoT environments because of low transactions per second (TPS) and high latency; (2) these works cannot fully guarantee that all user behaviors are honest. In this work, we propose a blockchain-based AC system with zero-knowledge rollups to address the aforementioned issues. Our proposed system implements zero-knowledge rollups (ZK-rollups) of access control, where different AC authorization requests can be grouped into the same batch to generate a uniform ZKP, which is designed specifically to guarantee that participants can be trusted. In low-traffic environments, sufficient experiments show that the proposed system has the least AC authorization time cost compared to existing works. In high-traffic environments, we further prove that based on the ZK-rollups optimization, the proposed system can reduce the authorization time overhead by 86%. Furthermore, the security analysis is presented to show the system's ability to prevent malicious behaviors.

[Arsenic speciation and valence].

As arsenic widely exists in nature and has been used in the pharmaceutical preparations, the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) with arsenic include realgar(As_2S_2 or As_4S_4), orpiment(As_2S_3), and white arsenic(As_2O_3). Among the above representative medicine, the TCM compound formulas with realgar are utilized extensively. Just in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition), there are 37 Chinese patent medicines including realgar. The traditional element analysis focuses on the detection of the total amount of elements, which neglects the study on the speciation and valence of elements. The activity, toxicity, bioavailability, and metabolic pathways of arsenic in vivo are closely related to the existence of its form, and different forms of arsenic have different effects on organisms. Therefore, the study on the speciation and valence of arsenic is of great importance for arsenic-containing TCMs and their compound formulas. This paper reviewed four aspects of the speciation and valence of arsenic, including property, absorption and metabolism, toxicity, and analytical assay.

[Varieties systematization and standards status analysis of fermented Chinese medicine].

Fermented Chinese medicine has long been used. Amid the advance for preservation of experience, the connotation of fermented Chinese medicine has been enriched and improved. However, fermented Chinese medicine prescriptions generally contain a lot of medicinals. The fermentation process is complicated and the conventional fermentation conditions fail to be strictly controlled. In addition, the judgment of the fermentation end point is highly subjective. As a result, quality of fermented Chinese medicine is of great difference among regions and unstable. At the moment, the quality standards of fermented Chinese medicine are generally outdated and different among regions, with simple quality control methods and lacking objective safe fermentation-specific evaluation indictors. It is difficult to comprehensively evaluate and control the quality of fermented medicine. These problems have aroused concern in the industry and also affected the clinical application of fermented Chinese medicine. This article summarized and analyzed the application, quality standards, and the modernization of fermentation technology and quality control methods of fermented Chinese medicine and proposed suggestions for improving the quality standards of the medicine, with a view to improving the overall quality of it.

The anti-tumor and renoprotection study of E-[c(RGDfK)2]/folic acid co-modified nanostructured lipid carrier loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride/salvianolic acid A.

BACKGROUND: Poor in vivo targeting of tumors by chemotherapeutic drugs reduces their anti-cancer efficacy in the clinic. The discovery of over-expressed components on the tumor cell surface and their specific ligands provide a basis for targeting tumor cells. However, the differences in the expression levels of these receptors on the tumor cell surface limit the clinical application of anti-tumor preparations modified by a single ligand. Meanwhile, toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs leads to poor tolerance to anti-tumor therapy. The discovery of natural active products antagonizing these toxic side effects offers an avenue for relieving cancer patients' pain during the treatment process. Since the advent of nanotechnology, interventions, such as loading appropriate drug combinations into nano-sized carriers and multiple tumor-targeting functional modifications on the carrier surface to enhance the anti-tumor effect and reduce toxic and side effects, have been widely used for treating tumors. RESULTS: Nanocarriers containing doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and salvianolic acid A (Sal A) are spherical with a diameter of about 18 nm; the encapsulation efficiency of both DOX and salvianolic acid A is greater than 80%. E-[c(RGDfK)2]/folic acid (FA) co-modification enabled nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) to efficiently target a variety of tumor cells, including 4T1, MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and A549 cells in vitro. Compared with other preparations (Sal A solution, NLC-Sal A, DOX solution, DOX injection, Sal A/DOX solution, NLC-DOX, NLC-Sal A/DOX, and E-[c(RGDfK)2]/FA-NLC-Sal A/DOX) in this experiment, the prepared E-[c(RGDfK)2]/FA-NLC-Sal A/DOX had the best anti-tumor effect. Compared with the normal saline group, it had the highest tumor volume inhibition rate (90.72%), the highest tumor weight inhibition rate (83.94%), led to the highest proportion of apoptosis among the tumor cells (61.30%) and the lowest fluorescence intensity of proliferation among the tumor cells (0.0083 ± 0.0011). Moreover, E-[c(RGDfK)2]/FA-NLC-Sal A/DOX had a low level of nephrotoxicity, with a low creatinine (Cre) concentration of 52.58 µmoL/L in the blood of mice, and no abnormalities were seen on pathological examination of the isolated kidneys at the end of the study. Sal A can antagonize the nephrotoxic effect of DOX. Free Sal A reduced the Cre concentration of the free DOX group by 61.64%. In NLC groups, Sal A reduced the Cre concentration of the DOX group by 42.47%. The E-[c(RGDfK)2]/FA modification reduced the side effects of the drug on the kidney, and the Cre concentration was reduced by 46.35% compared with the NLC-Sal A/DOX group. These interventions can potentially improve the tolerance of cancer patients to chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: The E-[c(RGDfK)2]/FA co-modified DOX/Sal A multifunctional nano-drug delivery system has a good therapeutic effect on tumors and low nephrotoxicity and is a promising anti-cancer strategy.

Ideal entry point and trajectory for C2 pedicle screw placement in children: a 3D computed tomography study.

PURPOSE: To identify the ideal entry point for pediatric C2 pedicle screw and to obtain parameters of it for the indication of pediatric atlantoaxial fusion arthrodesis. METHODS: The pediatric cervical CT images were reconstructed into the 3D digital models and the C2 vertebrae were separated. The location of ideal entry point and screw placement related linear and angular parameters were assessed on the 3D digital models. RESULTS: A total of 214 pedicles from 107 C2 digital models were analyzed. The average entry point for C2 was 3.80 ± 2.78 mm medial to the lateral notch (LN) and 2.57 ± 1.70 mm superior to the LN. The average pedicle diameter (PD) was 6.02 ± 1.31 mm, and the average pedicle screw length (PSL) was 25.63 ± 3.46 mm. Statistical differences were found between different sex for PD and PSL (P < 0.05). As patient age increases, using the most lateral and inferior edge of the lateral mass as a reference marker, the entry point tends to move medial and cephalad, when using the LN as a reference marker, the entry point tends to move medial and slightly caudad. Univariate linear regression analysis suggested that these linear parameters were associated with age (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that the measurement results of C2 pedicle screw varied based on sex, laterality, and ages for children younger than 18 years. The entry point of the screws facilitating ideal trajectory tends to change in a linear way as a function of age. This information helps the surgeon to establish the specific anatomy related to C2 pedicle screw placement to facilitate fixation in the pediatric patients.

UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of the herb composition of Tangshen formula and the in vivo pharmacokinetics of its metabolites in rat plasma.

INTRODUCTION: Tangshen formula (TSF) is a traditional Chinese medicine composed of seven medicinal herbs including Astragalus membranaceus, Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch, Citrus aurantium L., etc. which is used to treat diabetic nephropathy III, IV qi and yin deficiency and stasis syndrome. Most of the studies on TSF are pharmacological and pharmacodynamic experiments. There are few basic studies on its chemical substances, and the effective constituents are not clear. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the main chemical components of TSF and the absorbed components in rat plasma following oral administration based on liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Moreover, providing a rapid and valid analytical strategy for simultaneous determination of six components in rat plasma and use it in pharmacokinetic studies. RESULTS: A total of 132 components were identified in TSF, and 44 components were identified in rat plasma after oral TSF, 35 of which were prototype components and nine were metabolic components. A sensitive and reliable LC-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous determination of six components in rat plasma. The intra-day and inter-day precision relative standard deviation (RSD) was lower than 15%; the accuracy of low, medium and high concentrations ranged from 80% to 120%. The recovery met the requirements and the RSD of the recoveries was less than 15%. CONCLUSION: A total of 132 components were identified in TSF. The LC-MS/MS quantitative method for the simultaneous determination of morroniside, loganin, notoginsenoside R1 , ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb1 and astragaloside IV in rat plasma was established for the first time. The pharmacokinetic parameters are clarified, which can guide the clinical medication of TSF.

PLI-VINS: Visual-Inertial SLAM Based on Point-Line Feature Fusion in Indoor Environment.

In indoor low-texture environments, the point feature-based visual SLAM system has poor robustness and low trajectory accuracy. Therefore, we propose a visual inertial SLAM algorithm based on point-line feature fusion. Firstly, in order to improve the quality of the extracted line segment, a line segment extraction algorithm with adaptive threshold value is proposed. By constructing the adjacent matrix of the line segment and judging the direction of the line segment, it can decide whether to merge or eliminate other line segments. At the same time, geometric constraint line feature matching is considered to improve the efficiency of processing line features. Compared with the traditional algorithm, the processing efficiency of our proposed method is greatly improved. Then, point, line, and inertial data are effectively fused in a sliding window to achieve high-accuracy pose estimation. Finally, experiments on the EuRoC dataset show that the proposed PLI-VINS performs better than the traditional visual inertial SLAM system using point features and point line features.

[Preparation regularity of Chinese patent medicine in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition, Vol.â )].

Chinese Pharmacopoeia is an important part of drug standards in China, and it is also a legal basis that must be strictly followed in drug development, production, operation, application, and management. The information on prescriptions, preparation methods, properties, identification, inspection, content determination, functions and indications, usage and dosage, precautions, specifications, and storage of Chinese patent medicine preparations included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia(Vol.Ⅰ) was clarified. The "Preparation Method" section describes the preparation process of Chinese patent medicine from decoction pieces to finished preparations in detail and specifies the preparation production methods and parameters, which has a good guiding and standardizing effect on the production of Chinese patent medicine in China. The present study summarized the preparation methods of Chinese patent medicine preparations and single drug preparations contained in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition, Vol.Ⅰ) in stages and analyzed the common preparation methods and technical parameters of Chinese patent medicine preparations, which is helpful to understand the current situation of Chinese patent medicine production technology in China and can provide references for the development of new Chinese medicine, the transformation of large varieties of Chinese patent medicine, and the optimization of preparation process of Chinese patent medicine in the market.

[Study on characteristic chromatogram and content determination of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample].

In this study, the critical quality attributes of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample were explored by using characteristic chromatogram, index component content and dry extract rate as indexes.The dissemination relationship of quantity value between medicinal materials-decoction pieces-reference sample was investigated to preliminarily formulate the quality standard of the reference sample.The characteristic chromatogram of 15 batches of Wuzhuyu Decoction was established by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and the similarity analysis was conducted.Common peaks were demarcated and assigned to medicinal materials.Moreover, quantitative determination of limonin, evodiamine, rutaecarpine and ginsenoside Rb_1 of Wuzhuyu Decoction were performed.The dissemination of quantity value was explored combined with dry extract rate, similarity of characteristic chromatogram and transfer rate of index component content.A total of 18 common peaks were identified in the corresponding materials of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample, with the similarity of characteristic chromatogram greater than 0.9, and Fructus Evodiae, Radix Ginseng, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens and Fructus Jujubae contributed 9, 5, 8 and 2 chromatographic peaks, respectively.The index component content of corresponding materials and the transfer rates of medicinal materials-decoction pieces and decoction pieces-reference sample of different batches of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample were as follows: the content of limonin was 0.16%-0.51%, and the transfer rates were 83.66%-115.60% and 38.54%-54.58%, respectively; the content of evodiamine was 0.01%-0.11%, the transfer rated were 80.80%-116.15% and 3.23%-12.93%, respectively; the content of rutaecarpine was 0.01%-0.05%, the transfer rates were 84.33%-134.53% and 5.72%-21.24%, respectively; the content of ginsenoside Rb_1 was 0.06%-0.11%, and the transfer rates were 90.00%-96.92% and 32.45%-67.24%, respectively.The dry extract rate of the whole prescription was 22.58%-29.89%.In this experiment, the dissemination of quantity value of Wuzhuyu Decoction reference sample was analyzed by the combination of characteristic chromatogram, index component content and dry extract rate.A scientific and stable quality evaluation method of the reference sample was preliminarily established, which provided basis for the subsequent development of Wuzhuyu Decoction and the quality control of related preparations.

Electrochemiluminescence immunosensor based on the quenching effect of CuO@GO on m-CNNS for cTnI detection.

A sandwich-type electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor based on the resonance energy transfer (RET) was proposed for ultrasensitive detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). The RET behavior could be generated between graphite carbon nitride nanosheets (m-CNNS) as donor and copper oxide@graphene oxide (CuO@GO) as acceptor, achieving the quenching effect of CuO@GO on m-CNNS for cTnI detection. The m-CNNS synthesized by mechanical grinding of the graphite carbon nitride (CN) not only has better dispersion and higher specific surface area, but also has high luminous efficiency and stable chemical properties. Therefore, m-CNNS was used as the matrix material and luminophore. As the acceptor, CuO@GO prepared by in-situ chemical synthesis of CuO NPs onto GO sheets also has a high specific surface area, which could be used as a label of secondary antibody (Ab2). Under optimal conditions, cTnI could be determined within the linear range of 0.1 pg mL-1 to 100 ng mL-1 and had a low detection limit (0.028 pg mL-1, S/N = 3). Meanwhile, the prepared ECL immunosensor possessed great stability, specificity and reproducibility, providing a new method for detecting cTnI and other biomarkers.

DDX1 from Cherry valley duck mediates signaling pathways and anti-NDRV activity.

Novel duck reovirus (NDRV) causes severe economic losses to the duck industry, which is characterized by hemorrhagic spots and necrotic foci of the livers and spleens. DEAD-box helicase 1 (DDX1) plays a critical role in the innate immune system against viral infection. However, the role of duck DDX1 (duDDX1) in anti-RNA virus infection, especially in the anti-NDRV infection, has yet to be elucidated. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of duDDX1 (2223 bp encode 740 amino acids) was firstly cloned from the spleen of healthy Cherry valley ducks, and the phylogenetic tree indicated that the duDDX1 has the closest relationship with Anas platyrhynchos in the bird branch. The duDDX1 mRNA was widely distributed in all tested tissues, especially in the duodenum, liver, and spleen. Overexpression of duDDX1 in primary duck embryo fibroblast (DEF) cells triggered the activation of transcription factors IRF-7 and NF-κB, as well as IFN-ß expression, and the expression of the Toll-like receptors (TLR2, TLR3, and TLR4) was significantly increased. Importantly, after overexpressing or knocking down duDDX1 and infecting NDRV in DEF cells, duDDX1 inhibits the replication of NDRV virus and also regulates the expression of pattern recognition receptors and cytokines. This indicates that duDDX1 may play an important role in the innate immune response of ducks to NDRV. Collectively, we first cloned DDX1 from ducks and analyzed its biological functions. Secondly, we proved that duck DDX1 participates in anti-NDRV infection, and innovated new ideas for the prevention and control of duck virus infection.

Magnetically Assembled Photonic Crystal Gels with Wide Thermochromic Range and High Sensitivity.

Thermochromic poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) photonic crystal gels based on 1D magnetically assembling colloidal nanocrystal clusters have attracted much attention due to its convenient preparation process, striking color response, and good mechanical strength. However, there remain challenges to broaden the thermochromic range and improve the sensitivity for their iridescent color display. Here, a PNIPAM photonic gel with wide thermochromic range and high sensitivity is prepared by using four-arm star poly(ethylene glycol) acrylamide (PEGAAm) as cross-linker at appropriately reduced magnetic field strength as well as cross-linker content. PEGAAm improves the homogeneity of the microstructure in PNIPAM photonic gel and thus maintains the structure colors at a wide temperature range from room temperature to 44 °C. The reduced magnetic field strength of 70 Gs and low cross-linker content (the molar ratio of monomer to cross-linker of 300:1) lead to a large initial lattice spacing of the photonic gel and thus wide diffraction wavelength migration of 194 nm. This optimized PNIPAM gel exhibits vivid iridescent colors from orange-red to indigo blue as temperature increases from 20 to 44 °C with satisfactory repeatability. Therefore, it may be an ideal candidate for temperature sensors and displays with utility and accuracy such as low-temperature burns.

Conditional depletion of Fus in oligodendrocytes leads to motor hyperactivity and increased myelin deposition associated with Akt and cholesterol activation.

Fused in sarcoma (FUS) is a predominantly nuclear multifunctional RNA/DNA-binding protein that regulates multiple aspects of gene expression. FUS mutations are associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) and frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD) in humans. At the molecular level, the mutated FUS protein is reduced in the nucleus but accumulates in cytoplasmic granules. Oligodendrocytes (OL) carrying clinically relevant FUS mutations contribute to non-cell autonomous motor neuron disease progression, consistent with an extrinsic mechanism of disease mediated by OL. Knocking out FUS globally or in neurons lead to behavioral abnormalities that are similar to those present in FTLD. In this study, we sought to investigate whether an extrinsic mechanism mediated by loss of FUS function in OL contributes to the behavioral phenotype. We have generated a novel conditional knockout (cKO) in which Fus is selectively depleted in OL (FusOL cKO). The FusOL cKO mice show increased novelty-induced motor activity and enhanced exploratory behavior, which are reminiscent of some manifestations of FTLD. The phenotypes are associated with greater myelin thickness, higher number of myelinated small diameter axons without an increase in the number of mature OL. The expression of the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis (HMGCR) is increased in white matter tracts of the FusOL cKO and results in higher cholesterol content. In addition, phosphorylation of Akt, an important regulator of myelination is increased in the FusOL cKO. Collectively, this work has uncovered a novel role of oligodendrocytic Fus in regulating myelin deposition through activation of Akt and cholesterol biosynthesis.

Delayed bowel obstruction after seat belt injury: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Delayed bowel obstruction due to seat belt injury is extremely rare. The delayed onset of nonspecific symptoms makes a timely diagnosis difficult. A deep understanding of the characteristics of this condition is helpful for early diagnosis and treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 39-year-old male was transferred to our hospital from another hospital complaints of progressive abdominal distension and severe weakness. In the previous hospital, he was diagnosed with "adult megacolon" and was recommended for surgical treatment. In our hospital, he was diagnosed with delayed bowel obstruction due to seat belt injury and underwent surgical intervention. Following laparoscopic adhesiolysis and resection of the narrow small intestine, his symptoms improved rapidly, and he was discharged. CONCLUSION: Delayed bowel obstruction due to seat belt injury may present clinical symptoms any time after the injury. Imaging examination, ileus tube and small colonoscopy may provide us with valuable cues for the diagnosis and treatment of delayed bowel obstruction, and laparoscopy may be an alternative approach in surgical intervention.

Potential value of serum Aspergillus IgG antibody detection in the diagnosis of invasive and chronic pulmonary aspergillosis in non-agranulocytic patients.

BACKGROUND: At present, serum Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection is mainly used in the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA), but its value in the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in non-agranulocytic patients is still unclear. IgM can be used as a marker of acute infection to help diagnose acute infection-related diseases. IgG is a marker of long-term infection and is used to assist in the diagnosis of pre-existing or chronic infection-related diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the value of serum Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection in the diagnosis of IPA and CPA in non-agranulocytic patients. METHODS: Fifty-eight cases of pulmonary aspergillosis (37 IPA and 21 CPA cases), 15 cases of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and 50 cases in the healthy control group were collected. The serum (1,3)-ß-D-glucan test (G test) was performed with a chromogenic method, and the galactomannan test (GM test) and Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibody detection were performed by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in all patients. The sensitivity and specificity, cut-off value and area under the curve (AUC) of Aspergillus IgG and IgM antibodies were further obtained by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: The positive rate of the G test, Aspergillus IgG antibody detection and the GM test also showed notable differences among the IPA, CPA, community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy groups (P = 0.006, P <  0.001 and P = 0.217, respectively). Only the positive rate of the GM test showed a significant difference between the IPA and CPA groups (P = 0.04). ROC curves indicated that Aspergillus IgG antibody detection had a higher specificity in the IPA group than in the CPA group (0.952). The detection of Aspergillus IgG antibody can preferably distinguish IPA from community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy controls (sensitivity = 0.923, specificity = 0.459, cut-off value = 134.46, AUC = 0.727). It can also distinguish CPA from community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and healthy controls (sensitivity = 0.952, specificity = 0.692, cut-off value = 75.46, AUC = 0.873). CONCLUSIONS: Serum Aspergillus IgG antibody detection may have certain clinical value in the diagnosis of IPA and CPA in non-agranulocytic patients.

The regulatory module MdPUB29-MdbHLH3 connects ethylene biosynthesis with fruit quality in apple.

The plant hormone ethylene is critical for climacteric fruit ripening, while glucose and anthocyanins determine the fruit quality of climacteric fruits such as apple. Understanding the exact molecular mechanism for this process is important for elucidating the interconnection of ethylene and fruit quality. Overexpression of apple MdbHLH3 gene, an anthocyanin-related basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor (bHLH TF) gene, promotes ethylene production, and transgenic apple plantlets and trees exhibit ethylene-related root developmental abnormalities, premature leaf senescence, and fruit ripening. Biochemical analyses demonstrate that MdbHLH3 binds to the promoters of three genes that are involved in ethylene biosynthesis, including MdACO1, MdACS1, and MdACS5A, activating their transcriptional expression, thereby promoting ethylene biosynthesis. High glucose-inhibited U-box-type E3 ubiquitin ligase MdPUB29, the ortholog of Arabidopsis AtPUB29 in apple, influences the expression of ethylene biosynthetic genes and ethylene production by direct ubiquitination of the MdbHLH3 protein. Our findings provide new insights into the ubiquitination of MdbHLH3 by glucose-inhibited ubiquitin E3 ligase MdPUB29 in the regulation of ethylene biosynthesis as well as indicate that the regulatory module MdPUB29-MdbHLH3 connects ethylene biosynthesis with fruit quality in apple.