Pseudo-Siamese network combined with label-free Raman spectroscopy for the quantification of mixed trace amounts of antibiotics in human milk: A feasibility study.

The utilization of antibiotics is prevalent among lactating mothers. Hence, the rapid determination of trace amounts of antibiotics in human milk is crucial for ensuring the healthy development of infants. In this study, we constructed a human milk system containing residual doxycycline (DXC) and/or tetracycline (TC). Machine learning models and clustering algorithms were applied to classify and predict deficient concentrations of single and mixed antibiotics via label-free SERS spectra. The experimental results demonstrate that the CNN model has a recognition accuracy of 98.85% across optimal hyperparameter combinations. Furthermore, we employed Independent Component Analysis (ICA) and the pseudo-Siamese Convolutional Neural Network (pSCNN) to quantify the ratios of individual antibiotics in mixed human milk samples. Integrating the SERS technique with machine learning algorithms shows significant potential for rapid discrimination and precise quantification of single and mixed antibiotics at deficient concentrations in human milk.

Rapid discrimination and ratio quantification of mixed antibiotics in aqueous solution through integrative analysis of SERS spectra via CNN combined with NN-EN model.

INTRODUCTION: Abusing antibiotic residues in the natural environment has become a severe public health and ecological environmental problem. The side effects of its biochemical and physiological consequences are severe. To avoid antibiotic contamination in water, implementing universal and rapid antibiotic residue detection technology is critical to maintaining antibiotic safety in aquatic environments. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) provides a powerful tool for identifying small molecular components with high sensitivity and selectivity. However, it remains a challenge to identify pure antibiotics from SERS spectra due to coexisting components in the mixture. OBJECTIVES: In this study, an intelligent analysis model for the SERS spectrum based on a deep learning algorithm was proposed for rapid identification of the antibiotic components in the mixture and quantitative determination of the ratios of these components. METHODS: We established a water environment system containing three antibiotic residues of ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and levofloxacin. To facilitate qualitative and quantitative analysis of the SERS spectra antibiotic mixture datasets, we developed a computational framework integrating a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a non-negative elastic network (NN-EN) method. RESULTS: The experimental results demonstrate that the CNN model has a recognition accuracy of 98.68%, and the interpretation analysis of Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) shows that our model can specifically focus on the characteristic peak distribution. In contrast, the NN-EN model can accurately quantify each component's ratio in the mixture. CONCLUSION: Integrating the SERS technique assisted by the CNN combined with the NN-EN model exhibits great potential for rapid identification and high-precision quantification of antibiotic residues in aquatic environments.

Nursing Workloads and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Among Chinese Female Nurses: The Mediating Role of Delayed Voiding Behaviors.

PURPOSE: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are a challenge to the healthy nursing workforce. Nurses confront various objective and subjective nursing workloads which contribute to their LUTS, but less is known about how nursing workloads influence their LUTS. This study is designed to test hypotheses that delayed voiding behaviors mediate the relationships between nursing workloads and LUTS in female nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study analyzed the baseline data collected from an ongoing cohort study named Nurse Urinary Related Health Study in China. LUTS of nurses in 20 tertiary hospitals were assessed with the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire‒Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms. Objective nursing workloads including working environment, working hours, and working schedule were collected, and perceived stress, the proxy of the subjective nursing workload, was assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale. Delayed voiding behaviors were assessed with 3 questions adapted from the Taiwan Nurse Bladder Survey. Structural equation modeling was used to run the mediation model. RESULTS: More than half (51%) of 13,191 female nurses had LUTS. Median age was 31 years (IQR 27-37). When delayed voiding behaviors served as a mediator, the direct effects of subjective nursing workload rather than objective nursing workloads on LUTS were significant. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing workloads influence nurses' LUTS via delayed voiding behaviors. Strategies tailored to delayed voiding behaviors should be developed, and these may work with stress-reducing strategies as the gatekeepers for nurses' bladder health.

Structural abnormality of hepatic glycogen in rat liver with diethylnitrosamine-induced carcinogenic injury.

Growing evidence confirms associations between glycogen metabolic re-wiring and the development of liver cancer. Previous studies showed that glycogen structure changes abnormally in liver diseases such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, etc. However, few studies focus on glycogen molecular structural characteristics during liver cancer development, which is worthy of further exploration. In this study, a rat model with carcinogenic liver injury induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) was successfully constructed, and hepatic glycogen structure was characterized. Compared with glycogen structure in the healthy rat liver, glycogen chain length distribution (CLD) shifts towards a short region. In contrast, glycogen particles were mainly present in small-sized ß particles in DEN-damaged carcinogenic rat liver. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed significant expression changes of genes and pathways involved in carcinogenic liver injury. A combination of transcriptomic analysis, RT-qPCR, and western blot showed that the two genes, Gsy1 encoding glycogen synthase and Gbe1 encoding glycogen branching enzyme, were significantly altered and might be responsible for the structural abnormality of hepatic glycogen in carcinogenic liver injury. Taken together, this study confirmed that carcinogenic liver injury led to structural abnormality of hepatic glycogen, which provided clues to the future development of novel drug targets for potential therapeutics of carcinogenic liver injury.

Effect of governor vessel moxibustion (GVM) therapy with mild to moderate psoriasis: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: It was hypothesized that governor vessel moxibustion (GVM) therapy may improve the course of mild to moderate psoriasis (PS) in patients. METHODS: A randomized, controlled clinical trial lasting 40 days was conducted at the Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine. Investigators were blinded to patient groupings. Individuals with mild to moderate PS ranging in age from 18 to 70 years were enrolled. GVM therapy was administered one every 10 days for 40 days with 1.5 hours on the governor meridian in the GVM therapy group. The PS area and severity index (PASI) and dermatological life quality index (DLQI) scores were monitored before and after treatment. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in the mean PASI score in the GVM therapy group of 0.76 points (2.37 [2.61]; SE, 0.39) after 40 days of treatment compared with the control group (3.12 [2.12], SE, 0.32) (P < .01). There were also significantly greater changes in the DLQI scores of the GVM therapy group (4.23 [2.25]; SE, 0.34) compared with those in the control group (8.91 [3.85]; SE, 0.59) (P < .001). CONCLUSION: GVM therapy effectively reduced both PASI and DLQI scores in patients with mild to moderate PS.

Difference analysis of cutaneous sporotrichosis between different regions in China: a secondary analysis based on published studies on sporotrichosis in China.

Background: Cutaneous sporotrichosis is prevalent worldwide and a common subcutaneous fungal disease in northeast China. The incidence of cutaneous sporotrichosis in southern China cannot be ignored. Previous studies have revealed differences between different regions in China regarding populations susceptible to infection, cause of infection, and pathological mechanisms of sporotrichosis. Therefore, This study aimed to analyze the differences in the epidemiological characteristics of cutaneous sporotrichosis in different regions of China to provide a reference for regional prevention, control, and treatment. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP for published reports on cutaneous sporotrichosis in China. The information about the characteristics of populations getting cutaneous sporotrichosis, causes of infection, disease types, and treatment regimens was extracted from studies to construct a knowledge database of cutaneous sporotrichosis in China. Taking the Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River line as the boundary to divide China into the northern and southern, the epidemiological characteristics of cutaneous sporotrichosis in two parts of China were analyzed. Results: In northern China, more women than men get cutaneous sporotrichosis (60.4% vs. 39.6%), while it is the other way around in southern China (men vs. women: 50.6% vs. 49.4%). In northern China, the incidence of this disease was more concentrated in spring (34.0%) and winter (35.7%), while in southern China, this disease frequently spread in spring (48.1%) and summer (26.9%). In the north, cutaneous sporotrichosis usually affected the face (50.1%) and limbs (45.3%), while in the south, it targets limbs (72.6%). In northern China, potassium iodide (30.5%) and combination therapy (37.8%) were preferred, while in southern China, potassium iodide (86.0%) was the main choice. Although there was a significant difference in treatment regimens (P<0.05), no significant difference emerged in cure rates between northern and southern China (98.5% vs. 98.4%, P>0.05). Conclusions: It is the first retrospective study on sporotrichosis in China. It describes the prevention of sporotrichosis in China since it was first reported and also reflects the differences in sporotrichosis between the northern and southern of China. This study provides a valuable reference for the prevention, control, and treatment of sporotrichosis in different regions of China.

Rapid discrimination of Shigella spp. and Escherichia coli via label-free surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy coupled with machine learning algorithms.

Shigella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are major bacterial pathogens of diarrheal disease that is the second leading cause of childhood mortality globally. Currently, it is well known that Shigella spp., and E. coli are very closely related with many common characteristics. Evolutionarily speaking, Shigella spp., are positioned within the phylogenetic tree of E. coli. Therefore, discrimination of Shigella spp., from E. coli is very difficult. Many methods have been developed with the aim of differentiating the two species, which include but not limited to biochemical tests, nucleic acids amplification, and mass spectrometry, etc. However, these methods suffer from high false positive rates and complicated operation procedures, which requires the development of novel methods for accurate and rapid identification of Shigella spp., and E. coli. As a low-cost and non-invasive method, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is currently under intensive study for its diagnostic potential in bacterial pathogens, which is worthy of further investigation for its application in bacterial discrimination. In this study, we focused on clinically isolated E. coli strains and Shigella species (spp.), that is, S. dysenteriae, S. boydii, S. flexneri, and S. sonnei, based on which SERS spectra were generated and characteristic peaks for Shigella spp., and E. coli were identified, revealing unique molecular components in the two bacterial groups. Further comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms showed that, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) achieved the best performance and robustness in bacterial discrimination capacity when compared with Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms. Taken together, this study confirmed that SERS paired with machine learning could achieve high accuracy in discriminating Shigella spp., from E. coli, which facilitated its application potential for diarrheal prevention and control in clinical settings. Graphical abstract.

Identification of geographic origins of Morus alba Linn. through surfaced enhanced Raman spectrometry and machine learning algorithms.

The leaves of Morus alba Linn., which is also known as white mulberry, have been commonly used in many of traditional systems of medicine for centuries. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), mulberry leaf is mainly used for anti-diabetic purpose due to its enrichment in bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids and polysaccharides. However, these components are variable due to the different habitats of the mulberry plant. Therefore, geographic origin is an important feature because it is closely associated with bioactive ingredient composition that further influences medicinal qualities and effects. As a low-cost and non-invasive method, surface enhanced Raman spectrometry (SERS) is able to generate the overall fingerprints of chemical compounds in medicinal plants, which holds the potential for the rapid identification of their geographic origins. In this study, we collected mulberry leaves from five representative provinces in China, namely, Anhui, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan and Jiangsu. SERS spectrometry was applied to characterize the fingerprints of both ethanol and water extracts of mulberry leaves, respectively. Through the combination of SERS spectra and machine learning algorithms, mulberry leaves were well discriminated with high accuracies in terms of their geographic origins, among which the deep learning algorithm convolutional neural network (CNN) showed the best performance. Taken together, our study established a novel method for predicting the geographic origins of mulberry leaves through the combination of SERS spectra with machine learning algorithms, which strengthened the application potential of the method in the quality evaluation, control and assurance of mulberry leaves.

Identification of a rare missense mutation in GJB1 and prenatal diagnosis in a Chinese family with CMT: A case report.

RATIONALE: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a highly heterogeneous genetic disorder. To date, more than 90 genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of CMT. Here, we report the identification of a rare causative mutation in a Chinese family with CMT and a pregnant patient underwent prenatal diagnosis. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 33-year-old woman with 21 + 6 weeks of pregnancy presented with progressive weakness of distal extremities after 23 years of age. A total of 8 individuals in 4 generations of her family had similar muscle weakness. On proband whole-exome sequencing (WES), a rare c.121G > A variant in the GJB1 gene was identified. DIAGNOSIS: Based on the clinical and genetic findings, this patient was finally diagnosed with CMT. INTERVENTIONS: The prenatal diagnosis was performed on the proband fetus. OUTCOMES: The fetus did not carry this rare variant, and the pregnancy continued. LESSONS: Our findings provide the first clinical evidence for the causative role of GJB1 c.121G > A variant in CMT. WES is a valuable method for diagnosing patients with CMT.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of diurnal alterations of liver glycogen structure: A pilot study.

Molecular mechanisms behind structural alterations between fragile and stable glycogen α particles in liver are not clear yet. In this pilot study, we re-examined the diurnal alterations of glycogen structure from the perspective of liver tissue transcriptome. By comparing the structures of liver glycogen from mice at 12 am, 8 am, 12 pm, and 8 pm (light-on: 6 am; light-off: 6 pm), we re-confirmed that the liver glycogen was fragile at 12 am and 8 am and stable at 12 pm and 8 pm as previously reported. The structural differences of glycogen particles at 12 am and 12 pm were thoroughly compared via transcriptomics. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with statistical significance were identified, while expression level of the gene ppp1r3g (log2Fold_Change = -6.368, P-value = 2.89E-04) that encoded PPP1R3G with glycogen binding domain was most significantly changed, which provided preliminary clues to the structural alterations of glycogen α particles during the diurnal cycle.

Bioinformatics and Experimental Analysis of the Prognostic and Predictive Value of the CHPF Gene on Breast Cancer.

Background: Recent studies in the United States have shown that breast cancer accounts for 30% of all new cancer diagnoses in women and has become the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. Chondroitin Polymerizing Factor (CHPF), is an enzyme involved in chondroitin sulfate (CS) elongation and a novel key molecule in the poor prognosis of many cancers. However, its role in the development and progression of breast cancer remains unclear. Methods: The transcript expression of CHPF in the Cancer Genome Atlas-Breast Cancer (TCGA-BRCA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database was analyzed separately using the limma package of R software, and the relationship between CHPF transcriptional expression and CHPF DNA methylation was investigated in TCGA-BRCA. Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted using the Survival package to further assess the prognostic impact of CHPF DNA methylation/expression. The association between CHPF transcript expression/DNA methylation and cancer immune infiltration and immune markers was investigated using the TIMER and TISIDB databases. We also performed gene ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis with the clusterProfiler package. Western blotting and RT-PCR were used to verify the protein level and mRNA level of CHPF in breast tissue and cell lines, respectively. Small interfering plasmids and lentiviral plasmids were constructed for transient and stable transfection of breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and SUM1315, respectively, followed by proliferation-related functional assays, such as CCK8, EDU, clone formation assays; migration and invasion-related functional assays, such as wound healing assay and transwell assays. We also conducted a preliminary study of the mechanism. Results: We observed that CHPF was significantly upregulated in breast cancer tissues and correlated with poor prognosis. CHPF gene transcriptional expression and methylation are associated with immune infiltration immune markers. CHPF promotes proliferation, migration, invasion of the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and SUM1315, and is significantly enriched in pathways associated with the ECM-receptor interaction and PI3K-AKT pathway. Conclusion: CHPF transcriptional expression and DNA methylation correlate with immune infiltration and immune markers. Upregulation of CHPF in breast cancer promotes malignant behavior of cancer cells and is associated with poorer survival in breast cancer, possibly through ECM-receptor interactions and the PI3K-AKT pathway.

Pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment of pain induced by postoperative dressing change for perianal abscess: Study protocol for a randomized, controlled trial.

AIM: This study aims to evaluate the safety and analgesic efficacy of pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment of pain induced by dressing change for perianal abscess. DESIGN: This protocol is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: This study will be implemented in the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Subjects enrolled in this study are hospitalized patients who suffered from moderate to severe pain due to dressing change after incision and drainage. Two hundred patients will be selected and randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The intervention group will get routine pain treatment plus pre-mixed nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture treatment and the control group will be treated with routine pain management plus medical air treatment. All these patients, medical staff and investigators are blind to the nature of the gas in each cylinder, which is randomized. Data will be collected at baseline (T0), 5 min (T1) after the starting of intervention and 5 min post intervention (T2) for each group. The primary outcome is the level of pain relief at T1 and T2. The secondary outcomes cover physiological parameters, adverse events, satisfaction of patients and health professionals and the acceptance from patients. DISCUSSION: Results of this study will be discussed and the safety and effect of nitrous oxide/oxygen treatment of pain induced by dressing change will be proven. IMPACT: When the finding of this study has an active effect on the treatment of pain caused by dressing change, it may provide more options for nursing staff to choose nurse-led analgesia techniques and then improving the level and quality of pain care as well as patients' overall satisfaction with the Anorectal Department in China.

Mitochondrial DNA content reduction induces aerobic glycolysis and reversible resistance to drug-induced apoptosis in SW480 colorectal cancer cells.

Mutations and reductions in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which are frequent in human tumors, may contribute to enhancing their malignant phenotypes. However, the effects of mtDNA abnormalities in colorectal cancer remain largely unknown. In this study, mtDNA-reduced cell model was established by partial depletion of mtDNA in SW480 cells and the effects of mtDNA reduction in colorectal cancer cells were investigated. We found that mtDNA-reduced cells had enhanced glucose uptake and generated markedly higher level of lactate. These changes were accompanied by only a slight reduction in ATP production compared with the parent cells. Furthermore, the activity of the glycolytic enzymes, hexokinase (HK) and phosphofructokinase (PFK), was increased in mtDNA-reduced cells. These results suggested a switch to aerobic glycolysis in mtDNA-reduced cells, which helped the cells to gain a survival advantage. Notably, when mtDNA content was restored, metabolism returned to normal. In addition, the mtDNA-reduced cells were highly resistant to 5-fluorouracil- and oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis and this drug resistance was reversible following recovery of the mtDNA content. We also found that the Akt/mTOR pathway was activated in the mtDNA-reduced cells. This pathway might play a significant role in drug resistance in the mtDNA-reduced cells as drug susceptibility was restored when this pathway was inhibited. Taken together, our results supported the notion that mtDNA reduction induced aerobic glycolysis and a reversible apoptosis-resistant phenotype in SW480 cells, and that the Akt/mTOR pathway might be involved in the drugs-induced apoptosis resistance.

Polycomb-group protein SlMSI1 represses the expression of fruit-ripening genes to prolong shelf life in tomato.

Polycomb-group (PcG) protein MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1 (MSI1) protein is an evolutionarily conserved developmental suppressor and plays a crucial role in regulating epigenetic modulations. However, the potential role and function of MSI1 in fleshy fruits remain unknown. In this study, SlMSI1 was cloned and transformed into tomato to explore its function. The quantitative real-time PCR results showed that SlMSI1 was highly expressed in flowers and fruits and that its transcript and protein levels were significantly decreased in fruits after the breaker stage. Additionally, SlMSI1-overexpressing transgenic tomatoes displayed abnormal non-ripening fruit formation, whereas its suppression promoted fruit ripening in transgenic tomatoes. Quantitative real-time PCR assays also showed that RIN and its regulons were decreased in SlMSI1 overexpression transgenic tomato fruits. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis demonstrated that SlMSI1 inhibits fruit ripening by negatively regulating a large set of fruit-ripening genes in addition to RIN and its regulons. Finally, genetic manipulation of SlMSI1 and RIN successfully prolonged the fruit shelf life by regulating the fruit-ripening genes in tomato. Our findings reveal a novel regulatory function of SlMSI1 in fruit ripening and provide a new regulator that may be useful for genetic engineering and modification of fruit shelf life.

[Value of five-repetition sit-to-stand test in clinical evaluation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5STS) in clinical evaluation of elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: Fifty-one patients with COPD and 20 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. All the participants underwent 5STS, pulmonary function examination, and 6 min walking test (6MWT) and were evaluated for severity of dyspnea (by mMRC) and BODE index during the tests. RESULTS: All the participants completed 5STS test with a good reproducibility of the time used for 3 sessions of the test (P<0.001). The mean time used by COPD patients for 5STS was significantly longer than that by healthy individuals (12.93±3.11s vs 0.72±0.71 s, P=0.002). The results of 5STS showed a significant negative correlation with those of 6MWT in the case group and control group with correlation coefficients of -0.611 and -0.682, respectively. The results of 5STS were negatively correlated with FEV1%Pre and body mass index (P<0.05) but positively with mMRC and BODE index in COPD patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: 5STS is a simple and reproducible test to evaluate the patients' exercise capacity and the severity of COPD, and is well correlated with the current methods for clinical evaluation of COPD.

Behavior of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in Raw Yellowfin Tuna during Cold Storage.

Behavior of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in raw yellowfin tuna during refrigeration and frozen storage were studied. Growth of Salmonella was inhibited in tuna during refrigerated storage, while L. monocytogenes was able to multiply significantly during refrigerated storage. Populations of Salmonella in tuna were reduced by 1 to 2 log after 12 days of storage at 5-7 °C, regardless levels of contamination. However, populations of L. monocytogenes Scott A, M0507, and SFL0404 in inoculated tuna (104-105 CFU/g) increased by 3.31, 3.56, and 3.98 log CFU/g, respectively, after 12 days of storage at 5-7 °C. Similar increases of L. monocytogenes cells were observed in tuna meat with a lower inoculation level (10²-10³ CFU/g). Populations of Salmonella and L. monocytogenes declined gradually in tuna samples over 84 days (12 weeks) of frozen storage at -18 °C with Salmonella Newport 6962 being decreased to undetectable level (<10 CFU/g) from an initial level of 10³ log CFU/g after 42 days of frozen storage. These results demonstrate that tuna meat intended for raw consumption must be handled properly from farm to table to reduce the risks of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella and L. monocytogenes.

Fuzhisan, a chinese herbal medicine, suppresses beta-secretase gene transcription via upregulation of SIRT1 expression in N2a-APP695 cells.

The accumulation of ß-amyloid (Aß) peptide plaques is the major pathogenic event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because ß-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) cleaves APP at the first amino acid of the Aß domain and is the rate-limiting enzyme for Aß peptide generation, the level of this aspartic protease is a focus of AD research. Fuzhisan (FZS), a Chinese herbal complex prescription that has been used for the treatment of AD for over 20 years, is known to enhance metabolic activity and cognitive ability in aged rats and AD patients. To confirm whether FZS's therapeutic effect related to BACE1 pathway, we investigated the intracellular molecules expression change after FZS treatment in N2a-APP695 cell line. In this study, we demonstrated that BACE1 transcription and translation were reduced, and SIRT1 expression was elevated in the N2a-APP695 cells treated with FZS. The therapeutic efficacy of FZS in AD may be derived from the downregulation of BACE1 expression.

Zinc supplementation in acute diarrhea.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of zinc supplementation on the duration of acute diarrhea in children. METHODS: A search was conducted in PubMed, the Cochrane Library database, China Biology Medicine (CBM), CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang Data to find studies on zinc supplementation for children with acute diarrhea from the date of establishment of the respective databases to June 2013. Clinical trials were included, and reviews or other types of studies were excluded. Considering the inclusion criteria, articles were evaluated by two individual investigators. The Cochrane Handbook 5.0.2 was used to evaluate the methodological quality. RevMan 5.2 software was used for meta-analysis. Heterogeneity of the included studies was tested to select a proper effect model. Measurement data were expressed as standard mean difference (SMD), weighted mean difference (WMD), and 95 % confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total of 860 relevant articles were found, and 8 randomized control trials that met the inclusion criteria were included. Meta-analysis showed a significant difference in the duration of acute diarrhea between treatment and control groups, with a WMD of -14.47 (95 % CI: -25.06 to -3.89; P = 0.007). However, significant heterogeneity was found among the studies. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analyses based on admission condition, sample size and age group were also performed, for which heterogeneity cannot be completely eliminated. CONCLUSIONS: Zinc supplementation can decrease the duration of acute diarrhea in children, but future studies should carry out a more thorough analysis in less heterogeneous subjects for a more definitive conclusion.

Reduction of α-dystroglycan expression is correlated with poor prognosis in glioma.

Dystroglycan (DG), a multifunctional protein dimer of non-covalently linked α and ß subunits, is best known as an adhesion and transduction molecule linking the cytoskeleton and intracellular signaling pathways to extracellular matrix proteins. Loss of DG binding, possibly by degradation or disturbed glycosylation, has been reported in a variety of cancers. DG is abundant at astroglial endfeet forming the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and glia limitans; so, we examined if loss of expression is associated with glioma. Expression levels of α-DG and ß-DG were assessed by immunohistochemistry in a series of 78 glioma specimens to determine the relationship with tumor grade and possible prognostic significance. α-DG immunostaining was undetectable in 44 of 49 high-grade specimens (89.8%) compared to 15 of 29 low-grade specimens (51.72%) (P<0.05). Moreover, loss of α-DG expression was an independent predictor of shorter disease-free survival (DFS) (hazards ratio (HR) = 0.142, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.033-0.611, P=0.0088). Reduced expression of both α-DG and ß-DG was also a powerful negative prognostic factor for DFS (HR=2.556, 95% CI 1.403-4.654, P=0.0022) and overall survival (OS) (HR=2.193, 95% CI 1.031-4.666, P=0.0414). Lack of α-DG immunoreactivity is more frequent in high-grade glioma and is an independent predictor of poor clinical outcome. Similarly, lack of both α-DG and ß-DG immunoreactivity is a strong independent predictor of clinical outcome.