Endoscopic ultrasonography-related diagnostic accuracy and clinical significance on small rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms.

This research aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy and clinical significance of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in the context of small rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). A total of 108 patients with rectal subepithelial lesions (SELs) with a diameter of < 20 mm were included in the analysis. The diagnosis and depth assessment of EUS was compared to the histology findings. The prevalence of NENs in rectal SELs was 78.7% (85/108). The sensitivity of EUS in detecting rectal NENs was 98.9% (84/85), while the specificity was 52.2% (12/23). Overall, the diagnostic accuracy of EUS in identifying rectal NENs was 88.9% (96/108). The overall accuracy rate for EUS in assessing the depth of invasion in rectal NENs was 92.9% (78/84). Therefore, EUS demonstrates reasonable diagnostic accuracy in detecting small rectal NENs, with good sensitivity but inferior specificity. EUS may also assist physicians in assessing the depth of invasion in small rectal NENs before endoscopic excision.

Tectariadanangensis (Tectariaceae), a new fern species from Vietnam.

A new fern species, Tectariadanangensis (Tectariaceae) from Vietnam, which had long been misreported as T.crenata, is described and illustrated. The new species resembles T.poilanei, a species long neglected in the fern flora of Indochina, in the frond shape and sori arrangement, but differs by its irregularly 2-rowed sori (versus regularly 2-rowed, distantly and evenly arranged) between lateral veins of pinnae, fronds being more or less dimorphic (versus monomorphic) and basal pinnae each with a base-joined (versus free) lobe. Phylogenetic analyses of five plastid regions (atpB, ndhF + ndhF-trnN, rbcL, rps16-matK + matK and trnL-F) suggested T.danangensis has a close affinity to T.harlandii. Tectariadanangensis appears to be an intermediate species between T.harlandii and T.poilanei.

Fabrication of Soft Tissue Scaffold-Mimicked Microelectrode Arrays Using Enzyme-Mediated Transfer Printing.

Hydrogels are the ideal materials in the development of implanted bioactive neural interfaces because of the nerve tissue-mimicked physical and biological properties that can enhance neural interfacing compatibility. However, the integration of hydrogels and rigid/dehydrated electronic microstructure is challenging due to the non-reliable interfacial bonding, whereas hydrogels are not compatible with most conditions required for the micromachined fabrication process. Herein, we propose a new enzyme-mediated transfer printing process to design an adhesive biological hydrogel neural interface. The donor substrate was fabricated via photo-crosslinking of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) containing various conductive nanoparticles (NPs), including Ag nanowires (NWs), Pt NWs, and PEDOT:PSS, to form a stretchable conductive bioelectrode, called NP-doped GelMA. On the other hand, a receiver substrate composed of microbial transglutaminase-incorporated gelatin (mTG-Gln) enabled simultaneous temporally controlled gelation and covalent bond-enhanced adhesion to achieve one-step transfer printing of the prefabricated NP-doped GelMA features. The integrated hydrogel microelectrode arrays (MEA) were adhesive, and mechanically/structurally bio-compliant with stable conductivity. The devices were structurally stable in moisture to support the growth of neuronal cells. Despite that the introduction of AgNW and PEDOT:PSS NPs in the hydrogels needed further study to avoid cell toxicity, the PtNW-doped GelMA exhibited a comparable live cell density. This Gln-based MEA is expected to be the next-generation bioactive neural interface.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus infection during pregnancy in C57/BL6 mice causes fetal damage.

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a novel tick-borne phlebovirus, which is listed in the most dangerous pathogens by the World Health Organization, and has 12-30% fatality rates. SFTSV antibodies were reported in minks that experienced abortion or reproductive failure. The aim of this study was to determine whether SFTSV infection causes an adverse pregnancy outcome in the fetus using a pregnant mouse model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found SFTSV in the fetus after infection in pregnant mice, and some dams showed adverse pregnancy outcomes after infection with SFTSV including placental damage, fetal reabsorption, and fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). SFTSV had obvious tropism characteristics in the placenta, especially in the labyrinth. In early-gestation, pregnant mice infected with SFTSV had fetal IUGR and a high viral load in the fetus. The virus widely spread in infected fetuses, including the hindbrain, thymus, heart, spinal cord, and liver. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that SFTSV was vertically transmitted to the fetus through the placental barrier of immunocompetent mice, and resulted in adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Enterovirus 71 VP1 Protein Regulates Viral Replication in SH-SY5Y Cells via the mTOR Autophagy Signaling Pathway.

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the main pathogen that causes severe hand, foot, and mouth disease with fatal neurological complications. However, its neurovirulence mechanism is still unclear. Candidate virulence sites were screened out at structural protein VP1, but the function of these candidate virulence sites remains unclear. Several studies have shown that autophagy is associated with viral replication. However, the relationship between VP1 and autophagy in human neurons has not been studied. METHODS: A recombinant virus-SDLY107-VP1, obtained by replacing the VP1 full-length gene of the SDLY107 strain with the VP1 full-length gene of the attenuated strain SDJN2015-01-was constructed and tested for replication and virulence. We then tested the effect of the recombinant virus on autophagy in nerve cells. The effect of autophagy on virus replication was detected by western blot and plaque test. Finally, the changes of mTOR signaling molecules during EV71 infection and the effect of mTOR on virus replication at the RNA level were detected. RESULTS: Viral recombination triggered virulence attenuation. The replication ability of recombinant virus SDLY107-VP1 was significantly weaker than that of the parent strain SDLY107. The SDLY107 strain could inhibit autophagic flux and led to accumulation of autophagosomes, while the SDLY107-VP1 strain could not cause autophagosome accumulation. The synthesis of EV71 RNA was inhibited by inhibiting mTOR. CONCLUSIONS: Replacement of VP1 weakened the replication ability of virulent strains and reduced the level of autophagy in nerve cells. This autophagy facilitates the replication of virulent strains in nerve cells. VP1 is an important neurovirulence determinant of EV71, which affects virus replication by regulating cell autophagy. mTOR is a key molecule in this type of autophagy.

[A Time-Spatial Resolvable High Speed Spectrograph and Its Application on Spectrum Measurement of a Nanosecond Pulsed Underwater Spark Discharge].

Recently, the diagnosis of the characteristic of pulsed underwater electrical discharges plasma have received significant attention. The measurement of a time-spatial resolved spectrum emitted from a single discharge pulse is important for understanding the time-spatial evolution characteristics of plasma generated by a pulsed high-voltage discharge in water. In this paper, a high speed time-spatial resolvable spectrograph for measuring the emission spectrum of a single electrical discharge pulse was reported. The high speed time-spatial resolvable spectrograph has been constructed by combining an ultrahigh-speed frame camera system with monochromator. Software for the spectral analyzing was also developed. The performance of the spectrograph was tested by using a 632.8 nm He-Ne laser beam at a 1 200 g x mm(-1) grating. The pixel resolution for 632.8 nm spectra is 0.013 nm. The instrument broadening for 632.8 nm spectra is (0.150 ± 0.009)nm when the exposure.time of the camera is 20 ns and the width of entrance slit is 0.2 mm, and increases with increasing the slit width. The change of exposure time of the camera has no influence on the instrument broadening, ensuring the spectrograph in a steady performance while adjusting the exposure time of the camera. With the spectrograph, time-spatial resolved spectra emitted from a single discharge pulse of an underwater nanoseconds spark discharge were obtained. It provides good data for investigating the time-spatial evolution characteristics of the discharge plasma during a single discharge pulse. The spectrograph developed in this work provides a technical approach for studying the time-spatial evolution characteristic of, plasma generated by a single electrical discharge pulse.