Proteomic analysis of serum proteins in children with brain death.

BACKGROUND: Brain death (BD) is a catastrophic physiological outcome that can occur in individuals with terminal illness and can adversely affect the graft quality after donation of their organs. As BD has no specific symptoms, it can be difficult to diagnose in a timely manner. The present study was designed to investigate the serum protein expression profiles of children affected by BD in an effort to define diagnostic biomarkers for this condition. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 8 patients with BD and 8 healthy controls during the same time period. Tandem mass tags and mass spectrometry were used to conduct a proteomic analysis of serum extracted from the samples. The potential regulatory roles of the top 5 upregulated and downregulated proteins identified through the analysis were then explored using bioinformatics analyses and a review of the related literature. RESULTS: The top 5 upregulated proteins in the serum samples from patients with BD were lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), α1-acid glycoprotein (α1-AGP), α1-antichymotrypsin (α1-ACT), leucine-rich α1-glycoprotein (LRG1), and lactate dehydrogenase B heavy chain (LDHB), and the 5 most downregulated proteins in these samples were actin-binding protein 2 (transgelin-2), platelet basic protein (PBP), tropomyosin α4 chain (TPM4), tropomyosin α3 chain (TPM3), and peptidase inhibitor 16 (PI16). Literature searches indicated that several of the identified proteins influence the pathogeneses of various diseases, with LBP, α1-AGP, α1-ACT, LRG1, transgelin-2, and PBP all being related to inflammatory activity. CONCLUSIONS: Through a proteomics-based analysis, several differentially expressed proteins were identified in patients with BD relative to healthy controls. Most of these proteins are associated with inflammatory responses that have the potential to persist after the occurrence of BD. Further clinical work is needed to clarify the functional roles of the identified proteins.

Towards the Design and Implementation of an Image-Based Navigation System of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Combining a Color Recognition Technique and a Fuzzy Logic Controller.

This study proposes the development of an underwater object-tracking control system through an image-processing technique. It is used for the close-range recognition and dynamic tracking of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with an auxiliary light source for image processing. The image-processing technique includes color space conversion, target and background separation with binarization, noise removal with image filters, and image morphology. The image-recognition results become more complete through the aforementioned process. After the image information is obtained for the underwater object, the image area and coordinates are further adopted as the input values of the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to calculate the rudder angle of the servomotor, and the propeller revolution speed is defined using the image information. The aforementioned experiments were all conducted in a stability water tank. Subsequently, the FLC was combined with an extended Kalman filter (EKF) for further dynamic experiments in a towing tank. Specifically, the EKF predicts new coordinates according to the original coordinates of an object to resolve data insufficiency. Consequently, several tests with moving speeds from 0.2 m/s to 0.8 m/s were analyzed to observe the changes in the rudder angles and the sensitivity of the propeller revolution speed.

Bacterial cellulose and bacterial cellulose-chitosan membranes for wound dressing applications.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) and bacterial cellulose-chitosan (BC-Ch) membranes were successfully produced in large scale. BC was synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum. BC-Ch was prepared by immersing BC in chitosan followed by freeze-drying. The surface morphology of BC and BC-Ch membranes were examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM images showed that BC-Ch possessed a denser fibril network with smaller pores than BC. Infrared spectroscopy was used to confirm the incorporation of chitosan in BC-Ch. The swelling behavior, water retention capacity, and mechanical properties of BC and BC-Ch were further evaluated. Results indicated that both membranes maintained proper moisture contents for an extensive period without dehydration. The tensile strength and elongation at break for BC-Ch were slightly lower while the Young's modulus was higher. Cell culture studies demonstrated that BC and BC-Ch had no cytotoxicity. In the antibacterial test, the addition of chitosan in BC showed significant growth inhibition against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The effects of BC and BC-Ch on skin wound healing were assessed by rat models. Histological examinations revealed that wounds treated with BC-Ch epithelialized and regenerated faster than those treated with BC or Tegaderm. Therefore, BC-Ch was considered as a potential candidate for wound dressing materials.

Comparison of clinical efficacy of three surgical methods in the treatment of pterygium.

PURPOSE: To investigate and compare the efficacy of amniotic membrane transplantation, corneal limbus stem cell conjunctival transplantation and pedicle conjunctival flap transposition in the treatment of pterygium. METHODS: A total of 155 patients with pterygium were retrospectively analysed: 53 cases who received amniotic membrane transplantation, 41 who underwent corneal limbus stem cells conjunctival transplantation, and 63 patients who had pedicle conjunctival flap transposition. RESULTS: Patients in the three groups had no significant differences in terms of age, times since surgery, or extent of pterygium extension onto the cornea (F:1.194, 0.639, 0.140 respectively; all P>0.05). A total of 137 out of 155 patients (88.4%) completed 6 months of follow up. The recurrence rates of pterygium for the three surgeries (amniotic membrane transplantation, corneal limbus stem cells conjunctival transplantation and pedicle conjunctival flap transposition) were 14.6%, 13.9% and 7.7%, respectively. No significant difference was identified when comparing the recurrence rate between any two groups (X2: 0.008, 1.211 and 0.890; P: 0.593, 0.218 and 0.276). Five patients presented with postoperative complications, including 3 cases of sub-conjunctival hemorrhage, 1 case of amniotic membrane dissolution, and 1 case of conjunctival cyst, accounting for 3.64% of all participants. CONCLUSION: These three surgical methods are equally effective in preventing the recurrence of pterygium after excision.

Investigation on the lipid- and cholesterol-lowering abilities of biocellulose.

The present study investigated and compared the physicochemical properties as well as the hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic effects between plant cellulose and biocellulose. Biocellulose had higher water-holding and cation-exchange capacities than plant cellulose ( approximately 2- and 6-fold, respectively). The results showed that the administration of plant cellulose and biocellulose to hamsters effectively ( P < 0.05) decreased the concentrations of serum triglyceride (by 13.9-55.5%), serum total cholesterol (by 17.4-27.9%), serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (by 41.9-47.9%), liver total lipids (by 6.4-10.3%), and liver cholesterol (by 11.8-16.3%). Feeding plant cellulose and biocellulose also enhanced the excretion of total lipids (144-182%), cholesterol (136-203%), and bile acids (259-479%) in feces. The efficacy of biocellulose in lowering serum lipids and cholesterol in hamsters was significantly higher than that of plant cellulose. These results suggested that biocellulose could be a promising low-calorie bulking ingredient for the development of novel fiber-rich functional foods of different forms such as powder, gelatinous, or shred forms.

[The clinical evaluate external route surgery of retinal detachment under surgical microscope].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the methods and the outcome of the retinal detachment surgery under surgical microscope. METHODS: Twenty-one consecutive cases of the rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were enrolled in this study. All received retinal detachment surgery under microscope. Location the retinal breaks, the drainage of subretinal fluid with diathermy acupuncture and retinal cryopexy through sclera were performed under surgical microscope. Buckling and or circling were performed in six cases. All the patients were followed up three to nine months. RESULTS: The reaction of retinal cryotherapy was seen clearly under the microscope. And the observation of cryotherapy and the location of retinal breaks were not affected by mild media opacities. No severe complication appeared. Twenty cases got complete retinal reattachment. One eye got reattachment after an additional scleral buckling. The visual acuity were improved in all cases, The visual acuity was better than 0.3 in 15 eyes (71.42%). CONCLUSIONS: It appeared to be simple, convenient, easy observable to perform retinal reattachment surgery under microscope.