Wheat flour-derived amyloid fibrils for efficient removal of organic dyes from contaminated water.

Amyloid fibrils derived from different proteins have been proved as a promising material for adsorption of various pollutants from wastewater, which showed advantages of low cost and eco-friendliness. However, most of the amyloid fibrils derived from animal-based proteins with high environmental footprint, while more sustainable amyloid fibrils derived from plant materials are desirable. In this study, a plant-derived amyloid fibril was extracted from the commonly used wheat flour with a simple and scalable protein purification and fibrillization process. Interestingly, the amyloid fibrils showed good adsorption capacity towards typical organic dyes (Eosin Y (EY) and Congo red (CR)) from contaminated water. Adsorption kinetic analysis indicated the adsorption process to EY or CR by wheat flour amyloid well fitted with a pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption also followed a Langmuir isothermal model with adsorption capacities of 333 mg/g and 138 mg/g towards CR and EY, respectively. This work demonstrated the feasibility to utilize the plant-based amyloid fibril for organic dyes removal from contaminated water, which provided an affordable, sustainable and scalable tool for organic dyes removal from wastewater.

Ferroptosis Contributes to Microvascular Dysfunction in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Ferroptosis is a new form of cell death characterized by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Whether ferroptosis is involved in retinal microvascular dysfunction under diabetic condition is not known. Herein, the expression of ferroptosis-related genes in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and in diabetic mice was determined with quantitative RT-PCR. Reactive oxygen species, iron content, lipid peroxidation products, and ferroptosis-associated proteins in the cultured human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) and in the retina of diabetic mice were examined. The association of ferroptosis with the functions of endothelial cells in vitro was evaluated. After administration of ferroptosis-specific inhibitor, Fer-1, the retinal microvasculature in diabetic mice was assessed. Characteristic changes of ferroptosis-associated markers, including glutathione peroxidase 4, ferritin heavy chain 1, long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 4, transferrin receptor protein 1, and cyclooxygenase-2, were detected in the retinal fibrovascular membrane of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, cultured HRMECs, and the retina of diabetic mice. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, and iron content were found in the retina of diabetic mice and in cultured HRMECs. Ferroptosis was found to be associated with HRMEC dysfunction under high-glucose condition. Inhibition of ferroptosis with specific inhibitor Fer-1 in diabetic mice significantly reduced the severity of retinal microvasculopathy. Ferroptosis contributes to microvascular dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy, and inhibition of ferroptosis might be a promising strategy for the therapy of early-stage diabetic retinopathy.

Non-Electroneutrality Generated by Bacteriorhodopsin-Incorporated Membranes Enhances the Conductivity of a Gelatin Memory Device.

We have previously demonstrated the potential of gelatin films as a memory device, offering a novel approach for writing, reading, and erasing through the manipulation of gelatin structure and bound water content. Here, we discovered that incorporating a bacteriorhodopsin (BR)-lipid membrane into the gelatin devices can further increase the electron conductivity of the polypeptide-bound water network and the ON/OFF ratio of the device by two folds. Our photocurrent measurements show that the BR incorporated in the membrane sandwiched in a gelatin device can generate a net proton flow from the counter side to the deposited side of the membrane. This leads to the establishment of non-electroneutrality on the gelatin films adjacent to the BR-incorporated membrane. Our Raman spectroscopy results show that BR proton pumping in the ON state gelatin device increases the bound water presence and promotes polypeptide unwinding compared to devices without BR. These findings suggest that the non-electroneutrality induced by BR proton pumping can increase the extent of polypeptide unwinding within the gelatin matrix, consequently trapping more bound water within the gelatin-bound water network. The resulting rise in hydrogen bonds could expand electron transfer routes, thereby enhancing the electron conductivity of the memory device in the ON state.

Excessive addition split peak formed by the non-templated nucleotide addition property of Taq DNA polymerase after PCR amplification.

Because of its non-template addition feature, Taq DNA polymerase can catalyze one or more extra nucleotides onto the 3' terminus of PCR products. An extra peak is observed at DYS391 locus after the PCR products stored for 4 days at 4°C. To explore the formation mechanism of this artifact, PCR primers and amplicon sequences of Y-STR loci are analyzed, furthermore, PCR products storage conditions and termination of PCR are discussed. The extra peak is a + 2 addition product, which we call excessive addition split peak (EASP). The most significant difference between EASP and the incomplete addition of adenine product is that the size of EASP is about one base larger than the true allele, and the EASP locates on the right side of the real allelic peak. The EASP cannot be eliminated by increasing loading mixture volume and conducting heat denaturation prior to electrophoresis injection. However, the EASP is not observed when the PCR is terminated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or formamide. These findings suggest that formation of EASP is a result of 3' end non-template extension by Taq DNA polymerase, rather than being the result of DNA fragment secondary structure produced under a suboptimal electrophoresis condition. In addition, the EASP formation is affected by the primer sequences and the storage conditions of PCR products.

Robust Attitude and Heading Estimation under Dynamic Motion and Magnetic Disturbance.

Robust and accurate attitude and heading estimation using Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) is the most crucial technique that determines the accuracy of various downstream applications, especially pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), human motion tracking, and Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). However, the accuracy of the Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) is often compromised by the noisy nature of low-cost MEMS-IMUs, dynamic motion-induced large external acceleration, and ubiquitous magnetic disturbance. To address these challenges, we propose a novel data-driven IMU calibration model that employs Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCNs) to model random errors and disturbance terms, providing denoised sensor data. For sensor fusion, we use an open-loop and decoupled version of the Extended Complementary Filter (ECF) to provide accurate and robust attitude estimation. Our proposed method is systematically evaluated using three public datasets, TUM VI, EuRoC MAV, and OxIOD, with different IMU devices, hardware platforms, motion modes, and environmental conditions; and it outperforms the advanced baseline data-driven methods and complementary filter on two metrics, namely absolute attitude error and absolute yaw error, by more than 23.4% and 23.9%. The generalization experiment results demonstrate the robustness of our model on different devices and using patterns.

The analysis of low-dose glucocorticoid maintenance therapy in patients with primary nephrotic syndrome suffering from COVID-19.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the effects of low-dose (prednisolone acetate 2.5-7.5 mg/day) glucocorticoids (GCs) maintenance therapy in patients with primary nephrotic syndrome (NS) suffering from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: A single-center retrospective study of NS patients with COVID-19 infection in Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University from 1 February 2022 to 31 March 2023 was conducted. All enrolled patients underwent renal biopsy for the pathological diagnosis and reached complete remission (CR) or near-CR before COVID-19 infection. According to the maintained therapy regimen, patients were divided into low-dose GCs group and non-GCs group. Results: A total of 125 patients were enrolled in the study. Their median age was 46.0 ± 15.6 years, and the median value of 24-h urine protein was 0.77 g. The majority of these patients received treatment for more than 6 months, with a significant portion achieving CR (29.6%) or near-CR (43.2%). The leading cause of NS was membranous nephropathy (52%). There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between low-dose GCs and non-GCs group. As compared to those in the non-GCs group, patients receiving low-dose GCs treatment showed less fatigue or muscle weakness, smell disorder, palpitations, decreased appetite, taste disorder, dizziness, sore throat or difficult to swallow and fever (p < 0.05). Moreover, patients in the low-dose GCs group were with higher median quality of life scores (85.0) than in the non-GCs group (p = 0.001). Further serum inflammatory factor analysis indicated that interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in the non-GCs group were significantly higher than that in the low-dose GCs group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Patients with NS in low-dose GCs maintenance therapy stage showed milder symptom, higher quality of life and decreased serum IL-6 levels compared to those, who were not on GCs maintenance therapy. These results suggest the beneficial effect of low-dose GCs therapy in NS patients with CR/near-CR suffering from COVID-19 infection.

Bendamustine combined with pomalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed multiple myeloma with extramedullary disease: a multicenter study / 中华血液学杂志

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of bendamustine combined with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (BPD regimen) in the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma (MM) with extramedullary disease. Methods: This open, single-arm, multicenter prospective cohort study included 30 relapsed MM patients with extramedullary disease diagnosed in seven hospitals including Qingdao Municipal Hospital. The patients were treated with BPD regimen from February 2021 to November 2022. This study analyzed the efficacy and adverse reactions of the BPD regimen. Results: The median age of the 30 patients was 62 (47-72) years, of which 18 (60% ) had first-time recurrence. The overall response rate (ORR) of the 18 patients with first-time recurrence was 100%, of which three (16.7% ) achieved complete remission, 10 (55.5% ) achieved very good partial remission (VGPR), and five (27.8% ) achieved partial remission (PR). The ORR of 12 patients with recurrence after second-line or above treatment was 50%, including zero patients with ≥VGPR and six patients (50% ) with PR. Three cases (25% ) had stable disease, and three cases (25% ) had disease progression. The one-year progression free survival rate of all patients was 65.2% (95% CI 37.2% -83.1% ), and the 1-year overall survival rate was 90.0% (95% CI 76.2% -95.4% ). The common grade 3-4 hematology adverse reactions included two cases (6.7% ) of neutropenia and one case (3.3% ) of thrombocytopenia. The overall adverse reactions are controllable. Conclusions: The BPD regimen has good efficacy and tolerance in relapsed MM patients with extramedullary disease.

Clinical efficacy of super-mini-percutaneous nephroscope combined with flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy in oblique supine lithotomy position in the treatment of 2.0-3.0 cm renal calculi / 现代泌尿外科杂志

【Objective】 To compare the clinical safety and effectiveness of super-mini-percutaneous nephroscope (SMP) combined with flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (FURL) in oblique supine lithotomy position and FURL alone in the treatment of 2.0-3.0 cm renal calculi. 【Methods】 Clinical data of 55 patients treated during Jan.2018 and May 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including 47 cases complicated renal calculi, and 14 cases of lower calyceal calculi with infundibulopelvic angle ≤30°. SMP combined with FURL was performed in 23 cases (combined group), and FURL alone was performed in 32 cases (FURL group). The operation time, hemoglobin reduction, postoperative hospital stay, hospitalization expenses, stone-clearance rate and complications were compared. 【Results】 All operations were successful. Compared with the FRUL group, the combined group had significantly more hemoglobin reduction [(16.30±10.17) g/L vs. (6.94±6.61) g/L], longer postoperative hospital stay [(5.35±1.61) d vs. (3.19±1.26) d], and higher hospitalization expenses [(22 481±2 234) yuan vs. (18 209±2 584) yuan] (P0.05]. One month after surgery, CT results showed that the combined group had higher stone-clearance rate (91.30% vs. 65.63%, P=0.027). There was no difference in the complication rate (21.74% vs. 21.88%, P>0.05). One case (4.35%) in the combined group and 5 cases (15.63%) in the FURL group received retreatment (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 SMP combined with FURL in oblique supine lithotomy position is safe and effective in the treatment of 2.0-3.0 cm renal calculi, with high stone-clearance rate and low complication rate.

Impacts of androgen deprivation therapy on the risks and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with prostate cancer / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

Studies have investigated the effects of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) use on the incidence and clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, the results have been inconsistent. We searched the PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from inception to March 2022; 13 studies covering 84 003 prostate cancer (PCa) patients with or without ADT met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. We calculated the pooled risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to explore the association between ADT use and the infection risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and severity of COVID-19. After synthesizing the evidence, the pooled RR in the SARS-CoV-2 positive group was equal to 1.17, and the SARS-CoV-2 positive risk in PCa patients using ADT was not significantly different from that in those not using ADT (P = 0.544). Moreover, no significant results concerning the beneficial effect of ADT on the rate of intensive care unit admission (RR = 1.04, P = 0.872) or death risk (RR = 1.23, P = 0.53) were found. However, PCa patients with a history of ADT use had a markedly higher COVID-19 hospitalization rate (RR = 1.31, P = 0.015) than those with no history of ADT use. These findings indicate that ADT use by PCa patients is associated with a high risk of hospitalization during infection with SARS-CoV-2. A large number of high quality studies are needed to confirm these results.

Research progress of new multifunctional bone cement in bone tumor therapy / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#The research progress of new multifunctional bone cement in bone tumor therapy in recent years was reviewed, in order to provide help for the future research of anti-tumor bone cement.@*METHODS@#The related literature on the treatment of bone tumors with new multifunctional bone cement at home and abroad in recent years was extensively reviewed and summarized.@*RESULTS@#The new multifunctional bone cements include those with the functions of photothermotherapy, magnetic thermotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and antibacterial after operation, which are discussed from the aspects of anti-tumor, drug controlled release, and cytotoxicity. Controlled drug release has been achieved in multifunctional bone cements by adjusting heat and pH or incorporating particles such as chitosan oligosaccharides and γ-cyclodextrin. At present, multifunctional bone cement with hyperthermia, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy has effectively inhibited the local recurrence and distant metastasis of bone tumors. Broadening the application of bone cement for photothermal and magnetic thermal therapy to deeper bone tumors, investigating more precise controlled release of drug-loaded bone cement, and introducing nanoparticles with both thermal conversion and intrinsic enzymatic activities into bone cement for synergistic anti-tumor therapy are promising research directions.@*CONCLUSION@#The new multifunctional bone cement inhibits bone tumor cells, promotes new bone formation in bone defects, and prevents incision infection after tumor resection. Certain progress has been made in anti-tumor, antibacterial, drug-controlled release, and reduction of cytotoxicity. Expanding the deeper application range of the new multifunctional bone cement, verifying the safety in clinical application, and focusing on the individualized treatment of the new multifunctional bone cement are the problems that need to be solved in the future.

Progress in antibacterial/osteogenesis dual-functional surface modification strategy of titanium-based implants / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To review antibacterial/osteogenesis dual-functional surface modification strategy of titanium-based implants, so as to provide reference for subsequent research.@*METHODS@#The related research literature on antibacterial/osteogenesis dual-functional surface modification strategy of titanium-based implants in recent years was reviewed, and the research progress was summarized based on different kinds of antibacterial substances and osteogenic active substances.@*RESULTS@#At present, the antibacterial/osteogenesis dual-functional surface modification strategy of titanium-based implants includes: ① Combined coating strategy of antibiotics and osteogenic active substances. It is characterized in that antibiotics can be directly released around titanium-based implants, which can improve the bioavailability of drugs and reduce systemic toxicity. ② Combined coating strategy of antimicrobial peptides and osteogenic active substances. The antibacterial peptides have a wide antibacterial spectrum, and bacteria are not easy to produce drug resistance to them. ③ Combined coating strategy of inorganic antibacterial agent and osteogenic active substances. Metal ions or metal nanoparticles antibacterial agents have broad-spectrum antibacterial properties and various antibacterial mechanisms, but their high-dose application usually has cytotoxicity, so they are often combined with substances that osteogenic activity to reduce or eliminate cytotoxicity. In addition, inorganic coatings such as silicon nitride, calcium silicate, and graphene also have good antibacterial and osteogenic properties. ④ Combined coating strategy of metal organic frameworks/osteogenic active substances. The high specific surface area and porosity of metal organic frameworks can effectively package and transport antibacterial substances and bioactive molecules. ⑤ Combined coating strategy of organic substances/osteogenic active substancecs. Quaternary ammonium compounds, polyethylene glycol, N-haloamine, and other organic compounds have good antibacterial properties, and are often combined with hydroxyapatite and other substances that osteogenic activity.@*CONCLUSION@#The factors that affect the antibacterial and osteogenesis properties of titanium-based implants mainly include the structure and types of antibacterial substances, the structure and types of osteogenesis substances, and the coating process. At present, there is a lack of clinical verification of various strategies for antibacterial/osteogenesis dual-functional surface modification of titanium-based implants. The optimal combination, ratio, dose-effect mechanism, and corresponding coating preparation process of antibacterial substances and bone-active substances are needed to be constantly studied and improved.

RhoA improves cryopreservation of rooster sperm through the Rho/RhoA-associated kinase/cofilin pathway.

Cryopreservation of rooster sperm leads to relatively low semen quality due to cytoskeletal damage during the freeze-thawing process. This study aimed to explore how the addition of RhoA recombinant protein affected the viability and subcellular structure of rooster sperm after freeze-thawing and elucidated the molecular mechanisms of sperm cryopreservation. Semen quality and acrosome integrity testing revealed that the addition of 0.5 µg/mL RhoA recombinant protein to the cryoprotectant fluid significantly increased sperm motility, survival rate, linearity, straight-line velocity, and acrosome integrity after freeze-thawing (P < 0.05). Ultrastructure analysis of cryopreserved sperm showed structural damage to the sperm plasma membrane, nuclear membrane, and tail. However, compared to the control, these structural changes were reduced upon the addition of RhoA recombinant protein to the cryoprotective fluid (P < 0.05). Western blotting revealed that the expression of Rho/RhoA-associated kinase and p-cofilin was increased, and cofilin expression was decreased after sperm cryopreservation with recombinant RhoA protein. Treatment with Y-27632, a ROCK antagonist, suppressed ROCK and p-cofilin expression and decreased semen quality, acrosome integrity, and ultrastructure integrity. In summary, we have demonstrated a cryoprotective effect in spermatozoa involving the Rho/ROCK pathway during freeze-thawing. Furthermore, the addition of 0.5 µg/mL RhoA recombinant protein to the cryoprotective fluid improved rooster semen quality and subcellular structural homeostasis after freeze-thawing via the Rho/ROCK pathway. This pathway may regulate the dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton by regulating the cofilin phosphorylation.

IMU-Based Monitoring for Assistive Diagnosis and Management of IoHT: A Review.

With the rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, traditional disease diagnoses carried out in medical institutions can now be performed remotely at home or even ambient environments, yielding the concept of the Internet of Health Things (IoHT). Among the diverse IoHT applications, inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based systems play a significant role in the detection of diseases in many fields, such as neurological, musculoskeletal, and mental. However, traditional numerical interpretation methods have proven to be challenging to provide satisfying detection accuracies owing to the low quality of raw data, especially under strong electromagnetic interference (EMI). To address this issue, in recent years, machine learning (ML)-based techniques have been proposed to smartly map IMU-captured data on disease detection and progress. After a decade of development, the combination of IMUs and ML algorithms for assistive disease diagnosis has become a hot topic, with an increasing number of studies reported yearly. A systematic search was conducted in four databases covering the aforementioned topic for articles published in the past six years. Eighty-one articles were included and discussed concerning two aspects: different ML techniques and application scenarios. This review yielded the conclusion that, with the help of ML technology, IMUs can serve as a crucial element in disease diagnosis, severity assessment, characteristic estimation, and monitoring during the rehabilitation process. Furthermore, it summarizes the state-of-the-art, analyzes challenges, and provides foreseeable future trends for developing IMU-ML systems for IoHT.

Cost-effectiveness of artificial intelligence screening for diabetic retinopathy in rural China.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) has become a leading cause of global blindness as a microvascular complication of diabetes. Regular screening of diabetic retinopathy is strongly recommended for people with diabetes so that timely treatment can be provided to reduce the incidence of visual impairment. However, DR screening is not well carried out due to lack of eye care facilities, especially in the rural areas of China. Artificial intelligence (AI) based DR screening has emerged as a novel strategy and show promising diagnostic performance in sensitivity and specificity, relieving the pressure of the shortage of facilities and ophthalmologists because of its quick and accurate diagnosis. In this study, we estimated the cost-effectiveness of AI screening for DR in rural China based on Markov model, providing evidence for extending use of AI screening for DR. METHODS: We estimated the cost-effectiveness of AI screening and compared it with ophthalmologist screening in which fundus images are evaluated by ophthalmologists. We developed a Markov model-based hybrid decision tree to analyze the costs, effectiveness and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of AI screening strategies relative to no screening strategies and ophthalmologist screening strategies (dominated) over 35 years (mean life expectancy of diabetes patients in rural China). The analysis was conducted from the health system perspective (included direct medical costs) and societal perspective (included medical and nonmedical costs). Effectiveness was analyzed with quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The robustness of results was estimated by performing one-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic analysis. RESULTS: From the health system perspective, AI screening and ophthalmologist screening had incremental costs of $180.19 and $215.05 but more quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) compared with no screening. AI screening had an ICER of $1,107.63. From the societal perspective which considers all direct and indirect costs, AI screening had an ICER of $10,347.12 compared with no screening, below the cost-effective threshold (1-3 times per capita GDP of Chinese in 2019). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates that AI-based screening is more cost-effective compared with conventional ophthalmologist screening and holds great promise to be an alternative approach for DR screening in the rural area of China.

Malignant melanoma of penis: a case report / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Melanoma of penis is rare. A case was reported in this paper. Penile mass was found for 14 months. Penile tumor resection+ left inguinal lymph node biopsy and bilateral ilioinguinal lymph node dissection were performed. Postoperative pathology showed malignant melanoma of the penis with bilateral ilioinguinal lymph node metastasis. This patient was treated with pabolizumab for 17 cycles. After 22 months follow-up, the patient had no disease progression.

Comparative Analysis of Mitogenomes among Five Species of Filchnerella (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Pamphagidae) and Their Phylogenetic and Taxonomic Implications.

Mitogenomes have been widely used for exploring phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic diagnosis. In this study, the complete mitogenomes of five species of Filchnerella were sequenced, annotated and analyzed. Then, combined with other seven mitogenomes of Filchnerella and four of Pamphagidae, the phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed by maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian (BI) methods based on PCGs+rRNAs. The sizes of the five complete mitogenomes are Filchnerella sunanensis 15,656 bp, Filchnerella amplivertica 15,657 bp, Filchnerella nigritibia 15,661 bp, Filchnerella pamphagoides 15,661 bp and Filchnerella dingxiensis 15,666 bp. The nucleotide composition of mitogenomes is biased toward A+T. All tRNAs could be folded into the typical clover-leaf structure, except that tRNA Ser (AGN) lacked a dihydrouridine (DHU) arm. The phylogenetic relationships of Filchnerella species based on mitogenome data revealed a general pattern of wing evolution from long wing to increasingly shortened wing.

Diagnostic performance of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for malignant ovarian tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Accurate preoperative diagnosis of malignant ovarian tumors (MOTs) is particularly important for selecting the optimal treatment strategy and avoiding overtreatment. PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for MOTs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to find relevant original articles up to October 2019. The included studies were assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Studies on the diagnosis of MOTs with quantitative or semi-quantitative DCE-MRI were analyzed separately. The bivariate random-effects model was used to assess the diagnostic authenticity. Meta-regression analyses were performed to analyze the potential heterogeneity. RESULTS: For semi-quantitative DCE-MRI, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (LR), negative LR, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were 85% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.75-0.92), 85% (95% CI 0.77-0.91), 5.8 (95% CI 3.8-8.8), 0.17 (95% CI 0.10-0.30), 33 (95% CI 18-61), and 0.92 (95% CI 0.89-0.94), respectively. For quantitative DCE-MRI, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive LR, negative LR, DOR, and AUC were 88% (95% CI 0.65-0.96), 93% (95% CI 0.78-0.98), 12.3 (95% CI 3.4-43.9), 0.13 (95% CI 0.04-0.45), 91 (95% CI 10-857), and 0.96 (95% CI 0.94-0.98), respectively. CONCLUSION: DCE-MRI has great diagnostic value for MOTs. Semi-quantitative DCE-MRI may be a relatively mature approach; however, quantitative DCE-MRI appears to be more promising than semi-quantitative DCE-MRI.

Expression of SOX4 gene and its biological effects in endometrial carcinoma / 解剖学报

Objective To investigate the expression of sex determining region Y box protein 4(SOX4) gene and its biological effects in endometrial carcinoma. Methods 156 cases of endometrial carcinoma tissues, adjacent tissues of endometrial carcinoma and 156 cases of endometrial atypical hyperplasia were collected; Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of SOX4 in endometrial cancer, endometrial dysplasia and normal endometrial tissue, and to analyze the relationship between SOX4 and the clinical characteristics of patients with endometrial cancer. After establishing the SOX4 overexpression/silencing Ishikawa cell strain using the lentivirus transfection technique, MTT, flow cytometry and Transwell chamber method were used to detect the cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion ability, and Western blotting method was used to detect SOX4, β-catenin and E-cadherin protein expression changes. Results The expression of SOX4 in endometrial cancer tissue was higher than that in normal endometrial tissue and endometrial atypical hyperplasia (P<0.05). SOX4 expression was correlated with invasion depth, International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecoogy (FIGO) stage and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Compared with control group, SOX4 overexpressed Ishikawa cells have significantly increased proliferative ability, migration and invasion ability, significantly reduced apoptosis rate, significantly increased SOX4 and β-catenin protein expression, and significantly reduced E-cadherin protein expression (all P< 0.05). while the proliferation ability, migration and invasion ability of Ishikawa cells interfered by SOX4 were significantly reduced, the apoptosis rate was significantly increased, the expression of SOX4 and β-catenin protein was significantly reduced, and the expression of E-cadherin protein was significantly increased (all P<0.05). Conclusion S0X4 gene is highly expressed in endometrial cancer tissues, which may promote the development of endometrial cancer by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Advances in biodegradation of macrolide antibiotics / 生物工程学报

Macrolide antibiotics are a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics with the macrolide as core nucleus. Recently, antibiotic pollution has become an important environmental problem due to the irregular production and abuse of macrolide antibiotics. Microbial degradation is one of the most effective methods to deal with antibiotic pollution. This review summarizes the current status of environmental pollution caused by macrolide antibiotics, the degradation strains, the degradation enzymes, the degradation pathways and the microbial processes for degrading macrolide antibiotics. Moreover, the critical challenges on the biodegradation of macrolide antibiotics were also discussed.