Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of open globe injuries in Southwest China.

Background: Open globe injuries (OGIs) are one of the leading causes of monocular vision loss, and the clinical characteristics of OGIs are region specific. The features and patterns of OGIs in Southwest China are poorly known and not well studied. Our study aimed to review the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized for OGIs in Southwest China. Methods: A retrospective study of OGI patients admitted to the West China Hospital from January 1st, 2015, to December 31st, 2019, was performed. Demographic characteristics and injury details were recorded. The Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology system and the ocular trauma score (OTS) were used. Results: A total of 3,014 patients were included. The male-to-female ratio was 5.2:1, and the mean age was 35.6 ± 19.1 years. 15.2% of patients were from the ethnic groups. The highest-risk occupation was the farmer (30.3%), followed by the worker (28.5%). OGIs occurred more frequently in people with middle (37.0%) and primary school (33.1%) education levels. Types of injuries included 46.8% penetration, 21.2% rupture, 2.9% perforation, and 29.1% intraocular foreign body (IOFB). The injuries types differed between age and occupation groups (p < 0.001). IOFBs had a higher risk of causing endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, and traumatic cataracts (p < 0.001). The most common injuries resulted from sharp objects (72.7%). The causes of the injuries were significantly associated with age, ethnicity, and occupation (p < 0.001). Explosion injuries and attacks by animals were more common among people of Tibetan and Yi ethnicities. Blunt trauma, vehicle crashes, falls and age older than 60 years were risk factors for a lack of light perception and lower OTS scores prognosis. Conclusion: OGIs in Southwest China mainly affected working-aged males, especially workers or farmers. Severe vision loss and IOFBs are more common findings. OGIs in older patients and ethnic minorities requires additional attention.

Path planning for mobile robots in complex environments based on improved ant colony algorithm.

Aiming at the problems of the basic ant colony algorithm in path planning, such as long convergence time, poor global path quality and not being suitable for dynamic environments and unknown environments, this paper proposes a path planning method for mobile robots in complex environments based on an improved ant colony (CBIACO) algorithm. First, a new probability transfer function is designed for an ant colony algorithm, the weights of each component in the function are adaptively adjusted to optimize the convergence speed of the algorithm, and the global path is re-optimized by using the detection and optimization mechanism of diagonal obstacles. Second, a new unknown environment path exploration strategy (UPES) is designed to solve the problem of poor path exploration ability of the ant colony algorithm in unknown environment. Finally, a collision classification model is proposed for a dynamic environment, and the corresponding dynamic obstacle avoidance strategy is given. The experimental results show that CBIACO algorithm can not only rapidly generate high-quality global paths in known environments but also enable mobile robots to reach the specified target points safely and quickly in a variety of unknown environments. The new dynamic obstacle avoidance strategy enables the mobile robot to avoid dynamic obstacles in different directions at a lower cost.

Prevention of quality characteristic decline in freeze-thawed cultured large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) using flammulina velutipes polysaccharide.

To investigate the cryoprotective effect of flammulina velutipes polysaccharide (FVP) on the quality characteristics in freeze-thawed cultured large yellow croaker, 0.050%, 0.075%, and 0.100% FVP was used before freezing and the quality after thawing was compared with water soaking (WS) and commercial cryoprotectant (CC) treatment. Quality attributes were comprehensively determined instrumentally and organoleptically after thawing at 4°C. Results showed that FVP effectively reduces the quality deterioration of body color and water-holding capacity, while no obvious effects were observed in texture and flavor. As for body color, both FVP and CC treatment could maintain the b* value to a large extent. Among them, 0.075% FVP shows the highest value in two sample points, with 55.2% and 21.0% increases seen in the values in WS. FVP-dose-dependent trends were found in water-holding capacity, where a reduction of 28.26% and 14.38% in thawing loss and cooking loss was observed in the 0.100% FVP group. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) also revealed that immobilized water and free water were more tightly retained in the muscle tissue with FVP addition. The results of the sensory evaluation are essentially in line with the above observations. These findings indicate that FVP has the potential to partially replace commercial cryoprotectants in aquatic products during frozen storage.

Flammulina velutipes polysaccharide improves the water-holding capacity in the dorsal muscle of freeze-thawed cultured large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea).

To investigate the effect of Flammulina velutipes polysaccharide (FVP) on the water-holding capacity (WHC) in the dorsal muscle of freeze-thawed large yellow croaker, fresh fish were treated with FVP, commercial cryoprotectant (CC), and distilled water before freezing. The water-holding capacity (WHC) and related influencing factors were analyzed. The results showed that FVP was able to effectively improve the WHC by reducing thawing loss and cooking loss, and the effect was similar to that of the CC group. Smaller and rounder ice crystals and less damaged muscle tissue were observed in FVPs. FVP also significantly retarded the protein denaturation revealed by Ca2+-ATPase activity, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra, and SDS-PAGE of the myofibrillar protein. Furthermore, protein oxidation was inhibited by FVP treatment, as demonstrated by the sulfhydryl group and intrinsic fluorescence intensity. In summary, FVP can effectively improve the WHC by inhibiting the growth of ice crystals, protein denaturation, and potentially protein oxidation.

Microbial Communities and Flavor Compounds during the Fermentation of Traditional Hong Qu Glutinous Rice Wine.

As a traditional Chinese rice wine, Hong Qu glutinous rice wine (HQW) is popular among consumers due to its unique flavor. However, its quality changes during fermentation, and the potential relationships between flavor and microbes have not been systematically researched. In this work, physicochemical properties (pH, total sugar, alcohol, amino acid nitrogen), flavor compounds (organic acids, free amino acids, and volatile compounds), and microbial communities were investigated. The results revealed that Pantoea, Lactiplantibacillus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Weissella predominated the bacterial genera, and Monascus was the predominant fungal genus. Organic acids, free amino acids, and key volatile compounds (esters and alcohols) significantly increased during fermentation. The correlations analysis showed that Lactiplantibacillus was closely associated with flavor compounds formation. This study deepens our understanding of the roles of microorganisms in flavor formation on traditional HQW fermentation.

mTORC1 Up-Regulates GP73 to Promote Proliferation and Migration of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells and Growth of Xenograft Tumors in Mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Levels of the Golgi protein 73 (GP73) increase during development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); GP73 is a serum marker for HCC. However, little is known about the mechanisms or effects of GP73 during hepatic carcinogenesis. METHODS: GP73 was overexpressed from a retroviral vector in HepG2 cells, which were analyzed in proliferation and migration assays. Xenograft tumors were grown from these cells in nude mice. The effects of monoclonal antibodies against GP73 were studied in mice and cell lines. GP73(-/-), GP73(+/-), and GP73(+/+) mice were given injections of diethylnitrosamine to induce liver injury. Levels of GP73 were reduced in MHCC97H, HCCLM3, and HepG2.215 cell lines using small hairpin RNAs; xenograft tumors were grown in mice from MHCC97H-small hairpin GP73 or MHCC97H-vector cells. We used microarray analysis to compare expression patterns between GP73-knockdown and control MHCC97H cells. We studied the effects of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor rapamycin on GP73 expression in different cancer cell lines and on growth of tumors in mice. Levels of GP73 and activated mTOR were quantified in human HCC tissues. RESULTS: Xenograft tumors grown from HepG2 cells that expressed GP73 formed more rapidly and more metastases than control HepG2 cells in mice. A monoclonal antibody against GP73 reduced proliferation of HepG2 cells and growth of xenograft tumors in mice. GP73(-/-) mice had less liver damage after administration of diethylnitrosamine than GP73(+/-) or GP73(+/+) mice. In phosphatase and tensin homolog-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts with constitutively activated mTOR, GP73 was up-regulated compared with control mouse embryonic fibroblasts; this increase was reversed after incubation with rapamycin. Expression of GP73 also was reduced in HCC and other cancer cell lines incubated with rapamycin. mTORC1 appeared to regulate expression of GP73 in cell lines. Activated mTOR correlated with the level of GP73 in human HCC tissues. Injection of rapamycin slowed the growth of xenograft tumors from MHCC97H-vector cells, compared with MHCC97H-short hairpin GP73 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Increased expression of GP73 promotes proliferation and migration of HCC cell lines and growth of xenograft tumors in mice. mTORC1 regulates the expression of GP73, so GP73 up-regulation can be blocked with rapamycin. mTOR inhibitors or other reagents that reduce the level or activity of GP73 might be developed for the treatment of HCC.

[Efficacy of combination treatment of the inhibitor of phosphatidyl inositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway BEZ235 and the inhibitor of extracellular regulated protein kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway U0126 in a tumor cell model].

OBJECTIVE: To study the inhibitory effect of the dual usage of BEZ235 and U0126, the inhibitor of phosphatidyl inositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway and extracellular regulated proteinkinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, respectively, on cell proliferation. METHODS: Phosphatase and tensin homolog knockout mouse embryonic fibroblast (PTEN-/-MEF) cell lines were used as the cellular model for malignant tumors. BEZ235, the dual inhibitor of phosphatidyl inositol-3-kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin, and U0126, the inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase were used to treat the cells individually and in a combination manner. The inhibitory effects to cell proliferation were monitored by MTT. RESULTS: Both BEZ235 and U0126 suppressed PTEN knockout cell proliferation, and their half inhibitory concentrations were 6.257 nmol/L and 22.85 µmol/L, respectively. However, the combination treatment of the two drugs showed antagonistic rather than synergistic effect on cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: BEZ235 and U0126 are not suitable for a combined target therapy regimen.