Clinical features associated with maternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 6.

BACKGROUND: Maternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 6 (upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat) has been previously reported to cause intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), but the specific clinical phenotype has not been defined. Based on clinical data from two new cases and patients from the literature, specific phenotypes and mechanisms will be discussed further. CASE PRESENTATION: In case 1, a maternal isodisomy mixed with a heterodisomy was found on chromosome 6, including a regional absence of heterozygosity between 6q23.3 and 6q27. In case 2, a homozygous SCUBE3 mutation and upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat, involving the 6p21.1-25.1 region were found. Clinical data related to upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat were also reviewed. Of all the 21 reported cases with upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat (including our 2 cases), 18 (85.7%) presented IUGR. CONCLUSIONS: The phenotypes of the two newly identified patients with upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat further suggest that IUGR is associated with upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat and case 2 is the first reported upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat patient with a homozygous SCUBE3 gene mutation. However, the specific phenotypes involved in upd(Cajaiba MM, Witchel S, Madan-Khetarpal S, Hoover J, Hoffner L, Macpherson T, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 6 rescue resulting in paternal UPD6 with novel placental findings. Am J Med Genet Part A. 2011;155 A(8):1996-2002.)mat and the related mechanisms need to be further studied.

Sequential release of transforming growth factor ß1 and fibroblast growth factor 2 from nanofibrous scaffolds induces cartilage differentiation of mouse adipose-derived stem cells.

Once damaged, cartilage has poor intrinsic capacity to repair itself. Current cartilage repair strategies cannot restore the damaged tissue sufficiently. It is hypothesized that biomimetic scaffolds, which can recapitulate important properties of the cartilage extracellular matrix, play a beneficial role in supporting cell behaviors such as growth, cartilage differentiation, and integration with native cartilage, ultimately facilitating tissue recovery. Adipose-derived stem cells regenerated cartilage upon the sequential release of transforming growth factor ß1(TGFß1) and fibroblast growth factor 2(FGF2) using a nanofibrous scaffold, in order to get the recovery of functional cartilage. Experiments in vitro have demonstrated that the release sequence of growth factors FGF2 to TGFß1 is the most essential to promote adipose-derived stem cells into chondrocytes that then synthesize collagen II. Mouse subcutaneous implantation indicated that the treatment sequence of FGF2 to TGFß1 was able to significantly induce multiple increase in cartilage regeneration in vivo. This result demonstrates that the group treated with FGF2 to TGFß1 released from a nanofibrous scaffold provides a good strategy for cartilage regeneration by making a favorable microenvironment for cell growth and cartilage regeneration.

Time-Dependent Sequential Changes of IL-10 and TGF-ß1 in Mice with Deep Vein Thrombosis.

OBJECTIVES: To detect the expression changes of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) during the development of deep vein thrombosis in mice, and to explore the application value of them in thrombus age estimation. METHODS: The mice in the experimental group were subjected to ligation of inferior vena cava. The mice were sacrificed by excessive anesthesia at 1 d, 3 d, 5 d, 7 d, 10 d, 14 d and 21 d after ligation, respectively. The inferior vena cava segment with thrombosis was extracted below the ligation point. The mice in the control group were not ligated, and the inferior vena cava segment at the same position as the experimental group was extracted. The expression changes of IL-10 and TGF-ß1 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting and real-time qPCR. RESULTS: IHC results revealed that IL-10 was mainly expressed in monocytes in thrombosis and TGF-ß1 was mainly expressed in monocytes and fibroblast-like cells in thrombosis. Western blotting and real-time qPCR showed that the relative expression levels of IL-10 and TGF-ß1 in each experimental group were higher than those in the control group. The mRNA and protein levels of IL-10 reached the peak at 7 d and 10 d after ligation, respectively. The mRNA expression level at 7 d after ligation was 4.72±0.15 times that of the control group, and the protein expression level at 10 d after ligation was 7.15±0.28 times that of the control group. The mRNA and protein levels of TGF-ß1 reached the peak at 10 d and 14 d after ligation, respectively. The mRNA expression level at 10 d after ligation was 2.58±0.14 times that of the control group, and the protein expression level at 14 d after ligation was 4.34±0.19 times that of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The expressions of IL-10 and TGF-ß1 during the evolution of deep vein thrombosis present time-dependent sequential changes, and the expression levels of IL-10 and TGF-ß1 can provide a reference basis for thrombus age estimation.

High-Performance One-Component Epoxy Adhesive Based on the Synergistic Effect of Lignin-Derived Triaryl-Imidazole and Phytic Acid.

Latent curing agents are essential in the formulation of one-component epoxy resins, yet they are seldom derived from fully biobased chemicals. In the present work, a fully biobased latent curing agent for epoxy resins (BIMPA) was produced by synthesizing an ionic complex of lignin-derived triaryl-imidazole (BIM) and phytic acid (PA). Benefiting from the synergistic effect of BIM and PA, the one-component epoxy resin, composed of BIMPA and commercially available E51, exhibits a storage stability of over 90 days. Upon heating, the ionic complex undergoes decomposition, liberating the active imidazole to cure the precursor. The resulting epoxy resins exhibited a flexural modulus of 3.09 GPa, a flexural strength of 107.47 MPa, a notched izod impact strength of 2.47 kJ/m3, and a shear strength of 41.02 MPa. The outcome can provide an effective supplement for the development of biobased epoxy resins.

The therapeutic effect of a novel GAPDH inhibitor in mouse model of breast cancer and efficacy monitoring by molecular imaging.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a serious threat to women's health with high morbidity and mortality. The development of more effective therapies for the treatment of breast cancer is strongly warranted. Growing evidence suggests that targeting glucose metabolism may be a promising cancer treatment strategy. We previously identified a new glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) inhibitor, DC-5163, which shows great potential in inhibiting tumor growth. Here, we evaluated the anticancer potential of DC-5163 in breast cancer cells. METHODS: The effects of DC-5163 on breast cancer cells were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Seahorse, glucose uptake, lactate production, and cellular ATP content assays were performed to examine the impact of DC-5163 on cellular glycolysis. Cell viability, colony-forming ability, cell cycle, and apoptosis were assessed by CCK8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and immunoblotting respectively. The anticancer activity of DC-5163 in vivo was evaluated in a mouse breast cancer xenograft model. RESULTS: DC-5163 suppressed aerobic glycolysis and reduced energy supply of breast cancer cells, thereby inhibiting breast cancer cell growth, inducing cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, and increasing apoptosis. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed using a breast cancer xenograft mouse model. DC-5163 treatment markedly suppressed tumor growth in vivo without inducing evident systemic toxicity. Micro-PET/CT scans revealed a notable reduction in tumor 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT uptake in the DC-5163 treatment group compared to the DMSO control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that DC-5163 is a promising GAPDH inhibitor for suppressing breast cancer growth without obvious side effects. 18F-FDG and 18F-FLT PET/CT can noninvasively assess the levels of glycolysis and proliferation in tumors following treatment with DC-5163.

Application of LAMP coupled with NALF for precise detection of mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP),as the most commonly infected respiratory pathogen in community-acquired pneumonia in preschool children,has becoming a prominent factor affecting children's respiratory health.Currently, there is a lack of easy, rapid, and accurate laboratory testing program for MP infection, which causes comparatively difficulty for clinical diagnostic.Here,we utilize loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to amplify and characterize the P1 gene of MP, combined with nucleic acid lateral flow (NALF) for fast and visuallized detection of MP.Furthermore, we evaluated and analyzed the sensitivity, specificity and methodological consistency of the method.The results showed that the limit of detection(LoD) of MP-LAMP-NALF assay was down to 100 copys per reaction and there was no cross-reactivity with other pathogens infected the respiratory system. The concordance rate between MP-LAMP-NALF assay with quantitative real-time PCR was 94.3 %,which exhibiting excellent testing performance.We make superior the turnaround time of the MP-LAMP-NALF assay, which takes only about 50 min. In addition, there is no need for precision instruments and no restriction on the laboratory site.Collectively, LAMP-NALF assay targeting the P1 gene for Mycoplasma pneumoniae detection was a easy, precise and visual test which could be widely applied in outpatient and emergency departments or primary hospitals.When further optimized, it could be used as "point-of-care testing" of pathogens or multiple testing for pathogens.

Developing a High-Umami, Low-Salt Soy Sauce through Accelerated Moromi Fermentation with Corynebacterium and Lactiplantibacillus Strains.

The traditional fermentation process of soy sauce employs a hyperhaline model and has a long fermentation period. A hyperhaline model can improve fermentation speed, but easily leads to the contamination of miscellaneous bacteria and fermentation failure. In this study, after the conventional koji and moromi fermentation, the fermentation broth was pasteurized and diluted, and then inoculated with three selected microorganisms including Corynebacterium glutamicum, Corynebacterium ammoniagenes, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum for secondary fermentation. During this ten-day fermentation, the pH, free amino acids, organic acids, nucleotide acids, fatty acids, and volatile compounds were analyzed. The fermentation group inoculated with C. glutamicum accumulated the high content of amino acid nitrogen of 0.92 g/100 mL and glutamic acid of 509.4 mg/100 mL. The C. ammoniagenes group and L. plantarum group were rich in nucleotide and organic acid, respectively. The fermentation group inoculated with three microorganisms exhibited the best sensory attributes, showing the potential to develop a suitable fermentation method. The brewing speed of the proposed process in this study was faster than that of the traditional method, and the umami substances could be significantly accumulated in this low-salt fermented model (7% w/v NaCl). This study provides a reference for the low-salt and rapid fermentation of seasoning.

FoxG1 as a Potential Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer's Disease: Modulating NLRP3 Inflammasome via AMPK/mTOR Autophagy Pathway.

An increasing body of research suggests that promoting microglial autophagy hinders the neuroinflammation initiated though the NLRP3 inflammasome activation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The function of FoxG1, a crucial transcription factor involved in cell survival by regulating mitochondrial function, remains unknown during the AD process and neuroinflammation occurs. In the present study, we firstly found that Aß peptides induced AD-like neuroinflammation upregulation and downregulated the level of autophagy. Following low-dose Aß25-35 stimulation, FoxG1 expression and autophagy exhibited a gradual increase. Nevertheless, with high-concentration Aß25-35 treatment, progressive decrease in FoxG1 expression and autophagy levels as the concentration of Aß25-35 escalated. In addition, FoxG1 has a positive effect on cell viability and autophagy in the nervous system. In parallel with the Aß25-35 stimulation, we employed siRNA to decrease the expression of FoxG1 in N2A cells. A substantial reduction in autophagy level (Beclin1, LC3II, SQSTM1/P62) and a notable growth in inflammatory response (NLRP3, TNF-α, and IL-6) were observed. In addition, we found FoxG1 overexpression owned the effect on the activation of AMPK/mTOR autophagy pathway and siRNA-FoxG1 successfully abolished this effect. Lastly, FoxG1 suppressed the NLRP3 inflammasome and enhanced the cognitive function in AD-like mouse model induced by Aß25-35. Confirmed by cellular and animal experiments, FoxG1 suppressed NLRP3-mediated neuroinflammation, which was strongly linked to autophagy regulated by AMPK/mTOR. Taken together, FoxG1 may be a critical node in the pathologic progression of AD and has the potential to serve as therapeutic target.

Application of tandem mass spectrometry in the screening and diagnosis of mucopolysaccharidoses.

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are caused by a deficiency in the enzymes needed to degrade glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the lysosome. The storage of GAGs leads to the involvement of several systems and even to the death of the patient. In recent years, an increasing number of therapies have increased the treatment options available to patients. Early treatment is beneficial in improving the prognosis, but children with MPSs are often delayed in their diagnosis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a method for early screening and diagnosis of the disease. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is an analytical method that can detect multiple substrates or enzymes simultaneously. GAGs are reliable markers of MPSs. MS/MS can be used to screen children at an early stage of the disease, to improve prognosis by treating them before symptoms appear, to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, and for metabolomic analysis or to find suitable biomarkers. In the future, MS/MS could be used to further identify suitable biomarkers for MPSs for early diagnosis and to detect efficacy.

Association between metabolic syndrome severity score and cardiovascular disease: results from a longitudinal cohort study on Chinese adults.

Objective: This study aimed to quantify the severity of metabolic syndrome(MetS) and investigate its association with cardiovascular disease(CVD) risk on Chinese adults. Methods: 13,500 participants from the Zhejiang Adult Chronic Disease Study were followed up between 2010 and 2021. A continuous MetS severity score derived from the five components of MetS was used to quantify MetS severity, and the association between MetS severity and the risk of incident CVD was assessed using Cox proportional hazard and restricted cubic spline regression. Results: Both the presence and severity of MetS were strongly associated with CVD risk. MetS was related to an increased risk of CVD (hazard ratio(HR):1.700, 95% confidence interval(CI): 1.380-2.094). Compared with the hazard ratio for CVD in the lowest quartile of the MetS severity score, that in the second, third, and highest quartiles were 1.812 (1.329-2.470), 1.746 (1.265-2.410), and 2.817 (2.015-3.938), respectively. A linear and positive dose-response relationship was observed between the MetS severity and CVD risk (P for non-linearity = 0.437). Similar results were found in various sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: The MetS severity score was significantly associated with CVD risk. Assessing MetS severity and further ensuring intervention measures according to the different severities of MetS may be more useful in preventing CVD.

[Optimization of prediction model for personalized water pills based on semantic analysis of traditional Chinese medicine materials].

This study aims to optimize the prediction model of personalized water pills that has been established by our research group. Dioscoreae Rhizoma, Leonuri Herba, Codonopsis Radix, Armeniacae Semen Amarum, and calcined Oyster were selected as model medicines of powdery, fibrous, sugary, oily, and brittle materials, respectively. The model prescriptions were obtained by uniform mixing design. With hydroxypropyl methylcellulose E5(HPMC-E5) aqueous solution as the adhesive, personalized water pills were prepared by extrusion and spheronizaition. The evaluation indexes in the pill preparation process and the multi-model statistical analysis were employed to optimize and evaluate the prediction model of personalized water pills. The prediction equation of the adhesive concentration was obtained as follows: Y_1=-4.172+3.63X_A+15.057X_B+1.838X_C-0.997X_D(adhesive concentration of 10% when Y_1<0, and 20% when Y_1>0). The overall accuracy of the prediction model for adhesive concentration was 96.0%. The prediction equation of adhesive dosage was Y_2=6.051+94.944X_A~(1.5)+161.977X_B+70.078X_C~2+12.016X_D~(0.3)+27.493X_E~(0.3)-2.168X_F~(-1)(R~2=0.954, P<0.001). Furthermore, the semantic prediction model for material classification of traditional Chinese medicines was used to classify the materials contained in the prescription, and thus the prediction model of personalized water pills was evaluated. The results showed that the prescriptions for model evaluation can be prepared with one-time molding, and the forming quality was better than that established by the research group earlier. This study has achieved the optimization of the prediction model of personalized water pills.

[Intelligent material classification of traditional Chinese medicine based on semantic analysis].

A method for material classification of traditional Chinese medicines based on the physical properties of powder has been established by our research group. This method involves pre-treatment of traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, powder preparation, and determination of physical properties, being cumbersome. In this study, the word segmentation logic of semantic analysis was adopted to establish the thesaurus and local standardized semantic word segmentation database with the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of 36 model traditional Chinese medicines as the basic data. The physical properties of these medicines have been determined and the classification of these medicines is clear in the cluster analysis. A total of 55 keywords for powdery, fibrous, sugary, oily, and brittle materials were screened by association rules and the set inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the weights of the keywords were calculated. Furthermore, the algorithms of the keyword matching scores and the computation rules of the single or multiple material classification were established for building the intelligent model of semantic analysis for the material classification. The semantic classification results of the other 35 TCMs except Pseudostellariae Radix(multi-material medicine) agreed with the clustering results based on the physical properties of the powder, with an agreement rate of 97.22%. In model validation, the prediction results of semantic classification of traditional Chinese medicines were consistent with the clustering results based on the physical properties of powder, with an agreement rate of 83.33%. The results showed that the method of material classification based on semantic analysis was feasible, which laid a foundation for the development of intelligent decision-making technology for personalized traditional Chinese medicine preparations.

Strong cathode electroluminescence biosensor based on CeO2 functionalized PCN-222@Ag NPs for sensitive detection of p-Tau-181 protein.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensors provide a convenient and high sensitivity method for early disease diagnosis. However, creating luminophore arrays relying on powerful ECL signals remains a daunting task. Porphyrin-centered metal organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit remarkable potential in ECL sensing applications. In this paper, based on a simple one-pot synthesis method, PCN-222@Ag NPs doped with CeO2 was synthesized to enhance the ECL performance. Due to the strong catalytic ability of CeO2, the ECL signal strength of the new material PCN-222@CeO2@Ag NPs is much higher than that of the PCN-222@Ag NPs and PCN-222. The luminous properties of PCN-222@CeO2@Ag NPs become more intense and stable due to the excellent electronic conductivity of Ag NPs. Based on the fact that CuS@PDA composite can quench the ECL signal of PCN-222@CeO2@Ag NPs, we constructed a novel sandwich ECL immune sensor for the detection of phosphorylated Tau 181 (p-Tau-181) protein. The ECL sensor has a great linear relationship with p-Tau-181 protein concentration, ranging from 1 pg/mL to 100 ng/mL. The detection limit is as low as 0.147 pg/mL. This work provides new ideas for developing sensitive ECL sensors for the p-Tau-181 protein, the marker of Alzheimer's disease.

Serological investigation of seven zoonotic pathogens in companion dogs in South Korea, 2018-2021.

Based on the current situation of Korean culture and society, the population of companion animals in South Korea is growing rapidly along with zoonotic risks. The current data regarding zoonotic infections in companion dogs reported in Korea is sparse. This study aims to investigate the seroprevalence of seven potential zoonotic pathogens in companion dogs in South Korea: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdoferi, Ehrlichia canis, Coxiella burnetii, Brucella canis, Leptospira spp. and canine influenza A virus. A total of 284 serum samples were collected from 2018 to 2021, and the immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against 7 zoonotic pathogens were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Samples were divided into five groups and analysed based on age. IgG antibodies against six of the seven pathogens were detected. The highest seropositivity rate was detected for canine influenza A virus exposure (59.1%) for which the rates were the highest in dogs under 1 year old and declined with age. Positivity rates of the other pathogens were relatively low: 1.76% for Leptospira spp., 1.40% for A. phagocytophilum and E. canis, 1.06% for B. canis and 0.35% for B. burgdoferi. No antibodies against C. burnetii were detected in this study. The exposure of dogs in South Korea to six zoonotic pathogens was serologically confirmed, highlighting a potential risk for human infection. The zoonotic risk of companion dogs cannot be neglected, and implementation of One Health approach should be advocated to establish effective preventive measures.

Differential Morpho-Physiological, Ionomic, and Phytohormone Profiles, and Genome-Wide Expression Profiling Involving the Tolerance of Allohexaploid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to Nitrogen Limitation.

Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a global staple food, while nitrogen (N) limitation severely hinders plant growth, seed yield, and grain quality of wheat. Genetic variations in the responses to low N stresses among allohexaploid wheat (AABBDD, 2n = 6x = 42) genotypes emphasize the complicated regulatory mechanisms underlying low N tolerance and N use efficiency (NUE). In this study, hydroponic culture, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, noninvasive microtest, high-performance liquid chromatography, RNA-seq, and bioinformatics were used to determine the differential growth performance, ionome and phytohormone profiles, and genome-wide expression profiling of wheat plants grown under high N and low N conditions. Transcriptional profiling of NPFs, NRT2s, CLCs, SLACs/SLAHs, AAPs, UPSs, NIAs, and GSs characterized the core members, such as TaNPF6.3-6D, TaNRT2.3-3D, TaNIA1-6B, TaGLN1;2-4B, TaAAP14-5A/5D, and TaUPS2-5A, involved in the efficient transport and assimilation of nitrate and organic N nutrients. The low-N-sensitivity wheat cultivar XM26 showed obvious leaf chlorosis and accumulated higher levels of ABA, JA, and SA than the low-N-tolerant ZM578 under N limitation. The TaMYB59-3D-TaNPF7.3/NRT1.5-6D module-mediated shoot-to-root translocation and leaf remobilization of nitrate was proposed as an important pathway regulating the differential responses between ZM578 and XM26 to low N. This study provides some elite candidate genes for the selection and breeding of wheat germplasms with low N tolerance and high NUE.

Orthopedic manifestations in children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disease often associated with bone problems, mainly scoliosis and hip dysplasia (HD). This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics of orthopedic deformities in patients with PWS. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 175 patients up to March 2023. The Cobb angle(CA) of the spine, the alpha angle of the hip joint, and the acetabular index (AI) were measured. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between demographic parameters and bone deformities. RESULTS: Scoliosis was found in 66 patients (43.7%), including 52 (78.8%) with mild scoliosis, 10 (15.2%) with moderate scoliosis, and 4 (6.1%) with severe scoliosis. Only seven patients received orthopedic treatment (10.6%). The median age of scoliosis was 4.5 years old, and the prevalence of scoliosis increased rapidly at the age of 5 years and adolescence. The mean CA in this study increased gradually with age. HD was found in 47 patients (38.2%), and 6 patients received orthopedic treatment (12.7%). The median age at HD was 1.8 years old. The mean AI of the study population decreased with age. The prevalence of HD treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was low. No significant differences were observed in sex, genotype, body mass index (BMI), obesity rate, or onset of scoliosis and HD. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of scoliosis and HD was higher in patients with PWS. The onset age and developmental trends of the different skeletal malformations were different. Early diagnosis and treatment are important for the prognosis and treatment of orthopedic diseases in patients with PWS.

Characterization of an imported HIV-1 A1/A7/G recombinant in China.

BACKGROUND: International migration has accelerated the HIV-1 spread across national borders, gradually reducing the restrictions on the geographical distribution of HIV-1 subtypes. Subtypes A and G are globally recognized as the third and sixth most dominant HIV-1 genotypes, mainly prevalent in Africa, but rarely detected in China. Here we reported an imported HIV-1 recombinant which was composed of sub-subtypes A1 and A7 of subtype A and subtype G genes in a Chinese female. This virus was the first HIV-1 recombinant including A7 genes reported in the world. CASE PRESENTATION: The near full-length genome (NFLG) was obtained from the plasma sample of the female in an HIV-1 molecular epidemiological survey with 853 participants in China. Phylogenetic analyses showed that this NFLG sequence contains three A7 segments, four G segments and one A1 segment with seven breakpoints, and all these segments were closely related to HIV-1 references circulating in Africa. The evidence from epidemiological investigation indicated that this female participant had a more-than-two-years heterosexual contact history with a fixed partner from Nigeria, a country in west Africa, which further supported the results of phylogenetic analyses. By the Bayesian phylogenetic analyses, the times of most recent common ancestors (tMRCA) of the partial pol gene (nt2308-3284, A7 region) and full-length vpr-vpu plus partial env gene (nt5534-6858, G region) were estimated around 1989 and 1984, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, by using the NFLG sequencing, we identified an imported HIV-1 A1/A7/G recombinant which was estimated to originate around 1980s in Africa and introduced into China with international migration. This study highlighted the complexity of the global HIV-1 epidemic, the necessity of using genome sequences to determine HIV-1 genotypes and the importance of real-time monitoring of HIV-1 infection among international migrants and travelers.

Pediatric Hepatoblastoma After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Diagnostic Performance of MR in Staging POSTTEXT and Vascular Involvement.

BACKGROUND: The assessment of resectability after neoadjuvant chemotherapy of hepatoblastoma is dependent on Post-Treatment EXTENT of Disease (POSTTEXT) staging and its annotation factors P (portal venous involvement) and V (hepatic venous/inferior vena cava [IVC] involvement), but MR performance in assessing them remains unclear. PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced MR imaging for preoperative POSTTEXT staging and diagnosing vascular involvement in terms of annotation factors P and V in pediatric hepatoblastoma following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. SUBJECTS: Thirty-five consecutive patients (17 males, median age, 24 months; age range, 6-98 months) with proven hepatoblastoma underwent preoperative MR imaging following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3.0 T; T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), T2WI with fat suppression, diffusion weighted imaging, radial stack-of-the-star/Cartesian 3D Dixon T1-weighted gradient echo imaging. ASSESSMENT: Three radiologists independently assessed the POSTTEXT stages and annotation factors P and V based on the 2017 PRE/POSTTEXT system. The sensitivities and specificities were calculated for 1) diagnosing each POSTTEXT stage; 2) discrimination of stages III and IV (advanced) from those stages I and II (non-advanced) hepatoblastomas; and 3) annotation factors P and V. The combination of pathologic findings and surgical records served as the reference standard. STATISTICAL TESTS: Sensitivity, specificity, Fleiss kappa test. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity ranges for discriminating advanced from non-advanced hepatoblastomas were 73.3%-80.0% and 80.0%-90.0%, respectively. For annotation factor P, they were 66.7%-100.0% and 90.6%, respectively. For factor V, they were 75.0% and 67.7%-83.9%, respectively. There was excellent, substantial, and moderate agreement on POSTTEXT staging (Fleiss kappa = 0.82), factors P (Fleiss kappa = 0.64), and factors V (Fleiss kappa = 0.60), respectively. DATA CONCLUSION: MR POSTTEXT provides reliable discrimination between advanced and non-advanced tumors, and MR has moderate to excellent specificity at identifying portal venous and hepatic venous/IVC involvement. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3.

An atypical two-component system, AtcR/AtcK, simultaneously regulates the biosynthesis of multiple secondary metabolites in Streptomyces bingchenggensis.

Streptomyces bingchenggensis is an industrial producer of milbemycins, which are important anthelmintic and insecticidal agents. Two-component systems (TCSs), which are typically situated in the same operon and are composed of a histidine kinase and a response regulator, are the predominant signal transduction pathways involved in the regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces. Here, an atypical TCS, AtcR/AtcK, in which the encoding genes (sbi_06838/sbi_06839) are organized in a head-to-head pair, was demonstrated to be indispensable for the biosynthesis of multiple secondary metabolites in S. bingchenggensis. With the null TCS mutants, the production of milbemycin and yellow compound was abolished but nanchangmycin was overproduced. Transcriptional analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that AtcR regulated the biosynthesis of these three secondary metabolites by a MilR3-mediated cascade. First, AtcR was activated by phosphorylation from signal-triggered AtcK. Second, the activated AtcR promoted the transcription of milR3. Third, MilR3 specifically activated the transcription of downstream genes from milbemycin and yellow compound biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and nanR4 from the nanchangmycin BGC. Finally, because NanR4 is a specific repressor in the nanchangmycin BGC, activation of MilR3 downstream genes led to the production of yellow compound and milbemycin but inhibited nanchangmycin production. By rewiring the regulatory cascade, two strains were obtained, the yield of nanchangmycin was improved by 45-fold to 6.08 g/L and the production of milbemycin was increased twofold to 1.34 g/L. This work has broadened our knowledge on atypical TCSs and provided practical strategies to engineer strains for the production of secondary metabolites in Streptomyces.IMPORTANCEStreptomyces bingchenggensis is an important industrial strain that produces milbemycins. Two-component systems (TCSs), which consist of a histidine kinase and a response regulator, are the predominant signal transduction pathways involved in the regulation of secondary metabolism in Streptomyces. Coupled encoding genes of TCSs are typically situated in the same operon. Here, TCSs with encoding genes situated in separate head-to-head neighbor operons were labeled atypical TCSs. It was found that the atypical TCS AtcR/AtcK played an indispensable role in the biosynthesis of milbemycin, yellow compound, and nanchangmycin in S. bingchenggensis. This atypical TCS regulated the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites in a cascade mediated via a cluster-situated regulator, MilR3. Through rewiring the regulatory pathways, strains were successfully engineered to overproduce milbemycin and nanchangmycin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on atypical TCS, in which the encoding genes of RR and HK were situated in separate head-to-head neighbor operons, involved in secondary metabolism. In addition, data mining showed that atypical TCSs were widely distributed in actinobacteria.

New Insights into the Loss of Antioxidant Effectiveness of Phenolic Compounds in Vegetable Oils in the Presence of Phosphatidylcholine.

It has been proposed that lipid oxidation reactions in edible oils primarily occur in reverse micelles (RM) of amphiphilic components. While the prooxidative effect of RM has been demonstrated, the mechanism involved is not fully understood. Both reductions and enhancements in the antioxidant efficacy (AE) of α-tocopherol and Trolox have been observed in different studies when phosphatidylcholine (PC) was added and PC RM were formed. However, most of these investigations employed lipid systems consisting of stripped vegetable oil diluted in saturated medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCT) and utilized antioxidant concentrations well below those found in edible oils. These two specific factors were investigated in the present study. The effect of RM of purified egg yolk PC on the AE of 1.16 mmol kg-1 α-tocopherol or Trolox in stripped sunflower oil (SSO) was studied by the Rancimat (100 °C) and oven (50 °C) tests. Increasing PC concentrations (50-1000 ppm) had no significant impact on α-tocopherol, but substantial reductions in AE were observed for Trolox. This phenomenon may be attributed to the partitioning of Trolox into the pre-existing PC micelles, suggesting that primary oxidation reactions occurred in the continuous lipid phase. In addition, the effectiveness of both antioxidants decreased significantly in the presence of PC when a low antioxidant concentration (0.06 mmol kg-1) was assayed in SSO:MCT (1:3, w/w).